History of Santa Clara County California

979.401

Sa68s

1131843

GENEALOGY COLLECTION

3 1833 01102 7916

HISTORY OF

SANTA CLARA
COUNTY

CALIFORNIA

WITH

Biographical Sketches

OF

The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have

Been Identified With Its Growth and

Development From the Early

Days to the Present

HISTORY BY

EUGENE T. SAWYER

rO

ILLUSTRATED
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNL-V
1922

1131343
CONTENTS

CHAPTER I— PAGE 33
Unrivaled Climate and Situation — Origin of Name — Early Inhabitants — Story of the Early
Days — Founding of the Missions — Father Junipero Serra — Father Pena — Founding of San
Jose— Father Maguire de Catala Plants Trees on Alameda — Mission of Santa Clara — Secu-
larization of Missions — Life on the Early Ranches — The Rodeo — The Matanza — Early
Government — Some Grotesque Religious Ceremonies — Bull and Bear Fights — First Ameri-
can Settlers — The Donner Party.

CHAPTER H— PAGE 46
Santa Clara County During the Mexican Rule — The Adventures of Captain Fremont — Don
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo — Raising the Bear Flag — Proclamation of General Jose Castro.
War with Mexico Declared — Proclamation of Commodore Sloat — Capt. Charles M. Weber.
Juzgado Transformed into Barracks — Battle of Santa Clara — Captain Thomas Fallon
Raises First American Flag — Gold is Discovered — Reminiscences of the Days of '49 — -Kill-
ing of Young Pyle — Local Government — Early Merchants and Buildings of San Jose —
Grandma Bascom's Story.

CHAPTER in— PAGE 61
Military Rule — Constitutional Convention — San Jose as Capital of the State — First Legisla-
ture Convenes — Removal of Capital — First July 4th Celebration — Boundaries of Santa
Clara County — County Government — Court of Sessions — Land Grants and Suertes — San
Jose Land Company — Settlers' Leagues Defend Titles — A Trumped-Up Robbery of Pub-
lic Treasur}- — List of Spanish and Mexican Land Grants.

CHAPTER IV— PAGE 71

Courts of First Instance — The Early Bar of San Jose — Alcalde Burton's Common Sense — Mule
Appears as Witness — District, County and Justice Courts Supersede Courts of Alcalde and
First Instance — Judge Watson's Informal Handling of Cases — Eccentricities of Judge
Redman — The Lord of Hardscrabble — The First Court House — Judge Almond's IDemi-
john — Strange Career of Rufus A. Lockwood — Freeman McKinney — The Irrepressible
J. Alexander Yoell — Judge Buckner's Quaint Ways of Dispensing Justice — High Stand-
ing of Judge Hester — W. Frank Stewart — Change in Court System — Tribute to Judge
Belden.

CHAPTER V— PAGE 85

Topography and Geology — The New Almaden Mines — Crime in the Early Days — Outlaws
Terrorize the County — Exciting Career of Francisco Soto — Augustin C. Hall Mur-
dered— Santiago Berryessa Kills Pedro Aravena — Francisco Berryessa Stabbed — Mur-
der of Joseph Pellegrini — Juan Jose Rodriguez Killed — Mary Hallock Foote's Mining
Camp Stories — Guadalupe Quicksilver Mine — Enrequita Mine — Mineral Springs of the
County — The Oil Development.

CHAPTER VI— PAGE 92

Society Events in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies — Reminiscences of Pioneer Women — Mrs.
Mary A. Carroll's Interesting Record — Mrs. Frances A. Sunol-Angus Writes of Early
Society — Joseph H. Scull Tells of Festivities — Entertaining Account of San Jose Society
by Mrs. S. O. Houghton — Recollections of Dr. Chamblin — Charles G. Ames Bests Judge
William T. Wallace in Oratorical Combat — Opening of Hotel Vendome — Distinguished
Visitors.

CHAPTER VII— PAGE 101

Passing of Old Landmarks of San Jose — Fair Grounds — Live Oak Park and Prevost's Gar-
dens— Old Court House — -Duel Between Thomas Shore and S. J. Crosby — Killing of Jailer
Martin Roohan — John Marr Escapes From Jail After Killing Peter Veuve — Jailer Hen-
dricks Killed When Indians Break Jail — Killing of William Cooper — Harry Love
Slain — Old Residential Landmarks — Naglee. Henslev and Josiah Belden Homes.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER VIII— PAGE 108
Newspapers in the Early Days — San Jose Weekly Visitor — Daily Mercury — J. J. Owen a
Striking Figure — His Encounter With Montgomery Maze — Charles M. Shortridge — The
Daily Times— The Tribune— The Herald— E. A. and J. O. Hayes— W. Frank Stewart
and the Daily Reporter — Mark Twain — The Courier — W. A. January and the Santa
Clara Argus— History of Henry C. Hansbrough — Chester H. Hull— Daily Garden City
Times Started by Edwin Markham, S. H. Herring, Ferryman Page and E. T.
Sawyer— A. P. Murgotten and The Pioneer — Daily Morning Times — H. A. De Lacy
Establishes City Item, Now the Evening Times — Charles W. Williams — The Santa Clara
Valley Started by Major Foote — His Exciting Experience with a Delegation of Cornish-
men — John T. Wallace and E. T. Sawyer Start the Scooper — W. W. Elliott, Editor of the
Santa Clara Index — His Experience as a Court Reporter — Allen P. Kelly. Editor of the
San Jose Herald. Captures Grizzly Bear — Other Newspapers.

CHAPTER IX— PAGE 118

Early Days of Drama in San Jose — James Stark Establishes First Theater — Samuel W. Piercy
Makes His First Appearance There — Name Changed to San Jose Theater — Gustav Bro-
haska Converts Armory Hall Into San Jose Opera House — Eleanor Calhoun. Now Princess
Lazarovich, Makes First Appearance on Stage in E. T. Sawyer's Loyal Hearts with John
T. Malone and H. A. De Lacy — California Theater Had Many Notable Stars — Audito-
rium, Later the Garden City Theater— Victory Theater— The Hippodrome— T. & D. The-
ater— Lyric Theater — Jose Theater — Liberty Theater — First Amateur Dramatic Com-
pany'— John W. Dunne — Frank Bacon — John 'P. Malone — Charles \\'. Williams — John T.
Raymond, California's Star Comedian — Some of the Old-Time Minstrels — Charley
Rhoades.

CHAPTER X— PAGE 126

Distinguished Visitors to San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley — Political Orators — George
Francis Train — Henry George Unmasks a Mysterious Spook — Bret Hart — Mark Twain —
President Harrison's Visit — General Grant Receives Ovation — Lecturers from the East
and from Over the Sea — General Fremont Is Guest of Santa Clara County Pioneers — Ned
Buntline's Adventurous Career.

CHAPTER XI— PAGE 132
Santa Clara County During the Civil War — San Jose Volunteers — Many Companies
Formed — Band of Confederate Sympathizers Rob Stages to Obtain Money for
Cause — Ingraham Gang — Methodist Church lUirned — Dick Baker Gang — Excitement
Over Death of Lincoln.

CHAPTER XII— PAGE 135
The Fruit Industry of County — Largest Prune Producing Section in State — History of the
Development — Introduction of French Prune- — Early Orchardists — The First Can-
ner)'— Lyman Burrell Has First Mountain Orchard — Dr. J. M. Dawson Pioneer Fruit
Canner and Packer — Other Packing Companies — Strawberry Section — Annual Orchard
Production — Vineyards and Olive Orchards — Seed Growing Carried on Extensively —
Citrus Fruits — Farm Loan Association — Vegetable, Poultry Raising and Dairying. Impor-
tant Industries — Artesian Wells Supply Water for Irrigation — Growers' Organiza-
tions— Santa Clara County Statistics.

CHAPTER XIII— PAGE 145
County Government and Good Roads — Transportation of Passengers in l^arly Days — Water
Transportation — History of Various Important Road and Railway I'.nterprise.s — First
Railroad Comjileted — Western Pacific — Narrow Gauge Railroad.

CHAPTER XIV— PAGE 152
Public Buildings of the County — Many Locations of the County Court House — Changes Made
by the Legislature — Present Court House a Splendid Building — Futile Attempt to Regain
State Capital — New County Jail — Hall of Records — Hall of Justice— County Hos-
pital— County Poor Farm.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XV— PAGE 156
The Resources and Attractions of San Jose, the Garden City of California — Soil, Climate,
Production and Opportunity — What a Man from the East Learned from an Old Resident.

CHAPTER XVI— PAGE 162
San Jose Incorporated as City — Organization of Political Parties — First Gas Eights — Water
Pipes Laid — Horse Railway on Alameda — Severe Earthquake in 1868 — Disastrous
Floods — Story of Tiburcio Vascjuez, Noted Bandit — Street Railroad — John C. Arnold
Figures in Remarkable Case of Mistaken Identity — Dick Fellows, Lone Highwayman,
Escapes from Constable — Brutal Murder at Los Gatos — W. P. Renowden Tortured and
Killed — Lloyd L. Majors Hung for His Murder — Bond Issue of 1886 — New City Charter
Defeated — The Dixon-Allen Trial — Electric Tower Erected— Chinatown Destroyed by
Fire — Mexican Hanged by Mob — Charles Goslaw Meets Death on Scaffold — Disastrous
Fire of 1892 — Henry Planz Murdered — Sextuple Murder — New Charter Adopted — Earth-
quake of 1906 — Commission Form of Government Adopted — Mayors of San Jose.

CHAPTER XVII— PAGE 175

San Jose and Santa Clara Activities During the AVorld War — Liberty Loan, Red Cross, Y. M.

C. A., Belgian ReHef and Other Drives— The Men and Women Who Did the Work.

CHAPTER XVIII— PAGE 194

History of the Lick Observatory on the Summit of Alount Hamilton — The Eccentricities of
James Lick, the Philanthropist — Erection of the Lick Mill — The Lick Hotel at San Fran-
cisco— W'hat He Did for San Jose.

CHAPTER XIX— PAGE 202
The Story of Alum Rock Park, San Jose's Beautiful Reservation of One Thousand
Acres — Judge Richards' Description of Its Beauties and Attractions — The Claim of J. O.
Stratton.

CHAPTER XX— PAGE 206
The Attractions of the Big Basin, or Cahfornia Redwood Park — How It Was Preserved by
the Efforts of a San Josean — The Sempervirens Club — The Annual Forest Play in a
Natural Setting.

CHAPTER XXI— PAGE 210
The Public and Private Schools of San Jose — The Growth of the High School Constructed
on LIniversity Plan — The State Teachers' College — College of Notre Dame — College of
the Pacific — Other Institutions.

CHAPTER XXII— PAGE 221
The Public Utilities of San Jose — The Early Service of the Gas and Electric Companies — The
San Jose Water Company and Its Sure and Steady Progress — The Street Railways in and
out of the City — The Post Office and Postmasters.

CHAPTER XXIII— PAGE 227
San Jose Woman's Cluli — County Alliance — Newman Hall and Clul) — Sainte Claire Club —
Columbia Circle, C. L. S. C. — Lecticonian Society — The Country Club— The Pioneers'
Society — American Legion — Law Library and Bar Association — Housewives' League —
Daughters of the American Rcxolution — Musical Clubs and Record — Y. W. C. A. — Club
La France — Boy Scouts — Loyal I talo- American Club.

CHAPTER XXIV— PAGE 239
San Jose Board of Trade — San Jose Chamber of Commerce — Merchants Association — Rotary
and Lions Clubs— Civic Welfare Club— The 100 Per Cent Club— Labor Organiza-
tions— Commercial Club — Pen Women Branch — The Plotwrights — The Western Aero
Club.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXV— PAGE 245
Associated Charities — Good Cheer Club — Home of Benevolence — The Odd Fellows Home —
The Pratt Home— Notre Dame Institute— The Salvation Army and Volunteers of Amer-
ica— The Story of Old Bob Bennett — ^Juvenile Court and Probation Office — The Coffee
Club — The Woman's Exchange — Humane Societies — Y. M. C. A. — Boys' Outing
Farm — Red Cross Society — W. C. T. U. — Community Shop — Fraternal Orders.

CHAPTER XXVI— PAGE 255
The Sanitariums and Hospitals of San Jose — The Splendid Appointments of the O'Connor
Buildings — Columbia Hospital — Santa Clara Medical Society — Dr. Ben Cory.

CHAPTER XXVII— PAGE 258
The History of San Jose Fire Department — Primitive Appurtenances of the Early Days — Vol-
unteer Department for Twenty-Six Years — The Police Department's Growth and Work.

CHAPTER XXVIII— PAGE 262
The Early Churches of San Jose and Their Vicissitudes — History of the San Jose Library — Its
Growth from Small Beginnings — The County Free Library — The Carnegie Library.

CHAPTER XXIX— PAGE 266
The Santa Clara Historical Society and Its Objects — Spanish Names for Natural Objects — The
Interesting Career of Judge Augustus O. Rhodes, a Nonogenarian.

CHAPTER XXX— PAGE 270
The Banks and Industries of San Jose — Bank of Italy — A Daring Robbery — Garden City Bank
and Trust Company — Security State and Savings Bank — First National Bank — Growers
Bank — San Jose Foundry — Bean Spray Company — Anderson-Barngrover Company —
Smith Manufacturing Company — Sperry Flour Company — Globe Mills — American Can
Company — Security Warehouse and Cold Storage Company — Garden City Manufactory-
Tile Company — Spray Manufacturing Company — Artificial Leather Company — Wholesale
Grocers — The Oliver Company — National Axle Corporation — Plow Factories — Farmers
Union — Granite and Marble Works.

CHAPTER XXXI— PAGE 277
The Romantic History of the Town of Santa Clara — Home of One of the Early Missions — The
Story of Santa Clara University — Planting of the Mission Cross — Marcello, the Last of
the Mission Indians.

CHAPTER XXXII— PAGE 284
Palo Alto and Leland Stanford, Jr., University — The Rapid Growth of One of the Progressive
Towns of Santa Clara County — The Location and Uses of a Great Educational Institution.

CHAPTER XXXIII— PAGE 289
Los Gatos, the Gem City of the Foothills and Its Environs — The Gateway of the Valley — Gil-
roy, the Thriving Little City at the Southern End of the County.

CHAPTER XXXIV— PAGE 294
Other Growing Towns of Santa Clara County — Sunnyvale — Change from Grain Field to
Thriving Community — Campbell — Cupertino — AlViso— Milpitas— Agnew — Saratoga — Los
Altos — Evergreen — Mountain View — Mayfield — Morgan Hill — Tragic Encounter with a
California Lion — Berryessa — Alma — Wrights Station — Ambrose Bierce's Life — Patchen —
Mountain Charley's Adventures — Small Towns and Villages.

CHAPTER XXXV— PAGE 306
Miscellaneous Items of Interest — Observations of a Weather Expert — Judge Belden and Mayor
Pfister — An Auto Camp — Result of Presidential Elections in the County.

CHAPTER XXXVI— PAGE 308
Federation of American Farmers — Last Relic of Santa Clara Mission — Census Figures — Dec-
orations Received by Santa Clara Boys in World War.

INDEX

Abel, George E 1 102 Azevedo, J. E 1456 Beattie, J. Irving, M.D . . 495

Abel, Otto 1396 Azevedo, Manuel T 1578 Beatty, Charles L 1629

Abernathy, Frank 1080 Azzarello, Vincent 1337 Beatty, John F 1392

Abernathy, Wm. Watson 928 Babb Tames T 603 I^eck, Thomas B 1316

Abreo, Joseph A 1650 Bachrodt, Walter h.'.'.'.'. 519 !^^f,^'^' ?'^'"\^\; ^l^.t

Adams, John Hicks 1055 Bacigalupi, Arthur P. . . . 1209 ^^"^.^^'' J°s^Ph ^ ^18

Adams, William H 1056 Bacon, Albert Sylvester. 1072 ^^f".'^' ^^^o" ^ 1425

Albertson, E. H 595 Bailey, Elton R . 892 Benjamin M- A . 285

Alderton, Henry A., M.D. 765 Baiocchi, Adolph J., M.D. 1257 ^*-^""^''' ^^^'""!^" ^ ^°^^

Alison, Ralston 1061 Baiocchi, Almanda 1664 Bennett, Ralph R 907

Allegrini, Igino 1296 Baker Herbert C 1209 Benoit, Eugene 1 1631

Allemao. Manuel J 1264 Baker' James T 1^09 Benoit, Louis P 582

Allen, Charles S 1649 Baker' Lewis E 1211 Benson, Oscar 1603

Allen,John H 1250 B;ker; Mrs. Marga'ret'E. 680 ^entley, Robert I., Jr. . . . 901

Allen, W. A 1493 Baker, Orlando L 457 Vernal, Bruno 508

Allen, William Benjamin. 1348 Baker, Simeon 823 Bernal, Pedro A 376

Alexander, George W . . . 582 Baker' T E 680 Bernal, Ygnacio 408

Alexander, William G. . . 316 Balcomb Jean B 1554 Bernthal, Walter G 1572

Alvernaz, Frank P 1444 Balistreri, Frank' OHver'. 1621 |^erry, C E 1192

Alves, Antone 1469 Ball, Harry Ulysses 1595 ^^"y' '^^^'}^^ 351

Anderson, A 1577 Ball, Martin Charles.... 1371 Berryessa, Alex. 379

Anderson, Hon. Alden. .. 796 Ballou John Q A 77'^ Berryessa, Jose J 1094

Anderson, A. Ray 546 Balsba'ugh, Ephriam' '.'.'.'. 1002 Berryman, Fred 1680

Anderson, George C 664 Barbaccia Bros 1660 Bertelli, Angelo 1591

Anderson, George H 1150 garber, Lawrence' 'z. '.'.'. 883 Bertelsen, Bertel. ..... 1592

Anderson, John .■ 1510 Bariteau Eli 1549 Beverson, Charles D 630

Anderson, John Zuinglius 783 Barkalow, Benj'amin'F'. '. '. 1528 ^^''Sgh Alfred F 1628

Anderson, Steve 1159 Barker, Frank P 1413 Biaggi, Fred ... 628

Anderson, Theodore O .. . 866 Barker Samuel A 1413 Biaggi, William R 1666

Anderson, Tom D 1113 Barnard E E 1553 Billwiller, Ernest 0 1526

Anderson, William W... 1183 Barnes Harry 1083 Bisceglia. Pasquale 1568

Andrada, Manuel 1317 Barnes' Mary F 1340 Blabon, Joseph W. D. . . 596

Anello, Frank ^ 1384 Barnett, Thomas Cl'e'mens 1651 ^1^1^°"'?,?^ "^ HJ«

Angelo, Jose C 114 Barns, Charles Edward. . 1111 Babon,Wm. Caspar. .. . 338

Anzmi, Ben 1204 g^rnum John S 1532 Black, John Newton.... 1514

Arana Melvin Joseph. . . 1303 ^ August Wi'lham! .' 1553 ^l^'Jf^"'^' ^^"'" ,gl

Arguello, Julio 599 g^^^^ c. Marian, A. M . . . 939 ^^^h Car . . 167o

Armanasco, James 1432 g^ ^^^^ Catherine E. 446 ^ =^"^^ J°';" ^^ 22

Arnberg Fred J 6 0 ^^^/^^^ ^^^3 ^^ ^ 7gg B anch, Robert ..... 446

Arnench, Frank N 1311 -R-ip: T7rpnr;« r ini? Blanchard, Hiram A 1202

Arnerich, Paul J 608 g^JJ'' Luther ^ 1651 Blanchard, Thos. L., M.D. 1088

Arnold, Arthur E 972 Bartlett, William C.... . 1494 Bland, Henry M., Ph.D. . 479

Artana, Henry C 1649 Battee, John M 530 Bland, W^allace E 1518

Athenour, A., & Bros. . . . 1225 Bauman, John 1361 Blauer, William J 1340

Atkinson, Richard 940 Baumgartner Bros 1243 Blaurock, James Edwin. 1133

Austin, William E 1114 Bazata, Rev. Benjamin V 1290 Blois, J. Byron 986

Averill, Arthur Earl 1261 Beall, Lucian M 1591 Blount, Alvin M 508

Averill, Volney 861 Bean, James E 788 Bodley, Thomas 458

Ayer, Henry M 918 Bean, John 1460 Bogart, Arthur W 1266

Ayer, Samuel Freeman.. 867 Beane, Georgia M 346 Bogart, Sewall B 1317

Azevedo, Andre 1586 Beans, Thomas Ellard. . . 1362 Bohnett, Floyd 0 1403

Azevedo, Joseph C 1391 Beans, William Knox. . . 762 Bohnett, Joseph 848

INDEX

Bohnett, Lewis Dan 1670 Burket, Mrs. Julia E 1249 Casley. James 663

Boisseranc, August 1270 Burkett, A. Kieffer 1134 Cassady, Sydney 1612

Bolfing, C. T. 1652 Burkett, George P 825 Cassin,' Charles M 1229

Bonar, Edgar P 1329 Burnett, David IM 342 Castello, John 1437

Bone, Joseph H 995 Burns. T. S 1626 Castilleja School 762

Bonetti, Henry 1278 Burrell. Frederick C. . . . 472 Castillou, James 1459

Bonnet. Adrien 1188 Burright, Charles L 1630 Castle, Arthur F 661

Bonnet, Gaston 1691 Burrows, Thomas J 1195 Castle, Mrs. California . . 479

Bonnet, Louis Joseph... 1550 Burton, Henry Heber... 1033 Castle, L N 479

Booker, George E 1269 Butcher, Rolla 944 Castro, Crisanto 1.^80

Booth, Miss Etta E 1289 Butcher, Rolla, Sr 943 Caswell, Frank V 1202

Bordenave, Nicholas .... 1469 Button, Dr. W. H 1491 Catania, Henry 1391

Bordi, Baptiste 1470 Byrne, Garrett J 490 Cauhape, Victor 1315

Boulware, Milton A 341 Calanchini, Ermenegildo. 1670 Cavala, Paul L..^ 1372

Bourguignon, Frank E. . 1006 Calcagno, Simone 1550 Cavallaro, Clifton D 1527

Boussy, Ferdinand 1688 Caldwell. Charles Henry. 1655 Cavallaro, John 851

Bowen, Fred 888 Caleb. Miles Monroe. .". . 665 Challen, Victor 1234

Boyd, James, D. V. S. . . . 644 Calkins, Geo. W 1347 Chambers, J. W 1666

Bradford, Alden E 1196 Call, George B 975 Chapin, Frank E 1039

Bradford, Mrs. Allis Callahan, Thomas 1 1626 Chargin, Joseph A 1595

Kimball Ballou 972 Cambiano, Paul D". 1518 Chase, Elmer E 844

Brandenburg, Harrv E.. 1257 Cameron, Dr. David Paul 817 Chase, Foster Wooden.. 1118

Brandt, Charles . /. 1066 Camp. John M 1459 Chase, Elmer E., Jr 1518

Braslan, Charles P 607 Camp, Wilbur Lee 629 Chrisman, Walter L 463

Brattan, Mrs. Catherine F 516 Campbell, Alexander D. . 678 Chrisman, William Henry 475

Bray, Mrs. Clara C 880 Campbell, Andrew J 1113 Christian, Charles W 603

Brazil, Manuel S 1408 Campbell, Carl 1007 Churchill, C. C 1692

Breitwieser, John J 1564 Campbell, David \\illiam 1137 Churnside. Thomas 1576

Bressani. Richard V 1448 Campbell. George 1414 Chynoweth, Mrs. Mary PL 334

Breton, J. Walter 1200 Campbell, James Henry. 795 Cil'ker, William Hamilton 1466

Bridgman, Roy W 550 Camps. Frank L 1577 Clark,' C. H 1492

Brimson, Joseph Marion. 1604 Cantua, Joseph M 560 Clark. Charles 507

Brinkman, Fred H 1243 Cantua. Lenora 560 Clark. George Thomas. . 788

Britschgi, Jack E 1651 Cappa, Joseph 1669 Clark, John A., M. D. . . . 1431

Britton, Arthur T 1052 Cardoza, John F 1431 Clark, Jonas, M. D 935

Britton, Lewis H 1317 Cardoza, Tom 976 Clayton, James A 803

Britton, Robert 1318 Careaga, Mrs. Maria A. . 484 Clayton, Willis S 807

Broedel, Michael 624 Carlo, John R 873 Clearwaters, Reuben D . . 651

Brokenshire, John R 1388 Carlson, C. A 577 Clements, W^ T 1191

Bronk, Manuel 1434 Carlson. Charles 0 1550 Clouser, Harry E 1378

Bronner, Clarence F 1612 Carlyle, James S 1199 Coates, Washington B.. 1015

Brooks, Joseph T 857 Carmelite Monastery 1429 Cochrane, Mrs. Aphelia F 756

Brosius, A. F 1233 Carmichael, Daniel.' 831 Cody. L. R 658

Broughton. Lem 1629 Carmichael, Neil 827 Coe, Henry W 396

Brown, Albert S 1337 Carmichael, Mrs. Wm. H. 1008 Coe, Henry Willard 395

Brown, E. N 436 Carpenter, Dr. H. F 578 Coelho, Alexander Rose . 694

Brown, Judge Frederick Carper, Samuel H 1281 Collins, Rev. Richard... 1527

Benjamin 688 Carrey, Albert 1 933 Colombet, Emily J 1108

Brown, George M 333 Carroll, Thomas .\ 453 Colt, William F 1522

Brown, James 1617 Carson, James S - 8,37 Compton, A\ 1648

Brown, Sewall S 1465 Ca.salegno, Thomas and Conant, Ernest W 847

Browne, Harry E 1627 Henriette Pellier 471 Conrotto, Anselmo 1627

Brownell, Prof. Elmer E. 767 Casaletto, Laurence G... 1211 Cook, Marion Virgil ... . 1680

Bryant, Col. D. H 442 Ca.saucau, Michel 1429 Cooley, Charles P 964

Buckley, George Stephen 1282 Casaurang, Peter and [ean 1157 Coombs, Frank W 7.V

Burdick, Charles L 1025 Casey, Jeremiah D. .". . . . 472 Cooper, Astley D. M. . . . 676

liurdick, George B 1517 Casey, Michael 416 Coopers, Edmond 852

INDEX

Coopers. Joseph B 852 Davenport. Alervyn A. . . 1258 England, Beverly Allen. . 888

Coopers, Louis P 852 Davison, Charles' W 878 England, Gus A 1388

Cordes, Paul H 943 Dean. Charles 0 1588 Erickson. Andrew L 719

Cornell, F. E 486 De Carli. Louis Charles. 684 Ernst Brothers 1383

Corotto, John A 683 De Forest, Albert T 1191 Eschenburg. Rodney 383

Corpstein. Joseph T 1244 De Lacy, Hugh A 713 Esrey, John 964

Correa, Frank Silveira. . . 1447 Delmaestro, Edward 1165 Estrade, Mrs. Lizzie 1308

Costa, George M 1665 Delmue, Ernest 1239 Estrade, Prosper 1308

Costigan, John H 705 Delyon, Eugene 1159 Evans, Francis Marion.. 705

Costigan, Robert A 574 De Mattei, Michael 1363 Fahey, John H 581

Cottle, Ira 687 Denegri, Dismo M 1353 Fancher, Earle C 884

Cottle, Royal, Sr 411 De Silva, J. P 1550 Faria, J. S 1361

Cotton, George Douglas. 669 Desimone, Joseph S 1334 Farmers' & Merchants'

Couch, Thomas 538 Devenpeck, Glenn A.... 1622 National Bank of Moun-

Coulter, Major William A. 658 Devine, John James 526 tain View 843

Coupland, Wm. Richard. 1334 Devine, Joseph M 526 Farney, Edmund B 718

Covert, A. C 1263 Dickinson, John W 1432 Farnsworth, Ralph 1485

Cox, George W 673 Di Fiore. Angelo 901 Farrell, M 1395

Cox, Jacob Milan 800 Di Fiore, Domenico 1567 Farrell, Mrs. Maria 1030

Cox, John 838 Di Fiore, Frank 1154 Farwell, Franklin M. . . . 1199

Cox, Joseph Emory 955 Dinsmore, Dudley F 1245 Farwell, J. D 936

Cox, La Fayette 675 Dinsmore, John W., D.D., 1108 Fate, Harold L 1052

Cox, William 787 Distel, Edward Francis. . 902 Fatjo, Robert A 630

Crabb, Alexander L 697 Dodds, H. G 1377 Fellom, James Matthew. 496

Cramer, David Harold. . . 1052 Doerr, Charles 520 Fellom, John A., Sr 761

Cramer, Joseph L 1233 Doerr, Henry C 1119 Fellows, Edmund L 792

Crawford, Edward D. . . . 512 Doidge, Mrs. Elizabeth A. 1262 Fernald, Josephine M. . . 914

Crawford, James N 1 174 Dornberger, Victor 670 Ferreira, Joe J 1443

Cribari, Fiore 1461 Dowling, Thomas M 1610 Ferrell, James 1079

Cribari. Paul A 1536 Draper,'^ Wilbur H 1043 Fieger, George W 1505

Crippen, Carlton Carlvle. 1352 Du Brutz, Anthony G. . . 1239 Fiehmann, George J 1307

Cross. William J. ...'.. . 1203 Dufour, Charles . .' 1290 Filice, Gennaro 1609

Crow, Max J 923 Duncan, John F 1333 Finley, Mrs. Louise M. . 1263

Cunningham, E. M 652 Dunn, James T 1020 First National Bank of

Cunningham, Joseph C. . 1249 Dunne, Mrs. Catherine. . 818 Los Altos 1188

Cunningham, Luther ... 598 Dunne, Peter J 804 Fisher, Fiacro Julian 721

Curry, Benjamin 0 404 Dutton Brothers 694 Fisher, Henry B 1084

Curtis. George M 766 Eastman, Edward Ferry. 939 Fisher, Ida M 643

Curtis, Manly M 1308 Eaton, Ernest C 677 Fitch. Harry H 1321

Curtner, Alan EUzroth. . 932 Eaton, Louis 1465 Fitts. William L 633

Curtner, Albert H 1058 Eaton, Ralph W 1400 Fitzgerald, John P 1222

Curtner, Allen E 581 Eberhard Tanning Co. . . 533 Fitzgerald, Thomas 586

Curtner, Henry 423 Ebinger, Lewis B 1184 Fitzgerald, Walter G. . . . 586

Curtner, Lucy Latham.. 424 Economou, William N... 1582 Flindt, Homer Eon 1636

Curtner, William M 1120 Edwards, Henry William 1158 Flint, Benjamin and

Gushing, Frank Allen ... 982 Edwards, Leonard P. . . . 1179 William R 504

Cuthbertson. Sidney M.. 1141 Ehrhorn, Adolph William 591 Foley, WiUiam Edward. 1105

Cutler, Charles W.'. 684 Ellet, Alfred Washington 1093 Fontaine, Gaston R 1029

Cutter, John J 1180 Ellet, Charles 755 Forbes, James Alexander 878

Cutting, Charles D 1621 Ellet, Edward Carpenter. 746 Forbes, Judge James A. . 1554

Cutting. Dr. James A . . . . 826 Ellis, Edward F 931 Ford, Clifford M 1348

Da Cruz, Rev. M. A 1489 Ellis, James H 792 Forward, James W 1095

Daft, Joseph 1650 Ellis, John Edward 1285 Forward, Jas. Wesley ... 874

Dahlgren. Andrew P. . . . 947 Ellis, Marion E 1257 Foss, Mrs. Sarah A 442

Daly, Phillip 1160 Elmer, L. H 1117 Foster, Fred Lawrence. . 1486

Darling, Salma 710 Elmer, Walter M 1212 Fourcade, Susanna W. . . 947

Darsie, William 752 Emery, Dr. Grenville C. . . 525 Fonts. David P 1076

INDEX

Francalanzo, Joseph 1407 Goodrick, Thomas A 1184 Harris, James William.. 729

Francis, Octave J 1125 Goodwin, C. B 1531 Harrub, Irving E 1630

Fredericks, Karl R 503 Goodwin, James A 1367 Hart, Alexander J 504

Free, Hon. Arthur M.. . . 880 Gordon, Harry V 1354 Hart, Leopold 323

Freelyn, Elias H 574 Gordon, Dr. William D.. 1543 Hart, Orville Benjamin. . 669

Freeman, Edgar H 796 Gosbey, Hon. Perley F. . 529 Hartley, W. W 545

Freeman, Lloyd E 836 Gould, James ' 948 Harton, Will Green 1058

Freitas, John Andrews . . 1396 Graeb, Walter A 1549 Harvey, Harriet Newell. 592

Freitas, John R 1524 Granander, K. J 1501 Hauk,"john 917

French, Alden 1165 Gray, George A., M. D. . 1523 Haun, George J 718

French, Ernest A 1169 Greco, Anthony 1149 Hayes, Everis Anson . . . 320

French, John H 1524 Greco, Gaspare 1603 Hayes, Mrs. Everis A. . . 530

Frisbie, Mrs. Geraldine E. 568 Greco, Victor V 1632 Hayes, Hon. Jay Orley. . 324

Fry, H. Ray 879 Green, Ed. R 1150 Hayes, Mrs. Jay Orley. . 905

Fuchs, Emil V 1652 Greenley, Joseph Spencer 1540 Hayes-Chvnoweth, Mrs.

Fullington, Rolla F 953 Griffiths, William 838 , Marv .' 334

Fulmer, Jacob P 1029 Grim, Ira H 1056 Headen, Dr. Benjamin F. 599

Funkier, WiUiam 1154 Grimm, George 597 Hedegard, S. N 1558

Gagliasso, Charles 1090 Grisez, Celestine J 1526 Heilmann, Stephen 768

Gagliasso, Luigi 1329 Grisez, Rev. John C., S. J. 1489 Heimgartner, William B. 1513

Gallagher, Alfred D 1 163 Growers Bank 1299 Helwig Lester H 670

Gallagher, George F. . . . 1163 Gruwell, Charles Lee. . . . 722 Hendy Iron Works 818

Gallagher, Richard 515 Gruwell, Lawrence C 1481 Hendy, John Harris 784

Gallagher, William L 1245 Gubser, August 1466 Henkle, R. E 1209

Gamble, Edwin P 1330 Guglielmoni, S. E 1559 Heney, Richard 1560

Gardner, Fred H 730 Guglieri, Dr. A. A 892 Henry, William Fiske. . . 765

Gardner, Walter J 569 Guglieri, Mrs. Adela R. . 892 Herm'le, Andrew 1505

Gardner, William S 741 Guglieri, Gregory 1501 Herring, S. H .. 1141

Garrod, David 1106 Gwartney, Mrs. Betty. . . 1481 Herrmann, Charles F. W. 500

Garrod, Ralph Vince.... 1201 Gwinn, Marion Thomas. 1478 Herrold, Charles David.. 1293

Gatter, Jacob M. H., Jr. . 1540 Haag. William F 585 Hershey, Chester E 1630

Gattuccio, Bart, M. D... 890 Haag, Mrs. EHse M 585 Hersman, Hugh Steel... 1184

Geer, Mrs. Clara A 1563 Haase, Maxwell Benno. . 1202 Hersman, William M. . . . 1433

Genardini, Charles 1300 Hagelin, John L 1327 Hess, Alexander W., Sr. 1274

Genovesi Bros., Zapelli & Hageman, Joe 771 Hettinger, Eby Athy 954

Company 1501 Haight, Clark W 1564 Heyde, John W. Edward 1560

Geoffroy, August 638 Haley, Edward 11 16 Hevmann, Adolph 1635

George, Mrs. Amelia D. . 1061 Hall, William Henry. . . . 1286 Hiatt, Frederick Lee. . . . 1114

George, Manuel F 1490 Haman, Carl Wesley. ... 812 Hiatt, James 1494

George, Mrs. Mary W. . 1166 Hambly, Francis James. . 1115 Hichborn, Franklin 436

Gerow, Forest B 1629 Hamilton. George, Sr 371 Hill, Andrew P 355

Giacomazzi, Edward P.. . 1494 Hamlin, E. C 1204 Hill. Frank D 1543

Giacomazzi, William F. . 1164 Hammond, Mrs. Martha 1120 Hill, Henrie Granville... 882

Giardano, Frank 1677 Hancock, Joseph Edward 934 Hill, Henry Tanner 960

Gibson, L. W 1456 Hanger, Curtis Elden. . . 1083 Hills, Alfred Farlev 1121

Gifford, Julia A 1102 Hansen, Antone K 1525 Hinsdale, Willian, A. B.. 1636

Gifford, Loren N 533 Hansen, James 1096 Hirsch, Mrs. Emma 898

Gillespie, John 1201 Hansen, Knut H 1344 Hinds, Carleton Jay 1677

Gilroy Public Schools... 1138 Hansen, Mrs. Mary E. . . 1102 Hobson, Benjamin' F. .. . 483

Giottonini, William 887 Hanson, Floyd A 1261 Hobson, Herman W 1112

Glans, Oscar E 634 Hanson, George Warren. 832 Hobson, William B 404

Glennon, Matthew J 1169 Hanson, Mildred P 1051 Hoesch, Judge John M.. 1149

Gober, Robert P., M. D.. 1460 Hapgood, Frank A 1460 Hogan, Thomas C 890

Gober, Rev. W. R 1460 Hares, William Lionel. . . 1659 Hogg, Henry C 1095

Gohranson, Oscar F 1364 Harms, George W 1472 Hogg, Robert L., M. D. . 665

Goldmann, Edmund, Dr. 1234 Harms, Henry A 1539 Holmes, F. H 1107

Goodrich, Clifford Byron 1303 Harper, Capt. Richard B. 732 Holthouse, Eberhardt H. 832

INDEX

Holthouse, J. Fred 836 Johnson, Nils 519 Lambert, Tom 1358

Holthouse, Mark H 835 Johnson, Theodore 585 Lande, Rev. William J.. 1339

Hooper, H 1340 Johnston, William Allen 709 Landon, Peter D 683

Hoque, Francis M 734 Jones, C. H 717 Lanfri, C 1187

Hoque, William Francis. 734 Jordheim, Ole 1497 Langford, Arthur Burr 559

Horn, Mrs. Emily J 917 Joshua Hendy Iron Langford, Robert Jackson 559

Horstmann, Fred H 1641 Works 818 Lanham, Oscar M 1544

Houser, Harry A 1543 Juarez, Joseph L 1322 Lannin, Frank T 1212

Howe, Miss Agnes E. .. . 654 Kammerer, Leroy H 1639 Lapachet, Henry 1680

Howe, William B 897 Kammerer, Urban A 1250 Larson, Carl A 1554

Howes, Charles E., Jr. . . 1116 Kasson, Frank 1362 Larson, Charles A 1632

Howes, Charles Edward. 1115 Kearney, Thomas E 1337 Larson, Fred W 1544

Howes, Freeman L 1169 Keeble, Edward G 1603 Larson, Lewis 821

Hoyt, Frank L 1513 Keeble, Richard P 359 Latham, Allen R 1129

Hubbard, Thos. B...1062, 1118 Keesling, Alva Curtis ... 1057 Lathrop, Charles Gardner 1021

Hubbard, Albert Lester. . 1062 Keesling, George L 897 Laumeister, Gustav 1683

Hubbard, Mrs. Sierra N.. 1118 Kelley, Alphonzo M 1040 Laura, Charles E 1647

Hubbard, Frank 1404 Kelley, Dr. Thomas 1040 Lausten, Brousen P 1472

Huff, Frank L 1019 Kelly, George Albert. . . . 1204 Lawrence, William H. . . 647

Huber, Charles H 1679 Kemp, Freeman H . . 14U4 Lawrence, George C 1180

Huff, James A 1065 Kendall, E. F 467 Leaman, James B 862

Hughes, John 563 Kendall, Mrs. Letitia Learnard, Tracy 1328

Hultberg, Nels 0 1240 Pearl Snyder 464 LeDeit, George H 1169

Hunt, Charles A 1490 Kennedy, James C 612 LeDeit, Sylvain 1133

Hunt, Harold G 1245 Kennedy, James K 1304 Lee, H. Irving 1665

Hunter, Frank A 1122 Kennedy, Karl F 1486 Lee, Professor Robert A. 651

Husted, Ralph Allen. . . . 1213 Kennedy, Mark E 1157 Leib, Frank A 726

Hutton, Hiram Coye. ... 1170 Kenyon, Frank 529 Leib, S. F 316

Hutton, Warner 515 Kenyon, James Monroe . 1399 Leitch, Edwin H 657

Huxtable, Frederick J. . . 1575 Kerr, Henry M 853 Leiter, Jeremiah 714

Ingels, Bruce 924 Kerwin, John B 597 Leland, Raymond Barrett 1380

Ingleson, Mrs. Robert S. 706 Kerwin, Thomas 597 Lener, Mrs. Kaspar 1502

Interurban Sanitarium .. 1563 Kesling, Earl E 1485 Lenfest, Lee R 1407

Irwin, Samuel J 877 Ketchum, Otto L 1164 Lepesh, Andrew P 1334

Isaacson, Herman 1214 Kidder, George S 1265 Lester, Amos 634

Isasca, Vincent 1295 Kidwell, James Milton. . 902 Lester, Charles C 865

Jackson, Jonathan F . . . . 922 Kirk, Bert T 883 Lester, Fred E 1022

Jackson, Roy 1 1548 Kirk, Mrs. Louise G. . . . 648 Lester, Henry W 905

Jacobs, Sol 1071 Kirk, Theophilus 379 Lester, Nathan L 568

James, D. W 1462 Kissinger, Henry 1684 Lester, Mrs. Sarah E.. . . 431

James, William Henry . . 1225 Klotz, Christian M 1493 Lester, WiUiam Walter. . 568

January, Wm. A 1687 Knoeppel, Matthias 1039 Le Suer, Frank A 147.5

Jemm, Otto F 1611 Knoles, Tully Cleon, D.D. 511 Levin, George A 519

Jennings, W. W. and Mrs. Knowles, Frank W., M.D. 852 Lewis, George R 1587

Ella Lords 485 Knowles, Homer 476 Lewis, Harry C 1261

Jensen, Anton M 1277 Koch, Valentine 891 Liddicoat, George 1143

Jepsen, Andrew H 692 Koehle, I. J 1373 Liddicoat, William 1143

Jepsen, Mathias P 1339 Kohner, Ignatz 857 Lidley, Will George 1587

Jessen, Conrad 1659 Kopp, Henry Louis 1477 Lieber, Louis 633

Joaquin, Joe 1666 Krause, Herman B 1213 Lietz, Charles F 629

Johanson, Carl A 1591 Krieg, Henrietta Rehor. . 854 Lightston, James Louis. . 360

Johnson, Emil A 1610 Kyle, S. Clyde 1469 Liljenstein, Gustaf M. . . . 1459

Johnson, Frank A 955 Lacerda, John P 1642 Lindholm, Carl 1417

Johnson, Frank W 1312 Lacoste, G 1493 Linehan, Peter L 549

Johnson, Harry 1160 Ladarre, Firmin 1273 Linquist, F. A 1647

Johnson, Herschel 1482 Laffey, James A 858 Lion, Ernest P 1065

Johnson, Mrs. Myrtle W. 955 Lake. French W 1585 Lion. Gustave F 767

INDEX

Lion, Lazard 766 Martin, Rev. Thomas R.. Miller, Frank J 1158

Live Oak Union High S. J 1143 Miller, Mrs. Grace C. . . . 1101

School 1318 Mathews, A. H 1354 Miller, Hale Rov 1351

Lobdell, Frank H 1364 Mathews, Henry D 873 Miller, Harley B 1221

Locicero, Nicholas 1635 Mathewson, John A 1497 Miller, Henry 351

Locurto, John R 503 Matracia, Alexander .... 1547 Miller, Judge T. H 1026

Logue, James 843 Matteis, Mrs. Cattherina Millich, Frank 1684

Loproto, Joseph 1618 Geraiid 1160 Mills, Arthur 1505

Lord, Major William A. 1558 Matteis. Joseph 1160 Mills, Ora P 1044

Lords, John M 677 Matty, Antoine 887 Milne, Alexander 935

Lords, Walden 485 Mayhew, Dr. Arthur B. . 764 Mineo, Henry A 1659

Lorigan, Charles M 1048 Maynard, Edmund W. . . 807 Minter, Henry C 1474

Lorigan. Judge Wm. G.. . 1089 Mayock, Stonewall J. . . . 416 Miss Harker's School. . . 764

Losse, Austin N 662 Maze, Edward Record. . . 989 Moe, Arthur 1432

Losse, H. E 662 Maze, Spencer Morrow. . 438 Moenning, Milton G 1640

Losse, Weir C 1604 McArthur, Robert A 554 Monahan, Thomas 1240

Lovell, John A 624 McBain, John 567 Monier, L. A 1348

Lowe, Sam B 733 McCarron, Andrew J 1425 Montezuma Mountain

Loyst, Andrew 1 998 McCarthy, John R 729 School for Boys 1269

Loyst, Maria Cox 611 McCarthy, Richard 600 Montgomery, Alexander. 554

Lund, H. J 1125 McCarty, John E 1615 Montmayeur, Pierre 1015

Lundin, Theodore C 1113 McCauley, James F 1076 Montoya, Antonio 411

Lundy, David H 1383 McChesney, James Roger 1510 Montoya, Manuel 1218

Lunsford, Lewis M 1426 McCline, George E 848 Mood}', David Bacon. . . . 771

Luscher, Ferdinand 1548 McComas, Henry W. . . . 1374 Moore, Samuel T 918

Luther, Don Walter 387 McCombs, W. C 1670 Morell, George F 976

Luther, Jacob 638 McCracken, Mrs. Eliza- Morgin, Ned B 1647

Lutter, Clarence A 1311 beth 435 Morrell, Albert E 1094

Lyie, George W 858 McCurdy, V. T 1316 Morris, Theodore John. . 1214

Lyndon, James H 403 McDaniel. Wilfred A. . . . 1217 Morrison & Wallace. . . . 1470

Lyndon, John W 800 McDonald, Archie 400 Morton, Ada Scott, M. D. 1080

Mabury, Howard Irvin. . 853 McDonald, James A 495 Mossi, John 1084

Macabee, Z. A 1289 McGinnis, James Sumner 523 Muir, Chas. H 1600

Macaulay, John W 891 McGrath. Daniel J 879 Muir, Ray 1159

Macdonald, Hugh 731 McGrath, Eugene "0 725 Mulcahv, Matthew F 1444

Machado, Frank A 1521 McGrurv, Warren J 1422 Mule. Charles 1363

Machado, Frank R 1492 McHenry, Francis J 1173 Mullen, Edward H 1465

Machado, Manuel A 1418 McKee, Edson 1437 Mullen, William Henry. 1294

MacLeod, Mrs. Elizabeth 628 McKee, George Butter- Murgotten, Alexander P. 345

Madsen, H. Chris 1656 field 419 Murphy, Bernard D 997

Magee, John Lafayette. . 734 McKee, Hubbard 577 Murphy, Martin 908

Magee, Robert Bruce. 1422 McKenzie. Michael 1616 Mur])hy, Patrick 1109

Ma.o-o-ini, Plin .. 537 McKeown, Daniel Linden 1179 Murrin, James 637

Maher Thomas 861 McLachlan, Duncan P... 1153 Musso, Fred G 1129

Main W H 1585 McMurtry, George S 998 Narvaez, Miguel H 1669

AT^- ' „■ "Ail' T 1 mi Mederios, Justino 1502 Nash, Lyle R 1134

Maisonneuve, AlphonseJ. 1403 ^.^ , V i /^ tt^ m ....• t t a^o

.r , . , ^. ' ■' ,,„^ Menker, John C 376 Nattmger, Lyman L 468

Malatesta, Giacomo .... 1606 ,r , rr t, . ^^ t^ mz; tvt i ^ r-u i r^ von

-, „r, , ,. , .^^ Menton, Hubert O. F. . . 596 Navlet, Charles C 720

Mancuso, 1 heodore M. . . 1656 ^j^^^ju^ Richard J 1315 Neilsen, Neils Adler .... 1414

Mangmn Bros 1368 Merrill, Walter 1., M.D.. 1622 Nelsen, Peter 1112

Manotti, Luigi M 1609 Merriman, Mrs. Isabelle. 956 Nelson, Alfred R 1480

Martella, Giacomo 1322 Merritt, James C 725 Nelson, Gustave 468

Marten, John S 1535 Meyer, Albert M 1493 Nelson, John W 1526

Martin, Elizabeth H 346 Meyer, Emil 1111 Nelson, Nick 1426

Martin, Julius 346 Meyer, Peter H 1473 Newell, Edward, M. D. . . 1448

Martin, P. J 1581 Michel, John J 1396 Newman Hall 889

Martin, Samuel 1126 Millard, Byron 901 Nichols, Charles L 1357

INDEX

Nichols, John Henry 1539 Page, George W 997 Pitman, William Ward. . 1270

Nichols', Thomas Benton 959 Palo Alto Public Library 909 Pisturino, Sam 1312

Nichols', Valentine David 666 Pancera, John 698 Place, Elvert Ernest 1660

Nichols] Walter Ham- Panighetti, Carlo 1088 Plank, Mrs. Melinda C. . 1043

mond' 967 Panighetti, Silvestro ... 1559 Polhemus, George Bissell 365

Nicholson, George A 1527 Parker, Charles 1422 Polhemus, Edward R 1130

Nicholson' George E 996 Parker, Major Lewis F. . 592 Poli, Luigi 1560

Nielsen, Anton T 1338 Parkhurst, Mrs. Ella S.. 1025 Pomeroy, Irwin Edgar.. 564

Nielsen', Niels Nicholas. 537 Parkinson, J. F 427 Pomeroy, Marshall 534

Nightingill, Frank W. . . 960 Parkman, H. L 932 Pomeroy, Warren H 935

Nippon Mura Inn 1214 Parks, William W 585 Pogue, John Fawcett 1448

Nixon, John William 399 Parlier, Charles Allen... 1514 Portalupi, Evasio 1299

Nommensen, E 1307 Parton, Floyd A 1509 Porter, Rev. A. W. Noel 664

Norton, Evered H 1679 Pasetta, Mateo J 1418 Porter, William R 786

North, Mile J 1612 Pashote, Joaquin J 1592 Post, Alfred Breed 991

NotreDame College 1643 Passantino, Francisco ... 1330 Post, William 0 1266

Noyer, Joseph F 1663 Passelli, Steve 1391 Poston, Emory E 1622

Nuttm'an, Aloysius W. . . 1636 Patchell, Robert K 991 Power, Edward C 643

Oberg, Isaac 1066 Patterson. Steve 1641 Poulsen, Jacobi 1371

O'Brien, Jeremiah J 1481 Paul, DePhonzo Gibson. 524 Pourroy, Eloi 1270

O'Brien, Michael 1353 Pavlicevich, John 1656 Pourroy, Pierre C 1174

O'Connell, Albert F 995 Payne, George C 1664 Priest, Milo Ray 1528

O'Connell Bros, Inc 936 Payne, James Fred 913 Princevalle, James 931

O'Connell, Charles T. . . . 992 Peacock, Walter R 701 Provenzano, Joseph C. . . 1596

O'Connell, Elmer S 963 Peard, John James 1444 Prudhomme, Philippe ... 992

O'Connell, Frank J 975 Pearson, Charles 1599 Prussia, Willard L 679

O'Connell, G. Daniel. ... 996 Pearson, Charles A 1599 Puccinelli, Romolo L 1628

O'Connell, Thomas 710 Peckham, James B 1536 Purviance, Mrs. Elmyra. 1673

O'Connor, Percy 968 Pedgrift, Sam 1547 Puterbaugh, George E. . . 1482

O'Connor, Hon. M. P... 654 Peirano, Giacomo 1026 Radtke, William 1357

O'Connor Sanitarium ... 657 Pennington, John R 1246 Raggett, Martin 1497

Ogier, James Lee 1451 Perkins, James Elwin. . . 1509 Raggio, George 1595

O'Hara, Rev. Father Pat- Perone, Charles 1273 Rainey, Prof. Joseph W.. 874

rick J 1002 Perrone, Osea 1567 Rainwater, Julius H 1438

O'Keefe, Frank H 1170 Peter, Fred 1674 Rambo, Wliliam Taylor. 1372

Oldham, Louis F 1137 Petersen, Peter J 1456 Ramsay, William 1517

Olsen, Andrew 1576 Peterson, Fred L 1001 Randall, Laurence G. . . . 825

Olsson-Seffer, R. M 1461 Peterson, Peter J 1471 Ransom, Joel W 1377

Oneal, Louis 1358 Peterson, Mrs. Lillian J. 1001 Rasmussen. Chris 1130

O'Neil, Robert K 877 Pettit, E. T 489 Rathbun, F 1611

Orr, Horatio W 545 Pfister, Henry A 366 Rawlings, George S 526

Ortley, William B 837 PhiUips, Clarence E 1575 Rawlings, John A 879

Osborne, A. E., M. D. . . 570 Phillips, Frank 1347 Raymond, Daniel 679

Osmer, George 678 Phillips, Dr. La Forest E. 990 Redwine, Claude 538

Ostenberg, Pontus 1040 Phillips, William C 1421 Reed, Charles C, Jr 1491

Osterman, Fred W 973 Picchetti. Attilio 1642 Reed, Charles Pennelland

Otter. Hugo W 1211 Picchetti Bros 1596 Alice H 1434

Ousley. Samuel M 407 Pieper. Mrs. Adele E. . . . 412 Reeve. Earl 1603

Overfelt. Charles F 511 Pieper. Ernest 0 1217 Regnart. Herbert William 1096

Overfelt. Mrs. Marv 387 Pieper, John H 412 Regnart. Robert Edouard 1119

Overfelt. William C 384 Pierce, Charles H 990 Reid, John G 1539

Owsley. Edgar H 1571 Pierce. James H 341 Renaud. Mrs. Elise 1321

Pacific Manufacturing Pierce, James Pieronnet. 341 Rengstorff, Henry 383

Company 910 Pike, Jonathan 1674 Rengstorff, Henry A 824

Pacific Press Publishing Pitman, Cornelius Y 520 Reseburg, William H.. . . 1408

Association 714 Pitman, James M 799 Re.xworthy, H. S 1384

Page, Capt. Walter A. . . 1213 Pitman, Marion 963 Reynolds, James M 827

INDEX

Rhoades, William G 1452 Ryan, George W 1443 Sherman, F. A 731

Rianda, Antonio 981 Sabatte, Peter 1304 Shore, L. H 1586

Ribble, Charles C 1075 Saich, Anton 523 Short, James 1387

Ricard, Father Jerome Sainsevain, Paul C 775 Sigle, M. E 1523

Sextus, S. J 742 Saleeby, Elijah M 1044 Silliman, John C., M. D.. 719

Rice, Burl E 1311 Sampson, Leslie E 1605 Silva, Domingos A 1490

Rice, John A., D. D. S. . . . 954 Sanders, Forrest D 662 Silva, Manuel S 1433

Rice, William A 1605 Sanders, Stephen Poole. . 586 Silveira, Joaquin J 627

Richard, Louis M 889 San Jose Abstract & Title Silver, Harry .' . . . 1617

Richards, Dr. Charles M. 898 Insurance Company... 1378 Simmons, John Joseph.. 1367

Richards, John Evan 315 San Jose Mercury-Herald 982 Simon, Joseph V 1618

Richardson, Owen Dale. . 1374 Sanor, William J 1616 Simpson, William, M. D. 496

Richman, John W 1581 Saunders. Stephen M. .. . 1254 sino-letary Emory C 940

Richmond, Cedric Rae. . . 1217 Savage. Granville L 515 Sin^letary', Emory G... ". 438

Richmond, Edmund N. . . 553 Savstrom, Charles 1203 sin^letary' Georo-e C 441

Richter, P. Hermann H. 617 Sawyer, Eugene T 372 gj^^^^^^ Patrick^B. . '. '. '. '. 956

Ridley, LaFayette 1347 Scaglione, Louis A 1678 c:„_. -p.-j 141 -5

Riggs, Wliam Ashley.. 1544 Scagliotti. Ed. 1600 skin'ner, Charles' C. ::::'. ! 1615

Righter, Francis Marion. 1144 Scagliotti, Emilio 1606 ci • u t -sr z;-??

„.? ,U.„. T- ICC o 1 u 1 TVT T- ijT- Slavich, Lorenzo V 673

Riker, William E 155o Scherrebeck, Mary E. . . . 133/ „i r^ ^I7■ ■, Avn

Riordan, Thomas J 1539 Schilling, F. A. 578 Slocum. George W 479

Rispaud, Jules Emile. . . . 1087 Schilling. Herbert Emile 553 ^'"l"''^' , ,°"'? ^ !^v^

Rispaud, Mrs. Renee. . . . 1300 Schirle. Anton & Sons. . . 676 T" ,' ^,, ^'^ t^ii

Roberts, George 701 Schlaudt. Edward and Smith, Char es 0 1106

Roberts, Herbert L 1462 Augusta 564 Smith, Charles R 1506

Roberts, W. K 542 Schmidt, Emil 1414 Smith, Francis 612

Robertson, Charles D.. . . 604 Schmidt, H. C 1154 Smith, Fred B 1150

Robertson, Edward C. . . 1379 Schmitt, Michael 1652 Smith, George F 618

Robertson, Richard Felix 560 Schoenheit, Augustus A. 1087 Smith, Harry Ellsworth. 1226

Robidoux, Wilfrid F 680 Schroeder, J. H. C 1479 Smith, James 1277

Robinson, Arthur J 1578 Schubert, Adolph V 1218 Smith. John 837

Robinson, Henry 1578 Schuh, William 1540 Smith, Olando J 549

Robinson, Perry W 400 Schulz, John 1195 Smith, P. Milton 1109

Robinson, Robert S 1199 Schutte, Anthony 1640 Smith, Rebecca Crites.. 612

Rocliffe, Chas. Robert... 1115 Sciarrino, Samuel 1522 Smith, Stanley Bassett. . 1134

Roche, M. J 1166 Scofield, F. Ned 1568 Smith, Thomas E 1218

Rodeck, S. G 768 Scorsur, Benjamin 1644 Snell, Ralph L 608

Rodoni, John 1563 Scorsur, John 1665 Snitjer, Fannie Bonney. . 868

Roessler, John Robert. . . 1008 Scorsur, Nick 1478 Snow, Irving Walter.'. . . 1138

Rogers, Josephine Rand. 388 Scorsur, Steve 1472 Snyder, Arthur J 824

Rogers, R. Nella 913 Scott, Robert 733 Snyder, John 791

Roil, John 866 Scale, Alfred 972 Soares, Francisco P 1392

Roller, Arthur 1460 Searl, Garner R 1367 Sobey, Mrs. E. J 1563

Roller & Hapgood 1460 Seely, George B 1210 Solari' Victor A 1387

Ronecker, Charles J 1431 Selby, Mrs. John S 483 Sonnichsen, L. H 1447

Rose, Joseph F 1514 Selby, William H 706 Sontheimer, Urban A. '. '. '. 653

Rose, Mrs. Rosie G 138/ Sequeira, M. T 1434 Soper, Darwin J 826

Rucker, Joseph E //6 ggrpa, WiUiam F 1133 Sourisseau, Felix 948

5"'', ^'u-^Ti? 1A97 Sex, James Patrick 702 South, Charles D 541

Rudolph, Allen 1627

Rudolph, Paul 891

Shannon, John. Francis. . 883 Souza, M. M 599

RusseTl "'Andrew ."".'!. ^ 1016 Shaw, Elton Randall 1222 Spalding, Hon. C. C 380

Russell', Lawrence '.'.'.'.'.'. 500 Shaw. James G 693 Spargur, C. G 1438

Russo, Joseph 1535 Sheehy, Phillip G 862 Speciale, Orvis H 1652

Russo, Nicholas H 1617 Sheldon, Stephen White. 927 Spencer, James A 1021

Rust, Charles W 1253 Shelley, Sivert H 674 Spooner, D. Rutledge. . . 1631

Ryan, Fred S., M. D 1258 Shepherd, James W 1101 Spring, Thaddeus W 372

INDEX

Squire, Charles H 1373 Sutherland, J. C 611 Vandervoort, Irving P.. . . 989

Squires, Leiand J 1506 Sutherland, William ... 366 Van Lone, Walter Allen 1126

Stagg, John C. F 637 Svilich, John 1438 Van Orden, Richard P.. . 1226

Stanfield, James J 800 Sweatt, William E 823 Vargas Bros 546

Stanfield, John Harold. . 947 Syer, Robert S 573 Vath, Charles J 1121

Stanfield, John J 1061 Talbert, Edith Leach... 628 Vatuone, Romeo F 1621

Stanford Bank 985 Talbott, Mrs. Alice Lee. . 906 Vaughan, Patrick Eugene 1222

Stanford, Mrs. Jane L. . . 330 Talia, Peter 1492 Vedova, John D 1522

Stanford, Leiand 327 Tallmon, George W 1395 Volkers, Arthur W 1531

Stanford University Tanner, A. E 1347 Volkers, Mrs. Delia 1047

Library 779 Tarleton, George Eber. . 1612 Von Dorsten, Frank A.. . 1079

Stanquist, Victor 1196 Tatham, Jefferson 1221 Wade, Sylvanus Raynor. 1296

Stanley, Harold J 1126 Taylor, John 1616 Wagner, Anton 884

Stapp, Jerome V 881 Taylor, William Dennis. 1107 Wagner Brothers 1640

Stau, Henry C 1188 Teed, John E 1137 Wagner. John Jacob. ... 1117

Staub, J. Samuel, M. D. . 604 Teixeira, A. J 1663 Wakefield, Leiand Henry 1525

Stebbins, C. L 1547 Templeman, Arthur W.. . 1328 Walker, George E 1610

Stevens, Burt 597 Templeton, William S... 618 Walker, Hon. George S.. 688

Stevens, Charles 1617 Teresi, Antonio 1625 Walker, William S 688

Stevens, Marcus H 1343 Teresi, Joseph A 1480 Walker, J. M. Church... 1477

Stevens, Orvis 597 Thayer, James W., M.D. 971 Walker, Leiand H 1225

Stewart, Frank W 591 Thiel, Charles 1606 Walker, Robert 981

Stewart, Ronald G 1115 Thom, James A 1273 Wallace, John Lindsley. . 1030

Stewart, Rufus E 1399 Thomas, C. H 1153 Walsh, Walter 963

Stewart, William D 811 Thomas, Clayton R 761 Walter, Henry C 812

St. John, Mrs. Lucy A. . 847 Thomas, Jerome B., M. D. 1451 Waltz, Howard S 1084

St. Joseph's High School 1142 Thomas, Massey .. .. 432 Waterman, Clarence H.. 1641

Stillens, Marion A 1480 Thomas, Marshal E.. ... . 1577 Watson, Mrs. Elizabeth

Stillwell, Joseph Charles 1230 Thomas, Wendell C 1647 Lowe 928

Stillwell, Joseph M 485 Thompson, Joseph A.. . . 1239 Ward, Alvin Ryland 921

Stock, Frank 854 Thompson, Mrs. Mary W. 763 Ward, J. Parmelee 1200

Stock, Peter 862 Thompson, William J.... 1249 Ward, Mr. & Mrs. Will-

Stocklmeier, Mathias . . . 1452 Thorp, John C 721 iam B 458

Stockton, Herbert 1559 Tomkin, Alfred Forbes.. 1557 AVashburn, Arthur H.... 1192

Stolte, Captain F 1684 Tomkin, Dr. Alfred Royce 986 Weaver, A. M 1648

Stone, Edward Bruce... 722 Tomlinson, Warren G... 1179 Weaver, Edward M 675

Stone, Vincent B 1587 Tompkins, Samuel G 973 Webster, Eugene D 1056

Stoppelworth, Edward J. 1230 Tonini, Pasquale 1678 Webster, Thornton Delos 1071

Stough, John William. . . 697 Tonkin, John 1343 Weeks, Charles 1005

Stout, Daniel W 890 Topham, Mrs. Hattie E.. 808 Wehner, Fred W 844

Strandberg, John W 817 Trimble, William Edward 1343 Welch, Hon. James R... 1057

Stralla, Madeline 1588 Tripp, Herbert R 623 Weller, Hon. Joseph R.. 1011

Strickland, Charles E... 828 Truck & Tractor Service Weltz, George C 1592

Strickland, Erve C 867 Company 1612 Wemple, Emerson H 1229

Studer, Fred F 1230 Turner, James 889 Western Industries Co.. . 1489

Stull, Robert J 1371 Turner, George Webster. 1105 Weston, Mrs." Abbie M.. 989

Stura, G. C 1173 Tuttle, Carl F 881 Weston, Benjamin Frank 989

Sturla, Angelo 1578 Tuttle, Hiram D 1233 Wheeler, Almon 924

Sturla, John, Sr 1479 Umbarger, Austin F 811 Whisler, Rev. George H. 763

Suess, R. C 1278 Ucovich, Mitchell, Nick, White, George C. . ."^ 1477

Sullivan, John W 472 and Peter 1361 White, John E 927

Summers, Robert 0 1180 University of Santa Clara 1571 White, Mrs. Margaret. . . 375

Sund, Herman 1090 Valpey, Horatio B 450 White, Mrs. Mary A.... 342

Sutherland, Mrs. Eliza A. 360 Van Dalsem, H. C 449 White, Thomas F 943

Sutherland, James 360 Van Dalsem, Louis J 449 Whitehurst, Logan L 934

INDEX

Whitehurst, William A..

1455

Whitman, Chauncey H..

741

Whitney, Hamilton C...

738

Wight David

1048

Wightman, P. R

807

Wilbur, Ray Lyman . . .

785

Wilcox, Elbert Joseph. .

415

Wilcox, Frank A

779

Wilcox, Frank C

564

Wilcox, Hon. Isaiah A..

775

Wilcox, Irwin Miles

489

Wildhagen, F. G

1625

Wilkes, Mrs. Ollie M...

975

Williams, Albert Edwarc

573

Williams, Augustus Clai

573

Williams, Amos Otis. . .

1536

Williams, Edson H. anc

Robert D

1618

Williams, Edward Nobk

1090

Williams. John S

1264

Williams, Thomas M.

M. D...:

Willson, Carlon R

Willson, Frank Chapman
Willson, Frederick C. ...

Willson. George A

Wilson. Doxey R.. M.D.
Wilson, Miss Emily S....

Wilson, Ernest

Wilson, Horace

Wilson, James

Wilson, Robert

Wilson, William A

Wilson, William R

Winkless, L. W., Jr

Witten, Charles L

Wolf, Joseph..

Wolfe, George C

Wolfe, Levi W

Wolff, William A

Wood, Dallas E

Wood, George A

Wood, Uriah 822

1474 Wood, Walter H 907

835 Woodrow, William L. ... 457

921 Woodworth, Thomas J.. 1192

1528 Worrall, George H.. M. D. 1330

1688 \\'orthen. George W 453

1130 Wright. Dr. Henry J. B.. 415

933 Wright, James Richard.. 923

1244 WVatt, Roscoe D 1531

1262 Yerkes, Ostrum H 595

1034 Yocco, Edward Clement. 1498

1625 Young, Col. Carl T 1282

1421 Young, Walter 1 1281

1295 Zakis, Peter John 1498

1648 Zarevich, Antone 1649

882 Zarevich, Nickolas 1650

1400 Zaro. Stephen D 1691

1327 Zeiro, Captain Egidio G. 653

1333 Zastrow, Minnie B 1307

1527 Zeller, John B 1655

974 Zickendrath, Ernest C. . . 1455

1663 Zollars, John M 1605

History

CHAPTER I.

Unrivaled Climate and Situation — Story of the Early Days — The Founding
and Growth of the Missions — Founding of San Jose — Secularization of
the Missions — Life on the Early Ranches — Early Government — The First
Americans — The lU-Fated Donner Party.

THERE is no county in California so rich
in material, romantic, progressive and
adventurous, as the County of Santa
Clara. It absorbs about the whole of the Santa
Clara Valley, rightly proclaimed the richest
valley in the state, and in respect of size, the
richest in the world. It is located at the south-
ern end of San Francisco Bay and the county,
itself, embraces 1355 square miles.

The climate is famed for its evenness and
salubrity. The Mt. Hamilton Range on the
east and the Santa Cruz Mountains on the
west protect the valley from the heat of the
San Joaquin plains and direct coast influences.
The Bay has a modifying effect, its cool
breezes which sweep through the valley, mak-
ing the summers cooler and the winters
warmer. The mean summer temperature is
seventy-five degrees ; winter, about si.xty de-
grees. The average rainfall is sixteen inches
for the valley and nearly twice that amount
for the mountains. There is an alternation of
storm and sunshine between October and May.
During this period there are from thirty to
forty days in which more or less rain falls ;
from sixty to seventy that are cloudy ; the rest
are bright and pleasant. These estimates vary
with particular seasons, but taking the aver-
age of a series of years, it will be found that
from October to May one-half the days are
cloudless and fully three-fourths such that
any outdoor vocation can be carried on with-
out discomfort or inconvenience.

Cyclones and terrific windstorms are un-
known and thunder is heard only at rare in-
tervals. With the month of March the rains
are practically over though showers are ex-
pected and hoped for in April. Summarizing,
it may be said that in any part of the year,
days too hot or too cold for the comfort of
those engaged in ordinary occupations are
rare. It may be added that the fears and fore-
Ixidings with which the seasons are elsewhere
greeted, are here unheard of. Coming with no
rigors, they bring no terrors and are alike wel-
comed as a change. In these conditions health
and comfort are largely subserved and also in

them the great horticultural possibilities, and
these, the elements of present and prospective
prosperity, are as constant as the ocean cur-
rents in which they have their origin, as
permanent as the mountain ranges which
bound the field of their e.xhil^ition.

Santa Clara County is the banner fruit sec-
tion of the state. In 1919 there were 98,152
acres planted in fruit trees and 2,850 acres in
vines. The total acreage of cereals, vegetables
and berries was 86,695 acres. The livestock
numbered 62,248; value $1,288,175. It is the
prune center of America. More prunes are
raised in the valley than are raised in the
whole United States outside. In 1919 the or-
chardists of the county received $45,000,000
from the product of their trees. This was ir-
respective of the money received from the
packers and canners. In the season ending in
the winter of 1919 the Southern Pacific Rail-
way handled about 153,000,000 pounds of
prunes in the territory between Hollister and
San Francisco. The crop was by far the larg-
est ever raised in the Santa Clara Valley. In
1921 the canneries of the valley paid out
nearly $50,000,000 for orchard products.

Though called the "garden spot of Califor-
nia," this phrase should not be interpreted to
make gardening more important than fruit
raising, for fruit raising is the prime industry.
Tim'ber, cattle raising, dairying and sundry in-
dustries have pla}'ed and still play an import-
ant part in the business life of the population,
though the days of wheat raising, grazing and
timber culture are passing rapidly. Lands so
fertile and so adaptable to fruits and vege-
tables cannot, in a section that is being rapidly
populated, be given over to any industry other
than one that is intensive. Within the limits
of the county there is practically no waste
land. It is interesting to bear in mind that
much of the poorer and rougher land com-
pares more than favorably with some of the
best acreage in the Eastern states.

A graphic and beautiful picture of the valley
appeared in the April (1920) issue of the

36

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

bv the aged priest in a solemn and impressive
manner. On that day he held his confirmation.
Founding of San Jose
Don Felipe de Neve, the third Spanish gov-
ernor of California, was in office from Decem-
ber 1774 to September, 1782. On June 3, 17/7,
he 'suggested to the central government in
Mexico the establishment of three settlements,
one of them being on the banks of the Guada-
lupe River, seventv-eight miles from Monte-
rey fortv-eight from the presidio at San Fran-
cisco and two and a quarter miles from the
Mission of Santa Clara. At that time. Lieu-
tenant Don Jose de Moraga, commanding at
San Francisco, was directed to detach nine
soldiers of know^n agricultural skill, two set-
tlers and three laborers to form a settlement
on the margin of the Guadalupe, which they
elTected on November 29, 1777. The name
thev gave it was San Jose de Guadalupe, the
app'roval from Spain being dated March 6,
1789.

On December 24. 1782, Lieutenant :\Ioraga
was directed to partition off the land to the
settlers, a dutv he effected between the thir-
teenth and nineteenth of May, 1783, the recip-
ients of the land being Ignacio Archeluta,
Manuel Gonzales. Jose Tiburcio Vasquez,
Alanuel Amesquita, Antonio Romero, Ber-
nardo Resales, Francisco Avila, Sebastian Al-
vitre and Claudio Alvires.

The first location was made nearly a mile
and a quarter from the center of the present
city of San Jose, about where a bridge spanned
a little stream on the road to Alviso. The
ground was too low at this point and the first
settlers were the victims of yearly recurring
floods and thieving Indians ; therefore, permis-
sion was asked to remove to higher land and
a more advantageous site. It takes long, how-
ever, to move the wheels of official machinery.
In the vear 1785, the question of the transfer
was mooted, but it was not until 1797 that
the removal was accomplished — the center of
the new site being near the corner of Market
and San Fernando streets.

Captain Vancouver, who visited Santa Clara
Valley in 1792. thus describes it: "We con-
sidere'd our course from San Francisco parallel
to the sea coast, between which and our path
the ridge of mountains extended to the south-
eastward. As we advanced, their sides and
summits exhibited a high degree of fertility,
interspersed with copses of various forms and
magnitudinous and verdant open spaces en-
circled with stately fruit trees of various de-
scriptions. About noon we arrived at a very
pleasant and enchanting lawn, situated amid
a grove of trees at the foot of a small hill,
by which flowed a very fine stream of excellent

water. We had not proceeded far from this
delightful spot when we entered a country I
little expected to find in these regions. For
almost twenty miles it could be compared to
a park which had originally been planted with
true old English oak. The underwood, which
had probably attained its early growth, had
the appearance of having been cleared away
and had left the stately lords of the forest in
complete possession of the soil, which was
ciivered with magnificent foliage and beau-
tifulK- dixersifiuil with pleasing eminences and
valleys, which, with the lofty ranges of moun-
tains, that bounded the prospect, required only
to he adorned with neat habitations of an in-
dustrious people to produce a scene not in-
ferior to the most studied effect of taste in
the disposal of grounds."

Frederic Hall, a pioneer lawyer of San
Jose, says in his history that nearly all the
Indians in the region described by Captain
Vancouver were in the habit of visiting the
hill on which the New Almaden mine was first
opened and worked to obtain the red paint
to adorn their faces and bodies. The cinna-
bar is of a reddish hue, and easily produces a
red pigment when moistened and rubbed.
While the color of the pigment was pleasing
to the eyes of the Indians its effect on their
system was by no means agreeable. It sali-
vated them — a result as mysterious and unex-
plainable to them as the setting of the sun.
Although a little painful, they seemed to for-
get their illness as they witnessed the lustre
of their skins, for they were as resolute in
their pride of dress as the proud damsel groan-
ing in tight corsets and tight shoes.

The Alameda, that renowned avenue that
links San Jose with Santa Clara, is known
and admired the world over. The planting
of the trees was started in 1799 by Father
Maguin de Catala, for the benefit of the way-
farer journeying between the two towns.
Two hundred Indians were employed to do
the work. The eastern limit of the grove was
at the Guadalupe River, but in time the
march of progress necessitated the removal of
many of the trees to make way for houses and
streets.

The original Mission of Santa Clara stood
near where now are seen the structures of the
Southern Pacific Railway station. Its walls
were cracked by an earthquake in 1812. but
no portion of it fell at that time. In 1822,
however, another and more severe shock
caused so much injury to the building that it
became necessary to take it down rather than
attempt to repair it. A site for a new Mission
was chosen a short distance to the southwest,
and in 1825-26 the new Mission Church was
completed. In later years, so great was the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

37

decay that it was found advisable to encase
the walls, remodel the facade and erect two
towers ; each served for the purpose of a
lookout. The face of the structure was paint-
ed in a rude fashion with biblical scenes in-
tended to attract the eye of the aboriginal,
while within were tableaux and allegorical
pictures. In 1884, as a sanitary measure, the
old Mission was torn down under the super-
vision of Father Robert E. Kenna, president
of Santa Clara College. One adobe wall was .
left standing to show the original construc-
tion and a number of pictures and relics were
allowed to remain.

Secularization of the Missions

In the year 1767 the property possessed by
the Jesuits, then known as the Pious Fund,
was taken charge of by the Government and
used for the benefit of the Missions. At that
time the possession vielded an annual revenue
of $50,000, $25,000 of which were expended in
the stipends of the Franciscan and Dominican
missionaries and the balance for the mainten-
ance of the missions generally. Father Glee-
son says : "The first inroads made upon these
pious donations was about the year 1806,
when to relieve the national wants caused by
the wars of 1801 and 1804 between Portugal
on the one hand and Great Britain on the
other, His Majesty's fiscal at Mexico scrupled
not to confiscate and remit to the authorities
in Spain as much as $200,000 of the Pious
Fund." By this means the Missions were de-
prived of most substantial aid and the Fathers
left upon their own resources. Two }'ears
after Mexico had been formed into a republic
the government authorities began to interfere
with the rights of the Fathers and the exist-
ing state of aflfairs. In 1826 instructions were
forwarded by the Federal Government to the
authorities in California for the liberation of
the Indians. This was followed a few years
later by another act ordering the whole of the
missions to be secularized and the religieux
to withdraw. The ostensible object assigned
by the authors of the measure was the execu-
tion of the original plan formed by the gov-
ernment. The Missions, it was alleged, were
never intended to be permanent establish-
ments; they were to give way in the course
of some years to the regular ecclesiastical
system when the people would be formed
into parishes attended by a secular clergy.

"Beneath these specious pretexts," says
Dwindle in his Colonial History, "was un-
doubtedly a perfect understanding between
the government at Mexico and the leading
men of California, and in such a condition of
things the Supreme Government might absorb
the Pious Fund under the pretense that it was

no longer necessarj- for missionary purposes,
and thus had reverted to the state as a quasi
escheat, while the co-actors in California
should appropriate the local wealth of the
Missions by the rapid and sure process of ad-
ministering their temporalities." And again :
"These laws whose ostensible purpose was to
convert the missionary establishments into
Indian pueblos, their churches into parish
churches, and to elevate the Christianized In-
dians to the rank of citizens, were, after all,
executed in such a manner that the so-called
secularization of the missions resulted only
in their plunder and complete ruin, and in the
demoralization and dispersion of the Chris-
tianized Indians."

Immediately upon the receipt of the decree
the then-acting Governor of California, Don
Jose Figueroa, commenced the carrying out of
its provisions to which he added certain rules
and in accordance therewith the alteration in
the missionary system was begun, to be imme-
diately followed by the absolute ruin of both
Missions and country. Within a very few
}-ears the work of the Fathers was entirely
destroyed ; the lands which had hitherto teem-
ed with abundance were handed over to the
Indians to be by them neglected and permit-
ted to return to their primitive wildness, while
the thousands of cattle were divided among
the people and the administrators.

In 1836 the number of Indians cared for in
the missions amounted to over 30,000. They
were peaceful, happy and contented, strang-
ers to those cares, troubles and anxieties com-
mon to higher and more civilized conditions of
life. At the same time that their religious
condition was one of thankfulness and grate-
ful satisfaction to the Fathers, their worldly
position was one of abundance and prosper-
ity. Divided among the different missions
from San Lucas to San Francisco close upon
one million head of livestock belonged to the
people. The united annual return of the cer-
eals, consisting of wheat, maize, beans and the
like, was upwards of 120,000 bushels, while
at the same time throughout the different mis-
sions the preparation and manufacture of
soap, leather, wine, brandy, hides, wool, oil,
cotton, hemp, linen, tobacco, salt and soda was
extensively pursued. And to such perfection
were these articles brought that some of them
were eagerly sought for and purchased in the
principal cities of Europe.

Such was the happy and prosperous condi-
tion of the country under missionary rule.
What resulted after the transfer of power to
the secular authorities was disastrous. In
1834 at the time of the secularization of the
missions there were 1,800 Indians belonging

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to the Mission of Santa Clara. In 1842 the
number had been reduced to four hundred.

Life on the Early Ranches

Prior to the American occupation of Cali-
fornia the natives were a half-caste race, be-
tween the half Castilian and the native Indian,
very few of the families retaining the pure
blood of old Castile. They were of all shades
of color and developed into a handsome and
vigorous race. Their wants were few and
easily supplied ; they were contented and
happy: the women were virtuous and devoted
to their church and religion, while the men.
in normal condition, were kind and hospit-
able, but when excited became rash, fearless,
even cruel, with no dread of knife or pistol.
Their generosity was great, everything they
had being at the disposal of friend or strang-
er. Socially they loved pleasure, spending
most of their time in music ami ilaiicin-- ; in-
deed such was their passion for the latter that
their horses were trained to curvet in time to
the tunes of the guitar. When not sleeping,
eating or dancing the men spent much time in
the saddle and naturally became expert eques-
trians. Horse racing was with them almost a
daily occurrence, not from the gain it might
bring but from the amusement to be derived
therefrom. To throw a dollar upon the
ground, ride by at a full gallop and pick it up
was a feat that most of them could perform.

Horses and cattle gave them their chief
occupation. They could use the riata or lasso
with the utmost dexterity ; whenever thrown
at a bullock, horseman or bear, it rarely miss-
ed its mark. The riata in the hands of a
Californian was a more dangerous weapon
than gun or pistol, while to catch a wild cow
with it, throw and tie her, without dismount-
ing, was most common, and to go through
the same performance with a bear was not
considered extraordinary. Their only articles
of export were hides and tallow, the value of
the former being a dollar and a half in cash
and two dollars in goods and the latter three
cents per pound in barter. Young heifers, two
years old, for breeding purposes were worth
three dollars ; a fat steer delivered in the
Pueblo San Jose brought fifty cents more,
while it was neither trespass nor larceny to
kill a beeve, use the flesh and hang the hide
with tallow on a tree, secure from coyotes,
where it could be found by the owner.

Lands outside of the town were valuable
only for grazing purposes. For this use every
citizen of good character having cattle, could,
for the asking, and by paying a fee to the offi-
cials and a tax upon the written paper, get a
grant upon a grazing tract of from one to
eleven square leagues of land. These domains

were called ranches, the only improvements
on them being a house and a corral. They
were never inclosed, they were never survey-
ed, but extended from one well defined land-
mark to another, and whether they contained
two or three leagues more or less, was re-
garded as a matter of no consequence, for the
land itself was of no value to the government.
It was not necessary for a man to keep cat-
tle on his own land. They were ear-marked
and these marks established the ownership.
The stock roamed at will, the rancher some-
times finding his animals fifty or sixty miles
away from his grounds. About the middle of
Alarch the rodeo season opened, the time was
fixed in advance by the ranchero who would
send notice to his neighbors for leagues
around. All these ranchers with their va-
queros, would attend and participate. It
was the gathering in one locality of all the
cattle on the rancho. When this task was
accomplished, the next operation was for each
ranchero present to part out from the general
herd all animals having his brand and eai-
mark and drive them oiT to his own rancho.
In doing this they were allowed to take all
calves that followed their mothers. What
was left in the rodeo belonged to the owner
of the rancho, who then marked them as his
property. On some of the ranchos the num-
ber of calves branded and marke'd each year
was enormous, Joaquin Bernal, who owned
the Santa Teresa Rancho, eight miles south
of San Jose, having been in the habit of brand-
ing not less than 5,000 head yearly. In this
work a great many horses were employed.
Fifty head was a small number for a ranchero
to own.

By the time the rodeo season was over —
about the middle of May — the matanza or
killing season commenced. The number of
cattle killed each year was commensurate
with the number of calves marked and the
amount of herbage for the year, for it was the
rule that no more should be kept alive than
the pasture on the rancho could support.
After the butchering the hides were taken
ofT and dried, the fattest portions of the flesh
were made into soap, while some of the best
portions of the meat were cut, pulled into thin
shreds and dried in the sun. The residue was
thrown away to be eaten by the buzzards and
the dogs. Young dogs were never destroyed
and it was no infrequent occurrence to see a
ranchero ride into town with a string of dogs
at his horse's heels.

The habitations of these people were mark-
ed by simplicity. The walls were fashioned of
sun dried bricks, made of that black loam
known to settlers as adobe soil. The adobe

BRUNO BERNAL

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

39

was mixed with straw, each brick, about
eighteen inches square, three inches thick, be-
ing cemented with mud and whitewashed
when finished. The rafters and joists were of
rough timber, with the bark simply peeled off,
and placed in the required position. The
thatch was of rushes or chapparal fastened
down with thongs of bullocks' hide. When
completed these dwellings were capable of
standing the brunt and wear and tear of
many decades, as can be evidenced by the
number now standing in the Valley. The
furniture consisted of a few cooking utensils,
a rude bench or two, sometimes a table and
the never-failing camphor-wood trunk. This
trunk, or chest, contained the extra clothes
of the women — the men wore theirs on their
backs — and if a visit abroad of more than a
few days' duration was made the box was
taken along. The women were cleanly in
their persons and clothing, the common dress
being a calico gown of plain colors, blue
grounds with small figures being those most
fancied. The fashionable ball dress of the
young lady was a scarlet flannel petticoat
covered with a white lawn skirt. Bonnets
there were none, the head-dress consisting of
a long, narrow shawl or scarf.

The dress of the men was a cotton shirt,
cotton drawers, calzonazos, sash, serape and
hat. The calzonazos took the place of panta-
loons, but differed from these by being open
down the side, or rather the seams on the
sides were not sewed up as in pantaloons but
were laced together from the waist band to
the hips by means of a ribbon run through
eyelets and fastened with large silver bell-lnit-
tons. In wearing them they were left open
from the knee down. The best of these gar-
ments were made of broadcloth, the inside
and outside seams being faced with cotton
velvet. The serape was a blanket with a hole
through its center, through which the head
was inserted. These cloaks were invariably
of brilliant colors and varied in price from
four to one hundred and fifty dollars. The
calzonazos were held in place by a pink sash
worn around the waist: while the serape
served as a coat by day and a covering by
night.

The courtship of these people was peculiar.
No flirting or love-making was permitted.
When a young man of marriageable age saw a
girl that suited his eye, he had first to make
his wishes known to his own father, in whose
house the eligibility of the selected one was
gravely discussed." If the son's wish was re-
garded with favor, the father addressed a
letter to the father of the girl asking for his
daughter in marriage for his son. The matter

was then freely discussed between the parents
of the girl and if an adverse decision was ar-
rived at, the father of the young man was by
letter so informed and the matter was at an
end. But if the decision of the parents was
favorable to the young man then the girl's in-
clinations were consulted and her decision, if
favorable, was communicated in the same
manner and the affair of the engagement be-
came a matter of public notoriety. The girl
might then visit the young man to be re-
ceived as a member of the family, and when
the time for the marriage came there ensued
feasting and dancing, the celebration continu-
ing for three or four days. When there was
a refusal of marriage the girl was said to have
given her lover the pumpkin — se dio la cabala.
The principal articles of food were beef
and beans, in the cooking and preparing of
which they were unsurpassed, though they
cultivated to a certain extent maize, melons
and pumpkins. The bread used was the
tortilla, a wafer in the shape of Jewish un-
leavened bread, made generally with wheat,
Init sometimes with corn. When prepared
it was first boiled in a weak lye made of wood
ashes and then by hand ground between two
stones into a paste. This process completed,
a small portion of the dough was taken out
and by dexterous throwing from the back of
one hand to the back of the other the shape
was formed. Then it was placed upon a flat
iron and baked over the fire.

The mill in which the grain was ground
was made of two stones as nearly round as
possible, of about thirty inches in diameter,
each being dressed on one side to a smooth
surface. One was set upon a frame about two
feet high with the smooth face upward; the
other was placed on this with the even facet
downward while through an inch hole in the
center the wheat was fed by hand. Two holes
(hilled partly through each stone admitted an
iron bolt, to which a long pole was attached.
To its end was harnessed a horse, mule or
donkey and the animal being driven around in
a circle caused the stone to revolve. These
mills were capable of grinding a bushel of
wheat in about twelve hours.

The vehicles and agricultural implements
were quite as primitive, the cart in common
use being formed in the following manner:
the two wheels were sections of a log with a
hole drilled or bored in the center, the axle a
pole sharpened at each end for spindles, with
a pin to prevent the wheels from slipping off.
Another pole fastened to the middle of the
axle served as a tongue. Upon this frame-
work was fastened a kind of wicker-work
framed of sticks bound together with strips of

40

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COL'NTY

hide. The l^easts of burden were oxen. They
were yoked with a stick across the forehead.
The stick was notched and crooked so as to
fit the head closely and the whole was tied
with rawhide. The plow was a still more
quaint afifair. It consisted of a long piece of
timber which served the purpose of a beam.
To the end was fastened a handle. A mortise
was next chiseled in order to admit the plow
which was a short stick with a natural crook,
with a small piece of iron fastened to the end
of it. With this crude implement was the soil
upturned, while the branch of a tree served as
a harrow. There were no fences to protect
the crops. To take their place ditches were
dug, the top of the soil being covered with
branches of trees to keep away the numerous
bands of cattle and horses. When the crops
were ripe they were cut with a sickle or any
other convenient utensil. Next came the
threshing. The floor of the corral in which
the cattle and horses were penned had become
hardened. Into this enclosure the grain
would be piled and upon it the mares would be
turned loose to tramp out the seed. The
wildest of these animals, many of them colts
that had never been branded, ivould tackle
the grain. They were urged to the work by
the yelling of vaqueros and the cracking of
whips until nothing was left but the gram and
the chaff. The difficult part was the separat-
ing of the two. Owing to the length of the
dry season there was no haste to effect this.
Therefore when the wind was high enough the
trampled mass would be tossed into the air
with large wooden forks. The wind would
carry away the chaff, leaving the heavier grain
on the ground. With a favorable breeze sev-
eral bushels of wheat could be winnowed in
a da}'. Strange as it may appear it is claimed
that grain so sifted was much cleaner than is
the wheat of today.

Early Government
The government of the native Californian
was as primitive as the people. There were
neither law books nor lawyers, while laws
were mostly to be found in the traditions of
the people. The head officer in each village
or town was the alcalde, in whom was vested
the judical function. On the enactment of a
new law a manuscript copy, called the bando,
was sent around by a person beating a snare
drum. This was the signal for the assembling
of the people at the alcalde's office where the
act was read and forthwith had the force of
law. When a native had cause for action
against another he went to the alcalde, stated
his case and asked that the defendant be sum-
moned. On making his a])pcarance the de-
fendant was asked what he had to sav about

the complaint. This brought about a wordy
altercation between the two parties during
which the alcalde was able to arrive at the
facts. Sometimes judgment was immediately
rendered. the trial not ocupying more than
two hours. In important cases three "good
men" would be called in to act as co-justices.
A learned American judge has said that the
native Californians were, in the presence of
courts, eminently truthful. They were all
Roman Catholics, and their priests were of
the Franciscan order. They were great
church-goers, yet Sunday was not the only
day set apart for their devotions. Nearly
every day in the calendar was devoted to the
memory of some saint. Those dedicated to
the principal ones were observed as holidays.
The front door of their churches was always
open and every person passing, whether on
foot or on horseback, doffed his hat. Not to
have done this was regarded as almost a
crime. During the holding of services with-
in the church it was customary to station a
number of men without, who at appointed in-
tervals interrupted the services by the ringing
of bells and firing of pistols, creating a noise
resembling the irregular fire of a company of
infantry.

In every church was kept a number of pic-
tures of the saints and a triumphal arch pro-
fusely decorated with artificial flowers, while
on a holiday devoted to some particular saint,
after the performance of the mass, a picture
of the saint deposited in the arch would be
carried out of the church on the shoulders of
four men, followed by the whole congregation
in double file with a priest at»the head, book
in hand. The procession would march all
around town and at every few rods the par-
ticipants would kneel on the ground while
the priest read a prayer or performed some
religious ceremony. After the circuit of the
town had been made, the procession returned
to the church. With the termination of these
ceremonies the natives gave themselves over
to pleasure, engaging in horse racing, cock-
fighting, dancing and other forms of merry-
making. A favorite amusement of these fes-
tivals was for thirty or forty men on horse-
back, generally two and sometimes three on
one horse, with their guitars, to parade the
town, their horses capering and keeping time
to the music which was accompanied with
songs. Residences and places of business were
visited and it wos considered no breach of
decorum for the mounted men to ride into
stores and dwellings.

Some of the religious ceremonies were gro-
tesque and amusing, the personification of
"The Wise Men of the East" being of this

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

41

character. At the date agreed upon for the an-
niversary of the visit of the Wise Men to Beth-
lehem, seven or eight men would be found
dressed in most fantastic styles and on their
way to find the infant Savior. They went
from house to house and were always accom-
panied by one representing the devil and
garbed like a Franciscan friar. He carried a
rosary of beads and a cross'and a long rawhide
whip and woe to the man who came within
reach of that whip — it was far from fun for
him but very amusing to the rest of the
company. The chief of these ceremonies was
the punishment of Judas for the betrayal of
his Master. On the reputed anniversary of
this event, after the people had retired to rest
a company would go out and prepare for the
ceremonies. A cart was procured and placed
in the public square in front of the church.
Against the cart was placed an effigy of Judas
made by stuffing an old suit of clothes with
straw. The houses were then visited and a
collection of pots, pans, kettles, dishes and
farming implements was assembled and piled
around the effigy to represent Judas' worldly
effects. Then the last will and testament of
Judas had to be prepared, tlie work being
given to the best scribe and the greatest wit
in the community. Every article of property
had to be disposed of and something like an
equal distribution made, each request being
accompanied by some very pointed and witty
reason for the donation. Among a more sen-
sitive people some of these reasons would be
regarded as libelous. The will, when com-
pleted and properly attested, was posted on
a bulletin board near the effigy and the night's
work was over. As soon as it was sufficiently
light the entire population, men, women and
children, congregated to see Judas and his
wealth and to hear, read and discuss the
merits of the will and the appropriateness of
its provisions. Nothing else was talked of,
nothing else was thought of until the church
bell summoned them to mass, after which a
wild, unbroken mare was procured, on the
back of which Judas was firmly strapped. A
string of firecrackers was then tied to her
tail, they were lighted, the animal was turned
loose and the ultimate fate of the figurative
Judas was not unlike that of his perfidious
prototype.

The native Californians were a temperate
people, intoxication being almost unknown,
but there was one vice common to all, namely
the passion of gambling. Their favorite game
was monte, probably the first of all banking
games. So passionately were they addicted to
this that on a Sunday about the church, while
the women were inside and the priest at the

altar, crowds of men would have their blan-
kets spread upon the ground with their cards
and money, playing monte. They seemed to
have no idea that gambling was a sin. This
predilection was early discovered by the
Americans, who soon established banks and
carried on games. The passion soon became
so developed that the natives would bet and
lose their horses and cattle, while to procure
money to gratify this urge they would bor-
row from the Americans, paying twelve and
one half per cent interest per day ; and they
would mortgage and sell land and stock,
sometimes their wives' clothing, to obtain the
wherewithal to play.

Before leaving these people mention should
be made of their bull and bear fights. Sunday
or some prominent holiday was generally
chosen for the holding of these exhibitions,
to prepare for which a large corral was erect-
ed in the plaza in front of the church. In the
afternoon after divine service, two or three
good bulls (if a bull fight was in order)
would be caught and driven into the enclos-
ure. If there is anything that will make a bull
furious it is the sight of a red blanket. Sur-
rounded by the entire population, the fighters
would enter the arena, each with a red blan-
ket in one hand and a knife in the other. They
would flaunt the blankets before the infuriat-
ed beasts, with knives ready for defense or as-
sault. A bull would dash at its enemy, who
with a dexterous side spring would evade the
onslaught, allowing the animal to strike the
lilanket and permit a quick slash with the
knife. Whoever by his quickness could stick
a knife into a bull's neck, severing the spinal
cord, received the plaudits of the admiring
throng. The interest taken in these exhibi-
tions was intense. The killing or wounding
of a bull-fighter only added zest to the sport.

W'hen a grizzly bear could be procured the
fight was then between bull and bear. Both
were taken into the corral, each being made
fast to the opposite end of a rope of sufficient
length to permit free action and then left
alone. The first move was usually made by
the bull in an attempt to part company with
the bear, who. as a result, received the first
"knock down." On finding that he could not
get clear of bruin, the bull then charged, but
was met half-way. The fight was intensely
interesting to the spectators, and was kept
up until one or the other was killed, or both
refused to continue the combat. As a rule
the bull was victorious. This custom of bull
and bear fighting was continued until 1854
when the Legislature interposed by an "Act
to prevent noisy and barbarous amusements
on the Sabbath."

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

The late Judge R. F. Peckham, one of the
pioneer lawyers of Santa Clara County, often
narrated the following incident in regard to
this Legislative act. Shortly after it became
a law great preparations were made for having
a bull-fight, on the Sabbath as usual, at the old
Mission of San Juan Bautista at the southern
end of the Santa Clara Valley. The promot-
ers were notified by the officers of the exis-
tence of the new law and told that they must
desist from the undertaking. Dr. Wiggins, a
mission pioneer of 1842, was then residing at
San Juan. He spoke Spanish fluently and
was looked upon by the native Californians as
a good friend. He never smiled nor appeared
to jest, yet he was one of the greatest of the
tale-tellers, jokers and punsters on the Pacific
slope. In their perplexity over the new law,
the Californians took counsel with the Doctor.
He examined the title of the act with great
seriousness and wisdom. "Go on with your
fight," was the Doctor's advice, "they can do
nothing with you. This is an Act to prevent
noisy and barbarous amusements on the Sab-
bath. If they arrest you there will be a trial
by jury of Americans. To convict, the pro-
secution must find three things, first that a
bull fight is noisy. This they will find against
you. Second, that it is barbarous. This also
they will find against you, but an American
jury will never find that it is an amusement
of Christ's time. Go on with your bull
fights." They did go on and were arrested
to find that the Doctor had been jesting.
They were sentenced, each to pay a fine, and
this was the last of the bull-fights in Cali-
fornia.

First American Settlers
The first enumeration of the inhabitants of
the pueblo of San Jose was taken in 1831 and
showed 166 men, 145 women, 103 boys and
110 girls, making a total of 524. Overland
travel to California did not commence until
the forties. The first foreigner to locate in
this valley was John Gilroy, who was a sailor
on board a vessel belonging to the Hudson
Bay Company that touched at Monterey in
1814. He was a Scotchman and the causes for
his abandoning his ship are differently stated.
One report was that he had a quarrel with
one of the officers and deserted, while it is just
as positively stated that he had a severe attack
of scurvy and was left on shore to be cured.
However that might have been it is well
authenticated that in the same year, he lound
his way into the Santa Clara Valley, locating
at San Ysidro, afterward named Gilroy. He
was hospitably entertained and finally married
into the wealthy family of the Ortegas. He

was a man of great force of character and
accumulated a large property in lands and
cattle but died poor in 1869.

In 1818 there came to San Jose a man
whose name is historic in this community,
Don Antonio Sunol. He was a native of Bar-
celona, Spain, but had served in the French
navy under the First Empire. He was an
officer of distinction and was present when
Napoleon surrendered after Waterloo. He
then sought the New W^orld and settled in
Santa Clara Valley where he achieved dis-
tinction, wealth and respect. He died in San
Jose in 1865.

The first citizen of the LTnited States to set-
tle in Santa Clara Valley was Philip Doak.
He was a block and tackle maker employed on
a whaling vessel. Leaving salt water at
Monterey in 1822 he journeyed northward to
settle near Gilroy. His home was on the
ranch of Mariano Castro, one of whose
daughters he afterward married. Matthew
Fellom came to the valley the same year and
located near San Ysidro, or old Gilroy as it
was afterward called. Fellom was a Dane and
like Doak was a whaler. He left his vessel at
one of the northern ports and made his way
overland to the Santa Clara Vallev. He died
in 1873.

These are the only foreigners, of which
there is record, who were living in the valley
up to 1830, if William Willis, an Englishman,
is excepted. He was known to be in the
pueblo in 1828, but his subsequent history is
not known. It has been estimated that in
1830 there were not more than 100 foreigners
in the whole of California. John Burton came
to San Jose in 1830. He was afterward al-
calde of the pueblo. Harry Bee, who died in
San Jose in 1897 as the oldest pioneer in the
county, came to the Valley in 1833. He had
been in the state seven years, having landed
at Monterey as an English sailor in 1827. He
was born in 1808 and during the Mexican
War acted as scout and courier for Commo-
dore Sloat. In the same year came William
Gulnac, James Alexander Forbes, James
Weekes, Nicolas Dodero, John Price, William
Smith, George Ferguson, Thomas Pepper, a
man called "Blind Tom," William Welsh.
Charles Brown and "Moche Dan." Thomas
Brown and William Daily came in I834. Of
these several were prominent either in the
early days or in the later history of California.
Gulnac was for many years major domo at the
Mission of San Jose in Alameda County. He
married a daughter of the Cesenas. Forbes
was vice-consul for Great Britain. Weekes
served as Alcalde in 1847. In 1838 Henry
^\'oods and Lawrence Carmichael arrived.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

43

These people all came by vessel and chance
decided their location. They affiliated with the
Spanish population, in many cases marrying
into their families, and adopting, to a great ex-
tent, the Spanish customs and modes of living.
Overland travel commenced about 1841. Even
before this time settlements had been made in
Oregon, and that country was much better
known than California. For this reason, and
because California was a foreign country, all
the overland trains were pointed to Oregon.
Some of these trains having reached the Sier-
ras and hearing something of California, came
here instead. In 1841 Josiah Belden. Charles
M. Weber and Grove C. Cook came overland,
as did Henry Pitts. Peter Springer, William
Wiggins and James Rock. In 1843 Major S. J.
Hensley, Julius Martin, Thomas J. Shadden
and Winston Bennett made the trip across the
plains. The advent of this party was an im-
portant incident, as with it came three women,
wives of Martin. Shadden and Bennett, the
first foreign women to settle in this district.
In 1844 came the Murphy party and Captain
Stephens. The Murphy party consisted of
Martin Murphy, Sr., his wife, five sons and
two daughters; James Miller, afterwards an
honored resident of Marin County; Dr. John
Townsend and wife, Moses Schallenberger,
father of IMargaret Schallenberger McNaught,
now State Commissioner 'of Education ; Jo-
seph Foster, Mr. Hitchcock and family;
Thomas Hudson, Clemente Columbet and
Martin Corcoran. Dr. Townsend and his wife
died of cholera in 1850; and Martin Murphy,
Sr., passed away in 1865. In 1845 Frank
Lightston, J. Washburn, William O'Connor,
W. C. Wilson, John Daubenbiss and James
Stokes came to the county. In 1846 the ar-
rivals were Isaac Branham, Jacob D. Hoppe,
Charles White, Joseph Aram, Zachariah Jones,
James F. Reed, George Donner and his two
sisters ; Arthur Caldwell, William Daniels,
Samuel Young, A. A. Hecox, William Haun,
William Fisher, Edward Pyle and their fam-
ilies ; Wesley Hoover and John W. Whisman
and wives ; William and Thomas Campbell
and their families; Peter Quincy and family;
Thomas Kell, Thomas West and four sons ;
John Snyder,' S. R. Moultrie, William J. Parr,
Joseph A. Lard, Mrs. W. H. Lowe. Mrs. E.
Markham, L. C. Young, R. J. Young, M. D.
Young, S. C. Young, Samuel Q. Broughton,
R. F. Peckham, Z. Rochon. Joseph Stillwell,
George Cross, Ramon S. Cesena, M. Hollo-
way, Edward Johnson, Mrs. Martha J. Lewis
and James Enright. Of course there were
many more arrivals but their names cannot be
obtained from the records and the personal
recollections of the pioneers who are living
at the present time.

The Donner Party

Nearl}' all the surviving members of the
ill-fated Donner party located in San Jose and
vicinity. The terrible experiences of that
party are given in Tuthill's history of Califor-
nia, from which w'e quote : "Of the overland
emigration to California in 1846 about eighty
wagons took a new route, from Fort Bridger
around the south end of Great Salt Lake. The
pioneers of the party arrived in good season
over the mountains, but Mr. Reed's and Mr.
Donner's companies opened a new route
through the desert, lost a month's time by
their explorations and reached the foot of the
Truckee Pass, in the Sierras, on October 31,
instead of the first as intended. The snow be-
gan to fall two or three weeks earlier than
usual that year and was already so piled up
in the pass that they could not proceed. They
attempted it repeatedly but were as often
forced to return. One party built their cab-
ins near Truckee, afterward Donner Lake,
killed their cattle and went into winter quar-
ters. The other (Donner's party), still be-
lieved they could thread the pass and so failed
to build their cabins before more snow came
and buried their cattle alive. Of course they
were soon destitute of food, for they could not
tell where the cattle were buried and there
was no hope of game on a desert so piled with
snow that nothing without wings covdd move.
The number of those who were thus storm-
stayed at the very threshold of a land whose
winters are one long spring, was eighty, of
whom thirty were women and children. The
Mr. Donner who had charge of one company
was a native of Illinois, sixty years of age and
a man of high respectability and abundant
means. His wife was a woman of education
and refinement and much younger than he.

"During November it snowed thirteen days ;
during December and January, eight days
each. Much of the time the tops of the cab-
ins were below the snow level. It was six
weeks after the halt was made that a party of
fifteen, including five women and two Indians,
who acted as guides, set out on snow shoes to
cross the mountains and give notice to the
people of California settlements of the condi-
tion of their friends. At first the snow was so
light and feathery that even with snow shoes
they sank nearly a foot at every step. On the
second day they crossed the 'divide,' finding
the snow at the summit twelve feet deep.
Pushing forward with the courage of despair
they made from four to eight miles a day.

"Within a week they were entirely ovtt of
provisions, and three of them, succumbing to
cold, weariness and starvation, had died. Then
a heavv snow storm came on which com-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

pelled them to lie still, buried beneath their
blankets under the snow for thirty-six hours.
By evening of the tenth day three more had
died and the living had been four days with-
out food. The horrid alternative was accept-
ed— they took flesh from the bones of their
dead, remained in camp two days to dry it and
then pushed on.

"On New Year's, the sixteenth day since
leaving Truckee Lake, they were toiling up a
steep mountain. Their feet were frozen.
Every step was marked with blood. On the
second of January their food again gave out.
On the third day they had nothing to eat but
the strings of their snow shoes. On the fourth
the Indians deserted, suspicious that they
might be sacrificed for food. On the fifth one
of the party shot a deer and that day there was
another death. Soon after three others died
and every death served to prolong the exist-
ence of the survivors. On the seventh all but
one gave out, concluding that their wander-
ings were useless. This one, guided by two
friendly Indians dragged himself on until he
reached a settlement on Bear River. By mid-
night the settlers had found and were treating
with all Christian kindness what remained of
the little company that after a month of most
terrible sufferings, had halted to die.

"The story that there were emigrants per-
ishing on the other side of the snowy barrier
ran swiftly down the Sacramento Valley to
New Helvetia, and Captain Sutter, at his own
expense, fitted out an expedition of men and
of mules laden with provisions, to cross the
mountains and relieve them. The story ran
to San Francisco and the people, rallying in
public meeting, raised $1500 and with it
fitted out another expedition. The navai
commandant of the port fitted out others.

"The first of the relief parties reached
Truckee Lake on the nineteenth of February.
Ten of the people in the nearest camp were
dead. For four days those still alive had fed
on bullocks' hides. At Donner's camp but one
hide remained. The visitors left a small sup-
ply of provisions with the twenty-nine whom
they could not take with them and started
back with the remainder. Four of the chil-
dren they carried on their backs.

"Another of the relief parties reached the
lake about the first of March. They at once
started back with seventeen of the sufferers,
but a heavy snow storm overtaking them, they
left all, except three of the children, on the
road. Another party went after those left on
the way, found three of them dead and the rest
sustaining life by eating the flesh of the dead.

"The last relief party reached Donner's
camp late in .\pril when the snows had melted

so much that the earth appeared in spots. The
main cabin was empty, but some miles distant
they found the last survivor of all lying on the
cabin floor smoking a pipe. He was ferocious
in aspect, savage and repulsive in manner. His
camp kettle was over the fire and in it his meal
of human flesh preparing. The stripped bones
of his fellow sufferers lay around him. He re-
fused to return with the party and only con-
sented when he saw there was no escape. Mrs.
Jacob Donner was the last to die. Her hus-
band's body was found at his tent. Circum-
stances led to the suspicion that the survivor
had killed Mrs. Donner for the flesh and
money, and when he was threatened with
hanging he produced $500, which he had prob-
ably appropriated from her store."

Many books have been written on the sub-
ject, no two giving the same facts. One of the
most interesting accounts is that of James F.
Reed, who for j^ears was one of the prominent
and reputable citizens of San Jose. He left
Springfield, 111., in the middle of 1846 and was
accompanied by George and Jacob Donner and
their families. George Donner was elected
captain. At Fort Bridger. William ]\IcCutch-
en, wife and family joined the party. Leaving
the fort they unfortunately took a new
route, and had many vicissitudes, not the least
being the loss of cattle. Other would-be set-
tlers joined them before they reached Cali-
fornia. The narrative now continues in Mr.
Reed's own words :

"After crossing the desert it became known
that some families had not enough provisions
to carry them through. As a member of the
company I advised them to make an estimate
of the provisions on hand and what amount
each family would need. After receiving the
estimate I then suggested that if two gentle-
men of the company would volunteer to go in
advance to Sutter's Fort, near Sacramento. I
would write a letter to the captain for the
whole amount of provisions wanted, also stat-
ing that I would become personally rrspmisi-
ble to him for the amount. I lliM>ii;ht that
from the generous character of Cnptain Sutter
the provisions would be sent. ]\Cr. McCutch-
en came forward and said that if they would
take care of his family he would go. This the
company agreed to. Mr. Stanton, a single
man, volunteered to go with McCutchen if
they would furnish him with a horse. Mc-
Cutchen, having a horse and mule, generous-
ly gave the mule. Taking blankets and pro-
visions, the two men started for California.
After their leaving us we traveled for weeks,
none of us knowing how far we were from
California and soon all became anxious to
know what had become of McCutchen and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

45

Stanton. It was now suggested that I go in
advance to California and hurry up the sup-
pHes. This was agreed to and I started, tak-
ing with me three days' provisions, expecting
to kill game on the way. The Messrs. Don-
ner were two days in advance of the party
when I overtook them. With George Donner
there was a young man named Walter Her-
ren, who joined me. With all the economy I
could -use our provisions gave out in a. few
days, so I supplied our wants by shooting wild
geese and other game. The day after I was
joined by Herren I proposed, as I had the only
horse, that he would ride half the time. The
proposition was joyfully accepted. Soon no
game was to be seen, hunger began to be felt
and for days we traveled without hope or help.
W'e reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I
believed I could have made a stop here, hunted
and found game. But as this would have de-
layed our progress and success might not have
rewarded my hunting efforts, I ke,pt on. The
second day before we found relief Harren
wanted to kill the horse. I persuaded him
from the deed, promising if relief did not come
soon I would kill the horse myself. Soon
afterward he became delirious. That afternoon
I found a bean and gave it to him and then
never was road examined more closely than
this one. A\'e found in all five beans. Her-
ren's share was three of them. We camped
that night in a patch of grass a short distance
oflf the road. Next morning after traveling a
few miles we saw some deserted wagons.

"We soon reached and ransacked the wag-
ons, hoping to find something to eat, but found
nothing. Taking the tar bucket that was
hanging under one of the wagons I scraped
the tar off and found a streak of rancid tallow
at the bottom. J remember well that when I
announced what I had found, Herren, who
was sitting on a rock near by, got up halloo-
ing with all the strength he had and came to
me. I -handed the tar paddle to him. It had
un it some of the tallow about the size of a
walnut. This he swallowed without giving it
a smell. I then took a piece myself but it
was very respulsive. Herren craved more and
I gave him another piece. Still wanting more,
I positively refused, stating that it would kill
him. After leaving the wagons, probably fifty
yards, I became deadly sick and blind. In
resting myself against a rock I leaned my
head on the muzzle of my gun. Herren,
seeing my condition came to me and said, 'My
God, Mr. Reed, are you dying?' After resting
a few minutes I recovered, much to his joy.

"The wagons were within a short distance
of the steep hill going down into Bear Valley.
After descending the first steep pitch I dis-

covered wagons in the valley below us. 'Her-
ren,' said I, 'there are wagons in the valley.'
When he saw them he gave vent to his joy,
hallooing at the top of his voice, but on ac-
count of weakness he could not have been
heard ten rods off. On reaching the wagons
•we found several families of emigrants who
supplied us with bread. I here met Mr. Stan-
ton, with two Indians, on his return to the
company with provisions supplied by Captain
Sutter. Next morning Stanton started for the
company and I went on to Sutter's Fort."

At the Fort Reed found McCutchen, who
had been prevented by illness from accom-
panying Stanton. Captain Sutter furnished
horses and saddles with which to bring the
women and children out of the mountains.
The expedition failed on account of the snow
which at some points was eighteen feet deep.
The party returned for more help, but, unfor-
tunately, the Mexican war was on and every
able-bodied man was away. At Captain Sut-
ter's suggestion Mr. Reed went to San Fran-
cisco to see if he could not procure help there.
He was compelled to make the journey by
land and reached San Jose when it was in a
state of siege. Arrived at San Francisco, a
public meeting was held and relief parties fit-
ted out. Mr. Reed and Mr. McCutchen ac-
companied the first of these, which went by
the river. On the route he met his wife and
children rescued by a relief party that had
gone ahead of them. He only stopped a few
minutes for greetings and then pushed on to
the relief of the other suiTerers whom they
reached about the middle of the next day.

The first camp was that of Mr. Breen. Mr.
Reed says : "If we left any provisions here it
was a small amount, he and his family not be-
ing in want. We then proceeded to the camp
of Mrs. Murphy, where Kessburg and some
children were. Here we left provisions and
one of our company to cook for and attend to
them. From here we visited the camp of Mrs.
Graves, some distance further east. A num-
ber of the relief party remained here, while
Messrs. Miller, McCutchen, another and my-
self proceeded to the Donner camp. We
found Mrs. Jacob Donner in a feeble condi-
tion. She died after we left. Her husband
had died early in the winter. We removed
the tent and placed it in a more comfortable
position. I then visited the tent of George
Donner close by and found him and his wife.
He was helpless. Their cfiildren and two ot
Jacob's had come out with the party that went
ahead of us. I requested Mrs. Donner to come
with us, stating that I would leave a man to
take care of both George Donner and Mrs.
Jacob Donner. She positively refused, de-

46

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

daring that she \vould not leave her husband
in his enfeebled condition.

"We took the remaining three children of
Jacob Donner, leaving a man to take care of
the two camps. Leaving all the provisions we
could spare and expecting a party from Sut-
ter's Fort would be in in a few days, we re-
turned to the camp of Mrs. Graves. Notice
was given in all the camps that we would start
on our return to Sutter's early next day. About
the middle of the day we started, taking with
us all who were able to travel."

The relief party that came after Mr. Reed
did not reach the sufferers as soon as expected
and disasters occurred. The full details of the
suffering of the unfortunate party would fill a
book. Each of the relief parties, especially
that conducted by Mr. Reed endured suffer-
ings equal to those experienced by the unfor-
tunates in the winter camp. History has no
parallel to the heroism displayed by these peo-
ple in their eft'orts to rescue suffering relatives
and friends.

CHAPTER II.

Santa Clara County During the Mexican Rule— The Adventures of Captain
Fremont— Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo— Raising the Bear Flag-
War With Mexico Declared— The Capture of San Jose— Reminiscences
of the Strenuous Days of 1849— The Discovery of Gold— Killing of Young
Pyle— Local Government— Grandma Bascom's Story.

In 1836 a revolution broke nut m Mexao
but it did not extend to Cahforma, though a
few of the Spanish settlers m San Jose left the
pueWo to take part in it. While the strife wa
nro-ressin<. Governor Alvarado was appointed
orue California, an office which he held until
lg4^ after the differences between the oppos-
ing factions in Mexico had been satisfactorily
arranged. -

The adjustment, however, created misun-
derstandings between the two highest official,
in the De;artment of California^ The civ 1
and the military authorities could not agree.
Fach one complained of the other to the Cen-
';a Government and General Miche toreiia
was secretly dispatched north to settle the d-
ferences between Governor Alvarado and Gen-
eral Vallejo by taking over the Powers of
both. On seeing the turn the affair had taken.
Alvarado and Vallejo laid aside their b eke -
inffs to make common cause against Michel-
torena, whom they designated as an usurper.
\ided by General Castro they sou.ght to drive
'Micheltorena out of California The trium-
virate proclaimed California independent and
declared war against the representative o
Mexico. General Micheltorena, having had
the "-auge of battle thrown in his teeth, took
the field hoping to speedily end the insurrec-
tion He advanced to within twelve miles of
San Jose and then finding that this portion of
the country was up in arms against him speed-
ily beat a retreat to San Juan Bautista. In
spite of his defense, the insurgents captured

the town in November, 1844. From this blow
Micheltorena never rallied and in February.
1845, he paid $11,000 for a passage on board
the bark Don Quixote, Captain Paty, his des-
tination being San Bias. On the termination
of the strife Don Pio Pico, brother of Don An-
tonio Pico, of San Jose, was elected governor
of California and Jose Castro was appointed
general of the military forces.

Captain Fremont Arrives

In the month of March, 1845, Brevet-Capt.
John Charles Fremont departed from Wash-
ington for the purpose of organizing a third
expedition for the topograjjhical survey of
Oregon and California. He left Bent's Fort
in April, his force consisting of sixty-two men,
among them Kit Carson and six Delaware In-
dians. Crossing the Sierra Nevadas in De-
cember they arrived at Sutter's Fort on the
10th of that month. After two days' stay
the company left to search for a missing party
of explorers. Not being able to find the men,
and having either lost or consumed most of
his horses and cattle Fremont determined to
retrace his steps to Sutter's Fort which he
reached January 15, 1846. On the seven-
teenth he with his men left the fort on a
launch for San Francisco. They arrived there
on the twentieth ; the twenty-first saw him
and Captain Hinckley sailing down the Bay
of San Francisco to the emliarcadero at Al-
viso at the lower end of the Santa Clara Val-
lev. On the twenty-second they proceeded

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

47

to San Jose where Fremont received word
that the missing explorers were encamped on
the San Joaquin. At once two companies un-
der Kit Carson were dispatched to guide the
nien into the Santa Clara Valley. Fremont
and Hinckley, after visiting the New Almaden
mines, returned to San Frj^ncisco. On the
twenty-fiiurth Fremont was once more on the
tniive. He started from San Francisco, then
known as Yerba Buena, and on the morning
of January 27. 1846. reached Monterey. In
company with Thomas O. Larkin, United
States Consul, Fremont called on General
Castro and stated the object of his journey.
He was out of provisions and asked that his
party be permitted to pass unmolested through
the country. The request was granted, ver-
bally, but when asked for the nccessarj- per-
mit in writing, the General excused himself,
said he was not well and that no further
assurance than his word was needed. A call
of the same nature was then made on Don
Manuel Castro, the prefect of the district,
the same statement made and the same verbal
permit was granted. Fremont received funds
and provisions from the consul and then made
all haste to San Jose where he was joined
by his band. Not finding here such stores as
were still needed he resolved to return to
Montere}-. A fortnight later he camped in
the Santa Clara A'alley on Capt. William Fish-
er's ranch, the Laguna Seca. While here a
Mexican made his appearance and laid claim
to certain of Fremont's horses on the bold
statement that they had been stolen. Short-
ly after this, on February 20, Captain Fre-
mont received a summons to appear before
the alcalde at San Jose to answer to a charge
of horse-stealing. Fremont send back tlie
following reply :

"Camp Near Road to Santa Cruz,

February 21, 1846.
"Sir: I received your communication of the
20th, informing me that a complaint has been
lodged against, me in your office for refusing
to deliver up certain animals of my band
which are claimed as having been stolen from
this vicinity about two months since, and that
the plaintiff further complains of having been
insulted in my camp. It can be proven on
oath by thirty men here present that the ani-
mals pointed out by the plaintiff have been
brought in my band from the United States
of North America. The insult of wdiich he
complains, and which was authorized by my-
self, consisted in his being driven or ordered
to immediately leave camp. After having
been detected in endeavoring to obtain ani-
mals under false pretenses he should have
been well satisfied to escape without a se-

vere horse-whipping. There are four animals
in my band which were bartered from the
Tulare Indians by a division of my party
which descended the San Joaquin Valley. I
was not then present, and if any more legal
owners present themselves these' shall be im-
mediately given or delivered upon proving
property. It may save you trouble to inform
you. that with this exception, alt the animals
in m}- band have been Ixiught and paid for.
You will readily understand that my duties
will not permit me to appear before the mag-
istrates in your towns on the complaint of
every straggling vagab..n<l wli.. may chance
to visit my camp. \uu infovni me that un-
less satisfaction be immediately made by the
delivery of the animals in question, the com-
plaint will be forwarded to the Governor. I
beg you will at the same time indorse to His
Excellency a copy of this note.

"I am, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,

"]. C. Fremont, U. S. Army.
"To Senor Don Dolores Pacheco,

Alcalde of San Jose."

From the Laguna Seca, Fremont moved
b}' easy marches in the direction of the Santa
Cruz Alountains which he crossed about ten
miles from San Jose at the gap where the
Los Gatos Creek enters the Valley. On
Alarch 1, he encamped on the rancho of Ed-
ward Petty Hartwell. While here he received,
late in the afternoon of the fifth a dispatch
from Don Manuel Castro, prefect of the dis-
trict, charging him with having entered the
towns and villages under his (the Prefect's)
jurisdiction in contempt of the laws of the
Mexicaii Government and ordering him out
of the country, else compulsory measures
would be taken to compel him to do so. On
receiving this communication Fremont did not
display much hesitanc}- in arriving at a con-
clusion. That evening he struck camp and
ascending Hawk's Peak, a rough looking
mountain on the Gabilan range, about thirty
miles from Monterey and 2,000 feet above
the level of the sea, commenced the construc-
tion of a rude fort. It was protected by felled
trees. Stripping one of the limbs he nailed
the Stars and Stripes at the top, forty feet
fnim the ground. The morning of the sixth
of March found him waiting for developments.

On the da}' that saw Fremont established on
Hawk's Peak, Castro sent the following letter
to the minister of Marine at the City of
IVIe.xico :

"In my communication of the fifth ultimo
I announced to you the arrival of a captain
at the head of fifty men, who came, as he
said, by order of the government of the Unit-

48

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ed States to survey the limits of Oregon.
This person presented himself at my head-
quarters some days ago accompanied by two
individuals (Thomas O. Larkin, U. S. consul,
and William A. Leidesdorff, vice-consul,) with
the object of asking permission to procure
provisions for his men whom he had left be-
hind in the mountains. The permission was
given, but two days ago, March 4, I was much
surprised on being informed that this person
was only two days' journey from this place
(Monterey). In consequence I immediately
sent him a communication ordering him, on
the instant of its receipt, to put himself on the
march and leave the Department, but I have
not received an answer. In order to make him
obey, I sent out a force to observe his opera-
tions and today, the sixth, I march in per-
son to join it and see that the object is at-
tained. The hurry with which I undertake my
march does not permit me to be more dif-
fuse and I beg that you will inform His Ex-
cellency, the President, assuring him that not
only shall the national integrity of this party
be defended with the enthusiasm of good
Alexicans, but those who intend to violate it
will find an impregnable barrier in the valor
and patriotism of every one of the Californians.
Receive the assurance of my respect, etc. God
and Liberty."

In his hastily constructed fort, every avenue
to which was commanded by the trusty rifles
of his men, Fremont calmly awaitecf the speedy
vengeance promised in the communication of
the prefect. To carry it out Don Jose had
summoned a force of 200 men which was
strengthened b}- one or two cannon of small
caliber, but nothing beyond a demonstration
was attained. In the language of the late
General Revere (then Lieutenant) "Don Jose
was rather in the humor of that King of
France, who with 20,000 men, marched up
the hill and then marched down again."

Castro's next move was the concocting of an
epistle to Fremont, asking for a cessation of
hostilities and suggesting that they join forces,
declare the country independent and with their
allied armies march against Governor Pio Pico,
who was then in Los Angeles. To John Gil-
roy, an old Scotch settler, after whom Gil-
roy was named, was entrusted the delivery of
this piece of treachery. He reached Hawk's
Peak on the night of the tenth and found
the fort untenanted. Fremont had tired of
waiting for Castro to attack and had made a
forced march to the San Joaquin Valley. Gil-
roy, on his return, told of the retreat, which
so elated Castro that he at once resolved to
attack the fort, which he was the first to en-
ter. Then he sat down on one of Fremont's
discarded pack saddles and penned a dispatch

to Monterey describing the glorious victory
he had gained and promising that his return
need not be looked for until his promise, long
ago given, had been fulfilled.

And so matters rested for a time. The
.American settlers began to feel far from safe
and it was the consensus of opinion that no
time should be lost in preparing for an emerg-
ency. Rumors were rife. Governor Pico
looked upon them with deep hatred, their ar-
rival and settlement was to him a source of
poignant jealousy, while his feeling inclined
him touard England, should the country ever
change hands. At a convention held in San
Juan Bautista to decide which one of the
two nations. Great Britain or the United
.States, should guarantee protection to Califor-
nia against all others, Pico is reported to have
said: "To what a deplorable condition is our
Countr}' reduced. Mexico, professing to be
our mother and our protectress has given us
neither arms nor money, nor the material of
war for our defense. She is not likely to do
anything in our behalf, although she is quite
willing to afflict us with her extortionate
minions who come here in the guise of sol-
diers and civil ofiicers to harass and oppress
our people. . . . Perhaps what I am about
to suggest may seem faint-hearted and dis-
honorable but to me it does not seem so. It
is the last hope of a feeble people, struggling
against a tyrannical government which claims
their submission at home and who are threat-
ened by a band of avaricious strangers from
without, to voluntarily connect themselves
with a power able and willing to defend and
preserve them. It is the right and duty of
the weak to demand support from the strong,
provided the demand be made upon terms
just to both parties. Is it not better to con-
nect ourselves with one of the powerful Euro-
pean nations than to struggle against hope
as we are doing now? Is it not better that one
of them should send a fleet and an army to
defend and protect California rather than that
we should fall an easy prey to the lawless
adventurers who are overrunning our beau-
tiful country? I pronounce for annexation to
France or England and the people of Cali-
fornia will never regret having taken my ad-
vice. Then may our people go quietly to their
ranches and live there as of yore, leading a
thoughtless and merry life, untroubled by poli-
tics or the cares of state, sure of what is their
own and safe from the incursions of the Yan-
kees who would soon be forced to retreat into
their own country."

Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo

But at this moment California found a man
whose views were more enlightened than
those of the rulers of his country. As a pa-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

49

triot he could not silently witness the land of
his birth sold to any monarchy, however old,
and he rightly judged that although foreign
protection might postpone it could not avert
that assumption of power which was begin-
ning to make itself felt. Possessed at the
time of no political power and having had but
few early advantages, still his position was so
high and his character so highly respected
by both the foreign and native population
that he had been invited to participate in the
proceedings of the Junta. This man was Dun
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. Born in Cali-
fornia, he commenced his career in the army
as an ensign and in this humble grade he vol-
unteered to establish a colony on the north
side of the Bay of San Francisco for the pro-
tection of the frontier. He thoroughly sub-
dued the hostile Indians of the region and laid
the foundation of a reputation for integrity,
judgment and ability une(|urik-d liy any of his
countrymen. Although rpiite a young man
he had' already filled "high offices 'and at this
time was living on his estate in the vicinity
of the town of Sonoma. He did not hesitate
to opiHjse the views of Pico and Castro. Among
other things he said: "I cannot, gentlemen,
coincide in opinion with the military and civic
functionaries who have advocated the ces-
sion of our country to France or England. It
is most true, that to rely any longer upon
Mexico to govern and defend us would be idle
and absurd. It is also true that we possess
a noble country in every way calculated from
position and resources to l)ecome great and
powerful. For that reason I would not have
her a mere dependenc}' upon a foreign mon-
archy, naturally alien, or at least indifferent
to our interests and welfare. Even could we
tolerate the idea of dependence ought we to
go to distant Europe for a master? What
possible sympathy could e.xist between us and
a nation separated from us by two vast oceans?
But waiving this insuperable objection, how
could we endure to become under the do-
minion of a monarchy? We are republicans,
badly governed and badly situated as we are,
but still, in sentiment, republicans. All will
probably agree with me that we ought at once
to rid ourselves of what may remain of Mex-
ican domination. Our position is so remote,
either by land or sea, that we are in no dan-
ger from Mexican invasion. Why, then,
should we still hesitate to assert our independ-
ence? We have taken the first step by elect-
ing our own governor, but another remains to
be taken. I will mention it plainly and ration-
ally— it is annexation to the United States. In
contemplating this consummation of our des-
tiny I feel nothing but pleasure and I ask you
to share it. Discard old prejudices, disregard

old customs and prepare for the glorious
change which awaits our country. Why
should we shrink from incorporating our-
selves with the happiest and freest nation in
the world, destined soon to be the most weal-
thy and powerful? Why should we go abroad
for protection when this great nation is our
adjoining neighbor? When we join our for-
tunes to hers we shall not become subjects
but fellow-citizens, possessing all the rights
of the people of the United States and choos-
ing our own federal and local rulers. We shall
have a stable government and just laws. Cali-
fornia will grow strong and flourish and her
people will be prosperous, happy and free.
Look not, therefore, with jealousy upon the
hardy pioneers who scale our mountains and
cultivate our unoccupied plains, but rather
welcome them as brothers, who come to share
\\-ith us a common destiny."

Those who listened to General Vallejo were
far Ijehind him in general knowledge and in-
telligence. His arguments failed to carry con-
viction to the greater number of his auditors,
but the Ixild |>osition taken Ijy him was the
cause i>f the iuinicdialc adjournment of the
Junta, no result ha\'ing been arrived at con-
cerning the weighty question on which the
Californians had met to deliberate. On re-
tiring from the Junta General Vallejo em-
bodied the views he had expressed in a letter
to Don Pio Pico and reiterated his refusal to
participate in any action having for its end
the adoption of any protection other than that
of the United States. In this letter he also
declared that he would never serve under any
government which was prepared to surrender
California to a European power. He then re-
turned to his estate there to await the issue
of events.

Raising the Bear Flag

In the meantime circumstances tended to
keep General Castro moving. A large num-
ber of Americans, finding themselves numer-
ically too weak to contend against the natives,
but relying on accession to their strength in
the spring, determined to declare California
independent and free and raise a flag of their
own, which they did. The famous "Bear
Flag" was given to the breeze June 14, 1846,
in Sonoma on the pole which before had
floated the Mexican standard. The town was
captured and with it the commanding officer.
General Vallejo, Lieutenant Colonel Victor
Prudon, Captain Salvador Vallejo and Jacob
P. Liese, an American and the general's
brother-in-law. The news of the declaration
spread like wild-fire, both parties hurriedly
prepared for a conflict and while the Bear Flag
party guided their affairs from Sonoma, Gen-

50

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

eral Jose Castro, from his headquarters at
Santa" Clara, issued two proclamations. They
are curiosities in their way and as such worthy
of reproduction here. The first follows:

"The contemptible policy of the agents of
the United States of North America in this
Department, have induced a portion of ad-
venturers, who, regardless of the rights of
men, have daringly commenced an invasion
possessing themselves of the town of Sonoma
and the military commander of that border.
Fellow cou'ntrymen: The defense of our lib-
erty, the true religion which our fathers pos-
sessed and our independence call upon us to
sacrifice ourselves rather than lose these in-
estimable blessings ; banish from your hearts
all petty resentments, turn you and behold
yourselves, these families,, the innocent little
ones, which have unfortunately fallen into the
hands of our enemies, dragged from the bos-
oms of their fathers, who are prisoners amony
foreigners, and are calling upon us to succor
them. There is still time for us to rise en
masse as irresistible as retributive. Y'ott need
not doubt that Divine Providence will direct
us in the way to glory. You should not vacil-
late because of the smallness of the garrison
of the general headquarters, for he who will
first sacrifice himself will l)e your friend and
fellow citizen

JOSE CASTRO,

"Headquarters, Santa Clara, June 17, 1846."

The second proclamation promises to pro-
tect all Americans who shall refrain from tak-
ing part in the revolutionary movements and
winds up as follows : "Let the fortune of war
take its chance with those ungrateful men,
who with arms in their hands have attacked
the country, without recollecting they were
treated by the undersigned with all the indul-
gence of which he is so characteristic. The in-
habitants of the Department are witnesses of
the truth of this. I have nothing to fear, my
duty leads me to death or victor3^ I am a
Mexican soldier and I will be free and inde-
]jendent. or 1 will gladly die for these inesti-
mable blessings."

As there were rumors afloat that General
Castro was on his way with a large party of
Mexicans, to attack the garrison at Sonoma,
Fremont, with force augmented, hastened to
■ the relief of his compatriots, fie arrived at
Sonoma on the inorning of June 25, having
made forced marches. There he found that
Castro had not carried out his threat, but had
placidh^ remained near San Jose, carefully
guarded by his soldiers.

About this time a small party intended for
service under the I-Jear Flag, liad Iieen re-
cruited by Capt. Thf)mas Fallon, then of Santa

Cruz, but afterward a long-time resident of
San Jose. This company, consisting of twenty-
two men, crossed the Santa Cruz Mountains,
entered the Santa Clara Valley at night and
halted about three miles from San Jose at the
rancho of Grove C. Cook. Here Fallon learned
that Castro. Avith a force of 200 men, was close
at hand. Therefore, l:)elie\ing discretion to be
the better part of valor, he fell back into the
mountains and there encamped.

At sunset on June 27. Castr. ■, ])lacing him-
self at the head of his army, marched out of
Santa Clara to chastise the Sunnma insurg-
ents. Passing around the head of San Fran-
cisco Bay he reached the San Leandro Creek
from whence he dispatched three men to re-
connoiter. They were to cross the bay in
boats. On the water they were captured and
shot. As they did not return Castro, guessing
what had happened and fearing a like fate for
himself, marched his companv back to Santa
Clara.

War With Mexico Declared

In the meantime great events had lieen oc-
curring without. The United States had de-
clared war against ]\Iexico. Gciieral Scott.
after a series of brilliant exploits, had cajitured
the City of Mexico and Commodore John
Drake Sloat was approaching Monterey. ( )n
July 7, 1846, Monterey was taken and the
-\merican flag hoisted over the town. Two
days later Henrj' Pitts, courier for Commo-
dore Sloat, rode into San Jose, and after an-
nouncing the triumph of American arms,
sought out General Castro and delivered to the
redoubtable Mexican warrior Commodore
Sloat's communication. After reading it Cas-
tro, with moody brow, called out his men and
forming in line in front of the Juzgado, or Hall
of Justice on Market Street, shouted, "Monte-
rey is taken by the Americans," and then pro-
ceeded to read the written words of the Coin-
modore.

"To the inhaln'tants of California —

"The cenlral troo])s of AK-xico having com-
menced ho-~tilitirs at^ain-t the United States of
.America li\- in\a(ling its territory and attack-
ing the troops of the L'nited States stationed
on the north side of the Rio Grande, with a
force of 7,000 men under command of General
Arista, which army was totally destroyed and
all their artillery, baggage, etc., captured on
the 8th and 9th of May last by a force of 2,300
men under the command of General Taylor,
and the city of Matamoras taken and occu-
pied by the forces of the United States, and
tlie two nations being actually at war by this
transaction, I shall hoist the standard of the
United States at ^ilonterey immediately and
shall carr_\- it through California.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

51

"I declare to the inhabitants of Califi)rnia.
that although I come in arms with a powerful
force, I do not come as an enemy to California.
I come as their best friend, as henceforth Cal-
ifornia will be a portion of the United
States and its peaceable inhabitants will enjoy
the same rights and privileges they now enjoy
together with the privilege of choosing their
own magistrates and other officers for the ad-
ministration of justice among themselves, and
the same protection will l)e extended tn them
as to any other state in the Uniim. They will
also enjoy a permanent go\ernincnt under
which life and jiroperty and the ci institutional
right and lawful security to worship the Cre-
ator in the way most congenial to each one's
sense of duty, will be secured to which, unfor-
tunately, the Central Covernment of Mexico
cannot afford them, ck-stri.\ed. ;ls Ikt room-ces
are, l^y internal f;icti(jn< and corrupt otlicers
who create constant rexohuiuns tn pro-
mote their ciwn interests and oppress the
people. Under the flag of the United States
California ^\ill he free from all such trouliles
and expenses ; consequently, the countr\- ^\-ill
rai)idly ad\ance and iinprove, both in agricul-
ture and commerce ; as, of course, the revenue
laws will be the same in California as in all
other parts of the United States, affording
them all inanufactures and pniduce of the
United States free of any dut}-. and fi.r all for-
eign goods at one-quarter the (hit)- they now
pay. A great increase in the value of real es-
tate and the products of California may be
anticiijated.

"With the great interest and kind feelings
I know the government and people of the
United States possess toward the people of
California, the country cannot hut im))rove
more rajiidly than any other on the contineni
of America.

"Such of the inhabitants, whether native or
foreign, as may not be disposed to accept the
high jirivileges of citizenship and to live peace-
ably un<ler the go\ ernment of the United
States, will he allowed time to dispose of their
property and remove out of the country, if
they choose, without any restriction ; or re-
main in it observing strict neutrality.

"With full confidence in the honor and in-
tegrity of the inhabitants of the country, I
invite the judges, alcaldes and other civil of-
ficers to execute their functions as heretofore,
that the public tranquility be not disturbed, at
least, until the government of the territory can
be definitely arranged.

"All persons holding titles to real estate, or
in quiet possession of lands under color oi
right, shall have these titles guaranteed to
them. All churches, and the property they

contain, in possession of the clergy of Califor-
nia, shall continue in the same right and pos-
session the}- n(jw enjoy.

".Ml iir(Jvisions and supplies of every kind
furnished by the inhabitants for the use of the
United States ships and soldiers, will be paid
for at fair rates, and nt) private jiroperty will
be taken for public use without just compen-
sation at the mf)ment.

"JOHN D. SLOAT,
"Connnander-in-Chief of the U. S. Naval
Force in the Pacific Ocean."

The reading of the foregoing concluded,
General Castro is said to have exclaimed,
"^\'hat can I do with a handful (jf men against
the United States? I am going to Mexico.
All who wish to follow me, right-about-face.
.\11 A\ ho wish to remain can go to their
homes." (July a very few chose to follow
Castro into Me.xico, \\-hither he proceeded on
the f(jllowing day. first taking prisoner,
Charles M. A\'e1)er, a merchant, and not releas-
ing hin-i until l.os Angeles was reached.

Upon hearing of Castro's de])arture Captain
Fallon left his camji in the Santa Cruz Moun-
tains, marched into San Jose, seized the Juz-
gado and arrested I folores Pacheco, the al-
calde. He caused I'aelieco to surrender the
keys and puelilo anhixes as well, and ap-
pointed James Stokes justice of the peace. On
July 13 he hoisted an .\merican flag on the
staff' in front of the court house, the first flag
of the Union to wa\e in Santa Clara county.
While in San Jose Fallon receixefl the follow-
ing communications from Captain ]\Iontgom-
ery, stationed at Yerba Buena (San Fran-
cisco) :

"U. S. Ship Portsmouth,
"Yerba Buena, July 13, 1846

"Sir: I have just received your letter with
a Copy of Mr. James Stokes' appointment as
justice of the peace of the pueblo: also a dis-
patch from the commander-in-chief of the
U. S. Naval Forces at Monterey, for which I
thank you. By the ])earer of them I return a
dispatch for Commodore Sloat. which I hope
von will have an opportunity of forwarding to
'Monterey.

"I recei\ed your letter of July 12 and wrote
to you, by the bearer of it, on the 13th in an-
swer advising }'ou by all means to hoist the
flag of the United States at the Pueblo of St.
Joseph (San Jose) as you expressed to do. If
you had sufficient force to maintain it there;
of course you understand that it is not again
to be hauled down

"Agreeable to your request I send you a
proclamation, in both languages, from the
Commander-in-Chief, which I shall be glad to
have distributed as far and generally as pos-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

sible : and be pleased to assure all persons of
the most perfect security from injuries to their
persons or property, and endeavor by every
means in vour power to inspire them with
confidence 'in the existing authorities and gov-
ernment of the United States.
"I am, sir, your ob't servant,

" JOHN B. MONTGOMERY,
"Commanding U. S. Ship Portsmouth.
"To Capt. Thomas Fallon, Pueblo of St.
Joseph, Upper California."

"U. S. Ship Portsmouth.
"Yerba Buena, July 18, 1846.
"Sir I have just received your letter with
the official dispatch from Commodore Sloat,
which has been accidentally delayed one day
in its transmission from the pueblo and am
much obliged to you for sending it to me.

"I am gratified to hear that you have hoisted
the flag of our country and cannot but feel
assured, as I certainly hope, that your zealous
regard for its honor and glory will lead you
nobly to defend it there.

"I am, sir, your ob't servant,

"JOHN B. MONTGOMERY,

"Commander.

"To Capt. Thomas Fallon at the Pueblo
San Jose, Upper California."

Before the arrival at Monterey of Commo-
dore Sloat it was believed in many quarters
that the English government had a covetous
eye on California. John Parrott, a prominent
citizen of San Francisco, was in Mexico in
the spring of 1846, and in a position to learn
something of British intentions. Ascertaining
that a movement was about to be made to hoist
the English flag over the capitol at Monterey,
he sent a courier to Commodore Sloat warn-
ing him that England was about to steal a
march on the United States. The commo-
dore immediately went to sea. He reached
Monterey Bay, and as has been related, hoist-
ed the American flag over the capitol on July
7, 1846. Admiral Seymour, of the British
navy, arrived soon afterward, but having no
authority to inaugurate hostilities with the
United States, was powerless.

The necessity of holding San Jose induced
Captain Montgomery to dispatch the purser
of the Portsmouth, Watmough, to the pueblo
with thirty-five marines, as soon as it was
learned that Fallon had gone south. He made
his headquarters at the Juzgado and strength-
ened his command by the enlistment of a few
volunteers. The tide of war, however, had
flowed southward, and with the exception of
a short expedition against the Indians of the
San Joaquin Valley, the military operations

did not amount to much. Watmough return-
ed to his vessel in October.

At this time Commander Hull of the U. S.
sloop of war Warren, was in command of the
northern district of California and from him
issued commissions to Charles M. Weber as
captain and John M. Murphy as lieutenant of
a company to be enlisted in the land service
to serve during the war. They raised a com-
pany of thirty and established headquarters
in an adobe building on the east side of what
is now known as Lightston Street. This com-
pany did good service in scouting the country
and preventing depredations by the straggling
remnants of Castro's command and in securing
supplies for the use of the troops.

About the time Weber and Murphy receiv-
ed their commissions a body of emigrants ar-
rived at Sutter's Fort where they were met by
Captain Smith, of Fremont's Battalion, who
had l)ecn detailed as a recruiting officer.
Among the emigrants was Joseph Aram, who
afterwards became an honored resident of
.Santa Clara County. Aram immediately en-
listed and was appointed a captain. With his
volunteers he proceeded to escort the families
of the emigrants to Santa Clara where he
made his headquarters in November. The ac-
commodations were very inadequate and the
season being a rough one, fourteen died before
February and many more became seriously
ill. Captain Aram had a force of thirty-one
men and hearing that a Colonel Sanchez with
a large force of mounted Mexicans was threat-
ening the Santa Clara Mission, he proceeded
to put it in as good a condition for defenses as
his means would permit. Wagons and even
branches cut from the trees on the Alameda
were used as barricades across the various
approaches.

At the time Captain Aram took possession
of the Mission, Captain Mervin of the U. S.
Navy sent Lieutenant Pinckney, of the Savan-
nah, and sixty men to reinforce Weber and
Murphy at San Jose. On the afternoon of
November 2, this force took possession of the
Juzgado and transformed it into a barracks,
entrenching the position by breastworks and
a ditch. Videttes were stationed on all the
roads and a sentinel was posted on the Guad-
alupe bridge. In addition to these precautions
Weber and Murphy's company were almost
continually in the saddle, scouting the country
in all directions. This was absolutely neces-
sarv as the Mexican Sanchez, with a large
force, was hovering around the valley picking
u\) stragglers and looking for a favorable op-
]jortunity for a sudden attack. At the same
time the Americans were anxious to meet
Sanchez on a fair field, but the Mexican's

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA- COUNTY

53

movements were so erratic that he could not
be brought to bay.

In the first days of September, Sanchez, by
means of an ambush, surprised and captured
Lieutenant W. A. Bartlett of the U. S. sloop
\\'arren. Bartlett was then acting as alcalde
At San Francisco. He, with five men, were
out looking for supplies of cattle and reached
a point near the Seventeen Mile House in
what is now San Mateo County, when San-
chez and his men dashed out from the brush
and made the Americans prisoners. Martin
Corcoran, afterwards a prominent resident of
San Jose, was with the captured party. The
prisoners were taken to Sanchez camp among
the redwoods in the foothills of the Santa
Cruz Range. Word was brought to San Jose
that Sanchez was somewhere in the northern
part of the valley and Weber and IMurphy,
with their company, started out in pursuit.
After advancing a few miles they learned that
Sanchez had received large accessions to his
force and was occupying a strong position in
the hills back of San Mateo. . Captain Weber's
little company being too small to render an
attack advisable, the march was continued to
San Francisco, where Weber reported to the
Commander.

As soon as Weber had passed on. Sanchez
came out of the hills and encamped on the Hig-
uera ranch, north of San Jose. Two days later
he started for the pueblo thinking he could
capture it without a fight as Weber's defenders
had gone. He took up aposition on the Alma-
den road, south of town and sent in a flag of
truce, demanding surrender and stating that
he had with him two hundred men whose
eagerness for battle could with difficulty be
restrained ; but if the American forces would
leave San Jose they would be permitted to
depart unmolested. Lieutenant Pinckney re-
fused the ofifer, doubled his guards and pre-
pared for battle. That night was one of great
anxiety to the little band behind the intrench-
ments on Market Street. Every one was on
the alert and although each nerve was strung
to the utmost tension there was no flinching.
During the night Sanchez circled round the
town and carefully inspected the position of
the Americans from every point. When he
saw the preparations made for his reception,
his heart failed him and he rode of? with his
command and went into camp about five miles
north of Santa Clara. He kept with him Lieu-
tenant Bartlett and his men. At that time J.
Alexander Forbes, the acting British Consul
was at Santa Clara. Taking a small English
flag in his hands, Mr. Forbes visited the camp
of Sanchez for the purpose of negotiating for
the release of the prisoners. Sanchez was will-
ing that Bartlett might go with Forbes, but

would not consent that Bartlett should go to
the Americans unless they would deliver up
Capt. C. M. Weber in his place. Forbes com-
municated this proposition to the Commander
at San Francisco and pending a reply took
Bartlett to Santa Clara. Word came quickly
that Sanchez' proposition could not be enter-
tained and Bartlett was returned to the Mexi-
can camp.

During this time Weber's force in San Fran-
cisco was joined by other forces, and placed
under the command of Capt. Ward Marston,
U. S. Marine Corps, of the Savannah. The
composition of this small army was as fol-
lows: Thirty-four marines commanded by
Lieut. Robert^Tansell; a six pound ship's gun
and ten men commanded by Master William
F. D. Gough, assisted by Midshipman John
Kell ; the San Jose Volunteers, a body of
thirty-three mounted men nuder command of
Capt. Chas. M. Weber and Lieut. John M.
]\lurphy with James F. Reed, seeking relief for
the Do'nner party, as second lieutenant : Yerba
Buena Volunteers under command of Capt.
^^'illiam F. Smith and a detachment of twelve
men under command of Capt. J. }ilartin. The
whole force numbered 101 men. They left
San Francisco and on January 2, 1847, came
in sight of Sanchez' forces about four miles
north of Santa Clara. The Mexican force was
about 250 men but notwithstanding the odds
were two to one against them the Americans
advanced to the attack with confidence and
enthusiasm. Sanchez, whose scouts had
brought him intelligence of the aproach of the
troops from San Francisco, first sent his pri-
soners toward the Santa Cruz Mountains and
then with great show of valor made ready for
battle. As soon as the x\mericans came in
sighl of the enemy they pressed foward for
an attack. Sanchez fell back and the Ameri-
cans continued to advance. They brought
their one piece of artillery into position but
at the third round it was dismounted by the
recoil and half buried in the mud. The infan-
try however, kept up a hot fire, whenever
they could get in range, which owing to the
extreme caution of the Mexicans, was not
often. A good deal of ground was thus tra-
versed until finally Sanchez made a strong
demonstration around the right flank of the
Americans, hoping by this maneuver to cut
off and stampede a large band of horses that
were in the charge of the United States troops.

The reports of the artillery and the volleys
of the musketry had aroused the people of the
Mission of Santa Clara. They ascended the
house tops to witness the battle. Capt. Aram,
with the men under his command wished to
join the conflict, but as all the women and
children of the country were under American

54

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

military protectinn. Aram did not feel at
liberty'to abandon them, especially as Sanchez
in his retrograde movement, was approaching
the Mission. But when the Mexicans made
the demonstration on the American right, he
marched his men with <^peed to attack San-
chez' right wing. At the same time, ^Veber
and Murphy's company charged, the combined
forces driving the Slexicans from the field and
toward the Santa Cruz Mountains while the
Americans marched in triumph to the ^lission.
The Mexican loss was four men killed and
four wounded. The. Americans had two meti
slightly wounded.

Soon after Sanchez had I.ieen driven from
the field he sent in to the Mission a flag of
truce offering a conditional surrender. The
replj' was that the surrender must be uncondi-
tional. Sanchez replied that he would die
rather than surrender except on the conditions
proposed by him. At last a cessation of hos-
tilities was agreed upon until such time as his
proposition could be submitted to the Com-
mander of the district at San Francisco.

During the armistice and the day after the
battle, January 3, Capt. Aram went to the
Mexican corral to look for some horses that
had been stolen from the Americans. While
in the ^Mexican camp word was brought in
that another American force was advancing
from the direction of the Santa Cruz Mount-
ains. Sanchez, who seemed in great fear of an
attack, requested Capt. Aram to go out and
meet them and inform them of the armistice.
As no reinforcements were e.xpected from that
direction Aram could not imagine what this
force could be, but he rode out to meet them.
The acting British Consul, J. Alexander
Forbes, accompanied him. It seems that the
hope that England would take a hand in the
affairs of California was not entirely aban-
doned, for as Lieutenant Murphy stated.
Forbes carried with him, concealed under his
saddle, a small British flag, presumably for
the purpose of invoking the aid of the
strangers should they prove to be English.
Several of the men in the escort saw the flag
and said afterward that had an attempt been
made to induce British interference, the bearer
of the flag would not have survived to tell the
story of his negotiations. As it happened,
however, the new party proved to be a force
of fifty nine men under command of Capt.
Maddox of the U. S. Navy. They were disap-
pointed to hear of the armistice but respected
its conditions. Three days after this event
a courier arrived from San Francisco inform-
ing Capt. Marston that Sanchez' surrender
must be unconditional.

On the next day, the 7th. Lieutenant Gray-
son arrived at the Mission with another rein-

forcement of fifteen men and on the 8th San-
chez unconditionall}' surrendered his entire
force. His . men were allowed to return to
their homes, which the majority of them did,
to afterward become good citizens of the
L'nited States. Sanchez was taken to San
Francisco and for a time was held prisoner of
war on board the Savannah.

The battle of Santa Clara was the last of the
hostilities in this county. The theater of war
was transferred to the south and no hostile
gun was afterward fired in the beautiful Val-
ley of Santa Clara. But few months elapsed
after this engagement before the soldiers on
both sides were mingled together in the
friendliest kind of business and social re-
lations. This will not seem remarkable when
it is remembered that the inhabitants of Cali-
fornia had, for years, been dissatisfied with
their relations to the ^Mexican Government.
They had contemplated a revolution and had,
in a manner, accomplished it when they drove •
Micheltorena from the country. It is true they
had no love for the United States, but that
government having taken possession of the
country, they accepted the situation as being
much better than their former condition, al-
though not what they had hoped to achieve.
The equal justice which was administered by
the Americans soon reconciled them to their
lot and in a few years they congratulated
themselves over the fact that things were
much lietter than they had expected.

Hostilities between the L^nited States and
^lexico ceased early in 1848 and on February
2nd of that year the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo was signed. By its terms California
was ceded to the conquerors. This treaty was
ratified by the President of the United States
on March 16. was exchanged at Queretaro on
May 30, and was proclaimed by the President
on July 4th.

California was now the property of the
LTnited States but had neither territorial nor
state organization. In fact it had no territor-
ial existence until 1849. During this time its af-
fairs were administered by the senior military
ofiflcers stationed in California. These military
governors were : Commodore John D. Sloat,
July 7, 1846; Commodore Robert F. Stock-
ton", August 17, 1846; Col. John C. Fremont,
[anuary 1847; Gen. Stephen \V. Kearney,
"March, 1847; Col. Richard B. Mason, May 31.
1847; Gen. Bennett Riley, April 13, 1849.

Capt. Thomas Fallon, who raised the first
American flag in the Santa Clara Valley, ac-
companied Fremont in the pursuit of Pio Pico.
.\fter the war ended he took up his residence
in San Jose, erecting what was then consid-
ered the finest mansion in the pueblo. It stood
I in San Pedro Street at its junction with what

HISTORY OF SAKTA CLARA COUXTY

55

is now San Augustine Street and extended
back to Chaliolla Alley. The grounds were
spacious and were planted in fruit trees and
flowering plants. Here the hospitable captain
kept open house for years. He had three
daughters by his first wife, a native of Mex-
ico. They were looked upon as the three
beauties of the pueblo. The oldest, Anita,
married John T. Malone, who was a graduate
of Santa Clara College and a lawyer of stand-
ing and ability, ^^'hile he was deputy district
attorney he was seized with the stage fever.
Abandoning the law he studied for the stage
and in the early eighties made his professional
debut in San Francisco appearing as "Romeo"
to the "Juliet" of Miss Eleanor Calhoun, a San
Jose girl, who had adopted the stage as a pro-
fession and who is now (1922) the wife of
Prince Lazarovitch of Serbia. Malone starred
several years in the East, and was secretary
of the Players' Club, New York City when he
died. His wife became an actress before his
death. Another of Captain Fallnn's daughters
married Xat J. Brittain, a prcimincnt San I'ran-
cisco clubman. In 1862 Fallon ran for state
senator on the Democratic ticket but was
beaten by Joseph G. Wallis, of Mayfield, Re-
publican. In 1867 he was the successful candi-
date for county treasurer, defeating Moody,
Repul.ilican, liy sixty-one votes. He held no
other important public oflice.

Lieut. John M. Murphy, who was Captain
AVeber's second in command during hostili-
ties in Santa Clara Valley during the Mexi-
can war. was the son of Alartin Murphy, Sr.,
and after the discovery of gold, went to the
mines, taking with him a stock of goods. He
employed the Indians to prospect and dig for
him and probably had more gold in his pos-
session than other miners on the coast. He
was the first treasurer of Santa Clara County
and was afterward elected recorder and then
sheriff. His wife was Virginia F. Reed, daugh-
ter of James F. Reed and one of the sur-
vivors of the ill-fated Donner party. Mur-
phy has been dead for man)- years. His
widow died in Los Angeles February 15, 1921.

Charles M. Weber was a merchant in San
Jose where he formed his volunteer company
to defend the pueblo. He accjuired a large
tract of land in the county, raised thousands
of cattle and died in San Joaquin County many
years ago.

' Gold Is Discovered

The discovery of gold in January. 1(S48,
created the greatest e.xcitement in San Jose.
The news came after the grain crop had been
planteil. All business was suspended and
ever\ljody rushed to the mines. Many suc-
ceeded in c)btaining a good supply of the prec-
ious metal, but many more did not succeed.

The grain in the fields grew and ri])ened, but
waited in A-ain for the reaper and was finally
wasted or devoured by the roving hogs. Each
report of a rich find intensified the excitement
while the numerous stories of disappointment
seemed not to allay the fever. Town and
county were deserted. There being no crops
for lack of harvesting all food supplies went
up to fabulous prices. The flour used was
brought chiefly from Chile and sold for twenty
dollars a barrel. Everything else in the way
of food, except meat was proportionately high.
Labor, when it could be procured \^^^ from
ten to eighteen dollars per day. Lumbet cost
$100 per thousand feet for hauling alone. For
two years the onions raised on about six acres
of ground wdiere the Southern Pacific depot
stands yielded a net profit of $20,000 a year.
The two most prominent towns in Cali-
fornia in 1848 were Yerba Buena (San Fran-
cisco) and San Jose. AVhen the gold dis-
co\cr}- was made Charles E. White was al-
calde of San Jose and Llarry Bee, alguazil, or
sheriff. All the males, with few exceptions,
joined the stampede, leaving behind only the
old men and the women and children. On
account of the favorable location and quietude
of the town men from other settlements came
to San Jose, left their wives and families and
then hurried off to the mines.

Harry Bee then had under his charge in the
calalioose ten prisoners (Indians), two of
whom were charged with murder. When Al-
calde White announced his intention to leave
for the mines, Harry asked him what disposi-
tion of the prisoners should be made. "Do
what you like with them," was the answer.
Harry considered a\\hile and at last came to
the conclusion that it would never do to leave
the Indians in the pueblo with none but
women and children about, for he, too, had
made up his mind to go to the mines. He
finally determined to take the Indians along
with him and with his father-in-law and
brother-in-law started out. Before leaving the
lockup the Indians promised faithfully not to
escape and to serve Harry well in return for
which service they would, after a time, be re-
stored to liberty. The party located at Dry
Diggings on the American River and for three
months the Indians behaved splendidly. All
tiu- dust they took out was given to their em-
pl(jyer and they seemed to care for nothing
except food and shelter. At the end of two
months the miners thereabout began to talk
to them about the shabby way in which they
were treated, telling them that they were un-
der no restraint, that the gold they took out
was their own property and wound up by
gi\ing them the curse of the aborigine, "fire

56

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

water." Harry sofin noticed a change in their
manner and as he had cleaned up a good pile
he resolved to return to San Jose. Accord-
ingly he left the Indians in full posession of
his claim with all the tools, etc., and departed
homeward. He afterward learned that the In-
dians only worked one day after his departure
and then deNoted what dust they had in get-
ting on a glorious drunk, which was not un-
mixed with bloodshed. Not one of them ever
returned to San Jose.

Hon. S. O. Houghton, who died in Los An-
geles a few years ago, passed through San Jose
in the fall of '48 to find the place compara-
tively deserted. All the male population had
departed for the mines, business had stagnated
and ever3-thing appeared to be going to rack
and ruin. No provision had been made for the
coming season. Mr. Houghton, while at Mon-
terey on his way northward, purchased of
Capt. Joseph Aram, a redwood board for the
purpose of making a rocker for which he paid
one dollar per foot. Sawmills were a paying
business those days. After returning from the
mines Mr. Houghton employed men in a saw-
mill, paying them as high as sixteen dollars
per day. When the gold excitement broke out
the following persons were in and about San
Jose. Moses Schallenberger, Frank Lightson,
Charles E. White, J. W. Weeks, Ephraim
Fravel, George Cross, A. Pfister, Isaac Bran-
ham, Dr. Ren Cory, John M. Murphy, Thomas
Campbell, Capt. Joseph Aram, William Gul-
nac, Charles M. Weber, W. C. Wilson, Ed-
ward Johnson, Peter Davidson, Josiah Belden,
Zachariah Jones. P. Haggertv, Jonathan Parr,
the Pyle family, M. D. Kell, 'Peter Quincy,
Hiram Miller, Samuel Young, Joseph StillweU,
Arthur Caldwell, James F. Reed, Clement
Bugbee, Wesley Hoover, James Enright,
Harry Bee. This does not complete the list,
but nearly so. Parties were organized for the
mines and explorations were carried on until
just before the rainy season when the major
part of the gold seekers returned. Before the
opening of spring, when new expeditions had
been fitted out, the population had largely in-
creased and the city was left in a more secure
condition. Numbers had already increased
their store of gold to a satisfactory extent,
while others wished to try their hand again.

Killing of Young Pyle
No single event created more interest and
excitement in San Jose and vicinity than the
killing of young Pyle by a ^Mexican named
Valencia in 1847. From a great mass of
stories the following facts have been gleaned:
In 1847 young Pyle, son of Edward Pyle,
visited the ranch of Anastacio Chabolla for the
purpose of playing with the young Spanish

lioys on the ranch. During the jilay one of
the boys named \"alencia, a nephew of Cha-
bolla, accidentally injured the horse of young
Pyle. The horse was so nearly disabled that
another had to be procured to take young
P\le home. After young Pyle had left the
ranch Valencia's companions began to plague
him about his awkwardness, saying, among
other things, that upon hearing young Pyle's
story the parents would make Valencia's moth-
er pay for the injury. Valencia appears to
have been a very sensitive boy and his com-
])anions worked his feelings up to such a pitch
that he determined to follow Pyle and extract
a promise to keep mum about the accident.
Mounted on a fast horse he soon overtook
Pyle and with a throw of the lariat dragged
the boy from his horse. He then cut the boy's
throat with a knife and dragged the body to
the foothills and covered it with brush.

When young Pyle did not return home his
relatives and friends instituted search for him
but without result. No clue to his where-
abouts was discovered until 1849 and the man-
ner of the discovery was for years a subject
of dispute. Frederic Hall, in his history says
that in 1849 a brother of young Pyle met in
the San Joaquin Valley a man who said he
knew all about the killing. He was brought
to San Jose, the remains of the murdered boy
were found and the arrest of A'alencia soon
followed.

Another story was related I.)y the late Julius
Martin, of Gilroy. In 1849 Martin had a band
of cattle in the vicinity of Mormon Island.
One of his Spanish vaqueros named Camillo
Ramero was taken ill with a fever and Martin
brought him to his (Ramero's) home in the
Santa Clara Valley. One night as they were
riding near the Bernal ranch, Ramero was
taken with a chill, and fearing that he was
was about to die, told Martin all about the
murder of young Pyle, who did it, how it
was done and where the body had been hid-
den. He said, among other things, that after
young Pyle had been dragged from his horse,
V'alencia rode away, but soon after meeting
his uncle was told that if he did not go back
and kill Pyle the Americans would hang him
for what he had already done. The statement
so worked on the boy's fears, that he went
back, killed Pyle and- concealed the body near
Silver Creek, beyond Evergreen. Martin, after
hearing Ramero's story came at once to San
Jose and meeting Cad. Kej-es told him what
Ramero had confessed. Keyes chanced to find
John Pyle in town and they made up a posse
and arrested Valencia.

A party consisting of Peter Davidson, John
Pyle, William McCutchcn and a few others
went out to fmd the murdered bov's remains.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

57

They were found in the place indicated by
Ramero. It was afterward learned that Va-
lencia had been living a life of torment ever
since the commission of the deed. From the
place where he lived to the spot where he
had hidden the body of his victim a path had
been worn b}- frequent visits. It was said
that hardl}- a night passed without seeing him
trudging the lonel}" jiath tn the grave of his
victim. After his arrest A'alencia was arraigned
before R. H. Dimmick, Judge of the First In-
stance. He confessed to the crime before his
trial and the trial resulted in a conviction.
The execution took place on Market Plaza in
the presence of Judge Dimmick and a large
number of spectators.

Local Government

Pending the meeting of the convention and
the adoption of a new state constitution in
Monterey in October, 1849, the country was
ruled provisionally b}' American officials. Each
large settlement had for chief officers an al-
calde, who under Mexican laws had the en-
tire control of municipal affairs and adminis-
tered justice pretty much according to his own
ideas on the subject, without being tied down
by precedents and formal principles of law.
He could make grants of Iniilding lots within
the town boundaries to intending settlers and
really his right of administration, except in
cases of grave importance, seems to have been
limited only by his power to carry his de-
crees into effect. When the Americans seized
the country' they were obliged to make use of
the existing machinery of local government
and the customary laws that regulated it. They
accordingly everywhere ap])ointe(l alcaldes of
towns and districts and instructed them to dis-
pense justice in the best possible manner, pay-
ing always due regard for the national laws
of Mexico and the provisional customs of Cali-
fornia.

Such was the condition of the town gov-
ernment when that memorable year, 1849,
opened. The rulers in the Pueblo of San Jose
were as follows; H. K. Dimmick, to August,
first alcalde: Richard M. May, from August
to November, first alcalde; John C. Conroy,
from November, first alcalde ; Jose Fernandez,
second alcalde ; John T. Richardson, from No-
vember 2 to December 3, judge of the first
instance; W. M. Kincaid, from December 3,
judge of the first instance. The Juzgado, or
court house, was located on Market Street,
corner of El Dorado (now Post). It was
built of adobe and had a primitive and weather-
beaten appearance.

In 1847 a survey of the town had been made
and streets laid out and in 1849 the three
main thoroughfares were Market, First and

Santa Clara streets, the last named taking the
lead as far as travel and business were con-
cerned. There were but few business houses
early in the year. Lightston & Weber held
forth in an adobe building on the southeast
corner of Santa Clara and Lightston streets.
There was no hotel in town then and emigrants
or strangers had the alternative of either
sleeping in the open air or paying as high as
$50 a month for a place on the floor in the
second story of Lightston & Weber's store or
other adobe structures. Josiah Belden and
W. R. Basham trafficked in a tile-roofed build-
ing on Market street at the corner of San An-
tonio street. J. D. Hoppe had a store in an
adobe on the corner of RIarket and El Dorado
streets and William AlcCutchen and B. H.
Gordon (afterward a farmer in the San Felipe
X^alle}) did business in a frame structure on
First street, near the corner of Santa Clara
street. On the Knox Block corner stood the
handsomest and most aristocratic looking
adobe residence in the pueblo. It was occu-
pied by Thomas and Frank West and what
was a wonder in those days, it was plastered
on the inside. From that building down to
Market Street, a mustard patch flourished in
all its pristine vigor. The bucolic appearance
was relieved somewhat by a collection of mus-
tard huts put up by the native California popu-
lation. The long, hardy stalks were selected
and with the aid of a few willow branches
and a liberal supply of adobe mud, a com-
fortable abiding place was constructed. No
pains appear to have been spared by these
children of the plains and the Sierras in thor-
oughly ventilating their dwellings, and as ven-
tilation and health go hand in hand, it is not
to be wondered at that the occupants were
strong-limbed, hardy and long-lived.

Antonio Maria Sunol sold general merchan-
dise at his residence on the west side of Mar-
ket Plaza and a Chilean firm did business in
Peter Davidson's adobe building on San Pedro.

There were a number of private residences,
constructed of adobe, in and about the pueblo
and many tents and a few wooden buildings
put up for temporary use by the Americans. In
1849 the town began to increase rapidly in
population, on acct)unt of the discovery of gold,
the ciinsei|uent tide of immigration and the
ail\ aiita,i.;-(_'s altered by San Jose as a place of
residence. The women of '49 deserve a larger
share of praise and credit than has generally
been accorded them. They were not hot-
house plants, nor spoiled beauties, narrow-
waisted, weak-chested and doll-faced, who
manifested more regard for fashion and the
latest novel, than housework. They were
women of force and worthy coadjutors of the
men who laid the l)asis for the grand civili-

58

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

zation of today. The habitations (adobe, tent
or shack) were not supplied with the many
conveniences of today. Many of the house-
hold utensils were of primitive design and in
the matter of groceries the stock was not as
e.xtensive and varied as may be seen in these
later days. In place of the handsome and
convenient range, or gas stove, with labor-
saving and handy accessories, they were
obliged to put up with an adobe fireplace or
two sticks driven into the ground, forked at
their upper ends with a third stick laid across
the top upon which the kettles and pots were
suspended above the fire underneath. They
did not have any bell-knocker or electric but-
ton .on or near the front door, nor a parlor
with a piano and lots of chromos in it. In
the majority of cases the kitchen, dining room,
bedroom, sitting room and parlor were one
and there was generall}^ an absence of car-
pets and wallpaper. The women worked hard
in those days, adapting themselves cheerfully
to the rough conditions. Many of them are
now living in costly dwellings, surrounded
by appurtenances of wealth, refinement and
ease. They deserve the success they and
their husbands have achieved and it is all the
more enjoyable after the hard experiences of
the early days.

Early Buildings of San Jose
In the latter part of "49 the Bella Union
Saloon was erected on a portion of the ground
now occupied by the Auzerais House on Santa
Clara Street. The proprietors were Joseph W.
Johnson and a Mr. Whitney. The Mansion
House was begun by J. S. Ruckel on the
ground where now stands the old Music Hall
building on North First street; and the City
Hotel on the opposite of the street was com-
pleted and opened to the public. Mine host
was Peter Quincy, (since deceased) and the
prices charged for board and lodging were
high enough to allow a lioniface to get rich
in a montli.

. Where the Bank of Italy building now
stands was a large cattle corral and to the
east and .south plains of mustard greeted the
eye, an adobe house, occupied by a native
Californian, now and then dotting' the waste
and relieving the monotonous expanse. The
mustard stalks grew as high as young trees —
higher than a man's head and it was the easiest
thing in the world to take a walk in the shade
of the yellow Ijranches and get lost!

The grand public place was the Plaza, then
hard, level and treeless. Here the native Cali-
fornians were in the habit of congregating and
enjoying themselves according to the customs
that had been handed down for generations.
Horse racing, bull fights, e<|uestrian feats, fan-

dangos and other divertissements made up the
program of pleasure.

Vivid Description of Early Days

The condition of affairs in San Jose at this
time was graphically described by the late
"Grandma" Bascom in a story transcribed by
Mrs. M. H. Field, which appeared in the Over-
land Monthly in 1887. The following excerpts
are made :

"We reached Sacramento the last day of
October. Then we took a boat to San Fran-
cisco. It rained and rained. I remember that
at Benicia w^e paid $15 for a candle. At San
Francisco we hoped to find a house all ready
to be put together, which the Doctor had
bought in Nevr York and ordered sent around
the Horn. He had also sent in the same cargo
a great lot of furniture and a year's supply
of provisions, but they never came until the
next April and then everything was spoiled
but the house. We had also bought in San
Francisco two lots for $1,700 each. The best
we could do w-as to camp on them. The first
night in San Francisco Mr. Bryant came to
take supper with us and the Doctor, to cele-
brate, bought $5 worth of potatoes. We ate
them all for supper and didn't eat so very
many of them, either.

"We had intended from the first to come to
the Santa Clara \'alley, for the Doctor said
that wherever the Catholic Fathers had picked
out a site it must be a good one. The chil-
dren and I stayed in the city while the Doc-
tor went on horseback to San Jose and bought
a house fo.r us. Then he came back and we
started for San Jose with Professor Jack,
wJiile the Doctor stayed in the city to buy and
ship furniture and provisions to us. We came
to Alviso in the boat and paid $150 in fare,
just for me and the children. From Alviso
we came to San Jose by the Pioneer stage
through fearful mud and pouring rain, pay-
ing an 'ounce' each for fare. On the boat
I got acquainted with two nice gentlemen, both
ministers, whose names were Brierly and
Blakeslee. They, too, were coming to San
Jose : also a Mr. Knox.

" 'We haven't any place to lay our heads
when we get there,' one of them said.

"'Well, I've got a house.' said 1, just as
if 1 was in Kentucky, "and if you can jnit u])
with what I'll have to you can come with me
and welcome.' So we were all driven straight
to my house at the corner of Second and
San Fernando streets. It was dark and tiie
10th of December.

"The house had been bought from a Mrs.
Matthews and she was still in it. Doctor had
l>aid $7,000 for the house and two fifty vara
K)ts. I expected to see at least a decent shel-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

59

ter, hut oil, my! it was just as one of the cliil-
dren said, ']\Iost as good as our old Kentucky
corn crib.' It had two rooms and a loft which
was climbed into by a kind of ladder. The
roof was of shakes and let the rain right
through, and the floor was of planks, laid
down with the smooth side up with great
cracks l^etween to let the water run out. I
was thankful for that. There was a chimney
in the house and a fireplace, but hardly a
bit of fire and no wood. It was rather a
forlorn place to come to and bring visitors to,
now wasn't it? Yet we had been through so
much that the poorest shelter looked good to
me and besides it was our new home. We
must make the best of it. Mrs. Matthews
had a good supper for us on the table and
the children were overjoyed to see a real table
cloth once more.

" 'Will you tell me where I can get some
wood?" I said to Mrs. Matthews, thinking that
a fire would be the best possible thing for us
all. 'You can buy a burro load in the morn-
ing,' she answered. 'I've used the last bit
to get supper with?' Well, the end of it was
that we took our supper and went to bed —
not on our nice Kentucky feather beds, but
on buffalo skins spread on the floor and with-
out any pillows. Mr. Knox, Mr. Blakeslee
and. Mr. Brierly climljed up into the loft and
turned in as best they could. Mr. Knox \vas
sick but I couldn't even give him a cup of
hot tea. I said to Mrs. Matthews that I wished
I could heat a stone to put to his fee-t. 'Stone !'
said she. 'There are no stones in this country.'
"We slept as if we were on downy beds,
we were so tired. The next morning I bought
a l)urrii load of wood for an 'ounce'. Every-
thing cost an 'ounce'. I soon got used to it.
Wheat was 75 cents a pound, butter $1 a
pound, eggs $3 a dozen. A chicken cost $3,
milk $1 a quart. But the prices matched all
around. Doctors charged $5 for pulling a
tooth and other things were in proportion. I
don't know as if it made any difference. I
divided my mansion into four rooms, with
curtains. Doctor came and brought us furni-
ture and all the comforts money could buy.
He paid $500 to get shingles for our roof.
Mr. Blakeslee and Mr. Brierly stayed with us.
We all seemed to get on well together. It
was not till spring that the Doctor found a
black man who could cook. He paid $800
for him. Folks said he wouldn't stay — for, of
course, he was free in California — but he did.
He lived with us for four years.

"People began to ask if they couldn't stay
with us till they found some other home, and
then, somehow, they stayed on. Everybody
had to be hospitable. The Legislature was
then in session and the town was more than

full. The first thing I knew I had thirteen
boarders — senators and representatives, minis-
ters and teachers. Nobody who came would
go awa}-. I could always manage to make peo-
ple feel at home, and they would all say they
would put up with anything and help in all
sorts of ways, if I would only let them stay.
Mr. Leek (he was the enrolling clerk of the
Legislature) was a wonderful hand at making
batter cakes. We got a reputation on batter
cakes and our house was dubbed "Slapjack
Hall" by my boy, Al. It stuck to us. Mr.
Bradford, of Indiana, could brown coffee to
perfection.

"J.Ir. Orr and IMr. ^Mullen always brought
all the water. They were senators. I used to
think they liked the job because there was a
pretty girl in the house where they got the
water. And that reminds me that several
families got water frnm the same well. It
was just a hole in the i;r..unil, about eight or
ten feet deep and no curl) around it. Once
a baby was creeping on the ground and fell
into it. The mother saw it and ran and jumped
in after it. Then she screamed and I ran
out. There she was in the well, holding the
baby upside down to get the water out of its
lungs. 'Throw me a rope,' she screamed and
I ran for a rope. Then she tied it around the
baby and I drew it up. Meanwhile our cries
brought men to the rescue and thej' drew up
the ]ioor woman. W'e kept the well covered
after that.

"Before we got the black man it seemed im-
possible to get a cook. We even had a wom-
an come down from San Francisco, but she
didn't stay when she found we really expected
her to cook. She said she was a niece of Amos
Kendall and wasn't going to cook for any-
body. Professor Jack helped me steadily and,
as I said, everybody lent a hand. We had a
very ga}' time over our meals and everybody
was willing to wash dishes and tend baby.
I used to go to the Legislature and enjoy the
fun there as much as the members enjoyed
my housekeeping. The March of that winter
was something to remember. People used
to get swamped on the corner of First and
Santa Clara streets. A little boy was drowned
there. It was a regular trap for children.

"Oh, did I tell you I built the first church
and the first schoolhouse in San Jose? I did.
I built it all with my own hands and the only
tool I had was a good, stout needle. It was
the famous 'Blue Tent' you have heard of.
Mr. Blakeslee asked me if I could make it
and I told him of course I could. He bought
the cloth and cut it out. It was of blue jean
and cost seventy-five cents a yard. The Pres-
byterian Church was organized in it and Mr.
Blakeslee had a school in it all winter.

60

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

"We had a good deal of party-going and
gave entertainments just as if we had elegant
houses and all the conveniences. Some of the
Spanish people were very stylish. The ladies
had dresses rich as silk and embroidery could
make them, and in their long, low adobe
houses there were rich carpets and silk cur-
tains trimmed with gold lace. I w^ent to the
first wedding in one of those houses. Miss Pico
married a Mr. Campbell. It was very grand,
but the odd dresses and the odd dishes upset
my gravity more than once. Governor and
Mrs. McDougall lived in an adobe house on
Market street and they had a grand party
there. I had a party, too, one day and asked
all the ladies of my acquaintance. Mrs. Bran-
ham had given me six eggs and I made an
elegant cake which I was going to pass around
in fine style. I began by passing it to one
of the Spanish ladies and she took the whole
cake at one swoop, wrapped it up in the
skirt of her gorgeous silk dress and said,
'Mucha gracias'. I was never so surprised in
my life, but there was nothing I could do.
The rest of us had to go without cake that
time.

"Cattle and horses ran about the streets
and there were no sidewalks. We just had to
pick our way around as best we could.

"In the spring my piano came. It was sent
by way of the Isthmus. It was the first piano
in San Jose. It made a great sensation. Ev-
erybody came to see it and hear my little
girl play. Indians and Spanish used to crowd
around the doors and windows to hear the
wonderful music, and many a white man, too,
lingered and listened because it reminded him
of home.

"We moved into a better house in the spring,
very near where the Methodist Church South
afterward stood. We paid $125 a month for
it. But when I look back it seems that I
never had such an intellectual feast as I had
in old 'Slapjack Hall'. The gentlemen who
figured as cooks in my kitchen were the most

intelligent and agreeable men you can imagine.
They were all educated and smart and they
appeared just as much like gentlemen when
they were cooking as when they were mak-
ing speeches in the Legislature. I don't be-
lieve we ever again had such a choice set of
folks under our roof here in San Jose. Doctor
and I felt honored in entertaining and yet
they paid us $20 a week for the privilege.

"Of course you know General Fremont and
his wife were here that winter and I knew
them both. Mrs. Fremont's sister, Mrs. Jones,
and I were great friends. Yes, indeed, there
never were finer people than my boarders and
neighbors in '49. Let me see : There were the
Cooks and Hoppes and Cobbs and Joneses, the
Branhams and Beldens and Hensleys and Wil-
liams, the Bralys, the \\'esters and Crosbys,
Murphys, Dickensons. Hendersons. Kincaids,
Campbells. Reeds, Houghtons, Tafts and
Moodys. Then amongst them were the Picos
and Sunols. Very likely I have forgotten
a great many, just telling them off in this
fashion, but I never forgot them, really. Many
of the best citizens of San Jose now, with
their wives and children, yes, and grandchil-
dren, were slim young fellows in those days
who had come to California to seek their for-
tunes. Fine, enterprising boj-s they were, too.
Some of them boarded with me! C. T. Ryland
and P. O. Minor were inmates of 'Slapjack
Hair and Dr. Cor}- and the Reeds will re-
member it well.

"In 1852 we moved out on the Stockton
ranch and bought our own farm in Santa Clara
on which we built our permanent home, Som-
erville Lodge. I remember we paid our head
carpenter $16 a day. The house cost us $10,-
000. It would not cost $1,000 now. We bought
seeds for our garden and an ounce of onion
seed cost an ounce of gold. We paid $6 each
for our fruit trees. A mule cost $300; a horse
$400. But doctor's services were just as high-
priced and so we kept even."

CHAPTER III.

San Jose as the Capital of the State — Meeting of the First Legislature — The
Removal to Vallejo — Land Grants and Suertes — A Trumped-up Robbery
— Settlers' War — Fourth of July Celebration.

Between the years 1846 and 1849 California
remained under the control of the United
States military forces. A military commander
controlled affairs, but there was no real gov-
ernment. As long as the war lasted it was only
natural to expect that such would be the case
and the people made no protest, but after peace
was declared and the military rule continued
much dissatisfaction was aroused. With the
changed views of the people. General Riley,
the military commander, entirely sympathized.
When it was found that Congress had ad-
journed without effecting anything for Cali-
fornia, he issued a proclamation — June 3, 1849,
— calling for a convention. The proclamation
stated the num1)er of delegates which each
district should elect and also announced that^
ap]5ointments to judicial offices would be made*
after being voted for. The delegates from
tbe Santa Clara \^alley district were Joseph
.\rani, Kimball IT. Dimmick, Antonio M. Pico,
Elam Brown. Julian Hanks and Pedro Sain-
sevain.

Constitutional Convention
C)n September 1, 1849, the Convention met
at Monterey, Robert Semple, of Benicia, of
the district of Sonoma, being chosen presi-
dent. The session lasted six weeks and not-
withstanding an awkward scarcity of books of
reference and other necessary aids, much la-
bor was performed, while the del^aters exhib-
ited a marked degree of ability. In framing
the original constitution of California, slavery
was forever prohibited within the jurisdiction
of the state ; the boundary question between
the United States and Mexico was set at rest;
provision for the morals and education of the
people was made ; a seal of state, with the
motto Eureka was adopted and many other
pertinent subjects were discussed. The con-
stitution was duly framed, submitted to the
people and at the election on November 13
was ratified and adopted by a vote of 12,064
for and eleven against it ; there being besides
over 1,200 ballots that were treated as blanks
because of an informality in the printing. On
the occasion the vote of the district of San
Jose was 567 for and none against its adop-
tion, while 517 votes were cast for Peter H.
Burnett for governor and thirty-si.x votes for

W. S. Sherwood. The popular voice also made
San Jose the capital.

During the session of the Convention, the
residents of San Jose in public meeting, elect-
ed Charles White and James F. Reed a com-
mittee to proceed to Alonterey and use their
utmost endeavors to have San Jose named
m the constitution as the state capital. They
found a staunch opponent in Dr. Semple, the
president, who coveted the honor for his home
town, Benicia. But the San Joseans were not
discouraged by this opposition. They prom-
ised to have ready a suitable building by the
15th of December, about the time when the
Legislature would be ready to sit — a rash
promise when is considered the fact that such
an edifice had not been completed in the town.
San Jose was selected as the capital and it
was now up to the residents to provide a
building for the sessions. In that year there
stood on the south half of lot si.x — the east
side of Market Plaza — a large adobe structure,
erected l:>y Sainsevain and Rochon, which was
meant for a hotel. This structure the town
council tried to rent for the legislative ses-
sion, but the price was so exorbitant — $4,000
per month — that is was deemed best to pur-
chase the buildin,-- (.iitri,i,'-ht : but here the pro-
prietors declined tn take the pueblo authori-
ties as security. Now it was that the residents
of means stepped in and saved the day. Nine-
teen of them executed a note for the price
asked, $34,000, with interest at the rate of eight
per cent per month. The nineteen were R. W.
May, James F. Reed, Peter Davidson, William
McCutchen. Joseph Aram. David Hickey,
Charles White, Frank Lightston, J- D. Hoppe,'
Peter Quincy. K. C. Keves, W. H. Eddv'
Benjamin Cory, K. H. Dimmick, J. C. Cobb,
P. Sainsevain, Josiah Belden, Isaac Branham
and J. C. Cook. A conveyance was made to
Belden, Reed and Aram, to hold the premises
in trust for the purchasers. An appropria-
tion of $50,000, purchase money for the build-
ing, was made by the Legislature, and bonds
bearing interest at the rate of two and one-
half per cent per month, were issued. Un-
fortunately the credit of the territory was be-
low par and the bonds were sacrificed at the
rate of forty cents on the dollar. The amount
received by the sale was used in partial liqui-

62

HISTORY OF SAXTA CLARA COUNTY

dation of the debt, the indebtedness remain-
ing being subsequently the cause of vexatious
and protracted legislation.

First Legislature Convenes

On Saturday, December 15, 1849, the first
Legislature of California met at San Jose. E.
Kirby Chamberlain was elected president pro
tem of the Senate and Thomas J. White,
speaker of the Assembly, which august body
occupied the second story of the State House.
The lower portion, intended for use of the
Senate, not being ready for occupancy, the
senators were taken, for a short period, to
the house of Isaac Branham, located on the
southwest corner of Market Plaza. On the
opening day there were only six senators
present. The following day Governor Riley
and his secretary, H. W. Halleck, afterward
a distinguished general in the L^ S. Army,
arrived and on ^Monday nearly all the mem-
bers were in their places.

At the start considerable dissatisfaction over
the poor accommodations at the State House
was manifested and only four days after open-
ing for business George B. Tingley, a mem-
ber from Sacramento, introduced a bill to
move the capital to Monterey. It passed its
first reading and then died a natural death.

On the twentieth of December, 1849, Gov-
ernor Riley turned over his office to Governor
Peter H. Burnett and on the same date Sec-
retary Halleck was relieved of his duties and
K. H. Dimmick was appointed Judge of the
Court of First Instance.

The personnel of the first Legislature of
California wa^ as follows : Senators — David
F. Douglass, M. G. Vallejo, Elcan Heyden-
feldt, Pablo de la Guerra, S. E. Woodworth,
Thomas L. Vermeule, ^V. D. Fair, Elisha O.
Crosb}', D. C. Broderick, E. Kirby Chamber-
lain, J. Bidwell, H. C. Robinson, B. J. Lippin-
cott.

Assemlilvmen — Elam IJrown, J. S. K. Ogier,
E. B. Bateman, Ivlmund Randolph, E. P. Bald-
win, A. P. Crittenden, Alfred Wheeler, James
A. Gra3% Joseph Aram, Joseph C. Morehead,
Benjamin Corv, Thomas J. Henlev, Jose M.
Corvarrubias, "Elisha \\". McKinstry. Geo. B.
Tingley.

On the twentieth of December two United
States senators were elected, the lucky ones
being Col. John C. Fremont and Dr. William
M. Givin. On the following day Governor
Burnett deli\crcd his message.

Removal of Capital

The next legislative move of importance
was the attempt to remove the capital. Gen.
Mariano Guadalupe \'al!ejo, senator from the
District of Sonoma, and owning lordly acres

to the north of San FVancisco Bay, addressed
a memorial to the Senate, dated April 3. 1850.
pointing out the advantages possessed by the
site of the town of Vallejo over San Jose and
the other places bidding for the state capital.
To secure the boon the General ofifered to
grant to the state, free of cost, twenty acres
for a capitol and grounds, with 136 acres added
for other state buildings ; and in addition to
this he agreed to donate and pay over to the
state, within two years, the large sum of $370,-
000, to be devoted to the construction of build-
ings anil their furnishing. San Jose strove
hard to retain the prize. The citizens did ev-
erything in their power to make things pleas-
ant for the legislators. Their pay. sixteen dol-
lars a day, was received in state scrip, by no
means at par value in the market. To
propitiate them the hotel keepers and trades-
men consented to take the scrip at its face
value. This of¥er created a good impression
but was not sufficient in force to offset the
ofifer of Vallejo. Seeing that the tide was turn-
ing against them, the San Joseans, through
James F. Reed, offered four blocks of land
and 160 lots, the lots to be sold to raise money
•for the building of the capitol. Another bid
was that of Charles White, who tendered one
and one-half square miles of land, upon the
condition that the state should lay it out "in
lots for sale, reserving a portion sufficient for
buildings and that one-third of the sum so
realized should be paid to him and the bal-
ance given to the state for building purposes.
A third olTer, of 200 acres, made by John
Townsend carried the stipulation that all the
state buildings, save the penitentiary, should
be placed thereon.

On receipt of Gen. \'allejo"s memorial to
the senate, a committee was appointed, with
instructions to consider all the oft'ers made
and report. On April 2, 1850, the report was
made. It concluded with these words: "Your
Committee cannot dwell with too much
warmth upon the magnificent propositions
contained in the memorial of General Vallejo.
They breathe throughout the spirit of an en-
larged mind and a sincere public benefactor,
for which he deserves the thanks of his coun-
trymen and the admiration of the world. Such
a proposition looks more like the legacy of
a mighty emperor to his people than the free
donation of a private planter to a great state,
yet poor in public finance but soon to be
among the first of the earth." The report,
which was presented by Senator David C.
P)roderick (who was killed by Judge Terry
in a duel in 1859) of San Francisco, goes on
to iK)int out the necessities that should gov-
ern the site for California's capital, recapitu-
lates the ad\antages pointed out in the me-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

63

niorial and finally recunimends the acceptance
of General \'allejo's offer.

The acceptance did not pass the Senate
without some opposition and considerable
delay. On September 9, 1850, California was
admitted into the Union and on February 14,
1851, during the last session of the Legisla-
ture in San Jose, the Act of Removal was
passed, and on May 1 of that year the Legis-
lature adjourned, but the archives were not
removed to Vallejo until later. The third
Legislature convened at Vallejo January 5,
1852; seven days later it was transferred to
Sacramento: January 3, 1853, it met again at
Vallejo : it was removed to Benicia on Feb-
ruary 11 of the same year, where it remained
until the end of the session, and then by enact-
ment the capital was permanently located at
Sacramento, where it has since remained.

The question of the legality of the removal
was brought up in 1854 before the Supreme
Court, when a majority of the justices, Hey-
denfeldt and Wells, held that according to
law San Jose was the capital of the state.
Thereupon the following order was made:

"It is ordered that the sheriff of Santa
Clara County procure in the town of San Jose
and properly arrange and furnish a court-
room, clerk's office and consultation room, for
the use of the court. It is further ordered
that the clerk of this court forthwith remove
the records of this court to the town of San
Jose. It is further ordered that the court will
meet to deliver opinions at San Jose, on the
1st Monday in April, and on that day will
appoint some future day of the term for the
argument of cases.

'•HEYDENFELDT. [.
"WELLS, T-
"Attest: D. K. Woodside, Clerk."

.\ writ of mandamus on the strength of the
foregoing was issued from the Third District
Court against all the state ofiicers, command-
ing that they remove tiicir offices to San
Jose or show cause wh}- the}" should not do
so. The argument was heard and the theory-
maintained that San Jose was the proper
capital of the state. An appeal was taken to
tlie Supreme Court. In the meantime Justice
Wells had died, his place being filled by Jus-
tice Hr}-ant. In the appeal the Su])reme Court
decided' that San Jose was not the state cap-
ital, from which decision Justice Heydenfeldt
dissented.

The first Legislature passed an act that
gave San Jose its first legal incorporation un-
der L'nited States rule. The act was passed
in ?^larch, 1850, and on April 11 the Ayunta-
miento held its last meeting. The new com-
mon council held its first meeting under the
charter on the 13th.

First July 4th Celebration

The anniversary of American Independence
was i>atriotically remembered in the first year
of civil administration in California. San Jose
held a grand celebration and much more in-
terest was felt than on such occasions in the
eastern states. Fred Hall, in his history, says :
"The isolation from the other states made the
feeling of national pride increase. We felt
as though we were in a foreign land and the
tendency was to vivify and brighten the love
of the whole country in every American. On
that occasion the Hon. A\'illiam Voorhies de-
livered the oration: James M. Jones also deliv-
ered one in Spanish for the benefit of the
Mexicans present. Mr. Sanford, a lawyer
from Georgia, read the Declaration of Inde-
penrlence. Thirteen young ladies dressed in
blue sjiencers and ^^•hite skirts rode mi horse-
back, followed l.v the l-.agU- Guar,!.-,, com-
manded by Cai)t.' Tli..nias White: also 500
citizens, some on horseback, some in carriages
and some afoot, made up the national pageant
that wound its way to the south of town, a
mile or more, in the grove near the Almaden
road; and there the ceremony was ])erforme(l
to the great pleasure and pride of the .\meri-
can settlers in the new country."

Boundaries of Santa Clara County

V'hile the Legislature was in session in San
Jose the boundaries of Santa Claia C.nuit\-
were defined. The county original!} nulnded
the township of Washington, of Alameda
County, but this was cut off ami the county
reduced to its present limits, as folloxA's: Be-
ginning at a point opposite the mouth of the
San Francisquito, being the common corner
of Alameda. San Mateo and Santa Clara coun-
ties : thence easterly to a point at the head of
a slough which is an arm of San Francisco
Bay at its head, making into the mainland in
front of the Gegara rancho ; thence easterly
to a lone sycamore tree that stands in a ravine
between the dwellings of Flujencia and Valen-
tine Gegara ; thence easterly up said ravine
to the top of the mountains as surveyed by
Horace A. Higley ; thence in a direct line east-
erly to the common corner of San Joaquin,
Stanislaus, Alameda and Santa Clara counties
on the summit of the Coast Range; thence
soittheasterly, following the summit of the
Coast Range to the northeast corner of Mon-
terey County ; thence westerly, following the
northern boundary of ]\Ionterey Count}' to
the southeast corner of Santa Cruz County ;
thence northwesterly, following the summit of
the Santa Cruz Mountains to the head of San
Francisquito Creek : thence down said creek
to its mouth ; thence in a direct line to the

64

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

place of beginning. Containing about 1,300
square miles.

The county government was first adminis-
tered by the court of sessions, which held
jurisdiction until 1852, when the board of su-
pervisors was created. In 1854 the govern-
ment again went into the hands of the court
of sessions, where it remained until the next
year, when the board of supervisors was re-
vived to administer the at¥airs of the county
ever since. Following is a list of those who
have administered the county government
from the date of organization to the present
time :

On the 1st day of June, 1850, the court of
sessions was organized with J. W. Redman
president, and Caswell Davis and H. C. Smith
associate justices.

July 5. 1850— J. W. Redman, president;
John Gilrov. Caswell Davis, associates.

August 18, 1850— J. W. Redman, president ;
Charles Clavton and Caswell Davis, associates.
October 6, 1851 — J. W. Redman, president;
R. B. Buckner and Marcus Williams, asso-
ciates.

December, 1851— J. \V. Redman, president;
Cyrus G. Sanders and Marcus Williams, as-
sociates.

May 14. 1852— J. ^V. Redman, president:
Peleg Rush and Cyrus G. Sanders, associates.
An election for supervisors was held June
3, 1852, and the new board was organized as
follows: Isaac N. Senter, chairman; Fred E.
Whitney, William E. Taylor, Jacob Gruwell,
associates.

December 6, 1852 — L. H. Bascom, chairman;
John B. Allen, A. M. Church, Levi Goodrich,
Joseph C. Boyd, associates.

September 7, 1853 — George Peck, chairman ;
Daniel Murphy, R. G. Moody, William Dan-
iels, W. Gallimore, associates.

In April, 1854, the court of sessions again
took charge. It was composed as follows : R.
B. Buckner, president; Caswell Davis, Thomas
Vermuele, associates.

October 1, 185-1 — R. B. Buckner, president;
Caswell Davis, C. G. Thomas, associates.

On April 9, 1855, another board of super-
visors was elected. The organization of the
board from that time has been as follows:
April 1, 1855 to November, 1855 — Samuel
Henderson, W. R. Bassham, Daniel Murphy.
November, 1855, to November, 1856 — W'. R.
Bassham, W. R. Bane, Samuel Morrison.

November. 1856, to October, 1857— Gary
Peebels, China Smith, D. R. Douglas.

October, 1857, to October, 1858— Joseph H.
Kincaid, Samuel A. Ballard, Albert Warthen.
October, 1858, to November, 1859— John M.
Swinford, H. D. Coon, Eli Jones; Isaac Bran-
ham served vice Jones.

November, 1859, to December, 1860— H. D.
Coon, H. J. Bradley, Isaac Branham.

December, 1860, to October, 1861— H. J.
Bradley, W. M. Williamson, H. D. Coon.

October, 1861, to November, 1862— H. J.
Bradley, W^ M. W^illiamson, J. H. Adams.

November, 1862, to March, 1864— W. M.
Williamson, J. H. Adams, S. S. Johnson.

March, 1864, to March, 1866— John A.
Quinby, Chapman Yates, L. Robinson, J. A.
Perkins, Frank Sleeper.

March, 1866, to March, 1868— John A.
Quinby, Frank Sleeper, lohn A. Perkins, J.
Q. A. Ballou, Frank Cook.

March, 1868, to March, 1870— David Camp-
bell, John Cook, William H. Hall, W\ H.
Patton, Oliver Cottle. (Cottle served vice
Ballou, ^vho resigned.)

-March, 1870. t.. March, 1872— David Camp-
bell, W. 11. Hall. W. H. Patton. J. M. Battee,
SaniiK-1 1. [amisiin.

-March. 1872, to March. 1874— J. M. Battee,
William Paul, W. X. Furlong, S. I. Jamison,
1. W. Buulware.

Alarch, 1874. to March, 1876— J. M. Battee.
W. N. Furlong, J. W. Boulware, Alfred Chew,
William Paul, A. King, H. M. Leonard.

March, 1876, to March 1878— S. F. Ayer,
W. H. Rogers, J. M. Battee, Alfred Chew,
W. N. Furlong, A. King, H. M. Leonard.

March, 1878, to March, 1880— S. F. Ayer,
W. H. Rogers, W. N. Furlong, John Weathers,
J. H. M. Townsend, M. D. Kell, H. M. Leon-
ard. (Townsend resigned in December. 1879,
and was succeeded by James Snow.)

March, 1880, to February, 1883— S. F. Ayer.
John W'eathers, James Snow, M. D. Kell, H.
M. Leonard, H. H. Main, Samuel Rea.

February, 1883-1885— W. E. Ward, H. Til-
lotson. W. O. Watson, H. McCleary, Peter
Donnelly, H. H. Main, S. A. Blythe.

March, 1885. to March. 1887— S. F. Ayer.
W. A. Z. Edwards. A. Greeninger, W^ O.
Watson, Peter Donnellv.

March, 1887, to March, 1891— S. F. Ayer.
W. A. Z. Edwards, A. Greeninger, W. O.
Watson, James Phegley.

1891-1895— P. Donnellv. A. (Greeninger. W.
A. Z. Edwards, J. S. Whiteluirst, William
Erkson, S. F. Ayer.

1895-1897 — A. Greeninger, George E. Rea, J.
S. Selby, John Roll. S. F. Ayer.

1897-1899— Geo. E. Rea, Paul P. -Vustin, F.
M. Stern. lohn Roll. S. F. Ayer.

1899-1904— F. W. Knowles, Geo. E. Rea, F.
L. Cottle, lohn Roll, S. F. Ayer.

1904-1907— F. E. Mitchell, Ayer, Roll, Rea
and A. L. Hubbard.

1907-1911— H. S. Hersman, H. M. -\ver, A.
L. Hubbard, lohn Roll, F. E. Mitchell.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

65

From the last nained date the following
have held office continuously : Henry Hecker,
A. L. Hubbard, H. M. Ayer, F. E. Mitchell,
John Roll.

Settling Titles of Land Grants

At the time of the cession of California there
was probably not a perfect title in the whole
territory of Alta California. Under the terms
of the treaty, however, the holders of these
incomplete titles were to be permitted to go
on and complete them under the laws of the
United States: After the acquisition of Cali-
fornia and after ascertaining the inchoate con-
dition of the land grants and the importance
of having them segregated from the public
domain, and for the purpose of carrying out
the provisions of the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo, an act was passed by the Congress
of the United States on March 3, 1851, pro-
viding for commissioners to be appointed by
the President for the purpose of ascertaining
and settling private land grants in California,
with a right of appeal, by either the govern-
ment or the claimant, to the U. S. District
Court for the State of California, or to the
U. S. Supreme Court. To this commission
all claimants were required to present their
petitions for the confirmation of their claims.
Failure to so present them within a specified
time after the passage of the act worked a
forfeiture of the claim, which was afterward
treated as a part of the public domain. Upon
the confirmation of these claims surveys were
made by the surveyor general and patents
issued thereon.

Those lands which had not been granted by
the Mexican Government were subject to the
laws of the United States governing the dis-
position of the public domain. Besides these
two classes of land there was a third — the land
granted to pueblos.

Under the plan of Tepic, Mexico, on the
formation of each new pueblo in the New
World, it was entitled, for its own use, for
building purposes and for cultivation and pas-
turage, to a square of land extending one
league in each direction from the center of
the plaza, making in all four square leagues.
Where the topography of the country, either
by reason of the juxtaposition of the sea or
of mountain barriers, prevented the land be-
ing taken in the form of a square, the four
leagues were taken in some other form so as
to include the pueblo.

On the settlement of the pueblo of San Jose,
the Mission of Santa Clara having been es-
tablished to the west, the Mission of San Jose
to the north and east, and the Mission of
San Juan to the south, it became necessary to
designate the boundaries so that the jurisdic-

tion of the pueblo and the adjoining Missions
should not conflict. From year to year the
old inhabitants of the pueblo, in company with
the younger persons in the community, were
accustomed to go out and visit the monu-
ments erected to designate these lines, and
to cast additional stones upon them to keep
them intact. The delimiting line between the
pueblo and the Mission of San Jose ran from
the mountains to the bay, about midway be-
tween Warm Springs and the present town
of Milpitas. On the west the Guadalupe River
was fixed as the boundary, while the line be-
tween the pueblo and the Mission of San Juan
was fixed across the valley to the south in the
vicinity of Las Llagas Creek.

San Jose Land Company

San Jose, before the admission of California
to the Union, was one of the few populous
settlements in California and was known at
the time, and before, as the "Upper Pueblo."
The city becoming involved and unable to pay
the debt incurred to provide suitable accom-
modations for the Legislature and the officers
of the state, a judgment was obtained against
her and her creditors. An execution was is-
sued on the judgment and all the pueblo lands
were sold at sheriff's sale and bought in by
a syndicate styling itself the "San Jose Land
Company." This syndicate soon became
known locally as "The Forty Thieves," al-
though the number of its members was less
than forty and they were, by no means, thieves.
But the title they claimed under became pop-
ularly known as the "Forty Thieves Title."

The San Jose Land Company, after acquir-
ing its sheriff's deed to lands belonging to
the city, claiming to be the successor in in-
terest to the pueblo, presented its claim to
the United States Land Commission, sitting
in San Francisco, praying for confirmation to
it of the lands contained within the estab-
lished boundaries, asserting that there had
been a concession by the Spanish Crown of
that large tract to the pueblo. A mass of
documentary evidence, correspondence, etc,
was introduced, also the testimony of wit-
nessee to the fact that the monuments had
been placed there years before and had been
recognized by the citizens. Althoug^i no
formal concession or grant had ever been
found or produced, it was asserted that those
acts indicated that one had actually been
made. The board and the U. S. District Court
confirmed the grant to these exterior boun-
daries.

In the meantime settlers had located on
lands included in this tract under the impres-
sion that they belonged either to the Govern-
ment or to private parties from whom they

66

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

had purchased. They had made improvements
and established homes. By this decision ex-
tending the limits of the pueblo, their prop-
erty was absorbed, and they united, some four-
teen of them, in securing an appeal to the
Supreme Court.

At that time there was in existence a body
known as the commissioners of the funded
debt of the City of San Jose. Judge F. E.
Spencer, who was a member of this board,
was anxious to have the decision of the Dis-
trict Court sustained, believing that the land
company had no valid claim, and that if the
title to this large tract was confirmed to the
city it could be maintained. He succeeded
in effecting a compromise, by which the Su-
preme Court affirmed the decision of the lower
court, except as to the tracts claimed by the
fourteen settlers. A final decree to this effect
was made. Afterward this body of land was
sold in tracts to actual settlers at the price
fixed by the United States Government for its
public lands. With the proceeds of these sales
the debt of the City of San Jose was extin-
guished and up to 1887 the city had no debt
whatever. In due time the pueblo was sur-
veyed and in 1884 a patent was issued.

The claim of the City Land Company was
the subject of more or less litigation and
trouble from time to time until 1869. It came
up in the case of Branham et al. vs. the City
of San Jose, where it was held by the Supreme
Court that the city's lands were not subject
to execution and sale under a judgment against
her. A number of years later, upon the adop-
tion of a charter by the city, a clause was
inserted which, it was claimed, confirmed the
land company's title. Upon that claim an ac-
tion was brought in the United States Circuit
Court for the District of California to recover
possession of the large body of land within
the corporate limits which had not passed by
legal grants. The case was Leroy vs. Chaboya
et al., some 600 defendants being named, and
involving the title to a very large portion of
land within the city limits. F. E. Spencer,
who was counsel for the defendants, obtained
a ruling from the District Court to the effect
that the provisions of the charter referred to
did not amount to a confirmation in favor of
the land company or its successor, thus end-
ing a case of great importance to the city
and surrounding territory, and which went far
to settle land titles in the vicinity.

Grants, of rather an indefinite character,
were claimed to have been made to the vari-
ous Missions, both in Northern and Southern
California. When the Missions were secular-
ized, these grants reverted to the state. Not-
withstanding this act of secularization, several
of the Missions retained more or less landed

property, such as church edifices, orchards,
etc., and these, in most instances, were after-
wards confirmed to the church. But a large
body of grazing land passed into the general
domain and was re-granted to private indi-
viduals. There was quite an extended legal
warfare before these lands were confirmed to
the church. It was claimed that when the
Missions were secularized all property re-
verted to the Mexican Government, and as it
had never been re-granted it became the public
domain of the United States on the cession of
California, and was therefore subject to pre-
emption. The orchard property at Santa Clara
was particularly valuable and was settled upon
by several sets of scjuatters. J. W. Redman,
county judge for several years, held the orch-
ard, selling the fruit at enormous prices. It
went through several hands, but was finally
confirmed to Archbishop Alemany, represent-
ing the church.

While the Mexicans held California, Lieu-
tenant Moraga, under the direction of the
Spanish Government, partitioned to the orig-
inal settlers the lands of the new pueblo of
San Jose. The allotments were made in ac-
cordance with a rule adopted by the govern-
ment by which all pueblos or towns were -to
be laid out and established under the plan of
the city of Tepic. The tracts of land were
divided into three classes : solares, or building
lots ; suertes, or lots for cultivation, and egidos,
or lots for pasturage and wood. By the Tepic
method, each family was given four suertes
and one solar.

Though there is no record evidence that
an allotment was made after the pueblo was
moved from its first location. Judge Spencer
said that in 1852, and even later, there re-
mained landmarks that showed something of
the general plan of the location, .\mong these
were the stumps of hedge-rows forming alleys
leading to the Guadalupe River — evidently
roads used by women going to the creek to do
their washing. At that time, and until the
willows and other vegetation had disappeared,
the Guadalupe was a perennial stream, sup-
plied in the summer time from the springs in
the lower ground south of town, while from
the Guadalupe were the remains, tolerably
defined, of ditches leading into Canoas Creek.
This word "canoas," besides meaning "canal,"
also signifies a "trough," and it was probably
for this latter meaning that the Mexican's ap-
plied it to this stream, as they evidently used
it for the purpose of conveying water to their
suertes, or planting lands.

There were also the remains of branch
ditches, or acequias. One went out and crossed
the plaza near the site of the city hall and
continued on, crossing First Street near San

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

67

Fernando, as if to irrigate the land sloping to
the north and east. Another one was a little
west of Market Street, crossing Santa Clara
Street diagonally, going through the grounds
now occupied by the Sisters of Notre Dame
and continuing to the present site of the Hotel
Vendome. From this was irrigated the lands
between it and the Guadalupe River. In one
of the suits regarding the land claimed as
suertes. old Pedro Chaboya and other old Mex-
ican witnesses testified that all the alkali land
in the northeast portion of the city was, in
very early days, fine land for crops ; but the
Coyote Creek having overflowed its banks and
rushed down across the country, the top-soil
was washed off and when the water receded
it was converted into an alkali sink.

With the Americans came land speculators,
and as the pueblo grew in importance and its
lands in value, suits were started to obtain
possession of some of the most valuable por-
tions of the city under suerte title. None of
them, however, were successful, but they
formed a chapter of the most important and
sharpest litigation in the history of the county.
There being no record of the original allot-
ment of suertes. their existence could be proved
only by parol testimony, and for this purpose
the "oldest inhabitant" was in constant de-
mand. There stood a few old landmarks with
all the dignity due to their antiquity, but
neither these nor the imperfect family tradi-
tions of the oldest poblanos were sufficient to
warrant a judgment in favor of the claimants.

The methods used by the Americans to
measure and mark out the boundaries of their
grants were very crude and resulted in much
inaccuracy. Many of them, when surveyed
by the United States, shrank or expanded' in
dimension to the extent of many hundreds of
acres. Persons who had settled on what was
thought to be Government land would, after
some years of labor, find their property in-
cluded within the boundaries of a neighboring
grant and would be forced to lose their homes
or purchase them again of another owner.
Some persons were compelled to purchase
their farms several times before their title be-
came assured. This state of affairs caused
great dissatisfaction among the settlers and
societies were formed to meet adverse claims
and prevent eviction.

These societies, though very determined in
the expression of their rights, generally
avoided violent measures. In fact, with one
exception, they confined their efforts to the
raising of funds for the purpose of defending
their claims in the courts. The exception re-
ferred to occurred in 1861 and is thus recorded
by Frederic Hall : "The greatest excitement
and demonstration that was ever exhibited in

this county upon the question of land titles
took place this year. The grant of Antonio
Chabolla for the tract of land known as the
Yerba Buena Rancho, lying east or southeast
of town, had been confirmed to the claimants
thereof under the Chabolla title by the United
States courts. There were many settlers on
the land, some of whom had occupied the same
for quite a lengthy period under the belief that
it was public land. They seemed to be of the
opinion that the grant was a fraudulent one,
notwithstanding the fact that the land had
been patented by the United States in accord-
ance with the decree of confirmation. The
advice which had been given the settlers was
evidently not of that kind which had a tend-
ency to better them, or to cause them to view
the matter in a proper light. They were in-
duced to spend money in the way of lawyers'
fees that was as useless as throwing money
into the sea. The Government had conveyed,
in fee simple, the land to the claimants, and
no party but the United States could move to
set aside that patent upon the ground of fraud
or any other ground. Suits in ejectment had
been instituted against some of the settlers on
said land and judgment rendered against them
for the possession of certain tracts by the
Third Judicial Court, in and for the County
of Santa Clara. William Matthews, Esq., of
counsel for plaintiff in those cases, caused
writs of execution for possession to be issued
to the sheriff that the plaintiff might have pos-
session in accordance with his judgments.

"The sheriff summoned a posse of 600 men
to go with and to aid him in executing the
writ. When the posse assembled at the Court
House they were asked if they were armed,
to which they replied in the negative ; then
being asked if they would arm themselves,
likewise replied in the negative. They were
then dismissed. About one o'clock in the
afternoon about a thousand settlers paraded
through the town, some on horses, some in
wagons, some on foot, and nearly all armed.
They had one small cannon. All the settlers'
leagues of the count}- and some from adjoin-
ing counties were said to have been present.
Toward the close of day they went to their
respective homes without doing any damage,
save that of disobeying the writ."

Until 1847 there had not been much certainty
as to the location of, or titles to, lots in the
pueblo of San Jose. It seems to have been
taken for granted that the laws regulating the
establishment of Mexican towns had been com-
plied with and that those in possession had
valid titles. Whether the title was good or
not seemed to be of little consequence under
the then existing condition of affairs. There
were no regularly laid-out streets. The cen-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ter of the town was the Juzgado, or the plaza,
and the houses were scattered north and south
on irregular lines with a roadway between.
The roadway is now Market Street. After the
defeat of Sanchez at the battle of Santa Clara,
and the certainty that the arms of the United
States would be victorious in Mexico, the for-
eigners became impressed with the conviction
that Alta California would be ceded to the
victors and a permanent government estab-
lished. Viewed in this light, the solares and
suertes of the pueblo became of more impor-
tance and an attempt was made to settle the
question of their ownership.

Early in 1847 the Ayuntamiento and the
alcalde directed William Campbell to survey a
plat of land a mile square to be laid out in
building lots. Assisted by his brother Thomas,
he did this work, the tract so surveyed lying
between the following boundaries : On the
north by Julian Street, on the east by Eighth
Street, south by Reed Street and west by Mar-
ket. This tract was intended to exclude all
questions relating to suerte claims. John Bur-
ton, who was then alcalde and had resided in
San Jose for twenty years, stated that the
result of his investigation was that no suerte
claims, except the Gongora claim, extended
farther south than Julian Street, or farther east
than Market Street. This is the original plat
of San Jose and from this survey may be dated
the existence of the city. The streets were
located through this tract, making nine blocks
from Julian to Reed and eight blocks from
Market to Eighth. The exact course of the
streets running north and south was at 45 deg.
west, magnetic variation, 15 deg. 22 min. east.
The length of these streets was 5,607 feet. The
cross streets were laid out at right angles to
these.

The survey having been completed and a
map filed, the alcalde gave notice to all per-
sons claiming land within the limits of the
survey to present them to him for investiga-
tion, and, if found valid, he would issue them
a new title. Burton, who was no lawyer,
seemed, to possess a remarkably level head.
Notwithstanding persistent litigation on the
part of contesting claimants, all the alcalde
grants under the Campbell survey have been
held by the Supreme Court to be valid. In
Campbell's survey four blocks were reserved
for a public square. This was named Wash-
ington Square and is the i)resent location of
the State Teachers' College, the high school
and the Carnegie Library.

The pueblo having been thus located, its
limits and boundaries of its blocks and lots
defined, the settlers from the states resolved to
secure a portion of the outside lands belonging
to the pueblo. A meeting was called, the prop-

osition to make the survey into lots of 500
acres each was adopted and J. D. Hutton ap-
pointed to make the survey. This was done
in July of the same year. The lots were num-
bered consecutively and corresponding num-
bers placed in a hat. The head of each family
was permitted to draw one number, this en-
titling him to choose a lot, his choice being in
the order of the numbers drawn — that is, the
person drawing number one was entitled to
first choice, and so on. After the drawing the
alcalde gave to each party a certificate of title.
These alcalde titles were afterwards declared
invalid by the Supreme Court.

In May, 1848, another survey of the town
was made, this time by C. S. Lyman. He was
a practical surveyor and possessed all the nec-
essary implements for practical work. By this
survey the limits were extended easterly to
Eleventh Street. He enlarged Washington
Square to its present dimensions, 1,160 by 1,005
feet. He laid out St. James Square, which is
610 bv 550 feet. Market Square, the site of
the city hall, he fixed at 1,160 by 259 feet.
Market, Santa Clara and Fifth streets were
made each 100 feet wide, and all the streets
running north and south, except Fifth, were
made 80 feet wide. The system adopted by
the survey is the one now in use. San Fer-
nando Street is the base line and the ranges
are counted easterly from Market Street.
Other surveys have been made as additional
territory was taken into the city limits.

The tract of land lying west of Market
Street and along the Guadalupe River, was
used for cultivation and was not surveyed into
town lots for several years after the admission
of California into the Union. It was held as
suertes and was watered by an acequia, or
ditch, leading from the Canoas Creek south of
town. This ditch furnished water to the peo-
ple for some time after California became a
state ; but gradually the foreigners acquired
this land from the Mexicans and streets were
opened from time to time as the population
increased.

Public Treasury Robbed
Before the first month of the year 1853 had
been brought to a close, the entire county was
startled by the news that the public treasury
had been robbed. The treasurer, William
Aikenhead, declared that he had been knocked
down in the darkness of night and robbed of
his keys, and that the unexpectedness of the
attack prevented him from recognizing the
robber. His story of the assault was this :
Hearing a noise in the rear of the building
about eight o'clock in the evening, and not
long afterward a step on the front porch and
a calling of his name, he opened the door to

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

69

ascertain who it was. Instantly he received a
blow on the head that laid him prostrate ; he
was then choked, his pockets emptied and the
key of the safe taken. The office was then
entered and several thousand dollars were car-
ried away. The board of supervisors placed
full credence in Aikenhead's story, and after
investigation made a report exonerating him
from neglect or blame. In the month of Feb-
ruary, Aikenhead disappeared. A committee
of three, in company with the district attorney,
was appointed to examine all the books and
papers in the treasurer's office and file a re-
port with the clerk. The committee was com-
posed of J. M. Murphy, W. R. Bassham and
W. L. Smith, and their report made Aikenhead
a defaulter in an amount approximating
$20,000.

Following is the list of the various tracts of
land in Santa Clara County to which title was
granted by the Spanish and Mexican govern-
ments:

Arroyo de los Pilarcitos, one square league,
to Candelario Miramontes. Canada del Corte
de Madera, to Domingo Peralta. Canada de
San Felipe Las Animas, two square leagues,
to Charles M. Weber ; patented August 9, 1866.
Canada de Pala, 8,000 by L200 varas, to Jose de
Jesus Bernal et al. ; patented August 9, 1863.
Canada de los Capitancillos, to Guadalupe Min-
ing Company. El Corte de Madera, two square
leagues, to Maximo Martinez ; patented June
14, 1858. El Pasito de las Animas, 3,042 acres,
to Robert Walkenshaw. Embarcadero de
Santa Clara, 1,000 varas, to Barcelia Bernal.
Juristae, one square league, to Antonio and
Fausten German. La Polka, one square league,
to Bernard Murphy; patented March 3, 1860.
La Purissima Concepcion, one square league,
to Juana Briones. Los Tularcitos, to Antonio
Hignora et al., heirs of Jose Hignora ; patented
July 8, 1870. Las Animas, or Sitio de la Brea,

to Jose Maria Sanchez. Las Coches, one-half
square league, to Antonio Sunol et al. ; pat-
ented December 31, 1857. La Laguna Seca,
four square leagues, to Liberata Cesena Bull
et al. ; patented November 24, 1865. Los Capi-
tancillos, three-quarters of a square league, to
Charles Fosset; patented February 3, 1865.
Las Animas to Frederic E. Whiting. Milpitas,
one square league, to Jose Maria Alviso. Mis-
sion of Santa Clara to James C. Galindo.
Mission of Santa Clara, 13.13 acres, church
property ; patented March 3, 1858. Ojo de
Agua de la Coche, two square leagues, to Ber-
nard Murphy ; patented January 4, 1860. Po-
trero de Santa Clara, one square league, to
Robert F. Stockton. Pastoria de las Borregas,
3207^ acres, to Martin Murphy ; patented De-
cember 15, 1865. Pueblo de San Jose, to Mayor
and Common Council ; confirmed October 8,
1866. Pala, one square league, to Ellen White
et al., widow and heirs of Charles White.
Quito, three square leagues, to Manuel Alviso ;
patented May 14, 1866. Rincon de San Fran-
cisquito, one-half square league, to Maria An-
tonia Mesa, widow of Rafael Soto. Rancho de
Refugio, or Pastoria de las Borregas, three
square leagues, to Tomas Pacheco and Augus-
tin Alviso. Rincon de los Esteros to Francisco
Berryessa et al., heirs of G. Berryessa. Rin-
con de los Esteros to Rafael Alviso et al.
Rincon de los Esteros, two thousand acres, to
Ellen E. White. Rinconada de los Gatos, one
and one-half square leagues, to Sebastian Per-
alta and Jose Hernandez ; patented March 19,
1860. Santa Ana y Quien Sabe, seven square
leagues, to Juan Miguel Angas and Manuel
Larios; patented May 1, 1860. San Ysidro,
one square league, to Quentin Ortega et al. ;
patented September 27 , 1869. San Francisco
de las Llagas, six square leagues, to Bernard,
Daniel, James and Martin Murphy; patented
March 19, 1868.

CHAPTER IV.

The Early Bar of San Jose — Alcalde Burton's Common Sense — The Eccen-
tricities of Judge Redman — Strange Career of Rufus A. Lockwood —
Irrepressible J. Alexander Yoell — Change in Court System.

Courts of First Instance had no existence in
San Jose until after the American occupation.
The first court was organized in 1849 and held
its last session in March. 1850, when the
County and District courts were organized.
Prior to this period justice was administered
in San Jose by the alcaldes. The first Ameri-
can alcalde was James Stokes, who was ap-
pointed by Captain Fallon when Dolores Pa-
checo was deposed. He was succeeded by
John Burton, and of Burton Judge John E.
Richards of the Appellate Court, and one of
San Jose's ablest and most respected citizens,
writes as follows in his entertaining booklet.
"The Early Bench and Bar of San Jose":

"Old John Burton, Capitan Viejo, the na-
tives called him, was appointed to office by
Captain Montgomery, military commander of
the Northern District of California, on Octo-
ber 19. 1846, about three months after Captain
Thomas Fallon had hoisted the Stars and
Stripes in front of the Juzgado. The old al-
calde was a pioneer of the pioneers. He had
deserted from a New England merchantman
in 1830 and, coming to the pueblo of San Jose,
had married a Mexican woman, assumed the
title of captain and lived an easy existence
among the natives until disturbed by the
•Vmerican occupation. He was a native of
Massachusetts, but he seems to have neglected
those opportunities for book learning which
that home of culture afforded. He was a man,
however, of considerable common sense, is re-.
I)uted to have been very honest and to have
had the esteem and confidence of the native
population. The office of alcalde required
these qualities in an eminent degree just at
that time when the loose garments of Mexican
rule were being replaced with the close-fitting
fabric of .American institutions. The alcaldes'
courts of California had, prior to the change in
government, possessed a very wide and quite
undetermined jurisdiction, and had been con-
ducted with a freedom from the formalities of
jurisprudence which was primitive in the ex-
treme. Alcalde Burton continued to exercise
the jurisdiction of his predecessors with much •
the same laxity in forms. No fusty lawyers
ever profaned the sacred precincts of Alcalde
Burton's Juzgado, either to hinder or hasten
his judgments with pleas of writs sustained by

musty precedents. There was a patriarchal
simplicity about the administration of justice
in Alcalde Burton's court. The old Juzgado
stood in the center of what is now known as
Market Street, at its intersection with El
Dorado Street. It was a low adobe building,
divided into three compartments— the alcalde's
court, the smaller room for the clerk of the
court, and the calaboose. There old Captain
Burton sat and administered justice in his own,
original way, following somewhat loosely the
forms of the Mexican law relating to alcaldes'
courts. The method of procedure was as in-
teresting as it was unique. Every grievance
which a complainant had against a person, for
which he had, or hoped to have, a legal rem-
edy, he carried to the alcalde and openly stated
his case. Thereupon Alcalde Burton called his
alguazil, or constable, and delivering to him
his silver-headed cane, as the symbol of his
authority, directed him to bring the person
against whom the complaint was urged before
the alcalde. The cane was an important part
of the judicial system. It was the vara de
justicia, of 'stalif of justice,' and in the hands
of the alguazil symbolized the state. Bearing
the alcalde's silver-headed cane before him, the
alguazil sought out the defendant and, holding
up the staf?, delivered his oral summons to
appear immediately at the juzgado. The de-
fendant never disobeyed the command of the
alcalde, but at once came before him. When
he arrived the complainant was sent for and
the parties met in the presence of the alcalde.
AVhat was technically called, what was in fact,
an 'altercation,' then ensued between the par-
ties. The alcalde sat and heard their dispute
and endeavored to adjust their differences and
strike a balance of justice between them upon
their own statement of facts. Very frequently
he was successful and a sort of compromise
judgment was rendered at once. When, how-
ever, the parties were too wide apart for com-
promise, the case proceeded as follows : Each
party chose an arbitrator and these two buenos
hombres, as they were termed, sat with the
alcalde and heard the evidence in the case. If
then they and the alcalde could, agree upon
a judgment, it was rendered accordingly; but
if not, the alcalde dismissed the buenos hom-
bres and decided the case himself. So ran the
wheels of justice in .Alcalde Burton's court.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

71

"The record which old John Burton kept of
his cases was a very meager one, and hence a
large mass of interesting court notes have
been lost with the passage of years. Some few
recorded cases there are, and in the recollec-
tion of our pioneers a few more remain to
illustrate the unique character of primitive jus-
tice here. From among the ancient documents
reposing in our city archives the following case
has been exhumed and translated for this
sketch. Pedro Mesa was accused of stealing
Thomas Jones' horse. The record reads :

" 'Territory of California vs. Pedro Mesa — •
May 1, 1847. The parties having appeared and
the case entered into, after weighing the case
and taking testimony, judgment is rendered
that defendant shall pay a fine of $5, and $9
for saddling the horse, and costs of court taxed
at $4.75; $2 for the guard.' Alcalde Burton
evidently did not regard horse-stealing as a
very serious offense, and does not seem to
have visited upon it a sufficient penalty to
make the avocation unprofitable. It is curi-
ous to note that Alcalde Burton records him-
self as 'weighing the case and taking the tes-
timony.' It would appear from all we can
learn that it was the mental habit of the old
captain to weigh the case first and make up
his mind about it, and then, as a mere form-
ality, 'take the testimony.'

"Another of Alcalde Burton's decisions has
survived the tooth of time. Juan Lesaldo and
his wife did not agree and yet had hardly
reached that point where they agreed to dis-
agree. Juan, therefore, laid before the alcalde
a complaint, of which, with the subsequent
proceedings, the following record remains:
Juan Lesalda Vs. Maria de los Naves. On
complaint of plaintiff, that defendant, his wife,
he believes, is about to abscond, he therefore
claims that she be brought l^efore the court to
show cause why she will not live with him.
The parties having appeared and the case en-
tered into, April 27, 1847, it is directed that
they be united again, and if not they shall be
imprisoned until they ccmscnt tn li\c toi^ether.
■May 1st. A letter 'was >cnt t.i tlu- jinest at
Santa Clara, who nrdaincd that tliey should
be compelled to live together. After three
days' time was given she refused to comply.
May 4, 1847. Defendant was put in prison
until she should comply with the order of the
court.' Here the record ends, and whether
Maria de los Naves was ever brought back to
the arms of her spouse by the stern rigor of
the law remains a problem which may well
be submitted with 'The Lady or the Tiger' to
(jur modern dames for a solution. So far as
known the precedent set by Alcalde Burton
has not been followed by those who have suc-
ceeded him in a judicial effort to adjust the

differences which have ever arisen in domestic
life. There are, however, a few fragmentary
records of Burton's decisions which show that
he foreshadowed at least some phases of our
modern law. On March 7, 1^7, Alcalde Bur-
ton dismissed a complaint brought by Gabriel
Castro against Antonio Hernairo to recover
plaintiff's winnings in a horse-race. It does
not appear whether Hernairo was the loser in
the wager, or only the stakeholder, but if the
cause had been tried before our present courts
instead of before the old alcalde, the same rule
would be applied.

"There are a few other cases preserved in
scant records, which, if not yet precedents,
might well be made so. In 1847 P. Real com-
plained before the alcalde of 'men who stand
irwthe church doors to look at the women as
they come from mass.' The alcalde judged
that it was a 'practice which should be stopped
in the interests of religion, morality and public
tranquility.' In another case a Mexican was
complained of for selling liquor and was tried
without a jury, as the alcalde naively explains
that the 'native element of the juries in such
cases failed to convict.'

"The Court of the First Instance was estab-
lished in San Jose in the spring of 1849. R.
M. May was the first occupant of the bench
as judge of the court. He was shortly suc-
ceeded by Judge Kincaid, who remained on the
bench until the court was abolished by the
formation of the state. The pioneer members
of the bar were Peter O. Minor, C. T. Ryland,
Craven P. Hester, James M. Jones, William
Van Voorhies, Judge Almond, William T.
Wallace, George B. Tingley, Rufus A. Lock-
wood and others, some of whom lived in San
Jose and some of whom came down from San
Francisco wlieii cases reqviired. The yarns
which th(.>e i.ld 'Xestors' told upon them-
sehcs, upon liuMr clients and upon each other,
would fill a volume. One of the earliest cases
tried before Judge Kincaid was the famous
mule case of Caldwell vs. Godey. The plain-
tiff sued the defendant for the possession of a
mule which he averred was his property. The
defendant denied the allegation and the case
came on. Caldwell produced a dozen or more
reputable witnesses who swore that they had
known tlie plaintiff in Missouri, where he had
owned tlie mule: that they had crossed the
plains w ilh him when he brought the mule to
California: that there was no doubt as to the
identity of Caldwell's mule. On the other
hand, the defendant produced as many wit-
nesses, equally reputable, who swore they
had known the defendant, Godey, and his mule
in Texas, and that they had come to California
with the mule, and there was no earthly doubt
that this was Godey's mule. They also swore

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

that the mule was branded with a diamond on
its hip. The court was sitting in the old Juz-
gado and was in a quandary indeed. At this
point John Yontz, the sheriff, came into court
and asked his honor if he should bring in the
witness. The judge, all innocent, told the
sheriff to 'bring him in.' The sheriff brought
'him' in and the witness was the mule. He
filled the courtroom with his presence and the
court with righteous indignation. 'Mr. Yontz,'
said his honor, sternly, 'take that mule out of
here, sir.' 'But your honor ordered me to
bring him in,' responded Yontz, 'and I obeyed
the order.' The scene was ludicrous in the ex-
treme: the sober face of the facetious sheriff:
the still more sober aspect of the innocent
mule: the judge's withered face pale with in-
dignation, and the countenances of the specta-
tors red with mirth. The witness was taken
out, but his introduction won the case for the
defendant, for there upon his newly-shaven hip
appeared the diamond brand to which the other
witnesses had sworn."

The constitution ordained and the first
legislature established a complete system of
courts which should supersede the courts of
the Alcalde and the First Instance. These
were District, County and Justice's courts, and
they were put into operation during the year
1850. Judge John H. Watson was appointed
the first district judge of the Third Judicial
District, which included the counties of Contra
Costa, Santa Clara. Santa Cruz and Monterey.
J. W. Redman was our first county judge.
The influx of population into the state had
brought lawyers of all degrees of excellence
from all quarters of the globe. The session of
the first Legislature had left a number of law-
yers who were its members to increase and
adorn our local bar. Of the many bright
minds who practiced law before Judges Wat-
son and Redman and their successors, the fol-
lowing are a few : Freeman McKinnev. Wil-
liam T. Wallace. F. B. Murdoch, William Mat-
thews, A. L. Yates. E. K. Sanford, Horace
Hawes, Rufus A. Lockwood, J. Alexander
Yoell. lohn H. Moore, Judge Almond, Wil-
liam Stafford, William D. Harvard, C. T. Ry-
land, George B. Tingley, Alexander Campbell,
A. P. Crittenden, James M. Jones, Lawrence
Archer, Thomas Bodley and Judge R. F. Peck-
ham. These were not all, but they will exam-
ple the local bar, and while manj^ of these are
gone forever from our vision, from those who
remain the quality of the rest may be esti-
mated. I will tell the stories of the early bar
in much the same order that they have been
told to me :

"Judge Watson was. by profession, a physi-
cian, who had learned a sufficient smattering
of the law to secure a seat upon the bench, for

which place there was little competition among
lawyers, for the reason that the salary was
comparatively small, while the fees at that time
were large to the lawyer who was competent
to be judge. The style of Judge Watson's
charges to his juries was. therefore, often free
from legal verbiage and of legal principles as
well, as the following story of the case of Dean
vs. AIcKinley will illustrate: The case was
tried in Monterey County and took its origin
in this wise : McKinley was a merchant at
IMonterey in the '40s. It was part of his busi-
ness to stock traders who were going to the
mines. Dean was one of these traders and he
bought from McKinley a stock of goods, prom-
ising to pay him when he returned. Several
years passed and Dean did not return until
after the American occupation. He came
back 'broke.' and showed no disposition to pay
McKinley for his goods. Finally the latter
went before Alcalde Mariano Malarin and had
Dean arrested and imprisoned for the debt.
The Monterey jail at that time was in no
condition to keep a prisoner long against his
will, but it suited shiftless William Dean to
stay there. He was his own jailer and when
evening came he would pull the plug out of
the jail door and go to the fandangoes or other
places of amusement, and after the fun was
over would go back to the jail, lock himself
in and go to sleep, swearing he 'would make
old McKinlej' pay for this false imprisonment
of an American citizen.' Well, when the Dis-
trict Court was organized Dean, incited there-
to by several lawyers on contingent fees, sued
McKinle}' for large damages for his alleged
'false imprisonment.' The case came on for
trial with a cloud of attorneys on either side.
It was a prolonged case and when concluded
was argued at great length by all of the attor-
neys. When finally the cause w-as submitted
to the jury, Judge Watson squared himself
about pompously, and delivered the following
charge :

"'Gentlemen of the jury, as the mariner re-
turning to his post after a long sea voyage is
enabled to catch a faint and fleeting glimpse
of the land through mists and fog which sur-
round it, so you, gentlemen of the jury, may
be able, by the aid of the court, to catch a dim
conception of the facts in this case through
the obscurity which the arguments of counsel
have thrown around it. I will illustrate the
merits of this case with a simile. I will liken
this case to a railroad train. The court is the
track, the attorneys are the engine, and the
client is the grease. You all know, gentlemen
of the jury, how an engine will run when it is
well greased. In fact, I have seen engines so
well greased as to cause them to "play such
fantastic tricks beft)re high heaven as made
angels weep." To carry the simile further.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ll

gentlemen, suppose that a railroad train runs
over and kills a man. Who is to blame? The
engine, the track or the grease? I think, the
engine. Gentlemen of the jury you will bring
in a verdict for the defendant.'

"Judge Redman, who presided over the
County Court, was a good lawyer, hut was
also a man of many peculiarities, of strong
prejudices and of eccentric modes of expres-
sion. Some of the lawyers of his court he
had a great liking for, and toward others he
manifested dislike without any apparent rea-
son. Among the former class was William T.
Wallace, for whom he had a strong aflfection,
and always, out of court, called him "Billy, my
boy.' Among the latter was J- Alexander
Yoell. against whom, frequently and unjustly,
Redman showed his feeling. One day after the
trial of a hotly contested case in which Yoell
took a vigorous part, Judge Redman limped
(he had a wooden leg) out of the courtroom,
leaning on Wallace's arm. Presently he said,
in a reflective and solemn way, as though
speaking to himself: 'It would not be idola-
try.' 'What would not be idolatry?' asked
Wallace. 'It would not be idolatry to bow
down and worship him,' said the Judge in the
same reflective waj'. 'W'orship whom?" asked
Wallace. 'It would not be idolatry to fall
down and worship Yoell,' responded Redman.
'And why not?' asked Wallace. 'Billy, my
boy,' said the Judge solemnly, 'have you for-
gotten the commandment which says, "Thou
shalt not bow down and worship the likeness
of anything that is in heaven above, or that
is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters
under the earth"? Now, Yoell is not like any-
thing that is in the heaven above, nor in the
earth beneath, nor in the waters under the
earth, and therefore I'll be dashed if it would
constitute idolatry to fall down and worship
him.'

"Another member of the early bar whom
Judge Redman disliked was F. B. Murdoch,
who later went into local journalism. Mur-
doch had a case of J. H. Moses against some-
body and got a judgment. One of the wit-
nesses in the case was named Moses Scott,
and when Murdoch came to write his decree
he wrote the name of the witness in it by
mistake for that of the plaintiff. Discovering
his error later on, he made a motion before
Judge Redman to set aside the decree and
have entered an amended one, and when he
had concluded Judge Redman said : 'Mr. Mur-
doch, your motion is denied. It has long been
the well settled rule of this court that when
an attorney comes before this court with a
case and burns himself he will be compelled
to sit on the blister.'

"Among the attorneys who practiced before
Judge Redman was Freeman McKinney, whom
all the early pioneers will remember. He was
a little fellow with a long red beard which
came down to his waist, and withal a man of
a good deal of force and dignity. One day a
fellow was arraigned before Judge Redman
for horse-stealing. He had no attorney. The
Judge appointed Free McKinnej' to defend
him. with this instruction: 'Mr. McKinney,
the court appoints you to act as attorney for
this defendant. You may retire with him and
get his statement of the case. You will give
the prisoner the best advice and assistance you
are able in view of the law and of the facts
he may give you.' McKinney. went out with
the prisoner to the door of the Court House
and asked him if he had any money. The
fellow said he had a fifty-dollar slug. 'Give it
to me,' said McKinney. The fellow reluct-
antly gave, up the slug. 'Now,' said McKin-
ney, 'as a matter of fact, you stole that horse,
didn't you?' The prisoner admitted to his at-
torney that he did. 'In that case,' said Mc-
Kinney, 'I advise you to get into the brush
as fast as the Lord will let you.' The prisoner
'got,' and presently McKinney wandered back
into the court room and sat down. Soon the
case of the horsethief was called. 'Where is
your client, the prisoner, Mr. McKinney?' in-
quired Judge Redman. 'I don't know, your
honor,' answered McKinney, with the utmost
sang-froid. 'The last time I saw him he was
making for the brush about as fast as he
could go.' 'Is it possible, sir,' thundered the
court, 'that you have permitted the prisoner to
escape?' 'Your honor,' said McKinney, calmly,
'I have obeyed to the letter the order of this
court. Your honor appointed me as the at-
torney for the defendant with the instruction
that I should give him the best advice I was
able in view of the law and the facts. The
facts were, as the defendant admitted to me,
that he stole the horse. The best advice I
could give him was to get into the brush.'
'Humph!' snorted Judge Redman with dignity.
'Call the next case.'

"The story of how Jo Johnson summoned
Judge Redman into court one morning, and
the penalty therefor, is fresh in the minds of
more than one member of the bar. Judge
Redman liked his tipple and would also 'buck
the tiger' on occasion. The County Court was
held for a season in a building which stood
near the corner of Santa Clara Street and
Lightston Alley. A saloon was across the
street in which Judge Redman spent much of
his time and where he often lingered beyond
the hour for convening his court. One day
the assembled bar grew impatient at his ab-
sence. Freeman McKinney called the bar to

74

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

order and gravely moved that the baihff be
instructed to call 'old' Redman at the door of
the court three times, and that if he failed to
answer he be fined for contempt of court. The
bailiff was Jo Johnson, and taking the matter
in all seriousness, he went to the door and in
a powerful voice called out: 'Old Redman!
Old Redman ! If you fail to answer you will
be fined for contempt of court.' The sten-
torian tones of Bailiff Johnson penetrated to
the room where Judge Redman was seated at
his game of cards. He deliberately finished
the game and the lawyers heard the uneven
thump of the Judge's wooden leg as he crossed
the street. He entered the court slowly,
ascended the bench with dignity, and then
said with judicial severity: 'Mr. Clerk, enter
a fine of seventy-five dollars against Jo John-
son for contempt of this court.' When Jo
Johnson afterwards told this story he always
ended it in an injured tone : 'The worst of it
was that the blanked old fool made me pay
that fine.'

"Apropos of Judge Redman's social infirmi-
ties, the following story is told as an actual
fact: The bar became tired of the Judge's
lapses and eccentricities, and at last felt called
upon to request him to resign. The request
was signed by every member of the bar in the
county and was served one evening upon the
Judge. The next morning his court room
was full of lawyers to see what effect their
petition would have upon Judge Redman. The
Judge entered the room, perfectly sober and
with a sad and contrite expression upon his
face. He walked with halting step down the
aisle and awakened a feeling of pity in the
breasts of several w-ho had signed the request.
The court opened with the customary 'Hear
ye,' and then the venerable form of the Judge
arose from the bench. He looked timidly
around as though searching for a friend, and
then in faltering tones addressed the bar.
'Gentlemen of the bar,' he said, 'last night I
received a petition from you, signed by all of
your number, couched in respectful language
and setting forth reasons why I should tender
my resignation as judge of thi>; court. Con-
scious of my many infirmities and realizing the
necessity of a pure judiciary, throughout the
silent hours of the past night 1 have given to
your petition painful and, I may add, prayerful
consideration. I feel, gentlemen, that you have
acted from a high sense of duty in this matter
(here the eyes of the members of the bar be-
gan to moisten with tears), and in responding
to your petition requesting my resignation, I
would simply say (here the Judge straightened
u]) and altered his tone) that I will see you all
in hell first, and then I won't resign. Mr.
Clerk, call the next case."

"It was one of Judge Redman's infirmities,
if it be such, to be fond of horse-racing and to
bet freely on his favorite. Horse-races were
very frequent in the early '50s and Judge Red-
man generally contrived to make the sessions
of his court conform to the time of the race.
One day a cause was on for argument wherein
John H. Moore represented one side and a
San Francisco attorney the other side of the
controversy. A race was coming off that day.
Judge Redman had little difficulty in per-
suading Moore to submit the case without ar-
gument in order that both court and counsel
might attend the race. The San Francisco
attorney, however, insisted on arguing his side
of the case. During the first portion of his
speech Judge Redman listened patiently, but
as the hour for the race approached the Judge
became fidgety and cast anxious glances at
the hands of the clock with increasing fre-
quency. At last, when the hands of the clock
had all but reached the hour of the race, the
attorney closed his speech. As he sat down
the court hurriedly arose and without a break
uttered the following sentence : 'I will take
this case under advisement until 10 o'clock
tomorrow morning. This court is adjourned.
Moore, I'll bet you $100 the black filly wins
the race.'

"One of the most celebrated cases in Red-
man's court was the trial of a mulatto girl
named Mindy Johnson for grand larceny in
1852-53. Mindy was a very good-looking girl
of ripe charms and quite popular among the
bloods of the bar. It was even reported that
Judge Redman had a weakness for Mindy. She
was by vocation a cook and washerwoman and
one day fell from grace to the extent of steal-
ing some articles of clothing and a carpet sack
with $300 in money from the premises of a man
named White. The theft was discovered and
Mindy was arrested and indicted. In those
days grand larceny was a capital offense. .The
evidence was clear and the girl's own confes-
sion seemed to seal her fate. She was tried
before Judge Redman and convicted. The
verdict of the jury was recorded and the mo-
ment for her sentence came. Judge Redman
was at his wit's end for an excuse to save her,
btit he had none. 'Mind\-,' said the Judge with
assumed severity, 'stand up.' Mindy stood up.
'Have you any cause to show why judgment
of the court should not be pronounced against
you?' At this moment Freeman McKinney.
who with W'illiam T. Wallace, had been Min-
dy's attorneys, arose, and with much dignity
n)oved the court for arrest of judgment upon
the grounds that it had been shown in evi-
dence that Mindy was brought to Cali-
fornia by a man named Clarkson as a slave
and had never been manumitted. That

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

75

as a slave she was property and that as a
property she could not commit grand lar-
ceny. 'Ah !' said Judge Redman, with a sigh
of infinite relief, "that's the point which the
court had in mind during the whole trial of
this case, but did not want to suggest to coun-
sel for the defendant. I am glad to see, young
man, that you have not forgotten your early
training in law nor failed to burn the midnight
oil in this case. The point is well taken; the
defendant is discharged, the jury is dismissed
and the court is adjourned.' District Attorney
Moore protested, but his protest availed
naught. The court remained adjourned and
Mindy went on her way rejoicing." The record
of this remarkable case, if anyone is curious
enough to consult it, is to be found in Record
Book H, Court of Sessions, among the musty
files of the office of the County Clerk.

"There is another story of Judge Redman
in which John H. Moore figures in his capacity
as District Attorney. In 1852 the state legis-
lature passed a law depriving the county court
of jurisdiction to try certain offenses, of which
grand larceny was on.e. It took some time in
those days to get the official copies of the
statutes distributed about the state. There
was pending in Judge Redman's court about
that time a peculiar case of grand larceny. A
somewhat lawless limb of the law had gone
out deer hunting, and failing to find deer had
shot and carried home a fine young heifer be-
longing to a Spaniard, who, discovering the of-
fender, had the lawless lawyer indicted. He
retained Lawrence Archer and William T.
Wallace to defend him and the case came on
for trial. Of course Archer and Wallace
wished to clear their client both because he
was such and also because he was a fellow at-
torney. Possibly Judge Redman shared in
this desire. It was a hot May morning some
weeks after the legislature had adjourned that
the case was called in Judge Redman's court.
District Attorney Moore arose and asked that
the case be certified to the District Court in
consequence of the statute recently passed
which took away the jurisdiction of the county
court. "Mr. Moore,' said Judge Redman, 'what
evidence have you to offer showing that the
court has no jurisdiction to try this case?' Mr.
Moore respectfully called the attention of the
Court to the statute which the legislature had
passed. 'But what proof do you present of the
passage of any such statute?' asked the judge.
'Why, everybody knows that the statute was
passed,' said Moore, 'and here is a newspaper
containing the statute in full,' answered the
district attorney. 'Mr. Moore,' said Judge Red-
man, 'this court does not act upon what everj--
body knows in depriving itself of a jurisdic-
tion so often exercised, and, furthermore, I

will inform you, sir, that a newspaper is not
evidence of anything in this court. Proceed
with the trial.' In vain the district attorney
protested that the court had lost its jurisdic-
tion. The court insisted on going on with the
case, until at last the district attorney, in
a rage at the court, left the room. This stopped
the case and the attorneys for the defendant
wanted it to go on. After a while Judge Red-
man sent the sheriff after the district attor-
ney and again demanded that he either go
on with the case or produce a certified copy
of the statute. Mr. Aloore would not do the
one and could not do the other and went off
again inwardly (and I suspect outwardly)
cursing the court. Again and again he was
sent for and again and again the procedure
was gone through by the Judge, and so the
hours of a sweltering day moved on in the
old adobe court house until at last Judge Red-
man, after a last attempt to get Moore to try
the case, commanded the clerk to enter upon
the minutes of the court that the case having
been called and the district attorney having
been ordered to proceed with the trial, and
having both refused to do so and failed to
show by proper evidence that the court had
lost jurisdiction of the case, the prisoner
was discharged. So the lucky dog of a law-
yer escaped justice and Messrs. Archer and
Wallace won a bad case without a struggle.
"Among the lawyers who sought success
at the San Jose bar in the early '50s there
were some who found it not and who were
compelled at last to seek it in other voca-
tions and other fields of labor. Among these
was a lawyer named William M. Stafford —
a great big, jovial fellow who could not some-
how succeed and had a hard time to get along.
He lived in the southern portion of the city
in a tumble-down tenement and came to be
known among his fellow lawyers as 'The Lord
of Hardscrabble.' At last he gave up the strug-
gle for success at the bar, and going down
into Pajaro Valley, engaged in farming. His
departure was celebrated by the publication of
a poem written by Col. William D. M. How-
ard, a very bright and witty lawyer of the
time. I extract from it a few stanzas for
the purpose of illustrating the humor and mer-
it of Colonel Howard's production:

'THE LORD OF HARDSCRABBLE.

'The Lord of Hardscrabble. Oh ! where has he
gone ?

He has vamoosed his rancho and left us for-
lorn.
He has gone to the land where the big
"praties" grow,

76

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

In the rich, loamy valley of the Rio Pajaro.

No more shall his presence enliven our hall

In spring and in summer, in autumn and fall.

No longer his eloquent counsel we'll hear.

When the wise City Fathers in conclave ap-
pear.

No more will we gather those gems of debate

He let fall when discussing affairs of the state.

With a broadcast of "palabros" scattered
around

Like the ripe fruit of autumn strewn over the
ground.

The Lord of Hardscrabble, Oh ! what will he
do,

Where the Locos abound and the Whigs are
so few ;

For he's gone where the cocks of Democracy
crow.

O'er the crestfallen coons of Rio Pajaro.

'In the good old Whig cause he was valiant

and stout.
Was never yet conquered and never backed

out,
And Democracy will find itself in a bad box,
For he'll rally the coons and be down on the

cocks,
The Lord of Hardscrabble's a gallant old blade.
As the sex will bear witness, both matron and

maid ;
But somehow or other he lived "an old bach,"
Till the roof of his head has disposed of its

thatch.
Oh ! why has he ventured to go forth alone
With "no flesh of his flesh," no bone of his

bone?
^laj' some kind-hearted maiden his loneliness

bless,
And his fine portly shadow may it never grow

less.
And when of warm evenings he seeks his re-
pose,
On his cot in the house or the ground out of

doors,
May there be no mosquitoes around him in

flocks,
No flies on his nose and no fleas in his socks;
May his dairy be filled with butter and cheese
And his acres abound with "frijoles" and peas.
Grain, onions, potatoes, whatever will grow
And advantage him most in Rio Pajaro.

'The Lord of Hardscrabble, when will he re-
turn ?
His absence both daily and nightly we mourn.
And a greeting of joy will resound in his ears,
When his well-known "cabeza" among us ap-
pears.
Roll on, happy day, when his jolly old face,
All radiant with smiles, shall illumine this
place ;

With his purse full of cash and his heart full

of joy.
Success to Hardscrabble, the jolly old boy.'

"The first court house of the county of Santa
Clara was located on the west side of First
street between Santa Clara and El Dorado
streets, and about opposite what was then
Archer, but is now Fountain Alley. The low-
er part of this building was adobe and was
used as the court room of both the District
and County Courts. The upper part was frame
with the stairway on the outside of the build-
ing and in that portion were located the of-
fices of the sheriff and clerks of the court.

"Judge Watson was the first district judge,
Judge Redman the first county judge, E. K.
Sanborn the first district attorney, H. C. Me-
lone the first clerk, and John Yontz the first
sheriff of the county of Santa Clara. In this
old court house during the years 1850-1, these
dignitaries with the assistance of the members
of the bar, dispensed justice in their own primi-
tive but rather vigorous way. A great many
of the cases were tried with the aid of the
jury, and out of this fact arose a curious cus-
tom, which, as is perhaps well known, has
gone out of date. In the early '50s whittling
was a great accomplishment in the average
citizen, who idled his time away about the
stores or saloons or in the plaza of the village
of San Jose. It was probably from this class
of citizen that the early juries were mainly
drawn. When trials were tedious and argu-
ments of counsel long drawn out, what else
could be expected than that the expert whit-
tlers on the jury would perhaps unconscious-
ly display their skill on the benches, posts
and railing of the jury box. Sheriff Yontz,
soon after his official duties began thought
that the redwood and pine of the jury box
in the court room was growing grotesque in
form and beautifully less beneath the expert
jack knives of his juries. He was at a loss
for a time for a remedy, but presently he found
it, and thereafter at every session of the court,
when a jury was to be drawn, Sheriff Yontz
gravely brought into the court room and
placed on the jury box a large bundle of white
pine sticks cut to a size and shape to suit a
whittler's fancy. By this expedient the sher-
iff saved the pillars and benches of the jury
box from a destruction that was more rapid
than the tooth of time.

"Among the lawyers who practiced at the
bar of our District Court was William B.
Almond, who had been Judge of the Court
of First Instance in San Francisco before
the organization of the state. Judge Almond
was a genial gentleman of the old school, who
loved his tipple and always kept a demijohn
of cognac in the chambers adjoining the court.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

n

When the judicial duties of the day were over
it was the Judge's habit to go to his cham-
bers and enjoy a glass of cognac. The Court
of First Instance was a very busy tribunal
during Judge Almond's term, owing to the
many cases which arose in '49 over the pos-
session of lots in the growing city. In con-
sequence Judge Almond had a great many
papers in the form of orders and decrees to
sign and in the hurry his signature often
became a very hasty and formal act. Among
the attorneys who practiced in Judge Almond's
court was Gregory Yale, who loved joking
and brandy with equal fervor. On one of
Judge Almond's busiest days Gregory Yale
gravely presented an order for the Judge to
sign. The signature was attached and Yale
went away. Presently the court adjourned
and Judge Almond went to his chambers for
his wonted glass. The demijohn was gone and
in high dudgeon Judge Almond called the bail-
iff of the court and asked him what had be-
come of it. The bailiff answered that he had
taken it over to the office of Gregory Yale.
'Who ordered you to do that?' said the Judge
in a rage. 'Your Honor did,' responded the
bailiff, and straightway drew from his pocket
the following order signed by the Judge :

" 'Good cause appearing therefor, it is or-
dered that the bailiff of this court do forth-
with convey to the office of Gregory Yale, Esq.,
that certain demijohn of cognac, now lying
and being in and upon those certain premises
known and more particularly described as the
Chambers of the Honorable Judge of this
Court.' It was the order he had signed that
morning. Judge Almond never saw nor tasted
his cognac again, but the flavor of this joke
remained with him for many a day.

"Throughout all my gleanings of fact and
fancy there has been constantly presented to
me the outlines of a gigantic figure ; the rem-
iniscences of a character vast and strange;
the recollections of a genius more powerful,
more original and yet more eccentric than any
other which ever flashed its light across the
history of California ; the memories of a man
and of a lawyer whose living and whose dy-
ing verified the truth, 'Great minds to mad-
ness closely are allied.' I refer to Rufus A.
Lockwood.

"In the early part of the year 1850 an im-
portant case came on for trial in the Court of
First Instance at San Jose. It was the case
of Hepburne vs. Sunol et al., involving the
title and right of possession of a portion of
the Los Coches Rancho. C. T. Ryland and
John H. Moore represented the plaintiff and
James M. Jones appeared for the defendants.
The plaintiff's attorneys were then young men,
recently from the East and not yet versed in

the Spanish language or law. The attorney
for the defendant, on the contrary, was a law-
yer of great experience in the practice of the
civil (or Spanish) law and a linguist perfect-
ly familiar with the Spanish language. He
was, moreover, one of the deepest students and
most brilliant men of the time, and in the
case at issue had the young attorneys for the
plaintiff at a disadvantage. One day while
some phase of the case was up before Judge
Kincaid for argument, E. L. Beard, of the
San Jose Mission, happened into the court
nil and soon saw that Moore and Ryland
were getting worsted in their case by rea-
son of Jones' superior knowledge of the Span-
ish law. He went over to Moore and sug-
gested that he ought to have the assistance
of a lawyer who could read Spanish and cope
with Jones in the application of the law.
'Where can we find such a man?' asked Mr.
Moore. 'I have the very man you need at
the Mission,' answered Beard, 'and I'll send
him down to assist you. His name is Lock-
wood.' When the day for the trial of the
case came on there walked into Judge Kin-
caid's court room in the old Juzgado a large,
awkward and roughly dressed man and took
his seat with the plaintiff's attorneys. It was
Rufus A. Lockwood. He made no immedi-
ate manifestation of power, but listened close-
ly while the pleadings were read, the jury im-
paneled, and the trial of the cause begun. He
saw that the case involved one of those clash-
ings between the American and Mexican peo-
ple so common in those early times. He no-
ticed that the jury was a 'Missouri' jury, whose
sympathies would naturally be with the plain-
tiff. He quietly waited for his opportunity to
cope with the only dangerous element in the
case, viz., the learning and ability of James
M. Jones, the defendant's attorney. Presently
a question of law arose and Jones began to
argue it with the aid of the Spanish statutes,
which he read and then translated to the court.
He made an argument clean cut and strong, as
was his wont, and sat down confidently. Then
Lockwood arose, and with one sweep of re-
sistless logic destroyed the whole fabric of
Jones' speech. He turned to the very statute
from which Jones had quoted, read it with the
facility of a master of the Spanish tongue,
translated it luminously, expounded it learned-
ly, and from it showed to court and jury that
the law was with the plaintiff in the case. The
whole court room gaped with astonishment,
while the plaintiff and his attorneys hugged
themselves with delight at the possession of
such an ally. Every one felt and saw that
they were in the presence of a master mind.
The expected victory of Jones was turned into
a rout, which during the remainder of the trial

78

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

he could not check with all his talent and in-
dustry. He worked the night out to win his
case, but in vain. 'This man Lockwood is kill-
ing me,' said Jones to Moore as the case drew
to its close. The last day of the trial was
February 22, 1850, when Lockwood's speech to
the jury' was delivered. Brief snatches of that
splendid burst of oratory still linger in the
memories of our pioneers who were privileged
to hear it. They tell of Lockwood's descrip-
tion of the Battle of Buena Vista, which oc-
curred on February 22, 1846, and of which
this day was the anniversary. He pictured
General' Taylor's victory over the 'greasers' to
that jury of Missourians and called upon them
to celebrate it today with a victory for the
American plaintiff and against the 'greaser'
defendant in the case. Such an appeal was
irresistible and Lockwood not only won his
case but established himself at once as the
greatest lawyer who had ever shaken the walls
of the Juzgado with the thunders of his elo-
quence.

"The next great case in which Lockwood
was engaged and tried in San Jose was the
case of Metcalf vs Argenti. The suit arose in
this wise: Argenti was a banker in San Fran-
cisco and was prominent among the members
of the first Vigilance Committee. Metcalf
was an arrival from Australia, who for some
reason fell under suspicion and was rough-
ly treated by the Vigilantes. He brought suit
against the leading men composing that body
and employed Lockwood and Edmund Ran-
dolph as his attorneys. The case was tried
first in San Francisco and resulted in a mis-
trial by reason of the strong prejudice in fa-
vor of the Vigilance Committee of that city.
It was then transferred to Santa Clara Coun-
ty for a second trial and came on in 1852.
Lockwood was very much opposed to the
methods of the Vigilance Committee and went
into this case with more than his usual zeal
and vigor. Those who heard his speech to
the jury in that case say that it surpassed all
of the speeches they have ever heard before
or since. It was published in pamphlet form
and may still be found occasionally in the li-
braries of the lawyers of that time.

"The abilities which Lockwood displayed in
the trial of these great cases gave him a state
reputation as being the greatest lawyer on the
Coast. Doubtless he was and would have died
secure in that reputation, but for that strain
approaching insanity in his nature, which led
him to such extremes in conduct and experi-
ence. Many stories are told of his skill in the
court room where he was the wonder and ad-
miration of the bar. In fact every one who
came in contact with him had imprinted on his
mind a vivid picture of the man; of his facial

expression, of his physical movements and of
his original style, and a strong remembrance
of his powerful voice, which, to use the lan-
guage of Judge Moore, 'was like the growl of
a grizzly bear.' Walking down the street the
other day I met J. H. Flickinger who told me
that of all the pioneers of California his recol-
lection of Lockwood, was perhaps the earliest
and the most pleasing. He was a fellow pas-
senger with Lockwood when he first came to
California around the Horn in 1849. For the
first month out from New York Lockwood
never left his cabin, but after that he began
to mingle with the rest. Before the voyage
was ended the passengers became aware of
the fact that they had on board the most sin-
gular, brilliant and versatile genius they had
ever known. The range of his reading and
of his experience ; his knowledge of human
character ; his command of language, of liter-
ature and the infinite variety of his moods,
were a revelation to his shipmates. After the
voyage was ended and during the whole of
Lockwood's career in California he retained
his friendship for Mr. Flickinger, and when-
ever he was in San Jose w-as pleased to spend
a while with his "shipmate" and live over again
their mutual past.

"Elias L. Beard, of San Jose Mission, was
a long and strong friend of Lockwood. Beard
was an aggressive character and was involved
in lawsuits of various kinds in all of which he
had Lockwood for his attorney. One time a
fellow whose name has escaped immortality,
sued Beard for slander and employed E. K.
Sanford as his attorney. The case came on for
trial before Judge Watson, with Lockwood for
the defense. Sanford made his opening speech
to the jury, and it was very flowery. He quot-
ed elaborately from the poets as to the value
of a man's character and the outrage of slan-
derous assaults upon it. 'Who steals^my purse
steals trash, etc.,' came in the climax, and San-
ford sat down well pleased at his burst of ora-
tory. Then Lockwood arose, and. addressing
the jury, also took the subject of character for
his theme. He dwelt upon the value of char-
acter more eloquently than his opponent, quot-
ed again all of the poetic passages which San-
ford had done, and adding to their number,
built up his speech to the very summit of a
splendid consummation and then capped it all
with this anti-climax, which won his case.
'Gentlemen of the jury, remembering all that
I have said to you of the value of human
character, I solemnly declare that if you will
give a down-East Yankee a jack-knife and a
cedar stick he'll whittle out a better char-
acter in five minutes than has ever been es-
tablished yet in any court of justice.'

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

79

"Rufus A. Lockwood was once the defend-
ant in an action brought by one named Harlan
in our District Court, and involving the title
to a piece of land adjacent to San Jose. Lock-
wood was his own lawyer and did not have
a fool for a client, in spite of the old legal
saw. The case turned upon the validity of a
certain deed which made its appearance at
the trial and was offered in evidence by the
plaintiff. It appeared to be entirely in the
handwriting of Lockwood and to convey the
premises in question. If valid and so found
by the court, Lockwood would have stood be-
smirched with having acted dishonorably to-
ward Harlan. The case was hotly contest-
ed on both sides, and Lockwood's blood was
up. When the deed was produced and oiifered
in evidence Lockwood looked it over careful-
ly and then arose in court, and in a voice of
thunder declared it a forgery. William T. Wal-
lace was attorney for the plaintiff, and seeing
Elias L. Beard in the court room, called him
suddenly to the witness stand to testify as to
Lockwood's signature. Beard didn't want to
testify against his friend, but after carefully
examining the instrument he was obliged to
swear that he believed it to be in Lockwood's
hardwriting. Lockwood cross-examined him
as follows : 'Elias. you think that I wrote that
deed, do you?' 'Yes. Rufus,' reluctantly stam-
mered Beard, 'I think that's your handwrit-
ing.' 'Now, Elias,' said Lockwood (who prid-
ed himself on his spelling), 'if I was going to
write a deed, do you think that I would spell
'indenture' with two tt's?' Beard hastily
scanned the deed, and there, sure enough, was
'indenture' spelled with two tt's. 'No, Ru-
fus,' said Beard, exultingly, 'I don't believe you
would, and I think this deed is a forgery.' And
so it proved to be, for after the case was end-
ed it was discovered that a fellow who was
staying at Harlan's house, and who was an ex-
pert penman and given to imitating handwrit-
ing, had written the deed."

Judge Richards' graphic and interesting pic-
ture of Lockwood gives the historian oppor-
tunity to supplement it with the following
review of the distinguished lawyer's checkered
career :

Rufus A. Lockwood was born in Stamford,
Conn., in 1811. His true name was Jonathan
A. Jessup. At eighteen he was a student at
Yale but left in the middle of the term to
enlist on a LTnited States man-of-war. In his
first cruise he saw one of his shipmates tied
up and brutally flogged for a trivial ofifense.
Shocked by the sight he deserted and changed
his name to Lockwood. It was not long be-
fore he was in Chicago. After teaching a
country school, studying first medicine and
then law, he was admitted to practice in the

courts of the state. In 1836 he opened a law
office in Lafayette, Ind. An opportunity to
show his merit soon came. Engaged for the
defense in a celebrated murder case he made
such an impression on the jury that a ver-
dict of acquittal was rendered. The speech
was such a masterly effort as to warrant its
publication in pamphlet form. This historian
saw a copy in the late '60s. It was the prop-
erty of Joseph Patton, then a member of the
police force and a brother of the second wife
of J. J. Owen, then the editor of the Mer-
cury. Patton had been present at the trial
and he said that the perusal of the speech
could give no adequate conception of its liv-
ing effect. It was. in his opinion, the best
jury speech ever delivered on this continent.
Lockwood's victory brought him into the full
blaze of popular attention and applause. For
a few years his professional business was large,
but through dissipation and unfortunate land
speculations his debts at last accumulated be-
yond his ability to pay. He raised what money
he could for the benefit of his creditors,
then went to Mexico and there entered upon
a course of riotous living interspersed with
periods of study in which he obtained mas-
tery of the Spanish language and Spanish civir
law. When his funds grew low he worked
his way back to the United States and re-
sumed his law practice in Lafayette. While
the California gold excitement was at its
height he joined in the rush ; arrived in San
Francisco low in pocket and for six months
was clerk in a law office where he not only
furnished the law, but swept out the office,
made fires, etc. He received his wages every
evening; every night found him in a gambling
house ; every morning found him penniless. He
afterward entered into a law partnership but
soon threw up the business on account of his
unfortunate habits and as a penance hired
himself out as a day laborer, shoveling sand,
coaling steamers, doing anything that came
to hand. This fit lasted a month or two.
Then with a clear brain he opened a law
office and was soon in possession of a lucra-
tive practice.

His professional gains only increased his
passion for gambling and drinking and again
at war with himself and the world he sailed
for Australia, remaining there two years. One
time he was clerk in a law office, but was
discharged because he refused to copy into
a brief a paragraph that was not law. His
last occupation in Australia was that of herd-
ing sheep. After his return to San Francisco
he was engaged to argue a famous land case
before the U. S. Supreme Court. By his ef-
fort in that court he showed himself to be
the equal of the best lawyer in the land. He

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

returned from Washington in 1856. In the
fall of 1857 he sailed for the Isthmus en route
to New York, on professional business. At
Aspinwall he connected with the Central
America on her last voyage. She was wrecked
in a storm and not a single passenger was
saved.

Judge Richards continues his reminiscences
by the following story: "The account of
Lockwood's death recalls the manner of dy-
ing of another member of our early bar, of
whom I have written — Freeman McKinney.
When Henry A. Crabbe conceived his fatal
filibustering expedition into Sonora in 1857
he attracted a number of brilliant but adven-
turous characters to his company, and among
these was Freeman McKinney. Doubtless the
expedition was entered upon in good faith by
many of Crabbe's followers, who were led to
believe that an actual revolution was in prog-
ress in Sonora. McKinney was captured and
shot. He met death like a brave man.

"Still another story has been told of Judge
Redman. One day as he sat in his court
room, with his clerk, H. C. Melone, writing
below him, J. Alexander Yoell entered. His
business was with Melone, who was a large
man of strong likes and dislikes, and of quick
temper — a typical border character. Between
himself and Yoell a misunderstanding oc-
curred, which on Melone's part ripened at
once into a row and he pitched into Yoell. The
Judge sat quietly viewing and enjoying the
tussle and making no effort to stop it until
some gentlemen entered and separated the
combatants. Then turning to the Judge, with
some indignation, he said, 'You're a pretty
specimen of a Judge to sit there and permit a
personal encounter to go on in your court.'
'My friend,' said Judge Redman, calmly, 'What
could I do? The Legislature in its wisdom has
not seen fit to provide my court with a
bailiflf, and hence I could not order them
into custody. The clerk, you see was en-
gaged, and I could not have entered a
fine; and if I had descended from the
bench to interfere I would cease to be
Judge and would be no better than any
other fool in the court room.' I am told that
when this yarn was told to Stephen J. Field
of the Supreme Court, the eminent jurist
laughingly declared that Judge Redman's po-
sition was correct.

"It may be gathered from some of these
sketches that the lawyers of our early times
did not always have their law books, either
when out of court in the day time, or be-
tween days when they burned the midnight
oil. Nearly all of the pioneers of the bar
played cards and often enjoyed the game
greater when the pot was a big one and the

bets were high. Here is an incident of one
of those heavy earthquakes which visited the
Coast and struck terror to the heart of its
denizens during the '50s, and before the aver-
age man grew accustomed to 'temblors'. One
day William T. Wallace, John H. Moore, J.
A. Moultrie and a layman or two were having
a quiet game in one of the adobes near the
court house. The pot was large, the bets were
made and ended, and a show-down was about
to be made when the earthquake came. Every-
body made for the street as earthquake-shaken
people only can. After the danger was over,
the players remembered their game and re-
turned to the adobe. The 'pot' was still there,
but every player, save one, had lost his hand
somewhere in the panic. That one was 'Bill'
Wallace, who, with a presence of mind which
was characteristic, produced the cards he had
clung to throughout the earthquake, and
claimed the pot. The hand was a low one,
but he dared the rest to show a higher, and
when none of them could, he raked the pot.
"When Judge Redman resigned his office of
county judge in 1852, C. E. Allen was appoint-
ed to serve out his unexpired term, which he
did with great credit to himself and to the
court. After him came R. B. Buckner, who
was elected in 1853. We all remember Judge
Buckner and his quaint ways of dispensing
justice from his bench as justice of the peace
in modern days. On the old-time county
bench he was much the same in method, as
the following incident will illustrate : One
party had leased a piece of land to another
for a term, which ended, and he removed
from the land leaving behind him a quantity
of compost, which later he tried to remove,
but was prevented by the owner of the land.
The tenant brought a replevin suit against his
former landlord for possession of the compost,
in Judge Buckner's court. The case dragged
on while the lawyers disputed in briefs and
arguments about the law of fixtures, and the
principles governing the change of personal
into real property. At last the actual trial
came on, when the defendant proved that since
the case was commenced his chickens had
so scattered the compost that it had lost its
identity and become mingled with the soil
of his land. Judge Buckner chewed his in-
variable 'quid' calmly until the time for pro-
nouncing judgment came. He then rendered
his decision as follows: 'This case has been
argued learnedly by the lawj^ers on both sides,
who have drawn fine distinctions between per-
sonal and real property. The court does not,
liowever, deem it necessary to draw any such
nice distinctions, for the reason that the evi-
dence shows that while the action has been
pending the defendant's chickens have scat-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

81

tered the property in controversy beyond
identification, and have thereby literally
scratched the plaintiff's cai;e out of court.'

"The first legislature of California, which
met in the fall of 1849 in San Jose, provided
the state with a judicial system, consisting of
a Supreme Court and nine District Courts,
which met in as many judicial districts
throughout the State. The counties of Santa
Clara, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz and Monte-
rey constituted the Third Judicial District un-
der this statute, and John H. Watson was ap-
pointed its judge. Judge Watson was a man
of considerable ability, but of not a very vast
fund of legal knowledge. He it was who de-
livered the famous and humorous charge to the
jury at Monterey in the case of Dean vs. Mc-
Kinley, and which has heretofore been record-
ed. One day while the Judge was traveling
from San Jose to Santa Cruz (to held court
there) in company with several members of
the bar of his district, among whom was R.
F. Peckham, the latter began to poke fun
at Judge Watson for his charge to the jury
in the McKinley case. 'Now, Peckham,' said
the Judge, 'don't you think I do about as well
as any one else who don't know any more law
than I do?' 'Before I can answer that ques-
tion, Judge,' answered Peckham, 'I would have
to ascertain just how much law you do know.'
" 'Well, to tell the truth, Peckham, 'I don't
know any, for I never read a law book in my
life.' 'Well,' laughed Peckham, 'I must say that
for a judge who never read a law book you do
remarkably well, but how do you manage to
get along with your cases?' 'I'll tell you the
secret, Peckham,' said Judge Watson, 'I make
use of two presumptions in the trial of my
cases. When I have heard the evidence I first
presume what the law ought to be to do jus-
tice between the parties, and after I have set-
tled that presumption I next presume that the
law is what it ought to be, and give judg-
ment accordingly.'

"Here is another instance of Judge Wat-
son's affection for presumptions. One day
James M. Jones was arguing a case befor?
Watson, which involved some proposition of
the old Spanish law. Watson didn't understand
Spanish, and hence Jones had to both read
and translate the law which he claimed would
sustain his case. Judge Watson didn't like the
law which Jones was evolving from the Span-
ish text and after awhile he said : 'Mr. Jones,
the Court has no doubt that you are correct-
ly translating that statute and that it at one
time was the Spanish law ; but that statute is
so absurd and unjust as applied to the facts
in this case that the Court is going to pre-
sume that the law you are citing has been re-

pealed.' Of course such presumption was in-
disputable and Jones lost his case.

"The term of Judge Watson's service on the
district bench was ended in 1851 by his sud-
den resignation and return to the practice of
law. John H. Moore was then district attor-
ney, and being a young, vigorous and prosper-
ous attorney, he gained many convictions.
Judge Watson saw this criminal business
growing in his court, and saw also Moore's
success. He had some abilities as an orator,
had the Judge, and he conceived the idea that
he could make a fortune defending criminals.
So one day he resigned and at once opened
a law office. Meeting Moore afterward he told
him of his plans and rather boastingly informed
the young district attorney that the day of his
success as a prosecutor was passed. Moore ad-
vised him not to be too confident until he had
won a case or two. The very next case which
came up for trial was the case of one Basquiz
for horse stealing. The penalty for this of-
fense was at that time capital unless the jury
fixed a lesser punishment, but District Attor-
ney Moore, not believing in the harsh law, had
never yet asked a jury to permit the extreme
penalty. When Judge Watson, however, vol-
unteered to defend this horse-thief, Moore told
him that he had a bad case and that his client
might hang. The Judge, however, was confi-
dent of his power before a jury, and the case
came on. Upon the argument Judge Watson
spread himself in a wild flight of oratory, but
all in vain, for the jury stayed with Moore and
brought in a prompt verdict for conviction
without limitation, and Judge Watson's first
client was hanged.

"Upon the retirement of Judge Watson,
Craven P. Hester, Esq., was appointed in his
stead. Judge Hester was a native of Indiana,
where he studied law and practiced it for some
years before coming to San Jose. He brought
to the bar of San Jose a fine reputation as a
lawyer and as a man of high sense of profes-
sional and personal honor. His appointment
in 1859 to Judge Watson's vacant seat gave
general satisfaction and when the general elec-
tion came a year later he was chosen to serve
for a term of six years as district judge. A
great many important cases were tried before
Judge Hester and the ablest lawyers in the
state of California practiced in his court. The
sessions of the District Court were held in the
State House until it was destroyed by fire in
1853, when the county provided them with
quarters in the frame building which was re-
cently removed from the southeast corner of
Second and San Fernando streets. There for
several years Judge Hester held his court.
There occasionally came such lawyers as Lock-

82

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

wood and Randolph and Baker and other bril-
liant men from the bar of the State.

•'When the judicial term of Judge Hester ex-
pired he was not re-elected, and as I am told,
for a peculiar reason. In the district of Judge
Hester there were many lawyers of several de-
grees of merit. The leader of the San Jose
bar was William T. Wallace during the '50s.
The leader of the Monterey bar was D. R.
Ashley, and of the Santa Cruz bar was R. F.
Peckham during the same period. This trio
of lawyers each worked hard at their cases,
tried them well, and in consequence, were very
successful each at his own bar. Their suc-
cess made other lawyers of less studious hab-
its jealous, and as the time for another elec-
tion came on. they spread the campaign rumor
that this trio of lawyers 'owned' Judge Hes-
ter and that he always decided their way. The
opposition nominated Samuel Bell McKee
upon this issue and succeeded in electing him.
Accordingly Judge McKee became district
judge in 1858, and remained so until the change
in the district made in 1872, by which the old
Third with some variations became the Twen-
tieth Judicial District and David Belden, Esq.,
was elected as judge."

This concludes the excerpts from Judge
Richards' article. There are, however, more
stories about that eccentric character, J. Alex-
ander Yoell. He was one of the ablest law-
yers of the early days but his peculiar dis-
position kept him continually in hot water. He
was fiery, impetuous and quick to take ofifense
and could not control his tongue. If the num-
ber of times he was fined for contempt of court
could be ascertained it would take up a whole
page of this history. W^illiam Matthews was
another old time attorney. He was a South-
erner, polite, precise, dignified and of undoubt-
ed courage. Once he and Yoell opposed each
other in a court case. During the trial Yoell
became angry at some remark of Matthews'
and made a vitriolic reply. The next instant
an ink bottle caromed on Yoell's forehead, the
ink running in little rivulets down his face.
His right hand went quickly toward his hip
pocket, but before the hand reached the pocket,
the muzzles of two derringer pistols were
pointed at his head. "Hands up!" sternly
commanded Matthews. Yoell's hands went up
immediately. Then he said in a shaking voice
as he spat out the ink which had dribbled
over his upper lip : "Good God, Matthews,
won't you let me get out my handkerchief?"

Another lawyer with whom Yoell had fre-
quent spats was C. C. Stephens, now a resi-
dent of Los Angeles. A will case was on trial
before Judge Belden. Stephens appeared for
the i)roponent, Yoell for the respondent. One

of Stephens' witnesses met Yoell on the street
and after a short talk about the case the wit-
ness was advised by Yoell not to testify un-
til after he had received his fee. Yoell be-
lieved that Stephens was short of money and
that the demand of the witness would not be
complied with. Therefore the trial would ei-
ther be delayed or valuable testimony for the
proponent would be lost. The witness prom-
ised to follow the advice and in due time was
called to the stand. Before taking the oath
he said to Stephens : "I want my fee before
I testify." Stephens fished out a handful of
loose change and then said: "Be sworn and
then I talk turkey." The witness took the
oath and then waited for the payment of the
fee. "One moment," said Stephens, "I've got
to figure this out. You live in Berryessa and
the mileage is — hold on, I've forgotten some-
thing. Before we go any further, I must make
sure you are the witness I want. Were you
present when the will was signed?" "Yes,"
replied the unsuspecting witness. "Did you
witness the signature?" "Yes, of course I did."
"Then you are the man and that's all I want
of you. Mr. Yoell, you may have the wit-
ness." So saying Stephens put back his money
and grinned at Yoell, whose face was black
with rage. "You're a pettifogger," Yoell
shouted. "Mr. Yoell," admonished the Court,
"I can not permit the use of such language."
"But he's a pettifogger," raved Yoell, "and
he's cheating this witness." "Sit down," was
the stern command from the bench. "Mr.
Yoell, you are fined fifty dollars for contempt
of court. Mr. Sheriff take him into custody
and keep him confined until the fine is paid."
In the late '60s W. Frank Stewart, as jus-
tice of the peace, held court in a small room
on South Market street near Santa Clara street.
Stewart was a queer genius and no one who
ever saw and talked with him will ever forget
him. He was over six feet in height and bony
and angular. In many respects he bore a
marked resemblance to Abraham Lincoln,
though his features were of a sterner type.
He was a Southerner, with the sensitiveness
of a woman and the fearlessness of a crusader.
His life had been an adventurous one. He had
fought in the Mexican war, filibustered in
Mexico with Walker, been editor, miner, poet,
geological expert, saloon-keeper, merchant and
justice of the peace and was quite capable
of filling any office within the gift of the peo-
ple. After he left San Jose, he went to Ne-
vada, became state senator, afterward state
mineralogist and died in the early '80s. As
a justice he was just in his decisions but very
testy and severe with lawyers who attempted
pettifogging. J. Alexander Yoell was a source
of constant annoyance to Stewart. Yoell was

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

83

fiery and irrepressible and paid not the slight-
est regard to the orders and rules of the
Court. One day Stewart's wrath at Yoell's
actions exceeded all bounds. One fine for con-
tempt was succeeded by another until the
amount reached a thousand dollars. Then
Stewart used language unfit for print. The at-
torney replied by throwing an ink bottle at the
Justice's head. Stewart dodged the missile,
then got to his feet. "I will adjourn Court
five minutes." he said, "while I lick the" (the
words are unprintable). Putting on his hat
and grasping his cane he started for the bench.
Yoell, realizing that Stewart meant business
went out of the door like a flash and tore up
the street. Stewart, raging like a mad bull
plunged after him and business on Santa Clara
street was suspended while the chase contin-
ued. But Yoell was the better sprinter and a
physical conflict did not take place.

While Stewart was holding court on South
Market street, Jo Johnson, a Southerner, who
had been bailiff of Judge Redman's court, was
administering justice on the lower floor of the
old city hall on North Market street. J. Al-
exander Yoell and W. H. Collins were legal
rivals in a petty case. Yoell's exasperating
tactics so wrought upon Collins' nerves that
the two attorneys soon came to blows. While
they were rolling upon the floor like two angry
cats Johnson left the bench, cane in hand, and
standing over the combatants regarded them
for a moment with an amused smile. Then he
raised his cane and whack ! it came down on
Yoell's head. Yoell ceased to struggle and lay
still. Then Collins got to his knees and was
about to speak when whack ! from the cane
and Collins straightened out and for a time
ceased to take any interest in court room af-
fairs. Later, when heads had been bandaged
fines were imposed only to be remitted when
humble apologies had been made.

The County Court went out of existence witli
the adoption of the new constitution in 1879.
The judges were as follows: J. W. Redman, R.
B. Buckner, John H. Moore, Isaac N. Senter,
Lawrence Archer, R. I. Barnett and D. S.
Payne.

The first grand jury of the county was com-
posed of the following persons : Charles
White, foreman; James F. Reed, William
Campbell, David Dickey, William Higgins,
G. W. Bellamy, Jeptha Osborn, J. W. McClel-
land, Arthur Shearer, C. Campbell, Lewis
Cory, W. G. Banden, James Murphy, R. M.
May, James Appleton, Carolan Matthews. F.
Lightston, W. Hoover, C. Clayton, J. D. Curd.

The first court house was the old Juzgado,
fronting the plaza, which at that time extend-
ed north to or beyond First Street. It was not
well adapted to the purpose and in 1850 the

court was removed to a two-story adobe build-
ing on the west side of First Street opposite
Fountain Alley. It occupied this building
until the latter part of 1851, when it was for a
short time held in the Bella Union building on
Santa Clara Street. From there it went to the
State House building, near the corner of Mar-
ket and San Antonio streets, where it re-
mained until that building was burned down.
It then went into temporary quarters at the
city hall, then located on Lightston Street, be-
tween Santa Clara and El Dorado. In the
meantime the county had purchased a lot at
the southeast corner of Second and Santa
Clara Streets and the buildings were fitted up
to accommodate the county offices and courts.
Here the department of justice rested until
1868. when it took quarters in the Murphy
block at the southeast corner of Market and
Santa Clara Streets. Its stay here was only
for a few weeks, for in the same year the
present court house was completed and ready
for occupancy.

The Third Judicial District bench was occu-
pied by Judges Watson, Hester and Sam Bell
McKee. ' The legislature of 1871-72 created a
new judicial district, which was called the
Twentieth and composed of the counties of
Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey. Hon.
David Belden was appointed judge of the new
district and he remained in the position until
the reorganization of the judicial system in
1880. Under the new system Santa Clara
county was allowed two judges, and at the
election in 1879 David Belden and Francis E.
Spencer were chosen. The great learning and
sound reasoning of these two jurists gave the
bench of Santa Clara County a reputation sec-
ond to none in the LTnion. Many times had
these learned judges been called upon to pre-
side at trials of important cases elsewhere,
and hardly ever was the calendar called that
it did not disclose some suit of magnitude sent
to them for adjudication from other counties.
Judge Belden died May 14, 1888. and a few
years later Judge Spencer passed to his re-
ward. At Judge Belden's death the whole
state mourned. While his wonderful learning
excited admiration and his strict integrity in-
duced respect, no less did his warm, sympa-
thetic nature command the afife^^^iion of all with
whom he came in contact. He was simple in
his habits and unostentatious in his appear-
ance. Any one could approach him and draw
at will on his great stores of knowledge, while
neither his heart nor his purse was closed to a
tale of distress. Judge Spencer said of him :
"He was a truly remarkable man. Many have
gone before him whose legal attainments have
been equal to his. Others may have equally
possessed the treasure of masterly eloquence,

84

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

but it has never been my fortune to find com-
bined in any other person so many rare and
glowing qualities of heart, brain c;nd personal
accomplishments. xA.s an orator it has been
truly said of him that he possessed 'a tongue
of silver'; his command of language was won-
derful, his selections beautiful and most
happy. He was wont at times with his bursts
of eloquence to hold his listeners delighted
and entranced. Although his delivery was
rapid, he never hesitated for an apt word or
sentence. His words came skipping rank and
file almost before he would. As a jurist he
had few superiors. Well grounded in the ele-
ments of law, and conversant with the mass of
judicial precedents, he added that rare percep-
tion of principles applicable to any given set
of facts, and that peculiarly incisive power of
reasoning that makes the true lawyer. He
was a just judge, a wise interpreter of the lav,-
and evidence, and withal simple and unassum-
ing in manner and sympathetic almost to a
fault."

Judge Spencer was a man of profound legal
attainments. He was admitted to the bar in
1858 and in 1863 was appointed city attorney,
a position he held for seventeen years. Here
he made a record that established his reputa-
tion for legal learning and as a man of great
resource. In two suits he not only relieved
the city from indebtedness but removed the
last cloud from the title of every foot of land
in the city. He held the office of district at-
torney for two terms and refused a nomina-
tion for a third. In 1871 he was elected a
member of the Assembly and was made chair-
man of the judiciary committee of that body.
One notable peculiarity of his work was the
care with which he prepared his cases for trial.
No point was too insignificant to be thorough-
ly investigated and the law and the authori-
ties thoroughly collated. All his knowledge,
which included anatomy, engineering, geol-
ogy, metallurgy and mechanical appliances,
he carried with him to the bench. Besides
his great learning and sound judgment, two
other qualities stood out prominently in his
administration of justice — the firmness and
dignity with which the aflfairs of his tribunal
were conducted and the uniform courtesy
which was extended from the Bench to the
Bar and to all others who appeared in his
court. When the Leland Stanford Jr. Uni-
versity was established. Judge Spencer was
selected as a member of the board of trustees
and how well he served the university every
person of intelligence in Santa Clara County
knows.

At the death of Judge Belden, John Rey-
nolds, one of the leaders of the San Jose bar.

was appointed in his place. He, too, has been
dead for many years. He was methodical,
painstaking and careful, while his learning
and high character eminently fitted him for
his appointment to the bench.

In 1897 another change in the judicial sys-
tem of Santa Clara County took place. The
Superior Court was given three judges, in-
stead of two. Upon inauguration of the new
system, the business was divided so that one
court did all the probate business, .1 second the
criminal business and the third, the civil busi-
ness, though each department could handle
business of either of the other two depart-
ments, in case of overflow. The judges of the
Superior Court under the newest system are
as follows : A. S. Kittredge, Judge A. L.
Rhodes, W. G. Lorigan, S. F. Leib, H. D. Tut-
tle, John E. Richards. J. R. Welch, M. H. Hy-
land, P. F. Gosbey and W. A. Beasly. Kit-
tredge was appointed by the governor as the
first judge of the new department. At his
death in 1899 Judge Rhodes was appointed to
the position and held it until he resigned. His
place was filled by John E. Richards, who ad-
ministered justice from the bench until pro-
moted to be judge of the Appellate Court.
Leib and Tuttle served each but short terms
to fill a vacancy in Department 1, caused by
the election of Judge Lorigan to the Supreme
Bench in 1903. The judges on the bench at
this writing (1922) are J. R. Welch, P. F. Gos-
bey and F. B. Brown.

judge A. L. Rhodes, who died in 1919, aged
ninety-seven years, was one of the ablest jur-
ists in the state. As the oldest member of the
California bar he enjoyed the love and admira-
tion not only of the bar but also of his fellow-
citizens, irrespective of class, condition or re-
ligion. He was a pioneer lawyer in San Jose
when he was elevated to the State Supreme
Bench, a position he held for several terms.
He had gone into retirement when he was
called upon to assume judicial duties in the
Santa Clara County Superior Court and he
could have held the position to an indefinite
period if his age had permitted. The whole
bar of the state went into mourning when his
death was announced.

Judge Lorigan, who died in 1918. while
holding office as a supreme judge, was one of
the most popular jurists Santa Clara County
ever produced. He was a graduate of Santa
Clara College, studied law in San Jose, did
newspaper work on the side, served as justice
of the peace and superior judge and estab-
lished such a record for probity and learning
that his appointment to the Supreme Bench
was generally applauded. Honest, faithful
and well-beloved, he met death bravely.

CHAPTER V.

Topography and Geology — History of the New Almaden Mines — Crime in
the Early Days — The Mineral Springs of Santa Clara County — The Oil
Development.

The great Santa Clara Valley is but a por-
tion of that vast plain that stretches from the
Golden Gate on the north to the old mission
town of San Juan on the south, a distance of
ninety miles. When first peopled the whole
was known as San Bernardino. It is oval in
form and attains its greatest width near Mt.
Bache, where it is about fifteen miles. About
four miles from San Jose and apparently
forming a barrier across the valley are a chain
of low hills called the Hills of Tears. But the
obstruction is only apparent. About eight
miles from this point the valley contracts to
a width of about three miles and so continues
for some six miles, when it again expands to a
breadth of nearly six miles and then sweeps
out to end a few miles beyond Hollister in
San Benito County.

A chain of mountains hems in the valley on
either side, running northwest and southeast.
From the time of its entry into the county the
eastern range rapidly rises, becomes broader
and very rough, having many elevated points
about it until it culminates on the summit of
Mt. Hamilton, nearly east of San Jose and
4.443 feet above the level of the sea. The
range then decreases in height to Pacheco
Pass, east of Gilroy, the loftiest point of which
is 1,470 feet. The western range near the
famous New Almaden mines is crowned by
two magnificent peaks that stand like stal-
wart sentinels guarding the precious treasures
which lie concealed in the yet unexplored
storehouses of their lesser brethren around.

In the canyons and slopes of the western
chain are to be found growing in full vigor
the useful redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
as well as many oaks and madrona. On the
eastern range comparatively few trees are
found, but its swelling undulations, pictur-
esque ravines and wealth of natural beauty,
pleases the eye and affords a marked contrast
to the forests of the other side.

At a distance of about twenty-five miles
from San Jose Coyote Creek has its birth, and
after springing into vigor leaves its cradle,
joyously leaping and splashing among the
roots of trees and playing around the smooth
worn sides of boulders until it reaches the
pastoral valley, where it assumes a more staid
demeanor and languidly flows in many a

curve, at last finding an end in the waters of
San Francisco Bay.

The next most important creek of Santa
Clara County is the Guadalupe, so named after
the patron saint of Mexico. It rises in the
Sousal, about three miles southwest of San
Jose, is fed by many tributaries and streams
and runs in a northerly direction until it
comes near the city, where it takes a north-
easterly course and empties into San Fran-
cisco Bay near the mouth of the Coyote. Other
streams are the Los Gatos, having its source
in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and emptying
into the Guadalupe at the foot of Santa Clara
Street ; the Almaden, the Llagas and the Uvas,
south of San Jose and the Santa Ysabel, Smith
Creek and the Arroyo Honda in the eastern
foothills.

The geological and mineralogical features
of Santa Clara County are of no little impor-
tance. Beginning with the eastern foothills
there is a center of metamorphic cretaceous
rocks, flanked b}- an enormous thickness of
unaltered cretaceous strata, the latter consist-
ing of sandstone with inter-stratified shales.
A coarse conglomerate, the bouWers in which
are metamorphic rock, dififering from that
comprising the main mass of the mountains, is
to be found on the outer margin of the hills
toward the San Joaquin plains. The unaltered
tertiary and cretaceous strata flank the entire
range on the eastern side as far north as its
junction with the Sierra Nevadas. The ab-
sence of the tertiary is marked by the precipi-
tous nature of the range where it joins the
plains, as opposed to the ■ low-rolling hills
where the tertiary overlies the cretaceous.

Along the eastern flank, the tertiary, as far
as known, rests conformably upon the creta-
ceous. The metamorphic rocks have the same
general character, being marked by jaspers,
serpentine and occasionally, mica slate. Their
limits are well indicated by the growth of for-
est trees. The summit of Pacheco Pass, as
well as of those of other and higher peaks in a
line crossing the range obliquely to the south-
east, are of trachyte. This is the first known
appearance of eruptive rock in the main
Mount Diablo Range south of Suisun Bay.
The tertiary is more extensively developed on
the western than on the eastern side toward

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the north. The hills bordering the Santa Clara
Valley on the east belong to this period. The
rocks are altered in places. A tertiary ridge
extends to the northwest, separating Santa
Clara and Calaveras Valleys.

The geology of the belt of elevated land be-
tween Santa Clara Valley, the Bay of San
Francisco, and the ocean, is rendered some-
what complicated by the intrusion of granitic
rocks among the unaltered cretaceous and ter-
tiary strata of which these hills are chiefly
formed. Besides this geological formation,
rocks similar in lithological character to those
in the Mt. Diablo Range are found. Fossils
sparingly are shown. A metamorphic belt ex-
tends from Redwood City, San Mateo County,
to the southeast for a distance of about forty
miles, forming the eastern end of the ridge
and the summit of Mount Bache, 3,780 feet in
height, and of other high points. Limestone
in detached masses occurs at several places
throughout this belt. Evidences of what was
once, in all probability, a complete limestone
belt, are found at various places, from the
summit of Black Mountain, back of Mountain
View, to as far south as the New Almaden
mines, which lie in a ridge northwest of that
formed by the metamorphic mass of Mounts
Bache, Chaoal and others. It is to be seen on
Los Gatos Creek, dipping to the northeast,
and is less altered there than at other places
where it is hard and compact, though not
crystalline.

The New Almaden Mines.

By far the 'most interesting and important
feature of the range is the presence of the ex-
tensive deposits of cinnabar in the metamor-
phic cretaceous rocks at the New Almaden
mines, fourteen miles southwest of San Jose
and lying in a ridge east of the main range.

The history of the mines has never been
presented in better form than by the late Mrs.
Carrie Stevens Walter, mother of Roy Walter,
city auditor, Mrs. Charles M. Shortridge of
Oakland, and Mary Walter of Los Angeles.
It appeared in a handbook of Santa Clara
County published by E. S. Harrison in 1887
and is as follows :

"Almaden — from two Arabic words, al, 'the',
and maden, 'mine' — was given to the most fa-
mous quicksilver mine in the world, located in
Spain. Its namesake in Santa Clara County,
having no superior, with the single exception
above mentioned, deserves more than a pass-
ing notice in a work of this character. The
New Almaden quicksilver mine is situated
about fourteen miles southwest of San Jose,
in a low range of hills running parallel to the
Coast Range. Tradition states that this mine
was known to the native Indians nearlv a cen-

tury ago, and that they used the ore to form a
pigment paste by pounding and moistening it.
In 1824 the existence of the mine was made
known to Don Antonio Sunol, who worked it
for silver, but not finding this metal, and not
suspecting the real nature of the deposit,
abandoned it at the end of a year. In Novem-
ber, 1845, a Mexican officer named Andres
Castillero, visiting at Santa Clara Mission,
was shown some of the ore, and while experi-
menting for silver, discovered quicksilver. He
at once filed his right to the mine as a discov-
erer, according to the Mexican and Spanish
law, after which he formed a stock company,
dividing the mine into twenty-four shares. An
American named William G. Chard was then
employed, who commenced the reduction by
charging a gun barrel with small pieces of ore,
stopping the vent with clay, placing the muz-
zle into a barrel of water and building a fire
around the other end. The mercury, being
driven of? by the heat in the form of a vapor,
passed out at the muzzle, was condensed in
the water and precipitated in the form of
liquid quicksilver. Three or four gun barrels
were thus employed for several weeks. Six
whalers' try-pots were next obtained, capable
of holding three or four tons of ore, and a sort
of furnace formed by inverting three over the
other three, by which some two thousand
pounds of metal were reduced. About this
time — 1846 — the mine was visited by Captain
Fremont, who established its value at $30,000.
Soon after this Barron, Forbes & Co., of
Tepic, Mexico, became the principal stock-
holders and in 1847, J. Alexander Forbes, of
the firm, arrived with laborers, funds and ev-
erything necessary to the proper working of
the mine. A thorough examination gave so
much promise that work was prosecuted with
vigor. In 1850 furnaces were first constructed
and large quantities of ore reduced under -the
.-superintendence of the late Gen. H. W. Hal-
leck. As the true value of the mine became
apparent disputes concerning the title arose.
The company bought in two titles for protec-
tion. But matters l^ecame so complicated that
in 1858 an injunction was placed on the mine,
which remained until February, 1861, during
which time no work was done. In 1864 the
company disposed of the mine and all the im-
provements, including, 8,580 acres of land, for
$1,700,000, to a compan}^ chartered under the
laws of New York and Pennsylvania, as 'The
Quicksilver Mining Company.'

"The workings of the mine past and present
extend over an area the extreme limits of
which could barely be included within a rect-
angular block 5,000 feet long from north to
south, 6.000 feet wide from east to west and
2,300 feet in depth, counting from the summit

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

87

of mine hill, the upward limit of the ore de-
posit. The workings do not cover all the
area here indicated, but are very irregularly
distributed within it. Mining experts will
readily understand from this, but also from
the fact that ore bodies seem to obey no spe-
cial law of distribution, but are a puzzle to
geologists, the difficulty olifered in the work-
ing of this mine. In its famous rival, Almaden
of Spain, the ore bodies are placed with re-
markable regularity, increasing in richness as
depth is obtained, and all included in a rect-
angular block 700 feet long by 350 broad, and
1,027 in depth. It may be interesting to pur-
sue this comparison a little further. For in-
stance : The average salarj' paid to workmen
at the Spanish mine is sixty cents per day ; at
the New Almaden, about two dollars and forty
cents. The number of workers employed at
the Old Almaden, 3,126; at New Almaden,
460. The yield per ton of ore at New Al-
maden average more than twenty pounds of
quicksilver ; at Old Almaden the general av-
erage is about 200 pounds of quicksilver to
the ton ; the average cost of extracting per
flask of seventy-six and one-half pounds at
Old Almaden is $7.10; at New Almaden the
cost is $26.38. It is safe to affirm that had the
Spanish mine the same difficulties to overcome
in working as are encountered at New Al-
maden, it would long since have shut down,
despite the Rothschilds, it lessees. These facts
naturally lead one to inquire something of the
management of the Santa Clara County Al-
maden. The mine came under the control of
J. B. Randol in 1870. At that time there was
an interest-bearing debt against the property
of $1,500,000. The amount of ore in sight was
discouragingly small, the extraction very
costly and the stockholders were so pushed to
carry on the workings of the mine that they
were compelled to raise $200,000 by subscrip-
tion. The systems of working the mine were
crude and expensive, furnaces and condensers
imperfect, and the mine developed only to the
800 foot level, with one main shaft. Much of
the ore was brought from lower to higher
levels in bags made of ox-hide, carried by
Mexicans by means of a strap over the fore-
head— from 140 to 200 pounds being conveyed
at a load. In 1886, exploration and exploita-
tion had been made in mine shafts, six of
which were in active operation ; there is a net-
work of underground passages aggregating
nearly fifty miles in length ; mining work is
carried on to a depth of 2,300 feet, while the
machinery is the most complete and econom-
ical in the world. In those sixteen years 318,-
000 flasks of quicksilver have been reduced,
over $5,000,000 disbursed for labor, and yet
with a total profit to the owners of more than

$4,000,000. The funded debt has been paid,
large amounts expended in permanent im-
provements and over $1,000,000 declared in
dividends. Up to 1887 more than half the
world's supply of quicksilver came from Cali-
fornia. A greater portion of this came from
New Almaden.

"In those earlier days the social condition
of the workmen, who were mostly Mexicans,
was inferior. The place was noted for law-
lessness and was a rendezvous for Mexican
banditti. Little restraint was exercised over
the men and gambling, drinking and other ex-
cesses were common. Large wages were paid
and it was no uncommon occurrence for a
man to be killed after pay day. Then there
were no advantages of church or schools.
Water for drinking and cooking was carried
on donkeys and sold by the pailful."

Crime in the Early Days.

The historian will leave Mrs. Walter's des-
cription for awhile to refer to some of the law-
less characters who held forth at New Al-
maden in the early days.

In 1855 a quartet of outlaws, with head-
quarters at New Almaden, terrorized Santa
Clara County. The leader was one Francisco
Garcia, commonly called "Negro" Garcia on
account of his Afro-Mexican origin, and his
associates were Indian Juan, Bias Angelino
and Sebastiano Flores. In the fall of 1855 In-
dian Juan concluded to turn over a new leaf.
He would sever his connection with the gang,
go to Mexico and lead an honest life. This
intention was communicated to Garcia and
a demand was made for a division of the
spoils acquired in the band's many raids. Gar-
cia refused to make the division and hard
words following culminating in Indian Juan's
threat to go to San Jose and give himself up
to the officers. Garcia, fearing that Juan
would expose the lawless operations of the
quartet, resolved to get him out of the way.
On the 15th of December Garcia and Bias
Angelino waj-laid and killed Juan. Flores had
been asked to assist in the affair and had re-
fused. He was, however, a witness to the kill-
ing which was done so suddenly that he was
unable to prevent it. This was the story he
told when he appeared before S. O. Houghton,
mayor of San Jose, and swore to a complaint
charging Garcia and Angelino with murder.
Angelino was arrested, tried, convicted and
hanged. Garcia escaped and for seventeen
years kept out of the way of the officers. In
1872 Sheriff John H. Adams, of Santa Clara
County, learned that the fugitive was in Los
Angeles. A telegraphic warrant led to the ar-
rest. The prisoner was brought to San Jose

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to await trial for a murder committed seven-
teen years before. The historian saw him
when he was in jail. He was then over sixty
years of age, gray-haired and gray-bearded.
He refused to discuss the crime of 1855 or to
express any opinion on the action of Sebas-
tiano Flores. At the trial Floras appeared as
state's witness and the late Judge Francis E.
Spencer defended the prisoner. In 1855 Bias
Angelino had been convicted on both direct
and circumstantial evidence. In 1872, on ac-
count of the lapse of time, no circumstantial
evidence to supplement the testimony of
Flores was forthcoming. It was therefore
Flores' word against the word of Garcia. This
raised a doubt and the jury resolved the doubt
in favor of the defendant and acquitted him.
But this was not the end of the matter. A few
months later Garcia and Flores met near the
Mission of San Jose. There was a quarrel
which resulted in the kilHng of Garcia. Flores
surrendered himself to the officers and in due
time was placed on trial for murder. The tes-
timony showed that Garcia was the aggressor
and Flores was found not guilty.

Francisco (Pancho) Soto lived for some
time at the New Almaden mines. The his-
torian saw him in the late 70s at the summit
of Mt. Hamilton. He was then the cook for a
gang of laborers at work on the buldings of
the Lick Observatory. The old man — he was
over sixty at the time — with his tall, robust
figure, patriarchal locks, flowing beard, placid
face and large, full eyes of black, gave no hint
of the dare-devil highwayman of twenty years
before. His career was an exciting one. He
was born to the saddle and in hi's younger
days was one of the best horsemen in the
state. Open-hearted, but reckless, gifted with
a strong sense of humor, he lived a wild, free
life until circumstances made him an outlaw.
As a bold highwayman of the Dick Turpin
type his name became a household word in
Central and Southern California. Quick in
action, fertile in resource and with friends ga-
lore among the Mexican-Spanish population,
he managed for years to elude capture. Once
he played a trick on pursuing officers that
greatly increased his reputation. After the
commission of a daring robbery the sheriffs of
four counties started out to eiTect his capture.
One night two of the pursuers stopped at a
Mexican casa in the Livermore Valley. Soto
came to the door. He was asked if he had
seen Soto. The reply came quicKJy and with-
out a change of countenance: "I expect him
here tomorrow at daylight." The officers,
who had never seen the outlaw, were over-
joyed at this statement and prepared at once
to stay overnight at the casa. That night,
after they were asleep Soto relieved Ihcm of

their weapons, and stampeded their horses.
They awoke to see their entertainer in the act
of riding away. "I'm Soto," he shouted.
"Buenos noches, senors," and off he went into
the night.

It was in New Almaden that Soto first
stained his hands in the blood of his fellow
man. He asserted at Mt. Hamilton that the
killing was done in self-defense, but at the
trial it was his word against strong circum-
stantial evidence and he was convicted and
given a life sentence in San Ouentin. The
killing took place near the mine. Soto was
pursued by Deputy Sheriff Patterson and on
the Monterey road there was a running pistol
fight and Patterson was shot in the leg so that
amputation afterward became necessary.
When Soto saw the officer fall he went to his
assistance, bound up the wound, then rode to
the Twenty-One Mile House and informed the
proprietor that a man had been shot up the
road and that there was urgent need of assist-
ance. Soto was captured soon afterward.
Through representations made by Patterson,
who had not forgotten the outlaw's kindness.
Governor Newton Booth first commuted the
sentence and later issued a full pardon. Leav-
ing San Quentin Soto returned to San Jose
and engaged in peaceful pursuits up to the
time of his death.

In 1885 Augustin C. Hall was murdered in
his own house on the New Almaden road, not
far from the Hacienda. There were several
things surrounding the act that indicated on
the part of the perpetrators the most diaboli-
cal malignity. There were no signs outside
of the house to indicate that a monstrous
crime had been perpetrated. The horse of the
murdered man grazed outside of the door and
for days the neighbors, not suspecting any-
thing wrong, passed and repassed the place.
At last one of them opened the door and dis-
covered the dead, mutilated bod}^ of Hall. At
the inquest, held in San Jose, suspicion pointed
to a resident of the city, but the trial, which
lasted a week, resulted in his acquittal.

In the fall of that same year, at the house
of Ignacio Berryessa, near the New Almaden
mine, Santiago Berryessa killed Pedro Ara-
vena, a native of Chile, under the following
circumstances: Pedro had become enamored
of the daughter of Ignacio, a young girl of
fourteen years, but meeting with opposition
from the girl's parents to a marriage, the pair
went to Alviso and were joined in matrimony
by a justice of the peace. In a short time the
girl's parents became reconciled to the mar-
riage and the married couple returned to
Berryessa's house. One day Santiago Berry-
essa, the girl's uncle, saw the girl and her hus-
band sitting in the house and without warning

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

89

and with the utmost deliberation shot Aravena
to death. The shot was fired through a win-
dow. The murdered escaped and was never
apprehended.

On Sunday, June 29, 1856, the brother of
the overseer of Mexican miners at New Al-
maden was killed by an Indian. The Indian
was quarreling with an Irishman when the
Mexican said to him : "Why do you abuse
that man? He doesn't understand a word you
say." Whereupon the Indian angrily an-
swered, "Do you take it up?" and instantly
plunged a knife into the body of the Mexican.
The murderer was caught and hanged.

In November, 1856, Francisco Berryessa
was mortally stabbed at his home near the
New Almaden mines by Calista Lanra, a
Chileno. He died the next morning. Calista
was on friendly terms with the Berryessa fam-
ily and came to the house on the evening of
the stabbing. After partaking of some cakes,
Calista started as if he intended leaving the
house, but in fact, he concealed himself under
the bed occupied by Francisco Berrj^essa and
wife. There were several women in the house,
one of whom knew of Calista's concealment.
Berryessa's wife also discovered him and an-
nounced the fact to her husband. Berryessa
ordered the Chileno to come out, and the or-
der not being obeyed, Berryessa caught him
by the hair of the head and pulled him out.
On arising to his feet Calista drew a knife and
stabbed Berryessa. The slayer escaped.

Samuel Phillips and his partner, a Mr. Nes-
bitt. attempted to open a banking house at
the Enrequita mines, near New Almaden, on
the evening of Saturday, August 3, 1861, when
a general row took place, knives and pistols be-
ing freely used. A Spaniard was shot in the'
neck and killed instantly, and one or two oth-
ers were seriously injured.

On the night of June 4, 1864, Joseph Pelle-
grini, a butcher doing business near New Al-
maden, was murdered in his room as he was in
the act of retiring for the night. A butcher
knife was used and he was stabbed to the
heart. The house door was forced by break-
ing a lock and there was every evidence in the
room of a terrific struggle. Pellegrini was a
quiet, inoffensive man and the supposition
was that he was killed for his money. The
murderer was never found.

On the morning of June 5, 1864, a Mexican
named Julian Almanea, who had lost an arm
and who was the owner of a "dead fall" at
Enrequita, had some words with Juan Jose
Rodriguez. Pistols were drawn and Rod-
riguez was killed. Almanea fled but was ar-
rested in Los Angeles in 1867.

In the early '80s Joe Ramirez killed a man
at the New Almaden mines. He was tried in
San Jose, convicted and hanged.

Mrs. Walter's description of the mines ends
as follows :

"Now the visitor leaves the railway station
two miles from the Hacienda, where are lo-
cated the reduction works of the mine. Al-
most the first thing to greet the eye is a pretty
school house with its groups of neat, tidy
children. Two teachers are employed and
four at the school on the hill, three miles fur-
ther on, for ten months in the year, the school
being in the regular county school system.
Along the single street for half a mile are
clean, pretty cottages, the homes of the Ha-
cienda workmen, each cottage literally em-
bowered in choice roses and other flowers.
These houses are owned mostly by the com-
pany, who lease them to the workmen at from
two dollars to five dollars per month. Cut-
tings are supplied free from the beautiful
grounds of the manager, where are grown
more varieties of roses than in any other place,
perhaps, in the county. Along the street in
front of the houses a stream of purest water is
conducted in a channel for domestic purposes.
The street is bordered with shade trees and a
neat brick wall extends its entire length.
Everywhere are seen signs of thrift and pros-
perity; the people look well kept and con-
tented, while an all-pervading spirit of order
and system extends to the remotest ramifica-
tions of this important industry.

"Three miles up a steep but well-graded
road brings one to the mine proper, where are
the great shafts with their huge engines, in
one of which, the engine of the Buena Vista
shaft, is a piece of iron weighing twelve tons.
The miners are principally Mexican and Cor-
nish. Two pretty church edifices, a Methodist
and a Catholic, located at the Hill settlement,
were built almost entirely from contributions
by the company and manager. A social or-
ganization, called the 'Helping Hand,' for
which the compan}- erected and fitted up a
club building, for the benefit of the workmen,
has a fine library of nearly 500 volumes, be-
sides a list of magazines and daily and weekly
newspapers of the best published. There are
held frequent entertainments, given by the
members, and the society is a wonderful fac-
tor in the promotion of sociability, general in-
formation and mental culture.

"The miners' fund, to which each employe
contributes one dollar per month, pays, among
other expenditures for the good of the miners,
the salary of a resident physician, whose serv-
ices are gratuitous to the contributors. The
value of this arrangement will be better un-
derstood when it is known that a great ma-

90

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

joritj' of the workmen are married men with
families. The management encourages this
class, feeling that, as a rule, it is more reliable
and responsible that that composed of men
with no domestic ties. The population of the
settlement (1886) is about 1,400, of whom 600
are under twenty years of age."

In the late 70s Mary Hallock Foote, the
artist and novelist, author of those charm-
ingly written and popular mining camp stories,
was a resident of New Almaden. Her husband,
Arthur D. Foote, was the engineer of the mine.
Mrs. Foote, having much time to spare out-
side of her household duties, made, during
her residence on the Hill, many sketches of
scenery and native types, which an Eastern
magazine was glad to publish. Her work in
this line might not have proceeded much fur-
ther if her husband had succeeded in securing
the Democratic nomination for surveyor of
Santa Clara County. That was a Democratic
year and nomination was equivalent to elec-
tion. The convention was held in Music Hall,
First Street, San Jose, and Mr. Foote, resolv-
ing to take a shy at politics in the hope that
success might enable him to settle down,
instead of having to move from one place to
another in pursuit of his vocation as a mining
engineer, announced himself as a candidate for
the nomination. There was one other candi-
date, John Coombe, who was later killed by
mistake in an altercation in a First Street
saloon. Coombe was well known throughout
the county. He was a good mixer and had
politics at his fingers' ends, while Foote, on
the other hand, was hardly known outside of
New Almaden, though he was a man of con-
spicuous ability and unblemished reputation.
Almost a stranger to the majority of the dele-
gates and knowing little of the 'tricks of the
political trade, his defeat by the ballot was
not surprising. And yet the contest was close,
for the fine impression created by his speech
before the convention, together with his hand-
some, manly appearance, brought him many
votes which were not his when the delegates
were called together. The action of the con-
vention settled the place of residence. When
Foote's contract at New Almaden was up he
went into the mining regions of the Rocky
Mountains. Mining camps became the homes
of Foote and his talented wife, and in those
Western scenes Mrs. Foote had abundant op-
portunity for the cultivation of her literary
and artistic gifts. All her storie.s — and she
has written many — breathe the free, romantic
western atmosphere, and all show a thorough
acquaintance with western scenes and the
habits, customs and mental attitude of the
inhabitants.

At the present time (1922) the stockholders
of the company have taken charge of the af-
fairs of the mines. The shafts on the hill have
not been worked for some time, but all the
employes, over fifty in number, are working
in a new mine. The Senator, situated about
half-way between Almaden-on-the-Hill and
Guadalupe. The prospects are most encourag-
ing. The superintendent is Edmond Tussen,
whose home is in Berkeley.

The Guadalupe quicksilver mine is situated
two miles north of Almaden on the eastern
slope of the mountains, the fissures or canyons
being near the juncture of the metamorphic
rock and oil-bearing formation. The Guada-
lupe Creek comes out of the Coast Range
near this point, dividing the surface of the
dejjosit into two parts, though the ore was
found in a continuous body below the creek.
Here are the white cottages of the workmen,
a pretty residence for the superintendent and
extensive reduction works. Owing to the low
price of quicksilver, work was practically sus-
pended for several years, but now, with the
discover}- of ore in a ridge never before worked
and with prices better than usual, there is
every prospect of successful operation.

The Enrequita mine, two miles to the south-
west of New Almaden, is the property of the
Almaden Company. It has been a small pro-
ducer. South of the San Jose Cemetery is
the Old Chapman mine. It was never a pay-
ing proposition and many years ago work was
stopped, never to be resumed.

Mineral Springs of the County

The mineral springs of Santa Clara County
are noteworthy and valuable. One mile above
Saratoga and northwest from it, on Campbell
Creek, are situated the Pacific Congress
Springs, so called because of their resemblance
to the waters of the famous Congress Springs
of Saratoga, N. Y. This is one of California's
most picturesque and popular watering places
and has always been in great favor as a winter
resort. It is open the year round. There are
at this place several springs. They are but a
foot or two deep, being excavated from the
sandstone, the lower one receiving the drain-
age of the others. It sends off a stream about
two inches in size. The waters from these
springs are so nearl)' alike that the difference
can hardly be determined by the taste. By
analysis it is shown to contain 335.857 grains
of solid matter to the gallon, composed as fol-
lows: Chloride of sodium, 119.159; sulphate
of soda, 12.140: carbonate of .soda, 123.351;
carbonate of iron, 14.030; carbonate of lime,
17.295; and silica alumina with a trace of mag-
nesia. 49.882. It is considered a healthful and
refreshing beverage and has gained much fa-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

91

vor with the pubhc. The place is connected
with Saratoga, Los Gatos and San Jose by
the Peninsular Railroad.

The now well-known Madrone Mineral
Springs are situated in Burnett Township,
about twenty-five miles southeast of San Jose,
in the Coast Range, at an altitude of 2,000
feet. The location is in a sheltered and pic-
turesque canyon at the foot of Pine Ridge.
The place is free from fogs, the atmosphere is
pure and invigorating, and the temperature is
mild and pleasant. The mountains are clothed
with such trees as pine, oak, maple, laurel and
madrone, while medicinal plants are found in
profusion. The early traditions of the Ma-
drone Springs state that they were known to
the Indians and there is little doubt that they
were the "medicine waters" of one of their
tribes, for many relics in the shape of mor-
tars, hatchets, arrowheads and the like have
been, and are still being, turned up in all direc-
tions. The springs are situated six miles
north of the Gilroy Hot Springs, connecting
with which there is a bridle path. There is
a fine road to Madrone Station on the Southern
Pacific Railway. The Springs contain one
of natural soda water, the principal elements
of which are soda, iron and magnesia. This
has proved of great medicinal virtue in dys-
pepsia, liver complaints, kidney diseases and
neuralgic aftections. Another is strongly im-
pregnated with iron and arsenic, which for
debility, skin diseases, asthma and other kin-
dred affections has proved an excellent cura-
tive. There is a white sulphur spring, which
is also utilized, while guests may be supplied
with hot and cold baths of natural soft water.
The improvements made are extensive and
up-to-date.

About twelve miles from Gilroy, in a small,
rocky ravine in the Coyote Canyon near the
headwaters of that creek, where the moun-
tains, timber clad to their summits, rise several
hundred feet on both sides of that stream,
Francisco Cantua, a Mexican sheepherder,
while hunting for some of his stray flock, dis-
covered, in 1865, what are now these famous
springs. He lost no time in filing a squatter's
claim to the place, and for some years used it
as a camping ground for himself and friends.
It is not probable that the Indians were aware
of the existence of the springs, for no remains
have been found. Besides, the hills were in
early days much infested by wild beasts, a
fact that may account for their lack of knowl-
edge on the subject. Cantua sold his interest
to George Roop, who at once commenced the
grading of a road to the springs, the erection
of houses and the general clearing and adorn-
merit of the locality. In addition to a large,
commodious hotel, there are fifteen cottages

for families, garage, dancing pavilion, swim-
ming tank, sixteen bathrooms, and other con-
veniences of a first-class health resort; one
hundred and fifty guests can be accommodated.
The hot spring possesses remarkable medicinal
qualities. It has a nearly uniform temperature
of 118 degrees and contains in solution sul-
phur, iron, soda, magnesia, baryta, arsenic (in
small quantities) and alum in small quantities.
It is pungent but by no means unpleasant to
the taste. Within fifteen feet of the hot springs
there are a dozen or more large springs of
pure, cold water, while nearly three-fourths
of a mile away from the hotel there is a ro-
mantically situated garden, where everything
from an orange to a turnip will flourish. The
place is supplied with telegraph and telephone
communication, and in 1873 a postoffice was
there established. The site of the Gilroy Hot
Springs is 1,240 feet above the sea level, in
the very heart of the mountains, amidst groves
of pine and oak, in which game abound, while
near by the Coyote affords a harvest of trout
to the angler. No more charming resort for
the pleasure-seeker or the invalid is to be found
on the Pacific Coast. W. J. McDonald is the
manager.

There are other mineral springs in the
county, not the least important of which are
the springs in Alum Rock Canyon on the City
Reservation, detailed reference to which will
be given in another chapter devoted to a de-
scription of San Jose's pleasure resorts.

The Oil Development

There is oil in Santa Clara County. Several
spots have been developed to some extent ;
others have not. Near Sargent, at the south-
ern end of the county, wells have been bored
and oil extracted. In Moody's Gulch, a branch
of the Los Gatos Canyon, several wells have
been bored and for man)' years oil, with a
paraffin base, has been extracted, most of the
time in paying quantities. For the first ten
years the output was over 80,000 gallons.
The work was started by R. C. McPherson in
1873. The only fuel used was natural gas.
Of late years the work has been intermittent,
lack of funds often preventing development.
The property is now (1922> owned by the
Trigonia Oil Company, and extensive devel-
opments are now in progress.

North of Los Gatos oil has been found,
though there have not been any operations for
several years. Indications of oil have also
been found in Alum Rock Canyon and in other
portions of the county. Some day, perhaps,
when the country's supply of oil shows signs
of giving out, other and more determined at-
tempts to develop Santa Clara County's oil
resources will be made.

CHAPTER VI.

Society Events in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies — Renuniscences of
Pioneer Women — Mrs. Carroll's Interesting Record — Charles G. Ames
and Judge William T. Wallace — Presidential Visits.

For much of the material relating to society
affairs in the early days of San Jose, the his-
torian is indebted to that entertaining, gossipy
book written in 1903 by Mrs. Mary A. Carroll,
since deceased. Mrs: Carroll was for many
years the society editor of the "Mercury," and
her opportunities for gathering old-time social
news were unusually good.

"Society as found in San Jose before the
days of '49 is graphically described by Mrs.
Frances A. Sunol-Angus:

" 'A great deal of it, some of it true, most
of it colored with the light of other days, has
been said and written of the stirring days of
1849, but no one has yet lifted the veil that
dropped when the adventurer and the pros-
pector, following the golden light, founded on
the Pacific shores the realization of the visions
conjured up by the magic name El Dorado —
the veil that separates old California from the
new, as invisible, yet as real, as any existing
state line.

" 'For the gold excitement, bringing in new
energ}' and activity, brought also new disturb-
ing elements, and where there had existed a
boundless hospitality, with the incoming of
the stranger the social limits contracted and
formality and ceremony began to be observed.

" 'I speak of the earl}^ forties ; my own fath-
er's boyhood days, and my grandfather, Don
Antonio Sunol, and his family are a fair pic-
ture of the chivalrous host and the warm-
hearted hospitality of the times. The guest
chamber was seTdom untenanted, and seven or
eight guests were welcomed and entertained
for two or three successive weeks. English,
Russian and American trading vessels made
periodic visits to San Francisco and the mer-
chandise was brought to San Jose on pack
horses. When time permitted, the supercargo,
captain and some of his officers, would accom-
pany the caravan, and for weeks were royally
entertained.

" 'There being from fifty to one hundred
Indian servants in the household, each guest
was provided with his special one, who waited
upon his every want during the entire visit.
Horses, the very best in the stables, saddles,
silver mounted or plated, and a guide were
always at his command and a servant always
on hand to clasp and unclasp each gentleman's

spurs, while another led his horse away. The
host and his family devoted themselves to the
entertainment of the guests and a series of
festivities was gotten up in their honor. The
homes of Don Salvis Pacheco, Don Dolores
Pacheco, Don Jose Noriega, and Don Antonio
Sunol were the scenes of many of these fes-
tivities.

" 'Can you guess how their invitations to a
ball were sent out? Some gay cavalier, who
possessed a melodious voice and could thrum
the light guitar, attired in a gay holiday cos-
tume, with clinking silver spurs and mounted
upon a spirited horse, pranced and curvetted
through the plaza singing some ditty, and
when he had arrested the attention of passers-
by addressed them in friendly, courteous lan-
guage, extending the invitation to all present,
rich and poor, not low and high, for each man
was as good as his neighbor, and wealth did
not place a man upon a pedestal of honor.
When pleasantries had been exchanged be-
tween the messenger and the crowd, he passed
on and stopping at the door of each house, re-
peated his invitation, thus honoring all with a
daylight serenade.

" 'Young ladies attended balls and parties
accompanied by their mothers, or, in the ab-
sence of these, by some elderly female relative.
The chaperon was known as the "duenna."
Young men and maidens carried on their court-
ship at these balls right under the unseeing
eyes of the watchful ( ?) duenna. When this
secret love-making had reached a successful
issue between the pair, the youth acquainted
his father with his hopes and aspirations, and
he in turn sought the maiden's father. His
consent gained, the bride's trousseau was im-
mediately prepared, the wedding was an-
noiniced and in a few weeks the marriage bells
were ringing. The festivities lasted a week or
more, and, as at other times, everybody was
welcomed and feasted. The bride's dower con-
sisted of household furnishings, cattle and
horses — quality in accordance with her father's
means.

" 'There were no formal receptions, no cere-
monious calls. Ladies went out from their
homes in simple household attire and spent a
few hours in friendly conversation with a
neighbor. When visits were made in the even-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

93

ing a number of friends called together and
the time was given up to music, dancing, fun
and laughter. The younger members never
felt any restraint in presence of their elders,
although they treated them with the most
scrupulous deference and respect. Boys al-
ways stood with heads uncovered while speak-
ing to old or middle-agd people, even on the
street. There was one generous custom dear
to the heart of the California boy, and that
was the godfather's gift at the christening — -
gold and silver coins thrown out by the hand-
ful and scrambled for by the small boy.

" 'The modes of salutation during the Golden
Age were the hearty handshake, when the
meeting between friends took place upon the
street, tin abrazo (an embrace) when within
the sacred precincts of home. As I have shown
you, simplicity was the rule ; forms and cere-
monies were unknown. There was no vieing
with one and another as to who should stand
upon the highest round of the social ladder,
but each one extended his hand to help an-
other climb to where he stood, so that over
all there reigned a spirit of peace and good
will. Would that we might stop for a moment
in our feverish rush for recognition and posi-
tion and breathe in the spirit of the olden
time.' "

The late Joseph H. Scull, who came here
at an early date and who carefully watched
the changes that have taken place during the
past fifty years, wrote to Mrs. Carroll as
follows :

"I regret to say that I will have to dis-
appoint you in giving the desired information
in regard to social gatherings here during the
early '50s. I did not, for a moment, think that
such reminiscences would be of any value or
interest after the lapse of years, and therefore
did not charge my memory with them.

"Nevertheless, assuming that I have your
permission to do so, I will jot down some
remarks as I go along on the subject in hand.
There were very few American women here
in those early days, and they were mostly
married, so far as I remember ; and American
girls, grown to womanhood, were like 'angels'
visits, few and far between,' and hence social
gatherings were scarce, balls being the chief
amusement in vogue, consisting of quadrilles,
contra dances, waltzes and Virginia reels, and
for variety's sake occasionally an Irish break-
down, when some Celtic fellow-citizens were
present. Later on the schottische, the polka
and the mazurka were introduced. The Cali-
fornia girls, as a matter of course, were largely
in the majorit}', but unaccustomed to social
gatherings, their only amusement being fan-
dangoes, as the California balls were then
called. The dances were the contra dance, the

waltz and one or two kinds of jigs; and the
music, a guitar, and sometimes two, until the
arrival of a Mexican who could scratch on the
fiddle enough provincial music to dance by.
The fandangoes continued to flourish long after
immigration began to pour in."

"As the time passed on, in the early '50s
here, the California girls began to adopt Amer-
ican methods, especially in balls, and soon be-
came adepts in the steps and movements of
the new dances mentioned, and were exceed-
ing graceful. It is needless to say that los
Gringos were not slow in availing themselves
of that terpsichorean circumstance; and to in-
duce the girls to go to a ball they notified
them beforehand that carriages or hacks would
be sent for them. So, during the earliest pe-
riod, no black-eyed senorita ever went to or
from an American ball on foot, but when wo-
men began to be plentiful the cavalier car-
riages became obsolete.

"It is worthy of remark that at an American
ball at that time harmony, good will and the
utmost decorum prevailed. Everybody stood
on a perfect equality while in the ballroom,
and to my certain knowledge there were no
invidious distinctions, either expressed or im-
plied. An American ball always had the ap-
petizing adjunct of a bountiful supper. The
music that set "the light fantastic toe" a-going
consisted of a fiddle — a fiddle, mark you, not a
violin — and later on with a flute accompani-
ment. San Jose had not yet risen to the dig-
nity of possessing a regular orchestra, but
withal an American terpsichorean function was
a pleasurable aflrair to attend.

"This decade was perhaps the most impor-
tant in the social history of San Jose, for about
this time families — men and women of sterling
worth and possessing all the accomplishments
necessary to the formation of a solid founda-
tion on which to build society — settled in this
valley.

"Before this time, however, Mr. and Mrs.
James F. Reed, parents of Mrs. John Murphy
and Mrs. Mattie Lewis, had arrived here. The
Reed home was always the scene of social
gatherings, and at one of their large dinner
parties it is said that Mrs. Reed paid sixteen
dollars apiece for turkeys, and bought all that
were to be had.

"During the meeting of the first Legislature
'every house was an inn where all were wel-
comed and feasted,' and all through the ses-
sion not an evening passed without a large
party at some home. Of course, the big ball
at the close was the event in San Jose's his-
tory. No wonder many belles and beaux of
that time still preserve with care and look
with pleasure at the white satin invitation
which reads :

94

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

" 'Washington Birth-Night Ball — Your com-
pany is respectfully solicited at a Ball, to be
given at the Capitol, on the evening of the
22d instant, at 7j^ o'clock p. m., being the
118th Anniversary of the Father of Our Coun-
try.' and which was signed by the following
committee : Hon. John McDougal, Mr. Bass-
ham, Mr. Bidwell, Mr. Broderick, Mr. Cham-
berlin, Mr. Crosby, Mr. De la Guerra, Mr.
Douglass, Mr. Green, Mr. Hope, Mr. Lippin-
cott, Mr. Heydenfeldt, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Val-
lejo, iMr. \'ermeule, Mr. Woodworth, Mr. Aram,
Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Bigler, Mr. Brackett, Mr.
Bradford, Mr. Brown, Mr. Cardwell, Mr.
Corey, Mr. Corvarubias, Mr. Craner, Mr. Crit-
tenden. Mr. Clarke, Mr. Williams, Hon. Mr.
Gray, Hon. Mr. Heath, Hon. Mr. Hughes, Mr.
McKinstry, Mr. Morehead. Mr. Tingley, Mr.
Tefft, Mr. Stowel, Mr. Stephens, Mr. Stewart,
Mr. Scott, Mr. Perlee, Mr. Moore, Mr. Patter-
son, Mr. Randolph, Mr. Ogier, Mr. Walthall,
Mr. Watson, Mr. Witherby, Mr. Roman, Mr.
Henley, Mr. Houston, G. F. Wymans, Ben
Van Scoten. Van Voorhies, Nat. Bennett, H.
A. Lyons. F. B. Clement, Clias. White, Col.
Jack Hays, Major Ben McCulloch, Major Mike
Chevallie, Major James Graham, Gen. Don An-
dreas Pico, Antonio M. Pico, Antonio Sunol,
John M. Murphy, John Reed, W^ H. Eddy, T-
"D. Hoppe, J. F. Howe. Capt. W. G. Marcy. E.
Covington, W. B. Olds, A. W. Luckett, Bela
Dexter, Peter Davidson, J. M. Jones, A. Coin-
dreau, H. H. Robinson, W. R. Turner, E. H.
Sharp. E. Bvrne, Caius Ryland, E. Dickey, A.
D. Ohr, Fred H. Sandford. F. Lightston.
Among the beauties and belles on that mem-
orable night were Mrs. John Murphy, Miss
Rea Burnett, now Mrs. Wallace ; Miss Letitia
Burnett, now Mrs. Ryland ; Miss Maggie
Jones, now Mrs. Josiah Belden : Miss Laura
Jones, who is Mrs. Hunt of Visalia ; Miss
Juanita vSoto. and Miss Marcelline Pico.

"Among the beaux at this time was Norman
Bestor. a civil engineer, who made his home,
while here, with James F. Reed. He played
on the guitar and flute, was a fine singer, and
an all-around favorite. Mr. Bestor, in a letter,
regrets being unable to give a satisfactory ac-
count of the earh' social functions. He writes:
'During the first Legislature I was in San
Jose; and it was then that 1 surveyed the 500-
acre tract adjacent to the town, belonging to
Mr. Reed, and laid oflF as an addition. Mr.
Reed named the streets himself. From 1850
to 1856 I was engaged at the New Almaden
quicksilver mines and lived there. During that
time I frequently drove to San Jose to attend
parties. Some of the society men of the '50s
were Ralph Lowe, S. O. Houghton, Drury
Malone, J. H. Flickinger, Joseph H. Scull,

Henry B. Alvora, Aleck Moore, D. McDonald
and Keat Bascom.'

"In these early days many houses were
brought around the Horn and set up on ar-
rival. One of these is that of Judge A. L.
Rhodes, on the Alameda, and under this hos-
pitable roof friends have delighted to gather
since the days of 1855. In 1854 Mr. and Mrs.
Rhodes came across the plains with a train of
fifteen, with Mr. Rhodes as captain. Mrs.
Rhodes told me that one evening during the
journey a man called and asked if his train of
ten men could join forces with them. The
man was Jefferson Trimble, brother of the late
John Trimble. At Humboldt River they were
met by John Trimble, who guided them to this
valley, where he had already settled. Miss
Ware, afterwards Mrs. John Selby, came with
them.

"When Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes moved to the
Alameda, their nearest neighbors were Judge
and Mrs. Craven P. Hester, who lived where
the Clark home now stands. Charming social
gatherings were held at the Hester home, and
their accomplished daughters. Aliss Sallie,
afterwards Mrs. Maddock, and Miss Lottie,
afterwards Mrs. Phelps, assisted in dispensing
generous hospitality.

"Among notable families that came here in
185.3 was that of Mr. and Mrs. Coleman Young-
er, who arrived after a six months' trip from
Missouri. Their house was brought around the
Horn, and it is needless to say that as soon as
it arrived, with true Southern hospitality it
was thrown open and a large party given,
when among the guests were : Drury Malone,
Tad Robinson, all the state officers. Aleck
Moore, Major and Airs. S. T- Hensley, Mr. and
Mrs. P. H. Burnett. Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Wal-
lace.

"In speaking of social functions, Mrs.
Younger said that in '54 she remembers spend-
ing a delightful evening at the home of Don
Antonio Sunol, whose hospitality was un-
bounded, whose trained Indian servants were
the envy of many less fortunate, and whose
exquisite table linen, adorned with Spanish
drawn work, was the admiration of all. The
guests included Mr. and ]Mrs. Ryland, Mr. and
Mrs. Wallace, and Air. and Mrs. Younger. A
large dancing party, given for the benefit of
the Presbyterian Church when Rev. Dr. Gar-
win was pastor, was among the many enjoy-
able functions here. In this the moving spirits
were Mrs. Crosby. Mrs. S. J. Hensley, and
Miss Lois Bradley.

"Mrs. Maddock has graciously written the
following reminiscences of those early times:
'In looking over a journal which I kept when
a young girl, I find that almost everything of
interest is jotted down. The young married
ladies were Mrs. Hensley, Mrs. Belden, Mrs.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

95

Ryland, Mrs. Wallace, Mrs. John Murphy,
Mrs. Yoell, Mrs. Lottie Thompson, Mrs. Fred
Appleton, and Mrs. Gertrude Horn, mother of
Mrs. Atherton of literary fame. Among the
young ladies were Miss Price and her sister.
Miss Bettie, now Mrs. John Moore, both noted
for their beauty ; Colonel Younger's daughters.
Miss Helen and Miss Fanny; Miss Mary
Smith, Miss Yontz, Miss Echols (a beautiful
girl). Miss Ellen Skinner and sister, Miss Nel-
lie; Miss Mattie Reed, Miss Henrie Bascom
(pretty and witty). Miss Lizzie Branham, Miss
C. Packwood, Miss Divine (later Mrs. Estee
of San Francisco), and pretty Miss Lizzie Mil-
ler, now Mrs. Mitchell and living abroad.

'• 'On July 17, 1858, Mrs. Hensley gave a
garden party, when the grounds were lighted
with lanterns and supper was served in the
summer house. Among those present were :
Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Belden, Mr. and Mrs.
Ryland, Mr. and Mrs. John Murphy. Mr. and
Mrs. Younger. Mr. and Mrs. Appleton. Mr.
and Mrs. Yoell, Mrs. Thompson, Mr. and Mrs.
Archer, Misses Camilla and Betty Price, Miss
Divine, Miss Yontz, Miss Holmes of Oregon.
Fred Hale. William Matthews. Dr. Chamber-
lin. Mr. McGowan. John B. Hewson. Dr. Shaw,
William Lewis. Mr. Gregory. Mr. Yontz. Mr.
Moultrie, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Davis.

" 'On February 3. 1858, Mrs. Fred Appleton
gave a fancy dress party at her home on the
Alameda. Mrs. Appleton was a dark beauty
and charming in manner. She was dressed as
a gypsy; Mrs. Smith as Night; Miss Yontz as
Morning ; Miss Packwood as Morning Star ;
Miss Lily Eschols as Mary. Queen of Scots.
Others present were: Misses Bascom, Divine,
Thompson. Price and Hester. The gentlemen
were : John B. Hewson. William R. Davis.
Messrs. Lewis, Gregory. Yontz, William Mat-
thews, Hall, Dr. Bell, and others. Miss Lottie
Thompson was a Highland lassie and Miss
Sallie Hester a flower girl.

"Then we had balls galore at the old State
House on the plaza and the City Hall on Mar-
ket Street. I remember a large party given
by the young men of San Jose in 1865 at the
City Hall. At that time others were added to
the list of society people: Mrs. William Dick-
inson, Mrs. Flora Burnett, Mrs. Brown, Mrs.
Thornberg, a beautiful woman, and others.'

"In 1858 the Young Men's Social Club was
organized and the officers were ; S. O. Hough-
ton, W. R. Yontz. and W. A. Lewis, the
members were : J. B. Hewson, James H.
Gardner. George Evans. John M. Sherwood. B.
F. Dewey. C. E. Cheney, A. W. Bell. Ralph
Lowe, L. P. Peck, W. E. Davis, Joseph Bass-
ler, John R. Yontz, John H. Gregory, Alex
Beaty, S. Bassler, John Q. Pearl, A. Redman,
J. H. Flickinger, John M. Murphy. P. O.
Minor, Edmund McGowan, and William Mat-

thews. Below this list was W. H. Travis,
teacher of dancing. Mr. Lowe has also the
dance programme of the second ball of the
Santa Clara Valley Agricultural Society, given
at the City Hall, Friday evening, October 21,
1859. The reception committee included James
F. Kennedy, John B. Hewson, W. A. Lewis,
Patrick Murphy, Colonel Hollister, and Joseph
R. Weller. The managers were Cary Peebles,
Colonel Younger, R. G. Moody, H. C. Malone,
S. J. Hensley, W. A. Bray, L. Prevost, E. S.
Chipman, W. Reynolds, and W. T. Wallace.
The floor managers were John M. Murphy and
H. H. Winchell. The order of dances was
promenade march, quadrille, schottische. ma-
zurka, polka, waltz, quadrille coquette. High-
land schottische. varsovienne, and quadrille
march. Then supper and afterward the qua-
drille, waltz, polka, schottische, mazurka,
Spanish dance, 'Home, Sweet Home.'

"In the home of Adolph Pfister the guest
was always sure of a cordial greeting, and din-
ners were the favorite form of entertaining,
the family seldom enjoying this meal without
two or more guests. Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Wil-
burn, who came here in the early '50s from
their Missouri home, settled on the Alameda,
where, with characteristic hospitality, they de-
lighted to gather friends around them. Their
daughter, Mrs. Givens George, speaking of
those times, said : 'The first party I attended
here was in the '50s and was a dancing party
given by Alajor and Airs. Hensley. Among
the belles and beau.x present on that occasion,
I remember Miss Sallie Hester, the Misses
Price, Aliss Mattie Reed, Givens George, Ned
McGowan, Fred Hall, Fred Appleton, John
Gregory, Jim Maxey, and Captain McKenney.'

"A large and delightful social circle, whose
members did not include the votaries of the
ballroom, but whose teas, church socials, mite
societies and afternoon and evening gatherings
were equally enjoyable, was formed by Mr. and
Mrs. Donald MacKenzie, Mr. and Mrs. John
Piercy, Misses Julia and Lou McCabe, the
late Rev. H. C. Benson. Mrs. Benson. Mr. and
Mrs. John Selby. Mr. and Mrs. T. Rea, Mr.
and Mrs. J. H. Flickinger, Mr. and Mrs. John
Trimble, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Dr. and Mrs.
Caldwell, Mr. and Mrs. William De Hare
Boone, and Mr. and Mrs. E. J. W^ilcox. Mrs.
Piercy often told of the delightful gatherings
at the home of Mrs. MacKenzie and that in
those times it was the principal place where
Presbyterians gathered to spend a social even-
ing. About this time Rev. L. Hamilton was
pastor of the Presbyterian Church and Mrs.
Piercy said that one day the reverend gentle-
man called at her residence on Julian Street,
where a number of church people were spend-
ing the afternoon, and told them of his latest
exploit, that of climbing to the top of the high-

96

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

est peak of the Coast Range Mountains, and
how in honor of this feat that peak was after-
wards known as Mt. Hamilton.

"The social changes in the '60s are aptly de-
scribed by a lady who for years was one of San
Jose's lovely and amiable girls, afterwards
ranking among the charming and aflfable ma-
trons, Mrs. S. O. Houghton, now of Los
Angeles :

"'San Jose society between the years 1861-
'65, had its social code and its exclusive circles,
but it was not governed by iron-clad rules, nor
was it hedged with formalities. Its social
events were suited to the conditions of an in-
telligent, sprightly, pioneer community, whose
best physical and mental eflforts were devoted
to practical schemes and to matters of great
public interest, and whose hospitable natures
still kept in touch with old home customs and
influences. Few of us lived in houses spacious
enough to accommodate large numbers of
guests, but many delightful teas and sumptu-
ous dinners brought genial friends together in-
formally. There were also frequent exchanges
of visits among families in the evenings. Home
talent provided many musical treats, and spell-
ing matches for benevolent purposes afTorded
much amusement to large audiences.

" 'AH entertainments for church or charity
were regarded as social events. Madame Anna
Bishop and Mr. and Mrs. Marriner Campbell,
of San Francisco, occasionally favored us with
concerts, which always brought out the most
appreciative people. Our younger members
had also their horseback rides, picnics, driving
and dancing parties.

"'It was not yet the custom to have these
courtesies and merrymakings chronicled in the
newspapers, nor were brides in those days en-
riched with wedding presents. Day weddings
were usually followed with dinners to relatives
and intimate friends of contracting parties, and
night weddings frequently ended with dances
at the 'hall,' which was decorated with ever-
greens for the occasion.

" 'An annual ball was given by each of the
following organizations: Firemen, Odd Fel-
lows, Masons, and Military Companies. Arm-
ory Hall was tastefully festooned for these
events with evergreens, flowers and flags. The
refreshments served were elaborate and the
music furnished was excellent. February
twenty-second, July fourth, Thanksgiving
night, and New Year's eve were the dates se-
lected for these brilliant reunions, which re-
ceived the recognition and moral support of
the best people in the community. As the
membership roll of the first named organiza-
tion formed largely the lists of the others,
most of the husbands, brothers, and beaux ap-
peared in different uniforms on each occasion.

■' "The married ladies who, as spectators and
chaperons, gave tone and dignity to these fes-
tal scenes, were costumed in silks, satins, and
velvets, high at the neck and with long sleeves,
trimmed with laces and narrow velvet ribbon.
They wore white gloves and carried lace
handkerchiefs and handsome fans. Their or-
naments were garnet and coral "sets," or neck-
laces of gold, with pendant crosses jeweled
with pearls and diamonds. Brides wore their
bridal robes and ornaments, and young ladies
were gowned in delicate shades of tarletans,
Swiss, and grenadines. Many of their skirts
were tucked nearly to the waist. The bodices
were low at the neck and had short puflfed
sleeves daintily trimmed with lace and satin
ribbon. They also wore white gloves, and
flowers in their hair. Gold necklaces with
lockets attached were their only ornaments.
Dancing began as early as eight o'clock in the
evening, and those who did not wish to see the
peep of day went home before the programme
was finished.'

"No home was more hospitable, nor none
opened its doors more frequently to guests
than the one presided over by Major and Mrs.
W. W. McCoy, on the Alameda. Here dinners
and dances were an almost every-day occur-
rence. An elaborate dinner was given in honor
of Hon. T. A. and Mrs. Hendricks, when the
future Vice-President of the United States was
touring the state in the early '60s. Mr. and
Mrs. McCoy were assisted by their beautiful
and accomplished daughters, Aliss Nannie and
Miss Fannie. The guests, besides Mr. and
Mrs. Hendricks, were: Dr. and Mrs. Bascom,
Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Wallace, Colonel and Mrs.
Younger, Dr. Marcus Chamblin.'

"Following is a charming letter from Mrs.
Fitzgerald : 'On receiving a letter asking for
some brief account of some party I attended in
San Jose in bygone years, my mind at once
reverted to the wedding of two of Governor
Burnett's children, somewhere near 1860.
Miss Sallie Burnett was married to Mr. Fran-
cis Poe. of Maryland. I think, and Mr. Arm-
stead Burnett to Miss Flora Johnson. Miss
]3urnett's bridesmaids were her cousin. Miss
Mollie Smith, and Miss Maggie Branham,
afterwards Mrs. Ogier. I do not remember
who were their groomsmen, but those of the
other couple were Mr. James Johnson, uncle
of the bride, and Mr. James Whitney, and
the bridesmaids were Miss Lou Johnson and
Miss Fannie McCoy.

" 'There was a large party on the night of
the wedding in Governor Burnett's old home
and the elaborate supper was served in an un-
finished house which Mrs. C. T. Ryland was
then building in her father's yard. Ne.xt day
the bridal party attended a dinner given by
Dr. and Mrs. Johnson, and on the evening

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

97

following Colonel and Mrs. Younger gave a
large party in their honor. Other entertain-
ments followed, and at the end of a week's
festivities in San Jose the party, with parents
and friends, went to San Francisco. There was
no railroad then, and we were driven in car-
riages to Alviso, where we took the boat to
the city. There we attended a reception giv-
en by Rliss Page and had a good time general-
ly for several days after. Mrs. Poe lived but
six months after her marriage, and Mr. Arm-
stead Burnett only a year and a half. Mr.
Poe went East and was killed during the Civil
War, and Mrs. Burnett, some time after the
death of her husband, married Mr. Will Hes-
ter. Miss Lou Johnson is now Mrs. Dick-
inson, and Miss Mollie Smith married a gen-
tleman of the same name. San Jose was a very
pleasant place in those days. It was still
early enough for the gentlemen to greath'
outnumber the ladies, so beaux were abundant,
and the girls made much of. There were some
beautiful Spanish and Mexican girls, too, some
of whose names I forget. I remember the
Misses Pico and Sunol, however.'

"In writing of these times, Dr. Chamblin
said that he had very pleasant recollections
of his many old time friends in San Jose and
of the many enjo}-able social affairs he attend-
ed here in the earh- sixties at the home of
Major and Mrs. W'. W. .McCoy, judge and
Mrs. W. T. Wallace, Colonel and Mrs. Cole-
man Younger, and several others, all of whom
\yere noted for their southern hospitality.

"The home of Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Belden.
which stood where the Hotel Vendome now
is, was the scene of many balls, musicales, and
dinners. Among them a sumptuous dinner,
followed by a dance, was given in the sixties
in honor of Air. and Mrs. Delos Cole, who
had just been married. In speaking of this
a guest, who was present, said : 'A hand-
somer bride it would have been hard to find
than was Airs. Cole, and no wonder she was
the central figure that night at the Belden
party. Her beautiful neck, shoulders, and
arms and her sweet face made, indeed, a per-
fect picture.'

"Air. and Airs. Norman Porter, and Dr.
and Airs. Knox were among the people who
selected San Jose for their home, and in 1863
they settled here and soon occupied prominent
places in society.

"A few years later Dr. Chas. G. Ames, a
LTnitarian divine, made monthly trips to Santa
Cruz to deliver lectures, and at the close of
the season the Unity Society sprang into ex-
istence. Among the active members of the
popular society, that for nearly fourteen years
gave the most enjoyable entertainments ever
known here were Mrs. Laura J. Watkins, Air.
and Mrs. AI. Leavenworth, Air. and Airs. C.

T. Settle, Air. and Airs. Ashley, Mr. and Mrs.
Gould, Levi Goodrich, [. J. Owen, Air. and
Airs. Thompson, Air. and Airs. G. Blaine, Air.
and Airs. A. T. Herrmann and Airs. Sarah
J. Knox."

The historian will here interrupt Airs.
Carroll's account by relating a storv in which
Rev. Air. Ames and William T. Wallace
figured. Wallace was a pioneer member
of the San Jose bar, and a leader in so-
ciety. In the sixties he was elected Chief
Justice of the State Supreme Court. Ames
was not a politician and made but few
speeches, but these were something out of the
ordinary. He was one of the brightest men,
intellectually the country has ever jiroduced.
He saved the day inv the Republican party
in 1872 when Genrge C. Gorham was the lead-
ing Republican orator uf the state. As a de-
bater Gorham had no superior on the stump,
and when joint discussions were the rule he
was an enemy to be feared. Late in the cam-
paign a joint meeting in San Jose was ar-
ranged, the speakers to be Gorham for the
Republicans and Judge William T. Wallace
for the Democrats. Wallace was then in his
I)rime and one of the most eloquent and ef-
fective orators on the Coast. A large stand
was erected on Santa Clara street in front
of the Auzerais House and an immense crowd,
comprising people from all parts of the coun-
ty was in attendance when the hour of
discussion arrived. At the last moment con-
sternation reigned in the rooms of the Repub-
lican County Central Committee. Gorham had
missed his train and could not be present.
Without him the meeting would be a Demo-
cratic walkover and the Republican party of
Santa Clara Cnunty would receive a blow
that would be felt for years.

The members of the Committee had about
given up in despair when some one suggest-
ed Charles G. Ames as a substitute for Gor-
ham. It was not expected that he could do
much without preparation, but it was believed
that he could, at least, put up a good blufif
and save the Republican party its distance.
Like a drowning man catching at a straw, the
committee caught at the suggestion and as
good fortune would have it they found Ames
willing to undertake the job. The Democrats
readily accepted the substitution, believing
that Ames would be a mere puppet in the
hands of the trained and eloquent Wallace.
They also graciously consented to give Ames
the opening and closing speech, and the meet-
ing opened at ■ the appointed hour before a
crowd composed of sober-faced Republicans
and glad-eyed Democrats.

Ames' opening speech was short. He made
no attempt to fire the hearts of his Republi-
can auditors but contented himself with a brief

98

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

but clear statement of the principles and aims
of the party he represented. Wallace fol-
lowed in one of the best efforts of his life.
In the belief that he was master of the situ-
ation, he was eloquent and sarcastic by turns,
but strong at all times. Dismissing with a
few contemptuous words the arguments ad-
vanced by Ames, as if both the subject and
the man were beneath his notice, he went over
the history of the past and in words of burn-
ing eloquence pointed out the path, that in his
opinion, all honest voters should travel. When
he took his seat the air was rent with cheers.
A happier lot of Democrats w-ere never gath-
ered at a political meeting.

The Republicans saw Ames arise but in their
eyes there was no light of confidence or hope.
They looked upon the day as lost and in
imagination could see the grand Democratic
demonstration that must follow the meeting.
But soon despair gave place to surprise and
surprise to joy that could hardly be restrained
from the noisiest exhibition. Ames, after a
few commonplaces, began to speak like one
inspired. Epigrams, like pearls, dropped
from his lips and brilliant bursts of eloquence
were followed by sentences of such biting sar-
casm that the Democrats winced as if they
had been pricked by a knife. The speaker
with his intellectual grasp, his thorough
knowledge of his subject and his wonderful
command of language, played upon his hear-
ers as if they were some instrument and he
the accomplished performer and master. As
for Judge Wallace, Ames metaphorically wiped
the floor with him and the defeat of the dis-
tinguished Democrat was so complete that it
was years before he could be induced to de-
liver another speech in San Jose. The Re-
publicans, and not the Democrats, had the
demonstration that evening and Ames was
the hero of the hour.

Now Mrs. Carroll again.

"In the early sixties the homes of Mr. and
Mrs. Thormburg and Mr. and Airs. Cary Pee-
bels, near Santa Clara, were frequently invad-
ed by parties of merry-makers, and all were
sure of receiving a cordial welcome. In speak-
ing of these surprise parties, Mrs. Delos Cole
said that she never forgot the exquisite sing-
ing of Morris M. Estee, (afterward Governor
of the state) who was always one of the crowd
and who sang 'The Mocking Bird' with inimi-
table charm at the last party she attended at
Mrs. Thormburg's.

"Mrs. Evaline Prothero Yoell, who for years
was considered the most beautiful woman in
the county, wrote of San Jose society, say-
ing: 'I attended every party of importance
from 1852 down to the last three that came
very near together in 1870, when I left the
Garden Citv. The first of these three was

given by Miss Camilla Price, sister of Mrs.
John Moore, at Judge Moore's residence, in
honor of Mrs. Phoebe Hearst. The second
was the golden wedding of Judge and Mrs.
Craven Hester, and the last was given by
Judge and Mrs. A. L. Rhodes, celebrating the
anniversary of the wedding of their daughter.
Miss Mary, to Mr. Alfre'd Barstow. These
parties, all elegant, reflected great credit upon
the ladies who were to the manor born. There
was no Ludwig or Maison Dore to beckon
to their assistance, and who appear like mag-
ic and quietly steal awa}'. The ladies depend-
ed upon their own tact and ingenuit3^ My
memory is not very good and I could not be-
gin to describe them, as I fear, amid the glam-
our of the oriental splendor of today, it would
sound meagre, would would be injustice
to those society ladies. At the party at
Judge Rhodes', as I entered the room,
I said to him : 'Where will you find any to
compare with this bevy of ladies — Mrs. W. T.
Wallace, Mrs. Hensley, then a widow, Mrs.
Josiah Belden, Mrs. Fitzgerald, ]\Iiss Sallie
Hester, Mrs. A. M. Thompson, Miss Camilla
Price, and Mrs. John Moore?'

" 'Our society from the early '60s clown to
'70 included : Mr. Boring, afterward Bishop of
Georgia, and daughters. Misses Julia and Ella,
Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Hensley, Mrs. C. T. Ry-
land, Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Wallace, Mr. and
Mrs. J. F. Reed, Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Belden,
Judge and Mrs. Hester, and their daughters,
Misses Sallie and Laura, Dr. and Mrs. Bascom
and daughters. Miss Dollie Coombs, after-
wards Mrs. Horace Hawes, Colonel J. B. Price
and daughters. Misses Camilla and Betty,
Miss Julia Peck, afterwards Mrs. Levi Good-
rich, Miss Florence Inskeep, Miss Mollie
Crane, afterwards Mrs. McPike, Colonel and
Mrs. McCoy, Miss Nannie McCsy, Miss Fan-
nie McCoy, now Mrs. Adolph Fitzgerald, and
Mrs. West Chappell.'

"A large party was given by E. C. Single-
tary in Music Hall, and it was one of the
swell affairs of the period. Wreaths of ivy,
mingled with red and white roses, festooned
the hall, and from the chandeliers hung bird
cages, and ever and anon the shrill notes
of the golden warblers blended in complete
harmony with the soul-stirring and body-lift-
ing strains from the band on the platform.

"Mr. Singletary proved himself to be a prince
at entertaining. The brilliant parlor and club
rooms were open for all who did not wish
to dance; colored servants, in livery, attend-
ed to every want; carriages were at the dis-
posal of the guests, and the sumptuous sup-
per would have done credit to royalty.

"In the later seventies the young society
leaders organized a social club to introduce
the German. Professor Millington was chosen

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

99

director, and under the leadership of Charles
B. Hensley and Miss Kate Moody, the grace-
ful figures with their accompanying favors,
mirrors, flowers, and ribbons, were thoroughly
enjoyed by the merry dancers. Among the
members were Miss Annie Hanchett, after-
wards Mrs. Jack Wright of Sacramento ; Miss
Kate Moody, now Mrs. W. C. Kennedy ; Miss
Sallie Trimble, now Mrs. Nicholas Bowden ;
Miss Ella Hensley, now Mrs. Thornton, of
Montana; Miss Lou Schallenberger, now Mrs.
Thomas Montgomery ; Miss Frankie Cahill,
now Mrs. Charles Wilcox; Miss Jennie Ca-
hill, now Mrs. A. L. Veuve ; Miss Jennie Wil-
son, now Mrs. W. P. Veuve ; Miss Minnie
Foley, now Mrs. Richmond ; Miss Anita Fal-
lon, Miss Ida George, now Mrs. Frank Bishop-
rick, Miss Ada Ryland, Misses Porter, and
Miss Pugh ; Messrs. Charles Hensley, Loring
G. Nesmith, John T. Malone, E. S. Brevfogle,
W. C. Kennedy, W. P. Veuve, Frank Haight,
Sam R. Rhodes, E. C. Singletarv, J. H. Camp-
bell, H. B. Alford, George Ashley, Ike Loeb,
Pomeroy, Cutler, McMahon, Owen, and
Howes.'

"In '76 the French residents celebrated the
Fall of the Bastile for the first time in this
city. The large ball and sumptuous banquet
at the Lake House was a social function not
to be overlooked. The grounds were adorned
with flags and lanterns and here the large sup-
per table was arranged in the shape of a hollow
oval. J. Poulain occupied a seat in the center,
with Hon. B. D. Murphy, who was then mayor
of the city, on his left, and J. B. J. Portal on
the right. The committee of arrangements
were J. B. J. Portal, B. Bury, A. Delmouly,
J. Jacquelin and P. Etchebarne.

"An Authors' Carnival and Ladies' Bazaar,
the first on the Pacific Coast, was held in
Music Hall under the auspices of the Home
of Benevolence. It was an event in the his-
tory of San Jose and well may the officers
of the Home at that time be gratefully remem-
bered for the skill with which they conduct-
ed the afifair. Mrs. Nellie B. Eyster was pres-
ident; Mrs. M. H. McKee and Mrs. L. W.
Moultrie, vice-presidents; Mrs. Louise E.
King, secretary, and Mrs. Frances D. Wil-
liams, treasurer. The board of managers were :
Mesdames J. C. Cobb, C. R. Span, T. W.
Spring, A. N. Gates, Ben Cory, P. D. Hale,
Pauline Stone, E. Coombs, T. E. Beans, S. A.
Clark, C. H. Allen, H. J. Haskell, Jackson
Lewis, P. T. de Cabe, A. T. Herrmann and
M. Diamond.

"The following bit of reminiscence about
General Smith, at whose home near this city
many people have been entertained, is from
I\Irs. Mary Barstow, daughter of Judge Rhodes
and the late Mrs. Rhodes.

" 'General Giles A. Smith, who as a divi-
sion commander under Grant, served with
great distinction during the Civil War, and
who was afterward appointed Second Assistant
Postmaster-General at Washington, came to
California in the early seventies for a rest,
with his wife and little daughter. May. They
were accompanied by Alfred Barstow. Mr.
Barstow was also connected with the Post-
office Department and he and General Smith
became great friends. The General bought a
ranch in the foothills near Alum Rock, where
he built a beautiful home and entertained
charmingly.

" 'After the General's death, Mrs. Smith and
her daughter went abroad, where Miss May
married a gentleman of Geneva, Switzerland,
and still lives there in the most ideal man-
ner, her husband, Mr. Francis Delapalane, be-
ing an artist of high standing and ample
means.'

"A brilliant party by the young men of San
Jose was given Friday evening, January 26,
1&S3, when

Shimmering satin and gossamer laces.
Blaze of trumpets and bugle call;
A shifting sea of bewildering faces.
Surging along through the perfumed hall,
but faintly describes the gorgeous scene. The
committee of arrangements were: John W. Ry-
land, E. McAfee, William K. Beans, J. C.
Travis, Andrew P. Hill, J. B. Cory, and A. E.
Haden. Music Hall was garlanded with cy-
press and holly berries and a large green
streamer was stretched across the stage bear-
ing the words : 'We greet you, one and all.'
The music was by Kauffman and Parkman,
and one feature was a schottische composed
for the occasion by Mr. Kauffman and dedicat-
ed to the Young Ladies' Social Temperance
Club.

"The ladies who composed the reception
committee were : Mrs. S. O. Houghton, Mrs.
E. O. Smith, and Mrs. Lawrence Archer. Mrs.
Houghton wore an elegant dress of black lace
over black silk ; garniture of red roses ; orna-
ments, diamonds. Mrs. E. O. Smith was
dressed in rich black satin, trimmed with os-
trich feathers ; point lace fichu ; ornaments,
diamonds. Mrs. Archer wore a dress of black
silk brocade ; corsage bouquet of red roses ;
ornaments, diamonds.

"The gentlemen who got up the ball were :
Messrs. H. J. Alexander, lleniv B. Alvord.
George Avery, G. Anders, .n, W'. W. Blanch-
ard, W. K. Beans, A. L. Barker, Nick Bow-
den, Frank P. Bull, Da\ e Brvant, T- Booksin,
W. E. Coombs, Dr. Bruce Clmv, C." Colombet,
Louis Colombet, Ed. Clayton. A. W. Coombs,
C. Chapman, F. Coykendall, R. Coykendall,
H. F. Dusing, Ernest Dawson, Ed Enright,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

C. Flickinger. \V. Finch, W. J. Fosgate, L.
F Graham. Will George, A. E. Haden, C.
I Heyler J. B. Holly, W. B. Hobson, Thad
"Hobson, A. P. Hill, M. C. Hall. S. O. Hough-
ton. D. Hanna. L. Hartman, H. Hart, A. C.
Ingalsbv, Ed Jobson, Stanley Kelly, L. F.
Kullak,'john Cahill, M. Loryea, Andrew Len-
drum, W. W. Leghorn, Dr. F. K. Ledyard.
Tohn McMahon, Charles Moody, C. J. Mar-
tin, J. H. Maddox, John McCauley, A. McAfee,
Louis Montgomery, Howell Moore, W. S. Mc-
Murtry, L. G. Nesmith. W. S. Osterman, J. B.
O'Brien, S. Oberdeener, A. Price, F. Ffister.
R Pierce. J. H. Pierce. Sam Rucker, John
Ryland, F. K. Ryland. J. R. Ryland, Ed Sned-
aker. Dr. W. Simpson, Fred Stern. Ed. Snell.
Sam E. Smith, W. Selby, S. Stone, John Tully.
A. B. McNeil, J. C. Travis, F. W. Thompson,
H. P. Thaver, A. K. Whitton. Henry Willey.
Charles W'illiams, H. Ward Wright. J. Wheel-
er, C. A. Youngberg, E. D. Young. Ed Young-
er, R. Smith, and F. Zuver.

"About fifteen years ago the beautiful Hotel
Vendome was opened with a ball in which
the cream of San Jose and San Francisco so-
ciety gathered and celebrated. The commit-
tee 'included Dr. W. S. Thorne, Hon. F. E.
Spencer, Hon. B. D. :Murphy, Charles M.
Shortridge. E. W. Clayton, A. K. Whitton.
E. W. Newhall, Dr. A. H. Voorhies, and A.
C. Bassett. The floor committee had as mem-
bers, E. C. Flagg, W. S. Clayton, R. B. Spence.
James T. Rucker, James D. Phelan and Capt.
Burdick.

"A large and brilliant party was given by
Hon. and Mrs. B. D. ]\Iurphy to introduce
their daugher, Miss Mary, now Mrs. Ward
Wright, into society. The interior of the
Murphy home on South Third street was
decorated with the rarest of flowers, inter-
mingled with ribbons and smilax. The guests
included all the young society people here
and many from San Francisco.

Distinguished Visitors

"Among the notable social functions that
have taken place here was the reception on
the evening of May 13, 1901, in honor of Pre-
sident and ^Irs. \\'illiam IMcKinley and the
members of the Cabinet. The Vendome
Hotel never looked grander than in its decora-
tion of banners, bunting flags, and electric
lights on the exterior, and blossoms, shrubs,
and palms, in the interior. The reception
committee was composed of Hon. Charles J.
Martin, mayor of this city, Hon. William G.
Lorigan, Jackson Hatch, Hon. A. L. Rhodes,
Dr. H. C." Brown, Hon. M. H. Hyland, S. 1-.
Leib, O. A. Hale, James D. Miner, J. H.
Henry, Major William G. Havvley, Dr. J. W.
Davy, Hon. Delos C. Druffle, W. C. Andrews,

Ernest Lion. William A. Beasley, Alfred Hol-
man. H. R. Chesbro. Charles W. Williams,
J. O. Hayes. David Henderson, Mrs. Charles
Martin, Mrs. Adolph Greeninger, Mrs. Jack-
son Hatch, Mrs. D. Goodsell, Mrs. Henry
Lion, Mrs. A. H. Jarman, Mrs. S. F. Leib,
Mrs. J. R. Carroll, Mrs. Nicholas Bowden,
Mrs. W. P. Dougherty, Mrs. George M. Bow-
man, Miss Belle Mackenzie, Mrs. H. S. Foote,
Mrs. Nellie G. Arques, Miss Winifred Mc-
Laughlin, Mrs. Ralph Hersey, Mrs. Henry
Booksin, Sr., Mrs. A. H. Marten, Miss Es-
telle Lion, and Mrs. R. Hersey. The recep-
tion was held in the south parlors. Secretary
Hays acted as the representative of the Pre-
sident, so unexpectedly absent on account of
the illness of Mrs. McKinley, and he was^as-
sisted by Postmaster-General Smith and Sec-
retaries Long, Hitchcock, and Wilson.

"Another social event was when Governor
Nash of Ohio and the Congressional party of
the same state were entertained on the twelfth,
thirteenth, and fourteenth of May, 1901. First
was given an Italian breakfast by E. E. Good-
rich at his famous Quito Olive Ranch, when
among the Santa Clara gentlemen present
were: F. C. Ensign, C. M. Wooster, W. S.
Clavton. Hon. M. H. Hyand, J. R. Lewis, E.
^IcGuiness, Rev. H. Melville Tenney. Chief of
Police James Kidward, and F. W. Crandall ;
later at an informal reception at the Court
House, when upwards of eight hundred
people called to bid the distinguished guests
welcome ; and lastly at a dinner to the Gover-
nor and party by Mr. and Mrs. S. F. Leib at
their home on the Alameda.

"It has been the proud privilege of San
Joseans at different times to welcome within
the gates of their city the Chief Executives of
the nation, among them being Hayes, Grant,
Harrison, McKinley, and Roosevelt. The
last named President visited this valley on
May 12, 1903. It was an ideal spring day;
the'weather warm and clear; the flowers, the
fields, and the orchards looked their loveliest.
Muhitudes gathered to see and greet their
Chief, who made several stops within the
boundaries of the county, and at each place re-
ceived a generous California welcome. The
first was at Gilroy, where he made a short
address, and the next was at San Jose. After
addressing the thousands of men, women, and
children assembled around the platform which
had been erected for the occasion, and fitting-
ly decorated with bunting, palms and flowers,
he went for a drive, accompanied by a mount-
ed escort of citizens, who included Clem R.
Arques, Ralph W. Hersey, Sheriff R. J. Lang-
ford, J. D. Radford, M. E. Dailey, Leo Archer,
Colonel A. K. Whitton, Thomas McGeog-
hegan, R. R. Syer, Arthur Langford, J. W.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

101

Gilkyson, W. S. Clayton, Toseph H. Riicker,
William A. Bowden. C. H. Geldert, Henry
Lion, and C. T. Crothers. Besides these there
were a large number of carriages containing
the members of the President's party, the
reception committee, and the newspaper re-
presentatives. The route was along the beau-
Ijful and well kept roads, and many were the
pleasing incidents that occurred to heighten
the pleasure of the distinguished guest. On
Santa Clara Street the ruler of the United
States halted to greet the pupils of Notre
Dame College, who were stationed on the
sidewalk, and to accept a bunch of magnifi-
cent rosebuds presented on behalf of the
school by one of San Jose's prettiest girls.
Miss Bertrand Cauhape, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Victor Cauhape. After passing along the
famed Alameda, he was warmly greeted in
Santa Clara by Rev. Robert E. Kenna. presi-
dent of Santa Clara College, who with the
faculty and students of this historic seat of
learning, had gathered in front of the grand
old mission cross, while hundreds of school
children were congregated near by.

"The Committee that so successfully plan-
ned and carried out the program which made
the sojourn of the President so pleasant in-
cluded : Judge A. L. Rhodes, A. Greeninger,

Major C. P. Braslan. James R. Lowe. J. S.
Gage, C. W. Coe, J. W. Davy, H. Morton, J.
E. Richards, A. H. Marten, Dr. Wm. Simp-
son, I. Loeb, H. Center, Geo. W. Ryder, R. P.
Keesling. S. Sampson, W. L. Woodrow, C. J.
Cornell, T. A. Carroll. Gus Lion, John
O'Keefe. L. E. Bontz. T- C. Hall. W. S. Rich-
ards, H. T- Edwards, G. Peirano, S. N. Rucker,
Rev. H. C. Meredith, T. S. Montgomery, John
Corrotto, Frank Stock, J. A. Chase, Father
Gleason, A. P. Lepesh, W. E. Graham, Paul
Masson, George B. McKee, D. J. Gairaud, J.
R. ^Yelch, T. T- Stone, J. A. Belloli, Sr.. Dr.
A. AL Barker," Colonel Philo Hersey, T. J.
Riley, H. Doerr, Jackson Hatch, W. C. An-
drews. Sam Boring, A. S. Bacon, \V. H. Jen-
kines, \V. G. Alexander, E. J. Bennett, S. B.
Hunkins, J. E. Brooke. George Keflfel, A. E.
Shumate, Edgar Pomerov, W. P. Lvon. A. C.
Hubbard, J. H. Henrv. Avery Porter, Dr. H.
J. B. AVright, J. H. Campbell. H. Peckham,
Patrick Murray, J. T- Cherrie, George N. Her-
bert. Charles Kenj-on, T. C. Barnett, T. W.
Hobson, F. W. Moore, and J. R. Patton. The
next day the presidential party was given a
right royal greeting by President David Starr
Jordan at the Leland Stanford Jr. University,
and by the students and residents of Palo Alto
and Mayfield."

CHAPTER VII.

Passing of the Old Landmarks of San Jose — The Fair Grounds, Live Oak
Park and Prevost's Gardens — Stories of the Old Court House and the
County Jail — Crimes and Tragedies of Those Days — Naglee, Hensley
and Belden Residences.

The old landmarks of San Jose are fast dis-
appearing. There are few, very few, of the old
adobe houses of the '50s, '60s and '70s. The
old pleasure resorts are .gone, but in their
places are spots better adapted to the large
and rapidly growing population of the twen-
tieth century. For years Agricultural Park,
or the Fair Grounds, furnished entertainment
for the farmer and the lover of speed perform-
ance. It was here that General Grant, after
his trip around the world, was treated to a
running race against time by Occident, then
the property of Senator Leland Stanford. The
park was owned and managed by an agricul-
tural society organized in 1854. The first of-
ficers were: L. H. Bascom, president; J. F.
Kennedy, vice-president; E. P. Reed, record-
ing secretary ; W. S. Letcher, corresponding
secretary ; F. G. Appleton, treasurer ; and J.

B. Allen. Mr. Frost, James Houston, Joseph
.\ram, W. R. Bassham. Dr. Langborne and
Samuel Robinson, managers. No fair was
held by this society, but in 1856 the State Ag-
ricultural Fair gave an exhibition, at which
Santa Clara Co\inty carried off the honors.
Prior to establishing the At^Ticultiiral Society
a horticultural society ha. 1 been fMiiiu-d and
the two interests were tinitcd in 1S57 with the
election of the followini;- uliiccrs: president,
\\'illiam Daniels; vicc-iinsidcnts, Coleman
Younger and Joseph Aram : secretary, J. C.
Cobb ; treasurer, R. G. Moody ; directors, L.
A. Gould and Louis Prevost. A fair was held
in September and also one in 1858, but the
difticulties attending these exhibitions made
it evident that they could not be continued
under the then system of management. The
sociefy had no funds, but was obliged to rely

102

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

on voluntary contributions for its premium
lists. After much discussion it was resolved
to disincorporate. This action was taken and
in March, 1859, there was procured the pas-
sage of an act incorporating the organization
under the name of the "Santa Clara Valley
Agricultural Society" and from this date ran
its legitimate history. The first officers under
the charter were William Daniels, president;
Cary Peebels and Coleman Younger, vice-pre-
sidents ; C. B. Younger, secretary ; R. G.
Moody, treasurer : Louis Prevost and H. H.
Winchell, directors.

The Fair Grounds on the Alameda were
purchased from Gen. H. M. Naglee, for $6,000
in 1859 and the work of improvement com-
menced. The tract contained seventy-six
acres. Trees were planted from 1872 to 1876
and the grand stand was erected in 1878. Now
all was serene. The society held yearly fairs,
paid expenses and the best horses on the
coast competed at each exhibition. Up to
1880, the Society drew an annual appropria-
tion of $2,000 from the state. In this year
the Legislature passed an act dividing the
state into agricultural districts, Santa Clara
and San Mateo counties forming District No.
5. When this law went into effect it stopped
all state aids to the county society. This
aid was absolutely necessary as the proceeds
of a fair would not be sufficient to pay good
premiums and other necessary expenses.

The society did not want to change its old
organization to one under the state law, for
it might jeopardize the title to its real estate,
which had become very valuable. The only
way out of the difficulty seemed to be to or-
ganize a new society under the state law and
arrange with the old society for the use of its
grounds. This was accordingly done and for
several years fairs were held under the aus-
pices of the Santa Clara and San Mateo Agri-
cultural Association. The new society was
formed from members of the old one. But
soon fair interest waned and debts began to
accumulate. Finally the directors of the old
society sold the grounds and Agricultural
Park ceased to be. In the hands of private
parties the place was made one of the most
attractive in the county. Fences were torn
down, buildings were removed, and streets
were laid out and paved. Then building lots
were sold and today the tract shows scores
and scores of pretty bungalows with streets
and sidewalks in keeping with the highest
metropolitan requirements. Not a trace of
the old racing track remains.

Live Oak Park and Prevost's Gardens

In 1919 the lasf vestige of adornment of
what was once San Jose's most popular- plea-

sure resort disappeared. The last live oak
tree in the unimproved section of old Live
Oak Park was leveled and nothing but an ar-
ray of unsightly stumps remain to show that
once upon a time great, many-branched and
spreading oaks furnished shade and beauty to
one of the pride spots of the Garden City.
Live Oak in its glory was a place of romance.
Here, on moonlit nights of the early period,*
were heard the soothing strains of the Span-
ish lover as he sang and played while his
dark-eyed sweetheart raptly listeiied and soft-
ly sighed. Here, at picnic and dance, the
bands played and the great platform quivered
beneath the feet of happy dancers. No rag-
time, no jazz music in those times. Instead
there were the old time mazurka, varso-
vienne, schottische, waltz, lancers, money
musk and plain quadrille, the last named given
laughable variety by the go-as-you-please an-
tics of the irrepressible "Tucker."

In the late '60s and throughout the seven-
ties Live Oak was in the flower of popularity.
Family picnics, moonlight dances, and outside
excursions, mainly from San Francisco, fur-
nished joyous divertissement for town and
country. There were tables for eating, a
large pool near the banks of the Guadalupe for
boating and other aquatic sports, ice cream
and other booths, and long, shady walks
among the giant trees and along the banks
of the peaceful arroyo. Don Antonio Sunol,
one of the early Spanish settlers, was the
owner of the park and after his death the
Sainsevains took charge of the property. One
of Don Antonio's grandsons is Paul Sainse-
vain, the well-known surveyor and civil en-
gineer.

The park, as originally used, extended on
the north side from the Park Avenue bridge
to Spencer Avenue and along Spencer Avenue,
fifty varas deep to within 137^/2 feet of San
Carlos Street. On the east the property ran
southerly about 300 feet. The creek was the
eastern boundary and south and east of the
park were the extensive grounds of Louis Pre-
vost. He was an enthusiastic gardener and
to make his place the most attractive spot in
the suburbs of San Jose, he imported from
Europe the choicest flowers, bushes and fruit
and ornamental trees. The place was known
as Prevost's Gardens and was open to the pub-
lic, while for years Prevost kept open house
in the large mansion in the middle of the gar-
dens. About forty years ago Prevost went
into bankruptcy and his property was sold by
the Sheriff, Robert Page, then of the real es-
tate firm of Rucker & Page, becoming the
owner of the mansion. A few years later it
was sold to A. S. Williams, former banker,
who still occupies it.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

103

Prevost lost considerable money in at-
tempting to successfully establish a silk fac-
tory. He was the pioneer of Central Califor-
nia in this industry and while the factory was
in operation products of his looms were ex-
hibited and took prizes at the county fairs.
The factory was located on Delmas Avenue
near San Salvador Street, but the cocoons
were raised on a platform above the roof of
his mansion. The silk worms were imported
and fed on mulberry leaves. Live Oak Park
and its attractive neighbor, Prevost's Garden,
were closed at about the same time. Now,
where once live oaks flourished and choice
flowers and shrubbery made beautiful over
seven acres of ground, are seen up-to-date re-
sidences and new streets.

The old Court House is now but a memory.
It stood at the southeast corner of Second
and San Fernando Streets. It was purchased
from A. S. Caldwell for $4,000 and in Decem-
ber, 1853, was officially declared to be the
County Court House. The building was af-
terwards known as the What Cheer House
and stood until about forty years ago when it
was torn down to make room for the two-
story brick building now occupied by the Geo.
B. McKee Company.

One of the sensational events of the early
days was the street duel between Thomas
Shore and S. J. Crosby. In 1858 Paul Shore
was killed on Henry W. Seale's ranch, a short
distance from Mayfield. He had squatted on
a portion of the ranch land and thereon had
erected a cabin. Thomas Scale, Henry's
Ijrother, believing that Shore had no legal
right to occupy tlje land, resolved to eject him.
One day he went to Shore's cabin for the
purpose of carrying out his resolve. He was
accompanied by Alexander Robb, a hired man.
Shore was at home and a wordy dispute arose
between the two men. While it was going on
S. J. Crosby, a neighbor, and a friend of Seale,
came up. He had borrowed a pistol from
Seale some time before and had hunted up
Seale, so he said, for the purpose A returning
the weapon. Seale took the pistol and in the
altercation that ensued Shore was shot and
mortally wounded. The report was after-
ward circulated that Crosby, who had wit-
nessed the shooting, had set Seale's dog on the
wounded man and had stood by urging the
dog on until Shore had ceased to breathe.
This report aroused a bitter feeling against
Crosby. That evening Thomas Seale came to
San Jose and delivered himself into the custody
of Sheriff John ]\I. Murphy, stating that he
had killed a man in self-defense and desired a
public investigation. The next day word
came from Mayfield that the settlers were lay-
ing plans to lynch Crosby. To prevent such

action Under-Sheriff John R. Wilson was in-
structed to go down to Mayfield, arrest Cros-
by and bring him to the County Jail. To le-
galize the proceeding a complaint charging
Crosby with being an accessory to the killing
of Shore was made out and placed in Wilson's
hand. The arrest was easily made. A prelim-
inary examination followed and Crosby was
discharged.

In March, 1859, Thomas Seale and Robb,
the hired man, were placed on trial in the
Third District Court, Judge Sam Bell McKee
presiding. J. A. Moultrie, as district attorney,
conducted the prosecution and William T. ,
Wallace and C. T. Ryland appeared for the
defendants. Crosby had been summoned as a
w^itness and it was while the case was before
the Court on Second Street, corner of San Fer-
nando, that the second tragedy was staged.
It was near the noon hour and Crosby was
walking by Thomas Bodley's stable on San
Fernando Street, between First and Second,
when he was hailed from behind by Thomas
Shore, the brother of Paul. Crosby turned
and the duel opened. At the opening of the
engagement Crosby received a mortal wound,
but for a few minutes was able to keep on his
feet and use his pistol. His firing was wild
and none of the bullets reached his adversary.
But one man, an innocent party, received his
death wound. The man was L. Posey Fer-
guson, a miner from Grass Valley, who had
come to San Jose with a friend who was on
his way to his Missouri home. Ferguson had
entered the court room to listen to the pro-
ceedings. When the duel outside opened, he
said: "What does that mean?" and rushed
for the door. He was standing on the steps
when a bullet entered his breast. He stepped
back a few paces, then sank on a bench and
died in a short time. The coroner's jury found
that the shot had been fired by Samuel J.
Crosby.

When Crosby saw that he was at a disad-
vantage, he staggered toward the Court
House, but fell at Bodley's gate. It was
claimed at the time that two or three persons,
as well as Shore, shot at Crosby, who was on
his knees, trying to cock his pistol, when there
came the bullet that ended his life. The duel
over, Thomas Shore mounted a horse and fled
to the mountains. He was never prosecuted
for the killing. The cases of Seale and Robb
were transferred to Alameda. In each case a
verdict of accjuittal was rendered.

Another old landmark that has disappeared
was the county jail, located at the southeast
corner of Third and San Fernando Streets,
not far from the Court House. The first
county jail was located on the lot occupied by
the old State House on Market Street, fronting

104

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the Plaza, and was erected in the days of '49.
In 1854 a contract was awarded to Marcus
Williams for the erection of a jail buildings at
the southeast corner of Second and San Fer-
nando Streets. The price was to be $15,000
and R. B. Buckner was appointed to superin-
tend the construction. The jail was complet-
ed Januar\' 2. 1855. It was of brick, with iron
cells, and was considered a remarkably secure
place for the confinement of prisoners. It was
used until 1871. When the new Court House
on First Street, near St. James, was built, it
was found necessary to have the county jail
nearer to the court rooms and Levi Goodrich
was directed to prepare plans and specifica-
tions. The plans were submitted and adopted
and during the next year (1870) the jail was
completed and in use. The brick of the old
jail was used in the new building. The old
jail lot was sold for $5,850.

The killing of Jailer Martin Roohan at the
old jail was preceded by a tragedy at the
adobe house of Harry Bee. The date was
Monday. July 30, 1860, at about four o'clock
in the morning. There had been a night of
festivity and during the merrymaking Felipe
Hernandez, a desperate character, who had
already been tried for one murder and though
convicted by one jury was on a second trial
found not guilty, entered and proceeded to
make trouble. In a dispute over the owner-
ship of a guitar, Hernandez shot and killed
John Bee, the son of the host. On hearing
the report of a pistol Harry Bee rushed into
the room and in trying to intercept the flight
of Hernandez was shot in the leg. Amputa-
tion was afterward performed. Hernandez es-
caped, but after some months was captured,
tried and sentenced to death. The account of
the murder of Roohan is taken from the
Mercury of October 2, 1862.

"Felipe Hernandez, a prison confined in the
county jail for murder and sentenced to be
hanged on Friday last (Oct. 24th), performed
on the preceding evening one of the most dar-
ing deeds of desperation that it Tias ever fallen
to our lot to record. Felipe is a native Mexi-
can, about thirty years of age, rather fine look-
ing, with a keen, piercing eye. He is about
five feet eight inches in height, weighing not
more than 150 pounds, but evidently possess-
ing the strength and agility of a tiger. The
jailer, Martin J. Roohan, was a large, power-
fully built man, sixty-three years of age, pos-
sessing immense strength and cool, unflinch-
ing courage. He had had much experience in
handling and managing desperadoes and had
unlimited confidence in his ability and nerve
for any emergenc}'.

"On the lower floor of the jail there are
three large cells, opening into a corridor or

hall, al^out six feet in width and perhaps thirty
feet in length. The middle cell, in which
Felipe was confined, is lined with boiler iron
and is otherwise made as secure as is deemed
necessary to restrain the hardest cases. It is
used exclusively for condemned prisoners or
such as are awaiting trial for capital ofifenses.
This cell Felipe occupied alone.

"On Friday morning (the 24th) while the
sheriflf was in our ofifice attending to some
business, his deputy, Mr. Chapman, came in
and informed him that he was unable to get
into the jail and wondered what had become
of Roohan. Suspecting that something was
wrong, in company with the sheriff and two
or three officers, we repaired immediately to
the jail yard and soon eflFected an entrance.
The outer door of the jail was closed, but not
locked. The door leading to the corridor
we found open. On passing through into the
corridor we discovered the jailer lying on the
floor, stifif in death, surrounded by all the
ghastly evidences of a terrible struggle.

"In the other cells there were a number of
prisoners confined for light) ofifenses. some
half a dozen in each. The doors of the cells
are latticed with iron bars, and wdiatever is
transpiring in the corridor, may be witnessed
by the prisoners within. Roohan usually had
some one of the prisoners to assist him in
the domestic duties of the jail. At three
o'clock on Thursday afternoon, as we learn
from the testimony of the prisoners at the
coroner's inquest, the jailer and his assistant
brought in the dinner and placed it on the
floor of the corridor near the cells. It was
the custom to feed Felipe first. I\Ir. Roohan
unlocked the door and bade hit. .:ttendant to
pass in the food. The attendant passed into
the cell. Felipe, who had freed his hands in
.-^oine Avay, with the quickness of thought
dashed the man aside, sprang upon and seized
Roohan by the body, at the same time getting
possession of a knife which the jailer wore in
a belt at his waist. Then commenced the fear-
ful death struggle, in the presence of the other
prisoners, who were unable to icnder either
party the least assistance. The waiter, who
is an imbecile old Mexican, shrank with ter-
ror to the end of the corridor. The jailer car-
ried a revolver at his belt, but Felipe hugged
him so closely that he was unable to get at
it. There were riveted upon the ankles of
the prisoner at the time immense iron
shackles, weighing one hundred pounds, and
yet the other prisoners testify, they seemed of
no weight to him. Fie had wound them with
cloth and strapped them to his hmbs in a
way as to be of as little inconvenience as pos-
sible. With a knife in one hand at liberty and
with the other firmly grasping the l^ody of his

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

105

victim, he was a match for anything human.
He appHed the knife first to the throat of his
victim, inflicting frightful wounds. This
brought Roohan to his knees. Struggling to
his feet he put forth every effort to overpower
his wily foe. But weakened by the blows al-
ready inflicted he was unequal to the task.
Felipe then stabbed him through the heart
and into the lungs, killing him instantly.
He then informed the other prisoners, not
one of whom was armed, that if they gave
any alarm they would share Roohan's fate,
and they knew he would keep his pro-
mise. The prisoners say he appeared per-
fectly cool, both at the time of the mur-
der and afterwards. With the keys in his
possession, he now had command of the jail.
Unlocking one of the cells, in which there
were five men, he thrust in the trembling
Mexican waiter and again locked the door.
Among the prisoners in this cell was a Chileno
in irons, who had been imprisoned _the day be-
fore for stabbing a man at New Alameda.
Felipe, after working half an hour, removed
the irons and released the man, and they both
together went into Roohan's private room,
where they found files and old chisels neces-
sary for their purpose. The task was a long
and arduous one. The heavy shackles spoken
of were secured to the ankles with half-inch
bolts, riveted in the most substantial manner.
The witnesses testify that it must have been
two o'clock in the morning when the filing
and hammering ceased. The desperadoes
then made their escape, taking with them two
revolvers and over $800, which Roohan was
known to have had in his possession."

Felipe was a desperate, bloody minded man.
He had been several times tried for capital
crimes ; once for the killing of Carol^ine at
Alviso, for which he received a sentence to
state prison for life, but was pardoned out by
Governor Weller. AVhen sentenced to be
hanged for the murder of John Bee he mani-
fested supreme unconcern. But later he
changed his tactics, successfully playing the
penitent. The jailer frequenly f. mnd him cm
his knees, praying, and it was willi (liriiculty
that he was induced to partake of food. His
cross was always before him and he prayed
with a perseverance that would have done cre-
dit to a saint. By this means he threw Roo-
han off his guard. When the sheriff suggest-
ed the propriety of having some one stay
with him on the night preceding the execu-
tion, Roohan declared that there was not the
slightest necessity for such a precaution — all
was serene and Felipe was as mnlK- as ;i kit-
ten. As soon as the facts in thi; ca-^e lircame
known to Sheriff Kennedy, cnltv exertion to
effect the capture of the murderer was made

and a large reward was offered. It was after-
ward reported that Felipe escaped to Mexico
where he joined a party of revolutionists and
that on being captured he was shot and
killed.

Another escape from the old county jail
took place in 1863. A stage-driver named
John Marr, alias "Wild Cat," had an alterca-
tion with another driver, a Frenchman named
Peter Veuve, at the Washington Hotel, on
Market Street, on the morning of Tuesday,
November 18, 1862, which resulted in the
death of Veuve. It appeared from the testi-
mony that an old grudge had existed between
the two men. "Wild Cat" accused Veuve of
stealing money from Mr. Dutech, the stage
owner. The Frenchman denied the allegation
and threatened, on the day of the tragedy, that
he would have a "Wild Cat" skin before night.
Both men boarded at the hotel. There was
trouble at the breakfast table, but they were
prevented from doing personal violence. They
then proceeded to the stable to "fight it out."
On the way to the stable Veuve said to Marr,
"I am unarmed. How is it with you?" Marr
said, "No," a statement that proved to be
false, as he shortly drew a knife and cut
Veuve in the arm and the abdomen, causing
death in a few hours. Marr was arrested,
tried, convicted and sentenced to death. The
sentence was imposed in the winter of 1862-
63. Pending the carrying out of the death
penalty Marr was placed in a cell at the old
county jail, having as companion one Abner
Smith, who was awaiting death by hanging
for the murder of a man named \'an Cleave
at Santa Clara. Smith was a large, heavily-
built man, wdiile Marr was small and thin. At
the time E..H. Swarthout was the jailer, suc-
ceeding Roohan, and when he assumed office
a change was made in the jail arrangements.
Instead of entering the murderers' cell by
way of the door, he had a hole cut in. It was
a1i(iut waist high, had a cover, and this cover
was kept closed and locked when not in use.
The cells were in a long tank with a corridor
around it. The corridor had only one en-
trance and that was by a door opening into
the jailer's office. One evening a short time
before supper "Wild Cat" and Smith, who had
been planning to escape, made ready to put
their plans into execution. The lock of the
cover was broken, and "Wild Cat," assisted by
Smith, managed to get through the hole into
the corridor. Then Smith tried to follow
"Wild Cat's" example, but on account of his
size was compelled to give up the attempt.
He could insert his head and one shoulder,
but his physical bulk prevented further pro-
gress. "It's no use," he groaned, "I can't
make it, so get j'ourself out as quick as you

106

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

can and I'll stay here and take my medicine."
"I'll have to, I reckon," returned "Wild Cat,"
"but I'm sorry to leave you. If I only had an
hour in which to work, I could make that
hole big enough to get you through." As he
had only five minutes at his disposal he bade
good-bye to Smith, closed the aperture and
sought concealment at the further end of the
tank. The jailer appeared on time, careless-
ly leaving open the door of his office. "Wild
Cat" was counting on this act and before
Swarthout reached the cell door to discover
what had been done, "Wild Cat" had slipped
around the corner and gained the office.
When the jailer found that "Wild Cat" had es-
caped from the cell, he hurried to the office
and out of the office into the street. The fugi-
tive was not in sight. That night a search of
the city was made by city and coudty officers,
but no trace of the missing prisoner could be
found. On April 2, 1863, "Wild Cat" was ar-
rested in Stockton and brought back to San
Jose. But he was never hanged. A petition
for a new trial on the ground of newly discov-
ered evidence was granted and eventually the
sentence was changed from death to impris-
onment for life. Ten years later the Governor
issued a pardon and "Wild Cat" returned to
San Jose. He died here many years ago.
Smith, for his crime, died on the gallows.

The last escape from the old jail occurred
on the morning of February 15th, 1866, and
was followed by a tragedy. Two Indians,
under arrest for a murder committed in Santa
Cruz County, overpowered W. H. Hendricks,
the jailer, and after a desperate struggle suc-
ceeded in obtaining the jailer's pistol. They
then ran out of the jail and into Third Street.
Hendricks quickly secured anotUci pistol and
followed in pursuit. He came up with one ot
the fugitives before he had gone a block and
fired, wounding his man. A return shot
pierced Hendricks' brain killing him instantly.
The murderer ran along I'hird Street and con-
cealed himself under an unfinished building.
A crowd gathered around and a fusillade of
shots were fired at the crouching murderer.
He was soon dispatched. The partner of his
crime and flight was afterward caught and
hanged at Santa Cruz, May 22, 1866.

The killing of William Cooper brought for
a short time to the old county jail a man
whose act created one of the great sensations
of San Jose. The story of the killing hinged
upon the actions of a girl in her teens. In
the late sixties Blanche Dubois was a student
at the San Jose Institute. She was a very
pretty girl, tall, dark, slender and graceful,
with languishing eyes and a sunny smile. She
had many admirers and there was hardly a

day when she was attending school that she
was not seen walking with one or morg of
them. After she left school for her father's
ranch on the Monterey Road near the ceme-
tery male callers reached such numbers that
Orrin Dubois, the father, grew irritable and
suspicious. At last the girl's admirers sim-
mered down to one young man, William
Cooper, an Englishman. He was about twen-
ty-five years of age, well-educated and of
pleasing address. He had been a Union sol-
dier and had in his possession his discharge
papers. He had resided in San Jose for about
six months and being short of money had
worked at odd times for Dubois, his last en-
gagement ending January 24, 1868. The evi-
dence showed that during the last two weeks
of his stay at the Dubois ranch he had induced
Blanche to consent to an elopement, promis-
ing to take her to New York and marry her,
as under the laws of California he could not
do so here without the consent of her parents.
It was claimed that the grandfather of the
girl was a party to the secret arrangement
and carried messages from one to the other.

On Monday afternoon, January 27, Cooper
called on Dr. Kline, an acquaintance, made a
confident of him, said he expected trouble,
as Dubois did not like him, and requested the
loan of the Doctor's revolver. Kline refused
to lend the weapon, but Cooper succeeded in
borrowing a Derringer of Wesley Stevens,
another acquaintance. In the meantime. Dr.
Kline, from a sense of duty, communicated his
knowledge to Police Officer Mitch Bellow and
advised him to keep a watch on departing
trains. Bellow immediately notified Dubois,
and Blanche, under severe cross-questioning,
admitted that Cooper was to come to the
ranch house on a certain night, after the old
folks were in bed and asleep, meet her and
then proceed to carry out the arrangements
for the elopement. She also said that she had
agreed to leave the front door partly open and
also that she had promised to gather all the
money and jewelry she could lay hands on.
Thus forewarned, Dubois watched for the in-
truder the great part of Tuesday night. On
Wednesday he came to town for the purpose
of taking advice as to what he should do un-
der the circumstances. He was aJvised to de-
fend his premises, to treat Cooper as he would
treat any marauder who should try to enter
his house with felonious intent. On return-
ing home, Dubois ordered Blanche to keep to
her room after dark, for. he intended to meet
Cooper and have it out with the fellow. Night
came and the hours passed until it was close
upon midnight. The house was still and Du-
bois at the front door, which had been opened
a few inches, waited, shotgun in hand, for

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

107

Cooper to appear. His vigilance was re-
warded. At the appointed time Cooper came
up the walk, and was about to mount the steps
to the porch when the door was thrown open
and the shotgun spoke. Both barrels were
discharged and as Cooper settled down to the
ground, Dubois closed and locked the door
and came out again no more that night. Both
shots had taken effect in the side and stomach.
Though mortally wounded, Cooper dragged
himself through the Dubois grounds until he
reached the home of a rancher named Reeves,
half a mile away. He died an hour later. The
next day Dubois drove to town and surren-
dered himself to the officers. Pending exam-
ination he was confined for a short time in the
old jail. The court proceeding resulted in his
discharge. Blanche married a few years after
the tragedy and left San Jose never to return.
Shortly after the killing of Cooper, another
man slayer was for a short time a cell occu-
pant at the old jail. The man slain was Harry
Love, alias "The Black Knight of the Sey-
ante." He wa^ a man of immense frame and
of unquestionable bravery. He commanded
the company that dispersed the notorious rob-
ber band of Joaquin Murietta, the last fight on
the San Joaquin plains resulting in Murietta's
death. Love's wife was a wealthy landowner
and the family home was near Santa Clara.
For a number of years she refused to live with
her husband on account of his cruelty. He
was, so it was said, in the habit of beating
her when he could find her alone and unpro-
tected. It was partly to guard against such
attacks that she employed Christian Elverson
to work on the ranch and live in the house.
Love spent most of his time in Santa Cruz
County, leading a sort of a hermit's life and
visiting his wife occasionally. He conceived
a strong aversion to Elverson, pretending
jealousy, which was wholly groundless, for
Mrs. Love at that time was over seventy
years of age. Finally Love ordered Elverson
to leave the place, threatening to kill him if
he stayed on. Mrs. Love earnestly urged him
to stay and Elverson promised not to leave,
but prudently armed himself. On the day of
the shooting — it was in July, 1868 — Mrs. Love
went to San Jose to transact some business.
She was accompanied by Elverson. Love,
who had been staying in San Jose for a week
or so, saw them together and immediately
hurried to his wife's house and there armed
himself with a double-barreled shotgun, a re-
volver and a bowie knife. A step-daughter
and a carpenter employed in repairing the
house were the only persons at home when he
arrrived there. He went out of the house
with his weapons, locked the front gate and

took a position behind the fence to await the
return of his wife and Elverson, swearing that
if Elverson attempted to enter the premises
he would kill him. The daughter, fearing
danger to her mother, went into the road and
when the carriage approached, motioned it
back. Elverson, misinterpreting the girl's
gestures, only approached the more rapidly.
When within about seventy-five yards of the
gate, Love discharged one barrel of his gun,
a shot striking Mrs. Love. Elverson at once
comprehended the situation. Leaping from
the carriage he drew his revolver, and moved
rapidly by side steps, upon the enemy, who
was still crouched behind the fence and pro-
tected by the gate post. When Elverson had
come within a short distance of the fence,
Love discharged the other barrel of his shot
gun, a number of shots striking Elverson in
the face and causing the blood to flow freely.
But perfectly cool and undaunted. Elverson
kept on his course, exchanging shot for shot
until a bullet from Love's revolver disabled
his right arm. Shitting his pistol to his left
hand he rushed up boldly to the fence and
sent a bullet through Love's right shoulder.
Love, having exhausted his shots, immediate-
ly took to his heels, shouting "murder," with
Elverson in close pursuit. When near the
house Elverson overtook Love and felled him
with a blow from the butt end ul the pistol.
He was about to finish his work when the
carpenter interfered. Love died shortly after-
ward from the effects of an amputation of the
shattered arm. Elverson was arrested, and
confined in the old jail pending the prelimin-
ary examination. At this proceeding the
judge found that the killing was justifiable
and Elverson was discharged.

Old Residential Landmarks

Another old and very attractive landmark
was the home place of General Henry M.
Naglee. It comprised 140 acres and extended
from Tenth Street to the Coyote on the east
and from Santa Clara Street to William Street
on the south. The house was considered in
early days to be one of the finest in San Jose.
It occupied a position near the centre of the
grounds and was surrounded by choice flow-
ers, shrubbery and ornamental trees. It is
still standing at the northwest corner of Four-
teenth and San Fernando Streets. There was
a perfect forest of trees on that part of the
grounds not devoted to the culture of grapes.
From these grapes brandy was made and the
fame of Naglee's brandy was world wide. The
General was a veteran of the Civil War. He
commanded a brigade under McClellan, and
served with gallantry and ability throughout

108

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the Peninsular Campaign. He resigned from
the army shortlj' after McClellan's removal,
because he held that his chief had been unjust-
ly treated. When the avenue was extended
from the Santa Clara Street bridge through
East San Jose to the junction with the Mt.
Hamilton road. General Naglee planted pine
trees on both sides of the avenue for its en-
tire distance and otherwise greatly assisted in
the improvement of the roadway. In honor
of his services the extension of the avenue was
called for many years Naglee Avenue. Some
years after his death, the heirs concluded to
cut up and sell the property. The business
was placed in the hands of Thomas S. Mont-
gomery, now president of the Garden City
Bank and Trust Company, and in 1907 the
work was started. Today the immense tract
of land is covered with pretty and costly bun-
galows, paved streets and sidewalks and love-
ly gardens, making it one of the finest resi-
dence spots in Central California.

Still another old landmark was the Hensley
property, on North First Street. It extended
from the Southern Pacific tracks to Empire
street on the north and from First to Fourth
on the east. The house was large, roomy
and built in the old southern style, while the
ornamentation of the grounds made the place

one of the beauty spots in San Jose. Major
Hensley was a '49er and died in 1865, highly
respected for his integrity and public-spirited-
ness. In 1886 the old home was removed
and the estate subdivided and placed on
the market, T. S. Montgomer}^ handling the
sales. Today there are new streets and hand-
some residences where once was one large
garden and a touch of the primitive.

In 1887 the old homestead property of
Josiah Belden on First Street near Empire
was purchased by the Hotel Vendome com-
pany. This sale marked the pass..ng of anoth-
er old landmark. The property comprised
eleven acres and was planted as a park. The
house, or mansion, was one of the few costh-
edifices erected in the early fifties. Josiah
Belden was a '49er and long before the sale to
the X'endome company he went east with his
family, became a New York banker and died
a multi-millionaire. The Belden property,
then owned by C. H. Maddox, was sold for
$60,000, and a' hotel building, .costly $250,000
was speedily erected. The original board of
directors of the Vendome company were J. B.
Randal, W. S. Thorne, J. S. Potts, L. Lion,
C. W. Breyfogle, A. McDonald. T. S. Mont-
gomerv, F. H. Maburv, and G. Lion.

CHAPTER VIII.

Newspapers in the Early Days — J. J. Owens' Sad Experience — Chas. M.
Shortridge — E. A. and J. O. Hayes — W. Frank Stewart — Mark Twain's
Lecture — The Rise of H. C. Hansbrough — Edwin Markham's Venture —
Alex P. Murgotten — H. A. De Lacy — The Peril of Major Foote — Elliott
the Adventurer — Kelly and the Grizzly

Since the early days San Jose has had many
newspapers ; each started to fill "a long-felt
want," and each in its honest, able way, carry-
ing out, as far as was possible, the laudable
resolve. In 1850 was published the State
Journal. The proprietor was James B. Devoe
and it was discontinued on the adjournment
of the legislature in 1851. In January, 1857,
came the San Jose Daily Argus. It lasted dur-
ing the senatorial campaign and was used to
promote the candidacy of John C. Fremont.

The first permanent newspaper of the city
was the San Jose Weekly Visitor. It was
started June 20, 1851, by Emerson, Damon
and Jones. At first it was Whig, but went
over to the Democracy in October. In Au-
gust, 1852, its name was changed to the Reg-

ister and was published by Givins George and
T. C. Emerson with F. B. ]Murdoch as editor.
In 185.3 Murdoch obtained control of the paper
and the name was again changed to the San
Jose Telegraph. In 1860 the Telegraph went
into the hands of W. N. Slocum, brother of
Gen. H. \\'. Slocum, who commanded one
wing of Sherman's army during the march
"from Atlanta to the Sea." In 1861 another
change of name was made when the paper
passed into the hands of J. J. Owen and B. H.
Cottle.

The Daily Mercury was started in connec-
tion with the weekly paper of that name, but
was discontinued in 1862. In 1869 J. J. Con-
my, who had come down from Shasta County,
was admitted into the firm and in August of

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

109

that year the puljlication of the daily was re-
sumed. Mr. Conniy retired from the firm this
year. In 1871 Cottle sold out his interest to
Owen. In 1872, Owen, having purchased the
Dail}' Guide, again resumed the publication of
the Daily Mercury in connection with the
weekly. Soon after Cottle bought a half in-
terest in both papers, but again sold to Owen
in 1874. In 1877 it was incorporated under
the style of the Mercury Printing and Pub-
lishing Company, Mr. Owen holding the ma-
jority of the stock. In 18&4- he sold his inter-
est to Charles M. Shortridge, proprietor of the
Daily Times and the name of the paper was
changed to the Times-Mercury. In 1885 F. A.
Taylor entered into negotiations for the pur-
chase of the paper, but the sale was not con-
summated. In the meantime the name was
changed back to the Daily ]\lercury. At this
time it absorbed the Daily Republic. In 1878
Shortridge sold his interest to a local syndi-
cate, with Clarence M. Wooster as manager.
Soon afterward the paper became the prop-
erty of Alfred Holman, present editor of the
San Francisco Argonaut, and after two years
of ownership Holman sold to E. A. and J. O.
Hayes, who have since controlled the paper.

J. J. Owen was one of the striking figures
in San Jose journalism. He was a man among
men, generous, broad-minded and scrupulous-
ly honest. His editorials were never long nor
labored, but each went to the root of the cho-
sen subject in such a graceful, charming way
as to make the editorial column one always to
be eagerly read. He was a poet as well as a
prose writer and in his poems his gentle phil-
osophy found adequate expression. As a writer
of pertinent paragraphs and sermonettes he
was unsurpassed in his day and a volume of
tabloid essays published in the seventies found
ready sale. Copies may still be found in the
libraries of old-time residents.

In Owen's time the "intelligent compositor"
was conspicuously in evidence. That he sur-
vived the imprecations showered upon his
"devoted head" must be accounted for by the
fact that his head was hard though his sense
of humor was keen. Once Owen, coming in
contact with the "I. C," had a rush of blood to
the head that in the case of a man afflicted
with hardening of the arteries would have
caused the formation of a blood clot in his
brain and consequent paralysis. The instance
which will be here recorded had its incep-
tion during the legislative career of the
veteran editor. It was about fifty years
ago that Owen was elected a member of
the California Assembly. Nearly all the
time of the session was taken up in the
consideration of a prison jute mill scan-
dal, the board of managers having been

charged with all sorts of crookedness in the
management of the mill. Owen presented the
bill calling for an investigation and after its
adoption a committee was appointed to hear
the evidence and make a report. During the
debate Owen's speaking talent was ablv and
courageously displayed. He was among the
foremost in denouncing the managers and
when the committee, at the end of the session,
handed in a report whitewashing the accused
officials, Owen's indignation knew no bounds.
He was at white heat over what he termed
was a travesty of justice when he returned to
his editorial duties in San Jose. Almost his
first act on reaching his desk was to write an
editorial on the jute mill scandal in which he
expressed in forcible language his opinion of
the legislators who had given the prison man-
agers a clean bill of moral health. The article
was headed "There is no balm in Gilead."

After writing the editorial ( )wen went home,
leaving the proof reading in the hands of the
foreman of the composing room. Next morn-
ing he picked up a copy of his paper and pre-
pared to read what cold type had made of his
caustic criticism. The first glance at his mas-
terpiece sent the blood to his head and made
him rise up on his hind legs and howl, for
the heading was not "There is no balm in
Gilead," but "There is no barn in Gilroy."

As far as the historian can remember Owen
had but one scrap with an outsider. In the
early days personalities were largely indulged
in. When an offending head stuck up the rule
was to hit it. Perhaps the dearth of local
news was the cause of editorial bellicoseness,
but it was not often that a person assailed by
a newspaper editor would adopt drastic meth-
ods in dealing with his assailant. But once in
a while the victim of an editor's attack would
attempt retaliation by means of personal en-
counter. Some time in the '70s Owen assailed
Alontgomery Maze, since deceased. Maze was
a searcher of records and his assistant was
Mitch Phillips, the capitalist, who died in
1918. Maze, who was stockily built and very
pugnacious, met Owen at the northwest cor-
ner of Santa Clara and Market streets. They
did not pass the time of day but they did pass
the lie and then Maze sailed in to make mince
meat out of the veteran editor. Owen's cane
parried the initial blow and Alaze stopped sur-
prised but not daunted. He made another
rush and landed on Owen's nose. Encouraged
by his success he tried a left hander, missed
the mark and allowed the cane to accomplish
its head-aching work. From that time on it
was cane and fist, the cane doing the greater
punishment. Bystanders interfered when the
fight was at its hottest. Both combatants

110

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

were good sports and friendly relations were
soon established.

While Charles M. Shortridge was publish-
ing the Daily Times, a report of the proceed-
ings of a Democratic County Convention made
slurring reference to the speech of one of the
candidates for office. The candidate was a
Kentuckian who possessed a fiery dsposition.
The report made him see red. He hastened to
the Times office and found Shortridge alone.
With the words, "I am going to punch your
head," he made a mad bull rush. The first
blow tumbled Shortridge from the high stool
on which he had been sitting. In attempting
to pursue his advantage the Kentuckian got
tangled up in the rounds of the stool and while
he was trying to extricate his long legs Short-
ridge arose and began to use his fists. A
rough and tumble fight ensued. There was one
chair in the room and during the struggle it
was wrecked as was also the stool. Some-
times the Kentuckian would have the advan-
tage, sometimes the advantage would be with
Shortridge. They fought all over the room
and at last stopped from exhaustion. As they
lay panting on the floor, with bleeding faces
and half-closed eyes, a printer looked in. He
gazed in surprise at the wreck and the pros-
trate fighters and then said, "An earthquake?
Strange I didn't feel it when I was outside."
"It wasn't an earthquake," grunted Short-
ridge, "It was a Kentucky cyclone." The fight
did not settle the differences between the two
men. The feud remained though there were
no further warlike demonstrations.

After a few years as collector Charles M.
Shortridge went into the real estate business.
After a time he succeeded in obtaining suffi-
cient financial backing to enable him to pur-
chase the Daily Times, paying $5,500 for busi-
ness and plant. This was in 1883 when he was
twenty-seven years old. He was, in truth, the
architect of his own fortunes. Soon after he
came to California he hired out to the San
Jose Gas Company as a lamplighter so as to
obtain money to carry him through the public
schools. Having graduated with honor he se-
cured a position on the Mercury as errand boy
to be advanced soon to the position of col-
lector. In 1884 he secured control of the stock
of the Mercury Printing and Publishing Com-
pany and in less than two years from the day
he walked out of the office a poor boy, he
walked back as a proprietor. He combined
the Times and Mercury and proceeded to
make the new journal twice as good as either
of them was before. In the early '90s he be-
came the lessee and manager of the San Fran-
cisco Call, a position he retained for several
years. Afterward he stutHed law, opened an

office in San Jose, combining this profession
with that of newspaper proprietor, having res-
urrected the Daily Times. He gave up pub-
lishing after an unfortunate experience of a
year or so to give his whole attention to the
law. He was engaged in the practice of his
profession in Oakland when he died a few
years ago.

The semi-weekly Tribune was issued by
Givins George July 4, 1854. In 1855 it was
published by George &: Kendall and in 1859 it
was sold to George O'Daugherty. In 1862 it
was suppressed for eight months by order of
General Wright. In 1863 it was purchased by
F. B. Murdoch, who changed the name to the
Patriot. The paper was a weekly. In 1865
Murdock commenced the publication of the
Daily Patriot. In 1875 he sold out to S. J.
Hinds and J. G. Murdock. In 1876 it was pur-
chased by the IMurphys and the name changed
to the San Jose Daily Herald. In 1878 it pur-
chased and absorbed the San Jose Argus. In
October, I884, the Herald was bought by a
joint stock company. H. H. Main was presi-
dent, W. C. Morrow, secretary, and J. F.
Thompson, treasurer. Main and Thompson
are dead. Morrow is a resident of San Fran-
cisco engaged in literary work. As a teacher
of the art of short story writing he has ac-
quired a national reputation. While engaged
in newspaper work he wrote several high-
class novels and many charming short stories.
He has a keen, analytical mind and his style
has the clearness and finish of a master crafts-
man. He was and is a literary artist, and
nothing ever leaves his hands that is not pure
English, charmingly expressed. After he left
San Jose, the Herald was conducted by Main
and Thompson until it was sold to Charles M.
Shortridge. In 1900 the paper was purchased
by E. A. and J. O. Hayes and publication was
continued until it was absorbed by the San
Jose Mercury. The name of the Mercury was
then changed to the Mercury-Herald. The
Hayes brothers are lawyers and mine-owners
and have at Edenvale, six miles south of San
Jose, on the Monterey Road, one of the
costliest and handsomest residences in Cali-
fornia. The grounds cover many acres
with a wealth of flowers, shrubbery and
trees. E. A. Hayes Avas a member of Con-
gress for several terms, serving his dis-
trict with marked ability. J. O. Hayes has
never held public office, although he has been
several times a candidate for governor. Under
the progressive management of the Hayes
brothers the Mercury-Herald has attained the
largest circulation of any paper, outside of San
Francisco and Oakland, in Central California.
It has ever worked for the best interests of the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

community and its influence has been far-
reaching and strong. E. K. Johnston is the
managing editor and his abihty and business
acumen have been marked factors in the pa-
per's success.

The San Jose Daily Reporter came into ex-
istence in 1860. W. Frank Stewart was the
publisher. It was soon changed to a weekly
and was discontinued after a few weeks' ex-
istence. Stewart was a Kentuckian and was
in Nevada when Mark Twain was doing repor-
torial work on the Virginia City Enterprise.
Late in 1866 Mark returned from the Ha-
waiian Islands and having no newspaper en-
gagement in sight, he wrote a lecture on the
islands and prepared to make a tour of the
Pacific Coast for the purpose of putting some
much-needed money in his pocket. San Jose
was selected as the place for "trying it on the
dog." When Mark landed in town he hunted
up Stewart, who was then the proprietor of a
little saloon in a shaky, one-story building on
a lot on First Street near Fountain Alley.
Twain found the place and soon enlisted Stew-
art's enthusiastic cooperation. The saloon
was a popular loafing place and Mark spent
much time there listening to Stewart's views
on his latest fad, "How earthquakes are pro-
duced." Stewart had a queer theory about
earthquakes and many lectures on the subject
were delivered in Music Hall while Stewart
was a resident of San Jose. In his saloon he
had an earthquake indicator of his own inven-
tion, the points of which he explained to the
Nevada humorist, much to the latter's inter-
est and amusement.

Through the good work done by Stewart
and his friends Mark was enabled to lecture
to a paying house and he left San Jose pro-
fuse in expressions of gratitude for the kind-
ness displayed by his old Nevada friend. A
few months later Mark was in Bufifalo, N. Y.,
doing humorous work for the Express. Clip-
pings from his writings were made weekly by
the San Francisco Alta to be eagerly read by
Mark Twain's many admirers in San Jose. At
this time no one hailed the arrival of the Alta
more joyously than Frank Stewart. He was
heard frequently to say that Mark was des-
tined to become one of the great writers of the
age. But one day there came a change.
Stewart's face grew longer and harder. His
eyes flashed with rage and when he found
voice to express his feelings it was to pour
forth the bitterest, most caustic and damna-
tory language that ever fell from human lips.
Mark Twain was an ingrate, a coward and a
cur. He was — well, he was everything an
honest man should not be.

The cause of Stewart's rage was an article
in the Buffalo Express which said in effect
that out in San Jose, California, there lived a
fellow named Stewart, who had an aged
mother on whom he was depending for sup-
port, and who passed as the proprietor of a
ramshackle groggery, where, between drinks,
he expatiated on earthquakes, a subject of
which he knew little and talked much. The
article further stated that whenever a pig
came along and scratched his back against the
front of the 'building there would come a shake
that would be promptly registered and as
promptly telegraphed all over the Pacific
Coast.

When his wrath had cooled sufficiently for
him to use a pen Stewart sat down and wrote
Mark a letter, which, if it could be found and
published, would prove one of the richest
things in American literature. He figuratively
roasted Mark alive. An answer was not ex-
pected, but it came, nevertheless, in the shape
of an abject apology. Stewart, with great
gusto, read the apology to his friends. Mark,
in his letter, disclaimed any intent to slander
the philosopher and said his only idea was to
have a little harmless fun. To show that he
was sincere he asked Stewart to forward a
book of the philosopher's poems, recently pub-
lished, promising to review it in a satisfactory
manner. The book was sent, a flattering re-
view was given and the breach between Mark
Twain and Stewart was healed.

The Daily and Weekly Courier was started
in 1865 by Geo. O. Tiffany. It lasted but a few
months.

The Santa Clara Argus, as a weekly, com-
menced publication in 1866. In 1876 the Daily
Argus was issued and ran until 1878, when it
was sold to the Herald. W. A. January was
the editor and proprietor of the Argus. He
was a Kentuckian and a gentleman of theold
school. There was not a mean bone in that
tall, slim body of his. Everybody was his
friend and when he passed away from earth,
a nonogenarian, San Jose lost a valuable citi-
zen. Before coming to San Jose he lived in
Placerville, where he was associated with Dan
Gelwicks in the publication of the Mountain
Democrat. It was while he was a newspaper
publisher in San Jose that he was elected to
public office. He was a very popular official
and the Republicans after a time ceased to put
up any candidate against him. He was county
treasurer and state treasurer and in his last
years tax collector of Santa Clara County and
always the same genial, courteous and faithful
servant of the public.

112

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

C. Leavitt (Britt) Yates published The Sat-
urday Advertiser from August 11, 1866 to
February 19, 1869.

The Daily Independent was started May 7,
1870 by a company of printers. It was the first
paper in San Jose to receive news by tele-
graph. In December. 1870, it was purchased
1)V Norman Porter, who, in turn, sold it to the
Guide in 1871.

The Daily Guide was started by Phil Stock-
ton and H. C. Hansbrough in February, 1871.
Hansbrough sold out his interest to Stockton
that same year. Major Horace S. Foote, who
wrote "Pen Pictures from the Garden of the
World," a work that has been largely drawn
upon in the writing of this history, was the
editor of the Guide and before the Guide
started, was the editor of the Independent.
As a writer he is clever, humorous and inci-
sive and local journalism was the sufferer
when he dropped the pen to become the finan-
cial expert of the board of supervisors. In
January, 1872, Porter took the Guide and sold
it to J. J. Owen, who merged it into the Daily
Mercury.

The history of Henry C. Hansbrough of the
Guide is an interesting one. Before becoming
a newspaper owner he was a printer and did
his first work in the Patriot office. After a
few years' residence in San Jose he went to
San Francisco. He was a Chronicle compos-
itor until promoted to the telegraph editor's
desk. It was while he was a resident of the
Bay City that the Anti-Chinese agitation
reached a ferment. Dennis Kearney was
shouting, "the Chinese must go," and the
Mongolians and their business allies among
the whites were in a terror-stricken mood. All
the while the sentiment in the eastern and
middle western states was distinctly pro-
Chinese. To take advantage of the situation
three enterprising young men — Chester H.
Hull, city editor of the Chronicle and self-
styled "The Monumental Liar of America" ;
Sam Davis, the Nevada humorist and brother
of Robert H. Davis, present managing editor
of the Frank A. Munsey publications ; and
H. C. Hansbrough, resolved to procure an ed-
ucated Chinese and take him east on a lectur-
ing tour. Hull was to write the .speech, Davis
was to finance the undertaking (it was re-
ported at the time that he could get $3,000
from John Mackey, the bonanza king) and
Hansbrough was to act as business manager.
But the days passed and no Chinese intelli-
gent and foxy enough to fill the bill could be
secured. At this juncture Hull, himself, of-
fered to do the lecture part by making up as a
Chinese. Whether the other partners ever se-
riously considered the offer is not known.

But there were frequent wranglings which
ended by a dissolution of copartnership. Da-
vis returned to the sage brush and Hull went
back to his desk to perpetrate another of the
hoaxes which had made him notorious
throughout the Pacific states. But Hans-
brough stuck to his guns. He enlisted the in-
terest and cooperation of Rev. Otis Gibson,
superintendent of the Methodist Mission in
San Francisco, and a Chinese interpreter in
the person of Chan Pak Kwai, was secured.
The Chinese was good-looking, as sharp as a
steel trap and had an excellent command of
the English language. He had lived for a time
in San Jose and was well known to all the
court officials. When all arrangements had
been made and Chan Pak Kwai had been
properly trained, Hansbrough and his mascot
left for the east. Lectures were delivered in
Iowa and Illinois and Chan Pak Kwai was
feted everywhere by the warm-hearted people
of the middle west. At last the interest waned
and manager and performer separated, the
Chinese to return to San Francisco and Hans-
brough "to seek fields and pastures new." In
Devil's Lake, Dakota, he established a news-
jiaper and after a time became postmaster and
interested himself in politics. When Dakota
was divided to become two states, Hans-
brough was chosen one of the United States
Senators for the northern division. He held
office for eighteen years.

The Daih^ Press was published for a few
weeks during 1882 by J. J. Conmy.

The Reporter was started bv present Under-
Sheriff Hugh A. DeLacy, in' April, 1872. It
lasted until August.

The California Agriculturist, Brand & Hol-
loway, proprietors, came into existence in
1871. S. H. Herring purchased it in 1874 and
after running it for a few years sold it to the
Pacific Rural Press, of San Francisco.

The Daily Evening Tribune was published
during the 1872 presidential campaign by
Clevenger & Armstrong. E. T. Sawyer was
the editor. The paper opposed Grant and
supported Greeley.

The Daily Independent Californian, pub-
lished by S. H. Herring and Ben Casey, held
the fort during the local option campaign
of 1874.

The Daily Garden City Times was started
by Edwin Markham, S. H. Herring, Perry-
man Page and E. T. Sawyer in 1874. It had
the telegraph dispatches and for a while the
future looked bright. Markham, who after-
ward became famous as the author of "The
-Man With the Hoe," "Lincoln and Other
Poems," "The Shoes of Happiness," and who
is now an opulent resident of West New

i

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

113

Brighton, N. Y., was a young man then, whis-
kerless and thin, black-eyed, eager and im-
petuous. Herring was the pubhsher of a
weekly agricultural paper and an entertaining
writer on practical subjects. Page was a
printer who had studied for the ministry. He
lent the moral support to the undertaking,
while the other partners furnished the brains —
such as they were. On the start there was no
business manager, for it had not occurred to
these innocents that an attache of that sort
was necessary for the success of a newspaper
project. The quartet fondly imagined that the
mere announcement of the publication would
be followed by such a rush of business men
to the office as would necessitate the employ-
ment of a score of clerks to attend to their re-
quirements. Besides, of what use would be a
business manager — a man to drum up adver-
tisements for immediate pecuniary needs —
when an "angel" had been secured, one whose
purse was large and whose promises were all
that could be desired. The "angel" was Ben
Casey, an elderly rancher living on the Los
Gatos road. He had one hobby and how it
ruined the prospects of the paper will pres-
ently appear.

The Garden City Times was a success from
the start. Markham was the literary editor
and assisted in the reporting, and his faculty
of throwing a glamor of romance over the
most trivial local subject, even though it
chanced to be the erection of a chicken coop
or the reception of a watermelon from an ad-
miring subscriber, gave such interest to the
local department that his salary was advancea
after the first week. E. T. Sawyer was the
city and managing editor and his principal du-
ties consisted in consigning to the waste bas-
ket such editorials as in his opinion were not
in keeping with the conservative polic)^ of the
paper. These proceedings were looked upon
as high-handed by Mr. Herring and after a
week of them he threw up his job in disgust
and presented his interest in the paper to the
other partners.

About this time an advertisement of a sa-
loon was handed in and inserted. It caught
the eagle eye of Casey and there came a quick
and imperative demand for its withdrawal.. A
council of war was held. It was realized by
the three partners that a crisis had been
reached. To take out the advertisement
would mean that in future The Garden City
Times would not be a paper for all classes,
but one lined up on the side of temperance at
a time when the question was not being exten-
sively agitated. The partners were young and
full of confidence. They felt they could do
without Casey's money. So the advertise-

ment stayed and Casey went out. This action
took place on the second day of the second
week of publication. The news spread. With-
in twenty-four hours every man who had a
bill against the paper presented it with the
abrupt request for immediate payment. Forced
to the wall, the partners paid out all the avail-
able cash, hoping that the worst was over.
But they were mistaken, for the next move
came from the printers. They wanted assur-
ance that they would be paid at the end of the
week or they would leave in a body. Now
optimism was followed by pessimism and the
falling in spirits affected the tone of the paper.
Markham, instead of scurrying about town
with a smiling face, dawdled listlessly in the
editorial room and used the scissors in turn-
ing out copy. Former editorials, bracketed
"by request" at the top were reprinted, while
Page, in the composing room, resisted a strong
temptation to swear. The inevitable was ap-
proaching. Despite a favorable public opin-
ion, the promises of enthusiastic friends and
the important fact that the paper had come
into existence to fill "long felt want," there
was a conspicuous and lamentable lack of the
silvery sinews of war. After eleven days of
experience the partners stopped publication.
Then they collected all the bills due for adver-
tising, paid off the printers and walked to St.
James Park. Seated on a bench in a shady
spot they divided $27 into three equal parts,
pocketed each his share and talked of emi-
grating to the South Sea Islands.

The Daily and Weekly Advertiser was pub-
lished by B. H. Cottle from May to December,
1875. The Weekly Balance Sheet, a commer-
cial paper, was started by H. S. Foote in Feb-
ruary, 1876. It was discontinued the next
year. The California Journal of Education
was run for four weeks in 1876. George Ham-
ilton was the publisher. The Temperance
Champion was published by A. P. Murgotten
in 1876. It was discontinued the next year.

The Pioneer, devoted to the interests of the
men of '49 and the early '50s, was started by
A. P. Murgotten in 1876. It was discontinued
in 1881. Mr. Murgotten was well fitted for the
task of placing on record the experiences of
the California pioneers. He came to the coast
in the early days and for many years lived in
Placerville, coming to San Jose in 1866 with
his brother-in-law, W. A. January, to assist in
the publication of the Argus. He has the honor
of being the dean of the newspaper guild of
California, his experience covering fifty-five
years, beginning with "devil" and ending with
editor. He is a fluent, graceful writer, with a
clean, conscientious sense of duty. He holds
the belt as correspondent, having been the

114

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

first to represent in San Jose the following San
Francisco papers : The Alta, Examiner, Chron-
icle and Call. During the famous Normal
School investigation he sent to the Call regu-
lar reports of the proceedings of the legisla-
tive committee, his copy averaging 5,00U
words daily. As the reports were taken in
long hand it will be seen that Mr. Murgotten
had use for every minute of his time. After
serving as reporter for the Argus (weekly and
daily) he started in business for himself, in
turn publishing the Temperance Champion,
The Pioneer and a paper devoted to the inter-
ests of the Elks. It was on The Pioneer that
his best, most valuable work was done. The
paper was the first of its kind to be published
in the state and its great historical value was
at once recognized and appreciated. In these
later days Mr. Murgotten is best known as a
public-spirited citizen, one always to the fore
when projects for the betterment of social
conditions are under consideration or are on
their way to fruition.

The Headlight, an evening daily, was
started by a company of printers in 1879. Its
name was afterward changed to the Record,
l)ut after a short time it retired from the field.

The Daily Morning Times first saw the
light in 1879. The proprietors were S. W. De
Lacy, F. B. Murdoch, J. G. IMurdoch and F.
W. Murdoch. In January, 1880. Mr. DeLacy
became the sole proprietor. It was a success-
ful venture. Mr. DeLacy's aim was to present
a paper, which in its treatment of local events,
should be equally readable and reliable ; in
general, the implacable foe of wrong, the in-
flexible champion of right, independent at all
times and always fearless in expression of ,
opinion. But while success was his, he con-
ceived the idea that a daily newspaper founded
and conducted on the principles of the Times
would flourish in San Francisco. Accordingly
on September 6, 1883, he sold his paper to
C. M. Shortridge and went to San Francisco.
There in 1884 he joined forces with James H.
Barry and together they began publication of
the Daily Evening Star. After a few months
of battling against odds the Star suspended.
Mr. De Lacy shortly afterward returned an
San Jose and after a short experience in jour-
nalism went to Tacoma, Wash., where for
over twent)' years and until his death he
served as deputy collector of customs. When
in harness he was in his element when expos-
ing local abuses. He was scrupulously hon-
est, a loj'al friend and a generous enemy. Al-
fred Cridge was editorial writer for De Lacy.
He was a short, roly-poly sort of man, gentle
and self-eflfacing. He reveled in hard facts
and dry statistics and his collection of clip-

pings overran his large cabinet of pigeon
holes. Before his arrival in San Jose he had
served the Government as a detective. Dur-
ing the Civil War he was one of the assistants
of Col. L. C. Baker, through whose agency
John Wilkes Booth, the slayer of Lincoln,
was located and killed.

The Daily Evening News was started and
did business during the campaign of 1882.
W. D. Haley was the editor.

In 1883 H. A. DeLacy, present under'
sheriff of Santa Clara County, established the
City Item. Its name was changed in 1885 to
the Evening News, a name it still bears. Mr.
De Lacy came to California in 1862 and went
at work as an engineer at the New Almaden
mines. In 1865 he came to San Jose and was
engaged for several years in the business of
carpenter and contractor. In 1870 he was ap-
pointed deputy sheriff and soon developed
great skill as a detective ofificer. When his
term expired he was elected constable of the
township. In 1872 he published The Reporter,
but discontinued it in order to devote all his
time to his official business. In 1874 he was
for several months the lessee and manager of
the San Jose Opera House. In 1883 he started
the City Item and the success of the venture
was so pronounced that he took in the late
Chas. W. Williams as a partner. It was a
strong combination and the effect was imme-
diately apparent. The business rapidly in-
creased and the paper has been enlarged many
times during the thirty-five years of its exist-
ence. In the early '90s Mr. De Lacy sold out
his interest, having been elected San Jose's
chief of police. In that office Mr. De Lacy
made a record that any man might be proud
of. He was both honest and resolute in the
performance of his duties, and he soon made
his name a terror to evil doers. At the expira-
tion of his term he engaged in business, serv-
ing for several years as business manager of
the Daily Mercurj-. In 1910 he was appointed
under sheriff, but resigned after three years'
service. In the 1918 election a new sheriff,
George Lyle, was elected and his first official
act was to appoint Mr. De Lacy under sheriff,
a position he still holds. He is considered one
of the most competent and reliable officials
Santa Clara ever possessed.

Chas. W. Williams continued as sole pro-
prietor of the Evening News until 1917, when
ill-health compelled his retirement from the
arduous work of the office. He sold his plant
and business to H. L. Baggerly, for many
years sporting editor of the San Francisco
Bulletin. Mr. Baggerly is a live wire and the
News, under his management, has more than
quadrupled in circulation. The editor is R. L.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

115

Burgess, whose writings have in a few years
given him a national reputation.

The Santa Clara Valley, a monthly journal
devoted to the horticultural and viticultural
interests of the community and the exploita-
tion of the resources of the county, was started
by Maj. Horace S. Foote in 1884. In 1886 he
sold out the paper to H. A. Brainerd, who
added to its name The Pacific Tree and Vine,
thus enlarging its sphere of usefulness. Brai-
nerd continued the publication until his death
about twenty years ago.

It was while Major Foote was engaged in
newspaper work that he had an adventure that
he will never forget. In the '60s Charley
Barr, an Englishman, kept a saloon on First
Street opposite El Dorado. The place was
patronized largely by Cornishmen from the
New Almaden and Guadalupe quicksilver
mines. The rear of the saloon was arranged
like an English tap room with fireplace, man-
tel, pipes and tobacco and tables for drinking
and playing cards. The miners used to flock
in every Saturday afternoon and usually they
were quiet and inoffensive. But on one Satur-
day something happened that made them boil
with rage. The something was a write-up in
the Independent. The writer was Major Foote
and he had made a sensation out of a flying
rumor of a ghostly visitation. The rumor ran
that for some time the old Chapman quicksil-
ver mine beyond the cemeterj- had been haunt-
ed by the ghost of a murdered miner and
Foote had asserted that on account of the
ghost's nightly walks about the mine residents
on the Monterey Road were afraid to pass the
mine at night. It was a well-written, creepy
story and Foote was proud of it and his pride
was at high-water mark when there entered
his office a delegation of enraged Cornishmen.
One of them held in his hand a copy of the
paper containing the story, and when he ad-
dressed Foote there was blood in his eye.
Foote noticed that the men were in liquor and
it seemed to him that they loomed like giants
in his little office. Then a harsh voice smote
his ear. "Are you the bloomin' beggar who
wrote this piece?" Foote gave an affirmative
answer. "Then," went on the Cornishman,
making no effort to master his rage, "You
have insulted the ghost of my father and I'm
going to do you up." Foote shivered and then
looked out of the open window with the idea
of jumping to the sidewalk. But the distance
appalled him, so he concluded to leave his fate
in the hands of the irate miners. He had
heard of the actions 'of Cornishmen when
crazed with drink and out for retaliation on
enemy or enemies, and the thought that he
might be seized, thrown to the floor to have
his ribs crushed bv hob-nailed boots, was not

a comforting one. But he got a firm grip on
his nerves and replied: "You must be mis-
taken. I have not insulted the ghost of your
father. I have never in my life spoken disre-
spectfully of a ghost. In fact it is my rule to
treat ghosts with the utmost courtesy. Let
me read the article to you. I am sure you
must have mistaken my meaning." "All right,"
grunted the son of the ghost, "Go ahead."

Foote braced up, took the paper and pre-
pared to make a fight for his life. As he read
he interlarded the story with comments com-
mendatory both of the ghost's activities and
of the character of the miner before he became
a ghost. The reading finished he noted with
satisfaction that the hands of the son of the
ghost were no longer clinched but were hang-
ing quite naturally by his side. "Perhaps,"
said the spokesman for the Cornishman, "I
was in the wrong, and perhaps you have been

stringing me. If I thought " here Foote

broke in quickly. He wished to cement the
impression the reading had made. "Listen
further," he said. Then he went on in an ex-
temporized speech to extol the virtues of the
men of Cornwall. He expatiated on their hard
work, their love for their wives and children;
their honesty and their generosity. As a law-
yer making a plea for his client he made such
a plea for himself as aroused generous emo-
tions in the breasts of his visitors. He wound
up with an eloquent peroration that quite set-
tled the business, for the Cornishmen patted
him on the back, declared he was a gentleman
and a scholar and invited him over to Charley
Barr's to drink the health of His Honor, the
Spook.

The Scooper, a humorous weekly, came out
in 1885. The proprietors were E. T. Sawyer
and John T. Wallace. Mr. Wallace, who after-
wards became justice of the peace and held of-
fice until his death' a few years ago, sold out
his interest to his partner, after a few months'
experience. The Scooper lived until 1886.

The Santa Clara Index was started in 1870
by a company of printers. W. W'. Elliott was
the editor. One day he had an altercation
with W. G. W'ilson, the foreman of the com-
posing room. Office furniture took the place
of fists and Elliott emerged w^ith a bruised
head and a broken arm. His life reads like a
romance. Erratic, brilliant, nervous, "his own
worst enemy," he moved from place to place,
never satisfied but alwa3-s optimistic. He was
a pioneer resident of the state and in the late
'50s went to Australia. Returning after an ab-
sence of several years, during which he was
sailor, gold prospector, theatrical agent and
merchant, he enlisted in the Union army ana
^ rose to the rank of major. \\' hen the assas-
sination of Lincoln occurred he was in San

116

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Francisco and was one of the leaders of the
mob that wrecked several offices of newspa-
pers that had published what were considered
disloyal editorials. To escape possible prose-
cution he fled to Mexico, entered the service
of Juarez, the famous Mexican general and
president and was present as a member ot
Juarez' body guard at the execution of Max-
imilian. A prominent position under the Mex-
ican government was offered him, but he had
become tired of Mexican life and longed for
the climate and society of California. He re-
turned to San Francisco in time to take a
prominent part in the gubernatorial election of
1867. Henry H. Haight, the Democratic can-
didate, was elected and Elliott, as a reward
for his services, was appointed assistant adju-
tant general of the state. He resigned after
serving but half his term and came to Santa
Clara and became one of the partners in the
publication of the Index. His row with Fore-
man Wilson terminated his career in Santa
Clara. Removing to San Jose he spent sev-
eral years in doing editorial work for the local
newspapers.

In the early "70s while the State Normal
School was under construction a scandal arose
over the work of the contractor, the Legisla-
ture ordered an investigation, a committee for
the purpose was appointed and the sessions
were held in the court house. Before the tak-
ing of testimony it became necessary to ap-
point a stenographer. There were but few
short-hand writers in those days and there-
fore competition was not lively. One of the
applicants for the position was Elliott and
through local influence he was chosen for the
position. And now was shown an instance of
monumental nerve. Elliott knew no more,
practically or theoretically of the system of
shorthand writing than an infant in arms. But
he was a rapid writer, had a system of abbre-
viated long hand and a memory that was mar-
velous. He sat in a corner, allowed no one to
look at his hieroglyphics and succeeded in
"pulling the wool" over the eyes of the mem-
bers of the committee and the attorneys pres-
ent, although more than once he found him-
self in an exceedingly tight place. He was
frequently asked- during the progress of the
investigation to read certain portions of the
testimony and it more than once happened
that neither his notes nor his memory tallied
with the facts, which were mainly in the line
of statistics. But his unblushing assurance
saved his face and he was permitted to make
the necessarj' corrections without receiving
other than an admonition to be more careful
in the future. Elliott afterward declared that
he worked harder to earn the few hundred'

dollars that his position netted him than he
had at anything before undertaken. He was
required to transcribe each day the notes he
had taken during the session. This work was
done late at night in order that he might have
as assistants to notes and memory the proof
sheets of the fairly full reports given by the
morning paper.

In 1872 Elliott's roving disposition led
him first to Stockton, then to Salinas.
While doing editorial work in the last
named city, the shooting of Mrs. Nicholson
I^y Matt Tarpey, the politician, followed by
the lynching of Tarpey occurred. Elliott, act-
ing as correspondent of a San Francisco paper,
met the mob half way between Salinas and
Alonterey. Tarpey had been taken from the
Monterey jail and his captors were preparing
to hang him to a tree when Elliott arrived. At
Tarpey 's request Elliott took down the
doomed man's last will and testament and
then saw the mob carry out its work. Shortly
after this occurrence Elliott was elected city
marshal of Salinas. At the expiration of his
term he engaged in the hotel business in Santa
Rita, but a too strenuous life had undermined
what had been a strong constitution, and so,
after a few years he gave up active business
and resumed the life of a rover. In the early
'90s he reappeared in San Jose, did a few days'
work on one of the daily papers and then dis-
appeared. About a year later he died in the
Soldiers Home at Yountville.

Another editor with a record was Allen P.
Kelly, who died in Los Angeles five years
ago. In the late '70s Kelly was the editor of
the San Jose Herald, then under the manage-
ment of genial Nick Bowden, the attorney. In
1880 he collaborated with E. T. Sawyer in the
writing of "Loyal Hearts," a military drama,
founded on incidents of the Civil War. After
the production of the play at Stockton, the
late Governor James H. Budd, playing one of
the principal roles, Kelly went to Virginia
City and worked under Arthur McEwen until
called by William Randolph Hearst to do fea-.
ture work for the San Francisco Examiner.
After distinguishing himself by the rescue of
imperiled seamen from a rock in the bay, he
was detailed by Hearst to go south and cap-
ture a grizzly bear. He was allotted three
months in which to do the work. Kelly se-
lected Ventura County as his field of opera-
tion. At the expiration of three months there
was no bear in sight and therefore Hearst or-
dered him to return to San Francisco. But
Kelly refused to leave the hills. The deal was
off and his salary had stopped, but still he per-
sisted in scouring the hills for a grizzly. One
dav he entered Hearst's office in San Fran-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

117

cisco and said: "I have corraled mister bear.
He is at the depot in a cage. He is for sale.
Will you buy him?" Hearst said he would
buy the beast if a price could be agreed upon.
Kelly saw to it that the sum proposed and ac-
cepted would cover his expenses and leave a
comfortable sum for his work. The grizzly
was named Monarch and for many years was
one of the attractit)ns at Golden Gate Park.

His long outing in the \'entura hills had
given Kelly a taste for out-door Hfe. He gave
up newspaper work and entered the service of
the state. As state forester he made an en-
viable record and the state was the loser when
he resigned his position to re-enter the news-
paper field. For awhile he published a paper
in Las Vegas, N. M. As it was not a money-
making proposition he sold out and went to
Philadelphia to fill a position on the North
American. A couple of years before his death
he returned to California and for awhile was
editor of a paper published in Imperial Valle}'.

The Enterprise, a weekly paper, was pul)-
lished in Mayfield by W. H. Clipperton in
1869-70. It was afterward removed to Gilroy
and the name changed to the Gilroy Telegram,
but was discontinued after a few months.

The Gilroy Advocate was established at
Gilroy September 1868 by G. M. Hanson and
C. F. Macy. In 1869 it went into the hands
of KeuN'on and Knowlton and in 1873 to Mur-
phy and Knowlton. In the same year H. Cof-
fin became publisher and was succeeded in
1875 by H. C. Burckhart. In January 1876, J.
C. Martin took charge and was succeeded by
Rev. D. A. Dryden in October of the same
year. The paper was soon afterwards leased
to Frank Dryden and J. Vaughn, who con-
ducted it a few months and then turned it over
to F. W. Blake, who continued as proprietor
until his death in 1907, when his son, W. F.
Blake, took charge.

The Gilroy Crescent was established in Jan-
uary, 1888, by R. G. Einfalt. It had a short
existence.

The Gilroy Valley Record was first issued in
May, 1881, E. S. Harrison, publisher. In 1884
it went into the hands of B. A. Wardell who
changed the name to the Gilroy Gazette.
( )ther publishers of the paper up to 1919, were
E. D. Crawford. John C. Milnes, L. C. Kinney
and R. G. Einfalt. Kirkpatrick and Johnson
are the present proprietors.

The Los Gatos \\'eekly Alail was estab-
lished in 1884 by H. H.' Main. After eight
months' experience ^lain sold the paper to W.
P. Hughes. In 1886 Hughes sold to Walker
and Fellows. Other pul^lishers were D. D.

Bowman, W. S. Walker, A. B. Smith and A. E.
Falch. In 1918 the Mail was consolidated with
the News. The News was started in July,
1881, by W. S. Walker, who afterward sold to
W. B. Trantham, C. C. Suydam and G. W'eb-
ster.. In March, 1886, Webster sold his inter-
est to his partners. Afterward Suydam with-
drew from the firm. Trantham was sole pro-
prietor when the consolidation of the two
papers took place.

In 1885 a weekly paper called the Courier
was published at Mountain View by George
Wagstaff. It lasted but a few months.

The Alountain View Weekly Register com-
menced publication in April, 1888, with Frank
Bacon (now a noted eastern actor) and Harry
Johnston. Afterward came The Leader. In
1904, P. Milton Smith took charge of both
papers ^nd consolidated them under the name
of the Register-Leader.

The Santa Clara Inde.x was estalilished in
1869 by a syndicate of printers. It lived for
a few years and was followed by the Santa
Clara News which had as publishers C. A.
Gage, F. E. Ellis, Mason & Widney, and H. R.
Roth. In 1920 Roth sold a half interest to
Lawrence Lockney.

The Santa Clara Journal was established by
N. H. Downing in 1889. He died in Decem-
ber, 1904, and the paper has since Iseen pub-
lished by his daughter under the firm name of
B. & B." Downing.

The Mayfield News is published liy W. F.
Nichols. It came into existence several years
after the removal of the Enterprise.

The Campbell Press is published by Harry
Smith. It was started by E. C. Hurlbert in
1895.

The Alorgan Hill Times was established in
1898 by G. K. Estes. He sold to H. \'. Pillow
in 1918.

The Saratoga Star is a recent publication,
L. C. Dick is the proprietor.

The Sunnyvale Standard was estaJilished in
1903. \V K. Roberts is the publisher.

The Palo Alto Times is published by G. F.
Morel! & Co. It has been in e.xistence for
twenty-eight years, having been started by
^^'. H'. Simpkins.

The Pacific Poultry Breeder was established
in San Jose in 1885 by Chas. R. Harker. With
one exception it is the only paper of its kind
published in the United States.

Ray W. Harden started the Suburban Citi-
zen in 1914. In 1922 it was changed to pocket
size. It has won success by appealing to the
lietween town and rural reader.

CHAPTER IX.

Early Days of the Drama in San Jose — The First Theater — Stark's Disgust —
Other Theaters and Interesting Reminiscences of Actors, Professional
and Amateur — A Few of the Old-Time Minstrels. '

Those who are left of the pioneers of San
Jose, the sturdy, adventurous men and women
who planted the stakes for the advanced civili-
zation of today, look back with pride and
pleasure to the early days of the drama in San
Jose. They recall the professional work of
actors and actresses of world-wide fame, whose
]5erformances, if given nowadays would awak-
en the highest interest, and they linger long
and lovingly over favorite names and plays,
peerless productions and delightful dramatic
incidents. Those were the days of stock com-
panies, in which the actor to win a high place
in the profession had to study and strive years
upon years and to appear in such a round of
characters as to establish a perfect claim to
dramatic versatility and merit. In the mimic
world of that day lived and flourished Junius
Brutus Booth, Edwin Forrest, Charlotte Cush-
man, Edwin Booth, Julia Dean Hayne, E. L.
Davenport, James E. Rlurdock and James
Stark.

To James Stark is due the credit of estab-
lishing the first theater in San Jose. The year
was 1859 and he was then in the height of his
fame, having but recently returned, with his
wife, from a highly successful engagement in
Australia. Of all the tragedians who came
after him, but one bore any resemblance to him
in style, appearance and ability and that one
was John McCullough. It must in justice be
said, however, that Stark had the finer intelli-
gence, and that in the parts calling for deep,
dramatic insight and the interpretation of the
subtler shades of human emotion, he excelled
the genial McCullough, whose forte was not
exactly in the line of the purely intellectual,
but in the delineation of the heroic and the
muscular. Endowed with a splendid physique,
an imposing carriage, a deep, resonant, finely
modulated voice and true conception of drama-
tic requirements, added to a rare, personal
magnetism. Stark compelled attention and won
the most enthusiastic plaudits for his perform-
ances. In the summer of 1859 he purchased a
lot on First Street, opposite the site of the
present Victory Theater and upon it erected
San Jose's first place of dramatic amusement.
The building, which was of wood, had an ex-
cellent stage and all the appliances of the regu-
lation theaters of those days. The grand open-
ing took place on the tenth of October and the

bill was Richelieu with Stark as the "Cardinal
Duke" and Mrs. Stark as "Julie de Mortimar."
The price of admission to all the plays was one
dollar, both for dress circle and parquet. Each
program printed by the late C. L. Yates, con-
tained the announcement, "Children in arms
not admitted."

Mrs. Stark was a star, as well as her hus-
band. Her first husband was J. H. Kirby, the
tragedian, who died in San Francisco after
playing an engagement at Maguire's Opera
House. His great specialty was Richard III,
and so powerful was his acting in the death
scene that it became the delight of the gallery
and perpetuated the well-known request,
"Wake me up when Kirby dies."

Belle Devine, the ingenue of Stark's com-
pany was a great favorite and during her stay
in San Jose she was the idol of the male
younger set. After her season at Stark's Thea-
ter she married George Pauncefote, an English
actor, who in 1866 engineered a remarkable
polyglot entertainment at the American Thea-
ter in San Francisco. The play was Othello.
The title role was enacted by Pauncefote in
English, "lago" was given in French, "Cassio"
in Danish and "Roderigo" in Spanish. The
audience was large but the play only ran one
night. Afterward Pauncefote went to China
and never returned.

Two very popular members of Stark's com-
pany were Harry Brown, who did the juveniles
and walking gents ; and Nellie Brown, his wife,
who was the soubrette. Brown afterward
joyied the stock company at Maguire's Opera
House, San Francisco, and some years after
the death of his wife married Mrs. Harry Jack-
son, an English actress of high reputation,
whose "Lady Macbeth" was considered one of
the finest assumptions in the history of the
American stage.

In building the theater Stark was financially
assisted by the late James R. Lowe, Sr. The
obligation was satisfied out of the proceeds of
the first five weeks' performances. During
these five weeks, though San Jose then had
less than 5,000 population, the houses were
large and the interest intense. The same
patrons would attend the theater night after
night, so strong and well balanced was the
company, so meritorious the plays and so at-
tracti\e the personality of Stark and his tal-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

119

ented wife. The leading man of the comljina-
tion was Walter Bray, who, when his engage-
ment ended, forsook the sock and buskin to
bask in the smiles of Momus. A few years
later he was known as one of the brightest and
most successful Ethiupean comedians on the
Coast. For a time he was associated with Joe
Murphy, then more appreciated as a bone
player than a negro minstrel.

At the conclusion of the five weeks' season.
Stark took his company to Sacramento where
the San Jose success was repeated. Then
came what old San Franciscans will always re-
member— the phenomenal engagement at IMa-
guire's Opera House in which Stark appearing
in his round of Shakespearean characters, was
hailed as one of the few great interpreters of
"Hamlet," "Othello," "Macbeth," "Brutus."
"Richard III" and "King Lear."

Fresh from his metropolitan triumphs Stark
returned to San Jose and for three weeks
crowded the benches of the theater, easily re-
peating the success of his opening season.
Now it was that he determined to make the
Garden City his permanent place of residence,
for from the substantial ])atronage bestowed
upon him in the past he had acquired the faith
to believe that the future was filled with
golden promises. He purchased the property
bounded by Second, Julian and Fourth Streets
and the line of the proposed Western Pacific
railway and upon it erected a handsome dwell-
ing. Subsequently he went to Virginia City,
Nev., to open a theater there and made con-
siderable money. Seats for the first night sold
as high as $500 each and the late Senator Wil-
liam Sharon was credited with having paid
$500 a night for a set of seats for his friends
for the entire engagement.

Again returning to San Jose Stark began
his last series of performances in the theater
upon which he had builded so many glowing
hopes. He had advertised a three weeks' sea-
son, but owing to the scarcity of money which
prevailed at that time, the attendance dimin-
ished so that the three weeks were shortened
to two. On the night of the closing perform-
ance there was a "beggarly array of empty
benches." Then the distinguished tragedian
came forth in his wrath and made a speech to
the audience in which he reproached the citi-
zens of San Jose for their lack of ap[)reciation
of his efforts, closing with the announcement
that he should never appear in that theater or
in San Jose again. He was as good as his
word. He sold his theater property to Judge
William T. Wallace and his fine residence
property to Hon. S. O. Houghton.

Shortly before this there had been ditifer-
ences between Stark and his wife, which after
a time culminated in a divorce. Mrs. Stark re-

mained single for a few years and then mar-
ried Dr. Gray, of New York, who possessed a
handsome fortune which became hers when he
died. Her last husband was Charles R.
Thorne, Sr., a veteran actor and manager and
father of Charles R. Thorne, Jr.. and txlwin
Thorne, the actors.

Misfortune overtook Stark in his later years.
For a time he played with Edwin Booth, but
after a stroke of paralysis, was forced to aban-
don the stage. His fortune was exhausted in
endeavoring to obtain relief and when in dire
pecuniary extremity he was remembered by
his wife of former days, who sent him a large
sum of money. He died in the East about
forty years ago. Mrs. Thorne passed away in
San Francisco in 1898.

Samuel W. Piercy, who died of small-pox in
Boston in 1882, after having reached the top of
his profession as an actor, made his first ap-
pearance on any stage in Stark's Theater in
1865. The theater was also the scene of the
debut of John W. Dunne, who became a popu-
lar actor and manager and is now a resident
of New York City.

After Stark's departure the theater, with
name changed to the San Jose Theater, was
turned over to traveling companies whose en-
gagements were few and far between. The
last performances given within its walls were
on the 15th and 16th of March, 1867. by Robert
Fulford's San Francisco Dramatic Company.
The plays were Michael Erie, Don Caesar de
Bazan and The Lady of Lyons. In Michael
Erie the principal characters were taken by
Fulford, Harry Colton, W'. M. Martial, E. T.
Sawyer, Miss Teresa Berrie and Belle De
Nure. In April, 1867, the theater was con-
verted into a carriage factory and leased to
Hunt & Add. Alterations for other classes of
business were made as the years rolled on.
The building still stands, but there is nothing
in its appearance to convey the faintest sug-
gestion that it once covered the appurtenances
of a theater.

From 1867 to 1870 San Jose theater-goers
had to content themselves with the meager and
unsatisfactory accommodations of Armory
Hall on Santa Clara Street, near Third. Rob-
ert Fulford did play "Hamlet" there on an im-
provised stage with a few rickety wings con-
stituting the entire set of scenery and the
ghost arrayed in a horse blanket besprinkled
with small squares of tin to represent a coat
of mail. WHien "Hamlet," stepped on the end
of a floor board which had not been nailed
down, causing the other end to strike the
"King of Denmark" and knock him against the
wing, there was a quick collapse of the whole
stage furniture and an inglorious termination
of the performance.

120

HIST(3RY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

In 1870 Gustav Rrohaska. the proprietor of
Armory Hall, converted the place into a first-
class theater and named it the San Jose Opera
House. The opening night was August 18.
and London Assurance was given in superb
style by the John T. Raymond Dramatic Com-
pan}-. Raymond, than whom a neater low
comedian never tickled the risibilities of an
American audience, was "Mark Meddle" and
his wife, handsome and popular Marie Gordon,
was "Lady Gay Spanker." Then followed a sea-
son of prosperity, of fine actors and good
plays. At this house appeared such popular
favorites as John McCullough. Barton Hill.
James O'Neiil. Robson & Crane, "Billy" Flor-
ence, Thomas W. Keene, Lawrence Barrett,
James Garden. James A. Heme. Harry Cour-
taine. Joseph Proctor. Joe Murphy, Sue Robin-
son, Jennie and Alicia Mandeville. Fay Tem-
pleton, Ellie Wilton, Mrs. Sophie Edwin, Mrs.
Judah. Annie Louise Cary, Clara Louise Kel-
logg and Caroline Richings. Proctor's connec-
tion lasted several years as he was then man-
aging a circuit of theaters. He was the crea-
tor of that wonderful character in melodrama.
"The Jibbenainosay," for many years the piece
de resistance of the Bowery.

H. A. De Lacy was the lessee of the theater
in 1874 and one of his first attractions was Fay
Templeton, the charming vocalist and child
actress. James A. Heme, whose "Shore
Acres," netted him a fortune, was a member of
the company. One of his great parts was "Rip
Van Winkle." declared by David Belasco to
be superior to the "Rip" of Joseph Jefiferson.

It was at this theater that Eleanor Calhoun,
afterward a popular London actress and at
present writing the wife of Prince Lazarovich
of Serbia, made her first appearance on any
stage in E. T. Sawyer's military drama,
"Loyal Hearts." The cast was a local one,
John T. Malone and H. A. De Lacy sustaining
the leading male roles. Malone. who was dep-
uty district attorney at the time, afterwards
adopted the stage as a profession, became an
eastern star and died while officiating as sec-
retary of the Players' Club, founded by Edwin
Booth, in New York City.

On the morning of July 5, 1881. the Opera
House was burned to the ground. But San
Jose was not left without a ]ilace of amuse-
ment, for the California 'I'lieater on Second
Street near San Fernando, liad Ik-cu running
for several years.

The California Theater was erected bv
Hayes & Downer in 1878-79 and was formallv
opened on May 12th, 1879, by a company o'f
amateurs, 'i'he play was "Evadne" and' the
performers were J. J. Owen, editor of the
Mercury: J. H. Campl^ell. for many years dean
of the law department of the Santa Clara Uni-

versity; Charles F. Macy, who died in Chel-
sea, Mass.. in 1898; Prof. J. G. Kennedy, city
school superintendent, now with the dead ;
Charles M. Shortridge, lawyer, newspaper
I)ublisher and state senator, who passed away
in 1919, and Miss Mattie Patton, who after-
ward became the wife of J. J. Owen. She died
a few years ago. For the occasion a poem
written by the late S. W. De Lacy, then pro-
prietor of the Times, was appropriately re-
cited by Mrs. Ida Benfey, the elocutionist.

During the few years of its existence, the
California was managed most of the time by
the late Chas. J. Martin, who served as mayor
of the city for three terms. He made many
notaljle engagements. It was at this house
that the famous production of "The Rivals,"
with Joseph Jefiferson and Mrs. John Drew in
the cast, was given. Edwin Booth, W. E.
Sheridan, Laurence Barrett, Thomas W.
Keene, Louis James, Frederic Warde, W^ H.
Crane, Stuart Robson, John E. Owens, E. S.
A\'illard, Joseph G. Grismer, Nat Goodwin,
Louise Davenport. Minnie Maddern (who
later became Mrs. Fiske), Ada Cavendish and
others appeared.

Like the Opera House the California The-
ater went up in smoke on the night of July
2. 1892. In the same fire the buildings on the
block half way to Santa Clara, together with
the South ^lethodist Church and other build-
ings across the street were burned.

Two months after the destruction of the
California Theater the Auditorium was doing
lousiness under the management of Walter
Morosco, of the San Francisco Grand Opera
House. The building had formerly been
known as Horticultural Hall, but was without
a proper stage or theatrical, appointments.
Some of these necessities were furnished when
Morosco took charge, others by Chas. P. Hall
when he came in as Morosco's successor.

Other lessees of the Auditorium with its
later name, the Garden City Theater, were
Webster & Ross, Frank Bacon and a vaude-
ville combination. During its few years of
existence there appeared such attractions a^
Thomas W. Keene, Ward and James, Robert
Downing, John W. Dunne and Mary Marble,
Richard Mansfield, Nat Goodwin, Mme. Mod-
jeska. James A. Heme: De A\'olf Hopper,
John Drew. Henry Miller. The Bostonians,
Herbert Kcl.sey, Robert Mantell, Maxine El-
liott, Mrs. Leslie Carter and Fannie Daven-
port. Fire destroyed the building in 1918.

The Victory Theater, erected by Senator
James D. Phelan, was opened to the public on
the evening of February 2. 1899. An audience
that filled every seat applauded to the echo the
fine acting of the performers in "The School
for Scandal." the idav selected for the occa-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

121

sion. Louis James, Frederick Wanle, Harry
Langdon and Kathryn Kidder had the princi-
pal parts, and the performance as a whole was
a clean-cut exhibition of high dramatic art.
Charles P. Hall was the first lessee. He was
succeeded by F. A. Giesea, who was in charge
until 1918 when M. B. Haas came in as lessee.

During the past twenty-two years the Vic-
tory has presented the cream of the eastern
dramatic attractions booked for the Pacific
Coast. Among them may be named Maude
Adams, Billie Burke, Mrs. Leslie Carter, Mar-
garet Anglin. E. A. Sothern, William Faver-
sham, Otis Skinner, Forbes Robertson, J. E.
Kellerd, Robert Mantell, David Warfield, Sa-
rah Bernhardt, Anna Held, Geo. M. Cohan,
Walker Whiteside, Ethel Barrymore, Hilda
Spong, Henry Miller, Julia Marlowe, Louis
James, W^ H. Crane, Nat Goodwin, Blanch
Walsh, Blanche Bates. Annie Russell, W. H.
Thompson and several opera companies.

The Hippodrome, located on South First
Street, near the corner of San Carlos, was
erected by the Southern Development Com-
pany in 1919 and was leased to Marcus Loew,
a circuit manager. He is represented in San
Jose by Ackerman & Harris ; B. B. Levin is
the local manager. The theater has been
used mainly for vaudeville and motion pic-
tures.

The T. & D. Theater, a motion picture
house, on South First Street, near San An-
tonio, was built by the Southern Development
Company in 1913. The lessees are Turner &
Dahnken and the local manager, A. M. Miller.

The Lyric Theater, a small amusement
house for motion pictures, located on North
Second Street, opposite the Evening News of-
fice, has as lessee Geo. S. Jones. Louis Lieber
is the owner of the building.

The Jose Theater on North Second Street,
between Santa Clara and San Fernando
Streets, was built in 1904 by David Jacks, of
Monterey County. It was first leased by No-
lan & Blum. After a few years Nolan retired
and Blum was the lessee until his death in
1920. James Beatty is now in charge.

The Liberty (motion picture) Theater is
located on Market Street, between San Fer-
nando and Post, was built in 1914 by James
Beatty, the present proprietor.

The first amateur dramatic company in San
Jose was organized in the fall of 1865 with the
following members : Charles De Lacy, Sam-
uel W. Piercy, J. A. Leach, Charles A. Cleal,
Thomas L. Cleal, John E. Pillot, Edgar M.
Foster, J. F. McMahon, W. D. [. Hambly,
W. W. Thomas and E. T. Sawyer, Misses
Mary Yontz, Jessie Gavitt, Ellen and Clara
Skinner. In 1866, A. P. Murgotten, .Amherst
J. Hoyt, John W. Dunne, E. M. Skinner, J. W.

Johnson and A. L. Hart joined the company,
several of the 1865 members having removed
from the city. In the years up to the early
'80s, the members included H. A. De Lacy,
F. E. York, A. S. York, Charles M. Shortridge,
Frank Bacon, A. W. White, Eugene Rosen-
thal, Chas. W'. Williams, S. W. De Lacy, W.
H. Sarles, W. G. Lorigan, H. C. Hansbrough,
John T. Malone. Beatrice Lawrey, Mary
Westphal, Louis Lieber, Geo. W. Alexander,
Chas. E. Howes, Geo. C. Knapp, George Corn-
stock, James Carson, Henry Beach, Jennie
Weidman, Eleanor Calhoun, Virginia Cal-
houn, Holton Webb, A. Majors jr., W. G.
Miller, Harrv Botsford, Guv Salisburv, Chas.
W. Oliver, Clyde Frost, F. G. Hartman and
others whose names the historian does not re-
call. Many of the members afterwards
achieved eminence on the professional stage.
Sam ^^^ Piercy was one of the foremost actors
in America when death called him in 1882. He
came to California in the early '50s and the
family home for many years was on Julian
Street near Sixth. He was a student at the
San Jose Institute when he joined the dra-
matic club. In the fall of 1866 he left San
Jose to enter upon the study of law in San
Francisco. In 1870 he was invited to read the
Declaration of Independence at the Fourth of
July celebration. He acquitted himself so well
that Col. W. H. L. Barnes, a personal friend,
advised him to give up law for acting. The
advice was followed and in November of that
>"ear he made his debut on the professional
stage as "lago" to the "Othello" of John Mc-
Cullough. It was a complete success and Mc-
Cullough said he had never witnessed a more
satisfactory first appearance. After a tour of
the state with Frank Wilton's barn-storming
company, he played with Joe Murphy and
other stars for a time and then he left for the
East. For three years he developed his art by
playing with such stars as Clara Morris, John
McCullough and Charlottq' Thompson. In
1876 he sailed for London to play the leading
part in The Virginians. The press notices
were so laudatory and his reputation was so
enhanced that on his return to New York he
was at once engaged as leading man at the
Grand Opera House. The next year he joined
Edwin Booth's company and was with that
great actor until the manager of Niblo's Gar-
den offered him the juisition of stock star in
the company playing regularly at that popular
place of amusement. His best parts during
the engagement were "Lagadere" in "The
Duke's Motto," "Badger" in "The Streets of
New York" and "Claude Melnotte" in the
"Lady of Lyons." There followed an offer
from San Francisco to come and play the lead-
ing part in "Diplomacy." The offer was ac-

122

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

cepted and a prosperous season was the result.

In 1878 Piercv opened the San Jose Opera
House, as enlarged and improved, presenting
"Diplomacy," "Craiga Dhiol" and "Othello."
In the last named play he appeared as "lago"
to the "Othello" of John T. Malone, a rising
San Jose actor. In 1881 he rejoined Edwin
Booth's company and the engagement was
still on when he was stricken with small pox
and died. Just before his illness J. H. Haver-
ly, the well-known manager, was negotiating
for his appearance as a star. In 1879 Piercy
married the daughter of William Dunphy, the
cattle king. She died in Philadelphia in 1881,
leaving one daughter, who is now a resident of
San Francisco.

Eleanor Calhoun was a Normal School stu-
dent in San Jose when she resolved to make
the stage her profession. This was in the
late '70s. She was pretty and graceful, had a
charming manner and an unconquerable am-
bition to succeed in life. Her father, a nephew
of John C. Calhoun, the South Carolina ora-
tor and statesman, was a justice of the peace
in Fresno County and her mother had removed
to San Jose for the purpose of giving her
daughters an education in the educational cen-
ter of the state. Nellie (she did not call her-
self Eleanor until after her departure from
California) displayed remarkable dramatic
talent at the Normal School and after leaving
there gave elocutionary recitals in a tour of
the coast counties. After this experience she
entered the dramatic school of Mrs. Julia Mel-
ville Snyder, mother of Emilie Melville, the
popular actress and vocalist of the '70s and
'80s. It was while she was studying for the
stage that she was induced to come to San
Jose and play the leading female role in E. T.
Sawyer's military play, "Loyal Hearts." She
gladly consented and made her first appear-
ance on any stage at the San Jose Opera
House in February, 1880. Hugh A. De Lacy,
John T. Malone, Louis Lieber, the sign paint-
er, and Miss Mary Westphal (now Mrs. Judge
Richards) were in the cast. At the conclusion
of the week's engagement she was tendered a
benefit, as her exceptionally fine acting had
made her a public favorite. The house was
packed to the doors and the young actress in
the glow of her success returned to San
Francisco and arranged to appear at the Cali-,
fornia Theater, then under the management
of John McCullough. She made her debut on
the. professional stage as "Juliet" to the
"Romeo" of John T. Malone. The critics
praised her acting and the engagement was
continued until she had exhausted her small
repertoire. Soon after the engagement she
left for the East and for a year played leading
parts in a stock c()ni])any which gave per-

formances in middle eastern and southern
cities. London next called her and it was not
long before she had worked herself into a
leading position in one of the high class thea-
ters. Under the auspices of Lady Archibald
Campbell she played "Rosalind" in "As You
Like It" in an al fresco production, to the
warm approbation of the large audience as-
sembled. She was next heard of in Paris,
where she studied French, attaining such a
mastery over the language as to give her con-
fidence to appear before the Paris footlights
in a French play with the great Coquelin as
leading support. About a dozen years ago she
was married to Prince Lazarovich, a claimant
to the throne of Serbia. After her marriage
she made several visits to San Jose. A few
years ago her London and Paris reminiscences
were published in The Century. Written in a
chatty style and directed mainly to a recital
of her social triumphs and of meetings with
the notables of the day, including Alfred Ten-
nyson and James Russell Lowell, they made
interesting reading. One of her sisters (Jes-
sica) is married and lives in Los Angeles. An-
other sister, Virginia, was a teacher in the
Hester school on the Alameda, until she de-
cided to follow in the footsteps of Eleanor and
become an actress. Her first appearance on
any stage was, like her sister's, in "Loyal
Hearts." The performance was given at the
California theater on Second Street in 1882.
In the cast were Frank Bacon, Jennie Weid-
man (afterward Mrs. Bacon), Louis Lieber,
Geo. W. Alexander and other local lights.

John W. Dunne joined the San Jose Ama-
teur Club in 1866. He was a boy of sixteen
when he made his first apparance on the stage.
In preparing for the production of "The Gold-
en Farmer," no woman could be found willing
enough to play the part of "Elizabeth," the
heroine, so Dunne was called in to fill the
breach. He was a handsome fellow in those
days, beardless, peachj-cheeked and with a
voice that was soft, light and clear-almost like
a woman's. When on bended knees, with
clasped hands and streaming eyes he besought
heaven to "save me from a fate far worse than
death," the audience shivered and appealing
eyes were cast on the villain, who seemed to
hold the fate of Elizabeth in his hands. And
that villain, who stood over the shrinking
heroine, with his six feet of stature, blood-shot
eyes, gleaming teeth and hands red with gore,
was none other than that mild-mannered, up-
right, progressive citizen, Alex. P. Murgotten.
Dunne's success as an amateur decided his
destiny. He became a real actor. After play-
ing all sorts of parts, from utility to leading
business, he departed for Salt Lake City to ac-
cejit a position in the Mormon Theater. There

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

123

he played for a year or more and then set out
on a territorial tour, acting as leading support
to Mrs. Annie Adams, the mother of RIaude
Adams, America's foremost actress. Next he
associated himself with the elfin star, Patti
Rosa, soon married her, became her manager
and until the death of his talented wife played
in Hoyt's comedies from one end of the coun-
try to the other. He was next heard of as the
husband of Mary Marble, a worthy successor
to Patti Rosa, and engaged in a similar line of
work. They toured the country until vaude-
ville became the rage, then went into pocket-
edition drama and became public favorites.
He was a San Jose visitor in 1919.

Frank Bacon is (1922) one of the most tal-
ented and popular of the great American act-
ors. He is a former San Josean and the city
was the scene of his first stage experiences.
He was in his early twenties when he arrived
in San Jose. He tried photography, experi-
mented with newspaper work and drifted into
other lines of work, but none of them succeed-
ed in holding his interest. His ambition in
those early days was to become another John
McCuIlough, Edwin Booth or Lawrence Bar-
rett. He turned up his nose at comedy and so
when "Loyal Hearts" was produced at the
California Theater he was rejoiced when he
was asked to play the part of the Union officer.
The press notices were commendatory. The
allusion to his magnificent voice made him
more than ever determined to become a trage-
dian. Miss Jennie Weidman, a very talented
amateur actress, was one of the performers.
She and Frank became great friends and soon
friendship resolved itself into love. They
were married soon after the performance at
the California.

It was after Frank left San Jose to try his
luck on the professional stage that he stum-
bled upon his proper line of work. The por-
trayal of a "rube" character on the Alcazar
stage in San Francisco, gave the critics a
chance to say all manner of nice words. Frank
took notice and very soon decided to drop
"straight" business for "rube" comedy. He
had everything in his favor. He was a slow
speaker, had a dry way of saying things, and
his deep, flexible voice could at will be used to
evoke either tears or laughter. The years went
by, his art ripened, the coarse, low comedy
"rube" was fashioned into the human country-
man and culmination came in the creation of
"Lightnin' Bill," a lovable shiftless old coot,
in many respects a latter-day "Rip Van
Winkle." The play called "Lightnin' " has
had a run of three years on Broadway,
New York, is now (1922) enjoying a phenom-
enal run in Chicago, and Frank Bacon has been
acclaimed as one of the finest character actors

of the century. He has a charming orchard
home near Mountain View, in Santa Clara
County, and ever\- year his vacations are
spent there.

John T. Malone, another San Josean, who
made good as a professional actor, was a grad-
uate of Santa Clara College. He studied law,
was admitted to the bar and when the stage
bee buzzed in his ears he was deputy district
attorney of Santa Clara County. After ap-
pearances on the amateur stage he went to
San Francisco, supported Eleanor Calhoun,
during her engagement in that city and after-
ward went east to become a member of Edwin
Booth's company. After Booth's death he
took out a company of his own, playing in
legitimate drama as long as there was any
demand for it and then gave up the stage to
accept the position of secretary of the Play-
ers' Clflb, New York. He died' in New York
several years ago.

The late Charles W. Williams, former pro-
prietor of the Evening News, would have won
fame and fortune on the stage if he had gone
from amateur into professional work. He was
a born comedian and the most talented and
popular laugh-maker who ever appeared be-
fore the footlights in San Jose. He came to
California when a mere boy and for some
years was a clerk in Cassius Morton's music
store on First Street. He was a fine piano
player and his services in the store were very
valuable. From the store he graduated into
newspaper work, starting first as business
manager of Charles M. Shortridge's Times
and winding up as the proprietor and editor of
the Evening News. It was after he became a
newspaper publisher that he dallied with stage
work. His first appearance was a negro boy
in "The Octoroon." He made a hit in the part
and followed up his success by joining Charles
R. Bacon's New York and San Francisco Min-
strels, organized for performance in San Jose
only. He was one of the end men and con-
vulsed the audience by his inimitable dialect
specialties. In 1881 he became the manager
of the California Theater and in April, 1882,
was the recipient of a complimentary benefit.
His songs brought many encores. In the
same year he played an Irish comedy part in
"Loyal Hearts." The press notices spoke of
him as one of the great Irish comedians on the
American stage. Shortly after this appear-
ance Williams resolved to forsake straight the-
atricals for operetta and musical comedy. He
had a fetching singing voice and under his
management were produced "The Mikado,"
"Olivette," "The Mascot," "Patience," and the
popular operettas. His "Ko-Ko" in "The
Mikado" was very artistic and mirth-provok-
ing and so well pleased with the performance

124

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

was a San Francisco manager that he induced
Williams to repeat it at the Tivoli. Williams
consented to go, made a success of the trip,
but could not be induced to give up newspaper
for stage work. San Jose suited him and he
was an actor for the fun of the thing. His
last appearance as manager and performer
was about a year before his death, which oc-
curred in 1917.

Felix G. (better known as Phil) Hartman
was one of the early San Jose amateurs. He
played small parts, sometimes acted as stage
manager but more often as property man and
scene shifter. He was easily excited and in
his excitement would frequently lose his head
and make the most ridiculous blunders. At
an entertainment given in Saratoga, Hugh A.
De Lacy sang "Old Black Joe" in character.
To give a touch of realism to the song and the
acting it was arranged that "Joe" should die
and that the dying should be done to slow
music and red fire. Phil Hartman was the
scene shifter and property man, and in the
hurry of getting his props together he forgot
to provide himself with the fire powder and its
accessories. "Never mind, Hughie," he said
to De Lacy, "I can fake it so the audience
won't know the difference. I'll go out, get
some fire crackers, take out the powder and
light it." De Lacy had his doubts about the
substitution, for he knew Phil's optimism, dis-
played on other occasions, had not always
been vindicated. However, there was nothing
to do but take chances. Phil secured the pow-
der, placed it in a tin plate and stood ready in
the wings to do the lighting. Soon the time
came for him to act and as De Lacy sang the
last line of the last verse, Phil lighted his first
match. The powder wouldn't burn. Then an-
other match was tried. Same result. De Lacy
kept on singing, 1nit with one eye on Phil, who
struck match after match on the seat of his
trousers, the perspiration meanwhile running
in streams down his face. De Lacy, hoping
against hope, sang the last verse over again,
but no fire was forthcoming. At last Phil
gave it up in despair. Turning an agonized
face on De Lacy, he said in a voice that could
be heard all over the hall, "Go on and die,
Hughie, for I can't make the darned fire burn."
Hughie died in a hurry, for his fingers were
itching to get at Phil's throat.

Still later Phil gave a magician's show at
the San Jose Opera House. As .scene shifter
and handy man for the "Fakir of Vishnu" he
had learned many of the tricks of that old
time juggler and illusionist. Phil called him-
self the "Fakir of Ooloo" and what he ex-
pected to be his best act was one of levita-
tion — the suspending in mid-air of a woman
subject. There were steel rods concealed un-

der the clothing of the subject and an upright
rod support was also hidden from view. The
subject was a heavy woman, while Phil was a
lightweight. When all was ready Phil made
his explanatory talk and then began to lift
the woman to a horizontal position in the air.
(3nce in that position two rods would snap
into place and the suspension would be an
accomplished fact. But Phil, try as he would,
could not raise his subject to the horizontal
line. As he tugged and perspired the machin-
ery squeaked and the audience roared. He
made several attempts, letting down his bur-
den between times in order that he might re-
cover his breath, and finally gave up in disgust
and sat upon the floor. The performance
was as good as a circus and the spectators,
though the advertised program had not been
carried out, felt that they had received their
money's worth and applauded accordingly.

John T. Raymond was California's star
comedian. He made several professional trips
to San Jose and always played to full houses.
His most popular role was of "Col. Mulberry
Sellers," taken from Mark Twain's Gilded
Age. Mark did not like Raymond's interpre-
tation of the character, claiming that it was a
gross exaggeration, almost a burlesque, not at
all like the "Sellers" his brain had conceived.
But Raymond's audiences liked the interpreta-
tion and money always flowed in at the bo.x
ofiice whenever Raymond's "vSellers" was the
attraction.

Raymond was very fond of practical jokes
and he played them so often that his fellow-
actors grew to be afraid of him, for they could
not guess what was hatching in that queer
brain of his. Such tricks as finding their shoes
nailed to the floor wdien they were in a hurry
to make ready for a performance, or wigs
grotesquely queered, were always to be ex-
pected. But there were unexpected variations.
On one occasion when a lurid melodrama was
on the boards, there was a scene in which the
victims of the villain appeared before him.
The villain was John McCullough, and Ray-
mond, James A. Heme, Harry Edwards and
Julia Corcoran, were the victims. .-Ml except
Raymond w-ere in line on the platform. He
had painted his nose a fiery red and with a
most serious expression pointed both liands
at McCullough. The audience roared, then
hissed and the curtain was rung down.

When Raymond gave "Col. Sellers" in San
Jose the actors who had suffered from his
jokes turned the tables on him. The most try-
ing part of his performance was the eating of
raw turnips, for he k)athed vegetables and
never ate them except upon compulsion. The
mem1)ers of tlie coni])any knew this and one
night tliey doctored the turnii)S. Raymond

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

125

ate them, made a wry face but said nothing.
The next night he called for apples, but when
it came time for the repast he found he was
ct)mpelled to eat raw onions covered with
apple skins.

At another engagement Raymond was play-
ing "Polydor" to the "Ingomar" of John Mc-
Cullough. In the striking scene where "Ingo-
mar" orders the barbarians to seize "Polydor,"
Raymond came around to the front of the
stage and instead of dropping in front of "In-
gomar" and clasping his hands in piteous en-
treaty, dropped, crawled between McCul-
lough's legs, dived back and circled round
"Ingomar," his teeth chattering in terror. Mc-
Cullough laughed, the audience took the cue
and the curtain went down amid a general
roar of laughter.

Some of the old-time minstrels lived in San
Jose. One of them, Johnny Tuers, adopted
the stage as a profession, after he left San Jose.
Charley Rhoades, Fred Sprung and Ned Buck-
ley came to San Jose to reside after they had
j^iven up active work as entertainers. Tuers
was an end man and flat foot dancer. He was
the originator of this style of dancing and the
champion of the Coast. He played in all the
cities and towns from Los Angeles to Salt
Lake but most of his time was spent in San
Francisco. In the late '60s he quarreled with
a man on Washington Street in that city.
Pistols were drawn and an innocent bystander,
James Dowling, a theatrical manager, stopped
Tuers' bullet and ceased to live. Tuers was
tried for murder and acquitted. "Billy" Tuers,
Johnny's brother, stayed in San Jose. He was
never on the professional stage, but appeared
many times as an amateur, acting both as end
man and dancer. In middle life he was stricken
with blindness and died in Santa Cruz several
years ago.

Charley Rhoades was the pioneer banjo
player of the state. Not long after the discov-
ery of gold his banjo was heard on the streets
of San Francisco and in the northern and east-
ern mining camps. In the early '60s he joined
a minstrel company and as end man and banjo
player was before the public until his removal
to San Jose in 1874. He was the reputed au-
thor of that popular old song, "The Days of
'49," and up to his retirement it was the favor-
ite song of his repertory. The style of the
song is shown in the following verse :

There was Kentuck Bill, one of the boys,
Who was always in for a game.

No matter whether he lost or won
To him 'twas all the same.

He'd ante up, he'd pass the buck.

He'd go a hatful) blind,
In a game with death Bill lost his lireath

In the days of '49.

Another verse refers to Reuben Raines, a
.Sacramentan, for whom the late Edward John-
son, a pioneer millhand of San Jose, some-
times acted as assistant. Johnson used to
boast of his connection with the Raines' out-
fit and would recite with gusto the following
verse :

There was another chap from New Orleans,

Big Reuben was his name.
On the plaza there, in a sardine box.

He opened a faro game.
He dealt so fair that a millionaire

He became in course of time.
Till death stepped in and called the turn

In the days of '49.

Rhoades was a consumptive and after a few
years' residence in San Jose removed to Santa
Clara, where he died about forty years ago.

Fred Sprung and Ned Buckley left min-
strelsy to become ranchers and neighbors.
Their homes were located on McLaughlin
Avenue near the Story road. Sprung was a
bass singer and interlocutor and in the olio
appeared as a negro impersonator. Before he
came to California he was a member of a band
of minstrels organized to give performances
on the Mississippi river boats. The band was
a small one, but each member was advertised
as an artist in his line. On these boats the
gamblers, always in force before the opening
of the Civil War, would frequently postpone
a game to listen to a minstrel performance.
On these occasions they would pick favorites
and the performers thus singled out would re-
ceive donations far in excess of the amounts
of their salaries. Sprung found it a happy,
easy life and was sorry when the war put a
stop to it. He died in San Jose about twenty-
years ago.

Ned Buckley, endman and comedian, did
not stay all the time on his ranch. He had
business interests in San Francisco which kept
him away from San Jose more than half the
time. Finally he sold his ranch and left San
Jose for good.

Other San Joseans who have won honors,
either on the dramatic stage or in motion pic-
tures, are Edmund Lowe, Howard Hickman,
Ed. Jobson, Frank Stevens, George Hernan-
dez, Vernon Kent and Clarence Geldert.

CHAPTER X.

Distinguished Visitors to San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley— Bayard
Taylor's Day Dream — Political Orators — George Francis Train — Henry
George as a Detective — Bret Harte — Presidents Hayes and Harrison —
The Ovation to General Grant — Beecher, Ingersoll and the Old-Time
Orators — Gen. John C. Fremont — Ned Buntline.

Manv distinguished men and women have
visited' Santa Clara Coimty. During the '50s
Gen. John C. Fremont, David C. Broderick,
William M. Gwin. Gov. Burnett, Bayard Tay-
lor, J. Ross Browne and others came to San
Jose, sometimes on husiness, sometimes for
pleasure. Bayard Taylor, the famous poet,
story writer and traveler, first visited the Val-
ley in the early '50s. In his "Pictures of Cali-
fornia" he thus describes what he saw : "How
shall I describe a landscape so unlike any-
thing else in the world? With a beauty so
new and dazzling that all ordinary compari-
sons are worthless. A valley ten miles wide
through the center of which Avinds the dry
bed of a winter stream whose course is marked
with groups of giant sycamores, their trunks
gleammg like siiver through masses of giant
foliage. Over the level floor of this valley
park^ike groves of oaks, whose mingled grace
and majesty can only be given by the pencil;
in the distance redwoods rising like towers;
westward a mountain chain nearly 4,000 feet
in height, showing through the blue haze dark
green forests on" the background of blazing
gold. Eastward another mountain chain, full-
lighted by the sun, rose color touched with
violet shadows, shining with marvelous trans-
parency as if they were of glass, behind which
shone another sun. Overhead, finally, a sky
whose blue luster seemed to fall, mellowed,
through an intervening veil of luminous vapor.
No words can describe the fire and force of
the coloring — the daring contrast which the
difference of half a tint changed from discord
into harmony. Here the great artist seems to
have taken a new palette and painted his cre-
ations with hues unknown elsewhere. Driv-
ing through these enchanting scenes, I in-
dulged in a day dream. It will not be long,
I thought, — I may 'live to see it before my
prime is over — until San Jose is but five days'
journey from New York. Cars, which shall
be in fact traveling hotels, will speed, on an
unknown line of rail, from the Mississippi to
the Pacific. Then let me purchase a few acres
on the lowest slope of these mountains over-
looking the valley and with a distant view of
the bay; let me build a collage eml)owered

in acacia and eucalyptus and the tall spires
of . the Italian cypress; let me leave home
when the Christmas holidays are over and
enjoy the balmy Januarys and Februarys, the
heavenly Marches and Aprils, of my remaining
years here, returning only when May shall
have brought beauty to the Atlantic shore.
There shall my roses outbloom those of Poes-
tum, there shall my nightingales sing, my or-
ange blossoms sweeten the air, my children
play and my best poem be written. I had
another and a grander dream. One hundred
years had passed and I saw the valley, not
as now, only partially tamed, and reveling in
the wild magnificence of nature, but from
river bed to mountain summit, humming with
human life. I saw the same oaks and syca-
mores, but their shadows fell on mansions fair
as temples, gleaming with their white fronts
and long colonnades. I saw gardens refreshed
by gleaming fountains, statues peeping from
the bloom of laurel bowers: palaces built to
enshrine the new art which will then have
blossomed here ; culture, plenty, peace every-
where. I saw a more beautiful race in pos-
session of this paradise — a race in which the
lost symmetry and grace of the Greek was
partially restored ; the rough, harsh features
of the Oriental type gone; milder manners, bet-
ter regulated impulses and a keen appreciation
of the arts which enrich and emiiellish life.
W'as it only a dream?"

J. Ross Browne was a traveler, who wrote
descriptive, semi-humorous accounts of his
wanderings for Harper's Monthly. His home
was in Oakland, but he loved San Jose and
its people.

Political Orators.
The political campaigns of the '70s brought
many clistinguished Eastern and Northern or-
ators to California. San Jose was not slight-
ed and as spell-binding was the main stock
in trade of the stump speaker, the Califor-
nians received their full share of lofty periods
and flowery diction. Among the orators who
came to San Jose were Hannibal Hamlin, Vice-
President under Lincoln ; Julius C. Burroughs,
United States senator and the silver-tongued

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

127

orator of ^Michigan ; Gen. "\\'. S. Hancock, Gar-
fiekrs opponent in the race for the presidency ;
John A. Bingham, of Ohio, United States sen-
ator and statesman ; Ex-Governor George L.
Woods, of Oregon, Thomas. Fitch, of Nevada,
and several others.

In politics the things done nowadaj's are any-
thing but on all fours with the things done
forty, fifty and sixty years ago. In the early
days there was partisanship, pure and simple.
The line-up in every campaign showed the ad-
herents of one party in diametrical opposi-
tion to the adherents of the other. And those
were the days of whoop-'er-up, of intense en-
thusiasm, (if (.'xcitcment, of deep sustained in-
terest. Street corners were the scenes of ani-
mated discussion. Often the ready fist shot
out when word of mouth failed to .give force'
to the argument. But it was all in the play
and when the curtain fell villain and hero shook
hands and all was well as before.

In San Jose the very strenuous political peri-
od began" in 1865 and ended in 1884. In 1868
Grant and Seymour were the opposing candi-
dates. Meetings were held, not in halls, but
on the street where men could congregate and
where the best places could not be occupied
by the women, who were then non-voters. The
idea in those days was not to give a theatrical
performance to which one must procure a re-
served seat, but to talk to the people without
any other accessories than an improvised
stand, an American flag and a row of tallow
candles. On one occasion — in 1865 — no stand
was used, but at the intersection of Santa
Clara and First streets, mounted on a dry
goods box, the late lamented Thomas H. Laine,
afterwards law partner of John H. Moore, D.
M. Delmas, S. F. Leib and W. A. Johnston,
eloquently enunciated the principles of De-
mocracy, while the yellow torches on the cor-
ners flared, their offensive residuum permeat-
ing the air.

George C. Gorham, then a recently defeated
candidate for governor, afterwards secretary
of the United States Senate and author of
"The Life of Edwin M. Stanton," was Cali-
fornia's most remarkable stump speaker. His
voice was often heard in San Jose. He had
a most remarkable command of vituperative
language and a sledge-hammer style possessed
by no other orator in the State. He was the
first to advocate upon the stump the "Father-
hood of God, Brotherhood of I\Ian" principle.

Citizen George Francis Train was, in his
time the best-known American and the strang-
est man in existence. He started forty clipper
ships to California in 1849, organized the
Credit Mobilier which built the Union Pacific
Railway, constructed the first street railway
in England, organized the French Commune

in 1870, was the business partner of kings,
queens and emperors, was in jail eleven times,
and, to wind up, broke the world's around-the-
world record three times, the first time in
eighty days, a feat that gave Jules Verne the
idea for his captivating story.

In the early '70s he came to California on a
lecturing tour. San Jose was visited and the
lecture was given in the Opera House, which
at the time of opening wa.s- crowded to the
doors. The historian will never forget either
the occasion or the man. His head was much
too large for his short, stoutly-built body, but
physical appearance was forgotten as one
watched his movements and listened to his
talk. Active as a cat and charged with dy-
namic force, he was never still for a moment,
but moved from one end of the stage to the
other, waving his chubby hands and uttering
disconnected, choppy sentences in a manner
that compelled interest and admiration. He
was called a mountebank, a poseur and man
with a screw loose in his upper story, but he
cared not the snap of a finger for what was
said about him, but seemed to delight in the
caustic criticisms that followed him while he
was in the limelight.

Before be.ginning his San Jose lecture he
said to the audience : "They say I am inco-
herent and that I wander from my subject.
Maybe these gentle critics of mine are right,
but I can talk coherently, and I will give you
something that will be to the point. First, I
will present a sample of coherent lecturing
and, following that, a sample of what they
call incoherent lecturing. At the finish you
shall say what style you wish me to use to-
night." Now came the samples. The coherent
one was dry and uninteresting and was re-
ceived in silence. But after the sample of in-
coherent the applause shook the building.
When quiet had been restored Train shouted :
"Now, what will you have?" "Incoherent,"
was the unanimous reply. "All right," Train
said, "incoherent it shall be." Then the circus
opened. The lecturer jumped from one sub-
ject to another, bursts of eloquence were fol-
lowed by clownish jokes, points at times were
driven home with sledge-hammer force, gems
of poetry were sandwiched in between lines
of e.xquisite prose and at intervals came epi-
grams charged with scorn and bitterness, for
in that distempered brain of his burned the
fire of genius. Indeed Train was wonderful
as well as strange, and it Avas easy to under-
stand why he was such a success as a platform
lecturer. After leaving California he returned
to New York, ran as independent candidate
for the presidency, defended Victoria Wood-
hull by publishing extracts from the Bible,
an act that landed him in the Tombs ; threw

128

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

away his money, liehaved more extravagantly
than ever, and then one day closed his lips
and for fourteen years never spoke to man or
woman. Every day during this period he
sat on a bench in Madison Square, feeding the
birds and petting little children. At last
speech and activity came back. He made an-
other around-the-world trip, completing it in
sixty days, and then settled down to a hum-
drum existence in the top story of a New
York hotel. While there he defended his po-
sition in the following characteristic style:
"They say I talk as one out of his head. Why
should I not do so? How can a peanut con-
vention know about a cocoanut? The pea-
nuts composing it have never seen a cocoanut.
They don't know what it is. The peanut con-
vention considers the cocoanut. deliberates
wisel)^ and passes a resolution that the cocoa-
nut is a large peanut. And how can a cocoa-
nut find out what it is like until it has seen
another cocoanut like itself? I am a cocoa-
nut." Train died in ]*50.\ at the age of sev-
enty-four years.

Henry George, the formulator and exponent
of the single-tax theory, wrote "Progress and
Poverty" while acting as editor of the San
Francisco Post. In abbreviated form the mat-
ter was first used as meat for a lecture, and
after San Francisco had been favored with the
radical views of the great editor, George came
to San Jose with his manuscript. Patrick \\'.
Murphy, city editor of the Post, was the busi-
ness manager and the lecture was delivered
in the San Jose Opera House to a small audi-
ence. But the expenses were light and no
money was lost. George took the situation
good-naturedly, for he was a jovial, big-hearted
man. and declared that he was satisfied with
the sowing of the seed and would serenely
await the verdict of time.

While in San Jose, George was the guest
of J. J. Owen, the veteran editor and philoso-
pher. On the afternoon preceding the lecture
George was in Owen's office. .A^mong other
things they discussed the local sensation,
which was of absorbing interest to Owen, who
was an avowed spiritualist. Strange, unac-
countable manifestations had been reported
from a small, one-story house on Fourth Street
near St. John. Spooks, no less, so it was
claimed and generally believed, had repeatedly
liroken windows, thrown stones against the
building and cut up other queer and devilish
pranks. The lessee of the house was a well-
known citizen (now deceased), who was ut-
terly unable to understand why he, of all men,
should be singled out for these satanic mani-
festations. His standing in the community
was high, he had led an upright life and he
was not aware that he had any enemies. The
.s])0()ks— admitting tliat malignant spirits from

the other world had l)een at work — had oper-
ated at all hours, day and night. George
listened to the story, asked a few questions,
and then said: "Let's go down to the house
and investigate. We may stumble upon a
clew. I don't take any stock in this spook
lousiness." Owen smiled but did not express
any opinion. The historian, who was then
doing reportorial work for Owen, accompanied
the two editors to the house of mystery. The
lessee was not at home, but his daughter was
there. She smiled cynically as she bade the
trio enter the living room, which fronted on
the street. It was noticed on entering that
some of the panes in the two front windows
were broken. George examined the breaks
and then addressed himself to the girl, who
sat, sullen and defiant, near the door opening
into the kitchen. The door was closed and
there was no sound to indicate the presence
of any other person in the house. Owen
asked if the mother was at home. The girl
shook her head. She was rather attractive,
with her black hair and eyes, pale cheeks and
tip-tilted nose. But her expression registered
resentment rather than pleasure, over the
coming of the investigators. Her story tallied
with that given by her father. The mysteri-
ous manifestations had occurred at all hours
of the day and night. She had no theory to
advance. The stones might have been thrown
by evil spirits or by some human enemy cun-
ning enough to escape detection.

After the inquisition Owen and George, with
this historian at their heels, looked into and
examined every room in the house. Nothing
of value as a clew having been discovered, the
three newspaper men returned to the living
room, the girl following them. She resumed
her former seat and listened with an amused
smile while George and Owen discussed
spooks, politics and religion. At last George,
changing the subject, said to Owen: "Have
you made up your mind?" Owen was about
to answer when there came a noise as of the
shattering of glass. The investigators, quickly
getting to their feet, saw that another pane
had been broken. "Well," ejaculated George,
"his spookship is considerate. That show
was given for our benefit. Thank you. Spooky.
Maybe" — he smiled at the girl, who sat star-
ing at the window with her hands* concealed
in her apron — "Maybe this is a case of hoisting
by one's own petard." Walking over to the
window, he examined thoroughly pane, sash
and floor, then opened the front door and
stejjped outside. He was gone but a few mo-
ments. Returning, he looked at the girl stead-
ilv. accusingly. She stood the scrutiny half
a minute, then cast down her eyes and fum-
bled nervously with her hands, still concealed
under her apron. She did not lift her eyes

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

129

while George was speaking. "Miss ," he

said, gravely, "the stone was thrown from this
room, therefore — " He paused and the girl
burst out: "It's no use trying to fool you.
How did you find it out?" "Easy enough.
The glass broken by the smash is on the
ground outside and not in this room." Then
he added, "Why did you do it? You must
have !iad some strong reason." "I had," was
the low reply. Her story was soon told. She
hated the house and had been trying for
months to induce her fatlier to move to another
place. Unable to influence him, she had hit
upon the device of scaring him into compli-
ance. The scheme might have succeeded but
for Henry George's astuteness.

The story ended, the girl fell to crying. Her
father would never forgive her. She had a
mind to run away and never come back. Her
life was ruined, and so forth, and so forth.
George was kind and sympathetic. His sooth-
ing words soon dried her tears. There was a
way out of the tangle and he promised to find
it before he left town. He was as good as his
word. The father was seen and after much
persuasion agreed to take another house, and
also never to reproach his daughter for what
she had done. That ended the matter. The
manifestations ceased and Henry George left
town in a satisfied frame of mind. He had not
made any money in San Jose, but he had had
a fine time.

Bret Harte made several visits to San Jose
while he was eflitnr of the 0\erland Monthly.
One-visit lasted sc\it;i1 ilri\s. It was shortly
after the publication ol lu> first book of poems,
"The Lost Galleon." He is remembered as a
small, dapper, elegantly clothed person, with
Ijlack mustachios and "burnsides" and a pock-
marked face.

]\Iark Twain was in San Jose a few days
before his lecture. This was in 1866. His
controversy with \\'. Frank Stewart, the earth-
c(uake philosopher, has been referred to in an
earlier chapter.

In the Society chapter reference was made
to the visits to San Jose of Presidents Mc-
Kinley and Roosevelt. Other Presidents who
came before them were Hayes, Grant and Har-
rison. Hayes was in the middle of his term
when he made the overland trip to California.
There was not much fuss made over his ar-
rival, though a large crowd gathered to listen
to his address, made from the balcony of the
.\uzerais House. He was accompanied by
Gen. W. T. Sherman.

President Harrison's visit was a flying one.
He alighted from the train at the Market Street
depot, was driven rapidly about town and then
back to the train. He made one speech, short
and to the point, like all his public utterances.

The great ovation was given to Gen. U S
Grant on September 26, 1879. In honor of
the event business houses generally were
closed, the courts took a half-holiday, and the
city was given an attractive gala-day appear-
ance. Nearly all the public structures and
business blocks were profusely and hand-
somely decorated with flags, shields and fes-
toonmgs of red, white and blue, while private
dwellings along the line of march were simi-
larly arrayed and bedecked. It was estimated
at the time that more than 20,000 people, in
holiday attire, awaited the coming of the man
who had reflected such honor upon .his coun-
try. Military and civic organizations took
part in the parade, the late W. T. Adel acting
as grand marshal, with Capt. Ira Moore and
A. P. Murgotten as aids. The former resi-
dents of Galena, III, Grant's old home, were
represented by Judge Chas. G. Thomas, G. J.
Overshiner, C. O. Rogers, O. C. Wells and C.
Bellingall. At the depot Mayor Lawrence
Archer delivered the address of welcome. The
reception committee consisted of W. D. Tis-
dale, T. Ellard Beans, Rev. M. S. Levy, Capt.
C. H. Maddox and J. J. Owen. The torn, tat-
tered and faded battle flag carried bv D. C.
Vestal, as color-bearer of Phil Sheridan Post,
e-xcited much comment, and its history would
not be out of place here. It belonged in 1864
to the Twenty-first Regiment, South Carolina
Colored Volunteers, commanded by Col. A. G.
Bennett, afterwards of San Jose, and was the
first Union flag raised in Charleston after that
city's surrender to and occupation by the Union
forces. Five color-bearers were shot down
while carrying it, and every hole in it was
made by a Confederate bullet.

General Grant and party, which included
Mrs. Grant and Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., received
a pleasant surprise when the procession ap-
proached the Court House. Upon the steps
and platform were congregated some 500 chil-
dren, each one tastefully arrayed in white with
red and blue ornamentations and bearing a
small flag and a bouquet of flowers. The gen-
eral's carriage was driven to the edge of the
sidewalk and halted. Then the children, un-
der the direction of Professor Elwood, struck
up the National anthem, "America," singing
the four stanzas with such spirit and feeling
as made the welkin ring. At the close three
cheers were given to General Grant and then
came a shower of bouquets thrown at the car-
riage. After the procession had disbanded the
general was driven to the Fair Grounds on
the Alameda, where a running horse race,
against time, had been arranged for his benefit.
In the evening a banquet was given at the
Auzerais House. Mayor Archer presided and
Col. J. P. Jackson of San Francisco made the

130

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

response for General Grant. The following
were present :

Ladies — Mrs. U. S. Grant. Mrs. ^Lnyor Bry-
ant of San Francisco, }ilrs. Mavor Archer.
Mrs. S. O. Houghton. Mrs. T. Ellard Beans.
Mrs. B. D. Murphy, Mrs. C. H. Maddox, Mrs.
H. W. Scale. Mrs. Knox-Goodrich. Mrs. Ira
Moore, Mrs. G. R. Baker, Mrs. F. E. Spencer,
Mrs. J. J. Owen. Mrs. Gov. Irwin, Mrs. Cole-
man Younger. Mrs. J. A. Moultrie. Mrs. J. \V.
Cook. Mrs. W. T. Adel. Mrs. Johnson, Mrs.

A. L. Rhodes. Mrs. ]. H. Moore.
Gentlemen— L. Afcher, \V. D. Tisdale, AY.

L. Tisdale. T. E. Beans, E. McLaughlin, C. T.
Rvland, J. M. Bralev. E. McLaughlin. H. H.
Hoflfmann. H. B. Alvord. C. T. Parks. W. Erk-
son. J. J. Burt, L. G. Nesmith, John T. Ma-
lone, H. L. Cutter, C. C. Stephens, Martin
Murphy, T. W. Spring. D. C. Vestal, ^V. S.
Thorne, A. AIcMahon, W. L. Coombs. L. Fin-
igan, H. M. Leonard, J. P. Pierce. M. Byrne,
Ira Moore. R. F. Peckham. J. W. Cook, W. F.
Ellis. \V. M. Lovell, S. O. Houghton, C. H.
Maddox, S. W. Boring, S. A. Clark, Levi Good-
rich. T. H. Flickinger, L. Lion. D. Belden, B.

D. M'urphv, P. W. Murphv. E. C. Singletarv,

E. P. Reed, James A. Clayton. D. C. Bailev,
S. F. Leib, Geo. L. Woods. G. F. Baker, A.
E. Pomerov, H. W. Scale, J. T- Sonthcimer, J.
J. Owen. Miles Hills, N. R. Harris. N. B. Ed-
wards, J. N. Hammond. T- R- Lowe, S. A.
Barker, C. G. Thomas, J. S.Seely, C. X. Hobbs,

B. B. Thaver. L. J. Hanchett, J. P. Sargent,

C. E. White, W. S. Clark, Wilson Hays, J. B.
Randol, W. T. Adel, A. Whitton, Coleman
Younger, M. J. Ashmore, Jesse D. Carr, J. C.
Zuck, F. E. Spencer, C. C. Havward. A. W.
Saxe, A. L. Rhodes. Geo. Rutherford. J. T.
Murphy and C. G. Harrison.

San Francisco — U. S. Grant, A. ]. Brvant, J.
H. Smith, W. W. Dodge. A. M. Scott^ M. L.
McDonald, J. P. Jackson, E. Danforth, M. D.
Bornck, H. Brickwedel, John Wise and Henry
Pierce.

Lecturers from over the sea who came to
San Jose were T. P. O'Connor, Michael Davitt
and Timothy Hcaley, Irish patriots. From the
East came Robert G. Ingersoll, Henry Ward
Beccher, Theodore Tilton, Col. E. Z. 'C. Jud-
son, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Dr. Mary
Walker, Anna Howard Shaw, Anna Dickinson
Mrs. Mary A. Livermore, Dr. Mary Walker
and Oscar Wilde. The lectures of Beecher
and Ingersoll were not far apart, but their
speaking styles were as far apart as the
poles. Beecher was ornate, flowery and
serious. He was eloquent in a lofty way and
his voice was a volume of musical sound. But
he never thrilled an audience as Ingersoll
thrilled it. Ingersoll possessed a personal mag-
netism more seductive than any speaker who
ever visited San Jose. .'\t his first lecture,

given in Music Hall on First Street, the front
bench was occupied mainly by ministers of
the local Protestant churches, gathered there
out of curiosity. Before and after the lecture
they called Ingersoll a sophist, one who
touched insignificant errors but failed to sound
the depths of Christian philosophy as revealed
in the pages of the Bible. But that night they
were so carried away by the great agnostic's
quips and quirks that their laughter, chuckles
and unconscious movements broke down the
bench upon which the}' were sitting, thus cre-
ating a diversion that greatly amused the lec-
turer and caused a laughable commotion in
other parts of the hall.

Theodore Tilton was stiff, stilted and self-
conscious. He had a fine command of lan-
guage, but his mannerisms, his posings and
his conceit combined to create an unfavorable
impression. He came to San Jose just after
the celebrated trial in Brooklyn of the re-
nowned Tabernacle preacher, and his notoriety
— not his fame as a public speaker — had the
effect of drawing to his lecture a very large
audience.

Mrs. Stanton produced an altogether differ-
ent impression. She was easy, graceful and
earnest, spoke without effort and made her
points without artifice. Anna Howard Shaw
and Anna Dickinson were polished speakers.
Miss Dickinson was the more dramatic.

Of the Irish lecturers. Healey and Davitt
were serious and impassioned. O'Connor (Tay
Pay) was serious and witty by turns, and his
talk was therefore more entertaining thaa that
of his fellow-workers in the Irish cause.

In the '80s the annual encampment of the
National Grand Army of the Republic was
held in California. After the session San Jose
was visited by a large number of delegates,
the number including Gens. John A. Logan,
C. S. Fairchild. and George Stoneman. At the
time Stoneman was Governor of California.
Before this event Gen. W. S. Hancock had
been in San Jose. Of the warriors, Logan, as
a speaker, was eloquent, impressive and force-
ful. With his long hair, once raven-black but ,
now streaked with gray, his flashing black eyes
and handsome features, he made a picture that
was pleasing to look upon. General Hancock
was not an orator. He was over six feet in
height, ponderous and heavy, and moved
slowly, as if he found it an effort to lift his
feet. He spoke haltingly, but made a good
impression on account of his transparent hon-
esty and unaffected manner.

In later days came Josh Billings, Opie Read,
James Whitcomb Riley, Bill Nye, Geo. W.
Cable, Geo. Alfred Townsend, Jack London,
Joaquin Miller, Mrs. Mary Austen, King Kala-
kaua, of the Hawaiian Islands, Gen. John C.
Fremont, \\illiam T- Bryan. Booker Wash-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

131

ington, Thomas B. Reetl. and several other
notables whose names cannot be recalled.
Bryan's first visit to San Jose was made in
1897, the year after he was defeated for the
presidency by William McKinley. There was
quite a demonstration when he arrived with
James G. Maguire, congressman from the San
Francisco district. He spoke at the Fair
Grounds before a large audience and after-
\vards held a reception at the Hotel Vendome.

General Fremont visited San Jose a few-
years before his death. He was the guest of
the Santa Clara County Pioneers, and after
sightseeing in San Jose the General and his
wife were taken to the Big Trees in Santa
Cruz County, where an old-fashioned enter-
tainment was provided.

One whose career was one series of sensa-
tional adventures and whose reputation dur-
ing the '50s and '60s was world-wide, stayed
in San Jose for several weeks in 1868. The
man was Col. E. Z. C. Judson (Ned Buntline),
who was the originator in the United States
of the dime novel. He was also the pioneer in
the writing of lurid fiction. He was a grad-
uate of the Annapolis Naval Academy and was
commissioned midshipman for bravery in res-
cuing a boat's crew from drowning in New
York harbor. While in the navy he fought
seven duels. His fellow-middies refused to as-
sociate themselves with him because he had
been a common sailor. To enforce their re-
spect he challenged all of them, thirteen in
number, to mortal combat. Only seven agreed
to fight, and he worsted them all in quick suc-
cession without receiving a scratch himself.
One of his opponents was afterwards an ad-
miral in the navy. He uas an active partici-
pant in the Florida ( Indian) and ^Iexican
wars, and in the Civil War was the colonel of
a regiment of mountaineers. He was a crack
shot and in the '70s. in a trial of skill with
Buffalo Bill, Texas Jack and a number of In-
dian chiefs, he easily proved his superiority.

He began to write fiction in the early '40s.
In 1848 he started a paper in New York in
order to further the cause of Know-Nothing-
ism, of which he was an ardent and reckless
supporter. In that same year he was sentenced
to one year's confinement in prison as one of
the leaders in the Astor House riots when the
adherents of Edwin Forrest, the great Ameri-
can tragedian, attempted to mob W. C. Mac-
ready, the English tragedian, as a reprisal for

insults heaped upon Forrest by Macready's
English friends while Forrest was filling a
London engagement. He was one of the pio-
neers in waging war against the publication
and circulation of immoral literature. In 1852,
long before Anthony Comstock was in the
field, he made complaint against an offending
publisher. The place was raided by the police
and tons of ol)jectionable literature were seized
and burned in City Hall Park.

Ned Buntline's first serial story appeared in
1857, and for over twenty j-ears bear and In-
dian stories, war and sea romances, local nov-
els— in fact every variety of sensational fiction
— (lowed in constant stream from his pen. In
1868 he came to California as a temperance
lecturer. He had been a hard drinker, but had
reformed. During his sta\- in San Jose he de-
livered one of his lectures under the auspices
of the local Good Templar lodge. Of the com-
mittee of introduction only one member is
now living (\'^22). the veteran lawyer. J. C.
Black, whd afterwards served as district attor-
ney and was special prosecutor in several nota-
ble criminal cases.

After leaving San Jose Buntline started east-
ward, but laid over several months in Laramie,
Wyo., in order to obtain material for a new
series of wild west stories. Here he met Buf-
falo Bill, who had just completed a contract
to supply buffalo meat for the tracklayers of
the Kansas Pacific Railway, and whose repu-
tation then was mainly local. The two men
became fast friends and a short time after their
meeting- Buntline sent the first Buffalo Bill
romance to a New York story paper. Other
stories quickly followed, and within a year
Buffalo Bill became the most talked-of person-
age in America. Not content with newspaper
exploitation, Buntline wrote a play called
"Buffalo Bill, the King of Scouts," and induced
Bill to appear in the titular role. The first per-
formance was given in a Western city. Other
plays starring Buffalo Bill were written, a
company was formed. Wild Bill and Texas
Jack becoming members, and a tour of the
country was made, San Jose being visited in
1877. After parting with Buffalo Bill. Bunt-
line resumed his temperance crusade, but still
kept up his story-writing. A large portion of
the money he earned was spent in improving
his country place in Westchester County, New
York. He married late in life and died in 1886.

CHAPTER XL

Santa Clara County During the Civil War — Many Companies Formed —
Confederate Sympathizers Take to Robbery — The Fight on the New
Almaden Road — Excitement Over the Death of Abraham Lincoln.

Santa Clara County was loyal during; the
Civil War, which opened in 1861. It furnished
both money and men to the Union cause.
Many thousands of dollars were contributed
and placed at the disposal of the Sanitary Com-
mission, and more volunteer soldiers were ten-
dered than were required. The majority of
the volunteers were either retained in the
state or sent to Arizona and New Mexico.
There was no draft ever ordered in California
to secure her proportion of troops, while there
was always a reserve of volunteers, organized
under the state laws, more than sufficient for
any emergency that might arise. California
was far from the center of government, with
a long line of exposed seacoast which, in case
of foreign complications, was subject to attack.
For this reason it was necessary that the great
bulk of the population should remain at home
for self-protection. Man}' men went to San
Francisco and other cities, not being able to
enlist at home on account of the filling of the
quota. Some enlisted in the California Bat-
talion. Two San Joseans, W. H. Lawrence and
George W. Lee, joined the battalion and were
prisoners in Andersonville. Mr. LavVrence is
still a resident of the city. Mr. Lee removed
to Santa Cruz in 1919. Other members from
Santa Clara County were Abe Withrow and
Warren Wood of Santa Clara, and James
Hacket of San Jose.

Of those who enlisted in San Jose, there is
record of the following :

San Jose Volunteers, afterwards Company
C, First Regiment, Infantry. Organized in San
Jose, June 21. 1861, as follows: H. .•\. Gorley,
captain; John Martin, first lieutenant; D. C.
Vestal, second lieutenant; S. C. Thomas, third
lieutenant; M. Pulaski, first sergeant; J. H.
Murphy, second sergeant ; Edgar Pomeroy,
third sergeant; T. J. Cuiston, third sergeant;
John Mulholland, first corporal ; W. M. Owen,
second corporal ; David Downer, third cor-
poral ; Randolph Leavenworth, fourth corporal.
The celebration of the Fourth of July in that
year was marred by a painful accident where-
by Gorley, Martin and Ed Morton were injured
while firing a national salute. The company
was reorganized as veterans at Las Cruces,
N. M., November 29. 1864. During the war
there were many desperate engagements with
Indians. Lieutenant \'estal, with his com-

pany, assisted in the capture of the notorious
Showalter and his band. The company, while
in the desert, marched over 2,000 miles.

Second Regiment, Infantry — Organized No-
vember 29, 1861. The Santa Clara County men
in this regiment were generally credited to
Mayfield. T. C. Winchell was adjutant; Mont-
gomery Maze (afterwards a searcher of rec-
ords in San Jose), \yas second lieutenant of
Company A and C. P. Fairfield was first lieu-
tenant of Company I.

Third Regiment, Infantry — Organized in
1861. Served in Utah and 'Colorado. J. C.
Alerrill was captain of Company B. There
were Santa Clara County men in Companies
D, E and G. William J. Colahan, deceased,
was in Company G.

Eighth Regiment, Infantry — Company C
was organized in San Jose in 1864. After be-
ing mustered in, the regiment was stationed at
Fort Point, California.

First Battalion of Mountaineers — Organized
in 1862. Served in the mountain campaigns
against the hostile Indians in California and
Nevada. George W. Owsley was captain of
Company B.

First Cavalry Regiment — Company E organ-
ized in August, 1861. Served in Arizona, New
Mexico and Texas. Engaged against the
Kiowa, Comanche, Navajo and Apache In-
dians. There were also Santa Clara men in
Companies I and L of this regiment.

First Battalion of Native Cavalry — Company
A was organized in 1863 by Captain J. R. Pico.
Served in California and Arizona. The bat-
talion was composed mainly of native Cali-
fornians.

In addition to the foregoing troops, the fol-
lowing organizations were held for state
service : '

First Regiment, Cavalry — Company E : H.
M. Leonard, captain; E. Vandyne. first lieuten-
ant; D. J. Burnett, second lieutenant; H. C.
Morrell, Jr., third lieutenant. Si.xty men in
the company, all armed.

Company I, Burnett Light Horse Guard — J.
R. Hall, captain; P. Henry, first lieutenant; J.
Chrisman, senior second lieutenant; .A.. J. Fow-
ler, junior second lieutenant. Fifty men in the
company, all armed.

Company K. New .\lmaden Cavalry — L. F.
Parker, captain: J. P. Dudley, first lieutenant;

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

133

H. H. Curtis, senior second lieutenant: A. F.
Foster, junior second lieutenant. Forty men
in the company, all armed.

National Light Artillery — S. O. Houghton,
captain; C. T. Henley, first lieutenant; Jacob
\\'eigant, junior first lieutenant ; N. P.. Ed-
wards, senior second lieutenant ; Edward Ladd,
junior second lieutenant.

Fifth Regiment, Infantry — A. Jones Jackson,
colonel ; A. B. Rowley, lieutenant-colonel ; J.
Porter, major; J. O. Wanzer, adjutant; Chas.
N. Senter, regimental quartermaster ; A. J.
Cory, surgeon.

Company A, Union Guard — Chas. P. Crit-
tenden, captain ; E. J. Morton, first lieutenant ;
George Evans, senior second lieutenant ; N.
Klein, junior second lieutenant. Sixty men,
armed with rifles.

Company B, San Jose Zouaves — A. W.
White, captain ; M. Campbell, first lieutenant ;
F. B. Fuller, senior second lieutenant ; W. T.
Adel, junior second lieutenant. Eighty men,
armed with rifle muskets.

Company C, Alviso Rifles— Thatcher F.
Barnes, captain; John Root, first lieutenant;
Edward W. Williams, senior second lieuten-
ant; Charles E. Morrison, junior second lieu-
tenant. Sixty men, armed with rifle muskets.
Company E. Gilroy Guards — John H. Ad-
ams, captain; William O. Barker, first lieuten-
ant; William Van Gundy, junior second lieu-
tenant. Forty men, armed with rifle muskets.
Company H, Santa Clara Guard — William
H. Swope, first lieutenant; W. H. Menton,
senior second lieutenant ; A. F. Harlow, junior
second lieutenant. Sixty men, armed with
rifle muskets.

Johnson Guard, unattached — John M. Mur-
phy, captain ; N. B. Edwards, first lieutenant ;
J. F. Faulkner, senior second lieutenant; P. W.
Riordan, junior second lieutenant. Fifty men,
armed with muskets.

In 1864 a company of men, representing the
Confederate government, was organized for
the purpose of raising money for the Confed-
erate cause by robbing stages and banks in
California. Several recruits were obtained in
Santa Clara County. In May of that year two
Wells-Fargo stages were stopped near Placer-
ville by this band, then under the command of
Ralph Henry, alias Ingraham. He gave a re-
ceipt for the several hundred pounds of bul-
lion taken from the stages, stating that he was
acting for Jefferson Davis. A day or two after
the robbery Deputy Sheriff Staples of El Do-
rado County came upon the gang in a house
in the mountains, and without sufficient assist-
ance attempted to arrest them. He was killed
in the attempt. A man named Poole was
wounded in the fight and captured. The other
members of the band escaped. The captive

made a confession, in which he named the
members of the gang.

On the night of Thursday, July 14, between
nine and ten o'clock, three men called at the
house of a Mr. Hill on the New Almaden road,
a few miles from San Jose, and asked permis-
sion to stay overnight, stating that they were
looking for some friends who would pass that
way. Air. Hill directed them to an unoccupied
building close by, saying that if they could put
up with such poor accommodation they were
welcome to the use of it. The three men re-
mained in the building all night and all the
next day. Thinking that the actions of the
men were rather suspicious. Hill came to San
Jose and told his story to the officers. Sheriff
John H. Adams at once organized a posse, con-
sisting of Deputy Sheriff's G. W. Reynolds,
Fred ^lorris and j. M. Brownlee, Marshal Pot-
ter, Constable Scott and Citizens Senter,
Wiles. Bowman and Gould, and proceeded to
the Hill ranch. They arrived at night. The
building was surrounded and Sheriff Adams,
in a loud voice, commanded the three men to
come out and surrender. But the men, who
were members of the Ingraham gang, had re-
solved to sell their lives dearly. Rushing out.
thev commenced firing at the officers. During
the' fusillade John Creal, one of the robbers,
received three bullet wounds, either of which
would have caused his death. He was brought
to San Jose and died an hour after his arrival.
Ab. Gillespie, or Glasby, another of the trio,
had the handle of his pistol shot away, his
clothes were perforated with bullets, but no
wound was inflicted. He was soon overpow-
ered and handcuffed. John Clendennin, the
third robber, after firing twice point-blank at
Sheriff Adams, and receiving a settler in re-
turn, jumped over a fence and fled in the di-
rection of The Willows, wdiere he was found
about midnight, in a dying condition, bv Un-
der Sheriff R. B. Hall and J. R. Lowe. Jr., of
another party who had gone in search of the
fugitive. He was taken to the county jail and
died the next day.

One of the shots from Clendennin's pistol,
aimed at Sheriff Adams' heart, struck a watch
in the pocket of his vest and then glanced into
the body, inflicting a slight wound. Brownlee
received two flesh wounds in the leg. Creal
fired eight shots before he fell and was at-
tempting to use his pistol after he was down,
but was prevented from doing so by Deputy
Sheriff Reynolds. When found in The Wil-
lows, Clendennin had two revolvers and a bag
of gold dust on his person. It was believed
that the object of the three men in stationing
themselves on the New Almaden road was to
rob the stage as it came along with gold to pay
the miners on the hill.

134

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUXTY

Aniitlier meml)er of the Confederate band
was John Grant, who, having had difficulty
with Captain Ingraham, determined to play the
role of a lone highwayman. In July word
came that he was in San Juan and would
shortly pay a visit to a young woman who
lived near Forbes' mill, Los Gatos. Under
Sheriff Hall, accompanied by Charles Potter
and John Ward, went to Los Gatos and located
the house where Grant was staying. He was
in bed and the arrest was easily accomplished.
As the officers and their prisoner were prepar-
ing to leave, Grant, though handcuffed, seized
Hall's gun and rushed for the door, Hall after
him. Grant tried to use the gun. but the hand-
cuffs were in the way and he was seized just
as he reached the outer door. , At the moment
of the rearrest someone of Hall's party fired
both barrels of a shotgun at Grant, severely
wounding him. He was brought to San Jose
and lodged in jail.

It was during war times that the ]\Iethodist
Church at Berryessa was burned to the ground.
The act was attributed to one or more mem-
bers of the Dick Baker gang of Confederates,
whose operations in aid of the Southern cause
were mainly in the line of horse-stealing. The
gang was finally scattered, some members go-
ing to the Southern States, others to Arizona
and Mexico.

When the news of the assassination of Abra-
ham Lincoln reached San Jose there was at
first a stillness as if the population had been
stricken with mental paralysis. Then excite-
ment grew until it reached fever heat. The
residents were composed of two elements, the
northerners and the majority of the western-
ers who upheld the cause of the Union ; and
the southerners and southwesterners, who
sympathized with the cause of the Confeder-
acy. Good, honest, substantial men on each
side, but divided in opinion by the effect of
early environment. Among the Confederate
sympathizers were many of San Jose's promi-
nent men. In the country districts the same
conditions prevailed. While the excitement
over the death of Lincoln was at its height
some of the southerners were so indiscreet as
to publicly express their joy over the death of
a man who had been pictured to them as a
human gorilla and a negro lover. The Union
men were in a majority and whenever an anti-

Union sentiment found utterance the speaker
was quieth- placed under arrest. Several prom-
inent citizens were conveyed to Alcatraz
prison, San Francisco Bay, but their term of
imprisonment was short, for after partisan
bitterness had been partially allayed their re-
lease was ordered and they came back to their
farms and business.

It was while arrests were being made that a
tall countryman passed the Auzerais House
shouting, "Hurrah for Jeft." He was promptly
seized by indignant Unionists and would have
been hustled off to jail if he had not made vig-
orous and what seemed to be honest protest.
"Why, I'm no reb," he declared. "I didn't
mean Jeff Davis when I hurrahed. I meant
the milkman — George H. Jefferson. I was
having a bit of fun ; had been taking a few
drinks and wasn't at myself. That's true,
boys, as true as preaching." His captors looked
at the smiling face, noted the alcoholic condi-
tion of the man, and concluded to give him
the benefit of the doubt.

A short time before Lincoln's death a num-
Ijer of San Jose young men, born in the South
and filled with the desire to do something for
the Confederate cause, met in secret and con-
cocted a scheme to ride into San Jose some
morning after the stores had opened and there
were few people about, and rob safes and tills,
hoping by this daring operation to secure
enough money to take them out of the state
find into Confederate territory. The plot had
been fully arranged and all was ready for the
raid when the news of Lincoln's assassination
arrived. In the excitement over the event the
scheme was dropped. The story of it was told
to the historian years afterwards by one of
the plotters, a man who stood high in the esti-
mation of his fellow-citizens. He seemed to
regard the affair as a joke, though he was
glad that the robbery had not been attempted.
He died many years ago and not one of his
associates is now in the land of the living.

Times have changed since the days of the
Civil W'ar. Nowadays veterans of the South-
ern Confederacy meet, shake hands and ex-
change reminiscences with the veterans of the
Grand Army of the Republic. Not only that,
but their sons and grandsons bunk and fight
together as Americans. This is as it should be.

CHAPTER XII.

The Fruit Industry of the County — The Largest Prune Producing Section in
the State — History of the Development — Introduction of the French
Prune — The First Fruit Cannery — The Vineyards and OHve Orchards —
When Artesian Water Was First Obtained — Farm Loan Board — CaH-
fornia Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc. — Some Interesting Statistics.

Santa Clara County is the banner fruit-
producing county of the state. In 1919 there
were 98,152 acres planted in fruit trees and
2,850 acres in vines. The total acreage of ce-
reals, vegetables and berries was 86,695. The
live stock numbers 62,248; value $1,288,175. It
is the prune center of America. More prunes
are grown in this valley than are produced in
the whole United States outside. In 1919 the
number of prune trees was 7,652,000. Apricots
came ne.xt with 665,000, peaches third with
482,000, and cherries fourth with 380,000 trees.
In 1919 the orchardists of the county received
about $49,000,000 from the products of their
trees. This was irrespective of the money
made by the canners and packers. The grow-
ers might not have obtained high prices had
it not been for the efforts of the California
Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc., an organiza-
tion perfected three years ago for the purpose
of creating stable prices and protecting the
orchardists of California. In 1919 it operated
with 75 per cent of the prune and apricot acre-
age of the state. In December of that year a
campaign to hold, if not increase, its strength
resulted in the securing of about 80 per cent
of the acreage. The association occupies a
large, handsome and commodious building on
the southeast corner of Market and San An-
tonio Streets, employs a large force of men
and women and does business every month
in the year. The officers are: T. S. Mont-
gomery, president ; W. A. Yerxa, vice-presi-
dent: H. G. Coykendall, general manager; H.
C. Dunlap, secretary and treasurer, and J. T.
Brooks, manager of Growers' Information Bu-
reau. T. S. Montgomery, H. G. Coykendall,
W. G. Alexander, H. C. Dunlap and A. Kam-
merer form the executive committee. The di-
rectors are W. A. Yer.xa, Princeton; H. C.
Dunlap, Yountville; Mark L. McDonald,
Santa Rosa; G. C. Alexander, Healdsburg; T.
S. Montgomery, San Jose; H. G. Coykendall,
Cupertino; J. O. Hayes, San Jose; A. Kam-
merer, San Jose ; Nathan Lester, Santa Clara ;
L. E. Mills, Santa Paula; C. G. Hamilton,
Hemet, and W. J. Fulgham, Visalia. In 1921
a campaign resulted in giving the association
control of over 80 per cent of the state acre-

age for the next seven years. All the officers
were reelected.

As Santa Clara County is the largest fruit
district in California, it follows as a matter of
course that it is the largest canning and pack-
ing district in the state. There are (1922)
thirty packing houses owned and oper-
ated by the California Prune and Apricot
Growers, Inc., nine affiliated with that organ-
ization and eighteen independent packers,
most of them operating in San Jose. There
are forty canning factories in the county.
One of these, the Co-operative plant, is the
largest in the world. In 1921 it absorbed
30,000 tons of fruit and employed nearly 1,000
people. In the busy season of that year the
combined county payroll reached over two
million dollars. A number of new canneries
and factories will be built this year, for the
business is increasing by leaps and bounds.
There are several dehydrating plants in the
county to take care of grapes, strawberries,
prunes and other fruits and berries.

Practically all varieties of fruits and vege-
tables except the tropical ones can be grown
successfully in Santa Clara County. The prox-
imity of the center of population and the ex-
cellent transportation facilities have been great
aids in the development of the valley.

The history of the fruit industry in the
county is an interesting one. The adaptability
of the climate and soil for horticultural pur-
poses became apparent long before the first
Americans visited the valley. The Fathers
who planted the Missions, planted orchards
at the same time, and found a full return for
all their labor. The fertility of the soil was
supplemented by a peculiarity of climate that
enabled trees to grow many more weeks in the
year than in other countries, while during the
season of rest there was no freezing weather
to chill their sap or delay their progress in the
spring. The result was that a very few seasons
brought orchards to a condition of fruitfulness.
.\11 this was demonstrated by the e.xperience of
the Fathers at the Missions, but even with this
e.xperience before them, the early horticultur-
ists of the valley were astonished by the re-
sults of their work.

136

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

The Mission orchard at Santa Clara was the
only source of fruit supply to the valley for
many years. It furnished stock for the few
orchards that were planted in the early years
of the American occupation. These plantings
were few at first, o^ving to the gold excite-
ment, but when people began to return from
the mines the plantings became more numer-
ous. The scarcity of fruit and consequent high
prices gave a great stimulus to horticulture.
Apples imported from San Francisco sold for
a dollar apiece, and other fruits in proportion.
The first orchards planted after the Ameri-
can occupation, with the exception of a few
I>rivate trees, were by E. W. Case, William
Daniels and Joseph Aram. Case's orchard
was about 350 trees and was on property front-
ing on the Alviso road. Aram's orchard was
of twenty acres and was situated where the
Woolen Mills were afterwards built. Daniels'
orchard was about one acre and was in the
northern part of town, on a tract lying be-
tween Julian and St. James, Market and First
streets. Part of the trees planted by these
San Joseans were furnished by a man named
Ganz and were brought from Ohio. This was
in 1852. In the succeeding year Case and Aram
imported more trees from the nursery of
Charles Hovey. Cambridge, Massachusetts.

One of the popular fall eating apples of Cen-
tral California is the Skinner seedling. It is
a San Jose production and originated from
seeds brought across the plains" by the late
Judge Henry C. Skinner. He was one of the
pioneer orchardists of the city and one of the
promoters of the Santa Clara' County Agricul-
tural Society. He arrived in San Jose in 1850
and purchased the family residence of Harry
Bee at the northwest corner of Julian and
Nineteenth (then Fifteenth) streets. The
grounds were spacious, extending to Coyote
Creek, and were enlarged by the purchase of
many acres in what is now East San Jose.

In the spring of 1852 Commodore Stockton,
who then owned the Potrero de Santa Clara
rancho, which lies between San Jose and
Santa Clara, imported from Hovey's Massa-
chusetts nursery a large number o'f trees for
the purpose of starting a nursery. With these
trees came a professional botanist named Shel-
don, with B. S. Fox and Thomas Egan as as-
sistants. Sheldon died on the Isthmus and
Fox took charge of the enterprise, Egan as-
sisting. With the party came also J. F. Ken-
nedy as salesman and commercial agent. The
nursery was established in .Vpril, 1853, and for
some time was the depot for nursery supplies
for the valley. The trees consisted of apples,
peaches, pears, plums, nectarines and apricots.
With this importation came also the first
strawl)erries grown in the county.

In 1854-55 a Frenchman named Lavalle im-
ported fruit trees and planted them in both
nursery and orchard form on the property ly-
ing north and west of Julian Street and owned
by Peter O. Minor. He planted two acres and
afterwards removed the trees to the west side
of the Coyote on the property of the late Ed-
ward McLaughlin. In 1855-56 he had a very
large collection of trees in his nursery, which
he afterwards sold to H. H. Winchell, China
Smith and William Smith, and they continued
the nursery business for some years thereafter.
L. A. Gould and B. F. Walkins planted three
orchards and nurseries at Santa Clara at about
the same time. J. A. Ballou, who was at that
time employed in the Case orchard, and who
at ninety-five years of age is still living, says
that from the 300 trees planted then, about
800 pounds, mostly apples, were produced.

During 1856 the State Horticultural Society
held a fair in San Jose, and from the exhibi-
tion the reputation of Santa Clara County
fruit spread and people came hundreds of
miles to see it.

In 1853 a Horticultural Society was formed
in San Jose. The meeting for the organization
was held on the grounds of Louis Prevost un-
der a giant live oak tree. There were present
William Daniels, Louis Prevost, Louis Pellier,
J. R. Bontemps, B. S. Fox and E. W. Case.
Nearly all the old-time fruit growers became
members. The names of Joseph Aram, R. G.
Moody, Davis Divine, L. A. Gould and John
Llewelling appear in the list. This pioneer
society afterwards united with the Agricul-
tural Society. Both societies ceased to exist
many years ago.

In 1856 nearly all of these early orchards
had commenced to bear, and the quality of the
fruit and the promise of extraordinary produc-
tion gave these pioneer orchardists an idea of
the remarkable resources of climate and soil.
This year stands out prominentl)- as the date
of the introduction of the French prune to this
county, and in fact, to this coast. The fruit
has become a standard and will always remain
a favorite with orchardists. The history of its
first importation is as follows : Louis Pellier,
a vine and fruit grower of France, had come to
California in the winter of 1848-49. After try-
ing his fortune in the mines he journeyed to
San Jose in 1850 and purchased a tract of land
fronting on the west side of San Pedro near
St. James Street. The tract was for years
known as Pellier's Gardens. Here he planted
a nursery and orchard and cultivated flowers
and plants. His brother, Pierre, had come out
a year before and was assisting him at his
work. When Pierre arrived he brought with
him the cuttings of some of the finest varieties
(if grapes, among them the Black Burgundy,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

137

Chasselas Fontainebleau and Madeleine. In
1854 Louis Pellier sent Pierre back to France
with instructions to go through Burgundy and
other parts of the country and secure the best
varieties of fruit grown in each section. Pierre
was assisted by his brother John, and two
years were spent in gathering stock. When
they returned to San Jose they had cuttings
of the Petit prune, Gros prune and many va-
rieties of cherries, pears and plums. The Petit
prune at first was not very popular, but it was
finally brought to the attention of John Rock,
who recognized its value and soon popular-
ized it.

B. S. Fox in 1853 established a nursery of
his own on Milpitas road. He had with him
Thomas Egan and the acreage was soon in-
creased to 200 acres. Fox was not only a pio-
neer fruit grower, but a man of great scientific
knowledge. A large orchard was developed
from the nursery and to his enthusiasm Santa
•Clara County owes much of its early horticul-
tural development. He died in 1881 and his
landed property was left to his nephew, R. D.
Fox, who conducted the nursery successfully
for many years and then became connected
with the California Nursery at Niles.

In 1854 came James R. Lowe. He was an
Englishman by birth and a professional botan-
ist. He had been engaged in some of the most
prominent landscape garden operations of the
English nobility and had come to the United
States to superintend some work for New Eng-
land nurserymen. He came to California at
the request of Major S. J. Hensley, of San
Jose. He laid out the famous Hensley grounds
on North First Street, which up to the time
they were subdivided into lots contained more
rare plants than any similar area in the state.
Mr. l,owe nas in constant communication with
the superintendent of the Duke of Devonshire's
gardens, and hardly a mail was received at the
San Jose postofifice that did not contain some
rare plant, bulb or cuttings from the Duke's
gardens.

J. Q. A. Ballou went into the fruit business
on his own account in 1856. At that time he
purchased the place on the Milpitas, after-
wards occupied by him as a homestead, and in
February, 1857, he planted about 500 trees,
principally apples and pears. In 1858 he added
1500 more trees. In 1861 he procured from
Louis Pellier grafts for fifty French prune
trees. From these grafts he had his first crop
of prunes in 1867. In 1868 he dried eleven
tons of fruit for the Eastern market.

The plantings in the celebrated Willow Glen
district were commenced as early as 1868,
when W. C. Geiger set out a portion of his
cherrv orchard on what is now Willow Street.
In 1862 C. T. Settle planted an orchard of ap-

ples and pears on what is now the northeast
corner of Lincoln and Minnesota avenues. At
that time this district was covered by a dense
growth of willows and the lower portion was
subject to overflow by the Guadalupe River.
The only road was El Abra, since called Lin-
coln Avenue, and the main central portion of
the district was owned by Settle, Cottle and
Zarilla Valencia. Settle was soon followed by
Royal and Ira Cottle, wdio also planted apples
and pears. Soon afterwards Miles Hills and
a Mr. Sampson purchased the Valencia tract
and subdivided it into ten-acre lots. The first
experiment was with stra.wberries. The ven-
ture was so profitable that it created great ex-
citement and soon everybody in The Willows
was planting strawlierries. The industry flour-
ished for some years and then came into com-
petition with the strawberry growers on the
lowlands near the bay. Here the artesian wells
gave a great flow and The Willows people
could not pump water and successfully com-
pete with their lowland neighbors. They con-
verted their berry patches into orchards.

One of the earliest orchards of the county
was that of D. C. Vestal, on Twelfth Street
near the Berryessa road. It was started in
1854 and was devoted mainly to apples and
pears. It was on Vestal's place that the Moor-
park apricot was first propagated for rriarket.
George Hobson, who had an orchard and nur-
sery on the tracts afterwards occupied by L.
F. Sanderson and now known as Luna Park,
had two of these trees, but held them in little
estimation on account of their irregularity in
ripening. From these trees Vestal procured
buds and worked them into a few trees on his
place. When the fruit appeared he was so
greatly pleased with its size and flavor that,
in 1869, he planted three acres. His experi-
ments attracted attention and the Moorpark
came into universal favor. The Vestal tract is
no longer an orchard. A few years ago it was
subdivided into building lots and but few of
the old trees remain.

As there were varieties of fruit which could
not wholly be taken care of by the canners, a
company was formed in July, 1874, to meet
the situation. It was called the "Alden Fruit
and Vegetable Preserving Company," and the
projectors were W. H. Leeman, F. C. Lee-
man, C. T. Settle, Ira Cottle, Royal Cottle,
Oliver Cottle, S. Newhall, W. W. Cozzens. R.
C. Swan, K. D. Berre. A. D. Colton, Miles
Hills, J. M. Battee, T. B. Keesling, M. Hale
and Pedro de Saisset. They purchased an
Alden evaporator and placed it at the corner
of the San Salvator Street extension and Jo-
sefa Street. During the few years of its ex-
istence the company turned out some good
fruit, but the machinery was not adapted for

138

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the work, so the company concluded to retire
from business. \V. W. Cozzens and G. A. and

C. F. Fleming afterwards tried evaporating,
with marked success. The business was dis-
continued about twenty years ago.

At this time The Willows was the principal
orchard section of the county. The older
orchards of Ballou, Tarleton, Aram, Vestal
and others were north- of San Jose and David
Hobson had an orchard near Berryessa. The
orchards of Gould and Walkins were at Santa
Clara and there were others in other places,
but The Willows section was nearly all planted
to fruit and it came to be believed by many
that this was the only section in the county
where the fruit industry could be successfully
conducted. There is a record of one man who
owned a fine place in Berryessa, who bought
a tract of ground in The Willows in order to
have an orchard. That same Berryessa farm
is now one of the most promising orchard
places in the valley.

In 1856 Lyman Burrell planted fruit trees
and vines in the mountains above Los Gatos.
This was the first planting in the mountains.
In 1873 an almond orchard, now absorbed by
the town of Los Gatos, was planted, and in
1874 J. F. Kennedy, in the hills east of Los
Gatos, planted a small orchard. In 1876 W.

D. Pbllard planted twenty acres two miles
north of Saratoga and the next year the once
famous O'Banion & Kent orchard was started.
William Rice planted an orchard in the same
neighborhood. These men were looked upon
as fools. It was at first predicted that the
trees would not grow in such dry, thin soil.
When the trees did grow it was prophesied
that they would never have vigor enough to
bear a paying crop. At six years old they
yielded about $500 per acre (a large amount
of money for those times), and then came the
prediction that they would die out in a few
years. But as time passed and the trees did
not die, the scoffers accepted the facts and be-
gan to plant for themselves.

The orchard interests of Berryessa are not
of an early date. Following David Hobson,
with his small orchard, came J. H. Flickinger
and the real development of one of the richest
fruit sections of the state really began. The
story of the Berryessa development will be
told in the chapter relating to the prosperous
towns of the county.

In 1856 Sylvester Newhall built a nursery
and planted an orchard in The Willows. In
1863 John Rock established a small nursery
on land near Alviso. He soon moved to the
Boots place and in 1865 purchased forty-eight
acres on the Milpitas road near San Jose and
planted a nurserv of fruit and ornamental
trees. In 1879 this place became I.m. small f..r

his operations, so he purchased 138 acres. The
rapid strides of the California fruit interests
made such demands on the Santa Clara County
nurseries that in 1884, Rock, with R. D. Fox
and several other nurserymen, organized the
California Nursery Company and purchased
463 acres near Niles, which were planted in
trees and garden stock. The nursery, en-
larged and beautified, is still running, though
John Rock has been dead for many years. .

The San Tomas orchard, a mile southeast of
Saratoga, was planted bv T. W. Mitchell in
the early '80s. In 1880'G. A. Gardner pur-
chased the tract on the Los Gatos road on the
northeast corner of what was afterwards called
"Orchard Homes." Newhall's forty-acre
prune orchard was planted in 1883, and about
this time fruit tree planting was carried around
Campbell's Station and along the Infirmary
and Grewell roads. The Bradley prune orch-
ard was planted in 1875. The large plantings
north and west of Santa Clara, together with
those of the Doyle, Cupertino and other dis-
tricts, date from 1880. Following came plant-
ings in and about Evergreen and along the
Monterey road.

There are but few orchards in the immedi-
ate vicinity of Milpitas, but the hillsides to the
east have been utilized by Portuguese garden-
ers for the planting of potatoes, peas, beans
and other vegetables for the midwinter market.

It would hardly be possible to give the
names of the owners and dates of planting of
all the orchards in the county. Among the
biographical sketches in this book will be
foimd the experiences of very many of the
county's leading fruit growers, and these
sketches are intended to fill up the details of
this general history.

To wander among the great orchards in
summer, when every tree is bending beneath
its wei,ght of fruit — purple prunes, golden ap-
ricots and yellow peaches tinted with the
crimson hues of wine — is to walk in a terres-
trial paradise like Adam before the Fall. Eves
there are in plenty, bright-eyed, ruddy-cheeked
daughters of California, who will tempt you
to eat your fill of the refreshing fruit, which
you may do without fear, within reasonable
limits.

As the orchards of the valley increased in
number and bearing capacity, the fruit grow-
ers began to fear that perhaps the crops would
be wasted for the reason that no one had yet
attempted to preserve them for market. But
the danger was averted by the enterprise of
Dr. James M. Dawson, the pioneer fruit can-
ner and packer of the valley. He put up the
first canned fruit for market in 1871. From
observation of the superior quality of fruit
ijfrown in the vallev, he foresaw the marvelous

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

139

possibilities of the climate and soil for fruit
production as a factor of commerce on the
Pacific Coast, and he also realized that for the
fruit industry to attain any importance it was
a prime necessity that means should be pro-
vided to prepare and preserve the fruits in the
immediate vicinity of the orchards. Acting
upon these convictions and stimulated by the
wise counsel and hearty co-operation of his
wife, he resolved to start a fruit cannery in
this valley. An ordinary cooking range was
purchased and placed in a 12x16 shed kitchen
in the rear of their residence on the Alameda:
and on this the fruits were all heated before
being placed in the cans. The fruits were o!")-
tained from orchards in the neighborhood and
the season's output, consisted of 350 cans
The next year the base of operations was
changed to San Jose, the "cannery being lo-
cated in an orchard at the corner of Six-
teenth (now Twenty-first) and Julian streets.
W. N. Stevens, a brother-in-law, was taken in
as partner. The pack that season was double
that of the first.

In 1872 Lendrum & Company, grocers,
joined the firm and a large building was erect-
ed on the corner of Fifth and Julian streets,
in which the pack of that season — nearly 800
cans — was made. A year or two later the
business was incorporated under the title of
the vSan Jose Fruit Packing Company, Dr.
Dawson being made president. The plant was
enlarged and the pack increased to 25,000 cans
a year. The business continued until 1878
when Dr. Dawson disposed of his interest and
retired.

In 1879 Dr. Dawson returned to his place
on the Alameda and resumed the business in
a moderate way in a building erected in the
rear of his residence. The following year he
took in his son, E. L. Dawson, as an equal
partner, the firm title being, "The J. M. Daw-
son Packing Company." The plant was en-
larged from year to year. In 1883 Dr. Dawson
retired. He died in 1885 and his son contin-
ued the business.

.^.nother pioneer packing company, the
Golden Gate, was incorporated in 1877. Since
then it has grown to be one of the largest
fruit packing establishments on the Pacific
Coast. The plant is on Third and Fourth
streets, between Julian Street and Hensley
-Avenue. In 1881 the entire works were de-
stroyed by fire. New and larger buildings im-
mediately succeeded the old ones and the best
and most approved machinery was secured.
Geo. M. Bowman was superintendent and
manager for over twenty years and at his
death the management was assumed by Elmer
E. Chase, whose rare business ability was
exhibited in many improvements and a large-
ly increased output. In 1917 the packing house

passed into the hands of the Hunt Bros., who
own packing houses in several sections of
Central California, Mr. Chase joining forces
with the Richmond Company.

The Los Gatos Fruit Packing Company was
organized in 1882, with fourteen stockholders
and the following officers: Samuel Temple-
ton, president; James E. Gordon, secretary;
J. W. Lyndon, treasurer; Robert Walker and
Michael Miller, directors. The institution
commenced work in a building 60.x80 feet,
with machinery capable of handling 5000 cases
in a season. The plant was steadily increased,
new buildings were erected and every means
taken to meet the demands of the trade. But
dull times came, the company became insol-
vent and in 1888 went out of business.

During the eighties the fruit industry in-
creased by leaps and bounds, vineyards, pas-
ture and grain lands were converted into fruit
orchards until the county became one vast
orchard — the largest fruit producing section
in the world. In 1886 the consumers of fruit
in the East became convinced that the prunes
grown in Santa Clara County were superior
in quality to those grown in France. This su-
periority is due to two causes : First, because
the peculiar soil and climate of the county
induces a thriftier growth, a more perfect ripen-
ing of the fruit and complete development of
the sugar ; second, because of the method of
curing practiced here. In France the process
through which the prunes are carried results
in cooking the fruit to a greater or less ex-
tent. This renders it soft and pleasant to
eat, but when made into sauce it loses much
of its flavor. In the California process where
the fruit is cured by exposure to the sun, no
cooking results and the fruit retains its full
flavor.

The present main strawberry section of the
county lies north of San Jose and Santa Clara,
toward Milpitas and Alviso. The first per-
son to go into business in this district was
Mr. Cary Peebles, who planted a few acres in
1868 on the place afterward owned by Mr.
Agnew at Agnew's Station. His success in-
duced other plantings and in a short time
the whole belt of country where flowing ar-
tesian water was available was engaged in
this industry. In late years strawberry cul-
ture has been undertaken north of Berryessa
in other sections of the valley. Large tracts
of land have been leased by Japanese and
Chinese and now (1922) the Orientals con-
trol the bulk of the valley's berry output.

The following showes the annual orchard
production of Santa Clara County : Apples,
10,000 tons: apricots, 25,000 ton's; cherries,
10,000 tons ; grapes, 40,000 tons ; peaches, 25,-
000 tons: pears, 18,000 tons; prunes, 60,000
tons ; plums, 37,700 tons ; almonds, 200 tons ;

140

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

walnuts. 300 tons; berries (strawberries,
blackberries and loganberries), 65,000 chests.
Olive industry fairly large, producing both
ripe pickled olives and olive oil.

Soil productions — Sugar beets (for refiner-
ies). 150,000 tons: beans (canning), 500 tons;
peas (canning), 150 tons; spinach (canning),
1,000 tons; tomatoes (canning), 60.000 tons;
potatoes (fall), 1,000 tons; potatoes (early),
1,500 tons; other vegetables (caljbage, cauli-
flower, celery, artichokes, lettuce, squash,
corn, onions, etc.), 2,500 tons.

Annual exportations, domestic and for-
eign— Canned fruits, berries and vegetables,
100.000 tons; dried fruits, 65.000 tons; green
fruits, 12,000 tons; garden seeds. 1,000 tons;
miscellaneous soil products, 2,000 tons.

Forty per cent of the prunes are sold in
foreign markets and 60 per cent in domestic
markets ; 20 per cent of the canned fruits find
foreign markets and 80 per cent domestic
markets. The forty canneries in San Jose and
Santa Clara County put out approximately
one-third of the entire canned output of Cali-
fornia.

The total acreage of orchards of various
kinds of fruits in Santa Clara County, in
round numbers, is as follows: Apples, 1,200
acres ; apricots, 7,000 acres ; cherries, 4.000
acres ; figs, 40 acres ; olives, 250 acres ; peaches,
5,000 acres; plums, 11,500 acres; prunes, 80,-
000 acres, dried ; pears, 3,500 acres ; lemons,
200 acres; limes, 10 acres; oranges, 40 acres;
pomelos, 10 acres; grapes, 10,000 acres; al-
monds, 400 acres; walnuts, 1,000 acres; total
124.150 acres.

There are 2,850 acres of vineyards in Santa
Clara County. The acreage has been larger,
but the rapid growth of the fruit industry
induced many vineyardists to uproot their
vines and plant fruit trees. When the Pro-
hibition law went into efifect in 1919 the vine
growers of the state predicted disaster to their
business, but the result has shown that they
were mistaken. In 1919 the growers of Santa
Clara Count)- made more money than was
made by them in any year while there was
lawful sale for their grapes and wines, the
demand coming from the East and Europe.
Now wine grapes are dried by dehydration,
several plants being in operation. Of course
Prohibition did not afifect the sale of table
grapes. These are grown in the foothills
mostly and are of superior quality and size.

Hefore tjie American occupation vines were
planted here and there through the valley
from cuttings procured from the mission, but
these plantings could hardly be called vine-
yards. The first planting of any magnitude
was made by Charles Lefranc at the New
Almaden vineyard in 1852. In 1857 he mar-
ried Miss .Adele Thee, whose father Etienne

Thee, owned a half interest in a tract of land
where the New Almaden vineyard \vas after-
wards located. Mr. Lefranc purchased the
other half in 1851 and afterward came into
ownership of the whole tract.

Thee had planted a few mission vines on
the place before Lefranc took charge. The
area was then increased, finer varieties be-
ing added. The early importations were in
1854 and were made through the house of
Henry Schroeder, whose agent in France act-
ed for Lefranc in securing cuttings. The
first installment arrived and each succeeding
season saw additions to the varieties. The
Verdal was introduced into this country by
Mrs. Lefranc in 1859. She brought the cut-
tings on horseback from the Canada Raymude
ranch and they were presented to her by a
Spanish nobleman who had brought them
from the old country.

In 1858 Frank Stock planted a vineyard at
the corner of William and Eighth streets, San
Jose. He imported valuable German varieties,
among which were the Johannisberg Ries-
ling, Franklin Riesling, Tramina, Golden
Chasselas and Zinfandel. When the vineyard
was discontinued in 1869 Mr. Stock presented
his vines to Mr. Lefranc. who removed them
to the New Almaden vineyard. In course of
time the glut of Frencli wine at San Francisco
disappeared and there came a demand for
more. Then Lefranc turned his attention to
wine making, his first considerable vintage be-
ing in 1862. He continued his planting until
he had 131 acres in vineyard.

Antonio Delmas, like Louis Pellier, was
an early importer of wines, his vineyard be-
ing on part of what is now Delmas Avenue.
Pedro Sainsevain also had some good varie-
ties at an early day. ■ In 1868 Victor Speck-
ens had a vineyard of choice grapes in full
bearing. This vineyard afterward went into
the liands of John Auzerais, of San Jose, who
planted many new varieties.

Other plantings of notable varieties were
made between 1868 and 1871. The Stocktons
planted the Gravelly Hill Vineyard, D. M.
Harwood planted the Lone Hill Vineyard,
Frank Richmond in the same neighborhood
followed suit and Norman Porter selected the
Cupertino district for a new vineyard.

This district, now given over mainly to
orchards of prunes, apricots and cherries, was
once famous for its vineyards. In 1848 Elisha
Stevens, who was captain of the Murphy party
in 1844, settled on the ranch, afterward known
as "Blackberry Farm," and gave his name to
Stevens Creek. He planted four acres of Mis-
sion grapes on the creek bottom. He also
planted blackberries and this action gave the
name to his place. Soon after this a Spaniard

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

141

named Novate, who had settled in the foot-
hills near Permanente Creek, planted a few-
cuttings from Captain Stevens' vineyard. With
the exception of a few patches here and there
that was all the planting done until 1870. Much
of the soil was thin and covered with chemisal
and had no reputation either for fertility or
endurance. Many grain farmers became poor
in trying to make a living there and it was
considered a pure waste of time and money
to endeavor to obtain a living by grape cul-
ture. In 1870 S. R. Williams came into the
district and took a contract from William
Hall to clear the ground and plant 100 acres
in vines and care for them for three years.
He did this and as pay received a deed to
fifty acres of the land. Williams was followed
by Portal, who set out the Burgundy vine-
yard and by J. F. Thompson who planted
forty acres adjoining. They were followed by
Hall, Gardner, Wright, RIontgomery, Bubb,
Farr, Blabon, Hallenbeck, Cooml:)e and others.
Nearlv all these plantings were made from
1880 to 1885.

Other districts were being developed while
the Cupertino planting was going on. The
Union and Los Gates districts, Evergreen,
Madrone and the Collns districts, hills above
Saratoga and on the eastern side of the valley,
toward the Mission San Jose had many spots
converted into vineyards. Most of the vines
on the San Francisco and Boyter roads, and
the foothills near Evergreen were planted aft-
er 1880.

In 1856 Lyman J. Burrell planted grapes in
the Santa Cruz Mountains near the summit.
He was followed by H. C. Morrell, D. C. Feely
and many others until the Skyland region be-
came famous for its fine output of table grapes.
For years hundreds of tons were annually
shipped to the East.

In 1919 there were 23,000 olive trees in
Santa Clara County. The largest and most
important olive farm is known at home and
abroad as the "Quito Olive and Vine Farm."
It contains eighty-one acres, is eight miles
from San Jose and is situated on the Quito
road near its junction with Saratoga Avenue.
It was formerly a part of the Jose Ramon Ar-
guello rancho and was used by him as a coun-
try homestead, and here, in 1865, he planted
the first of the olives, a small vineyard and
a fruit orchard. His death, in 1876, led to a
division of the estate and in December, 1882,
the olive farm passed into the hands of Ed-
ward E. Goodrich, a graduate of Yale and of
the Albany Law School. The development of
the place has been carried on slowly, but
steadily since that date. A few years passed
(luring which time, the entire place was given
over to olives. The buildings consist of a mill,

with crusher and press addition, winery, barn,
commodious houses for the force of workmen
and other appurtenances of an up-to-date insti-
tution. In the process of oil making, Mr. Good-
rich so improved upon the work of the Ital-
ians that it was not long before his products
came to be recognized as superior to any sold
in the United States. At the great American
exhibitions he took first prizes, while the sales
were never able to keep pace with the demand.
Resides the profit of the olive farm, the tree
has certain special attractions. By its almost
unlimited life an olive orchard is ever increas-
ing in value. By its hardihood it can oc-
cupy land not adapted to fruit culture and al-
most valueless for general farm uses. Mr.
Goodrich died on April 21, 1920. In August,
1919, he had sold the farm to G. Bruces, who
will continue the manufacture of oil.

The growing of seeds is carried on exten-
sively in Santa Clara County. There are sev-
eral companies engaged in this industry, the
principal ones being the Braslan Seed Grow-
ers Company, Inc., the California Seed Grow-
ers Association, Inc., and the Kimberlin Com-
pany. The Braslan Company started business
in 1905, have seed farms covering 400 acres in
Edenvale and Gilroy, and for years had large
government contracts. The output of gar-
den seeds is now used mainly by the large
nurseries and seed distributing establishments
of the East, Europe and the Orient. The
warehouse is at Coyote Station, twelve miles
south of San Jose on the Monterey road and
the Gilroy line of the Southern Pacific Rail-
way. C. P. Braslan, who started the business,
died in 1910, and the company is now a family
alifair, Mrs. Braslan being the principal owner.
The officers are Dr. E. O. Pieper, president
and manager; W. E. Evans, secretary and
treasurer.

The California Association, an offshoot of
the Braslan Company, was organized in 1912,
with D. G. Fisher, president; J. W. Edmund-
son, vice-president, and Miss Mary Williams,
secretary and treasurer. It has 1,000 acres
in two farms in Santa Clara County and the
warehouse is located in San Jose near the old
narrow gauge depot. The garden seeds har-
vested find their way to all parts of the world.

The Kimberlin Company— C. R., L. M. and
J. L. Kimberlin — controls about 800 acres, the
farms being in Milpitas and Gilroy. Like the
other companies, the seeds grown have the
whole world as a market.

The citrus fruits have been cultivated in
Santa Clara County for a period antedating
tradition. Orange and lemon trees early
found place in the Mission orchards and many
were brought to the valley by the early im-
migrants from Mexico. Thev were common

142

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

in the dooryards and gardens of old Spanish
homesteads' and bore abundant fruit, though
not of the best quality. Orange and lemon
trees of a better variety were, many years
ago, planted on the grounds of \V. S. ]\IcMur-
trx and W. H. Rogers in Los Gatos. They
grew thriftily and bore well. Christian Field-
sted. on the eastern foothills, had an orchard
of oranges and semi-tropical fruits which
was a source of considerable profit. In 1880
Harvey Wilcox planted sixteen acres to
oranges in the hills overlooking Los Gatos.
At six years of age these trees brought a large
harvest of beautiful fruit. As a rule citrus
fruits were not planted for the market, but as
an ornament and to furnish a home supply.
For this reason public attention was not called
to this branch of horticulture until the winter
of 1886-87. At that time the County Horti-
cultural Society held a citrus fair, at which
oranges and lemons were presented for ex-
hibition from 163 different localities in the
vallev. This exhibition was made, not for
the purpose of showing citrus culture as a
leading industry of the valley, but to demon-
strate to Eastern visitors that Santa Clara
County possessed a soil and climate suitable
to the growth of these fruits. But orange
culture will never become a very important
branch of the county's horticulture. This will
not be from lack of adaptability of soil and
climate, but because it does not pay as well
as other lines of fruit growing, nor is it so
sure or capable of being conducted with so
little expense. But orange and lemon culture
still continues on a small scale. In all sec-
tions of San Jose and in many parts of the
county, particularly in the foothills, may be
seen hardy and well-bearing orange and lemon
trees.

In aid of the farmers there was organized
in 1917 the Santa Clara County Farm Loan
Association as a part of District No. 11, which
comprises California, Oregon, Nevada and
Utah. The National Farm Loan Act, under
which the association operates, has for general
purposes the lowering and equalization of in-
terest rates on first mortgage farm loans : the
l)roviding of long term loans with the privi-
lege of repayment in installments through a
long or short' period of years at the borrower's
option ; the assembling of the farm credits of
the nation to be used as security for money
to be employed in farm development : the stim-
ulating of co-operative action among farmers ;
the making easier for the landless to get land
and the provision for safe and sound long-
term investments for the thrifty. The Fed-
eral land banks make the loans and issue their
bonds or debentures to inves,tors. The na-
tional farm loan associations are organizations

of borrowers and through them applications
for loans are made to the Federal land banks.
The rate of interest is five and one-half per
cent, but a different rate may be charged if
found advisable. The secretary-treasurer of
the local farm association is required to col-
lect the installments from the borrowers in
his association and remit them to the Federal
land bank. Both interest and principal are
included in the equal annual or semi-annual in-
stallments throughout the entire period of the
loan. The farmer who borrows is required
to buy stock of his local association equal to
five per cent of his loan. This stock is held
by the association as collateral security until
the farmer has paid off his loan. With the
money which the borrower pays for his stock
the association buys stock in the Federal land
bank's capital in order that it may make more
loans. In case of severe losses experienced by
the local loan association which make it un-
able to meet its obligations, each borrower is
personally liable for an amount equal to the
face value of his stock. If loans are conserva-
tively made, it is claimed that no loss can
reasonabh- occur that would call for this five
per cent liability. If the banks make a profit
they will pay dividends on all stock except
that held by the government. The Santa Clara
County Association has for officers : L. Wood-
ard, president; F. M. Righter, vice-president;
L. P. Edwards, secretary. In the RIadrone
district is another association, with Mrs. S.
M. Schofield, Woodard, Righter, R. J- Mayne
and Mrs. Agnes Schroeder as directors. The
county is also well represented by Granges of
the Patrons of Husbandry.

In the line oi vegetables Santa Clara
County is in the front rank as a producer. In
1919 over a million cases of canned tomatoes,
string beans, peas, cucumbers and other odds
and ends, aggregating over 250,000 cases, were
packed, while as for onions, something like
500 tons were raised. There were also paying
crops of asparagus, lettuce, beets, cauliflower,
celery, corn, cabbage, squash, potatoes, etc.,
raised in the sediment soil along the creeks
and in other favorable localities.

As for poultry, of all the prizes awarded of
late years, ninety-five per cent went to Santa
Clara birds. Including chickens, turkeys,
geese and ducks, there were 17,220 head.

Dairying is also carried on extensively. The
butter output averages 500.000 pounds, and
over that amount in cheese. The southeastern
end of the county, around Gilroy and Morgan
Hill, is well suited to this kind of industry.
.Alfalfa can be readily grown on the level land
of the valley, where the water supply is good,
and as hogs and alfalfa go together, the same
conditions will apply to both.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

143

The orchards of the county are irrigated,
sometimes from stream ditches, but mostly
from artesian wells. These wells were first
used in the valley in 1854, shallow wells and
water from the creeks sufficing for the re-
quirements of the earlier days. In January,
1854, when the ]\lerritt brothers built their
brick house on Fifth Street — it is still stand-
ing— they commenced boring for a lower
stratum of water, seeking a stream that did
not act as a sewer for all the accumulated
filth on the ground. They struck water at a
depth of fifty feet, but determined to go
deeper. At eighty feet they tapped a stream
that came rushing to the surface like the erup-
tion of a volcano. The hole was si.x inches in
diameter and the pressure was sufficient, as
Mr. Hall says in his "History of San Jose,"
to run a sawmill. The success met with in
this well induced the boring of others. In
the same month J. S. Shepard had a well sunk
on his place, three miles from town. This
well went through muck and clay to a depth
of seventy-five feet and a stratum of sand.
Five feet in this sand water was struck and,
although the pipe rose sixteen feet above the
surface of the ground, the water came out of
the top as though forced by powerful machin-
ery. During the next month T. Meyers bored
a well and obtained a plentiful supply of
water. But the greatest well in the history
of the county was bored in August of the
same year by G. A. Dabney, near San Fer-
nando Street. Mr. Hall thus describes it:
"After boring six feet the auger entered a bed
of clay, through which, a distance of fifty-four
feet, it penetrated, when the water rushed up
with a force unknown here in well-boring. It
flooded the surrounding lands so that it be-
came a serious question how the water should
be disposed of. The Cit\' Council declared it
a nuisance and passed an ordinance directing
Dabney to stop or control the flow of water,
and if not. he should pay a fine of $50 for
every day he allowed it thus to run. The
ordinance had no efTect on the dynamical
properties of the water, nor any on Dabney :
for about six weeks it flowed on, rising nine
feet above the surface of the ground, when
other .wells bored in that vicinity lessened
its force and volume. It was a curiosity and
received visitors daily."

After this demonstration of the fact that
artesian water could be had, there was no
more complaint of the lack of this necessary
fluid. The old aceqtiia fell into disuse and
finally disappeared. Wells were sunk in vari-
ous localities and always with good results.
but as the wells accumulated the force of
the flow was somewhat diminished. The first
irrigating was done on the lower land north

oi town. At one time the California Invest-
ment Company, which had acquired several
thousand acres of salt marsh land along the
shore of the bay, attempted to reclaim it by
means of artesian wells. The project was to
build levees around their property to shut
out the sea, pump out the salt water and re-
place it with fresh artesian water. They went
so far as to bore many wells, but abandoned
the project, either because it was impractica-
ble or on account of the expense. " The wells,
however, were a great source of annoyance to
the people living in the north. Being allowed
to flow continually, the water in other wells
was lowered and many ceased to flow at all.
The matter became so disastrous that an act
was passed by the Legislature declaring it a
.nisdemeanor to permit artesian wells to re-
main uncapped when not in use. After much
labor this law was enforced and the injured
wells recovered their vigor.

Many attempts have been made to trace and
locate the artesian belt, but it is continually
being struck outside these locations, and no
one cares to risk his reputation by saying
where it is not. It was at first thought to lie
exclusively between San Jose and the bay,
following the lower levels of the valley. In
1870 artesian water was supposed to have
been found in the San Felipe tract southeast
of Gilroy. But one flight a well, windmill and
tank, house and frame, on the property of Mr.
Buck disappeared from sight and the longest
sounding line was unable to discover the
whereabouts of the missing improvements.
This indicated that the supply was a lake and
not an ordinary stream. In 1887 flowing arte-
sian water was found at Gilroy and the neigh-
borhood was afterward successfully developed.
With all these facts understood, there can be
no doubt that artesian water can be found at
any point in the valley, not excepting the
higher grounds near the foothills.

The Farm Owners and Operators' Associa-
tion was organized in 1919 for the purpose of
becoming a part of a state organization. A
constitution has already been prepared and
when in operation the various branches in the
state will become as units. The object of the
association is to protect the farmers and orch-
ardists and at the same time promote their in-
terests. The officers are: J. J. McDonald,
chairman ; T. D. Landels, vice-chairman ; Mary
P. Richter, secretary; B. T. McCurdy, treas-
urer. Board of trustees — R(5bert Britton, Mor-
gan Hill; Frank Stevens, Coyote; Luther Cun-
ningham, Saratoga; J. H. Harkness, Morgan
Hill ; J. H. Fair, San Jose ; John Hassler,
San Jose; A. R. McClay, San" Jose; H. F.
Curry, San Jose; Albert M. Foster, San Jose;
John W. Shaw, San Jose; Arthur P. Free-

144

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

man, Lawrence ; A. W. Greathead, San Jose ;
T. J. Herndon, Campbell; S. T. Johnson, Cup-
ertino; E. K. Clendenning, Campbell; J. K.
Durst, Sunnyvale ; E. L. Fellow, Santa Clara ;
R. T. Van Or-den, ]\Iountain View; Lewis H.
Britton, Morgan Hill; V. T. McCurdy, Santa
Clara; F. C. Willson, Sunnyvale. Although
organized but three years, the association has
done considerable work. It has been instru-
mental in equalizing fruit tree assessments.
It has also materially assisted in the move-
ment for conserving the water of the valley.
In 1920 it took up the county season labor
problem and is now receiving the hearty sup-
port of the canneries and packing houses.

The Fruit Growers of California Associa-
tion, Inc., was organized in 1919 and is a sort
of detached auxiliary of the California Prune
and Apricot Growers, Inc. It handles green
fruit only and sells to canners and ships to
Eastern buyers. It does for the green fruit
what the dried fruit operators do for dried
fruit. R. P. Van Orden of Mountain View is
president, and J. U. Porter is acting secretary.
The directors and I. O. Rhodes, C. C. Spauld-
ing, A. C. Gordon, James Mills, H. N. Schroe-
der, Herman A. Clark, W. E. Moore, L. E.
Walker and E. R. Clendenning. Every fruit
section of the county is represented in the di-
rectorate. Mr. Bone, who was the first sec-
retary, was one of the leaders in the organiza-
tion of the California Prune and Apricot
Growers, Inc., and for two years was its sec-
retary.

The California Prune and Apricot Growers.
Inc., have organized growers', packing and
warehouse associations with plants in Santa
Clara County as follows: Plant No. 1, Camp-
bell ; No. 2, Morgan Hill ; No. 3, Gilroy ; No. 4,
San Jose, Fourth and Lewis streets; No. 6,
San Jose; No. 7, Vasona, Los Gatos ; No. 8,
Mountain View ; No. 10, San Jose ; No. 11, San
Jose, Cinnebar and Senter streets; No. 13, Los
Gatos; No. 14, Lincoln Avenue, San Jose.
They also have plants in various sections of
the state, and the list extended to forty in 1921.
The following packers of the county are af-
filiated with the association: Plant No. 14.
J. W. Chilton & Co., San Jose; No. 15, J. B.
Inderrieden Co., San Jose; No. 16, Pacific
Fruit Products Co.. San Jose; No. 17, Warren
Dried Fruit Co., San Jose; No. 22, Geo. E.
Hyde & Co., Campbell ; No. 37, Warren E.
Hyde, S. E. Johnson, Cupertino ; No. 38, West
Side Fruit Growers' Association, Cupertino.
In addition to the above, there will be estab-
lished at numerous points in the state receiv-
ing stations. Growers' Packing and Ware-
housing Association, Inc.. has already nego-
tiated the purchase of several properties nec-
essary for these plants.

Contracts for handling fruit have been made
with the green fruit buyers of the county. The
independent packers of the county are as fol-
lows : San Jose — C. H. Anderson, J. K. Arms-
by. Castle Bros., California Fruit Canners' As-
sociation, California Packing Corporation
plants Nos. 50, 51 and 52; Earl Fruit Com-
pany, Golden Gate Packing Company, J. C.
Moore, Guggenheim Packing Company, Rich-
mond-Chase Company, Polak Packing Com-
pany, W'ayne Packing Compan}-. Campbell —
Ain'sley Packing Company. Saratoga — Soro-
sis Fruit Compan}-. Santa Clara — Block &
Company. Sunnyvale — J. K. Armsby.

Following are the fruit and vegetable can-
neries of Santa Clara County : Alviso — Bay-
side Canning Company. Campbell — Ainsley
Canning Company, California Canneries, Geo.
E. Hyde & Company, Gilroy— H. A. Baker
Cannery, Felice & Perelli Canning Company.
Los Gatos — Hunt Brothers. Mayfield — Foon
Canning Company. Milpitas — California Pack-
ing Corporation. Mountain View — Concen-
trated Tomatoes Company, John W. McCar-
thy, Jr., & Co. Santa Clara — Pratt-Low Pre-
serving Company. Sunnyvale — California Sup-
plies Company, Libby, McNeil & I.,ibby, Sun-
nyvale Canneries. San Jose — Alba Canning
Company, Beechnut Company of California,
Bisceglia Brothers & Company, California
Growers' Assocation, California Prune and
Apricot Growers, Inc. ; California Packing Cor-
poration (two plants), Contadina Canning
Company, Di Fiore Canning Company, Flick-
inger &' Company, Greco Canning Company,
Golden Gate Packing Company, Herbert Pack-
ing Company, Italian Canning Company, J. F.
Pyle <& Son, Richmond-Chase Company, Sal-
sina Canning Company, San Jose Canning
Company, Shaw Family, Inc. ; Sunlight Pack-
ing Company, Wool Canning Company, De-
hydrating Plant, Spolster & Company ; Banks'
Evaporator.

Following are Santa Clara County statistics
up to December, 1921 :

Area, acres 867,200

County area, square miles 1,355

Number of farms and orchards 23,900

Number of acres assessed 743,822

Tax Rates
County tax rate (outside incor-
porated cities) $ 2.15

San Jose tax rate — City, $1.52:
countv (inside cities), $1.72;

schools, $1.15; total 4.48

County Assessment

County real estate $ 31,932,740

Improvements on same 13,169,670

Inip'ts on property not assessed

to owners 26,795

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

City and town lots 18,436,405 College of Notre Dame

Improvements on same 15,569,400 University of Santa Clara.

Improvements on property not as- Stanford University

College of Pacific

sessed to owners..

20,800

145

220.860

155,880

411,560

48.400

Total value $ 79,155,810

Personal Property

Inside $ 4,687,550

Outside 4,412,495

Collected by Assessor, inside 2,713,125

Collected by Assessor, outside. . . . 322,230

Money and solvent credits, inside.. 281,160

Monev and solvent credits, outside 137,345

Total personal $ 12,553,905

Total of all non-operative prop. 91,709,715

Operative Roll

Real estate $ 2,144,060

Improvements 297,955

Personal propertv, money, solvent
credits .' 6,921 ,045

Total operative property $ 9,363,060

Grand total of all property 101.072.775

Exempt Property

Veterans, 605 exempt ; value of
exemption ?

;33.25;

Total exemptions $ 1.369.955

Total property, non-operative,

operative and exempt 102.442.730

Property in Road Districts

Road District No. 1 $ 8.295,525

No. 2 4,75o!410

No. 3 6,379,905

■ No. 4 16.591,460

No. 5 13.796.950

Valuation Incorporated Cities

San Jose $ 27,411,825

Gilroy 1,064,225

Morgan Hill 284,495

Santa Clara 2.574!435

Los Gatos 1,343,470

Sunnyvale 446.795

Mayfield 484,175

:\Iountain View 746,905

Palo Alto 4.347,675

Alviso 270.515

CHAPTER XIII.

County Government and Good Roads — The Transportation Facilities of the
Early Days — History of Various Important Road and Railway Enter-
prises— The Rise and Fall of Toll Roads — Early Modes of Transporta-
tion— First Telegraph Line.

There is no better index of the character of
a ])eople than the nature of the laws and the
manner in which the\' are administered. As
a rule the California codes closely follow the
codes of New York, but in matters of state,
and especially of county, government there
are many vital dififerences. An intelligent ex-
amination will show that all the best experi-
ence of the older states has been embodied in
the California legislative laws, for hither came,
in the early days, some of the brightest minds
in the legal profession at a time when the
laws were ready to be made on the most ap-
proved plans. It is hard to budge an estab-
lished system of government, even when its
defects are apparent. California, therefore.
having few laws and no prejudices in early
days, was ready to profit by all that had been
learned in the older communities.

Down to 1879, the state had moved along
under the constitution of 1863, but the grow-
ing power of certain strong corporations and
the large influx of Chinese brought about a
revolution in politics. The working classes
asserted themselves and in 1879 a new con-
stitution was adopted that radically changed
not only many of the vital principles of the
laws, but at the same time provided great
changes in the legislative branches of the gov-
ernment. Some of these changes went into
effect by the terms of the constitution (such
as the abolition of District. County and Pro-
bate courts and the establishment in their
place of the Superior Court), but others, par-
ticularly those governing county and munici-
pay legislative bodies, required action by the
Legislature. Such action was soon taken, but
working under the new constitution was an

146

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ex])erimental business, and the acts passed for
those purposes were declared by the Supreme
Court to be unconstitutional. It was not un-
til 1883 that a law providing for a uniform
system of county government was passed that
stood the test of the courts. Since then, sev-
eral amendments, relating principally to
county officers and their remuneration, have
been passed, but the general system of gov-
ernment has not been impaired.

As the constitution requires that all laws
shall be uniform in their, operation, and as
special legislation of all kinds is prohibited,
a general system of county government is
provided : Init as some counties are more
densely populated than others, and as there-
fore there had to be a variation in the numl^er
of county officers, the counties were divided
into classes, according to population, the only
material difference in the laws for the various
classes being the number of officers provided
for. the law for the administration of the
countv affairs in all the counties being the
same. This plan greatly siifiplified matters in
many ways, especially in the determination by
the higher courts of vexatious problems that
occasionally arise. Nearly every problem of
consequence has already been determined, so
that now the Inisiness of all the counties pro-
ceeds on established lines.

The judicial branch of the county govern-
ment is the Superior Court. Santa Clara
County, according to class, is provided with
three judges. They divide the work between
themselves, handling probate, civil and crim-
inal cases. The officers of the Superior Court
are the county clerk, sheriff and district at-
torney. These, of course, and especially the
clerk,'have multifarious duties apart from those
appertaining to the court. Santa Clara County
is Republican in politics, but in county elec-
tions politics cuts small figure, so that the
offices are divided between the Republicans
and the Democrats. In 1920 the Republicans
held the sheriff's, the surveyor's, the treasur-
er's, the superintendent of schools' and the
coroner's offices, while the Democrats held
the offices of clerk, tax collector, assessor, dis-
trict attorney and auditor. All the officers
hold four years, except the ju<lges, who hold
six years.

The board of supervisors takes care of the
finances of the county schools. The county
superintendent is Miss Agnes E. Howe and the
following are the members of the county board
of education : Francis Gallimore. Santa Clara ;
I. E. Hancock (president), San Jose; Robert
Loosemore, Los Gatos ; W. P. Cramsie, San
Jose; Agnes E. Howe (secretary). San Jose.
There are ninety-one schools and 350 teachers
in the county, exclusive of San Jose. The

school houses are handsome, well-built and
commodious structures, witli up-to-date ap-
pointments.

At the head of the administrative depart-
ment of the county government stands the
board of supervisors. The county is divided
into five districts on the basis of population.
Hence it follows that some districts are much
larger in area than others ; some are wholly
in the valley; others partly in the mountains;
some include the cities of the county, which
have separate governments of their own and
manage their own roads, schools and taxes,
while others have to be adjusted and managed
in the most skillful and intelligent manner so
that common justice is done and a uniformity
of public interest preserved. The S3-stem.
therefore, is far more complicated than the
uninformed are aware of.

The board is composed of five members, one
from each district, the districts electing their
own members. These elections are so regu-
lated that at least two of the members on any
elected board shall already have been in office
two )'ears, thus securing a constant quantity
of experience. This is a very important fea-
ture. A board composed entirely of new mem-
bers might easily get into trouble through
mistakes. The duties of the board are intri-
cate. It must establish school districts, fix
l>oundaries and provide money ; it must take
care of the roads, fix the tax rate, care for
and maintain the county buildings, almshouse
and infirmary; provide for the inspection of
orchards, for the care of the county sick, infirm
and poor ; make provision for every need of
the county, fill vacancies in county offices, de-
clare the result of county elections, make ap-
propriations for various humanitarian and
other purposes, sit as a board of equalization,
and perform such other duties as befit the
guardian of the county's welfare. The mainte-
nance and establishment of good roads is one
of the most important of the board's duties,
and it may be said without fear of contradic-
tion that in no count}- of the state has this
work been more satisfactorily carried out.
The preliminaries for road work are entrusted
to the county surveyor. During the incum-
bency of Surveyor Irving Ryder (seven years)
ninety-eight miles of paved roads have been
completed and in 1922 contracts were let for
sixteen additional miles. Before his time the
county had but twenty-two miles of completed
paved roads. This does not include the state
highway of about seventy-five miles, which
runs from Palo Alto on the northwest side of
the bay to San Jose and on to the southern end
of the county at Sargent's Station ; and from a
short distance beyond Milpitas on the north to
San lose and on to Los Gatos. The beginning

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

147

of the good roads movement came with the
advent of the automobile. At first the super-
visors made experiments in road paving, but
all proved failures until the present concrete
system was tried. Nearly all the roads in the
county are paved with concrete. Other ma-
terial, oil macadam, is used on some of the
orchard roads and excellently answers all pur-
poses. During the fiscal year 1919-1920 the
road and bridge improvements of the countv
cost $582,000.-

The history of road building in Santa Clara
Count}- shows that the matter of furnishing
easy and con\enient means of communication
between the different sections of the county
has been an important question before the
county government since its organization. The
demand for good roads has been met. almost
before it was expressed, and the result of this
policy, long continued with a liberal spirit, is
seen in the broad, smooth, well-kept iiaved
highways reaching to every part of the valley,
winding through the orchards, among the foot-
hills and extending over the mountains. These
roads are watered during the summer months,
making them always comfortable for travel.
I'.efore the Americans came into possession
in Santa Clara County, there were ]iractically
no roads. Travel was chiefly performed on
horseback, and for this a narrow trail \\-as suf-
ficient. Where the ox-carts ran there were
tracks a little wider, but the}' had no legal ex-
istence as roads. There being no fences and
the country lieing used mainly for grazing,
there was no necessity for the warning to
"keep oft' the grass." and in going from one
point to the other, the route was generally an
air-line, except where intervening water
courses compelled the traveler to seek an easy
ford or crossing, or where opposing hills re-
c|uired a circuit to be made. Even when
wagons first came into use, this system was
kept up. and in the winter time, wdien the
ground was wet and soft, the wagon tracks
ran parallel to each other to such an extent
that it was a common saying that the road
from San Jose to San Francisco was three
miles wide. With the Americans came a dif-
ferent system. About the first order made by
the county government after its organization
was in reference to public roads. The order
is of interest, as it established the first high-
wavs in the county. It was made by the Court
of Sessions on July 6, 1850, and is as follows:
"It is ordered by the court that the follow-
ing roads be, and' they are hereby declared,
public highways within and for the County of
Santa Clara, to-wit :

"First — A road commencing at the City of
San lose and running where the jiresent road
now" runs, bv James Murphv's. and from

thence to the right of Lucencia Higuera's
ranch through the Mission of San Jose to the
coimty line, where the road crosses the Ar-
royo Delmaya at Sunol's ranch.

"Second — Also a road commencing at the
City of San Jose, at First or Monterey Street,
and running where the road now runs to San
Juan, until it reaches the county line.

"Third — Also a road commencing at the
City of San Jose, at Santa Clara Street, and
running where the present road now runs, to
the Mission of Santa Clara, and from thence,
b\- the left-hand road, to the old Indian village,
thence 1)\' T.usard's to S. Robles', and from
thence to where the present road runs to the
county line.

"Fourth — Also a road commencing at the
City of San Jose, at Santa Clara Street, and
to run where the present road now runs, to
Santa Cruz, through Fernandez' ranch, by
Jones' mill to the county line." The Jones'
mill referred to is the present town of Los
Gatos.

The third specification in the order above
set forth refers to the road to San Francisco,-
S. Robles' ranch being the present town of
Moimtain \'iew. The road includes the Ala-
meda, famous in song and story. This avenue
was laid cjut Ijy the Fathers of the Mission of
Santa Clara. The trees were planted by
Father Catala, the A\iirk lieing performed by
the Indians under liis instruction. There were
original!}- three rows of trees, one on each
s'ide and one in the center, 'i'he ground was
moist and full of ado1)e. which, when wet,
made traveling troublesome. Ditches were
made for the purpose of drainage, but they
but imperfectly accomplished their object.
The shade of the trees excluded the sunshine
and pre\ented evaporation. While during the
sun-imer months the Alameda was a most
charming drive, for four or five months in- the
year it was almost impassable for vehicles.
Travelers passing between Santa Clara and
San Jose were compelled to se'ek the side of
the road and often make a circuit of four or
five miles. After dark it was not unusual for
people to lose their way and he compelled to
[jass the night in tlie open air.
. To meet this trouble the county government
opened another road 1i}- way of what is now
known as L'ni.ni .\\rnne. back of the Fair
Grounds, now Ilanclictt Park. This did not
entirely obviate the difficulties, and in 1862 a
franchise was granted to a company called
"The Alameda Turnpike Company," granting
it the privilege of collecting toll on the Ala-
meda, the company to keep the road in good
condition for travel. This company erected
gates, but owing to the nature of the soil
could never make the road good in all its parts

148

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

at all seasons. Many complaints were made
and finally, in 1868, the county purchased the
franchise of the company and declared the
road free. The price paid by the county was
$17,737.50. In 1870 the report went a'broad
that the road occupied more ground than be-
longed to it, and that several feet on the south
side was government land and subject to pre-
emption. One night a gang of squatters car-
ried lumber out on the road and enclosed strips
of land on the south side, and in the morning
many of the residents found themselves shut
of? from the highway. The squatters, how-
ever, had nothing but their labor for their
pains, as they were compelled to abandon their
claims unconditionally. To prevent a recur-
rence of this dispute an Act of Congress was
procured in 1871 granting the county a right-
of-way for the road, 115 feet wide and defining
its location. Accurate official surveys were
made and granite monuments placed so that
the exact lines should always be preserved.
The final location was made in 1873. After
this date extraordinary efforts were made to
keep the road in repair and maintain its
l)eauty. These efforts were measurably suc-
cessful. One of the greatest obstacles in the
way of improvement was the shade cast by
the center row of trees, and propositions for
their removal were made from time to time.
But each proposition was met by a remon-
strance from the people, who looked upon the
gnarled willows as a link connecting the past
with the present, and although many of the
trees had died and others were in advanced
stages of decay, they were retained. Finally,
in i887, a proposition was made to construct
an electric railroad along the center of the
highway. In view of this improvement the
people consented to part with the trees, and in
the same year they were removed. Since then
the avenue from San Jose to Santa Clara has
been paved with concrete, thus forming a link
in the long concrete-paved road fmin San Jose
to San Francisco.

Santa Clara Avenue, or Alum Rock Avenue,
as it is generally called, is the beautiful avenue
from San Jose to the Alum Rock Springs in
the canyon of the Penetencia. east of town.
The original road was established by the
board of supervisors in June, 1866. In 1872
an act was passed by the Legislature authoriz-
ing the city of San Jose to survey and improve
a road to be known as "Santa Clara Avenue,"
running from the eastern limits of the city to
the city reservation in the eastern foothills.
The act provided for a board of commissioners
to be appointed by the governor, with power
to superintend the work of construction and
select a tract of 400 acres in the canyon for a
public park. To construct and imiirove the

road and park, a tax was provided for all prop-
erty in the city and all property lying within
three-quarters of a mile on each side of the
proposed avenue. This tax was to be ten cents
on the hundred dollars for the first year and
five cents per year for the next three years, to
be levied by the city and county as other taxes
are levied and collected. With this money
the road was constructed and trees planted.
At the end of four years, when the special tax
expired, the road was kept up from the road
fund of the road districts, in which the avenue
was situated until 1878, when an act was
passed by the Legislature authorizing the
board of supervisors to pay these expenses
from the current expense fund. Today all the
roads leading to the park entrance are main-
tained by the county, while the roads inside
the park are kept up by the city, which also
pays for the improvement and maintenance of
the park.

Saratoga Avenue was created at the same
session of the Legislature, and in the same
manner as Santa Clara Avenue, except that the
act provided that the road should be 100 feet
wide and that the special tax should be levied
and collected by the trustees of the town of
Santa Clara. The commissioners began work,
laid out and opened the road, l^ut some of the
outside property owners protested against pay-
ing the tax. The objection was that it was an
unconstitutional assessment, inasmuch as it
was to be levied and collected by officers not
elected for the purpose. The courts decided
the objection to be valid and the road went
into the hands of the county government as a
public highway, and all improvements were
paid for from the road fund of the district. In
spite of the fact that there was no special reve-
nue, the highway has lieen thoroughly im-
jjroved and now it is one of the finest paved
roads in the county.

In early days there seemed to be an impres-
sion that the best way to improve the county
roads was to grant franchises for toll com-
panies, who were to keep the roads in repair
in consideration of the privilege of collecting
tolls. The argument used was that the people
who used the roads ought to pay the expense
of maintaining them. Acting on this proposi-
tion, many such franchises were granted, some
by the board of supervisors and some by the
Legislature. The tollgate on the Alameda was
the outgrowth of this idea.

In 1861 the San Jose and Alviso Turnpike
Company secured a franchise to erect gates
and collect tolls on the road from San Jose to
Alviso. In 1863 the franchise was purchased
by the county for $5,000 and the road declared
a public highway. In 1867 the Saratoga and
I'cscailero Turnpike Com]')any recei\e<l a fran-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

149

chise for a toll road over the mountains from
Saratoga. In 1880 the franchise was pur-
chased by the county for $5,000 and the name
changed to the "Congress Springs" road. The
Gilro}' and Watsonville road was a toll road
in early days, but was declared a public high-
way iri 1874.

The Santa Cruz road from Los Gatos over
the mountains was a toll road under a fran-
chise from the state up to 1878, when it was
declared a public highway b}' the board of su-
pervisors. The company resisted the action
of the board and attempted to maintain its
gates. This caused considerable excitement
and threatened serious trouble. The teamsters
went in a body and tore the gate down. The
company fought the matter in the courts and
lost. The purchase of the Pacheco Pass road
wiped out the last toll road in the county.

The most prominent, if not the most popu-
lar, highway in the county is the Mount Ham-
ilton road, or Lick Avenue. It has a world-
wide fame for the reason that it leads to the
great Lick Observatory and because it is one
of the best mountain roads in the world. In
September, 1875, James Lick addressed the
board of supervisors, saying that he would
locate his observatory on Mount Hamilton if
the county would construct a first-class road
to the summit, and if the county had not suffi-
cient funds on hand to accomplish the task he
would advance the money and take the coun-
ty's bonds for the same. The proposition was
accepted and on October 4, 1875, a preliminary
survey was ordered. The committee on sur-
vey reported that the construction of the road,
including bridges, would costs $43,385. Mr.
Lick then deposited $25,000 in the Commercial
&• Savings Bank as a guaranty that he would
stand by his proposition. A. T. Herrmann
was appointed engineer for the work and on
February 8, 1876, the contract for construction
was let to E. L. Derby. Up to this time the
work had gone on with great expedition, but
now, the people having had time to talk the
matter over, considerable doubt was expressed
as to the advisability of the enterprise. It
was argued that the county might go to great
e.xpense in building the road and that in the
end Air. Lick might change his mind in regard
to the location of the observatory. In that
event the county would have a very expensive
road that would be of very little practical use.
The majority of the board had very little
doubt of Mr. Lick's good faith, but in order to
satisfy the popular demand they arranged mat-
ters so that Mr. Lick deposited a further sum
of $25,000, subject to warrants drawn for the
construction of the road, and agreed to take
county bonds therefor, payable when the ob-
servatory was completed on the mountain.

When this point was settled an oppositon was
developed from another source. W. N. Fur-
long, as chairman of the board, refused to sign
the contract with Derby, but finally consented
under protest. The protest claimed that there
was no authority of law for building the road
in this manner, as the statute required all
money levied in any road district to be ex-
pended in the district paying the same ; that
there was no law compelling the county at
large to pay for a road, and that the county
had no authority to enter into a contract with
Mr. Lick to advance the money. The board,
to satisfy the fi inner ubjection, passed a reso-
lution that the Legisl;ilure would be asked to
pass an act authorizing the county to issue
bonds to the amount of $120,000,' of which
$50,000 should be applied to the indebtedness
of the several road districts in the county, and
the balance used to pay the warrants drawn
for the construction of the proposed road.
Thus this difficulty was disposed of. There
were numerous minor obstacles to contend
with which caused much trouble and vexation
to the promoters of the enterprise, hut they
were finally disposed of. Up to May 22, 1876,
the sum of $45,115.34 had been paid on Derby's
contract. In the meantime there was great
dissatisfaction with Derby's operations, and he
had been compelled to assign his contract to
his bondsmen, who had established a trust for
their pn itectii in. drawing the money cjn the
contract and i)a\'ing the contractor's verified
bills. This dissatisfaction caused the board to
appoint a committee to investigate the work.
The report showed grave misconduct by the
contractor. In September the contract was de-
clared forfeited and on October 5, 1876, the
board authorized its committee to go on with
the work. This the committee did, employing
^Messrs. Drinkwater and Swall as superintend-
ents. On January 9, 1877, the Lick board of
trustees and the super\is<irs made an official in-
spection of the roail. .-md afterwards the trus-
tees declared ofhciall}- that the work had been
done in a satisfactory manner and that the road
met all of Mr. Lick's requirements. The in-
spection was a general holiday throughout the
county, there being about 5,000 visitors to the
summit of the mountain on that day. On Jan-
uary 13, 1877, the road was declared to be fully
completed, the total cost being $73,458.88. Of
this amount $27,339.87 was in outstanding war-
rants against the general road fund. An act
was passed in the Legislature of 1878 authoriz-
ing the board of supervisors to issue bonds to
pay these warrants and accrued interest, the
bonds to bear no interest, and to be payable
when the observatory was practicall}' com-
pleted. The gentlemen composing the board of
supervisors during the time the Mount Hamil-

150

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

trni road was in course of construction were :
1875 — W. N. Furlonsj. chairman: ]. M. Battee,
J. W. Bouhvare. A. Chew. Abram'King. H. M.
Leonard, WilHam Paul. 1876 — H. ^M. Leonard,
chairman; S. F. Aver. J. M. Battee. A. Chew.
W. N. Furlong. Abram King. W. H. Rogers.
1877-78 — Same as in 1876. with the exception
that J. M. Battee was chairman.

Under Mexican rule the transportation of
passengers was almost exclusively on horse-
back. Women and children would occasionally
take passage for short distances in the rude
carts of that time, but journeys generally,
whether long or short, were performed in the
saddle. As the foreigners came in they adopted
the same custom, for the reason there was no
other means of conveyance. When affairs be-
came settled after the Alexican war and the
country began to be settled by immigrants
from the states, other methods of transporta-
tion for passengers and freight were looked for.
Boats to ply between San Francisco and Alviso
were secured and connection with them from
San Jose was made with wagons. The cost
for 'each passenger for this trip was thirtv-five
dollars.

In April, 1850. ^Messrs. Ackley and Morrison
]:)ut on a line of stages to run through to San
Francisco, and in the same spring John W.
Whisman put on a line to run to San Jose.
Trips were made tri-weekly by each line, thus
giving a daily stage each way. The fare was
thirty-two dollars and the schedule time was
nine hours. In September of that year Hall &
Crandall purchased Whisman's route. The
roads became so bad in the winter that the
stages were withdrawn and travel to San Fran-
cisco went by way of Alviso.

Two steaml)oats. the Pf^m. Robinson and
New Star, furnished the water transportation.
This was a great improvement over the old
mustang route, Ijut was not quite satisfactory
to the people of the pueblo. Early in January.
1851. a meeting was called for the purpose of
taking steps toward building a railroad to San
Francisco. The meeting was largely attended
and very enthusiastic. At this time the road to
Santa Clara along the Alameda was impass-
able, and to reach that town from San Jose a
circuit of about six miles was required, while
passengers to San Francisco were compelled to
work their passage for alMjut half the distance.
Under these circumstances it is not surprising
that the meeting should unanimously declare
in favor of the railroad. Resolutions to this
effect were adopted and books opened for sub-
scriptions to the capital stock. Some subscrip-
tions were made and W. J. Lewis was ap-
pointed to make the survey and estimate of
cost. The survey was completed in December
and the estimate presented. Tiie total cost to

put the road into operation amounted to 51.-
:i39.126.17. These figures seemed to have a
depressing effect on the railroad enthusiasm of
the people, for no more was heard of the matter
for several years.

In July. 1851, the stage fare to San Francisco
was reduced to ten dollars and to Monterey to
twenty-five dollars. In :March. 1852, Messrs.
Reed and Kendall organized an e.xpress to run
l)etween San Jose and San Francisco by way
of Alviso. On April 11, 1853, the boiler 'of the
Jenny Lind. a steamer on the .\lviso route, ex-
ploded with disastrous effect. She had left
Alviso with 150 passengers, among them many-
prominent citizens of San Jose. When about
opposite of what is now Redwood City the ex-
])losion occurred, killing many and wounding
others. Among those killed were J. D. Hoppe,
Charles White and Bernard Murphy of San
Jose. This accident spread a gloom over the
community. A public meeting was called in
San Jose and resolutions expressing sympath}-
with the afflicted were adopted.

In October. 1853. the first telegraph line, con-
necting San Francisco with San Jose, was built.
It was a great myster}^ to the native popula-
tion, some of whom thought the Americans
had all turned Catholics and were erecting in-
numeral)le crosses as a testimony of their faith.
The establishment of telegraphic communica-
tion revived the desire for a railroad, but no
eft'ective steps were taken except an ordinance
passed bj' the common council granting St.
James Park for depot grounds. In 1856 an om-
nibus line was established between San Jose
and Santa Clara by the Crandall brothers, and
in 1857 a weekly express to Sonora was put on
by \\'. H. H03'. The growth of business in
San Jose and the development of the surround-
ing country brought the railroad question
again to the front in 1859. A meeting was held
in February to discuss the question of building
a short line to Alviso to connect with fast
boats at that port. Estimates were made and
books were opened, but before anything was
done in a practical way another ])roposition
was made and the work of promotion was sus-
pended.

A company had been organized in San Fran-
cisco to build a railroad to San Jose via San
Mateo and Redwood Citv. This company
wanted Santa Clara County to take $200,000
worth of the stock of the enterprise. It was
found impossible to raise this amoimt by in-
dividual subscriptions, and in 1861 an act was
secured from the Legislature authorizing the
county, through the board of supervisors, to
subscribe for this amount of stock, provided
that the people, at a regularly called election,
should endorse the measure. The election re-
sulted in a majority of 722 favoraltie to the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

151

project. No time was lost and on May 25 the
supervisors made the subscription and ordered
the issuance of bonds for the payment of the
same. These bonds bore interest at the rate
of seven per cent per annum and were pay-
able in fifteen years. The work of building the
road commenced immediately and on January
16, 1864. the road was completed and formally
opened with a grand excursion from San Fran-
cisco and way towns to San Jose. There was
great rejoicing when the first train arrived.
Flags were hoisted and everyljody took a
holiday.

The county now had a railroad, but it also
had an indebtedness of $200,000, on which it
was paying a large interest. The question was
soon mooted as to whether it would not be
good policy to sell the railroad stock owned
by the county and apph- the proceeds to\vard
paying this debt. As the stock was paying no
dividends, an afiirmative conclusion was soon
reached. The Legislature was appealed to and
in April. 1864, an act was passed authorizing
tiie county to sell the stock and to apjjly the
proceeds to the redemption of county bonds.
In November, 1864, B. G. Lathrop offered to
liuy the stock and pay $200,000 in currency.
As these were Civil \Var times, the currency
would be equivalent to $170,000 in gold. The
proposal, however, was accepted, l)ut Lathrop
neglected to make his offer good- and that was
an end of the transaction. In February, 1865,
C. B. Polhemus, Peter Donahue and H. M.
Newhall, directors of the railroad company, of-
fered to buy the stock for $200.(MH1. paNin.-.;- in
either currency or in the bonds of the counts-
issued to pay for the stock when the county
had subscribed for it. An agreement was
made, but having the default of Lathrop in
mind, the supervisors exacted from the pur-
chasers a bond for the fulfillment of the con-
tract. As there was no compliance with the
contract, the board lost patience and in 1867
suit was instituted. This brought offers of
compromise and pending negotiations the suit
was dropped. Nothing came of the negotia-
tions and 1869 another suit was instituted. In
the interval Polhemus had disposed of his in-
terest in the railroad. Mayne, his successor,
made another proposition — the company would
pay $100,000 in money for the stock and \vould
extend the line from San Jose to Gilro}'. The
proposition was accepted and its terms com-
plied with. In 1869 the Gilroy road was built.
In 1863 the Western Pacific Company was
constructing that portion of the transcontinen-
tal railroad lying between Sacramento and
Oakland, and offered, if the county would sub-
scribe $150,000 to its capital stock, to con-
struct a branch from Niles to San Jose, thus
]dacing the city on the through overland line.

( )n April 14, 186,^, an act was passed authoriz-
ing the county to make this subscr!i)tion and
the election in confirmation resulted in a favor-
able majority of 522 votes. The stock was sold
to David Coiton for $120,000 in February, 1872.
The agents who negotiated the sale were paid
$9,000. thus leaving a net loss to the county of
$39,000. The Western Pacific afterwards be-
came a part of the Southern Pacific system.

As the county to the north of San Jose be-
gan to develop fruit culture, especially straw-
lierries, blackberries, etc., a more convenient
and rapid means of transportation to San Fran-
cisco was desired by the growers. The two
railroads already constructed just skirted the
border of this district, and shippers were com-
pelled to haul their fruit to San Jose, Santa
Clara or Aliljaitas to get it on the cars. Ar-
rived in San Francisco it had to be hauled on
trucks for a long distance from depot to mar-
ket, and this bruised and injured the fruit to
the great loss of the producer. This caused
the matter of a narrow-gauge railroad to con-
nect with fast boats at Alviso to be revived.
In 1870 a meeting was held and subscription
liooks opened. Strenuous efforts were made to
get the stock taken. Chief among the promot-
ers of the scheme were John G. Bray, S. A.
Bishop and Gary Peebels. Pending the floating
of the stock a 'fast boat was put on the line
between Ahiso and San Francisco and the
fruit growers hauled to the Alviso wharf in-
stead III shipping by rail. Little progress with
the pr(jject was made. Finally, in 1876, a new
company was formed, called "The South Pa-
cific Coast Railroad Company," with A. E.
Davis as its president. This company asked
no favors. It had money for everything it
needed, including the right-of-way. It built
tlie road and in Ajiril, 1878, the first train came
into San Jose, and in May the road opened for
l)usiness." An extension of the line to Santa
Cruz followed. It was completed after much
time and labor spent in tunneling the moun-
tains. The road did a prosperous business from
the start. In 1887 it sold out to the Southern
Pacific Company. In 1886 a narrows-gauge
branch from Campbell to the New Almaden
mine was constructed. Later it was taken
over and standardized by the Southern Pacific.
In the same vear the Southern Pacific built a
line to the same point, connecting with the
trunk line at Hillsdale.

In 1885 a railroad to run from Murphy's on
the Southern Pacific line to Saratoga was pro-
jected and several miles were constructed. No
further progress has ever been made, partly on
account of the lack of money and partly by
the construction of other lines and by the elec-
tric system of railways which reaches every
point of importance in the valley.

152

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

The Southern Pacific has greatly extended
its lines since it took over the original railway
from San Jose to San Francisco. It has ex-
tended the coast line to Los Angeles, where
connection is made with the Eastern states.
thus placing San Jose on two transcontinental
lines. It has increased its orchard service by
building a line from Mayfield to Los Altos and
from Los Altos along the foothill region to Los
Gatos via Monte Vista (near Cupertino), Quito
Olive Farm and Wasona Junction. Therefore
the orchardists of the valley have easy access
to railway transportation.

The Western Pacific Railroad Company's
branch from Niles to San Jose was completed
in the spring of 1922. The main line extends
from San Francisco to Salt Lake City and
passes through Niles. The San Jose branch

takes in Irvington, Warm Springs. Milpitas
and the Berryessa district. Then it proceeds
around the southerly limits of San Jose, cuts
through the Willows district in a westerly di-
rection and after curving toward the north
ends in a main freight terminus at Bush and
Wilson Streets on the Alameda. Construc-
tion of the San Jose branch was started in
1917. was halted by the European war and
started again in 1920. The main passenger
station is in East San Jose and yards for
switching, storage, round house facilities, fuel
and water supply stations, turntable, track
scales and repair tracks are located on W^illiam
Street. There are several spurs built for the
benefit of orchardists. The coming of this
railroad induced the Remillard Brick Com-
pany to reopen its works in East San Jose.

CHAPTER XIV

The Public Buildings of the County — Many Locations of the County Court
House — Changes Made by the Legislature — Futile Attempt to Regain
the State Capital — The County Hospital and Almshouse.

The county buildings today are models of
beauty, size and convenience. The evolution
from the primitive structures of the early days
is both remarkable and interesting. For
some time after the Americans took posses-
sion of affairs the old Juzgado on Market
Street, San Jose, was used as a court house.
It was poorly arranged for such a purpose
and in 1850, better though temporary quarters
were secured in a building on First Street op-
posite Fountain Alley. Another change, to
the Bella Union building, where the Auzerais
House now stands, was soon made and court
was held here until 1851 when the old state
house on Market Plaza was purchased from
the city, the selection having been made by
Judge Redman. The building seems to have
been looked upon by the people as common
property and they were accustomed to hold
all sorts of meetings and entertainments there.
This was considered by the county govern-
ment as an infringement of its dignity and in
July, 1852. the sheriff was ordered to "take
charge of the court house and allow no
dances, shows or balls to be held therein." This
order elicited such a cry of indignation from
the people that within two days after its issu-
ance, it was modified so as to allow the use of
the building as an assembly hall and place of
amusement, but the sheriff was instructed to
collect for such uses a snffu-ient amount to
pay the fees of a janitor and watclinian.

The old state house having been burned, the
court house was removed to the adobe l)uild-
ing on Lightston Street, owned by Frank
Lightston, and the officers again began to look
about for a permanent location. Levi Good-
rich was appointed as architect and directed
to present plans and specifications, the idea
being to rebuild on the old lot on Market
Plaza. The plans were drawn and the clerk
was directed to call for bids, but before any-
thing further was done A. S. Caldwell offered
to sell the county the lot and building at the
southeast corner of Second and San Fernando
Streets. A committee was appointed and re-
ported that the building, with a little altera-
tion, could be made suitable for a court house,
and the purchase was made. The price paid
was $4000. In December, 1853, this building
was officially declared to be the county court
house, the same order setting apart the south
room on the lower floor as the district court
room. The county sold the state house out-
side lot to a Mr. Briggs for $500, reserving the
right to use the jail thereon until a new jail
could be built. The county occupied its new
quarters for sixteen years when it became ne-
cessary to have enlarged accommodations. An
order was made offering $100 for the best
plan for a new court house.

Pending this matter the clerk was aullior-
ized to negotiate with the San Jose Common
Council tor tlie temporary use of the second

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

153

story of the city hall on Market Street t'lr a
court room. This resulted in a two years'
lease, in return for which the county gave the
city the use of a portion of the lot at the cor-
ner of San Fernandd and Second Streets. The
exchange was ci'fccled in Au-ust, 1860. In
the latter part of this year Lc\i (loodrich pre-
sented plans for a new building. The jilans
were adopted and he received the premium of
$100 ofifered therefor. In March, 1861, the
hoard of supervisors asked Hon. A. -L. Rhodes,
state senator, to procure the passage of an
act by the Legislature authorizing the county
to issue bonds to pay for the building, 'i^hey
also directed Mr. Goodrich to prepare work-
ing drawings.

The lease of the city hall expired in 186.2.
At that time Martin Murphy was finishing his
brick building on Market Street — the pro-
perty now mainly occupied by Hart's depart-
ment store. He ofifered to rent to the county
the upper floor of these buildings for $190 per
month and finish them m a manner suitable
for use as county offices, the large hall at the
corner of Market and El Dorado Streets to be
used as a court room. The county acce]ited
the offer and took a five years' lease, with the
privilege of renewal. This was the last loca-
tion of the court house prior to the construc-
tion of the present building.

Two years elapsed before anything was
done toward the erection of a new court
house. During that time there grew up a sen-
timent that the old lot at the corner of Second
and San Fernando Streets was not ,i Stiitable
Ification and the supervisors were urged to
purchase another lot. There was some oppo-
sition to this suggestion and heated debates
were held over it at the board meetings. Two
of the supervisors, Messrs. Ouinby and Yates,
were opposed to buying another lot and when
a resolution to change the location was adopt-
ed, voted in the negative. Among the sites
oiTered to the board was the one now occu-
pied by the court house. It was owned by W.
H. Hall, who ofifered to sell it to the county
for $5000. The title having been found valid,
the purchase was consummated. The original
tract was 137>4 feet front on First Street by
275 feet deep. Afterward more frontage was
purchased.

\\ ork on the court house was pushed as
rapidly as possible and on January 1, 1868, the
county officers took possession. Originally
there was but one court room, the ceiling of
which extended to the roof. In 1879 a floor
was laid, cutting this apartment into two
rooms as they now are. Another room, which
had been used for a county office, was made
over into a third court room, the new consti-
tution, just adopted, having i)rovided-for three

Superior Courts for Santa L'lara County. The
cost of the building was about .'fJOrtOOO. When
com]iktecl it was the finest court house in
California. It is of the Roman-Corinthian or-
der of architecture and overlooks St. James
I'ark, whose luxuriance lends pleasure to the
eye. Its foundation is of the utmost durabil-
ity, the walls resting on a substructure of con-
crete to a depth of six feet and of a like num-
ber of feet in thickness. Ponderous brick
arches support the lower floor, while all the
walls are of the same material, the basement
ones being four feet in thickness and the
upper ones twenty-one inches. Above the
basement the building has two stories and its
dimensions are in frontage, 100 feet; in depth,
including the portico, 140 feet. The height to
the cornices fifty-six feet, and it is 150 feet
to the top of the dome, the least diameter of
wdiich is seventeen and the greatest fifty feet.
Its portico, a magnificent specimen of column-
atecl facade, showing in its fine proportit)ns.
richness, strength and beauty, is seventy-six
feet in length, the height of the columns be-
ing thirty-eight and the diameter four feet.
The windows, which are of the finest French
plate glass, are each surmounted with pedi-
ments, those on the lower story being arched.
Each window frame is made of highly orna-
mented cast iron, the whole weighing, with
iron shutters, about 3600 pounds. The roof is
covered with zinc. The tower, from which a
magnificent view of the city and valley can
be obtained, finds light from eleven elliptical
windows, surmounted with an iron railing
forty-two inches in height, and is reached by
a staircase with 172 steps. There are three
landings, so as to make the ascent 'compara-
tively easy. This noble structure is divided
into rooms, one fitted up for the board of sup-
ervisors and the remainder apportioned to
those of the county officers who do not have
rooms in the Hall of Records building adjoin-
ing on the north. The courts are finely ap-
pointed, that of Department 1 being of noble
proportions, sixty-five by forty-eight feet.
The entire exterior of the structure is of imi-
tation stone. The main entrance is gained
by an ascent of thirteen granite steps, and
here, high overhead, stands out in bold relief
the motto, "Justicia Dedicata."

No sooner was this splendid building com-
pleted than an overpowering sense of magni-
ficence seized upon the board of supervisors,
for they made strenuous efforts to make their
court house the headquarters of the State Leg-
islature, the removal of which from Sacra-
mento to some more central position then be-
ing seriously considered. What more natural
than that the first capital of the state should
try to regain its lost honors. On February 4.

154

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1868, the minutes <if the board showed the
following:

"Resolved, That in the event of the General
Assembly of the State of California determin-
ing to remove the State Capital to the County
of Santa Clara, the Board of Supervisors of
the said County of Santa Clara tender to the
state, the free and entire use of the Court
House of said County for state purposes, un-
til such time as a Capitol building may be
erected in said County, provided that the
Capitol building shall be erected in five years."

The next daj' another motion, as follows,
was carried: "Resolved, That the Honorable
the Members of the Legislature and attaches
thereof, one and all. are hereby invited to in-
spect for themselves its eligibility as a seat of
government for this state, prior to any final
action touching that suliject matter; and the
hospitalities of the city and county will be
cordially, extended to them." These orders
were rescinded June 15, 1872.

A new county jail was built in the rear of
the Court House in 1871. The plans of Levi
Goodrich for a brick structure were adopted.
The cost was about $60,000. The main prison,
120x42 feet and 21 feet high, is built on a solid
brick foundation with granite water tables.
The walls are 18 inches thick, of brick with
four-inch iron bars running through the cen-
ter, four and a half inches apart and riveted
firmly together, extending around the entire
])uilding. Through the central part of the
jiuilding are two rows of cells, which are
l)uilt in the same substantial manner as the
main walls, being covered overhead with
solid arches of heavy iron work and masonry.
A large corridor extends completely around
these cells and a commodious passage be-
tween them. Adjoining the rows of cells,
l)ut shut oflf from them by a heavy wall is
what is called the "murderers' tanks." They
are two in number with a corridor around
them. The entire roof of the jail is of solid
sheet iron, strongly anchored down to the
substantial wall with massive couplings. On
top of the plate of the roof is a layer of brick,
finished over with asphaltum. The jailer's
apartment adjoins the main building on the
front and is forty-two feet square and three
stories high, with ornamented fronts on the
south and east. This section also contains
kitchen, store room, office and the heating
system. The second and third stories are
divided into large and conifortal)le cells, and
it is in this part of the jail that the women
prisoners are confined. The whole prison is
well-lighted by ample windows and skylights,
well secured. The cells are furnished with
cast iron sinks and water closets with sewer

connections. The inner face of all the walls
are whitewashed.

The Hall of Records, adjoining the Court
House at the north and connected with it by
a wide covered corridor was erected in 1892
at a cost of $200,000. The overcrowded con-
dition of the Court House rendered the addi-
tion necessary. It is two stories in height,
hut is solidly built of granite on lines similar
to that of the Court House. It is used for of-
fices of the county clerk, county treasurer,
county auditor, county surveyor, county re-
corder, county superintendent of schools and
Santa Clara County charities. The liuilding
was occupied in January, 1893.

The Hall of Justice is located on the south-
east corner of Market and St. James streets,
back of the Hall of Records. It was ready for
occupancy when the earthquake of April 18,
1906 wrecked it. The material used in the
construction was stone from Goodrich's
quarry, near San Jose, and the earthquake
])roved that it was not of sufficient stability to
\^•ithstand the shock. In the reconstruction
stronger material was used and in 1908 the
work was completed. The building is occu-
pied by the county assessor, county tax. col-
lector, horticultural commissioner, county li-
brary, probation office, justice of the jK-ace,
constables and house of detention.

The first organized eflfort to care for the in-
digent sick was made in 1854, when a com-
mittee from the common council met a com-
mittee from the board of supervisors and
agreed to act in concert in the matter. By
the terms of this agreement the county was
to bear two-thirds of the expense and the city
tme-third. All affairs concerning indigent sick
were to be managed by a joint committee
composed of each board. The council, hovv-
e\er, refused to confirm the action of its com-
mittee, alleging that they were able to take
care of their indigent sick. On this the su-
pervisors appointed George Peck, R. G.
Moody and William Daniels as a relief com-
mittee or board of health. During this year
the county received $869.45 as its share of the
state relief fund.

The next year, 1855, a county physician
was appointed and the city agreed to pay $50
])er month towards maintenance and rnedical
attendance. About the same time the old
Le\y property was rented for a hospital, the
city paying a monthly rent of forty dollars.
In November of the same year the county ad-
\ertised for proposals for a house and lot for
hospital pur])oses. In response to this call
the Merritt brothers offered to sell the old
Sutter house for $5,500. This house was situ-
ated to the northeast of the city and to it was
altaciied .twenty-five acres of ground. The of-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

155

fer was accepted and the county occupied the
premises until February, 1856, when the own-
ers failing to make a good deed to the prop-
erty, the contract for the purchase was re-
scinded. The county then advertised for pni-
posals for taking care of the indigent sick.
The first contract was let to Dr. G. B. Crane,
who agreed to maintain the patients and fur-
nish medical and surgical attendance for
$4,600 per year, the number of patients not to
l^e more than seven a day, or if in excess of
that number, to be paid at that rate. For sev-
eral years the patients were taken care of in
this manner.

In 1860 the necessity ior a hospital building
became very apparent and a committee to se-
lect a site was appointed. Many offers were
made but the proposal of Hiram Cahill was
accepted. His tract contained twelve acres of
land, situated on the south side of South Street,
just west of Los Gatos Creek. The price paid
was $4,000. The buildings on the tract were re-
paired and enlarged and a pest house was built
near the creek on the south. These premises
were occupied until 1871. Before this time, in
1868, the hospital became too small to accom-
modate all the patients. The city had grown
much larger and there was consideralile ol)-
jection to the location of the institution so
near the city limits. An effort was made to
secure another location, but it was three years
liefore a new site was chosen. The- board
finally purchased of John S. Connor 114 acres
of land on one of the roads to Los Gatos,
three and one-half miles from San Jose. The
price paid was $12,400. In 1875 the contract
for the building was awarded to AV. O. Brey-
fogle for $14,633.70. Messrs. Lenzen and Gash
were the architects. Before this, the old
buildings from the old grounds had lieen re-
moved to the new site and the old premises
cut up into lots and sold for $4,518.64. In
1884 eighty-one acres of the new tract were
sold to different parties, leaving thirty-three
acres to the jjresent grounds. Afterward more
land was liought so that now the tract con-
tains thirty-eight and one-half acres. The
inone\- accruing from the 1884 sales amounted
to $14. 7_'7 71. lieing $2,327.71 more than the
cost oi" tlu- ciuire tract. Since the removal of
the hospital to its present location many build-

ing additions and improvements have been
made. The average number of patients dur-
ing 1919 was aliout 200. The main hospital
has five wards and is replete with every sani-
tar\- requirement. Outside are the tubercu-
losis hospital. Old Ladies' Home, with thirty-
seven inmates; Old Men's Home, isolation
hospital, and pest house, and residences for
the eighteen nurses and the superintendent.
Dr. D. R. Wilson. Edward Halsey is the sec-
retary.

Up to 1883 there was no almshouse in
Santa Clara County. Invalids in destitute
circumstances were cared for at the county
hospital, while the indigent who were not in-
^alicls \\-crc cared for by allowances by the
board of superxisors. These all()\\ances were
of money. pro\i>ions. clothing, fuel. etc.. as
each case might demand. For many years the
destitute children were cared for by the La-
dies' Benevolent Societ}-, this society receiv-
ing from the board a monthly allowance of a
certain amount per capita. Each supervisor
exercised a supervision over the destitute of
his district and all allowances were made on
his recommendation.

The expense necessarily incurred by this
svstem of affording relief began to be very
burdensome and in 1883 steps were taken to
establish a county farm. In March of that
year a committee was appointed to examine
the matter and the report was in favor of es-
tablishing an almshouse. The present site —
on the Oakland road, half a mile south of
Mil])itas — was selected. A tract of 100 acres
was purchased from James Boyd for $25,000.
The tract contained the present main building,
which had l)een erected as a residence some,
vears before bv John O'Toole at an expense
of $21,000. Now nearly all aid to destitute
persons is extended through this institution.
Persons not residents of the county are not
aided at all, but are returned to the counties
where they l^elong. For several years indi-
gent women were cared for here, but when an
Old Ladies' Home was built at the county hos-
pital the)^ were removed to the new location.
The superintendent is James Carson and the
number of patients (1920) is 198. Those who
are able to work are employed about the
grounds, mainly in gardening.

CHAPTER XV.

The Resources and Attractions of San Jose, the Garden Cty of California —
Soil, Climate, Productions and Opportunity — What a Man From the
East Learned From an Old Resident.

"San Jose? In California? Never heard of
tlie place. Must be some old Spanish villag-e.
eh? Pueblo — that's it, pueblo. I've read Span-
ish history and when I was a youngster I
had a lot of Spanish lingo at my tongue's end.
I never heard of but one San Jose on the
Western Continent and that is San Jose de
Costa Rica. Perhaps you were not referring
to California and your San Jose is the Costa
Rican city. No? Then where is your San Jose
and what do they raise there, coffee or pump-
kins?"

The speaker was a man from the East, who
had come to California in search of a home
and also a field for the profitable investment
of the money he had saved after years of toil
in the cold, cheerless communities of New
England. The scene was the reading room of
one of San Francisco's palatial hotels' and the
person addressed was an old resident of San
Jose, who had been introduced to the East-
erner by a mutual friend.

"San Jo.se is of right the fourth city in the
state and is located in the heart of the rich-
est valley in the world : distance from San
Francisco, forty-eight miles. It i.s — "

"Hold on, hold on," was the quick inter-
ruption. "Let me get my breath — you quite
took it away by your surprising announcement.
I am a tenderfoot, it is true, but I thought
I had California sized up pretty well before
I bought my ticket in Boston. I knew there
were a large number of towns and villages
where they dig for gold, but I had formed
the idea that the only two cities worth men-
tioning were San Francisco and Los Angeles.
As San Francisco is hardly the place for a
home, I had concluded to go to Los Angeles."
"Have you bought your ticket?" "No," was
the reply. "Then before you do so let me
suggest that you take a trip to San Jose. You
are looking for a place suitable for a resi-
dence. San Jose offers the best inducements
of any community in the state of California.
You have money to invest — invest it in the
Santa Clara Valley."

"Hut I am very particular. 1 liave a family.
children not yet grown up. There are many
things to be considered and I am afraid, my
good friend that a country town or city —
for 1 have heard that out here in the West a
town becomes a city when it can show a popu-

lation of 800 or 1.000— will hardly afford the
facilities which are essential to the well-being
of my family."

"Let me tell you something about San Jose
and its environs. Perhaps I may be able to
furnish facts that will suit all your require-
ments."

"I shall be pleased to hear ynu." The man
from the East lighted a cigar, then sinking
in his chair waited for the promised exposition.
"You spoke of Spanish villages," began the
old resident," and that reminds me that San
Jose was once a Spanish pueblo, where all
the houses were of adobe, where the seat of
education and religious enlightenment was in
the Mission and where wild cattle roamed the
valley and a dolce far nlente people lived lives
of ease and dreamed not of the time when
fair and stately homes should dot the lands
given over to the chapparal and the wild mus-
tard, and the busy hum of industry indicative
of an advanced civilization should be heard in
places where happy feet kept time to the se-
ductive strains of the Spanish guitar, or where
the matador and picador imperiled their lives
for love or gold. San Jose was settled in 1787
as the result of an e.xploration made at the
instance of the Spanish authorities in 1769.
Until 1830 no Americans had ever penetrat-
ed California. In that j-ear they began to ar-
rive so that when the discovery of gold was
made San Jose was practically dominated by
the American population. In February, 1848,
the United States, by treaty, acquired title to
California and the first Legislature held its
first session in San Jose, which for a short
time was the capital of the state. Had gen-
eral and not sectional interests been consult-
ed, it would be the capital today; but by a
series of bargains, governed solely by selfish
considerations, the capital was removed first
to one point and then another until it reached
Sacramento to stay. In 1849 — the year the
Argonauts came from all parts of the world —
San Jose, as now, was the paradise of the
homeseeker, its location, climate and other at-
tractions combining to make it the most fa-
vored city in the state. Seekers for the gold,
which was to be found in the mountainous
counties to the north and east left their fami-
lies in San Jose, well knowing that while they
delved for "the yellow metal their loved ones

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

157

were surrounded l)_v all the ct)nditions calcu-
lated to make life worth living. And if life
were worth living in San Jose and the Santa
Clara Valley in 1849, what must be said of
the advantages which it possesses today? Then
the valley, outside of the pueblo, was practic-
ally an unbroken plain where the wild cattle
roamed at will. Today is presented a trans-
formation that would hardly be looked for out-
side of an Arabian romance. The late Judge
Belden, in a graphic and beautifully worded
])icture of the valley in the vicinity of San
Jose, thus set forth some of the attractions :

" "To the visitor approaching San Jose,
through the upper end of the Santa Clara Val-
ley, each mile traversed ushers in some de-
lightful surprise, introduces a new climate. If
his advent be from the north, the hills of ver-
dure which encircle the bay recede on either
hand and assume a softer contour and a rich-
er garb. The narrow roadway that skirts the
salt marsh has widened to a broad and fer-
tile valley that stretches as far as the eye can
reach in luxuriant fields of grass and grain and
miles upon miles of thrifty orchards. Border-
ing this verdant plain, in hues and splendors
all their own, come the hills and into the re-
cesses of these hills creep the little valleys
and as they steal away in their festal robes
they whisper of beauties beyond and as yet
unseen. In full keeping with the transformed
landscape is the change of climate. The harsh,
chill winds that pour in through the Golden
Gate, and sweep over the peninsula, have abat-
ed their rough work as they spread over
the valley, and, softened as they mingle with
the currents of the south, met as a zephyr in
the widening plain.

" 'If the approach to San Jose be from the
south, the traveler, wearied with the desert
and its hot, dry air, is conscious of a sud-
den change. The sterile desert has become
a fruitful jilain and the air that comes as balm
to the ])arclied lungs is cool and soft and
moist with the tempered breath of the sea.
If it be spring or early summer, miles upon
mile stretches the ^•er(laIlt plain ; over it
troops sunshine and shadow; across it ripples
the waves. Summer but changes the hue and
heaps the plains with abundant harvest of
grain, vegetables and fruit, while the first rain
brings again the verdure and the beauty of
spring. "An ocean of l^eauty," exclaims the
charmed beholder.' "

"From that very pretty description I infer
that your climate is not to be sneezed at."

"We are proud of our climate," replied the
old resident, "and with reason. There are all
sorts of climate in California but it is general-
ly conceded by those who have traveled the
state over and are not afraid to express an

honest opinion, that the climate of San Jose
and the Santa Clara Valley is unsurpassed in
mildness and salubrity. It is all owing to
topographical situation. With moderately high
mountains rising on the east and west and
closing in on the south, the valley is pro-
tected from the fog and winds that in cer-
tain seasons envelop more exposed sections
in less favored locations. Protected from ex-
tremes of heat and cold by the sheltering arms
of the mountains, the hottest days of summer
are never oppressive on account of the cool
breezes that sweep in from the bay. Climat-
ically considered, San Jose and the Santa Clara
Valley is open to no objection."

"Your climate I admit is all right, hut what
about resources?"

"The valley is one of varied resources and
San Jose, as the county seat, enjoys the major
part of the benefit derived from the orchards,
grain fields and berry and vegetable sections.
The shipping facilities are unexcelled. In the
first place San Jose is the terminal point and
therefore growers are not compelled to send
their products to a great distance at local
rates in order to reap the benefits that always
accrue by reason of the rates offered at ter-
minal points."

The man from the East was becoming vastly
interested. His cigar had gone out and his
eyes were fixed intently on the face of the old
resident. "What kinds of fruit do you raise?"
as asked, and on the moment out came his
notebook.

"Prunes, apricots, cherries, pears, apples,
peaches, quinces, olives, nectarines, plums,
limes, lemons and oranges." "Oranges?" "Yes,
oranges in the section we call the warm belt,
but our prunes, apricots and peaches give such
better returns tliat we do not count on citrus
fruits, leaMiii; that line to the southern coun-
ties. Prunes take the lead and San Jose han-
dles about all of them. There are twenty-three
packing houses and twenty-four canneries in
San Jose alone ; outside there are fifteen pack-
ing houses and about the same number of
canneries. The number in city and country
will increase before the year is out.

"Gee Whiz !" ejaculated the man from the
East, "San Jose must handle hundreds of tons
of fruit each year."

"Hundreds of tons? Thousands of tons
would hit the mark. In the shipment of dried
fruit San Jose's contribution is about half of
that of the whole state."

"Plow about marketing?" was the next in-
quir}- as the business sense of the man from
the East came to the fore.

"We are exceptionally favored," was the re-
ply, "in having an organization allied with the
[backers which controls more than eighty per-

158

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

cent of the prune and apricot output of the
entire state. It is called "The California Prune
and Apricot Growers, Inc.' It came into ex-
istence in 1916 and its growth has been such
that it now owns forty packing houses, has
alliances with many packers and costly ex-
tensions and improvements have been mapped
out for the near future. By the rules which
govern its conduct it is able to prevent
troublesome fluctuations and the expensive in-
terventions of middlemen and bring security
and good prices to the orchardists. It is a
combine in which the interests of producer,
buyer and consumer are equitably adjusted."

"That's good. I like that. And now another
riuestion. What are fruit lands in the vicinity
of San Jose worth ?"

"On account of the large profits, prices have
gone up during the past ten years. Suitable
lands with liearing trees sell all the way from
S800 to $1500 per acre. On some of these lands,
planted to prunes and apricots, the profits per
acre, in 1919, ranged from $500 to $1,000. So
you see the prices are not high when profits
are considered. .\s an instance of money I
will cite one case. A San Franciscan in the
spring of 1919 bought a twenty-acre bearing
prune orchard for $30,000. The ^fall of that
j'ear brought him a profit of $15,000 on his
fruit. So you see half the value of his prop-
erty was paid for in one year."

The man from the East looked at his watcli.
"1 find I have yet more than an hour at ni}-
disposal," he said.

"Then I will talk rapidly." replied the old
resident, "though I could put in a week and
not exhaust the subject.

"The soil in and about San Jose offers the
prime requisites for the raising of all kinds
of vegetables and small berries. This with a
climate equally suited, a ready market in San
Jose and a still larger one in San Francisco,
makes the business of production a most prof-
itable one and gives employment to a large
number of people. The seed output will more
than double the amount of other garden prod-
ucts. One of the seed farms located near San
Jose is the largest in the world. In the future
another soil industry may be added — flax cul-
ture. Statistics show that it is very profitable
and in the opinion of experts the climate and
soil of the valley meet every requirement.

"While San Jose is noted as a horticultural
center its industries along the line of manu-
factures are not unimportant. There are
many lunil)ering manufactories in the city and
vicinity. There are flour mills, iron and brass
foundries, tanneries, carriage factories, mar-,
l)le works, cigar factories — Ijut stay, it is bet-
ter to give you a list prepared by the Chamlier
of Commerce, so vou see what San fuse can

lioast of: Acme Sheet Aletal Manufactory,
.\nderson-Barngrover Mfg. Co., manufactures
fruit and canning machinery : T. D. Anderson,
awning and tent makers: Banks Corporation,
manufactures Banks' Evaporator: I'.ean Spray
Pump Co., manufactures punijis, L;as and trac-
tion engines: Beech Nut Co., jams and pre-
serves: E. Benone, Ravioli an(l Noodle Mf.g.
Co. : Harry Bobbitt, California Wall Paper
Mills ; Braslan Seed Growers Co. : Burns Mat-
tress Co. ; Byron Jackson Iron Works, cen-
trifugal and turbine pumps: California Seed
Growers' Association ; Campbell & Budlong
Machine \\'orks. pumps and engines; Chase
Lumber Co. : Christian Mfg. Co., harvester
teeth ; Cowell Lime and Cement Co. ; Delmas
Paper Co. ; Eagle Body Mfg. Co., auto body
builders and repairers; Farmers' Grain and
Poultrv Supplv Co. : Finnett-McEwen Co.,
tract. .rs: I'i^k Rubber Cn. : Garden City Glass
Co.: ('.ar.lrii City l'..ltcry: Cardcn City Rub-
Ijcr Works: Garden City Implement and Ve-
hicle Co. ; Glenwood Lumber Co. ; James
Grahain Mfg. Co., stoves and ranges; Hart's
Auto Signal Tail Light Co. ; Hubbard & Car-
michael, lumber and mill work ; Kimberlin
Seed Co. ; Knapp Plow Works ; San Jose Bot-
tling Co. ; San Jose Wire Strapping Co. ;
Moenning & Flarvard, pumps and engines ;
Mussos Outing & Equipment Co.; Pacific Gas
is: Electric Co. ; Pacific Mfg. Co. ; Pacific Shin-
gle and Box Co. ; Peterson-Kartschoke Brick
Co. ; Pioneer Rubber Co. : National Axle
Mfg. Co.; San Jose Broom Factory: San Jose
Flour Co. ; San Jose Marble & Granite Works ;
San Jose Foundry ; San Jose Lumber Yard ;
San Jose Paper Mills; Ravenna Paste Co.;
Schuh & Vertin, granite and marble works ;
Securit}^ Cold Storage Co. ; Sperry Flour Co. ;
\ acuuni System Oil Refining Co. ; San Jose
Implement Co.; Marvel Compound Co., boiler,
gas engine and radiator compounds ; Litch
Pump & Supply Company, Smith Manufac-
turing Company, and several others. Besides
tliese four Building and Loan Associations,
eighteen dairies and creameries, eight whole-
sale flour and grain houses, nineteen butcher
shops, over one hundred grocers, five sani-
tariums and hospitals, a telephone company
with over 14,000 subscribers, and other lines
of business. (Jne drawback to the proper de-
\e!opnient of manufacturing industries was
the lack of cheap fuel, but a factor of the
greatest importance was furnished in 1901
when the Standard Electrical Power Com-
pany with plant at Blue Lakes, put up poles
and wires in Santa Clara County and fur-
nished 15,000 horsepower for every purpose
for which it could be used."

"Tell me more about San jose. itself. 1
want the details."

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

159

"San Jose," said the old resident, with glis-
tening eyes, "is the garden spot of California,
the Queen City of the Pacific Coast. It is
beautifully situated in the center of the val-
ley, surrounded by the richest fruit growing
section in the world, and having within its
boundaries all the elements conducive to a

mate, you knnw SdiiK'thint; rcs)ir(.tint;- the rc-
scjurces di' the ciintigudus territmy. and you
will therefore understand that trade must nat-
ur.'illy gra\itate to the city by reason of its
location with outlying' sections. The con-
stancy and certainty of trade enables the
farmers and orchardists to pay cash for sup-
plies and in turn insures the prosperity of the
merchants. But the fruit industry and the
manufacturing concerns form but two factors
in promoting commercial healthfulness. Hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars flow in annually
from the educational and other public institu-
tions situated in San Jose and its near vicinity.

"It is one of the most beautiful residence
cities in the state on account of its charming
situation, unrivaled climate, beautiful land-
scape, educational facilities, accessibility to
the great metropolis of the coast, and to the
intelligence, refinement and enterprise of its
people. It is connected with San Francisco
with three lines of steam railroads, one line, a
transcontinental one, running from San Fran-
cisco and San Jose along the coast to I^os An-
geles and thence East. There are also elec-
tric lines running to Palo Alto on the north,
Los Altos, Cupertino and Saratoga on the
west and Los Gatos and Campbell on the
south. In the near future the electric cars \\-ill
convey jiassentjers frcjin San Jose to San Fran-
cisco. A new transcontinental line, starte<l in
1917 and finished in 1922, is the AX'esterh I'a-
cific. .\ branch line was Ijuill from Xiles."

"How aliout auto sta-es? Do vou have
them ?

"Of course." replied the old resident, se-
renel}-, "for we're up to date in San Jose.
There are hourly auto stages to San' Fran-
cisco, Oakland, Stockton, Sacrainento, Gilroy,
Los Gatos, Saratoga and other points. In
fact you can get an auto to take you any-
where in the state. And talking about autos —
I will inform you that San Jose is the pride
of the automobilists of California, for it has
more roads, better roads, more beautiful
spots — valley or mountain — more orchard
a\-enues than any other section of the state.
The state highway runs through San Jose
with branches to Santa Cruz, Gilrt'ty and other
towns in the county. Besides there are hun-
dreds of miles of paved roads paid for by the
board of supervisors acting for the county."

The man from the East made a movement
in the direction of his watch pocket, but it
was not completed. Some restraining influ-
ence was at work. Presently he said: "You
speak of educational facilities. A city or town
may have climate t.. lnirn. the scenic beauties
that jioets rave about, but unless it possesses
a full measure of the best of civilizing influ-
ences it fails of being the 'one and altogether
lo\ely spot' to me."

The old resident listened complacently. "I
think I can satisfy you," he replied, "for one
of the strongest appeals that San Jose makes
to the seekers of homes is that it i.s the center
of the finest system of education to be found
on the Pacific Coast. In the city itself are the
public schools from primary to high, and
many academies and private schools. The
high school building, or buildings, for there
are man\- of them, cover acres of ground, and
with the improvements mapped out for this
}-ear — athletic grounds, new structures and an

>st

las

highest uni\er>ity rating and the course of
study embraces almost every de]>artment of
culture from the rudiments of learning up to
the arts, sciences and classics. The grammar
schools, nine in number, are coniiiarativelv
new, are built in the mission form with spa-
cious grounds, up-to-date sanitary conditions
and all tlie ai.pliane.s of lirM-ela-SS metropoli-
tan institutions. And there are in the city com-
mercial schools, church .schools, and schools of
painting, industrial arts and metaphysics. In
San Jose is located the State Teachers'
College, with an efficient corps of instruct-
ors for the education of teachers: the College
of Xotre Dame, one of the leading Catholic
institutions of learning and morals in the

training of y(]ung girls: and the St. Joseph's
school f()r boys. Two miles from the heart of
the city at College Park is the College of the
Pacific, the leading Methodist College of the
Pacific Coast, with a Conservatorv of Music
attached : at Santa Clara, three miles distant,
is the L'niversity of Santa Clara, founded by
the Fathers of the Society of Jesus and hav-
ing commercial, law, scientific and classical
courses, and with a reputation that extends to
every part of the United States. Palo Alto,
nineteen miles distant, about half an hour's
ride from San Jose, boasts of the Leland Stan-
ford Jr. University. It is designed in this
university to represent the crown and out-
come of the new education, specialized, how-
ever, on the highest planes in utilitarian di-
rections. This unixorsity is really an asset of
San Jose and as such I speak of it.

160

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

"It might he well for you to know that San
Jose is a city of churches, every denomination
of importance being represented. The cost of
the buildings, which in their ornateness add
much to the beauty of the city, range from
$5,000 to $200,000. ' In the line of charitable
institutions there is the sanitarium built by
the donation of the late Judge M P. O'Con-
nor and conducted by the Sisters of Charity ;
the Pratt Home for old ladies, the Sheltering
Arms, and the Orphans' Home, conducted by
the Ladies' Benevolent Society. Besides there
are many other organizations, like the Good
Cheer Club and the Elks which care for the
sick and distressed."

"How about public buildings?" asked the
Easterner. "Do they match the other things
you have been talking about?"

"They do and they present much that is
architecturally beautiful and substantial. The
Court House,' Hall of Records, Hall of Justice.
City Hall and Postoffice cost one million and
a half dollars in the aggregate, and each struc-
ture is massive and imposing. The Carnegie
Library, built by a donation from Andrew
Carnegie, is a handsome structure, located in
one corner of Normal Square, and answers the
public needs. The business houses of San
Jose are large, well built and attractive struc-
tures. There are two skyscrapers — the First
National Bank building, nine stories, and the
Garden City Bank and Trust Company build-
ing, seven stories. The residences, as a rule,
are in the bungalow style, costing from $2,000
to $75,000. Some of the suburban residences
are veritable palaces and they stand as mon-
uments of art and lieauty in the midst of lu.\-
uriant gardens and thrifty orchards. Speak-
ing of gardens, San Jose has well been called
the Garden City of California. Flowers grow-
so easily and abundantly that every residence
has its flower garden and every month in the
year some varieties are in bloom. There is no
snow and the frosts are so light that only the
most delicate plants are afifected. There is no
time in the winter when the ground may not
be worked, so that under what are semi-tropical
conditions the growth of flowers has every-
thing in its favor. The facility with which the
flowers are grown add much to the beauty of
the public parks, of which there are four,
ranging in size from three to thirty acres.

"Are there any health resorts in the neigh-
borhood of San Jose, any drives or—"

"Enough to beat the band," was the expres-
sive response. "The citj^ owns a natural park
known as Alum Rock, which is one of the most
picturesque and inviting spots in the state.
It is but seven miles distant, covers an area
of about 1,000 acres, is under control of the
city government, and is reached by three fine

driveways and an electric railway. There are
bath houses, plunges, a restaurant, swimming
tank, esplanade, a concrete dam for the water
supply, beautiful park-like enclosures for flow-
ers, and lovely walks in every direction. The
fame of the mineral w;aters has spread far and
wide. There are other mineral springs not
far from San Jose, and the fact that they are
located far above the sea level and with most
attractive natural surroundings make them
sought after by both the invalid and the tour-
ist. The roads about San Jose are among the
best in the state, for the reason that they are
not only kept in first class condition the year
round but are sprinkled continuously from the
end of one wet season to the beginning of an-
other. This work is done under an energetic
and up-to-date board of supervisors.

"While there are charming drives through
the orchard districts, to the quicksilver mines
at New Almaden, to Los Gatos and Saratoga
in the western foothills, to the Big Basin, the
great redwood park in the Santa Cruz Moun-
tains; to Alviso and Milpitas near San Fran-
cisco Bay, along the far-famed Alameda to the
town of Santa Clara and in other directions
where the natural prospect is inviting to the
eye, the one most favored by tourists is the
drive to the Lick Observatory on the summit
of Mt. Hamilton."

"I have heard of the Observatory." inter-
posed the man from the East, "but I never
connected San Jose with it."

"It is San Jose's greatest auxiliary attrac-
tion, though the Big Basin is running as a
close second. The road that leads to the Ob-
servatory is twenty-seven miles from San Jose
and was built at the expense of the taxpayers.
It is conceded to be the finest mountain road
in the world and cost upwards of $75,000. It
was upon the condition that Santa Clara
County should build the road that James Lick,
millionaire philanthropist, agreed to construct
the Observatory and equip it with the finest
astronomical appliances in the world. THe
important discoveries that have been made
smce the astronomers began their work have
given the Observatory a world-wide fame.
The lieautiful scenery of the Coast Range is
seen at its best on the road to the summit, and
the drive up the mountain is as much an at-
traction as a look at the heavens through the
great thirty-six inch glass."

"If tourists should visit San Jose for a
tri]) to the Observatory what accommoda-
tions would they find?"

"As good as can be found anywhere. There
are twenty-seven hotels, besides dozens of
lodging houses. The finest hotels, metropoli-
tan in every respect, with electric lights, heat-
ing plants, elevators and the finest of service

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

are the Vendome, Hotel Montgomery and
Hotel St. James."

"You have spoken about the climate, scenic
and other attractions. Have _\-ou a system of
sewerage, and how does it operate?"

"San Jose has a system, a perfect one, and
it operates to the satisfaction of the entire
community. The city, you must understand,
is located on a plain which slopes gently
toward the bay. The problem of drainage,
therefore, which has in sections less favor-
ably situated involved great expense, was in
San Jose easily solved. The fall is about ten
feet to the mile, enough to insure a rapid flow
of water and there are now over sixty miles
of main and branch sewers. The principal
drainway is built of brick and is five feet in
diameter."

"Where do you get your water supply?"

"From artesian wells and from the lakes
and streams situated high up in the moun-
tains. The supply is ample and can be in-
creased whenever occasion demands. The
pressure to the hydrants from the water
brought in pipes from the hills is fifty-five
pounds to the square inch."

"How about taxes?"

"Not high. Up to May, 1920, the city rate
was $1.19. Of this eighty-five cents was for the
support of the city government, fifteen cents
for the school department, and nineteen cents
for the payment of princijjal and interest on
bonded indebtedness of $659,400. In May,
1920, at the regular city election, it was voted
to increase the tax rate to thirty-five cents, the
increase to last for three years only, to give
the city a chance to recuver from the loss of
lic|uor licenses dm- to tlic wiping out t)f the
saloons through I'nihibiticin.

"In conclusion," sadi the old resident, "I
will say that we are working under a com-
mission form of government, with a cit\- man-
ager as its principal officer ; that we have a
Charnber of Commerce, a live, progressive
body of representative men ; a Merchants As-
sociation, the Rotary, Lions, Civic Welfare,
a Commercial Club, a Progressive Business
Men's Association, (.)ne Hundred Per Cent
Club and the Commercial Club for placing San
Jose in large letters on the map ; that the
streets of San Jose are lighted by electricity;
that car lines operated by electricity traverse
the city in every direction and extend to out-
lying towns: that fifty-nine railway trains
leave the city daily; that the city has two
daily new s]iapers, the Mcmiry ( ninrnins.;) and
the Neivs lexeningj furnishing the news of
the world by Associated Press and United
Press dispatches ; that all trades and profes-
sions are represented — there are forty-five
dentists, seventy-seven physicians and eighty

lawyers, and that there are over 100 auto sales-
rooms, garages and service stations; that over
12,000 automobiles are owned in San Jose and
at least half that number by residents of out-
side districts; that there are fraternal orders
gainre besides clubs for men and clubs for
w.imen, the latter for social culture, educa-
tional and literary advancement, and in the in-
terest ot ni..r;ility; that there are six banks,
an ellicK'iit pohce force and fire department, a
public library, fine, costly buildings for the
\. M. C, A. and ^•. W. C. A., Protestant, and
the \. M. I.. Catholic; a Humane Society
Medical Society. Pioneers Society, six thea-
ters (three of them motion picture houses),
many concert and lecture halls, a system of
rural delivery that reaches every part of the
county, thus insuring a dailv delivery of mail
by carriers; that the total valuation of all
property in the city amounts to $26,234,600;
that the population within the legal bounda-
ries is_over 40,000 and that it would be at
least 65,000 if the suburban districts, really a
part of the city so far as social and business
interests are concerned, were admitted as a
part of it.

"Are you through?" "Nearlv. Have you
any questions to ask?" "You 'seem to have
about everything worth having down your
way, but I think San Jose will be found lack-
ing in one resjiect."

The man fr. .in the East paused and with a
look which said. 'T've got vou, now," waited
for the old resident to speak.

"If we haven't got it, it isn't worth having."

"I do not agree with you. I like relaxation.
'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.'
1 rc(iuire (.mtdoor exercise with some nice
ozoiK- thrown in to give me a healthy color
and take the kinks out of my muscles."

"Ah, I see. You want a' baseball or a cv-
clers' club. We have both in San Jose. We
have the automobile as well and as" for hunt-
ing and fishing, no county m the interior of
the state oflfers better mducenients."

"They are all right, but you l:aven't got
what I want and that's a golf' club."

The old resident's face fairlv beamed:
"Haven't got a golf club? Why.' man alive,
we've got the best golf club in Central Cali-
fornia."

"You can't mean it."

"I do. It was organized al)out twenty years
ago, has as fine links as any one could wish,
with an ornate club house, replete' with every
up-to-date convenience and costing about
$20,000. The links are located on rising
ground at the foot of the eastern hills about
four miles from the city. A prettier location
could not be found. The club house has an
outlook that takes in the whole valley. It goes

162

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

without saying that the club is composed of
men and women who represent the best in
society and business."
"What are your prospects for the future?"
"They are very bright. Money is easily
obtainable and in a business way San Jose is
prosperous. Its various resources and utili-
ties combine to make it so. The Chamber of
Commerce is doing wonders in the way of
promoting business activity, fostering im-
provements and paving the way for all enter-
prises looking to the city's advancement along
the best lines. Seven miles north of San Jose
is the port of Alviso, situated on a slough
which empties into San Francisco Bay. Be-
fore the European war the city bought a stri])
of land extending along the Alviso road to
Alviso and more land suitalile for the estab-

lishing of a real port of entry for vessels. It
\\as the intention, through Government aid,
to dredge the slough, make it passable for
transportation craft and thus provide San
Jose with water as well as railway transporta-
tion for her products. The war stopped the
project, but Sunnyvale, nine miles from San
Jose, has taken it up and a port, near the San
Jose line, will soon be in operation. So you
see that in 1922 the City of San Jose offers a
fine field for the investment of money."

"Soil, climate, production, opportunity,
Eh?" "Yes."

The man from the East now looked at his
watch. "The L'ls Angeles train has gone,"

he said. "Well? fhere's the train for San

Jose. I'll take it."

CHAPTER XVI.

Additional Events in the History of San Jose — The Advent of Street Cars and
Other Metropolitan Advantages — The Crimes of the Seventies, Eighties
and Nineties — A New Form of Government.

An act to incorporate the city of San Jose
was passed by the Legislature, March 27.
1850, by whicli it was directed that the city
government should consist of a mayor and
seven councilmen, who were designated a
"body politic and corporate" under the name
of "The Mayor and Common Council," This
name was retained until the city adopted the
commission form of government in 1916. The
first city tax was levied July 11, 1850, and was
for one' per cent on the assessed value of all
property. The first council voted themselves
pay at the rate of six dollars per day. This
ordinance w^as repealed in December of the
same year, on motion of Dr. Ben Cory. The
first order looking to the improvement of the
streets was made on December 2, 1850, which
provided for sidewalks in the business part of
the city. The income of the city for its first
year of incorporation was $37,359.30: expendi-
tures, $37,106.04. The expenses included a
debt of $7,500 handed down from the Ayuntia-
mento of 1849. The city was divided into four
wards in April, 1853, and a fire warden ap-
pointed for each ward. An approj^riation of
$2,000 for fire apparatus was also made.

In 1855 the oflice of captain of police was
created and the same year the mayor and
council held session in the new city hall on
Market Street, north of Santa Clara Street. In
1866, by act of the Legislature, the city funded
its floating debt by the issuance of bonds,

which were paid for in 1865. thus leaving the
city out of debt.

A new charter was adopted in 1857. Under
the new system the government of the citv
was vested in five trustees, a treasurer, a
clerk and assessor, and a collector.

In 1853 gambling was licensed, $500 for
each table.

The Democratic party in San J.)se was or-
ganized in 1853. Dr. A. J. Spencer was ])resi-
dent, John M. Murphy and Samuel Morrison,
secretaries. In 1854 the first convention was
held at the office of the mayor, chairman,
Thomas J. West; secretary, P.' K. Woodside.

The Whig party was organized in 1853 and
on July 1, a convention was held with Cole-
man Younger, chairman, and l'"rc(leric Hall,
secretary.

In 1854 a district school was estal)lished.
Freeman Gates, principal.

In 1855 the Know-Nothing party came into
existence but held no convention. Its candi-
dates were nominated ])y primary.

The Republican party was organiz^ed in
1856 and a convention was held the same year
with J. H. Morgan, chairman; A. C. Erkson
and M. Sawyer, vice-chairmen; C. G. Thomas
and R. Hutchinson, secretaries.

in 1857 San Jose was remapped.

in 1858 the Anti-Lecompton (Uouglas-
Democrat) ])arty convened at tlie city hall.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

163

W. M. Lent, chairman, and Freeman Gates,
secretary.

An ordinance authorizing the city to lay
gas pipes was passed January 11, 1858. In
Jul\-, 1860, James Hagan secured a franchise
from the city for this purpose. The first lights
were given on January 21, 1861. There were
then only eighty-four consumers and seven
street lights. "

In 1861 Jasper D. Gunn, city marshal, ah-
sccmrled. having embezzled $2,700 of the city's
nmncy. ('.unn was acquitted of the criminal
charge hut his bondsmen were sued by the
city and judgment obtained against them.

Donald Mackenzie, in May, 1864, was
granted permission to lay water pipes in the
streets of the city. This was the beginning of
the San Jose Water Company.

In 1865 a bridge was built over Coyote
Creek at Santa Clara Street. The same year
the Mansion House, built in 1850, was burned.

In April, 1867, .'\hijah McCall. county treas-
urer, absconded, being a defaulter in the large
sum of $23,762.41. He was arrested and con-
victed.

William Blanch, an Englishman, was mur-
dered on .May 16, 1860. while at labor in a
field he was cultivating about a mile from San
Jose. The murderer was an Indian named
Salvador Garcia, who had been accused by the
deceased of stealing a rope. Garcia was
hanged.

In .March, 1868, the Legislature granted to

5. A. Bishop and others a franchise to con-
struct a horse railroad along the Alameda. <_)n
August 31 work on the road was started and
on November 1, the cars made their initial
trip, running from First Street, San Jose, to
Alain Street in Santa Clara. In 1869 the line
was extended eastward along Santa Clara
Street to the Coyote Creek bridge On July

6, 1870, the board of supervisors granted the
company permission to use steam, pony or
pneumatic propelling power, and on Novem-
ber 6, 1877, authorit}- was granted to permit
cars to run o\er the bridge to McLaughlin
Avenue.

On Wednesday, October 1, 1868, at eight
o'clock in the morning a severe earthcjuake
shook California. San Jose suffered consid-
erably. The heavy brick cornice of Murphy's
Iniilding, corner of Market and El Dorado
Streets, fell to the ground. The Presbyterian
Church on Second Street sustained great
damage. All the brick turrets fell and large
purti(jns of the steeple were precipitated
through the roof to the floor. The large water
tank over the roof of Moody's flour mill fell
through the roof, carrying destruction in its
course. Their wooden storehouse, 100 feet in
length, filled with grain, was totally wrecked.

Two large chimneys of the San Jose Institute
were tiirown down, one of them crashing
through into the rooms below. A portion of
the rear wall of Welch's livery stable fell.
Otter's unfinished block at the corner of First
and St. John Streets was severelv damaged.
There was not a brick building in the city that
was not more or less injured.

The next winter San Jose was visited bv a
severe flood. The Los Gatos and Guadalupe
Creeks overflowed their banks, flooding the
lands adjacent thereto. The high grade of the
horse railroad track dammed the^vater back
south of Santa Clara Street, inundating the
houses and yards. The water broke over the
track flooding the low grounds between the
College of Notre Dame" and the Guadalupe.
About a hundred feet of the railroad track was
swept away. The main portion of the city
from Third to Seventh Streets was undeV
water to the depth of several inches.

In 1870 the population of San Jose was 9,118.

In 1871 Washington Square was granted to
the state as a site for a Normal School. On
April 3. 1871, Mayor Adolph Pfister sent a
communication to the council stating that he
had donated his salary for the year ($600) for
the purpose of aiding in the estal)lishment of
a pulilic library.

In December, 1871, another flood, caused
by overflow from the Guadalupe and Los Ga-
tos Creeks. On the east side of River Street
seven small cottages floated down stream for
a distance of a third of a mile. During the
flood all communication with the outside
world was suspended. ■ Since that date the
two creeks have been widened and improved
so that now there is no danger of overflows.

On January 22. 1864, the Santa Clara Val-
ley & Lumber Company was incorporated
with a capital stock of $300,000. The directors
were William P. Dougherty, W. H. Hall
Samuel McFarland, E. AV. Haskell, W. w'
Pratt, John Metcalf and G. W. AlcLellan.

On January 5, in the District Court, Judge
David Belden presiding, Tiburcio Vasquez,
the notorious bandit and murderer, was placed
on trial for the murder of Leander Davidson,
hotel keeper at Tres Pinos, San Benito
County. This was the most celebrated trial
ever held in San Jose. Attorney General
John Lord Love, assisted by N. C. Briggs
and Hon. W. E. Lovett, of Hollister and Dis-
trict Attorney Thomas Bodley of Santa Clara
County, appeared for the prosecution. The
night before. Judge C. B. Darwin, of San
Francisco, to whom had been intrusted the
principal management of the defense, with-
drew from the case. Before the beginning of
the trial. Judge AV. H. Collins and Judge J. A.
Moultrie were retained to assist P. B. Tully,

164

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of Gilroy, as attorneys for the prisoner. Every-
thing- being in readiness Vasquez was placed
on trial, ^^'hen the court adjourned in the
afternoon, the following residents of Santa
Clara County had been selected to serve as
jurors: G. W. Reynolds, foreman, Tyler
Rrundage, Frank Hamilton, M. Dornberger,
Noah Parr, M. Tobin, G. C. Fitzgerald. J. M.
Moorehead, S. T. Woodson, M. Lubliner, C. S.
Towle, Hugh O'Rourke. On Saturday, Jan-
uary 9, a verdict of .guilty of murder in the
first degree, was rendered and on March 19,
the execution took place in the jail yard.

Vasquez' career was one long series of law-
less acts. He was born in Monterey in 1835,
was a wild, harum-scarum youngster, but he
did not give the officers any trouble until
just before he reached his sixteenth year.
Before an occurrence which launched him into
a career of crime, his associates were Mexi-
can law-breakers, cattle thieves, mainly,
whose operations became extensive soon after
the occupation of California by the Ameri-
cans. One night, in company with Anastacio
Garcia, a Mexican desperado, he attended a
fandango. A quarrel over a woman, the fatal
shooting of the constable while- trying to
maintain order, the lynching of one of Vas-
quez' associates and the formation of a vigi-
lance committee sent Vasquez into hiding
from which he emerged to ally himself with
a band of horse thieves.

In 1857 he came to grief, but five years'
sequestration in the state prison failed to pro-
duce any change in his morals. One month
after his discharge he was operating as a
highway robber on the San Joaquin plains.
Chased by officers into Contra Costa County,
he sought and obtained refuge at the ranch of
a Mexican who was the father of a pretty and
impressionable daughter. She easily fell a
victim to the seductive wiles of the handsome,
dashing young knight of the road. One morn-
ing Anita and Vasquez were missing. With
stern face the father of the girl mounted his
fleetest mustang and started in pursuit. He
overtook the lovers in the Livermore Valley.
They were resting under a tree by the road-
side. Vasquez saw Anita's father and sprang
to his feet, but made no hostile demonstra-
tion. His code of honor forbade an attack on
the man he had wronged. A quick under-
standing of the situation sent Anita to her
lover's side. "If you kill him you must also
kill me," she screamed. The father frowned.
Vasquez, with hands folded, stood waiting.
After some consideration the ranch, owner
said if Anita would return home her lover
might go free. The girl consented and Vas-
quez shrugged his shoulders as father and
daughter rode away.

Transferring his field of operations to So-
noma County, Vasquez prospered for awhile,
but one day in attempting to drive off a band
of stolen cattle, he was arrested and for the
olTense spent four years in San Ouentin prison.
Immediately upon his discharge in June, 1870,
he laid plans for robbery on a much larger
scale than he had before attempted. Selecting
as his base the Cantua Canyon, a wild and al-
most inaccessible retreat in the Mt. Diablo
Range, formerly the camp and shelter of Joa-
quin Murietta, he gathered about him a band
of choice spirits and for four years carried on
a warfare against organized society, the like
of which California had never before experi-
enced. Stages, stores, teams and individuals
were held up in the counties of Central and
Southern California, and though posse after
posse took the field against him he succeeded
in eluding capture. In the hills he was safe.
\\'hite settlers were scarce and the Mexican
population aided and befriended him, princi-
pally through fear. Besides, his sweethearts,
as he called them, were scattered throughout
the hills of the Coast Range, from San Jose
to Los Angeles. They kept him posted re-
garding the movement of the officers and more
than once he escaped capture through their
vigilance and activity.

In the fall of 1871, after a daring stage rcjb-
bery in San Benito County, Vasquez got
word that one of his sweethearts would be at
a dance in Hollister that night. He resolved
to be in attendance. The dancing was at its
height when he appeared. Becoming flushed
with wine his caution deserted him and he re-
mained until near the break of day. He was
not molested and emboldened by a sense of
security he went into the barroom and en-
gaged in a game of cards with one of the
women. Here he was seen and recognized
by a law and order Mexican. The constable
was notified, a posse was organized and a plan
laid to pot Vasquez at the moment of his ap-
pearance at either of the doors. A woman
gave Vasquez warning of his danger, and dis-
guised with her mantilla and skirt, the bandit
went out of the dance hall, crossed in front of
the approaching posse, found his horse,
mounted it and was beyond the danger limit
before the deception was discovered.

A few days later he stopped the stage from
the New Idria mines. A woman's head
showed at the door as \'asquez covered the
driver with a rifle. She was the wife of one
of the mine bo.sses, a man who had once be-
friended the outlaw. "Don't do it, Tiburcio,"
she entreated. Vasquez looked at the grim
faces of his followers, hesitated a moment,
then lowered his rifle. "Drive on," was his
curt command. The stage lumberL'd away and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

165

the l^andit leader faced a situation that de-
manded all his skill and nerve. That he suc-
ceeded in placating his followers may be taken
for granted for that same day the band robbed
a store and then rode toward a hiding place
in the Santa Cruz Range.

While the robbers rested, the sheriffs of
three counties were searching for them. A
few miles above Santa Cruz the officers and
the outlaws met. In the fight that ensued
two of Vasquez's men were killed outright
and Vasquez was shot in the breast. Though
desperately wounded, he stood his ground, put
the officers to rout and then rode sixty miles
liefore he halted for friendly ministration.
When alile to stand on his feet he rode to the
Cantua Canyon, where he found the remnant
of his band.

There he planned a sensational fall cam-
paign which opened by a raid on Firel)augh's
Ferry on the San Joaquin plains. The story
of what occurred was afterward told to the
historian by Vasquez, who said : "I took a
watch from a man they called the captain. His
wife saw the act. and running up to me threw
her arms around my neck and begged me to
return the watch to her husband, as he had
given it to her during their courtship. I gave
it back and then she went into another room
and from behind a chimney took out another
watch. 'Take it,' she said, but I wouldn't. I
just kissed her and told her to keep the watch
as a memento of our meeting."

Then came the robbery of the Twenty-One
Mile House, in Santa Clara County, which
was followed by a descent on Tres Pinos (now
Paicines), a little village twelve miles south
of Hollister, in San Benito County. This raid,
because it resulted in a triple murder, aroused
the entire state. Rewards for the capture of
X'asquez, dead or alive, brought hundreds of
man hunters into the field, but for nearly a
year the cunning outlaw successfully defied
his pursuers.

The Tres Pinos afifair was the boldest Vas-
quez had yet attempted. With four men —
Abdon Leiva, Clodovio Chavez, Romulo
Gonzalez and Teodoro Moreno — he rode into
the village, robbed the store, the hotel, private
houses and individuals, securing booty which
required eight pack horses, stolen from the
hotel stable, to carry away. The raid lasted
three hours and the men killed were Bernard
Bihury, a sheepherder ; George Redford, a
teamster, and Leander Davidson, the propriet-
or of the hotel. Bihury came to the store
while the robbery was going on and was or-
dered to lie down. Not understanding either
English or Spanish, he started to run and was
shot and killed. While the robbers were at
work Redford drove up to the hotel with a

load of pickets. He was attending to his
horses when Vasquez approached and ordered
him to lie down. Redford was afiflioted with
deafness and not understanding the order, but
ljelie\'ing that his life was threatened, start-
ed on a run for the stables. He had just
reached tb.e door when a bullet from Vasquez'
rifle ])assed through his heart, killing him in-
stantly.

All this time the front door of the hotel
was open and Davidson was in the doorway.
Leiva snw him and shouted, "Shut the door
and keep inside and }-()u won't be hurt." Da-
\i.lM.n stepped back and was in the act of
closint; llic dcMir when \'asquez fired a rifle
shot, the Indlet jiassing through the door and
Iiiercing Davidson's heart. He fell back into
the arms of his wife and died in a short time.

A short distance from Tres Pinos the bandits
divided the booty, each man being counseled
by Vasquez to look out for himself. Leiva
Jiad left his wife at a friend's ranch, near
Elizabeth Lake, Los Angeles County. Thither
he rode to find that Vasquez had preceded
him. .Vs the days passed Leiva began to sus-
pect that his chief had more than a platonic
interest in the attractive Rosaria. He called
Vasquez to account suggesting a duel. But
Vascjuez refused to draw a weapon against
the man he had wronged. After some hot
words matters were allowed to drop and for
a few ilays all went smoothly. Then Vasquez
asked Leiva to go to Flizabetli Lake for pro-
visions. Lei\a consented, 1>ut instead of car-
rying out instructions he hunted up Sheriff
.\dams. of Santa Clara Count)-, and surrend-
ered, at the same time offering to appear as
state's witness in the event of Vasquez' cap-
ture and trial. Adams started at once for
the bandit's retreat, but Vasquez was not
there. He had been gone many hours and Mrs.
Leiva had gone with him.

A month later \'asquez deserted the woman
and fled northward. This step was induced
by the numlier and activity of the officers. The
Legislature had met and authorized the ex-
penditure of $15,000 for a campaign against
the daring and desperate fugitive. One sheriff
( Harry Morse, of Alameda County) organ-
ized a picked company of fifteen men and
with provisions for a two months' outing
started to explore thoroughly the mountain
fastnesses of Southern and Central California.
But so efficient was Vasquez' system of in-
formation that every move made by the of-
ficers became known to him. At last Morse
gave up the hunt. Then the irrepressible
Tiburcio made up for lost time. Robbery after
robliery followed in quick succession. After
holding up a number of stages, Vasquez en-
tered the town of Kingston, Fresno County,

166

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and there made a rich hauL Stores were plun-
dered, safes broken into, houses looted and
])rovisions, clothing, money and jewelry taken
away. The news of the raid spurred the of-
ficers into renewed action. Soon there was a
rush of determined men into Fresno County.
But Vasquez could not be found. He had re-
treated southward. Of his band of followers
only Chavez was left. Gonzalez had fled to
Mexico, Leiva was in jail and Moreno was
in San Quentin, havinsj been tried and given
a life sentence.

A month after the Kingston raid, Vascjuez
and Chevez made a descent upon Coyote
Holes, a station on the Los Angeles and Owens
Lake stage road. The few residents were tied
to trees, the station was robbed and the two
bandits were about to depart when the stage
appeared. After the passengers had been
robbed and a goodly treasure taken from
Wells-Fargo & Co.'s strong box, the horses
were unharnessed, four more taken from the
stables, and with bullion, money, jewelry and
horses the lawless pair departed for the hills.

On the following day Vasquez and Chavez
stopped the Los Angeles stage near Soledad
and then dissolved partnership, Chavez to ride
for the Mexican Ijorder, his California career
forever closed, Vasquez to seek a favorite hid-
ing place in the Sierra Madre hills. Here, se-
cure from, molestation, he remained two
months, when word was brought to him that
one of his sweethearts was staying at the
house of Greek George, not many miles from
Los Angeles. The place was in the zone of
danger, but Vasquez resolved to go there.
His intention in some way became known and
word was sent to Sheriff Rowland at Los
.\ngeles. A posse was quickly organized, and
placed under charge of 'Under Sheriff John-
son and the rendezvous was soon reached.
Vasquez was there and in attempting to es-
cape received eight bullets in his body. It was
thought at first that he could not survive,
but a strong constitution enabled him tn null
through.

On May 25, 1S74, eleven days after his caj)-
ture Vasquez was transferred to the county
jail at Salinas, Monterey County. There he
was closely guarded until July 26, when a
court order was made transferring the trial
to San Benito County. A second order sent
Vasquez to the county jail at San Jose for
safe keeping. On the afternoon of the same
day Vasquez reached San Jose, to find himself
in the custody of his old adversary. Sheriff
Adams. Afterward the case was re-trans-
ferred to Santa Clara County and in San Jose
the trial took place, as has been stated. Leiva
was the state's witness. The op])ortunity to
square accounts with the man who iiad

wronged him had come at last. He swore
that \"asquez not only fired the shot which
killed Davidson, but also was responsible for
the other murders committed during the Tres
Pinos raid. His was the only positive testi-
mony, but other and thoroughly reliable wit-
nesses gave sufficient circumstantial corrober-
ation to enable the jury to reach a verdict.
The fatal day came and California's star bandit
walked calmly to the scaffold and died with
a smile upon his lips. After the execution
Leiva went to Chile, remained there a few
\ears, then returned to California. He died
in Sacramento several years ago. Chavez was
killed in Arizona in the fall of 1875 by an
old enemy. The head was severed from the
body and brought to San Juan.

On February 11, 1876, a franchise was grant-
ed to C. T. Bird, Charles B. Hensley and oth-
ers for a street railroad from Julian and Mar-
ket Streets to Willow Street. Afterwards the
road was extended along First street to the
Southern Pacific Railroad depot and along
Willow street to Lincoln avenue.

In 1877 one of the most remarkable cases
of mistaken identity had its origin in San Jose.
.Although there came a revelation on a most
essential point when no revelation was expect-
ed, one mystery remained and that mystery
has never been solved. John C. Arnold was
a playwright for one of the variety theatres
of San Francisco. He was well connected and
a man of education but he had one beset-
ting fault and that fault was overindulgence
in strong drink. In the summer of 1877 his
condition became such that grave fears for
his reason were entertained by members of his
family. A suggestion was made that a few
months in the country would prol^ably
straighten him out, and as Fred Sprung, a
pioneer minstrel and an old friend, was re-
siding near San Jose, it was resolved to pack
Jiim oft" to the Santa Clara Valley.

Arnohl reached San Jose in a shaky con-
dition, l)ut a few days of ozone lireathing
seemed to make a new man of him. One
morning he left the Sprung residence on .Mc-
Laughlin Avenue ancl came to town. Here
he met a Mexican and the twain hired a rig
from the City Staljles, now used as the Santa
Clara Street Extension of Hart's Emporium,
and drove in the direction of Los Gatos. The
ne.xt morning in Neff's almond orchard, near
the Gem City, a ghastly discovery was made.
Lying under a tree, with a bullet hole in his
temple, was the body of a dead man. The
body was brought to San Jose and for twenty-
four hours remained unidentified. Tlien a
newspaj)er description brought to tiie city
Fred Sprung, Mrs. Xed Buckley and Lockhart,
an undertaker from San Francisco. ICacii iiosi-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

167

tively identified the l)ody as that of John
C. Arnold. The features were not disfigured
and Sprung declared that without other evi-
dence he was ready to swear that the body
was that of his old friend. While visiting at
the Sprung ranch Arnold wore shoes of cer-
tain marked peculiarities. These shoes were
on the feet of the dead man. Arnold wore
a black broadcloth suit, much the worse for
wear, one lapel having distinguishing marks.
This suit covered the body of the corpse.
Arnold carried a gold-headed cane. This cane
was found a short distance from the tree, un-
der which the body was found. Upon one of
the fingers of the dead man was a ring. When
Mrs. Buckley saw it she declared that it was
one she iiad presented to Arnold and that an
inscription which she gave would be found on
the inner side. The ring was removed and
the inscription was there as described. At
the inquest two physicians swore that it was
a case of murder and the jury returned a ver-
dict setting forth that John C. Arnold had
met his death at the hands of some person
unknown to them.

The l)(i<ly was taken to vSan Francisco and
interred in the Arnold lot in Lone Hill Ceme-
tery. Three months later John C. Arnold in
the flesh and the picture of health reai)peared
in San Francisco. He had come by steamer
from Santa Barbara and was amazed when
he learned that he had been looked upon as
dead. Although put through a gruelling e.x-
amination of Capt. L W'. Lees, then San Fran-
cisco's chief of detectives, he coulil t^iNc no
explanation of the mystery that sum lunded
the crime of the almond orchard. All he could
say that he had gone toward Los Gatos, had
had a number of drinks near that town and
that he remembered nothing more until he
awoke in a stage coach going toward Santa
Barbara. He knew that he had changed clothes
with someone and was sure he had been robbed
but as to the identity of the man who looked
like him and who wore his clothes, he had
not the faintest notion. The Mexican who had
accompanied Arnold to Los Gatos was never
found and the name of the man buried in the
Arnold plot has never been discovered. On
account of his striking resemblance to the
playwright Captain Lees thought he ought to
be a relative but investigation on this line
came to nothing. Arnold lived for several
years after his reappearance in San Francisco.

In 1879 the Legislature passed an act au-
thorizing the city to open Market Street
through the Plaza, close San Jose and Guada-
lupe Streets and sell the vacant lands adjoin-
ing Market Street. There was so much op-
position to this that the street commissioner
saw fit til do his work in the dark. The peo-

])le awoke one nmrning to find the trees and
shrnbliery in the line of the street cut down
and (le--tr(iyeil. The scjuare remained in a di-
lapiiiated condition for several years. In 1887
it was selected as the site for the city hall.

In 1879 former Sheriff John H. Adams and
former County Clerk Cornelius Finley were
murdered by bandits in Arizona. They were
on their way to Tucson from their mine when
they were shot and killed from ambush by
Mexican bandits. Both of the murdered men
held office at the court house in San Jose when
Vasquez was tried. Adams was one of the
bravest officers in the state and Finley was
extremely popular on account of his courtesy
and generosity.

In January, 1879, J. C. Keane was appoint-
ed city clerk to fill the vacancy cai'ised by the
disappearance of W. N. Castle, a defaulter.
Castle fled to Oregon anrl there ended his
life with a pistol bullet.

In February, 1878, the city library was
turned over to the city.

A systematic system for the improvement
of St. James Square was adopted in 1869. The
grounds were laid out with walks, grass, was
planted and a superintendent was emi)loyed.
The system was improved in the winter of
1887-88 and after a few years it was brought
to its present beautiful condition.

In May, 1879, the new constitution was
adopted and in the fall of that year a Work-
ingmen's party was organized. It was in ex-
istence for two years.

San Jose had a sensation in 1881 when
Dick Fellows, the champion lone-hand high-
wayman of California, came to San Jose to
put the officers on their mettle and furnish
columns of scare-head matter for the daily
newspapers. Fellows, wdiose real name was
Geo. B. Lytle, was a school teacher and lec-
turer before he became a lawbreaker. It was
claimed in his behalf that he fell from grace
in order that he might assist a near relative,
a ]i(i\-crty-stricken widow. About forty years
;iyM he n.lilied eleven stages within a space of
thicc wctk^. his operations extending from
Santa Barbara to San Jose. When he en-
tered Santa Clara County, the sheriffs of half
a dozen counties and Wells-Fargo & Co.'s
large force of detectives were at his heels. He
was captured near Mayfield by Cornelius Van
B.uren. foreman of the Coutts ranch, a former
constable and justice of the peace, and turned
over to Constable E. E. Burke, of Santa Clara,
so that he could be taken to the county jail
at San Jose. On the way to the jail from
the Market Street depot Fellows asked if he
might be permitted to have a drink before
becoming the inmate of a cell. Burke made
a mistake in consenting to the request. They

16S

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

passed the court house and entered a saloon
at the southwest corner of First and St. John
Streets.

Fellows got his drink and then made a break
for liberty. Out of the door he went and
dashed up St. John Street toward Market. Aft-
er he turned the corner he was lost sight of.
The escape occurred after dark and therefore
the search was conducted under unfavorable
conditions. A few days passed and then Fel-
lows was recaptured in a cabin near the Guada-
lupe mine by Chief-of-Police Dan Haskell and
Juan E. Edson. a local detective officer. He
was taken to Santa Barbara for trial on one
of many charges. Conviction followed and a
life sentence was imposed. After the trial he
tried to escape, reached the street, mounted
a horse and might have been successful in
getting away if the horse had not bucked and
thrown him from the saddle. After serving
as a convict for twenty years he was released
on parole. In 1917 Juan Edson was first tor-
tured and then killed at his ranch near Tepic.
Mexico, by a band of marauding Indians. Hon-
est, brave and fearless Dan Haskell became
shot gun messenger for Wells-Fargo & Co. in
Shasta County after his term of chief of police
had expired. In October. 1905, while in the
performance of his duty he was shot and killed
by a highwayman, who was attempting to hold
up the Redding stage.

In 1882, Jan Wasielewski, a Pole, murdered
his wife at Los Gatos. He had been but a
short time out of prison where he had served
a sentence for cattle stealing. In 1877 he mar-
ried a pretty Mexican girl. After his convic-
tion on the cattle stealing charge he told his
wife that he would kill her if she obtained a
divorce. The threat was unheeded and when
Wasielewski came out of prison he found that
she not only secured a divorce but had mar-
ried again. Then he planned to kill her. In
June, 1882, he went to her home in Los Gatos,
met his wife out of doors and stabbed her
thirteen times. Leaving her dying on the
ground the murderer fled, to be captured in
March. 1884, by Juan Edson and Sheriff Ben
F. Branham, of Santa Clara County. Before
he reached the county jail in San Jose the
prisoner feigned insanity. He w^ould not speak
and would not cat onh' enough to keep him
alive. After his trial he sent out a bulletin
giving notice that a great meeting of the
angels would come off in a few days, that
it would last two weeks and that in all that
time he would be "immortal to the world."
The meeting came off, according to his state-
ment, and for two weeks not a morsel of food
passed his lips. He was tried in May, 1884.
and his defense was insanity. .\ commission
of medical experts refused to uphohl this jilea

and he was found guilty and sentenced to be
hanged. At the execution a novel feature was
introduced in making a hair from the head
of the murdered woman act as the last in-
strument in the hanging. In former hangings
a piece of chalk line attached to the rope was
always used, but Sheriff Branham had tested
the hair, found that it would work and this
iiair stood between Wasielewski and death un-
til it was severed by the knife of the exe-
cutioner.

In 1882 the Democratic State Convention
was held in the California Theater on Second
Street. The leading candidates for Governor
were Gen. George Stoneman, a noted cavalry
commander during the Civil ^^'ar. and George
Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst,
proprietor of many newspapers in California
and the East. Stoneman was nominated and
elected. At this convention W. A. January,
of San Jose, was nominated for state treasurer.
He also was elected. Another nomination was
that of James H. Budd for congressman from
the San Joaquin district. He was elected,
served one term at Washington and was after-
ward elected governor of the state. In the
nominating convention he was opposed by
Hon. B. D. Murphy, of San Jose The con-
test was very close.

One of the most sensational murders ever
committed in California occurred in June,
1883. It brought into vicious prominence one
Lloyd L. Majors, the most dangerous crimi-
nal ever harbored by Santa Clara County. He
had no love for newspapermen, though he tol-
erated them when he thought he could use
them. When he could not use them and
found their pencils turned against him, he
hated them with the hate of a coarse, lying,
revengeful brute. During his life of forty-
two years, much of it spent in San Jose, he
had been wagon-maker, lumber dealer, lawyer,
temperance lecturer and saloon keeper. He
was not a handsome man; in truth he was
positively ugly. He had a hideous disfigure-
ment of the lower lip, his forehead was low.
his eyes cold and snaky, and his face wore an
habitual scowl. In the late 70s, while he lived
in San Jose, several buildings owned and oc-
cupied by him at different times, were burned.
The public prejudice against him, caused by
these burnings, caused him to leave the city
and settle in Los Gatos. At this place he
opened a saloon and to it came one Joseph
Jewell, a good looking painter and grainer and
recent arrival from the East. Majors quickly
sized him up and when he suggested to Jewell
a plan to rob and if necessary kill W. P. Re-
nowden, an aged rancher living in the Santa
Cruz hills, who was reported to have $20,000
iuddcn on his ranch, lewell readily agreed to

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

169

undertake the job. As assistant to Jewell
Majors suggested John Showers, an illiterate
ne'er-do-werh who' had been doing odd jobs
about town and whose favorite lounging place
was Majors' saloon. Provided with imple-
ments of torture to be used if Renowden un-
der murderous pressure should refuse to dis-
close the hiding place of his money, the pair
left Los Gatos one night and proceeded to the
ranch. Arrived there they found that Renow-
den had a visitor, a friend from Glenwood
named Archie Mclntyre. Renowden was shot
by Jewell and Showers killed Mclntyre.
Though mortall}- wounded Renowden refused
to tell where his money could be found and
was then subjected to a nameless torture.
Even when suffering the keenest agony the
old man stubbornly held his tongue. A sec-
ond bullet ended his life and the murderers re-
turned to Los Gatos and informed Majors
that their mission of robbery had failed. They
were supplied with money and horses and
quickly rode out of town to escape arrest.
Majors, fearing that he might be suspected of
complicity in the murders, saddled a horse
and rode to the Renowden ranch to cover up,
if possible, all traces of the crime. At the time
he supposed that both dead bodies were with-
in the house, while, as a matter of fact, Re-
nowden had been killed on the outside and at
some distance from the building. Hurriedly,
Majors applied the match and when he saw
the flames leap up he remounted his horse and
rode like the wind to his Los Gatos home. The
ranch house burned to the ground and the
next day the charred remains of Mclnt3-re
were found in the ashes and outside, un-
touched by the fire, was the body of Re-
nowden.

When Majors learned that his night ride
had availed him nothing he tried, by lies and
evasions to keep the officers from suspecting
that he was the principal in the double crime.
He talked freely to the historian and other
press representatives, not thinking that much
of what he said would be used against him at
his trial. Showers was arrested at Gilroy and
made a full confession. Then the hand of the
law reached out and gathered in Majors. A
few days later Jewell was arrested in Fresno
County.

The three prisoners were lodged in the
county jail at San Jose. In due time Jewell
was tried, convicted and hanged. Showers,
who was used as a state's witness, pleaded
guilty to murder in the second degree, was
given a life sentence. A few years later he
was killed by a fellow convict. Alajors was
tried in San Jose for the murder of -Renowden,
convicted of murder in the second degree and
sentenced to life imprisonment. District At-

torney Camplxdl was not satisfied with the
verdict and so had Majors indicted for the
murder of Mclntyre. A change of venue to
Alameda County was taken and after a
lengthy trial Majors was convicted of murder
in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged.
The sentence was executed in May. 1884.

In 1886 a most important proposition was
presented to the voters of San Jose. The rapid
growth of the city created a demand for extra-
ordinary expenses, which could not be met
without a large increase in the rate of taxa-
tion. The channels of the streams needed to
be improved so as to prevent overflow. A sys-
tem of up-to-date sewerage was necessary and
there was a rapidly growing demand for in-
creased school facilities. A tax sufficient to
meet the recjuirements would have been a bur-
den against which the people would have pro-
tested. An attempt was made in 1874 to
lireak the charter rule \vhich forbade the
council to create any debt. A resolution was
adopted by the council directing the drafting
of a bill to be presented to the Legislature,
authorizing the city to issue bonds to the
anidunt of $40,000, the proceeds to be used in
the building of school houses. The bonds
were to rui; twenty years and to bear eight
per cent interest. Nothing further was done
in the matter and it rested until 1880. At the
city election held that year the matter of issu-
ing bonds, in connection with other proposi-
tions, was submitted to the people. The re-
sult of the vote was as follows : To incur a
debt to build a new city hall — for, 842;
against, 1096. To open Second Street through
St. James Square— for, 192; against, 1649. To
establish a free public library — for, 1232;
against, 605.

This disposed of the question of a city debt
for another six years. In 1886 a proposition
was submitted to the people at a special elec-
tion, asking for the issuance of bonds in the
sum of $300,000 for public sewers, new city
hall, iron bridges, improvement of squares and
improvement of streets. It required a two-
thirds vote to carry any of these propositions
and they were all lost. Within twelve months
the people experienced a change of heart. The
great tide of immigration that was flowing
into the southern counties had attracted the
attention of the board of trade and strenuous
efforts to turn the stream in the direction of
San Jose were being made. Public meetings
were held and the council was petitioned to
call an election asking the people to vote for
or against the issuance of bonds for the fol-
lowing purposes : Completing main sewer,
$150,000; branch sewers, $135,000; building
new citv hall, $150,000; cross walks and parks.
$50,000'; wooden l^ridges, $15,000. Total,

170

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUXTV

$500,000. The vote was in the affirmative on
all these propositions. The bonds were is-
sued payable in twenty years and bearing in-
terest at five per cent. They were sold to A.
Sutro, of San Francisco, who paid one-eighth
of one per cent premium.

Early in 1888 it was discovered that the
election which authorized the issuance of these
bonds was not held strictly in accordance with
the statutes. -The irregularity claimed was
that the notice was one day short of the time
required by law. There was some difference
of opinion as to whether or not this was a
fatal error, but the purchaser of the bonds did
not wish to leave the matter undecided, and
asked that it be definitely settled. There was
a proposition to make up an agreed case and
submit it to the courts for adjudication, and
another proposition to call a new election, is-
sue new bonds and cancel the old ones. The
latter method was considered somewhat haz-
ardous, as the people had on three occasions
rejected the proposal to create a debt against
the city and there was a chance that the nec-
essary two-thirds vote might not again he ob-
tained. But the chance was taken, a new
election was called and the proposition to is-
sue new bonds was carried by a practically
unanimous vote. The new bonds were issued
and the old ones burned in the presence of the
mayor and common council and a large gath-
ering of citizens.

In April. 1888. a lioard of fifteen freehold-
ers, to frame a new charter for the city, was
elected as follows: L. Archer, C. W. Brey-
fogle, J. H. Campbell, A. \V. Crandall, G. E.
Graves, .A. Greeninger, V. Koch, L. Lion. B.
D. Murphy, D. B. Moody, H. Messig, C. L.
Metzger, John Reynolds, John W. Ryland. D.
C. Vestal. The charter was prepared and sul)-
mitted July 6, 1888. It was defeated.

In 1886 the Democratic state convention
was held in the Auditorium on San Fernando
Street. E. B. Pond of San Francisco was
nominated for governor. During the session
Hon. Stephen M. White made a speech in
which he asked the convention not to indorse
him as a candidate for the United States
Senate.

In 1886 B. F. Branham, sheriff of the county.
was beaten for reelection on account of the
action of the Mexican voters, who resented the
killing of Pedro Pacheco, a gambler. In the
early part of 1886 he committed his first crime.
While out walking on North Sixth Street with
a pretty Mexican girl a stop was made in
front of Tile Villa, a notorious resort near
Washington Street. Pacheco asked the girl
to come inside and have some refreshments.
The girl refused and then, as he afterward
testified, he seized her in iiis arms and car-

ried her into the house. Some hours later the
girl escaped and told her story to Police Of-
ficer Richard Stewart, who had seen her ap-
proach The Villa. Upon her mother's com-
plaint Pacheco was arrested for a statutory
offense. At the trial District Attorney Camp-
bell made out a strong case and Pacheco was
convicted and sentenced to ten v^ears' confine-
ment in the state prison. On the eve of his
departure from San Jose, to serve his sentence,
he asked permission to go to Concord, Contra
Costa County, his former home, to settle some
lousiness affairs and bid goodbye to his rela-
tives, pioneers of the state and for one of
whom the town . of Pacheco, in the same
county, was named. The district attorney
gave his consent and Pacheco left the county
jail with Deputy Sheriff's Healy and Bane as
his guards. They were instructed to keep con-
tinually by Pacheco's side and to take him to
San Quentin after he had concluded his busi-
ness in Concord.

Arrived at the Contra Costa town the trio
stopped at a hotel for refreshments. As soon
as he entered the door Pacheco made a dash
for the rear, where a horse, saddled and bri-
dled, was awaiting him. Healy hurried after
him but Pacheco was beyond shooting dis-
tance when the deputy reached the street. In
the Mt. Dialilo Range the fugitive found
friends who advised him to get to Mexico as
soon as possible. The advice was followed
and a place of safety might have been reached
l3ut for Sheriff Branham"s activity. Believing
that Pacheco would ride south, Branham
started out by way of one of the mountain
passes to intercept him. At Bakersfield the
sheriff learned that Pacheco was quartered at
a Mexican ranch some miles away. He com-
mandeered a farmer's wagon, obtained the as-
sistance of a local officer, and, concealed in
the lied of the wagon, the twain were driven
to the ranch. They were near the house when
they saw Pacheco and a companion in the
3-ard, a short distance from their horses. Now
was the time for action. The officers were
driven forward and two rifles covered Pa-
checo to enforce the command to surrender.
Instead of complying, Pacheco ran to his
horse, mounted it and was in the act of draw-
ing his pistol when the rifles spat out bullets
that found lodmncnt in I'achcco's liody. lie
fell over, morlal!}' wounded and died in a
short time.

The news of the shooting created a sensa-
tion in Central California. In San Jose the
Mexican element denounced Branham as a
murderer and threats to get even with him
were freeh' made. The way to reprisal was
shown when Branham entered the fall cam-
paign for reelection. l?efore the Pacheco epi-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

171

sode he had been considered invincilile. But
this year he met his Waterloo. To arouse pub-
lic sentiment against him a fund was raised
and the county was thoroughly canvassed, the
late Juan E. Edson taking the most active part
in the campaign of vengeance. As a result
of the opposition Branham was defeated by
[onathan Sweigert. Shortly after his defeat
"Branham left San Jose to engage in mining
in the northern part of the state.

One of the notable trials was that of the
Dixon- Allen case. It excited nearly as much
interest as that of the famous trial of Ti-
burcio Vasquez. the bandit. The plaintiff was
Anna E. Dixon, late Normal School student.
nineteen years of age, and the defendant was
Prof. Charles H. Allen, principal of the school.
Aliss Dixon was a buxom demi-blonde, as
pretty as a picture and chuck full of animal
spirits. She had strong lungs and she chose
occasions to make annoying use of them. Her
love of mischief made her, while a student, the
despair of her teachers and a source of grief
to Professor Allen. Nothing against her char-
acter was ever alleged, but her pranks, ac-
cording to Allen's allegations, interfered seri-
ously with the discipline of the school. Once
he wrote her mother asking her to withdraw
her daughter from 'the school, saying that the
girl's deportment had not been such as to sat-
isfy the faculty that she was a suitable per-
son to enter the work of teaching. As the
mother declined to act, a meeting of the fac-
ulty was held and Miss Dixon was dismissed
from the school. The charges against her
were made up of small things. It was al-
leged that she sneezed with a whoop and in
unexpected places ; that she was in the habit
(if screaming without provocation and in such
a manner as to nearly raise the roof of the
school building; that she went out sometimes
without a chaperon ; that she sent in mislead-
ing boarding house reports ; that she was bois-
terous and paid scant attention to the rules of
the school and as a crowning delinquency was
the propounder ni conundrums, one of which
had shocked I'mtfssnr Allen and excited the
risibilities of many i>f the teachers.

After the dismissal a series of communica-
tions appeared in the columns of the Mercury
They ridiculed Professor Allen and declared
Miss Dixon had been dismissed because she
sneezed. Allen replied by asserting that the
girl's conduct in her classes and around the
building had been such as to show she was
full of tricks and almost destitute of those
womanly and honorable characteristics that
should be the prime requisites of a teacher.
This article was made the basis of a libel suit.
Miss Dixon sued Professor Allen for $10,000
damages for defamation of character. D. M.

Delmas. now of Los Angeles was her attor-
ney and Thomas H. Laine and W. A. John-
ston were engaged by Professor Allen to con-
duct the defense. The case came to trial in
November, 1881, and ran for over a week.
Each day the court room was crowded to the
doors. It was a battle of legal giants. Del-
mas was in the height of his power, while
Laine and Johnston were looked upon as two
of the shining lights of the San Jose bar. Del-
mas, in his closing argument, was at his best,
and a more powerful and eloquent address
was never heard in a San Jose court room. He
said, among other things, that he was not
trying the case to get damages — he did not
want them — but he did want a verdict that
would be a vindication for his client. Laine,
suave, dignified, eloquent and persuasive, held
the close attention of court, jury and specta-
tors in a masterly plea for Professor Allen,
while Johnston, precise, clear and logical and
with the law at the tip of his tongue, gave
Laine able support. The judge, in his charge,
held that the article written l)y thj defendant
contained terms of disparagement and that
these terms were actiimablc in law. If, how-
ever, the jury shnuhl lind that Professor Al-
len acted in good faith and for the protection
of the schcM]]. then these circumstances were
to be considered as mitigating the damages
and that no other than compensatory dam-
ages should be allowed. The jury brought in
a verdict in favor of Miss Dixon and assessing
the damages at one thousand dollars.

At the first meeting of the Board of Normal
School Trustees, after the trial. Professor Al-
len tendered his resignation. The board re-
fused to accept It and reelected him as princi-
pal for another term. Miss Dixon returned
to her home and after a time married and set-
tled down to domestic life.

In 1881 an electric tower was erected at the
crossing of Santa Clara and Market Streets.
The plan originated with J. J. Owen, publisher
of the Mercury, and the architect was John
Gash. It stood 208 feet above the street, was
constructed of tubular iron and supported a
number of lamps aggregating 24,000 candle-
power, making it the largest light in the
United States and the third largest in the
world. Besides this there were in other por-
tions of the city twelve masts 150 feet high
supporting in all ninety lamps for lighting
the streets. The tower was known all over
the world, and before its destruction in 1917
it had small lights running from the ground
along all the supports. Lighted at night it
presented a beautiful spectacle. A high wind
toppled it down so that its removal became
necessary as a measure of safety.

172

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

On May 4. 1887. Chinatown, located on the
ground at the southeast corner of Market and
San Fernando Streets, was destroyed by fire.
The Chinese occupied quarters on San Fer-
nando Street, below Market, until there was
secured a lease of the Heinlen property, be-
tween Fifth and Seventh Streets and Jackson
and Taylor Streets. Shortly after its estab-
lishment in this section a 'rival Chinatown,
under the management of "Big Jim." a noto-
rious Chinese politician and gambler, was
started on the banks of the Guadalupe nearly
on a line with the Heinlen town. It was kept
up a few years and then went out of ex-
istence.

In 1887 inflamed public sentiment operated
disastrously in the case of Charles Goslaw. of
Los Gatos. The murders committed in and
about that pretty foothill town, now one of
the most peaceful and law-abiding on the
Coast, had aroused the people, and the latest
had brought them to a white heat of indigna-
tion and resentment. This one had been com-
mitted on the main street of the city. Two
Mexicans quarreled and one of them, Encarna-
cion Garcia, killed the other. A mob of citi-
zens gathered, the slayer was seized and with-
out ceremony hanged from the bridge over
Los Gatos Creek. It was reported at the time
that Goslaw threw the loop of the rope over
the murderer's neck. Not long after the trag-
edy. Goslaw, who was a house-mover, went
to San Jose, leaving in charge of his house-
moving tools an old man named H. A. Grant.
He returned in an intoxicated condition to
find that Grant, without permission tt) do so.
had moved the tools to another part of town'
Goslaw became furiously angry. He swore
that he would find Grant and give him a sound
drubliing. After taking a few more drinks to
brace him up, he went to Grant's cabin and
assaulted the old man. His fists were his
only weapons, but as Grant was physically
his inferior there is no doubt that finding his
task an easy one he allowed his rage to carry
him further than he had intended. Leaving
Grant bruised and helpless on the floor, Gos-
law went downtown, found the constable and
asked to be arrested for battery. There was
clear proof that he never intended murder and
that he had no thought that the beating would
result in death. He was arrested for' liattery
and allowed to go on his own recognizance.
A few days later Grant died. Then it was
that outraged Los Gatos cried for vengeance.
The carnival of crime that had given a black
eye to the town must be stopped and the only
way to stop it was to have the extreme pen-
alty visited upon every person in Los Gatos
and vicinity who should take the life of his
fellow man. Grant's death caused the rearrest

of Goslaw. this time for murder. He was tried
in the Superior Cnurt at San Jose and, having
no attorney, the curt appointed a young man
who had just been admitted to the "bar. Thus
handicapped, Goslaw had slim chance of es-
caping conviction under testimonj: adduced by
the prosecution, supplemented by the power-
ful arguments made by the district attorney
and !iis aids. The jury found Goslaw guilty
of murder in the first degree and the "death
sentence was imposed. Without money and
lacking powerful friends, Goslaw was unable
to take further steps that might have saved
his neck. His newspaper friends did what
they could, but no headway against the tide
of inflamed public opinion could be made. But
they resolved that when the time came for
marching him to the scaffold he should not be
in a condition to realize his position. There-
fore some of these friends stayed in the death
cell all of the night preceding the execution.
They plied Goslaw with liquor which he was
quite willing to drink so that when the sheriff
came to take him to the scaffold he was so
far gone in liquor that he could neither stand
on his feet nor understand what the sheriff
wanted. In that maudlin condition he met his
death and the persons w-ho were responsible
for this condition have never regretted their
work. They felt at the time that a judicial
murder was about to be committed and that
it was a humane act to ameliorate if they
could not deaden the victim's mental agony.
In their opinion Goslaw should have been con-
victed of manslaughter and it was afterwards
their belief that had the trial been postponed
for six months such a verdict would have been
rendered.

On July 2, 1892. San Jose was visited with
the most disastrous fire in its history. Half
the block — the southern half — between San
Fernando and Santa Clara Streets and First
and Second Streets was burned. Among the
fine buildings destroyed were the L.ick House,
the South Methodist Church, the California
Theater and Krumb's Brewery.

In the early '90s a mystery case Iiaftled the
ingenuity of the city and county officers.
Henry Planz was a bookkeeper at the Fred-
ericksburg Brewery on the -Alameda. As far
as anyone knew he was without enemies. He
was a tall, straight fellow, twenty-five years
of age, single and lived the ordinary life of
the young men of his time. On the evening
of November 10, 1892, he came to San Jose
and next morning his dead body was found
hanging from the liml) of a pepper tree on the
northern side of Julian Street, not far from
the bridge over the Guadalupe. When the of-
ficers arrived it was at first supposed that
I'lanz had committed suicide. ])ut investiga-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tiuns made after the body had been cut down
soon dispelled this theory. It was a case of
murder beyond the shadow of a doubt. An
examination of the contents ui the stomach of
the dead man showed that he had been pois-
oned and there were evidences about the
clothing which denoted that the body had
been dragged for some distance before it was
suspended from the limb of the tree. The
heels of the shoes, seat of the trousers and
back of the coat were abraded and dusty and
there was ground-in dust on the back of the
head. When the body was cut down a scarf
tied over the face was found. At the in(|uest
the conclusion was reached that IManz was
dead before the hanging and that the mur-
derer or murderers had driven along the street
in a wagon containing the dead body and that
the body had been dragged over the dusty
street to the pepper tree. A verdict of wilful
murder against some person or persons un-
known was rendered.

The mystery became a state-wide sensation.
Detectives came from San Francisco to assist
the local officers in trying to ferret out the
truth, but nothing came of their efforts. A
number of years afterward the pepper tree
was cut down, but while it remained on Julian
Street is was one of the sight-seeing ( ?) at-
tractions of San Jose.

In 1896 a still greater sensation agitated
San Jose and Central California. It was a
sextuple murder committed by James C. Dun-
ham, a young man who had heretofore borne
an unblemished reputation. A few years be-
fore he had married the stepdaughter of Colo-
nel AlcGlincy, an orchardist, whose home was
<in the Los Gatos road about six miles from
San Jose. After their baby was born they
separated on account of Dunham's cruelty,
the wife taking refuge in the home of her
mother, Mrs. McGlincy. The other inmates of
the household, besides father, mother and
daughter were James Wells, Mrs. Dunham's
lirother, a servant and two hired men. One
night Dunham came to the house, fur the pur-
pose it "was supposed, to induce his wife to
again live with him. When he arrived late in
the evening, McGlincy and Wells were gone,
having left on hour or so earlier to attend a
meeting at Campbell. Dunham entered the
house, took off his shoes and ascended the
stairs to the second story, where his wife's
bedroom was located. What transpired in
that room between husband and wife will
never be known. Hut the fact remains that
the woman was ch(jked to death, although the
jjabe was not harmed. There must have been
a struggle for the servant coming out of her
room adjoining was met I)y Dunham and
killed. The double murderer then ascended

the stairs to find Mrs. McGlincy on the first
floor. She had heard the noise upstairs and
had come out to investigate. Dunham killed
her and then calmly waited for the return of
McGlincy and Wells. At last they came and
as they entered the front door Dunham shot
and killed McGlincy. Wells then rushed for-
ward, was shot, but despite his wound, grap-
pled with Dunham and threw him to the
floor. But the murderer was rthe stronger
and soon Wells was a corpse.

Across the back yard was the barn where
the two hired men were. One of them heard
the shots and rushed out to ascertain the
cause. A bullet from Dunham's pistol ended
his Ife. The other hired man, fearing for his
own life, retreated to the loft of the barn and
covered himself up in the hay. Dunham
rushed over to the barn for the purpose of
making a clean sweep, but failed to find his
man. His murderous work over, he mounted
a horse, and still in his stocking feet, rode
toward San Jose. Next day he was seen on
Smith Creek by Elmer Snell and Oscar
J'arker, the last named the keeper for the
Morrow ranch. Dunham appeared on horse-
back at Parker's cabin, about a mile south of
the hotel, asked for something to eat and hav-
ing been accommodated rode on up the can-
yon toward Indian Gulch. Next day Sheriff
Lyndon of Santa Clara County, Sheriflf Phil-.
lips of Santa Barbara County, 'a force of dep-
uties and a large body of citizens, arrived at
Smith Creek. Phillips brought two blood-
hounds and near Indian Gulch, pieces of sack-
ing which had been used to cover Dunham's
feet, were found. Nearby the horse he had
ridden was also found. Nothing else was ever
discovered. The officers spent days in the
search without result. As Dunham was with-
out nioncN an.l without fo,,<l, had no shoes
and had left his hor.se. the otticers concluded
that he had found souk- \Mld pl;ice in the hills
an.l had there coinniitte.l suuide. For years
afterwards the papers chrcjiiulcd the arrest of
suspects, but in every case the man arrested
proved not to be the McGlincy murderer.

In 1897 a new charter for the city was
adopted. By a concerted resolution of the
Legislature it became the organic law of the
cit}- on March Z of that year. Under the old
charter the mayor held office for one year.
The new charter extended his term to two
years. The first election lor city officers took
place on the second Monday in .'\pril, 1898.
The charter provided that all elections subse-
quent to the first should be held biennially on
the third Monday in May. Mayor Koch, who
had been elected in 1896, held over until 1898.
In 1897 a Grand Army veteran named Scho-
field was killed at his ranch on the Llagas, a

174

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

few miles west of Madrone. His wife and
Dan Dutcher. a hired man. were arrested for
the crime. Before his trial Dutcher confessed
that he had killed Schofield to protect Airs.
Schofield. who was being threatened with a
shotgun when the fatal .shot was fired. There
was an acquittal in each case.

On April 18, 1906, a severe earthquake
shook up Central California. San Jose suf-
fered considerably. A number of frame
houses in the business section were wrecked,
but the real center of destruction was reached
in the business district. The big three-story
Phelan building, corner of First and Post
Streets, fell flat and three persons were buried
in the ruins. At the corner of Santa Clara
Street and Lightston Alley, the large three
story building occupied by stores and the
Elks' Hall became a shapeless pile of brick
and mortar. Outside of the business district
several large edifices suffered. The handsome
and massive brick Catholic Church of St. Pat-
rick at the corner of North and Santa Clara
Streets was a picturesque ruin, its solid tower
and front wall lying across the street, its rear
and side walls thrown down into the audito-
rium. The fine high school on Normal Square
crumbled and the large wooden Grant school
on Empire Street was twisted out of shape to
fall a mass of ruins a few days after the quake.
Further down town the tower and spire of the
First Presbyterian Church on Second Street,
near St. John, lay across the thoroughfare, its
shattered walls telling the story of ruin. Im-
mediately after the earthquake fire limke out
on Second Stret near San Fernando. The
three-story brick Martin building had been
hurled to the ground and instantly flames
burst from the wreckage. The Lieber build-
ing next north was on fire in a few minutes
and then the conflagration enveloped the five-
story Dougherty building, spreadittg thence
to the three-story Louise building on the cor-
ner of San Fernando Street. There was l)ut
one other fire. It broke out in the El Monte
lodging house on Locust Street and seven
people were roasted to death. Material in-
jury was done to the new Hall of Records,
the Dougherty residence, a wing of the Hotel
Yendome, the First Methodist Church, the
Fifth Street and Golden Gate canneries, the
Rucker building, St. Mary's Church, and many
other structures. Following the quake mar-
tial law was declared and kept in force for
several days. The total loss In^ earthquake
and fire was $,^.000,000. Killed, sixteen.

The recovery from the dreadful visitation
was rapid. Inside of a week rei)airs were be-
ing started and soon the debris disappeared
and building oi)erations were commenced.
Two years later there was nothing to indicate

that destruction had ever visited the Garden
City.

In 1906 there was very little street or other
municipal improvement, except to make re-
pairs in fire houses and furnish new appliances
and do the city's work in repairing the dam-
ages done by the earthquake. In 1908 a pro-
nounced street paving movement was inau-
gurated by Mayor Davison. During his in-
cumbency miles upon miles of paving work
was done and the program he had laid out
but not finished during his term was afterward
carried out bv his successors, Monahan and
Husted. From 1908 to 1912, bonds for $355.-
000 were used for sewers, bridges, creek alter-
ations and Alum Rock Park improvements.

In December, 1911. the city, by special elec-
tion, took in as new territory East San Jose,
Gardner and West San Jose.

In 1912 and 1913, under Mayor Monahan's
administration, the horses were taken out of
the fire department and motor-drawn trucks,
engines and carts were put in.

In 1914-15, while Husted was mayor, the
Canoas Creek bypath was diverted so that in
the rainy season the waters would not flood
Cottage Grove and adjoining sections.

On October 30, 1917, the Coyote bridge col-
lapsed beneath the weight of three heavy cars
loaded with prunes. A boy riding on a bi-
cycle was on the bridge at the time and was
instantly killed. In the spring of 1918, a .spe-
cial election gave the city the power to use
$65,000 remaining in the sewer fund for the
erection of a new concrete, steel-reinforced
bridge. .\ contract was awarded and the
work was completed in the spring of 1919.

In 1915 the following freeholders prepared
a new charter giving San Jose a commission
form of government: Elmer E. Chase, Robert
R. Syer, W. L. Atkinson. L. E. Petree, Roy
Newberry, G. M. Fontaine, John D. Crum-
mew \\'. 1. Close, Walter L. Chrisman. H. J.
P.. \\ri-ht, \'ictor Challen, Chas. M. O'Brien,
Inhu I. Miller, Irving L. Ryder, V. Koch.
The charter was filed February 15. 1915,
adopted at special election April 19, 1915, and
ratified by the Legislature, May 4, 1915. The
charter went into effect July I, 1916. The
im]5ortant provisions were : Elective officers,
the city auditor, police judge and seven coun-
cilmen; the initiative and referendum by
which the people reserve to themselves the
power to adojjt or reject ordinances at the
polls independently of the council: the recall,
by which any elective officer may be removed
from office by the electors ; the election by the
council of a city manager, who shall he the
oflicial head of the city with power to appoint
a citv treasurer, city engineer, city attorney.
Ixiard of healtli, health otlicer, chie'f of police.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

chief of the fire department, board of e<hica-
tion, board of library trustees, superintendent
of parks: the election by the council of a city
clerk, civil service commission and cit\- plan-
ning- commissi(m : the removal of the city
manager at any time by a majority vote of
the council. At the first election Elmer E.
Chase, W. L. Atkinson, Chas. M. O'Brien,
and Elton Shaw were chosen as councilmen,
the two first named to serve for six years, the
two last named for four years. Ben Sellers,
J. F. McLaurin and A. C. Jayet were the hold-
over councilmen under the old charter. Tn
'918 Sellers and McLaurin went out and Matt
Arnerich and E. S. Williams were elected in
their places. In 1918 "Williams resisjned on
account of removal from town and Dr. E. O.
Pieper was chosen to fill the vacancv. .\t the
May election in 1920, Joseph Brooks, D. M.
Denegri and William Bigger were elected.
Pieper, Shaw and O'Brien retiring.

\Vhen the new council organized in July.
1916, Thomas H, Reed was chosen manager.
He served for three years and was succeeded
by Dr. W. C. Bailey. ' The other ofificers of the
city in 1920 were J. L3'nch, city clerk; Roy
Walter, city auditor : Louis Lightston. tax
collector; C. B. Goodwin, city engineer; N.
Bell, acting health officer; John C. Black, chief
of police ; H. Hobson, chief of the fire depart-
ment. Dr. Bailey resigned after a three years'
service and was succeeded by C. B. Goodwin.
William Popp was appointed city engineer.

In 1917 immediately following the declara-
tion of war the city manager appointed a
rommittee to prepare a Loyalty Day celebra-
tion which resulted in the most stirring parade
ever seen in San Jose. The most striking
feature of it was thousands of school chil-

dren liearing flags, who after marching through
the streets, massed in front of the city hall
and sang i)atriotic songs. Tlie activities of
San Jose during the war period — UJ17-18 — will
be found in another chapter.

In March, 1920, the city voted bonds in the
sum of $700,000 for improvements in the high
and grammar schools. The permanent prop-
erties of the city as shown in the first report
of the cit}- manager are as follows: Lands,
S62S,_',-'(): Iniildmij-;, structures and improve-
imiu.-, $2.M)7.\42.~?i): equipment, $140,083.45;
total. $.i,0/.\475.''5.

In May, 1920, at the regular city election
a iiroposition to increase the tax rate by adding
,35 cents on each $100 valuation for three years,
as a temporary expedient, was carried. The
withdrawal of liquor license money caused by
the prohibition law shortened the city finances
so. that an additional tax for a short period
became necessary in order to place the city
government in proper working order.

The mavors of the city from 1850 down are:
1830. Josiah Belden; 1851-2-3-4, Thomas W.
\\'hite: 1855, S. O. Houghton. 1856, Lawrence
Archer; 1857, R. G. Moody; 1858, P. O. Minor-
1859, Thomas Fallon; 1860, R. B, Buckner-
1861-2. Joseph W. Johnson; 1863-4-5-6-7, J. A.
Ouinliy; 1868-9, Mark Leavenworth; 1870-71-
72. A. Pfister, 1873-4-5-6-7, B. D. Murphy;
1878-9, Lawrence Archer; 1880-1, B. D. Mur-
phy; 1882-3. Chas. ]. Martin; 1884-6, C. T
Settle: 1886-7, C. Vv. Breyfogle ; 1888-9. S.
W. Boring; 18')n-02. S. N. Rucker ; 1892-94,
H. E. Scliillnio-, lS')4-q6, Paul P. Austin; 1896-
98. V. K.,cii: 18^8-1902, Chas ]. Martin; 1902-
1906, Geo. U. Worswick; 1906-8, H. D Mat-
thews; 1908-12. C. ^\^ Davison: 1912-14,
Thomas Monahan ; 1914-16, F. R. Husted.

CHAPTER XVII.

San Jose and Santa Clara Activities During the Great European War

Liberty Loan, Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., Belgian Relief and Other
Noteworthy Drives— The Men and Women Who Did the Work.

The part played by San Jose and the other
towns in Santa Clara County in the Great
F.uropean War was both patriotic and self-
sacrificing. During the hurry and stress of
the grave and arduous responsibilities of the
occasion, when even the average, easy-going
citizen was called upon to Ijear unusual bur-
dens, no one realized that the activities in
wliich they were engaged constituted the mak-
ing of history. What the city and county did

is realistically and finely told by Mrs. Edith
Daley in her pamphlet written for the Santa
Clara County Historical Society. From that
labor of love the historian has" compiled the
following- interesting facts:

On April 6, 1917, President \\"iIson signed
the resolution of Congress declaring the ■■ex-
istence of a state of war" and asking that all
the resoiirces of the L'nited States be'^directed
to prosecute hostilities against the German

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Government to a successful conclusion." On
April 12, 1917, San Jose inaugurated the loy-
alty movement in California. On that day more
than 10,000 loyal citizens led by City Manager
Thomas H. Reed, marched through the city's
streets while the Stars and Stripes waved
above them and the bands played "Dixie" and
"America" — and the thrilling "Marseillaise."
That night in a great mass meeting in the
high school auditorium hundreds unanimously
pledged hearts and hands to the country's
cause.

On May 3, 1917, the announcement was
made that the first offering of bonds under
the finance law would be $2,000,000,000. Lib-
erty Loan issue, open to popular subscription
at par ; subscriptions to be received until June
5 ; bonds to be dated July 1 and ready for
delivery then. Santa Clara Countv's quota
was about $2,000,000.

On May 14, 1917, the details of the Liberty
Loan were telegraphed all over the country.
Officers' training camps opened. Men flocked
to fill them. Pacifists were abroad in the land,
their voices raised in protest against the coun-
try's war policy. The espionage measure was
passed May 14. One began to hear the omin-
ous words "slacker," "disloyalty," and "sedi-
tion." The old easy settled routine of things
was sadly disturbe'd at the time of the be-
ginning of the first Liberty Loan drive.

California was divided into two districts
with the Tehachapi the dividing line and Los
Angeles and San Francisco headquarters. The
northern district was divided into sixteen sub-
districts with a competent bond seller in
charge of each. Before the real campaign
started voluntary local bond subscriptions be-
gan to come in. The Knights Templar and
Observatory Parlor of the Native Sons were
the first fraternal organizations to buy bonds.
Senator Frank H. Benson and Judge Urban
A. Sontheimer are on record as having advo-
cated the early purchase of Liberty Bonds by
the Native Sons.

May 23, 1917, by telegraphic designation, the
Secretary of the Treasury and A. Kains, Gov-
ernor of the Federal Reserve Bank of San
Francisco, appointed a local committee for
handling the campaign in Santa Clara County,
particularly to receive bond subscriptions. The
following men were named: John Brooke,
vice-president Safe Deposit Bank, chairman •
W. K. Beans, president of Bank of San Jose ;
W. E. Blauer, manager local branch of Bank
of Italy; \V. S. Clayton, president First Na-
tional Bank: T. S. Montgomery, ])resident Gar-
den City Bank and Trust Company ; Wilbur
Edwards, president Security Savings Bank.

The Oldening of the Second Officers' Train-
ing Camp preceded the first bt)nd drive. Very

tew San Joseans ever knew that the work of
interviewing and examining all the applicants
for shoulder straps and military titles was
d.)ne bv a working volunteer committee of
three. W. S. Clayton. A. B. Post and V. J.
LaMotte did this patriotic service, rejecting
the men they considered unfit and sending the
others to San Francisco for acceptance or re-
jection by the "higher powers."

The little old oak table in room 401 in the
I'lrst National Bank building could unfold an
interesting tale if it had a voice. Beside it the
committee of three met the embryo officers
avd here also the real work of the first Liberty
Bond drive had its beginning. On the evening
of May 24, 1917, a few San Jose men gath-
ered in this room to talk over the task that
confronted the nation and the task that await-
ed them.

It was a poorly attended meeting. No extra
chairs had to be brought in. Around the
^vorn old table were W. S. Clayton, Dr. W. C.
Bailey, John Kuster, E. K. Johnston, H. L.
Baggerly, J. D. Farwell and perhaps one or
two others whose names are forgotten. No
records were kept. Only the little room and
the oak table can tell the whole story. It
was an earnest gathering and the power gen-
erated here won a smashing victory in Ijonds
with which to back up the boys.

This office had no telephone so on May
26 these volunteers moved into rooms 701-
702. This was E. N. Richmond's office and
he donated its use during the entire period of
the first and second bond drives. In the new
headquarters there was another small but sig-
nificant meeting on the evening of "moving
day," ]May 26, 1917. At this memorable time
a complete working committee was named.
John D. Kuster, manager of the Pacific Gas
and Electric Company was made county
chairman and Dr. W. C. Bailey secretary. The
bank committee previously named by Beans
and McAdoo was supplemented by other ap-
pointments, making the personnel of the or-
iginal bond, workers as follows: John D. Kus-
ter, Dr. W. C. Bailev, John F. Brooks, E. N.
Richmond, J. D. Farwell, Howell D. Melvin,
H. L. Baggerlv, Elton R. Shaw, Geo. N. Her-
l^ert, Alfred B'. Post, Wm. E. Blauer, E. K.
Johnston, Walter Mathewson, V. J. La Motte,
W. S. Clayton, G. R. Parkinson, Herbert Rob-
inson, H. G. Coykendall, Chas. R. Parkinson
and Wilbur J. Edwards.

Work began in earnest. Telephones and
automobiles were requisitioned. The commit-
tee forgot to look at the clock. On May 25,
Senator James D. Phelan telegraphed from
Washington "We are fighting for our liberty
with the weapon nearest our hand. The Lib-
erty P>()n(l is such a weapon." Sunday, May

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

177

27. congregations in San Jose churches, lis-
tened to eloquent appeals to their loyalty and
patriotism. In one church the pastor changed
"Jerusalem" to "America" with telling effect,
his text reading: "If I forget thee. O America,
let my right hand forget its cunning."

The committee on public meetings consist-
ed of Elton R. Shaw, E. K. Johnston and E.
N. Richmond. On May 29, the first big lunch-
eon was held at the St. James hotel. The
speech of the hour was made by Max Kuhl
and the spirit of the gathering was President
Wilson's message : "The supreme test of the
nation has come. We must all act and serve
together."

On Decoration Day hundreds gathered in
St. James Park to hear Rev. J. W. Kramer's
wonderful tribute to his country and his
dramatic appeal for every loyal citizen's loyal
support in the hour of America's need. "Old
Glory." said the speaker, "May it wave and
wave and never be furled until it is folded
over the grave ef dethroned Prussianism ! May
it wave and wave until war shall only be a fit
inscription for the gates of hell! And wave
and wave until all suffering humanity shall
feel the warmth of its loving embrace !" On
this Decoration Day, C. E. Kratt, the first
pharmacist to enlist, left San Jose to join the
colors, and J. D. Chase, Jr., secretary of the
County Council of Defense since its organi-
zation, enlisted as a private in the National
Guard.

Every bank in the county was alive to the
need and subscribing liberalJ- On the night
of June 6, City Manager T'omas H. Reed and
Cyrus Peirce, of San F' ancisco, addressed a
mass meeting at the V jtory Theater at which
Judge W. A. Beasly presided. E. N. Rich-
mond acted as bond seller and $-14,650 was
subscribed on the spot. Only about 1000 at-
tended this first mass meeting, but each of the
1000 men and women went away fully deter-
mined that San Jose should do its full duty.

Music for this meeting was furnished by
W. E. Johnson, assisted by Dr. Charles M.
Richards and the following quartet : Mrs.
Charles Braslan. Mrs. J. C. Elder, Roy
Thompson and Warren French. When W. E.
Johnson sang "The Battle Hymn of the Re-
public," and "The Star Spangled Banner" that
night in June he little thought how many
times his appealing voice would wake San
Jose audiences to heights of patriotism in the
days to come — days that were to bring him
heart-breaking news in the casualty lists from
his "Mother England."

On June 8, 1917, led by Charles R. Parkin-
son, the Rotarians started a "Shoe Leather
Campaign" of the residential and business dis-
tricts with an accompanying "boost" program

of patriotic mass meetings. That evening at
the high school members of the committee ad-
dressed the student body numbering l.SOO.
Louis Campiglia. Rotarian president, heartily
sanctioned the "Shoe Leather Campaign.'"
Following the meeting 100 high school bovs
under the direction of John Lynch, president
of the student body, formed a special commit-
tee to canvass the residential district. There
were committees appointed to interview all
lawyers and, indirectly, their clients. This
committee consisted of F. H. Bloomingdale,
David M. Burnett, L. Petree and L. B. Arch-
er. All lines of business were segregated and
a committee appointed for each list. No busi-
ness house was forgotten. For instance: El-
mer E. Chase was given canneries ; Dr. David
A. Beattie, doctors and nurses; A. G. Du-
Brutz, plumbers: Ferdinand G. Canelo, dry-
goods and department stores ; Robert F. Ben-
son, automobiles and accessories. Barber
shops fell to the lot of Wm. L. Prussia. Jay
McCabe, being known for his versatility, was
handed a list which designated priests, and
Chinese and Japanese settlements. For Jay's
assistance leaflets were printed in Japanese.
Chinese and Italian.

The speed was increased and nobody shirk-
ed. In competition with the high school sol-
icitors Capt. Charles Parkinson'of the Rotar-
ians worked his bunch of live business men to
the limit. Among the speakers at the meet-
ings held in the various schoolhouses were

D. M. Burnett, Judge Urban A. Sontheimer,

E. N. Richmond, Chas. M. O'Brien, Chauncev

F. Tramatolo, Dr. F. H. Patterson. George
N. Herbert. Arthur M. Free, A. G. DuBrutz
W. L. Atkinson. Elton R. Shaw, W. S. Clay-
ton and City Manager Thomas H. Reed.
Everybody was working and working hard.
The office of secretary was no sinecure. Dr.
W. C. Bailey was a whole battery of big guns,
and Chairman John D. Kuster a'regular vital-
izing current of energy.

About this time the "four minute men"
made their entrance, speaking in the theaters.
The men who won applause and bond sub-
scriptions in four minutes were City Manager
Reed, Councilman W. L. Atkinson and De-
puty District Attorney Fred L. Thomas.

A unique break in the routine of probate
proceeding occurred in Judge P. F. Gosbey's
court room when he gave permission to trus-
tees of various estates to use funds for the
inirchase of Liberty bonds. Thousands of
dollars, otherwise unavailable, were loaned to
Uncle Sam by this order wdiich the Judge
exprcs>cil liiniself as "glad to make."

liy Wednesday, June 13. 1917. the San
Josean who appeared without a Liberty Loan
button \\as not popular. Banks remained open

178

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

in the evening from seven to eight for the
benefit of subscribers. Up to this time only
361 out of 1628 subscribers had bought bonds
directly from the banks. The banks were sub-
scribing heavily, a large percentage of the en-
tire loan being taken by them. Many signi-
ficant subscriptions were made. The scholar-
ship fund at the high school purchased a $1000
bond. The First Methodist Church purchased
bonds after hearing an address by Rev. W. L.
Stidger, the pastor, in which he said : 'AVe are
fighfing today for the same thing that Jesus
Christ died for — the conservation of human
liberty and freedom."

Little Chester Olson, a twelve-year-old
newsbov. read a flaming poster that said:
"Those'that stay at home must feed the boys
at the front." Chester was patriotic — he had
$10 in the bank. He asked father and mother
for something. They agreed to help him.
Proudlv Chester went to the First National
Bank and negotiated for the purchase of a $50
hond— $10 down and $2.50 a month. He
made $1.43 in three days. Business was good
and Uncle Sam needed the money. Later
Chester's older brother donned a uniform and
the little newsie was gladder than ever to be
a bond owner!

The first Liberty loan went through with
a whoop. For San Jose the numlier of sub-
scribers was 4774: for the county 2228, mak-
ing a total of 7002. The amount of the loan
subscribed by San Jose was $1,611,300, aver-
aging per capita $3^7. For the county the
subscription was $707,050; per capita average,
$317. The total bond subscription for the city
and county was $2,318,350, with a per capita
average of $331, and only six and one half per
cent of the entire population subscribing.
Invaluable aid during this and the second Li-
berty Loan drive was given by Fred Lewis
Foster, the able and patriotic assistant secre-
tary of the Chamber of Commerce. He was
combination patriotic assistant secretary,
counselor, solicitor and publicity man and
working quietly but efficiently ho did a tre-
mendous service.

On June 20. 1917. after the "smoke of bat-
tle" had cleared away, Dr. \V. C. Bailey, pre-
sident of the Chamber of Commerce and sec-
retary of the Liberty Loan committee, issued
the following letter, addressing it to "The Ci-
tizens:" "Now that the first installment of
the Liberty loan has passed into history,"
wrote Dr. Bailey, "as Secretary of the Liberty
Loan Committee, and in behalf of the commit-
tee, I wish to congratulate you upon the won-
derful success of the issue and to rejoice with
you in this great exhibition of solid financial
assistance to the government in time of need.
We simplv could not fail. Returns are suffi-

cient to show that this loan knew no territor-
ial divisions, no financial cliques, no racial
factions, but that it was a grand outpouring
of the gold of the whole country- by the rich
and poor for united American democracy.
\\'e are proud of our local participation and we
take this opportunity to congratulate all those
who helped in any way to make this first in-
stallment of the Liberty Loan st) splendidly
successful.

"W. C. BAILFY.
"Secretary Liberty Loan Committee."

Senator Frank H. Benson is the man who
introduced the original state council of de-
fense emergency measure requested by Gov-
ernor ^^'illiam D. Stephens, to the sena'te.
This was done on Alarch 28, 1917, the measure
passing without a dissenting vote. This pro-
posed state council of defense, to be com-
posed of three members appointed by the
governor, was to be empowered to investi-
gate and report on all of California's resources
and military needs.

Local members of the council appointed
by the governor were Judge P. F. Gosbey.
chairman; Henry M. .\yer, chairman board of
supervisors ; .Arthur B. Langford, sheritif, Ar-
thur M. Free, district attorney. Later Derol
J. Chase was made secretary, and George E.
Hamilton, of Santa Clara, and H. L. Haehl,
of Palo Alto, were added to the council's
membership.

Derol Chace made an unselfishly ])atriotic
secretary, giving not only his entire time, but
the use of his automobile to the work of the
council. Not every one was quite clear just
what duties belonged to this body of men, for
the reason that their work was of such a na-
ture that much of it was a secret shared only
with their Uncle Sam. The objects for which
the nation-wide councils were formed were to
safeguard the welfare of the people during
the war. to increase food production and pro-
mote conservation; to co-operate in carrying
on business and industrial pursuits in a man-
ner as near normal as possible ; to classify all
unofficial military organizations and super-
vise their activities. In short, this council
was to co-ordinate patriotic efl?ort. There was
one camp at Sixth and Santa Clara Streets,
where companies B and M and a sanitary
detachment were awaiting orders. Lieut. L.
M. Farrell commanded the real fighting con-
tingents. Maj. F. H. Paterson headed the
sanitary detachment and called for volunteers.
Telegraphic reports grew disquieting and the
Sixth Street camp was very real. It began
to disturb mothers and sisters, sweethearts
and wives. Then, unexpectedly, that corner
lot camp was liroken up. Companies B and
Al left .April 2, 1917, under orders.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Dominic DiFinre, Universit}' of Santa Clara
graduate, enlisted in the aviation corps and
said goodbye. Local regiments were forming.
Maj. Herbert L. Partridge, retired, was act-
ing colonel of one regiment. Capt. Russell
B. Tripp, N. G. C, retired, acted as adjutant,
and Capt. R. B. Leland, formerly of the Na-
tional Guard of Iowa, served as quartermas-
ter. Four local companies were headed res-
pectively by Lieut. Argyll Campbell, Lieut.
\\'illiam L. Howe, Lieut. Byron W. Gray, all
formerly of the N. G. C, and Capt. Clyde A.
Bostwick, formerly of the Missouri National
Guard.

Then City Manager Reed began the organi-
zation of the Home Guard which was to take
the place of departed companies B and M. A
committee of patriotic citizens met at the
chamber of commerce — just eleven men — and
decided to have a city Loyalty Demonstra-
tion. Ten Spanish War veterans, led by Capt.
'B. B. Kavanaugh, presented themselves at
this meeting and ofTered themselves as a nuc-
leus for the Home Guard.

San Jose's part in the great \Vorld War was
really started at this meeting. The following
Tuesday there was a meeting of the Chamber
of Commerce. Dr. \V. W. Campbell came
down from Mt. Hamilton to tell about the
stars. There came a time when three blue
stars shone in the window of his mountain
home — Kenneth, driving an ambulance on the
fighting line in Italy; Douglas, Captain Doug-
las Campbell, later with the Aviation Corps in
France: and ^^'allace, with the fighting en-
gineers. The local Knights of Columbus and
many other organizations adopted patriotic
resolutions and the Sons of \'eterans offered
their loyal services.

Not everyone knew there were two Coun-
cils of Defense in the city. On Saturday, Ap-
ril 7, the North Ninth Street Council paraded.
Led b}- Capt. Harry Vance, aged thirteen,
came a guard of fourteen. The contingent
consisted of a hospital corps of Red Cross
nurses. Capt. Claire Declaire, seven years
old, led them. The fighting squad, besides
the captain, was ofiicered by three first ser-
geants, Ernest Declaire, Ralph Guther and
Milton Dampier.

At the time of the first registration. County
Clerk H. A. Pfister took his place on the
Council with a plan for handling the big task.
"It's a big job," he said, "but I can do it and
want to do it for the cause." June 17 was
named by the President as Registration Day,
for all men between the ages of 21 and 31.
Foreign speaking residents were reached
through the officers of their societies and a
speaking committee. Sheriff Langford. assist-
ed by Dan J. Flannery, covered Chinatown.

Finally a halt came. Postage stamps cost
money. Down in their pockets went the
members of the Council to the depth of $5 per
member. Derol Chace was elected treasurer
by acclamation. On May 31, 1917. he resign-
ed from the Council, shouldered a real gun
and marched away.

^V. C. Short, of the firm of Short & Ryan,
was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Derol
Chace's enlistment. The Council almost
went down for the third time in the strugo-le
over registration and naming exemptron
boards and war gardens and so forth Plans
changed. It was decided that County Clerk
1 hster should have charge of all registration
outside of San Jose and City Manager Reed
and City Clerk Louis Bailev all that within
the city limits.

One patriotic endeavor for which great cre-
dit IS due the Council was the launching and
helping to bring to success the 1917 war o-ar-
den campaign. The Council's efforts were
successful in obtaining lower water rates and
free water for many vacant lot gardens indr-
der to promote food production. Meetin^rs
were held from time to time whenever mas-
ters of grave importance had to be discussed
new members were added until at the Novem-
ber 16th meeting the personnel of the Council
was as follows: Mrs. J. P. Shambau, chairman
of the Women's Committee; Mrs. W. H.
Shockley, chairman of women's committee on
food conservation; Mrs. John G. Jury, chair-
man largest group of women's activities:
George E. Hamilton, chairman committee oii
commercial economy; Miss Stella Hunting-
ton, chairman collection of books and period-
icals : H. M. .Ayer, chairman fire protection;
H. B. Martin, food administrator; H. W. Mc-
Comas. four-minute men; Byron Millard', city
tuel administrat..r: E. A. Wilcox, county food
administrator; D. J. Flannerv, general speak-
ers' bureau; J. M. Parker,' f.ibcrt\ loans-
Judge H. D. Tuttle, non-war c. .iistnution ; e'.
A. Richmond, chairman Red Cross; Fred' L.
Fehren, Stanislaus plan; W. S. Clayton^
chairman war donations ; Joseph E. Hancock'
war gardens; Prof. H. B. Leland, chairman
war history; Dr. James B. Bullitt, chairman
war savings stamps; C. S. Allen, war service
league, and Mrs. L. T. Smith, women's mobil-
ized army. The name of the Council was now
changed to the Santa Clara County Division
of the State Council of Defense.

On May 5, 1917, the Young Men's Christian
Association started work on a national cam-
paign for $3,000,000 for war work. Of this
amount, Santa Clara's quota was $5000. This
fund was raised at the request of Uncle Sam
and was to be used for work among the sol-
diers and sailors of the United States. The

180

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

request included a call for 1000 of the Asso-
ciation's best trained secretaries to work with
the soldiers. For this drive California was
divided into nine sections with nine execu-
tive secretaries in full charge of the financial
features. The Santa Clara County division.
with San Jose as headquarters, included San-
ta Clara, Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito
Counties.

R. H. Gossoni, a well known "Y." worker,
had complete charge of the district, and John
R. Mott, General Secretary, was at the head
of the National Campaign. The San Jose
campaign received the hearty endorsement
of the local "Y." directors on May 9, 1917, at
which time R. H. Gossom was present at
the meeting. Hiram A. Blanchard. president
of the San Jose Association, was delegated
to select a district committee to operate the
"drive," with the able assistance of John D.
Crummey, vice-president, and Geo. C. Wilson,
secretary. At a dinner on May 11, State Sen-
ator Herbert C. Jones explained the Associa-
tion's objective. It was stated that the plan
of mobilizing 1000 secretaries included extra
equipment, educational and for amusements,
for the benefit of the soldiers at every army
post. This equipment was to include 200
pianos, 200 buildings, 200 moving-picture ma-
chines, 200 phonographs, 40,000 pounds of ice
per day, 1000 pens and barrels of ink for the
home letters. There were to be added 95
trucks and tons and tons of reading matter.
Plans were completed and at a "Y." dinner on
May 22, Senator Herbert C. Jones presiding,
two "Generals" were chosen to head friendly
opposing teams in the campaign for the $5000.
These generals were District .Attorney .Arthur
M. Free and Senator Frank H. Benson, who
was also general chairman.

At Grace Baptist Church on Sunday. May
20, Frank D. Keene, who had left the College
of the Pacific to join the colors under the
standard of the ]\Iarines, and Hector Sawyer,
local high school boy, also a "soldier of the
sea," told an interested congregation of what
the "Y." means to the enlisted men. These
San Jose boys were home on their first shore
leave and gladly enlisted their tnne in the
cause of the "Y."

On the evening of May 22, the generals,
captains and enthusiastic workers gathered
for dinner at the Y. M. C. A. and the follow-
ing morning. May 23, the campaign for
"$5000 in two days" began with a rush. The
two teams, headed respectively by District
Attorney Arthur M. Free and Senator Frank
H. Benson, had ten sub-teams, each with a
captain and two workers. Others were to be
added as needed. The captains of the Free
team were : E. N. Richmond, Judge F. B.

Brown, A. S. Bacon, Rev. J. A. Sutherland,
L. D. Bohnett, J. D. Crider, C. E. Kelsev,
Prof. C. M. Osenbaugh and W. G. Ranib'o.
Benson's team was captained as follows : E.
R. Wagner, D. J. Denhart. H. M. Barngrover,
I.. P. Edwards, Rev. George I. Long, J. D.
Crummey, W. L. Atkinson. H. A. Blanchard,
.v. G. Wilkins, and C. F. Crothers.

The dollars rolled into headquarters in a
steady steady stream and in two days San
Jose went "over the top." This did not end
San Jose's gift to the Y. M. C. A. During the
dark days overseas and the time of dread and
waiting here eight Y. M. C. A. secretaries left
San Jose to minister to their soldier brothers.
They were George C. W'ilson, local Y. M. C.
.\. secretary ; Rev. William L. Stidger, pastor
of the First Methodist Church; Rev. O. P.
Bell, former pastor of the United Presbyterian
Church; Senator Frank H. Benson, John H.
Tupper, Jesse H. Hedger, Fred Evans. Char-
les A. Miller, and Rev. E. A. King. The inti-
mate experiences of these unarmed crusaders
for human liberty are chapters of history writ-
ten by the white light of unselfish service.

Other men came into the work particularly
for overseas service, but in the person of
George C. Wilson, San Jose's Y. M. C. A.
sent a real secretary to the front. This was
his life work, the great endeavor that held
his heart in its keeping and to him came the
gravest experience. For more than seven
months in the St. Mihiel and other salients,
he was constantly under airplane and shell
fire. One night on an errand of mercy to the
boys at the front, the truck in which he was
riding through the blackness of the unlighted
night along a perilously shell-pitted road, col-
lided with another machine. In the terrific
smash Wilson was very seriously injured.
Wandering away in a delirious condition he
stumbled and fell into a shell hole and was
gassed. Some time passed before he was res-
cued. Invalided to the south of France he re-
fused to be an invalid and soon returned to
the horror of actual fighting scenes to minis-
ter to "his boys."

Jesse Hedger, previously in active "V." ser-
vice at home, just "had to go." When the
call came. Rev. O. P. Bell went to France and
found his work among the Russian soldiers.
Rev. E. A. King went to France after the
signing of the Armistice to carry out an edu-
cational campaign among the soldiers. Karl
Kennedy, a former San Jose lawyer, went
from San Francsco as athletic instructDr
about the same time.

W'ith its members numljering 100. the first
Red Cross membership drive in Ajiril, I'll/,
was conducted bv Mrs. A. A. Fowler. 'i'he
Red Cross Christmas Roll Call that com-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

181

menced December 11, 1917, under the direc-
tion of the Woman's Army added more than
17,300 namfs. Early in April came the plea,
for funds with which to purchase material for
the making of hospital garments. These ap-
peals alternated with the ones for old linen,
old muslin, bedspreads, and turkish towels.
Three rooms in the New CeiUur)' ImiMing at
the corner of Second and Santa Ckua streets,
were donated by the De Saisset estate for the
surgical dressing department of the Red Cross.

On June 12 the garment rooms opened at 41
South Second street, their use being kindly
donated bv the Phelan estate thnnigii Mr. .\.
C. Darby.'

On June 19 came the first call for comfort
bags for the boys of Companies B and JM,
then stationed in Nevada. The W. C. T. U.
assisted in preparing 125 comfort bags.
Though shipped immediately through some
inadvertence they failed to reach the boys un-
til almost a year later when a letter of thanks
arrived. It came from Captain L,. La Hue, and
was written before sailing for France.

The first work under the direction of Jslrs.
Hobson was prepared by Mrs. David Burnett,
Mrs. S. Van Dalsem, ]\Irs. W. R. Wilson. Mrs
Fillipello, Mrs. R. Syer, Mrs. A. D. DuBrutz,
the Misses Dorothy White, Ida \\'ehner, Sybil
Hayes, Miriam Haj-es, Cecille Brooke and
Mi%s Chapman. The first cutting of garments
was done by Mesdames W. Gross. W. Van
Dalsem, P. F. Gosbey, S. W. Gilchrist. Arthur
Langford, Charles Wayland, Walter Murray.
W. G. Alexander, George Muirson, Ernest
Conant, L. Blackford anfl other willing volun-
teers whose naiiK-s failed to be recorded.

The first societ_\- tn M.hmteer as a society
was the P. E. O. organization. These ladies
offered their services through Mrs. W. C.
Bailey and worked through the entire war pe-
riod later taking charge of the knittin;.; rooms
at the Theatre building. Laii- in tlu- fall of
1917 the production and garnKiU n., .ms were
moved from South Second street to a suite of
five rooms in the Theatre building.

San Jose had many busy Red Croo.s circles,
each doing its best under a capable chairman
to keep us up with the c^uotas ailoted. Among
those circles were St. Vincent's circle, ]\lrs. W.
P. Doughert}', chairman ; Eastern Star circle,
Mrs. A. B. Langford, chairman; College Park
circle, Mrs. M. Candee, chairman; Aloreland
circle, Mrs. LeRoy Anderson, chairman; Hes-
ter circle, ]\lrs. Elizabeth Smith, chairman; Y.
W. C. A. circle, IMrs. Mary Bolan, chairman;
Normal Training school, ]\Iiss ]\Iargaret Glea-
son, chairman; School Women's club. Miss
Edith O'Brien, chairman; Ladies of Macca-
bees. Mrs. Nellie Thompson, chairman; Ra-
chael Fo.x Union circle at Burbank. Mrs.

Maude P. Bovntcm, chairman; Glen Evrie
W. C. T. U. circle. Mrs. A. C. Saunders, chair-
man.

This pioneer year in war work was filled
with difficulties, but it perfected an organiza-
tion, and when the report came in for the first
year's work, under the guidance of Mrs. W. B.
Hobson. it Avas a document to be proud of. In
1917 the total receipts, $20,401.65; disburse-
ments, $926.30. Total number of articles com-
pleted by San Jose Chapter, 22.287. From
May, 1917, to May, 1918, the sewing rooms
completed 8133 pairs of pajamas; knitted gar-
ments, 190,025. For the same period the pro-
duction in the surgical dressing rooms
amounted h> 228,264 articles. Refugee work
comprisrd M}.>2 garments. For local use the
producticia n Minis completed 266 pneumonia
jackets and 2800 masks. From May, 1917, to
May, 1918, the garments and surgical dress-
ings numbered 152,487. From May, 1918, to
May, 1919, the production totaled 153,338.
For the entire period the dressings and gar-
inents nuinbered 287,825. The Junior Red
Cross produced 2316 garments.

The Home Service Department of the Red
Cross assisted 1452 families from May 18,
1918, to April 30, 1919. The money expended
amounted to $6,488.88, and of this disburse-
ment, $2,178.33 came back.

From May, 1917, to May, 1918, the sewing
rooms completed 8133 pairs of pajamas. Of
knitted garments: socks, sweaters, wristlets,
helmets, mufflers, shawls and stockings — a
total of 190,025. There were in this quota
12,806 socks and 3662 sweaters. For the same
period the production of the surgical dressing
rooms amounted to 228,264 articles, including
5-yard rolls, pads, pneumonia jackets, masks,
compresses, drains, tampons, bandages, front
line parcels, heel rings and sponges. Of com-
presses alone there were 183,723 made. Refu-
gee work comprised 3032 garments. Of mis-
cellaneous garments there were 26,305 com-
pleted. This list included aviators jackets, pil-
low cases, bed socks, helpless case shirts,
pajaina trousers, boys' suit, boys' trousers,
drawers, undershirts, underdrawers, bed shirts,
ambulance covers, ambulance pillows, ice l)ag
covers, convalescent covers, bed jackets, hot
water bag covers, girls' petticoats, girls'
dresses, napkins, scrub cloths, wash cloths,
handkerchiefs, tray cloths, quilts, comfort
bags, operating leggins, sheets, unhemmed
squares.

From May. 1917, to .May, 1918, the g_ar-
ments and surgical dressings numbered 152.-
487. From May, 1918, to May, 1919, the pro-
duction totaled "153,338. For the entire p^eriod
dressings and garments numbered 287,825.
Nor was the Junior Red Cross doing "junior"

182

HISTORY OF SAXTA CLARA COUNTY

work along the lines of production. With a
junior membership of 13.120 the garments ])ro-
duced were 2316.

By the President's proclamation June 18-25.
1917, was Red Cross week, and a nation-wide
campaign opened. San Jose did her part
nobly. At the time of the opening of the Red
Cross campaign the officers of the local Chap-
ter were Dr. M. E. Dailey (since deceased).
chairman: Mrs. W. P. Dougherty, vice-chair-
man ; W. T. Rambo, secretary ; V. J. LaMotte,
treasurer. One of the first Red Cross benefits
was a dance and Red Cross drill given Mav
2+ by the G. C. Review, No. 4, Ladies of the
Maccabees, Captain Amy Thompson. A. D.
Ferrari, of the Italian-American Progressive
club, came forward with a suggestion for co-
operation.

On May 27 Dr. M. E. Dailey received a
telegram from John J. Clymer, director of the
Pacific Division of the Red Cross, appointing
a meeting in San Francisco. Dr. Dailey, Dr.
\V. C. Bailey, J. O. Hayes and W. C. Andrews
attended this meeting. The result of this
conference was a meeting of the local chapter
on June 6. At this time Samuel G. Tompkins
was appointed chairman for the Santa Clara
County campaign and Arthur AI. Free was
made campaign manager. Karl Stull as chair-
man headed the activities of the following
publicity committee : Alvin Long, J. O. Hayes,
Jay McCabe, H. L. Baggerly, W.' L. Prussia,
S. R. Walls, R. O. Bell, Judge W. A. Beasly,
E. M. Rosenthal, J. E. Hancock, Alexander
SheriiTs, C. .M. Osenbaugh. Dr. M. E. Dailey
and John D. Kuster.

The executive committee included Samuel
G. Tompkins, chairman; Arthur M. Free,
campaign manager; S. W. Waterhouse, Hen-
ry M. Ayer, D. J. Flannery. Karl Stull, W.
T. Rambo, Alexander Sheriffs, Judge W..A.
Beasly and A. P. Murgotten, secretary.

On May 9, 1917, the San Jose chapter of
the Red Cross met at the Chamber of Com-
merce to arrange for the coming drive. The
Chamber of Commerce, by Joseph T. Brooks,
secretary, offered the use of a room in the
building for headquarters and the services of
the office force

Hiram A. Blanchard. with the assistance of
150 girls, compiled a roster of 10,000 names
for the assistance of the campaigners. A club
women'.s committee under the direction of
Mrs. W. B. Irish was appointed and Mrs.
Stull, publicity ; Arthur Holmes, round up ;
Mrs. W. B. Irish, musical entertainment; D.
J. Flannery, waste paper; H. A. Blanchard,
cards, etc.; L. M. Simonson, treasurer and
cashier; committee on lodges and societies.
W. G. Alexander, W. F. Currv. Ed Distel ;
newspapers, Sheldon Wills. J. '( ). Hayes, H.

L. Baggerh', Buel Anderson ; stunts. Jay Mc-
Cabe, R. O. Bell, Alvin Long ; outside press,
Alvin Long; pulpits, Arthur M. Free; theat-
ers. Gene Rosenthal ; schools, J. E. Hancock,
C. M. Osenbaugh, M. E. Dailev, .\lexander
Sheriffs.

Then the publicity committee worked over-
time. Full page ads appeared in all the pap-
ers. No one will ever forget the immense
Red Cross poster that lifted against the sky
on top of the First National Bank Building.
With its statue of Liberty and pertinent ques-
tion "Will you fight or give?" no one could
escape it. It veritably "shouted from the
housetops!" Then team captains were chos-
en. Those selected for the work of raising
the mercy fund were D. M. Burnett, Henry G.
Mill, fohn P. Fitzgerald, Dr. Charles M. Rich-
ards, Charles M. O'Brien. S. W. Waterhouse,
Richard Bressani, John J. Jones, Judge F. B.
Brown and Herbert Jones.

San Jose had $100,000 to raise and 200
workers for the job. Karl Stull chalked re-
turns on his blackboard and the first day's ef-
fort went down as $14,600. Just then Jack
Graham's war song, "We'll Fight for Yankee
Doodle," made its appearance and became a
feature during the Red Cross drive, l^eing
used I\v theater orchestras and bands all
over the country. Lodges contributed liber-
ally ; there were all kinds of benefits for ^he
Red Cross. Mrs. B. E. Laughlin wrote and
personally supervised the beautiful presenta-
tion of a children's cantata, "An Evening in
Dreamland." The charms of the dreamland
were enhanced by pupils of Miss Hughes and
Helbert Hitching, who gave a program of
dances, and the pupils of Mrs. Theresa Par-
ker and Prof. De Lorenzo, who gave voices
of song to fairyland.

The never-to-be forgotten pageant was a
gigantic Red Cross benefit, staged by 1500
performers and witnessed b}- more than 5000
people on June I. The pageant of history and
allegory was written by Miss Helen Stock-
ing, with, music by Miss Ruth Cornell, and
song verse b}' Clarence Urmy. Joseph E.
Hancock, president of the Drama Association;
was responsible for the pageant, which was
given under the directing genius of Garnet
1 lolme.

Alexander P. Murgotten, secretary of the
committee, donated needed office supplies and
the Argall brothers quartet volunteered their
services for the entire Red Cross camjiaign.
l'"rank Sabatelli's gift for the cause of human-
ity should not be forgotten. His subscri])tion
was $100, and he was only earning $2 a day
as a common laborer. The largest single con-
tribution was secured bv D. AI. I'urnett's
team— $2500 given by the estate of I'.. .\lc-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

183

Laughlin. The waste paper campaign, en-
gineered by Dan Flannery, was a valuable as-
set in the final computation of funds. The
women's team under Mrs. Lilian Arnold
turned in over $2000. Hundreds of dollars
were given at a mass meeting at the Victory
Theater. The speaker was Lieutenant Golds-
worthy, a wounded soldier.

On the night of June 27, San Joseans were
astonished to see the lights in the cross on
the tower of the First Methodist Church turn
from white to red. Rev. W. L. Stidger, the
pastor, gave the following explanation : "I
consider that lighted cross turning its face
north, east, south and west as the symbol not
only of that Christ who died for liberty and
freedom, but I also feel that it symbolizes in
an especial way the light that the whole Red
Cross movement isi spreading in the dark
places of the earth in these cruel war times."
Paul D. Cambino, whose services for the
changing of these lights were lent l^y the
Blake Electrical Company, did his "bit" in
this unique transformation. Caml)ino had
never climbed a tower. The wind was lilow-
ing, too, but he swallowed his fear, climbed
to the top and made the change.

Sunday morning, June 24, the linal ap])eal
of the campaign was made. Spont.nu-Musly,
patriotically, whole-heartedly, the appeal was
answered and all day Monday the dollars
rolled in. Monday afternoon and evening-
Manager Clover, of the T. & D. Theater, gave
the entire proceeds to the Red Cross. W. E.
Johnson and the Argalls sang; Helbert Hit-
ching presented an attractive program of
dances; an orchestra composed ni members
of local union No. 153. under the directKin ut
Carl Fitzgerald, volunteered their scr\ ices ;
Joseph Blum, manager of the Jose Theater,
lent two of his best acts; Judge E. M. Rosen-
thal acted as stage director. Jay McCabe's
able committee sold candy. The only thing
they were not able to do was to make change !
These patriotically energetic salesmen who
forgot their arithmetic under Jay's direction
were: W. L. Prussia, Ernest Lion. Henry
Hirsch, Leroy Parkinson, Dr. James Kramer.
Dan Flannery, R. O. Stewart, F. (). Reed,
Karl StuU and Arthur Holmes. The drive
was a success. Chas. M. O'Brien's team led
with $15,229.61, and the sought for $100,000
Isecame $135,000. Generous assistance was
given by Nellie Farliepp, Belle Gallagher and
Mrs. Floy Johnson, of the court house. One
of the heaviest burdens fell upon Louis Sim-
onson, expert accountant and under sheriff.
He devoted all his time to the work and the
sheriff's office was transformed into a Red
Cross headquarters. His assistants were

Eleanor Brown, Dicey Baugh, Marguerite
Vella and Mrs. J. F. Charles.

The next was the book drive, started in the
\Var Service Committee of the American Lib-
rary Association. Not with howitzers and
shrapnel was the tedium of camp life to be
destroyed, but by books, papers and maga-
zines. ' The call was for $1.000,000. for reading
matter, the biggest movement of the kind ever
contemplated. At five cents per capita, San
Jc.se's ,|n.,ta was $1750. Mrs. John E. Rich-
ard>. president of the board of library trus-
tees, presided at a preliminary meeting held
at the city library to arrange the campaign.
Senator Frank H. Benson drew the secretary-
ship, Charles F. Woods, recently appointed
librarian, exjdained the purposes of the drive.
'I'he acti\e campaign commenced September
24, 1917, with Librarian Woods in charge.
He was ably assisted by Miss Stella Hunting-
ton, county librarian.

Over 200 posters in red. white and blue pla-
carded the town. Each donation of $1.00 or
more entitled the giver to an engraved name
plate in one of the books purchased. "Send
your name to the front if you can't go" was
a drive slogan. Day by day the amount in-
creased. Then came Saturday, September
27, 1917, — the last day of the week's drive.
It was a great "Tag Day." A bevy of San
Jose's pretty girls, under the direction of a
committee headed by Mrs. A. A. Fowler,
played "tag" all day. The members of this
committee were Mrs'. A. A. Fowder, Mrs. J. E.
Richards. Mrs. Chas. F. Woods, Mrs. G. W.
Hommedieu and Mrs. Nina Moon. Tag Day
hniUL;ht $300 and the end of the drive for
funds. Lilnarians Woods and Huntington
with the assistance of the interested commit-
tees and volunteer workers had "put it
across." Other book drives followed. The
cry from overseas was answered 1)y San Jose.

On May 1, 1917, San Jose high school stu-
dents heard the war garden program outlined
by Prof. H. B. Crocheron, of the Department
of Agriculture, University of California. He
held the ofticial appointment made by Dean
Hunt, of the College of Agriculture, to enlist
the help n\ boys too young to enlist for other
service. -\t the time of his visit to San
lose he fciund that the high school agricultural
deiiavtnient had 114 pupils interested in prac-
tical farm pr. Mliutinn. These student-farmers
constituted an agricultural club, under the dir-
ection of Prof. J. R. Case, Jr. This first meet-
ing resulted in the 'enlistment of 350 high
school boys who pledged themselves to crop
jiroduction and to assist with the year's har-
vest.

Food production plans occupied the earnest
attention of the council of defense. A citi-

184

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

zen's committee under the leaclershij) of E. E.
Chase became interested. The Rotary Chib
stood solidly behind the campai.s^n. By May
2. 1917. plans were well under way to super-
vise intensive gardening. Every man, woman
and child who owned or could borrow a bit
of land made up a committee "of the whole."
Campiglia advised the Rotarians of the cam-
paign progress in other sections — and San
Jose just rolled up its sleeves and went to
farming.

The response to the appeal for vacant lots
was an avalanche ! All schools received visits
from the committee. By May 3 the Horace
Mann children had taken 30 lots, each having
more than 4000 square feet. The Grant and
Longfellow children planned to cttltivate their
own back j'ards. School heads agreed to farm
lots themselves or in co-operation with the
children. Rotarians grabbed a piece of land
some distance from town and planted 50 acres
of corn. They also offered special induce-
ments to school children in the form of prizes.
Then work began in earnest. Weeds and drj-
grass trembled and tin cans knew their hour
of doom had come. First of all, the vacant
lots must be well "soaked" or the ground
would be lumpy at the plowing. This, water-
ing was undertaken by the Rotarians. The
council of defense and other interested organ-
izations found the San Jose AVater Company
eager to help by reducing rates for home gar-
dens and donating water for vacant lots. The
San Jose fire department, under Chief Edward
Haley and Assistant Chief Herman Hobson,
volunteered to do the flooding of the lots. The
street department, directed by Chief Engineer
Walter H. Hunt, w^ere to furnish teams and
a plow and do the needed work on as many
lots as ppssible. The Bean Spray comjiany
offered a tractor for plowing the larger lots
and groups of lots.

Then the 100 Boy Scouts of the First Me-
thodist Church, under the leadership of Rev.
Frank McLain, each pledged himself to "feed
a soldier." They promised to forget vacation
• — and the}' kept that promise. They put on
an unexi)ccted and novel program. One even-
ing in Rlay, headed by two stalwart policemen
and armed with rakes and hoes for weapons,
they marched through the down town streets.
The Scouts bub1)led over with patriotism. One
little laddie said: "Maybe I'm too little to car-
ry a gun, but I can make a garden !" For
months Rev. Frank McLain, Mr. Farrier, of
the First National Bank, George Norris and
Donald Arguello had worked on the Boy
Scout movement in San Jose and their efforts
found recognition in the cheers that greeted
this jjatriotic parade of volunteer food pro-
ducers.

The Rotarians did more than make speeches
and cheer. They dug in their individual gar-
dens and they dug down deep in their pockets
and put up several hundreds of dollars to fin-
ance the work of getting the vacant lot gar-
dens ready to plant. They secured the ser-
vices of C. H. AVaterman. who took charge of
their planting campaign for 30 days. It was
a unique campaign, for it was the first time
in the history of the city that its government
turned gardener ! , Firemen to do the flooding,
police department volunteering to transport
the hose from place to place, and the city's
teams to do the plowing!

The firemen had the worst of it. Their
work was done between the hours of eight in
the evening and four the next morning — but
not one of them complained. There was dififi-
cult}- in finding the lots. Frequently instead
of one vacant lot they found four and the mid-
dle of the night was a mighty inconvenient
time to find out which lot to flood ! All night,
night after night, the fire boys worked. They
"d3^ked" the lots until each one looked like a
miniature Holland — then turned on the water.

A conference of all the local food production
experts was held at the high school cafeteria
on ]\Iay 10, 1917, E. E. Chase, chairman of the
original food supply committee, presiding.
Earl Morris, county horticultural commission-
er, was made chairman of the campaign com-
mittee and the personnel of those attending
the conference were : E. E. Chase, W. L. At-
kinson, representing the Rotary Club ; Alex-
ander Sheriffs, citA' superintendent of schools ;
.Arthur M. Free and J. D. Chace, Jr., of the
Council of Defense: Prof. J. R. Case, Jr., of
high school agricultural department; C. H.
Waterman, general campaign supervisor :
Karl Hazeltine and Ernst L. Conant. Arthur
Free toured the schools of the county. J. J.
JMcDonald donated a plow, teams were loaned
by John R. Chace and the Standard Oil Com-
pany, and over 500 high school and normal
school students enlisted for the work. Over
200 lots were cultivated. Andrew P. Hill's
back yard was an incentive for greater garden
effort, for nothing was wasted there, not
even space.

The winners of the first and second prizes
offered by the Rotary Club in the schools
were : Gardner School — Herbert Hyer. Jack
Hewitt. Lowell School — Willie Jury, Harris
Willson. Washiiagton School — Frank Guer-
ra, Emilio Gagliardo. Hawthorne School —
Mario and Frank Duino, first, and George
Straight, second. Grant School — Louis Ar-
none, first, and Denward and Fred Davis, sec-
ond. Horace Mann vSchool — Albert Hachlen
and George Bliss, first .and \'ivian 'I'hornton.
'I'helma Lanz. Alvis Davis. Kubv Withers.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

185

Thelma AlcGary, Carol Ames, second. I^ong-
fellow School — Byron and Thelma Hunt, first,
and Walter Donley. Emile Ricca and Cecil
Morehead, second. Lincoln School — Ray Nich-
olas and Jack Gilleran.

No story of this 1917 garden activity would
be complete without special mention of Rev. ].
H. Wythe, who, during- the entire period, was
deeply interested in the movement and who
aided its success in every way, not only be-
cause of his government appointment on this
commission but because of his love of gardens.
During 1918 Prof. Joseph E. Hancock was
given the chairmanship of war garden activ-
ities by C. C. Moore, chairman of the state
council of defense. Professor Hancock had
an extensive campaign planned when the ar-
mistice removed the pressing necessity fur
increased food production.

Werlnesday, September 26, 1917, San jose
l>ade goodbye to Companies B and M, Califor-
nia volunteers, trained at Fort Mason, who
passed through on their way to "somewhere
in France." That same day J. D. Kuster, W.
S. Clayton, V. J. LaMotte, Victor Palmer and
Dr. W. C. Bailey went to San Francisco to
consult with the general executive committee.
Friday the local meeting was held to arrange
for the opening of the loan campaign October
1. The committee personnel remained the
same as in the first loan, John D. Kuster,
chairman, and Dr. W. C. Bailey, secretary.

The city was divided into four districts,
each with well defined street boundaries, and
a competent executive head named for each
district. Joseph M. Parker was made chair-
man of ward one ; Arthur M. Free, ward two ;
A. L. Hubbard, ward three : and H. A. Harms,
ward four. Each chairman appointed a work-
ing committee of from 50 to 100 in his district
with captains and lieutenants so as to cjuickly
organize effective work.

At this time the Eighth regiment, compris-
ing over a thousand men, Colonel George M.
Weeks commanding, arrived at Camp Fre-
mont after a two months' trip from the Phil-
ippine Islands. The famous California Griz-
zlies were forming and camped at Tanforan,
prominent among them being Major Robert I.
Bentley, Captain Cedric R. Richmond. Cap-
tain Ellsworth E. Chase and Lieutenant Wil-
mer Gross. The cross above the hallowed
grave of Lieutenant Wilmer Gross "some-
where in France" casts its shadow on the
hearts of the home-folks for the continuance
of whose liberty he made the supreme sacri-
fice.

Sunday, September 30, 1917. the Argall
Brothers quartet made their last appearance
as a singing group at the Methodist Church.
Charles was soon to leave for France.

Joseph M. Parker's committee met Sunday
at the Vendome Hotel and for each of the six
precincts in the first ward a chairman and his
aids were named. Precinct No. 1 — Henry
Ayer, chairman; William Watson, Joseph
Hartman, William I. Geoffroy, W. F. Curry,
and Dr. A. A. Cavagnara. Precinct No. 2 —
jr.scph Magistrctti, chairman; D. M. Denegri,
J. Cailk-ati, JCugone Pezolo, F. W. Hogan.
Precinct Xo. 3 — John V. Slavich, chairman;
A. P. Lepesh, August P. Minjoulet, Gus
Wendt, N. A. Pellerano. Precinct No. 4 —
J. J. McLaurin, chairman ; Matt Glennon, W.
P. Isham, A. R. Kennedy. Precinct No. 5 —
W. L. Atkinson, chairman; Dan ]. Flannery,
George H. Anflcrson, George McDonald, J. R.
Kocher, James i".ili..r(, A. N. Losse. Precinct
No. 6 — .Alexander Slu-riffs, chairman; Harrv
Morris, J. F. U'Keefe, Miss Lvnch. Mrs. Frdd
Keller, Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. J. J. Conniff, Mrs.
Baggott.

Other war leaders hastened to perfect their
working force. Free learned that Al Hul)bard
was coming over in- his ward to appropriate
some of the best workers. Hul^bard mafle
approaches to Billy Prussia, who w.-i.s ((.unt-
ed on by Free as a soliciting jtrizc winiKT.
That would never do. Free called a mectim,"
at the Chamber of Commerce. Hubbard called
a meeting at the same time and place ! Thev
compromised! It was the best compromise
in the world. They simply agreed to combine
forces and fight side by side to a victorious
finish with the following committeemen :

Free's workers — S. W. Waterhouse, James
Finley, C. A. Hall, Walter Lillick, [uanita
Halsey, Jennie Sheriffs, R. R. vSyer,"E. M.
Rosenthal, S. Trapani, Jese Levy, Alexander
Hart, Joe Millard, Bert" Gassett.' Judge P. F.
Gosbey, Elmer E. Chase, Tmih FmmIIcv. I'annie
Morrison, Mrs. C. A. \\a\lan(l. Dr.' William
Simpson, Dr. J. J. Miller'. Gus Lumi, Frank
O'Connell, Alfred Madsen, Karl Stull, Mrs.
Fosgate, Dr. David A. Beattie, Tom Watson,
Mrs. T. L. Blanchard, Walter Chrisman, L.
Maggini, Sam E. Smith, Samuel Tompkins,
R. C. McComish, Captain Bailey, Captain
Campbell, Mrs. Mae Faull, ]\Irs. Henry I, ion,
Mrs. S. Ogier, Robert Borchers, A. C. Kuhns,
Ralph Lowe.

In ward four H. A. Harms, chairman, put
his sign and seal on the following gentleman-
ly solicitors, each to name cither able assis-
tants : C. W. Davison, Judge LIrban .\. Sonth-
eimer. E. P. Bonar, J. B. Chiappe, F. A.
Gunn, J. M. McKiernan, C. H. James, Mrs. D.
H. Roberts.

Word came that on the following Friday,
October 5, more than 700 boys would pass
through San Jose on their way to Camp
Lewis. The reception and supper given them

186

HI

'ORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

in St. James Street next to the Park, followed
the city's goodbye to 126 of the local hoys,
who left that day for army camps.

October 6, John D. Kuster received a tele-
gram from Mrs. E. R. Brainard, chairman of
the Woman's Liberty Loan committee for
California, asking that women be appointed
for county work. Mrs. C. A. Wayland was
given the honor of the first appointment as
chairman and immediately began to perfect an
organization. The women entered into the
campaign with as much fervor as the men.

Mrs. Charles C. Wayland's committee of
women was co-operating with the men's liber-
t}' loan committee and the women's council of
defense.

Judge William A. Beasly headed the speak-
ers' committee and secured Charles K. Field,
editor of the Sunset Magazine, who address-
ed an immense audience in the First Baptist
Church the next Sunday evening. Other
speakers who gave their services during the
campaign under Judge Beasly's direction were
J. S. Williams, Dr. J. W. Dinsmore, Arthur
Free, Victor LaMotte, Senator Herbert H.
Jones, A. C. Kuhn, Fred L. Thomas, .M. E.
Griffiths, Victor Palmer, F. M. Coleman and
Senator Frank H. Benson.

H. W. McComas was made chairman of the
four minute men — Arthur M. Free, Senator
Jones, Grant Bennett, Dr. James B. Bullitt.

Friday, October 19, 1917, saw a wonderful-
ly inspiring parade of school children. More
than 5000 were in line. The parade, fifteen
blocks long, was led by City Manager Reed
and Charles Parkinson. Much of its success
was due to the efforts of Dr. M. E. Dailey,
Agnes E. Howe and Alexander Sheriflfs.

The President's proclamation had desig-
nated October 24 as Liberty Day, and Joseph
M. Parker, Chas. R. Parkinson, Henry Ayer
and Joseph T. Brooks went to Camp Fremont
to confer with the ofiicers there about having
the troops take part in the day's demonstra-
tion. Dr. James B. Bullitt, J. S. Williams and
Victor Palmer did valiant work and so did
Billy Emerson, San Jose's veteran newsie.

On Liberty Day with its jostling crowds
lining the streets, there passed such a spec-
tacular parade numbering more than 15,000
persons as had never before thrilled the hearts
of San Joseans. The Ei.ghth Regiment came
from Camp Fremont, 800 strong. There were
seven bands, besides numerous drum cori>s, all
the schools, and fraternal and civic organiza-
tions. Chief of Police Black led the parade
with City Manager Reed as grand marshal
and Sheriff Arthur B. Langford as chief aid.
.\t St. James Park, following the parade, re-
freshments were served to the lughth Regi-
ment, after which .\rlhur .M. l'"ree delivered

an eloquent and stirring address. Deputy
District Attorney Griffith addressed the crowd
from an auto near the Park, again from the
steps of the Garden City Bank, and a third
time at the corner of St. James and First
Streets.

The men who gave their time and energy
to make this parade an unforgettable event
were Joseph AI. Parker, Chas. R. Parkinson,
Thomas H. Reedv John D. Kuster, A. E.
Holmes. Karl Stull, Howell D. Melvin, Dr.
W. C. Bailey, Henry M. Ayer and Arthur B.
Langford.

.^t the last moment the Hoy Scijuts were
called upon and they enlisted full of enthus-
iasm. The second Liberty loan campaign
ended Saturday night, October 27, with a sub-
scription of $3,365,100 — another over subscrip-
tion. San Jose's number of subscribers was
4722 ; county subscribers, 3250, making a total
of 7972, an increase of 970 over the first loan.
San Jose's subscription was $2,305,650. The
average subscription per capita was $488.

Now came the second Y. M. C. A. drive.
The National War Council recommended the
raising of a fund of $35,000,000, to serve the
soldiers and sailors of the allies and all pris-
oners of war. The plan for Santa Clara Coun-
ty was outlined in San Jose on November 19,
1917, at a dinner in the Y. M. C. A. Auditor-
ium. The speakers were Senator Herbert C.
Jones and Judge W. A. Beasly. Then church
meetings and school meetings, the high school
boys being enthusiastic workers. They sub-
scribed $970. Nine San Jose girls, Malva
Beatty, Grace Limerick, Julia Holdridge,
Hazel Dickinson, Georgine Fink, Beth Crum-
mey, Lilah Seiley and Lola Burdick, made
"earn and give" pledges of $10 each. The
children in the kindergarten wanted to help,
and a special fund took care of their pennies
and dimes. More than 350 committeemen
helped to carry on the second "Y." drive.
These men constituted more than twenty
teams. On November 20, Senator Jones an-
nounced that the drive was "over the top,'"
having $5000 more than the $25,000 quota.

The Women's Mobilized Army proved its
ability as a power for accomplishment through
campaign after campaign for war funds and
strenuous bond drives. Mrs. L. T. Smith be-
came colonel for the Santa Clara County
.\rmy, and Mrs. D. A. Beattie, as lieutenant-
colonel, looked after San Jose. Eleven other
workers were appointed to lead the activities
of the various districts of the county. These
were : Mrs. W. B. Allen, Palo Alto ; Mrs. S.
L. Berry, Mountain View ; Mrs. James Glen-
denning, Santa Clara; Mrs. A. A. Halsey,
Cupertino; Mrs. Geo. Parso, Campliell ; Mrs.
W. G. Tomlinson, Saratoga; Mrs. Z. L. Riggs,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

187

Los Gatos ; Mrs. O. H. Barnhart, Morgan
Hill: Mrs. W. B. Holschaw, Gilroy : Mrs. J.
]'. Shambo, Evergreen, and Miss Nellie Evans,
Milpitas. This permanent organization ef-
fected for the period of the war, included be-
side the colonel and twelve lieutenant-colon-
els, a major for each school district. Each
major appointed captains and under each cap-
tain were several lieutenants. In San Jose
the majors named by Mrs. D. A. Beattie were
Mrs. P. F. Gosbey, Mrs. N. H. Booker, Mrs.
). ]. Bvl, Mrs. J. E. Hancock, Mrs. F. A. Von
b()rst(>n. -Mrs. C. C. Little, Miss Wehner, Mrs.
Nicholas I'.MW.lrn. Mrs. Willis Clavton, Mrs.
A. 11. i'.r..\vn. .\ir>. George B. Se'eley, Mrs.
Charles Parkinson and Airs. S. D. Farrington.

This magnificent organization, iierfected in
a short time, numl^ered 1400 women l:ianded
together to answer with unselfish service ev-
ery appeal made to them. Nine tremendous
war activities called for their best endeavor.
The December. 1917, Red Cross membership
dri\-e was the Mobilized Army's initial ser-
\ice. Mrs. A. A. Fowler was chairman of this
activity. The second campaign came in 1918,
when they helped to carry out the success-
ful Thrift and War Savings Stamp drive un-
der the chairmanship of Mrs. F. M. Eley.

The third Liberty loan, April, 1918, proved
tlie qualitv of wi')mcn's service under the guid-
ance of .\irs. C. A. \\'a\land, chairman. "The
Red Cr.is. canipai-n m .May, 1918, War Sav-
ings Stamp tlrive in June, 1918, and the regis-
tration of all children under six years of age,
also in June, were directed by memljers of
tlie Women's .Army. In October, 1918, came
the fourth Liberty loan, and no one will ever
forget the Volunteer Day preceding it on Sep-
tember 7. On this day members of the Wom-
en's Molnlized Army served in the regular
polling places throughout the country, more
than 850 volunteering for this work in San
Jose. The result of efficient organization be-
came apparent when a "check up" of the day's
returns showed that al)out 65 per cent of
Santa Clara county's quota had been volun-
teered in one day. The United War Work
campaign in November, 1918, and the Liberty
loan drive closed the book of the Women's
.Mobilized Army history. No tabulation of
campaign returns or bare record of work can
ever tell the story in its entirety. The mem-
bers of this army made every sacrifice, some
of them even the sacrifice of health in the pat-
riotic endeavor to leave nothing undone that
would speed the coming of the day when
peace should dawn on a war-worn world.

Among the thousands of appealing inci-
dents during the work of the Women's Army
are two particularly worthy of special men-
tion. In San Jose I'recinct No. 10, Mrs. E. H.

Baker made no changes in the personnel of
her workers during the entire war period. The
faithful coterie of women were: Mrs. E. H.
Baker, Mrs. L. L. Lamar, Mrs. C. E. Parsons,
Miss M. Blomdohl, Mrs. C. O. Neale and Mrs.
E. Perkins. The other instance of valiant
service was that of Mrs. J. M. Church Walk-
er, in charge of the mountain district above
Los Gatos. This little woman having no
other way to do her work walked everv step
of the necessary sixteen miles to organize her
district.

The latter |iart of 1917 was a great succes-
sion of (Irixes. The first week in December
the National War Council of the Young Wo-
men's Christian Association issued a call for
$4,000,000 for the purpose of establishing soc-
ial and rest centers for heroic nurses at the
front. Santa Clara County's quota was
$16,000. At a meeting on December 5. Mrs.
L. T. Smith made her appointments for the
county, and Mrs. D. A. Beattie named the
following team captains for San Jose : Mrs.
Robert Syer, Miss Maud Blackford, Mrs
Peter Dunn, Miss Bertha Fair, Mrs. C. C. Lit-
tle, Mrs. Stephen Maynard. Each captain
selected ten to twelve women for patriotic
service. San Jmsc n-spouded, as it always
did, with an o\ ersubscriiition. Not only San
Jose but the County. The quota was reached
"with $4000 to spare.

During the summer of 1918 the local Y. W.
C. A. made a gift beyond price to the cause
of suft'ering humanity when Miss Mary Helen
Post offered herself through the .Association
for overseas work.

The Knights of Columbus and the Y. Al.
C. A. received appointments at the same time
from President \\ ilson. The big task before
these ori^anizatiMiis was to raise funds for
the special needs of the soldiers. The Knights
undertook to rai^v .S.^n.lKM) for the entire coun-
ty, San J.isc's sli;in- licin- SIO.OOO. It was to
be a fund for all. a work for all, regardless of
creed or fraternal affiliation. Plans for the
campaign were made in December, 1917, at a
luncheon at the Hotel Vendome, at which
tiine Rev. Edward J. Hanna, the guest of
honor, expressed his pleasure in the co-opera-
tion of different organizations. "For the first
time in its history," said Bishop Hanna, "the
country has placed its moral and physical wel-
fare in the hands of the religious men of the
nation. The best way to make good soldiers
is to educate men to high ideals."

The drive, scheduled originally for Decem-
ber 19, opened at that time in the residential
districts only, the business district not to be
canvassed until after Christmas. Charles AL
O'Brien led the K. of C. forces as chairman of
a committee consisting of J. F. Brooke, D. M.

188

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Burnett. Jay McCabe, F. G. Canelo, F. J.
Somers, Rol^ert Benson, W. F. Benson, T- S.
Williams, John J. Jones, Dr. B. L. Wise,
Frank Martin, F. T- Reidy, R. Bressani, N. A.
Pellerano, M. E. Griffith and D. J. Flannery.
Peter Dunne was assigned to the Alameda ;
Joseph A. Bihn and James Hancock led the
campaigners in the AVillows ; J. S. Cunan, E.
S.. San Jose. Joseph Solari and C. O. Wendt
■were committeemen to cover "the city."

Christmas time, several other drives in pro-
gress—and $10,000 to raise! That meant
$1000 every day for ten days ! The vaudeville
show for the Camp Fremont boys had just
been given by the Knights of Columbus and
stimulated interest in the drive. Then the
war fund received a Christmas gift from Man-
ager James Beatty of the Liberty Theater.
This gift was 2000 theater tickets 'to be sold
for the benefit of the campaign.

The day after Christmas the drive began in
earnest. Judge W. A. Beasly, C. C. Coolidge
and John J. Jones called upon all the attor-
neys. Doctors and dentists received visits
from Drs. Philip Wise, Arthur T. McGinty
and Dr. Murray. John F. Brooke, J. R. Ry-
land and David Burnett visited all fruit can-
ners. Frank J. Somers, W'ill Prussia and F.
J. McHenry claimed the territory on the east
side of First Street from Santa' Clara. The
west side of the street was canvassed by F.
G. Canelo, Jay McCabe and Henry Hoff.
Santa Clara Street was assigned to Charles L.
Barrington, P. J. Foley and H. J. Dougherty;
Second Street between San Antonio and San
Fernando was claimed by Joe Solari, Frank
Reidy and W. J. Benson. John S. Williams,
N. A. Pellerano and Richard Bressani cover-
ed Market Street.

Daily luncheons with encouraging reports
spurred to greater endeavor and on December
30. when Chairman Charles M. O'Brien an-
nounced that the quota had been reached with
a generous margin there was a burst of en-
thusiasm.

The gift of $10,000 to the war fund did not
end the local offer of Catholic helpfulness.
Father Walsh and Father Cox, of Santa Clara
College, followed the flag overseas, and
Father T. C. O'Connell, pastor of St. Patrick's
Church, spent more than a year on the fight-
ing front, offering his chaplaincy in the ser-
vice of the boys.

The first idea of Christmas cheer came to
Eleanor A. Brown, and she talked it over with
five other San Jose girls — Marion Goldsmith,
Marion Cassin, Maud Thomas, Evelyn John-
son and Luita Arnold.

At the Chamber of Commerce on November
1. 1917, there was a meeting. Eleanor Brown
and her fi\e girl friends met with representa-

tives of the Chamber of Commerce, the Rot-
ary Club, the Red Cross, Y. W. C. A., Y. M. C.
A., and the Woman's Club and other organi-
zations to make plans and perfect some kind
of working committee. J. J. McDonald was
made chairman and Luita Arnold secretary.
Other present were Mrs. Charles Osenbaugh.
Brownie Schillingsburg, Mrs. W. B. Irish.
Mrs. Arthur Langford, Mrs. Claude Winans,
Dr. M. E. Dailey, Charles R. Parkinson, W.
T. Rambo, and Joseph T. Brooks. The inten-
tion was just to lovingly send to each boy in
trench or camp, a Christmas remembrance
"from the folks at home." Committee leaders
were quickly selected. Finance, Eleanor
Brown ; publicity, Mrs. A. B. Langford ; to
secure the names of the boys. Mrs. W. B. Ir-
ish; supplies, Mrs. Claude A. A\inans ; box
packing committee. Mrs. N. J. Gray. Later
Mrs. F. L Loel, Mrs. S. L. Cunningham. Mrs.
W. M. Beggs. Mrs. J. J. McDonald, Judge W.
A. Beasly and Jay McCabe were added to the
general committee. More and more were add-
ed until San Jose simply became a committee
of the whole to see to it that not one boy from
home was forgotten. Mrs. Claude A. Winans
shared her committeeship with Mrs. Bert
Goldsmith,, Mrs. J. E. Hancock. Mrs. D. L.
Smith and Mrs. A. D. Grant. That gave the
Woman's Club a place of prominence in the
supply department and the club recognized its
Christmas honors by offering to pack the
boxes.

The Boy Scouts accomplished wonders rais-
ing in one day $1175.80. The original plan
called for 500 boxes. There were at least 900
that went as Christmas cheer to the boys at
the front. In addition to the box 300 pounds
of candy were sent. The boxes contained
raisins, prunes, nuts, cand}^ cakes, toilet
articles, local papers. Jack Graham's songs and
San Jose's Christmas greeting. The first thing
to catch the recipient's attention would be the
city's greeting. Its warm-heartedness must
have seemed like a handclasp across the dis-
tance— the handclasp of a friend !

"San Jose bids her soldier boys, wherever
they may be, a Merry Christmas. We would
like to have you think of San Jose not as a col-
lection of houses and stores, a mere hive of
busy people, but as a living personality whose
heart warms to you who have left home to de-
fend our beloved country in this time of dan-
ger. We would convey to you a bright reflec-
tion of our Christmas cheer. We miss you
from our firesides and amid the rejoicing of
the holiday season we are at once sad and
])roud that you are absent. W'e call upon you
the blessing of Him in whose name the Christ-
mas feast is spread. Christ was born to bring
I^eace and goodwill unli) all the world. You

HIS'J'OKY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

189

have given yourselves to the same cause; for
peace and goodwill cannot thrive in the same
world with Kaiserism. As on Christmas day
your thoughts turn lovingly toward home, our
hearts' best wishes go forth to you. Thomas
H. Reed, City Manager of San Jose."

In preparation for the third Liberty loan.
Dr. W. C. Bailey was inade chairman for Santa
Clara County, John D. Kuster declining to
serve again. Dr. Bullitt, Judge Gosbey and
Joe Brooks, a chorus of Normal School girls,
forty voices strong, and numbers of patriotic
citizens carried out an educational campaign
that covered the county. H. D. Melvin visited
all lodges and patriotic pledges were secured
with the assistance of J. E. Hancock, Judge
Gosbey, S. G. Tompkins, Arthur AI. Free and
Alexander Sheriffs, speakers of powerful con-
viction. Dan J. Flannery's Speakers' Commit-
tee consisted of A. V. Shubert. \'ictor Challen,
Arthur Curtner and Judge L'rban A. Sonth-
eimer.

H. W. RlcComas, chairman of the Four Min-
ute Men marshaled his force of twenty-five
speakers early in the campaign. The Woman's
Mobilized Army, with its powerful organiza-
tion of more than 1400 under the colonel, Mrs.
L. T. Smith, the lieut.-colonel, Mrs. D. A.
Beattie and Libert}- loan chairman Mrs. C. A.
W'ayland comliiiied with the War \\'ork
Council.

Saturday, April 6, 1918, designated "Liberty
Day," opened the third Liberty Loan drive
with one of the grandest educational military
demonstrations in Luna Park ever staged in
Santa Clara Countv. As a result almost $1,-
000,000 of Santa Clara County's quota of $2,-
605,000 was raised. The committee in charge
of the Luna Park spectacle was a bank com-
mittee, consisting of Geo. B. Campbell, cashier
of the Securitv State Bank, chairman; J. H.
Russell, R., D. Pearce, D. S. Glendenning, C.
A. Baronne, Bank of Italy; A. D. Baker, W.
E. Drew, First National Bank; Waldo E.
Lowe and M. B. Davis, Bank of San Jose ;
Lester Hyde and Percy Thompson, Garden
City Bank ; Harold Ahlman. George Pierson.
Security State Bank.

The burden of the campaign fell to the lot of
the ten committeemen under the Liberty loan
leaders. These committeemen were John D.
Crummey, Alexander Sherififs, A. D. Curtner,
Louis Campiglia, Henry M. Ayer, Chas. M.
O'Brien, Chas. R. Parki'nson, Elton R. Shaw.
E. A. Richmond, Alexander Hart, Walter G.
Matthewson, Howell D. Melvin. Henry
Hirsch became special inspector for the San
Jose district to see that the plans were car-
ried out.

Not every one purchased bonds voluntarily.
Everywhere workers met concrete evidence of

insidious German propaganda. The list of
those refusing to buy bonds increased to such
an extent that the Santa Clara County investi-
gatm^g and educational committee, with John
D. Kuster as chairman, came into the cam-
paign. Other members of this organization
were J. W. Grimes, Albert Kayser V H
Wylie, A. A. Halsey, A. M. Free, F. J.Mc-
Henry, Fred L. Fehren, A. G. Du Brutz, judge
P. F. Gosbey, Sam G. Tompkins, Herbert C.
Jones. These men did not shirk their unwel-
come task. Over 900 cases were investigated
and the members' services were invaluable.

On April 16, 1918, San Jose was electrified
by the news that Lieut. Douglas Campbell
had won the French War Cross bv bringing
down a German plane and capturing the pilot.

Shortly before noon on Liberty Day, April
26, the message came that San Jose and the
county had gone "over the top." It was a
great campaign that ended officiallv on May
4, 1918, with not only the full quota of bonds
subscribed and the population requirements
met, but an amount credited to Santa Clara
County for more than $800,000 above the allot-
ment and 12,136 more investors than during
the second loan. The most sanguine hopes
that came mto existence with the organiza-
tion of the War Work Council in March, 1918,
had been realized. Each member of the Coun-
cil gave to the members of the Women's
Mobilized Army the fullest credit for the splen-
did results.

During the strenuous campaign an advisory
c^ommittee met every day at the War Work
Louncil headquarters to "talk things over and
devise ways and means." Of the following
taithful members of this committee many gave
at least fifty per cent of their time to the work
and others, finding that business interfered
with their patriotism simply gave up their
Inisiness, devoting all their time and energy to
the interests of "backing up the bovs" : Byron
Millard, A. B. Post, Judge W. A. Beaslv, Dr
James B. Bullitt, S. G. Tompkins, W. S.'Clay-
ton, W. E. Bauer, V. J. La Motte. Louis Cam-
piglia, Arthur M. Free, H. L. Baggerly, Wil-
bur J. Edwards, E. K. Johnston. H. g' Coy-
kendall. ^V. G. Alexander. Frank J. Somers
George N. Herbert, John D. Kuster and D t'
Bateman.

Special committeemen were Thomas H
Reed. Karl M. StuU, Victor Palmer, Alvin
Long. Sheldon R. Wills, F. A. Nikirk, Frank
L. Baker, D. J. Flannery, Victor Challen,
Judge L rban A. Sontheimer, Arthur B. Lang-
ford, Brooks Tompkins, F. E. Chapin and
\\ ilson E. Albee.

Preparations .were now made for the fourth
Liberty loan drive. One or two changes al-
tered the war work council chart. Dr.' W. C.

190

HISTORY OF SAXTA CLARA COUXTV

Bailey became chairman of the Santa Clara
Coun'tv War Work council: Joseph M. Par-
ker, chairman of the Santa Clara County
fourth Liberty loan committee ; Louis Cam-
piglia. chairman San Jose War Work council :
E. H. Foster, secretary; Arthur H. Curtner.
treasurer; Dr. James B. Bullitt, statistician.

The campaign did not open officially until
September 28, 1918, but long before the "big
day" everyone was at work. The 750 men of
the war work council and the 1400 workers of
the women's army comprised the Volunteer
day force to take charge of the "voting booths"
in every precinct and polling place throughout
the county. Arthur Curtner gave a "get ac-
quainted"'dinner to all district leaders at the
Montgomery Hotel on the evening of Septem-
ber 2bth, J. M. Parker making the principal
speech. Blind Al Herr. newsboy, bought the
first bond on Monday, September 23. His cane
guided him to headquarters. Some throats
choked a bit when Blind Al held out fifty dol-
lars for some unseen hand to take.

Volunteer day, September 27, 1918, will go
down in history as one of the greatest days in
the chronicles of the county. On that day,
practically without any solicitation, the count}'
subscribed $3,258,650 to the fourth Liberty
loan bonds, $1,701,250 of that amount belong-
ing to San Jose. The honor flag oil^ered for
the largest number of. subscriptions in a pre-
cinct in proportion to the population went to
precinct No. 37 in charge of F. A. \'an Dorsten,
director, and Charles M. O'Brien, vice chair-
man. Out of 373 registered voters 62 per cent
made bond subscriptions. This precinct at
Wilson's garage, 899 South Fifteenth street,
listed among its workers Joseph T. Brooks.
Edward Johnson, Ben Brown, H, Trephagen.
Mrs. W. G. Alexander, May Hofifman, Hattie
Hoffman, Miss Jones. Mrs. H. H. Madsen,
Mrs. L. P. Edwards, Mrs. P. D. During, Mrs.
C. B. Mason and Mrs. J. R. Bailey.

The honor flag for the largest amount of
subscriptions totaling $68,850, was proudly
carried away by Crandallville precinct No. 2
in charge of Alexander Sherrififs, vice chair-
man, and W. J. Lean, director. Other workers
were W. B. Irish, Daisy Cozzens, Reta Angus,
Hattie Prindiville, Mrs. R. H. Topham, Anna
Mathews and Bessie Crowfoot. D. M. Dene-
gri did yeoman service among the Italian-
speaking population, obtaining notable results
from the emi)loyees of the Greco cannery. .Ml
canners and their hundreds of workers stood
solidly behind the loan. William Halla cov-
ered Chinatown and found bond subscriptions
piling up after the news came that young Sing
Kee. son of Chung Kee, had been awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross. Sing Kee. the
onlv Chinese soldier in Cimqiany G. Three

Hundred and Sixth Infantry, deserved that
decoration and the Croix de Guerre which
came to him later. He stood for 48 hours at
an advance post with wireless apparatus send-
ing messages back to his commander after the
post had been abandoned by the entire com-
pany. Sing Kee fought in many battles and
spent a month in the hospital at Tours follow-
ing a severe experience with mustard gas dur-
ing a Hun attack. A letter of congratulation
went to Sing Kee from his fellow townsmen of
the War Work Council. The Japanese sub-
scribed $50,000. The service flag dedicated at
St. Joseph's on Oct. 6. 1918, held almost one-
third of the San Jose stars. On Saturday, Oct.
19, 1918, bells, horns and whistles announced
victory. Santa Clara County was credited
with an oversubscription of $826,650.

Judge P. F. Gosbey of the Council of De-
fense made the following acknowledgment of
Parker's able leadership: "I wish to- express
the appreciation of the Santa Clara county di-
vision of the Council of Defense for the excel-
lent work done by J. M. Parker during the
fourth Liberty loan campaign. It was large-
ly due to his eft'orts and to those of his able
assistants that the campaign was carried
through in this city and county to such great
success. The result will always stand as a
monument to Joseph M. Parker's ability and
loyalty." In the fourth loan San Jose had 20,-
075 subscribers. The total bond subscription
was $3,595,000, per capita average of $179.
For the countv, subscribers 11,662, amount
$1,899,700, per' capita $163. City and county
subscribers, 31,735: amount $5,494,700, per
capita $173. In this loan 29.4 per cent of
the population subscribed as against 19 jicr
cent subscribing for the third loan.

^\'hile priest and Protestant clergymen min-
istered to the men of all nationalities and
creeds on the battlefields where all differences
were forgotten in a common cause, in the
homeland there developed a new bond of
brotherhood. A splendid demonstration of
this broader understanding was the "Seven in
One" campaign in November. 1918, when
seven great war work organizations united un-
der one banner. Santa Clara County sounded
an unanimous call for Arthur D. Curtner to be
its drive leader. This intensely patriotic
.American was an outstanding figure because
of his magnificent service in all war work un-
dertaken l)y the community. The assisting
committee represented each local organization.
Y. M. C. A., Herbert C. Jones: National Cath-
olic W'ar Council, including Knights of Co-
lumlius. M. E. Griffith ; War Camp Community
Service, E. N. Richmond ; Y. W. C. A., Mrs. L.
T. Smith : Jewish Welfare Board, U. S. army
an<l navv. "|. H. Lew: Salvation Army, J. m'.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

191

Parker; American Liljrar)- Association, Stella
Huntington. Santa Clara County's quota was
raised with an oversubscription of $25,000.

The fifth Victory loan drive was carried to
success against great handicaps. The war was
over and there was indifference in the public
mind. J. M. Parker was the drive leader par
excellence. He stirred up the workers and all
went well. ^^'. S. Clayttm and John R. Chace
broke their own records by securing $318,000
in liond subscriptions in four days. A unicjue
stunt was the Volunteer Day air circus staged
by James B. Leaman, F. E. Chapin and A. E.
Holmes. Airplanes from Mather Field circled
above the county, dropping 15,000 Victory loan
dodgers. On May Day, 1919, came the big re-
ception and parade to honor the boys who had
gone to the front and had come back heroes.
On the night of May 10, 1919, the drive passed
into history — an oversubscription, as usual.

With the establishment of Camp Fremont
only twenty miles away, and soldiers coming
U> San Jose by hundreds, a place had to bi-
])rovidcd where they might rest, ■ read and
write and eat. The Chamber of Commerce
lost no time. Its president. Dr. \A'. C. Bailey,
immediately appointed Chas. R. Parkinson
chairman of a committee to provide a soldiers'
recreation fund. An old fund left over from a
rose carnival amounting to several himdred
dollars, with accrued interest, was in the hands
of Alexander Hart, the carnival treasurer.
This amount was turned over to the commit-
tee as a starter and made possible the openin,g"
of rooms in the Chamber of Commerce build-
ing. Help was needed, as the boys kept com-
ing, and accordingly a committee of eight was
appointed by the Women's National Council
of Defense to co-operate with the Chamber of
Commerce. The members were Mrs. Nicholas
Bowden, Mrs. D. A. Beattie, Mrs. Lester
Morse, Mrs. J. W. Davy, Mrs. W. L. Wood-
row, Mrs. J. E. Hancock, Mrs. Louis Sonnik-
sen, Mrs. R. R. Johnston and Mrs. C. R. Park-
inson, chairman. There was a reception and
200 soldiers attended. Forty women made
themselves responsible for the club. Mrs. W.
L. Woodrow was appointed chairman of the
canteen ; Mrs. Frank Leib, secretary ; Mrs. S.
A. Appleton. treasurer; Mrs. C. R. Parkinson,
director of service. Upon the abandcming of
Camp Fremont the clulj was closed. The
dishes and furnishings were given to worthy
charities and to the center for women in indus-
try established by the Y. W. C. A.

To help the Belgians San Jose did her jiart
from first to last. In January, 1915, at the call
of Herbert Hoover, Dr. W.' C. Bailey, presi-
dent of the Chamber of Commerce, called an
important meeting, which resulted in $2,600
worth of foodstulTs being sent to Belgium.

The dri\'e for funds was engineered entirely by
the Chamber of Commerce with Fred L. Fos-
ter as the capable and energetic publicity
agent. The real organization was perfected in
the fall of 1915, and headquarters established
in a room in the Chamber of Commerce
building.

The first work under the new organization,
with Mrs. J. W. Davy chairman, was the rais-
ing of a voluntary subscription of $2400 for
the purchase of new clothing. After the big
mass meeting which resulted in the shipment
of warm new clothing, the monthly pledges
became a feature of the relief. These pledges,
\ohintarily signed, were the means of send-
ing fruin San Jose $400 a month in the begin-
ning; tlial increased to $600 and the last
iii..nth'> gilt amounted to $1300. Appro.xi-
maKl\ ,$15.0110 totaled the local subscriptions
to this relief fund and that amount does not
iiuiudc the first funds of $2600 for foodstuffs
anil $2400 for new clothing, which were for-
warded through the Stanford Fund before the
San Jose organization was complete.

In all there were four drives for clothing.
Two of them were made in conjunction with
the National Red Cross. More than 25 tons

ol a|.pcal>"iHade diirni- tlic.c fnur .'irn e'. >' >,,e
remarkable recnV, of lirlpiuiiicss \va> made bv
the C.nifurts I",,r\\ar<lni,- Committee of the
Cliristian Science Church, who gathered at
their North I'lrst street headquarters one-tenth
of all the clothing sent to Bcl-inni during the
last drive. From the Home of Truth on
North Fifth street there ha- been issued no
record of the unlimited amount of money and
clothing they ha\e sent acro>> the sea. Work-
ing independently they forwarded hundreds of
dollars and box .after bo.x of clothing directly
to .Madame de llemptine, a Belgian woman
who conducted a refugee house at Calais.
From first to last no money w:as used for ad-
ministration of this great mercy fund. Every
cent collected for Belgian Relief went to Bel-
gium, sent by Jack Russell, of the Bank of
Italy, who acted as treasurer.

The committee wh,, served with Mrs. J. W.
Davy in this great humanitarian work were
Miss Ida Wehner, xMrs. W. A. Beasly, Mrs. S.
G. Tompkins, Mrs. Charles R. Parkinson, Mrs.
Thomas Blanchard. Mrs. Edwin A. Wilcox.
Mrs. Everett Bailey, Mrs. D. A. Beattie, Mrs.
I. E. Bell, Mrs. W. A. Johnson, Mrs. A. P.
Post, Mrs. W. P. Lyon, Mrs. H. L. Baggerly,
Mrs. George Herbert, Mrs. Nicholas Bowden,
Mrs. David Burnett, Mrs. Edward Sterling,
Airs. Paul Clark, Mrs. Louis Sonniksen, Mrs.
Willard C. Bailey, Mrs. Leonard Stocking,
Mrs. Robert Syer, Mrs. E. C. Singletary, Mrs.
George B. McKee, Mrs. Glendenning, Rlrs. E.

192

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

C. Richmond, .Mrs. Jay Elder, Mrs. M. E.
FauU, Mrs. Charles R. Wayland, Mrs. Arthur
Field, Mrs. T. H. Reed, Mrs. \V. L. Woodrow,
Mrs. W. P. Dougherty, Mrs. \V. A. Water-
house and Mrs. W. W. Campbell. In the
schools Miss Mary Helen Post was in charijc
of the work at the Normal, Mrs. Mary Smith.
Washington School, and Miss Elizabeth Mc-
Swain at the high school.

Thousands of dollars went from San Jose tor
Armenian and Serbian Relief. During two in-
tensive drives for the suffering and starving
people across the sea the local response
amounted to more than $38,000.00.

When the appealing needs of the Armenians
became urgent, a meeting at the Y. W. C. A.,
on March 11, 1918, started the first big drive.
Judge F. B. Brown led this campaign and J. D.
Crummey took the treasurership. The amount
apportioned locally was $12,000 with $3000 to
come from the county outside of San Jose.
The one fact of this relief fund being adminis-
tered by a New York man who paid all ex-
pense so that every cent collected might go to
Armenia was a feature of the drive. The en-
tire quota was met under the efficient leader-
ship of Judge Brown and Mr. Crummey aided
by the following executive committee, Cap-
tains and assistants at headquarters:

Executive committee: Judge F. B. Brown,
Mrs. W. A. Alexander, Rev. R. S. Emrich.
Rev. E. A. King, Hon. H. Jones and Mrs. D.
A. Seattle. At headquarters : Mrs. Flickinger.
Mrs. Hull and Miss Bishop who represented
Mr. Crummev. Captains: Mrs. F. M. Eley,
Mrs. D. W. Gilchrist, Mrs. J. W. Lewis. Mrs.
M. V. McCurdy, Mrs. Charles Crothers, Mrs.
A. T. Hermann, Mrs. E. A. Wilcox, Mrs. L.
Richards, E. V. Busch, A. G. Wilkins and
George N. Herbert.

James Beatty, manager of the Liberty Thea-
ter, presented the committee through George
N. Herbert's team with 200 theater tickets for
each month of the year, a gift that supported
10 children for the entire period. The crest of
giving came on Saturday, March 6, 1918, with
a response of $4,222.00 San Jose's entire
Armenian subscription during this "Judge
Brown drive" took care of 1598 children, 1000
men and 1000 women in the destitute country
that looked to California for help and did not
look in vain.

The second drive for allied relief, headed by
Charles M. O'Brien, chairman, and carried out
with the machinery of the War Work Council,
began [anuary 14, 1919. With a quota of
$22,000^ asked over $23,000 was given. The
armistice silenced the guns and out ot" that
silence the cry for help came. From the be-
ginning the Joffre Club. Clul) La I'rance, the
San lose branch of civil and military relief

under the direction of Mrs. \'ictor Cauhape
sent hundreds of dollars and tons and tons of
supplies, while societies and individuals
adopted French orphans.

The county members of the \\'a.v Work
Council did their part nobly during the war.
They were:

Alviso — Geo. E. Nicholson, chairman ; W. F.
Robideaux, D. B. Wade, W. F. Zankors. A.
Standish, J. M. Fords, Geo. T. Gallagher. H. J.
Richards, committeemen.

Cupertino — W'. B. Calvert, chairman: John
Ludy, Paul Goodhue. Chas. Lowe, Dr. A". M.
Coleman, Anton Pichetti, C. L. Rich, vice-
chairman. Committeemen — G. A: Blair, C. D
Bambauer, W". A. Buick, Grant Barton,
A. McDonald, I. A. Ball, F. A. Ball, Paul
Coolidge, M. L. Dow, K. A. Friedrich, C. R.
Forge, E. H. Freeman, ]. Frost, Paul Jones,
W. fellyman, H. H. Mosher, E. J. Parrish, W.
Paslv, Jas. Patterson, E. N. Pettit, F. M. Pfei-
fer, Chas. Rostand, F. A. Taft, O. B. Woods,
C. E. Warren.

Campbell — J. C. Ainsley, chairman; W.
Eckles, J. E. Weisendanger, W. T. Hobson,
John F. Duncan, Geo. L. Parse, Earl Knapp,
vice-chairmen; J. L. Hagelin, Hiram Hutton,
.\. C. Keesling, W. H. Lloyd, Geo. Payne, S.
G. Rodeck, Harrv H. Smith, C. H. Whitman,
H. E. Brandenberg, B. O. Curry, Dr. C. M.
Cooper, William Coupland, E. A. Colby,
Frank Dunucan, C. E. Hanger.

Evergreen — J. P. Shambeau, chairman ; com-
mitteemen— Albert A. Anderson, Peter Ben-
nett, A. H. Burk, R. H. Beck, H. L. Coates,
W. L. Edwards, John A. Fair, L Gover, Fred
Hassler, Henry I. Hart, U. J. Haley, John S.
Hensell, J. O. Hansen, Henry Krehe, W. A.
Kammerer, Clem A. Kettman, Frank H.
Kampfen, Theo. Klein, A. L- Leal, Fred May,
Fred :\Iartin, N. Macher, L. Monferino, A. R.
McCIay, August Nelson, F. W. Osterman,
Manuel Pereira, Wm. Provan, Francis Smith,
iMichael Tierney, Fred Weld, E. B. W'illiams.

Gilroy — E. D. Crawford, chairman ; commit-
teemen— John Abincino. A. S. Baldwin, Dan
Burr, A. W. Cox, H. Carl, Percy Dexter, C. H.
Emlen, W. G. Fitzgerald, H. Hecker, H. S.
Hersman, Chas. Lester, Tracy Learned, A. A.
Martin, R. M. Martin, Fay McOuilkin, H. E.
Robinson, W'm. Sawyer, G. A. Wentz.

Los Gatos — J. D. Farwell, chairman; J. A.
Case, J. W. Crider, L. E. Johns, H. L. Lloyd,
Ed Howes, J. C. W'alker, C. F. Hamsher, Z. S.
Riggo, C. H. Squire, Dr. H. E. Smith, J. B.
Stewart.

Mgrgan Hill— C. F. Drewrv. chairman; Inhn
Acton, Wm. H. Adams. |. C. Ahem, R..bt.
P.ritton, B. Bosqui, Chas. Beck, 1). H. 15echis,
Luther Cunningham. 1''. \'. Edwards, E. F.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

193

Eastman, R. H. Patchell, Irwin E. Payne, H.
A. Pepen, C. P. Simpson.

Burnett — Peter Raggio, chairman ; P. H.
Kirby, P. A. Walsh. E. L. Norton.

Encinal — Frank Stevens, chairman; H. A.
Pei)pin. Burt Stevens, Peter Ramelli.

Llagas — T. A. Hester, chairman: W. H.
Adams, Harry Wright, C. P. Simpstm.

Machado — R. K. Patchell, chairman : Rob-
ert Britton, D. W. Strickenberg.

San Martin — R. S. Robinson, chairman :
Chas. Beck, H. Robinson, M. T. Gwinn.

Uvas — Giles Bradley, chairman ; Ben Bos-
qui, Ed Eastman.

Milpitas — E. P. Giacomazzi, chairman; G.
A. Abell, Lawrena Barker, A. L. Crabb, Law-
rence Hansen, Dr. R. J. Smith, A. M. Silva, Jr.

Mountain View — W. L. Camp, chairman ;
Dr. C. E. Adams, F. B. Abbott, W. F. Bubb,
A. M. Crittenden, Geo. Chickorich, C. H.
Clark, H. G. Childs, H. G. Copeland. L. Drake.
T. J. Evans. Edwin Earl, Hans Ehlers, Al.
Farrell, Chas. A. Gray, Fred P. Hauck, W. F.
Hyde, B. W. Hollman, Barney Job, A. Jurian,
Frank Jackson, W. N. Jess, P. Klein, J. E.
Johnson, Jas. Logue, Chas. N. Lake, F. Mar-
cov, J. S. Mockbee, Chas. E. Marcum, P. D.
Newman, F. S. Oliver, Geo. S. Parkinson, A.
S. Robinson, H. A. Rengstroff, P. M. Smith,
Geo. Swall, Guy Shoup, J. J. Tavlor, L. H.
Watson. O. W. Whalev, R. O. " Winnegar,
S. A. Winnegar, Chas. \\'. \\'right, Wm. P.
Wright, R. H. Walker.

Berryessa- — Harry Curry, chairman ; Alliert
Foster, Floyd Lundv. W. E. Moore, Joe Rod-
rigues, J. W. Smith.'

Eagle — L. F. Graham, chairman : C. A. Bor-
chers, James T. Murphy, John !'. Yennuni.

Orchard — J. J. O'Brien, chairman; W. B.
Clark, Frank A. Leis, Richard McCarthy.

Mt. Hamilton— Dr. Wm. W. Campbell,
chairman; Dr. R. C. Aitken. Mr. Beach, R. H.
Tucker, J. Hoover, Dr. J. H. Moore, E. H.
Robinson, Lester Hubbard, Paul Gerber, F.
Knobloch. .

Palo Alto — G. R. i'arkinson, chairman; B. G.
Allen, W. H. Adams, J. R. Andrus. L. E. Bas-
sett, Jas. Basve. W. J.'Biehl, L. S. Bean. Ira G.
Betts, J. H. Borden, M. A. Buchan, L. L. Bur-
lingame. J. D. Byxbee.' Jr., Geo. F. Brown,
Geo. J. Carey, Ed Cashel, A. M. Cathcart, C.
E. Childs. A. B. Clark. B. W. Crandall, H. F.
Congdon, C. P. Cooley, \V. A. Cooper, D. C.
Craig, \\'illiam Transton, J. L. Di.xon, J. Dud-
field, I. J. Dollingo, Rev. David Evans, O. M.
Easterday, Chas. Ellett, Alfred Engle, J. F.
Farrell, R. S. Faxson, Mrs. Fred Fowler, Mrs.
Marion H. Fowler, James Frazer, Dr. D. Chas.
Gardner, C. H. Gilbert, Rev. J. M. Gleason, J.
E. Greene, R. L. Green. N. A\'. Gleaser. F. W.
Heckett, V. V. Harrier, Theo. [. Hoover. T.

Hopkins. Rev. Walter Havs, E. A. Hettinger,
J. E. Hesston. C. A. Huston, W. O. Horabin,
A. M. Hackett, J. Jury. F. K. Kasson, W. H.
Kelly, Miss Mary 1. Lockey, Kee Leurtg, P. M.
Lansdale, Egerton Lakin, J. B. Larkin, G.
Laumeister, George Lillie, R. N. Malone, Miss
Maud Manaton. C. D. Marx, W. R. Menden-
hall, G. E. Mercer, F. J. M. Miles, J. P. Mit-
chell, W. E. Miller, H. J. Moule, A. L. Murry,

A. K. Macoon, J. E. McDowell, W. H. Nichols.
Louis Olsen, E. T. Pennock, Prof. G. F.
Pierce. Capt. S. M. Parker. G. C. Price. W^ W.
Price. J. F. Pryor. Robt. C. Ray. (J. O. Rhodes.
Roger M. Roberts. F. Schneider. A. Scale, H.
W. Simkins. J. R. Slonaker. N. B. Smith. J. O.
Snyder, ^V. E. Southwood, Mrs. Maud A. Strat-
ton, R. E. Swain E. C. Thoits. Ray Saylor. T.
Goshida. J. C. Thiele, M. H. Tichnor, Monroe
Thomas. S. D. Townley, Louis Taylor, T.
L'chizono, S. M. Vandervoort, D. S. Watson,
R. ]. ^Vells, Ray Lyman Willnir, Geo. Wil-
liams, E. I. Irving, Herbert Wilson, Chas.
Weeks, W. K. Woolerv. A. E. Worthy, R. H.
Wiley.

Pala — Charles Turner, chairman ; J. W. An-
derson, Edward I. Field, f. P. Lacerda, An-
drew Patton, J. F. Pyle.

Saratoga — Dr. I. G. Hogg, chairman ; Rev.

B. Z. Bazata. L. C. Dick. S. P. Patterson. J. L.
Richards.

Sunnyvale — C. C. Spaulding. chairman : F.
X. Boden, J. M. Brown. F. E. Cornell. Frank
Farry. F. B. Hughes. W. A. Larman. Rev. C
G. .\Iarshall. Rev. H. J. Roberts. W. R. Rob-
erts. C. W. Shepard, C. W. Spalding, Leo. H.
Vishoot, J. H. Hendy,-F. C. Wilson, J. C.
Sutherland, J. F. Holthouse, .A.. P. Freeman.

Valley View — J. L. Mosher. chairman ; Nel-
son Barton, Oscar Benson, Jerry Cannon, Fred
P. Hauck, Harry Johnson, Jack Mayne.

Santa Clara — Dr. A. E. Osborne, chairman:
P. A. Brangier, Alfred L. Brown, W. T.
Brown, Jos. Boschken, Robert Fatjo, Chas.
Grimmer, P. Hayes, Geo. Hamilton, Ralph
Martin, J. B. O'Brien, I. A. Pomeroy. Geo. A.
Penniman, Robert Porter, Henry R. Roth,
Chas. D. South ,F. R. Shafter, W. S. Sullivan,
Dr. L. Stockton, F. A. Wilcox. B. F. Weston,
I. A. Wilcox.

Franklin — S. W. Pfeifle, chairman; [ohn
Barry, F. H. Buck, J. Jepson, Fred G. Wool.

Oak Grove — O. Christofer, chairman ; C. W.
Aby, Chas. Frost, Jr., A. C. Robertson, J. H.
Swickard.

, Santa Clara County sent to the front nearly
3000 soldiers. Following are the names of our
men who made the suiircnu' ^arrihce;

Elias Ananstasion. Ji.-rpli I'. Andrade, Har-
vey C. Barnes, Joseph ila-scik', Koliert J. Ben-
nett, Barnard M. Bustard, Antonio Camastro,
Joseph L. Cancilla, Louis \'. Castro. Hugh L.

194

HISTORY OF SAXTA CLARA COUNTY

Carnev. Harrison J. Cleaver, Charles C. Crews.
Arthur C. Chiles, Charles C. Cook, William
Couch, \\'illiam F. Covill, Thomas J. Clunie,
William M. de la Rochelle, Frank Devoney,
John J. Dorsey, Robbecole Disappa. Ray F.
Dugdale, Norman Dunbar, Elmer H. Flagg-,
Elmer L. Fresher, James G. Ferguson, Hiram
B. Fisher, Ben Garcia, Tonev P. Gomes, Lome
A. Goode. W^ilmer T- Gross, Fred A. Hall, Carl
J. Hagel, Frank J. Hagen, Jr., Walter Hart-
man, Walter A. Hiklen, Mervyn J. Hoadley,
Maltria Hugeback, Jarvis J. Johnson, Joseph
F. Kelly, Arthur C. Kimber, Ralph V. Leg-
gett, Walter Logan, Leo T- McCauley, Maurice
F. Manha, Lester J. McKinley, David E. Mc-
Comel, Bruno Montorosso, Frank J. Murrin.
Salvatore IVIuro, Daniel J. Narvies, Allan H.

Nichols, Frank H. Nichols, Frank J. Nunes,
Alervin Neugrass. Charles H. Pappassi, An-
tone Parades, Toe Prader, [ohn E. Pashote.
Albert G. Perkins, Manuel" O. Perry, A. E.
Preston, John F. Pereira, Paul J. Pinnola, An-
gelo R. Pinto, John Pourroy, John Regan, Ern-
est R. Rines, Leon Roberts, Joseph L. Rose,
Manuel R. Rose. J. S. Rumsey, Seeley T.
Shaw, Fredrick E. Sanders, Elvyn B. Sedam,
Gilbert Spencer. Harry N. Schneider. Law-
rence W. Schrier, Ira M. Smith, Anton Sigurd,
Sidney W. Simpson, Thomas Short, John G.
Sturlo, Joseph V. Spingola, Verne I. Taylor,
John L. Timosci, Frank B. Tost. Nick J. Vac-
carello, flannel J. \"argas, John J. Voss. Clark
B. Waterhouse, Harold "Woolf, Albert F.
W'oolev, Earl C. Yuuna:.

CHAPTER XVIII.

History of the Lick Observatory on the Summit of Mt. Hamilton — The
Eccentricities of James Lick, the Philanthropist — What He Did for
San Jose.

The greatest work of man in Santa Claya
County and San Jose's greatest asset is the
Lick Observatory "on the summit of Mt. Ham-
ilton, which is provided with the best and most
complete astronomical appliances in the world.
The distance from San Jose to the summit of
the mountain is twenty-seven miles, but in an
air line it is much shorter, so that if one stands
in the streets of the city and looks at the Coast
Range mountains he will see. a little south of
east, the great white dome glittering in the
sunshine and looking benignly on the valley.
The drive to the summit is entrancing. The
visitor motors out on Santa Clara Street and
across Coyote Creek enters Alum Rock
.•\venue, a continuation of Santa Clara Street,
and the broad, fine highway to the baths, min-
eral springs and scenic beauties of the City
Reservation.^ A little over three miles from
San Jose the* visitor turns to the right and be-
gins to ascend the first ridge of mountains.
The road is winding, but broad and safe, and
the grade is easy. The beautiful valley, with
San Jose in the center, spreads out before him.

He passes over this ridge and plunges into
Hall's Valley; crossing which, with its lovely
homes and ranches, he begins to ascend another
ridge. This is soon crossed and the visitor
descends again into a little valley through
which runs Smith Creek, a favorite trout
stream. Here he finds a larp^e hotel and garage,
and before him looms Mt. Hamilton, seven
miles up the hill. The beautiful scenery of the

Coast Range is seen as the last climb up is
made. The road winds in and out through
shady nooks, around bold promontories and
up and up, often doubling upon itself, while the
higher one climbs, the grander the majestic
panorama of mountains and valleys that
spreads out on every hand, and soon the great
valley of Santa Clara, with San Jose but a
shady spot, peeps over the two intervening
ridges. The crookedness of the road may be
imagined from the fact that there are .%5 turns
between the base at Smith Creek and the ob-
servatory on the summit.

The Lick Observatory was the donation to
the University of California by James Lick,
who became immensely wealthy through min-
ing and real- estate ventures. The prominence
which he achieved by his princely gift to sci-
ence caused people from all over the county to
recall incidents of his life, and these have been
gathered and woven into a connected narrative,
which is herewith presented.

James Lick was born in Fredericksburg, Pa.,
August 25, 1796. His ancestors were of Ger-
man extraction and spelled the family name
"Liik." His grandfather had come to America
early in the centurj- and had served in the
army of \\'ashington during the Revolutionary
War. Nothing is known of the life of James
Lick until he arrived at the age of twenty-
seven and entered himself as an apprentice to
an organ maker at Hanover, Pa. He worked
here for a short time and in 1819 took a posi-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

195

tion in the employ of Joseph Hiskey, a prom-
inent piano manufacturer of Baltimore, Md.
An incident of his experience there has lieen
recalled.

One day a penniless youth named Conrad
Meyer applied at the factory for employment.
He attracted the fancy of James Lick, who
took the stranger in charge, provided him with
food and proper clothing and secured for him
a place in the estaMishment. The friendship
thus formed lasted thmugh life. In 1854 the
pianos of Conrad ,Mc\er tiink first prize in the
London International H.xhil)ition, their maker
possessing an immense factory in Philadelphia
and ranking as one of the most eminent piano
makers in the L'nited States.

In 1820 James Lick left the employ of His-
key and went to New York, expecting to start
in Inisiness on his own account. This venture
was restricted by his lack of capital, and, if
attemjited at all, was brief, for in the following
year he left the United States for Buenos
Ayres, South America, with the intention of
devoting himself there to his trade. He found
the Buenos Ayreans of that pericid a singularly
handsome and refined race uf ahiiMst i)urely
Sjjanish extraction, and attaining l>y tlu-ir mode
of life in that fine climate a reniarkalile ph}'s-
ical development. By careful attention to busi-
ness he prospered among them, accumulating a
cc'm])etence during the first ten years of liis
>tay. "In 1832," writes his friend. Conrad
Meyer, in the Philadelphia Bulletin, "I was in
business on Fifth Street, when I was suddenh-
surprised one day at seeing James Lick walk
in. He had just arrived from South America
and had brought with him hides and nutria
skins to the amount of $40,000, which he was
then disposing of. Nutria skins are obtained
from a species of otter found along the River
La Plata. He said that he intended settling
in FMiiladelphia. but in a few days left for New
York, and from there sailed to Buenos Ayres.
There he filled several piano orders, settled his
aflfairs and sailed for Valparaiso, Chile, where
for four years he pursued his vocation. His
next venture was in Callao, Peru, where he
lived for eleven years, occupying himself in
manufacturing pianos and making occasional
inxestments in commercial enterprises. That
he was successful is shown in the statement
made by himself that in 1845 he was worth
$5Q,000. Resolving to try California, he sold
his stock for $30,000. This money, which was
in Spanish doubloons, he secured in a large
iron safe which he brought with him to Cali-
fornia. Among the odd articles which James
Lick brought from Peru was the work-bench
he had used in his trade. It was not an elab-
orate aft'air and the object of its deportation to
California, the land of timber, hardly appears,
unless he had acciuired an affection for this

companion of his daily labors. He retained
this 1)ench through all his California experi-
ences."

Mr. Lick arrived in San Francisco late in
1847. At that time there was little to indi-
cate the future prosperity of the Pacific Coast.
California Street was its southern boundary,
while Sansome Street was on the water front.
Sand dunes stretched out to the horizon on
the sciutli and east, an occasional shanty break-
ing tlic iiiiin.,t(iny el" the landscape. Mr. Lick
quietly in\e>te(l niMney in these sand hills,
paying dollars for lots that were not consid-
ered by the inhabitants to be worth cents. He
came to Santa Clara County at an early day
and purchased the property north of San Jose,
on the Guadalupe, which was afterwards
known as the Lick's :\lills property. He also
bought the tract of land just inside the present
_southern city limits whicli was afterwards
named the Lick Hnmestead. All these lands
were then vacant and unimproved.

During seven years after his arrival in Cali-
fornia Air. Lick did no business other than
the investment of his money. The first im-
provement of his propertv was made on the
Lick Mill Tract. An old flour mill had stood
upon the property wdien he b< night it in 1852.
and this fact may have influenced him in his
decision to build his own mill nn the site of
the old one. In 1853 he began to lay plans
and gather material for the construction. In
1855 the work started and to those who saw
the structure rise, it was tlie wonder nf the
time. The wcmkI i i niipip-ing the inlerinr finish
was of the finest niahi ig,-in_\ . finished and inlaid
in the most elegant and expensive style. The
machinery imported for tlie works was of a
quality never liefore sent out to the Pacific
Coast. The entire cost of the mill was $200,-
000. When jiut in operation it turned out the
finest brand of flour in the state.

There is a romantic legend preserved in the
memory of the old acquaintances of James
Lick which explains the origin of this mill.
The tale runs that ulien Lick was a boy he
was apprenticed to a miller, who, besides be-
ing possessed of a competency and a flourish-
ing business, had also an cxcicdingly pn-tty
daughter. Strange as the a^MTtioii nia\ -ctiii
to those who were acquainted ,.nl\ witli the
unlovely old age of this strange character,
James Lick was a comely young man. and
upon him the miller's d.aiighter cast approving
eyes. Lick met her more than half way and a
warm attachment sprang up between the ap-
prentice and the heiress. The old miller, how-
ever, soon saw the drift of matters and inter-
posed his parental authority to break the
course of true love. Young Lick declared he
loved the girl and wished to marry her. There-
upon the miller liecame indignant and, point-

196

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ing to his mill, exclaimed : "Out, you beggar !
Dare you cast your eyes upon my daughter,
who will inherit my riches? Have you a mill
like this? Have you a single penny in your
purse?" To this tirade Lick replied that he
had nothing as yet, but one day he would have
a mill beside which this one would be a pigsty.

Lick at once departed and after a time drifted
to California, seeking the fortune he deter-
mined to possess, a determination that never
afterwards for a moment left him. Nor did
he forget his last words to the miller. When
he was a rich man he Iniilt this mill, and when
he had finished there had been nothing left un-
done which could have added to the perfection
of its appointments. Its machinery was per-
fect and its walls, floors and ceilings were of
costly woods. Not being able to bring the
miller to view the realization of his boyish
declaration. Lick had the mill photographed
within and without, and although his sweet-
heart had long since been married, he sent her
father the pictures and recalled to him the day
he boasted of his Pennsylvania mill.

Although the mahogany mill gratified Lick's
pride in its construction and in the brand of
his product, it was not a financial success. The
periodical floods of the Guadalupe River in-
undated the land about it, destroyed his orch-
ards and roads and interfered with the opera-
tion of the mill.

In the year 1873 he surprised everybody by
the gift of the whole property to the Thomas
Paine Memorial Association of Boston. For
some years he had been a close student and
great admirer of the writings of Paine, and he
took this means of proving the faith that was in
him. On January 16, 1873, he made a formal
transfer of the property to certain named trus-
tees of the association, imposing upon them
the trust to sell the property and donate one-
half of the proceeds to the building of a me-
morial hall in Boston, and so invest the other
half that a lecture course could be maintained
out of the income. The association sent an
agent to California to look over the acquisi-
tion, with power to deal with it. Without
consulting Air. Lick, the agent sold the prop-
erty for about $18,000, at which proceeding the
donor was so disgusted that he lost all interest
in the advancement i>f the theories ni the fa-
mous infidel.

The ne.xt scheme of im[)rovement to which
Lick turned his attention was the erection of
the Lick Hotel in San Francisco. He had
bought the property for an ounce of gold dust
soon after his arrival in California, and until
1861 it had lain idle and unimproved. The lot
originally extended the entire length of the
block on Montgomery Street from Sutter to
Post, and the hotel would have covered this

space had not Lick sold the Post Street corner
to the Masons. At the time of its construction
the hotel was the finest on the Pacific Coast.
Its interior finish was, in the main, designed
by Lick himself, who took special pride in the
selection of fine materials and in their combi-
nation in artistic and eflfective forms. The
dining room floor was a marvel of beautiful
woodwork, made out of many thousand pieces
and all polished like a table.

That part of the history of James Lick which
lies l^etween the years 1861 and 1873 is full of
interest to those who desire to form a correct
estimate of the man. The course of affairs
had amply justified his early judgment of the
future values of California real estate. His
sand-hill lots, bought for a song in 18-18, grew
to be golden islands of wealth in the rising
streams of California trade. The investments
in Santa Clara County all yielded rich returns.
By the very bulldog tenacity with which he
hung to his transactions, he liecame during the
'60s one of the wealthiest men on the Pacific
Coast. His reputation, too, was state-wide,
made so not only by his wealth but also by the
rumor of his eccentricities.

It is very probable that the advancing age of
James Lick acted upon his nature in develop-
ing into active eccentricities the natural pecu-
liarities of his disposition. Most of the pio-
neers who remember him during .the first
decade of his California career, describe him
as a close, careful, self-contained man, cold and
somewhat crabbed of disposition, going his
own lonely way in business and in life. Those
who knew him between 1861 and 1873 inten-
sify these characteristics and declare him to
have been miserly, irascible, selfish, solitary;
one who cherished little affection for his race
or kin, and whose chief delight a])peared to lie
in the indulgence of the whims of a thorny
and unfragrant old age. Others who knew
him say that beneath the ice of his outward
nature flowed the warm currents of a philan-
thropic heart.

The stories of Lick's eccentric career are
numerous and amusing. Most of his time after
the completion of his hotel was spent in and
al)out San Jose. At first he lived upon his
mill property, and upon it he began early to
set out trees of various kinds, both for fruit
and ornament. He held some curious theories
about tree-planting and believed in the efficacy
of a bone deposit about the roots of every
young tree. Many are the yarns told by old
residents about his action. It was a frequent
sight to see him going along the highway in
an old rattle-trap, rope-tied wagon, with a
bearskin robe for a seat cushion, stojiping
every now and then to gather in the ]:)ones of
some dead animal. There is a story extant,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

197

and prtibahl}- well founded, which ilhistrates
the odd means he employed to secure hired
help at once trustworthy and obedient. One
day wh-ile he was planting his orchard a man'
applied to him for work. Lick directed him
to take the trees he indicated to a certain part
of the grounds anirf there to plant them with
the tops in the soil and the roots in the air.
The man obeyed the directions to the letter
and reported in the evening for further orders.
Lick went out. viewed the work with apparent
satisfaction, and then ordered the man to plant
the trees the proper way. and thereafter to
continue in his employ.

Another storj-. similar to this, is handed
down and is entirely authentic. Lick at one
time was the owner of what is now the Knox
block, on the northwest corner of First and
Santa Clara streets. A fire having destroyed
the buildings, much debris of burnt and broken
brick was scattered aljout the lot. Cjne day
while Lick was viewing the ruins a young
man applied to him for w-ork and was in-
structed to collect a certain quantity of bricks
and pile them neatly in a corner. This he did.
and on reporting was told to take the same
bricks back and pile them neatly in another
corner. Without protest the young man exe-
cuted this singular order, and was at once reg-
ularly employed.

When Lick found that the floods interfered
with the improvement of his mill property, he
transferred his operations to the tract of land
south of San Jose, for a long time known as
the Lick Homestead Addition. Presently the
residents of San Jose witnessed a strange spec-
tacle. Day after day long trains of carts and
wagons passed slowly through the city, carry-
ing tall trees and full-grown shrubbery from
the old to the new location. Winter and sum-
mer alike the work went on, the old man su-
perintending it all in his old rattle-trap wagon
and bearskin robe. He imported from Aus-
tralia some rare trees and had brought with
them whole shiploads of their native earth.
Once he conceived the idea of building con-
servatories superior to any on the Coast, and
for that purpose he had imported from England
the materials for two large conservatories after
the model of those in Kew Gardens. London.
His death occurred before he could have these
constructed and they remained on the hands
of his trustees until a body of San Francisco
gentlemen contributed fund's for their purchase
and donation to the use of the public in Golden
Gate Park, where in full construction they now
stand, to the wonder and delight of all who
visit this beautiful resort.

It was in the year 1873. when James Lick
was seventy-seven years old, that he began to
make those donations of the then vast estate

which he possessed. For many years preced-
ing the bequest lie had l>een a wide reader. He
studied everything written by and of Thomas
Paine and made his own works conform to
Paine's opinions. It is related that while he
was engaged in the improvement of the Lick
Homestead property he became involved in an
argument with the late Adolph Pfister, whtj
served several terms as mayor of the city, over
some religious subject, when Pfister suggested
that Lick put to practical proof the merits of
Paineism as contrasted with other moral agen-
cies, b}' the erection of a grand college on his
property for the education of young men in
the Paine doctrine. Lick was impressed with
the idea and it is not improbable that it found
form in the gift of the mill ])roi)erty to the
Paine Association of Boston.

On February 15, 1873, Lick executed two
gift deeds, one to the California Academy of
Science, the other to the Society of California
Pioneers. To the first named he granted a
lot of forty feet frontage on Market Street,
near Fourth. San Francisco, and to the last
named a lot of like dimensions on Fourth
Street near Market. These gifts he clogged
with certain conditions which were deemed
irksome by the trustees. The matter was at
issue when Lick died, but after his death a
compromise satisfactory to the donees was
eiifected.

The trust deed li\- which Lick gave all his
remaining property to charitable and educa-
tional objects was dated June 2, 1874. Among
the provisions of this instrument was one giv-
ing to San Jose $25,000 for the purpose of es-
tablishing an orphan asylum, and another ap-
propriating $700,000 for establishing an ob-
servatory on land belonging to Lick, near Lake
Tahoe. An investigation of the appropriate-
ness of the site was at once set on foot. It
was soon ascertained that the severity of the
climate in winter about the chosen location
would seriously interfere with the effective op-
erations of the telescopes and with the com-
fort of the visiting public. Lick then deter-
mined to make a change of site and looked
favorably toward Mt. St. Helena, in Napa
County. He visited St. Helena and ascended
part way to its summit, but before he had pur-
sued his investigations far enough to reach a
conclusion his mind was directed to Santa
Clara Count}-.

.\lthough out of the large amount of prop-
erty distributed by Lick. San Jose received but
$25,000, the people of the city were very grate-
ful and acknowledged their gratitude in a well-
worded series of resolutions prepared b_y Judge
Belden and adopted by the mayor and common
council. The resolutions were beautiful!}' en-
graved and officially transmitted to Mr. Lick

198

HIST(3RY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

in San Francisco. Other recipients of the mil-
Honaire's benefactions had either responded
coldly or had made no response at all. There-
fore the action of San Jose greatly pleased
Lick and caused him to think that he had not
done as much as he should for the county that
had long- been his home. The resolutions
reached him at a time when he was in doubt
as to the location of the observatory, and he
consulted his confidential agent, Thomas E.
Fraser, as to the availability of the mountain
summits east and west of San Jose. Fraser
referred Lick to Mt. Hamilton and was in-
structed to ascend the mountain's top and
make thorough investigations. In lAugust,
1875, Fraser, accompanied by Mayor B. D.
Murphy, went to the summit, found it free
from fog, equable of climate and generally
suitable for the observatory's location. Mr.
Lick then addressed a communication to the
board of supervisors offering to locate the ob-
servatory on Mt. Hamilton if the county would
construct a road to the summit. The facts con-
cerning the building of the road will be found
in the chapter on County C.overnnient and
Good Roads.

In the meantime, Lick had found tliat his
deed of trust did not express his intentions:
that a strict construction of its terms would
postpone the carrying into effect of hi.s bene-
factions until after his death. He wanted the
work to be pushed forward during his life-
time. After duly considering these matters, he
addressed a communication to his trustees, set-
ting forth his conclusions and intentions, re-
voking- the deed and asking them to resign.
The trustees consulted a lawyer and upon his
advice declined to resign, for the alleged rea-
son that they had already converted about a
million dollars of the real estate into money
and could not be relieved from responsibility
by the dictum of IMr. Lick. This brought
about a controversj- with the trustees which
at first threatened disaster to the beneficiaries.
John B. Felton was Lick's attorney, and in-
stead of precipitating his client into a lawsuit
he used tiie columns of the newspapers so vig-
orously that the trustees became disgusted and
made up an agreed case by which the courts
relieved them of responsibility and annulled tlie
deed.

On September 21, 1X7.=^, a new and final deed
was executed, with ivichard S. l''loyd, liernard
D. Murphy, Foxan D. Atherton, John H. Lick
and John Nightingale as trustees. The clause
in the deed in reference to the observatory is
as follows :

"Third — To ex])end the sum of seven hun-
dred thousand dollars ($700,000) for the pur-
l)osc of purchasing land and constructing and
putting upon such land as shall lie designated

l)y the party of the first part, a powerful tele-
scope, superior to and more powerful than any
telescope yet made, with all the machinery ap-
■pertaining thereto and a|)pn)priately connected
therewith, or that i> necessary and convenient
to the most pow eriul telescope now in use, or
suited to one more powerfuil than any yet con-
structed ; and also a suitable observatory con-
nected therewith. The parties of the second
part hereto, and their successors shall, as soon
as said telescope and observatory are con-
structed, convey the land whereupon the same
may be situated, and the telescope and ob-
servatory and all the machinery and apparatus
connected therewith to the corporation known
as 'The Regents of the University of Cali-
fornia" ; and if, after the construction of said
telescope and observatory, there shall remain
of said seven hundred thousand dollars in gold
coin any surplus, the said parties of the sec-
ond part shall turn over such surplus to said
corporation, to be invested by it in bonds of
the United States, or of the city and county
of San Francisco, or other good and safe in-
terest-bearing bonds, and the income thereof
shall be devoted to the maintenance of said
telescope and the observatory connected
therewith, and shall be made useful in promot-
ing science ; and the said telescope and ob-
servatory are to be known as 'The Lick Astro-
nomical Department of the L'niversity of Cal-
ifornia.' "

In iTiaking the new deed Lick selected Mt.
Hamilton as the site for the observatory, and
the trustees, acting with the Regents of the
State University, secured an Act of Congress
setting apart the public land at the summit for
this purpose. This tract contains 500 acres
and is so situated as to .prevent settlement in
the immediate vicinity of the observatory, or
the inauguration of any enterprise in that
neighborhood that would be inimical to the in-
terests of the institution.

John B. Felton charged $100,000 for his legal
services in annulling the first deed, and pre-
sented the bill to the new trustees. Tliey re-
fused to allow the claim until Lick would sign
a written authorization. Felton and Trustee
Murphy called on Lick and asked him to sign.
"Mr. Felton," said the old philanthropist,
"when we made a contract on which that claim
is based, we supposed that to cancel my first
trust deed would be an arduous matter, in-
volving much expense, a long delay and years
of the most elaborate and expensive litigation.
The whole entanglement, however, was ad-
justed in a few months without any difticulty,
with little outlay and with only a formal liti-
gation. I think, under the changed circum-
stances, vou ought to diminish tlie amount of
vour fee.'"

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

199

"Your proposition, Mr. Lick," replied Felton,
"reminds me of a story I once heard about a
countryman who had a bad toothache and
went to a rustic dentist to have the offender
extracted. The dentist produced a rusty set
of instruments, seated the patient in a rickety
chair and went at work. After some hours of
hard labor for himself, and the most extreme
agony to the countryman, the tooth was ex-
tracted and the dentist charged a dollar for
his work. A few months later the countryman
had another attack of toothache and this time
thought best to procure a metropolitan dentist.
He went to the city. luund the best dentist in
it and offered his swollen jaw for operation.
The expert dentist passed his hand soothingly
over the man"s face, located the tooth with
painless delicac}', produced a splendid set of
instruments, and before the countryman knew
it, had the tooth out. His charge was five dol-
lars. 'Five dollars!" exclaimed the country-
man. 'When Jones, down at the village; pulled
my last tooth it took three hours, during which
time he broke his chair, broke my jaw, broke
his tools and mopped the whole floor with me
several times, and he charged me only a dollar.
You ought to diminish your bill.' " Lick saw
the point, signed the authorization and Felton
got his money.

In 1876 Lick had troul3le with his trustees.
One of the duties Lick wished first performed
was the erection of his family numument in
Fredericksburg, Pa. During the arrangement
for this work the causes for the retirement of
tlie second board of trustees arose. One of the
members of the board was John H. Lick. Al-
though James Lick had never been married,
John H. was his son. He was born in Penn-
sylvania in 1818, about the time James Lick
made a hurried departure to New York, thence
to South America. Some years after Lick
came to Califurnia he sent for his son, then
grown to manhood, and kept him for several
years at work in the mahogany mill. Here
John H. remained until August, 1871, when he
returned to his I'ennsylvania home. \\'hen
James Lick made his first deed of trust he di-
rected the payment to his son of S.\000. With
this pittance John H. was naturally dissatisfied,
and therefore in the secoii'l dred lie ,\a^ ^i\en
the sum of $150,000 and made uue i.t the trus-
tees. To him, as trustee, was delegated the
power to contract for the Fredericksburg mon-
ument, but for some reason he failed or refused
to sign the contract. When this fact was made
known to James Lick he became very much
incensed against his son, and in the weakness
of old age he included the wdiole board in his
ill-humor and suddenly demanded the resigna-
tion of the whole body. The trustees were
acquiescent and a new board was appointed.

Captain Floyd, having l^een in Europe during
this last trouble, was not included in the old
man's wrath, and therefore was made a mem-
ber of the new ])oard.

James Lick died Octol)er 1. 1876, before the
new board had fully organized. He was eighty
years of age. His body lay in state in Pioneer
Hall, San Francisco, and was followed by an
immense concourse to Lone Mountain Ceme-
tery, there to rest until a more fitting burial
])lace might be ready for its reception. Some
months before his death, in a conversation with
the late B. D. Murphy of San Jose, Lick ex-
pressed the desire to be buried on Mt. Hamil-
ton, either within or at one side of the pro-
posed ol)ser\atory, after the manner of Sir
Christ.. pjier Wren, the architect of St. Paul's
Cathedral, w hu was buried in the crypt in 1723.

Immediately after the death of his father,
John H. Lick returned from the East and se-
cured letters of administration upon the estate.
This was understood to be the beginning of
an attempt to annul the trust deed. After
testing several points in the courts, the trus-
tees finally effected a compromise by which
they were 'to pay John H. Lick $535,000 in full
of all claims against the estate. The Society
of Pioneers and the Academy of Science had
been made residuary legatees by the deed and
their trustees insisted that this payment to
John H. Lick should be made pro rata from
each of the bequests. After nearly a year of lit-
igation the courts decided that the special l:)e-
quests could not be disturbed and that the com-
promise money must come from the shares of
the residuary legatees.

As soon as possible after the ccimpletion of
the road to the summit, Avork on the Iniildings
was comiuenced. Early in 1887 the work had
progressed sufficiently to permit the request
of James Lick in regard to a burial ])lace to be
complied with, and on the ninth of January'
the body was brought to San Jose, whence,
followed by a procession of officials and citi-
zens, it was conveyed to the mountain. A
tomb had been prepared in the foundation of
the pier which was td supjiort tiie great tele-
scope, and in this, with imposing ceremonies,
the coffiii was deposited. The following docu-
ment, signed by the trustees and representa-
tives of the State University. Academy of Sci-
ence, and Pioneers, and the Mayor of San Jose,
was sealed up with the casket;

"This is the body nf James Lick, wdio was
Ijorn in Fredericksl)urt;. Pennsylvania, August
25, 1796, and who died in San l-'rancisco, Cali-
fornia, October 1, 1876.

"It has been identified by us, and in our
presence has been sealed up and deposited in
this foundation pier of the great equatorial
telescope, this ninth of January, 1887.

200

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

"In the year 1875 he executed a deed of trust
of his entire estate, by which he provided for
the comfort and culture of the citizens of Cali-
fornia : for the advancement of handcraft and
redecraft among the youth of San Francisco
and of the state ; for the development of scien-
tific research and the diffusion of knowledge
among men, and for founding in the State of
California an astronomical observatorj-, to sur-
pass all others existing in the world at this
epoch.

"This oliservatory has been erected l)y the
trustees of his estate and has lieen named The
Lick.^stronomical De])artment of the Univer-
sity of California in memory of the founder.
The refracting telescope is the largest which
has ever been constructed, and the astronomers
who have tested it declare that its perform-
ance surpasses that of all other telescopes.

"The two disks of glass for the objective
were cast by IM. Feil, of France, and were
brought to a true figure by Alvan Clark &
Sons, of Massachusetts. Their diameter is
thirty-six inches and their focal length is fifty-
six feet, two inches. Upon the completion of
this structure the Regents of the University of
California became the trustees of this .Astro-
nomical Observatory."

The members of the third board of trustees
were Richard S. Floyd, president : William
Sherman, vice-president; E. B. Rlastick, treas-
urer ; Charles M. Plum, George Schoenwald.

The contract for the great lens was made
with Alvan Clark & Sons, of Cambridge, Mass.
In 1882 the flint glass was cast by M. Feil &
Sons, of Paris, but it was not until 1885 that a
perfect crown glass could ])e ol)tained. The
Clarks succeeded in obtaining a true figure in
1886, and on the 27th of December of that year
the great glass reached Mt. Hamilton. The
mounting of the instrument and other details
of construction occupied eighteen months more
time, and in June, 1888, the whole work was
comjjleted. The transfer of the observatory
from the trustees to the regents of the univer-
sity took place on June 1. 1888, being fourteen
years from the date of James Lick's first deed.
The total expense of construction was $610,000.
A l)alance of $Q0.000 remained as' the nucleus
of an endowment fund. Profs. Simon New-
comb and Edward S. Holden were the scientific
advisers of the three lioards. In 1885 Professor
Holden was appointed president of the Univer-
sity of California and director of the Lick Ob-
servatory on the understanding that he would
fill the former office until tlie completion of
the observatory and thereafter the latter office.

The ol)servatory consists of a main building
containing offices, comnutins: rooms, library
(of 8,000 books and 5,000 pamphlets), and the
domes of the thirty-six-inch equatorial and tlie

twelve-inch eejuatorial telescopes ; of detached
l)uildings to shelter the Crossley reflector, the
meridian circle, and other instruments, and to
provide safe deposit rooms and photographic
dark rooms ; of instrument shops : of dwelling
houses ; and of other buildings, reservoirs,
pumping stations, etc.

The principal equipment provided by the
Lick trustees consisted of: .A 36-inch equa-
torial refractor, objective by Alvan Clark &
Sons, mounting Iiy ^Varner & Swasey. This
instrument has also a photographic correcting
lens of thirty-three inches aperture, figured l)y
Alvan G. Clark. By placing the latter lens in
front of the 36-inch objective, the telescope be-
comes a photographic instrument. .A 12-inch
equatorial refractor, objective and mounting by
.Alvan Clark & Sons. .A 6j^-inch meridian cir-
cle instrument, objective by .Alvan Clark &
Sons, mounting by Repsold. Many smaller
telescopes and other pieces of auxiliary appa-
ratus.

Other important instruments were presented
to the Lick Observatory in later years, as fol-
lows : A 36j4-inch reflecting telescope, pre-
sented to the Lick Observatory in 1895 by Ed-
ward Crossley, Esq., of Halifax, England. The
mirror was constructed by Sir Howard Grubb,
and the mounting by Dr. A. A. Common. The
cost of a building to receive this instrument
and the expense of transporting the instrument
and iron dome from England were met by sub-
scriptions from prominent citizens of Califor-
nia. A 6y2-mch comet-seeker, objective 1)y
John A. Brashear, the gift of Miss Catharine
Bruce. .A 6-inch photographic telescope, with
objective by ^^'illard and mounting by John A.
Brashear, all the gift of Regent Charles F.
Crocker. .A 5-incli telescope, with interchange-
able photographic and visual objective, by -Al-
van Clark & Sons, the gift of Miss Flovd,
daughter of Captain Floyd. The Mills three-
prism spectrograph, the gift of D. O. Mills.
Delicate seismographs, tlie gift of \Villiam
Randolph Hearst.

In order that the program of determining
the radial velocities of the brighter stars might
be extended over the entire sky, D. O. Mills
provided funds in the year 1900 for a well-
equipped expedition to the southern hemi-
sphere. The equipment included a 37^-inch
Cassegrain reflecting telescope, with modern
dome ; a three-prism spectrograph ; a two-prism
spectrograpli ; a one-prism spectrograph : an
instrument shop, and other accessories. The
D. O. .Mills Observatory, administered by the
Director of the Lick Observatory, is located
on the summit of Cerro San Cristobal, at an
altitude of about 2900 feet above sea-level, in
the northeasterly suburbs of Santiago. Chile.
This ininortant ol)ser\atorv was supported bv

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

201

Mills until his death in 1910, and the support
has been continued by his son, Ogden Mills.
Many auxiliary instruments, such as spectro-
graphs, seismographs, clocks, chronographs,
photometers, etc.. have lieen purchased from
time to time.

The magnifying power of the great telescoiie
may be changed from about 270 to 3,000 by
changing the eye-pieces, in very much the same
way that the magnifying power of a microscoj^e
may be changed. The power employed de-
pends upon the object under observation and
upon the state of the atmosphere.

The height of the marble floor of the main
building above mean sea-level is 4209 feet. (Jn
a closely connected peak half a mile to the east
of the observatory, and fifty feet higher, are
the reservoirs from which water for household
and photographic purposes is distributed.
Springs on the north and south slopes of the
mountain, about a mile east of the Observatory
and about 350 feet and 630 feet, respective!)-.
l)elow it. supply excellent water. Another peak
seven-eighths of a mile to the east is the sum-
mit of Mount Hamilton: it is 180 feet higher
than the Observatory, and supports the reser-
voirs supplying power for raising the movable
floor in the dome of the great telescope. This
system receives its supply from the winter rains
falling on the roofs, the water being pumped to
the reservoirs on tlie higher peak. Tlie mov-
able floor in the dome was the first of the kind
to be constructed. It is 60 feet in diameter,
and can be raised or lowered through a dis-
tance of 16^ feet, its purpose being to bring
the observer within convenient reach of the
eye end of the telescope.

The Observatory is open to daytime visitors
every day of the year, but visitors are expect-
ed to leave the premises at or before sunset.
The Observatory is open every Saturday even-
ing to visitors who arrive before 9 p. m.. op-
portunity lieing aflforded on clear nights to
look through the 36-inch refractor and the 12-
inch refractor usually.

\'isitors who come in the daytime are usual-
ly conducted through the building and have
the uses of the instruments explained to them.
On Saturday evenings the scientific staff is
on pni-iHr (hity. The annual number of visit-
ors til tlic < )liservatory exceeds five thousand.
A\"hik- tlu- < >l)servatory has no financial inter-
est in the coming of visitors, yet no pains are
spared to make the time spent here interest-
ing and profitable to them. There are no ho-
tel accommodations at the summit.

The average population of Mount Hamil-
ton during the past five years has l)een fifty.
There is a public school on the mountain ; the
schoolhouse is the property of the ( )bserva-

tory : the teacher is supplied l\v Santa Clara
County.

The directors of the Lick Oljservatorv have
been: Edward Singleton Holden. June L 1888.
to December 31. 1897: [ames Edward Keeler,
Tune 1, 1898 to August 12, 1900: Williatn Wal-
lace Campbell, January 1, 1901 to . Other

astronomers on the staff have been : S. W.
Burnham. 1888-1892: T- M. Schaelierle, 1888-
1898: J. E. Keeler. 1888-1891: E. E. Barnard.
1888-1895: W. W. Campbell, 1891- : Henry
Crew, 1891-1892: R. H. Tucker. 189.3- : C. D.
Perrine. 1893-1909: R. G. Aitken. 1895- : W. J.
Hussev. 1896-1905: W. H. Wright. 1897- ; H.
D. Curtis. 1902- The list of assistant astron-
omers includes the names of A. L. Colton, J.
H. Moore. Sebastian Albrecht. R. E. Wilson,
R. F. Sanford.

Members of the staff have been detailed
to take charge of the D. O. Mills Observatory
in Chile, as follows : A¥. H. Wright. 1903-1906:
H D. Curtis. 1906-1909: J. H. Moore. 1909-
1913: R. E. Wilson, 1913-.

The scientific staff has a\eraged: at Mount
Hamilton, five astronomers, one assistant as-
tronomer and two assistants : and in Chile,
on the D. O. Mills foundation, one astron-
omer and two assistants.

The Regents maintain three salaried Uni-
versity fellowships in the Lick Observator)-.
which are open to well-prepared graduate
students who have decided to make astron-
omy or some of the closely related sciences
the basis of professional careers.

The Martin Kellogg Fellowship in the Lick
Observatory, endowed by Mrs. Louise W. B.
Kellogg, widow of President Martin Kellogg,
provides opportunity to one holder each year
for advanced study and research under liberal
conditions.

The efficiency of the Lick Observatory has
been greatly increased by generous gifts of
funds for special purposes from Regent Phoebe
A. Hearst. Regent Charles F. Crocker. Regent
William H. Crocker. D. O. Mills, Ogden Mills.
and others : and by grants of funds from the
Carnegie Institution of Washington, the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences, and the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The investigational work of the Observa-
tory has been exceedingly fruitful. The great
telescope has surpassed the expectations of
those who planned it: and its energetic use
throughout the whole of every good night in
the quarter century of its existence has en-
riched astronomical science in unexpected
ways.

The leading discoveries that have been made
embrace the following : Four satellites of Jupi-
ter : twentv-nine comets : about 4400 double
star systems: 250 spectroscopic binary stars;

202

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

a companion sim to the first magnitude star,
Procyon; spectrographic observations showing
that the sun with its system of planets is
traveHng through space, with reference to the
general stellar system, at a speed of about
twelve miles an hour ; that the velocity of the
stars increase with their effective ages ; that
the planetary nebulae are traveling through
space with average speeds even higher than
the average speeds of the stars ; the North
Pole Star found to be a triple star in 1899;
an extensive series of photographs of the
minor planet, Eros, and surrounding stars, with
the Crossley Reflector, led to a new and accu-
rate determination of the distance from the
earth to the sun.

The following total solar eclipses have been
successfully observed by expeditions whose ex-
penses were defrayed by the friends whose
names are recorded : 1889, January, in north-
ern California, by the University of Califor-
nia. 1889, December, in French Guiana, by
Regent Charles F. Crocker. 1893, in Chile, by
Regent Phoebe A. Hearst. 1898, in India, by
Regent Charles F. Crocker. 1900, in Georgia,
by William H. Crocker. 1901, in Sumatra, by
William H. Crocker. 1905, in Spain and Egv])t,
by William H. Crocker. 1908. in Flint Island,
South Pacific Ocean, Iiy Regent William H.
Crocker.

In the early days of Santa Clara County
Mt. Hamilton was called La Sierra de Santa
Ysabel. The name Ysabel applies now to
the creek that rises to the east of Mt. Hamil-
ton and that passes along its northern and
western base and then makes its way north-
ward to the Bay of San Francisco. At the
confluence with Smith Creek, Ysabel Creek
changes its name to Arroyo Honda and still
further north Arroyo Honda becomes Calaver-
as Creek. The valley through w-hich Ysabel
Creek flows, lying east of Mt. Hamilton, is
called Ysabel Valley. The mountain was
known as Santa Ysabel down to 1861 or 1862
when Rev. Leander Hamilton, an able and elo-
quent Presbyterian preacher, climbed the
mountain as a member of a camping party.
The striking beauty of the scenery inspired
his ready pen and he wrote a number of articles
describing the mountain and its surroundings
which after publication were extensively quot-
ed. The camping party, of which he had been
a member, out of compliment to him renamed
the mountain Mt. Hamilton and it soon be-
came the popular name. Later, the United
States Government surveyors put down the
official name as Mt. Hamilton and at once
the name Ysabel became but a memory.

CHAPTER XIX.

The Story of Alum Rock, San Jose's Beautiful Reservation of One Thousand
Acres — Judge Richards' Description of Its Beauties and Attractions —
The Claim of J. O. Stratton.

The following beautiful description of one
of San Jose's greatest assets is from the pen
of that artist in words. Judge John E. Rich-
ards. It was written several years ago for
the board of park commissioners, a civic body
that went out of existence when the new
charter of 1916 went into effect.

" The major portion of what is now Alum
Rock Park was originally a part of the public
lands to which San Jose became entitled by
virtue of its pueblo origin under the old
Spanish regime. By an ordinance of King Phil-
ip II of Spain, each pueblo, upon its estab-
lishment, was entitled to four leagues of land.
This law was in effect when the pueblo of
San Jose de Guadalupe was founded in 1777.
Its terms were not, however, 'taken advantage
of until the i)ueblo had passed from the old
dominion into American control. It then laid
claim to its ])ueblo rights and these were ac-

corded to it under an Act of Congress pro-
viding for the settlement of land claims in
California, passed in 1851. The allotment and
survey of these pueblo lands under the act
extended the eastern line thereof to the sum-
mit of the first range of mountains which
form the eastern boundary of the Santa Clara
X'alley, and thus included the tract of land
which now comprises Alum Rock Park.

"That the canyon which embraces the Park
contained valuable mineral and medicinal
springs and that nature had there been lav-
ish in her display of picturesque landscapes,
in enchanting vistas of a mountain landscape
and in the \ariety, beauty and luxuriance of
tree and ])lant life, was early known to pio-
neer settlers in the Santa Clara Valley. The
desire and attempt of private persons to ac-
(|nire this favored spot awakened a dcter-
niincd elLirt in the direction (if its appropria-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

203

tion for public .uses, which led to its official
survey in 1866, and to the definite reserva-
tion of about 400 acres therein as a public
park, by an Act of the California Legisla-
ture passed in 1872. By another Legislative
act of the same year a board of commis-
sioners was created for the control of the
park, and for the construction of a highway
into it from the City of San Jose. The beau-
tiful highway which now bears the name of
Alum R'ock Avenue was laid out and con-
structed by this first board of park commis-
sioners, which was composed of Gen. Henry
AI. Naglee, Edward McLaughlin and Dr. A.
J. Spencer ; and to these and other of our
public-spirited citizens who thus early persist-
ed in making the park available for the use
and enjoyment of the people, a lasting debt
of public gratitude is due.

"The original survey of the park gives its
area as about -K)0 acres. To this was added
in 1872 a donation of several acres, including
"Buena Vista,' a point of grand outlook, lying
just south of the park proper, by Gen. Giles
.A. Smith, Cyrus Jones and Lewis A. Hicks,
three liberal-minded citizens, who then owned
a large tract of adjoining lands. About fifty-
five acres more have been added by subse-
quent purchases in order to control the streams
and springs which constitute its water sup-
ply. The present area of the ])ark is about
460 acres and the distance from San Jose
to its center is seven miles. Two excellent
high\\ays and also an electric railway, with
cars lea\ing the ])ark and San Jose everj- half
hour, ccmnect the city with the park.' The
rails are now on the ground for the construc-
tion of a thoroughly up-to-date broad gauge,
rapid service railroad into the park by way of
Mercyessa.

"Alum Rock Park derives its name from the
striking monolith which' stands about the cen-
ter of the park at a point where Alum Rock
A^•enue reaches the creek in its descent into
the canyon. Rugged and scarred by its vol-
canic origin and chemical constituents, it rises
a sheer 200 feet alxive the stream. Double
sulphates of aluminum and sodium enter
largeh' into its compt)sition and furnish the
residuum of alum dust found along its sides
and in its crc\ices and from the presence of
which it derives its name. Around the base
and sides of the rock issue several mineral
s]:irings strongly impregnated with salt and
other chemical properties. One nf tliesc ])ours
its clear, cold waters into a stime ba^in just
east of the rock. It is labeled 'Salt Condi-
ment' and is said by physicians to possess
excellent tonic and curative properties |for
those dyspeptically inclined. The original In-
dian name of the creek and canon was 'Shes-
tuc' Later the Spanish settlers named the

stream 'Aguaje.' which means a 'watering
place for cattle." A portion of the creek, out
in the valley and between San Jose and Mil-
pitas became known in Mission days as 'Pene-
tencia Creek' from the fact that the pious pad-
res of Santa Clara Mission and the Mission
of San Jose were wont to make penitential
l^ilgrimages at stated seasons, to a grove of
oaks which bordered the stream at that point
and the name 'Penetencia' came thus to be er-
roneously applied by the early American oc-
cupants to the entire stream. The lands oc-
cupied by the park were also formerly known
as 'The City Reservation,' but the appella-
tion, 'Alum Rock,' has supplanted these early
names and become the fixed and official desig-
nation of the park, creek and canon.

"Nature has arranged the topography of the
[lark in three ilivisions, each possessing its
own scenic attractions and each adapted to a
particular use. The first of these embraces
that ])ortion of its area lying below Alum
Rock and extending to the mouth of the can-
yon. This, by virtue of its level spaces and
the picturescjue meandering of its rivulet
forms the ample and natural camping grounds
of the park. Here gather annually an increas-
ing number of lovers of outdoor life to pitch
their tents beneath the shady oaks and syca-
mores along the winding stream ; to enjoy the
perfect climate of the park and to drink and
iiatlie in its healthful and refreshing waters.
'J'lie three cliief natural features of this por-
tion (it tlie park are Eagle Rock, the Meteor
and Inspiration Point. Eagle Rock is tliat bold
and loft_\ escarpment which rises abruptly-
many hundred feet above the le\el floor of
the park and forms a portion of its northern
boundary. For many years successive fami-
lies of eagles made their home among its
crags and could be seen daily sweeping their
majestic circles above Eagle Rock. From this
lofty outlook thirty cities, towns and villages
eneireling tlu' i'r.iy of S.'in Franeiseo ami dot-
ting the Santa C'lara \"alle_\' may. upon ;iny
clear day, be <liseerned. Another natural
curiosity of this ])ark is the meteor. This
immense black lioulder of manganese stands
half buried in the hillside a short way above
the entrance to the park. Tradition will have
it that this is a real aerolite which fell to
earth within remembered time, but science in-
sists that tradition is wrong in this regard
and the oldest inhabitant declares that the
meteor has been there from his earliest recol-
lection. Which ever is right there can be no
doubt that the meteor is a most interesting
natural curiosity, which ever\- visitor to the
park should see.

"Overlooking this portion of the park also
rises the wooded height which- aptly bears
the name of "Inspiration Point.' From the

204

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

kiosk upon its summit the whole central por-
tion of the park is visible and the view of
its varied beauty and of the bay and the val-
ley beyond, is indeed grand and inspiring. A
byway which winds in and out among the
oaks of the southern hillside leads to this ele-
vation and the lover of nature who follows it
to the summit will be fully repaid.

"The next and most important section of
the park is that lying above Alum Rock
and up to and including the baths and de-
veloped springs. The chief improvements of
the park in the way of buildings, lawns, lake,
driveways, deer paddocks, restaurant, gardens,
bath houses and other facilities for the con-
servation and use of the mineral waters, are
within this area, the cultivated portion of which
contains about twenty-five acres. Here are
the aviaries, where all sorts of birds, from the
stateh- peacock to the pretty California canary,
furnish endless enjoyment to children. Here
also are the deer paddocks, where several spe-
cies of these sh}^ and graceful creatures may
be seen. Across the way a big, ample and
comfortable den in the mountain side is the
home of a great, good-natured brown bear,
while from the nooks of an enclosed sycamore
some large gray squirrels and a family of chip-
munks peer and chatter at whoever will offer
them nuts to crack or hide for their winter
store. A vine-embowered restaurant, with its
wide and shaded porches invites to refresh-
ment : and yonder the children's playground
with all its accessories, and the dancing pa-
vilion, resound through all the summer, with
merry laughter and the rhythm of dancing feet.
There are no 'keep off the grass' signs upon
the lawns of Alum Rock Park and the one
request which the commissioners make of the
public is that they will pluck no flowers.

"The baths and offices are grouped near
the mineral springs ; and while not yet as elab-
orate in architectural or permanent in form
as might be desired, the tub and plunge baths
are capable of ministering to the comfort of
a considerable number of visitors daily. The
time will come, and that probably soon, when
the ])eople of San Jose will awaken to the
real value of the park and especially of its
mineral springs as features of public attrac-
tion worthy of world-wide fame, and will ex-
pend sufficient money in their improvement
and development to ])ut them on a par with
other resorts of far less varied excellence to
which many thousands of the world's seek-
ers after health, rest and pleasure annually
find their way.

"While the .scenic attractions of .\luni Rock
Park are surpassing, its chief element of use
and value consists in its mineral springs. No
other place in California, or liardly elsewhere.

possesses within a like area, -such a variety
of pleasing and healthful chemical waters. In
the immediate vicinity of the park center and
within a few hundred feet of the depot there
are eighteen developed mineral springs be-
sides a large number of other springs not
yet developed and analyzed. An analysis of
several springs, made some years ago by Wil-
liam Ireland, state mineralogist, shows the pre-
vailing presence of soda, white sulphj.ir, black
sulphur and iron in the composition of their
waters. He says : 'Sulphates are practical-
ly' absent from these springs, which are high-
ly charged with sulphuretted hydrogen. The
alisence of any notal)le quantities of carbonate
of lime and comparative abundance of sul-
]5huretted hydrogen give more than ordinary
value to these waters from a medical stand-
point.' Both hot and cold springs are to be
found issuing in close proximity to each oth-
er. The soda springs are especially agree-
able to the palate, while the sulphur springs
are capable of furnishing an abundance of
water for the tub and plunge baths. The park
commission is proceeding as rapidly as possible
with the development of these springs and
their inclosure in artistic and substantial drink-
ing founts composed of native sandstone, of
Avhich the park has an inexhaustible supply.

"Travelers from all parts of the world, who
have visited the park, agree in the statement
that the most famous and popular resorts
of Europe have not the equal of these min-
eral springs in number and in variety and
pleasing and health-giving properties of their
waters; all that is needed is their develop-
ment to give them and the beautiful park,
which contains them, world-wide fame and
patronage.

"Just above the springs the visitor enters
the picnickers' paradise. A Japanese tea gar-
den stands invitingly at its entrance, and be-
yond the canyon widens sufficiently to pro-
vide a secluded little vale covered with spread-
ing oaks, alders, maples and sycamores
through which the creek makes its rippling
way, and among which may l)e seen on every
pleasant day, parties of picnickers enjoying
their luncheon or reclining in shad)' nooks
along the whispering stream. Beyond the pic-
nic grounds a winding path follows the creek
to its forks, about a quarter of a mile above
the springs ; and thence up either branch of
the divided rivulet one may wander along
shady and romantic trails to "The Falls'.

"These beautiful cascades may be found a
little way up either fork of the creek and will
amply repay the effort to reach them. Tuml)-
ling down over moss-covered rocks into dee]),
fern-embdwered jmols. they jiresent artistic
visions of nature in her most entrancing

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

205

moods. The park extends some distance be-
yond The Falls, but only the persistent climb-
er or the occasional disciple of Walton will
N'entiire to follow the stream beyond The Falls
and up into the wilder fastnesses of the canyon
to their source.

"Aside from the aviaries and animal enclos-
ures and from the area of cultivated gardens
and grounds. Alum Rock Park is the abiding
place of a considerable variety of wild birds
and animals and displays a great luxuriance
of native trees, plants and flowers. The dainty
California canary, the cheer}- linnet, the shy
wood-thrush and the bustling little wren in-
habit every bower, while the quail's piping
note or rapid whirr, and the yellowhammer's
loud, clear call, are frequently heard among
the wooded hills. The loiterer along quiet by-
paths often hears the scramble of a startled
coon or sees the graceful form of a silver
fox outlined against the green hillsides, cjr
even catches a glimpse of a wild deer gliding
through the undergrowth; while the camper
or picnicker can strike up friendship any hour
with whole families of brown squirrels with
which the canyon abounds and which through
long immunity have lost their fear of man
and will come and frisk around the feet of
children or even eat from out their hands.

"The flora of the park is also of great and,
fact, of almost infinite variety. Practically
all of the trees, shrubbery and flowers, which
are distinctively Californian, flourish here.
During spring and summer, the California pop-
py, the golden rod, the yellow buttercup and
the mariposa lily glorify its banks and brown
uplands, while within the canyon's shaded
dells bright Indian pinks, fragrant Solomon's
seal, dainty bluebells, tall, wild tulips, lusty
lui)ins, the blue and scarlet columbine, the
delicate and aromatic shooting star and a hun-
dred other varieties of wild flowers, abound.
All winter the toyon bushes and the madrone
trees fling the glory of their red clusters of
berries along the hills and stream where the
abundant brown bulbs of the buckeye tell of a
springtime of fragrant blooming. Thus at
every season of the year the park is beautiful.

"The foregoing sketch gives but glimpses
of the attractions of Alum Rock Park. It must
be seen to be appreciated and those who once
visit it for even a hasty hour, carry away im-
pressions of its variety and beauty which re-
main with them a ])leasing memory forever.

" 'The quaint madrone, the laurel trees
And countless shrul)s that cover
Tile mountain sides : the soft, warm air
The blue sky bending over ;

" 'Make it a spot, when weary-worn,
You seek with loved companion.
And find the gods of rest and peace
Dwell in this matchless canyon.' "

Since the above sketch by Judge Richards
was written the park has undergone many ar-
tistic changes and improvements strictly up-to-
date. More -land was acquired until now the
park comprises about 1000 acres. The broad
gauge railroad over a newly constructed road
now enters the canyon, while automobiles,
provided with proper parking grounds, come
by the thousands every week. Eleven years
ago the park commission began to carry out
a system of permanent improvements. The tea
garden was removed and a first-class cafe
has taken its place. Instead of two roads to
the park in the old days there are now three,
the third leaving the main road at the sum-
mit and half-circling the park along a beau-
tiful winding way high up in the hills to the
heart of the park. A new bath house has
been constructed at a cost of $78,000. The
cafe cost $4500. The springs have been en-
cased with cement walls and the creek has
been walled up to protect the park from the
occasional winter floods. More improvements
are contemplated. Since the adoption of San
Jose's new charter in 1916. the park has been
under the control of the city engineer, C. B.
Goodwin.

An interesting story concerning the park
was furnished in the experiences of J. O. Strat-
ton. For many years he was the proprietor and
manager of a hotel in the' park. This hotel
had been built by Woolsey Shaw, who in the
late fifties had acquired by preemption and
I)urchase over 700 acres of what was then
called the Alum Rock ranch. This tract ex-
tended some distance beyond the tract after-
wards claimed by the city of vSan Jose. While
Shaw was in possession of large portions of
the park (then called the City Reservation)
suit against him was Ijrought by the city
under the claim that about 450 acres held by
Shaw was part of the pueblo lands belonging
to the city. Before the suit ended Stratton
had bought from Shaw that section of the
Alum Rock ranch that took in the hotel, bath
houses and several outbuildings. All three
improvements had been made by Shaw short-
ly after he had entered into possession of the
land. The suit was decided in favor of the
city and immediately thereafter Shaw and
Stratton were dispossessed. This was in the
'70s. While the suit was pending Stratton
offered to give up the land he had bought
from Shaw if the city would pay him $3000
for the improvements. The petition was re-
ferre<l to the Alum Rock Commissioners, and

206

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

after the court decision they presented a re-
port awarding Stratton $1000. the actual value
of the lumber purchased for the erection of
the buildings. Stratton accepted the award,
but when he asked the council to confirm the
commissioners' report, he met with a refusal.
The council claimed that it had no jurisdic-
tion. In other words it could not deal with
matters of equity. Stratton admitted that he
had no legal claim for reimbursement Init
thought it no more than just that the city

should pay him for his improvements, first
because the city was then using them and
secondly because he had bought from Shaw
in good faith, believing that Shaw had law-
ful title to the lands. Year after year Strat-
ton presented his claim for reimbursement
and year after year the council refused to
grant it. At last Stratton gave up in despair.
He died many years ago and his heirs have
never made any attempt to have the decision
of the council reversed.

CHAPTER XX.

The Attractions of the Big Basin, or California Redwood Park — How It
Was Preserved by the Efforts of a San Josean — The Annual Forest
Play in a Natural Setting.

San Jose points with pride to its great sub-
sidiary attraction, the California Redwood
Park, or Big Basin, as it is more popularly
known. It consists of 14,000 acres of sequoia
sempervirens trees and is the oldest living
grove in the world. It is about twenty-five
miles from San Jose in the heart of the Santa
Cruz Mountains and is reached by fine high-
ways from San Jose and Santa Cruz. The his-
tory of its preservation is graphically told in
the' following article written by \Vilson E.
Albee and published in the San Jose Mercury
of April 22, 1917:

"Giant redwoods', mighty with the strength
which had withstood the ravages of centuries,
quavered at the menacing snarl of the saw
mill : trembled with the throb of its engines ;
moaned with the scream of the ripping, tearing
steel teeth, cutting through the heart of the
forest, nearer and ever nearer, and from their
towering height beckoned across the moun-
tains for rescue ; beckoned to those who were
that those yet to come might feast on their
grandeur. .\nd there was one to answer.

■'.Vcross the range above Wright's station,
a spark smouldered and burst into flame.
Whipped into fury by the mountain breezes,
it spread, eating its way swiftly and licking
clean the forest behind it, sending up a pall
of smoke seen 'round the world. From Eng-
land came the call for the story and pictures,
showing not only the fire, but the big trees
which it menaced. Andrew P. Hill, with cam-
era and plates, plied his art preservative for
a day among the Santa Cruz Trees near Fel-
ton, meeting, at the end of his expedition, with
the unalteral)le opposition of Mr. Welch, pro-
prietor of the hotel, who stated that the trees
were a perquisite of his hostelry and that

he would do his own advertising of them.
Words followed : blows might have, but what
did happen was a firm determination on the
part of Mr. Hill that those trees should be-
long to the people.

"This was in March, 1900. Prior to that
time Mr. Hill had taken numerous pictures of
the trees, spending days among them alone
with his thoughts and his camera. Perhaps it
was this association with the big things of
the forest which added depth and breath and
height to the idea which first came to him
during the argument with Mr. AA'elch. Per-
haps some part of that great strength of the
forest was imparted to him, adding its pow-
er to his, that he might the better fight his
battle of preservation, and perhaps it was from
the vastness of the forest that he drew some
of that determination which withstood hun-
ger and privation while the fight was on, en-
abled him to surmount obstacles, accomplish
the impossible and carry the Redwood bill
through, the state senate and assembly in spite
of the determined opposition of the controll-
ing element and the governor of the state.

"It was following his argument with Mr.
Welch at the hotel near Felton that Mr. Hill
met John E. Richards, then an attorney, now
judge of the .Appellate Court, on the train.
Mr. Hill told jof his determination to get the
big trees for a public i)ark. Mr. Richards was
impressed. That night Mr. Hill wrote out
his idea in a letter to Mrs. Josejdiine Clif-
ford McCrackin, whose home had been burned
along with twenty-three others in the recent
forest fire. Mrs. .McCrackin forwarded the let-
ter with her ajjproval to tin- Santa Cruz
Sentinel and it ap])earcil in llial publication in
the morning, the first article f\er published

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

207

advocating public ownership of the trees. On
the evening of that same day there appeared
an article by Mr. Richards upon the same sub-
ject in the San Jose Herald.

"Mr. Hill, upon his return to San Jose,
called upon Judge M. H. Hyland and Judge
A. L. Rhodes. Both were taken with the idea
and Judge Rhodes urged that Mr. Hill should
make the preservation of the trees his life
work. In reph' to a letter sent the Santa
Cruz Chamber of Commerce, a resolution fa-
voring the project was passed and Mr. Hill
was asked by J. F. Coppe. secretary of that
body, to have a like resolution passed by the
San Jose Chamber of Commerce. This was
done. Mr. Hill appearing before that body and
was appointed chairman of a committee to
work for the preservation of the trees.

"After some communication \\\ih Mr. Cop])e
of Santa Cruz, it was decided to throw the
]M-oject into line with the educational institu-
tions of the state so as to keep it out of poli-
tics as much as possible and the first meeting
was called to l)e held at Stanford University
in April. 1''fwi. .\rrangements were made witli
Dr. |),-i\iii St.-irr Jordan, then president of the
uni\cioity. who lent his hearty co-operation to
the movement. At this meeting there were
present delegations from the Academy of Sci-
ence, the University of California. University
of Stanford, Sierra Club, San Jose and Santa
Cruz Chambers of Commerce, Santa Clara
College, San Jose State Normal School, dele-
gates from the Unixersity of the Pacific be-
ing invited but unable to attend.

"Up to this time those interested in line
with the first idc;i of Mr. Hill, lia.l been think-
ing only of the Santa Cruz gro\e. Just at
this time Mr. Hill reccixed a letter from IMr.
Coppe stating that Dr. .Anderson, of Santa
Cruz, a prominent botanist, had asked that the
attention of the committee be called to the
Big Basin trees saying: 'As your enthusiasm
is for these smaller trees, so will it grow in
proportion to the size, the grandeur and the
vastness of those in the Big Basin."

"The proposal was taken up with Dr. Jor-
dan and it was learned that Professor William
R. Dudley, of the Stanford botanical depart-
ment, and Charles !'. Wing, a young teacher
of the institution, had made a complete survey
of the Big Basin and that for seven or eight
months attempts had been made to purchase
the land for the university. The land belonged
to a number of lumbermen, however, and the
figure for purchase was too high. Professor
Dudley, when informed of the proposition of
public ownership hailed it with joy and en-
tered with great zeal and enthusiasm into the
proposed work.

"In order to learn more of the Big Basin
possibilities a committee was appointed by
Mr. Hill composed of W. W. Richards, Carrie
Stevens Walter, RoUie S. Kooser, Mrs. Steph-
en A. Jones and Andrew P. Hill. This com-
mittee was joined in Boulder Creek on May
15, 1900, by a delegation from the Santa Cruz
Chainber ol Commerce, among whom were
J. F. Coppe, secretary; J. Q. Packard of the
smelter trust; H. U. :\liddleton, representing
some of the lumber interests and Charles Wes-
ley Reed, a mendier of the San Francisco
board of supervisors. The next morning the
part}- went to the tie camp where they were
cutting trees from fi\e to twelve feet in diam-
eter. About 30U acres of the basin had been
cut in the three previous years during which
a mill had been operating. Passing the camp
they proceeded to Slippery Rock where thev
made a permanent canij) and it was on iM;r>'
18, 1900, while the committee was seated
a])out the campfire that Mr. Hill suggested the
organization of a club, the object of wliich
would be the ])reser\ ation of the trees. The
club, known as the Senipervirens, was organ-
ized and Charles Wesley Reed elected its first
president and Mrs. Carrie Stevens Walter,
secretary. The camp where the organization
was afifected, was namerl for the club.

"The committee traversed the basin in all
directions and look numerous photographs.
It was while the} were driving along the China
Grade road be3ond the projiertv owned bv
Mr. Tray, that Mr. Hill' noted the ridge be'-
tween the San Lorenzo and Boulder Creek on
one side and the waters of the Pescadero on
the other. Pointing to this, he stood up in
the carry-all and said; "We will build a road
over that ridge from the Santa Clara Coun-,
ty." Some objection was raised immediately
by some of the Santa Cruz meml^ers, but
soon they saw that the construction of such
a road would be of value to them and they
became supporters of the proposal.

"Several months previous to this time a
committee had been appointed to get a price
on the land. No action had been reported by
them. A railroad had already surveyed a way
into the basin and preparations were being
made to cut the whole area of 15,000 acres.
-\ction must be taken cptickly if the trees
were to be saved. In the face of some op-
position Mr. Hill took the upper hand, met
with Mr. Middleton, conferred with Dr. David
Starr Jordan and Professor Dudley and the
head of the Stanford law department and an
option on the land was executed at Stanford.

■'Up to this time everything had proceeded
nicely. Steps were taken to have a bill in-
troduced in congress for the purchase of the
Big Basin, but, owing to the fact that there

208

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

was another big tree bill before that body,
the action was withdrawn. Mr. Reed was
appointed at a meeting held in the Palace
Hotel in San Francisco as a committee of
one to draw up a bill to present to the State
Legislature. It was presented by Assembly-
man George H. Fisk of San Francisco, but be-
fore long it was reported back by the as-
sembly committee on ways and means with
the recommendation that it "do not pass." The
senate finance committee returned a like rec-
ommendation and another meeting was called
at the Palace Hotel where it was reported
that the bill was "dead." Mr. Hill refused
to understand what the word 'dead' in this in-
stance meant. He insisted that the bill could
be passed no matter how 'dead' it was, and
because of his enthusiasm and determination
he was unanimously elected to go to Sacra-
mento and take charge of the bill.

"Hardly had Mr. Hill reached Sacramento
when he found that it would he a stiff fight
to get the bill appropriating the needed $250,-
000 passed. He went to Alden Anderson, for-
merly of San Jose, then lieutenant governor.
Mr. Anderson suggested that changes be made
in the bill in order to get it through the com-
mittee and that the support of Grover L.
Johnson be obtained. Mr. Johnson became a
friend of the measure immediately upon its
presentation to him ])y Mr. Hill, and called
the bill from the table onto the floor of the
house and had it re;ported back to the com-
mittee. Mr. Hill was given a hearing and
the bill was re-written and returned with the
recommendation that it 'do pass.'

"This was encouraging, but ]\Ir. Hill soon
discovered breakers ahead. He learned that
a certain controlling 'push' would not let the
bill pass and that it would cast him $5000 to
get it through. He determined that there
was but one way to swing this opposition in
favor of the measure and immediately took
train for Santa Clara. Here he called upon
Fr. Robert E. Kenna, then president of Santa
Clara College, and after outlining the situa-
tion to him asked that the Catholic church
be committed to the bill. Fr. Kenna made
a trip to Sacramento with Mr. Hill to see
for himself the actual conditions. Upon their
return Mr. Hill spoke at a meeting of the
Jesuits, gained their support and persuaded
them to send a committee into the basin to
examine the trees and report back whether or
not they were worth saving. Upon the re-
turn of the committee action was taken with-
out delay and practically the whole powder of
the church was placed behind the measure for
saving the trees. Mr. Hill returned to Sac-
ramento with a new courage. Through a re-
quest of Fr. Kenna, D. M. Delmas consented to

go before the legislature and speak for the
bill. His address, made after a visit to the
Big Basin, was one of the most powerful ever
delivered upon a public project, and created
a strong sentiment for the bill.

"Hope for the passage of the bill was strong
at this time. Then came word that the gov-
ernor was opposed to having the bill come
up to him because of the size of the appro-
propriation. New conditions were imposed
which at first seemed impossible to meet. It
was hoped that the conditions would prove
an insurmountable obstacle to the advocates
of the bill, but the opposition failed utterly in
their estimation of Andrew P. Hill. They re-
quired a new contract on the land. Although
his funds furnished by the Semper\irens Club
was growing low Mr. Hill left immediately
for San Francisco. Opponents watched him
go. They did not expect him to return.

"In San Francisco he met Mr. Middleton
and asked for a new contract on the land. 'You
cannot get it,' answered Mr. Middleton. 'It
is not a question of whether or not I can
get the contract,' replied Mr. Hill. 'The only
thing is that I must have it. What are your
conditions?'

"The conditions named were that Mr. Hill
secure a guarantor who would pay the sum of
$50,000 in case the state should decide to
purchase the property and not be in a posi-
tion to make an immediate first payment. Mr.
Hill hesitated but a moment. 'I will have that
sum guaranteed to you before 12 o'clock to-
night," he said.

"At 8:30 o'clock that evening Mr. Hill called
upon Dr. Jordan at Stanford. Dr. Jordan
could not make the guarantee. Telephoning
ahead that he was coming, Mr. Hill started
for Santa Clara, where he outlined the situ-
ation to Fr. Kenna and suggested that if he
did not have the money it was certain that
'Jimmie' Phelan or his sister, Mrs. Sullivan,
could furnish it. For some time Mr. Hill ar-
gued and planned and finally, with a laugh,
Fr. Kenna agreed. Immediately Mr. Middle-
ton was communicated with.

"The cars had all stopped running and Mr.
Hill walked to San Jose, reaching the office of
the San Jose Mercury at one o'clock in the
morning. Going to the office of Harry G.
Wells, then editor, he said, 'Mr. Wells, I
want you to write the greatest editorial you
have ever written." 'You are too laie," re-
turned Mr. Wells, 'the paper is already on the
press.' Mr. Hill persisted, outlining his jilan
for laying a copy of the Mercury; with the
editorial on the desk of every senator and as-
semblyman that morning. Tiie rc(|uest was
granted, Mr. Hill writing the editorial, and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

209

150 copies were run off. Air. Hill taking them
on the 4:30 o'clock morning train.

"The appearance of the editorials on every
desk at 8 o'clock in the morning created a stir
in tile legislature, because they showed that
the 'impossijjle' conditions imposed for the
passage of the bill had been met in every detail.
Nor was this all of the plan of campaign
worked out by Mr. Hill. At II o'clock that
morning Fr. Kenna himself arrived in Sacra-
mento. After visiting the church he went to
the capitol building and was assigned a room
in the Board of Education. For the greater
part of the day Mr. Hill brought individual
members of the senate and assembly to him
for conference. A poll had been taken and it
was found that there were only seven senators
willing to vote for the bill.

"Just at adjournment time Senator Short-
ridge, upon request of Mr. Hill, asked that the
legislators remain to hear Fr. Kenna speak.
They all remained and Fr. Kenna was ushered
to the speaker's chair to address them. His
plea for the bill was simple, beautifully
worded, but determined. Out of the thirty-
three senators there were eighteen Catholics.
\\'hen the vote was taken on the h\\\. which
had already passed the assembly, there were
thirty-two fa\orable votes, the only one in op-
position being that of the chairman of the fi-
nance committee who stated that he hoped it
would carry but that it would not be ccjnsist-
ent for him to vote for it.

"There remained but one thing more : the
securing of the signature of Governor Gage
who had strong objections to signing. Mr.
Hill worked ceaselessly. The money given
him by the Sempervirens Club had long been
exhausted. His own personal funds were gone
with the exception of money he had care-
fully saved for the last l)ig play of his cam-
paign, that of telegraphing to organizations
in all parts of the state to bring pressure on
the governor.

"For days he had been living in a dingy
back room with no running water or other
conveniences. Day after day he ate 15 cent
meals, some days only one of them and upon
one occasion his only food during the day was
an orange someone gave him.

"Mr. Hill arranged with the governor for a
date upon which a pul:)lic hearing was to be
granted when reasons why he should sign
the l:)ill could be presented. The date of the
hearing was flashed over the state and the
meeting was crowded with interested advo-
cates. Among them were Prof. William R.
Dudley of Stanford ; Prof. Senger of the state
university: the grand president of the Native
Daughters and the grand ])resident of the Na-
tive Sons, with J. Z. Anderson representing

the California F^ioneers. There were many
others making a determined stand for the
measure.

"Then, as a master stnike, a thing which
hitherto had been done u|)iin Imt a small scale,
Mr. Hill sent out his prepared telegrams to
all parts of the state. Nearly all one day
one man in the telegraph office worked on
these. All the next day he received hun-
dreds of telegrams from organizations and in-
dividuals 'directed to the governor, urging
him to sign the bill.

"The plans were a success. Governor Gage
signed the bill and in March, 1902, 3800 acres
in the Big Basin, one of the most wonderful
groves of trees in the world, passed into the
hands of the people of California; a park in
wiiicli they miglit find refuge from the rush
and dust of the cities; where they might rest
from their toil and where they" might find
themselves among the truly great things of
nature — the mighty redwoods of the forest.
And for this tlie people have, more than any-
one else, to think Andrew P. Hill."

After Mr. Albee's article was written, more
land was secured, so that now the park consists
of 14,000 acres. The Sempervirens Club also
secured a state appropriation of $70,000 for
building a road into the park. The road was
Iniilt and now thousands of people visit the
great redwood forest every year. A hotel has
been erected and also many cottages and there
are fine tenting accommodations for campers.
In 1919, as a fitting climax to their efforts,
the members of the Sempervirens Club pre-
sented a beautiful forest play which will live
in history a monument to the artistic, literary
and musical talent of Don W. Richards and
Thomas V. Cator, the author and composer
of the play. Over 3.(100 peoi)le were jiresent
at the production. There was a natural audi-
torium and the talent was amt)ng the best
in San Jose and vicinity. Vocalists from oth-
er parts of the state also participated. The
theme of the play. "The Soul of Sequoia,"
was carried on by aesthetic dances, vocal num-
I)ers and spoken words. The unique features
were memoral^le. The play consisted of a pro-
logue, four episodes, each presenting a differ-
ent form of dramatic expression; and an epi-
logue. The first episode was in the form of
a dance pantomime typifying the awakening
of life. The second was in the cantata form,
showing the sowing of the seed of forest
life. Grand opera was the third — Indian in
theme — which told of the death of Sequoia,
the spirit of the forest. The last was the
saving of the trees from the axe of the woods-
man. Among tlie leading actors was one of
the mountain deer, which, lured bv the calls

210

HISTORY (3F SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of the assistant park warden, had been tamed
sufficiently for the appearance in the play.

The production of 1920, held on July 3, out-
rivaled that of 1919, both as to performance
and number of spectators. This out-of-door
spectacle, which will be given annually, will
make San Jose the Oberammergau of Amer-
ica. At tile 1920 performance Dean Han-
son was the musical composer, Mr. Cator hav-
inc;^ retired.

The officers of the Sem]iervirens Club are
as follows : President, Andrew P. Hill : hon-
orary presidents, Chas. ^^'esley Reed. Mrs. W.
C. Kennedy : vice-president. Judge J. R.
Welch ; secretary-treasurer, Dr. Charles Pease ;
consulting attorney, Herbert C. Jones; de-
pository. First National Bank. Directors —
Judtre 'I. R. Welch, H. L. Middleton. Rev.
Z. Mailer, Airs. A. T. Herrmann, A. P.
Murgotten, A. P. Hill. Jiulge J. E. Richards,
Herbert C. Jones, W. R". Flint, Dr. [ames B.
Bullitt, Mrs. S, A. Jones. Col. C. B. Wing,
Judge Isaiah Hartman.

The following excerpt is taken from the pre-
lude to "The Soul of Sequoia," written by
Don W. Richards : "Through countless ages
these redwood trees have stood, sublime, mag-
nificent, their utmost branches sweeping the
very sky, their feet carpeted by the virgin
soil from which in long-dead centuries they
sprang. They rise like pillars of a majestic
temple, dedicated to the worship of their Cre-
ator; a sacred grove, where mortals may. with

reverent hearts, draw near to the Father of
the Forest.

"So we came wandering here in these Cathe-
dral aisles, adventuring, seeking the Spirit of
Romance, with wistful ear striving to catch
the echo of some mystic melody from out the
past. Here in this peaceful spot where dreams
are born, strange fancies hovered to us. It
seemed as if the spirit of the woodland whis-
pered tales of immemorial lore. Perhaps it
was the west wind sighing low in the branches,
the stream weeping for days that are gone, the
rustle of wood-folk in the thicket, but we
heard —

"We shall try to lift the curtain for you, to
people the woodland with nymphs and' elves,
to wake the Wild God and draw from him the
ethereal strains that piped the dancers to Syl-
\an revelry. For you we have invoked the
elements to reveal that solemn festival, the
Ritual of the Sowers. From her long sleep
^^'aona comes with Sec[uoia, her brave lover,
her voice thrills through the forest but dies
away in sadness o'er Sequoia's slain body.
The Padres, intoning the Misericordia, enter
in time to save the Indian Maid from self-
inflicted death. And last, Brundel, the woods-
man, meets his master, the destroying axe is
broken and the forest is preserved for ages
yet unborn. The spirits of the Forest gather
to pay homage to the trees, and in
song and in dancing to rejoice in their
deli\erv from destruction."

CHAPTER XXI.

The Public and Private Schools of San Jose— The Growth of the High
School — The State Normal School — College of Notre Dame — College of
the Pacific — St. Joseph's School.

The first record of the establishment of pub-
lic schools in San Jose is a document found
among the old archives of the pueblo and
purporting to be a contract made in 1811, be-
tween the commissioners of the pueblo on be-
half of the families thereof, and Rafael Villa-
vicencio, for the instruction of the children of
the pueblo. Having been sent to the com-
mander at Monterey, it was returned with
additions and modifications, and the document
thus amended became the first school law of
the city of San Jose. Following is the text:
"I return to you, that the same may be placed
in the archives, the obligation which the in-
habitants of the neighborhood have made with
the infirm corporal, Rafael Villavicencio, who
transmitted it to me by official letter on the

thirtieth of last September, in whicli he obli-
gated himself to teach the children uf this
]nieblo and vicinity to read, write and the
doctrine, and to be paid therefor at the rate
of eighteen reals per annum, by every head
of a family, in grain or flour. As in this obli-
gation of both parties the conditions are not
expressed, which I consider ought to be, I
have thought proper to dictate them, that you
may make it known to both parties in public,
with their consent, and that it be signed by
you, the Alcalde, the Regidores and the
teacher, and registered in the archives. First,
the pay, annually, of eighteen reaLs, by each
and every head of a family, 1 think is quite
suflicient'for the teacher, aiid as it is all they
can give, in virtue of whicli tlie commissioners

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Ul

will be ohlitjated to collect the same at the
proper time in order to deliver it to the teacher.
The teacher, in \irtiu- of the pay that is to be
made to iiim, \\ill also be oblio:ed to perform
his obli^-ation A\ith the jjreatcst vigilance and
strictness, without fixing his attention to any-
tiling- else but the teaching. ,\s the hfiurs are
not expressed in which the attendance of the
children ought to be at school, they will be
these: Six in a day — three in the morning
and three in the afternoon : in the morning
from eight o'clock until eleven, and in the
afternoon froin two until five, it being the
duty of the commissioner to compel the fathers
to make their children attend, and to see that
the teacher in no instance fails. Every Thurs-
day and Saturday afternoon the children will
not write or read, but explanations will be
given them these two afternoons, of the doc-
trine (faith), at which the commissioner will
attend and advise the teacher that he must
answer for the much or little explanation
which he may make. When the teacher oli-
serves the absence of any of the scholars at
the school, he will notify their fathers, who
will give some satisfactory reason why they
were absent on that morning or afternoon:
and if they should be absent a second time,
then he will notify the commissioner, who will
compel the fathers to send their chihlren. \\ ith-
out receiving any excuse or |iretextv, ]iartic-
ularly from the mothers, because tlie\- will all
be frivolous, since the children h;i\e sufficient
time to do all that they are required to do.
Lastly, during the time in which the children
are at school, their fathers will be exempt from
being responsible to God for them, and the
teacher will be the one who is thus responsi-
ble, as he will also, in consideration of his
pay, be responsible for the education and
teaching of the holy dogmas of the religion :
and the teacher is he who must be responsi-
ble to God, the parish priest, and to their au-
thority.

"It is also understood that the fathers are
obliged to examine their children at home as
to the advancement which they may make,
and to complain to the commissioner when
they see no advancement, in order that he
may remedy the matter, if necessary. As the
teacher is responsible in the divine presence
for the education and good examples of his
scholars, and as he must answer to- the state
for the fulfillment of his obligations, he has
the right to correct and punish his scholars,
with advice, warning and lashes, in case of
necessity ; and particularly he ought to do it
for any failure to learn the doctrine, for which
he ought not to accept any excuse, nor to jiar-
don anyone from punishment who fails to
learn it, or who does not commit to memory
the lesson which may be gi\en him."

At the present <Iay the parish schools of
one hundred years ago have developed into
such institutions as the College of Notre Dame
and St. Joseph's School, presided over by men
and women who have abandoned the world
to devote their lives to this work.

The first American school teacher was Mrs.
Olive .M. 1 shell. In February, 1847, she taught
the chililrcn of families at the Santa Clara
Mission.

The first Protestant school of which there
is an}- record was opened by Rev. E. Bannis-
ter in 1S51, and was called The San Jose Acad-
emy. In it were taught not only the English
branches, but the classics. At first it was a
private enterprise, but in the same year it
was incorporated with a board of nine trustees.

In 1853 a school for young ladies, called the
Bascom Institute, was opened. It was under
the auspices of the Pacific Conference of the
M. E. Church and was managed b}- nine trus-
tees. Mrs. R. C, Hammond was the first prin-
cipal. She was succeeded by Samuel Lea,
with Orrin Hinds as assistant. The institu-
tion prospered until 1859.

The first common school was organized bv
a committee of citizens in ]\Iarch, 1853, and
w;is tauglit by Rev. Horace Richardson. In
June of the s.'iim- year the committee ojiened
another school in the P>a])tist Church and em-
ployed Orrin Hinds as teacher.

Of those whom the discovery of gold
brought to this coast, a large proportion were
men of liberal education, many of them col-
legians and fit to take the highest rank in the
various professions. By reason of their in-
telligence and mental culture these men w-ere
put to the front in public affairs. They deter-
mined that the new state should have every
facility for pojnilar education that could be
afforded. Legislation on the subject com-
menced early and was characterized by a spirit
of liberality which was met with enthusiasm
by the people at large. As a result of this
legislation Santa Clara County was, in 1855,
(li\ide(I into sixteen school districts. Having
a large number of educated men to draw upon
for a su]iply of teachers, the schools from the
start became wonilerfull}- efiicient. The lib-
eral salaries paid teachers attracted the best
educational talent from the older states, and
almost from the beginning the common
schools of California took rank with the very
best in the Union. Especially was this the
case in Santa Clara County, where the lib-
eral appropriations of the state were supple-
mented l)y equally liberal ones from the county
funds.

The San Jose Schools

Frcim an interesting history of the San Jose
high school written liy Judge Perley F. Gos-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

bey, himself a former teacher and president
of the board of education, the tnllowino: ex-
cerpts are taken:

The first mention of a high school in the
city of San Jose appears in the minutes of the
board of education under date of December
12, 1865, when the superintendent of schools
was instructed by the board to purchase five
chairs for the use of the high school. At this
time the public schools of the city were held
in various parts of the city, in small houses.
They were located in St. James Square, Wash-
ington Square, on Thirteenth Street, and on
Market Street. There was also a one-room
building. The school which gradually grew
into and was finally named a high school, was
located on the Fourth Street side of Wash-
ington Square, where the Normal grounds now
are. and faced San Antonio Street. It con-
sisted of one room, but there were no certifi-
cates of graduation or diplomas issued to those
who completed the course of study. There
was another school, consisting of two rooms.
located in the second story of a block on the
north side of Santa Clara Street, between Sec-
ond and Third streets, in what was known as
Armory Hall.

The early records show that the board of
education was composed of six meml)ers, who
were elected from two districts. District No.
1 was located in the southern part of the city,
while District No. 2 was in the northern part.
Each district elected three trustees.

In January, 1867, the board took the first
steps for purchasing six lots on the north side
of 'Santa Clara Street, between Sixth and.
Seventh streets, for the location of a new
schoolhouse, and during that year the mayor
and common council, together with the board
of education, purchased the site and adopted
plans for building the Santa Clara Street
schoolhouse, which was subsequently called
the Horace Mann School. This building was
occupied by both the high and grammar
schools, and on August 18. 1868, the board of
education prescribed the first course of study
for the high school, which was as follows:
Wil.son's Fifth Reader, Russell and Murdock's
Vocal Culture, Robinson's High .\rithmetic,
Robinson's Elementary Algebra, Korles'
Grammar, Warren's Physical Geography,
Quackenbote' Philosophy, Quackenbos' His-
tory U. S., Wilson's Larger Speller, Cutler's
Anatomy. Wood's Rotany, Porter's Chemis-
try. Robinson's Elementary Geometry, Pay-
son and Dutton's Bookkeeping. The high
school course of study was for two years. On
January 17, 1870. the board of education au-
thorized the teaching of Latin in the high
school. In 1871 the board of clucation pre-
scri.lied as a course of stu(h- lUr the liigji scIkihI

the following: Reading, spelling, English
grammar, physical geography, arithmetic, al-
gebra, ph3'siology. U. S. history, natural phil-
osophy, bookkeeping, rhetoric and astronomy.
There were then but two years in the high
school course, and in 1873 the first formal
graduating exercises took place, diplomas be-
ing awarded the graduates. In this class there
were eight who received diplomas. Their
names were : Kate Tower, Mary Bowman,
Belle Churchill. Frances Freeman, M. C. Har-
ris, Angelo Heinlen, William Lucky and
Charles Moore. In 1877 the course of study
was increased from two to three years, and in
1897 it was extended to four years.

In 1897 a new school building was erected
on Washington Square to meet the demands
and requirements which were so urgent at
that time. This was a three-story building,
constructed of brick and stone, which was
shaken down and demolished by the earth-
(|uake of April 18, 1906. The destruction of
the Iniilding made it necessary to accommo-
date the high school in the Lincoln school
building, which was done by holding half-day
sessions for the grammar and primary school
and a half-day session for the high school.
From and after the destruction of the high
school building in 1906 to the end of the school
year 1907-08, work in the high school was ar-
duous and unsatisfactory, both on the part of
the teachers and students, but by hard, per-
sistent and patient labor, the school was kept
well together, and for the year 1907-08 the
largest class in the history of the school was
graduated from it.

After the high school building had been
wrecked by the earthquake the board of edu-
cation immediately began to make its plans
for building a better and more up-to-date high
school to meet the demands and needs of the
times. They resorted to a bond election and
the citizens of San Jose, by an overwhelming
vote, bonded the school district of San Jose
for $175,000 in the first issue for bonds for
the building, and an additional $20,030 for
furnishing and equipping said building, as well
as laying out the grounds and sidewalks. The
board was particularly fortunate in the selec-
tion of Mr. F. S. Allen of Pasadena as archi-
tect of this new building. The plans, arrange-
ments'and equipment are very elaborate and
complete', and the citizens of San Jose may
rightfully boast of now having one of the
best high schools in California. On Thursday,
June 18, 1908, the first exercises were held in
the new building, when a class of one hundred
students were graduated from the high school,
the exercises being held in the new auditorium.

Diu'ing the summer montlis the finishing
Iduches were put upon tlie l)uil(ling; furni-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

213

ture, apparatus and appliances were installed,
and on the opening of the school in Septem-
ber, 1908, there was a finely equipped high
school for the education of the boys and girls
of the city of San Jose.

Within the last decade the people of Cali-
fornia have come to recognize the expediency
of perpetuating this early style of architecture
and to see in it many advantages not found in
the ty])es of construction requisite in more se-
vere climates. Many buildings, bnth public
and private, are now patterned ;iftcr the ideas
of the Mission Fathers. Tliis i^ p;irticu!arly
true of the public schools, wliuli. \\ itli their
large rooms and the necessity cif wide and ex-
tensive passages, lend themselves most admir-
ably to this manner of building.

The San Jose high schmd is ]ierhaps the
first high school building constructed on the
university plan. It consists nf fi\e sejjarate
and distinct buildings, so grduju-d and con-
nected as ti> l(irni nnv general whole. The
administration building, witli its massive tow-
ers, is the central feature: on either side are
the classical and science buildings; at the rear
of these are the domestic science and manual
arts buildings. They are all of the same type
of architecture, with rough cement ]daster ex-
teriors and red tile roofs, and are connected
by three cloisters. One of these runs through
the towers between the east and west en-
trances and is crossed by the other two wdiich
extend from the classical and science build-
ings to the rear end of the group. Each of
these two side cloisters leading to the side en-
trances of the assemlil)- hall in the main Iniild-
ing. The east cloister als(] passes an open
court around which are located the \arious
departments of the manual arts building.

Beyond the front gateway is a patio about
150 feet square, with broad concrete walks
leading to the front buildings. The three great
arches between the towers form an entrance
to the main cloister, which stretches away to
the right and left, nearly 150 feet in either
direction. iMdui this cloister a stairway
ascends to the offices of the department of ed-
ucation in the west tower. The location of
these offices is so arranged that they in no
way connect with the high school proper.

From the main entrance three large double
doors open into the assemljly room. This
room is 112 feet in length and 97 feet in ex-
treme width ; it has a slanting floor one-half
its length and is capable of seating 1200 peo-
ple in opera chairs. It has seven pairs of
outside double doors, two exits from the ends
of the stage and one through the library con-
necting on the right through a large archway.
Five hundred of the opera chairs have tablet
arm rests for study purposes and the room is

provided with reference reading tables and
chairs. The 200 ceiling lamps are so arranged
next to tlie arches as to shed a soft, mellow
light toward tin- stage, permitting no light to
shine directl\- in the e\es of tlie audience. The
floor of this' room, as' well as of all the other
rooms in the first story, is a peculiar kind of
asphaltum imported from Germany, and is
laid upon a heavy concrete base. It is water,
fire and \ermin proof, is easier to walk upon
than wood or concrete, and embodies the high-
est points cjf sanitation. The rooms of the sec-
ond story are floored with polished Michigan
hard maple.

In the principal's oflice stands a large, espe-
cially designed I'riek master clock, which au-
tomatically rings the bells for class changes
and operates the secondary clocks in the vari-
ous rooms, affording synchronized time
throughout all buildi.ngs. This clock auto-
matiealh- silences all bells from Friday even-
ing until Alonda)- niornint; and controls the
current for charging the stcirage battery from
\\ hich the energy is obtained for operating the
clocks and bells. The storage battery is
charged from the 110-volt alternating lighting
service by means of a Sirch rectifier, and is the
first installaticm of this kind ever used for this
purpose.

This building, though only one story in
height at first, was so planned that a second
story was added, thus giving six additional
class rooms. It contains the sewing and cook-
ing rooms, with their special furniture ;
kitchen, pantry, storeroom, a girls' dining-
room fitted with tables and chairs, a girls'
locker room fitted with steel lockers, and toi-
lets, also a shower l^ath room with seven show-
ers and ten dressing rooms. The walls and
ceilings of these rooms are all finished in white
enamel.

Besides numerous recitation rooms, the
classical building contains the women teach-
ers' room, the girls' rest room and the offices
of the principal. The two stairways are of re-
inforced concrete, while the interior walls are
of steel studding, metal lath and plaster, thus
making the building practically fireproof.
However, at numerous places in the hallways
are located fire hydrants and a fifty-foot length
of fire hose. They are connected with the ar-
tesian well and an electric pump. All class
rooms are provided with closets for books and
other necessaries, while the special rooms have
many supply closets and storerooms.

The laboratories are equipped with chests
of thirty-two small drawers for sundry sup-
plies, and each instructor's laboratory and the
principal's office has a sectional filing case for
students' papers, letters, catalogues, etc.

214

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

The manual arts building is located in the
rear of the science building, and, like the do-
mestic science building, was at first one storv
in height, but was raised an additional story,
adding nine more class rooms. It contains an
office for the department, a bench and lathe
room for wood working, metal and machine
room for metal working, two recitation rooms
and a supply room ; also the boys' locker and
bicycle room, with toilets, and a shower bath
room with twelve showers and twenty dress-
ing rooms, which, like those of the girls' side,
have their walls and ceilings done in white
enamel. Here also is located a small office for
the use of the school paper published by the
student body, and a boys' lunch room with a
long lunch counter running from end to end.

The science lecture hall, the four science
class rooms, the large assembly hall and the
class rooms for history jind English literature
are all equipped with currents for lantern use:
the windows of these rooms are darkened with
oj)aque black shades.

In the principal's outer office is located the
central office of a modern telephone exchange
which connects with all rooms of the five
buildings and was the gift of the architect.
There are also intercommunicating phones be-
tween the science department, stage and boiler
room, that can be used when the central ex-
change is closed.

The electric plant which supplies lights and
the different kinds of power for pumps, fans,
air compressor and experimental work at the
instructors' and students' tables in the eight
science laboratories and science lecture hall,
is believed to be one of the most complete of
its kind ever built. The power is obtained
from a 2300-volt alternating three-phase cur-
rent and runs from the street through an un-
derground iron conduit to a strictly fireproof
transformer room adjoining the boiler room.
Here it passes through three large transform-
ers and enters the house as 110 and 220-\()lt
alternating and three-phase current.

The fireproof boiler house, with white en-
amel walls and ceilings, is located in the rear
of the main building and contains two large
oil-burning boilers that supply steam through
an eight-inch main to the 8.000 feet of steam
coils that stand in front of the two great steel
ventilating fans, which by the aid of two ten-
horse electric motors, supply the buildings
with nearly 4.000,000 cubic feet of moderately
heated fresh air per hour. There are over 500
feet of electric lighted concrete air tunnels
leading away from the fans. The ventilating
of the toilet rooms, shower bath rooms and
chemical laboratory is independent of the main
system.

One of the late improvements to the high

school is a large two-story building, located
on the southwest corner of the square, east of
the main building, which is used for the com-
mercial department and the gymnasium.

Besides the high school there are nine gram-
mar schools in San Jose. The buildings are
practically all new, those not new having been
modernized in every particular. Three-fourths
of the school rooms of the city schools are
of convertible open-air design, having open-
air windows from the floor to the ceiling on
one side of the room and French doors en-
closing the entire opposite wall of the room.
Practically every elementary school owns the
entire block upon which the school is situ-
ated. The board of education adds $10,000
worth of playgrounds into the department
each year regularly. Teachers are selected by
an examination conducted by four principals
and the superintendent in the elementary
schools, and in the high school upon the rec-
ommendation of the principal of the high
school, the head of the department concerned,
and the city superintendent of schools. The
maximum salary paid in the grades amounts
to $1,560, and in the high school $1,900, with
$2,100 for elementary school super\isors and
$2,400 for elementary principals.

Physical education has been developed to a
considerable extent, having four teachers of
I)hysical education in the high school and at
least one teacher in each elementary school
especially equipped to lead in this work.
Thirt}' minutes have been added to the ele-
mentary school day in order to give sufficient
time to physical education. The high school
has a gymnasium and swimming pool, which
are used by three thousand difi^erent students
each week, including day high school students
and evening high school students, and elemen-
tary pupils on Saturdays.

The schools have had medical examination
for ten years, with a school physician and med-
ical and dental clinic. The board of education
has purchased free eyeglasses for those who
needed them, and in some cases it is furnish-
ing free milk for those suffering from malnu-
trition. Clothes and shoes are furnished to
those who need them in order that they may
attend school. Stammering and stuttering
inipils are given special attention. Cafeterias
are operated in the high school and in one ele-
mentary school.

There is a kindergarten in each elementary
school, and in 1921 there was added an e.xtra
kindergarten in each school where foreign
children predominate. The school system has
a school librarian conducting her work along
the lines adopted by the county librarian.
Practical education is carried on to a consider-
able extent both in the grades and the day

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

215

and evening high schools. About one-half of
the teachers engaged in this line of work come
from the trades, and the other half are school
men and women prepared to do this work.
Thirty-three hundred and ninety-six students
were enrolled in the evening high school in
1921 with an average night attendance of 700.
This work will be nearly doubled for the com-
ing year, according to present plans. In the
classes of Americanization the foreign-born
purchased $65,000 of bonds and thrift stamps,
which was, on the average, more than the reg-
ular American citizen purchased. Sixty-two
of the foreign-l)i)rn of this class entered the
army, not because they were drafted, but be-
cause of a desire to fight for American ideals.
There are twelve teachers, Mrs. Nellie Chope
is principal.

The school department on March 9, 1820,
submitted to the voters a proposition to bond
the citv for $400,000 for high school purposes
and $300,000 for the elementary schools. The
bond issue was carried by a seven-to-one vote.
It was necessitated by the fact that the Ijoard
of education desired to largely extend tech-
nical and physical education, and liecause the
number of pupils had increased from 3639 to
9557 during the past twelve years, while the
number of teachers had increased from 116
to 251.

Twenty-five large class rooms, a study hall
and eight immense concrete shops were built
at the high school in 1921, while a whole square
block was purchased for playground purposes.
The following lines of work are taught in the
Polytechnic high school, which occupies half a
block on San Fernando Street between Sev-
enth and Eighth : Woodwork, electrical work,
auto construction and repairing, carpentry and
building, lumber and ]3laning-mill work, sheet
metal work, and oxygen and acetylene welding
and cutting. At each elementary school a
large addition, comprising in most cases eight
rooms, has been built. Over $100,000 worth
of elementary school playground have been
added. Lunch rooms and indoor gymnasiums
have been provided at each school. All new
rooms that have been built are convertible
open air in type.

The appraised value of the high school plant
in the spring of 1920 was $600,000. The ex-
penditure (if the $400,000 raised bv bond issue
increased the valuation to $1,000,000. The
grammar school buildings and lands are val-
ued at $736,000.

The average high school attendance in 1922
was 1934. R. B. Leland is the principal.
There are twenty-four regular and thirty-five
special teachers. The grammar school, kin-
dergarten and special teachers number 168.

Following are the names of the city super-
intendents of schools since 1860: R. P.

Thompson, Rev. L. Hamilton, W. Tonner, D.
S. Payne, W. C. Hart, [. M. Littlefield, Chas.
Silent, W. B. Hardy, E. A. Clark, J. O. Haw-
kins, L. J. Chipman, J. G. Kennedy, J. B.
Finch, A. W. Oliver, J. G Kennedy, L. F. Cur-
tis, F. P. Russell, A. E. Shumate, Alex. Sher-
ififs, W. L. Bachrodt.

The State Teachers' College

The State Normal School, now the State
Teachers' College, was established by an act
of the Legislature, May 2, 1862. It was lo-
cated in San Francisco and opened its doors
with thirty-one pupils. Its usefulness in
providing efficient teachers for the public
schools of the state was at once recognized,
and in 1876 an apiir.-pnatiMii was made for
the erection of suitalile luuldnigs. One of the
most memorable battles ever witnessed in the
legislation of the state took place on the ques-
tion of selecting a location for this institution.
Nearly every county in the state offered a site
and some of them large subsidies in money.
San Jose offered Washington Square, contain-
ing twenty-fi\e acres, for the use of the state,
and the ntfer was accepted. A large and fine
wooden Ijuilding was erected under the super-
intendeiicy of Theodore Lenzen, the architect.
This l)uilding, with all its contents, including
furniture, library, apparatus, museum and
charts, was burned to the ground, February
11. 1880. The Legislature was then in ses-
sion and a bill was immediately introduced
for an appropriation to rebuild, the school in
the meantime occupying rooms in the high
school building. An effort was made to change
the location of the institution and the fight of
1S70 was renewed. But San Jose was again
successful and an appropriation was made
witii which another and stronger building was
Cdnstructed. This building was used until
tiie earthquake of 1906, when it was so greatly
damaged that its demolition l^iecame a ne-
cessity.

The new building was completed in 1910.
It is situated on the iMiurth Street side of the
Niirmal campus, with its entrance opposite
San .\ntonio Street. The structure is two-
storied and is laid out in the form of a quadran-
gle. The building is an adaptation of the Mis-
sion style of architecture and is made of re-
inforced concrete, covered with gray plaster,
trimmed with brick and roofed with red tile.
The quadrangle, whose extreme length is over
400 feet and whose extreme width is about
250 feet, is composed of three main divisions,
united by continuous open arcades, an upper
and a lower. To the right, on the approach
from the gates, is the science wing of the
building: to the left is the library. The two
sides of the quadrangle are connected at the
rear by the administration building, and in

216

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

front by a single arcade, open on both sides.
In the center of this are three arches, a little
higher than those of the rest of the arcade,
which form the entrance to the buihJing.

Passing under the central arch, one enters
the great court. On either side rise the cen-
tral arches of the upper and lower arcades.
The latter are plain concrete archways, while
the former are supported by pillars of stained
Oregon pine. Directly in front, a little to the
left of the entrance to the administration build-
ing, rises a tall Gothic tower. The lower floor
is a locker room for the girl students, while
the upper is occupied by the preceptress.
Where the library wing meets the adminis-
tration building is a large room devoted to
the first and second grades of the Training
school. Above the library are large reception
rooms and special rooms of various kinds. In
the center is one of the most beautiful rooms
in the building. It has great arched windows
which, on the north side, form a bay. This is
the music room. Then there are the society
rooms and the drawing rooms. In the science
wing are recitation and lecture rooms, with
seats arranged in tiers. On the lower floor is
the kindergarten. In the basement are en-
gine rooms and store rooms.

As adjuncts of the teaching departments
are the Short Story Club, organized in 1904
I)V Dr. Henry Meade Bland; the Men's Club,
the Psychology Round Table, the Art Club,
the Dailean Society, the Mandolin Club, the
Newman Club, theY. W. C. A. and the Bas-
ket Ball Association, Sappho Club, Athenian
Socitety, Eurosophian Society, and Browning
Club. Basket ball and tennis courts are on
the campus.

The Training school has a faculty including
eight department supervisors, four assistants,
librarian and special supervision of domestic
science and penmanship. About 600 children
are in attendance. In addition to the regular
subjects there are classes in typewriting,
printing, home problems, household science
and decoration, cooking, sewing, manual train-
ing, physical training, including folk dancing
and military drill, and primary handwork.
Classes in the violin and piano give children
further opportunities, and the Training school
orchestra adds its part, A minimum of one
year's teaching of one period a da}- is required
of all except experienced teachers and univer-
sity graduates. The minimum for experienced
teachers is one term of twelve weeks, and for
university students, tv^'O terms.

One of the important departments of the
Normal School is the library, which for the
most part was the work of Miss Ruth Royce,
who for thirty-five years was the librarian,
leaving office in 1918. In her hands the library

grew from a small number of books to a col-
lection of over 18,000. She was succeeded by
Helen Evans, whose competency was quickly-
recognized. The arrangement of books in the
library is known as classification. There are
many kinds, but here the decimal classification
of Melvil Dewey is used. -This classification
divides all knowledge into ten parts — general
work, philosophy, religion, sociology, includ-
ing economics, education, etc. : philology, nat-
ural science, useful arts, including agriculture,
domestic science, etc, : fine arts, literature,
histor}', including geography, travel and biog-
raphy. All books of the history of San Jose
are found together on the shelves. There is
a collection of standard books for children and
also a department for the Training school.

Another noteworthy department is the kin-
dergarten, directed by ]Miss Isbe! O. Macken-
zie. It prepares teachers for the kindergarten
and first grade. The rooms are located in the
extreme south end of the main building, af-
fording a southeasterly exposure. Plenty of
light, air and sunshine make an attractive and
wholesome setting for the fifty or more little
ones who spend three and a half hours of their
day here, to afford the would-be teachers an
opportunity for practice teaching. The furni-
ture and decorations conform to sanitary
standards. Growing plants and flowers ar-
ranged and cared for by the children give a
standard to the students which is worthy of
being emulated by the kindergartens of the
state. The magnificent school grounds,
planned in 1870, seemed to have been designed
by men of vision for the future generations of
children. The kindergarten teachers, as well
as the students, gather under the trees for
recreation and work. Another kindergarten is
an experimental school of the most approved
type and is conducted in a building of its own.
Gas stoves and dining room equipment in one
of the rooms give opportunity for the re-living
of home activities. Social instincts are
stressed through self-organized groups in the
arrangement of the luncheon and tlirough the
cooperative work done in the various com-
munity problems. The large materials afford
opportunity for the physical and social devel-
opment of the child. Individuality is expressed
in the choice of materials. The Stanford-
Binet tests are given to obtain the mental a.q-e
of the child, and daily charts are kept on file
for each child. Concentration and initiative
are emphasized at all times. In Miss Mac-
kenzie, a teacher of long experience and broad
sym]3athy and understanding the kindergarten
has as director one of the ablest in the State
of California.

The state branch school has as jiresidcnt
Dr. William West Keni]), who assumed of-

HISTORY (3F SANTA CLARA COUNTY

fice on July 1. 1920. He succeeded Dr. Mor-
ris Elmer Daily, who died July 5. 1919. after
havins: served as president for nineteen years.
Between July. 1919. and July. 1920. L. P..
Wilson, the vice-president, acted as president
pro tern. A temporary assembly and gym-
nasium and a cafeteria are amon.sf the latest
impro^-eme^ts. The course of study eml^iraces
everythino- necessary for the instruction of
i;tudents who desire to be teachers. It em-
braces, art. mathematics, music. Eng^lish,
physical training, history, bookkeeping, house-
hold arts, kindergarten, drawing, agriculture,
geography, zoology, physiology, industrial
arts, expression, psychology, civics, pottery
and manual arts. The teaching force numbers
sixtv-si.x. The average attendance of students
for the year 1919 and 1920 was 300.

The conversion of the Normal School into
a State Teachers' College took place in 1921.
The first term in October showed an attend-
ance of 800. the largest of any similar institu-
tion in the state. The institution having at-
tained college status ofifers in addition to the
regular courses, junior college courses. Plans
for a new building have been adopted and the
conditions for the home economics and manual
arts departments will soon be bettered. The
last named department will have courses in
auto construction and repair, electrical wiring,
plumbing, tinning, machine shop practice,
foundry work, pattern making, cabinet mak-
ing, carpentering, printing and mechanical
drawing. The new building will face Seventh
Street.

College of Notre Dame

The massive buildings and beautiful grounds
of the College of Notre Dame, standing in the
heart of vSan Jose, in no way indicates the
small beginning from which they si>rung. In
184'^ a band of devout Sisters estalilislied a
mission school in the Willamette Vallev, Ore-
gon. In 1851 other Sisters of the order start-
ed frot-a Cincinnati to join in the work on the
Willamette. They were to come by way of
the Isthmus and Sister Loyola of Nouvain
and Sister T.Iary of Nismes. came down from
Oregon to San b'rancisco to meet them. Find-
ing they would l^e compelled to wait some
time for the arrival c,f the vessel from Panama,
these Sisters accepted the hospitality of Mar-
tin Murphy, of Mountain View. Thev looked
thniugh the valley of Santa Clara and were
charmed with its natural Iseauties and ad-
vantages. At this time Father Nobili was lay-
ing the foundations of Santa Clara College.
He suggested that the Sisters establish an edu-
cational institution in San Jose and the sug-
gestion was supplemented by the urgent en-
treaty of Martin Murphy and other citizens.
The Sisters were easily ])ersuaded. They

chose the present site for their building, pur-
chasing at first a tract of ground 101 34 by
]57y2 feet. There was no Santa Clara Street
tlien and no improvements near the tract. San
Jose had but twenty-six houses and they were
nearly all on Market Street or further east.
The L,ri-, mud was ijrown up with mustard and
\veeils. tlir(i:it^li which an acequia. or water
ditoli. fidweil slu',''gishly. Having made their
choice of location the Sisters did not delay
their work. Levi Goodrich, the architect, was
empKn-ed. and in August. 1851, the school was
in oj)eration. From this small beginning has
arisen one of the great Catholic educational in-
stitutions in the L^nited States. The founda-
tions for the present main building were laid in
18.^4. Mr. Kcruin was the architect, but hav-
ing buildings under his direction in course of
construction in other places, was not able to
give proper attention to the San Jose build-
ing. In consequence the chapel wing of the
structure would have been a failure, had not
Sister Loyola come to the rescue, and as archi-
tect and overseer, calculated all the details.
In 1855 the college was incorporated by the
State Legislature and subsequently the same
body so extended the original charter as to
confer all the rights and privileges of col-
legiate institutions in the United States. In
1862-63 the main building and the eastern
wing were completed. Tlie latter runs back
to a depth of 250 feet. The west wing is 103
feet deep.

In 1866 Levi Goodrich erected the select
school. In 1869 Theodore Lenzen continued
the building and in 1876 Mr. Readney made
the last addition and erected the day school.
In 1900 the secondary department was accred-
ited to the L'niversity of California, which
lirivilege entitles its certified graduates to ad-
mission without matriculation examinations,
to the State and Stanford Lini\-ersities, to any
^^'estern college and to the State Normal
schools.

The grounds of the college are spacious,
artistically laid out and ornamented by choice
shade trees, shrubbery, flowers and lawns. It
is generally conceded that the college ofifers
ideal conditions to the earnest student and is
a paradise of opportunities for the lover of
nature. The calm atmosphere in which the
students dwell, in the midst of beautiful en-
\ironment, the harmony of regularly recurring
duties, the beauty and sublimity of the liturg-
ical year, all are potent factors in deepening,
rounding and refining character.

The aim of the college is that of Christian
education, as understood by the Catholic
Church, not only in intellectual but in moral
development. While maintaining a high stand-
ard of study, the formation of character is the
main object of the teaching given.

218

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

The college has a farm house and orchard
on the Los Gatos road. Thus supplies of
egj^s, vegetables and fruit, are daily avail-
able. Notre Dame Villa, a charming estate,
comprising 100 acres on the picturesque hills
of Saratoga, adds a delightful recreation re-
sort, health factor and natural botanical gar-
den, to the resources of the college.

The health of the students is an object of
constant solicitude. Plain and wholesome fare,
beautiful and extensive grounds, which af-
ford opportunity for frequent exercise, fre-
quent walks and excursions to points of inter-
est— all conduce to develop and preserve
health and strength. The students are also
provided with out-door gaines, including ten-
nis, basketball, volleyball and other athletic
amusements. Daily open air drills in physical
culture are given, and no student is relieved
from physical training unless by written re-
quest from her physician. In case of sickness
the students are given the best medical at-
tendance and care in well-kept infirmaries.

To well-equipped buildings, laboratories, li-
braries, etc.. the college adds the advantages
accruing from opportunities to hear lectures
in literary and scientific subjects by notable
lecturers, as well as season concerts by world-
famous artists. For class instruction and reci-
tation the stereopticon and the balopticon are
employed with most satisfactory results. As
before noted the estate at Saratoga offers in-
valuable opportunities for field work in the
natural sciences. Excursions of this nature
are likewise made to points of scientific in-
terest in the valley.

The government is mild but firm, as the
happiness and mental development of the
students are closely connected with good or-
der. As the Catholic religion is professed by
the members of the college, the exercises of
religious worship are Catholic, but students
of any denomination are admitted, provid-
ed they are willing to conform to the general
regulations of the school.

The institution embraces the following de-
partments : The Collegiate, consisting of the
College of Letters and Social Science and the
College of Music ; the Secondary, including
four years of work preparatory to the Col-
legiate course. Graduating honors are award-
ed to students completing the work of this
department; the Preparatory, including the
work of the grades. Students completing this
department receive certificates ; the Commer-
cial department includes thorough courses in
bookkeeping, commercial law, commercial
arithmetic and correspondence, typewriting,
stenography and stenotypy; diplomas are
awarded.

The Notre Dame Ci.llege of Music— a de-

partment of the college — has, from its com-
mencement up to the present time, maintained
the highest standard of eflfort in this special
educational field. The most distinguished art-
ists of the season for concerts in the commo-
dious Notre Dame Hall, are secured yearly.

College of the Pacific

The College of the Pacific is the oldest in-
corporated educational institution in Califor-.
nia. It was granted a charter by the Supreme
Court July 10, 1851, under the name of the
"California Wesleyan College." The board
<if trustees at its first meeting, August 15,
1851, voted to change the name to "The Uni-
versity of the Pacific," and the Legislature
sanctioned the change in a new charter granted
March 29, 1852. The institution was known
by this name until July 24, 1911, when, in ac-
cordance with the changes in its plans and pur-
poses, the name was again changed by court
proceedings to the College of the Pacific.
Until 1871, when it was removed to its pres-
ent site, the University of the Pacific was lo-
cated in Santa Clara.

In the late '50s the University founded the
first medical school in the state. This was
afterwards incorporated as the Cooper Med-
ical School of San Francisco. The school
was later acquired by the trustees of the Le-
land Stanford Jr. University and now forms
its medical department. In 1896 Napa Col-
lege, situated at Napa, Cal., was consolidated
with the University of the Pacific and its grad-
uates are now enrolled among the alumni of
the College of the Pacific.

The college was founded upon coeduca-
tit)nal principles and women are admitted on
precisely the same footing as men. In equip-
ment and teaching force the college is pre-
pared to give thorough instruction of colle-
giate grade, to maintain high standards of
scholarship, and in every way to carry out its
aim to be a college of first rank, limited in its
attendance to 500 students. It is located at
College Park, a suburb of San Jose, on the
main line of the Southern Pacific Railway and
aliout ten minutes' ride by electric car from
either San Jose or Santa Clara. The campus
is two blocks from the old Mission road, the
Alameda, now a part of the State Highway
between San Francisco and Los Angeles, one
of the most beautiful residence avenues in the
state.

The beauty and fertility nf the famous Santa
Clara Valley, with its invigorating climate,
give the surroundings of the college a pleas-
ing and attractive aspect. The camjjus com-
mands a view of both the Santa Cruz and Mt.
Diablo ranges, which lie on ether side of the
\alley. Twenty-eight miles away is Mt. Ham-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

219

ilton, on the summit of which, reached by one
of the finest and most picturesque drives in
the state, stands Lick Observatory.

In the spring of 1910 the college trustees
purchased a tract of seven acres on the Ala-
meda, two blocks distant from the old campus.
Additional land, adjacent to this property, was
later acquired. The president's home is now
located on the new campus. Plans have been
made to erect additional liuildings there as
need may require.

There are seven buildings on the college
grounds. East Hall is a three-story brick
Iniilding. The east wing of the third floor is
used as a dormitory for men. The remainder
of the building contains class rooms, labora-
tories and library. South Hall was once used
entirely as a dormitory for women. Owing to
the growing needs of the conservatory, it is
now ])artially adapted for the use of conserva-
tory teachers and students. The Conservatory
of Music is a large and well-appointed build-
ing erected in 1891. It contains an auditorium
with a seating capacity of 1,000. the offices
of administration, teaching and practice
rooms, and also the well-situated and pleas-
ingly furnished rooms of the two of the wom-
en's literary societies, Emendia and Sopho-
Icctia. Helen Guth Hall is a beautiful dormi-
tory for women. The building is modern, well
equipped and furnished, and provides a com-
fortable home for the women living on the
campus. The gymnasium is constructed in the
same style of architecture as the dormitory for
women. It is situated in a eucalyptus grove
and has a floor of standard size for athletic
contests. It has well-appointed rooms and
shower baths and is fully equipped for phys-
ical training work. It also has an excellent
stage for student productions. The Jackson-
Goostall Observatory houses the astronomical
instruments, the college safety vault and the
office of the Pacific Weekly. Seaton Hall is a
new building erected in 1915 to replace Cen-
tral Hall, which was destroyed by fire. It con-
tains the kitchen, an attractive dining room,
rind a spacious and beautiful social room for
the use of all the students. The president's
house is a fine structure on the Alameda at
Emory Street.

The equipment is up-to-date and extensive.
The burning of West Hall in June, 1914, de-
stroyed practically the entire library of the
college. But the insurance funds, supplemented
by additional appropriations and generous
gifts from many friends, have furnished the
college with a new and up-to-date library. It
contains over 9,000 volumes and valuable ac-
cessions are being constantly received. It is
now housed in the second floor of East Hall.

The entire ground floor of East Hall is oc-
cupied by the science departments. The phys-
ics laboratory occupies a well-lighted room
fitted with necessary tables, and furnished
with gas and electricity. There is a good
equipment in mechanics, heat, electricity,
light, and sound for the general course in ex-
perimental physics. The chemical laborato-
ries have lieen rearranged and considerably
enlarged. The fume hoods have been re-
placed by a commodious outdoor laboratory
having long tables furnished with gas and
water. There are three laboratories, a balance
room, a store room and a dark room. The
biological laboratories are provided with the
niost modern student equipment to be ob-
tained and are particularly well located for
ready access to fresh and living material in
great variety and al)undance. The geological
laboratories are well equipped. They ofi^er
for study a collection of fossils, a complete set
of the ^Vard series of casts, and a good supply
of minerals, rocks, topographic maps, and lan-
tern slides.

The Observatory is furnished with a six-
inch equatorial telescope, a four-inch portable
telescope with altitude and asimuth mounting,
a transit and zenith telescope, sextants, and
other necessary equipment. The six-inch tele-
scope was manufactured by Ahan Clark &
Sons, and is furnished with all necessary ac-
cessories, such as a driving clock, finely di-
vided circles, filar micrometer. The transit
and zenith telescope, manufactured by Messrs.
Fauth & Company, is of the pattern exten-
sively used on the U. S. Coast and Geodetic
Survey. These instrunrents aflford ample fa-
cilities for the study of practical astronomy.

During the summer of 1910, a new pipe or-
gan of exceptionally fine concert type, of three
manuals, with all the latest improved mechan-
ical attachments and combinations, was built
for the Conservatory of Music by the W. W.
Kimball Company of Chicago. It is the larg-
est pipe organ in any Conservatory of Music
west of Chicago and one of the largest pipe
organs in California. To meet the needs of
the increasing pipe organ classes, a two man-
ual pipe organ, formerly belonging to the First
Methodist Church in San Jose, and given to
the college by that church, was entirely re-
liuilt, and is installed in the College Park
Church adjacent to the campus.

The college stands for moral culture and
the growth of character. Its government rests
upon the principle that self-control is the cen-
tral power in a highly developed life. Rules
are few- and simple and are designed to protect
and assist the students in making the most of
their college life. The social life of the col-
lege is pleasant and helpful. Friendship is

220

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

fostered between the faculty and the students.
In general the students are given such free-
dom as will not interfere with their class work
or allow them to lose sight of the fact that the
primary object of attending college is study.

Students are admitted to the college with-
out condition as to religious belief or church
membership. But all patrons, whatever their
views concerning religious doctrines and social
usages, are e.xpected to recognize the spirit
and purpose of the college as indicated in its
history, and to cooperate in promoting its en-
deavors in the field of education. Unless ex-
cused for good reasons, students are required
to attend assembly exercises, not only because
these exercises consider the spiritual needs of
the college community, but also because they
conserve the unity of student life, and give an
opportunity for announcing college events and
promoting college interests. Students are ex-
pected to attend church at least once each
Sunday and to observe the day in a proper
manner.

The courses of instruction include ancient
languages, philosophy, history, religion, poet-
ry, astronomy, biology, zoology, ])hysiology,
botany, embryology, neurology, bacteriology,
chemistry, assaying, economics, geography,
commerce, psychology, pedagogy, engineer-
ing and applied mathematics, geometry, Eng-
lish, German, French, geology, graphic arts,
music, physics, public speaking. Old Testa-
ment history, Spanish and lectures.

An adjunct of the college is the College
Park Academy, J. William Harris, principal, a
preparatory or high school department of the
college. It fits for college entrance in the
classical, scientific and engineering depart-
ments.

The number of students, accredited to the
college in 1922 is as follows : College of Lib-
eral Arts, 350; Conservatory of Music, 173;
School of Art, 41; School of Expression,, 52;
Academy, 73; repeated names, 211. Tully
Cleon Knoles, A. M.. D. D., is the president of
the college and under him are forty-five
instructors.

In 1921 an offer from Stockton for the re-
moval of the College to that city was accepted.
It will be some time, however, before the new
buildings for the College can be erected.

Other Institutions

Prior to the earthquake of April 18, 1906,
St. Joseph's grammar school was maintained
in a building at the rear of St. Joseph's
Church on the northeast corner of Market and
San Fernando Streets. The 'quake did such
damage to the building that a removal to an-
other place became necessary. A site was pur-
chased at the northeast corner of Park Ave-
nue and Vine Street, the grounds running to
the corner of Locust Street. On the tract two
large buildings, one for boys and one for girls,
were erected. The school is now conducted
by the Brothers of St. Mary and Rev. Father
Adam, S. M., is in charge as principal. In ad-
dition to the regular high school and gram-
mar courses, with their moral and religious
influences, there are fine playgrounds, two
moving picture outfits, a wireless system of
telegraphy and a spacious auditorium. It is
the intention to provide in the near future a
wireless telephone station. There are fifteen
rooms in each school with laboratories, dor-
mitories, etc. The pupils of both schools
nvunber 700. In the girls' grammar school
the eighth grade graduates are entitled to ad-
mission to the College of Notre Dame.

The Church of the Holy Family (Catholic)
maintains a convent at 136 Vine Street. Here
the Italian contingent find everything neces-
sary for religious and scholastic work.

In the matter of private schools San Jose
is provided with Heald's Business College, the
Garden City Business College, several Con-
servatories of Mvisic, the International Corre-
spondence School, and many small schools of
music, dancing, elocution and dramatic ex-
pression. There are ninety-one public schools
in the county, outside of San Jose. Miss
Agnes Howe is the County Superintendent,

CHAPTER XXII.

The Public Utilities of San Jose — The Early Service of the Gas and Electric
Companies — The San Jose Water Company and Its Sure and Steady Pro-
gress—The Street Railways In and Out of the City — The Post Office.

In 1860 San Jose was large eni)ugh to war-
rant the introduction of illuminating gas. On
October 6 of that year James K. Prior,
Thomas Anderson and James Hagan formed
the San Jose Gas Company. This corporation
had a capital stock of $21,000 and the period
of existence was fixed at forty years from
the date of the filing of the certificate. Gas
was first lighted in the city on January 21.
1861. It was supplied to eighty-four custfim-
ers. There were seven street lights. The
price of gas was ten dollars per 1000 cubic
feet. The sales of gas for the first year
amounted to 165,000 cubic feet. Railroad com-
munication between San Francisco and San
Jose was not estalilished until 1864. Before
that date coal was brought to Alviso in sailing
vessels or in barges and from Alviso landing
to San Jose, a distance of nine miles, over
roads which were in bad condition at all seas-
ons of the year and during wet weather were
impassable owing to the overflow of streams
which enter the bay at or near Alyiso. Dur-
ing the periods of overflow the coal used for
gas making was carried from Alviso on pack
mules. It is recorded that often these mules
with their burden of coal woidd be swept
away by the torrent while fording some
stream and both mule and coal lost beyond
recovery. So there is ])rol)a1)ly quite a de-
posit of coal and mules some\vhere in the
Alviso flats.

The first gas holder built in San Jose
had a capacity of 8000 cuImc feet. The mater-
ial used in the construction of its tank was
redwood planks three inches thick. This gas
holder was in continuous use for twenty-eight
years. When torn out in 1888 the redwood
tank was found tn l)e in as good condition as
when it was built. Some cif these very red-
wood planks were used in the construction of
buildings about the gas works.

In 1865 a special committee of the city
council made an investigation of the business
and profits of the San Jose Gas Company. The
report showed that the original investment in
1860 was $21,000; that during the first five
years of its existence the total expenditure for
betterments, materials and labor was $5.3,637.-
93; that the receipts from gas spies during
that period amounted to $75,617; that the
founders of the Company had divided in divi-

dends $19,979.52, or about the equivalent of
the original investment. Amended certificate
of the incfiriioration of the San Jose Gas Com-
pany was tiled I'eliruary 25, 1879. The cap-
ital stork \\a^ increased to $600,000, divided
into 6000 shares of $10 each. The com]iany
had no liabilities.

On February 25, 1882, the San Jose Brush
Electric Light Company was organized.
Term, fifty years; capital stock, $100,000.
Directors, James A. Clayton, Pedro de Saisset,
Thomas Rea, T. S. Whipple, San Jose ; Geo.
H. Roe. San Francisco.

The articles of incorporation of the San
Jose Brush Electric Light Company were
amended May 16, 1887. Power was given to
purchase, lease and sell lands, tenements and
hereditaments.

The incorporation of the Electric Improve-
ment Company took place on March 30, 1887.
Place of business, San Francisco ; capital
stock, $5,000,000, divided into 50,000 shares of
$100 each. Directors. Frank Butterworth,
August J. Bowie, Jr., Louis T. Haggin, San
Francisco; W. H. Howard, San Mateo; Fred-
eric Sharon, Belmont; Henry C. Dreger. As
an offshoot of the above named company, the
Electric Improvement Company of San Jose
was incorporated. Alarch 29. 18S'», with a cap-
ital stock of $100,000, .lividcd mto .5000 shares ■
of $20 each. The directors were C. W. IMc-
Afie, T. C. Van Ness, A. J. IL.wie, San Fran-
cisco; and H. J. Edwards and James W. Rea,
of San Jose.

The San Jose Light & Power Company
was incorporated June 20, 1889. Term, fifty
years; capital stock, $1,000,000, divided into
10,000 shares of $100 each. Directors, Chas.
Otter, H. H. Kooser, E. W. Clayton, Chas. A.
Hagan, H. J. Edwards, C. T. Ryland, Amasa
Eaton.

The San Jose Lighting Companv was incor-
porated lune 3, 1895. Term, fiftv ^•ears : cap-
ital stock, $250,000. Directors, Chas. F. Wil-
cox, Joseph R. Patton, \\'. H. Sumner, R. L.
Stock and J. J. Sontheimer. On February 1,
1904, the place of Inisiness was changed from
San Jose to San Francisco.

July 1, 1902, the Electric Improvement Com-
pany and the San Jose Light and Power Com-
pany were acquired by the United Gas and
Electric Company. In merging these two

222

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUXTY

companies, a lease of the building on Market
Street, formerly occupied by the Evening
Herald, was acquired. There was also a con-
centration of all the gas interests of the new
corporation on San Augustin Street on the
former site of the San Jose Light and Power
Company. At that time the intention was to
build a high-pressure pipe line up the penin-
sula as far as San !\Iateo, Init the project was
never undertaken.

Many names familiar to the gas men of the
Pacific slope were connected with the busi-
ness of gas lighting in San Jose. The late
Chas. W. Quilty. who was the second vice-
president of the Pacific Coast Gas Association,
was for many years president of the San Jose
Light and Power Company; and the late
Harry J. Edwards, aiTectionately spoken of
by his friends as "'genial Harry Edwards,"
w'as intimately connected with the lighting in-
terests of San Jose almost from the inception
of the business. He was the manager of the
Electric Improvement Company and after-
wards manager of the United Gas and Im-
provement Company, and the district manager
of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company until
his death in 1*309. James K. Prior remained in
the gas business in San Jose until March,
1899.'^

After a few years of business the United
Gas and Electric changed its name to that
of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. In
1909 the company moved into new and more
commodious quarters at the southwest cor-
ner of Second and San Antonio Streets.

In February, 1917, the Jones improved oil
generator, a vast improvement on the old
equipment of generators was installed at the
gas works. The superintendent of the gas
works is Robert E. Hargreaves, who has oc-
cupied that position since 1904. John D. Kus-
ter, a man of force and an extremely popular
citizen, succeeded Harry Edwards as manager
of the Pacific Gas and Electric Compan}-. He
was formerly manao^er of the Pacific Gas and
Electric Company's Dranch at Fresno.

San Jose Water Works

'l"hc San Jose Water Company, afterwards
the San Jose \\'ater Works, was organized
November 26, 1866, by Donald Mackenzie and
John Bonner, of San Jose, and R. Chabot, of
Oakland, with a capital stock of $100,000.
The city of San Jose and the town of Santa
Clara granted the company exclusive privil-
eges for the term of twenty-five years. To
carry out the ])lan of the owners, tanks were
constructed, engines built, and the city of San
Jose was sup])lied with water from artesian
wells. At the end of twd years the supply
thus obtained was found insuflicient for the

growing wants of the community, therefore
the right to use the water of Los Gatos Creek
was obtained. A new company was formed
in 1868 with the capital increased to $300,000.
The officers were: N. H. A. Mason, president;

D. Mackenzie, vice-president ; \V. B. Rankin,
secretary; C. X. Hobbs, superintendent, and

E. McLaughlin, treasurer.

On the formation of the new company, work-
to bring the waters of Los Gatos Creek to San
Jose was begun. Reservoirs were made and
pipes laid throughout the city, thus affording,
for those times, a generous supply of water.
Since that time other water rights have lieen
acquired.

The equipment consists of the water from
Los Gatos Creek and its tributaries, and
Campbell Creek, besides a number of reser-
voirs, and is placed in divisions. The main
surface supply of Los Gatos Creek is used for
the San Jose division. The Los Gatos town
system derives its main surface supply from
Beardsley Creek and Cavanagh Creek. The
Saratoga system depends on the high-line
system operating on the hill sides between
Los Gatos and Saratoga. In case of emer-
gency Saratoga can draw on Beckwith Springs
for surface supply. The stored water consists
of the Lake Ranch reservoir, Howell reser-
voirs (2) for San Jose and Los Gatos ; for
supplementarj- supply to San Jose there are
five pumping stations as follows: main station
in the rear of the local office on Santa Clara
Street, between the two bridges, with a capa-
city of from 6,000,000 to 9,000,000 gallons per
day ; station No. 2 on Monte Vista Avenue,
near the O'Connor Sanitarium, with a capa-
city of from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 gallons per
day; station No. 2>, at Seventeenth and Santa
Clara Streets, with a capacity of from 3,000,000
to 5,000,000 gallons per day ; station No. 4, on
Bascom Avenue, with a capacitv of from
2.000.000 to 3.000,000 gallons perday, and sta-
tion No. 5. at Cottage Grove, with a capacity
of 1,500,000 gallons per day. The supplement-
ar)' su]3pl\' of Los Gatos consists of two pump-
ing stations, one at the Tisdale residence, ca-
])acitv 800.000 gallons per dav, and the other,
called the hill well, with a capacity of 100,000
gallons per dav. There is also the .Alum Rt)ck
station, wliich' has a capacity (,t 100.000 gal-
lons per (lay.

The Company has about 14.0U0 subscribers.
All the surface water is filtered through sand,
then treated to a weak solution of chlorine —
two parts to a million gallons of water — so
as to kill typhoid and other disease germs.
No case of typhoid or other contagious di-
sease has ever been caused by water supplied
by the San Jose Water- Company. The water,
therefore, which is used liv the consumers.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

223

is absolutely pure. The company maintains
its own laboratory and after tests have Ijeen
made, samples of the water are sent to the
State University as a check upon the San Jose
analysis.

The annual report of the president f(jr 1919
shows that the year closed with a surplus of
revenue over expenses and (li\idends of
$11,950.60. In addition to this increase there
was carried to the reserve known as premium
on capital stock, $7,725,000, thus making a
total of $19,675.60 increase in these accounts.
As on December 31, 1919, the company had
no accounts payable on its books, and as all
outstanding notes had been paid from sales
of stock, the San Jose Water Works was then
and now is, out of debt. The present offic-
ers are : Joseph R. Ryland. president : Paul S.
AA'illiams, vice-president; H. S. Kittredge, sec-
retary, and J. B. Harmon, assistant secretary.

During 1919 the total revenue amounted to
$256,460'. 16: total expense, $134,841.09. Profit
for the year from operation, $121,619.07; divi-
dends for vear, $111,276.00; interest, $6,162.-
75; total. $117,438.75. Increase in surplus
from operation, $4,180.32. The assets and
liabilities for the vear were : assets, $2,243,-
626.61 ; liabilities, '$2,24^626.61. Under the
head of liabilities is placed the capital stock,
$1,009,100.00. The net assets are given as
$2,089,810.34, showing that surplus of assets
over par value of stock, is $80,710.34.

The Street Railroads

The Legislature of California in Alarch.
1868, granted a franchise to S. A. Bishtjp.
Charles Silent, Daniel Murphy, D. B. Moody
and their associates to construct a horse rail-
road along the Alameda from San Jose to
Santa Clara. Messrs. AlniKly and Murphv.
having declined to avail themselves of the
franchise a new directorate was organized.
S. A. Bishop was elected president, fohn H.
Moore, treasurer, and Charles Silent, secre-
tary. Work was first started August 31, and
the cars made their initial trip on November
1. In 1869 the line was e.xtended eastward
along Santa Clara Street to the Coyote bridge
and afterward across the bridge to' McLaugh-
lin .\venue. In 1887 the company obtained a
franchise from the city and constructed San
Jose's first electric road.

The First Street Railroad was built in 1870
by S. A. Bishop, and was the first narrow
gauge street railroad track laid in the United
States. Its original route was from the San
Pedro Street depot, along San Pedro, Julian
and First Streets, to Reed Street. Bishop
sold his interest to F. C. Bethel, who sold to
Geo. F. Baker, and he to Jacob Rich. Under
Rich's management the rt)ute was changed to

conform to the general system of street rail-
roads so as to run from the Market Street de-
pot along First Street, Willow Street and
Litacoln and Minnesota Avenues in The Wil-
lows.

On February 11, 1876, the board of supervis-
ors and the mayor and common council of San
Jose granted a franchise to C. T. Bird. Chas.
B. Hensley, John Auzerais, F. J. Saufifrignon,
J. C. Bland. Oliver Cottle. Isaac Bird, F.
Brassy. T. W. Spring. James R. Lowe, R. C.
Sivan and S. Newhall. to establish a street
railroad. The enterprise developed into the
Market and ^\■illow Glen Railroad Company
and was incorporated February 23, 1876, with
J. J. Denny, John Auzerais, Isaac Bird, F. ].
"Sauffrignon and C. T. Bird as directors. C. t.
Bird was president, John Auzerais, treasurer,
and F. Brassy, secretary. The route origin-
ally authorized was from the intersection of
Julian and ^Market Streets, along Market. San
FcrnaiKlo. San Salvador and Bird Avenue to
Willoxv Street. When the First Street Rail-
ro.-id extended its line down Willow Street,
the road was discontinued from the corner of
Delmas southerly. The route was afterwards
changed so that it ran from the depot at Mar-
ket Street along Market. San Fernando and
Delmas Avenues. This action was taken af-
ter the road had passed to the control of Jacob
Rich.

The mayor and common council of the city
of San Jose granted to the Southeast Side
Horse Railroad Company on February 26,
1877, a franchise for a narrow gauge road, to
Jacob Rich. C. G. Harrison, W.'"S. AIcMurtry,
J. G. McMillan and S. W. Boring. The offic-
ers were: Jacob Rich, president, and S. W,
Boring, secretary. The same parties after-
wards procured a franchise for a narrow
gauge roa-d, taking for its starting point the
corner of Second and San Fernando Streets
and running thence to Market and Santa Clara
Streets; on Santa Clara street to the Alameda,
and thence to the town of Santa Clara. The
Southeast Side Company deeded all its fran-
chises to the new corporation, nained the
People's Horse Railroad Company. The road
is no longer in operation as originally laid out.
After a short service it was taken over bv
Jacob Rich.

In the '90s all the roads in San Jose and
running out of it were controlled by Jacob
Rich and J. H. Henry, the latter succeeding
S. A. Bishop, who had passed from earth.
Bishop was a man without enemies. Every-
body liked and respected him. He radiated
good humor and was greeted with smiles
whenever his short, roly poly figure waddled
up Santa Clara Street. Before coming to
San Jose he had been manager of the great

224

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Beale ranch, with headquarters at Fort Tejon.
Indians were numerous and hostile during
the last few years of his management, and he
had many exciting experiences with them.
One story of thrilling adventure he was never
tired of telling. As the historian remembers
it, he said that while he was one day looking
for stray cattle, a band of Indians suddenly
appeared on the trail in front of him. In at-
tempting to escape, his horse was shot and
killed. ''I had a rifle," he went on, "but after
I had dropped a dozen of the redskins my am-
munition gave out. I cast aside the rifle and
occupied myself in dodging arrows until a
section of my ear was nipped off. Then I
turned tail and ran like a whitehead. But I
didn't start running until I had picked from
the ground the section of ear clipped of? by
an arrow. I had the presence of mind to do
that, for if I came out of the rumpus alive I
knew I could get one of the boys at the fort
to sew the piece on again. Well, I hot-footed
it for a near by canyon, hoping to find there a
cave or some' rocky shelter. No such luck,
for I soon bumped up against a wall and found
myself in a regular cul-de-sac. No thorough-
fare beyond, high rocky wall in front and on
one side, and on the other side a vertical preci-
pice half a mile in depth. I knew I was ui>
against it. so I proceeded to say my prayers.
As I prayed the Indians approached cau-
tiously, but wdien they saw how I was fixed
they let out a series of yells that actually froze
the blood in my veins. Then they made a
rush for me, each Indian with a big carving
knife in his hand. I believed I was looking
death in the face, so I shut my eyes and wait-
ed for the end. Yes, I shut my eyes — "
Bishop would always stop at this point and
shiver. "Well," . an excited listener would
ask, "how did you escape? What did the In-
dians do?" "they killed me," would cumc
the calm reply and then Bishop would laugh
until the tears came.

After operating his road for many years,
Jacob Rich got into financial difficulties. The
German Savings Bank of San Francisco took
over the First Street and Willows road and
J. B. Harmon for a time tried to operate the
horse railway in the second ward. Finally
L. J. Hanchett secured control of all the city
roads, uniting them under the Peninsular sys-
tem. In the meantime, the old horse railway
line which ran along Fifth Street to Empire,
along Empire to Fourteenth and thence to
Mission Street was discontinued and standard
gauge electric roads had been extended along
Julian Street to the Coyote. Hanchett sold to
the stockholders of the Southern Pacific Rail-
road Company, and the}- named the San Jose
system, the San Jose Railroads. These stock-

holders also purchased the out-of-town inter-
ests of all the street railway companies, in-
corporating under the name of the Peninsular
Railroad Company, with Frank E. Chapin as
superintendent. Now, San Jose has street rail-
ways in every direction and country railways
running to Berryessa and Alum Rock Park,
and along Santa Clara Avenue, and an inter-
secting street to Toyon station, on the east;
to the Willows, Los Gatos, Campbell and
Saratoga on the south ; to Cupertino on the
west, and to Santa Clara, Los Altos, Palo
Alto, Mayfield and Stanford University on the
northwest.

San Jose is connected with practically every
town and resort in the county with railway
service. The Santa Clara Valley has a net-
work of railway tracks, lines radiating from
San Jose in every direction. The San Jose
Railroads System has nearly one hundred
miles of track.

The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Com-
pany has its offices in a new two-story con-
crete building on Market Street, near San Fer-
nando. It has over 14,000 subscribers and
its wires reach every city, town and village
in the county. H. \\'inkle is the manager.

San Jose Post Office

The first mail communication established in
the United States between San Jose and the
outside world was in^ April, 1847, when As-
sistant Quartermaster-General J. L. Folsom
established a weekly mail between San Fran-
cisco and Monterey by way of San Jose. Prior
to this time, under Mexican and Spanish rule,
the only means of communicatiim had been
by mounted messenger.

Under the postal system established by the
military authorities, Jacob D. Hoppe acted
as postmaster. Mr. Hoppe was a native of
Maryland, and came to San Jose from Mis-
souri in 1846. He was a member of the firm
of Hoppe, Hawkins & Company, wdio kept a
general merchandise store in a small frame
building on South Market Street. In 1850 the
firm built a new two-story adobe building on
the northeast corner of Market and Santa
Clara Streets. The post office was moved to
a room on North Market, in the rear of the
store. John R. Wilson, S. A. Clark, V. Staley
and Judge R. B. Buckner were employed in
the store and assisted with the mails. Hoppe
was a prominent figure in the early history
of San Jose, and his place of business was
headquarters for the local politicians. Be-
sides being postmaster he held the office of
town councilman before San Jose had arisen
to the dignity of a cit}^ government. He was
also a member of the Constitutional Conven-
tion and of the second citv council in 1851. It

HISTORY OF SANTA .CLARA COUNTY

225

is said that he decided the destiny of San Jose.
When he was about to build his new adobe
block he took a fifty-cent piece from his' pock-
et, threw it in the air. and said : "Heads, San
Jose; tails, Santa Clara." The coin came
down heads and the block was built in San
Jose. So great was his popularity that an old
pioneer said that the whole town would have
followed him to Santa Clara if the coin had
shown tails. He was killed in April, 1853, in
the explosion of the steamboat Jenny Lind,
about four miles from Alviso.

John R. Wilson was the second postmaster
of San Jose, having been appointed by Presi-
dent FiUniore, August 7, 1851. S. A. Clark
was A\ils(in^ dejuity. At the time of Wilson's
appdiiUnient jmstage was forty cents per half
ounce, pre]ia\ tncnt l)cing optional with the
sender. Shortly after his appointment the
pony expre,-^ \\a> established and overland
postage was rechued to ten cents. Wilson
resigned in 1S3J. and removed to Alviso,
where he was en;;aL;ed for several years in the
warehouse business. Then he returned to
San Jose, his death occurring a number of
years ago.

In the latter part of 1852 Arthur Shearer
was appointed postmaster, holding the office
about one year. The office was removed to a
building on Santa Clara Street, where the
.'Kuzerais House now stands. At this time
there was a monthly overland mail and a
weekl}- mail from San l-'ranciseii and Mon-
terey. The next postmaster was .Major John
Patrick, a nati\e of Arkansas and a veteran
of the Mexican War, lie died in 1869. Dur-
ing his lenn the otiiee was moved to South
First Street, opposite El Dorado Street.

Gen. Charles E. Allen was appointed post-
master July 15, 1856, and chose Ralph Lowe
as his deputy. Tlic office was again moved,
this time to A\'e^i Santa i^'lara Street, near
Market. Allen \\a. a pioneer of 1849. He
was the first county assessor, afterwards
county judge, and in 1855 was commissioned
brigader general of the First Brigade, Second
Division of the California Militia. He declin-
ed the reappointment as postmaster tendered
him by President Buchanan, but remained in
charge of the office until his successor was ap-
pointed b\- President Lincoln in 1861.

Simon M. Cutler succeeded General Allen
in July, 1861. He was the first postmaster of
the new Republican party. He renio\eil the
post office to South Market Street. He died
in 1868 and his brother, James M. Cutler,
acted as postmaster until 1869. Ttidge Chas.
G. Thotnas was the next appointee. The of-
fice was moved to South First Street, opposite
El Dorado Street. The business of the office
increased until it became necessary to employ

four clerks. Judge Thomas, who had been
justice of the peace prior to his appointment
as postmaster, died in 1875.

President Grant appointed Dr. E. A. Clark
postmaster in May, 1873. The increase in the
business of the oilice made it necessary to se-
cure more commodious quarters. The office
was moved to the corner of Santa Clara and
Market Streets, in the Hensley. afterward the
Rea, building, where it remained until [uly,
1888. Dr. Clark was a native of Ohio' and
came to California in ]85t), settling in Santa
Clara County. He had served as deputy as-
sessor of internal revenue, deputy county re-
corder and city superintendent of schools, re-
signing the last position to become postmas-
ter. He died in 1894.

S. B. Anderson was appointed postmaster
l)y President Hayes April 4, 1877. He had
served as deputy postmaster for ten years.
When the office was removed to the Hensley
block, the merchants of that vicinity subscrib-
ed a sufficient sum to pay the rent of the build-
ing. The money appropriated by the govern-
ment for rent was used entirely in the pay-
ment of clerk hire and incidental expenses.
The department did not approve of the ])ost-
master's action, and he was removed from of-
fice. Anderson was a veteran of the Ciyil
War, and has been dead for more than
twenty years.

Daniel C. Bailey succeeded Anderson, tak-
ing office in April, 1878. He was reappointed
by President Arthur, August 1, 1882, and
served until July 1, 1886. .After repeated at-
tempts Bailey succeeded in having a free de-
livery established October 1, 1885. The prin-
cipal objection of the department to the estab-
lishing of free delivery was the poor system of
street numbering then in vogue. Bailey imme-
diately took steps to have the houses and bu-
siness l)uildings renumbered, and finally se-
cured the a<loption of the present system! The
carriers were theti granted him. Bailey was a
nati\e of .Maine and came to California in
1831. He was in the grain business untl 1871
when he was elected county recorder. He
died several years ago.

Samuel H. Wagener came after Bailey, his
appointment by President Cleveland being
made in April, 1886. He had never taken an
active part in politics and his appointment dis-
pleased the politicians and bettered the ser-
vice. He retained efficient clerks and car-
riers and all his appointments were made on
merit. During his term the office was remov-
ed to the corner of First and San Antonio
Streets. Wagener was a druggist. He came
to San Jose in 1877, after having served as
treasurer and mayor of Muskegon, Mich. He
has been dead many years.

226

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Dr. Thomas Kelly was commissioned as
postmaster by President Harrison May 1,
1890. During his term the office became first
class and the civil ser\ ice rules were extend-
ed to all free delivery offices. Dr. Kelly was
a veteran of the Cixil ^^'ar, and died a few
years after the expiration of his term of of-
fice.

John W. Rvland, appointed postmaster
August 24, 1894. died in 1922. He was a na-
tive San Josean, was educated in Santa Clara
College and Hastings Law School, and was
admitted to the bar in 1879. He was a Demo-
crat and was a candidate for state senator in
1886, running in a Republican district and
losing by only six votes. In 1892 he was de-
feated for Congress, although he carried his
own county against a usual Republican ma-
jority of five hundred. The appointment as
postmaster came to him without solicitation.
Few postmasters have met with so many
difficulties as did Mr. Ryland. Before his time
much of the clerical work had been done by
carriers, while the eight-hour law governing
carriers' time, had never been strictly en-
forced. The Post Office Department issued
orders that this law must be enforced : also
that carriers must not perforin any clerical
work. To provide for the performance of this
work and at the same time maintain the effi-
ciency of the local service, Mr. Ryland found
it necessary to reorganize his office and also
rearrange his carrier routes. In doing this he
made many improvements, the most import-
ant of which was the deli\ery of the afternoon
mails from San Francisco nearlx' an hour ear-
lier than had been the custom.

Maj. W. G. Hawley was the next postmas-
ter. He received his appointment from Presi-
dent McKinley in 1898 and served until his
death, September 4, 1912. From that date un-
til October 16, 1912, I. A. Ball was the acting
postmaster. On October 16 John R. Chace
received a recess appointment, which lasted

until July, 1913. when Byron Millard, post-
master until June. 1Q22. received a regular
ai)])ointment "frum President Wilson. Mr.
Millard made a most efficient officer. He
carried through many imi)ro\-ements and the
office for nine years was one of the best ap-
pointed and best managed in the state. The
receijits for the calendar year 1921 were $233,-
048.79. In 1920 the receipts for the year were
,S214.647.44: in 1899, $49,201.57. I. A. Ball, a
veteran in the service, is the assistant post-
master. In April, 1922, Millard was succeeded
by John R. Chace, who took charge in June.

The post office is now located at the south-
east corner of Market and San Fernando
Streets, on the site of old Chinatown, destroy-
ed by fire in 1887. During the congressional
campaign of 1888 Hon. Thomas J. Clunie pro-
mised the voters of San Jose that if they
would send him to Congress he Avould secure
an appropriation for a post office building for
the city. He was elected and kept his pro-
mise, securing with the aid of Senator Hearst
and Hon. W. M. Markham, an appropriation
of $200,000. The ground cost $39,4.S4.67.
The cost of the building, which is built of
sandstone, was $138,852.21. leaving a balance
of $21,693.12.

The basement of the building is used for
the heating and ventilating apparatus. In the
south end is a room where the bulky articles
of the parcels post are routed and distributed.
The first floor is used entirely by the post of-
fice and consists of one large room, money or-
der and registry rooms and departments for
general delivery and parcels post. The two
large rooms on the second floor are for the
use of the internal revenue officers and the
Government Weather Bureau, the latter di-
rected for many years by Maurice Connell,
one of the survivors of the Greely Arctic Ex-
pedition. He died in 1921 and was succeeded
hv E. S. Nichols.

CHAPTER XXIII.

The Clubs of San Jose's Men and Women — Daughters of the Revohition —
The Carnegie Library and the Free County Library — The American
Legion — The County Pioneers — Sainte Claire Club, etc.

San Jose can show as lartje a numlier iif
Women's Clubs as any city of its size in the
Union, for the women of the city are intelli-
gent, cultivated and refined, and if they do not
arrogate so much to themselves as do their
sisters in Boston or Philadelphia they are
found as eagerly pressing on in the paths of
art, literature and music.

The San Jose Woman's Club is the largest
of these organizations, its object being to pro-
mote acquaintance, good-fellowship and coop-
eration among the women of the city and vi-
cinity, and to furnish a civic center where
questions of importance to the community
may be freely discussed and acted upon in the
hope of promoting the interests and welfare
of all concerned. The club was born in 1894,
and the work is done in departments. The
charter list of membership was, at the start,
left open for one month. At the expiration of
that time the enrollment showed forty names.
The number steadily increased until the mem-
bership reached 200. During the great F.uro-
pean war, the number dwindled ti. inu' hun-
dred and fifty, but after In .stilitics had ceased
there was a steady gain in membership. The
club has never lost sight of the ideals u[)on
which it was founded and is recognized as a
power for good in the community. Its motto
is : "All for one and one for all."

In 1897 the club joined the General Federa-
tion of Clul^s and in 1900 became affiliated
with the State Federation. During the first
three years of its existence the directors serv-
ed in turn as president, and in 1898, Mrs. Ste-
phen A. Jones was elected as its first regular
president. She served two years, and was fol-
lowed by Mrs. E. O. Smith, the founder of the
club, in whose fertile brain was conceived the
plan for a club house and the division of the
work into departments of civics, music, art,
literature, travel and social and household
economics. This arrangement has continued
to the present time. At the beginning of Mrs.
Smith's second term of office her health failed,
and the vice-president, Mrs. W. C. Kennedy,
was obliged to carry on the work For the
two years following, Mrs. Kennedy was the
jjresident, and it was during her inctmibency
that the money ($4000) was raised by enter-
tainments for the building of the present club
house on South Third Street, now Santa

Clara. It was also during this period that an -
auxiliary to the club was formed. This con-
sisted of the daughters of the members, who
were permitted to use the club hovise for their
meetings. About fifty young ladies responded
and their chili, which later was named To Ko-
lan. came into being. In apjireciation of her
labors, Mrs. Kennedy, upon retiring from of-
fice, was elected an liMiKuary niemlier.

Mrs. Alex. I'. Mnn^ntten scrxed as presi-
dent, 1904-06; -Mrs. W. B. Hill. 1906-08; Mrs.
Viola Price Franklin, 1908-09; Mrs. A. A.
Fowler, 1909-11. It was during Airs. Fowler's
administraton that the club took up the mat-
ter of incorporating as a body, the original in-
corporation of a part of the club as a "Club
House Association," not having proved satis-
factory. The by-laws were amended and the
whole club was reincorporated under the name
of "The San fose Woman's Club."

From 1911 "to 1912. Mrs. J. V. Haley served
as president. The following came in turn :
Mrs. C. E. Randall, 1912-13; Mrs. O. P.
Slnnut, 1913-14; Mrs. T- E. Hancock. 1914-15;
.Mr.s. Fred Schumacher, 1913-16; Mrs. Paul
.Clark, 1916-17; Mrs. N. [. Grev. 1917-18; Mrs.
S. Wills and Mrs. A. D. Grant, 1918-19; Mrs.
F. H. Easty, 1919-20; Mrs. Eva E. Stahl,
1920-21.

The chfbs in the Count}' Alliance are as fol-
lows : Manzanita Club, founded in 1884, Mrs.
■Milo P. Phelps, president; The Monday Club,
founded in 1904. Mrs. Fred Fehren, president;
Out-Door Art League, founded in 1904, Mrs.
J. W. Davy, president ; The -Art History,
founded in 1883. Mrs. Nicholas Bowden, pres-
ident; To Kolan Club, organized in 1902,
president, Mrs. Willard Hayden : Willows
Reading and Study Club, organized in 1S"*7,
Mrs. J. R. Henwood, president; .^linrt .^tury
Club, a branch of the Pacific Short Story
Club, organized in 1911. Mrs. W. C. Kennedy,
president ; Santa Clara W^oman's Club, found-
ed in 1904. Mrs. A. E. Osborne, president;
The Shakespeare Club, of Santa Clara, Miss
Laura Mills, president ; Mountain \'iew W' Om-
an's Club, Miss Emma Ste\ens. ijresident;
County Woman's Club. Campliell. Mrs. J.
Fred Smith, president; Morgan Hill Wom-
an's Club. Mrs. Giles Bradley, president ; Sun-
nyvale W'oman's Club. Mrs. Sophie Durst,
president ; Palo Alto Woman's Club, Mrs.

228

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Emily S. Dixon, president; Gilroy \Voman's
Club,' Mrs. Catherine T. Ryan, president.

Besides the County Alliance there is a
County Federation of Clubs, composed of the
following: Manzanita Club, San Jose Wom-
an's Club, Santa Clara Woman's Club, Palo
Alto Woman's Club, Mountain View Wom-
an's Club, To Kolan, Perdita Circle, Los Ga-
tes; History Club.

Other clubs not affiliated with the San Jose
' Woman's Club or tke County Federation are
The Fortnightly, founded in 1899, Mrs. J. D.
T. Tuthill, president; Sempervirens Club, A.
P. Hill, president, and ]\Irs. W. C. Kennedy
and Chas. \\'esley Reed, honorary presidents ;
the Chautauqua Circle, Miss Lulu Blanchard,
president: The Art History Club, Mrs. Nich-
olas Bowden. president; The Eastern Star,
Mrs. A. E. Dickenson, worthy matron; the
different circles, guilds, societies and alliances
of the churches; the Parent-Teachers' Asso-
ciation of the public schools ; the Y. M. C. A.,
Y. W. C. A., the Y. M. L and Y. L. L; the
different courts, the different Parlors of the
Natiye Sons and Daughters, the Women's
Relief Corps and the Congress of :\Iothers, and
many others.

Newman Hall and Club

In 1904 Archbishop Riordan furnished the
money for building Newman Hall for the
Catholic girls attending the State Normal
School. The location is on South Fifth Street
near the corner of San Fernando Street and
close to the Normal grounds. It is a hand-
some, imposing structure, an adaptation of the-
Roman-Corinthian style of architecture, and is
admirably arranged for the purposes for which
it was constructed. It was Archbishop Rior-
dan's idea to proyide a place where 'the Cath-
olic Normal girls might meet to be further
instructed in the Catholic doctrine and at the"
same time haye a rest and club room. A
chaplain was furnished and when not engaged
in religious seryices the girls of the club —
for a club was formed — giye entertainments,
hear lectures and haye the benefit of the well-
stocked club library. There are eighty mem-
bers of the club and the finances are looked
after by the Catholic members of the Normal
alumni. Mrs. R. Johnson is president of the
student body. The upkeep of the institution is
in the hands of the Catholic women of the
city of San Jose.

Sainte Claire Club

There is no finer nor more picturesque
building in San Jose than the one occupied by
the Sainte Claire Club. It is situated on St.
John Street at the corner of Second, and was
built by Senator James D. Phelan in 1894.
The club was organized Noyember 15, 1888,

and for five years occupied rooms in the
Rucker l)lock. Dr. Pierce was the first presi-
dent and C. M. Wooster. secretary. In 1906
the new building was shattered by the earth-
quake, causing the club to seek quarters else-
where. In 1907, repairs haying been made,
the club moyed back to the old stand. The
membership at present is 100. Luncheon is
seryed every day. There are nine living and
bath rooms on the third floor, card room and
library on the second floor and social hall,
dining room and kitchen on the first floor.
The officers for 1920 were J. M. Parker, presi-
dent; K. H. Plate, vice-president; Chas. A.
Barker, secretary. Other directors, A. E.
Holmes, H. A. Pfister, James W. Findlay,
F. A. Wilder. Following are some of the
names of the deceased members : Hon. B. D.
Murphy, W. P. Dougherty, Judge James R.
Lewis, Col. A. K. Whitton, Ralph Lowe,
Peter Etchebarne, Isaac Loeb, Gabriel Loeb,
J. Naglee Burke, D. W. Burchard, James M.
Rucker, Dr. G. W. Seifert, Harry Edwards,
Peter C. Colombet, O. A. Hale, Judge Bond,
J. R. Patton, L. A. Sage, Capt. N. D'Oyly,
James H. Lyndon, W. J. Wilcox, Chas. Chap-
man, Hon. C. T. Ryland and J. F. Green.

Two of the above named, Hon. C. T. Ry-
land and Hon. B. D. Murphy, were able law-
yers and orators. In the late '70s the Demo-
crats controlled the State Legislature, hold-
ing 83 out of a total of 120 votes. A United
States senator was to be elected that year and
the candidates were C. T. Ryland. James T.
Farley, Alark McDonald and Niles Searles.
Ryland was easily the ablest of the candidates.
He as a San Josean of lofty intelligence and
scrupulous honesty. A native of Missouri, he
came to California when a boy of nineteen.
He drove a mule team across the plains and
arrived in California with only a few dollars
in his pocket, but his laudable ambition and
strong character soon led him into one good
position after another. He was clerk of the
Board of First Instance in San Francisco and
afterwards was private secretary to Peter H.
Burnett, first governor of California. He mar-,
ried the governor's daughter, was admitted
to the bar and in time rose to be one of the
leading business and political factors of the
state. His career as a lawyer opened in San
Jose, and after years of success he gave up
the law to enter the banking business. It
was thought by his many friends in San Jose
that he would have a walkover in the race for
the United States senatorship, but these
friends failed to take into account the fact that
he was not a wire puller and that he had pitted
against him some of the seasoned politicians
of the state. But he made a game fight and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

it took twenty-five ballots to decide the issue.
Farley winning without a vote to spare.

Hon. B. D. Murphy, of San Jose, was then
a member of the State Senate. He was not
a candidate for United States senator, but one
of his staunch friends, Hon. Tom Fowler,
who represented several counties in the San
Joaquin Valley, resolved to give Barney a
complimentary vote. Tom. a big. bluff \\'est-
erner. dealt in horses and talked "horse" from
morning until night. His nominating speech
was impromptu and Hon. John A. Hicks, the
San Jose realty dealer, who was then a mem-
ber of the Legislature and heard the speech,
says it was about the richest thing that ever
came out of the mouth of a California solon.
Fowler first likened Barney to a horse and. as
Hicks remembers it, he spoke somewhat after
this fashion :

"It gives me great pleasure on this momen-
tous occasion to place in nomination a thor-
oughbred who never had the blind staggers.
He sees straight and goes straight for what he
sees. He is gentle when handled right and if
she have the courage a lady can drive him. He
is neither wind-galled, spavined nor has the
heaves unless he is heaving some Republican
maverick out of his way. True, he will kick
up his heels when he feels good, but you may
bet your bottom dollar that he will never kick
over the traces. He is all wool and a yard
wide thoroughbred and he can trace his lin-
eage back to old Brian Boru who assisted St.
Patrick in driving the snakes out of Milpitas.
And. gentlemen, he is not a crib sucker, al-
though if he lands in the senatorial crib he
will make suckers out of all who oppose the
principles of our noble party. Look at him
and note that he measures up to the standard
set by those matchless steeds that have been
world beaters since the days of Alexander
Yoell. Moreover, and don't let the fact escape
your memory, he has horse sense, and that is
saying a good deal in these days of windy
rhetoric. And he'll stand without tying and
doesn't need any sugar to make him good, be-
cause he's good all through and all the time.
He doesn't need a cinch, though it's a cinch
that he'll make good, even if he has to take the
bit between his teeth. Take him, don't pet him,
for he'll do his work without petting, feed
him three times a day, and between meals if
you feel like it, for he is a good feeder and
will come a-running to the manger, and you'll
get more than your money's worth. Gentle-
men, I am proud to place in nomination the
Honorable Barney Murphy, of San Jose."

At the conclusion of the speech the great
chamber resounded to the laughter and ap-
plause of the assembled legislators.

Columbia Circle, C. L. S. C.

Chautauqua is represented in San Jose by
Columbia Circle. A\hich was organized in
1888. Airs. Harriet M. Newell was the first
president. Other ll^e^i(k■nts were Mrs. Addie
Garrigus. 1894-1900; :\Irs. Louisa George.
1900-06: Mrs. Mattie Herrington. 1906-07;
Mrs. Marv liaywards, 1907-08; Mrs. Maria
3.Iorse. 1908-09; Mrs. Ida Wadams, 1909-10;
Mrs. Sarah Baker, 1910-11; Mrs. Mabel With-
row. 1911-12; Mrs. Lulu Blanchard, 1912-20.
Mrs. Blanchard was reelected for another
year in 1920.

It has been the pleasant custom of the circle
to hold recognition exercises at the cldsc of
each year and graduate the class IniishinLV the
course according to the plan followed at Chau-
tauqua headquarters. This marks the conclu-
sion of four years' reading laid down by the
program of Chautauqua, and each year Colum-
bia Circle enjoys a day that leaves the final
hours of its stii<l\ a pleasant niemtiry to each
member. On Mimday. June 14. 1920.' the class
of that year, the eighlii to pass through the
"Golden Gate" of Mrs. l!lanchard's leadership.
was graduated. This class \\ as one of the
largest, number eight — Mrs. Flora Bates, Mrs.
Anna Candee, Mrs. Blanche Graham, Mrs.
Edith Jensen. :\Irs. Kate McChesney, Mrs.
Edna Mclntyre. :\Irs. I'.ltha Tamer, Mrs. Calla
Sherman. After a pni^rani nf s^'Ugs. recita-
tions and reading nf '"'Jlie ^'ear llocik." Mrs.
Blanchard, made her usual address, telling
hiiw much Chautauqua should mean to read-
ers and students and how much it had done
for her. She announced that five new readers
had been enrolled for the next year, the Euro-
pean year, and narrated some of the history
and aims of the organization.

Lecticonian Society

San Jose's first duly organized debating so-
ciety was the San Jose Lyceum. It was in
existence during the early part of the '70s and
was succeeded by the Lecticonian Society.
There are many San Joseans today who are
proud of the fact that they were once Lecti-
conians, for the organization which kept its
head above water for twenty-odd years, did
noble work as an educator. It turned out ora-
tors, statesmen and divines, and gave to busi-
ness and professional men the ability and con-
fidence to speak fluently and entertainingly in
public. Some of the old members were J. C.
Black, C. C. Stephens, J. M. Young, T. E. and
I. G. Kennedy, J- R- I'^ing, L L. Crittenden,
"M. H. Hyland, "L. F. Curti's, C. M. Short-
ridge, Chris Bergstrom, H. D. Burnett, A. C.
Blane. Geo. D. Smith, Alex. Underwood,
C. \V. Ouiltv. [. T. McLauren. Tom C. Barry,
Dr. J. L~ York.'E." T. Sawyer, W. Finley, H. C.

230

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and C. E. Gunn, John McNaught, John E.
Richards, R. J. Stevens, Holton Webb, E. J.
McCutcheon, E. K. Dunlap and J. E. Rymal.
Of these Barrv, Quiltv, Shortridge, the Gunns.
Dr. York are dead. Of the living, J. E. Rich-
ards is judge of the Appellate Court ; Black is
the dean of the San Jose bar : Stephens is a
leading lawyer of Los Angeles ; Bane is one of
the big oratorical guns of the First M. E.
Church : Underwood is a wealthy business
man of Monterey ; Smith is a San Jose lawyer
of fine attainments: Webli was justice of the
peace at Riverside in Riverside County, and
died over a year after being shot by an Italian
who had been defeated in a law suit. Hyland,
once Superior Judge is now a San Francisco
capitalist. The majority of the Lecticonians
had had little or no experience as speakers or
debaters when they joined the society, but con-
stant attendance and study made of them
speakers and debaters such as any county
would be proud to own. The society dis-
banded in the early '90s.

The Country Club

The Country Club, first known as the Golf
Club, was organized twenty years ago by a
number of business men who realized that
out-of-door sports should go hand in hand
with indoor amusement. A tract of land com-
prising eighty acres was secured near the
Linda Vista links on the Alum Rock road and
the Linda Vista Sanitarium was used as a
club house. The charter had the following
as charter members : T. Ellard Beans, Geo.
M. Bowman. D. M. Burnett, W. S. Clavton,
E. C. Flagg, Thomas A. Graham, A. D. CVant,
O. A. Hale, G. W. Henderson, Ralph W.
Hersey, A. C. Kuhn. S. F. Leib, J. C. Lewis,
L. L. Morse, L. G. Nesmith, Joseph R. Pat-
ton, Hotel Vendome, Guy Vachell. A. K.
Whitton, Philo Hersey and William Wehner.

In 1913 the club moved their quarters by
purchasing 613^ acres on exceptionally good
ground near the eastern foothills. .-Vfter wards
313^ acres were leased from Mrs. Gordon.
This tract adjoined the Country Club's land,
and the combined acreage and splendid situa-
tion made the golf links one of the finest on
the Coast, permitting a full eighteen-hole
course. On one of the hills, the most com-
manding one, a club house, up-to-date in every
particular was built at a cost of about $15,000,
The cost would have been much greater if the
lumber had not been purchased from J. A.
Chase, a lumber dealer and a club member.
Mr. Chase also designed the building. The
pipes were laid in two days by fifty club mem-
bers in overalls and jumpers. After their
work had been finished they were treated to
a fine lunch prepared by the lady members

and served on tables under spreading oak
trees. The present officers of the club are
\'. J. LaMotte, president; J. R. Chace, secre-
tary: First National Bank, treasurer; William
Hirst, manager of the club house. The mem-
bers number 350.

The Pioneers' Society

The California Pioneers' Society of Santa
Clara County was organized June 22, 1875,
with 274 charter members. The first officers
were Judge A. L. Rhodes, president; John M.
Murphy and Peter O. Alinor, vice-presidents;
.\lex. I'. IVIurgotten, secretary ; John H. Moore,
treasurer ; directors. Coleman Younger, Carv
Peebels, Davis Divine. A. Pfister and B. D.
Murphy. Of the charter members the secre-
tary is the only surviving member. The first
annual meeting was held in O'Donnell's Gar-
dens on June 22, 1876. At its first quarterly
meeting, held in September. 1876, in Music
Hall, Hon. David Belden delivered an address,
replete with droll humor and beautiful senti-
ment. Hon. C. T. Ryland was the speaker at
the next quarterly, December 20. 1876, and
English words were woven into a splendid
tribute to the pioneers.

Two memorable social events mark the his-
tory of the old-timers. The first was given
on September 8, 1877, to celebrate the admis-
sion of California into the Union. The Cali-
fornia Pioneers of San Francisco, Native Sons
and Mexican Veterans were invited guests.
The parade was one of the largest ever seen
in San Jose. It consisted of the Native Sons,
San Francisco Pioneers, and Santa Clara
County Pioneers. There were floats represent-
ing pioneer times, such as, "On an Emigrant
Train," and "The Steamer California," manned
by men who came on that vessel. A local ox
carried a pack of an old emigrant's outfit.
There was also a mining scene, "Working the
Claim." which was very realistic. To make
the parade seem real one of the valuable oxen
hauling the emigrants dropped dead while on
the march. At O'Donnell's Gardens, one of
the largest barbecues in the history of the
state was carried out successfully. In a trench
200 feet long, three feet deep and three feet
wide there were spitted twenty-seven hogs,
twenty-five sheep and sixteen beeves. Over
10,000 people were introduced to one of the
finest meals they had ever tasted. An English
guest said he had eaten the roast beef of old
England for forty year.s, but he felt that he
had never partaken real roast beef until that
Saturday. Uncle Ike Branham was the chief
cook and his assistants were A. Legarde, S.
O. Broughton, Henry Lux, D. A. Laddy. A. L.
Bascom, J. H. M. Townsend, Geo. Cross and
R. T. O'Hanlon. The next great event was

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

231

the State Inauguration Day, celebrated on De-
cember 20, 1899. and here the success of an
earlier day was repeated. It was the grand-
est celebration San Jose had ever had. Mayor
C. J. Martin was president ; Alex. P. Murgot-
ten, secretary ; Mrs. E. O. Smith, program dir-
ector, and Gus Lion, financial director : S. \V.
Boring, grand marshal. The old capitol was
reproduced and there were three days of joy-
making.

Many of the early pioneers have gone over
the range, but a few are left in the society.
In order to keep up the interest the member-
ship now includes all those who have resided
fifty or more years in California. At the last
annual meeting held at .Mum Rock Park on
June 5. 1921, officers for the ensuine term
were elected as follows : President, William E.
Gage; first vice-president, H. C. Morrell; sec-
ond vice-president, F. B. Kennedy ; third vice-
president, J. J. Sontheimer ; secretary, A. P.
Murgotten; treasurer, Mrs. A. P. Hill; aud-
itors, Mrs. M. H. Hermann. J. G. Glendenning,
C. C. Smith, W. D. Dampiiian, W. H. Law-
rence. Following is the list of active mem-
bers : W. C. Andrews, Chas. L. Adams, Mrs.
J. Appleton, H. W. Arbogast, J. Q. A. Ballou,
Mrs. E. D. B. Bradley, Mrs. Lulu Blanchard,
T. C. Black, L. A. Booksin, M. A. Boulware,
"Miss L. A. Brimblecom, J. B. Burrell, Mrs. E.
C. Best, \V. K. Beans, Otis Blabon, Dr. J.
iM. Bowen. \V. S. Clayton, Chas. Cable, Mrs.
J. R. Cornell, Geo. O. Comstock, J. B. Collins,
Harry W. Coe. Mrs. M. T. Daunes. H. A. De
Lacy, W. D. Dampman, Mrs. \V. D. Damp-
man. Chas. Doerr, Mrs. C. Dickson, Peter J.
Dunne. Mrs. L. -A. Erkson, Mrs. Mary A.
Estes, Mrs. L. .\. Fowler, Chas. Frost, Mrs.
Chas. Frost. Perlev F. Gosbey, J. D. Guerraz,
Chas. T. Givens, "j. W. Gould, H. Guerraz,
Miss M. E. Gordon, J. E. Gordon, J. G. Glen-
denning. Phil Herold, S. N. Herring, Mrs. S.
H. Herring, :\Irs. M. H. Herrmann, J. H.
Hamon, Mrs. J. H. Hamon. Andrew P. Hill,
Mrs. A. P. Hill, Mrs. Eliza Isom, Mrs. A. C.
Joseph. Mrs. N. A. Jennings, Mrs. Mary H.
January, A. ^\'. Kennedy, F. B. Kennedy,
Frank Kenj'on, J. A. Lovell, Mrs. Mattie R.
Lewis, A. B. Langford, Alex. P. jMurgotten,
Mrs. A. P. IMurgotten, H. C. Morrell, Mrs. H.
C. Morrell, Antone Matty. Mrs. Riley Montry,
Thos. Monahan, E. C." Munn, Mrs. E. C.
Munn, E. L. ^lood}', N. E. Manning. Archie
McDonald. Mrs. .\. McDonald, Mrs. A. W.
McDaniels. H. S. McClay, Mrs. E. McCrack-
en. Mrs. R. T. O'Hanion, Jacob Overton,
John F. Pvle, H. T. Pvle. Mrs. Mary J. Pyle,
F. G. Pyle, Mrs. M. Palmer, Mrs. E. H. Pot-
ter, N. .\. Pellerano. Henry A. Pfister, Leon-
ora Rider, John E. Richards, L. D. Stephens.
.■\lbert Schroeder, Fred M. Stern, Chas. D.

Sykes. S. P. Sitton, Mrs. J. E. Saulsbury, C,

C. Smith, Mrs. J. C. Selby, Mrs. M. E. Searles.
Mrs. S. M. Smith, Mrs. K. Travis, Mrs. J. M.
Tarleton, Mrs. C. M. Tennant, Otto F. Van
Dorsten, Mrs. Frances Verser, Mrs. L. J.
Watkins, E. H. Wemple, Mrs. J. C. Wool,
Mrs. G. F. Williams. H. J. Wallace, Mrs.
Chas. Doerr, Jasper S. Scott, Mrs. Frank Ful-
ler, W. J. Gartner, Gustave Nelson. Mildred
M. Overfelt, Irving P. Henning, Edward God-
frey, Matilda Godfrey, Mary E. Hatch, Nils
Anderson, Emily M. Hanson, Mrs. J. P. Hil-
dreth, Mrs. Mary St. me. Mrs. Otto Van Dor-
sten, Mrs. Sue J. Scyl)olt, Eugene Knicker-
bocker, Mrs. Flora |. Saxe, Chas. W. Kenvon,
Mrs. E. J. Kell. H. G. Dodds, -Mrs. M. E.
Pyle, Mrs. Mary Overfelt, O. F. G..hran-,nn.
W. F. Chipman, L G. Reid, John W idiuy. W".
E. Gage, Ed. Haley, IVIrs. Emma Laird, Mrs.
Luvena Selfridge, Mrs. Louise Collins, Geo.
Bray, O. F. Gohranson, Jr., Mrs. B. F. Lirt-
zinger, Mrs. M. J. Ashmore, Mrs. J. D. Guer-
raz, I\lary Z. Oakes, E. T. Sawyer. Charles

D. Svkes, former president, died on July 7,
1920,'at Boulder Creek.

The objects of the society are to cultivate
social intercourse ; to form a more perfect
union among its members; to create a fund
for charitable purposes ; to assist in burying
the dead and assisting the afflicted ; to create
a bond of regard and friendship among the
members of the society ; to establish a lib-
rary, collect minerals, relics, heirlooms, cur-
iosities and artick-s uf intrinsic and historical
value of pioneer days; to collect and ])re-
serve information concerning its members,
and other pioneers ; statistics and data of the
pioneer history of the county and state ; to
receive donations and bequests, to hold and
use the same so as best to transmit to future
generations a faithful and correct history of
the past, so as to maintain, as far as possible,
a continuity of historic narrative for the fu-
ture.

Harry Jubilee Bee. whose career has been
sketched in an earlier chapter, died in San
Luis Obispo in 1898. He was the oldest pio-
neer in California and he furnished much in-
teresting material to A. P. Murgotten while
that gentleman was publishing and editing
The Pioneer. Bee took a prominent part in
the first hanging of Americans in California.
In July. 1849, Bee and a number of San Jose-
ans were at work in the mines of Dry Creek,
near the upper fork of the American River.
The adjoining camp was occupied by a com-
pany of miners composed of Peter Haggerty,
of San Jose, a man named Gritifin, and five de-
serters from Stevenson's regiment. Three of
the deserters were named Campbell. Freers
and Davis.

232

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

• Haggerty's party had good luck at the dig-
gings and one day, about the middle of July,
a large bag of gold dust was exhibited to Bee
as a result of their labors. Haggerty was the
treasurer and on that same day Griffin came
to him and stated that the five deserters
had concocted a scheme to steal the dust, and
advised him to change the place of burial.
This advice was followed, but it afterwards
appeared that the five men were watching
him while he was making the change. The
next day the deserters came to Haggerty and
demanded a settlement and a di\isi(in of the
dust. Haggerty went out to obtain the l)ag
and was alarmed and surprised tu find that
it had been stolen. When he came back and
announced the loss the five men began to
laugh. As evidence to convict was lacking
the deserters were allowed to leave camp.
They were followed next day by Bee and
Haggerty, who arrived in San Jose early in
August.

The five deserters were there and in a short
time they had gambled away the stolen mon-
ey. In C)ctober they started back to the
mines. On the road from the Livermore
ranch, in Alameda County, to the San Joaquin
Valley they fell in with a sailor, who was also
on his way to the mines, and he was induced
to become one of their party. When the San
Joaquin was reached the party of six came
upon two men — an American and a German.
It was customary in those days, when one
man met another on the road to exchange
courtesies as follows: "Where have you
been?" The answer would perhaps be : "I've
been to the mines." Then the question would
be: "How have you made it?" The interro-
gated party would open his shirt and disclose
his pile, if he had any. It was so in the
case of the German. He was asked the usual
question and the bag of dust was disclosed.
The American had no money.

That night the two parties camped near
each other. In the evening Campbell pro-
posed to rob the German and his companions,
except the sailor, assented at once. After
some argument the sailor was induced to go
along. At midnight, Campbell, Freers and
Davis relieved the German of his earnings,
the sailor acting as guard, after which the
victim was shot in the arm "for fun." The
robbers then started back in the direction of
San Jose. At a Mexican ranch near where
the town of Pleasanton now stands, they stole
six horses. The owner followed them "to San
Jose, and after learning that they had camped
in the mustard, on the banks of the Guada-
lupe about two miles from the pueblo, he came
to town and notified Harry Bee of his loss
and discovery. The American had come in a

short time liefore, having left the wounded
German at Livermore's. Dr. Ben Cory was
sent out to attend to him. Bee was informed
of the robbery and from the description con-
cluded that the Dry Diggings miners were the
culprits. A search for them was at once in-
stituted and Campbell, Freers and Davis were
traced to the house of Woods, the alguazil,
on Santa Clara Street. Bee su.spected Woods
of complicit}- in the hiding of the deserters
and upon his statement \\'oods was removed
from his oft^lcial jjosition liy the alcalde, and
Bee, who had before held the office, was
appointed in his place.

Bee at once went at work. That night he
raised a ])osse of men, among them Peter
Ouincy, Uncle Ike Branham, Charles White
and Samuel Young. A short time afterwards
Campbell and Freers wcrt- 'k-royed into Bee's
shoe store in the old 1 ,iL;iit>to!i luiildinij, and
arrested. A little later Davis was caught out-
side the building. Three days afterwards the
three men \\ere brought before the alcalde for
trial, and mainly through the testimony of the
sailor, who gave state's evidence and thus es-
caped punishinent, the deserters were convict-
ed and sentenced to be hanged. The same
day — for the law moved swiftly in these times
— the men were taken to Market Square and
suinmarily executed. John Yontz acted as
master of ceremonies, Bee having been re-
leased from that duty for the reason that he
had just Ijaptized the men and thus became
their godfather. After life was extinct the
bodies were taken to Santa Clara and buried
in the Catholic Cemetery.

Lorenzo D. Stephens, a member of the Pio-
neers and the last surviving member of the
famous Jayhawkers' party of gold seekers,
whose terrible sufl^ering in Death Valley in
1849 forms a thrilling chapter in the history
of the California gold rush, died in an Oakland
hospital in February, 1922, at the age of 93.
His residence was in San Jose and for over
se\'ent\ years he was a picturesque figure in
the life of Santa Clara County. His wife died
in Janu.ary. 1''22. He is survived by a daugh-
ter, ;\lrs. Emma Falconer, of Berkeley^ and a
son, Dr. L. L. Stephens, of Seattle. \'\'ash.

The records of the Jayhawkers shows that
they were the first people with the exception
of Indians to set foot in Death Valley; the
first to discover silver in Nevada and the first
to discover those nitre and borax deposits
which have proved of such great value to the
commercial world. Unwilling discoveries they
were, during fifty-two days of existence with
almost no food, and five days during which
thev were without a drop of water.

The party originally numbered thirty-five
men and included one woman, the wife of a
preacher, and several children. They set out

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

233

with ox teams frdiii Cak-sburfr. 111.. i'-i \ir-' 5,
1849, and passed safely through Salt Lake City
late in July. The season was late when they
arrived" at' the Mormon capital and reports
were received telling of the awful e.-vperienccs
of the Donner party on the northern route to
the .yold fields — experiences which forced some
memljers ni that ]iarty into cannibalism to
prolong life. Other wagons joined with the
Javhaulcers in forming a train of 107 wagons
at' Salt Lake City \\ ith the idea of reaching
Califiirnia fv. mi Salt Lake b\' a southern mute.

All went well until 230 miles .south of Salt
Lake, when, disregarding the advice of their
guide, they started due \vestward in an efifort
to cut off several hundred miles. The distance
by the map looked short and eas}'.

The train proceeded \vithout incident until
they came to a sheer precipice of a thousand
feet (.r imn-e in the W'a-^atch Mountains. Since
progress st'cnied impossible the majority of
the tram resoKed in follow the ai'vice of their
guide and turn southward again to the Santa
Fe trail. The Jayhawkers, however, explored
for a descent and found it. Not realizing \\diat
they were doing they then embarked on a
journey across the Great American desert.
Four months were required in traversing; al^out
800 miles of this desolate region, fifty-two days
of which they were without food, except as
they killed their starving cattle. The little
water found was mostly alkaline and unfit to
drink. One member of the party, crazed by
suft'ering, wandered away and was lost. Three
other members of the part}' lay down on the
trail and died.

The one woman of the part was forced to
listen to her suffering little ones plead for a
drink. Sometitnes as man>' as five days would
pass before they could plunge their swollen
tongues in the alkaline springs. The wagons
were cut to carts and the carts in turn gave
way to pack saddles in an effort to facilitate
progress through the sands.

The imprint of death was on the faces of
the members of the party when two men form-
ing an advance party sighted the ranch of IJon
Juan Salazar in the Santa Clara Valley. The
plight of the party was made known and
vaqueros went to their assistance. This rescue
occurred on February 4, 1850, a date always
observed in the reunions of the members of
the Jayhawkers, which were held annuallv
until three years ago. then ceased, as I^orenzo
Dow Stephens was the sole survivor.

American Legion

The .'\merican Legion is a fraternal clul). It
was organized on October 4, 1919. The ])lat-
form, as set forth in the constitutiim. is as
follows :

"For God and country, we associate our-
selves together for the following purposes :

"To uphold and defend the constitution of
the United States of America ; to maintain
law and order; to foster and perpetuate a one-
hundred per cent .Americanism ; to preserve
the mciuuiie- and incidents of our association
in tl;c Gicai War; tc inculcate a sense of
individual . .1 i!ig;ilion U) the community, state
.iiid nation; In onnbat the autocracy .of both
tlic cl.assc- and the masses; to make right the
ma>lcr uf might; to promote peace and good
will on earth; to safeguard and transmit to
iHistcrity the principles of justice, freedom
and democracy; to consecrate and sanctify
(iiir cnmradcship bv our devotion to mutual
hcl]. fulness.-

"The American Legion is to be commended
in its efforts to enlist the membership of
ever)' honorably discharged soldier, sailor and
marine who served his country in the late
war. This organization lirr- In lore it a great
work if it is to accomplish it^ ideals in creat-
ing a true spirit of p;itriotisni among the Am-
erican citizens, which shall be a- energetic
;ind |)iAverful in times of peace as was that
spirit in the dark days of war. The Grand
.\rmy of the Republic has done a great work
and has stood as a magnificent example be-
fore the American youth since the days of the
Civil War, ever instilling in our people, by
lirecept and example, love of country and en-
forcement of law and order. We cannot mea-
sure the benefits of this great organization
nor ever pay the debt of gratitude which we
owe it. But the ranks of the Grand Army of
the Republic have become so diminished dur-
ing the past few years that but a handful of
the grand old \ eterans still remain. It is for
this "new organization, made up of the vet-
erans of the Woil.l \\':\v. to assume the toga
of its similarU (.aiiiotic jiredecessor, and car-
ry forward its clurished ideals. There is no
organization like the Legion, made up as it
is of a million and one-half men and women
who answered the call of home and country,
which has forsworn any ]5olicy of a partisan
or political nature, and whose whole endeav-
or is to furnish our country with protection.
both from its enemies within as wi 'I as tho.^c
without. It is an organization which caters
to neither class nor mass, but stands for the
enforcement of the will of the sovereign maj-
orit}'."

The Legion is open to army nurses as well
as to former soldiers. The membership is
lCM-5, mainly from Santa Clara County. The
officers are :' Archer Bowden, president ; Frank
V. Campbell, secretary. An employment bu-
reau is maintained and the finding of seventy-
five places per month has been the average.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Law Library and Bar Association

The San Jose Law Library was started in
1874 in the Knox Block. Its growth has been
steady and now there are over 6000 books on
the shelves. The librarian is Louisa J. Spen-
cer, who has held the position for many years.
The directors are O. D. Richardson (chair-
man), Judge S. F. Leib, N. Bowden, Judge
John E. Richards and Judge H. D. Tuttle.

The Bar Association was formed in 1915.
The officers are : John W. Sullivan, president ;
Matthew Mulcahy, secretary, and L. E. Pe-
tree, treasurer. The objects of the associa-
tion are to advance the standard of the mem-
bers in morals and professional duties, to
prosecute members who are derelict in con-
duct, and to create a fraternal feeling among
the members. John W. Sullivan is chairman
of the committee on investigation.

Housewives' League

To combat the high cost of living by mak-
ing war on the profiteers, the San Jose House-
wives' League was organized in November.
1919. There were over 200 members on Julv
1. 1920. The officers are: Mrs. Paul Clark,
president; Mrs. M. W. Capp, secretary, and
Mrs. R. J. Lanford, treasurer. Mrs. J. E.
Hancock is button and membership superin-
tendent. The business of the League is to
gather and publish recipes for sugarless and
other cheap eatables ; to investigate cases of
profiteering and ascertain why the grocers
have to charge so much when the producers
receive so little ; and to look into all matters
connected with the high cost of living. Al-
ready much has been accomplished. Facts
have been gathered regarding profiteering
and when a case has been made the proper
officials have been notified.

Daughters of the American Revolution

The Santa Ysabel Chapter of the Daughters
of the American Revolution was organized in
San Jose November 10, 1896. The charter
members were Mrs. Sutton Palmer, Mrs.
William B. Gano, Miss M. Polhemus, Mrs.
W. K. Beans, Mrs. M. G. Gates, Miss Edna
Leib, Mrs. T. Ellard Beans, Miss Frances
Beans, Mrs. Pedro Merlin Lusson, Mrs. Paul
Furst, Miss Bessie Moore, Miss Rowena
Beans, Miss Lida Leib. The regent, Mrs.
Samuel Franklin Leib, was appointed by the
then state regent, Mrs. Virginia Knox Mad-
dox. Since then the list has been extended.
The chapter meetings are held at the resi-
dences of the members. The genealogical
standing of all the members is as follows :

Armstrong — Lida Campbell Leib, wife of
Charles Dorsey Armstrong; descendant of
Gen. Wilham Russell; daughter of Judge

Samuel Franklin Leib and Lida Campbell
Leib, his wife. General Russell assisted in
establishing American Independence while
acting in the capacity of colonel from 1776
to 1783; afterwards was brigadier-general.

Austin, Gertrude May. wife of Paul Page
Austin; descendant of Hezekiah Hutchins,
who was a captain in Colonel Reed's regiment
of New Hampshire volunteers, at the Battle
of Bunker Hill, and who received his commis-
sion on the day of the battle. In 1776 he was
captain of the fourth company of Lieut.-Col-
onel Welch's regiment and was present at the
battles around Saratoga and at the surrender
of Burgoyne.

Ballon, Katherine Jane Kimball, wife of
John Quincy Adams Ballon, and descendant
of Edward Ainsworth, a physician and farm-
er, who was a private in Colonel Bellows' re-
giment, raised in 1776 to reinforce the army
in Canada. His name is on the payroll of
Colonel Bellows' regiment of militia in New
Plampshire. which went to reinforce the gar-
rison at Ticonderoga when besieged by the
British in June. 1777. Edward Ainsworth
was called "Lieutenant."

Barkau. Ella Plate, wife of Fritz Barkau,
descendant of .\nthony Rutgers, who assisted
in establishing American Independence while
acting as chaplain in the second company of
artillery in New York City.

Barstow, Mary Rhodes, wife of .\lfred Bar-
stow, and descendant of Anthony Rhodes,
who was a private of the Fifth Company,
commanded by Captain Carlisle, in Colonel
Elliott's regiment. He also served as corporal
in Captain Randall's company, Colonel Wat-
terman's regiment.

Barstow, Grace (Miss), descendant of
Anthony Rhodes.

Beans, Charlotte Bray, wife of T. Ellard
Beans, and descendant of Dr. John Forman
Grandin, U. S. N., who served as surgeon in
the navy during the latter part of the Revolu-
tionary War.

Beans, Rowena (Miss), descendant of Dr.
John Forman Grandin.

Beans, Frances (Miss), descendant of Dr.
Grandin.

Beans, Gertrude Aloore. wife of William
Knox Beans, and descendant of Lieutenant
William Moore, who was sergeant in the
Third Virginia Regiment in 1776; ensign in
August, 1777; second lieutenant in 1777, and
first lieutenant in 1780. In consideration of
his services in the Continental Army he was
given a grant of land — 2.666^ acres.

Beans, Mildred Elizabeth (Miss), descend-
ant of Lieut. William Moore.

Beans, Alice Adelaide Waite (Miss), des-
cendant of Capt. Joseph Jewett.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

135

Bradford. Alice Ballou, widow of Wager
Bradford ; descendant of Edward Ainsworth.-

Connell, Nettie L. Bast, wife of Maurice
Connell, and descendant of Capt. Jacob Clader,
who enlisted March 1. 1776, in the company
commanded by Rudolph Bernise. Second Bat-
talion of the Men of 76. He became coi:poral
July 1, 1776; captain, 1781. Also served sixty
days' fighting Indians on the frontier.

Eustace, Bessie Moore, wife of Herbert
Eustace, and descendant of Lieut. William
Moore.

Furst. Evelyn Moore Grissim, widow of
Paul Furst, descendant of Gen. \N'illiam Rus-
sell.

Furst, Hannah Moore (Miss), descendant
of Gen. William Russell.

Gano, Jeanette Lafayette Grissim, wife of
William B. Gano, and descendant of Gen.
William Russell.

Gates, Adaline M., widow of Freeman
Gates, and descendant of Jonathan Palmer,'
who assisted in establishing American Inde-
pendence \vhile serving as first lieutenant in
the Fifth Comjiany of Colonel Selden's regi-
ment of Connecticut volunteers.

Greenleaf, Mary Page Hathaway, widow of
George Ravenscroft Greenleaf, and descendant
of Capt. Philip Hathaway, Jr., who was cap-
tain in Col. Josiah Whitney's regiment.
Served in Rhode Island in 1777.

Gupp}-, Lucia Sophia Chase, wife of Ed-
ward H. Guppy, and descendant of Capt. Cor-
nelius Russell and Capt. Solomon Chase.
Captain Russell was corporal in the Lexing-
ton alarm of May, 1775. Enlisted as private
in 1775; advanced to first lieutenant and
served as such until 1783. Was Washington's
secretary and was with Washington at Valley
Forge. Was officer of the day when Major
Andre was hanged. Capt. Solomon Chase
served in the regiment of his brother, General
Jonathan Chase, and also as surgeon in an-
other regiment.

Kittredge, Martha Shale Kirk, widow of
Ashbel S. Kittredge, and descendant of
Thomas Bedford. Jr., who was a captain in
the Revolutionary Army. He several times
refused promotion as he would not be separ-
ated from the boys of his company, who had
been placed in his charge b}- their niothers.

Jordan, Jessie Knight, wife (if l)a\i(l Starr
Jordan, and descendant of Phineas Knight,
who served as private in Capt. John Durkee's
company. Col. Israel Putnam's regiment, from
May to December, 1775. In Capt. Jonathan
Brewster's company in 1776; in Col. Benijahs
Leppingwell's regiment. 1777, and in Capt.
John Riley's company, Februarv, 1781, to De-
cember 31, 1781.

Ledyard, Mary Forman (Miss), descendant
of Benjamin Ledyard, who was captain of the
First Continental Infantry and distinguished
himself at the battles of Monmouth and White
Plains. . He was also one of the founders of
the Society of the Cincinnati. Miss Ledyard
was also the great-great-granddaughter of
Youngs Ledyard, who was first lieutenant of
the Matross Artillery Company at Groton.

Leib, Lida Campbell Grissim, wife of Judge
Samuel Franklin Leib, and descendant of
General William Russell, Colonel of the Thir-
teenth Virginia. December, 1776; transferred
to Fifth Virginia, September, 1778; taken pris-
oner at Charleston, May, 1780; exchanged,
November, 1780; served until November 3,
1783, when he was made brigadier-general.
Mrs. Leib was also the great-great-grand-
daughter of William Campbell, who was first
lieutenant of the First Virginia State Regi-
ment, and who was made captain January 16,
1779, and served until January, 1782.

Lusson, Elizabeth Stanley Newton, wife of
Pierre Merlin Lusson, and descendant of Col.
Thomas Newton, who was a member of the
Constitutional Virginia Convention; Col. John
I'aylor, aide to Washington ; John Wright
Stanley, who melted his family silver and
contributed $100,000 to Gen. Greene for arms
and ammunition; Richard Cogdell, of North
Carolina, member of the Provincial Congress
and secretary of the Committee of Safety.
Mrs. Lusson died in San Jose August 2, 1903.

May, Eliza Reed, wife of Alpha Child May,
and descendant of Hezekiah Hutchins, who
was a captain in Colonel Reed's New Hamp-
shire regiment at the battle of lUiuker Hill.
and was present at the surrender df lUirgoyne.
He was in the Continental Army in 1778.

May, Cornelia Alice (Miss), daughter of
Alpha C. May and Eliza Reed, his wife, and
descendant of Stephen May, a soldier in the
Continental Army, who served at Bunker Hill,
Cowpens and Trenton. Also, a lineal descend-
ant of Hezekiah Hutchins.

Maynard, Adele Merlin Lusson, wife of Blay-
ney Easterly Maynard, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. P. M. Lusson and descendant of Col. John
Armestead, Col. Thomas Newton, Col. John
P>aylor. John Wright. Stanley and Richard
Cogdell, all of whom rendered valuable serv-
ice during the Revolutionary War.

Maynard, Sue Davis, wife of Dr. Stephen C.
Maynard and descendant of Jacob Yount, who
served under General Greene during the mem-
orable campaign of 1781, until the enemy evac-
uated Charleston and General Greene's army
disbanded ; also of George C. Yount, was a
lieutenant under General Boone in the War
of 1812.

236

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Palmer, Maud Moore, wife of H. vSutton
Palmer and descendant of Lieut. William
Moore.

Parkinson, Edith Vallette. wife of Charles
Roseberry Parkinson and descendant of Sam-
uel Dinsmore, who was a private, January,
1776, in Capt. Nathan Watkins' company. Col.
Edward Phinney's regiment. On the march
to Ticonderoga he died of small-pox.

Pierce, Elise Furst, wife of Lester Pierce
and descendant of Gen. William Russell :
daughter of Paul Furst and Evelyn Moore
Grissim, his wife.

Pierce. Marian Percey Thurston, wife of
James Henry Pierce and descendant of Rich-
ard Thurston, who was captain of Second
Company of Infantry of Rowley, now George-
town, Mass., in 1757. In 1770 he was member
of a committee to prevent British importa-
tions. His son, David, served at various times
as a private during the Revolutionary War.

Plate, Mary :\Iizner, first wife of' Karl H.
Plate and descendant of Anthony Rutgers,
who was captain of v^econd Company of Ar-
tillery in New York Citv. Mrs. Plate died in
August, 1900.

Plate, Elizabeth Everett Groves, second
wife of Karl H. Plate and descendant of Rob-
ert Clark, captain of Virginia troops in 1778;
also of Capt. John Trigg, another captain of
Virginia troops in 1778.

Polhemus, Margaret (Miss), descendant of
Major John Polhemus, who, at seventeen
years of age served in the provincial forces in
the disastrous march against Fort Duquesne.
In 1759 he was one of the volunteers who
marched into Canada and did good service
under General Wolfe. He received a captain's
commission in 1775 in the First Battalion of
Jersey regulars under Lord Sterling. His
company, raised by him, was armed and
equipped at his own e.xpense. He fought in
the battles of Ticonderoga, Long Island,
Princeton, Germantown, Monmouth, Quebec,
Brandywine and Valley Forge. At Valley
Forge he was appointed major of his regi-
ment, the Jersey Blues. He died in Philadel-
phia on his ninety-fourth birthday and was
buried with military honors. He entered the
war affluent and left it with but a pittance.
Miss Polhemus is also a descendant of John
Hart, one of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence.

Reed, Julia Russell, wife of Thomas Harri-
son Reed and descendant of John Davis, who
served as substitute for his father in the Am-
boy expedition. In 1777 he enlisted in Cap-
tain Butler's company and was afterwards
transferred to Captain McClelland's company.
He was at Trenton and Princeton and crossed
the Delaware with Washington. Took part

in the battle of Brandywine. Was in the bat-
tle of Germantown, of Monmouth, Valley
Forge and all the important events of 1778.
He i^articipated in the campaign of 1729 and
^^•as with \\'ayne in the attack on Stony Point.
AN'as wounded in the attack on the l)lock house
at B.ergin Point. Was one of the guards at
the execution of Major Andre and went south
with part of the Pennsylvania line in 1781.
Was present at Yorktown when Cornwallis
surrendered. Was honorably discharged in
1781, holding the rank of ensign.

Smith. Harriet Louise Corwin, wife of Prof.
Leigh Richmond Smith, descendant of Capt.
Thomas Lucas, who was first lieutenant in
the regiment of Colonel Morgan in 1777. A\'as
afterwards made captain.

Singletary. Florence Grigsby, widow of
Emory Curtis Singletary, descendant of Mas-
se}' Thomas, who served as a private in the
company of Captain Gillson. Sixth Virginia
Regiment, commanded by Col. John Green.
He enlisted December 31, 1776, and served
three years.

Thompson, Elizabeth A\'hitney Ijland,
widow of Col. Henry E. Thom])son and de-
scendant of Josiah Ballard, a private in 1777
in the company of Capt. John Trask, Col. Da-
vid Leonard's regiment. Marched to Ticon-
deroga. He was also in the company of Capt.
Ebenezer Goodale, Col. Samuel Williams'
regiment in the same year, and marched to
join the northern army.

Waite, Alice C, wife of IMelville M. Waite
and descendant of Capt. Joseph Jewett, who
was captain in Colonel Huntington's Conti-
nental Regiment. After the siege of Boston
they marched, under General Washington, to
New York and remained in that vicinity until
the close of the year 1776. He was at the
Battle of Long Island. During the engage-
ment Colonel Huntington's regiment was com-
pelled to surrender, after an exhibition of great
Ijravery, having been surrounded by the
enemy. After the surrender Captain Jewett
received several ba3-onet wounds from a das-
tardly foe, from the eflfects of which he died.
He was of elegant and commanding appear-
ance, of unquestioned bravery and much re-
spected and beloved.

Weston, Abbie May Bunker, wife of Benja-
min F. Weston and descendant of Jonathan
Bunker, who enlisted in the Continental Army
for the term of the war. He died in 1796. He
served for three years and was in most of the
big battles. Bunker Hill was named after his
ancestor, George Bunker, who came to Amer-
ica in 1640. Mrs. Weston claims lineal de-
scent from eight ancestors who served the
country during the Revolutionary War.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

237

Wright, Susie Davis, wife of Frank Vincent
Wright, descendant of Benjamin Butterfield,
who was a lieutenant in Col. Seth Warnerj;
regiment of "Green Mountain P>oys" in 1777.
He served until 1780.

Wright. Edna Warren Leib. wife of William
Hammond Wright, descendant of General
William Russell.

Wyatt, Camille Palmer, wife of Ben Harri-
son Wyatt and descendant of Lieut. William
Moore.

The present officers of the chapter are Mrs.
Samuel Franldiii Leil>. rc_i;cnt ; .Mrs. Blayney
Maj'nard, vice regent: .Mrs. Maurice Connell,
registrar; Mrs. Charles R. Parkinson, treas-
urer ; Mrs. Elizabeth Everett Plate, corre-
sponding secretary.

Musical Clubs and Record

Up to the '60s music in San Jose had not
reached beyond the stage of very amateur
performances. But when musical courses
were placed on the list of studies at the College
of Notre Dame, Santa Clara College and Prof.
Freman Gates' San Jose Institute, the musical
tone of the community was both strengthened
and improved. Soon teachers of ability and
eminence began to come in, the first of which
were Mr. and Mrs. A. N. Hamm. They arrived
in the '60s and soon made their work and in-
fluence felt. -Mrs. Hamm. with her clear, Ijird-
like soprano, had been an operatic singer in
the East and Mr. Hamm, a basso, had ap-
peared often in concerts. They opened a
school, secured many pupils and gave many
pu])lic entert.iinnicnts. Among the local sing-
ers nf thM-.c ■\:i\- were Ella Bassett (Mr"s.
O.oclsell). i'.ll.-i' C.ok (Mrs. Stark), Mary
Rhodes (Mrs. Barstcjw), Beatrice Lawrey
(Airs. HoUenbeck). Mary Youngberg, George
Pomero\", D. P.. Moodv, Hen Caswell, Charles

F. Macv. Elliott Reed, H. A. Keinath and C.
C. Cook. Later came R. B. Crichton. W. A.
Parkhurst. Grace Greene, Mrs. W. A. Mc-
Leod. Delia Marvin. Jennie McLeod, Lois
Singletary, Will Hervey, Elmer Chase, Henry
C. Alurgotten. and several others.

J. H. EUwiHnl arrixed in the early seventies
and in Septcinlier. 1S75. organized the Handel
and Haydn Suciety with the following charter
members: B. F. Caswell. J. H. Elhvood, George
Pomerov, W. A. Parkhurst, A. P. Murgotten.

G. E. Lighthall, R. B. Crichton, Elliott' Reed,
Alfred ]^.arst(iw, W. D. St. Claire, Charles
E. Schmeder. \i. Rousseau, J. W. Pembroke,
C. T. Bird and Mesdames J. H. Elhvood, A.
Barstow, B. L. HoUenbeck, E. P. Reed, Elliott
Reed, L. A. Tuck, A. E. Pomerov, H. S. Foote,
A. M. Crichton, W. 1). St. Clair, E. Rousseau
and Miss Delia Marvin, Allie Marvin, Lillie
Johnson, Nora Willey, Mary Willey, Fannie

Williams. Emma Pembroke. Sallie Welib. The
original officers were: I'Uliutt Reed, president;
Air's. B. L. H.illenl.eck. vice-president; George
Poineniv. secretary; G. E. Lighthall, treasur-
er; AY I). St. I'l.iir. librarian; J. H. Elhvood,
conductor: Aliss Lucy A\'ashburn, pianist.
The society was in existence for several years.
It was succeeded by the Philharmonic vSociety.
which also was short lived.

In 188.S Prof. J. W. Rainey and Clarence T.
Lrmy arrived m San Jose to add strength and
artistic ability to the local musical coterie
Before them had come Henry L. Schemmel
pianist and vocalist .and Aliss'Frederika Hoff-
man, a lover and interpreter of Chopin. Prof.
Rainey was for manv vcars a teacher of vocal
music, while Mr. Urmv. after a long period of
faithful and distingnishd wr.rk is m.w a mem-
ber of the facult\' nf the St:ttc .\'.,niril 'scImoI
a power for g.,nd ,„ the musu'al dcpai'tnuMU;
He IS also one uf America's popular poets his
published verse having been in evidence for
twenty-odd years.

In the nineties a new artist appeared upon
the scene m the person of Frank Loui King, a
'^— -" musician, composer and leader. He

born

tablished the King Conservatory of Ahisic and
was for several years dean of the Conservator v
of Music at the College of the P.acilic. He
died several years ago. His family inherited
his tastes, his son Frank Giorza King taking
charge of the Conservatory of AIusi"c, while
his daughter, Aliss Luena King, won laurels
both as a performer and composer. The air
was charged with music with Elhvood and
King in town. Several musical clubs and
quartets were formed and manv entertain-
ments were given. The D'.-Vblaing brothers,
Fritz and George, were the next arrivals. One
was a violinist, the other a cellist, and their
orchestra furnished San Jose some of the best
music it had ever listened to.

Other teachers and performers were Prof.
G. M. Schuck, Prof. Everett Pomerov. Prof.
Z. AI. Parviii and Aliss i'.milv Peelor. The
Burrows Alusical Kindergarten and the Fael-
ton Fundamental System were first introduced
to San Jose by Aliss Peelor.

In later years San Jose has listened to the
peerless singing of Airs. Hillman-Smith, Airs.
D. J. I'-an-aud. Airs. A. S. Bacon, Miss Lulu
Puper. Airs. Mary Weaver McCauIey, Miss
Alary Webster, Georgia Ryder, Airs. Mil-
dreth Spencer Hartman, and the fine instru-
mental work of Clarence Urmy, Mrs. H. B.
Worcester. (;. C. Buchrer, Mrs. James J. Con-
nell, Airs. William J. Leet, Fred C. Brohaska,
Tillie I'.rohaska. .Miss May D'Oyley, Aliss Isa-
bel Longdon, Aliss Augusta Schroeder, Miss
Almee Auzerais and many others. Aliss Grace
Barstow makes violins artistically and plays

238

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

them exquisitely. Before her marriage to
Prof. Joseph E. Hancock, principal of the
Grant School, Mrs. Hancock, then Lessie
Rainey, was an accomplished mistress of the
violin. Since her marriage she has ceased
playing that instrument in public, though she
has not given up her musical studies. She is
a musical composer of surpassing ability and
her efforts in this line have been heard and
appreciated in the several operettas produced
at the Grant School.

The singing and acting of the late Charles
W. Williams vastly entertained San Joseans
for many years. Under his management there
were produced at the Victory and California
theaters those favorite light operas. "Olivette,"
"The Mikado," "Patience," "Pirates of Pen-
zance," and "The Mascot." He was a singing
comedian and would have made a fortune on
the professional stage had he not elected to re-
main in San Jose and devote himself to news-
paper work. He was the founder and for
many years the publisher of the Evening News.

Of the singers in San Jose at the present
time, there are Chester Herold. Amos Wil-
liams, Rov Thompson, Frank Towner, Dr.
C. M. Richards. Dr. M. F. Hopkins, W. E.
Johnson, Miss Olga Braslan, Miss Lulu Piep-
er, Mrs. Hillman-Smith, Mrs. A. S. Bacon,
Mrs. D. J. Gairaud, Mary Webster and oth-
ers. Among the teachers are Mrs. Hillman-
Smith, Mrs. Gairaud, Miss Webster, Miss
Louisa Simpson, Mrs. Kerwin, F. E. Blick-
felt, Iva Brown, G. H. D'Ablaing. Blanche
Fox. J. L. McDonnell. Mrs. E. B. McDowell.
Bertha Semple, Miss Maud Caldwell. \\'alter
B. Kennedv, Mrs. Daisie L. Brinker, Mrs. EUa
Cook Stark, L. V. Brant.

The Y. W. C. A.

A matter at vital interest to Santa Clara
County during recent years has been the erec-
tion and equipment of a structure for the
Young Womei's Christian Association. The
idea of having an up-to-date plant, fitted in
every way to aid in supplying the physical.
social and spiritual needs of the girls and
young women in San Jose and vicinity, was
conceived in June, 1914, and carried out dur-
ing 1915 and 1916, until its realization at the
dedication of the building on May 14, 1916.
Its cost in round numbers was $78,000, and the
remaining $30,000, of the total subscription
of $108,000, was used for furnishing and equip-
ment for its various departments.

It was the result of months of careful plan-
ning and thought on the part of the women
whose idealism, concurring with the power of
the moment, served to produce it — a lasting
monument to the vision and enterprise of the
good people of San Jose. Men as well as

women took hold with a will, and by their
gifts, their vision of the needs of girls and
young womanhood, and by their indefatigable
energy, made its construction possible. The
initial' gift of $25,000 was made by Mrs. Maria
P. Schofield. who, without girls of her own,
reached out to the needs of all girls, and was
quicklv followed bv contributions ranging
from fifty cents to $2000.

The expert work of the National Y. W. C.
A. secretaries was a revelation to the workers
in San Jose, who had not before realized that
women could be so efficient and far-seeing.
The efforts of Miss Schooley. Miss Jaynes,
Miss Lee and Miss Ristine will long be held
in grateful memory by those who were ])rivi-
leged to share in them.

Mrs. D. A. Beattie was the first president
and opened the first year's work with the fol-
lowing board of directors : Mrs. George Gil-
man, Mrs. J. B. J. Tuthill, Mrs. J. W. Crider,
Mrs. W. C. Curtner, Mrs. T. A. Manning,
Mrs. S. B. Squires, Mrs. Arthur W'ashburn,
Miss Mary Helen Post, Miss Ruth Laird Kim-
ball, Miss Frances Schallenberger, IVIrs. Dr.
Charles Hare, Miss Elizabeth Woodhams, Miss
Carlotta W'ood. Through the courtesy of
the national board, the Association was able
to have the services of Miss Julia T. Lee in
following up the campaign work and later the
directors secured for the general management.
Miss Ada B. Hillman and an able corps of de-
partment secretaries. Miss Hillman served
efficiently for three years and was succeeded
by ]\Iiss Emma Palmer, an industrial expert.
She is the present general secretary.

The beginning of an endowment fund was
in a bequest of $500 from the late }ilrs. Crum-
niey. Other wills have been made, bearing the
Association in mind, in bequests which will
increase this fund.

Nothing short of a detailed description of
the various departments of Association work
could give any adequate idea -of what is now
being done for girls and young women in this
building. It is impossible to estimate the
value of this preventive and constructive work
in the community, and so notable a beginning
points only to enlargement and greater use-
fulness.

The officers for 1922 are Mrs. D. A. Beattie,
president; Miss Lucy Tarleton, recording sec-
retary ; Mrs. Cassie Burnett, corresponding
secretary; and Mrs. L. T. Smith, treasurer.

Club La France

The Club La France, of San Jose, was or-
ganized on r)ctober 26, 1902. The object was
to get all the French-Americans together for
benevolent, patriotic and social purposes. Ever
since the organization the club has yearly

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

239

arranged for and carried out the celebration of
the Fall of the Bastile on July 14. In 1920 the
affair was held at Eastside Park. In addition
to dancing, the singing of the Marseillaise and
the Star Spangled Banner, Dr. A. C. Jayet de-
livered a stirring address, first in French and
then in English. The club is caring for six
orphans, made so by the European war. and
a part of the proceeds of the celebration will
go toward the maintenance of the orphans,
the rest for the benefit of the French section
of the public library. The officers of the so-
ciety are: Jean Costere, president: Joseph Sa-
l>atte. \ice-president ; Justin Lasalle. secre-
tary : directors, Frank Quement, Jean Verdier,
P. Saliatte. During the war the clul) gave
balls to raise funds for French and Belgian re-
fugees, bought Liberty bonds, helped the Red
Cross, and spent money freely for other things
in aid of the American cause.

The Boy Scouts

The Bo^• Scouts of America were organized
in 1910. 'In 1916 Rev. Frank J. McEain in-
inaugurated the movement in San [nse hv the
formation of a troop of sehodl i)uys. 'IMie
public encouragement given induced the for-
mation of other troops so that at the end of
four years there were nine troops and one pat-
rol in San Jose and six troops in the country.
The oath is as follows: "On ni}' honor I will
do my Ijest to do my duty to God and my
country and ol)ey the Scout law : to help others
at all times, to keep myself physically strong.

mentally awake, and morally straight." The
Scout law imposes these rules: Be trust-
worthy, loyal, helpful, friendlv, courteous,
kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty,' brave, clean
and reverent.

In 1917 and 1918, while America was at war
with Germany the Boy Scouts of the city and
county did valiant work for the various com-
mittees, in planting war gardens, selling thrift
and war saving stamps. Liberty bonds. Red
Cross stam|is. and in acting as distributors of
jiatriutic literature. In fact they did every-
thing that was required of them and more.
J. H. Rainwater is the executive officer.

Loyal Italo-American Club

The Loyal Italo-American Club was organ-
ized in 1919 with a membership of five."" In
1922 the roll showed over 603 names. The
organizers were D. M. Denegri, president ;
D. Campisi, F. Ruiz, Frank Cavallaro and C.
D. Cavallaro. It is the purpose of the club
to bring Italians together and by cooperation
instill into their minds a respect and admira-
tion for American institutions. Love for Amer-
ican ideals should, according to one of their
orators, be theirs always. The officers in 1920
were: D. M. Denegri, president; Joseph Spin-
elli, vice-president: R. O. Maino, secretary,
and Paul Cavala. treasurer. On July 11, 1920,
more than a thousand people attended the
annual picnic at Eastside Park. The pro-
ceeds were used in fitting up the club rooms.

CHAPTER XXIV.

The Civic and Kindred Associations of San Jose — The Work of the Chamber
of Commerce and Merchants' Association — One Hundred Per Cent Club
and the Labor Organizations — Rotary and Civic Welfare Clubs.

The San Jt)se Chamber of Commerce is the
successor in interest of the old San Jose
Board of Trade. There was a Ijoard in 1874
but it was organized purely for commercial
purposes. George B. McKee was president
and E. H. Swarthout, secretary. The great-
est problem with which it had to wrestle was
the adjustment of the difference between gold
and silver coin. In those times silver was at
a discount of from one-quarter to three per
cent, and to retail dealers this was a matter
of considerable importance. They were prac-
tically compelled to receive silver from their
customers and to settle with the wholesalers
on a gold basis. At this time, too, the trade

dollar came into circulation and tended to
complicate matters. The board succeeded in
putting all transactions on a gold footing. An
attempt was also made to prevent the collec-
tion of the merchandise tax which was then
imposed. Money was raised by subscription
to contest the collection in the courts. Before
anyone was fciund willing to act as defendant
in a lawsuit the Ixiard dissolved and the money
was used to assist Edward Martin, a merchant
of Santa Cruz, in a suit involving the same
question.

A Board of Trade to treat with matters of
general interest, was organized September 27,
1886, with the following directors: D. B.

240

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Moody, president; A. Friant, first vice-presi-
dent ; William Osterman, second vice-presi-
dent; Frank Stock, treasurer; G. W. James, A.
Barker, W. C. Andrews, P. Etchebarne, Jo-
seph Enright. S. A. Barkeir was selected as at-
torney and E. B. Lewis as secretary.

Early in 1888, at the request of many promi-
nent citizens the Board took in hand the mat-
ter of inducing immigration to the county.
An executive committee, consisting of Dr. C.
W. Breyfogle, A. Friant and J. H. Barbour,
was appointed and for several months they
gave almost their entire time to the work as-
signed to them. They sent an agent to Los
Angeles to meet Eastern people coming into
the state by the southern route and spent much
money in advertising the resources of the
county, both in California and the East. The
rooms of the board in the Bank of San Jose
building were supplied with a fine exhibit of
the diiferent products of the soil and excur-
sions from ^'a^ious puints were brought to the
city. So ei^ectively was the work done that
the "boom" came before it was expected. In
August the rush began and in a week from its
commencement the sales of real estate ran up
to a million dollars and the county recorder
was compelled to ciuadruple his force in order
to take care of the instruments presented for
record. Values doubled before the month was
out and hundreds of acres of new land in the
vicinity of San Jose were subdivided into lots
and sold. Country land was cut up into five
and ten acre tracts and during the season these
tracts were planted in trees and vines. The
wild excitement subsided after a time, but
there has lieen a steady increase in values ever
since.

One of the first propositions brought be-
fore the board was that of building a mam-
moth hotel for the accommodation of visitors
to the city. It had been advertised among
tourists that San Jose h^d no adequate hotel
accommodations for any considerable number
of visitors, and although this was not true, it
had the effect of keeping away many desirable
tourists. The Board of Trade could not itself
build the hotel, but it could and did, give the
undertaking its active and moral support.
Public opinion was practically unanimous in
regard to the necessity of the enterprise and
there were assurances that the capital stock
would be promptly supplied. The question of
location was most difficult to settle. It was
proposed that permission should be asked of
the city authorities to place the hotel in the
center of St. James Park, but it was soon as-
certained that the city could not grant this
privilege. Negotiations were then entered into
for the purchase of the Morrison lots, at the
northwest corner of First and St. John

streets, the intention being to erect a four-
story block on the entire First Street front-
age, from St. John Street to the Court House,
Tyler Beach agreeing to turn in the St. James
Hotel property to assist in the enterprise. In
examining the title it was found that the prop-
erty could not be alienated at that time, inas-
much as it included the interest of certain
minor heirs. For this reason the project was
abandoned, but the movers in the matter did
not abate their efiforts. A stock company was
formed and the old homestead property of
Josiah Belden, on First Street near Empire,
was purchased. It contained eleven acres
planted as a park. The owner at the time of
the sale was C. H. Maddox and it recjuired
$60,000 to make the purchase. With this ac-
quisition the Hotel Vendome may lie said to
have originated.

The company was organized August 11,
1887. with the following board of directors:
J. B. Randol, Dr. W. S. Thorne, Dr. J. S.
Potts, L. Lion. C. W. Breyfogle, A. McDonald,
T. S. Montgomery, F. H. Mabury and Gus
Lion. The stock was placed at $10 per share
in order that all who wished might assist in
this great improvement. Enough of the shares
were soon sold to warrant the commencement
of the present magnificent building. The es-
timated cost was $250,000. Afterwards addi-
tions were made, Iiringing the cost up to over
$300,000.

In the spring of 1887, the board presented
a petition to the mayor and common council,
asking that body to call a special election to
decide whether or not the city should issue
bonds to raise money for necessary public im-
provements. Two elections for this purpose
had been held before this, and on each occa-
sion the bond proposition had been defeated.
It was thought it would meet a similar fate
now. The call was made, however, and the
board, with the assistance of the press, pre-
sented the matter in such an urgent manner
that the bonds were ordered to be issued.
From this action came substantial bridges, a
new city hall, important improvements at
Alum Rock and St. James parks, a perfected
sewerage system and convenient crosswalks.

The first executive committee of the board
resigned in June, 1887, at which time a new
committee, consisting of Henry Phelps, N.
Cadwallader and W. T. Adel, was appointed.
This new committee took up the work where
the old committee had laid it down and suc-
cessfully carried it forward. A display of
county products was made at the Mechanics'
Fair, San Francisco, at the Iowa State Fair,
at Cdlunilnis, Ohio, at the Chicago World's
Fair in 189,^, and at the San Francisco Mid-
winter Fair.

HISTORY OP SANTA CLARA CXUTNTY

241

In 1900 the Ixiard concluded to go out of
business and let a new body, the present
Chamber of Commerce, continue the good
work. Much was done by the new body in
the first years of its existence. New rooms
in the old Music Hall building were taken
and a renewed campaign of advertising was
undertaken. The chamlier was instrumental
in securing appropriations for the State Nor-
mal and the public scIkjoIs, and in inducing
easterners to settle here. It had a fine exhibit
of county products both at the St. Louis Ex-
position in 1904 and at the Panama-Pacific
Exposition in 1915. But it could ha\e done
more if it had not l)een handicapiied l)y lack
of money.

In 1919 it was resolved to undertake a de-
termined campaign for money and new mem-
bers. To make the \ciiturc certain of success
there was in October i.l tliat year a reorgani-
zation and the election of the foUnwing offi-
cers: President, Joseph M. Parker: vice-
presidents, John D. Crummey, E. N. Rich-
mond : manager and secretary. Roscoe D.
AA'yatt : assistant secretary, Fred Lewis Fos-
ter : treasurer, W. S. Clayton. Directors — W.
G. Alexander, Earle L. Bothwell, F. B. Brown,
Jas. B. Bullitt, E. E. Chase, W. S. Clayton,
John D. Crummey, A. D. Curtner, Arthur M.
Free, Arthur E. Holmes, John D. Kuster, J.
B. Leaman. T. S. Montgomerv, Chas. AL
O'Brien, Joseph M. Parker. E. N. Richmond.
Members' Forum — Archer Ijowden, chairman :
Mrs. D. A. Beattie, Warren B. Reillv, Henrv
M. Aver, Walter G. Matthewson, E. O. Bill-
wilier, vice-chairman In 1921 President
Parker resigned and Dr. E. O. Pieper was
elected in his place.

There was a continuous campaign for mem-
liers and liy July. 1920, there were 1500 mem-
liers on the Vdli. The result of the work of
the new organization is seen in the number of
important tasks it has undertaken and car-
ried to success. It has imhued tw(j new in-
dustrial organizations to locale here ; it has
induced the mayor and council to order the
purchase of an automol^ile park on North First
Street, and it has placed the water conserva-
tion scheme on a working basis. It has also
lent its active support to increasing the mu-
nici])al revenues, so that San Jose will be en-
abled to do the needed tilings the citizens so
constantly demand.

Its program for the near future includes the
adoption and carrying out of a C()m]>relien-
sive paving plan: the building of an intermedi-
ate bridge to assist in the develo]>ment of
East San Jose; co-operation with the board of
education to maintain the highest standard of
educational facilities, night courses, vocational
classes and Americanization, and assist in

bringing al)out polytechnic higli school facili-
ties : the further development of Alum Rock
and tlie adxertisement of the superior medici-
nal cjualities df its mineral springs; the crea-
tion of puldic sentiment in liehalf of a central
athletic field fur \aried s|>nrts and ample space
for safe and comfortable ascending and alight-
ing of airplanes ; a ijiove for the early construc-
tion of the Skjdine Boulevard and for con-
necting highways, to gain for Santa Clara
County a further attraction for the tourist and
to open up homesites of a type to invite the
building of beautiful homes : the encourage-
ment of home buying, the study of the indus-
trial situation in San Jose and the selection of
methods to induce new industries to locate
in this \icinity.

In conclusion, it may be said that the pres-
ent Cliamher nf Commerce, managed by "live^
wires." is looked upon, both in the community
and outside of it, as one of the imijortant, pro-
gressixe civic liodies in California.

The Merchants Association

The Merchants Association was organized
in 1901, witii Chas. M. O'Brien as president.
Its influence Ijegan to be felt after its removal
to its new and commodious cjuarters at 74
North First Street, on November 8, 1915. It
took over the entire upper floor of the San
Jose Abstract Company building. The rooms
are used by the Merchants Credit Bureau for
offices of the superintendent of the credit bu-
reau, ami the merchants' ]iatrol, for a meeting
place of the board of ilireetors and for the sec-
retary iif tiie Retail (',r<icers' Association.
There is also a tastefully furnished reception
room for visitors.

The credit bureau is a model of efficiency
and is being copied by other cities (jf the state.
It is in a position today to give an almost in-
stantaneous rating of every buyer in the
county by means of a card ind'ex system.
^\'hen a new buyer appears in a store and asks
for credit the merchant gets into touch by
telephone with the credit bureau, obtains a
rating on the customer and almost immedi-
ately knows whether it will be advisable to
extend credit.

The idea of this institution was first worked
out by private enterprise. The system was
so meritorious that it was finally purchased
by the Merchants Association, then reorgan-
ized and developed into its present efificient
basis by the capable superintendent, Capt. E.
R. Ikiiley, a former member of the San Jose
police department. It is stated that over 1,000
ratings are gi\'en by the bureau to its jiatrons
every month. Captain liaile}', besides super-
intending the department, is also in charge of
the merchants' patrol system. Two patrol-

242

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

men are employed by the merchants to look
after patrons' business places between sun-
down and sunrise. These men walk beats and
ring in at regular intervals to the night police
captain. They are subject to the discipline of
regular police officers, although they may be
discharged only by the patrol committee of
the Merchants Association. These men try
the locks of business houses, look after lights,
and are a protection against fires and burglars.
The efficiency of their wtirk is revealed by
interesting reports which are submitted at
regular intervals.

The association has found that the experi-
ence obtained by Captain Bailey has been very
efifective in guarding against e.xtensive opera-
tions by bogus check men in San Jose. As
soon as a bad check is discovered Captain
Bailey is instantly notified and all the mer-
chants are then warned to be on the lookout.
Bad check men, as a rule, attempt to pass sev-
eral checks in a town before getting out. The
association is growing rapidly and now has a
membership of 231. The officers are: War-
ren Reilly. president; Karl Stull, vice-presi-
dent : Robert R. Aver, secretary, and Earl
Bothwell, treasurer. The directors are \V. B.
Reillv, Henrv Hirsch, Henrv Hofif. 'Jav Mc-
Cabe', W. C. Andrews, J. S. Williams, H. Mel-
vin, Earl Bothwell, Karl Stull, Geo. Osen, G.
H. Borchers, Walter Trinkler, J. Desimone,
A. S. Appleton, N. A. Pellerano, Geo. Howes,
A. B. Canelo, F. L. Foster, A. J. Hart.

The Rotary and Lions Clubs

The Rotary Club of San Jt.se. a branch of
the national organization, was organized on
May 22, 1914, with Henry HofT as president
and .Alex. Sheriffs secretary. It consists of
men selected from each district, business or
profession and the aims are for the moral and
financial betterment of the individual mem-
ber, both in a practical way and a moral way ;
the betterment of the members' crafts or pro-
fessions as a whole ; the betterment of the
member's home, his town, county and state,
and of the society in which he lives. For its
members the Rotary provides activity which
will extend their horizon of business experi-
ence, stimulate their minds to travel in unfre-
quented channels of thought ; arouse them to
service for others : help them to attain their
greatest possibilities ; make them leaders
among men. On the practical side the Rotary
activity provides an opportunity for increased
business thoroughness by the establishment of
cordial, intimate, friendly relations between
members. On the ideal side the Rotary activ-
ities provide members with codes of correct
practices and high standards in liusiness. The
ideals are e(|ually a])plical3le to his personal

habits as well as to his business conduct. The
Rotary 's slogan is "Service, not self. He
profits most who serves best.'' The Rotary
has a distinct field of its own and is mainly
educational in character. It is different from
other organizations by its limited membership
and by its active concern in the individual
member and in the individual member's busi-
ness and by placing on the members the re-
sponsibility of awaking the respective crafts
and [jrofessions to higher standards. At a
meeting held on June 2, 1920, the following of-
ficers were elected : President, A. G. Du Brutz ;
secretary, Frank Baker : Arthur E. Holmes,
treasurer. Other directors — Arthur Curtner.
Geo. Parkinson, John D. Kuster, Seymour
Kittredge. During the past year twenty new
members have been added to the roll. In 1922
the officers were Dr. C. M. Richards, presi-
dent : E. O. Billwiller, secretary ; Arthur
Holmes, treasurer.

The Lions Club, whose objects are similar
to those of the Rotary Club, was organized
March 24, 1920. by the election of the follow--
ing officers : F. B. Brown, president : Warren
Reilly, vice-president ; T. S. Montgomery,
treasurer, and L. M. Simonson, secretary.
Both the Lions and the Rotarians are lending
eflicient assistance to the Chamber of Com-
merce.

The Civic Welfare Club

The Civic A\'elfare Club, of San Jose, was
organized in November, 1919. The following
officers were elected for the first term : Presi- '
dent, J. D. Crummey; vice-president. Rev. A.
\\'. Noel Porter ; secretary, Josephine Rand-
Rogers ; treasurer, T. M. Wright ; executive
committee, C. S. Allen, L. D. Bohnett, Dr. N.
H. P>ullock, Chas. F. Crothers, J. D. Crummey,
Herbert C. Jones, Rev. A. W. Noel Porter,
Josephine Rand-Rogers, Clara H. Smith, Mrs.
"E. E. Stahl, Geo. S. Walker, Bert R. Ward, F.
D. Wolfe, T. M. Wright. The constitution
thus declares the object:

"The object of this organization will be to
assist in maintaining the highest moral stand-
ards in the political, social and industrial life
of the community. It declares for a vigorous
enforcement of all laws that are essential to
the promotion of the general welfare, and it
will act u]5on this declaration whenever the
occasion arises. It will loyally support the
earnest efforts of all officials to execute such
laws. In primaries and elections it will en-
deavor to ascertain the attitudes and stand-
ards of candidates for offices, the incumbents
of which exercise powers affecting the public
welfare, and will give such information to the
electors. Its method in all activities will be so
far as ])i)ssible constructive. It will always
co-operate to the end that the community

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

243

may l:)econie united in the support of meas-
ures affecting the pubHc interest. In its po-
Hticai actixities it will be strictly nonpartisan.
It will not use its influence to advance party
or indi\idual interest. It will strive to be an
organ of intelligent, disinterested and progres-
sive public opinion.

"No candidate at a primary or election shall
be endorsed by this organization until a refer-
endum vote has been taken, and the returns
show a majority in favor of such endorsement.
The e.xecutive committee may also order a ref-
erendum for its guidance on any matter, and
ten per cent of the voting members of the
organization may on written petition require
the executive committee to direct a referendum
on any proposed measure or action, and to
abide by the result of such vote."

During the few months of its existence the
society has directed its efforts toward the sup-
pression of gambling and "blind pigs."

The 100 Per Cent Club

In the fall of 1918 the 100 Per Cent Club of
San Jose was organized. It is composed of
business and professional men and its objects
are to promote business, advertise San Jose
and Santa Clara County and boost every proj-
ect looking toward city and county advance-
ment. The members consist of one man in
each line of business or profession and the
club follows in many respects the program
outlined by the Rotary Club. Every year it
gives in San Jose a grand industrial exposi-
tion, which attracts visitors from all parts of
Central California. The opening exposition
was held from May 29 to June 5. inclusive,
and there was offered one of the most worth-
while ])rograms ever prepared in California.
There w ere daily aviation races and stunt con-
te->N in which fifty fliers competed; fireworks
were turned loose from airplanes; three bands
pni\ide<l music and famous entertainers from
the I'.ast appeared. In addition, there was a
"Joy Znne," patterned after the famous ave-
nue at the Panama-Pacific Exposition. The
educational and business phases of the affair
were the industrial exhibits, the machinery
exhibits, the automobile and air shows and the
goxernment demonstrations of recruiting
work. The officers of the club are : President.
Paul Rudolph; secretary, Alvin Long; exec-
utive committee, Z. O. Field, W. A. Mc-
Donald, F. iM. Ely. Claude Stutsman, William
Horwarth, J. F. Stover, E. L. Simpkins, L. H.
Elmer, L. Austin, Alvin Long, William Horst-
man. The last named acted as manager of
the expositicm.

Labor Organizations

The free empl(i_\-ment service in San Jose
started u|) during the winter 'of 1915, when

there was an acute period of unemployment.
A committee of citizens representing civic,
fraternal and labor bodies, solicited the neces-
sary funds and established a Rest House for
the unemployed at a building on the Alameda
and started service in the city hall to supple-
ment the work done at the Rest House. The
experiment worked satisfactorily and practic-
ally eliminated the back-door solicitor and
tramp. At the end of the winter the city au-
thorities were induced to take over the work
and under the new auspices it was continued
with good results until April 15, 1918. No
record was made of the calls and placements
made during that period.

On April 15, 1918, the state established in
San Jose, at 176 South Market Street, a
branch of its regular employment service, un-
der the direction of the State Lalior Commis-
sioner. This was in co-operation with the
L^nited States Employment Serxice. and the
work' was carried on as a state federal bureau
until April 1, 1919, when the Government dis-
crntinued all free bureau service except in tlie
large industrial centers of the Eastern states.

Since that date the San Jose bureau has been
operated as a state institution, having no con-
nection with the Government except that it is
allowed the franking privilege on all return
postal cards and official correspondence. Since
its establishment more than 20,000 employers
have been served and more than 40,000 men
and women have been jdaced in earning posi-
tions. The manager of the State Public Em-
ployment Bureau is George Aloody ; assistant,
Thomas A. Graham. The managers of the
municipal bureau from 1916 to 1918 were M.
Chestnutt and Dana Thomas. A. J. Rhein had
charge of the bureau during that period, and
during 1915-1916 Walter Henderson had
charge of the Rest House.

The labor unions of San Jose are represented
by the Building Trades Council, the Central
Labor Council, and the Labor Temple Asso-
ciation. The Building Trades Council, for
building trades only, was organized in 1901,
with Ed White as president and C. H. Harri-
son as secretary. Other presidents were F. N.
Smith. Wood James, Ed Lundy and T. A.
Graham, who held office for seven years, and
Fred Arberg. The present officers are Bert
Rose, president, and J- F. Cambiano, secretary.

A short time after the Building Trades
Council was organized the Federated Trades,
afterwards the Central Labor Council, came
into legal existence. It represents all the
trades not covered by the other council. Be-
fore its (Organization there were a number of
labor unions, and the amalgamation came
about through a desire for co-operation and
concerted actit.m. The officers of the Central

244

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Covincil are W. A. Wilson, president, /and
George Bachelder, secretary. When the Y.
M. C. A. got into financial difficulties and was
forced to give up its fine two-story building
near the northeast corner of Second and St.
John streets, the two labor councils became
the purchasers, paying $13,500 for 1)uilding
and lot. At the time of the purchase the La-
bor Temple Association was formed. It con-
sists of one member from each council. Louis
Yates is secretary and manager. The affairs
of the temple have been so well looked after
during the eight years' ownership of the two
councils that the original debt incurred has
been practically wiped out. The business of
the two councils is to see that labor receives
its just compensation and that the interests
of its members are properly taken care of.

The Progressive Business I\Ien's Club was
organized April 1, 1920. The objects are the
same as the Rotary Club. The officers are:
A. A. Zolezzi, president; J. B. Hiatt. secretary,
and F. W. Sinclair, treasurer. There are
seventy-nine members on the roll.

Commercial Club

The San Jose Commercial Club, dedicated
to the upbuilding of Santa Clara County, was
organized in October, 1921. The objects and
purposes, in detail, are to promote the civic,
business and industrial welfare of the com-
munity, to bring together upon common
ground all existing organizations, to add the
"personal touch" to business and professional
relations, to supplement and amplify the work
of existing organizations, to promote a closer
business, professional and social relationship
between San Jose and outlying communities
and finally to develop broad qualities of lead-
ership to insure steady, uninterrupted com-
munity progress. The officers are : Dr. Ray-
mond T. Wayland, president ; Alex. J. Hart,
vice-president ; W. J. Cross, honorary secre-
tary. The directorate represents the Chamber
of Commerce, Merchants Association, .\uto
Trades Association, Hundred Per Cent Club,
Progressive Business Men's Club, Lions Club,
Professions, Rotary Club, Press. Prune and
Apricot Association, Packers, Realty Board,
outlying sections.

In December, 1921, articles of incorporation
of the Commercial Building Company, organ-
ized to erect a modern class "A" office build-
ing which will house the Commercial Club,
were filed. The building will be located on
the old Music Hall propertv on North First
Street and will cost about $400,000.

Pen Women Branch

The San Jose liranch of the League of
American Pen Women \\as organized March
23, 1922. The objects of the League are

mutual benefit in creative work, betterment of
literary and artistic production. The Edwin
Markham Home was chosen as a fitting meet-
ing-place. To further interest in books and
Pacific Coast writers, the League will give an
annual book fair. The officers are : Mrs. Kath-
erine D. Cather, president; Mrs. Edith Daley,
vice-president ; Miss Mildred Hamilton, treas-
urer ; Mrs. Elva S. Cureton, secretary; Miss
Ruth .Amet, historian. Those eligible are ar-
tists, writers and musical composers.
The Plotwrights
On June 8, 1921, the Plotwrights, an asso-
ciation of county fiction writers, was organ-
ized in San Jose. The following officers were
elected ; Homer Eon Flindt, president ; Oscar
L. Oliver, secretary ; Eugene T. Sawyer, treas-
urer. The objects are sociability, the discus-
sion of the technique of the salable manu-
script, the giving of entertainments, the boost-
ing of the beautiful valley of Santa Clara, and
the reception and entertainment of visiting
authors. The membership consists of the
following writers: H. E'. Flint, Austin Hall,
J. B. Frisbie, James Hanson, Ray Hardin. Ray
Hicks. .A. Jamison .\rr(ill, E. T. Sa\A'yer.

The Western Aero Club

An Aero Club to promote aeronautics in
the Santa Clara Valley was formed at a meet-
ing of local aviation enthusiasts on July 12.
1920. The charter members were Johnny
Johnston (instructor), Louis Normandin, Ar-
thur _ Britton, Sanborn Young, Frank Puck,
Paul Stephany, Fred Gurvine, J. R. Penning-
ton, Clyde Arbuckle, J. R. Knutzen (vice-
president), Roscoe Russell, William Brud-
wein, Charles Newman, C. H. Odell (secre-
tary and treasurer), R. M. Scherf, W. G. Har-
ton, Mrs. W. G. Harton, S. Metzgar, K. Rog-
ers (president), R. A. Burgess, Mrs. Newbre,
Frank Rose (aerial acrobat), ^^'. Lidley. H.
Coleman and Dr. Morris.

The name selected is The Western Aero
Club and the headquarters will be the old site
of the Garden City aviation field on Capitol
Avenue, near Santa Clara Avenue. The club
has ships and more are to be added in the
near future. In Santa Clara is another club
and the Pennington-Todd training field on the
San Francisco road.

Aviation in San Jose took its first real start
during the European war. The Garden City
field was selected as a base of ojjerations, and
when not aiding the local war committees of
San Jose in distributing Red Cross, Liberty
Bond and other circulars, the aviators carried
passengers for a ten to fifteen minutes" flight
over the city. During this period many ex-
cursions from Camp Mather were made and
hundreds of airships passed over the valley on
their wav to southern points.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

245

The San Jose squadron was organized on
Decemlier 1, 1921. On February 18. 1922, it
appealed to Congressman Free to assist its
members in securing a plane for training pur-
poses. Mr. Free, upon receipt of this request,
called at the war department and presented the
matter to the heads of the air service.

Although the war department plans to co-
operate with the San Jose squadron in e\ery
possible way and to include it in its future
plans for the development of aviation on the
Pacific Coast, theer were certain technical diffi-

culties in the way of having an army plane
allotted immediately for use at San Jose.

"Sir. Free therefore appealed to the postc;f-
fice department, having heard that a JN plane
owned l:>y that department was at Crissey
field. San Francisco, and might be available.
Through the sympathetic cooperation of
Hon. C. F. Egge, head of the air mail service,
who took up the matter immediately at Mr.
Fjee's recpiest, the plane was secured and o--
dered to Iie delivered without charge and fully
equipi^ed for use to a representative of the
San Jose air reserve squadron on April 3.

CHAPTER XXV.

Charitable and Humanitarian Organizations of San Jose — The Good Cheer
Club, County Charities, Home of Benevolence — Pratt Home, Salvation
Army, Notre Dame Institute, and Young Men's Christian Association.

The Associated Charities was organized in
1894, and while in existence met with the gen-
erous co-operation of the puljlic. The direc-
tors represented the churches of every faith
in San Jose, as well as other existing charita-
ble bodies. The aims were to make investi-
gation and keep a record of all cases of distress
reported : to give temporary relief in emerg-
ency cases and then report them to the cliar-
itahli- organizations under the jurisdiction of
which they belonged; to expose fraud and
])re\ent duplicate giving; and to secure work
for needy women and men. Annual entertain-
ments were given, which alwaj-s netted the
society a sufficient sum to tide it over until
the next year. The officers for the first year
were : Alfred C. Bean, president ; Mrs. T.
Ellard Bean, vice-president; Mrs. W. B. Hill,
secretary: James Bean, treasurer, and Miss
Cora M. Bethel, superintendent ; board of di-
rectors, Mrs. S. B. Hawkins, Mrs. T. Ellard
Beans, Mrs. A. T. Herrmann, Rev. H. M.
Tennev. Mrs. H. Branham, James Bean, Mrs.
\V. l..'Woodrow, Mrs. \V. B. Hill, Mrs. E. G.
Williams. Mrs. Anna Taber, Mrs. Alfred C.
Kcan ; lionornr}- directors, G. D. Worswick,
Mi>. S. C. Winchester, Rev. Father Gleeson,
Mrs. Geo. M . liownian, J- H. Campbell, Mrs.
H. ( ). Smith. Mrs. H. Levy. Mrs. C. D. Blanev.
Mrs. E. McLaughlin, Mrs. B. Cochrane. Mrs.
Jackson Hatch. J. E. Knoche, James Rhodes.
"Mrs. AV. P. Doughertv. Mrs. S. A. Jones, E.
A. Hayes.

The association continued its beneficent
work until 1917, when the Santa Clara County
Charities was organized under the state law
and with state and county aid. As its opera-

tions and aims were about the same as those
of the Associated Charities, the latter cjrgani-
zation concluded to disorganize and then to
reorganize under the name of the Social Serv-
ice Agetjcy. This action was taken after it
had turned over all its data to the County
Charities. As the Social Service Agency it
allied itself with the Good Cheer Club, and
for se\eral years assisted in the club's cam-
paign work.

Miss Cora M. Bethel, former superintendent
of the Associated Charities, is the investigator
or superintendent of the L'ounty Charities,
Ray B. Newman is the secretary, and fine
offices have been fitted up in the county court
house. The board of supervisors has discon-
tinued its alms-giving system and has turned
over all that business to the County Charities
for inxestigation and action. The County
Charities presents claims of applicants for re-
lief to the board and the board makes the
allowances. The state aid for the six months
ending December 31, 1919, amounted to $16,-
723.16; supplementary, $1,012.03; total, $17,-
735.19. Total of all aid for the six months,
$23,173.02.

In aildition to its other work, the County
Chaiitic^ (li>i)enses the \\'ido\vs' .\id Pension.
Nearly all the claims of apijlicants for aid are
for groceries, clothing and other necessaries.

The Good Cheer Club

The (_;ood Cheer Club, started in 1904, is
the health organization of Santa Clara County.
The objects are to promote health and efifi-
ciencA' in the community, to give systematic
relief to the sick, poor and needy, and to es-

246

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tablish a fund for these purposes. Annual
membership fee, five dollars ; life membership,
twenty-five dollars. The officers are: Presi-
dent, De Lancey Lewis ; vice-presidents, Mrs.
Chas. Allen, Mrs. John E. Richards ; secretary.
Miss Emma Philbrick. It is supported by the
Santa Clara County Welfare Association, con-
sisting of the Florence Crittenden Home, the
Anti-Tuberculosis Society and the Social Serv-
ice Agency. It receives state and county aid
and fees from patients. The average monthly
cases exceed 1,000. The departments include
mental, medical and dental clinics and social
hygiene. There are nineteen physicians on
the consulting list.

The work of the chib is done by no other
organization in San Jnse. yet it is in close
co-operation with all the other humanitarian
agencies and at the least possible expense. It
reaches not only the very destitute and defi-
cient, but the large American middle class in
need of assistance. This assistance the clul)
is organized to give, not so much as a charity
but as a public health service. Visiting nurs-
ing in the homes was started in 1904 and for
several years that constituted the largest part
of the work ; but at last it became necessary
to establish an office and dispensary, where
applicants could be received, medicines and
sick-room supplies distributed, surgical dress-
ings made and sterilized, patients met by ap-
pointment, doctors consulted, etc. Each
branch of work undertaken has been the di-
rect result of a real need. One of these was
the clinic where children could have continued
treatment. Doctors cheerfully cared for pa-
tients through acute attacks. It seemed im-
possible at first for the club to successfully
follow up these attacks, as each child had a
different doctor and a different hour of ap-
pointment. But at last the club succeeded in
opening a medical clinic through which chil-
dren below par mentally and physically have
been treated with wonderful results. Ever}^
child is given a thorough examination, the
case is properly diagnosed, often by means of
X-ray pictures and various tests. Treatment
is then prescribed, medicine furnished, and
when necessar}^ the case is dismissed, contin-
ued or referred to other treatment. Many
children have received e.xpensive surgical cor-
rective treatment and hospital care, with no
expense whatever to the parents. Through
the operation of the medical clinic was found
an absolute need for a dental clinic. Before
this, only emergency work had been provided
through the generosity of first one dentist and
then another, but it was found that nearly
every child coming to the medical clinic needed
dental care, hence the establishment of a den-
tal clinic.

The social hygiene department was estab-
lished on February 1, 1919, with the assist-
ance of the State Board of Health. There are
now 200 patients being treated. In San Jose
there are clinics conducted daily in all depart-
ments. Branches of the club have been es-
tablished in Los Gatos, Campbell, Mountain
View and Santa Clara.

The nationalities of the new cases treated
for one month in 1920 were as follow : Amer-
ican, 213: Italian-American, 86; Italian, 18;
Spanish-American. 29 ; Japanese, 2 ; Swedish,
3; Portuguese, 1 : German, 3; Spanish, 2; Jew-
ish-American, 4; Slavonian-American. 1. To-
tal, 362.

Home of Benevolence

The Home of Benevolence owes its exist-
ence to the efforts of the Ladies' Benevolent
Society. This society was organized in 1867,
as a result of a meeting of Richard Savage,
internal revenue assessor: J. J. Owen, editor
nf the Mercury; Mrs. A. M. Gates, wife of the
l)rincipal of the San Jose Institute; Mrs. J. C.
Coljli, and a few others. At the organization
meeting, on April 16 of the same year, the
following officers were elected: President.
Mrs. J. C. Cobb ; vice-president. Mrs. A. Pom-
eroy ; secretary, Mrs. N. Hayes ; treasurer.
Mrs. C. R. Spaw. At the same meeting Mrs.
W. N. Slocum. Mrs. G. Evans, Mrs. F. E.
Adams and Mrs. E. J. Wilcox were appointed
managers. The constitution stated the o]>ject
of the society to be the rendering of assistance
to sick and dependent persons residing in the
city of San Jose.

Upon the acceptance of the constitution the
following ladies were elected as a visiting com-
mittee: Mrs. R. B. Hall, Mrs. E. Alban, Mrs.
China Smith, Mrs. Joseph Ingham. Mrs. D. L.
Shead, Mrs. A. L. Rhodes, Mrs. D. T. Adams,
Mrs. Wesley Tonner, Mrs. J. R. Whitney,
Mrs. T. Ellard Beans, Mrs. Josiah Belden,
Mrs. P. T. McCabe, Mrs. J. C. Smith; auxil-
iary committee, J. A. Quinby, J. J. Owen, D.
S. Payne, E. J. Wilcox, Richard Savage and

A. B. Hamilton. The amount of fees collected
through enrollment was thirty-nine dollars.
Thus was launched upon the tide of human
woes and human blessings one of the most
beneficent, yet unostentatious, of local forces ;
a power that for over fifty years has steadily
and quietly gone about doing good. There
have been no emoluments or honors connected
with its offices, no worldly benefits accruing
to any of its members.

In May. 1867, Mrs. Spaw tendered her res-
ignation, which was accepted, and Mrs. N.
Hayes, afterwards Mrs. Chas. J. Martin, was
elected treasurer pro tern, and the names of
Mrs. Norman Porter, Mrs. L. Archer, Mrs. R.

B. Buckner and Airs. R. T. O'Hanlon were

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

247

added to the list of members. During the sec-
ond month, Mrs. James Hart, Mrs. J. Manly.
Mrs. R. Savage, Mrs. Chas. Allen, Mrs. C. S.
Crydenwise, Miss Sarah Severance, Mrs. K.
Patterson, Mrs. S. A. Barker, Mrs. A. N.
Hamm, Mrs. John Rouse and Miss Anna Cobb
enrolled themselves as members. In August,
Mrs. J. Lewis, Mrs. J. Cutler, Mrs. Stephen
Thorne and Mrs. S. J. Churchill joined.

In 1872 the society incorporated under the
laws of the state. At the same time T. Ellard
Beans, T. W. Spring, A. C. Erkson and Mr.
Rhodes were appointed as trustees, in addi-
tion to the presiding officers and board of man-
agers. The event of the year was an appro-
priation of $500 from the state.

The Home of Benevolence was established
by the society in 1877, and the same year the
constitution was so amended as to provide
rules and regulations for a home for destitute
children and aged and infirm persons. The
home was first located in a rented Iniilding un
the corner of Third and Martha streets, Mrs.
A. H. Anderson serving as matron. Special
laws were made for the place. By permission
of the board of trustees children under pe-
culiar circumstances could be admitted, and
all mothers who earn their living were al-
lowed to place their children at the home by
the day, paying a small compensation for the
accommodation. Independent of the home-
less children and helpless women who found
shelter and care in the home during the first
year of its existence, twenty-five tramps re-
ceived "scjuare meals."

An Authors' Carnival to raise money to-
ward the building of a home that would an-
swer all requirements was given at Music
Hall on February 26, 1878. The officers at
this time consisted of Mrs. Nellie Evster,
president; Mrs. M. X. McKee and Mrs. L. W.
Moultrie, vice-presidents; Mrs. Louisa King,
secretar}-. and Mrs. Frances D. Williams,
treasurer ; board of managers, Mesdames J. C.
Cobb, C. R. Span, T. W. Spring, A. M. G'ates,
Ben Corv, P. D. Hale, Dr. Stone, E. Coombs,
T. E. Beans, S. A. Clark, C. H. Allen, H. J.
Haskell, Jackson Lewis, P. T. McCabe, .\. T.
Herrmann, M. Dimond.

The carnival was a success, the sum of
$2,987.85 being netted to the society. In Sep-
tember. 1878, the home was removed to the
(lid Schroeder place at the junction of First
and Market streets. Here, with a family of
nine children and two invalid women, the so-
ciety took temporary possession, Mrs. A. R.
Ransom as matron. The house being large
and unfurnished, the draught upon the treas-
ury to make it both habitable and comfort-
able was heavy. Various means to raise funds
were discussed, among which was the propo-

sition to have a course of scientific lectures
by some of the savants of San Jose. About
this time Geo. W. Fentress, city librarian, was
authorized to offer prizes for the best poem
and the best story by San Jose authors. That
for the best poem, "An Arboreal Song of the
Alameda," was unanimously awarded, by in-
telligent judges and critics, to its author, Mrs.
Mary H. Field. The poem purports to be —

"The song of an ancient tree,
Which it softly crooned to me
As I walked on an autumn day
In the Alameda — the beautiful way —
The pride and glory of San Jose."

It tells in musical rhyme the history of the
century's years, dating from the time when —

The gray old Mission Fathers nine
sat

In the long refectory hall.
Lingering over bread and wine,
and planning.

For the glory of God and the good of
man,
to

Plant some trees whose greenery
A screen from the burning sun shall be.
After much opposition from the brother
Friars, who thought the plan of planting a
"league of forest" too large to come within
their compassing, it was done, and when the
originator of the plan, the benevolent and
weary Father de Catala, slept one night a
Ijright vision hovered o'er him,

And he saw, as in a magical glass,
that

The trees of his planting so stately

grew,
They leaned their tops 'gainst the

sky's soft blue.
While intertwining on every side.
The giant branches swept far and wide.
'Neath the lovely living arches' span
The broad, smooth highway level ran.
Its verduous vistas stretching on
Till the power of the raptured eye
was gone.
The vision shifted many times, until there
came to the Friars' view some of the scenes of
today :

A surging crowd of an unknown name —
An endless, hurrying, jostling throng.
Full of laughter, and jest, and song —
The ceaseless tide of a city's street.
The stately coach and the lumbering

wain.
Which came with rumble, and rush,

and roar.
Swarming with people, behind, before.
Above, within, and under, too,

248

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

For aught the puzzled Friar knew.
Whose Hving- monument stands today
In the Alameda — the beautiful way.

Mrs. P'ield presented the manuscript of the
poem to the society and an illustrated edition
of 1,000 copies was printed, the sale ol which
produced a modest revenue.

It being found necessary to incorporate the
Home of Benevolence as an institution sepa-
rate from that of the Ladies' Benevolent So-
ciety, a meeting to take the necessary steps
was called on October 21, 1879, an election
of officers followed and an application for a
charter was inade. In 1880, a house for the
home was built on the Morey land on the cor-
ner of Martha and Eleventh streets. It con-
sisted of eleven large rooms and two bath-
rooms. It was appropriately dedicated on
September 5, 1880. It was then reported that
there was not a dollar of indebtedness.

The event of the summer of 1882 was the
furnishing of the two dormitories with thirty-
six iron bedsteads, wire springs and hair mat-
tresses, at a cost of $600. The children, irre-
spective of sex, were now taught to do their
own bed-making. On January 21, 1885, the
society accepted the deed of conveyance of the
vearlv revenue from the "Contingent James
Lick Trust Fund" of $25,000 for the benefit of
the Home of Benevolence. There were five
acres in the original home tract, but si.x and
one-half acres were afterwards added : also a
hospital and a large addition to the building.

After the Santa Clara County Charities and
the Good Cheer Club began to do city and
county work, the members of the Ladies' Be-
nevolent Society devoted their time mainly to
the care and maintenance of the home, which
at present has seventy inmates (children).
The matron is Mrs. Skidmore. The officers
of the society are: Mrs. Geo. B. McKee,
president; Mrs. J. W. Blauer and Mrs. \V. S.
Clayton, vice-presidents : Mrs. A. G. Field, re-
cording secretary; Mrs. Louis Sonniksen,
financial secretary: Mrs. P. H. Jordan, ct)rre-
sponding secretary ; Mrs. F. B. S. Williams,
treasurer: trustees other than officers, Mes-
dames W. C. Bailev, F. O. Read, H. Center,
J. R. Kocher, P. F. Gosbey, G. W. Borchers.
G. D. Farrington, W. S. Van Dalsem, F. W.
Moore, G. A. Muirson, C. R. Parkinson, S. .\.
Ogier, Joseph Pash. C. A. Wayland, J. W.
Hamilton, ]. W. Faull, G. A. Sweigert. and
Miss C. Beile Eaton.

The Odd Fellows' Home

One of the finest institutions df the kind is
the Odd Fellows' Home, located on Fruitvale
Avenue about a mile south of Saratoga. It is
a concrete building and was erected in 1912

at a cost of $300,000. There are eighty-two
acres in the tract. In 1920 there were 174 in-
mates, fifty of them being women. The main
building contains a ladies' parlor, library, as-
seml)ly hall, reception room and rooms for the.
officers. A large part of the tract is planted
in fruit trees and in 1919 fruit to the amount
of $5,000 was sold. The home maintains hog
and chicken yards and a vegetable garden, and
in a large measure is self-supporting. The
management is in the hands of a board of
trustees consisting of John Hazlett, San Fran-
cisco : D. A. Sinclair, Oakland ; Fred Pierce,
Los .\ngeles : A. N. Bullock, Sacramento?
Sam E. Jvloreland, San Jose. The superin-
tend'ent is Dr. C. S. Arnold and his wife is
matron. The average age of the inmates is
seventy-six years and the cost of maintenance
per inmate is $25.50 per month.

The Pratt Home

The Pratt Home, a gift from Mrs. W. W.
Pratt, located on South First Street near the
Market Street junction, was organized in
1891. Since then two annexes have been built.
It has been used for the relief of homeless
children and aged people of both sexes. The
main building is spacious and well appointed
and is surrounded by handsome grounds that
are adorned with trees and shrubbery. At
present there are fifty inmates. The follow-
ing are the officers elected in May, 1920:
President, Mrs. W. L. Woodrow ; secretary,
Mrs. A. T. Herrmann ; treasurer, Mrs. J. E.
Richards ; financial secretary, Mrs. C. H. Her-
vey ; assistant treasurer. Miss Mayo Hayes;
first vice-president, Mrs. Ernest Lion ; other
directors, Mrs. A\'illiam Bogen, Mrs. B. Laugh-
lin. Mrs. A\'. G. Alexander and Miss Dock-
stader.

Notre Dame Institute

The ( )'Connor Notre Dame Institute, lo-
cated at the corner of Second and Reed streets,
was formerlv the residence of Judge and Mrs.
M. P. O'Connor. On July 16, 1883, they do-
nated the residence to the Sisters of Notre
Dame for use as an orphanage for girls. At
present there are twenty-five inmates, though
there are accommodations for fifty. The in-
mates are cared for and given a thorough ed-
ucation. Those who wish can afterwards en-
ter the College of Notre DaJme high school.
Others are placed in good situations after hav-
ing been thoroughly inducted into the myster-
ies of domestic science.

The Salvation Army and Volunteers
The Salvation .\nny has been a humani-
tarian force in San Jose for over forty years.
It carries a message of relief and hope to the
poor and sick and its services both in war and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

249

\

peace have l)een important and far-reaching.
The industrial department in San Jose, at 573
South Market Street, is conducted l^y Adju-
tant W. Boyd, while the hall on Post Street
for meetings is in the hands of Captain \\'.
Bamford.

The Volunteers of America organized in
1876. just after Ballington Booth had severed
his connection with the Salvation Army and
had formed the national organization of Vol-
unteers. A home for men is located on North
Fourth Street and an industrial department
does business at 477 North First Street. lioth
of these places are administered by Staff Cap-
tain Rose Goth.

The work of the Salvation Arm}- is illus-
trated in the story of old Bob Bennett. Fish-
ermen and hunters in the Mt. Hamilton region
will remember the old man, who lived the life
of a hermit in a little cabin high up in a gulch
that debouches into the Canyon of the Santa
Ysabel. Old Bob is dead and the coyote yips
and barks and the wildcat snarls and cries in
the little flat where once was heard the plain-
tive strains of Old Bob's violin. The old feh
low was a curious character. He was an h'.ni^-
lishman, unmarried, and had no relatives in
America. While a young man he followed the
sea as a ship's carpenter. In middle life he
came to San Jose and was employed for a
numljer of years as a caliinet-maker in one of
the city's large furniture stores. He had one
besetting fault — overindulgence in strung
drink — and inability to control the a])i)etite
sent him to the eastern hills fur recuperation
and reformation. But the habit of years was
too strong to be easily thrown off. Some men
in his situation might have fought the booze
devil to a finish, but poor Bob was not a man
of stamina. He was kind-hearted, honest and
a hard worker, but he lacked the will-])o\\er
to fight resolutely against his enemy. For a
while he chopped wood, but ceased to manipu-
late the a.xe when the late W. T. Adel pur-
chased Campoodie, a large flat below the Kin-
caid ranch, and engaged him to stay on the
place and keep an eye on the improvements —
an old log cabin and a recently built shack of
two rooms. Bob stayed at Campoodie for a
while, employing his spare time — which was
about all his time — in making commercial use
of the wood of the manzanita trees which
grew in profusion above the flat. He was a
cunning artisan, and having as his belongings
a lathe and a full set of carpenter's tools, was
able to fashion out of the seasoned manzanita
all sorts of useful articles, from najakin rings
to canes.

After he left .Adel's place Ik- located in a
gulch across the Ysabel Creek. The spot had
a fine spring, and near the water he erected a

cabin and a workshop, and while he lived he
turned out manzanita work that found a ready
sale. His best patrons were the astronomers
at the Lick Observatory. Bob was a natural
musician, though he could not read a note of
music. He played the violin and banjo with
ec|ual facility, and during the camping season
he would entertain the Ysabel campers with
his music. All the time the drink habit held
him in a vise. Once ;i ni.mth he would send
to San Jose for i)np\isi(in^ ;ind a demijohn of
whiskey. The whi>ke\- would last about a
week and during that time Bob would indulge
himself to the limit. As the year^ ]iassed tlie
habit grew stronger, would not be denied. He
found that he could not wait for the monthly
supply, so he tried shellac to tide him over
the shaky time. One day his shellac ga\e out.
But he had a bottle of wood alcohol. I'erha])s
he did not know that sudden death lurked in
the bottle. Perha]5S he did know, and was
reckless of consecjuences. At an_\- rate, he
drank deeply of the poison and twenty-four
hours later a rancher found him dead in bed.
Some time before his death, news of his un-
fortunate habit reached the lassies of the Sal-
\ation Army in San Jose. Tw(_) of them re-
solved to ride up to the jjlace and use argu-
ments and players to induce him to cut loose
from John Barleycorn. Bob was shy and em-
liarrassed in the presence of women, and when
the Sahation .\rmy lassies arrived he was
shyer than ever, for he was just reco\-ering
from one of his periodical deb;iuches. He
greeted his visitors awkwardly and listened
shamefacedly while they argued and pleaded.
All the time he was fingering nervously the
strings of his banjo. Argument was followed
by prayers. The lassies ;knelt with heads
bowed and prayed earnestly for the redemp-
tion of the man who stood above them. And
while»they pra}'ed Bob, hardly knowing what
he was doing, kept on with his banjo pl;i\-ing.
He ga\e them as accompaniment to the ])rayer,
"Old Dan Tucker" and "There'll Be a Hot
Time in the Old Town Tonight," and other
lively tunes. Once a lassie looked up, a smile
on her face, but when she noted the rajit ex-
pression on Old Boll's face the smile fled and
the eyes dropped.

Juvenile Court and Probation Office

In 1908 Judge M. H. Hyland of the Superior
Court became conxinced from observation and
experience that the law was unfair in its treat-
ment of iitTenders under the age of twenty-
one. In his opinion ^ley should not be treated
with the same severity that marked the treat-
ment of adult offenders. He was therefore
instrumental in the establishing of a juvenile
court. To carry out his idea it was necessary

250

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

that a probation officer should be appointed.
There was no authority in law for the pay-
ment of a salary to this officer and for a time
he had to rely on the enterprise and good sense
of the board of supervisors. This body al-
lowed his claim for expenses, but could go no
farther in the matter. The first probation offi-
cer was Frank R. Shafter, who fur some time
had been actively connected with the Humane
Society. He was succeeded by Geo. W. Lee.
a Civil War veteran, and it was during Mr.
Lee's incumbency that the State Legislature
established the juvenile court and fixed a sal-
ary for the probation officer. From this time
on the court waxed in influence and the proba-
tion officer found all the work he could do.
Mr. Lee was succeeded by J. L. Montgomery,
who held office until appointed as the head
of the Preston Reform School at lone. After
him came C. H. Waterman and Mrs. Catherine
Brattan, the present officer. She has as assist-
ant E. A. Raymond. At the start the object
of the probation office was to look after the
interests of juvenile ofifenders, but latterly it
has taken charge of state adult criminals who
have been released from prison mi prol>;ition.
These offenders living in Santa Clara County
are obliged to report to the probation office at
stated times. Employment is found for them
and they are given every opportunity to be-
come good citizens. Of the 117 looked after
in 1919, eighty-seven per cent have made good.
In respect of the juveniles the probation offi-
cer, representing the juvenile court, hunts up
cases of minors whose home life is not what it
should be, or who have been regarded as bad
boys or girls, made so by evil association and
home surroundings, and as far as possible so
improve the conditions as to give the subjects
opportunity to lead moral lives. Many cases
which might have come into court have been
satisfactorily settled by the probation office.
The juvenile court holds weekly sessions and
offenders who are not released on prol)ation
are sent, not to prison, but to a reform school,
convent or orphanage. Mrs. Brattan has been
in office for seven years and has made a fine
record for efficiency. From her last annual re-
port the following statistics are taken :

New cases in which court action was taken
—Male, 118; female, 44; total, 162. Cases set-
tled informally — Male, 127; female, 97; total,
424. Wards placed on probation since Janu-
ary 1, 1919, to January 1, 1920— Male, 38; fe-
male, 2 ; total, 40. Free homes found, 30 since
January 1, 1919, to Januasy 1, 1920. Positions
found, 60 since January 1, 1919, to January 1,
1920. Families reconciled, 26 since lanuarv
1, 1919, to January 1, 1920. Visits to' homes,
242 since January 1, 1919, to January 1, 1920.

Investigations, 571 since January 1, 1919, to
January 1, 1920.

The Coffee Club

The San Jose Coffee Club Association is a
semi-philanthropic, co-operative membership
association, organized for the purpose of es-
tablishing rest and reading rooms which are
maintained by the proceeds of the lunch de-
partment conducted in connection. The idea
was originated about twenty years ago by
Ernest Fox, now of Stockton, who received
his inspiration from the old English coffee
houses and tea rooms. These places were, and
in some places still are, the social centers of
their respective communities, operated as they
are along temperance lines, but partaking of
the conviviality of the ancient taverns. The
club has fine rooms in a building on South
Second Street near the corner of San Fernando
Street. Almost any day one may see in the
clubrooms the well-to-do man of affairs rub-
bing elbows with the "down-and-outer," to
their mutual profit. Thus the club has become
the melting pot of the community, enabling all
sorts and conditions of men to meet as equals,
for all are treated with courtesy and respect.
It was started with membership fees and do-
nations amounting to about $600 and has
grown to its present worth through the re-
capitalization of the accumulated profits, there
being no dividends or disbursements among
the members or directors, all accumulations
remaining in the business to be used for im-
provements and extension work.

With a growth from $600 to $15,000 in cash
value, of floor space from 900 to 12,000 square
feet, wages paid annually from $1,000 to $12,-
000, foodstuffs bought from $3,000 to $27,000,
and from 300 to 1800 people accommodated
daily, it may be seen that the Coffee Club fills
a need and meets with public approval. The
officers and directors of the Coffee Club Asso-
ciation are: Charles F. Crothers, president;
L. P. Edwards, vice-president; Mrs. Maud A.
Tacks, secretarv; Dr. E. R. Wagner, Dr. Ed-
ward Newell, Prof. C. B. Gleason, Mrs. E. H.
Baker, Miss Alice Winans, A. D. Campbell
and S. D. Mathews is the manager.

The Woman's Exchange

The Woman's Exchange was started in
1899 from money gathered by Mrs. A. T. Herr-
mann and Mrs.' Collins. T'he main object of
the exchange was to give to needy women un-
able on account of family ties to do work on
the outside, the opportunity to make a living
in their own homes by baking bread, cakes,
pies, etc., to be sold at a very small profit by
the exchange. The sale shop is in Central
Market, with Miss Alice Myers as manager.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

251

Mrs. Herrmann has been treasurer ever since
the organization. She now acts as president
also. The other officers are Mrs. M. V. Nye,
vice-president: Mrs. Wallace, secretary. The
only salaried officer is the manager.

Humane Societies

The Santa Clara County Humane Society
came into existence over twenty years ago,
but for a time no business was done. In June,
1909, a reorganization was effected, with Dr.
John \V. Davy as president. The original ob-
ject was to prevent cruelty to animals and
children, but when the probation office was es-
tablished the society ceased to work for the
children and gave its whole attention to dumb
animals. In June, 1919, Dr. Davy resigned
the presidency and was succeeded by Geo. F.
Wakefield. At the election in June, 1920. the
following officers were elected : President, G.
F. Wakefield ; vice-presidents. Dr. J. W. Davy,
F. R. Shafter, Mrs. A. M. Olinder ; secretary,
Mrs. E. R. Croft; treasurer. Miss F. Ury; d'i-
rectors, :\Irs. E. R. Croft, Mrs. G. F. Wake-
field, .Mrs. E. H. McCarthy, Mrs. E. A. Guil-
bault.

In December, 1919, the Humane Educational
Committee was organized as an oft'shoot of the
Humane Society by Mrs. G. F. W^akefield. It
has twenty-one members and the object is to
educate the young to being kind to animals
by talks and lectures. These talks are given
mainly in the public schools. On June 2i,
1920, under the auspices of the committee,
Mrs. Minnie Maddern Fiske, the distinguished
actress, spoke at the Hotel Vendome on the
conservation of food animals and the abolish-
ment of the trap. She was introduced by Mrs.
Wakefield. Mrs. Fiske first made fetching
apology for her ajipearance, stating that she
had hoped to arrive in time to put on "her
beautiful dress," but as she looked very lovely
in her satin traveling cloak with its corsage
of orchid-tinged sweet peas, her appearance
was delightfully satisfying and proved that a
lecture may be twice as interesting when the
lecturer retains her femininity.

Touching briefly on a recent moment of dis-
couragement when after twenty years of in-
cessant labor a small body of humanitarians
found that conditions were no better but even
worse, Mrs. Fiske told of the renewed cour-
age that came to them with a suggestion from
a man in Denver who had devoted the best
years of his life to their particular study. It
is no longer necessary, she explained, to apolo-
gize or offer explanation for the mental atti-
tude of those who feel a very great responsi-
bility toward the dumb creation, although
fifty years ago anyone interested in it was
laughed at, and the old criticism that such

people were insensible to human need should
be extinct by this time, for it is stupid and
wicked. Nor are humanitarians sentimental-
ists. Booth Tarkington, the creator of Pen-
rod, and James Metcalf, editor of "Life," both
active humane workers, were cited as exam-
ples and no one would consider them senti-
mentalists.

The Jack London Society was formed in
May, 1920. It is a national organization with
headquarters in Boston. There are no officers
and no dues. Each member, by his signature,
agrees to leave any motion picture or other
performance where trained animals appear,
and to inform the manager of the reason for
the departure. The movement was started
after the publication of Jack London's two
dog stories, "Michael" and "Jerry."

Young Men's Christian Association

The Young Men's Christian Association of
San Jose was formed in 1867. For several
years it had a precarious existence. In 1873
it "ceased to function" and its books and other
furnishings were sold to the San Jose Library
Association. A few years later it was on its
feet again and in 1890 a fine two-story mod-
ern wooden building was erected for its use.
The location was on North Second Street near
St. John. For several years the association
had its ups and downs, but as debts began to
accumulate it was found necessary to sell the
building and lot. The Labor Temple Associa-
tion was the purchaser. Up to 1912 the Y. M.
C. A. occupied rented quarters. In May, 1911,
with new blood in its veins, the association
started a campaign for funds for a new build-
ing and equipment. The first gift was that of
Ciias. D. Blanev for S5,U(l(). This was followed
by one from M'rs. Maria 1'. Sch,. field for $25,-
000. In all, in ten .lay>' wdrk. the sum of
$160,000 was subscribed. A large lot on the
southeast corner of Third and Santa Clara
streets was purchased and ground for the new
building was broken on April 18, 1912. The
cornerstone was laifl on .August 20 of that
year. The building is a credit to the city. It
is of the modern renaissance design. The
building is 132^4 feet on the Third street side
and 57y2 feet on the Santa Clara street side.
At the rear the gymnasium, which has a width
of 40 feet, forms an L extending to the east
75 feet. The building is five stories and base-
ment. It is of entire concrete construction
with concrete stairways.

The basement has four first-class bowling
alleys. Electric and steam driven pumps sup-
ply water from the artesian well and circulate
the hot and cold water supply to the baths
and different parts of the building. The ven-
tilating and indirect heating system is in-

252

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

stalled and there is also the Rotex vacuum
system of cleaning'. The reading room is a
portion of the west side of lobby and provides
a very convenient place for the reading of
the many periodicals, books and newspapers
on file. Here is a correspondence table in-
viting the stranger to w^rite the delayed let-
ter. On the east side of the lobby are the
billiard and pocket billiard tables. All the fur-
niture here, as well as in all parts of the
building, is of solid fumed oak construction.
The gymnasium is 40 feet wide and 75 feet
long. The floor is of white maple. It is pro-
vided with a running track 6 feet wide, the
track being twenty-eight laps to the mile. The
swimming pool is 20 by 60 feet. The floor of
the pool is laid with vitrified tile and its walls
are lined Avith glazed white tile. The edge of
the floor around the entire pool, as well as
the overflow edge which continues entirely
around the pool, is constructed so as to keep
the pool in the most sanitary condition and
also provides good hand holds. The water is
crystal clear, the pool bavins' a capacity of
over fift}' thousand gallons. The twenty-two
shower baths are constructed of marble and
tile and nickel fittings throughout. The boys'
department is located on the west j^ortion of
the second floor, with separate game and read-
ing rooms, equipped to delight every active
boy. The assembly room has a seating capac-
ity of 250. A kitchen adjoins this room, pro-
viding means of serving banquets and suppers.
The dormitories occupy the third, fourth and
fifth floors. There are seventj'-five rooms in
all. Each floor is equip])ed with ample la\-a-
tories, shower liaths, linen closets and trunk
room.

Chas. D. Blaney was chairman of the build-
ing committee and his assistants were E. N.
Richmond, Prof. J. E. Hancock, H. A. Blanch-
ard and Geo. C. Wilson. Blanchard, then
president of the board of directors. The Citi-
zens Campaign Committee to raise the funds
for the building had as chairman Henry C.
Murgotten, who was assisted by Chas. A.
Titus, special secretary, Y. M. C. A., and the
following group leaders business men: J. S.
Williams, C. H. Waterman, Fred M. Stern,
W. L. Prussia, V. Koch, E. K. Johnston. T.
W^ Chilton, G. \\\ Borchers, H. M. P.arn-
grover, L. B. Avery. Young men : W. E.
Spearman, E. D. Shepherd. E. N. Richmond,
F. H. Patterson, M. D., J. W^ Nixon, Ed.
Newell, M. D., C. W. Janes, Geo. N. Herbert,
J. D. Crummej', C. D. Cavallaro.

The new building was opened on May 29,
1913. The association is conducted by the fol-
lowing business men of San Jose: Board of di-
rectors— A. S. Bacon, Frank H. Benson, H. A.
Blanchard, Geo. B. Campbell, C. D. Cavallaro,

John D. Crummev, D. ]. Denhart, Geo. D.
Gilman, J. E. Hancock, |."E. Hoblit, Dale Hol-
land, Stanlev D. Mathews, V. T. McCurdv, Dr.
Edward Newell, W. B. Reilly, H. T. Revnolds,
\\'. H. Stray, Dr. E. R. Wagner, C. H. Water-
man, Dr. A. E. Dickinson ; board of trustees —
W. G. Alexander, Dr. D. A. Beattie. H. A.
Blanchard, C. D. Blanev, D. C. Crummev.
Chas. F. Crothers, W. S. Orvis, Dr. E. R. Wag-
ner. Dr. C. M. Richards; the activities of the
association are directed by these secretaries :
R. C. Smedlev, F. A. Saxton, G. E. Atkinson,
H. V. Lucas. C. G. Mathews.

It is the business of the association to keep
men on their feet ; to help them to be physical-
ly strong, well and efficient. The total attend-
ance at the gvmnasium for the last vear was
24,793. Shower baths to the number 'of 29,000
were taken and 21,600 swims were enjoyed in
the big, crystal pond; 3,136 different men oc-
cupied rooms in the dormitory, soine for one
night, some for months, finding a clean, safe
place away from home. Over 1,400 service
men were helped since June 1. 1919. Ex-serv-
ice men, numbering 427. were helped to find
positions and 582 were given temporary help
when they were without money. Hundreds
were given counsel and advice on personal and
business matters. Through lectures, entertain-
ments, socials and personal service hundreds
have found help at point of need. The as-
st)ciation is distinctly a Christian Associa-
tion. It does not force religion on anyone,
but conducts a work intended to present
Christian principles in a practical way. Geo.
D. Gilman is president of the associatif)n, John
D. Crummey is vice-president, R. C. Smedlev
is secretary, and Fred Saxton is physical dir-
ector.

Boys' Outing Farm

After the earthquake uf .\pril 18. 1906, Mrs.
Bertha M. Rice, a philanthropic woman of
San Jose, visited San Francisco and what she
saw enlisted her sympathies in behalf of the
boys who roamed the streets in the Potrero
district. Her sympathy soon found practical
form and a few inonths after her visit she se-
cured control of a large tract of rolling land
in the foothills above Saratoga. The tract
commands a fine view of the Santa Clara Val-
ley and is in every respect admirably suited
to the purpose she had in mind — to provide a
place for boys' outing in vacation or other
times. Her plans met the approval of many
charitable and well-to-do women of San Fran-
cisco and funds were secured for the launch-
ing of the laudable undertaking. Every year
since 1906 the boys of San Francisco and oth-
er cities of Central California have flocked to
the place, finding there not only a healthful
climate and beautiful surroundings, but all the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

^53

ap[>liances for outdoor sports and recreation.
The farm is supplied with a large cement
swimming pool, a Greek Theater and many
tents. The Boy Scouts have found the farm
an ideal camping place and they come in nun.i-
bers to the place every summer. Last year
(1921) was the fourteenth annual encampment
of the Scouts. Sunday evening services were
hel-d around a huge camp fire and many noted
speakers came down to address the children.
A numlier of San Francisco school teach.ers
and scientists from the universities are as-
sisting Mrs. Rice and her son. Roland, who
is her right-hand man. in a cour^ie of nature
study trips and lectures which have been in-
augurated for the benefit of the children. Vis-
its are made to the Lick Observatory at
Mt. Hamilton, the State Redwood Park and
other points of interest.

Red Cross Society

The San Jose Chapter of the Red Cross So-
ciety was organized in 189R and the work it
has done -forms one of the brightest pages of
history. The first thought of this mighty
philanthropy that set the pulse of the whole
world throbbing in sympathy, originated with
Henry Dunant, an humble but noble-hearted
Swiss, who while wandering over the battle-
field of Solferino, in the capacity of a reporter,
was so forcibly impressed with the necessity
of immediate hel]) for the multitude of man-
gled soldiers he saw lying there with their
livid faces turned to the sky, crying out with
their dying Ijreath for a drop of water, that
he determined to make an appeal to the world
at large to relieve, if possible, the misery of
those who risk their lives on the battlefield
for their country. He wrote not of the glory
of war, or in praise of its heroes, but on the
horror of the sacrifice and suffering it involved,
stirring the ver}- heartstrings of the people
and creating such enthusiasm for the cause
that he was requested to appear before the
public and explain his views. The meeting
was held and Dunant set forth his plan of or-
ganized and systematized relief, in time of
war, irrespective of friend or foe. .\t this
meeting a call was issued for an international
convention to be composed of those in sym-
pathy witli the noble design of its founder.
The convention met in Geneva in 1863, held a
four days' session and issued a call for a gen-
eral convention in 1864. This second conven-
tion lasted two weeks and resulted in the adop-
tion of a code of nine articles which after-
wards became the basis of what is known as
the Geneva Treaty. This code, which has been
accejited and adojjted l>y every civilized nation
of the world, is the basis of the Red Cross
Societv.

The Geneva Treaty provided for the neu-
tralization in time of war of the wounded, of
persons and material for their care, of hos-
pital nurses and hospital supplies. A flag as
a common sign for hos[)itals, and an arm badge
for convoys and attaches, was agreed upon.
The flag adopted was a red cross on a white
ground in honor of the country in which the
charity originated. Wherever this little flag,
blazoned with its red cross, is unfurled, it an-
nounces no idle dream of material glory, but
regardless of country or creed, touches the
heart of every soldier with the spirit of broth-
erly love. It is even on the battlefield "the
touch of nature which makes the world akin."
It gives place, too. for woman, with her tender
and humanizing influences, even on the "bat-
tle's 1)1(1, )ily iiKii^e." She need no longer sit
with tearful i-ye-; and folded hands, awaiting
the dread issue of the conflict — she can serve
under the flag of the Red Cross as an angel of
mercy.

The organization of the Red Cross in Amer-
ica is mainly due to that noble woman, Clara
Barton. The formation of the International
Society came too late for its utilization in the
American Civil War of 1861-65, in which Miss
Barton took an honorable and active part.
During the Franco-German war of 1870 she
went to Europe, carrying on her deeds of
mercy under the sheltering folds of the Red
Cross. On her return to the United States
she tried to have the American Government
adopt the Geneva Treaty and persisted in her
efforts during the administrations of Presi-
dents Hayes, Garfield and Arthur. It was
finally adopted by Congress on March 2,
1882. Miss I'.rntMii, who had previously or-
ganized a Red 1,'r-K- Association, was made
its first presiilcnt, ami the exceeding glory of
having first ])lantcd this beneficent society on
American soil lielongs to her. After the ac-
ceptance of the Gene\a Treaty, the National
Association at Washington was formed, and
that was quickly followed by state associa-
tions. No society, however, was formed in
California until the breaking out of the Amer-
ican-Spanish War in 1898. During that war
and through the strenuous days that followed
the earthquake of 1906, the San Jose Chapter
performed noble service. But its crowning
efforts were exhibited during the European
war of 1914-1018, particularly during the twu
years that witnessed .America's participation
in the struggle. The story of the self-sacrific-
ing work of the chapter, which was organized
in 1917, is told in another chapter of this his-
tory. It was the first chapter on the Coast to
manufacture and ship garments to the refugees
of France and Belgium. It has never been
without funds. Overhead expenses were never

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

more than two per cent of the money handled.
The society affords relief in times of peace as
well as of war. The National Society was the
great reliever of suffering during the floods
at Galveston and Dayton, the fires at Boston
and San Francisco, and the earthquake on the
Pacific Coast. The organization is semi-mili-
tarv and always ready for work. The officers
of the San Jose Chapter are Dr. J. B. Bullitt,
chairman, and \V. T. Rambo. secretary.

The W. C. T. U.

The National ^^'oman's Christian Temper-
ance Union, which has several branches in
Santa Clara County, the most important one
being in San Jose, was organized in Cleveland,
Ohio, in November, 1874, with Mrs. Witte-
myer president and Frances Willard secre-
tary. In 1879 California locals were formed in
Grass Valley, Sacramento and Petaluma. A
convention was held in Petaluma in that year
and the California State W. C. T. U. was then
organized. Mrs. G. S. Abbott of Oakland was
the first president and Mrs. M. E. Congdon of
Petaluma was the first secretary. The next
year she was instrumental in organizing the
San Jose branch, which had Mrs. Nellie Eyster
as its first president. After the outside
branches in the county were formed. Mrs.
Fannie Woods was elected county president.
Ever since its organization in Santa Clara
County it has fought for good laws. It se-
cured the passage of a bill forbidding the sale
of liquor or tobacco to anyone under sixteen
years of age. In 1893 a school suffrage bill
championed by the W. C. T. U. was vetoed by
Governor Markham. The present officers of
the local branch are: Mrs. Laura Beal, presi-
dent; Mrs. John G. Jury, vice-president; Miss
Mary Burkett, corresponding secretary ; Mrs.
George Worley, recording secretary ; Mrs.
Addie L. Johns, treasurer.

There was a strong temperance movement
in San Jose in 1874, and many women, after-
wards members of the W. C. T. U., partici-
pated. The movement was started by Alex P.
Murgotten, who obtained the requisite num-
ber of signatures to a petition asking the state
legislature to pass a bill permitting a local
option election in California. Other counties
having filed petitions, the necessary act was
passed March 18, 1874, which permitted every
township or incorporated city in the state to
vote on the question of granting or not grant-
ing licenses to sell intoxicating liquors. The
supervisors of Santa Clara County issued the
call on the third of June of that year and the
election took place on June 27. Murgotten
made a valiant fight to close the saloons, but
he was without a strong organization, while
opposed to him were the organized, deter-
mined and desperate liand of saloonkeepers

and winemakers. To aid his cause Sallie Hart
came down from San Francisco, gathered a
number of temperance women about her and
made several speeches. One of the speakers
hired by the saloonkeepers to bolster up their
fight against Murgotten and his supporter was
Rev. J. L. Hatch, who had succeeded Rev.
Chas. G. Ames as minister of the Unity Con-
gregation. Hatch was foot-loose at the time
and made quite a stir while following up the
redoubtable Sallie Hart. On election day there
was intense excitement, for this was the first
local option election ever held in San Jose.
Rough measures were employed by adherents
of the liquor-sellers and several attempts to
mob the temperance women were made. In
one. Sallie Hart had a narrow escape, and in
another Mrs. L. J. Watkins and a number of
her friends were subjected to harsh treatment.
There were many refreshment booths about
town and it was afterwards asserted that num-
bers of Murgotten's supporters, instead of get-
ting into the thick of the fight and doing their
utmost to defeat the saloonkeepers, passed the
greater part of their time about the eating
places. The result was that the temperance
people were beaten, the vote standing 1430 for
license and 918 against license.

Forty-one years elapsed before the temper-
ance advocates made another attempt through
local option to close the saloons of San Jose
During this time the temperance cause had
everywhere strengthened, and therefore wath
confidence the issue was submitted for the sec-
ond time to the voters on Tuesday, November
7, 1917. Now there was strong organization,
newspaper support, unlimited funds and a fa-
vorable public sentiment. The proposition
submitted was not as drastic as that of 1874 —
it meant the closing of the saloons. Init per-
mitted private consumption in hones ;.nj the
sale of wine and beer at restainaut and hotel
tables. A heavy vote was polled 6.214 elec-
tors voting to close the saloons and 4,667 vot-
ing to keep them open as before. In January,
1919. the national prohibition law went into
effect.

Community Shop
In the spring of 1921 the Community Shop
was started for the purpose of giving assist-
ance to the poor and needy of San Jose by the
sale of articles donated by charitably disposed
citizens. It is conducted in such a way that
people in need of clothing and other neces-
saries may buy at a small price to prevent the
feeling that they are objects of charity. The
annual report, made in April, 1922, showed
that during the vear the receipts were
$14,675.46. Disbursements : Good Cheer Club,
$2,541 ; Santa Clara Tuberculosis Association,
$2,541 ; Day Nursery, $640.25 ; Home of Bene-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

255

volence, $640.25 : Sisters of the Holv Family,
$423.50: Catholic Children's Aid. $847. Play-
grounds. $265 : Palo Alto Convalescent Home,
$415. Mrs. F. A. Nikirk is the president of
the board of directors, and the shop is lo-
cated on San Fernando Street, between Sec-
ond and Third.

Fraternal Orders

San Jose abounds in fraternal societies, and
among the great number the tullnwing may
be mentioned: Free and Aicepteil Masons,
including York Rite and vScotlisli l\ite: Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Red Men.
Woodmen of the World. Modern Woodmen.
Order of Camels, Order of Amaranth, Grand
Army of the Republic, with Avomen's auxil-
iaries. Woman's Relief Corps. Ladies of the

G. A. R., Loyal Workers: Junior Order of
American Mechanics, Fraternal Aid Union.
Order of Good Fellows. Royal Neighbors. B.
P. O. Elks. Order of Moose.' Order of Eagles.
American Yeomen. Daughters of Isalsella. Re-
bekah and Eastern Star, Fraternal Brother-
hood, Sons of St. George, Pythian Sisters.
Knights of Pythias, Pyramid of Sciots, Cheer-
ful ^\'(lrkers. nine Innqw of Boy Scouts, Span-
ish-American War X'eterans, Knights of Co-
lumbus, 'S'oung ?klen's Institute, ^'oung La-
dies' Institute, Ancient Order of Hiljernians,
Native Sons and Native Daughters of the
Golden West, Daughters of Veterans, Forest-
ers of America. Ancient Order of Foresters,
Disabled American X'eterans of the World
\\'ar, \'eterans of Foreign Wars, National
League for Women's Service.

CHAPTER XXVI.

The Sanitariums and Hospitals of San Jose — The Splendid Appointments
of the O'Connor Buildings — Columbia Hospital and the Santa Clara
County Medical Society — Dr. Ben Cory.

The O'Connor Sanitarium, on San Carlos
Street, was erected in the year 1887 by Judge
and Mrs. M. P. O'Connor, with the intention
of providing an institution for the care of
the aged, the sick and the afflicted. The Sis-
ters of Charity of St. X'incent de Paul, at the
in\itation of the donors and suggestion of
Archbisho]) Riordan, took possession of it on
March 19. 1889. During the thirty years of its
existence it has treated over 7000 patients.

It is advantageously situated in the beauti-
ful and healthful Santa Clara \'alle\' at San
Jose, and within easy access of San Francisco.
Fourteen acres of beautiful grounds surround
the sanitarium and forever prevent the possi-
bility of any adjacent structure crowding close
enough to interfere with the present ideal con-
ditions. The spacious grounds are tastefully
laid out in lawns and orchard, orange plot and
pinery. Traversing these are numerous con-
crete walks and driveways, which afford ideal
opportunity for exercise and recreation.

The general plan of the building arrange-
ment makes the most of the desirable location.
The substantial brick buildings, grtjuped in
architectural harmony, comprise a main liuild-
ing, two wings, chapel, kitchen, laundry, pow-
er house and stables. Isolated from these,
stands the Isolation Building for contagious
diseases. Numerous sheltered porches, a sol-
arium, and a garden pavilion enable the con-
valescent to enjoy the benefits of the outdoor

air. All the buildings are well lighted and
ventilated.

The different departments are completely
equipped, each to meet its own special needs.
They comprise the surgical, medical, obstet-
rical. X-ray and electro-therapeutic depart-
ments, a clinical laboratory and pharmacy,
and the isolation building for the care of con-
tagious diseases.

The sanitarium is es])ecially equipped for
the care of surgical cases. The operating
rooms are as c(jni|)lcte and up-to-date in ar-
rangement and equipment as it is possible to
make them. The rooms are all sunny and
well lighted. Owing to the favorable location
of the Institution, the ideal climate, and ex-
tensive grounds, its facilities for the best treat-
ment are ideal. Two large wards for male and
female patients are maintaned and a smaller
ward for chronic cases. In addition to tliese
there is also a children's ward. Special atten-
tion has been paid to the needs of these little
sufferers.

Extensive improvements have been made in
the obstetrical division of the hospital. In ad-
dition to the private rooms, a newly remodeled
and equipped ward has been arrranged. Ad-
joining this is the delivery room with interior
finish, furnishings, and equipment planned to
provide ever}- convenience for the physician
and safeguard for the patient. The nursery.

256

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

with its row cif basket-beds, open grate fire-
place and sanitary tubs, is ideally arranged.

The department of electro-therapeutics and
radiography has been fully developed and
equipped with costly paraphernalia and will
prove of the utmost value in facilitating the
diagnosis and treatment of various diseases
and injuries. The equipment is of the very
highest standard and latest design. 'I'he X-
ray department has been enlarged and' trans-
ferred to a suite of rooms in the surgical an-
nex, where its convenience will be greatly in-
creased.

Special apjiaratus consisting of a Kelly-
Koett eye localizer for foreign bodies, a bullet.
or foreign body localizer, a Roentgen stereo-
scope, and numerous minor accoMiries. all
tend to enhance the value of this (k-|iarlnieiU.
The electro-therapeutic room has a complete
equipment for the use of electricty as a medi-
cinal agent. An elaborate Wappler cabinet
■furnishes all varieties of the electric current.
A pneumo massage apparatus is included.
Special diagnostic instruments, electrically il-
luminated, of the latest approved models, fa-
cilitate the diagnoss of the diseases of all ac-
cessible organs and tissues. A large Victor
eye magnet for the extraction of foreign
bodies has also been installed.

The chemical and pathological laboratory
has proved to be of great value to the hos-
pital and the attending physicians. A com-
plete equipment of all the apparatus, chem-
icals, and biological supplies necessary fcjr
modern analytical, bacteriological and patho-
logical work is at the service of the attending
physicians who desire to avail themselves of
its advantages for the benefit of their patients
or for original research work.

An isolation building was erected and open-
ed for service during the year 1910. All
highly contagious and infectious diseases —
measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, erysi]:)elas.
etc. — cannot be admitted or treated in the
wards and rooms of the general hospital, and
through lack of such a building many persons
have been deprived of the facilities offered
for the scientific conduct and efficient quaran-
tine of such diseases. The isolation building
was ere'cted through the beneficence of Mr.
and Mrs. C. D. Blaney, and is conducted by
the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
Surrounded by its own grounds it is entirely
separated from the main hospital buildings.
The interior arrangement is such that no mu-
tual exposure of the patients suffering from
difTerent contagious or infectious diseases is
liable.

The sanitarium is not endowed, the only in-
come being from pay patients. Its ministra-
tions are not reserved for anv one class of

patients. It belongs to sutifering humanity,
irrespective of creed. The physicians of San
Jose of all approved schools of medicine, pat-
ronize the sanitarium, thus assisting very ma-
terially toward its support. It accommodates
from seventy-five to ninety patients daily.

In connection with the sanitarium there is a
training school for nurses. This scIukiI is in-
corporated and is conducted according to the
best methods of the day. The usual curri-
culum of the general hospital training school
has been adopted. Lectures are delivered
semi-weekly by the training school staff and
there are semi-weekly classes conducted by
the superintendent.

Columbia Hospital and Branch

There are two large private hospitals in
San Jiise. ln.th conducted by the incorporated
Ciilunil)ia lfi)S]Mtal Company, of which Ellen
Kaiser is jiresident. Dr. F. H. Paterson, vice-
president, and Mrs. F. H. Paterson, secretary.
( )ne hospital is located at the corner of Mar-
ket and San Carlos Streets, the other in East
San Jose. Both establishments represent an
outlay of $150,000. The .Market Street hos-
pital is a large, modern building on a fifty-vara
lot. The East San Jose hospital was jiurchas-
ed in 1920 from Dr. L. J. Belknap, who had
conducted it for twenty-three years. The
buildings are of wood and the tract contains
eight acres. Both hospitals are provided with
lalxiratories and all the up-to-date appliances.
Fifteen nurses are employed and an average of
eighty-five patients are treated daily.

The Columbia and East Columljia hospitals
were combined in 1921, the Cnlumhia located
in San Jose going out of existence. In .\pril,
1921, the combined hospital went out of the
hands of Dr. Paterson and hereafter will l^e
conducted by a group of individuals. The
trustees will control the business interests of
the hospital, formulating plans for extensions
and enlarging the facilities of the institutiim
so that the staff will have every possible facil-
ity for professional conduct of their work. .\
clinic has been opened to be conducted along
the lines pursued by the larger cities.

The San Jose Hospital, the property of a
corporation of local business men, is now in
course of construction on Santa Clara Street,
beteween Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets.
It will be a strictly modern, fire-proof struc-
ture throughout and will he equipped to pro-
vide the greatest possible con>fort for patients,
nurses and physicians and surgeons. The
project is sponsored by sixty-six leading phy-
sicians of the county and the management will
be in the hands of a board of directors of
which S. G. Tompkins is president and J. L.
Haskins. secretary. The total cost of the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

257

building will be $185,000. All the money for
the site and l)uildin<j has already been secured.

County Medical Society

The Santa Clara County Medical Society
was organized in 1870, reorganized in 1906,
and is still in existence. Its objects are to
create fraternal feelings among members, to
advocate a high standard of ethics, to frown
upon illegal practices, to safeguard the public
health, to receive and discuss reports of inter-
esting cases and to keep a1)reast of the times
in all matters pertaining to the practice of
medicine and surgery. The officers are : T. L.
Blanchard, president; E. F. Holbrook, first
vice-president : G. P. Hall, second vice-presi-
dent; R. L. Hogg, third vice-presdent : H. J.

B. \\'right, treasurer ; J. L. Pritchard, secre-
tary: councillors at large. A. E. Osborne, P. A.
Jordan. J. f. Miller; admission, M. D. Baker,
"I, I. Miller^ L. V. Saph ; ethics, A. E. Osborne,
J. W. Thaver, R. G. Reynolds, E. A. Flipello,
H. C. Brown; executive, Chas. M. Richards. J.

C. Blair, Frank Paterson, L. S. Moore, F. S.
Ryan ; publication and library, C. E. Saunders,
A. E. Dickenson, L. M. Rose; finance. P. A.
[ordane, N. H. Bullock, J. I. Beattie ; public
health, D. A. Beattie, Jonas Clark, S. B. Van
Dalsem, C. C. Ledyard, Bert Loehr.

It was through the instrumentalit}- of thi.s
society that the city board of health came into
existence. The society, however, has never
left the full burden of the work to the health
office, but by means of special committees has
aided the board in exposing unsanitary condi-
tions which have menaced the public health
and demanded attentions and abatement.

Dr. Ben C(_iry was the |ii(ineer physician of
the city. He came to San Jose in 1847. He
saw a few adobes scattered about the Plaza
and l^elieving that time would witness a ma-
terial growth in poptdation and business at
once established himself in his profession. He
witnessed a transformation of the valley and
state, and his most extravagant dreams of its
future growth in wealth, in adornment, and
all that accompanies an advanced civilization
were more than realized. Dr. Cory was a na-
tive of Ohio, and was born in 1822. He was
a graduate of Miami University and cotn-
menced the study of medicine wth his father,
who was a prominent physician. Later he at-
tended the Medical College of Ohio and re-
ceived his degree in 1845. For two years he
practised medicine with his father, and then
started across the plains to the Pacific Coast.
He arrived at Portland, Oregon, and from
there came to San Jose. He performed much
])ublic service. He was a member of the
first Legislature of the state, and was also a
councilman and member of the board of edu-
cation. He died in 1895.

Dr. Cory was very popular, both as a citizen
and as a physician and surgeon. He was
kind-hearted, and generous to a fault. While
his profession was lucrative, he was many
times low in jjocket on account of his inalsil-
ity to say no to the demands upon his purse.
He lost many thousands of dollars endorsing
notes for friends and it was while he was al-
most financially embarrassed on account of
these losses that an old friend living in Sac-
ramento wrote to him that he was in dire need
of $700. If Dr. Cory would endorse a note to
that amount for him he would be eternally ob-
liged. Dr. Cory hated to refuse the request,
but he felt that he must, so he answered his
letter giving his reasons for the refusal. The
Sacramentan wrote another letter, a plea so
forcible that the good doctor could not muster
up courage to say that he, too, was hard press-
ed and could not oblige his friend. Instead,
he endorsed the note and the Sacramentan was
profuse in his expressions of thankfulness. He
appreciated the favor and would see to it that
the note was paid before maturity. Time
passed and Dr. Cory had forgotten about the
affair when one day he received a note from
the bank which had paid over the money,
stating that the note was due, that the Sacra-
mentan had failed to pay even the interest,
and that it was now up to the doctor to step
in and pay the $700 and interest. Dr. Cory
was a very mild-mannered man, but it is pos-
sible that he used rather strong language
when he realized that he had again been "taken
in. In his wrath over the duplicity of his
former friend he sat down and wrote the Sac-
ramentan a letter, winding up with the expres-
sive phrase, "You are no gentleman."

A week passed and then a well dressed man
walked into Dr. Cory's office and stated that
he represented the Sacramentan and was the
bearer of a challenge to fight a duel. Dr. Cory
laughed and said he would accept the chal-
lenge. He was then informed that as the chal-
lenged party he had the right to name the
weapons that sht)uld be used. "Shot guns at
ten paces," was the reply. The Sacrament-
an's representative detnurred at the choice,
but Dr. Cory was not to be moved from the
position he had taken. "Shot guns at ten
paces — take it or leave it," he said, and the
representative went out with a frown on his
face. That night the Sacramentan left San
Jose and no mention of duel or money was
ever afterwards made by him.

Dr. Cory had a large professional practice,
both in the city and the countr)-. One night,
in the late '50s. an urgent case called him to
Alviso. While at the house of his patient he
was presented with a large sweet potato as a
sample of what was grown on the marsh lands

258

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

near the bay. On the road home he kept the
potato in his hand and when about half wa}-
to San Jose was stopped by a hig-hwayman
with the customary demand to throw out his
money and other vakiables. The doctor reined
up and tlien, unconsciously, lifted the potato
and began to twiddle it in his hand. The high-
wayman saw the tuber and did not identify

it. To him it looked like a pistol in the hand
of a man who meant business. With a yell,
"don't shoot," he left the road, jumped over
the ditch, and was soon out of sight. For the
moment Dr. Cory was amazed at the robber's
action, but a glance at the potato furnished
the e.xplanation needed.

CHAPTER XXVII.

The History of San Jose's Fire Department-
the Early Days — Volunteer Department
Police Department's Growth and Work.

-Primitive Appurtenances of|
for Twenty-six Years — The

It was on the eleventh of July. 1850. tjiat
the mayor and common council took the first
official action toward the protection of proper-
ty from fire, when it established the first fire
limits as follows: Commencing at the center
of Second and St. James Streets ; thence along
Second to San Carlos ; then along San Carlos
to the Acequia ; then along the .\cequia to a
point that would intersect the prolongation of
St. James Street: thence along St. James
Street to the place of beginning. At the same
time it was ordered that within these limits
there should be erected no edifice composed
of canvas, willows, cotton, cloth, tules. mus-
tard, reeds or other grasses under a penalty
of not less than twenty-five nor more than two
hundred dollars. It was also ordered that
hay stacks should not be maintained, unless
suital^ly guarded, under a like penalty.

About this time a volunteer fire company
called Fire Engine No. 1, was formed. This
was a misnomer, as there was no engine or
other apparatus in the county. The company
seems to have realized its mistake as in the
same year it changed its name to Eureka Fire
Company, No. 1. The members made appli-
cation to the mayor and council for an engine.
But as there was no fire machinery to be had
on the coast and as the city had no money to
make the purchase even if the machinery
could be procured, the company was forced to
work with buckets and such rude appliances
as they could find. But what it lacked in ap-
paratus it made up in enthusiasm and there-
fore much good was accomplished. The in-
flammable nature of the materials with which
the buildings were constructed rendered it al-
most an impossibility to extinguish a fire,
though this same frailty of construction en-
aliled the firemen to destroy connections and
prevent the spread of the fire. The most not-

able fires during the existence of this com-
pany were the burning of the house of Samuel
C. Young, on Third Street, and the destruc-
tion of the old State House. The latter event
occurred in March, 1853, and demonstrated
the imperative necessit}- of more adequate
protection. Prior to this time the city gov-
ernment seemed to think that private enter-
prise would take this responsibility from the
council. This opinion is based on a clause of
Mayor White's message of 1851. in which he
says : "I would respectfully urge that a fire de-
partment be immediately organized, and, if
nrci'ssary. that an engine and other apparatus
In- inocurc'l. hut there is reason to believe that
the puljlic spirit of our citizens will render any
outlay by the city in this matter unnecessary."

Ha\ing thus relegated the matter to the
"pulilic sjiirit of the citizens," the matter rest-
ed until l.S5,i. when the council passed an or-
dinance (li\ iding the city into four fire wards
and appiiiming the folloAving persons as fire
wardens: l*,.r "District X... 1 .".M . W. Packard;
Xo. 2, Alvin C. Campbell: Xc .\ A. S. Wood-
ford: No. 4, Peter Davitlson. At the same
time an appropriation of $2000 was made for
the purchase of a fire engine, with hooks and
ladders, the president of the council being
authorized to draw warrants and orders in
such suins as he should deem advisable and
pay the sain« over to the coinmittee of citi-
zens that should be selected by the people.

As a result of this action Hook and Ladder
Company No. 1 was organized in the latter
part of 1853, and on January 6, 1854, it noti-
fied the council of its organization and asked
for an appropriation for the purchase of appa-
ratus. The matter was referred to a commit-
tee, which was instructed to confer with the
foreman and draw up an ordinance ctnering
the inatter proposed. The committee was ai-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

259

so authorized to secure the lease of a suitable
lot on which to erect a building' for the ac-
commodation of the company. The commit-
tee reported that Frank Lightston had agreed
to lease a lot for the nominal rent of twenty-
five cents per anniun, if the company would
erect suitable buildings within twelve months.
The lease was effected and the old engine
house on Lightston Street, for many years a
prominent landmark, was erected.

At the meeting of the council held June 26,
1854, new fire wardens were elected, and a
committee was appointed to see if a fire en-
gine could be purchased in San Francisco. At
the next meeting the committee reported that
an engine could be procured for $1800, and
that hose would cost $1.50 per foot. The
committee also reported that four cisterns
would be required and recommended that (ine
be located at the intersection of ALarket and
Santa Clara Streets and one in front of Jones'
store on First Street, about opposite Fountain
Alley. All the recommendations of the com-
mittee were adopted and the apparatus was
purchased at a cost of $2,546.25. Of this
amount the citizens contributed $1355 and the
remainder was paid out of the city treasury.
The cisterns were located as recommended
and for more than twenty years were main-
tained and used for fire purposes.

The engine purchased at this time had an in-
teresting history. It had been used by the
Volunteer Fire Department of New York as
early as 1S2() and was known as "Did 41," its
c|uarters being at the c(irncr nf I)elane\' and
Livingston Streets. Levi (Goodrich, the archi-
tect, and Abe Beaty, the first landlord of the
Mansion House, had run with the old machine
in New York. In 1850 it was sent to San
Francisco and sold to the engine company of
which Senator David C. Broderick was fore-
man. The city of San Jose purchased it from
the Broderick Company. When brought to
San Jose it was given into the hands of the
Empire Company and became "Empire No.
1." After it had outlived its usefulness it was
sent to the county almshouse.

The city had now a very effective fire de-
partment of two companies, manned by prom-
inent citizens full of that heroic enthusiasm
for which the volunteer fire companies of Am-
erica were noted. Hook and Ladder Company
had a fine truck manufactured by D. J. Porter
and H. J. Haskell, the wood work being done
by C. S. Crydenwise.

A grand parade of the department took
place on New Year's day of 1855. Both com-
panies assembled at the new engine house on
Lightston Street, which has just received its
finishing coat of paint from the brush of
James Gourlay, a veteran fireman. A proces-

sion was formed, the principal streets were
taken in, a halt being made at the brick church
on the corner of Second and San Fernando
Streets. Here Rev. Eli Corwin, in behalf of
the ladies of San Jose, presented Empire Com-
pany with a beautiful silk banner. The de-
partment then repaired to the city hall where
a bountiful collation was spread, and passed
several hours in speech-making and social in-
tercourse. This was the first parade of the
first deparment. Afterwards the firemen par-
aded annually on the Fourth of July.

On May 31, 1855, a disastrous fire occur-
re<l in the most populous portion of the city.
It originated on a short, narrow allev east of
Market and south of El Dorado Street. There
were several buildings on the alley and im-
mediately west of these and fronting on Mar-
ket Street were the stores of !,n/,iiii- \- Coni-
pau}-, clothing and dry g, hmK iiuril!ain>: the
fruit and grocery store ui Giu\anni Mulinari;
the vegetable and grocery store of Baptiste
SAularis : the jewelry store of E. L. Veuve:
the confectionery establishment of Madame
Alviso, and the extensive saddlery emporium
of -Vugust Schweeb. .^11 of these suffered con-
siderable loss. The progress of the fire south-
ward was checked somewhat by the brick walls
of the Auzerais building, and this obstacle
coupled with the heroic exertions of the little
fire department, prevented that portion of the
city from being entirely destrnVL-d. After the
fire had gone out the half-consumed remains
of a man were found in the ruins.

This fire, and the rapid growth of the city,
showed the necessity of further additions to
the fire department, but it was nearly a year
before anything was done. In 1856 James
C.ourlay returned from a visit to New York,
bringing \\ith him a hand engine which he
offered to sell to the city. The council agreed
to purchase it if a company to handle it could
be formed. This was no difficult matter and
in a few days a company reported as ready
for service. This company was called Torrent
No. 2, and went into the department May 12,
1856. The old Torrent engine did good ser-
vice for many years.

These three companies constituted the fire
department of San Jose for nearly ten years.
In 1865 the city purchased a steam engine for
Empire No. 1. This action made the old en-
gine used by Torrent No. 2 present a poor ap-
pearance, so'the boj's cast about for a better
machine. James Gourlay went to San Fran-
cisco, where he found a fine Hunneman hand
engine for sale very cheap. He siunt ^oinc
time in testing its capacity, and lining fnll_\-
satisfied came back and rept)rted. Ap])lica-
tion was made for its jnirchase. The price
was $1750, cash, and the city had only $1200

260

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

available for fire purposes. It was finally
agreed that if the balance could be raised by
subscription the city would buy the engine.
A meeting of the company was called and the
tenor of the discussion was that it was useless
to try to raise such a large amount. Finally
Gourlay threw $50 on the table, saying that
it was' about the last dollar he had, but it
should go toward purchasing the new en-
gine. Immediately the coin began to be pour-
ed on the table and in less than twenty min-
utes the required amount was raised. The
machine was purchased and remained with the
company until 1873, when the city purchased
a Clapp & Jones steamer for the Torrents,
and the old Hunneman was turned over to
Franklin Company, which had lately l)een
organized. A few years later it was sold to
the town of Turlock.

In 1855 the department, with the consent of
the council, established a board of delegates,
by which it was practically governed. The
board consisted of a number of members sel-
ected from each company i ne office of chief
engineer had been created and soon became a
position of great labor and responsibility. In
1866 the department asked the council to pro-
vide a salary for the chief, but the application
was denied on the ground that the charter
would not permit such action. The ofilicers
and members served from 1852 to 1876, with
no compensation, giving their best service,
and often risking their lives, for the benefit of
the pr<jperty owners of the city. In addition
to this much nf the money for ecpiipment was
taken from their own pockets.

In 1859 a fire occurred in the kitchen of
Judge W. T. Wallace's home, on First Street,
near where the Arcade is now located. The
fire department displayed such skill and ener-
gy that but small damage resulted. In recog-
nition of their services Judge Wallace pre-
sented the department with $5000, which was
placed in a fund for sick and disabled firemen.
This was the beginning of the Firemen's Char-
itable Assocation. In 1869 an act was passed
by the Legislature incorporating the de-
partment and providing for e.xemption. By
its terms a person who had served in the de-
partment for five years was entitled to a cer-
tificate exempting him from military service
or the payment of poll-tax. The fund con-
tinued in existence until the paid fire depart-
ment was organized, when, most of the mem-
bers having withdrawn, it was divided among
the survivors.

Early in 1876 the question of organizing a
paid department began to be agitated. The
city had been out of debt for many years, j)ro-
perty had largely increased in value, and the
city, itself, felt financially able to assume the

Inirden. At this time the city had two steam-
ers. Empire and Torrent; one hand engine,
Franklin ; two hose companies. Alert and Eur-
eka, and Hook and Ladder Company No. I.
Each of these machines was housed in build-
ings owned by the city, except Hook and Lad-
der, which occupied a rented room near the
California Theater on Second Street. The
city proposed to take over all this property
and allow the old department to seek other
quarters and apparatus, or disband. The
volunteers naturally considered this method of
procedure as savoring of ingratitude. They
had given long years of hard service with no
compensation and they objected to being sum-
marily dismissed. The machinery which the
city proposed to take represented several hun-
dreds of dollars of their own money, which
they had contributed for the general good, and
although the title was undoubtedly in the city,
they thought they had strong claim for con-
sideration. They could not legally object to
turning over the property and vacating their
quarters, ]:)Ut they resolved to disband all their
companies. The paid department was organ-
ized October 3, 1876, and just before midnight
of that day all the companies paraded the
streets and when the last stroke of twelve
sounded they left their machines in front of the
city hall and on Santa Clara Street. Tliis was
the last of the Volunteer Fire I icpartinent of
San Jose, as intelligent, well-disciplined and
public-spirited body of men as was e\er or-
ganized in any city in the United States.

In the fall of 1870 Washington Hose Com-
pany was organized and did good service, but
after a few years it disbanded because the city
had failed to provide it with either suitable
quarters or apparatus. In 1875 the people
in the northeastern part of the city, needing
more adequate protection from fire, organized
Eureka Hose Company and a house was built
for them on Ninth Street near Julian. In
1876, Alert Hose Company was organized.
At first the old hose cart of the disbanded
Washingtons was used, but soon a handsome
carriage was purchased.

From an old and defaced chart a few of the
names of the old members of Hook and Lad-
der Company No. 1, have been deciphered.
They are: Joseph McGill. Joseph H. Munn,
Calvin C. Martin. Isidro Braun, John B. New-
son, W. McGill. John C. Emerson, Geo. Hall,
William Cummings, Elihu Allen, J. Y. Ayer,
Geo. M. Yoell, S. H. Bohm, S. H. Covert, S.
Waterman, August Schweeb, P. H. Burgman,
D. C. Chadwick, James Gourlay, Joseph Bass-
ler, lames D. Page, John Balbach. Geo. Lehr,
Charles E. Allen"; Charles F. Willey, Edward
Woodnut.Frank Lightston, Elliott Reed, E.
P. Reed, \\'. A. Murphy. Levi Goodrich. D.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Z61

J. Porter, Samuel Orr, Charles Moody, Josiah
Belden, Levi P. Peck, C. S. Crvdenwise, Tohn
O. Pearl, Henry T- Haskell, S. O. Houghton,
L N. Flickinger, John M. Murphv. T- O. Mc-
kee, R. G. Roberts, John Yontz, Hartley Lan-
ham, Eli Jones, A. W. Bell, Ceo. Alien.
Thomas Souhlette. A. L Eddy, C. \\'. Warner.
P.. F. Davis. W. A. Munn, J. P. Chamberlain,
Frank McKee. William Lowrey, John Mott,
Sam Jacobs, John T. Colahan, Chas. Martin,
L. F. Kidfield, Geo. Pennington, Julian Smart,
Narcisso Sunol.

Following are the names of the old mem-
bers of Empire No. 1 : F. G. Appleton. A. S
Beatv, J. E. Brown, B. F. Brown. S H. Brown.
John' Beatv, Thomas Brown, G. H. Bodfish.
George Be'go. M. P. Parker, A. C. Campbell.
P. Carlos. Chas. A. Clavton. ]. Cirinskv. C.
Crittenden. C. D. Cheney, S. Dial, W. H. bear-
ing, Peter Davidson, N. B. Edwards, A. Eaton,
R. Fisher, John Forney, I\L Fisher, J. H. Gre-
gory, Jasper D. Gunn, Levi Goodrich, Geo.
Hale, "D. W. Harrington, M. Hillman. Adam
Halloway, S. J. Hensley. Geo. Hanna, James
Hartwell. S. N. Johnson. J. W. j..hns..n", i)cn.
N. Jefferson, Richard Knowles. K. i^ati^ley.
Frank Lewis, R. H. Leetch, C. \\ . Landcn,
Fred Malech, Herrick Martin. J. McKenzie,
Philander Norton, B. G. Porter, Peter Pon-
goon, C. M. Putney, Peter Quiney. W. Runk,
A. W. Stone. F. E. Spencer, l\. Stern, ]. M.
Sherwood. F. Stock, M. R. Smith. F. B. Tomp-
kins, Daniel Travis, Francis Thelig, William
Travis, A. M. Thompson, T. Whaland, T. Wil-
liams, W. W'hipple, George Whitman, F.
Woodward, C. W. W'right, D. Yochan, C. T.
Ryland, J. A. Moultrie.

About the time the paid department was
organized the city also adopted an automatic
fire alarm system, which has been imprt)yed
from time to time. The chiefs of the fire de-
partment under the volunteer svstem were C.
E. Allen, John B. Hewson, Levi Peck, J. C.
Potter, Dan Leddy, Adam Halloway, James
Y. Tisdall, William Retry and J. Chris Gerdes.
The officers un ler the paid department have
been: J. C. Gerdes, W. D. Brown, James
Brady, Rudolp'.i Hoelbe, Frank Dwj'er, Henry
Ford, Richard Brown. George Hines, Geo.
Tonkin, Ed. Haley and H. W. Hobson. At
the present time (1922) the department con-
sists of eight fire houses and ten companies.
The houses are situated as follows : Market
Street (old city hall) ; North Third Street,
North Eighth Street. Seventeenth and Santa
Clara Streets, First and Reed Streets, Spencer
Avenue, Second and Jackson Streets, South
Eighth Street. The equipment consists of
three engines, five coinbination outfits, one
chemical, one truck, and two hose wagons. In
1915 the horses were displaced by motors.

There are fortj'-four men in the department,
one chief (H. W'. Hobson). one assistant chief
fD. E. Cavallaro), and forty-two privates. The
department has the reputation of being one
of the most efficient on the Pacific Coast.

The Police Department

San Jose's police department dates back to
the days of '49. When the Americans came
into power the duties of marshal, constable
and sheriff were all performed by Harry Bee,
under the Mexican title of Alguazil. In 1851.
a marshal for the city work was selected in the
person of G. N. Whitman. He served for one
}-ear and was succeeded b}' Geo. Hale, who
held office for three years. In 1855 T. F,, Sou-
blette was elected to the position and he serxed
the ])eople until 1859. when J. D. <",unn was
chosen marshal. Gunn served until 1862 and
then gave way to W. S. Patterson, who served
only one year, a severe injury causing him to
retire to private life. In attempting to ar-
rest an offender he was struck on the head by
a beer bottle which caused a fracture of the
sktdl. At times he was insane and finally he
w ;is sent to the insane asylum at Stockton,
lie died there over twenty years ago. After
]';itterson came J. C. Potter, who held office
until IXUj. His successor was A B. Hamil-
ton, who was marshal until 1869. William
Sexton was his successor, who served tintil
1872, and then retired in favor of Hamilton.
In 1874, a new charter created the office of
chief of police and abolished the office of mar-
shal. The first chief was James Y. Tisdall,
and after him came D. N". Haskell, W. B.
Shoemaker, W. D. Brown, Richard Stewart,
H. A. De Lacy. James Kidward. Ed Haley, T.
W. Carroll. Geo. Kidder, Frank Ross, Roy
Hay ward, Dave Campbell (acting), Ben Ful-
ler, J. N. Black. The latter is now the incum-
bent of the office.

In the early days the city prisoners were
ct)nfined in the county jail. \\'hen the city
hall on North Market was built in the late
fifties, the city prison (or calaboose, as it was
called) was located in the yard back of the
police office. There were several sheet iron
tanks, about 7 x 9 in size, and these were used
both for male and female offenders. The jus-
tice's court adjoined the police office, so that it
was easy to bring a prisoner intt) court.

The best known of all the police officers of
the early days was Mitchell Bellow, called by
everybody "Mitch Belloo." He was a terror to
evil-doers and old timers will never forget
him. Of medium height, tou.gh as a wildcat,
with snappy black eyes and a ferocious scowl.
he swaggered along the streets, "seeking whom
he mi.ght devour." He never wore suspenders,
a leather belt serving to keep up his trousers

262

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

which wouldn't stay kept up, so that Mitch
was engaged the greater part of his time in
giving them a sailor hitch. He was as cour-
ageous as a crusader, but his methods were
rough. If a law breaker, petty or otherwise,
failed to respond to a command, out would
come Mitch's club (he kept his club suspended
from one side of his belt, his pistol on the
other side), and the offender would receive
a series of whacks, the echoes of which could
be heard a block away. Sometimes the club
would fail of effect on account of the thickness
of the victim's head and then the butt of the
revolver would get into play. So terror-in-
spiring was his reputation that San Jose moth-

ers would only have to say, "Now you be
good or I'll send Mitch Belloo after you," to
compel instant obedience.

In 1887 the new city hall on Market Plaza
was built and the police office and prison had
new and up-to-date quarters. Now, in addi-
tion to comfortable, well-ventilated and sani-
tary cells with a matron in charge of the fe-
male prisoners, there is a receiving hospital
and a bureau of identification with Govern-
ment connection. The force is equipped with
a motor patrol truck, and a motorcycle. Be-
sides Chief Black and two captains, there are
twenty-two patrolmen.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

The Early Churches of San Jose and Their "Vicissitudes — History of the
San Jose Library — Its Growth from Small Beginnings — The County
Free Library and Its Work.

The religious environment of San Jose is
thus described by the late Rev. John W. Dins-
more, D. D., L. L. D. "Among the advantages
and attractions which the citj- possesses there
is not one which has precedence over its
churches and religious institutions. We have
here, and at its best, almost every type nf re-
ligious faith and fellowship — HoImcw, Catholic
and Prcitestant. People of ever}- known creed
and communion may finfl here tiicse who sliare
their views and foli(.iw their iliscipline.

"The Roman Catholic Church is much the
oldest communion in the county. Its priests
and parishes, its schools and convents and its
charitable institutions are numerous, strongly
sustained. Nearly all types of religion classed
under the name of Protestant are represented
here: Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans,
Congregationalists, Baptists, Christians, Epis-
copalians, Friends, Christian Scientists, and
other denominations of almost every name
and variety. Many congregations are very
strong, and some of them are large and have
a powerful influence in the community. The
oldest Protestant Church in the county, and
one of the oldest in the state, is the First Pres-
byterian. It was organized October 12, 1849,
and has been sustained ever since. The Me-
thodist and Baptist associations came in a lit-
tle later. Others came rapidly as time passed
by. Into the economic and social life of the
county all good and upright people are wel-
comed on precisely equal terms. Here people
of almost every religious persuasion may find

those of kindred sympathies and of like faith
and fellowship."

Following is the list of the San Jose
churches and religious denominations : Protes-
tant — Methodist Episcopal Church (2),
St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church South,
German Methodist Episcopal Church, Presby-
terian (2), Baptist, Grace Baptist, Trinit)'-
(Episcopal), Christian, Grace Lutheran, Sec-
ond Day Adventists. Home of Truth, Unitar-
ian. Bethel Pentecostal, Universal Brother-
hood of Spirittialists. l'"irst Spiritual Union,
Mormon (2), Nazarene, A. M. E. (Zion)
Church, Christ Chur'-'i Mission, Upper Room
Mission, Emmanuel Baptist, Swedish Alission,
Congregation Bikur Cholim, First Church of
Christ, Scientist ; Bethel, American Lutheran,
LTnited Presbyterian, and Free Methodist.
Catholic— St. 'Joseph's. St. Patrick's, St.
Mary's, Holy Family, Sacred Heart, Precious
Blood, Five Wounds.

The pioneer churches of San Jose were St.
Joseph's (Catholic;, Methodist Episcopal
Church, Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
First Baptist Church, Trinity Church, Chris-
tian Church, Society of Friends, German Me-
thodist Episcopal Church, Unitarian Church,
United Presbyterian Church, Congregation
Bikur Cholim, and First Congregational
Churches.

St. Joseph's Church dates back to 1803.
In 1835 improvements were made, adobe mud
being used in the construction. This building
was afterwards encased in brick. It was fin-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

263

ally destroyed by fire. The present building.
a large, handsome and commodious structure,
was completed in 1887. Additions were after-
wards made, so that now it lacks in nothing
essential to the convenience of the priests
and their followers. It stands on the site of
the original church of 1803.

The First Presbyterian Church, as Dr.
Dinsmore has stated, was organized in 1849.
Rev. Mr. Douglas, James Mathers and wife,
Sarah Warren Dutton, S. W. Hopkins, Oliver
Crane, Austin Arnold, and Dr. J. C. Cobb
were the organizers. The first services were
held in the Juzgado. or Justice Hall, of the al-
calde's court, on Market Street. The first sac-
rament of the Lord's Supper was administered
in a blue tent made liy "Grandma" Bascom.
Up to this time the state house had been used,
in conjunction with the Baptists, as a place
of worship. In the latter part of 1850 a neat
building of wood was erected on a fifty-vara
lot situated on the east side uf Second Street,
between Santa Clara and St. Idhn Strerts. 'IMie
Iniilding cost $3000, and was'ikMlu-itcd l'cl)ru-
ary 9. 1851. by Rev. S. H. \\iley. On account
of damages done by an earthquake, October
10, 1868, services for a time were held in the
Young Men's Christian Association building.
In April 1906, another quake wrecked the
. building. The church then purchased another
lot on Third Street, near St. John, and upon
it erected the present church.

The Methodist Episcopal Church, organiz-
ed in 1849. has met with many vicissitudes. A
church building was cnnstructed in 1850 on
Third Street, near the cdrner of Santa Clara.
In 1853 the church was moved to the south-
west corner of Second and Santa Clara Streets.
On February 22, 1868, the building was burned
to the ground. Another building was erected
on the site of the old one and for over
twenty years services were held there. Then
a new and larger church was erected on North
Second Street, near the Santa Clara corner.
This was used until the earthquake of 1906.
The building did not fall, but was consider-
ably damaged. It was afterward repaired and
for many years was used as a motion picture
house. The property was sold by the Methn-
dist corporation and in 1910 a new, up-to-date,
reinforced concrete building was erected on
the northeast corner of Fifth and Santa Clara
Streets.

The Alethodist Episcopal Church. South.
was organized in May, 1851. The first build-
ing of brick was erected on the northeast cor-
ner of Second and San Fernando Streets. In
1871 the building was removed to give place
to a large wooden structure, which was used
until the fire of 1892 destroyed it. After the
erection (if a new business block on the site of

the old church, services for awhile were held
in a room in the second story. Now services
are held in an ornate building at the corner
of Second and San Carlos Streets.

The First Baptist Church was organized
May 19, 1850, by Rev. O. C. Wheeler, of San
Francisco, who was the first Baptist minister
on the Pacific Coast. It had only eight mem-
bers at the beginning. This small member-
ship could not aliford to engage a permanent
pastor, so arrangements were made bv which
monthly meetings, conducted by Mr. Wheeler,
were held. In November of that year a lot
was purchased at the corner of Third and
Santa Clara Streets. Here Rev. L. O. Grenell,
from the Baptist Home Missionary Society,
took charge and in the following February
was elected permanent pastor. The place of
meeting was afterward moved to the corner
of Second and San Antonio Street, where a
brick building for church purposes, had been
erected. In 1877 a new and commodious
structure was erected. It was burned in 1882
and the present structure took its place.

Rev. S. S. Etheridge began the regular ser-
vices of the Trinity (Episcopal) Church in
November. 1860. occupying the old city hall.
The first organization of the parish was made
in February, 1861. Trinity Church, on the
corner of Second and St. John Streets, was
built in 1863. Rev. Mr. Etheridge continued
in charge of the parish until his death in Feb-
ruary, 1864. In 1876 the church was enlarged
to nearly double its former capacity. During
Dr. Wakefield's incumbency — he was appoint-
ed in 188-1 — a tower and a spire and a building
for a chapel and guild rooms at the rear of
the church, were erected.

The Christian Church, or Disciples of
Christ, was first organized in 1870. The mem-
bers met in a little hall over the Home Mu-
tual Fire Insurance Company's ofiice on Santa
Clara Street, Rev. Cary, minister. Afterwards
meetings were held for several vears in Cham-
pion Hall, Rev. W. D. Pollard, "officiating. In
March, 1883, Rev. J. W. Ingram came to San
Jose from Omaha, Nebr., and was appointed
minister. The members then moved to the
California Theater, where they held their
meetings until January, 1885, when they moved
into their new church, erected on Second
Street, between San Fernando and San An-
tonio Streets.

The first religious meeting of the Society of
Friends, otherwise known as Quakers, was
held in June, 1866, in a building on the corner
of Ninth and St. James Streets. The lot was
donated by Jesse and David Hobson. In 1873
these meetings were regularly organized un-
der the authority and discipline of the Iowa
yearly meeting of the Society of Friends. Jane

264

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

F. M. Canney and Adonijah Gregory were the
regularly appointed ministers. In 1886. the
society purchased a lot on Stockton Avenue,
near the Alameda, where services were after-
wards held.

The German Methodist Episcopal Church
was founded in 1861 by Rev. A. Kellner. The
first regular pastor was Rev. G. K. Bollinger.
After the lapse of several years. Rev. Her-
mann Brueck arrived and preached to the Ger-
man residents in the old city hall. A Sunday
school was organized and I\Ir. Brueck's term
of service lasted until 1871. He was succeed-
ed hy Rev. C. H. Afflerliach. During the term
of his administration the valuable church prop-
erty on Third Street between Santa Clara
and San Fernando Streets was acquired.

The First Congregational Church was or-
ganized April 11, 1875, Rev. Theodore T. Mun-
ger, acting pastor, who officiated until the ap-
pointment of Rev. M. \Villiams. The church
building was first erected on San .\ntonio
Street between Second and Third. In 1887
the building was moved to the corner of Sec-
ond and San Antonio Streets, and a large ad-
dition built to it. The new building was dedi-
cated December 27, 1887.

The Unitarian Church was first organized
as Unity Society in 1867. and the first minis-
ter was Rev. Chas. G. .\mcs. Aiter him came
J. L. Hatch, D. Cn.nvn. AN". AV. McKaig and
Mr. Fowler. In ,\prii. 18SS. the Unity So-
ciety dissolved and the Unitarian Church was
organized with N. A. Haskell as minister.
After a few years the society purchased from
Mrs. Martha J. Moody her residence property
on North Third Street, opposite St. James
Park. On this lot a large, handsome "build-
ing was erected. Rev. Charles Pease is the
present minister, succeeding Rev. O. P.
Shrout, who died in July, 1920.

The First United Presbyterian Church was
organized November 6, 1874, twenty-eight
members united at the time. Rev. A. Cal-
houn, by appointment of the General .Assem-
bly of the United Presbyterian Cliiirch of
North America, commenced missionarx- work
in San Jose in the fall of 1874 and remained in
charge of the church work until 1879, when
he was chosen pastor and regularly installed.
The organization occupied a little hall over
the San Jose Savings Bank for four years. In
the fall of 1878 the congregation erected a
church on the corner of Fifth and Santa Clara
Streets, the lot and church costing $12,000.

The synagogue of the Congregation Bikur
Cholim was erected in 1861 at the corner of
Second and San Antonio Streets. Among
the early members were Jacob Rich, M. Blum-
enthal, H. Rich, Meyer Levy, Feli.x Feist, L.
Linoberg, M. Isaacs, J. Feist, and H. Levj-.

The congregation organized before the erec-
tion of the synagogue and for a time held serv-
ices in .Armory Hall on Santa Clara Street,
between Second and Third Streets. For sev-
eral years the congregation had no rabbi,
but on July 17, 1920, steps were taken for a re-
organization in a meeting of a reorganized
San Jose Independent Order of B'nai B'rith.
The order, according to the preamble of the
constitution, has taken upon itself the mission
of uniting Israelites in the work of promoting
their highest interests and those of humanity;
of develojiing and elevating the mental and
moral character of the people of the Jewish
faith ; of inculcating the purest principles of
philanthropy, honor and patriotism ; of sup-
porting science and art ; alleviating the wants
of the poor and needy; coming to the rescue
of victims of persecntii m : ]ini\iding for, pro-
tecting and assi^tiiiLT the widow and orphan
on the broadest principles of liumanity. The
present rabbi is Harvey P>. Franklin.

The order started with a roster of over
eighty members. The officers are : president,
Leon Jacobs: \ ice-|)rcsi(U-nt. 1. Marcus; sec-
retary," M.y.r I'.icrktr: trcaMirer, L. Rich-
ards: inside guardan. D, La\in; outside guar-
dian. Max Mendahlson; trustees, E. N. Rosen-
thal, Max Blum, L. J. Marymont.

Santa Clara County Free Library

In California the county board of super-
visors ma^■ establish a county free library for
that ]iart of the county lying outside of incor-
porated cities and towns having free public
libraries. In this way the people living in the
country may have just as good a library to
draw from as their town cousins. County li-
brarv service has proved so satisfactory that
fort\-three out of the fifty-eight counties in
California now have county libraries. The
count}- library serves the people lixing in the
country and the small towns just as the large
city libraries serve the people of the cities.

The end and aim of the county lil^rary is to
supply all the people in the county with books.
To accomplish this branches arc started in the
community centers, in the post office or a local
store preferably. A collection of books is
placed here and they are changed often. The
size of the collection depends wholly on the
demand, as many books are sent as can be
used.

The Santa Clara County Free Library be-
gan work July 1, 1914, in the Hall of Justice,
corner Market and St. James Streets, San
Jose. Beginning with three rooms the li-
brary now uses seven rooms in the same build-
ing and is still asking for more room.

During the six years since the library was
started twentv-four communitv branches have

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

265

been opened at: Agnew, Alma, Alviso, Berry-
essa. Burhank, Camjibell. College of the Paci-
fic, Coyote, Cujiertino, Evergreen, Gilroy. Los
Altos. Mayfield. Milpitas, Moreland. Morgan
Hill, Mount Hamilton, New Alniaden, Santa
Clara County Branch, Saratoga, Shannon,
Stanford, Sunnyvale. Wrights.

In 1915 it was found necessary to open a
branch at the Hall of Justice to serve tlie
people who lived just outside the city limits
of San Jose. The branch began with one
small room, but has grown to seven rooms.
There is a pleasant reading room with maga-
zines and a good supply of books.

The State Library supplements the ser\ice
of the County library. If a book is wanted
that is not in the County Library and the de-
mand will not justfy its purchase it is bor-
rowed from the State Library, and the serv-
ice is free to the borrower.

LTnder the County Lilirary law oi California
the school districts ma\- join the County Li-
brary and receive library ser\ ice. This means
that the district transfers its lilirarN- fund for
the year to the County Library. The ad\an-
tages are many: the school recei\e> in books
many times the value of the ninney in\este<l.
an expert liuys the bo()ks and better prices are
secured, the school has access to all the books
on the shelves of the County Library.

The service to the schools began in 1914
when four districts joined. Now seventy-one
of the seventy-eight jnililic schools of the
county have joined the Count\ Lilirary. also
two o"f the high schools. .\]>out .^S.OOO' books
were sent out to the schools this year. If a
school has a phonograph music records are
also sent to the schools and these are e.x:-
changed just the same way as books.

Beginning with nothing at all in the way of
equipment in 1914 the li])rar\- now has o\er
48,000 books and over 14,000 b,.rrowers. ^\'ith
twenty-five community branches. se\enty-one
school branches and two high schools, there
are ninety-eight branch libraries in the county
where the people may draw books. Many of
the school branches serve the grown people as
well as the children. Miss Stella Huntington
is the county librarian.

The Carnegie Library

The honor of being the father of the San
Jose Public Library belongs by right to I. F.
Thomas, a carriage maker, who tried to arouse
public interest in the project in the spring of
1872, He did not succeed, but after he had
ceased agitation, another effort was made by
a number of prominent citizens, this time with
success. In the summer of 1872 an organiza-
tion was perfected in the office of Judge D. S.
Payne and incorporation soon followed, the

name chosen being "The San Jose Library
Association." The following officers were el-
ected for one years : D. S. Payne, president ;
A. Pfister, vice-president ; C. D. Wright, re-
cording secretary ; C. C. Stephens, correspond-
ing secretary, and Henry Philip, treasurer.
The object of the association was the estab-
lishment of a library and reading room ; the
collection of a cabinet, scientific apparatus,
works of art, etc. The constitution provided
that the association should not be conducted
or controlled in the interest of or by. any de-
nominational, sectarian or political party, but
should be controlled and managed in the same
liroad and liberal spirit that actuated the
founding. B\' this wise provision the coop-
eration of all classes, sects and creeds, was se-
cured, and success was achieved almost at the
outset. Mayor Pfister set the ball rolling by
donating $1612.62, his salary, and citizens fol-
lowed him on a smaller scale. The old books
of the Y. :M. C. a., which practically ceased
to exist some time prior to this incorporation
of the Library Associati(.)n, were purchased at
a nominal rate and on September 1, the rooms
were formally opened. Twenty life members
I fee $25) were secured and also over 300 an-
nual and monthly members. In a few years,
the library had a fine tnuseum and over 2000
books. The first rooms were in the second
storj- of the Knox Block, corner of First and
Santa Clara Streets, and at first were suppos-
ed to be of sufficient size to meet all require-
ments : but the growing popularity of the in-
stitution and the rapid increase of member-
ship, necessitated an addition, and in order
that the same might be made as soon as pos-
sible the ladies of San Jose rallied in countless
numbers and made arrangements for two pub-
lic entertainments in Music Hall in aid of the
library. The first was a tea party and the
second a character and fancy dress party. They
were successful and quite a large sum was
netted and turned over to the Library Asso-
ciation.

The library continued as a private institu-
tion until February. 1878. when it was turned
over to the city and became a free institution.
The rooms were then changed to the new city
hall building on Market Plaza, and were used
until 1903. when the Carnegie Library build-
ing of brick and sandstone at the southeast
corner of \^'ashington Square was completed.
In 1892 .A.ndrew Carnegie, the multi-million-
aire, offered to donate $50,000 for the erection
of a library building in San Jose, if the city
would agree to maintain the library in the
new quarters. The offer was accepted and
the agreement made.

The names of the librarians from the organ-
ization to the present time are : Geo. W. Fon-

266

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tress, William Redding, Miss A. Barry, Miss
Nellie Egan, Miss Mary Barmby, Miss Nell
McGinley, Chas. F. Woods. After the instal-
lation of the library in the new building, the
name was changed to The Carnegie Library.
There are four rooms upstairs and five in the
basement. There are 30,000 books in the
library and the average monthly circulation is
8000. Since Mr. W^oods' administraton, regis-
tration and circulation have both increased.

Mr. Woods became librarian July 1, 1917. His
library experience was gained in the library of
the State University and the Mechanics Li-
brary, or Institute, San Francisco. During his
incumbency he has done much to popularize
the institution by readings, talks and news-
paper articles. In 1908 a Carnegie Library,
was erected at an expediture of $6,893.71 in
East San Jose.

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Santa Clara County Historical Society and Its Objects — Spanish Names
for Natural Objects — The Interesting Career of Judge Augustus L.
Rhodes, a Nonagenarian.

The Santa Clara County Historical Society
has been in existence over twenty years. Its
objects are to gather and preserve data relat-
ing to the early days of the city and county.
The data has usually come in the shape of
papers read by members at meetings of the so-
ciety. In this way valuable material, much of
which has been used in this history, has been
gathered and will be preserved for the benefit
of future generations. The president of the
society is Alex. P. Murgotten, and the secre-
tary is Miss Agnes Howe, county superinten-
dent of schools. Dr. H. J. B. Wright, who
held the office for manv years, died December
27. 1921.

Spanish names have been gi\'en to nearly
all natural ol^jects in Santa Clara County.
This is particularly true of the land grants.
About half the county towns, many of the
highways and a few homes have Spanish
names, and even at this late date the people
continue to manifest a love for the names of
old Spain, as is shown by the recent naming of
Monte Vista and Los Altos. At one of the
meetings of the Historical Societv Dr. H. }.
I!. Wright read a paper on "Spanish Names
in Santa Clara County," from which the fol-
lowing compilation is made : Los Altos is do-
ing service as the name of an eight-year-old
town on the Peninsular Railway. Los Altos
means "The Heights," and the town site being
considerably above the common level of that
region, the name is quite appropriate.

About sixty years ago the village standing
at the head of the navigable slough which ex-
tends southward from the Bay of San Fran-
cisco, was given the name Alviso This is a
proper name, given in honor of Don Ignaciu
Alviso, ^^■ho was born in Sonora. Mexico in

1772. He came to California with his mother,
sisters and brothers under the leadership of
.■\nza. Alviso was a major domo, or foreman
at the Santa Clara Mission for several years
and in that capacity was actively engaged in
construction work for the Mission at the
time the buildings were moved to their last
site. He helped to construct and for several
years lived at the California Hotel. His wife's
maiden name was Maria Margaret Bernal. He
died in 1845, leaving a large estate.

Alilpitas is the interesting name of a thriv-
ing town on the road from San Jose to Warm
Springs. The word, 'Milpitas' is a compound
of mill, a thousand, and pitas, which means
agaves, American aloes or century plants; and
the fibrous threads of a plant. Milpitas got
its name from the Rancho Milpitas, one cor-
ner of which encloses the town. Inasmuch as
there were no agaves growing in that part of
the valley and that there may have been many
small flowering vines along the Penetencia
Creek which runs through Milpitas, it is safe
to assume that the word, Milpitas, was used
as meaning a thousand thread-like vines.

Hacienda means landed estate, fortune,
domestic work. It is also used to indicate
headquarters. This name was given to the
reduction works of the New Almaden quick-
silver mines. This place is about twelve miles
from San Jose in a shallow canyon at the foot
of the mountain out of which cinnabar has
been taken since 1847. A village has grown
up at this point and it bears the name Haci-
enda. One of the principal tributaries of the
Guadalupe River runs through this village. It
is called the Arroyo de los Alamitos, the rivu-
let of the little poplar trees, poplar trees hav-
ing grown along this stream for many years.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

267

The Century Dictionan- defines the word
Alameda as follows : "A shaded public walk,
especially one planted with poplar trees." The
word Alameda, however, is used in the United
States, Cuba and Mexico as the name of a
shaded way or walk without reference to the
kind of trees planted on it. It may be proper
to add that the Alameda, between San Jose
and Santa Clara, has long had a high aesthetic
value. In 1833 Governor Figueroa took cog-
nizance of it as one of the assets of Alta Cali-
fornia, and learning that some of the trees
which had been planted on it were being cut
down for firewood, ordered the vandalism to
cease immediately.

San Tomas Aquina, a public highway
which runs southward from the Payne road,
has been named officially San Tomas Aquina.
The English equivalent of this Spanish name
is Saint Thomas Aquinas. This Saint must
not be confounded with the Saint Thomas who
was one of the twelve apostles. The father
of the Aquinas was called Count Aquinas,
because of his political connection with a
province of Italy named Aquina. His son re-
seived the name of Thomas Aquinas and was
canonized under that name. The road re-
ceived its name from its relation to the San
Tomas Aquinas Creek, which rises in the
Santa Cruz ^Mountains and flows into Camp-
bell Creek.

The Saint John the Baptist Hills (San Juan
Bautista) rise up from the south side of Oak
Hill Cemetery. Sometime in the '60s Thomas
Kell conveyed twelve acres of land on these
hills to Bishop Riordan for a burial place.
For many years a large Roman cross out-
stretched its arms over these hills. Near this
cross was a small, neglected graveyard. From
the top of these hills one may see, in Oak Hill
Cemetery, the graves of many thousands of
San Jose's pioneer citizens.

Calabaza is the name of a winter stream of
water which rises in the foothills of the Santa
Cruz Mountains and flows into the Guada-
lupe River near the Bay of San Francisco. The
orchardists living near the stream pronounce
the name as though it were spelled Calabasis.
The name means small, young, tender pump-
kins, and is more fanciful than significant.

El Arro\-o Tulares de los Canoas is the rec-
ognized name of a stream which runs along
the west side of the Monterey road to the cor-
ner of Almaden Avenue and South First Street
and then turns to the west and angles across
the Fourth Ward of San Jose to discharge into
the Guadalupe River. The literal English
equivalent of the name is the rivulet of the
tules for canoes. In use the name is reduced
to Canoas Creek, which means a creek for
canoes.

Sierra Azule appears on the map in Hall's
History as a portion of the mountains now
called Santa Cruz. The word Sierra means
rough mountains and Azule means blue. The
dark, bluish color of the mountains as seen
from any point in the valley justifies the use
of the name Sierra Azule. In the foothills of
these mountains, on land formerly owned by
the late L. A. Spitzer, on the Mount Eden
road, are some springs of water bearing the
name Azule, and the blueness of the water as
it runs away from the springs, being like the
unclouded sky, makes the name very appro-
priate.

Loma Prieta is the Spanish equivalent of
blackish hill or blackish point. This is the
name of a mountain peak situated south of
San Jose, near the line separating the counties
of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz. It has an al-
titude of 3790 feet. This peak stands out
prominently and is easily seen from any view-
point in the valley. Even Mt. Hamilton does
not of?er as large a range of vision as does
Loma Prieta. Standing on the top of this
peak one can see nearly every object which
can be seen from Mt. Hamilton and in addi-
tion he can see much of Santa Cruz County
and the ocean beyond. At night from Loma
Prieta can be seen the lights in San Jose and
Santa Cruz.

The English equivalent of Santa Clara is
Saint Clear or Saint Bright. Clara is the fem-
inine form of the Spanish word, Claro, clear.
Santa Clara was the first Franciscan nun and
the founder of the Order of Santa Clara. She
is called Santa Clara de Assisi, Virgin, Abbess
and Alatriarch of her famous religion. Re-
membering that Santa Clara was converted
under the teaching of Saint Francis and that
Franciscan Missionaries founded che Mission,
is it any wonder they gave to it the name
Santa Clara?

The Spanish land grants are a prolific source
of Spanish names. El Rancho Rincon de los
Estera is Spanish for the Salt Marsh ranch.
This name is appropriate because the north-
erly line of this grant runs from the Guada-
lupe River across the salt marsh lands of the
Bay of San Francisco to the Penetencia Creek.
The northwest corner is near but does not in-
clude Alviso.

Rancho Potrero de Santa Clara means the
pasture ranch of Santa Clara. This land made
an acceptable pasture for the people living
about the Mission because it lies between
Santa Clara and the Guadalupe River. Gar-
den seeds are now grown on much of this
land. J. Alexander Forbes was the first Brit-
ish consul stationed on the ranch. He mar-
ried Senorita Anita Galindo, who brought to
him as a marriage dower much of this fine

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tract of land. Forbes sold it to Commodore
Stockton, after whom Stockton Avenue was
named.

Rancho Agua Caliente, hot water ranch.
The land lies partly in Alameda County and
partly in Santa Clara County. It includes
what is now known as Warm Springs.

Rancho Pastoria de los Borregas. when
translated into English, means sheep pasture
ranch. It lies about the quite modern town
of Sunnyvale.

The name Embarcadero de Santa Clara
was given to a small body of land bordering
on what is now called Alviso Slough. It means
the embarking place or port of Santa Clara.
The person who named this piece df land
must have had a rank imagination.

San Francisco de las Llagas is the name of
a grant of land that lies south of San Jose
along both sides of Llagas Creek. The word
Llagas means sores or wounds. Some knowl-
edge of the history of Saint Francis is neces-
sary to understand the name. John Gilmary
Shea, L.L.D., has edited a book "entitled "The
Lives of the Saints." The book had the ap-
proval of Pope Leo XIII. In it is set forth
among other things that Saint Francis, after
visiting the East in vain quest of martyrdom,
spent his life, like his Divine Master, in
preaching to the multitudes and in fasting and
contemplation amid desert solitudes. During
one of these retreats he received on his hands,
feet and side the print of the five bleeding
wounds of Jesus. Whether this statement is
true and worthy of credit or whether it only
transmits a tradition is of little importance in
this connection. Certainly whoever named the
ranch was familiar with the biography of Saint
Francis. In giving the name to the tract of
land in Santa Clara County he tried to perpet-
uate the name of St. Francis and also to indi-
cate a significant event in the Saint's religious
life. Wounds of Saint Francis is probably a
literal translation of San Francisco de los
Llagas. Near the south line of Santa Clara
County is a postoffice named Llagas. It is
neither euphonious nor significant.

El Rancho Rinconada de los Gatos means
the ranch of the inclosed angle of the cats.
The southern angle of this tract of land rests
in the great canyon south of the city of Los
Gatos, and the diverging boundary lines, as
they extend northward, inclose this beautiful
place. Assuming that there were many wild
cats in the canyon at the time the first sur-
vey was made, the name El Rancho Rinconada
de los Gatos is rational and appropriate.

Rancho Tularcitos is equivalent to the ranch
of the little tules. This ranch extends from
the town of Milpitas into the mountains. Lit-
tle tules may yet be seen growing there.

Verba Buena means good herb. This plant
is delightfully aromatic and makes a very
pleasant tea. It grows in neglected places,
especially in the moderately well-shaded foot-
hills. It can be found growing in the eastern
side of the county, where the ranch, called
Verba Buena. is situated.

El Monte Del Diablo has the folluwing his-
tory. During the session of the first Legisla-
ture of California the Senate appointed a com-
mittee to report on the derivation and defini-
tion of various names. Vallejo was chairman
of this committee and he brought in a report
which had reference to the name Monte
Diablo, in which he stated that in 1806 a mili-
tary expedition marched against a tribe of In-
dians called Bolognes, who were encamped on
the western base of the mountain, and that in
the course of a fight which took place there,
an unknown personage, decorated with extra-
ordinary plumage, appeared among the In-
dians : and that when the battle which resulted
in favor of the Indians, was finished, the un-
known departed up the mountain. The de-
feated soldiers, Vallejo's report went on, sup-
posed him to be an evil spirit, called by In-
dians "Ruy" and by the soldiers, a devil, so
they named the mountain El Monte del Diablo,
or the Devil's Mountain. During the session
of the Legislature in 1866 an effort was made
to change the name of the mountain, but noth-
ing came of it. The Government has run a
line due south from the top of this mountain
and named it the Mount Diablo Meridian.
This line runs down the center of the Merid-
ian R(_)ad just west of the O'Connor San-
itarium.

El Puel)lo de San Jose de Guadalupe is the
original name of San Jose. The name was
given in 1877 by Lieutenant Moraga. A few
years later he could have designated his new
town as being in the Santa Clara \^alley, but
that would have been indefinite because the
Santa Clara Vallej' included a vast but uncer-
tain territory. It is thus seen that he had
good reason for using the name El Pueblo de
San Jose de Guadalupe, or the town of San
Jose on the Wolf River. This name has never
been changed into another, but is has been
abridged to two words — San Jose.

Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, Our Lady of
the Guadalupe, is the name of the river which
passes through San Jose and empties into San
Francisco Bay. This word, Guadalupe, is
made by combining the Arabic word, guada,
a river, and the Latin word, lupus, a wolf.
Guadalupe, therefore, means Wolf River. In-
asmuch as nothing was noted by the explor-
ers about wolves being found along this river,
it is fair to assume that wolves did not sug-
gest the word. Now, the history of Nuestra

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

269

Senora de Guadalupe begins in the land of
Palestine and passes over to Spain ; from
Spain it comes to Mexico and then attaches
to the principal stream in Santa Clara County.
In 1597, Gabriel de Talvera wrote the history
of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. From that
history it is learned that the town of Guada-
lupe in Spain certainly had its carved image
of Jesus before the conquest of IMexico by
Cortes. It is therefore a fact that the name
Guadalupe with its sacred associations was
familiar to all the Catholics who emigrated
from Spain to Mexico after the conquest of
that country.

There is a town near the City of Alexico
which is named Guadalupe-Hidalgo, that
which is usually called Guadalupe. It is the
most sacred and the most popular shrine in
the republic of Mexico. It is the focus of the
most fervent and powerful religious cult in
that country. The shrine of the Virgin, which
can be seen any day in the Cathedral located
there, has been to the Mexicans for centuries
what the Ganges is to the Hindus and Mecca
to the Mohammedans. Saturday, December
9, 1531, ten years after Cortes' conquest of
Mexico, an Indian of low birth, who had re-
ceived baptism and been christened Juan
Diego (John James) is said to have been met
liy the \^irgin ilary on the barren hillside,
some three miles from the City of Mexico. She
directed the Indian to gather flowers on what
he knew was barren ground. He followed the
direction of the \'irgin and soon returned to
her with a large quantity of fragrant roses.
The Virgin then directed him to carry the
flowers to Bishop Gummarago in the City of
Mexico. When the confiding Indian opened
his crude tilma or blanket to pour out the
roses, the Bishop saw the image of the Blessed
\'irgin painted <,in the inside c.f the blanket.
That crude cloth with the image of the Virgin
on it has long been enshrined and may now be
seen in a cathedral in the little city of Guada-
lupe, which was built on the hillside where the
Indian met the X'irgin. This enshrined pic-
ture is the Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. Is it
any wonder that the pious Father Font com-
ing from Mexico to the Santa Clara Valley
gave the name of Nuestra Senora de Guada-
lupe to San Jose's principal river?

Judge A. L. Rhodes was one of the promi-
nent members of the Historical Society. He
died on October 23, 1918, at the age of ninety-
seven. After the funeral the following com-
mittee was appointed by the judges of the
Superior Court to prepare and submit a me-
morial on the life and character of the de-
ceased jurist: S. F. Leib, J. C. Black, C. L.
Witten, Nicholas Bowden and C. C. Coolidge.
The committee presented the report on No-

vember 27, 1918, and it was read by C. L.
Witten before Judges Gosbey and Welch, sit-
ting en banc. It is as follows:

"Augustus Loring Rhodes was born in 1821
near Utica. Oneida County, New York, where
his grandfather, a pioneer, established his
home in 1796. Judge Rhodes received his first
education at an academy and then graduated
from Hamilton College in Clinton in 1841.
After completing his college course he trav-
eled through some of the southern states as a
private tutor. His spare time after leaving
college was devoted to the study of the law,
which soon became his life occupation. He
commenced active practice in the state of In-
diana. At Bloomfield, Illinois, he married
Elizabeth Cavins, whose father was then a
judge in that state.

"In 1854 Judge Rhodes came to California,
and from that year to the time of his death,
(October 23, 1918, a period of sixty-four years,
he was continuously a resident of Santa Clara
County. In 1856 he opened a law office in
San Jose and soon became prominent in pro-
fessional and public life.

"In 1859 he was elected district attorney of
Santa Clara County, and in 1860 was chosen
by the voters to represent Santa Clara and
Alameda Counties in the State Senate. In
1863 he was elected a Justice of the Supreme
Court and was a member of that tribunal
until 1880. After his retirement from the Su-
preme Bench he practiced law. with offices
in San Francisco, until September 22, 1899,
when he was appointed Judge of the Superior
Court of Santa Clara County to fill the va-
cancy occasioned by the deatla of Judge A. S.
Kittredge. He presided over one of the de-
partments until September, 1907, when he
voluntarily retired to private life. His retire-
ment was not. however, that of a recluse, but
meant that more of his time was given to en-
joyment of the societ}- of his family and
friends.

"In measuring the life of Judge Rhodes it
would be difficult to determine whether as
lawyer and judge, or as man and friend, he
was the greatest, for he combined the ele-
ments that went to make him great in all
these capacities. It is unnecessary to detail
the qualifications which went to make Judge
Rhodes an eminent lawyer in his earlier life
and in the interim between his respective pe-
riods upon the bench ; that he was an able
lawyer of the highest repute sums up his ca-
reer at the bar ; nor is it necessary in order to
establish or perpetuate his worth as a judge
by a recital of his judicial accomplishments,
for that is already set forth in the long line of
decisions which in permanent form consti-

270

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tute a record which requires no words of ours
to enlarge.

"It is not out of place, however, to perpetu-
ate, by this record, the many charming per-
sonal attributes of Judge Rhodes ; the well-
proportioned frame which to the last carried
erect the burden of almost a century of years ;
the intellectual countenance which bespoke
the strong mentality of the man ; the cheery
greeting to his friends; the unimpaired mind

and memory with its rich fund of reminis-
cences and anecdotes relating to the pioneers
of Santa Clara County's bench and bar.

"Judge Rhodes lived far beyond the allotted
time of man and it was a long life of useful-
ness and honor. As in life he was loved and
venerated by us all, so in death will his mem-
ory be cherished by the bench and bar of this
county."

CHAPTER XXX.

The Banks and Industries of San Jose — An Incident in the Life of
E. McLaughlin — New Corporations Help to Build Up the City — Some
of the Leaders of Industry.

The oldest banking institution in San Jose is
the Bank of San Jose, now located at the
northeast corner of First and Santa Clara
Streets. It was opened for business in the
Knox Block in :\Iarch, 1866, by ^^'illiam J.
Knox and T. l''.llar(l Beans under the firm
name nt Ivmix \- Beans and was conducted as
a pri\ate lianking huusc until January 31, 1868,
on which date it was incorporated as a state
bank. It was the first bank incorporated in
Central California. The first officers were
John G. B.ray, ]. resident: T. Ellard Beans,
cashier and nian.a^er ; C. W. Pomeroy, secre-
tary. In 188U Jeilin T. Colahan, former city
clerk, was appointed assistant cashier. In
1870 Mr. Bray died and T. Ellard Beans be-
came president, a position he held until his
death in 1905. Henry Philip succeeded Mr.
Beans as cashier, acting in that capacity until
1875, when he was succeeded by Clement T.
Park. W. V. Dinsmore was Park's successor.
He resigned in 1912 and V. J. La Motte took
his place. On the death of T. Ellard Beans,
his son, William Knox Beans, became presi-
dent. In 1871 the Bank of San Jose block, at
its present location, was begun. It was com-
pleted in 1872. In 1906 the building was dam-
aged by the earthcjuake and in 1907 it was
torn down and a new five story, reinforced
concrete building was erected on the site. The
present officers are William Knox Beans, pres-
ident; Victor J. LaMotte, vice-president and
manager ; A. B. Post, cashier. The capital
stock is $300,000; surplus and reserve,
$358,000.

T. Ellard Beans, one of the founders of the
bank, was born in Salem, Ohio, and his early
life was spent in mercantile and banking pur-
suits. He came to California in 1849, mined

for a time and then went into mercantile busi-
ness in Nevada City. He nearly lost his life
in the great fire in that place in 1856. Ten
years later he removed to San Jose. His
death was generally regretted for he was one
of the city's most reliable and competent busi-
ness men. His son, William Knox Beans, en-
tered the bank in 1878 and was vice-president
before he took the higher office so long held
by his father.

Bank of Italy

The Bank of Italy, a branch of the main in-
stitution in San Francisco occupies the three-
story building formerly the home of the San
Jose Deposit Bank of Savings, presided over
by the late E. McLaughlin, who founded
the bank in 1885. When the Bank of Italy took
possession the operating space on the lower
floor was greatly enlarged and remodeled.
Capital paid in $9,000,000; surplus, $1,500,000;
undivided profits, $1,924,959.37. A. P. Gian-
ni ni is president and W. R. Williams is cash-
ier. San jose cifficers are N. R. Pellerano, vice-
president and W. ]{. Blauer, manager.

It was while the Safe Deposit Bank of Sav-
ings was in existence with E. McLaughlin as
president and Jnlin I".. Auzerais as cashier that
it was the scene of uue of the nidst daring
robberies ever perpetrated in California. It
was over thirty years ago and at that time the
banks of the city and state had inside ap-
])n)aches like grocery and dry goods stores.
There were no cages, nol separate depart-
ments with either wooden or steel divisions.
The gold was stacked generally at the end of
a long counter and could easily be reached or
handled by any customer. But the day came
when the banks ceased to keep "opeti house."

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

271

The cages and the steel safeguards came in
to prevent any attempt on the part of the
evilly inclined to steal the gold. The change
was made after the robbery at the Safe De-
posit Bank.

The robbery, shrewdly conceived, was the
work of three men. One was detailed to en-
ter the bank and engage the cashier in con-
versation while a second man was to do the
actual stealing. The third man was to sta-
tion himself on the outside near the door to
prevent, if possible, any bank customer from
going inside, and if not possil)le to do this, to
give confederates warning that there was dan-
ger in the air. A moment fur actinn was to lie
selected while the bank was free of custom-
ers and while the cashier (wiio was also the
teller) was at some distance from the stack of
money which reposed on a mahogany tray
near the street end of the counter. Luck fa-
vored the robbers. With one man on guard
at the door, the other two men entered the
bank and successfully carried out the pro-
gram agreed upon. A\'hile no unfriendly eye
was upon him and \\liile the cashier's atten-
tion was lieing disertcil by robber number
one. the second ni1)ber (|uickly seized the
tray with the mone\ — $10,000 in gold twen-
ties, carefully stacked — concealed it under his
overcoat an<l substituted for the tray of monej-
a tray of gilded dummies. It \\as the expecta-
tion of the lawless Uui that the substitution
would not be discovered until the cashier had
occasion to go to the tray to get gold for a
customer.

Having jierformed the must dinicult part (if
the program, the secoitd rdbber, with his haul.
]:)assed out of the door. Fdlldwing chisely
upon his heels went roi)ber number one, his
talk with the cashier having abruptly come to
an end. Then the last member of the trio
left his station at the dour and joined his con-
federates. It was some tinu- before the rob-
bery was discovered. .\s soon as discovery
was made there was a iiurry call for the po-
lice, l)ut when the officers arrived there was
no trace of the robbers. The city was combed
but nothing had been left behind to serve as a
workable clue. Not one cent of the money
was ever recovered.

Garden City Bank and Trust Company
The Garden City Bank and Trust Company,
formerly the Garden City National Bank, is
located on the lower floor of a seven-story con-
crete building on the southwest corner of First
and San Fernando Streets. The National
Bank was chartered and organized in 1887
with Dr. C. W. Breyfogle as president and
Thomas F. Morrison as cashier. In 1893 it
ceased to be a national bank and became a

state bank. Until the erection of the new
building in 1906, it occupied quarters on the
northwest^ corner of First and San Fernando
Streets. S. B. Hunkins became president after
the death of Dr. Breyfogle and held office until
death claimed him in 1914. Then Thomas S.
Montgoinery took the presidency. Mr. Mont-
gomery is the only one living of the original
directors and stockholders. The capital stock
is $500,000; surplus. $625,000; deposits, $8,-
005,9^4.59. The present officers are T. S.
Montgomery, president; Dr. J. J. Miller, John
F. Duncan, vice-president ; W. G. Alexander,
secretary ; C. J. Tripp, cashier. The bank has
branches at Campbell. Gilroy, Santa Clara
and Saratoga.

Dr. Breyfogle, the founder, was a native of
Columbus, Ohio, and a graduate of the Ohio
W'esle^-an L'ni^•ersit3•. The same year he left
college he entered the U. S. .\rmy. rose to the
rank of captain and was compelled to resign
on account of failing eyesight. After a par-
tial recovery from his affliction he stud-'ed law
until his e_\-es again failed. Homeopathic treat-
ment cured him and then he resolved to be-
come a homeopathic physician. Entering a
medical college, he graduated in 1865 and in
1870 came to San Jose. In May, 1886, he was
elected mayor of the city. In 1885 he organ-
ized the San Jose Building and Loan Asso-

Security State and Savings Bank

The Security State Hank and Security Sav-
ings liank occupy cosy rooms in a concrete
building on I'irst Street, opposite Post Street.
It was organized as a savings bank in July,
IS'M. with Frank Stock as president, L. 6.
Xesmith. vice-president, and Paul P. Austin,
cashier and manager, in the rooms adjoining
the First National B.ank. In 1900 \V. S. Rich-
ards obtained control of the stock and moved
the business to East Santa Clara Street, be-
tween First and Second Streets. In 1902 the
Security State Bank was organized as an ad-
junct of the savings institution. In March,
1909. the business was reuioxed to its pres-
ent quarters. E. T. Sterling was cashier un-
der Richards until liis resignation in 1907. He
was succeeded by Wilbur J. Edwards. Mr.
Richards died in 1915 and Mr. Edwards suc-
ceeded to the office of president, and George
B. Campbell became cashier. The vice-presi-
dents were C. M. Richards and \\'. A. John-
ston. The combined statement of the condition
of the two banks, issued June 20, 1920, shows
the following: Resources, $4,687,924.59; cap-
ital, $100,000; capital, surplus and profits,
$492,646.81 ; combined deposits, $4,175,277.78.

272

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

First National Bank

The First National Bank of San Jose was
organized July H. 1874, with a paid up capi-
tal of $500,000, witii |whn W. Hinds as presi-
dent: W. L. Tisdalc. vice-president, and G. P.
Sparks, cashier. On July 6, 1875, the office of
assistant cashier was created and L. G. Nes-
mith elected to the position. In 1880 W. D.
Tisdale became president and L. G. Nesmith
cashier. Tisdale was succeeded by George M.
Bowman, who held office until 1903. On his
death the presidency fell to J. D. Radford. In
1907 he resigned and W. S. Clayton was his
successor and is still in office. In 1910 a new,
up-to-date finely apjiointed concrete buiMint;-
of nine stories, tlie tallest builtlini;- in San J..-;e,
was erected on the site of the old luiililinn on
the .southwest corner of First an.l Santa Clara
Streets. The capital stock of the l)ank is
$500,000; surplus, $200,000; dcposit>, $7,108,-
100.83; undivided profits, $171,742.62. The
present officers are W. S. Clayton, president;
S. F. Leib. vice-president; I'anl Rudolph,
cashier.

The Growers' Bank

The Growers' Bank, a new institution, was
organized in May, 1920, and opened for busi-
ness in July of that year, in the Rea Intilding,
on the northwest corner of Santa Clara and
Market Streets. It is purely a county bank,
with its stock broadly owned within the dis-
trict. The capital stock has been placed at
$300,000; surplus, $60,000. The officers are;
V. T. McCurdy, president; S. E. Johnson, vice-
president; Fred W. Sinclair, cashier and
manager.

The banks have a Clearing House Associa-
tion and weekly reports are made. The offic-
ers are W. R. Beans, president; Paul Rudolph,
secretary.

The Leading Industries

Chief among the leading industries of San
Jose are the canneries and packing houses.
They cover thousands of acres of ground and
are mainly in the suburbs. Mention of their
importance and activities has been made in
the chapter covering the fruit industries of
the city and county.

San Jose Foundry

Of the other industries — and they are many
and are well sustained — the San Jose Foundry
is the pioneer. It was first established in
1852 by Pomeroy and Mackenzie on the cor-
ner of First and San Antonio Streets, where it
remained until 1871, when a larger building
was erected by Donald Mackenzie, then the
sole proprietor. Here, in addition to a general

moulding and casting business, machines of
many kinds were made and repared, the fa-
cilities for such work being complete. The
iron work for the court house, county jail and
other prominent buildings of San Jose was
supplied by the San Jose Foundry. After the
death of Donald .Mackenzie the management
passed into the hands of Andrew Mackenzie
and was continued until his death in 1918. In
1905 the lot on which the foundry stood was
sold and the plant was remo\ed to \'ine Street,
near Santa Clara Street. The luisiness is now
in the hands of the Misses Mackenzie, Frank
Cavallaro and Oscar Promis. Cavallaro is the
superintendent and O. Promis is the secretary.
The lot where the old foundry once stood is
now occupied by the Montgomery Hotel and
the building of the California Prune and Apri-
cot Growers, incorporated.

The Bean Spray Company

John Bean, the inventor of the Bean Spray
Pump, began his work in the early '50s and
enjoyed the distinction of being the inventor
and patentee of the first double-acting force
pump for well purposes. On account of ill
health Mr. Bean moved to California in 1883.
He bought an orchard and soon found that it
was infested with scale. Only little scjuirt
gun puni]is were then on the market, so he
put his ingenious mind at work and soon had
i>uilt the lirst high-])ressin-c spra_\- pump with
air pressure ever made. This pump was ex-
hibited in the California fairs of 1884 and cre-
ated such a demand that Mr. Bean formed a
company and started a factory. D. C. Crum-
mey, son-in-law of Mr. Bean, has been presi-
dent of the company since 1888. Mr. Bean's
fertile mind continued its work of inventing
and perfecting spray pumps and spray noz-
zles until his death 'in 1908. Members 'of the
third generation of the family are now actively
engaged in the business and they, together
with several of the trained e.xperts who now
form a part of the larger organization, have
actively continued the work. The first factory
was located in Los Gatos. It was moved to
San Jose in 1903 and in 1908 there was built
on Julian Street the largest exclusive spray
pump factory in the world. Since that year
several important additions have been made.
In 1909 the company established a factory in
Berea, Ohio, with branch offices at Cleveland.
The business grew rapidly and in 1914 the
Berea factory was discontinued and a new and
up-to-date factory was built at Lansing. Mich-
igan. The outfits of the company can be pur-
chased anywhere in America. In San Jose,
where the largest plant is located, the com-
pany not only makes everything for spraying,
from hand spray pumps, power sprayer, light

i

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

273

weight nozzles and accessories, high-pressure
spray hose and spray guns, but also a deep
well turbine pump for which the claim is
made that there is an absence of all valve and
priming troubles, that there are sanitary ])re-
cautions and that it is adaptable to direct con-
nection with vertical motors. J. D. Crummey
is general manager of the company.

The company started a new industry in
1922 in the manufacture of single cylinder en-
gines, this representing an expenditure of
$100,000. It is the first factory of its kind to
be established west of the ^Mississippi.

Anderson-Barngrover Manufacturing
Company

Twenty-fi\e }ears ago W. C. Anderson
started in lousiness as a manufacturer of can-
ning machinery. Aliout the same time the
Cunningham factory was established. A few
years afterwards the Ander.son Prune Dip-
ping Company was organized. The Cunning-
ham factory consolidated with Barngrover
and the Enterprise Foundry under the firm
name of Barngrover, Hull & Cunningham. An-
derson and the B. H. & C. Company were riv-
als for a few years and then came together as
one company under the name of the Anderson-
Barngrover Manufacturing Company. The
first factory was on Santa Clara Street, but
for over ten years it has been located on Jul-
ian Street, near the Guadalupe River. The
Ijuildmgs cover five acres of ground close to
the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad
and with patented devices it turns out a line
of high-grade autcimntic canning machinfr\-
which indues exhaust Ixixes, graders, peelers,
washers, slicers, canning tables, scalders,
washers, blanchers. syrupers and fillers for
fruit: sorters, pan and bucket tables, peeling
tables, pulpers, finishers and fillers for toma-
toes, cap markers, fish canning machinery,
green prune dipping and grading machinery,
grape scalders and dippers, continuous agitat-
ing cookers, and many other useful and labor-
saving devices. The plant is one of the larg-
est of the kind in the world. Most of the larg-
er plants and practically all the smaller plants
on the Pacific Coast have been equipped Ijy
the Anderson-Barngrover Company. The
largest and finest fruit canning plant in Aus-
tralia, owned and operated by the Govern-
ment, is equipped throughout with the com-
pany's line cif machinery. The business has
been de\ eloped solely by local men, and ship-
ments to all parts of the world are made.
Three plants in Australia were supplied dur-
ing 1919. Three hundred men are employed
and the sales for 1919-20 amounted to over
$2,000,000. The officers are \V. C. Anderson,
president; F. L. Burrell, vice-president and

manager ; B. D. Hull, secretary, E. B. Weaver,
treasurer. Directors — W. C. Anderson. F. L.
Burrell, F. E. Weaver, G. H. Lyle, H. C.
M inker, T. C. I'.arnett.

Smith Manufacturing Company
The Smith Manufacturing Company, con-
sisting of father and son— J. S. Smith and
Chas. O. Smith — the former the president, the
latter the manager, was formed in 1902 and
has a large plant on Stockton Avenue, near
the Alameda. The company makes exclusive-
ly fruit machinery for the fruit grower, canner
and dried fruit packer. The implements turn-
ed out are a combined dipper, grader and auto-
matic spreader ; a power cylinder spreader ; a
combined dipper and spreader ; a combined dip-
per, rinser and spreader; steel tanks, dipper
basket, field car, transfer car, turn table, dried
fruit grader, dried fruit receiving car, stan-
dard fruit barrow and box truck. The com-
pany does not claim any special dexterity or
secret methods, but it does claim that its ma-
chinery is made with that care and honesty of
purpose which produces a uniform (|uality wi-
excelled by other makers.

Sperry Flour Company

The first flour mill in San Jose was erected
by R. G. Muo.ly in 1S.S4 on the banks of Coy-
ote Creek about the .- ,>ot where Empire Street
ends. Here the propelling power was water,
procured from an artesian well. The business
was transferred to Third Street, near the cor-
ner of Santa Clara Street, in 1858, where steam
instead of water was used to drive the machin-
ery. The improvements consisted of a mill
and warehouse, the latter with a capacity for
the storage of 40,000 sacks of flour. The mill
fronted on Third Street, the warehouse on
Fourth Street. Mr. Moody put in porcelain
rollers soon after their introduction to this
Coast and manufactured the once celebrated
■'Lily White Flour." He retired from busi-
ness in the early '60s, and was succeeded by
his sons, Charles, Volney and David B. Moody.
.\fter a few years Volney Moody sold out his
interest, removed to Oakland and became a
banker.

In 1887 the Moody brothers sold out to the
Central Milling Company, which soon took in
all the mills in Central California. C. L. Ding-
ley was president, and D. B. Moody secretary.
For a nundier of years the company used for
manufacturing purposes the mill in San Jose,
but the time came when the Santa Clara Val-
ley ceased to lie the grain center of the state.
Grain fields everywhere had been converted
into fruit orchards, and fruit culture became
the great industry of the valley. In 1892
the Sperry Flour Company absorbed the Cen-

274

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tral Milling Cfimpany and W. G. Alexander
■was appointed manager. Through his activ-
ity and sound business sense the company ex-
tended its operations until it had practicalh'
covered the entire state. Now its tentacles
have reached out to include Oregon. Washing-
ton, Nevada and Utah. Mr. Alexander con-
tinued in office for twenty-three years — until
he went into business for himself. He was
succeeded by his brother, Howard Alexander,
who died in 1912. E. B. Devine is the
present manager. The main office of the coin-
pany is in San Francisco. David B. Moody
retired from the secretaryship many years
ago. He is now one of the directors of the San
Jose Keystone Com])any, of which W. C. .Mex-
ander is president.

The Globe Mills

The Globe Mills opened in June, 1920, a
branch office and warehouse in San Jose to
care for their rapidly throwing business in San-
ta Clara County. The o])ening of this enter-
prise indicates the belief on the part of one
of the largest manufacturers on the coast that
San Jose is destined to become an important
factor in the commercial and industrial devel-
opment of California. The Gdnlie Mills is an
old California concern with mills and ware-
houses in many cities on the coast and in
Nevada and Utah. The local branch is
under the management of J. W. HoUister, for-
merly of San Francisco. A complete line of
the Glofie Mills products is carried, and
sales in San Jose, on the peninsula and on the
coast north of and including Santa Cruz, are
handled by this officer. A delivery system
will be inaugurated operating as far north as
Palo Alto.

The American Can Company
The American Can Company, a branch of
the great New Jersey Company, has a plant
on Martha Street, which takes in an entire
block. This company is now employing 450
men and women. Foreseeing difficulty in ob-
taining the amount of help they needed should
other industries locate in San Jose and give
regular employment throughout the year, and
also anticipating the continued' growth of the
canning industry in this section of the state,
the company early in 1919 completed plans
for enlarging its business.

These plans have been developed so far that
warehouse facilities to store 32,000.000 cans
and track facilities for loading and unloading
50 freight cars at a time are the result. This
storage capacity is now being added to the
present plant in a warehouse 200 by 600 feet
being built adjoining their original plant of
225 by 500 feet, making a plant covering an en-

tire city black bounded by Martha, Keyes and
Fifth .Streets, with the Southern Pacific rail-
road on the Fourth Street side.

In making these additions to its plant the
company intends to start year-round work for
its (.■iiiployces. None but adult help will be
eiiipli.) 1.(1 and except in case of emergency all
night ami dvertime work will be done away
with. With the greatly increased storage ca-
pacity there will be enough room to care for
the needs of the company's customers with the
constant shipment of those concerns operating
throughout the greater portion of the year.
The plant was located in San Jose in 1912. In
1919 the company's output was over 10,000,000
cans. John S. Reed is the superintendent.

Security Warehouse and Cold Storaj^e
Company

The spacious mansion occupied first by Mrs.
Sarah L. Knox-Goodrich and afterwards by
Capt. C. H. Maddox and family on First
Street, opposite the Southern Pacific depot,
has been removed and now the grounds cover-
ing nearly an acre and extending from First
to Second Streets, holds the large and costly
concrete luiildings of the Security Warehouse
and Cold Storage Company. The improve-
ments were started in the spring of 1920.

The enterprise is the result of a determin-
ation on the part of local business men who
decided that the time had come when the San-
ta Clara Valley would support such a plant.
They organized a $500,000 corporation, all
local capital, secured the desired site and
started operation. The building is of con-
crete, except a small portion of the roof over
some dry storage rooms, and is the most mod-
ern in every particular that the directors could
find in visits to like plants throughout the
country. There are in reality four distinct
buildings, each accessible to the other and sep-
arated by double fireproof doors. Floors are
all of concrete as are the supports in all the
main parts.

The location of the plant is ideal, facing
both First and Second Streets, and adjoining
the main line of the Southern Pacific. There
are two side tracks at the railroad site with a
storage capacity of twelve cars for either load-
ing or unloading. The fourth side is a very
wide drive for the use of teams and unloading
auto trucks.

The building is 145x275 feet, ui two-story
and basement design, and is ec|uippetl with an
elevator of great capacity for the purpose of
getting goods to the upper story and to the
basement, all goods being unloaded on the
main floor, to which the platform from either
drive or railroad give direct access. Also
there is a driveway for trucks or teams leading

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

275

I

onto this floor that full loads intended for
storage above or below may be placed directly
on the elevator without trucking.

There are three distin storage system be-
ing installed to care for the difTerent classes of
goods expected to be handled : Direct cool air
for the care of fresh fruit: a brine storage
system for egg-keeping: and a direct expan-
sion of ammonia system for the freezing of
fresh fruits and meats. By the latter means
it is said fruit may be frozen and kept iur a
period of several years, coming out with all
the appearance and taste as if freshly picked.

The fresh fruit storage will be invalualile to
growers and canners of this valley in case of
an abundance of fruit ripening at once or in
case of railrc)ad trouble in shipping, as it can
be placed here and kept until conditions for
its use are right.

The company is also installing an ice-mak-
ing plant and already has contracted for a
part of the capacity of the plant to local con-
cerns. This plant will be equipped with the
latest apparatus for purifying the water be-
fore it is frozen and for the sanitary handling
of the product.

The whole plant has a capacity of about
10,000 tons of storage besides the room being
given up to storage of heavy vehicles, such as
autos, tractors, and the like, of which there are
many alread}- in the building. This latter
space is easily convertible into the other var-
ieties if it is found there is demand enough to
warrant such an alteration. E. E. Chase is
president of the company, and J. Q. Patton is
secretary.

Garden City Manufactory

This concern, started in 1919 at the corner
of W'illard and San Carlos Streets, specializes
in women's and children's garments. Thirty
competent women are employed and great
bolts of muslin, percale, gingham, crepe, flan-
nellette, satin and silk dominate the shop,
housed in a large, modern cement building.
The electric cutting machcine cuts 600 gar-
ments at once and there has been a rush of
orders ever since the opening. S C. Kimball
is the proprietor.

Tile Company

The S. & S. Tile Company, located at
Fourth and Lewis Streets, began operations in
1920. The claim is made that it is the onh-
place in the United States where tiles are
made by hand. The company's specialty is the
manufacture of mosaics and the tiles of the
ancient Moors, reproduction of the work done
by the hands of skillful potters. A. L. Solon
is the president of the company.

Spray Manufacturing Company

A new enterprise entailing the investment
of $50,000 in perfecting the fruit spray was
removed to San Jose from Hood River, and
started in 1921 with a fine factory at Stockton
and Emery Streets. The name is the San Jose
Spray Manufacturing Company. J. C. But-
cher, head of the firm known as tlie Butcher
Company of Hood River, is the director of
the research department, and D. L. Currier,
entomologist, is the director of field work. .A.t
all times throughout the year the service de-
partment will be open for advice and consul-
tation.

Artificial Leather Factory

In the winter of 1921-22 a company, con-
sisting of local men, was organized to take up
the manufacture of certain chemical products,
the principal one to be that of artificial leather,
of which the coast uses upward.-^ of 200,000
lineal yards per month for automobile tops
and upholstery, furniture upholster}-, book
binding and novelties. 'IMiis ]ir(Klucl will be
followed by an exceiiiion;ill\ beautiful silk
manufactured under a iiatcntc'l pn^cess owned
l)y the company. Other products will include
non-inflammable moving picture films, lac-
quers, enamels and celluloid materials. An
ideal factory site has already been secured
just north of San Jose. The officers are: Pre-
sident, D. J. Conant; Zeno Ostenberg, vice-
president and chief chemist : secretary-treas-
urer, J. .\. Naismith : auditor, J. G. Shaw.

Manufactured Products

Figures received from the bureau of census
by the local Chamber of Commerce in 1921
show San Jose to ha\e produced in 1920 manu-
factured pi-odiKts valued at SJ.^.OOO.OOO, nearly
a five-f(il(l increase (.\ cr the I'UO total. The
average number of wage earners emploved is
shhown by the new census at 3,100, while in
1910 only' about 1,340 were employed. The
margin between raw material and finished
products is placed at $10,628,000 over a ttital
of $2,368,000 in 1910.

The canners do an annual business of
$49,236,750: gross annual payroll, $4,837,102.
In San Jose there are 73 purely industrial
concerns.

Wholesale Grocers

The ^^'alsh-Col Company is the pioneer
wholesale grocery firm in San Jose. In
1898 P. M. ^^^alsh and P. E. Col formed a co-
partnership and started the business in a small
store at 20 North Market Street. Business
rapidh- increased, and in 1901 the Walsh-Col
Company was incorporated. In 1906 the pre-
sent large and commodious building on North
Market Street, near the Southern Pacific de-

276

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

pot, was erected. It covers 400.000 square
feet of ground. The building is of brick ana
concrete with entrances on Market and San
Pedro Streets. The company deals in staple
groceries, spices, extracts, and tea and coffee
and the lousiness extends from South San
Francisco on the iKirth to Paso Robles on the
south. Flirty |i(.T>(ins are on the pay roll in
San Jose and eight traveling salesmen are em-
ployed everv month in the year. The capital
stock is $100,000. P. M. Walsh died in 1Q12.
The present officers of the company are P. J.
Foley, president; P. E. Col, vice-president; J.
J. Shaw, secretary.

The Keystone Company of San Jose was or-
ganized by E. H. Renzei in September, 1905.
It occupied a small building and did a small
business until August 19, 1909. when it was
reorganized l)y AV! G. Alexander. Today the
buildings occupy 178 feet on North Market
Street, running back to San Pedrt) Street.
They are of concrete with all the modern ap-
pliances and equipment. The company keeps
on hand as assorted stock of staple groceries,
teas, spices, and extracts, and has recently
added a coffee roasting apparatus for the pre-
paration of the popular Keystone Coffee. The
business extends from San Jose to Los An-
geles on the south and to Portland, Oregon,
on the north. W. G. Alexander is president,
E. H. Renzei is vice-president, and P. D. Bur-
ling is secretarv. The other directors are D.
B. Moodv, S. .M". \'an.lerv.M,rt. W. H. Ledvard,
Mrs. W.' G. Alexander. |. iv Alexander and
Merle Elli-n. i'n.uf that San J.ise is the
natural distributing center of Central Califor-
nia IS gi\en in the rapid growth and large
volume of business of the Keystone Company.
Pride is taken in the organization; there is
cheerful cooperation and good fellowship
among employes and officers, and every one
labors heartily and effuiently for the success
of the organization. The Inisiness done in
1919 approximated $2,t)U(J.()U().

The Oliver Company

One of the comparatively new interests of
San Jose and one which gives great promise
of becoming a large factor in the fruit in-
dustry is that of oil burning equipment for
heating of houses and for prune dipping and
evaporating of other fruits. The Oliver Oil
Gas Burning & Machine Company has located
its western branch in San Jose, the work being
carried on from the plant of the State Foun-
dry & Pattern Works on the Alameda where
patterns are made and the castings for the
burners turned out. An oil-burning prune dip-
]ier has been on the market for some time,
l)ut in 1919 the Oliver Company placed a
number of thes" machines throughout the val-

ley, all giving satisfaction. While the com-
pany is at present installing the prune dippers,
the evaporating business is receiving a large
share of attention. These evaporators have
burners which are claimed to be superior to
those burning either coal or wood. The com-
pany is also making a variety of cook stoves,
heating stoves and other house heating burn-
ers. They have burners in this line up to a
capacity of a fifteen horsepower boiler. The
main factory is located in St. Louis, Mo., and
the San Jose factory is expected to develop
into a large concern.

National Axle Corporation

The National .\xle Corporation was organ-
ized in 1920. It purchased twelve acres on the
Berryessa Road, in what was formerly known
as Luna Park, and proceeded to erect a large
one-story building at a cost of $68,000. The
cost of the equipment was $110,000. Fifteen
mechanics are now employed, but the expecta-
tion is that in the near future the force \\'ill
reach the one hundred mark. In. 1921, a new
corporation obtained control of the plant. S.
C. Kyle is president, and Earl C. Fancher and'
H. \\\ Smith are \ice-presidents. Smith is
the manager of the works. Axles form the
main output, though the factory is i)repared to
do all kinds of contract work. The lnulding is
.^60 feet long by 90 feet wide. ( )ne hundVed
feet east of the National Axle Ijuilding is lo-
cated a branch of the Smith Manufacturing
Company. The buihlin- i^ 75xr)0 feet in size
and here is manufactured e\erything in the
line of boilers and sheet metal work.

Plow Factories

H. G. Knapp & Son, in business in San
Jose since 1900, have two large plants, one on
South First Street, opposite Willow, the other
at the corner of Fourth and Margaret Streets.
Their products go to Honolulu, the Philip-
pines, Oregon, W'ashington, Nevada, Utah,
and all parts of the state. They manufacture
plows, tractors, side hill plows, whip saws,
subsoilers, and gopher plows. A specialty is
made of the Knapp tractor disc plow and the
Knapp power lift. During the business seas-
em, the company employs forty-five men.

In 1919 the California Plow Company lo-
cated in San Jose, having secured a four-acre
tract on the old Polhemus estate, with close
shipping facilities. C. B. and E. R. Polhemus
comprise the company. A num.ber of imple-
ments, inchidin.g plows for tractors, horse-
drawn tools and several kinds of harrows, are
made. Besides the main shop, wdiich is al-
ready equipped with the latest drill presses,
lathes, punches and slicing machines, the com-
pany has started a casting foundry, operating
on a small scale.

HIST(3RY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

The Farmers' Union

The Farmers' Union was organized l)_v Val-
ley farmers on May 11, 1874, for the purpose
of buying and selling groceries, produce,
hardware — everything, in fact, save clothing —
and maintaining stores. Besides the large
store on Santa Clara Street, corner of San
Pedro, it operates a store in Central Market
and another at the town of Campbell. The
capital stock when the company was organ-
ized was $100,000. It has since been increas-
ed to $200,000. The value of the stock on
hand amounts to about the same figure. The
first president was William Erkson. In 1878
he was succeeded by C. T. Settle, who contin-
ued in office until his death in 1900. W. C.
Andrews was then chosen for the position,
and he has held it ever since. He is also the
manager of the store and his assistant is A.
O. Matthews. Dr. W. C. Bailey is the secre-
tary of the organization.

Granite and Marble Works

Schuh & Vertin have the only granite and
marble works within the limits of the city of
San Jose. Their establishment is at the corner
of Santa Clara and Vine Streets, and like the
other works on the outside they do all kinds
of marble and granite work, special designing,
etc. Near the citv are located three other es-

tablishments, the Oak Hill Granite & Marble
Yard, on the edge of the Cemetery. Monterey
Road ; the San Jose Granite and Marble
Works, corner of First and Alameda Streets,
and the Western Granite & Marble Com-
pany's works on Stockton Avenue.

The marble business was established in San
Jose in 1870 by J. W. Combs, and in 1-178
M'. W. Blanchard and Timothy O'Neill open-
ed the lirst granite works. In 1883 a partner-
ship lietwccn the three men was formed and
the t\\ii interests were combined under the
firm name of Combs, Blanchard & O'Neill.
The name was afterwards changed to the
Western Marble and Granite Company, and
for many j'ears business was done on First
Street near the Southern Pacific railway
tracks. At last, being cramped for space, the
establishment was removed to Stockton
Avenue.

(Jther industries are potteries, brick yards,
machine shops, broom factories, box factories,
refineries, book binderies, creameries, dairies,
feed yards, sheet metal, wagon, mattress,
shingle and pump factories, lumber yards and
planing mills, rug works, macaroni factories,
violin makers, well works, welding works,
paste makers and coffee and spice mills. This
does not include the dozens of garages, auto
supply companies and auto repair shops.

CHAPTER XXXI.

The Romantic History of the Town of Santa Clara — Home of One of the
Early Missions — The Story of the Santa Clara University — The Planting
of the Mission Cross.

«

As far as is known, William Clark was the
first American to locate in Santa Clara. He is
the man who first reduced the ore from the
mines at New Almaden. In 1846 came the
Harlands, Van Gordon, Samuel Young, Tabor,
Allen. Jones, Dickinson and Bennett. In 1848
there arrived J. Alex. Forbes, Jonathan and
Charles Parr, William Booth, Fielding Lard,
Riley Montrey, Cobeb Rand, Geo. W'. Bel-
lamy, Dr. H. H. Warburton, Mr. Bazard, Wil-
liam McCutchen, William Haun, Washington
Moody, John Whisman, William Campbell,
Thomas Hudson, James Linns, Austin Angel
and others.

There were two stores, one kept by Robert
Scott, and one by a Frenchman. The only
hotel wa? che Bellamy house. The first frame
building was built as a residence for Father
Real, the priest in charge of the Mission, at

the southwest corner of Santa Clara and Al-
viso Streets. The lumber was sawed with a
whipsaw by Fielding Lard, in the Palgas red-
woods. Immediately afterward buildings were
erected by Lard, Scott and Haun. In 1850 a
schnci] hiiuse building was erected on Liberty
Street. It was built by subscription and was
lung known as the "little brick schoolhouse."
It was used as a place of wt)rship by all de-
nominations. In 1853 the first church was
built by the Methodists. In the same year a
female seminary was erected to the west of
Main Street, between Liberty and Lexington.
In 1850 Peleg Rush imported twenty-three
houses from Boston and set them up in town.
The Union Hotel was built in 1850. It was
conducted by Appleton & Ainslie. In 1851
the Santa Clara College was established.

278

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

In 1850 the town site was surveyed by Wil-
liam Campbell into lots a hundred yards
square, and one lot was given to each citizen
with the understanding that he was to build a
house on it within three months ; failing to do
so the lot could be taken by another. There
was no town government until 1852 when the
following officers were chosen trustees : F.
Lard, S. S. Johnson, A. D. Hight. F. Cooper,
Riley Montrey ; clerk, C. W. Adams ; assessor.
A. Madan : marshal, William Fosgate. In
1862 a regular charter, in accordance with
state laws, was obtained and the following
were chosen as trustees : J. R. Johnson. A. R.
Caldwell, R. K. Ham, J. L. Guernsey, Henry
Uhrbroock. The charter was amended in
1866 and again in 1872. The town, as then
laid out, was two miles long and a mile and a
half wide. Methodism in California was first
planted in Santa Clara.

Santa Clara, called by admirers, "the pro-
gressive city beautiful," has (1922) a popu-
lation of 6,300. Its public school system is
equal to any in the land. Children enjoy the
best possible educational advantages vmder
the best teachers available and are provided
with beautiful, spacious and strictly modern
buildings and playgrounds.. The latest and
most approved laboratory equipment and ath-
letic accessories are installed. Sanitary and
health conditions are under the careful super-
vision of a skilled physician. The grammar
school course is supplemented l)y manual
training, sewing, cooking and music. The high
school prepares students for the Normal
schools and universities, and gives a compre-
hensive general course.

The Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce is
located in the Bank of Italy building and is
one of the live progressive institutions of the
town. The officers are : Robert A. Fatjo, pres-
ident; J. J. Jones, L. G. Fatjo, vice-presidents;
H. L. W'arburton, treasurer ; and B. R. .Sulli-
van, secretary. Directors, Bernice Downing,
Henry Eberh'ard, R. A. Fatjo. L. G. Fatjo, J. J.
Jones, William Loos, E. McQuoid, A. W.
Nuttman, Henry R. Roth, C. A. Thompson, F.
J. Vargas, H. L. Warburton. The Chamber,
composed of the leading men of the business
community, is concerned with the promotion
of the city's material interests and general wel-
fare, and is engaged in publicity with the ob-
ject of acquainting the outside world with the
inviting and salutary local conditions and op-
portunities.

Santa Clara stands preeminent among the
cities and towns of California in the matter of
municipal ownership of light and water, and
is therefore immune from the restrictions usu-
ally levied upon these necessities by corpo-
rate control. Operating its own water, gas

and electric plants, it is enabled to offer par-
ticular inducements to homeseekers in the
reasonable expense of these utilities as well as
in the low rate of taxation. Paved and graded
streets and cement sidewalks are among the
features that commend themselves to visitors.
The town is surrounded with l)eautiful gar-
dens, thrifty orchards and fields of vegetables,
all of which add charm and makes this por-
tion of the valley rank high as a place of
abode.

Santa Clara's fruit and manufacturing con-
cerns are the city's greatest asset. The Pratt-
Low Preserving Company, the A. Block Pack-
ing Company, the Rosenberg Bros. & Com-
pany, the Eberhard 'I'anning Cmupany, the
Merrit Cement Company, the llniner Knowles
Pottery, and the Pacific Manufacturing Com-
pany, are the largest of their kind on the
Coast. These institutions are the mainstay of
the community and will, as they continue their
rapid progress and development, result in the
greater growth and prosperity of Santa Clara
and surrounding territory.

The Pratt-Low Preserving Company is sit-
uated a short distance south of the Southern
Pacific Railway depot, and at its inception in
1905 three acres of ground were ample for its
requirements. At the present time ten acres
are devoted to this institution, which em-
l)Io}-es from a niiniiiuiin .if four hundred to a
maximum of wuc thdusaml people during the
fruit harvesting season, extending from June
first to the middle of November. During this
period cherries, apricots, peaches, pears,
plums, grapes, and tomatoes are handled in
large quantities, over ten million cans being
necessary for containers ; the finished product
is distributed throughout the United States
and Canada, as well as England, France, Italy,
and the Orient. The extreme fertility and
productivity of the soil in the immediate vicin-
ity of this plant has had much to do with its
growth, and the sanitary conditions main-
tained, together with the care exercised in the
selection and handling of the fruit, account for
the great demand for, and wide distribution of,
its products.

The A. Block Fruit Company, located on
the northwestern Imits of Santa Clara, was
established in 1873 by the late Abram Block,
and is perhaps the largest deciduous fruit
house in the world, packing in different years,
according to the size and quality of the crop,
from 500 to 900 carloads, all assorted and
boxed by experienced hands and shipped to
almost every corner of the globe — China, Eur-
ope, South America, South Africa. The Blocks
make a specialty of quality fruits, the bulk of
which is grown in their own orchards. They
pack nothing except the best, their brand hav-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

27Q

I

ing a reputation second to none wherever it is
marketed. California's finest pack of pears
and plums, grown on Santa Clara soil, is har-
vested and packed by this local establishment.

The Pacific Manufacturing Company is one
of the largest lumber concerns on the Pacific
Coast. The plant covers over fifteen acres of
ground and 500 men are constantly employed.
The company was originally known as the En-
terprise ilill & Lumber Company, but was re-
organized and the name changed in Septem-
l)er. 1880. The present officers are: James H.
Pierce, president ; John T. Kennedy, vice-presi-
dent ; R. T. Pierce, secretarv and treasurer.
The plant is valued at $300,000.

The Eberhard Tanning Company, formerly
the Santa Clara Tannery, was started in 1849
by L. Wampach. He conducted it until 1854,
when it was brought by Messing & Dixon,
Shortly afterward F. C. Franck was admitted
as a partner. Dixon soon sold out to Mr.
Glein, and ultimately passed into the hands
of Glein alone. In 1860 the firm became Glein
& Albert, who kept u\) the business until 1864,
when Glein again became sole possessor. In
1866 he sold out to Jacob Eberhard. In I9I5
Jacob Eberhard died and the business has
since been conducted by his sons and daugh-
ters. The planti occupies eleven acres on
(irant Street, and is one of the largest tan-
neries in the world. A sale for the very
superior leather turned out is found all over
the world. Eighty-six men are employed the
year round.

The present town (_)fticers are John J. Jones,
William Loos, M. Silva, W. F. Hayward, P.
Concannon, trustees ; W. Walsh, marshal, A.
J. Cronin, clerk; R. A. Fatjo, treasurer. School
trustees— F. M. Harmon, C. E. Newton. Mrs.
Lenora D. Emig, David Wallace and F. M.
Alerrill. There are two newspapers, the Jour-
nal, published by B. & B. Downing, and the
Neil's, published by Lawrence Lockney.

The Santa Clara Valley Aero Club has er-
ected a spacious club house and rest room on
the edge of the field fronting the State High-
way on the outskirts of Santa Clara, and has
extended the landing area so as to make it
one of the very best in the state, -\mong the
remarkable advantages of the flying i)ark is
the absence of trees or shrubbery. The ground
is level, carpeted with clover, and makes an
ideal landing point.

There are Presbyterian, Methndist. Episco-
pal and Catholic Churches in Santa Clara, and
also the following societies, lodges, and clubs:
Church Societies — Ladies' Improvement So-
ciety, Presbyterian; Ladies' Aid, Methodist;
St. Margaret's Guild, Episcopal ; Santa Clara
Relief Society, Catholic. Lodges and Clubs —
Foresters of America ; I. O. of Red Men ; Na-

tive Sons of the Golden West; Degree of Po-
cahontas ; Woodmen of the World ; Union
Club : Sodality Club, W'oman's Club, Shake-
speare Club, Parent-Teachers' Club, King's
Daughters, Sew and So Circle, Monday After-
. noon Bridge Club, W. C. T. U.. C. H. & R.
Club, Girls' Club, St. Claire's Altar Society,
Baseball Club, Socieade d" Espirito Santa, Su-
preme Council, S. E. S.

University of Santa Clara

The leading educational institution of Santa
Clara is the University of Santa Clara, for-
merly called Santa Clara College. It is lo-
cated on the site of the old Mission of Santa
Clara. On January 12, 1777, two Franciscan
Padres, de la Pena and Murguia, jjlanted the
Alission cross on the banks of a little stream,
called from that time the Guadalupe, at a spot
now forming a part of the Laurel Wood farm,
near Agnew. Two years later, a flood de-
stroyed both church and monastery, and the
padres in consequence sought a site on higher
ground near the |)resent railwav station of
Santa Clara. There, on November 9, 1781,
they laid the foundation of a large adobe
church and mission l^uildings. Three years
later, on Alay 15, 1784, the new church was
dedicated, by the veneralde Padre Serra, then
padre presidente of all the Missions of Cali-
fornia.

This church, however, was so badly shat-
tered by several earthquakes in 1812 and 1818,
that the padres were forced to build anew.
This time they chose the site which the uni-
\ersity now <iccupies. There, on August 11,
1S22. 'a still larger church was dedicated,
whicii did ser\icc for many years till the vio-
lent carth(|uakes in the years 1865 and 1868
so cracked and weakened it that extensive re-
]jairs were necessary. By the year 1885 it had
been almost entirely removed, having been
gradually replaced by the present frame build-
ing, the interior of which is a nearly perfect re-
])roduction of its predecessors and retains
Some of the old ornaments and furniture and
the ceiling of the sanctuar}-.

The Mission of Santa Clara was secular-
ized in 1836 and passed from the hands of the
devoted Padres into those of politicians who
robbed Santa Clara of her lands and drove
many of her children into the forests. W'hen
Rt. Rev. Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O. P., ar-
rived as bishop of the diocese in 1850, he
found only one Franciscan in charge of the
Mission, which had been restored by the
American Government, though in a sadly re-
duced form, most of the land being occupied
by squatters. Desiring to save the remnants
of the Mission and also to begin a college to
meet the growing need of the times, the

280

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA Cf^UNTY

Bishop invited the Society of Jesus to Santa
Clara. The invitation was accepted and ac-
cordingly, on March 19, 1851, the Rev. John
Nobili, S. J., laid the foundation of the Uni-
versity of Santa Clara and began the work.
Fr. Nobili adapted the old adobe buildings t(p-
the requirements of a school and in a few
jears many students were in attendance. On
.\pril 28, 1855, the institution was chartered a
university and for manj^ years was known as
Santa Clara College. In 1904, during the
presidency of Father Robert E. Kenna, S. J..
a large tract of land was bought at Mountain
View, with the intention of transferring the
college thither, but owing to lack of financial
support, nothing was done.

After careful consideration, it was decided
in 1910, that this plan would have to be al)an-
doned. and that it was much wiser to improve
the college in its present location and thus
make the most of the equipment it then had,
.Accordingly, in 1911, two new reinforced con-
crete buildings, in the mission style of archi-
tecture, were l^egun.

In 1907 lectures were commenced with a
view of preparing students to enter upon the
professional courses in law. medicine and en-
gineering. By 1911, the pre-medical course
was thoroughly established and the law school
was begun. Realizing, therefore, that the
college was practically doing the work of a
university, the president, Fr. James P. Mor-
rissey, S. J., and the board of tru^t.-i-s. di-cided
to adopt officially the name cf 'Tlu- rni\er-
sity of Santa Clara." and this decisinn was
publicly announced on April 29, 1912. Later,
on June 16, 1912, with appropriate ceremonies
in the presence of Most Rev. Patrick W.
Riordan, D. D., Archbishop of San Fran-
cisco, of many present and former stu-
dents, and of 30,000 spectators, with a pageant
illustrative of the history of California and
Santa Clara, the two new buildings were ded-
icated.

In the summer of 1912, engineers of high
standing were engaged to carry on the courses
in engineering, and in the next summer a
thoroughly equipped laboratory for engineer-
ing was prepared. In the same year the
amount of work required of law students was
increased and almost all classes in law were
thenceforth held at night.

The university now possesses the follow-
ing constituent colleges: The College of
Philosophy and Letters; The College of Gen-
eral Science ; The Institute of Law ; The Col-
lege of Engineering, embracing .Architectural.
Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering:
The School of Pedagogy; and The Pre-Med-
ical Course.

The following buildings are on the grounds :
The Mission Church — Built on the site of
the old Mission Church of 1822. this building
preserves many of the relics and decorations
of the Franciscan da\s, thmivh most of the
walls have been reninxcd. The Memorial
Chapel — .As a memorial of deceased students
this handsome chapel was erected in 1887, dur-
ing the presidency of Rev. Father Robert E.
Kenna. S. J., through the generosity of many
alumni and friends of Santa Clara College.
Senior Hall— This hall, built in 1912 of rein-
forced concrete, furnishes on the second and
third floors, private rooms for the older stu-
dents. On the first floor are seven large class-
rooms for college classes, the Law Library
and Study Hall, and the College of Engineer-
ing. In the basement are a large social hall,
senior reading room, the practice court of the
Institute of Law and the Palaeontological
Museum. The Theater^All dramatic produc-
ticms at Santa Clara since 1870. including the
Passion I May and the Mission Play of Santa
Clara. ha\c been presented in this theater. Its
stage is one of the largest for amateur produc-
tions in the West. The lower floor is fitted
up as a dormitory for older students. The
Literary Congress Building — For a time the
meeting place of the House of Philhistorians
and the Philalethic Senate was in this build-
ing. Now it houses the Philalethic Senate
and the Department of Chemistr\-. and is used
to some extent as a substitute for a (.lymna-
sium. The Scientific Building — The first and
second division study halls, the typewriting
room, the ])hysical cabinet and laboratory, the
niiiH'ralot;ical nni^eum, the biological labora-
tor\ and kctnre-rooins, and the laI>oratory for
wireless telegraiiliy are in this building. 'The
Coninicrcial iSuilding — This building contains
the high school classrooms and study hall, the
commercial school, the physical lalioratory for
the high school, and the drafting room of the
College of Engineering. The Infirmary Build-
ing— This structure, with its several wings,
comprises the kitchen, the refectories, the in-
firmary with private rooms and ward, dormi-
tories for younger students, clothes-room, the
students' cooperative store, rooins for the in-
dividual practice of music, and the band-room.
The Observatory — The equatorial telescope,
seismographs, meteorological instruments and
the study of the father in charge are housed
in four small buildings. The Faculty Build-
ing— This structure of reinforced concrete,
built in 1912, to replace the old Fathers' Build-
ing which was destroyed by fire in 1910, con-
tains the ofiices of the chief executive officers
of the university, parlors, the residence of the
Fathers and Scholastics who are attached to
the university or Parish of Santa Clara, and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

281

the Library ui the university. The Eniincer-
ing Laboratory — Forges, machinery for wood-
working and pattern-making, etc.. nsed in the
courses of the College of Engineerin.ij; find
place in this Iniilding.

Besides the l^uildings there are the athletic
field of fifteen acres, two large baseball dia-
monds and an inner campus for track, tennis
courts, baseball courts, etc. There are two
semesters: one Iiegins in August, other in Jan-
uary, after the holiday recess.

The board of trustee's for 1919-20 were : Tim-
othy Leo Murphy. S. J., president: b)Seph
William Riordan, S. J., secretary and treas-
urer; Alovsius Vincent Raggio, S. [. : Jerome
Sextus R'icard, S. J.; Richard Henry Bell.
S. ].; Cornelius Aloysius Buckley, S. J.:
Charles M. Lorigan. Executive board — The
president, Joseph William Riordan, S. ].,
Charles M. "Lorigan. In 1921 Rev. Z. Maher
succeeded Rev. Timothy Leo Murphy as pre-
sident.

After the convention of the Jesuit order at
Seattle in July. 1920. Father Murphy, presi-
dent of the university, announced that a new
building, to be used for instruction and dor-
mitory purposes, would be erected on the uni-
versity grounds as soon as plans could he
completed. The building will follow closely
the plan and style of Senior Hall, having three
stories and a basement. It will be of concrete
and will cost aljout $200,000. It will make it
possible to accommodate 500 more students
than formerly could be housed at the univer-
sity and will no longer make it necessary for
Father Murphy to refuse applications for en-
rollment. Enough applications are on file to
have every room in the new addition filled
immediately upon completion. In the spring
of 1922 a drive for the purpose of raising
$500,000 to enlarge and improve the univer-
sity started with every promise of success.

The Last of the Mission Indians
A romantic figure whose life span reached
a century and a quarter, was Marcello, the last
of the Mission Indians. Charles D. South,
Litt. D., present postmaster of Santa Clara,
has written most entertainingly of this grand
old fellow, whose history is a part of the his-
tory of the university. Mr. South's article
appeared first in the March, 1920, number of
The Columbiad, the organ of the Knights of
Columbus. It is herewith given as a part of
the history of Santa Clara.

"Of the twent3--one Catholic Indian Mis-
sions of California, the seventh in chronolog-
ical order of establishment was that of Santa
Clara de Asis, on the Arro3'o Guadalupe, near
the southern extremity of San Francisco Bay:
and of the thousands of red men who were

fed, clothed and educated there l:)y the self-
sacrificing sons of St. Francis, and who la-
bored to upbuild and maintain this heroic
Christian settlement in the territory of the
Olhorle, or Costano, tribes, the name of Mar-
cello alone has survived, and his personality
stands dimly outlined in solitary hugeness
against the hazy background of California's
pastoral age. Most famous of all the Mission
Indians, Marcello, last of his race, joined the
innumerable caravan onl}- after his life had
spanned, it is claimed, a full century and a
quarter — a century and a quarter which more
than 'tinges the sober twilight of the ])resent
with color of romance.'

"To the tribes which occupied the heart of
the valley of Santa Clara at the ail\i_nt of the
Franciscans, according to local trailition, Mar-
cello came a stranger, speaking a strange dia-
lect. His heroic size and prince!} bearing
seem to have lent credence to his l)nast that
through his veins coursed the blood of kings.
His ancestors are supposed to have been royal
Yumans of the valley of the Colorado River,
and this reputed scion of a great aboriginal
family was in>tincti\ rly hailed as a chief by
the tawn}' sun-\\(irsliii)j>ers whose wigwams
cast their shadow in the fretful Guadalupe. He
was hailed instinctively as chief, perhaps, be-
cause his ver\- figure was commanding, since
he is said to have loomed above the squat In-
dians of Santa Clara as the Secjuoia looms
above the dwarf pines of the Sierra.

"An inscription in the San Jose Public Li-
brary informs the reader that Marcello's meas-
ure of life was 125 years: that he opened his
eyes on the world in 1750, and was gathered
to his fathers in 1875. The longevity of his
existence may be the better appreciated by
reference to characters and incidents of the
history which civilization was inditing the
while Marcello rose to manhood and stalked,
an imposing figure, through the romantic
Mission age, through the revolutionary Mexi-
can period, through the epochal era of mad-
dening gold strikes, and on down through the
still greater era of American progress — an era
in which not the mineral gold but the richer
vegetable gold becomes the staljle basis of
prosperity.

"This Indian celebrity, who is said to have
assisted Padre Thomas de la Pena to raise the
storied Mission Cross near the laurelwood on
the banks of the Guadalupe January 12, 1777.
and who is quoted as having averred that he
had seen Lieutenant Jose de Moraga raise the
royal emblem of Spain at the founding of the
Pueblo de San Jose, was supposedly toying
with wampum and feathers in the wigwam of
his father when young George Washington,
leading a band of colimials, accompanied the

282

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

British C.eneral BradcU)ck and his veterans on
the disastrous march against Fort Duquesne.
Assuming that 1750 was the date of Marcello"s
nativity, he was five years of age when Wolfe's
intrepid redcoats stormed the Heights of Ab-
raham and when Montcalm heroically wel-
comed the death that shut from his vision the
surrender of Quebec. He was fifteen when the
British Parliament passed the Stamp Act
which precipitated the American Revolution ;
and when the Liberty Bell rang out the glad
tidings of the Declaration of Independence in
1776 he was enlisting in the service of Padre
Junipero Serra for a peaceful invasion of the
valleys of Alta California. The chief, as Mar-
cello was called, had passed his thirty-ninth
year when Washington was elected I 'resident
of the United States, and had he survived une
year longer he might have participated in the
first centennial of American liberty.

"Following out the natal-day hypothesis.
Chief Marcello was nineteen years old when
Napoleon Bonaparte was born, and when the
French Revolution burst into throne-consum-
ing flame this Indian was marching into a
wilderness of the unknown west with the
cowled Grey Friars of St. Francis. He was
fifty-four when Napoleon, at the age of thirty-
five, was crowned Emperor of the French :
fifty-six when Bonaparte reached the zenitli
of his career at Austerlitz, and sixty-five when
the star of the Corsican genius went down in
blood at ^^'aterloo ; and, moreover, it may not
prove uninteresting to note that this towering
aboriginal was still conspicuous in the ranks
of the living, having reached his hundred and
twentieth year, when the third Napoleon,
after o\ erlhrnw ing the French Republic, was
himself overthrown at Sedan.

"Marcello (who had beheld California in its
tribal stage and then successively under Spain.
Mexico and the United States) ultimately
surrendered to the inevitable ; and. finally, lie-
fore this super-Indian looked his last upon the
sun there was already reigning on the Aus-
trian throne that ill-starred monarch of the
House of Hapsburg, the late Emperor Francis
Joseph, whose edict in 1914 set Europe ablaze
and plunged the world into a war so colossal
as to render small in comparison the sum total
of destruction in all the wars of Alexander,
Caesar and Napoleon.

"According to trustworthy authority. Chief
Marcello was a veritable walking encyclope-
dia of Mission history ; yet nobody in his time
saw fit to make a transcript of his story and
that possible source of infinitude of details of
the early annals of Santa Clara is now shut
off forever. Nobody living knows exactly
where the first Santa Clara Mission stood.

Marcello knew the location; but, odd as it may
seem, little interest appears to have been
taken in the subject until after Marcello's
demise. When the book was eternally closed,
the people became eager to read.

"This copper-skinned giant, in his prime,
stood six feet two inches in his bare feet,
weighed 250 pounds, was rawboned and pos-
sessed of prodigious strength. There is no
evidence other than unauthenticated stories
handed down by the old Spanish families that
he had assisted in the erection of the wooden
frames of the original ^Mission on the banks
of the Guadalupe, and it is not certain that he
witnessed the destruction of the settlement by
flood in 1779; but there is plenty of corrobora-
tion for his story that he aided Padre Jose An-
tonio Murguia to build the adobe Mission on
the second site, now marked by a simple white
cross which stands some two hundred paces
west of the Southern Pacific Railroad depot
at Santa Clara.

"Anterior to the coming of the Friars — long
liefore Marcello had set eyes on this fair
scene — the Spanish Sergeant Ortega, at the
behest of the renowned Captain Caspar de
Portola. in 1769, had led a band of scouts
along the southern borders of San Francisco
Bay and had described the future Santa Clara
Nalley as 'The Plain of Oaks.' Subsequently,
for a number of years, the region was desig-
nated as the "Meadow of San Bernardino.' and
the l:)eautiful name, Santa Clara was the happy
selection of the illustrious Junipero Serra.

"While the honor of founding this Mission
is shared conjointly by Padre Pena and Lieu-
tenant Moraga, the famous Colonel d'Anza,
who had led from Mexico two hundred colo-
nists to form the village of San Francisco and
the civilian nucleus of the Mission of Santa
Clara, was regrettably deprived of the histor-
ical prominence due him through a military
exigency which compelled his sudden return
to San Diego. Thus was his lieutenant left to
celebrate the crowning of labors which owed
their successful fruition to the masterful pre-
liniinar\ achie\ ements of his brilliant superior
..nicer.'

"In 1S27, the population of Santa Clara
included 1,500 Indians, and. the common prop-
erty was 15,000 cattle, as many sheep, and
2,800 horses. The lands reserved for the na-
tive converts who accepted a settled life ex-
tended from the Guadalupe to the summit of
the mountain range on the west, a domain of
80,000 acres, exempt from taxation during
Spanish rule. Under Mexican authority, the
Missions were secularized and plundered, and
there soon remained only a vestige of their
once prosperous communities.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

283

"Marcello had acted as foreman of native
laborers who constructed the Alameda under
the direction of Padre Jose Viader, the assist-
ant of the venerable Padre AIa,2^in Catala. at
the dawn of the nineteenth century. When
his 3-ears had told a hundred, the ag-ed chief
found pleasure in traversing the foliage-
canopied league which separates San Jose from
Santa Clara, and delighted in entertaining fel-
low pedestrians with tales of the days when
the great willow trees, which in summer af-
forded impenetrable shade along the winding
road, had in their infancy been tenderly nursed
by him and his companions after the slips had
been borne to the Camino Real in bundles on
the backs of tawny laborers. He described
how the trees had been planted in three rows
extending all the way from the second Mission
site to tlie second site of the Pueblo San Jose,
and pointed out with his staff the courses of
the long zanjas or ditches which carried water
from the Guadalupe to the nursling willows.

"The destruction of the second Mission by
an earthquake in 1818 led to the selection of
the third site, on which recently the imposing
structures of the l'ni\ersity of Santa Clara
have been reared. Of the third Mission build-
ings, the old church alone remains, and of this
church Marcello — still vigorous at the age of
seventy, straight as a poplar, was the over-
seer of construction. The Mission church has
undergone many changes and alterations, but
it still retains the original altar, the unique
Indian jiaintings and the impressive wooden
crucifix celebrated in Charles Warren Stod-
dard's miracle story of the sainted Magin
Catala — El Padrecito Santo : and from its ma-
jestic towers, the historic bells, presented to
Santa Clara by King Carlos V — bells, with
music voices that have never faltered — still
summon the faithful to devotion, still charm
the air morning, noon and evening with their
silvery jjrelude to the aspirations of the An-
gelus.

"Marcello loved these bells, and doubtless
the_v recalled to his memory many a face and
many a voice and many a scene of a vanished
aged. At their ropes his stout arms had toiled
full many a time. They knelled his passage
from the house of clay : and, if spirits of the
dead are conscious of the things done in the
abode of the quick, the soul of the chief must
find joy in the prayers that rise to heaven at
the nightly bell-cafl to DeProfundis.

"With the sequestration of the Missions, the
large majority of the Indians dispersed to the
surrounding hills and again became wedded to
the savage life. Marcello was more fortunate
for a period, but he, too, fell from his high
estate. He was ninety-six years old when, in
1846, Governor Pio Pico granted him a veri-
table principality known as the Ulistac rancho,

situated between Santa Clara and the San
Francisco Bay. It was a landed estate worthy
of a chief, and Marcello became exceedingly
vain of his reputed royal descent. The shadow
of war fell on the country and, when the
shadow passed, a new flag — the Stars and
Stripes — floated over California. Then Mar-
cello. in his ignorance of law and in his blind
eagerness to obtain the wherewithal to satisfy
his cravings fur worldly pleasures introduced
by reckless newci inicrs. for a few paltry pieces
of sordid gold, signed away to a land-grabber
all his vast domain. ■ It was then divided into
small farms, and years afterward, Marcello
was accustomed to plod from house to house
in the sovereignty he had lost, to request and
to receive food and raiment from his suc-
cessors, whimsically regarding such favors not
as a charity but as a right.

"At the age of a hundred the chief was
forced to content himself with a humble cabin
donated by a generous fanner in a remote sec-
tion of Pio Pico's grant. In gratitude for
Marcello's early services to the Padres, and
eager to make comfortable the old chief's de-
clining days, the Jesuit Fathers of Santa Clara,
apprised of his hardship, invited him to abide
permanently under their roof. The big chief,
liowever, had discovered an aversion for any
suggestion of celibacy. He had heard the call
of the world, as it were, and his aboriginal na-
ture was again dominant.

"Far back in Mission days, seeds of Chris-
tian virtue had been planted in the soul of
Marcello. In the half-century since the de-
struction of the Mission, that seed had been
sealed up in the dark breast of the Indian,
dry and unnurtured, like the seed in the old
church wall. For half a century the chief had
pursued the way of the world in flagrant dis-
regard of Mission precept and example. At
length, in extreme old age, the spiritual seed,
dormant for fifty years in this son of the wil-
derness, responded to the nurturing tears of
rejientance and flowered under the smile of
Divine mercy, and Marcello passed away with
the cciuifnrting hope that, in a better sphere,
he would rejoin the holy Padres in immortal
life. Ninety-eight years in the Santa Clara
Valley must have confused Marcello's memory
with their procession of changing scenes and
characters: First, the savage gives way be-
fore the conquering Caucasian : next, the Mis-
sion rises where the wigwam >t 1: then, the

forests fade, and spire and (bmu' ap]M;ir. as in
a dream, and, by what Ruskm trrni- the "art of
kings and king of arts,' ci\!lizatinn conjures
fabulous riches from earth's hiilden cells.

'Where stalked the bronze-skinned brave

In savage pride of power.

The paleface treads the Indian's grave.'

284

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

"Alarcello came, in 1777, a stranger to a
strange land, and again, at the last, in 1875,
still more of a stranger in a land stranger than
of old, he crosses life's divide, hopeful of rest
after a strenuous day. The red man disap-
pears from view. The paleface garners the
earth and, with his monuments of trade,
usurps the upper spaces of the air ; and where,
for nearly a century, this Indian colossus flour-

ished, like a mighty oak, pitting its knotty
l)ulk against the ravages of time and the ele-
ments— where, for ages, his striking figure was
as familiar as the gray adobes and the Spanish
tiles — the people of today, save for a few lit-
erary pilgrims gro]iing among the dustheaps
of California history, know not that there ever
existed such a hcing as .Alarcello. super-Indian
of the Santa Clara Mission."

CHAPTER XXXII.

Palo Alto and Leland Stanford Jr. University — The Rapid Growth of One of
the Progressive Towns of Santa Clara County — The Location and Uses
of a Great Educational Institution.

Palo Alto, nineteen miles northwest of San
Jose, is a city of homes. It has that air of
solid, substantial, quiet comfort which is the
ideal atmosphere of the home-loving. At the
same time it i-- fnli\'eneil hv the presence of a
great uni\ersity. Its beautiful lawns and trees,
its gardens nf nnwers, fruits and vegetables,
its clean, shady strerts, are elements that con-
tribute generously to the delight and satisfac-
tion of the citizens. Within driving distance
of Palo Alto are many points of particular in-
terest, which are reached by roads through
valley or over mountains and foothills. To
these advantages are added others : an even
and comfortable climate, enabling one to live
out of doors i)ractically the year through;
educational o|)portunities that are not ex-
celled anywhere : nearness to San Francisco
(only one '.-.our's ride ) ; a variety of religious.
civic and social relationships.

Palo Alto is located on the Peninsula, twen-
ty-eight iniles from San Francisco, ^n the
northern part of the famed Santa Clara Valley.
The southern arm of the Bay of San Fran-
cisco is two miles to the east, and on the
west, twenty miles distant, is the Pacific
Ocean, with the Santa Cruz Mountains rising
in forested beauty between and protecting the
valley from ocean fogs.

The average summer temperature is seventy
degrees ; that of the winter is fifty-five de-
grees. The nearness to the ocean prevents
extremes of cold in the winter and of heat in
the summer. The skies are habitually sunny
and bright all months of the year ; there are
not many days when the sun is hidden longer
than a few hours at a time. The average rain-
fall is 19.5 inches. The city of Palo Alto
owes its existence to Stanford University.
With the opening of University Avenue from
the quadrangle to the Southern Pacific Rail-
way, it was recognized that here was the lo-
cation for the college city. The first house

was built in 1891. the year the university
opened for instruction.

From the beginning Palo .\lto has grown
steadily. Its municipal policies have always
laeen ])rogressive and its aflfairs have been con-
servatively administered in a most thorough-
going, businesslike fashion, .^s a result a
beautiful city has 1)een built, and all that is
good in a modern municipality is here. The
businesslike methods of administration are
shown by the low tax rate and the low cost
of public-service products.

Palo Alto was incorporated in 1894 and soon
installed a municipal water system, a muni-
cipal power plant, and a complete sanitary
sewer system. These enterprises have been
conducted with marked success and for some
years gave a large net income. Then the
policy was adopted of furnishing water, light
and power at cost, which has resulted in the
lowest rates charged by any city in the bay
region. The bonds issued for these enterprises
are cared for from the gross income and re-
quire no tax upon property. The actual
bonded indebtedness of the city (aside from
the self-sustaining bonds) is only one per cent
of the assessed valuation, and the tax rate is
exceptionally low. The city has acquired a
municipal garbage destructor and now owns
a municipal gas system.

The city government is based upon a spe-
cial charter granted by the state legislature.
The power is centralized in the hands of a
council of fifteen members holding ofifice for
six years, five retiring every two years. They
are the only elective ofiicers, thus insuring a
short ballot. This council appoints a board
of works, a board of safety, and a library
board, also such administrative officers as city
clerk, auditor, treasurer, police judge, attor-
ney, and tax collector. The board of public
works selects a city engineer, who, because of
the wide extent of his jurisdiction, is virtually
a city business manager. The board of public

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

285

safety appoints the chief of poHce and the
health officer. In the charter are provisions
for the initiative, referendum and recall.

The fire department is provided with an
auto fire and chemical engine of the latest de-
sign. Besides the principal fire houses at the
cit^- hall, there are four outlying stations, each
furnished \vith fire-fighting apparatus and
manned by volunteer companies. The Game-
well fire alarm system covers the entire mu-
nici])al territory. The insurance companies
recognize tlie efficiency of this department by
establishing' law rates.

A modern hc.iliii department i'^ conducted
by a full-tin. e heallh officer holding a univer-
sity degr.-e in public health. The department
has a v,-cll Cv;| nipped laboratory for diagnosis,
and analysis of milk, water and foods. Dairy
cows are tuberculin-tested, and the milk sup-
ply is exceptionally clean and wholesome.
The death rate has steadily declined, in 1918
reaching the very low rate of 6.3 per 1,000 of
population.

A large part, about seventy per cent, of the
streets of the city are well paved, and side-
walks are provided on all the streets. All
sewer and water pipes are laid in advance of
street work, so that streets are not torn up
after paving is done. A model system of
street lighting serves the entire city. The
spaces along the sidewalks are parked, and
along the front of the city the railway is bor-
dered for a mile with a mass of blossoms.
Nooks that form natural parks exist along
San Francisquito Creek, which half encircles
the city, and a beautiful strip of twenty-five
acres between Palo Alto and Stanford campus
is leased by the city.

At least two important manufacturing con-
cerns have already recognized the town's sig-
nal advantages, and at present the Boden Au-
tomatic Hammer Company is operating a suc-
cessful plant in the Stanford Irrigating Tract,
one of the suburbs of Palo Alto : and the Fed-
eral Wireless Telegraph Company has erected
a large building on the strip of land between
Palo Alto and the State Highway to house
the growing business of its manufacturing en-
terprise, which has been in operation for sev-
eral years. The famous Palo Alto Stock Farm
has been reopened on Stanford land adjoining
the university, for the rearing of thoroughbred
cattle instead of horses.

Soon after the United States declared war
against Germany, Palo Alto' was selected as
one of the training camps for the national
army. After the war the camp was abandoned
and in 1920 the land was cut up into lots and
offered for sale. From Palo Alto southward
extends that wonderful fruit belt of California
known as the Santa Clara Valley. In this
territory are raised one-half of all the prunes

produced in the United States ; no other county
in the United States raises, so many cherries
or so many apricots. Besides these leaders
are produced grapes, peaches, pears, apples,
plums, olives and I^erries on a commercial
basis. From this splendid source the resident
of Palo Alto has, at producers' prices, the best
that California grows. All along the penin-
sula from San Francisco southward, are great
vegetable gardens that are worked surnmer
and winter. Thus vegetables are plentiful and
fresh, and their cost is low.

Palo Alto is on the Coast line of the South-
ern Pacific railway, fifty to sixty minutes from
San Francisco, and has over twenty trains
each way daily. There are at the present time
about two hundred commuters, who do busi-
ness in San Francisco and with their families
make their hdincs in Palo Alto. The town is
als.i tile u-riiiinus of the Peninsular interurban
electric line, with its main line to San Jose
and branch lines U> Stanford University, Sara-
toga and Los Gatos. Ijy way of Los Altos.

Inside the present city limits there are 7,000
people : the immediately contiguous suburban
centers of Stanford campus. North Palo Alto.
Ravenswood and Stanford Acres have not less
than 3,000 more ; the country tributary to
Palo Alto, north, south and west, will num-
ber at least 5,000. Here, then, is the center of
a population of 15,000 people. The population
may be divided into two general classes — those
who are permanently or temporarily located at
Paid Altd. t(i enjoy its educational and cli-
matu' aiKaiitages, and those \\dio are perma-
ne.itly en^ageil in business or agricultural en-
terprises. In this latter class are a great many
wlicse business or professional interests are in
San Francisco, but whose homes are in Palo
.Alto.

The Stale Highway has Ijrought about au-
tomobile transportation both for freight and
])assengers, operating between Palo Alto and
San lose and San Francisco a regular hourly
schedule.

The land between Palo Alto and the Bay of
San h'raiicipco has great advantages for the
raising of strawberries, celery and garden
seeds. Strawberries ripen from April to De-
cember and the yield is from $600 to $1,000
per acre. Celery is shipped in carloads. Palo
A ltd celery and Palo Alto strawberries have a
special raiing for quality in the San Francisco
market rejujrts There are immense possibili-
ties for developing market gardens in the
\icinity of Palo Alto, as it is one of the rare
.'-pots in the world where the best grades of
\ cgetalile and flower seeds can be grown. The
jpVddiictinii of onion seed is one of the most
profitable industries ; sweet peas, radishes, cel-
ery and other seeds are grown near the city.
Farming and dairying are successfully car-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ried on. Much fertile land is already in orch-
ards, averaging about ten acres to a family.
Poultry raising is often combined with the
fruit industry.

The public school system of Palo Alto is
one of the chief interests of the people, with
the result that the schools are among the
best in the state. The city has forty-nine in
its teaching force, twenty-two of whom are
employed in the high school. Five teachers
serve as supervisors in drawing, music, man-
ual training, domestic science and penman-
ship. There is a magnificent series of new
buildings, costing $250,000, for the Palo Alto
Union High School District, which includes
Stanford and Mayfield. The high school, lo-
cated as it is, adjacent to Stanford, empha-
sizes preparation for the university. In addi-
tion to this, however, provision is made for
vocational subjects, such as commercial
studies and the manual and household arts.
Four years of instruction are afforded in the
fine arts, giving four complete university
credits. The courses in languages, history,
English, mathematics and science are thor-
ough and complete.

The high school is fully accredited by all
the universities and normal ■,i,l:o-!s on the
coast, and also by such Middle West and East-
ern institutions as tlie l'ni\er-ity of Alichigan
and Smith College. The acti\ilies fostered by
the high school consist of athletics, dramatics,
debating, and the school i)aper — The Madrono.

Palo Alto has a Carnegie library containing
over 10,000 volumes, selected by discerning
and well-trained librarians. Any person can
borrow these books upon practically the same
basis as those who live within the city limits.

The saloon and the blind pig have never
existed, so that the police department does
not occupy a prominent position in the city's
administration. In addition to provisions in
Palo Alto's city charter, every deed to land
contains a clause prohibiting the manufacture
and sale of alcoholic beverages. All leading
Christian denominations are represented : Bap-
tist organized 1893, Presbyterian organized
1893, Methodist Episcopal organized 1894. All
Saintc (Episcopal) organized 1894, Christian
organized 1896, St. Thomas Aquinas (Roman
Catholic) organized 1900, First Congregation-
al organized 1900, First Church of Christ,
Scientist, organized 1900, Unitarian organized
1905. There is an active inter-church federa-
tion of the six evangelical churches.

Palo Alto has many clubs and organizations.
Among them might be mentioned The Wom-
an's Club of Palo Alto, the oldest of them
all, organized in 1894. Another strong organ-
ization, whose membership consists of wom-
en, is the Civic League. It has been very ac-

tive in all plans and projects that have had
for their object the preparation of women for
their new duties as voters and electors. The
Peninsula Club is an organization for busi-
ness and professional men ; it owns its own
club house and athletic courts. The Faculty
Club is a similar institution on the Stanford
campus.

Palo Alto maintains a live Chamber of Com-
merce made up chiefly of business men. There
is also a Merchants' Credit Association. Of
the fraternal (_)rders the following list will
speak for itself: Knights Templar, Royal Arch
Masons, Free and Accepted Alasons, (Jrder of
Eastern Star, Knights of Pythias, Indepen-
dent Order of Odd Fellows, Degree of Re-
bekah. Foresters of America, Improved Or-
der of Red Men, Degree of Pocahontas, Inde-
pendent Order of Good Templars, Indepen-
dent Order of Foresters, Modern Woodmen
of America, Fraternal Aid Union. \\'oodmen
of the World, Native Sons of the Golden West.
Grand Army of the Republic, Relief Corps,
Fraternal Brotherhood, P. E. O.. Daughters of
the American Revolution, Ladies of the Mac-
cal)es. Most of these fraternal orders are
housed in the ]\Iasonic Temple, a massive
structure of artistic design, representing an
outlay of $50,000.

Palo Alto is the center of a group of colleges
and schools other than the Stanford Univer-
sity. The chief of this group is St. Patrick's
Seminary, an institution of collegiate rank,
whose (ilijeet is to prepare for the Catholic
ministry. This institution represents an out-
lay of $1,000,000 or more. It is situated on a
100-acre site almost continguous to Palo Alto's
northern boundary, the tree-lined San Fran-
cisquito Creek. Its noble old oaks, great
palms, rose gardens, green lawns and winding
ways, furnish a never-ending source of in-
spiration to its students. This seminary is
the leading Catholic institution of its kind on
the Pacific Coast. There are five buildings of
the Renaissance style of architecture.

A short distance from Palo Alto to the
northwest, is the Sacred Heart Academy, a
Catholic preparatory school for young ladies.
This is one of the best known in California.
There are more than twenty teaching sisters
on its faculty list. Like the other educational
institution of the region, it has a most pleasing
site among the great green oaks.

Palo Alto has three large private schools,
each representing investments from $40,000 to
$100,000. Two are girls' schools and one is
for boys. All the girls' schools are accredited by
universities and colleges. All these schools are
provided with fine playground facilities.

Long ago Palo Alto outgrew its original
city boundary lines, so that now there is a

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA C(3UNTY

287

North Palo Alto, South Palo Alto, a Stanford
Acres, a Stanford Park, and from the eastern
line to San Francisco Bay lies the territory of
Runnymede. These suburbs are each grow-
ing surely and steadily under the foster care
of the mother town.

South Palo Alto is a beautiful home spot.
The echo of the woodman's axe has never re-
sounded among the live-oaks of this green
domain. Here they are in groups, or stand-
ing alone with gnarled and weathered trunk
and huge, wide protecting branches. In com-
mon with all of the territory in and around
Palo Alto the character of the soil is such that
gardening or fruit-raising is a delight. One
can get results that make worth while the time
and effort spent. There are at present over
eighty residences in this tract. A region of
small farms adjoins South Palo Alto. Water
distril^uted under pressure for irrigation and
domestic use. is piped to each tract. The
roads and streets are macadamized, shade
trees are set out on either side of the roads
and there is electricity for lighting purposes.
The soil is rich and capable of great produc-
tion, drainage is good and there are building
restrictions requiring substantial residences to
he iniilt. There are several fine homes built
and being built on these tracts. Acreage here
ranges from $500 to $1,000 an acre.

One of the most interesting economic ex-
periments in intensive agriculture in the coun-
try is now being carried nut successfully on
the northern boundnrx- uf I'alo Alto. This is
the Charles Weeks poultry ccilcins- called Run-
n}-niede. A large tract nf fertile, alluvial I.iay
shore land has l)een suh<li\ ided intn acre tracts
and on these colonists ha\ e settled chiefly for
the raising of poultry under a system worked
out as the result of fourteen years' e.xperience
by Mr. Weeks. With fertile land, artesian
water, fine climate, good markets and near-
ness to all the advantages of high civilization
these colonists are working out the problem
of making comfortable and enjoyable living
as "little landers." With an unlimited market
for food products the extension of this colony
idea is only limited by the amount of suitable
land available for the pur])ose.

North Palo Alto is a newer suburb than
South Palo .\lto. It lies northeast on a tract
that is gently sloping, sunny and attractive.
It has all the advantages that are necessary to

In .April, 1922. the contract was awarded for
the erection of a U. S. \'eterans Hospital for
$861,868. There will Ise eighteen buildings.
The cost of the equipment will be $292,400."

Leland Stanford Jr., University

The highly favorable climatic and soil con-
ditions found in a beautiful landscape of green
mountains, rolling foothills, oak-bedecked val-

ley and blue and green waters of a world-
famed bay, were leading considerations in the
minds of Senator Leland Stanford and Mrs
Jane Stanford, his wife, when in the '70s they
selected, from all of California's magnificent
domain, 8000 acres to serve as their home es-
tate. This great farm they named Palo Alto
(Spanish for "tall tree") from a huge red-
wood tree standing on one corner of the es-
tate. The 8.000 tree-dotted acres of this Stan-
ford farm include land partly level, the rest
rising into foothills of the Santa Cruz Range.
Immediately on its northeastern liorder is Palo
.\lto and just to the east of Palo .\lto lies San
Francisco Bay with its miles of undeveloped
water front, .'\cross the Bay towers the Mt.
Diablo Range and Mt. Hamilton, the latter
rising to a height of 4400 feet and crowned
by the Lick Observator}'. Here was opened
in 1891 the university founded in the memory
of Leland Stanft^rd. Jr. "The children of Cali-
fornia shall be my cliildren," said Senator
Stanford.

As preliminary to the definite planning of
buildings and grounds the Stanfords traveled
the world over to obtain ideas and inspirations.
As a result, there has been produced at Palo
Alto in California, a group of university build-
ings and a campus equal to the loveliest and
best the world can show. Mr. McMillan, of
McMillan's Magazine, London, uses this e.x-
pression : "Stanford University, the finest
grouj) of buildings in the world."

Located on a campus that is co-extensive
with the original 8,000-acre farm, the buildings
are compactly grouped in a quadrangle form.
From the .group wind macadam avenues,
streets and drives. Palo Alto, the arboretum,
and the farm lands, while paths ramble into
the ever-beckoning, rolling hills. In general
effect the immediate setting is semi-tropical ;
red-tiled roofs, buff-colored sandstone walls,
long arcades and colonnades, Romanesque pil-
lar— supported arches, waving palms, mam-
moth evergreen oaks, tall eucalyptus, bamboos,
palms, green-swarded courts, and lawns and
flowers ever)' where.

The central group of buildings, consisting
of two quadrangles, the one completely sur-
rounding the other, is an adaptation of mis-
sion architecture and reproduces on an impos-
ing scale the open arches, long colonnades and
red-tiled roofing of the old Spanish Missions
of California.

The inner quadrangle consists of twelve one-
story buildings and the Memorial Church, con-
nected by a continuous open arcade and sur-
rounding a court 586 feet long and 246 feet
wide, or 3^ acres.

The fourteen two-story buildings of the
outer quadrangle are of the same general style

288

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

as the inner quadrangle, with arcades on the
outside. The extreme length of the outer
quadrangle is 894 feet. The main entrance
through the outer quadrangle is through the
Memorial Court. Leading to Palo Alto, in
the opposite direction is University Avenue.
This broad, palm-lined thoroughfare passes
through one of the world's most famous ar-
boretums, comprising about 600 acres and con-
taining many thousand varieties of trees and
shrubs, among them many rare specimens.

The Leland Stanford Jr. Museum contains
the archaeological and art collections of the
university. The chemistry building, located
north of the quadrangle, consists of two sepa-
rate structures, the main building and the as-
saying laboratory. South of the quadrangles
are the workshops of the engineering depart-
ments, experimental laboratories and power
houses.

The boys' dormitory, Encina Hall, is locat-
ed east of the quadrangles and accommodates
300. The girls' dormitory, Roble Hall, is west
of the quadrangles and has accommodations
for 100. This is to be used in the future as
a boys' dormitory also, a larger dormitory for
women having been built near the lake. Be-
tween Encina Hall and the main quadrangle,
an art galler\' and the magnificent new li-
l^rary buildini^ have just been (•()ni|)leted.

The men's ,u;yninasiinn i^ a new structure of
brick, with an open-air swimming pool, just
opposite the football bleachers and athletic
fields. The athletic fields are as complete
and certainly as beautiful as those of any
college in the world. They include three foot-
ball fields, three baseball diamonds, a quarter-
mile cinder path, and a great number of ten-
nis courts. Lagunita affords opportunity for
boating and swimming.

Along the edge of the near foothills, just
beyond the outer quadrangle to the south-
east, are the homes of the college community.
It is a little city by itself, with attractive
streets and comfortable houses, encompassed
by luxuriant v.,ees, shrubs, flowers, and lawns.
Alvarado Row, facing Encina Hall, Salvatierra
Street, with its leafy protection of over-spread-
ing elms, and Lasuen Street, known as Fra-
ternity Row, are the principal streets. In ad-
dition to these main thoroughfares, there are
several short streets that lead up into the
foothills, where attractive homes have been
built on sightly knolls.

The Leland Stanford Jr. University is un-
like oher great universities of the world in
many other ways than its architectural and
campus features. With an endowment esti-
mated at about $30,000,000, not forced to de-
pend upon any political system nor upon tu-
ition fees of students for its supporting funds,

the trustees and faculty are peculiarly free to
establish and maintain high standards of schol-
arship and conduct among its students.

The university is thoroughly non-sectarian
in its religious influence. Yet the spiritual
and moral welfare of its students is made the
object of a regularl\ ..r^anized department.
The world-famed M iiiiMiial Church is the cen-
tral and most beautiful building of the group.
It is equipped with one of the best pipe organs
in America. The Hopkins Marine Station is
located at I'acific Crcive. A new site of nearly
five acres, jit Ahneja Point, was secured in
1916. A coiurete building specially planned
for the uses of the Marine Station was erected
in 1917.

The Stanford Union is a club house for men,
first projected by Herbert C. Hoover of the
class of 1895, and built by contributions from
students, alumni, faculty, trustees, and friends
of the university. The Union was opened in
February, 1915, and is in charge of a board
of trustees made up of two faculty mem-
bers, three alumni, and two undergraduates.
The Women's Club House provides a social
center for the women of the university, and
is similar in plan and construction to that
of the Union. The club house was opened in
February, 1915. The University Inn is a frame
building, operated as a cafeteria primarily for
students living on the campus.

The Thomas Welton Stanford Art Gallery,
the first building of the second quadrangle
group, was completed in 1917. This build-
ing, which sets the architectural style for the
new quadrangle, has the same arched arcades
as the original quadrangle, but the arched
entrances, of which there are three, are high-
er and nrore elaborate in detail.

The Library Building, the central unit in
the second quadrangle group, was completed
in 1919. The ground floor provides a read-
ing room for books set apart for collateral
reading, a department of public documents,
and administrative work rooms. On the main
floor are the delivery hall, the large reference
and reading rooms, a browsing room, a peri-
odical room, the card catalogue, and the ad-
ministrative rooms ; on the mezzanine and top
floors, a large study room, and smaller rooms
of varying sizes for seminary and special re-
search work.

The main buildings of the Medical Depart-
ment in San Francisco occupy four fifty-vara
lots bounded by Clay, Sacramento, and Web-
ster streets. The Clinical and Laboratory
Building, including Lane Hall and Lane Hos-
pital, is a modern building in brick and stone,
with a capacity of one hundred and eighty
beds. The Lane Medical Library is situated
on the corner of Sacramento and Webster

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

streets, opposite the Clinical and Laboratory
Building. The library is a fireproof struc-
ture of Colusa sandstone, three and a half
stories high, with steel stacks accommodat-
ings 60,000 volumes. The Stanford Univer-
sity Hospital, completed in 1917, is a con-
crete structure with a capacity of one hundred
and thirty beds.

The use of alcoholic liquors is absolutely
prohibited in all student lodging-houses
whether on the campus or elsewhere. The
health department enforces stringent regula-

tions as regards the sanitary arrangements
in all places where students live. Hospital
service for a nominal fee is available for
those who may need such service.

There were 2135 students and 310 members
of the faculty at Stanford, according to the
1920 registration. Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur is
the president and there are over 300 mem-
bers of the faculty and instructors.

In 1021 a stadium capable of seating 65,000
people was built.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Los Gatos, the Gem City of the Foothills and Its Lovely Environs — The
Gateway of the Valley — Gilroy, the Thriving Little City at the Southern
End of the County — Attractions and Advantages

Los Gatos, the "Gem City of the Foot-
hills," is in the most delightful part of the
most delightful California County — Santa
Clara. The position of the town is rich in
commanding views, is sheltered from winds
and fog and is surrounded by fertile lands. It
is a peerless city for homes, just the place for
those who want to withdraw from the heat
and glamour of city life, either permanently
or at the end of the week, to enjoy the witch-
ery of ent;-ancing surroundings.

Los Gatos has a rare asset in its comfort-
able and exhilarating climate, which is in ev-
ery way, conducive to health and longevity.
The thermometer rarely goes below the freez-
ing point, or above eighty-five degrees Fahren-
heit, although there have been a few days of
record-breaking heat. By record-breaking
heat some such figure as ninety-eight is meant,
but the dryness of the atmosphere and the
ever-present coolness of the shade and the
night prevent sunstroke or other discomforts
such as characterize Eastern summers. The
absence of extreme temperature and exces-
sive moisture, the prevalence of cool nights
and the absence of malaria, render the air
healthful and exhilarating the year round.
While mean temperatures are often misleading
it may be said that the mean of Los Gatos,
made up from a long series of equable days,
is fifty-eight the year through.

The rainy season usually begins in Octo-
ber and ends in May, but during this sea-
son the bright and cheerful days outnumber
those of cloudiness and rain. There is an
absence of lightning and violent winds. From
June to October there is seldom even a show-

er. There are usually more than 250 sunny
days in a year.

The Federal Weather Bureau reports the
following facts: The altitude of Los Gatos
is 600 feet. The average temperature dur-
ing twenty-four years was fifty-eight and one-
tenth. The lowest temperature during that
period was twenty-eight. The total number
of rainy days in 1910 was forty-five. The
average temperature for January was forty-five
and one-tenth ; July, sixty-six and six-tenths.
The coldest day of the year showed twenty-
nine degrees, and the last serious frost was
on February 2. The date shows that a long
growing season, free from frost, is the heritage
of the valley. The rainfall at Los Gatos from
1886 to 1915 averaged thirty inches a year,
being ample for all purposes of health and
agriculture. The average annual velocity of
the wind is only seven miles an hour.

Besides the superb advantage of being in
the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains,
Los Gatos is situated at the mouth of a beau-
tiful canyon, part of the town lying on one
side, part on the other, of Los Gatos Creek.
The knolls are favorite building places and
most of the lots lie at an elevation of from
400 to 800 feet above sea level, while some
of the elevations in the background run as
high as 2,000 feet, these being near the sum-
mits, past which modern highways have been
and are being constructed to afford motor
])arties some of the grandest views in Cali-
fornia. The foothills and the mountains form
a delightful ampitheater about the town, open-
ing out to the floor of the valle)^ on the north.
These foothills shelter the town from winds
and fogs, prevent the frosts of the lowlands

290

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and make the nights of summer a delight.
Los Gatos is ten miles from San Jose and
the distance to the ocean at Santa Cruz is
only twenty-five miles.

Los Gatos is peculiarly favored in the mat-
ter of good roads. A branch of the $18,000,-
000 State Highway, entering Santa Clara
County at the Alameda County line and pass-
ing through Milpitas and San Jose, proceeds
from the latter city to Los Gatos, thence up
the Los Gatos Canyon and across the coun-
ty line to Santa Cruz. This roadway offers
a highway between San Francisco and Oak-
land of almost 140 miles. The branch of the
State Highway is of the greatest importance
to Los Gatos. It is a fine road of easy grade,
well maintained by state funds. It gives
access to the Santa Cruz Mountains in gen-
eral, and carries the great bulk of the travel
to Santa Cruz. It is also the favorite route
for visitors to the Big Basin and California
Redwood Park.

Los Gatos is within easy reach of a num-
ber of points of interest to tourists and resi-
dents as well. San Jose, as has been stated,
is only ten miles away and is reached by the
Southern Pacific system of steam cars and also
bv the excellent electric service of the Pen-
insular Railway Company. Stanford LTniver-
sity is only sixteen miles away and is reached
over the electric system and by the South-
ern Pacific. The New Almaden Quicksilver
Mines are twelve miles distant, while the
Guadalupe Quicksilver Aline is half that far.
Congress Springs is reached by the electric
line and is six miles from Los Gatos.

The following points are also of interest :
Alma Soda Spring — four miles, drive : Big
Trees, Redwoods — nineteen miles, steam rail-
way or drive; Big Basin Park — about thirty
miles, steam railway and stage ; Lick Observa-
tory, ]Mount Hamilton — thirty-six miles, stage
from San Jose ; Alum Rock Park — eighteen
miles, electric railways : Santa Cruz, or Monte-
rey Bay — twenty-five miles by steam railway ;
seaside resorts all around the bay, including
Monterey and Pacific Grove. Los Gatos is
the starting point and finish of the famous
Twenty-seven Mile Drive, one of the grand-
est scenic mountain drives in the world.

Excellent lands, fit for a wide variety of
uses, are adjacent and within easy reach of
Los Gatos, for good roads make every part
of the territory accessible to the husband-
man. More than three hundred miles of the
county's roads are either sprinkled or oiled
every summer. Almost every kind of fruit will
grow in the fertile areas adjacent to the town,
the wide range including apples, pears, apri-
cots, cherries, peaches, olives, plums, prunes,
almonds, walnuts, limes, oranges, lemons.

pomelos and nectarines. The grape product is
large. Both table and wine grapes thrive ev-
erywhere in the vicinity. Bee-keeping, the
poultry business, and dairying are important
industries.

Fruit-raising is the prime industry of this
part of the state. To care for the crops there
are many large drying plants and the Hunt
Brothers' up-to-date cannery. This establish-
ment turns out almost 3,000,000 quarts of
canned fruit each year. When running un-
der normal conditions, in the summer, it em-
ploys from 350 to 400 persons. It turns out
about 4Q,000 cases of apricots and the same
number of peaches each year. There are also
a number of well-equipped drying-plants.
Those of Hume Company, H. D. Curtis, the
Los Gatos Cured Fruit Company, and Gem
City Packing Company, all heavy operators.

The famous Glen Una prune ranch is an ex-
ample of what can be done on a large scale.
This superb property is close to Los Gatos,
lying seven hundred feet above sea-level, far
above the frost belt. It consists of 700 acres,
about half of which is orchard, principally
prunes. J. D. Farwell, manager of the ranch,
says it has yielded as high as 1,100 tons of
prunes in one season. Since it was planted,
some years ago, it has produced prunes to
the value of $750,000.

Within the last decade miles of cement side-
walks have been put in, also an efficient sewer
system and an up-to-date gas and electric
plant. Educational interests are well repre-
sented in Los Gatos. There is a fine high school
and a well-equipped grammar school. Stu-
dents can pass from the senior year at the
high school to any of the universities close
at hand.

The Montezuma Home Ranch school in the
Santa Cruz Mountains near Los Gatos is
unique. It is a school for boys and the man-
agement takes special pains in ministering to
the physiological needs of the growing child.
It provides shops, gardens, outdoor advantages,
an agricultural course and one in engineering.
The Novitiate of the Sacred Heart is far-
famed for its beauty and equipment. It is a
training and boarding school where young
men are trained for the priesthood.

Religious denominations are well represent-
ed. The churches are numerous, well ap-
])ointed, and well attended. Visiting ministers
of note are often heard in the local pulpits.
Most of the secret and fraternal orders that
thrive throughout the United States have
lodges in Los Gatos. The women of the
town maintain a number of useful clubs, both
social and educative. The Los Gatos Histor}-
Club owns its building. Another interesting-
organization is the Foothill Club. The Trail

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

291

Club travels over the mountains. It already
boasts of six trails to Loma Prieta.

The financial interests of Los Gatos are
looked after and represented by the Bank of
Los Gatos, which has a commercial and a sav-
ings department, and by the First National
Bank of Los Gatos. One weekly newspaper —
The I\Itiil-News — ministers to the local news
field, and its owner takes pride in fostering
every interest and enterprise that makes for
the upbuilding of the community.

It was a wonderful tribute to Los Gatos
when the Odd Fellows of the state selected
a site on a sightly eminence for their great
Odd Fellows' Home. More than eighty eligible
sites were carefully examined before this se-
lection was made. Los Gatos won by reason
of general desirability from a scenic and cli-
matic point of view, also because of transpor-
tation facilities, proximity to markets, and
healthfulness.

The same reason has led a number of weal-
thy men and women from many parts of the
world to select Los Gatos for their home ; ei-
ther permanently or for certain seasons. The
names of many wealthy persons might be cit-
ed, persons able to go anywhere their fan-
cies might direct, but they wisely chose Los
Gatos.

In 1918 a pageant given out of doors was
the means of attracting thousands of people
the the Gem City. In 1920 there was an-
other pageant produced on a larger scale than
the first one. It was in the form of a play,
"The Californian," and was written I:)y Wilbur
Hall, a noted short-story writer, who has made
his home in Los Gatos. There was a prologue
and an epilogue and eight episodes and the
pla\- was given before an immense crowd of
spectators on each of the two evenings. June
18 and 19. Among the notables present were
Gov. William D. Stephens, Gertrude Atherton,
Mrs. Ruth Comfort Mitchell Young, Helen
Hoyt. John D. Barry and Mrs. Fremont Older.
After witnessing the first performance Gov.
Stephens said: "As an illustration of history
the pageant was the finest thing I have eveV
witnessed. The entertainment as a whole was
well worth going any distance to see. The
story is well told, well staged and is a tribute
to Mr. Hall."

The pageant is in eight episodes, divided by
a festival interlude into two movements. The
San Jose Mercury in its report says: "It pre-
sents in dramatic spectacle the vital moments
in the history of the commonwealth. The
acoustics in the natural amphitheater where
the pageant was given are remarkal)le, every
word of the actors being plainly audible to
the last rows of seats. And with a dusky
canopy overhead, brilliant with a million stars,

the rugged setting and faithful costuming of
the players went to make up a vivid glimpse
into the past, reflecting credit both on Mr.
Hall and on the city of Los Gatos."

The following persons appeared in the cast:
Prologue — The Californian, J. M. Church Wal-
ker. Episode one — Musonotoma. Stella Al-
lampress; Tokkoko, Vincent Duffey ; William
Markham, Charles J. Mickelson; Onalik, Wil-
lis Hubbell : Sir Francis Drake, Eugene
Rounds: Finley, J. G. Hobbie ; Wininu, the
chief, Gleen Curtis, Drake's soldiers and sail-
ors, Wiwok Indians.

Epi.sode two — Captain Vincente Markham,
John Clark ; Figueroa, Arthur Bassett : Caspar
de Portola, E. L. Thomas; Father Crespi, H.
E. Pearson ; Jose, a boy, Joseph Barbano : Cap-
tain Perez. A. L. Erickson ; Father Junipero
Serra. R. B. Newbre; Dona Ysabel Markham,
Eleanor Ham. Spanish soldiers and sailors ;
priests: Indians.

Episode three — Governor Pablo de Sola.
Fred F. Wells: Senor Mateo Markham. Mar-
tin Le Fevre : Senorita Juana. Thelma Spring-
er : her duenna, Mrs. C. C. Laslev: Don Ros-
enda Peralta, W. A. Piatt; Don Felix \'erdu-
go, J. C. Wakefield ; Commandante, Neal Mc-
Grady; Canon Augustin de San Vincente, R.
D. Hartman.

Episode four— Mrs. Markham, Mrs. W. A.
Piatt; Luke Markham, Henry Crall ; General
Guadalupe Vallejo, E. M. Barton; Ezekiel
Merrill. E. E. Gessler; Dr. Semple, \\'illiam M.
Bolstad, William B. Ide, O. H. Thomas ; army
lieutenant, E. H. Melvin.

Episode five — Kelsey, an immigrant, J- E.
Norton; Mrs. Tucker, Miss Ella Shove ; "Cap-
tain Tucker, George H. White : Marv Tucker,
Georgia Edwards; John Tucker. Walter Ed-
wards; Captain John Sutter. .\. E. Voder;
Doctor, Dr. L. A. Frary ; Fllizabeth Jordon.
Rachel Riggs.

Episode si-x — Peter Wimmer, Jesse (J'Neil ;
Jas. W. Marshall, Louis Fetsch ;'lennie Wim-
mer. Mrs. Egan C. Wells; Jim "Brodie, Dell
Linz.

Episode se\en — San Brannan, Dr. Louis
Boonshaft; John C. Hays, sheriff, J. j\I. (Gor-
man : James D. Farwell, vice-chairman of \'igi-
lantes, James D. Farwell, Jr.; clerk. Herbert
Roberts; prosecutor. Fred Berryman. Sr. ; de-
fender. N. I. Wilder.

Episode eight — A\'atchman, E. H. Norton;
Judge Nathaniel Bennett. J. S. Troxell. Epi-
logue—The Gloria. Blanche M. Lidley.

Gilroy

Gilroy, one of the most thriving and beau-
tiful little cities of Santa Clara County, is lo-
cated at the southern end of the valley, about
thirty miles from San Jose. It is on the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

State Highway, which runs through the south-
ern coast counties to Los x\ngeles. The first
settler was John Gilroy, who arrived at Mont-
erey about 1813. He struck a midshipman,
and upon being reprimanded, he escaped
punishment by fleeing to the Santa Clara Val-
ley, settling in San Ysidro. In 1821 he mar-
rid a daughter of Ignacio Ortega and upon
Ortega's death received a large portion of the
San Ysidro Rancho. He served many years
as alcalde of the district and in 1846 was made
a justice of the peace by Commodore Stock-
ton. In his last years he was in want. He
died in July, 1869, aged 76 years.

The second settler was Philip Duak, who
was a block and tackle maker on a whaler.
He came into the valley in 1821.

Matthew Fellom was the third settler. He
landed from a whaler at a Russian settlement
in 1822 and finding his way to the Santa
Clara Valley in 1823, acquired a portion of
the San Ysidro tract. He died in 1873 and
was the grandfather of James^ Fellom, the
popular novelist, who resides in San Jose. The
first house was erected by James Houck in
1850. It was a small roadside inn and stable,
intended for accommodations of travelers be-
tween San Jose and Monterey. It was built of
split redwood and was situated to the north of
Lewis Street. The next building was on Lewis
Street, near Monterey Street and w^is used as
a store l^y Lucian Everett. This was soon
followed by a house built by John Eigelberry.
The first hotel in the town was built by Da-
vid Holloway in the winter of 1853-54. It was
quite a pretentious structure and stood bet-
ween Lewis Street and Martin's Lane. About
the same time David Holloway opened a black-
smith shop and Eli Reynolds put up a build-
ing for a saddler's shop. In 1851 a postoffice
was established with James Houck as post-
master. In 1852 the first school was opened.
It continued one season. In 1853 a school
building was erected by subscription. The
teacher was Mr. Jackson and the trustees were
W. R. Bane and Dempsey Jackson.

The first Protestant religious services were
held in 1852 at the residence of W. R. Bane.
They were conducted by Rev. Mr. Anthony
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1853
Rev. J. T. Co.n; of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, organized a congregation and
held services in the schoolhouse. In 1854 a
church was built at a cost of $1,000. Both
the schoolhouse and the church have been re-
placed by handsome modern buildings.

In 1867, F. S. Rogers, a dentist, opened an
office, and in 1868 James C. Zuck established
the first lawyer's office in the town. Zuck and
Rogers formed a partnership for conducting
a real estate business. They purchased five
acres in the northwestern part of town and

sold it quickly as town lots. Twenty acres
more on Monterey Street, near the center of
town, were purchased from John Eigelberry
and sold in the same manner. W. L. Hoover
then came into the firm and thirty acres more
land, on the east side of Monterey Street,
were purchased from L- F. Bell, cut up into
lots and sold.

On February 18, 1868, the town was incor-
porated under the laws of the state and named
Gilroy. On March 7 of the same year an elec-
tion for town officers w'as held and the follow-
ing were chosen : Trustees, John C. Looser,
William Hanna, Frank Oldham, Jacob Ein-
stein, Jacob Reither; treasurer, H. Wangen-
heim : assessor, James .\ngel; marshal, A. W.
Hulibard. The assessor failed to qualify and
H. D. Coon was appointed in his stead. J. M.
Keith was appointed tow^n clerk. In March,
1870, an act was passed by the legislature in-
corporating Gilroy as a city, with the govern-
ment vested in a ma3'or, city marshal and ex-
officio tax collector, a city clerk and ex-officio
assessor, and a city treasurer. At the first
regular election in May, 1870, the following
officers were elected : J. M. Browne, mayor ;
M. Einstein, treasurer; Geo. T. Clark, clerk;
M. Gray, marshal ; councilmen, William
Hanna, Jacob Reither, J. B. Morey, C. K.
Farley. William Isaac, Volney Howard.

-\ great obstacle to the prosperity of the city
was the question of title to the land on which
it was situated. The ownership of the land
was an undivided interest in the Los Animas
Rancho, an early Spanish grant. The rancho
had never been partitioned and there was an
uncertainty as to where any particular holder
might be located when the different interests
were set ofif. This state of aflfairs was a source
of great annoyance, as it practically clouded
all the titles in the city and vicinity. Many
meetings for consultation were held. The
matter culminated January 3, 1879, when
Henry IMiller, the largest owner in the rancho,
filed a complaint in partition. The defendants
were all the other owners and numbered over
one thousand. The court, after hearing, ap-
pointed County Surveyor Herrmann, J. M.
Battee and H. M. Leonard as commissioners
to survey and set off to each owner his in-
terest in the tract. It required several years
to accomplish this work and it was not until
Tune, 1886, that the final decree was filed.
This settled for ever the question of title and
each owner of property in Gilroy has now a
claim to his property that is indisputable.

Since the settlement of title Gilroy has
grown rapidly, ^^''ithin the municipal limits
the population is over 3,000, but more than
7,000 people make use of it as a business cen-
ter of a rich and productive territory. The

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

293

country about is devoted to the production of
prunes and other fruits, berries, vegetables
and alfalfa, to dairying, cattle, hog and chicken
raising, and to large seed farms.

Excellent schools, good stores, churches,
lodges, clubs, beautiful shady streets and the
advantages of a live town are afiforded Gilroy.
Its water and lighting systems are municip-
ally owned. It is the commercial center of
the southern end of the valley and has a fine
future for development. It has many up-to-
date buildings, including two banks, a fine
city hall and a new high school. There is a
strong and efficient fire department, several
good hotels and a fine public library. The
Chamber of Commerce has been a most active
agency in the upbuilding of that section and
is regarded as one of the most energetic or-
ganizations in the county.

Gilroy's streets are broad, lined w:ith shade
trees and bordered with cement walks and
well-kept lawns with flowers and shrubbery
in profusion. The high school occupies a
building which cost $40,000 and has ten acres
of land for playgrounds and agricultural pur-
poses. Adjoining the school tract is a city
park. There is a good sewer system with
septic tanks and filter beds. The Odd Fel-
lows and Rebekahs Orphans' Home is lo-
cated here. There is a large cannery, two
packing houses, a strawberry plant (estab-
lished in 1918), a dehydrating plant, natural
ice plant, a creamery, planing and feed mills,
two newspapers, the Advocate and the Gazette,
seven churches, machine shops and garages.

A building boom was inaugurated in 1921.
First, an I. O. O. F. Orphans' Home was er-
ected at a cost of $250,000. It replaced a
wooden structure erected in 1897. At the ded-
icatory exercises, October 19, 1921, a bronze
tablet to the memory of the late Mrs. Mary
Donaho, who lost her life in a San Francisco
fire, was unveiled. Mrs. Donaho left a fund
for the furnishing of the assembly hall. Then
followed the building of a new theater, the
Strand, at a cost of $100,000, two large hotels,
a Masonic Temple, costing $125,000, and a
number of costly business houses.

The climate of Gilroy and vicinity cannot
be excelled anywhere. The average tempera-
ture in July is sixty-five degrees and in Jan-
uary fifty degrees. This slight difiference be-
tween summer and winter insures fresh vege-
tables and flowers every month in the year and
fresh strawberries for ten months. Nearly
three-fourths of the days throughout the year
are clear and sunshiny, making the section
a natural sanitarium as well as an ideal place
for ranch and residence purposes. The soil is

diversified from a light gravelly loam to a
heavy, deep black sediment. The annual rain-
fall is about twenty inches, and is ample for
everything except alfalfa, berries, vegetables
and lawns.

Prunes are the staple crop, a very large part
of the valley being in prune orchards and
more being planted every year. Excellent
table grapes are produced here in abundance,
and a large acreage is planted to blackberries,
loganberries, raspberries and strawberries, all
of which grow luxuriantly and produce most
profitable crops. Considerable general farm-
ing is still done, although most of the valley
has been made into orchards, vineyards and
dairies. Artesian water is found over a large
sectiiin south and east of Gilroy, nearly all of
■wbich is gi\-en o\-er to dairying and nearly
i\cr\ dairy has a large acreage of alfalfa and
it- 'iwn cheese facteir}-. A few large farms are
ilexiiled entirely to raising garden, vegetable
and Hower seeds. Excellent tobacco is pro-
duced near Gilroy. At the Panama-Pacific In-
ternational Exposition a gold medal was
awarded for leaf tobacco and cigars made from
toljacco grown in this section of the valley.
Poultr}- and egg raising pay well and stock
raising is an extensive and very profitable in-
dustry. From 400 to 450 carloads of live stock
are shipped from Gilroy every year.

On either side of the valley, which at Gilroy
is five miles wide, are a series of foothills,
practicalh^ free from frost, these areas being
devoted to the raising of apricots and other
early fruits and lemons, which do remarkably
well. Higher tip on the west side are low
mountains covered with beautiful redwoods.
All through these mountains, in the canyons,
are excellent camping places. Redwood Re-
treat, a popular summer resort, also Magic
Springs and the summer homes of Lloyd Os-
borne, Henry Miller, and others, are located
in these mountains. Through these moun-
tains, in a direct line, it is only fifteen miles
from Gilroy to the coast. In the mountains
on the east side of the valley are located the
Gilroy Hot Springs, noted as a health resort,
and a short distance farther north are the
Madrone Springs.

Other small villages in the southern end of
the count)- are San Ysidro (Old Gilroy), de-
voted to dairying and vegetable raising; San
Felipe, where tobacco raising was for years
successfully pursued ; Rucker, a station on the
Southern Pacific, where fruit culture is a spe-
cialty ; Sargent's Station, six miles south of
Gilroy, and a favorite picnic resort, and Solis.
an agricultural and fruit district in the west-
ern foothills.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Other Growing Towns in Santa Clara County — Change From Grain Field to
Thriving Community — The Progress' of the Towns in the Fruit Districts
—Ambrose Bierce's Life — Tragic Adventure With a CaHfornia Lion.

Sunnyvale, fifteen years old. was built on
what was once a grain field. It is eight miles
west of San Jose and is on the main line of
the Southern Pacific Railway. Today, there
is a bustling, wide-awake town which is grow-
ing by leaps and bounds. There are factories,
canneries, splendid business houses, a first
class grammar school, a bank, several
churches, two lumber yards, two garages, and
a live Chamber of Commerce. The manufac-
turing industries represent an outlav of over
$1,000,000. It was incorporated December 24.
1912. Among the industries are the fol-
lowing :

The Joshua Hendy Iron Works is the pio-
neer foundry of California, the launching of
which dates back to 1856. It was not, how-
ever, until 1906 that operations were begun in
Sunnyvale. So extensive have these opera-
tions been that scores of men are given year-
round employment. Mining machinery is one
of the chief outputs, although they are'making
marine steam engines, steering engines, warp-
ing engines, and ship fittings for the Govern-
ment. All kinds of cast iron castings and all
types of machine work are also ably cared for.
The daily casting capacity of the foundry is
thirty tons. Orders from "India, China, South
America, and many other foreign ports have
been filled. It was indeed a lucky day for
Sunnyvale when the Hendy Iron Works lo-
cated here. It was equally fortunate for the
iron works to find, near San Francisco, so de-
sirable a location. Sunnyvale pulls for and gets
the big things that are to be passed out.

The firm of Libby.McNeil & Libby, well
known throughout the United States, operates
the year round, and has perhaps the most ex-
tensive plant on the coast. They employ a
large number of helpers, many of whom own
their homes and are getting real enjoyment
out of life.

The Jubilee Incubator Company is the pio-
neer manufacturing plant of Sunnyvale, it
having been established some sixteen years
ago, although for forty years incubator con-
struction has been Mr. Besse's favorite pas-
time. The Jubilee Incubator and the Jubilee
Brooder have been made famous because of
their hot-water system, and they are not only
shipped into every state in the Union, but Aus-

tralia, New Zealand, Japan, Africa, China and
other foreign countries have ordered liberally.

With a season beginning early in May and
running until nearly the close of the year, the
Sunnyvale Canneries give employment to from
200 to 250 persons. The season of 1922 is
looked forward to as the banner season, and
to that end extensive planning has been done.

The Three Leaf Cot Manufacturing Com-
pany is one of the interesting manufacturing
companies of the Pacific Coast, giving delight-
ful employment to a large number of people,
and turning out a finished product that is eag-
erly sought far and wide — that of a bed, a
chair, a table, and a settee, all in one, com-
bined with a collapsible folding tent, thus mak-
ing camp life a pleasure, picnicing a dream,
and an overland trip an ideal outing. A girl
can set up the entire outfit unaided.

Ninety-five per cent of the output of the
Hydro-Carbon Companies is exported, paint
oil and mineral turpentine being the chief
products. Added to this is the famous rubber
(lil waterproofing for auto tops — a commodity
that is winning favor wherever introduced.

The Rumely Products Company operates
twenty-six branches in the United States and
many in foreign countries. The one in Sunny-
vale furnishes a distributing point for Cali-
fornia, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, and
is caring ior the business in a highly credita-
ble manner. Mr. W. Reineke, the superin-
tendent, has been well schooled in Rumely
Products, which fact can be duly attested by
the increased business. The claim of the com-
pany is that "20,000 farmers save all their grain
by using Rumely Ideal Separators."

There is one of a chain of many of the Cali-
fornia Packing Corporation's plants located
in Sunnyvale, and so strongly is it officered
and financed that it is always regarded as a
real contender in the race for supremacy. The
products of this plant wherever introduced,
have, by popular vote, been jjlaced among the
foremost in their line.

A man once said: "I know there's money,
and plenty of it, in poultry, for I have put lots
oi it in, and as I never got it out, I know it's
still there." Mr. E. A. Lodge, manager and
owner of the Pebble Side Poultry Farm,
knows, too, that there is plenty of money in

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

295

poultry, for he is getting it out every day,
and seeing is believing. Perhaps there is no
greater section in California for successful
poultry raising than in and around Sunnyvale.

J. Fred Holthouse, a life-time resident of
Sunnyvale, and whose study has ever been
along the line of improved pumping methods,
is the builder of the most complete pumping
plant systems that are in use today.

To meet the demands of a rapidly growing
community, men with keen vision have
launched into the dry goods business, clothing
business, grocery business, meat lousiness,
hotel and rooming house business, restaurant
lousiness, hardware business, drug business, as
well as furniture, electrical sup])lies. feed and
fuel, bicycle. ]ilumbing, blacksmithing — in
short, Sunnyvale is a veritalde bee hive of
industry.

In the matter of churches Sunnyvale is rep-
resented !))• the Baptists, Congrega'ionalists,
Catholics. 'l{piscopalians and Methodists. A
free numicipal library was established by the
good women of the W. C. T. U. soon after
Sunnyvale sprang into existence, and was
taken over by the own after an organization
was perfected. A very large selection of choice
books are at the dis])osal of the residents, in-
cluding the country circulating library. Nearly
every known order is represented here, and the
individual who bears the proud distinction of
being a "jiner," can have some place to go
every night in the week, where he finds diver-
tisement from his daily grind at the old tread
mill. The movies, too, contribute their full
quota in the way of entertainment, the best
and up-to-the-minute reels alone being shdwii.
The show house is a good one. well ventilated,
ably managed, and a real oasis in the desert
to many. Sunnyvale has one newspaper, the
Standard, published by A. T. Fetter. The
town's latest improvement is a new packing
house built by the California Prune and Apri-
cot Growers, Inc. It is one the line of the
Southern Pacific Railroad.

In 1920 the South Shore Port Company,
with eighty directors in Santa Clara County,
made ready to finance and engineer the pro-
ject of obtaining a direct waterway for the
transportation of the products raised in the
valley. Several sites were e.xainined and sel-
ection was finally made of Jagel's Landing, a
few miles north of Sunnyvale. Work was be-
gun in July. 1920, and will ht completed this
year (1922). An immense dredger was pro-
cured and a canal two miles long with a basin
300x600 feet at the landing was started and is
now nearly completed. Boats of 500 tons will
operate in the port and will act as feeders of
large boats which sail from San Francisco.
This waterway will connect three of the rich-

est valley in the State — the Sacramento, San
Joaquin and Santa Clara. The officers of the
company are : Paul H. Fretz, president ; R. B.
Roll, George Jagel. Jr. ; secretary, C. L. Stow-
ell : treasurer, \V. .McLaughlin.

Campbell

Campbell is located in the heart of the or-
chard district four miles southwest of San
Jose and reiiched by the Southern Pacific and
the I'eninsul.-ir railways. It has the distinc-
tion of fostering the largest drying plant in
the world, where twenty-five thousand trays
of fruit can be placed on the ground at one
time. It is proud of its three canneries and its
dried fruit packing houses, which send to the
markets of the world the finished products in
fruits of the Santa Clara Valley.

The town was estalilished in 1887 by Ben-
jamin Campbell, who cut up his 167 acres in
lots and small farms and sold them. This
area was afterward extended and the ranches
heretofore given over to grain were planted
in fruit, prunes and apricots, mainly. The
town grew rapidly and now has a population
of about 1200. It has two banks, a lumber
mill and yard, an improvement society, three
churches (Methodist, Congregational and
Catholic). C.unty Woman's Club, Home and
School Clul), a town library and a branch of
the county library, fire department, and a main
street of up-to-date business houses. Two
miles from town, at Vasona, is a pit crushing
plant. Last but not least Campbell has four
grammar schools and a union high school. The
latter accommodates the children of Hamilton,
Cambria. San Tomas and Campbell school
districts. There is one newspaper, The Press,
pui)lished by Harry Smith.

The section is most highly developed. The
drying plant is a cooperative institution, the
farmers bringing in their crops to be dried.
The elevation of the town is 200 feet. The
land rises about 100 feet in each three miles
from the trough of the vallev to the base of
the hills. This, together with several creeks
uhich flow northward in dee]) cuts, affords
ample drainage to the whole section. The
slope also permits of a slight air drainage and
makes the section less frosty than the land
further east. That this is an understood fact
is evidenced by the planting of several small
lemon orchards near the town.

Cupertino

Directly west of San Jose and Meridian is
Cupertino, on the Saratoga and Mountain
View road. Good roads extend in all direc-
tions. It is on the line of the electric road
from Los Altos to Los Gatos and also has di-
rect electric railway connection with San Jose,

296

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ten miles distant. In the town are located a
general merchandise store, a real estate of-
fice, a union church. Catholic church and an
Odd Fellows hall. To the east, south and
west the fruit ranches are crowded together.
The soil is fertile and the principal crops are
prunes and apricots. The town has a rural
free delivery, a drier and fruit warehouse,
and nearby, at West Side, a packing com-
pany and drier. There is a library, an im-
provement club. Odd Fellows, Rebekahs.
Woodmen of the World and King's Daugh-
ters lodges, and an up-to-date union grammar
school, the districts represented being Lin-
coln, San Antonio, Collins and Doyle. To
build the school house a bond issue of $7,500
was necessary. The population is about 500
and there are no fixed boundaries.

Alviso

Alviso is one of the oldest towns in Santa
Clara County. In 1849 it was predicted that
it was destined to become a great city. Set-
ting, as it does, at the head of San Francisco
Bay, it was thought that it would become the
shipping point for all the lower county. For
a time it was a very active place. AVarehouses
were built and buildings erected for hotels,
dwellings and stcires. The railroad, however,
diverted tra\el in lf^65, and the town became
nearly desertcil. 'I'lie arrival of the South
Pacific Coast Railroad (now part of the South-
ern Pacific system) in 1876, revived business
somewhat, but the residents no longer look
forward to putting on metropolitan airs.

The town was incorporated in 1852 with
John Snyder as its first treasurer and A. T.
Gallagher as its first marshal. Thomas West
and Robert Hutchinson were members of the
first board of trustees. The principal indus-
tries of Alviso at the present time are the
Bayside Cannery and two evaporator compa-
nies. The Bayside employs from 400 to 500
persons every season. The Ortley Bros, also
do a paying shell business. There is but one
church, the First Methodist, and one grammar
school. There is both water and mail trans-
portation, boats drawing ten feet of water be-
ing enabled to land at the wharves.

Alviso is headquarters for the South Bay
Yacht Club. In 1922 there were twenty-four
yachts and other boats in the harbor.' The
club was organized in April, 1896, with J. O.
McKee as commodore, Dr. H. A. Spencer,
vice commodore ; J. E. Auzerais, secretary,
and S. E. Smith, treasurer. C. Keaton is the
present commodore.

Milpitas

This town, seven miles north of San Jose,
stretches from San Francisco Bay to the east-

ern foothills and is bounded on the north by
Alameda County and on the south by the
Berryessa and Alviso sections. It came into
existence in 1856 when Frederick Creighton
erected the first building and opened a store.
A postoffice was also established at the time
with Creighton as jjostmaster and J. R. Weller •
as assistant. In 1857 the first hotel was
opened by James Kinney, who was succeeded
by A. French. The building was destroyed
by fire in I860, but it was rebuilt by French
and conducted by him until his death, over
twenty years ago. Of late years the town has
made a rapid growth. It now has a popula-
tion of about 800. It boasts of the California
Packing Company, two warehouses, one for
hay and grain and the other for grain, solely,
a sugar beet company, a spinach ranch, a
Standard Oil plant, some of the largest dairies
in the state, a squab farm and large potato
and grain ranches. There is but one church
(Catholic), the Protestants going to San Jose
for religious services ; and a grammar school,
a bank and a free library. There is one paper,
the Post, published in San Jose.

Agnew

This town is situated about three miles
north of Santa Clara, on the Oakland branch
of the Southern Pacific Railway. There are
several stores, no church and the California
Hospital for the Insane, a state institution.
The hospital was established in 1885 and the
first superintendent was Dr. W. W. MacFar-
lane. The present superintendent, who as-
sumed office in 1902, is Dr. Leonard Stocking.
There are 1650 acres in the tract. On April
18, 1906, all the buildings were destroyed by
the earthquake and over 100 patients weire
killed. Legislative appropriations from year
to year permitted the erection of thirty-two
buildings. A few are of brick, the others con-
crete. The cost of all the buildings approxi-
mates $1,300,000. These are of modern archi-
tecture, convenience and sanitar}- require-
ments and the grounds are beautifully laid
out in wide drives, lawns, trees, shrubbery
and flowers. The names of the present board
of trustees are : T. S. Montgomery. Dr. W. S.
Van Dalsen, W. L. Biebrach, San Jose ; Dun-
can McPherson, Santa Cruz, and Horace Wil-
son, San Francisco.

A short distance from town, on the east, is
the plant of the A\'estern Industries Company.
It operates a distillery. It is under Govern-
ment supervision and at present is engaged
in the manufacture of alcohol from the resi-
duum of beet sugar.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

297

Saratoga

Saratoga, in the western foothills, is about
eleven miles from San Jose on the Peninsular
Electric system. It is 450 feet elevation, so
that one may look over the valley where over
eight million fruit trees are planted and revel
in nature's most beautiful landscape. Lumber
Street, the main thoroughfare, keeps alive a
faint memory of the old days when ranchers
from all the county round canu- U> town to
buy lumber for roofing and fencini^ their newly
established homes. Aside from the perennial
beauty of the hills, Saratoga's next claim to
distinction lies in her country homes and the
friendly folk who have made them. A gra-
cious and sincere hospitalit}- seems to per-
vade the neighborhood, from the little inn
with its rose-embowered gateway to the stately
Villa Montalvo, the home of Senator Phelan,
or the scores of cozy country homes, whose
latch-strings hang waiting the pull of the
ever-welcome guest.

Senator James D. Phelan, formerly mayor
of San Francisco, a world-traveled man of
vast means, has selected the foothills a mile
from Saratoga for his splendid out-of-town
home, being in business in San Francisco. He
spent a large sum for the erection of a pala-
tial residence. It is an Italian villa, with
tiled roof, concrete foundations, cellars and
columns. It is approached by three flights of
steps rising on terraces. The house is set in
a natural amphitheater, with a canj-on on
each side, and these run into sylvan glades
and sheltered creeks always flowing with crys-
tal water. Redwood groves abound. On the
slopes are birch, wild cherry, madrone. oak,
and other wild and beautiful shrubs and trees.

The view of the Santa Clara Valley from
this home is unsurpassed, the elevation above
sea-level being eight hundred feet. The Bay
of San Francisco, Mount Diablo, Mount Ham-
ilton and Mount Madonna are in full view, and
the orchards, now in bloom and again in fruit,
giving greenness in summer to the carpeted
valley, lie at one's feet, stretching far away
in the distance, twelve miles to San Jose. Villa
Montalvo, the Phelan home, was named in
honor of Montalvo, the fourteenth century
Spaniard who wrote "Sergas de Esplandian,"
in which the name California was first men-
tioned.

The house is entered by a loggia from
which a large hall opens, and through the hall
one can see the patio around which is an ar-
cade. From here steps rise ten feet to an-
other elevation, where a pergola incloses an
oval swimming pool sixty feet long, set in a
margin of lawn and flowers. The pergola
terminates in a casino commanding the whole

scheme, whose steps descend to the lawn,
close to the pond, and on the rear garden-side
doors open to a stage fifteen by thirty feet,
whose auditorium, after manner of Greek the-
aters, is the forested hillside. Mr. Phelan se-
lected the site after inspecting hundreds of
others. He feels that the climatic, scenic, and
general advantages of the location are the very
best in the L^nited States. Proximity to San
Francisco, transportation facilities, and the
character of the community were also factors.

The reason for Saratoga's untiring hospi-
tality may be found in the fact that, like the
spider in the old nursery rhyme, "We've so
many pretty things to show you while you
are here." First and foremost, there is the
wonderful Twenty-Seven Mile Drive, from
which, at the summit, the new road to the Big
P.asin liranches ofif. Either of these moun-
tain drives provide a day of pure delight. So
clear is the air at the mountain top that the
snow-crowned peak of Half-Dome in Yo-
semite Park could be clearl}^ seen. But the
time of all times for a visit to Saratoga is in
late March or early April, at the blossoming
of her vast prune orchards. Then away and
away, as far as the eye can see, lies spread
before the enraptured gaze, a vision of spring
loveliness — acres upon acres of snowy or-
chards, with here and there a little patch of
pink to add fresh beauty to the scene and
suggest the promise of luscious peaches to
come. Every year, generally in March, a
Ijlossom Festival is held, to which come vis-
itors from all parts of Central California. The
idea of holding these annual treats originated
with the late Rev. Edwin Sidney Williams,
and thousands of people are always present
when the happy day comes.

Saratoga is a center as well as a gateway,
so that the wayfarer cannot exhaust his pleas-
ures in a day or a week. There are the early
morning walks to Congress Springs, with its
fine hotel and medicinal springs : the "hike"
to the historic "John Brown Place" : the horse-
back trails among the hills, the fishing in the
mountain streams and the floral treasures that
await the eager botanist.

Nor is the community spirit without its fit
abiding place. At the Saratoga Foothill Club
the women of the town hold their bi-weekly
meeting and here the intellectual hunger of
the town is fed by lectures, concerts and other
forms of entertainment befitting a normal
well-balanced life. The churches are repre-
sented by Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist,
Congregational and Christian denominations.
There is a commercial club, an improvement
club, and lodges of Foresters of America, Fra-
ternal Aid Union, Modern Woodmen and Odd

298

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Fellows with Rebekah auxiliary. A live
weekly, the Star, is published by L. C. Dick.

In 1921 the County of Santa Clara bought
nineteen acres of land known as "The Ouarrv."
The consideration was $85,000.

Los Altos

Los Altos is a suburban town in the wooded
foothills of the Santa Cruz Range, a few miles
from Palo Alto and Mountain View. It was
settled ten years ago when the Peninsular
Railway was extended toward Palo Alto. It
is the nucleus of a large home center for San
Francisco business men, many of whom al-
ready are daily commuters. By hourly elec-
tric service Los Altos is less than fifteen min-
utes from Stanford University. It has sev-
eral good stores, a modern school house, a
bank, telephone exchange, electric lighted
streets, water company, garage, restaurant,
transfer company, and other conveniences.
Scenically the situation is delightful, as it is
on rolling hills, combining woodland and or-
chards, with a living mountain stream run-
ning through the town. There are extensive
views of the Santa Clara Valley and San Fran-
cisco Bay. The climate is typical of a favored
mountain region and most of the homes are
built to take advantage of an outdoor life.
The improvement club is doing much to put
Los Altos in big letters on the map. A prom-
inent educational feature is the Los Altos
School and Junior College, an open air school
for boys and young men. It is highly com-
mended for its efficiency. The town is on the
line of the Southern Pacific Railway, with di-
rect service to San Francisco, and may be
reached from San Jose by both electric and
steam roads. It is an ideal residence place.
Construction on the great $1,000,000 new Cath-
olic Seminary near Los Gatos was started in
July, 1920. It will soon be completed. The
grounds will cover 700 acres.

Evergreen

Evergreen, Verba Buena Rancho, was first
owned by Antoniti Chaboya, who held a Me.x-
ican grant title. When the Americans ac-
quired California, Chaboya had to secure a
United States title. This was granted to him
in 1858. The grant, seven miles east of San
Jose, was called Evergreen on account of the
beautiful oaks that covered the entire acre-
age. J. B. Hart, who was one of the lawyers
engaged to obtain the grant and was ])aid in
land, cut up his portion into farms, and C. C.
Smith was one of the first purchasers and es-
tablished the first business, a blacksmith shop.
In 1866 the Evergreen school district was es-
tablished. The first trustees were John Hol-
loway, Tom Farnsworth and Henry McClay.

I. P. Henning was the first teacher. In 1892
a new and modern building was erected. The
original building was moved and became the
First Methodist Church. On May 15, 1868,
C. C. and F. J. Smith opened the first store the
village had. In 1870 the Legislature re-
solved that Evergreen should have a postof-
fice and the same year the resolution was car-
ried into effect, F. J. Smith becoming the first
postmaster. For fourteen years the salary
was $12 per year. The office was discontin-
ued January 1, 1914, and since then the resi-
dents have been served by rural carriers. In
1886 the Evergreen Hall was built and an en-
tertainment for the W. R. C. Home Fund
yielded $300. The home was built a few years
later. It is a state institution, though under
the management of the Woman's Relief Corps.
It houses and cares for the widows and or-
phans of Civil War soldiers and army nurses.
There are five acres of ground ; inmates. 1920,
twenty-three: matron. Mrs. Alice .\rtluir. On
October 10, 1920, the home was .kstn.\cil by
fire. In 1921 the Corps purchased from 'Dr. A.
E. Osborne the buildings and land of the
Feeble-Minded Home, near Winchester, on
the Saratoga Road. The Home is now located
there and has twenty-five inmates. Ever-
green is connected with San Jose by five
paved roads. Prunes, apricots and peaches
are the principal fruit crops. It is a very rich
section for early vegetables.

Mountain View

Mountain View is situated nearly in the
center of the Santa Clara Valley, eleven miles
northwest of San Jose and six miles south of
Palo Alto. It is noted for its mild and even
climate and is in the very heart of the fruit
district, being particularly known for its pro-
iluction of apricots and prunes, which here
reached a degree of perfection unexcelled any-
■\vhere in the country. Such is the excellence
of these varietes of fruits that they are dried
and sent to Europe as well as the East. There
are also in the vicinity of Mountain View
splendid vegetable gardens where nearly all
kinds of products known to temperate and
semi-tropical climates are raised in great
abundance and of the best quality. Just out-
side the corporation limits are magnificent
greenhouses in which are grown millions of
the choicest flowers known to the florists' art
and every day in the year immense quantities
of blooms, of great variety, are shipped to the
metropolis, and the supply never equals the
demand. The population of the town is aI)out
2,000. There are seven church organzations,
including Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist
Church South. Roman Catholic, First Meth-
odist church, Seventh Day Adventist and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

299

Christian Scientist. The public schools are
of the highest order and graduates of the high
school are admitted to all the colleges and
nnversities of the state without examination.
The grammar and high school campus com-
prises five acres. There are several private
and church schools and the fraternal orders
are well represented. The town also boasts
of two banks, a movie house and a weekly
newspaper, published by P. Milton Smith. It
is a progressive, up-to-date paper and ably
edited and managed. There are two canner-
ies and a pickle factory, and the plant of the
Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is
owned and operated by the Seventh Day Ad-
ventist denomination. It is the largest of its
kind this side of Chicago. In it are published
several religious papers and magazines and a
large number of denominational books which
are printed in about seventy-five different lan-
guages and dialects, and are distributed and
sold all over the world. All the work con-
nected with these publications is done at the
plant in Mountain View, from setting up the
type, either by hand or linotype to the final
binding, and including all photo-engraving
and electrotvping. The annual amount of
business exceeds $1,000,000. The buildings
are located in a beautful park of five acres
just outside the town limits. The town trus-
tees are T. S. Mackbee, James Cochran,
Claude Redwine, L. K. Watson. E. D.
Minton.

The old town of Mountain View consisted
of a stage station on the San Francisco road,
built by James Campbell in 1852. The town
was surveyed into lots and blocks by Frank
Sleeper and Mariano Castro, but the town
never evinced any dispositon to stray away
from the one principal street. In 1869 S. P.
Ta3dor erected a hotel. The new town of Moun-
tain View, in which the business now centers,
was the outgrowth of the railroad. It was
laid out by S. O. Houghton, of San Jose, in
1865. The first building constructed was used
for a saloon. Soon the town spread, business
blocks, fine paved streets, school houses and
churches came until the town became one of
the busiest and most prosperous settlements
in the county.

A new ice and precooling plant will be built
in 1922. It will be large enough to manufac-
ture ten tons of ice a day. There will also be
storageroom for 500 tons of ice, 150 tons of
fruit, and 1,000 barrels of frozen berries.

Mayfield

Mayfield is si.xteen miles northwest of San
Jose. It has a perfectly working $35,000
sewer system and a supply of artesian water,
pure and inexhaustible. After a chemical

analysis of the water, the Southern Pacific
Railroad Company selected Mayfield as a site
for the erection of a 60,000-gallon water tank
for through trains. The town has fine rail-
way connections. There are the Blossom
route to San Jose, the Waverly Avenue ex-
tension from Palo Alto, and Stanford Univer-
sity and other lines in prospect. A municipal
water plant is run on a paying basis, there is
a modern grammar school, churches, electric
lighting and every up-to-date public service,
including a newspaper, the Mayfield News,
published by W. J. Nichols. There are two
fruit canneries, the Bayside and the Lock Foon,
the latter conducted by a Chinaman who owns
and operates another cannery at Alviso. The
town also has a Chamber of Commerce, a
town hall, a bank, churches, schools and fra-
ternal organizations. Fruit growing, dairy-
ing and chicken raising are the principal in-
dustries. The California Chicken Company's
ranch is one of the largest on the coast. The
pro.ximity of Stanford University gives the
town exceptional educational advantages. The
trustees are R. L. Pitcher, chairman ; Stephen
Anderson, Frank Minaker, T. B. Scott, E. J.
Kingham. S. M. Cuthbertson is the clerk.

Mayfield was settled in 1853, and in 1855 a
postoffice was established. The railroad ar-
rived in 1864, but the station was located
three-quarters of a mile from town. Two
years afterward it was removed to its present
position. William Paul regularly laid out the
town in 1867.

Morgan Hill

It is not generally known that Portola's ex-
pedition, as it crossed the Coast Range, com-
ing in from the ocean, first looked upon the
Santa Clara Valley from the heights above
what is now known as the incorporated town
of Morgan Hill, twenty miles south of San
Jose on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Strang-
ers, as they pass by train through the Santa
Clara Valley are always impressed wth the
sharp outlines of the cone-like peak just west
of Morgan Hill. This is El Toro (the Bull),
and it has a well-defined spur running south,
and another branching east, ending in two,
rounded, wooded hills that lie in the corpo-
rate limits of the town and on which cluster
several beautiful homes. Morgan Hill is the
name of a pioneer resident, the old home, with
its vine-covered porticos, being near the high
school and situated on the tract of land that
was subdivided several years ago. To ascend
El Toro is the desire, usually accomplished,
of every person who spends even a few days
in this neighborhood. It has a good climb,
none too strenuous and well worth the trip, if

300

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

only for the pleasure of the exercise and the
splendid view at the summit. On the way
half a mile from town, the experimental
grounds of the Leonard Coates Nursery Com-
pany are passed. Horticulturists from vari-
ous parts of the United States, as well as from
abroad, often visit these grounds. Mr. Coates
is an enthusiast on the subject of the cultiva-
tion of native plants and trees of California.

Morgan Hill lies on the crown of the val-
ley, with a fall of nearly 300 feet, either north
to San Jose or south to Gilroy. On the east
the Coyote River pours through a most pic-
turesque gorge into the valley, running toward
San Jose. The hill scenery is magnificent
and the country through the various ranges
up to Pine Hill is wild and untouched by man.
It is on the eastern side of the valley, near
Morgan Hill, where Charles Kellogg lives.
He is a noted bird lover and lecturer and his
lectures are always illustrated by the singing
of bird songs so that the hall itself will seem
to vibrate with the melody. The Kellogg
home is in a ravine, far up the mountainside,
in the midst of a great grove of oaks.

Small farming is the main industry about
Morgan Hill. Of the fruits the prune is the
main crop, apricots, peaches, pears and all
other deciduous fruits also being extensively
grown. Apples do well, a good interest on
the investment being realized. Grape growing
is an extensive industry, the vineyards mainly
nestling on the hillside. Prior to the enforce-
ment of the prohibition law, a large winery a
few miles south, the property of the Califor-
nia Wine Growers' Association, was profita-
bly operated. Nut growing is a money-mak-
ing industry. Almonds and walnuts do well.
The Live Oak Union high school, just north
of Morgan Hill, on the state highv,-ay, is well
situated amongst a grove of live oaks, with
spacious grounds well planted with a variety
of trees and shrubs. Five school districts are
included — Packwood, Madrone, Machado, San
Martin and Morgan Hill.

A few years ago an additional concrete
building or annex was added to accommodate
the increasing attendance at the school. The
town is on the great state highway and there
are many beautiful drives in the valley and
mountains. One favorite drive is through
Paradise Valley and over "The Divide" into
Llagas Avenue. A few miles further on, at
Redwood Retreat is the Robert Louis Steven-
son bungalow, now the summer residence of
Lloyd Osbourne, Stevenson's stepson. Still
higher up, not far from a mountain stream, is
a crescent-shaped stone bench, surmounted by
an iron cross, under which is the inscription:
"Frank Norris, 1870-1902. Simpleness and

gentleness and honor and clean mirth." Nor-
ris, one of the greatest of American writers,
lived in a log cabin nearby. It has a charming
situation on the mountainside. The purity of
the air and the aromatic fragrance of the
woods gave him inspiration for some of his
popular novels.

The Morgan Hill ranch was subdivided in
1892, and the town was incorporated in 1906.
The Bank of Morgan Hill was established in
1905. The town has one newspaper, the
Times, which came into existence in 1892. For
twelve years G. K. Estes was editor. He sold
out to the present owner, H. \'. Pillow, in
1918. Now there are several general merchan-
dise stores, one bank, a cannery, a packing
house and a lumber yard. The churches are
well represented. Population about 1500. The
town is not merely noted for its fine horticul-
tural and agricultural apportunities but also
for its hundreds of cosy farm houses and for
its poultry farms, dairy and stock ranches. In
1919 the enterprising women of the town or-
ganized The Friendly Inn. The object was to
have a civic center to take the place of the
saloon. Here are found rest room, library,
coffee and lunch room, and a large room for
meetings.

In 1917 the farmers of the section formed
a Farmers Union Stock Company and opened
a general merchandise and agricultural im-
plements store. In 1919 the receipts were
$270,000. The latest progressive movement
by the farmers is a cooperative garage.

A shocking event occurred near Morgan
Hill on Tuesday, July 6, 1909. On that day
Miss Isola Ivennedy, a prominent temperance
worker and president of the Tri-County W. C.
T. LT., went for a picnic in the eastern foot-
hills about four miles from town. With her
was Henry Merkle, a ten-year-old boy from
Fruitvale, and Curtis Lane, another boy of
about the same age. These boys, with an-
other lad, Earl Wilson, were bathing in a
creek that flowed past the picnic grounds,
when a California lion of large size came out
of the bushes and attacked young Wilson, in
flicting ugly wounds on the scalp and ear.
Miss Kennedy, ran to the boy's assistance to
have the lion leap upon her and knock her
down. She fought heroically, using a hat pin
as a weapon of defense and trying desperately
to save her neck from the teeth of the vicious
beast.

The boys ran to the tents of the Bay Cities
Water Company and called Jack Conlan. He
seized a shotgun and ran to the relief of Miss
Kennedy. She was still on the ground and
the lion was tearing at her flesh. Two shots
were fired by Conlan, but as they seemed to

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

301

have no effect, he hurried back lo the camp,
procuied a rifle ant\ returning shot the hon in
the head and breast.

Miss Kennedy was removed to town as
quickly as possible and the next day a thor-
oug-h examination of her wounds was made
by Dr. J. T. Higgins, assisted by Dr. F. W.
Watt. It was found that one ear was com-
pletely eaten off, the other ear badly lacerated,
while a three-cornered cut by the right eye
had laid the bone bare. The left arm was
fearfully mangled from bites and scratches,
there being fifteen deep gashes from the shoul-
der to the wrist. The right arm. leg and back
were also lacerated. After suffering greatly
Miss Kennedy passed away in September.
Earl Wilson, the boy first attacked by the
lion, died of lockjaw, superinduced by blood
poisoning, shortly before this.

Berryessa

This village lies four miles northeast of
San Jose, close to the eastern foothills. It is
a populous fruit section and the trees are
large and thrifty. Apricots, prunes, peaches,
walnuts and cherries are grown in the vicinity
of Berryessa Corners, where Capital Avenue
and the Berryessa road come together. There
is a general merchandising store, a Methodist
church, a grammar school and an improve-
ment club. The climate is similar to that
over the floor of the valley. The elevation is
at least 100 feet greater than that of San Jose
and because of this fact the village has be-
come an important apricot district. The elec-
tric cars from San Jose to Alum Rock pass
through the village. There are telephones,
rural delivery and electric power for pumping.

The most important industry is the Flick-
inger Fruit Cannery. Only extras are packed.
There are 250 acres in the tract and buildings
of all kinds for handling the fruit. About 200
men and women are employed during the
Inisv season. The business was started in
1886 by J. H. Flickinger. When he bought
the land in 1880 for his orchard and cannery
it was in pasture, grain and mustard, and
honeycombed by squirrels and gophers. He
immediately inaugurated a revolution. He
planted his orchard, fought squirrels and go-
phers, spent money lavishly until as a result
of his efforts, in 1887, he turned out orchard
products that sold for over $100,000. Mr.
Flickinger died in 1898, and the establishment
has since been conducted by the Flickinger
family. L. F. Graham is the president and
manager; Chas. T. Flickinger is treasurer;
Miss F. Flickinger is secretary, and W. R.
Leland is superintendent. Of late years the
equipment has been so improved that the can-

nery is able to perform more and better work
than formerly. Cherries, apricots, peaches
and tomatoes are handled.

For many years J. F. Pyle, a pioneer of
18-16, conducted a cannery on his ranch of
eighty-four acres at the corner of the King
and Maybury roads. In 1907 the cannery
business was removed to the corner of Fifth
and Martha Streets, San Jose. About 300
people are employed during the busy season.
The manager is Harry Pyle; superintendent
E. G. Pyle, both sons of J. F. Pyle

In the month of December , 1877, the set-
tlers in Berryessa were wrought up to the
highest pitch of enthusiasm over the cheer-
ing news from Washington that the suit in-
volving the title to the lands they occupied
had been finally decided in their favor by the
Supreme Court of the United States. ' The
event was celebrated on Decemlxr 22 by a
grand barbecue in the school house enclosure.
When the hour of noon arrived the place was
thronged with people. Berryessa turned out
every man, woman and child, while San Jose,
Santa Clara, Mountain View, Mayfield, Mil-
pitas, Alviso and Evergreen were represented
by large delegations, the total number of par-
ticipants exceeding 1500. Uncle Ike Bran-
ham, assisted by the ladies of the village, su-
perintended the arrangements for the barbe-
cue proper. Besides all the attractive essen-
tials of the meat feast, there was an array of
succulent extras fit for a kingly epicure. The
festivities opened with a mass meeting in the
school house, which failed to accommodate
more than one-third of those who desired to
listen. Congratulatory addresses were deliv-
ered by Hon. S. O. Houghton, Hon. C. T.
Ryland, Judge Lawrence Archer, Hon.
Thomas Bodley, J. R. Hall and J. H. M. Town-
send, after which the attack on the tables
commenced. After the feast Bronson & Dag-
gett's band summoned the people to the
school, where dancing was kept up until after
midnight.

The history of the suit is as follows : The
disputed tract, which covered the village of
Berryessa, contained over 15,000 acres. In
1852 Nicolas Berryessa filed a claim on the
land before the United States land commis-
sioner, under a permit from the alcalde of San
Jose. The evidence to support the claim was
lacking and afterward an amended petition
was filed. This petition set up a grant from
the Mexican government, which, however, had
been lost or mislaid. To support his claim
Berryessa filed what in Spanish is called a
diseno, which is a topographical sketch or
chart, showing a tract of land comprising
15,000 acres. It was alleged that this chart

302

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

was attached to the petition upon which the
grant was originally issued. In 1853 the claim
was declared a fraud on its face. Many of
the topographical features delineated had no
existence prior to 1852, while the assertion
was made that the grant was issued in 1835.
But the most glaring defect was this: It
showed the Aguaze Creek as running from the
hills straight to the Coyote, while, as a mat-
ter of fact, the Aguaze turned to the north
about half a mile east of the Coyote, the wat-
ers finding their way through the willow
thickets to form Penetencia Creek. This was
prior to 1852.

In that year a settler dug a ditch and built
fences, and in the fall the creek sent down its
waters, which entered the ditch and contin-
ued on, cutting a channel through which the
waters were afterward discharged. Still an-
other defect in the diseno was the representa-
tion of a two-story house in the north corner
of the rancho, known to have been built in
1850, while the diseno was alleged to have
been made in 1835. In consequence of these
defects the Berryessa claim was rejected by
the land commissioners.

Afterwards Horace W. Carpentier, of Oak-
land, acquired possession of nearly all of Ber-
ryessa's claim and prosecuted it in the courts.
He had been unable, however, to present any
archive testimony. Similar cases had gone
before the Supreme Court and the rule had
been laid down that land claims could not be
confirmed which did not have archive testi-
mony in support of them. Defeated in all his
proceedings. Carpentier, in 1865, suddenly al-
leged that he had found a book of record in
the surveyor general's office in which was a
copy of a grant to Nicolas Berryessa. It was
on a loose sheet of the book and subsequent
investigations showed that it was not a ])art
of the original record but had been placed in
the book long after the original entries had
been made. The claimants were routed again
and no evidence has been found in either
Mexican or California archives to show that
such a grant ever existed.

The Berryessa settlers bought of the city
of San Jose under the belief that Berryessa
had no grant and that the territory was pueblo
land. The Supreme Court of the United
States at last confirmed their title and the
long litigation was over. S. O. Houghton and
Montgomery Blair argued the case for the set-
tlers. E. R. Carpentier and Judge Phillips, of
Washington, appeared for Carpentier.

Alma

.\lma is beautifully situated in a grove of
oaks on a bench beside the Los Gatos Creek,
three miles above Los Gatos and twelve miles

from San Jose. The village is not large, con-
taining a store, postoffice, blacksmith shop, a
railway station and a number of pretty resi-
dences. It is an important shipping point, as
there are in the mountains above extensive
fruit growing districts. The climate is very
pleasant. Alma escapes the fogs which visit
the coast slopes of the mountains to the west
and as the elevation is 560 feet, the weather
in the daytime is not so warm as in the valley.
It is one of the choicest sections in the state
for apiculture, as there are few other locali-
ties which furnish so constant a supply of
food and the honey is very white, has a deli-
cious flavor and commands a readv sale.

On the Mount Pleasant road, up Cavanagh
Creek, on the property of the San Jose Water
Works, there is a strong soda spring, which
contains iron and magnesia. The water flows
from a small pool by the side of a stream
which comes up in silvery bubbles through
the clear water which is alive with ebullition.
The sides of the spring have the familiar
snufif-brown of oxydized iron. The water has
gained quite a reputation for its medicinal
qualities, which, of course, are confined to the
minerals, the so-called soda taste being im-
])arted solely by the carbonic gas. The ]\Ioody
Gulch oil wells, now used for the manufacture
of gasoline, are situated but a short distance
from Alma.

Wright's Station, though a small village, is
an important shipping point, as it is the depot
for the extensive fruit growing section in the
surrounding mountains. It is located at the
head of the Los Gatos Canyon, sixteen miles
south of San Jose. Travelers on the cars re-
ceive little intimation from what they see
along the route to the station, concerning the
rich and beautiful section which crowns the
mountains above the heavy belt of timber
which covers the hillside and reaches down
into the stream rushing through the canyon.
The roads which leave the little space of open
ground by the depot to enter the leafy tunnels
through the woods furnish no suggestion of
the vine-clad slopes, the orchards, the tower-
ing redwoods, the green fields and the cosy
homes which adorn the great territory above
and beyond. The beauty of this section can
not adequately be described, ^^'ithin the past
decade people in search of sites for homes
have climbed the mountain sides, searched
out the springs and made winding roads
around the knolls, up the canj'on and to the
very summit.

Ambrose Bierce. the noted satirist, critic
and short storj' writer, resided for several
years in the hills a few miles from \\'right's.
He went to Mexico in the fall of 1913 and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

303

his fate was a mystery until James H. Wil-
kins, a San Francisco Bulletin writer and for-
mer state's prison director, visited the City of
Mexico in March, 1Q20, and there learned
what had befallen the eminent Californian.
Wilkins knew Bierce and while in Mexico he
talked with one of the members of a tiring
squad before whom Bierce stood in 1915 and
died like a soldier. The story was verified by
a picture of Bierce which the Mexican took
from the dead American's body.

The story runs thus: Bierce and Melero
(the Mexican) joined Carranza's forces, but
later separated. In 1915, Melero, as a Villista.
heard of the capture of a mule train which
Bierce had commanded. The Villistas made
the capture, but returned to headquarters with
but two prisoners — a muleteer and a tall,
white-haired American. After a pere'nptory
court martial the two were sentenced to be
shot.

"A one-eyed man would have knoun that
the American was a man of distinction," said
Melero. "The muleteer — an Indian — dropped
to his knees, prayed and motioned the Ameri-
can to follow his example. The American
hesitated a moment, then straightened, folded
his arms and waited. There was no delay. An
officer signaled, the shots rang out and the
two prisoners fell forward. "Their eflfects
were searched." continued Melero, "and I
took this photograph in the hojse that it might
sometime identify the American."

Of Bierce's stories, Elbert Hubbard, who
was one of the Lusitania's victims, once said :
"Ambrose Bierce is the boss of us all. He can
do without us, but we can't do without him
and still have the sunshine and the shade. He
knows life in its every phase. Owen Wister
gave this opinion: "Some of the things that
Bierce wrote are wonderful — a work of genius,
in fact." Joel Chandler Harris expressed this
opinion: "If I were Santa Claus, I'd put into
the hands of every intelligent man and woman
in the United States an edition of Ambrose's
Bierce's remarkable stories of soldiers and
civilians." Arthur Brisbane said: "Ambrose
Bierce is one of the best writers in America,
perhaps the best."

When Bierce lived in the hills above
Wright's, he made many bicycle trips to San
Jose. On one of these trips his bike broke
down and he went into a shop on Santa Clara
Street for the necessary repairs. The young
man in charge promised to have the job done
in an hour and then said : "What name,
please?" "M}- name is Ambrose Bierce," said

the great satirist in his most dignified man-
ner. "All right, Mr. Pierce, come back in an
hour and your wheel will be ready for you."
"Bierce is my name," snapped the'author. "I
get you, Steve," cherrily responded the re-
pairer. "I won't forget." Bierce, somewhat
mollified, went out. It may be said here that
while not a vain man, Bierce was proud of
his position in the world of letters and it was
balm to his soul to think that his name was a
household word in California. Praise never
offended him. but detraction irritated him. As
for crass ignorance he had no words with
which to express his contempt and disgust.
At the end of an hour he returned to the shop.
The bicycle was ready for him and as the re-
pairer took ofT the tag Bierce saw that the
name written in pencil thereon was "Ambers
Peerce." The satirist glared at the repairer,
opened his mouth to speak, concluded not to!
and went out, hardly comforted by the knowl-
edge that there was one man in the state who
had never heard of him.

Several years Ijefore this episode, Bierce,
residing in San Francisco, made frequent vis-
its to San Jose. On one of these visits his
companion was Arthur McEwen, a brilliant
journalist, whose written language was some-
times as sharp and scintillant as that of Bierce.
After seeing the sights of the citv, Bierce sug-
gested that they hunt up the 'late Charley
Shortridge, then publisher of the Mercury,
and take him for a hack ride. McEwen agreed
to this and, learning that Shortridge was at
home, the hack was driven to the place and
Shortridge was invited to come out. The San
Jose newspaper publisher showed himself at
a second-story window and declined the invi-
tation, asserting that he was tired and needed
sleep. While Bierce was protesting, Short-
ridge closed the wndow and returned to his
bed. The entente cordiale heretofore existing
between the two men was then and there
liroken never to be reestablished. Each said
unkind things about the other and finally
Bierce impaled and then embalmed Short-
ridge in a couplet in "Black Beetles in
Amber."

One of Bierce's early friends was that wit,
politician and hon vivant, Paul Neumann, who
for years was a member of the cabinet of
King Kalakaua. of the Hawaiian Islands. He
delivered a lecture in San Jose while the peo-
ple were laughing over a rhyming clash be-
tween him and Bierce. Both wrote for the
IVasp and they frequently joshed each other.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

304

Bierce did not always get the best of it as the

following will show :

"Neumann on debt emits his sparks
Of wit, with wisdom by the ream ;
All feel the weight of his remarks
And he the burden of his theme.
His words run off page after page
On debt. What is it but the shout
Of Sterne's poor starling in a cage?
'I can't get out, I can't get out.' "

— Ambrose Bierce.

"Striking each tradesman and each friend
Though none will trust and none will lend,
Bierce works himself into a pet
And clamors of the sin of debt.
I thus translate his sturdy din,
'I can't get in. I can't get in.' "

— Paul Neumann.

Patchen

Patchen in the Santa Cruz Mountains,
above Lexington, an old stage station, boasts
of a postofftce and a few residences. It is on
the old Mountain Charley road, about two
miles from the Mountain Charley ranch. In
the earlv davs grizzly bears abounded m the
Santa Cruz' hills and Mountain Charley
(Charles McKiernan) was a great bear hunter.
For a while he killed deer for the San Fran-
cisco market, making over $7,000 by the w-ork.
He kept a flock of sheep, but one night a Cali-
fornia lion (cougar) got among them and
killed seventy. After this misfortune McKier-
nan sold his sheep and became one of the
noted bear and lion hunters of the state.

Not long after he had parted witji his sheep
he was hunting about three miles from his
home, when he discovered a large grizzly
bear lying on her haunches with' her head
turned to^vards him. McKiernan approached
to within ten steps of the bear, dismounted
from his mule and shot the bear in the back
of the head. Supposing he had killed her, he
commenced reloading his gun. After he had
put in the powder and was about to ram down
the ball, the bear made a rush at him. Mc-
Kiernan grabbed the pommel of his saddle
and was about to mount when the mule
jumped, jerked away from him, leaving him
sprawling on the ground, and ran home. The
bear in the meantime had returned to her nest
where she had left her two cubs. But she did
not stay there long. McKiernan had just got
to his feet and was in the act of picking up
his gun when the bear made for him. As there
was no chance to shoot, McKiernan took to
his heels. Next day he returned to the place
te find the bear dead. The cubs were in the

nest and he took them home and kept them
for four months. At the end of that time their
penchant for killing hogs cost them their
lives.

But Mountain Charley's great battle with a
grizzly came later — on the afternoon of the
eighth of May, 1854. He had been out hunt-
ing all day with a friend named Taylor. They
had killed five deer and were engaged in
dragging two of them out of a gulch when
they saw a male bear, about 400 yards below
them. While in the act of getting around the
hear — a very large one — the animal unbe-
known to them, executed a similar maneuver,
and as they were climbing to the top of a
little mound, the bear suddenly met them.
The surprise was mutual. The bear gave a
snort and plunged at them. Taylor fired the
first shot and missed, then made for a tree.
Mountain Charley, armed with a rifle, fired
quickly. The ball struck the bear over the
eye and then Charley, now at close quarters
struck the bear on the head with the rifle,
breaking oft' the barrel. The blow felled the
bear, but he immediately arose, and with his
tremendous jaws wide open made a murder-
ous snap at Charley catching him over the
left eye and forehead, crushing the skull and
tearing out a large section of it. The old
mountaineer then threw up his arms, in a
locked position, in front of his face, when
the bear grappled at them, crushing down
with his grinders upon one arm and terribly
lacerating the flesh of the other. Evidently
satisfied with what he had done, the bear left
his enemy and was seen no more.

Taylor, who had left his tree and taken to
his heels when the bear attacked his friend,
returned some time after the battle with Shul-
ties, a mountain rancher, who lived a short
distance away. JMountain Charley was found
in an unconscious state and carried to his
home. One eye had been torn out, the nose
and one side of his face were disfigured and
there was a gaping wound in the skull. Drs.
A. W. Bell and T. J. Ingersoll attended the
sufferer, removed pieces of bone from the
skull and put in a silver plate sufficiently
large to cover the brain. About a year after-
ward Mountain Charley came to San Jose and
consulted Drs. Ingersoll and Spencer in re-
gard to his condition. The wound in the head
had not properly healed and an operation was
performed. After this time the patient wore
no plate and he lived in very good health for
forty-six years, dying in San Jose in 1902. For
many years prior to his death Mountain Char-
ley was engaged in the lumber business in
San Jose. He was highly respected and his
death was a loss to the community.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

305

In May, 1875, McKiernan, or Mountain
Charley, as he was best known, was the lead-
ing figure in another adventure. On April 1,
the stage between his mountain ranch and
Lexington was robbed and a month later the
crime was repeated. Shortly after the last
robbery Mountain Charley, who had killed a
steer, was in the act of packing it when he
saw two men near the road. Thinking they
were neighbors, he hailed them, but as they
came towards him he realized his mistake and
also came to the conclusion that the men
were the much-wanted stage robbers. Soon
after this the sheriiT of Santa Cruz County
rode up and with Mountain Charley as guide
went to find the two men. They were located
at an old house about six miles of?. As the
house was being surrounded the two men
showed fight and fired several shots at the
sherifif and his posse. During the firing
Mountain Charley entered the house and saw
the men standing by the chimney in the main
room. One of them was raising his gun to
shoot when Charley fired twice with the inten-
tion of crippling them. One shot passed
through the arm of the man with the gun ;
the other grazed the eyebrow of the other
man. Then they surrendered, were taken to
San Jose, and each received a ten years' sen-
tence.

Small Towns and Villages

Linda Vista district, on the Alum Rock
road, is one of the most progressive, healthful
and cultured sections in the county. The
Alum Rock Improvement Club, maintained
unanimously by its citizens, is a live active
body, and irrespective of personal interests
the members volunteer their services and their
activities and have accomplished splendid re-
sults. Linda Vista is a delightful section in
the eastern foothills, largely in the frostless
thermal belt, overlooking the entire valley,
within twenty minutes' ride from San Jose.

Edenvale is a station on the Southern Pa-
cific Railway and state highway, six miles
south of San Jose. It is in the heart of a rich
fruit section and is also the home of E. A. and
J. O. Hayes, publishers of the San Jose
Mercury. The grounds cover a large tract of
land, and the ornamentation of the place,
together with the large, costly and im-
posing buildings have attracted sight-seers
from far and wide. The grounds are free to
the public. At Edenvale the Richmond-Chase

Company has a warehouse for the section's
fruit, and a mile away there is a receiving
station for dried fruits. It is one of the Ros-
enberg Bros.' branches.

Six miles south of Edenvale and twelve
miles from San Jose, on the line of the South-
ern Pacific and on the state highway, is Coy-
ote. In the center of a rich little valley,
hemmed in by low ridges of rocky hills and
with the creek flowing northward close by,
this town is a trading and shipping point for
the surrounding community. Here are lo-
cated two stores and a large seed warehouse.
The agricultural land in the valley is a river
wash, rich and deep, but of no great area. It
is devoted largely to prunes and to the seed
industry. The prices for it range from $400
to $800 per acre, depending upon the improve-
ments.

Five miles west of San Jose, on a good
macadam road, is a little group of buildings
called Meridian Corners. Here are located two
stores, a blacksmith shop and a station on the
electric road between San Jose and Saratoga.
It is right in the heart of the fruit district,
mostly prunes. Schools, churches, rural mail
delivery, telephones and electric power are
available to all farmers. Land is held from
$500 to $1000 per acre.

Madrone is a shipping point, eighteen miles
south of San Jose. It is located on the rail-
road and State Highway, and has two stores
and a winery.

San Martin is a small town of 250 people on
the line of the Southern Pacific, six miles
north of Gilroy. It is on the line of the
Southern Pacific and the State Highway. Here
are a store, a cannery, blacksmith shops, a
lumber yard, a school and a Presbyterian
Church. The recent sale of the great Lion
ranch, near the town and the proposed cutting
up of the tract into small ranches, will in-
crease San Martin's population and commer-
cial importance.

Other villages or stations are Lawrence,
seven miles from San Jose and four miles
from Santa Clara, with its hay and grain
warehouse, two churches, a school and a de-
pot; Lexington, formerly a stage station, ten
miles above Los Gatos. Since the opening
of the railroad to Santa Cruz, all the business
has gone to Alma. And lastly, there is Monte
Vista, a mile west of Cupertino, which is lit-
tle more than a station on the Peninsular
Railway.

CHAPTER XXXV.

Miscellaneous Items of Interest — Observations of a Weather Expert — Judge
Belden and Mayor Pfister — An Auto Camp — Result of Presidential
Elections in the County.

Dr. William Simpson, Santa Clara County's
Health Officer and Assistant Collaborating
Epidemiologist of the United States Public
Health Services, gives his ' observations of
twenty-nine years, ini the following notes:

"Santa Clara County, or the Santa Clara
Valley; has two separate and distinct cli-
mates, both ideal, but for different types of in-
dividuals. The north portion of the county,
the valley portion, skirting the bay, cooled
and freshened in summer, and tempered in
winter by the ozone bearing winds from the
ocean offers to the strong and vigorous, the
golfer, the tennis player and student, the home
seeker and worker, just the stimulus needed
to keep him in form and up to his work, but

ful and equally favorable location, and to all
alike is offered a climate absolutely free from
malaria and where cholera infantum, dysen-
tery and the epidemic diarrhoeal diseases are
so rare that they are practically unknown
and never epidemic. The dreaded 'second
summer' of the eastern and southern mother,
the California born mother has never heard of,
and the California baby cuts his eye and stom-
ach teeth in ignorance of the troubles of his
eastern cousin.

"For all water is pure, plenty and whole-
some. Falling as snow in the Sierras or rain
in the hills and valleys it is filtered through
sand and gravel in natural filter beds many
feet below the impervious strata which sep-

Weather Report

The Weather

Bureau of San Jose shows the following

seasonal precipitation for that city:

Seasons

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May June

Total

1906-1907 ....

0

d

0.13

0.01

0.98

6.39

4.61

1.88

7.75

0.46

0.08

0.42

22.71

1907-1908 ....

T

0

0.06

0.98

0.13

3.65

2.63

2.46

1.14

0.23

0.67

0.01

11.96

1908-1909 ....

0

0

0.09

0.19

1.11

1.54

7.69

4.87

2.77

0

0

0.05

18.31

1909-1910 ....

0

0

0.75

0.72

1.27

5.41

2.31

0.83

2.84

0.41

T

0.02

14.56

1910-1911 ....

T

0

0.09

0.20

0.28

0.68

12.38

2.03

6.26

0.45

0.21

0.07

22.65

1911-1912 ....

0

0

0

0.80

0.18

2.03

1.36

0.30

2.80

1.95

0.70

0.46

10.58

1912-1913 ....

T

0

0.71

0.21

0.29

0.43

2.29

0.09

1.17

0.38

0.77

0.01

6.35

1913-1914 ....

0.09

0.08

T

0.02

4.10

3.00

6.23

3.94

0.90

0.65

0.19

0.25

19.45

1914-1915 ....

0

0

0

0.50

1.36

3.73

4.85

7.02

1.49

1.07

2.69

0

22.71

1915-1916 ....

0

om

0

0

0.19

4.37

8.71

1.83

1.10

0.06

0.01

T

16.27

1916-1917 ....

T

0.01

0.78

0.84

0.41

3.48

0.98

4.88

0.77

0.26

0.22

0

12.63

1917-1918 ....

T

0

0.01

0

0.54

0.55

0.70

2.63

4.48

0.45

T

0

9.36

1918-1919 ....

0

0

6.33

0.15

2.24

1.28

1.06

4.87

2.87

0.06

0.01

T

18.87

1919-1920 ....

T

0.01

0.25

0.28

0.09

2.48

0.10

1.04

3.43

0.92

T

0.21

8.80

1920-1921 ....

0

0

0.02

1.71

1.84

3.58

4.75

1.09

0.80

0.40

0.82

T

15.01

1921-1922 ....

0

0

0.21

0.21

1.65

Normals

0.00

0.04

0.34

0.90

1.89

3.05

2.88

2.54

2.98

1.41

0.6S

0.08

16.79

the wind which carries ozone carries also
moisture which, while it is most valuable to
the rancher and his crops, to the small fruit
grower and his berries, to the dairyman and
his alfalfa, to the vegetable gardener and his
products, is too stimulating for the neuras-
thenic, the asthmatic, the weak and those who
need warmth and shelter and protection.

"For these the eastern and western foot-
hills with their sunny slopes, their freedom
from fog and frost offers an equally delight-

arates it from the surface water, and comes
to the surface bubbling with oxygen from the
spring or deep well safe, cool and refreshing.
No typhoid in its sparkle, for no germ can
reach its source.

"In Alum Rock Canyon, on the San Jose
City Reservation, the city's playground, there
are more than a dozen mineral springs each
differing in its analysis from the other, and
each and all absolutely free to the public, and
equal in medicinal value to those of any re-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

307

sort. At Saratoga in a most beautiful canyon,
easily reached, is the Congress Spring, only
equalled by its namesake in New York, while
but a few miles away are the Azule springs
and in the southern portion of the county the
Gilroy Hot Springs and others too many to
enumerate, but all assets to the well being of
those who are seeking health and a comfort-
able old age.

"An editorial in The Century for Septem-
ber, 1894, will bear repeating here.

" 'What a blessed country California must
be, practically exempt as its coast counties
are from the summer complaints of children.
What a boon to young mothers the glorious
climate of the golden shores of the Pacific.
No summer complaints, no diarrhoea of teeth-
ing infants ; no sleepless night, and tired
nerves, and distracted parents, and worn out
doctors, and exhausted nurses, and yarb teas.

" 'There we have a climate for the little
people who are slow in recovering, a climate
which offers hope for parents who have suf-
fered the loss of one or more little ones and
who do not know which way to turn lest they
lose others, perhaps yet unborn, and go child-
less through life.'

"It is the possibility of outdoor life, of every
day in the year in the open air that makes the
children of Santa Clara County so vigorous,
our young men and young women models of
strength and beauty and our elders so sturdy
and well preserved."

Belden and Pfister

Speaking of the weather the following story
in which two of San Jose's distinguished citi-
zens figure has been often told.

Years ago when Adolph Pfister was mayor
of San Jose and David Belden was judge of
the Superior Court of Santa Clara County,
there was a drouth so intense that a W. C. T.
U. convention looked like a spring freshet in
comparison. The ministers and church people
generally prayed for rain and prayed some
more. Meeting Pfister on the street, Judge
Belden said :

"Dolph, it's plain to me that the Lord is
tired of being worried by these people. He
wants to hear from us sinners. Let's you and
me, the two leading sinners of this commun-
ity, take a hand. You pray tonight, and so
will I."

Two days after, with no rain in sight,
Belden met Pfister again. "Look here,
'Dolph," said the judge, "did you pray for
rain?" "No," said Pfister. "Why not, you
old sinner?" "Had a sore knee and couldn't
kneel down." "Well," replied Belden, "you
pray tonight if you have to pray standing."

Whether Pfister prayed is not certain, but
the next day it rained and rained plenty.
Water fell in pails full. Everything was wet.
It kept on raining. Then it rained some more.
And then rained. Once more Belden met
Pfister. "See here, 'Dolph," he said, "did you
pray for this rain;" "Course I did," said
Pfister. "Well," said Belden reflectively, "I'm
glad we didn't start together as I first sug-
gested, and I'm willing to give you most of
the credit. But say, Pfister, don't you think
it's about time to inform the Lord that he is
being too darned good to us?"

An Auto Camp

The Directors of the San Jose Chamber of
Commerce, realizing the need of providing ac-
commodations for the hundreds of automobile
tourists who are now passing through San
Jose from all over the United States, have es-
tablished an emergency auto camp at Ceaar
Brook Park, Twelfth and Keyes Streets. Ac-
tion was taken in the matter in order to pre-
vent visitors from passing through the city
and going to other points before they had pro-
perly seen San Jose. The park is available for
immediate usage, under a lease obtained from
the owner by the Chamber.

The new camping site covers an area of
more than four acres, in which are hundreds
of trees, benches and tables for the use of
patrons, and numerous large buildings which
could be used for shelter in case of heavy
rains. Ample lighting facilities are provided
by strings of electric lights running over the
enter grounds, and a caretaker will be on duty
all the time, it is stated, to assist and advise
tourists in making their camp.

In order to aid campers who are passing
through the city to find the grounds the
Chamber of Commerce has arranged to place
signs on the Alameda-Oakland Boulevard
and South First Street, where they enter the
city, directing people how to get there. The
camp abuts onto Coyote Creek, along whose
banks is an abundance of willows. The entire
acreage is covered with a floor of grass, and
a wonderful view of the mountains of the east-
ern slope of the valley is an added attraction.

Presidential Elections

Following is the vote cast in Santa Clara
County at the different Presidential elections
since the admission of California into the
Union.

1832— Pierce (D.). 829; Scott (Whig), 682.

1856— Buchanan (D.), 809; Fremont (R.),
576: Bell (Ind.), 673.

I860— Lincoln (R.), 1477; Douglas (North-
ern D.). 881; Breckenridge (Southern D.),

308

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1864— Lincoln (R.), 1930; McClellan (D.),
1202.

1868— Grant (R.), 2307; Seymour (D.),
2330.

1872— Grant (R.), 2219; Greeley (D. and
Lib. R.), 1670.

1876— Hayes (R.). 3326; Tilden (D.), 3065.

1880— Garfield (R.), 3116; Hancock (D.),
2820.

1884— Blaine (R.), 3839; Cleveland (D.),
3172.

1888— Harrison (R.), 4463; Cleveland (D.),
3933.

1892— Harrison (R.), 4624; Cleveland (D,)
4169.

1896— McKinley (R.), 6315; Bryan (D.),
4443.

1900— McKinley (R.), 7119; Bryan (D.),
4672.

1904_Roosevelt (R.). 8274; Parker (D.),
3090.

1908— Taft (R.), 7,988; Bryan (D.), 3836.
1912— Roosevelt (Prog. & R.), 10968; Wil-
son (D.), 9173.

In the 1912 primaries, held in May, Roose-
velt and Taft were the Republican contestants.
The result eliminated Taft, the vote for per-
sonal choice being 3296 for Roosevelt and
1666 for Taft. Roosevelt delegates to the Na-
tional Republican Convention were elected at
the same time. At the November election
Taft, although he was the Republican nom-
inee of the National Convention, had no place
on the printed ticket. He received a few writ-
ten-in votes, but the great bulk of the votes
went to Roosevelt, who was nominated by
the newly formed Progressive party.

1916— Hughes (R.), 16660; Wilson (D.).
14222.

1920— Harding (R.), 19,565 ; Cox (D.), 6506;
Debs, 1667; Watkins, 1014.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

LATEST HISTORICAL RECORD

In August, 1920, the name. Farm Owners
and Operators was changed to the Federa-
tion of American Farmers. At the annual
meeting, held November 7, the following trus-
tees were elected :

District No. 1 — Robert Britton, Morgan
Hill; Dr. H. R. Chesbro, Gilroy; J. J. Nielson,
Morgan Hill; J. W. Britton, Morgan Hill.
District No. 2 — J. A. Fair, San Jose ; John
Hassler, San Jose; A. R. McClay, San Jose;
J. S. HensiU, San Jose. District No. 3— T. D.
Landels, San Jose ; J. J. McDonald, Milpitas ;
A. M. Foster, San Jose; H. F. Curry, San Jose.
District No. 4 — A. P. Freeman, Lawrence
Station; A. W. Greathead, San Jose; S. E.
Johnson, Cupertino; V. T. McCurdy, Santa
Clara. District No. 5 — Luther Cunningham
Saratoga; R. P. Van Orden, Mountain View;
W. H. Hobson, Los Gatos ; C. E. Warren,
Cupertino. Trustees at large— E. L. Fellows,
Santa Clara ; E. K. Clendenning, Campbell ;
T. J. Henderson, Campbell ; J. K. Durst, Sun-
nyvale, and F. C. Wilson, Sunnyvale.

In August, 1920, the Liberty Amusement
Company, represented by James Beatty, man-
ager of the Liberty Theater, purchased the
old Brassey building and the old telephone
building on South Market Street, together
with a frontage of twenty-four feet on South
First Street, for the purpose of erecting a new
$300,000 motion picture house. Work will be-
gin in 1922.

During August, 1920, workmen removed
part of the old adobe wall, the last relic of the
famous old Mission of Santa Clara, that for
years has marked the confines of an old struc-
ture harboring a part of the present univer-
sity. Researches made in 1920 to establish
the site of the first Mission have been care-
fully made, and the Catholic Fathers at the
LTniversity of Santa Clara believe that the site
selected by George Bray, a member of the
Santa Clara County Historical Society, on the
Laurel Wood near Agnew ranch is the correct
one, and a monument will be set up on the
spot, which is about a mile north of Santa
Clara. On account of floods a second site was
located and the corner stone was laid by
Father Junipero Serra November 19, 1781, the
first cross on the Laurel Wood site having
been planted on January 12, 1777. The sec-
ond Mission, near the present Santa Clara
railroad depot, was destroyed by two earth-
quakes, one in 1812, the other in 1818. The
third and last site was selected in 1818.

In July, 1920, the Mohawk Oil Company
leased 12,000 acres on the Dodge and De Hart
property about a mile and half above Chit-
tenden and commenced drilling for oil
in 1921. The company's engineers sel-
ected seven favorable locations for drilling,
one of which is on the spot of the old Hum-
phrey Mormon settlement, founded there •.:
1843, the buildings of which were burned to

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

309

the ground several years ago. The Shell Oil
Company has gone into the business on a
larger scale, having leased 12,000 acres to the
left of Sargent, on the Miller & Lux property,
and has already erected two derricks. The
Shell people are spending large sums of
money to develop this district.

The census figures for the cities and towns
in Santa Clara County, released in August,
show that the countv has a total population of
100,588, a gain of 17,050 since 1910. One in-
teresting figure is that of San Jose Township,
which has 56,812. It is said that this repre-
sents the true population of San Jose much
more nearly than the 39,604 given out.

The figures for the towns are as follows :

1920 1910 1900

Alviso, Town 517 402

Gilroy City 2.812 2,437 1,820

Los Gatos, Town .. . 2,317 2,323 1,915

Mavfield, Town 1,127 1,0+1

Morgan Hill, Town . 646 607

Mountain View, Town 1,888 1,161

Palo Alto, City .... 5,900 4,486 1,658

Santa Clara, Town . 4,998 4,348 3,650

San Jose, City 39,604 28,946 21,500

Sunnyvale, Town ... 1,675

In July the California Walnut Growers As-
sociation was granted a lease of five years on
the old Dame property in Santa Clara and
will locate their plant on this site. The struc-
ture will be 60 x 80 feet, and the Santa Clara
County Association, affiliated with the Cali-
fornia, plans to handle from 250 to 400 tons
of walnuts every year. The present officers of
the Association are T. J. Martin, president ; G.
Payne, vice-president ; C. J. Parks, secretary
and treasurer. These men, with J. Conner, O.
R. Prien, of Morgan Hill, Mr. Ayers, of
Mountain View, and D. Luther, compose the
board of directors. Joseph A. Conner was
elected manager.

The complete list of Santa Clara County
boys in service during the European War
who received citations or decorations for dis-
tinguished or meritorious service is as follows :

Frank Angell, Stanford University ; Cheva-
liers de I'ordere de la couronne.

Captain R. W. Ashley, Palo Alto; British
military cross.

Mrs. Frances Bean, San Jose; cited by Bel-
gium.

Milton Brown, Stanford University ; letter
of commendation.

Lieutenant Douglas Campbell, Mt. Hamil-
ton; distinguished service cross; four oak
leaves ; ace ; Legion of Honor.

Kenneth Campbell, Mt. Hamilton; Italian
war cross.

Donald Clark, Stanford ; Croix de guerre.

Lieutenant C. C. Cottrell, San Jose ; two
American citations.

Philip A. Daley, Morgan Hill; distinguish-
ed service cross.

Rowland W. Dodson, San Jose ; Croix de
guerre.

Professor H. R. Fairclough, Stanford Uni-
versity ; order of the white eagle.

Harold Gentry, Stanford University; letter
of commendation.

Corporal Reuben L. George, San Jose ; dis-
tinguished service cross.

John Goodman, Stanford; Croix de guerre.

Sgt. Walter J. Gores, Stanford University;
Croix de guerre.

Bryce G. Greene, San Jose ; Croix de guerre.

Sgt. Floyd Hopping, Los Gatos; distin-
guished service cross.

Sing Kee, San Jose ; cited by America ; dis-
tinguished service cross.

Mrs. Charlotte Kellogg, Stanford Univer-
sity; chevaliers de I'ordere de la couronne.

Harper H. Lewis, San Jose ; cited by Amer-
ica.

Palmer W. Lewis, San Jose ; Croix de
guerre.

Wm. H. Rhodes, San Jose; Croix de guerre;
American citation.

Prof. Samuel Swayze Seward Jr., Palo Alto ;
French Legion of Honor.

Corporal J. Howell Smith, Stanford Uni-
versity; Italian war cross.

Walter R. Suess, San Jose ; Croix de guerre.

Fred E. Vasquez, San Jose ; distinguished
service cross.

Maurice Widby, San Jose : letter of com-
mendation.

Captain Robert Woodville, Palo Alto;
French and American citation.

Sergeant Elmer T. Worthy, Stanford Uni-
versity ; American citation ; distinguished ser-
vice cross.

Three more should be credited to Palo Alto.
Alan Nichols, before he was killed, was award-
ed the Croix de guerre, and afterward two
palms were added. John Greer was cited for
bravery and awarded the Croix de guerre.
Sara F. Harker received a decoration from
the Queen of Belgium.

In August, 1920, Santa Clara voted gram-
mar school bonds in the sum of $100,000.
Bonds for a new high school were also car-
ried.

In August, 1920, $90 and $100 per ton were
offered for wine grapes in Santa Clara Coun-
ty. A dehydrating plant with modern machin-
ery was opened for business in Los Gatos on
August 26, 1920.

A Council of Boy Scouts of America was
organized in San Jose in August, 1920. Of-
ficers were elected as follows : president, Rol>

310

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ert I. Bentley, Jr. ; first vice-president, Archer
Bowden ; second vice-president, Charles L,.
Snyder ; third vice-president, Dr. J. L. Pritch-
ard ; secretary, J. Derol Chace ; treasurer,
A. B. Post. Fifteen acres in Alu"i Rock
Park were set aside for the exclusive use
and jurisdiction of the local Scouts, and were
first used in 1921.

Announcement was made early in October,
1920, by several men closely connected with
the Port Sunnyvale project that the Federal-
Poulsen Telegraph and Construction, which
had been operating a radio plant at Palo Alto,
had secured a site from the Spring Valley
Water Company about 1500 feet south of the
turning bowl of the port for the erection of
the largest radio station on the Pacific Coast.
The new station will be one of the most pow-
erful in existence, having sufficient power to
send and receive messages to and from all
parts of the world. Over 112 tons of struc-
tural steel, to be used in the construction of
the tower, which is to be 600 feet high, are
being prepared in San Francisco. Several
carloads of piling have been ordered by the
company for use in construction of the plant,
which will occupy a site approximately 400
feet square. Over 4,000 cubic yards of con-
crete are to be used in the construction of the
necessary buildings. The cost of the entire
plant is estimated at somewhere in the neigh-
borhood of $175,000. The Federal-Poulsen
people plan to build a similar plant at Port-
land, Ore., the Sunnyvale plant and the Port-
land plant to be worked together on many
messages. It was, however, found necessary
to construct the Sunnyvale plant before start-
ing work on the Oregon station.

D. B. Levin, for many years manager of the
local Hippodrome Theater, was, in Septem-
ber, 1920, appointed manager of the Loew
photoplay department of the Pacific Coast.
William H. White was appointed San Jose
manager.

On September 27, 1920. the San Jose Coun-
cil reduced the annual salary of the city man-
ager from $6000 to $3600, On October 5, W.
C. Bailey, the manager, was discharged, and
C. B. Goodwin, city engineer, was appointed
in his stead.

In September, 1920, articles of incorpora-
tion of the Direct Steel Process Company,
which is to have its principal place of business
in San Jose, were filed with the county clerk
by B. W. Lorigan, attorney. According to
the articles the new concern is incorporated
for the purpose of constructing iron works,
foundries, rolling mills, developing and work-

ing iron ore, manganese ore, limestone, and
other ore. Robert Lang, of Oakland, and
Howard Bardue, W. J. Johnston, George
Frank and Charles H. Nash are directors of
the corporation.

Development of the Moody Gulch oil lands,
situated in the Santa Cruz Mountains, above
Alma, were undertaken on an extensive scale
in October, 1920, as a result of the leasing
of the holdings by the Trigonia Oil Company,
an Oregon corporation. Wells were cleared
out and twenty-five new wells were sunk.
Charles Lilly, a Los Angeles capitalist, is the
heaviest stockholder in the company. The oil
thus far produced has a high grade paraffin
base. Gasoline is also produced.

In September, 1920, a rich quicksilver strike
was made at the Guadalupe mine. H. C. Davy
is the owner of the property and he claims
that the mine now ought to be good for 400
or 500 flasks of quicksilver a month.

In October, 1920, the city of San Jose used
$33,000 out of the funds paid to the city from
the estate of the late Anna E. C. Backesto in
the purchase of a park site in the second
ward. The property is located between
Twelfth, Thirteenth, Empire and Jackson
Streets, and was formerly owned by J. O. A.
Ballou. A tract of land adjoining may be pur-
chased by the board of education for the bene-
fit of the school department.

In 1922 P. H. Scullin, genera! secretary and
organizer of the National Industrial and Peace
Association, organized a branch in San Jose.
It is claimed that the Assocation is one of the
most efficient organizations in behalf of per-
manent industrial peace. On April 27th Dr.
Ray Wilbur, president of Stanford University,
was chosen president. The directors are Dr.
A. C. Javet, Dr. Tully C. Knoles, Victor
Challen, F. J. Rogers, Dr. H. C. Brown, Mrs.
J. R. Rogers, Rev. Chas. Pease, Rabbi H. B.
Franklin. Rev. J. M. Ross, Mrs. A. T. Herr-
mann, Mrs. E. E. Stahl, Mrs. E. H. Osburn,
C. p. Harvey, A. L. Wilson.

Figures given in the report of the State Con-
troller show that San Jose is the cheapest gov-
erned city of approximate population in the
state. The per capita costs are : Berkeley,
$12.49; Long Beach, $15.61 ; Pasadena, $20.57;
Fresno, $15.94; Stockton. $18.23; Alameda,
$13.25; San Jose, $11.92. On May 1, 1922, at
an election an ordinance was carried fixing the
rate of taxation from December 1, 1922, to
December 1, 1923, at $1.30 on each $100 of
taxable property, exclusive of the amount
necessary to pay principal and interest on the
bonded indebtedness of the city. The rate it
supplants is $1.35.

j^'^^W^^^u^-^C.-^-^^

i

BIOGRAPHICAL

JUDGE JOHN EVAN RICHARDS.— A distin-
guished pioneer, eminent in the public and intellectual
life in which he has so lonf^ and so activelj' partici-
pated, is John Evan Richards, Judge of the District
Court of Appeals of the First District, who resides at
338 South Tenth Street, San Jose, near which city
he was born on July 7, 1856. His father, Richard
Evan Richards, was born in Llangollen, Wales, while
his mother, Mary Hamilton before her marriage, was
a native of Ballykelly, County Derry, Ireland. The
father emigrated to the United States in the early
thirties and followed the trade of an engraver in the
State of New York. In 1849, drawn by the world-
wide movement toward the California gold-fields, he
came to California by way of Cape Horn and engaged
in mining on the south fork of the American River,
where he rained successfully for about two years. In
185 1, however, he removed to Santa Clara County
and settled near Edenvale. There he purchased a
ranch, which he devoted to the raising of stock and
grain. Mary Hamilton who had broken away from
the narrow environment of her native village and
come to the United States in 1837. had also followed
the golden lure and come to California in 1852 by
way of Panama, settling in the Santa Clara Valley.
In 1854 Richard Richards and Mary Hamilton were
married and in 1856 the subject of this sketch was
born. Seven years later Richard Richards purchased
a ranch at Berryessa, to which the family moved, and
there in 1867 he died, from congestion of the lungs.
His widow and only son continued to reside at Ber-
ryessa for the next several years during which the
boy gained his early training in the public school.

Judge Richards recalls with the fondest memories
his days at the Redwood schoolhouse at Berryessa.
He used, for example, Wilson's Fifth Reader, issued
in 1864, and even now, when the Judge wishes inspir-
ation for a public address, he takes down his boy-
hood copy of this once famous school classic, and
cons over some of the sketches, many of which he
then learned by heart.

In 1869, Mrs. Richards and her son went to Ire-
land, by way of the transcontinental railroad, on a
visit to her childhood home. It took seven days to
cross the continent by rail and an equal time was
required for the ocean passage to Liverpool. The
trip held in store many wonderful experiences for
the California country lad who had never before ridden
on a railroad train or ocean liner. Every day on land
and sea was a new marvel to his eager eye and
retentive memory and he still relates with zest the
incidents of that early experience.

Arriving in the north of Ireland with his mother,
they remained there for a year, during which time
the boy attended the same school, taught by the
self-same pedagogue to which his mother had gone in
her childhood. Master Brewster was the Irish school-
master's name: he had taught there for more than
fifty years; and the thoroughness of the instruction
imparted is still recalled with grateful recollection.
The youth was much impressed with the simple yet
sturdy habitudes of the Scotch-Irish people, whose

lives were occupied in the growing and marketing
of their products and in otherwise discharging the
plain, everyday duties of their rather insular exis-
tence. Some forty years afterward a correspondence
sprang up between Judge Richards and a cousin, who
still lives in the region, and the well-read Judge
marvels at her letters, which, with no other basis
than that exceptional early training, are wells of
English undefiled. At the end of a year, however,
the mode of life in this old and easv-going country
began to pall upon them and Mrs. Richards and her
son decided to return to California. Upon reaching
home they took up their residence in San Jose and
there the youth attended the old high school of San
Jose which then stood upon the site of the present
Horace Mann school, remaining in that institution
two years. In 1872 he matriculated at the University
of the Pacific where he took up the classical course
and from which he was graduated in 1877 with the
degree ot Bachelor of Arts. He then went to Ann
Arbor, Mich., entering the Law School of the Uni-
versity of Michigan; and in 1879 graduated from
tliat university with the degree of Bachelor of Laws
Returning to California, he was admitted to practice
in the Supreme Court; and soon became actively in-
terested in the social, educational and political life
of the community in which he lived. In addition to
the duties of his growing practice he became
chief editorial writer on the "Mercury" with the idea
of thereby perfecting his literary style. He also lec-
tured upon economics, history, rhetoric and law in
the University of the Pacific, and he also early be-
came a lecturer upon varied subjects and a writer of
very acceptable verse. In 1895, Mr. Richards opened
an office in San Francisco as general counsel for the
San Francisco "Call."

In 1907 he was appointed Judge of the Superior
Court of Santa Clara County, to succeed Judge A. L.
Rhodes, in which position he served six years, when
he was appointed by Governor Johnson to the posi-
tion of Associate Justice for the District Court of
.-Appeals for the First District. Since then. Judge
Richards has been twice re-elected to the eminent
position which he now holds. In 1918, he served a
year as Justice pro tem of the Supreme Court, dur-
ing the illness of one of the members, and since that
time he has been several times recalled to that court
for a like service. In state and national affairs Judge
Richards is a life-long Republican, but in local affairs
he has never permitted politics to interfere with his
support of the best measures and the best men.

At San Jose, on November 23, 1881, Judge Rich-
ards was married to Miss Mary Wallace Westphal,
a native of San Francisco, where she was born in
1858, the daughter of John T. and Mary (Percy)
Westphal. Her father was at one time County Clerk
for San Francisco, while the Percys are of Scotch-
English extraction, sprung from the Percys of Nor-
thumberland. Miss Westphal attended the schools
of Santa Clara County, and afterwards became an
instructor in the public schools in the vicinity. She
has always been, and still is active in the women's

316

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

social, religious and education movements in the
community. She is one of the earliest and most
devoted members of the Monday Club. She has also
been treasurer of the Pratt Home for many years,
and is an active member of the Woman's Guild of
the Trinity Episcopal Church, and was its president
for a number of years. Two children blessed this
happy union of Judge and Mrs. Richards, John
Percy Richards, who is in business in San Francisco,
and Donald Wallace Richards who is an attorney at
law, with offices in San Jose. Judge Richards is a
member of Golden Gate Lodge No. 30 of the Masonic
order, in San Francisco. He is also a member of the
Observatory Parlor of the Native Sons, and Modoc
Tribe of Red Men of San Francisco; and he is also
an active member of the Society of California
Pioneers.

Judge and Mrs. Richards live in a quaint old home
on South 10th Street, built in 1862 by J. H. Flick-
inger, and in the beautiful garden of wdiich are still
to be seen some of the trees which the latter planted
in that year. Forty-one years later, the Judge bought
the place, and he has lived there ever since. There
is a great cherry tree on the place, the largest in the
region; the trunk measuring thirty inches in diameter,
and the limbs spreading more than fifty feet. In
1918 this tree bore a thousand pounds of luscious
cherries. The Judge also has a ranch of seven acres
in the foothills six miles east of San Jose, mainly
devoted to an orchard, but the grounds about the
house are given over to the cultivation of wild flowers,
upon which Mrs. Richards is an authority and is
often called to deliver talks upon in different parts
of the state. The garden is really glorious during
most seasons of the year, due to the interesting effort
on the part of its ow-ners to assemble every available
species of California wild-flower life. Both Judge
and Mrs. Richards are sincere and earnest students.
fond of reading and lovers of books; and not a month
passes but what some valuable work in classics in
science, in philosophy, in poetry or in general liter-
ature is added to their large and valuable library.

S. F. LEIB. — For more than half a century associ-
ated with the jurisprudence of Santa Clara County,
Judge S. F. Leib forcibly impressed his personal
and professional worth upon the community. A
native of Fairfield County, Ohio, he was born in the
year 1848, his parents, Joseph and Clarissa (Allen)
Leib, being natives of the states of Pennsylvania and
Ohio, respectively.

S. F. Leib received his preliminary education in
the public schools of Ohio; later at a private academy
before entering the University of Michigan, where
he was graduated in 1869, receiving his degree of
LL. B. In the spring of 1864, at the age of sixteen,
he enlisted in Company E. One Hundred Fifty-ninth
Volunteers, Ohio Infantry, serving in the last year
of the war. He is now a member of the John Dix
Post No. 42, G. A. R. In 1869 he removed to San
Jose, where he entered the law firm of Moore and
Laine, and later D. M. Delmas entered the firm.
This partnership was dissolved in 1879. During the
year of 1903, Mr. Leib was appointed Judge of the
Superior Court of Santa Clara County, but resigned
before the end of the year to resume his private
practice. For years he has served as vice-president
of the First National Bank of San Jose; also as
director and attorney for the bank. The attainments
of this fine and noble early settler are such as to

enroll him for all time with the history builders of
the beautiful Santa Clara Valley.

His marriage December 15, 1874, united him with
Miss Lida Campbell Grissim. and to them have been
born five children; Lida C. the wife of Chas. D.
Armstrong of Omaha; Elna. the wife of Professor
H. W. Wright; Frank A., manager of one of the
Leib orchards; Roy C, attorney at law and partner
of Mr. Leib; Earl, a resident of Los Angeles. Mr,
and Mrs. Leib also have four grandchildren. Politi-
cally Mr. Leib is a stalwart supporter of the Repub-
lican party; religiously he was born and reared a
Methodist. He occupies an enviable position in the
community in which he lives, as a man who serves
wisely and well as a jurist, and commands the highest
esteem of those with whom he has been associated.
Aside from his legal practice. Mr. Leib is e.-ctensive-
ly interested in orchard property.

WILLIAM G. ALEXANDER.— A man of force-
ful character and brilliant attainments, William G.
Alexander is an acknowledged leader in the business
w-orld, having throughout the years of his commer-
cial career met with such success that he now occu-
pies a merited position of power and influence
throughout the state. He was born in St. Louis, Mo.,
February 25, 1867, the son of the late John Hender-
son Alexander, a native of Tennessee, who migrated
to California as one of the .'\rgonauts of 1849. He
tried his kick at mining for two years and then was
in business in Sacramento and later in San Francisco.
He returned to St. Louis in 1853 and 1863, in De-
catur. 111., married Susan Edmundson, a native of
that state. In 1880 the .Mexander family came to
California and settled in San Jose, where the father
became secretary of the Independent Mill and Lum-
ber Company. His death occurred on November
26. 1893; Mrs. Susan Alexander passed away July
8. 1917. Tliere are three survivors of the family:
a daughter, Mrs. Nellie A. Keith, and two sons,
William G. and John E. Alexander, the latter a resi-
dent of San Francisco.

William G. Alexander, who has made his own way
from boyhood, was graduated from the San Jose
high school, class of '83; and later he entered the
College of the Pacific, but on account of impaired
health, he was obliged to discontinue his studies.
He then took up work in the office with his father,
where he learned bookkeeping; and afterwards he
was employed as bookkeeper by the Crystal Palace
Tea Co., a grocery firm. In 1887 he entered the em-
ploy of the Central Milling Company as an account-
ant, and when this company was incorporated with
the Sperry Flour Company in 1892, he was made
manager of the San Jose office. In that capacity he
developed his wonderful executive ability, which was
soon recognized by his employers, and in 1906 he
was made a director and general sales manager as a
reward for his fidelity and valued services.

In 1909, Mr. Alexander accepted the position of
president and general manager of the Keystone Com-
pany, one of the largest wholesale grocery firms in
Santa Clara County, at a time when they were oc-
cupying rented property with a frontage of forty
feet; and such has been the extraordinary growth
of the business under his leadership that today they
have their own concrete building with a frontage of
178 feet and extending from Market to San Pedro
Street, with entrances from both streets. They have

Eng d hy Campbell Bxaihsi's fov \

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

319

one of the most complete coffee-roasting plants on
the Pacific Coast, and they carry an extensive line
of staple and fancy groceries, as well as a complete
line of paper and wooden ware. They employ eight
salesmen at present, who carefully cover the terri-
tory from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo, all
working systematically under Mr. Alexander, who
has devoted much thought and time to the perfection
of the best business methods and plans. One more
characteristic that makes Mr. Alexander stand preemi-
nent in San Jose is his thoughtfulness for the comfort
and welfare of his employes at the Keystone Company.
At considerable expense he equipped a well-appointed,
sanitary lunch room for their convenience, overlook-
ing nothing that would add to their comfort. The
highest wages are paid by him and each employe
of the large plant has shown a loyalty to him that
is most commendable. He is also president and gen-
eral manager of the Alexander-Balart Company of
San Francisco, an exclusive cotTee company which
has built up a very lucrative trade in the Pacific
Coast states.

Mr. Alexander has been a director and the secre-
tary of the Garden City Bank and Trust Com-
pany for the past twenty-three years, and is a
member of the executive committee — a very im-
portant factor in building up the bank's exten-
sive business. He is the president q| the Conser-
vative Realty Company, which has built up South First
Street. For nearly fifteen years he served as vice-
president and director of the San Jose Mutual Build-
ing and Loan Association, and during that period this
concern was an important factor in furnishing funds
and helping its members to acquire suitable homes,
thereby building up the city. Later, he withdrew
from this association and engaged in the banking
business because of the larger opportunity offered.

He was one of the organizers of the California
Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc., is secretary of the
executive committee and a member of the board of
directors, and was appointed by Governor Stephens
as the state's representative on the board. When the
local association was in course of organization. Mr.
.Alexander made speeches all over the state in its in-
terests and did much to insure its organization. He
is a live wire in the Chamber of Commerce and a
past member of the board of managers, and has ap-
peared before various chambers in the county and
elsewhere in the interest of community welfare work
for several years past. He is one of three men who
bought the lot and erected the Alexandria building,
named in his honor, on the corner of Second and
San Antonio streets. Mr. Alexander has the distinc-
tion of being one of the freeholders who drafted
the charter for the commission form of government
for San Jose. He is a member of the Lions', Coun-
try and Commercial clubs of San Jose. ."Ks one of
the organizers and for fifteen years the president of
the San Jose Colfee Club, a philanthropic enter-
prise of the community, he aided in building up. from
a small beginning to a large busipess undertaking, a
philanthropy that has rendered a necessary and
valuable service to many.

Mr. Alexander is a Mason, belonging to San Jose
Lodge No. 10, F. & .-X. M., Howard Chapter No.
14, R. A. M., San Jose Commandery No. 10, K. T.,
of which he is a past commander; is a member and
past patron of both San Jose Chapter No. 31, O. E. S.
and Sainte Claire Court No. 31, Order of Ama-

ranth. Mr. Alexander was one of the incorporating
directors of the Masonic Hall Association and elect-
ed the first president, holding office from 1902 to
1911. when he resigned on account of pressure of
private l)u^iness. He was one of the leading spirits
and most prominent factors in building the Masonic
Hall in San Jose, one of the best appointed and
finest temples on the coast and to no one is more
credit due for this beautiful edifice than he. He
was formerly a Presbyterian, serving for years
as an elder of the Second Presbyterian Church
of San Jose; was active on various important
church committees for thirty years and did his full
share to build up the membership; was once elected
Moderator of the San Jose Presbytery and at one
time was the representative at the General Assem-
bly in St. Louis; but is now a member of the
Christian Assembly. He was a charter member and
one of the most active workers in the local Y. M.
C. A. and served as its president; in fact has served
on every committee and did yeoman service to main-
tain the association, was one of the few who stood
behind it and reorganized and put the present body
on its feet, serving as the first president after re-
organization. He has contributed liberally of both
time and money to maintain the organization, and is
also a past president of the State Y. M. C. A.

Deeply interested in tlu wchare of the young peo-
ple, Mr. Alexander was fur seven years superintend-
ent of the IntermL-diate Christian Endeavor Society
of the Presbyterian Church and during those years
never missed a meeting. He was one of the organ-
izers of the Santa Clara County C. E. Union, ac-
tive in the work of that and the state organization,
and has served as president of both. During the
World War he was an active member of the county
executive committee and threw himself whole-heart-
edly into the work of the organization for raising
funds and conserving the resources of the county in
the cause of the Allies and largely through his in-
fluence Santa Clara County went "over the top"
in every loan and benefit drive. As a 100% Ameri-
can he subscril)ed liljerally to every bond issue and
contributed to every cause. He was one of the
"Four Minute Men' and stumped the state for the
various causes necessary to win the war.

Mr. Alexander was united in marriage on Decem-
ber 2,3, 1890, in San Jose, with Miss Edith Cory,
a native daughter born into the family of Dr. Ben-
jamin Cory and his wife, pioneers of 1847 in Cali-
fornia. She attended the public schools and the Col-
lege of the Pacific and grew up in San Jose. They
have an adopted daughter. Ruth L.. who married
Merle A. Elliott of Chico on July 4, 1918, and there
is a granddaughter, Ruth Edith Elliott.

It will be seen from the foregoing that Mr. .-M-
exander contributes generously of both his time and
means to advance the moral and educational, as
well as the commercial life of the city, county and
state. He is a firm believer in progress in all things,
is public spirited to a high degree and always ready
to lend his aid to every worth-while project where
the welfare of the people is concerned. He gives
for the joy of giving and for the pleasure it brings
to others, all charitable organizations find in him
a warm friend and his philanthropies are many and
varied. His neighbors have always been his warm-
est friends — a pretty fair test of a self-made man's

320

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

real worth, and the esteem he enjoys — and all with
whom he has been associated have felt the force and
influence of his large and generous nature.

EVERIS ANSON HAYES.— The traits of char-
acter that have brought distinction and success to
the representatives of the Hayes family are a direct
heritage from a long line of forefathers possessing
the sterling qualities of the Scotch race. The family
genealogy shows that many generations gone by,
some of the name crossed the border from Scotland
to the north of England, from which locality in 1683
George Hayes immigrated to Connecticut and be-
came the founder of the family in America. Nu-
merous of his descendants bore a valiant part in the
events culminating in the independence of our nation,
and in every generation the family has evinced the ut-
most loyalty to country and a high type of public
spirit. Following the trend of emigration westward,
early in the nineteenth century the family became
established in what was then the frontier, beyond
the pale of civilization as it then existed.

During the residence of Anson and Mary (Fol-
som) Hayes at Waterloo, JeiTerson County, Wis.,
their son, Everis Anson Hayes, was born March 10.
1855. The various industries with which his father
was connected, that of railroad contractor, merchant
and farmer, proved sufficiently profitable to enable
him to give his children the best advantages of that
day and locality, and the son, after having com-
pleted the studies of the public school, matriculated
at the University of Wisconsin, from which he re-
ceived the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1879 and
that of Bachelor of Letters in 1882. Previous to
receiving the latter degree he had made his home
in Madison, Wis., where he was a member of the
common council and a practitioner of growing prom-
inence. During 1883 he removed to Ashland, Wis.,
and formed a partnership with his brother, Jay Orley
Hayes, and Col. John H. Knight. In the spring of
that year their mother, a remarkable woman, who
was away with her son. Jay O., for a needed rest.
heard a voice that said for her sons not to invest
their money in pine lands which might be destroyed
by fire, but that there was vast wealth awaiting
them in iron ore to the east. East of Ashland there
was an unbroken wilderness, and Jay O., to whom
his mother first communicated, said that he knew of
no mines in that direction, but he had implicit faith
in his mother. Again she heard the voice and she
said to her son, "You have a client — a Captain Moore
— who will understand and know about it. Going
to Captain Moore, Mr. Hayes inquired of him if
he knew of any iron ore deposits to the east, to
which the Captain replied in the affirmative — that
he had made explorations there and that the indi-
cations had convinced him that there were valuable
deposits in that locality. Mr. Hayes then told Cap-
tain Moore that if there was an opportunity to in-
vest that he and his brother, E. A. Hayes, would
go in with him.

A short time after this. Jay O. Hayes, while out
in the pine woods became very ill, and E. A. suc-
ceeded in getting him back to Madison, Wis., to their
mother's home, where in time he recovered, though
he doubtless would have passed away had it not been
for her care and help. During this time Captain
Moore came to E. A. Hayes' office in Ashland and
said that he was going to organize an exploration

company in which the eight people comprising it
would have an equal interest, each paying $250. On
inquiry Mr. Hayes found that one share was held
by a saloonkeeper and he asked Captain Moore if he
might not have that eighth instead, so that his mother
might have an interest, but the captain said that he
could not go back on his promise. When Mr. Hayes
told his mother of his wish to secure an interest for
her and his inability to do so. she replied that if it
were intended that she should have it, that she would
get it. Some time after this the brothers met the
saloonkeeper who told them that their money was
being wasted and used for other purposes. Jay O..
said to him, "If that is the case, I presume that you
would like to get out." To this the man agreed and
Jay O. paid him $250, thus securing an eighth inter-
est for his mother. The brothers later purchased an-
other eighth, and still later a fractional share more,
so that they had obtained a controlling interest be-
fore any ore was discovered. Their mother assured
them, however, that out of it would come all the
money they would ever need, and this has indeed
materialized, for it has brought untold wealth. They
sent men to explore the Gogebic region in Michigan
and in due time iron ore was discovered and mines
opened and successfully operated.

They took up their residence at Ironwood, Gogebic
County, where they made a fortune, and in 1887 they
came to California, taking up their residence in Santa
Clara County, where they purchased a valuable ranch
property. However, the panic of '93 that brought dis-
aster to many men and corporations did not miss
them and in 1895 they lost all they had in California,
including their ranch, besides being in debt. By
crooked manipulation their mines had also passed
out of their control, so in 1899 they returned to
Gogebic County, Mich., and through the aid of their
old-time friend, Mr. Longyear, brought suit and the
mine was recovered. E. A. Hayes assumed the su-
perintendency and in two years' time had made such
a success that they leased the mine, receiving a pay-
ment of $900,000. The brothers then returned to San
Jose, looked up their old creditors and paid principal
and interest in full. One bank to which they were
indebted had already charged their account to profit
and loss and as a result of the payment made by the
Hayes brothers they were able to declare a special
dividend of twenty per cent. Square and honest, al-
though these notes and obligations were legally out-
lawed, Messrs. Hayes did not look upon it in that
light, for the accounts were not outlawed as far as
they were concerned. The mines in Michigan are still
yielding big returns and they are now opening up a
larger body of ore than they have ever had before,
so that their mother's prophecy is being fulfilled and
the mine continues to yield all the money they neeu
No event in the business history of the brothers
has surpassed in importance their connection with lo-
cal journalism. In 1900 they acquired the San Jose
Herald and the following year their journalistic in-
terests w^ere greatly increased by the purchase of the
San Jose Mercury, the only morning paper in the
city. Under their keen business management, unsur-
passed tact and sagacious judgment, these papers
have become the most important in the state, out-
side of San Francisco and Los Angeles, and wield
an influence that is not limited to the Santa Clara

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Ma^-y ^. -r/z

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

323

Valley, although their circulation is largest and their
power strongest in the home locality.

A stanch supporter of the Republican party. Mr.
Hayes held the office of chairman of the Republican
Central Committee of Santa Clara County, and fre-
quently "stumped" the state in the interests of the
party. In the summer of 1904 he was nominated for
Congress by the Republican party, and in November
of that year he was elected a member of Congress
and has been reelected to succeed himself six times.
While a member of the House, Mr. Hayes served
his district, state and nation with marked ability and
was tireless and unceasing in his work. During the
whole fourteen years of his service he was a member
of the banking and currency committee and also of
the immigration and naturalization committee, the
last six years being ranking Republican member of
both of the above committees and very active in their
measures. In the drawing up of the Federal Re-
serve Act he was very active and had much to do
with its formation, as the draft was submitted to
him each day for suggestions and some of them
were incorporated in the act. He was also a mem-
ber of all conference committees, and legislative rep-
resentative of the House forming these committees.
In forming the immigration bill, now in force, he
represented the House on the conference commit-
tee of the Senate and House. The most interesting
piece of work in connection with his legislative duties
was the reorganization of the rules of the House
of Representatives which had come into being dur-
ing the long tenure of Joseph Cannon as speaker.
Mr. Hayes organized the fight against these iron-
clad Cannon rules of the House and was chairman
of the insurgents and also of the steering commit-
tee during the whole fight. He was ranking Repub-
lican member of the sub-committee that drafted the
Farm Loan Act passed by the Sixty-fourth Con-
gress, and had more to do with its drafting than
any other man in the country. He was also on the
sub-committee that drafted the Postal Savings law
and next to Chairman Glass was the most active in
its formation and ultimate success.

Mr. Hayes' first marriage, in 1884, united him
with Miss Nettie Louisa Porter, who passed away in
1891. Two years later he was united with Miss
Mary Louisa Bassett of Whitewater, Wis. Mr.
Hayes is the father of three children by his first
marriage and three by his second, as follows: Sibyl
Charity of Edenvale; Anson Clinton of San Fran-
cisco; Harold Cecil, in business in San Jose; Phyllis
Celestia. the wife of Capt. Robert .A.. Griflfin of
Carmel-by-the-Sea; Loy Bassett, connected with the
Mercury; Abraham Folsom. engaged in ranching in
this county.

Mr. Hayes is a prominent member of the Union
League Club of San Francisco, where he has a
host of friends, and in addition to being president of
the Mercury Publishing Company and vice-president
of the Herald Publishing Company, he retains his
interest in the Michigan mines, holding the office of
president of the Hayes Mining Company, owners of
the famous Ashland iron mines at Ironwood, Mich.,
and is president of the Harmony Iron Company,
which owns valuable iron properties in Iron County.
Diversified as are his interests, no detail is neglected
conducive to their success and no efiforts are spared
to make each enterprise the peer of others in the

same line of activity. As land owner, mine owner,
investor and publisher, he finds an abundant field
for his varied talents and an opportunity to identify
himself with men foremost in these industries. A
man of keen perception and intuition, he is a public
benefactor and is ever striving to benefit his fellow-
men. Kind, thoughtful, liberal and open-hearted, he
is ever ready to assist those who have been less
fortunate in this world's goods and is generous to a
fault. Of deep religious convictions and exemplify-
ing a high standard of morals, he governs his life
by the principles of the Golden Rule. Indissolubly
associated with the history of San Jose and Santa
Clara County, his name will be perpetuated in many
enterprises of permanent value to the country's and
city's progress.

LEOPOLD HART.— Not every city in the United
States of the size of San Jose may boast of such an
extensive, well organized and well conducted mer-
cantile establishment as that of L. Hart & Son Com-
pany, whose founder and first president, Leopold
Hart, may well be called the merchant pioneer of the
town. A man of great honesty and integrity, he
was esteemed by all who made his acquaintance, and
at his passing on April 12, 1904, a void was left in the
ranks of the pioneers that would be impossible to fill.
He was born at Forsbach, Alsace Lorraine, Feb-
ruary 7, 1829, and received a good education in the
schools of his locality that admirably fitted him for
a business career in later years. He had a natural
bent for business and when he was twenty-one years
old made up his mind to come to the New World and
in 1850 he arrived in the United States. He remained
in the East until in 1856. when he arrived in Santa
Clara County, where for a short time he was a clerk
in a store situated on the present site of the Growers
Bank building. In 1862 he made a trip back to his
native land for a visit and upon his return here estab-
lished a dry goods and clothing store in Santa Clara,
continuing there for a number of years. While a
resident of that town, Mr. Hart was elected town
treasurer and so managed the financial aflairs of the
place that it was placed on a very substantial foot-
ing. In many ways he showed his public spirit by
joining in all movements for the public good.

Having made a success in Santa Clara, Mr. Hart
thought the city of San Jose held better inducements
and he bought the Corner Cash store from Mr.
Steinbach. located at the corner of Market and West
Santa Clara streets. This building faced Market
street and as the city grew apace the store grew with
it and gradually grew into a busy center. It was Mr.
Hart who gave to San Jose its first brick store build-
ing and from that small beginning he saw one of the
largest emporiums from San Francisco to Los An-
geles, along the coast, develop. In 1902 the firm
became L. Hart & Son Company, when A. J. Hart
was taken into the firm, his father gradually retiring
from the management. This later growth will be
found chronicled in the sketch of A. J. Hart on
another page of this history. However, credit must
be given the intrepid pioneer who builded better than
he knew and all honor paid to Leopold Hart, the
founder. All during his busy career, Mr. Hart was
alert to aid all projects for the advancement of
business, social and educational conditions of city,
county and state. He was no politician in the sense
of seeking office, but he was interested in putting the
best man in the office, regardless of party lines. He

324

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

was a member of the Odd Fellows and of B'nai
B'rith. and generously contributed to the religious
work of the local synagogue.

In 1863 occurred the marriage of Leopold Hart
and Miss Hortense Cahen, and they became parents
of one son and five daughters: Alexander J; Mrs.
Charles Becker; Mrs. G. W. Alexander; Mrs. I.
Cahen; Mrs. Harry Morris and Mrs. Louis Isaacs.
Mrs. Hart died several years before her husband,
who answered the final summons on April 12, 1904.
if you may so characterize the passing on of a man
who left behind him an undying influence for good.

JAY ORLEY HAYES.— Representative of the best
type of citizenship. Jay Orlej- Hayes is justly ac-
corded a prominent place in the business, municipal
and social life of San Jose. His name is widely
known and carries with it an influence which ever
wields its power toward the betterment of the com-
munity in every way, its moral uplifting, its physical
welfare, the promotion and upbuilding of all enter-
prises calculated to increase the prosperity of city.
county and state. First a citizen and patriot, Mr.
Hayes labors with untiring zeal for the best interests
of the country; afterward a Republican, he gives his
strongest support to the advancement of the principles
he endorses. Though not known as a politician, he
was selected by his friends as a candidate for gov-
ernor at the time that Governor Pardee, then the
incumbent, ran for office. Although defeated, this
action, the result entirely of his standing as a man
and citizen, brought Mr. Hayes prominently before
the public and has added to his following many in-
fluential men of the state, who appreciate his sterling
integrity and ability. Absolutely sincere and honest
and imbued with the highest and best motives, he
is an ideal citizen, willing to spend his time and
money in the betterment of the conditions of town,
county and state. The value of his work thus far
in San Jose and vicinity has ample testimony in a
clean city government, good streets, good schools,
good buildings, all of which have felt his strong and
earnest effort. What has been done locally can be
done generally for the entire state, should opportunity
and the call of duty ever demand that he give up the
peace and quiet of his princely home for the turmoil
and arduous task of a great public office. Mr.
Hayes' personal magnetism is of that lasting order
that comes only from the conviction of meeting a
truly honorable man and one who loves his fellow-
tnen. This feeling is heightened when one is permit-
ted to observe him in his home, which is the best
test, after all — his devotion to his family, to his
church duties, impress one that he is an example of
the true life precepts which he has been taught and
which he has followed from infancy.

A native of Waterloo, Jefferson County, Wis., Mr.
Hayes was born October 2, 1857, a son of Anson E.
Hayes, the representative of an old American family
of Scotch descent, the first member of which set-
tled in Connecticut in 1683. For many generations
the family flourished in the New England states, va-
rious members adding luster to the name through
their associations with the early colonial history. In
time the family name became a familiar one in the
states of the middle west. Mr. Hayes was reared
in Wisconsin, receiving his preliminary education in
the common schools of his native city. Upon the
completion of the common school course he entered

the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and was
graduated in 1880 with the degree of LL.B. He also
studied law in the office of Gen. William F. Vilas
and was admitted to the bar one year after his
brother, Everis Anson Hayes, with whom he has been
associated in both a professional and business way.
They began the practice of law in Madison and con-
tinued in that location for two years, when they re-
moved to Ashland, there forming a partnership with
Col. John H. Knight. .\ large and lucrative prac-
tice was established in the four years following, their
prestige extending throughout .\shland and Bayfield
counties. The jiartnership was dissolved in 1886,
when the Ha.\<^ l.njtlur> located in Ironwood. Mich.,
where they h.ul i.riMou-ly acquired extensive inter-
ests in iron mine-, of the Gogebic iron range. For
one year they gave their sole attention to these in-
terests. In the spring of 1887 they came to Califor-
nia and in the vicinity of San Jose purchased a fine
rancli for their home. This properl\ tlu \ liave im-
proved and developed, conductin,;.; ,i irnit i iit' rprise
which has added no little to the pn^tiK< "i Santa
Clara County in this line. Mr. Ha\e.-. i.-^ .secretary
and treasurer of the Hayes Mining Company and
treasurer of the Harmony Iron Company. In 1900
the Hayes brothers became the owners of the Her-
ald, the leading evening paper of San Jose, and in
1901 purchased the Mercury, the only morning paper
in that city; the two papers were later consolidated
under the name of the San Jose Mercury-Herald and
Mr. Hayes is the president of the Mercury-Herald
Company, owners of these newspapers. Mr. Hayes
has spent much time in the iron mines in Michigan
during the last few years and almost all the thirty
months immediately after the war. Fortunately
their mines produced a high grade of ore that found
a ready sale and when other mines were closed down,
their mine was operated during the entire period
without a shutdown.

Mr. Hayes was married June 16, 1885, to Clara I.
Lyon, a daughter of ex-Chief Justice W. P. Lyon, of
the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. They are the
parents of five children : Mildred M. now the wife
of A. E. Roth, comptroller of Stanford University.
Lyetta A., Elystus L., Miriam F., now the wife of
Edgar C. Kesler with Robert Dollar Company, San
Francisco, and J. Orlo. Mr. Hayes has taken a
prominent part in the organization of the Califor-
nia Prune & Apricot Growers Association, having
been a director since its organization and is a mem-
ber of its executive committee and has given much
time and thought to its upbuilding, realizing that in
the success of the association depends the further
prosperity of the prune and apricot growers of Cali-
fornia. It is the consensus of opinion of men of
affairs that he has had more to do with the growth
of the association than any other person. He is a
man of varied and large interests in California, but
is particularly fond of Santa Clara County and opti-
mistic for its rapid growth and future greatness. A
very prominent Republican in state and national poli-
ti(is, he was, for years, a member of the State Cen-
tral Committee and its executive committee and for
eight years served as vice-chairman and has been
prominent and active in all the great movements of
the Republican party in the state. He was delegate-
at-large from California to the national Republican
convention at Chicago that nominated Hughes for

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LELAND STANFORD

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

327

president in 1916 and was a member of the notifica-
tion committee that proceeded to New York and
notified Mr. Hughes of his nomination for president
by the Republican convention at Chicago.

LELAND STANFORD.— Famous among the
most inspiring examples of American citizenship, the
busy and fruitful life of Lcland Stanford is instruc-
tive and highly suggestive to the youth, not only of
our own country, but of the entire civilized world. A na-
tive of the great Empire State, he became, as one of
the founders and developers of the Pacilic common-
wealth, one of the most remarkable men America
has ever produced; and from the time of his boxhood
in the '20s to his death in the '90s, the story of
his ascending career, in which almost insuperable
obstacles were again and again overcome, is of
absorbing interest. He was born at Watervliet,
N.Y.. eight miles, from Albany, on March 9, 1824,
and descended from English stock, reenforced, on
his father's side, by the best of Irish blood. His
father, Josiah Stanford, a native of Massachusetts,
had been taken to New York by his parents when he
was four years of age; and he grew up to marry a
Miss Phillips, whose parents had removed from
Massachusetts to Vermont, and from Vermont to
New York State. Josiah Stanford lived for many
years on a farm known as Elm Grove, on the Albany
road leading out to Schenectady, and he was highly
esteemed as an intelligent, industrious and progres-
sive farmer, who had built a portion of the turnpike
between Albany and Schenectady, constructed roads
and bridges in his neighborhood, was an alert, syste-
matic business man and a decidedly public-spirited
citizen, and was an early and enthusiastic advocate
of the construction of the Erie Canal.

In 182S, the New York Legislature granted a
charter for a railroad between Albany and Schenec-
tady, and when it came to building the road, Josiah
Stanford was chosen as one of the principal con-
tractors. A railroad was an attractive novelty in
tliose days, and the survey of this road brought it so
close to the home of the Stanfords that Leland passed
his holidays in eagerly watching the work, and even
<'il that early age acquired a knowledge of railroad
construction that proved of service to him in later
\ears. The conversation, too, of the visitors to Josiah
Stanford's home, was elevating, instructive and in-
spiring. These visitors were men of affairs engaged
in the construction of large works, and they-were
alive to the great possibilities through future trans-
portation routes, and were not a whit daunted by
the magnitude of any project. Among the subjects
discussed with vigor by these virile and far-seeing
men was the project of a railroad to Oregon; and
"young as he was when the question was first agi-
tated," says one writer, "Leland Stanford took a
lively interest in the measure. AVnong its chief advo-
cates at that early day was' Mr. Whitney, one of the
engineers in the construction of the Mohawk & Hud-
son River Railway. On one occasion, when Whitney
passed the night at Elm Grove, Leland being then
thirteen years of age, the conversation ran largely on
this overland railway project, and the efi'ect upon the
mind of such a boy may be readily imagined. The
remembrance of that night's discussion between
Whitney and his father never left him, but bore the
grandest fruits." This engineer was undoubtedly
the celebrated Asa Whitnev, from 1830 to 1839 assist-

ant superintendent, and then superintendent, of the
Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, later canal commis-
sioner of New York State, and finally, as a world-
renowned maker of car-wheels, also, like Stanford, a
university benefactor.

Leland Stanford received the education of the
farmer boy; and as a result he inherited both good
physical and mental qualities, and was reared in a
home where there was no idler, where there was
little luxury, but no want, where labor was honored,
and each had his task appointed for him to do. He
worked on the farm with his father and his brothers,
rising as early as five o'clock of a winter's Hiorning.
He attended the common schools until he was twelve
years of age, and then, for three years, received pri-
vate instruction at home. After that, he assisted his
father in carrying out a large contract for the de-
livery of wood. This was really his first business ad-
venture for he was in a manner a partner in the
enterprise, and received a share of the profits, which
he used to pay his tuition at an academv in Clin-
ton, N. Y.

Having determined to study law, young Stanford
entered the office of Messrs. Wheaton, Doolittle &
Hadley, at Albany, and after three years with the
law-tomes, he was admitted to the Bar of New York
State. By this time, he had been drawn toward the
West; and after visiting various places he finally se-
lected Port Washington, Wis., as best suited to his
purpose; and there, in 1848, he established himself in
the practice of law. This town was then considered
by many the port of the Lake region having a most
promising future, and Mr. Stanford's success as a
lawyer there, with a lucrative practice and an enviable
standing in the community, appeared to emphasize
the prospects of prosperity for everyone. The first
year in which he had hung out his shingle, he earned
$1,260, and for that time, such an income was con-

In 1850, he paid a visit to Albany, and while there
married Miss Jane Lathrop, the daughter of Dyer
Lathrop, a merchant of Albany whose family were
among the earliest and most respected settlers in that
city. He was born at Bozrah (now called Bozrah-
ville). Conn., and accompanied his parents on their
removal to New York, when he was about seven
years of age. He was noted for his good deeds, ex-
pressive of human kindness, and was privileged to be
one of the founders in Albany of the Orphan Asy-
lum, and was treasurer of that institution and director
at the time of his death. Mr. Stanford returned to
Port Washington with his wife and continued in the
practice of his profession at that place until 1852,
when a misfortune happened to him which changed
the course of his life, and proved to be a blessing in
disguise. This was the total destruction by fire of
his ofiice with all of its valuable contents, including
his law library, and for the moment seemed irrepara-
ble. Tidings of the discovery of gold in California,
however, reached the East about that time and occa-
sioned great excitement, so much so that five of
Josiah Stanford's sons set out for the promised land;
and the destruction of his office at Port Washington
determined Leland Stanford's action in following
them. Mr. Stanford closed out his affairs in Wis-
consin, and took his wife to Albany; but she was
unable to persuade her father to let her accompany
her husband and share with him the hardships of
life in a new country — as a result of which she re-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

mained at her father's home for the next three years,
attending with all the devotion of a loving and sym-
pathetic daughter to every want of her father through
a long illness, until his death in 1855.

Leland Stanford sailed from New York, made the
journey by way of Nicaragua, spent twelve days in
crossing the Isthmus and thirty-eight days on the
entire trip. He arrived at San Francisco on July 12,
1852, and visited his brothers, who were engaged in
the general merchandise business at Sacramento, and
soon afterward entered for himself on a mercantile
career at Cold Springs, in Eldorado County. The
following spring, he opened a store at Michigan
BlufTs, the central business point of the Placer
County mining district; and this period of Mr. Stan-
ford's life was passed among the privations, the
hardships and the excitements of a typical pioneer
mining camp, the recollection of ■which never faded
from his memory. Mr. Stanford also engaged in
mining operations and prospered in them in his busi-
ness to such an extent that in 1855 he purchased the
business of his brothers in Sacramento. The same
year he proceeded to the East and brought Mrs.
Stanford to California, and established his home in
Sacramento, in which city his house soon ranked
among the leading California concerns, in the man-
agement of which he developed an heretofore untried
capacity for dealing with large affairs. It was also
not long before Mr. Stanford's political life began.
The Republican party was organized in California in
1856, and he, giving the movement his enthusiastic
support, became one of its founders on the Coast,
although at first he was not on the popular side. At
the next election, for example, he was the Republi-
can candidate for State Treasurer, and was defeated,
and in 1859, when he was candidate for Governor, he
received only 11,000 votes. In 1860, he was delegate
at large to the Republican National Convention, and
he was an earnest and influential advocate of the
nomination of Abraham Lincoln, with whom he
formed a warm and lasting friendship. As a result,
at the request of President Lincoln, he remained in
Washington for several weeks after the inauguration.
He enjoyed the confidence of Lincoln, as a matter of
fact, and the destined martyr consulted him as to the
surest methods of preserving the peace and loyalty of
California, and maintaining its adherence to the
Union — then a large question filled with doubt, which
caused much anxiety to the President and his hard-
working and alert advisers.

Leland Stanford was again made the Republican
candidate for Governor in 1861, and after a bold and
vigorous canvass he was elected, receiving 56.036
votes against 32,750 of his opponent, Mr. McConnell,
the -Administration Democrat, and 30,944 for Mr.
Conness, the Douglass Democrat candidate. It was
a critical period in both state and national affairs
when Leland Stanford was inaugurated Governor of
California, but he w-as firm and politic, and prevented
the outbreak of any disturbance. During his term of
office, the state militia was organized, the evils of
squatterism abated, a State Normal School was estab-
lished, and the indebtedness of the state was reduced
one-half. If Leland Stanford had no other claim to
remembrance, his services as War Governor of Cali-
fornia would cause his fame to be handed down to
future ages.

The part taken by Leland Stanford in the construc-
tion of the Central Pacific Railroad is better known.

however, than any other portion of his varied and ex-
ceedingly active career. As has been narrated, he
had listened as a boy to conversations between his
father and Mr. Whitney as to the possibility of con-
structing a railroad to Oregon, and in after years he
kept himself well informed on the subject, collecting
and preserving all articles published on that theme
which once came to his attention. During his voy-
age to California with Mrs. Stanford, he said to her,
when she was ill: "Never mind, a time will come
when I will build a railroad for you to return home
on." He did not originate the idea of a Pacific rail-
road— he executed the tremendous project. In 1860,
he heard of the examination which Theodore D.
Judah, an engineer, had made of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains in order to determine a practicable route
for a railroad; and not long afterwards he had a con-
\crsation with C. P. Huntington, a hardware mer-
chant of Sacramento on the subject of a railroad
from California to the East. Another meeting was
held, and a third, at which Mark Hopkins was pres-
ent. The result of these conferences was a deter-
mination to at least look further into the feasibility
of the project. Mr. Judah, energetic and intrepid,
and firm in his belief in the possibility of building
such a railroad across the Sierra Nevada Mountains,
was called into consultation; and as a result of the
information furnished by him. and that obtained from
others, it was determined to send out Judah, with
the necessary assistants, to make a preliminary sur-
vey, and a fund was raised for that purpose. This
was the beginning of the great corporation; and the
men who started this mighty enterprise were all
merchants of Sacramento, except Judah, and they
were primarily Leland Stanford, Collis P. Hunting-
ton, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins and James
Bailey.

The physical difficulties were considered by many
engineers to be insurmountable; others thought that
if the road could be built at all. the cost would be so
great that the necessary funds could never be se-
cured; and, therefore, great as were the physical
difficulties, the financial obstacles were none the less
appalling. Incorporated in 1861, under the general
laws of the State of California as the Central Pacific
Railroad Company, the project was still in a condi-
tion giving little hope of success until the passage
by Congress of an act of July 1, 1862, entitled "An
act to aid in the construction of a railroad and tele-
graph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific
Ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of
the same for postal, military and other purposes."
This act incorporated the Union Pacific Railroad
Company and granted to it "for the purpose of aid-
ing in the construction of said railroad and telegraph
line, and to receive the safe and speedy transporta-
tion of mails, troops, munitions of war, and public
stores thereon, "every alternate section of public
land, designated by odd numbers, to the amount of
five alternate sections per mile on each side of said
road" not sold, reserved or otherwise disposed of by
the United States Government, and to which a pre-
emption or homestead claim may not have been at-
tached, at the time the line of said road is definitely
fixed." Mineral lands were exempted from the opera-
tions of the act. The Secretary of the Treasury was
authorized to issue to the company, upon the comple-
tion and equipment of forty consecutive miles of the
railroad and telegraph, bonds of the United States,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

329

payable thirty years after date, and bearing interest at
the rate of 6 per cent per annum, to the ainount of
$16,000 per mile, and at $32,000 and $48,000 per mile
foi certain sections through the mountains. The
bonds were to constitute a first mortgage upon the
property of the company.

The Central Pacific Railroad Company of Califor-
nia was authorized to construct a railroad and tele-
graph line from the Pacific Coast, at or near San
Francisco or the navigable waters of the Sacramento
River, to the Eastern boundary of California upon the
same terms and conditions in all respects as the
Union Pacific Railroad Company. The Central Pa-
cific Railroad Company was required to complete
fifty miles of its road within two years after filing
assent to the provisions of the act, and fifty miles
annually thereafter, and was authorized, after com-
pleting its road across California, to continue the
construction of a railroad and telegraph line through
the territories of the United States to the Missouri
River, or until it met and connected with the Union
Pacific Railroad. By act of July 2, 1864, these pro-
visions were materially amended, the time for desig-
nating the genera! route, for filing the map of the
same, and of building the part of these roads first re-
(luired to be constructed was extended one year; the
Central Pacific was required to complete annually
twenty-five instead of fifty miles, and the whole line
up to the state line within four years. The land
granted was increased from five to ten alternate sec-
tions, within the limits of twenty instead of ten
miles on each side. It was provided that only one-
half of the compensation for services rendered the
government should be required to be applied to the
payment of the bonds issued by the government in
aid of the construction of the road. When a section
of twenty, instead of forty miles was completed,
bonds might be issued to the company. The provi-
sion for withholding a portion of the bonds author-
ized by the act of July 1, 1862, until the completion
of the whole road, was repealed. Special provision
was made for the issue of bonds in advance of the
completion of the sections in the regions of the
mountains — naturally the most diifcult and the most
costly part of the long line. But the most important
provision of the act was the one authorizing the
company, on the completion of each section of the
road, to issue its own first-mortgage bonds, to an
amount not exceeding the bonds of the United
States and making the bonds of the United States
subordinate to the bonds of the company.

The work of construction was begun upon the Cen-
tral Pacific Railroad on January 8, 1863, when Leland
Stanford, as president of the company, turned the first
shovelful of eart,h, and in May, 1869. the Central Pa-
cific and the Union Pacific Railroad companies were
united at Promontory Point, where Leland Stanford
drove the last spike in the line of railroad connecting by
rail the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, and binding
indissolubly together the Eastern and Western sec-
tions of the country. With a courage which never
faltered, and an ability that rose equal to the difficul-
ties as they presented themselves, this quartet of
wonderful men,— Stanford, Huntington, Crocker,
Hopkins, — persevered until they attained success. It
was a gigantic enterprise managed by men of re-
markable ability, the peculiar ability of one in a par-
ticular sphere of action supplementing the peculiar
ability of another in another sphere, and all working

in liarmony for the common purpose. From the be-
giiming to the end, however, the master-mind and
the master-will were those of Leland Stanford. Upon
the doubtful chances of success, these men ventured
the moderate fortunes they possessed. Leland Stan-
ford realized a colossal fortune, but with the attain-
ment of great wealth, his labors in no wise ceased.
He continued to be the president of the company
until 1885, and during that time the management of
this great corporation and the connecting lines which
it acquired kept him constantly employed. In addition
to the work of the railroad, Mr. Stanford also had the
care and direction of his extensive landed estates. His
home was on the Palo Alto estate of 7,200 acres, and
he also owned the Gridley farm of 20,000 acres, and
the great Vina ranch of 55.000 acres. These places
he improved to such an extent that they became
nuiong the most valuable and productive tracts in all
the world. Mr. Stanford thus came to be very much
interested in the development of trotting horses, and
owned the famous "Electioneer,'" sire of many of the
fastest horses in America, including "Sunol," whose
record was 2:08J4, and "Palo Alto," whose record
vas 2;08.)4, and "Arion" with a two year old record
of 2:10J4, which record he held for seventeen vears,
sold for $125,000.

The great sorrow of Mr. Stanford's life came in
1884, when his only child, Leland Stanford, Jr., died.
He was a lad of many attractive qualities and of
great promise, and the idol of both his father and
his mother, but while traveling through Europe with
his parents, he was attacked with a virulent fever,
and despite the best of medical aid, he died in Flor-
ence, Italy, on March 13, 1884, in the fifteenth year
of his age. He passed away in the flower of his
youth, but his memory is perpetuated forever in the
noble institution of learning w^hich bears his name.
The Leland Stanford Junior University is situated
upon the Palo Alto estate, in Santa Clara County,
distant about thirty miles from San Francisco. On
November 11, 1885, Leland Stanford and his devoted
wife. Jane Lathrop Stanford, — spoken of in detail else-
v.hcre in this volume, — united in founding and endow-
ing a university for both sexes to be called the Leland
Stanford Junior University, and to be located at Palo
Alto. The estates granted for this purpose included
the Palo Alto farm, the Gridley farm and the Vina
farm, aggregating 83,000 acres of land, and the total
endowment of the new university in land and money
was estimated to be $20,000,000. The university has
for many years been in successful operation, and is
surely destined to become more and more, one of the
foremost seats of learning in the world, being un-
rivaled in munificence of endowment. Its doors
were opened in October, 1891, to over SOD students,
and for the current year there are five times that
number, despite the exactions of high standards, in
attendance. From the inception of the idea of found-
ing the university, through every stage of its develop-
ment and through every period of its operation, Mrs.
Stanford was the earnest, enthusiastic, never-failing,
helpful friend, and to her was committed the task, in
part left uncompleted by her husband, of still fur-
ther widening the university's influence and increas-
ing its usefulness.

In 1885, Mr. Stanford was elected a member of the
United States Senate, and took his seat on the 4th
of March; and he vi-as reelected for the term ending
March 3, 1897. His name will forever be associated

330

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

with the Land-Loan bill, which he originated and
presented to the Senate; and his addresses on this
measure have been quoted in works on political econ-
omy in every language of civilization. The bill pro-
posed, in brief, that money should be issued upon
land to half the amount of its value, and for such
loans the government was to receive an annual in-
terest of two per cent. Mr. Stanford frequently
stated that if the measure were adopted it would, in
time, raise revenue enough to pay the entire expenses
of the government, and would thus take the tariff
question entirely out of politics. The high estimates
formed of the value of Mr. Stanford's services as a
Senator are set forth in the appreciative addresses of
his associates in Congress, delivered upon the occa-
sion of his memorial.

It is worthy of interest, in discussing this one pre-
eminent representative of the Stanford family in
America, to recall another Stanford, a distant rela-
tive and also a member of the English circle. John
Stanford, a clergyman, came to the United States in
1/86, opened an academy in New York City, inter-
ested himself especially in charitable institutions, .ind
originated the New York House of Refuge, the first
juvenile reformatory in America which separated
children from hardened criminals in the penitentiary.
He was also one of the chief promoters of the New
York Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. The first
library of Bellevue Hospital was suggested by him,
and it is interesting, in the light of what Mrs. Stan-
ford, in particular, did for the Stanford University
Library, that this was named in his honor the "Stan-
ford Library Association of Bellevue Hospital." By
request of the Common Council in New York in 1825
his portrait was painted by Samuel F. B. Morse, of
telegraph fame, and now hangs in the New Y'ork De-
partment of Charities.

JANE LATHROP STANFORD.— Few American
women so deservedly occupy the preeminent position
universally accorded Mrs. Jane Lathrop Stanford in the
history of the American nation, and few Americans,
v.omen or men, bid fair to be found equally prominent
to a commanding and revering degree in the halls of
fame as the centuries recede and other men and
women of note play their parts and come by superior
merit to the fore. She was born at Albany, N. Y.,
on August 25, 1825, was married to Leland Stanford,
and began her social life -when he w-as elected gov-
ernor of California in 1861, and after his death she
was occupied chiefly in fostering and developing The
Leland Stanford, Jr., University, which she had aided
lier husband to establish in memory of their son. in
1891, a mere boy cut off by untimely death.

In 1901, Mrs. Stanford increased her gifts to the
university by transferring to its trustees securities
valued at $18,000,000, her residence in San Francisco,
held at $400,000, and specified for a museum and art
gallery, and some 12,000 acres of land valued at
$12,000,000; and she subsequently added other bene-
factions, thus making the university the wealthiest
university in the world. She also established the
Children's Hospital in her native city, the Empire

State capital, at a cost of $100,000, and provided an-
other $100,000 for its permanent endowment; and
she gave $160,000 to various schools in San Fran-
cisco, particularly favoring the establishing and ex-
tension of the German kindergarten, then bidding for
acknowledgment and support, and now admitted as
one of the best things given to the world by the
idealists of the Fatherland.

One of the especially interesting incidents in Mrs.
Stanford's philanthropic and romantic life is her crea-
tion of a special fund for the purchase of books for
the university library — almost a prophetic endeavor
on her part in the light of the appalling disaster that
was soon to affect all the great libraries of the Bay
district. In February, 1905, as she was about to sail
for the Hawaiian Islands in the hope of restoring her
health, she delivered to the board of trustees a letter
of instruction w^ith respect to the disposition of her
jewels, which in 1899 had been transferred to the
trustees to insure the completion of the Memorial
Church. She said: "I was subsequently enabled to
erect the Memorial Church without the necessity of
resorting to the sale of these jewels. In view of the
facts and of my interest in the future development of
the university library, I now request the trustees to
establish and maintain a library fund, and upon the
sale of said jewels, after my departure from this life,
1 desire that the proceeds therefrom be paid into said
fund and be preserved intact and be invested in
bonds or real estate as a part of the capital of the
endowment, and that the income therefrom be used
exclusively for the purchase of books and other pub-
lications. I desire the fund to be known and desig-
nated as the Jewel Fund." In 1908, in accordance
with these instructions from Mrs. Stanford, the
board of trustees established the "Jewel Fund," call-
ing it into activity through the following resolution.
"Now, therefore, in order to carry out said plan of
Mrs. Stanford and to establish and maintain an ade-
quate library fund and to perform the promise made
by this board to her, it is — Resolved, that a fund of
$300,000, to be known and designated as the Jewel
Fund is hereby created and established, which fund
shall be preserved intact, and shall be separately in-
vested and kept invested in bonds or real estate by
the board of trustees, and the increase of said fund
shall be used exclusively in the purchase of books
and other publications for the library of the Leland
Stanford Junior University, under the supervision
and direction of the library committee of this board
of trustees." The immediate result ol this action was
to make available for the purchase of books about
$20,000 each year. In 1910. also, the board of trus-
tees accepted the design of Edwin Howland Blash-
ficld, the artist and author whose work at the Colum-
bian Exposition, in the Congressional Library at
Washington, in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and the
private residence of C. P. Huntington, New York
City, has given him lasting fame, for a book-plate to
be placed in all books purchased on account of the
Jewel Fund. From this journey to Honolulu Mrs.
Stanford did not return alive, for she breathed her
last in the Hawaiian Islands on February 28, 1905.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

333

GEORGE MILLER BROWN.— Interesting, in-
structive and inspiring is the story of the part played
by the many sons and daughters of historic old
England who, in settling as pioneers in California
and the neighboring sister states, have contributed
mightily, through hard work, venture and sacrifice,
to the upbuilding of great commonwealths. Promi-
nent among such worthy pioneers of the "right little,
tight little island" who have helped to lay broad
and deep the foundations of romantic California, and
in doing so best developed the resources of the
Golden State, is George Miller Brown, a native of
Gloucestershire, England, long prominent as one of
the most successful growers of Bartlett pears in the
Santa Clara \'alley, and very influential — fortunately
always in the direction of ennobling Christian en-
deavor and moral uplift — as a far-seeing capitalist.

Mr. Brown was born at Stow-on-the-Wold, in
Southwest England, on August 16, 1843, fortunate
in his honorable parentage, but unhappily the fam-
ily was so soon broken up that at a very early age
he was compelled to push out into the world and
struggle for himself. He went to school only until
his eighth year, but being naturally apt, got more
out of his books and teachers than many a child of
less necessity. At nine years of age he drove a four-
o.x team hitched to a plow, being given that re-
sponsible job because he could "fill the bill" better
than any grown-up workman on the place. Seeing
the promise in the lad, his employer remarked,
"George, you will beat your master yet," and this
prophecy was, in time, literally fulfilled. He con-
tinued to work at farm labor on a large English
estate, and when he was only fifteen he was made
foreman and given charge of the cultivation of 300
acres, with a dairy and sheep, cattle and horses.

In 1861 Mr. Brown left England for the United
States, and landed in New York, then seething with
its first year's participation in the Civil War; and
probably on account of the disturbed conditions
there, he went on to Hamilton, Canada, on the
north shore of Lake Ontario. He accompanied his
brother, James M. Brown, a tailor, who previously
had made a trip to the United States, had gone as
tar as California, and had seen the stirring life of
the gold diggings in 1850. George Brown entered
the employ of a Hamilton doctor, and he continued
with him until he came out to California.

The steerage ticket to San Francisco at that time
cost .$100, which represented all the money Mr.
Brown had been able to save; but a friend who was
anxious that he go with him, and who had a small
capital of $2,000, advanced him enough cash to en-
able him to reach the Promised Land. When he
reached California, however, he had only twenty
dollars left, so he w'ent to work at once on a farm
in Alameda County and stayed there a year. He
repaid the thirty dollars advanced to him by his
friend — repaying in shining gold — all within sixty
days after his arrival in the Bay City in April, 1862.
When he had been in California two and a half
years, Mr. Brown followed his brother to Van-
couver Island, where he preempted some land near
Nanaimo. taking up 100 acres, and having brought
with him, by boat, a yoke of oxen and four cows,
he set to work to do the best he could with the
undeveloped tract.

At the end of two years, however, Mr. Brown was
not suited with his location, and so he turned his
claim, stock and all other possessions over to his
brother and came back to California. He had a
capital of $600 when he arrived at Nanaimo, and
when he arrived in Alameda in 1866 his last two-bits
were gone. He found his place open on Judge Hast-
ings' farm and for ten months continued in his em-
ploy; and then he worked for Franklin Pancos, the
pioneer strawberry grower, with whom he came
to Santa Clara County and formed a partnership.
They rented thirty-six acres in the Jefiferson district,
in Santa Clara County, in 1868, and put the entire
tract in strawberries; later he formed a partnership
with another young man who had set out ten acres
to strawberries on a part of Mr. Brown's present
land. About 1871 he bought out his partner, and
then he continued to raise strawberries on rented
land. He had twenty-two acres in berries and in the
height of the season it took ninety-eight men to pick
them before they spoiled, and when all his expenses
had been paid, he had just ten dollars left. It took
him thirteen years to pay for his first twenty-two
acres, the nucleus of his present place; since then
he has added by purchasing adjoining until he has
102 acres in a body, and it took forty-four years to
pay for it with all the improvements, for he kept
right on improving.

About forty years ago Mr. Brown helped put out
the pear trees on what is now Mrs. Weston's place.
There were some trees left, so he set them on his
own place, which was th» beginning of his present
orchard, in what is now the greatest Bartlett pear
district in California. Mr. Brown alone has 102
acres, which is said to be the finest Bartlett pear
orchard in the United States — decidedly an inspiring
triumph after years of hardship and discourage-
ments. Mr. Brown and his wife also have other
valuable realtv holdings and are active in financial
as well as commercial circles.

In San Jose. January 2'K 1885, Mr. Brown was
married to Miss Emma Lol)l), also a native of Eng-
land, who was born at St. Hoswell, a daughter of
Henry and Jane Lobb, who emigrated with their
family via the Isthmus of Panama in 1869, to Nevada
County. Cal.; the father was a miner in Grass Val-
ley until they came to San Jose, where he and his
wife passed their remaining years. The union of Mr.
and Mrs. Brown has been blessed with the birth of
five children: Alfred is the foreman of his father's
ranch and is also the owner of pear orchards and a
prominent nurseryman, raising all kinds of fruit trees
for the wholesale and retail trade. He has come to
be known as an authority on horticulture and his
advice is frequently sought by others. Albert is
engaged in auto transportation, having a fleet of
trucks for the purpose; he married Miss Viola Chew
and they have three children. His headquarters are
in San Jose where he resides with his family. Wal-
ter, when only seventeen, enlisted for service on the
Mexican border, was later sent to France, where he
was wounded, and was honorably discharged at the
completion of his patriotic service; he married Isabel
Shirley and they have one son. Ella L. is a graduate
of the San Jose State Normal, and during the World
War served for ten months in the Red Cross as a
field volunteer, paying her own expenses. She went

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

overseas, serving in France, and since her return
makes her home with her parents. She is very fond
of travel and is somewhat of a globe trotter, having
visited every continent, as well as the South Seas,
Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, West Indies
and Azores, and has also dug gold in Alaska. She
has crossed the Arctic Circle and has sailed almost
to the Antarctic Circle. She is now in charge of the
relief work for San Jose Post No. 89, American
Legion, and is a member of American Women's
Overseas League of San Francisco. Edith, a gradu-
ate of the Santa Clara high school, was also very
patriotic and was placed in charge of Red Cross work
for the Jefiferson district during the war. She is now
the wife of Floyd Jamison, who served with the
A. E. F. in France; he is an electrician, and they
make their home in San Jose, where she is active in
the work of Trinity Episcopal Church.

In national political affairs a Republican, and in
respect to creed and church membership an Episco-
palian, Mr. Brown and his wife are broad-minded
citizens, delighted when participating in church work
under any acceptable banner. Mr. Brown's life is
guided by the Golden Rule of doing unto others as he
would be done by. He is one of the most liberal
and enterprising men in Santa Clara County, and
there is no worthy movement that has for its aim
the betterment of the conditions and the enhancing
of the happiness of the people of his community
that does not receive his hearty support. He is well
known as a very liberal contributor to civic organi-
zations and the Red Cro^, as well as other humani-
tarian societies. It is to men of the type of George
Brown that California owes much of its present
development, for he was not afraid to venture and
work to develop the raw land until the orchards
of the valley have become a world-famous garden
spot. Mr. Brown is well read and well informed,
and having a retentive memory and being a good
narrator of events, is an interesting conversationalist.
He has a comfortable home, and being a big-hearted
man, he loves to dispense the old-time California
hospitality, so that it is indeed a pleasure to enjoy
a visit with this pleasant old pioneer.

MRS. MARY HAYES-CHYNOWETH.— The in-
terest awakened by a visit to the beautiful estate of
Edenvale, with its sixty acres of well-kept grounds
is heightened by a knowledge of the wonderful per-
sonality who once lived and reigned there, Mrs.
Mary Hayes-Chynoweth, who, until the time she
passed away, continued with undiminished enthu-
siasm and power the remarkable manifestations of
spiritual life evidenced even in the years of her
childhood. The deep religious fervor that was one
of her predominant characteristics came as an in-
heritance from her father. Rev. Abraham Folsom, who
was a minister of the Free Will Baptist faith. Sup-
plementing this inheritance there early came into her
aspiring soul a power which she accepted as a gift
from God and which shaped the course of her use-
ful existence, and resulted in her efficient service as
pastor of the True Life Church of San Jose.

In the early day Rev. Abraham Folsom left Ver-
mont, where he was born and where his parents.
Daniel and Mary (Moody) Folsom had lived and
labored. With a pioneer instinct and an earnest
desire to preach the Gospel in regions then just

opened to the civilizing influences of .'\merican set-
tlement, he settled in Holland, Erie County, N. Y.,
and there his daughter, Mary, was born October 2.
1825. Later he moved to Cuba, same state, and
finally, when his daughter was twenty-three years
of age, he identified himself with the then sparsely
settled state of Wisconsin. While still a mere child
the daughter had given evidence of the possession
of peculiar qualities. When she was five, two years
after the family had settled in Cuba, her little sister
was accidently and seriously burned on the head.
Her frantic cries were continued in spite of every
effort to relieve her. About 1:30 in the morning
the older sister was awakened, dressed and came into
the room where the little sufferer lay in extreme
pain. As she took the child into her arms, her
cries stopped and soon she was sleeping comfortably.
As she grew older neighbors began to come to her
for help in cases of sickness. Many a page might
be filled with accounts of her successful labors in
relieving the sick. One instance of the kind, oc-
curring when she was ten, inajr be mentioned among
the many of a similar nature. A neighbor hurried
to their home one day, saying that he feared his wife
was dead. Hastening to their home, the child found
the woman with jaws set. apparently in the embrace
of death. After rubbing the body for a time she
asked for angelica, with which she made a tea. The
absence of a tooth in the woman's mouth enabled
her to force a small amount of the tea into the
throat. In a very short time the sufferer returned
to consciousness and to health. The cure was re-
markable when it is considered that the child knew
nothing of medicine nor the effects of angelica. The
idea had come to her as an inspiration and the
physician on his arrival praised her timely action,
adding that the lady would have been dead had it
not been for her help.

The environments of pioneer life and the limited
means of the family prevented Miss Folsom from
attending school. Her entire schooling did not cover
a period of one year. Notwithstanding this privation,
by research and reading she acquired such a thor-
ough education that her labors as a teacher were
successful to a gratifying degree. When only twelve
years of age, feeling that she should not be a burden
to her father, she desired to support herself by go-
ing out to work, but her father persuaded her that
she was too small for self-support. A few weeks
later she was called to the home of Mrs. Webster,
a neighbor, who was ill with inflammatory rheuma-
tism. The remedies she suggested were so prompt
in action that the woman was able to take up her
weaving within two days. In this home she re-
mained for a year as an assistant and afterward she
made her own way in the world. When in her
eighteenth year she took up a summer school that
her brother, William A. Folsom, had taught the
previous winter and her success in the work led her
to follow the profession for seven years. After
settling with her parents in Waterloo, Wis., she en-
gaged in teaching there. During the last two years
of her work as an instructor her leisure hours were
largely devoted to prayer. Six months before the
close of her last term the Fox sisters had begun their
promulgation of spiritism. In alarm lest relatives
or friends might be led into their doctrines, she
prayed even more earnestly than before, asking God

V^C,^ ^ Cily^^^yO (^^"^<-y^X>^<J-U^-<.^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

337

!»

to show her the truth and to reveal to her the im-
mortality of the soul. The answer to her petition
was long delayed, but still she continued in prayer,
determining that naught but death should seal her
lips until God revealed to her the evidence she de-
sired. With the close of her school on Friday, she
returned home. The following Sunday morning serv-
ices were held in the church near by and she pre-
vailed on the other members of the family to attend
while she remained at home with her father. The
homely task of dishwashing was engaging her at-
tention when she fell to the f^oor, crushed by what
seemed to her a hundred-pound weight At the same
time she began to pray in an unknown tongue, as
impelled by the power of God. Her father questioned
this unseen power through his daughter and was
there told of the work before her for which she was
to prepare herself and in doing so do the will of
God. By a careful study of the miracles related in
the Bible and comparing with her work, all became
convinced that the divine spirit had blessed her in
answer to her prayers. For two years she was
under the divine influence, praying unceasingly and
deprived herself at the request of the controlling pow-
er of all substantial food except bread. With the in-
dwelling of the holy spirit there came wonderful
power in healing the sick and alleviating pain. From
the regions round about came the sick and suffer-
ing in such numbers that she had not time for all.
Calls came to her from Whitewater, East Troy,
Waukesha and other Wisconsin towns, where she
was invited to preach in churches and schoolhouses.
Contrary to her w'ishes in the matter of remuneration
she was finally prevailed upon to accept all gifts
voluntarily offered, as by doing so it would confer
a benefit upon those whom she helped. The money
thus received and her salary as a teacher were given
toward paying the interest on the mortgage on her
father's farm. Indeed, in all the years of the con-
tinuance of the family circle, she contributed to its
maintenance, proving herself a devoted daughter.

At the age of twenty-eight years Miss Folsom be-
came the wife of A. E. Hayes. In addition to tak-
ing charge of their home at Waterloo, Wis., and
rearing their three children, E. A., Jay O., and May
Hayes, she preached as the spirit guided her. Often
a large number of people would come to her home for
religious instruction, and invariably she ministered
to their bodily needs as well as their spiritual neces-
sities. About 1872 she made her first visit to Cali-
fornia. After the death of Mr. Hayes, she accom-
panied her sons to Santa Clara County and pur-
chased the place that is now beautiful "Edenvale,"
situated on the Monterey Road, about seven miles
south of San Jose. From the beginning of her resi-
dence at Edenvale thousands visited her to seek coun-
sel and throughout her remaining days she continued
her ministrations to body and soul. Her second hus-
band, T. B. Chynoweth, an attorney of San Jose,
died about one year after their marriage, and from
that time to the day of her death, her life was given
wholly to religious labors. Her sons have become
prominent men in the Santa Clara Valley and as
owners of the San Jose Mercury and Herald wield
a large influence in the permanent upbuilding of this
portion of the state. The family have become weal-
thy, prosperous and honored, and much of their
riches has been devoted to spreading the primitive

Gospel before the world. This wealth came direct
to Mary Hayes-Chynoweth as a reward for her un-
selfish Christian labors. Her life record has no dup-
licate in America, and notwithstanding her great
wealth, she lived humbly and was constantly doing
good among the people who knew and appreciated
her example and noble work.

The True Life Church, founded in 1903, has in its
membership an earnest body of cultured people. The
ceremony of organization, November 22, was simple,
yet exceedingly impressive, and brought to the
thoughts of the onlookers memories of the New
Testament narrative of the founding of the early
Christian Church. The declaration of principles was
read and subscribed to, after which a board of trus-
tees were elected to serve one year and the articles
of organization were adopted. On the day of the
founding of the church, Mr. E. A. Haves 'read the
statement of brief, previously signed by those who
proposed the organization of the movement. It read
as follows:

"We. the undersigned, for mutual help in spiritual
development and in order to more etlectually spread
the knowledge of the truth, hereby associate our-
selves together as the True Life Church of San Jose,
Cal., and declare the cardinal principles of our re-
ligious belief to be as follows:
I.

"We hold that religion consists in pure and holy
hvmg and unselfish doing, and not in professions.
II.

"We believe in God, the Creator and Ruler of the
universe, and in Him only as the author of salvation
for every human being, through developing Himself
m each soul to the fullness of the Christ life as
shown forth in the New Testament. We believe
that It is the destiny of every human soul, when he
so wills and labors with sufficient diligence to that
end, to develop to the same purity and spiritual power
as Christ is represented in the Bible to have reached.
III.

"In order to reach that end a constant dual ef-
fort by each individual is a necessity.

"First: Each one must pray unto God for an in-
crease of His Life and power within him, and must
desire as the chief of all valuable possessions to have
incorporated in life and character all that is pure and
holy in thought, word and deed.

"Second: Each must resist with all his will the
promptings of his lower nature, and overcome as
rapidly as he can the temptations to evil.
IV.

"We are convinced that the Christ standard of per-
fection in human life is possible for each one of us
and that spiritual light and wisdom come as results
of growth and the overcoming of the physical ele-
ments in each nature, because of the manifestations
of God's life and power which have been brought
to the world through Mrs. Hayes-Chynoweth. Among
other things she has healed the sick by the lay-
ing on of hands when no human agency could al-
leviate their sufferings; she has preached the Gos-
pel without previous study, but as the truth was
given her through inspiration at the time; she reads
the human heart as an open book, and knows its
yearnings and needs which God helps her satisfy
and supply; she has had revealed to her the where-
abouts of the wealth hidden in the earth, as well

338

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

as many of the mysteries of the spiritual world.
' God is no respector of persons and what He has
done for Mrs. Hayes-Chynoweth He will do for
all of His children who work for the spiritual life
with the same zeal and singleness of purpose with
which she has worked.

"We each pledge ourselves to do all in our power
to overcome the physical elements in our natures and
to grow from day to day in purity and godliness;
to do everything we can to add to the interest of
the meetings of this organization, and to induce as
many others as possible to attend them in order
that they may be benefited with ourselves."

Since its organization the True Life Church has
grown in numbers, in zeal and efiEective service, and
through the publication called "The True Life," has
become a well-known factor in religious circles. With
the deepest friendship tow^ard all denominations and
all sects striving to upbuild the world spiritually,
Mrs. Hayes-Chynoweth endeavored, with all the pow-
er of her forceful, prayerful life, to lead people to
return to the doctrines of the Scriptures as preached
by the Apostles. Up to the time of her death, she
retained her activity, mentally and physically, and
continued her self-sacrificing efforts in helping the
poor and needy.

Mary Hayes-Chynoweth passed from this earthly
sphere on July 27, 1905, beloved by all who knew
her and mourned by her family and a large circle of
friends. The following tribute paid by Dr. Eli Mc-
Clish, president of the University of the Pacific, tells
in simple words of her noble and self-sacrificing
work and the high esteem in which she was held:
"Today we come to stand by the side of the casket
containing the remains of our neighbor, our friend,
and the friend of humanity. For eighty years she
has walked, from her humble parsonage horn
through the paths of Wisconsin, out by the Great
Lakes, across the plains to California, about the high-
ways and byways of this county, and particularly
about the beautiful home at Edenvale, everywhere
scattering words of kindness, ministering in tender
grace by sympathetic and. healing touch to rich and
poor, man or woman of any race, that she might
help; and now, more eloquent than any words that
can be uttered is this silent tribute of your presence,
are those unbidden tears on your cheek, and the
hushed lips that have so often moved in the utter-
ance of truth. And what shall we say? How does
it come that the largest church in the community
is packed to its doors at this presence? I answer,
because of what she was. In the first place, she was
preeminently a religious woman. Not a graduate of
a school, not a philosopher in the so-called sense
of philosophy, not a philanthropist in the sense of
having her name numbered as the founder of col-
leges or planter of eleemosynary asylums for the
needy, but as a devoted religious woman. Her re-
ligion was not ecclesiastical, but was an expression
of spiritual reality; faith in the unseen, which ren-
dered her faithful. Her only recognition of a faith
that was worth anything was a faith that makes one
faithful. She was not careful about the articulation
of a creed, but she was intensely careful about the
soul being open to God and responsive to His Spirit.
The true life was what she aimed for, whether as a
girl teaching school in Wisconsin, as a mother in
her home, or as a grandmother ministering to the
little children about her knee.

"She had two great dominating thoughts. You.
possibly, are as familiar with them as I am. She
believed in God and the human soul. She had no
doubt of them, she had experience with both of
them. She believed that there were many things
that she did not know, but she believed that the
law by which we comprehend God is the law of love,
and that the law by which it shall unfold itself
until it shall become like the Father is the law of
love; and so, without the articulation of a creed, she
insisted that we should hold ourselves as the bud
on the rose, whose soul it is, receptive to the sun
that shines for it and the breeze that blows upon
it, open and receptive, so that under the divine sun
and air we will come to be beautiful and fragrant
and helpful; and so she taught that more important
than the talk about God is the knowing God in the
intimacy of the soul, and allowing the life to be un-
folded by the direction and movement of the Divine
Spirit; for God is not a far-otf God, but immanent
within, transcendent without, everywhere present with
the strength of the Father and the tender grace of
the mother.

"In the second place she was an apostle. You
remember our Lord selected out of his disciples the
apostles. I suppose it was no arbitrary selection.
Some seeds grow into trees and develop foliage
green and luxuriant but do not scatter seeds. Others
as they grow gather energy from the sun and soil
and dew and rain, and transmit it into the ripening
flower, until with distended capsule it bursts and
sends its seeds everywhere. There are men who
spontaneously gather truth that they may enrich oth-
ers by it. She never sought truth for truth's sake,
but for humanity's sake. What cared she about phil-
osophy? Let us find the truth that will feed the
child, that will inspire the man, that will give him
integrity, that will enable him to help humanity.
That is the truth that she hunted, not to see its
beauties as one turns a diamond, but a truth to be
put into otTier lives to make them beautiful with the
consciousness of God ....

"I noted her last words were, "I have never
harmed anyone.' How- she thought of humanity, of
the tenants on the place! I was touched today as I
saw one after another, men and women and children,
enter the silent room and then return with the high-
est tribute that man can pay, the tribute that can-
not be expressed except by the unbidden tear. All out
in the cottages, out in the park, the little children
knew her, the toilers knew her, and they knew that
she tried to live the True Life.

" 'No angel, but a dearer being, all dipt in angel

instincts.
Breathing Paradise, and yet all native to her place.'
"A comforter to those in sorrow, healing by her
sympathetic touch those who were sick, harming
none, helping all. she went through her eighty years
of life and came down to her grave like a shock
of corn in its season. Her name will linger: those
dumb lips will speak. In the language of the apostle.
'She being dead yet speaketh.' "

WILLIAM CASPAR BLABON.— A member of
an early pioneer family is William Caspar Blabon,
who has made a name for himself as a successful
orchardist and well driller, and has been engaged in
the latter occupation throughout California. He was
born September 9, 1861, on the farm of Moses

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cc.^^

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

341

Blabon, his uncle, who resided on theMountain View
Road. His father, Walter L. Blabon. was a native
of Franklin County, Maine, and his mother was Miss
Anna F. White before her marriage and was born
and reared in Boston, Mass. The paternal grand-
father, Capt. Otis Blabon, came to California around
Cape Horn in 1846, and was a member of the vigil-
ance committee in the earlj', turbulent days. Walter
L. Blabon came to California via Panama in 1860.
Here he engaged in farming and in 1864 purchased
130 acres, the old homestead, which he improved with
a family orchard and followed general farming.
William Caspar Blabon now owns his father's old
home and a part of the old farm, which he now
devotes to raising prunes. He was educated at the
Lincoln school and in private schools of Santa Clara
County, after which he engaged in well drilling. He
has continued successfully in this line of work for
twenty-five years and is still engaged in developing
water wells in many sections of California.

The marriage of Mr. Blabon united him with Miss
Annie Beasworrick, the daughter of John and Mary
E. (Billings) Beasworrick. who came from England
to Santa Clara. Mr. Beasworrick was emploj'ed in
the New Almaden mines for many years and there
Mrs. Blabon was born. They are the parents of
two children, Annie May and William Caspar, Jr.
Politically Mr. Blabon is an adherent of the Republi-
can party. He is at all times interested in the pro-
gress and advancement of the community which has
for so long been his home.

MILTON A, BOULWARE.— The advanced and
eminently satisfactory state of the undertaker's pro-
fession in California today is undoubtedly due to such
far-seeing, idealistic and progressive men as Milton
A. Boulware, the secretary of the San Jose Under-
taking Company, who was born in Little Calaveras
Valley, Santa Clara County, on Washington's birth-
day, 'l856. His father, John Wesley Boulware, a
farmer in Missouri, married Miss Louisa Rebecca
Lewis, and together they crossed the wide prairies
in 1849, settling at first in Little Calaveras Valley.
In 1860, they removed to Palo Alto; and there they
continued to live until they died, aged about sixty-
four years. They had seven children, and Milton was
the second of the family. He attended the public
schools in Santa Clara County, and then took a
course in the business college; and when he was ready
to do for himself, he sold merchandise in the General
Farmers' Union. Next, for a number of years, he
was bookkeeper for T. W^. Hobson & Company, and
after that, also for a number of years, bookkeeper
and cashier for the Rucker Bros. Furniture Com-
pany. When he left that firm, it was to assist J. E.
Rucker for a couple of years in the real estate field.
In 1900 he joined the staflf of the San Jose Under-
taking Company, and he has been here ever since.

On December 24, 1878, Mr. Boulware was married
at San Jose to Miss Mary Elizabeth Rucker, the
daughter of Joseph E. Rucker, a well-known pioneer
realty man, and their union has been blessed wMth the
birth of twin daughters. Helen K. is the wife of
Grover C. Emmons, a minister of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and Susie W., now Mrs. J. R.
Connor, whose son, Douglas Conner, is the first
grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. Boulware. The family
attend St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church; and
Mr. Boulware is a member of the Royal .Arch and
Knights Templar Masons, and for thirty-two years

was secretary of San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. & .\. M.
He also belongs to the Elks, the Modern Woodmen
of America, the Eastern Star and the Order of Amar-
anth. In national politics a Republican, Mr. Boul-
ware, who is also fond of ranch and out-door life,
finds his greatest pleasure in promoting, in a non-
partisan manner, whatever is to the best interests
of the community.

JAMES PIERONNET PIERCE. — Prominent
among the noted captains of industry who have con-
tributed greatly toward the development of the re-
sources of the Golden State, the late James Pieronnet
Pierce, will ever be given an enviable place in Cali-
fornia history. His father, Henry Miller Pierce, was
born in Axminster, Devonshire, England. His mother,
Susan Pieronnet, whose parents were both French,
was born in Wayford, England. In 1820, she, with
her parents moved from England to Friendsville,
Pa., and was soon followed by Henry Miller Pierce,
whose father, John Harvey Pierce, had oflfered $10,000
to any of his sons who would go to America to live,
'■laving great faith in the future of this country.
Therefore, Henry M. got both the money and the
girl he had wanted before she left England.

James P. Pierce was born at Friendsville, Pa.,
August 25. 1825, where he remained until he reached
his majority, when he moved w-est to Michigan and
there engaged in the business of general merchandis-
ing at Constantine. There he met Miss Amelia Ann
Pease, a native of Ann Arbor, whom he married at
Jackson on August 25, 1852; he was then just twenty-
seven years of age and she seventeen, and together
they came to California in 1854, reaching San Fran-
cisco by way of the Isthmus. Almost immediately
they went to Yuba County and there, at Smartsville,
Mr. Pierce engaged in hydraulic mining, becoming a
leading operator before he sold out in 1878. He might
have continued uninterruptedly in that important field
had not the death of a brother-in-law, A. H. Houston,
drawn him back to San Francisco to take charge of
an altogether different enterprise. Mr. Houston, as
early as 1867, had undertaken to build part of the
sea wall along the San Francisco water front, under
contract with the board of .state harbor commission-
ers, and when he passed away he had finished only a
part of that great undertaking and had gone to great
expense in quarrying and cutting granite. Mr. Pierce
succeeded to Mr. Houston's interests, and success-
fully completed 1130 feet of the sea w-all under a new
and enlarged contract, receiving as his compensation
$240 per lineal foot.

From 1868, for seven or eight years, Mr. Pierce's
family lived in San Francisco, and during that time
he established general offices there, although his main
interests continued to be the exploitation of hydraulic
mining properties in Yuba County, which he still
operated for many years after finishing the sea wall.
Ill 1866 he purchased from Mr. Lent a very beautiful
country home, occupying eighty-eight acres on the
west side of Santa Clara, naming the place "New
Park," after the country home of his grandfather in
England. The price paid Mr. Lent was $48,500, a
very large sum for those days. It abutted on Frank-
lin Street and included the present site of the Car-
melite Monastery and a part of what is now the coun-
try home of R. T. Pierce. He continued to own and
operate the Blue Gravel Mine, which was enlarged to
include a water proposition and a large lot of land,
and renamed it The Excelsior Water & Mining Com-

342

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

pany, under which title it was conducted until sold ni
1881 to a syndicate composed of Haggin & Tevis, and
others. His interest in this deal amounted to $600,000.

In 1877 Mr. Pierce bought a small planing mill in
Santa Clara and changed its name of Enterprise
Mill to the Pacific Manufacturing Company, and m-
corporated it in 1879. He purchased some timber
lands in the Santa Cruz Mountains and built a saw-
mill at Ben Lomond and put in the first band saw to
be operated in California. Mr. Pierce at one time
owned the Empire Gold Mine in Grass Valley, which
he sold in 1872 to the father of W. B. Bourn for
$150,000. This mine was developed by the Bourns
to one of the largest and most profitable in the state.
Soon after organizing the Pacific Manufacturing Com-
pany, Mr. Pierce became quite active as a lumberman
and in addition to the Ben Lomond Mill he pur-
chased timber land.s an.i built a sawmill at Ash Creek
at the foot ot Mt. Shasta. At this time he was a
pioneer in the sugar and white pine industry. He also
owned timber lands at La Moine near Dunsmuir. He
founded the Bank of Santa Clara County and erected
the building which it occupied on the corner of Main
and Franklin streets. He served as trustee of Mills
Seminary, afterwards Mills College, for many years,
devoting a great deal of time to its interests, and
making it many gifts.

Seven children survived Mr. and Mrs. Pierce. The
eldest son, James H. Pierce, president of the Pacific
Manufacturing Company, resides on the Alameda in
San Jose; he married Marion P. Thurston, arid they
had two daughters, Edith, now the wife of J. G. Ken-
nedy of Palo Alto, and Mildred, now deceased, who
was the wife of George Corner Fenhagen, a promi-
nent architect of Baltimore, Md. Richard T. is the
tieasurer of the Pacific Manufacturing Company and
resides on one of the finest fruit ranches in the Santa
Clara \'alley and has a beautiful home. Caroline L.
became Mrs. W. J. Casey, and is deceased. Annie A.
married F. D. Goodhue and resides in Pasadena.
Grace I. became Mrs. F. D. Madison, and is deceased.
Florence is Mrs. F. H. Beaver, and resides in San
Francisco, where her sister, Frances, now Mrs. L. L.
Morse, is also living. Mr. Pierce passed away on
February 26, 1897, and was buried beside his wife in
Laurel Hill Cemetery, San Francisco.

MRS. MARY A. WHITE.— A distinguished pio-
neer who has seen the marvelous development and
growth of Santa Clara Valley, and is today honored
Ijy all who know her for her own enviable part in
that development and expansion, is Mrs. Mary A.
White, who lives retired on Day Road, some two and
a half miles northwest of Gilroy. She was born in
County Roscommon, Ireland, on May 21, 1840, the
daughter of Thomas and Winnifred (Spellman) Ford,
well known in their land and generation. Thomas
Ford died in 1842, and in 1844 Mary Ford accompa-
nied her mother across the Atlantic to Boston, Mass.
Meanwhile Edward and James Ford came to Califor-
nia, and in 1855 Mrs. Ford and her family came out
to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama,
taking passage on the old steamer Sierra Nevada.
from New York to Aspinwall. They crossed the
Isthmus in a wagon and then traveled from Panama
to San Francisco aboard the side-wheeler Golden
Gate. Arriving in California, Mrs. Ford, Mary and
two sons came on to San Jose, to which city two
older brothers. Edward and James, had migrated.

Mrs. Ford died at Edenvale, December 17, 1886,
aged eighty years.

At San Jose, in 1858, Miss Ford married Thomas
White, who was born in Canada on November 24,
1836, and had come to California with his parents in
1853, via the Isthmus, traveling in much the same
manner as had the Fords. He was a fine young
man, and a very hard, honest worker; but his prom-
ising life was cut ofl all too early, and he passed
away in January, 1889. at his home near Gilroy. In
1879, the Whites had removed to a small ranch near
Gilroy, after Mr. White had engaged in ranching for
a while at Pine Ridge; and later Mr. White acquired
100 acres of the James Murphy ranch on Day Road,
which he farmed to grain and stock. After the death
of her husband, Mrs. White added eighty-eight acres
to the ranch, at the same time that she was rearing
and educating her twelve children, and later oversee-
ing the rearing of two grandsons under her roof.
-Although past eighty years, she is singularly alert
and her mental faculties are keen and still ready for
the varied demands of a modern day.

The children referred to have been: Thomas, who
died in infancy; Edward, who passed away when he
was nineteen; William, who resides with his wife
and three children at Gilroy; Annie remains at home
with her mother; Thomas, married, lives with his
w-ife and three children at Oakland, although they
have a ranch on the Watsonville Road; James, de-
ceased, is survived by his widow and two children,
and they reside at Colusa; John is also deceased,
but his widow and a son are living at Gilroy; a
daughter is Sister Viviana, a nun at the convent at
Gilroy; Charles White, who married and has a wife
and one child, is an orchardist on Day Road, Gilroy;
Frank is deceased; Louis, unmarried, lives at home
anrl is manager of the ranch; and Nellie also adds
her charm to the home circle. Mrs. White has done
much in her time to support St. Mary's parish; and
as a Democrat she has also exerted her best influence
for higher and better political conditions.

DAVID M. BURNETT.— A distinguished repre-
sentative of the California Bar of more than ordinary
interest because of his relation, as a descendant, to
one of the illustrious forefathers of the Golden State,
is David M. Burnett, son of John M. and Ellen
(Casey) Burnett, and grandson of Peter H. Burnett,
California's first governor. He was born in San
Francisco the day after Christmas, 1870, and at the
age of twelve matriculated at St. Ignatius College,
from which he was graduated on June 3, 1891, with
the Bachelor of Science degree. In the fall of the
latter year he entered the Hastings College of Law
in San Francisco; and while reading law, he was for
a year an instructor in Mathematics and English in
St. Ignatius College, and also for a year in Santa
Clara College. In August, 1894, he was admitted to
practice at the California Bar; and on the first of
September he began the practice of law in the office
of the late Charles F. Wilcox. Three years later, in
March, Mr. Burnett and H. E. Wilcox formed a
partnership which continued until February. 1917.
While in the law school, Mr. Burnett joined the fra-
ternity Phi Delta Phi. made up of law students; and
since then he has become a member of the Young
Men's Institute, Knights of Columbus, the Native
Sons, the National Union, the Sainte Claire Club and
the California Ph

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

345

The story of the Burnett family tree is particularly
interesting. Peter Hardeman Burnett was born in
Nashville, Tenn., in 1807, and grew up to be a trader
and a lawyer. In 1843 he made the overland journey
to Oregon, and soon after took a prominent part in
the organization of the territorial goverrmient. He
was sent to the legislature in both 1844 and 1848,
and then became a judge of the Oregon Supreme
Court. The great excitement about the discovery of
gold in California led him to abandon everything in
Oregon and to hurry south, and for a short time he
himself w-orked in the mines; but when the aflairs of
the Sutter family and estate at New Helvetia be-
came so complicated, he accepted the responsibility
of their agent. In 1849 he rose to prominence in
actively urging the formation of a state government
in advance of Congressional authority; he energetic-
ally opposed the military direction of the territory by
the U. S. Government; but he yielded to the calling
of a constitutional convention, and under the new
constitution was at once elected governor, and as-
sumed office ahead of all Congressional action in
September, 1850. He resigned the governship in
1851, practiced law, and then became one of the
supreme judges of California in 1857-58. For seven-
teen years, from 1863. Judge Burnett was very prom-
inent in San Francisco as the president of the cor-
poration known as the Pacific Bank; and in 1878 he
published a volume entitled, "Recollections of an
Old Pioneer," which is regarded as a very valuable
contribution toward an understanding of the early
political and constitutional history of the Pacific
Coast. In 1880, Judge Burnett retired and spent the
balance of his life in the family circle of his son,
John M. Burnett, where he passed away on May 16,
1895, aged eighty-seven years.

John M. Burnett, the father of our subject, was
born in Missouri in 1838, and for awhile was sent to
private schools. Later, he entered Santa Clara Col-
lege, from which he was graduated in 1858 with the
A. B. degree. A year later, that honored institution
gave him the Master of Arts degree. He studied
law, was admitted to practice in 1865, and then
opened a law office in San Francisco.

On July 2, 1902, David M. Burnett was married to
Miss Mabel Arques, the daughter of Luis Arques, a
prominent attorney; and their son, John M. Burnett,
born on May 1, 1903, has lived to represent the
fourth generation of the Burnetts and their enviable
association Avith California history. They also have a
daughter, Martha Arques Burnett, a student in the
San Jose high school.

ALEXANDER P. MURGOTTEN.— Well known
throughout the state as the editor and publisher of
The California Pioneer and later of The California
Elk, Alexander P. Murgotten has done much in this
capacity to promote the good of the organizations
which his papers represented, and has also rendered
efficient assistance in advancing the interests of San
Jose, the city in which he has resided for fifty-six
years. A member of one of the early pioneer fam-
ilies of California, he has spent nearly all of his life
in this state, and by his intelligence, ability and in-
tegrity has been influential in promoting its indus-
trial, social, fraternal and political welfare. A son
of the late Henry Clay Murgotten, he was born Feb-
ruary 10, 1846, in Lagro, Wabash County, Ind.,
and he comes of distinguished French ancestry, his
great-grandfather Murgotten having been a wealthy

Parisian. Grandfather Murgotten was an oflicer in
the French navy in 1808, served under Napoleon, and
after the second banishment of Napoleon was in a
ship that was lost off the coast of America. Being
rescued by an American vessel, he settled perma-
nently in Baltimore, Md., living there until his death,
of cholera, in 1831. He was a practical business man,
and quite well-to-do, for in addition to his earnings
he received regular remittances from his father in
France. The correct French spelling of his surname
Mr. Murgotten has never definitely ascertained.

In Muncie, Ind., December 24, 1837, Henry Clay
Murgotten married Susan Shafler, who was born in
Lycoming County, Pa., a daughter of Adam and
Elizabeth (Gordener) Shafler. Elizabeth Gordener
was of French ancestry, and was a daughter of
George Gordener, who was a life-long resident of
Lycoming County, Pa., and served as a soldier in the
Revolulionary War. On December 24, 1887, in Pla-
cerville, Cal., Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Murgotten cel-
ebrated their golden wedding anniversary, the occa-
sion being one of joyful memory. Mrs. Murgotten
lived but a few months longer, passing away in San
Jose, June 21, 1888. Of the children born of their
union two survive, namely; Mary H., widow of Hon.
William A. January, of San Jose, and Alexander P.,
the subject of this sketch. Henry Clay Murgotten
was a staunch Repuljllcaii in politics, a past grand
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and one
of the founders and leading members of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church of Placerville.

Coming with his mother to California when a boy
of six years, the father having preceded them, Alex-
ander P. Murgotten was carried across the Isthmus
on the back of a native. He was reared and educated
in Placerville, Eldorado County, attending the public
schools until sixteen years old. He was one of the
first newsboys in the mines, beginning to sell papers
as soon as he arrived there. The New York, Boston
and St. Louis papers, although six months and even
a year old, sold readily for fifty cents, and illustrated
papers brought fifty cents and a dollar each. He
later entered the employ of William A. January, pub-
lisher of the Mountain Democrat, and in his office
learned the printer's trade. Coming with Mr. Jan-
uary to San Jose, in 1866, on January 1, he worked
for two years on the Santa Clara Argus, as foreman
of the office. Embarking then in business for him-
self, he has since been extensively engaged in job
printing and publishing. In 1877 he started the Pio-
neer, a paper that had a good circulation and was
devoted to the interests of the California pioneers.
From 1885 until 1889 Mr. Murgotten w.i, in the em-
ploy of the Government, beim; ^uinriiitendent of
deposit melting in the United Stat.s Mint in San
Francisco, and likewise being the representative of
the superintendent between the melting, refining and
coining departments, in this capacity handling all the
gold twice, millions of dollars' worth of it passing
through his hands every day. On change of admin-
istration Mr. Murgotten returned to San Jose, and
as junior member of the firm of Cottle and Mur-
gotten resumed the publication of the Pioneer, con-
tinuing with his partner for five or more years. In
February, 1901, he established The California Elk,
a large, twelve-page quarto, issued monthly in the
interests of the Benevolent and Protective Order of

346

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Elks of the United States, also actively and profita-
bly engaging in a general printing business.

In San Jose, June 28, 1868, Mr. Murgotten married
Martfia Kelley Munroe, a native of Medina, Ohio.
Her father, Charles Munroe, started for California
by way of Cape Horn in 1851. He resided for a
while in San Jose, but during the excitement caused
by a rich discovery of gold in Central America, he
went to the mines of that country, and died there.

Mr. and Mrs. Murgotten celebrated their golden
wedding anniversary June 28, 1918. Of their union
five children were born, two living, Henry C. Mur-
gotten and Rev. Dr. F. C. Murgotten.

Politically, Mr. Murgotten is a Republican and
fraternally,' he belongs to San Jose Lodge No. 10,
F. & A. M. He is a Shriner, a Sciot, belongs to the
Scottish Rite and a member of the Sons of the Rev-
olution, is a past noble grand of Garden City Lodge
No. 142, I. O. O. F, and is a charter member of San
Jose Lodge No. 522. B. P. O. E. He was one of the
prime movers in the forming of the Santa Clara
County Pioneers' Society, which was organized June
22, 1875, and of which he was secretary for a quarter
of a century, resigning the position in 1900, but is
again occupying that office. Religiously, Mr. Mur-
gotten is a member of the Episcopal Church, and is
liberal in his religious views, according to everyone
the right to worship God as conscience dictates.

During the Exposition in San Francisco in 1915,
Mr. Murgotten was president of the California Pio-
neers of Santa Clara County and was instrumental in
engineering one of the largest and most interesting
days — Pioneer Day — when more than seventy thou-
sand attended from all parts of the state.

JULIUS MARTIN.— Numbered among the first
settlers in California who were instrumental in the
progress and growth of the Santa Clara Valley, and
more especially the section about Gilroy, mention is
made of Julius Martin, the first American to settle
here, taking up his residence in January, 1844. and
ever after maintaining his home here. He was born
in Stokes County, N. C, on January 2. 1804, the
son of wealthy parents, who gave him the very best
of educational advantages by sending him to Chapel
Hill College with the intention of his entering West
Point. As a student he excelled in many sports and
won a host of friends. One of his schoolmates was
Governor Stanley of North Carolina. Circumstances
were such that he did not enter West Point and he
moved to Alabama, then to Mississippi, and in 1833
to a little town called Sibley, near Independence,
Mo. There he lived, farmed and traded until 1843,
when he started on the overland journey to California
with his wife and three daughters.

One of his neighbors. Joseph Childs, with some
others, went to California in 1841 to "look over the
country" and so enthused were they with the soil
and climatic conditions, that when they went back
to Missouri in 1842, their stories created the desire
on the part of many friends to make this their home
and among these were Julius Martin and his family.
Their party consisted of thirty men, besides six
women and the children. They gathered at Shawnee
Mission and on May 31, 1843, began the long trek
across the continent, happy in the thought that at
the end of their journey they would find their heart's
desire. Among the party was David F. McClellan, a

nephew of the scout and trader, Capt. Joseph R.
Walker, who had come to California in 1833. Mc-
Clellan was informed by his father that the party
would meet Walker somewhere on the plains and to
try to induce him to turn back and guide the train in
safety through to the coast. The first 100 miles
were made slowly and as they got farther along they
encountered several trains en route for Oregon and
all traveled together in harmony and comfort. In
the trains encountered were Peter H. Burnett, who
became the first governor of California; S. J. Hens-
ley, Major Redding, J. W. Nesmith and others who
became prominent in various circles in pioneer days.

The little party reached the Kaw River, journeyed
westward to the south fork of the Platte, which
took them four days to cross, then on to Fort Lar-
amie, where the emigrants gave a grand ball, there
being some 1,500 in the party at that time. Leaving
the fort they soon encounted Captain Walker and
he agreed to act as their guide after he had de-
livered his furs at the fort. He caught up with them
at Independence Rock and saw them safely here.

Some miles west of Fort Hall the Oregon wagons
bade goodbye to the California contingent and the
latter wended their way slowly towards their goal.
They found plenty of game and kept their larders
well supplied. As they neared the California line
they began to run short of provisions and some of
the party made up a light pack train and traveled
rapidly to reach Sutter's Fort and get back to their
party before the snows set in. They reached the
fort, but were too late to make the return trip and
after several da\ s of waiting. Walker turned south
and guided the httlc liand by way of Walker's Lake
(now Owen';,) through Walker's Pass and thence to
Four Creeks (X'lsalia). Provisions were getting
shorter and at the lake they burned their wagons,
buried all castings and saws, etc., for they had
material for a saw and flour mill with them. With
women and children and light packs they started out,
but had to kill a mule for provender on the way.
They were forty-eight hours without water, then
found a spring and by scooping out a place large
enough, had plenty for the people and animals.
They arrived at what is now Visalia, then to Mis-
sion Soledad on the Salinas, in December, 1843,
worn out with the long and hard journey, but happy
to have reached the end of their travels.

Julius Martin and his little party came to San
Ysidro (Old Gilroy) a few days later and he located
there until in 1850, when he moved to a fine ranch
he had secured near New Gilroy, and this location
was ever afterwards his home. He served with Fre-
mont as a captain of American Scouts and both he
and his wife were present at Sonoma at the raising
of the Bear Flag. He left his family at Gilroy while
he tried his luck at mining, but finding that was not
his forte, turned his attention to trading with miners.
When he returned again to ranch life he began im-
proving his property and in time owned one of the
best ranches in this section of the county. It is
pleasant to relate that the original ranch is still in
possession of the heirs of Julius Martin and with
the passing of time has become very valuable prop-
erty. He took a very active part in the settlement of
this section, always lending a helping hand to those
seeking a home and kept open house for all way-

1

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

351

farers. For about thirty years he was blind, but he
was so famihar with locations and so sensitive to
touch that he would walk to Gilroy and about the
town without assistance.

Mr. Martin had married, on February 14, 1838,
Elizabeth Hedrick McPherson and she first saw the
light on November 23, 1819, in Roane County, Tenn.
She was a woman of many resources, and after her
husband lost his sight, she took charge of their
large ranch of some 1,300 acres and carried it on
successfully until her death. They had six children,
all girls, the first three born in Missouri and the
others in Santa Clara County: Mary married P. B.
Tully and died leaving two daughters — Mrs. Elmer
Ray of Gilroy and Mrs. Elizabeth Riggins of San
Francisco; Arzelia became the wife of Abraham
Lewis, she died leaving three children — George of
Los Angeles, Mildred, Mrs. James Sargeant, of Gil-
roy, and Abraham, an attorney in Honolulu; Martha
married Franklin Oldham and died, the mother of
four children, but now all are deceased. She was
only a babe of three months when the family began
their journey to California; Susan came next, and
she was the first white child, born by a few hours,
in the Santa Clara Valley. She is now Mrs. A.
Philbrook and lives in Susanville, Cal.; Georgia was
next to the youngest and was born at Old Gilroy.
She married first. Dr. James F. Johnson, a physician
of San Jose, and they had one son, Edward F. He
was graduated from the Philadelphia College of
Pharmacy in 1892, returned to Gilroy and embarked
in the drug business, married Elsie Garret of Sacra-
mento and they had two sons, Edward Martin and
Garret Abeel. He died on August 10, 1917, and the
business was continued by his widow until 1922,
when the oldest son, Martin Johnson, was graduated
from the University of California in Pharmacy, class
of '22, and now manages the establishment. His
grandmother sent him to college that he might take
his father's place in the business world. In 1922
Garret Johnson graduated from the Gilroy high
school. Mrs. James F. Johnson, in 1906, became the
wife of J. \V. Beane, who learned merchandising
with Marshall Field of Chicago and was a pioneer
merchant of Gilroy and later a trusted employe of
Ford & Sanborn Company of Salinas and King City,
but now retired in Gilroy. Julia F. was the youngest
girl and she married Charles Hornbcck and died
in 1921 in Gilroy, leaving one child, Edith, who with
her father is living on the old Martin homestead, one-
half mile from Gilroy. The daughters were edu-
cated at Notre Dame and Gates Institute.

The Martins entertained with the true Southern
hospitality and all travelers north and south always
found a welcome at their home. Many men of
prominence were their guests, among them IT. S.
Grant, later president of the LTnited States. Mrs.
Martin was glad to relate the early stories of Cali-
fornia and tell that she had lived under four flags —
Spanish, Alcalde, Bear and the American, and had
them on display at her home. She was a member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. South, and aided
the needy at all times. She died on December 2,
1900, having survived her husband from December
26, 1891, when he passed away, having reached the
good old age of eighty-seven years, eleven months
and twenty-six days. Mr. Martin was always of a

jolly disposition and although blind and almost
eighty-five, he could dance the fisher's hornpipe with
the grace of one half his age. He liked best of all
to talk of pioneer history and was an authority
sought by all delving into the history of the early
days. One of the responsible positions he filled before
courts were established was that of judge advocate
of his district and his word was law on all matters.
Mrs. Martin had a large collection of clippings and
papers relating to California history which she pre-
served with great care and now are a valuable acqui-
sition to the annals of the county. The old Martin
home is still standing and was built of logs hewed
by hand from the redwood and oaks found growing
near Gilroy in 1845.

HENRY MILLER.— Few among the names of
those pioneers who did the big things in helping to
develop and build up California into the Golden State
have come to have half of the fascination of romance
and the glamor of renown such as surrounds the hon-
ored name of Henry Miller, the cattle king of Cal-
ifornia and father of Los Banos. whose story is the
narrative, like that of a fairy tale, of the remarkable
career of a man whose industry, intellect and integrity
conquered one of the most promising, and in truth
one of the richest empires on the face of the earth.
A butcher boy in the days of his San Francisco
youth, he won lands and amassed a fortune above that
of many a king, and was lord, not only of all that
he could survey, but of twice the area of the king-
dom of Belgium. He reached his ninetieth year, and
it is safe to say that nearly eighty-five of those years
were periods of hard toil, and strenuous activity.

Henry Miller was born in Brackenheim, Wurtem-
berg, Germany, on July 21, 1827, and grew up a
farmer's boy. familiar with country life from early
childhood. When fourteen years old, he had, among
other duties the job watching over a flock of geese;
but one day he walked home, leaving the geese to
look after themselves, and informed his astonished
and skeptical sister that he was through with that
sort of slow routine and was going out into the world
to do something for himself. Two or three years
were spent in Holland and England, and then, setting
sail for New York, the ambitious young German
was engaged as a butcher in the small city even then
the New World's metropolis. The discovery of gold
in California in 1848 attracted not only the attention of
most of the civilized world, but it seized hold of Henry
Miller with such a grip that in the famous Argo-
naut year of '49 he joined the hurrying throngs try-
ing to cross the Isthmus of Panama, and himself
sought the new El Dorado. LIpon arriving in Pan-
ama, Henry Miller, then only twenty-two years of
age, discovered an exceptionally good opportunity for
engaging in business, and there formed a partnership
with an American; but the enterprise had been
launched only a few weeks, when Miller was stricken
with Panama fever — a most serious malady at that
time of inadequate medical skill and attendance.
When he had sufficiently recovered to hobble down
to his business house, he discovered that his partner
had swamped the business beyond all possibility of
salvation, so that when all the bills had been paid.
Miller had sufficient cash to obtain passage to San
Francisco, where he landed in 1850, with just five
dollars in his pocket, and a walking stick in his
hand. He was still weak, from the effects of the fever.

352

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

but he resolutely hobbled forth to seek employment,
and made it a point to call at every business house
along Montgomery Street. Usually, he met with
disappointment; but before the day was over, he had
engaged himself to a butcher.

A young man of Henry Miller's natural and already
developed ability could not be expected to accept
employment from another person very long, and
after the San Francisco fire in 1851, he leased a lot
on Jackson Street, erected a one-story building, and
there opened a retail butcher shop, and this unpre-
tentious business store with its very small stock but
early openings and late closings became the corner-
stone of the Miller fortunes. He went down into the
valleys below San Francisco, purchased beef cattle
and drove them into the city for butchering; and in
these journeyings about the country he became well-
acquainted with the cattle-raisers of the state and
their conditions. There were several large compet-
itors in the butcher business in San Francisco at
that time, and among them was one in particular,
Charles W. Lux, who was soon to appreciate Miller's
capabilities. In 1857, Henry Miller visited the cat-
tle-raising regions and quietly secured options on all
the available beef cattle north of the Tehachapi range,
and when the astonished buyers of his competitors
appeared there were no beeves to be had by them.
This splendid stroke of enterprise, marked at that
time, enabled Miller to make his own terms with Lux
and others, and partnership with Lux was the imme-
diate outgrowth of the puzzling situation.

The new firm entered the field vigorously, and
gradually began to acquire lands upon which to
graze its herds, for when Miller & Lux began their
business as a firm, a vast domain of unfenced graz-
ing land existed in the great sweep of valleys and
western slopes of the Sierra Nevada range— in fact,
millions of acres were unclaimed from the Govern-
ment. As the population increased, and the business
of Miller & Lux expanded, it became necessary to
increase the acreage held for grazing purposes, and
Spanish grants were bought at prices that would
astonish the ranchmen of today. A square mile could
then be purchased at a figure now quoted for a single
acre, and in those days even cowboy employees took
up Government land under the preemption, homestead
and desert-land acts, and after acquiring a title would
dispose of it to their employers for a few cents an
acre. In this way, and by purchasing the rights of
discouraged ranchers, the vast and tremendously val-
uable Miller & Lux empire was obtained. It required
foresight to inspire the investors, the power of looking
ahead and discerning what so many others with equal
opportunities failed to discover; but it also required
courage, nerve to carry the deals through.

One of the most notable purchases made by this
epoch-making firm was the great Santa Anita rancho
of 100,000 acres near Los Banos, which was obtained
from Hildreth & Hildreth with its vast herds, soon
after Henry Miller's advent in the San Joaquin
, Valley; and the Hildreth brand of three bars, crossed
through the center became the Miller & Lux brand
for many years thereafter. And whatever or where-
evcr the brand of Miller & Lux was to be found, one
might bank upon it that it represented a desirable,
superior quality, for the secret of the rise of Henry
Miller to the position of millionaire cattle baron was
his remarkable knowledge of cattle, and an equally
remarkable knowledge of men.

It is stated that Henry Miller at one time had the
ambition to own the whole of California, but whether
that be true or not, it is known that he was never
anxious to part with lands after he had once acquired
them, especially if they were suitable for grazing
purposes, and he was ever ready to invest all surplus
cash in the purchase of land. It is said, on the other
hand, that Charles Lux at one time became frightened
at his partner's purchasing proclivities, and sought to
retire from the business. "Mr. Miller, we now have
$100,000 in the bank in cash, and I think that this
is an opportune time to dissolve partnership. Let
us settle up." "You say that we have $100,000 in
cash?" replied Mr. Miller. "Well, wait until I return
from this trip." When Mr. Miller came back, Mr.
Lux found that the firm had just invested in more
land to the tune of $100,000, for Miller could not
pass up a good chance to invest in acreage when the
cash lay temptingly at hand. While Mr. Lux was
a good financier and office man, there is no doubt
of the fact that he was made a millionaire in spite of
hiniM-lt. anil tliat he owed much of his own prosperity
to his nioir aijmisMvc partner. He could not let go
wiit;i in \M-hr(l to, and he remained a member of
the lirni until his death in 1887.

Henry Miller reckoned his holdings by the square
mile, not by the acre, and a bit of evidence he gave in
court some years ago — entertaining reading today.
"In taking it ranch after ranch," he said, "in Santa
Clara County it has an extent of twenty-four miles
north and south, and about seven to eight miles east
and west. In Merced County we have thirty-six
miles north and south, and then about thirty-two
miles east and west. The Malheur property is an
extent of ninety miles northwest to southeast, and
about sixty miles north to south. Then comes the
purchase of what we call the Todhunter & Devine
property. That lies in Harney County, Ore., and
comprises over seven-tenths of 125 miles north and
south and about seventy-five miles east and west,
with a good distance in between." There is no doubt
whatever, however, that the amount of the Miller &
Lux holdings have been greatly overestimated. A
special writer for one of the noted San Francisco
dailies gave an estimate of 14,539,000 acres, but be-
hind these astounding figures was a journalistic pur-
pose of exaggerating, for with ownership and leases
combined, the total would not reach half of that fig-
ure. The richest holdings are in Merced and Madera
counties, and amount to probably 350,000 acres. The
Buttonwillow district will swell the total by 200,000
more, and Fresno County and other districts will
probably increase the San Joaquin holdings to 700,-
000 acres, and there are nearly 20,000 acres in the
region of Gilroy, and other, smaller tracts scattered
over the state. The Miller & Lux acreage in the
states of Nevada and Oregon will bring the grand
total up to nearly 3,000,000 acres. It is a common
saying among stockmen that Henry Miller could
travel from the Idaho line to the Mexican border and
camp on his own land every night; and no other
man in America ever has, or ever will again, con-
trol such an immense acreage of agricultural lands.
It almost staggers belief that this tremendous empire
was owned and occupied by one man's interests,
and was nearly all under his personal supervision.
Henry Miller was almost continually on the move in
the years of his health and activity, for he did most
of his work in the days before the automobile, al-

(^t^^^x^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

355

though he was one of the first to import a fine French
car. He came to dishke the machine, however, owing
to the rough roads he was generally compelled to
travel, and in rather short order he discarded it again,
and once more took to either his favorite buggy or
buckboard, in making his round of visits across the
vast Miller & Lux ranches.

In 1860. Henry Miller was married to Miss Sarah
Wilmarth Sheldon, a lady of culture and refinement,
and two daughters and a son were born to them.
Henry Miller, Jr., died in his fortieth year, survived
by a widow, an honored resident of Gilroy. The
youngest daughter. Miss Sarah Alice, was killed by
a runaway horse. Another daughter, Mrs. J. Leroy
Nickel, has resided at 2101 Laguna Street, San Fran-
cisco, and it was at her residence that Mr. Miller
expired, on October 14, 1916. George Nickel, a
grandson of the famous pioneer, has resided on the
Ortigalito ranch, eight miles to the southeast of Los
Banos. The immediate life estate was left to Mrs.
Nickel and her husband, who had taken a leading hand
in the management of the Miller & Lux properties,
and some $225,000 for surviving relatives of Mr. and
Mrs. Miller, and $30,000 in smaller amounts to em-
ployees, were provided for by bequests in the will.

A notable achievement of Henry Miller was his
organization and control of the San Joaquin & Kings
River Canal and Irrigation Company, and not a few
of his enterprises were productive of much benefit
to others, as well as to himself and near of kin. William
J. Stockton, the pioneer, who first became acquainted
with Mr. Miller in 1872. soon overcame his preju-
dices to great landholders and found that Miller was
performing a great service to other folks seeking to
establish themselves; the pioneer could go to his
straw-stacks and get straw for the asking, and to
Canal Farm and get a cow; and such courtesies were
given to rich and poor alike. When the section from
Los Banos to Newman was in dire straits for water,
Henry Miller, at a cost of some $3,000,000 built a
canal and delivered water to the people, without an
extra cent of cost to them. He also made a present
to the county of a road built at an expense of $45,000,
and running to the San Joaquin River. He was born
to rule, to lead, to point the way to others, and to get
there himself; he testified in court that during the
hard times in the five years following Mr. Lux's
death, he made $1,700,000 a year, or $8,000,000 in five
years, an amount tliat seems almost incredible, but
which must be true. Henry Miller was of striking
personal appearance, and in his prime was an exact
image of General U. S. Grant. He was simple in his
habits, and would tolerate no homage from anyone.
Dr. J. L. McClelland said, when Mr. Miller died:
"He has endowed no colleges, but he has given mil-
lions as he went along without exacting any pledge
of remembrance, or making any condition of pub-
licity. There are thousands of humble men and
widows who can testify that his giving of valuable
land and goodly sums of coin has been in strict accord
with the Scripture admonition, "Let not thy left hand
know what thy right hand doeth." And Andrew R.
Schottky, the distinguished lawyer, said: "I saw a
poor butcher boy coming from Germany to California;
I saw him accumulating vast acreages of land on the
Pacific Coast; I saw thousands of happy and pros-
perous homes on land developed and sold by him; I
saw no instance of colonists being defrauded and im-
poverished by being placed on poor land at high

prices. Underthinking persons will perhaps censure
him for his great wealth, but the fair minded will think
of the fact that in accumulating his wealth, he devel-
oped land and took advantage of opportunity, but
did not crush and destroy men. When all is said
and done, his was a life of intense usefulness, and
his contribution to the present and the future of Cal-
ifornia is large. The words of Mark Anthony at
the death of Brutus are peculiarly appropriate at the
death of Henry Miller: 'This was a man!'"

ANDREW P. HILL.— The position that Andrew
P. Hill occupies in the professional, commercial and
social life of San Jose is an evidence of the rare abil-
ity distinguishing his citizenship in this community.
The state of California has long been recognized by
artists as furnishing a diversity of scenes unsurpassed
by any other state in the union, and Mr. Hill is easily
recognized as a leader in the portrayal of nature; but
Andrew P. Hill's name and strenuous efforts will for-
ever be associated with the preservation to the state
and to humanity of the beautiful California Redwood
Park. Thousands of tourists visit this beautiful spot
annually, and reverence the man who so bravely
fought for the preservation of these wonderful trees,
and the people of California owe him a debt of grati-
tude for his perseverance and unselfish efforts in the
saving of this forest from the ravages of fire and van-
dals. Mr. Hill has long enjoyed the distinction of
being one of California's foremost artists. He has ex-
hibited pictures and taken gold medals in panoramic
photography at Buffalo, Omaha, St. Louis, New
Orleans, Portland, and the Mid-Winter Fair at San
Francisco.

Many of his canvasses adorn the walls of perma-
nent art exhibits and homes in California and other
states, and his wide experience and generally ap-
proved method of representation justify the influence
which he exerts in all matters pertaining to the estab-
lishment of high artistic ideals in the west. Mr. Hill
brings to his work the energy, excellence and distinc-
tion which is characteristic of the undertakings of
the artists, authors and statesmen of the state of In-
diana, where he was born near Valparaiso, Porter
County, August 9, 1853, and where he lived until he
was fourteen. A pride of ancestry centers around his
forbears; his paternal great-grandfather, John Hill,
served in the Revolutionary War under General Put-
nam, and he married Rebecca Harvey, niece of the
gallant general and hero of Bunker Hill; and Hya-
cinth Hill, daughter of John Hill, married Abraham
Garfield, father of James A. Garfield. Elijah B. Hill,
son of the Revolutionary soldier, carried a musket in
the war of 1812, and in time became one of the earliest
pioneers of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where he carried
mail to Cleveland, when that now flourishing com-
munity consisted of three houses. Elijah Putnam Hill,
father of Andrew Putnam, was born in Hillsboro,
Ohio, and w-as a buyer of furs for northern Indiana
for the Hudson Bay Company. In 1853, he crossed
the plains in an ox train which counted Samuel Man-
ning among its fortune hunters. While crossing the
plains he becanu- separated from his party and, m
companv with Mr. Manning, was hunting some stolen
stock which had been run off by the Indians. They
succeeded in keeping the Indians at bay and were able
to reach camp, but Mr. Hill died from the strain and
exposure on the sixth day after his arrival at Amador
City Cal , and he was the first white man buried
there. On the maternal side, Mr. Hill is descended

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

from colonial stock, for liis mother Jennie (.Rose)
Hill, was the daughter of Henry Montgomery and
Sallie (Frisby) Rose, the -former of whom served in
the War of 1812, and w-as in turn the son of a Revo-
lutionary soldier. Grandfather Frisby also espoused
the colonial cause during the War of Independence
as drum major to Washington's staff.

Andrew P. Hill came with an uncle via Panama in
1867, to California, stopping for a year in Amador
County. Very early in life he developed an aptitude
for drawing, which grew as he had opportunity for
study. During the year of 1868, he enrolled as a stu-
dent in Santa Clara College, but before finishing his
course, he was oflfered a position by his uncle, Warner
Rose, a prominent stock raiser of San Luis Obispo
County, with whom he remained for about three
years, receiving a practical education along various
lines, but the knowledge gained could not be com-
'puted in dollars and cents. Through the advice of
Charles F. Reed, Mr. Hill began to take lessons in
painting under \'irgil Williams in San F'rancisco. and
a few years later he was associated with L. O.
Lussier in portrait painting in San Francisco and San
Jose. In the meantime he studied the human figure-
under Virgil Tojetti of San Francisco. His progress
along his chosen line of work was gratifying, both to
himself and friends, and he became an active member
of the San Francisco Art Association.

Mr. Hill is the recipient of many medals for paint-
ings exhibited at the state capital. In the year of
1876, he established the first studio, in partnership
with Mr. Lussier, in San Jose, where he also had a
large class. After the death of his partner, he con-
tinued his varied art career, and from portraiture
branched out into the painting of horses in motion, a
departure gratifying in its results, for practically all
of the famous horses in the state were painted by him,
either singly or in groups. The first and most not-
able historical work painted by Mr. Hill was kno\«i
as the "Murphy Party," the first emigrant party as-
cending to the summit from Donner Lake, and which,
because of its faithfulness to incidents of the pioneer
life of the state, was purchased and placed in the his-
torical room of the California Pioneers' Association
of San Francisco, but destroyed by fire in 1906. He
took a gold medal on this in 1878 at Sacramento. His
"Camp of Israel," painted for J. W. Kelchner, has
received encomiums of praise from the art world in
general, and was given two pages in the New York
Sunday Times.

Mr. Hill became interested in photography about
fifty years ago, and maintained a fine studio in San
Jose from 1885 to 1906. Governor Stanford desired
his horses taken in motion, and Mr. Hill was thus em-
ployed for nearly eight years. He also photographed
the laying of the corner stone of Stanford Univer-
sity, and the breaking of the ground. Until the death
of the famous financier and philanthropist, the ser-
vices of Mr. Hill were in constant demand. Mr. Hill
has contributed many illustrations to the magazines
and periodicals throughout the world, his scope in-
cluding portraits, animals and landscapes. His sketch
portraying a fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains, that
had been put out with new wine, appeared in the Lon-
don Wide World during the }'ear of 1900. While en-
deavoring to secure material for these pictures, he
became interested in the old redwood trees, which
have been preserved through his strenuous efforts in
their behalf. During the disastrous earthquake and

fire of 1906, most of his paintings were destroyed, but
he soon opened up another studio at his home, and
his exhibits attract people from every part of the
United States. To Mr. Hill belongs the distinction of
being the first artist to discover the means of match-
ing photographs, so as to form a continuous, pano-
ramic picture, and he has taken many prizes and
medals for his exhibits. His photographs of the giant
redwoods of California are famous the world over.
He lives close to nature, and every mood in which
she indulges is reflected upon his temperamental, fine
and aspiring mind. The singing brook, the giant
tree, the turbulent winds, talk to him as to one who
understands, and who, understanding, portrays with
genius and sincerity.

Mr. Hill is an honored member of the Sons and
Daughters of Pioneers. Mrs. Hill has been his con-
stant companion and helpmate in his various lines of
art, and has assisted him in his studies. She is a
graduate of the San Jose State Normal School, class
of 1876, and for eight years was an instructor in the
schools of San Jose. She is the daughter of Benja-
min I''. Watkins, a native of Genesee County, N. Y.,
who, in 1846 crossed the plains to Oregon, being a
member, when he started, of the ill-fated Donner
party, but from which he separated at Fort Hall. Mr.
Watkins engaged in mining in Oregon for a time, and
then crossed the mountains to California. He owned
160 acres of land in San Francisco which is now the
site of the depot at corner of Third and Townsend
streets. In 1850, he returned east by way of the
Isthmus of Panama, and married Laura Broughton,
of Malone, N. Y., who accompanied him to the west
during the year of 1851. Mr. Watkins then pur-
chased and located upon a ranch near Santa Clara and
owned the first strawberry farm in California. Here
he engaged in general farming and fruit raising until
he passed away at the age of fifty-eight. Mrs. Hill's
maternal grandfather, Shebuel Broughton, married
Sarah Summer, a cousin of Charles Summer, a lineal
descendant of General Israel Putnam, of Revolution-
ary fame.

Mr. and Mrs. Hill are the parents of two children;
Andrew P., Jr., a graduate of Stanford University,
and now — 1922 — head of the department of manual
training in the Palo Alto grammar school. He is
married and has one child; Frank E. is also a gradu-
ate of Stanford, which he supplemented with a course
at the Illinois University; later receiving a degree
from Columbia University, and for two years prior to
the outbreak of the war, was assistant professor in the
English department of Columbia. He married the
daughter of Prof. George Hempl, and they are the
parents of two children. He enlisted in the aviation
corps at the opening of the war, received his training
and commission as lieutenant at Kelly Field, and was
on his way to serve overseas, when he was honorably
discharged at New York. He was then employed by
the Curtis Aeroplane Company as publicity man, and
remained there two years; he then became first as-
sistant to the chief editor of the New York Globe.

Had Mr. Hill not penetrated the home of the giant
redwoods in search of illustrating material, and had
he not been denied the right to perpetuate, through
his camera, their dignified and giant proportions, the
history of this now famous region of the Big Basin
might have terminated with much less credit to the
state of California. The achievement of Mr. Hill in
saving these giants of the forest, is appreciated by

'c::^^/^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

359

the lovers of nature throughout the world. Already
the shadow of the sawmill hung over the sentinels of
the forest, and their doom was read in the books of a
lumbering company, which measured their lengths
with commercial tape, nor cared that their passing
meant the destruction of a portion of the glory of the
universe. The Big Basin Lumber Company had pur-
chased its rights, and H. L. Middleton, the heaviest
stockholder, was probably, before his awakening, to-
tally unconscious of the part he was to play in avert-
ing a tragedy of nature. Had Mr. Hill not worked
untiringly tow'ard his goal, this magnificent park of
10,200 acres would not now belong to the state.
Through his energy-, he succeeded in organizing the
first meeting of interested people held at Stanford
University to formulate plans to save the giant red-
woods of the Big Basin for a public park, and perse-
veringly kept the wheels of action in motion, enlist-
ing such men as David Starr Jordan; Prof. \V. R.
Dudley; Father Kenna of Santa Clara University; Dr.
McClish of the Pacific University, and others taking
up the matter, and Carrie Stevens Walter, Mrs. Phoe-
be A. Hearst, Mrs. Lowell White, and many other
prominent women of the state, coming to the rescue
of the great trees of the Big Basin. The press
throughout the state spoke favorably of securing at
least a portion of the basin for a park. Mr. Hill had
a public duty to perform, and he went at it with a
singleness of purpose which has made men con-
querors of fate since the beginning of time. He
traveled throughout the state, rousing press and peo-
ple to enthusiasm, and bringing them to see the ad-
vantage of preserving these giants of the forest. After
ceaseless waiting and anxiety, the legislature of Cali-
fornia passed a bill appropriating $250,000 for the pur-
chase of the park from the lumber company, and the
governor affixed his signature to the bill, and the
towering giants were saved. The traveler in no other
clime sees trees a hundred feet in circumference and
upwards of three hundred and more feet high. The
Big Basin is shut in by a mountainous rim from 1800
to 2600 feet in height. On the southwest the Basin
slopes to the sea, which is reached through two deep
gorges piercing its rim. It is in Santa Cruz County,
and touches a portion of San Mateo County, in the
Santa Cruz Mountains of the Coast Range, barely
thirty-three miles from San Jose by road and sixteen
miles in an air line, Mr. Hill was the organizer of
the Sempervirens Club of California and for ten years
has served as president. Their rallying cry was "Save
the Redwoods."

Probably the painting entitled "Crossing the Plains"
is the most notable of Mr. Hill's recent productions.
It was purchased by subscription and it was a mem-
orable event on April 23, 1921, when this fine painting
was presented to the people of California. Many
notables were in attendance at the presentation,
among them being Governor Stephens, Mrs. James
Patterson, who drove the last iron spike that united
the east and west; Mr. Brown, who made the first
plow in California on J Street, Sacramento; John
McNaught, the well known author and publisher; Al-
fred Bettens and R. M. Bettens, the leading hotel
managers; Mr. and Mrs. Alden Anderson and many
others. Alex. P. Murgotten, secretary of the Andrew
P. Hill Art Committee, made the presentation speech,
in which he spoke of the inspiration of the artist to
paint a picture that would live in the memory of the

pioneers of California. Governor Stephens accepted
it for the people of California.

Mr. Hill is an honored member of the Pioneer
Society of Santa Clara County, and served on the
board of directors of the Forest Play Association of
California, and the Sempervirens Club. The "Save
the Redwoods" league appropriated their name from
the "Save the Redwoods" rallying cry of the Semper-
virens Club. Mr. Hill's name and his life work
is entitled to a conspicuous place in the historical
literature of California, for there are few men liv-
ing here today whose labors have such a lasting
influence upon the happiness, prosperity, and wel-
fare of the commonwealth. Mr. Hill holds a con-
cession at California Redwood Park to sell park
pictures, and his summers are spent there. He
gives lectures every Sunday on the trees of Cali-
fornia to appreciative audiences, and during the win-
ter months he paints pictures to fill orders taken
during the summer.

RICHARD P. KEEBLE.— A typical representa-
tive of the self-made men of our times, occupying
a well-deserved place of proininence and affluence
in the Santa Clara Valley, is Richard P. Keeble,
known to his wide circle of friends as Dick Keeble,
who has contributed much to the upbuilding of the
county during his long residence here, and particu
larly has he done much to advance the interests o
the fruit industry. He was born near Maryville
Blount County, Tenn., August 6, 1868, a son o
Marion and Martha Jane (Clark) Keeble, both na
fives of that state. The Clark family were of Eng-
lish ancestry, while Mrs. Keeble's maternal ancestors,
the Thompsons, were of Scotch descent and among
the early settlers of Tennessee. The Keeble family
came from England, settling in Virginia just prior
to the Revolutionary War, and Great-grandfather
Richard Keeble served in that struggle for independ-
ence. Grandfather Keeble, also named Richard, was
a pioneer of Tennessee, and his son. Marion Keeble,
the father of our subject, was an officer in the Con-
federate army in the Civil War, serving under Gen.
Fitzhugh Lee. For many years he was a prominent
farmer in Eastern Tennessee, where he passed away,
the father of ten children, seven of whom are living,
five of them being residents (Sf California.

The second eldest of the family, Dick Keeble, at-
tended the public schools of Blount County for a
short time during the winter months, his summers
being spent in working on the farm. In 1889 he
came out to California, remaining for a month at
Los Angeles and then going on to Ventura County,
where he was employed on a bean thresher for a
season. At the time of his father's death, in 1890,
he returned to his old home in Tennessee where he
remained for a year and a half, and then he made
up his mind to return to the Coast and locate here
permanently. For a time he resided in Washington,
where he was engaged in the lumber business, com-
ing back to California in 1892 and settling in the
Santa Clara Valley, where he found employment dur-
ing the fruit season. He began at the bottom of
the ladder on arriving here, working for A. D. Rice, a
rancher, at twenty-five dollars a month, but as he
was willing and observant, he soon mastered ranch-
ing methods as practiced in California. By thrift and
economy he saved a considerable portion of his
wages, so that in 1905. with his brother, he pur-

360

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

chased a ranch near Edeiivale. Later he acquired
a five-year lease on the Ogier ranch, on the Brokaw
road, and after five successful seasons, he purchased
the 115 acres that comprised the Ogier home place.
Energetic and enterprising, he began at once to
add to its improvements and set out and reset much
of the place to all varieties of pears, until he de-
veloped it into one of the finest and best-equipped
pear orchards in the state. The phenomenal suc-
cess which attended his efforts is a conclusive proof
of the statement that the Santa Clara Valley is the
center of the pear-raising industry.

Mr. Keeble has also engaged extensively in the
fruit business and besides shipping his own fruit he
bought pears, apples and olives, packed them and
shipped them East, his business growing to very
large proportions, so that in 1920 he had become the
largest individual green fruit shipper in the United
States, building up this business through his energy
and capability from a small beginning and increas-
ing its volume each year. He has constructed his
own packing sheds, modernly equipped with a full
complement of machinery, ten men being employed
the year around, while the services of sixty men
are required during the busy season. Mr. Keeble
has also developed a forty-acre pear orchard just
north of San Jose, so that it can readily be seen that
he has unbounded faith in the prosperity of the
fruit industry in the Santa Clara Valley, The prod-
ucts of his orchard have been shipped to all the large
markets of the United States as well as supplying
the export trade. In the fall of 1921 he disposed of
his large orchard, a record sale, as it was the con-
sensus of opinion that it was the highest price ever
paid for a like acreage in this valley.

During the past twenty-five years Mr. Keeble's life
has been a varied one, and he has crossed the con-
tinent twenty-seven times in disposing of his fruit
and looking after his interests. His rise to promi-
nence and affluence in a few short years is all the
more interesting, since he says that it was in Cali-
fornia that he made his first dollar. Besides his fruit
interests, he has invested in two other ranches, one
of fifty-two and one of forty-two acres; the latter
is in alfalfa and is leased as a dairy. Politically
Mr. Keeble. is a stahch Republican, supporting the
principles of the party of his choice, and has served
on the county election board several times. De-
servedly popular among a large circle of friends, he
participates in the acti\nties of the San Jose Country"
Club and the Chamber of Commerce and is a char-
ter member of the San Jose Commercial Club. It
is to such men that the rising generation may look
for moral and material guidance, for unselfishness has
been one of his chief characteristics and industry and
courage his unfailing guides.

JAMES LOUIS LIGHTSTON.— .-X native son of
California who has for the past eleven years been
connected with the city government is James Louis
Lightston, who is now deputy city treasurer and
license collector. Mr. Lightston was elected for
three terms as city treasurer; when the new com-
mission form of government was established this
position became appointive and Mr. Lightston was
again selected to hold this office, which he does to
the entire satisfaction of his constituents. He was
born in San Jose on February 14, 1872, the son of
Frank and Juanita (Soto) Lightston, the father a

'49er, having come to this country during the time
of the gold rush and first tried his luck as a miner.
He was the first city treasurer of the city of San
Jose, and was also the deputy sheriff; James Light-
ston is still using the books that were opened by his
father. The mother was a member of an old Spanish
family, and passed away in the year 1900, her hus-
band having preceded her, in 1890.

James was educated in St. Joseph's school, and
when he first began to make his livelihood he began
as a clerk in a grocery store and was engaged in
that line for a period of five years; he then went to
work for an undertaker's establishment and was em-
ployed here for three years; then he spent ten years
in railroad work and later he was elected to the
position of city treasurer and license collector for
three terms, and later, under the new form of gov-
ernment, he received this appointment, and in all he
has served in that office for eleven years.

Mr. Lightston's marriage united him with Sarah
A. Rossmussen, a member of an old pioneer family
of San Jose, of which place she is a native; they
are the parents of three children: Louis N., Charles
F., and Juanita. Mr. Lightston is very popular in
the fraternal organizations of which he is a mem-
ber, the Woodmen of the World, Foresters, Red
Men, and the Yeomen Lodge. In national politics
he is a Republican, and in his religious faith is a
member of the Catholic Church.

ELIZA ANN SUTHERLAND.— Much credit
must be given to the wives of the early pioneers of
California, who by their patience and loving sacrifice
helped their husbands lay the foundation of a great
civilization, and in Eliza Ann Sutherland, the wife
of the late James Sutherland, we have a woman of
rare charm, who has reared a large and useful fam-
ily, and who, in the evening of life, is surrounded by
many admiring friends and her loving children, and
she dispenses hospitality freely at her home at 483
South Sixtli Street in San Jose. She was born in
Ray County, Mo., on September 4, 18S0, and when
thirteen years old left her Missouri home to begin
the long journey across the plains. The ox teams
were under Captain Duncan and the train consisted
of many wagons and thirty families, and with their
horses, mules, oxen and cows, proceeded on their
journey. Her father, John Esrey, had married Miss
Sarah Jane Stratton, a native of Kentucky, in Mis-
souri and they had five children; Eliza Ann, our
subject; Madelnah, Mrs. Wm. Ingram, deceased; John
Wesley of Lemoore; Mary L. of Los Angeles, and
Thomas S. of San Francisco. On account of Mrs.
Fsrey's delicate health the father was making the
journty to a milder climate in the hopes that she
would regain her health. Many hardships were en-
dured, and the constant fear of the Indians, which
they encountered, added greatly to their discomfort.
The mother was stricken with that dread disease,
the mountain fever, and despite the care and atten-
tion given her, she died and was buried at the little
village of Galena about three miles from Washoe,
Nevada. The shock of losing her mother at this
time, seemed more than the little girl, Eliza Ann,
could endure, and to add to their troubles, the two
younger children, Madelnah and Mary, were taken
sick with the same disease, and for many weeks their
lives were despaired of and they became so weak-

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

365

cned that they could not walk. After they began
to mend and were able to be up and around they
had to learn to walk over again. Arriving in Cali-
fornia in 1864 the family settled thirty miles south
of Fresno at a town now known as Lemoore, where
relatives had settled at an earlier date. After four
years' residence there. Miss Esrey was married to
James Sutherland, a native of England, born in 1847,
who came to America with the family when four
years old, coming to California via the Isthmus of
Panama. They landed in Sacramento County, later
going to the San Joaquin Valley, where the whole
family raised cattle. Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland, whose
marriage license was issued at old Millerton, were
married at Visalia in 1868, and with a two-horse
wagon spent their honeymoon traveling up to Santa
Clara County and settled about two miles northwest
of what is now known as Lawrence Station. Their
land adjoined the Murphy tract, where Sunnj-vale
was built. Arriving here Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland
stopped w-ith his parents two years, then bought the
ranch adjoining, continuing there until coming to San
Jose. He was the prime mover with his father, in
erecting the Bay View Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, near the Brawley school, which was later
moved to Mountain View-. He was one of the most
liberal supporters of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, in San Jose, up to the time of his
death. He was liberal towards all good movements
for the upbuilding of the county and when he died
was mourned by a large circle of friends.

Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland reared five children:
Jonathan Clark, whose sketch appears in this volume;
Caroline became Mrs. Scott Dean, and they had a
son, Robert W., who was reared by his grandmother
from the age of nine and who died aged twenty-one,
both of whom have passed away; Annie J., now Mrs.
L. A. Bates, a contractor and builder and they reside
in San Jose; Lena is the wife of A. T. Griffin, em-
ployed by the Prune & Apricot Association, and they
reside at 466 Fifth Street, San Jose. There are six
grandchildren, Frances Bates, James Bates, Lucile
Bates, Dorothy T. Griffin, Carrie (Sutherland)
Munger and Cleanie Sutherland, and one great-
grandchild, Charles Munger. Mrs. Sutherland still
owns two dairy farms near Lemoore, Cal., which
have become very valuable. Just before the great
earthquake of 1906, the Sutherlands bought the home
at 483 South Sixth Street, and this has been their
home ever since. On account of failing health Mr.
Sutherland for three years traveled from place to
place seeking relief, but to no avail, and on July 2.
1916, he passed away. Politically he was a Demo-
crat and fraternally was an Odd Fellow. In their
religious convictions they were members of the
Methodist Church, South, and Mrs. Sutherland is
an active member of the Home Missionary Society.
It is a delight to meet Mrs. Sutherland and to hear
her relate the experiences through which she has
passed and to realize that the hardships and sacri-
fices were the mellowing influences that have brought
the charm and beauty of later years.

GEORGE BISSELL POLHEMUS.— Mourned

by many who had come to recognize in him one ol
the most representative Californians, as he was cer-
tainly one of the foremost, influential citizens o:
Santa Clara County. George Bissell Polhemus, the
well-known orchardist, passed away on July 26, 1914
at his residence on Stockton Avenue. San Jose, fol
lowing a short illness, although he had been in fail
ing health for over a year. He was born in San Fran
Cisco on January 21, 1857, the son of the late Charle
B. Polhemus, a native of New Jersey, who made off
to South America when he was seventeen years o:
age. He pitched his tent at various points on the
West Coast in Chile and Peru; but when the gold
fever broke out in California, he hurried north and
established a branch of Alsop & Company, then one
of the largest Yankee houses in South America. In
1864 he became interested with Messrs. Donahue,
Newhall & Polhemus in the San Francisco & San
Jose Railroad, which they guaranteed and subse-
quently owned; they w^orked the railroad up to 1867,
and in the meantime built a branch to Gilroy. and
then sold out to Stanford, Huntington and other pio-
neer railroad builders.

This venture had one particularly interesting re-
sult. Through investing in this railroad, Mr. Pol-
hemus was compelled to purchase the Commodore
Stockton ranch of 2.000 acres, which was later sub-
divided, and he thus came to acquire the old Stock-
ton ranch house on Stockton Avenue, which was
brought from New York City by Commodore Stock-
ton in 1849 or 1850, with eighteen other houses,
around Cape Horn. In 1867 Mr. Polhemus nego-
tiated for himself and three associates the purchase
of 180.000 acres of land in Los Angeles and San Ber-
nardino County, which they bought at the almost
fabulously low price, viewed in the light of later val-
uations, of $1.50 an acre — although at that time the
land was more or less of a drug on the market.

In 1852, Charles Polhemus was married to Miss
Matilda Alurphy. a native of New York, who is now
deceased; and three children blessed their union.
One died in infancy; a daughter, Mary Josephine,
now residing in Italy; while the other child was the
subject of this review. Charles Polhemus was a
member of Lodge No. 14, F. & A. M., of Mt. Holly,
N. J., founded, in part, by his father, Montgomery
Polhemus, a merchant and a landowner in New Jer-
sey, and the son of Major John Polhemus, a soldier
in the Revolutionary Army. The mention of his
name and status recalls one of the prized heirlooms
of the Polhemus family, a steel-engraving of the
Major, a fine looking old gentleman, in the dress of
the time. It bears the following inscription:
J. POLHEMUS
Major John Polhemus, U. S. A., Commis-
sioned as a Captain by order of Congress,
Nov. 22, 1775; Promoted to a Majority at
Valley Forge. The "Jersey Bleu." organized
by his father-in-law, John Hart (a signer
of the Declaration of Independence), found
a patriotic commander in him.
Born May 25, A. D. 1738. Died on the 94th
anniversary of that day.
George Bissell Polhemus received his early educa-
tion in San Francisco under the Rev. George Bur-
rows, who took twelve students to prepare for a col-
lege course at Cambridge; but after devoting some
years in the pursuit of that ambition, Mr. Polhemus

366

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

decided to give up his college course, in which he
had, as far as he went, laid the foundation, broad
and deep, of an education which time and experience
brought to a ripe fruition. In 1887, Mr. Polhemus
was married to Miss Jennie Ryder, the daughter of
George \V. Ryder, of the Santa Clara Valley, a
gifted lady who shared his popularity. One son,
Charles Polhemus, sprang from this fortunate mat-
ing, and bids fair to perpetuate the renown of the
family name.

WILLIAM SUTHERLAND.— One of the most
widely known, most successful and popular pioneers
who ever lived in Santa Clara County was William
Sutherland, who established his home on an eighty-
acre ranch on the Saratoga and Alviso road, now
known as Sutherland Avenue. A small portion of
the ranch was devoted to family orchard, but the
production of hay and grain and the raising of stock
were the most profitable. Two fine artesian wells
furnished an abundance of water for irrigation and
for the large number of cattle, one being 300 feet
deep and the other 425 feet in depth.

William Sutherland was born in Durham County,
England, in 1821. His father, James Sutherland, was
a native of Scotland, and his mother, Jane (Richard-
son) Sutherland, was born in England. The father
was a gardener by occupation, but William was put
to work in the coal mines when but ten years of
age. Opportunities for an education were extremely
limited, and the success he accomplished was due
entirely to his ability, energy and perseverance in
the face of discouragement and limited means.

In 1845 Mr. Sutherland was united in marriage
with Miss Ann Dawson, born in England in 1825,
the daughter of Robert Dawson. Five years after
his marriage, he came to the United States, hoping
to better his fortunes in this land of promise. Land-
ing at New Orleans, he proceeded at once up the
Mississippi to St. Louis. He spent several months
in the coal mines of Missouri and Illinois and during
the year of 1851 he came across the plains to Cali-
fornia. He was first engaged in the mines in Placer
County, but the next year concluded to try a new
venture, that of agriculture. His wife and two chil-
dren then joined him, coming from England via
Panama, but the oldest child, a girl, died soon after
their arrival. He located in Sacramento County and
purchased a farm and conducted it until 1855, and
then settling upon the Kings River engaged in stock
raising very profitably for thirteen years. In 1868
he removed to Santa Clara County and purchased
the property known all over the county as the
Sutherland Homestead. Returning to England in
1870 for a visit, he came back to the Golden State,
well content to spend his remaining years in the
beautiful and productive Santa Clara Valley. He
was an active and generous member of the Southern
Methodist Church and his exemplary life won for
him the respect and esteem of all who knew him.
He was a stanch Democrat, but was liberal in his
views. His influence for good was far reaching and
his industry and integrity were potent factors in his
success and the younger generation would do well to
emulate the example of his well-spent life. Mr, and
Mrs. Sutherland were the parents of ten children,
but only three grew Up, two of whom are now-
living: James, deceased, whose sketch appears in

this work; Elizabeth, the wife of Elbert C. Apperson
of Sunol, and Mrs. Clara Buckner of Exeter. Mr.
Sutherland died at his home in San Jose in 1903,
while his wife survived him until June 17, 1911.

HENRY A. PFISTER.— If one were to tell the
story of Santa Clara County from 1847 to the present
day in the biographies of her distinguished sons — •
men, in every sense virile, citizens, in every sense
American — such a one would find inextricably woven
with that history the name of the Pfisters. And
to recount the advance of this community; to re-
view the progress achieved, and to leave that name
out, were to utter an apostrophe without an inflec-
tion of the voice; were to paint a picture without
dipping the brush in the radiant tones of the artist's
shades. While we have here essayed to write con-
cerning the county clerk of this county, Henry A.
Pfister, still it must be known that no such biography
of however brief a compass would be complete
without a word snatched from the past — some short
word, written in retrospect, regarding those who
have gone before.

Mr. Pfister's father, Adolph Pfister, was born in
Strasburg, Alsace, in 1821; and, after acquiring his
education in the land of his birth, traveled exten-
sively all over Europe, coming to New York in 1844.
In 1847 he joined Stevenson's Regiment and circling
Cape Horn came to California tinged with the ro-
mance of that early and gallant expedition, land-
ing first at Monterey and coming later to San Jose.

After a short visit to the mines of Eldorado
County, where he was amply rewarded in his pur-
suits, he returned to San Jose, and at once enlisted
himself actively in the business and civic affairs of
this city. He located first, on Santa Clara Street,
near where the same is crossed by the Guadalupe
River and there engaged in making saddle-trees.
Later he erected the Washington Hotel, at the cor-
ner of Santa Clara and San Pedro streets — the first
hotel to be built in San Jose.

This hostelry and landmark he later sold; then
established himself in the general merchandise busi-
ness at the corner of Market and Eldorado, now
Post Street. Selling this, he then moved to a site
at the corner of First and Santa Clara streets, where
the Bank of Italy now stands, and there continued
in the mercantile business. Upon selling this to the
Farmer's Union he occupied himself in the grain
business, owning at one time four flour mills in
this county. Besides these many enterprises in
which he was engaged he was also for many years
the vice-president of the Bank of San Jose. Safely
can it be said that but few men have reached the
civic heights of Mr. Pfister, for he was twice elect-
ed mayor of San Jose, and it was he who founded
San Jose's first Free Library — having donated his
salary as mayor to that philanthropic end; and was
honored with the presidency of the Library Board
for many years.

In 1850, Mr. Pfister married Miss Louisa Glein and
to this marriage were born Henry A. Pfister, the
present county clerk of Santa Clara County, his two
brothers and three sisters, all of whom have made
their mark in the world.

Henry Adolph Pfister was born in San Jose on
January 26, 1859, and received the first rudiments
of his education at the Gates Institute which stood
on the east side of First Street, between St. James
and Julian streets, but later matriculated at the Santa

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

371

Clara College, from which institution he was grad-
uated with honors, in 1874. With an uncle, C. E.
Hoffman, he then went to Nevada. Utah, Arizona,
and still later to Mexico, engaging in mining in these
various places. He then returned to San Jose and
soon opened and conducted a store at the Guada-
lupe Quicksilver Mines, at Guadalupe, in Santa Clara
County. After the closing of the mines he opened
a large store in Santa Clara, in which business he
was still engaged when on November 8, 1894, the
voters of Santa Clara County bestowed on him the
office of county clerk. For almost thirty years Mr.
Pfister has occupied this position in the public serv-
ice, and has acquitted himself at all times in a man-
ner indicative of that type of public official that
is fast becoming extinct, but the memory of which
shall ever remain as the inspiration and exemplar of
coming generations.

He entered the political field as an Independent,
with by no means weaklings offering the opposition,
but his victory was assured from the very begin-
ning; and his many times since happy returns to of-
fice, and at times over apparently invulnerable op-
ponents, bespeak in glowing tones the admiration,
confidence and trust with which the citizens of this
county view him, his political career and his suc-
cess as a public official. This repeated approval of
his constituents has made him the longest incum-
bent in the chair of county clerk in the State of Cali-
fornia, and one of the most respected in the state.
This latter fact being shown by his being for the
past twelve years, by unanimous voice, president of
the County Clerks' Association of California. Fra-
ternally, Mr. Pfister, is a Knights Templar Mason,
and belongs to the Native Sons of the Golden West.

On June 28, 1880, Mr. Pfister married Miss Maria
N. La Molle, a member of an old, well-known and
respected family of this community; a charming and
accomplished lady whose untimely death on October
3, 1920, left a wide circle of friends to mourn the
passing of one, who, but to be known was to be
loved. A daughter, Emily, who has since become
Mrs. Thomas M. Landrum, the wife of a member
of the C. C. Morse Co.; and another daughter, Marie,
now the wife of Clarence M. Lynn of San Jose, and
four grandchildren give hope of the perpetuation of
this interesting family tree.

Henry A. Pfister is the possessor of an attractive
personality that renders his individuality magnetic,
pleasing and compelling. He is blessed with an
acute mind; is quick of mental grasp and perspica-
cious, which give to him an analytic insight into
things that would ordinarily baffle other men; and
by reason of his long experience in public life he
is able to apply broad and liberal principles which
always find a happy solution to problems however
perplexing and exacting. He is endowed with a native
force of character, strong but kind; and is fully cog-
nizant that nobility obliges and that unselfish zeal
and sacrifice have their own rewards. While pro-
foundly clinging to the ideals and traditions of the
past, he is not, however, blind to the innovations of
today, all of which leave him clean and kind of heart.
His lifetime of labor in public office gives his dis-
tinguished usefulness an eminence that compels the
admiration of all classes of society; and no one is
more sensitive to, or better able to discern, the pub-
lic pulse and heartbeats, or more apt in the apprecia-
tion of public needs or better fit to meet emergencies.

There has been no phase of governmental develop-
ment in which Mr. Pfister has not shared, keenly
sensing, as he does, the responsibility of one in of-
fice; and is therefore, found always working for higher
civic standards and a healthier, stronger patriotism.
This is shown, if in no other way, in his many and
consecutive conscientious and efficient administrations
where in his public and official capacity he ever
retains the trust and confidence of his fellow-citi-
zens, who repeatedly acclaim their approval of his
honesty, integrity and faithfulness to duty by his
many re-elections. His years of service have rich-
ly mellowed him into the kind protector of the
young; the willing helper of the aged; and the wise
counselor of all. Easy to approach, easy of ac-
cess, he is always found willing to lend a hand;
always ever ready to perform a goodly deed. The
name of Henry A. Pfister will long be cherished
and long will his accomplishments and achievements
be retold, chiseled as they are on the annals of time,
but mere words are vain and futile, for his praise
stands out in the bold relief of service and deeds —
truly is he the eminent son of a noble father — a scion
worthy to perpetuate the heritage of the past.

GEORGE HAMILTON, SR.— One of Santa Clara
County's worthy pioneers, who is a native son in all
but birth, having resided here for nearly seventy
years, is George Hamilton, Sr., who is now living in
comfortable retirement on his ranch on Dunne Road,
near Morgan Hill. Mr. Hamilton was born at Well-
ington, Missouri, on June 4, 1848, and was the young-
est child of George and Jane (Stovall) Hamilton,
both deceased. The father, a native of Tennessee, had
crossed the plains in 1848 and returned to Missouri
in 1852, while the mother was of Scotch ancestry.
In 1854, when the subject of this sketch was only six
years old, his parents with other neighbors made up
a party and crossed the plains with ox teams and
settled in Santa Clara County, California, where they
were engaged in ranching, and here George Hamilton
attended school and helped his father with the hard
work on the ranch, so that at the age of twenty he
was well fitted to start out for himself in this field.

In 1870 Mr. Hamilton was married to Miss Hattie
Dominey, who was born in Eldorado County, Califor-
nia, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dominey,
and they became the parents of seven children:
George, Jr., a well borer, resides at Morgan Hill
with his wife and three children; Clara resides at the
home place; Charles is a contractor of San Jose,
where he resides with his wife and one child; Grace
passed away, survived by her husband, Thos. W.
Cater, and two children and they live at Berkeley;
Chester is married and the father of four children
and makes his home at San Jose; Mrs. Eva Anderson
of Fresno is the mother of one child, and Hattie is
Mrs. Kenworthy of Morgan Hill, and mother of one
child. Mrs. Hamilton died January 8, 1917.

In 1893 Mr. Hamilton acquired a tract of fifteen and
a half acres in tlie C. Dunne subdivision east of Mor-
gan Hill, and here he has developed a beautiful
ranch home. The place is devoted to the raising of
French prunes, and he has made a splendid success
with his orchard. While always devoted to his home
and its interests, Mr. Hamilton is public spirited and
loyal to the interests of his community, serving, for
four years as deputy tax collector of the Morgan Hill
district. He has always been a stanch Democrat.

372

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

THADDEUS WARSAW SPRING.— A promi-
nent pioneer and business man whose generous public
spirit had much to do with the upbuilding of San Jose,
Thaddeus Warsaw Spring, was born in Buffalo,
N. Y., on June 17, 1829, and died in San Jose on
August 13, 1890. He was a thorough gentleman, a
successful business man, and lived a life worthy of
emulation. He was the son of Andrew Jackson
Spring, a native of New England, and a descendant
of English ancestors. The father moved to New
Orleans, La., when his son Thaddeus \V. was three
months old and there died when the latter was still
a small child. His home continued to be the Creole
City until he was seventeen years old, becoming an
auctioneer at the youthful age of fifteen years. Not
satisfied, however, with his prospects in Louisiana,
he ran away, and in Baltimore entered the U. S.
service, enlisting in General Magruder's Battery and
came to California with him in 1852, making the
trip around the Horn on the ship Monterey, a voyage
which occupied five months. Landing in San Diego,
Cal., he continued in the service under General
Magruder for some time until he received his honor-
able discharge. Accompanied by his mother, who
had followed him across the Isthmus, he came north
to San Francisco. He went to the mines for a brief
time, when meeting with only slight success, he
soon quit mining and returned to San Francisco,
where he engaged as assistant to his stepfather,
Jasper Smith, who was then engaged in the auction
business. After making a cruise to the Sandwich
Islands and returning to California, he located in San
Jose in 1862, and engaged in the auction business
with Nicholas Hayes, who aside from being an auc-
tioneer, was also the owner and proprietor of a
large general merchandise store located on the corner
of First Street and Fountain Alley in San Jose and
during Mr. Hayes' absence abroad, Mr. Spring was
placed in charge as general manager. Having care-
fully saved his earnings, in 1865 he started in the
mercantile business for himself and put in a fine
stock of dry goods and clothing on Santa Clara
Street at the location now known as the Smout
Building. In 1869 the building at the corner of
Market and Santa Clara streets, which is now occu-
pied by Spring's, Inc., was built for him and there
he built up a remunerative trade, and continued in
business until the time of his death, being then sixty-
one j'ears of age.

Mr. Spring was assuredly one of the foremost
citizens of San Jose. Fraternally he was a Knights
Templar Mason, serving as treasurer, and was one
cf the two senior members of San Jose Commandery
No. 10. Personally he was self-made and self-reliant,
and his generosity to those less fortunately situated
was well known to many whose lives he had bright-
ened by his benefactions. All enterprises that tended
to the upbuilding of his home city and county had
his hearty support. He was an active member of
the Pioneer Society of Santa Clara County. His
portrait herewith published will serve to recall his
sturdy figure, which was a very familiar one on the
streets of San Jose, for which he did so much to
upbuild, and whose good name and fame he was
ever ready to champion and uphold. He had ad-
mitted his son to the l)usiness some time before his
death, the firm name then being T. W. Spring &

Son. Later his son-in-law, Fred W. Moore, became
associated in the management of the enterprise.
Since his death the business has been incorporated
under the name of Spring's. Inc., and this firm con-
tinues in the lead and holds thousands of loyal cus-
tomers throughout the valley, a fine testimonial to
the worth of this pioneer business house.

In 1862 at San Jose, Mr. Spring was united in
marriage to Miss Emelie Houghton, who was born
at Farmington, Iowa, a daughter of Amory J , a
native of Massachusetts, and Jemima (Gruell)
Houghton, who was born in Indiana. She crossed
the plains with her parents in 1859, starting from
Farmington, Iowa, and settling in Santa Clara
County. She continued to live in San Jose until
she passed away, the mother of two children; Mar-
cella is the widow of the late Frederick W. Moore,
who came from one of the earliest of California
pioneer families. His parents left their home in
Tennessee in 1846, crossed the plains the same year
and arrived in California in 1847, settling in what is
now Santa Cruz County. Mrs. Moore has four
children: Mrs. Douglas H. Sim of San Jose, Mrs.
Martin Luther, Jr., of HoUister, Mrs. William N.
Donaldson of Los Angeles, and Frederick H. Moore
of San Jose, who enlisted and served in the U. S.
Marines during the late war. Mrs. Moore stands
very highly in San Jose's social and business circles.
The second child of Thaddeus W. Spring is Henry
Spring, hereinbefore referred to. He married Miss
Olive Haptonstall, who comes from a pioneer family
in Oregon, and they have one child, Jackson. The
Springs continue to represent, as they always have,
the substantial business element of San Jose. While
first and last attending to business, yet their love
for San Jose grows with years and they seek and
find great delight in the advancement of their
community.

EUGENE T. SAWYER.— CaHfornia has been
especially fortunate in her men and women of literary
talent, some of whom are native sons and daughters,
and many of whom have come from other parts of
the great Union, bringing with them talent which was
to be developed in the Golden State; among whom
will always be remembered, in both widespread es-
teem and affection, Eugene T. Sawyer, whose "Nick
Carter" stories gave a pleasurcable thrill to thousands
of fiction readers, and whose latest work is the His-
tory of Santa Clara County in this volume. Pages
of exceptional interest might be written about this
successful author; but it is doubtful if, after all, any-
one can tell the story of his many-sided life half so
well as himself.

"I was born in Bangor, Maine," he says, "Novem-
ber 11, 1846. On the 11th of November, 1918, the
great European War came to an end, so it will be
seen that when the world celebrates the event, it also
celebrates my birthday. Thus quite a load is taken
from my shoulders, for instead of financing the event.
I hold my horses, and permit Europe and America to
do the honors and pay the bills. As a youngster, I
evinced a strong liking for hunting, fishing and
theater-going. The liking stays with me, though I
seldom indulge it, for game is scarce, the auto-fiends
have skinned the stre.Tms. and the good actors are all
dead. I am also grtally interested in politics and
national affairs, .\cquired the taste in the late '50s
and early '60s, when I was so fortunate as to be a
listener to the oratory of Stephen A. Douglas, Wil-

^/^JX

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

375

Ham H. Seward, James G. Blaine, Hannibal Hamlin,
Bob Ingersoll, Henry Edgerton. Henry Winter Davis,
Wendell Phillips, Tom Fitch, Henry Ward Beecher,
Marshall of Kentucky, and Rhett of Arkansas.

"At the age of twelve, I embarked in the show bus-
iness by acting as promoter and manager of barn en-
tertainments to which the price of admission was one
copper cent or its equivalent in pins, nails, old iron
and old newspapers. The proceeds of an entertain-
ment went, as a rule, to buy a cocoanut, a lobster, a
bag of candy or a seat in the pit of a theater. As I
grew older my mind turned to newspaper work and
at fourteen I became a morning newspaper carrier.
Once I had the extreme honor (so I thought at the
time) of selling a paper to Charles F. Browne (Arte-
mus Ward) who had lectured in Bangor the night
before. In 1864 I came to California, via the Isthmus
of Panama. Stayed in San Francisco a short time,
then traveled to San Jose. For a year I attended the
San Jose Institute, as a supplement to a high school
education, my classical work being done under the
supervision of D. M. Delmas, now a resident of Los
Angeles.

"Since that time I have been a miner (in Nevada),
druggist and book-keeper in San Francisco, rancher
and newspaper publisher in San Benito County and
newspaper man in San Jose. This work in San Jose
was sometimes varied by incursions into the field of
sensational story writing. In the Nick Carter and
Log Cabin series mj' heroes were always fearless
and manly, my heroines brave and beautiful, and vir-
tue always triumphed. As an exploiter of the alleged
adventures of Buffalo Bill, my imaginative hands be-
came steeped in gore and I might be writing of the
dead scout yet were it not for the sorrowful fact that
my material gave out, as I had made Bill kill or
cause to be killed every Indian in the far West.

"For thirty-five years I did newspaper work in San
Jose, starting as reporter and winding up as man-
aging editor. I have written plays, acted in them
and in other fellows' plays, and might have adopted
the stage as a profession if my hard, common sense
had not told me that I would never mount to the
height where stars shine. But I have had a sort of
compensation in the knowledge that I have helped to
shape the careers of those ornaments to the Ameri-
can stage — Eleanor Calhoun (Princess Lazarovich),
John T. Malone, Samuel W. Piercey, John W. Dunne
and Frank Bacon; and that I have guided my friends,
Hugh A. De Lacy, A. P. Murgotten and Louis Lieber,
into experiences that have furnished stories, mostly
amusing, they will never be weary of telling.

"1 have published one book, 'The Life of Tiburcio
\'asquez.' It saw the light in 1875, shortly after the
execution, in San Jose, of the notorious bandit and
murderer. I was the correspondent of the San F'ran-
cisco Chronicle immediately after the raid on Tres
Pinos which resulted in the killing of three men; and
I had gathered material from interviews with old ac-
quaintances of the bandit in Monterey and San Be-
nito counties and from frequent talks with Vasquez
himself.

"I have held but one public office — member of the
board of education, 1877-79. It is only fair to say, in
this connection, that I have often aspired to the Pres-
idency of this mighty and badly governed nation. I
am aspiring yet, for I would like to be in a position
to lower the high cost of living and give a poor man
opportunity to eat bacon without having to place a
plaster on his home to obtain the wherewithal for
the purchase."

Mr. Sawyer was married on September 27, 1871,
to Belle Moody, daughter of Charles Moody, whose
father, R. G. Moody, was the pioneer mill man of
San Jose. The mill was first erected in 1854 on the
bank of Coyote Cre^k at about the spot where Em-
pire Street strikes the stream. The business was
transferred to Third Street, northeast corner of Santa
Clara Street, in 1858, and R. G. Moody's sons,
Charles, Volney and David, conducted the mill until
it was sold to the Sperry Milling Company. After a
few years \'olney Moody retirerl to liecome an Oak-
land banker. Mrs. Sawyer, v, h.. .lir.l on January 28,
1921, spent her childhor,.! ,l,i\^ iii the old family
home on the northeast iDrnur i.t Second and Santa
Clara Streets, the site of the present five-story Porter
building. She received her early education in the
public schools of San Jose, following which she en-
tered the San Jose Institute, conducted by Freeman
Gates. After her marriage she found both pleasure
and profit in the art of painting, in which she was
unusually gifted. She was also of great assistance to
her husband in his literary work. She was the mother
of two children, Elva B., now a teacher in the Grant
School, San Jose, and Louis E., a fruit grower in
San Benito County. Lovable, sympathetic and un-
selfish, the memory of her life and character will al-
ways be cherished with pride and affection by her
surviving husband and by her relatives and friends.

MRS. MARGARET WHITE.— A member of one
of California's pioneer families, Mrs. Margaret White
can look back over an interesting period in the devel-
opment of the Santa Clara 'Valley, for it has been
her privilege to take part in as well as witness the
wonderful growth that has taken place here in the
past decades. She was born in Quebec, Canada, the
daughter of the late Thomas and Johanna (O'Toole)
Cullen, both natives of County Wexford, Ireland,
who were early settlers of that part of Canada.

Twelve children were born to these worthy par-
ents: Edward, deceased, is survived by one child,
Mrs. Daley, who resides in Sacramento; John, de-
ceased, is survived by his widow and six children,
living near Gilroy; Michael and Patrick are deceased;
Mary A., Mrs. Thomas Fitzgerald, has five children;
Thomas is single; James, deceased; Kate C, de-
ceased, is survived by her husband, Edward Doyle;
F'rank P. has three children and resides in San Jose;
Mrs. Margaret White is the subject of this sketch;
Lawrence lives at Gilroy; William has five children
and resides at Gilroy. The three eldest brothers of
the family preceded the rest of the family here, who
arrived in California in 1868 and settled in the vicin-
ity of Gilroy. Both parents lived to be nearly ninety,
the father passing away on November 22, 1895; Mrs.
Cullen surviving him until October 11, 1904.

Margaret Cullen spent her girlhood days at the
family home near Gilroy and on April 21, 1879, she
was married to William Fitzgerald, who was born in
Frampton Township, Canada, April 14, 1845, and in
1853 came with his parents to Gilroy Township,
Santa Clara County, Cal., where he was reared on a
farm, later engaging in the livery business at Gil-
roy with his brother, Patrick Fitzgerald. Mr. Fitz-
gerald passed away in February, 1882, survived by
his widow and tw-o children, Mary and Winifred
Fitzgerald, now living with their mother. Mrs. Fitz-
gerald's second marriage united her with John J.
White, the son of Thomas and Mary A. White, and

376

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

one son was born to them, Edward A., who was
a member of the Students' Army Training Corps
during the World War and is attending Santa Clara
University, but now employed in San Francisco. Mr.
White died in Gilroy, August 26, 1910. Mrs. White
is an active member of the Civic Club and the Cath-
olic Ladies' Aid of Gilroy. A woman of many inter-
ests, she is the owner of a fine ranch at HolHster in
addition to the home place on Second Street, where
she still makes her home.

JOHN C. MENKER— After a long, active and
useful career John C. Menker is now living retired
in San Jose at the age of seventy-four years, his
capable management of his business affairs having
brought him a substantial competence which now
enables him to spend his days in ease and com-
fort. He was born in Mecklenburg, Germany. De-
cember 30, 1847, and he was left an orphan at the
tender age of five years; his father died on the
ocean while en route to the United States and soon
afterward the mother brought the family of four
children to Buffalo, N. Y., but soon fell a vic-
tim to that dread disease — cholera.

The second in a family of four children, two sons
and two daughters, three of whom grew up, John
C. Menker, in his youth lived on a farm working
his own way and acquired his education in the dis-
trict schools, which he attended for but three months
in the year, as he was obliged to spend the re-
maining months in providing for a livelihood. He
had first been bound to a family in Buffalo, N. Y.,
but was treated so badly he ran away and ob-
tained a place on a place in the country. Later he
was able to pursue a course in Bryant & Stratton's
business college of that city where he graduated in
1869. following which he went to Chicago, 111., se-
curing a position as shipping clerk with a large
wholesale confectionery house, whose products were
sent to the largest cities in the south as well as
throughout the west as far as San Francisco, Cal.
He was in Chicago during the great fire of 1871 and
immediately afterward returned to New York, work-
ing on a farm in Cattaraugus County for a year. In
the fall of 1872 he came to California and for five
years was employed on a dairy near the old mis-
sion at Carmel, Monterey County, returning to Buf-
falo in 1878. There he entered the confectionery
business as a member of the firm of Menker &
Barnes, catering to the wholesale and retail trade,
but at the end of five years disposed of his in-
terest to his partner and in association with his
brother, Henry A. Menker, established a similar en-
terprise in the city of Bufifalo, N. Y., as H. A. &
J. C. Menker. Three years afterward failing health
obliged him to seek a milder climate, and selling
his interest to his brother, he returned to Califor-
nia, bringing with him his wife and children. Lo-
cating near Berryessa, Santa Clara County, he pur-
chased a twenty-five acre ranch, on a portion of
which was a prune, apricot and peach orchard, but
at the end of a year sold that place and bought a
ranch of twenty-five acres near Watsonville. This
he operated for nine years, engaging in raising ber-
ries. He also purchased ten acres in the city of
Watsonville. which he finally subdivided into city
lots, a street being named in his honor.

At this time, at the request of his brother Henry,
who had become president of a bank at Buffalo,

Mr. Menker returned to the east to assist in con-
ducting his brother's confectionery business, which
he successfully managed for five years. He then
made his way back to San Jose and bought a
thirty-three acre ranch near Agnew which he oper-
ated for some years until it was disposed of. With
a partner he bought twenty-five acres on the Ste-
vens Creek Road, which they subdivided into 150
city lots and placed them on the market. In the
early part of 1921 the last of these lots was sold and
the tract has now become a fine residential section,
adorned with attractive homes, one of the avenues
bearing the name of Menker. Some years ago Mr.
Menker bought eighty acres of land near Cypress,
Orange County, in the southern part of the state,
and is still the owner of forty acres thereof. His
land is well irrigated, being provided with a 600 foot,
twelve-inch well and a Dixon pump, and is one of
the valuable and highly improved ranches in that
part of California. Mr. Menker is a stockholder and
director in the Anderson-Barngrover Manufacturing
Company of San Jose, manufacturers of machin-
ery, making a specialty of building cannery machin-
ery. This company also developed a 512-acre wal-
nut ranch located near Stockton.

In Buffalo, N. Y., on April 21, 1881, Mr. Menker
married Miss Jennie Mitchell, who was born in
England and was left an orphan during her child-
hood. She acquired her education in the schools
of Buffalo and to their union three children have
been born; Raymond C, who is a minister of the
Methodist Church and is now residing in Plumas
County, having charge of three pastorates; Earl L..
who is private secretary to Mr. Edwards of the
Southern Pacific Railroad; and Edith M., the wife
of Charles P. Smith, the latter being a teacher in
the San Jose high school. Mr. Menker was be-
reaved of his faithful wife February, 1917, a devoted
Christian woman and a member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church.

In his political views Mr. Menker is a Republican
and he has been a worker in behalf of the Prohibition
cause. He is a faithful and earnest member of the
Centella Methodist Church, San Jose, in the work of
which he takes an active and helpful interest, serving
as one of its stewards and trustees. A self-made
man, he has never selfishly centered his activities
upon his own interests, blit has steadily progressed
in general usefulness as well as individual success.

PEDRO A. BERNAL.— A native son of Santa
Clara County and a worthy representative of one
of the prominent Spanish families of California.
Pedro A. Bernal first saw the light on the Santa
Teresa Rancho on October 19. 1868. He is a son
of Ygnacio and Jesusita (Patron) Bernal, the former
one of the best known and highly esteemed men of
the county, and whose sketch will be found on an-
other page of this history.

Pedro A. Bernal attended the Oak Grove public
school and topped off his studies at the University
of Santa Clara in 1886-7-8, from which college his
father was a gold medal student, and took a business
course at the Garden City College and graduated
from the normal penmanship department of this
college. After leaving college Pedro came back to
the home ranch and worked for a time, then secured
a position in Mexico with the firm of Losoya &
Sons, chemists, mine owners and operators and large
landowners, and the three years he spent there en-

jdby Carxr'aell Bvcihtvs foi' HistoKic Rec^^d Co

^^jr^^. (3. ^M-^^r^X^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

379

larged his vision and experience a great deal. Re-
turning to California he then went to work for the
P. G. & E. Company as storekeeper in San Jose and
remained with the concern until 1904, which year he
started on a trip that occupied his time for over one
year and took him to the important centers of
Europe and throughout South America, where he
visited an uncle in the Argentine. The money he
spent on his journey he had saved from his earnings
the previous years, and he thereby secured a post-
graduate course by practical experience that has
enabled him to hold his place with the leading men
of the state in business and finance and in developing
the resources of the county.

Before going on his extended travels Mr. Bernal
had seen a deposit of some kind of mineral wealth
on the home ranch, but did not know what value it
had; when in England he found some of the same
formation and secured samples of it; also of some
from South America. He had them analyzed after
he reached home, and also some of the local product,
and found the latter on a par with the foreign mat-
ter. He had investigated the uses to which the fin-
ished product was put and knew there was an un-
limited field for this special kind of fertilizer in the
United States, and in consequence he decided he
would develop the field from the Santa Teresa
Rancho supply. He sent to St. Louis for a twenty-
ton mill, and this he set up with his own hands and
began grinding out the fertilizer that now is so widely
known as the Bernal-AIarl Fertilizer. For seven
years he worked to introduce to the ranchers of this
county and the San Joaquin Valley the great value
of the fertilizer to the soil, and then he had fully
convinced himself that the supply was inexhaust-
ible and concluded to interest capital to expand the
manufacture and distribution of the product. This
prehistoric deposit of lime shell marl is only found
in paying quantities worthy of development in three
sections of the globe — in England, in South America,
and on the Santa Teresa Rancho in Santa Clara
County, Cal. From the twenty-ton mill he first
erected — and, by the way, this is still doing duty in
refining the marl — there is now installed at great ex-
pense, an equipment with a 1,000-ton capacity per
day of eight hours. The Bernal-Marl Fertilizer
Company is incorporated under the laws of Cali-
fornia with A. J. Ginoux, of Oakland, as president,
and F. Gay, secretary. Mr. Bernal is one of the
salesmen and demonstrators of the company, and
for every ton of marl shipped from the ranch, Mrs.
Ygnacio Bernal receives a royalty. The company
ow^^ three trucks of seven-ton capacity, and hire
others, to distribute the Bernal marl to their custom-
ers within a radius of forty miles from the plant;
also have a station on the Southern Pacific Railway
called Bernal-Marl, and a shipping point at Coyote
and one at Edenvale, where cars are loaded for points
in various parts of California. They also have water-
shipping facilities. As yet they have been unable to
supply the demand in this state. There is an un-
limited supply covering over 100 acres and the de-
velopment company have a lease of twenty years and
a contract for all minerals that may be found under
the surface of the earth where they are working.
Full credit is accorded Pedro A. Bernal for his per-
sistency of purpose and his stick-to-it-iveness in thus
developing one of the mineral products of this earth
that has proven such an aid in replenishing the soil

and thereby bringing greater profits to the producer.

Mr. Bernal, who is still manager of his mother's
interests, is a very experienced orchardist and rancher
and is making the Bernal Ranch pay splendid divi-
dends. He is independent in his politics, supporting
the best men for public office, and is a member of the
Catholic Church. To all enterprises for the advance-
ment of the business, educational and social prob-
lems in the county, Mr. Bernal is always found
ready to do his duty, and his public spirit is well
known to all with whom he has come in contact.

THEOPHILUS KIRK.— Conspicuous among the
extensive and successful fruit growers of Santa Clara
County, Theophilus Kirk was both prominent and
influential, and his demise was regretted by his neigh-
bors and a host of friends. He was owner of one of
the finest orchards and one of the most attractive
home estates to be found in the valley. A man of
keen intelligence and superior business attainments,
he was actively identified with the agricultural and
horticultural developments and interests of Santa
Clara County since the early 'SOs. He was born in
Jefferson County, Ohio, a son of Theophilus and
Elizabeth (Lowe) Kirk, and in that state his father
died, his mother passing away at the Kirk home
place on Hicks Avenue, Santa Clara County.

Theophilus Kirk was educated in the public schools
of Iowa and Illinois, whither his parents had moved.
In the early years of his life, he crossed the plains in
1853, bringing with him a drove of cattle and con-
suming about six months in the journey from the Mis-
souri River to the Coast. He and his brother, S.
Kirk, located in Santa Clara County, where they
purchased a large tract of land and began farm-
ing; but Mr. Kirk soon saw the future for the
successful growing of fruit and so was one of
the first to set out orchards, becoming one of the
pioneers in the dried fruit industry, which has made
this valley so famous. He was also one of the pio-
neers of irrigation in the county, and at his passing
he was the last of the six original owners of the
Kirk Ditch Company, organized in 1859 for irri-
gating purposes. Mr. Kirk made a practical study
of horticulture and found both pleasure and profit
from this interesting side of country life. All the
improvements he made were of a substantial and
modern nature and the methods he employed in the
culture of his orchards were those of the earnest and
interested student of science.

Mr. Kirk's marriage, at Stockton, united him with
Miss Elizabeth Chesnutwood, also a native of Jef-
ferson County, Ohio, who came to California with
her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Kirk were the parents
of two daughters — Ethel, now the wife of S. D. Far-
rington, and Edith L., the wife of J. P. Dorrance —
both residing on the Kirk estate. There are two
grandchildren, Theo Kirk Farrington and John Kirk
Dorrance. Politically Mr. Kirk was a firm supporter
of the principles of the Republican party, but was
never an aspirant for official honors. He was a de-
vout Methodist and was for many years an active
and official member of the First Methodist Episcopal
Church of San Jose. Liberal in the support of all
measures looking toward the prosperity and advance-
ment of his community, his conscientious and upright
life and business career won for him the honor and
esteem of his fellowmen, and his passing on June
30, 1915, deeply mourned by his family and friends,
was a distinct loss to the county.

.^80

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

HON. C. C. SPALDING.— Those forces which
have contributed most to the development, improve-
ment and benefit of California have received impetus
from the labors of Hon. Charles Clifton Spaldmg,
financier, horticulturist and legislator, whose life re-
cord has been a credit and honor to the s,tale which
has honored him. He is distinctively a man of af-
fairs and one who wields a wide influence, while in
all that he undertakes he is actuated by high ideals
that seek the benefit both of his home locality and
of the state at large.

A native of Iowa, he was born at Horton, in
Bremer County, seven miles north of Waverly,
November 5, 1864, his parents being John F. and
Olive (Partridge) Spalding. They were natives of
New York, whence they removed to Iowa, and m
1900 they came to Sunnyvale, Cal., where the father
successfully followed agricultural pursuits until his
demise. The mother survives and is yet living in
Sunnyvale. The two surviving sisters and one
brother of Mr. Spalding are Minnie L.. the wife of
C. L. Stowell, of the Stowcll Realty Company of
Sunnyvale; Myrtle L., who married O. F. Pier-
son, a well-known orchardist of Sunnyvale; and the
brother, C. W. Spalding, also of Sunnyvale.

Reared on his father's farm in Iowa, C. C. Spald-
ing attended the common schools of Bremer County.
When nineteen years of age he taught school for a
winter, then he clerked in a large store in Waverly,
Iowa, until he was twenty-one years of age, when
he bought out a general mercantile establishment at
Horton, Iowa. Five years later his brother, C. W.,
bought a half interest in the store, which they con-
ducted as Spalding Bros, for some time, when they
engaged in the wholesale grocery business at Al-
gona, Iowa.

In 1900 Mr. Spalding came to Sunnyvale, arriving
here at an early period in its development, and he
has since laid out several additions to the town.
He also helped to organize the city government, and
was elected its first treasurer, serving in that capa-
city ever since, and aiding materially in promoting
the development and upbuilding of the town, which
now has its own fire department and modern domes-
tic water system and a fine grammar school, while
a union rural high school, patterned after the Chaffee
Union high school, is soon to be erected near Sunny-
vale for pupils in the Cupertino, Sunnyvale and
Mountain View districts. Mr. Spalding, who is a mem-
ber of the board of trustees, has done everything
in his power to raise the standard of the schools in
his community and the cause of education finds in
him a strong advocate.

He is deeply interested in the agricultural and hor-
ticultural development of the Santa Clara Valley
and in association with his brother, C. W. Spalding,
and F. D. Calkins purchased a 250 acre ranch at
Sunnyvale, which they have brought under a high
state of cultivation. It is given over to the growing
of peaches, apricots, prunes and cherries, all devel-
oped from stubble, and it has one of the largest
pumping plants in the county, having a capacity of
2100 gallons per minute. Mr. Spalding was one of
five who became the organizers of the California
Prune & Apricot Growers. Inc., and he was elected
a member of the board of trustees in 1921, receiving
the largest number of votes ever cast in favor of a

candidate from this district, which is a very import-
ant one, comprising Santa Clara, Contra Costa and
.Alameda counties.

In financial circles, too, Mr. Spalding occupies a
foremost positon. He was the organizer of the
Bank of Sunnyvale, of which he was made cashier,
while W. E. Crossman became its first president, and
two years later he was succeeded in that office by
Mr. Spalding. They erected a substantial bank build-
ing and in 1919 the institution was sold to P. M.
Landsdale, of Palo Alto, who in the following year
disposed of his interests to the Bank of Italy, its
present owners, who are about to build a new brick
and reinforced concrete bank building at a cost of
$35,000. The Bank of Italy stands high among the
financial institutions in the state and Mr. Spalding has
been chosen as manager of its Sunnyvale branch.
He is well versed in the details of modern banking
and is promoting the success of the institution by
progressive, systematic work.

Mr. Spalding's marriage occurred in San Jose in
1911, uniting him with Miss Jessie A. Parkman, a
native daughter of San Jose and a graduate of the
State Normal. She was an educator, teaching in the
San Jose schools for eighteen years and during a
portion of this period she was a member of the coun-
ty board of education. They are blessed with one
son, Charles C, Jr., now nine years of age.

For years a member of the Republican County
Central Committee, his fellow-citizens, recognizing
his worth and ability, have called Mr. Spalding to
other important public offices and in 1906 he was
elected a member of the thirty-seventh California
Legislature, serving for one term, taking an active
part in passing important legislation, one of his
measures being a bill to rebuild the State Hospital
at Agnew after the earthquake and fire, securing
an appropriation of $800,000. In November, 1920, he
was elected to represent his district in the forty-
fourth General Assembly, by the people of his dis-
trict. He is making a splendid political record,
characterized by marked devotion to duty and the
fearless defense of whatever he believes to be right,
looking ever beyond the exigencies of the moment to
the opportunities and possibilities of the future. He
is chairman of the committee on banks and banking
and is also a member of the committees on agri-
culture; hospitals and asylums; motor vehicles; nor-
mal schools; roads and highways; and state grounds
and parks. He was one of the organizers and is a
prominent member of the local Chamber of Com-
merce, of which he is chairman.

Mr. Spalding was made a Mason in Waverly
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., in Iowa, and demitting, be-
came a member of Mountain View Lodge, No. 198,
F. & A. M., and is now a charter member and treas-
urer of Sunnyvale Lodge, No. 511, F. & A. M. He
is also a Scottish Rite Mason of the 32nd degree, a
member of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of
San Francisco, and with Mrs. Spalding is n member
of Sunnyvale Chapter, O. E. S., of which he is past
patron. He also is prominent in the Odd Fellows,
Elks, Knights of Pythias. Modern Woodmen of .Amer-
ica, and the Mountain View Grange.

Pre-eminently public-spirited, his interest and co-
operation can always be aroused in behalf of any
project for the welfare of county or state. His ef-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

383

forts are of a most practical cliaracter, the sound
judgment of an active business man being manifest
in all of his opinions concerning the best methods
of improving the city along lines of material and in-
tellectual progress and municipal growth. His acti-
vities have touched the general interests of society
to their betterment and Sunnyvale, Santa Clara
County and the state have benefited by his co-opera-
tion and initiative spirit in many ways.

HENRY RENGSTORFF.— A man of many re-
sources and adaptability was the late Henry Reng-
storfF, who came to California in 1850. His contribu-
tion to agriculture and horticulture in the Santa Clara
Valley is hard to estimate, for he owned six valuable
and well-improved farms throughout the county.
When he arrived in California he had little in a
financial way, but his mind was well stored with the
practical and homely maxims of the German people,
and his youth had been spent in an atmosphere of
refinement. He was born September 29, 1829, near
Bremen, Province of Hanover, Germany, the son of
Fritz and Amelia (Hambruch) Rengstorff. His
father, Fritz Rengstorflf, was an educator, and also
the owner of a tavern on a country road a few miles
from the seaport town of Bremen. His mother,
also born in Germany, preserved the longevity in
the family, attaining to the age of ninety-four years.
The father lived to be sixty-six years old and had,
besides Henry, one son, Fritz, and two daughters.

Henry Rengstorff was reared and educated in his
native province, and upon reaching twenty-one de-
termined to seek a newer country and there estab-
lish a home and fortune. The spring of 1850 found
him afloat on a sailer, bound for San Francisco via
Cape Horn. From San Francisco he came to Santa
Clara County and worked on farms in the neighbor-
hood of San Jose until 1853, when he purchased a
squatter's right to 290 acres on Silver Creek and en-
gaged in general farming and stockraising for three
years. His next squatter's right was of 290 acres,
and in 1864 he purchased his home place of 164
acres, on which his daughter, Mrs. W. F. Haag. now
lives, one and a half miles north of Mountain View.
This place was devoted to the raising of grain
and hay, as was also the farm of 227 acres near Mil-
pitas. A farm of 117 acres on the San Francisco
Road, near Los Altos, was planted entirely to fruit.
and the farm of 1,200 acres in San Mateo County
was devoted to general farming and stockraising. He
also owned a ranch upon which was built the Reng-
storff Landing, and a half interest in a ranch of 520
acres east of San Jose. For a number of years he
rented all of his farms and his son, Henry, assumed
the management of the Rengstorflf Landing and the
warehouse.

The marriage of Mr. Rengstorff occurred in San
Jose about 1855, and united him with Miss Chris-
tine Hessler, a native of Germany, who lived to
share in his well deserved fortune. They were the
parents of seven children: Mary, who became the
wife of A. C. Martel, died and left two sons, Robert
and Alfred; John H. married in Seattle and removed
to Nome, Alaska, and there died; Elise is the wife
of William F. Haag; Helena, who became the wife
of Dr. O. P. Askam, died and left two children. Earl
L. and O. Perry, who were overseas during the late
war; they are both professional musicians; Christine
F. became the wife of Robert McMillan and they

have one child, Daniel H., who was in the naval re-
serve during the late war; he later became a student
at the Law School of the University of California,
and in 1920 met death in an automobile accident in
San Francisco; Henry is a rancher of Mountain
View; and Charles W. passed away in infancy. Mr.
Rengstorflf passed away in 1906 at the age of seven-
ty-seven, and his wife survived him until 1919 and
reached the age of ninety-two. Mr. and Mrs. Reng-
storflf were active in the affairs of the Presbyterian
Church of Mountain View and were liberal contribu-
tors. After his arrival in California he strove to es-
tablish a school system, and served as school direc-
tor for many years and erected the schoolhouse in
the Whisman district. With cliaracturistic per-
severance and thrift he worked to realize iiis ambi-
tions, and he was highly esteemed throughout the
community for his many sterling qualities.

RODNEY ESCHENBURG.— Esteemed and be-
loved among the sturdy pioneers who have been
closely identified with the development of the won-
derful resources of Santa Clara County, the late
Rodney Eschenburg, a citizen of eminence of Gilroy,
began his interesting association with that town in
1889. after which he was not only an eyewitness to
the growth of this section, but did all that he could
toward giving it prominence. A native of Delaware,
Rodney Eschenburg was born in Wilmington on
Washington's Birthday, 1831, one of eight children
of John and EHza (Rodney) Eschenburg, his mother
being a grandniece of Caesar A. Rodney, one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence. Her
father was appointed U. S. Minister to the Argentine
Republic, and he and his family took up their resi-
dence at Buenos Ayres, and in that beautiful South
American city she was married, and there, too, four
of her children were born. While she was on a
visit to her old home in Wilmington, the subject of
our story entered the family as the fifth child.

A native of the famous "free city" of Hamburg,
John Eschenburg left his homeland while a young
man and sought his fortune in far-away South Amer-
ica, and became a dealer in Peruvian bark, assem-
bling his cargoes and shipping the same to the Eu-
ropean markets. There he met Miss Rodney, whom
he later married, and by whom he had eight children:
Emily, Ellen, John, Isabel, Rodney, Herman, Mari-
quita and .Albertine. Mr. Eschenburg lost the fortune
he had amassed when the South American Revolu-
tion swept away lives and property; and in 1834 he
removed to Mexico, where he was very successful
as a merchant for many years, also serving as Prus-
sian consul at the City of Mexico. About 1859, he
came to the United States, and for ten years he fol-
lowed agricultural pursuits in Madison County, 111.,
about twenty miles from St. Louis.

In 1849, the gold fever drew three of his sons to
California, while the remainder of the family re-
turned to the old home in Delaware; and the next
year, John Eschenburg himself hurried to the Cali-
fornia gold-fields by way of the Isthmus. In 1851.
he returned to the East with part of the family; and
in 1856 the rest followed. For years, after he had
taken up his residence out here, John Eschenburg
worked as a bookkeeper for Castle Bros, in San Fran-
cisco, and after his son, Rodney, had acquired a
farm near Gilroy, he removed hither, in 1857, with
his family. In 1863, Mr. Eschenburg became sec-

384

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

retary of the San Marcial Mining Company, and
once again he removed to Mexico, where he worked
in his secretarial capacity until within tliree days of
his death, which occurred at San Marcial in 186.=^,
when he had attained to the ripe old age of eighty-
four years, and until 1874 he was survived by his
widow, who died in San Francisco in her eight}'-
second year.

Rodney Eschenburg in 1849 set out with his broth-
ers, Herman and John, to try to cross the great
continent to California, and with dependable, if slow,
mule-teams they accomplished the journey in 105
days. They put up the first cabin at Auburn, and
then plunged into mining. On December 16. 1850.
however. Herman passed away, not far from Nevada
City, and the other two brothers were left to con-
tinue their mining ventures, with which they had pnly
uncertain success, so that in 1858 they left the mines.
At Sacramento. Rodney .got a iob at unloading flour,
for which he was paid one dollar an hour, working
nearly twelve hours a day and handline 200-pound
sacks. He also w^orked on the first vc-;;.! ev. r ^unk
in California waters, the Ladv WriMiiirjt.Mi, later
raised and salvaged. About 185.3, he wmt into the
Santa Clara Valley about five miles east of Gilroy.
and there bought a farm with some of the profits
from his mining investments, thus acquiring some
343 acres, which he so improved that in time he
had one of the finest dairy farms in that section.
On giving up mining, therefore, in '58. he naturally
turned to farming, and for three decades he contin-
ued dairying, becoming one of the leading dairy-
farmers of Santa Clara Valley, and a rancher whose
progressive ideas influenced many in other parts of
the county. Retiring at last, he removed to Gilroy;
and in June. 1921. he laid aside the cares and re-
sponsibilities of a world which had grown decidedly
better for his having lived and toiled in it. This 343-
acre ranch is still known as the Eschenburg Dairy
and is owned by the family.

Mr. Eschenburg was married in Gilroy on Decem-
ber 12, 1863, to Miss Maria Louise Thomas, one of
the attractive daughters of John B. and Fanny
(Smith) Thomas, who had six children, brought up
in Delaware County, N. Y. Three years prior to
her wedding. Miss Thomas accompanied her sister.
Mrs. John A. Perkins, of Fresno, on the even then
somewhat difficult journey to California, coming out
merely for a visit; but having met Mr. Eschenburg.
who wooed and won her, she decided to stay and
to help make the Golden State still more golden.
Two children were granted Mr. and Mrs. Eschen-
burg: Isabel Madeline became Mrs. Matthew Mc-
Currie and was made secretary of the Humane
Society of San Francisco; and they have two chil-
dren, Donald Rodney and Gordon. Herman R. Esch-
enburg married Miss Georgia Cobb, of Gilroy, and
died, in August, 1903, the father of one boy, Herman
Rodney Eschenburg. who graduated from the Davis
Agricultural School in 1921, and is now making his
home in Gilroy. Rodney Eschenburg assisted as a
charter member in founding the Presbyterian Church
at Gilroy in 1860, his wife also joining, and later he
became an elder in the church. He early joined the
Republican party, and throughout his life labored to
effect an elevation of all that pertained to politics.

WILLIAM C. OVERFELT.— On the pages of Cal-
ifornia's pioneer history appears the name of William
C. Overfelt, and although many years have elapsed
since Mr. Overfelt passed away, his memory is still
green in the hearts of his family and friends, and as
a pionrtr of 1X46 his name still lives in the annals
of the state. His was a life of toil, beginning early
in life, but he was fortunate in that he had estab-
■ lished himself upon an independent basis by the time
he arrived at middle age. Had his life been pro-
longed, no doubt he would have reaped a larger suc-
cess, for his resourceful mind and keen judgment
won the confidence of associates and were the fac-
tors in his growing prosperity.

A native of Virginia, he was born in 1827, and was
descended from German ancestry. At the early age
of five he was deprived of his mother. His father,
Michael Overfelt, a native of the Old Dominion, and
a pioneer of Missouri, followed the wagonmaker's
trade in addition to that of being a farmer. At the
age of fourteen, being obliged to earn his living,
William was bound out to a farmer, with whom he re-
mained until he was twenty-one. With an older
brother. John, he then embarked in the flour milling
business in Callaway County. However, before their
enterprise had been placed upon a substantial found-
ation, a desire for adventure came over him and
with a party of seventeen young men he made
preparation to come to the coast. The journey
across the plains, begun in the spring of 1846, was
made with pack mules and oxen and contained the
usual dangers and hardships. The greatest peril
they encountered was at Kings River, where the
waters had overflowed the bed of the river and
formed an angry sea, imperiling the lives of those
who attempted to cross.

Like almost every pioneer, Mr. Overfelt tried his
luck in the mines, being engaged principally in Mari-
posa County. About 1852 he came to Santa Clara
County and with others bought and settled on Gov-
ernment land, on which he engaged in farming and
stock raising. The marriage of Mr. Overfelt oc-
curred December 27, 1854. uniting him with Miss
Mary Pyle, a sister of John F. Pyle. Her father.
Thomas Pyle, was a son of Edward G. Pyle, a very
early pioneer of California, and mentioned in history
as one of the party who returned to Donner Lake in
March, 1847, hoping to arrive there in time to re-
lieve the ill-fated Donner party. Mrs. Overfelt was
born in Illinois and accompanied her father's family
to California, where she attended a subscription
school and also had the the advantage of study, for
some years, with a private tutor engaged by her
father. After her marriage she settled with her hus-
band on a tract of 160 acres, located on Penetencia
Creek, one-half mile from Berryessa. After almost
four years on that place they sold and removed to a
part of the Pyle homestead, where Mr. Overfelt con-
ducted a dairy and stock raising business until his
death. May 26, 1876, when only forty-nine years of
age. Both he and his wife were from an early age
identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church South,
and contributed generously to charitable and religious
movements. .\fter the death of her husband she
continued the management of the farm. Mr. and
Mrs. Overfelt were the parents of two sons and
three daughters, Charles F. and E. J. being engaged

'^ ^^2.^^^!^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

in stock raising and farming. The oldest daughter,
Mrs. Mary EHzabeth Hatch, resides in San Jose.
Martha Ellen is deceased, and Mildred L. resides with
her mother on the home ranch.

MRS. MARY OVERFELT.— A splendid example
of what a far-seeing, progressive and industrious wom-
an may accomplish, when thrown upon her own re-
sources, is furnished in the life and activities of
Mrs. Mary Overfelt, the highly esteemed pioneer,
who was born in Illinois about thirty miles from
Chicago, on October 26, 1839. Her grandfather,
Edward G. Pyle, was a native of Virginia, and one
of the Revolutionary patriots who also participated
in the War of 1812. He moved to Kentucky, where
Thomas Pyle. the father of our subject, was born
in 1810. Later the family migrated to Indiana, then
to Illinois, and afterwards to Missouri, and in all
their adventures they were sturdy frontiersmen. In
1846 Edward Pyle brought his wife, three sons and
three daughters, with two sons-in-law, to California,
and they were members of what was known as the
Pyle-Whiteman party, consisting of Mr. and Mrs.
Whiteman. Mr. and Mrs. Laird, Mary Pyle, who
later became Mrs. Gordon, and Thomas, Edward and
John Pyle.

Thomas Pyle had married Miss Elizabeth Goodwin,
who was born in 1812, and was a member of a family
that came from Ohio, where her Grandfather Good-
win was a magistrate in an early day. Thomas Pyle
was accompanied by his wife and family, which con-
sisted of four children: Edward G, who lived until
February 10, 1915; Mary, Mrs. Overfelt; William
Henry, who died on February 28, 1912; John Francis,
who passed away on July 8, 1921. Mary Pyle was
then a girl of seven years, so that the events of that
memorable trip are stamped indelibly on her mind.
On October 26, the Pyle-Whiteman party arrived
at Sacramento and located at Sutter's Fort, one and
a half miles from the old town, where they remained
over the winter, while Thomas Pyle went out to help
subdue the Spaniards under General Fremont. He
returned to his family at Sutter's Fort early in the
spring of '47. and then the Pyle family went to tlie
Mokelumne River, thence to the Stanislaus River,
where they wintered in Stanislaus County. Two and
a half years were spent on the Tuolumne River and
in the spring of 1850 they settled in Santa Clara
County. Thomas Pyle had come here in the fall of
"49 and bought a ranch of some 500 acres, but when
it was surveyed, finally, it lacked ten acres of that
area. He devoted this land to raising garden truck,
which sold readily in the town, and stock raising.
After the death of Grandmother Pyle, Grandfather
Pyle made his home with his son Thomas. He had
come to this county at an early day and had pur-
chased some lots when San Jose was plotted. He
had spent a short time at the mines, but preferred
the life of a rancher, as a surer way to wealth.

Mar\- l'\lr attended the l!err\-essa school, where
she studiiil, first under Mr. Harrison and then under
My. Knnli.ill. and later she attended the Hammond
private school in San Jose. She remained on the
home ranch until December 27. 1854, when she was
married to William C. Overfelt. a n.itive of Vir-
ginia, where he was born in April, 1827. His father,
Michael Overfelt, was born September 25, 1780, and
died on March 12, 1864, and his mother, before her
marriage on October 10, 1805, was Miss Polly Ayers.
William Overfelt came to California from Missouri
in 1849 and settled at first at Placerville, where he
mined. He then came to the Penetencia Creek dis-

trict and bou.ght 160 acres, where he raised stock
and grain, but sold this ranch, being afraid that he
would lose it through a dispute over the old Spanish
title. About 1858 he moved to the old Pyle ranch,
his wife's part of the estate being about seventy
acres, and he also purchased the portion of his
brother-in-law, Edward Pyle, thereby coming to own
over 100 acres. Later, with Mr. McCracken, he pur-
chased some 300 acres of land on which Los Gatos
now stands.

Mr. Overfelt passed away May 26, 1876, the hon-
ored father of five children, then living. The chil-
dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Overfelt are: William
Elijah died at the age of eighteen months; Charles
Franklin resides in San Jose with his wife, formerly
Rose Lenz, and their two children, Dorothy and
Harold; John Thomas died at eight years, and Chris-
topher, while in infancy: Elizabeth has become Mrs.
Wm. D. Hatch and lives on North Thirteenth Street,
San Jose; she is tlie mother of two daughters^ — Veva
B., Mrs. Frank S. Locke, and Leah, Mrs. Jay Hanna;
Edward Jackson lives on the home ranch; Martha
E., Mrs. F. S. Easterday, died on August 6, 1915;
Mildred L., for a number of years a teacher in the
public schools of the state, is nt home.

Directly after her liM-lian.r- dcith, Mrs. Overfelt,
carrying out the plans iiiihIc l.y lierself and husband
prior to his death, built tin- licnni- in which she now
lives at the corner of Jackson and McKee roads, and
moved into it in 1877, dispensing there a generous
Californian hospitality to her many friends. William
Overfelt, with Joseph McKee and George Wood,
were the three men who first secured the first free
public school in the county, east of San Jose, and or-
ganized the Pala district, Mr. Overfelt being one of
the trustees for many years. During his lifetime he
sought to do his duty as a citizen under the ban-
ners of the Democratic party. Mrs. Overfelt is in-
dependent in her views and votes for the best men
and measures, regardless of party lines. Her two
sons, Charles F. and E. Jackson Overfelt, are well-
known and successful ranchers of the valley, where
they also have achieved prominence as breeders of
Percheron and Belgian draft horses, and at one time
they had five prize stallions.

DON WALTER LUTHER.— A native son of
California and of an early settler of Santa Clara
County, Don Walter Luther is successfully carrying
on the horticultural and agricultural operations in-
augurated by his father. He was born in HoUister,
September 5, 1882, the son of Jacob and Francis
(Green) Luther, natives of Germany and Michigan,
respectively. His father came to California from
Wisconsin in 1858, was a successful stockman in
Monterey County, and in 1889 began developing the
Luther orchard of 110 acres near San Jose, now one
of the finest producers in the valley. He died March
11, 1916, leaving a widow and four children.

Don Walter attended the Santa Clara and San
Jose grammar schools and the high school of San
Jose. He was reared on the farm and when his
father passed away, he went on with the management
of the ranch, and has been justh- rewarded for his
industry and perseverance His mother, hnnself and
his sisters reside on the home place, living together
in harmony, each cooperating and doing their part
and having explicit confidence in each other.

On December 29, 1915, in Santa Clara, Mr. Luther
was united in marriage to Miss Glen Monroe, a
native of Oregon, a daughter of Julius and Anna

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Monroe, originally from Missouri. Mr. and Mrs.
Luther are the parents of one daughter, AHce Don-
aldina. In national politics, Mr. Luther is a Repub-
lican, and fraternally is a member of the Odd Fel-
lows lodge of Santa Clara. The advancement and
prosperity of Santa Clara County has a strong sup-
porter in Mr. Luther, and his interest and influence
is readily given to the upbuilding of his locality.

JOSEPHINE RAND ROGERS.— California is
proud of her gifted and patriotic women, and well
she may be, for ever since her entry into the Union,
the Golden State has been singularly blessed with
the number of women of exceptional public-spirited-
ness and unusual, even rare talent and enviable quali-
fications. In the beginning, to be sure, the women
who helped to lay the foundations for the great com-
monwealth, in keeping with the attitude of most of
their sex throughout the land, contented themselves
to labor in the quieter, less observed, but by no
means isolated paths of life; but as the years went
by, and a larger influence because of a larger free-
dom and service was accorded them, thanks to a
broader sentiment as to the value of women to soci-
ety, and a greater tolerance as to suffrage — a senti-
ment and a tolerance, by the way, fostered in part
by the effective reform work of broad-minded, clear-
visioned and courageous women — the so-called
weaker, but the ever fair sex came to the fore; and
ever since has been doing a larger, and quite its
full share of the world's daily work. In this shin-
ing company of far-seeing and courageous leaders,
Mrs. Josephine Rand Rogers of Santa Clara Valley
has borne her part in her adopted state.

Mrs. Rogers, as Josephine Almira Rand, was born
at Forest Home, the old Rand homestead, situated
between Niagara Falls and Buffalo, N. Y., on No-
vember 6, 1869. She was the daughter of Calvin
Gordon Rand of Batavia, N. Y., who had married
Almira Hershey Long of Tonawanda, N. Y. Her
maternal grandmother was of the old Hershey fam-
ily of Lancaster, Pa., one of the oldest and most
prominent families in Eastern Pennsylvania; her
maternal grandfather, Benjamin Long, was an ex-
tensive landowner of Pennsylvania, who later settled
in Western New York, where he became one of the
most influential and prosperous citizens of that sec-
tion of the country. Her father was the son of Dr.
James Rand of Batavia, N. Y., a descendant of
Robert Rand, who came to America from England
in 1635 and whose many descendants have made
the name Rand a synonym for sterling worth and
achievement in this country. An uncle of Mrs.
Rogers, Chas. F. Rand, was the first volunteer in the
Civil War and was decorated by Congress for being
the first volunteer and also for bravery in service.
He was also decorated by the New York State
Legislature.

Calvin Gordon Rand was a school teaclicr in his
earlier years, but later was the successful manager
of a large estate which had been given him by his
wife's father and on which was located beautiful
Forest Home. He died when our subject was two
years of age.

There were nine children in the family, and among
these Josephine was the eighth. The others were as
follows: Benjamin Long, who had a successful career
as a banker, later became president of the Rand

Manufacturing Company of North Tonawanda, N. Y.;
Mary Hershey, who passed away in her twentieth
year, had devoted her young life to education and
music, having graduated from the Buffalo High
School, also was member of the first graduating
class in the Chautauqua course; James Henry, presi-
dent of the Rand Manufacturing Company, was the
inventor of the Rand ledger used throughout the
United States and Canada, also inventor of the vis-
ible index system and a large number of time-saving
devices; Cora Belle is the wife of F. Everett
Reynolds of Brockport, N. Y.; Elizabeth Hershey is
the wife of Rev. B. Frank Taber of Ithaca, N. Y.. a
Baptist clergyman, now at Washington, Pa.; Eugene
died at the age of seven; George Franklin was well
known in financial circles in this country and in
Europe for his remarkable ability as a banker. At
the age of thirty-five he was president of three na-
tional banks. Later, as president of the Marine
Trust Company of Buffalo, he was recognized as
one of the greatest bankers of the country. He be-
came of international interest from his gift of 500,000
fiancs to the French Government for the erection of
a monument in memory of the bayonet trench heroes
at Verdun, and his check for the amount was
presented in person to M. Clemenceau on December
5, 1919. Three days later, as Mr. Rand was crossing
from Paris to London by aeroplane, he met instant
death by an accident to the machine when landing.
His heirs honored the check given to France, how-
ever, and the monument was erected. Its dedication,
a year later, was attended by great pomp and cere-
mony. The famous w-ar generals, Marshal Foch,
General Joffre and General Petain, being present;
also it was the first public official appearance of the
newly elected president of France, M. Millerand.
Seven members of the Rand family were also present
for the occasion. Mr. Rand's gift to France marked
an epoch in world history, for it was the first time a
citizen of one country had given a monument to
another country to commemorate the heroism of
that other country's soldiers. Josephine Almira, was
next ill age in the family; Clara Nancy, now the wife
of Frederick Robertson, a banker of North Tona-
wanda, N. Y., was the youngest.

When Josephine was nearly two years of age her
parents moved to LaSalle, four miles from Niagara
Falls. A few months later her father died. Her
early education was begun by her sister Mary. At
the age of eight she began attendance at the country
school, and when ten her mother moved her family
to Brockport, N. Y., that the children might have
the advantages of the State Normal School located
there. Four years later her mother died.

Believing a change of climate might prove bene-
ficial to Josephine, who had never been very robust,
it was decided that she should make her home with
her sister Elizabeth, who had become the wife of
Reverend Taber and whose pastorate was in Man-
hattan, Kans. Thither she went, accompanied by
Reverend and Mrs. Taber and their young son. The
next four years were spent in attendance at the pub-
lic schools of Manhattan and in the Kansas State
Agricultural College. It was in this college that
she met her future husband, F. J. Rogers, who was
a member of the college faculty. Deciding that she
would fit herself for the teaching profession. Miss

^■■

A

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Rami returned to New York and entered the Buffalo
State Normal School. After graduation in 1890, she
was offered a position in the Ithaca public schools,
where she taught two years. Here she again met
Professor Rogers, then an instructor at Cornell.

On June 27, 1893, at North Tonawanda, N. Y.. at
the home of her eldest brother, Benjamin, Miss Rand
was married to Frederick John Rogers. Mr. Rogers
was born at Neoga. Ill, September 9, 1863. He was
the second child of John Rankin Rogers and Sarah
Greene Rogers. The Rogers family came from
Maine, and their ancestry is traced to William
Rogers, who came to this country in 1746. On his
maternal side, the Greenes were the prominent fam-
ily by that name in Ohio, whose ancestry is traced
to 1636. John Rankin Rogers moved his family
from one state to another and finally settled in Kan-
sas. During the family's residence in that state,
Frederick attended the State Agricultural College,
from which he graduated and was placed on the
teaching staff the following year. In this college
Mr. Rogers was a classmate of Ernest Fox Nichols
and at Cornell, whither the two young men went at
the same time, they were roommates. E. F. Nichols
later became the president of Dartmouth University,
head of the physics department at Yale, and presi-
dent of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. An-
other roommate of Mr. Rogers at the Kansas col-
lege was James G. Harbord, now Major-General
of the U. S. Army and General Pershing's chief of
staff. When Mr. Rogers left Kansas to continue his
studies at Cornell, his father moved his family to the
state of Washington, and here he was elected gov-
ernor of the state in 1896. In 1900 he was reelected
for a second term. This was a personal victory, for
he was the only candidate on his ticket — the Demo-
cratic— that was elected, but only a few months later
he died in office. He is rated as one of the most
efficient governors the state has ever had.

Upon her marriage, Mrs. Rogers accompanied her
husband to Ithaca, where he w'as a member of the
physics department* of Cornell University. Here
they remained for seven years. In 1900 thej' re-
moved to Stanford University, with which institu-
tion Professor Rogers is still connected. The family
spent one year at Princeton University — a sabbatical
leave of absence from Stanford in 1914-1915, when
Professor Rogers taught in the latter university.

Mrs. Josephine Rand Rogers is the mother of four
children: Frederick Rand, born in Ithaca, N. Y., on
December 27, 1894, who is now instructor on physical
education in the Salinas high school. He attended
the Palo Alto high school, Phillips Exeter Academy
in New Hampshire, and graduated from the Prince-
ton, New Jersey, high school, and from Stanford
University in 1920. His college course was inter-
rupted by the World War. He enlisted shortly after
war was declared in the Naval Reserve on April 12.
1917. He received his commission as ensign at
San Pedro and was sent to Annapolis Naval Acad-
emy, where he graduated in June, 1918. He was
sent overseas and made chief inspector of fourteen-
inch shells, at Sheffield, England, until the armistice
was signed. He was then given the rank of lieuten-
ant, junior grade. While at Annapolis, Frederick
Rand Rogers and Miss Beatrice Easterday were mar-
ried in Baltimore, Md., April 6, 1918. This marriage

was the culmination of a friendship begun when
Miss Easterday was a student at Castilleja school in
Palo Alto, and Fred was a high school student in
the same place. They have one child, Katherine
Haller, born January 12. 1921. During Frederick's
high school and college course he was a prominent
athlete, playing on football and basketball teams and
winning quarter and half-mile races. He is member
of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. Robert Greene
Rogers, the second son. born on December 5, 1895,
graduated from the San Jose high school and en-
tered Stanford University. He enlisted in the Naval
Reserve for the World War, April 17, 1917, and re-
ceived his commission as ensign, but the armistice
was signed before he was sent overseas. He also
took an active part in athletics during his high school
course, playing on the football and basketball teams
in high school and on the freshman football team at
Stanford and made his letter S in high hurdles
against California. He is a member of the Delta
Upsilon fraternity, the Skull and Snakes, the Geol-
ogy and Mining and Gymnasium Club. Josephine,
the only daughter, was born on March 12. 1903.
While a student in the San Jose high school, from
which she was graduated in June, 1919, she played
on the girls' baseball team, was elected to Torch and
Laurel, girls' honorary society. She was placed on
the "preferred list" of girls for entrance into Stan-
ford. However she entered Mills College. John, the
youngest, born March 27, 1907, is a student in the
San Jose high school.

While Mrs. Rogers has been a devoted wife and
mother she has been impressed with a sense of
noblesse oblige — that for all the advantages, priv-
ileges, and opportunities that have been hers she
owes a return to the world. Believing that condi-
tions surrounding the home and children are de-
pendent upon conditions in the larger home, the
community, state and nation, and realizing that the
world is what we make it. Mrs. Rogers has been
impelled to do her part. She has at times applied
herself to the furthering of movements that were
unpopular but just. With no thought of personal
glory or advantage but in a spirit of self-sacrifice
and ardent devotion to that which is right she has
wielded an influence for good that has made itself
felt beyond the confines of her own residence in city
or state. Alert, broad-visioned and consecrated, she
utilizes her time for the promotion of human wel-
fare. Her pleasure is in contributing her part to the
world's progress.

The public work to which Mrs. Rogers first applied
her energies was in behalf of woman suffrage, in
New York state in 1893. At that time the cause
v.'as exceedingly unpopular, and needed fearless
champions. Ten years later, in Palo Alto, she again
took up the work. Here it was also distinctly un-
popular. Mrs. Rogers offered her services to the
club that had voted to disband; she aided in increas-
ing interest in the cause and enlarging membership
of the suffrage club and at the time of the passage
of the amendment to the State Constitution en-
franchising women in 1911, the Palo Alto club was
one of the most influential in Northern California.

Mrs. Rand Rogers' chief interest is in child w^el-
fare. While deeply appreciating the work done by
charity workers, for needy children, and also in

392

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

sympathy with the efforts made through reform
schools to restore so-called wayward children to nor-
mal attitude of mind, Mrs. Rogers bends her el^orts
toward prevention rather than cure. To provide for
children right environment and intelligent training
that would lead to their best development Mrs.
Rogers claims is the fundamentally important work
oi those who have the welfare of children at heart.
To this end she has labored unceasingly. The San
Jose Day Nursery owes much to Mrs. Rogers' efforts.
At the request of two ladies, who had conceived the
idea of a Day Nurserj' for San Jose, Mrs. Rogers
assisted in forming the organization and was one
of its first directors. When funds were exhausted
and the doors were about to close, Mrs. Rogers gave
a dramatic reading as a benefit performance, wliich
netted a large amount and was sufficient to continue
the work, and acted as president of the board of
directors until the institution was firmly established.
During this time Mrs. Rogers was also active in
the Parent-Teacher Association. As district chair-
man of the home department she originated the plan
of having talks at the regular meetings bearing on
the moral training of children. She agitated the
question of the importance of intelligent, scientific
parenthood with indefatigable zeal, and aroused in-
terest that is bearing fruit an hundredfold. The first
course of lectures on child training given by the
University of California Extension Division were
given in San Jose at the request and by arrangement
of Mrs. Josephine Rand Rogers, who was then
County Chairman of Child Welfare for the Woman's
Committee of the Council of Defense. Courses in
San Francisco immediately followed. The idea grew
rapidly and soon became an established custom.

In 1918 Mrs. Rogers had introduced into the State
Legislature Assembly Bill No. 198, providing for an
appropriation of $50,000 to the University of Cal-
ifornia Extension Division for the purpose of giving
couses of lectures in communities requesting them
on scientific child training. This bill was not re-
ported out from committee, but a direct result of the
propaganda Mrs. Rogers had carried on in its be-
half throughout the state led to the preparation of
a correspondence study course on scientific mother-
hood by the Extension Division.

During the next session of the State Legislature —
1920 — Mrs. Rogers had another bill presented — Sen-
ate Bill No. 213. This called for an appropriation
of $50,000 for the establishment of a Child Wel-
fare Research Station at the University of California.
Realizing that the amount of information available
for the courses in scientific motherhood was ex-
tremely limited, Mrs. Rogers determined to go to
the rock bottom of child welfare work — the scientific
study of the child itself. For months her entire time
was given to the furthering of this bill, securing en-
dorsements from prominent educators, psychologists,
judges, physicians, women's clubs and men's clubs,
and attendance at the state conventions and the
legislature. The bill was reported favorably from
the education committee but tabled by the finance
committee. She intends to continue her efforts in
this direction until the goal is reached.

In behalf of child welfare, Mrs. Rogers fought
assiduously for prohibition. Her activities along this

line — until the adoption of the Eighteenth Amend-
ment— was marked by a determination, thoroughness
and constructiveness that proved a compelling fac-
tor in the struggle for the temperance cause in this
state. She was one of the organizers of the War
Service League that worked in conjunction with the
military authorities at Camp Fremont during the
war; of the Civic Welfare League, formed to bring
about better conditions in San Jose; also of the
Santa Clara County Law and Order League, origi-
nated to carry the Little Volstead Act election and
continue the propaganda for the Wright Bill in the
state election.

The League of W^omen Voters, of which Mrs.
Rand Rogers is president at the time this history is
being compiled, was organized in May, 1921. This
organization having for its aim legislation for the
■\\elfare of women and children and education for bet-
ter citizenship appealed to Mrs. Rogers as eminently
worth w^hile for the advancement of her dearest inter-
est— child welfare.

Mrs. Rogers was educated not only as teacher but
as a dramatic reader. She studied with the best
teachers in the country, including Professor Charles
Cumnock of Northwestern University, and Leland T.
Powers of Boston; at the Curry School of Expression
in Boston, and the Emerson College of Oratory. Her
dramatic readings throughout the country, including
San Jose and Stanford LTniversity elicited both press
and personal testimonies as to her splendid dramatic
talent. She organized the Current Events Club com-
posed of faculty ladies of Stanford in 1905, which is
still regarded as one of high merit.

The year 1920 marked a new epoch in the life of
Mrs. Rogers. As a result of her wide observation
and experience in civic welfare work through various
organizations and as a private citizen, Mrs. Rogers
decided that her work would be more effective if per-
formed in a government official capacity. Also she
believed women's interests should be represented to
some extent by women themselves in the State Leg-
islature. Her desire was to render the greatest serv-
ice in her power. Since the state senator from her
district had declined renomination, she decided to
offer her services for that position. The "wet" and
"dry" forces each putting a man on the Republican
ticket for nomination, Mrs. Rogers refused to split
the dry vote by making a campaign for the primary
election. Her loyalty to the "dry" cause was abso-
lute. But after the primaries when the "wet and dry"
issue was settled she made her campaign on an Inde-
pendent ticket on the child welfare platform, and in
behalf of democracy. The first woman to make a
campaign for a state elective office in her senatorial
district, the first person to start a campaign after the
primaries, against great odds with no organization
back of her, she polled a vote that astonished the most
astute politicians. Although she did not win the elec-
tion, she had made a campaign in behalf of a just
cause and felt she had really rendered a valuable
service to the public.

Open-minded, progressive, originator of ideas, of
sound judgment, earnest and fearless, Mrs. Josephine
Rand Rogers has learned the secret of right livmg,
the joy of service — and she lives it to the utmost.

y^ ,^i^a^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

395

HENRY WILLARD COE.— With many phases
of Santa Clara County's development and upbuild-
ing, Henry Willard Coe was closely associated. He
was born in the village of Northwood, N. H., Febru-
ary 6, 1820, and his youthful years were spent in the
midst of moral, as well as physical surroundings
eminently calculated to make him a leader among
men. He descended, on both sides, from famous
families, prominent in Colonial and Revolutionary
history, the genealogy tracing the family as far back
as 1640. Very early in life his mother died and
feeling keenly the loss, the lad was prompted to ac-
cept the offer of Zach. Chandler to accompany hiin
to the West. With a meager stock of goods, which
they carried with them, they were towed in a canal
boat up the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal,
and across the Great Lakes to Detroit, a journey
occupying over a month. This offer of Mr. Chandler
to a boy of sixteen, shows conclusively what was
already thought of Henry Willard Coe. Within three
years, a partnership in Mr. Chandler's great business
was offered him, which proves that the expectations
of Mr. Chandler were justified. However, the young
man declined the flattering offer, and returning to
his native town, purchased the business carried on
by his father, and conducted it successfully. And
now came one of those turns of the tide in the affairs
of men which it is always delightful and helpful to
recall because of the lesson they impress and the
insight into character they furnish. One evening
there came into the village a weary traveler from
the West, who said that in the West his wife and
all his children had died of fever. At the village
inn, he asked for food and shelter, which was denied
him. Mr. Coe, who happened to be standing near
and heard the proprietor's refusal of hospitality, of-
fered the man his home as long as he desired, and
fed, clothed and entertained him with the warm hos-
pitality for w-hich he afterwards became famous. He
was well repaid for his kindness. The stranger told
him of a cotton manufactory in Cooperstown, N. Y.,
and that he knew the purchase would make him a
fortune. Mr. Coe made a very careful inquiry and
purchased the property, and operated it at consider-
able profit. This was a most appreciable reward for
the kindness that had helped the poor stranger, and
it was practically the starting point of the well-
known Phoenix Cotton Manufacturing plant at
Cooperstown, N. Y. Mr. Coe employed a large
number of people, and not only manufactured cot-
ton, but turned out calicoes of new and varied de-
signs. Two years after entering upon this enter-
prise, Mr. Coe found himself with a substantial bal-
ance. Then came a period of uncertainty; values of
every kind fluctuated almost hourly, but Mr. Coe
decided that he would not sell his business at a loss.
He doggedly held on for six months; then the crash
came, Henry Clay was defeated and the election
of Polk to the presidency meant the repeal of the
tariff. Following the election of Mr. Polk came a
panic and Mr. Coe was financially ruined; however,
he did not grieve over his losses, but assigned all of
his property to his creditors. The strain of the
anxiety over the financial situation, undermined his
health, and his physician advised a complete rest.
He journeyed to Detroit, where his friend, Hon.
Zachariah Chandler, still lived, but he onlv stopped

there for a short time, going on to St. Louis, Mo.
Mr. Coe had always been fired by visions of the
Northwest, and being naturally of an enterprising
and generous disposition, with a cool head and a
warm heart, he was a recognized leader of men and
his associates appreciated his superior leadership.
When the spring of 1847 came Mr. Coe set out with
a large company for Oregon. The journey occupied
six months and the hardships and perils were great;
these have all been told in the narrative of his son,
Charles W. Coe, "The Winners of the Great North-
west." Our history of Mr. Coe's life has more to
do with his part in the development of the Golden
State and what he did to further its interests. He
had two brothers w-ho distinguished themselves,
Eben, the eldest, as a civil engineer, and George, as
a very prominent financier and banker.

Toward the end of 1848, Henry W. Coe came down
into California from Oregon. On this journey he
discovered the value of the waters of Shasta Springs,
where so many tourists stop to refresh themselves.
Upon arrival in this state he spent some time in
mining, discovering a valuable mine in Amador
County, which he named the Phoenix, in memory of
his old mill at Cooperstown, N. Y. He was fairly
successful, enough so to induce him to accept an
associate. This associate was of a burly build, and
his character harmonized with it. One evening, in
the hills, and in his associate's absence, there came
along a lot of poor fellows, barely clothed, and to
all appearances, more sparely fed. They proved to
be veterans of the Mexican War, and the warm
heart of Mr. Coe was moved to its very depth;
he clothed and fed, and saw them on their way.
Upon the return of his associate he declared Coe's
foolish generosity had ruined them. With a smile,
Mr. Coe walked away, and then occurred a very
strange thing, which reads like a fairy tale. Away
in the hills, a considerable distance from their camp,
and walking with his eyes to the ground, as a pros-
pector does, Mr. Coe noticed, almost at his feet,
a string. He stopped and pulled it, and when he
came to the end of it, there was a sack. The sack
contained a beautiful meerschaum pipe, sundry gold
coins, and at the bottom a number of ounces of gold
dust, more than sufficient to repay, twice over, the
amount the generosity of his heart had prompted
him to bestow upon the weary travelers. There
was no doubt that the pipe was a relic of the past.
Mr. Coe kept the pipe for twenty-five years, hoping
that the owner could be found. When Mr. Coe re-
turned, he called his partner, paid him what was due
him, showed him the door, and bade him good day.
In those early days of mining in California, scien-
tific methods were unknown. Machinery had to be
ordered in London and shipped round Cape Horn,
and this required many months. In the meantime,
Mr. Coe, who had determined to engage in the
business of providing this, settled in San Francisco
as a purchasing agent for miners' supplies. Not until
1858 did he revisit New York. He did so then on a
mission of no small importance to himself. He mar-
ried the lady of his choice. Miss Hannah Huntington
Smith, w^ho had waited for him nineteen years. Mrs.
Coe was born August 16, 1821, in Camden, N. Y.
She was the daughter of Rev. Henry Huntington
Smith, a native of the village of Durham, N. H.,

396

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and the son of Hon. Ebenezer and Mehitabel
(Sheafe) Smith. Reverend Smith graduated from
Bowdoin College in 1810, and finished his theological
training at the Andover Theological Seminary in
1815. He was ordained as a minister during the year
of 1817 at Camden. N. Y., and while engaged in his
chosen work and during a vigorous exhortation, he
was stricken and died July 19, 1828. This branch
of the Smith family were prominent in the history
of the Northeast, and many members of the family
were connected with the affairs of state. The Hunt-
ingtons were among the Revolutionary soldiers.

When Mr. Coe returned to California with his
bride, he found that his mining property had been
taken possession of by Alvinza Hayward, who was
reaping a handsome fortune each month therefrom.
Happily Mr. Coe possessed an ample fortune of his
own, as did his bride in her own right. They soon
were attracted by the quiet of the country, so they
came to San Jose, where Mr. Coe purchased 150
acres in the section known as The Willows.
Here he established a beautiful country residence,
the hospitality of which was nowhere surpassed. He
cleared his tract, and was the first man to plant fruit
trees and hops. Mr. Coe was the first extensive
shipper of hops to New York, Liverpool and Aus-
tralia, and he grew the first tobacco in California,
from which he made cigars, and the first silk grown
and manufactured from the native product of the
United States was grown and manufactured at The
Willows, the silk being made into a beautiful flag
presented to Congress in 1872. This flag was after-
wards exhibited at the Centennial Exposition, in
Philadelphia; at the World's Fair, in Chicago, and
is on exhibition today in the Smithsonian Institute
at Washington. The experiment demonstrated the
possibility of silk culture in Santa Clara Valley, both
soil and climate being admirably adapted to the mul-
berry and cocoon. Mr. Coe was extraordinarily
successful as a grower of hops and was the first to
use sulphur in bleaching hops and fruit, a process
that is universally employed at the present time.
Men traveled expressly from Europe to purchase
hops from him as they were declared superior to
any grown elsewhere in any land.

Later Mr. Coe suffered great financial losses and
this induced him to part with all his property in The
Willows, after holding it fifteen years. Thereafter
he lead a retired life in the lovely San Felipe Valley,
a fit haven of rest, among the beauties of nature,
where he had often expressed the wish that the
evening of his life might be spent until its close.
Surrounded by all who were dearest to him, the end
came at sunset on June 17, 1896, and thus ended
a varied and worthy life. Whether considered as the
merchant of pioneer Detroit days; the enterprising
cotton manufacturer of Cooperstown, N. Y.; the
pioneer crossing the plains and braving dangers of
every kind in 1847; the volunteer schoolmaster of
Oregon City in the days of its foundation; exploring
the Columbia; fighting, where all were heroes in the
battle of the terrible Indian war in Oregon; migrat-
ing, a leader ever, from Oregon to California over-
land; whether considered as a miner or a merchant
of the Golden State; in the hills, or in the city; or
whether remembered finally, as a pioneer orchardist
of Santa Clara Valley, bringing to San Jose its title

of "The Garden City"; the first of its hop growers
and silk producers; at whatever time of life recalled,
Henry Willard Coe will ever stand to all who knew
him as one of the highest types of the American
gentleman, the enterprising, fearless, generous, high-
minded and public-spirited citizen. In presence, Mr.
Coe was slightly over six feet. He was a man of
striking dignity, but of most kindly manner. He
was exceptionally well read, with a memory that was
remarkable, and he retained his faculties up to within
an hour of his death. He remembered perfectly
General LaFayette's visit to this country. He and
his brother Eben had stood watching on the banks
of the Hudson when Fulton first ran his steamer on
its waters. He knew San Francisco when it con-
tained only a population of five hundred. He was
fond of dwelling upon the marvelous development of
science that he had seen take place within his own
lifetime. He was broad-minded in all things, and
rejoiced in progress of every kind. Mr. Coe was
survived by his widow, four years. She died Janu-
ary 17, 1901, beloved by all, as she had lived. Her
womanly graces and her great kindness of heart had
endeared her to all kinds and conditions of people
from the moment she made her home among them.
Two sons of her union with Mr. Coe survive them
both: Henry W. Coe, who lives in the beautiful San
Felipe Valley, of whom more extended mention is
elsewhere given, and Charles W. Coe, for many
years a resident of San Jose, but now of Phoenix.
He married Miss Leontine Carteri, a native of Santa
Barbara, who is a granddaughter of the first Eng-
lish settler in Southern California, William D. Fo.xen,
who. in 1836, built the first ship in California. Mr.
Foxcn it w^as, also, who saved General Fremont's
small body of troops from annihilation, by guiding
them over the mountains, instead of journeying
through the Goleta Pass, where destruction awaited
them at the hands of General Castro. Four children,
Eben. Willard, Leontine and Roger, have been born
to Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Coe.

It is to such men as Henry Willard Coe that the
country really owes what is best in its character and
achievements. He stood for advancement and pro-
gressiveness in all things and his labors were an
effective force in bringing about improvements and
upbuilding along numerous lines that have proven of
untold worth to the communities in which he lived.

HENRY W. COE.— No history of San Jose and
the surrounding country would be complete without
reference to Henry W. Coe, who was born on Coe
Avenue in The Willows on April 17. 1860. His
father, Henry Willard Coe, and mother, Hannah
Huntington (Smith) Coe, were representatives of
families who helped shape the destinies of America
and they became pioneer residents of the Santa Clara
Valley, where during their lifetime, they contributed
not a little to the progress of the community. Else-
where in this volume will be found a sketch of their
eventful lives.

Henry W. Coe was reared and educated in San
Jose, having attended the grammar and high schools
of that city, later graduating from the Pacific Busi-
ness College of San Francisco. His father having
acquired SCO acres of land, part of the Los Huecos
grant in the San Felipe Valley, Henry W.. together
with his brother, Charles W., engaged in the stock-

f^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

3Q9

raising business, running 1,000 head on the prop-
erty. In time Henry W. bought out his brother and
added to his holdings until, at the present time, he
owns upwards of 8,000 acres in Santa Clara County.
One of his favorite ranches is located in the Pine
Ridge Country east of Morgan Hill, an ideal loca-
tion. While Mr. Coe has to some extent discon-
tinued his stockraising business, he still retains his
land holdings and on his home ranch ranges some
200 head; also raises fruit.

On August 21. 1905, Mr. Coe was married to Rhoda
Dawson SutclifFe and they have become the parents
of two children: Henry Sutcliffe Coe attending the
San Jose high school, and Sada Sutcliffe Coe, a pupil
at the Lowell School, San Jose. Mrs. Coe, who
shares with her husband the good will of all who
know them, was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Feb-
ruary 10. 1879, and is the daughter of Rev. Ingham
Sutcliffe. born in the year of 1804 at Cowling, near
Bradford, Yorkshire, England. During the year of
1832, he became a Wesleyan missionary to Nova
Scotia, where he was energetic and active in the
mission work and where he died in 1885. On ac-
count of the migration of this branch of the Sut-
cliffe family in the early days, Mrs. Coe has known
but little of her English forbears, but that they were
people of standing and education is evidenced in the
traits of character exhibited by their descendants on
this side of the Atlantic.

Mr. Coe is a member of the Pioneer's Society of
Santa Clara County and takes great pride in the
pioneer work accomplished by his father and is al-
ways ready to aid in all progressive movements. He
is always genial, whether in the casual meeting on
the street or within the portals of his home. His
home life is ideal. He spends nearly all of his time
on the ranch though maintains a residence in San
Jose that his children may have the advantages of
the city schools. Mr. Coe is held in high esteem
by all who know him and is a genial and compan-
ionable man whose sterling worth has gained for
him warm friendships.

JOHN WILLIAM NIXON.— From the beginning
of its experience as a live, progressive city, and for
many years past, San Jose has been famous through-
out all the Pacific slope for both its well organ-
ized institutions of education and its high educational
standards and influence in the development of popu-
lar culture. Leading among the best conducted of
these notable organizations is unquestionably Heald's
Business College whose scholarly and gifted man-
ager. John William Nixon, occupies an enviable posi-
tion in the history of California pedagogy. He was
born in Cumberland, Md., the son of Thomas Nixon,
a business man, who married Miss Agnes Morton,
and the devoted parents both passed away while our
subject was still a child. However, his mother had
inculcated in his mind the necessity of an educa-
tion. By perseverence, self-denial and surmounting
obstacles, he was able to work his way through the
public schools and high school and then matriculated
at the State University of Iowa from which, in 1897
he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of
Science, while two years later he received the de-
gree of Bachelor of Law from the same university.

LIpon leaving the university, Mr. Nixon accepted
the principalship of the Garrison, Iowa, high school
and later became identified with Elliott's Business

College of Burlington, Iowa, at that time one of the
largest business colleges in the country. Later he
moved to Texas and practiced law for a time in Dal-
las. On coming to California in 1907 he became
identified with the Heald Business College organiza-
tion. Heald's Business College corporation had at
that time acquired an interest in the old San Jose
Business College and Mr. Nixon was placed in charge.
He immediately proceeded to effect a consolidation
of the San Jose Business College and the Pacific
Coast Business College which in turn had absorbed
the Garden City Business College. The deal was
soon consummated, and the consolidated school trans-
ferred to Heald's Business College. From a very
small school he has built up and extended its repu-
tation and influence as a live institution, success
having attended his labors until it has become known
everywhere as one of the most exacting of busi-
ness colleges in the state, in its high standards, while
it is also one of the most helpful to its students, af-
fording every encouragement and legitimate aid to
those ambitious to climb and improve their condi-
tions in life. Students come from many parts of the
United States to attend this institution. Heald's
Business College is the only business college in the
city of San Jose, and specializes in all the com-
mercial branches. The appreciation of a highly in-
telligent public may be seen in its splendid enroll-
ment of more than 500 students during the past year.

Since his identification with the Heald organiza-
tion, Mr. Nixon has been a member of its board of
directors, and for several years past has been the
treasurer of the corporation. Mr. Nixon was active
in the various Liberty Loan and war drives during
the World War, receiving special mention from the
War Department for his services. He is a mem-
ber of the Chamber of Commerce, and an active di-
rector in the Y. M. C. A. He was chairman of the
Campaign Committee that put over so successfully
the campaign for the new Commercial Club, and
it is needless to say that he seeks to make his asso-
ciation with these excellent organizations mean some-
thing to the community. He is a director in the
People's Thrift Bank and also a director of the Lions
Club of San Jose. He is a practical rancher with
extensive interests in rice lands, general farming, and
fruit culture, and was among the first to engage in
growing cotton in the south San Joaquin Valley, and
has developed a fine eighty-acre fruit ranch consist-
ing of citrus and decidious fruits, near Porterville,
which was only a wheat field when he acquired title
thereto.

Mr. Nixon is fond of fishing and outdoor life, mak-
ing many camping trips to the mountains during the
summer months. He is a member of Fraternity
Lodge No. 399 F. & A. M.; Howard Chapter
No. 14 R. A. M.; San Jose Council No. 20 R.
& S. M.; San Jose Consistory No. 9, Scottish Rite
bodies; Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. of San
Francisco, and with his wife is a member of San
Jose Chapter No. 31 O. E. S., and an officer in
Rose Croix Shrine No. 7, White Shrine of Jeru-
salem. He was married December 27, 1899, to Mayme
E. Palmer, an accomplished lady, who is an active
director in the San Jose Woman's Club Day Nursery
and other women's organizations. Mr. Nixon has
always taken an active part in local politics, having
been a member of the County Central Committee of
both Republican and Progressive parties.

400

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ARCHIE McDonald— Those forces which have
contributed most to the development, improvement
and benefit of San Jose received impetus from the
labors of Archie McDonald, whose life record is
a credit and honor to his city and state. He is dis-
tinctively a man of affairs and one who wielded a
wide influence and his name is indelibly engraven
upon the pages of San Jose's history. He was born
in Ireland on December 15. l.S.iU. and when he was
but a few months old his pari nts came to the
United States, settling in Sa.xonvilk-, Mass. On
March 3, 1852, when a young man of twenty-two
years, he sailed from Boston Harbor on a small
brig and made the trip around the Horn to Cali-
fornia. He was one of a party of about seventy
persons and they were eight months in completing
the voyage, landing at the wharf in San Francisco
on the 21st of October, 1852. Of the original com-
pany he and Mrs. William Erkson. of San Jose,
are the only survivors. Soon alter reaching San
Francisco Mr. McDonald went to .'Vubiirn, Cal., where
for a short time he engaged in mining, but not meet-
ing with success he came to the Santa Clara Valley
and for several years devoted his attention to the
raising of grain, his farm being situated near Moun-
tain View. Subsequently he became interested in
the lumber business in the mountains back of Santa
Cruz and it was during this period that he had his
first glimpse of San Jose, which at that time consist-
ed of a .small group of adobe houses with strings
of chili peppers hanging over the doors. The vil-
lage was situated in the center of a vast sea of wav-
ing grain fields, with rough wagon roads and horse
trails as its only means of communication with the
outside world. There were no orchards in the val-
ley, merely a few fruit trees scattered here and
there. While engaged in logging, cutting and haul-
ing timber to the mills in Blackburn Gulch. Mr. Mc-
Donald became acquainted with the late Duncan Mc-
Pherson, later editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
whose father at that time owned and operated one
of the large logging mills.

In 1856, with ox team and wagon. Mr. McDonald
started for the gold fields along the Kern River,
going by way of the Pacheco Pass, which his team
was the first to cross, this being a very rough and
hazardous route. From San Luis Hacienda, near the
beginning of the pass, to Visalia, there was not a
single house in sight, Visalia itself, now a thriv-
ing and prosperous city, consisted of but seven
houses made out of shakes. He did not remain
long in those unprofitable fields, however, and in
the following year returned to Massachusetts to
visit his parents, who were still residing in Saxon-
ville. The trip w-as made both going and coming
by way of the Isthmus of Panama, but when he re-
visited the East ten years later, he traveled by rail.

After completing his lumbering operations at
Santa Cruz, Mr. McDonald went to San Francisco,
where he entered the employ of the Pioneer Wool-
en Mills, there remaining until 1872, when he came
to San Jose as general manager of the old San Jose
Woolen Mills, which w-ere located at the corner of
Hobson and San Pedro Streets. He remained at the
head of this business for about twenty years and
soon after his resignation the mills were discon-
tinued. In August, 1887, in association with other
public-spirited citizens of San Jose, Mr. McDonald
became a member of a stock company, and for years

president, which purchased the old homestead prop-
erty of Josiah Belden, which at that time was owned
by C. H. Maddox. This consisted of eleven acres,
for which they paid the sum of $60,000, erecting
thereon the Hotel Vendome at a cost of about $400.-
000. This became one of the most famous hostelries
in the state, for a number of years ranking next to
the Del Monte in popularity. Mr. McDonald next
became interested in the Garden City Bank &
Trust Company, of which he remained a director
for over a quarter of a century, resigning his posi-
tion owing to impaired hearing, caused by a paralytic
stroke. His progressive spirit led him into im-
portant relations and his cooperation ever proved
an impetus for renewed and intelligently directed ef-
fort and no business concern with which he was
connected failed to advance to success. He was
a member of the State Hospital Board for Stockton
and Agnew, appointed three times by Republican
governors and once by a Democratic.

In 1862 Mr. McDonald was united in marriage
to Miss Jeanette Jamieson, of San Mateo, Cal., but
a native of New Zealand of Scotch parentage, who
came to California in March, 1852, and their two
sons, George K. and John A. McDonald, are both
residents of San Jose, the former a director in the
Garden City Bank and the latter a contractor and
builder. The character of the work which Mr.
AIcDonald did and the importance of the place to
which he attained are evidenced in the deep and
widespread esteem in which he is held. He is a
man of high ideals and exalted standards of citizen-
ship whose irreproachable character and incorrupt-
ible integrity fully entitle him to the esteem he is ac-
corded by all who knew him, and his name is writ-
ten high on the roll of those who are among the
builders and promoters of California.

Mr. McDonald remembers San Jose when it was
a straggling village; where stands the First National
Bank was a saloon, north of where now stands the
Bank of San Jose building was the stage ofBce of
Hedges, Dillon & Hall, who ran a line of stages to
and from San Francisco, stages leaving each place
at 9 A. M. and arriving at their destination at 4 P. M.,
too late for the business man to transact his busi-
ness that day. and he was required to spend an entire
day at an expense of $25 or $30. Now that same
journey can be made, business transacted and dinner
eaten at home and the expense only a quarter of the
amount stated above. The present site of the Bank
of Italy was a lot overgrown with wild mustard.

PERRY W. ROBINSON.— A worthy pioneer who
in his day and generation so well contributed to the
bettering of the world and the forwarding of all
that pertained to progress that he is pleasantly re-
called by all who knew him, and the honor once
accorded him has been bestowed upon those near of
kindred still surviving, was Perry W. Robinson, a
native of Blackstonc. Mass., where he was born on
April 21, 1844, although he was reared and schooled
in Rhode Island. When fourteen years of age, he
entered the cotton mills in his locality, and when
twenty-two he married Miss Anna Sheldon, who was
born at Chepachet, R. I., on August 21, 1841, the
daughter of Joseph W. and Nancy Smith (Youngs)
Sheldon. She was reared at home, and attended the
excellent Rhode Island schools; a sister, the wife of
Henry Miller, the famous land and cattle king of

Jl

G. 9h? aUu-,^cJcl

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

403

\

California, had already been living several years in
California, and through them Mr. and Mrs. Robin-
son became interested in the Golden State, and
eventually turned their faces far-westward. In 1878
ihey came to the coast, and they at first settled at the
Miller home at Bloomfield Ranch, just south of Gil-
roy. Mr. Robinson began to take an active partici-
pation in the work of the ranch, becoming the book-
keeper, and for ten years he was secretary to the
cattle king. Later, he was made manager of the
harness shop at Bloomfield, and had full charge of
purchases, sales and repairs, — a post of considerable
responsibility and no little arduous work, considering
the. number of Miller ranches supplied from that
shop, and the scale upon which Mr. Miller operated.
The Robinsons resided at Bloomfield Ranch until
1911, when they removed to Gilroy, where they had
already acquired a fine residence at the corner of
Eighth and Eigleberry streets, and there they con-
tinued to live happily together until November 4.
1916, when Mr. Robinson passed away, mourned by
a wide circle who had found in him an ideal man.
One son, Albert, had blessed their unon, and he died
at the age of eight years. Mrs. Robinson, an oc-
togenarian, and a fine type of true Christian woman-
hood, is hale and hearty, the center of a group of
admiring and devoted friends.

JAMES H. LYNDON.— A faithful, efficient public
official, whose record for unchallenged public-spirit-
edness and personal bravery, and also for exception-
ally high integrity, was such that his name will al-
ways be held in esteem, was the late James H.
Lyndon, for more than forty vears a resident of Los
Gatos, and from 1894 to 1898 sherifif of Santa Clara
County — than whom, perhaps, there never was a
doughtier, or one more deserving of the wide popu-
larity which he enjoyed. He was born in Grand
Isle County, Vt, on May 6, 1847, the son of Samuel
and Polly Caroline Lyndon, with whom he lived
until he was sixteen years of age, attending the
district school and enjoying the comforts of an old-
fashioned Yankee home. Then, in 1863, he made
his way to Burlington and enlisted in the Fifth Ver-
mont Infantry, where he was promptly rejected by
the inspecting officer on account of his age. The
next year he succeeded both in getting to Massachu-
setts and in getting accepted as a member of Com-
pany I, Twenty-first Massachusetts Infantry, after
which, with some 300 other recruits, he was sent to
Galloupe's Island, in Boston Harbor, and from there,
after six weeks of drill, despatched to Annapolis, to
join his regiment, which was attached to the Ninth
Army Corps, commanded by Gen. Ambrose E. Burn-
side. Young Lyndon remained in Annapolis until
the middle of April, when he was ordered to join his
regiment at the front; and, marching by way of
Washington, D. C, he and his comrades overtook
the Second Division of the Ninth Corps, near the
Rapidan, just before the battles of the Wilderness.
He participated in these battles and in those of
Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor, in which latter en
gagement his regiment suffered heavy losses; and
after the battle of Cold Harbor, the Ninth Corps was
ordered to City Point, where for several months the
Army of the Potomac invested Petersburg. After
the capture of several of the outposts, with heavy
losses, the city of Petersburg fell, after a siege of

several months. From Petersburg the Army of the
Potomac followed Lee's army for several days, the
Ninth Corps going as far as Farmville, which they
reached on April 8, 1865, and the next day General
Lee surrendered his army to General Grant, which
practically closed the war. The Ninth Corps lay at
Farmville for about a week, when it was ordered to
City Point, where, after a week or ten days, trans-
ports were furnished them and they were sent to
Alexandria, Va. They remained just back of that
town, near Fairfax Seminary, until after the grand
review of the armies of Grant and Sherman in Wash-
ington, in which James Lyndon participated; and
after that he went into camp again for two or three
weeks, when his regiment was ordered home, and he
was mustered out and given his honorable discharge
at Reedville, Mass., in August, 186S.

Mr. Lyndon then, with a natural yearning for the
scenes of his boyhood, returned to his old home in
Vermont; and in 1866 he attended the Academy at
Alburg Springs and for two terms supplemented his
schooling. California and its lure had seized his im-
agination; and in December, 1868, he started via the
Panama route, arriving in San Francisco January
23, 1869. His brother. John W. Lyndon, who was
James' senior by eleven years and had come out to
California in 1859, had preceded him to Los Gatos
and had established there a lumber yard, where later
the Wilcox House and the railroad depot stood; and
James hurried to Los Gatos and accepted a position
as clerk in John's employ. In 1872 he bought his
brother's business and ran it for a year, when John
bought an interest in it, and returned to his former
activity; a year later, James sold his interest to John,
and embarked in hotel management at the Ten Mile
House, later known as the Los Gatos Hotel, which
he made more and more famous as a hostelry, until
he sold out in 1875. He again clerked for his brother,
remaining with him until 1883; but in that year he
set up in the lumber business for himself near the
depot in Los Gatos. which business he continued to
manage for years.

Mr. Lyndon was best known, perhaps, particularly
in San Jose, as the broad-minded Republican sheriff
of Santa Clara County, an office he filled most cred-
itably. Under President Harrison, he was also post-
master of Los Gatos, and he had the honor of serv-
ing as the mayor of that law-abiding town, and he
was a member of the board of town trustees. He
was an active member of Los Gatos Lodge No. 282,
F. & A. M., and of Ridgley Lodge, I. O. O. F., and
he belonged to the Ancient Order United Workmen;
he was past post commander of the E. O. C. Ord
Post of the G. A. R.

At San Jose, on August 12, 1873, James H. Lyndon
was married to Miss Anna J. Murdock, a native of
Ontario, and she and five of their children who still
survive, cheered by their lives and affection the sturdy
pioneer when he breathed his last, on March 28, 1912,
one of the most widely known and best-beloved citi-
zens of the county. These worthy sons and daugh-
ters are: James Lloyd Lyndon of San Jose; Wil-
liam W. Lyndon of San Francisco; Clarence H..
Mrs. Ray Lyndon Lee, and Mrs. May Nichols of
Los Gatos, and Mrs. Hazel Ryland of Oakland.
Santa Clara County today owes much of its present
prosperity and greatness to men like Mr. Lyndon, for
by enduring hardships and indefatigable work and

404

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

true optimism they paved the way that the future
generations may enjoy. Mr. Lyndon was very active
and energetic and was ever to be found a leader in
the vanguard of progress.

BENJAMIN O. CURRY.— Foremost among the
enterprising and progressive men of affairs in Santa
Clara County, where he is a successful horticulturist,
banker and realty operator, is Benjamin O. Curry,
who came to California nearly a half century ago.
He was engaged in mining for about twenty years,
when he purchased land at Campbell, which he im-
proved and during these years he also built up a
large clientele in the realty business, in all of which
he has attained signal and splendid success.

A native of Norway, Mr. Curry was born May 7,
1852. being reared on a farm and in that healthy
atmosphere grew up to be a strong athletic young
man, at the same time receiving a good education
in the public schools of his native heath. Not sat-
isfied with the the narrow confines of that country,
he resolved to cast in his lot with the land of the
Stars and Stripes, of which he had heard, as well as
read, good reports. Arriving in New York City in
1872, he made his way to Marquette County, Mich.,
where for a period of about two years he followed
mining. In March, 1874, he came to California and
proceeded to Eureka County, Nev., where he pros-
pected and mined for ten years. During these years
he studied the English language, completing a course
at the Eureka Business College. In his prospecting
he became one of the discoverers of the Black Rock
mining district in Nevada, which in time proved a
valuable mining field. His operations included both
Eureka and White Pine counties. In 1884 he came
to Eldorado County, Cal., engaging in mining on
the mother lode, acquiring and operating quartz
gold mines as well as timber lands in the high
Sierras, where he spent the summers.

Mr. Curry was -married in Eldorado Countj- in
1891, being united with Miss Carrie Hakemoller, a
native daughter of Eldorado County, where her par-
ents were very early pioneers, a union that has
proven a very happy one. During his years of min-
ing Mr. Curry's vacations were spent in diiiferent
parts of California looking for a permanent location.
One vacation was spent in Santa Clara Valley and
his admiration was so great he decided on it for a
permanent home. In 1891 he purchased land near
Campbell and began improvements by setting out an
orchard and building a residence and other necessary
buildings. While his orchard was growing he saw
the possibilities in the real estate business and started
dealing in farm and city property at Campbell, and
he is now one of the prominent real estate men in
the county. After several years of successful busi-
ness, the town grew with the surrounding country
and he saw the need of a business building: he
planned and erected the Curry Building, a modern
two-story brick and concrete business block. It is
centrally located on a corner and artistically de-
signed after the mission style so as to present a
beautiful appearance to either street. In this build-
ing are located some of the most important offices
of the city, among them, the post office, a drug store.
and his own real estate office, and a number of
others on the second floor. A few years ago Mr.
Curry bought eighty acres on Union Avenue, known

as the Fountain Farm, there being forty acres in
vineyard and forty acres in French prunes. He also
had a ten-acre orchard in the foothils near Los
Gatos, so for years he operated 100 acres of orchard
and vineyard. He has since disposed of all but his
home place on Park avenue. He has been the presi-
dent of the Improvement Club, which was organized
in the interests of the city and he also served as
school trustee for nine years. He was the promoter
of a new business block in Campbell, now occupied
by the Growers' National Bank, a moving picture
theater, and three stores. This building cost more
than $60,000, a great improvement to the city — it
not only made a beautiful office building, but lends
an atmosphere of prosperity that makes an impres-
sion on travelers looking for locations. In 1920 Mr.
Curry was one of the principal organizers of the
Growers' National Bank, which has been a success
and fills a local long felt w^ant and he has been the
president since its organization.

Mr. Curry, with his wife and three children, re-
sides on the old home place. Myrtle was educated
at the Conservatory of Music of the College of the
Pacific, afterwards studying under celebrated violin-
ists, and has become an accomplished musician.
Olva and Ethel graduated from the San Jose State
Normal and for several years were engaged in edu-
cational work. The Curry home is attractive, show-
ing much culture and refinement and here they make
their numerous friends welcome with a true Califor-
nia hospitality. Politically Mr. Curry is a Republi-
can and cast his first vote for Gen. U. S. Grant. He
is a member of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce,
as well as a charter member of the San Jose Com-
mercial Club. He is also a member of the State Real
Estate Association. As stated above, he is an ex-
president of the Campbell Improvement Club and
has been an Odd Felllow since 1876; he was one of
the organizers of Morning Light Lodge No. 42,
I. O. O. F., Campbell. The California Automobile
Association also numbers him among its members
and he has always been a strong advocate of good
roads. Mr. Curry has always been a booster for
cooperation, believing it is the only way to make a
success of the marketing of fruits, thus he has been
a member of every cooperative fruit organization in
the valley, at present being a member and ardent
supporter of the California Prune & Apricot Growers,
Inc. With his wife and daughters, Mr. Curry is a
member of the Congregational Church at Camp-
bell, and he is a liberal contributor to its benevo-
lences. A man of pleasing personality, Mr. Curry
is liberal and kind-hearted and has ever been ready
to assist those less fortunate than himself, and all
movements that have for their aim the upbuilding
of the town and county receive his hearty support.

WILLIAM B. HOBSON.— For nearly three-
quarters of a century the Hobson family have been
closely associated with Santa Clara County, of which
William B. Hobson is a native and for many years
was engaged in the mercantile business in San Jose.
He first saw the light on November 11. 1857, in a
house that stood on the present site of Luna Park,
and was the son of George and Sarah P. (Speinhour)
Hobson. The Hobsons are of Southern extraction,
George having been born in North Carolina in Feb-
ruary. 1823. At an early age he migrated into Mis-

--ftO^ri

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

407

souri and there met and married Miss Speinhour,
like himself a native of North Carolina, born on May
18, 1828, and they were married on January 10, 1847.
Early in the spring of that same year they started
for the then unknown West, travelling with an
emigrant train of sixty wagons by way of Forts
Laramie and Hall and arriving at Johnson's ranch,
near the present site of the city of Sacramento in
October, having taken about six months to complete
the journey. They soon came on down into the
Santa Clara Valley, but did not tarry long here,
going to Monterey, then the capital of California.
They only stopped there a few months and during the
time their eldest child was born, and then came back
to San Jose in January, 1849, and this city and county
has ever since been the scene of the activity of the
Hobson family.

George Hobson tried his luck in the mines and
met with gratifying results. He and his companions
struck a rich lead and from one pocket alone each
man washed out $1,000 in three days. Two years
of mining satisfied Mr. Hobson and he returned to
Santa Clara County and turned his attention to
ranching, which was conducted in a very primitive
fashion in those days, a great deal of the manual
labor being done by the Indians. San Jose was then
a squalid village, made up of adobe huts and the
majority of inhabitants were Spanish and unedu-
cated Mexicans. Mr. Hobson followed farming and
also engaged in the dairy business, running the first
milk wagon ever seen on the streets of the town.
In 1861 he moved his family to what is now known
as Luna Park, where he owned about 1,200 acres;
two years later he moved to a ranch of 160 acres
upon which was an adobe house and in later years
this section was subdivided and became a part of
San Jose, and Hobson Street, near where the ranch
house was located, was named in honor of George
Hobson. Here he and his wife with their three sons
established their home, which soon became the center
of hospitality of the English-speaking residents of
the town. There were nine children in the family,
of whom two sons and four daughters reached
mature years. Thaddeus died in 1911; those now
living are William B.; Mrs. Mary Henderson; Mrs.
Annie Botsford; Mrs. Martha Macauley; and Mrs.
Sadie Connel. George Hobson died in 1892 and Mrs.
Hobson passed away in 1919, having reached the
good old age of ninety-one.

William B. Hobson attended the public school and
the old San Jose Institute and after quitting school
he worked on a ranch for three years. Finding ranch
life not to his liking, he came to San Jose and in
1876 bought out the clothing business of Obanion &
Kent, who had established the business in 1875. Mr.
Hobson carried on the store alone until 1882, when
he took his brother, T. W. Hobson, in as a partner,
and they carried on the business under the firm name
of T. W. Hobson & Company, which continued active
under the inspiriting influence of the two Hobsons
until W. B. retired in 1921. The reputation of the
firm for square dealing, strict business integrity and
reliability enabled them to build up a large and
successful trade among all classes of people.

The marriage of W. B. Hobson uniting him with
Miss Marguerite O'Shaughnessy, occurred in San
Jose on January 13, 1886. He is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce and takes an active interest
in every movement that has for its aim the building

up of San Jose and Santa Clara County. He is a
charter member of San Jose Parlor No. 22 N S
^u' l''^°"SS to the Elks, the Country Club and
to the National Union. In his younger days he
served for some years in the State Militia. Popular
as a citizen, genial in disposition, while a man of
large mterests, he has never allowed himself to
become completely absorbed in business, but has
ound time for the pleasures of out-door iife and t
tend of hunting, fishing, and trapshooting.

SAMUEL M. OUSLEY.-A representative type

SamJel M°n'7 ° ''' ^"""'^ ^^^^ ^^^ '-""'^ ''^
Samuel M Ousley (some members of the family spell

'the I 7 ■•' '°."'"^'° California in 1853, braving
privations of the early pioneers of the countv He
was born in Kentucky, February 18, 1813 On Tan

Fleet "'rT- 'n ""' ""'"^'^ '" marriage' with Miss
Electa Rock-vvell, a native of Connecticut but a
resident of Ontario County, N. Y., and in 1839 he
removed with his family to Andrew County, Mo.,
where he resided until 1852. By this time the stories
ot the wonderful opportunities of the Golden State
had reached into every village and city east of the
Rocky Mountains, and every place added its number
to the emigrant trains which were continually leav-
ing for California. Mr. Ousley with his wife and
seven children joined one of these trains, and after
experiencing the hardships of so long a journey,
arrived at Salt Lake City, The family stopped at a
Government fort ninety miles this side of that city
during the winter, and in the following spring con-
tinued their journey, arriving at Deer Creek, near
Placerville, m July, 1853. The next March thev left
this p ace and settled in Gilroy. Santa Clara County
The land titles being doubtful, he simply located
his home and turned his cattle upon the open pas-
tures, with the understanding that he would buy
when the title was made clear. This did not happen
during his l.fetime, as on October 1, 1855. he was
killed by the falling of a bucket while working in
a wel on Captain Angney's farm, and the mother
was left the sole provider for a large family— six
daughters and three sons: Sarah J. married Joseph
n. i nomas, and died, leaving a family of three chil-
dren; Caroline E. married I. Horace Thomas, and
has one hving child; Emma E. became Mrs. Francis
Hoey, and died, the mother of nine children, seven
living; John S., deceased; Porter W. and Bryant R
twins, the former living at home; M. Anna, at home'
Mary Electa, born on Goose Creek, on the border
of Cahfornia, and Clara M., a native daughter of
Santa Clara County. Left as she was in a strange
land and with her almost helpless family, the eldest
girl being only sixteen years old, her farm unpur-
chased, Mrs. Ousley never once despaired. She went
on from year to year, carrying her burden alone,
watching carefully the moral as well as the physical
training of her children; and each doing his or her
share to keep the family together and help in its
support, every year adding a little to the estate. She
paid twice for her farm of 630 acres, erected good
buildings, gathered around her the comforts of life,
and lived until November 12, 1900, aged eighty-four
years and five months, in the midst of her grown-up
family in the twilight of life, with the assurance of
a life well spent in service for others.

408

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

YGNACIO BERNAL.— One of the best loved men
in Santa Clara County. Ygnacio Bernal, was born on
February '=1 1841, in the same adobe house on the
Santa Teresa Rancho where his father, Don Bruno
Bernal first saw the light, and he died on April II,
1906 Between these dates he helped materially to
develop his native county and to uphold the traditions
of the Spanish Dons of the earlier period.

His grandfather, Joaquin Bernal, was sent to Mex-
ico and California in 1769 by Carlos III of Spain, to
investigate the mineral wealth of the country as a
mining engineer and assayer and for the valuable
services he gave his sovereign he was granted favors
and had his pick of land grants in California. He
selected Santa Teresa, which consisted of 10,000 acres
and part of this is still in the possession of the Bernal
heirs. When Joaquin Bernal petitioned the Mexican
government in 1834 to have the title confirmed he
stated that he was ninety-four years old, had a "pos-
terity of seventv-ciKht children," had "2,100 head of
cattle, 1,200 sheep, ihne mares and fifty tame horses.
This is one of th._- very lew grants in the state that
has not passed entirely out of the family to whicn it
was first granted, there still being 374 acres of the
most valuable land in the county owned by the
Ygnacio Bernal family. Joaquin Bernal had been
educated at Barcelona, Spain, and was a very brilliant
man of parts. He married Josefa Sanchez, who lived
to be 110 years old and at that age she was able to
thread needles for her grandchildren.

Among the children of Joaquin Bernal and his
wife, we mention Bruno Bernal, grandfather of the
present generation of Bernals now living on the ranch.
He was born there in an adobe house in 1800 and in
his time was one of the prominent men of the locality
and entertained with tlu- true Spanish hospitality. He
succeeded to part of the Santa Teresa acres and de-
voted much of his time to raismtj horses. -A.t the time
when General Fremont made his expedition through
California he and Captain Weber took 300 broken
horses, some of the best in the state, for their soldiers
and forgot to pay for them. Bruno Bernal married
Antonio Maria Ortega, one of the heirs of eleven
leagues of land known as the San Ysidro Grant, part
upon which the city of Gilroy was built, but through
neglect she never got any part of her inheritance.
Over the Santa Teresa hills is situated the San Vin-
cente Rancho, granted to Jose Berrycssa, who mar-
ried one of Joaquin Bernal's daughters. This is one
of the richest grants in the state, for upon it is located
the Almaden mines that have been producing quick-
silver for ninety years and the total in dollars runs
into the millions. It was once abandoned by Antonio
Sunol after he had spent $400 in trying to develop it.
Mrs. Berryessa sold it for $60,000 to the Almaden
Mining Company, which now owns a great part of
the land Upon the Bernal ranch is situated the Santa
Teresa Spring, noted for its medicinal qualities and
for the fact that it never ceased to flow its usual
amount, no matter what period of the year. These
springs are visited by many each year.

Ygnacio Bernal attended the Santa Clara College in
1854-5-6, and was among the first students there after
it was established. He was one of the gold medal
students for his standing in classes and high grade
upon completing his courses there. Returning to the
ranch he acted as secretary to his father and virtually

managed the afifairs of the ranch, as he was quick at
figures and an expert linguist, speaking fluently four
languages. At the age of nineteen he was united in
marriage with Miss Jesusita Patron, born in Lower
California and who came here with her brother. Dur-
ing their trip they were lost for about three months,
but arrived in safety at Monterey. At the time of her
marriage she was sixteen years old. They were par-
ents of nine children, five of whom are still living:
Pedro A., the discoverer of 'the marl deposits on the
home ranch; Ynez, widows of S. F. Agraz and the
mother of a son, Urbano; Salvador F., is married and
has a daughter Jane, he is a resident of this county;
Miss Jacoba P., is at home with her mother; Antonio
A., is married and resides at Madrono and has a son,
Antonio A., Jr. The following children have passed
away: Ygnacio, Dionicio and Anita C. Mrs. Bernal
resides at the home place and to her is given great
credit for rearing her family and keeping the ranch
ownership in the Bernal family. Mr. Bernal was
devoted to his wife and family, and in their forty-five
years of married life he w-as only separated from her
about a month, when he went to Mexico as an inter-
preter. He was a man of imposing appearance, kindly
disposition, lovable nature and was a friend of every
one who knew him. He planted the first orchard in
this section, had the foresight to see that the fruit
industry must become the largest branch of industry
in this county and had implicit confidence in it.

The Bernal family are prominently associated with
the present day development of the county, they be-
lieve in progress and are public spirited and sup-
porters of all worthy projects for the general advance-
ment of the county, where they hold an honored posi-
tion. They are devout Catholics. The family have
many relics of the days of Spanish occupation which
have been plowed up on the ranch and which are
valued very highly by them, among them a sweet-
toned bell that the herd mare wore, also old Spanish
spurs used in breaking wild horses, house keys, etc.

As a matter of interest and romance there is sup-
posed to be buried on the Santa Teresa ranch a treas-
ure of $10,000. This money belonged to an old French
saddle maker, Changarra by name, who came to the
ranch in the '30s and Don Bruno Bernal gave the
man a place in an adobe where he could carry on his
work. Not only did he make saddles for Mr. Bernal
but many which he sold. As he would get some forty
or fifty made up he would start out and dispose of
them, going as far south as Santa Barbara. He made
serviceable saddles, not the ornate gold and silver
mounted kind that the Spanish Dons used for their
trips and visits. The Frenchman made considerable
money and as there were no banks Changarra buried
his cash, changing its hiding place every time he
added to the hoard. He was known to have accumu-
lated $10,000 when he made his last journey to dispose
of his wares. On his way back from Santa Barbara,
between Paso Robles and Bakersficld, he camped for
the night, sleeping under an oak tree. In the morning
he was found dead and the buried treasure on the
Bernal ranch at once became an object of search, but
to this day it has not been recovered and people have
been searching for it ever since the death of "Old
Changarra." Seers, mediums, occult persons have
been sought in hopes of disclosing the hiding place
but it still remains "buried treasure."

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

411

ROYAL COTTLE, Sr.— A sturdy pioneer of high
ideals and plenty of inspiring confidence in the region
of his adoption was the late Royal Cottle, whose
good works will long continue their uplifting influ-
ence. A native of Missouri, and of St. Charles
County, he was born on March 27, 1810, the son of
Oliver Cottle, who had married Miss Charity Lowe,
a native of Vermont. Grandfather Cottle, also a Ver-
monter, had pitched his tent in Missouri so early that
it yet belonged to the Province of Louisiana, and
built a mill on Garden Creek, in St. Charles County.
Charity Lowe was a belle of Tennessee, and she and
Oliver Cottle were married, according to primitive
documents, in Missouri. They had twelve children,
and Royal was the eldest, and when his father died
of yellow fever while on a trip through the South, he
led the way, with his mother and the rest of the
family, in 1833. into Des Moines County, Iowa,
where they became some of the earliest pioneers of
the Hawkeye State.

There, too. on October 12, 1841, he and Miss
Sarah Parker, a daughter of Ohio, were united in
marriage, and two children were born to them —
Frank and Charles. In 1847, tS»e Cottles joined 100
or more emigrants and crossed the great plains to
the Oregon Territory, and in that state Mr. Cottle
continued agricultural pursuits, and he also devoted
part of his time to a small grist and saw mill, in
which he had a partnership interest. A daughter,
Sarah Cordelia Cottle, who later married Chas.
Hight, was born during these pioneer days in Ore-
gon, and there Mrs. Cottle passed away on the eight-
eenth of December, 1848.

The discovery of gold in California brought Mr.
Cottle south with the rest of the Argonauts; and
having joined John S. David in partnership, they
built and opened a store in Sacramento. They paid
$700 per thousand for lumber, and gave the day
laborer ten dollars for his help. After a short time,
however, Mr. Cottle sold out his interest to his part-
ner, and in the fall of 1849 made his way back to
Oregon, where he believed the more stable conditions
superior to those of tlie panicky gold regions. In
18.S7, however, he came once more to California and
settled in San Jose, this time bringing his family.
Before leaving the Beaver State, however, he had
taken his second wiie. Miss Mary Bryant before her
marriage; and among their four children, Mrs. An-
nette Weatherford, Royal, Jr., and Mrs. Alice
Erick, were the three to grow to maturity. The
former is the only one to survive.

Mr. Cottle did not remain long in San Jose, but
went to Gilroy, and from there to San Benito, where
he bought a stock ranch; and having sold this, he
purchased 140 acres of land in the Willow district,
and there set up his hearth. He paid only $15 per
acre for his tract, which has become of such appre-
ciated value by his improvements, that in the late
'80s it was assessed at $1,200 per acre. He later
bought additional land, and became one of the pio-
neer grain-growers of the neighborhood, and he was
also one of the first hereabouts to grow successfully
and extensively various kinds of fruit, and to have
an orchard that was a show-place.

Leading an active industrial and business life. Mr.
Cottle became prominent in public affairs, and as
early as 1853 he was elected to the Oregon Legisla-
ture. He was a Whig of the Henry Clay school
until the great movement began for a new organiza-

tion, and then he naturally became one of the found-
ers of the Republican party. Having staked his all
in the last section of his choice for a home, he do-
nated the site for the first public school in Willow Glen
district; and for many years he served as one of the
school trustees of the local institution, in whose ele-
mentary classes all of his younger sons and daugh-
ter, and also his grandchildren, were educated. Sad
enough is it to relate, therefore, of one whose life
was so exemplary and fruitful for others, that Royal
Cottle met with an accident in the summer of 1891
which terminated his useful career. He was driving
near his home in The Willows when his horses ran
away, and the result of thp injuries which he re-
ceived was fatal. He was laid to rest in the Oak
Hill Cemetery, mourned by hundreds, and his mem-
ory will be kept green, particularly by the Santa
Clara Pioneer Association, of which he was an hon-
ored member.

ANTONIO MONTOYA.— A worthy pioneer of
Santa Clara County who settled in the vicinity of
Morgan Hill in 1873 was Antonio Montoya, whose
activities as a rancher added much to the prosperity
and advancement of his locality. He was a na-
tive of Old Mexico born near the frontier of the
State of Sonora on January 17, 1837. He was the
son of Ygnacio Montoya, who was an extensive land
owner and stockraiser, who lost his life in defense
of his family and property in one of the Indian raids
in 1847. In 1849 .Antonio made a trip to California
and the Santa Clara Valley; but the following year
he returned to Mexico to get a sister but was de-
layed returning to California on account of the chol-
era. In 1851 he returned to San Jose and worked as
a farm hand; he was also engaged in hauling lum-
ber from the mills in the Santa Cruz mountains to
San Jose and to the New Almaden mines.

Mr. Montoya's marriage occurred on March 31.
1869, and united him with Miss Maria Pelar Placida
Zepada, a native of San Jose, born October 6, 1853,
in an adobe house at the corner of Market and Pierce
streets. She is the daughter of Peter Zepada, a native
of Mexico City, who had removed to Northern Cali-
fornia in the early MOs; he finally located in San Jose
and in time became a large landowner in the county.
He married Miss Carmen Martinez, who died in San
Jose, as did her husband. Mrs. Montoya was reared
and schooled in San Jose grammar school and the
College of Notre Dame. Mr. and Mrs. Montoya
were the parents of twelve children: Antonio, at
home; Charles, at home; William is married and has
two children and they reside at Coalinga; Margaret
is the wife of John Juarez and they have three chil-
dren and reside in Los Gatos; Alfred is at home; Al-
bert served six months in the U. S. Army in the
World War, and is at home; .'\Iexander served in
the U. S. Army six months, and is at home; Virginia
lives at home and is a devoted attendant to her aged
mother. Daniel, David, Amelia and Charles all died
in infancy. The sons all work together at ranching
and running a hay press.

In 1873 the family removed to the Uvas Canyon
near Morgan Hill, where Mr. Montoya acquired 197
acres in the forest of the Uvas, among the redwoods
and madrone trees. The work of clearing and de-
veloping the land w-as gradually accomplished and
thirty acres were planted to vineyard; a fine prune
orchard has been planted and within a few years

412

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

will be a profitable venture. In 1900 the residence
was erected and has been the scene of many joyful
gatherings of relatives and friends. Mr. Montoya
passed away at the age of seventy-nine, February 13,
1916, an esteemed and respected citizen, a resident of
this county for nearly half a century.

JOHN H. PIEPER.— It is interesting to chronicle
the life history of the educated and accomplished
man who wilfingly gives his whole time, coupled
with his ability, knowledge and experience, to the
permanent upbuilding of the city of his adoption, and
whose every effort is to enhance the comfort and
happiness of the people. Such a man was the late
John H. Pieper, city engineer and surveyor of San
Jose up to the time of his death in 1888.

He was born in Hanover, Germany, May 3, 1824,
where he attended the grammar and high schools,
subsequently graduating from the Polytechnic College
in Hanover, where he finished the course in civil and
mining engineering. After completing his military
services in the royal forces, he emigrated to the
United States, first taking up his residence in New
York City. He was a farsighted and sagacious busi-
ness man, and it was largely through his efforts that
Central Park was secured for that city. As a civil
engineer he suggested and pointed out to the author-
ities the advantage to the Metropolis of such a pro-
ject and assisted in laying out the park, now one of
the most noted recreation centers in the United
States. Soon after completing his work in connec-
tion with Central Park he accepted a position as
mining engineer in Mariposa County, Cal., and came
hither, arriving in the state in 1865. He remained
in Mariposa L,ounty until 1867, when he came to San
jose, where his ability was soon recognized and he
was made city engineer and surveyor, continuing to
act in that capacity until his demise, rendering valu-
able service to the city. He erected the old electric
lower, also constructed the sewer system and did
everytning in his power to improve and develop the
city oi ban Jose, and he stood out prominently lor
progress ana enterprise.

m San Jose Mr. Pieper lormed the acquaintance
ot Miss Aoeie Jiiizabetn nottman, a native ot Hesse-
*^assel, Germany, a lady ot mucn culture and renne-
ment, wno naa aiso come to san Jose in 18o/. i Ue
iriendsnip was mutual and resulted in tneir marriage
111 1600, a union tnai proved very nappy. Ac ivir.
i'leper s passing in 18oB he vvas survived by his
widow and six children, wno are all mentioned in
tne biography ol Mrs. Adele lilizabeth Pieper im-
mediately loliowing in this work.

Aside from his profession Mr. Pieper found time
to enter into horticulture, in which he was intensely
interested, owning a thirtecn-acre ranch in the Santa
Clara valley devoted to prunes, apricots and peaches,
and he did his part to build up the horticultural in-
terests of the county. He was a stanch Republican
in his political views, and fraternally he was a mem-
ber of the Odd Fellows and Legion of Honor in San
Jose. Throughout the entire period of his residence
in San Jose he took a most active and helpful part
in the work of progress and improvement and left
the impress of his individuality for good upon many
lines of the city's development. He was a man of

pleasing personality and much business acumen, who
would have been an acquisition to any community,
his irreproachable character and integrity no less than
his achievements giving him a commanding position
and compelling his recognition as one destined to
lead in anything he undertook. He was charitable
and kind and everyone who knew this refined and
cultured gentleman loved and esteemed him.

MRS. ADELE ELIZABETH PIEPER.— Among
the well-known and highh' respected residents of
San Jose was numbered Mrs. Adele Elizabeth Pieper,
who for over half a century had made her home in
this city, with whose development and upbuilding
the family name is inseparably associated. She was
born in Hesse-Cassel, Germany, a daughter of Lud-
wig Hofifman, a prominent merchant of that city,
and received every possible educational advantage,
becoming an accomplished linguist and pianist. Tak-
ing up the profession of teaching, she became promi-
nent as an educator in the capitals of Europe, leaving
Paris for London, where she became a tutor among
the families of the nobility. She was most success-
ful in her educational work, standing at the top of
her profession. About 1867 she came to the United
States, making the journey to California by way of
the Isthmus of Panama, and located in San Jose. In
1868 she was married here to John H. Pieper, who
was born in Hanover, Germany, May 3, 1824, coming
to California in 186S and to San Jose in 1867, and as
a surveyor he gave faithful service as city engineer
until his death, which occurred in 1888. Mr. and
Mrs. John H. Pieper were the parents of six chil-
dren: The eldest son, Charles, was graduated from
the School of Engineering in San Francisco,
and a few years after his father's death he was made
city engineer and surveyor, retaining this position
until his death, October 1, 1910, proving a worthy
successor to his father; he was a member of the San
Jose lodge of Masons and was a Republican. He
had married Miss Minnie Blakemore and they be-
came the parents of one child, Marciele E. Oscar H.
is engaged in the manufacturing of dental sup-
plies at Rochester, N. Y. Tecla attended the San
Jose State Normal, but was never engaged in teach-
ing, her time being spent presiding over her home,
caring for her mother until the latter's demise; Al-
phonse is associated with his brother, Oscar, in the
manufacturing business in Rochester, N. Y. He is
married and has a son, Arthur O. Ernest is a grad-
uate from a dental college in San Francisco and was
a prominent dentist in San Jose until he accepted
the management of the Braslan Seed Growers Com-
pany, Inc., of San Jose. He married Miss Ray Gag-
liardo, and they have a son, Ernest O. Olga became
Mrs. Chas. P. Braslan and the mother of a daughter,
Olga. Mr. Braslan passed away in 1910.

Mrs. Adele Pieper passed away in November 13,
1919, and her memory is enshrined in the hearts of
all who knew her. The spirit of helpfulness seemed
to find embodiment in her and no task seemed too
difficult when it would alleviate suffering or add to
the happiness of those about her. The name of
Pieper is one of long and close association with the
development and upbuilding of San Jose and it will
remain an honored one in the annals of the city.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

41;

ELBERT JOSEPH WILCOX.— A member of a
family that has been closely identified with the
history of San Jose for almost seventy years, Elbert
Joseph Wilcox was born in San Jose, February 12,
1873, and has continuously resided in this section of
the country. He is a son of the late Elbert Joseph
Wilcox, Sr., a California pioneer of 1853. who was
born in Middletown, Conn., July 19, 1829, and re-
mained in his native state until he was twenty-three.
In October, 1852. accompanied by his bride, he took
passage on the Flying Dutchman and sailed around
the Horn, arriving in San Francisco January 29,
1853. after a voyage of 100 days. Upon arrival he
immediately joined his wife's brother, J. O. AIcKee,
in San Jose. During the year of 1856 he purchased
an interest in a grocery business, but two years
later sold out and became one of the proprietors of
the Morgan House on the northwest corner First and
San Fernando, well known as the stopping place of
the stage on its way to and from San Francisco.
After a time he purchased his partner's interest and
bought the site, and in 1867 he replaced the build-
ing with a portion of the present brick structure. In
1871 he erected the Wilcox block, on the same site.
and the same year he bought the shoe stock of Mc-
Gowen and Company, and moved it to his new build-
ing, where he conducted a shoe business until his
retirement in September, 1899. Elbert J. Wilcox's
marriage occurred in Middletown. Conn, in 1852,
united him with Miss Sarah Maria McKee, a native
of Middletown, and during girlhood a student in
Meriden Female Seminary. Her father, Capt. Jo-
seph O. McKee. a seafaring man, brought the barque
Isabella around the Horn in 1849, and with him
came his son. J. O. McKee. He liked the country and
sent for his family to join him and they also came
out on the Flying Dutchman.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox were the parents of six chil-
dren, three of whom are living. Anna K., a grad-
uate of Gates Institute; Edith, the wife of Judge
W. A. Beasly of San Jose; and Elbert Joseph, Jr.,
the subject of this sketch. Formerly Mr. Wilcox, Sr.,
was a member of the Board of Trade, later ac-
tively connected with the Chamber of Commerce.
In national politics a pronounced Republican, he
was elected to represent the fourth ward in the city
council. On the organization of the free library,
he became a member of the board of trustees and
continued in that position for fifteen years. He was
always keenly interested in the meetings of the Santa
Clara County Pioneer Association and was an hon-
ored member. Mrs. Wilcox passed away in June,
1904, followed by her husband in April, 1918.

Elbert Joseph Wilcox, of this review, was edu-
cated in the grammar and high schools, later attend-
ing the University of the Pacific, and in 1901 he
graduated from the school of Mechanical Arts of
San Francisco. After his graduation he entered the
employ of the American Can Company in San Fran-
cisco as draftsman, and remained with them for nine
years; since then, the management of his father's
estate has demanded his full attention, and large-
ly through his energy and industry, the property is
becoming more valuable each succeeding year. Po-
litically he is a strong Republican and is a mem-
ber of the Chamber of Commerce. He is treas-
urer of the First Presbyterian Church of San Jose.
.Always taking an active part in all public measures.

Mr. Wilcox has sought in every way to advance the
interests of his native city.

HENRY J. B. WRIGHT, M. D.— Prominent
among the eminent representatives of the medical
profession in California whose influence has been
felt, to the blessing of many, beyond the confines
of the state and also outside of their ow-n immediate
field of activity, was the late Dr. Henry J. B. Wright,
whose illuminating publications relative to the ad-
vantages of Santa Clara County have proven of such
help in the vigorous campaigning by the San Jose
Chamber of Commerce. A wide-awake Hoosier, he
was born in Rush County. Ind.. on Alarch 18, 1851,
the son of the Rev. Ephraim Wright, a faithful and
scholarly clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, w^ho had married Miss Polly Buckley. They
had five children, and the subject of our sketch was
the youngest in the family. He attended the local
public schools and Moore's Hill College, in Indiana.
Later he was graduated from the Cincinnati College
of Medicine and Surgery as M. D.. and in 1880 con-
tinued studying at the Jefferson Medical College in
I^cnnsylvania. receiving the degree of M. D. from
that institution in 1881. In 1911 he received the de-
gree of B. S. from Moore's Hill College.

For fourteen years Dr. Wright practiced in Olney,
Southern Illinois, and then, in 1889, soon after the
"boom" which brought so many good folks from
the East, he came to San Jose, and here he em-
barked on that uninterrupted career which made him.
most probably, the oldest practicing physician in the
county. In Illinois he was on the board of examin-
ing surgeons for pensions, and he held a similar office
in California for several j'ears. He was a member
of the board of health for many years, and was
health officer of San Jose for tw-o years. He be-
longed to the Santa Clara County Medical Society,
in which he held all the offices possible, at some time
or other; and for forty years he was a member of
the American Medical Association. For twenty-six
years he was financial secretary and treasurer of the
First Methodist Church of San Jose.

In 1875 Dr. Wright was married to Miss Kate E.
Phillips, born in Indiana, a charming lady, who made
many friends, wherever she lived, prior to her la-
mented death in 1893. Dr. and Mrs. Wright were
the parents of two children, namely, Hannah L.,
who was married to Dr. W. C. Bailey, a native son
of San Jose, and H. Horton Wright, deceased.

Dr. Wright w-as a Republican, and voted _ind
worked with the Republicans in matters of national
moment; but he was too broad-minded to permit par-
tisanship to interfere with his whole-hearted partici-
pation in movements most likely to benefit the local-
ity in which he lived, operated and prospered. He
was a member of the board of freeholders that made
the charter of San Jose prior to the present one. and
he was also a member of the board that made the
present city charter. Some years ago. wishing to
contribute definitely to the rapid development of
this part of the state, he wrote for the Christmas
edition of the Mercury a very interesting and sug-
gestive description of "The Seasons in the Santa
Clara Valley," in which he touched upon the phe-
nomena of nature, the lavish crops of field, tree and
bush, the gorgeous variety of local color, and the
profusion of the landscape beauty, from March to
February, pointing out what is peculiar to this sec-

416

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tion; and this helpful exposition of undeniable facts
the San Jose Chamber of Commerce has made good
use of by sending it broadcast throughout the coun-
try and beyond the seas. He was truly a self-made
man, working his own w^ay by teaching, etc., through
college. He was a great reader, almost entirely in
the line of historical works, and wrote the history of
the Horton and Wright families. As president of
the Santa Clara County Historical Society, he com-
piled the war history of Santa Clara County, a com-
prehensive volume of the county's activities published
in 1919. Dr. Wright passed away December 7, 1920.

MICHAEL CASEY.— Seldom, if ever, has any
public official in California retired from office, been
the object of more confidence and esteem than Mi-
chael Casey, the ex-mayor of Gilroy. He was born
in Ireland, and when a lad of six years crossed the
Atlantic to the United States and went to Massa-
chusetts, where he grew up on a farm about eighty
miles from Boston. On July 14, 1867, he reached
San Francisco, handicapped in respect to education;
but he had keen powers of observation and reflec-
tion, and what little he had learned he put to use,
and so, in one way or another, he got on in the
world. In 1870 he came to Santa Clara County and
found employment on a farm; and he assisted in
raising potatoes and grain, the chief crops in those
days. Prior to this he tried his skill on a dairy farm
near Menlo Park, and before coming to Gilroy he
was employed on the Laurel Wood Farm and Race
Track, near Alviso. He was a keen admirer of fine
horses and knew how to handle them, and he had a
reputation for managing the wildest horses.

In June, 1872, Mr. Casey removed to Gilroy, and
for ten years he was manager of John Pain's livery
stable. In 1886 he acquired by purchase a share in
a partnership with Mr. Herold, who owned the brew-
ery; and when Herold entered politics he bought
out his interest in the business. Owing to the un-
settled state of the title to land upon which the very
site of the town W'as placed, Gilroy was held back
in its development; and when in the early '80s the
sum of $63,000 was paid by the people to Henry
Miller, it was evident that some day there would be
a city there. Michael Casey was among those who
put the most faith in the municipal project; and then
he backed that faith with all the property that he
could muster — $1,100 which he paid for his land. In
the period of the town's interesting development he
served as councilman for several terms, and has
twice been mayor of the city, each time laboring for
the benefit of the people. When Mr. Casey first
came to this locality he became a member of the
volunteer fire department and was chief engineer.
During his time in the service he practically remod-
eled the department, making it modern and up to
date for that period. He was a member of the city
council and on the water committee during the in-
stallation of the water system, voting $50,000 bonds
and saving actually $4,000 in the work. He has been a
Democrat, but he has never allowed narrow partisan-
ship to embarrass him in rendering support to the best
measures and the best men.

Mr. Casey has been a stockholder and a director
of the Bank of Italy, and since it absorbed the old
Bank of Gilroy some four years ago, he has served
as chairman of the board of the Gilroy branch of
the Bank of Italy. He has completed one of Gilroy's

best buildings, and given the Government a lease
of it for ten years for post office purposes. This
structure represents an expenditure of $20,000, is
furnished throughout with oak, and the basement is
sealed water-tight, against possible high water in
rainy seasons. The burglar-proof vault was com-
pleted in October, 1920. At present, Mr. Casey is
living retired, enjoying the well-earned fruits of the
long years of hard and responsible labor, in which
ht made so many friends.

At Gilroy, on September 25, 1872, Mr. Casey was
married to Miss Margaret McLoughlin, a lady of
Irish parentage, who had lived in Gilroy about six
years prior to her marriage. She, also, made a host
ol friends, and she was widely mourned, when she
died, in 1886. Seven children were born of this union.
Mary M., a trained nurse, resides in Gilroy; Josephine
and Evangeline are at home; Georgiana has become
Mrs. S. W. Tracy of San Francisco; Emily, her twin
sister, is the wife of Dr. J. Clark, and they reside
with their three sons at Gilroy; Thomas Francis, a
dentist of San Francisco, has the degree of D.D.S.,
and enjoys a lucrative practice, he is the father of
one son; Elizabeth is the wife of Harry Tracy of San
Francisco. There are six grandchildren. The fam-
ily attend the Roman Catholic Church, and Mr. Casey
is a member of the Improved Order of Redmen.

STONEWALL J. MAYOCK.— Numbered among
the public-spirited and philanthropic citizens who
are well known in Santa Clara County, in fact
throughout the entire State of California, is Stone-
wall J. Mayock, proprietor of the Central Hotel at
Gilroy. where he has lived and labored since 1874.
He is a son of the late Michael and Mary J. ( Forlns)
Mayock. the former a native of County Ahno. Ire-
land, and the latter of Georgia, where the I'"orbes
family has been established for several generations.
Sidney Forbes, Mrs. Mayock's father, was a man of
responsibility and influence, and he was thus able
to bequeath the most valuable of heritages. Michael
Mayock came to America when he was a lad, and
his ambition and perseverance stood by him in his
struggle with the land of his adoption. In Georgia
he found more than a competence, gaining there a
wife, who stimulated him by her devotion as he en-
gaged in merchandising and mining. Leaving his
family in the h'.ast. he joined the tide of emigration
to the West in 1.S49, and for a couple of years en-
gaged in mining in Placer County. Then he returned
to his Georgia home and bought a plantation, which
he operated with success until ruined by the Civil
War. He then removed to California and settled in
Gilroy in 1874, finding congenial employment with
Miller & Lux. While he was engaged with a cutter
he lost one of his arms, and he died when eighty-
four years of age. He left a widow and six children:
Barbara. Mrs. H. D. Martin, of Gilroy; Maggie be-
came Mrs. Barrows and resides in the same city;
Henry Thompson; Levi, a stockman of San Benito
County; Stonewall J., of this review; and Robert L.
of San Francisco. Mrs. Mayock lived to be about
eighty-six years old.

Stonewall J. Mayock, or "Stoney," as he was more
familiarly known by his friends, was born at Daw-
sonville, Ga., on November 14. 1862, and from the
age of twelve has lived in Gilroy, where he went
to school and followed odd jobs such as lads of his
day and age were wont to pursue. After he had

^//y^^^^ti^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

419

spent several years in various lines of business he
finally became a traveling salesman for Sherwood &
Sherwood of San Francisco, and also represented C.
P. Morman & Co., of Louisville, Ky., for many years.
In 1906 he purchased the Central Hotel in Gilroy, and
ever since then has been its proprietor; he also owns
other desirable property in Bodfish Canyon district.

At Sonora, Tuolumne County, Mr. Mayock was
united in marriage with Miss Nellie Starbird and
they became parents of two children: Robert S., and
Wellburn F. Both boys were graduated from the
Gilroy high school, then continued their studies at
the University of California, majoring in law. At
the breaking out of the World War, just as they
had graduated, they both enlisted in the U. S. Navy
and served for eighteen months. Upon returning to
Gilro}'. Wellburn became connected with the Gilroy
branch of the Garden City Bank and Trust Com-
pany. Subsequently passing the examination at the
California Bar successfully, he became connected with
the firm of E. D. Crawford & Co., now Crawford &
Mayock, who do a general real estate, insurance and
Ijrokerage business in connection with the law. Rob-
ert Mayock is also connected with this firm and
handles the real estate and brokerage departments
very successfully. Wellburn married Barbara Schmitt
and they have two children, Barbara Ellen and Well-
burn Stoney Mayock. Mrs. S. J. Mayock died in
1919. mourned by all who knew her.

Stoney Mayock is one of the most entertaining con-
versationalists, his extensive travels giving him a fund
of information and anecdote. He is warm-hearted
and kindly of disposition and loyal to his friends,
giving aid to those w'ho need it and encouragement
to the unfortunate. It has been his pleasure to
mingle in political affairs, and he has served as post-
master of Gilroy under Grover Cleveland's adminis-
tration. He is a member of the Elks and always
takes an active interest in promoting all measures for
the good of Santa Clara County.

GEORGE BUTTERFIELD McKEE.— Santa
Clara County and this section of California is largely
indebted to the efforts of George B. McKee for early
pioneer development. A veteran not only in point
of long residence and his pioneer association with
the building of the County, but a path-breaker in
the industrial and commercial worlds, he belongs to
that highly respected class of California pioneers,
ever of interest to the student of what was, what is.
and what is to be. He was born at Ottawa, 111., on
July 27, 1838, the son of Lyman McKee, who was
married in Watertown, N. Y., to Miss Melinda But-
terfield Grandfather Zacharia Butterfield was a
New Englander who came out to New York State
and was one of three that took up the land now the
site of Watertown, hence was one of the founders
of that thriving city; he was also engaged in stock-
raising and dairying, in which he was very success-
ful. Soon after their marriage, Lyman McKee and
his wife moved to Ottawa, 111., where he was en-
gaged in farming until his demise, when George But-
terfield McKee was but a small lad — leaving a widow
and four children.

After the death of Lyman McKee his wido>v, with
her four sons, moved back to Watertown, N. Y., and
there she continued to reside until she decided to
come to California. One son, Frank F., had pre-
ceded her, having crossed the plains in 1853, com-

ing in the Ward and Moody horse-train from Mil-
waukee to San Jose. Mr. Moody returned East the
same fall and was married to a cousin of Mr. Mc-
Kee, and wMth his bride and our subject's mother
left for California via Panama in December. IS.'^S.

Mrs. Melinda McKee, on her arrrival, bought a
residence at 234 South Second Street where she re-
sided until her death in 1868. She was the mother
of four children: Frank F. passed away in Tulare
County; Albert and Russell both passed away in San
Jose, and George Butterfield, the subject of this re-
view. His people were stock and dairymen and from
a youth he assisted them during the summers, obtain-
ing the experience and learning habits of industry
and thrift that have been so valuable to him in later
years. He obtained his early education in the pub-
lic schools of Watertown, N. Y. At the age of fif-
teen, in 1853, he came out to Milwaukee, Wis , and
the next spring he joined the Moody-Winchell train
destined for the land of gold and sunshine. Leav-
ing Milwaukee in April, 1854, they proceeded west-
ward across the plans after crossing the Mississippi
at Rock Island, 111., and the Missouri at Council
Bluffs, Iowa, making their way up the Platte and
its north fork through Wyoming and Utah, coining
by the Sublette cut-off into California, arriving m
San Jose in October, 1854. They left Milwaukee
with ten men, but at Council Bluffs, low-a, they joined
the Streeter and Hendricks train of forty men, mak-
ing them fifty men strong and well armed and thus
this formidable army came through without being
molested by the Indians. Mr. McKee found here
only a small Spanish town, and the opportunities for
obtaining something to do were limited; a few wag-
ons were hauling quicksilver from the New Almaden
mines through San Jose to Alviso, and a few ox-
teams were hauling lumber from the redwoods in the
Santa Cruz Mountains. George B. soon left for
Stockton and entered the employ of the Adams Ex-
press Company, as messenger boy, but a month later
the company was taken over by the Wells Fargo. He
remained with them but a short time, then struck
out for the Kern River mines, where he mined at
Greenhorn Gulch and Keysville, remaining until the
fall of 1856, when he made his way to Nevada Coun-
ty and there engaged in mining at Moore's Flat on
the middle fork of the Yuba River, remaining there
for about a year. Success had attended his efforts,
thus enabling him to invest in a dairy which yielded
a good income. In 1861 he was elected county as-
sessor of Nevada County, and he took up his resi-
dence in Nevada City. Being re-elected to the of-
fice, he served two terms with credit and satisfaction
to the citizens. For a short time, with a Mr. Pratt,
Mr. McKee operated a store at Zirs .Station on the
line of the building of the Central Pacific Railroad,
but inside of four months, he found conditions un-
satisfactory so he sold out and returned to Grass
Valley, where he mined for a year. Then he gave
up mining and returned to San Jose in 1868. While
building his home he went to Henning's store for
paint, and finding the proprietor very busy, he fouiid
what he wanted in the way of paint from time to
time, keeping a record of it on Mr. Henning's books,
and when he had finished his house and came to
settle his bill, Mr. Henning offered to sell him a
half-interest in the business, and the firm became
known as Henning and McKee, located on First

420

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Street. Thus Mr. McKco began his operations in a
field in which he has since become so singularly
successful and has been so honorably identified.
Eighteen months later, he purchased Mr. Henning's
interest and was the sole proprietor for about eigh-
teen months, when he took as a partner Alfred De
Rockebrune under the firm name of George B. Mc-
Kee & Company and this partnership continued un-
til the death of Mr. De Rockebrune, when Mr. Mc-
Kee purchased the interest and since then has been
the sole proprietor, the establishment carrying a
large and complete stock of paints, oils and wall-
paper, as well as building the large plant for the
manufacture of mixed paints.

About 1882, he purchased the old court house and
jail site on the corner of San Fernando and South
Second Streets, and he was the only man in Califor-
nia that owned a court house and jail in his own
name. Here he built his permanent brick building
in 1892 and later built the paint factory on the jail
site. This property is 47;/.. .x 137' j fronting on South
Second Street with 45 feet at the rear of the building
fronting on San Fernando Street v.itli a depth of
137^ feet. He also owns 58 feet on Third near San
Fernando Street adjoining the above property, this
being the old jail site on which he constructed his
paint factory. Finding a considerable demand for
ready mixed paints, Mr. McKee experimented and
began the manufacture of paints and his Balata
Paints are now well known all over the Coast.
Thus he has built up the largest business of the kind
in Santa Clara County. In 1902, Mr. McKee incor-
porated his business as the Geo. B. McKee Company,
of which he is president and owner. Mr. McKee is
a stockholder in the San Jose Water Company and
is a director and was its president for many years
until he resigned when he went on his trip to the
Orient. He is also a stockholder and director of
many years in the First National Bank of San Jose,
and for thirty years he has bL-en iirisidint of the
Nucleus Building & I^oan Associatum of Saii lose.

Mr. McKee has been twice marn.Ml; liw lir^t wife
was Miss Mary Hubbard, a native uf WiMonsin,
and she passed on in 1884, the mother of two chil-
dren; Hubbard was killed in an automobile accident,
leaving three children; Mrs. Georgia Gummcr of
Stockton has two children. Mr. McKee's second
wife was Mrs. Lydia Smith Toland. a native of De-
catur. 111., a daughter of E. O. Smith, a pioneer of
San Jose. Mrs. McKee is actively identified in all
civic and social affairs and is particularly interested
in benevolent charitable societies. She is a cultured
woman and presides graciously over her large and
beautiful home, which was erected in 1892 on the site
of the old McKee home, thus Mr. McKee has resided
on this same location since 1868.

In 1913, Mr. McKee, accompanied by his wife, his
niece, Miss Moore, and a Miss Roberts, made a tour
of the Orient, visiting Honolulu; thence to Japan,
taking in the important cities in that country and on
to China, visiting Shanghai, Hongkong and other
important cities; thence to Singapore and on to Co-
lombo, Ceylon, thence through India from the ex-
treme South to the North and back to Calcutta and
on to Rangoon in Burmah; thence back to Singa-
pore and on to the Island of Java; thence to Aus-
tralia and New Zealand, and from there to the Fiji,
Tonga and Samoa Islands, after which they returned

via Honolulu to San Francisco after a most delightful
ti-ip of seven months, the party not having experi-
enced a day's sickness during the trip.

Mr. McKee has been a very active and prominent
Mason, having been made a Mason in Nevada Lodge,
F. & A. M., of Nevada City, where he also was made
a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and knighted
in the Commandery. On coming to San Jose, he be-
ca,me a member of Friendship Lodge No. 210,
F. & A. M., Howard Chapter, R. A. M., of which he
is past high priest and now the only living charter
member of San Jose Commandery No. 10, of which
he is past eminent commander, as well as being a
past grand commander of the Grand Commandery
of California, serving in that eminent position in
1901, when he took the Grand Commandery of Cali-
fornia to the triennial conclave of Knights Templar,
held in Louisville, Ky. He has had the pleasure of
also visiting other conclaves, in St. Louis, Pitts-
burgh, Chicago, Boston, Denver, Los Angeles, and
two in San Francisco. Mr. McKee is also a thirty-
second degree Scottish Rite Mason, being a charter
member of San Jose Consistorj', and for mnny years
he has been the treasurer of all the Masonic bodies in
San Jose of which he was a member, having been
treasurer of the Blue Lodge for thirty-three years.
With his wife, he is a member of the O. E. S., of
which he is past patron and Mrs .\fcKee is past
matron. He is also a life member of Islam Temple.
A. A. O. N. M. S., in San Francisco, his membership
being No. 922. In 1921 Mr. McKee was made a
knight Commander of the Court of Honor.

Mrs. McKee has been president of the Ladies' Be-
nevolent Society in San Jose for twenty-two years,
a charitable institution for the care of children, and
is doing a noble work in caring for the waifs; and is
also prominent in civic and club circles. Mr. McKee
was the president of the first Board of Trade, and
since then has been a supporter of t'^e local Cliam-
ber of Commerce and Board of Trade, as well as all
movements for boosting San Jose, in the growth of
which he is very loyal and proud. He has served ac-
ceptably as city councilman and mayor of San Jose,
and has also been a member of the board of police
and fire commissioners. Deeply interested in the
cause of education, he has given of his time and
served faithfully as a member of the board of school
trustees of this growing sity. While a Republican in
national politics, Mr. McKee supports all local move-
ments in a broad, nonpartisan manner. Not only
among the oldest residents of San Jose, Mr. McKee
has been in business steadily in San Jose longer than
any other business man in the city. He has truly
been a factor in the development, not only of the
city of San Jose and Santa Clara County, but of
the commonwealth of California. It is mdeed inter-
esting to chronicle the life historj- of such a useful,
unselfish and enterprising citizen, who, in his liberal
and kind-hearted way, has always given freely of his
time and means towards enterprises that have for
their aim the improvement of the city and county and
to enhance the comfort and raise the social and moral
conditions of its people. It is to men of the type of
Mr. McKee that California today owes much of its
present greatness and prosperity; men who were not
afraid to work, and in their optimism saw the great
future awaiting the Golden State in developing its
great natural

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

423

HENRY CURTNER.— During the fifties men
from all sections of the country were thronging to
California as ofifering advantages and opportunities
greater than were possible in the East, and among
them was Henry Curtner, a pioneer of Alameda
County. On his arrival on the Pacific Coast in 1852
he was without means, except $20. a stranger in a
strange land, without friends to assist him in getting
a start. He purchased a pair of blankets and a stage
ticket to Mission San Jose, where he was to work
on the ranch of Heard \- I-".llsworth, with whom he
had contracted to work while in Indiana. He worked
faithfully and in si.x inoiiths' time had saved some
money and bought out the balance of the contract,
so he was free to begin farming for himself, which
he did at Centerville. He was successful and within
a few years later he made his first purchase of land
at Centerville, and from that time forward his career
was prosperous, until he became one of the largest
landowners of his county.

Mr. Curtner was born in Fountain County, Indiana,
January 17, 1831, and was next to the youngest of
five sons and five daughters, all of whom are de-
ceased. His father, Jacob Curtner, was born and
reared in North Carolina, where he married Nancy
Heaton, a native of Tennessee. Afterwards, about
1827, they removed to Indiana and settled among the
pioneer farmers of Fountain County, where they
passed their active years in the development of a
homestead. Mrs. Curtner died in Fulton County, In-
diana, while Mr. Curtner passed away in Cass County,
near Logansport. He had been a soldier in the Indian
struggles and served under General Jackson, taking
part in the battle of Horseshoe Bend. During the boy-
hood years of Henry Curtner educational facilities
were in their infancy. Schools were held in log build-
ings with puncheon floors and slab benches, text-
books were few and of inferior quality. Having ac-
fjuired such instruction as the schools afforded, Mr.
Curtner started out in the world to earn his livelihood.
He had been left an orphan and had to "paddle his
own canoe," and he found a hard time of it because
many people did not hesitate to take advantage of an
orphan boy. One year he hired to a farmer for a
year, and he was to have, besides a pittance, three
months' schooling and a new suit of clothes. They
did not let him go to school, but put him in the
woods at the end of an ax-handle and, instead of a
new suit, offered him a second-hand suit, which Mr.
Curtner declined, saying that summer had come, and
so left them. For a time he worked on a farm and
also engaged in clearing timbered land, after which
he became a towboy or boat driver on the Wabash
and Erie canal, working for his board. In 1852 he
utilized his savings in paying the expenses of the
long voyage from New York via Panama to San
Francisco. Four years after his arrival on the coast,
in the fall of 1856, he returned to Indiana and mar-
ried in Cass County, Miss Lydia Kendall, who was
born in Indiana. In the fall of 18S7 the young couple
removed to California, where they purchased fifty
acres between Centerville and Alvarado, Alameda
County, and for about ten years they made their
home upon that property. In the spring of 1868 they
removed to the estate near Warm Springs and there
he resided until he passed away. Hi.s tir^t purchase
near Warm Springs comprised little k■s^ than 2000
acres, to which he addecl from time to time until
his landed possessions aggregated 8000 acres; how-
ever, a portion of this was sold, in small farms, and
the balance he divided among his children. After

locating in the Santa Clara Valley, he bought and
sold real estate, speculated in lands, made improve-
ments of noteworthy character, and proved himself
a capable and progressive business man. For many
years he served on the boards of directors of the
Security State Bank of San Jose and was also presi-
dent of the Milpitas Land & Live Stock Company,
owners of 8000 head of cattle, 800 head of horses
and a flock of 7000 sheep, utilizing for the same a
tract of 32,000 acres of patented land in Humboldt
County, Nevada, besides a range of 100 square miles.
Of Mr. Curtner's first marriage six sons and two
daughters were born, seven reaching maturity: Wal-
ter J. of San Jose; Frank died in 1909; William re-
sides near Warm Springs, while Allen lives in Sun-
nyvale; Jacob lives on the home place; Josephine
is Mrs. Myers of San Jose; Grace is Mrs. Holman.
After the death of his first wife, Mr. Curtner mar-
ried Miss Mary E. Myers, who was born in Logans-
port, Ind., and passed away in California. The two
children of this union were Albert H., deceased, and
Arthur D., residing on the old home place. The third
marriage of Mr. Curtner united him with Miss Lucy
Latham, a native of Illinois, who survives him. While
the magnitude of Mr. Curtner's landed interests de-
manded his personal attention to the exclusion of
participation m public affairs, yet he was always a
warm supporter of the public schools, aided in pro-
motmg the standard of education in his district, and,
reminded of his own recollections of the deprivations
of his boyhood, always contributed liberally to move-
ments for the development of educational facilities.
The establishment and building of Irvington Semi-
nary may be attributed to his zeal and financial sup-
port, and while at first he was associated with a
corporation in the undertakings, he afterward ac-
quired the entire institution. After it was burned,
about 1898, he sold the property, which was rebuilt
and is now operated under the present title of Ander-
son Academy. He was a stanch adherent of the Re-
publican party, and kept himself intelligently con-
ver^ant «itli the issues of the times, yet always de-
clined olVii c and never gave his consent to the use
ot his iiaiuc in candidacy for positions within the gift
of his fellow-citizens. Pre-eminently his tastes were
toward private undertakings, not public affairs, yet he
was never negligent of his duty as a citizen. He real-
ized that whatever success crowned his eflforts was
due in a large degree to the opportunities aft'orded
by the fertile soil and fair climate of the coast coun-
try, and he was ever alert to promote the advance-
ment of the state. His public spirit and progressive
citizenship were a large contribution to the material
and educational development of the community in
which he resided. Mr. Curtner was a man of a won-
ilrrlul tmai ity of purpose and with an ambition to
sii.'.rd pi, I, 111 higher than in most men, he worked
nil e^saiul\ to that end. His judgment was splendid
and seemed unerring. Having faith in the future
for Cahfornia lands, he saw how it would rise in
value, so when land was low and went begging he
bought thousands of acres, knowing full well it would
rise again and he would take his profit. When Beard
iSc Ellsworth (the men who owned the ranch and for
whom he worked when he came to California) went
broke, Mr. Curtner purchased the ranch. On his
vast tracts he set out hundreds of acres of orchard
and he was an upbuilder and leader in developing the
horticultural and agricultural interests in the valley.
He always kept his word, hence he had unlimited
credit. He bought a large part of the Murphy lands,
subdivided them and sold to incoming settlers, and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

also did the same with the entire Ynigo ranch, as
well as other large tracts, thus opening the way for
small farmers to secure places they might improve
and help to build up the county. He was generous
and kind, assisting by his backing and influence many
deserving j'oung men who made a success in the
world and became prosperous, influential and a credit
to the community. Having had a hard and uphill
struggle as an orphan boy, he naturally had a warm
heart for the orphans, as well as widows who were
left helpless, and he was very liberal in his donations
to institutions of that kind. Among some of his be-
quests w^ere $30,000 to home benevolences; $30,000
to the Pratt Home; $20,000 to the San Anselmo Or-
phanage; $6,000 to pay balance of the debt on the
Oakland Orphanage; $5,000 to the Santa Clara County
Pioneers for a building. He helped many boys and
girls that were unable to secure a higher education
but for his aid. His life record may well serve as a
source of inspiration and encouragement to others,
showinc; that success and an honored name may be
won >inniltancously. This millionaire cattleman and
rancher, wlio was one of the valley's greatest philan-
thro[ji;.ti, passed to that Great Beyond November 1,
1916, honored and loved by everj'one.

MRS. LUCY LATHAM CURTNER.— This es-
timable lady who is following in the footsteps of her
philanthropic husband is a woman much loved and
appreciated by the citizens of Santa Clara Valley,
who admire her for her many attributes of virtue and
for her kindliness and straightforwardness of pur-
pose. Lucy Latham was born at Elkhart Grove,
Logan County, III, January 16, 1839. Her father was
born in Kentucky, but reared in Illinois. Her grand-
father, James Latham, was Indian agent in Illinois
and was the first white man to cross the Sangamon
River. Her mother was Margaret Stephenson, also
a native of Kentucky, a woman of much refinement,
who saw to the rearing and education of her family
and from whom her daughter, Lucy, inherited many
of the traits which have made her so well liked and
appreciated. She was the fourth oldest in a family of
six children. When she was fourteen years of age
her parents moved to Springfield, III., where she at-
tended Esterbrook's Academy, and afterwards went
east and finished her education at Pleasant Hill semi-
nary, Washington County, Pa., when she returned
to Springfield. In that city she had the great pleasure
of knowing Abraham Lincoln, the savior of his coun-
try, and was elated at his nomination for the presi-
dency in 1860. She also knew Airs. Lincoln and Dr.
Todd and his family. Her brother-in-law and sister.
Rev. and Mrs. J. H. McCullough, had come to Cali-
fornia, where Rev. McCullough was president of
Irvington College, and in 1884 Miss Latham joined
her sister at Irvington, and it was there she met Mr.
Curtner and the acquaintance resulted in their mar-
riage May 26, 1885, and they took up their residence
on the Curtner place at Warm Springs, She immedi-
ately entered into all of her husband's ambitions and
threw herself into the work of aiding and encourag-
ing him, her confidence in his ability being rew-arded
more and more in watching his wonderful rise. She
warmly acquiesced and encouraged him in his benev-
olences and was delighted in his munificent bequests
to charitable institutions, especially those to the or-
phans' and widows' homes, and since his death has
continued the work and has contributed all she could
to the same end.

Soon after her husband's death she took up her
residence at 36 South Thirteenth Street, San Jose.
Her niece and grandniece, Mrs. Margaret Valpey
and Aliss Lucy Valpey, are making their home with
her and assist her in dispensing good cheer and old-
time hospitality. She is very naturally a stanch Re-
publican in political preferment, having been reared
in the environment of the old Abolition party, and
is a devout member of the Christian Church, taking
an active part in its many benevolences. Mrs. Curt-
ner was reared in an' atmosphere of culture and refine-
ment and is a woman of very pleasing personality,
is well read, and having a retentive memory, is a
pleasing conversationalist. Liberal and generous, she
IS ever ready to help those who have been less for-
tunate and do what she can to alleviate suffering and
pain. She is modest and unassuming and her acts
of charity are always done in an unostentatious
manner. It is indeed a pleasure to know this inter-
esting woman, who knew and was a friend of the
great Emancipator.

LILLIE BLACKFORD.— A native of Nevada,
Lillie Blackford is a representative in both the
paternal and maternal lines of pioneer families of the
state and in San Jose. The Blackford family was
established in Virginia during the Colonial period in
the history of this country. The paternal grand-
father, Samuel Blackford, started across the plains to
California with his family in 1850, traveling with ox
team and prairie schooner and going by way of
Salt Lake Valley. His w-ife succumbed to the hard-
ships of the journey and passed away ere they
reached their destination, while he was kidnapped by
Indians, but managed to make his escape and rejoin
the party. He started out with a large number of
cattle but ere he reached San Jose these were all
stolen from him by cattle rustlers, who left only the
ox team. He acquired from the Spanish government
a 160-acre ranch on the Los Gatos road, about four
miles from San Jose, and on this place he built a
good house, devoting his land to the raising of grain
and continued active in the management of the farm
until his death.

His son, George W. Blackford, was born in Ohio
in December, 1843, and he became a member of the
second class that was graduated from the University
of the Pacific in San Jose, where he completed a
law course. Going to Marysville, he there opened an
office, but at the end of a short time returned to San
Jose, where he wedded Miss Lillie G. Hassinger, a
native of Philadelphia, Pa., and a representative of
an old Maryland family. In 1859 she had come to
California with her parents, who settled in Santa Clara
County. Following their marriage the young couple
went to Dayton, Nevada, where Mr. Blackford
practised law for a few years and then returned to
San Jose, becoming one of the prominent attorneys
of this city. He also devoted considerable attention
to fruit raising and took much pride in the develop-
ment of his home ranch which he, too, had purchased
from the Mexican government, which he irrigated
by means of deep wells; also adding many other
improvements and converting it into one of the model
farm properties in Santa Clara County. On that
place he resided until 1885, when he erected a beauti-
ful home at 53 South Sixth Street, San Jose, and here
his daughter Lillie is now living. He passed away

::f^:^a^j^^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

427

on January 29, 1909, and Mrs. Blackford died April
29, 1914, and in 1917 the ranch was sold.

Mr. and Mrs. Blackford became the parents of six
children, of whom the subject of this review is the
eldest. The others are May F., now the wife of

F. H. Herbert, of San Francisco; Mrs. Alice L.
Dinsmore, a resident of Los Gatos; Maude C. Black-
ford, who is at home with her sister; Mrs. Florence

G. Moody, of San Jose; and Walter G., who is also
living in this city. Miss Blackford is a member of
the Episcopal Church, while the other members of
the family are Presbyterians in religious faith. She
gives her political allegiance to the Democratic party,
to which her father also adhered, and is interested in
all that pertains to the welfare and progress of com-
munity, state and nation. By inheritance she bears
a name that has ever been an honored one in connec-
tion with the pioneer development and later upbuild-
ing of tlie state and in her own career she exemplifies
those commendable qualities which have at all times
been a distinguishing trait of the family.

J. F. PARKINSON.— A prominent Mason who is
so identified with the early history of the town that
he well dcherves the title of the Father of Palo Alto,
is J. F. Parkinson, of 616 Cowper Street, in which
attractive thoroughfare he is a familiar figure — six
feet, three inches tall, and weighing 240 pounds. His
life-story is intimately the history of Palo Alto, for
he built the first residence here, put in the first lum-
ber yard, incorporated the first bank, and drove the
first spike in the great railway he had promoted. He
was born in Marshall County, W. Va., on December
2. 1864, when his father. Dr. Benoni Parkinson was
serving in the Civil War with the rank of a major
He had just finished his course of study as a physi-
cian and surgeon, at the Waynesburg, Pa., Medical
College, when the war commenced, and he lost no
time in enlisting, registering from West Virginia.
He served as army surgeon throughout the great
struggle, and had four enlistments and several pro-
motions to his credit. He was the son of John
Parkinson, a native of Virginia, a contractor on the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, when it was built through
the Cumberland Mountains. The Parkinson family,
dating back to both England and Scotland, settled
in Virginia and in time became prominent in both
the Old Dominion and the Keystone State, active
in business and in the professions, especially as law-
yers and doctors. Dr. Benoni Parkinson was mar-
ried in Virginia on October 14, 1862, after which
he went to the front. He was born on March 3,
1836, and died at Palo Alto on February 7. 1899. after
residing in this city for six years. His bride, before
her marriage to Dr. Parkinson, was Katherine Mary
Gray, and she was born in Greene County, Pa., on
November 28. 1840. Her parents were Francis and
Sarah (Roseberry) Gray, and the Grays and the
Roseberrys were both English settlers in Virginia.
She died at Washington, Iowa, in 1880, highly es-
teemed by all who knew her.

When J. F. Parkinson, who was the eldest in a
family of seven children, was six years old, his par-
ents removed with him to Washington County,
Iowa, in 1870; and then Dr. Parkinson gave up
the practice of medicine and embarked in the lum-
ber trade. He also helped to organize a number of
banks in Iowa and the Middle West, and he owned
a number of farms in Iowa, and our subject' helped

to run them during school vacations, and also helped
in his father's lumber yard. He attended the public
schools in Washington, Iowa, and he completed the
courses at Washington College, having previously
taken a business course at Burlington. Then he went
to the University of Michigan, where he pursued
a classical course; but he was taken with hemor-
rhage of the lungs, which led him to quit college and
to hurry west to California in the hope of regaining
his health. Thirteen relatives of his mother from
Pennsylvania and Virginia had crossed the plains to
California in 18.i2, lured by tlie prospects for gold,
and a cousin. Mr. Morris, was still living at Wood-
land, in Yolo County, in 1888, and welcomed our
subject to the Golden State. This cousin's widow
and sons are still living in Yolo County, although
Asa Morris, Jr., the well-known cattleman, was
killed in an automobile accident in July. 1921.

T. F. Parkinson, who was then twenty-three years
old, had fallen in love in Iowa, and he had come out
to the Coast not merely to regain his health, but
to look for employment and secure a prospective
home. His betrothed. Miss Helen M. Scofield, was
born in Washington County, Iowa, and was a daugh-
ter of William Scofield, the Washington, Iowa,
attorney, and a cousin of General Scofield of New
York, and Sarah (Maze) Scofield. a native of Ohio.
Miss Scofield, it happened, had preceded our sub-
ject to California, and had been spending the winter
of 1884-85 with her folks at San Jose, while she
also put in a year at school in San Jose, and hence
young Parkinson went to San Jose for employment,
believing that his intended wife would like to live there.
He found something worth while in the service of
J. P. Pierce, president of the Pacific Manufacturing
Company, at Santa Clara, commencing work at the
modest salary of sixty-five dollars per month; but he
rose to a commanding position, with the largest salary
granted anyone in that county. He worked for the Pa-
cific Manufacturing Company in charge of their lum-
ber yard at Santa Clara from 1888 to 1892; and dur-
ing this time he had not only met with Gov. Leland
Stanford, but he had become acquainted with the
plans for the building of the Leland Stanford, Jr.
LTniversity.

He could easily foresee that there was plenty of room
for a Hood-sized tOwn in front of the proposed Uni-
versity site, and he resigned his position with the
Pacific Manufacturing Company, and resolved to
open up a lumber yard at Palo Alto which was then
called University Park. He had saved considerable
money, and so was able to commence in a small
way. hauling his first load of lumber from Santa
Clara on March 1. 1892. By the first of January,
1893. he had transacted $70,000 worth of business.
He then started a hardware store in connection with
his lumber yard, and then a plumbing and tinning
establishment, and later still he built the first planing
mill in Palo Alto. After that he started another lum-
ber yard and hardware store at Mountain View, and
still later he opened a hardware store and lumber
yard at Sunnyvale, when that now thriving town was
known as Encinal.

His business expanded so rapidly and steadily
during those years that he prospered exceedingly,
and with C. C. Spalding, W. E. Grossman and Mr.
Richards of San Jose, Mr. Parkinson organized the
first bank at Sunnyvale. He also organized, in 1892,

428

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the Bank of Palo Alto, on a wire from Iowa, from
his father, who was the main stockholder. The bank
was capitalized at $100,000, and Judge J. R. Welch
of San Jose drew up the articles of incorporation
and became the bank's first vice-president. Stock
to the amount of $80,000 was taken by Dr. Parkinson
and an uncle. George R. Parkinson, both of whom
became well-known residents of Palo Alto, where
they died. At that time, Mayfield was the nearest
trading center, and had the only school and the only
pest office; it opposed every energetic forward move-
ment proposed at University Park, and insisted on the
people having children at the latter place sending them
to the Mayfield school. Mr. Parkinson resolved that
University Park must organize its own school district,
and he set resolutely about to accomplish the task. In
1892 he gave, free of charge, all the lumber needed for
the first school house in Palo Alto, which was built at
the corner of University and Bryant streets, and in
the fall of that year, the school house was opened for
the twenty-five or more pupils. Mr. Parkinson also
donated $250 for the building of the First Presby-
terian Church in Palo Alto, the first church edifice
in town, and he donated liberally toward the build-
ing of all the succeeding churches in Palo Alto.
He became a good friend of Governor Stanford,
and he was thus enabled to do much toward carrying
out his laudable enterprises.

Timothy Hopkins owned and laid out the townsite
of what was at first called Universitj^ Park, and when
ambitious folks petitioned to have the name changed
to Palo Alto, they were influenced by the Spanish
name of Governor Stanford's extensive stock farm
of 8,600 acres, included in the present site of the
University, meaning "high tree," and referring to the
large sequoia on the San Francisquito Creek at the
extreme northerly point in Santa Clara County.
It seems that the Cornell, Fitzhugh, Hopkins Com-
pany of San Francisco owned sixty acres southwest of
the old town of Mayfield and they plotted it and called
it Palo Alto, and began to sell lots. Governor Stanford
lost no time in enjoining them from the use of Palo
Alto as a name, and this led to much litigation and
hard feeling. The matter w^as finally compromised
when Senator Stanford renamed the sixty-acre plot
College Terrace, and this is now an addition to the
town of Mayfield. Thereupon. Mr. Hopkins, by and
with the consent of those who had bought lots in
University Park about 1894, petitioned the board of
county supervisors to call University Park Palo
Alto; and the first post office was established in Palo
Alto with Mr. Parkinson as postmaster. He was
elected a member of the Palo Alto School Board
and he served for eight years.

Mr. Parkinson organized the Palo Alto Mutual
Building and Loan Association, and became its first
president. He also helped actively to establish the
first newspaper in Palo Alto, the "Times," and after-
wards himself owned the Palo Alto "Citizen," which in
time was consolidated with the "Times." He owned
the first water-works, supplied by two artesian wells,
and before the town w'as incorporated, he laid four-
inch water mains. He built the city line of street
railway in Palo Alto, and also got the franchises for
the Santa Clara County Interurban Electric Line.
He then obtained franchises for a road extending from
Palo Alto through Mayfield, Mountain View, Sunny-
vale, Santa Clara and San Jose, and afterwards

bought out the J. H. Henry lines from Santa Clara
to Alum Rock. In this project, he was bitterly fought
by the Southern Pacific Railway, which bought these
lines and renamed them, calling the now popular
line the Peninsular Railway. When this was built,
Mr. Parkinson drove the first spike in its construc-
tion, on January 4, 1906.

More personal experiences of Mr. Parkinson are
full of interest even for the stranger. In 1906 he
was elected mayor of Palo Alto, and soon afterward
his automobile turned turtle, and he was so severely
injured that he was in bed for four years. A week
after he was injured, the earthquake shook every-
thing topsy-turvy in Palo Alto, and when some of the
groceries and meat markets commenced to profiteer
and to charge two and three times the regular price
for what they had. fear made the public panicky
lest starvation might confront the town. Thereupon
Mr. Parkinson, although an invalid, drove around
in his buggy and saw the extortioners, and through
his prompt and firm measures, he stopped the profit-
eering, and the result was that Palo Alto got its
provisions at prices prevailing before the great dis-
aster. This act was generally applauded and the
mayor of Palo Alto was exalted not only in his own
city, but newspapers West, East, North and South,
and even in editorials in English papers. Owing to
the accident referred to, and its serious consequences,
Mr. Parkinson sold his business and remained mayor
only until the adoption of the new special charter;
and then he sought to regain his health. Later, he
endeavored to promote new' ventures.

Parkinson's Addition to Palo Alto comprises Alba
Park and Ravenswood, and his object in boosting
the latter place was to promote a harbor for Palo
Alto at the same time that he made it a manufac-
turing center. He w-as on the point of realizing his
dream, and had sold his holdings at Ravenswood to
a New York man, J. W. Eisenhuth, the first builder
of gas-engine automobiles in the United States, when
the World War came on. and through a combination
of unfortunate circumstances, which grew out of the
war, what otherwise would have been his crowning
achievement, and what would have made him a
wealthy man, his bondsmen foreclosed on him, and
he lost $500,000. He has regained his health, how-
ever, and he is bravely making a second start. He
is the president of the American Lumber Company,
of Sonoma County, a corporation having a capital
of $150,000 and a sawmill at Cazadero; and they bid
fair to expand as rapidly as did some of the earlier
enterprises with which Mr. Parkinson has been
associated in his long business career.

If anyone in Palo Alto is entitled to the whole-
souled esteem and good will for which mortals sen-
sibly crave, it would seem to be Mr. Parkinson and
his good wife, to whom he was married at Wash-
ington, Iowa, in 1888, for together they have done
much to help build up Palo Alto. Mrs. Parkinson
was one of the ladies who organized the Palo Alto
Woman's Club, and she gave the first book towards
establishing the Palo Alto Public Library; and she
worked as hard as any of the organizers when the
ladies of Palo Alto took turns in serving as Librarian.
It was Mr. Parkinson who conceived the idea of en-
listing Andrew Carnegie's magnificent cooperation in
the providing of a library building; and when com-
mittees were appointed and correspondence con-

J^a^ .a^ b ' c<^^2^<^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

431

ducted without any results, he went to New York
and saw Mr. Carnegie personally, and was instru-
mental in getting the $10,000 with which the present
Hbrary building at the corner of Bryant and Hamil-
ton streets was built in 1904. The influence of Mr.
Parkinson's forceful character and clear-minded fore-
sight has in a way permeated the very spirit of Palo
Alto, which is known far and wide for its progres-
sive ideas and its municipal utilities. Mr. and Mrs.
Parkinson are living in the house at 616 Cowper
Street which he built in early days, sold and then
bought back again. They have had five children,
and all have reflected creditably upon the family
name. Katherine M. is the wife of S. E. Weaver, a
newspaper man in New York City. Robert Rose-
berry is vice-president of the local American Legion
and a manufacturer of Safety First step-ladders at
Palo Alto. He was in the Engineer Corps and served
nineteen months in France. Benoni S. Parkinson is
with the Tynan Lumber Company, at Salinas as the
superintendent of their yard; and John F. Parkin-
son, Jr., is a student at Stanford University. Kath-
erine, Robert and Benoni are already Stanford grad-
uates. Sarah Gray, in her fifteenth year, is a stu-
dent in the Palo Alto high School. Mr. Parkinson
is well up in Masonry and, as might be expected, en-
joys the popularit5' and esteem due him.

MRS. SARAH ELIZABETH LESTER.— Among
the real builders of the community, mention must be
made of Mrs. Sarah E. Lester, who has borne her
part in home-making and rearing an honorable and
highly respected family. Born in that old colonial
town of Ledyard, New London County, Conn., August
3. 1847, she is the daughter of Judge Edmund and
Bethiah Williams (Avery) Spicer, and a grand-
daughter of John Spicer, all natives of Connecticut.
Her father followed the occupation of school teach-
ing, farming and merchandising, besides holding
many positions of trust and honor. For years he was
a member of the school board of his district, from
1867 until his death held the oflice of postmaster at
Ledyard; from 1836 to 1851 held the c5fticc of county
clerk, from 1853 until 1865 was county treasurer, in
1849 was elected to represent his district in the state
legislature, in 1862 was a candidate for the state sen-
ate, and for twelve years, beginning in 18.S5, served as
judge of the probate court. During early life he served
as captain of a rifle company, and ever afterward was
known as Captain Spicer. On the organization of the
Ledyard Library association he became one of its
charter members, and served as its secretary for
eighteen consecutive years, retiring in 1885. In 1867
he was elected treasurer and librarian and continued
to serve until his death in 1890. He was active as a
member of the Congregational Church. On No-
vember 16, 1836, he was united in marriage with Miss
Bethiah W. Avery, and they were the parents of sev-
en children: Mary Abby, Mrs. George Fanning of
Hartford, Conn.; John Sands died at Norwich, Conn.;
in 1906; Sarah E., the subject of this sketch; Carry
G., Mrs. Amos Lester of San Jose; Celia W., Mrs.
Jonathan F. Lester of Norwich, Conn.; Edward E.
of Groton, and George W. of Deep River, Conn.

Sarah E. Spicer attended the public schools of Led-
yard and lived with her parents until her marriage
at Ledyard, May 24, 1871, to Nathan L. Lester, also

a native of Ledyard, who was born January 1, 1843,
a son of Isaac and Mary J. (Chapman) Lester,
farmers at Ledyard, Conn., and representatives of
some of the oldest New England families. Nathan
L- was the third oldest of ten children, namely, Amos
Lester of San Jose; Mary Jane, Nathan L., Jonathan
and Frank, deceased; William and Samuel of San
Jose; Sarah Emma, Walter and Henry, the last three
passing away in youth.

Nathan Lester's boyhood was spent in farm work
during the summer and in the schoolroom during
the winter months. In 1861 he came for the first
time to California via the Isthmus of Panama and
settled first in Napa County, and in company with
his brother Amos engaged in wheat raising for seven
years; he then returned to Connecticut where he
married and settled on a farm, and while there he
served as selectman of Ledyard. Here he remained
until 1883, when he came again with his wife and
four children to the Pacific Coast, this time settHng
in Santa Clara County, where he bought the old
homestead on South Lincoln Avenue, in The Wil-
lows. Mr. Lester made a practical study of horti-
culture, and found both pleasure and profit from this
interesting side of country life. Thirty-one acres were
planted to prunes, and the venture was a success.
This was added to until he had sixty-seven acres in
orchard. He gave close attention to the management
of his ranch, and aside from voting the Republican
ticket and assisting in the maintenance of the Congre-
gational Church, he had no interests outside of his
home. In June, 1900, while building a dryer, he fell
from a ladder and received injuries that resulted in
death, three days later, on June 27, at the age of
fifty-seven years. Mr. Lester was a prominent mem-
ber of San Jose Grange. He was a man of honorable
and upright life, and deeply religious, taking a strong
stand for high morals and the preservation of the
sanctity of the home. -.No one in the county was held
in higher esteem, and his passing away was a great
loss, not only to his family, but to the whole com-
munity, by whom he was deeply mourned. Mr. and
Mrs. Lester were the parents of seven children and
there are thirteen grandchildren; Alice is now Mrs.
C. L. Snyder, residing in San Jose and they have two
children— Philip Lester and Rixford Kinney; Nathan
L. married Miss Sylvia Hughes and they have two
children — Katherine and Nathan L., Jr.; William W.
married Miss Ethel V. Gerrans and they have two
children— William Walter, Jr., and Elizabeth; Sarah
Emma and George are deceased; Fred E. mar-
ried Miss June Van Dorsten and they have
three children — Edith Annette, Fred Raymond and
Marjorie Alice; Hazel 'B. is now Mrs. William
H. Cilker, they have four children — Beatrice Ann,
Marion Sarah, William Hamilton, Jr., and George
Edward. Mrs. Lester is a prominent member of the
Congregational Church and is president of the Will-
ing Workers Society. She owns and maintains the
old home on South Lincoln Avenue, but spends most
of her time with her sons and daughters. A cul-
tured and refined woman, she has gathered about
her many friends who appreciate her for her many
fine qualities and the spirit of hospitality which takes
in all who visit her.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MASSEY THOMAS.— Much goes to make up the
history of any nation or communities-group, but
whenever the story of Santa Clara County, its un-
rivalled resources and its phenomenal growth shall
be written, the historian will be sure to include a
record of development such as that of the late Mas-
scy Thomas, the well-known '49er, who with much
to choose from turned to agricultural pursuits in this
highly-favored region, and selected historic Gilroy as
his abiding place. Along the banks of Green River,
in Ohio County, Ky., on January 27, 1813, he entered
the family of James Thomas and his good wife, who
had been Miss Elizabeth Miller before her marriage;
and he was christened Massey, after his Grandfather
Thomas, who in the stirring days of the American
Revolution, made an illustrious name for himself in
many of the battles waged for our independence.
Growing up, the grandfather removed from Virginia
to Tennessee, nothing daunted by the fact that he
had only rough pack trails instead of even country
roads to travel over; and with the responsibility of
caring for their infant child James, the intrepid
pioneer and his wife settled in Danville. Ky . where
they became neighbors, albeit at what today would be
considered handsomely distant, to the renowned Dan-
iel Boone, the hero of the Battle of Blue Licks, who
had doubly earned his title after the clever expedi-
ent by which he escaped from four armed Indians
through having thrown tobacco into their eyes and
blinded the redskins. Developed, like Boone and his
doughty sons, to hardihood and extreme self-depend-
ence, Massey Thomas after a while sought better
prospects on a farm in Ohio County; and there he
at last found a peaceful conclusion to his strenu-
ous earthly progress.

The grandson who had the honor of bearing the
brave old Massey's honored name, the subject of this
review, continued in Kentucky until the middle of his
teens, when he removed to Marion County, Mo., and
for three years worked hard to get a foothold. Then
he selected Lewis County for a farm investment, and
he developed the rough land into something more
indicative of civilization. When the news of the dis-
covery of gold in California, however, was received in
Missouri and the neighboring region, Massey Thom-
as, like thousands of others, became restive and eager
to dare in the hope of sharing; and he was not long
in crossing the plains and going to the mines. He
was also not long in discovering that far more cer-
tain wealth might be easily acquired by catering to
those who were seeking the gold; hence he turned
his attention to teaming, and often earned as much
as thirty dollars a day.

A year and a half under the trying pioneer con-
ditions of California at this period of over-influx
and scanty provision was enough for the common-
sense of this practical, progressive man, and Mr.
Thomas, in the early spring of 1851, returned East,
reaching his old home in Missouri on February 15.
In April he again came to the Coast, but this time he
brought with him a herd of 300 cattle, which he
knew would be worth more, in a way, than the
much sought for gold in the mountains. By the mid-
dle of October he had located upon the 500 acres
which he was to make his celebrated home-place,
and there, with three-fifths of his acreage in the fer-

tile valley, he embarked in extensive farming to wheat
and barley. He also took up stock-raising np
cultivation of fruit, improving his stock to the high-
est standard, and introducing from abroad, and cul-
tivating originally himself, some of the best and
choicest and newest varieties of fruits. In this way,
by the most scientific methods then known, he made
his farm one of the most valuable ranches in this part
of the county.

The marriage of Massey Thomas and Phoebe Bane
was one of the pleasant social events of that section
and period, the bride having been a daughter of
Baldwin and Nancy (Reynolds) Bane, and one of
the belles of Bracken County, in Kentucky,
where she was born December 12, 1821. She
could remember the stories handed down in
her family of her grandfather, who shouldered
a musket in the Continental Army, and she
could also recall many interesting anecdotes
about famous folks of by-gone days, for her maternal
grandmother was a sister of Daniel Webster, the
famous statesman and orator, and she was a niece
Thomas Reynolds, who was born in Kentucky in
1796, removed to Missouri, and died in 1844, in the
same year in which he concluded his four-year term
as Governor of Missouri, his untimely demise pre-
venting his reelection as a popular official. At the
beginning of her teens, Mrs. Thomas was taken to
Missouri by an older sister, and they located in Lewis
County in the fall of 1833; and later the family re-
moved to Pike County. Mo., where Mr. Bane died.
The following are the children of Mr. and Mrs.
Thomas: James Baldwin Thomas, who attended the
San Jose schools and then went to Cambridge,
Mass., and lacked but one year of graduating from
college when he was stricken with pneumonia and
died, in 1859; Mary Susan, Mrs. W. O. Barker, now
deceased; Thomas Reynolds, was a grain-dealer in
Gilroy several years before his death. John and
William, twin-brothers, were born on October 8,
1843; the latter died in 1880, and John lives in Hol-
lister. Benjamin F. Thomas, who was born in 1846,
rose to distinction as a legal practitioner at Santa
Barbara and he died there in 1922. Louise E. died
in early childhood. Massey, born on December 10,
1851, now lives on part of the home ranch, in the
old ranch house; and Clayton R. was born on Jan-
uary 25, 1854, and remained with his parents; while
Charles E., born three years later, died on the home
place. Mrs. Thomas died May 22, 1892. Originally
a stanch Whig, Mr. Thomas later espoused the cause
of the Democratic party seeking State sovereignty,
and with his equally Christian wife, he became an
ardent worker in and a real pillar of the Christian
Church, helping both to found and to build up the
branch in Gilroy. All in all, Massey Thomas, rep-
resenting, with his accomplished wife, some of the
finest blood and traditions of American history, was
himself influential and helpful to an exceptional de-
gree in his day in hurrying on the great Pacific
commonwealth to her destiny, and he merited and
enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his fellow-
men to a high degree. He died at his home south
of Gilroy in 1900, aged eighty-seven years.

QyM^oA^^ 0^cnna<5

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MRS. ELIZABETH McCRACKEN.— A Cali-
fornia pioneer of exceptional interest, her long, fruit-
ful j^ears of industry and sacrifice entitling her to
the esteem and gratitude of both those contemporary
with her and those who will come after and share
the benefits of her toil and good works, Mrs.
Elizabeth McCracken was born in Indiana on July 2,
1836, the daughter of William and Rosana (Pyle)
Whitcman, and the granddaughter of Edward J.
Pyle, who was a lad when the American Revolution
broke forth, and who fought with the Continental
Army. He came to Cahfornia with the Pyle-White-
man party in 1846, and although he was an old man.
he was very active and supple, hale and hearty to
the time of his death.

William Whiteman was a native of Ohio; who came
to Indiana in the great Westward movement when
a young man, and married there. When Elizabeth
was four years old, her parents moved to Missouri,
where they acquired two farms about three miles
west of the site of St. Joseph; and there Mr. White-
man built two homes, a frame house and a brick
house, then among the best residences in that vicin-
ity, and he lived with his family upon one of his
farms until he came to California. The Pyle famih'
also moved to Missouri.

In the spring of 1846 the Pyle-Whiteman party
crossed the Missouri River well supplied with pro-
visions, for Edward Pyle is said to have been such
a splendid provider that his party never wanted for
food. He had a unique way of packing some of his
provisions; on the floor of one of the wagons he
packed a layer of bacon, and then placed a solid
row of boards on top; and after that he added another
layer of bacon, and then more boards. He had plenty
of bacon and flour, and he drove several head of
cattle with oxen. He killed three head of cattle en
route for beef, and arrived in California still having
twelve head.

The Pyle party came ahead of the Donner party,
by the same route, and had an interesting, indirect
association with the latter. When the American
soldiers recovered from the Indians the cattle stolen
from the Donner party, they handed them over to
the Pyles; and when the advance guard of the Don-
ner party rode up to take possession of the cattle,
the Donner party were only three days' journey to
the rear. Not many persons were included in the
Pyle party. Edward Pyle, the grandfather, had two
wagons; William Whiteman had two wagons; John
Laird had one wagon; and Tom Pyle had one wagon,
and this small number was due to the policy pursued
of not having too large an amount of stock for which
feed had to be provided. Hence, the party was made
up of about twenty-five persons in all. William
Whiteman agreed to give John Laird one of the cows
in payment for his help along the way, and this
promise was kept. The Pyles experienced but little
trouble from the Indians. In the mountains, the
Donner party decided to take the Cut-off, or make
a short cut, while the Pyles continued to stick to
the old route; and it was through this unfortunate
decision by the Donner party that they were snow
bound, while the others arrived safely and on time
at their destination.

The Pyles reached Sacramento in September, 1846,
just when Fremont was setting out for Southern
California, to fight the Indians; and as he took with
him every able-bodied man he could persuade to en-

list, he drew upon the Pyle party for some of his
recruits. William Whiteman, however, did not go,
for he was suffering severely from asthma; and he
and Edward Pyle came on to San Jose, where they
arrived in October. They purchased land from the
Spaniards; but soon afterwards the Americans and
Spaniards had to fight the Digger Indians. William
Whiteman bought a tract of twelve acres from the
Spaniards, and built a frame house, the first in this
vicinity; and this piece of land is now directly at the
rear of the Hotel Vendome. Mr. Whiteman later
purchased 500 acres south of San Jose on the present
Monterey road, and farmed that for a couple of years.
In 1848, however, the home was locked up and the
Whitcman family went to the mines. On the way
to Placerville William Whiteman, who had brought
the family and their provisions successfully across
the San Joaquin River, was drowned in attempting
the passage of an ordinary marsh. The party con-
tinued to Placerville and took up mining at Webber
Creek; and Mrs. Whiteman herself washed out as
much as sixteen dollars worth of gold in a single pan.
.\fter her return to San Jose in 1849, Mrs. White-
man was swindled out of her SO-acre farm; but she
was a good manager and soon acquired additional
property, and having more than recovered, she pro-
vided bountifully for her family. Some idea of what
those sturdy pioneers were able to do for those de-
pendent upon them may be gathered from the fact
that William Whiteman had built a home from logs
and timber brought down from the mountains, and
that the house was spacious enough to allow for a
parlor twenty feet square and a kitchen twelve feet
square. Later, Mrs. Whiteman went to HoUister and
lived there for many years; and only when she be-
came an old lady did she return to San Jose, where
she died at Mrs. McCracken's home.

In May, 1850, Elizabeth Whiteman was married
to James Monroe Brady, a noted horseman who had
brought five race horses to California. In 1851, he
took the horses to Los Angeles, and drove them in
the races; and he had the record of never losing a
race. He returned north in 1852, and Mr. and Mrs.
Brady then went to Los Angeles on a steamship,
which was a rare thing in the Pacific waters. The
fare from San Francisco to Los Angeles was $1,000
for each passenger, and the trip was advertised as
possible in a day and a night; but on this occasion,
the ship was disabled and for five days was out of
sight on the ocean, finally drifting into Santa Barbara,
where it was repaired; when it went on its way, and
the passengers completed the trip. Mr. Brady was a
native of Tennessee, who had moved into Arkansas,
and from there had come to California. He died at
Los Angeles in 1857, the father of two children-
William, who died at the age of four, and Rose, who,
after teaching school for years, died aged twenty-
eight. ;Mr. Brady was a prominent Mason, and the
Masons took care of her and her babe, and assisted
her to settle her husband's estate.

When Mrs. Brady reAiarried, at San Jose, she
chose for her husband Dr. George McCracken, a
native of Ohio, and a graduate of Sterling College,
at Columbus. He had come to San Jose in the '50's,
and had intended to practise here; but his health re-
quired him to discontinue all professional work. He
then accepted a position with James A. Clayton,
the pioneer real estate dealer of San Jose, and for
twenty years he was with this firm. Prior to com-

436

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ing to San Jose, Dr. McCracken had practised, first
in Oregon and then at Ukiah, in Mendocino County.
During the last four years of his hfe, Mrs. Mc-
Cracken accompanied her husband in wide travels,
in an attempt to prolong his life; but despite all
that affection and means might offer, he finally passed
awaj'. Five children sprang from this union: DeWitt
Clinton, William Henry, Lydia May, Margaret Re-
becca, and George. Mrs. McCracken died in 1921.

DeWitt Clinton, the first-born, joined the family
circle on December 21, 1859, and attended the San
Jose public school that stood on St. James' Square —
the park there then having a picket fence around it,
and when he was a boy, he lived on the ranch just
back of the present Hotel Vendome. One of his
chores was to take the cows to a twenty-acre pasture
north of the town; and many a time, as he well re-
calls, James Lick, the miller and capitalist, coming
along the road, beckoned to the lad to ride in the
carriage with him back to his house. For a while,
DeWitt worked at odd jobs, and then for four years
he clerked for Durby & Lowe in the Almaden store.
He next formed a partnership with his brother-in-
law, Mr. Bohlman, and ran a stage from San Jose
to Almaden, carrying also the United States mail,
and after some years he sold out, went to Colorado
and there engaged in the hotel business at Mount
Rose. He sold his hotel, returned to San Jose, and
for five years worked in the butcher shop at the Al-
maden mines; and then for three years he engaged
in the livery stable business in San Jose. Selling
out, he took a position with Mr. Blanchard in the hay
and feed business, and for the last fifteen years he
was with F. Mattenberger in the same business, at
the same location. A Democrat in his bias as to na-
tional affairs, Mr. McCracken is too good a citizen to
allow partisan politics to interfere with his "boosting"
his home locality. His marriage united him with
Miss Ada Bohlman; they have one daughter. Miss
Cola McCracken, who graduated from the State Nor-
mal School at San Jose, and is one of the teachers
at the Gardner School.

E. N. BROWN.— As manager of Palo Alto Stock
Farm, at Palo Alto, E. N. Brown has a wide ac-
f|uaintance among dairymen and breeders through-
out the state. Mr. Brown was born in Scotland on
September 4, 1872. His father, William Brown,
was a veterinarian, farmer and stockman. His mother,
who was Nellie Nixon, is still enjoying life at the
age of ninetj'-eight. Of the ten children in the
Brown, family, E. N. is the seventh, and his educa-
tion was obtained in the schools of his native land.
While yet youthful he came with an older sister and
some friends to, America and entered the employ of
the Wells Fargo Express Company at Tuxedo Park,
N. Y.. remaining with this company for six years.
When the Spanish-American War broke out he
entered the transport service, stationed for a time
at Bellevue Hospital and later aboard the hos-
pital ship. Solace. After the close of the war he came
to San Francisco, and in 1900 again became inden-
tified with the transport service. Assigned to the
transport Logan, for seven years he sailed the Pa-
cific Ocean, making twenty trips on this vessel to and
from Manila, P. L For the next twelve years he
was superintendent of the South San Francisco
Water Company. Following his term as superinten-
dent of the water company he went to ranching at

Baden. There he became known as a breeder, dairy-
man and poultryman of note and prospered as a re-
sult of his operations.

Disposing of his cattle and poultry interests, Mr.
Brown came to Palo Alto in December, 1920, as
manager of Palo Alto Stock Farm, one of the finest
dairy farms in California. This farm, the property
of the Leland Stanford Estate, is held under lease
by Mr. Herbert Fleischhacker. of San Francisco. The
farm contains 5,500 acres and on it was built the
historic Stanford residence and the far-famed Stan-
ford winery. There the elder Stanford maintained
one of the greatest horse breeding establishments
of all time, and bred, owned and developed some
of the fastest horses in the world. The winery has
been converted into a dairy barn and is serving its
present purpose admirably. Some of the highest
record cows in the world are owned by Palo Alto
Stock Farm, among them, Johanna Princess Mooie
2d, former world's champion for 365-day milk pro-
duction in the junior three-year-old class with a pro-
duction of 1,172 pounds of butter and 25.596 pounds
milk, and Kiatta Pontiac Pride, that has just broken
the world's record in the junior four-year-old class
with a 365-day production of 31,340 pounds of milk.
Over twenty cows in the herd have milked over 100
pounds of milk in a day on official test and it is prob-
able that this is the greatest milk-producing herd of
cows in the world.

In November, 1905, Mr. Brown was married to
Elizabeth Fox, a daughter of Charles and Ella Fox,
now of Pacific Grove, but formerly of San Jose.
They are the parents of three children, Evelyn.
Nixon and Betty. Both are prominent in Masonic
circles, Mr. Brown being past master of Francis
Drake Lodge, No. 376, F. & A. M. of South San
Francisco, a noble of Islam Temple, a charter mem-
ber of the Masonic Club of San Francisco, and a
member of the Sciots, of Palo Alto. He is a member
of the Holstein-Friesian Association of America,
and a member and director of the California Hol-
stein Breeders Association.

FRANKLIN HIGHBORN.— Rated as among the
leading controversial journalists of the Pacific Slope,
most successfully active in reform movements and
legislation affecting the welfare of the entire Golden
State, Franklin Hichborn has become also a national
figure, wielding an influence for political and so-
cial betterment effective far beyond the confines of
California. He was born at Eureka, Cal., on Oc-
tober 7, 1869, the son of John Edwin Hichborn, a
descendant of Thomas Hichborn, who landed in Bos-
ton about 1640. Thomas Hichborn was the grand-
father of Deborah Hichborn, a native of Boston,
who was the mother of Paul Revere, of midnight
ride fame. Robert Hichborn, Deborah's brother,
was Franklin Hichborn's Revolutionary ancestor, his
great-great-grandfather He was militant in the Rev-
olution, and fought at Bunker Hill. He was a mem-
ber of the Boston Committee of Safety, and was
commissioned first lieutenant in Jonathan Stoddard's
company, Henry Bromfield's regiment, of the Massa-
chusetts militia. After the Revolution. Robert
Hichborn moved to Maine with his family, and estab-
lished the first shipbuilding plant at Stockton Springs,
Maine. Franklin Hichborn's ancestors were thus
among the first pioneers of Massachusetts and Maine,
as his father was one of the early pioneers in Call-

C ^ ■ /^^..r^^jY^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

437

fornia. John Edwin Hichborn, his father, married
Frances Hunt and came around the Horn in 1852,
when he was seven months on the way, landing at
San Francisco in the fall of that year. Later he went
to Humboldt County, where he built the first wharf
on the Eureka waterfront, and established the first
produce business in the country.

Franklin Hichborn attended both Santa Clara Col-
lege and Stanford University, studying at the latter
institution during 1892-94. Santa Clara College
eventually, in 1903, conferred upon him the honorary
degree of Master of Arts. From 1894-97, he was the
publisher of the San Jose Letter; in 1897-98 he was
the city editor of the Fresno Expositor; in 1899 he
edited the Winnemucca, Nevada, Silver State; for a
year, beginning with 1900, he published the San Jose
Spectator; from 1902 to 1904 he edited the San Jose
Herald; from 1904 to 1906 he was news editor of the
Sacramento LInion; and from 1906 to 1919 he was
active as both a writer and a lecturer on political
and economic subjects, while from 1915 to 1917 he
published the Legislative Bulletin at Sacramento.

.■\s a lineal descendant of some of the best Amer-
ican families, Franklin Hichborn's voice and pen have
ever been at the service of justice, truth and right,
and he has conducted several state-wide publicity
campaigns of great value in their salutary effect
on public morals. One, in 1912, defeated the attempt,
under initiative provisions and the state constitution,
to restore race-track gambling in California. In 1913,
his historic work, "The System, as Uncovered by the
San Francisco Graft Prosecution," did a great deal
toward cleaning up San Francisco. In 1914 he brought
about the ratification of the "redlight" abatement act,
and as late as 1920 he published an effective brochure
on "Red Morals," in which he discussed the social
evil in Europe and America. He has become one of
the most conscientious and ablest advocates of na-
tional prohibition and defenders of the eighteenth
amendment, and his power to handle this difficult
theme against other able and differing advocates is
shown in his reply to Father Jerome Sixtus Ricard,
the famous astronomer and director of Santa Clara
Observatory, who, in the San Jose Mercury-Herald,
attacked the amendment and the proposition of pro-
hibition and pleaded for the American's rights to
personal liberty.

Other publications of Mr. Hichborn are the "Stories
of the California Legislature" — 4 volumes, 1909, 1911,
1913, 1915, "The Social Evil in California as a Polit-
ical Problem," and "The Parochial School vs. The
Melting Pot." and just what value these fruits of the
California reformer have, may easily be seen from a
number of critical reviews from sources worthy of
national consideration. Francis J. Heney, who con-
ducted the San Francisco graft prosecution, said:
"I have read 'The System' with deep interest. It is
the only accurate and complete account of the San
Francisco graft prosecutions which has ever been
published in any form. Mr. Hichborn has performed
a most important public service. The perpetuity of
republican institutions depends upon the masses be-
ing able to secure correct information, and to thus
acquire a correct understanding of the underlying
causes of corruption and of bad government in our
cities, states, and nation. 'The System' will make
plain to every intelligent reader just what these

underlying causes of corruption and bad government
are. It ought to be read by every person in the
state above the age of twelve years. It is a clear,
logical, sane, and fair history of one of the most im-
portant periods in the life of San Francisco." So,
too. Harper's Weekly praised Mr, Hichborn's search-
light inquires into California legislative proceedings,
when it said: "To Franklin Hichborn, more than to
any other journalist, is due the sweeping tide of polit-
ical reform in California. The stern facts, marshalled
in his "Stories of the California Legislature" for three
successive sessions have been fatal to those con-
demned by them. In the preface to his latest book,
'The System,' he says: 'It is my purpose — as far as
it lies in my power — to keep the cover off.' In that
phrase lies the temper of his service. Dispassionate
as a recording angel, keen as a detective hero, he
does not need to muckrake but is content to let the
logic of his facts bring their own unsparing con-
clusions. While the traditional 'macliine' of his gen-
eration was still dominant in California, lie saw that
it was not so important to know what was done as
how it was done; so he merely turned the clock
around, took out the back and showed the voter how
the machine worked. In other words, for the last
six years he has devoted himself to telling, without
fear or malice, the record of every man in the Legis-
lature, on every important measure; to tracing the
influences of special privilege through lobby and hall;
to laying bare the hidden and interwoven roots
which produce corruption." And Collier's Weekly,
equally famous as a national periodical, added:
"Roosevelt's speech, in which he made famous the
phrase, 'the strenuous life,' was delivered at Chicago
in 1899. Reading it, we find the exhortation: 'Read
the Congressional Record.' And then follow several
paragraphs of an emphatic call to search the votes,
roll-calls, and other official records of Congress, and
to base approval or disapproval of public men upon
these records. Exactly this sort of searching of the
records is one of the things that has led to the
political revolution of the past decade. Among the
more potent agents of this political revolution are
the men who have gone into official records which
were obscure and complex, and made them simple
and available to the general public. Conspicuous
among the men who have done this is Mr. Franklin
Hichborn, who, at the end of each session of the
California Legislature, compiles a book in which he
analyzes the record of every member, and the history
of all the important bills. Every voter in California
should read it. Voters elsewhere should know about
it, and try to secure a like institution in their own
states."

At Fresno, on December 31, 1897, Mr. Hichborn
was married to Miss Mabel Houlton, of Santa Clara,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Greenleaf Houlton, and
granddaughter of the founder of Houlton, Maine.
F'ive children have blessed this union. The eldest
bears, very appropriately, the historic name of Paul
Revere, while the next in the order of birth is
Deborah, who in 1920 married David T. Rayner.
The others are Drusilla, Mabel, and Frances. A
Progressive Republican, Mr. Hichborn is a member
of the San Francisco Press Club and the National
Economic League. He resides with his family at
1091 Fremont Street, Santa Clara.

438

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

SPENCER MORROW MAZE.— One of the early
pioneers of Santa Clara County, who furnished a
splendid example of the self-made man, and whose
career is worthy of note, is Spencer Morrow Maze,
who passed away May 11, 1916, at his home in Gil-
roy, highly respected by all who knew him. A
Kentuckian by birth, he was born July 16, 1830, in
Henry County. The parents of Spencer Maze were
John and Sarah (Morrow) Maze, both also natives of
Kentucky, the former born January 16, 1788, and the
latter, July 17, 1792. They were married November
29, 1808, and w^ere the parents of nine children:
Enoch, Elizabeth, Polly, Patsy, Sarah, Chesley, Eliza,
Spencer M., and Pleasant, all of whom are now de-
ceased. In 1834 the family moved to Illinois, locat-
ing in Macoupin County, where the father bought up
government land in large sections and continued his
occupation of farming. After having located in Illi-
nois, John Maze returned to Kentucky to settle up
his affairs and while there died, September 6, 1835.
His widow remained on the farm in Illinois for eight
years, and died May 24, 1843, when Spencer M. was
but thirteen years of age.

Left an orphan thus early in life, Spencer first took
up his residence with his brother Enoch, who soon
removed to Carlton, where two years later Enoch
died. Spencer then became an apprentice to learn
the wagonmaker's trade and applied himself for three
years, receiving ten cents a day and board for his
services. At the end of three years he had thoroughly
mastered the details of that business and in March,
1849, he set out across the plains behind mule teams,
without a relative in the party, but being in company
with Colonel Fry and James Ralston and Mr. Sharon,
who afterwards built the Palace Hotel in San Fran-
cisco. Upon arriving in Sacramento, August 3, 1849,
he, in company with Colonel Fry. went to the gold
mines in the American River Valley, spending his
first winter at Georgetown. His work in the mines
proved unsuccessful and within two years he gave it
up altogether. Going to Santa Clara County in 1851,
Mr. Maze first located in the vicinity of Alviso and
engaged in farming for a year and a half; going next
to Saratoga, he took up his trade of wagon maker
and blacksmith for five years and was successful in
his undertaking. In August, 1858, he first came to
the Gilroy district, and two years later purchased
what was known as the Maze home ranch of 200
acres, which he operated for almost thirty years as a
dairy farm. In 1886, Mr. Maze retired from active
duties of life and moved to Gilroy, where he spent
the remainder of his days, a worthy citizen of the
locality. While residing in Saratoga, in May, 1855,
he married Miss Amanda Gruwell, a native of Iowa,
where she was horn in January, 1837, a daughter of
Labon Gruwell, who crossed the plains if> 1852, bring-
ing his family. Mr. and Mrs. Maze were the parents
of five children: Edward Record; Ella Pearl, became
the wife of Dr. J. R. Reily and she died aged about
forty years; there were two boys who died in infancy;
and Miss France Spencer Maze, of Gilroy. Mr. Maze
was a Republican in politics and was a patriotic citi-
zen, as shown by the fact that from 1861 to 1865 he
served as a member of the Home Guards, first as a
private, then promoted to be captain. After locating
on his ranch in the south end of Santa Clara County,
Mr. Maze found the place covered with wild mus-

tard, no cultivation at all, and he had to do some very
hard pioneering work to first get his crops put 'in.
During the j^ears 1865-66-67-68, when he couldn't
make the rancli pay, he would walk from his ranch
six miles to Gilroy. to work at his trade and back each
night, receiving S3. 50 per day.

EMORY GRIGSBY SINGLETARY.— Among the
most promising young business men of San Jose, who
was making a success of the career his ambition had
marked out for him, was the late Emory Grigsby
Singletary, a cultured, scholarly young man; a native
son, born in San Jose on September 3, 1882, he was
the son of the late Emorj^ C. Singletary and his wife,
Florence Grigsby Sinyktary. also represented in this
work. One of tw in brotlurs, our subject was reared
in San Jose, attending the public schools, Belmont
Academy and Stanford L'niversity, taking a course in
mining engineering, after which for some years he
was employed by Palmer, ^McBride & Quayle as con-
struction engineer. Wliile at Stanford University he
was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity.

In San Jose, May 24, 1909, Mr. Singletary was
united in marriage with Miss Margaret E. McGeoghe-
gan. Mr. Singletary continued with Palmer, McBride
& Quayle until the death of his father in 1911, when
with his brother he returned to San Jose to take
charge of the large estate, rapidly becoming prominent
in financial circles and with a promising career before
him. On December 1, 1918, he was stricken with the
influenza and in spite of his rugged constitution and
great strength he could not withstand the severe at-
tack of this disease, but was taken away December
10. Mrs. Singletary was also a victim of the in-
fluenza and for a time her life was despaired of, but
she recovered to mourn the loss of her husband and
to care for the two bright boys that blessed their
union, Emory Curtis and John Grigsby. He was a
Knight Templar and a Shriner and was buried with
Masonic honors.

Mr. Singletary was an acknowledged leader among
the younger generation of business men of Santa
Clara County, as well as in civic and social life, and
his death was a severe blow to the community which
held him in high regard, and an irreplacable loss to
his immediate family. The memory of his life, which
was one of integrity and honesty of purpose, winning
for him the respect of all who came in contact with
him, is a great comfort and consolation to Mrs. Sin-
gletary, who was verj- proud of his ability and rise
in the business world.

Since her husband's death, Mrs. Singletary has con-
tinued to reside at her comfortable home at 50 I're-
mont Street, which Mr. Singletary built a short time
before his death, her life interest being centered in
her young sons, who were .so early deprived of a
father's care and counsel. A woman of culture and
rare amiability, she is greatly interested, as was her
husband, in the general progress and welfare of the
community. A native daughter, she was born in San
Francisco, coming to San Jose when she was a child;
here she received her education in Notre Dame Col-
lege and the San Jose public schools, soon after which
occurred her marriage, which proved a very happy
one. Her father, John T. McGeoghegan, a pioneer
resident of San Francisco, was very prominent in
financial circles, both in that city and San Jose. For
a number of years he served on the school board in
San Francisco, as well as holding other offices of trust

<J O^'^cxA^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and honor, and was a man whose integriu^ was un-
(juestioned and who could always be depended upon
to do his full duty with capableness and ability. His
marriage occurred in San Francisco in 1873, and
united him with Miss Margaret Smith, whose family
were also prominent pioneers of California. She was
a very beautiful and accomplished woman and de-
cidedly popular in the social life of San Jose. Both
Mr. and Mrs. McGeoghegan have passed aw-ay, leav-
ing a family of seven children.

GEORGE C. SINGLETARY.— Born and reared
in San Jose, since reaching the years of his manhood
George C. Singletary has taken his place among the
forceful citizens of this city, and proving himself a
worthy representative of an honored pioneer family.
His father, Emory C. Singletary. was one of Santa
Clara County's prominent pioneer citizens, who led
a busy and useful life.

The descendant of one of the early colonial fam-
ilies of New England. Emory C. Singletary was born
May 16, 1824, at Holden, Mass., and on both sides
of the house he was closely connected with families
of distinction. He grew to manhood on the ances-
tral homestead in Massachusetts, and migrating in
1840 to the Far West, as it was then considered,
finally located in Walworth County, Wis., where he
engaged in farming and stock raising, subsequently
became an extensive cattle dealer throughout Mis-
souri, Illinois and Wisconsin. On these travels he
became acquainted with many of the prominent men
of the state and it was among his treasured mem-
ories that he had the privilege of knowing the great
Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln.

In 1863. Emory C. Singletary started across the
plains in a party of nineteen men, driving 200 head
of cattle, .\fter several skirmishes with the Indians,
they arrived via Beckwith Pass, in Colusa County,
in October of that year. Here Mr. Singletary pur-
chased land and embarked in farming and stock
raising and at that time was one of the largest and
best-known cattle dealers in the state, and also one
of the largest landowners, holding title to over
35,000 acres. In 1873, having sold 7.700 acres of his
land, he removed to Santa Clara Valley, and his
health becoming impaired, he settled in San Jose.
In 1874 he helped to organize the First National
Bank of San Jose and was its vice-president, and was
a leader in financial circles here throughout his life.
For a number of years he was a director of the State
Agricultural Society, of which he was a life member:
also one of the organizers of the Yuba County Fair.
The first marriage of Mr. Singletary, in Walworth,
Wis., united him with Miss Caroline A. Wilson, a
native of Ohio, and a daughter of Alexander Wilson.
a pioneer farmer of Wisconsin. She passed away in
Colusa County. Cal., January 11. 1877. Mr. Single-
tary's second marriage united him with Miss Flor-
ence Grigsby, who was born near Potosi. Grant
County. Wis., a daughter of William E. Grigsby, wdio
is still living, hale and heart}' at the age of 102, at
Aberdeen, S. D., his family fully as distinguished as
the Singletarys'. After finishing her education in
Wisconsin, Mrs. Singletary came to the Pacific
Coast, and taught school, first at Portland. Ore.,
and later in Santa Clara County. She then entered
the San Jose Normal School, and after her gradua-
tion there she resumed teachin.g in this institution
until her marriage. Mrs. Singletary is a sister of
the late Col. Melvin Grigsby, colonel of the cele-

brated Cowboy Regiment in the Spanish-American
War, and who was a noted lawyer and politician of
Sioux Falls, S. D., and one of her nephews, who has
made his mark in the world, is Hon. George Grigsby
of San Francisco, who was formerly attorney-general
of Alaska. A woman of great executive ability.
Mrs. Singletary is a natural leader in all forward
rnovements and has always been a social favorite in
San Jose, her home at 1245 Alameda being the center
of much hospitality. Mrs. Singletary is a member
of Isabella Chapter, D. A. R., and is an active mem-
ber of the Episcopal Church of San Jose. Her
mother was Rhoda Thomas, a granddaughter of
Massey Thomas, who fought in the Revolutionary
War, serving in Captain John Gillson's Company,
Sixth Virginia Regiment, which was under the com-
mand of Col. John Green.

George C. Singletary, with his twin brother, Emory
Grigsby Singletary. was born on September 3, 1882,
at San Jose. There the brothers grew up, attending
the pubHc school, also Belmont Academy, and lastly
Stanford University, pursuing the course in mining
engineering, but before graduating, George entered
the employ of the Alta Mining and Smelting Com-
pany in Arizona. After one year there he engaged
as construction engineer for the firm of Palmer.
McBride and Quayle. general contractors and rail-
road builders. When their father, Emory C. Single-
tary, passed away in 1910, George and Emory, both
of whom were employed by Palmer, McBride and
Quayle, returned to San Jose and formed a partner-
ship known as Singletary Brothers, and assumed the
management of his large estate, at once becoming
prominent in the financial circles of their native city.
George C. was president of the San Jose Abstract
Company, and in 1919 he helped to organize the
Growers Bank and is its vice-president, and he is
also vice-president of the Lewis Company, dealers
in bonds, mortgages, loans and insurance.

In December, 1918, Emory Grigsby Singletary
passed away. A leader among San Jose's progres-
sive young men, his passing was a blow to the entire
community, but most of all to his brother, for not
only had they been inseparable during their boyhood
days, but they had been in the closest association
during all their years in business. Since his death,
George C. Singletary has been the active manager
of the partnership of Singletary Bros., Mrs. Mar-
garet Singletary retaining her husband's interest.

George Singletary's marriage, which occurred in
San Jose Nov. 24, 1910, united him with Miss Elsie
Byron, a daughter of Daniel J. and Mary (Collins)
Byron. Mr. Byron was born in San Francisco and
was a prominent contractor of San Jose and San
Francisco, erecting many of the business blocks in
both cities. He is now retired and lives at San Jose.
Mr. and Mrs. Singletary are the parents of one son,
Byron Curtiss Singletary, and the family residence
is at 1249 Alameda. A man of clear insight, integ-
rity and executive force. Mr. Singletary is highly re-
garded, and in financial circles is one of San Jose's
most successful men. Prominent in Masonic circles,
he is a member of Friendship Lodge No. 210, F.
& A. M., the Consistory in San Jose, and of the
Shrine in San Francisco, being affiliated with Islam
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. Politically he gives his
influence and vote to the candidates of the Republi-
can party, and is a member of the Country Club and
the Progressive Business Men's Club.

44.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MRS. SARAH A. FOSS.— Surrounded by a large
circle of friends, by whom she is greatly loved for
her rare qualities of mind and heart, Mrs. Sarah A.
Foss maintains the Foss home at 444 Lakehouse
Avenue, San Jose, which has been her home for more
than a quarter of a century. A native daughter, whose
father and husband were both honored pioneers of
the state, her life has been interwoven with the events
and affairs of the county's history. Her father, John
Snyder, was one of the county's largest and most
successful ranchers and he occupied a prominent place
in its affairs for many years.

Beginning his life history in Harrison, County, Ind..
on February 11, 1828, John Snyder was a son of
Joseph K. and Sarah (Fleming) Snyder, the former
born in Philadelphia and the latter in France. The
name was originally Flamande and was changed to
Fleming in this country for convenience. Grandmother
Sarah Flamande and her orphan sister Louise, who be-
came Mrs. Henry Iiowcn, came, when young ladies, to
Philadelphia with Stephen Girard, and they made their
home with his family until they married. Mr. and
Mrs. Joseph Snyder settled in Indiana in 1821 and in
1839 they removed to what is now Tipton, Cedar,
County, Iowa. In 1849, when John Snyder was
twenty-one, with his father and brother-in-law, Moses
Bunker, he joined a small party starting across the
plains, consisting of two wagons with o.x teams. One
more wagon joined them at the Missouri River and
the small party crossed the plains alone, suffering
many hardships and privations en route. They tar-
ried for a time at Redding Springs, now Shasta, on
reaching California, and then went on to the present
location of Chico. Joseph K. Snyder and Mr. Bunker
soon returned to Iowa, and John Snyder remained
and engaged in mining. While thus employed in
Trinity County, the camp provisions ran low and Mr.
Snyder was one of those chosen to go to Humboldt
Bay to replenish their supplies, and he was also a
member of a party to make a trail- to the Salmon
River from Trinity County, at the time of the dis-
covery of the Scott River. At a later period Mr. Sny-
der made another trip to the Scott River and took
considerable gold out of Scott Bar, going from there
to Sacramento. Between the years of 1850-55, he
spent some time in the vicinity of San Jose, and in the
redwood country, and in 1855 he came here to settle
permanently.

It was in 1855 that Mr. Snyder was married to Miss
Martha Kifer, born in Mt. Sterling, Ky., who came
across the plains with her parents, John and Lucv
(Martin) Kifer, in 1853, the family settling near
Mountain \'iew, where Mr. Kifer became a large
landowner and a prominent farmer, and Kifer Road
was named in his honor. Mr. Snyder farmed near
Santa Clara until 1859, when he bought a farm at
Mountain View and continued there until 1865. Mean-
while, however, he had bought the great ranch on
Permanente Creek in 1861, which was the family
home for so many years. It originally consisted of
1,160 acres and his grain crop of 1862 was the first
raised in this section. His success encouraged others,
and this section became famous as a grain country.
He also planted a prune orchard and a vineyard and
was the owner of a large tract of land in Monterey
County. Mr. Snyder passed away in 1901. aged sev-
enty-three, and Mrs. Snyder survived him until Jan-

uary 12, 1918, passing away at the age of eighty-one,
having lived in the one house for fifty-six years.

The eldest of the family of five children of this
worthy couple. Sarah Ann Snyder, now Mrs. Wm.
F. Foss, of this review, was born on the Kifer Road
near Santa Clara and spent her girlhood days on the
great ranch of her father on Permanente Creek, at-
tending the public school of that vicinity. At her
parents' home Maj^ 22, 1884, she was married to
William F. Foss, who was born at Biddeford, York
County, Maine, February 11, 1849. In June, 1857,
he came with his parents to California via the Isthmus
of Panama, and for a year they lived in Nevada
County, going from there to New York Flat near
Brownsville, Yuba County, where they remained un-
til 1870. William F. Foss attended the Normal School
at San Francisco, obtaining a certificate to teach and
for a time taught in Yuba and Butte counties. Later
he entered the San Jose State Normal School when
it was first opened in San Jose, from which he was
graduated in 1873, and for fifteen years was engaged
in teaching in different counties of California, for
eight years of this time he was principal of Mountain
View School. He then engaged in the real estate
business, a partner in the firm of Foss & Hicks of
San Jose, and in this field he continued successfully
for many years, passing away on April 30, 1918, aged
sixty-nine, an upright, exemplary citizen, standing
high in the esteem of the community. He was a
prominent Mason, and was also well known in the
ranks of the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. and Mrs. Foss were blessed by the birth of a
daughter, Wilma, who is now the wife of Martin
Rogers, the son of W. J. Rogers, the wealthy lumber-
man of San Francisco. They make their home at the
Foss residence at 444 Lakehouse Avenue, which Wd-
liam F. Foss erected in 1893, and which has been the
family home since January 1, 1894. Blessed with an
abundance of this world's goods, Mrs. Foss presides
over her home with grace and dignity, dispensing the
old time Californian hospitality. Cultured and refined,
with her kind and generous spirit she radiates an
atmosphere of peace and harmony far beyond its
bounds. She was reared in the Episcopal faith, but
for some years has been a student and adherent of
Christian Science.

COLONEL D. H. BRYANT.— Well known, par-
ticularly in Santa Clara County, where he has ap-
peared on the rostrum of every city, village and ham-
let in his various campaigns as a public-spirited
citizen, and enjoying an enviable popularity through-
out the state as the honored and ever-welcome head
of one of the most efficient army and navy political
organizations in the world, Col. D. H. Bryant lives
in well-earned retirement at his home at 286 West
San Carlos Street. San Jose. He was born in Rich-
mond, Chittenden County, Vt., on December 29.
1842, the son of Calvin Bryant, who came across the
great plains in 1849 with his brother. Rolla Bryant,
and for awhile mined at Downieville. Later, he re-
moved to Humboldt County and there acquired a
large acreage of land upon w-hich he farmed. He
lived to be eighty-eight years old, and died in Hum-
boldt County. He married Miss Carolina Gardner,
a native of Bennington. Vt., of Scotch parentage.

The youngest of a family of four children, our
subject had only common school advantages; but
being naturally observing and inclined to reflection.

/^ tXyi^a^-Mj

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

445

ho has since then acquired both information and ex-
perience, and he has steadily risen to positions where
he has not only succeeded himself, but he has been
able to be of the greatest service to others. At the
outbreak of the Civil War he volunteered in defense
of the Union, and so came to get his real schooling
in the Army. He enlisted early as a member of
Companj' K, Fifth Vermont Volunteer Infantry, but
when the war continued, he asked to be transferred
to the regular army. He was therefore made a mem-
ber of Company C. Fifth U. S. Cavalry, commanded
by Captain Gleason. who in turn was under General
Merritt. and he under General George Stoneman.
Later he was in William Woods Avcrell's brigade
in Stoneman's famous raids in Virginia, around Rich-
mond, and on September 15. 1861, he crossed the
famous old chain bridge over the Potomac River,
and thus reached Virginia, where he weathered many
terrific engagements. On July 21, 1863. while fol-
lowing Lee's rear, he received a severe wound in the
right forearm, torn almost the entire length by the
ball, the occasion being one month to the day after
he had carried to the rear an injured comrade; and
strange to say, when he was stricken down, he was
sent to Lincoln Hospital on Capitol Hill, and with-
out knowing it, w'as placed in a bed next to that
same comrade. He suffered eleven days of agony
from his wound, with only dirty underclothes to
cover his body, and most of the time he was uncon-
scious. One day he heard a voice at his side calling.
"My God! oh. my God!" and looking up. he saw
for the first time, his comrade. He was visited seven
times by President Lincoln, and was cared for by
the nurses and Sisters of Mercy as best they could
in such trying emergencies. Such an experience as
this of the two comrades. Colonel Bryant says, still
cements the old Grand Army of the Republic in such
a solid body. After his wounds had healed, the in-
trepid soldier was discharged with honor.

On July 8. 1864. he sailed for California from New
York via Panama, and on August 8 he landed in
San Francisco. On arriving at the Bay City he
worked for his uncle. Solomon Pierce, at Point Reyes
in Marin County: the latter owned a part of the old
Shafter Ranch, and there maintained two dairies,
and he was one of the wealthiest earlier California
ranchers. He then went to Sonoma County and
clerked in a store at Stewart's Point, on Fisherman's
Bay, owned by Andrew Fisk; and the job was suffi-
ciently satisfactory to hold him there for fifteen
months. Then, with a Matt Eugley, he took a con-
tract to cut, haul and deliver logs to Piatt's Mill;
and for a season they worked about forty men and
forty head of horses.

On July 18, 1868, Mr, Bryant was married at
Ferndale, in Humboldt County, to Miss Dora Wool-
ridge, after which he bought land which he farmed
for awhile. He then accepted a position as general
manager and superintendent of a large ranch owned
by the Hon. Joseph Russ, his brother-in-law, a
wealthy and influential Humboldt citizen, who was
at one time a candidate for the govcrnship of Cali-
fornia. He owned from 18.000 to 20.0(10 head of
cattle, and about 60,000 head of sheep, and he had an
enormous acreage of timber land on the Eel River.
and some land in Trinity County. He had his local
office in Eureka. Cal.. while his main office was at
10 California Street, San Francisco. He was a large

meat exporter, and had five large schooners and two
saw mills. When his health gave out under the
strain of such a responsibility, Mr. Bryant succeeded
him in the management of the estates. Mr. Russ
finally passed away, at the age of eightv-nine. and the
estate was then divided.

Mr. Bryant then removed to Santa Clara County.
Ml 1895. and engaged in the raising of fruit; and
withm a period of five years he owned seven or-
chards and fruit-driers, and was rated high among
truit men. In 1895. he bought a home at 286 West
San Carlos Avenue. San Jose, an.l there he has made
his home ever since.

In addition to attending to his extensive and in-
creasing orchard business, Mr. Bryant has kept in
constant touch with men of affairs. He was pohtical
advisor to, and investigator for. Governor Gage, and
later for Governor Pardee and also the Hon. Geo C
Perkins; and he still has in his files some two hun-
dred letters from Governor Pardee. Through the
'/"""•■"* ^"'""'tions of men of the state. Colonel
l>r\,iMt u,,, ipiiointed agent by Governor Gillette
tor ihe Southern District, to see that the provisions
tor guarding against the bubonic plague were car-
ried out, and so he came to be interested, for years
in public health work. His chief work was to compel
the boards of supervisors to do their duty in using
the money appropriated for that purpose, and he
operated so fearlessly that the most salutary results
\yere obtained. In this campaigning, as well as in
the discharge of other public servires, Colonel Bryant
visited every section of California, from San Fran-
cisco south, and so became one of the best-known
Californians of this section. The Normal School at
San Jose and its great work he interested himself
in. and on several occasions has appeared there as
the chief speaker.

To Colonel Bryant is to be given, also, the chief
credit for the organization of the Army & Navy
League, a Republican club of California, of which he
was the president and commander for several years.
This association is comprised of forty-four clubs, was
organized in 1878, and has an active membership of
32,000 men. It was as the popular head of this
Army and Navy League that our subject was chris-
tened "Colonel." a title he bears with becoming
dignity. He belongs to the Pioneers of Santa Clara
County and the Grand Army of the Republic. Colonel
Bryant has been a valued contributor for a number
of years to the local press on important topics of
interest to the general public.

Eight children have been born to Colonel and Mrs.
Bryant, and all have been fortunate in their lives
never to have needed a physician. Frederick Carlos
is an orchardist in Washington. Anna is the wife
of Robt. P. Clapp. the secretary of the A. L. Jones
Motor Company of Denver. Etta is the wife of J.
L. Rose, the well-known attorney of Oakland. Lylia
is the wife of Irving Linn, an electrician of San Jose.
.■\rthur is in the lumber business in Portland. Ore.
Frank, of San Jose, is a successful concrete bridge
builder and also road builder, and among other con-
tracts built the Alum Rock Highway. Arleigh is in
the Philippines; and Ralph is consulting and con-
struction engineer in the employ of the Southern
Pacific. Colonel Bryant has owned various ranches,
and their several locations are not w^ithout interest.
They have been on Williams Road. Kemble Road,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mountain View Road, and Pierce Road; and the
last ranch he had — sold about five years ago — was
on Fleming Avenue.

ROBERT BLANCH. — A thoroughly progressive,
up-to-date and successful rancher, Robert Blanch, of
Maybury Road, to the northeast of San Jose, is doubly
interesting as the son of the late Charles Blanch,
who was born in Gloucestershire, England, on Feb-
ruary 20, 1831, and there he grew up as a farmer.
He came to the United States in 1851, and for three
years farmed in Iowa; and then he went to Minne-
sota and kept bravely at farming there for five years,
although for two seasons in succession all the crops
he raised were eaten away by grasshoppers. As
early as 1858 he and his brother, William, (who was
one of the first white men to be killed by an Indian
in 1859, in San Jose) came across the plains to Cali-
fornia, bringing a band of Durham cattle, which were
all run off by Indians near Salt Lake, so that when
they arrived they had only three oxen. They pitched
their tent at San Jose; but in 1861 Robert moved to a
ranch about ten miles south of town. In 1868, he
established himself as a dairyman in San Luis Obispo
County, and soon had reason to repent his venture,
for his cattle died from Texas fever. Coming back to
Santa Clara County, he farmed for a year, then went
to Oregon for a winter, and after that came south
again to White Oak Flat, in Burnett township,
Santa Clara County, removing at the end of four
years to Hoover Valley, where he lived for many
years, operating a ranch of 150 acres, wdiere he raised
horses and carried on a dairy. He died in 1896 on
a leased ranch in the Calaveras Valley. On April
27. 1859, he was married at St. Paul, Minn., to Miss
Maria Watkins, also a native of England, and their
union was blessed with ten children. The eldest was
Edmund H; then came Jessie A; William T; next
came John W.; after that came Mary E., and the
others were Charles E., Sarah M., and finally Robert,
the subject of our sketch. Charlotte and Richard,
with Edmund and Jessie, all died in childhood.

Robert Blanch was born at San Jose on March 27,
1875, and he attended the grammar schools of Santa
Clara County. As a youth he began to help his
father on the home ranch, and he remained with him
until the latter died, when the estate was divided up.
Then he took up ranching alone, and for many years
he has had an interest in a strip of range land of
some 2,000 acres lying in the hills between Livermore
and Mt. Hamilton. This ranch, which is leased, is
devoted to grain, hay and stock, and Mr. Blanch still
maintains his equity in the stockraising on this land.
It was really railroad land, but it is better known as
the McLaughlin Land Companies holding.

In 1906, Mr. Blanch bought a ranch of fifteen acres
on the Maybury Road which is devoted to apricots,
prunes and peaches — one of the oldest orchards in
Santa Clara County, having been planted in 1880 by
one of the Hobsons. The land is abundantly irri-
gated by water from a neighboring private pumping
plant which produces about 900 gallons a minute.
Mr. Blanch has lived on this ranch since 1906, and
during that time as a Republican in matters of na-
tional political import, but as a nonpartisan "booster"
in respect to local aflfairs, he has done what he could
to improve civic and agricultural conditions.

At San Jose, on November 29, 1905, Mr. Blanch
was married to Miss Ruth M. Beck, a native of San

Jose and the daughter of Thomas and Laura (Vance')
Beck. Mr. Beck, who was an expert blacksmith,
died in 1912, and his good wife in February, 1918.
Of their six children, one is Rollo H. Beck, the
world-renowned naturalist, who has traveled very
widely to collect scientific specimens; the others are
Mrs. Addie May Burke; Dr. Edna Beck, a medical
missionary in India; Mrs. Helen Parsons; Ruth M..
and Mrs. Blanche Markham. Mrs. Blanch was given
the best of educational advantages at the College of
the Pacific, and she and her husband are the parents
of one daughter who is attending the Berryessa
grammar school.

MRS. CATHERINE E. BARRY.— The memory
of a public-spirited man who was widely known for
his keen interest in the general welfare of the com-
munity, state and nation, is revived in the life-story
of Mrs. Catherine E. Barry, of 490 North Fourth
Street, San Jose, the highly-esteemed widow of John
T. Barry, a New Englander who came here as a ver-
itable pioneer. She was born in far-off New Zea-
land, the daughter of Patrick Fenton, of Countv
Cork, Ireland, who had married Miss Ellen Calla-
han, also of that county, while they were still on the
.green soil of Erin. They then sailed for New Zea-
land, and for three years followed farming in that
country; and after that they migrated to Chile, South
.America, and for six years continued agricultural
pursuits there.

In 1849, stirred up by the world-wide excitement
over the discovery of gold in California, Mr. and Mrs.
Fenton came to San Francisco and engaged in busi-
ness until 1856; then they settled on a ranch about
six miles north of Santa Clara, in the vicinity of the
present site of Agnew. There they had about 200
acres, and they devoted the land to the raising of
grain. They did so well that Mr. Fenton continued
there until he died, at the age of sixty years; and
Miss Catherine was living on this ranch at the time
she was married.

She had attended the Dominican Convent at Be-
nicia and was a cultured, accomplished young lady
when, on August IS, 1868, at Santa Clara, she was
married to John T. Barry, a native of Boston, Mass.,
who had come out to California in 1856. He had
not only attended the excellent grammar schools of
the "City of Culture," but he had enjoyed a college
education as well in the New England metropolis,
and hence was just the kind of timber wanted for
commonwealth building. After their marriage, they
took up their residence in San Francisco, and there
for twenty years Mr. Barry was connected with the
San Francisco Monitor. In 1901 Mrs. Barry re-
moved to San Jose, and here she has lived ever
since. Mr. Barry, who died in Sacramento, in 1894,
was always alive to everything that would contri-
bute to community uplift, and as a stanch Democrat,
he worked hard for civic reform. Mrs. Barry, also
as a stand-pat Democrat, has endeavored to continue
this good work, and from her hospitable home where
she has lived since returning to San Jose, she has
sent out much influence for the benefit of others.

Two children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs.
Barry. Marcella J. is an instructor, well trained and
very popular with the pupils of the Horace Mann
School in San Jose; while the son, Charles J. Barry,
has been connected for twenty years with the Hi-
bernian Bank in San Francisco.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

449

JOSEPH H. RUCKER.— A decidedly progressive
man prominent in tlie California commercial world,
whose substantial principles have been the best kind
of a guarantee as to his advocacy of all that would
make for the rapid and permanent development of
the state, county and cit>- in which he resides, is
Joseph H. Rucker. the president of the well-known
firm, Joseph H. Riu krr \ Company, wlio was born
near San Jose, on Mairh 2.\ lS(i3. His father, Joseph
E. Rucker, was a fainur whij came to California in
1852, and at Gilroy, m .Santa Clara County, married
Miss Susan Brown, a fine type of the American
woman who had come to the Golden State a year
ahead of him. In 1874, he established himself in
business, and nine years later he took his son into
parnership. He died in 1890, survived for seven
years by his devoted wife. When she passed away
in 1897, she was the mother of eight children, four
boys and four girls, and amonu; these Joseph H.
Rucker was the youngest son. He tinislied the .gram-
mar school courses, then studied for a while at the
high school, and after that put in two \ears at tlie
College of the Pacific, and topped off liis work as a
student at the Garden City Business College. Thus
pretty well equipped to tr>- his own resources in the
world at large, he entered th. siiwir.' (,f Hutchinson
S: Mann, the largest insurance concern on the Pacific
Coast, and w hi ii he was only eighteen years of age,
joined his i.iihrr in forming the firm of J. E. Rucker
& Sons, siu.esMjrs to Rucker & Page. In 1901, the
firm was nuori. orated as Joseph H. Rucker & Com-
pany. On January 1, 1907, a branch house, under the
name of Joseph H. Rucker & Company was estab-
lished in San Francisco.

On June 6, 1888, Mr. Rucker was married to Miss
Mary P. Dunne, a representative of another old
family and a charming lady of natural gifts and a
developed talent; and their union has been further
blessed by three children, Joseph E.. DeWitt C,
and Jerome W. Rucker, all three associated with
their father in business. The family attend the Roman
Catholic Church, and participate in the social func-
tions of the Country and the ( llymi.ic clubs. In
national politics a Republican, Mr. Rucker delights
to give his non-partisan, undivided support to all
well-endorsed local projects. A true descendant of
the worthiest pioneers, Mr. Rucker rejoices in all that
pertains to California life; and being especially fond
of the great outdoors, he maintains a camp in Mon-
terey County where he and his many friends often
enjoy facilities for recreation and pleasure sought for
by others in corners of the earth far from home.

LOUIS J. VAN DALSEM.— .\ native son of San
Jose and a member of one of the old and prominent
families of the city, Louis J. Van Dalsem is recog-
nized as a progressive, wide-awake business man
whose close application to the building business made
him well known in San Jose. He was born Septem-
ber 12, 1889, a son of H. C. and Louisa G. (Was-
son) Van Dalsem, and is descended from French
Huguenot and Knickerbocker stock. His grandpar-
ents, H. C. and Henrietta (Galyen) Van Dalsetn.
made the journey from Indiana to California by way
of the Isthmus, and the vessel on which they were
passengers was twice shipwrecked, at one time ofT
the coast of Florida and later ofT the Mexican coast.
In 1857 they arrived in San Francisco, Cal., where
they resided for a year, and on the 4th of July, 1857.
they came to San Jose. Being much pleased with

the locality, they decided to establish their permanent
residence in the city, and here the grandfather fol-
lowed the trade of a carpenter. In 1869 he met with
an accidental death, being killed by a falling beam
while erecting a building. Five days after the ar-
rival of Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Van Dalsem in San
Jose, their son, H. C, Jr., was born, on the 9th of
July, 1857, and on attaining adult years he also
turned his attention to tlie carpenter's trade, receiv-
ing his instruction therein from his uncle, E. A. Van
Dalsem, a prominent building contractor of San Jose,
who erected the Hall of Records, the Sainte Claire
Clubhouse and many other fine edifices in the city.
H. C, Jr.. had little opportunity for acquiring an edu-
cation, for upon his shoulders fell the burden of pro-
viding tor the sui)|>ort of his mother, brother and
sister. He was employed as foreman for his uncle
until 1895, when he entered the contracting business
on his own account, continuing active along that
line until 1914, when his right hand was accidentally
crushed. In 1919 he was obliged to have his arm
amputated ,inil has since lived retired. He is still
residiim in the home on North Eighteenth Street
which he huilt in 1885. his being the first house
erected in this part of San Jose. On the 28th of
September, 1887, he was married in this city to Miss
Louisa G. Wasson, of English descent and a tiative
of Indiana, who lanit to California with her parents,
James and .\an. \ lionii Wasson. Mr. and Mrs.
Van Dalsem Ixcmu ili. parents of ten children:
Henry, who died at the a.ge of sixteen years; Louis
J., of this review; Volney F., who is engaged in the
clothing business at Watsonville, Cal.; Theodoric, a
salesman, living at San lose; Samuel, a prominent
contr.ictor ot Sania Clara: Jesse, also a salesman
and solicit! 1- at S.in Jos, ; Mrs, Ursula Mallpass, who
is at jiresenf residiiiL; at home, her husband being a
millman with the Pacific Manufacturing Company;
Nancy, at home; Alice, a high school student; and
Eugenia, who died July 15, 1910.

In the grammar schools of San Jose, Louis J. Van
Dalsem pursued his educatam, ami when sixteen
years of age started out in lite for himself, following
in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. For
a number of years he worked as a journeyman car-
penter, first going to Oregon, then to Washington,
and subsequently spending one year in Southern Cali-
fornia, returning in 1910 to San Jose, where he fol-
lowed his trade. In December. 1910, he entered
Company I!, Fifth California Infantry, as a private,
winning promotion to the rank of corporal and later
was made sergeant. In 1916 he went to the Mexican
border as first sergeant of his company. After five
months' service at Nogales, Ariz., he returned to
San Jose, and on March 28, 1917, he was again
called to the Presidio at San Francisco. On April
6 he was commissioned a second lieutenant, becom-
ing first lieutenant in the One Hundred Fifty-Ninth
Infantry. Fortieth Division, on October 13, 1917.
From September 27. 1917, until July 26. 1918, he was
stationed at Camp Kearney, and was then sent over-
seas, landing at Liverpool, England, whence he was
ordered to Winchester, Southampton, and later to
Havre, France. At Neronda, France, he had charge
of the, training of casuals and took many replace-
ment troops up to the front. Later he was with the
Second Army Corps, operating with the British
forces, and was in the Somme salient from Novem-
ber 1st until the armistice was signed. He traveled

450

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

over France while engaged in the work of taking
casuals back to their original units and subsequently
was stationed for awhile at Cadillac, later at Bor-
deaux, sailing from that port for the United States
and landing at Hoboken in March, 1919. He remained
at Camp Mills, N. J., for thirty days before returning
to the Presidio, where he was discharged as com-
manding officer of Company B, his original assign-
ment, May 27, 1919.

Returning to San Jose. Mr. Van Dalsem entered
the building and contracting business, specializing in
the construction of tirst-clas^ IjuiiKalows. He was
active along that line until .May, 1921, when he be-
came associated with Harley B. Miller in the plumb-
ing business at Tenth and Santa Clara Streets in
San Jose. Both are capable and energetic business
men and their trade is rapidly developing.

In San Jose, on September 4, 1917, Mr. Van Dal-
sem was united in marriage to Miss Helen M. Har-
ney, a native of Oakland. Cal., and a daughter of J.
T. Harney, a prominent fruit commission merchant,
whose fruit and vegetable wagons traversed the
country around San Jose, going as far south as Santa
Cruz. He came to this section of the state when
Mrs. Van Dalsem was quite young and she ac-
quired her education at the Notre Dame Convent of
this city. Mr. Van Dalsem is a member of the
American Legion at San Jose, of w^hich he has served
as sergeant-at-arms, and is also connected with San
Jose Parlor No. 22, N. S. G. W. In business affairs
he has displayed keen discernment and his is a most
creditable record, characterized by devotion to duty,
by integrity and enterprise in business and by loyalty
in citizenship.

HORATIO B. VALPEY.— A life of well directed
energy and thrift now enables Horatio B. \'alpey of
San Jose to spend his declining years in freedom
from business cares after many years of active con-
nection with ranching interests. He was born at East-
port, Maine, May 15, 1840, a son of Captain Calvin
and Elizabeth (Gardner) Valpey, the former of
French and the latter of English descent. Capt. Cal-
vin Valpey was born March, 1806, in Yarmouth, N. S.,
and passed awav at Warm Springs, Cal., September
12, 1880. From 1818 to 1832 he followed a seafaring
life in various capacities, from cabin boy to sailor
before the mast, then in 1833 he was made captain.
When not saihng the seas, he followed the pursuit of
farming. In 1847 he sailed from l-.i-tport. Maine, to
Liverpool, England, as captain. The same year he
decided to quit the sea, but was persuaded to pilot
a vessel, "The Eagle," from Yarmouth to San Fran-
cisco via the Straits of Magellan. On November 9.
18S0, he left Yarmouth and after five months and nine
days arrived in San Francisco and spent some time
in piloting boats up the Sacrainento River and about
the San Francisco Bay. Later he engaged in the
merchandise business at Ccnterville, Cal., and then
mined for a time near Marysville. He assisted in
the building of a dam, but it did not stand and when
it went out ruined the mining prospects in that local-
ity, and Mr. Valpey turned his attention to the stock
business. Going to Los Angeles, he purchased 300
head of Texas cows and drove them north to Ala-
meda County, having as a partner George W. Bond.
Later he purchased 400 acres of land at Warm Springs
at sixteen dollars per acre and there he lived until

his death. He was the original owner of Warm
Springs Landing. Mr. N'alpey's eldest son, Calvin,
came to California in 1858 and he passed away in
San Jose in 1914. Horatio B. \alpey was the next
to leave and came alone to California in 1859 via
Panama and the next year saw his mother and two
sisters, Elizabeth an-d Alice, and one brother, Charles,
en route to California. The eldest child, Emeline,
married a Mr. Prosser and slu- jiassed away in 1921
at Yarmouth. Captain \alpey was here during the
stirring tiines of the \"igilante days and the founda-
tion of the state. Mrs. Valpey was born in 1810 and
died in 1901 at the ripe old age of ninety-one years.

Horatio B. Valpey was one of a family of six chil-
dren and when nineteen years of age came to Cali-
fornia by way of the isthmus route. He assisted his
father in cultivating the Warm Springs ranch and in
caring for the stock and in 1870 he removed to Ash-
land, Ore., where he was employed in a planing mill.
After his father's death in 1880, he returned to Warm
Springs, Cal., and farmed there, and following his
marriage he went to Saratoga, where he remained for
eighteen months, at the end of which time he again
went to Warm Springs and farmed until 1906. In
1906 he sold his ranch there and w-ent to Santa Clara,
where he lived for one and a half years, later going to
Pacific Grove, where he spent an equal period. He
became a resident of San Jose in 1910 and has since
lived retired \u this city, having accumulated a com-
petence throntih the capable management of his

On July .50, 1884, at Irvington, Mr. Valpey was
married to .\liss Margaret Leeds, a native of Mount
Pulaski. 111., and a daughter of Timothy and Mary
Ann (Latham) Leeds, both of whom died when slie
was but three years old; she was reared by her grand-
parents, Richard and Margaret Latham of Springfield.
111.; her grandfather Latham was a close friend of
President Lincoln. Mrs. Valpey attended the gram-
mar and high schools of Sjiringheld, 111., and in 1879
came to California in rnnipany with her uncle and
aunt. Rev. and Mrs. J. H. McCollough, the former a
minister of the Christian Church. They settled in San
Francisco, thence going to Irvington where he was
president of Washington College, later known as An-
derson Academy, and she had charge of one of the
departments. Mrs. Henry Curtner and Mrs. Mc-
Collough. both of San Jose, are her aunts. She has
cue brother, liniothy Leeds of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr.
and Mrs. \'alpe\- ha\e become the parents of six
children: Henrietta, now tlu wife of Clarence Holman,
of Aromas, Cal.; I'raiik Dunn, who died when four-
teen years of age; I'.lizabeth, the wife of Luther
Quentel, a prominent building contractor of San Jose;
Lucy, at home; Horatio Calvin, who met death by
drowning in November, 1913; and Rebecca Ruth, who
married Russell Henwood, of Porterville, Cal. They
have one grandson, Harold Quentel.

Mr. and Mrs. Valpey are allied with the Prohibition
cause and are stanch Republicans. He has ever been
deeply interested in the cause of education and while
residing at Warm Springs served for seventeen years
as clerk of the school board, making a high record in
that connection. The family are members of the
Christian Church of San Jose and endeavor to follow
its teachings, Mr. V'alpey's life has been an upright
and honorable one in all respects, crowned with suc-
cessful achievement.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

THOMAS A. CARROLL.— A pioiicor of Santa
Clara County and a resident of San Jose for more
than a half century, Thomas A. Carroll has ever done
his share in the upbuilding and development of this
thriving city. He was born in Ireland, February 15.
1843, and spent the first year of his life on the At-
lantic Ocean in a boat which had been driven by a
storm until it had reached such a dismantled condi-
tion that it had been given up for lost, and it took
full twelve months to get into port. The Carroll
family settled at New- Haven, Conn., and the father,
who was a gardener, lived and died there, in the
month of March, 1859, the mother having passed
away in 1857.

Thomas A. Carroll was educated in the schools of
New Haven, and at the age of fifteen years, after
his parents had both passed away, went to New York
in 1860 and entered a blacksmith's shop where he
thoroughly learned his trade. He followed in that
line of work until the year of 1864, when he started
for California, coming by way of the Isthmus of
Panama, and arriving in San Francisco, stopped
about tw-o months and in April landed in San Jose.
He worked for a local blacksmith for about four
months, then engaged in business for himself, estab-
lishing his shop at the corner of St. John and First
streets in 1864. After eighteen months, he moved to
184 West Santa Clara Street and inside of four years
this young stranger had four men employed, one of
them the man he learned his trade from in New
York, and he continued here until he retired from
business life in 1918. He had, during his early years
of work here, animals brought from a fifty-mile
radius which were supposed to be impossible to
handle, but under his system, were made safe for
any place. At this time he was the oldest man living
who had been continually in business at the time he
opened his shop. He became very well-known and
throughout the country, as his work was the very
best, he did a prosperous business and accumulated
suiificient means to enable him to live comfortably the
remainder of his days.

Mr. Carroll's marriage on September 12, 1871,
united him with Miss Helen Kell, who was a native
of California, having been born in San Jose, a des-
cendant of a good old pioneer t,iiiiil>-, wlm came
across the plains in the \-ear 1.S44. Tlu>- liecinie the
parents of seven chil.lrm: I'alruk Willuini. a post-
graduate of Santa Clara University and serving as
secretary of the City Store Company for years when
he died in December, 1917, aged forty-seven; Ann M.
is teaching in the Oakland schools; Thomas E., a
graduate of University of California, is a first lieuten-
ant in the U. S. Army: Helen G. is teaching in Ala-
meda; Bernard D. graduated from the San Jose high
school and died in January, 1901; Mary J. is also a
teacher in Oakland; Charles C. is an electrical en-
gineer in Salinas. Mrs. Carroll passed awav on
August 20. 1911.

Mr. Carroll has been a very prominent figure in
the local affairs of San Jose, and he has always
been active in the Board of Trade and later its suc-
cessor, the Chainber of Commerce. At the time of
the earthquake he was one of the most zealous work-
ers in giving relief to those who sufTere<l losses in
this time of stress. In religious faith, he is a Cath-
olic, and in national politics, he gives his allegiance
to the Democratic part\, and has been a uell-known
figure at the city. coiint.\- and state conventions,
serving on the State Central Committee for twenty-
five years. He served for eight years on the city

board of education and was the chairman of school
house and site committee during the rebuilding after
the earthquake in 1906.

During the high water of 1867 boats ran in front of
Carroll's shop at No. 184 West Santa Clara Street,
a little episode worth mentioning here that will
show the conditions of the early days of San Jose.
It was during this flood when Mr. Carroll was living
on Santa Clara Street near the river, that he arose
to see the high water and what damage it might be
doing. As he made his way towards the scene of
disaster he heard cries of distress and saw buildings
ready to topple into the water. He saddled his horse
and rode to the corner of St. Augustine and Santa
Teresa Streets and could see people in the water.
One woman with a babe in her arms was holding to
the limb of an elni tree and calling for some one to
save her child. Mr. Carroll had just helped rescue
a Mr. Doherty, and then started for the lady, swim-
ming his horse to reach her. She handed the child
to him and said she would get out some way. Turn-
ing his horse he swam him towards the shore but be-
fore he reached it a submerged limb hit the horse
and toppled him over, he going up stream and Mr.
Carroll down, landing some distance down stream.
He handed the baby over to some women to be cared
for and then helped make a raft with which others
were rescued from their perilous positions. There
were several houses washed down stream during
the flood period.

GEORGE WASHINGTON WORTHEN.— Prom-
inent among the well-known and highly-esteemed
residents of Santa Clara County is George W. Wor-
then. who during the thirty-nine years that he has
resided in this county has been identified with its
progress and advancement as one of the successful
agriculturalists. A native of Charleston. Vt., he was
born May 22, 1844, the son of Samuel and Lydia
(Beede) Worthen. The father, a physician, was a
native of Sandwich, N. H.. born in 1801, and his
mother, in 1804. They were residents of Vermont at
the time of their marriage in 1838. Of charitable
and kind-hearted nature, they did much to relieve
suffering of every kind in their locality. The paternal
great-grandfather rendered valuable services in the
Revolutionary War, and through this connection our
subject is eligible to membership in the Sons of the
American Revolution.

George W. was fortunate in securing a good edu-
cation, and as early as 1861 began his career as a
teacher. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he of-
fered his services to his country, and enlisted on
August 22, 1862, and in October was mustered into
the U. S. service as a member of Company H, Fif-
teenth Volunteer Infantry, under Redfield Proctor,
who after the close of the war served as Secretary
of War. Mr. Worthen was a member of the famous
Stannard's Second Vermont Brigade, which immor-
talized itself by a heroic counter-charge upon Pick-
ett's hosts, July 3, on the memorable field of Gettys-
burg. At the expiration of his term of service he was
mustered out at Brattleboro. Vt., on September 4,
1863. Soon after, he became the first principal of
Linden Literary Biblical Institute at Linden, Vt. Re-
inaining in this position one year, he then entered
the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio,
and took the scientific course and secured his B. S.
degree. Then he went to Iowa and for about two
years was professor of Greek and mathematics at

454

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Wilton Collegiate Institute. Wilton, Iowa, his name
appearing first in their catalogue; later he returned
to Lebanon, and while pursuing his studies in the
classical course became a teacher in the institution
and secured his A. B. degree and followed teaching
in various places until coming to California on March
13, 1876, and settling in San Mateo. The same year
he secured a position as instructor in A. L. Brewer's
Military Academy, where he remained for one year,
when he became principal of the public schools of
San Mateo, after which he returned to the Academy
for another year, and then was professor of Eng-
lish at Washington College, Irvington, for a period
of about two years.

The marriage of Mr. Worthen on June 7, 1878,
united him with Miss Mary J. Hoyt, who was born
July 18, 1857, in East Concord, N. H. Her girlhood
was spent in the home called the "Mountain Farm,"
noted for its beauty and its sightly location. Presi-
dent Pierce, after his return from public service,
liked this place, and offered a price for it far in ex-
cess of its real value; but the property had been in
the Hoyt family so many years that the father could
not give it up. The History of Concord contains a
picture of the place, and much inten.-tin,e informa-
tion regarding it. as does the Ho\t l-"amily Geneal-
ogy, Avhich was published after a family meeting held
in Providence, R. I., a number of years ago, when
all the branches were represented. Senator John
Sherman represented the Connecticut branch of which
Cyeneral W, T. Sherman was a member, his mother
being Mary Hoyt, a native of Connecticut, The
Hoyt family is of English origin, and its American
history dates from the coming of two brothers to
.■Vmerica in 1636-1638. The great-grandfather of Mrs.
Worthen w-as the second male child born in Con-
cord, N. H. Two of the grandfather's brothers
served in the Revolutionary War, Abner being with
General Stark at Bennington, and the other brother,
Stephen, saw Major Andre executed. A description
of the childhood home of Mrs. \\'orthen is well
worth quoting: "The house in which I was born
was, in Indian times, an old garrison-house, and the
port-holes are still under the clapboards. The frame
is of solid oak, and very heavy. The History of
Concord, at the time of its publication, gave the date
of buildin.g as 1748. My grandfather bought the
house and moved it from the fort to his farm. Grand-
mother lived in the house sixty years. My childhood
caught glimpses of that old New England life, and
had the advantage of two generations; for while I
played the games of the present day, my play-room
was the attic, with its loom and spinning-wheel, its
tin bakers and mysterious chests." Mrs. Worthen
graduated from the New^ Hampshire State Normal
School in 1873; from the National Normal of Le-
banon, Ohio, in 1875, and from the California State
Normal School at San Jose in 1877, and taught in
San Mateo, Alameda and Santa Clara counties for
fifteen years. Her parents, J. T. Hoyt, born in
New Hampshire, and Mary J. (Cronkleton) Hoyt, a
native of Ohio, came to California in 1875, locating
in San Mateo and later in San Jose, where they both
passed away. Mrs. Worthen is a member of Sequoia
Chapter, D. A. R., of San Francisco; is past matron
of San Jose Chapter No. 31, O. E. S., and belongs
to the W. R. C. and Ladies of the G. A. R., and has
served on the board of trustees of the Willow Glen
school for a number of years.

Mr. Worthen has been the owner of valuable ranch
property, and was vitally interested in the cause of
the farmers, and as early as 1893 became affiliated
with the Patrons of Husbandry. During the years
of 1899 to 1901 he served as master of the State
Grange, and because of his very efficient and untiring
service, he was presented with a beautiful medal by
San Jose Grange No. 10, of which he was master
two years. He represented the Grange at their Na-
tional Convention held at Springfield, Ohio. His
report of the "Committee on Trusts" was well re-
ceived, and this report was instrumental in bringing
about a solution of the trust problem, and exposing
the crooked working of many of the trusts. For the
past twenty-five years he has made annual crop re-
ports to the U. S. Government from Santa Clara
County; he has also given of his time and efforts to
the preservation of the forests and water-sheds of
California. During his residence in Santa Clara
County, he has bought, improved and sold several
ranches. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masons,
Friendship Lodge No. 210, F. & A. M., and served
as master in 1899-1900, and for ten years has been
Chaplain; he is also a member of San' Jose Chapter,
No. 31, O. E. S. He is a thirty-second degree Scot-
tish Rite Mason, and is a frequent contributor to
the "New Age," the official organ of the Supreme
Council of the thirty-third and last degree of the
A. & A. Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. Southern
Jurisdiction U. S. A. He is a member of Sheridan-
bix Post No. 7, G. A. R., Department of California
and Nevada, of which he was commander in 1920.
Mr. W'orthen is a writer of prose and poetry and
contributes an article each month to the official bulle-
tin of Friendship Lodge No. 210, F. & A, M. Mr.
and Mrs. Worthen are members of Trinity Episco-
pal Church.

In January, 1921, Mr. and Mrs. Worthen disposed
of their valuable ranch property, and erected an ar-
tistic, modern home at 1014 Willow Street, San Jose.
It has been the privilege of Mr. and Mrs. W'orthen
to be identified with the growth of California since
1875. The part which they have borne in the work
of development is that which each patriotic and pub-
lic-spirited citizen feels it an honor to bear, and they
feel repaid for whatever sacrifice they have made.
The Worthens are a patriotic family, members of
which have participated in every war in our country
since the Revolution.

Mr. Worthen is the author of many beautiful
poems, and herewith is given one of his favorites, en-
titled

"MY CALIFORNIA"
My Golden State, of thee I sing.
Let ev'ry voice loud anthems ring:
Thy mountains high, thy giant trees,
Thy land-locked bays, thy sail-decked seas.
Thy sun-kissed skies, thy balmy breeze.
Thy wealth of flowers and humming bees.
Of all the daughters East and West,
Thine, California, are the best.
Dame Nature yields her bounteous store
To feed and clothe the rich and poor.
Law, love, toil, consistencj-
And happy homes with constancy,
The bulwarks of Democracy,
Be these our stay from day to day.
Then Peace shall flow from peaks of snow
To where the golden poppies grow.

^,::(^^T\u-v-<U^-^ux.s-^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

457

WILLIAM L. WOODROW— The late William L.
Woodrow, pioneer undertaker of San Jose, was born
in Pembroke, Genesee County, New York, on July 5.
1835. He was the son of Benjamin and Mary F.
(Sprague) Woodrow, the former born in England and
the latter a native of New York State. When our
subject was a lad of six years his parents removed to
Churchville, Monroe County, New York and there
they remained four years. In the meantime, in 1844,
the mother passed away, then in 1845 the family re-
moved to Spencerport. near Rochester, and here
William went to live and work on a farm for Lemuel
Brown. The only opportunity the lad had to secure
an education was by attending school during the
winter months, but by his association with Mr. Brown
he acquired habits of industry and attention to
business and the duties of life which were such po-
tent factors in his successful business career in later
years. When he was fifteen the family removed to
a farm in Lee County, Iowa, and here, though only
fifteen. William carried on farm pursuits until 1856.
On December 9, 1856, occurred the first marriage
of Mr. Woodrow. which united him with Miss Mar-
garet E. Wilcoxson, a daughter of one of the oldest
and most respected families of Clay Grove, Iowa.
After his marriage Mr. Woodrow farmed for himself
until 1862, when he decided to come to California.
He started with his wife and two children, across
the plains in ox wagons, and after a journey of four
months he arrived at the end of liis journey. He
engaged in mining and dealing in mining properties
in California and Nevada for four years and then he
came to Santa Clara County and here engaged in
ranching near Berryessa for a time. However, this
did not prove to his liking and in 1871 he bought an
interest in an undertaking business that had been
under the management of Marcus Trueman, and as
Trueman and Woodrow the business was carried on
successfully for several years, when Air. Woodrow
became sole owner.

Mrs. Woodrow passed away on January 2, 1882,
having borne her husband five children, four of whom
are now living: Jane L., Mary F., Charles W.,
George, and Grace E. The second marriage of Mr.
Woodrow occurred in 1883. when Miss Emma H.
Kellner became his wife. She is a native daughter,
born ill San Francisco, the daughter of the late Rev.
.\ugustus Kelliur. who was sent to California by
the Rock River Conference from Chicago, to estab-
lish the German Methodist Episcopal denomination
in this state. He built churches in Stockton, Sacra-
mento. Alarysville. San Francisco, and elsewhere.
The church in San Francisco he established in the
early '50's and of it he was the beloved pastor until
his death in the early '60's. One daughter. Hazel
Augusta, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Woodrow. but
she died in infancy.

Mr. Woodrow was prominent in fraternal circles
and was a member of the Masons, the Odd Fellows
and other orders. He served as president of the
State Funeral Directors Association and was an active
worker in the Methodist Episcopal Church for over
forty years, serving as one of the stewards and as
treasurer. He died on October 10, 1911, mourned by
a wide circle of friends as a man who was ever
willing to lend a helping hand to those in distress
and to aid every cause that had for its object the
upbuilding of Santa Clara Countv and the state.

ORLANDO L. BAKER.— Coming here in early
manhood without means or influential friends, Or-
lando L. Baker has worked his way unaided to a
position of independence. He was born in Hornells-
ville, now Hornell, Steuben County, N. Y., January
19, 1836, a son of James and Anna (Mclntyre)
Baker. His father, James Baker, was a farmer, who
removed to Michigan when Orlando L. was one year
old, and where he purchased timber land, which he
cleared and on which a home was built. Here the
father passed away, when Orlando was ten years old.
Mr. Baker secured his early education in the schools
of the district, working on his father's farm in sum-
mer, and after the death of his father, he assumed
a good share of the farm work. When he was four-
teen, his mother was married the second time to
Andrew Kilberry and the family removed from Stur-
gis, Mich., to Indiana, where Mr. Kilberry owned
a 130-acre farm. When nineteen Mr. Baker deter-
mined to start out for himself, and engaged in farm-
ing for a time, renting a thirty-acre farm in the Wa-
bash Valley, near Peru, which he planted to corn.
His residence on the farm covered a period of two
years, after which he left for the goal of his ambi-
tion, Pikes Peak, Colo., when gold was discovered.
They met so many discouraged men returning from
Pikes Peak that they decided to go on to California,
crossing the plains in the usual way, a wagon drawn
by oxen. The trip was accomplished without mishap,
although accompanied by many hardships. They
crossed the Missouri River at Nebraska City, Fort
Hall, then by Sublette Cut-off and on to Lassen
County, Cal. Three years were spent in Plumas
County. In the fall of 1860 he took up a mining
claim in Virginia City, and with his usual determina-
tion and patience, he labored day after day. until a
tunnel 180 feet long was dug into the hillside in
search for gold, but without success. He then re-
turned to Plumas County and went to work in a
store. At the same time he farmed, his brother,
Simeon, carrying on the work. They raised grain,
but traded the grain for a fourteen-acre potato crop
and disposed of the potatoes to his employer for
cash, thus making a double profit. During the year
of 1862 he removed to Santa Clara Valley and pur-
chased a ranch of eighty acres, a portion of the old
Santa Teresa grant. This he successfully farmed for
six years, but w-as obliged to relinquish all right to
same on account of its being a part of a Spanish
grant. He then purchased a 120-acre tract on Mc-
Laughlin Avenue, on which he raised grain; also hav-
ing a number of cattle and horses. He also rented
additional grain land, which brought him fine return
for his labor. After spending seventeen years on his
ranch, he sold out and bought a thirty-seven-acre
tract on the Senter Road, on which he built a house
and where he resided for twenty-three years. He
still retains ten acres of this land.

The first marriage of Mr. Baker occurred Decem-
ber 18, 1867. in San Jose and united him with Miss
Mary A. Pruett, a native of Missouri. Her father
died when she was a small girl, and her mother was
married the second time, to Joseph Aubrey, a pioneer
of Grass Valley, who came to California in 1850, set-
tling first in Grass Valley, two years later coming
to Santa Clara Valley, where he purchased land and
engaged in farming. Mrs. Baker's schooling was ob-
tained in the public schools of San Jose. She passed
away in San Francisco in 1894. the mother of one

458

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

daughter. Lillie A., now the wife of Frank H. Buck,
who resides on a ranch of the Santa Teresa grant.
Mr. and Mrs. Buck have one daughter, Mary A. On
July 26. 1897, Mr. Baker's second marriage united
him with Miss Paulina Cottle, a native daughter,
born in Santa Clara County, a daughter of O. B.
Cottle, a pioneer of 1850.

Mr. Baker is a man of the type which has been
most largely responsible for the latter-day develop-
ment of the West. Politically he adheres to the
principles of the Democratic platform. He has always
done all in his power for the advancement of his
local community, and at his advanced age. enjoys a
large circle of friends and acquaintances.

THOMAS BODLEY.— What it means to have
a man of exceptional ability and above reproach in
an office of peculiar responsibility and requiring for
its successful administration much tact and common
sense, is well demonstrated in the care with which
Thomas Bodley manages the county tax collector's
office, bringing him into personal relation to thou-
sands throughout Santa Clara County. He is not
only a native son. but like a number of others who
have risen to prominence in this part of the state,
he was born at San Jose, and first saw the light on
December 15, 1860. His father was Thomas Bod-
ley, a Kentuckian, born in 1821. and his mother in
her maidenhood was Miss Julia A. McCabe, a na-
tive of Missouri, and she crossed the great Ameri-
can plains by ox-team train in the Argonaut days
of '49, reaching at length the land of promise in
safety, and Mr. Bodley came via Cape Horn that
same year. In 1856 they were married at San Jose;
and liking this region better than that of any of
the other favored Coast sections, they continued to
live here. Mr. Bodley, who was a Royal Arch Ma-
son, was one of the first undersheriffs appointed by
William McCutchen; and later he served in the State
Legislature, and was also district attorney for a
term. He died on September 17. 1887. Mrs. Bod-
ley is still living, at the fine old age of eighty-three.
These estimable parents had seven children, among
whom only three are now living.

The second oldest of the family, Thomas, went to
both the grammar and the high schools, but owing
to his father's death, he had to leave off his studies
early and take up bread-winning work. He was for
a while with Judge Buckner, in the justice's court,
and then for four years he was in the county clerk's
office. After that, he was city assessor and clerk
for six years: then he was undersheriff for two
years, and then for twenty years he was chief dep-
uty of Tax Collector W. A. January. On the lat-
ter's death, he was appointed to fill out his term;
and then, for a second term, he was re-elected with-
out opposition. He is a Democrat, as party politics
go; but his partisanship never prevents him from
pulling generously with his fellow-citizens for what-
ever seems to the best and most lasting interests of
the community in which he is such an efficient and
interested part.

In Nevada County, on January 10, 1884, Mr. Bod-
ley was married to Miss Grace Downey of Nevada
County, a gifted and devoted lady; and their union
has been favored with the birth of two children, both
daughters. Grace has become Mrs. R. N. Fergu-
son, the wife of an oil expert now in Bakersfield;
immediately after the war he was in the service of

the Polish Government; they have two sons, John
and Richard; Miriam is Mrs. G. Smith of Bakers-
field. Mr. Bodlev is a member of Friendship Lodge
No. 210 F. & A. M., has served as president of
Native Sons Parlor No. 82, when it was called Palo
.Mto Parlor, and also an Elk; he gives himself up.
when he can. to outdoor life, and he is fond of both
baseball and fishing.

MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM B. "WARD— The
eminently desirable advancements, of one kind or an-
other, made in the science and art of modern Ameri-
can undertaking owe much to such farsighted, ideal-
istic men as William B. Ward, and indeed to such re-
markable women as his accomplished wife who, owing
to the fact that Mr. Ward has been an invalid for the
past twenty-five years or more, has been conducting
the business as perhaps the first woman registered
as an embalmer in the State of California. Mr. Ward
is a New Yorker by birth, having begun life at Utica
in the eventful year of '49. when so many were begin-
ning their gold-seeking careers far to the west; in
the excellent schools of the Empire State he was
given his first preparation for a vigorous matching-up
with the world; and in 1868 he pushed westward, in
the wake of the '49ers. and luckily pitched his tent in
Santa Clara County.

He learned the business of an undertaker and in
1888 established himself in San Jose, attracted to the
city on account of its promising future; he is
now the oldest undertaker in Santa Clara County.
When he was incapacitated from participating so ac-
tively as before, his devoted and gifted wife took hold
of the helm; and in 1909 they built their present at-
tractive residence funeral parlors, a quiet, dignified
place of real attraction, modernized in every way,
and fortunate in a first-class automobile equipment.
The extent of their business demands the steady em-
ployment of several graduate embalmers. each of
whom takes that interest and pride in all that is done
that it is next to impossible for tin- patron to be dis-
appointed in respect to the smallest detail.

At San Francisco, on Christmas Day, 1880, Mr.
Ward was married to Miss Mary A. Sheridan, the
daughter of Patrick and Bridget (Maloney) Sheridan,
who came out to California by way of the Isthmus
of Panama in the early spring of 1S63 and made their
home in San Jose the remainder of their lives, highly
esteemed by all who knew tliem. Mary Sheridan was
born in Decatur, Macon County. Illinois, accom-
panying her parents to San Jose when she was a little
child, so she is to all intents and purposes a native
daughter, as this is the scene of her first recollec-
tions. She grew up and received a good education at
Notre Dame Convent and the San Jose State Normal
School, thus laying the foundation of the knowledge
that stood her in such .ljoocI stead when it became
necessary for her to assume the management of their
business, a matter of whicli Mrs. Ward is very
thankful to her parents that they saw to her educa-
tional preparation with so much care.

Five children and six grandchildren have sprung
from this fortunate union of Mr. and Mrs. Ward.
The first born was Burton L. Ward, who is a grad-
uate embalmer and is ably assisting in the conduct
of the business; Gertrude is the w^ife of D. W. Gray.
of San Jose; Mabel has become Mrs. Presley Brown,
of San Francisco; Rita is married and is now Mrs.
C. G. Sheffield and resides with her husband in New
York City, while the youngest child is Mary W. Mar-

^.73. 'iira.Ay

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

i|uart of San Jose. After they liad established the
present business in 1888 Mr. and Mrs. Ward saw the
great need of a woman embalmer, so Mrs. Ward be-
gan the study and in due time took a course in the
Clark's School of Embalming in San Francisco, from
which she was graduated in 1890, and since then she
has had charge of that department of the business.
Thus she is the first woman graduate embalmer in
the state. This in connection with her experience in
conducting the affairs of the business came in very
fortunate when Mr. Ward became an invalid and she
immediately assumed charge of the business, which
has grown very satisfactorily and they have become
very successful. To accomplish this has required
much hard work and close application on the part of
Mrs. Ward, for at the same time she had to see to the
rearing and educating of her children. In the conduct
of their large business Mrs. Ward is ably assisted by
her son-in-law. D. W. Gray, and her son, Burton L.
Ward, both graduate embalmers and experienced un-
dertakers who do the conducting of the funerals,
which leaves her free to devote nearly all of her time
to the business end. And being endowed by nature
with much native ability and business acumen, her
management has been a decided success. Mr. and
Mrs. Ward are communicants of St. Joseph's Church.
Fraternally Mr. W'ard is a member of the Fraternal
Aid and the Foresters of America, and they are mem-
bers of the California State Funeral Directors As-
sociation. Cultured and refined, Mrs. Ward is a
woman of pleasing personality, who is prominent in
civic and social circles, being a past president of In-
stitute No. 32 Young Ladies Institute and past Poca-
hontas of Minequa Council of the Order of Poca-
hontas, and a member of Ladies of the Maccabees.
It is to men and women of the type of Mr. and
Mrs. Ward that San Jose and Santa Clara County to-
day owe much of their present development, for with-
out their optimism and faith in their future greatness,
as well as their willingness to put their shoulders to
the wheel, we would not have such a large and pros-
perous city and county. They have always shown their
enterprise and public spirit by giving of their tiine and
means to all worthy movements that have for their
aim the upbuilding of the county and enhancing the
comfort and happiness of the people, and their ex-
ample is well worthy of emulation.

WALTER L. CHRISMAN.— Active in promoting
the commercial development of San Jose, Walter
L. Chrisman was one of the most enthusiastic work-
ers in the different war drives and as an apprecia-
tion received an acknowledgement from the chair-
man of the Liberty Loan executive board commend-
ing his good works in this city. He also served
acceptably as president of the Alum Rock Park
Board and is the present chairman of the Santa
Clara County Republican Committee, a man of nat-
ural business ability, resourcefulness and much in-
fluence. Mr. Chrisman is a native of California, hav-
ing been born in Pescadero, San Mateo County, on
May 7. 1872, a son of Josiah and Mary (Britton)
Chrisman, who were both pioneers of California.
Josiah Chrisman was born in Phoenixville, Pa., of
an old family in that region, dating back to pre-
revolutionary days and of old Knickerbocker stock.
He came to California via the Isthmus of Panama
in 1864 and engaged in farming and stockraising in
San Mateo County. On one of his trips to San

Jose he met Miss Britton. the acquaintance result-
ing in their marriage. She was also born in Phoenix-
ville. Pa., of Scotch and English descent and came
to San Jose, Cal., in 1865 via the Nicaragua route.
They continued farming and stockraising at Pesca-
dero, San Mateo County, until 1893. when they sold
out and removed to San Jose, where their sons had
preceded them and here the family have since made
their home. The mother passed away in 1916, but
the father is still living.

Walter L. Chrisman attended the public schools
of Pescadero and later the Garden City business
college in San Jose, from which institution he grad-
uated in 1891. He left school at the early age of
thirteen and worked with Levy Bros, for about
five years, and it was after this that he took a busi-
ness course and became an employe of the Fifth
Street Canning Company where he worked for a
year, then in 1892. he engaged in the wood, hay
and coal business with his brother, William H. Chris-
man, this now being one of the oldest concerns of
this kind in San Jose.

Mr. Chrisman's marriage, which occurred on De-
cember 4. 1893. united him with Luda V. Hobson,
a daughter of another prominent old pioneer fam-
ily who had been identified with Santa Clara Coun-
ty and San Jose for about half a century. They are
the parents of a son, George L., who is now a stu-
dent at the San Jose high school, class of 1923.
Mr. Chrisman has been very active and prominent
in making Alum Rock Park the beautiful and at-
tractive place it is today, enjoyed by thousands of
tourists aside from the citizens of the county. He
served as trustee of the park board for eight years,
being president of the board for two years, and
it was during this time they succeeded in voting
bonds to make substantial improvements and add
500 acres to the area of the park. They developed
new springs and more mineral water from the old
springs and built walls of cement and concrete to
protect the springs against floods, making a per-
iTianent improvement so valuable to the preserving
of the mineral springs for the public: they also
built the new upper road to the park. In this work
he was heartily associated with the other members
of the board, W. L. Prussia, Victor Hancock. B. A.
Harrington and Carl Stull.

Mr. Chrisman is a member of San Jose Parlor
No. 22, Native Sons of the Golden West and is
past president and has served four years as grand
trustee of the Grand Parlor, visiting parlors from
Siskiyou to San Diego; he is also a member of the
Knights of Pythias and belongs to the National Un-
ion, and San Jose Lodge No. 522 Elks. In re-
ligious faith, Mr. and Mrs. Chrisman are Methodists.
Mr. Chrisman has been very active and prominent
in politics in the city, county and state conven-
tions and is now serving his second term as chair-
man of the County Republican Central Committee.
He is a member of the San Jose Rotary Club, and
served on the board of directors at one time; also
served as director of the San Jose Chamber of Com-
merce of which he is still an active member, and
also of the Merchants' Association. He is intensely
interested in the growth and development of San
Jose and Santa Clara County, and has given free-
ly of his time and means towards worthy objects
that have for their aim the upbuildin.g of the county
and contributing to the happiness of the people.

464

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MRS. LETITIA PEARL SNYDER KENDALL.

— A woman of splendid attainments and pleasing
personalit3', who is naturally very proud of her beau-
tiful home place, once a part of her father's historic
ranch and adjacent to her childhood's home at Hill-
side, is Mrs. Letitia Pearl Snyder Kendall, a native
daughter of the Golden West, having been born at
Hillside, the old John Snyder home ranch, on Per-
manente Creek, near Mountain View, on August 20,
1870. She was the youngest in a family of five chil-
dren born to John and Martha (Kifer) Snyder,
among the worthiest of all pioneers in Santa Clara
County, whose life-story is sketched elsewhere in
this historical volume. Her childhood was spent at
Hillside, where she enjoyed to the fullest the free-
dom of the great outdoors, and in time she became
adept at driving and riding, preferring in particular
the former exercise. After completing the course
in the San Antonio district school, she continued her
studies at the San Jose Institute, a high-grade,
widely-known private school for young ladies, during
which time she made her home with her eldest sister,
Mrs. Sarah Foss.

In 1889, she was given the opportunity to make a
delightful trip, accompanying her father and mother
East, going to Tipton, Iowa, and thence to the At-
lantic Coast, visiting en route such important cities
as Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington and
New York, and after that through the South, into
Kentucky, the region of her mother's birthplace, and
continuing on to Louisville, St. Louis, Kansas City,
and back to Iowa. On the journey westward, the
party passed through Kansas, Colorado, New Mex-
ico and Arizona, and eventually reached home, thus
concluding a stimulating journey of several months.-

Miss Snyder then entered King's Conservatory of
Music in San Jose, where she studied the piano, and
from which she was graduated with honors in 1898:
and once herself proficient, she taught piano for a
short while. After her father's death, however, she
gave it up, in order to devote her time to her mother,
and she continued to give her mother a tenderest
care until a year after her marriage to Mr, Kendall,
when another sister, the widow of Dr. William
Hammond, returned home to reside.

Mr. and Mrs. Kendall retnoved to Santa Clara,
where they resided until their home on their orchard
property, one mile north of Los Altos, was com-
pleted, when they took up their residence there. This
orchard they brought to a high state of cultivation,
and they named the place very appropriately
"Heartsease," and there they devoted their time to
horticulture. It was in 1904 she had married E F.
Kendall, the ceremony being performed at her
mother's home, and then and there they entered upon
a union proving very happy, and which has been
blessed with three children, Raymond F., Earl C.
and Martha Mae Kendall, all of whom are attending
the high school at Palo Alto.

Mrs. Kendall's thoughts had always centered
around the natural beauty and grandeur of their
old home at "Hillside," and desiring to make it her
home, in 1910 she purchased eight acres on Per-
manentc Creek, adjoining the old Hillside home,
buying the same from her mother. They owned
Heartsease until 1920, when they sold it, in which
\car they also took up their residence at the old

home, where they built a large new bungalow ot
stucco finish from plans Mrs. Kendall herself de-
signed. The result is a very beautiful and comfort-
able residence, where they now get much comfort
and enjoyment. In all her ambitions for improving
and beautifying her place on Permanente Creek, Mrs.
Kendall has been heartily assisted by her husband,
who learned, while living in San Francisco, the desire
of city folks for a beautiful and quiet place to which
they could hie themselves on week-end trips. Acting
on this suggestion, Mr. and Mrs. Kendall began to
formulate plans for the splendid "Kendall Dell Re-
sort," a picnic grounds now such a joy to thousands
of families during the summer season. Permanente
Creek is fed by numerous springs, and one particu-
larly large spring has been converted into a reservoir
from which water is piped to a number of places on
the grounds, for they have an abundance of water —
enough, in fact, for a good-sized town

Kendall Dell is ideally located, and is well-wooded
with native trees, such as the live oak, the white oak.
the pin oak, the willow, the sycamore — one tree of
the latter species on Sycamore Flat being pro-
nounced the best specimen known, and is thought by
competent judges to be at least 500 years old. Then
there is the laurel, the toyo, the cascara, the buck-
eye, the wild cherry, the alders and many other
varieties. The Kendalls have also set out pine and
cypress trees, making the whole one of the most
beautiful spots in the state. Kendall Dell lies be-
tween two creeks, and is shaped like a horseshoe,
opening to the south, and it is not surprising, there-
fore, that in more primitive days, it was used by the
Indians as a camping ground, and there is an old
Indian burial ground on the place. When they first
took possession of this property, the place was a
wild wood of brush, nettles and poison oak, but they
proceeded to clean it up, and Mr. Kendall's energy
and enthusiasrn have worked wonders, in hunting
out and arranging the different delightful nooks and
places, and in giving each its proper name. There is
Rest View, for example, as well as the Natural Ban-
quet Hall, with its barbecue pits, where 500 people
have been accommodated, the Upper Creek Terrace,
the Lower Creek Terrace, Alder Flat, Laurel Flat,
Brier Beach, Walnut Flat, Sycamore Flat, and beau-
tiful winding paths, from one beauty spot to another,
leading finally to a natural amphitheater, where over
400 people can be seated in the shade, all the grounds
giving a capacity of 3,000 people. Then there are
baseball grounds and tennis courts, and all of this —
involving much of Mr. Kendall's own handiwork —
has been accomplished by Mr. and Mrs. Kendall,
who have made one of the most charming of private
picnic and camp grounds, which has given pleasure
and untold health benefit to thousands. Of course,
this is not a public resort, in the usual sense, but
merely a home place where eight acres are open to
the enjoyment of refined, appreciative people, subject
to proper, but never unpleasant or narrow restric-
tions. It is just one of nature's beauty spots, where
tables and benches are placed in the forest near an
ever-running stream. It has graded roads, a dancing
pavilion, a refreshment stand, tennis and baseball
grounds. Although a quiet, retired spot, it is most
accessible over good roads at the south end of Grant
Road, across the railroad tracks, and it is reached

i^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

467

from Palo Alto by way of the State Highway, when
the picnicker will run to Grant Road, opposite the
blacksmith shop at Old Mountain View, or on the
highway mentioned through Los Altos to Grant.
I'rom San Jose, the visitor should proceed by way
of Homestead Road or on the Fremont Highway
to Grant. Electric cars run to Kendall Dell Station,
from which cthere is a ten-minute walk.

Mrs. Kendall, like the true woman of culture that
bhe is, has maintained her interest in music, and has
thus been able to do still more for a large circle of
devoted friends, who appreciate fully the rare hos-
pitality of both Mr. and Mrs. Kendall at their now
famous Kendall Dell.

E. F. KENDALL.— In E. F. Kendall of Kendall
Dell, Santa Clara County has a substantial citizen
of peculiar attainments. Kendall Dell is a private
picnic and camp ground on Permanente Creek, four
miles south of Mountain View and twelve miles west
of San Jose, where the valley and mountains meet.
Mr. Kendall was born at Bellefontaine, Ohio, his
parents being natives of southeastern Pennsylvania.
The farm of his maternal grandfather was located a
few miles north of Gettysburg, and from it the sub-
sequent owner of the place with the aid of field
glasses saw and heard that memorable conflict.

Mr. Kendall was the youngest of a family of six
cliildren, ranging from two to twelve years at the time
of the father's death, but though the mother was left
without a home or means, all her children reached
adult age through her loving guidance and self-
sacrificing care. With a grammar school education
we find our subject at the age of fifteen a railroad
telegrapher and station agent on the Sandusky &
Springfield Railroad, the oldest railroad in Ohio;
then followed several years' experience on other
railway lines.

In 1882 Mr. Kendall heard the call of the West
when a friend in Nebraska said, "Come on out, the
air is fine," The Chicago, Turlington & Quincy
Railroad had just been extended to Denver and Mr.
Kendall took a position with that company in
Nebraska, and the next year was sent to Denver,
their best office. In 1884 he declined their ofifer
of a post as train dispatcher and returned to Cleve-
land for a course at the Spencerian Business College,
intending to quit railroad service. Finishing the
six months' course in four and a half months, he
substituted for one of the teachers who was ill
during the last six weeks, but declined the ofTer of
a permanent position as a teacher. A tour of the
Southern states followed, but it was not long before
he realized that he had not gone far enough west.
He longed for a view of the Golden Gate and the
glorious California climate, and so set out for the
Pacific Coast, arriving here in December, 1887. He
immediately entered the service of the Southern
Pacific and in six months was in charge of a division
agency in Nevada, a position of responsibility, with
fourteen men on the roll. In the meteorological record
he discovered, however, that Nevada with a tempera-
ture of thirty degrees below zero and many feet of
snow was very much like Eastern weather and not
at all like California, so he returned to San Fran-

cisco and entered the general offices of the Wells
Fargo Express Company, where he remained ten
years — until the general offices were moved to New
York, when he entered the general offices of the
Southern Pacific.

On Memorial Day, 1903, he joined a party of San
Francisco and San Jose friends in a picnic at the
John Snyder ranch, where he met the youngest
daughter, Letitia Pearl Snyder, who became his wife
the following year. They are the parents of three
children, Raymond, Earl and Mae, all of whom are
attending the Palo Alto high school.

In 1904, with foresight and intuition that some
day there would be a railroad along the foothills,
Mr. Kendall invested his savings in twenty acres in
the now famous Los Altos apricot district, and im-
mediately set out the trees. The railroad came sooner
than expected, Los Altos was put on the map and
realty prices shot up. His place was admitted to be
without a peer as a valley home site because of its
east front and perfectly placed magnificent oaks. At
the tune of the earthquake and fire of 1906 Mr. Ken-
dall was commuting to San Francisco from the
bnyder ranch; lollowing the fire his place ot busi-
ness was moved to the east side of tne bay, so he
rode a bicycle nve miles to Mountain View, forty
miles by train, two miles on his bicycle through the
burnt aistnct and tour miles by ferry boat, repeating
m tne evening, making a total ot luZ miles per day,
lourteen ot wmch was on his bicycle.

in 1907 Mr. Kendall resigned for all time from the
railroad service to give his attention to his developing
orcliara and to tne improving ol a home. A tew
years later. Airs, ivendail having purchased from her
motner tne nortnwest corner oi ner lather's estate,
u was determined tnat tnis perlect gem ot a foothill
nomesite snould be tneir permanent home. Mr.
ivendali s aestnetic and artistic taste quickly recog-
nized Its possibilities and lie set to work developing
Its spring water bupply and repeatedly grubbing out
tne underbrusn, but leaving the snrubbery in such a
way as to make numerous cosy, quiet dells. A more
restiul spot cannot be found anywhere in the state,
and tnousands avail themselves ot the opportunity
to enjoy its delights.

Air. Kendall says that he lives m the greatest
nation, the best state, the best section ot the state
and the best spot in the section, and is engaged in a
congenial vocation; could a person want more? Mrs.
Kendall enters heartily in the plans for the upbuild-
ing of Kendall Dell. She is a graduate of Kings
Conservatory of Music and enjoys a large circle of
friends in San Jose and throughout the county. From
the south veranda of the architectural gem of a home,
recently constructed, she looks over the extensive
homeland of her childhood to the evergreen moun-
tains beyond, where the rising and setting sun plays
a phantasy of color, light and shadow.

"A shady nook by the babbling brook.
Midst fragrance of orange and laurel and pine.
With nothing to do the livelong day
But eat, doze, rest, and play—
Oh, say, ain't that fine!"

468

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

LYMAN L. NATTINGER.— Among the early
settlers of the Santa Clara Valley is Lyman L. Nat-
tinger. who came to California and settled here in
1875 and has heen actively engaged in agricultural
pursuits since that time. He was born in Eagleport,
Morgan County, Ohio, January 7, 1843. the son of
Samuel and Mary (Miller) Nattinger, born in Ger-
many and Virginia respectively, who were farmers
and later became pioneers of Illinois whither they
removed in 1856 and both lived and died there.

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Nattinger had nine children,
seven of whom grew- to maturity: Almira became
Mrs. Mason and died in Ottawa, 111.; John was a
member of Company E, One Hundred and Fourth
Illinois X'oluntecr Infantry, served till the close of
the Civil War and died in Oakland, Cal; Julia died
in Ottawa, III.; Eliza, Mrs. McCormack, also died
in Ottawa: Lyman L. is our subject: William resides
in Chicago and Albert died in Earl Park. Ind.

Lyman L. received his education in the public
schools of Ottawa. 111., and went to work on a farm,
remaining until he was sixteen years old; then he
learned the carriage and wagon maker's trade. In
August, 1862, when nineteen years old, he volunteered
and enlisted in the U. S. Army in Company E. One
Hundred and Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
and during his two years and ten months of serv-
ice was in thirty-two battles, serving as sergeant.
Among some of the battles were Hartsville, Elk
River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, then began
the Atlanta Campaign of 108 days, including Resaca,
Dallas, Dalton, Kenesaw Mt., Peach Tree Creek,
Snake Creek Gap and the siege of Atlanta, after
which he was on the chase of Hood's army to the
Chickamauga battlefield when Thomas sent word
that he could take care of Hood's Army, saying
he could whip them with his own men. Then
Mr. Nattinger took part in Sherman's March to the
Sea, taking part in the taking of Savannah and the
battles of Goldsborough and Bentonville. His regi-
ment went into Raleigh on the skirmish line and
marched from Raleigh, N. C, to Ricliniond, Va.,
in record time, making the 210 miles in ninety-four
hours. To make this time they marched as the
crow flies, through fields, and over fences. He
took part in the Grand Review at Washington
as one of Sherman's greasers, after which his regi-
ment was the first out of the brigade to go home;
he w^as mustered out in Chicago June, 1865, as ser-
geant, the regiment being reduced to 183 men. At
Hartsville, Tenn.. he was wounded and taken pris-
oner and he remained a prisoner at different places
until he was taken to Libby Prison, where he re-
mained until he was paroled; then was in the parole
camp at Annapolis, Md.. until he was exchanged,
when he rejoined his regiment.

After his discharge from service Mr. Nattinger
worked at his trade in Altoona, 111., until he de-
cided to remove to California, arriving in San Jose
in 1875. He spent five years as foreman of the
San Jose Agricultural Works, then he ran a car-'
riage and wagon shop on South First Street. Dur-
ing this time, in 1886, he purchased ten acres on
Leigh Road, near Campbell, which he set out to
prunes and as success attended his elTorts he bought
land adjoining until he now owns twenty-four acres
in a full-bearing prune orchard. Some years ago
he quit business in San Jose, after having worked

at his trade for twenty-seven years. Since then
he has devoted all of his time to his orchard and
drying plant he had erected on Leigh Avenue, where
he takes care of his fruit as well as for a number of
his neighbors.

Mr. Nattinger's first marriage united him with Miss
Mary Bergit, a native of Illinois, who passed away
in August, 1875; the second time he was married
to Miss Addie G. Ketcham, a native daughter, born
in Placer County, and they had one child. Frank,
a stalwart man, who is assisting his father in their
horticultural enterprise. Mrs. Nattinger passed
away in 1909. He is a strong Republican in poli-
tics and fraternally is an Odd Fellow; a believer
in cooperation as the best method of marketing the
fruit, he is a member of the California Prune &
Apricot Association.

Mr. Nattinger is a very active and energetic
man and despite his nearly four score years is found
about his ranch every day. driving a team or doing
a man's w-ork. for he cannot tolerate idleness and
believes it is more interesting and conducive to lon-
gevity to wear out than to rust out. He has a
remarkable personality and is a man of strong con-
victions, always standing for what he considers right.
He is well informed and well read and his reten-
tive memory and ability as a narrator of events,
particularly of the stirring times during the Civil
War. make him an interesting conversationalist.

GUSTAVE NELSON.— A business man long es-
tablished in San Jose, whose methods of dealing with
others have always been such that his word is as
good as his bond, is Gustave Nelson, of 333 Vine
Street, once the proprietor of the San Jose Tannery,
famed for the quality as well as the quantity of its
products. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, on
April 14, 1848, the only child of Gustavus Nelson, a
native of Sweden, who had married Miss Christine
Reshoeft, also of Hamburg, Germany. The father,
a tanner by trade, was lured to join the rush for Cal-
ifornia, where he arrived in 1849, making the long trip
by way of Cape Horn.-

Shortly after his arrival in San Francisco he went
to the placer mines, where he remained several years,
but met with poor success, and later engaged in hy-
draulic operations until he broke dovvm in health and
suffered a paralytic stroke. When he had recovered
sufficiently, he concluded to go back to his old trade
of tanning, and obtained employment in a Santa
Cruz tannery, where he worked several years and
became acqu;iintr.l with Air. Simon Grozelier. en-
.gaged m thf s.ini. Ihimikss. Mr. Grozelier went to
San Jose about 18o2, where he established a tannery
on a small scale on Park Avenue, where the Roman
Catholic school is now located, and in 1864 was
joined by Gustavus Nelson in partnership under the
firm name of Grozelier & Nelson. Gustavus Nelson
had left his wife and child in Germany, for it w'as
his purpose to establish himself firmly in business
before bringing them out. This had been accom-
plished, and in 1868 he returned to Germany for his
wife and brought her to San Jose the same year.
His son, Gustave Nelson, had left two years before
the father's arrival for Manila, P. I., where he was
employed from 1866 to 1870, when he left and came
to San Jose to join his parents, and soon after be-
came an employe of Grozelier & Nelson, in the tan-
nery; and when in 1876 his father retired from busi-

^ ^ <f l.^^-'^y— ^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

471

ness, he conveyed his interest to Gustave. In Janu-
ary, 1887, the latter bought out Simon Grozclicr's
share, and conducted the business alone successfully
until 1904 under the name of the San Jose Tannery,
when he also retired.

In 1877, Mr. Nelson erected his home at ,3,33 Vine
Street, and the following year, on March 10, was
married to Miss Ida Krieg, a daughter of Julius
Krieg, who had settled in San Jose in 1870, coming
from New York City. Mrs. Nelson is a noble-
hearted woman who has proved the best of help-
mates; and two children blessed their union, Adolph
and Laura. Adolph is a salesman, is married, and re-
sides at Sacramento; and Laura has become the wife
of A. H. Lawry, a mining engineer at Goldfield,
Nev. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are both members of the
Santa Clara County Pioneer Society; and Mr. Nel-
son is a well-known nu-nibor of the Independent Or-
der of Odd Fellow..

THOMAS AND HENRIETTE PELLIER CAS-
ALEGNO. — A most interesting family is that
of Tliomas and Henriette Pellier Casalegno, residing
at 155 South Twelfth Street, San Jose, and boasting
a large circle of admiring friends. Henriette Pellier
was born at the Mission San Jose on June 17, 1860,
the daughter of Pierre Pellier and his good wife,
who was Henriette Renaud before her marriage.
Pierre Pellier, a brother of the late Louis Pellier, the
famous Santa Clara Valley horticulturalist, was born
at the Pellier home on the western coast of France,
not far from Bordeaux, and was reared and schooled
in France; and as he grew up on the home estate
and worked hard, and after he had served seven
years in the army of France, he was not satisfied to
remain in France, and he migrated to America to
join his brother, Louis, who had come to California
in 1847. He set out soon after the close of the revo-
lution in French territories in 1848, and made the
trip early in 1849 by way of the Horn, arriving at
San Francisco six months later. He located in the
Santa Clara Valley at San Jose, and becoming as-
sociated with his brother, Louis, who built one of the
first frame houses in the Santa Clara Valley, finish-
ing the same in true French style.

Early in 1854, Pierre returned to his native coun-
try, as he wished to seek a wife, and according to
tlie story, he was married there that same year. Be-
fore returning to California, however, he tried to in-
duce his brother, John, to make the trip with himself
and wife, but he did not visit California until Louis
died. Pierre set out again for America, and this
time, in a box carefully packed, he brought with him
cuttings and seeds of many varieties of fruits from
his native country which had been gathered by him
before his departure, on orders from Louis Pellier
at San Jose. Among others w'ere the French prune
trees, which proved to be the first ever set out in the
Santa Clara Valley. There were also grapes and
other fruits; and from 1856 the brothers engaged in
the nursery business at San Jose, and they also went
in for ranching on rather an extensive scale and were
successful. When Pierre came back to California he
))rought Delphine and Joseph Delmas, then only
eleven and nine years old, by request of their father,
who was in California. In 1860, Pierre removed to
the Mission San Jose, and there engaged in ranching
and vineyarding. Aiter three years, he returned to
San Jose, and thence went to Evergreen, where he

planted 150 acres to vines and farmed some 300 acres,
which property still forms a part of the Pellier
estate. In 1880, Mr. Pellier. accompanied by his
two daughters, Helene and Elise, returned to France
tor a short tour and in 1894 he died at Evergreen,
at wh.ch place h>s w,fe had passed away fifteen years
before. The first tmie Pierre Pellier came to Cali-
tornia it was around the Horn, when the vessel got
caught m the ice. He had made the tnp four times
and once when crossmg the Isthmus he had to pay
twenty-five cents per bottle for water. The time
consumed in a journey was about six months. When
Air. and Mrs. Casalegno and their two youngest
daughters made the trip in 1914 thev made the ocean
voyage m tive days. They made stops at many
mterestmg pomts in Europe. Their visit was one
year duration, caused by the breaking out of the
war and money hard to get on account of rate of
exchange. They were glad to get back to Califor-
nia, wen pleased with the Golden State.

Five children were born to Pierre and Mrs. Pel-
her. Louis died at the age of sixteen. Henriette
IS the subject of this story and was educated at
Notre Dame College. Helene. now deceased, became
the wife of P. Prudhomme and the mother of four
children. Elise is the widow of Leon Renaud and
mother of eight children, and resides at Evergreen
Josephine, who is Mrs. Mitchell Casalegno, is the
mother ot six children, and the happv family re-
side at Morgan Hill.

Henriette Pellier was reared at the old rancho
home, and in 1880 married her first husband Pe-
ter H. Mirassou, a native of France, who migrated
to America in 1878— a man of strong moral char-
acter who was very resourceful. Thev had five
children. Denise is now Mrs. Enos Bechis, and
she resides with her two children at Oakdale, on
their 200 acres of orchard. Peter Mirassou has a
vineyard of 100 acres at Evergreen and lives there
with his wife and two children. Theresa, now Mrs.
John Bidou. has two children and lives at Prune-
dale. Herman Mirassou and wife live on Cypress
Avenue, with their four children; he is an orchard-
ist. John Mirassou is a rancher on the McLough-
Im Road. Mr. Mirassou passed awav early in 1889
at Evergreen.

Her second marriage was to Thomas Casalegno, in
July, 1890, and they remained on the old place till
1909, and where Mrs. Casalegno had lived for fifty
years. The family then removed to Oakdale, where
Mr. Casalegno, who had emigrated from Italy to
America in 1885, proved successful as a rancher and
business man. They resided at Oakdale for ten
years and recently they removed to San Jose, in
which hospitable city, at 155 South Twelfth street.
they dispense a cordial w^elcome to their friends.
The family belongs to St. Patrick's Parish Cath-
olic Church. Mr. Casalegno has been successfully
engaged in orcharding .since he first pitched his
tent in the Santa Clara Valley in 1905; and in his
arduous work, prosecuted according to the last word
of science and with most modern methods and up-
to-date apparatus, he has been ably assisted by his
family. Their eldest child, Annette, is the wife of
S. Mondo of Oakdale; Celestine is at home, and
Thomasine is the wife of M. Mondo. and resides
at Ripon, in San Joaquin County.

472

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

JEREMIAH D. CASEY— An early settler of Santa
Clara County where he lives retired from active
business, Jeremiah D. Casey, more familiarly known
as "Jerrj'," was born in County Roscommon, Ireland,
December 28. 1834. Mr. Casey's ancestors belonged
to an early English family, who were people of ster-
ling integrity and on account of which, they were en-
trusted and put in charge of the extensive estates
belonging to the Crown of England.

At the age of nineteen, Mr. Casey left the paternal
roof, and embarking for America, landed in New York
in 1853. His first work was that of farm laborer.
Not being content with this line of work, he removed
to Brooklyn, New York, where he was employed by
a dairy company for a number of years. With the
characteristic industrj- and thrift of his forbears, he
had accumulated sufficient money to take him to
California and in 1863 he arrived in San Francisco,
where he stopped for a short time and worked in a
dairy near the city. In 1865 he came down to Santa
Clara County and this has been his home ever since.
Purchasing sixteen cows for $1600, he delivered inilk
to the residents of Almaden Hill. The first piece
of property he bought was seven acres for $500 from
John McDonald. To this he added in 1871, a tract
of 169 acres from Mrs. Dunn, for which he paid
$6,000, making 176 acres in all. With his younger
brother, John Casey, as a working partner, about
1874, he bought 770 acres near the Almaden mines
and this was devoted to the raising of stock and a
dairy by the brothers until their partnership was dis-
solved, when John took over the stock and the hill
ranch as his portion, Jerry keeping the 176 acres.
John sold out later to Steve Cannon and in 1885 he
died, unmarried. It was about 1876 that our subject
negotiated for the Elwood ranch of 120 acres and
this gave him 296 acres of good land and it has been
known as the Casey Ranch ever since and was
operated by Mr. Casey with good success until he
retired in 1910, when he leased the property and
came to reside in San Jose. He made a specialty of
raising horses and cattle, and through his close
attention to business he was able to retire with a
competency.

"On August 15, 1877. Mr. Casey married Miss
Susan Gallagher, of Massachusetts, who was also an
early settler of California, having removed from there
in the year of 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Casey reside at
376 Park Avenue, San Jose, where they are satisfied
to spend their remaining days. In religious views
the accepted faith of the family is that of the Catholic
Church and they are ardent supporters of its teach-
ings. Mr. Casej- is respected and honored throughout
the community in which he resides and has been
counted among the public spirited citizens of the
county where he is now one of its oldest residents.

JOHN W. SULLIVAN.— A native son of Califor-
nia who has chosen the professional life of an at-
torney for his career and who has held a number of
positions of responsibility in the city of San Jose,
is John W, Sullivan, who was born on August 15,
1864, San Jose being his birthplace. He was the
son of Patrick and Elizabeth (O'Sullivan) Sulli-
van, who came to California during the early days
of 1860. It was pioneers, such as these, who helped
in the building of this great commonwealth and
through their indomitable courage and work made
possible all the comforts and luxuries that the pres-

ent generation now enjoys. Both parents passed
to their reward some time ago.

John W. Sullivan received his education in the
public schools of San Jose, graduating from the
grammar school and then entering the State Nor-
mal; he also graduated from that institution May 22.
1884, and taught school for a number of years,
studying law in the meantime. He was admitted to
the bar on May 4. 1886. and practiced law in San
Jose for awhile and then went to Los Angeles, and
San Fernando, where he taught school for a year.
Going on to San Diego he entered the law firm of
Hunsaker and Britt. remaining with them a year.
The next three years were spent in Mexico and
on his return he went to Plumas County and taught
school for two years. He then ran for the of-
fice of district attorney during the election of 1894,
but was defeated and returning to San Jose in the
fall of 1894 again began practicing law and has since
given his time to the legal profession. He served
as city attorney of San Jose during the years of
1912-14 under the administration of Mayor Monahan.

Mr. Sullivan's marriage, which occurred on May
7, 1904, united him with Miss Jane Ruger, and they
are the parents of four children: John, Jane, Henry
and Sophia.

Nearly all of Mr. Sullivan's life has been spent
in Santa Clara County and all of his energy and
enthusiasm has been given to its development, com-
mercially, socially and morally. He is well and fa-
vorably known and has a large clientele, maintain-
ing offices in the Ryland Building. He has been
president of the Santa Clara County Bar Associa-
tion for the past two years and is a member of the
State Bar Association and also of San Jose Parlor
No. 22, Native Sons of the Golden West, of which he
is a past president.

FREDERICK C. BURRELL.— A far-seeing, ex-
ceptionally enterprising and progressive rancher is
Frederick C. Burrell. whose enviable success is un-
doubtedly due to much self-denial practiced in the
beginning, ni order to well establish himself, and to
untiring diligence and sensible administration of his
affairs in order to keep things running smoothly and
expanding ever since. He is a native son, born in
historic Gilroy on September 26. 1857, the son of
Edward Burrell, a native of Clyde, Wayne County,
N. Y., who came to California, by way of the Isth-
mus, in 1849, mined for a time, and then, having con-
cluded that the Golden State offered excellent oppor-
tunities for young men, went back to Illinois, where
he had originally prepared for his California expedi-
tion, and there, at Plainfield, married Miss Louisa
Hannibal. She was a native of England, and was
brought out to the States and Illinois by her parents
when she was two years old. As a wedding journey,
Edward Burrell and his bride set out for California
in an ox-team train; and during their trip of six
months, they met many exciting, as well as interest-
ing, experiences. The same train included the parents
of Mrs. Burrell, so that they had as merry a party as
could then be formed.

The Burrells settled, first at Gilroy and then at
Pacheco Pass, where they were extensively engaged
in raising sheep; and finally the family moved to a
ranch of 103 acres south of Alviso, and there Edward
Burrell set out thirty acres of orchard, and in course
of time endured the usual hard and trying exper-
iences confronting the pioneer rancher and fruit

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

475

raiser. And, having merited the esteem of everyone
who knew them on account of their intelligent
methods of procedure, their hard and honest work,
their fair and square and kindly dealings with others,
Mr. Burrell died on the ranch north of San Jose,
and Mrs. Burrell died in Santa Clara. Of their family
of nine children, three are living, Frederick C, Mrs.
Eltha Parmer and Mrs. Edith Parmer, both residents
of Santa Clara.

Frederick C. Burrell, who was destined so worthily
to represent these intrepid, worthy pionct-r-parents,
was sent to the public schools at Alviso, and later,
having matriculated at the College of the Pacific, was
duly graduated with honors as a member of the class
of 79. He then took up teaching as a profession,
and for five years taught in various places, in the
latter part of the period succeeding Judge P. F.
Gosbey as principal of the Alviso School. At the
end of these first five years, Mr. Burrell was given
a state educational certificate entitling him to teach
for six years more in California without further ex-
aminations or credentials; but by this time he had
concluded that he could render society a greater ser-
vice in other fields. While teaching, he had bought
eleven acres of raw land south of Alviso, and he now
began its development.

He did almost all the work himself, and practiced
many self-denials in order to get his land paid for;
and in the arduous work of setting out fruit trees
and berry plants and bushes, he experienced many
discouragements such as would have induced others
with less vision and fortitude to throw up the sponge.
But, little by little, he succeeded and gradually as
he progressed he added to his holdings, until
he had forty-four acres, thirty of which he had set
out to fruit trees. He made this place his home, too,
and as he further prospered, he bought the William
Erkson ranch of ninety-seven acres, and undertook
to develop this tract from its raw state, also putting
out another thirty acres of orchard here. These
tracts he still owns, as well as the old home ranch
of 103 acres, which he purchased from his father's
estate, so that with this additional thirty acres of or-
chard, he has, all in all, some ninety acres of fine
orchard, while the balance of his land he devotes to
general ranching.

Mr. Burrell has certainl}' made a decided financial,
as well as a scientific, success of his agricultural ef-
forts, but to do this, he has had to work very hard
and to deny himself many pleasures. Often, for ex-
ample, when the markets were unstable, he has had
to sell the choicest of pears for twenty-five cents
per box, and in addition was compelled to haul them
to market. Pears, apples and berries have been his
principal fruits; and if, at times, he realized far less
in market-price for his products than the labor and
worry would justly entitle him to get, he has had the
satisfaction of knowing that he not only produced
some of the finest fruit in Santa Clara County, for
the enjoyment of humanity somewhere, but by such
conscientious and highly intelligent methods as he
had always employed, after the most careful study
of conditions and the latest results of science, he has
contributed much to the advancement of California
horticulture.

At Santa Clara, on July 14, 1896, Mr. Burrell was
united in marriage with Miss Myrtle B. Willis, a
native of Visalia and the daughter of J. T. and Mabel

(Bennett) Willis, both Kentuckians, who came to
California— Mr. Willis arriving here as early as 1852.
He became a prominent rancher and stockraiser.
and did his share to develop California. The families
of Bennett and Willis settled in Tulare County, and
there Mrs. Willis died, whereupon Mr. Willis removed
to a small ranch near Agncw, in 1893, living there,
practically retired, until his death. Two of his chil-
dren survive him— Mrs. Burrell and her brother, H.
C. Willis, also of San Jose. Four children have been
granted Mr. and Mrs. Burrell: Chester Alton was
graduated from Stanford University in 1919, and dur-
ing the World War he took the training in the R. O.
T. C. there. Clyde Everett graduated from the Davis
Agricultural School in 1920. and also trained with
the R. O. T. C. at Stanford. The other two sons are
Kenneth Ray and Howard Russell.

In 1910 Mr. Burrell removed to San Jose and built
a fine modern house at 196 South Eighth Street,
giving every attention to the details of the structure
and attaining exceptional results, and there, amidst
the comforts he has so justly earned, he is living
happily with his family, although he still continues
to give his personal supcrvisitJn to his agricultural
enterprises. In matters of national political concern,
he marches with the Republican legions, but he is
too broad-minded, when it comes to purely local is-
sues, to be partisan, and is among the first to endorse
and support what seem to be the best men and the
best measures for the communities in which he lives
and thrives. He is a member of the San Jose Cham-
ber of ConinKTce, and with Mrs. Burrell is an active,
devoted member of the Baptist Church of Santa
Clara. Mrs. Burrell, in addition, is a member of the
Women's Christian Temperance Union, and has for
years found pleasure in advancing its work and
making known its helpful ideals.

WILLIAM HENRY CHRISMAN.— As one of a

large number of men Avho have found business
opportunities in the county of Santa Clara, and in
turn have endeavored to promote the commercial de-
velopment of this portion of California, mention be-
longs to William Henry Chrisman, who with his
brother Walter L., under the firm name of Chris-
man Bros., owns the oldest wood, coal and hay
establishment in the valley. This county is also his
birthplace, having been born here December 12,
1867, a son of Josiah and Mary (Britton) Chris-
man; both early pioneers of California, coming here
in 1864; the mother passed away in 1916, but Mr.
Chrisman is still living at the age of 80 years.

In 1872 the family removed to San Mateo Coun-
ty and there William Henry Chrisman was edu-
cated in the public schools of San Mateo. Dur-
ing the j'ear of 1888, when he had reached his ma-
jority, he established himself in business in San
Jose, as a partner with an uncle, J. H. Chris-
man, dealing in hay, in which business he has
continued successfully through the years of his resi-
dence here. The firm of Chrisman Bros, was es-
tablished in July, 1893, when W. L. bought into the
firm, and they are members of the Chamber of
Commerce and the Merchants' Association of San
Jose. Fraternally W. H. is a Mason, and belongs
to Islam Temple of San Francisco and is a Knight
of Pythias and an Odd Fellow. Politically he is
a Republican.

476

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. Chrisman's marriage September 9, 1896, unit-
ed him with Miss AHce Hobson, a daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Thomas M. Hobson, the Hobson family
])eing among the oldest pioneers of the valley. Mr. and
Mrs. Chrisman have two sons, Herman, a senior m
Stanford University; Norman Ellsworth, attending the
San Tose high school. In religious belief, Mr. Chris-
man "is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
while his wife belongs to the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Chrisman is a true lover of the great outdoors
and is extremely fond of fishing. He has always
been interested in the advancement of his community,
is progressive and enjoys the esteem of many friends
and business associates.

HOMER KNOWLES.— Prominent among the
new-comers in Santa Clara whose natural ability,
record for professional and social accomplishnient>.
and promise of future value to the community. Iiavc
contributed to assure them the warmest welcome.
are Mr. and Mrs. Homer Knowles, the lormer an
expert in the pottery trade, and the latter distin-
guished as a direct descendant ot John Marshall.
ex-Chief Justice of the United States. Mr. Knowles
was born on Julv %. 1884, and grew up at East
Liverpool, Ohio, and he was educated at Trinity
School, in New York City, at the Peekskill Mili-
tary Academy, and at St. Paul's College, m New
York. He finished his education by traveling in
Europe, seeing the Old World extensively; tor he
was fortunate in an affectionate, cultured and in-
dulgent mother. She was Ida Stockdale before her
marriage; and she was born at Georgetown, Pa., the
daughter of the president of the Dollar Savings
Bank, at Pittsburgh, and president or the Pitts-
burgh & Cincinnati Packet Company. In 1900, Mr.
Knowles came to California for six months to look
around; and today finds him settled in one of the
most progressive cities, the leading pottery manu-
facturer of California.

On August 27, 1902. Mr. Knowles was married
to Miss Alma Marshall, a daughter of Attorney E.
D Marshall, of Chester, W. Va., who has recently
settled in Santa Clara; and this fortunate union has
been blessed with three children; Gail, Alma and
Homer. Each of the children are endowed in some
exceptional and promising manner.

The Homer Knowles Pottery Company, of which
Mr. Knowles is both president and general manager,
manufacture dinner-sets and hotel dishes. It was
conceived of at East Liverpool, Ohio, Mr. Knowles
place of birth and his former home, and it was in-
corporated under the laws of Delaware on June 17.
1920, with a capitalization of $750,000. The pot-
tery plant is located on a plot of six and a half acres
on the Alviso Road, just north of the Santa Clara
city limits, and ground was broken for the factory
on April 14. 1921. The cornerstone of the main
building, 159x355 feet in size, was laid on June 9.
Mr. Knowles drew all the plans for the factory, as
well as for the five upright kilns, and he will prob-
ably install one tunnel kiln, 321 feet long, with the
capacity of ten uprights. An entire shipload of Eng-
lish potter's clay, the largest single shipment ever
received by an American potter, was consigned to
and has recently been received by him at the Santa
Clara pottery; it contained 3,684,000 lbs. of the de-
sired-for material, and was shipped by way of the

Isthmus, through the Panama Canal. This English
clay can be laid down at Santa Clara very much
cheaper than at East Liverpool. Ohio, and from this
fact alone it will be seen that the new dinner-ware
pottery, which is expected to be in operation in
1922 and to employ some 225 men and women, will
be most favorably located.

It has been estimated that several thousand peo-
ple attended the official ceremonies marking the lay-
ing of the cornerstone, when there were notable
speakers. The president. Homer Knowles, delivered
a short address of welcome and introduced Judge
Charles A. Thompson of Santa Clara as chairman;
and then the Rev. Noel Porter, rector of Trinity
Episcopal Church of S.an Jose, made the presentation
speech. This was responded to. on behalf of Santa
Clara, liy Father Timothy L. Murphy, president of
tlie University of Santa Clara. A. K. Frye, of San
l''ranciM.o. industrial agent of the Southern Pacific
Railroad Company, spoke of the advantages to a
community of her industries. The ceremonies were
opened with a parade, led liy a band and a s(|uad
of motorcycle police.

The site for this property at Santa Clara was se-
lected after approximately twenty cities in Califor-
nia had been visited, and as the plant will be situ-
ated within the yard limits of Santa Clara on the main
tracks of the Southern Pacific at the intersection
of the main Coast line to San Francisco, and the main
western division to Oakland, there will be a spur
track with an outlet at both ends, and a spur with
a capacity of ten cars at the works. The plant is
also on the main State Highway between San Fran-
cisco and Los Angeles, forty-three miles from San
Francisco and 427 miles from the Southland metrop-
olis. As an investment for California money this
company should prove a great attraction. Billions
of dishes are in daily use, millions of them are
broken and replaced each day, and the Eastern pot-
teries are unable to supply the demand.

Mr. Knowles, the president and manager, belongs
to a family of potters. His grandfather started
the business in 1853, and his father, the late Homer
S. Knowles, one of the greatest potters of his time,
commenced business when he was fifteen years old.
Together, they made the Knowles, Talor & Knowles
Company, famous in every town and citj' in the
United States. The name Knowles, whenever found
on domestic ware, has long signified as much as the
name Haviland on French china. The members of
the board of directors are: Homer Knowles, Irwin
E. Poineroy and W. H. Cook of Santa Clara; C. E.
Marcum of Los Altos; \V. J. Dougall and Frank
L. Hoyt of San Jose.

The advent of the Knowles family to California
adds as materially to the social and religious life
as it does to its industrial and financial life. Mr.
and Mrs. Knowles adhere to the Episcopalian faith
and Mr. Knowles is the treasurer of the Episcopal
Church at Santa Clara. He is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce of Santa Clara, and ' the
Commercial Club of San Jose. He is also a member
of the California State .Automobile Association, and
the Transportation Club of San Francisco, and is
an associate member of the American Ceramic So-
ciety. In politics he is a stanch Repubhcan, and a
personal friend of President Harding.

dc^^^....;^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

479

MRS. CALIFORNIA CASTLE.— As a well-known
pioneer and a native daughter, Mrs. California Cas-
tle occupies a position of prominence in her section,
which has been her home for many years. Born
in Georgetown, Eldorado County. Cal., July 9, 1851,
she has the honor of being the first white child born
in this hustling mining town; this fact caused a great
deal of excitement among the miners, and from many
miles they came to pay homage to the babe. It was
the custom of the miners to flock to Georgetown
on Sundays and learning that the first baby had ar-
rived, about 4(10 came in and finally insisted on seeing
the baby. Many of them having left their little ones
in the East, were so reminded of their own children
that they wept; finally the baby was brought out
on a piliow and the miners circled around and laid
fifty dollar gold slugs on the pillow and said to the
folks, "If you let us name her Eureka, we will make
her so rich she will never want"; but her father
rejected their offer and clung to the name he had
given her, California. Her father, Daniel Reel, was
a native of Pennsylvania, and her mother, Elizabeth
Boone, before her marriage, and a cousin of Daniel
Boone, was born in Ohio. In 1849 they came over-
land to California, crossing the plains in the customary
way. behind ox teams, in company with the Boone
family, direct descendants of Daniel Boone. The
trip across the plains occupied nine months and was
fraught with many dangers and hardships. The fam-
ily first settled in Placerville; remaining there but
one year, they removed to Georgetown, a mining
section, where Mr. Reel erected the first hotel. He
contributed much to the advancement of this section
of the country and was a highly respected citizen.
Later his hotel was burned down, but he rebuilt it
and continued in business in Georgetown, and by his
persistency and close attention to business, he
amassed a considerable fortune. During the year
of 1868, the family removed to Drytown, Amador
County, where Mr. Reel engaged in the hotel busi-
ness. It was here, in the year 187U that he died,
the mother passing away in San Jose about 1900. Of
their seven children, California was next to the
youngest.

California Reel obtained her education in the public
schools of Amador County. After the death of her
lather, the family removed to Sale Station. Nev.,
and she went to school in Carson City. In 1869 she
came with her mother to San Jose, where she was
married to Isaac Newton Castle. Mr. Castle was a
native of New York, migrating to California in 1852,
coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Being
ambitious to attain individual success, he soon became
an influential citizen of his community, investing
extensively in land and cattle. His real estate hold-
ings were located in the counties of Merced, Stanis-
laus and Santa Clara, and a large ranch in eastern
Oregon where ranged 5000 head of cattle, their
brand being a circle on the left hip, while the horse
brand was two small c's on the shoulder. He ran
about 250 head of horses, and bought cattle in Ne-
vada and Mexico by the trainloads and brought them
to California. He trailed 1500 head of beef steers,
three to five years old, from eastern Oregon to
Marysville, where he sold them. He was the first
man to do this, was laughed at by people who said
it couldn't be done, that they would get poor enroute,
but in a little over six weeks, he brought them over-
land fat and ready for market. The cattle were
stretched out for five miles along the road. Mrs.
Castle accompanied her husband on nearly all the

large drives. He sold out in Oregon and leased a
ranch of 30,000 acres in San Benito County and
ran cattle for fifteen years; then bought near Grid-
ley, Butte County, but material for feeding cattle was
short, so this place was sold and he bought a big
ranch in Calaveras County; later this was sold to
the Spring Valley Water Company and he located
at San Felipe, Pacheco Pass, in Santa Clara and
Merced counties. Here he was taken ill and he was
advised to quit, so he sold to Louis Cauhape and
came to San Jose and built a residence on San Car-
los Street, but he failed in health and in 1911 passed
away. For a number of years the family resided
near San Felipe, but their preference for San Jose
was so marked, that it was ahva\s spoken of as their
place of residence. He had reserved 9000 acres of
the lease for his wife :in(l two >ons to continue the
cattle business, which they did for i'wc years until
the lease expired; then they bought several thou-
sand acres, one of the finest ranches in Napa Coun-
ty, near Napa Junction and engaged in the cattle
business; also raised grain, alfalfa, and many hogs,
operating the ranch with tractors. They ran it for
about two years and then sold it at a big profit and
returned to San Jose, where Mrs. Castle resides in
the Castle Apartments on West San Carlos Street.
Mrs. Castle again engaged in the cattle business
with her sons and bought two ranches adjoining
each other, the Ross & Carl ranch and the Lester
ranch, consisting of about 4000 acres of land de-
voted to the raising of Hereford cattle. From the
start, Mrs. Castle was interested in the business and
readily learned to judge cattle, their condition, weight
and value. This she learned from her husband, as
Mr. Castle was an expert judge of cattle; could tell
the weight of any animal in a big herd, rarely missing
it more than five pounds. He was considered one
of the best stockmen in California, and their eldest
son is today a close second to his father and very
accurate in his judgment of cattle. Mr. and Mrs.
Castle were the parents of two sons; Arthur F.
whose life history will be found elsewhere in this
volume, and Roy N. a graduate of Heald's Busi-
ness College, who. since his graduation has been
actively engaged in stockraising, and is well known
throughout the central and northern parts of Califor-
nia. In 1916 he was married to Miss Lavern Mc-
Clelland, a native of Santa Ana, Orange County, Cal.
Mr. Castle was an active Mason and a member of
the California Pioneer Society. During the year of
I'JIO. his health very visibly failed, his physician final-
ly resorting to the transfusion operation. Deputy
Sheriff Howard Noble gave a quart of blood, but
all to no avail, and Mr. Castle passed away at the
old home place in San Jose January 21, 1911. Mrs.
Castle is an active member of the Eastern Star of
San Jose; she has always conducted her business
with rare ability and she is held in high esteem in
her community.

HENRY MEADE BLAND, A.M., Ph.D.— Emi-
nent in the California educational world as probably
the best acknowledged authority on English, Dr.
Henry Meade Bland of San Jose is fortunate in
exerting the most enviable influence in the guiding
of tendencies in popular education along the entire
Pacific Coast, and in the maintaining of high stand-
ards even in secondary school work such as would
do credit to any great center throughout the world.
.As Dean of Literature at the State College, he bears
his years and his lionors as lightly and as becom-

480

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ingly as a tree bears leaves and fruit. The honors
range all the way from recognition for personal at-
tainment in realms of prose and poetry, to discourses
on varied themes and on the good and great of
earth; for on the doctor's list of personal friends are
the names of poets, philosophers and scientists, glo-
rious in the anthology of human life.

Just what holds the fullest measure of soul-satis-
faction for this poet, philosopher and teacher, who
has a way of reading only what is best in individuals,
it is difficult to determine. But when you know this
quiet savant, fond of reading and writing poetry,
a nature-loving soul who never niisbcs anything from
a drop of dew gleaming on the grass-blade, to a star
glowing in the heavenly blue, you learn something
altogether delightful. Dr. Bland's interest in his
fellovvman is also considerable; and he is fonder than
anything else of discovering in somebody else a
streak of literary talent well worth the developing.
He knew Edwin Markham, and believed in him, long
before "The Man With the Hoe" became the en-
during monument of the poet's fame. A close and
personal friend of Jack London, Dr. Bland had the
greatest admiration for the fearless author, and said
of him: "It is impossible for the world of letters
to measure the loss suffered when Jack London died,
for his tremendous creative ability evidenced by
forty-two books was only the beginning of his lit-
erary development." Dr. Bland has also been a close
friend of Charles "Warren Stoddard, George Sterling,
Herbert Bashford, John Muir, William Henry Car-
ruth, Joaquin Miller, David Starr Jordan, and all
able literary men who have had great influence in
shaping the letters of the West.

A native son of California, Henry Meade Bland
was born in Fairfield, Solano County, 1863, the son
of Henry James and Annot L. (Steele) Bland. His
father was a Methodist minister, while on his
mother's side the family leads back to the days of
the American Revolution. Grandfather David Steele
fought in the War for Independence, and being
wounded in one of the battles by a fracture of the
skull, it was found necessary, in order to save his
life, to remove a part of the bone and place over the
opening a silver plate; and with this clever device of
the surgeons of the day, he lived to be an old man, —
truly a remarkable result of science in that period.
Great-Great-Uncle Richard Steele was a man of con-
siderable literary genius, and conjointly with Ad-
dison he edited in England his own periodical, the
"Tatler" and the "Spectator." Mrs. Bland's father
had a fancy for odd names for his children, as will
be noted from her own name. Annot. He named his
five daughters each after the heroine of a novel. Dr.
Bland's father was also celebrated for his great
memory, having memorized the Methodist Hymnal
and also the Psalms and the Book of Proverbs, and
much of the New Testament.

As a boy, Henry Meade attended the grammar
school of his locality, and then he took a course in
the then University of the Pacific, from which he
was graduated in the class of '87, with the doctor's
degree in Shakespearean research in 1890. He was
also a member of the pioneer class that graduated
from Stanford University in 1895; he majored in
English, received the degree of Master of Arts in
English Philology, and was a fellow-student with

Herbert Hoover, also a member of the same class.
Later in the nineties he took graduate work for a
year in the University of California. His first ex-
perience as an educator was in the public schools
of Contra Costa County. Then he came to Santa
Clara County and established the Los Gatos high
school, and later he accepted the principalship of the
Grant school in San Jose, where he remained for
six years. He then became principal of the Santa
Clara high school, which office he continued to fill
for two >ears. He began to come into his own, to
find the field for which he is undoubtedly especially
equipped, when he became instructor in education
at the College of the Pacific.

In 1899. Dr. Bland became a member of the fac-
ulty of the State Normal School at San Jose, as-
suming at once the direction of the English depart-
ment. In 190S, a committee of seventy men were
chosen to revise the school laws of the State of
California, and Dr. Bland has the honor of being a
member of that committee. For twelve years, also,
he has actively served on the Santa Clara County
Board of Education where he made a record for both
ability and unselfish devotion to the public weal.
Twice he has been summer session lecturer on the
Literature of the Pacific Coast in the University of
California.

The marriage of Dr. Bland occurred in Alameda
on July 25, 1888. and united him with Miss Mabel
Haskell, who was born in Bangor, Maine, a daugh-
ter of Henry H. and Lorinda (Miller) Haskell, and
this has proven a very happy union. Mrs. Bland
is a woman of very pleasing personality, having been
reared in an atmosphere of culture and refinement,
and as a charming woman, she presides gracefully
over their home. Two children have been born to
Professor and Mrs. Bland. Henry Morton, married
Miss Pearl Andrews, is engaged in transportation
at Stockton, and they have a daughter, Mildred
Annot, the wife of Aloysius MacCormack, who re-
side on their ranch near Cressey, in Merced County,
and who are the parents of two sons, Melvin and
Loudon MacCormack.

Dr. Bland has also written considerably, among
his most noted work being magazine sketches of
western literature, treating in particular of many of
the greatest literary characters of the West. He
also has published a series of entertaining articles
entitled "The Literary Women of California," a
really valuable acquisition to the literature of the
state. In 1907 lie brought out a volume of verse,
"Song of Autumn," and two of his finest lyrics will
be found in the State series of readers. A booklet
of verse, "In Yosemite," dedicated to this wonderful
valley, is on sale there as a souvenir, and according
to Edwin Markham is the most elaborate and musi-
cal poem that has ever been written on the beauties
and wonders of the great valley. Politically Dr.
Bland gives his support to the Republican party, and
in all matters tending to advance the public wel-
fare, he is generally found lending a helping hand.
His activities have always been of great breadth,
and his life has ever been actuated by high and noble
principles, the ideals which he entertains prompting
him to put for the most practical efforts to bring
about their adoption.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

483

BENJAMIN F. HOBSON.— Another inttrLSting
representative of a pioneer family long recognized
and honored for its part in building the great com-
monwealth of California, is Benjamin F. Hobson.
the rancher, who is operating a large prune orchard
on the Berryessa Road, about two and one-half miles
cast of San Jose. He was born on the old Hobson
ranch in the same locality, on September 15, 1885,
the son of David Hobson, who left North Carolina,
his native state, in the fall of 1849, crossing the plains
with oxen and reached California in the spring of
1850. He mined for gold in the Sonora district for
two or three years, and in 1853 came into Santa
Clara County. He purchased a tract of eighty-five
acres on the Berryessa Road, then devoted entirely
to grain raising, and from time to time he acquired
additional land until he had 175 acres all in one
body. It was not yet under irrigation, and from this
fact alone may be gathered a cue as to the difficulties
confronting the pioneer farmer. He planted one of
the first orchards designed for commercial use east
of the Coyote Ranch, and did wonderfully well with
it, never dreaming of the abundance of water now
at the disposal of his son through a fine artesian
well sunk on the ranch.

David Hobson married Miss Mary E I^angcnsee,
whose folks came from Germany, sailing for New
York when she was a little child. I'roni the metrop-
olis they moved to Indiana, and tlien came on to
California, where Miss Langensee and Mr. Hobson
were married Eleven children were born to this
fortunate union: Anna lives on the home ranch, and
so do Phillip and David; Ella is Mrs. Van Horn of
San Jose; Edna and Alfred are also at home; Benj. F.
is the subject of this sketch: and Celesta is a popu-
lar teacher at Markleyville; Charles, James and Ruth
long ago joined the great silent majority.

Benjamin F. Hobson commenced his schooling in
the Berryessa district, and then he continued his
studies at the San Jose high school, where he was
graduated in June, 1905. From a lad he had made
himself useful on the home farm, assisting in planting
and caring for the orchard, so after his graduation
he continued to help his father, and he has been ac-
tive on the home ranch ever since. In 1914 he took
the special course in agriculture at tlic University of
California, attending the lectures at the University
Farm at Davis, and it is needless to say that all his
methods are the most progressive. His father, es-
teemed by all who knew him, passed away in 1916,
but he left his ranch of 175 acres intact, and this
has since been divided among the several heirs. Mrs.
Hobson, beloved by so many, breathed her last in
1912. Mr. and Mrs. Hobson were devoted members
of the Berryessa Methodist Church, and for many
years Mr. Hobson conducted one of the Bible classes
best organized and best maintained in the county.
Inheriting his public-spiritedness and high sense of
civic duty, Benjamin Hobson is active in political
affairs as a leading Republican The Hobson ranch
is devoted almost entirely to the raising of prunes,
and the products rank among the finest of Santa
Clara Countv fruit.

MRS. JOHN S. SELBY.— An estimable pioneer
who is doubly interesting as a successful woman of
affairs is Mrs. John S. Selby, who was Miss Sarah
Elizabeth Brelsford before her marriage. She was
born on October 2, 1840, the daughter of Charles
and Mary (Ball) Brelsford, and lost her father when
she was a little girl, after which her mother married
for a second time. Grandfather James Ball, both a
farmer and a carpenter, came from Kentucky to
Bloomfield, Green County, Ind., and reared there
his family; and at the same place our subject first
saw the light of day.

In 1854, Miss Brelsford came to California, ac-
companying the family of the late Judge Rhodes of
San Jose, and two years later she was married to
John S. Selby, a native of Callaway County, Mo.,
where he was born on November 24, 1834. His
parents were William and Julia (Turley) Selby,
natives of Kentucky who were attracted to Missouri
and became some of th.' earliest settlers of the Iron
State. William Selby was also a carpenter as well
as a farmer; and so it happened that John learned
the carpenter's trade and also followed agricultural
industries.

In the spring of 1853, when John Selby was
eighteen years old, he set out from home to cross
the continent to California, and having reached Santa
Clara County in the fall of the same year, he then
went to Marin County and worked in the redwoods
district and remained there for a year. Then he came
to San Jose and leased land in the Berryessa district
and then bought and fenced in form himself some
150 acres of land in this district. In 1860 he sold
that farm and moved with his devoted wife to the
Mission Road, in the Orchard School district, about
five mile? north of San Jose, where he had acquired
some 100 acres, but he sold part of this and besides
his own land, some fourteen acres, he leased twenty-
six acres. Eight acres he devoted to orchard culture,
and had peach trees, several varieties of pear trees,
cherry trees, apricot trees, besides some English
black walnuts, persimmon, fig. plum, and apple trees
and all kinds of berries, showing the fertility of the
soil. He devoted the remaining six acres of the land
to pasturage, and in addition to cultivating his fine
farm, engaged in carpentering, often taking contract
work. In 1906, at the ripe old age of eighty-two,
Mr. Selby passed away, full of honor and rich in
friends. He was a member of the Board of Super-
visors of Santa Clara County, elected in 1892 for one
term of four years, serving there as a broad-minded
Democrat, and for a number of years was the presi-
dent of the Pioneer Society of Santa Clara County.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Selby.
Mary became Mrs. William E. Trimble of Los Gatos;
Emma J., now deceased, was Mrs. R. B. Roberts of
San Jose; William H. Selby, living in Naglee Park;
Lizzie Lee married W. E. Coombs and resides at San
Jose. The fifth is George Wray. an oil man of Santa
Barbara County; a child also died in infancy, and Lulu
passed away at the tender age of four. In 1908 Mrs.
Selby sold the ranch and bought a place in Naglee
Park, where she lived until she received her injury,
when she sold out. In 1917 Mrs. Selby had a fall,
in which she broke her right arm, and this has since
been a serious handicap, although she is still re-
markably active for a woman of eighty-one. She is
also an earnest, highly-esteemed member of the Pio-
neer Society, and of the Methodist Episcopal Church

484

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

South. She resides with her granddaughter, Mrs.
Waltz, at 132 Balbach Street, San Jose, the center
of a group of very devoted friends.

MRS. MARIA ANTONIA CAREAGA.— The

interest which attaches to the biography of California
pioneers is an expression of gratitude which their
fellow-citizens feel towards those forerunners of
civilization who have done so much to make both
habitable and attractive this glorious section of the
Far West. Not only as a pioneer of the state, but
also as one of the early residents of San Jose and
vicinity, Maria Antonia Careaga enjoys the respect
and esteem of the citizens of Santa Clara County.

Mrs. Careaga's maiden name was Maria A. Bo-
ncvantur. a daughter of Monsieur Bernardo Bo-
nevantur, who had come from France and married
Albina Boronda, a charming member of one of the
very early pure Castilian families of Monterey. Her
father was a carpenter at San Juan Bautista, and
passed away when our subject was only ten years
old. Her mother reared the family as best she
could, the only one now surviving being the subject
of this sketch. Her maternal grandfather Boronda
was a native Californian. but great-grandfather Bor-
onda came from Spain.

Maria A. Bonevantur received her education in the
San Juan convent, and lu-r marriage to Ramon F.
Careaga was solemnized .imid all the festivities char-
acteristic of the social life in a family of such ancient
traditions. -'Vfter their marriage at the old historical
mission, she accompanied her husband to his ranch
and was his able helpmate and counsellor, encourag-
ing him in his ambitions, and success came to them
above their greatest expectations.

For many generations the Careaga family has been
distinguished in California not only for its participa-
tion in the gradual development of the state, but be-
cause it is one of the important historical links be-
tween Castilian Spain and the flourishing colonies
which her prophetic vision and unbounded energy
planted in the New World. The earliest Careaga
of whom we have record as a direct forebear of this
esteemed family, was a Spanish nobleman born in
medieval Castile and sent to Mexico as a military
man by the King of Spain. A descendant was
Colonel Satornino Careaga, also a soldier, who came
from Mexico to Montere}', California, when he was
but seventeen years old. He was a member of
Captain Munoz"s command, and with all the chivalry
ever characteristic of the Careagas, he risked his
life and sacrificed his comfort to protect the depend-
ent and exposed San Jose Mission. His son, Ramon
F. Careaga, the husband of our subject, who died on
February 7. 1914, was a handsome, splendidly pre-
served gentleman, who could look back to many stir-
ring events in which he had participated, or of
which his father, in the good old days when the
Spanish Dons gathered their children about them,
had told h'm as a part of the cherished family tradi-
tion. There were personal anecdotes about Governor
Portola, and the expedition to Monterey; there were
recollections of Pio Pico, Echeandia, Micheltorena,
Castro, Flores, Juan Bandini, Abel Stearns, and finally
of Fremont and Stockton, with all of whom and
their contemporaries the Careagas had had much to
do, first in fighting for Spain and then for Mexico,
and ultimately in helping to build up young America
on the Coast.

With a brother, Juan B. Careaga, also born in
Monterey County, and Daniel Harris, Ramon bought
about 18,000 acres of the old ranch belonging to the
De la Guerras (early Spaniards who, with their wide
territory, figured prominently in the state history);
and later, in the division, Harris took some 7,500
acres, while the Careaga brothers held more than
10,000. In the final subdivision, Ramon received 6,970,
and this property has become the center of the Santa
Maria oil fields. More than that, it was on Ramon
Careaga's historic land that oil was first discovered
in the Santa Maria Valley. One day, while the
Careagas were walking across their finely situated
acres, one of the parties discovered, here and there,
some outcroppings of asphalt — an intruder on the
surface of the rich soil wdiich would have been most
unwelcome had not the experience of the intelligent
observer recognized in the dark substance the coveted
indications of rich oil deposits. It was not long
before that which was assumed and hoped for to
be true was proven a certainty. On March 14, 1900,
the erection of the great rig for the first well was
begun and they soon struck oil, but the well had to
be abandoned on account of some obstacle. A sim-
ilar experience was met in the attempt to sink well
number 2; but nothing daunted, the riggers and
drillers moved farther up the canyon and soon had,
in well number 3, such a flow of oil that at last the
precious liquid was obtained in paying quantities.
The long waited-for event was duly celebrated by a
big barbecue, for which the hospitable Careagas
furnished four of their choicest beeves, the meat
being partaken of by hundreds of visitors.

.\fter her husband's death, Mrs. Careaga moved
to San Jose, where she enjoys a quiet and comfort-
able life. They were the parents of eleven children:
Luis S. is married and resides at Santa Barbara; Ra-
mon .\. married Miss Cora Riley and they have two
children, Ramon F. and Alberto J. and reside in
San Jose; he passed away in 1919; John T. mar-
ried Miss Alberta Roe and they have one child,
-\delbert; Eleanor M. became the wife of John
Carr and the mother of two sons. John F. and
Leland and tlK\' n-vidt- on the Careaga ranch;
Bernardo F. niiirind \li-^ Gussie Hawkins and they
have two chililri. ii. William B. and Eugene F.; he
passed away in 1919; Antonio F. resides on the Care-
a.ga ranch and so does James F., who is a farmer
and stockman; and Charles M. resides on the
northwest oil lease of the Careaga ranch near
Bicknell, and looks after the oil and gas inter-
ests of the estate. He married Miss J. Hawkins
and they have one child, Durward; Rita J. is the wife
of Mr. Hawkins and they reside in San Jose. Evan-
geline is now Mrs. Dana, also on Careaga ranch,
Santa Barbara County. Angela is Mrs. Suflfert and
makes her home in San Jose.

Mrs. Careaga had the comfort and pleasure of
having her mother with her during her last days
and enjoyed ministering to her comforts until she
passed away at the age of seventy-seven. Mrs.
Careaga has always been interested in educational
aflfairs and during her husband's lifetime gave land
for two school sites on their property. Mrs. Careaga
resides in a comfortable residence on Sierra Avenue.
San Jose, and enjoys dispensing the same old-time
California hospitality that her husband and their
forebears were so noted for.

/Ta£..t:£jt.u^ /^^ir^-rd^L^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

485

WALDEN LORDS.— It is interesting to write
the story of the pioneer who braved the dangers of
frontier life and by enduring privations and hardships
helped to conquer the wilderness, making it habit-
able and bringing comfort and happiness to the com-
ing generations. Such a man was the late Walden
Lords, a native of Ohio, born at Mansfield, August
14, 1825. His father, John Lords, was a New Eng-
lander, born in Maine, who was an early settler and
farmer at Mansfield, Ohio. He married Mrs. Mary
(McLaughlin) Osborne, who had one child by her
first marriage, Nial Osborne, who, when he grew to
manhood, was filled with the desire for adventure, and
in 1843 he crossed the plains and mountains by the
old Oregon Trail to the Williamette Valley, Ore.,
where he remained a couple of winters, then coming
to California he was one of those sent in an expedi-
tion to the relief of the Donner party in 1846. He
made a trip east and returned, and a second time
when he came out in 1849 he was accompanied by
our subject and his brother, Ira. Nial Osborne later
returned to Iowa where he spent his last days.

To the union of John Lords and Mrs. Osborne
were born six children, of whom Walden was fourth
in order of birth. He was reared on the Eastern
farm, where from a boy he was kept busy, assisting
in the farm work as was the custom of farmer boys
in those days. He crossed the plains with his half-
brother, Nial Osborne and on arriving in California
he followed mining at Placerville and later in the
region of lone, but it did not yield the profits he had
expected, so he settled down to farming, purchasing
land near Gait, Sacramento County, where in time
he came to own 400 acres which he devoted to grain
and stock raising. Here he also married, being
united with Mrs. Mary (Slattery) Huston, who was
born in Ireland and came to New York City when a
girl of sixteen years, and there her first marriage oc-
curred to William Huston. Soon afterwards the
young couple came via Panama to San Francisco
and thence to Sacramento. Mr. Huston followed
mining until his death.

In 1872 Walden Lords rented his ranch and came
to Santa Clara County, where he purchased a farm
at Alviso, where he began his career as an horti-
culturist, in which he became so singularly successful.
He engaged in raising berries and also set out an
orchard of Bartlett pears, and in time came to have
an orchard of 80 acres,, principally Bartlett pears,
which yielded him a large return. He was bereaved
of his faithful wife in 1903, after which he spent
most of his time in San Jose at the home of his
daughter, Mrs. Jennings, and there occurred his
death on November 3, 1909, an honored member of
the Santa Clara Valley Pioneers, who buried him with
honors. Mrs. Lords by her first marriage had one
child, Delia Huston, who became the wife of Oscar
Emmerson of San Jose, while Mr. and Mrs. Lords
had three children: Ella is Mrs. Jennings of San Jose;
John M. Lords resides on the old home ranch which
he superintends; Walden died when twenty-two
years old. It is a pleasure to note that since the
death of Walden Lords his ranch has been kept in-
tact in the family, who have taken the best of care of
it and treasure the orchard improved by their pioneer
parents, whose memory they cherish and revere.

W. W. & ELLA LORDS JENNINGS.— Promi-
nent and popular among the most interesting of pro-
gressive and useful citizens in Santa Clara County,
W. W. Jennings and his gifted wife, Ella Lords
Jennings, of 371 South Thirteenth Street, San Jose,
exert a wide and helpful influence in favor of better
conditions in California which is helpful and prom-
ising to others as well as to themselves. Mr. Jen-
nings was born in the Empire State, the son of
Charles W. and Emma (Ward) Jennings, both na-
tives of Leicestershire, England, who came to Seneca
Falls, N. Y., where the lad first saw the light of day,
and he migrated to California soon after the great
realty boom in 1888. He was an employe of the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, on the Coast
Division route, and later embarked in the grocery
business, and he followed that trade for many years
at the corner of Santa Clara and Teresa streets in
San Jose. In 1920 he sold out and took a position
in the employ of Black's Package Company of San
lose, with which concern he has been ever since.

.\t Alviso, on October 16, 1890, Mr. Jennings was
married to Miss Ella Lords, the daughter of Walden
Lords, a frontier pioneer, who is also represented on
this page. Ella Lords attended the Alviso school,
and having decided to follow a pedagogical career,
attended the San Jose State Normal School. Having
graduated, she taught school at Monterey, in the
old Capitol Building, and then, when she was be-
ginning to be of valuable service to society as a
trainer of the young, she concluded to marry and
establish her own family. Her union with Mr. Jen-
nings was a fortunate one, and this is especially true
on account of the cooperation she has afforded her
husband, with her exceptional ability, in all of his
enterprises. To their union have been born one son
and one daughter, — Walden A. Jennings, a mechanic
doing expert service on Mare Island for the United
States Government, and Emma E., a talented, es-
teemed school teacher, a graduate of the State Nor-
mal at San Jose, who lives at home.

\V. W. Jennings is clerk of the San Jose Camp of
the Modern Woodmen of America, and he has also
passed through all the chairs of the Maccabees at
San Jose, and is an active member of the Woodmen
of the World of San Jose, besides being a member
of the Royal Neighbors in the same city. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Jennings are Democrats, although the best
of nonpartisan "boosters" of their home district; and
Mrs. Jennings is a member of the Vendome Parlor
of the Native Daughters of the Golden West, and is
recorder of the local lodge of Royal Neighbors as
well as recorder of the State Camp of that order.

JOSEPH M, STILLWELL.— A true pioneer of
Santa Clara County. Joseph M. Stillwell, is well
known and highly esteemed by the residents of
San Jose, having here spent his entire life,
covering a period of sixty-six years, for he
was born in this city, on the Berryessa Road,
August 6, 18SS, the third son of Joseph C. and
Plina A. (Young) Stillwell. The father was a na-
tive of Kentucky and in times of peace followed
farming and stockraising, but he defended the in-
terests of the United States in the war against
Mexico in 1846. He came to California that year,
joined Fremont at Sacramento and rose to the rank
of Lieutenant and after his services were no longer
needed he settled down to ranching. He returned

486

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

East for a visit and then came across the plains
with the Samuel Young party. He later married
Mr. Young's daughter and both he and his wife
passed away in San Jose.

Reared upon a ranch, J. M. Stillwell attended
the public schools of Santa Clara County and on
entering business life took up the painter's trade,
remaining in the employ of J. P. Jarman of San
Jose until 1891. He has since had charge of the
Lowell School of this city as janitor and is most
capably discharging his duties in that connection,
proving faithful, efficient and reliable.

Mr. Stillwell was united in marriage in 1876 to
Miss Josephine Zingg, who was nine years of age
when she made the journey across the plains from
St. Louis, Mo., to California. Four children have
been born of this union. Joseph C, who for the
past eleven years has been custodian of the State
Normal School at San Jose, is married and has
one child, Loraine. Viola, a graduate of the Nor-
mal, is now the wife of Thomas T. Dougherty
and a resident of San Jose; Maude, who completed
a course in the State Normal School, is the wife
of T, F. Sourisseau, by whom she has one child,
Thomas, and they reside at Campbell, Santa Clara
County. William, also a graduate of the State
Normal, is a teacher in the public schools of San
Jose. He is married and has one child, Barbara.
The family reside at No. 452 South Ninth Street,
which has been their home for twenty-five years.
Mr. Stillwell is identified with the Independent Or-
der of Foresters. He has been an interested wit-
ness of the growth and development of San Jose
and has been an active factor in its progress. Wher-
ever known he is held in high regard, and most
of all where he is best known.

F. E. CORNELL. — No more interesting pioneer
than F. E. Cornell can be found in all Santa Clara
County, and certainly no citizen of Sunnyvale is more
worthy of honor within the bounds of that rising
municipality, for he had much to do with the very
beginning of things here, and a great deal to do with
blessing the town with a name which is truly descrip-
tive of this beautiful and withall historic spot, which
has recently taken in new life, by attracting a large
number of energetic and well-to-do settlers, many of
them having brought large means with them from
their former homes in the middle west, as well as
several very substantial manufacturing concerns whose
varied products being added to the luxuriance of its
fields and orchards have made this place known far
and wide. A worthy representative of colonial Hol-
land-American stock, Mr. Cornell was born at Byron,
Fond du Lac County, Wis., on August 4, 1861, the son
of James and Emaline (Warner) Cornell. He grew up
on a Wisconsin farm, attended the country schools,
and when he was ready for the undeveloped Pacific
Coast, the Coast was waiting lor him. His father,
James Cornell, lured by the great gold discovery
had come out to California from Wisconsin across
the plains in 1849, but after two years returned to
Wisconsin, married and settled down to farm life.
No wonder young Cornell's heart was in California,
so he came to San Jose in 1889. Determined to suc-
ceed, he lost no time but took the first job offered
him and engaged in the shops of the San Jose Street
Railway Company for two years. Thereafter, for
five years, he was employed in the ladies' furnishing
establishment of Orvis and Cornell at San Jose. He

came out to Murphy's Station (now Sunnyvale) in

1897, and quickly perceived a promising future in the
simple environment greeting him. he started a general
merchandise business here in October, 1897. The
Southern Pacific Railroad Company had retained the
name of Murphy's Station, so called from the fact
that this was the home of Martin Murphy, Jr., who
had built one of the first really good residences in
California at this place, in the very early days, from
plans and .specifications and lumber already cut in
the East and shipped around the Horn, all ready to
be put up in California. This house is still standing
and is still in excellent shape, and is the commodious
summer residence of Mrs. Mary Carroll, a daughter
of its builder. Martin Murphy. Sr.. and family and
Martin Murphy, Jr.. and family were the first two
white families from east of the Rocky Mountains
to settle permanently in California, making their
settlement within the confines of what is now Santa
Clara County in 1846. Before the advent of the rail-
road, all the lands upon which Sunnyvale now stands
was a part of the broad and fertile acres of the
Murphy Ranch, originally owned by Martin Murphy,
Jr. As the settlers grew in numbers they renamed the
place Encinal on account of the many beautiful live
oak trees which flourished at this place.

Mr. Cornell was appointed its first postmaster in

1898, the name of the post office being Encinal, while
the name of the railway station was Murphy's Sta-
tion. The name Encinal might have proven satis-
factory enough and might have been adopted by the
Southern Pacific had it not been that the company
had already given that name to another station on
their line. This situation led to a request to Mr.
Cornell and other early settlers to suggest a new
name. Together with Horace E. Smeld, Mr. Cor-
nell submitted three other names but they were all
rejected for various reasons.

A happy thought occurred to the postmaster and
fellow-townsmen — Sunnyvale — and no sooner had they
become convinced that such a name would best
describe the locality, than Mr. Cornell in his official
capacity, proposed the name for the town. The
authorities of the government, as well as of the rail-
road company, hastened to accept it, and it has cer-
tainly proved a happy designation. Mr. Cornell con-
tinued to be postmaster, and served from March 18,
1898 to April, 1915. Always sincerely interested in
the welfare of the place, he is now serving on its
Board of City Trustees, filling the vacancy caused
by the resignation of Karl S. Hazeltine.

He is the efficient and popular teller of the Sunny-
vale branch of the Bank of Italy, and is also the
keeper of the records and seals in Sunnyvale Lodge,
K. P. In whatever field he is active, he has the es-
teem and confidence of everybody.

In April, 1897, Mr. Cornell was married to Miss
Gertrude Payne, and their union has been blessed
with three children, Mildred, Elton, and James, the
two eldest being students at Stanford University.
Mrs. Cornell shares with her husband the distinction
of being a leading citizen at Sunnyvale, and at present
is serving as one of the five trustees of the Sunny-
vale Free Public Library. Mr. and Mrs. Cornell
reside in an attractive home on Murphy Avenue, and
all who know of their historic association with the
town feel a pride in their presenece as high-minded
citizens and warm-hearted neighbors and friends.

n^TH^ /hi^y7A^^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

480

IRWIN MILES WILCOX— For many years rep-
resentatives of the Wilcox family have resided in
San Jose, bearing an active and helpful part in the
work of general improvement and progress in this
section, and Irwin Miles Wilcox is actuated by
the same spirit of enterprise and initiative which dom-
inated his father. As head of the San Jose Broom
Factory he is controlling one of the important man-
ufacturing cntirpn^r> ot tlie city, and he formerly had
large dairy intcrot^. displaying marked executive
ability in the management of his afTairs. A native of
San Jose, he was born September 13, 1875, his par-
ents being Miles W. and Adeline (Hopkins) Wil-
cox. Both arrived in California in 1863, the mother
crossing the plains in an ox-team train, and the
father coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama.
The young people met at Marysville and were mar-
ried about 1866. Mr. Wilcox was engaged in manu-
facturing brooms at Marysville, and later when they
moved to San Jose he established the first broom
factory here, building up a large business on Bush
Street. He also established a glove factory and for
many years conducted a successful business in this
line, and in his passing away on July 27, 1911, San
Jose lost one of her most public-spirited citizens.
His widow survives him, and lives in San Jose.

Their only child, Irwin Miles, acquired his educa-
tion at the San Jose public schools and the Garden
City Business College, and following his father's
death, took over the management of the broom fac-
tory. With keen insight into business affairs, he has
been able to formulate plans which have resulted in
the continued growth of the business, manufacturing
brooms for the Keystone Company of San Jose,
Hedges, Buck & Company of Stocktofl, and other
local trade. Mr. Wilcox was associated with his
mother in the dairy business for many years. They
had two ranches, one at Milpitas and the other at
Santa Clara, devoted to alfalfa and dairying, and
owned some fine pure-bred Jersey stock. From Mil-
pitas they shipped their milk wholesale to San Fran-
cisco, while the California Dairy, on the Santa Clara
ranch, had one of the largest retail trades in San Jose.
On the death of his father they sold the dairy busi-
ness, in order to give more time to the manufacture
of brooms. They still own the ranch at Santa Clara,
renting it out to others. Mr. Wilcox also has valu-
able real estate interests in San Jose, having firm
faith in the future of this part of the state.

Mr. Wilcox was united in marriage in San Jose
to Miss Nellie Wilson, a native of Pescadero, Cal.,
and they have become the parents of two children,
Wilbur and Muriel. His political allegiance is given
to the Republican party and he is deeply interested
in everything that pertains to the welfare and progress
of Santa Clara County. Fraternally he is connected
with the Garden City Lodge of Odd Fellows and he
finds recreation in hunting and fishing. While it is
true that he came into a business already established,
he has demonstrated in its control that he has the
same executive power and keen discrimination be-
tween the essential and the non-essential which char-
acterized his father and placed him at the head of
extensive and important business interests. That he
is a man of strict integrity and moral worth is in-
dicated by the high esteem in which he is held by
those among whom his entire life has been passed.

E. T. PETTIT. — A pioneer horticulturist who,
stimulated by high principles and guided by clear
thinking and sound judgement, has certainly suc-
ceeded, is E. T. Pettit, and by all who know him
he is rated as an aggressively progressive man who
has contributed something definite to the development
of California husbandry. Mr. Pettit was born near
Elwood City, Lawrence County, Pa., November 8,
1846, the son of Nathaniel Pettit, also born in Penn-
sylvania, and a farmer there. Mr. Pettit's grand-
father, who was of French descent, was one of the
pioneers of Beaver County, Pa., coming from Vir-
ginia, and the family is able to look back with pride
to a long line of Virginian ancestry. His mother was
Barbara Grieb, a native of Philadelphia, of German
parents, and she died in Lawrence County. Of their
eleven children, E. T. was fourth oldest.

When he started in life for himself he chose the
profession of the teacher. After completing the
public schools he attended the State Normal School
at Edinboro, Pa., and after teaching a few terms in
his native state he went to Missouri and there entered
the State Norma! School at Kirksville. He spent
the three years following his graduation in 1873 in
teaching in Missouri and then came to San Jose, Cal.,
in 1876, and here took a senior course in the San
Jose State Normal, at which institution he graduated
in 1878. During the years of 1880 and 1881 he was
principal of the schools of Sonora, Tuolumne County,
after which he held a similar position in different
places in California until as principal of schools at
Willovv'S, Glenn County for two years. He retired
from educational work in 1885 to devote all of his
time to horticulture. As early as 1881 he purchased
his present place of twenty-two acres on Douglas
Road and began setting out orchard, improving it
from a stubblefield to an excellent state of production
and of delicious fruit. He set out ten acres to apri-
cots and prunes, and the remainder of the acreage
was set out during the next few seasons to prunes
and peaches and cherries. The results which Mr.
Pettit obtains from his horticultural interests clearly
show the excellent care which he bestows upon them.
In 1887 five acres of apricots yielded thirty-five tons
of fruit which sold for $1,000. This same year, Mr.
Pettit, in partnership with his sister, purchased land
adjoining the town of Colusa, in Colusa County and
in 1888 planted it to apricots and peaches, later selling
it to advantage. In 1919 Mr. Pettit had a yield of
forty-six tons of apricots on four and a half acres
and sold them for $5,300, showing how values have
risen during this period.

In politics, Mr. Pettit is a thorough Republican.
He is a man of sterling integrity, possessed of the
influence which every man of education and refine-
men, when combined with uprightness of character,
exerts for good in the community in which he makes
his home. The qualities of thoroughness and faith-
fulness in the performance of every duty, which
made him a most successful teacher, has made him
a success as a horticulturist. Mr. Pettit was an
early member of the San Jose Grange No. 10, hold-
ing the position of secretary of that organization in
1887 and afterwards as master for several terms, and
for four years was master of the State Grange. Thus
for thirty years he has attended the annual meeting
of the State Grange, in which he is welcome because
of his years of experience as well as his fluency as a

490

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

speaker. He was one o£ the organizers and directors
and later served as secretary of the West Side Fruit
Growers' Association, a cooperative drying and pack-
ing concern, and is the only one of the original direc-
tors still serving. He is also a member of California
Prune and Apricot Association.

GARRETT J. BYRNE.— A varied and interesting
career was that of the late Garrett J. Byrne, one of
the best known of the Irish pioneers in California,
who was one of the earliest dry goods merchants in
the state, his progressive spirit and capability bring-
ing him unqualified success in his business ventures.
Mr. Byrne was born on November 20, 1827, on the
sunnv slopes of Tellabvrne, near the noted St. John's
well." six miles from Kilkenny, Ireland. The eldest of
a family of nine brothers and four sisters, he finished
his schooling at the age of si.xteen to go to work on
the farm. At nineteen he started to learn the dry
goods business — four years of apprenticeship and no
pay. His father had to pay for his clothes all dur-
ing that time and twenty-five pounds besides. When
his time was up, he could not get any employment
near his home, so went up to Dublin but met with the
same result, as those were hard times in Ireland.
Starting for Liverpool on the Trafalgar, he took
passage on the sailing vessel, Grace McRae — no
steamers on the Atlantic at that time — and after a
perilous voyage he landed at New York, where he
secured a position with Abraham Gunst at 295 Bow-
ery, the father of Moses Gunst. the cigar man.

Mr. Byrne remained in New York until October
19, 1852, when he sailed for San Francisco on the
Star of the West, stopping at Jamaica and arriving
at Aspinwall in due time. They poled across the
Chagres River in a flat boat to Gorgona, walked
across the Isthmus eighteen miles to Panama, and
after ten days took passage on the Cortes, which was
making the trip up the coast. He arrived at San
i-'rancisco. and as he said in an account of his active
life published in the Leader in 1910.

"When I arrived in California, the only capi-
tal I had was youth, energy and perseverance, and
I needed them badly. My first job in the city was to
roll a lot of barrels on Sansonie .Street from the side-
walk to the cellar, for whicli I received $2.50 for
two hours' work. The firm 1 worked for was Rising,
Casclla & Company, and I will never fortjet my first
job in San Francisco. After a few days I Kot a posi-
tion with Thos. Masterson on Clay Street at $200 a
month and a percentage on my sales. I had $1,000 in
a short time, which I loaned at three per cent a
month — thirty-six per cent a year — so I made money
fast. Those were great old times. The bay was up
to Montgomery and Jackson streets then; the old
ship Niantic was high and dry at Sansome and Clay
streets and was used as a rooming house. I remained
with Masterson for a few years, until I started in
business at Marysville, December 1, 1855. Mine was,
I might say, the first regular dry goods store there.
. . . I attended the first Christian midnight mass,
December 25, 1854, at St. Mary's Cathedral, San
Francisco, and five weeks from that time mine was
the first marriage that took place there, February 1,
1855. The Rev. Hugh Gallagher welded the golden
chains that were broken by my wife's death Septem-
ber 26, 1900. February 1, 1855', was the happiest day
of my life and will ever find a warm corner in this
old Irish heart of mine."

Mrs. Byrne before her marriage was Miss Annie
McCloud; she was born at Sidney, Cape Breton, Nova
Scotia, the daughter of Donald McCloud, also born
there and descended from an old and prominent
family. He was a successful farmer and owned a
beautiful place which was enhanced by fine natural
lakes. On her maternal side Annie McCloud was a
McGilvery and Tier grandfather was a Sutherland, of
the famed house of Sutherland. With her sister Kate,
who later became Mrs. J. H. Tobin, she came to San
Francisco in 1852 with Captain and Mrs. Urey, mak-
ing the trip across the Isthmus of Panama on mule
back. She supported herself and her sister by sewing,
and sent her sister to the convent of the Sisters of
Charity, then located on the present site of the Palace
Hotel, and later Kate McCloud attended the public
schools in San P'raucisco. While trading at Master-
son's store in San Francisco, Annie McCloud met
Mr. Byrne, and the admiration of the young people
being mutual, the acquaintance later resulted in their
marriage.

Mr. and Mrs. Byrne were the parents of a large
family — eleven children: Bessie died while attending
Notre Dame in March, 1868, the first death at that
institution; Margaret died in infancy; Garry died in
1882; Robert died in San Francisco sixteen years ago.
Martin died in 1898 at Glcnbrook Farm; Allen resides
at Sunnyvale; Charles lives at San Mateo; Joseph died
in infancy; James died in 1918; Elizabeth, the wife of
J. A. McDonald, and Kathryn M. and these two
daughters jointly own and make their home at Glcn-
brook Farm. In 187J Mrs. Byrne made a trip to
Ireland with the children, then eight in number, and
they spent two and a half years there, when they re-
turned to San I'ranciscn. She was a noble woman
and devoted her time to the rearing of her family and
in a careful oversight of their education. The boys
attended Sacred Heart and St. Mary's academies,
while the daughters were educated in the Dominican
■ Dame convents at San Francisco and the
nil AiaiKniy at Santa Clara. Mrs. Byrne
iiiirii; .iiid .Hiive in the social life of San
. lie 111- ,L linllianl and accomplished woman;
er sister, Mrs. Tobin, were both very popu-
vere considered two of the inost beautiful
in the Bay city,
conducting his business in Marysville until

and Not
Notre 1)

Francist
she and
lar and
women i

Afte
1858. Mr. Byrne returned to San Francisco, establish-
ing himself on Clav Street, where he remained until
the Lick House was opened in December, 1862. He
then went into iiarlnersliip with Robert Kirbv, who
had married .\!i^- \\yvur\ M.ter. .Margaret McCloud.
and the Kiri)y-l;\ riu (."Diniiany ojiened their estab-
lishment at 7 Muntguniery Street. Mr. Byrne was
extremely successful in his business and made what
was then considered a fortune in fifteen years, but
like many Californians, lost much of it in mining ven-
tures. After retiring from business he was for some
years a deputy in the county assessor's oftice in San
Francisco.

In 1879 Mr. and Mrs. Byrne purchased the ranch
on Stevens Creek, Santa Clara County, named by Mrs.
Byrne, Glenbrook Farm, from a beautiful place she
had known in Ireland, and here the family made their
home, developing it into an attractive estate. After
his wife's death, Mr. Byrne made a trip in 1903 to
Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania, and two years
later he crossed the .Atlantic to visit his old home in
Ireland, after an absence of fifty-four years. The

.^/'^W^ ^-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

remainder of his years were spent in comfortable re-
tirement at Glenbrook Farm, where he passed away
on January 14, 1917, highly esteemed by all who knew
him, his death closing a career of unusual activity and
accomplishment.

JAMES A. McDonald.— Comnig to California
thirty-three years ago, James A. McDonald is num-
bered among the successful orchardists of Santa
Clara County, and he can look back on a life filled
with varied and interesting experiences, from his
boyhood days in the Maritime Provinces, to the time
spent in balmy, tropical Honolulu, and then by way
of severe contrast, three years spent in the frozen
North, in the first gold rush to Alaska. His birth-
place was Cape Breton, Canada, and he traces his
ancestry back to the McDonalds and Macdonalds
of Inverness and Glencoe, Scotland. Augustine and
Mary (Giles) McDonald were his parents, the father
born on Prince Edward Isle. Grandfather Angus
McDonald and Great-grandfather Ronald McDonald
came from Morarshire, Scotland, and settled on
Prince Edward Island, and this was the family home
for many years. There Augustine McDonald fol-
lowed his trade as a builder, until his marriage, when
he made his home on Cape Breton Island until his
death at the age of ninety-two. Mrs. Mary Giles
McDonald's grandfather came from Scotland to
Prince Edward Island, and here her father, Donald
Giles, was born. When a young man he came with
his wife and child in an open boat to Cape Breton
while it was yet a wilderness, and was one of the
first settlers there, taking up land and improving it
and becoming well-to-do. He built two vessels, one
for each son, and for years they were engaged in
trading along the Atlantic Coast. Mrs. McDonald
passed away at the age of seventy-seven, the mother
of thirteen children, seven of whom are living.

The fifth oldest of the family and the only one in
California, James A. McDonald attended the schools
of his home neighborhood until he was twelve
years old, and shortly after he entered a dry goods
store in Sidney as a clerk, continuing in that line of
work until 1888, when he came to San Francisco.
Wishing to get into the great outdoors, he followed
ranching at San Rafael for five years and engaged
in the same line at Hopland, Mendocino County. He
next served as a deputy under Sheriff McDade at
San Francisco, then went to Honolulu, where for
three years he imported horses from California, sell-
ing them in the Hawaiian Islands. At the time of
the first gold rush to Alaska, in 1898, Mr. McDonald
made his way to St. Michael and then up the Yukon
to Dawson; it took from July, 1898, to June, 1899,
to make the trip, as the party was frozen in en
route. He was at Fairbanks when there was only
one old prospector there, and they had to walk
across from Rampart City. At Dawson the Canadian
Government was building a telegraph line to White-
horse, and he entered their employ, working on the
boat handling the wire, and helping install the first
telegraph instruments at the station at Dawson.
After the line was completed he was mate on the
steamer taking people to Whitehorse, and on the way
down the river they lost the boat. All on board
escaped watery graves, Mr. McDonald coming ashore
bareheaded, and they walked 250 miles to Dawson,
camping out nights. He continued to prospect, but
after putting in three years there he returned to San
Francisco in 1901, via Cape Nome.

At old St. Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco, on
April 30, 1904, Mr. McDonald was married to Miss
Elizabeth Byrne, the daughter of Garrett J. and
Annie (McCloud) Byrne, pioneers of San Francisco,
who are represented on another page of this history.
Mrs. McDonald was born at San Francisco and edu-
cated at the Dominican Convent there; she is a cul-
tured woman of much capability and the union has
proven a very happy one. After their marriage Mr.
and Mrs. McDonald took >ip their resilience on Glen-
brook Farm, the Byrne homestead since 1879, and
since then Mr. McDonald has devoted his time to
horticulture, having reset and improved the ranch
until sixty acres are now in full bearing orchard of
prunes and apricots. It is beautifully located on
Stevens Creek and is one of the show places of the
country. Mr. McDonald is also roadmaster in the
Fifth supervisorial district, having filled this office
since 1905, very creditably to himself and the pub-
lic, as the roads in that district well testify to his
ability in that line. He is a member of the San Jose
Council, K. of C and is greatly interested in the
improvement of the Santa Clara Valley, this wonder-
fully favored section of the globe.

DR. J. IRVING BEATTIE.— Prominent and suc-
cessful from the very beginning of his practice as a
physician and surgeon. Dr. J. Irving Beattie has be-
come pre-eminent among the leading medical men of
Santa Clara County and is today rightly regarded
as one of the first citizens of Santa Clara, in which
city he has his residence and office at 1075 Benton
Street. He was born in the province of Ontario.
Canada, on June 1. 1883. and came to California as
a young man of seventeen. When properly prepared
for special work, he entered the Cooper Medical
College at San Francisco, from which he was gradu-
ated with honors in 1905; and then he traveled in
Europe and for a year worked in the London Hos-
pital. On his return to America, he spent a year at
the French Hospital at San Francisco.

In 1907 he located at Santa Clara, and on the first
of the year opened an office as the third doctor at
the corner of Main and Benton Streets, which for
decades has been the Mecca for thousands of suflfer-
ers, succeeding to the office of his uncle. Dr. D. A.
Beattie, now located in San Jose, who in turn suc-
ceeded Dr. Saxe, an early and noted practitioner at
Santa Clara. Dr. Beattie's success may be in part
estimated from the constant attendance of patients
during the afternoon hours when he is available for
office consultation. The mornings are devoted to
surgical operations at the hospital, and to visiting
those in distress at their own homes.

On January 12, 1907, Dr. Beattie was married to
Miss Hilda Mayer, a native of San Francisco and the
daughter of Charles Mayer, Jr., of the Bay metrop-
olis. She is a graduate of the University of Cali-
fornia, having finished her studies with the class of
1906; and she has been of inestimable service to her
husband in his constantly increasing practice. Two
children have blessed this union, Herraione and
Yvonne. As public-spirited as he is genial. Dr.
Beattie joined the ranks of the Americans in the
World War and in 1918 went to Fort Riley, where
he served as lieutenant until three months after the
signing of tlie armistice.

496

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

WILLIAM SIMPSON, M. D.— Highly esteemed
as a successful physician and surgeon, with a long
and enviable record of faithful, efficient service in
the cause of humanity, Dr. William Simpson of
San Jose enjoys a unique position in local society
as one of the most interesting of old-time residents.
He was born in the province of Quebec, Canada,
on March 21, 1846, the son of George F. and Har-
riet (Towns) Simpson, who crossed the line into
the States when our subject was three years of age
and settled for a while near Fort Edward, N. Y.
There Mr. Simpson died, and later his devoted
widow came to California and remained with her
son until her death, in her eighty-eighth year.

William went to the district schools in New York,
and later topped of? his education by pursuing
courses at the Fort Edward Collegiate Institute;
and then he taught school for a number of years.
He was the last principal at the famous Farmers
Hall Academy — whose first principal, by the way,
was Noah Webster — and during Mr. Simpson's
service this academy was incorporated into the New
York state public school system and became the
academic department of the Goshen schools. He
then took charge of the Union Free School at
Chester, N. Y., for six years, and after that studied
medicine at the Long Island College Hospital.
Brooklyn's well-known medical school, from which
he was graduated in 1878. He was resident physi-
cian at the Brooklyn Children's Seaside Home at
Coney Island, being the first physician who had
ever spent a season there. After that he was for
three years at Hoosick Falls, N. Y.

In 1881 he came to California and located at
San Jose; and since then he has carried on the long-
est term of practice of any physician near here,
not one of his colleagues who were here when he
came being alive today. Before coming to Cali-
fornia. Dr. Simpson took a special course of study
in New York City in relation to the eye, ear and
throat, in which he specializes. He is now county
health officer, and he has the distinction of having
been the first health officer of San Jose, being ap-
pointed in 1889. He it was who began the making
and preservation of the records of vital statistics,
which had not been kept before he took charge.

Dr. Simpson was married on April 12, 1892, at
San Jose, to Miss Rose E. Denne, and they have
had one daughter, Mrs. Helen Simpson Cole. The
family are members of Trinity Episcopal Church.
Dr. Simpson has been a Mason since February 26,
1872, having been made a Mason in Standard Lodge
No. 711, A. F. and A. M., at Chester (now Mon-
roe), N. Y., and he served two terms as master
and was a delegate to the Grand Lodge at New
York, June 2, 1875. at the dedication of the temple
there; he now belongs to San Jose Lodge No. 10,
F. and A. M., and to San Jose Chapter, R. A. M.
He also is a member of San Jose Lodge No. 522,
B. P. O. Elks, in which society he was exalted ruler
during" 1906, and attended the national annual con-
vention at Philadelphia the following year. He be-
longs to the Santa Clara Medical Society, having
served as president, is a member of the California
State Medical Society and has been vice-president
of same, and is a member of the American Public
Health Association; also the California State Health
Officers' Association, serving as vice-president in

1922-23. Dr. Simpson was the first surgeon of the
Fifth Regiment, N. G. C, and was retired with rank
of major, though he served during the railroad
strike and after the fire and earthquake in 1906, and
was a member of the Volunteer Medical Service
during the World War.

JAMES MATTHEW FELLOM. — Prominent
among the native Californians who have attained
distinction as writers of stirring American fiction
may well be mentioned James Matthew Fellom,
whose latest work, a story entitled "Celestial Chattel,"
has just been secured for publication in the Pictorial
Review. He was born on February 7, 1880, on a
ranch near Old Gilroy, in Santa Clara County, the
son of Sinfriano and Anna Maria (Fellom) Fellom,
the former of whom was born near Gilroy, while
his mother was born in New York City, and the
record of his ancestry is itself romance. His grand-
father, Matthew Fellom. a sturdy Norseman, hailed
from Elsinore, Denmark, and made many daring
voyages in a Danish whaling vessel on the seven
seas; and as early as 1833, after a hazardous trip
around the Horn, left his ship while it lay at anchor
at Bodega Bay. The pioneer, John Gilroy, had
preceded him to this port two years before, and
Grandfather Fellom. it is said, was the second white
num. from Northern Continental Europe, to reach
the .^anta Clara Valley. Subsequently he married
a beautiful senorita and himself became a don and
later served as alcalde. Sinfriano Fellom was a
graduate of the University of Santa Clara and was
a mine operator in Lower California for many years,
and was a prominent official of the Mexican gov-
ernment, being secretary to Governor Luis Torres
and was territorial postmaster at Ensenada; later
on he located at San Francisco and made a second
trip during a big mining boom to Sierra Pintada,
from which point he anticipated penetrating the
Lower California desert, perishing in the attempt.

Life on the rancho of 2.000 acres, which Matthew
Fellom later owned, was a continuation of the wed-
ding feast, and many gaieties were enjoyed by all the
neighbors in the vicinity of the old towm of Gilroy;
and it is not surprising that Matthew became the
first alcalde at San Juan Bautista under the Amer-
ican regime. He had a younger brother named
Caius Julius Fellom. who had left Denmark after
Matthew; and it was when the latter made a sec-
ond trip from New York to California in the early
fifties that the two brothers met at Gilroy for the
first time, Caius having been born after Matthew
left Denmark. A New Yorker had been out to the
Santa Clara Valley and while here had learned of,
or met. a Fellom at Gilroy; and having reported this
fact to Caius Julius Fellom on his return to the
East, the meeting was eventually brought about. On
the trip from San Francisco down the Peninsula.
Caius J. Fellom came on foot, and he could relate
much to his friends of the richness of the valley.
The giant mustard grew to such height that a man
on horseback would never be able to see beyond
and around him.

Caius Julius Fellom remained in the Santa Clara
Valley and located near Oak Hill, near the site of
the Oak Hill cemetery of today; and six months
later he sent for his wife and children who came
out to California in 1860. via the Panama Isthmus,
.-md then for a time they all lived in a house on

.Jh<AC^^<^^t^<^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

499

Devine Street, San Jose. Matthew Fellom, on the
other hand, surrounded by every comfort that re-
sources and wealth could bring to the early Dons,
lived only to middle age.

Mr. and Mrs. Sinfriano Fellom were first cousins,
and James Fellom, our subject, is the eldest child
in a family of five children; Landon is a miner and
publisher at San Francisco; Roy, a magazine pub-
lisher and a member of assembly of the State Legis-
lature from San Francisco, and there was a brother
and a sister who died young. Mrs. Sinfriano Fellom
was a graduate of Notre Dame convent and was
talented in music and literature. She now makes
her home in San Francisco. When James was
eight months old his parents removed from Gilroy
to San Jose, and while the children were growing
up. the father arranged for their education in the
best schools. At the age of fourteen, James grad-
uated from the Franklin school, and then he spent a
term at St. Joseph's College in San Jose, where he
studied Latin and Greek and the English classics
under Father John Walsh, to whose scholarship,
personality and association he has always been in-
debted. He also received private training in lit-
erary studies and in elocution, and after attending
St. Ignatius College in San Francisco for a term,
he set out for Mexico at the age of eighteen. His
father had already entered into mining, and he went
there with him on a mining expedition. They were
at Camp Alamo, in Lower California, for a year
and a half; but their efforts were crowned with
failure, and their return was made with an Indian
guide and a pack-mule. — 150 miles of "hike" amid
memorable and fascinating scenery.

Yuma, Ariz., was the destination, on a route pass-
ing the Imperial Valley, then waste and arid in its
entire extent; and for a short time they tarried at
Gold Rock, the first all-American mine our author
had ever seen, a joy to behold. Removing to Tucson,
the family arrived from San Jose and joined them;
and a new home was established; but James Fellom
soon became dissatisfied, for he was not by nature a
miner. He, therefore, returned North to San Fran-
cisco in 1899, where he sought employment; and he
soon identified himself with the Pinkerton Detec-
tive Agency. He was sent north to the mines in
Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, at the time of the labor up-
risings; and after having accomplished some re-
markable detective work there, he barely escaped
with his own life at the hands of the strikers.

The story of the life of our subject for the next
fifteen years is more or less the record of the history
of the San B'rancisco earthquake, and the story of
life in the mining camps of Inyo, Tuolumne, Teha-
ma, Siskivou, Stanislaus, Kern and Los Angeles
counties, 'in San Francisco, during 1902, 1903, 1904,
and 1905 he made his livelihood by various occupa-
tions, and late in April. 1906, while the bay metropo-
lic lay smouldering in ashes, he set out to Goldfield
and Tonopah. Nev., to win enough fortune to make
up the amount which the family had suffered in re-
verses. As early as 1903, Charles Rhorhand, who
was art critic on the San Francisco Call, praised his
first story, a yarn which appeared in the Call May 24.
1903, called "He, of Brent." and two years later he
met with success in the publication of "Hoodoo's
Mine." He had been a faithful reader of the "Nick
Carter" stories by E. T. Sawyer, the historian of
this history of Santa Clara County, and the hanker-

ing after writing was in his very soul. In company
with his brothers, Roy and Landon, he removed
to Goldfield, Nev.. and from there James Fellom
started on a rampage of adventure in the mines,
which ended some ten years later. His finances
dropped down to the lowest ebb, and he was forced •
to pass many a mealtime without a dinner. Much
time was spent in the mining camps of Goldfield,
Tonopah, Bullfrog, Rhy-o-lite, Lida, Seven Troughs,
Rawhide and Bogart, and for four months he was in
charge of the Tonopah and Tidewater commissary
at Ludlow, and seven times he crossed Death Val-
ley, apparently for no other reason than to gather
the material for the stories penned by him in the
last three years. Walking, riding the trails and the
railroads of the Southwest, Mr. Fellom has played
the part of the genuine hobo for the time he was
in it, and known from first-hand experience the life
of the wanderer. Naturally he had many an ad-
venture, often discouraging; but while laying up in
Mojave, Cal., he took new courage and wrote the
"Ways of Nan Humtottle," resting his back up
against an adobe building as he sunned himself.
This brought him the means to reach San Francisco,
where he continued lii-. Iitirar\- work.

In 1913 he market..! ■■(■„. Id and Water," which
was published by tin- Frank ^Munsey Company, and
was his first story to appear in the Eastern maga-
zines; and after that eighteen novelettes were sold
to the same publisher, and here begins the story
of the successful author. However, the slump in the
market of fiction in 1914-lS, caused him to seek
other temporary employment, and he associated him-
self with the San Jose Mercury-Herald and the San
Francisco Call at Camp Fremont during the war.
Early in 1919 he renewed his efforts at fiction writ-
ing, and has scored such success that he has since
marketed over forty stories. These have been con-
tributed to Munsey's Saucy Stories, the Western
Story Magazine, the Popular Magazine, the Picto-
rial Review, Argosy All-Story, Peoples, McClures
and Short Stories magazines, the People's Home
Journal, and many others. The two complete
novels. "The Wherewithal" and "The Complex
Mrs. Bcldcn" arc just being published in octavo form.
Mr. Fellom is the founder of the "Plotwrights," a
literary club in San Jose.

.\t San Francisco, in 1899, Mr. Fellom was mar-
ried to Miss Lelia Gruby, a native of Oregon, by
whom he had one son, Noel Valentine, who was at-
tending Santa Clara College when in 1918 he en-
listed in the U. S. Marines, and since his honorable
discharge he has located in San Francisco, where he
is engaged in newspaper work. He has written
numerous short stories and has recently completed
his first novel, "The Night Riders," which gives
every promise of success. Not long ago, James
Fellom married a second time, taking for his wife
Miss Ruby Esther Byler. the daughter of Tyra A.
Byler. who was a native of .A.labama and had mar-
ried Miss Fannie Maria Collins, of Kentucky. Tyra
Byler was a successful and well-known marine en-
gineer, and with his devoted wife spent his last years
in San Jose. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Jas. Fel-
lom has been blessed with one child, James Byler
Fellom. Mrs. Fellom was born in Sacramento and
obtained her education in the schools of San Jose
and Oakland. Displaying a natural talent for music,
she studied with the Worcester School of Music

500

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of San Jose and with Benjamin Moore of San Fran-
cisco. She is a cultured woman and intensely in-
terested in her husband's literary work and enters
heartily into it acting as his critic and reviewer.
Mr. Fellom is the treasurer of the Markham Home
Landmark Association of which Henry Meade Bland
is president.

CHARLES F. W. HERRMANN— A finely-
trained, experienced and thoroughly practical civil
engineer and surveyor is Charles Herrmann of San
Jose, for three terms the surveyor of Santa Clara
County. He was born in Germany in April. 1846.
the son of A. Herrmann, a German by birth, and
his English-born wife, who was Eliza Purgold be-
fore her marriage. Charles attended the Polytechnic
Schools at Hanover and Carlsruhe, and in 1865
was graduated as a civil engineer. Then he ac-
cepted the post of mechanical engineer on the steam-
er Saxonia, and made about twenty trips between
New York and Germany. In 1867 he took up civil
engineering and surveying in his native land.

In the spring of 1869, Mr. Herrmann came out
to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama,
and having a brother, A. T. Herrmann at San Jose,
he came here and spent a couple of years at which
time they established the firm of Herrmann Bros.,
civil engineers and surveyors. Later he was in the
employ of the Southern Pacific at Sacramento for
a year as mechanical engineer and on returning to
San Jose he devoted his time to the interests of
Herrmann Bros. He and his brother made the first
complete map of Santa Clara County, which gives
each subdivision of land with the owners' names,
school districts, roads and other very desirable data;
it took two years, and the assessments for 1873-74
were based on this map, and from it all later maps
of the county have been made. During his public
service as surveyor of Santa Clara County — for three
years — Mr. Herrmann and his brother laid out Lick
.\venue, popularly known as the Mt. Hamilton Road,
to Lick Observatory.

At Sacramento on April 14. 1872, Mr. Herrmann
was married to Miss Helen Hoerst, a native of Ger-
many, but who was reared in this country from
the age of four years and with whom he has trav-
eled life's journey in the eventful intervening years.
A Republican given to standing by the party in mat-
ters of national moment, Mr. Herrmann is still so
deeply interested in Santa Clara County and all that
may pertain to its promising future, that he never
favors partisanship as a local issue. He owns a sum-
mer home at Saratoga, but has always lived in San
Jose. He remains active in the Germania Club, and
belongs to Schiller Lodge No. 105, I. O. O. F. of Sac-
ramento, and lives the exemplary life of a patriotic
American.

LAWRENCE RUSSELL.— The pioneer cooperat-
ive fruit packer of the Santa Clara Valley, Lawrence
Russell, of tlie Saratoga district, has been associated
with the fruit industry as an orchardist ever since
his advent in this county, w hither he removed in 1888.
A native of the land of Burns, he was born at Cal-
derbank, Scotland, on .'\ugust 5, 1850, the son of
Andrew and Isabella (Arthur) Russell, both born,
reared and died in their native land. The father was
a baker by trade, following that until his death.
Lawrence was educated in the public schools of Cal-
derbank and the Airdrie Academy of Airdrie, Scot-

land, and when he was through with his studies he be-
came office boy for the Monkland Iron and Steel Com-
pany at Calderbank and remained with this firm for
sixteen years, advancing from one post to another
until he became cashier, and during the time he read
law and became a chartered accountant while in their
employ.

Having left the employ of the steel company he
secured a position with the Arizona Copper Company
of Edinburgh, and in 1883, came to Clifton, Arizona,
where in 1885 he was joined by his family. He held
the post of cashier for the Arizona Copper Company,
later was made its president and manager. He was
also president and manager of the Arizona and New
Mexico Railroad, owned by stockholders of the Cop-
per Company, running between Clifton, Arizona and
Lordsburg, New Mexico. During 1888 he came to
California and to San Jose, but stopped for only a
few months in the city, when he went to the Saratoga
district, and on the Mountain View road, in 1889,
he purchased eighty acres of orcliard, which is now
set to prunes and apricots. This was about the time
that the transformation of the country from grain
farming to fruit raising was in progress, with no
markets for the fruit, or when marketed, w-ith the
prices so unstable as to discourage development of
orchards. There was no coordination among any of
the growers and each individual did the best he could
to advance his own interests. Mr. Russell circulated
among the growers of his district and finally or-
ganized a cooperative association of three men for
the packing and marketing of fruit, with his sons to
aid him in his work. They secured the best method
of commercial packing of good fruit and from their
first year, when only two car loads were sent out.
they steadily advanced until now an average of thirty
cars are sent to the markets of .America annually.
During tlie years intervening from 1889 to the present
time, Mr. Russel's forcetul personality has been felt
in the orchard and packing industry, and though
practically retired from active duties he is still acting
in an advisory capacity in the plant that he founded
thirty years ago. They still retain among their cus-
tomers people who bought their fruit at the beginning
and the "Russell Brand" of first class packed dried
fruit stands for quality in all the markets of the
East. As a fruit grower, Mr. Russell utilizes every
up-to-date method to be found on all first class
ranches and his industry and perseverance have been
the main factors in his success.

In Scotland, on December 19, 1870. he was united
in marriage with Miss Mary MacVicar, born in that
country, and they have become the parents of eight
children: Andrew, connected with Richmond-Chase
Company in San Jose, and the father of two children,
Dorothy and Norman A.; Hamilton, on the ranch
with his father, formerly a garage owner at Saratoga:
Jessie, the wife of A. L- Cilker of Los Gatos; Isa-
bella, at home with her parents; Alexander, a civil
engineer in the employ of the state and living in
Berkeley, and has two children, Alexander and Mary
Inez; Margaret, also at home; Mary, the wife of
A. E. Stewart, of Berkeley; while Lawrence, widely
known among a large circle of friends, died at the
age of twenty-four.

Mr. Russell is a stalwart Republican and alive to the
interests of his party in national issues, but in local
matters he is above partisanship and supports the
men and measures for the greatest good to the

Z-^^^. J^Mo^)/^.^

^^CC^^J*,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

503

greatest number. He is a stanch advocate of edu-
cation and has served as a member of his local school
board for many years. He is a member of Liberty
Lodge No. 299, F. & A. M. of Santa Clara. He is
public spirited to a high degree, giving freely of his
time and means to promote movements for the moral
and social uplift of his adopted state and county.
He has witnessed the steady growth and development
of Santa Clara County and now in the evening of his
days, with his good wife by his side, and surrounded
by his children and grandchildren, enjoys life to its
full, a well-deserved reward for his busy years.

JOHN R. LOCURTO.— In the path of an orderly
progression, each step being made at the cost of
earnest labor and close application, John R. Locurto
has reached an enviable place in the business circles
of San Jose, being now closely associated with its
commercial interests as proprietor of the Consoli-
dated Garage, one of the leading enterprises of this
character in the city. He also has other business
interests here and in the management of his affairs
has displayed sound judgment, energy and enter-
prise. He was born in New York City, November
22. 1888, a son of G. B. and Lucile Locurto. the
former a native of Palermo, Italy. When a young
man the father emigrated to the United States, es-
tablishing his home in New York City, where he
resided until 1901, wlien he responded to the call
of the West and came with his family to California.
He established his home in San Jose and soon after-
ward identified himself with its business interests,
opening a grocery store on West San Carlos Avenue.
He has now reached the age of seventy years but
is still actively at work. Mr. and Mrs. Locurto be-
came the parents of three sons and three daughters.

John R. Locurto acquired his education in the
public schools of New York City, which he attended
to the age of thirteen years, and a year later started
out in life on his own account, going to San Fran-
cisco, where for two years he was employed in the
Union Iron Works. He then returned to San Jose
and for the next three years worked for the Cali-
fornia Fruit Canners' Association, afterward opening
a butcher shop on West San Carlos Street. This he
continued to successfully conduct until the spring
of 1920. when he withdrew from its active manage-
ment, although he still retains the ownership of the
shop. He then bought out the Consolidated Garage
and took over the Santa Clara Countv territory for
the Kissel. Maxwell and Liberty cars. He c.irries
a.: least one of each of these macliDus in slock all
o^ the time and his aggressive business nu-tliods have
resulted in a large volume of sales. He is now con-
ducting his interests in a fine modern garage. 50x250
feet, at .?55 South First Street, which was especially
erected for this purpose. He carries a full line of
automobile accessories and parts to the amount of
$11,000 and also maintains a well-equipped repair
thop capable of meeting all of the demands of the
trade. Under his able management the business has
enjoyed a remarkably rapid growth and he now
gives constant employment to from eighteen to
tvventy men. He was formerly the owner of a
twenty-acre ranch on the Fox-Wertly Road, but sold
the property on May 22, 1920, and invested the
proceeds in his automobile business.

In October, 1914. at San Jose. Mr. Locurto was
united in marriage to Miss Lina Petrina Garnise, a
native of Texas and a .daughter of Antone and Mar-
garet Garnise. Her parents removed to San Jose
during her girlhood and her education was acquired
in the schools of Texas and this locality. Three
sons have been born of this union: John, Jr., Antone
and Joseph. Mr. Locurto is a valued member of the
Italian-American Club of San Jose, and his political
allegiance is given to the Republican party. His
career has been marked by steady advancement, due
to his close application, industry and unquestioned
reliability, and he deserves classification with the
successful and public-spirited citizens of San Jose.

KARL R. FREDERICKS.— An aggressive, pro-
gressive young man who is fast rising in the busi-
ness w^orld and enjoying the fruits of intelligent m-
dustry and a well-merited popularity, is Karl R.
Fredericks, among the proudest of American citizens
from the fact that he has just received his citizenship
papers. He was born in the ancient city of Augs-
burg, in the province of Schwaben-Neuburg, in
Bavaria, on July 27, 1890, the son of Ferdinand Fred-
ericks, an artist and an interior decorator, who was
much in demand for churches, public auditoriums
and large buildings; he died when only forty years
old. He had married Miss Margaret Kurgess, and
she is still living in Vienna.

Karl went to the primary schools and the gym-
nasium at Augsburg, and when fourteen years old
started to make his way in the world. In 1906 he
went to South America and worked in a broker's
office, putting in a year at Santos and a year at Sao
Paulo. Brazil, and in 1908 he came to California. He
stopped only a short while in San Francisco, and
soon came inland to San Jose; and for three years
he worked for the Flickinger Fruit Canning Com-
pany. He then took a post in the Star Grocery, and
in the six years he was with that line of mercantile
trade, he mastered the business. He next joined
Messrs. Richmond & Chase, with whom he remained
for two years; and after that he worked for a year
at Cook's Oil Station at the corner of Sixth and
Santa Clara streets. By this time Mr. Fredericks
had saved enough to go into business for himself,
and he bought out Mrs. Lingua's store on Terraine
Street, and conducted a grocery store and soda foun-
tain, and sold school supplies. His anticipation of
the wants of his customers as well as his untiring
efforts to please, have brought him many patrons.

At San Jose on October 18. 1915. Mr. Fredericks
was married to Miss Angela Lavagnino, a native of
San Jose and the daughter of Joseph and Margaret
(Rieger) Lavagnino. who came to California in 1876
when she was twenty-two years old. Joseph Lavag-
nino. who is still living here at the age of sixty-five,
hailed from Genoa. Italy, although his wife came
from Bavaria. Angela attended the grammar and
high school of Notre Dame, and she also studied
music and graduated in that subject in 1914. She
has two children: Karl J. and Margaret A., a joy in
particular to Grandfather Lavagnino, who is now
one of the old-time residents of San Jose and who
by industry and close application to business ac-
quired a competence so that he now lives retired,
enjoying the fruits of his i^bor.

504

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ALEXANDER J. HART.— Prominent among the
merchants of San Jose who have contributed largely
toward the rapid and magnificent development of
the cit}' as a great commercial center, is, undoubtedly,
Alexander J. Hart, the president of the L. Hart &
Sons Company, one of the oldest business houses in
this section of the state. He was born at Santa Clara
on July 23, 1869, the son of Leopold Hart, the famous
pioneer who had the first brick store building in San
Jose, having come here in 1856 and ten years later
founded the house which bids fair to perpetuate his
name. He married Miss Hortense Cahen and for
nineteen years was a storekeeper at Santa Clara; and
when he came to San Jose he bought the old Corner
Cash Store. He died on April 12, 1904, widely known
and greatly respected.

Alexander Hart attended the grammar and the
high schools of San Jose, and when a mere youngster
joined his father in the conduct of the business. For
some time he had practically managed the store; and
on his father's death, he assumed charge. Concerning
this succession, of such importance to the San Jose
public, the representative newspaper, the "Mercury,"
well said:

"Absolute integrity and business authority of the
highest type are represented in A. J. Hart, and the
record of the growth of L. Hart & Son Company
indicates that as a business leader he is rapidly realiz-
ing the ambition of his father for the firm's expansion.
The space now covered was formerly occupied by
twenty different concerns. L. Hart & Son Company
now occupy two-thirds of the entire block bounded
by Santa Clara. Market, Lighston and Post streets.
and there are thirty-five complete departments in the
store. The apt slogan of L. Hart & Son Company
is: 'California's Fastest Growing Store,' It has grown
from a shop occupying 2.500 s(|uare feet to an estab-
lishment occupying approximately 50,000 square feet:
and from a store employing only four clerks to one
having over one hundred' fifty employees." The "Mer-
cury Herald" of November 22, 1912, carried thirty-two
pages of advertising space for this firm, and this
journal said editorially: "Perhaps never before in
any city of the United States has a single advertiser
occupied with the contents of his own establishment
thirty-two pages of space." In 1922 A. J. Hart com-
pleted the purchase of the balance of the site now
occupied by the establishment.

Mr. Hart was married at New York, on March 5,
1910, to Miss Nettie Brooks, an accomplished lady
of Washington, D. C; and their fortunate union has
been blessed with the birth of four children: Leopold
Brooks, Mariam Hortense, Allese Josephine, and
Alexander J., Jr. Mr. Hart is a member of the Elks,
the Native Sons of the Golden West, and the Sainte
Claire, the Country and the Commercial clubs. He
was one of the originators of the plan to organize the
Commercial Club and he is a director and its vice-
president. He called the first meeting of the Mer-
chants Association, he originated the "Booster Trips,"
and he has long been an active member of the San
Jose Chamber of Commerce. A man above partisan-
ship, he served for several years as police and fire
commissioner, and he took a very active part in the
Rose Carnival of 1910, and was chairman of the
finance committee.

BENJAMIN FLINT— WILLIAM R. FLINT.—

The personality and career of Benjamin Flint present
a fascinating study to the analyst of character. He
was a man of extraordinary mental versatility, un-
usual resourcefulness and organizing skill and while
he won for himself place, power and position, he also
became a dynamic force in the development of Cali-
fornia, with whose history his name is inseparably
associated as one of its upbuilders and honored pio-
neers. His birth occurred at New Vineyard, Maine.
February 21, 1827, and he was the third in a family
of ten children. A representative of an old and
prominent New England family, he was accorded
liberal educational advantages for those days, at-
tending the grammar and high schools of Anson,
Maine, and afterward completing a course in civil
engineering at the academy of North Yarmouth,
Maine. He secured a position in the office of the
Maine Central Railroad at the time that line was
built in the state and he also taught school for a
while in Maine.

Attracted by the opportunities of the West, Mr.
Flint secured passage on a vessel which left New
York City on the 15th of March, 1849, and arrived
at San Francisco, Cal., on the 29th of August of
that year, going by way of the Isthmus of Panama.
In search of the precious metal, he went to the
mines of .A.mador County. Cal.. where he remained
for a j'ear, meeting with average success. He then
embarked in the cattle business at Volcano in order
to meet the demands for fresh meat in the mining
camps and from its inception the venture proved a
success. In order to restock his ranch he returned
to the East, purchased a fine band of sheep, which
he drove across the plains to Southern California,
arriving there on the first of April, 1853. As his
business grew he admitted as partners Thomas Flint,
a brother, and Llewellyn Bixby. a cousin, the enter-
prise becoming known as the Flint-Bixby Company.
They acquired over 100,000 acres of fine pasture
land in Los Angeles County on which they raised
large numbers of cattle and sheep, conducting an
extensive and lucrative business in wool, hides and
fresh meat. Subsequently Benjamin Flint became
associated with Jotham Bixby and they purchased
40,000 acres of good grazing land near Los Angeles,
and at a later period the Flint-Bixby Company be-
came the largest exporters of wool in the state. At
one time he was interested with James Irvine, Sr., in
the San Joaquin Ranch, now in Orange County. Mr.
Flint also became president of the Guadaloupe Is-
land Company, located off Mexico and engaged ex-
tensively in breeding high-grade Angora goats, hav-
ing an average herd of 7,000 head a season. In
the control of his business interests he displayed
marked ability and energy, and became a dominant
figure in business circles of the state. He was elected
president of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company,
but owing to the heavy demands upon his time was
obliged to decline the offer, although he subse-
quently accepted the office of vice-president of the
road, being instrumental in securing from the city
of San Francisco the franchise which enabled the
company to complete its line. Before the advent of
the railroad the Flint-Bixby Company operated a
line of stage coaches from San Francisco to Los
Angeles and they also became important factors in
the development of the sugar beet industry, in ad-
dition to various cinnabar and quartz mines. During

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

his later years Mr. Flint made his home in San
Benito County, acquiring large land holdings near
San Juan and Hollister, on which he raised cattle
upon an extensive scale. His home ranch was
known as San Justo, and here he resided for many
years previous to his demise, which occurred in
October. 1881. He was a man of culture and re-
finement, with lofty ideals and aspirations, and de-
lighted in travel, visiting all parts of the United
States and Mexico.

On May 27, 1857, Mr. Flint was united in mar-
riage to Miss Caroline L. Getchell, a representative
of an old and prominent New England family and
a direct descendant of Governor Bradford of Massa-
chusetts. Mrs. Flint was born at North Anson,
Maine, and immediately after her marriage started
across the plains for California, continuing a resi-
dent of this state until her demise on October 17,
1908, when she was seventy-three years of age. Mr.
and Mrs. Flint became the parents of seven chil-
dren: Benjamin; William R. and George C. twins;
Walter P.; Robert W.; Eva and Caroline. Mr.
Flint joined the Masonic order in 1854 and in re-
ligious faith he was a Congregationalist. He was
a big man — big in that power which understands
conditions, grasps situations and molds opportun-
ities into tangible assets. He never deviated from
the course which the world regards as right in tlic
relation between man and his fellowmen and in all

which govern strict integrity and unabating industry.

His son, William R. Flint, was born in San Juan,
San Benito County, Cal., March 13, 1869, and his
education was acquired in the grammar and high
schools of Oakland. On starting out in life for
himself he went to Fresno County as manager of
the Adobe Ranch, comprising about 26,000 acres of
land. At the time Madera County was formed from
Fresno County, Mr. Flint was appointed one of the
commissioners by the governor to form that county.
Following the outbreak of the Spanish-American
War he entered the service and was sent to the
Philippines, later returning to San Francisco. With
his brothers he became the owner of a ranch of
3,000 acres situated near Hollister. upon which he
remained for about fifteen years, during which period
he was called to public office, serving for four years
as state representative and tor an equal period as
state senator, his district comprising San Mateo,
San Benito and Santa Cru,^ counties. His political
record was a highly commendable one, characterized
by loyalty to every trust reposed in him and the
fearless defense of those measures which he be-
lieved to be for the best interests of his state and
nation. A few years ago he disposed of his hold-
ings in San Benito County and is now interested in
Santa Clara County, making his home in San Jose.

In San Juan. San Benito County. •Cal., Mr. Flint
was married to Miss Mary L. Kemp on May 21,
1901. She is a native of San Benito County, her
parents, Frederick W. and Marie Louise (DesLand)
Kemp, being pioneers of San Juan Bautista, where
her father followed the occupation of farming. Mr.
Flint is a progressive Republican and an active
worker in the ranks of the party, having served as
a member of the state central committee. He is
affiliated with the Masonic order, being a Thirty-
second degree Scottish Rite and Knights Templar
Mason and a Shriner, and he is also an Elk. He is

likewise a director of the Sempivirens Club, which
was the principal factor in saving the Giant Red-
woods of Santa Cruz County. He is deeply interested
in all that pertains to the welfare and progress of his
community, county and commonwealth and has long
been a strong advocate of the conservation of Cali-
fornia's magnificent redwood forests. He is a
worthy son of a distinguished sire. By inheritance
he bears a name that stands for the highest ideals
in business and social life and he ranks with the
leading and representative citizens of the Santa Clara
Valley and of California.

CHARLES CLARK.— An attorney whose pro-
found knowledge of the law has been the means
of both drawing to. and holding for him a large
and important clientele, is Charles Clark, one of
the most popular members of the California bar
at San Jose. He was born at Natchez, Miss., on
November 20, 1849, the son of John T. Clark, a
distinguished lawyer of St. Joseph, Tensas Parish,
La. He died on March 30. 1855, when our subject
was only five years old. leaving a widow, who had
been Miss Margaret Nutt in her girlhood, and who
was born at Laurel Hill. Miss. She came of an old
influential family of English descent, who settled
in the northern neck of Virginia at the same time the
Washingtons and Lees settled there. She was a
woman of exceptional education, and was the first
instructor of her two boys; and when she died on
Novemljer 29, 1874, she was mourned and honored
by a wide circle of friends.

Charles, the eldest son, was the only one to grow
to manhood. Although brought up during the Civil
War, he had the advantages of a higher education.
He started with private tutors, read law in Louisiana,
and quite qualified himself for examination; but the
evil effects of the reconstruction period leaving that
section in a chaotic condition, he decided to come to
California and on December 21, 1873, he arrived
in San Francisco. Then he entered the law offices
of Messrs. Haggin &" Tevis, where he read law for
a year; and on January 8. 1875, he applied to the
Supreme Court for examination, and was admit-
ted to practice in all the courts of California.

In the beginning. Mr. Clark practiced in San
Francisco and Alameda County until 1884, and in
that year he opened an office in the old Martin
Block, San Jose, now the theater building, where
he has ever since had his well-known headquarters.
Coming of a fighting family prominent in the days
of the Confederate army, he is known for his de-
termination to contend for a client until the last
ditch, and to safeguard every interest of those con-
fiding in and depending upon him. In politics he
is a Deinocrat, of the old, standpatter school.

At San Francisco on March 28, 1877, Mr. Clark
was married to Miss Emma Fowler, a gifted lady of
New Orleans, Louisiana, by whom he has had five
children. David L. died in Mexico in 1904 at the
age of twenty-six; Charles Edgar is a cotton broker
at Austin, Texas, and Benjamin Palmer and Jeffer-
son Davis are implement and tractor men at Dal-
las, Texas and the only daughter, Margaret Nutt,
remains with her parents, assisting in presiding over
the house. Mr. Clark enjoyed his home life, at
Carmel-by-the-Sea, for some years, but since 1921
the family have made their home at Palo Alto.

308

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ALVIN M. BLOUNT— Some men arc born with
a s<^nius for leadership and no obstacle can prevent
them from attaining the object of their ambition.
To this class belongs Alvin M. Blount, president of
the Retail Grocers' Association of San Jose and also
proprietor of one of the leading grocery stores in
the city. A native of the South, he was born in
Atlanta. Ga., September 7, 1878, his parents be-
ing P. W. and Sarah (Wagers) Blount. The father
was a farmer by occupation and in Georgia grew corn
and cotton, remaining a resident of that state until
1893. when he removed to near Dallas. Texas, where
he raised corn, cotton and sugar cane.

The seventh in a family of ten children. Alvin M.
Blount attended the schools of Atlanta. Georgia, to
the age of fifteen, when he removed with his parents
to Texas, pursuing his studies in the Northern Texas
Normal College at Denton, from which he received a
second grade certificate. He then went to Parker
County, that state, where for a time he engaged in
teaching, and then resumed his studies in the normal
school, working his way through, and received a first
grade certificate as a teacher. Leaving Texas, he
went to Pueblo, Colorado, where he secured a posi-
tion in the freight department of the Denver & Rio
Grande Railroad Company, acting as a clerk with
that corporation for three years. In 1908 he came to
San Jose and entered the shipping department of
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, with which
lie remained for nine years. Through thrift and
economy he at length accumulated sufficient capital
to enable him to embark in business on his own
account, and in August, 1916, he purchased a grocery
store at the corner of San Fernando and Seventh
Streets, choosing a location near the high school.
For three years he conducted that establishment and
then when plans for the new high school were com-
pleted it took in his location, and he then purchased
a building at the corner of Tenth and William
Streets, to which he removed his stock, consolidating
the two, remaining in that locality for a year, or until
March 14, 1921, when he obtained an option on the old
Bluett property at the corner of Twenty-third and
San Fernando streets, transferring his stock to this
store, although still retaining his former holdings on
Tenth Street, which he rents for store purposes.
Here Mr. Blount built up a successful business, thus
enhancing the value of the corner to such an extent
that early in 1922 he sold it to great advantage and
then purchased his present location, the old Home
Union corner at East Santa Clara and Twenty-first
street, where he conducts a splendid retail grocery
establishment. His business has rapidly developed
and the property has also become more valuable.
His stock is of the highest grade and he has
ever followed the policy of "Pay as you go."
A keen observer, he has made a close study of the
business, comparing his methods with those of other
merchants, and he has become recognized as an
authority in this line, his advice being often sought
by those similarly engaged. He started in the bus-
iness over five years ago without any previous know-
ledge of the trade and through his intelligently
directed efforts has risen to a foremost position in
the line in which he specializes, being president of
the Retail Grocers' Association of San Jose and also
a member of State Retail Grocers' Association.

In Austin, Texas, on March 12, 1903, Mr. Blount
married Miss Annie R. Wright, who was born in

Paris, that state, a daughter of Calvin Jones and
Mary A. (Rogers) Wright. Her mother was born in
Alabama, while her father was a native of North
Carolina, becoming a resident of Texas in the early
days. He followed the occupation of farming and
passed away in 1895, but the mother is still living at
the age of sixty-six years. They had a family of
four children, of whom three survive. Mr. and Mrs.
Blount have become the parents of two sons, Alvin
H., class of 1922, and Travis W.. class of 1923, San
Jose High School, after which they will enter Leland
Stanford University. Fraternally Mr. Blount is
identified with the Woodmen of the World of San
Jose; and he is also an enthusiastic member of the
Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants' Associa-
tion of San Jose.

BRUNO BERNAL.— A worthy pioneer whose
hallowed memory all who knew him delight to
honor was the late Bruno Bernal, who was born on
the Santa Teresa rancho, south of San Jose, on Feb-
ruary 14, 1857, the youngest son of Bruno Bernal,
the pioneer and wealthy ranchman, and owner of the
Santa Teresa grant. He came to Santa Clara in
the early days, and became one of her foremost
citizens. He was married a second time to Miss
Blanda Castro, and from this union sprang the sub-
ject of this story and three daughters. His brother-
in-law was General Castro.

Bruno Bernal, Jr., grew to manhood on the home
ranch, and he lived at home until he was twenty-one
years of age. Then he came to San Jose, and for
many years thereafter he conducted a cigar store
here, and after that, removing to San Luis Obispo,
he likewise was a merchant for fifteen years. He
was married to Aliss Josephine Comelio. the daugh-
ter of Antonio and Luella (Duarte) Comelio, a gifted
lady born on April 26, 1862, the eighth child in a fam-
ily of twelve, three of whom survive the father
and mother. She attended Notre Dame Convent,
and was a most popular young woman among her
musical associates. Mr. Bernal died on May 5,
1920, an honored member of the Pioneer Society of
Santa Clara County, and also of the Foresters.

Eight children were granted Mr. and Mrs. Bernal.
Bruno Arthur resides at Oakland, is married and
has one child; Rebecca died at the age of fourteen;
Edward R. resides at home; William, the fourth in
the order of birth, died in infancy, while William, the
next-born, also lives at home; Salvadore is single
and a lieutenant in the San Jose Fire Department;
.\dele remains with her mother and is an accom-
plished young woman in music and the drama, hav-
ing attended Notre Dame Convent and the School
of Expression of the College of the Pacific. Jose,
the youngest, also enjoys the shelter of the paternal
roof. Edward R. Bernal served in the One Hundred
Fifteenth Ambulance Truck Supply, and was over-
seas for eight months; he received his honorable dis-
charge from Camp Kearney on May 4. 1919. Wil-
liam Bernal served as bandmaster on the U. S. S.
Huntington, which made nine trips overseas in the
transport service. Salvadore served for three years
as sergeant under General Funston in Mexico, and
he also enlisted for service in the recent war as a
member of the One Hundred Ninety-Fifth Infantry.
The oldest son, Bruno, worked in the shipyards, and
Miss Adele gave entertainments to the boys in the
camps, and did all she could to sustain the morale
of the brave boys in khaki.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

511

TULLY CLEON KNOLES.— It is h widely
acknowledged fact that the most important work to
which a man can direct his energies is that of teach-
ing, whether it be from the pulpit, from the lecture
platform or in the schoolroom. It is in youth that
the life of a man is marked out, his future course
decided and his choice as to good or evil made, and
to the work of instructing the young, Tully Cleon
Knolcs is devoting his time, energies and thought.
A native of Petersburg, 111 , he was born January
6, 1876. His father, Thomas Stone Knoles, was a
native of Illinois, born in Menard County, whither
his parents had come from Indiana in 1847. After
completing his early education, he began reading
law and was admitted to the bar, becoming well
known and active in the profession. He is a direct
descendant of Thomas Stone, a native of the state of
Maryland, whose signature appears on the Declara-
tion of Independence. His mother before her mar-
riage was Miss Laura Ellen Hart, a native of Illi-
nois, and mother of four children at the time the
family removed to the Pacific Coast in 1887; locating
near Ontario, where four more children were born.
She traces her ancestry back to John Hart of V'ir-
ginia, who was also present at the signing of the
Declaration of Independence and affixed his signa-
ture to the famous document. Some of the
progenitors of these families were prominent in the
history of early colonial days and have always been
stanch and true American patriots. After the re-
moval of the family to the Pacific Coast, the father
continued his practice of law with marked ability at
Ontario and later at Los Angeles, where in 19t12
the family removed.

The preliminary education of Tully Cleon Knoles
was obtained in the public schools of Ontario. In
1895 he graduated from the preparatory school of
Chaffee Academy, thereafter entering the LTniversity
of Southern California, taking a ministerial course,
and becoming a student-pastor at San Pedro, Cal..
soon after entering the college. He received his
A.B. degree in 19U3; his A.M. degree in 1908. and
degree of D.D. in 1919. During tin mim-. In was
perfecting his education, he was arln^ ni il- iiiMiis-
try. In 1903 he was selected as a>.i-i.nii ,.,,1, ssor
of history in the LTniversity of Southern Laliiurnia,
serving in this capacity until 1908, when he became
the head of the history department. In 1919 he
was unanimously chosen as the head of the College
of the Pacific, the oldest institution of learning in
California, which is. at the present time, enjoying a
period of prosperity unsurpassed by any other col-
lege in the state, and to Doctor Knoles is accorded
the credit of the increasing popularity and success
of the college. During the World War he toured
the Pacific Coast states in behalf of the Liberty and
\'ictory Loan drives; and his excellency as a "four-
minute" speaker was unexcelled by any one.

The marriage of Dr. Knoles occurred August 23,
1899, united him with Miss Emily Walline. a daugh-
ter of Peter and Jennie (Mascall) Walline, residents
of Upland, Cal. Her father was a native of Sweden,
coming to America and settling in Illinois when but
a young man. His industry and thrift brought him
a handsome fortune, although he had only the op-
portunity to accjuire but a meager education, .\fter
his retirement, he traveled extensively throughout

the United States and Europe. While on a tour of
the country in Februarj-, he was stricken and passed
away at Escondido, Cal., February 6, 1921. Doctor
and Mrs. Knoles are the parents of eight children:
Lorraine Isabel, a graduate of the Liberal Arts
course of the College of the Pacific, June 22, 1921;
Dorothy Anne, a student of the department of music,
College of the Pacific; Peter Walline and Edith
Ayleen, twins, are graduates of College Park
Academy with the class of June, 1921, and now at-
tend the College of the Pacific; George Herman,
Gordon Elbert. Tully Cleon, Jr., are students, and
Leslie Gay. All the children were born in Los
Angeles.

Politically, Doctor Knoles is a Democrat of the
stanchest party loyalty, casting his ballot for the
Democratic presidential nominee since becoming of
age. Fraternally he is a Mason, being active in the
social life of the organization. He is a member of
the board of directors of the Rotary Club of San
Jose. He, wMth his family, are afliliated with the
Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a member of
the board of education of this denomination, and is
a director representing the southern Pacific states
in collaboration with the national membership meet-
ing held annually in the month of December in New-
York City.

During Doctor Knoles' attendance at the Univer-
sity of Southern California, he was active In ath-
letics, being awarded four stars for football, baseball
and track work. No doubt this experience has served
to increase his popularity with the student body of
the college of which he is the worthy and congenial
head. Doctor Kiiulr- is a profound thinker, making
a deep and careful stiuly of the questions of the day.
Much of his time is sju-nt in lecturing on European
history and government, as well as the growth of
the American nation, and his lectures have served
to enlighten the public along these lines. On March
17, 1921, he spoke before the San Jose Chamber of
Commerce forum on the subject the "Third Inter-
nationale,'' w^hich required fourteen months in prep-
aration, gathering facts and inaterial, which proved
to be both interesting and educational. In speaking
of Karl Marx' "Dos Kapital," Doctor Knoles said
"Thank God. there has never been a condition in
America out of which class consciousness might be
developed." His entire life work has been of a con-
structive character, being actuated by a spirit of ad-
\ancement in all that he does. Doctor Knoles and
his family are widely and favorably known through-
out the community, enjoying the warm regard of all
with whom they have been associated.

CHARLES F. OVERFELT.— Among the breed-
ers and raisers of fine draft horses in Santa Clara
and San Benito counties, who by energy and indus-
try have become successful, the names of Charles F.
Overfelt and his brother Ed J. stand to the
front. A native son, he was born in the rural dis-
trict near Berryessa, Cal., July 28, 1858, the son of
William C. and Mary E. (Pyle) Overfelt. both early
pioneers of California, who are represented elsewhere
in this history.

Charles F. spent his boyhood days on the farm,
going to school a short time during the winter
months. Being the oldest of the family, many re-
sponsibilities w-ere thrust upon him, as his father
died when Charles was only seventeen years old.

512

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

His first independent purchase of land was in Stan-
islaus County near Oakdale, which he leased and
sold eighteen years later. In 1891 he and his broth-
er, Ed. J. purchased 430 acres six miles from Hol-
lister in the Santa Ana Valley and engaged in the
stock business and attained success as a breeder of
fine horses. They owned some of the best prize
stock of Belgian draft horses in America, showing
them at the State Fairs and the Panama-Pacific
Exposition in San Francisco and carrying away
many premiums. He and his brother now own
970 acres in the San Juan Valley, San Benito Coun-
ty. In 1860 W. C. Overfelt started operating a
threshing machine and from that year until 1910.
with the exception of two years, threshing outfits
were sent out from the home ranch, C. F. Overfelt
carrying on the business for forty seasons.

Mr. Overfelt was married in San Jose in 1899
to Miss Rosine Lenz, a native of California, the
daughter of George and Elizabeth (Geizwein) Lenz.
Her father conducted a draying business for many
years in San Jose. They are the parents of two
children; Dorothy L. and Charles Harold, graduates
of San Jose high school. Both are now students
at Stanford. In 1919 Mr. Overfelt came to San Jose
and now lives retired. His life has been one of toil,
and characterized throughout by industry, persever-
ance and progressiveness and the prosperity which
has come to him is well deserved, for the principles
which have governed his conduct throughout his en-
tire life, are founded on the Golden Rule.

EDWARD D. CRAWFORD.— An energetic, suc-
cessful, representative and influential dealer in land
and insurance broker, who also has the advantage
of being an attorney-at-law, is Edward D. Craw-
ford, who came to Gilroy in the late nineties, when
there were no paved streets nor concrete sidewalks
here, and business in general was very slack in this
part of the Valley. Being naturally, however, a far-
seeing poineer. Mr. Crawford perceived in Gilroy
its roseate prospects, and decided to locate here. He
w^as born at Mt. Vernon. Iowa, on February 3, 1859.
the son of Rev. Samuel P. Crawford, who was for
years a pillar of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and continued active public work in the ministry
of that organization until failing voice led him to re-
tire. In the declining year of his life, however, he
lived in South Minnesota, where he was again active
as a church leader and rounded out a life of great use-
fulness at the age of sixt^'-two years. This profes-
sional occupation and standing of the father of our
subject afforded him advantages from the start; and
he was able to attend the Evansville Academy, in
Indiana, at which he began to show his native abil-
ity as a writer.

Edward Crawford early desired to become a law-
yer, and the opportunity to satisfy his ambition was
presented soon after be left school, when he went
to Colorado and joined his brother-in-law. who was a
successful attorney. Under his able guidance he read
law; and in 1883 he was admitted at Republican City.
Nebr., to the practice of law in that state. For three
years he followed legal practice, and he also edited
and published the Republican City Topics. During
his journalistic career, he was a reporter of court
proceedings and he proved one of the veritable "live
wires" of the staff. On coming to Denver in 1880.
Mr. Crawford entered the employ of the Denver Rio

Grande Express Company, as clerk in the auditor's
office, and it was during this time that he read law
with his brother-in-law. In 1892. he came to San
Francisco, and there he joined the staff of the San
Francisco Chronicle. On coming to Gilroy, pressure
was brought to bear to induce him to devote him-
self entirely to the practice of law. and hence he gave
up juornalistic pursuits.

Mr. Crawford was appointed by the mayor and
council the city attorney of Gilroy. and one of the
results of his taking that office was a complete re-
vision of the law statutes. Several large bond issues
were also carried, with the subsequent acquiring of
the gas works and provision of a water system. Ever
since that date Mr. Crawford has been identified
with ideal legislation for the city, although he retired
years ago from all public offices and civic service.
As a Republican, he has been prominent in the coun-
cils of that great party, has often been a member of
the Republican State Committee and of the County
Central Committee, and has served as chairman of
the latter organization.

After opening his offices in Gilroy. Mr. Crawford
began to afford a superior service in real estate and in-
surance brokerage; and so well did he succeed, that he
was able to train one after another assistant, each of
whom has since established himself independently,
all working, however, to the mutual benefit of every-
one concerned. In October. 1919. Wellburn Mayock,
a promising young attorney, joined Mr. Crawford
in forming the law firm of Crawford & Mayock. and
this firm has been retained as the attorneys of the
Gilroy Branch of the Garden City Bank & Trust
Company. In addition, the firm does a splendid busi-
ness in underwriting insurance, effecting loans and
in caring for estates. When Mr. Crawford came to
Gilroy in the fall of 1897. he acquired by purchase
the Gilroy Gazette, then owned by B. A. Wardell,
the father, now deceased, of J. S. Wardell, the In-
ternal Revenue Collector of San Francisco; and this
early identification with the life of the growing town,
through journalistic activity, has enabled him easily
to keep in close touch with the community, and to
exert an enviable influence. During the World War,
Mr. Crawford practically gave up his practice and
devoted his entire time to war work as chairman of
the War Work Committee, which had charge of all
the drives, and did valiant service.

In 1879, Mr. Crawford was married at Sedalia, Mo.,
to Miss Claudia Blair, the daughter of Milo Blair,
deceased, a prominent newspaper man and a politi-
cian, of Sedalia; and she died at Gilroy, mourned by
a wide circle of devoted friends, in 1913. The next
year, at San Francisco. Mr. Crawford married Miss
Lillian Hilton, a native daughter of Gilroy, whose
father was Thomas Hilton, a prominent and well-to-
do orchardist of Santa Clara County. One child,
Miss Esther Crawford, now a pupil of the Gilroy
school, blessed this second union. The family enjoy
a very desirable estate, with a fine residence and a
well-improved orchard of about twenty-five acres of
rich creek-bottom lands, and other acreage, situated
in the Bodfish Creek district, west of Gilroy, and
there, to a large circle of devoted friends, they dis-
pense a generous hospitality. Mr. Crawford is not
only prominent as a Mason, but he enjoys the esteem
of all who admire him for his ambition to do the work
he sets out to do.

^^X.-.^ ^^.^^^:^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

515

WARNER HUTTON.— A resident of California
for almost three score years and ten, Warner Hut-
ton came to California with his parents in 1854. Born
in New York City, March 9, 1842, he is the son of
Henry and Eleanor (Foster) Hutton. also born in
New York City, who on coming to the Coast first
settled in San Francisco. During the year of 1870
the father bought a ranch on the Quito Road in
the vicinity of Saratoga and improved it to orchard
and lived there in peace and plenty until he passed
away in his eightieth year, while his widow survived
him and died at almost 100 years old. Warner's
preliminary education was obtained principally in the
schools of San Francisco. As a boy he was always
interested in engineering and his desire w'as to run
a locomotive, but to learn it thoroughly in those days
meant for him to go back to New York and his
mother would not consent to his going away. He
was employed in San Francisco until his parents
moved to the ranch at Saratoga, when he also came
here and assisted in setting out the orchards and
caring for them.

When Mr. Hutton's father passed away, the home
place became his and he has developed it to
such a degree that it brings him a good income each
season. Mr. Hutton is a Republican in his party
affiliations and spends much time in the great out-
doors hunting and fishing when opportunity afifords.
He has always been interested in the growth and
prosperity of Santa Clara County and especially in
Saratoga and vicinity, and aids in progressive move-
ments looking to the upbuilding of the community
which has so long been his home.

RICHARD GALLAGHER.— Widely known as a
highly respected citizen of Santa Clara County, Rich-
ard Gallagher is among the prominent pioneer farm-
ers of the valley, contributing much to the growth
and prosperity of his native county and state.
He was born in Santa Clara County, August
10, 1863, the son of Andrew Thomas and Maria
Remonda (Martin) Gallagher, the former a native
of New York and the latter of Scotch descent. An-
drew Thomas Gallagher was the son of Andrew
Thomas Gallagher, a native of Ireland, but came
to America more than a century ago. The boy-
hood of Andrew Thomas was spent in New York
where he was educated and where he learned the
trade of tailor. During the year of 1848, he em-
barked on the steamer John W. Cater, for a voy-
age around Cape Horn to California. Arriving in
San Francisco on the 14th day of March, 1849,
he soon made a purchase of the launch Mary and
Catherine. After making a few trips to Sonoma,
he sold the vessel and entered the mines in Tu-
olumne County, but only remained there for a few-
months, w-hen he began teaming between Alviso and
Santa Clara, at the same time transporting freight
betw-een San Francisco and Alviso, having pur-
chased the schooner Catherine Miller, using her in
this trade, and a part of the time commanded the
vessel himself. He spent some two years in this
line of work, and then made a complete change,
taking a clerkship in one of the warehouses in
Alviso. Meantime he liad purchased a half-section
of land in the .\lviso district and devoted it to the
raising of hay and grain; later forty acres were
planted to orchard. He also excelled in the culti-
vation of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.

having at one time some thirty-six acres devoted
to the raising of small fruits. The mother was the
daughter of John and Vaclecia Bernal (Ortega) Mar-
tin, her father, a native of Scotland, coming to Cali-
fornia in 1829 as ship's carpenter in the English
naval service. Mr. and Mrs. Gallagher were the
parents of eleven children, five of whom are now
living. Both parents have passed away.

Richard Gallagher was educated in the public
schools of Santa Clara County, and during vaca-
tion time assisted his father on the ranch and thus
became well versed in agriculture, and he and his
brothers still farm the old homestead near Alviso.

The marriage of Mr. Gallagher united him with
Miss Elizabeth Stelzcr, and they dispense hospital-
ity at their comfortable home at 146 South Four-
teenth Street, San Jose. Politically, Mr. Gallagher
is a Republican, but locally gives his support to
progressive, constructive legislation, regardless of
party lines, supporting the best men and measures.

GRANVILLE L. SAVAGE.— An orchardist
whose life-story ol persistent, intelligent industry, is
Granville L. Savage, who lives in Sunnyvale and
operates an orchard one-half of a mile to the south
of said city. Coming as a mere boy to the Golden
State, even as a boy he had a rich pioneer ex-
perience such as many seeking adventure might envy,
and which others, wishing to know life as it really
is, might desire. He was born at Ottawa, 111., on
A'larch 29, 1855, the son of Captain William E. Sav-
age, of Bangor, Maine, who made many a trans-
atlantic trip from New York to Liverpool with the
best steamers of his day. He married at Povidence,
R. I.. Miss Elizabeth Iv Keniu'dy. after which, with
h.is wife, he migrated westward lo Ottawa, 111., where
he took up farming. The worthy couple had eight
children, among whom our subject is the fourth in
the order of birtli and the third son.

When five years old Granville accompanied his
father and two brothers to California, leaving their
farm of 700 acres, and outfitting with mule-wagons,
horses and cattle at Ottawa, from wliicli place they
set out. They had mule-wa,u(iiis, also horses and
cattle, and joined a train iiKide up <'l fif*y-six w-agons.
captained by William E. Savage On their way they
had several battles with the Indians, but they pulled
up at Sacramento at the end nf a six months' jour-
ney, in the early winter of 1859. They remained
at Sacramento for a year, and then moved into San
Joaquin County, where they settled about two and
one-half miles from Lodi, and there Captain Savage
became an extensive raiser of wheat. He also en-
gaged in freighting, owning and operating many
teams in freighting, and he drove thirty-two mules
on freight wagons all through the mining country.

Meanwhile Granville attended the school in the
Houston district until he was fifteen, when he left
off studying and went to San Francisco for his first
tussle with the busy world. He obtained a job as
clerk in Bowen Bros, grocery store on Pine Street,
where he worked from six a.m. until five p.m., and
then he attended evening school until ten o'clock at
night. In addition, he took a couple of hours of
lessons on Sundays. Then he entered the service of
a San Francisco commission house, handling general
produce, and at tue end of two years, he became a
ial drummer, traveling up and down the

.16

HISTORY UF SANTA CLARA COUXTV

coast, and at times representing as many as tive dit-
ferent wholesale houses. He worked verj' hard, at-
tending strictly to business, and saved his earnings,
and he made as much as $12,000 per year. Naturally
gifted as a salesman, Mr. Savage had no difficulty in
entertaining his patrons with stories from actual
life. In crossing the plains, for example, the emi-
grants found the Indians not only hostile, but very
artful. Their game was to stampede the trams, and
then to rob and steal the cattle, horses, mules and
wagons. Captain Savage was equal to the emer-
gency, however, he engaged two trappers, who
formed the wagons into circles, when the emergency
arose, kept them moving, and thus stood off the In-
dians and saved the train. After the battles they
found that several Indians had gone to more distant
hunting grounds. Getting established in the Golden
State, Mr. Savage saw the completion of the Central
Pacific Railway, now the Southern Pacific Railroad,
from Stockton to Sacramento, with all the interesting
incidents growing out of the great, momentous un-
dertaking. He made his first trip to San Jose with
his father in 1862, and he was at Gilroy in 1868. at
the time of the earthquake.

After an experience of ten years as a traveling
salesman, Mr. Savage went to New Vork City in
1890, and commenced the manufacture of brass goods
such as valves, faucets, etc., and these he shipped to
nil parts of the United States," Canada, Europe and
South Africa. He succeeded so well that he became
well-to-do, but his health broke down, and his life
was even despaired of. Then he acted on the reso-
lution to come back to California, and once more in
this salubrious climate, he bought a twenty-acre
orchard devoted to the growing of prunes, peaches
and walnuts, which is under a high state of cultiva-
tion. There he leads the outdoor life, and applies
the same intelligence and energy to the management
of his orchard that he formerly spent in his manu-
facturing enterprises. He has regained his health.
and has been materially rewarded for all his efforts.

At Ft. Arenas, in Mendocino County, in 1877, Mr.
Savage was married to Miss Emma \'. .\iurini, a
native of Healdsburg, and a charming, gifted woman,
and their union has been blessed with the birth of
three children, one of whom, Gertrude, grew to
maturity. She graduated from the high school in
New York City, then attended the Horace Mann
School, and afterward pursued the courses of the
Pratt Institute at Brooklyn and the Art Institute in
Chicago, and also the Hopkins Art School at San
Francisco. During the World War Mr. Savage
served on the Federal Grand Jury for the Eastern
District of New York from January 6 to May 8.
1918, and assisted in investigating several noted bomb
plots, and indicting various spies and the criminals
involved in blowing up the Welland Canal, or at
least trying to destroy that watci way.. From youth
to manhood inspired with paliiotic zeal, Mr. Savage
has never shirked the duty of a t't'zen having confi-
dence in the future and being ambitious of seeing
the land or locality of his choice come, and come
speedily and richly, to its own.

It is a matter of congratulation to Sunnyvale that
Mr. Savage selected that favored spot for his resi-
dence, after his extensive business experience and
wide travels. He has seen and transacted business

in every state of the Union, Europe, Canada and
Alaska. He is the orchardist member of the San
Francisco Rotary Club from Sunnyvale, and is al-
ways ready to boost and make a concerted pull for
Sunnyvale and California.

MRS. CATHERINE F. BRATTAN.— Since the

entrance of women into the active civic life of the
community during the past generation, so gradually
and naturally have they worked to bring about
much-needed reforms, that only by comparison with
another day can one judge of the forward strides
that have been made. Especially is this true in the
hundreds of cases that come under the jurisdiction
of the courts, particularly where the lives and fu-
tures of young people are concerned. Numbered
among San Jose's public-spirited women whose in-
terests are ever on the side of the community's
welfare is Mrs. Catherine F. Brattan, who has been
connected with the probation work of Santa Clara
County since its inception.

Catherine F. O'Donnell. as she was known in maid-
enhood, was born in Northern Pennsylvania, the
daughter of Thomas and Margaret (McCarton)
O'Donnell. She was educated in the public schools
of her native state and Ovid Academy, N. Y. Com-
ing to California in about 1886, she entered the Sac-
ramento Business College, where she was graduated,
after which she continued with the institution as a
teacher and then served as a court reporter. In
Sacramento she became the wife of G. J. Brattan, a
native of England. During the year of 1895, Mrs.
Brattan came to San Jose where Mr. Brattan was
associated in business with the Globe Carriage Works
and was thus engaged for thirteen years. During this
time Mrs. Brattan did much volunteer social serv-
ice work and particularly in tlie line of children's
welfare work. This brought lier into prominence,
so that when the probation commission for the coun-
ty was named by the judge of the Superior Court
she was appointed a meml)er. In 1910 she was ap-
pointed probation officer and since then has served
continuously. She is proliahly the first woman pro-
baticin officer in California and has served under six
judges. It is a difficult matter to estimate the
amount of good she has accomplislied along these
lines; her love for the work and the interest she
takes in the welfare of the children who come un-
der her supervision has borne good fruit and her
influence and efforts for the betterment of mankind
places her to the front as a county official. Since
her appointment no less than 5000 children and 300
adults have passed through the court and all the
children have been made better by having known
her for she takes great joy in the work of help-
ing the unfortunate catch a vision of the higher plane
of living.

Mr. and Mrs. Brattan are the parents of one son,
Joseph G., a graduate of St. Joseph's high school;
he also attended Stanford for a time, Santa Clara
College and the University of California agricultural
■school at Davis, and is now a rancher and packer
in Chico. Mrs. Brattan is well fitted by training
and temperament for this important post, and has
been the means of accomplishing untold good. While
deeply interested in her work, she is public spirit-
ed in all that concerns the upbuilding of the com-
munity and ever ready to lend a helping hand. She
is a regular communicant of St. Joseph's Church.

^.^uJ^^z^u2cj CT? Y^u^z^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

519

NILS JOHNSON— A public-spirited citizen of
San Jose who dates his residence in Santa Clara
Comity since 1879 is Nils Johnson. He was born
on the southern coast of Sweden, near Engelholm.
Skane. on April 6, 1860, and is the eldest son of
Johannes Swenson and Christina Johanson, both na-
tives of the same place, who were successful farmers.
In younger days the father was a ship carpenter and
a cabinet maker.

Nils Johnson received his education in the public
schools of his native land, and at the age of fourteen
was confirmed in the Lutheran Church. He continued
working in the farm for his maternal grandfather
until nineteen, and in 1879 started out to make
his own way in the world and set sail for America.
the Mecca of his ambitions. Upon his arrival he made
his way to San Jose, California, where he located.
He immediately went to the ranch of his Uncle Nils.
and was employed there for a short time; then he
removed to Bisbee, Ariz., and spent two and a half
years in the inines. This was in early days when
things were wild and woolly. Then he made his way
to Socorro County, N. M.. engaging in prospecting,
but did not find any pay streak. When his money was
gone he returned to Bisbee and continued working
in the mines two years, and then returned to San
Jose. He then started then in the hotel business.

In 1893 Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Hilma
L. Peterson, also a native of Sweden, who had come
to San Francisco with her sister. Mr. Johnson then
continued in the hotel business in San Jose, operat-
ing the Scandinavia E.xchange on Post Street for
three years. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were the parents
of five children; Hilding is an ex-service man. serv-
ing overseas in the World War; Helen is the wife of
Charles Kelley, and they reside in San Jose; Nar-
rinc is the wife of Charles J. Freedman, of Palo Alto;
Eben Bertel served in the California National Guard
on the Mexican border and now resides in San Jose;
George is deceased. Mrs. Johnson passed away Sep-
tember 26, 1900.

Soon after arriving in America, Mr. Johnson com-
pleted his citizenship and his loyalty to his adopted
country is a matter of pride to him. For over thirty-
five years Mr. Johnson has been a member of the
Odd Fellows, being initiated in Bisbee. Ariz. He is
now a member of Observatory Lodge I. O. O. F.,
San Jose, and his political affiliations are of the Re-
publican platform. He owns valuable real estate on
the Almaden Road and is now living retired from
active life on this ranch. He is planning still more
nnprovements and will build additional houses to rent.
Living retired as he does now, he can look back upon
a clean, industrious, well-spent life, and whenever or
wherever possible has given his aid toward the pro-
gress and building up of his locality.

WALTER L. BACHRODT.— Active among the
educators of California fortunate in an excellent record
in the past and now giving the greatest promise for
the future may well be numbered Walter L. Bachrodt,
the newly-appointed superintendent of schools of
San Jose. A native of the great Hawkeye State,
Walter Bachrodt was born at Des Moines on April
22, 1890. the son of H. C. Bachrodt, a substantial
merchant and assistant postmaster at Des Moines,
who died when our subject was a mere bo}-. Four
children made up the family, and three are still liv-
ing; the others being a sister. Frances, who has be-

come the wife of Fred Doerr. dealer in electrical
supplies at San Jose, and a brother, A. L. Bachrodt.
who resides in Nevada, where he is the manager
of the Pilt Mill & Elevator Company.

On Washington's Birthday, 1892, Mr. Bachrodt
came to San Jose with his mother, and there at-
tended the Lowell Grammar School; and later he
entered the San Jose high school, from which he
graduated in 1907. His next four years were spent
in Nevada, where he worked for both the South-
ern Pacific Railroad Company and the Verdi Lum-
ber Company; and on returning to San Jose he
entered the Normal School in UMl, and was grad-
uated with honors from that excellent institution in
1913. For five years he was a teacher in Fresno
County, and during that time he became principal
of the Oleander School.

In 1918. Mr. Bachrodt. responding to naturally
patriotic sentiments, enlisted from Fresno County
for service in the World War in defense of his
country; and he was made sergeant of Company G..
Thirteenth Ammunition Corps, and in February. 1919.
he was honorably discharged.

Once more enabled to take up the occupations of
peace. Mr. Bachrodt entered Stanford University,
where he majored in pedagogy and followed educa-
tional courses; and in December. 1920. he was
granted the Bachelor of .'\rts degree, and the following
year was made a Master of Arts. His standing en-
titled him to Phi Bata Kappa, and he was also made
a Teaching Fellow of Stanford University. On
May 24. 1921. Mr. Bachrodt was appointed superin-
tendent of the city schools at San Jose and his juris-
diction extends over the nine elementary and the one
high school in the city. In national political affairs
an independent. Mr. Bachrodt is essentially non-
partisan when it comes to supporting heartily the
best local measures and men.

In August. 1916. at Fresno, Mr. Bachrodt was
married to Miss Edna M. Clark, of Fresno, who
is, with him. a member of the Congregational Church.
He belongs to the Blue Lodge No. 10. F. & A. M..
of San Jose, and he is also a member of Selma
Chapter No. 119. R. A. M.. at Fresno. Mr. Bach-
rodt's grandfather died from wounds received while
he was a soldier in the Mexican War. and he keeps
up his military associations by membership in the
American Legion. He is a man of fine presence, a
winning personality, and wmII not fail to carry on to
high attainment the far-reaching work in w'hich he is
so successfully engaged.

GEORGE A. LEVIN.— .A.mong the successful
dairy farmers of the Mountain View district is George
.\. Levin, who owns sixty-one acres on the Charles-
ton road two and a half miles north of Mountain
View. A native son of California, he was born
March 19, 1882, the son of Joel and Mary Elizabeth
(Swal!) Levin, early settlers of Mountain View. The
name was ori.ginally spelled Le Vine, but several
generations ago was changed to Levin. Joel Levin
was born in 1824 in Calhoun County, 111., the second
child and only son in a family of eight children.
The paternal grandfather. George Levin, was a native
of Germany and immigrated to the United States
at an earlv age. and engaged in farming pursuits
in Calhoun County. 111. In 1852. Joel Levin was
induced to remove to California, and the start w^as
made on May 7. overland with ox teams, and the
following .\ugust the party arrived in California.

520

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

On account of his health, he removed to Santa
Clara County and engaged in farming pursuits and
within two years was able to save enough to pur-
chase the land which he had previously rented. His
marriage occurred in Maytield. California, and united
him' with Miss Mary Elizabeth Swall, who was born
in Illinois, and she passed away in 1901. There were
four children in the family. Anna, Ulysses, Mamie
and George, the subject of this review.

George A. attended the Whisman grammar school,
and later the San Jose Business College. He helped
his father on the large ranch, which contained half a
section, but since the father's death has been divided
up among the heirs. His marriage occurred Sep-
tember 6. 1904, and united him with Miss Anita
Kifer, and they have one child, Shelby. Mr. Levin
is the daughter of Shelby and Isabella (Smith) Kifer,
the father born in Kentucky and the mother a native
of Nova Scotia. In 1853 Shelby Kifer came over-
land with his parents to California and as two of
his sons had preceded him to the Golden State, he
made his home with them for a while, but afterward
located on the Murphy ranch, later settling on a
farm of seventy-five acres, two and a half miles
south of Mountain View. Mr. and Mrs. Kifer were
the parents of five children. The Kifer Road, in
Santa Clara County, was named after this early
and esteemed pioneer.

Mr. Levin has 100 head of cattle on his ranch,
with fifty-four milch cows, and has a lucrative and
growing business. A conscientious Republican, he
casts his vote for the candidates selected by that
party. He and his family are popular residents
of the Whisman district and have the esteem and
confidence of the entire community.

CORNELIUS Y. PITMAN.— All who have had
to do with the assessor of Santa Clara County and
have come to be familiar with the almost perfect
organization of that office at San Jose, will realize
to what an extent Cornelius Y. Pitman, the present
incumbent, has contributed toward the enviable repu-
tation enjoyed by California as a model state for the
transaction of public business. This gentleman was
born in Santa Clara County on June 16, 1859, the
son of Andrew Jackson Pitman, an American pos-
sibly of English extraction. He first came to Cali-
fornia by way of the Horn in 1848, and settled at
Marysville in the 'SOs. having previously been mar-
ried in the East to Miss Armenia Lewis, whose
forebears came to America with the French Hugue-
nots. Mr. Pitman was a farmer, and followed
agricultural pursuits all his life. They had seven
children, six boys and a K'irl, and our subject is the
third of the six still livini;. He attended the local
public schools in Santa Clara County, and then pur-
sued an excellent course at a business college in
San Francisco, after which he embarked with his
father in the milk business; and having spent his
early years on the home farm, he did not find it
difficult to make a success of the enterprise. Next
he took a position as purser on a steamboat plying
between San Francisco and Alviso, and so enjoyed
a chan.ge from his land experience.

In 1914 Mr. Pitman was elected, on the Demo-
cratic ticket, assessor of Santa Clara County, and
from the first it was evident that he could not fail
to make good. The truth is that, by his conscien-
tious application to duty and his interest in and de-

sire to help all having occasion to communicate with
his bureau, Mr. Pitman gave such satisfaction that
he was reelected to the responsible post and is now
serving his second term. He has made numerous
improvements in the matter of up-to-date, economic
methods; and being a good student on conditions
pertaining to his field, he is in the best position to
render the public the most efiicient yet saving service.
At Alviso Mr. Pitman was married to Miss Nellie
Martin, the daughter of Captain John Martin of Al-
viso, one of the early pioneers; and having come of
such excellent American stock, Mrs. Pitman has
proven of great aid to her husband. Two children
blessed this union — Daphne E. is now Mrs. D. En-
triken of San Jose, and she is a graduate of San Jose
high and the State Normal; Hayden. who graduated
from the San Jose high school, and a student at
Santa Clara University, enlisted as an officer when
he was only eighteen years of age and served for
three months in the World War. The family have
always been Presbyterians. Mr. Pitman is an Elk,
and proud of his birth in the Golden State he also
belongs to the Native Sons of the Golden West.

CHARLES DOERR.— -Al highly-esteemed citizen
of San Jose who, after a strenuous, successful and
most useful life, has been able to retire in comfort,
is Charles Doerr, a native of Hesse- Darmstadt, Ger-
many, where he was born on February 2, 1840. He
attended the schools of his city, and when eighteen
years of age he left home, to fight his way alone
in the world. Depending solely upon himself, he
gradually rose to affluence and independence — a
splendid example of what a young man handicapped
in various wa}s may do when blessed with courage
and determination.

The city of Baltimore was the landing place of
our subject, the day before Christmas in 1858, and
there Charles remained for one year, during which
time he learned the bakery trade. In 1860, he
came to San Jose, and for three years worked as a
baker for his brother, Philip Doerr, who came here
in 1853; and then, in almost the same location where
he later conducted for years the New York Bak-
ery, he established himself in business. He came
to know just what folks wanted, and he took the
trouble not merely to give they what they asked for,
but to anticipate their needs; and so he grew in
popularity, and his modest business expanded until
he retired in 1915.

In San Jose on March 13, 1870, Mr. Doerr was
married to Miss Minna Bertlesman, also a native
of Germany, and their union was made happier by
the birth of four worthy children, all sons — the late
Henry C. Doerr and Carl, who died in infancy,
and Frederic and Louis Doerr. Mr. Doerr belonged
to the San Jose Turn Verein, and he is also a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Red Men, and a
charter member of the Germania Verein. He was a
Democrat in politics but for several years has been
independent, voting for the best men and measures.
He served in the city council 1895-96.

Progressive and public-spirited to a commendable
degree, Mr. Doerr has done good work in the Cham-
ber of Commerce, and he also served in the Fire
Department for ten years, so that he is now an
exempt fireman. San Jose cannot fail to feel very
kindly toward this estimable pioneer couple, Mr.
and Mrs. Doerr, and this esteem and good will flow

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

523

VL-ry naturally toward their tamily. Mrs. Doerr
passed away at the family home on August 19,
1920, aged seventy-two years. They had lived to
celebrate their golden wedding anniversary before
she was called to her final rest.

ANTON SAICH.— Through industry and a natural
intuition to foresee the progress that Santa Clara
County was destined to make, Anton Saich, by buy-
ing and improving orchards at the opportune time,
has been very successful and thus he has become in-
dependent financially and a man of influence. Born
October 11, 1863, he is a native of Golubinica, Dal-
matia, the son of Anton and Mary (Anticevich) Saich.
The senior Saich was occupied with farming, and was
a seafaring man, making trips on sailing vessels to
different portions of the world. The family consisted
of three children, John, Peter, and Anton, the subject
of this sketch. Anton attended school in his native
town and worked on farms at home until he was
twenty-five years old. then in July, 1889, he came to
Philadelphia and immediately came to California.
He worked in San Francisco in the hotel business for
one year, but that kind of work was not to his liking,
so he again took up farm work. For about one year
he worked on ranches near Watsonville and Capi-
tola; then came to Santa Clara County and settled
near Cupertino, working for wanes for a time: then
in 1900 he bought twenty-two and .i halt acres, all
set to prunes, on the Stevens C'n rk Ki)a(l, From
time to time he has purchasid addilioTial acreage
until he now owns 110 acres of fine orchard, set to
prunes, peaches, apricots, cherries and grapes. His
ranch is well equipped witli wells for irrigating and
the water is piped to all parts of the ranch. He has
rebuilt his house and farm buildings and all are now
in fine shape; he has pulled out and reset about
forty-five acres, so it is now one of the valuable or-
chards in the district.

For many years Mr. Saich was engaged in buying
and drying fruit, which he sold to packers, while he
was also engaged in shipping cherries to the eastern
markets. However, about three years ago he found
the management of his large ranch and the curing
and sale of the fruit on his place occupied all of his
time, and he discontinued the business of fruit buyer
to devote all his time to his own place. Mr. Saich
was first married in Santa Clara in 1901, being united
with Miss Annie Kucer, a daughter of Steve and
Kate (Kristicevich) Kucer; the father, a contractor
and builder in Dalmatia, was accidentally killed by
a fall while working on a building. She was born
near Mr. Saich's native place and came to Santa
Clara with her brother. Their union, however, was
broken by her passing away, August 5, 1902, leaving
him her infant son, born thirty-five days before his
bereavement, whom they had named Anton, Jr., and
whom the father tenderly cared for and reared, and
he is now his father's right-hand man and able as-
sistant in his horticultural enterprise.

Mr. Saich some time afterwards married a second
time, to Miss Teresa Brajenvich, who was born in
the same vicinity as her husband, a daughter of John
and Frances Brajenvich, the father being a farmer in
his native Dalmatia. By his second marriage Mr.
Saich has four children, Mary, Frances, Anna and
John, all under the parental roof, dutiful and obedient
children, a credit to their parents. A believer in pro-
tection for Americans and proud of being a natural-

ized citizen of his adopted country. Mr. Saich is a
stanch Republican. A substantial and successful man,
he is enterprising and liberal and can be counted on
for support to worthy movements and progressive
measures that have for their aim the upbuilding
and improving of the county and enhancing the com-
fort and happiness of its people.

JAMES SUMNER McGINNIS.— An attorney of
San Jose whose career as a successful practitioner
is of exceptional interest is James Sumner McGinnis,
who was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, on
October 31, 1863. His father, John F. McGinnis.
a native of Pennsylvania and a farmer there, had
married Miss Susannah Dotts. also born in that
state. When James S. was six years old his parents
removed to Lucas County, Iowa, and there the mother
passed away in 1871. John F. McGinnis served in
the One Hundred Ninefy-fifth Ohio Volunteer In-
fantry during the Civil War and was prominent in
the ranks of the G. A. R. in Iowa, where he engaged
in farming until his death in 1895. Besides James S.,
the eldest of the family, Mr. and Mrs. McGinnis
were the parents of a daughter, Minerva, who became
the wife of Clem T. Smith and now resides at Steam-
boat Springs, Colorado.

In the pursuit of an education, James S. McGinnis
attended the public schools of his locality and later
studied at Western College, at Toledo, Tama County,
Iowa, and when he was well equipiied for such work
he taught school, and also farmed for a couple of
years. In 1886 he entered the office of McMillan and
Kindall at Onawa, Iowa, where he studied law, and
four years later, in Nebraska, he was admitted to
the bar, having removed to that state a short time
before. Being ambitious, he had acquired much
facility in the use of shorthand entirely through his
own study, while attending school, so that when he
began the study of law he found it very helpful to
him. After practising a short time in Nebraska, he
came to California in 1891, and a few months later
he located in San Jose, where he established himself
in the legal profession, in which he has made such
a success, enjoying a large clientele and a highly
lucrative practice. Not being an office seeker, he
has devoted all his energies to the interests of his
growing body of clients, with consequent satisfaction
to all desirous of unselfish, watchful service.

At Santa Cruz, on September 1, 1891, Mr. Mc-
Ginnis was married to Miss Edith Forrest of that
city, an accomplished and charming lady, and they
have had two children. Viola Forrest, a graduate
nurse of St. Francis Hospital. San Francisco, where
she now holds a responsible institutional position,
and Sumner D. McGinnis. a student at Stanford
University. The quiet of domestic life and the pleas-
ures of gardening have alway attracted Mr. Mc-
Ginnis; and when wishing a change, he has found it
in the mountains, along the streams, or in the circles
of the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, and other
societies. He is a Master Mason and has belonged
to the Knights of Pythias for thirty-six years. A
Republican in his preference for national party plat-
forms, he is independent in his devotion to the in-
terests of his adopted state. During the American
participation in the World War, the president of the
County Bar Association, of which Mr. McGinnis is
a member, appointed him to assist drafted soldiers
in preparing their questionnaires, and he gave much
of his time in fulfilling this patriotic service.

524

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

DE PHONZO GIBSON PAUL.— Among the old
settlers of Santa Clara County whose industry and
business judgment have aided in the community's
progress, is De Phonzo G. Paul, who resides at the
old family homestead in San Jose, established over
thirty years ago. Born in Delavan, Wis., October
24, 1856, he is a son of Sylvanus S. and Sophia
(Gibson) Paul. Sylvanus S. Paul came to Califor-
nia in 1881, settling at Berryessa, where he pur-
chased land and planted to apricots and prunes. He
was born near Rochester, Monroe County, N. Y.,
March 4, 1828, the ancestors coming to America in
colonial days and members of the family served in
the Revolutionary struggle. The Paul family came
from Scotland to the U. S.; John Paul Jones, the
founder of the American Navy, was from the same
family as history tells how John Paul's name was
changed to John Paul Jones after he came from
Scotland to Virginia. Sylvanus S. Paul was reared
on a farm, and educated in the public schools. When
but nineteen years of age, he started in life for him-
self, and located in Walworth County, Wis., upon
land which his father had purchased and given to
him. For a number of years he followed the occu-
pation of farming, and b}- industry and good man-
agement succeeded in his undertaking. In 1853,
while on a visit to Ohio, he met and married Miss
Sophia Gibson, the daughter of Prof. John Gibson
and Sarah (Cushman) Gibson, natives of Massa-
chusettes. Professor Gibson was a prominent mu-
sician and composer and Sophia Gibson was a tal-
ented vocalist and a well-known lyric soprano, and
with her sister, George Baker and others, traveled,
giving concerts throughout the eastern cities. Hav-
ing a pleasing personality and a beautiful voice, she
gave much pleasure to her audiences. Two sons
were born to her union with Mr. Paul, De Phonzo
G. alone growing to maturity. Mrs. Paul passed away
April 4, 1860. The second marriage of Mr. Paul
occurred in 1862. uniting him with Miss Elizabeth
Green, a native of New York. In 1881, Mr. Paul
leased his Wisconsin farm and made a visit to
California, and was so well pleased with the coun-
try that upon his return to Wisconsin he sold
most of his interests and returned to the Santa
Clara Valley and purchased the home which is now
the residence of his son. De Phonzo G. Paul. He
was a consistent member of the Baptist Church and
fraternally a Mason. In his political views, he was
a strong Republican. He passed away at the fam-
ily home December 12. 1896. and Mrs. Paul died
in 1914. A sister of Svlv.imi^ S, r.->ul. Charlotte Paul,
became the wife i.i II >; i, -^mith and they had
six children, the iv •! n. ih \. 'unrest of these is
Frank Smith, known ,i- ' |;<ir,i\ Smith" of Oakland.
Frank (Borax) Smith and De Phonzo G. Paul have
been warm friends since their boyhood.

De Phonzo G. Paul received his education in the
public schools in Delav.m and Jaiu-^villc, Wis., sup-
plementing with a Cdinnirn lal nmr.-. in Fellows and
Kings Commercial Ct'lk.m- hi Jani.'~\illc. He later,
in 1878. removed to Nevada and was employed in a
general merchandise store. While a resident of Mari-
etta, F.vnuralcla County, Nev., he served as post-
master and also as mining recorder and notary pub-
lic; he was also telegraph operator and express agent
on the California and Nevada line of railroad. He
removed to San Jose in 1880. but only remained for
a year, removing to the Livermore Valley, he en-
gaged in the grape industry, owning the Banner

Vineyard, named so because it was the banner vine-

yard of the Livermore Valley. He sold out his
holdings in 1891 and spent one vear in San Jose.
Removing to Fresno January, 1893, he purchased
land near Fowler, which he improved to orchard
and vineyard and was engaged in raising fruit and
grapes, owning two ranches. He was one of the char-
ter members of the first raisin growers' association
and continued to give his support to each successive
attempt, until the present successful California Raisin
Growers' .Association. He finally sold his ranches
and located in Fresno where he engaged in general
contracting for several years. In 1905 he built the
canal for the Consolidated Canal Company, connect-
ing the F'owler switch and the Church system, build-
ing a canal through solid rock 13^ feet deep, thus
connecting the two big irrigation systems of the
county. When he sold this business, he purchased
a ranch of 240 acres near Turlock, which he im-
proved to alfalfa and engaged in dairying. In 1914
Mr. Paul removed with his family to the old home
place in San Jose from l-'rcsnn and made this his
home. Lately he traded In- Tnrlo.k ranch for an
apartment house located at l.iL^lith .mil Grove streets,
Oakland, which brings him a fine income; he also
owns a 325-acre ranch at F.l Nido near the San
Joaquin River in Merced County. Here he sunk wells
and installed two pumping plants that are sufficient
to irrigate each one-iiuarter section on each place.
.\Ir. Paul in his land deals has held property which
has lieconu- very valuable. The 160-acre piece twelve
miks south of Tulare Lake, some years ago he
sold for a few head of cattle; ten years later he
was through there and found the 160 acres worth
$2500 an acre, oil having been found on this prop-
erty. There are eight wells about five miles from
his present holdiuKS and this may mean much to him.

Tile marriage of Mr. Paul occurred at Durham
Hill, Wis., March 4, 188U, unitmg him with Miss
Eva E. Tenney, a native of that place. Mrs. Paul's
father, Samuel A. Tenney, was born in Monroe
County. N. Y., descended from the old Moss family
of Mayflower stock. He was a graduate of Lima
Colk-Lie. \- v.. and was married in Monroe County
to L\(ha 1'. Lytle, a native of that count}', who also
traces her family back to the Mayflower and Pil-
grim Fathers. The ancestors on both the Tenney and
Lvtle sides served in the Revolutionarv war and
Grandfather Daniel Lytle was in the War of 1812,
enlisting when ii-lii« n ir,,i- old. Charles Foster,
ex-governor of (ih.. , n! • . -nretary of the treas-
ury of the LInite.l !,;■. i ,i cousin of Mrs. Paul.
Her parents caiiu to W i-. . iri..ni, then known as the
Far West, in 184o located mar Waukesha where
they were pioneers, turning the lirst furrow in the
virgin soil on the farm and there they spent the
remainder of their days. They had five children,
three of whom are living. Mrs. Paul is the oldest
of these and was educated at Carroll College, Wau-
kesha, Wis., and was engaged in teaching for two
years. The young people had become acquainted
before Mr. Paul moved to Nevada and the friend-
ship resulted in their marriage.

Five children have been born of this union: Wal-
ter, a realtor of Fresno, is married and the parent
of two children; Frank A., a farmer, residing at El
Nido. Merced County, has three children; Elizabeth,
now Mrs, Leonard Boot, of Orland, Cal.. is the moth-
er of four children; Lloyd A. is married and resides
on his father's ranch near El Nido. He entered the
service of the U. S. Army, enlisting with the Three
Hundred Sixty-fourth Infantry of the Ninety-first

HISTORY OF SANTA CI.ARA COUNTY

Division, Company M. went overseas and saw serv-
ice in the Argonne. suffering great hardships and
privations; Ethel Marion is a graduate of the San
Jose high school, now taking a commercial course.
and makes her home with her parents. Mr, and Mrs.
Paul are active members of the First Christian
Church in San Jose, both serving on the official
board. Politically they are staunch Prohibitionists
and Republicans. Mr. Paul gives much of the
credit for his success to his devoted wife, who has
been his ready helpmate, assisting him in every way.
always encouraging him in his ambition and carrying
her share of the burden. Mr. and Mrs. Paul have
given much attention to the rearing and education
of their children, believing that higher education is
the foundation for the nation's progress and welfare.

GRENVILLE C. EMERY, A.B., Litt.D.— The

teaching profession has ever attracted to itself the
leading men of every age and generation, and will
doubtless continue to do so. The splendid oppor-
tunities oflfered for men' of unusual capabilities, and
the ever-increasing need for men of superior ability
and strength of purpose, make this field one of un-
usual interest and opportunities. Among the most
prominent educators of the secondary schools in the
state of California must be mentioned the name of
Grenville C. Emery, the headmaster and proprietor
of the Scale Academy (Military), located at Palo
Alto. Doctor Emery is also the headmaster emeritus
of the Harvard School (Military) of Los Angeles.
Cal,, of which he is the founder. In collaboration
with William F. Bradbury, headmaster of the Cam-
bridge Latin School, he edited a series of algebras
which are still used, not only in Boston schools, but
in many other important educational centers of the
East, also in the Harvard School of Los Angeles, and
in the Scale Academy.

He was born in Ripley, Maine, July 19, 1843, a
son of John G. Einery, of English descent and of
Welsh extraction on his mother's side. His father
married Miss Mary Stanley Jones, born in New
Hampshire, and was from prominent pre-Revolution-
arv stock; he came around the Horn to California in
1849. As early as 1847 he had constructed the rail-
road through Lewiston, Maine, and was a prominent
and active business man. He returned to Maine
from California and engaged in the mercantile busi-
ness: farming also engaged his attention. Mr. and
Mrs. Emery were the parents of four children, of
whoin Grenville C. Emery is the youngest, and the
only survivor. He began his education in the public
schools of his native town; later attended the Corinna
Union Academy, of which his father was a trustee;
upon graduating from this institution he became one
of its teachers, and remained in that capacity for
several terms. He then became a student in the
Maine State Seininary; later attended Bates College
and received his degree from the latter institution.

Doctor Emery's first marriage united him with
Miss Ella Pike, of Livermore Falls, Me., and they
were the parents of seven children, of whom only
two are living, Laura J. Emery and Mrs. Ellen
Emery Downing of Los Angeles, Cal. Mrs. Emery
passed away December 22, 1913, at Los .Angeles. His
second marriage occurred December 22, 1920, when
he was united with Mrs. Katherine D. Monroe, nee
Dold. a native of Kentucky, born, reared and edu-
cated in the schools of Louisville. She is the parent
of one son by her first marriage, Charles Mattison

Monroe, a student at Scale .\cadcmy. .\fter gradu-
ating from Bates College. Doctor Emery accepted
a position as teacher in the Boston Latin School,
founded in 1635. while Harvard University was
founded in 1636, making the Boston Latin School
the oldest school in America with a continuous his-
tory. Doctor Emery was master in this school for
fifteen years and rose to be head of the department
of mathematics.

Doctor Emery is the founder of the Harvard School
(Military) of Los Angeles. The history of the school
really began in 1849, when the father of its founder
mounted the stage-coach in Maine, and finally
reached California around Cape Horn, to mine for
gold, and to drink in the wonderful possibilities and
beauties of the state for the pleasure and enchant-
ment of his family on his return to the East two
years later. The cornerstone was laid in 1900. The
founder, clurishing and treasuring up this boyhood
knowledge, had come at last from the oldest and
most renowned school in the United States, the fa-
mous Boston Latin School, to build up in Los An-
geles a school which might have the right to claim,
in general, not only equality with the old school, but
also, perhaps, in many things, superiority. Its motto.
carved on the proscenium arch of the handsome as-
sembly hall, which is, as it were, the heart of the
Harvard School, is:

"To thine own self be true.
.^nd it must follow, as the ni,ght the day.
Thou canst not then be false to any man."
In the words of Doctor Emery are found the true
aim of the founder: "My aim was to found a decent
school. I like that word "decent'; it means a great
deal and is a favorite adjective of President Roose-
velt." The Harvard School is intended to fit boys
for college, for technical school, and for business
careers. Its legal name is "The Harvard School
L'pon the Emery Foundation."

During the year of 1920 Doctor Emery removed
to Palo .•\lto. under the eaves of Stanford Univer-
sity, for the purpose of establishing the Seale Acad-
emy, a school of like aims and character as that of
the Harvard School. The old Seale mansion and
estate, with its beautiful lawns, quiet pathways and
avenues, and wealth of old trie-, and beautiful shrub-
bery anil flowers, was selected as a desirable site for
the school. The buildings consist of Seale Hall.
Colonial Hall. Gymnasium Hall, the Chemical Build-
ing, and the Gymnasium proper. It is the policy of
the school to make physical training quite as thor-
ough as mental training. Of the fifteen-acre campus,
eight acres are a wooded park and the remaining
seven acres are clear, and wholly given over to the
drill, the sports, and the games, the municipal swim-
ming pool being at an easy distance. All the games
and sports, and the drill, are taught by competent
men. Military drill is the best form of exercise that
has been discovered, which can' be practiced by the
whole school all the time with so much physical and
all-round educational gain for each individual boy.

The Seale Academy has become an accredited
school, and its graduates are admitted to the Univer-
sity of California and to Stanford University without
examination upon the recommendation of the head-
master. The courses of study conform in all essen-
tials to those of the best high and grammar schools
of the state. There is an enrollment of about fifty
lads, and a bright and prosperous future is predicted

526

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

for the Seale Academy, which is creditably filling a
long-felt need.

Doctor Emery is one of the ablest teachers of
mathematics in the secondary schools of the state.
as well as one of the best-known and most success-
ful instructors of boys in the country. Mrs. Emery
is an accomplished, cultured woman, who enters heart-
ily into the work of building up the school and occu-
pies the important position of treasurer. Doctor and
Mrs. Emery have expended much energy and a large
amount of money to increase the efficiency and in-
fluence of Seale Academy, and what is more, they
propose to give their lives to this work.

.-^s a fitting close to this interesting biographical
sketch of this noted instructor are his own words:
"Perhaps the most potent elements in our efforts for
the accomplishment of the training of boys is the
memory of our own boy who has passed beyond, but
whom we hoped to educate highly in all the essen-
tials which go to make up true manhood. Bemg de-
prived of this, w^e try to exercise just the same vig-
ilance and care in the education of our neighbor's
sons as we had hoped to bestow upon our own flesh
and blood."

GEORGE S. RAWLINGS.— It is given to few
residents of California to have had a record of living
for more than fifty-six years on the same piece of
land and to have actively engaged in its cultivation.
To George S. Rawlings belongs this honor, as since
1866 he has been on his present place on Pearl
Avenue, south of San Jose. He is a native of Clays-
ville, Harrison County, Ky., and was born there
April 21. 1843. the son of Ashel and Jane (Snodgrass)
Rawlings, both natives of the Blue Grass State and
pioneers there. The father was a machinist and en-
gineer, and in 1853 the family removed to Quincy,
111., where both of the parents passed away. A
stanch defender of his country. Grandfather Rawlings
lost his life in the Indian War in 1812.

His parents having both died by the time George
Rawlings had reached his eleventh year, most of his
education was gained in the school of experience,
and at the age of twelve he was plowing and working
in the corn fields. In 1863 he came across the plains
to Nevada with mule teams, and during 1863-64 he
mined at Austin. He made a short visit to California
about this time and in the spring of 1866 he came by
stage to San Jose. On May 10, that year, he went
to work on the 190-acre ranch where he has since
lived, being employed by its owner, John G. Roberts,
for five years. He was afterwards married to Mr.
Roberts' daughter, Florence Minerva Roberts, a
native daughter, and at the death of her father she
inherited one-third of the homestead.

Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings became the parents of five
children: John A., William E., Georgia E., Norma
E., deceased, and Adele F. Two grandchildren,
Jean and Muriel Rawlings, have brought joy to their
grandparents. For more than half a century a resi-
dent of this neighborhood, Mr. Rawlings has con-
tributed much to its development by his industry and
public-spiritcdness and has seen the transformation
of the large fields of grain to very productive orchards,
and himself has aided in this work. He helped
organize Valley View School district and served
three terms as a trustee. He also aided in getting
the paved highway on .\lmaden Road, and for twenty
years he has given his services as deputy assessor.

Politically he has always been an adherent of the
Democratic party.

JOHN JAMES DEVINE.— Now living retired at
San Jose, is John James Devine, an early pioneer
of northern California. He is descended from a line
of sturdy Irish ancestors, and was born in Dublin,
Ireland, August 15, 1830, the son of Thomas and
Catherine (McCann) Devine. His parents were
born, reared, married and died in Ireland and their
last resting place is in Dublin, at Glass Nevin. His
education was received from the public schools of
Dublin. After leaving school, he entered the em-
ploy of a groceryman as clerk, remaining in that
capacity until he embarked for America. In April,
1851, Mr. Devine, set sail for America in a clipper
ship, "Racer," built at Baton Rouge, La., with 900
passengers on board. Upon his arrival in New York
City, he worked steadily in one place seven years.
His brother. Pat Devine and himself, are the only
living members of the Devine family. Pat Devine
was a seafaring man. encountering many hardships
on his voyages. On one trip to China, his vessel, the
"Racer," on which our subject came to America, was
caught in a typhoon, the masts were broken, the
sails stripped to ribbons by the furious lashing of the
wind and waves.

Mr. Devine left New York City in 1859 on the
John L. Stephens by way of Panama, arriving in
San Francisco with the small sum of sixty-five dol-
lars in gold. He soon found employment clerking
in a grocery store, but soon became enthused with
the stories of the great wealth to be obtained in
the mines, so he went to Placerville. He remained
there but a short time when he went to Sacramento.
From Sacramento he journeyed to Folsom over the
first railroad built in California. From Folsom he
took the stage to Placerville and on the day of his
arrival the first pony express came through, which
created a great deal of excitement. His mining
ventures did not prove very profitable, and he soon
was back in San Francisco; however, he was not
satisfied but removed to San Jose during the year
of 1860, and has continuously lived in this section
ever since. His natural industry led him to do any-
thing that he could find »to do to earn an honest
living. He was employed on the rebuilding of the
famous Santa Clara Mission. By strict economy he
managed to save a sufficient amount of money to
open a grocery store in San Jose, which business
continued until 1906, when he retired from active
business life, to enjoy the fruits of his years of toil,
which have brought him a competency that has
been well deserved.

The marriage of Mr. Devine occurred in San
Jose in 1862, uniting him with Miss Catherine Cork-
ery. born in Cork, Ireland. She came to America
about 1859 landing at New Orleans, but soon em-
barked for California. She passed away September
19, 1908, at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. and
Mrs. Devine were the parents of nine children:
Mary, now the wife of T. O'Neill, a stonecutter who
resides in San Jose; Teressa, who lives with her
father; Agnes, the wife of C. Mensing. a grocery-
man of Santa Barbara; Catherine, a graduate of the
San Jose State Normal, is a teacher in the Lincoln
grammar school in San Jose; Elizabeth is the wife
of F. Gardner and they reside in San Francisco;
Ellen, deceased in infancy; Joseph Mark is em-

t7, ^ ^trcux^^^u^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

529

ployed in the City of Paris store and resides in^ San
Francisco; Augustin died when he was twelve years
old; Ignatius is an engineer for the Southern Pa-
cific Railroad Company and resides in San Jose. Mr.
Devine has twelve grandchildren and three great-
grandchildren. He was a member of the first
volunteer fire department of San Jose. He is a
Democrat in his political convictions. The family
arc active and prominent members of the St. Joseph's
Catholic Church. He is well known throughout the
county, and the esteem in which he is held is evi-
dence of his well-spent life.

HON. PERLEY FRANCIS GOSBEY.— California
owes much, as one of the most attractive corners of
the world in which to live, thrive and be happy, to its
distinguished members of the Bench and Bar, and
prominent among whom may well be mentioned the
Hon. Perley Francis Gosbey, Judge of the Superior
Court of Santa Clara County, where he has made
Department Two widely known for the high stand-
ards set in handling probate matters and the dispen-
sation of justice. He was born on May 15, 1859, at
Santa Clara, the son of Joseph F. and Sarah (Smith)
Gosbey who were married in 1856. Mr. Gosbey,
Senior, was born in Nova Scotia in 1825, came to
California via Panama in 1853 and settled in Santa
Clara. He ran a hotel, called the Morgan House, in
San Jose for a number of years, giving this up to en-
gage in the shoe business, w^hich he conducted for
fifty years. He died in 1915, having reached almost
ninety years of age. Mrs. Gosbey was born in Ohio
in 1838, came to this state with her father, Ansyl
Smith, crossing the Isthmus in 1852, and settled in
Santa Clara; Mrs. Gosbey died in 1903. The later
years of their lives Mr. and Mrs. Gosbey lived in Pa-
cific Grove. There were two sons and two daughters
in the Gosbey family, three of whom are still living.

Perley F. Gosbey pursued the elementary courses
and was graduated from the Santa Clara high school
in 1875. He then went to the University of the Pa-
cific, and there in 1880 he was given his Bachelor of
.A.rts degree. In 1881 he began teaching school and
for four years was a teacher in the San Jose high
school. Thus far he had laid the foundation for fu-
ture attainment; but how well in this preparatory
work he had builded can can be seen in the success
he has attained as a professional man. Having de-
cided upon the law as his future field, Mr. Gosbey
went East to the University of Michigan and there
matriculated in the Law Department; in 1888 he re-
ceived his parchment and the degree of Bachelor of
Laws. In June of that year he was admitted to the
Ear at Ann Arbor, Mich.; and having returned to his
native State. Mr. Gosbey was admitted, in the follow-
ing September, to practice at the California Bar. In
November, 1908, after years of private practice in
which he had proven himself exceptionally qualified
for work on the Bench, Mr. Gosbey was elected Judge
of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, and he
has continued to hold that high oflice ever since.

On October 28, 1891, Mr. Gosbey was united in
marriage with Miss Susan Rucker, the ceremony tak-
ing place at San Jose. Mrs. Gosbey is a daughter of
Joseph E. and Susan (Brown) Rucker, born in Santa
Clara County and a gifted and attractive lady who
has more and more shared in the Judge's increasing
popularity. A prominent man in fraternal circles.
Judge Gosbey is a Scottish Rite and Knights Tem-

plar Mason and a Shriner. He is a Past Grand Mas-
ter of the Odd Fellows and Past Exalted Ruler of
the Elks and belongs to Observatory Parlor No. 177,
Native Sons of the Golden West and is a member of
the California Pioneers of Santa Clara County. A
native son, not merely in name but in the intensity of
his patriotic spirit, Judge Gosbey has always been
conspicuous for his public-spiritedness. For four
years he was a member of the Board of Education of
San Jose, acting as its president.

FRANK KENYON.— Three miles west of Santa
Clara, on the Homestead Road, lies the finely im-
proved ranch of ninety acres of Frank Kenyon, the
son of that worthy pioneer, James Monroe Kenyon.
When the father first located upon this land in 1850,
having come to California the year previous; he set-
tled as a squatter, and on discovering that it was
private property, bought 242 acres. He was born
in Ohio on the banks of the Ohio River just opposite
the town of Vanceburg. His father, Jonathan Ken-
yon. came to Ohio when a young man, and locating
in Adams County followed agricultural pursuits until
his death. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812,
and while a resident of Ohio he acted as a justice
of the peace and a lawyer. He married Sarah Strat-
ton, a daughter of Aaron Stratton, a native of Vir-
ginia and a soldier in the War of 1812, who removed
to the Blue Grass state and engaged in the manu-
facture of salt; he was an extensive slave owner and
prominent in the community.

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Kennedy were the parents
of seven sons, James Monroe being next to the
youngest. He received a fair education in the pub-
lic schools and meantime helped his father on the
farm until he was sixteen years old, when he was
apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade. After
completing his trade he contracted throughout Adams
County and in Cincinnati, then en.gaged in his trade
in various parts of Missouri until 1849, when he
started for California, making the trip with ox teams.
In the Spring of 1850 he entered the mines, where
he remained until the next fall, when he came to
Santa Clara Valley; later purchased the property on
which Frank Kenyon now resides. In Missouri he
married Martha Roberts, the daughter of Woodford
Roberts. They were the parents of six children, of
whom only three are living; James M. resides at
Saratoga; Emma is now Mrs. Slavens and resides
at Santa Clara; and Frank, of this sketch.

.A. native of Santa Clara County, Frank Kenyon
was born on the old Kenyon home place March 1,
1861, and went to school at Milligan Corners, later
attending the private school of Mr. Collins at Santa
Clara. He then assisted his father on the ranch,
which was mostly in grain. When the father passed
away, the ranch was divided among the children,
Frank Kenyon receiving ninety-one acres as his por-
tion of the estate. Of this all but twenty acres is in
orchard. Fifty acres have been divided among his
children, and the balance he retains as his home.

On April 18. 1883. in Linn County, Ore., Mr.
Kenyon married Miss Martha Wheeler, a native of
Albany. Ore. Her father was a native of Vermont,
who came to Oregon in 1857 via the Isthmus of
Panama; after his arrival in Oregon he engaged in
teaching and later bought a ranch and farmed. Mrs.
Kenyon began her education in Oregon, but finished
it in Santa Clara. They are the parents of six

530

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

children: Harvey, residing at Mountain View, Alfred
W.; Anna: Harriet, Mrs. Meston, resides at Vic-
toria, B. C: Frank Jr.; and Elizabeth. In his political
affiliations. Mr. Kenyon is a Republican.

JOHN M. BATTEE.— A figure prominent in
county circles and the community life of San Jose
for half a century and a man esteemed and respected
by those early pioneers, many of them his business
and social friends, John M. Battee passed away in
this city October 30, 1921, at the age of ninety-three.
He was one of the oldest members of the Garden
City Lodge, I. O. O. F. His life was one of useful-
ness and energy, which left its imprint in many
ways upon the Santa Clara Valley. The records of
the events of the supervisors' meetings of 1870 show
how active Mr. Battee was in that period. He was
elected and assumed the office of county supervisor
on March 7, 1870, and continued as a member and
chairman of the board until March 4, 1878. This
was a time when San Jose was growing steadily and
beginning to assume proportions other than the cen-
ter of an agricultural district. On June 2, 1874,
James Lick executed his first trust deed setting aside
his estate for charitable and educational work, among
the provisions of that document being those givuig
$25,000 for the purpose of establishing an orphan
asylum in San Jose and appropriating $700,000 tor
an observatory on land belonging to him near Lake
Tahoe, in Placer County. Gratitude for the former
gift, in resolutions prepared by Judge Belden, of
San Jose, was so deeply acknowledged that Mr. Lick
changed the location for the observatory and in
August, 1875, with Hon. B. D. Murphy, then mayor
of San Jose, visited Mount Hamilton. An offer was
made to locate the observatory on Mount Hamilton
if the county would construct the road to the sum-
mit. On January 9, 1877, the Lick board of trustees
and county supervisors made an official inspection.
The following is quoted from H. S. Foote's "Pen Pic-
tures from the Garden of the World:" "Probably
the most earnest and untiring friend of the road
was Supervisor J. M. Battee. To his devotion to
the cause is due, more than to any other one man, the
successful termination of the great work that has
attracted the attention of the scientific world to the
summit of Mount Hamilton." Mr. Battee was a
man who was modest and plain in manner and speech,
determined, honest in all his dealings and one of
the most far-sighted and efficient county officials of
the closing quarter of the past century. Many
obstacles faced the supervisors in building the road.
Mr. Battee stood determinedly through them all.
The valuation of the county at that time was about
forty millions. To build a road costing approxi-
mately $135,000 was considered quite a bite from
the tax levy. L'nder the guidance of John M. Battee
the road was built without a bond issue, excepting
for a small portion, totaling about $12,000 at the
mountain end. Mr. Battee was a native of Mary-
land, born on November 3, 1827. He came via Pan-
ama to California in the early fifties, and here he
was married to Miss Clarissa McKean, a native of
Ohio, who died many years ago. For years the
faniilv resided at their home on Sunol Street, San

Jose, but in recent years Mr. Battee lived with a
son at Los Gatos. He is survived by two daughters
and three sons: Mrs. Terry McKean. Mrs. Louis E.
Wood, Albert J., Fred and Phillip Battee. In his
later years Mr. Battee was actively engaged in horti-
culture, although in the early days he was a grain
farmer, owning large ranches here as well as in the
Salinas Valley. He developed a large prune orchard
at Los Gatos, w-hich still belongs to the family. He
was one of the founders and for many years a
director in the Farmers' Union at San Jose.

MRS. EVERIS ANSON HAYES.— A native of
Wisconsin. Mrs. Everis Anson Hayes was born at
Whitewater, the daughter of Dwight Bassett and
Lucetta Wood Bassett, the former a native of Plain-
field, Mass., and the latter of Cattaraugus County,
N. Y. Dwight Bassett, when a young man, migrated
to Whitewater, Wis., where he met and married
Miss Wood, who had come to Wisconsin with her
parents in the pioneer days of that region. Mr.
Bassett was among the early and prominent nursery-
men of that state and there he spent the remainder
of his life. Mrs. Bassett, now in her eighty-ninth
year, makes her home with her daughter at Edenvale.
Mary Bassett was educated in the public schools of
her native state. Very early in her life she became
interested in teaching. Her first school was taught
when she was fifteen years of age, and except for
the four years spent in the State Normal School in
Whitewater, where she graduated in 1882, and one
year spent in advance work in New York City, she
was continuously teaching in the public schools of
Whitewater, Wis., and Greeley and Denver, Colo.,
until the summer of 1893, w^hen she was married to
E. A. Hayes, a publisher and mining man of Santa
Clara County. Calif. It should be said that in her
career as a teacher she was unusually successful,
having the ready faculty of interesting her pupils in
the practical application of their acquired knowledge.
She was especially gifted in handling the primary
grades, being able to interest the young minds under
her charge in a most unusual way, thus giving them
a start that very few teachers could equal. Coming
into the family life at Edenvale at a time when Mrs.
Hayes-Chynoweth was still living and very active,
the principles which she taught and exemplified ap-
pealed very strongly to Mrs. Hayes and she em-
braced them, assisting actively in their promulgation;
she became very much attached to Mrs. Chynoweth
and was much beloved by her.

When her husband was elected to Congress in
1904, Mrs. Hayes, with her family, accompanied him
to Washington, there participating heartily with her
husband in the public life of the Capital of the nation,
becoming prominent in the Congressional Club,
where for several years she was chairman of the
entertainment committee, providing the club with
able speakers and artists from all over the world.
She made it her special interest to look out for the
wives of new members of Congress, seeing to it
that they were .not only invited to the functions at
her own home, but that they were properly introduced
into the social life in Washington, thus making it

^^M^ (ficOZS^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

533

easier for many to assume and enter upon the social
duties which necessarily belong to the wives of ofii-
cials at Washington. These efforts were appreciated
and endeared her to all with whom she came in
contact and, as a result, she has today a host of
warm and steadfast friends among the wives and
families of the members of Congress from all parts
of the Union. Mrs. Hayes is modest and unassum-
ing and absolutely free from the ordinary deceptions
of social life, so that those whom she loves and to
whom she is a friend naturally respond with an
affection and constancy that have blessed her life as
very few women have been blessed. An ideal wife
and mother, her family and home life are the things
that are nearest and dearest to her and have largely
occupied her heart and life, although she has found,
and still finds, time for much charitable and public
work of various kinds.

LOREN N. GIFFORD.— A fine old California
pioneer family is that of Loren N. Gifford, who
was born in Illinois on March 21, 1861, the son of
.•\lexander and Lucinda (Plesanton) Gifford, the
former a farmer who came frotn Illinois to Califor-
nia in 1852, whL-n he crossed the great plains. He
returned to Illinois from California in 1855. Later,
he removed to the frontier of Kansas, and there, in
Crawford County, lie breathed liis last. He was the
father of six children. Myra is the eldest; Myron
A. is a resident of Denver; Mclvin A. Gifford lives
in Stockton; Loren is the subject of this review.
William is still in Crawford County, Kans.; Freeman,
who came to California about 1890, is ranching on
the Almaden Road. Mrs. Gifford passed away in
Kansas when Loren was about ten years old; and
her devoted husband survived her three years.

Loren Gifford came to California in 1875 with his
brother, Melvin, and on arriving at Berryessa, he
worked for his uncle, H. Tillotson. He attended
school at Berryessa, and then he took first one job
and then another at various places. He next went
to Yuba County, and for two years farmed near
Marysvifle; and on returning to Berryessa. he was
married on October 27, 1886, to Miss Laura J. Ogan,
the daughter of J. M. Ogan, a native of Jefferson
County, Missouri, where he first saw light near St.
Joseph. He grew up to be a frontiersman and a
farmer, and married Miss Marcissa E. Dryden; he
settled in the Mt. Hamilton Road and farmed at the
foot of the hills. Later, he came to Berryessa and
acqufred a ranch of 217 acres at the corner of Capitol
.\venue and Hostetter Street, now known as the Or-
lando ranch; he also came to own a ranch of 300
acres on Pearl Avenue, and also 200 acres of grain-
farm in Hollister. He sold the HoUister property
and divided up the Pearl Avenue ranch among his
sons; Laura Ogan attended the Berryessa school,
and after that she went to the old San Jose high
school. Thus the family, on both sides, is of old-
line, .American stock.

For six years, Loren Gifford rented the old Alex-
ander Ogan ranch of 150 acres on Sierra road, and
then he bought twenty acres adjoining that ranch
on the west. He later bought an acre of land in
Berryessa, and having remodelled the house then on
it, he has lived there ever since. For four years he
worked in the U. S. Public Health Service in the

great work of exterminating the ground squirrel, and
for three years, in response to his public spirit, he
served on the Berryessa school board. A member of
the Woodmen of the World, Mr. Gifford is a past
council commander of the Alum Rock lodge.

A son of Mr. Gifford, Arnold by name, was mar-
ried at San Francisco, on November 9, 1914, to Miss
Maude N. Smith, the sister of O. J. Smith, whose
life-story appears elsewhere in this volume; and they
have had three children — Clifford, June Doris, and
Fern Jane. Arnold Gifford was born on October 2,
1892, and was sent to the Berryessa school for his
elementary training, and later he was fortunate in
getting the best that Heald's Business College could
a.flEord. In 1914, he took over the running of the
Sierra Road ranch, and for a number of years oper-
ated the farm successfully. At present he is a partner
with (). J. Smith in the Berryessa Garage, where he
enjoys much the same popularity as lias been ac-
corded him in the Alum Rock lodge of the Woodmen
of the World, in which, like his father, he is a popu-
lar and active member.

EBERHARD TANNING COMPANY.— Promi-
nent among the substantial industries which have ma-
terially contributed to make Santa Clara widely fa-
mous may well be enumerated the Eberhard Tanning
Company's plant, interesting as the oldest manufac-
turing concern continuously in business here, since
1848, when it was established by Henry Messing.
It employs eighty men steadily; and while it is evi-
dent that its total output is great, it has been main-
tained and increased its prosperity because it has
never lowered its high standard of quality. It also
has the distinction of being the oldest tannery on the
Pacific Coast. As one of the natural consequences,
the experienced, far-sighted and decidedly progressive
men at the helm exert an enviable influence in the
community in which they operate and live.

The company was incorporated in February, 1892,
and Jacob Eberhard, who was a native of Kehl,
Germany, and passed away in May, 1915, highly
honored by all who knew him, was the first presi-
dent, and he continued to fill that responsible office
until his demise. He had married Miss Mary Glein,
a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, and they had ten chil-
dren, all being born in Santa Clara.

The company makes a specialty of tanning skins of
all kinds, even for taxidermists, and they make sole
leather, harness leather and especially leather for
saddles — known to the trade as skirting — and they
have in their time filled some very interesting com-
missions. The most beautiful and highest-priced sad-
dle in the United States, for example, is owned by
J. C. Miller, of the 101 Wild West Show. It is hand-
carved and set with gold and precious stones, and
cost its owner $10,000. It was made by S. D. Myers,
of Sweetwater, Tex.; and contains 166 diamonds, 120
sapphires, seventeen rubies, four garnets, and fifteen
pounds of skirting with silver and gold. The leather
in it was tanned and finished by the Eberhard Tan-
ning Company, and it goes without saying that it
was the best that they could produce.

The present officers of the Eberhard Tanning Com-
pany are: John J. Eberhard, president; Oscar M.
Eberhard, vice-president; Miss M. Eberhard, secre-
tary and treasurer. Henry P, Eberhard, who was
its former secretary, died March 6, 1921.

534

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MARSHALL POMEROY.— It is interesting to
chronicle the life of the pioneer, the man who in
his prime entered the wilderness and claimed the
virgin soil as his heritage, and by braving the perils
and hardships began the improving of the land, so
that it is possible for the later generation to enjoy
the ease and comfort of the present-day civilization,
wrought by the hand of those pioneer ancestors.
Rapidly these grand old men are passing away, and
among the very few remaining of the early settlers
of Santa Clara County is Marshall Pomeroy, a rep-
resentative of the Pomeroy family, whose entrance
into California history dates back to 1849, when
Warren Pomeroy, the father of our subject, landed
at San Francisco, having come hither via the Isthmus
of Panama in the early rush to the gold mines.

Warren Pomeroy was born in Somers, Conn., ii\ 1801,
and was of English descent, the family being traced
back to Pomeroy Castle, in England, and they were
among the early settlers of New England Mr.
Pomeroy married Lucetta Wardwell, also a native of
Somers. He was engaged in the marble business
and had built it up to a successful basis when the
news of the gold discovery in California went abroad,
and leaving the business in charge of his sons, he
made haste to reach the new El Dorado. On arriv-
ing in San Francisco he at once made his way to
the mines and for several years sought the elusive
golden treasure, but finally chose agriculture as a
surer way to fortune, locating in Santa Clara County,
where he did much pioneer agricultural work. He
made three trips back to his old home, bringing his
wife and the remaining children out in 1859, three
sons having already come to California. In 1865 he
moved to San Jose, which was from that time his
permanent home. He retired from active business
some time before his death, which occurred in 1891,
his wife having preceded him some years before.

This worthy couple had nine children, of whom
Marshall was the next to the youngest. He was
born at Somers, Conn., February 10, 1835, and re-
ceived his education in the public schools, also at-
tending the advanced or select school at Somers,
where he was reared until the days of his young
manhood in the environment of a typical New Eng-
land home. After his school days were over he
clerked for a time in Springfield, Mass., and then in
New Britain, Conn, but the confinement did not
agree with him and he decided to come to California
and see the country whose possibilities his father
never tired of lauding.

Leaving New York in March, 1858, on the steamer
St. Louis for Aspinwall, he crossed the Isthmus to
Panama City and took the steamer John L. Stevens
for San Francisco, and in the month of .April ar-
rived in Santa Clara County. He went to work on
his father's farm, but he found everything new and
wild and quite different from the East, so much so
that he was taken with a severe feeling of homesick-
ness and resolved that when he had saved up enough
money to pay his way back East, he would return
home. Before he could do this, however, he received
word that his mother was coming out, bringing the
rest of the family. On their arrival, his old longing
for the East left him and he soon imbibed that lik-
ing for the West that has held so many thousands.
Thus he came to feel the same as his father had
expressed it — that New England was a good place to

emigrate from and that California was a good place
to go to. During the first few years he made trips
up and down the Coast, but after investigation he
concluded that he could not find any place superior
to Santa Clara County, and he has never regretted
casting his lot here. During the Civil War he was
a member of the Alviso Rifles, but was never called
out. After farming with his father for some years
he purchased 180 acres at Milpitas, where he raised
grain and stock.

In May, 1867, Mr. Pomeroy was united in mar-
riage with Miss Ella French, who was born in Michi-
gan in 1850 and came with her parents across the
plains in an ox-team train in 1852. Her father, Al-
fred French, for a time followed mining and then
settled in Sacramento County, where he served as
a member of the State Legislature. After this he
resided for a time in San Francisco, and then located
at Milpitas and it was here that the young people
met. Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy continued farming at
Milpitas until 1875, when they removed to San Jose.
Mr. Pomeroy having been appointed a deputy sheriff
under Nick Harris, serving the term of four years.
He then concluded it was best to return to ranch
life, where his children could have the benefit of
the great outdoors, so he bought 208 acres two miles
west of Santa Clara on the San Francisco road and
went in for raising hay, grain and stock. When his
boys grew up they induced him to set out an orchard,
and with their help he set out 120 acres to trees, 100
acres being in prunes and the balance in apricots.
He also installed a pumping plant for irrigating the
ranch, and built drying and packing houses, until he
had one of the best improved places in the valley.
His sons having grown up, and some of them mar-
ried, he turned the entire management of the place
over to them and in 1900 purchased the residence at
429 North Third Street, San Jose, where he has since
made his home. The holdings are incorporated as the
Pomeroy Orchard Company, of which he is presi-
dent and Irwin E. Pomeroy. manager.

Mr. Pomeroy was bereaved of his faithful life com-
panion September 3, 1917. She was a woman of much
culture, making the home attractive and carefully
looking after the rearing and education of her chil-
dren, as well as assisting and encouraging her hus-
band in his aniliitions. Her passing away was deep-
ly mourned by lur family and a large circle of friends.
She left five children: Irwin E. is manager of the
Pomeroy Orchard Company and chairman of the
board of trustees of the California Prune & Apri-
cot Growers, Inc.; Clarence is assisting in the man-
agement of the Pomeroy ranch; Mrs. Delia Surface
presides gracefully over her father's home, giving him
her loving care and looking after his welfare; Warren
and Clovis are proprietors of Pomeroy Bros., large
clothing merchants in San Jose. Mr. Pomeroy also
has five grandchildren to gladden his life and of
whom he is very fond.

Prominent in the ranks of the Odd Fellows, Mr.
Pomeroy has been a member of Garden City Lodge
for more than forty years. He cast his first vote
with the Whig party and since the formation of the
Republican party he has been a stanch adherent and
exponent of its platforms. Mr. Pomeroy is now one
of the few remaining of the very old settlers of Santa
Clara County. He recalls the times, some fifty years
ago, when he knew almost every man in the county

HaA^aM.O^'^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

537

and the great times they had at the conventions,
where every one called each other by their first
names. He marvels at the wonderful growth of the
county, which has greatly exceeded his expectations.
The population has become so large that when he
walks down San Jose's main streets there appears to
be all new faces, for he rarely meets any of his old
friends of those early and interesting days, when
they began making those improvements that have
made the county one of the most prosperous in the
state. He can well exclaim, "All of which I saw
and part of which I was." (Since this was written
Marshall Pomeroy passed away on November 30,
1921. mourned bv his family and many friends.)

NIELS NICHOLAS NIELSEN.— An enterpris-
ing Danish-American whose wide experience as a
machinist and master mechanic prior to his coming
to California, in important engagements in Denmark,
South Africa, New York. Pittsburgh. Chicago, Minne-
apolis and Alaska, has enabled him, after an equally
successful activity in San Francisco, to provide Sun-
nyvale with the best possible garage service, is Niels
Nicholas Nielsen, of Messrs. Cockrell & Nielsen,
proprietors of the Sunnyvale Garage. He was born at
Odensc, Denmark, on February 2, 1882, the son of
Hans Nielsen, a machinist; and it was because of
his father's trade that he resolved to become a ma-
chinist also. He finished course^ of study in the
primary and secondary schools of his n.itive land,
and then took up mechanical engineering under the
preceptorship of M. P. Allrup, and served an appren-
ticeship at Forborg, and at the iron works in the
city of Odense.

He then went to London for a year, and after that
to South Africa, serving on the English trans-port
line: but having set his heart on coming to America.
he landed at New York in the spring of 1901. and
there for four years he was in the Sullivan Auto-
matic Machine Works. Later he was employed at
Pittsburgh for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
and thence went to Minnesota and forked as engi-
neer for the Minneapolis Flouring Mills. After
awhile, he moved still farther westward to San Fran-
cisco; and there he was busy as a machinist until
the earthquake, when he went to Alaska. He was in
the Far North for twelve years as master mechanic
for the Alaska Packers Association, and served also
as United States Commissioner and notary public
for a period of three years. He took a course at
Van Der Nailen School of Engineering at Berkeley,
and then, in the fall of 1918. returned to Alaska.

Coming again to California. Mr. Nielsen bought a
ranch at Watsonville; and having made the acquaint-
ance of William Cockrell in Alaska, they became
partners and bought the old blacksmith shop at Sun-
nyvale, where they have since erected a modern
garage and machine shop. The}' also operate the
Associated Oil Company's oil station, built upon the
premises adjacent to the garage, on the State High-
way, at this point called the San Francisco Road.
Messrs. Cockrell and Nielsen bought the M. Lyon
property in May, 1919, consisting of eight acres; an
old blacksmith shop was located upon it, which they
tore down, and then built the new garage. Mr. Niel-
sen also bought the Scofield place of thirteen acres,
devoted to prunes, apricots and peaches; and he
sold it again to good advantage, and he also dis-
posed of his ranch at Watsonville at a very desirable
profit. The Sunnyvale Garage is equipped with a

complete machine shop, and the firm is prepared to
do strictly first-class work.

Mr. Nielsen was naturalized at San Francisco in
1908; and in that bay city in 1909 he was married to
Miss Louisa Lund, a native of Denmark. He is a
prominent Mason, and belongs to the Blue Lodge at
San Francisco, Islam Temple. A. A. O. N. M. S., in
the same city, and the Consistory in San Jose. A sis-
ter, Caroline, is the wife of Waldemar Brown of Co-
penhagen, and a brother, Hans Christian, now touring
America, is a noted designer on the staflf of the
Nord Magazine of Copenhagen.

PLIN MAGGINL— A worthy rancher couple who
are enjoying the enviable prosperity now rewarding
their investments and labors, are Mr. and Mrs.
Plin Maggini, the owners of seventy-six very at-
tractive acres making up a productive ranch at the
junction of the Sierra and Calaveras roads, six miles
east of Milpitas. They came to their present ranch
in October, 1920; and as leading Republicans and
firm believers in Christian Science, they exert a help-
ful influence in the direction of progress in the
community such as might be wished for in any fast-
developing section.

Mr. Maggini was born in the Canton Ticino.
Switzerland, at the town of Basca, on the day after
Christmas, 1884, the son of Alexander and Joseph-
ine Maggini, the former a native of Switzerland, who
came out to the United States alone in 1852, and
mined for gold at Iowa Hill, Gold Run and Forest
Hill. After becoming a naturalized citizen, he re-
turned to Switzerland and continued his industry of
raising goats. A second time he came to Califor-
nia, and mined for a while; and a second time he re-
turned to the Italian region in the Swiss RepubHc.
A third time he came to California, when our sub-
ject was three years old; and in this state he passed
away, in 1918. esteemed by all who knew him as
a hard-working, highly-intelligent and honest man
who had done something definite toward advancing
agricultural interests in California. Mrs. Maggini
is still livinu, the center of a devoted group of friends
and she cn.ioy^ life in San Jose at the age of sixty-
six. Owing to these movings back and forth, from
country to country, Milton Maggini, the eldest in
the family of four children, was born in Switzer-
land; Livio in the United States; Plin in Switzer-
land; and Ida imder the Stars and Stripes.

When only sixteen years of age, Plin started out
for himself, and learning the blacksmith trade, he
worked for wages for several years. He then went
to the mines in Placer County for a year and a half,
and mined in the same place where his father had
been many years before. Next he went into San
Jose and clerked for five years in the City Store;
and after that he took a position with the Alloggi
wholesale tobacco dealers, but at the end of three
years, he established a bicycle and motorcycle shop at
266 South First Street. San Jose, where he handled
the Reading, Standard, Snell. Cleveland and the Hud-
son bicycles.

Mr. Maggini sold out his cycling business at the
end of three years and bought with his increased
capital a ranch of thirty-five acres on the Almaden
Road, twelve miles out of San Jose; and this farm
he set out to prunes and apricots and so well de-
veloped, for three and one-half years, that he sold
it again at a good margin. Then he purchased a
ranch of 575 acres on the Uvas Road devoted to

538

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

cattle and grain and there he had a dairy and en-
gaged in the wholesale milk business. This ranch
he kept for a year, disposing of it on June 2, 1919.

Mr. Maggini then purchased a ranch of seventy-
six acres at the junction of the Sierra and Calaveras
roads, forty-five acres of which are devoted to apri-
cots, while the remainder of the land is given to the
growing of grain; and there Mr. May.mni and his
family now reside. He was marricl at San Jose on
October 13. 1915, to Miss Lucicllo Corpstim, a native
daughter born at Saratoga, whose parents were John
and Mary Corpstein. They came to California from
Iowa and settled at Saratoga; and there Lucielle
went to school. Later, she attended the high school
at San Jose, and she also pursued the courses of an
excellent business college; prior to her marriage she
was a bookkeeper for five years, — first for the Ben-
son & Weaver Automobile Company, and then for
Messrs. Bloomdahl & Keller. Two children have
blessed this union. Evelyn Mae and Mildred Eileen.

CLAUDE REDWINE.— Perhaps no family in re-
cent years has added so much to the business, social
and political life of Mountain View as has the Red-
wine family, and Claude Redwine is a worthy repre-
sentative of this useful and prominent family. Born
at Marshall. Searcy County, Ark., January 27, 1886,
he is the son of Simon L. and Susan (Hatchett) Red-
wine, the former born at Marshall, Ark., in 1860,
and the latter a native of Leslie, Ark. The family re-
moved to Texas and there Claude grew up, receiving
liis education in the grammar schools and later at-
tending the high school of Fort Worth; after gradu-
ation he entered the Polytechnic Business College and
received his technical training that later became so
valuable. Both parents reside in Mountain View, as
do also the four children: Claude, L. Clyde, and the
two daughters, Leslie and Lesta.

Before settling in Mountain View Claude Red-
wine was employed at the Watsonville Garage in
Watsonville, Cal.. for five years, and thoroughly
learned the automobile trade and became a first-
class garage man and machinist, able to handle all
kinds or repair work. He removed to Mountain
View in 1913 and purchased the Mountain View
Garage from C. N. Higdon, and through hard work
and giving first-class service his business grew and
expanded so that the next year, needing more capital
and a greater capacity for handling his business, the
firm was enlarged by taking in his father, S. L. Red-
wine, and his brother, L. Clyde Redwine. the old
name being retained. The office and sales force
consist of nine persons and the firm has a large,
well-equipped and up-to-date machine shop, with good
machinists, ready and able to do all kinds of auto,
truck and tractor work on short notice. They deal
in the Ford line of autos, trucks and tractors, John
Deere and Oliver plows, harrows and cultivators;
also tires and tubes, batteries, acetylene welding,
oils, gas. greases and a full line of Ford and Ford-
son accessories and extras. The business of the
Mountain View Garage has increased to such an ex-
tent that a larger building was erected in 1918. The
new% well-equipped garage and machine shop, 75x150
feet, is a very busy place, and enjoys a large patron-
age. The senior Redwine has full charge of the
office, while Claude and L. Clyde Redwine attend
to the sales department and have charge of the shop.

Mr. Redwine returned to Texas in 1918 and mar-
ried Miss Jeannette Martin of Clarendon, Texas.

They reside at 483 Hope Street, Mountain View,
and are the parents of one child. June. Mrs. Red-
wine is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Redwine was first elected and served as a mem-
ber of the board of trustees of Mountain View in
1918, and served for the two-year term, and in 1920
was reelected under the new law, which provides for
a four-year term, and was chosen chairman of the
board. Ever busy and efficient, he brings his best
efforts to bear for the good of Mountain View, which
has its own municipal water works, the water being
pumped from three wells by means of steam and
electric power; it also has its own library and city
^ hall, and a volunteer fire department with two fire
trucks. Next to Palo Alto, it has the lowest rate of
city taxation of any city in northern Santa Clara
County, one outstanding feature being that street
paving is paid for out of the general fund, and the
city's bonded indebtedness is very low, being only
six per cent of the assessed valuation as against
fifteen per cent allowed b\' law.

THOMAS COUCH.— The old. ever-interesting and
stirring story of the toil, sacrifice and accomplish-
ment of the builders of our Republic is recalled in
the life of the sturdy and highly-esteemed pioneer,
Thomas Couch, who came to California in 1868. a
native of Cornwall, England. He was a miner and
on coming to the United States followed mining for
a short time in Michigan and then came to Cali-
fornia, being employed first as a miner at the New
Almaden mine and after that he mined in Grass
Valley and different parts of Nevada and Utah until
he became manager of the Boston Montana Com-
pany, having charge of both their mines and smelter
at Great Falls. He then came to Oroville, Cal., and
was the first to start dredging on the Feather River,
constructing the first boat for the purpose. While
building the second dredger he was taken ill and died
at Lane Hospital. San Francisco, in 1901. He had
married in Gostien. Utah, December 28, 1874, being
united with Miss Rachel Webber, who was born in
Glamorganshire. Wales, a daughter of John and
Margaret (Richards) Webber, who brought their
family to Nevada when Rachel was five years old,
and later they moved to Utah, wdiere the parents
spent their last days.

Mr. Couch had become interested in cattle raising
in Montana, having purchased a ranch near Great
Falls, where his family resided. They had eight
children: Mary died at two years and nine months;
Thomas and Edward and Fred M. are cattlemen
on the Couch ranch; Rachel M. the wife of Lee
M. Ford, a banker at Great Falls; Albert C. was a
soldier in the World War. serving overseas and
was wounded during the battle of Chateau Thierry;
he now resides m Palo Alto; John D. served in the
Engineering Corps overseas as a lieutenant; he also
lives in Palo Alto; William, an exceptionally fine
specimen of young manhood, w-ho had trained as
an aviator, was in the aviation section of the U. S.
Army and was on his way to the conflict overseas
but died aboard the ship just before the boat reached
England. After her husband's death. Mrs. Couch
having a residence at 657 Webster in Palo Alto,
moved hither, and it has since been her home. Mr.
Couch took a keen interest in civic affairs and as
a Republican worked and voted with those of the
party of Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTV

541

CHARLES D. SOUTH.— A member in high stand-
iiiK of the fourth estate who has done much to mold
piililic opinion, an efficient and popular public official,
well known in the newspaper fraternity and the
country at large through his literary work. Charles
D. South, the postmaster of Santa Clara has done his
full share in putting the now famous Mission town of
Santa Clara on the map. and incidentally to advance
the degree of culture in the new commonwealth. A
New Yorker by birth and a Californian by adoption,
Mr. South was born at Plattsburg. in the Empire
State. March 24, 1864. and came to California with
his family in 1876. His parents were Capt. Joseph
and Catherine South, and the father gave his life for
his country, falling in the battle of Cold Harbor, Va.,
March 24, 1864. Mrs. South was a woman of un-
usual charm, possessing high poetic and linguistic
ability, and from her Mr. South doubtless inherited
nuK-h of his literary inclination and talent.

.\s a youth, precocious and gifted in expression,
he was early headed for editorial work and a literary
career. After completing the courses in the grammar
and high schools, lie pursued a literary course at
the University of Santa Clara, and his .Alma Mater
has honored him with the degrees of A. M. and
Lit. D. Mr. South was for some time on the staff
of one of the Bay City's great dailies, the San Fran-
cisco "Call," first as e.xrhaiige editor and then literary
editor and editorial writer, providing a broad scope
for his talents. After the San Francisco fire he re-
turned to Santa Clara and became editor of the San
Jose "Morning Times." When the portfolio of the
post office at Santa Clara was offered to him in 1914,
he accepted the appointment as postmaster under
President Wilson, continuing ever since as the effici-
ent incumbent of this office. It was then a more
modest proposition, but in keeping with the growth
of the nation and its great federal organization, and
under the able administration of Mr. South and his
corps of able assistants the business of the office has
doubled and the parcel post has been notably de-
veloped. A fifty-mile rural route now encircles the
rich fruit district to the north and northwest and a
motorcycle delivery of parcel post has been installed.
The Santa Clara post office sold $100,000 worth of
War Saving Stamps during the 1918 drive, and thus
went over the top magnificently, a fine testimonial to
the patriotism and wealth of the fr\iit section. Mr.
South served on the War Council and received
governmental approbation for his services as a four-
minute speaker.

.'\ccepting the newly established chair of journalism
in Santa Clara University, Mr. South took up his
new duties on September 3, 1907, and the following
comments from the press will be found interesting.
A news article in the San Jose "Daily Mercury"
reads as follows:

"Charles South Accepts New Chair at College —
Well Known Special Writer to Give up Newspaper
Work for Teaching. Charles D. South, who has been
a valued special writer on the "Mercury." has accepted
a position as a member of the faculty of Santa Clara
College. He severs his connection with the "Mer-
cury" this week. The faculty of the college has es-
tablished in connection with its literary course a
department or school of journalism, and Mr. South
has been appointed professor in charge. The new
department is designed to furnish a practical course

in both newspaper and magazine work, according to
the best standards and models. An idea of the prep-
aration which he brings to his new task may be
gained from a statement of some of the positions
which Mr. South has held. He was for a time assist-
ant editor of the Seattle "Telegraph." Later he was
Sunday editor of the San Francisco "Call." He also
served as editor of the "Weekly Call," and as ex-
change editor and editorial writer on the "Call." In
the latter capacity he was under John McNaught.
He has done considerable special work for the
"Bulletin." having received some of the more im-
portant assignments on that paper. Contributions,
both poetry and prose have found their way into the
San Francisco weeklies, notably the "News Letter."
Mr. South has also done a great deal of Sunday
special work, and has written many magazine articles
His standing in San Francisco and San Jose and the
years of preparation presage well for his success in
his new field of endeavor.

"It is with regret that the "Mercury" chronicles
his departure from this newspaper. ' He has been a
very useful special writer, his fund of available in-
formation being remarkably large, and his faculty
for writinu finished English in an interesting way
being rather unusual in a newspaper writer. He is
a courteous gentleman, and has won the undisguised
friendship of his fellow-employees in the "Mercury"
office. They regret his departure, but are glad that
there came to him an opportunity which he has
desired. He will be given time from his duties in
the college to do some magazine work which he has
in mind, and which the busy round of work in a
newspaper oftice would not permit him to take up."

In the San Jose "Times" of the same date, its editor
and manager. Charles M. Shortridge. pays the follow-
ing tribute to Mr. South's work:

"Charles D. South has been appointed professor
in charge of the department or school of journalism,
newly established in Santa Clara College. The im-
portance of the new specialty in collegiate education
has been already recognized by the leading uni-
versities of the East. The object is to furnish a
practical course in both newspaper and magazine
work, according to the best standards and models.
The mere announcement that the University of Santa
Clara has undertaken to teach the art of newspaper
and magazine writing is sufficient guarantee that
there is sufficient demand for this branch of educa-
tion and likewise a guarantee that no college in the
country will equip more thoroughly and under better
influences, the student of journalism, than the Santa
Clara College. The selection of Mr. Charles D.
South is also in accord with this spirit of thorough-
ness and carefulness, and we predict that the chair
to which this close student and finished scholar has
been assigned will soon rank among the very first
of the chairs of the old college.

"W^e have known Mr. South for years. While we
were editor of the San Francisco "Call." Mr. South
had full charge of the magazine department of this
paper and likewise a supervision of the weekly
issue, which furnished him a fine opportunity to dis-
play his wide and apt knowledge of journalism. Mr.
South is also a young man of excellent character,
therefore aside from his fine literary abilities he will
instill into the student of the great art of rhetoric,
as applied to newspaper work and magazine work.

542

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

high and lofty ideals of the spirit which should
actuate the journalist in his every effort in his chosen
profession. We predict that the new chair will be-
come a most popular one, and that the name of
Charles D. South will prove to be one of the bright-
est ornaments of the college which bears among its
alumni many of the most forceful and brilliant men
who have ever served in the literary or public life
of the Pacific Coast."

While in San Francisco Mr. South did much
dramatic work as a side issue. He finished "Con-
stantine," a Roman drama, while at the University
of Santa Clara, and this play was produced at the
university with brilliant success in 1909 by a cast of
two hundred actors — students and professionals. In
recognition of the composition of the play of "Con-
stantine," and its production under the auspices of
the institution, the faculty of the University of Santa
Clara presented Mr. South with a magnificent gold
medal, set with diamonds and appropriately inscribed
in commemoration of the initial production at the
university auditorium — a literary event in the history
of the famous school. Mr. South is the author of
"Captain Blunt," a comedy. "Santiago," a drama of
the Cuban War, and of a drama, "Longwood," deal-
ing with the career of Napoleon the Great. He has
also written a number of clever short stories for
newspapers and magazines and he now has in press
a volume of poems. In the "Morning Times" of
October 26, 1913, appeared a page of editorial com-
ment signed by Mr. South, containing facts of pecul-
iar historical interest; for there he reviewed, as per-
haps no one before him had done, the history of the
San Jose press, with its financial ups and downs, its
motley assortments of politics, its able, upright or
adventurous journalists, and the long line of head-
stones in the newspaper graveyard founded with the
California commonwealth. This review of the pioneer
journals and scribes, made while it is yet possible
to reach back and grasp the fast evanescing data, is
of such historical value that general appreciation has
been accorded to Mr. South's comprehensive essay.

At San Francisco, Mr. South was married to Miss
Jessie R. Harrington, a young lady of artistic talents
and charming personality, who was born and reared
in that city, a member of a prominent pioneer family.
Three children have blessed their union. William B.
South, Charles D. South, Jr., who was commissioned
a first lieutenant in the late war, and Warren J.
South, all engaged in business pursuits. A Democrat
of the progressive type Mr. South has always taken
a live interest in politics, and he is a leading spirit in
all local, as well as general progressive movements.
He is a member of San Jose Lodge No. 879, K. C,
having served as grand knight for several terms.

W. K. ROBERTS.— A highly-esteemed, and there-
fore, very influential, progressive and public-spirited
gentleman, who is inspired with broad humanitarian
sentiments and. although not wealthy, is able to ac-
complish much for others as well as for himself, is
W. K. Roberts, newspaper man, editor and justice
of the peace at Sunnyvale. He was born at Mexico,
Mo., on January 22, 1856, and when eighteen mi-
grated westward to the Rocky Mountain States, try-
ing his fortune first in Colorado, then in New Mex-
ico and Colorado, and afterward in Texas. From
there he came to San Francisco, where he spent five
years in the drug trade; and next he crossed the Pa-

cific to Hawaii. He was there while King Kalakaua
was on the throne, and he met him, attended several
of his feasts, and later met Queen "Lil," as she was
popularly called. William T. Roberts, the father of
our subject, was a native of Kentucky, who married
Miss Fannie Sims, a native of Virginia, thus blend-
ing English, Irish and Welsh blood.

Growing up under poor schooling conditions, Mr.
Roberts led a kind of cowboy life for some time,
after leaving home, owing to disagreement with his
father, who was a Mexican War veteran. He first
came to California in 1881, and in the Bay City ob-
tained work as a clerk in W. Mayhew's drug store,
144 Fourth Street, and attended evening schools to
pursue general studies. He studied surgery under
Dr. L. C. Lane, and took a commercial course at
Heald's Business College. In 1886, he went to Ha-
waii, and the following year pushed on to China, en-
tering the Imperial Maritime Customs Service, and
for fifteen years was in the employ of the Chinese
Government. He had the honor of serving vmder
Sir Robert Hart, who was then Inspector General
of Customs for the Chinese Government; and while
not becoming a Cliim si subject, he attained to man-
darin civil rank ni tin fourth class. He was thus
employed for fifteen years at Canton, Swatow, Shang-
hai, Nanking. Kiu Kiang, Han Kow, Shasi, and
Chungking, the latter city being fifteen hundred miles
up the Yang-tse-Kiang River. He learned to speak
and write the North China language. During the
Boxer War he was in charge of the Port of Shasi
and held it for the Manchu Government during the
period of hostilities.

Having obtained two years' leave of absence, Mr.
Roberts returned to California; and at Sonoma City,
in 1903, he was married to Miss Ethel Hunter, a
Sonoma County girl. He also bought a ranch near
Sonoma, and in 1905 returned to China; and soon
after he resigned his position at Shanghai and came
back to Sonoma County. Mrs. Roberts had remained
in California, where her first child v.as born.

From Sonoma County },Ir. Roberts moved down
to Sunnyvale and bought the Sunnyvale Standard,
which had been founded by J. H. McCarthy, who
had sold it to G. B. Tuley, who in turn disposed of it
to our subject: and this newspaper he ran as a six-
column, four-page weekly, from 1907 to 1921 — ex-
cept for three years, when it was managed by R. S.
Crowl. On August 21, 1921, Mr. Roberts relin-
<Mii-!i ■! rMiitrol as both publisher and editor, handing
,i\<v ilii Mills to the new proprietor, A. T. Fetter.
IJihuil; this piriod of journalistic activity, Mr. Rob-
erts served as Sunnyvale's first justice of the peace,
first taking office through appointment by the county
supervisors. In 1914. he was regularly elected jus-
tice by his fellow-citizens; and four years later he
was reelected. He is also the town recorder, and is
the first and only occupant of that office, having
commenced when Sunnyvale was incorporated in
1914. Mr. Roberts not only invested in the "Stan-
dard" and its office building, but he bought residence
and other property, including a number of vacant
lots, and had worked hard, through his newspaper,
in favor of incorporation. He has been equally as-
siduous in forwarding the commercial and general
development of the town, and for years he has been,
as he still is, the efficient secretary of the Sunnyvale
Chamber of Commerce.

o^a^oJu(^(^.

'y\y\j.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

545

During Mr. Roberts' first leave of aljscnce from
his post in China, in 1895, he joined the International
Colonization Society, whose offices were at Birming-
ham, Ala., and made a voyage to Liberia, on the
West Coast of Africa, as assistant medical officer on
the ship "Laurada," which carried over 360 Afro-
Americans to that colony; and he wrote, as the re-
sult, ."An African Canaan for the American Negro."
Since then he has written several other works. As a
confirmed apostle of the theory and practice of right
living, he wrote "Health From Natural Foods," and
he is also author of a treatise on "The Mongolian
Problem," and a book entitled "Divinity and Man."
In matters of religion he prefers the Unitarian form
of faith; and in national political afifairs, he works as
an Independent Republican. His pen has also done
good service in helping to organize the South Shore
Port Company, for the development of a south bay
port near Sunnyvale, which is to be available for
deep-water ships.

Mr. and Mrs. Roberts have two children. Wilma
M. is a junior in the Santa Clara high school; and
Alexander H. is a pupil in the eighth grade of the
grammar school. Mr. Roberts has been an active
member of the Pomona Grange, and is now serving
his third year as its chaplain.

HORATIO W. ORR.— A prominent resident of
Palo Alto whose wide experience, thorough knowl-
edge of realty conditions, and valuable connections
make him invaluable as a representative, influential
dealer in real estate, is Horatio W. Orr, a native son
of Santa Clara County, having been born at May-
field on January 21, 1867. His father, Horatio Orr,
was born in Vermont; and having come out to Cal-
ifornia by way of Panama in 1859, he first located at
San Francisco, where he married Miss Mary G.
Pickett, a native of Ireland of Scotch descent. From
the Bay City he came to Mayfield, and in 1862 he
rented land from Mr. Seale, the acreage being the
site of South Palo Alto. He bought the first town
lot sold in Mayfield, and in going in and out between
San Francisco and the new town, he traveled over
an old Spanish horse-trail. For many years he en-
gaged in farming and dairying, and he spent the last
years of his life at Mayfield, dying in January, 1920,
at the age of eighty-three. He was always an active
member of the Methodist Church, and having long
marched with the Republican party, lie eventually
joined the ranks of the Prohibitionists. Four chil-
dren had been granted this worthy couple. Horatio
W. Orr is the subject of our review; Electa is the
wife of Joseph Birkett and lives in Grass Valley;
James Orr lives at Mayfield, and Newton in Colorado.

Horatio W. Orr attended the public schools of May-
field, and studied for a year at Stanford. Then, until
1897, he engaged in contracting and building, still re-
siding at Mayfield. but carrying on his extensive op-
erations in Palo Alto and other towns as well. Then
he removed to Palo Alto and opened an electrical
establishment; and for ten years he continued there
in that field of activity. In 1907, he embarked with
T. J. Floyd in the wall paper and paint trade; but in
December, 1917, he sold his interest to Mr. Floyd, and
he is now engaged exclusively in buying and selling
real estate. With his long residence and continued
activity in one line or another having to do with the
development of this section, Mr. Orr is particularly

qualified to advise the person seeking either town or
country property.

Mr. Orr was married at Boulder Creek in Santa
Cruz County, on August 10, 1904, to Miss Julia E.
Tompkins, a native of Santa Cruz County and a step-
daughter of Joseph W. Peerv, who died at Boulder
Creek, March 14, 1910, being one of Santa Cruz Coun-
ty's most honored pioneer-. ,ui(l bu--iness men. He had
been very active in l)iiil(lin!.; up tin- laniurw the saw
mill and the shingle null .il llduliUr Creek. He was
born in Caleb County, W. Va., (then Virginia) Oc-
tober 2, 1830. His father, Hiram Peery, was in the
War of 1812, and at its close engaged in farming in
West Virginia, later moving to Kentucky, when he
became a planter. In 1850 Joseph W. Peery crossed
the plains and tried his luck at mining, but in 1853
returned to Missouri. In 1859 he went to Nebraska
and in 1862 returned to California and spent three
years at Stockton, then removed to Santa Cruz County.
In 1869 he settled at Boulder Creek and bought out
the sawmill and became a large land owner. Mr.
Peery's first wife died crossing the plains in 1862.
His second marriage in Santa Cruz County, united
him with Mrs. Alvira Mercy Tompkins, who had
seven children by her first husband, Daniel D. Tomp-
kins: Willis E., Jo-cphine, Jennie. Walter. Julia, Alice
and Elmer. She died at her home at Boulder Creek
in her sixty-sixtii year.

Mr. and Mrs. (Jrr have one daughter, Dorothy
Jane. The family belong to the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and Mr. Orr is a Royal Arch Mason and a
Native Son of the Golden West.

W. W. HARTLEY.— An excellent example of the
results of an active, well-directed life will be found
in W. W. Hartliy. who at the age of seventy-three
is still .utive and heads the Hartley Hardware Com-
pany at Mountain \'iew. Throughout his useful life
he has been active in promoting measures for the
general good of the community, and his natural gift
of leadership places him among the leading business
men of his locality. Born in the province of New
Brunswick, Canada, he first saw the light of day
near Fredericton, situated on the beautiful St. Johns
River, August IS. 1849. His father was Edward W.
Hartley and was a farmer of New Brunswick. The
ancestors on both sides were either from England
or were of En.glish descent. Mr. Hartley's early
boyhood was passed in his native province up to
twenty-one years of age, and he received a sufficient
education to be duly licensed as a teacher, and he
taught school for several terms. Upon his removal
to the L'nited States, he was first employed by the
Borden's Milk Condensing Company at Elgin. 111.,
but this line of work was not to his liking; his next
move was to Brainerd, Minn., arriving <luring the
year of 1870, just at the time the Northern I'acific
Railway was in course of construction. His ability
and leadership was instantly recognized and he was
elected county auditor; and in addition to this was
appointed clerk of the court; and at the same time
was probate judge, register of deeds, coroner, de-
puty treasurer of the county, deputy sheriflf. and
justice of the peace; later he served one term as
police judge. It was largely through the efforts of
Mr. Hartley that Senator W. D. Washburn received
his first nomination for Congress. Mr. Hartley went
to the convention at Minneapolis as the delegate from
five counties. Crow Wing, Cass. Wadena, Itasca and

546

HISTORY OF SANTA CI.ARA CoL'NTV

Aitken. and casting his vote for Washburn gave him
the majority over his opponent. Senator Washburn
never forgot the efforts of Mr. Hartley in his behalf,
and through his influence Mr. Hartley was appointed
postmaster at Brainerd by President Hays and served
through his administration and that of Presidents
Garfield, Arthur, and a part of Cleveland's adminis-
tration up to 1889. He was also interested in the
hotel business and a book and stationery store, and
was for some time the proprietor of the Villard
Hotel at Brainerd. Minn. In 1889 he removed to
Tacoma, Wash., and was in business there for eight
years, and in 1897 ca:me to California and engaged in
mining in El Dorado County, Cal.. and also in the
state of Oregon, where he continued for two years.
During 1910 he removed to Mountain View and pur-
chased the hardware store, which has engaged his
attention ever since. His son, Charles F., is asso-
ciated with him in the business, and by strict atten-
tion to business they have built up a fine patronage
and the quality of their goods is beyond question.

The marriage of Mr. Hartley, July 22, 1874, oc-
curred in Michigan and united him with Miss Mary
E. Moorman, the daughter of Francis Moorman of
Belding, Mich., and they became the parents of five
children: Clara E. is now Mrs. T. D. McLean, a
hardware factory representative of Seattle, Wash.;
.\lfred W. is chief engineer in charge of the Ham-
mond Lumber Company at San Pedro, Cal.; Hattie
M. is the wife of M. J. Bacon, of the comptometer
company at Seattle, Wash., where they reside; James
E. is a marine engineer with the Hammond Lumber
Company; Charles F. is the iiartner of his father in
the hardware store at Mountain \'ic\v. There are
nine grandchildren. In 1915 a family residence was
built at 333 Franklin Street, Mountain View. Mr.
Hartley is a stalwart old line Republican and his
activities in politics have borne good fruits. Mr.
Hartley and his entire family have the respect and
esteem of the community. Mrs. Hartley departed
this life on March 27, 1922, and rests in Cypress
Lawn Cemetery, San Francisco, beside her father.

VARGAS BROS. — Wide-awake as self-made, en-
terprising and successful dairymen having one quar-
ter of a thousand well-selected cows. \'argas Bros,
are equally serviceable to thnr coniniunity. and pro-
portionately prosperous, as i.k.im ictoi ^ ,,i tin tinely-
stocked store at 899 Frankl.n Street, tlu i.r.ncipal
general merchandise establishment m Santa Clara.
The firm is composed of M. J. and F. J. Vargas,
both Santa Clara County boys, for they saw the
light of day near the San Francisquito Creek, in the
vicinity of Palo Alto. M. J. Vargas was born on
December IS, 1879; and F. J. Vargas joined the
family circle on October 26, 1881. Their father was
the late Joseph P. Vargas, a successful rancher farm-
ing near Palo Alto, and he had married Miss Anna
Gloria Duarte. Both parents are now deceased; but
three of their daughters are living in Santa Clara
County. Miss Anna J. Vargas was an overseas Red
Cross nurse, attached to Unit 30, who was privileged
to return safely to California, after splendid service
in France. Rose is the wife of Frank Scimas, the
rancher, at Sunnyvale. Flora is Mrs. Joe W. Angelo.
and she resides at Sunnyvale, where they have a
ranch, her husband clerking for Vargas Bros.

These ambitious boys were reared on the Santa
Clara County farm, while they attended the Palo

.•\lto grammar school, and later Heald's Business Col-
lege at San Jose; and then they were employed by
their uncle, Manuel Vargas, whom they bought out
in 1904. M. J. Vargas married Miss Leonore Mar-
shall, of Ross, Cal., and they have three children.

F. J. Vargas married Miss Anita Dorsey. Both are
members of the Saint Claire Roman Catholic Church
of Santa Clara, and they also belong to the Native
Sons of the Golden West and the U. P. E. C. They
have erected at generous expense ornate and com-
fortable residences for themselves, and also four
liandsome cottages, which they rent.

As merchants, Vargas Bros, deal in the best of
everthing within their line, which they endeavor to
offer at the lowest possible price, so that their large
and varied stock keeps moving. As dairymen they
are the ].riiicipal owners in the enterprise of Vargas
Bn.s. \- M.nilonza, who milk 250 head of high-grade
HcjUtem iciw-. and liave 450 acres rented and de-
voted to this dairy. They are members of the Cali-
fornia Milk Producers' .Association, and they are
among the most welcome members of the Chamber
of Commerce of Santa Clara. M. J. Vargas is a
stockholder and director in the Santa Clara Branch
of the Bank of Italy.

A. RAY ANDERSON.— A native son of Santa
Clara County who has been associated with its prog-
ress during all his years, --\. Ray Anderson is well
known for his constructive work on the highways
of the county, adding greatly to the comfort and con-
venience of its inhabitants. The son of Phillip and
Rebecca (Cahill) .Anderson, he was born at Ber-
ryessa. July X, 1,S84. I^hillip Anderson was born in
.■\lierdeen. Scotland, and when a young man crossed
the ocean to Xova Scotia, settling for a time at
.Amherst. Leaving the Maritime Provinces, he came
to San l-'rancisio by way of the Isthmus of Panama,
remaining there fur six months. Coming from there
to Santa Clara County, he opened up a blacksmith
shop at Berryessa. being a pioneer smithy of this
locality, and his shop was known far and wide for
the excellence of his work. Mrs. Anderson was a
native of Nova Scotia, of English descent, and she
also came to California by the Isthmus. She passed
away in 1888, Mr. Anderson surviving her until 1919.
This worthy couple were the parents of seven chil-
dren: Margaret Alice of Berryessa; William W.,
a rancher at Berryessa; Mabel V. of San Fran-
cisco; Leslie C, who died in March, 1917; Roscoe
A. of Los Angeles; A. Ray and Emily Oressa.

A. Ray Anderson attended the Berryessa school
and finished his schooling at the San Jose high
school. When he was twenty years old he took up
the machinist's trade, learning it thoroughly in every
detail until he became a competent engineer. For
the past ten years he has been associated with the
Santa Clara Road Commission as an engineer hand-
ling the steam roller and grader, and the tractors
used in the road leveling work. An expert in this
line he has covered a great share of the mileage of
the county, both in construction and maintenance
work. A Republican in politics, Mr. Anderson is a
member of the Eagles and of San Jose Parlor, N. S.

G. W. Many years ago his father purchased a ranch
of 252 acres in the hills east of Berryessa, on the
Berryessa Road, and Mr. Anderson is now an owner
of part of this ranch, which he inherited.

/] ^^L^\t^^La^^^L-^^pUC^i^t^-$^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUN'l'V

549

PETER L. LINEHAN— Broad experience, close
application, enterprise and natural mechanical ability
have brought Peter L. Linehan to a foremost position
in the business circles of San Jose and Santa Clara
County. He is one of the pioneer plumbers of San
Jose and so comprehensive a knowledge has he of
that trade that he wrote the original plumbing ordin-
ance that was adopted by the board of health and
that is now a municipal law. A native of New N'nrk.
Mr. Linehan was born in Rensselaer County, Jan-
uary 28, 1865, a son of James and Mary (McC.anii)
Linehan, both natives of County Clare, Ireland. They
came to the United States and located in New York,
and from there came to California in 1869. They
took passage on the S. S. Alaska for Panama and
from the Isthmus boarded the Golden City for San
Francisco, arriving there the last day of December.
The Golden City was lost on its return trip to Pan-
ama. Three days after arriving in this state, Mr.
Linehan came to San Jose, and with the exception of
about two years spent on a ranch at Half Moon Bay.
they spent their remaining years here. Mr. Linehan
died in his eighty-fourth year and Mrs. Linehan at
the age of seventy-six. They reared a family of nine
children: T. J., who died at the age of forty; Delia,
now the widow of A. H. Volkers, and living in San
Jose; James H., who was a plumber by trade, married
and died, leaving two children; Peter L., of this re-
view; Mrs. Alice Carmichael, deceased; Mrs. Mar-
garet McDonald died, leaving one son, Emmett. now
an attorney in Washington, D. C; Jennie, the wife of
George Scott, died in Decemhir, l''il, in San Fran-
cisco; and Katie and Anna, both iln'l ^ini^li

Peter Linehan received a common ~rliool educa-
tion and at the age of fifteen went to work on the
Murphy cattle ranch and continued for two years.
He next served an apprenticeship at the plumbing
trade under James A. Hagan and when he had
mastered the details of the business he continued
with that firm after Mr. Hagan turned the business
over to his son. Charles A. Hagan. The last four
years that Charles .\. was in Inisiness, during his ill-
ness, and until liis death. Mr. Linehan was manager
of the establishment, servint; in all for eighteen years
and ten months under the Hagans. It was just be-
fore Charles A. Hagan died that Mr. Linehan pur-
chased the business and for six vears was sole owner.
Then he sold a half-interest to" Tom ,.h W. Prlaney
and they carried on tlu- Im-inc^s r.n'l.i- tlir linn n.inie
of Linehan & Delaney foi- rii^litrni moiuli^, w lien
Mr. Linehan sold out to his partner. The luUowuig
three years were devoted to perfecting an acetylene
gas generator and burner, known as the Star Gener-
ator, on which he secured patents. He then turned
his attention to making gas from crude oil and cold
compressed air for heating furnaces. After this ven-
ture he again turned his attention to his old trade and
has continued active up to the present, doing a gen-
eral plumbing business, keeping busy mostly with
emergency calls. Mr. Linehan was one of the organ-
izers and the first president of the San Jose Plumbers'
Union and at the time of the Federated Trades pro-
cession held here in September, 1889. he acted as
Grand Marshal.

The marriage of Peter L. Linehan in San Jose.
January 31, 1887, united him with Miss Lydia Esther
Smith, daughter of the late Thomas and Esther
(Patterson) Smith, and a native of Boston, Mass.
Mr. Smith went to Virginia City, Nev., at an early

day and followed mining until he came to San Jos(i
and it was here that he became a well-known figure
about the county buildings, serving as superintend-
ent for twenty years. Mr. Linehan now has in his
possession the first clock that was put in the crimi-
nal courtroom, presided over by the late Judge Bel-
den and others, and which was given to Mr. Smith
when the new clocks were installed. This clock is
still keeping excellent time. Mr. and Mrs. Smith
lioth died in San Jose. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs.
l.inehan one daughter. Lydia Esther, was born. She
is now the wife of Otto Rapp, a rancher living at
Morgan Hill. Mrs. Linehan ])asscd away in San
Jose on September 24, 1891,

It must not be presumed that Mr. Linehan has de-
voted his entire time to his own affairs; for two terms
he served as president of the Y. M. I. of San Jose
and has given liberally of his time to assist in the
promotion of various movements for the betterment
of society in general. He possesses a fine tenor
voice and for twelve years was first tenor in St. Pat-
rick's Catholic Church, where for eight years his
gifted wife was first soprano. While he was leading
the sin.sjinK then- he and Miss Sullivan, later Mrs.
O'Cunnill. arranged the music for the centennial
celebration c^l \ll^sion San Jose. He was an active
menilm of tin W ilkins Glee Club of this city during
the two years of it^ i \i-lini. ; aKo a member of the
Acme Literary and M\i-ii,ii Soi k ly and took part in
many amateur tlualrniU lli is a personal friend
of Eugene T. Sawyer, editor ol the History of Santa
Clara County, and acted with him in several pro-
ductions in the early days. In fact where there was
musical or literary entertainment Mr. Linehan could
always be counted u|ion to do his share in carrying
through the interesting programs that were ar-
ranged for the entertamment of the many who de-
lighted in that line of social uplift. He is an inter-
esting talker and is widely and favorably known
throughout the county where he has lived for a
period of more than fifty years.

OLANDO J. SMITH.— Prominent among those
who have done much to make automobiling one of
the pleasant and profitable features of Twentieth
Century life in Santa Clara County is undoubtedly
Olando J. Smith, the popular i)roprietor of the Berry-
essa Garage at Berryessa. in which town, on May
27, 1880, he first saw light. His father was Christo-
pher Columbus Smith, and his mother, before her
marriage, was Sierra Nevada Ogan, so called from
the fact that she was born when her parents, Mr. and
Mrs. John Ogan, were crossing the Sierras on their
way to California from Missouri in 1853. Chris-
topher Columbus Smith came to California front Illi-
nois in 1852 with his parents, William Jarvis and
Nancy Smith, and settled in Santa Clara County;
and ever since then the family have made their
home at Berryessa — for a long time on the
ranch on Capitol Avenue now operated by the Curry
brothers, since the folks of both Mr. and Mrs. Smith
were farmers, the Ogans having owned the ranch at
the corner of Sierra and Piedmont roads, where W.
W. .Anderson now resides. Mr. Smith died in 1910.
esteemed by all who knew him. and by none more
than those with whom he had had long and inti-
mate dealings. His widow. Mrs. Sierra Nevada
Smith, is still living. She belongs to the first gener-
ation of California girls and is bright and interestmg.

550

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

She has seen most wonderful transformations in this
section. When she was a little girl the streets in
San Jose were lighted by means of oil-burning
lamps, probably sperm oil at that, as kerosene was
very scarce in California at that time. She was
present when the first railway train arrived at San
Jose — an occasion for great jubilation. There were
but two small orchards in the vicinity of San Jose
then. Then, as now, the young folks liked to dance.
Her father, John Ogan, lived to be eighty years old.
He was quite a musician, as musicians went in those
days, and he often helped the young folks to a good
time, playing his "fiddle" at their dancing parties,
Mrs. Sierra Nevada (Ogan) Smith was the youngest
of nine children. The Ogans belonged to the Chris-
tian Church, while the Smiths were Baptists.

Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith,
and seven are still living. Lola became Mrs.
Sleightam. of Rio Vista, and is now deceased; Mamie
is Mrs. W. W. Anderson, of the old Ogan ranch at
Berryessa; Charles lives at Susanville; Olando is the
subject of our story: Becde is Mrs. Nesbit of Con-
cord: Euphemia is Mrs. Mathews of Fallon, Nev. ;
Hazel and Lila are deceased; Robert is at Berryessa,
near to Maude N., who is Mrs. Arnold Gifford.

Olando Smith attended the Berryessa school and
took charge of his father's ranch, shortly after the
latter died. This ranch was a farm of 260 acres, no
little responsibility; and later he discontinued farm-
ing, and took up the carpenter's trade. On July
4, 1911, he went to Patterson, in Stanislaus County,
and engaged in contracting and building. He put up
a large number of the structures there when the town
was built, and he staved in the progressive town
until the first of October. 1919. On that date, Mr.
Smith returned to Berryessa and built a corrugated
steel garage at the junction of the Berryessa Road
and Capitol Avenue, and since that time he has been
associated with his brother-in-law, Arnold Gifford,
in the conducting of a general garage and repair
business. They have a finely-equipped machine shop,
and they also maintain a gasoline and oil station.

On November 11, 1911, Mr. Smith was married to
Miss Clara Stewart, a native of San Jose and a
daughter of Henry and Bessie Stewart, the former
deceased. Mr. Smith is a Republican, but no one
takes greater pleasure in throwing partisanship to
the winds, when it comes to supporting the best
local measures and men.

ROY W. BRIDGMAN.— Prominent among the
educators of Santa Clara County whose scholarship,
training and fidelity to duty, and routine, exacting
work have contributed so much to make San Jose
and the environing country one of the most attrac-
tive home regions in all the Golden State, may well
be mentioned Roy W. Bridgman, the popular prin-
cipal of the San Martin Grammar School, living in
San Jose. He was born at Rich Hill, Bates County,
Mo„ on July 14, 1874, the son of Henry C. Bridg-
man, a descendant of a well-known Connecticut fam-
ily which originally hailed fro mEngland, and for six
generations at least domiciled in the United States.
He married Miss .\nna M. Carr, also of English
descent, and in 1879 moved to Calaveras Valley, Cal.,
where they lived for about a year. He was a farmer,
dealing largely in cattle; and as his methods were
progressive and up-to-date, he succeeded as well as

the primitive conditions of that time and place would
permit. Four children were granted this worthy
couple, and two are living today — our subject, the
third eldest, and Judson, the firstborn, of Shelter
Cove, Cal. Grace died at the age of nineteen, and
so did her sister, Kate.

In 1880, Henry C. Bridgman came to Santa Clara
County to farm, and Roy attended first the grammar
and then the high school of San Jose. After grad-
uating from the high school he studied for a year in
the pharmaceutical department of the University of
California. Having passed the state board examin-
ations and becoming a registered pharmacist, he fol-
lowed the profession in different cities in California
and Nevada. Being desirous of engaging in educa-
tional work, Mr. Bridgman entered the San Jose
Normal, where he was graduated with the class of
1910. He then spent three years as a teacher in the
San Jose Night School, while attending Stanford
University. In 1913, he took his Bachelor of Arts
degree at Stanford, and the following year received
his M, A. degree.

The story of Roy Bridgman is the record of a
typically energetic American lad of the unusually
ambitious and progressive type. At the age of nine,
while attending the grammar school, he delivered
the San Jose Mercury, and when he was fourteen
and fifteen, while attending school, he also worked
in Mr. Farthing's glove factory. While a student at
the State University, he clerked for Levi Elbert, the
San Francisco druggist, and on his return to San
Jose, he had charge of the estate of Samuel Alley
for a short time. He then joined Walter Johnson,
the San Jose druggist, and soon afterward, he had
charge of a chain of drugstores at Tonopah, Manhat-
tan and Goldfield, Nevada, for a year. Coming back
to San Jose again, he had a clerkship with Webb,
the druggist, and later was with the Moorehead-
Fleming Drug Store.

Since entering into his work as an educator he has
been principal, first of the Franklin school, and then
of the Meridian, in San Jose, while during 1920-21,
he was principal of the Santa Clara schools, then
taking the principalship of the San Martin school.

At San Mateo, on August 14, 1906, Mr. Bridgman
was married to Miss Ethel White, a native of Ala-
meda, Cal., and the daughter of E. J. and Carrie
(Schmidt) White. Mrs. Bridgman moved to San
Jose when she was a girl, and she attended both the
grammar and high school, and she is also a grad-
uate of the San Jose State Normal; and having en-
gaged in teaching in 1914, she was a teacher in the
Gardner School. Her home in Alameda, where she
was born, was on the site of the present Elks' Hall.
Mrs. Bridgman's parents were early settlers of Cali-
fornia, and her mother was a cousin of William
Erkson, San Jose's former city clerk. For a number
of years, Mr. Bridgman has made his home at 343
South Second Street, San Jose, where he owns an
apartment house. He is a Mason, and belongs to
Golden Rule Lodge No. 479, F. & A. M., San Jose;
and also belongs to San Jose Lodge No. 522, B. P.
O. E. He is a member of the National Educational
Association, National Geographical Society, Santa
Clara County Schoolmasters' Club, and Phi Delta
Kappa, as well as the San Jose branch of American
Registered Pharmacists.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

553

HERBERT EMILE SCHILLING. — A distin-
guisliod public official ot Santa Clara County who has
tor some years past enjoyed the comforts of a retired
private life, is Herbert Emile Schilling, the eldest
son of Margaret and the late Frank Schilling, a native
of San Francisco, where he was born on August 4,
1861. When one year of age, he was brought to San
Jose; and he has been a continuous resident of this
city ever since. Frank Schilling died here in 1916,
aged eighty-two years, while his widow is still living
at the old home, aged ninety-two years. Herbert
Emile was oldest of their five children. He attended
the local public schools, and in 1875 was graduated
from what is now known as the Horace Mann School,
then one of the best-known high schools in the state.
He then joined his father in the firearms and sport-
ing goods business, and in time became his partner;
and together they established the well-known firm of
F. Schilling & Son at 27 Post Street, and for forty
years he retained his connection there until his retire-
ment in 1913. He succeeded so well as a business
man that he now owns real estate in various places in
the Santa Clara Valley, and he also has a ranch in
Calaveras County. As early as 1890 he had become a
public man, as he was always a public-spirited citi-
zen, and when thirty-one years of age he was elected
mayor of San Jose by popular vote. He was a mem-
ber of the common council of San Jose for the vears
1890-92, and from 1892 to 1894 he was head of the
city government.

A notable event of the period of his incumbency as
mayor which may be worthy of special mention was
the passage by the legislature of the State of Cali-
fornia of a joint resolution removing the capital of
the state from its present site at Sacramento to its
former and original location at San Jose, upon con-
dition that the citizens of the latter city and vicinity
should donate ten acres of land for the new capitol
site and $2,000,000 to cover the expenses of the re-
moval The proposition was immediately acted upon
and had progressed to the point where a tract of land
now included in the Naglee Park addition was tenta-
tively offered by the Naglee estate, when proceedings
were halted by a writ of mandate secured by Sacra-
mento County and submitted to the State Supreme
Court. That body ruled against the legality of the
Legislature's act, and so ended the last effort to have
the capital of the state returned to the location where
it rightfully belongs, and from which it was improper-
ly removed. In this great contest. Mayor Schilling
did his full duty; and as a lifelong member of the
Democratic party, he has always contended that if a
political organization works for the best interests of
the people, it assures both the ultimate acceptance of
its principles and its own contined existence.

In Monterey County, on June 18, 1894, Mr. Schil-
ling was married to M. Alice Foster, the daughter
of James P. and Arvilla Foster, of Independence, Mo.
Mr. Foster joined the Union Army at the outbreak
of the Civil War, and died in the performance of his
duty in September, 1863. The mother brought her
children to California in 1874, and Mrs. Schilling fin-
ished her schooling in Watsonville. Mr. Schilling is
a lover of outdoor life, especially as one may enjoy
it in California; and he spends a part of each year in
the High Sierras, hunting and fishing.

EDMUND NUTTING RICHMOND.— A pioneer
in the fruit industry of Santa Clara County who is
also a native son, is E. N. Richmond of San Jose,
where he was born on July 14, 1878. His father was
George Richmond, born in England, but who be-
came a resident of Canada and in 1864 came to Cali-
fornia and engaged in the stock busmess in the
northern part of the state and became a well known
rancher in the Sacramento Valley. Upon locating in
Santa Clara County he interested himself in the fruit
canning industry with the San Jose Cannery, con-
tinuing this line of work as the manager of the dried
fruit department of the Santa Clara County branch
of the J. K. Armsby Company until his retirement in

1903. He had married Rosalie McPhail, born in San
Francisco, the daughter of Andrew McPhail, a prom-
inent business man of that city and one of the
pioneers of California. Mrs. Richmond is still liv-
ing in San Jose, Mr. Richmond having passed away
on December 5, 1918.

Edmund Nutting Richmond attended the public
schools of San Jose, but before completing his high
school course he left his books in 1896, and entered
the employ of J. K. Armsby where he became thor-
oughly conversant with every branch of the fruit
industry, even from preparing the land for planting,
to preparing the crop for the markets, both canned
and dried. This experience was most valuable to
Mr. Richmond, so much so, that in 1916 he was
able to embark in business for himself under the
.name of E. N. Richmond, continuing with marked
success until 1919, when the business was incorpo-
rated under the name of Richmond-Chase Company,
with Mr. Richmond as president, and E. E. Chase,
vice-president. This concern own and operate four
large packing and canning plants in this county and
a very modern cannery at Stockton, where their San
Joaquin Valley business is handled. During the
busy seasons the Richmond-Chase Company employ
from 1,500 to 2,000 people in the various depart-
ments. It is generally conceded that their new con-
crete packing plant and cannery in San Jose are
models of their kind in the entire state. This com-
pany also own a number of orchards in the county,
although the larger part of their fruit is purchased
from the producers. Their output is well and favor-
ably known throughout the United States for its
standard of quality and commands a stable price in
the markets of the world.

The marriage of E. N. Richmond on April 21,

1904, united him with Miss Marie DeEtte Brough-
ton, who was born in Illinois, and they are parents
of two sons, Burnell Edmund and Richard Brough-
ton. Mr. Richmond is vice-president of the Bean
Spray Pump Company, and a director of the San
Jose Building and Loan Association, which has aided
very materially in making San Jose a city of homes.
He belongs to the Sainte Claire, the Commercial
and the Country clubs of San Jose; also the Cham-
ber of Commerce, of which he served as president in
1912-1913; for two years he served as the president
of the Board of Education. Fraternally he is a Ma-
son and in politics is a Republican in national affairs,
but strictly non-partisan in local matters. At all
times he is ready to do his part in aiding those
measures that have for their aim the upbuilding as
well as the building up of town, county and state.
It is, however, in the fruit industry where he is best
known and counted one of the pioneers in the Santa
Clara Valley.

i54

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ALEXANDER MONTGOMERY.— Among the

pioneers of Cupertino, whose influence for advance-
ment has been felt throughout the country, is Alex-
ander Montgomery. He was born at Wern Point.
County Down, Ireland, in 1840, the son of Samuel
and Elizabeth (Thompson) Montgomery, natives of
Ireland of Scotch parents. .Alexander received his
education in the schools of Ireland and in 1859 em-
barked for the United States. He came first to Pitts-
burgh, Pa., and remained there until 1865, when he
landed in Santa Clara County. His brother John had
preceded him to California as early as 1852 and was
engaged in mining. When .-Mexander left Pittsburgh,
he came via the Isthmus route to San Francisco, and
from there he went to Virginia City, Nev., walking
all the way from Sacramento. He was engaged in
various occupations, working in a mill for a time,
then for two years worked in the strawberry indus-
try. In 1867. he purchased forty acres near the
Lincoln schoolhouse on the Mountain View Road at
ten dollars per acre. The next four years he was
occupied in clearing this land and in 1870 he had a
fine yield of wheat but the following year he sold his
place and went to work for Thomas Kerwin west
of Hollister. Upon arriving in California he tried
to locate his brother, who had been lost track of,
as there had been no letters to the mother in Ire-
land for several years. Alexander finally found his
brother's old partner, who said that John, with a
partner, had gone to the mines near Boise City and
had been killed by the Indians. The mother would
not believe the sad news, saying that she knew that
he was still alive. While at Hollister on a liunt-
ing trip he ran across a man who asked .-Mexander
if he had a brother in British Columbia, saying:
"There is a mining man at Kootenay that looks
just like you and his name is John Montgomery."
Alexander wrote and in due time received a reply
asking him to come up and share in the mining
enterprise. Alexander made his way there, a very
hard trip, being stranded in the snow and without
food for four days. It was a pleasant reunion
and after that there were regular remittances to
the mother in Ireland. .\fter eighteen months
Alexander decided he did not like the cold winters
of British Columbia and returning to California,
he purchased 160 acres near Cupertino on Stevens
Creek Road for $5,000. It was raw land, thick
with brush and trees, but he cleared it and began
raising wheat. In about two years he received
a letter from his brother that he was sick and dying,
so Alexander immediately w^ent to Walla Walla
where he purchased a horse, and started on the
800-mile trip to Kootenay. On the way he met his
brother coming out with a pack train, just able to
travel after recovering from pneumonia, but far
from well. John told Alexander to go on and take
charge of things and he would go on to Walla Walla,
then on to San Francisco, but he died about a week
after arriving in San Francisco. Mr. Montgomery
arriving in Kootenay. took charge of affairs and ran
the store until he could sell out the entire holdings,
sending his mother the money his brother left, which
was sufficient to make her independent and comfort-
able her remaining days. He then returned to his
farm at Cupertino after two summers and a winter
in the North, and resumed ranching. He was the
first man to grovv' wheat on this kind of land in this
section, and it was such a novelty that people came

from different parts of the county to see his wheat
crop. He was ever willing to give his neighbors the
benefit of his experience and assisted them in the
clearing of their land. He was successful in having
an abundant yield from his acres, and as a stimula-
tion to greater activity along agricultural lines, he
made a wager that his particular ranch could beat
anything in Santa Clara County in producing wheat.
His yield was one and one-half tons of clean wheat
to the acre. He also engaged in dairying, bringing
the first fine Jersey cows to this section. He set out
a sixty-acre vineyard, built a winery and a distillery,
manufactured cream of tartar and made the first
prune brandy, thus making a market for small and
unsaleable prunes, .\fter the prune brandy was intro-
duced in the Eastern states, he received orders for car
load lots and the revenue paid the Government was
over $18,000 a year. He closed the winery and dis-
tillery some years ago and devotes his time to horti-
culture, having set out orchards of prunes and apri-
cots and built a large, fine residence with well-kept,
attractive premises. Hi Innlt a store on the corner
of his ranch and e^talilishril .i merchandise business,
and when the railroad lanu- lie offered them $1,000
if they would put it on the other side of the road,
but to no avail; he then bought five acres across the
road and laid it out in lots and moved the store to
the new corner location and built an addition to it.
It was run by the Home Union for ten years, then
by Dixon & Wilson, .\rchibald Wilson being Mr.
Montgomery's nephew; later the store was incorpor-
ated a-; tiK Cupertino Store, Inc., of which Mr. Wil-
son i- jTisiilent and manager and the business has
grown vtry large and successful, being now one of
the largest mercantile establishments in Santa Clara
County, outside of San Jose.

In the early days, Mr. Montgomery was a member
of the Presbyterian Church in San Jose and there he
met a young lady. Miss Mary Jane Mcllrath, who
was born about five miles from his birthplace in
Scotland and had come to San Jose to visit her
brother, the acquaintance thus formed resulted in
their marriage. She was a splendid woman and an
able helpmate, aiding him in his dairj-ing and horti-
cultural enterprises. Mr. Montgomery gave the site
for the Presbyterian Church and was the largest
contributor to its Iniilding and he has been the main-
stay of the chiinii. His wife, w'ho w^as also a devout
member, pa--. -1 iw.ix September 6, 1919, at the family
home. Mr. .\l ..nti^cmic ry is an adherent of the prin-
ciples of the Republican party, and served as post-
master of Cupertino for several years. It is most
interesting to converse with him of the early days
when this was a frontier region and he can well be
proud of his part in the growth and prosperity of the
Santa Clara Valley.

ROBERT A. McARTHUR.— An energetic and
prosperous rancher is found in Robert A. McArthur.
who is the manager of his mother's orchard prop-
erty. He was born in the rural district near Sioux
City, Iowa, on October 13, 1893, the son of .Mexan-
der and Ida (Sturtz) McArthur. The mother was
born in Iowa and descended from an old Pennsyl-
vania family, while the father came from .'\yr, Scot-
land, to America when twelve years old, with his
parents, who located in Cook County, 111., and
farmed on land that is now built as the city of Chi-
cago. Later, they went to Iowa and began farming
in Sioux County. He ac<iuired two sections of land.

^^l£^ //imJf

Vfi^^H'^je^iY^

cJrqaaa Q. dlnyoyCtacnmjinA^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUN'J"i'

raised short horn cattle and engaged m general
in Sioux County. His father acquired two sections of
land, raised short horn cattle and engaged in general
farming. In 1902 he removed to Santa Clara County
and purchased a ranch on Pine and Lincoln in the
Willow Glen district, and here he resided until his
death in 1909, aged seventy-two years. Now his
widow resides on Morrison Avenue, San Jose. Mr.
and Mrs. Alexander McArthur were the parents of
five children: John A.; Robert A., of this sketch;
William E.; Mary; Ralph E. Coming to California
when nine jears of age, Robert A. received his edu-
cation in the Willow Glen grammar school and the
San Jose high school, where he was graduated in
1912. This completed his education except for a
semester at Stanford University in 1914-15. In 1912,
in company with his brother, John A., he went to
Alberta, Canada, and bought a half section of land
and engaged in wheat-raising. More land was added
until now they own two sections of land near the
town of Gleichen. In 1920 Robert A. returned to
Santa Clara County, but his brother remained in
Canada in charge of the ranch.

In 1918 Mr. McArthur made a trip to Atchison
County, Mo., where he was married on December 5,
to Leora Kime, a daughter of J. A. and Roxanna
(Clark) Kime. Her parents were frontier folks in
Missouri, her father arriving before the railroads were
built, and she is the second oldest of a family of five
children: Kenlen, Leora, Harold, Alfred, and Mil-
dred. Mr. and Mrs. McArthur are the parents of
two children, Jean and Dorothy. In 1919 Mr. Mc-
Arthur's mother purchased a forty-acre ranch set to
prunes, peaches, cherries and apricots, on the Home-
stead Road adjoining the Stevens Creek Road; and
in 1920 an additional thirty-two acres was added
about three-quarters of a mile from the first ranch
and located on the Homestead Road. Both ranches,
comprising seventy-two acres, are devoted to or-
chards of full-bearing trees and are irrigated from
the same well. Mr. McArthur is a Knights Tem-
plar Mason and Shriner, and with his wife is a
member of the Eastern Star, and he is also a mem-
ber of Stanford Chapter Theta Delta Chi. He has
been a close student of horticulture and thus has
become a well-posted and successful orchardist.

ARTHUR BURR LANGFORD.— More than any
other state in the L^nion, California traces its vigor-
ous growth and prosperity directly to the sturdy
character and untiring perseverance of its pioneers.
and fortunate among those of the present generation
who have inherited from their ancestors these same
noble qualities is Arthur Burr Langford, ex-sheriff
of Santa Clara County. He was born at Concow,
a stage station in Butte County, Cal., on May 4,
1878, the son of Robert Jackson and Frances Helen
(Freeman) Langford, the former of old Welsh stock
and the latter of Scotch descent.

The Langfords are numbered among the settlers
of the Jamestown Colony in the earliest days of our
country — their names are found in Virginia as early
as 1668, .-md during the Colonial and Revolutionary
wars their n.inies .,re also found enrolled in the army
of patriots. The grandfather of our subject. Pleas-
ant Shields Langford, was born in Albemarle
County, \'a., but following the trend of migration
westward with hundreds of others in w'hom the
pioneer spirit was strong, he lived in Indiana and

Ohio, then settled in Washington County, Iowa,
where he remained until the spring of 1853. Setting
out for California, he arrived in the Golden State
on September 15 of that year and for a time settled
at Santa Clara, later taking up a Government claim
in the vicinity of Bainter's Gulch, near Los Gatos,
where he erected the family home, which is still
standing. Pleasant Shields Langford was the father
of eleven children, only one of whom is now living,
H. Clarence Langford of San Jose. Of the other
sons. Rober'i Jackson Langford, the father of our
subject, was born in Iowa in 1852, so was but one
\ear old when his parents came to California, and
the remainder of his life was spent in Santa Clara
County. He was prominent in the business life of
the community and for twenty-two years a dealer in
wholesale and retail meat. In 1898 he was elected
sheriff of Santa Clara County, taking office in Janu-
ary, 1899, and had served two years of his second
term when he passed away on February 20, 1905.
honored as an efficient public service. Mrs. Robert
Langford was born in Illinois and came across the
plains in an ox-team train in 1865, the family settling
in .San Jose. She is the mother of three children:
Arthur Burr Langford of this sketch; Claude Pleas-
iuit Langford. who died in childhood, and Leo Morse
Langford, an employe of the Standard Oil Company
at San Jose, where Mrs. Langford still resides.

After finishing the grammar school. Arthur B.
Langford pursued the usual courses of study in the
high school, graduating with the class of '97; and
when he ventured into the world for himself, he
tried the butcher trade, mining in British Columbia,
and ranching, riding the range for Miller & Lux.
In 1901 he was deputy sheriff under his father and
in 1906 he was elected sheriff, following the demise
of Robert J. Langford. He was elected twice there-
after and in all served as sheriff for twelve consecu-
tive years, the longest period this office has ever
been held, a tribute to the efficiency and capability
with which he discharged the duties of this
responsible post.

On March 30, 1904, Mr. Langford was married at
Santa Clara to Miss Alice Lovcll, the accomplished
representative of an old pioneer family. Her parents
were John A. and Eda (Jackson) Lovell, and her
paternal grandfather came to California as early as
1849, returning East and bringing his family here
in 1853. Grandfather Jackson was also numbered
among California's early settlers and was provost-
marshal of San Francisco during the Civil War.
Mr. Langford is a Mason, a member and past master
of Fraternity Lodge No. 399, F. & A. M.; life mem-
ber of Howard Chapter No. 14. R. A. M.; San Jose
Council No. 20, R. & S. M.; San Jose Commandery
No. 10, K. T.; a life member of Islam Temple, A. A.
O. N. M. S., San Francisco, and past patron, Frat-
ernity Chapter No. 288. O. E. S. He also is a
member of Garden City Lodge No. 142, I. O. O. F.;
San Jose Lodge No. 522. B. P. O. Elks; Observatory
Parlor No. 177, N. S. G. W., serving as president
for two terms; Society of California Pioneers of
Santa Clara County; San Jose Lodge No. 47, K. of
P.; Alamo Camp No. 80, W. O. W.; the National
Union, and San Jose Tent No. 27, K. O. T. M.. of
which he is past commander. Mr. Langford is a
Republican, but his sympathies and interests extend
far beyond the confines of his party, so that he may
always be found supporting every progressive
measure for the community's welfare.

560

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

LENORA CANTUA.— A representative of an old
and esteemed family of Santa Clara County is Miss
Lenora Cantua, the only surviving child of her fa-
ther, Joseph Manuel Cantua, who -was born in Santa
Clara in 1828. She was born near the new Almaden
Mines. Santa Clara County, Cal., May 20, 1872, and
was the youngest of the family. Her father removed
to the Almaden district when he was thirty years of
age and engaged in raising cattle and sheep and
became the owner of considerable land well stocked
with cattle and sheep. He married Ramona Beulna,
a native of California, born in Monterey in 1837, and
they were the parents of the following children:
Haviel, who died when forty years old; Manuela,
passed away aged sixty-five, the mother of sixteen
children; Joseph is survived by two children, who live
in San Jose; Isabel died an infant; the next girl
was also named Isabel, who lived to the age of sixty-
five; Charles; Amelia; Theodora; Tiothilo; Antonio
E.; Lenora, our subject; then the next son was named
Antonio. All are deceased except Lenora Cantua.
Her father passed away on May 4, 1890, at the age
of sixty-two years and her mother died on May 6,
1900, aged sixty-three.

During the year of 1876 the family removed to the
ranch home in the Uvas district, which is now the
property of our subject, and consists of 317 acres of
fine land beautifully located, rolling and wooded.
Miss Cantua has adopted a bright boy by the name
of Adolph Bosques, who was born in San Jose Feb-
ruary 18, 1906, a son of Charles Bosques, and who
was taken into her home when only three years of
age. He takes an active interest in helping with the
work on the ranch and is being trained for the man-
agement, which he will assume within a few years.
The Cantua rancho is devoted to the raising of
grapes and fruit, and also supports several head of
cattle, much of the ranch being fine grazing land.
Miss Cantua by hard work and good management
has ample means and is held in high esteem by all
wlio know her.

RICHARD FELIX ROBERTSON.— Occupying

a position of distinguished preferment as a represent-
ative of the bar of San Jose and a prominent figure
in the public life of the state, Richard Felix Robert-
son has attempted important things and accomplished
what he has attempted. He is a man of unusual men-
tal versatility and in every sphere of life in which he
has acted he has left an indelible impress through
his ability and tireless energy, which never falls short
of the successful accomplishment of its purpose. He
is of Scotch descent, the ancestry in the paternal
line being traced back to the Robertson family of
Perth, Scotland, who emigrated to Virginia and were
contemporaries of Daniel Boone in the settlement of
Kentucky. In the maternal line he is a direct de-
scendant of Dr. Manuel Hedeza, who was a surgeon
in the army of Spain and went to Mexico while that
country was still under Spanish rule.

Richard F. Robertson was born in Mazatlan, Mex-
ico, October 12, 1863. a son of Richard Lew Robert-
son, who served as Lfnited States consul at that city
from October, 1861, until March, 1864. He married
Canuta Hedeza, who was born in Culiacan, Mexico.
In the public schools of San Francisco, Cal., their
son, Richard F. Robertson, pursued his education
and he was later graduated from the Kent College
of Law of that city. He started out in life as a

messenger boy, working for the American District
Telegraph Company from 1879 until 1881, when he
resigned his position to accept employment in the
ticket office of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad Company. Following the amalgamation of
this road with the three others running parallel to
it. and the consequent reduction in the number of
employes, he entered the service of the Southern Pa-
cific, acting as interpreter and translator of Spanish,
and also working in the construction department.
On November 1, 1883, he went to visit his people,
who were then residing in Los Gatos, Cal., and being
favorably impressed with the place, lie decided to
make it his home, accepting a position with the
Southern Pacific Railroad, with which he remained
until April, 1884. He was the first to suggest to that
company the advisability of the Mayfield cut-ofif,
thereby decreasing the railroad distance of twelve
miles to Los Gatos and to Santa Cruz, and this also
gave railroad service to a section which had been
built up, but with no adequate railroad facilities.

In April, 1884, Mr. Robertson engaged in the hotel
business in partnership with his stepfather, A. Berry-
man, and in April, 1887, they sold out to the late
Charles W. Holden. Later they secured from Har-
vey Wilcox the lease of the corner upon which now
stands the First National Bank in Los Gatos and ac-
quired the insurance agency of the old and well-
known firm of Proctor & Trailer, which Mr. Wilcox
was at that time conducting. They operated the
business under the firm name of Berryman & Rob-
ertson until 1903, when they disposed of the enter-
prise to Milligan Brothers & Company. In 1885 Mr.
Robertson's initiative spirit led him to become one
of the founders and constructors of the Los Gatos
Gas Works, and in 1889 he became one of the organ-
izers of the Commercial Bank of Los Gatos, and
also of the Los Gatos Building & Loan Association.
In the same year he planned the Los Gatos Ceme-
tery and for twelve years was its secretary and
superintendent.

In 1895 Mr. Robertson took up the study of law
and was admitted to practice in 1898. He became one
of the organizers of the League of California Muni-
cipalities and for seven years was a member of the
committee on judiciary. He aided in drafting and
proposing laws to the legislature concerning the gov-
ernment of cities and acted in an advisory capacity
to the committee on law of the Assembly and com-
mittee of jurisprudence of the Senate. He likewise
drafted the articles for the incorporation of the city
of Mayfield. In 1903 he opened an office in the
Auzerais Building, where he remained until the
erection of the First National Bank Building, when
he established his office there. In 1915, following
the death of Mrs. Robertson, he became a resident
of San Jose, where he has since followed his pro-
fession, and the list of his clients is now an extensive
one. His legal learning, his analytical mind, the read-
iness with which he grasps the points in argument,
all combine to make him one of the most capable
lawyers who has ever practiced in Santa Clara
County and the public and the profession acknowl-
edge him the peer of the ablest representatives of the
bar of this city. From 1898 until 1905 he served as
city attorney of Los Gatos, making a most creditable
record in that office.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

563

At Los Gatos, on January 5, 1887, Mr. Robertson
was united in marriage to Miss Cassie Shannon, a
daughter of Thomas and Amanda (Blackford) Shan-
non. Her father was one of the original party of
Jayhawkers, coming to California through Death
Valley in 1849. Four children were born of this
union, two of whom survive: Wilfred F. Robertson
married Edith M. Shephard, of San Jose, and they
reside at Sacramento, Cal. During the World War
he enHsted in the U. S. Navy and rose to the rank
of yeoman. Ynez Amanda married Justus Verne
Cook, of Oakland. Mr. Cook also served in the
Navy as chief yeoman.

Mr. Robertson is a member of Trinity Episcopal
Church of San Jose, and fraternally he is identified
with the Elks, belonging to San Jose Lodge, No.
522. He is also connected with the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, being a past noble grand of
Ridgely Lodge, No. 294. of Los Gatos, and he has
also held office in the Knights of Pythias, being a
past chancellor of Los Gatos Lodge, No. 175, now
consohdated with San Jose Lodge, No. 47, in which
he still maintains his membership. He is likewise a
prominent Mason, belonging to Los Gatos Lodge,
No. 292, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master;
Howard Chapter, No. 14, R. A. M.; San Jose Coun-
cil, No. 20, R. & S. M.; and San Jose Commandery,
No. 10, K. T. He is a stanch Republican in his po-
litical views and a leader in the ranks of the party.
He has several times served as a delegate to the
county Republican conventions, of which he once
acted as secretary, and in 1896 w-as secretary of the
McKinley League of Los Gatos.

Mr. Robertson is also a veteran of the World War
and his military record is one of which he may well
feel proud. On August 5, 1917, he enlisted in the
One Hundred and Forty-fourth Field Artillery,
which became known as the "Grizzlies," and in No-
vember, 1917, was transferred to the One Hundred
and Fifty-ninth Infantry. In January, 1918, he re-
ceived orders from Washington, D. C, to assist in
forming the First Army Headquarters Regiment, a
requirement of the Government being that its mem-
bers should be able to converse in French and other
Continental languages, as from its ranks men were to
be selected to act as military police, in charge of
areas in France under American jurisdiction. Mr.
Robertson was one of the first four men selected to
open up the secret service office in Paris under com-
mand of the provost-marshal. He was also at head-
quarters in Tours for nine months, and during his
service abroad was sent as confidential representa-
tive of the Government to various places in France
and Spain. He served under General Connor and
Brigadier-General Bandholtz. On November 30,
1919, the Paris office was closed and on December
21 he returned to the United States, receiving his
discharge at New York City, February 28. 1920. His
life has been one of intense activity, intelligently
directed into those channels through which flows
the greatest good to the greatest number, and his
efforts have brought him a measure of success that
is most desirable and have also proven of benefit to
his fellowmen in many fields. The nature and mag-
nitude of his work in public and private connections
have constituted a factor in California's promotion,
power and prominence and he stands as a high type
of American manhood and citizenship.

JOHN HUGHES.— A retired railroad man with a
most enviable record of nearly two score years of
faithful, fruitful service in the employ of the Southern
Pacific Railroad, John Hughes, of Agnew, Santa
Clara County, is a representative Irish-American
citizen such as any community would be proud to
number among its progressive citizens. As a matter
of fact, he owns perhaps one-fourth of the town of
Agnew, and so may easily be regarded as one of the
leading residents in that flourishing part of the state.

He was born at Claremorris, County Mayo, Ire-
land, on June 24, 1856, the son of James Hughes, a
well-known farmer and contractor, who built and
kept in repair many of the important post-roads in
that country. He had married Miss Margaret Gay-
nord, of County Mayo, and they became the parents
of eight children, four boys and four girls. One of
the sons, James Hughes, a brother of our subject, is
maintenance of way foreman of the Northwestern
Pacific Railway, and resides at San Rafael.

Educated in Ireland, John Hughes came to Amer-
ica in 1880; and after a residence of two years in
New York State, he came west to California. Oak-
land seemed to appeal to him most; and there, engag-
ing with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, in
its construction work, he quickly showed such pro-
ficiency that he was made foreman. He continued
with that company for thirty-seven years, or until
he retired, and came to have as many as 150 men
under him; and few if any construction bosses en-
joyed a record for greater ability or dependability.
During the building of the Pacific Coast Railway, he
was construction foreman under L. Fillmore, the di-
vision superintendent at Santa Barbara.

Mr. Hughes came to Santa Clara when he was
twenty-one years of age, and he remained there for
thirteen years; and after that he removed to Agnew,
where he became a foreman of a special gang, and
then foreman of larger gangs. Only in 1917 was he
persuaded to retire and enjoy the fruits of his hard
work at Agnew. As such an honored employe of
the company he has a life pass over the entire rail-
way system, and is thus encouraged to see something
of the outside world.

By a first marriage, Mr. Hughes had one child,
now Miss Mary Hughes, a trained nurse of San Jose;
and at his second marriage, in Santa Clara, he was
united with Miss Alice Costello, a native of Ireland
who grew up in California. They have had ten chil-
dren: James is employed by the Southern Pacific
Railway and resides at Agnew: Thomas, an exem-
plary young man, of wonderful physique, attained a
height of six feet four inches, and was a Southern
Pacific brakeman, and was killed in a railway acci-
dent when he was only twenty-one years of age;
Jeannette is the wife of Anthony La Mar, and re-
sides at Agnew; Margaret is at home; John, em-
ployed by the Southern Pacific, married Miss Ger-
trude McNamara, and resides at Porta Costa; Wil-
liam died when he was three and a half years old;
Catherine graduated from Santa Clara high school
and is now attending the State Teachers' College at
San Jose, and her sister, Anna, is a student in the
San Jose high school, while Michael Francis is at
the high school at Santa Clara, and Peter still en-
joys the shelter of the paternal roof. The family at-
tend the Roman Catholic Church at Santa Clara.

564

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

IRWIN EDGAR POMEROY.— A man of much
native ability and business acumen, who is a practical
orchardist. having contributed much toward the pres-
ent high and flourishing development of horticulture
in Santa Clara County, is Irwin E. Pomeroy. one of
the original organizers of the California Prune and
Apricot Association, a trustee from the beginning,
and now chairman of the board of trustees. He is a
native son^a fact which makes his subsequent rela-
tion to California all the more interesting; and he
was born in this county nn tlir fiftrcntli of December,
1870. His father wa- Mn-hall r..nui(.y. whose life
story is found on anutli. r ii.u. mi tin-, volume.

Irwin E. passed through the various grades of the
public schools, and then in order the better to equip
himself for the necessary tussle with the world, he
took a business course for which the College of the
Pacific was famous. After graduating from the com-
mercial department in 1889, he assumed charge of the
Pomeroy orchard, and he is still the efficient man-
ager. In 1899 the members of the Pomeroy family
incorporated the :Pomeroy Orchard Company, of
which the pioneer, Marshall Pomeroy, was the foun-
der and is still president, while Irwin E. has been
its manager and treasurer. The company has 120
acres of various sorts of fruit trees, and so well has
he developed this extensive area that it is today one
of the choicest ranch properties of its kind in the
county. Believing cooperation is the only successful
means of making a success of marketing the fruit
raised by the farmers, Mr. Pomeroy has been active
in the various cooperative organizations in the county
and was one of the organizers of the present Cali-
fornia Prune and Apricot Association, in which he
has taken an active part in assisting in guiding its
destinies to the present successful issue. A member
of the board of trustees from the beginning, his serv-
ices have been recognized by his being elected chair-
man of the board of trustees and a member of the
executive committee. He was a director and vice-
president of the old Santa Clara Valley Bank until it
was purchased by the Bank of Italy, and is now vice-
chairman of its local board of directors. He is treas-
urer of the Knowles Pottery Company, a new indus-
try just built in Santa Clara for the manufacture of
fine china and porcelain ware.-

When Mr. Pomeroy married at Santa Clara, on
May 8. 1900, he took for his wife Miss- Florence
Mabel Dawson, a native of San Jose and a member
of a pioneer famil.v. among the very first canners of
fruit in Santa Clara County. She is a graduate of
the San Jose State Normal School, tour children
have blessed the happy union: Alarshall B., Irwin
Edgar, Jr., Clara Belle, and Thomas Dawson. The
family attends the Episcopal Church, and Mr. Pom-
eroy belongs to the Lions Club, the Automobile Club,
the Chamber of Commerce, and is a charter member
of the Commercial Club; he is also a hearty supporter
of the Republican party, although he does not allow
his partisanship to interfere with his endorsement
and aid of the best obtainable, under whatever ban-
ner, for the community in which he lives and thrives.

FRANK C. WILCOX.— An experienced rancher
who is exceptionally efficient in executive capacity
is Frank C. Wilcox, the popular ranch foreman for
Richmond-Chase. He was born in Rhode Island on
April 21, 1861. the son of Orin P. Wilcox, a watch-
maker by trade, a native Rhode Islander, who had
married Miss Sarah E. Peckham, also of that state.
and they had seven children. Horace C. is now at

Watsonvillc; Emma is deceased; Jessie has become
Mrs. Howard, of Marshfield, Ore.; Frank C. is the
fourth of the family; Percy G. is deceased; Hattie is
Mrs. G. A. Tuttle of Watsonville; Orina is also de-
ceased. Orin Wilcox came out to California in Oc-
tober, 1861, and settled at Watsonville, where he
engaged in the jewelry business until his death in
that place in 1902. Mrs. Wilcox is still living at
Watsonville, at the age of eighty-seven years.

Frank Wilcox went to school for awhile at Ir-
vington, in Alameda County, and then at a very
early age he pushed out into the world for himself.'
He took up whatever proved most remunerative, did
clerical work, and also went from "broncho-busting"
to teaming. Wlien able to do so, he attended the
Commercial College at Irvington, and then he took
a position with \Miite & De Harts of Watsonville,
as a clerk in their sawmill, and since 1881 he has
been residing in both San Jose and Watsonville.
For a number of years Mr. W'ilcox was foreman for
Mr. Walter Curtner, and he had charge of his sheep-
herding camps throughout California; then, for three
years, he engaged in horse-training in San Jose,
Warmsprings or Sunol; and then he returned to
Watsonville and again became a clerk in the saw-
mill of White & De Harts.

Mr. Wilcox was also foreman for D. I. A. Frazer
of San Jose, for fourteen years, and he spent one
year with the Flickingers of Berryessa in their pack-
ing plant. He was also foreman for the George Her-
bert Orchard of San Jose. In 1918 he became fore-
man of the Dutard Ranch of San Francisco, some
110 acres lying along the Piedmont Road, south of
the Sierra Road. Since that time, the Richmond-
Chase Company of San Jose has purchased the
ranch, but Mr. Wilcox has remained there as ranch
foreman. This ranch is devoted largely to the grow-
ing of apricots. Mr. W'ilcox is a Republican, and
an enthusiastic booster for local progress.

At Santa Cruz on April 24, 1892, Mr. Wilcox was
marrnil t" Mi'-s Mary White, a native of the Cala-
veras \'alK y cast of the town of Milpitas. Her par-
ents were luiward and Mary White, and the former
came to California about 1866, from Galway, Ireland.
Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox:
Edna is Mrs. F. I. Moore of Hollywood; Percie is
Mrs. F. A. Rose of San Jose; Mabel married Wil-
liam Giacomazzi and lives at Milpitas; Ethel is at
home. Mr. Wilcox is a member of the Alum Rock
Camp of the W. O. W.. and for a long time has
served the lodge as clerk.

EDWARD AND AUGUSTA SCHLAUDT.—
.-\mong the many capable and thriving horticultural-
ists of Santa Clara County. Edward Schlaudt, of San
Jose, holds a noteworthy position. A man of versa-
tile talents, energetic and progressive, he has met
with good success in his business operations, and is
everywhere respected as a citizen of worth and in-
tegrity. To his wife, who is an equal partner in the
successful florist business located at 119 South Second
Street, Mr. Schlaudt accords the honor of being the
founder and manager of this flourishing business.

Edward Schlaudt was born March 13, 1860, at
Lawrenceburg, Ind., the son of George Phillip and
Christine Schlaudt, both natives of Germany, where
they were reared and married: the father, who was
employed in a furniture factory at Lawrenceburg,
lived to be seventy-eight, and the mother seventy-

Nc^w^ h. (t^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

five. They were the parents of seven children, of
whom Edward was the fourth; two brothers had re-
moved to Kansas, one of the brothers, Henry, had
estabhshed a shoe store, and while on a visit to his
home in Lawrenceburg, had told such glowing sto-
ries of the advantages of Kansas, that when he was
ready to return, his brother, Edward, went with him
and became interested with his brother in the shoe
business in Topcka, and was thus engaged for seven
years. . Previous to his removal to Kansas, he had
worked in the factory which employed his father.

The marriage of Mr. .^chlaudt in 1880 united him
with Miss Augusta Hoeffnur, and they are the par-
ents of three children: Mrs. Mabel Kendall of San
Jose; Chester E.. wlio attends to the nursery and
greenhouses, married Miss Minta Helms; Merl is the
wife of Jerry Hiam. and they are residents of San
Francisco. In 1881 Mr. and Mrs. Schlaudt came to
San Jose, and in 1882 Mrs. Schlaudt conceived the
idea of raising flowers for market, while Mr.
Schlaudt was engaged in the trade of carpentry. Dur-
ing his spare moments, a small greenhouse was con-
structed. Mrs. Schlaudt worked with intelligence,
energy and a determination that meant success, and
soon Mr. Schlaudt was called upon to build the
second greenhouse, and as the business prospered,
more were built, until at the present time there are
seven greenhouses on lands contiguous to their nur-
sery and adjacent to their residence at 625 North
Second Street, San Jose. . Seven years ago they
started a retail store across from their present loca-
tion, hut very soon they found it too small, so in
about a year they leased the building at 119
South Second Street and their business has
grown to fine proportions. They carry a fine
stock of cut flowers, frames, ornaments, flower
seeds, vegetable plants, potted and flowering plants,
and are prepared to make floral designs for weddings,
funerals and other occasions, and enjoy a large pa-
tronage. They own considerable valuable property,
which is increasing in value steadily, and are as-
sociated as stockholders in the Nucleus Building and
Loan Association; also in the Farmers' Union Bank
of San Jose. Mr. Schlaudt is a stanch Republican,
serving on the election board of tlie nineteenth pre-
cinct of San Jose for twenty years, consecutively.
Fraternally he is a member of the Elks. Eagles, Fra-
ternal Brotherhood, Odd Fellows and Woodmen of
the World. His son, Chester E., is a member of the
Masons, and Mrs. Schlaudt is a member of the
Eastern Star and the Rebekahs; also of the Woman's
Relief Corps. The family are consistent and hon-
ored members of the Grace Lutheran Church of San
Jose. Mr. and Mrs. Schlaudt are broad-minded,
public-spirited, honored by all who know them, and
popular because of their many amiable traits.

JOHN McBAIN. — A building contractor who has
made for himself an enviable reputation as a first-
class contractor in building, both for the originality
of his up-to-date work and the thoroughness and de-
pendability of his workmanship, is John McBain of
Noble .Avenue, about two and a half miles east of
Berryessa. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on
January 29, 1877, the son of .Angus and Elizabeth
(Saugec) McBain — the former a descendant of an
old-line Scotch family, the latter a native of Bo-
hemia, of Czecho-Slovanian ancestry. Mr. McBain

was a building contractor, well known in Glasgow
for his extensive operations; and it is rather natural
that our subject should also rise to prominence in
this field.

After attending the graded school until he was
eleven years old, John set out to make his own liv-
ing. He served an apprenticeship under John Forbes
of Glasgow, and when nineteen commenced to con-
tract on his own responsibility. He did well enough
in the crowded Old World, but was sure that he
could do better in the New; and so, in 1902, he
crossed the ocean to New York, where he remained
for three years, busy building as a contractor. Then,
in 1905, he came to San Francisco, and there he
worked for six months. His next shift took him to
San Mateo, but he stayed only a short while and
went on to Sacramento, in which city various com-
panies kept him engaged for a year and a half.

In 1908, Mr. McBain removed to Mountain View,
Santa Clara County, where he made his residence,
at the same time he started to contract in San Mateo.
He also established himself at Burlingame. where he
lived for about three years. In 1918 he purchased a
ranch of thirty acres on Noble Road, east of Berry-
essa, and he has lived on this ranch ever since. He
also owns ten acres at Mountain View. Both of
these ranches are set out with apricot trees, and both
are irrigated. He also owns a ranch of seventy-six
acres on the Calaveras Road, in the bills east of Mil-
])itas. where part of the land is given to an apricot
orchard, and part to the raising of hay.

.■\t Sausalito. on January 2, 1906, Mr. McBain was
married to Miss Emma Carlson, a native of San Jose
and the daughter of John and Johanna (Johnson)
Carlson. Her father came to California from Chi-
cago in 1874, and for years had a well-known hotel
at the corner of Second and San Fernando streets,
and in the hotel field he continued until 1883. Her
mother died in her fifty-sixth year. Mrs. McBain at-
tended the old Lincoln, and later the Horace Mann
school, and still later she went to the Hester and
the Mountain View schools. She also was a student
for two years at the San Jose high school, and after
that she pursued a business college course. A sister of
Mrs. McBain. named Anna, is married and has be-
come Mrs. McComb Houghton of Astoria. Five
children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Mc-
Bain; Edith J., Frank E., Angus Carlson, John
Charles and Dorris Joan, and they are all in the San
Jose schools. Mr. and Mrs. McBain are stanch Re-
publicans, and Mr. McBain is a member of the B. P.
O. E., belonging to the San Mateo lodge. He also
belongs to the Masons of Mountain \'iew, and to the
Scottish Rite body at San Francisco.

Mr. McBain is the second in a family of eight
children. Mary, the firstborn, has become Mrs.
Duncan McClellan of Dennistoun, a suburb of Glas-
gow. Theresa is at Pacific Grove; Christina is Mrs.
Darrah of Mountain View; Frank lives at Portland;
Angus is at Mountain View, and Elizabeth lives at
the same place; William, who gave his life during
the World War; Frank served from 1917 to 1919
with the Canadian engineers and went through the
worst of the fighting without sustaining a wound.
He was also one of the Army of Occupation. Wil-
liam enlisted in 1914 with the Scotch Highland In-
fantrv. and went through some terrible battles, and
was killed at Vimy Ridge.

568

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MRS. GERALDINE E. FRISBIE.— A woman of
rare capabilities and good business judgment is Ger-
aldine E. Frisbie, the efficient president of the Wo-
man's Rehef Corps Home of California, and past na-
tional president, having served as president of the na-
tional Woman's Relief Corps during 1912-13. Since
November 10. 1921, the Woman's Relief Corps Home
of California has been located at Winchester, Santa
Clara County, where it now owns thirteen acres, for-
merly owned by Dr. and Mrs. A. E. Osborne, and
known as Osborne Hall. Too much credit cannot be
given to the noble women who have built up this insti-
tution, which provides a real home to mothers, wives,
widows, sisters and daughters of Union veterans of the
Civil War. It is a state institution, being amenable to
the State Board of Control, but an institution which
primarily owes its existence to philanthropic and noble
California women, starting with Mr. Cadwallader's
donation of five and thirty hundredths acres at Ever-
green in Santa Clara County, where the first Home
was built and occupied until destroyed by fire
October 10, 1920. Mrs. Geraldine E. Frisbie was
then its president, and through the loyal and
hearty support and cooperation of the secretary,
Mrs. Sarah J. Farwell, no time was lost in getting
temporary quarters for the inmates, who were left
in sore distress. Appeals were immediately addressed
to the various W. R. C. posts of the state, who re-
sponded very promptly in sending money, clothing and
food, while the state authorities gave the use of one
of the buildings at Agnew, until November 10, 1921,
when the present premises had been secured. Dr. and
Mrs. A. E. Osborne have given liberally. The sum of
$12,500 was obtained as insurance on the former
Home at Evergreen. Several thousand dollars have
already been expended in remodeling and fitting up
Osborne Hall for the Home. Of the $55,000 now in-
vested at Winchester, the women have raised $20,000,
while the state has appropriated the balance. It will
be necessary to purchase some more land in order to
meet the needs of the Home, and a movement is now
on foot whereby its holdings will be increased to
eighteen acres. The present officers of the Woman's
Relief Corps Home are as follows: Oeraldine E.
Frisbie, president, San Mateo; Mary .-Mice Arthur,
matron, Winchester; Mrs. Belle Donovan, vice-presi-
dent, San Francisco; Mrs. Sarah J. Farwell, secretary,
Oakland; Mrs. Carrie L. Hoyt, treasurer, Berkeley;
in addition t6 the president, vice-president, secretary
and treasurer, the board of directors consists of:
Pearl M. Baum, Hayward; Sarah A. Martin (wife of
Commander Russell C. Martin of the Veterans' Home
at Napa) Napa; and Mrs. Mary L. Farmer, San Fran-
cisco. These women have served well and faithfully,
the secretary. Mrs. Sarah J. Farwell, having rendered
efficient and faithful service for twenty-six years.

Mrs. Geraldine Elizabeth Frisbie is a native of
Rochester, N. Y.. a daughter of Hiram D. and Sarah
B. (Hall) Sutton. The mother died at the age of
twenty-six; her father married the second time and
moved to Washington, where the years of Mrs. Fris-
bie's early childhood were passed. The Sutton fam-
ily were prominent English people of wealth and in-
fluence in London, and were the founders of a home
for the aged ministers and their families in London.
Owen P. Sutton, an uncle, came to San Francisco
in 1849; was prominent in the Pioneers Society of
which he was one of its first presidents and was also

a member of the Legislature of California. He was
a successful banker and was largely interested in min-
ing and built many buildings in San Francisco.

Geraldine Sutton was educated in public and pri-
vate schools of Rochester, N. Y. Her first marriage
occurred in San Francisco on March 20. 1866, and
united her with Lester P. Cooley, a native of Ver-
'mont. He was a rancher, later owning the Ravens-
wood ranch near Dumbarton bridge. They became
the parents of five children, all sons, of whom two
died in childhood. Those that grew up are: William
L.. Charles Philip and Frank H. William L. was en-
gaged in seafaring, and has three children; Harry pur-
sued the night studies in the navigation school at the
same time that he was a student in the San Francisco
Polytechnic High from which he graduated in 1913,
and soon thereafter graduated from the navigation
school. He enlisted in the Navy during the World
War, but transferred to the Merchant Marine, and
sailed the seas during that entire conflict. He was pro-
moted to first officer; Lester P.. an ensign in the V. S.
Navy was stationed at Brest, France, during the late
war: Olive is a graduate nurse, who served during the
latter part of the World War. She married Horace
Miller, resides in Los Angeles and is the mother of
one child, Betty Jean. Charles Philip is a member
of the Board of Supervisors, Santa Clara County, re-
sides in Palo Alto, and has one child, Stanley. Frank
H. resides at San Mateo, where he is engaged in
ranching, he is the father of si.x children; Gerald
Mortimer; Harold; Elizabeth is the wife of Dr. Geo.
B. Lemon, D. D. S., resides at Salinas and is mother
of one child, George Gerald; William L; Charles- P;
and Francis W.

Lester P. Cooley passed away in 1882, and in No-
vember, 1883, Mrs. Cooley married at Redwood City
Mr. Frisbie, a Civil War veteran, who served three
years with the Wisconsin troops as first lieutenant
and special aide and private secretary to General
Charles Devan; he passed away in 1885. Since 1887
Mrs. Frisbie has been active in Relief Corps work,
serving faithfully and well and she has the loyal sup-
port and cooperation of her six coworkers and matron
in the care of the Home and its thirty inmates.

NATHAN L. LESTER— WILLIAM WALTER
LESTER. — Among the representative horticulturists
of Santa Clara County, whose methods have been
backed by hard work and close application to the
task in hand are Nathan L. and William Walter
Lester. Nathan L. was born in Ledyard, Conn.,
January 20, 1876, and William Walter was born in
the same town October 20, 1879; their parents were
Nathan L. and Sarah E. (Spicer) Lester, both born
in Ledyard, Conn. The father was born January 1,
1843, and was the third oldest of a family of ten
children. His boyhood days were spent on his
father's farm and very early he learned lessons of
industry and thrift. The first time he came to Cali-
fornia was in 1861 and in company with his brother
.A.mos settled in Napa Cnnnlx- and leased a tract of
land and raised wh^at and was thus engaged for
seven years; he tlun rclnriud to Connecticut and
settled on a farm and remained there until 1883.
when he again removed to California, and came this
time to the Santa Clara County and purchased the
homestead on Lincoln Avenue in the Willows dis-
trict, San Jose. He began his horticultural ac-
tivities with but one thing in mind, a determination

>M VU

)l,Ci&My\A-^ O), ^VUL^xy

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

569

to succeed and the task was pleasurable to him and
success crowned his labors to an unusual degree.
He first planted thirty-one acres to prunes, which
proved to be a profitable venture. There were times
of discouragement, but these were courageously
met. He married Miss Sarah E. Spicer in 1871, the
daughter of that prominent and distinguished citi-
zen of Ledyard, Conn., Judge Edmund Spicer, who
had married Bethiah W. Avery. Judge Spicer was
a school teacher, farmer and merchant, and also
held many positions of trust and honor in New Lon-
don County. He was a member of the school board
tor many years; was postmaster, county clerk,
county treasurer, and in 1849 was elected to repre-
sent his district in the state legislature, and i., 1862
was a candidate for the state senate, and for twelve
years served as judge of the probate court. During
early life he served as captain of a rifle company,
and ever afterward was known as Captain Spicer.
He was one of the charter members of the Led-
yard Library Association and served as its secretary
for eighteen successive years. In 1867 he was
elected treasurer and librarian and continued until
his death in 1890. He was a prominent member of
the Congregational Church. Mr. and Mrs. Spicer
were the parents of seven children, Mrs. Lester be-
ing the third in order of birth. While building a
dryer, Mr. Lester fell from a ladder and sustained
injuries from which he died June 21 , 1900. He was
a highly honored and respected citizen of Santa
Clara County, a thorough straightforward business
man and could be counted upon to keep his word.
Mr. and Mrs. Lester were the parents of seven
children, Nathan L. being next to the oldest, and
William Walter being the third oldest.

Both brothers were educated in the district schools
of Willow Glen, and Nathan L. was also graduated
from the Garden City Business College, San Jose,
and William Walter attended the Washburn school.
From their youth they had always assisted their
father on the ranch, and were thus able to continue
along the same lines that he had so ably established.
The brothers' first purchase was a forty-acre piece
in the Campbell district on the Johnson and Hamil-
ton roads; it is in full-bearing prune trees, and is
irrigated from a deep well. They next bought seven-
teen acres in the same district, making a total of
fifty-seven acres. Later they purchased a ninety-acre
orchard on the Penetencia Creek and White roads,
devoted to prunes and apricots; this is also well irri-
gated. The home place of the Testers is located on
the Santa Clara-Saratoga road and consists of 254
acres set to prunes; on this ranch there are three
aeep irrigating wells and centrifugal pumps are used.
On the west side of the highway is Nathan L.'s
palatial country home, while on the east side of the
road is William's modern residence. The ranch in
the Berryessa district is irrigated by a deep well
equipped with a turbine pump. The brothers also
have a two-thirds interest in a 192-acre prune
orchard between Los Gatos and Campbell. They
also own several pieces of valuable downtown busi-
ness property on Market Street in San Francisco,
and also own a controlling interest in the St. Francis
Realty Company, which owns four valuable pieces of
downtown business property in San Francisco and of
which Nathan L. is president. He is also a
director in the California Prune and Apricot
Growers Association.

Nathan L. was married in Santa Clara in June,
1907, to Miss Sylvia Hughes, a native of Pittsburgh,
Pa., a daughter of William B. and Katherine
Hughes. Her father was an abstractor in Pittsburgh,
Pa., until he brought his family to Santa Clara
County in 1905, where they still make their home.
Mrs. Lester received her education in the grammar
and high schools of Pittsburgh. Mr. and Mrs. Les-
ter are the parents of two children, Katherine and
Nathan L., Jr. In all their holdings and transactions
the brothers are equal partners and they both give
it their entire attention.

William Walter was married in San Jose in May.
1914, to Miss Ethel V. Gerrans, born in Plymouth,
Cal., a daughter of Jeremiah Gerrans, who was a
gold miner in the early pioneer days of California.
They are the parents of two children, William Wal-
ter, Jr., and Elizabeth Viola. Mr. Lester is a mem-
ber of Fraternity Lodge No. 399, F. $i A. M., San
Jose, and with his wife is a member of San Jose
Chapter of the Eastern Star; he is also a member of
the Sciots. Both brothers have maintained the stand-
ard of honesty and industry followed by their father
and are valued and prominent citizens of the county.

WALTER J. GARDNER.— A successful orchard-
ist and dairyman is found in Walter J. Gardner,
whose ranch is on the Homestead Road, and on this
same place his father settled in 1860. Walter J. was
born November 1, 1878, the son of L. E. and Jo-
hanna (McCoy) Gardner, the former a native of
Maine, and the latter of Simcoe. Canada. The father
was a pioneer of Santa Clara County who came to
California in 1852, first going into the mines of the
Placerville district; later, he went to San Francisco
and engaged in the draying business. He then located
in the Santa Clara Valley and for two years engaged
in hunting, furnishing game for the San Francisco
market. In 1860 he bought 160 acres on the Home-
stead Road, a portion of which Walter J. Gardner
now occupies. The land was covered with brush
and Mr. Gardner set to work and cleared it and
planted it to grain. The mother also came to Cali-
fornia in the early days. They were the parents of
four children; Ella, Mrs. Arment of San Jose; Wal-
ter J.; Lee resides at W^atsonville; Eva is Mrs. J. J.
Murphy, whose husband is on the police force of
San Jose; and Viola, a trained nurse, at O'Connor's
Sanitarium. The father lived to be sixty-three and
the mother fifty-eight years old.

Walter J. attended the Collins school and the Santa
Clara high school, and later Stanford University;
afterwards he went to Elko, Nev., and worked in the
quartz mines in the Tuscarora district near Inde-
pendence Valley and spent two years in this occupa-
tion; he then returned to Santa Clara County and
assumed control of his portion of his father's estate.

During 1903, in Santa Clara, Mr. Gardner w-as
married to Miss Josephine Gardner, born in San Jose,
the daughter of William H. and Jane (Holt) Gard-
ner, the latter born in Liverpool, England. She is
one of a family of four children, as follows: Hen-
rietta, wife of H. A. Blanchard, a San Jose attorney;
Walter A.; Rose, now Mrs. C. L. Rich; and Mrs.
Gardner. Mrs. Gardner's father was a native of
West Virginia, who crossed the plains to California
in 1851 and bought a piece of land consisting of
ninety acres on the Homestead Road. Mrs. Gard-
ner was educated at the Hester grammar school, and

70

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

later took a course at the Hester Business College.
Mr. Gardner's ranch consists of fifty-six acres,
forty-six acres of which came to Mrs. Gardner as
her portion of her father's estate; one-half of the
acreage is planted to alfalfa and the balance to fruit;
a good well for irrigation purposes has been devel-
oped on his place, and in connection with his orchard
and alfalfa, he has a dairy. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner
are the parents of three children; Walter. Jr.; Car-
rol; and Dorothy.

DR. A. E. OSBORNE. — A distinguished citizen of
California long and eminently identified with Santa
Clara County, who has honored Los Gatos by his
choice of that attractive foothill town as the best
place he knows for residence, is the Hon. Antrim
Edgar Osborne, M. D., Ph. D., the present efficient
and popular state senator whose inHuence in many
fields and directions, in the great work of building
up the commonwealth, has been so notable and far-
reaching. He was born at Chester, Pa., on February
23, 1857, the son of .Antrim Osborne, the proprietor
of the Waterville Woolen Mills and a descendant of
one of the oldest and most historic families of North-
ern Europe. Originally from Denmark, where the
progenitor's name was Aasbjorn (meaning "The
Bear on the Peninsula"), who was a mighty war-
rior, and who lent his soldiers and military aid to
William tlie Conqueror in his conquest of England;
the family become established in the British Isles
under the renowned name of Osborne, and many of
the descendants migrated to America, various
branches in time adopting different spellings, such
as Osburn, Osbourne, Osborn. and Osbourn. When
Antrim was yet a boy of five or six years, his father
became owner of the woolen mills at Rose Valley, in
the same county, and thither removed with his fam-
ily; there the lad grew up, to go to the public school
and be further instructed by private tutors. When
not quite sixteen he passed the examination for West
Point, but declined admission to take up pre-medical
studies and for this purpose he was sent to the mili-
tary academy known as the Pennsylvania State Col-
lege, in Center County, where he took a course of
four years in science and natural history, and soon
showed such exceptional proficiency that he was
appointed assistant to the professor in that depart-
ment. He then went to the University of Pennsyl-
vania, where he pursued the regular medical course
for three years and was graduated on March 12,
1877, with the degree of M. D. For the next year
he remained in Philadelphia practicing medicine and
at the same time pursuing a special course in the
hospitals, and then removed to Media, Pa., and
opened an office as a general practitioner. His am-
bition, however, would not let him rest at that at-
tainment, hence he resun.^d post-graduate studies
at the University of Pennsylvania and in 1879 had
conferred upon him by his Alma Mater the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy, being the youngest grad-
uate, up to that time to receive this marked academic
degree in return for original research and demon-
strated scholarship.

Dr. Osborne's experience as interne at the Pres-
byterian and the Philadelphia hospitals in the City
of Brotherly Love was of great value to him, partic-
ularly as he began to specialize with nervous and
mental diseases in his practice of medicine. It was
about that time that he was the first resident physician

at the Odd Fellows' Home, and later he was semi-
officially connected with the Pennsylvania Training
School for the Feeble-Minded. For the following eight
years, in addition to his other professional work, he oc-
cupied the chair of natural sciences in the Media .Aciid-
emy, where he organized the department of physical
culture and established a gymnasium. By the middle
eighties. Dr. Osborne had attracted general attention
tl-.rough the results of his profound study of the proper
care and treatment of the feeble-minded, and in Octo-
ber, 1886, he was appointed to succeed Dr. B. T. Wood
as medical superintendent of the California State
Home for Feeble-Minded, and for fifteen years he
was secretary of its board of trustees. He assumed
charge on December 1, and proved himself the right
man for the position by the admirable manner in
which he brought the institution to a high state of
efficiency. Later he was made medical superin-
tendent of the Napa State Hospital for the Insane
and effected its thorough reorganization. Since 1901,
Dr. Osborne — who was long the only physician en-
gaged in his line of work on the Pacific Coast, and
in charge of the only private institution of the kind
west of Nebraska — has been the owner and director of
Osborne Hall, at Winchester, Santa Clara County; an
institution for the treatment of mental deficiencies.
Prior to that he had been professor of nervous and
mental diseases in the College of Physicians and Sur-
geons in San Francisco, and he also held the same
post in the Oakland Medical College. He was also
lecturer on nervous and mental nursing in the Nurses'
Training School, and psychiatrist at the O'Connor
Sanitarium at San Jose.

On September 7, 1880, Dr, Osborne was married to
Miss Margaret H. Paxton, the daughter of Col. John
C. Paxton, a Civil War Veteran of Marietta, Ohio.
Mrs. Osborne, a lady of enviable accomplishments,
has proven a valuable coworker in the doctor's spe-
cial field, sharing with him his social activities and
prestige. They have no children of their own, but
have adopted a niece, Agnes Blondin. now Mrs. Will-
iam Horst, Jr., of Santa Clara. Dr. Osborne has
held membership in the Delaware County (Pa.)
Medical Society, the Pennsylvania State Medical So-
ciety, the American Medical Association, the American
Association of Medical Superintendents, and the
Media Institute of Science, and he was also
the organizer and president of the Media Medi-
cal Club. His original researches and independent
treatment of medical and scientific subjects have
made a name for him in the line of new discoveries,
so that he has frequently been cited as an authority
in these lines partKuiarly his own. He is now active
in the California Stntc .Medical Society, being for six
years a member c^t Us council, and has twice been pres-
ident of the Santa Clara County Medical Society. He
was one of the organizers of the Consistory in San Jose
and was very active in the building of the Scottish Rite
Temple there, which was erected when he was master
of the bodies. The Odd Fellows also claim him as
a member and he has been district deputy grand
chancellor of the Knights of Pythias; his memories
of college days lead him back to the delightful secret
conclaves of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

A progressive Republican and public spirited to a
marked degree. Dr. Osborne has served two terms
on the board of trustees of Santa Clara, and he was
formerly president of the Sonoma Valley Board of

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4^, -^^ .O^^^-^^r-.^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

573

Trade and vice-president of the Commercial League
of Santa Clara. He has been chairman of the pro-
bation committee of the Juvenile Court in Santa Clara
County continuously since the court was established,
and he served as chairman of Draft Board No. 2 of
Santa Clara County, during the World War. On
November 2, 1920, Dr. Osborne was elected to the
State Senate from the Twenty-seventh senatorial
district, Santa Clara County, having received the
nomination of the Republican. Democratic and So-
cialist parties. He served very efficiently during the
session and introduced into the Senate the joint
measure on conservation and reforestation, which was
duly passed and became a law. Senator Osborne was
particularly intircsted in all measures affecting the
home ami Ljiiuial welfare, and in measures pertaining
to th( ^tatu institutions, including charities and cor-
rcitiiiiis, ami civil M.rvicc. He served on the following
^ oiiiniitlri s: Ci\il s.rviic. con.servation. county gov-
i ! niiKTit. hi>-pital> and asylums, labor and capital. Nor-
mal schools, public charities and corrections, public
health and quarantine. Thi- imliln ..i iMrr j, natural
to one who modestly but proin i!i ip;.!, , i.,\, - 1m, .iwn
family lineage; for with two otln r iditoi ,. resident in
New York, he has been editing for years the exten-
sive and very interesting Osborne Genealogical His-
tory, which is related to the rise and development of
so many other representative families in America.

Dr. Osborne is an able physician and public-spirited
citizen of peculiarly genial and attractive personality,
and leads a life of great usefulness for the world, jus-
tifying till ciuni ption of him by many of his admir-
ing friciuls and neighbors, that he is one of the first
citizens of tlie (".olden State. Recently Dr. Osborne
has removed to Los Gatos and has taken up his
residence at 121 Glen Ridge Avenue, where he and
his good wife continue to dispense a whole-hearted
hospitality to their many friends.

ALBERT EDWARD WILLIAMS— AUGUS-
TUS CLAIR WILLIAMS.— Among the enterpris-
ing orchardists of Santa Clara County mention
should be made of Albert E. and Augustus C. Wil-
liams, who own and operate fine orchards in the
Cupertino district. The father, Samuel R. Williams,
settled on this ranch during the ^-ear of 1870, when
it was wild land with a growth of timber and brush.
Samuel R. was a native of Canada West and was
born June 25, 1828. The paternal grandparents were
James and Anna (Weise) Williams and they were
both natives of Canada. Samuel grew up on his
father's farm and was able to attend the public
schools. He remained with his parents until he was
twenty-four years old, when, in April, 1852, he was
married to Jane Hume, also a native of Canada. He
bought 100 acres of land in the same township, and
began farming for himself and lived there for three
years. During the year 1855 he sold his property
and removed to California. He went into the mines
in Nevada County and worked there for three years,
but he met with only nominal success. He then re-
turned to Canada and engaged in the tannery busi-
ness in the township of Camden, remaining there
until 1866, when he sold his business and again came
to California. He then spent two years in the mines
at Virginia City, Nev.; then settled in Volo County.
Cal., and followed farming for two years. In 1870
he removed with his family to Santa Clara County
and located in the Cupertino district, where he
cleared 100 acres of land and set it to grapes. He

worked the land for three years and received for his
services a deed to fifty acres; later he took two of
his sons into partnership with him and together they
conducted the ranch, which was mostly set to vines,
which yielded them handsome returns each year.
Mr. and Mrs. Williams had five children.

Albert Edward was born in Canada, June 27, 1861,
and was nine years old when his parents removed
to Santa Clara County, where he attended the public
schools and the College of the Pacific; later took a
business course in Seattle. After finishing school
he returned to the ranch and assumed his share of
the work. In national politics he is a Socialist;
fraternally he belongs to Cupertino lodge, I. O. O. F.
Augustus C. is also a native of Canada and was
born December 23, 1863. He received his educa-
tion in the pubhc schools of Santa Clara County.
He was interested with his father in the home place
and in 1886 received his deed to his property from
his father, which was set to grapes; later the vines
were removed and all planted to orchard, whi.h lias
been carefully cultivated and is now briuLiiij -...,,1
profits for his labor. He married Mi-s a,i,, Xlil.el
White, born in Canada, and they are the [..aients ui
one child, Mabel Hume. In politics he is independ-
ent, supporting and voting for the candidate best
fitted for the office; fraternally he belongs to the
Woodmen of the World. He has served his district
as school trustee. Both brothers are "boosters" for
Santa Clara County and can be depended upon to
support all progressive measures.

ROBERT R. SYER. — Perseverance, energy and
andjition are the keynotes to the success of Robert
R. Syer, an influential and successful lawyer of San
Jose. He was born in r.aliiniMK , Aid., November
16, 1870, a son of Robert ami Al irt'ha V. (Reay)
Syer. Before removing to Caliiunua, the father w^as
a clothing merchant and hatter in Portsmouth, Va.
In 1874 he migrated to California with his family,
settling in the Santa Clara Valley, purchasing 107
acres in the Milpitas Road. By wise and judicious
management, coupled with energy and well-directed
eflforts, he became very successful as an orchardist.
He was among the first agriculturists to raise ber-
ries in Santa Clara County, and raised raspberries
and strawberries in such quantities that a daily ship-
ment to San Francisco was necessary. He passed
away in 1914 and his wife died in 1916. Besides
their son Robert R., they are survived by two daugh-
ters, Mrs. Miriam S. Richmond and Mrs. E. Pauline
Howard, both of San Jose.

Robert R. Syer was educated in the public schools
of Santa Clara County, attending the Orchard dis-
trict school and for a time attended the Normal
Training School; later he attended Santa Clara Uni-
versity, graduating in 1888 and receiving the B. S.
degree; the ne.xt year he returned for a post-gradu-
ate course receiving the degree of A. M.; within the
next year he began the study of law with the firm of
Archer and Bowden, San Jose, and here he remained
two years. In the year 1892 he entered Hastings
Law School at San Francisco, remaining there for
two years, graduating with the degree of LL.B.,
June 14, 1894. He established offices in San Jose
and has practiced his profession continuously, be-
coming exceptionally influential in this community.
For five years he served on the board of trustees
of the Public Library; also served for two years on
the Civil Service Commission of San Jose under the

574

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

new charter, and was one of the active members of
the board of freeholders who drafted the new char-
ter for the commission form of city government.
Ever since the organization of the Merchants' Asso-
citipn, in November, 1901, he has capaDly served as
the attorney and secretary for the association. In
his poHtical conviction, Mr. Syer is a Repubhcan.
He has served as president of San Jose Golf and
Country Club for three terms and is extremely fond
of golf as a recreation from liis strenuous Hfe.

Mr. Syer's marriage Decrnil«cr \'>. I''ii5. united
him with Mi.ss May L. D'()>lv. :i .lau.lit.r ..t Cnp-
tain Nigel D'Oyly, a native ot I- oiuaiiuhlcau, 1 ranee.
Early in Hfe, Captain D'Oyly developed a fondness
for the sea and his ability very soon won for h-m
responsible positions as commander of ocean ships
sailing out of New York harbor, which positions he
continued to fill until the outbreak of the Civil War.
July 18, 1861, he entered the volunteer navy as act-
ing master and was assigned to duty as navigating
oificer of the U. S. S. Lancaster, Pacific Squadron,
where he remained until 1862, when he was ordered
to New York and placed in command of the W. G.
Anderson, West Gulf Squadron, under Farragut. In
1853, he was ordered by Admiral Farragut to com-
mand the United States side-wheel steamer Jackson,
He was actively engaged until his retirement from
the sea in 1874, and lived in Oakland until 1880,
when he removed with h\> family to San Jose, Cal.,
w^here he resided until the time of his death, in 1894,
and where he was universally respected as a public-
spirited citizen. The widow, Mrs. D'Oyly, resides
in Los Angeles. One son, Robert D'Oyly Syer,
has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Syer, and is a pupil
in the San Jose High School. No greater encomium
can be passed upon the life and w'ork of Mr. Syer
than to say that he is best appreciated where best
known. He is a member of the County and State
Bar Associations; also an enthusiastic member of
the newly organized Cotnmercial Club of Santa Clara
County. He is a supporter of all local charities and
churches, as well as all civic improvements.

ELIAS H. FREELYN.— A pioneer of the Cuper-
tino district, the late Elias H. Freelyn was one of
the county's public-spirited citizens, and his passing
removed from the community one of its worthy and
honored citizens. Mr. Freelyn was a native of
Denmark and 1843 marks the year of his birth. His
parents, both natives of that country, passed their
entire lives there. America was the goal of Mr.
Freelyn's ambitions, and a few years after he had
completed his education in the schools of his native
land, he crossed the ocean in his early twenties.
For some years he remained in New York, moving
westward as far as Michigan, where he w^as em-
ployed for a time, and then terminating his journey-
ings when he reached the garden spot of the West.
Santa Clara Valley, in 1887.

Purchasing his ranch of fifteen acres on Prospect
Road, Mr. Freelyn immediately became actively
identified with the life of the community, and devel-
oped a fine orchard place, meeting with a financial
success that gave abundant reward for his unflag-
ging interest. Besides his own place he set out
various orchards for others. He erected a beautiful
home on Prospect Road, and here he made his home
until his passing away on November 20, 1911. He
also owned twenty-five acres which he improved
and later sold. His marriage tmited him with Mrs.

Cornelia DeKay, and she made her uonie on the
ranch until her death on December 26, 1921. For
the past nine years, however, she had been an in-
valid, and a tiiece, Miss Senia Freelyn, is devoting
her time to the management of the ranch, a task
she is filling with unusual capability. During his
lifetime Mr. Frrr!\-ii ■ -, a = active in Grange circles
and also in the in. ,1 li a ni the Democratic party,
and an active n . . ' ihe Saratoga Christian
Church, and In la: luliaal him a name justly
honored by his fellow-citizens.

ROBERT A. COSTIGAN.— .\ rancher whose
steady success and increasing prosperity will always
be a source of gratification to his friends is Robert
A. Costigan, a native of San Jose, where he was
born on August 17, 1867. His father, John Costigan,
hailed from Quincy, 111., and his mother, who was
Mary Jane Mcllroy before her marriage, was born
in Missouri. Her people came to California in 1852,
and she herself passed away when she was a com-
paratively young woman, having attained only her
forty-second year. John Costigan also came to Cali-
fornia in pioneer days.

In the Rhoads district near Gilroy on March 30,
1889, Robert A. Costigan was married to Mrs. Sarah
L. Menasco, widow of the late Daniel William
Menasco, to whom she was married June 13, 1883,
and by whom she had two children, Ralph Orval
Menasco and 2oe Eva Menasco, who died. Mrs.
Costigan's maiden name was Sarah L. House, and
she was a daughter of Ezekiel ami Caiulina (Patter-
son) House, both natives of ialaar t. unity, 111.
Ezekiel House and his five cuii^in>. naiiR-ly, Dan,
William, Henry, George and Isaac Rhoads, were the
first white people to settle permanent in the
Canada Canyon. Mr. and Mrs. Ezekiel House were
married on June 13, 1858, and on June 24, of that
vear, they settled in the Gilroy neighborhood, which
became known as the Rhoads District and there
Mrs. Costigan was brought up and attended that
district's public schools. Her maternal grandparents
were Jonathan rind Christine (Foster) Patterson,
who were both natives of Virginia. They were
among the very first of white people from east of
the Rocky Mountains to seek a home m the far-off
California, which then belonged to Mexico. They
crossed the plains in immigrant wagons and were
members of the ill-fated Donner party as far as the
divide in the Sierra Mountains, where Jonathan Pat-
terson died and was buried, in 1846. The widow
and children came on to California. Mr^. Cii>ti:jairs
father, Ezekiel House, came from Iljiiini, tn Cali-
fornia in 1850 and settled at Gilroy. Alia .nal Air-.
Ezekiel House had twelve children, eight gnl.-, and
four boys. Emma is Mrs. Gentry of Hercules;
Sarah Louisa is now the wife of Robert A. Costigan,
the subject of this sketch; Margaret Ellen has be-
come Mrs. Bradford of Kingsburg; Robert Francis
of Los Banos is the fourth child; Georgia Virginia
died in 1919; Martha Melvina is Mrs. House of Gil-
roy. and her next younger brother is Edward E.
House; Nellie passed away in 1913; Caroline Chris-
tine is the wife of Robert Thomas Heslin of Gilroy;
Mr. Heslin was born in New "S'orK- City and is a
nephew of the late Father Patrick llc^-iiu. tlie mur-
dered priest of Colma; John TIhuiki-, I,\ic\ Honora
and James Emanuel are the three rcniainiiiL; children.
Mr. and Mrs. Costigan have two children, Robert
Edward and Leo John Costigan. Robert Edward
married his cousin, Vivian H. Costigan, and they

^nJhiJ'MCL

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

577

have four children, James Edward, Dorothy Vivian.
Henry Merle and Donald Lloyd. Leo John mar-
ried Miss Emma L. Meyers of the pioneer Meyers
family of Alviso. and to them has been born a
daughter named Cleo Jane.

. Mr. Costigan worked for the Spreckels Sugar
Company at Spreckles. Cal., until 1907, when he re-
moved to Milpitas and took a position with the Cali-
fornia Fruit Canners' Association, and when that
was taken over by the C. P. C. he still remained
with them and is still employed on the California
PackiiiLC Corpuralion pea rcmch at Milpitas, where
he makes his home on a p.irt of the rancli. A Demo-
crat in matters of national political import, Mr. Cos-
tigan has been a school director of tiie Spreckels
school district, and in the discharge of his duties has
■always been as broadnnnded and nonpartisan as the
necessities of his locality demanded.

HUBBARD McKEE.— A worthy representative of
a pioneer famil\-. Hubbard McKee (familiarly called
HuMi M.Kic) ua- :i sleady, clean-cut and enterpris-
ing liu-iin-. ii'jii, whii w,'-- Inini in San Jose on Feb-
ruar\ -■■'•. !>■'"'.'. .1 -mi of I'l.ur^e 1!. and Mary McKee,
pioneers ul Saiua Clara Couiit.\ . His father was born
at Ottawa. 111., on July 27. l.Sv';. th. mmi of Lyman
McKee, who was married in Watntou 11, N. Y.. to
>,Iiss Melinda Butterfield. His maier.ial great-grand-
father, Zacharia Butterfield. was a Xew Englander.
who came out to New York State and was one of
three that took up the land now tlie site of Water-
town, hence was one ni ilu fminders ol that thriving
city. He was engagnl ni -'imI.,- rai-.ing and (lair\-ing.
George B. McKee «a. ■diu.u, .1 .11 the puhHc school.
of Watcrtown, N. ^".. and 111 1X5.5 removed to .M.l-
waukee, Wis., and llu- following spring joined the
Moody-Winchel tram desfincd for California, arriving
in San Jose in October, 18.S4; he has always been
most prominent in civic and business circles and has
aided greatly in the steady development and prog-
ress of his locality.

Hubbard McKee was reared in San Jose and edu-
cated in the public schools of San Jose and Santa
Clara College. After graduation he entered his father's
store, beginning at the bottom and working up
through the various departments in both the paint
factory and the store. He was greatly interested in
the business and in time was able to relieve his father
of much of its care and oversight. When his father
riiade a seven months trip to the Orient, he had
charge of the business, and it was soon after his
father's return that he met with the accident which
resulted in his death on July IV, 1914. A description
of the accident which caused his death was printed in
the San Jose Mercury of July 22, 1914: "There is
something ineffably pathetic in the tragic end of the
late Hubbard McKee. He was known as a man of
unusual tenderness, and his friends were not surprised
to learn that he had given his seat to an injured man
picked up by the roadside and that he himself had
stood behind while the driver rushed with all speed
to the hospital. It was at a sudden curve of the road,
that the unselfish McKee was thrown from his pre-
carious hold to his death, and that he, in the prosecu-
tion of an act noble in the highest degree, should
forfeit his own life, distinguishes this from the aver-
age automobile accident. Those who knew the late
Hubbard McKee knew a true man; his impulses were
generous, his sympathies tender, indeed, since his

untimely passing many stories are told showing the
genuineness of his manhood, his thoughtfulness for
others, his willingness to sacrifice, when that was
necessary. To the men in his employ he was a friend
rather than master, while in his dealings with the
public, he erred only to his own disadvantage. There
was nothing petty in the man; indeed it was foreign
to his nature, and yet he was a quiet, unobtrusive
citizen, devoted to his home, his parents and his city.
Hubbard McKee could not be other than brave and
generous, for he came of that splendid old pioneer
slock which adorned the earlj^ history of California
and the surviving members of which command such
universal respect today. The name of George B. Mc-
Kee is a synonym for integrity in business, for ag-
gressiveness on the side of right and for love of state
and country. The son was a replica of the father, a
quiet citizen immersed in his own affairs, but ever
ready to contribute his means and ability to a deserv-
ing cause. What a co;;trast is presented in the heroic
act of this ni.'in in pirki.ig uji a stranger by the way-
side to thi .jKiil lund striking down the innocent
pedestrian ami pa--siiiL; on without even learning his
name or the extent ol his injuries."

The marriage of Mr, McKee occurred in San Jose
on January 31. 1899, and united him with Miss Mary
Grimley. a native of Port Jervis, N. Y., a daughter of
Robert and Elizabeth (Drennen) Grimley, who
bi ought her to Santa Clara County when she was
five years of age and here she attended school at
.Maylield, as well as Notre Dame College. Their
iinidii, a very happy one, was blessed with three
cliiidriii: George Butterfield, second, educated at
\\ .i-lil.Mii .-^rliuol, San Jose, is now secretary of the
I.'" II .M« i.<c Co.; Margaret Mary, a graduate of
tiaii J(.-r hmh school, is also with the Geo. B. Mc-
Kee Co.; i'rank lliilil.,ird is at present a student at
the William W.urrn Milimrv .'\cademy, Menlo Park.
Mrs. McKee was .1 iruc .ui.l loving wife, and since
her husband's untimely end has been very zealous in
her care of their children, being unselfishly devoted
to their comfort and pleasures. Hubbard McKee was
liberal, brave and kindlicnrted, always ready to
do a good turn In ;iii\ d-^rrving person and every-
one who laicw liliii l,i\(d liini. for he was always
helping tlm-r in iv rd, f.ir In- never found a man down,
but he would render him timely aid.

C. A. CARLSON.— The good people of Sunny-
vale may well be congratulated upon their grocery
service,, furnished by C. A. Carlson, the "square
dealer," wdio has done his best to standarize that
trade, and in endeavoring to furnish the community
only. the best at the lowest price, has easily built up
a dependable patronage. Carlson's Cash Grocery is
known far and wide; and wherever it is known, one
speaks only good of the enterprise.

Mr. Carlson was born at Falun. Sweden, on July
2,S. 1874. and in his native land he grew up. His first
work for a living was in the employ of the pulp and
paper mills at Grigsbo; but when he was only seven-
teen, he crossed the ocean to America. He took pas-
sage on the White Star Line, sailed from Gothen-
burg, and landed at New York. Without stopping
long in the great metropolis, young Carlson came
west to Monona County. Iowa, and there he started
to work out by the month.

In 1900, Mr. Carlson was married to Miss May
Wickersham, a native of Iowa, and a daughter of

578

.HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

George Wickersham, of Monona County, and to this
union two children, Laura and Violet, have been
born. Taking up agriculture in Iowa, Mr. Carlson
at first rented, then bought land; but the eighty
acres he soon sold to engage in the grocery trade at
Ticonic, in Monona County, Iowa. At the end of
two years, however, Mr. Carlson decided to come
out to the Coast; and on reaching the Golden State,
he came to Sunnyvale, where Mrs. Carlson's uncle,
Lee Wickersham, was then, and is still, living. For
awhile Mr. Carlson clerked in a grocery, and then
he bought the store. His past experience, foresight
and careful attention to the details of the trade have
enabled him to anticipate the wants of his patrons,
and he has been prosperous ever since. Mr. and
Mrs. Carlson have a tine residence on Murphy Ave-
nue, and they belong to the Congregational Church.
Mr. Carlson deals in staple ;inil fancy groceries, and-
more than ever the pulilic have come to appreciate
the dependable service. His place of business is
scrupulously clean and orderly, and his many pa-
trons are' sure to get the best of wholesome goods,
gentlemanly attention and a square deal at all times.

F. A. SCHILLING. — Numbered among the active
and highly-esteemed residents of the county is F. A.
Schilling, auditor of Santa Clara County. Born in
San Jose August 31, 1870, Mr. Schilling entered pub-
lic service in January, 1893, and has since been con-
tinuously in the service of the county as court clerk,
clerk of the board of supervisors and as county au-
ditor. Long years of experience, coupled with natural
adaptability, enable him to render ethcient public
service, which has always received the highest com-
mendation from his constituents.

He is a son of Frank Schilling, now deceased, the
pioneer gunsmith of Santa Clara County, who in the
year 1861 opened the sporting goods store now con-
ducted by Raymond Schilling, another son, on Post
Street, in San lose. P.eside Raymond. Mr. Schilling
is a brother to Hcrl.itt Iv SclullinK, formerly mayor
of San Jose, and to Mrs. Lena Stewart, who resides
with his mother, Mrs. Margaret Schilling. All are
residents of San Jose.

Mr. Schilling is married and has two daughters;
Mrs. Marjorie Cathcart, the mother of a son. and
Miss Dorothy Schilling. He makes his home in the
beautiful college town of Palo Alto.

DR. H. F. CARPENTER.— A learned practi-
tioner of medical science who is a master of re-
search and controversy, and has accomplished much
good by his masterly contributions to polemical lit-
erature, is Dr. H. F. Carpenter, a minister of the
Advent Christian Church, residing at 806 Jackson
Street, Santa Clara. He is profoundly versed in the
Bible, and as a fine old gentleman draws and holds
a large circle of immediate admin r-. ami support-
ers, w-hile through his trenchant, in-^piriiiL; pen. n,
reaches, influences and guides a still wider coterie.

He was born at Douglas, Mass,, on October ?A,
far back in 1833, the son of Seba Carpenter, who
was a shoe manufacturer and made brogans out of
■'kip" leather, or heavy work shoes for the slaves
"down South," and kept so busy that he had as
mafiy as sixty shoemakers working for him. He
w-as born at Douglas, and his father was Nathaniel
Carpenter, a native of the same place, where he first
saw the light on the old Carpenter homestead. The
Carpenters came from England; and as in the usual

story of the pioneer, three brothers crossed the
ocean and settled in Vermont, and two brothers
settled in the other colonies. Our subject is prob-
ably descended from the Vermont line; at any rate,
his is a Colonial family, and his ancestors were in
the thick of the Revolutionary War, and some cxf
them also fought in the W^ar of 1812. Seba Car-
penter was originally a Massachusetts farmer, and
he married Melinda Learned, also a native of Massa-
chusetts. TWx had five children, all bovs; and
H. F. Cariuntrr «:i. the second.

He was sriit to the district school, and from school
days he had to work, generally in his father's shoe
factory; so it came to pass that he sewed up thou-
sands of pairs of brogans. for shoemaking in those
days was all by hand. He had a desire, however,
to study medicine; and having moved with his
parents to Worcester, Ma-s . he went to the high
school there, and in due time graduated from that
excellent institution.

During this time, in 1854, he was converted and
immediately took up preaching. The miraculous
change was effected in him in the .Methodist Epis-
copal Church at Worcester; and in that church he
remained for two \ears. His first sermon, however,
was pre.n lud in the Adventist Church at Worcester,
now known ,i-~ the Advent Christian Church; it was
(leln.r.,1 m tin spring of 1856, and he has been
preaching; ever since. He has also practiced forty-
five years — practiced medicine and healing; for he
IS a "natural born" healer. He has been able to
look deep into such difficult, oft-puzzling diseases
as diphtheria and appendicitis, and he has cured nu-
merous cases of the latter disease, and never lost a
case — and never used a knife. He studied medi-
cine under Dr. Porter, at Vallejo, Cal., in 1876,
and he was admitted to practice after due examina-
tion before the California State Board -jt Examiners.

In Connecticut he had a pastorate, and he had
several similar congregational c1i.ii:ji^ m \ ermont.
He became pastor of the churcli at iit.hl.urg, and
from there he migrated to California in 1X75, settling
at Vallejo. Then, in 187'), he removed to Santa
Clara. At first, he was an evangelist, and he held
tent meetings; but he has preached intermittently
m the Advent Christian Church at Santa Clara ever
since 1879. He has never lost a ca^/ of diphtheria in
Santa Clara, although while at \alkio, when he
went through an epidemic of diphtheria and had
seventy-five cases, he lost two. He is getting
stronger in his faith every day, and believes that
the second coming of Christ is at hand. As an
author dealing with religious themes. Dr. Carpenter
has written, with exceptional clearness and vigor, a
miniher of tracts. He wrote one on "Christian
'^cienc. Both Un-Christian and L'nscientific," an-
uthcr .>n "The Three Hells," another on "The Well-
Sealed Hook," a fourth on "The Two Horned Beast
of Rev. 13 not the United States," a fifth on "Man's
ISiced— God's Supply," and a sixth on "God's Esti-
mate of the Human Body."

Dr. Carpenter's first wife was Susan A. Vose be-
fore her marriage, and she was a native of Prince-
ton, Mass, They had two children when they came
to CaHfornia. Lizzie is now Mrs. S. J. Fisher and
resides at San Mateo, where she is a popular pianist
and music teacher, being a gifted musician; Anna M.
married Obadiah Morse, and she resides at San

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

581

Francisco. Mrs. Carpenter died in 1898, and Dr.
Carpenter was married a second time in October.
1899, when he took Mrs. Meriah G. Couch for his
wife. She was born in Barnstead. N. H., the daugh-
ter of Nathaniel Pickering; and she married the Rev.
John Couch. After her tenth year, she was reared
in Massachusetts, and there she became a widow.
Dr. Carpenter has built two houses, — the first of
which he sold, while he resides in the second, at 806
Jackson Street, Santa Clara. He is now eighty-eight
years of age. and all of his religious tracts have been
written since he was sixty, some since he was sev-
enty years of age, and is still writing.

ALLEN E. CURTNER.— The fact that his father
selected Santa Clara County as a permanent abode
has never been regretted by Allen E. Curtncr. wliose
judgment concurs in the decision. Born on the old
Curtner ranch at Warm Springs, Alameda County,
October 5, 1867, he is a son of that distinguished pio-
neer, Henry Curtner, who arrived on the Pacific Coast
during the year of 1853, from Indiana, where he was
born in Fountain County, January 17, 1831. The pa-
ternal grandfather was Jacob Curtner, born and reared
in North Carolina, and married Nancj' Heaton, a na-
tive of Tennessee. About 1827 they removed to In-
diana, and were among the earliest settlers of Foun-
tain County, and there developed a homestead. He
had been a soldier in the Indian struggles and served
under General Jackson. Both grandparents passed
away in Indiana. Early in life Henry Curtner had
been left an orphan, and he had many obstacles to
surmount in his struggle. He worked on various
farms throughout the country, cleared timber land,
and became a towboy on the Wabash and Erie canal.
Exercising the traits of thrift which were his by in-
heritance and with the savings he had been able to
accumulate, he started on the long voyage from New
York via Panama to San Francisco. In the fall of
1856, he returned to Cass Counter, Ind., and married
Miss Lydia Kendall, and the following year the young
folks removed to California and bought fifty acres
between Centerville and Alvarado, Alameda County,
and made their home upon this ranch for ten years.
In the spring of 1868 they removed to the ranch near
Warm Springs. Mr. Curtner's first purchase of land
comprised about 2000 acres, to which he added from
time to time until he had 8000 acres. He sold por-
tions of this and the balance was divided among his
children. For many years he was a director of the
Security State Bank of San Jose, and was president
oi the Milpitas Land & Live Stock Company, owners
of 8000 head of cattle, 800 head of horses and a flock
of 7000 sheep, using as range 32,000 acres of patented
land in Humboldt County, Nev., besides a range of
100 square miles. Mr. and Mrs. Curtner were the
parents of eight children, Allen E., the subject of this
review, being the fourth. After the death of his first
wife, Mr. Curtner married Miss Mary E. Myers and
they were the parents of two children. She passed
away in California, and his third marriage united him
with Miss Lucy Latham, who survives him and whose
sketch will be found in this volume. Mr. Curtner was
liberal with his vast means along all progressive lines;
he was especially active in educational matters, and
remembering the trials and discouragements of his
orphaned boyhood, was generous to all institutions of
this kind. He was one of Santa Clara Countv's most

noted philanthropists. He passed away at the Warm
Springs home November 1, 1916.

Allen E. Curtner was but ten years old when his
mother died. He received his education at Irvington
College, of which his father was one of the organiz-
ers. In 1898 the building was burned and Mr. Curt-
ner sold the property, and the college was rebuilt and
is now operated under the name of the Anderson
Academy. Mr. Curtner began ranching on a part of
the old Curtner ranch, and in 1914 took up his resi-
dence on his present place. His whole life has been
spent on the farm, and consequently is thoroughly
conversant with every phase of agriculture and horti-
culture, to which he has given much study.

Mr. Curtner's marriage occurred in Milpitas, De-
cember 4, 1889, and united him with Miss Rosabella
Hewitt, a native of Manchester, England, who came
with her parents to California at the age of fourteen
years. She is a daughter of William and Isabelle
(McLachlan) Hewitt. The McLachlan family are
traced back to Castle Douglas and have a coat of
arms. Great-grandfather McLachlan married a Miss
McGee, also of a noble family. Wm. Hewitt died in
England and the mother, with her children, Rosabella
and Walter, came to Irvington, Cal, in 1880, and the
former was educated at the Warm Springs school.
Her mother and brother both live in Sunnyvale. Mr.
and Mrs. Curtner are the parents of three children:
Isabella, Louise, and Alan E. Isabella is the wife of
Bud D. More, employed by the Associated Oil Com-
pany, and they reside on a ten-acre ranch near Sunny-
vale, the entire acreage planted to Bartlett pears.
Louise is the wife of Derol Chace, associated with
his father as agents for the Associated Oil Company,
and they reside in San Jose. Alan E. served overseas
m the One Hundred Forty-third U. S. Artillery, For-
tieth Division, until his return and discharge. He
married Miss Celesta Jane Burch of Los Angeles and
they reside on a ranch on the Stevens Creek road.
Mr. Curtner's ranch is located on Maud Avenue near
Pastoria Avenue, one and one-half miles northwest of
Sunnyvale, and consists of 279 acres of valuable land;
204 acres in alfalfa and hay is leased for a dairy; the
balance is rented for vegetable growing. They are
members of the Christian church in San Jose. Mr.
Curtner has resided on this ranch for the past eight
years, and he is one of those citizens whose settle-
ment in the locality has been a factor in the develop-
ment of the material resources of the county.

JOHN H. FAHEY.— A native of Iowa who. as a
hard-working, progressive and successful business
man has made good in California, is John H. Fahey,
the owner of some twenty-two acres in his home
ranch at Sunnyvale, and about ninet}'-seven acres in
a tract at the Mountain View landing or harbor in
whose future he places great confidence. He was
born at Clinton, in the Hawkeye State, on Septem-
ber 24, 1881, and was a student at the high school
at Lyons, Iowa. He then pursued courses at the
University of Iowa, and having completed his studies,
he went to work in the First National Bank at
Clinton, where he was employed for three years. He
had inherited the best of <iualities from his father.
John J. Fahey, who died, however, when our subject
was only six years old. and from his devoted mother,
who is happily still livin.g with him at Sunnyvale.
His bookkeeping experience had given him a valu-

582

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

able business training, and when he went in for
farming and oil-producing, he was able to manage
his affairs with capability. The climatic conditions
of California induced him to visit the Golden State
in 1918, and he availed himself of the opportunity to
travel through this Coast region and to judge for
himself; in 1919 he bought his property, and in
1920 he came out here to live. He had done well
prior to coming here, and he was thus able to bring
to California a comfortable competence.

At Monmouth, 111., in 1914, Mr. Fahey was mar-
ried to Miss Elizabeth Martin, the daughter of John
and Mary Martin, of the well-known Martin fam-
ily of Little York. Warroii County, 111., established
there as early as \i<Ml The Martins came from
Muskingum County, (.)liio, to Warren County, III,
in the early days and a member of the family, Wil-
liam Martin, was killed by the Indians at Little
York in 1832, during the Black Hawk War. Slie
graduated from ^Monmouth College, and both in her
home circle and in the world beyond, she has been
able to stand side by side with her husband, as a
real and valuable helpmate. Mr. and Mrs. Fahey
attend the Catholic Church, and Mr. Fahey is an
Elk. Together they manage their excellent fruit
ranch, extend a generous hospitality to their circle
of friends and look forward to the time when Moun-
tain View harbor will come to its own.

LOUIS P. BENOIT. — A veteran business man
of Palo Alto was the late Louis B. I'.i ii,)it, the Stan-
ford University niercliant tailor, wli'^ h.ul actively
and successfully plied his trade thcr.- lor the past
twenty-five years. He was born at San Loup,
France, December 7, 1844. There he grew to man-
hood and learned thoroughly his trade of tailor, so
that he could always be counted upon to do fine and
conscientious work. He served in the French ariuy
with distinction in the war of 1871, receiving special
medals for bravery. In 1874 he came to America
and settled at Woodland and established his busi-
ness and conducted it successfully for two years.
He became a naturalized citizen of the United States
in Woodland in 1879 and during the same year his
marriage occurred, which united him with Miss Mar-
garet St. Louis, a daughter of Edward St. Louis,
a native of Canada, and one of Yolo County's first
settlers; he had married Miss Marcella Perpetua
Jack, who was born at Martinsburg, Berkeley
County, W. Va., February 12, 1825, and her ancestors
were descendants of the Lord Baltimore colonists.
Edward St. Louis had removed from Canada to
Missouri and on account of the prominence of the
St. Louis family, the great city of St. Louis was
named after them; he left Missouri with his wife and
three children on April 3, 1852, making the journey
across the plains by ox-team; upon arriving in Sacra-
mento, September 18, 1852, they settled at Knights
Landing, and Mr. St. Louis later became a farmer
in Yolo County. He passed away in 1895, and his
wife surxnved him until 1904. Mr. and Mrs. St.
Louis were the parents of ten children: Charles E.,
lately deceased, was the first newspaper man in
Woodland, being the founder and publisher of the
Woodland News, he was later in life a farmer and
he passed away in 1921 at the age of seventy-eight
years; the second child, a daughter, died in infancy;
George resides in Fresno County; Francis, now of
San Leandro, Cal., formerly lived in Colusa, and
was among the first farmers in that section to pro-

mote irrigation; later he became a surveyor; Mrs.
Mary Hebert resides in Berkeley, Cal.; Virginia re-
sides on the old home place in Yolo County; Mrs.
Silvina Sponn.r r. -i.l.-s in Glenn Countv; Mrs. Mar-
cella Fostn- r. -1.1-, in Hutte County; Mrs. Mar-
garet Benin:, tin wiic of our subject; Martha resides
upon the old home place in Yolo County, Cal.

Mr. and Mrs. Benoit removed to Palo Alto in
1895, and Mr. Benoit purchased the pioneer tailor
shop and conducted it for over a quarter of a cen-
tury; he was a hard worker and by his thorough
and conscientious work built up a large and paying
business. He was a favorite with everyone; citizen,
student and jirotisMir alike. In 1905 he purchased
a resident ( .it S24 I'.ryant Street, where the family
resides. .\li. ami Mr>. Benoit were the parents of
two children: I'.velyn married William Fiske Henry,
■-iiperintendent and part owner of the Palo Alto
Times, and thev have four children, Wilma, Wilbur,
Louise and Arthur Jolm; Eugene died at the age of
one year. The family belong to the St. Thom.as
Aquinas Catholic Church. Mr. Benoit passed away
on January 21, 1922, at his home at 824 Bryant
Street. His condition, following a paralytic stroke,
had been critical for several days. Funeral services
were held a< St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church
on January 23, and was one of the largest ever held
from that church.

GEORGE W. ALEXANDER.— The career of
George W'. Alexander has manifested business enter-
prise and progrcssiveness, and he is the energetic
president of the Alexander Company, manufacturers
of Tru-Malt Syrup. A New Yorker by birth, he
was born February 22, 1863, in New York City, a
son of Isadore and Emily Alexander, who were
early settlers in California, coming here as early as
1849, via Nicaragua, the mother returning to her
native state, where the subject of this sketch was
born. Her return trip was made by the way of the
Isthmus of Panama. The father was a shoemaker
by trade, and was the first man to teach the China-
men of San Francisco to make slippers, and at one
tiine employed as many as 300. He was a man of
liberal education and conducted stores in Oakland
and San Francisco with marked success. Both
parents have passed away.

George W. Alexander was educated in the public
schools of Oakland and learned his trade under the
able supervision of his father. He removed to San
Jose in 1884 and for eighteen years was engaged in
the shoe business. He has the distinction of being
the first superintendent of Alum Rock Park, and
became known as the "Mayor of Alum Rock."

The marriage of Mr. Alexander occurred in San
Jose and united him with Miss Celestine Hart, the
oldest daughter of Leopold Hart, pioneer dry goods
merchant of San Jose. Mr. Alexander lends his
time and influence to the betterment of his commun-
ity in general, is actively identified with the Cham-
ber of Commerce, Merchants' Association, and Hu-
mane Society. Fraternally he is afiiliated with the
local organization of Elks. His recreation, from
his busy cares, is playing golf and he was a charter
member of the Golf Club of San Jose and is also a
member of the Country Club. Throughout his entire
life, he has exercised high and honorable principles
and his activities for the good of the community in
which he has resided for so many years, has been
far-reaching and resultant.

S€o^M.^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

585

WILLIAM F. HAAG.— Coming to America when
only sixteen years of age, William F. Haag has by
hard work and characteristic thrift built up a for-
tune that has been earned by intelligent manage-
ment and strict economy. Born in Wittenberg, Ger-
many, February 4. 186S, sixteen years later he left
for America to seek his fortune in the new country
of greater opportunities. Arriving in California he
settled in Mountain \'iew, and for a number of years
worked on farms throughout the neighborhood. His
educational opportunities were very limited, but by
practical experience he has become an excellent
manager and capable business man.

In ,1902 Mr. Haag was married to Miss Eli?"
RcngstorfT, a daughter of the late Henry Rcngstorff,
and at her father's death she inherited the home
place of 167 acres on the Sterling road, one and a
half miles north of Mountain View. Mr. and Mrs.
Haag prior to their removal to Mountain View had
lived at Los Altos and had developed a fine orchard
home, but in 1911 this place was sold and they re-
moved to the old RengstorflE homeplace. The father,
Henry RengstorfT, passed away in 1906 and the
mother made her home with Mrs. Haag until her
demise in 1919. . Mr. Haag rents 155 acres of the
ranch to a dairy farmer, but for six years Mr. Haag
ran it as a grain and hay farm. The place is kept in
fine condition and Mr. and Mrs. Haag are enjoying
the success that has come to them through intelligent
planning and conservative investment. Mrs. Haag
is one of a family of seven children, only three of
whom are still living. She is a prominent member
of the Eastern Star lodge of Mountain View. Mr.
and Mrs. Haag are stockholders in the Farmers &
Merchants Bank of Mountain View and they will-
ingly give their support to matters for advancement
of the general good of the community and are
enthusiastic boosters for Santa Clara County.

THEODORE JOHNSON.— Acquiring his first
ranch property in Santa Clara County in 1897, Theo-
dore Johnson is now the owner of seventy-seven
acres of choice land in the Edenvale district, a good
part of which is devoted to orchard, and his years
of industry have brought him good success. Mr.
Johnson was born in Skone, Sweden, P'cbruary 27,
1862, his parents being Johannes and Christine John-
son. He was reared and educated at the old home
;ind as is the custom there, was confirmed at the
age of fourteen. Leaving his native land when he
became of age, Mr. Johnson r.ame to America, and
arrived at San Jose, Cal., May 23, 1883. He re-
mained here for six months, and then joined his
older brother, Nils Johnson, who had preceded him
to this country some lour years, and who had gone
to work in the mines at Bisbee, Ariz. Theodore
Johnson spent three years in the mines there, and
on coming back to the Santa Clara Valley, he
worked for the next nine years as a gardener on the
estate of E. A. and J. O. Hayes at Edenvale. In
May, 1897, he took his family for a trip to his old
home to see his parents, and he returned to Cali-
fornia in October. The next day after he arrived
he purchased twenty-four acres of land at Edenvale
which he had selected before he left for Sweden,
but had been unable to close the deal. Subsequently
he added ten acres more, and in 1908 he bought
forty-two acres of the Hayes-Chynoweth property

in the Sentcr tract, and this he has been developing
to orchard. The extensive improvements which he
has made on his holdings are largely the work of
his own hands, so that he is especially deserving of
the success which he is enjoying.

At San Jose, in 1887, Mr. Johnson was married
to Miss Amanda Nelson, like himself a native of
Sweden, and three childnii Ii,i\r 1m m Imrii to them;
Lily Christine is the w i u .ii I lank Anderson, a
rancher, and they ha\ <■ im (Inlilnn, Tarl Johan
married Miss Ingeborg lUuk, Uicy have lour chil-
dren and reside at Edenvale; Emil Theodore assists
on the home ranch, which is situated on Cottle Road.
Mr. Johnson is a charter member of the California
Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc., and has belonged
to the Druids for more than thirty years, being a
charter member of the local lodge. A patriotic citi-
zen of his adopted country, he received his citizen-
ship papers in the early nineties and has since then
been an adherent of the Republican party.

WILLIAM W. PARKS— A cattleman rated as
among the most extensive operators in all Santa
Clara County who has been able to display repeat-
edly the most- admirable public-spiritedness, although
his exacting business interests withdraw him from
social life, is William W. Parks, a native of New
York, where he was born at South Glens Falls, in
Saratoga County, on October 3, 1875, the son of
Mr. and Mrs. William Parks, and the grandson of
W. W. Parks. William Parks, Sr., was a stock-
man who came to California in 1881 and first pitched
his tent near Los Gatos in Santa Clara County; and
soon afterward he removed to the Calaveras Val-
ley, where he took up a homestead of 160 acres
on the hills, which he not long afterward gave up.
William ^\■. Parks became interested in range land
to the east of Calaveras Valley, and during the last
fourteen years he has been in control of about 14,000
acres of range land owned by the Spring Valley
Water Company, part of the land lying in the Cala-
veras Valley, but most of the acreage situate on the
hills directly to the cast. There he breeds and
raises most of his cattle, but occasionally he makes
a trip to Nevada, to purchase range stock. He either
raises or buys the cattle he needs, runs them on the
range, and then sells them on the markets; and the
amount of his stock ranges all the way from 500
to 1800 head of cattle, according to the season's
supply of feed.

As a boy Mr. Parks attended the public school in
the Oak Ridge district, in the Calaveras Valley, but
this was all the schooling he enjoyed; he was an
observant reader, however, and when he had reached
manhood was well prepared to cope with the world,
.^t San Rafael, on September 23, 1910, he was mar-
ried to Miss Bertha Pierce, a native of Marshfield,
Coos County, Ore., and the daughter of John C.
and Orian (Moorehead) Pierce, natives respectively
of Maine and Yreka, Siskiyou County, Cal. Mr.
Pierce came out to Oregon when a young man,
and Mrs. Parks' maternal grandfather was a '49er,
who came to California in the gold rush and after-
ward moved North to Oregon. Mr. Pierce was
for many years identified with the Simpson Lumber
Co. of Oregon, and became widely known to the
building trade. Mr. Parks is a member of the San
Jose Lodge No. 522. B. P. O. E., and both he and
his wife are ardent supporters of the Republican
party and its political platform.

586

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

STEPHEN POOLE SANDERS.— Among those
who were the real promoters of Santa Clara County
and contributed in a substantial manner to her up-
building was numbered Stephen Poole Sanders, whose
personal w^orth and business ability, whose progres-
sive citizenship and high standards, were attested by
the circle of warm friends whom he left behind when
death called him. He was born at Paradise West,
Nova Scotia, April 23. 1835. and is the son of Will-
iam and Irene (Poole) Sanders, who were both na-
tives of Nova Scotia. Mr, Sanders' grandfather, who
was of English descent, was born and reared in New
England and being a United Empire Loyalist, he re-
moved with his family to Nova Scotia in order to
avoid fighting against England. Of their seven

children, Mr. Sanders was the fifth oldest and was
reared and educated in Nova Scotia. He began mak-
ing his livelihood as a photograplier and had his bus-
iness in St. John, N. B. In 1858 he came to Cali-
fornia by way of the Isthmus of Panama and his
first work was in tlie mines; later at Marysville. he
opened a photograph gallery and after working there
awhile, he engaged in the same business for a short
time in San Francsico. Going from San Francisco
to San Jose in 1867 he followed this line of work
there for the next three years.

In 1882 Mr. Sanders purchased a farm consisting
of twenty-five acres of stubble field which he set to
prunes and here he has proven to be a very success-
ful horticulturist. This property is still in the pos-
session of the family. Mrs. Sanders' maiden name
was Nan .-\mtlia .\Ilinc, and she was born in Nova
Scotia, tlie daughter of Joseph and Parnel (De Wolfe)
Alline. They were natives of Nova Scotia and of
French descent. When Nan Alline was four years
old her parents removed to St. John, N. B., where
she attended the iniUlic schools, and was a devout ad-
herent of the r..-iiitist Church. It was in St. John that
she met Mr. Sanders and the romance culminated in
their marriage in San I'ramisco. November 17. 1862.
Miss Alline having ni^Ml' th' wmrniy via Panama to
join her intended. Mi ami .\li-. Sanders were the
parents of a son, Alline De Wullc, who passed away
at the age of four years. They reared a niece, Jennie
M. Saunders, who has been a member of the family
since she was five years old and so was like a
daughter to them. She now has charge of the home
place. Mr. Sanders passed away at the age of sev-
enty-nine, but was very active until his demise, which
occurred in 1914. He was a member of the State
Grange. A man of high ideals and integrity, his
life and character had an uplifting influence upon the
development of the section of the country in which
he passed his davs.

WALTER G. FITZGERALD.— The bar of Santa
Clara County acknowledges in Walter G. Fitzgerald,
one of its most influential and prominent members.
A native of California, he was born near New- Alma-
den, Santa Clara County, August 30, 1873. the oldest
of five children born to Thomas and Mary A. Fitzger-
ald, natives of the province of Quebec, Canada. His
grandfather, named Walter Fitzgerald, was born
in County Wexford, Ireland, and at an early age left
his native land and settled in Canada, where the
father of our subject was born about 1840. Walter
Fitzgerald, Sr., was the father of seven sons and one
daughter, and while residing in Canada was engaged
in farming and lumbering.

Before the discovery of gold in California, reports

of its rich soil had reached the family of the Fitz-
geralds in their quiet home among the pines on the
St. Lawrence, and they at once resolved to go west.
Two, of the sons, James and John, were sent on ahead
and arrived in California in 1851. Their report of the
climate and the richness of the soil created a desire
to settle in this state. Walter Fitzgerald. Sr.. sold
his holdings in Canada and with his remaining family
started for California via the Isthmus of Panama
and arrived in San Francisco in 1853. The family
settled at Gilroy and began the erection of a home.
The boys secured from Daniel Murphy, an old friend
and acquaintance of the family, who had come from
the same part of Canada a few years previous, a con-
tract to split redwood rails in the mountains near Gil-
roy. and as a compensation for their labors in making
rails and hauling them to the valley, secured from ^Ir.
Murphy a 1000-acre tract of valley land near Ma-
drone. The rails taken from the virgin forest by the
Fitzgeralds over fifty years ago may still be seen
forming the luavy post and rail fences which enclosed
the possessions of tlie Murphys between San Jose
and Gilroy. ^Valter Fitzgerald, Sr., came of a hardy
and long-lived family and he himself attained to the
age of ninety years. .\11 of the seven sons suceeded
well in California, and some married and reared fam-
ilies and have descendants living in the county.

Thomas Fitzgerald, the father of our subject, pur-
chased a ranch of about 800 acres between Aiadrone
and the New Almaden mines, and was engaged in
general farming and stock raising until 1884 He
then disposed of his ranch and invested in a 200-
acre farm near Gilroy, on which he resided until he
passed away in 1890. He was married in California
to Miss Mary A. Cullen. a daughter of Thomas
Cullen, who came to California from the same part
of Canada as did Mr. Fitzgerald, in 1867. On the
homestead of the Fitzgeralds near Gilroy. Walter
G, acquired a sound constitution and sane views of
life. His preliminary education was practical and
thorough and was acquired in the country schools
and at tlie grammar and high schools of Gilroy. In
1895 he began the study of law in the office of W. A.
Johnston, an able and prominent law-y^r of San
Jose, and after studious application to his work, was
admitted to the bar in December, 1897.

.\fter being admitted to practice law, Mr. Fitz-
gerald followed his profession in San Jose until
1903. at which time he removed to Gilroy, where he
is still practicing. In 1908 he w-as elected mayor of
(jilroy. serving in that office one term, and since
that time has been serving his community as city
attornr\. He was one of the organizers of the
Chaniliir i^i C'.Miinurce and served first as vice-presi-
dent, iIku -umided H. Hecker as its president and
held this office for eight years. The steady growth of
this body was largely due to the untiring efforts of
Mr. Fitzgerald.

The marriage of W. G. Fitzgerald occurred in San
Francisco September 8, 1913. and united him with
Miss Adelaine Cassamayou. and they are the parents
of two children, Thomas Gerald and Kathleen A. both
attending school. Full of energy and determination,
and having a thorough knowledge of the theory
and practice of the law, Mr. Fitzgerald is the most
influential member of the bar in his community, and
maintains the dignity and high standing of his
family. He is a member of the County Bar Asso-

^ yrj-. Jc

'C^JLJ>iA^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

591

ciation and politically he is a stanch Democrat, and
has been a member of the County Central Committee.
He is a volunteer fireman and a member of the Elks
Lodge of San Jose. He has always been actuated
by a spirit of advancement in all that he does and
he has sought not only to promote material progress
but also to aid in the intellectual and moral devel-
opment of the community in which he resides.

FRANK W. STEWART.— Prominent among the

most energetic, far-seeing, successful and influen-
tial business men of Santa Clara is undoubtedly
Frank \V. Stewart, of 1053 Franklin Street, a na-
tive of Payson, Utah, where he was born on May
31, 1878, the son of William Duff Stewart, now liv-
ing retired at San Jose, a native of Perthshire, Scot-
land, who came to America when he was seven-
teen years old. In 1871 he made Nevada his des-
tination, and until 1885 he engaged in freighting.
At Eureka, in that state, he was married to Miss
Maggie Weisik, and he continued to live at Eureka
until 1885, for a time being a partner of W. L.
Pritchard, nicknamed "Nick of the Woods" and an
original, odd character. Mr. Stewart built up a
large freighting business, furnishing transportation
from Palisade to Eureka, and from Eureka to Bel-
mont, Pioche, Ely, Tibo and other neighboring min-
ing camps. He and his associates became the own-
ers of thirteen twenty-mule teams, and in 1885 took
a couple of twenty-mule teams and drove them over-
land to Butte, Mont. He used the teams to haul
wood, for he furnished wood to the smelters for
• the Anaconda Mines. From Butte Mr. Stewart re-
moved to San Jose, Cal., in 1887, and he engaged in
the real estate movements affected by the Boom;
and later he went back to Nevada, and settled at
Beowawe, near Elko, and engaged in the stock
business. He stayed there from 1889 to 1905. when
he went to Tonopah and Goldfields to embark in
mercantile pursuits; but smce 1908 he and his de-
voted wife have lived in San Jose, residing at 227
South Second Street.

Frank W. Stewart attended the public schools in
San Jose, and then pursued courses of study in what
is now Hcald's Business College. He next joined
his father in the stock business in Nevada, and was
with him as a partner for fifteen years and two
mnnths, and when only seventeen years of age, had
rli.uL'- ..f 18,000 head of stock. He continued to
niniij. llu business until 1905; and when his father
nnidviil to Tonopah, he came to Santa Clara where,
two years before, he had been married to Miss Ethel
Parker, a daughter of Charles Parker, the capital-
ist. Then and there he engaged in orcharding, and
for eight years he made a specialty of growing
prunes; in 1911 he started in with his present busi-
ness as a dealer in wood, coal and building materi-
als, for which he uses one team and two trucks.

Charles Parker, just referred to, has been one of
Santa Clara County's most substantial citizens for
many years. A native of Missouri, he was born in
Jackson County on March 20, 1845, the son of a
kentuckian, William Parker, who had married Miss
Sarah H. Wilson, a native daughter of Maryland.
Far back in 1838. they moved from the Blue Grass
State into Missouri, where Mr. Parker engaged hi
farming and stockraising, and so it happened that
until Charles Parker was eighteen years of age, he
grew up in that field of activity, where he also re-

ceived the best educational advantages that the local-
ity and the times could afford. In 1863 he went
West and became a well-known teamster on the great
route between Kansas City and Santa Fe; in 1867
he came back to Jackson County to farm, but in
1871 he responded to the lure of California and moved
West to Santa Clara County. This was a year
after he had married Miss Elsie T. Mason, the daugh-
ter of James C. and Mary (Staples) Mason, resi-
dents of Jackson County, a charming lady who
passed away withm less than a year. In November.
1876, he was married to Miss J. J. Hudson, a resi-
dent of Santa Clara County, and the daughter of
William D. and Mary Ann (Haun) Hudson, who
became the mother of one child. Ethel H. One
child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stewart —
a daughter. Nadene. Mrs. Stewart is a native daugh-
ter, and so is her mother, who was born seven
miles from Santa Clara.

Mr. Stewart has been successful to a high degree,
his progress affording a fine illustration of what
brains, industry and integrity will do; and he has
become a substantial stockholder in the Santa Clara
Branch of the Garden City Bank & Trust Co.
of San Jose. He is an Odd Fellow, and belongs to
Lodge No. 52, at Santa Clara.

ADOLPH WILLIAM EHRHORN.— An intelli-
gent, hard worker is found in Adolph William Ehr-
horn, a successful rancher of Mountain \'iew, who
owns a ranch of thirty acres, a portion of the old
Martin Murphy ranch, twenty acres being planned
to Bartlett pears and the balance of ten acres to
cherries. A native son of California, he was born
in San Francisco. January 6, 1869, a son of the late
Adolph Paul Ehrhorn, who came to San Francisco
in 1848 from Peru, where he had been engaged in
the mercantile business. He married Louisa Bolton
McFarland, whose father was a native of Scotland,
while her mother was born in France. Mrs. Ehr-
horn was born in Peru, South America, where her
father was in the general merchandise business.
Adolph Paul Ehrhorn was born in Hamburg, Ger-
many and was descended from a long line of mer-
chants, and was one of the early merchants of San
Francisco. He and his wife were the parents of
fourteen children, ten of whom grew up, and nine
living: Oscar A., is a merchant at Cochabamba.
Bolivia, South America. He is married and has
three children. Mrs. W. A. Nygh is a widow resid-
ing at Palo Alto. Edward M. is horticultural com-
missioner of the Hawaiian Islands and Marie also
resides there. George lives in San Francisco, where
he is employed by the Spring Valley Water Com-
pany. Mrs. Louise James resides in Palo AUo.
Charles H. is engaged in the real estate business in
Santa Ana, Cal. Adolph William is the subject of
this sketch. Mrs. Basil Prior, who resides with her
husband at Lindsay, where he is an orange grower.
The oldest member of the family was Frank, who
died at San Francisco.

Adolph William attended the public schools oi
San Francisco, and Mountain View. After his father's
death, the city property was traded for a Moun-
tain View ranch of twenty-five acres of the old Tom
Steele place, which was planted out to orchard in
1884. Mr. Ehrhorn bought his present place in 1906.
planted it to brchard and during April, 1919, took
up his residence there. He was married .in San
Francisco to Miss Lillic Strauch, a daughter ot

592

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

John O. Straucn, a warehouseman of San Fran-
cisco, and they arc the parents of six children; Dor-
othy, a student at Stanford; Jack, also at Stanford;
Marie Louise in Mountain View high school;
Adolph William. Jr.. a student in high school: Kath-
ryn and Robert in grammar school. Mr. Ehrhorn is
a member of the Pear Growers' Association. Suc-
cess has crowned his well-directed efforts and the
reward of prosperity is his by hard work,
perseverance and industry.

MAJOR LEWIS FOSTER PARKER.— A worthy
pioneer settler whose name is linked with the earliest
days of California and Santa Clara County, is the
late Maj. Lewis Foster Parker, who contributed much
toward the development of Almaden township, for
so many years his home. Major Parker was born
on March 20. 1824, in Highland County, Ohio, his
parents being William and Elizabeth (Davis) Parker,
both natives of Pennsylvania. On his paternal side
Major Parker was of English descent, while his
mother's people were of Welsh origin. His parents
removed to Highland County, Ohio, and later to In-
dianapolis, Ind.. where William Parker built the first
flouring mill. He afterwards returned to Ohio, where
he passed his remaining days. Lewis F. Parker had
a brother, J. D. Parker, living at Terre Haute, Ind.,
who held the office of county clerk of Vigo County, so
made his way thither as a young man and attended
Terre Haute Academy, after which, for a time, he
assisted his brother in the county clerk's office. He
then proceeded to Laporte, Ind., where he was em-
ployed as a clerk in a store and it was in that city
he formed the acquaintance of Miss Julia A. Keith,
whom he afterwards married. Mr. Parker then en-
gaged in farming until the discovery of gold in Cali-
fornia was heralded in the East and with others he
outfitted with horses and pack ponies and came horse-
back across the plains, being enroute about six
months, arriving in California September 1, 1850.

Going first to Georgetown, El Dorado County, he
next located at Horseshoe Bend, where he engaged
in mining, going from there to Spanish Flat. Here
his wife joined him. coming via Panama in 1852;
he remained there until 1856, then came to Santa
Clara County, and settled on a ranch of 320 acres
in Almaden township, the place now owned by his
daughter. Miss N. Elizabeth Parker. Here he en-
gaged in farming and stockraising, the country be-
ing then only sparsely settled and quite in its primi-
tive state, so that his labors paved the way for the
succeeding generations. Prominent in the military
affairs of the state in the early days, Mr. Parker
was a commissioned captain of the New Almaden
Cavalry, Company K, California Militia, on Jan-
uary 28. 1865, and served until November 1, 1867,
being promoted to the rank of major. He was
also active in the public affairs of the county and
was a prominent Republican; he also served as dep-
uty county assessor under D. M, Harvvood and W. O.
Barker. The school district was organized at the
Parker home about 1858. The question came up for
a name of the district; some suggested Parker, but
the Major was too modest to permit it. After other
names had been suggested Mrs. Parker said, "Why
not call it Union district," as the people in the
district were strong pro-union. Thus it was decided
and Major Parker was school trustee from its organ-
ization until he resigned.

Major Parker was married at Laporte, Ind., on
December 23, 1847, to Miss Julia Keith, and they
became the parents of one daughter, N. Elizabeth,
who owns and makes her home on the Parker ranch,
managing its 320 acres with splendid ability. She
is proud of being a native daughter and is a Re-
publican in her political affiliations, taking a progres-
sive interest in .community affairs through her mem-
bership in the Neighbors Club. Major Parker passed
away on October 20, 1892, the mother surviving him
until January 31, 1911, both worthy pioneers whose
memory will always be held in grateful remembrance.

HARRIET NEWELL HARVEY.— Among the

worthy and cstjemicl residents of Santa Clara
County is Miss Harriet Xewell Harvey, who is now
located upon a ranch of twenty-four acres in the
neighborhood of Coyote, which she is successfully
conducting. She is the Western representative of
an old New England family. Her grandfather, Elias
Harvey, a native of Rhode Island, removed to Con-
necticut and followed the occupation of farmer until
his death, which occurred in Colchester, that state.
In the family was a son also naincd Elias, who waS'
born in CfilclKster, Conn., and in manhood became
a merchant and later was engaged in agricultural
pursuits, remaining on the old home place until the
time of his death. He was a prominent figure in
both local and state affairs, as a Republican in poli-
tics representing his district in the state legislature
lor one term. In local affairs he served as school
director for many years. He married Miss Sallie
Maria Ransom, a native of Salem, Conn., and she
passed away in Colchester. Her grandfather, John
Ransom, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.

Of a family of two sous and three daughters, Har-
riet Newel! Harvey was the youngest daughter and
next to the youngest child. She was born in Col-
chester, Conn., November 19, 1843, and was there
reared to womanhood. Her education was received
in the public schools and in the academv at Colches-
ter. After the death of her lather, March 17, 1879,
she remained at home nine \ears. taking care of
her mother, who died March Id, 1888. In 1890 Miss
Harvey came as far west as Kansas, where she vis-
ited with relatives. Following this trip she and her
oldest sister came to Madrone, Cal., and visited an
uncle, Joel W. Ransom, for several months, after
which, in 1892, she returned to Connecticut and
spent three months. In the same year she agani
came to California and became a member of the
family of Joel W. Ransom, her mother's brother.
Mr. Ransom's death occurred July 11, 1897, on the
farm where Miss Harvey now resides, which her
uncle has deeded to her three years previous to his
death, and which consisted of eighty-three acres.
The ranch is devoted to the raising of prunes, apples
and other fruit. In the management of her ranch,
Miss Harvey shows a marked adaptability for the
work. The property is located on the Monterey
Road, one-half mile south of Coyote. Miss Harvey
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church
at Coyote and was active in its various departments
during the existence of the church, having served as
president of the Ladies' Aid Society for twelve con-
secutive years, and she made it one of the most
efficient societies in the county. She was also one
of the trustees and stewardesses of the church and
is highly esteemed and respected for the many good
deeds she has done.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

595

L. H. ALBERTSON. — A prominent citizen of Santa
Clara County particularly active in the Santa Clara
Chamber of Commerce is L. H. Albertson, learned in
the law, in which he has been admitted to practice, ex-
perienced in extensive dairying, and now the owner
of many acres of blackberries, famous for their rare
quality and great productivity. He was born in Den-
mark in 1868, and there grew up on his father's farm.
When he was eighteen, he crossed the ocean to Amer-
ica and for a while settled in Iowa; but in 1890 he
came to California and pitched his tent in Stanislaus
County. He acquired property near Newman, and
there pursued grain farming.

Desiring a still higher education, Mr. Albertson
in 1891 entered upon the academic course of the Col-
lege of the Pacific; and in 1900 he was graduated
from this institution. Following this, for a year
he took advanced work at Stanford, and in 1901 he
war married to Miss Thomasine Headen, youngest
daughter of the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin Headen,
and the only child of that distinguished surgeon now
living — a cultured and accomplished lady. After his
marriage Mr. Albertson ran a large dairy for years
and succeeded; and later he turned the place into
a fruit ranch, where he now has seven acres of
Himalaya blackberries, among the wonder producers
of the Santa Clara Valley. Mr. Albertson is also
operating a ranch in Livingston, Merced County,
where he owns 120 acres which he is rapidly setting
out to a vineyard, besides being engaged in dairy-
ing. Not caring for the general practice of law, he
has never followed it, although his knowledge of law
and legal processes has often helped him in his own
or in community affairs.

Public spirited to a marked degree, Mr. Albertson
served for three years as president of the Santa
Clara Chamber of Commerce, his term extending
from 1913 until 1916; and during this period he
was very active in collecting and installing exhibits
from the Santa Clara Valley for its exhibit at the
Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco in 1915,
at which exposition he took the first gold medal with
his Himalaya blackberries. He also took a first prize
for a two-year-old Guernsey bull, and the reserve
championship with the same animal, and his was the
only livestock prize bestowed on any exhibitor from
Santa Clara County. Mr. Albertson is now among
the pioneer farmers and stockraisers of these parts.
His close observation, study and experience has made
him well posted, so much so that his conclusions and
ideas have been often sought and are followed by
many others with good success. It is to men of the
type of Mr. Albertson, who are not afraid to work,
venture and experiment that the county owes much
of its present development and greatness.

Mr. Albertson is particularly active in interest-
ing the public in the improvement of the proposed
.^Iviso water-way, which will open the way for ship-
ping b}' water all kinds of fruits and products from
river points to the Santa Clara Valley. He visions
the making of a consolidated city of San Jose and
Santa Clara, and of extending its limits to the
water-ways at Alviso. In order to do this, the
.\lviso channel or slough will have to be straight-
ened and deepened, so that boats laden with the
products of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys
can run up from the river points through the Bay
to Alviso. He is making a strong and active ap-

peal for these improvements, and his reports and
plans, now a part of the Congressional Record, were
taken up by Congress through Senator Phelan, who
was actively supporting the project, and it would
no doubt have already been an accomplished fact
had it not been for the intervention of the war.

Mr. and Mrs. Albertson make their home on the
Headen ranch and in the improvements made there
they are preserving as far as possible Dr. Headen's
ideas of replanting the place to orchards and berries
and particularly in the preserving the row of red-
wood trees he planted in the sixties as well as the
live oak grove that is the admiration of all who see
them. The redwoods along the state highway have
now become a landmark, admired by thousands of
tourists. In 1913 they built a beautiful stucco resi-
dence, up-to-date in every respect, and there they
dispense a generous hospitality. As a member
of the Alumni of the College of the Pacific, Mr.
Albertson retains his association with both the aca-
demic and the student world.

OSTRUM H. YERKES.— An lowan who has
been succeeding so well, since he established him-
self in California that he is now rated as one of
the leading dealers in wood, coal, hay and straw in
Santa Clara County, is Ostrum H. Yerkes, whose
office and yards are at 1066 Main Street, Santa Clara.
He was born in Benton County, Iowa, on May 16,
1875, the son of S. A. Yerkes, a gentleman now
eighty-five years old, a well-to-do farmer with an
enviable record for public service as a supervisor.
He was born in Indiana, came to Iowa before the
Civil War, and married at Vinton Miss Catherine
Hite. They reared a family of twelve children,
eleven of whom are still living; and they themselves
are both now living at Vinton, Benton County,
Iowa. The youngest of the family is thirty-four, and
the eldest fifty-four.

The eldest son and the fifth child, Ostrum, was
sent to the country schools, and then he went for
a year to the Tilford Academy at Vinton; and grow-
ing up to hear good reports of the Golden State, he
decided to come out to California. He became coach-
man for Mrs. T. B. Dawson at Sunnyvale, and there
met his future wife, Miss Alice Rupp. daughter of
John Rupp, the well-known railway man, once mas-
ter-mechanic for the C, R. I. & P. Ry., who for
forty-five years lived at Washington, Iowa, and is now
living retired on a pension granted by the company,
at the home of Mr. Yerkes in San Jose. He is a
member of the G. A. R. back in Iowa, from which
state he volunteered in the Civil War when but fif-
teen years old and served through that entire strug-
gle. He was in the siege of Vicksburg and went
with Sherman on his March to the Sea and took part
in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C, at the
close of the war. Mr. and Mrs. Yerkes were mar-
ried on Washington's Birthday, 1904, at Washing-
ton, Iowa, and they remained in Iowa for a year
after their marriage, when Mr. Yerkes conducted
a furniture store at Vinton; but at the end of that
time they decided to return to California, this being,
in their opinion, the only place in which to really
live. In 1905. they came to Santa Clara, and Mr.
Yerkes leased the old lumber yard and went into
business. By close application to the needs of his
patrons, anticipating their wants and leaving no stone
unturned to please and satisfy them. Mr. Yerkes

596

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

has built up a good, paying trade, and for the pur-
poses of a prompt delivery he maintains three
wagons, and a two-ton Moreland truck.

Mr. and Mrs. Yerkes own a handsome residence.
the old property of the banker. Mr. Birge, one of the
finest homes in the town, and two children. — Mar-
garet C. and John Stephen Yerkes— share its com-
forts and pleasures. The family attend the Bap-
tist Church, and Mr. Yerkes is a deacon in that
congregation. In matters" of national political im-
port, he favors the Republican party platform. He
is a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a Modern Wood-
man, and is affiliated with the Santa Clara lodges.

JOSEPH WALTER DUDLEY BLABON.— A

man who by his own efforts has risen to a prominent
place among the agriculturists and horticulturists in
the Santa Clara Valley is Joseph Walter Dudley Bla-
bon, a native son of the county, born on the old Bla-
bon ranch on the Mountain View Road, June 12,
1865. He is the son of Walter L. and Anna F.
(White) Blabon, natives of Chesterville, Maine, and
Boston, Mass., respectively. His grandfather. Dr.
Cnis Blabon, was also a native of Maine and was a
seafaring man, as well as a physician. He had sailed
all over the world, studied navigation and in time be-
came a captain. Deciding to come to California, he
and his son Francis secured passage in a four-mast
schooner named Sacramento, bound for San Fran-
cisco. On the way the captain and second mate died
and when they put in to Acapulco the first mate was
very ill and it was thought wise to leave him. Thus
it became necessary that Otis Blabon take command
as captain as he was the only man aboard that under-
stood navigation, and he brought the schooner safely
into port where he turned it over to the company
agent in San Francisco. Dr. Blabon then came to
Santa Clara County purchasing land on the Stevens
Creek Road where he resided on the farm and prac-
ticed medicine until 1863. He then returned to
Maine remaining there until 1875, when he came back
to Santa Clara County and located near Saratoga.
One of the sons, George Blabon, was the founder
oi the George Blabon Company of Philadelphia, to-
day the largest manufacturers of oil cloth in the
world. Walter L. Blabon came to California via
Panama in 1860, arriving in San Francisco on De-
cember 8. He farmed in the Cupertino district for
four years. In 1864 he purchased the old homestead
which consisted of 130 acres where he engaged in
farming and reared a family of four children.

J. D. Blabon, as our subject is familiarly known,
has been a close student of orcharding and is a pio-
neer in the fruit industry. By his well directed efforts
and close application he has become one of the larg-
est prune growers in Santa Clara County. His land
holdings over the state are extensive, his favorite
possession being Madrone Mineral Springs, a hunt-
ing lodge beautifully located in the center of 400 acres
of the Mount Hamilton range. Mr. Blabon first
became interested in these springs, when after a
stay of five weeks the drinking of the water entirely
cured him of a serious stomach trouble that different
physicians had been unable to conquer, and on finding
that the property was for sale, he purchased it. The
medicinal property of the water has great curative
power, so pronounced by the leading physicians of
the state.

In San Francisco March 8. 1894, J. D. Blabon was
united in marriage with Miss Abbie L. Martin, a
native daughter, and their union has been blessed
with three children: Walter Vance, Kingdon B. and
Elodie. The name of Blabon will always stand out
prominently in California and Santa Clara Valley, for
the first members of the family in this state were
forerunners of its development and aided materially
in bringing about its present prosperity. The younger
.generation are following in the footsteps of their sires
and are found in the vanguard where progress is
the watchword, and of these J. D. Blabon is recog-
nized as one of the leaders. His entire life has been
actuated by high principles and honorable actions
arjd his efforts in behalf of the progress of his com-
munity have been far reaching. As a horticulturist
he is among the most successful in the valley. He
is a man of great energy and has accomplished much
in the development of the great natural resources of
this famous valley.

HUBERT O. F. MENTON.— Prominent among
tiie most progressive dentists of Northern California,
and interesting as the worthy representative of one
of the oldest and finest families in Santa Clara
County, must be rated Dr. Hubert O. F. Menton of
Santa Clara. He was born in San Luis Obispo
County, the son of the late Hugh D. Menton, a pio-
neer of Santa Clara, who came to San Francisco in
the latter part of 1849. and the next year moved to
Santa Clara. He was born in Manchester, England,
the son of Hugh and Hannah Menton, natives of
Birr, Kings County, Ireland, who married in Ire-
land, then traveled for a year or two, and finally
went to Australia. Then they returned to England.
Grandfather Menton settled at Santa Clara in the
spring of 1850, and he became a large landowner
north of Santa Clara.

Hugh D. Menton grew up to manhood in the Santa
Clara Valley, and he was one of the first pupils of
the Santa Clara College. In Santa Clara he was
married to Miss Annie T. Murphy, who was born at
Burlington, low'a, and came here a young lady,
about 1870. He later moved to San Luis Obispo,
and while there in the early '70s. Hubert was born.
Mr. Menton went heavily into the cattle business in
San Luis Obispo County, but the great drought of
1877 was so disastrous to him that he lost heavily;
and having returned to Santa Clara County, he ran
the Alum Rock Ranch, which still bears the name he
gave it. These ups and downs of the pioneer who
so generously contributed in every way to advance
the permanent and better development of the new-
country with which he had cast his lot assume a
new attraction for the reader when he understands
that our subject's ancestors came originally from
France and fought under William the Conqueror.
Dr. Menton pursued a classical course at Santa Clara
College, and graduated with the class of '92; and
having matriculated in the College of Dentistry in
San Francisco in the fall of 1895, he was graduated
from the University of California three years later,
and before he was twenty-one years of age, with the
degree of D. D. S. He then opened an office in his
home town, where he has ever since had a live prac-
tice. Both professionally and socially he is ever
alert to exert the best and most lasting influence for
the upbuilding of the city and its environs.

L^lXT^-Ci^u^^^ru^-^

i

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

597

BURT STEVENS.— A well-known and successful
agriculturalist of Santa Clara County is Burt Ste-
vens, a highly-esteemed resident of the Coyote dis-
trict, where he was born on the ranch he now owns,
on August 12, 1872, the son of Orvis Stevens, a native
of Chittenden County. Vt. At the age of twenty-
one, in 1852, his father came to California via Pan-
ama, and went to the mines at St. Joe's Bar, Yuba
River, near Downieville, where he remained for one
year, and also mined in Sierra County. He then re-
moved to Nevada County and conducted a dairy for
one year, and came back to California and engaged
in stockraising in Solano County. Within the next
year he made a trip East, remaining three months;
and on his return to California he settled in Chip-
sey's Flat, Sierra County, where he carried on a
butcher business for several j'ears. In 1868 he settled
in Santa Clara County and engaged in farming until
1875, when he rented the "Twelve-mile House,"
where he conducted a store, a blacksmith shop, a
liotel and the postoffice; he was also a school trus-
tee of the Encinal school district, of which he was
one of the organizers. He married Louisa Leonard
and they were the parents of ten children, seven liv-
ing, of whom our subject is the third oldest. Orvis
Stevens, who was a Mason, passed away in 1917, and
Mrs. Stevens in 1920.

Burt Stevens attended the Encinal grammar school
and finished in 1887; then attended the Garden City
Business College for two years and in the meantime
helped his father on the ranch; then went gold-seek-
ing to Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and did not return
until 1905. His marriage occurred in Santa Clara
County in 1907, and united him with Miss Addie
Berry, a daughter of Charles E. Berry, a pioneer of
California, who is now deceased. They are the par-
ents of two daughters, Ruth E. and Edith L. Mr. Ste-
vens purchased the original home place, a ranch con-
sisting of 108^ acres and in partnership with his
brother, James, is cultivating and developing it. The
place had been set to orchard about 1880, being among
the very first in the district. Mr. Stevens has served
his locality as school trustee of the Encinal district,
and since 1898 he has been a member of Observa-
tory Lodge, I. O. O. P., in San Jose.

JOHN B. KERWIN.— Among the prominent pro-
tessional men of Santa Clara County is John B.
Kerwin, attorney at law, now with the Joseph
Rucker Company as head of their legal department.
He was born in Santa Clara County, Cal., on May
21. 1865, a son of Thomas and Catherine (Mc-
Gauren) Kerwin, and comes of a good old pioneer
family; his father, Thomas Kerwin, who landed in
Boston, 1849, having come to this country in 1854
after the gold rush. Thomas Kerwin was born in
Galway County, Ireland, and his parents were
Michael and Mary (Coulin) Kerwin; the mother
liaving died when he was about nine years old and
lii> father being a commercial agent, he was left
almost entirely on his own resources. At the age of
thirteen he went to Liverpool, England, and in that
city began to work as a messenger in the harbor
police inspector's office, he then obtained employ-
ment as collector for teamsters and draymen and
engaged in this work for some time, when he de-
cided to come to the LInited States. In 1849 he put
this plan into action and landing at Boston, he went
to the country and spent ten months near Cam-
bridge in gardening, then returning to Boston en-

gaged in various occupations until he became em-
ployed by Russell and Company as a salesman in
their furniture establishment; here he remained until
the year 1854 when he came to California and set-
tled in Santa Clara County where he worked at
orchard cultivation on the Gould place in Santa
Clara County for about two years. He acquired a
large amount of land, owning at one time 600 acres,
320 of which he himself cleared and cultivated. His
success was due to his indomitable will and steady
perseverance. His marriage united him w^ith Miss
Catherine McGauren and , they became the parents
of six children; Mary Ann, Catherine P., James
Patrick, John B., Louis and Ignatius. The father
is still living and resides in San Francisco.

John B. received his education in the public
schools of Santa Clara and later took a collegiate
course in Santa Clara College and read law while
in the deputy county clerk's office, where he also
was clerk of Judge Reynolds' court, and was ad-
mitted to the bar in 1895, he then practiced alone
in San Jose and San Francisco. I'"or four years he
worked on ranches and still owns the ranches. He
then joined the Rucker Company on June 17, 1918,
and is in charge of the legal department.

Mr. Kerwin's marriage united him with Miss Lucy
L. Reynolds of San Francisco, and they are the
parents of Lucy M., Leonie T., Thomas Theodore,
Martha M. and Roland N. Mr. Kerwin is very
active in the Chamber of Commerce and the San
Jose Realty Board, and being deeply interested in
the upbudding of Santa Clara County is also a mem-
ber of the Cupertino Improvement Club, the Farm
Owners' and Operators' Association, now the Fed-
erated Farmers of California, the California Prune
and Apricot Growers, Inc., and the California Bar
Association. In national politics he is a Democrat.

GEORGE GRIMM.— Since coming to California
m 1886. George Grimm is now among the success-
ful orchardists of the Santa Clara Valley. He is a
native of Germany, born in Wilhelmsdorf, March
4, 1861, a son of Ludwig and Elizabeth (Young)
Grimm; both parents were natives of Germany and
were prosperous farmer folks, and they lived and
died in Wilhelmsdorf.

George Grimm was educated in the schools of his
native land and came to the United States when he
was twenty-six years old. Locating in San Fran-
cisco he followed his trade of carpenter, which he
had learned before leaving Germany, about fifteen
years. Upoi^ coming to the Santa Clara Valley in
1902 he went to work as a carpenter for the West-
ern Distilling Company and was sent to Agnew
where he worked for ten years at his trade; at the
end of this time he removed to the Cupertino district
and purchased thirty acres, which had been set to
orchard, but upon which Mr. Grimm made a number
of improvements in the wa}- of buildings, etc. The
success that has come to him has been earned by
hard work and careful planning. Besides the thirty
acres, Mr. and Mrs. Grimm bought and deeded to
their four children twenty-four acres, and Mrs.
Grimm owns twenty-six acres of orchard and her
interest in the home place is seventeen acres.

Mr. Grimm's marriage on December 4, 1886,
united him with Miss Mary Beckert, also born in
Germany, and they are the parents of four children:
Otilia (Mrs. R. Berry); Alvina (Mrs. Elmer Maas);
George and Elsie. In his political affiliations he is a
steadfast adherent to the principles of the Republican

598

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

party. Since Mr. Grimm has been in this county he
has watched the development of the fruit industry
with interest and seeing the future of it, invested in
his orchard and devotes his time to his improvements
and at the same time to aiding all worthy move-
ments for the good of the town, county and state.
He is a member of the CaUfornia Prune and Apricot
Growers, Inc. Mr. Grimm is esteemed for his per-
sonal integrity, the industry and faithfulness of his
life, and his loyalty to his adopted country.

LUTHER CUNNINGHAM.— Having continuously
resided in Santa Clara Coi(nty for forty years, Luther
Cunningham is counted among the inost important
horticulturists of Saratoga district. He was born in
Solano County, Cal., December 25, 1869, the son of
Joseph and Mary Jane (Gooding) Cunningham, the
father a native of middle Tennessee and the fifth gen-
eration of the Cunningham family in the United
States, while the mother was born in Randolph Coun-
ty, Mo. The ancestors came from Scotland and some
fought in the Revolution, others in the War of 1812
and some in the Indian wars. In 1843 Mr. Cunning-
ham bought a farm in Randolph County where he
lived for twenty years during his residence in Mis-
souri. In the fall of 1846 he married Miss Mary J.
Gooding, a daughter of Judge Joseph Gooding, a
Virginian who became an early settler of Missouri and
was one of the early judges of Randolph County.
While farming in Missouri, Joseph Cunningham be-
came interested in the gold excitement in California
and leaving his family in Missouri, for the time being,
ho equipped with ox-teams and wagons crossing the
plains in 1849, following mining for three years with
varied success, when he returned to his Missouri
farm. In 1863, he sold his farm and again crossed
the plains, this time bringing his family. He was
captain of the train and having had the experience
of the trip in 1849 was well qualified for the place.
The fainily first settled in Solano County and raised
grain and stock until 1881, when he sold his place
and removed to Santa Clara County and purchased a
farm adjoining Saratoga where they resided until
he died. He was one among the first to engage in
fruit raising in this vicinity. He operated a small
nursery and there grew the trees for his own and
other orchards. He and his wife were active in the
Cumberland Presbyterian Church all their lives.

Luther Cunningham is the youngest of a family of
six boys and three girls and was primarily educated
in the public schools of Saratoga, after which he took
the four years' Chautauqua Scientific and Literary
Course. Being the youngest of the family, he re-
mained with his father on the old farm assisting him
in every way. In the spring of 1889 he invented the
Cunningham prune dipper, a machine for dipping
prunes and opened a shop for its manufacture in
San Jose. From the very beginning the business grew
and he took in as partner Mr. Barngrover, under the
name of Cunningham & Barngrover and they be-
came the manufacturers of nearly every machine used
in the dried fruit business, Mr. Cunningham inventing
these labor-saving devices. The business grew to
such proportions and because of severe strain and
close application to business, Mr. Cunningham's
health failed, so he sold his interest in 1901 to Mr.
Barngrover; a year later it became the Anderson-

Barngrover Company, now employing hundreds of
men m the manufacture of fruit machinery. An in-
teresting incident occurred about eight or nine years
ago, when one of the early pioneer fruit dippers made
by Mr. Cunningham and used by Pyle Brothers
as a dipper for peaches, was exhibited, in the Los
Angeles branch of U. S. Circuit Court as evidence in
the case of Duntley vs. California Canneries for in-
fringement and won for the defendants. The fact is
that the canneries all over the world, where the lye
peeling process is in use, are using a machine involv-
ing the principles of the old Cunningham dipper.
Nearly all the machinery used at the present time in
the dried fruit and packing business are the inventions
of Mr. Cunningham, such as the grader, with complete
processor includin j ■ '' ,.itui -, as well as a nuinber of
machines used i;i ' .i^i']'.::ij :.rcen fruit. Another of
his inventions iii> i:,,i;;; ■ lurcd and in general use
is the Cunningham ijui\ ci i^^r and land roller.

In 1901 Mr. Cunningham removed to his ranch at
Morgan Hill and for seventeen years was prominently
known in the south end of the county as a buyer and
shipper of fruit. He continued to rc^iiK tlun until
1920 when he purchased his father's oM hiMiu^li.iil
at Saratoga, where he now resides with lus family.
Mr. Cunningham's marriage in San Jose in 1897
united him with Mrs. Eleanor Tomkin Rootes who
was born in Santa Clara, a daughter of Dr. Alfred
Roycc and Martha Frances (Forbes) Tomkin, born
in England and California respectively. Dr. Tomkin,
who had studied medicine under his father. Dr. Thos.
M. Tomkin, iu England, came around Cape Horn in
a sailing vessel to California in 1849, became inter-
ested in mining at Mud Springs and then in 1854 he
came to Santa Clara and (ipened the first drug store;
here he marrieil Mi^^ I .rilMs, a dauKhttr of that
prominent old piomii. l,lln^.^ .Mixandcr I'orbcs. a
man of letters, win. \\i-..t< liir nr-i ]:~^<>,rv ot (;.rilJtor-
nia, and is repri -c nii <1 •'][ ,.'i..i' • . ii - y.i^ik

Later Dr. Tomkin ■,«,.- )iii> r, -i. ■' v. ■]■■•.. <■ -m. --,
in San Jose; he va. o.ron. r ami imi-a. a.Hiam.Val .r
of Santa Clara County for eight jears and held the
office until his death. By a former marriage, Mrs
Cunningham had two sons, Thomas P. and Edward L.
Edward L. enlisted with the Canadian army before the
United States entered the war, with the First Cana-
dian Pioneer Battalion and served from March to
November of 1916; from November, 1916, to June.
1917, he was in the Sixty-seventh Canadian Scottish
and One Hundred Second Canadian Infantry. He was
wounded in France about June 1, 1917, and removed
to England where he was in the hospital until August
4, 1917. From Augu.st 4, 1917, to the end of 1918
he was at the Canadian Paymaster's office as staff
sergeant. He was engaged in all the battles of
the Somme, Vimy Ridge, and Lenz, and is now
in London. Thomas P. enlisted in the U. S. Army,
but remained on home soil. He now holds an
important position with the Shell Oil Company at
Long Beach, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham's union
has been blessed with one child, Lutheria Frances.
For twelve years Mr. Cunningham was a member
of the Democratic County Central Committee. Mr.
and Mrs. Cunningham are active in civic circles and
both take a keen interest in the growth and develop-
ment of this great commonwealth where their an-
cestors were pioneers.

oUi^i^^

^

i

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

599

M. M. SOUZA.— Actively identified for many years
with the dairy interests of Santa Clara is M. M. Souza,
a wealth)' capitalist, who started out in the world
empty-handed, and his present prosperity has been
won through his initiative spirit, his ready recogni-
tion and utilization of opporUniity and his splncdid
administrative and executive ability. He was born on
the Island 'of St. George, in the Azores group, No-,
vember 14, 1854, and there liis parents, Tony and
Maria Souza, spent their entire lives. The father
followed the occupation of farming and passed away
at the advanced age of ninety, while the mother was
also ninety years of age at the time of her demise.
In their family were six children: Tony, who became
second mate on a vessel plying between Boston,
Mass., and England, in which country his death
occurred; M. M., of this review; Jasper, who still
resides in the Azores, where he is cultivating a farm;
Joafjuin J., a rancher living near Sunnyvale; Marion.
who is the widow of A. Potosi and makes her home
in Santa Clara; and John, who owns a ranch near
Mountain View.

The boyhood of M. M. Souza was a period of
erirnist and unremitting toil and he had no educa-
tion,;! o|)iM rtuiiities. but in the school of experience
In li ,-- Iranud many valuable lessons. When twenty
ye.Lis cil ,ige he came to the United States, landing
at Boston, Mass., whence he proceeded to Newport,
R. I., where he worked for three or four months.
In the fall of 1876 he set out for California, and
after reaching San Francisco he made his way to
San Rafael, .Marin County, where he obtained work
as milker on a dairy farm. With his earnings he
was later able to rent a dairy farm of 100 acres near
San Rafael which he conducted for several years,
afterward going to Larkspur where he also rented
a 100 acre farm on which he engaged in dairying.
His next removal took him to Stanislaus County and
in the vicinity of Newman he purchased a farm of
seventy acres, on which for many years he operated
a dairy, being still the owner of that property. In
October, 1903, he purchased his present home farm
of fifty acres, on which he erected a beautiful resi-
dence, and the property is now within the corporate
limits of Santa Clara and is very valuable. He has
added many improvements thereto and for several
years conducted a dairy, but has recently sold his
cows and is now leasing the property to two young
men, while two of his sons arc operating the ranch
near Newman. His business affairs have been most
capably managed and the years have chronicled
his growing success.

While residing in San Rafael, Mr. Souza was mar-
ried at San Francisco to Miss Maria Borba and they
have become the parents of six children: Manuel
M., Jr., who is operating his father's farm near
Newman, is a veteran of the World War, serving
for four months on the French front with a machine
gun battalion; Jasper is a dairyman and resides at
San Jose; Tony is assisting his brother in managing
the dairy near Newman; John is teller in the Santa
Clara branch of the Bank of Italy, of which his
father is a stockholder; Maria and George are at
home. A stanch Republican in his political views
Mr. Souza is a faithful member of the Santa Clara
Catholic Church. He also belongs to the Knights
of Columbus, the U. P. E. C. and the I. D. E. S.
For forty-five years he has resided within the borders

of California and is widely and favorably known in
this section of the state. His is a most creditable
record, and he deserves classification with the self-
made men and substantial citizens of Santa Clara.

DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HEADEN.— Pre-
eminent among the distinguished citizens of Santa
Clara Comity who by tluir public-spiritedness, their
education and culture, llieir foresight and experience,
and their wealth and willinsmss to place some of it
at the disposal of or for the benefit of their fellow-
men, have done most to develop tin HM.urces of
the state, lay broad and deep th. imni'latiMns of a
great commonwealth, and open np new path^ for the
health, comfort, prosperity and happiness of those
coming after, was assuredly the late Dr. Benjamin
Franklin Headen, known to his intimates as a con-
scientious Christian gentleman, and to the public
at large as the owner of one of the princely estates
at Santa Clara, and as a very enterprising, scientific
expermienter whose one ambition was to accom-
plish something whereby he could add to the con-
tent of life and the purpose in living. A native of
the Old Dominion, he inherited that which elevated
him to something above the average run of men.
He was born on November 24, 1813, the son of
Joseph and Mary Headen. who moved to Kentucky
when he was a lad. He passed his youth in Headen-
villc, Shelby County, a pretty village named in honor
of his father, a man who was looked up to by every-
one on account of his exemplary walk in "life and
his unswerving integrity and loftv ideals. He was a
regular attendant at Headen Chapel, which was
built by his father, and served that community as
the one place in which to worship. The village had
the usual attractions of a small communitv in com-
fortable Kentucky; but the ambition of the young
man led him to look beyond into the outer and
larger world, and to resolve to take his place in the
upper councils of men where he could be of the
greatest service.

He resolved, therefore, to educate himself for the
medical profession, and took a course in the Worth-
ington Medical College in Ohio, from which he was
duly graduated with hiKJ, honors in May, 1837. Then
he removed to Indiana, furnished an office and hung
out his shingle, and immediately commenced to prac-
tice. Having established a comfortable home, he
continued as a practitioner until 1852, when he re-
sponded to the lure of California, then on every-
one's hps as the land of gold, and set out with his
family across the plans.

The party arrived in the Santa Clara Valley in
October, and soon after he bought sixty-one acres
just beyond the town-limits of Santa Clara; and there
he erected an attractive, comfortable residence for
his family and otherwise began to improve the prop-
erty. He experienced no end of difficulties at the
outset, however, for building materials were scarce
and hard to procure, and what made matters worse,
the rains interfered both with hauling and construc-
tion. But perseverance enabled him and his family
at last to enjoy tlie .^lielter they had longed for. and
then Dr. Headen. with characteristic push and the
far-sightedness of one who discerned what Santa
Clara County some day would be, devoted his at-
tention and energies to clearing off the land and pre-
paring it for immediate cultivation. It had been in
a wild state of nature, prior to his coming there.

600

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the soil unbroken and the rank mustard so high that
when hunting for his strayed cattle. Dr. Headen had
to stand on the back of one ox to enable him to
find the others.

But. notwithstanding all the impediments, the im-
provements progressed, and flower seeds, many of
them carried across the great plains in the Doctor's
pockets, were planted, young trees were brought from
the mountains in little sacks of earth and set out.
and soon under the deft hand and exciuisite. well-
balanced taste for which our subject was noted, "the
wilderness began to blossom as the rose." Far ahead
of many even who had pitched their tent in that
neighborhood prior to Dr. Headen's coming, he rap-
idly brought the land under cultivation, simple at first
and then higher and more complex, planting his acre-
age first to cereals, then in rather an extensive way to
strawberries and other small fruits, and finally lay-
ing out both an orchard and a vineyard of such choice
varieties of fruits that his ranch became, without his
particularly planning it. the show place of the country
thereabouts. It was Dr. Headen who first grew
vegetable and flower seeds at Santa Clara on a com-
mercial scale, and thereby opened the way to a busi-
ness which has always prospered in that section, prob-
ably owing to the excellent soil and climatic condi-
tions, and which has made wealthy men of many
coming after him, and millionaires of some. It is
sad to contemplate, therefore, that all of Dr. Headen's
family are now deceased save one daughter. Thomas-
ine, the wife of L. H. Albertson. who resides with
her husband on the old place. The sequoias, now
very large, arc among the most imposing, if silent
testimonials to the master mind and godly heart
once so eloquently active here. Thousands pass by
the place daily on their w^ay to and from San Fran-
cisco who enjoy the benefits of Dr. Headen's work,
which thus still lives on in the lives of others, a
delightful expression of scenic beauty, as it is still
one of the most stately country homes in or near
Santa Clara.

In March. 1853. Dr. Headen was chosen one of
the trustees of the young and struggling Univer-
sity of the Pacific, and with his soul full of ideals,
the institution, for which he felt that there was
great need, soon became the idol of his heart. For
twenty years he served as trustee and in that re-
sponsible capacity, he devoted much valuable time
and hard labor to assist it to get well established,
develop and grow. He was for years secretary of
the board, and when the main college building was
being erected, he was the treasurer. From his ad-
vent here, Dr. Headen was a faithful and consistent
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and
in that body also he served a.s trustee and steward.
When, therefore, he laid aside the cares of this life
which he had done so much to make easier for others
and to ennoble, on August 28. 1875, his remains were
buried according to the ceremonial of the Masonic
Order, of which he was a member, and followed to
the grave by a large procession of devoted, admir-
ing and mourning friends.

For some years following the Doctor's demise. Mrs.
Headen. who was in maidenhood Henrietta Harvey, a
native of Cornwall, England, occupied the splendid
homestead, one of the most beautiful in the Val-
ley, and with rare business acumen and understand-
ing for a woman, successfully managed the vineyard

and orchard, which under her clever supervision
yielded a fine income, to say nothing of the first
prizes taken for products. Now that she. too, has
passed to the great Beyond, Mr. and Mrs. Albert-
son endeavor to take their place and have built an
up-to-date country house which serves to maintain
the status of the place in its palmy _days. Dr.
• Headen's pioneer work in the upbuilding of the coun-
ty, both in agriculture and horticulture as well as
his stand for righteousness and high morals, will never
be forgotten and his memory will always be revered
by thousands who appreciate his devotion and self-
sacrifice in having opened up new paths where others
feared or failed to tread.

RICHARD McCarthy.— The present comp-
troller of the California Prune and Apricot Growers.
inc., who resides with his family on the Oakland
Road in the suburbs of San Jose, is Richard Mc-
Carthy. A native of New York State, he was born
August 16, 1872, in New York City, the son of
Cornelius and Mary Elizabeth (Malone) McCarthy.
The father was born and reared in County Kerry.
Ireland, while the mother was a native of County
Mayo, Ireland. Cornelius McCarthy came to Amer-
ica and California in 1874 and settled in San Jose,
when there were only two hotels in the place. He
was engaged as warehouse foreman for the Southern
Pacific and for many years had charge of the ware-
house in San Jose.

Richard attended school in San Jose, later taking
a course at the San Jose Business College. After
finishing his business course, he was employed by
the Standard Oil Company and in time became the
special agent for the San Jose division. At the time
he had charge of the work, it was a one-man job
and Mr. McCarthy has witnessed its wonderful
grow^th in San Jose. For ten years he was with
this company and left to take a position as assistant
cashier of the Safe Deposit Bank and w-orked in this
capacity for eleven and a half ytars. On account of
failing health, he gave up banking business and
went to ranching. He purchased a five-acre place
on the Milpitas Road and built a splendid house.
In 1912, besides running his own ranch, he had
charge of the 130-acre ranch belonging to his wife
on the Alviso Road. After five years of outdoor life
be felt sufficiently recuperated to accept the position
of chief accountant with the Prune and Apricot
Growers, Inc., in 1917, and was later advanced to
his present position as comptroller.

The marriage -of Mr. McCarthy occurred in San
Jose on June 16. 1896. and united him with Miss
Mary Elizabeth Bellew, a daughter of Michael and
Elizabeth E. (Kinney) Bellew. Michael Bellew was
a native of Ireland, and came to California in 1872
via the Panama route. He settled in Milpitas and
in time acquired about 800 acres of land, which w-as
devoted to the raising of grain and fruit, and he also
kept quite an extensive dairy. There were five chil-
dren in the liilKw lainih., Mrs. McCarthy being the
third. Mr. .'lul Mi^. MrCarthy are the parents of
three children: Gertrude E.. a graduate of the con-
vent of Notre Dame; Aloy C. a graduate of the
San Jose High School and of the University of Santa
Clara, and Richard I., a graduate of the law depart-
ment of the University of Santa Clara. Politically
Mr. McCarthy is a stanch Republican, and fratern-
ally he is a member of the Knights of Columbus and
served five vears as financial secretary of the San

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

603

Jose lodge. For three years he was the treasurer
of the State Normal School at San Jose. He is a
firm believer in the continued prosperity and growth
of Santa Clara County and is ready at all times to
lend a helping hand to measures that tend to the ad-
vancement of the state and county.

CHARLES W. CHRISTIAN.— More than one
pioneer family with the most interesting history are
represented in the life story of Charles W. Christian,
the wide-awake manager of the John Christian Manu-
facturing Company, at 1194 Lick Avenue, San Jose.
He was born on August 8, 1869, on the corner of
First and William streets, San Jose, on the very spot
where the John Christian shop stood for so many
years. His father, John Christian, a native of the
Isle of Man, was born in 1840 and crossed the ocean
alone at the age of fourteen, coming via the Isthmus
of Panama to San Francisco. He made his way to
Stockton and worked for his uncle, Charles Chris-
tian, a blacksmith. A year later, in 1855, he came to
San Jose and served his appenticeship with Bonner
& McKenzie, pioneer machinists and blacksmiths.
After completing his apprenticeship he worked at
his trade; also working in the New Almaden quick-
silver mines in Santa Clara County for six months;
he then returned to San Jose, about 1861, and started
ill business for himself at the corner of First and
William streets, building a shop on his own prop-
erty. He began making steel teeth for threshers and
was the first man ever known to make steel-laid
teeth, and as California was then a great wheat
country, his business grew rapidly. He was married
in San Jose to Miss Sarah Pierce, who was born in
Illinois and came with her parents across the plains
with ox teams in 1851. The maternal grandfather,
Col. George Pierce, was a pioneer farmer. He had
served in the Black Hawk Indian war as colonel,
and first came to California in 1848, crossing the
plains; later he returned Hast for his family, bring-
ing them out to California in 1851. He was a b'lack-
smith, owning and operating a shop in Stockton, and
in 1848 he traded a block of land in the heart of
Stockton for a team and plow to start farming. In
those days he received as high as $80 for shoeing an
ox on all four feet. He was an early settler in San
Jose and bought a farm in The Willows. An active
member of the Episcopal Church and a teacher in
the Sunday School, he passed away in San Jose.

John Christian and his wife were married in 1864
in an old stone house at Fifth and St. John streets,
San Jose, that is still standing. She was a member
of the Baptist Church and passed away April 27,
1906, her husband surviving until June 1, 1909. They
were the parents of nine children: Mrs. Laura
Marchant, who resides in Oakland; Mrs. Dora
Nagle of San Jose; Charles W., the subject of this
sketch; Ada, Mrs. Maynard, passed away in San
Francisco about eight years ago; Mrs. Sarah L.
Martin of San Jose; George Lewis died at the age of
eighteen years; Clarence Richard passed away when
twenty-eight; Mrs. Alice Verser resides in San Jose,
and Mrs. Mable Coleman in Oakland. All the chil-
dren living are interested in th? John Christian Man-
ufacturing Company, so it is a "family afifair."

Charles W. went to the public schools in San Jose
and at the age of fourteen, in 1883, joined his father
in the shop where he continued to work for thirty-
four years, learning the blacksmith and machinist
trade from the bottom up under his father. The first
year after he started, they made 35,000 steel-laid teeth

and since then have made 450,000 in a season. To
accomplish this it was necessary to invent machinery
for their speedy manufacture. The steel-laid teeth are
all forged under a triphammer, which they invented
and built, and they have a capacity of 3,000 a day,
all hand-made. In 1920 the factory, 60x80 feet, was
built at 1194 Lick Avenue, with cement floor, electric
power, for the manufacture of steel-laid teeth for
harvesters. On January 2, 1906, the business was
incorporated under the name of the John Christian
Manufacturing Company, the father being president,
and since his death Charles W. has taken his place
as president and manager. The shop employs ten
men, who make steel-laid teeth for harvesters, turn-
ing out all the teeth required by the Holt Tractor
Company, the Ventura Manufacturing Company, and
a dozen other firms. The selection of the steel, its
hardening and final tempering is a thing Mr. Chris-
tian has acquired from years of experience, so that
the steel-laid teeth made by this concern are more
serviceable than any other in the market; people
who know claiming that they wear 300 per cent
longer. Such has been Mr. Christian's success here
that he is naturally very much interested in the de-
velopment and the future of both San Jose and Santa
Clara County, and in the Chamber of Commerce.

In 1890, at San Jose, Mr. Christian was married
to Miss Annie Leddy, born in San Jose, the daughter
of Daniel Leddy, another esteemed pioneer; and their
union has been blessed with six children, all of whom
have reflected the highest credit upon the family
name. Hazel is Mrs. C. McGraw of San Jose; Elmer
served in the United States Army in the World War,
and is now with his father as his right-hand man;
Cecil has become Mrs. Orin Bryant, also of San
Jose; and the others are Gertrude, Leslie and Elva.
Mr. Christian is a member of the Woodmen of the
World, and those who know his genial nature need
not be told that there are few, if any, more popular.

JAMES T. BABE.— A member of the Babb fam-
ily, well-known among the early settlers of Santa
Clara County, James T. Babb, has spent all his life
in this vicinity, where he is one of its highly es-
teemed residents. He was born on June 9, 1872, at
the ranch home of the family in Babb Canyon, near
Gilroy, the only son of Thomas and Annie (Babb)
Babb. He was deprived of a father's love and care,
Thomas Babb having been drowned in December,
1871, in the rushing waters of Pacheco Creek, six
months before our subject's birth. Mrs. Babb lived
to be sixty-two, passing away in 1918, while residing
at Redwood City. The Babb family were early set-
ilers of Eastern Tennessee, having come to America
from England in the eighteenth century, members
cf the family having come to California as early as
1857, when James Babb, father of Silas Babb and
uncle of our subject, landed here.

James T. Babb attended the public school at Gil-
roy and when only fourteen years old entered the
employ of Eustice Brothers, blacksmiths there, to
learn the trade, and he was with that firm for sixteen
j'ears. Early in 1908 Mr. Babb established the Gil-
roy Agricultural Works, with Mr. Scofield of Gilroy
as his partner, and after eight years he disposed of
his interest to take a position with the Southern
Pacific in the car department at Gilroy. Two years
later he went to Morgan Hill and became the man-
ager of the Telfers Blacksmith Shop, doing all kinds
of iron and wood work. Thoroughly efficient and

60+

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

practical, Mr. Babb has built up a splendid business
there, conducting it in a most systematic way and
employing five men to assist him.

Mr. Babb's marriage united him with Miss Bertha
Dexter and they have a son, Harold James Babb.
connected with the ticket sales department of the
Southern Pacific at Ashland. Ore. A Republican in
politics, Mr. Babb affiliates in fraternal circles with
the Eagles, being a member of the order at Hollis-
tcr. For eleven years he was chief of the Gilroy
Fire Department, and although his business keeps
him at Morgan Hill, he still maintains his home at
Gilroy, spending his week ends there, where he has
a host of friends.

J. SAMUEL STAUB, M. D.— During the years
that Dr. J. Samuel Staul) has pursued the practice of
medicine in San Jose, he has been known not onl)-
for his skill and assiduity as a physician and sur-
geon, but also for his genial manners, literary taste
and talent, making him a popular member of San
Jose's social and fraternal circles. He has gained
eminence as a family physician and has always
sought to nurit rccoL;nitioii by his knowledge and
skill, as a Inu ph., Mn.in m tlir limlu'-t sense, rather
than to gain iii-<.;iiiiK iut by iiutluMl, through which
less meritoridus practiliotiers hnd a short cut to
fame and fortune. Comin.g of a family of medical
men w'ell known in their native citv of Berlin. Ger-
many, Dr. Staub was born tli.re on Mav 2?,. 1885.
the son of Morris am! \-A\:t ( ' '■• il(hirr,L' i Stinh, His
father, w-ho was an alilr ium. tilMiirr nf l:iiiiii, came
to America when Sanuiel wa^ only ,.n.' yrar ukl. and
having brought with him considerable means, he
retired from professional work and settled in Phil-
adelphia, where he lived a comfortable life. Mrs.
Staub passed away when Samuel was a boy of only
six years; he has one brother and two half-brothers,
but is the only one in the West. His grandfather.
Dr. Staub, was a noted German physician and was
very well-to-do; he continued activelj' in his pro-
fession until he was seventy-five, passing away at
the Staub home in Philadelphia.

J. Samuel Staub was reared in Philadelphia and
attended the public schools there, finishing the first
year of high school. He was then seventeen years
old, and all alone, he came out West, locating at
San Jose, Cal., where he attended the Washburn
school, later entering the College of the Pacific,
where he was graduated in 1911 with the B. S. de-
gree, being honored with the presidency of the
Rhizomia Literary Society while there. Having
chosen medicine as his future profession, that same
fall he matriculated in the medical department of the
University of Pennsylvania, and taking the regular
four years' course, graduated with high honors in
1915 with the degree of M. D.; during his college
course he was a popular member of the Omega Up-
silon Phi fraternity. Having been tendered the post
of resident physician at the Southern Pacific Hos-
pital at San Francisco, he accepted and came hither,
remaining there until the fall of 1916. when he came
to San Jose and opened offices in the Garden City
Bank Building and later in the Twohy Building.
When the World War broke out, he enlisted in the
Medical Corps of the U. S. Navy and was stationed
at Mare Island, where his skill as a surgeon enabled
him to make a valuable contribution to the hos-
pital work there. He received a commission as

lieutenant, serving until March, 1919, when he was
released from active duty. He then went East for
a post-graduate course, studying surgery in New
York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, also visiting Lon-
don for clinic and post-graduate work. He returned
to San Jose in September, 1919, and resumed his
practice, occupying a suite in the Twohy Building.
Dr. Staub is a member of the American Medical
Association and of the State and County Medical
Societies. He is on the surgical stafif of the O'Con-
nor Hospital in San Jose, and as a medical and
surgical authority of high standing he is often called
upon to give expert testimony for the Southern
Pacific Railroad in accident and damage cases.
Fraternally he is very popular as a member of the
San Jose Elks, the Odd Fellows, the San Jose
Country Club, and is a prominent Scottish Rite
Mason and a Shriner, w-hile he keeps up- his military
associations by membership in San Jose Post No. 89,
American Legion.

CHARLES D. ROBERTSON.— A popular, effi-
cient and genial official is Charles D. Robertson, the
agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company at
Morgan Hill, who is a native of San Jose, where he

was born on November 5.
John and Margan-t (Currv)
of Northern Scotl.iid. An
Robertson emigre:. -.1 tn .\iiu
to San Jose, he rstahlishi <1
shoe business. Two years 1
and two children. In 1908,
age of sixty-eight, honored of all
his devoted wife lived to be sevi'

1871. the third son of
Robertson, both natives
xjiert shoemaker. John
ica in 1868. and coming
limself in the boot and
ter, he sent for his wife
he passed away at the
ho knew him;
-four years of
age, and died at her home in I'd. n\ ah; in 1917.
Prior to his death. John Robertson had acijuired a
ranch of 1011 acre';, eight miles south uf Sua Jose, a
place foiiiv rl\' !.no'\n as the Eight-Mile House,
and _tlure ihf iaaiilx ware reared.

Charlis R.ilHitson rntircd the public school at
Oak Grove in 1876, and he topped off his studies in
the upper grades in San Jose. In 1892 he began his
association as an employe wdth the Southern Pacific
Railroad Compani-, and for a while served an ap-
prenticeship at the Hillsdale Station. Then he be-
came the operator at the Laurel Station, in the Santa
Cruz Mountains, and he also was assistant station
agent at Santa Margarita and Redwood City, and was
agent at Volta, and worked at times all through the
Coast Division of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
He opened thr m x, station at Naples, and then for
two years s,.,vril ; , .assistant agent at Gilroy. In
1902 he «a, m\,n the agency at Morgan Hill, and
he has discharged the duties there all these interven-
ing years with exceptional satisfaction to the public.
He has charge of the American Railway Express,
the Western Lhiion Telegraph, and the United States
Mail delivery at Morgan Hill. He is a Republican,
but first, last and all the time an American citizen.
He belongs to the Order of Railroad Telegraphers
and is a Mason.

In 1894 Mr. Robertson was married to Miss
Annette Mae Donald, w^ho was born in San Mateo,
the daughter of John and Harriet Donald — the for-
mer now deceased, the latter still living at Redwood
City. Three sons have been born to them. Charles
D., in the promising age of twelve, died from acci-
dental drowning at Capitola; and John Butler and
Welburn Edson are attending the public school.
The family attend the Presbyterian Church of Mor-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

607

gaii Hill, and live in iheir residence at the corner of
Hatfield and Del Monte streets at Morgan Hill.

Mr. Robertson has always been public-spirited,
and instrumental in bringing about various local
modern improvements. He is a member of the Live
Oak high school board of trustees, and at present is
the clerk of the board. He owns thirteen acres of
fine fruit ranch at Edenvale, part of his share of the
family estate, and is thus an horticulturist as well
as a railroad official, and deeply interested in Califor-
nia husbandry as well as in the problems of
California transportation.

MAJOR CHARLES PETTINGILL BRASLAN.

In the death of the late Major Charles Pettingill
Braslan, American agriculture lost one of its pro-
gressive leaders, and the American nation one of its
most public-spirited citizens. H(^ was for years
widely kncjwii in llie mtiI worlij, and he was one of
the far-,-.eeinu iM.mnrs iii ronimtrce who secured the
Pan.-inia I^NiM.-itmn iny San I'rancisco. More than
that, he was i)leas;inll\- .i^-oriatrd by marriage with
the family of a sturdy inciurr. who rose to become
of great service to th. \iini;.aii public in carrymg
important public projn Is aln.ul\ of blessing to other
generations than his own.

Charles P. Braslan was born at Cambridge, Mass ,
on July 1, 1861, attended the excellent schools of
Boston, and while yet a lad went to work for John
Breck & Son, the oldest and largest seed firm in the
world, with whom he remained for eleven years.
Then he became a member of the seed house oi
Northrup, Braslan and Goodwin, of Chicago, where
he was general manager for thirteen years; but prior
to that he had been in the same line in Minneapolis.
While in Minnesota, Mr. Braslan was commissioned
major on the stafif of Governor Merriam, and ever
afterward bore that title.

In 1898 he came West to California. Locating at
San Jose, he sold seed as an agent for the growers.
Then he embarked in seed growing for himself, and
the well-known firm, the Braslan Seed Growers, was
incorporated, July 13, 1902, and Major Braslan be-
came the president and manager of this company, and
in that responsible and honorable office he continued
until his death. He has not only sold but grown
seeds, inspecting growing crops and supervising the
harvesting and cleaning of seeds in nearly every
state in the Union, and had probably a keener knowl-
edge of the seed industry in all its phases than any-
one in the business. He possessed a wonderful busi-
ness ability, a wide knowledge of public affairs and
was a man of large caliber. He became the largest
seed grower and wholesale shipper in the world,
dealing extensively with all countries and liandling
many large government contracts. M.ijor i'raslan
first grew seeds under contract, l)ut l)\- his incessant
and untiring energy he built up a business that
reached to all quarters of the globe. The company
at the present time has some 5,000 acres devoted to
seed raising in Santa Clara, San Joaquin and San
Benito Counties, besides enormous acreages under
contracts in other parts of California. He began the
business in a small way, and practically without any
capital, but his success was rapid and continuous,
and his name was known everywhere where seeds
were sold; in fact his name stood as a counterpart
for the best in the seed markets of the world.

At San Jose, in November, 1901, Major Braslan
was married to Miss Olga Adele Pieper, a daughter
of John H. Pieper, who was born in Germany in
1824 and educated at the celebrated Polytechnic Col-
lege in Hanover. Patriotic and with a proper sense
of the duty which he owed to the land of his birth,
Mr. Pieper joined the engineering corps of the Ger-
man army, and in a short time was made first a lieu-
tenant and then an adjutant. Having thus honor-
ably put behind him his military service, he decided
to migrate to the United States, and having visited
Xeu Orlians. he went on to San Antonio, Texas.
I'uslinii^ noiili 10 New York City, he was for three
\(ais riii|,l(,\ , (i as principal assistant of the Topo-
graphical Survey of the State of New Jersey, and
then he served as first assistant engineer in the lay-
ing out of Central Park in New York City. After
seven years in that very responsible position, where
he discharged his duties with such credit as to re-
flect handsomely on his training, as well as on his
own native ability, Mr. Pieper resigned to become a
mining engineer and assistant manager of the Mari-
posa Grant, in Mariposa County; and that position
he held for two years. He then removed to San Jose
and engaged in practice as a civil engineer and sur-
veyor, and as early as 1867 he became city engineer
of San Jose, and was instrumental in efTecting many
city improvements. Sewers and other channels, for
example, passing through the city, were constructed
according to his plans. The excellence of his public
works was generously recognized, and he never
wanted for flattering recognition in the land and in
the city of his adoption. He married Miss Adele
Hoffman, by whom he had six children, and died on
November 16, 1888. being survived by his widow,
who passed away November 13, 1919.

Major Braslan, who was a member of the Repub-
lican party and w.is li\ ii.iune a leader, consented to
work as one of iln mkimI,, is of the Committee of
Twelve in the I'liili rcincn ssional District to look
after the interests of California in securing San Fran-
cisco as the site for the proposed Panama- Pacific
Exposition in 1915, and in company with Senator
Ralston of San Francisco toured the large Eastern
cities as Commissioner Plenipotentiary for the Pan-
ama-Pacific Committee. He performed the service
at the request of Governor Gillett and Mayor Mc-
Carthy of San I'ran. IS, M, and his very successful ef-
forts in obtaining' i . n ilmim ion from the railroads and
great transportatmn ,Mni|ianirs. as well as influential
financial houses of the country, are well known. It
was his intention to follow up the work while m
Washington during the session of Congress as he
was deeply interested in the work and had the honor
of being the only man appointed on the Commission
outside of San Francisco. His aid was sought be-
cause of his wide acquaintance and influence with in-
fluential men all over the United States. While on
his trip East he caught cold and on December 3,
1910, died of pneumonia, too soon to see and enjoy
the wonderful creation of industry and art by the
shore of the Pacific, for which he was m part so re-
sponsible. He belonged to the Elks and the Family
Club of San Francisco, and both within and beyond
those organizations enjoyed a wide circle of friends.
Mrs. Braslan, while maintaining an active interest in
the company founded by her husband, also takes an

608

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

active part in social life. She belongs to the Outdoor
Art League, and contributes her influence for the
moulding and improvement of the public taste.

The loss of Major Braslan was sorely felt among
all his wide circle of friends in America and Europe;
a man large in his sympathies and possessed of inany
native graces. Mrs. Braslan was grief-stricken over
the sudden death of her devoted husband and the
indulgent father of their daughter Olga. By a for-
mer marriage, Major Braslan had a son, Charles A.
Braslan, with the People's Water Company of Oak-
land, and a daughter, Virginia, now Mrs. John E.
Calhoun, of Minneapolis. He is also survived by
two sisters, who reside in the old Braslan home in
Cambridge, Mass.

RALPH L. SNELL. — A prominent horticulturist
and apiarist of Mountain View, located on the Whis-
man Road, about one mile northeast of that place,
is Ralph L. Snell, who is the owner of a fifteen-acre
tract, which in point of production, is unexcelled in
California. He is taking a prominent place among
the horticulturists and nurserymen of the state. He
was born thirty miles south of Boston, at South
Weymouth, Mass., August 4, 1872, and is familiar
with the places made famous during the Revolu-
tionary struggle — the Boston Common, Bunker Hill,
Lexington, and many other historic places. His
father, Norman Snell, was engaged in contracting
and building in and about Boston. The paternal
grandfather, Stillnian Snell, was employed at team-
ing and buying and selling horses at Weymouth,
Quincy and Braintree. Mass. Mrs. Norman Snell,
who was Abbie Ewer, passed away when the sub-
ject of this sketch was only six years old, the mother
of seven children, five boys and two girls. The
father is living at ninety-six years of age.

Ralph L. attended the public schools of Boston
and later the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and then pursued a commercial course at the Y. M.
C. A. He first settled in Tulare County in 1894 and
was occupied with farming, but not realizing the
measure of success expected, he removed to Fresno,
Cal., where he was employed in the fruit packing in-
dustry for seven years, working for A. L. Hobbs and
for the J. B. Inderrieden Company.

Mr. Snell's marriage occurred in Fresno in 1902.
and united him with Miss Emma Chamberlain, a
native of Nevada, a daughter of Henry Chamber-
lain, a lumberman of Pioche, Nev., who is still liv-
ing at the age of eighty-five. Mr. and Mrs. Snell
are the parents of two children: Frederick and
Marion, both students in the Mountain View high
school. From Fresno Mr. Snell removed to San
Francisco in 1904, where he engaged in contracting
and building for twelve years, and in 1914 he re-
moved to Mountain View and purchased his present
ranch. He has the distinction of starting raspberry
culture at Mountain View, being the introducer of
the celebrated Ranaree and La France raspberries,
and holds the record for the greatest production of
any raspberry grown in California. During 1920,
from one and a quarter acres, Mr. Snell sold $6,000
worth of berries and $3,500 worth of raspberry
plants. He works in connection with the State De-
partment of Agriculture. Besides his activities
along horticultural lines, he keeps seventy-five
stands of bees and is a careful student of bee culture,
appropriating the best features in both the Root and
Miller systems of beekeeping. Mr. Snell has one

acre of ground planted to the Cory thornless black-
berry and it remains to be seen what success he will
have in the culture of this fruit. He is an active
member of the local Grange and in his political af-
filiations he is a Republican. The community is
greatly indebted to such a man as Mr. Snell, who
has always been willing to sacrifice his own con-
venience for the upbuilding of the locality.

The Mountain View Berry Growers' Association
sprung into existence in December, 1921, directly as
a result of Mr. Snell's uniireccdented success in rasp-
berry culture. There is now under construction,
i)y said association, at Mountain View, a large pre-
cooling plant, 50 by 150 feet, with a capacity for
precooling four car loads of fruit every twenty-four
hours and manufacturing ten tons of ice per day,
the ice being used for the refrigerator cars in which
the berries are transported to Eastern markets.
Seventy-six berry growers at Mountain View have
joined in a trusteeship, with the following seven
trustees: B. W. Holman, W. P. Angelo, J. E. Reiter,
\'ictor Stanquist, F. E. Gallagher, C. C. Spalding
and Ralph L. Snell. The project's primary purpose
is to market the produce of the growing raspberry
industry, the soil and climate at the south end of
San Francisco Bay being peculiarly adapted to
berry culture. An affiliated interest is the Runny-
mede Berry Growers' Association, who will bring
their berries here for precooling and shipment. The
plant is being erected at a cost of $45,000. Victor
Stanquist and Ralph L. Snell, both members of said
Board of Trustees, and both capable contractors
and builders, constitute the building committee and
have charge of the work of construction. This plant
will also precool apricots, strawberries and cherries.
The temperature of the berries will be reduced to
from thirty-four degrees to thirty-six degrees before
being loaded into the refrigerator cars. The base-
ment will contain a barreling department where from
seventy-five to one hundred women will be engaged
in sorting out the berries which are too ripe to
stand transportation. These berries will be packed
into barrels with sugar and frozen, in which condi-
tion they will be placed on the market. The plant
at Mountain View will work in conjunction with the
Central California Berry Growers' Association.

PAUL J. ARNERICH.— A man of especial gifts
who easily impresses others with both his natural
ability and his acquirements through experience is
Paul J. Arnerich, a native son, having been born
near San Jose on September 23, 1869. His father
was Mathew Arnerich, and he had married Mrs.
Elizabeth (Brown) Moylan. the widow of Edward
Moylan. When fourteen years of age, Mathew
Arnerich shipped as a sailor, and in the historic year
of '49 he voyaged from China to San Francisco.
Three years later, he removed to Santa Clara Valley
and here engaged in agriculture. In 1856 he married,
and purchased 160 acres in the Union district. He
died on May 3, 1883, from injuries received in a fall
from a buggy. Mrs. Arnerich also came from an old
pioneer family; she died here about 1910.

As kind parents this worthy couple provided the
best training for Paul in the public schools, and
when he had finished with his studies, he worked
with his father on the home farm until he was
twenty-one. Then, for several years, he farmed for
himself, and in 1905 he ran for the State Legislature,
in which he served a term. He was then appointed

c^

i^^A^^-^CL^ <t^if-^<

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

611

to the United States Marshal's office as deputy
marshal and discharged that responsibility for ten
years; and having resigned, he ran for the Legisla-
ture, was elected in 1915, and in 1917 he was re-
elected. Next he was a deputy sheriff in Alameda
County for a couple of years, and finally was engaged
in the real estate business for a number of years
until he became a deputy sheriff, serving under Sher-
iff Lyle of Santa Clara County.

At San Jose, on February 21, 1898, Mr. Arnerich
was married to Miss Eva La Montagne, a native
cf Santa Clara County and the representative of
another pioneer family; and four children have
blessed their union. They are Bernice, Francis,
Genevieve and Elizabeth. Mr. Arnerich belongs
to the Republican party, and when he gets tired of
politics he turns for recreation to hunting and other
outdoor sports.

MARIA COX LOYST.— In all sections of the
world the pioneer is highly honored, but especially
is this the case in California, where the present gen-
eration realizes that the development of the twen-
tieth century is due to the indefatigable determina-
tion of those who faced the hardships of an overland
journey and the even greater hardships connected
with the transforming of an unknown, sparsely set-
tled region into one of the greatest coinmonwealths
in the United States. Much is due to the faithful-
ness of the capable and kindly pioneer women of
that day, of whom we hear so little, and yet their
contribution to the upbuilding of these great com-
monwealths was invaluable. Among these good wo-
men was Mrs. Maria (Cox) Loyst, now deceased,
who was born near San Jose, January 14, 1853, and
was reared and educated and spent her whole life
in this county. She was the daughter of William
and Dicey (Baggs) Cox, natives of Ohio, who came
to California at the early date of 1852, in an ox-team
train, and settled in Santa Clara County, their in-
teresting life history appearing elsewhere in this vol-
ume. Maria Cox was the third oldest in a family of
nine children, and after completing the Moreland
district school course she attended a girls' boarding
school in Santa Clara, which afterwards became the
University of the Pacific.

The marriage of Maria Cox. in 1878, united her
with Andrew Loyst, a rancher living near Saratoga,
a native of Canada. They became tlie parents of
five children: two cliildren dieri in infancy; Mabel
M. became the wife of J..W. Breeding; they reside
on part of the old Cox homestead and are the par-
ents of four children — Lester. John, Wilgus, and
Etho; William W. is a traveling salesman of San
Jose, and was married to Miss Etho Hight and they
became the parents of two children — William W., Jr..
and Kenneth; George G. married Tilly Doan and
they have one child, Eleanor D., and they also reside
on the old home place. After their marriage Mr.
and Mrs. Loyst engaged in orcharding on Pierce
road, where they had a 60-acre ranch. Mrs. Loyst
also became the possessor of fifty acres of her father's
old farm, which was partly set to orchard. She
passed away October 30, 1892, at the age of thirty-
nine years, leaving her place to her three children,
who have improved the balance to orchard and in-
stalled an electric pumping plant for irrigating the
place, and it has become a very valuable property.
Mrs. Loyst was a woman of splendid attainments

and greatly loved by all who knew her. She was a
devout Christian, being a member of the Methodist
Church in Saratoga.

J. C. SUTHERLAND.— Among the early pioneer
families of Santa Clara County whose prominence
was W'on through privation and sacrifice, J. C.
Sutherland is a worthy representative and the suc-
cess which he is enjoying is well deserved. He was
born November 1, 1872 on the James Sutherland
ranch on Sutherland Avenue, the son of the late
James Sutherland, and a grandson of that early
settler, William Sutherland. The paternal grand-
parents William and Ann (Dawson) Sutherland were
both born at Newcastle. England, and in 1851 came
to the United States. William Sutherland worked
for a while in the coal mines of Missouri and Illinois
and in 1852 he crossed the plains. The family first
settled in Sacramento County, purchased a farm and
spent five years there. They next removed to Fresno
County and engaged in stock raising. From Fresno
County they removed to Santa Clara County in 1868
and established the home on the Saratoga and Alviso
roads. The old home place contained eighty acres
of choice land and it was devoted almost exclusively
to the production of hay and grain and the raising
of stock. There were two tine artesian wells on the
ranch, one 300 feet in depth and flowing five inches
over a seven-inch pipe, and the other 425 feet in
depth and flowing two and one-half inches over a
seven-inch pipe. The father, James Sutherland,
came to California with his parents and was reared
and educated in the schools of this state. His mar-
riage united him with Miss Eliza Esrey, born in
Missouri, whose parents were also early settlers of
California. He owned 94 acres on Sutherland Avenue
devoted to orchard and dairy, until he returned to
San Jose in 1905, where he passed away at the age
of sixty-nine. The mother resides in San Jose at
483 South Sixth Street. They were the parents of
five children: Caroline became the wife of Scott
Dean, both deceased; J. C, the subject of this re-
view; W. M., a rancher in Kings County; Annie
Jane, Mrs. L. A. Bates, and Lena E., Mrs. A. T.
Griffin, live in San Jose.

J. C. Sutherland attended the Santa Clara grammar
and high schools and later took a course in the San
Jose Business College, from w-hich he was graduated
in 1893. From a boy he assisted his parents on the
farm, and while going to school helped to plant the
orchards he owns today. After his graduation, he
continued on the home place, taking over its active
management. His marriage occurred in Santa Clara
in 1894 and united him with Miss Eva Jamison, a
daughter of the late Hon. Samuel I. Jamison, a
prominent pioneer who landed in San Francisco
in October, 1849. Immediately after their marriage
the young people removed to near Lemoore. and
engaged in the cattle business, purchased land and
set out sixty acres to a muscat grape vineyard and
resided there for eleven years. In 1905 they disposed
of their holdings in San Joaquin Valley and returned
to Santa Clara County and purchased seventy acres
of the home place and have continued to reside
there. The property is highly productive and is
kept in the best of condition; there are thirty-tw^o
acres in prunes; thirty-four acres in Bartlett pears;
the balance for the farm buildings, including his
comfortable residence surrounded by well laid out

612

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

grounds. He also has land holdings at HermosiUo,
Sonera, Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Sutherland are the
parents of two children: Carrie E., Mrs. C. M. Mun-
ger, has one son, C. M. Jr.; Cleanie is a student in
the Santa Clara schools. For generations the Suther-
lands have been stalwart Democrats, and J. C. has not
departed from the party of his forefathers, but is in-
clined to be liberal and considers principles and men.
He is a member of the California Prune and Apricot
Growers' Association. He is proud of the growth
and prosperity of Santa Clara County and is liberal
in giving of his time and means to the furtherance of
progressive measures.

JAMES C. KENNEDY.— The substantial and
well-to-do families have no better representative than
James C. Kennedy, whose capable service for the past
six years as postmaster of the Mountain View post
office, ended on July 1, 1921. For nine and a half
years he was deputy county clerk in San Jose under
Henry Pfisttr. from 190S to 1915, and ihen was ap-
pointed postmaster and served from l'J15 to 1921.
He was a native son of California, born at Pless-
anton, Alameda County, November 23, 1868, where
his father, Joseph F. Kennedy, was a prominent
school teacher. The father, who was born in In-
dependence, Mo., in 1843, a son of Captain Robert
V. Kennedy, a pioneer newspaper man of Missouri,
became an employe in a bank at Council Bluffs,
Iowa, and in 1863 crossed the plains in a train that
was captained by an uncle. Captain Boyers, from
Independence, Mo., who had previously been to Cal-
ifornia, a pioneer farmer of Contra Costa County,
who went back to Missouri and brought back a
number of relatives and friends. James C. Kennedy
is distantly related to the Domurs of the ill-fated
Donner party and has talked with some of the sur-
vivors. Joseph F. left Mountain \'iew in 1876 and
went to Idaho and then to Washington and was a
pioneer of Whitman County, Wash.; later he went
to Spokane and became a merchant, and passed
away in 1903. Mrs. Joseph F. Kennedy's maiden
name was Margaret Graham, born in Cass County.
Mo. She came to California with her parents, who
were I. N. and Elizabeth (Wear) Graham, in 1852,
settling near Mountain View which is now known
as the Abbott place on the state highway. She was
the mother of three children, all of whoin are living:
James C, the subject of this sketch; Frances W., the
wife of D. L. Davis of Vallejo, a retired Govern-
ment naval ofificial, serving at Mare Island; Mar-
garet, the wife of William Bolitho, of Eastern
Washington, now lives with her uncle, Newton
Graham at Mountain View.

Mr. Kennedy has been a resident of this county
since 1871 when, after his mother's death in Alameda
County, he was brought to the home of a relative,
Mrs. W. G. Mayers, on the Springer Road, south-
west of Mountain View, where he grew up and be-
gan his education in the public schools of the county,
and attended a private high school in Colfax, Wash.;
he then entered Stanford University and spent two
years in the law department, leaving school to enter
the county clerk's office.

Mr. Kennedy was married in 1907 to Mrs. Emma
(Henderson) Barkway, a native of Kansas. She is
the mother of a daughter, Emily W., a graduate of
Stanford University, and who is now teaching at
Tomales, Marin County. Mr. Kennedy is an Elk,

and is an active member of the Episcopal church.
The family are active in social, political, religious
and educational circles and are highly respected
citizens of the community.

FRANCIS SMITH.— Not alone a pioneer of the
state, but a pioneer in his line of business, Francis
Smith stands high in the annals of California's de-
velopment as the first man in the state to manufac-
ture sheet iron mining and irrigation pipe, and at his
factory in San Francisco he also built water and oil
tanks, these products finding a market not alone in
California but iti all parts of the United States, as
well as South America, South Africa and Australia.
Mr. Smith was born at Rutland, near Middleport,
Ohio, November 29, 1831, the son of John and Eliza-
beth (Monroe) Smith, the latter a descendant of Presi-
dent Monroe. The father was a native of New Hainp-
shire and the son of a patriotic New Englander who
had served in the Revolutionary War.

Of a family of nine children, Francis Smith was
reared on the paternal farm along the banks of the
Ohio River, receiving his education in the primitive
schools of that day. At the age of fifteen he went to
Pomeroy, Ohio, to learn the tinsmith's trade, and at
the close of his apprenticeship engaged in this line of
work until 1852, when in company with nineteen
young men he left for California. Leaving New York
on the steamer Georgia, they were crowded on with
3,000 passengers and the horrors of this voyage
lasted ten days, when they reached the Chagres River
on the Isthmus of Panama. From there they were
taken to Gorgona in boats manned by naked negroes,
and then started to walk to Panama. As Mr. Smith
was not robust, he became exhausted the second day,
and but for the eiTorts of a friend, L. E. Stevens, who
forced a native to give up his mule to Mr. Smith,
he might have succumbed. They were obliged to wait
ten days at Panama for a steamer and then began
another terrible voyage, occasioned by the Panama
fever breaking out on board the boat. They arrived
at San Francisco on February 11. 1853, and Mr. Smith
contiimed on to Sacramento, going from there to
Hangtown, now Plaeerville, where he worked at his
trade for six month?. Later he worked at Marys-
ville and Camptonville. and in 1855 located at San
Juan, where he conducted a tinshop and hardware
store. It was while there that he saw the need of
something to take the place of the miner's canvas
hose, and he began the manufacture of sheet iron
pipe, and out of his small beginning his extensive
and lucrative business was developed.

In 1869 Mr. Smith removed to San Francisco and
two }'ears later bet;an the manufacture of iron pipe
in that city, ooninuncing on a small scale and doing
all the work himself. The undertaking was an entirely
new and original one and met with ready success.
For twenty-eight years he was located at 130 Beal
Street, and later he built a plant at Eighth and Town-
send streets, the largest and most complete establish-
ment of its kind in the world at that time. Of rare
business ability, Mr. Smith conducted his affairs along
practical and modern methods and rose to occupy
a position among the most successful manufacturers
of the West. In addition to his manufacturing inter-
ests he built the city water works for Watsonville,
Petaluma, Redding and Winnemucca, Nev. In 1871
he purchased the Swinford property on Bascom Av-

v^M^^^-^^<^ J<^j-''T^^'--''-t-r^ ^

/j^i^-ui^^ <2^w^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

617

enue, now known as Dana farm, and lying between
San Jose and Santa Clara, wlich has since been the
family homestead; here Mr. Smith set out the first
large commercial prune orchard in the Santa Clara
Valley, and it is now one of the fine orchard prop-
erties of the district.

On July 3, 1860, Mr. Smith was united in marriage
with Miss Rebecca Crites, a native of Athens, N. Y.,
the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Geiger) Crites,
both born in Pennsylvania, the mother being a rela-
tive of the famous Miss Geiger who was a despatch
carrier during the Revolutionary War. John Crites
came to Wisconsin in the early days with Juneau
and became a pioneer farmer of Walworth County.
Mrs. Smith was reared in Walworth County, Wis.,
where she received a fine education and in 1857 came
to California by way of the Isthmus; she went at
once to Miss Atkins' Seminary at Benicia, now Mills
College in Oakland, and three years later her marriage
to Mr. Smith occurred. They became the parents
of four children: George F., whose biography appears
elsewhere in this volume, lives on the old homestead;
Edwin V. died at San Jose in 1916; Elizabeth is Mrs.
Hinson of Melbourne, Australia; Dana W. died in in-
fancy. Mrs. Smith took great pleasure in her exten-
sive travels, journeying over Europe and making four
trips to Australia; a cultured woman of unsual at-
tainments, she gathered about her many friends who
appreciated her many fine qualities and her generous
hospitality, so that her passing away on September
14, 1914, left a deeply felt void not alone in the family
circle, but in the community, Mr. Smith's deatli
having occurred two years previously, on October
10, 1912. Prominent in the ranks of Masonry, he
became a member of that order while living in San
Juan, and was made a Knight Templar in Nevada
City about 1858, later demitting to Golden Gate Com-
mandery at San Francisco. In personal character-
istics no man stood higher among the citizens of this
section than Mr. Smith. Endowed not only with
business ability, but with stanch integrity, he carefully
followed the course which marked his career from
the very beginning, and at the close of his useful,
well-spent life, he could truthfully say that he had
never knowingly wronged a fellowman.

P. HERMANN H. RICHTER.— The scenic
beauty, productiveness and agreeable climate of the
Santa Clara Valley have attracted many automobile
tourists from various parts of the country to this
garden spot of California and they have found in
Cedar Brook Park at San Jose, of which P. Hermann
H. Richter is the owner and manager, an admirable
camping site, provided with many facilities for their
convenience and comfort. He was born in Meldorf,
Holstein, Germany, December 13, 1865, a son of
August and Anna Richter, the former of whom had
charge of the street department of that city and
for many years was in the service of the government.

The only surviving member of a family of ten
children, Hermann Richter attended the common
schools of Meldorf to the age of eleven years, when
he started out to provide for his own livelihood,
being variously employed until 1885, when he entered
the German army, in which he served for three
years. Following his release from military duty, he
came to the United States, making his way to San
Francisco, Cal., and going from there to San Rafael,

where for thirteen months he worked in the brick-
yards. From 189U until 1892 he was employed on
freighters plying on San Francisco Bay and the
Sacramento River and in the latter year he came to
San Jose, obtaining a position in the brickyards on
Keycs Street and taking out of the kiln the first
bricks manufactured in this city. He remained with
that firm for a year and then spent two years with
the Peterson-Chockoche Brick Company. In 1&93
he had purchased a piece of land, upon which he
erected his home, and in 1895 he embarked in busi-
ness on his own account, opening a store at the
corner of Keyes and Eleventh streets, where he began
dealing in hay, grain and w-ood. In 1900 he bought
a four^acre tract at Keyes and Tw^elfth streets, an
abandoned brickyard, which had been used as a
dumping ground, and began improving the place,
which he has at length converted into a fine auto
camping site. This has been visited by tourists
from all parts of the country, over 5,000 auto parties
having registered here up to January 1, 1922, while
many have been so favorably impressed with the
locality that they have decided to become permanent
residents of San Jose. Mr. Richtcr's charges are
very reasonable, the tourists furnishing their own
camping outfits. He also conducts a store where
provisions can be conveniently obtained by the camp-
ers, and has established an open-air kitchen, equipped
with gas stoves; he has installed show-er baths,
doing everything in his power to provide for the
comfort of the tourists. His place was originally
known as Willow Park but in 1902 the name was
changed to its present form, that of Cedar Brook
Park. In 1920 it was leased as a public camping
ground ■ by the Chamber of Commerce, who also
secured an option to buy it, but upon the termina-
tion of the lease Mr. Richter decided to operate the
park himself and success has attended his efiforts,
this being one of the most popular camping sites
m the valley.

In San Jose, on February 2, 1893, Mr. Richter
married Miss Katie Reder, who was born, reared.
and educated in his native city and came to Cali-
fornia shortly before her marriage. They have be-
come the parents of six children: Johanna, who is
filling a clerical position in San Jose; Olga. Mrs.
Gus Spatzwood, a graduate of the San Jose Normal
when nineteen and until her marriage taught in
Mendocino County, where she now lives in Potter
Valley; August Victor, who is in the employ of the
Standard Oil Company, graduated from Heald's Busi-
ness College at seventeen; Martha, who also is em-
ployed as a clerk; Ernest, a high school student; and
Emma, who died in infancy. Mr. Richter is a stanch
Republican in his political views and an active worker
in the ranks of the party. He became the organizer
of the Third Ward Independent Club, starting with
an enrollment of nine, while it now has 180 members,
and he is regarded as one of the leaders of the party
in this district. He is also well known in fraternal
circles of San Jose, belonging to the Loyal Order of
Moose, the Gcrmania Society, the Foresters of
America, and the Chamber of Commerce. He has led
an active and useful life, employing every opportunity
to advance, and his present success is entirely at-
tributable to his own eflforts. He is a man of high
personal standing, of marked business integrity and
ability, and his sterling worth has won for him
the respect and esteem of a large circle of friends.

618

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

GEORGE F. SMITH.— In this day of change and
rapid development it is given to few to have lived
for more than half a century on the same property,
as has George F. Smith, and to have seen the won-
derful transformation wrought in the Santa Clara
Valle)% from a mustard field to a garden spot and
the city of San Jose from a straggling village to its
present status as a commercial center. And not as a
mere onlooker has Mr. Smith seen this change ac-
complished, but in all of it he has taken an active
part, a true upbuilder, whose influence has ever been
on the side of permanent development. His parents,
Francis ' and Rebecca (Crites) Smith, represented
elsewhere in this volume, were among California's
highly honored pioneers, the father, a native of Ohio,
coming via the Isthmus of Panama in 1853, and the
mother coming by the same route in 1857. Francis
Smith was the first manufacturer of sheet iron pipe
in California, used extensively in hydraulic mining
and for irrigation, and he built up an important busi-
ness as a manufacturer of pipe and water and oil
tanks, his factory, located in San Francisco, then be-
ing one of the largest in the world. Mrs. Rebecca
Crites Smith was a woman of exceptional culture and
widely traveled, and with her husband, held a high
place in the community.

The eldest of the family, George F. Smith was born
at the old mining town of San Juan, in Nevada Coun-
ty, Cal., June 27, 1861, where the family resided until
1869, when they removed to San Francisco. Two
ytars later they came to the ranch on Bascom Av-
enue, near San Jose, and this has ever since been
Mr. Smith's home, now fifty-one years. After com-
pleting the local schools, he entered the College of
the Pacific, where he studied for three years, among
his classmates being Judge John H. Richards, Judge
Gosbey and Judge Glendenning. When twenty years
old he left college to assume the management of the
ranch, but later completed a course at Hcald's Busi-
ness College in San Francisco.

On June 28. 1882. at Agnew, Mr. Smith was united
in marriage with Miss Lizzie Bell Agnew, who was
born at Oskaloosa, Iowa, the daughter of Abraham
and Sarah Jane (Barber) Agnew. The father, a
native of Ohio, emigrated to Iowa at an early day,
and in 1846 crossed the plains to Oregon over the
Lewis and Clark trail as captain of a train. A man of
prowess, he led several expeditions each year over this
trail to Oregon, finally settling at Oskaloosa, Iowa.
In 1873 he brought his family to Santa Clara County,
Cal.. and purchased the Peebles ranch, part of this
property now being the site of the town of Agnew,
which was named in his honor. He passed away in
1900, and his wife, who was a member of a prominent
old New Jersey family, died in 1905. They were the
parents of three children: Hugh, deceased; Lizzie Bell,
who became Mrs. Smith, and Jessie B., of San Diego.
Mrs. Smith was fourteen years of age when the family
came to California and she continued her education
at the College of the Pacific, where she took up the
study of art, in which she was exceptionally talented,
many of her paintings now adorning the walls of the
Smith home. Four children of the seven born to Mr.
and Mrs. Smith arc now living: Frank, a mining
engineer, has just returned from the interior of Korea,
after an absence of nine years; George D. is mana-
ger of the Dana Farm; Isabelle and Effie preside

over the home, whose artistic furnishings and beau-
tiful decorations had been planned and carried out
by Mrs. Smith, whose devotion to her home and fam-
ily made her the center of the happy, harmonious
circle. Cultured and lovable in every way, her death,
on February 7, 1922, left an irreplacable void.

The home place on Bascom Avenue, called Dana
Farm, consists of seventy-five acres all in prunes
and pears, and with the fine, large residence and well-
laid out grounds, beautifully kept, it is one of the
show places of the county. Mr. Smith also owns
200 acres near Exeter, which he developed from rough
hogwallow land, and twenty acres are now in bear-
ing navel oranges; he is also the president of the
North Paris Land Company of San Mateo County,
owning a large ranch near Half Moon Bay, and a
director of the Watsonville Water Company, of
which the members of Ihe family are the principal
owners. A firm believer in cooperation, he is a
member of the Klink Citrus Association, the Califor-
nia Prune & Apricot Growers Association, and the
California Pear Growers Association. Mr.' Smith is
a Republican in politics and a member of the Pres-
byterian Church of Santa Clara, in which his wife
will ever be remembered for her beautiful Christian
life. Just, generous and charitable, Mr. Sinith has
ever given his best efforts to support every progressive
movement and he stands among the first citizens of
the county that has been his home for so many years.

WILLIAM S. TEMPLETON.— Among the suc-
cessful ranchers of the Santa Clara Valley who has
used intelligent methods in his agricultural develop-
ments, is William S. Templeton, who came to the
county in 1912. A native of Illinois, he was born at
Dakota, Stephenson County, on October 23, 1878,
the son of Walker and Elizabeth (Bragg) Temple-
Ion, the father of Scotch descent, w^ho was born in
Pennsylvania, February 14, 1839, and the mother
was born in England, March 23, 1848. Both parents
are still living. The father is a Civil War veteran,
having served three years in Company D of the
Ninety-third Illinois Infantry. He served in the
Western Army and later with Sherman in his
March-to-the-Sea.

William attended the Dakota grammar school and
then took a course in the Interior Academy at
Dakota, 111. After leaving school he worked on a
ranch for about a year and a half. He became inter-
ested in raising fancy Cornish chickens, when only
fifteen years of age, and by careful study and applica-
tion, bred many prize fowls. As his business expanded
he became one of the foremost breeds and exhibitors
of the Cornish breed, and in time developed the now
justly celebrated Templcton's Dark Cornish, Victor
Strain Cornish fowls, without doubt America's best
table fowl. He has never failed to take one or more
first prizes wherever he has exhibited his birds, and
he has exhibited at the leading poultry shows_ in
Boston, Madison Square Garden, New York City;
Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, St. Louis World's Fair,
Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland
and San Francisco. In October, 1912, he came with
his family to California and settled in Los Gatos,
remaining there but a short time, when he removed
to Morgan Hill. Later he ranched near Campbell
and was thus engaged for four years, when he pur-
chased an eight-acre prune orchard on Los Gatos
and Santa Clara roads. His orchard is in full-bear-

^-^^^ ^^dw^^^

( K^-.^ 4l<y 7^/^^^.^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

623

ing prune trees, finely cultivated and well irrigated,
so that lie gets the best results obtainable from his
labor. He also continues to breed his strain of
Cornish fowls.

On October 18, 1906, in Winneshiek, 111., Mr.
Templeton was married to Miss Florence Yarger, a
native of that state, born in Rock Run Township,
near Rock City, a daughter of William C. and
Martha (Mitchell) Yarger. Mrs. Templeton was
educated in the schools of Lancaster, 111., and the
Interior Academy at Dakota. They are the parents
of two children: Russell Emlen, born at Dakota,
111., January 4, 1908, and Lawrence Ozro, born near
Campbell, Cal., March 22. 1914. Mr. Templeton is a
Republican in his political views, and he and his wife
are active and consistent members of the Presby-
terian church. With a determination to succeed in
whatever he undertook, he is being well rewarded
for his industry in his success as a horticulturist.

HERBERT R. TRIPP.— A native son of California
and a trustworthy government employe. Herbert R.
Tripp was born in Watsonville, Cal., February 10.
1863, a son of Dr. Russell B. and Agnes Jane
(Stewart) Tripp. The father crossed the plains to
California in 1852 and for a time was connected with
gold mining in Placer County, after wdiich he
removed to Watsonville, where he engaged in the
practice of medicine. He next purchased land near
Cambria, San Luis Obispo County, where he en-
gaged in stockraising and then went to Wilcox,
Arizona, w-here for many years he continued to raise
cattle. In 1897 he sold his cattle interests and re-
turned to San Jose, making his home with his son,
Herbert R. Tripp, until his demise. June 2, 1919,
lacking only twenty-two days of his one hundredth
birthday. During the Mexican war he was assistant
surgeon in the United States Army.

While Dr. Tripp was engaged in the cattle busi-
ness in Arizona the mother resided with her children
in San Jose, where they attended the public schools.
After completing his public school course Herbert
learned the trade of a harness maker, which he
followed until 1884, when he was one of the first
four mail carriers appointed in the San Jose post-
office. For a number of years he continued to fill
that position but later he was transferred as a clerk
in the office and is now in the registry division.

On December 17, 1885, in San Jose, Mr. Tripp was
united in marriage to Miss Lue Butler, who was
born in Dewitt, Clinton County, Iowa, November
18, 1865, a daughter of Franklin S. and Mary Jane
(Dennis) Butler. Her father was born in Pike
County. Ind., February 3, 1837, and was a son of
Jonathan S. and Nancy (McNeal) Butler, the former
of Scotch descent, while the latter was of English
lineage. In 1875, at the age of ten years, Mrs.
Tripp came w-ith her parents to California, the party
being ten days in making the trip; the family settled
in San Jose. On arriving here Franklin Butler re-
sumed the carpenter's trade, which he followed until
he retired. He was an honored veteran of the
Civil w-ar and his military record was a most credit-
able one. He enlisted on August 12, 1861, and was
mustered into the service at Davenport, Iowa, on
the Sth of September, 1861, as a member of the
regiment commanded by Col. Frederick Steele. The
regiment was ordered to St. Louis, Mo., where it

remained for two weeks, and was then sent to Syra-
cuse, that state, where it joined Fremont's forces in
the campaign against General Price's Confederate
troops. From November, 1861, until March 12,
1862, it was stationed at Sedalia, Mo., and then went
to St. Louis, where it embarked for Pittsburg Land-
ing, Tenn., taking a gallant part in the subsequent
engagement at that point. In the Battle of Shiloh
the regiment suffered severe losses and in this en-
gagement, which took place on the 6th of April,
1862, Mr. Butler was captured by the Confederates
and for two months was confined in a prison at
Mobile, Ala. From there he was sent to Macon, Ga.,
where he was kept a prisoner for five months, and
was then taken to Richmond, Va. There he was
paroled and was sent first to Annapolis, Md., and
on to St. Louis, where he remained until his regi-
ment was reorganized on November 20, 1863. The
regiment then joined Grant's forces in the Vicksburg
campaign and was afterward assigned to General
Tuttle's Division, taking part in the siege of Vicks-
burg Landing and the engagement at Jackson, Miss.
For a while it was encamped at Vicksburg, being
sent from that point to Pocahontas, Tenn., where
it was veteranized on January 1, 1864, and in Febru-
ary of the same year took part in the raid on
Meridian, Miss. Mr. Butler was then granted a fur-
lough, afterward rejoining his regiment, which was
sent to do provost guard duty at Memphis, Tenn., on
the 21st of August, 1864, continuing there during
the remainder of the defense of that city against
General Forrest. Early in March, 1865, it moved
to New Orleans, La., then to Dauphin Isle, whence
it joined in the siege of Mobile and the capture of
Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, being with Colonel
Geddes in the assault on Spanish Fort, which was
one of the most brilliant performances of the cam-
paign. After the fall of Mobile it moved to Mont-
gomery, Ala., and thence to Selma Isle, where it
was mustered out April 20, 1766. Mr. Butler was
made eighth corporal on January 1, 1862; seventh
corporal March 1, 1862; sixth corporal December 4,
1862 and second corporal February 10, 1864. He was
a member of Sheridan-Dix Post, G. A. R., at San
Jose, of which he was past commander. In San
Jose he served five years as a lieutenant in the Cali-
fornia National Guard.

Mr. and Mrs. Tripp are the parents of two chil-
dren: Russell Butler served ten years in the Cali-
fornia National Guard, becoming captain of Com-
pany M, Fifth Regiment. He resigned his office
as city clerk and enlisted for service in the World
War, was commissioned a second lieutenant in Sep-
tember, 1917, and later a first lieutenant in the
Three Hundred Sixty-fourth Infantry, Ninety-first
Division, and was sent overseas, participating in its
activities in France. He spent four months at the
University of Poitiers in the studj' of international
law. On his return to the Presidio he received his
discharge in August, 1919. He is now editor of the
Stirringrod and also of the Western Confectioner.
He and his wife, Mary E. Tripp, have a son,
William Russell. Bessie B. Tripp married R. C.
McCrone and they reside at San Jose. Herbert M.
Tripp is a Republican and is a member of the
Masons, Odd Fellows and the Native Sons of the
Golden West, while his wife is affiliated with the
Eastern Star and the Rebekahs, in which she is a

624

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

past noble grand. She is also prominently identified
with the Women's Relief Corps of San Jose and was
department president of California and Nevada in
1914. and presided at the convention held here in
1914. Thej^ make their home at 396 South Second
Street, where they dispense a cordial hospitality to
their many friends.

MICHAEL BROEDEL.— An enterprising, thor-
oughly up-to-date manufacturer, who w^ell deserves
his phenomenal success, is Michael Broedel of 556
South First Street, San Jose. He was born in New
York City on September 11, 1857, the son of John
and Catherine (Baker) Broedel, and came out to
California on M.Trch 3. 1873. to join his brother,
Adam. wln> h.ul .ilnaily been ten years in the Golden
State. In ;li'. i:i!l ..f 1873 the parents of our subject
followed, ;inil inr \iars they lived on the Coast in
the quiet enjoyment of Western life. Both of these
worthy people are now dead.

Michael Broedel attended the grammar schools
of Greenville, Pa., to which place his people had
moved when he was a child, and after coming to San
Jose, in 1873. he learned the blacksmith's trade under
W. H. Hollis. with whom he remained for nine years
from April, 1874. Then he started a shop of his
own at the New Almaden Mines, and ran it at a fair
profit for several years. In 1890 he cstabHshed a
shop in San Jose, where he endeavored, with ever-
increasing success, to turn out the best work; and
from that has grown his present modern blacksmith
and machine shops and woodwork business, where
the services of from eighteen to twenty-five skilled
mechanics are required to meet the demands of an
appreciative public. His equipment is one of the best
on the Pacific slope, a fact for which the people of
San Jose frequently give thanks, when they find that
it is no longer necessary to go to San Francisco for
expert service.

Some years ago Mr. Broedel purchased a lot lOOx
1371/; feet at 556 South First Street, and in 1906 he
built a two-story modern building, where he en-
gaged in business. His building and business were
burned to the ground in 1918. He immediately re-
built, constructing a brick building 100xl37i/4 feet,
which now houses his big business. Mr. Broedel is
also a half owner with Frank Hennessey in the Hen-
nessey Trucking Company, operating a fleet of motor
trucks in Santa Clara County, in which they are
making a success. Naturally Mr. Broedel belongs
to the Chamber of Commerce and heartily supports
Its various programs. He is also a charter member
of the San Jose Commercial Club.

On May 31, 1912. at San Jose, Mr. Broedel was
married to Miss Sidney West, who was born in Lake
County, California. He is a Knight Templar and a
thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, being a
member of all the Masonic bodies in San Jose, and is
also a member of the Sciots. By a former marriage
Mr. Broedel had two children, William M., who as-
sisted Mr. Broedel in his business until his death at
the age of twenty-six, and Charles X.

JOHN A. LOVELL. — A most interesting repre-
sentative of several of the worthiest pioneer families
was the late John A. Lovell, the well-known and
highly-respected citizen of Santa Clara, who lived
retired at 1091 Harrison Street some time before his
demise. He was born in Hopkins County, Ky., on No-
vember 18, 1842, the son of Ira Joseph and Ann
Laurette (Campbell) Lovell. with whom he crossed
the plains in a large train captained by an uncle.

Benjamin Campbell. William Campbell, our subject's
grandfather, was one of California's first settlers,
and was born in Fayette County, Ky., on November
12, 1793, the son of David Campbell. He grew up
on the rugged frontier, with very limited educational
advantages, and he came to know the grim reality
of life through three wars, in two of which he
actively participated. As far back as the War of
1812, he served in a regiment of Kentucky Volun-
teers, and he was thus able to bequeath to his de-
scendants the sturdiest American virtues. On Sep-
tember 24, 1816, he married Miss Sarah McNary,
who died within five years; and then, on Septem-
ber 24. 1822, he married Miss Agnes Hancock, a
native of Kentucky. Mr. Campbell led the ([uiet life
of a farmer of moderate means in Kentucky- and
Missouri; but finally stirred by the spirit of adven-
ture, he and his wife and children made the long
journey, almost three years in advance of the gold-
seekers of '49. He at once saw the future in Santa
Clara County, and settled here, and he became a
leadet in the development of the Valley, and assisted
by his two sons, David and Benjamin, he put up
the first sawmill within the county limits for cut-
ting the great redwood trees. A natural mechanic,
he built his own threshing machine in 1847; and
it not only threshed, but it separated the grain from
the straw- and chaff, and had a capacity of ten to
twelve bushels an hour. If not the first separator
ever operated in California, it was the first one
ever built in the state, and this fact is all the more
interesting because he was a typical pioneer who did
a man's work in subduing the wilderness. He had a
brave, undaunted spirit, and he was always helpfully
optimistic as to the destiny of the great common-
wealth. His devoted wife, alas, did not live to enter
into even his dreams, for she died in the autumn
of the year when he removed to California, the
mother of seven children. William Campbell passed
away peacefully on December 2, 1886, after having
made his home for years with his son, Benjamin.

Benjamin Campbell, John A. Lovell's uncle, has
passed into history as the first permanent settler of
the Hamilton district. He was born in Muhlenburg
County. Ky., on October 16. 1826, and since the
years of his young manhood, he was identified with
developments in California, fortunate in a favoring
association in business with his father. On reaching
California, father and son found the country in
the turmoil which terminated in its conquest, not by
force or numbers, but by American valor, and they
both soon took a very active part. In the spring
of 1851, Mr. Campbell purchased a site for his home,
on what was later Campbell Avenue, near Camp-
bell Station, in the Hamilton district; and as his
original purchase was a squatter's right, he was
forced to defend himself in litigation extending
through eighteen years. Finally, he bought a quit-
claim of those who contended for it under Mexi-
can grants, and later obtained from the U. S. Gov-
ernment a patent of 160 acres. As the years went
by. he became much interested in horticulture;
Campbell Station was built on his land, and was
followed by the establishing of the Campbell post
office, when he was made postmaster. In 1851 Mr.
Campbell returned East to Saline County. Mo., and
on Christmas day he was married to Miss Mary
L. Rucker. The next vear he came back to Cali-

7y)^€u^.UJ^.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

627

fornia, bringing his wife, and they estabhshed them-
selves permanently here, becoming active and prpm-
inent in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

Ira J. Lovell, the father of our subject, was born
in Logan County, Ky., on November 6. 1811, the
son of Michael Lovell. who spent his early boyhood
on the Chesapeake Bay, some sixty miles from Bal-
timore. Like his father, Ira became a tiller of the
soil; so that it was rather natural, perhaps, that
he should push westward, with his wife and seven
children, in 1852, braving the hardships of an ox-
team journey across the plains and mountains to
the Golden State. The party was six months on
the way, suffered much from sickness and experi-
enced various troubles during the latter part of
the trip; but on the first of October they arrived
in the Santa Clara Valley, and became pioneers of
Redwood township. After a year at Santa Clara,
Ira Lovell located in the autumn of 1853 upon the
liomestead, in what is now the Moreland district,
where he continued to reside. The land was cov-
ered with oak and chaparral, and he soon obtained
a good title to the 231 acres, although it was part
of a Mexican grant. Much earlier, in 1835, in fact,
in Kentucky, which was her native State,- Mr. Lovell
was married to Mi.^s .\nn L. Campbell, the daugh-
ter of William Campbell, just referred to. Orig-
inally a Henry Clay Whig, Ira Lovell became a
supporter of the Democratic party; and he also was
active in good works under the banners of the
Methodist Church, South, his good wife sharing the
pleasure of such religious and sociological endeavors.
William Campbell was one of the surveyors who laid
out the city of Santa Clara, and he and Mr. and Mrs.
Ira Lovell, the parents of our subject, are all buried
at Santa Clara.

Nine children were born to the worthy couple;
the eldest son, William Lovell, became a lawyer,
and was three times district attorney of Santa Clara
County. Mary is the widow of William Beauchamp
and resides in San Jose. James became a minister
of the Methodist Church, South, and died at Lom-
poc. John A. is the subject of our review. Theo-
dore, when seven years old, was drowned ne^r
Visalia while driving cattle across a stream. Joseph
W. became a rancher and died. Maggie, who also
crossed the plains, married L. T. Cook, who lives
retired at San Jose. Hugh was born in Kentucky,
married and had one son. Farley Lovell, who re-
sides in Southern California; but he himself is now-
deceased. Ella has become the wife of George L.
Beaver, the retired capitalist and father of a son and
two daughters, and they reside at Palo Alto.

John A. Lovell attended the public schools in
Kentucky and later he went to school near Campbell;
and as he grew up, he helped to farm the grain.
In 1872 he was married to Miss Eda Jackson, a
native of Santa Clara and the daughter of A. J.
and Amanda (Senter) Jackson, the former the well-
known provost-marshal in California during the Civil
War. He was a native of New York State, and
came out to California in pioneer days; and he built
his home here over thirty years ago; and for twelve
years he served as constable, marshal and deputy
sheriff. Two children blessed this union: Bertha
became Mrs. F. A. Alderman and is now a widow,
with a son, .-Mton. fourteen years old; and .\lice is
the wife of .Arthur Langford. and resides at San

Jose. In national political affairs, Mr. Lovell was
a Democrat; but he always gave his loyal and enthu-
siastic support to whatever was best for the com-
munity. He passed away on September 5, 1921,
mourned by his family and many friends.

JOAQUIN J. SILVEIRA.— Dairying has as-
sumed an important place among the industries
which are contributing to the development and up-
building of Santa Clara County and among those
who have made it a close study is numbered Joaquin
J. Silveira, the owner of two valuable dairy farms,
which in their equipment and operation are the ex-
pression of the latest scientific research along this
line. He was born on the island of St. George in the
-Azores. July 10, 1865, a son of Antonio and Marie
(Encarnacion) Silveira. The father successfully fol-
lowed farming and stockraising and passed away
at the age of seventy-two. while his wife reached
the age of sixty-eight years. In their fainily were
five sons and two daughters, of whom the subject
of this review was the third son. His oldest brother,
Antonio Silveira, was a sea captain and his demise
occurred in Brazil. The next son preceded Joaquin
J. Silveira to Santa Clara County, where he still
makes his home.

When eighteen years of age Mr. Silveira arrived
in Boston, Mass.. where he remained for six weeks,
and then made his way across the continent to Marin
County, Cal., to join an older brother. He obtainea
employment in a dairy and for a year was thus
occupied, when he went to Monterey County, where
he obtained similar work. At the end of a year
he removed to San Benito County, where he resided
for twelve years, and then went to Stanislaus County,
purchasing a farm of 117 acres near Xewman. Upon
this place he conducted a dairy for six years and
is still its owner. He next came to Santa Clara
County and in September, 1906, bought his pres-
ent farm of eighty-two and a half acres on the
Lawrence Road. He has made many improve-
ments on the property, greatly enhancing its value,
and is operating a modern, well equipped dairy,
keeping for this purpose high-grade Holsteins, now
having 48 milch cows, he has had broad experience
along this line and his specialized knowledge of
dairying has been the chief factor in his present suc-
cess. He also has financial interests, being a stock-
holder in the Portuguese-American Bank at San
Francisco, and he is likewise president of the Portu-
guese Dairy & Land Company of San Francisco.

Mr. Silveira was married at San Juan, in San
Benito County, when twenty-seven years of age,
to Miss Mariana Nascimento and they have become
the parents of ten children: Mary, the wife of
Joseph Borbas, a rancher of Sunnyvale; Antonio;
Mariana, the wife of Frank Dutra, who is conduct-
ing a dairy farm in the Brady district, keeping a
herd of sixty cows; Florence, wife of M. S. Simas
of San Francisco; Willie, Annie, Ernestine and
Arthur, Clara, who died at the age of five years,
and Johnny. Mr. Silveria gives his political alle-
giance to the Republican party and is a member
of the I. D. E. S. at Santa Clara, the U. P. E. C.
at Sunnyvale, of which he is president, and has
also been a director of the S. E. S. at Santa Clara.
His life record illustrates the power of honesty and
diligence in insuring success. His labors have al-

628

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ways been constructive and intelligently carried for-
ward and have resulted in placing him in the front
rank of the progressive dairymen of this section of
Santa Clara County.

MRS. ELIZABETH MacLEOD.— Many lives have
entered into the development of the state of Cali-
fornia and none of them are more worthy to be con-
sidered in a history devoted to the early days than
Mrs. Elizabeth MacLeod, who is numbered among the
most successful horticulturists of Santa Clara .County.
She was born at New Monkland. Lanarkshire. Scot-
land, October 14. 1848, and was the daughter of John
and Elizabeth (Spears) McAllister. The father, who
was superintendent of engines in the coal mines
there, passed away at the age of thirty-seven, Mrs.
MacAllister passing away at her home in Scotland
at the age of ninety, having reared a family of nine
children. The third oldest of the family, Elizabeth
McAllister attended the local schools until her father's
death, when she was twelve years old, and as her
two older sisters had gone into business for them-
selves she naturally became her mother's mainstay,
assisting on the farm and helping to care for the
younger children. Fond of horses, she was in her
element when she had the reins in her hands, and
thus she came to do every kind of farm work pro-
ficiently. When twenty years old she was married
to Edward MacLeod, a native of Dumfriesshire, Scot-
land. He was a stationary engineer and was so oc-
cupied in his native land until 1871. and feeling there
would be better opportunities in America, he crossed
the ocean and located at Summerville, Contra Costa
County, where he worked as engineer in the mines.
In 1872 Mrs. MacLeod, with her two children, joined
her husband, and after spending some time at Sum-
merville, she came to Santa Clara County. She first
purchased a place near the San Tomas schoolhouse,
and after two 5'ears, disposed of it and purchased
fifty acres in the Cupertino district, where she now
resides. When she began improving her place she
had very little means and it was a hard struggle.
Energetic and with a brave heart, she set out the
orchards; she had good credit at the Farmers Union
and at the Bank of San Jose, and she says she will
never forget their kindness. This credit enabled her
to carry on the improvements and build up her place
until she could get ahead and pay back the indebted-
ness on it. A woman of great capability, she drove a
six-horse team herself in the fields, so the work never
failed to go on. although she had to do much of it.

Mrs. MacLeod's property is set principally to
prunes and her orchards are among the finest in the
locality. They have been given the best of care and
she is now enjoying a splendid income from them.
She also was the owner of a forty-acre orchard at
Millikens Corners which she disposed of at a good
profit, and then bought a place of thirty-five acres
across the highway from her home, which she later
sold to her daughter and son-in-law; she has also
owned various other properties and has always given
them her personal superintendence, so that they were
well cared for. Mrs. MacLeod is a stockholder in the
Farmers Union and for some years was a trustee
of the Doyle school district. She is an enthusiastic
member of the California Prune & Apricot Growers,
Inc., and was one of the first to take stock in this
enterprise which she assisted in organizing. In 1901
she made a trip back to Scotland where she had a
pleasant time, visiting her relatives and friends, and

on her return to New York she made arrangements
with commission merchants to ship prunes to them
and for the next three years she was engaged in buy-
ing and shipping them, with good success.

Mr. and Mrs. MacLeod were the parents of four
children: James, who was born in Scotland, passed
away at the age of thirty-two; Elizabeth, also born
in Scotland, is an artist of ability and assists her
mother in presiding over the home; Winifred is the
wife of A. Schoenheit and they have one child, Helen
Mar; John MacLeod died in infancy. Mrs. Mac-
Leod is an active member of the Presbyterian Church,
and takes a great interest in the uplift of the com-
munity in which she lives. She is a woman of re-
markable business acumen, and has demonstrated her
ability in the operation of her orchards and the hand-
ling of her financial affairs in a most satisfactory
way, so that she is a leader among the horticulturists
of the valley. Well read and experienced, she is a
very interesting woman, being well informed and an
agreeable conversationalist.

EDITH LEACH TALBERT.— Popular among
the successful members of the pedagogical fraternity
at San Jose is Mrs. Edith Leach Talbert, of the
Lowell School, who was born at Geneseo, Henry
County, 111., the daughter of William Leach, a
native of Massachusetts, who married Miss Anna H.
Blake, like himself a descendant of the sons and
daughters of the American Revolution. Miss Blake,
in fact, was born at Taunton, and in that town alone
she had twenty-three cousins bearing such well-
known down-east names as Blake, Hathaway and
Palmer.

When a young man, William Leach came West
to Illinois, and when his daughter Edith was a
mere girl he moved on to Kansas where, as a mill-
wright, he had the record of installing and starting
nine mills at such places as Benton, Halstead and
Perryville. He made a specialty of flour mills and
elevators, and lived to be eighty-four years of age.
He and his good wife had six children, among whom
our subject is the youngest, and four of the family
are still living.

When Edith Leach was still in her teens, her
father came out to Santa Clara County and settled
at San Jose; soon after he retired from active life.
She attended the various grades of the San Jose
schools, and was a graduate of the State Normal
School in the class of '92. She then taught for ten
years in Santa Clara County, most of the time in
the Willow Glen district. On June 25, 1902, she
was married at San Jose to Franklin Lilburn Tal-
bert, a native of Iowa, and to this union were born
two promising children, Edith Blake and Ernest
William Talbert, both of whom are students at the
San Jose high school. In 1913 Mrs. Talbert resumed
teaching, for which she had such natural aptitude
and such an exceptional training, and for a year
was engaged in grammar school work at Los Gatos.
She then came to the Hester school and taught
there for a number of terms and ever since she has
been a valuable and esteemed member of the staff of
the Lowell School at San Jose, one of the best
institutions of its grade in all California.

Mrs. Talbert, who is a member of the Eastern
Star, makes her home with her sister. Miss Annie
A. Leach, whose early education was almost identi-
cal with her own. Also a native of Illinois, she
attended a business college at Lawrence, Kans..

^Iw-=15w^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

629

but she never followed a business career. She is a
gifted painter, a student of the artist Gulp at San
Francisco, and she has become noted for her china
decorating. After the death of her mother, who
passed away at the age of seventy-eight, Miss Leach
cared for her father, who died at the age of eighty-
four; since then she has maintained the family
home, where she continues her art work.

WILBUR LEE CAMP.— Occupying a position
of prominence among the most influential citizens
of Mountain View is Wilbur Lee Camp, the efficient
and capable president of the Farmers and Mer-
chants National Bank. A native of Iowa, he was
born at Swan, Marion County, February 25, 1876.
His father, Jacob H., was a native of Pennsylvania
and was an old-time school teacher and farmer.
He removed to Ohio and thence to low-a in 1851
where he married Miss Martha Smith, and they
were the parents of six children, the subject of this
sketch being the youngest. The father passed away
when Wilbur L- was a small lad of eight years, but
the mother still lives in Iowa in the old home town.

Mr. Camp attended the public schools and later
Highland Park College, where he took the regular
four years' course, completing two courses, the busi-
ness course and the college course. He then entered
the Northwestern University law school at Evans-
ton, 111., but before finishing he entered the rail-
way mail service. In April, 1898, he enlisted for
service in the Spanish-American War and was
stationed in the Philippine Islands for a year and
a half. He enlisted from Knoxville, Iowa, in Company
D, Fifty-first Iowa Volunteer Infantry, his regiment
being assigned to the Eighth Army Corps and was
sent on the transport Pennsylvania to Manila.
During his stay in the Philippine Islands his com-
pan}' saw active service in putting down the Philip-
pine insurrection and took part in the battles of San
Roque, Pasai, Malolos, East and West Puhlan, San
Tomas, San Fernando and several other engage-
ments. Returning to San Francisco on the trans-
port Senator he was honorably discharged in Novem-
ber, 1899. with the rank of corporal. On his return
to Iowa he again entered the railway mail service
and was employed on the fast mail train on the
B.urlington route running between Chicago and
Omaha and continued in this service until 1905 when
he resigned to come to California. On his arrival
he traveled throughout the state looking for a suit-
able location in which to permanently settle, and
finally decided on Mountain View as being the most
desirable. Here he met J. S. Mockbee, an old-time
settler and one of its foremost and wealthiest citi-
zens; the acquaintance grew into friendship and soon
developed into a business association and the
Farmers and Merchants National Bank was
organized and incorporated with a paid-up capital
of $25,000, Mr. Mockbee becoming president and
Mr. Camp cashier, serving in this capacity until
1918, when Mr. Mockbee resigned the presidency
on account of impaired eyesight and Mr. Camp was
unanimously elected to fill this important position,
the duties of which he has handled to the satisfaction
of all concerned.

The marriage of Mr. Camp occurred in Los
Angeles and united him with Miss Elizabeth Burns,
the daughter of R. V. Burns, a prominent attorney
who had practiced his profession for twenty j^ears

in Mountain View. He passed away in 1918. and
the mother still makes her home in Mountain View.
Mr. and Mrs. Camp are the parents of three chil-
dren, Virginia, Anna Lee and Reynolds, and the
family resides in a modern, up-to-date residence
built in 1908 on Mariposa Avenue. Fraternally Mr.
Camp is a Mason and belongs to Mountain View
lodge No. 194, F. & A. M.; he is also a member of
the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World,
and was a member of the Spanish-American War
Veterans in Burlington, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Camp
are active and prominent members of the Presby-
terian Church, in which he is serving as a member of
the board of trustees. Mrs. Camp is a finished
violinist and organist, presiding at the organ of the
First Presbyterian Church. During the World War
Mr. Camp served as chairman on the war work and
liberty loan committees and through his energetic
work Mountain View went over the top in all the
drives. He owns a splendid eighty-acre farm near
Mountain View of which thirty acres is in Bartlett
pears and fifty acres in garden truck. His efforts
have ever been along constructive lines and he has
occupied a position of leadership, others being glad
to follow the course that he points out, and he
takes much pride in the particular locality which he
selected for his permanent place of residence.

CHARLES F. LIETZ. — A business man to whom
must be credited much of the prosperity for which
Santa Clara and vicinity has long been noted, and
whose operations have spelt success to others as
well, is Charles F. Lietz. the affable and popular
manager of the Santa Clara branch of Rosenberg
Bros. & Company, wholesale dealers in and packers
of dried fruits and nuts, at Santa Clara. His hard
and conscientious work, and his faithful, painstaking
attention to the wants of each and every patron,
have enabled him to rise in the service of this well
known and highly successful firm.

Mr. Lietz was born at Chicago on July 17, 1886,
and having come to California, settled at San Jose,
in 1903. He had received the best of pubhc school
advantages in the city by the lake, and had had the
advantage of office experience with the B. F. Cum-
mins Company, manufacturers of perforating ma-
chines, in that city; and on resuming work here, he
became a bookkeeper. His marriage united him
with Miss Mabel Wight, a native of Iowa, and they
have two children: Harold and Laura. The happy
family reside at iZ Lenzen Avenue, San Jose, and are
justly popular as neighbors fond of dispensing a
hearty hospitality. Mr. Lietz belongs at present to
San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M.

Like the other members of his family, Mr. Lietz
holds the friends he makes, and forms friendships
and friendly associations rapidly; and he has done
much to further expand the gigantic operations of
Messrs. Rosenberg Bros. & Company, undoubtedly
the largest independent dried fruit firm in California.
They have a very large establishment at Santa Clara.
with tracks for switching to and from the Southern
Pacific; and have a gigantic plant in Fresno and in
many of the other largest fruit producing sections
in California. .'\11 in all, theirs is an institution in
the highest degree creditable to California, serving
the public well, appreciating its employees, and being
in turn appreciated by both those employed and the
public that patronizes.

630

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

CHARLES D. BEVERSON— Californians delight
to honor the intrepid and far-seeing pioneer, whose
courage ambition and progressive industry ha\e
made possible so many of the blessings o today
having paved the way for those who were to come
at>r and among such worthy early settlers the name
of the late Charles D. Beverson will fmd an enviable
pace As has already been said of h.m his career
was remarkable, for he began the battle of life at an
earlv age in a foreign country, and without capital
wo led his wav gradually and steadily into the
fo"g ound u„ti,- he^ easily ranked among the mos
orosperous and successful stock raisers and fruit
grXs in Santa Clara County, where he had lived

"nVBevfrLn^was born at Bremen, Germany on
Aori ■ 10 1850. the son of Clause and Mata (Jus-
^n) Beverson natives of the same locality, w^iere
£ passed all their days. His father Jmd a farm
of 100 acres, rather large for that time and section
and by following agricultural pursuits supporte 1
familv of five children. The fourth child Ox the
familv. Charles, had only a common schoo, educa-
tion and a. the age of fourteen left his home ad
ciosstd the Atlantic, and m -vcw York ^t [o""^'
cmh employment for three years as enable-.! h.m to
■support hiinself. Having heard --^ o st^t ^7*
however, he set out for the Pacific Coast in lb67,
rro':sine by way of the Nicaraguan route, and fmal-
K reTched'the Golden Gate. He went into the ^^an
lovmin River district for a while and spent the
hrst .eason near Alice. Then he come to banta
Ciara County and took up a claim of 160 acres
twenty-three miles east of Milpitas, where with keen
orc.ight he began to raise cattle. He succeeded
Irom the first ^nd little by little made additiona
purchases, and thus came to own a 6"^ /=;"';" °
2 000 acres in that locality, and to keep 300 head of
choice cattle and a number of horses. He also owned
some eighty-six acres devoted to dairying at Laguna
where he milked twenty-five cows and made a tine

"^Mr °Bev:"son was twice married. At his . first
wedding he became the husband of Mrs. Jennie U
(Gallea) Williams, a daughter of Hiram U. ana
Amanda (Kennedy) Gallea, the former a naUve o
New York, the latter born in Ohio, both of bcotch
origin, and they were the parents of seven chiMren;
Betsv Mrs. Bancroft, died in Montana; Mrs Helen
Simpkins died in Michigan; Statira, Mrs. Harrison,
died in Michigan; Mrs. Jennie L. Beverson died in
California; Olive, the present Mrs. Beverson; Mrs.
Orsie M. Ross of Michigan; Ebert died at the age
of six months. Hiram D. Gallea engaged in farm-
ing and stock raising at Belvidere, 111., for five years,
and while there raised a yoke of white oxen that
were a dead match, and which took the blue rib-
bon at every fair they were exhibited. Wishing to
locate in Allegan County, Mich., he drove this span
of oxen through to his destination, where he set-
tled upon Government land, living there untd his
death at the age of sixty-seven, Mrs. Gallea passing
away the same year, having reached her sixty-fifth
vear. Both were devout members of the Baptist
Church. Mrs. Jennie L. Beverson first saw the light
at Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and when she passed away
on the "home ranch in Santa Clara County she was
the mother of two surviving children: Robert L.
Williams, always called Bob Beverson, was educated
at the San Jose high school and Stanford University,
and is now a popular young business man, engaged
in the automobile trade at San Jose"; Meta Ruth Bev-

erson, a graduate of the San Jose State Normal and
a member of the State Teachers' Association, is
teaching the Orchard School. Mr. Beverson's sec-
ond marriage united him with Miss Olive S. Gallea,
a sister of Mrs. Beverson; she was also a native
of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, but was reared at Wat-
son, Mich. Since her husband's death, on July 17,
1921. she has continued to live at the home place on
the San Jose-Oakland Highway, devoted to his mem-
ory and looking after the large interests left by her
husband and carrying out his plans and ambitions. In
her earlier j'ears she was engaged in educational
work, teaching school in Michigan, so she is natur-
ally much interested in the career of her daughter,
Miss Meta Beverson. Having been reared in an
atmosphere of culture and refinement, she emanates
an influence for good, and her stand for high ideals
and morals is well known. Her patriotic zeal dur-
ing the World War was helpful in the various war
drives, and especially in the local chapter of the
Red Cross, of which she was president. Of a pleas-
ing personality, she is well known and much es-
teemed, and her influence has been felt in her ac-
tivity in social and civic circles.

A Republican in politics, Mr. Beverson was broad-
minded in local affairs and served as a nonpartisan
school trustee up to 1909. He was a charter member
of the Fraternal Brotherhood and at the time of his
death had been a member of that order for twenty-
one years. Mr. Beverson always attributed most
of his financial success in life to the devoted as-
sistance of his wife, who capably looked after the
financial end of his large business, thus making it pos-
sible for him to devote all his time to stock raising
and the improvement of his lands. A man of great
energy, he was never idle and was active in his busi-
ness affairs until a week before his passing away.

ROBERT A. FATJO.— An interesting representa-
tive of an early Santa Clara family is Robert A.
Fatjo, the affable manager of the Santa Clara Branch
of the Bank of Italy. He is a son of the pioneer,
.A,nton V. Fatjo, once a director of the old Santa
Clara Valley Bank at Santa Clara, which was later
absorbed by the Bank of Italy. He was town treas-
urer for many 3'ears, and at his demise, in 1917, our
subject succeeded him as city treasurer. He came
to Santa Clara from Chile, South America, where
he was born, and as he grew up here, he entered
heartily into the building up and the upbuilding of
both the city and county; and being public-spirited,
and in no wise a politician, he gave his salary as
city treasurer to the Library, the Woman's Club,
the Chamber of Commerce and the firemen of Santa
Clara, and his son, Robert, is a chip off the old
block, and does likewise.

The Fatjo family tree goes back to Barcelona, in
Catalonia, Spain, and to the thirteenth century, and
although many of them have since figured as mer-
chants and bankers, our subject's ancestors were for
the most part orchardists, viticulturists, agriculturists
and dairy farmers. Grandfather Anton Fatjo was
born in Spain, where he attended the Spanish schools
until he was fourteen, when he began to prepare
for the priesthood; but owing to his ill-health, it
was determined to send him to Chile with a friend
of the family, a merchant well acquainted there,
and thus he rose to be a merchant himself, dealing in
drygoods, and to marry Miss Marians Salcedo, a
Chilean lady. In time they made a trip to Spain.

5s-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

633

I

and while they were there, their youn}>:est child.
Luis M. Fatjo, was born. They had five children,
and the second in the order of birth was Anton
Fatjo. Robert A. Fatjo's father.

In 1849, Grandfather Fatjo came North from Chile
to California, and at San Francisco he engaged in
wholesah'ng general merchandise, and he also estab-
lished a retail store at Santa Clara, being one of
the first extensive merchants here. He also started
the first tannery in Santa Clara, the Eberhart Tan-
ning Company, being its successor. He died in
Santa Clara at the age of seventy-three, mourned as
one of the truly "first citizens" of town and county.

Anton V. Fatjo, the father of our subject, mar-
ried Mrs. Refugio (Malarin) Spence, a native of
Monterey, a gifted and attractive woman who made
many friends and was greatly missed when she
died at Santa Clara in 1910. These good parents
had two boys and a girl; Robert A., our subject,
being the eldest, while the others are named Del-
phine and Eugene.

Robert A. Fatjo was born at Santa Clara on
December 13, 1876, and was educated at Santa Clara
College, After this he took his place in the Santa
Clara real estate office of Fatjo & Lovell, when his
father went into banking; and later, in 1910, he
organized the Mission Bank and was its president
until 1917, when it was sold to the Bank of Italy.
Since then, he has been the manager of the Santa
Clara branch of the latter bank. He is also the
vice-president of the Santa Clara Building and Loan
Association, in which his father was treasurer, and
he is a director in the Santa Clara Chamber of Com-
merce. In national politics a Republican, he is ever
ready to "boost" the locality in which he lives.

At Santa Clara, in 1902, Mr. Fatjo was married to
Miss Teresa Farry, w'ho was born and reared in that
place; and their union has been blessed with the
birth of two children, — Mary Teresa and Robert
A. Jr. The family are members of St. Claire's
Catholic Church at Santa Clara while Mr. Fatjo is
a charter member of San Jose Council. Knights of
Columbus, and is also a member of Santa Clara
Parlor, N. S. G. W.

LOUIS LIEBER.— A man of artistic tastes and
an able craftsman. Louis Lieber is easily recognized
as the veteran commercial artist of San Jose. His
business is conducted under the name of Lieber
Signs and is located at 63 South Second Street. A
native of Illinois. Mr. Lieber was born at Rock
Island, on September 26, 1862, the youngest child
in a family of three children. At the age of eleven
he was brought to California by his father, who left
him with an uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. A. Gerst-
mayr. early residents of San Jose, and by them he
was reared. He attended the public school until
he was thirteen and then was apprenticed to a car-
riage painter, remaining a little over two years, when
he went to learn the trade of sign painter with' D.
Rinaldo, at that time the best of workmen in his
line in the state. At these two trades he served
about seven years and then, at the age of twenty,
he went East and worked in several of the larger
cities for about a year, coming back to San Jose
to embark in business for himself and since then has
built up and carried on a large business.

Though the earlier years of his existence was
somewhat of a struggle, yet Mr. Lieber has always

chosen his associates among the best element of
the city. He is a close friend of Eugene T. Sawyer,
the historian of this work, whose literary and dra-
matic ability he greatly admires. Mr. Lieber be-
lieves that practice makes perfect and his decided
talent for sign painting was developed until he be-
came very proficient in it. He has now been en-
gaged in this work for himself for thirty-eight years
and does work for the leading commercial houses
and professional men in San Jose and also in that
vicinity. He takes great pride in the achievements
of San Jose and is a member of the Chamber of
Commerce. In the early days he took part in many
amateur theatrical performances staged in San Jose.
He has many warm friends among the old-time resi-
dents and business people in San Jose who appreciate
his talent and many sterling characteristics.

WILLIAM L. FITTS.— A pioneer family whose
paternal and maternal branches both reach back to
historic periods and touch some of the earliest and
most interesting families long identified with Cali-
fornia is well represented by William L. Fitts, the
plumbing contractor of 51 West St. John Street, San
Jose, who was born in Santa Clara, June 25, 1865.
His father, William Fitts, came to California by
way of the Isthmus in 1852 and married Dolores
Pinedo, a member of a well-known Spanish family,
who was educated at Notre Dame College. The
old Pinedo estate at Santa Clara, recently sold by
the family was a Pinedo possession for a hundred
years. Our subject's Grandfather Pinedo was a mer-
chant tailor at Santa Clara in the early days and
his great-grandmother was a Berryessa.

William Fitts, Sr.. ran a bus between San Jose
and Santa Clara before the era of horse cars, and
when they were built, he went to work for the car
company. Then for six or seven years he was town
marshal of Santa Clara, and when he removed to
San Jose in 1881, he was appointed jailer under
Sheriff Williams. After his term of four years he
entered the employ of the horse-car line as superin-
tendent, continuing about ten years until it was
changed to an electric line. He then was employed
by the city until his death, March 14, 1916,
aged almost eighty years. His wife had preceded
him in 1910. Eight daughters and three sons were
born to this worthy couple and William L. was the
eldest; Laura is Mrs. George Pollard, the wife of the
assistant manager of the gas company; Charles,
Lena, Carmelita, Ida and Minnie; Grace is Mrs.
Sherburne; three of the children died.

William L. Fitts attended the primary department
of the College of the Pacific and then completed the
grammar schools; when sixteen years old he went
to work at the plumbing business, joining John Cor-
coran on January 23, 1882, and serving a three-year
apprenticeship. Then he entered the service of John
Stock and was with him for three years, and in
1890 opened a shop for himself. For thirty years
or more his well-known plumbing and repair head-
quarters were at 107 North First Street, but he is
now comfortably established at 51 West St. John
Street, where two of his sons are associated with
him; thus he has followed plumbing in San Jose for
forty years.

At San Jose, January 1, 1889. Mr. Fitts was mar-
ried to Miss Katie Eyselee, a native of Gilroy. Cal..
the daughter of Albert and Sarah (Plass) Eyselee.

634

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the father one of the early-timers at that place,
having come from New York. Six children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fitts; William is a
plumber, working with his father; Emerj' is an auto
trimmer; Walter is also in business with his father;
Dolores is Mrs. Walker; Katherine is head nurse
at the State Hospital at San Francisco, and the
youngest is Evelyn. Mr. Fitts belongs to the Red
Men and the Eagles at San Jose.

AMOS LESTER.— The life record of an honor-
able and upright citizen and an industrious and suc-
cessful agriculturist and horticulturist is illustrated
in the career of Amos Lester, prominent among the
pioneer residents of Santa Clara Valley. Linked
with the early history of Ledyard, New London
County, Conn., records chronicle the arrival of the
Lester family there at almost the same time as the
Ledyards, for whom the town was named; the bear-
ers of the name of Lester reflected credit on the
family through their patriotic service during the War
of the Revolution. Grandfather Amos Lester, for
whom the subject of this sketch was named, was
probably born at Ledyard, and died there in 1842,
at the age of sixty-six. Much of his life was spent
at the old homestead, which housed three genera-
tions of the family. There his son, Isaac Lester, was
born on March 4, 1810, and there Amos Lester, the
son of Isaac, first saw the light on December 3. 1839.
Isaac Lester married Mary Chapman, born March
12, 1815, also a member of an old Colonial fam-
ily of New London County, and the daughter of
Ichabod Chapman, a prosperous farmer there, and
two daughters and nine sons were born to them.

The eldest child in the family of Isaac Lester,
Amos Lester grew up at the old home place, at-
tending the public schools there, and then attend-
ing the New Britain Normal School for two terms,
after which he taught school for a time, receiving
a salary of fourteen dollars a month, boarding around
with the parents of the different pupils, as was the
custom at that time. In 1861 he came to California
via Panama and located on a ranch in Napa County;
he was accompanied by his brother Nathan L., their
combined capital being less than a hundred dollars.
He worked out until 1864, when the two brothers
leased land and engaged in wheat growing, meet-
ing with success, so that by 1866, Mr. Lester had
accumulated $7500, so he decided to return to his Con-
necticut home, making the trip by way of the Nicar-
agua route. He soon established himself at Nor-
wich, Conn., and on May 28, 1868, he was united
in marriage with Miss Carrie G. Spicer, who was
born at Ledyard, on May 28, 1850, one of eight chil-
dren born to Judge Edmund and Bethiah W. (Avery)
Spicer. Judge Spicer, who was born at Ledyard in
1812. was a man of prominence in his day, serv-
ing as probate judge of his native town for fifteen
years and was also a member of the Connecticut
Legislature. He passed away in 1890, while Mrs.
Spicer, who was, born in 1817, had preceded him to the
Great Beyond in March, 1886.

Mr. Lester continued in business in Connecticut un-
til 1869, when California again called him. Making
the trip by way of Panama, he settled at Pinole,
where for two years he engaged in grain farming,
returning to his native state by rail on this occasion.
There he resumed farming on his place near Norwich
and served as selectman of Ledyard. In 1890 he

again came West, this time accompanied by his wife
and four children, and after spending a year near
San Jose, he took up his home on the ranch four
miles southeast of Gilroy that was for so many years
the family home. Here he purchased 463 acres of
land, and this was brought to a high state of culti-
vation under his efficient and painstaking care. A
number of acres were planted to fruit trees, and
thorough in this as in all his work, Ivlr. Lester made
an extensive study of horticulture, mastering the lat-
est scientific methods of his time and applying them
in a practical way to his problems as they arose.
He also took his place in the business and financial
life of California and was a member of the board of
directors of the Napa Bank.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Les-
ter, three of whom passed away in Connecticut: Mary
Carrie at the age of sixteen. Amos Everett when
twelve, and an infant son. Those now living are
Henry W., a prominent orchardist of Edenvale, he
married Ethel Cottle and they have a daughter, Edith
Ethel; Charles C. married Henrietta Pieri, and is
a large orchardist at Gilroy; John S., an orchardist
at Rucker, married Viola Nichols; Minnie is the wife
of Charles J. Clark and they have two sons, Charles
L. and Everett Spicer. and reside in San Jose; Mil-
ton married Norine Davis and they have a daughter,
Florence; he is also an orchardist and resides at San
Jose. Wishing to retire from active business life,
Mr. Lester sold his ranch to his son, Charles C,
and with his wife makes his home with his daugh-
ter, Mrs. Clark, on Minnesota Avenue, San Jose,
where they live in comfortable retirement. Mrs.
Carrie Spicer Lester was reared in an atmosphere of
culture and refinement in the New England home
of her parents at Ledyard, Conn., and there she also
learned the habits of thrift and economy. The benefi-
cent influence of her early training she carried with
her to her western home, thus capably guiding the
education and training of her children. A woman of
much business acumen, she has materially aided her
husband and encouraged him in his ambitions, as-
sisting him to make a success of all his affairs, so
now in the afternoon of their life they are enjoy-
ing the fruits of a well-spent life and are honored
and esteemed by everyone who knows them. Mr.
and Mrs. Lester are both consistent Republicans and
throughout their life have been identified with the
Prcsljytcrian Church, of which Mr. Lester was for
many j-ears an elder.

OSCAR E. GLANS.— A native-born citizen of
California, and a son of Olaf S. Glans, a pioneer of
the early 70s, a native of Sweden. Oscar E. Glans
has always taken great interest in the welfare of the
state, and by his industry and strict attention to
business has succeeded in his chosen life work. He
was born in San Jose April 29, 1885, where his boy-
hood was spent and where he received his education
in the public schools, supplementing this with a
course at the Alexander Hamilton Institute of New
York City. His life has been spent in learning
various lines, first working as a cigar maker for
five years, then in a bakery for one year; then he
became a cobbler. In this line of work he soon
became very efficient, becoming an expert operator
on shoe-repairing machinery. He then entered the
employ of J. E. Stuart, one of San Jose's leading
shoe dealers, and worked as shoe repairman for one

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

637

t

year. For the next ten years he worked as sales-
man with this firm. In July, 1913, he began working
for Walter Brodey, owner and proprietor of the
Walk-Over Boot Shop, and in one year was ad-
vanced to the position of manager, where he has
remained up to the present time.

Mr. Glans' marriage occurred in June, 1911, and
united him with Miss Josephine Peterson, a daugh-
ter of J. M. Peterson, a pioneer of Santa Clara
County, now deceased. They are the parents of two
children, Florence and Eugene. The family are
active and prominent members of the Immanuel
Swedish Lutheran Church; Mr. Glans serving on
the board of trustees and Mrs. Glans being active in
musical lines. Mr. Glans is identified with the
Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants Asso-
ciation, and of Observatory Parlor No. 177, N. S.
G. W. Personal!}' he is a man of culture, with busi-
ness ability, energy and earnestness of purpose, and
has made his presence felt in the community which
has numbered him among its citizens since his birth.

JAMES MURRIN.— A retired merchant whose
years of strenuous, fruitful activity well merited a
comfortable competency and rest, is James Murrin
of 795 South Ninth Street, San Jose, which city he
has seen grow from a very small place, and where
he was born, on September 7, 1858. on Third Street
near the present site of the Jewish Synagogue. His
parents were Michael and Ann (Cogan) Murrin, and
they were natives of County Sligo, Ireland, who
came to New York when they were young. Michael
Murrin continued in that metropolis until 1855.
working as a laborer, and on coming to California,
by way of Panama, he stopped for a short time at
Oakland. The city did not appeal to him, however,
and so he proceeded on to San Jose. For two or
three years he continued to work for wages, and
then he went in for landscape gardening, in which
field he did very well. This sturdy pioneer, who died
in 1915 respected of all men, lived to be ninety years
old, although his good wife, also- beloved by those
who knew her well, reached only her seventy-sixth
year. They had a family of seven children of whom
James was the fifth.

Growing up in San Jose, the lad enjoyed only a
brief grammar school training, and few additional
favorable opportunities, and when eighteen years old
he started to make his own way in the world. He
worked for ten 3'ears in the store of James Hart,
the grocer who was called the Coffee King, and then
he opened a grocery for himself, on Keyes Street
in San Jose, and for twenty-five years engaged in
business at that stand. Then he sold out and retired
from active life. Except for a short time in San
Francisco, Mr. Murrin has spent all of his life in San
Jose, and it is natural that he should look backward
and forward with peculiar interest.

At San Francisco on August 30. in 1885, Mr. Mur-
rin was married to Miss Mary Devitt, a native of
that city and the daughter of Frank and Katherine
(Meehan) Devitt. early California settlers, her father
having been a very successful merchant in the Bay
City. She was educated in Presentation Convent in
San Francisco. One son, Frank J. Murrin, was the
pride of our subject and his wife. He had been a
dealer in Goodyear tires for four years when the
war broke out, and October 1. 1918, he entered the
armv and was sent to Fort McDowell as a clerk.

There he was taken sick with the influenza, and on
October 18, 1918, he died at the government hos-
pital, a severe blow to the parents as well as to all
his friends. Mr. Murrin is now among the oldest resi-
dents of his town and at one time knew almost every
man and woman who came to town.

JOHN C. F. STAGG.— Among the men who have
contributed the greater part of their lives toward
the upbuilding of California mention must be made
of John C. F. Stagg, who for nearly half a century
has been an important factor in the commercial
financial and political status of the county of Santa
Clara. He was born June 1, 1863, at Du Quoin 111
a son of Rev. I. M. and Marial (Thomas) Stagg, the
father, a native of New Jersey, while the mother
was born and reared in Michigan. They were the
parents of ten children. The Rev. Stagg was a
noted Methodist minister and was associated with the
famous pioneer circuit rider, Peter Cartwright. Both
of these pioneer missionary preachers were noted
for their courage and determination, in following
their chosen line of work, and while they agreed
perfectly in religious convictions they disagreed in
political affiliations, but each one of them were
equally powerful as pulpit orators. Rev Stagg
passed away at Du Quoin in 1875.

The paternal ancestors of Mr. Stagg emigrated
from Holland 200 years ago, when three brothers
left their native land and settled in New Jersey. All
three of them were in the Revolutionary War, and
bravely fought under General Washington. ' The
maternal ancestors were of English descent, the
progenitor of the Thomas family having emigrated
to America in early colonial days; our subject's ma-
ternal great-grandfather being the famous infidel,
Thomas Paine. Mr. Stagg has two sisters living
in San Jose at the present time; Mrs. Launtz, the
widow of Frank Launtz, an old-time scout and nur-
seryman, and Mrs. King, the widow of Wilmont
King, a railroad man.

On account of the large family, John Stagg was
obliged to leave the parental roof and make his own
way. For four years he sold newspapers, blacked
boots, and did other things for a livelihood in St.
Louis, Mo.; later going to Kansas City where he
remained for a year. He then obtained employment
in the railroad service over the Denver and Rio
Grande extension through Colorado, checking and
billing freight. His education was obtained solely
through practical experience, and was therefore the
most valuable. For a period of three years when he
was eighteen, he was separated from his family;
meanwhile his mother with her familv had removed
to California and settled at Salinas, having been
residents since 1878. The family came to San Jose
during the year of 1880, where they have continu-
ously resided, and where the mother passed away
about 1892. Mr. Stagg was employed by J. P.
Jarman. the leading house painting contractor forty
years ago. and it was while in his employ that he
thoroughly learned the painting business. For the
last twenty-five years he has conducted his own
business, and many stores and residences attest his
ability as a painter and decorator of all kinds of
structures. The Continental Paint Company, of
which he is president, carries a full line of paints,
varnishes, wall paper, roofing, window glass and
painters' supplies, and well deserve the large

638

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

patronage which they enjoy. From eight to forty
men are employed in his business.

The marriage of Mr. Stagg on August 16, 1897,
united him with Miss ilargaret E. O'Keefe, a music
teacher, born and reared in San Francisco. They
are the parents of one child, Helen, a graduate of
the San Jose high school and of Heald's Business
College, who is now employed as stenographer and
bookkeeper in her father's store. Thoroughly hon-
orable in all his dealings, enterprising and public-
spirited, this esteemed pioneer has made and re-
tained friends all along the Hne of his useful life,
and he may well view with pride and satisfaction the
work he has accomplished.

JACOB LUTHER.— Numbered among the sturdy
early settlers of California who passed through the
vicissitudes and hardships of pioneer life with credit
and honor to themselves, is the late Jacob Luther,
who contributed much to the upbuilding of the Santa
Clara Valley during the long years of his residence
here. He was born in Germany in 1840, the son
of Jacob and Louise Luther, who brought their
family to America when Jacob was a baby, setthng
at Delafield, Wis., where he later received a good
education in the schools of that locality. Early in
life he learned the harness maker's trade at Water-
loo, Wis , and he was engaged in this line of work
until 1858, when he started on the journey to Cali-
fornia, coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama.
Shortly after his arrival at San Francisco he went
to Monterey County and invested in land in Peach
Tree Valley; these were the days when Central Cali-
fornia was being plundered by organized bands of
marauders, when neither life nor property was safe,
and one of the teamsters employed by Mr. Luther on
his ranch was killed in the holdup by tlie desperado
Vasquez and his gang of bandits at Paicines, Cal.
Mr. Luther acquired about 5U,U00 acres of land
which was used as range for his large flocks of
sheep, retaining this until 1882, when the whole
tract was sold to Miller & Lu.x, the cattle barons of
their day, and he removed to Hollistcr, purchasing
180 acres in that vicinity.

On December 29, 1870, Mr. Luther was married to
Miss Frances Green at Redwood City. A native of
Chelsea, Washtenaw County, Mich., where she was
born July 26, 1855, she came to San Francisco via
Panama with her parents in 1868. Her father, John
W. Green, was born in New Jersey and came to
Washtenaw County, Mich., in the early days, where
he married Harriet A. Letts, a native of New York,
and for many years he was successfully engaged in
farming there. In 1850 he made his first trip to
California, crossing the plains in an ox-team train,
and for three or four years he followed mining, re-
turning home by way of Panama. In 1868 he
brought his wife and four children to California,
locating in Monterey County, where he engaged in
stock raising until he retired to Hollister, passing
away there in 1905 at the age of eighty-one, Mrs.
Green having died some years previous, when sixty-
seven years of age. Frances Green had completed
her education at Ypsilanti Seminary in Michigan, be-
fore coming to California, and it was while living
in Monterey County that she became acquainted with
Mr. Luther.

In 1889 Mr. Luther, with his family, removed to
Santa Clara County and purchased a tract of 123
acres on the Stevens Creek Road, halfway between
Cupertino and San Jose, and set it out to orchard,
there being sixty-five acres in prunes, thirty acres in
walnuts, eighteen acres in hay and the balance in
well-planned grounds. One of the finest wells in the
district has been developed on this ranch, and is
equipped with a Byron- Jackson deep-well pump.
Mr. Luther passed away March 11, 1916, at the age
of seventy-six, his death closing a career of marked
accomplishment and usefulness. A very handsome
man. of attractive personality, his integrity and sin-
cerity of purpose gave him a IiikIi I'I.h i in the esteem
of all who knew him. In liis rilii^^MU- i.ntli he was
a Lutheran and was all his life a stanch Reiniblican.
Mr. and Mrs. Luther were the parents of four
children: Alice, Ida, Julia and Don Walter. Since
her husband's death, Mrs. Luther has continued to
make her home on the ranch, which she and the
children own and operate, and here she continues
in the same liberal way as her husband to dispense
the good old-time hospitality.

AUGUST GEOFFROY.— August Geoffroy, the
genial secretary and treasurer of the Artana-Geoffroy
Company, is making a decided success of his busi-
ness ventures. This company distributes Haynes
cars, and Fageol trucks and tractors: and besides
doing expert repair w-ork, carries a full line of auto
and truck accessories. A native of San Jose, he was
born June 10, 1888. the son of Dominick Geoffroy,
a native of Alsace-Lorraine, who passed away at
the age of fifty-eight years, on December 25, 1907.
His wife, who was Barbara Horner, was born in
Germany, coming to the United States with her
family when but eleven years old. Her parents
settled in Pennsylvania, where her education was
obtained in a convent. She is still living at the age
of sixty. They were the parents of seven children;
August, the subject of this review; William, vice-
president and shop superintendent of the Artana-
Geoffroy Company; George is manager of the various
properties belonging to the Geoffroy family; when
the call came from his couotry, he responded and
was sent to France; Rosalind, a graduate of Notre
Dame College in San Jose; Joseph is a stu-
dent in Santa Clara College; Margaret is a student
in the State Normal of San Jose; one child passed
away while in infancy.

Mr. Geoffroy was educated in the public schools
of San Jose, later attending the St. Joseph -school
in San Jose, and the Santa Clara College. His mar-
riage united him with Miss Josephine Christcnsen
of San Jose, a daughter of Christ Christcnsen. They
are the parents of tw'O children; Donald and Doro-
thy. They are consistent members of St. Joseph
Catholic Church, giving of their time and means to
the support of all church activities. Politically he is
a stanch Republican.

The Artana-Geoffroy Company, of which Mr.
Geoffroy is secretary and treasurer was incorporated
November 5, 1919, located at 334-349 West Santa
Clara Street, San Jose, is the largest truck and trac-
tor concern on the Pacific coast. They maintain a
thoroughly equipped machine shop, with expert re-
pairmen, the business requiring the continuous serv-
ices of thirty men in the service department, and
seven salesmen are required to wait on the large

/yijO^'^^t^-^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

643

patronage. The steadily-growing business owes its
increase, in a large measure, to the strict integrity
and careful attention to business of its proprietors.
As a pubhc-spirited citizen Mr. GcofFroy has been
liberal in supporting objects he deems worthy with
both time and money. He owns realty holdings in
both city and county, and is accumulating a com-
petency worthy of his activities.

IDA M. FISHER.— Fortunate in a thorough
artistic training. Miss Ida M. Fisher, the head of her
department at the State Teachers' College at San
Jose, has done much to advance the study and ap-
preciation of music in California, and has thus be-
come a woman of exceptionally wide acquaintance
and helpful, uplifting influence. A native daughter
proud of her association with the Golden State, she
was born in Sacramento, a member of the family
of John Christian and Wilhelmina (Geiger) Fisher.
Her father, a native of Germany, was a noted
musician, as was her mother, who came from the
Rhineland. Mr. Fisher was one of a familj' of eight
children, and Mrs. Fisher, of a family of five.

John C. Fisher, on coming to the United States,
settled with his parents in Western New York and
for awhile engaged in business before attempting
the passage of the great plains. Leaving his famil}'.
he braved the danger of the continent and later Mrs.
Fisher and their two children came to California
by way of the Isthmus. Mr. Fisher was employed
as an engineer and ran between San Francisco and
Sacramento; he was a master mechanic and was one
of the early division superintendents having charge
of the Sacramento to Freeport and Auburn division.
Eventually he was injured in the terrible railroad
accident in the Tehachepi Pass about 1883. when
the engine left the track and so many were fatally
injured. These worthy .\mcrican pioneers, nobly
representing an earlier generation to whom present-
day Californians owe so much, were blessed with
six children. Anson P. Fisher lives at Canastota,
N. Y. Minnie G. is Mrs. Wisner of San Francisco.
Annie is Mrs. Plummer of Bakersfield. The fourth
of the family is the subject of our review. Emeretta
is Mrs. Sybrandt of Selma; Fred is at Syracuse.

Miss Ida Fisher attended the grammar and the
high school at Folsom, and then for two years pur-
sued the courses of the State Normal School at San
Jose, after which she taught in California. Later
she went to Boston and there for two years studied
music, and then for six years she pursued her musical
studies at New York. Thus equipped, she had charge
of the musical instruction in the schools at Fayette-
ville and East Sycamore, N. Y.. including both the
grammar and high school grades; and while she
was teaching at Syracuse, she attended the Syracuse
University and studied piano, pipe organ and har-
mony. She also took private voice lessons from
Thomas Ward. While at Boston, she studied at the'
New England Conservatory of Music and for two
years took private instruction in piano from Profes-
sor Charles Conant, and later graduated from the
Holt School of Music in Massachusetts.

In 1899, Miss Fisher came back to California and
took charge of the music department of tlie Alameda
schools; and for seven and a half years she con-
tributed much toward raising the standards and ex-
tending the fame of that school system. In Jan-
uary, 1907, she removed to San Jose and took

charge of the musical instruction in the Normal
School, now the State Teachers' College. To Miss
Fisher, in fact, is due the credit for starting and
building up that department; and she has continued
there ever since, with the exception of the year
1916-1917, when she attended the Pittsburgh Univer-
sity of Music and received a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Besides this degree, she has many other enviable
credentials, certificates and testimonials. The musi-
cal department of this State Teachers' College aims
to train teachers of music for both the grammar and
the high schools. The course consists of harmony,
the history of music, sight-reading, piano, part sing-
ing, voice training, orchestration, instrumentation,
counterpoint and the theory of music.

EDWARD C. POWER.— A very enterprising,
successful leader of local industrial affairs, constantly
breaking into new paths and pointing the way where
others may follow, who has done much to stimulate
and to cultivate public art taste not only in San
Jose but throughout Santa Clara County, is Edward
C. Power, proprietor of "The Urn Shop," the famous
headquarters, at 578 West Santa Clara Street, for
architectural modeling, cement and plaster decora-
tions, and garden furniture. For half a century or
more the name of Power has been an honored one
in Santa Clara County, and our subject is a worthy
successor of his father. Edward Power, a native of
County Dublin. Ireland. Wlien eighteen, he came
out to the I'nitcd States and settled in Chicago; and
havin- l.;iriiid the trade of a woodcarver, he fol-
lowed it < lu i:.jrtically in the fast-growing Windy
City, maintaining a shop, always attractive to those
in search of artistic things, on State Street.

When the Civil War broke out, however, Edward
Power, a natural patriot, enlisted in the cause of the
Union as a soldier of the Nintieth Illinois Volunteer
Infantry, popularly termed the Irish Regiment, which
had the honor of doing yeoman service under Gen-
eral Grant; and during a fierce engagement, he sus-
tained a severe leg wound — his sacrifice for a united
country. After the war was over, young Power did
not return to Chicago nor did he ever see his shop
again; but he came out to California and pitched his
tent in San Francisco. He worked again at his
trade as a w-oodcarver, and being among the most
expert on the coast, he found plenty to do. He
married Miss Ellen Barrett, a native of County
Cork, Ireland, and in San Francisco, on June 2.
1867, Edward C. Power was born. Mr. Power came
to San Jose as early as 1871, to do some contract
work in his line; and the following year he first
l)rought his family here. After a few years, he
returned to San Francisco; but in 1884 he once
more settled in this city, where he made his home
until his death, December 16, 1896. Many of the
fine buildings erected in and around San Jose from
1871 bore evidences of his superior craft, and he was
highly esteemed by fellow industrial workers. Mrs.
Power also breathed her last on October 10, 1899,
beloved as a good neighbor and a steadfast friend.

Edward C. Power was educated in the excellent
public schools of San Francisco, and when old
enough, started to learn woodcarving; and having
remarkable aptitude for designing, he soon mastered
the trade under the fortunate and inspiring guidance
of his father, with whom he became associated in
business on attaining to manhood. Together they

644

?IISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

filled a large number of varied contracts, and did
much outside ornamental work on many of the
leading public buildings, as well as the larger and
more notable private residences. Since his father's
lamented death, Mr. Power has carried on the busi-
ness alone, expanding it with the passing years. The
advent of cement and stucco work spelt the knell
of woodcarving in building, but Mr. Power evidenced
his real genius iti becoming an expert modeler, and
now, through his latest art, he is able successfully
and artistically to carry out and complete any kind
of work in his field required of him, fashioning in
clay or other materials in original, direct manner,
with the most artistic feeling and perception, and
bringing out lights and shadows, just as an artist
does upon a canvas.

Not only has Mr. Power himself superior tech-
nique, in both designing and in drawing, but he
keeps a force of highly-trained men busy all the
time. The First National and the Garden City Bank
buildings display Iun handiwork, as well as nearly
all the large buildings in San Jose, and the finest
residences throughout the city and the county. He
makes garden furniture and finds a ready sale for it
all the way from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo;
and his shop at 578 West Santa Clara Street has
become the mecca of many art-lovers and students
and admirers of artistic decoration. Associated with
him is his son, Eugene J. Power, who has grown
up in the work since he was a small boy, and who is
also an expert modeler. As a business man, too,
Mr. Power has been very successful, and today he
stands high in the city's commercial as well as in-
dustrial circles; and he is deeply interested in the
upbuilding of both city and county, — a district where
the greater part of his life has been passed. He has
gained that preeminence which naturally follows
superior ability and concentrated effort in the field
of activity where he specializes.

At San Jose, in September, 1891, Mr. Power was
married to Miss Alida Klinkart, the daughter of
William and Alida Klinkart. The bride was born
in New York State and came out to California with
her parents; and as her father was a leading archi-
tect of San Jose, she enjoyed the best of educational
advantages. Eleven children have blessed this union
of Mr. and Mrs. Power. William, Charles, Dorothy
and Alice are deceased. The living members of the
family are May B., the oldest child; Edward I., the
second born, who is married, and is an orchardist
in the Vaca Valley, Solano County; Eugene J., as-
sociated with his father; and Joseph, Richard, David
and Bcrnicc. attending school.

JAMES BOYD, D. V. S.— A distinguished repre-
sentative of California veterinarians is Dr. James
Boyd, of San Jose, who was born in Pittsburgh,
Pa., bn May IS, 1855, the son of David Boyd, a
farmer and stockman, of Scotch-Irish descent who
came to Pennsylvania when he was a boy. James
Boyd was trained partly in the excellent schools of
Pittsburgh, and partly in the Military Agricultural
School at Blacksburg, Va.; so that with his home
advantages, thanks largely to his mother, whose
maiden name was Jane Morrison, he was rather
well equipped, for one of his age, to cope with the
outside world. Both parents died in Pennsylvania.

When he started out for himself, he went to the
Lexington region in Kentucky, and there became
interested in fine trotting stock. In 1880, he mi-
grated to California, bringing with him some horses
and mules, including a trotting stallion worth some
$5,000, a colt valued at $4,000, and a saddle horse
representing $1,000, together with a mare worth
$800, and many valuable jacks. He had already
practiced as a veterinarian in Kentucky, so he had
no difficulty in establishing himself in the same pro-
fessional field in Santa Clara County, and in 1900 he
received his certificate from the San Francisco Vet-
erinary College.

He settled for a short time in Livermore, then
purchased a farm of 100 acres near Milpitas, where
he ranched for three years. He sold it to the county,
and it is now known as the County Farm. In 1905
he founded and erected a veterinary hospital at Mil-
pitas, and in connection with the hospital he also
conducted an automobile garage. When he sold
his ranch he moved to San Jose, and during the
time he lived here he made two trips to the Hawaiian
Islands with stock. He then moved to Milpitas
and built his hospital. In 1910 he removed to San
Jose, and he has ever since then made this city his
home. For years he was a director of the Fair
Association which was held here annually, and for
three years was manager of the track.

On October 13, 1887, Dr. Boyd was married at
San Jose to Miss Delia Castle, a native of Amador
County, Cal., and the daughter of Wellman Doctor
Castle, who had married Miss Frances Ferry. Her
father was a real Argonaut, who crossed the great
plains in '49, traveling in the spring by ox-team and
prairie schooner. He was a native of New York,
who first removed to Michigan and from there mi-
grated to California. He tried his luck in the Ama-
dor Mines, and in later years took up farming and
cattle raising, and the development of a fine vine-
yard. He lived to be eighty-four years of age, and
died at Milpitas. He came to Milpitas in 1872, and
here engaged in wholesale butchering, furnishing
the markets at San Jose. He was also interested in
a large cattle ranch in Eastern Oregon, and was
accustomed to make trips to that state each year
to arrange cattle shipments, accompanied by his
eldest son, I. N. Castle. Mrs. Boyd is one of a
family of four children by her father's first marriage,
and a stepsister to the three children by his second
union; a sister is Mrs. Hattie Topham.

Harold Edward Boyd, the only son of Dr. and Mrs.
James Boyd, made a specialty of the study of geol-
ogy at Stanford University and is a graduate of that
famous institution. He was for three years with the
Barber Asphalt Company, which sent him to South
America, and at present he is one of the chief
geologists in the employ of the Henry L Doherty
Oil Company of New York City. He enlisted for
service in the World War as a member of the Flying
Corps which was training at Mather Field, and he
attended the School of Observation at Berkeley. He
had made twenty flights when he was afflicted with
the influenza, and after he came out of the hospital,
he made four more flights. Then the armistice was
signed, and his services were no longer needed.

An acknowledged authority of exceptional experi-
ence in his field. Dr. Boyd was appointed by the
Bureau of Animal Industry to inspect cattle in Santa

lA^^/t^c

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Clara County for inter-statc shipping, and for years
he has been treasurer of the Cahfornia Veterinary
Association. Since 191S he has made his home at
505 South Second Street in San Jose, where he has
dispensed a generous hospitahty.

WILLIAM HOWARD LAWRENCE.— An ex-
perienced, successful rancher, now living in comfort-
able, quiet retirement, and a veteran in high standing
in the ranks of the G. A. R., is William Howard
Lawrence, of 116 Naglce street, San Jose, a native
of historic Concord, Mass., where he was born on
March 3, 1837. His father was Albert Chester Law-
rence, who had married Rhoda Ann Fesendcn. Al-
bert Chester bore the family name of Bull as a boy
until his playmates guyed him so severely that he
had it changed to Lawrence by an act of the Massa-
chusetts Legislature. Both his parents were of
English descent; his father's people, three brotliers
of the Bull family, came to America on the ship
"James" in 1635, while his mother's family dates back
to the Pilgrim Fathers. Both of his great-grand-
fathers were members of the Continental Army and
for eight years fought from Bunker Hill until the
close of the American Revolution. Grandfather Bull
fought in the War of 1812, until 1815, and while
serving under General Andrew Jackson was wounded
at the battle of New Orleans. Albert Chester Law-
rence was a mechanic and worked first as a carpen-
ter and then as a cabinet maker, and after that as a
pianoforte builder. In 1849 he came around the
Horn to San Francisco and w-ent up into the north
fork of the American River, w^here he engaged in
mining. His brother, John Clark Bull, was a sea-
captain, who sailed the seas and made it a business
to trade his cargo to the Mexicans for hides and
tallow; and in 1849 he also went around the Horn
with a cargo, and while in San Francisco the ship was
deserted by its crew, who left pell-mell for the mines.
Captain Bull disposed of the ship and cargo and also
tried his luck at mining; and later he went into
Humboldt County and' ran a hotel at Eureka until
his death. In pioneer days he had returned East
via the Isthmus and purchased a sailing vessel of
150 tons burden and brought his family around the
Horn to California.

.•\lbert Chester Lawrence engaged in mining for
two years, and then he w-ent into San Francisco and
tried his hand as a building contractor, but not meet-
ing with success, in ISSO ho b.nijil ,i ranch of 160
acres in Santa Clara Couiit\-, m . ihiiil; a squatter's
claim, and shortly afterward lir w.nt into the mines
on the Salmon River in Hunibuldl County, and
there remained until driven out by the Indians. He
then returned to his ranch and when the Southern
Pacific Railroad Company proposed to build a line
he donated the right-of-way through his land, and a
station was built on his farm, which was called Law-
rence. He also became station agent, filling that
position until his death. He was born in 1810 and
lived to be seventy-six.

William Edward Lawrence attended school in
Boston from his seventh to his twciflh year, and
when his father went to California he was sent to
the Boston Farm School until he was sixteen; he then
bound himself to a farmer at Lincoln, Mass., for two
years, and later, at Maiden, he was employed in a
factory and then in a tinshop. In 1855 he came
west to Illinois and for a time clerked in Kewanee.
Bureau County, and then engaged in outdoor work
in Henry County. In 1859 he returned to Maiden,
Mass., and worked there for a vear, and there, on

November 4, 1860, he cast his first vote for Abraham
Lincoln. In December he started with his mother
and three sisters to California; these sisters were
Ellen E., now deceased; Alvira C, who lives at
Campbell, and Adra Anna, now Mrs. Keith, of the
same place. They traveled by way of the Panama
route and arrived in San P'rancisco on January 10,
1861, after a trip of twenty-two days. General Al-
bert Sidney Johnston came on the same ship.

On March 3, 1863, Mr. Lawrence enlisted at San
Francisco for service in the Union Army, being mus-
tered in by Major Ringgold at Pratfs Hall, and he
was in the California Battalion, a picked body of
volunteers to be sent East to fill out a Massachusetts
regiment, and he left California March 20, 1863. He
was in Company C, commanded by Capt. Geo. A.
Manning, but when they reached Massachusetts they
become Company M, of the Second Massachusetts
Cavalry, commanded by Col. Charles Russell Lowell.
In the spring of 1864 he and his comrades came under
the direction of General Merritt, of General Sheri-
dan's cavalry, and he in a company of 125 men were
ambushed at Drain.sville, Va., by Colonel Mosby,
Imboden and White, guerrilla leaders, who fired on
them from ambush, killing fifteen and wounding
thirty. His regiment served from the battle of
Winchester in all the cavalry engagements in that
part of the country until Lee's surrender, and they
were in fifty-one cavalry fights, besides small skir-
mishes. Out of 558 men mustered into that battalion,
only 181 were mustered out, and of his own company
only three are living today. Although Mr. Lawrence
never sustained any wounds, he lost five horses, one
of which, the fifth, was shot from under him when
he was taken prisoner of war. This was in the battle
of Drainsville, February 22, 1864. He was sent to
Libby Prison and was there three weeks; and then
he was removed to Andersonville Prison, where
twenty-one of his same company died in seven
months' time. Upon receiving the news that the
Union forces might take Andersonville, he. with
other prisoners, was rushed to Savannah, and there
he spent two months of "hell." Two more of his
company died, and out of the twenty-seven taken
prisoners only four lived to get out. He himself
made his csc-ipc from the Savannah prison and for
three wcck^ waiulinil through the swamps of South
Carolina anH (',iiir.;ia; he was headed for Sherman's
army, and when only two days' distant from the
Union forces he was stricken with swamp fever at
Brown's Ferry. He went to a black slave for help,
but was betrayed, and sent to Barnwell Jail in South
Carolina; when he had been there three days it was
necessary for the sheriff to smuggle him away t-
prevent his being lynched by a company of home
guards, as they termed him a "Massachusetts Yank."
He was taken to Blackwell Station, thence to the Co-
lumbia Jail in South Carolina, and after that on to
Florence, in the same state, and from there to Wil-
mington, N. C, and he was finally paroled at Golds-
boro. N. C, and joined the Union lines at Wilming-
ton on March 3, 1865.

At Wilmington. N. C, at the Hilltop House, Mr.
Lawrence was for two weeks unconscious from ex-
posures he had endured, and when he finally came
to his senses, a week passed before he was able to
take a small glass of milk punch. Dr. Charles Rob-
inson brought him through the crisis. Mr. Lawrence
had spent one year and ten days as a prisoner of
war, and he was finally paroled on March 3. 1865,
and in April he arrived at Annapolis, and he re-

6+8

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ceived a furlough of three weeks, with orders to re-
port to Reedeville Hospital, in Massachusetts. At
Recdeville he was sergeant of the police, and he re-
mained there until June 23, 1865, when he was dis-
charged and returned to California in August.

On August 23, 1865, he was married at Maiden,
Mass., to Miss Susan Eleanor Phelan, an old school-
mate of his sister. She had been born on a sailing
vessel in the West Indies, for her father, Theodore,
was a first mate, and he eventually went down in
a storm at sea. The same day he was married, Mr.
Lawrence left for California with his wife, and trav-
eled by way of Panama; and on October 31, he
landed in San Francisco. He ran his father's farm
for a year and then rented a farm of twelve acres
near Lawrence, and he was one of the pioneer straw-
berry growers in the Santa Clara Valley; and then
he bought a ranch of twenty acres adjoining the rent-
ed farm in the Jefferson school district and there
for seven years raised strawberries. His wife's health
failed, however, and it was necessary to seek a
change of climate, so he sold his ranch and bought
another place of eighty-six acres near Los Gates,
where he raised hay, grain and stock. He still owns
fifteen acres of this ranch. There Mrs. Lawrence died
on March 10, 1893.

Mr. Lawrence's second marriage occurred on Aug-
ust 1, 1893, uniting him with Mrs. Lottie E. (Phil-
lips) Broughton, a native of Crown Point, N. Y.
Her parents were John and Melissa (Colburn) Phil-
lips, and she was graduated at the Crown Point high
school, teaching school for two years, until she re-
moved to Livingston County, 111., where she mar-
ried William Broughton, a farmer who operated 1100
acres of fine land near Kempton, 111. He died in
Illinois in 1888, and in 1891 she came to California
with her two children. Burnell died here at the
age of eighteen, and DeEtte is the wife of E. N.
Richmond of San Jose.

In 1915 Mr. Lawrence left his ranch and moved to
San Jose. He had six children by his first mar-
riage, three of whom are living: William Chester is
in the salmon fishing business in Alaska; George Al-
fred, a physician and surgeon practicing in New
York City, holds a record as recruit examiner in
the late war and was commissioned a major in the
Medical Corps, U. S. A.; Albert Hume is a min-
ing engineer in Chile and Bolivia. George Alfred
Lawrence married Julia Pinkney, a member of an
old New York family; Albert H. Lawrence married
Miss Fannie Johnston and they have five children
— Howard, Eleanor, Dorothea, Lucy and David. Mr.
Lawrence is a member of the board of auditors of
the Santa Clara Pioneer Society, and he is a senior
past commander of the E. O. C. Ord Post No. 82,
G. A. R. at Los Gatos. For the third time he is
serving as aide-de-camp on the department com-
mander's staff ,and one year was an aide-de-camp
on the staff of the national commander. Mrs. Lawr-
ence is past president of E. O. C. Ord Corps No.
51. W. R. C. of Los Gatos.

MRS. LOUISE GUERRAZ KIRK.— Among the

pioneer women who braved the dangers and endured
the hardships of pioneer days is Mrs. Louise Guerraz
Kirk, who has been a resident of California since
1848 and of Santa Clara County since 1850, still
hale and hearty and with her abundance of reminis-
cences is an interesting talker. She was, in maiden-
hood, Louise Guerraz, a native of Missouri. Her
father, John D. Guerraz, was born in one of the

French colonies in Switzerland, his family dating back
to France. Coming to America when eighteen or
nineteen years of age, he made his way to Tennessee
and liking that section was content to remain. There
he was married to Elizabeth Bridges, a native of
that state, coming from an old Revolutionary family
in Tennessee. They made their way westward and
were living in Clay County, Mo., when Louise, the
subject of this review, was born. In 1848 John D.
Guerraz started across the plains with his wife and
four children, making the journey in wagons drawn
by ox teams, taking six months to complete the
journey, being piloted by Captain Childs. They
,irii\ri| in llanKtown, then called Dry Diggings, un-
til till IiaimuiL; of three desperadoes when it was
called Hanutown, this incident occurring while the
Guerraz family was living there.

Mr. Guerraz engaged in the grocery business in
Hangtown until 1850. when he came to Santa Clara
County, locating on a ranch in the Campbell district,
improving a farm of 160 acres, engaging in grain
farming and viticulture. Later on he disposed of
this ranch and purchased another in the mountains,
but not satisfied, he sold and located in San Jose,
where he lived retired until he died at the age of
eighty-eight; his widow then made her home with
her daughter, Mrs. Kirk, until her death, in 1894, at
the age of eighty-five. Of their family of six
children, five are living: Mrs. Louise Kirk, Mrs.
Susan Robinson of Campbell, John David resides near
Edenvale, Henry lives in San Jose, and William re-
sides in the Roberts district.

Louise Guerraz was a little girl when she crossed
tlic plains, but well she remembers the many in-
cidents of the trip, the wonderful, strange sights of
the wilderness and then in Hangtown she saw many
more wild and interesting incidents. After coming
to Santa Clara County she received a good education
at Notre Dame College. She was married here to
Socrates Kirk, a native of Ohio, also an intrepid
pioneer who had crossed the plains in 1850 and was
one of the pioneer grain farmers of San Jose. Be-
coming interested in horticulture, he set out orchards
until he had a large acreage devoted to raising
prunes, peaches, apricots, and cherries, one of the
finest and largest orchards in the county. Mr. Kirk
was an energetic and ambitious man, and while he
did well for himself, did much to improve and build
up the county. He was never idle, but always look-
ing to see what he could do to improve his place
and assist in making the community more prosperous
and a better place in which to live. At the time of
the earthquake, April 18, 1906, he was a very ill man.
The shock proved too much for him and he passed
away the morning of April 19, 1906, at the age of
seventy-four years, a man highly esteemed and hon-
ored, who was deeply mourned by his family and
friends. Mr. and Mrs. Kirk were the parents of six
children, three of whom are living: Mrs. W. S.
Goodenough, Eva S. and Bert T. Kirk.

Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Kirk has
continued to live in their beautiful home they had
erected on their ranch at the head of Hicks Avenue,
surrounded by her children and grandchildren. In
national politics, like her husband, she is a Republi-
can and they were both devoted members of the
First Methodist Church in San Jose, in which she
is still active and in whose benevolence she has
always taken an active part.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

651

PROFESSOR ROBERT A. LEE— Listed among
those professional men who are interested in the
education of this generation of the twentieth century
is Professor Robert A. Lee, who for the past twenty-
years has occupied the office of principal of the
Lowell School, San Jose, California.

Robert A. Lee was born at Lewis, Essex County,
New York, April 26, 1870, and is the son of Lebbeus
and Hattie (DeLong) Lee, both natives of New
York, having been born in Essex County. The
father was born August 12, 1828, a son of Timothy
Pitkin and Sarah Leason (Pratt) Lee, while the
mother was born November 17, 1837. Professor
Lee is the seventh generation removed from John
Lee, who came to this country from England and
was one of the founders of Hartford, Conn., in the
year 1634. His descendants held important offices,
both civil and military, members of the family having
served witli distinction during the Colonial and Rev-
olutionary Wars. John Lee's ancient gravestone
still stands in a Connecticut cemetery; beside it is
an imposing modern monument. Lebbeus Lee be-
came a judge of the justice court, and later associate
judge of Essex County. He migrated to San Jose
in the year 1872. and here conducted the Granite and
xMarble' Works until the year 1882, and then entered
the field of horticulture, becoming prosperous as an
orchardist from the start. His ranch was located in
The Willows, adjacent to San Jose and here he re-
sided until he passed away in 1908, being survived
by his widow who died in 1917. Of their six child-
ren, four of whom are now living, Robert is the
fourth oldest.

Robert A. Lee attended the Lowell Grammar
School and the San Jose High School, and then
became a student at the San Jose State Normal
School where he was graduated in 1890; after this
he took special courses at Stanford University and
the University of California and has followed the
profession of teaching since 1895. He first entered
upon the work of his profession in Winters, Yolo
County, and later in Fresno. In 1900 he was offered
the principalship of Lowell School, the school he
attended in his boyhood days, and here he has been
its head for more than twenty years.

Mr. Lee is married to Orlena B., daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Wesley H. .-Xrnhart of Kent County, Mo.
In 1874 Mrs. Lee removed to Woodland, Cal, with
licr parents who were pioneers of Yolo County and
the parents of seven children, six of whom survive,
a brother having recently been killed in an auto-
mobile accident at Petaluma. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Arnhart have passed away within recent years.

Professor and Mrs. Lee have one daughter, Veva,
a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School,
who is now the wife of George Lyon Cross, a grad-
uate of the University of California and now resident
auditor of the Folsom State Prison, having held this
position since 1916. He is giving perfect satisfaction
to the state administration, being noted for his ability
in curliing leaks and cutting down expenses.

Professor and Mrs. Lee liave their home at 740
South Eighth Street where they h.ive l>een residents
for some years past and here tliey extend a hearty
welcome to their many friends. Professor Lee was
made a Mason in Friendship Lodge No. 210, F. &
-\. M., in which he is a past master, and now is
secretary; he is a member of Howard Chapter No. 14.
R. A. M., San lose Council No. 20, R. & S. M., and

San Jose Commandery No. 10, K. T. He is also a
charter member of the San Jose Bodies of A. & A.
Scottish Rite of Freemasonry — of the 32nd degree,
Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., a member of
San Jose Pyramid No. 9, A. E. O., Sciots and
Hatim Tai Grotto, M. O. V. P. E. R. Professor
and Mrs. Lee are members of San Jose Chapter No.
31, O. E. S. and Rose Croix Chapter, Order of the
White Shrine of Jerusalem, in which they are officers.
Professor Lee also holds membership in Observatory
Lodge No. 23, I. O. O. F., Barnes Encampment No.
n and Alamo Camp, W. O. W. He was instrumental
in assisting in the recent organization of the DeMolay
Order for Boys. This organization is for boys be-
tween the ages of sixteen and twenty-one and is
supported by the Scottish Rite, and San Jose Chapter
of the Order of DeMolay was the first organized in
the state, January 1, 1921.

Mr. Lee has served as president of the San Jose
Normal Men's Club and has acted as secretary since
1902. He was elected president of the grammar
school division of the California State Teachers'
Association and presided at the session held during
the Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco in
1915; he has also served as secretary of the State
Teachers' Association and as a member and secre-
tary of the advisory council of that body. In national
politics, he is a stanch Republican, and votes in
accord with the principles of that party.

REUBEN D. CLEARWATERS.— In the year
1885 Reuben D. Clearwaters took up his abode in
San Jose. He was born at Knoxville, Marion
County, Iowa, July 21, 1867, a son of Reuben and
Catherine (Dunivin) Clearwaters, natives of Indiana
and Tennessee, and were married in Indiana, and then
moved to Iowa. The father became an extensive
landowner in Iowa, having braved the hardships of
the early frontier days there, and also in the state of
Kansas, whither the family removed when Reuben
D. was but two years old. Here, with his parents,
Reuben D. spent his boyhood days, amid the delight-
ful surroundings of the country, assisting his father
in whatever was to be done. Later the father and
mother removed to San Jose, where the father passed
away during the year of 1911. Mrs. Clearwaters
died here in 1894.

In 1891 Mr. Clearwaters was married to Miss M.
Caine, who had been a resident of California since
1884, and they became the parents of three children,
Rolland D. served three years in the U. S. regulars,
and also in the World War, he has a wife and one
child; Eva is the wife of George Hanson, and the
mother of two children, they live in Portland, Ore.;
Mrs. Winifred D. Carter resides in San Jose. For
a short period of time. Mr. Clearwaters was a resi-
dent of Los Angeles, but came to San Jose in 1885.
During the year 1898, Mr. Clearwaters was engaged
in the furniture business, but later disposed of his
business and entered the employ of the San Jo.se
Fire Department, where he has served well and faith-
fully, counting among his warm, personal friends
the late Chief Brown. In 1912 he was appointed
captain of Chemical House No. 1, Market Street,
and in 1917 he assumed charge of Fire House No.
3 and is acceptably serving as captain of same.

A second marriage united Hr. Clearwaters with
Miss Selena Wells, who has resided in California
since 1876, and in San Jose since 1888. Fraternally,

652

HIST(3RY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. Clearwaters is connected with the Moose and
Woodmen of the World, and also an active member
of the "Pastime Club" of San Jose. In his political
views he is a Republican, advocating keeping politics
out of all departments of city government. Mr.
Clearwaters was instrumental in organizing the Civil
Service Association of San Jose. His activities have
been wisely and carefully directed and he has
consistently adhered to high standards of manhood
and citizenship.

E. M. CUNNINGHAM.— A man of pleasing per-
sonality, charitable and of great kindliness, E. M.
Cunningham has aided in building up the Saratoga
section and has become a successful horticulturist.
He is the owner of a splendid orchard half mile north
O" Saratoga, which he has brought to a high state of
productivity. He was born near Moberly, Mo.,
May 31, 1857, the son of Joseph Cunningham, a native
of Tennessee, born near Nashville, February 11, 1820.
Grandfather William Cunningham was a native of
North Carolina, but moved to Tennessee, locating
near Nashville. He married Narcissa Jenkins and
both died in Missouri. Joseph Cunningham came to
Missouri when a young man with his parents, locat-
ing on a farm near what is now Moberly, Randolph
County. He was married the first time to Margaret
J. Hannah, who died soon after the birth of their first
child. In 1846 he married a second time, being united
with Mary Jane Gooding, born in Randolph County,
Mo., July 2, 1827. a daughter of Judge Gooding, who
served as judge of Randolph County. In 1849 Joseph
Cunningham had become so interested in the gold
excitement in California he determined to set out
for the El Dorado so he crossed the plains in 1849
in an ox-team train, walking most of the way. He
followed mining until 1852, then returned via Isthmus
of Panama to his home place in Missouri, where he
farmed until 1863, then sold his belongings and
brought his family across the plains, being outfitted
with mule teams and also brought a lurd of loose
mules. He located in Solano County, and for eight-
een years engaged in raising iirain iii the Suisun Val-
ley. In 1881 he came to Sar.-iti.-^i. \vlu r, he purchased
a ranch and this he began s(■ltIll^ Ui .)r, hard. Joseph
Cunningham was a member i.l thr Cuniherland Pres-
byterian Church for forty-six years, while liis wife be-
longed to the same church two years longer. This
worthy pioneer couple had nine children, of whom E.
M., our subject is the fifth in order of birth. He came
to California, crossing the great plains with his par-
ents in 1863, and thus it came that he had his sixth
birthday on the desert on the overland trail. His
schooling was in his home district in Solano Countv.

On October 22, 1879, at the home of the bride's
mother near Rockville. in Suisun Valley, occurred
the marriage of Mr. Cunningham and Amanda C.
Russell, who was born, reared and married at the
home place, a house constructed of lumber shipped
around Cape Horn in a sailing vessel, all framed
and ready for construction. Mrs. Cunningham was
the daughter of Henry and Adeline (Alford) Rus-
sell, natives of Ohio and Virginia, respectively. Her
father came to California in 1846 across the plains
when a young man, while her mother came over-
land with her parents the same year, when she was
a girl of thirteen. Grandfather Andy Alford brought
his family across the plains, being outfitted with ox-

teams. Thej- passed the Donner party, whom they
traveled with for a few days and came through by
the old trail safely to California. He settled in So-
lano County, where he became a large landowner and
influential man, and gave the five-acre site for the old
stone Methodist Church at Rockville; he served in
the Mexican War, being stationed at Benicia Bar-
racks. Henry Russell was also in the Mexican War,
serving in Southern California; later his parents
joined him and they located on a farm near what is
now Fairfield. After the marriage of Henry Russell,
he purchased a part of the Alford farm and then en-
gaged in farming and teaming. He set out the first
commercial apple orchard in tliat section, comprising
twelve acres, and this was a landmark for years. He
teamed to the mines at Virginia City. Nev., and it
was from exposure on these trips he contracted the
disease that resulted in his death in 1864. His widow
later married G. H. Pangburn and resided on the old
Russell place until her death at the age of seventy-
six years. By her first marriage she had seven chil-
dren, three living, Mrs. Cunningham being the fourth
child; by her marriage to Mr. Pangburn she had six
children, five of whom are living. Amanda Russell
had the advantages of the public schools and when
children, she and Mr. Cunningham knew Edwin
Markham, all being reared in the same vicinity.
After his marriage, Mr. Cunninghain rented land and
engaged in raising grain, but in the fall of 1881 he
gave it up and in November of that j-ear located at
Saratoga, where he purchased eight and a half acres,
the richest piece of land he could find. This he im-
proved and set to orchard, raising the trees for the
purpose as rapidly as he could. At first he had up
hill work .md many discouragements, but by perse-
verance and the aid of his good wife, they added to
their holdings until they now have twenty-one acres,
all bearing orchard and as productive a place as can
be found in the valley. In fact the fertility of this
soil was well known by the Indians, for they had
their village close by and raised their crops along the
fertile banks of the creek. Mr. Cunningham is a
believer in cooperation and is a member of the Cal-
ifornia Prune & Apricot Growers' Association, the
Fruit Growers' of California, Inc., and the California
Walnut Growers' Association. They are the parents
of two children; Florence R. is a graduate of the
San Jose State Normal and also of the San Francisco
National Training School for Christian Service, and
assists her mother in presiding over the home. Charles
N. completed a three-year special course at the Uni-
versity of California and has charge of the home farm,
as well as his own orchard. He was married to Miss
Eva Lipscomb and has three children — Charlotte M.,
Helen E., and Charles Newton, Jr. Mr. Cunningham
served as trustee of the Saratoga school district for
many years. In national politics he is a Democrat.
- In 187S Mrs. Cunningham became a member of the
old stone church in Rockville and has been affiliated
with this denomination ever since. Mr. Cunningham
joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in April,
1881, and both were charter members of the Saratoga
Methodist Episcopal Church and have been active
in its benevolences ever since. Mr. Cunningham has
been trustee all these years, as well as superintendent
of the Sunday School many years, while Mrs. Cun-
ningham has been a steward since its organization.

0.Uy^^^yH<y>'y7yZ^l>^X<^Ji^::{^^^

l/\y>yl^K/VXjUi\. C , Lj-nAyvuy'ly^jyijyfuX'^-T^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

653

They are both Hberal and iiiterprisiiig and are
pleased to aid in the growth and development of this
favored garden spot of the world.

CAPTAIN EGIDIO G. ZEIRO— A leader among
the Italic-American population at San Jose, where
he is very popular and where he has lived since
1868, is Egidio G. Zeiro, coming from a family who
at one time were among the nobility of Italy, but
when the government was overthrown at the time
of Napoleon the First, they lost their titles. He was
born on January 23, 1854, in Genoa, Italy, and was
the son of Giovanni Maria and Caterina (Basteri)
Zeiro: the father was a lawyer and both parents have
passed away. Captain Zeiro, as he is familiarly called
by all who know him, studied at the University of
Parma in Lombardi, with the intention of taking up
the profession of medicine, but instead he enlisted
in the Italian army when eighteen years old, enter-
ing the engineer corps, and after four years in the
army, he met a friend who was about to set out for
the New World and decided to accompany him to
California. He and his friend landed at San Fran-
cisco about forty-five years ago, and subsequently
he became the editor of L'Indipendente, a semi-
weekly publication in San Francisco, which was pub-
lished in the Italian language, and which is now
called the L' Italia, meanwhile studying diligently to
perfect himself in the English language. He was en-
gaged in newspaper work for eight or ten years, and
after that did some work as local correspondent for
Italian-American papers at San Francisco. About
thirty years ago he came to San Jose and now main-
tains offices in the Auzerais Building, where he
is engaged in legal work for the Italian-American
citizens, and also loans money, and translates legal
documents and at times acts as court interpreter, and
is perhaps consulted by more clients among the Ital-
ians than any other person in San Jose. He has
helped build up and is prominent in the Italio-Amer-
ican societies and social circles and is president of
the Italian Benevolent Society, a new society capital-
ized at $60,000. Mr. Zeiro has been one of the prin-
cipals in instituting every Italian society in San Jose.
He organized the San Jose Hussars, a military com-
pany, the equipment of which cost about $8,000. This
company was at the Mid-Winter Fair in San Fran-
cisco and also has made trips on special trains to
important festivals and celebrations in Los Angeles,
Stockton and Sacramento. Mr. Zeiro trained them
and has been their captain since the organization of
the company. In 1896 Captain Zeiro was appointed
Italian Consul for the district of San Jose, serving
for many years. He has traveled over the state a
great deal and so acquired a wide acquaintance all
over California.

Mr. Zeiro's marriage, which occurred at Berkeley,
Cal., united him with Miss Catherine De Pauli, who
is a native of California, having been born in Bear
Valley, Mariposa County, where her father was a
pioneer and became a large merchant; and her
brother, James de Pauli, was a merchant in Kern
and was president of the Bank of Kern. Mrs. Zeiro
was a graduate of Notre Dame Convent, in Berkeley,
and is a cultured, talented woman, and their union
has proved a very happy one. They are the par-
ents of one child. Azalia, the wife of Earl L. Alder-
man, who is the head of the Earl P. Alderman Com-
pany, real estate, loans and insurance. Mr. Zeiro

was president of the building committee that erected
The Holy Family Church in San Jose and he and
his wife have always been active members. Mr.
Zeiro's residence is at Fifteenth and San Fernando
streets, and here he has made his home for a number
of years. He is a member of the Druids and is its
district deputy and has served as its president for
twenty years. In national politics he is a Republi-
can, prominent and active in county conventions.

URBAN A. SONTHEIMER.— A worthy repre-
sentative of a well-known pioneer family who has
himself attained to an enviable position in the bustling
community of which he is an influential part, is
Urban A. Sontheimer, the popular Justice of the
Peace of San Jose township. A native son, very
proud of his association with the great commonwealth
along the Pacific, Mr. Sontheimer was born at San
Jose on August 23, 1888, the son of J. J. Sontheimer,
who came to San Jose from Wisconsin in 1869, and
ten years later married here Miss Anna Kreig, also
of an early family. He was engaged in educational
work and taught school many years in San Jose.
Mr. Sontheimer was then County Clerk, and
he gave such satisfaction in the efficient and
conscientious discharge of the duties of his
office that he served his fellow-citizens three terms
in that capacity, after which he followed the busi-
ness of a realtor. He w-as also a member of the
board of school trustees of San Jose. Mr. and Mrs.
Sontheimer had three children, and Urban was the
youngest in the family.

He attended both the grammar and the high school
at San Jose, after graduating from the latter in 1907,
and then a year later he entered Stanford University.
In 1912 he was graduated from the pre-legal course
with the A. B. degree, and in 1914 he was made a
Juris Doctor by the same institution There-
after he . practised law in San Jose until he was
appointed to his present position in 1916, to succeed
Judge John T. Wallace, and in 1918 he was elected
for a four-year term. In national politics a Republi-
can, Mr. Sontheimer is too good an American to
allow partisanship to interfere with his wholehearted
support of whatever is best for the locality in which
he lives, works, and prospers. He is much interested
in all Santa Clara County, and ready and anxious
to do all that he can to hasten the day when it shall
come to its own.

At San Jose, on August 3, 1919, Mr. Sontheimer
was married to Miss Mabel I. Allen, born near San
Jose, the daughter of L. S. Allen, who had come to
California with his family in 1869. Judge Sontheimer
belongs to San Jose Parlor No. 22, Native Sons of
the Golden West, being a past president and is a
member of San Jose Lodge No. 522, B. P. O. E..
serving as exalted ruler from April, 1919 to April.
1920. He was made a Mason in Fraternity Lodge
No. 399, F. & A. M., San Jose, is a member of
Harvard Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., and of San Jose
Commandery No. 10, Knights Templar, and is also
a member of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San
Francisco. He is naturally an enthusiastic member
of Santa Clara County Bar Association. At Stan-
ford we find him a member of Phi Alpha Delta
law fraternity, the "Order of the Coif," the scholar-
ship law fraternity, and Acacia Masonic Fraternity.
During the World War Judge Sontheimer was a
member of the legal advisory board for Santa Clara

654

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

County and had active charge of all its work, in-
cluding the preparation and supervision of all the
questionnaires that were returned from this county.
He was one of the four-minute men and a member
of the war work councils, taking an active part in
the Liberty bond. Red Cross and war drives.

MISS AGNES EMMONS HOWE.— What one

woman of high ideals and scholarly education may
achieve not merely in professional success, but in be-
ing able to accomplish much toward the advancement
of a great movement for the benefit of humanity, is
well illustrated in the life and career of Miss Agnes
Emmons Howe, the experienced and efficient county
superintendent of schools, whose popularity through-
out Santa Clara County attests to her enviable status
in the educational world at large. She was born at
Rockford, 111., the daughter of Lafayette and Mary
(Tisdalc) Howe, and was the eldest of six children.
She enjoyed a thorough grammar school training, at
Owatonna Minn., and afterwards, an excellent high
school course.

In 1885 she came to California and for seven years
taught school in Ventura County. Then in 1892 ma-
triculated at Stanford University; and in 1897 she was
graduated with the A. B. degree. Then she went to
the San Jose Normal School as a teacher, and she re-
mained there in that capacity for twenty-one and a
half years, during which time she had two years'
leave of absence. She did graduate work at the Uni-
versity of Wisconsin, which in 1913 conferred upon
her the degree of Master of Arts. Half of this period
of absence Miss Howe devoted to travel, throughout
the United States and Europe, thereby still further
enlarging her breadth of vision.

When Miss Howe left the San Jose Normal School
in 1918, she was elected for four years to the respon-
sible ofiicc of county superintendent of schools, and
thus made officially a leader in the movements for
popular education and intellectual uplift in Santa
Clara County; and during her term of office she has
specialized in the extension of home agricultural pro-
jects and in the bettering of the courses of studies
for rural schools, promoted through her by frequent
conferences with teachers. Having always the wel-
fare of the latter, as well as that of the pupils at
heart, it is natural that Miss Howe should be able to
proceed rapidly and effectually with these improve-
ments and extensions on account of the cheerful and
sincere cooperation given her by the teaching body at
large. Miss Howe is as much interested in Santa
Clara County as if she were a native daughter, and
finds inspiration and pleasure in inspiring others with
civic pride and rational patriotism. In politics she is
a Republican.

Miss Howe has been an active member of the Na-
tional Educational Association for years, and she also
belongs to the California Teachers Association, and
to the State Federation of School Women's Clubs,
and she is also identified with the Civic League of
San Jose, the Women's Club, the Parent-Teachers
Association. League of Women Voters, the Women's
Christian Temperance Union, the Chamber of Com-
merce, the Eastern Star and the Royal Order of Am-
aranth. In each of these organizations the influence
of her mind and personality is felt as the power of a
good woman, and one of particular gifts; which may
explain her acceptability as both a school ofticial and
a representative citizen.

HON. M. P. O'CONNOR.— Occupying a position

of prominence among thf most influential citizens of
San Jose was the late Hon. M. P. O'Connor, well
Icnown throughout this section as Judge O'Connor.
During the many years of his residence in this city
he took an active interest in developing and advanc-
mg its highest interests, devoting his energies to this
ourpose and giving of his means in a generous
measure. As an attorney he was well versed in
legal lore, attaining success at the bar, and as a rep-
resentative of the people he served his constituents
in both houses of the California legislature with
recognized ability and fidelity.

He was born in Ireland May 8, 1823, and was
taken to England in August, 1825. At the age of
fifteen he came with his parents to the United States,
and remained two years in the city of New York.
In December, 1840, he removed to St. Louis, Mo.
Entering the law office of Maj. U. Wright, in 1842,
lie studied law with the eminent jurist, and after
being graduated from the law department of the
Jesuit College, St. Louis, was admitted to the bar
ihere in 1846. Beginning the practice of his pro-
fession in St. Louis, the judge remained there three
years, and then, in 1849, crossed the plains with
mule teams, arriving in California by the Carson
route August 17, 1849. He intended to at once open
a law office, but there being little legal business of
any kind, he turned his attention instead to mining,
which he followed for a time. Locating in Nevada
County, he subsequently engaged in the practice of
law, but at the same time continued his mining
operations. A man of strong mental caliber and of
much force of character, Judge O'Connor soon ac-
t|uired a place of influence in the community, and
in the session of 1859 and 1860 he served in the
state assembly, being elected as a Douglas Demo-
crat. From 1860 to 1869 he practiced law in Nevada
County. In a Republican county he was elected as
state senator on the Democratic ticket, and served
most satisfactorily to all concerned from 1869 until
!877. His mining operation added materially to his
bank account, his name becoming familiar to all the
people of that section of tlic state in which he re-
sided. On his election to the senate he gave up his
law practice. In 1874, accompanied by his wife, he
began traveling throughout this and foreign coun-
tries, returning from each trip in time to attend the
cessions of the legislature. Locating in San Jose in
1884, Judge O'Connor erected a beautiful residence
at the corner of Second and Reed streets, and later
on built his home, adjoining the O'Connor Sanitarium.

In 1862, in Grass Valley, Nevada County, Cal.,
Judge O'Connor was married to Mrs. Amanda (But-
ler) Young, who was born in CarroUton, Ohio, and
came to California in 1854 with her brother, J.
Butler, of Grass Valley. A large-hearted, broad-
minded woman, Mrs. O'Connor has a warm, sympa-
ihetic nature, and in the alleviation of the sufferings
of others finds her greatest pleasure. She was al-
ways interested in young girls, and those left with-
out father or mother appealed especially to her tender
heart and she longed to do something for them. The
large house that she and her husband built at Second
and Reed streets seemed to her well adapted for a
home for a large number of people, and she and her
husband, being devout Catholics, determined to make

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

657

it in reality a home for Catholic orphan girls With
this purpose in view this generous couple donated
their beautiful residence to the Sisters of Notre
Dame for an orphanage, and it is now known as
Notre Dame Institute. It has accommodation for
fifty orphans, and is one of the most noted institu-
tions of the kind on the Pacific Coast. Mr. and
Mrs. O'Connor also liberally endowed the institu-
tion with a sum sufficient for its perpetual main-
lenance. In 1889, prior to the establishment of the
Notre Dame Institute by Mrs. O'Connor, the O'Con-
nor Sanitarium, on the corner of Race and San
Carlos streets, was erected by them. This is a large
and beautiful brick structure, modern in its furnish-
ings and equipments, and. with its attractive grounds,
occupies fifteen acres, the grounds extending from
Race to Meridian streets on the one side and from
San Carlos to Sansevain streets on the other.

During their residence in San Jose, Mr. and Mrs.
O'Connor made many trips abroad, and of the four-
teen winters spent in Europe ten were passed in
Rome. In their travels on the continent they gath-
ered a rare collection of art treasures, and these
they donated to Trinity College in Washington,
D. C. They also endowed the chair of canon law
in the Catholic University of America in Washing-
ron, D. C. The benefactions of Judge and Mrs.
O'Connor have reached many sections of California,
and have proved a boon to numerous Catholic insti-
tutions. They contributed liberaliy towards the up-
building and perpetual maintenance of St. Patrick's
Seminary at Menlo Park, and also assisted in the
building of the Young Men's Institute Building on
Market Street, near San Fernando. Judge O'Connor
was an active member of St. Joseph's Church, and
was a member of the California Pioneers' Society of
San Francisco. He passed away June 9, 1909, sur-
vived by his widow-
It would be only just for the historian to pay a
tribute to Mrs. O'Connor, who was one of the most
faithful and cheerful of wives and helpmates. The
abnegation of all social functions and demands of
society in general in order that she could be a con-
stant companion to her husband will be a living
example for future generations. She went hand in
hand with her husband in their princely generosity
and the harmony of their natures and loving regard
one for the other was as beautiful ,ts it was rare.
Thus, in the twilight of her life, while the shadows
iire lengthening, Mrs. O'Connor is listening for the
rail, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

THE O'CONNOR SANITARIUM.— Preeminent
among the beneficent and noteworthy institutions of
San Jose of which the ambitious and appreciative
citizens of Santa Clara County are justly proud may
well be mentioned the O'Connor Sanitarium, which
was taken possession of by the Daughters of Charity
of St. Vincent de Paul, at the invitation of the Hon.
and Mrs. M. P. O'Connor, and the suggestion of the
Most Rev. Archbishop Riordan, on March 19, 1889,
although it was erected in 1887 by Mr. and Mrs.
O'Connor, who wished to provide an institution for
the care of the aged, the sick and the afflicted. Since
its erection, the growth and development of the insti-
tution have been along broad and progressive lines;
and as it is purely non-sectarian, with much-needed
benefits available to all, the unostentatious relief of
the unfortunate poor of the community, as one phase

of its activity, has been far-reaching and effective in
its service in the cause of humanity.

Tastefully laid out in lawns, orchards, orange plot
and pinery, traversed by concrete walks and driveways
aflfording opportunity for ideal exercise and recrea-
tion, the spacious fourteen acres surrounding and
forever protecting the Sanitarium are advantageously
situated in the beautiful and healthful Santa Clara
Valley, at San Jose, within easy access of San Fran-
cisco, and upon these grounds are the substantial
brick buildings, grouped in architectural harmony,
consisting of main building, two wings, nurses home,
chapel, kitchen, laundry, power house and garage,
while properly apart stands the isolation building, for
contagious diseases. Numerous sheltered porches, a
solarium and garden pavilion enable the convales-
cent to enjoy the benefits of the outdoor air.

Fully supplied with all the modern appointments
such as one might expect to find in any up-to-date
institution of this kind, the O'Connor Sanitarium,
which in 1918 installed a splendid pathological labor-
atory, and in March, 1921, secured the latest X-ray
instruments, is especially equipped for the care of
surgical cases, and the operating rooms are as com-
plete as science and mechanical skill can make them.
On each of the floors are surgical dressing and treat-
ment rooms, and there are two large wards for pa-
tients of both sexes, and a smaller ward for chronic
diseases. In addition, there is also a children's ward,
for here special attention is always paid to the needs
of these little sufferers. In the obstetrical division,
adjoining the remodeled ward and private rooms is
the delivery room with furnishings and equipment
planned to provide every convenience for the phy-
sician and safeguard for the patient; and the nursery,
with its row of basket-beds, open grate-fireplace and
sanitary tubs, is ideally arranged for the care of the
new-born infant. There is a complete chemical lab-
oratory, and a pharmacy in charge of a thorughly-
competent Sister pharmacist; and there are dressing
rooms and lavatories for the attending physicians,
with all the facilities for personal asepsis and anti-
sepsis, thus minimizing the liability to incurrence or
transference of the disease being treated. Baths,
sterilizers, efficient apparatus for fumigation, a diet
kitchen and a complete telephone service, all aid in
rendering the isolation and other buildings perfect
for the purposes for which they were designed. The
O'Connor Sanitarium is patronized by the physicians
of San Jose of all approved schools of medicine;
and in recent years the total number of cases handled
have been 1,012 in the year 1911, between 1,000 and
1,100 annually in the years 1912, 1913, 1914, and
1915; 1,171 patients in 1916, 1,538 in 1917, 2,440 in
1918, 1,982 in 1919, and 2,577 in 1920— showing an
almost phenomenal recent growth. The San Jose
Training School for Nurses, an accredited school, one
of the divisions of the Sanitarium activity, was es-
tablished in 1898 and incorporated in 1906.

EDWIN H. LEITCH.— Enterprising and capable,
Edwin H. Leitch is the type of citizen w-hose pres-
ence in San Jose has been most helpful to the per-
manent welfare of Santa Clara County. He was
born in Alviso, Santa Clara County, February 15,
1872, and was the son of Isaac H. and Ann (Mc-
Quillan) Leitch. The father was born in New York
City and came to California in the year of 1853,
where he secured employment as a miller. He first
went to San Francisco and then to Alviso, where he

658

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

worked for Bray Bros, and was a miller there for a
number of years. He then engaged in farming until
his death, which occurred in 1896, the mother sur-
viving him until 1913. Mrs. Leitch came to the
United States from her native land. Ireland, at the
age of fourteen years, and was married to Isaac H.
Leitch in San Francisco.

Edwin received his education in the public schools
of Alviso and then entered the employment of S. B.
Hunkins in a general store. Being ambitious he
took the U. S. Civil Service Examinations, and re-
ceived an appointment as assistant postmaster at
Alviso and later entered the San Jose post office,
where he was employed for a period of ten years
as chief mailing clerk. He then served two years
with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and
another year in the wholesale tobacco business in
San Jose. In the meantime, being of an ingenious
turn of mind, he spent his spare time in inventing
and developing an oil burner. Taking a position with
C. L. Meisterheim, a dealer in pumps, etc.. he was
with him for twelve years and was practically in
charge of the business, and when Mr. Meisterheim
disposed of the business, he continued sixteen months
with his successors. He then started in business for
himself, establishing the Leitch Pump and Supply
Company at 400 West Santa Clara Street and has
been very successful.

Mr. Leitch's marriage united him v.ith Miss Eliza-
beth D. Parker, a native of Colfax, Cal., and they are
the parents of two children. Marjorie E. and Emer-
son H. Mr. Leitch is a member of the Knights of
Columbus and of the Catholic Church.

L. R. CODY— Those who have had the good for-
tune of intimate association with L. R. Cody, Horti-
cultural Commissioner of Santa Clara County, know
that his work along the lines of practical and scien-
tific horticulture has been a primary factor in the
development of the fruit industry. Although his
work and interest have been largely confined to
California horticulture, the development along these
lines in the other states, as well as in Europe and
the Orient, has not escaped his attention. Orchard-
ists and propa.gators throughout the Santa Clara
Valley cannot value too highly his services in fos-
tering horticultural enterprises and disseminating in-
formation so necessary for their calling.

Mr. Cody was born in Chester, Howard County,
Iowa, on January 31. 1877, the son of Frederick A.
and Alta E. (Ray) Cody, who came to California
in 1895. He attended the public schools in Con-
necticut but was forced to abandon his academic
work for the school of experience quite early. He
became an assayer for a mining corporation in Mex-
ico, and after spending some six years there re-
turned to California to take up the study of agri-
culture and its allied lines.

After spending four years in viticultural work at
Fresno, he moved to the Santa Cruz County moun-
tain apple section, arriving in Santa Clara County
in the spring of 1907, where he has since made his
home. His work at the old California Nursery in
the field and as a salesman, as well as his experi-
ence as foreman with the San Jose Branch of the
Cottage Garden Nursery, developed an intimate
knowledge of plant life and methods of propaga-
tion which has made him a recognized authority. In
connection with this work he has made an extc sive
study of California flora and is an active member

of the California Botanical Society. Likewise, al-
ways interested along entomological lines, he !ia<
spent his spare time in the study of insect life and
its control in relation to the welfare of California
horticulture, as well as pathology wilh the same
practical end in view; thus he has acquired tiie
most complete collection of economic insects of any
commissioner in the state.

Attracted by Mr. Cody's ability. Mr. E. L. Morris.
County Horticultural Commissioner at that time, per-
suaded him to enter the public service as horticultural
inspector. Upon Mr. Morris' resignation, he was suc-
ceeded by Mr. Cody on June 1. 1918. with reappoint-
ment to this responsible position. November 13, 1918.

At Meriden, Conn., Mr. Cody was married to Miss
Alice May Smith, who was born in New Haven.
They have a promising son, Frederick Russell, now
attending the San Jose high school. Mr. Cody has
held all of the principal offices of the local Grange,
belongs to the W. O. W., Masons and Sciots, and is a
consistent Republican in state and national affairs.

MAJOR WILLIAM A. COULTER.— A dis-
tinguished representative of the Union forces in the
Civil War, Major William A Coulter, of IS South
Thirteenth Street, San Jose, has lived to occupy
a position of especial honor in a period when a
younger generation has also exhibited in such a mas-
terful way the same shining characteristics. He was
born at Harrisburg, Pa., on October 8. 1839, the son
of James Ramsey Coulter, who was born at Wil-
liamsport, Pa., and became a newspaper man, mas-
tering the details of the business from the work of
the reporter, through the editorial sanctum, and to
the counting room of the publisher. As a young
writer, James Ramsey Coulter was affiliated with
Alexander Cummins, the owner of the Evening Her-
ald of Philadelphia, and some years later with the
staff of the New York World. It was in the years
just prior to the Civil War when James Ramsey
Coulter and his brother William became prominent
as newspaper men in Pennsylvania, and for nearly
twenty years they pulled together as partners. The
Coulter ancestry reaches back to Scotch-Irish settlers
who came out to America during the Colonial period.

James R. Coulter married Miss Lucy R. Balsley.
who was the daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Harris)
Balsley. Sarah Harris' cousin, John Harris, granted
to the state of Pennsylvania the ground on which the
capitol of Pennsylvania is built, as well as the beau-
tiful capitol grounds surrounding this site, which he
deeded to the state for use so long as the capitol
shall remain in that place. The city takes its name
from the Harris family.

William A Coulter attended the public schools at
Harrisburg, and in 1859. he entered the Ohio Wes-
lyan University in Delaware. Ohio. He became a
member of the "Lenapee Grays," a military company,
and had military training for a year before the Civil
War broke out. On October 4. 1861, he enlisted in
the Eighteenth United States Infantry, in the new
army authorized by Congress, and "bunked" with
Gen. William H. Bisbee, now retired. H. B. Car-
rington, adjutant-general of Ohio, was put in com-
mand of the newly-formed regiment. Mr. Coulter
was captain and assistant adjutant-general of a divi-
sion of cavalry in the battle of Nashville, Tenn.
.'\fter this he was adjutant-general of a division of
cavalry commanded by Gen. Joseph F. Knipe, and

^ n(^t:>y

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

661

took part in the campaign against Mobile, Ala.,
when General Canby had command; after this he
was assigned to duty as assistant adjutant-general
to Gen. J. M. Brannan, chief of the artillery to Gen.
George H. Thomas, commanding the armies of the
West. Later still, Mr. Coulter was made assistant-
adjutant to Gen. A. M. Brannan, commanding the
district of Savannah with headquarters at Savannah
until 1866, and then he served as assistant adjutant-
general to Gen. W. H. Emery at his headquarters in
Washington, D. C. In 1866 he was commissioned
major by the president and Secretary of War, for
faithful service during the war. The Freedmen's
Report was prepared by Major Coulter during these
two years and sent to General Howard, who was in
command of the Freedmen's Bureau for the United
States. He sent it to Congress with the recom-
mendation that the Freedmen's Bureau be extended
another year and a bill was passed by Congress to
that effect. Then the Major was assigned to duty
at Richmond, Va., in Gen. E. R. S. Canby's head-
quarters; the officer wdio was prominent in quelling
the uprising of the Modoc Indians. In November,
1870, Major Coulter resigned from the army, on
which occasion General Canby wrote him a letter
complimenting him on his service and regretted he
was leaving the service. While in Richmond, and
before his resignation, he appeared before three
judges at Richmond, passed the required examina-
tions, and was admitted to the practice of law. After
his resignation he established his residence in Wash-
ington, vacating the mansion at Richmond that had
been used, until the close of the war, by Jefferson
Davis, and for nearly fifteen years he followed his
profession in Washington, becoming there a well-
known attorney, and fostering the rapid and sane
development in house-erecting in that live city, com-
pleting forty residences which he afterwards sold.
He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court
of the United States.

Preceded by his wife's family. Major and Mrs.
Coulter came out to the Pacific Coast in 1892, the
couple having been united in matrimony at Wash-
ington in 1890. Mrs. Coulter was Mrs. Augusta
(Smith) Oakley before her marriage, and was born
in Montgomery County, Md., of an old Maryland
family. Her grandfather. Reverend Smith, was an
eminent divine in the Methodist Church, and her
uncle. Gen. Augustus Smith, w^as a brigadier-general
in tlie Civil War from Illinois. Mrs. Coulter, by her
first marriage, had one child. Roy Oakley, who re-
sides at St. Paul. Major and Mrs. Coulter first
located at San Francisco; there he practised law and
was admitted to practice in the Superior Court of
California, but later removed to Santa Clara County,
where they invested in fifty acres \vhich they devel-
oped into a fine prune orchard. Still maintaining the
interest awakened at Washington in worthy architec-
ture. Major Coulter has done what he could to
improve architectural standards in San Jose, and
he has been very successful in beautifying a portion
of the city. He now owns the Cosmos Apartments
at the corner of East Santa Clara and Thirteenth
streets, as well as the fine Coulter residence at IS
South riiirteenth Street, both of which he erected.
Since I'Mil he has leased his ranch.

During 1911-12 Major Coulter served as com-
mander of the Union Veteran Legion, San Jose

Chapter, but in 1915 this chapter was disbanded,
owing to the decrease in membership through
deaths. He is a member of the California Com-
mandery of the military order of the Loyal Legion,
and in 1917 was senior vice-commander of the com-
mandery. He has also served as patriotic instructor
of the Col. A. G. Bennett Post No. 129, G. A. R., of
San Jose, and was recently elected a delegate to the
California and Nevada Departmental Encampment
held at Stockton in May, 1921. Major Coulter has
a large acquaintance with military and public men
of the East. He knew many of the Presidents and
cabinet men in the various administrations, viz.:
Grant. Logan, Miles, Custer, President Johnson,
Hayes, Garfield, Harrison, Arthur, McKinley, Roose-
velt, Cleveland, Taft and James G. Blaine, Henry
Cabot Lodge, Senators Quay, Penrose, Philander C.
Knox, etc. He is well informed and has a very inter-
esting way of narrating events. A gifted speaker, he
has often been called upon to participate in notable
public gatherings, patriotic meetings and similar oc-
casions. He is a Republican and a Knights Templar
and Scottish Rite Mason, as well as a Shriner. Major
Coulter served as war correspondent for the Harris-
burg Telegraph and the New York Army and Navy
Journal while on detached service for the Union
Army, and he wrote many articles for publication
after the war. The late Col. Harry Egbert, who
died at the Battle of Manila, was his intimate friend,
and while living in Ohio was a delegate and attended
the congressional convention which met at Marion,
Ohio, when President Harding was a young
newspaper man.

ARTHUR F. CASTLE.— A man of enterprise and
ability, Arthur F. Castle occupies an assured position
among the citizens of San Jose. Born in San Jose,
Cal., October 8, 1879, the eldest son of Isaac Nelson
and California (Reel) Castle, a sketch of their lives
appearing elsewhere in this work. His father was a
native of New York, migrating to California in 1852,
coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He was
an extensive landowner and spent many years in the
cattle business and was well known throughout the
state. He passed away at the family home in San
Jose, January 21, 1911. Mrs. Castle has the distinc-
tion of being the first white child born in George-
town, Eldorado County. For many years she has
been associated with her two sons in stockraising.

Arthur F. Castle attended the public schools of
San Jose, supplementing with a course at Thomp-
son's Business College at Hollister; he is also a
graduate of Heald's Business College at San Jose.
From the time he was eight years old he was in the
saddle, inheriting much of his father's ability as a
stockman, so with his mother and brother he leased
the San Luis Ranch of 50,000 acres, part of which is
located in Santa Clara County and part in Merced
County. He proved very successful in this line of
w-ork and in 1918 they purchased a large tract of
land in the Napa Valley; this was in partnership
with his brother, Roy N. Castle, and his mother.
They became well known as the most extensive cat-
tlemen and stockmen in the Valley and were known
throughout the whole state of California. This part-
nership was dissolved in 1920, having disposed of
their holdings, and Mr. Castle became the owner of
the Castle Hair Store, located at 70 South First
Street, San Jose. In 1921 he and his brother again

662

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

engaged in stockraising on a large tract of about
4,000 acres lying near Gilroy.

In early manhood Mr. Castle married Miss Clara
E. Matthews, who is a native of Calaveras County,
Cal., and the daughter of W. W. and Rachael Mat-
thews. They are the parents of two accomplished
children, Lorrine, a student of the San Jose high
school, and Yvonne, also attending the schools of
San Jose. Politically, Mr. Castle is a Republican,
and in fraternal circles is popular in the ranks of the
Masons and Elks. A deep lover of music, he is also
a gifted violinist, and his talent in this direction is
the source of much pleasure to his many friends.

AUSTIN N. LOSSE.— With the development of
the fruit industry in California the name of Losse
is inseparably associated, and Austin N. Losse, a
leading horticulturist of Santa Clara County, is ably
carrying forward the work instituted by his father,
who was a pioneer in the dried fruit industry in this
state. Austin N. Losse, subject of this review, was
born in Indianapolis, Ind., in 1881, a son of H. E.
and Carrie (Keogh) Losse, both of whom are now
deceased, the former passing away in 1918, at the
age of sixty-five, -while the latter's demise occurred
in April, 1921, when she had reached the sixty-
seventh milestone. The father came to the Golden
Slate in 1887, arriving here at about the same time
as A. C. Kuhn, now deceased. He settled in Santa
Clara County, where he purchased land, on which
he engaged in the raising of fruit, which he dried and
packed. He became a pioneer in the dried fruit in-
dustry, being one of the pioneer firms engaged in
that business in Northern California. His initiative
spirit and constructive effort enabled him to build
up an enterprise of extensive proportions, the ca-
pacity of his plant approximating 25,000,000 pounds
of dried fruit a year. The superiority of the output
gained for it a wide sale and the products of the
plant were shipped to all parts of the globe, the
business being conducted as H. E. Losse & Company.
Mr. Losse was also interested in financial affairs, be-
ing president of the Santa Clara Valley Bank, of
Santa Clara, and he was preeminently a business man
whose record was written in terms of success, for
he possessed the ability to think in large terms and
whatever he undertook he carried forward to a suc-
cessful termination. He was a member of the St.
Claire Club and was recognized as one of the fore-
most citizens, not only of Santa Clara Count}', but
of the state.

In the acquirement of an education Austin N.
Losse attended the grammar and high schools of
San Jose and the University of California, from which
he was graduated with the class of 1905. After
completing his studies he became his father's asso-
ciate in the dried fruit industry, with which he was
connected until 1917, when the business was sold to
the Rosenberg Brothers Fruit Company of San Fran-
cisco, by whom it is still conducted. Since 1917 Mr.
Losse has been interested in business with his
brother. Weir C. Losse. and his sister, Mrs. James
C. Blair. They operate some of the choicest fruit
land in Santa Clara County, being the owners of a
valuable fruit ranch of 340 acres, devoted mainly
to the raising of apricots, but a considerable acreage
is also given over to the production of pears, plums
and prunes. Upon the place are two wells, which
furnish an abundant supply of water for irrigation

purposes, and owing to the superior quality of the
fruit it commands a ready sale. Mr. Losse is thor-
oughly conversant with the details connected with
the production of fruit, carries on his labors scien-
tifically, and keeps well informed on all modern de-
velopments relating to his line of work. For a num-
ber of years he had the controlling interest in the
Vendome Hotel, of which he was manager in 1918.

In San Jose, on August 12. 1909, was solemnized
the marriage of Austin N. Losse and Miss Louise
P. McGraw, a native of Mankato, Minn., and a
daughter of Dr. D. F. and Emma, McGraw. The
father was for many years a prominent dentist and
highly respected citizen of San Jose, building up an
extensive practice. Mrs. Losse attended the gram-
mar and high schools of San Jose and completed her
education at the Marlborough School of Los An-
geles, Cal. Two children were born of that union.
Beatrice Jessie and Henry Edward. The wife and
mother passed away on December 3, 1918. a victim
of the influenza epidemic, and in that j^ear Mr. Losse
also lost his father. He is a prominent member of
the St. Claire Club and is a man of high principles
and substantial qualities, progressive and reliable in
business, loyal in citizenship and at all times display-
ing devotion to the duties that devolve upon him.

FORREST D. SANDERS.— .\ thoroughly enter-
prising and successful business man of Saratoga,
who considers it an honor to have been born in this
beautiful county, is Forrest D. Sanders, who first
saw the light in Los Gatos, March 13, 1878. He is
the son of C. W. and Hannah (Showers) Sanders,
who came to Los Gatos about 1874. The father is
a New Yorker by birth and the mother a native of
Missouri. In the pioneer days, the father was an
assayer at Virginia City, Nev., and has followed the
occupation of mining ever since coming to California
and is still in the mines near .Angels Camp. The
mother is deceased. The eldest of three children,
Forrest attended school in Los Gatos until the family
removed to St. Louis, Mo., when he was nine years
old, when he went to school there. His career was
varied by different occupations, first as a newsboy,
then as elevator boy at Nugent's Dry Goods Store
in St. Louis, and then he embarked in business for
himself, owning a second hand store and a wood and
coal yard in St. Louis. He was eighteen years old
when he returned to Los Gatos in 1896, and for a
time worked in a cannery, then for two years he
worked in the mines. Not being satisfied with min-
ing as a permanent occupation, he assumed the
management of the orchard owned by Rev. E. S.
W'illiams; later he purchased a small ranch of his
own and in the meantime took up contracting and
carpentry and thus went into the lumber business.
Owing to the great demand, he first began the manu-
facture of fruit trays, but gradually enlarged his
business and was so progressive and aggressive that
he very soon absorbed the Adams Lumber Com-
pany, thus practically controlling the lumber business
in the vicinity of Saratoga.

On March IS, 1899, Mr. Sanders was united in
marriage with Miss Alice Maud Gardner, of Sara-
toga, a daughter of a worthy pioneer family, her
father being Daniel F. Gardner, a pioneer horticul-
turist who came to California across the plains in
1850, while her mother. Sarah (Kenyon) Gardner,
crossed the plains in 1849 with her father. James
Kenyon, the pioneer of Homestead Road. They are

0'C^-^-<J^U^ ^. /^c^Tt...a-SP

^^Xj C^ Ka»'-^1/3'v^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

663

the parents of two children. David F., who is associ-
ated with his father in the lumber business, and
John F. Mr. Sanders has been a hfe-Iong stand-pat
Republican, and for six years he has served as
school trustee. Mr. Sanders united with the Cen-
tenary Methodist Church in St. Louis in 1894, and
soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Sanders be-
came members of the Congregational Church in
Saratoga in which they have taken an active part,
contributing liberally to its benevolences, Mrs. San-
ders taking an active part in the ladies' societies of
the church. Since the Christian Church federated
with the Congregational, they are now members of
the Federated Church and continue their activity.
Mr. Sanders has been active as president of the
Christian Endeavor. Mrs. Sanders is a cultured
woman and as such exerts her influence for good
in the community. She is prominent in civic and
social circles, being a member of the Foothill Study
Club and the Parent-Teachers' Association. Mr.
Sanders is a man of pleasing personality which,
coupled with much native business ability, speaks
for his success. He has the interests of the com-
mutity much at heart and is active in all movements
that have for their aim the improvement of the town
and betterment of the people. He is a member of
the Commercial Club and the Men's Club and it was
this latter organization that made the local Boy
Scouts a possibility and success. He joined the True
Fellowship Lodge, L O. O. F., Santa Clara, and
later demitting, became a charter member of Sara-
toga Lodge No. 428, I. O. O. F., of which he is a
past grand. He is also a member of Encampment
No. n, San Jose, and with his wife is a member of
Saratoga Rebekah Lodge No. iiXl , in which Mrs.
Sanders served two terms as noble grand. Mr. San-
ders is also a member of the Foresters of America
and the Modern Woodmen. He has been an active
member of the Saratoga Improvement Association
since its organization in 1900 and since 1921 has been
the president of the Association.

JAMES CASLEY.— Noteworthy among the most
thriving, able and progressive business men of San
Jose, is James Casley, general cement and sewer con-
tractor. Inheriting his industrious and energetic
spirit and the sterling virtues of a long line of sturdy
English ancestry, he has met with success in his
active career, and has won the confidence and good-
will of the community in which he resides. A native
of England, he was born October 17, 1860, in Corn-
wall, parish of St. Just, which was also the birthplace
of his father and mother, James and Elizabeth
(Thomas) Casley. The father, James Casley, fol-
lowed the occupation of farming during his entire
lifetime. While he did not aspire to holding a public
office, he was progressive and public spirited and
always interested in the welfare of the community
in which he resided. He retained his interest in
public affairs to the day of his death, which occurred
at the age of seventy-three.

During his early boyhood, James, Jr., attended
school in his native parish, receiving instruction from
his father in farming and agriculture, which served
him well in future years. The youth of Mr. Casley
was not singled out for special favors on the part
of good fortune, and he is essentially a self-made
man, depending always upon the natural and ac-
quired gifts which aided his ambition. He was
reared to habits of extreme thrift by his parents, and

when he arrived at the age of twenty-two, with an
inborn determination to succeed, he embarked for
America, and landed in Quebec, Canada, on July
6, 1882. His first job was that of farmhand at the
meager wage of twenty dollars per month. This
served to tide him over for a time, but not satisfied
with this, four months later he went to Michigan,
where he obtained employment in the iron and cop-
per mines. During the next year, he went to La
Salle County, 111., again taking up the work for
which he was best fitted, that of farming. He leased
land near Marseilles, III., paying as high as four
dollars per acre rent, and was successful in his ven-
ture, his chief crop being corn. Still he was not
satisfied with farming as a vocation, and leaving the
scene of his success, he came to California in No-
vember, 1891, locating at San Jose. His early les-
sons in thrift had caused him to accumulate some
funds, and he very soon invested in property in the
Montgomery and Rea subdivisions, later erecting a
residence on North Seventeenth Street.

tn^M°? Q^r"*"^^ ^"'"°''' ^^'- Casley was married
ssf Af^ "J? ^"^ '" Marseilles on December 9
1885. Mrs. Casley was also a native of England'
bemg born m Halsoen, September 16, 1855, and sh^
came to America in 1880, locatmg in Illinois. S,x
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Casley: Albert
deceased; William, deceased; Lizzie deceased- Marv
married Walter H. Ratz, a^d they' Ja" on' cJild
Gertrude, a graduate of high school, resides with he^

SchnoT = - -)''"^ ' ■^'^'"^'^ °^ "^<= State Normal
bchool is teaching in the public schools of San Jose
Mrs. Casley pas.sed away in October, 191 S and is
buried in the beautiful cemetery at Oak Hill where
the children who are deceased are buried.

Soon after coming here, Mr. Casley chose his loca-
lon for his business, and with his usual energy, he
has established himself as a general cement and
^ewer contractor, making for himself an enviable
reputation. His one ambition, throughout his busi-
ness career, has been to excel in the quality of his
work, and keeping this in mind at all times he has
succeeded in establishing himself as the leading con-
tractor ,n his line of Santa Clara County. He has
laid miles and miles of sewer and his cement work
has always been first class. Mr. Casley used a ditch-
ing machine in his work and was the first man to
own one in Santa Clara County. This is a great
labor-saving device, since before operating this ma-
chine, he regularly employed twenty-five men, and
now the same amount of work can be accomplished
with the help of four men. Mr. Casley has built
many of the beautiful bridges, which are the pride
of Santa Clara County, and he has been successful,
far beyond his expectations, in his chosen work.

Mr. Casley has taken an active interest in Republi-
can politics ever since coming to the West, serving
as a delegate to the county convention on the Re-
publican ticket in 1910. Fraternally, he is a member
of the Woodmen of the World and an Odd Fellow.
He is a stockholder in the Don Jose Investment
Company of San Jose and has extensive real estate
interests in that city. He is public spirited and en-
terprising, and his example of industry and sobriety
may well be followed by the seekers of success. Mr.
Casley received his citizenship papers while a resi-
dent of La Salle, 111., during the year of 1888. from
the Superior Court, presided over by Judge Snyder.

664

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

REV. A. W. NOEL PORTER, Ph. D.— A schol-
arly representative of the Episcopal clerg>' in Cali-
fornia, the Rev. Dr. A. W. Noel Porter, rector of
Trinit}' Episcopal Church, San Jose, enjoys a status
and exerts an influence socially, intellectually, and
religiously such as anyone might envy who was de-
sirous of leading the world onward and upward to
better things. He was born at Bellary. India, on
December 18, 1885, the son of John and Martha
(Starling) Porter. John Porter was born in Devon-
shire, England, educated in the public schools, and
graduated from a military academy, after which he
received a college degree. He was then sent to India,
where he was promoted to be Regimental Inspector
and was put in charge of military schools. He mar-
ried in Barbados, of the West Indies, Miss Martha
Starling, who was born there, and had been educated
in a French academy at Paris; but as her parents
were extensive landowners in the West Indies and
the Isle of Barbados, she made her home there.
They resided for a time in England then in Ireland
and then once in India, where the father died in 1888,
survived by his wife and children, our subject and
his sister, Mrs. Albert Leehome of Santa Barbara.
The mother died in England in 1900.

Mr. Porter attended the Grosvenor House School
in England, which was located at Walthamstow,
and from there he was able to effect his entrance, by
examination, to the University of Southern California.
Coming out to Los .'\ngeles in 1902, in 1904 entered
the university. He acted as secretary and treasurer
of the S. D. Sturgis & Bro. Company, while study-
ing, and enjoyed a varied business experience
which gave him a keen insight into practical busi-
ness methods. He had already been fortunate in the
matter of inheritance; for his paternal ancestors,
from whom sprang men prominent in India and Aus-
tralia, were widely experienced in military and naval
affairs, and his forebears on his mother's side were
prominent as churchmen and plantation owners.
One branch of the Porter family were early settlers
of Virginia, members of which took part in the
Colonial and Revolutionary struggles. In 1908 Mr.
Porter received the Bachelor of Arts degree from
the LTniversit}' of Southern California, and six years
later he was given the Bachelor of Divinity from
the General Theological Seminary in New York
City. In 1911 he had been ordained a deacon and
priest by Bishop Johnson and became rector of St.
James Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, and in 1915
he received his Master's degree from his Alma
Mater. In 1916 the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
was conferred upon him by the College of the State
of Iowa.

In 1918 Doctor Porter was called to San Jose to
fill a vacancy in the rectorship of Trinity parish,
caused by the resignation, in November, 1917, of the
Rev. Halsey Werlein, and since then he has had
supervision of Christ Mission, San Jose, the Church
of Our Savior at Santa Clara, and St. Thomas' Mis-
sion at Sunnyvale. He has become vice-president
of the Civic Welfare League, is a member of the
San Jose Chamber of Commerce and has acted as
vice-president of the Public Forum Committee. He
is the clerical member of the Rotary Club and is also
a member of the San Jose Country Club. He votes
with the historic Democratic party and finds delight
in seeking to elevate civic standards. He belongs

to the Phi .\lpha fraternity. He was made a Mason
in San Jose Lodge No. 10. F. & A. M., is chaplain
of San Jose Lodge No. 522, B. P. O. E., and is in-
tensely interested in the Boy Scouts movement.
With over 800 communicants. Trinity parish may
well be said to be in a prosperous condition.

Since taking hold here in 1918, Doctor Porter has
continued untiringly as an educator, and he has car-
ried on the great work of Trinity Church uninter-
ruptedly. He gives especial attention to the all-
important matter of organization, both within and
without the church, and thereby better succeeds in
maintaining vital connections between his parish and
the rest of the social and religious world. He is also
a successful author, having written, among other
things, with facility and force, "The Bible in the
Prayer Book," published in 1913, an index used by
many teachers; "Love One Another," "Carry Your
Corner," and "The Inside Inn," together with some
of his best sermons. His publishers now have his
latest work on the last words from the Cross, under
the title, "Magnet of the World," which will soon
be oflf the press.

At Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, on June 12,
1912, the Rt. Rev. William Ford Nichols, Bishop of
California, joined Dr. Porter in matrimony with
Miss Dorotln' Hallowell, the daughter of John Hallo-
well of San Francisco, and a native of Mendocino
Count}', born near Fort Bragg. The union has been
singularly happy, and Doctor and Mrs. Porter's home
life has been rendered even brighter by their three
children, Noel Edmund, Cedric Starling, and Richard
GrenviUe Porter.

GEORGE C. ANDERSON.— Among the pioneer
mercantile establishments of the Santa Clara Valley
that of the George C. Anderson and Brother Grocery
Compan}- stands well to the front, their business at
324 East Santa Clara Street having been established
for more than thirty years. Born at St. Louis, Mo.,
December 23, 1870, he is a son of Henry H. and
Caroline J. (Stillman) Anderson, who came to Cali-
fornia in 1875 and decided to make the Santa Clara
Valley their permanent home, engaging in the
grocery business and establishing a line of stores.

George C. Anderson was educated in the public
schools of San Jose, but his spare hours were spent
in his father's store, thus early in life his training
began and he was soon put in charge of one of the
stores. When his father passed away in 1898, the
stores were gradually disposed of, and all efforts
were centered on the great store in San Jose. For
a number of years, Mr. Anderson was engaged in
the manufacture of Beech Nut Jaffe, under the name
of the Fig Prune Company, which he established
but disposed of to the California Beech Nut Com-
pany; later he was the proprietor of the Mission
Leather Drapery Company, which was sold to a
Los Angeles firm.

The marriage of Mr. Anderson occurred in San
Jose and united him with Miss Cora Hamil. whose
parents came to California in the '60s. Mr. Ander-
son takes great pride in the beautiful grounds sur-
rounding their home and preserves his health by
personal care of his garden. Fraternally, he is iden-
tified with the W^oodmen of the World. He has
witnessed much ot the growth and progress of this
part of the state, and has contributed to the
prosperity and improvement of the city and state.

(&i^ f>^ ^<^^- ^' ^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

665

ROBERT L. HOGG, M. D.— A physician who,
following exceptional scientific and technical prepara-
tion for his work, and years of active practice, has
come to take front rank among the best representa-
tives of medicine and surgery in Santa Clara County,
is Dr. Robert L. Hogg. A native of Kentucky, he
was born April 27, 1873, at Booneville, the son of
Stephen P. and Sally Anna (Combs) Hogg, both na-
tives of Kentucky. Stephen P. Hogg, the father, was
a prominent attorney in his native state, where he
served as prosecuting attorney and also as a member
of the constitutional convention. Both parents have
now passed to their reward.

Robert L. started to learn the lessons of life in the
public schools and continued his course of study at
the University of Kentucky, where he took a scien-
tific course and then entered the University of Louis-
ville, where he was graduated with the M. D. degree
in 1893. On leaving the university he began his
practice at Hazard, Ky.; then in 1894 he removed to
Paso Robles, Cal.. where he practiced for a year and
a half. In 1895 he located at Saratoga, Santa Clara
County, since which date he has continued to prac-
tice here, a well known figure in the life of the com-
munity, prominent equally as a physician and sur-
geon and as a man with the best interests of his dis-
trict at heart, loyal to his state and to the city where
he has resided so long.

The marriage of Dr. Hogg in Saratoga united him
with Miss Agnes Josephine Hourecan, a native
daughter of Saratoga. Her father, John Hourecan.
was a pioneer of California, coming to the state in
the early '50s, and was one of the early settlers of
Saratoga. Dr. and Mrs. Hogg arS the parents of
three daughters; Melita Mary graduated at Stanford
University in 1921 with the degree of A. B., majoring
in psychology, and is now the director of the psycho-
logical clinic at Louisville. Ky.; Norma Dorothy is a
graduate of the State Teacher's College and now
teaching at Hanford; Agnes Gertrude is attending
the Dominican College at San Rafael. Dr. Hogg
thowed his patriotism regardless of his large busi-
ness and property interests by volunteering his serv-
ices, enlisting in the Medical Corps of the U. S.
Army. He was commissioned a first lieutenant and
was stationed at Fort Riley until after the armistice,
receiving his discharge December, 1918, when he re-
turned and resumed his practice. He is affiliated
politically with the Democratic party, and fraternally
ir an Elk and an Odd Fellow, and also belongs to
the American Legion. He is an active and interested
member of the American Medical Association, also
of the state and county medical organizations, and is
one of the examining surgeons for the U. S. Pension
Department. Besides successfully taking care of a
large and lucrative practice, he looks after a fine
ranch property, which he owns in the vicinity of
Saratoga, and has large property interests in the town
of Saratoga, owning the Hogg Building, the princi-
pal business block in this thriving town. He im-
proved his orchard place, setting out most of it to
an orchard of prunes and apricots. He improved
fifty-three acres and sold it and now has an orchard
of thirty acres; here he has built his residence located
on the Saratoga Road above Saratoga where he re-
sides with his family. Dr. Hogg is active in the
Saratoga Improvement Association, serving two terms

as president and director of the Blossom l''estival.
Deeply interested in the cause of education, he served
acceptably as a member of the school board and is
an original trustee of the Los Gatos Union high
school; he is one of the organizers of the Saratoga
State Bank and served as vice-president and director
until it was sold to the Garden City Bank & Trust
Company; he was one of the organizers and a stock-
holder and now a director of the Saratoga Inn. Inc„
a local company formed to promote a new hotel in
Saratoga, which is a success and credit to the town,
in fact there is not a movement started for the up-
building of the town and county that does not have
his hearty support and cooperation. Before being
called into service, he was active in all war work,
chairman of the local war work council until he went
to Fort Riley and as such had charge of the various
Red Cross and Liberty bond drives, all of which went
over-the-top in their subscriptions.

MILES MONROE CALEB.— A man of strong
personal force, of the stimulating rather than the
aggressive kind. Miles Monroe Caleb, although re-
tired from active business life, is still a prominent
factor in the development of the resources of Santa
Clara County. A native of New- York. Mr. Caleb
was born in a rural district twenty-two miles south
of Buffalo, Chautauqua County, July 31, 1842, the
son of Peter B. and Catherine (Stevenson) Caleb,
the father a native of Delaware County, N. Y., while
the mother was reared in New Jersey. Jerry Caleb,
an uncle, served in the War of 1812 with distinction.
The boyhood of Allies M. Caleb was spent on the
farm, and he attended school in Orleans County,
in the great Empire State.

At the outbreak of the Civil War he ran away
from home and enlisted in Company B of the Third
Michigan Cavalry, under Captain Wilcox, on August
31. 1861. He began his training at Grand Rapids,
Mich., and by the first of November the regiment
was on its way to St. Louis, Mo., and he was in the
battle of New Madrid, ten miles south of Island
No. 10 in the Mississippi River. Owing to the hard-
ships and exposure encountered in the service to his
country, he contracted a fever, was sent to a hospital
and remained there until July, 1862, when he had
sufficiently recovered to be removed to his home in
New York, but the physicians despaired of his life
and he was honora,bly discharged on account of phys-
ical disability in July. 1862. The careful nursing
of his home folks proved beneficial, and on Decem-
ber 10, 1863, he reenlisted in the army, this time with
Company A. Second New- York Mounted Rifles,
under Captain Rushmore. He also served on de-
tached service under Gen. Phil. Sheridan, being
taken prisoner in October, 1864, at Richmond, but
was fortunate in being paroled in four days. Many
hardships were endured, and many narrow escapes;
four horses were shot from under him during battles.
His record as soldier deserves special mention, and
on August 23. 1865, he was honorably discharged at
Buffalo. N. Y. Two years later, he again took up
the work on the farm, and also went to Pennsylvania
and w-orked in the oil fields for two years.

In 1872 Mr. Caleb removed to Flint, Mich., and
it was there on July 29. 1874, that he was married to
Miss Lucile McNett, a daughter of Benjamin P.
McNett, a non-commissioned officer, who enlisted
from Saginaw, Mich., serving till the close of the war.

666

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. Caleb followed his trade of carpenter for thirty-
five years while residing in Flint, Mich., and suc-
cessfully conducted a contracting and building busi-
ness. Three children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Caleb: Charles E. is married and resides in San
Francisco, he was a member of the Michigan Na-
tional Guards; Harry A. resides at home with his
parents; Nellie G. is the wife of R. O. Price, and
they are the parents of two children. Mrs. Caleb
has served as president of the W. R. C. and is a
member of Ladies of the G. A. R., and in 1918 was
the honored president of the Sheridan-Dix Post No.
7 of the W. R. C. of San Jose. It was during the
year of 1904 that the family decided to seek a milder
climate and removed to San Jose, where they have
continuously resided, with the exception of three
years. They have an attractive and comfortable
home on Spencer Avenue, and arc to make this their
permanent residence, .\ttcr removing to San Jose.
Mr. Caleb, assisted by his son, Harry A., followed
contracting and building for nine years, and many
buildings attest his proficiency. In partnership with
his sons he purchased a twenty-acre vineyard in the
San Joaquin Valley, seventeen miles northwest of
Fresno, and resided there for three years, then the
vineyard was disposed of for $7,000.00; the same
ranch recently sold for $17,000.00. In his political
preferment, Mr. Caleb adheres to the principles of
the Republican party. Fraternally he is identified with
the Odd Fellows; he is also an active member of
Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, G. A. R.. of San Jose. As
one of the practical builders of the city the record
of his useful life forms no unimportant chapter in
the annals of Santa Clara County, and deserves a
permanent place in its history.

VALENTINE DAVID NICHOLS.— The record
of the life of Valentine D. Nichols, now living in re-
tirement in San Jose, is a striking exemplification of
the truth that industry, perseverance and determina-
tion, reinforced by the sagacity resultant from con-
tact with the business world, is uniformly rewarded
by success. Born near Wolcottville, La Grange
County, Ind., October 26, 1845, he is the son of
Nelson Irvin and Keziah (Waltman) Nichols, the
latter born in Huntington, Pa., and coming to
La Grange County, Ind., as a bride in 1834. Both
paternal and maternal grandparents were prominent
in the early history of New England. The father
was an early pioneer of Indiana, was prominent in
the development of the public school system of In-
diana, and was a leader in all advance movements
for the betterment of his local community.

On September 17, 1862, Valentine D. Nichols en-
listed in the Twenty-third Indiana Battery, com-
manded by Capt. James H. Myers, and received his
training at Camp Noble, which is now included in
the present site of Indianapolis. While in training
at this camp, his battery was called out to stop the
raids of Morgan's men. The following year Mr.
Nichols' battery went to East Tennessee, and was
under the command of Burnside until he went East.
Extreme hardships were endured by the soldiers,
never stopping to establish winter quarters, but al-
ways in active service, and in 1864 found Mr. Nichols
with the Schofield Corps under General Sherman in
his famous Atlanta campaign. Mr. Nichols has the
remarkable record of being through twenty-seven
skirmishes and coming out without a wound; among

the battles in which he participated were Resaca.
Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta. Franklin, and Nashville.
Altogether Mr. Nichols served three years continu-
ously, lacking six weeks; was promoted to the rank
of corporal, for gallantry in action, and was mus-
tered out on July 2, 1865, at Indianapolis, returning
to his home on July 4, 1865. For a time he was
employed at farm work, and during the winter
months attended the academy adjacent to his home
town and taught one term in Indiana and later
several 3'ears in Minnesota. In 1868 he migrated to
Douglas County, Mich., settling on a homestead of
160 acres 104 miles from a railroad. By dint of
hard work, economy, and industry, he acquired a
farm of 400 acres. He specialized in white York-
shire hogs; also raised wheat, flax, oats, timothy, and
red clover. His standing in the community as a
successful agriculturist and an influential citizen is
shown by tlic fact that for thirty-four consecutive
years he presided over the justice court at the town
of Brandon. In the organization of the township
of Brandon, Mr. Nichols used his influence, and was
rewarded by being elected clerk of the board, which
position he filled creditably for fifteen years; he
served as a school director for twenty-five years.
Mrs. Nichols was also elected a school director, and
has the distinction of being the first woman elected
to such an office in Douglas County; she also served
as treasurer of the board for a number of years.
Politically, a stalwart Republican, he was a member
of tlie Republican County Central Committee; also
serving as a state delegate. He was a member of
John Reynolds Post No. 51, G. A. R., of Alexandria,
Minn., and he served as commander of this post two
years, or until his removal to California. His life
has always been actuated by the highest principles
of integrity, which has been used in the service of
his community, and wherever he has resided, the
community has been greatly benefitted.

The marriage of Mr. Nichols on December 24.
1877. united him with Miss Katharine Landa, a
daughter of Albert and Mary (Kaiser) Landa, natives
of Bohemia, who migrated to America in 1855, set-
thng in Iowa for nine years and then went to Minne-
sota. They were stanch admirers of their adopted
country and both lived to a good age, the mother
being eighty-four and the father seventy-five when
they passed away. Four children were born to Mr.
and Mrs. Nichols: Ethel, now Mrs. Elmer Riley,
resides in Monterey County; Benjamin, a rancher at
Butte, Mont., is married and has two children; Kezia
is the wife of James Duncan, they are the parents
of six children and reside in San Jose; Marcus, a
rancher, also of Butte, Mont., has a wife and four
children. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols had two grandsons,
Marcus J. and Valentine David Ukestad, both from
North Dakota, serving in the World War, the latter
still in the U. S. Navy. In fact, from the early In-
dian and Revolutionary wars to the present time,
members of the Nichols family have been partici-
pants, with the exception of the war with Mexico.

Mr. Nichols came to California in 1903, settling in
San Jose and bought a place in College Park, at
854 Elm Street, content to reside here for the re-
maining years of his life. Since locating here three
of Mrs. Nichols' sisters have located in San Jose on
account of the climate. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols have
made a number of visits to their old home in Minne-

QM-OA^--

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

669

sola, but they prefer the milder climate of California
for their permanent residence. Mr. Nichols is an
honored member of the Col. A. G. Bennett Post G. A.
R. of San Jose, and a life member of the Union
Veteran Legion, serving as colonel of Camp 160,
San Jose. In the years past, while a resident of
Minnesota, Mr. Nichols was extremely fond of
hunting and fishing, and this sport was both pleasant
and profitable, as the streams of Minnesota abound
with fish, and the forests were full of wild game.

ORVILLE BENJAMIN HART.— A native son
who displayed much business ability and became
very successful in the business life of Los Gatos was
the late Orville Benjamin Hart, a native ^!on of this
great commonwealth, born near Gilroy, Santa Clara
County, December 26. 1871. His father, I. B. Hart,
was a native of New York and was an early settler
of Santa Clara Count}', becoming a successful and
prominent rancher in the Evergreen district, where
he spent his last days, passing away May 2, 1922.
aged eighty-three years. His widow, who was Miss
Helen Cottle, is a native of Missouri. Of their five
children, Orville B. was the second oldest, being
reared on the farm to habits of industry and useful-
ness while he attended the public schools. After
completing the local school he entered a business
college in San Jose, where he was duly graduated.
He then engaged in ranching at Hollister until 1909,
when he came to Los Gatos and purchased the Ford
agency, to which he gave his undivided time, build-
ing up a large business with a complete repair and
service station, but his health became impaired and
he was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his labors,
for he was cut down while still comparatively in the
prime of life, passing away on March 11, 1922. He
was a truly good man, liberal and enterprising, who
alway.s willingly aided all movements that had for
their aim the building up of the community. His
taking away left a void not easily filled, he was
mourned by his family and many friends. He was
a popular member of the Odd Fellows and the Elks,
as well as the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce and
the Santa Clara Valley Auto Trades Association.
Politically he was an ardent Republican.

Mr. Hart was first married in San Francisco to
Miss ^latilda Prusch, born in San Jose; she was a
graduate of the San Jose High School and the San
Jose State Normal, and was a teacher until her mar-
riage. She was a woman of much literary ability
and many of her poems appeared in the Short Story
Magazine, but owing to the time and care she spent
with her two children. Haven and Jean, she was un-
able to give much time to literary work, as she
would otherwise have done. The short poems from
her pen, published from time to time, told of Nature's
charms and human emotions in language that had
the inspiration of the true poet. She passed away
April 16, 1912, mourned by all who knew her. Mr.
Hart's second marriage united him with Mrs. Susie
(Mason) Dietrich, the ceremony being performed in
San Jose, April 16, 1919. She was born near Fort
Bidwell, Modoc County, the daughter of Eli and
Susan (Thomas) Mason, natives of Kentucky, who
crossed the plains in an ox-team train to California
in pioneer days. Mr. Mason was an early settler
of Modoc County and later moved to Lakeview,
Ore., where he served as county judge for many
years, resigning his office to return to his ranch in

Modoc County, and there he resided until his death,
twenty-five years ago. He was a popular Mason. His
widow now makes her home in Chico, the mother of
nine children, five of whom are living. Mrs. Hart,
the youngest of the family, was graduated from the
Lakeview high school. Her first marriage was to
Dr. Adolph Dietrich, a practicing physician of Pitts-
burg, Kans., where he passed away December 12,
1912. leaving a son, Leo Oliver Dietrich, who was
graduated from the Los Gatos high school, but was
called to the world beyond in September, 1920. Since
her husband's death Mrs. Hart continues to reside
at the old home, looking after the interests left by
Mr. Hart and caring for and seeing to the education
of his two children. Haven and Jean. Fraternally
she is a member of the Rebekahs and Royal Neigh-
bors, and the Delphian Club of San Jose.

GEORGE DOUGLAS COTTON.— Identified with
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company for over
thirty-one years as general yardmaster, George Doug-
las Cotton is a native of Illinois, having been born
in Chicago on July 6, 1867, a son of Edward and
Eliza Frances (Carey) Cotton. His father, for years
a traveling salesman, was born in New York State
and was descended from English ancestry, the family
being among the Puritan settlers of Massachusetts.
Patriots in every generation, his ancestors served in
the War of 1812, the Revolutionary War, the Civil
War, as well as the Spanish-American War and the
World War. Mrs. Cotton was born in Troy, N. Y.,
a daughter of Harvey and Jane (Russell) Carey, al.so
of an old New England family and Revolutionary
stock. She died in Oakland in 1914, Edward Cotton
having passed away in 1888. Of their three children,
George is the eldest and was reared in Erie, Pa , the
Cotton family having moved to Pennsylvania when
he was a young lad, and thus, he was educated in
the public schools of that state, and in the city of
Erie, as well as an advanced school under Professor
Diefenbaugh. When he became sixteen years of age,
he joined the ranks of the Pennsylvania railroad sys-
tem and here he was employed in yard service for
three years; he then went to the Lake Shore and
Michigan Southern railroad and Avas in their train
service for a period of one year and then going with
the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Com-
pany, he worked in the same service with headquar-
ters in Minneapolis, Minn., until he came to the
coast, in 1890. He was employed in the Oakland
yards as general yardmaster for the Southern Pacific
railroad, and during his stay in Oakland built a resi-
dence on Thirty-seventh Street near Telegraph; then
m 1907 he was transferred to San Francisco in the
same capacity and continued there, with the Southern
Pacific Railroad Company until 1914 when he was
transferred to San Jose, having in all served this
company for thirty-one years as general yardmaster.

Mr. Cotton's marriage in Oakland united him with
Miss Harriet C. Hunter, a native daughter of Cali-
fornia, having been born in Ukiah; her parents were
easterners who crossed the plains in pioneer days. Mr.
and Mrs. Cotton are the parents of two children, Har-
riet and Geraldine. Mr. Cotton was very active dur-
ing the World War in the war drives, taking part
in the Liberty Loan, Red Cross and other war drives.
He is a Mason, a member of Alcatraz Lodge No.
244, F. & A. M. and Alcatraz Chapter No. 82, R. A.
M., both of Oakland; and a member of the Brother-
hood of Railroad Trainmen, having been secretary

670

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of the local order for many years and a member for
thirty-five years. In national politics he is a stanch
Republican, but in local matters he is very liberal
ii! his views, voting for the men and the best meas-
ures "and always on the side of progress and the up-
building of his community.

LESTER H. HELWIG.— Among the firms that
have their origin in San Jose is that of Sheehy &
Helwig, chartered accountants and income tax con-
sultants, who have several branch offices over the
state of California, where they offer great advan-
tages to Internal Revenue taxpayers in compiling
reports of income tax, excess and war profits taxes,
estate and inheritance taxes, capital stock and state
taxes, accurately and according to the requirements
of the Internal Revenue Department. The junior
partner of the firm, Lester H. Helwig has been con-
nected with both State and Federal service since
1904 in different capacities both in Washington and
California.

Mr. Helwig was born in Nevada County, Cal., on
February 2, 1880, and was the son of John H. and
Emma (Bishop) Helwig. The mother is a native
daughter of a '49cr, her father Alexander Keith
Bishop and wife having crossed the plains twice with
o.x team and once by the way of Cape Horn, while
htr husband, John H. Helwig, also crossed the plains
at the age of nineteen, arriving in California in the
year 1849. After mining for a while, he engaged in
the wholesale meat busniess in North Bloomfield, Ne-
vada County, the town that contained the largest
hydraulic mine in the world. The father passed
away in 1909 but Mrs. Helwig, who was born at
Chinese Camp in 1855 is still living and makes her
home in San Jose. This worthy couple had six
children, five of whom are living, our subject being
the fourth child of the family. He was reared in
Nevada County and attended school there until he
reached the age of seventeen, at which time he
came to San Jose, where he graduated from the
Santa Clara High School in 1900. He tlien attended
Stanford University for three years after which he
took a course in Falkenaw Mining School. San Fran-
cisco, for a year and then worked in the mines in
Nevada and Sierra County in different positions. He
worked as an assayer in Searchlight, Nevada, and
was superintendent of the i yaiiidc plant of the Search-
light Milling & Miniiis Company for three years.
He also spent one ytar as superintendent of the
Pine Grove Mining Company in Amador County. He
held the position of U. S. storekeeper in the em-
ploy of the government off and on for a period of
ten years and then took charge of the Internal Reve-
nue Office for another three years at a plant in Wash-
ington where ethyl alcohol was manufactured from
sawdust. On coming back to California, he resigned
from the Internal Revenue Service and accepted
the charge of the San Diego office of the Commercial
Fisheries Department of the California State Fish
and Game Commission.

In 1919 the present partnership with P. G. Sheehy
was formed as chartered accountants and income tax
consultants, as Mr. Helwig had been associated with
Mr. Sheehy as a deputy collector in the San Jose In-
ternal Revenue Office during the income tax work
in 1917 and 1918 when the excess profit law was first
passed. During this time he took another course in
business training and higher accountancy and so is
thoroughly trained both in income tax and accoun-

tancy work. In 1919 he received the degree of char-
tered accountant from the Institute of Chartered
A.ccountants of the State of California.

Mr. Helwig's marriage in Nevada City united him
v>'ith Miss Ethel Landsburg, born in Nevada County,
the daughter of James S. Landsburg, one of the
pioneers of Nevada County, and they are the parents
of two children, Naida and Barbara. He is a Knights
Templar Mason and also a member of Islam Tem-
ple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco and of the
100 Per Cent and Commercial clubs of San Jose.

VICTOR DORNBERGER.— One of Santa Clara
County's prominent residents well known through
his educational activities, is Victor Dornberger, a
native son of Santa Clara County, born September
4, 1865. His father, Lambert Dornberger, was a
native of France, born in Alsace, France, April 3.
1828, and was for a few years employed in the dairy-
ing business in his native land. On June 9th, 1850,
he left his native country and journeyed to the United
States and by way of the Isthmus of Panama arrived
in San Francisco in the year 1854; in 1856 he moved
into Santa Clara County, settled on a ranch at the
head of Stevens Creek, back of Los Altos; in 1869 he
moved the family to Mayfield, Santa Clara County.
His marriag-e, in 1861, had united him with Miss
Anna Kleinclaus, also a native of Alsace, and seven
children were born to them, six sons, all living, and
one daughter, Mrs. Julia Ross, now deceased. The
father passed away in 1910 and the mother in 1900.

Victor Dornberger received his preliminary educa-
tion in the public schools of Mayfield, later supple-
menting it with a full course at the State Normal at
San Jose, graduating with the class of 1885. His
first teaching experience was for seven years at
Mayfield, the family home town; then in December,
1894. he went to Wadsworth, Nev., where he re-
mained as principal for four years: then to Lovelock,
Xev., for five years; then returned to Mayfield, Cal.,
where he taught for seven years. In the year of 1911
he took charge of the Lincoln School, San Jose,
where he is still instructor, and to his efforts are due
much of th? great progress and development which
have characterized the public schools of this city.

His first marriage united him with Miss Susie M.
Beeson, who passed away in 1917; one child, X'ictrine
Suzette, was born to them. His second marriage
was to Miss Mary F. Corkery, daughter of an old
pioneer family. While principal of the school at
Mayfield, Mr. Dornberger served on the town board
and for one year was chairman of the board. Dur-
ing the recent war, gave active assistance in all the
drives; assisted the physicians with the physical and
mental examinations of the soldiers and sailors. He
has rendered valuable assistance in maintaining the
standard of excellence in educational affairs in his
vicinity, and he may be relied upon at all times to
support measures which have for their object the
betterment and progress of mankind. He is a con-
sistent member of the Catholic Church and is a mem-
ber of the California Teachers' Association and the
National Educational Association, and he has taken
lecture courses at the Teachers' College as well as
in Nevada, while a resident there. Of the original
ranch purchased by Lambert Dornberger, consisting
of 1,300 acres, 800 of it is now owned by Victor and
his twin brother, Albert L. Dornberger, and known
as the Dornberger Ranch.

^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

GEORGE W. COX. — Foremost among the pio-
neer ranchers and farmers in Santa Clara County
is George W. Cox, a native son of Santa Clara
County, who has contributed his share in the up-
building and in the growth and progress in the
neighborhood of Saratoga. He was born at the old
Cox homestead. November 23, 1861, the son of Wil-
liam and Dicey (Baggs) Cox. both natives of Ohio,
and pioneers of Santa Clara County, whose interest-
ing biography is found on another page in this his-
tory. George W. Cox was educated in the Moreland
public school, where he gained a good education.
From the time he was a small boy he assisted his
father on the farm, and while still quite young made
a hand driving the big teams in the grain fields.
In 1884 he began working at the carpenter's trade,
and followed it oflf and on from 1884 till 1892, except
the time he spent (in 1885-'86) attending the Garden
City Business College, then held over the Farmers'
Union Store in San Jose, in charge of Prof. H. B.
Worcester. After he was graduated from this insti-
tution he again resumed his trade. In 1887 he as-
sisted his father when he began setting out his
ranch to orchards, as well ai; helping to set out other
early orchards in this srrtidii. In 1892 he gave his
time to the care of tlir Immr (.rchards, and in 1895
he married Miss Emma Walter, who was born near
Mountain View, a daughter of Mathias and Carrie
(Krause) Walter and a sister of H. C. Walter.

After his marriage Mr. Cox located on his present
place and built a pleasant home, and in 1900 he built
the present commodious residence. His home place
comprises twenty acres on Cox Avenue, set to
orchard as early as 1891, and he also owns a fifteen-
acre orchard on Saratoga Avenue, all devoted to the
culture of prunes. In 1913 he bored a deep well and
obtained a good flow of water, having an electric
pumping plant with a capacity of 750 gallons per
minute, sufficient not only for irrigating his own
orchards but several of his neighbors. He has given
much thought to his orchards and they are culti-
vated in a scientific and intelligent manner.

Mr. Cox was bereaved of his faithful wife, who
passed away January 7, 1916. leaving a son, Ivan,
who is ably assisting his father in his ranching en-
terprise. He married Miss Florence Plaskett and
they are the proud parents of two children, Robley
and Alode Elizabeth. George W. Cox's second mar-
riage occurred March 29, 1920, when he was united
with Mrs. Margaret (Faletti) Morello, the widow
of Frank Morello and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Joseph Faletti. By her first marriage Mrs. Cox be-
came the mother of four children: Theresa, Charles,
Joseph and Frank. Mr. Cox is a believer in co-
operation as the best method of marketing the fruit,
and is a member of the California Prune and .\pricot
Growers' Association.

LORENZO V. SLAVICH.— A resident for many
years of Santa Clara County, w'ho has demonstrated
his admiration for his adopted country, by fostering
and promoting every movement for the advancement
of the community in which he makes his home, is
Lorenzo V. Slavich. who was born on October 30,
1857, in Dalmatia, Jugo-Slavia, Austria, on the Isle
of Brazza, town of Mirce, a son of John and Katherine
(Nizetich) Slavich, well-to-do farmers, and manu-
facturers of olive oil and wine. The father and
mother of Lorenzo V. Slavich were members of the
Catholic Church, and the father served his local

community as town trustee; he lived to be eighty-
one years of age and passed away in his native land,
honored and respected by all. The mother also lived
to be eighty-one years old.

Lorenzo V. Slavich attended the public schools of
Mirce until he had reached the age of fifteen, when
he sailed for America. His uncle, the late George
Slavich, proprietor of the Union Restaurant, the
oldest business of the kind in San Jose, had written
for him to come to California, but was taken seri-
ously ill, and just before the arrival of Lorenzo, had
moved away, and the restaurant was disposed of,
and it was three years before he saw his uncle.
When Lorenzo arrived the only thing left for him
to do was to seek employment elsewhere, and he
found a position that paid ten dollars per month.
Within three months he accepted another position
at a w^age of twenty-five dollars per month. Thrilled
with the stories of the w-ealth to be found in mining,
he went to Amador County, where he entered the
employ of the Plymouth Consolidated Mining Com-
pany, working in their mill; later he removed to
Eldorado County, where a large flume was in the
course of construction for carrying water for placer
mining. He worked there for some time, but on
account of the closing of .the California National
Bank of San Francisco, the company was forced to
quit and Mr. Slavich obtained only a small part of the
money for which he had labored so hard. He be-
came-an American citizen while residing in Eldorado
County. He was now twenty-one years old, and
concluded to return to San Jose. He conducted a
billiard parlor for a time during 1882, but sold out
and invested the proceeds in a restaurant in Gilroy,
which proved to be a wise move, and which netted
him liberal profits during his five years there. How-
ever, he disposed of this business and returned to
San Jose and became manager of a restaurant, where
he remained ten years.

In May, 1897, Mr. Slavich purchased a restaurant
business on West San Fernando Street, and after
spending about $7,000 on improvements, the res-
taurant was opened for business on June 25, 1897.
Friends came from all parts of the state to enjoy the
special program, and to bestow good wishes for
success and prosperity on the enterprise. His ven-
ture proved a profitable one, and for many years
his establishment has yielded a handsome income,
and w-as known throughout the northern part of the
state as a place where one was sure to procure an
excellent meal. Very recently, on account of failing
health, Mr. Slavich has been forced to relinquish his
activity, and has turned over the business to his
son-in-law, John V. Slavich, who served as manager
of the restaurant for tw^enty-one years.

The first marriage of Mr. Slavich united him with
Miss Annie Winegardcn, a daughter of one of Santa
Clara County's pioneer families, born and reared in
San Jose, in a house which formerly stood, and
where now stands the Federal building, on the cor-
ner of Market and San Fernando streets. Her father,
William Winegarden, was a merchant in the early
days. He married Miss Marie Messa, who w^as
born in Sausalito, a daughter of a very old Spanish
family of Northern California. Mr. and Mrs. Slavich
had three children: John died when two and a half
years old; Katherine married John V. Slavich of San
Jose and she died September 5. 1921, leaving a daugh-
ter, Gwenny; and Cclcstina Olga, the wife of Gus

674

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Wendt, a well known merchant of San Jose. Mr.
Slavich has been prominent in all movements for the
upbuildings of his adopted city, and gives unstint-
ingl}' of his time and means to every activity. He
was one of the number of progressive citizens who
organized and named the Slavonic-American Benefit
Society of San Jose in 1894, with a charter mem-
bership of thirty-eight, and he was president for
eleven consecutive years. He was the recipient of
two medals presented by the society in appreciation
of his untiring energy and efiforts in behalf of the
work. He is also an active member of the Italian
Benevolent Society of San Jose, also a member and
president for about twelve years of the Austrian
Benevolent Society of San Jose, and was a charter
member of the Chamber of Commerce. Politically,
he is a stanch Democrat, and has served on the
local election board as judge for the past twenty-
five years. Since the founding of the San Jose
branch of the Bank of Italy, Mr. Slavich has been a
member of the board of directors.

Mr. Slavich's life was saddened by the death of
his wife on May 26, 1911, a woman of culture and
education, a graduate of Notre Dame, speaking flu-
ently both Spanish and English. She was mourned
by a host of loving friends besides the members of
her immediate family. During the year 1893, Mr.
Slavich made a tour through France, Germany,
Austria, and Italy, spending four months visiting his
parents, and renewing the acquaintances of boyhood.
After his return to California the residence located at
221 West St. James Street was built, and has since
been the center of many happy gatherings.

The second marriage of Mr. Slavich occurred
December 6, 1914, uniting him with Miss Marica
Gligo, also a native of Jugo-Slavia, and a resident
of San Jose since 1914. They are the parents of one
daughter, Draga. Mrs. Slavich has two brothers,
who are merchants in San Pedro, Cal.

The part which Mr. Slavich has borne in the
development of this county is one which every patri-
otic and public-spirited citizen feels it an honor to
bear, and when appealed to for practical aid in
promoting the well being of his community he gives
freely of his time and means.

SIVERT HJERLIED SHELLEY, C. E.— A suc-
cessful civil engineer whose long years of arduous,
progressive service have led to a comfortable retire-
ment, is Sivert Hjerlied Shelley, who was born at
Dovre, Norway, on December 8, 1835, the son of Ola
And Marit Hjerlied, under whose wise and skilful
guidance the lad grew to boyhood. Travelers of one
kind or another who stopped at the village of Dovre
had a wonderful influence in stimulating the imagina-
tion and ambition of Sivert Hjerlied, and it was with
a good deal of joyful excitement, as well as some
sadness, that at the age of thirteen, he bade his
parents goodbye and made off for Christiania, the
capital of Norway. There he served an apprentice-
ship of four and one-half years to a civil engineer
and then he attended the government's navy yard
school, earning his own way.

After leaving school he went to Sweden where he
was draftsman in the office of a large plant, rolling
mill, ship building, bridge work, etc., and after he
had demonstrated his ability he was made the super-
mtendent of the boiler plant. This was located on
the canal between Gottenberg and Stockholm. In
1862 he went to England, located near Middles-

brough on the River Tees, became a draftsman and
one year after his arrival there he was called upon
to take charge of the construction for a firm of ship-
owners at Trondjheim, Norway, of a ship at Hull,
England. He had never seen any member of this
firm, but his reputation had preceded him. After
completing this vessel he built two others, these were
constructed at the same yard as the liner Lusitania.

Mr. Shelley later was made manager and had
entire charge of the engineering department of a
large plant of four units and thus established a name
for himself as one of the leading construction en-
gineers of England. He made the plans and super-
intended the construction of a large bridge over the
River Tees, near Saltburn, England; and while the
great Brooklyn Bridge was under way in New York,
he was drawing plans for a prospective bridge over
the Firth of Forth, but this never was completed.
Mr. Shelley left the construction business and em-
barked in the manufacturing and refining of sugar
and a product of his plant was a special colored pow-
dered sugar; making all of his own machinery used
in his plant and superintending the work himself.
This returned him handsome profits, when he sold
out in 1888. His dyes were pure vegetable and were
imported from France. Mr. Shelley invented and
had patented several inventions, among thern a
smoke consumer, an appliance attached to the boiler.
The last j'car of his residence in England our subject,
through court procedure, added Shelley to his name.

Mr. Shelley was married at Middlesbrough, Eng-
land. September 12, 1867, to Miss Elizabeth Sharp,
daughter of Isaac Sharp a well known missionary
ind inspector of missions. It was while he was
traveling about the world on a religious visit in 1891
that he visited the fianta Clara Valley and stopped
a short time with his daughter. He died in 1897,
past ninety years of age, at his home at Stratford-on-
Avon. Seven children blessed the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Shelley, five of them now living:

Harold II. is a rancher in this county; Elsie H. is
Ihe wife of Professor H. Heath. Ph. D.. of Stanford
University, and they live at Palo Alto; Ida H. main-
tains a music studio and is a well known teacher of
music in Sacramento; Helen H. is a doctor of os-
teopathy in San Jose; and Oswald H. is a civil engi-
neer, now living in San Francisco. There are also
six grandchildren.

Mr. Shelley had made up his mind to come to the
United States and in 1887 his wife and some mem-
l.iers of the family left England to join their eldest
son, who had come to the Santa Clara Valley in
1886. As soon as Mr. Shelley could conclude his
business engagements he, too, came to join his fam-
ily. He had invested in ten acres of land here before
he made the journey, and after he came he made
further investments in various ranch enterprises in
the Santa Clara Valley, at the same time that he
had enlisted his sons in the ventures and undertak-
ings. At the age of eighty-six, he is still hale and
hearty in body and mind — a good student, a deep
reader, a profound thinker. His public-spiritedness,
as well as his experience of life in various countries
have prompted him, very naturally, to favor educa-
tional advancement in the Santa Clara Valley, and
he has thus been able to do much toward that kind
of permanent broad-minded development which must
mean so much for the future. At present Mr. and
Mrs. Shelley make their home at 137 North Thir-
teenth Street, San Jose.

^

%

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

675

At San Jose, Mr. Shelley received his paper certi-
fying to his citizenship in the United States, and
since that time he has done what he could to stimu-
late American patriotism. He votes with the Repub-
licans, is a live wire in the local Chamber of Com-
merce, and belongs to and supports the programs of
the State Grange of California.

LA FAYETTE COX.— Long years of active and
successful ranching in Santa Clara County, have won
for LaFayette Cox the reputation of being a scientific
horticulturist and an up-to-date farmer and he ar-
dently champions all measures having for their aim
the betterment of horticultural interests in Santa
Clara Valley. He was born on his father's old home-
stead near Saratoga, September 29, 1869, the son of
William and Dicey (Baggs) Cox, pioneers of Santa
Clara County represented elsewhere in this history.

La Fayette Cox is the youngest of a family of
nine children and enjoyed the privileges of the pub-
lic schools in the Moreland district and has always
lived in Santa Clara Valley. After completing the
grammar school he took a course in the Garden City
Commercial College of which H. B. Worcester was
the proprietor, the school being located over the
Farmers Union on the corner of San Pedro and
Santa Clara streets. There he was graduated on
May 10, 1886. Budd Cox, as he is familiarly known
by his many friends — a name that has clung to him
since his childhood — was early set to work on the
farm aiding his father and learned habits of indus-
try and thrift as well as close application to his tasks.
Thus as a boy he learned to drive the big teams in
the grain fields. His father began setting out or-
chards in 1886 so it fell to the lot of Budd to assist
setting out all these orchards on the old William Cox
ranch, the one on his present place being set out in
1891. They raised the nursery stock to set out the
orchards and from the time Mr. Co.x was eight years
of age he learned to bud and graft and to care for the
trees. He is intensely interested in his work and has
made a close study of the science of horticulture and
is an authority in this line of endeavor. He now
owns forty-three acres a part of his father's old ranch
which was originally purchased in the early fifties,
and is devoted to prunes and apricots.

In Campbell, August 4, 1900, Mr. Cox was married
to Miss Etta Trailer, who was born at Kelseyville,
Lake County, in 1880 a daughter of Eli and Nancy
(Marvin) Trailor, both natives of Illinois who mi-
grated to California in 1870 and located in Lake
County, where they resided until their death, the
father passing away at the age of sixty-eight and the
mother at sixty-six years. This worthy couple were
the parents of eleven children six of whom are living
as follows: Mrs. Laura Lukens of Oakland; Henry,
Joshua M. and Clifford A., all of Lake County; Mrs.
Rose Bulen of San Leandro; Mrs. Etta Cox. the
youngest, received her education in the schools of
Kelseyville and Vacaville. California, until her par-
ents moved to Campbell, Santa Clara County, and it
was here she met La Fayette Cox, the acquaintance
resulting in their marriage.

By close application to his work and the use of mod-
ern machinery and up to date methods Mr. Cox keeps
his orchards in the finest shape thus insuring good
crops of high class fruit. He has always had the as-
sistance of his capable wife to whom he gives no
small amount of credit for his success and the

achievement of his ambition. He lives by the Golden
Rule and is highly esteemed and appreciated by all
who know him.

He enjoys hunting and has a number of fine ant-
lers, trophies of many pleasant hunting trips to the
mountains, a sport he thoroughly enjoys. In nation-
al politics Mr. Cox is a Democrat. An enterprising
and progressive rancher, he holds an enviable po-
sition among his fellow-citizens as an unusually suc-
cessful farmer and horticulturist.

EDWARD M. WEAVER.— A resident of Santa
Clara County since 1875, Edward M. Weaver, who
has been very active in all that tends to promote the
general welfare of his adopted county and particu-
larly of the city of San Jose. His birth occurred on
a farm near Willimantic, Windham County, Conn.,
on September 21, 1842, his parents being Joseph E.
and Almina (Dunham) Weaver, both natives of
Connecticut. The father was a millwright by occu-
pation, who migrated to the Pacific Coast in 1874,
where he followed his trade at the Lick Mills at
Alviso, and at Saratoga, also at Guadalupe mine.
The paternal antecedents were prominently identified
with the settling of Connecticut. Their family con-
sisted of six children, the mother passing away early
in life. Edward was reared on a farm, receiving his
education in the public schools of his native county
until he was twelve, and after that attended only
through the winter months and assisted his father
during the summer. On September IS, 1861, he
enlisted at Hartford in Company D. Eighth Con-
necticut Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Ward.
The company went to Long Island, later going to
Annapolis, at which place they entered Burnside's
Expedition. Many skirmishes and battles were
fought, among them being Roanoke Island, Battle
of Newbern, Fort Mason, South Mountain,
Antietam, Walthall Junction. Swift Creek, Drury
Bluff, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Fort Harrison and
Richmond. During the battle of Antietam Mr.
Weaver received severe wounds, one ball passing
through his side, another entering his arm at the
elbow and coming out near the wrist, another one
hitting the little finger of the left hand. After he
was wounded he was in danger of capture, but being
a good runner, escaped, though many of his com-
rades were sent to Libby Prison. On account of his
term of enlistment having expired he was discharged
'December 23, 1863, but veteraned and reenlisted in
the same company, receiving his second discharge
December 12, 1865, reaching his home in Connecticut
after serving four years and three months.

The marriage of Mr. Weaver with Miss Emma A.
Robinson occurred May 12, 1869, and they became
the parents of three children: John E. is married and
has five living children and resides on a sixty-acre
property on the McLaughlin Road adjacent to San
Jose; Clarence M., who served as an employee of the
government in the San Jose post office for thirteen
years, is now deceased, he is survived by one son,
Claude W., who is married and resides in San Fran-
cisco, where he is in the employ of the Pacific Tele-
phone and Telegraph Company; Angeline W. Snow,
the daughter, is the wife of Prof. I. W. Snow, super-
intendent of the Los Gatos schools. She is a gradu-
ate of the San Jose high school in the class of 1905;
of Stanford University, class of 1909, and of the
San Jose Normal, class of 1910, and followed the

676

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

profession of teaching for nine years at Morgan
Hill, Los Gatos and Campbell, until her marriage
in 1920. Mrs. Weaver is the daughter of John and
Angeline (Hamilton) Robinson, whose paternal an-
cestors were among the early colonists who settled
•n America. Her father was a stonemason and a
successful contractor. He was born in Massachu-
setts, was taken to Connecticut when six weeks old
and there he and his wife, who was born in Portage
County, Ohio, passed away.

In 1875 Mr. Weaver and family removed to the
Pacific Coast, settling on a twenty-acre ranch in The
Willows, a beautiful rural district near San Jose
and where they still reside on four acres of the
original property. They are among the pioneer fruit
growers of the Santa Clara Valley. The principal
crop of his orchard is cherries and apricots. On the
place is a mammoth fig tree planted forty years ago.
that has grown to be fifty feet high, with a spread
of sixty feet in circumference, bearing large, luscious
figs in abundance. Mr. Weaver is affiliated with
Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, G. A. R., of San Jose,
Department of California and Nevada. Fraternally he
is a Mason, being actively identified while residing
ni Connecticut, but now demitted. In all public mat-
ters Mr. Weaver has always taken an active and
liberal part and he has come to be recognized as one
of the prominent and trust-worthy ritizcn^ of the
communit3', his straightforward hoiir^tv li;i\iiiu won
for him many friends. In all of lii-i business inter-
ests he has manifested good executive ability and
his labors have brought to him a good return

ANTON SCHIRLE & SONS.— A manufacturing
firm that has built up a large business and contributed
very materially in tlic building up of San Jose and
Santa Clara County is Anton Schirle & Sons, proprie-
tors of the Fourth Street Planing Mill, which they
opened in 1915. The large and commodious building
is located at Fourth and San Fernando streets,
equipped with the most modern planing mill machin-
ery and electric power, and here they manufacture
sash, doors, mouldings and do all kinds of mill work;
and handle all grades of lumber, shipping to dififerent
parts of the state. The firm is composed of Anton
Schirle and his five sons. Anton Schirle was born
near Stuttgart. W\irtemberg. Germany, on April 1,
1861, the son of Matthew and Catherine Schirle, both
of whom passed away some years ago. He was edu-
cated in the schools of Germany and came to Amer-
ica at the age of twenty-one, first working in Detroit"
m the Pullman car shops for four years, going from
there to the Pullman car shops at Chicago for a short
t:me. then to New York City for three years, working
at his trade in large manufacturing establishments.
In 1888 he came to California, stopping at Fresno
for ten months, and in 1889 went to San I'rancisco
and worked at his trade until 1892, wlien he came
to San Jose. Returning to San Francisco in 1896,
he continued there until 1900, when he returned to
San Jose. Here he began working in the mill and
m 1915, with his son, Al M., under the firm name
of Anton Shirle & Sons, leased this building and
mill and began operating, employing eighteen men.
They have made wonderful progress, their business
now extending all over the state.

Anton Schirle's marriage in New York City in
1887 united him with Miss Amelia Balle, born in Wur-
tcmberg, Germany, and they became the parents of
ten children; the five sons are all experienced planing
mill men and with this company. Al. M., saw

for thirteen months in Company C, One Hundred-
tenth U. S. Infantrj', training at Camp Lewis. He
was sent overseas in June, 1918, and served in Franc*
until after the armistice was signed; Louis served
overseas in the Motor Transport service, his outfit
being located in France and both are members of
the American Legion. The firm holds a membership
in the Progressive Business Club, the Chamber of
Commerce and the Builders' Exchange. In religious
faith Mr. Shirle is a member of the Catholic Church
and in national politics is a stanch Republican.

ASTLEY D. M. COOPER— With an assured
position in the world of art, Astley D. M. Cooper is
well known on both sides of the Atlantic as an artist
who has graphically portrayed the spirit of the West,
and San Jose is proud to claim him as a citizen, .\
native of Missouri, he was born in St. Louis, Decem-
ber 23, 1856, a son of Dr. David M. and Fannie Clark
(O'Fallon) Cooper. His father was an eminent sur-
geon of St. Louis, being the first resident physician
of the St. Louis Hospital. He was born in Bel-
fast, Ireland, and when nineteen years of age emi-
grated to the United States. He attained high stand-
ing in his profession and passed away at the com-
paratively early age of forty-six years, at Wilming-
ton, N. C. The mother was a daughter of the late
Maj. Benjamin O'Fallon and on the maternal side
).Ir. Cooper is related to George Rogers Clark and
Willi.mi Clark, the former of whom w^on fame as a
■ ommander in the Indian Wars, while the latter be-
came noted as an explorer. They were half-brothers
of Major O'Fallon, who rendered distinguished ser-
vice to his country in his campaign against the In-
dians on the western frontier, being the Indian agent,
appointed about 1832. west of the Mississippi River,
and to him Chief Black Hawk surrendered.

Mr. Cooper, the sole survivor of the family, was
reared in St. Louis, Mo., and after completing the
work of the grammar and high schools attended the
Washington University in that city, subsequently
spending two years in the vicinity of Boulder City,
Colo. As a boy he displayed marked talent in handl-
ing the brush and crayon and early in his career he
began studymg the wild life of the West, of which
he gained an intimate knowledge, so that he has be-
come an authoritative chronicler of this phase of
American history, preserving the traditions of the
now vanished frontier and graphically portraying the
story of the red man and his habits. Before he was
twenty-one years of age he had painted a number of
Indian chiefs and his work began to attract favorable
notice in the art world. He had the benefit of the
paintings of George Catlin, a friend of his grand-
father. Major O'Fallon, and a man thoroughly
acquainted v.ith western life. George Catlin was em-
ployed by the Major to paint the portraits of all the
prominent chiefs of that time, 1832. From this time
on Mr. Cooper has devoted his attention to his art
and soon after coming to the Pacific Coast he located
at San Francisco, Cal. Much sketch work and paint-
ing followed and he was soon to become famous
through the medium of Frank Leslie's magazine, his
most interesting sketches being those depicting the
wild life of the West. During General Grant's visit
to California Mr. Cooper did some remarkable
sketching and portrait work with the General as his
subject, the truth and sincerity of his work com-
manding for it a wide sale in the United States
and in England. He had become recognized as a
thorough artist with a sure and direct technique

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

677

and tlie power to present the essence of things and
his position in the art world was tirmly established.
Many of his paintings are hung in the leading gal-
leries of Europe as well as the United States and
among his most notable work may be mentioned
"California and the Golden Era," which won for
him widespread recognition as an artist of rare
talent. About 1883 Mr. Cooper established his resi-
dence in East San Jose, although he has never sev-
ered his connections with the art centers of New
York, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco.
His studio is a beautiful one, being an exact replica
of the Egyptian style of architecture, and is visited
by admirers of art from all sections of the globe
and also by his many friends. For many years his
mother made her home with him in East San Jose,
passing away at the advanced age of eighty-eight
years. Her demise was deeply regretted by all w'ho
knew her, for hers was a most beautiful character.
He was an early member of the San Francisco Art
Association and of the Salmagundi Club of St. Louis.

Mr. Cooper v^as married in this city to Miss Char-
lotte George, who was born in the picturesque Ar-
cadia Valley of Missouri and as a girl removed with
her parents to the Santa Clara Valley, where she
was reared and educated. Holding to high ideals,
Mr. Cooper has gained a position of distinction in
his profession because he has never been satisfied
with the second best, but has ever striven for some-
thing above, beyond and better, and his contribution
to art is a notable one.

ERNEST C. EATON— A retired rancher, Ernest
C. Eaton's withdrawal from active labor is the more
notable because of his splendid record of long years
of unremitting and successful enterprise, in which he
did his duty fully in helping to develop first one and
then another section of the country. He was born
near Cleveland, Ohio, on January 14, 1853, the son of
Horace G. Eaton, a native of Connecticut, who had
married Miss Mary E. Cleveland, a native of Mich-
igan. They w^ere blessed with four sons, and Ernest
C. was the second in the order of birth. The Eatons
came to live in Ohio, and in Michigan, where he was
pursuing his business, Horace Eaton passed aw'ay,
at the age of forty.

On coming to Ogle County, Illinois, in 1864, Er-
nest finished his elementary schooling, and then,
from his twelfth year, he w'orked to help support
his mother. In 1872 the family moved to Lee Coun-
ty, 111., and here he began teaching school, continu-
ing during his residence there and after going to
Kansas, whither he removed in 1877. There he pur-
chased a tract of 320 acres, located near Hutchinson,
and engaged in ■ farming for twenty-four years.

While in Lee County, 111., Mr. Eaton was married
to Miss Viola L. Merrell, the daughter of William
Mcrrell, a native of Connecticut, and his good wife,
who was Miss Louise Daniels in her maidenhood.
She was born in Steuben County, N. Y., on July 30,
1853, and her father served for nearly three years in
the Union Army, during the Civil War, as a mem-
ber of Company D, of the One Hundred and Forty-
first New York Volunteer Infantry. He was first
lieutenant in ranks under General Sherman, was
cited for bravery and given charge as a brevet major,
was never wounded although he suffered much sick-
ness from exposure, and was finally mustered out as
a captain. In 1898 he migrated West to California,
settled in Merced, where he became active as a

member of the Grand Army of the Republic; and on
September 23, 1913, after a life notable as a patriot,
he passed away at the line old age of eighty-four.

On July 12, 1901, Mr. and Mrs. Eaton and family,
having sold their splendid farm of 320 acres, removed
from Kansas to California, where they settled in the
Santa Clara Valley; and not long after, Mr. Eaton
invested in twenty acres on the Homestead Road.
which proved so profitable that he was led to invest,
in time, in several ranches, one after the other of
which he sold at a fair profit, recently retiring to
live at 779 Bird Avenue, San Jose. For years, he
has been one of the stockholders of the San Jose
Mutual Loan Association.

Five children were granted Mr. and Mrs. Eaton.
Nettie L., the eldest, is the wife of Frank
Ritcha, and as the mother of three children resides
at Nickerson, Kans. Bertie M. is single. Ralph W.,
married, is a rancher and has one daughter and re-
sides at San Jose. Vera M., also married, dwells
near Sunnyvale, and Ethel V., now Mrs. Hardy,
lives at home with her parents. The family are mem-
bers of the First Presbyterian Church at San Jose,
where they are known for their fidelity to the cause
of prohibition. In 1906, Mr. Eaton as the candidate
lor supervisor from the Second District commanded
enviable support, if he did not win the day.

JOHN M. LORDS.— An enterprising, experienced
and succev-iul imihIk r. whose prosperity has spelt
scmethint; fuw.iid tlu- advancement of agricultural
interests Kenirall\- in California, and whose trim farm
is well regarded as one of the show-places of Santa
Clara County, is John M. Lords, a native son born
in Sacramento, on February 6, 1865, and now com-
fortably settled south of Alviso. His father, Walden
Lords, was a native of Ohio, and he married Mrs.
Mary Houston. Avhose maiden name was Mary Slat-
tery, a native of County Kerry, Ireland. She became
the mother of one child by her first husband, Mrs.
Delia Emerson, widow of the late pioneer black-
smith, O. P. Emerson, and she resides on Fourteenth
Street, in San Jose. Walden Lords came across
the great plains in 1850, driving his cattle with him,
and he went into the mines, later settling in Sacra-
mento County, where he lived for a number of years.

When our subject was ten years old, his parents
removed to Santa Clara County, and for a year his
father ran the Alviso Hotel. Then he went to San
Jose and lived there until 1884, when he purchased
the ranch of seventy-five acres on the Ah'iso Road,
just out of Alviso, with which the name of Lords
has been associated in such a pleasant manner. John
attended the Alviso and San Jose public schools, and
then struck out for himself. He went to the San
Joaquin Valley, and in time became a partner in a
firm owning a ranch of 400 acres near Woodbridge,
tor the growing of grain. He remained at Woodbridge
only two years, however, and then he came back
to Alviso and helped run the seventy-five-acre ranch.
At present, there are three persons interested in this
estate, which includes some thirty acres in fruit —
half in pears and apples — while the rest is devoted
to pasturing and the raising of hay. An ornate and
comfortable residence stands on the ranch, built in
1892, and the ranch is irrigated by a pumping plant.

At San Rafael, on March 27, 1912, Mr. Lords was
married to Miss Mary E. Hanaford, a native of
Devonshire, England, a charmin.g lady and devoted
wife, who died on October 19. 1919. Two of his

678

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

sisters are living — Mrs. O. P. Emerson and Mrs.
W. W. Jennings, both of San Jose. Mr. Lords is a
member of the Modern Woodmen, enjoying there
an enviable popularity, and for years he has patriotic-
ally done his duty, as a public-spirited citizen, in
serving on the board of trustees for Alviso.

GEORGE OSMER. — A wide-awake, thoroughly
progressive merchant, whose industry and enterprise
have entitled him to the success he enjoys, is George
Osmer, the dealer in general merchandise and post-
master at Alma, where he has been among the leaders
in working for the permanent growth of the town.
He was born in Bremen, Germany, on November 5,
1868, the son of August A. and Dorothy (Haake)
Osmer, and came with his parents to the United
States when he was fourteen years old. They located
in New York, and there conducted a restaurant; and
in that city the mother died. The father spent his last
days with Mr. Osmer, passing away at Alma. George
was the youngest of six children and enjoyed the
foundations of a liberal education obtained in Bremen,
Germany, spending one year in high school before
coming to New York City. On his arrivel he accep-
ted clerical work in an office in New York and re-
mained there for seven years. In 1887, he came West
to San Francisco, where he engaged in retail mer-
chandise business for two years and removed to Alma.
Here for a couple of years he clerked in the general
store already established, when he bought a half-in-
terest in the establishment and the firm became Bohme
& Osmer: five years later he bouglit Mr. Bohme's in-
terest, and since then the business has been known as
the George Osmer General Merchandise Store.

Mr. Osmer carries a complete line of general mer-
chandise, and he also sells auto supplies and tires,
and he maintains an oil station; he tries to have
on hand everything which anyone has ever asked for
m Alma, and he even goes a step further in antici-
pating his patrons' wants. Thousands of travelers,
local and long-distance tourists, know the genial pro-
prietor of this store on the highway to Santa Cruz,
and they appreciate his unselfish endeavors to help
them out on many an occasion. Mr. Osmer has built
several residences at Alma and also has a ranch at
the Summit, devoted to orchard and vineyard.

At Alma, in 1896, Mr. Osmer was married to Miss
Margaret Stewart, a native daughter, born in Peta-
luma, whose father was Henry Stewart, an early resi-
dent of Alma, and they now have three children:
Bessie, Mrs. Sinclair of Alma, Marion, and George
Osmer, Jr., associated with his father in the busi-
ness. Mr. Osmer belongs to the Masonic order, hav-
ing been made a Mason in Los Gatos Lodge No. 292,
F. & A. M., and is also a member of the Woodmen
of the World. Public-spirited and thoroughly Am-
erican, Mr. Osmer has been postmaster at Alma since
1890, and a very popular official he has proven to be,
giving satisfaction to everybody. In national politi-
cal affairs, he is a Democrat.

ALEXANDER DUNCAN CAMPBELL.— Few
men have done more to place trade in real estate and
insurance in California on a stabile, respectable and
assuring basis that Alexander Duncan Campbell, of
661 South Sixth Street, San Jose, to which city he
came in the middle nineties, with no thought at
the time of remaining permanently. He was born
and reared on the home farm near Toronto, Canada,
on October 16, 1860, and since the local school was

some seven and a half miles distant, he enjoyed but
very limited educational advantages. His father,
Duncan Campbell, was a native of Toronto, became
a farmer, and then, leaving his family in Canada,
migrated to California in 1872, where he entered the
mines. He acquired a fortune; but he was later
overwhelmed by reverses, and he was never heard
from again until 1886. He had married Miss Mary
Carmichael, a native of Scotland, who accompanied
her parents to Canada when she was only six months
old. On the mother's side, the ancestors were
professional men.

A. D. Campbell was the eldest of five children,
and at the age of only twelve, the burden of re-
sponsibility for the support of his mother and sisters
fell upon him. He was very plucky, and being re-
sourceful, and determined to make something of him-
self and to get out of debt, he fitted hirriself for
salesmanship He was first employed by Bradley
Garrett's publishing house, and went out into the
field as a solicitor, and was soon very successful;
and when the opportunity was presented, in 1886,
to make a trip to British Columbia with a cousin,
be refused the flattering terms of the publishers to
stay, and set off for the Northwest.

There he had charge of some 250 men on con-
struction work for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and
he soon had the best cliance to show his ability and
to find favor witli the contractor; but although he
got along splendidly during the three and a half
months he was so engaged, he was haunted with the
desire to find his father, from whom nothing had
been heard for years. The month of November,
1886, therefore, found our subject in San Francisco,
where he had cousins, to whom he applied, hoping
that they would be able to give some information;
but failing in that, Mr. Campbell traced his father
from place to place, and late in December of that
year he found him on a homestead near Fresno.
Both were overjoyed. The father had become dis-
heartened after years of hard work, in which he had
made and lost three fortunes, and he was making
the last stand to make his fourth fortune, which he
did, when the reunion took place with his fam.ily,
the son returning to Canada to settle up the estate,
and bringing the folks back to California with him.
For ten years our subject remained at a ranch in
Fresno County engaged in farming.

At San Jose in 189S Mr. Campbell was married to
Miss Lilly Tressler, who had been a resident of the
Santa Clara Valley for three years prior to that date,
her brother. Dr. Tressler, having founded the Eng-
lish Lutheran Church at San Jose. He is now a
professor at Springfield, Ohio, in a theological semi-
nary. Four children blessed this union: Allister B.
is a very resourceful young business man; Victoria
is a student at the University of California; Irene is
a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School,
and has recently been chosen principal of the Loyal-
ton Grammar School in Sierra County; Paul Scott
Campbell is a student in the San Jose high school.
In 1912 Mr. Campbell sold out his fuel and feed
business, which had been steadily growing ever since
he had started at 651 South First Street, and he in-
vested in lands and real estate. For a short time he
was also the Pacific Coast distributor for the Snel!
Water Filter Company, with headquarters at San
Jose, but this last venture demanded his absence
from home, and on this account mainly he disposed

^^€:^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

679

of his interests after eight months of successful
operations. At present Mr. Campbell is the mana-
ger of the city department of Crother's Realty Of-
fices in San Jose, dealers in real estate and insur-
ance, and he is a live wire in the San Jose Realty
Board and the San Jose Chamber of Commerce.
He prefers the platforms of the Republican party,
and the family attend the First Presbyterian Church.

DANIEL RAYMOND.— Coming to San Jose in
1904 with a very small capital, the initiative spirit
and marked executive ability of Daniel Raymond
have enabled him to develop a business of extensive
proportions and he is now vice-president and mana-
ger of the largest pottery plant on the Pacific Coast.
He was born in Wellsville, Ohio, October 31, 1868,
a son of John and Caroline (Felli Raymond, the
former a native of Switzerland and the latter of
Baden, Germany. The father was a butcher by trade
and his death occurred in 1871, while the mother
passed away when fifty-four years of age.

Daniel Raymond, the youngest of fifteen children,
had very limited educational opportunities, attending
school only until he reached the third grade, when
he was obliged to secure employment in order to
aid in supporting the family, having made his own
way in the world from the age of eight years. When
a young man he took up the potter's trade, serving
an apprenticeship under the firm of Knovvles & Tay-
lor of East Liverpool, Ohio. He afterward followed
his trade in various parts of the country and in 1900
Iccated in Washington, becoming foreman of the
Clayton Pottery Company of Clayton, that state,
which position he filled for one year. He then em-
barked in the pottery business on his own account in
that locality, but trade conditions were unfavorable
and in 1904 he left that place and came to San Jose,
arriving in this city in March with but very little
capital. He obtained a loan of $100 on an insurance
policy, to which he added sixty-five dollars, and with
this amount built his first kiln, at the corner of Park
and East streets. He at first did all of the work
himself, but as time passed he prospered in his under-
taking and expanded his interests, organizing in De-
cember, 1904, the Garden City Pottery Company,
Inc. The company erected its buildings at 540-560
North Sixth Street and began operations in April,
1905, giving employment to eight workmen. In 1908
the company trebled their capital and plant and now
employs thirty men, turning out all kinds of com-
mon store ware and red unglazed flower pots of vari-
ous sizes. Mr. Raymond's expert knowledge of his
trade and enterprising methods have enabled him to
build up a business of large proportions and the com-
pany's output now approximates 125 carloads per
year. Deliveries are made by auto truck in a radius
of 200 miles. Mr. Raymond has a twenty-acre vine-
yard in Yuba County and also owns a home at the
corner of Hensley and Second streets. San Jose.

Mr. Raymond is a veteran of the Spanish-American
War, enlisting with the Washington \ olunteers and
becoming a member of the F'irst Washington In-
lantrj'. He saw active service in the Philippines
under Generals King and Lawton, receiving his hon-
orable discharge at the end of two years.

In San Jose, on April 15, 1906, Mr. Raymond mar-
ried Miss Danilena Bloise, who was born in Santa
Cruz County, a daughter of J. B. and Elizabeth
(Lively) Bloise, who still reside upon the old home
place. The father is a native of Xova Scotia and a

member of an old Canadian family of French descent.
Mrs. Raymond was reared and educated in Santa
Cruz County and by her marriage she has become
the mother of two daughters, Helen and Evelyn. In
politics Mr. Raymond maintains a nonpartisan atti-
tude, voting for the man rather than the party. He
is a public-spirited and progressive citizen of broad
views and kindly nature, and charitably inclined. A
self-educated and self-made man, through the wise
utilization of his innate powers and talents he has
risen to a foremost position in manufacturing circles
and while attaining individual prosperity he has con-
tributed to the industrial expansion of this city.

WILLARD L. PRUSSIA.— The kind of substan-
tial business energy best appreciated in the West
finds expression in the life of Willard L. Prussia,
president and manager of Prussia & Co., the exclu-
sive woman's wearing apparel store located at 127-133
South First Street, San Jose, and one of the most
energetic, cautious, and progressive men who have
elected to profit by the resources of this community.
He was born at Dansville, N. Y., February 2, 1867,
the son of Jesse B. Prussia, also a native of Dans-
ville, born in 1825. His mother was a native of Scot-
land, but refnoved with her parents to New York
when a girl of twelve years. She is now eighty-five
years of age and resides with her son in San Jose,
the father lived to be eighty years of age. Mr. Prus-
sia's paternal grandfather was also a native of Dans-
ville, born in 1797, his family coming over from Eng-
land in an early day.

Willard L. Prussia received his early education in
the public schools of Dansville, where, for forty-two
years his father was engaged in the millinery busi-
ness, and it was in his father's store that Willard be-
gan his business training, working after school, Satur-
days and during vacations. Recognizing his ability as
a salesman, he was solicited by H. C. Taft, of the
drygoods firm of Taft and Pennoyer, who own and
operate a big store in Oakland, Cal., and he went
there in 1884. Then he was for a time in San Diego,
later went to Los Angeles, and while there made
the acquaintance of I. Loeb of the firm of I. Loeb
& Company, who ow^ned the San Jose Dry Goods
Company, and Mr. Prussia was engaged by Mr. Loeb
in 1891. During this period he became acquainted
with S. M. Goldberg, and this acquaintance developed
into friendship and later into an important business
pssociation. Mr. Goldberg maintains a large office and
business in New York City, employing a large force
of buyers, who are sent to all the principal drygoods
and suit centers of the world.

The firm of Prussia & Company was incorporated in
1909 under the laws of the state of New York; they
have large and commodious quarters, fine show win-
dows, beautiful interior decorations, well-lighted and
finely-equipped with every modern convenience, and
enjoys a large patronage of the best people in this
city. Mr. Prussia is also vice-president of Harry
Fink & Company, Los Angeles; Willard's of San
Francisco, and J. F. Donovan & Company of Stock-
ton. S. M. Golberg is the president of the four stores,
and manages the buying of all the goods throughout
the world. Mr. Prussia's optimistic spirit has sus-
tained him all through the trials of his earlier years,
and brought him to the present era of prosperity.

The marriage of Mr. Prussia in 1891 united him
with Miss Minnie Compton, a resident of Hamilton,
Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Prussia are the parents of one

680

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

sen, Leland S., who is at the present time connected
with Willard's in San Francisco.

Fraternally, Mr. Prussia is a Thirty-second degree
Scottish Rite Mason and of the Shrine in San Fran-
cisco. He is also a member of the Elks and is a char-
ter member of the Rotary Club. He is also active in
the Chamber of Commerce and he served as president
of the park board of San Jose under three mayors.
Because of his perseverance, industry, integrity and
faithfulness, he has steadily progressed in his chosen
line of work, until his success is fully assured. He is
a progressive citizen, and a potent factor in all move-
ments that lead to the further development of the
community in which he resides.

MRS. MARGARET E. BAKER.— An esteemed
representative of one of the best-known pioneers in
the California electrical field, is Mrs. Margaret E.
Baker, the widow of the late Terry E. Baker, whose
gifted sons, taking up the progressive work where he
was compelled to lay it down, have also contributed
much in placing electrical devices, and the wonderful
utility of electricity, at the disposal of thousands.
Mr. Baker was born in Dubuque, Iowa, in Septem-
ber, 1856, the son of Terry J. and Sarah Baker. His
father was interested in race horses, and when he
came to California in 1862 he settled at San Francisco
and had a race track at Sausalito across the Bay. He
was always interested in standard and thoroughbred
horses and stock of all kinds, and when he passed
away in San Francisco he was mourned by many,
especially by the old-timers fond, in their pioneer life,
of the turf and other sports.

The husband of our subject attended the Horace
Mann school in San Francisco, and when only a
young man took up railroad work with the Southern
Pacific Railroad. He went to Los Angeles, and was
one of the first men to be sent over the Tehachapi
route, then by way of the Newhall tunnel. He was a
conductor on Huntington's road, and was one of the
popular officials of his day. At the time of the great
railroad strike in 1894, Mr. Baker went to Arizona
and became interested in the mines at Clifton. After
the strike was settled, he went back to railroad work,
and was in Bakersfield with the Southern Pacific Rail-
road until 1903, when he came to San Jose and gave
up railroading.

In 1902, Mr. Baker with his sons, entered the elec-
trical field, and opened up a store with electrical fix-
tures, at the same time that they contracted to do
wiring of all kinds. Now these sons have so ex-
panded the business that it extends throughout the
Valley. They have the Santa Clara County agency for
the Blue Bird clothes washer, and they also sell a full
line of useful electrical appliances.

.^t Los Angeles, in September, 1874, Mr. Baker was
married to Miss Margaret Wilson, a native of Chi-
cago and the daughter of William and Mary (Bass)
Wilson, born in Montreal and Chicago respectively.
The former was of English descent while Mary Bass
was of Scotch forebears; her father, Capt. Wm. Bass,
was a sea captain and when he located as a pioneer
at Ft. Dearborn, now Chicago, he sailed the Great
Lakes for many years. Later he was a foreman for
the Heath-Milligan Co.,' paint contractors in Chicago,
and in 1873 he brought his family to California and
settled at Orange, .\fter making his home there for
two years, he came to San Jose, After leaving Or-
ange, he had a paint shop in Los Angeles, and there
the family lived until Mrs. Baker was married. Four

sons were born of this union: Lewis E. is the capable
manager of Messrs. T. E. Baker & Sons, and George
W. is also with the same company; William T. was
killed in motorcycle races at San Jose in 1913; Ed-
ward M. is associated with his brothers in the con-
duct of the business. Mrs. Baker is happy as the
grandmother to four grandchildren. Richard is the
son of Lewis E. Baker; Jeanette is the daughter of
George W. Baker; and Donald and Ned are the two
attractive children of Edward M. Baker. Mr. Baker
passed away April 27, 1915. He was an independent
in politics, above petty partisanship; Mrs. Baker is a
strong Republican, and her sons follow her lead The
eldest son is a Scottish Rite Mason and a member of
Islam Temple of San Francisco. Mrs. Baker belongs
to San Jose Chapter No. 31, O. E. S., and also to the
Saint Claire Court, No. 31, Royal Order of Amaranth.

WILFRID F. ROBIDOUX.— A public-spirited
man who is very well thought of in various parts
of Santa Clara County is Wilfrid F. Robidou.x, the
expert blacksmith of Alviso. He was born at St.
Etienne Beauharnois near Montreal, in the Province
of Quebec, on November 12, 1869, the son of Moise
Robidoux, the representative of an old Canadian fam-
ily, who was long engaged in hotel enterprises and
v-as a commission merchant dealing in livestock. He
had married Filanise Emard and they had sixteen
children; six of these died in infancy and the ten that
grew to maturnity were: Filanise, who resides at
Beauharnois; Azilda, who died at the same place;
Alphonsine, who lives in Montreal; Moise, died at
an age of thirty-five in Modoc County, Cal.; Domina,
who lives in Montreal; Joseph resides in Santa Clara,
but is employed in San Jose; Wilfrid, the subject of
this sketch; Isabella died in Stockton; Louisa died
in Montreal; Florentine lives in Montreal.

Wilfrid attended the grammar school in his home
town, and when fifteen years old began to learn the
blacksmith trade at Howick, Province of Quebec.
After three years of apprenticeship, he left home,
entered the States, and settled in Franklin County,
N. Y., where he worked at his trade for wages until
1889. In that eventful year, soon after the general
awakening along the Pacific Coast, he came ou^ to
Seattle and worked for a year and a half.

On June 5, 1891, he landed in Santa Clara County
and worked for H. E. Holthouse in his shop at
Milligan's Corner, continuing with him, on a wage
scale, for ten years; and in 1902, he bought out the
tools in Mr. Chisholm's blacksmith shop in Alviso
and with them started up in business in the old shop
right south of this present location. The old shop,
however, did not satisfy him very long, and he built
a new shop, 1913, which he equipped with modern
machinery, including a band saw, a rip saw, a planer,
an electric forge, emery wheels, an outfit for acetylene
welding, and whatever else in his judgment that he
needed to enable him to do not only all kinds of
first-class smithy work, but the most expert automo-
bile repairing. This shop he still owns and occupies.
It was not long before Mr. Robidoux had made for
himself a reputation for absolutely dependable work,
and this reputation he has easily maintained, with
the result that he enjoys the patronage not only of
his town, but of many residents of Santa Clara County
who appreciate the best workmanship. His general'
position, as a man of affairs, in the community is at-
tested by the fact that he is chairman of the board
of trustees of Alviso.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

683

At Santa Clara, on April 25, 1897, Mr. Robidoux
was married to Miss Mary E. Holthouse, a native
of Taylorville, Plumas County, Cal., and the daughter
oi the late E. H. Holthouse, a native of Hanover,
Germany, elsewhere mentioned in this work, who had
married Mrs. Elizabeth (Madden) Ratcliff, a native
of Ireland. The father crossed the plains in 1852,
and settled in the Rush Creek mining district, where
he panned for gold. When Mary Holthouse was
four years old, her father moved to Alviso, and she
attended the Braly School. Now, two of her
brothers are ranching near Mountain View, Mark and
J. Fred, sketches of whom also appear elsewhere in
this work. Another brother is Herman E., and still
another. Huge N., who is deceased; there is also
a half brother, W. P. Ratchff, of San Francisco. On
October 20, 1915, Mrs. Robidoux died, being the
mother of two very promising children: Joseph Ar-
mand, looking forward to the priesthood, is a student
at St. Michaels, at Hillyard, Wash., and Moise Henry,
who is studying to become a lawyer at the University
of Santa Clara. Mr. Robidoux is a Republican, and
a member of both the Woodmen of the World and
the Foresters of America.

PETER D. LANDON.— An industrious orchard-
ist who has materially advanced husbandry in Cali-
fornia is Peter D. Landon, whose success has en-
abled him to retire in comfort at 4 Broadway, San
Jose. He was born at Mountainville, Hunterdon
County, N. J., on April 11, 1849, the son of Calvin
Columbus Landon, a contractor and builder of
bridges and large frame work, who plied his trade
so expertly that much of his work is used to this
day throughout New Jersey and New York.

When only ten years of age, Peter, fortunate in
the love of a devoted mother, w'hose maiden name
was Charity Ann Everett, set out to try to do for
himself, with the result that even his elementary
schooling had to be neglected, and all prospects of
his ever being an advanced student faded away. At
the age of twenty, he migrated west to Illinois, and
for two years he v.-orked on a farm near Washington,
in Tazewell County. It was not what he wanted,
but he accepted the situation philosophically and
nrcparrd to take the next important step.

In ixrj lu- progressed further West and reached
r, lilt,, Mil, 1, and it was not long before he had dis-
i (ivircd the wonderful attractions of the Santa Clara
Valley and had begun to take up ranch work for
others in the Valley ^'iew district. Eight months
later he rented a grain farm in the Evergreen dis-
trict, and for two years he farmed on shares, raising
grain and hay. In 1877-78 he was in Dallas, Texas,
but he returned to Santa Clara County more satis-
fied than ever that here was the opportunity for
young men willing to work. Accordingly, he set to
work with a harvester, and for ten years he con-
tinued successfully harvesting grain. In 1888, he
became an orchardist, renting acreage for a few-
seasons until he could buy land and start anew; and
from that time on until he retired, after selling his
<irchards near Campbell some two years ago, he
never knew failure.

In San Jose on September 6, 1888. Mr. Landon
married Mrs. Sarah Cordelia (Cottle) Hight, the
eldest daughter of the honored pioneer. Royal Cot-
tle, now deceased. She was born near Albany, Ore.,
on December IS, 1848, and when only eight years
old was taken to S^.n Jose by her parents, who were

the lirst orchardists in the Willow Glen district.
Nine children were born to this union: Alice is a
teacher in Montana; Metta Cora is now the wife of
David Yarbrough of McKittrick and the mother of
three children; Leslie is an engineer and the father
of two children and resides with his family at
Mayfield; Bert married, became the father of
three children, and died, leaving a widow who
resides at Kernville; May is also deceased. The
sixth in the order of birth is Charles, and the next
younger is Etho, now Mrs. W. W. Loyst, they have
two children and reside on Lupton Avenue, Wil-
lows; Vernon D. is also married and resides with
his wife and two children at Oakland; and Ray-
mond Everett, a chiropractor, is also married, has
one child, and maintains his home at Boscobel, Wis.

Raymond enlisted in the United States Army for
service in the World War, and made an excellent
record. He left home October 5, 1917, left America
on December 14, 1917, arrived in England ten days
later, and reached France on January 18, 1918. He
was wounded at the battle of Cantigny, on May 28,
1918, took part in the battle of St. Mihiel, which
raged from September 12 to September 15, and in
the Meuse-Argonne drive, on October 4, he was
wounded a second time, and was in the hospital for
three months. After serving as a private in the
First Division he left Bordeaux on the twenty-ninth
of June, arrived in America at Newport News, July
10, and reached San Jose on July 28, 1919. In 1920
he graduated from the Palmer School of Chiroprac-
tic, Davenport, Iowa, and now he has a lucrative
practice at Boscobel, Wis. Mr. and Mrs. Landon are
deservedly proud of their family — nine children,
eleven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.

JOHN A. COROTTO.— For many years a resi-
dent of Santa Clara County, John A. Corotto has
prospered in his business, the manufacture of wine.
He was born on January 28, 1870, in San Jose, the
son of Angelo and Mary (Raggio) Corotto, who
came to San Jose in 1869 and then went to Hollister,
San Benito County, in 1874, and here they made their
home. Mrs. Corotto's people were also pioneers of
California, having come here in 1861; both of her
parents passed away some time ago.

John A. attended the schools of San Benito
County, but received a- limited training as he left
school at the age of fourteen to help his father on
the ranch, \\hcre lie lived until he was in his seven-
teenth year. He ihen came to San Jose to work and
became employed by Raggio Bros., w-ho were com-
mission merchants. After working here for two and
a half years, he bought a half-interest in this concern
and after three years sold out and engaged in the
manufacture of wine.

Mr. Corotto's marriage united him with Miss
Catherine Sturla of Gilroy, the daughter of James
Sturla, and they are the parents of one child, Gene-
vieve P. Mr. Corotto was very active in all the
war drives, especially among the Italian-American
Club, and as an appreciation he received a letter of
thanks from James K. Lynch of the Federal Reserve
Board of San Francisco, and one from John H. Cal-
kins of the U. S. Treasury Department, for the
good he had accomplished during the war drives,
while he was on the Liberty Loan Committee. One
of his cousins, Virgilio Corotto, lost his life in the
World War. For three years he served as secretary
of the Italian Benevolent Club and is past presi-

684

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

dent of San Jose Parlor No. 22, Native Sons of the
Golden West, in which he has been a member for
twenty-five years. He is also a member of the Red-
men, B. P. "O. Elks, the Eagles, the Pastime Club,
Chamber of Commerce and the Camels. He is a di-
rector in the Bank of Italy, San Jose Branch. He is
a Republican, serving on the county central commit-
tee and a delegate at large at one time.

CHARLES W. CUTLER.— Halest and heartiest of
octogenarians in Santa Clara County today, Charles
W. Cutler, the well known pioneer enjoys life as one
should who in his day has contributed so much, and
in many wa3'S, partl}^ as a path-breaking pedagogue,
to the upbuilding of each section in which he has
lived and toiled. He was born in Wayne Township,
Ashtabula County, Ohio, on January 23, 1838, in the
same congressional district claiming the birth or later
activity of such eminent anti-slavery leaders as Joshua
Reed Giddings, V. F. Wade, James A. Garfield, and
others. He spent his boyhood on his father's farm,
while he also attended the most primitive of country
schools. His father. Elijah T. Cutler, born in Con-
necticut in 1796, was an extensive land owner, miller
and lumber manufacturer in Ohio and was descended
from one of two Englishmen of the same name who
sailed from England in 1637 and arrived at a port in
Massachusetts on the Rose of Yarmouth. Thus well
established, the family in time became distinguished
through several members who took high positions in
Massachusetts and other parts of New England.
Elijah T. Cutler was married three times and Charles
W. was the son of his union with Miss Olive Wal-
worth, the daughter of Charles Walworth.

Mrs. Cutler died in Ohio in 1839, and Charles
Cutler was reared by an aunt, Maria Walworth, a
younger sister of his mother, who afterwards became
his stepmother and kind guardian. Elijah Cutler
died on June 25, 1860, and in that year Charles W.
went in company with a brother to Bernardston,
Franklin County, Mass., and there entered Powers
Institute, later enrolling in Oberlin College, at Ober-
lin, Ohio, where he began his academic experience
and laid the foundation for some especially useful
work in life. In 1862 he went to Elkhorn, Walworth
County, Wisconsin, where he engaged in teaching
school, resigning the principalship of the Elkhorn
schools on May 16, 1864, -to enlist in Company F,
Fortieth Wisconsin Infantry, but was soon made a
clerk of the special inspector of cavalry, with head-
quarters at Memphis, Tennessee. He received his
honorable discharge on September 30, 1864, at Madi-
son, Wisconsin, and becoming more interested than
ever in what he believed to be his life work — that
of teaching — he again became principal of the public
schools at Elkhorn, Wisconsin, in the fall of 1864,
filling that position to the satisfaction of everyone for
several years. He was also principal of the schools
at Burlington and Green Bay, Wisconsin, serving a
year in each place and leaving behind an excellent
record and manj' friends.

On April 15, 1867, Mr. Cutler was married to Miss
Helen Morse, and two children were born to them,
both of whom died in infancy. On April 1, 1871,
Mr. and Mrs. Cutler came out to the Pacific Coast,
and, once here, he gave up his professional work and
for fifteen years was active in various commercial
enterprises, becoming prominent in San Francisco,
where he remained until he came to the Santa Clara
Valley in 1886. He invested in a fine ranch home in

The Willows and has ever since been more or less
active in both horticultural and educational circles
in Willow Glen district. In 1893 he helped organize
the Willow Glen Fruit Union and for part of the
ten years in which he was a stockholder, he per-
formed the duties of secretary and manager. On
June 6, 1896, Mrs. Cutler passed away, lamented by a
wide circle which had come to appreciate her sterling
and admirable qualities.

On October 20, 1897, Mr. Cutler was remarried,
taking for his wife Miss Isabella McBeath, a descend-
ant of interesting Scotch parentage, the ceremony
occurring at Chicago. During 1903-04, Mr. and Mrs.
Cutler made an extended tour of the British Isles
and continental Europe, which they greatly enjoyed.
They visited many places of note, among them
Geneva, Naples, Rome, Paris and London, and they
also spent some time in Edinburgh at the homes
of relatives of Mrs. Cutler. In 1915 they made a
trip East via the Canadian Pacific, revisiting Wis-
consin, where both had lived in former years. They
took in the cities of Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis,
Urbana, 111., in all of which places they had friends,
after which they proceeded to Mr. Cutler's old home
in Ohio, thence on to Boston, Mass., from which
place they visited Springfield, Northampton, and then
spent Thanksgiving with Mrs. Olive W. Peet, Mr.
Cutler's sister, at Salem, Mass. On December 15,
1915, they came via New York and Philadelphia to
New Orleans,. La., and from there sailed to Havana,
crossing Cuba to Fort Batabano, where they took a
steamer for the Isle of Pines, and there they had
Christmas dinner with Mrs. Snodgrass, a sister of
Mrs. Cutler. Returning to New Orleans, they came
by the Southern Pacific via Los Angeles to San Jose,
after a delightful and interesting six months' trip.
Since then, buoyed up by pleasant memories of these
and other delightful experiences in life, Mr. and Mrs.
Cutler have lived in quiet enjoyment of their home,
Mr. Cutler at eightj'-three finding much for his hand
to do in his beautiful garden. He is a veteran Odd
Fellow and can look back with particular satisfaction
on his experience as past grand of the lodge with
which he has been connected since March 5, 1875.
He is also past commander and for seven years
served as adjutant of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, G. A.
R., while Mrs. Cutler is a member of the Sheridan-
Dix W. R. C. and of the San Jose Woman's Club.

A standpat Republican, fond of the traditions of his
party, Mr. Cutler has never aspired to public office,
but has been willing to do his part as a loyal citizen
toward elevating civic standards. He belongs to the
Congregational Church of San Jose, has been a trus-
tee and is at present a deacon, and has vigorously
supported every movement for local uplift and public
morals. Santa Clara County may well be proud of
this record of one of the "first citizens" of San Jose.

LOUIS CHARLES DE CARLI.— Emphatically
a man of energy', Louis Charles De Carli is one of
the enterprising and active men of Santa Clara
County, giving substantial encouragement to every
plan for the promotion of the public welfare, and has
been identified with Santa Clara County since 1881.
Mr. De Carli was born in Auressio, Canton Ticino,
Switzerland, on March 5, 1866, and was the son of
August and Caroline (Bistacchi) De Carli. The
mother is still living there at the age of eighty-four
vears. The father came to California in 1874 and

&.M-a.d£^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

687

never returned to Switzerland, having passed away
in San Jose in 1916, at tlie age of seventy-seven
years. He was a contracting lumberman and road
builder and lived most of his life in the Saratoga
hills, following the life of the ancient Helvetians,
hunting, fishing and always living the outdoor life.
Longevity is a characteristic of our subject's ances-
tors, his great-grandmother, Hellena Bistacchi, living
to be 109 years of age.

Louis spent his boyhood days in Switzerland,
where he graduated from the Swiss grammar schools,
becoming proficient in both French and Italian.
When fifteen years old, he came to the United
States, arriving in California and went direct to
Saratoga in 1881 and began as a farm hand, milking
and doing general farm work. He has been in Santa
Clara County ever since this time, except the four
years from 1891 to 1895, that he spent with the
WeUington Coal Company at Victoria, B. C. It was
during this period that he was united in marriage
with Miss Christine Geddes, who was born in Aber-
deenshire, Scotland, and they became the parents of
two children, Ethel Marie, who is now the wife of
Lawrence Arnold, a fireman of San Jose, and Louis
A., who was born and reared in San Jose, graduating
from the grammar school. Ethel was born at Vic-
toria and the little family came to San Jose in the
year 1895. Mr. De Carli again engaged as a farm
hand, but being capable of speaking several
languages fluently, he later became court interpreter
in Santa Clara County. This was hard work, for it
meant night study for fifteen months in the San Jose
high school, but he is now able to interpret Italian,
French and Spanish in all courts. During the four
years, 1904 to 1908, he served on the police depart-
ment of San Jose as patrolman and won one of the
cleanest records of any ofiTicer in this city. By a
special request of the victims of the Black Hand
(Mafia) and the better element of the Italian citizens
of San Jose and the Bay Cities, he entered the
office of the district attorney of Santa Clara County
as an investigator and detective in the year 1914
and served until 1917, he and William Drieschmeyer,
also of that county, putting an end to the depreda-
tions of the Black Hand band, also the arson gang,
a notorious band of outlaws, fruit thieves and such
malefactors as were jeopardizing the safety of the
inhabitants of this fair city. Upon the completion of
this work, the arson department of the Board of
Fire Underwriters of the Pacific took Mr. De Carli
into their employ to travel through the Pacific Coast
district to stamp out the arson gangs and incen-
diarism. During the war period. he cooperated with
the Government, aiding in the repression of the
I. W. W.'s and other public enemies, serving until
1920, when he was taken with a severe attack of
the influenza while located in Tehama County, and
his health became so impaired that he had to quit
this strenuous life, so he returned to his home and
took up his business which had been handled by his
son and wife. For ten years Mr. De Carli was in
the transfer business and then engaged as a dealer
in furniture under the firm name of De Carli and
Son; his place of business is located at 174 South
Second Street, San Jose. They started this business
at 212 West Santa Clara Street and in 1910 moved
to 192 West Santa Clara Street and in 1918 to 154
West Santa Clara Street, w^here they stayed for
eight months and then March, 1920, came to 28

North Market Street, where they remained until
1921, when they moved to the present location,
where they are doing a good business. It is very
interesting to know the origin of the name of De
Carli. A homeless orphan, who had taken refuge
in one of the orphanages of Switzerland, was given
the name of De Carli by the government of that
country, Carli meaning orphanage, the name, there-
fore signifying, "the child from the orphanage."
ihe late Judge W. G. Lorigan, who was at one
time Justice of the Supreme Court, was a very inti-
mate friend of Mr. De Carli and was instrumental in
our subject's receiving the position of interpreter in
his court and after he had occupied this place for
awhile, none other in the judge's estimation was so
capable. Naturally of a studious disposition, Mr.
De Carli is a great reader, and has added much to his
store of knowledge in his leisure moments. Benevo-
lent and generous, he has been a veritable Good
Samaritan in San Jose and many is the family he

has rescued from want

starvation, taking the

hard-earned dollars from his own pocket for his
benefactions.

IRA COTTLE.— Whenever the historian shall
essay to relate th; stirring history of Santa Clara
County, he will not fail to revert to the interesting
life-story of one of her sturdiest pioneers, Ira Cottle,
who estabished his home as far back as 1858 on what
later became Willow Avenue, near its junction with
Minnesota Avenue, and so became one of the found-
ers of the picturesque community known in early
days as The Willows. Ira Cottle was born in St.
Charles County, Mo., October 10, 1819. His
father, Oliver Cottle, had come from Ver-
mont, and his mother, who was Miss Charity
Lowe before her marriage, was a native of Tennessee.
His parents settled in Missouri when it was known
as the Louisiana Purchase; and later they removed
to Texas. The move, however, was productive of
disaster, for Mr. Cottle was seized with yellow fever
and died, and Mrs. Cottle and her family had to
make their way back to Missouri. In 1833 they
moved once again, this time to Iowa; and located in
Des Moines County, where Mrs. Cottle passed the
remainder of her days.

In all the vigor of young manhood, Ira set out for
Southern Wisconsin, and for eleven years he fol-
lowed lead mining in Grant County. In 1846 he took
for his helpmate Miss Mary Ann Baker, a native of
Indiana, and three years later he established himself
as a farmer in Clayton County, Iowa. By 1854 he
had a family of two children, and in that year he
brought his household to California, traveling by the
Overland Trail with ox teams, six months en route.
For a while he found what he wanted for general
farming and stockraising in the Coyote district,
Santa Clara County, but in 1858 he removed to the
ranch he continued to occupy until his death, April
8, 1907. He bought 125 acres of the Narvaeze Grant,
for which he paid $2,500. He devoted the land to
the raising of grain and hay and was an enthusiast
m the matter of tree planting.

Mrs. Cottle, who was esteemed by a wide circle
of friends as a neighbor and friend, passed to her
eternal reward on August 5, 1873, the mother of
six children, two of whom are living, and in 1876
Ira Cottle took to himself a second w'ife, Mrs. Joseph
Smith, a talented lady popular as Miss Clara C.
Chase before her first marriage. She came from

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Rochester, N. Y., to California in 1860. Kormerlv a
Henry Clay Whig, Mr. Cottle lived to see the Re-
publican party well established, and to have the
satisfying consciousness that he had done his full
duty in helping support it in its most trying days.
JUDGE FREDERICK BENJAMIN BROWN.—
.\ gentleman versed in jurisprudence and prominent
in the civic and social life of San Jose is Judge Fred-
crick Benjamin Brown, the present incumbent of the
office of Judge of the Superior Court of the State of
California, in and for Santa Clara County, who pos-
sesses an enviable reputation for sterling character,
judicial and business ability of a high degree, which
has been made fully apparent in the impartial manner
in which he deals out justice. He is filling the respon-
sible position with the utmost satisfaction to his con-
stituents and credit to himself. He is a native of IIH-
nois, having been born at Galva, Henry County, on
February 13, 1861, a son of Jeremiah J. and Catherine
CProtsman) Brown. His father was born in New
Hampshire, coming when sixteen years of age with
his parents to Peoria County, 111. where he grew to
manhood and engaged in farming, acquiring 160 acres
of government land, which he' cleared and improved.
The Brown family is traced back to England, coming
to New Hampshire in 1636. Great-great-grandfather
Capt. Joseph Brown, of Kensington. N. H., served
in the Revolutionary War; while Grandfather Ben-
jamin Brow-n was a captain of New Hampshire
mihtia. On his maternal side the family is traced
back to Germany where Grandfather Frederick Prots-
man was born, but disliking the military oppression
he ran away from home when thirteen years of age,
going to Holland where in time he married: later he
came to the United States, locating in Illinois in 1843.
Mr. Brown is the fourth oldest in a family of nine
children, and received his education in the public
schools of his home district and in the Galva high
school, from which he was graduated in the year 1881,
after which he matriculated at Knox College, Gales-
burg, in., where he was duly graduated in 1885 with
the degree of B. S. He proceeded to Grant County,
Kans., where he took up a homestead of 160 acres;
he also preempted a tree claim, making a total of 480
acres, which he improved according to law and re-
ceived a government title to the land. While thus
engaged he was county superintendent of schools
for a period of five years. Disposing of his interests
in Kansas, he came to California in 1893 and located
in Santa Clara County, making his home at Saratoga.
Here he began the study of law under Judge Welch
and in 1895 was admitted to the California bar.
Forming a partnership with Allan Brant he con-
tinued with him for. a time when they dissolved part-
nership and Mr. Brown continued the practice alone.
In 1902 he w-as appointed city attorney, holding the
office for two terms of two years each, until January,
1906, when he was appointed, by the board of super-
visors, justice of the peace to fill a vacancy until the
fall of 1906, when he was a candidate for the office and
was elected, filling the office to the entire satisfaction
of the community. In 1910 and 1914 he was elected
to succeed himself without opposition, and again in
1918 was reelected. He became very popular and his
decisions were well received, as they were made fairly
and impartially. In 1920 when he announced him-
self as a candidate at the county primaries for Supe-
rior Judge he was nominated and at the November
election was elected by a fine majority. He then re-

signed as justice of the peace and took the oath as
Judge of the Superior Court in January, 1921, and is
filling the position with much credit, all his work be-
ing done with the same fairness which has character-
ized all of his public service. Mr. Brown has also
been very prominent in civic and commercial circles.
As early as 1902, he was elected a member of the
board of directors of the San Jose Chamber of Com-
merce and was reelected each term until 1921. when
he declined being a candidate for reelection. During
this time he served as president of the organization
for one term during the year of 1915.

Mr. Brown's marriage occurred in Rock Island,
111., on March 29, 1888, and united him with Miss
Mary L. Miller, a native of Georgia, and they are the
parents of four children: John Miller, a rancher
residing in San Jose; Sewcll Solon of Los Gatos;
Victor Forrest is with the Standard Oil Company;
and Paul Winston passed away at the age of three
years. Fraternally, Mr. Brown is very popular and
active. He was made a Mason in Fraternity Lodge
No. 399, of San Jose, and is a member of all the
Scottish Rite bodies in San Jose, as well as Islam
Temple A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco; and
with his wife is a member of the Eastern Star and the
White Shrine, he being a past patron and Mrs. Brown
a past matron for the former order; he is also a
member of the Ancient Arabic Order of Sciots, the
Elks, Knights of Pythias, Woodmen of the World,
and Modern Woodmen of America. In local club
circles he is a member of the Union Club and was a
charter member of the Lions Club of San Jose and
was the first president of the latter organization. In
national politics he is decidedly Republican. Judge
Brown has always stood for clean government and
been to the front in all matters for progress and up-
building of the community. His independence of
character, his integrity, honesty and capableness
enables him to make a most excellent record as
Superior Judge. Liberal, kindhearted and sym-
pathetic, while justice of the peace, he was a friend
to the widows and neglected children and let no
opportunity pass of righting the wrongs by invoking
the aid of the law where his own magnetic person-
ality and pleading were in vain, thus making a better
world because he understands and demonstrates the
real meaning of justice.

HON. GEORGE S. WALKER.— A distmguished,
popular public official, whose enviable record for
efficiency and fidelity would have established him
permanently in any commonwealth, is the Hon.
George S. Walkec, the State Building and Loan
Commissioner, who counts himself among the resi-
dents of San Jose, and maintains his domicile at 556
North Sixteenth Street. As a former Senator of
California he has long enjoyed a wide acquaintance
^nd extensive associations enabling him to exert an
effective influence; and this influence has been used,
time and again, to advance the best interests of the
people at large, and to hasten the day when the
Golden State shall come to its own in the perfect
development of its unrivalled resources.

George S. Walker was born on September 21,
1874, at Santa Rosa, the son of the late William S.
Walker, who passed away in 1907, in his sixty-
seventh year, prominent among the brainiest and
most enterprising citizens of Los Gatos, and widely
known in journalistic circles. A son of William H.

C^^i^n^-^^'

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

691

Walker, lie was born on May 20, 1839, at Macon-.b,
111., a descendant of good old patriotic stock, his
paternal grandfather having been a soldier in the
Revolutionary Army, while his grandfather, James
Walker, a Kentucky planter, was in the War of 1812.

William H. Walker was born in Rockbridge
County, V'a , in which both of his parents also first
saw the light, and passed his childhood in the Old
Dominion, growing to manhood in Kentucky, where
he helped to manage the home plantation. When
he pushed out into the v\-orld for himself, he settled
in Illinois, and having established a nursery at
Macomb, followed for a while horticultural pursuits.
Subsequently, he resided for some years in Keokuk
Count.v, Iowa, but the lure of Illinois brought him
back to the state in which he rounded out his use-
ful life He had married Miss Ann Harris, a native
of Tennessee, who died at Macomb, and they had
five children, among whom William S. Walker, the
father of our subject, was the youngest.

William S. Walker, true to the traditions of his
grandfather and great-grandfather, early offered him-
self for active service in the defense of his country
during the Civil War, and in April, 1861, enlisted in
Company K, Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infan-
try, as the first man to enroll from ilason County,
and he was mustered in at Peoria for a period of
three years. The next year he took part in the siege
of Fort Donelson and the battle of Shiloh, but soon
after, having incurred physical disability, was honor-
ably discharged. His patriotic zeal impelled him
again to endeavor to enlist, this time in the Eighty-
fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but he was unable
to pass physically.

Having resolved to make the experiment of life
in the extreme West, William S. Walker in the
spring of 1864 sailed to Panama, and north to Cali-
fornia: and for two years he tried it out in Sonoma
County. Then he returned to Illinois, traversing
again the Isthmian route, and at Mason City es-
tablished the first paper printed there, which he
continued to edit for several years. Once having
gotten acquainted with California, however, he never
gave up the plan of resuming activity here; and
having sold out his Illinois' newspaper interests in
June, 1874. he returned to the Pacific Coast, and
opened a job-printing office at Petaluma. Not sat-
isfied with the results of his venture, he moved
across the continent to Missouri, in October of the
same year, and there purchased a small farm, in-
lending to settle down as a tiller of the soil; but the
grasshopper hordes of 1875 so cleaned him out that
he was glad to exchange his land for a printing
office, and to establish the Henry County News at
Clinton. He presided for just six weeks in the edi-
torial sanctum of the News, and then he was in-
duced to take charge of the Crete Sentinel, at Crete,
Nebr. He found, however, that he could not live
from the patronage of that paper, and having dis-
posed of that property, he removed to I.,incoln,
Nebr., where he opened a job-printing office. The
grasshopper scourge still affected his destiny, the
insects having eaten the farmers of that section out
of house and home, or nearly so, the previous year,
and left them nothing with which to subscribe for
newspapers or pay for printing; and so, in the month
of September of the Centennial Year. 1876. when
California had drawn to itself renewed notice on
account of the exploitation at the Exposition and

throughout the country, he made his third trip to
California; and af:er resting a while at Ventura, he
again opened a job-printing oftice at Petaluma.
Diptheria drove him out within four weeks, and he
removed to Cloverdale, in Sonoma County, and there
started a newspaper; but this did not hold him, and
he returned to Nebraska, in the spring of 1877, when
he became a resident of Lincoln for a year. Re-
moving to Seward, in the spring of 1878, he entered
the local journalistic field and published the Seward
County Advocate; but in June, 1879, he sold out
and once more set out for California.

Pitching his tent at Cloverdale, in the fall of 1879,
he purchased the old paper mill and managed it
until the summer of 1880, when he sold it and re-
turned to Lincoln, Nebr.; and here it may be well to
observe that, although Mr. Walker seems to h.ave
been a good deal of a nomad, he never failed to
provide for his family, always taking them with him
on Iiis innumerable trips. One of the good, old-
fashioned winters in Nebraska, however, cured him
of his enthusiasm for life in the Middle West and
in the spring of 1881 he returned to the more
salubrious climate of the Golden State. After look-
ing about for a favorable location, he was advised
to go to the picturesque mountain town of Sara-
toga, in Santa Clara County; and while on his way
to that place, he stopped off at Los Gatos and was
persuaded to settle there permanently instead. He
at once established the Los Gatos Weekly News, arid
this he conducted successfully until March, 1885,
when he disposed of it by sale and removed to Santa
Criiz. Even there he published a newspaper for a
while; biit Los Gatos drew him a second time within
her hospitable borders, and he bought the Los Gatos
Mail, which he enlarged and published as a weekly
until the spring of 1902, when he disposed of his
newpaper interests, and with a splendid record for
path-breaking as a pioneer, he retired from active
business to the comforts of a private life. Although
constantly shifting, Mr. Walker was by no means a
rolling stone gathering no moss; he usually sold out
at a profit, and each step was a step forward, not
only in his progress but with some contribution to-
ward the progress of the community in which he
had shared a common lot. In addition to acquiring
valuable property in Los Gatos, Mr. Walker came
to own two ranches, one in Monterey County, and
the other in Santa Cruz County, and under his able
management, both proved productive and highly
profitable estates. He also made good use of his
literary talents, during both busy and spare hours,
and enjoyed a wide Western fame as the author of
two very interesting and instructive volumes,
entitled, "Hungry Land" and "Between the Tides."

While at Mason City, 111., William S. Walker
was married to Miss Maggie Montross, a native of
Ohio, a talented, devoted woman who became the
mother of eight children, six of whom reached matur-
ity: W. G. Walker graduated from the North-
western University, became a druggist, and died in
Los Gatos at the age of thirty-one; Effie, a Normal
graduate and subsequently a popular teacher in the
public schools, passed away in 1899, a year after the
death of Lincoln Walker, and two years before the
death of Walter Walker; George S. Walker is the
subject of our instructive review; Leland H. \^■alWer
is an attorney in San Jose, with a residence in Los
Gatos. Mr. Walker was a Republican, and an active

692

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and a very much honored member of the E. O. C.
Ord Post No. 82, of the Grand Army of the Repub-
lic. Both Mr. and Mrs. Walker were devoted mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

George S. Walker was reared and schooled at Los
Gates, and being resourceful even as a youth, he
learned the printer's trade early, and as soon as prac-
ticable was initiated into the ins and outs of the
publishing business. He also delved into politics,
and he has the distinct, unique honor of having been
elected to the State Assembly in 1900, when he was
hardly twenty-six years of age. There he attained
cuch success that he was reelected in 1902, and so
much confidence was placed in the young Assembly-
man, after his record for four years had been re-
peatedly examined, that he was elected to the State
Senate on the Republican ticket. In 1908 he v.-as
reelected, and he then introduced the Walker-Otis
Anti-Race-Track Gambling Bill, which was passed,
became a law, and is now, in force. In 1910 Mr.
Walker was lieutenant to Hiram Johnson, and was
in charge of the Johnson Campaign in Santa Clara
County; and his executive ability being splendidly
demonstrated, he was able to lead his party to
triumphant success.

In 1911 Mr. Walker was appointed State Building
and Loan Commissioner, and since then he has filled
this office with consummate ability. His headquar-
ters are in the suite, 604-6 Claus Spreckels Building,
San Francisco; and from there have gone out many
reforming influences of great benefit to the people
of the state at large. During the year 1911-12. for
example. Mr. Walker closed the Continental Build-
ing and Loan A.s=ociation of San Francisco, and
later in the ^.aiiu- year discovered a shortage amount-
ing to $140, (HHI in the accounts of the secretary of
the Palo Alto Building and Loan Association, who
was subsequently sent to San Quentin prison for
seven years. This was a very difficult case to carry
through in the interests of the public whom Mr.
Walker represented, but he managed the affair suc-
cessfully, and demonstrated the value of his office,
which, it is needless to say, has many times since
rendered the same noteworthy safe-guarding service.
During Mr. Walker's administration of this office,
the number of associations in California coming
under his jurisdiction has increased from eighty-six
to 110; and these institutions for mutual advantage
have progressed wonderfully. Five of the number
doing a building and loan business are located in
Santa Clara County, and their assets make Santa
Clara County register third in the state.

In 1916 George S, Walker was nominated for Con-
gress as the candidate of the Progressive Repub-
licans, in opposition to the incumbent, the Hon. E.
A. Hayes, and each candidate made an excellent
run, the fine record of Mr. Walker, both in the
conduct of the affairs of his office and in his con-
sistent demonstration of an unmistakable patriotism
and public spirit appealing forcibly to many; but the
result of the election retained the incumbent m office.
Mr. Walker took the verdict philosophically, and
those who are familiar with his fine record as State
Building and Loan Commissioner are disposed to
congratulate the voter on his unwillingness to lose
either one of the officials.

At San Jose, on December 31. 1900. Mr. Walker
was married to Miss Martha I. Spencer, the daugh-
ter of the late Theodore Spencer and his good wife

Ann. who is still living and shares the comforts and
happiness of the Walker fireside. Three children
have blessed their fortunate union: Wesley, Marion
and George S. Walker, Jr.

ANDREW H. JEPSEN.— For over forty years a
resident of Santa Clara County, Andrew H. Jepsen
is one of the substantial citizens of the Cupertino
district, and was among the early orchardists that
have aided in the development of this prosperous
neighborhood. Denmark was Mr. Jepsen's native
land, and he was born near the German border.
The date of his birth was January 10, 1860, and his
parents, both now deceased, were worthy folk who
passed their lives in the country of their birth. In
common with the lads of his neighborhood, Andrew
H. Jepsen gained his education in the schools of
that vicinity, and at the age of sixteen he started in
to learn the carpenter's trade in Denmark, serving
Lin apprenticeship with one man.

When he became of age, Mr. Jepsen determined
to avail himself of the larger opportunities across
the water, and accordingly arrived in Oakland, Cal.,
in 1881. In the fall of that year he came on to San
Jose, and Santa Clara County has since been his
home. He worked at his trade for various con-
tractors and in different places in the county, having
helped build some of the more important residences
and business blocks in the city, also worked on the
.\gnew Asylum and on the new Del Monte Hotel at
Monterey, continuing at his trade until 1907, when he
quit and has since devoted his time to his ranch
property. In 1887 he made a trip back to Denmark
and returned to Santa Clara County the next year.

In 1892 occurred the marriage of Mr. Jepsen and
Miss Caroline Rasmussen. who is also a native of
Denmark and who came to California in the late '80s.
She and a brother bought ten acres south of Cuper-
tino and after her brother died she became owner of
the property. In 1893 the Jepsens left San Jose
and moved to the ranch, Mr. Jepsen continuing at
his trade and at the same time setting out the ten
acres to orchard. This property was later sold.
He had purchased twenty acres in the immediate
\icinity of their home atid to this he has added and
now owns twenty-seven acres, mostly set to prunes.
Upon this place he has placed the buildings and sunk
two wells, one 155 and one 245 feet deep, and in-
stalled a fine pumping plant to irrigate his orchards.
He is a strong booster for Santa Clara County and
has always given liberally to aid every worthy project
that w-ould make for prosperity for the citizens and
help build up the county. He is a charter member
of the California Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc.
Since he became a citizen of the United States, in
1887, he has voted the Republican ticket at national
elections; in local matters he is nonpartisan.
Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow.

Mr. and Mrs. Jepsen have three sons; Harold is
married and lives on a ranch next to his father's,
he is a machinist and works in San Jose; John and
George are at home and assist with the work on the
ranch. The two eldest sons were in the service of
the Government during the World War, and George
was called by the draft and was ready to answer the
call when the armistice was signed. The family
pre highly respected by all who have the pleasure
of knowing them.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

693

JAMES G. SHAW.— An experienct-d business
man who has given much thought to the needs of
large business and the high and complicated develop-
ment of warehousing and forwarding, James G.
Shaw has well demonstrated his capability in the
comprehensive organization of the Shaw Warehouse
&: Brokerage Company of San Jose, of which he is
the efficient owner and accommodating proprietor.
A native son of California, he was born in San Mateo
County on July 28, 1882. the son of Elias and Maria
(Goulson) Shaw. The latter, as a rather exceptional
experience for a woman, crossed the plains twice.

Elias Shaw was born in Columbus, Ohio, and be-
ing left an orphan at the age of eight he learned to
paddle his own canoe and did it well, but he had
little opportunity to obtain an education. Coming
West, at the age of fifteen he was fireman on a
Mississippi River steamboat, where they used wood
and rosin for fuel except when they were racing,
when they threw in slabs of bacon, and it is needless
to say that the large smokestack was soon red hot.
Many were the interesting experiences he could tell
of those days when the Mississippi was a great com-
mercial thoroughfare. The news of the discovery of
gold in California kindled his desire to come to the
Pacific Coast and in 1852 he came around the Horn
on a sailer to San Francisco. He immediately set
out for the mines, his destination being Forbestown
on the Feather River, where he had his ups and
downs as a miner, making and losing a fortune.

In Forbestown, on October 10, 1866, Elias Shaw-
was married to Miss Maria Goulson, who was born
in Leicestershire, England, May 27, 1840, and came
with her parents to the United States in 1848 on
the old ship Franconia. The family settled at Avon,
Wis., remaining there until 1852. when they started
across the plains in an o.x-team train, and after a
journey of five months and four days arrived at the
Eureka mine, in the Sierras, going on to Forbes-
town, January 1, 1853. In 1857 the family returned
via Panama to Avon, Wis., where they continued to
reside until 1864, when they again crossed the plains
This time their wagons were drawn by mules and
they made the journey in four months and five days.
.A.bout two years later Maria Goulson was married
to Mr. Shaw and they soon located at Pescadero,
San Mateo County, where they engaged in farmjng.
About 1869 Mr. Shaw went East and purchased
some fine standard-bred stallions and brood mares
and started to drive them across the plains, being
one of the very first men to attempt to bring fine
stock into the state this way. Unfortunately while
in Utah the Indians stampeded the horses and got
away with them, and thus Mr. Shaw suffered a severe
loss, as he had invested heavily in this expensive,
fine-blooded stock. He followed ranching until his
death in 1894, his wife surviving him many years,
passing aw-ay on May 16, 1919, a devoted Christian
woman, kind and charitable, who w-as greatly loved
by all who knew her. A woman of retentive mem-
ory, she was able to narrate very interesting experi-
ences during the Civil War, of her crossing the
plains, the early mining days and of the Vigilantes.
She was the mother of four sons and three daugh-
ters, all of whom are living, our subject and his
twin brother being the youngest.

James G. Shaw attended school at Pescadero, fol-
lowing this with a course at the Chestnutwood Busi-
ness College at Santa Cruz. He remained at home
assisting his mother on the farm until he was seven-
teen years old, then clerked in a grocery store at
San Mateo for two years, and then for four years
was manager of a lumber camp store in the Santa
Cruz Mountains. The following year was spent in
traveling through the East and in 1907 he came to
San Jose and entered the employ of the Walsh-Col
Company, then located on South Third Street. Be-
ginning at the lowest rungs of the ladder, he worked
hard and faithfully, and in October, 1919, he was
made secretary and manager of the company, which
was then located on North Market Street and doing
a very extensive business as wholesale grocers, serv-
ing San Mateo, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Benito,
Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties.
As an experienced dealer in foodstuffs, Mr. Shaw-
served with H. B. Martin on the Food Committee
during the World War In February, 1922, he re-
signed his position with the Walsh-Col Company to
look after his individual interests.

A pioneer in the motor transportation business in
San Jose, in April, 1919, Mr. Shaw-, with a partner,
G. R. Beard, started the Service Motor Transporta-
tion Company, ow-ning and controlling 154 miles of
franchises granted them by the Railroad Commis-
sion of California, these franchises covering five
coast counties. The business has had a rapid growth
so that in 1922 he incorporated as the Shaw Trans-
portation and Drayage Company, of which he is
president, their location being at 364 North Market
Street, where they handle over 200 tons of merchan-
dise per week, operating four trucks. In 1922 Mr.
Shaw incorporated the Shaw Warehouse & Broker-
age Company, with offices at 364 North Market
Street, and warehouses at 110 Bellevue Avenue, on
the Western Pacific Railroad. He gives his un-
divided attention to this business, which consists
of warehousing, assembling, distributing, forward-
ing, buying and selling, this being the only concern
in the valley combining the functions of the ware-
house and brokerage business. His experience has
enabled him to make a close study of the problems
of the buyer and seller, as well as the manufacturer
and consumer, and he has splendid and practical
view-s. He is in a position to afford his clients rates
tc and from all points, both domestic and foreign,
inasmuch as he is a director and vice-president of the
traffic bureau of the San Jose Chamber of Com-
merce. He also arranges to insure goods en route
and attend to all forwarding charges for export ship-
ments, and has established an inspection bureau
which will forestall any question as to grades of
fruit shipped, between buyer and seller, when goods
have reached their destination. On account of the
great tonnage and many industries centered in and
around San Jose, it fills a long felt want. At the
present time, owing to natural advantages afforded
by water-shipment, the port of San Francisco is
enjoying very low rates, which encourages many
large Eastern manufacturers to reach out for Pacific
Coast business. However, on account of the ex-
tremely high rates in and out of San Jose, and local
draying charges, the cost of distributing merchandise
in the Santa Clara \'allcy through San Francisco

694

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

channels are very high. With a warehouse function-
ing in San Jose, it is possible to load car loads at the
pier in San Francisco, which are then forwarded
to the warehouse in San Jose, thereby eliminating at
least fifty per cent of the cost as outlined above.

At San Francisco, in April, 1909, Mr. Shaw was
married to Miss Minnie Budd, born in New York,
but reared in San Francisco, an accomplished woman
who shares in her husband's ambitions and interests.
They are the parents of one child, Stanley Shaw.
Mr. Shaw is a member of Observatory Parlor,
N. S. G. W., of San Jose; a charter member of the
San Jose Commercial Club, and belongs to the Elks
and the Rotary Club. In politics he is a Republican,
and he is a familiar figure among the sportsmen of
the locality, enjoying fishing and hunting for his
recreation. Public-spirited in the development of the
great resources of the state as fast as possible and
upon the most permanent basis, he embraces every
opportunity to aid and boost any enterprise that is
put forth to build up his county and state.

BUTTON BROS.— Prominent among the most en-
terprising, progressive business firms of San Jose to
whom not only that up-to-date city but all Santa Clara
County is indebted for material and permanent ad-
vancement in an important line of industry, is that
of Messrs. Dutton Bros., the orcliardists, who have
a ranch of nearly 100 acres about three miles north
of San Jose, the trim farm at the present being one
of the interesting "show places" of that district.
The Duttons are not only scientific, successful
orchardists, but they are public-spirited citizens, ever
ready to further the growth, development and pros-
perity of the environment under which they live and
carry on their extensive operations.

Both of the Messrs. Dutton were born in Chi-
cago,— Albert on January .H. 1S'»3, Willis on August
27, 1896,— the sons of Lkw. llyn and bannie ( Hiatt)
Dutton. The father, an arclfitect wlio designed many
office buildings and homes in Chicago, in 1903 came
to San Francisco, where he continued his profes-
sional occupation. He designed many notable build-
ings in the Bay Citj-, and was the architect of the
ornate edifice, the First National Bank Building in
San Jose. The mother, who had only these two chil-
dren, died at Rcdlands a few years ago. In 1915,
-Architect Dutton removed to San Jose to reside, and
he l)ou,trlit a ranch of ninety-seven acres on the Alviso
Road, about three miles north of San Jose. Of this
rich farm land, five and one-half acres are in full-
bearing pear trees, and there are seventy-five acres
of very promising pear trees which our subjects
themselves set out and twelve and a half acres are
in prune trees, also in excellent bearing.

Both boys attended the grammar and high schools
of San Francisco, and Albert took a course of two
years at the Davis branch of the University of Cali-
fornia. Both boys were also in the service during
the last war. Albert entered the U. S. Army in
August, 1917, and he was sent to Camp Fremont,
where he was trained in the machine gun company
of the Eighth Infantry. Hi.ghth Division. On October
25. 1918, th, y saile.l for Franrr. and on the ninth of
November tlu\' liruh il at I'.nst: biil, notwithstanding
the armistirr. tin r(''_;)nuiit rtniainrd in France imtil
May 20. 1919, when it returned, and on June I
Albert Dutton was discharged at Camp Lee, Vir-
ginia. Willis entered the service in August, 1918,

and he was sent to the training camp at Logan, Utah,
where he attended a school for mechanics. He was
in the Fortieth C. A. C, and he was later sent to
J'^ort Scott, San Francisco, and from there to Camp
Upton, New York, at which point he arrived on Octo-
ber 9. After being there for two weeks, he went to
Camp Grant, Illinois, and in December he came back
to San Francisco where, two days before Christmas,
1918, he was discharged as a private. Willis is a
member of the American Legion, No. 89 of San
Jo-ic. In November. 1919, the two far-sighted and
aiiil.itici:- ; oung men purchased from their father
h). i-ai i!v-clr\cioped ranch, and they are not only man-
aging it, but they are constantly making improve-
ments which greatly add to its value, and which in-
crease the agricultural wealth of this region.

Willis is single, but Albert married at San Jose,
on June '■I. 1917, Miss Frances Merithew. She was
born 111 San Jose, the daughter of Myrtle (Coyken-
dalll AKritliew, whose husband died prior to Fran-
ces' birth. Mrs. Merithew, after some years, mar-
ried a second time, and now she is Mrs. Myrtle
Syske, of Santa Cruz. Miss Merithew was a pupil in
the grammar, and a student in the high schools in
>an Jose, and later she took up voice study at the
College of the Pacific. One son has blessed this for-
tunate union, Albert H. Dutton.

ALEXANDER ROSE COELHO.— All Milpitas,
as well as other parts of Santa Clara County, unite
in honoring the memory of Alexander Rose Coelho,
now deceased, who founded a prosperous family for
years well-to-do and enjoying the priceless blessings,
the esteem and good-will of everybody. Mr. Coelho
was born at St. l.ucia, Pico, in the Azores Islands
on March 6, 1848, the son of Matthew Rose and
Mary (Jacqualine) Coelho, and when twenty-two
years old came to California and settled at Hayward,
in Alameda County, and there he engaged in farm-
ing on leased land. He reinained at Hayward for
one year, and then he came to Alviso, in Santa Clara
County, near which town he farmed for three years.
His next move was to Milpitas, where he purchased
120 acres of land about two miles to the east, on the
Calaveras Road; and after that he continued to add
to the area of the ranch untilit comprised, at the
time of his death, in 1910, some 400 acres. Twenty-
five acres of this land he had set apart as an orchard,
and there he raised the finest prunes and apricots,
while the rest of the land was devoted to farming.

On December 7, 1871, Alexander R. Coelho v-'as
married at San Francisco to Miss Matilda Adelaide
Macedo, the daughter of Manuel and Francisca
Macedo and a native of beautiful Fayal in the
Azores; and their union was blessed with the birth
of thirteen children: Mary is Mrs. Joseph Smith of
Berryessa, the wife of the well-known orchardist;
Manuel is in Campbell; Julia died at the age of
twenty-six, and Alexander at the age of thirty;
Matilda is Mrs. Manuel Picanco of San Lorenzo;
Matthew was thirty-three years old when he died;
Thomas is on the home ranch; Emma attained to
her twentieth year when she was called to the Great
Bej'ond; Frances is Mrs. Harry Francisco of Berry-
essa; Cyrus lives at San Jose; Lucy is the wife of
Williain Borge, an orchardist, and they make their
home at Milpitas; John C. Coelho is also an orchard-
ist, and lives on the Stevens Creek Road; Anne en-
joys the comforts of the parental home, which was
built by Mrs. Coelho on the Calaveras Road in 1913.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

697

Eight grandchildren also have honored these worthy
progenitors: Ernest is the son of Mrs. Mary Smith;
William the son of Manuel; Zelma is the daughter
of Alexander, who is deceased; Alexander is the son
of Matthew; Thomas married Miss Emma Borge,
and they have two children, Ellis and Mclba; and
Evelyn and Lorraine are the names of Frances' two
children. Miss Anne, the youngest daughter, who
remains at home, the valued companion of her
mother, took a musical course at the College of
Notre Dame, from which institution she was
graduated with honors in 1921.

JOHN WILLIAM STOUGH— A well-known and
worthy representative of the real estate interests of
San Jose is John Wm. Stough, a prominent agent for
California lands, who has been associated in this line
of business for the past seven years. Although Mr.
Stough has traveled extensively throughout the
Union, he is firmly convinced that no part of the
civilized world can compare with California as a
permanent place of residence, its healthful climate
and rich soil surpassing those of all other sections of
the globe in point of excellence.

A son of Edward and Elizabeth (Welch) Stough.
John Wm. Stough was born, January 21, 1872, in
Burlington, Kansas; his father was born in the rural
district adjacent to Gettysburg. Pa. His parents were
married in Pennsylvania, later taking up their resi-
dence in western Kansas. The paternal grandfather.
Rev. Samuel Stough, was a native of Holland, and
a Lutheran minister, who came to Pennsylvania and
was engaged in his chosen profession for a number
of years. Our subject well remembers the great
bands of Indians on their raids throughout Kansas;
also the swarms of grasshoppers that devastated the
country. He was the oldest of a family of seven
children, and at the age of twelve was required to
make his own way, which he did not hesitate to do.
Three brothers and three sisters are also residents of
California; his mother passed away at Hanford,
Cal.. after which the father returned to Pennsyl-
vania, where he passed away.

Bill Stough, as he is familiarlj' known by his many
friends from his railroad days, entered the employ
of the Santa Fe railroad out of Ottawa, Kansas, as
a newsboy; his lessons of economy and thrift help-
ing him to save his money, which he sent to his
mother. For six years he was thus engaged, and
during that time made the acquaintance of many
public men, among them being the railroad officials,
professional men, and professors of the University
of Kansas, also of the Baldwin University, located
at Baldwin, Kansas. He has the record of working
as newsboy on every train running out of Kansas
City. When he reached the age of twenty, he re-
moved to Denver, and was engaged in the same line
of work on the various lines centering in that city;
however, he returned to Kansas City and followed
railroading for some years.

The marriage of Mr. Stough, in 1893, united him
with Miss Eva Gertrude Coulson, a native of Chan-
ute, Kans., where she was reared and educated. Mr.
Stough was later employed by the various railroads
throughout the north and west, spending about one
year running as conductor on the W. P. R. R. out
of Stockton. During all the years of service with
the various railroad companies, he had managed to
accumulate a considerable amount of money; which
he invested in mining property at Salmon. Idaho,

and where he had the misfortune to lose all his hard-
earned accumulation of years. In 1905 he removed
to San Jose and established a restaurant, and in time
he owned and operated three restaurants on Bassett
Street, adjacent to the depot, which brought him
ample returns for his industry and toil. He began
with a capital of $87, but by strict economy was able
to save considerable, which he invested in Fresno
County unimproved land. He was engaged in the
restaurant business ten years, and during this time
he was able to hold his land in Fresno County, later
trading it for apple orchards in the vicinity of Wat-
sonville. He has been amply rewarded for his indus-
try and frugality, until he now owns several apple
orchards, with an output of 30,000 boxes of apples in
a single year. Eight years ago, in 1914, he established
his real estate business, dealing in California lands,
making exchanges of all kinds. His success has been
almost phenomenal, as he has handled more than a
million dollars since taking up his residence in the
Santa Clara Valley.

In 1921, Mr. Stough, with Hans Sumpf, of Coal-
inga, purchased 394 acres in Coalinga and organized
the South Coalinga Oil Company, capital $500,000,
in which he is a director and active in its develop-
ment. Here they are drilling and operating, this
being a splendid location, as there are producing oil
wells on both sides of their property.

Mr. and Mrs. Stough are the parents of two daugh-
ters: Mrs. Vera Travis, residing in San Francisco,
and Enez, a student in the San Francisco high school.
The family reside in San Francisco, where Mr.
Stough spends his week-ends. He also owns valu-
able real estate in San Francisco, one building being
an apartment house. Politically he is a stanch Re-
publican. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Ma-
sons, having attained to the 32nd degree, being both
a Knights Templar and 32nd degree Scottish Rite
Mason and a member of Aahmes Temple, A. A. O.
N. M. S., Oakland. Mr. and Mrs. Stough are popular
members of the local chapter of the Eastern Star.
Mr. Stough is a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
Real Estate Men's Association of Santa Clara
County and Commercial Club, and is still a member
of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.

ALEXANDER L. CRABB.— A pubHc-spirited man
such as every community sooner or later needs, and
cue who has amply demonstrated his dynamic value
to Santa Clara County through his consistent and
never-flinching advocacy of the conservation of water
for irrigation purposes, is Alexander L. Crabb, a na-
tive son proud of his identification with the great
Pacific commonwealth, who was born at San Lean-
dro, in Alameda County, on November 7, 1869. His
father, Manuel E. Crabb, was a native of the
Portuguese mainland, and when he was only
seven years old he went to sea; and for years
he remained a seafaring man, shipping here and there
on ocean-going sailing vessels. It thus happenf-d
that in 1852 he came into San Francisco; and having
enjoyed the attractive, if decidedly primitive Bay City
and environs and discerned something of the future
possiblities of the new Western country, he made
for the inland and turned his back upon the sea.
At first, he went to the gold mines, but after an ex-
perience of forty-eight hours with pick and shovel he
concluded that he could find a mine of another kind
of gold elsewhere, and so came to San Leandro, where
he took up farming. He married Miss Rose Con-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

stancia, an exceptionally worthy woman, and thvir
union was blessed with the birth of three sons,
Manuel, Jr., Alexander and Antone.

When Alexander Crabb was eighteen years of age,
he started to make his own way in the outer world,
and so became a messenger at San Leandro in the
service of the Western Union Telegraph Company.
In 1891 he was made station agent at Milpitas, and
twenty years later, when the Bank of Milpitas was
opened, he became the first cashier, and he has held
that responsible position, to the satisfaction of every-
one dealing with the bank ever since. His genial per-
sonality has rendered him approachable, and his val-
uable connections have given him and the important
financial institution he represents many legitimate ad-
vantages in the transaction of noteworthy business
and the building-up of a patronage whose increase
means something to the town as well as to the bank.

Mr. Crabb is the owner of two ranches near San
Leandro — one a farm of six acres, the other an eleven-
acre tract devoted to the growing of cherries and
currants. This land was unimproved when Mr. Crabb
purchased it, and to him is due the credit for setting
it out to fruit trees, and to further developing its re-
sources. Meanwhile, he has found time to do some-
thing for the town as well as for himself; he has
long been a member of the board of school trustees
of Milpitas, and was formerly chairman. In politics,
he endeavors to keep himself independent of party
limitations, while he recognizes the great value of
social relations, and heartily maintains an active mem-
bership in the F. & A. M. of San Leandro, the Royal
Arcanum and Templars of San Jose, and the Islam
Temple at San Francisco.

At San Francisco on September 25, 1894, Mr. Crabb
was married to Miss Mary F. Little, a native of San
Francisco and the daughter of James H. and Sarah
Little. Her father was a pioneer of San Francisco,
where he was well-known for his development of the
local transfer business and both parents are now
deceased. Five children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Crabb. Alexander James is an automobile dealer
in Milpitas; Irving M. is with the Milpitas Lumber
Company; Ethel has become Mrs. Stevens of Stock-
tion; Ruth and Herbert are at home. Alexander J.
Crabb married Miss Aileen Volkers of San Jose,
and they have had three children. Madaline, Helen
and Alexander; and Mrs. Ethel Stevens has two chil-
dren. Leland and Helen.

JOHN PANCERA.— Among the many men of
foreign birth who have been successful to a marked
degree is John Pancera, an early resident of San
Jose who was for some time engaged as a merchant
but who is now retired from the stress of business
life. He was born in Novara. Italy, on March 13,
1858, the son of Joseph and Lucy (Martinetti) Pan-
cera, who were large farmers of that province. Mr
Pancera has worked hard all his life, beginning early
in life on a farm and later became a stonemason.
He attended the common schools of Italy and grew
up in the Piedmont country, on the boundary line
of France. Italy, and Switzerland, and as Mr. Maz-
zini, his employer, contracted in all three of these
countries, Mr. Pancera learned something of the
French language.

When in his seventeenth year, Mr. Pancera bade
goodbye to bis parents and friends and came to
America, being the first of his family to immigrate
to this country, leaving two brothers and four sis-

ters. He sailed from Havre, France, and reached
New York in March, 1875, and came on direct to
Eureka, Nev., where his first employment was burn-
ing charcoal, and he continued in this work for a
year. Then going to San Francisco and later to
Santa Cruz, he worked at whatever he could find to
do. He arrived in San Jose in the latter part of
1876, and went to work for a wealthy resident on the
Alameda, taking care of the garden, orchard, lawn,
and the stock, receiving fifteen dollars for a month's
wages, and as he had to pay the employment agency
five dollars for the position, it was not encouraging
for a newcomer. He then went to work the next
year for the Delwick Restaurant on Santa Clara
Street, in San Jose. In 1879 he opened the Eureka
Chop House which was located on Market Street,
and the next year disposed of it and went to Denver,
Colo., where he worked for Barklow Bros., propri-
etors of the depot hotel and restaurant, for three
years. On June 12, 1884, he came back to San Jose,
and started a general merchandise business on the
Milpitas and Berryessa Road, two miles north of the
San Jose post oflice, successfully operating this busi-
ness for fifteen and a half years. In 1903, he bought
the property on Reed and South First streets, and
opened up a grocery and general merchandise store
on April 24. He bought and remodeled both the store
building on the corner and the residence immediately
north of it. and here conducted his business until
November 16, 1920. when he closed it out, and sold
the property in February. 1921. He owns forty
acres of unimproved land at Ducor, in Tulare County.
Mr. Pancera also built a residence and store on the
Milpitas Road which he later sold. He has made
three trips to his native land to see his mother, and
in 1900, while on one of his trips, accompanied by his
wife and daughter, he visited the Paris Exposition,
Naples, Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan and Bologna.
His second visit was in 1903, and in 1912 he made a
third trip. His father passed away in 1895, his
mother surviving until the year 1912, when she had
reached the age of seventy-seven years, passing away
soon after Mr. Pancera had returned to America.

Mr. Pancera's first marriage, which occurred No-
vember 23, 1879, united him with Miss Mary Shalvey,
who was born in Ireland, and they became the parents
of two children: Rosa (deceased) and May L. Mrs.
Pancera died in 1902. and a year later, in 1903, Mr.
Pancera married Miss Susie Shalvey, a sister of his
first wife. Mrs. Pancera was born in County Cavan,
Ireland, and was the daughter of John and Mary
(King) Shalvey, farmer folk, who lived and died in
that country. Mrs. Pancera was educated in the
National schools of Ireland, was reared in the Cath-
olic faith, and came to Amcrcia when twenty years
of age, settling in San Jose in the year 1891. She is
a member of the Catholic Daughters of America. Mr.
Pancera is a member of the Knights of Columbus and
of St. Joseph's Benevolent Society, having been a
member for over thirty years and a trustee for
over twenty years, he has also been treasurer since
1900. The family now live at 743 South First Street,
where they are enjoying all the good cheer of the
California climate in their comfortable home. They
are members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church of San
Jose. Mr. Pancera's first vote was cast in favor of
Hancock and English, in 1880. but he now votes with
the Republican party.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

701

GEORGE ROBERTS — Distinguished as one of
the foremost Spiritualists of the West, George Rob-
erts, with his devoted wife, had the honor of as-
sociating San Jose in a somewhat permanent man-
ner with psychic science, now and for years past
a subject of intense study by some of the noted
intellects in every country. He was born in New
York Mills, near Utica, on May 22, 1832, attended
school near Utica, and when he was nineteen years
of age engaged in farming and other occupations.
Dissatisfied with the opportunities there presented,
Mr. Roberts in 186(1 set out for California; and so it
happened that the most fruitful part of his life
has been identified with the Coast.

His father, John Roberts, was born in England,
March 19, 1807, and died in Clarks Mills, N. Y.,
February 7, 1890, while his mother, who was in
maidenhood, Sarah Bowers, also a native of Eng-
land, born June 16, 1804, died at Clarks Mills, June
10, 1854. In 1844 they removed to Osceola in Lewis
County, N. Y. After a limited schooling George
worked two seasons on the tow path of the Erie
Canal. He afterwards drove a stage in New York
City for 2 years. His father having died while he
was a lad he was left to make his own wav in the
world. In 1851 he married Miss Nancy Green at
Osceola, N. Y., and together they came to California
in February, 1860. His first venture was in Nevada
County, where with two other men he developed
a prospect at Omega Camp, afterwards buying out
his partners, but his mining operations were only
partially successful. He then opened a general mer-
chandise store at Omega which he conducted until
1869, when he came to San Jose.

He first bought twenty acres on the Almaden
Road, about three miles from the city where he
built a home. Farming was slow business for him
after his years of activity in the mines, so he
sold the farm and moved to town and opened a
general store in the Archer building next to Kocher
and Blauer's jewelry store. This also was slow
business. He has often said that he sold more goods
on a Sunday morning in the mines than he could
sell here in a week. He disposed of the store and
bought the Lick House, then located on the Ryland
property. He sold the Lick House in 1874 and
concluded to go on a camping trip through the
southern portion of the state. At this time the
Lompoc Land Colony scheme was beginning to at-
tract attention. He heard it talked of when he
reached Santa Cruz and bought two shares. While
in Watsonville he heard nothing else talked of so
he returned to Santa Cruz and San Jose and se-
cured proxies from those who had bought shares
and then proceeded to Lompoc, where the meeting
to organize the colony was to be held.

The promoters of the scheme were mostly San
Francisco real estate dealers who had no other in-
terest in the colony than to sell shares and take
their commission. Being fortified with these proxies
Mr. Roberts was in a position to largely control
the situation. Fred Adams was elected president
'and Mr. Roberts the secretary of the colony and as
Mr. Adams was absent most of the time the greater
I part of the management fell upon the secretary. Mr.

' Roberts built himself a house and also the first

store in Lompoc and gave his entire attention to
the interests of the colony for a number of years.

He was instrumental in establishing the Bank of
Lompoc and was its first president and also served as
postmaster. He invested largely in city lots and
country property and contributed several thousand
dollars to bring the railroad into Lompoc. Crops
were good, values increased and his investment
proved a wonderful success. But they still loved
San Jose, so returning to this city they built an ele-
gant residence on Stockton Avenue where they lived
for many years, Mr. Roberts still looking after his
interests in Lompoc. Mrs. Geo. Roberts was a firm
believer in a life after death and in her Stockton
Avenue home she had a room set apart for seance
purposes and spiritualists of forty and fifty years
ago remember the wonderful manifestations taking
place there. Room was limited in the house — she
could not accommodate all who wanted to come — so
in 1910 she induced Mr. Roberts to buy the prop-
erty on the corner of Fifth and St. John streets
where he built a modern home on the corner and
the beautiful temple adjoining known as Roberts'
Temple, at a cost of about $35,000. The building
was dedicated to the cause of spiritualism and regu-
lar services have been held there ever since. Jp
to the time of Mrs. Roberts' passing, November 26,
1916, the entire expense of all services was met by
Mr. Roberts. No collection or offering was ;vcr
taken in the Temple. After his wife's death Mr. Rob-
erts felt that he would like to be relieved of die
responsibility of the management of its affairs and
so deeded the property to the Sleeper Trust.

While on a trip to his old home in Nevada County
in the fall of 1910 Mr. Roberts met with an accident
from which he never entirely recovered. He passed
away October 8th, 1920. He was a kind-hearted
man, little given to talk, but was a profound thinker.
Of his immense fortune he had left little. He pro-
vided magnificently to every relative and many
friends while he was yet able to see that it was done
right. No one ever did George Roberts a kindness
who was not rewarded for it.

In 1851 Mr. Roberts married Miss Nancy Green,
the ceremony taking place at Osceola, N. Y., a good
woman, who left the world better for her having
l)een in it, when she passed away on November 26,
1916, aged eighty-six. Mr. Roberts was a Republican
but he was too broad-minded to allow himself to meet
local issues in any spirit of partisanship, and hence
he was one of the first to pull with his neighbors,
regardless of party, for the best men and the best
projects for the community's progress.

The last year of his life was brightened as well
as lightened by his niece. Miss Edna Sayles, who
came at his invitation to care for and minister to
his comforts and thus the life of this grand old
pioneer passed out in his eighty-eighth year.

"WALTER R. PEACOCK.— An esteemed citizen
prominent in fraternal circles, Walter R. Peacock
has a record of nearly half a century of profitable
and pleasurable activity in the mystic halls of the
I. O. O. F. He is a Republican in matters of national
politics, as he is also a veteran soldier; but he is too
good an American to allow partisan politics to cloud
his vision, and he endeavors to discharge his civic
duties according to the broadest possible platform.
He was born in Philadelphia on October 9, 1856, the
son of S. J. Peacock, a native of New Jersey, whose
family dates back to the days of the Revolution. His

702

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

great-grandfather lived in New Jersey, and his grand-
father was a Methodist minister there. S. J. Pea-
cock married Miss EHzabeth B. Roselle, and her
family came from England, and she was born in the
British Isles. The worthy couple had five children;
but today only our subject and a brother, living at
Newark, N. J., survive. The father served his full
three years as an apprentice to a carpenter and after
that he served four years as an apprentice to a stair-
case builder — in those days a trade by itself.

Walter Peacock attended the local grammar school
and then for a year went to the high school, and
since his thirteenth year has made his way in the
world. He went to work in the iron and sheet-
metal works in Philadelphia, and served three years
in learning that trade. He continued to follow that
occupation until, on December 5, 1873, he joined the
U. S. Army, in which he saw thirty years and twenty-
six days of active service, being retired on December
31, 1903. He enlisted as a private, and was retired
as ordnance sergeant. During the Spanish-American
War, he served under various generals, including
General Cook, when he was stationed at Fort Apache,
Arizona. During the earlier part of the war, he was
in the Arizona department, and during the latter
part, he was in the Colorado department. In the
late World War, he again gave his services to the
United States, and he served as sergeant major from
March 28, 1918, to August 31, 1919, when he was at
Stanford University and was an instructor of the
R. O. T. C. From October 1 to December 15, 1918,
he served as an instructor, with the rank of sergeant-
major, of the S. A. T. C. at Stanford; and from
May 24 to July, 1918, he served, with the same rank,
in instruction work at the Reserve Officers' Training
Camp at the Presidio.

In 1903. after having been retired from the army,
Mr. Peacock came to San Jose and retired from
active life. The next year, he joined the Ancient
Order of Foresters, and he has been a member since.
He entered this order in the Mount Hamilton Court,
but a few years later this was absorbed by the Gar-
den City Court. On December 28. 1878, Mr. Pea-
cock joined the I. O. O. F., and the next year he
went through the chairs of the order, and he is now
a past grand. He has been secretary of San Jose
Encampment No. 23 since May 16, 1907, and he is
a past chief patriarch of the San Jose Encampment
No. 35. He is also a member of Canton No. 9.

On August 28, 1885. at Pierre, then in Dakota
Territory, Mr. Peacock was married to Miss Bertha
Bergen, a daughter of Gust Bergen, a native of
Germany who was born not far from Berlin and
when fourteen years old came to the United States.
He came West to the Dakota Territory, obtained
land and there lived many years; and as he was a
good musician, he was widely popular. Five children
and seven grandchildren have sprung from this for-
tunate union. Bertha H. is Mrs. Clift, a widow living
with her father in San Jose. She was born in Dakota,
and has one daughter. Bertha Lillian. Walter J.
lives at Vallejo, Cal. He was born at Madison
Barracks, N. Y., and the rest of the family were
also born there. Walter married Miss Hattie Baker
of San Jose, and they have one daughter. Alma M.
D. G. Peacock lives at S15 Twenty-eighth Avenue,
San Francisco. He has been twice married, and had
two children by his first wife. For his second wife

he chose Miss Mabel Reick, and they have one
child, Dorothy. Emma M. is at present Mrs. Frank
Grigsby of 42 Union Street, San Jose; and they
have one daughter, Vivian. Ida M. has become
Mrs. W. A. Rasmussen, of 381 Delmar Avenue, San
Jose; and they have one son, W. A. Rasmussen, Jr.
Since coming to San Jose, Mr. and Mrs. Peacock
have made their home at 2 Sanborn Avenue.

JAMES PATRICK SEX.— A representative mem-
ber of the legal fraternity, James Patrick Sex is
highly esteemed by his associates. A native son of
California, he was born in San Jose April 7, 1875,
a son of Peter and Margaret (Kenny) Sex. In 1851
his father came to California via the Isthmus of
Panama and settled first in San Francisco, but during
the gold rush went to Amador and Calaveras coun-
ties; later during the gold excitement, he moved to
the Feather River country, then journeyed into Brit-
ish Columbia and Canada.

A few years later, in the year of 18S7, Mr.
Sex returned to California and settled in Amador
County, where he became a naturalized citizen; he
remained there until 1859 when he came to San
Francisco for a short time and from there to Mon-
terey and San Luis Obispo counties, where he was
engaged in the cattle and sheep business. In 1866
he returned to Santa Clara County and engaged in
farming, and later was employed as general night
man with the San Jose and San Francisco Railroad,
which had just been completed. On account of fail-
ing health, he only remained with them for one year,
and returned to farming and for a year or more
operated a threshing machine in partnership with
Thos. Boyter and Dennis Hayes.

After his marriage to Mrs. Margaret (Kenny)
Shaw, who was also a pioneer of this country, Mr.
Sex was engaged in general teaming, which he con-
tinued until 1896, after which he became superin-
tendent of Calvary Cemetery and was thus engaged
until his death, which occurred in 1902. Mrs. Sex
passed away April 17, 1887. By her union with
Mr. Sliaw Mrs. Sex had two children, one of whom
grew up — Margaret Shaw the wife of James Mc-
Kagney of San Jose; and of her union with Peter
Sex there were also two children, William, who
died in infancy and James Patrick.

James P. Sex received his preliminary education
in St. Joseph's College, supplemented by a course
in Santa Clara College, when he received the coveted
degree of Ph.B. in 1909 and his LL.D. in 1910. He
had matriculated in Santa Clara College in 1890
for the class of 1894, but circumstances arose which
compelled him to leave college in 1893, and he en-
tered Wm. A. Bowden's law office and studied law
until he was admitted to the bar, April 27, 1896, and
later on to the U. S. District Court, August 3,
1909. After his admission he practiced law for a
year with Mr. Bowden, until June 1, 1897, when he
entered the county clerk's office as a deputy county
clerk under Henry A. Pfistcr, serving until June 1,
1902. He then opened a law office and practiced law
until January 1, 1904, when he entered the district
attorney's office as assistant district attorney under
Judge Jas. H. Campbell, continuing under him and
his successor, Arthur M. Free, until November 1,
1911, when he resigned to again enter the general
practice of law with offices in the First National
Bank Building, San Jose, where he has a lucrative

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

705

practice among a large clientele. He is well known
and popular, and his business is not alone confined
to Santa Clara County and the Bay region, but
over the whole State of California, having had nu-
merous interesting and hard-fought cases in the
course of his legal career.

In July, 1909, with Father Joseph W. Lydon, Mr.
Sex was one of the organizers of the law depart-
ment of the University of Santa Clara, which was
opened in August, 1909, since which time he has
been professor of criminal law, a chair lie has filled
acceptably and well. Since January 1, 1920, he has
also conducted the class of practice and the moot
court of the above institution.

The marriage of Mr. Sex, January 29, 1900, united
him with Miss Nellie G. Ward, born in San Fran-
cisco, the daughter of John and Julia Ward. She
graduated at Notre Dame College in 1897. To them
has been born one daughter, Helen Marie. Politic-
ally he is a Democrat, is a third degree Knight of
Columbus, belongs to the Young Men's Institute,
and is a faithful and devout member of St. Joseph's
Catholic Church. He has richly deserved the suc-
cess he has achieved and it is the wish of all who
know him that he may long live to enjoy the fruits
of his labors, and the good will of his many friends
throughout the community.

FRANCIS MARION EVANS.— A pioneer whose
life and work have left a deep and abiding impress
on his day was Franc-s Marion Evans, a native of
Missouri, where he was born on January 19, 1837.
His father, Josiah Evans, was a frontiersman and a
farmer, who had married Miss Cavery Ann Smith;
and when the lad was twelve years old, his parents
set out across the rough country to California and
soon settled in the Placerville district, where Mr.
Evans mined for a number of years. In time the
family migrated further to Santa Clara County and
there, east of Milpitas, they found part of the old
Tularcitos grant, which took their fancy; and Mr.
Evans purchased 500 acres of the grant, buying it
twice, in reality, on account of a dispute in the title.
He set out ten acres to prunes, and devoted the bal-
ance of the land to general farming. The land
proved a good investment, and the past season
twelve acres have been devoted to the cultivation
of tomatoes, and round about the home, which was
erected on the ranch in 1870, stock, grain, hay and
seed are raised. There were four children in the
family, Francis being the eldest.

He attended the grammar schools in Missouri, and
completed his schooling in California, but the de-
mands of a busy life precluded his carrying studies
beyond the lower grades. At San Jose, on December
12, 1869, he married Miss Lydia R. Trueman, a native
of New Brunswick, Canada, and the daughter of
Marcus and Rebecca (Reynold) Trueman, who
brought her to California in 1868 by way of the
Panama route. They stopped for a while in San
Francisco, then Mr. Trueman took up farming, and
after that he engaged in undertaking. He lived to be
eighty-three years old, and his good wife breathed,
her last when past eighty. Mr. Evans built an attrac-
tive home on an elevation commanding the valley
below, and on that beautiful spot he and his wife
reared a family of six children: George, Nellie, Ann,
Mrs. Topham, Elizabeth, C. J. and Arthur. Francis

Marion Evans, who was a standpat but broad-
minded Republican who exerted the best of influence
in politics, died on November 26, 1915, particularly
honored by his fellow-members of the Pioneers and
Grangers of Santa Clara County.

JOHN H. COSTIGAN.— A popular public official
of Milpitas is John H. Costigan, who in addition to
the performance of his duties as constable is a pros-
perous rancher and the successful proprietor and
manager of one of the best livery stables in all Santa
Clara County. A native son proud of his association
with the great Pacific commonwealth, he was born
seven miles west of Gilroy, in Santa Clara County,
on September 23. 1861, the son of John J. and Mary
E. Costigan. His father was a resident of Illinois
when he decided to migrate westward to California;
and he caipe to the Golden State by way of the
Isthmus route, and arrived in San Francisco in 1854.

Almost immediately, as the result of his insight
and foresightedness, he came on to Santa Clara
County, where he engaged as a merchant at a place
between Edenvale and Cottage Grove, where there
used to be a quicksilver mine, establishing himself
in business as a partner of R. Mcllroy. In that place
and way he continued a number of years, or until
the quicksilver mine was abandoned, when he lost
heavily through the indebtedness to him of those
who suddenly left the mine country. He then en-
gaged in the raising of sheep near Gilroy, and so it
happened that the lad John attended the school in
the Adams district. Later, when his father had
taken up an express business in San. Jose, he went
to school there in the old city hall, the eldest in a
family of ten children, only six of whom are still
living These surviving representatives of one of the
worthiest couples ever settling; in Santa Clara Coui'ty
are, our subject; Alice, now Mrs. J. R. Grant of
Gilroy; Anna, now Mrs. Walter Espinoza of Moun-
tain View: Robert, who is field manager for Milpitas
of the California Packing Corporation; Isabelle, and
George, tractor driver with the California Packing
Corporation at Milpitas.

When John H. Costigan was twenty years old, he
accepted employment with William Tennant at the
Twenty-one Mile House, and later he worked for
G. J. Murphy, on the Murphy Ranch, at Gilroy; and
when Mr. Murphy removed to Milpitas, he became
foreman of the Moreland Stock Ranch, conducted
there by Mr. Murphy, and which was devoted to the
laising of fine horses; and in association with Mr.
Murphy, in horse-breeding, of thoroughbred trotting
horses, he remained active as a leader for ten years,
his experience proving of real value not only to the
interests of the famous ranch, but in the advance-
ment of this branch of California industry.

In 1898 Mr. Costigan became constable of Milpitas,
five years after he moved into the town itself, and
he has since held that responsible office, to the entire
satisfaction of everyone, displaying level-headedness
and botli public spirit, resolution and bravery in the
performance of his duty, maintaining law and order,
and doing justice by all who have official dealings
with him. In 1912 he embarked in the livery busi-
ness, and he has continued to furnish Milpitas the
best service of that kind she has ever enjoyed.

At San Jose, on September 6, 1893, Mr. Costigan
was married to Miss Mary Ellen Elrod, a native of
Gilroy and the daughter of N. and Hannah (Fitts)
Elrod, natives of North Carolina, who came to Gil-

706

HIvSTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

roy in early days. Mrs. Costigan owns a ranch of
160 acres in the Adams district near Gilroy, while
Mr. Costigan has a farm of equal size in Lassen
County, taken up by him under the enlarged Home-
stead Act. Six children have blessed this union:
Vivian has become Mrs. Edward Costigan of Mil-
pitas; Mamie is Mrs. Silveira of Livermore; Etta
Costigan dwells in San Jose; Lester lives at home;
Avis is now Mrs. V. C. EHer of Fresno; Archie Kay
died in May, 1921. Mr. Costigan is a standpat
Democrat, whose experience and foresight are sought
for the councils of his party, and he is a member of
the Milpitas lodge of the U. P. E. C.

WILLIAM H. SELBY— .\ very successful ranch-
er who is also an expert carpenter, is William
H. Selby, of 269 South Fifteenth Street, San Jose,
whom the citizens of Santa Clara County are
pleased to honor, first as the son of a worthy pioneer,
secondly as the husband of a talented lady who well
represents another pioneer family of note, and third,
as one whose forward movements have always meant
something promising to others besides himself.

A native son. he was born at San Jose on April 9,
1862, the son of John Samuel and Sarah (Brelsford)
Selby, long highly-esteemed residents of the Santa
Clara Valley. His great-grandfather, John Selby,
was a native of Maryland, and he migrated to Ken-
tucky, and later settled where he died, in Callaway
County, Mo. He had a son, William J. Selby, who
was born in Shelby County, Ky., and grew up a car-
penter; and later he was a farmer in Callaway
County, Mo., where he lived until his demise. He
married Miss Julia Ann Turley, also a native of Ken-
tucky, who passed away in Missouri. John Samuel
was one of a family of seven children, and was born
in 1834 in Callaway County, where he attended
school. On April 17, 1853, he set out on a five-
months' trip to California. He took a good look at
the Santa Clara Valley, and the result of the inspec-
tion was his locating at San Jose. He soon went to
work in Marin County, in the redwood district, after
which he returned to San Jose.

Then he took up farming, and purchased 150 acres
at Berryessa; but at the end of three years he sold
this tract and bought a farm five miles north of San
Jose — 100 choice acres, of which he soon had four-
teen set out in orchards. Once established as a
farmer, he followed contracting and building as well;
and from 1892 he was one of the best supervisors,
for four years, Santa Clara County ever had. He
married Miss Brelsford, a native of the Hoosier State,
the ceremony taking place at San Jose; and two sons
and three daughters blessed this union. Mary mar-
ried William E. Trimble, a farmer of San Jose;
Emma Jane is the wife of Ed. Able, of Milpitas; Wil-
liam H. is the head carpenter at the State Hospital
at Agnew; Lizzie Lee became the wife of W. E.
Coombs, of San Jose; and George Wray is a citizen
of Santa Maria. John S. Selby was active as a Demo-
cratic politician, a member of the Ancient Order of
United Workmen, and also a member of the Metho-
dist Episcopal Chuch South. As a lumberman at Vir-
ginia City, and in other places and fields of activity,
he steadfastly set forth the example of a straight-
forward Christian gentleman.

^ William H. Selby attended the Orchard School in
Santa Clara County, the third child in the family, and
when old enough to do so, took up carpentering with

his father. When twenty years of age, he assumed
the responsibilities of contracting in partnership with
his father; but in December 1898, he entered the ser-
vice of the state, and became the supervising carpen-
ter and builder, in charge of maintenance at the Ag-
new State Hospital. He lived on the old Selby ranch,
until 1911 when he moved into San Jose.

At San Jose, on August 23, 1893, he married to
Miss Alice Meads, a native of Santa Clara County,
the daughter of John Wesley Meads, who came to
California in 1853, locating in Santa Clara County
His grandmother was a member of the old Amos
family of Kentucky, and near relative of Gen. Robert
E. Lee. John W. Meads was born in Baltimore, Md.,
on April 11. 1834, the son of William Meads, also a
native of that city, a famous vegetable gardener of
early days. John W. Meads grew up in a family each
one of whom made a name and record, and in young
manhood was apprenticed to the mason's trade.
When he came out to California he traveled by way
of the Isthmus of Panama, and he rented land near
Alviso, on the Alviso and San Jose road, where he
engaged in farming until 1865. He married Miss
Agnes Louise Emerson, a native of Maine, and the
daughter of Capt. Charles Emerson, who brought
his family to California by way of the Horn in 1849,
as master of his own vessel. He located his family
in San Jose while he continued to follow the sea for
many years, making trips to both the Orient and
Europe. He was shipwrecked twice, losing two ves-
sels. His wife was accidentally killed while a pas-
senger on the steamer Jennie Lind, when the boilers
aboard blew up in San Francisco Bay.

Mrs. Selby is the fourth child in a family of seven
children, three of whom are living. Being an accom-
plished and attractive woman she is able to give her
own daughter, Elizabeth Louise, many advantages.
In 1911, Mr. and Mrs. Selby bought their present
home on South Fifteenth Street; and there they have
since lived. He is a Democrat. Mrs. Selby a Republi-
can, and she has served on the election board.

MRS. ROBERT S. INGLESON.— A splendid ex-
ample of what a plucky American woman may do,
her character ennobled by a high, definite purpose
in life, when called upon to discharge enormous
duties in the face of many and well-nigh overpower-
ing obstacles, has been afforded in the life of Mrs.
Robert S. Ingleson, the rancher, who lives at the
corner of First and Gish streets, in San Jose. A
native New Yorker, she w-as born at South Glens
Falls, in Saratoga County, and was baptized Martha
M. Parks, the daughter of William and Clara (Sweet)
Parks, and the granddaughter of Daniel Parks. Her
parents were descended from old New York families,
and they left nine children to perpetuate their well-
established lineage. Mrs. Ingleson was the second
child and eight of the family are still living, Thomas,
the seventh-born, having died at the age of twenty-
three. Samuel, William, Archie F., and John are
stockmen in Santa Clara County; Bertha has be-
come Mrs. Hulbert Willis, of San Jose; Nellie is
Mrs. Styles, of Los Angeles; the youngest of the
family is named Mark, also a stockman, residing in
San Luis Obispo County.

William Parks was a stockman after he came to
California in 1877 and in 1881 became a partner with
C. C. Schofield in the cattle business on the Mt.
Hamilton Range on Black Mountain, east of San

K

k

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

709

Jose. It happened, therefore, that Martha Parks at-
tended the San Jose grammar school; and growing
up, she was married at San Jose, on November 1,
1891, to Robert S. Ingleson, who was born on Alviso
Road, in Santa Clara County, April 13, 1859, the
son of Charles and Louisa (Bergen) Ingleson, na-
tives of the Island of Guernsey, England, and Balti-
more, Md., respectively. He sailed around the Horn
to California in 1849, and bought land in the vicinity
of Alviso, and it is believed that Mr. Ingleson built
the first two-story frame house in the county. Mr.
Ingleson made a trip back East and in Baltimore,
Md., he was married, and he brought his wife out
with him. There were nine children in their family,
of whom Robert S. was the second-born. Mary,
now Mrs. Harper, was the eldest; after Robert came
Charles; then Elizabeth, who married Henry
Gallagher of San Jose, and the others were John,
Mrs. Margaret Shattuck, James, Clara and George.

Robert Ingleson attended the public schools of
Santa Clara County, while growing up on the old
home place, a ranch of 160 acres south of Alviso,
and after they were married, they lived until the
fall of 1906 on a part of the ranch, leaving it only
when the place was sold. Mr. Ingleson then rented
the old Flannery Ranch of 100 acres, and for nine
vcars conducted there a stock and dairy farm.

When Mrs. Ingleson had been married about one
years, her mother died, and she was called upon to
take her place as foster mother to the five younger
members of the family, and to rear them as well as
her own children. Mr. Ingleson died on February
9, 1916, highly esteemed and mourned by all who
knew him, and she has since then been compelled
to meet the perplexing problems of life alone. For-
tunately, she has never cared much for diverting
social activities, but has thrown her energy into her
home and ranch duties, and thus developed a splen-
did, dependable character. Fortunately, also, she
inherited much of inestimable value from her father,
who for a while was one of the superintendents of
Mrs. Phoebe Hearst's estate, and for years had a
force of about fifty men working under him. She
owned a ranch in Merced County, but she farmed it,
to grain, for only one season. In 1916 she purchased
a ranch of thirty-one acres known as a part of the
Younger Tract, which was devoted to dairying and
the raising of alfalfa. To this has been added six-
teen acres adjoining, known as the C. C. Churchill
Farm, and the whole is being developed into a fine
berry farm. Then she owns a ranch of 275 acres on
the Felter Road, southeast of Milpitas, where eighteen
acres are devoted to prunes and the rest to general
farming. This ranch is known as the CuUins Ranch,
and under Mrs. Ingleson's skillful management, it
has been brought to a high state of cultivation. Two
children were born to the marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. Ingleson, and they bear the names of Hazel
r.nd Dorothy; both are home, the joy and pride of
their devoted mother.

WILLIAM ALLEN JOHNSTON.— A deservedly
eminent representative of the California Bar is Wil-
liam Allen Johnston, who was born at San Jose on
September 29, 1856, the son of Silas Newtek and
Virginia L. (Faber) Johnston, natives of Kentucky
and Iowa, respectively. The Johnstons are an old

Kentucky family of Scotch-Irish descent, while
Grandfather John S. Faber was born in Virginia in
1810 and became a pioneer of the Mississippi Valley,
tnking part in the Mexican War. After the death
cf his wife he brought his daughter, Virginia L.,
across the plains to California in 1852, spending his
remaining days in Santa Clara County, where he
passed away on August 9, 1900, at the age of ninety
years. Silas Newton Johnston also came to Cali-
fornia across the plains, arriving here in 1853, and
for years was a carpenter and then established him-
self in the lumber business on the present site of
the Glenwood Lumber Company on Third Street.
Later he became vice-president of the old Union
Savings Bank and was also a member of the city
council. He died on October 2, 1907, and Mrs.
Johnston passed away on January 3, 1909. They
were the iiarents of six children: WiUiam Allen of
this sketch; J. H. Johnston, M. D., who died in
1904; Walter S., a druggist of San Jose; Frank F.,
of Hubbard & Carmichael Bros.; a daughter died in
childhood, and L. May is the wife of R. B. Hale, of
Hale Bros., Inc., San Francisco.

The eldest of the family, William Allen Johnston,
attended the public schools until 1871, and then
matriculated at the L'niversity of the Pacific, from
ivhich he was graduated with the A. B. degree in
1876, three years later the university conferring upon
him the Master of Arts degree. In the fall of 1876
he entered the law school of the University of
Michigan and on March 28, 1878, he was graduated
with the LL.B. degree. Returning to California,
Mr. Johnston WdS admitted to the bar of this state
on April 30, 1878, and he soon thereafter formed a
partnership with Thomas H. Laine, who was state
senator and then a member of the State Constitu-
tional Convention in 1879. From December, 1884, to
1890, Mr. Johnson discontinued practice on account
of the condition of his eyes, but he has again become
a familiar figure in the courts of law, having resumed
practice and taken in with him his son, Faber L.
Johnston. Mr. Johnston is a stockholder in the
Security State Bank and the Security Savings Bank
of San Jose, being attorney for both banks, and as
vice-president of the latter he safeguards important
financial affairs in which thousands are interested.
With his son he is attorney for the San Jose Build-
ing & Loan Association.

At San Jose on January 24, 1884, Mr. Johnston
\ as married to Miss Cora L. Laine, a native of
Santa Clara County and the daughter of Senator
Thomas H. and Lucy (Chapman) Laine, pioneers of
'49. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John-
ston and in late years their family circle has been
made happier by the birth of four gandchildren.
Ila Lee is the widow of Capt. A. E. Preston, who
died of influenza while serving in the Engineering
Corps in France, during the World War; Hazel M.
is Mrs. H. D. Ainsworth; Faber L., a graduate of
Stanford University, is in partnership with his father;
William N. is an automobile machinist; Dorothy is
a graduate of Stanford Unversity. Mr. Johnston is
an honored member of the California Bar Associa-
tion, and in the councils of the Republican party he
is a valued leader.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

THOMAS O'CONNELL— The life of Thomas
O'Connell, who passed away on March 18, 1921,
affords a striking ilhistration of the value of indus-
try and determination. A native of Ireland, he was
born November 4, 1846, the son of James and Joannah
(Maroney) O'Connell, both natives of Ireland. The
father died before the family left their native land,
but the mother lived to reach the United States,
passing away at New Haven. Conn. They were the
parents of eleven children.

Thomas O'Connell was educated in the common
schools of Ireland, and left home at the age of
seventeen, coming to the United States, and settled
at New Haven, Conn. He remained there for a
year and a half, working at odd jobs, then came
to California in the year of 1868. He worked in
a brickyard in San Francisco for one and a half
years, then moved to San Benito County and engaged
in farming for twent}'-six years. Here he acquired
considerable property. In 1895 he moved to San
Jose and established his wood and coal business,
which has proved a profitable undertaking. In the
year 1901 he retired from active business life and
his five sons have since been successfully conduct-
ing the business, which has prospered under their
management. July 9, 1906, the business was in-
corporated under the name of O'Connell Bros., Inc.
The growing business is located at Sixth and St.
James streets, and their large real estate holdings
comprise 15,000 acres of land.

The marriage of Mr. O'Connell in May, 1872,
united him with Miss Julia Elizabeth O'Brien, born in
Boston, Mass., and who survives him. Mr. and Mrs.
O'Connell are the parents of seven children: James
William, died in early manhood at the age of twenty-
three; Charles Thomas married Elizabeth Cunan and
has three children, Maurice Robert, .Adrian Earl, and
Clarisse Evlyn, and is manager of O'Connell Bros.,
Inc.; Franklin J. married Rhea Fenton and has three
children, Fenton, James and Ruth, and is manager
of O'Connell Bros, ranch; George Daniel is mar-
ried to Maime McMurray and has two children,
Irwin and Kenneth, and has charge of the meat and
grocery department for O'Connell Bros.; Albert F.
and Lillian are twins, the former married Grace Clark
and he assists in the management of their ranch,
while Lillian married Eugene I. Cunan of San Jose,
who passed away August 9, 1917, leaving his widow
and little daughter, Eugenia; Elmer Stephen has
charge of the fuel department for O'Connell Bros.

Politically Mr. O'Connell was always a stanch
Democrat, and with his family belonged to the Cath-
olic Church. While winning his way to a front
rank in business, at the same time he gained the
confidence of associates and acquaintances, and was
esteemed for his high principles of honor and in-
tegrity in business transactions and was mourned
by a large circle of friends. He always labored ef-
fectively and earnestly to uphold the interests which
made for public progress and improvement.

SALMA DARLING.— A successful orchardist
who has resided in Santa Clara County for more
than a quarter of a century, Salma Darling, is now
living retired from active cares at 122 North Thir-
teenth Street, in the enjoyment of a competence
gained through many well-spent years. He was
born in Wheelock, Caledonia County, Vt., on June
5, 1847, the son of Ezra French Darling, whose
parents were David and Mary (Bickford) Darling;
grandparents, Moses and Judith (French) Darling;

and great-grandparents. John and Hannah (Morse)
Darling. John Darling served with the New Eng-
land militia at the capture of Louisburg, on Cape
Breton Island, on June 17, 1745, and Moses Darling
was a pensioned veteran of the Revolutionary War,
who had the great honor cf being at the Battle of
Bunker Hill. He was at first a private soldier in
Captain Isaac Baldwin's Company and later he was
promoted to be sergeant-major. Mary Bickford was
the daughter of Eli Bickford, also a veteran of the
Revolutionary War who served in the navy. He was
taken prisoner, sent to England, and there confined.
After a while he attempted to escape, by swimming
to a foreign ship anchored two miles off shore;
but he was overtaken by his pursuers and recaptured.
He died at Danville, Vt., in 1854, at the age of 101.

Ezra F. Darling, the father of our subject, mar-
ried Miss Lorinda S. Hill, the daughter of Eben and
Nancy (Pillsbury) Hill, and the granddaughter of
Capt. Caleb Pillsbury. The latter had been commis-
sioned by King George, but at the outbreak of the
Revolution, he and his entire company of 100 men
left the king's service without ceremony, and swore
to stand by the Continental Congress. Mr. and Mrs.
Darling, in 1854, moved with their family to Derby,
Orleans County, Vt., and there Mr. Darling became
so actively interested in local political affairs that
be was elected to the State Legislature. He died at
Derby in 1898, at the age of seventy-six.

Salma Darling grew up on his father's farm and
attended both the common public schools and the
academy. When about twenty-one, he left home,
removed to Illinois, and at Rock Island entered the
office of a civil engineer. In 1870 he was engaged
by the Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis Rail-
way, as instrument man for the Beardstown Divi-
sion, and when that work had been completed, he
was employed to make railway surveys in Vermont
and Illinois. In 1876 he removed to Texas, and
entered the engineering department of the Galveston,
Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway, under Maj.
James Converse, the chief engineer, and he gave
the company and that gifted man such satisfaction
that he remained with him for seven years as assist-
ant and resident engineer on lines and construction
from Lafayette, La., to Devil's River, Texas.

On September 18, 1882, Mr. Darling was married
at St. Paul, Minn., to Miss Clara E. Chamberlin.
the ceremony taking place at the residence of her
brother. In October the young people went to Eagle
Pass, Texas, where Mr. Darling was engaged as
resident engineer on the Mexican International Rail-
way, south to Leona, Mexico, and including the low-
water bridge and the masonry for the permanent
bridge over the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass.

In 1883 Mr. Darling was transferred to mainten-
ance of way on the main line east of San Antonio,
with headquarters at Houston, Texas. In 1885 Mr.
and Mrs. Darling became convinced that a cooler
climate was advisable, and while urged to take a
leave of absence only, they decided to make the
change permanent. The next year, therefore, they
came out to San Jose, Cal., and on Plummer Avenue
they erected an orchard home In 1914 they removed
to their present attractive residence, at 122 North
Thirteenth Street in San Jose. Mrs. Darling's
mother, Eliza J. (Cropper) Chamberlin, was born
in Maryland; her father, Jeremiah Chamberlin, was
D native of Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlin

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

713

were among the old pioneers of Rock Island, 111,
where Mr. Chamberlin was engaged in farming, the
lumber business, and other enterprises, and where
he held many positions of public trust in county af-
fairs. They came to San Jose in 1888, and lived here
the greater part of the intervening time, alternately
residing at Carmel. Mr. Chamberlin died in 1892,
at the age of seventy-four years and eleven months,
while Mrs. Chamberlin passed away in 1909, at the
age of eighty-four.

Mr. and Mrs. Darling's son, Harry C. Darling,
was born at Moliae, in Rock Island County, 111., on
November 25, 1885, and was taken by his parents to
California when he was a year old. He attended the
Willow Glen Grammar School and the University
of the Pacific Academy, where he followed a year's
course in civil engineering, continuing in the same
subject for three years at the State University. In
1911 he was assistant engineer for a power company
in the Sierras, and the next year he entered the
service of thf Engineer Department of the California
State Highway. In 1917, when the World War
was in full swing, he left his work as resident
engineer and enlisted in the Engineering Corps of
the U. S. Army. In September he was sent to the
Engineer Officers' Training Camp at Vancouver,
Wash., and after graduation, in November, he was
temporarily with the One Hundred Ninth Engineers
at Deming, N. M. In December, 1917, he was or-
dered to France as first lieutenant of the engineers,
unassigned. He reached France early in January,
where he expected to be sent to the front; but instead
he was assigned to the Gas Service, later the Chemi-
cal Warfare Service. After a short training at inter-
mediate and advanced stations, he was ordered to
St. Nazaire, Base Section No. 1, as port officer for
the C. 'VV. S., at the ports of St. Nazaire and Nantes.
He was given a second lieutenant, sergeant and a
detachment, and he was responsible for the safe
handling, storing and forwarding of all C. W. S.
material, including all high explosives received at
these ports. Late in December, 1918, he embarked
at Bordeaux for the United States; and on Januarv
11, 1919, he was discharged at the C. W. S. head-
quarters, Lakehurst, N. J., and reaching home, soon
resumed his work on the State Highway.

In August, 1919, Harry Darling was married to
Miss Edna Mary Rogers, the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Henry K. Rogers, old residents of San Jose;
and on December 9, 1920, their daughter, Barbara
Janice, was born. Salma Darling is an honored
member of the Sons of the American Revolution;
and Harry also belongs to the California and the
National sections of that some order, and to the
American Legion and the American Association of
Engineers. Thus the Darling family have well es-
tablished themselves in Santa Clara County.

HUGH A. DE LACY.— A thoroughly efficient and
popular public official is Hugh A. De Lacy, the
undersheriff of Santa Clara County, a familiar and
welcome figure around the historic Court House, a
splendid example of fidelity, manning his post every
day, although seventy-five years old. As the founder
of the "Evening News," and therefore a veteran
newspaper man. Mr. De Lacy has himself been a
part of the interesting past of Santa Clara County;
so that, blessed with a wonderful memory, he is fre-
quently a valuable source of information to lawyers
and judges alike. He arrived in California in No-

vember, 1862, when he was seventeen years old, hav-
ing come from New Orleans, where he was born on
September 23, 1845, the son of Stephen De Lacy,
wdio settled at New Almaden in 1860, and he con-
tinued a resident of Santa Clara County until he
died. He had married Miss Ann Cribben; and as
the mother of our subject she accompanied the latter
on his trip from New Orleans to California in 1862.
Mr. De Lacy was employed by the New Almaden
Quicksilver Mining Company, and so it came about
that Hugh De Lacy was engaged to run a stationary
engine there. He had profited by the excellent
courses of instruction in the New Orleans public
schools, and he found it easy to make a success of
anything he attempted in his new field.

The history of the De Lacy family is full of in-
terest, and it is not surprising that father and son
have inherited such strong and helpful traits. Both
of our subject's parents were born in Ireland, for
during the reign of Henry 11 of England, Hugh De
Lacy, the Norman, went over to Ireland and took
possession of the country. Our Hugh De Lacy,
when hardly seventeen, became a Confederate sol-
dier, and in March. 1862, he joined the Orleans
Guards Battalion. Company C, Third Louisiana
Brigade, and fought at Shiloh, one of the 350 strong,
of whorn only seventy came out uninjured. It is
known in history as the Hornets' Nest, and it was
during the afternoon of Sunday, April 6, the first
day of the engagement, that General Albert Sidney
Johnston was killed. After a service of four months,
Mr. De Lacy was discharged under the "Conscrip-
tion Act," as he was then under eighteen.

As an engineer and a carpenter he helped to build
the first high school and the first Normal school
in San Jose. In 1870 he became a deputy sheriflf
under SherifT N. R. Harris; two years later he was
elected a constable, and served in that office for four
years; then he was on the police force for seven
years, and became a police detective. He had a
strong leaning toward newspaper work, however,
and so in 1883 established the "Evening News" of
San Jose. This he conducted until 1890, when he
disposed of his interest to Charles W. Williams.
In 1892 he was elected chief of police and introduced
the patrol system. In 1895 he went on the "Mercury"
as advertising solicitor and collector, and in 1899
he became its business manager, continuing until
1901, when he resigned and went into the country;
and at Coyote, Santa Clara County, he devoted him-
self to cultivating prunes in the Owen orchard.

In 1909 Mr. De Lacy moved back into San Jose;
snd after resting some months, in 1910 he became
undersheriff under A. B. Langford, but in January,
1914, he withdrew from that charge, and for the next
five years busied himself as an agent for insurance
and real estate. In 1919 he became the assistant of
Sheriff George W. Lyle, and this responsibility he
is still discharging, to the satisfaction of everyone.

In 1871 Mr. De Lacy was married to Miss Rebecca
Clift, who came here from Cincinnati as a child, and
grew up in Santa Clara County. She was a woman
of singular gifts and attraction; and after a com-
panionship of fifty years, passed to her eternal re-
ward on January 26, 1920. One child had blessed
the union, a son named Walter Bruce; but the
promising lad did when nine years and eight months
old. Mr. De Lacy, whose genial temperament has
made him companionable and approachable to many.

714

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and whose ability as a public speaker is well known,
has endeavored these matiy years to live up to the
Golden Rule; with the result that few men have
enjoyed a wider circle of friends. He owns a home
place of an acre and a half on the Monterey Road,
where in 1909 he built a handsome seven-room
bungalow\ in which he resides with enviable comfort.

JEREMIAH LEITER— A man of unusual intel-
lectual ability, and high Christian character, Jeremiah
Leiter, at the age of eighty-three, looks backward
over the years with a satisfaction born of right liv-
ing. While still a young man, he was threatened
with pulmonary troubles, and was, on this account,
debarred from entering the Civil War. Although re-
tired from business cares, he gives much time to
religious and educational lines, and takes an active
interest in the affairs of the College of the Pacific.

Mr. Leiter comes from Holland ancestry, his fore-
bears being two brothers who came to America in
pre-Revolutionary days, one settling in Maryland
and the other in Pennsylvania. He was born in Sen-
eca County, Ohio, December 15, 1838, in the vicinity
of Bellevue, a son of John Leiter, who w-as engaged
in farming pursuits in Ohio. The mother, who be-
fore her marriage was Miss Sarah Barger, was born
in Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in an early day.
They were the parents of nine children, four boys
and five girls, of whom Jeremiah Leiter is the second
son. During the year of 1845, the family removed
to Fulton County, Indiana, and purchased a farm.
The Indians were just leaving this part of the county,
the farm was covered with a thick growth of trees
and here on the farm Jeremiah was reared and
learned to grub, clear, cut brush, plow and do every
other kind of farm work, thus having a general pio-
neer experience in the Hoosier State. When the
family settled on this piece of land, not a house was
in sight. A shanty was built and the family moved
in, and the following summer the first log house in
that locality was erected out of tamarack logs, cut
and prepared from logs obtained from a nearby
tamarack swamp. His summers were spent work-
ing on the farm, going to school during the winter
months. He afterwards followed the profession of
teaching for five winters.

Mr. Leiter was married in 1862 to Mrs. Jane
(Phillips) Schaflfer, who was born in Virginia. For
a number of years Mr. Leiter was engaged in the
mercantile business with his brother-in-law, Hick-
man Phillips, at Kewanna, Ind.. and was thus
engaged until 1875, when he was obliged to retire
from the business on account of failing health. He
removed to California and spent one year here,
greatly benefited in health. Returning to Indiana,
he again entered the mercantile business, but at the
end of the year was again forced to take a vacation,
going to Florida for one year; later removing to
California, settling in Napa, where he remained for
a year, removing to San Jose in 1883, where he has
continuously resided. For a number of years he was
engaged in the real estate business, and, as in other
lines of work, he was successful.

For over sixty years Mr. Leiter has been a con-
sistent and active member of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, and for twenty-nine years was the effi-
cient superintendent of the Sunday school of the
Methodist Church in Kewanna; for nineteen years
he was the teacher of the adult Bible class and has
served as a member of the official board for thirty-

seven years. Perhaps his most outstanding activity
was in connection with the College of the Pacific,
being elected treasurer of that institution twenty-five
years ago. Owing to his careful and conservative
handling of the funds of the college, a large debt
was cancelled, many buildings and general improve-
ments have been made, and the endowment increased
some $300,000. During 1920 five trustees w^ere re-
elected who had served on the board twenty years
before, among them being Mr. Leiter. At one time,
he was voted a salary of $25 per month, but de-
clined it and never drew a single month's salary.

Mrs. Leiter was a charming woman of attractive
and pleasing personality and joined her husband in
his business, social and religious activities. She was
a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church from the time of their marriage until her
death. Unfortunately Mr. Leiter was bereaved of
his faithful wife and life companion, who passed away
in February, 1917, mourned by her many friends.

In his political affiliations Mr. Leiter is an inde-
pendent, always voting for the clean, temperance man.
He is an ardent admirer of the beauties and oppor-
tunities of Santa Clara County, and gives freely of
his time and means in the support of worthy rheasures
looking to the improvement and advancement of the
community, which has 'been his home for so many
years. He is a highly honored and respected citizen
and well deserves the esteem conferred upon him by
a large circle of admiring friends and acquaintances.

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSOCIA-
TION.— Forty-eight years ago the publishing work
of the Seventh-Day Adventists was started on the
Pacific Coast. It w^as then that their pioneer mis-
sionary paper was established — the "Signs of the
Times" — the first issue bearing date of June 4, 1874.
The type was set in rented rooms in a building at
the corner of Twelfth and Broadway, Oakland, Cal.
After the type was set and made up into pages, the
forms were sent to a near-by printing office, where
the presswork was done. The papers were then
brought back to the office, where they were wrapped
and addressed, and then taken to the post office in
a wheelbarrow. From this small beginning the work
has continued to grow, until now it is one of the
most complete publishing houses west of Chicago,
using nearly fifty car loads of paper every year.

During the first twenty-five years of the work of
this company, a large amount of commercial print-
mg was done, in addition to the regular denomina-
tional publications. As the years passed by it became
very evident that this commercial work was interfer-
ing to a great extent with the denominational busi-
ness. At the meeting of the stockholders held in
Oakland, April 28, 1902, this matter was carefully
considered and a resolution adopted instructing the
board of directors to curtail the commercial work, to
sell the real estate in Oakland, and to move the plant
to some rural place, away from the noise and confu-
sion of the city, and where the surroundings would
be more congenial to its employees.

In harmony with this resolution, and after thor-
ough investigation, it w^as decided to locate at Moun-
tain View, Cal. Five acres of land was donated by
the citizens, and a fine large brick factory erected,
about 175 feet square, and in the year 1904 the whole
plant was moved from Oakland to Mountain View.
It was a tremendous undertaking, and the move

o^^ci/^./ ^dujs^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

717

was made at great expense. Just as the plant at
Mountain View was getting in good running order,
the great earthquake of April 18, 1906, came. The
brick walls on two sides of the factory were thrown
down, but the roof was left intact and the machinery
unharmed. Temporary walls were erected, so that
within a few hours business was being carried on
about the same as usual.

On July 20, 1906, the entire plant, including build-
ing, machinery, books, etc., was destroyed by fire,
entailing a loss of about $200,000. On September
10, 1906, a meeting of the stockholders was held, and
by an unanimous vote, it was decided to rebuild the
iactory on the old foundations, at once. At a meet-
ing of the board of directors held soon after the
fire, the following resolution was adopted:

"Whereas, Giving the last threefold message
to the world demands the best energies and the
undivided attention of God's people, more espe-
cially of those engaged in its organized work;
and

"Whereas, This office was established for the
purpose of giving this message to the world;
and

"Whereas, Whatever may have been expedient
in the past, the time now demands that all the
facilities of the office, and the talents, energies,
and ability of its employees, be devoted solely
to the work for which the institution was estab-
lished; therefore, be it

"Resolved, That henceforth commercial work
shall be eliminated from the office of the Pacific
Press, and that by commercial work shall be
understood all work outside the regular organ-
ized work of the message, and such work as shall
not be approved by the Publishing Committee of
the institution."

As the years have passed, this resolution has been
strictly adhered to. Not one job of commercial
printing has been taken into the oflice of the Pacific
Press since the fire, and the institution has had
greater prosperity than ever before in all its history.
The well-equipped factory embraces the following:
Three modern linotype machines, five cylinder
presses, three job presses, a complete electrotype
foundry, a splendidly equipped book bindery, with
ihree book sewing machines, three folding machines,
two embossing presses, a well-equipped photo-
engraving department. All machines are run by
electric motors. The field assigned to the Pacific
Press Publishing Association for the sale of sub-
scription books includes the territory west of the
Mississippi River, except the states of Oklahoma,
Arkansas, New Mexico and Texas. The total popu-
lation of the above-named territorj' is about
?20,000,000. The volume of business in 1920 amounted
to $1,500,000. The plant employs some 200 men
and women. The following periodicals are published:
the "Signs of the Times," a weekly paper with a
circulation of 50,000; the weekly children's paper
called "Our Little Friend," with a circulation of
30,000 copies; and the Sabbath School Lesson Quar-
terly, with a circulation of 100,000. Besides these
periodicals, thousands of books, tracts and
pamphlets are published every year.

In addition to the main plant at Mountain \'iew,
the Pacific Press Publishing Association operates six

branch offices and depositories, as follows: North-
western branch at Portland, Ore.; Northern branch
at St. Paul, Minn.; International branch at Brook-
field, 111., twelve miles from Chicago (this branch
has a well-equipped factory, printing books and
periodicals in twenty-seven different languages, which
are sold and distributed in the Orient, Central and
South America, Siberia, Russia and many other
countries); Central branch at Kansas City, Mo.;
Central-American branch at Cristobal, Canal Zone
(this branch also has a well-equipped factory, print-
ing in Spanish language) ; Pacific branch at Moun-
tain Mew, Cal., ii-dependent from the main plant.

The total investment of the main office and the six
branches is nearly $1,000,000.00. and about 200 per-
sons are employed, most of whom own homes in the
vicinity of the factory. Mr. C. H. Jones is the gen-
eral manager of this extensive plant which is the
principal industrial factor at Mountain View. When
running full capacity, one car load of printing paper
i= used weekly. The best of up-to-date systems and
methods in book production are employed. They
;urnish first aid for employees, a swimming pool,
recreation and tii'.ni-- L;i.;iunds, an excellent cafeteria
(vegetarian) wli.r. ih, lust of well-cooked food is
served at rea^(>ll.^ll^: prins. Electric power is used
mainly, but a Corliss steam engine is kept in re-
serve for emergencies. There is an able corps of
writers, editors and business auditors. They have
excellent artists and are prepared for printing color
work and artistic cover designs. After all is said
tlie material part of this great publishing house is
the least, and the moral and religious influence in
the community cannot be estimated. The Seventh-
Day Adventists are great students of the Bible and
adhere in keeping the original Sabbath.

C. H. JONES.— The general manager of the
Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mountain View.
C. H. Jones was born at Warner, N. H., December
12, 1850. the son of Enos and Rozora (Harriman)
Jones. The mother was related to the w-ar gov-
ernor of New Hampshire, Col. Walter Harriman.
Both parents were natives of that state, and eight
children were born to them, the subject of this
sketch being the fourth child. C. H. Jones obtained
his education in the public schools of New Hamp-
shire and then learned the printer's trade at the
state printing office at Manchester, N. H. During
the year of 1867 he removed to Michigan and for
eight years worked for the Review and Herald Pub-
lishing Association at Battle Creek, which was later
removed to Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. By
efficient and conscientious effort he was advanced
to the position of foreman of the composing room.
In 1879 he removed to Oakland, Cal., and for three
> ears served as superintendent of the plant of the
Pacific Press Publishing Association, and was then
elected manager. The business grew to such pro-
portions that it was found necessary to remove to
!> rural district in order to have room for tlu' con-
templated enlarged facilities for takiuij care .it the
immense business of the concern and Mountain \'iew
was selected for the estalilishment of the plant.

Mr. Jones' marriage occurred in Battle Creek,
Mich., and united him with Miss Josephine Emerson
Lunt, a relative of the noted author, Ralph Waldo
Emerson. They are the parents of three children.

71}

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

two of whom are living. Dr. William Harriman
Jones, a resident of Long Beach, Cal.; Charles Floyd
Jones, assistant manager of the book department of
the Pacific Press Publishing Association; Evelena
passed away in Oakland at the age of thirteen years.
Mr. Jones enjoys that distinction which arises from
great goodness of heart exercised along helpful and
constructive lines, and from that breadth of mind
which retains belief in the grace of human nature.

GEORGE J. HAUN.— Among the interesting and
liighly-esteemed pioneers of Saratoga must be num-
bered George J. Haun, a native of this place, then
named Toll Gate, where he was born May 5, 1855,
a son of William and Levina (Whisman) Haun.
William Haun settled in Santa Clara County as early
as 1846 and was engaged in farming before settling
at Toll Gate in 1853. Mr. Haun built the first and
only flour mill in Saratoga, afterwards the. name was
changed to McCartysville and still later to Saratoga,
which he later disposed of to Senator McClay, and
iater engaged in the general grocery business. In
the very early pioneer days he served as deputy
sheriff of Santa Clara County. Both parents have
passed away.

George J. Haun received the best of educational
instruction in the local schools and later at Wash-
ington College in Alameda County. After complet-
ing his schooling he engaged in teaming and was
rural mail carrier for a number of years. He is now
serving his second term as justice of the peace of
Saratoga and for the past five years has been en-
gaged in the real estate and insurance business. He
l;as also been postmaster of Saratoga for five years
and carried over during the Wilson administration.
As a Republican he has sought to elevate civic life
standards; he is particularly interested in the growth
and prosperity of his local community and spares
neither time nor means to aid its progress.

JOSEPH M. BELLEW.— A rancher whose
varied and valuable experience, and whose pro-
nounced success have enabled him, so much the
better, to serve his fellow-citizens in an important
public trust, is Joseph M. Bellew, the efficient, just
and popular justice of the peace at Milpitas and
owner of some 200 acres as fine as can be found
anywhere in Santa Clara County. He is particu-
larly fitted for the discharge of the responsibility
just referred to, for he is not only a native son, but
a native of Milpitas, and so from birth has been
identified with the community in which he lives and
presides. He was born into the family of Michael
and Elizabeth E. (Kinney) Bellew on March 1,
1872. the son of a native of Ireland who came to
California in far-away 1872, making his way west-
ward via the Panama route. He was not long in
choosing Milpitas as the most promising spot in the
Santa Clara Valley, and as a practical, progressive
farmer he acquired about 800 acres of land, which
he devoted to the raising of grain, the cultivation of
fruit, and the management of a first-class, sanitary
dairy. The worthy couple had five children: Wil-
liam Milpitas; John H., now deceased; Mary E.,
whose has become Mrs. Richard McCarthy of
Wayne Station; Kate, now Mrs. L. E. Barber; and
the subject of our review.

Joseph M. Bellew was sent to the district school
at Milpitas, and growing up, remained with his

father on the home ranch, where he continued after
the latter's death, in 1911, so that he was in charge
of the farm when his mother breathed her last, in
1913. Now he has about 200 acres of the old Bellew
ranch — 150 acres of which are devoted to the grow-
mg of beets, and 50 acres to pears and other fruit.
The soil is well irrigated, and under the skillful work-
ing of Mr. Bellew, yields generously.

Unlike his father, who was a stanch Democrat
and a much-sought leader in the councils of that
party. Judge Bellew is a Republican; and he has been
the judge of the Justice Court of Milpitas Precinct
since 1913, performing his duties with rare level-
lieadedness and a desire to mete out a square deal
to everybody. One result is, besides that of giving
general satisfaction, that law and order have been
preserved, and Milpitas kept a decent community in
which to live. The judge is equally popular as an
Elk, and belongs to Lodge No. 522.

EDMUND B. FARNEY.— An interesting repre-
sentative of a fine old pioneer family is Edmund B.
I'arney, the peer rancher living on the Alviso-Milpitas
Road, who was born on the old Farney Ranch, at
Coj'ote, in Santa Clara County, on February l-l. 1862.
His father was James Farney, and he did .so much to
open the road to civilization and to lay the founda-
tions in Santa Clara County of many of the good
things inherited and enjo3'ed by the present genera-
tion. In this path-breaking, home-building work, he
vas ably assisted by his accomplished and devoted
wife, who was Miss Mary Burke before her mar-
riage. They were both natives of Ireland, who came
to California in the earl}' 'SOs, and settled in Santa
Clara County about 1859. James Farney formed a
partnership with a Mr. Fox, and at a point about
three miles north of San Jose, they established one
of the first nurseries in the county. Mr. Farney died
in 1895, and his faithful wife breathed her last about
1901. They had ten children, and five of them are
still living, all residents of Santa Clara County.

Edmund attended the Alviso school, and later pur-
sued courses at the Garden City Business College,
located where the Farmers Union Building now
stands. Still later, he attended the Napa College, at
Napa. Then, having successfully finished his studies,
he returned to the farm, where he worked until he
was twenty-one years of age. He next took up up-
holstering, and for a short time worked at the furni-
ture-making trade at Merced and San Francisco.

In 1895 the father deeded the home ranch of 96
acres jointlj' to Edmund B. Farney and two of his
sisters, one of whom died in 1921. This ranch is de-
voted to the raising of pears, and such is the quality
of the fruit produced there that both ranch and
rjnch owner are entitled to the highest credit in local
agricultural accomplishment. At present, Mr. Far-
ney is leasing out his famous ranch to others, who
are fortunate in working one of the trimmest farms
hereabouts. Mr. Farney is a stanch supporter of the
Democratic party, devotes himself from time to time
to the great work of elevating the standard of Amer-
ican citizenship — which standard, by-the-way, and
doubtless because of the character of such residents
as our sturdy subject, seems higher in Santa Clara
County than the average, if it be safe to make any
such comparison affecting the patriotic electors of
the Golden State.

CC , j^, Cy^iZ^<>k..4y^^'^H^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

719

ANDREW L. ERICKSON.— A first-class me-
chanic who has done much to bring the automo-
bile industry in Santa Clara County to the fore, is
Andrew L. Erickson, the proprietor of the well-
equipped and well-managed Erickson Garage at Los
(iatos, and the worthy representative of one of the
oldest families in this section. A native son fully in
accord with the spirit of progress of the Golden
State, he was born at Santa Clara on March 2'S, 1878,
the son of John Erickson, who came to Santa Clara
County in 1875, soon established himself as the most
expert wheelwright in Santa Clara County, and has
been here ever since. He married Miss Wendla
Nordstrom, a talented lady, who has proven the most
devoted of wives and mothers. John Erickson as a
boy rode on the Monitor on its trial trip in Sweden
and knew John Erickson. the designer and builder.
Mr. Erickson passed away December 1, 1921, seventy-
seven years old, survived by his widow. This worthy
pioneer couple had six children all living and a credit
to the various communities where they reside.
Charles J. of San Francisco; K. H. resides in Oak-
land: Andrew L. our subject; Josephine, wife of
Carl Fogerlund of Los Gates; Hilma of San Fran-
cisco; and Hulda makes her home with her mother.

Andrew went to the public schools of Los Gatos.
to which town the family removed when he was
one year old, and later pursued a business college
course, graduating from the Garden City Business
College in 1898. Then he learned his father's trade,
and he also took a course to prepare himself for
automobile repairing and construction. Inhcritin.y
from his father both original genius, the capacity for
hard work and plenty of it, and the habit of never
doing anything by halves, but to always deliver first-
class work thoroughly done, Mr. Erickson has come
to be known as an expert who may be depended
upon for workmanship such as many people knew in
the good old days, and customers come to him
from both near and afar, filling full his interesting
shop, where he established the business for himself
in 1906. He has been more than successful in keep-
ing pace with the marvelous development of the au-
tomobile industry in general, and has come to en-
joy an entirely satisfactory patronage.

In San Jose, in 1906 Mr. Erickson was married
to Miss Bessie L. Gratz, of San Jose, a gifted lady,
who is of much value to him in his ambitious plans.
Mrs. Erickson was a graduate of the Modesto high
school and of San Jose State Normal and was en-
gaged in teaching until her marriage, which has been
blessed with four children. Elizabeth is in the high
school; A, L. Erickson. Jr.. and Luella are in the
grammar school; and the youngest is Joseph Ewart
Erickson. The family are members of the Methodist
Church. Mr. Erickson is a Republican, and is now
serving a four-year term as city trustee of Los Gatos.
He has been a member of the Volunteer Fire Com-
pany in Los Gatos for twenty-five years and was
assistant chief of the department for ten years, so
it is but natural he should be selected chairman of
the fire and water committee. Mr. Erickson was
made a Mason in Los Gatos Lodge No. 1^)1. F. &
A. M. and with his wife is a member of the Eastern
Star. He is a member of Ridgely Lodge No. 294
I. O. O. F., in which he is past grand, and he and
Mrs. Erickson are members of the Rebekahs. He
also belongs to the Modern Woodmen, the Royal

Neighbors and that enterprising organization, the Los
Gatos Chamber of Commerce.

JOHN C. SILLIMAN, M. D.— The theory that
few, if any, men or women of marked attainment
may hope to rise high or accompHsh great things
unless they have had, at one stage or another in the
development of their ancestors, such forebears as
could bequeath to them exceptional talent or strength,
would seem to be substantiated in the case of Dr.
John C. Silliman, the very successful and well-
known physician and surgeon, who maintains a suite
of offices at 201 University Realty Building, and is
pleasantly domiciled at the corner of Bryant and
Kingsley streets, in Palo Alto. He comes from
sturdy ancestors of Scotch-Irish and north of Ire-
land blood, firmly grounded in the Protestant faith,
and for generations hi,-, progenitors have been cul-
tured, often colle.qe-bred folks. This branch of the
Silliman family crossed the sea and then going down
to South Carolina, they distinguished themselves
both as planters and professional men.

The father of our subject, Dr. J. M. Silliman. was
graduated from the Tulane University at New Or-
leans, and in South Carolina was married to Miss
Julia Chappel Coit, now deceased, an alumnus of
Harmony College in South Carolina. She was a daugh-
ter of the distinguished banker, John C. Coit, who
won the enviable distinction of being the only banker.
save one, namely, the State Bank of South Carolina,
whose bank in that state remained solvent during
llie War of the Rebellion. He was a native of
Massachusetts, and graduated at Yale, after which
he went down tj South Carolina, engaged in bank-
ing, and became widely and favorably known as a
financier. Doctor and Mrs. Silliman, Sr., moved
West to Mississippi and settled in a new and un-
developed portion of that state, and when the war
brolo out. h. w.is practicing in Mississippi. Enlist-
nig m a Mississippi regiment, as regimental surgeon,
he received the rank of captain and served as a Con-
federate Army surgeon for four years in Van Dorn's
division. After the war was over, he went west to
Palestine, Texas, and there John C. Silliman was
born on February 8. 1878.

After her husband's death. Airs. Silliman took her
family to CharloUesville, \ a., and there John grew
up and attended r.uitop's Academy, preparatory to
entering the riiiversily of Virginia, from which he
was graduated m l'»(M) with the A. B. degree. He
then matriculated at Columbia Medical College, and
in 1904 he graduated with the coveted M. D. degree.
He then entered the employ of the Lackawanna Rail-
way and the Lackawanna Coal Mining Company as
the company's physician and surgeon, and was sta-
tioned at Scranton, Pa., at which place he became
house surgeon of the Moses Taylor Hospital. In
1906 Doctor Silliman removed back to his birth-
place, Palestine, Texas, and there, for the next eight
years, he was engaged in successful practice.

Like the rest of his near-of-kin, Doctor Silliman
look a live interest in the activities of the Southern
Presbyterian Church, especially in its missions and
mission hospitals, and he was assigned to the duty
of visiting, inspecting, and reporting on the condition
of the missions and hospitals of that communion in
foreign lands. He sailed from \'ancouver. B. C. on
a proposed tour of the world, took the northern

720

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

route along the Alaskan Coast, and visited various
missions in Japan, Korea and China. It happened
that he was at St. Petersburg on this mission when
the World War broke out, and it was with great
difficulty that he obtained a passport, to travel by
way of Sweden and Norway, and finally reached
home in safety. His report was duly published by
the Southern Presbyterian Church and has proven
instrumental in bringing about reforms in the mission
and hospital service.

While at Scranton, Doctor Silliman was married
to Miss Bertha Olmstead, of Bloomsburg, Pa., and
in 1914 he came w-ith his family to Palo Alto, and
he has since devoted his entire time to his profes-
sion in such a manner that his painstaking, able and
successful work has placed him in the front rank
in the medical profession. During the late war he
proffered his professional services and was assigned
to the Twenty-first Infantry Camp at Camp Kearny,
with the rank of captain. Doctor Silliman is a mem-
ber of the American Medical Association, and the
State and County Medical Societies, he is a Mason
and a mem.ber of the American Legion, and he ren-
ders valuable service in the First Presbyterian
Church of Palo Alto.

CHARLES C. NAVLET.— The unbounded faith,
industry, and good management of Charles C. Nav-
let, carried from a small beginning to large propor-
tions the floral industry, w^hich has since made his
name famous, and which has sent his products into
every part of the United States and foreign countries
where excellence of quality are sought and appreci-
ated. Probably his early dreams of success in this
line would have been regarded as exaggerated, the
prospect of the establishment of stores in various
cities of California, yet such is the case today, and
the name of Charles C. Navlet is a guaranty of first
class products.

The youth of Mr. Navlet was not singled out for
special favors on the part of good fortune, and he is
essentially a self-made man, depending always upon
the natural and acquired gifts which have aided his
ambition. A native son of San Francisco, he was
born in the year 1867. a son of Victor Navlet, a native
of France. When but a small boj', Victor Navlet
had heard of the wonderful country across the waters,
and when young manhood was reached he determined
to seek his fortune in America and California, and
embarked for the long and perilous journey around
the Horn to San Francisco. This voyage always
stood out with strange vividness in his memory, for
it was attended with many dangers, owing to terrific
storms which they encountered, but they finally
turned toward the promised land, and arrived in San
Francisco in the early part of 1848. Mr. Navlet's
mother was Miss Eu Frazee, a native of Paris,
France, who came to America as early as 1850. The
senior Navlet was a man of great resourcefulness,
and he very soon established his own business in
San Francisco, that of manufacturing reed baskets,
the first factory of this kind in the West. His busi-
ness prospered and w^hen he passed away in 1883
he had become a prominent figure in the commercial
circles of the Bay City. He was survived by four
sons, two of whom died in early manhood. Mrs.
Navlet passed away in 1910. The subject of this
historical review is the older of the two
sons, the other son residing in Oakland, Cal.

Charles C. Navlet's schooling was obtained in San
Francisco, but the lessons of practical experience
proved invaluable to him. At the age of eleven he
began working in floral shops in San Francisco,
among others he secured employment with H. Pottet,
vvho was one of the first florists in San Francisco,
and worked for him three years, and when he was
sixteen he was in business for himself at Stockton
and O'Farrell streets. Later he decided to learn
the harness maker's trade, and worked at it for one
year. However, he was not satisfied with this trade,
and his thought turned again to the floral business.

In 188S he removed to San Jose and rented a
space eight by fifteen feet, a fine location for his
business. One year later, at the age of nineteen, he
opened the first real florist shop in San Jose. His
equipment was limited and at the close of the first
year, he found himself several hundred dollars in
debt. It was about this time that the Pampas grass
plumes were very much in favor and the large,
feathery plumes found ready sale in the East, and by
supplying the Eastern nurseries with the coveted
plumes, he got a substantial foothold and success
crowned his eflforts from that time forward. During
the years of 1889 and 1890 he acquired the appela-
tion of the "Lilac King," because he had established
a market for these fragrant blossoms in San Fran-
cisco and was enabled to supply the great demand
for them. His business grew steadily and he
branched out as a nurseryman and a bulb importer.
Outgrowing the quarters where his first store was
established, in 1903 he erected a two-story building
of his own, operating a three-fold business, a floral
art display, retail seed and plant department and the
mail order department. His success made it possible
to open branch stores in Oakland and San Francisco.
He leases a 20-acre tract on the Story road, where
he has his nursery; he also has two and one-half
acres in San Jose on Prevost Street which he uses
for a sales yard, and he owns an orchard of twelve
acres at Mt. Pleasant. He has invested his surplus
capital in a number of residence properties in San
Jose, among them being the fine home of one and a
half acres in The Willows.

His mail order business has assumed large propor-
tions. His first catalogue was issued in 1903, and now
thousands of people all over the country await the
announcement that the catalogue is ready for distri-
bution. Mr. Navlet sustained a severe loss on account
of the earthquake of 1906, but while feeling the loss
keenly, it was an incentive to a greater store and a
more extensive patronage.

The marriage of Charles C. Navlet united him
with Miss Marie Indart, who was born in Tres Pinos,
San Benito County, a daughter of Juan Indart, a
pioneer of California, who came from the Basses-
Pyrenees section of France, attracted by the glowing
tales of the wealth to be obtained in the mines. He
became a prominent stockman of San Benito County
and Nevada, and when he passed away, his sons con-
tinued the business. Mrs. Navlet's mother still resides
at Tres Pinos, on the old Indart homestead, and has
reached the ripe age of eighty-four years. Frater-
nally Mr. Navlet is a charter member of the Elks
and Native Sons, also a member of the Garden City
Lodge, I. O. O. F. Politically he is a Republican.

The floral business requires a working force of
forty-five people, so great is the demand which Mr.
Navlet has established for his products. By his

'.-^. ^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

721

initiative and firm determination to succeed, he has
educated the people to love flowers and plants to
such an extent that it is with difficulty that he can
produce sufficient stock to meet the demand of his
patronage. He can always be depended upon to
further with time and money any worthy enter-
prise, and takes great pride in the advancement of
California in general and Santa Clara County and
San Jose in particular. The standard established by
Mr. Navlet is being improved upon each year, and
his name will be forever associated with this great
and valuable resource of the West.

JOHN C. THORP.— Arriving in California in
1889 with assets consisting chiefly of a strong con-
stitution, reliable character and a determination to
succeed. John C. Thorp has made his own way and
and is now among the leading contractors of the
San Francisco bay region. He was born in Brad-
ford, Yorkshire, England, January IS, 1866, and was
the son of George and Eliza (Iredale) Thorp, who
were natives of the same shire. They immigrated
many years ago to Toronto, Canada, where the
father was a contractor for many years, though he
now makes his home in Buffalo, N. Y., his wife hav-
ing passed away some years ago. The oldest of
their children. John C. Thorp, was educated in the
schools of England and it was also in his native
land that he apprenticed to and learned the carpen-
ter's trade under his father, who was interested in
the firm of Thorp, Terry & Scofield (all cousins)
owners of the Prospect saw mills in Bradford, Eng-
land. It was there that John Thorp became an all-
round mill man as well as a carpenter and builder.
In 1881 he came to Toronto. Canada, where he was
employed with John Fletcher & Sons in their planing
mill until 1885, when he came west to Saskatchewan.
Soon after this he came to the Pacific Coast and
in 1889. to San Jose. He followed his trade for
the first two years, and then began general con-
tracting and building, entering upon a career in
which he has become very successful.

Among some of the numerous buildings he has
erected are the Imperial hotel, Russ hotel, Bank of
Italy building, Market Street fire station and some
of the finest residences in this city, among them
the Harris home. Dr. Flemming's residence, the Leon
home, Roca home and the Leet residence, all of
which are very beautiful, artistically and architec-
turally. He also built the large cannery for the
Bayside Canning Company at Mayfield, the Alviso
cannery and the one at Isleton, Sacramento County.
Aside from the Santa Clara Valley he has had
contracts for buildings all over California, having
built dehydrators all over the, state, after a method
which he has patented.

Mr. Thorp's marriage occurred in Toronto. Canada,
where he was united with Miss Janet Mcintosh, who
was born in London, England, of Scotch parents,
who brought her to Toronto when she was four
years of age. Her parents spent their last days in
San Jose. Mrs. Thorp is a cultured, refined wom-
an, who presides gracefully over her home that has
been blessed with two children; George, who served
in the U. S. Navy during the World War, learned
carpentry and building under his father, and is now
a foreman for him; Lilly, a charming young lady,
a graduate of San Jose high school, assists her
mother in presiding over the household. Mr. Thorp

is popular both in social and business circles, being
a member of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce,
the Maccabees and Uniform rank of the Knights of
the Maccabees, and the San Jose Lodge of Elks;
in politics he is a Republican. Mr. Thorp is now
the second oldest contractor and builder in San Jose;
when he began business here at the age of twenty-six
years he was the youngest builder here, but his hard
work, close application and well-directed energy
have placed him in the front rank among the most
enterprising and progressive men in California. He
gives no small degree of his success to his estimable
wife, viho has always aided him and encouraged him
in his ambition, thus doing all she could to assist
him in establishing such an enviable position among
leading Californians. A man of pleasing personality
and kindliness of heart, living strictly to the Golden
Rule, he is public spirited to a high degree and is
at all times, for all things for the good of the
Santa Clara Valley.

FIACRO JULIAN FISHER.— The Fisher fam-
ily have been identified with the Santa Clara Val-
ley since early pioneer days, and Fiacro Julian Fisher
was born October 4, 1891, in the beautiful modern
residence his father had erected on the exact loca-
tion of the adobe house which his grandfather put
up in the pioneer days of the state. The father,
Fiacro C. Fisher, was born upon the farm in Burnett
township, Santa Clara County, August 30, 1850, the
youngest son of William and Liberata (Cesena)
Fisher, early settlers of California. The paternal
grandfather was of English birth and a seafaring
man by occupation. He came to the United States
in young manhood, and in 1830 left his first location
in Massachusetts for California, making the voyage
as mate of a vessel. He located at San Jose, in
Lower California, and owned a vessel which he
navigated upon the Gulf of California. In April,
1842, he came to this state and bought the ranch
known then as the Laguna Seca Grant, and four
years later brought his family to Monterey. Upon
this property he engaged in cattle and stockraisirg
until his death, which occurred in 1850, at the age
of forty years. The maternal grandmother, Liberata
Cesena, was a native of Mexico and survived her
husband many years. They were the parents of four
sons and two daughters: Thomas N. and Cypriano,
twins; William, deceased; Fiacro, Mary, the wife
of Murphy Columbet, and Eulogia.

Fiacro C. Fisher received his preliminary educa-
tion in the public schools of Santa Clara County,
after which he entered and attended Santa Clara
College for two years, as well as the high school of
San Jose for awhile. He left school quite early to
take up his chosen occupation, and that to which he
had early been trained, being foreman for Dan
Murphy until 1872. He then engaged in ranching
for himself on the ofd homestead, giving consider-
able attention to stockraising. In 1877 he went to
Nevada to take charge of the ranches of Mr. Murphy
and Mr. Hill, remaining in their employ as general
manager until 1894. Since that time he turned his
entire attention to the cultivation and improvement
of his own property, which consisted of 300 acres
located on the Monterey and Coyote roads, and LOGO
acres in valley land. In 1872, in San Jose, Mr. Fisher
ed to Gertrude Hanks, a native of Califcr-

/IS

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

nia and daughter of Win. Hanks, better known as
Julian Hanks. The latter was born in Massachu-
setts, but migrated to Lower California, where he
was interested in a vessel. In 1846 he came to Cali-
fornia with the elder Fisher, and in San Jose con-
ducted a grist mill, operating the same until 1866,
when he traded it for property in Sonora, Mexico.
He made his home in Lower California until his
death. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher were the parents of
fix children: Laura, the wife of William Straub;
Chester F., Neva, Gertrude, George, and iMacro
Julian. Both parents have passed away.

Fiacro Julian began his education in the public
schools of San Jose, and then entered Santa Clara
College, continuing his studies for two years, then
finished his education in the San Jose high school.
He then settled on the old home place at Coyote,
engaging in farming, and in 1917 purchased an
orchard of twenty acres at Cupertino, and selling it
in 1919 he bought his present orchard of twenty-two
and a half acres on the Casey Road, which he de-
votes to raising prunes, being a member of the Cali-
fornia Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc. In Septem-
ber, 1917, Mr. Fisher entered tli< Inilcil States
Army, being stationed at Camp Lrwis until sent
overseas with his regiment, the Three Hundred
Forty-seventh United States Field Artillery, landing
at Cherbourg, France, and training at Bordeaux
until sent to Verdun sector. After the armistice,
was with the Army of Occupation near Coblenz,
until he came home in May, 1919. He was mustered
out at the Presidio the same month and came home
to his Cupertino ranch, which his wife had managed
while he was overseas.

The marriage of Mr. Fisher united him with Miss
Teresa Fahey, a native daughter of California, born
near Wright Station, and they are the parents of
one son, William Stanton.

CHARLES LEE GRUWELL.— One of Santa
Clara Coimty's well-known horticulturists is Charles
Lee Gruwell, who was born on September 4, 1863,
on part of the land which is still in his possession.
He is the son of Melvin L. and Sarah (Wear) Gru-
w-ell, natives of Indiana and Missouri, respectively,
Melvin L. Gruwell was born in 1826 and came to
California in the year 1850 and settled in Santa Clara
County in 1852. Entering into partnership with a
friend, they settled on a ranch of 172 acres w-hich
belonged to Stinson and Lucas, and then later he
purchased Mr. Lucas's half of the property and for
fifty-five years was in partnership with Mr. Stinson.
engaged in farming, and continued in this line until
his demise, which occurred in 1910. at the age of
eighty-four years. Melvin Gruwell and his wife
were the parents of nine children. William, de-
ceased: Arthur J., deceased: Charles Lee. the sub-
ject of this sketch; .\Iartlia K.: Lydia became the
wife of Jacob Breitenstein : Lawrence C; Theresa
became the wife of H. Van De Pier; Kate is the
widow of James Hemphill; Ivou became the wife of
Joseph Hemphill.

Charles Lee, the subject of our sketch, attended
the public schools of his locality and then attended
the San Jose State Normal. He has been engaged
in the raising of fruit since that time, confining his
labors to the raising of peaches and prunes. His
marriage, which occurred in 1898, united him with
Miss Hattie Ellen, the daughter of C. W. Howard

and Eliza (Curry) Howard. Mr. Howard was born
in England and came to the United States when h«
was only seventeen years old, first locating in Wis-
consin and later coming to the gold fields of Cali-
fornia, then settling in the Santa Clara Valley, where
he still resides. Mrs. Howard was a native of New
Brunswick. Mrs. Gruwell first attended the school
in Solano County wdiere she was born and where
she lived until the age of nine, when she came to
Santa Clara County with her parents, and the rest
of her school days were spent in the schools of Santa
Clara County. Mr. and Mrs. Gruwell had one child,
Howard Romayne, who died at the age of three and
one-half years. Mr. Gruwell was bereaved of his
wife February 19, 1922, a distinct loss to the whole
community. Mr. Gi uwell has an attractive and com-
fortable home, surrounded by two acres of peaches,
and one peach tree which stands near the house is
more than forty-five years old and bears delicious
fruit. He also has six acres in prunes, a part of the
old home place. Mr. Gruwell is a past master of
Liberty Lodge No. 299. F. & A. M., Santa Clara,
also a member of Hovi'ard Chapter No. 14. R. A. M.,
San Jose, and San Jo.se Council R. & S. M.. and San
Jose Commandery No. 10 K. T.. Islam Temple
A. A. O. N. M. S'.. San Francisco, and the O. E. S.

EDWARD BRUCE STONE.— A good example of
w-hat energy and resourcefulness can accomplish,
when wisely directed and centralized, is furnished in
the career of Edward Bruce Stone, who was born in
Denver, Colo., February 8, 1882, the son of Thomas
and Mary A. (Ward) Stone, both natives of England,
but were married in the United States. The father,
who was a butcher, came to San Jose with his family
in 1887 and bought a ranch several years later in the
San Thomas district where he resided for some time,
and having been very successful, he has retired and
is now residing in San Jose. He and his wife were
the parents of three children: William T., of San
Jose; Charles A., of Palo Alto; Edward Bruce, the
subject of this sketch.

Edward B. Stone received his education in the
public schools of San Jose and in San Tomas dis-
trict. When seventeen years old he entered the em-
ploy of the Southern Pacific Railway Company as
telegrapher on the Coast Lines and worked in this
line of business for seven years. His marriage,
which occurred at Los Gatos on September 29, 1903,
united him with Miss Emma C. Jarvis, who was
born in Newark, Alameda County. Cal., the daughter
of Francis Carr and Emma O. (Reader) Jarvis.
Mr. Jarvis was born in Ellsworth, Maine, and his
wife was a native of Indiana. Her father crossed the
plains in 1850 to California, while her mother came
with Grandmother Todd to Alameda, and they were
married in Centerville. Mr. and Mrs. Stone are the
parents of one child, Edward Bruce, Jr.

Mr. Stone is now engaged in ranching and is con-
fining his efforts to the raising of prunes, his trees
having been planted about tw-enty-five years ago.
His forty acre orchard is located on Phelps Avenue,
five miles south of San Jose and is bringing its owner
a splendid income. Mr. Stone is a stanch adherent
of the Republican party. He is a member of the
Christian Science Church of Los Gatos. where he
served a term as first reader, and he is also a mem-
ber of the Mother Church. The First Church of
Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass.

C^^^t^^.^::^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

725

Mr. Stone is an energetic and tireless worker
and keeps his orchard in a high state of cultivation
and efficiency. He has a pumping plant with a
capacity of 600 gallons a minute, ample not only for
his own but also for the neighbors' orchards. In
1921 he built a modern bungalow residence, equipped
with electric cooking facilities. The grounds are
artisticall}' laid out and well kept and the farm
buildings, as well as the grounds, are lighted by
electricity, and he has electrically driven machinery,
thus making it one of the most complete in equip-
ment of any ranch in the county. A magnificent
Sequoia Gigantic on his grounds is one of the finest
specimens of its kind in the valley, having been
planted about fifty years ago by the Phelps family,
who were large cattlemen here.

JAMES C. MERRITT— A man endowed with
much business ability and honest and straightfor-
ward in all business dealings, James C. Merritt is
one of San Jose's successful young business men,
enjoying the confidence and esteem of the entire
community. A son of Andrus R. and Susan (Bul-
lock) Merritt, natives of Pennsylvania and New
York, respectively, he was born October 22, 1877,
in Atchison County, Mo. Grandfather Merritt, who
was a millwright, removed to Minnesota in 1856.
One of a family of eight children, all boys, Andrus
R. Merritt grew to manhood in Minnesota and re-
ceived his education in the schools of that frontier
country. Several of the Merritt boys were timber
cruisers and one of them, while cruising came across
a windfall and where the ground had been torn
up found ore that resulted in the discovery of a
mountain or iron. Five of the Merritt boys became
interested and by the hardest kind of work and
making sacrifices they finally opened up the iron
mines in the Mcsaba range, and proved them a
success. They also built the Duluth and Mesaba
Northern Railroad, bringing the whole into a won-
derful development until the panic of 1893, when
they were squeezed out and they are owned by
the trust. The great value of the Mesaba iron mines
in aiding the World War can best be told when
it is known they produce seventy-two per cent of all
iron mined in America.

Mrs. Susan Merritt passed away in 1880 leaving
two children, James C., our subject, and Thomas
A., the latter an automobile dealer in Glendora, Cal.
Andrus Merritt was married the second time to
Elizabeth Clark and they make their home in San
Jose. They have two children, Lewis, a partner of
our subject, and J. \\'., chief geologist for the Sa-
pulpa, Oklahoma, Refinery.

James C. was educated in the grammar and high
schools of Duluth, Minn., later taking a course at
Hamline University at St. Paul. For a year he was
with the engineering corps that located the Western
Pacific Railroad in eastern Nevada, then in the
brokerage and bond business in St. Paul for ten
years. The lure of the western country proved
too strong for him, however, and in 1916 he came
to San Francisco, Cal. After traveling over the
state for one year, in 1917 he purchased the share
of J. J. Merritt in the Merritt Company, San Jose,
and has since been devoting his time to this pros-
perous business. They own and operate an extensive
plant at Santa Clara, and manufacture many articles
of cement and concrete, besides doing a general

contracting business. The Merritt Company plant
was established in 1912 and engaged in the manu-
facture of concrete pipe and it has grown rapidly
since then. They use the Brubaker pipe machine
of a large capacity, and are also contractors for
laying irrigating pipe, the business having grown un-
til in 1920 it was the largest of its kind in Cali-
fornia. In June, 1921, the business was incorporated
as the Merritt Concrete Products Company with
James C. Merritt as president and manager.

In Elko, Nev., on March 30, 1903, Mr. Merritt
was married to Miss Lola Swetland.a native of Elko,
Nev., who is active and very prominent in club
work. She is president of the Y. W. C. A., Mothers'
Club of San Jose, a member of the house committee
of the Y. W. C. A., superintendent of the inter-
mediate department of the Methodist Episcopal Sun-
day School and secretary of the Parent-Teachers'
-Association in San Jose. To Mr. and Mrs. Merritt
have been born two sons, Gerald Andrus and Glenn.
Mr. Merritt is independent in his political views,
and believes in the fitness of man for the office.
Religiously he is a consistent member of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church. During the years of 1913
and 1914, while a resident of St. Paul, he acted as
Exalted Ruler of the Elks. He is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce and Lions Club, the 100 Per
Cent Club and a charter member of the Commer-
cial Club. He and his wife were both active in
the war and Red Cross drives. When enabled to
do so, he spends considerable time in the mountains,
hunting and fishing. He has ever believed in con-
structive measures, and his diligence and determina-
tion have been prominent factors in his career and
by his constant application has caused him to ad-
vance steadily toward the goal of prosperity.

EUGENE O. McGRATH.— Coming to California
in the late '60's. Eugene O. McGrath has been identi-
fied with many important gold mining projects and
he has become recognized as an engineer of expert
ability whose professional career has been one of
continuous progress. A native of Vermont, he was
born in Burlington, November IS, 1845, a son of
Eugene O. and Mary (McGrath) McGrath, the for-
mer a farmer by occupation. In the family were
seven children, of whom the subject of this review
was the fifth in onler of birth. He is a veteran of
the Civil War, as were also two of his brothers, one
of whom was wounded in that conflict. In 1864 he
enlisted in the navy and for nine months was one of
the crew of the Dumbarton, which was at one time
the flagship of Commodore Radford, under command
of Admiral Potter, and later was engaged in patrol-
ling the James River. He also served for a short
time on the Nancimond, Mercury, and Wyandank
and was stationed with the Atlantic patrol in front
of Washington, D. C, at tlie time Lincoln was as-
sassinated. He was in the engineering department
in the navy and received his honorable discharge in
1865, after a little more than a year's service.

Returning to his home in Vermont, Mr. McGrath
there remained for a year and in 1867 came to Cali-
fornia by the Panama route, landing at San Fran-
cisco on February 9. He became interested in min-
ing engineering at Dog Town, Butte County, and
for twenty-five years was thus occupied, building the
second flume in the state. This was erected for the
Sugar Pine Lumber Flume & Mining Company and
carried an immense volume of water, which w-as used

726

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

also in hydraulic gold mining, being the largest min-
ing flume in the state. The Sugar Pine Company
had a number of mills in the hills of Butte County
and used the flume to float lumber down to the sta-
tion, where it was loaded for market, this great flow
of water being carried for a distance of thirty miles
and cost about $700,000.

Mr. McGrath has become recognized as an author-
ity on mining engineering and he has staked many
mining claims, while he also was principally inter-
ested in the lumber business for about twenty-five
years. He preferred, however, to confine his business
interests to mines of proven worth and acquired
holding in the Cherokee district, the Cherokee being
the largest hydraulic gold mine in the world. From
Butte County he went to Auburn. Placer County,
where he became interested in quartz mines, and then
went to Reno, Nev., where he remained two years.
He next went to Inyo County, Cal., and for six
years aided in developing the Cerro Gordo mines in
that locality. At present he is interested in mines at
Hornsilver. about thirty miles from Goldfield. Nev.,
and has eight different claims in that county, all of
which are rich bearing mines, the ore being hauled
by trucks to the railroad station. He is also in-
terested in other properties in Nevada. From 1902
until 1903 Mr. McGrath made his home in San Fran-
cisco, but in the latter year he purchased property on
West San Carlos and Sunol Streets, in San Jose, and
has since maintained his residence in this city.

In Cherokee, Cal., in January, 1872, Mr. McGrath
was married to Miss Mary Ann Davis, a native of
Pennsylvania and a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth
Davis, the former of whom was also born in the Key-
stone State. For many years the father worked in
the mines there and later came to California, settling
in Butte County at an early period in its development.
To Mr. and Mrs. McGrath were born seven children:
George W., now deceased; Lafayette, who is con-
nected with the Standard Oil Company at Folsom
City, Cal.; Emmet Wallace, a resident of Marysville;
Mrs. Eugenia Castle; Katherine, deceased; Mrs. May
Smothers; and Mildred, at home. There are also
fifteen grandchildren. In his political views Mr. Mc-
Grath is a stanch Republican, and he keeps in touch
with the best thinking men of the age on all the
questions that are of vital significance. He has been
a member of the Miners Commission of the State of
California and fraternally is connected with the
Masons in Butte and Inyo Counties, and he is also
identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows. Gaining that superior ability which comes
through close study and broad experience, he is
entitled to classification with the eminent mining
engineers of the country, and his contributions to
the world's work have been of great value.

FRANK A. LEIB.— A notable prize-winner at the
Panama-Pacific Exposition, of whom Santa Clarans
are naturally very proud, is Frank A. Lcib. the
rancher at Lundy's Road, four miles northeast of
San Jose, part owner of one of the largest walnut
groves, in private possession, in the United States.
He was born at San Jose on August 4, 1880, the son
of Judge S. F. Leib, who came to California in early
days from Ohio, and married Miss Lida Campbell
Grissim, a native of Georgetown, Ky.

Frank A. Leib was sent to the grammar school in
San Jose, and then attended the Washburn Prepar-

atory School leading up to Stanford, from which he
was graduated with the class of '02. He next took
a post-graduate course of two years at Stanford,
and in 1904 he was admitted to the bar, and he
practiced law until 1905. In that year he took up
the scientific, fascinating pursuit of orcharding, and
now he supervises one of the Leib walnut groves of
100 acres, located at the northerly extreme end of
Lundy Road. There he has twenty varieties of
walnuts, and he reserves one acre which he devotes
to experimental work in the effort to create new
varieties. He uses the Royal Black Walnut and the
Paradox Black Walnut trees as basic stock for graft-
ing, and he experiments with every variety of wal-
nut, wild and tame. At the Panama-Pacific Exposi-
tion at San Francisco in 1915, Mr. Leib took eight
first prizes with walnuts grown upon the Leib
ranches, demonstrating anew that Santa Clara
County walnuts are the finest in the world. Mr.
Leib is also interested in the culture of bees, and has
about ISO hives in his apiary. He raises the bees
for commercial purposes, and ships them in small
packages to honey-producing parts of the state.

At Victoria, B. C, Mr. Leib was married on
August 4. 1908, to Miss Mary Sandilands Bennett, a
native of Toronto and of Scotch-Welsh parentage.
Her father was Col. C. C. Bennett, who served with
the British forces during the Boer War, and with
the Canadian forces in the late W'orld War from
1914 through the duration of hostilities; her mother
before her marriage was Miss Florence Greet, and
the famous English tragedian, Ben Greet, is an uncle
of Mrs. Leib. Five children were born to Colonel
and Mrs. Bennett: the eldest is. Charles C. Bennett,
who is at Cranbrook, B. C; Maj. Richard A. G.
Bennett is at Edmonton, Alberta; Mary, the wife of
our subject, was the third in order of birth; Maj.
Arthur Patrick Bennett is at Vernon, B. C; Kate,
the wife of Lieutenant Boyd, lives at Camp Grant,
Rockford, III. Mrs. Leib's two brothers served in
the late World War as majors, and they also re-
ceived the Military Cross, while her father received
the Military Cross and also the British D. S. O.
One brother was severely gassed, and her father re-
ceived a compound fracture of the arm, which, for-
tunately, has not prevented his remaining in the
Canadian Army as the aide to the general com-
manding at Victoria. Mary Bennett was thirteen
years old when her father removed to Pacific Grove,
near Monterey, and there she was educated at the
grammar and high schools. Four children have
come to gladden the household of Mr. and Mrs. Leib:
Samuel Franklin, Charles Bennett, Mary Sandilands
and Lida Campbell. Mr. and Mrs. Leib are both
Republicans, and Mrs. Leib is a member of the Na-
tional League of Women's Service, Department of
iJanta Clara.

While at the university Mr. Leib was captain of
the Stanford tennis team, and a member of the
Varsity Glee Club, the Class Club, the Phi Delta
Phi, Zeta Phi. Sigma Sigma and T. M. E. class
fraternities. Word has just been received from
Stanford University that their nine-year-old daugh-
ter, Mary Sandilands Leib, has been adjudged one
of the thousand brightest pupils in California. It
is a matter of greatest interest and encouragement
to students of eugenics as well as advocates of "back

/r,ijt^..<l,i^,^^,^ y\/^^z^^7.Z^c^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

729

to the land" movement, to know that Mr. and Mrs.
Lcib are both college bred, each comes from dis-
tinguished families, and that they are rearing their
children in the environment of the free and open of
country life, and that their children are all excep-
tionally large, strong and bright, so much so, as to
be officially noticed for these enviable qualities of
strength and efificiencv.

JAMES WILLIAM HARRIS, Ph. D.— Closely
allied with the educational activities of San Jose since
1910, James William Harris, Ph. D., is recognized as
a potent factor in literary circles. A native of Boyd
County, Ky., he was born at Ashland, August 26, 1878,
a son of John \V". and Ellen Virginia (Roberts)
Harris. John W. Harris, who comes of English de-
scent, was born in Uhrichsville, Ohio, whither his par-
ents had migrated from Maryland. The mother was
of English and Scotch extraction, a native of Balti-
more, and she is a descendant of a highly intellectual
family. The father was prominent in the educational
development of Boyd County, serving as president of
the board of education and also as a councilman of
Ashland for many years. He was a successful mer-
chant, and because of his untiring and unselfish in-
terest in the development of his local community, he
was accorded the leadership in all advance move-
ments. The early education of the subject of this
sketch began in the public schools of Ashland, Ky.
When sixteen years of age just after graduating from
the high school he entered the office of the Floyd
County Abstract Company, where he was employed
for two years, receiving much practical knowledge of
legal and abstract business Later he entered Union
College at Barboursville, Ky., where he was gradu-
ated in 1901 with the degree of A. B. He imtnediate-
ly removed to Aberdeen, S. D., where he had charge
of records and passing on titles for a local loan coin-
pany. While residing in Aberdeen Mr. Harris in
1902 was offered the position of superintendent of the
town schools of Ipswich and given the authority to
organize the high school, which he proceeded to do;
this resulted in a permanent high school and he con-
tinued in the same capacity for three years. In 190S,
Mr. Harris entered Clark University at Worcester,
Mass., where he did graduate work, taking a course
in psychology and education under President G.
Stanley Hall. For one year he was on appointment
as scholar in psychology and two years as a Carnegie
Fellow in psychology. In 1908 the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy was conferred on him and the same
year he was appointed assistant professor of educa-
tion at De Pauw University, Greencastle, Ind., re-
maining in this capacity until 1910 when he resigned
and came to California to accept the Chair of Educa-
tion in the College of the Pacific.

During 1913 Dr. Harris was given leave of absence
and made an extended tour throughout England and
Continental Europe for observation of educational in-
stitutions as well as pleasure, returning to America
and California eight months previous to the outbreak
of the World War in July, 1914. W'hile in Europe he
studied critically both the strong and weak points of
foreign education and on his return introduced into
his classes at the College of the Pacific much con-
structive criticism as the result of his sojourn abroad.

The summers of 1920 and 21 were spent by Dr.
Harris at the State University of Iowa as lecturer in
education, a position he will again resume in 1922.
He is an active and interested member of the Na-

tional Educational Association, and has been a dele-
gate to national conventions upon several occasions.
During his years at the College of the Pacific Dr.
Harris has been closely associated with several phases
of the administration of the school; he has been con-
nected with endowment campaigns and publicity work
for the college and has in every way fitted his life
into the spirit of the institution. His influence on the
lives of hundreds of young men and women cannot
be overestimated, and those who have been privi-
leged to be members of his classes, testify as to his
keen mind, strict integrity and oneness of purpose,
that being to give of his best that those who come in
contact with him should give of their best to the
world and humanity. The city of San Jose recognize
in Dr. Harris a broad-minded, public-spirited citizen,
and are justly proud of the influence he is wielding in
the lives of the youth of the community.

JOHN R. McCarthy.— Among the early set-
tlers of Santa Clara County who came here as early
as 1876 and settled on Government land by home-
steaded preemption, is John R. McCarthy, now liv-
ing retired in the vicinity of Cupertino. His experi-
ence in the early days was typical of the growing
West, and he worked his way from a very small be-
ginning to his present state of independence. A na-
tive of Ireland, he was born in County Kerry, De-
cember 10, 1851, the son of Richard and Helen
(Lane) McCarthy. John's opportunity for an edu-
cation was very limited in his native land; his sum-
mers were spent in helping his father on the farm,
the entire period of his school days being only two
> ears, during the winter months. There were eight
children in his father's family, namely, Cornelius,
deceased; Johanna, deceased; Florence, a resident of
Ireland; Mary, deceased; John R., our subject;
Katherine and Ellen, in Ireland, and Bridget, de-
ceased. When a young man in 1876 Mr. McCarthy
left Ireland for America and came direct to San
lose, Santa Clara County, Cal. His first work was
picking cherries one day for Judge Archer for $1.50
a day, and he paid seventy-five cents for his board;
then at haj'ing and later on the railroad awhile, when
he went to Solano County and worked on a farm
for one year; then went to Los Angeles in 1877 and
worked for "Lucky" Baldwin on his Santa Anita
Rancho for eleven months. Returning north, he
worked for two years on ranches near Menlo Park;
then went to Alpine County and tried his luck at
mining, but at the end of four months found that the
work underground was too unhealthy and hard and
left and came back to Santa Clara County and
rented a ranch of 490 acres on the Permanente Creek
and farmed this for twelve years. During the year
of 1882 he preempted 160 acres, which was later
changed to a homestead; he farmed this for twenty-
four years, then sold eighty acres of it to the San
Francisco Sugar Company; later he sold forty acres,
and the balance was planted to vineyard. He lost
his vines by disease and reset it to resistant vines
and grafted them to wine grapes. In 1915 he sold
the remainder of his ranch and purchased an acre
and a half in Cupertino and built two residences on
It, residing in one and renting the other.

The marriage of Mr. McCarthy occurred in Oak-
land, August 10, 1884, and united him with Miss
Margaret Bronsan. a native also of County Kerry,

730

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Ireland, born within four miles of her husband's
birthplace. She is the daughter of Cornelius and
Eleanor (Casey) Bronsan, farmers in their native
land. Mrs. McCarthy was the ninth of a family of
twelve children, and during 1879 she came to the
United States and lived in Oakland until her mar-
riage. In his political belief Mr. McCarthy favors
the candidate best fitted for the office regardless of
party lines. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights
of Columbus and both belong to the Catholic Church.

JOHN W. BLANCH.— An enterprising and very
successful contractor who has done much to advance
the development of the painting trade in San Jose,
is John W. Blanch, of 643 South Second Street,
who was born in San Jose on December 19, 186S.
the son of the late Charles Blanch. The latter was
born in Gloucestershire, England, on February 20,
1831, and there he was reared and educated as a
farmer. In 1851 he came to the United States and
settled in Iowa, where he farmed for three years;
and then he went on to Minnesota, and for five
years continued agricultural pursuits there, although
for two years in succession his entire crops were
destroyed by grasshoppers. He crossed the great
plains to California with the aid of ox teams, and
came direct to Santa Clara County, arriving at San
Jose in the fall of 1859. On the way the Indians
stole their cattle. They followed the redskins for
several days, until they came across the big band of
thousands of Indians. Seeing no chance to recover
their stock, they went back to their wagons and
waited until another train came up, and made ar-
rangements to come through with them.

After living for two years in San Jose. Charles
Blanch took up farming about ten miles out of town,
where he lived until 1868. and then he proceeded to
San Luis Obispo County and commenced dairying,
but all of his cattle sickened and died. He then re-
turned to Santa Clara County where he farmed for
a year, and after that he made a journey to Oregon,
where he put in a winter. In the spring, he was
back in Santa Clara County. This time he settled
at the place known as the White Oak Flat, in Bur-
nett township; and at the expiration of four years,
he located on a ranch of ISO acres in Hoover Valley,
where he lived for many years.

At St. Paul, Minn., on April 27, 1859, Mr. Blanch
was married to Miss Maria Watkins, also a native of
England, by whom he had ten children. William T.
was born on October 9, 1863. Then came John W.,
the subject of our review. Mary E. was born on
January 5, 1868. Charles E. first saw the light on
December 7, 1869. Sarah M. was born on March 8,
1873. Robert entered the family on March 27, 1875.
Charlotte was born on February 17. 1879. The date
of the birth of Edmund H. was February 8, 1860,
and he died on May 22, 1860. Jessie A. was born on
June 2, 1861, and died on September 21, 1866. Rich-
ard, born on October 14, 1877, died three days later.

John W. Blanch attended the public school in the
country districts for a couple of seasons, and when
eighteen years old he started to make his own waj^
in the world. He took up painting, beginning his
apprenticeship under J. C. Roderick and finishing
under Michael Lenzen, after which, as a journeyman
painter, he worked for Mr. Baird for five years. Then
he became a contractor in painting, and he continued
active in that field for the following eight years, work-

ing throughout the Santa Clara Valley and as far as
Hollister and Livermore. In 1899 he again became
a journeyman, and he has continued as such for the
past twenty years, acting also as a foreman painter,
especially, for years, in the service of Walter McGin-
ley, and during all that time making San Jose his
home. He took up a homestead of 160 acres in the
hills about sixty miles from San Jose; it is a valuable
stock ranch, and is on the Phoenix Mining Road.

At San Jose, on November 4, 1891, Mr. Blanch was
married to Afiss Mattie Aborn. a native of Evergreen.
Santa Clara County, and the daughtr of John Aborn
who had married Marv E. Fullmer, born in San Tose
in October, 1848. Her grandmother. Mrs. Eliza Full-
mer, was a member of the famous Donner party
and came to California in 1846. The Aborn Road
was named after John Aborn. who was a veteran of
the Mexican and also of the Civil War, This pioneer
couple had six children of whom Mrs. Blanch is the
fourth. Four children have blessed this union of
Mr. and Mrs. Blanch. Charles R. is with the Santa
Clara Mill & Lumber Company; he entered the
World War as one of the Grizzlies, on October 23.
1917, and was in the One Hundred Forty-fourth
Field Artillery. He was sent to Camp Kearny and
there he volunteered as a replacement man and was
sent overseas. He left for France on June 28, 1918,
going via England to Brest, and on July 26 went
into battle with his new regiment, the One Hundred
Eighth Infantry, later transferred to the One
Hundred Eighth Field Artillery, and he has credit
for the following offensives: .'kisne-Marne, the Vesle
Sector. .August IS to 18, and August 18 to Septem-
ber 10, Oise-Aisne oflfensive; October 30 to Novem-
ber 11, Ypres-Lys, September 10 to October 10.
Meuse-Argonne. He saw a great deal of active fight-
ing, and was wounded once on the hand with shrap-
nel. He returned to the United States on May 19.
1919. and on June 2 following was discharged.
Hazel, the second child, is the wife of John E. Deeds
of San Jose. Cecile has become the wife of Carle E.
McAdoo. of the Benson Garage at San Jose. Wal-
ter W. Blanch is with the American Can Company.
Mr. Blanch is a Republican, and he is a member
of the Eagles of San Jose.

FRED H. GARDNER.— During the 'SOs men
from all sections of the country were thronging to
California as offering advantages and opportunities
.greater than were possible in the East and it was in
1852 that Daniel Gardner, the father of our subject,
journeyed across the plains with an old time ox-
team train. Fred Gardner was born in the rural
districts near Saratoga. November 29, 1870, the son
of Daniel and Sarah (Kenyon) Gardner. The father
first settled in Placerville and w-orked in the mines
for six years, coming to Santa Clara County in 1858,
and in 1861 bought the ranch where the family have
lived continuously ever since. Daniel Gardner
passed away in 1913, having enjoyed the fruits of
his labors, living for many years in peace and con-
tentment in the beautiful Saratoga section of the
Santa Clara Valley. The mother came with her
family across the plains from St. Joseph. Mo., in
1849, when she was but a small girl of five years,
and on July 9, 1861, the young people met and
were married at Santa Clara. Mrs. Gardner passed
away in 1913, lacking three months of celebrating
their golden wedding anniversary. The old house

r

«>

?»

."V

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

731

still stands on the home place; last year halt of the
roof was reshingled, but the other half of the old
roof still stands. Fifteen apple and ten pear trees
planted by the father in 1863 are still bearing flowers
and fruit each year.

Fred H. attended the grammar school in Saratoga
and upon finishing the course went to the Los Gatos
high school. With the exception of five years when
he was engaged in the grocery business in San
Mateo. Mr. Gardner has been engaged in farming.
His marriage united him with Miss Mabel Deanglar
of Los Gatos, and they have two children. Myrtle
and Frances. Politically Mr. Gardner is a Repub-
lican, and fraternally is an Odd Fellow, being dis-
tric deputy grand master. He is also a member of
the encampment and the Canton, and with his wife
is a member of the Rebekahs. He also belongs to
the Modern Woodmen of America and the Foresters
of America at Saratoga. He finds his recreation in
outdoor life, and gladly aids in all progressive
measures for the upbuilding of Santa Clara County.

F. A. SHERMAN.— An experienced, successful
railroad man who has amply proved that with in-
telligent labor and conscientious attention one may
succeed at horticulture in the Santa Clara Valley and
attain to the most enviable results in this important
division of California agriculture, is F. A. Sherman,
who is operating the two Fassett farms, among the
best cultivated ranches in the Santa Clara Valley.
He was born at Allen, Hillsdale County, Mich., on
November 8, 1861, the son of Frederick Sherman, a
carpenter and builder who had married Miss Sabina
Butterfield; and he was fortunate in being given a
good grammar school education, for circumstances
then compelled him to get out and work for a living.
He secured employment on farms and also engaged
with his father in carpentering; and he commenced
at ranch work when he was only twelve years old
and received five dollars a month. He next learned
telegraphy and was an operator and agent at various
places between Chicago and Lanark, III., on the Chi-
cago and Council Bluffs division of the Chicago, Mil-
waukee & St. Paul Railway, and for nine years he
was at Hampshire, Stillnian Valley, and Ontario-
ville, when he also did considerable relieving at
various stations along the line. In the fall of 1894,
he came to Washington and for fifteen years he was
with the Great Northern Railway Company as sta-
tion agent; and there he became well acquainted with
James J., or "Jim" Hill, as he was familiarly and
affectionately known, the famous railway magnate.

He had also become acquainted with the Fassett
family at Hampshire, 111., and after they moved out
to Santa Clara, Cal., in October. 1896. he married
Miss Calla Fassett, the daughter of the late C. A.
Fassett. After their marriage they went to Wash-
ington, where Mr. Sherman continued in the railway
service until September, 1910, when he came to his
present place of residence and took up the responsi-
bility already referred to. The two ranches aggre-
gate thirty-two acres, and of these he has twenty-
seven acres devoted to the cultivation of prunes, and
five acres to apricots.

Mr. and Mrs. Sherman are the parents of five
children, all of whom are still living. Wilma. a grad-
uate of the College of the Pacific, is the wife of
Justin K. Dyche, who was a second lieutenant of
aviation, and is now connected with the Oahu Col-

lege of Honolulu, as an instructor in chemistry and
mathematics. Marian A. is a graduate of San Jose
State Normal and is a teacher in the Santa Clara
grammar school. Ceylon F. was in the junior train-
ing corps and is a student at the College of the
Pacific, where Edna L. is also studying; and there
is Waldo N. Sherman, attending the grammar school
at Santa Clara. Mr. and Mrs. Sherman are members
of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Santa Clara,
and politically they aim to vote for the best men and
measures without fear or favor. Mr. Sherman be-
longs to the Odd Fellows of Santa Clara and is a
past grand of that order; and he is junior warden
in the Masonic Lodge. All in all, Mr. and Mrs.
Sherman belong to those circles most welcomed in
the Santa Clara community, for they believe in the
future of the great Golden State and never lose an
opportunity to contribute to its permanent progress.

HUGH MACDONALD.— Although retired from
the active cares of life, Hugh Macdonald still takes
an interested part in the affairs of his locality and
can be counted on to to give his aid to all matters
of progress and development. Born in Kings
County, Prince Edward Island, Canada, April 12.
1846, the son of John E. and Margaret (Walker)
Macdonald, also born there of Scotch parents, he
came with his parents to California in 1867 and they
first located in San Francisco, later removing to the
Livermore Valley, where they engaged in farming.
Both parents have passed away, the father having
died in 1870, shortly after removing to the Liver-
more Valley, while the mother died in San Francisco.

Hugh Macdonald was the fourth oldest of twelve
children and began his education in the schools of
Canada. He farmed in the Livermore Valley for
seven years, then spent two years at Santa Maria,
and later removed to the Santa Cruz Mountains,
where he worked in the redwood country for two
seasons. He then took up a ranch in the mountains
at the head of Kings Creek and lived there for eight
years. His marriage in San Jose, December 31,
1881. united hihi with Miss Marcella Moultrie, born
near Santa Clara, and she is the daughter of Riley
Moultrie, who was a member of the Donner party.
The father was a rancher at Santa Clara and later
at Saratoga, and he died in San Jose, being survived
by his widow, who is now ninety-one years old.
Mr. and Mrs. Macdonald are the parents of two sons.
Harland B. and Jerome E., both in the Imperial
Valley, and there is one grandchild.

In 1900 Mr. Macdonald removed to his present
home on the Saratoga Springs Road, which consists
of thirty-nine acres. He cleared the land and set
out the trees, and this highly improved orchard now
yields him a handsome profit each year. He also
has valuable property in the Imperial Valley. For
thirteen years he was the trusted and efficient em-
ployee of the San Jose Water Company and pur-
chased his land from them. He is a stanch Demo-
crat and has served the Castle Rock district as a
school trustee. In 1899 Mr. Macdonald went to
Nome, Alaska, and engaged in mining at Council
City until 1904, during which time he spent two
winters in the frozen North. During his long resi-
dence here he has seen much of the development of
this section of the state and Santa Clara County
and his mental and moral characteristics are such
as have won for him the esteem and confidence of
all who know him.

72>2

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

CAPTAIN RICHARD BAILEY HARPER.— The

name of Captain Richard Bailey Harper is one that is
well known to the citizens of Santa Clara County,
since he has been a resident of this county continuous-
ly for fifty-seven years. Captain Harper has been as-
sociated throughout his entire residence in the West
with the mining interests of the coast. Born at Red-
ruth in Cornwall, England, June 3, 1847, he is a son of
William and Elizabeth (Bailey) Harper; his father,
William Harper, was a mechanical engineer and fol-
lowed his profession all over England, Scotland and
Waes; later in life he was sent to Spain in this line of
work, and passed away there. When Richard B. Har-
per was sixteen years of age he embarked for the
United States, and in November, 1863, he came on a
sailing vessel around Cape Horn to Valparaiso, Chile,
thence on a steamer to Panama, then on the Golden
Gate to San Francisco, arriving in March, 1864, locat-
ing at Grass Valley, where he worked in the mines for
a little over a year; then for two years worked in the
Comstock gold and silver mines at Virginia City,
Nev.; during the year of 1865 he came to Santa Clara
County where he was engaged in the New Almaden
mines for three years; then in the New Idria mines.
He was solicited and returned to his former position
in the Almaden mines and remained there for about
three years. Bj' this time, his experience in the man-
agement of mines, had become varied, and he was en-
gaged as foreman in the Mariposa gold mines for ten
months: thence going to Grass Valley for about one
year and he was then employed as foreman of the
gold mines in Virginia City, Nev.; then was, for a
time, foreman of the Silver Wave Mining Company at
White Pines, Nev.; then for a year and a half was in
charge of the Troy mines, in Nye County, Nev.,
owned and operated by an English company. Re-
turning to San Jose about this time, he was the fortu-
nate discoverer of the North Almaden quicksilver
mines in Santa Clara County, and it was here that he
built his first quicksilver furnace. In 1872 the com-
pany was incorporated under the name of the North
Almaden Quicksilver Mining Company, and their pro-
duction, at one time, amounted to ten tons per day.
The company maintained an office in San Francisco,
but the headquarters were at the mines, Captain Har-
per being general manager and trustee of the com-
pany. The ground on which the mines were located
was leased, and on the expiration of the lease, they
were unable to secure a renewal, and in 1876, the com-
pany was dissolved. Captain Harper then removed to
Sinaloa, Mexico, taking charge of the silver mines of
the Alacan Mining Company of San Francisco. Upon
his return to the United States, he was recommended
to the British government, and was designated as
"Her Majesty's Inspector of Mines." His territory
was confined to British Columbia, and he was thus
engaged for two years. He was instrumental in erect-
ing the first gold mine smelter in Cariboo. Upon
severing his relations with the English government,
he returned to San Jose, and took charge of the Mari-
posa County mines; also the Red Cloud mines, in
which capacity he worked for two years; then for six
years, he travelled in Mexico for an English com-
pany, as mine inspector, traveling from Mexico City
to the northern boundary; he then purchased the New
Almaden mines in Mexico for an American company.
and erected the first continuous quicksilver furnace in
Mexico; he was with this company for two years.
Upon his return to San Jose, he purchased the Santa

Teresa quicksilver mines for a company in Boston,
Mass.; also purchasing what was known as the "Old
Chapman" mine, operating both of these mines for
thre'e years; he again returned to Mexico, this time
purchasing a mine in the state- of Chihuahua, and for
almost a year he operated this mine. He was obliged,
on account of the revolution and unsettled conditions,
to abandon his project, and was fortunate enough to
escape unharmed, although he encountered many
hardships, and was obliged many times to fight for
his life. He has large and valuable interests in
Chihuahua, but is unable to look after them on ac-
count of the conditions there. In all Captain Harper
has made sixty-eight trips to Mexico and return. Still
following the line of work he was best fitted for, in
1907, he became a mine examiner, and was actively
engaged as a mine inspector for seven years, and be-
cause of his varied experience in all manner of mines,
he is considered one of the experts on mining in the
United States. He has held the position of examiner
of mines not only for the British government, but for
the American government, and now, although ad-
vanced in years, is consulted when something unusual
comes up. He has personally inspected every mine
of consequence, from British Columbia to Peru, Bo-
livia, and Chile. South America. He was referred to
as the junior expert, and for years travelled with
George Hearst, the father of William R. Hearst, who
was known as the senior adviser. When questions of
valuation of mining property came up, the junior ex-
pert was always consulted, and his advice often de-
cided the case. Since 1914, he has been obliged to
seek a rest from his active duties, but is often called
in consultation, regarding valuations and productive-
ness of mining properties. At one time he was the
owner of large real estate interests in Santa Clara
County, but now his interests are centered in mining
property; he owns twenty acres of mineral land near
Almaden and is also interested in mines in Mariposa
County, Cal.

Capt. Harper's first marriage on February 22, 1877,
united him with Miss Emma Farnsworth, a native of
San Jose, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Farns-
worth, whose father removed to California as early as
1852 and farmed at Evergreen. Mrs. Harper was edu-
cated in the public schools of San Jose, later attend-
ing the State Normal School. Three children were
born to Captain and Mrs. Harper; William, a mining
engineer employed in Yuma, Ariz.; Marie, deceased in
1917, and Emma, who entered a convent in San Fran-
cisco. There are four grandchildren, the children of
William Harper — William, Jr., Richard, Emma and
Margaret. Mrs. Harper passed away in 1886. The
second marriage in 1907 of Captain Harper united
him with Mrs. Philomena Glubctich, a native of Dal-
matia, her people being pioneers of California in 1870;
she passed away October 2, 1921. Politically Captain
Harper is a stalwart supporter of the principles of the
Republican party. He has a large acquaintance with
prominent men of national fame and was a close
friend of Senator John P. Jones, George Hearst, Irv-
ing and Henry Scott, Mike and Charles De Young,
Senators Fair and Stanford and David McKinley; also
was a close friend of many eastern men of prominence
and national repute. He speaks the Spanish language
fluently. Fraternally he is a Mason, Eagle and an
Odd Fellow. Looking back on a highly useful life,
he is able to review his career with the satisfaction
which very properly comes of the knowledge that no

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

733

taint or blemish has attached to his name, that honor
and integrity have characterized all his transactions,
that an unselfish spirit has actuated him in his per-
sonal dealings with his fellowmen, and that in all
ways he has done what he could to make the world a
little better as the result of a well-planned and well-
spent life.

SAM B. LOWE.— A member of one of the honored
pioneer families of California. Sam B. Lowe is widely
and favorably known in San Jose, where he is now
serving as financial clerk on the board of supervisors
of Santa Clara County and is discharging the duties
of this position conscientiously and efficiently. He
was born May 28, 1872, a son of Waldo H. and Eliza
J. (Whiteman) Lowe, the former of whom was born
in Newburyport, Mass., while the latter was a native
of Missouri. She arrived in California at an early
period in the development of the state, coming to
Santa Clara County with the Pyle-Whiteman party
in 1846. She died in 1919 at the age of seventy-five
years. Mr. Lowe was a brother of Ralph and
James R. Lowe, the family having come to California
via Panama in the early '50s. Waldo Lowe died in
1879. His father was named James R. Lowe, and his
mother was before her marriage Mary Tuckwell.
J. R. Lowe was born in Chesterfield, England, in 1808
and was educated as a landscape gardener and horti-
culturist. It was his fame from his native land that
led him to come to America and he executed some
very fine pieces of landscape gardening in the East.
In 1852 he came to California and with his family
located in San Jose and engaged as a landscape gar-
dener and was the means of bringing here and propa-
gating many valuable plants and trees, a work to
which he was devoted up to the time of his death
in 1874. He was at one time a member of the city
council. Mr. and Mrs. Waldo H. Lowe became the
parents of four children, all residents of Santa Clara
County: Sherburne W.. a rancher of Cupertino; Sam
B., of this review; Waldo H., Jr., connected with
the Bank of San Jose, and Mary R. O'Keefe, also
of Cupertino.

After completing his high school course at San
Jose, Sam B. Lowe was for a short time a student
at Pacific University and when eighteen years of age
started out in life independently, working at odd
jobs while still pursuing his studies. Going to Ag-
new, in Santa Clara County, he there opened the
first general merchandise store in the locality, acting
as postmaster of the town at the same time. For
thirteen years he successfully conducted his mercan-
tile establishment at Agnew and then sold his in-
terest to Messrs. Lewis and King, after which he
came to San Jose. Two years later he secured a
clerical position in the office of the county clerk and
has since been identified with various departments
of the county. Since 1919 he has been financial clerk
of the board of supervisors of Santa Clara County
and is well qualified for this position, proving sys-
tematic, prompt, and reliable in the discharge of his
responsible duties. He also has other interests, being
associated with his sister and brothers in the owner-
ship and operation of a valuable ranch of eighty
acres at Cupertino, devoted to the raising of berries
and other products. This was a part of a quarter-
section of land that was taken up from the govern-
ment by Mr. and Mrs. Lowe.

In San Francisco, Cal., on May 31, 1902, Mr. Lowe
was united in marriage to Miss Annie M. Wade, a

native of Alviso, and a daughter of Harry G. and
Mary Wade. The father, a native of England, came
to the United States as a boy and subsequently made
his way to California, arriving during the pioneer
epoch in its history. In the early days he ran a stage
between San Jose and Alviso and he afterward be^
came an extensive stock raiser and successful
rancher. To Mr. and Mrs. Wade were born three
children: George, residing in Alviso; Margaret, the
wife of J. P. Higgins, of San Jose; and Annie M.,
now Mrs. Lowe.

Air. Lowe gives his political allegiance to the Re-
publican party and fraternally he is connected with
the Masons, belonging to San Jose Lodge No. 10,

F. & A. M., and to San Jose Parlor No. 22, N. S.

G. W. He has led an active and useful life, utiliz-
ing every opportunity to advance, and his present
success is entirely attributable to his close applica-
tion and laudable ambition. His personal character-
istics are those which make for popularity and he
has many warm friends in Santa Clara County.

ROBERT SCOTT. — A man of wide experience
and famous as one of Santa Clara County's success-
ful inventors, the late Robert Scott well deserves an
honorable place in the annals of the Golden State.
He was born in London, Ontario, Canada, on July
29, 1840, the son of William Scott, a brick and stone
mason, a native of Edinburgh, who, migrating to
Canada, became one of the pioneer settlers in West-
minster. As early as 1863 Robert Scott came out
to California and traveled through the state doing
stone and brick mason work; and he helped to build
the old Palace Hotel and also the Hot Springs
Hotel at Paso Robles, and after that he went to
work at the Almaden mines.

The old adobe furnaces were not giving satisfac-
tory service, and this circumstance led our subject
to study the needs of the miner; and in time he in-
vented and patented the Scott furnace for cinnabar
mines, a contrivance which, once it was installed
at Almaden, became a great success. Since that
time, he has installed many of these furnaces, for
quicksilver extraction, in California, Oregon, Nevada
and Mexico; and he even made a trip to Spain to
install one there. He was also negotiating with the
Chinese government to install a Scott furnace for it,
and had a contract to install one of his furnaces at
Marathon, Texas, but his untimely death prevented
the carrying-out of the contract.

At San Jose, in 1881, Mr. Scott was married to
Miss Sarah Walters, a daughter of Walter Walters,
who had married Miss Sarah Scott, and a native of
London, Canada. Her father was a native of Eng-
land, and her mother a native of New York; and
together they migrated to Canada so early that Mrs.
Scott was born there. Mr. Walters was a farmer,
and he had a large family, among whom Sarah was
the youngest. One son, Robert Walter Scott, was
born to this worthy couple, and he is now a rancher
on the Mt. Hamilton Road. The family have been
Presbyterians. Mr. Scott made his home at Alma-
den for about twelve years, and then, in 1895, came
to San Jose, and built a home at 498 South Eleventh
Street. For over sixty years he was a Mason, in
which ancient order he had reached the Thirty-sec-
ond degree. Mrs. Scott is an active member of the
Eastern Star.

On June 22, 1920, Mr. Scott was killed in a dis-
tressing automobile accident. He was leaving his

734

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

home with another man, in the latter's car, when a
large truck struck the machine, rendering him un-
conscious; and inside of four days he died. His
funeral was conducted by the Masonic fraternity.
His tragic death was widely deplored by the com-
munity, where he was held in high esteem.

JOHN LAFAYETTE MAGEE — Success has
crowned the efforts of John Lafayette Magee, who
for many years concentrated his labors and atten-
tion upon farming, but is now retired from the ac-
tive fields of life, while he is enjoying the fruits
of his former toil, occupying a pleasant home at 195
Viola Street, San Jose. He was born on a farm near
Macon City, Mo.. February 12. 1841. a son of Sam-
uel Lewis and Mary Jerusha (March) Magee. both
natives of Bourbon County, Ky.. removing to Mis-
souri about 1835, where the family engaged in farm-
ing for a livelihood. In 1850 he crossed the plains
to California, remaining till 1851 when he returned
home via Panama intending to bring his family to
California, but was taken sick and died at Mound
City, 111., on the trip from New Orleans to Iowa.

When John L. was twelve years of age, his mother
removed to Davis County, Iowa, and settled on
a farm near Bloomfield. There he received his edu-
cation, his spare time being in helping his mother
on the farm. Although married and farming, in Feb-
ruary, 1864. he enlisted for service to his country
in Company E, Third Iowa Cavalry, under Captain
Spencer, and served in the Army of the Cumberland.
He was trained for a short time at Keokuk, Iowa,
and was then sent to Benton Barracks at St. Louis.
In the spring of 1864. his regiment was sent to
Gravelly Spring, Ala., then to Macon, Ga., and at
South Selma, Ala., were in an engagement; also were
in the battle at Columbus, Ga., one of the last of the
Civil War. In the pursuit of General Price, at the
present site of Pleasanton, Kas., they had a battle
and Mr. Magee's horse was shot from under him.
The battle was fought on a flat piece of prairie with
an unobstructed view of both the Federal and Con-
federate lines, which resulted in the capture of the
Confederate officer. General Marmaduke. The town
of Pleasanton, named for General Pleasanton, who
was in command of Federal forces, was afterwards
built on the site of the battle. After his discharge
at Davenport, Iowa, he returned to his home, where
he engaged in farming until 1869, when he moved to
Saunders County, Nebr., and took up a homestead,
also purchased eighty acres in addition. He remained
on the farm until 1888, when he sold his property and
removed to Valparaiso, the same county, where he
established a general merchandise business, which oc-
cupied him for eleven years.

In 1899 Mr. Magee removed to California and re-
tired from active business life. He has made nine
trips across the continent, visiting his old home and
renewing old friendships. The first marriage of Mr.
Magee occurred January 19. 1863, and united him
with Miss Nancy A. Tharp. a daughter of Abner
and Sarah Tharp, born and reared in Davis County,
Iowa. Her father was a farmer and an early pioneer
of Iowa. They were the parents of nine children;
Flora L., now Mrs. Hurtt, residing at Huntington
Park, Cal.. is the mother of four children — Weaver,
Roy, Floy and Stanley. The grandson. Weaver
Hurtt, has a wife and three children — Merle, Helen
and Bruce. Roy Hurtt has a wife and two children —
Ty (named after Ty Cobb, the famous baseball play-

er) and the baby; Floy Hurtt is married and has
two children — Florine and a baby; Stanley Hurtt is
married and has one child — Robert; Oliver N. first
married Annie Scoville and they had one daughter,
Rosalie. His second marriage united him with Miss
Nellie Throop and they had five children — Harold.
Ethel, who is Mrs. Foreman and has a son, Richard;
Elmer, Helen, and Woodrow Wilson, the latter born
the day Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated president.
Harold Magee is married and has two children.
Oliver N. Magee passed away in 1918. Carry Bell
is the wife of Charles Allen, a member of the Board
of Education of San Jose, and they are the parents of
three children — Marie, now Mrs. Woodward, living at
Watsonville; Edith, and Charles Sumner. Lewis J.
married Miss Price and they have four children —
Wallace. Kenneth, Doris and Rosalie, and the family
reside in Idaho; Edwin E., a clothing merchant of
Scotts Bluff, Nebr., married Miss Edna Meserve and
they were the parents of two children — John Bruce,
and Edwin, Jr. By his second marriage he had two
children — Martha Elizabeth, and Lloyd George. Mary
L. married Mr. Brown of San Jose, and they are the
parents of one child. Forest; Abner Bruce passed
away at the age of nineteen years. James L. of Long
Beach is the father of four children — Mary, deceased.
John Paul. Eleanore, and Louise. Anna Helen is now
Mrs. Gordon of Los Angeles. Cal. Mr. Magee's first
wife died in Valparaiso, Nebr.. in 1894.

The second marriage of Mr. Magee occurred at
Reno, Nev., April 29, 1902. and united him with Miss
Martha T. Hunter, born in Renfrewshire, Scotland,
a daughter of John and Jean (Faulds) Hunter. Her
father was a merchant in Scotland. Mrs. Magee came
to America when a young woman and settled in San
Jose. Fraternally Mr. Magee is a member of the
Modern Woodmen, and has been identified with this
order since 1890. In national politics, he is a Demo-
crat; is also active in G. A. R. circles, being a mem-
ber of the Sheridan Dix post of San Jose, and is past
commander, having served in 1915. Mrs. Magee is a
member of the Ladies of the G. A. R. and the Relief
Corps of San Jose. Among the most valued of keep-
sakes of the family are the letters written to his first
wife during the Civil War. Mr. Magee's years of
activity on the farm and in business have told on
him and although he had always been strong and
hearty in 1915 he was stricken with paralysis but he is
able to be around and his mind is alert and he is sur-
rounded by his family of whom he is very proud. He
has ever manifested the deepest interest in questions
of public concern and the three greatest public move-
ments he has engaged in during his life and which all
won the day are the emancipation of the negro,
woman's suffrage and the placing of the Eighteenth
.'Kmendment as a part of the Constitution of the
L^nited States, making a success of Prohibition, of
which he has always been such a staunch supporter.

WILLIAM FRANCIS HOQUE.— No profession
is more useful or important than that of relieving
the sufferings of mankind, and William F. Hoque
has. through his cancer remedies, been able to as-
suage the suffering of many since he has taken up
the work left by his father, the late Francis Marion
Hoque. W. F. Hoque was born in Jackson County,
Mo., December 25, 1872. a son of Francis Marion
and Melissee (Good) Hoque; the former was born
in Clay County. Mo., in 1844, a son of James M.
Hoque, a pioneer of Clay County who had migrated

'U^ ^.(ifU^

7

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

72,7

from South Carolina in the early '30s. James M.
was a man of many resources, investing in govern-
ment lands upon which he conducted a large sugar
plantation; his individual brand of maple sugar, mar-
keted under his own label, being the most note-
worthy. He died in 1884, aged eighty-six.

Severe reverses were suffered during the Civil
War and the Hoque family moved to Kansas City,
where F. M. Hoque established a general merchan-
dise business and carried it on until 1875, when he
sold out and migrated to California, locating in Santa
Clara County near San Jose. Melissee Good Hoque
was born and reared in Ray County, Mo., where
her parents were highly esteemed. Two of her
brothers survived service during the Civil War.

The early records of the Hoque family- show French
and German ancestry, and the cancer remedy dates
back to the old country and the formula has been
handed down from generation to generation for
over one hundred years, and thousands of cures have
been effected by its application. F. M. Hoque es-
tablished and maintained his manufactory and busi-
ness headquarters in Los Angeles, but always made
San Jose his home. His successful practice covered
a period of thirty-five years and many thousands are
grateful to him for relief from their intense suffer-
ings. He was a man of keen intellect and was highly
esteemed by all who knew him. He died on Feb-
ruary 2, 1921. He was an active member of the
Masons for over fifty years and held the first manual
of the San Jose Chapter; and he was also a member
of the Odd Fellows. Mrs. Hoque passed away some
time prior to the death of her husband: and they
were survived by four sons and one daughter: Wil-
liam F.; A. Luster, deceased, is survived by his
widow and two sons and a daughter who reside in
San Jose. He was a department manager for O. A.
Hale & Company up to the time of his death in 1919;
James E. resides with his wife and two sons on a
ranch at Ceres, Stanislaus County: Annie May is
the wife of P. H. Hilderbrand and they reside in
San Luis Obispo with their two sons and one
daughter; and LeRoy is married and has two boys.

For several years William F. Hoque was the mana-
ger for the Hoque Cancer Remedies, which have be-
come widely known all over California. He is a keen
business man with progressive ideas and very wisely
invested his profits in lands in Santa Clara, Madera,
and Stani-laus Counties. These properties he has
partiall\' improved and sold at comfortable advances.
One of his latest investhients was in apartment house
property in San Jose, when he became interested in
the purchase of the Don Felipe Apartment house
building. Mr. Hoque is a liberal patron of all pro-
gressive local enterprises, is broadminded and well-
informed, a typical representative of the wideawake,
large hearted pioneer.

The marriage of W. F. Hoque united him with
Miss Bertha Merriweather. born in San Benito
County in 1877, a daughter of David and Amanda
Merriweather, both born in New York State, and who
crossed the plains in the early SO's and settled at
Mission San Jose. There the father enga.ged ex-
tensively in the sheep business. Mr. and Mrs. Hoque
have four children: William D. and Elmer .\. are
ranching; and Herbert and Florence are attending
school. The two eldest sons enlisted for service
in the U. S. Navy for service during the World War.
from Stanislaus County and after their discharges

returned to that county and are ranching near Mo-
desto. In his national political convictions W. F.
Hoque is a Democrat, but locally he is broadminded
and supports the men and measures he considers
best suited for the interests of the county and the
people. He is always ready and willing to do his
part to promote the greatest good to the greatest
number and stands high in the community.

FRANK W. COOMBS.-The standing of Frank
U. Coombs IS vouched for from the fact that for
thirty-two years he has occupied the position of
chief cngmeer at the State Hospital at Agnew. A
native son. he was born at Stockton, Cal., January 7
1862, the son of William L. Coombs, an early settler
of California, who came via the Isthmus of Panama
m 1852. His grandfather. Samuel Coombs was
born September 1. 1832 at Waldo, Maine. Frank W.
IS the descendant of a Massachusetts family of dis-
tmction, his great-great-grandfather on the paternal
side having served in a Massachusetts regiment dur-
ing the Revolutionary War. The grandfather, Sam-
uel Coombs, was born in Maine and brought up on
a farm. He later embarked in the lumber business
and located at Bangor. Maine, where he resided un-
til his death at a comparatively early age. He mar-
ried Miss Sarah Mayhew, born in Maine, the daugh-
ter of a soldier of the War of 1812. She survived
her husband, came to California with her son Wil-
liam L. Coombs, and passed away in Stockton in her
eighty-first year.

William L. Coombs was brought up and educated
m Bangor, Maine, and from early boyhood worked
in the lumber yard and mill. Starting for California
in the sprirg of 1852, they arrived in San Francisco
the same year and went directly to Stockton. For
a time he was engaged in mining in the southern
mines, but later accepted a position in a store in
Stockton. He located in San Jose in 1868, engaging
first in the laundry business but later assumed the
responsible position of chief engineer of the San Jose
high school. In Stockton, Cal., Mr. Coombs married
Miss Emma E. Griswold, a native of New York
State, and they are the parents of two children, Ed-
ward and Frank W., of this review. Mr. Coombs
died m San Jose in 1916, aged eightv-four, his widow
survives at the age of eighty, hale and hearty and in
full possession of all her faculties

Frank W. attended the Horace Mann school in
San Jose. When about seventeen years of age he
was employed as fireman by the Southern Pacific
Railway Company and remained with them for six
years. He then spent two years in Washington, and
in October, 1888. he became an engineer at the State
Hospital at Agnew and has creditably filled this
position for thirty-two years, working his way to his
present position as chief engineer. On April 16.
1890. at Stockton, he was married to Miss Frances
Boehm, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Haas) Boehm.
born and reared in Oregon City. Ore. They are the
parents of one son. Leonard Tracy, who saw service
in the heavy artillery during the late war. and after
his discharge became traffic engineer for the Pacific
Telephone and Telegraph Company at San Fran-
cisco and is now maintenance engineer for that com-
pany. He graduated from the University of Cali-
fornia in 1913 in mechanics and electricity.

Mr. Coombs has been a member of Garden City
Lodge I. O. O. F., since 1880. Politically he is a
stanch Republican. The family reside at 98 North

7i8

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Fifth Street, San Jose, in a house which was erected
forty years ago. He has always been interested in all
movements that pertain to the general welfare of the
community and his cooperation can be counted upon
to further any measures for the public good.

HAMILTON C. WHITNEY— Prominent among
the substantial representative citizens of Santa Clara
County whose fortunes have come to them as the
reward of their own perseverance and indomitable
energy is Hamilton C. Whitney, who is now living
in retirement at his home in San Jose. A study of
the record of his long and useful life doubtless will
prove a source of profit and inspiration to many young
men of today who embark upon self-supporting
careers no better equipped than he. Mr. Whitney was
born in Wellsville, N. Y., October 13, 1834, a son of
H. C. Whitney, also a native of New York. Remov-
ing from New York State to Ohio his father was en-
gaged in farming, and there he passed away; his
mother having died v^hen he was but a babe in
arms. In 1847 he accompanied the family of William
Whitney, although no relation, to Michigan, where
he engaged in work on farms.

The marriage of Mr. Whitney occurred on May
21, 1854, and united him with Miss Olive Whitney,
the daughter of Eli Whitney, a native of New York.
She was born in Seneca County, Ohio, June 12, 1836.
Mr, and Mrs. Whitney removed to Warren, 111., and
were farming at the outbreak of the Civil War. In
July, 1862, Mr. Whitney volunteered and enlisted in
Company B, Ninety-sixth Illinois infantry. During
the great Battle of Chickamauga, he was wounded
by a ball which penetrated his left lung, passing en-
tirely through his body; he lay on the battlefield
from the afternoon of September 20 to the evening of
the 28th, when he was picked up by Confederate sol-
diers. It seems almost impossible that a human be-
ing could survive the terrible agony and suffering he
endured those eight days. He was paroled on the
battlefield and spent three months in the field hos-
pital, when he was well enough to return home.
Two months later he was sent to the hospital at Chi-
cago, and on July 28, 1864, he was honorably dis-
charged. Immediately he returned to his home in
Illinois, but was never able thereafter to engage in
farming.

In 1877 he came to Greenville, Plumas County,
California, and engaged in butchering, then he re-
moved to Utah for a short time and conducted a store
at Park City. During the year of 1886, Mr. Whit-
ney removed to Templeton, San Luis Obispo County,
California, where he became postmaster from 1892
to 1900; then he migrated to Oakland, and it was
here that he retired from active life, purchasing a
home in the beautiful residential district of Piedmont.
The charms of the beautiful Santa Clara Valley ap-
pealed to him as a more restful place to spend his
declining years, and in the fall of 1914 he removed,
with his family to Los Gatos, where he resided for a
number of years; recently he purchased a fine resi-
dence property at 357 North Nineteenth Street, San
Jose, and is enjoying the comforts of a modern home,
content to spend his remaining days in the Garden
City of California. Mrs. Whitney is a direct desctnd-
ant of the Whitney family of colonial days; her father
served in the War of 1812; her grandfather was in
the Revolutionary War, and other members of her
family were prominent in early American history. On

May 21, 1904, Mr. and Mrs. Whitney celebrated their
golden wedding anniversary; fifty friends enjoyed the
hospitality of their beautiful home in the Piedmont
hills. Mr. Whitney is a staunch Republican in his
national politics, and cast his first vote for Abraham
Lincoln in 1864. Mrs. Whitney cast her first ballot
while a resident of Utah, although it was for local offi-
cers only. Fraternally, Mr. Whitney is a Knights
Tepiplar Mason; also a member of the Sheridan Dix
Post No. 7, G. A. R., San Jose, with his wife he is a
member of O. E. S. Two children were born to Mr.
and Mrs. Whitney; Frank E., an invalid since 1856,
passed away in 1897; Clarence Eugene was married
to Miss Luela May Beebe, and they now reside in
Campbell, California.

Following is a poem written by Mrs. Olive Whit-
ney, and dedicated to her husband May 21, 1904, the
fiftieth anniversary of their wedding, and entitled,
"Reminiscence of Life's Journey":

Fond memories come crowding around.

As I sit and muse today,
On the joys and sorrows I have found

Along life's checkered way.

My thoughts will backward turn to you,

And the far, far distant past.
And I wonder if it can be true.

That time has flown so fast.

'Twas fifty years ago, dear heart,

Just fifty years ago.
When you and I first made the start

For Life, come weal or woe.

And well we knew that we must meet.

As we journeyed on together,
Somewhere on life's crooked street.

Storms as well as sunny weather.

We did not mind the hardships

Nor were the long days sad.
For we were toiling for each other.

And this made our young hearts glad.

We were very, very young, then, dear.
Scarce eighteen years and twenty,

Of earthly cares we had no fears.
For we had love in plenty.

With us time glided swiftly, fleet.

For two short years and more,
Then we thought our joy complete.

With a gift from heaven's shore.

Of a wee, tiny, little bud.

While we were scarce in life's flower.
But we thought God was very good,

And we blessed him every hour.

Thus time sped sweetly, swiftly by.

And we had just begun,
To think all was sunshine in our sky.

Then came the cloud of '61.

Aye, the dark, dark cloud of war had rolled

All o'er our own fair land
When every loyal man was called

To meet the rebel band.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

741

Then came the darkest shadow

That we had ever known,
When you were called to go,

And we were left alone.

Those times tried men's souls, dear heart.

And women's, too, as well,
'When with you we were forced to part
And in suspense to dwell.

But we weathered the storm and you returned

All bent, and maimed, and sore.
But the lesson that you in the war had learned

Made you appreciate home the more.

Oh, that was a sad, sad time, dear,

I could not stay the falling tear.
When the little boy you loved, dear,

Fled from you in fear.

But the time flew quickly by, dear.

And then to us was given
Another precious bud, dear,

Fresh from the gates of Heaven.

While our first born lived we were ne'er alone.

He was with us many years.
And when the angels called him home.

We wept most bitter tears.

But our baby boy is with us yet.

And although to manhood grown,
My mother's heart cannot forget

And I claim him still my own.

Another now on him has claim,

And I am very glad he sought her;

I do not lose my son, but gain
A darling little daughter.

Yes time has sped on dear,

And come storms or sunny weather.

We'll stand up for the right
And face our lot together.

And when the time shall come at last,

That we are called away,
For the time between us, to be quickly past

I most earnestly pray.

And when we meet on the other shore.

Where earthly toils are done.
We'll take up life and start once more

On a journey well begun.

And when we gain that happy land

In truth we'll strive to grow
Still united in heart and hand

As fifty years ago.

Now in the sunset of life, with many years of ac-
tivity behind them, one may safely predict for Mr.
and Mrs. Whitney years of peace and prosperity,
which accompany their success and prestige which
they so richly deserve.

CHAUNCEY H. WHITMAN.— For twenty-
seven years Chauncey H. Whitman has been engaged
in the hardware business at Campbell, and during
that period he has built up a reputation as one of
the most reliable and enterprising merchants of the
town. A native of Wisconsin, he was born in Win-
nebago County, near Omro, April 6, 1861, a son of
Benjamin H. and Martha (Ross) Whitman, both
now deceased. After graduating from the schools
of his state, he engaged in the hardware business,
which he followed in Wisconsin, Ortonville, Minn.,
and Centerville. S. D., until he decided to make
California his future home. In 1895 he arrived in San
Jose, and purchased an orchard near Campbell, and
on March first of that year opened his present estab-
lishment at Campbell, whicli he has since success-
fully conducted. He carries a large and well-assorted
stock of shelf and heavy hardware, also handles
paints and oils, and conducts a complete plumbing
business. With the passing years his business has
enjoyed a continuous growth, having now assumed
large proportions.

Mr. Whitman married Mrs. Mary (Ayres) Davis,
of Illinois, and they have a large circle of friends in
Campbell. He is a Knight Templar and a thirty-
second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member
of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Fran-
cisco. Mr. Whitman is now the pioneer merchant
in Campbell, which has given him the well-merited
title as dean of the business men. He is an ac-
tive member of the Campbell Improvement Club
and a charter member of the San Jose Com-
mercial Club, and in matters of citizenship he
is loyal, progressive, and public-spirited.

WILLIAM SHERMAN GARDNER.— A repre-
sentative citizen of California, keenly interested in
all the problems pertaining to progressive horti-
culture, agriculture and the development and advance-
ment of the county is William Sherman Gardner, an
orchardist living southwest of San Jose on Phelps
Avenue. He was born in Santa Clara County at the
old Kenyon homestead on Homestead Road, Decem-
ber 13, 1864, the son of Daniel and Sarah (Kenyon)
Gardner, the former born in Ohio, the latter a native
of Missouri. Daniel Gardner came in an ox team
tram to California in 18S0, when twenty-three years
old, and after spending some time in the mines in
Northern California, came on to Santa Clara County
in 1853 and settled on part of the Quito Ranch
Later he bought 167 acres on the McCall Road and
farmed there; he also set out fifty-five acres of
orchard, among the first to set out fruit trees in
that section. He died there at the age of eighty-
seven years, the mother preceding him about one
year, at the age of sixty-seven. Grandfather James
M. Kenyon also brought his family across the plains
in the early '50s and was a pioneer of this county.
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Gardner were the parents of
six children; William S.. the subject of our sketch:
Frank and Clarence H., deceased; Fred H. resides
on a part of the home place, as do Mrs. Mattie D.
Harmon and Alice M., who became the wife of F. D.
Sanders. During the Civil War, Daniel Gardner was
a lieutenant of a militia company formed in Cali-
fornia but was never called out of the state; he re-
ceived his commission from Governor Stanford. He
was always an adherent of the Republican party.

William Sherman Gardner enjoyed the advantages
of the public school system in the district of Sara-

742

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

toga, also helping his father on the farm. When he
became of age he engaged as a fruit grower and
operated a ranch of his own. At Saratoga on June
18, 1890. Mr. Gardner was married to Miss Hattie
Smith, also a native of California, born in San Fran-
cit^co, and the adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
G. M. Smith. Her father was James Harris Ham,
a native of Portland, Maine, who came around the
Horn to San Francisco in about 1854. A passenger
on the same sailing vessel was Miss Harriet Hill
Brown, who was born in New Hampshire, and the
acquaintance thus made culminated in their marriage
in San Francisco. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner became
the parents of four children: Winnifred, deceased;
Lillian; William Raymond; and Daniel Harris. In
religious faith, they are affiliated with the Congre-
gational Church.

FATHER JEROME SEXTUS RICARD, S. J.—
Distinguished among the already large number of
scholarly leaders in the Roman Catholic Church in
America, Father Jerome Sextus Ricard, director of
the Observatory of the University of Santa Clara, and
popularly termed, on account of his remarkable suc-
cess in predicting weather changes, the Padre of the
Rains, has come to be especially famous along the
Pacific Coast, and has conferred additional fame on
the steadily-developing institution of learning with
which he has been so long and actively identified. He
has also set the scientific world to thinking about
several matters of profound interest, including the
sun-spot conundrum, concerning which he has a
theory of his own; and if all the fellow scientists in
the universe do not exactly agree with him, he has
at least caused them to sit up and notice the exist-
ence and the industry of the University of Santa
Clara, and has directed their thoughts frequently
toward one of the garden spots of the Golden State.

He was born at Plaisians, near Avignon, France,
on January 2L 1850, a son of Leger and Mary Ann
(Eysartel) Ricard, the only one of seven children in
America, the rest of the family being three brothers
and three sisters. His grandfather, Joseph Ricard,
was a substantial French peasant, and his father fol-
lowed the same rural occupation, on which account
our subject, too, worked on the home farm and tilled
the soil. His early education was in the common
schools of the Plaisians district; and there he was
taken up by the parish priest, who taught him Latin
and Greek. He then entered the Jesuit College at
Avignon, France, and there pursued a regular college
course. He then traveled extensively through Algiers
and Northern Africa, and having returned to Mar-
seilles, he took a boat for Alexandria, Egypt, bound
for Syria. His plans, however, were changed. He
stopped at Messina, then went to Naples, and after
that to Rome and Turin, and there he finished his
course in belles lettrcs; and then, meeting the
Superior of the Jesuits, on June 21, 187L he joined
their order. He was sent to Monaco, and was sta-
tioned near the Casino, and there he studied, prepara-
tory to taking up the work of the ministry.

On September 10, 1873, he came to Santa Clara,
as one of five Jesuit students from Northern Italy and
France, and he then entered the University of Santa
Clara, where he pursued a three years' course in
rational philosophy, including logic, psychology, on-
tology, cosmology and moral science. He next went
to Woodstock College in Marjdand, and there pursued

the regular four years' theological course; and having
concluded the work required of him, he was or-
dained, by the late Cardinal Gibbons, in ceremonies
lasting through August 24, 25 and 26, 1886, and so
made a member of the Roman Catholic priesthood.
He then returned to Santa Clara College and became
professor of mathematics and moral philosophy; and
when, in 1890, the Observatory was installed, he de-
voted to it his spare time. Since then, under his
able leadership, the interest in the work of the Ob-
servatory has grown, and the astronomical depart-
ment has become the most widely known of all the
divisions of the University.

There is a fairly good working telescope, with an
eight-inch objective made by Clark of Cambridge, and
mounted by Fauth & Company, of Washington, D.
C; and there is also a complete radio receiver, 120
feet high. There is a seismographic laboratory con-
taining two instruments for recording earthquakes,
and a second telescope with a four-inch objective, to
serve as a companion, or quid, to the astronomical
camera, a brand-new camera, one of the most up-to-
date instruments in existence, being now on the way
from Paris. There is also a fairly complete set of
meteorological instruments. Three assistant profes-
sors, all graduates of the University of Santa Clara,
are adjuncts to Father Ricard.

The Santa Clara Observatory publishes a seismic
bulletin, which appears occasionally, and contributes
astronomical matter, from time to time, to the lead-
ing San Francisco and San Jose papers. It also pub-
lishes an astronomical magazine devoted to astron-
omy, sun-spots and the weather, and it makes
weather observations gratis for the Government. In
many respects, Father Ricard has departed from the
old ruts, and as with Copernicus and Tycho Brahe, he
has been singled out for unfriendly criticism and oppo-
sition, even perhaps to the point of persecution. He
has a new view regarding sun-spots, especially in
reference to the weather, and he has been prompt and
frank in making known his revolutionary theories.
The old method consisted in taking the spots in the
sun indiscriminately, making no distinction between
position and position, making the sum of them for a
given month, a given 3'ear, a given period of years
and then comparing the average sum with the known
records of sun-spots and weather for corresponding
periods of known weather conditions; but according
to the new method proposed by Father Ricard, sun-
spots are considered as having an effect on the
weather, only when they stand on the central merid-
ian, in which case, if they happen to be in the North-
ern hemisphere, they produce storms, on the Western
Coast of the United States; but if they are in the
Southern hemisphere they produce the opposite effect,
and thereby the sun-spots account for all the weather
in the United States and Canada. This is an entirely
new theory which originated solely with Father
Ricard, and while he has been the subject of attack
and unfriendly criticism, the basic principles of his
theory have not suffered at the hands of his op-
ponents, and he has become, in consequence or
despite the opposition, world-famous. On July 8.
1921, he published his observations on sun-spots and
atmospheric waves looking back to 1913, when he
declared that daily observation revealed only a few
sun-spots and faculae, and this coincided with the year
as a stern, rare, extreme minimum. But even so, the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

745

physical law connecting the sun-spots with highs and
lows in relation to cause and effect held as invariably
as since. The only difference has been that whereas,
throughout 1914-20, one could, by means of the spots
and faculae, account for every high and low in the
weather way, the fewness of the spots and faculae
during 1913 has left very many highs and lows un-
accounted for. Since the conclusions were reached
the review of sun-spot weather work has been pushed
back to the year 1907 with the same results. All the
highs and lows have now also been accounted for by
means of planetary conjunctions and oppositions to
which the sun-spots are originally traced.

Personally, Father Ricard is a very interesting and
congenial character, and at seventy-two is bright and
active, all of which was evident at the Golden Jubilee
Celebration in his honor at the University of Santa
Clara on May 30, 1921, which was largely attended.
It marked the fiftieth j-ear of his entrance into the
order of tlie Jesuits, and the bells of fourteen mis-
sions rang forth merrily as the joyous day opened
with high mass. Graduates of Santa Clara, dignitaries
of the church, and friends and visitors, ten thousand
persons or more in all, gathered to pay homage to the
Padre of the Rains, and against the old adobe walls
of the historic mission the redwood altar at which the
mass was sung was banked with flowers, and tower-
ing high was a redwood cross standing out in a back-
ground of golden broom, so that the veteran prelate
may well be said to have taken his place in the sun,
following his prediction that for the big celebration
the skies would be bright.

The celebration commenced at eleven with a solemn
high mass, at which Father Ricard was the celebrant.
His Grace, Archbishop Edw^ard J. Hanna, of San
Francisco, preached the sermon. Assisting at the
mass were: The Rt. Rev. Joseph S. Glass, bishop of
Salt Lake City; the Rt. Rev. Thomas Grace, bishop of
Sacramento; the Rt. Rev. John J. Cantwell, bishop of
Los Angeles; Monsignor James P. Cantwell, Rev.
William Flemming of San Rafael, Rev. Thomas
O'Connell of Oakland, and Rev. Joseph P. McQuaide
of San Francisco. Thirty-three choristers, from St.
Patrick's Seminary at Menlo Park, sung the mass,
while at eleven o'clock, in various portions of the
state, fourteen historic missions tolled their bells.
Immediately following the mass, the tolling of the
bells of the Mission Santa Clara was the signal for
the alumni to rise and observe a "minute of silence"
in memory of the Santa Clara men who were killed
in the World War. Then came a public reception to
Father Ricard, and after the alumni luncheon, ath-
letic contests, alumni election and banquet, speeches
were made by William F. Humphrey, president of the
Olympic Club and the toastmaster; Rev. Timothy L.
Murphy, president of the University; Chauncey F.
Tramutolo, president of the Alumni Association;
Joseph Scott of Los Angeles, James A. Bacigalupi,
John J. Barrett, Senator James D. Phelan, James L
Flood, Col. Charles E. Stanton, M. Delmas, Arch-
bishop Edward J. Hanna, and, last but by no means
least, Father Ricard. The speeches commenced at
half-past eight o'clock in the evening, and an hour
later there was illuminated flying, when the celebra-
tion concluded with an aerial parade, during which
the name "Ricard" was spelled in the skies.

Apropos of the celebration. Father Ricard received
a delegation sent by aeroplane from the San Fran-

cisco Call, and gave to them a message for the great
body of his friends throughout California. In this,
transmitted, with photographs of the events of the
day, by flying machine to the Call's office in the Bay
city, he said: "Fifty years ago I joined the Jesuits
because I knew that they cultivated sanctity, loved
learning and science. During my stay with them I
have been happy as a lark, and shall ever be grateful
to a kind Providence for the blessings of my vocation.
Availing myself of this opportunity, I shall thank all
those who have appreciated my efforts in harmonizing
the noble science of astronomy to something practical
on behalf of Coast navigation, and the general farm-
ing and industrial interests of California and the
whole country. Your humble servant had, with this
end in view, to knock down a few antiquated ideas in
regard to sun-spots, and introduce new ones. My
warmest thanks to Professor See, Mare Island Ob-
servatory; to the wise director of the students' ob-
servatory. University of California; to Dr. W. W.
Campbell of the Lick Observatory, for valuable criti-
cism and encouragement; to Prof. Walter Adams and
Prof. G. E. Hale of the Mt. \Vilson Observatory, for
nev/ lore about sun-spots; to Prof. Alex. McAdie of
Harvard, to Messrs. Beals and Willson, Weather
Bureau at San Francisco, and to R. F. Stupart, direc-
tor of the Canadian Meteorological Service."

Father Ricard has attained much distinction on
account of his predictions in regard to the weather,
verifications of his forecasts having been published
month after month. Following is given the May,
1922, schedule of predictions, published the previous
month:

May 1, still under the previous disturbance, but
rather fair. A strong high pressure wave hastening
to clear the sky.

May 2, 3, 4, fair.

May 4, a rather severe storm will invade the North-
west, be reinforced on the fifth and move to the
Southeastward over Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Ari-
zona, with some threat in California and little or no
chance for rain.

Ma}- 6, a smart cool wave driving the storm away,
continued on the seventh. (Cool wave is here synony-
mous with high pressure area.;

May 8, 10, a moderate depression passing over the
Canadian Northwest, affecting portions of the North
Pacific States and barely touching California, owing
to the resistance of high pressures on the ninth.
Nearly fair on the eleventh, fair on the twelfth and
thirteenth.

May 14, an unually severe storm will arrive from
the North Pacific ocean, land over British Columbia
and Washington, slur over Oregon and, on the fif-
teenth, make it cloudy or partly so in parts of Cali-
fornia, even as far as Tehachapi. A high pressure
area w-ill at the same time settle on the Southern side
of the low and arrest its Southward motion.

May 17, fair here, cloudy over Northern California
and beyond to the Northwestward and Eastward.

May 18, 19, 20, another accumulating disturbance
of some intensitj- w-ill run over the North Pacific
States, producing general cloudiness, promising some
rain over there, with little change of reaching serene
California. High pressures beginning to enter on the
eighteenth.

746

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

May 21, 22, diminishing cloudiness from here to
Vancouver. Clear or partly cloudy in Southern Cali-
fornia.

May 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, high pressure dominant,
making it fair and increasingly warm from San Diego
to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. May 27, late
in the day, a minor disturbance (area of moderately
low barometer) will reach British Columbia and run
Eastward, with little or no effect in California, be-
yond some transient cloudiness on the twenty-eighth,
when a high pressure will take possession.

May 31, another minor depression of no conse-
quence in these parts, except a few clouds.

June 3, 4, bad weather over North Pacific States;
way open down the Coast; possibly some rain in Cali-
fornia, Northern and Southern.

Conclusions: —

1. The Centennial Celebration at Santa Clara will
be held without any serious meteorological visitation.

2. The Sacramento Fair, in gay attire, will gladly
run its course unmolested.

EDWARD CARPENTER ELLET.— Prominent
among the various distinguished members of the fa-
mous Ellet family of American patriots may be in-
cluded Edward Carpenter EUet of Mayfield, the father
of Alfred VV. Ellet, vice-president, and Charles Ellet,
cashier of The Stanford Bank at Palo Alto and May-
field. He is a son of the late Brig.-Gen Alfred
Washington Ellet of Civil War fame. The Ellet
family originates from French Huguenot and Quaker
stock and goes back to the days of William Penn.
This family is closely related to, and descended from,
two noted pioneer Quaker families of Pennsylvania,
namely that of Thomas Lloyd and Samuel Carpenter,
both of whom were intimately connected with the
earliest Colonial history of Penn's Woodland The
Lloyd family is one of the most ancient and sub-
stantial families of Great Britain, having a genealogy
which reaches back to William the Conqueror and
even to Charlemagne. Thomas Lloyd, the progenitor
of the Lloyd family in America, served many years
as Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania. He was the son
of Charles Lloyd, a gentleman of rank and fortune
and of ancient family and estate called "Dolobran"
in Montgomeryshire, in North Wales. He grew up
n-. Wales and was educated at Oxford and is repre-
sented as possessing superior attainments joined
with great benevolence and activity of character.
He died in Philadelphia in 1694, aged fifty-four years.
The historian. Watson, in his Annals of Philadelphia,
says: "Having established his colony on the broad
principles of charity and constitutional freedom, he
iPenn) left his executive power in the hands of the
Council under the Presidency of Thomas Lloyd, an
eminent Quaker. Penn was absent about fifteen years.
Thomas Lloyd joined the Society of Friends in 1662
and became a highly useful and eminent member
thereof. He arrived in Pennsylvania in 1683 and died
July 10, 1694, honored by all who knew him."

The second noted progenitor of the family was
Samuel Carpenter, who was also a Quaker, a con-
temporary of, and a co-worker with, Penn. He was
born in 1650 in England, and joined Penn in Phila-
delphia in 1682; became a great merchant and very
prominent in political ways and died in 1714, being
then the treasurer of the province. Of him Watson,
the historian says: " The name of Samuel Carpenter
i.s connected with everything of a public nature in the

annals of Pennsylvania. I have seen his name at
every turn in searching the old records. He was the
Stephen Girard of his day in wealth, and the William
Sansoni in the improvements he suggested and edi-
fices which he built."

Samuel Carpenter settled near the present site of
Salem, N. J. and from the union of his daughter
to one Charles Ellet, who was of French Huguenot
extraction, was born another Charles Ellet. He was
a man of sterling quality and married Miss Mary
Israel, the daughter of Israel Israel, a Philadelphian
of wealth, political and social standing, who was
noted in his day as a patriot, and who did much as a
niember of the "Committee of Safety" to establish
American Independence. From this union sprang the
great Ellet family of the Mississippi River Ram
Meet and Marine Brigade which attained undying
f;.me during the course of the Civil War, Mary
Ellet was also a patriot, and her wonderful character
is truthfully and eloquently set forth in the following
extract from an article by John W. Forney, pub-
lished in the Philadelphia Press: "Her familiarity
with American history for seventy-five years, includ-
ing many of the characters who figured in and after
the Revolution — her patriotic ancestors and descen-
dants— her own passionate love of country inherited
from one and transmitted to the other — her spotless
reputation — entitles her, I think, more than any other
of her sex, to the appellation of the American Cor-
nelia. In writing of her, I cherish no purpose of
vain eulogy — I write solely to preserve the record
of a remarkable life, that it may not be lost among
men, and to present an example which every Amer-
ican woman may study with pleasure and with pro-
fit. Rarely has there been such a resemblance be-
tween two persons as between the illustrous Roman
matron and Mary Ellet — both renowned for purity
of character, vigorous intellect, and a virtuous am-
bition. Their love of country was supreme."

Charles and Mary Ellet became the parents of si.x
sens, four of whom grew to manhood and all of whom
gained distinction and prominence, namely, Charles
Ellet, Jr , the famous engineer and inventor who or-
iginated the Naval Ram and built and commanded the
Mississippi River Ram Fleet; John I. Ellet, the pio-
neer of the West, well known to the early history
of San Francisco and San Jose; Dr. Edward Carpen-
ter Ellet, a well known physician at Bunker Hill,
111.; and Brig. Gen. Alfred Washington Ellet, who
was the father of the subject of the sketch.

Charles Ellet, Jr., the famous engineer, naval
genius and hero, was born in Bucks County, Pa.,
January 1, 1810, and although he grew up on a farm,
his inclinations led him to mathematics and engi-
neering pursuits. After helping to build the Chesa-
peake & Ohio Canal, he was able to visit Europe
for study, and completed his education in the Ecole
Polytechnique in Paris, after which he became an
engineer on the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, then
on the Erie, and subsequently was chief engineer of
the James & Kanawha Canal. In 1842 he planned
and built the first wire suspension bridge in this
ccuntrv. it being a foot bridge, stringing it across
the Schuylkill River at Philadelphia. He designed
and built the first suspension bridge across the Niag-
ara River below the falls in 1847. As a matter of in-
terest and as a showing of his bold fearlessness, it may
be here related that he drove a team or a carriage with

C .^. ^ l_OiIj.J "^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

749

lui daughter, Mary Virginia Ellet, who is now Mrs.
Mary Virginia EUet Cabell of Washington, D. C,
in the seat behind him across this bridge without any
side railing, swaying with every footstep, over the
surging waters of the rapids below, from Canada
to the United States, while thousands of terrified
spectators w'ho were skeptical as to the safety of the
bridge, held their breaths in silent horror. Mrs.
Mary \'irginia Ellet Cahrll, formerly of Norwood,
\ a., but now of WashmHlon, D. C, is. and for about
a quarter of a centur}- last past, has been President
Presiding of the Daughters of the American Revo-
lution, a position of honor which no one else has ever
l.eld. She is an own cousin of Ex-Secretary o-f the
Navy, Josephus Daniels, and of United States Sena-
tor John Daniels of Virginia.

Among the many important engineering works
planned and successfully consummated by Charles
HUet was the laying out of the temporary route of
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad across the Cumber-
land Mountains, which was used while the great
tunnel was being made.

Charles Ellet, Jr., has the particular distinction of
being the first to advocate a definite plan for the
use of sleam rams, and suggested a plan to the Rus-
sian government by which the allied fleet before
Sebastopol might be destroyed. At the beginning
of the Civil War in 1861, he became interested in
military matters and devoted much attention to the
use of rams in naval warfare. He sent a plan for
cutting off the Confederate Army at Manassas to
General McClellan, who rejected it, and Ellet then
wrote two pamphlets censuring McClellan's mode of
conducting the campaign. He urged upon the Gov-
ernment the construction of steam rams, for use on
the large rivers of the West, and after his plans had
been rejected by the Navy Department, he presented
tlicm in person to the Secretary of War, Edwin M.
Stanton, by whom they were approved, the rebels
already having taken advantage of his ideas, in the
construction of the Merrimac and several other rams
oil the coast. He was then commissioned Colonel
ol the Staff of Engineers, and converted several pow-
erful light-draft steamers on the Mississippi and
Ohio Rivers into rams. In his letter to Charles El-
let. Jr., dated April 26, 1862, Secretary Stanton made
it plain that he wanted Ellet to have a high legal
ai'.thority and an independent command over the Ram
Elect. The rank of "Colonel of Staff" was the high-
est he could bestow without the concurrent action
of the Senate, which would have caused delay, else his
commission would no doubt have been of greater dig-
nity. As it was, Mr. Stanton made it clear that his
command should be concurrent with, and not under,
the Naval Commander. Thus the Ram Elect and the
Marine Brigade acted in closest cooperation with
the Army and was the only independent command on
tlic side of the Ihiion forces, reporting direct to the
Secretary of War. With the fleet of rams thus con-
si rticted, he engaged in the naval battle off Mem-
phis on June 6, 1862. and sunk and disabled the entire
fleet of Confederate vessels except the ram known as
the General Van Dorn, which escaped up the river.
]:)uring the battle, Ellet was struck above the knee
by a pistol-ball, and died from the effects of his wound.

.•\mong his most noteworth.\- labors, says Apple-
ton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, was his
mvestigation of the hydraulics of the Ohio and Mis-

sissippi rivers, the results of which were printed by
the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. He also
published at Philadelphia, as early as 1855, a treatise
o'l "Coast and Harbor Defences, or the Substitution
Oi Steam Battering-Rams for Ships of War." Cur-
iously enough, his idea of the battering-ram in naval
warfare has been adopted by every nation in the
world — every cruiser, battleship and fighting craft
afloat today is built with a powerful ram-like prow,
and can be used as a ram in the destruction of an
enemy craft whenever opportunity presents. But the
universal adoption of this principle proves the great-
ness of his mind and this idea.

John I. Ellet, a brother of Charles Ellet, Jr.,
settled in San Mateo County as one of its path-
l)reakers, in 185,i, and named the town Belmont
after the two bcll-sliaped mounds to be found there;
he built the .M(l Belmont Hotel, which is still stand-
niu. shipiiniL; the lumber for it around the Horn in
IS.^.i 11, afterwards moved to San Jose. He had
two sons. John A. and Richard, and thev taught in
the College at Santa Clara, until the Civil War broke
cut Then they joined the famous California 100,
and^ were later transferred to the Ram Fleet. John
I. Ellet left California in 1865. never to return to the
Golden State, with whose development he had had
an interesting participation. He arrived in New York
harbor on the day when Lincoln was assassinated.
^ Charles Rivers Ellet, a son of the preceding Charles
Ellet, Jr., was engaged at the outbreak of the Civil
War in studying medicine, and he soon became as-
sistant surgeon in one of the military hospitals. In
18.^2 he commanded one of his father's rams in the
celebrated action at Memphis. After his father's
death, on the organization of the Mississippi Marine
lirigade by his uncle, Alfred Washington Ellet, he
was appointed Colonel and when his uncle was com-
nn'ssioned brigadier-general. Col. Charles Rivers El-
let was placed in command of the Ram Fleet. Choos-
ing the ram Queen of the West as his flagship, he
made many daring expeditions on the Mississippi, and
succeeded in running the Confederate batteries at
Vicksburg after ramming the City of Vicksburg under
Vicksburg's batteries, in a most desperate and spec-
tf.cular dash. As he was cruising between that
stronghold and Fort Hudson, on February 10, 1863,
he made an expedition up the Red River and captured
the Confederate steamer Era and a number of other
vessels, and destroyed many stores of provisions.
After descending the river successfully, a traitorous
pilot ran his vessel aground, placing her in such a
difficult position that she was disabled by the fire
from the Confederate fort, and fell into the hands of
the enemy. Colonel Ellet would have blown up or
burned her rather than allow her to fall into the hands
of the enemy had it not been for the fact that one
of his trusted officers and a personal friend was left
lying on the deck mortally wounded from a musket-
ball, and for that reason the noted fighting craft was
abandoned Colonel EUet, however, true to the tra-
ditions of a family as renowned for its valor as for its
scientific ingenuity, made his escape by putting off
boldly on a bale of cotton, from which he vi-as res-
cued by the Union De Soto, under his command.
During the siege of Vicksburg and afterward, he
rendered most valuable assistance to General Grant,
which was later duly recognized in official despatches,
in keeping open his communications; but in the per-

750

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

formance of this duty his health failed, owing to the
climate, and he died suddenly in Illinois, to which
State he had retired for a brief rest.

Alfred Washington EUet was born on October
II, 1820, on his father's farm in Bucks County, Pa.,
on the banks of the Delaware, the youngest of six
stalwart sons, and next to the youngest of a vig-
orous family of fourteen children. In 1824, his father's
family removed to Philadelphia, where Alfred entered
the city schools; but at the age of sixteen, a sudden
change in health necessitated his abandoning further
educational advantages, and he took to agricultural
pursuits. He engaged in farming near Bunker Hill,
ill., about twenty-five miles northeast of St. Louis.
This rough, out-of-door experience developed in him
a gigantic physique, and when he came to man-
hood'-s estate, he was six feet, two and one-half inches
tall, and strong and enduring in proportion to his
commanding size. He also developed temperate hab-
its, a strong, moral character, and an uncompromis-
ing sense of justice and right. By hard, intelligent
iidustry, he established a home both for himself and
l:is aged, widowed mother, in whose company on the
streets of Bunker Hill his fellow-citizens often saw
him — "his manner toward her ever that of a youthful
and ardent lover toward his intended bride."

The humiliating defeat of the Union forces at Bull
Run, so near their old home, fired Alfred EUet's
patriotic soul; and in July, 1861, as captain of a com-
pany, raised by himself in and around Bunker Hill, he
entered the service of liis country, at the Arsenal in
St. Louis, at the head of Company I, Ninth Missouri
Volunteer Infantry. This entire regiment was com-
posed of Illinois men, who had enlisted with the ex-
pectation of being mustered into an Illinois regiment,
under President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers;
but the quota of the State was filled about a week be-
fore they were ready for muster, and so they were at
lirst accredited to Missouri, although they afterward be-
came the Fifty-ninth Illinois Infantry. Captain Ellet
participated in the early and memorable Missouri cam-
paigns, under General John C. Fremont and General
S. R. Curtis, and was with his regiment in the Battle
of Pea Ridge. While in camp, a few weeks later, he
received an order to report to his brother, Colonel
of Staff Charles Ellet, Jr., of ram fleet fame, and was
made second in command of the Mississippi River
Ram Fleet, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. As
commander of that fleet, after his brother's death, his
career was brilliant; and in recognition of his distin-
guished service on the Mississippi, the War Depart-
ment determined to enlarge his command, and on
November 1, 1862, promoted him to the rank of
brigadier-general of volunteers and placed him in
charge of both the Ram Fleet and the Marine Brigade.
This new command of the Mississippi River Marine
Brigade included the rams which did such effective
service and helped to make the thrilling record of
high patriotic endeavor and accomplishment which
has been told in detail in the "History of the Ram
Fleet and the Mississippi River Marine Brigade in
the War for the Union: The Story of the Ellets and
Their Men," — a handsome, compendious volume giv-
ing the portraits and biographies of the famous par-
ticipants. In the ready adaptation of himself to the
duties of both these commands, Brigadier-General
Kllet's remarkable resourcefulness of mind amazed
even his most intimate friends. He at once mastered

the knowledge of river-craft and navigation, and so
well managed the affairs of the rams that he was
able to maintain their equipment and high standard
of efficiency, and later organize and equip the brig-
ade. While not a military tactician, he gathered
about him those who were; and being quick to see
advantageous positions, he inspired everyone with
his unquestioned courage and skill. He was a su-
perb horseman, in action like a fierce lion stirred up
in his lair, and he maintained the most admirable per-
sonal bearing amid appalling perils. He was exact-
ing of su'hordinates, although generous and just in
recognition of service by inferiors, and unflinching in
his attitude toward the enemy. He ordered the burn-
ing of Austin, Miss., on May 24, 1863, in retaliation
for information furnished by citizens to Confederates
ct General Chalmers' command, which enabled the
latter to fire upon a Federal transport; and although,
like so many of the greatest Americans, he could not
escape envy and detraction, his eminent career has
given him a position in the annals of his country
where his name is imperishable. He died in Kansas
in 1895. In the National Cemetery at Vicksburg.
Miss., stands a bronze bust of him erected by the
Government as a tribute to his valorous services.

The Mississippi Ram Fleet and Marine Brigade
w^as the only independent volunteer command in the
service. It was a part of the army and not of the
navy, and as such was amenable directly to the Sec-
retary of War, and in consequence every commis-
sioned officer in it was appointed directly by the
President and the Secretary of War instead of the
governors of the states. Both the fleet and the brig-
ade acted in closest cooperation under the command
of Brigadier-General Alfred W. Ellet, and though
subjected to the jealousies of certain naval command-
ers, it was a inost effective force in clearing the Mis-
sissippi River, and thus played a very important part
in winning the war for the Union. The outstanding
feature of its accomplishments was due to the bold
intrepidity of its commanding general, who, in point
o"^ fearless courage, had no superior. Another thing
which contributed to his success, was the fact that
he was heart and soul in the cause against slavery
and for the preservation of the Union. At times
General Ellet seemed to act rashly; but his rashness
was a failing which leaned to virtue. He was a man
ci strong moral conviction and character. After the
war, as a private citizen in the state of Kansas, he
espoused the cause of prohibition with the same zeal
with which he had opposed slavery, entered person-
ally into the state campaign and played a very im-
portant part in making Kansas a prohibition state.

Edward Carpenter Ellet, the subject of this sketch,
who is Brigadier-General Alfred Washington El-
let's oldest son, was born in Bunker Hill, 111., on
September 17, 1845, and although springing from
a family never wanting in its encouragement of the
Federal Government, he deemed it necessary to run
away from home when the War broke out, and en-
listed on July 15, 1861, under President Lincoln's
first call for volunteers, being mustered into service
on July 25, 1861, in Company F, Seventh Illinois
Regiment at the youthful age of fifteen years and
ten months, being the first one of the Ellet family
to enlist. After marching on Cape Girardeau under
General Benjamin E. Prentiss, he was transferred,
upon request of his father, to Company I, Ninth

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Missouri Regiment and he remained with that regi-
ment until the War Department ordered Captain A.
W. Ellet to report to Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr.. at
New Albany, Ind , with 100 picked men for special
rmd hazardous service. This was after the Battle
(if Pea Ridge, in which Edward C. Ellet had also
participated, and after the regiment had marched to
Cross Timbers on the eastern edge of Arkansas; and
with Lieut.-Col. A. W. Ellet, Edward C. Ellet, as
one of the one hundred chosen, started to join the
then rapidly organizing Mississippi Ram Fleet. At
i\ew Albany, he was appointed aide on Col. Ellet's
staff, and carried orders to the river boats then be-
ing transformed into steam rams. He sailed with
the Ram Fleet to Fort Pillow, then undergoing its
fifty-two days of bombardment, and he was one of
a small party who, a week or so after his arrival,
planted the Stars and Stripes on that famous Con-
federate fort after its fall.

The Ram Fleet then took the lead, and moved
down the river to Memphis, where the famous naval
battle was fought on June 6, 1862, and the Rebel
fleet was destroyed, the Union Ram Fleet suffering
the loss of its gallant commander, Col. Charles El-
let, Jr., as narrated above. Edward C. Ellet, noted
already as a dead-shot, was a sharp-shooter on the
flagship, Queen of the West. After the fall of Mem-
pliis, the Ram Fleet moved down the river to Vicks-
liurg, pluckily passing the river batteries with only
bales of cotton to protect their ship's boilers. While
in Memphis, the youthful Edward C. Ellet was one
of the four men who, under the leadership of Charles
Rivers Ellet, pushed through the raging mob then
surging the streets of Memphis to the postoffice build-
ing, and there, while stoned and fired upon by the
mob below, tore down the rebel banner, and placed
Old Glory on the staff instead, and without escort
Sc.fely returned to the Union boats. At X'icksburg,
the rams, then under the leadership of I^^ieutenant-
Colonel Alfred W. Ellet, found themselves alone in a
hostile country, and learning that Admiral Farra-
gut was with his flagship, the Hartford, and other
naval craft below Vicksburg, Lieutenant-Colonel
Ellet decided to communicate with him, so he called
for volunt.eers to don citizens' clothes and steal their
way across the Avell-patrolled point of land. Instantly
his son Edward and three others stepped forward
and volunteered for the hazardous journey, which
they successfully made, after twice In ing almost cap-
tured and after having been arrested by Admiral
Porter's command, which suspected them of being
spies .for the reason that they resolutely refused to
deliver their message to Admiral Porter, since they
had strict orders to deliver it to Admiral Farragut
in person. Having thus at the risk of their lives de-
livered their message to Admiral Farragut in person,
they were treated by the great Farragut with the
utmost consideration, and were sent back up the
river with dispatches under an escort of one hundred
marines. Edward C. Ellet participated in the siege
of Vicksburg, where his command erected a defense
and battery, which successfully bombarded the city.

About this time the rebel ram Arkansas came down
the Yazoo River, ran through the northern fleets
then lying at anchor and, thinking themselves se-
cure, were commencing to clean their boilers. Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Ellet again called for volunteers, this
time to accompany him and attempt to destroy the

Arkansas by ramming her at lier moorings, being then
anchored under the protection of the Confederates'
batteries of Vicksburg. His son Edward, still a pri-
vate sharpshooter, was the first man to step forward
for the service, much to his brave father's dismay.
The trip was made. For over an hour they were
under the fire of Vicksburg batteries, concentrated
on the little wooden ship. The Arkansas was struck
and badly damaged, but owing to an eddy in the cur-
rent, she was not destroyed. Her gunners worked
hard as the Queen of the West backed away, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Ellet and his son Edward drew
their pistols and at such close range, literally laid
the rebel gunners at their guns, effectively checking
their fire. For this gallant performance, Edward
Carpenter Ellet was appointed by Congress as sec-
ond lieutenant at the same time that Lieutenant-
Colonel Ellet was made a brigadier-general.

In the meantime. Admiral D. D. Porter being away.
Admiral Farragut had run the batteries alone at
Port Hudson and was below Vicksburg, from which
point he sent word to Porter to dispatch him a cou-
ple of rams, as he was afraid of a ram-attack from
the rebels. In response. Colonel Charles Rivers El-
let. commanding the Switzerland, and Colonel John
A. Ellet, who was the son of John I. Ellet, the Cali-
fornia pioneer heretofore mentioned, commanding
the Lancaster, were designated to run the batteries
of Vicksburg, and report with their rams to Admiral
Farragut below. The Lancaster was sunk by the
heavy shell fire from the shore and upper batteries;
and the Switzerland had her boilers and steam pipes
burst, but floated down the river out of range.
Lieutenant Edward C. Ellet was on the Switzer-
land, which w-as soon enveloped in steam, so that all
the negroes in the engine room w-ere scalded. A
shot, weighing 120 pounds, had pierced the boiler,
and even on deck the heat was intense to suffoca-
tion. The engineer, Granville Robarts, a relative of
the general, seeing the danger, stopped the engines
and saved himself by jumping overboard into the
river; then he caught hold of the slow moving wheel,
v liich lifted him to the plank used by the deck-hands
to dip up water, climbed back onto the deck after the
heat had subsided, and went liack to the boiler room
after the explosion.

Lieutenant Edward C. EUct served on the staff' of
General Ellet until the close of the war, and during
that time he was appointed special messenger to take
to Washington captured Confederate currency to the
amount of $1,800,000; this he carried in two satchels
and delivered it at the War Secretary's office in per-
son to Secretary Edwin M. Stanton. While there he
met President Lincoln, who came into the war office
on business while young Ellet w^as talking with the
War Secretary. Mr. Lincoln sent for Secretary
Chase of the Treasury, who also came. General
Halleck happened in at the same time and young
Ellet was introduced to all of them, was highly com-
plimented, and given a three days' pass in the city.
Upon Edward C. Ellet's honorable discharge Major
D. S. Tallerday, commanding the Marine Regiment
at Vicksburg on January 19, 1865, wrote underneath
the precious document an unsolicited note of high
scknowdedgment and recognition, reading: "I have
known Lieutenant Ellet for the last two years. As an
officer, he is ever ready to do his whole duty; he is

752

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

brave to a fault; while as a gentleman, he is unex-
ceptionable."

Thus, the services rendered to the Union by the
Ellets was of the greatest value. They were inspired
by pure patriotism. The idea of the ram fleet was
conceived by a master mind, that of Charles EUet.
Jr., the foremost engineer of the nation at that time.
They carried out their plans boldly and fearlessly,
personally leading every charge, displaying the great-
est courage and bravery amidst the greatest of dan-
gers, not stopping at death itself. After the war, Ed-
ward C. Ellet was appointed Military Constable of
Yazoo County, Miss., and given a company of Union
soldiers to aid him in enforcing law and order during
the reconstruction period.

Miraculously escaping death from the yellow fever,
he went West with a troop of soldiers on an Indian
expedition as far as Fort Bozeman, Mont., in 1867.
With two companions he made his return down the
Missouri River in a skiff as far as Sioux City, pass-
ing through the country of the hostile Sioux Indians
at a time when buffaloes were so nutnerous that his
journey was seriously impeded by vast droves cross-
ing the river in front of them. From Sioux City he
made his way back home to visit relatives at Bunker
Hill, 111.; and in 1869, enamored of the West and
frontier life, he was induced to go out to Eldorado,
now the county seat of Butler County, Kan., which
was then being settled by Union soldiers who took
up claims of homestead. There he started the first
hardware store and organized one of the first banks
ni Butler County, and became a great political
leader, serving as chairman on the Republican County
Central Committee and dictating the policies of the
county for many years. He was prominent in estab-
lishing Eldorado as the county seat. He was ap-
pointed government agent for the Piute Indians in
1884. Leaving his banking interests in the hands of
his partner, N. F. Frazier. and his father. General
Alfred W. Ellet, after whom the public park in El-
dorado was named, his father then became president
of the bank. About this time General Ellet was of-
fered a commission as major-general in the U. S.
regular army. This he respectfully declined, express-
ing his desire that as long as there was no need for
hi? services in actual warfare, in defense of his coun-
try, he preferred to enjoy private life.

Edward C. Ellet then went to Winnemucca,
Nev., where he was Indian agent for a year; from
Winnemucca, during this period, in the due course
or his official duties, he made a trip to San Fran-
cisco and back on horseback, after which he returned
to Eldorado and resumed banking. Although hold-
ing great political power in the State of Kansas,
Edward C. Ellet never ran for a political office. On
March 14, 1902, he was appointed by Governor W. E.
Stanley as member of the board of directors of the
State Penitentiary for the term of three years, and
elected president of the board at their April meeting.
On July 28, 1902, Governor Stanley appointed him
delegate .to the annual congress of the National
Prison Association, at Philadelphia, which met Sep-
tember 13 to 17, 1902, after which he was sent to
Yucatan, Mexico, to buy sisal for the state. While
there he was entertained by the governor of the
State of Yucatan in royal fashion. In 1903 he re-
signed his position on the State Prison Board and sold
out his banking interests to his son-in-law, R. E. Fra-

zier, who was the son of his partner, and accepted an
appointment as special agent of the United States
General Land Office with headquarters at Seattle,
Wash., serving as such from 1903 until 1908,
when he resigned, came down to Mayfield, Calif.,
and in cotnpany with his son, Charles Ellet, bought
out the old Mayfield Bank and Trust Company. He
became its president and his son Charles became its
cashier. They came to Mayfield in December, 1908,
and January 1, 1909, took charge of the bank. In
1918 he retired from active participation in the bank,
leaving its management to his son, Charles Ellet,
who reorganized it and brought his brother, Alfred
W. Ellet. who was then deputy bank commissioner
for the Slate of Kansas, out to assist him.

On Octoljcr 2(1, 187U, Edward Carpenter Ellet was
married at Bunker Hill, 111 , to Miss Frances
\\'ebster Van Dorn, whose family history is no less
notable than that of her illustrious husband. She
was born at Bunker Hill, 111., on January 31,
1854. and is a daughter of Thomas Jefferson \'an
Dorn, an Argonaut who is a near relative of the
famous Southern cavalryman. General Earl Van
Dorn of the Confederate Army. She is also a direct
descendant of the historic Pilgrim father. Governor
Bradford of Massachusetts, and is furthermore a
blood relative of Washington Irving, the celebrated
author. Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Ellet have made
their home at Mayfield since 1908, and with the ex-
ception of a stroke of paralysis in 1920 sustained by
Mr. Ellet, both are enjoying a reasonable state of
health, are well and favorably known and most
highly respected. They have become the parents of
three children: Henrietta Wilbur Ellet Frazier. who
married the late R. E. Frazier, noted banker and oil
man. R. E. Frazier discovered oil in the Eldorado
field in Kansas, and brought in the first private well
in that field on the Linn lease, it being the second
well in that district. He succumbed to the influenza
epidemic in December, 1918. Mrs. Frazier is now a
resident of Menlo Park, where she has lived since
1919, and is the mother of one child, a daughter,
Henrietta Ellet Frazier, who is a student at the Cas-
tilleja School for Girls at Palo Alto. Alfred W.
EUet. vice president, and Charles Ellet. cashier of
The Stanford Bank, both noted elsewhere in this
work, are, respectively, the oldest and youngest of
the three. Edward Carpenter Ellet has lived a full,
useful and remarkable life, and now, as the sun is
about to set on his earthly activities he hands down
the glories of a noble ancestry undimmed and un-
tarnished to a worthy progeny, while the nation is
left stronger and better for his strenuous, patriotic
and illustrious career.

WILLIAM DARSIE.— Prominent among the re-
tired residents of Palo Alto whose life stories, as the
chronicles of those who have accomplished something
worth while, are always interesting, may be men-
tioned Williarn Darsie, who was born in Scot-
land in 1843. He was also educated in that older,
more settled land of academic traditions, and there
found stimulating office employment until he was
twenty-six years old. The New World, however,
then began to bid more intensely for his interest, and
he came out to the United States and settled in Penn-
sylvania. He had had such an experience that he was
able early to take up the manufacturing of coke; and
in that important industrial field he continued until

^^s^t~

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

755

he retired from active business affairs, in 1905. He
then bade good-bye to the cold winters and the hot
summers of the Keystone State and turned his face
westward, and having entered upon the delights of
semi-tropical California and surveyed the land for
that corner of the Golden State most roseate and
promising, he located at Palo Alto and soon acquired
a beautiful, spacious and comfortable home, with at-
tractive grounds. There he spends most of his time,
and having a wonderful flower garden, he adds to his
knowledge of the floral world by outdoor work and
recreation.

When Mr. Darsic married, he took for his bride
Miss Jean Pettigrew, a native of the United States,
and an accomplished lady of attractive natural gifts;
and they reside at 567 Melville Street. They have
three children, William, Elizabeth and Jean.

CHARLES ELLET.— A rising young financier
of Santa Clara County, whose influence is being felt
more and more in laying broad and deep the foun-
dations of the great California commonwealth, is
Charles Ellet, the efficient and popular cashier of
The Stanford Bank at Palo Alto and Mayfield. He
was born at the historic Ellet homestead at Bunker
Hill, Macoupin County, 111., and reared at Eldorado,
Kans., being a son of Edward Carpenter Ellet, the
patriot, banker and politician, who built up and
owned one of the first banks in Butler County, Kans.',
in the county seat town of Eldorado, in the early 70s,
and later established several other banks in Kansas,
and in 1908 came to California, purchasing the con-
trolling interest in the old Mayfield Bank, the prede-
cessor of The Stanford Bank, and whose inspiring
life story is elsewhere given in this volume, as is
also the history of several of the other distinguished
forebears and relatives of our subject, who have con-
ferred undying glory in the service of their country.
Edward C. Ellet married Miss Frances Webster Van
Dorn, also a native of Bunker Hill, 111., and it is
plea,sant to relate that both she and her honored
husband are still living, highly esteemed residents
of Mayfield. Her family history is no less interest-
ing than that of her husband. The daughter of a
California Argonaut, Thomas JefTerson Van Dorn,
who crossed the plains in '49, she is a near relative
of the famous Confederate cavalry general. Earl Van
Dorn, and a direct descendant of the historic Pilgrim
father. Governor Bradford, of Massachusetts, like-
wise a relative of Washington Irving, the celebrated
author, as well as the great orator and statesman,
Daniel Webster. Charles Ellet was reared at El-
dorado, Kans., and there he remained until he was
twenty years of age. He pursued the public school
courses and then profited by a course at the Uni-
versity of Washington, at Seattle, to which city he
removed in 1904. Three years later, in April, he
was married to Miss Edna Anna Dodge, only daugh-
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank R. Dodge, of the Farmers
and Merchants National Bank of Eldorado, Kans..
and a year thereafter he came south to Mayfield.
His father, a banker of over thirty years' experi-
ence, had sold out his banking interest in Kansas,
and desiring to come West, he. accepted an appoint-
ment as special agent of the U. S. General Land
Office', with headquarters at Seattle, in 1903. a posi-
tion which he resigned in 1908, when he came down
to Mayfield and bought out the Mayfield Bank and
Trust Company, which later became known as The

Mayfield Bank. Edward C. Ellet resigned as its
president in 1918, turning the institution over to his
son Charles, who at once completely reorganized and
enlarged it. Charles Ellet then sent East for his
brother, Alfred W. Ellet, deputy bank commissioner
of the State of Kansas, who came to Palo Alto in
1918 and became vice-president of The Stanford
Bank. Mr. EUet's first wife died at Mayfield, Oct.
5, 1909, and left two children; Zelda, who is a stu-
dent at the College of Sacred Heart at Menlo Park,
and Edward Carpenter, who attends the William
Warren School for Boys in the same place. On
marrying a second time, Mr. Ellet chose for his
wife Miss Martha H. Blois, their wedding occuring
on April 27, 1916. They have become the parents
of five children, four of whom are living; Charles
Ellet, Jr., now five years old, was a twin brother of
Thomas Van Dorn, who died at birth; Martha Jane
was the next to enter the family, followed later by
Elizabeth and Frances, twin daughters. Charles El-
let is also president of the Stanford Realty Com-
pany and is personally a large property owner at
Mayfield, where he resides, and at Palo Alto. He
was twice elected town treasurer of Mayfield, and
is a power politically in the northern end of the
county. He is especially interested in good roads
and he has had much to do with the rebuilding of
the State Highway at Mayfield, declared by State
Engineer Freeman to be one of the best built pub-
lic highways in the whole United States. Mayfield
is at the very gate of Stanford University, and how
could it fail of being one of the most promising
communities in the Golden State, when, as Mr. El-
let says: "Mayfield is by choice as well as by law,
a dry town, where no saloons can ever again exist,
with her former cesspool nuisance cured by a mod-
ern sewer system, costing $35,000; with an inex-
haustible supply of artesian water so pure that the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, after a chemical
analysis, selected this site on which to erect their
60,000 gallon water-tank for through trains, with
Mayfield's dream of an Interurban Electric Railway
doubly realized by the Blossom Route to San Jose,
and the Waverly Avenue Extension from Palo Alto;
with the opening of the Santa Cruz branch from the
main line of the Southern Pacific making Mayfield
an important junction point; with the very exceptional
train service of over sixty steam trains a day during
summer months to and from San Francisco, with a
municipal water plant valued at $35,000, being run
on a paying basis; with miles of cement sidewalks,
curbing and paving; with the completion of the great
State Highway through the town; with the Leland
Stanford Jr. University, one of the richest endowed
institutions of higher learning in the United States,
next door, and San Francisco only thirty miles away,
the Garden City, San Jose, only fifteen miles distant,
and with the famous California Redwood Park, the
Wonderland of the West, just about twice as far
away." Who can doubt the wisdom of Mr. Ellet in
pinning his faith to the new old town and the wisdom
of The Stanford Bank in encouraging to its legal
limit all rational enterprises here promising a reason-
able degree of success.

The new home of The Stanford Bank in Palo Alto
which has just been completed, is described elsewhere
in this volume. It had a brilliant opening on June 2,
1922. Assets have already passed the half million

756

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

mark. True to its name and environment, it carries
out the Romanesque style of architecture with its
statel}' pillars and arches in keeping with the dream
of Leiand Stanford, when he first conceived the idea
of building a great university. This banking house
has been remodeled after plans of Mr. A. F. Roller,
of the firm of M. G. West & Co., the celebrated bank
architects and specialists, of San Francisco. Mr. Ellet
is a hard and conscientious worker, who realizes that
the success of his career as a banker of necessity rests
upon the general welfare of the community. He be-
longs to that class of financiers who understand that
service is the cornerstone of all truly worth-while
business. Having an accurate knowledge of business
and financial conditions at Mayfield and Palo Alto,
he finds his greatest satisfaction in advising and help-
ing his patrons on to the sure road of prosperity.

MRS. APHELIA F. COCHRANE.— A hig'hly
cultured woman, whose interests in civic affairs, as
well as in educational matters, have enabled her
to contribute much for the edification and happi-
ness of others, is Mrs. Aphelia F. Cochrane, a suc-
cessful ranch owner of the Morgan Hill district in
Santa Clara County. She was born in Bangor,
ilaine, November 3, 1845, the eldest daughter of
-vir. and Mrs. George Farrington. The father, George
Farrington, was born in England, the son of an old
prominent family, a highly educated and cultured
man. who came to America in the early '30s, lo-
cated and became a prominent citizen and merchant
in Bangor. He married Miss Hannah Elizabeth
Philbrook, a native of Newport Maine, whose parents
were English and Scotch. They were the prosper-
ous owners of a 200 acre farm. Their close relatives
were merchants of the sea, having been the owners
of many ships going to foreign ports. The maternal
grandfather and an uncle, Nathaniel Drew, on her
mother's side, served in the Revolutionary War, the
latter being commissioned a major during his serv-
ice. They became the parents of three girls, Aphelia,
the subject of this sketch, Emma and Jeannett, the
latter now deceased. ' In 1850 the parents left their
children with their grandparents and came to Cali-
fornia via Panama and located in San Francisco
where the father died a few years later. Mrs. Far-
rington married again, becoming the wife of A. J.
Van Winkle, a native of New Jersey and a pioneer
of this stale and a man of splendid character. He
owned a number of stock and dairy ranches in Hum-
boldt, Sonoma and San Mateo counties, also prop-
erty in San Francisco. He was the owner of the
West End Distillery, San Francisco, and was the
inventor of the method of aging wine by the process
of extracting the fusel oil and making wine into
brandy and received patents on his invention from
England, Germany, France and the United States.
He had located in San Mateo County at an early
period, long before the railroads had pushed their
way down the Pacific Coast. In 1859 Mrs. Van
Winkle returned East and brought her girls to
California. They left New York on the S. S. Baltic
and reaching Aspinwall. crossed the Isthmus of
Panama and boarded the S. S. Sonoma and arrived
in San Francisco the latter part of November. Miss
Emma F. Van Winkle, as she is known to the art
world, having taken the stepfather's name, is a
graduate of the Hopkins Art Institute in San Fran-
cisco and is recognized as an artist of considerable

note. Mr. Van Winkle passed away, but his widow
still lives in San Francisco, aged ninety-five years.
Aphelia Farrington was educated at the Denman
school on Bush Street, San Francisco and took a
two years' course at a finishing seminary in that
city. In 1864 she became the wife of John Cochrane,
the ceremony taking place in San Francisco. He was
born in Amherst. N. H., and came to California in
1848 via Cape Horn in a sailing vessel. He was
identified with many mining enterprises, became
w-ealthy and owned large holdings in various parts
of California. He owned a ranch of 250 acres ad-
joining the Presidio in San Francisco and carried
on a large, prosperous dairy business, known as the
Pioneer Dairy; he also set out the first cherry orch-
ard in California at this place, sending East for
the trees; he also had other property interests in
the city. At one time he owned the McNulty ranch
in Colusa County, made famous as the greatest grain
ranch in the world by the late Dr. Glenn, in the Sac-
ramento Valley. It contained many thousands of
acres and had a frontage of ten miles on the Sacra-
mento River; the fencing alone costing $20,000. For
a number of years Mr. Cochrane operated this place,
after selling it. In 1869 Mr. Cochrane and his fam-
ily removed to the Santa Clara Valley where he had
purchased the old McElroy ranch of many hundred
acres. This ranch is located on the watersheds of
the Coyote and Packwood creeks, twenty miles south
of San Jose. Here Mr. Cochrane built up one of
the finest dairy ranches in the state, employing Swiss
butter and cheese makers, selling his products in
San Francisco. He built the road, now knowm as
the Cochrane Road, which was completed in 1893.
He was one of the leaders in all local movements
for the betterment of the community and took an
active part in promoting all progressive measures,
as a real booster for Santa Clara County. Mr.
and Mrs. Cochrane were the parents of five chil-
dren; Emma F. died at the age of eleven years;
Minnie B. passed away at the age of nine years;
and Charles, the youngest, died when sixteen years
old; Aphelia May is the wife of A. J. Jackson and
the mother of two children, Alfred and Gladys; Elsie
B. is the widow of the late Henry C. Doerr and
resides with her mother. Mr. Cochrane closed his
eyes to the scenes of this life on November 20, 1899,
after a long and useful career and is held in lov-
ing memory by all who really knew him. The Coch-
rane ranch, which consists of many hundred acres,
has 125 acres devoted to raising fruit which yields
bountiful crops each season. The entire acreage is
still in the possession of the family. In 1914, Mrs.
Cochrane erected a comfortable modern residence
on a sightly elevation on the property. She has
been actively identified with the Presbyterian Church
of Morgan Hill, having helped to build it up from
a small mission church to its present standing and
served for four years as one of the trustees. She
has been prominent in temperance work and in the
circles of the W. C. T. U. since its organization at
Morgan Hill and she is beginning her third term
as trustee of the Live Oak Union high school. She
contributes liberally to the Y. M. C. A. and the
Y. W. C. A., as well as to all other worthy causes.
She is a charter member of the Morgan Hill Civic
Club; also was one of the foremost workers and
promoters of the Ye Friendly Inn of Morgan Hill,

I

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CcvWv-f

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

761

an organization that has but one motive — the bet-
terment of the locahty. It was first suggested by
the W. C. T. U. and the idea carried out in detail
by a few of the most progressive and enterprising
citizens of the community. In 1914. Rev. A. M.
Porter, then pastor of the Presbyterian Clnirch of
Morgan Hill, first took up the subject with the
parent board of San Jose in behalf of the citizens of
Morgan Hill and the first meetings were held in the
Presbyterian parsonage. Mrs. Cochrane has contrib-
uted many articles to the press during her travels and
her popularity has contributed much to the advance-
ment of the causes with which she has been identi-
fied— a splendid example of the value of character
and trained intellect.

JOHN A. FELLOM, SR.— A worthy representa-
tive of the type of citizen which has made California
a great state is Jolm A. Fellom, Sr.. a man well-
known and highly honored in the vicinity of Gilroy,
and who has always used progressive eiTorts along
agricultural and stockraising ideas. He is living re-
tired on his ranch, part of which he rents to others.
The Fellom family was first interested with the af-
fairs of the West through Matthew Fellom, whom
accident rather than design lead to the coast of Mon-
terey in the latter 30's. Born in Denmark, in 1801,
he became dissatisfied with his native conditions,
while yet a boy, and shipping on a merchant vessel,
found relief from monotony in a seafaring life for
several years. However, life on the vessel was not
all clear sailing, and he finally succeeded in escap-
ing and reached the California coast. He cast about
for a means of livelihood and found employment
with John Gilroy, for whom the town of Gilroy was
named, and was set to making soap. In time he be-
came an expert soap maker, and he continued at his
trade until he had accumulated some money. He
invested his earnings in 1750 acres northeast of San
Ysidro and for years was a stockraiser in that vicin-
ity, having as many as 800 to 900 head of stock on
the ranch at one time. In 1853 he changed his loca-
tion to a ranch in the vicinity of his son's present
home, but returned to San Ysidro in 1861 and
erected a comfortable rural residence, where his
death occurred on December 16, 1868. He married
Miss Manuela Briones, a native of Santa Clara
County, who died in 1858 at the age of thirty-five.
They were the parents of eleven children, only three
attaining maturity: John A, the subject of this re-
view: Adele, now Mrs. Martin, of San Juan: and
Sinfriano. After the death of his wife, Mr. Fellom
married Ricarda Castro, of Santa Cruz County.

John A. Fellom was born on his father's ranch at
San Ysidro, October 17, 1840, and received his edu-
cation in the schools of Gilroy, where a school had
been established about 1853. From the age of fifteen
his recollections are of farm life and stockraising,
and the purchase and sale of hogs, cattle and horses.
He continued in the stock business until 1868 when
he began to do general farming. His liome place
consists of 270 acres five miles northeast of Gilroy.
which he improved himself, and he also owns 153
acres near San Ysidro where his son has a dairy.

The marriage of Mr. Fellom occurred in 1874 and
united him with Miss Blandina Ortega, a daughter of
Joseph Ortega, one of the large landowners and
farmers in Santa Clara Valley. Mrs. Fellom was
born in San "S'sidro. June 3, 1853, and through the

years has truly been a lielpmatc to her husliand
through systematic management of the home and un-
failing sympathy with all his plans and aspirations.
They are the parents of eight living children: Corin-
na, the wife of Joseph Fitzgerald, who have one son
and reside in San Jose; John A, Jr., married to Miss
Florence Nickel and residing in Old Gilroy on a
fine twenty-two acre ranch, and for seven years he has
been road superintendent for the San Ysidro district:
Isabella, the wife of Robert Burns, who have two
daughters and reside at Santa Monica; Louis, who
married Miss Josephine Boone, having two daughters
and reside on a ranch of twenty-two acres near the
Fellom place; Peter, who married Miss Roll, who have
one child and reside in Gilroy; Mary, who is the wife
of Charles Thomas, and have one daughter and
reside in San Francisco; 'William M., who lives on
his father's 153 acres; and Lauretta, who is the wife
of Robert Jones. The family are members of the
Catholic Church and endorse the principles of the
Democratic party. Mr. Fellom is hale and hearty at
the age of eighty-three and is probably the oldest
citizen residing there who was born in Old Gilroy.
The ranch, which was obtained from the Spaniards
in the early days, is a part of the San Ysidro Grant
and has been owned by the Fellom family since 1870.

CLAYTON R. THOMAS.— Prominent among the
experienced, most progressive and successful orch-
ardists of Santa Clara County may well be mentioned
Clayton R. Thomas, who has contributed his share
toward making Gilroy famous beyond even the con-
fines of California. He was born in the old town, on
January 25, 1854, the son of the well-known and now
deceased pioneer, Massey and Phoebe (Bane)
Thomas, the former an Argonaut among the sturdiest
of 49ers, was the proprietor of a fine ranch of
about 500 acres within the township of Gilroy. A
sketch of his family is published elsewhere in this
historical work.

Clayton R. Thomas, the ninth child in a family ol
ten, and the first born in California, went to school
at Gilroy and was reared on the Thomas' ranch, just
south of town, and after school and later he worked
on the farm for his father. In 1892 he acquired his
share of the acreage, some seventy acres, and about
forty-two acres he set out to prunes. This land he
has made the most of; and since he has always been
an ardent advocate of co-operative marketing by
farmers. His operations, more and more extensive.
have become to be a matter of interest and benefit to
others as well as to himself. He is a stockholder in
the California Prune & Apricot Association and also
in the Gilroy branch of the Garden City Bank &
Trust Company.

At Gilroy, on June 11, 1889, Mr. Thomas was mar-
ried to Miss Fanny E. Keith, a daughter of Michael
H. and Lucinda (Longmire) Keith; the former came
first in 1849 across the plains and in 1852 went back
to Missouri via Panama. He made his home in
Marion County for years, but only came back to
California for a visit in 1896. He died at Kirksville.
Mo., in 1897. Mrs. Keith resides with her children
in California, surviving her highly-esteemed husband,
became herself the center of a circle of devoted
friends. Mrs. Thomas, a graduate of the Kirksville
Normal, came to California in 1884 to teach school.
Three children have blessed this union of Mr. and
Mrs. Thomas: Sadie, now deceased: Clayton Russel,

762

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

doing his duty manfully in overseas service for
seventeen months in the U. S. Army during the
World War, is married and is now a partner with
his father in fruit culture; Elizabeth, a graduate of
the University of California, at Berkeley, class of '19,
is a teacher in the Denair School, Stanislaus County,
where she enjoys esteem and popularity. Mr. Tho-
mas is a Democrat, and as such has always sought
to elevate the standard of civic pride and American
political thought and action.

WILLIAM KNOX BEANS.— Interesting as both

the descendant and successor of a pioneer who at-
tained real eminence and distinction in the California
world of finance. William Knox Beans is a financier
worthy of study for himself, both on account of his
own experience and record, and because of his envi-
able position of influence and power as president of
the Bank of San Jose. He was born in Nevada City,
Cal., on May 7, 1857, the son of Thomas Ellard and
Virginia (Knox) Beans, the father a native of Salem,
Ohio, who first saw the light there in 1828. and was a
descendant of fine old Scotch-Irish stock which had
made its way from Europe through Virginia to Ohio.
Thomas Ellard Beans was a pioneer of San Jose,
who rose to great prominence as a banker and founded
the Bank of San Jose, and is elsewhere represented
in this volume.

William K. Beans was educated principally in pri-
vate schools in San Jose and then the College of the
Pacific, after which he entered Mount Union College
in Mount Union, Ohio. In 1876, after two years, he
returned to the Coast, and having said good-bye to
student days, he entered his father's bank in 1878.
There he began at the lower rounds of the ladder and
gradually worked his way up through various posi-
tions of responsibility and experience; and on July
19, 1905, he was elected president of the bank to suc-
ceed his father, who had just died after so many
\'ears of brilliant and faithful service. To the in-
stitution he has given his undivided time and the suc-
cess of his management is seen when it shows an in-
crease of 330 per cent in assets in seventeen years.

Mr. Beans was married in San Francisco in 1889
to Miss Gertrude Moore, a daughter of Judge John
H. and Bettie P. Moore, who came to California in
the early '50s, the father being a prominent attorney
and judge in San Jose. She is a native of San Jose
and they reside at 1260 The Alameda, where Mr.
Beans follows the course of political events under
the banners of the Republican party, maintains his
live interest in the doings of the Native Sons of the
Golden West, in which great organization he is
proud to claim membership, and cultivates, in his
spare hours outdoors, his choice flower garden. He
is a member of the St. Claire Club and a charter
member of the Commercial Club. Mr. Beans is the
oldest banker in San Jose and no man is better or
more favorably known. Like his father he is con-
servative and the people of the valley have the
greatest confidence in the bank and they appre-
ciate his genuine worth and integritv.

CASTILLEJA SCHOOL.— Prominent among the
well-known educational institutions of California
which have conferred distinction not only upon Santa
Clara County, but upon the great Pacific common-
wealth as well, Castilleja School, now completing its
fifteenth year, has contributed to extend the fame of
Palo Alto in particular, and to add another charm to

the university center already the admiration of thou-
sands from all parts of the world. Its principal is
Miss Mary Ishbel Lockey, A. B., of Stanford Univer-
sity, and she is ably assisted by a corps of over thirty
well-trained teachers. The school was founded in
August, 1907; and such has been its steady growth
that it now has six buildings occupying a block of
about five acres; these are grouped and arranged so
that the pupils may practically live out of doors. A
court, 250 feet broad, opening toward the south, gives
freedom and privacy, and the other half of the block
is laid out in tennis, basket ball, and volley ball courts,
and general playgrounds.

The residence is an L-shaped structure, with fifty-
three rooms and two large screened sleeping porches.
A sunny infirmary, which can be completely isolated
in case of need, provides for illness; all the living
rooms are planned for entertaining and for comfort.
The school building has an assembly room and study
hall, five rooms for the intermediate and the lower
schools, five recitation rooms for the upper school, a
book-store and offices, a study porch, and two sun-
porches for the younger children. A pergola con-
nects the recitation hall with the gymnasium and au-
ditorium; the latter has a modern, well-appointed
stage and is fitted with lockers and shower baths.
The Domestic Science bungalow is a model cottage
where girls may learn thoroughly and practically the
art of home-making and home-keeping. Recently an
additional building, called the Lodge, has been erected
as a residence for the teachers. Orchard House,
built in the summer of 1921, affords the Music and
Art departments a home having attractive and dis-
tinctly advantageous features.

The swimming pool, the latest addition to the equip-
ment of Castilleja, is one of the greatest sources of
pleasure and physical development on the grounds.
It is a beautiful open air pool, built of white concrete,
with steam-heated dressing rooms Swimming can be
indulged in throughout the year as the water is tem-
pered to suit the weather, and scientific instruction in
swimming, diving and life-saving is part of the phys-
ical education work.

The purpose of Castilleja School is to give an edu-
cation that is broad, not merely academic, and though
essentially a university preparatory school, a general
course is arranged for pupils not wishing to enter
college, and in every case an effort is made to develop
systematic and scholarly habits of thought. Gradu-
ates are admitted without examination to Stanford
University, the University of California, and Mills
College, and the school is accredited by Wellesley,
Smith, Vassar, and Mt. Holyoke colleges. .Adequate
time and attention are given to English, and there
are courses in Latin, French, Spanish. History. Mathe-
matics, Science, Home Economics, Art, and Music.
Believing that every girl should be taught to manage
a bank account and to live within a specified income,
the school instituted a bank of its own; each girl is
furnished a check book and required to pay her bills
for books, school supplies, sewing materials, chap-
eroning, concerts, incidental expense, etc., by check,
and she is graded in this work as in any other school
subject. Special attention is given to the physical
condition of the girls, and it is the desire of the school
to have the pupils realize that future happiness and
efficiency depend on cultivating habits of health. The
school is non-sectarian, but gives definite training in
ethics and religious principles. Social service is em-

(^^.y^^A^^yTO.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

763

phasized, and each pupil is led to assume responsi-
bility for some particular branch of relief work.

Castilleja is situated in the best residence portion of
Palo Alto, and has an unbroken view of the beautiful
and fertile Santa Clara Valley extending on one side
to San Francisco Bay and the Mount Diablo Range,
and on the other to the Santa Cruz Mountains be-
yond which lies the Pacific Ocean. The equable, de-
lightful climate makes out-of-door life possible
throughout the year and invites frequent excursions
to the picturesque country about. On the other hand,
its nearness to San Francisco (thirty miles) and to
Stanford University (one mile) gives opportunity
for instruction and pleasure through lectures, con-
certs, and dramatic entertainments; thus the pupils
of the school have the unusual advantage of both
town and country life

REV. GEORGE HENRY WHISLER.— With
nearly 400 communicants, the First Prcsbyierian
Church of Palo Alto is one of the important charges
of this denomination in the State of California, and
fortunate indeed is it to have as its spiritual leader
a man of the ability of Rev. George Henry Whisler,
who has already endeared himself, in the early days
of his pastorate, to his congregation, by his sym-
pathy, wisdom and fine comprehension of the pro-
blems of the modern-day church. Descended from
a fine old New York family, George Henrj- Whisler
was born at Albanv, N. Y., on Julv 10, 1893. the son
of Berthold and Elizabeth (Eisel'e) Whisler. The
father was engaged in lumbering in partnership with
his brother, David Whisler. Berthold Whisler passed
away when his son was only ten years old, but the
mother is still living. For many years after her
husband's death she kept up the old family home at
Albany, but she now makes her home with her
daughter, Mrs. Davis, the wife of Rev. E. E. Davis,
the pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Athens-
on-the-Hudson.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bert-
hold Whisler, and four are now living, George Henry
Whisler being the youngest. His early education
began in the public schools at Albany, N. Y., and
while yet a student in the Newark, N. J., high school,
he chose the ministry for his life work. Graduating
from this institution in 1912, he then entered Rutgers
College at New Brunswick, N. J., taking the classical
course and graduating in 1916 with the A. B. degree.
Next he attended the Dutch Reformed Theological
Seminary for one year, giving up his studies to enter
the army Y. M. C. A. work. For a short time he
attended an oiificers' training camp at Fort Niagara,
N. Y., and was commissioned a first lieutenant in the
Field Artillery, but was later transferred to the bal-
loon division of the air service, with the rank of first
lieutenant, being stationed at various places, begin-
ning at Camp Devens, Mass., and ending at Ross
Field, Cal., where he resigned his commission June 1,
1919. He now holds the rank of captain in the re-
serve corps, receiving this commission the day after
his resignation. Entering the San Francisco Theo-
logical Seminary at San Anselmo, Cal.. he graduated
there in April, 1921, and was ordained on May 18
of that year, becoming pastor of the large parish of
the First Presbyterian Church at Palo Alto, this ap-
pointment in itself being a tribute to his unusual
qualifications for leadership in the religious world.

In 1918, at Pasadena, Rev. Whisler was married
to Miss Helen Bell Ledyard of Pasadena, a graduate

of the Pasadena high school and of Stanford Uni-
versity, class of '17, and she also holds a master's
degree from Columbia University, New York. A
devoted Christian, with her training and culture she
is a true helpmate to her husband. They are the
parents of two children, George Henry, Jr., and
Francis K. Ledyard Whisler. Justly popular with all
classes, Rev. Whisler has entered heartily into the life
of the community, taking an aggressive part in all
its forward movements. Prominent in the American
Legion, he is the chaplain of the local post and is
very active in the establishment of a new home for
this patriotic organization. He is a member of the
Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America.

MRS. MARY WEST THOMPSON.— Coming
from a line of distinguished forbears, famous in the
days of the Revolution and the early history of colon-
ial days, Mrs. Mary West Thompson, the widow
of the late Frank P. Thompson, is one of Palo Alto's
highly honored citizens. Gracious, cultured and pub-
lic spirited, she resides at her comfortable home at
909 Alma Street, surrounded by many of her child-
ren, who enjoy with her the high regard of the com-
munity. A native of the Old Dominion, Mrs. Thomp-
son was born September 6, 1842, at Norfolk, Va.,
the daughter of Capt. John Wharton W'est. U. S. N.,
born in Philadelphia, Pa., who had married Miss
Mary Holt of Norfolk, Va. The West family are
intimately connected with the earrly history of Penn-
sylvania and are descended from Col. John Nixon of
Revolutionary fame, to whom belongs the honor of
first reading the Declaration of Independence to the
Continental Congress. Another relative was Robert
Morris, who so ably guided the financial affairs of
the Colonial government and was one of the signers
of the Declaration of Independence.

Mrs. Thompson was reared in Norfolk, Va., and
there received her education in Catherine Baylor's
private school, one of the select educational institu-
tions of that day. Her father died when she was ten
years old, and a few years later her mother brought
her family to San Francisco, Cal., sailing via the
Isthmus on the Atlantic and reaching here in Janu-
ary, 1860. The same year her marriage occurred,
when she was united with Frank P. Thompson and
they became the parents of nine children: Mary M.,
is Mrs. John L. Meares of Seattle, Wash.; Page Ed-
loe, is the widow of Dr. W'. J. Baker, late of Fresno,
and she resides with Mrs. Thompson; Thomas Lar-
kin, a locomotive engineer, resides at Palo Alto;
Sallie H., is deceased; Frank, passed away in in-
fancy; Helen C, is the wife of George B. Huil of
San Francisco; John West, is a graduate of Stan-
ford University and now an electrical engineer at
Pueblo, Mexico; Robert A., is a newspaper man at
San Francisco, while his twin sister, Roberta, is the
wife of George B. LaFarge of Seattle, Wash.

For many years prominent in the newspaper world,
Frank P. Thompson was born in May, 1841, at Ka-
nawha, W. Va., then \'irginia. His father, Robert A.
Thompson, a prominent lawyer, was sent by Pres-
ident Polk to settle the land grant controversy in
California; he settled a great many of the Spanish
grant claims and it is worthy of note that none of
his decisions have ever been reversed. A historic
family, the Thompsons came to Virginia from Eng-
land before the days of the Revolution and helped
to establish this Government, and many of its mem-
bers have been prominent as congressmen, diplomats

764

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and customs house officials. A brother of Frank P.
Thompson, Thomas L., was at one time secretary of
state of California and later served as ambassador to
Brazil during President Cleveland's administration.
Another brother, Robert A., whose picture adorns
the State Capitol at Sacramento, wrote a history of
California, but suffered the complete loss of his
manuscript during the earthquake and fire of 1906.
These three brothers were associated together as
editors and publishers of the Santa Rosa Democrat,
and later Frank P. Thompson established the Hum-
boldt Standard, and subsequently the Redwood City
Democrat. In 1898, Mr. Thompson went to San
Salvador, Central America, where he was sent to
organize and establish the San Salvadorian Peni-
tentiary after American plans and ideals. After three
months he succumbed to the yellow fever and passed
away there in December of that year, his remains
being interred there. The Thompsons have been
devout Episcopalians for generations and one of their
ancestors. Rev. John Thompson, was prominent in
the early annals of the Episcopal Church in America.
Politically they have always given their allegiance to
the Democratic party.

DR. ARTHUR B. MAYHEW.— Modern Amer-
ican dentistry owes much to such scientifically-
trained specialists as Dr. Arthur B. Mayhew, who
is identified with Palo Alto as one of the eminent
and most popular pVactitioners here. A native son,
naturally proud of his association with the great
California commonwealth, he was born at Red Bluff
in 1870, the son of Charles R. Mayhew, a native of
St. Louis, Mo., who, a year before the famous Ar-
gonauts, ventured overland in 1848 by means of ox-
team and prairie schooner. He married Miss Mary
A. Kearns, a native of Ohio, who grew up in Shasta
County, Cal., where her step-father, J. J. Bell, was
an extensive stockraiser and ran the toll-bridge
across Clear Creek. Dr. Mayhew's father died sev-
enteen years ago; his mother lives at Oakland and
is seventy-three years old. The founders of the
Mayhew family in America came out to the Colonies
from England in the famous ship Mayflower.

Arthur B. Mayhew attended the common schools
in Red Bluff and continued his schooling in San
Francisco, and in course of time he was graduated
with honors from the San Francisco College of
Physicians and Surgeons. Since then, for thirty
years he has practiced dental surgery in San Fran-
cisco, Sacramento and Palo Alto. When yet a stu-
dent in the San Francisco College of Physicians and
Surgeons he began to practice dentistry; and from
1893 until 1899 was thus engaged in San Francisco.
In 1899 he came to Palo Alto, opened up a dental
office and lost no time in building his residence at
639 University avenue, and he has owned this house
ever since. He was honored with an appointment to
the State Board of Dental Examiners in 1902 and
served creditably for eight years. He left Palo Alto
the year of the earthquake and maintained an office
at Sacramento from 1906 until 1911, and from 1911
to 1914 he lived and practiced dentistry at Yreka,
Siskiyou County. In 1917, in order to give his
children the educational advantages aiTorded by the
Stanford University, he resumed his home at Palo
Alto and is therefore with one exception the dentist
of seniority in Palo Alto. His continually growing
patronage is sufficient attestation of the high esteem
in which he is held both professionally, and as a

citizen, neighbor and friend. A Republican in nation-
al politics, Dr. Mayhew never lets pass an opportun-
ity to contribute what he is able to give toward the
elevation of civic standards. Xaturally, he belongs
to the Native Sons of the Golden West.

At San Francisco, in 1898, Dr. Mayhew was mar-
ried to Miss Florence Hackley, a native of Indiana,
and their fortunate union has been further blessed
with the birth of three children: Gladys E., the wife
of R. S. Miessc, a broker at Los Angeles, residing at
5301 Aldama street, Highland Park, they have one
child, Jacquelyn; Lauretta C, is the wife of H. Mal-
colm Hay, with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.,
and resides in Palo Alto; Elizabeth, is a student in
the San Jose State Teacher's College.

MISS MARKER'S SCHOOL.— Few wide-awake,
progressive communities conveniently situated with
reference to neighboring cities of importance, and
the mountain and the sea, have been equally fortu-
nate with Palo Alto in attracting educational institu-
tions such as give strength and grace to this great
university town, and few educational institutions of
the rank and fame of Miss Harker's School, one of
the sources of pardonable pride to Palo Alto's ambi-
tious citizens, enjoy such an inspiring environment,
lying as it does in the beautiful Santa Clara Valley
with the sequoia-clad hills rising beyond on the one
hand, and, on the other, the blue Coast Range beyond
a silver line of San Francisco Bay — the whole afford-
ing the student the quiet atmosphere conducive to
serious work, w-hile living in the refining influence of
quietly beautiful surroundings. The School was
founded in 1902 by Miss Catherine Harker, a native
of Oregon, who is a graduate of Vassar, where she
received the A. B. degree. It was incorporated in
1915 and is housed in a main building erected in 1907,
two cottages — one for the Lower School, the other
for the Domestic Science Department, and a building
especially adapted for the Kindergarten. In 1921 a
new gymnasium was built, costing $16,000. The
school property embraces about seven acres laid out
in gardens, playgrounds and courts for tennis, basket-
ball and baseball, and the proximity to Stanford
University and the accessibility of San Francisco
offer the exceptional advantages, without the dis-
tractions, of a metropolis.

The aim of the school, to build up vigorous physical
health, to achieve the best possible intellectual ad-
vancement, and to secure for each pupil the moral
and spiritual development which will enable her to
take her place among intellectual and cultured people,
and to live a rounded and useful life, is evidenced in
the artistic and thoroughly modern school home. Tlie
first floor contains the reception hall, the library,
music room, recitation rooms and study hall, and the
dining room and kitchen, and second floor is made up
of the large, sunny bedrooms of the resident pupils,
although many use the screened sleeping porches.
Only such rules are insisted upon as are necessary to
the comfort of all the household, and from each girl
is expected a cheerful and ready response. One re-
sult is that Miss Harker's School has become widely
famous through its pupils, who are always known as
true gentlewomen. The School is also enviably re-
nowned through its excellent faculty, some eighteen
or twenty thoroughly trained women of the highest
academic credentials. These conduct a kindergarten
department, a primary school, an intermediate
school, a high school department, and a post-gradu-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

765

ale department, and also departments for the study
of music, Biblical literature and history, and drawing
and applied art, as well as cooking and sewing. The
value of the kindergarten as the logical foundation
for the whole structure of education is more than
ever widely recognized; the folk and nature story
stimulates interest, and the games and handiwork
develop respect for the rights of others. In the pri-
mary school, the children are trained in the habits
of concentration, independent thinking, thoroughness,
accuracy, and consideration for each other. The aim
of the intermediate school is the development of in-
dependent thought and expression, and this is ac-
complished by discussion of topics of the day, de-
bates, individual reports, and a class paper, all con-
tributing to train for good citizenship. It speaks for
itself that the high school department is accredited
both to Stanford University and the University of
California, and that the regular college preparatory
course prepares pupils also for Vassar, Smith, Wel-
lesley, Mt. Holyoke, and Bryn Mawr. For those
who do not desire to enter college, there is another
regular course of four years leading to graduation.
A systematic course of Bible study is given, ex-
tending from the primary grades through the high
school; there is a two-years' course in free-hand
drawing, with modelling in clay; special designs are
made and executed on w-ood, leather, brass, copper,
silver and te.xtiles; there are both theoretic teaching,
in lectures, and practical work in cooking; elementary
and advanced sewing are provided for, and the de-
partment of physical training is conducted with spe-
cial care for the individual needs of the pupils. Each
year the senior class presents a play out-doors.

In order, for example, that the girls may have a
practical knowledge of business methods such as
becomes those who are some day to have more or
less business to transact on their own account, par-
ents are requested to send direct to the School a
stated monthly allowance to be deposited in the
School Bank; and this will be subject to the pupil's
personal check to be used only for personal ex-
penses that require actual cash payments, on which
account no money will be advanced to pupils. Check
books and pass books are furnished to each pupil,
and parents are requested to cooperate in instilling
increased care in the expenditure of money.

WILLIAM FISKE HENRY.— A native son of
whom the Northland may well be proud is William
Fiske Henry, the able superintendent of the Palo
-Vlto "Times", and among the best known citizens of
Palo Alto, Cal. He was born in Oakland, Alameda
County, Cal., December 10. 1873, a son of Charles
Everett and Juliette (Fiske) Henry, both natives of
New England. On both paternal and maternal sides
his lineage is traceable to two historical characters in
American development — to Patrick Henry on his
father's side and to John Fiske, historian, on his
mother's side. He was educated in the grammar and
high schools of Dixon, Cal., then entered Stanford
University, taking the English course, and was grad-
uated with degree of A. B. in 1900. For ten years fore-
man of the Tribune Publishing Company at Dixon,
Cal.. he terminated his service in that capacity in
1895, when he removed to Palo Alto and became fore-
man of the University Press at Stanford University;
he was thus engaged for ten years when he entered'
the employ of the Times Publishing Company as

foreman and served efficiently until 1919, when he be-
came a part owner and assumed the supcrintendency
of the Times Publishing Company.

On January 7, 1903, Mr. Henry was married in
Palo Alto to Miss Evelyn Henrietta Benoit, a daugh-
ter of Louis Benoit, a native of France and a partici-
pant in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870; on her
mother's side she is a descendant of the St. Louis
family, for whom the city of St. Louis, Mo., was
named; her mother's family were pioneers of Cali-
fornia. Her education was begun in the grammar
schools of Palo Alto and finished at the Notre Dame
Convent at Redwood City, Cal. They are the par-
ents of four children: Wilma Cecelia; Wilbur Vin-
cent; Louise Margaret, and Arthur John. In his
political views Mr. Henry is a Democrat and frater-
nally belongs to the Native Sons of the Golden West,
the Modern Woodmen of America, Royal Neighbors
of America, and the Elks. From 1905 to 1920 he
served as president of the Palo Alto Typographical
Union, and from 1909 to 1919 served the city of Palo
Alto as councilman. Mr. Henry has been 'active in
many ways in furthering the development of Santa
Clara County, and is a well-known and highly es-
teemed citizen of the college city.

HENRY A. ALDERTON, M. D.— After a suc-
cessful career in the medical profession, as a special-
ist in diseases of the ear, nose and throat, Dr. Henry
A. Alderton retired and has since devoted himself
to the study of painting. Born in New York City,
December 28, 1863, he attended the public schools of
his native city and the Brooklyn Polytechnic and Col-
legiate Institute, where he prepared to enter the Col-
lege of Physicians and Surgons, this being the medical
department of Columbia University. He graduated
in 1885 and then spent a year as an interne at St. Jo-
seph's Hospital in Paterson, N. J.

Taking up the general practice of medicine at
Brooklyn, N. Y., Dr. Alderton later went abroad to
study, taking special work on the ear, nose and
throat at the University of Berlin in 1890-91, and on
his return to Brooklyn, he specialized in these sub-
jects, continuing there until 1912. He taught in the
earlier years at the New York Post-Graduate Col-
lege and the New York Polyclinic and later at the
Long Island Medical College; was aural surgeon to
the Brooklyn Eye and Ear Hospital, Kingston Ave-
nue (contagious disease) Hospital, Kings County
Hospital, Bushwick and East Brooklyn Hospital, and
the Nassau County Hospital. He was formerly a
member of the Hamilton Crescent, and Church Club
in Brooklyn. Also of the American Otological, Amer-
ican Otological, Rhmological and Laryngological and
of the New York Otological Societies; and is, at pres-
ent, an honorary member of the New York Otolog-
ical Society. Since coming to California in 1912, he
has studied painting under C. P. Townsley, Richard
Miller, Mannheim and Armin Hansen, after prelim-
inary work at the San Francisco Institute of Art. The
year 1920-21 was spent in Spain and Portugal and Dr.
Alderton returned w^ith many original sketches from
which he is now working.

In 1885 Dr. Alderton was married to Miss Marion
S. Decker in Brooklyn, N. Y., a native of that state
and a descendant of families of that state on both
paternal and maternal sides. Dr. Alderton's father.
Henry Alderton, was a native of Sussex. England,
and his mother, Mary Amelia Gibbins, was born in

766

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

New York of English and French ancestry. In the
Alderton family there are three children: Dorothy
M married to Herbert A. Kellar, director of the Mc-
Co'rmick Agricultural Library in Chicago: Barbara,
an assistant at the Stanford University Library; and
Henry A., Jr., at present engaged in civil engnieer-
ing and formerly second lieutenant in the late war.
All are graduates of Stanford University. The fam-
ily make their home at 915 Channing Avenue, Palo
Alto, where Dr. Alderton has also his studio.

GEORGE M. CURTIS.— The son of pioneer par-
ents who crossed the plains in 1850, George M. Cur-
tis can w^ell take pride in the state of his birth, the
development of which has come about through sturdy
settlers, such as his forbears were. He was born at
Bodega Corners, Sonoma County, October 6, 1868,
the son of Benjamin A. and Rebecca (Humphrey)
Curtis, who left their Pennsylvania home to pioneer
in the' Far West more than seventy years ago, set-
tling in Sonoma County on their arrival here, where
they engaged in farming.

In 1872 the family removed to Mendocino County,
where they took up their home in the pine and red-
wood district, and here George M. attended school,
entering the sawmills as soon as he was large enough
to do the work. He soon became the head planer
for the Gualala Lumber Company, and he followed
this responsible line of work until 1908, when he re-
signed to take up his residence at San Martin on the
ranch which he had purchased in 1893, when his par-
ents had come to San Martin to make their home.
The San Martin district was surveyed and sold off
in small tracts, beginning in 1892, so that the Curtis
family are among the earliest settlers there. This was
a stubblefield and now is a fine prune orchard of
thirteen acres, which was among the first to be
planted. Benjamin A. Curtis lived to be seventy-
eight years old, passing away in June, 1914, at San
Martin, survived by his widow, who makes her
home with George M. Curtis at the comfortable fam-
ily residence on Church Avenue.

Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin
A. Curtis, as follows: George M., of this sketch;
Lillie married F. W. Briones; they have four chil-
dren and reside in San Francisco; William resides at
Albin, Mendocino County; Charles is a well driller
and resides at San Martin with his wife and two chil-
dren; Cora died aged two years; and Edna when she
was eighteen. A fine type of public spirited citizen.
Mr. Curtis can well look back with satisfaction on
his years of hard, honest work that have brought
him a competence he may now enjoy, knowing that
it has come about entirely through his own efforts.
He is a charter member of the California Prune and
Apricot Association. Well liked and esteemed by
his many friends and neighbors, he performs his
civic duties under the 1)anner of the Republican party.

LAZARD LION. — A California pioneer of extra-
ordinary force of character and intellect, whose busy
life of work and care leading on to success for him-
self and all associated with him, well illustrates that
characteristic in thousands of men, the will to do, to
continue to do, despite all odds, and finally to tri-
umph over seemingly impossible obstacles, was Laz-
ard Lion, who closed his eyes to the scenes of this
world on February 26, 1911. He was born at For-
bach, Alsace-Lorraine, France, October 29, 1829, and
there received a good education and training that en-

abled him to accomplish much as he went through
the many years granted him.

When a young man of twenty-three he came to
America, arriving in New York in 1852, and after a
short sojourn in the East he went to Indiana and for
a short time was engaged in business at Marshall.
We next find him in New Orleans, where he also car-
ried on a business for a short period of time; then he
crossed the Isthmus and arrived in San Francisco in
1853. Soon after his arrival there, he, with others.
founded the City of Paris dry goods house, and from
a small beginning the business grew with the years
until it ranked with the largest in the western metrop-
olis. Mr. Lion retained his interest in that establish-
ment for many years. On account of ill health, Mr.
Lion decided he would leave the Baj' section and he
came to San Jose in 1855, secured employment in a
store on Market Street, and the following year, 1856,
embarked in a general merchandise business at the
corner of Post and Market streets for himself. While
he was living in San Francisco he had become very
well known to some of the largest merchants in the
state for whom he bought goods — at a time when all
goods were sold at auction in San Francisco — and
being a shrewd buyer he gave his patrons every sat-
isfaction. After he became established in business
here he went through the pioneer experiences of all
pioneers of those early days, but he was one of those
progressive men and forged ahead, never letting him-
self become discouraged, whatever the obstacles. He
continued in business on Market Street until the cen-
ter of trade shifted over to First Street and he easily
adapted himself to conditions and moved to the old
Music Hall building where he had four stores. His
business kept growing apace and he began manufac-
turing gloves in one of his stores. That business
grew to such proportions that he had from seventy-
five to eighty people in his employ and later the in-
crease for the California tanned buckskin gloves be-
came so great that he had to send the goods to the
East to have them made, then returned to California
and the customers' wants supplied from here. He
imported hides from Alaska, and later built a tannery
here to cure his own hides; also imported fine kid
hides from France for fine goods. He even supplied
large manufacturers in the East with the California
buckskin gloves. The first year the sales of the San
Jose Glove Company amounted to over $200,000.

As the city expanded Mr. Lion opened an exclusive
carpet house in a store building in the Knox Block,
opposite the Music Hall building. He was also inter-
ested in a store in Santa Clara, maintaining that in-
terest for many years. It was due to his business
acumen that the City of Lions store was established
in Sacramento — one of the most extensive dry goods
stores in the entire valley. He was one of the organ-
izers of the Commercial and Savings Bank of San
Jose and for many years was its president. This bank
came into possession of extensive land holdings in
Mexico, and these were looked after by one of his
sons, Gustave Lion. He was one of the promoters of
the Vendome Hotel; was a stockholder in the San
Jose Woolen Mills, the San Jose Gas Company, the
San Jose Fruit Packing Company, and other enter-
prises that he thought might benefit the city of his
adoption. He also owned a large tract of land near
Gilroy, near Paradise Valley, some 5585 acres of fine
land that was purchased in 1890, but which has since
passed out of the possession of the family. Mr. Lion

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

767

took an active part in local politics, always to elevate
the standard of the seeker after office, and he was
appointed by Governor Bartlett one of the trustees
of Agncw. He was a Mason of many years standing.

In 1857 Lazard Lion was united in marriage with
Miss Zulema Martin, born in Bordeaux, France, the
daughter of Mary Martin, who came to America and
California in 1847 in a sailing vessel with her daugli-
ter and conducted a hotel in San Francisco, where all
the old-time miners used to hold forth when in that
city, spending their gold dust. She also carried on
a hotel in San Jose for many years. There were five
sons and one daughter granted to Mr. and Mrs.
Lion, one of whom, Charles, died in boyhood. The
others are Gustave F., president of L. Lion and Sons
Company; Ernest P., vice-president; Henry J., treas-
urer, and Emile \L, secretary. The only daughter,
Estelle, is the wife of Charles Fay, of San Francisco.
These children were all educated in San Jose. Mrs.
Lion passed away in 1898.

Lazard Lion had a wide acquaintance in the state
and when the news of his death was printed it was a
severe shock to all who had known him. When he
came to this county there were no railroads — stages
were the means of transportation north and south;
the quicksilver mines were at the height of their pro-
duction during his business career; the evolution of
the county from stock to grain and later to fruits and
intensive farming were all watched with interest by
this farsighted merchant prince. The present estab-
lishment of L. Lion and Sons Company of San Jose
is the outcome of the little store started on Market
and Post streets in 1856, and represents the oldest
concern in the state that never has been out of the
family control. Mr. Lion was successful in all his
business undertakings; was modest in manner and
always had a cheery greeting for everybody. He was
public spirited, always giving with the thought that
it was for the best interests of the county. He was
a man of splendid business judgment and was popu-
lar in social circles in his younger days. At his pass-
ing on February 20. 1911, the county lost one of her
most loyal citizens.

GUSTAVE F. LION.— A family, historic in its
way, of successful merchants and land owners is rep-
resented by Gustave F. Lion, president of L Lion
and Sons Company of San Jose, where the family has
been continuously represented since 1855. He was
born in San Jose, December 13, 1859. son of Lazard
and Zulema ( Martin) Lion, mentioned at length
elsewhere in this work.

Gustave attended the Gates private school in San
Jose and then Santa Clara College until he was four-
teen. He then left his books to assist his father in
his business and went to San Francisco, where he
had full charge of his office there and bought goods
for his seven stores; and was also selling agent for
the San Jose Glove Company in San Francisco; this
concern was also owned by his father. The lad went
to night school while he was in the city and also at-
tended Heald's Business College to further perfect
himself in being able to manage aflfairs. In 1880 he
came back to San Jose and established a drj- goods
business, which he later sold to Stull and Sonniksen.
In 1886 Gustave Lion went to Los Angeles to visit
and he saw the great opportunities of the southern
city, as it was at the time of its first real boom, and
he opened an exclusive carpet store and continued
there for almost four vears, then sold out and came

back to San Jose to identify himself with the L, Lion
and Sons concern. That same year it was incorpo-
rated as L. Lion and Sons Company, with Gustave F.
as its president, and that office he has held ever since.
The famous San Martin ranch of 5585 acres also
came under his control and he managed that until it
was sold for subdivision into small farms in 1921. He
had been looking after the extensive land holdings for
his father — or in reality the Commercial and Savings
Bank — some years previous to this time. Mr. Lion
has given his entire time to the development of the
concern of which he is the head, but not to the exclu-
sion of his duties as a public spirited citizen.

The marriage of Gustave F. Lion with Miss Mary
Jobson of San Jose was celebrated in 1880, and they
have become the parents of three children: Clara Z.
married W. E. Blauer, manager of the San Jose branch
of the Bank of Italy; Morrell G. is a grower and
wholesaler of seeds in Santa Clara County; and
Hortense is at home. The daughters were born in
San Jose and the son in Los Angeles. The family
home is at 1275 Alameda. Mr. Lion is one of the
popular citizens of the county as well as one of the
most public spirited. He is a member of the Cham-
ber of Commerce, the Countrv Club, the Commercial
Club, the B. P. O. Elks, a director of the San Jose
branch of the Bank of Italy and a member of its ad-
visory board. He was vice-president of the Commer-
cial and Savings Bank for several years and until it
was sold, was president of the Salsina Canning and
Packing Company. Always interested in politics,
thought not a seeker for office, he has sought to do
what he could under the banners of the Republican
party, although he was a delegate to the Democratic
National Convention, held in Chicago in 1896. Of
kindly disposition, keen business discernment, Mr.
Lion has a host of friends through the state who
gladly acknowledge his success and consider his word
as good as his bond.

PROF. ELMER E. BROWNELL.— California

has been particularly fortunate in her exceptional
staff of educators who have done yeoman service in
helping to lay broad and deep the foundations of the
great commonwealth, and prominent among those
contributing to these great aims and results is Prof.
Elmer E. Brownell, the popular supervising principal
of the Gilroy public schools, and a leader in the edu-
cational work of Santa Clara County. A native Ver-
monlcr. Elmer E. Brownell was born at Essex Junc-
tion, in the Green Mountain State, on June 1, 1865.
the son of Lyman A. Brownell, also a Vermonter, a
stonemason who migrated west to California in 1871.
and settled at San Jose, where he died in 1902. Mrs.
Brownell, who was Eliza A. Cook, before her mar-
riage and a native of New York, died January 23.
1921, highly esteemed as was her husband, and the
center of a circle of steadfast friends. The Brov.-n-
ells came to America before the Revolutionary War,
three brothers hailing from England, and settled in
Vermont, while the Cook family migrated from Scot-
land to New York in early Colonial days.

Elmer Brownell passed through the elementary
schools of San Jose and was graduated from the State
Normal in this city in 1884, after which he spent one
year at Stanford L^niversity, and in 1887 he was in
charge of the Lone Tree district school, in Contra
Costa County. The following year he removed to
Monterey County, and then he taught at Warm
Springs and next at Decoto, ^n Alameda County, be-

768

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

coming there the acting principal of schools. He was
principal of the Mountain View schools from 1890
to 1899, and was assistant teacher of the San Jose
high school from 1899 to 1904. Since 1904 he has
had charge of the Gilroy schools. From 1896 to 1906
he was president of the board of education of Santa
Clara County. In national political affairs a Repub-
lican, Professor Brownell has always been an enthusi-
astic, non-partisan worker for local movements and
men properly endorsed.

At Irvington, in Alameda County, on July 25, 1890,
Mr. Brownell was married to Miss Lizzie Valpey
Craycroft, the daughter of J. W. Craycroft of Mo-
desto. She passed away in 1903, lamented bj- all
who had come to appreciate her personality and gifts,
and survived by four sons: R. E. Brownell is a
graduate of the University of California, class of '11,
from which he received the D. D. S. degree; he is
married and the father of two children, and resides
at Fresno. John R. is in the employ of the Southern
Pacific Railroad, is married and has one child, and
served for twelve months in France, during the World
War. Dr. H. L Brownell is also a graduate of the
Physicians and Surgeons College of San Francisco,
having been a member of the class of '14; he is mar-
ried and lives at Fresno, and was a lieutenant in the
U. S. Navy during the war. Herbert W. Brownell,
another ex-service man, is attending the Dental Col-
lege of the University of Southern California. Pro-
fessor Browniell was married for the second time on
Christmas Day, 1909, to Miss Sarah Annette White-
liurst, the daughter of L. A. Whitehurst, the well-
known pioneer, now deceased. The family now reside
at the old Whitehurst home on South Church Street.
Gih-oy. Professor Brownell is a Republican, a Scot-
tish Rite Mason and a Knight Templar and a mem-
ber of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Fran-
cisco, and belongs to the Watsonville lodge of Elks,
and to the Mountain View lodge of Odd Fellows, the
Gilroy I. O. F., and is secretary and treasurer of Gil-
roy Golf and Country Club.

STEPHEN HEILMANN.— A successful orchard-
ist, who has made valuable contributions toward
the advancement of California husbandry, is Stephen
Heilmann, who came to Gilroy on August, 1, 1886,
and since Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1886, has
resided on Bodfish Road. He was born near Raude-
sacker, near Wurzburg, on the River Main in Bava-
ria, on April 10, 1861, the eldest son of Franz and
Barbara (Feuerer) Heilmann. and he attended school
in his own home district. In time, he spent three
years in the German army, doing his full duty by
the land of his birth, and having thus kept his rec-
ord clear, so that he might at any time return to the
Fatherland if he wished, he set out for America. On
July 11, 1892, he was admitted to citizenship by Judge
Lorigan at San Jose, and since then, becoming more
and more American, he has steadily made good. He
worked on the Lewis place when he first came to this
section and after Mr. Lewis died he served Henry
Miller faithfully until April, 1905. While in the em-
ploy of Miller he acquired 185 acres of very desir-
able orchard and hill land, and this he has been devel-
oping into an orchard and a vineyard. A Republican
in matters of national import, Mr. Heilmann has been
broadminded and non-partisan in local aiTairs, and is
at present a school trustee in the Live Oaks district.

He was also roadmastur of the Bodfish district for
many years.

At Gilroy, in 1898, Mr. Heilmann was married to
Miss Barbara Bumm, a native of the same part of
Bavaria as her husband, where she was born on April
7, 1861, and she came to California in 1888. F'ive
children made up their family: Lizzie, Mrs. Evans,
resides with her two children at Woodland; Augusta,
wife of Chief Engineer Satler, of the Union Iron
Works at San Francisco, is at home; Herman is as-
sisting with the work on the ranch, is married and
resides on the home place. Mary resides with her hus-
band, Joe Gubser, and her three daughters at Old Gil-
roy. Sarah, Mrs. George Brem, resides near Gilroy;
she is a graduate of the San Francisco State Normal
School, and the mother of a son. Mrs. Heilmann
was a general favorite, and when she passed away,
in June, 1905, at the Fisher Place, she was deeply
mourned by a wide circle of friends.

Many interesting events have helped to fill the
fruitful life of our subject, but in none has he taken
more pride than in his relation to the Nemo Prune,
the story of which may be had in his own narrative.
"For man}' years," he says, "I was working upon
Henry Miller's fruit ranch, known as the Lewis
Place,' where there were some green-gage plum trees,
whose fruit we could not very well use. Mr. Miller
thereupon ordered me to graft the trees to Imp.
prunes, and he sent me the scions. The grafting
was a success, and after a couple of years, the
branches bore well. I noticed on one tree a French-
prune graft, which was accidentally joined to the
Imp. prune scions, and this gave me the idea of im-
proving the French prune by means of the Imp.
prune, which is tender and gets soft very quickly. I
took about half a dozen of the Imp. prunes which
were close to the French prune limbs and planted
the pits of the former, and only one was growing.
I carefully attended to this one little tree, eager to
see what kind of fruit it would produce. I made
grafts of this little tree to older trees, and they are
now bearing an exceptionally good prune. I call it
"Nemo." This prune is large, of good color, sweet,
firm in flesh, and it does not get soft like the Imp.
prune when lying on the ground. This prune tree
may be grown on poor land, and }-et will grow large
— much larger than the French prune of neighbors
growing in the same kind of soil, and about thirty-
four grown on poor soil will make a pound."

S. G. RODECK.— A native son, S. G. Rodeck was
born in Sonoma County, November 1, 1856, and re-
ceived a good education in the schools of Petaluma;
he is a son of John and Letitia Rodeck, born
in Germany and Ireland, respectively, who settled in
the East and later emigrated to California via Pan-
ama and followed farming near Petaluma. S. G.
Rodeck was engaged in dairying in Sonoma County,
then spent two years in San Luis Obispo County
and then came to Santa Clara County in the '70s.
He purchased an orchard near Campbell, and here
he was married in 1876 to Miss Laura Campbell, who
was born in the town of Campbell, a daughter of
Benj. Campbell, the founder of the town. They have
engaged in orcharding ever since, and Mr. Rodeck
was a director in the Bank of Campbell until it was
sold to the Garden City Bank & Trust Co.. He is
now a member of its finance committee and a man

/f^^T^^r^^-^^Ty-^/

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

771

of much influence and public spirit. Mr. and Mrs.
Rodcck have three children: Mrs Cora Antrin, of
Fresno; Mary L , and Geo. Benjamin. They are
members of the Methodist Church in Campbell.

DAVID BACON MOODY.— Success has attended
the efforts of David Bacon Moody, and though re-
tired from active duties, he is still alert and interested
in all measures that tend to the advancement and de-
velopment of his community. Born in Michigan City,
Ind., March 14, 1837, his parents, Ransom G. and
Elmira (Bacon) Moody, removed, in 1840, to Mil-
waukee, Wis. There he attended the public schools
until early in the year 1849, when the family crossed
the plains with ox teams to California, coming by
the southern route and the Cajon Pass, their wagons
being among the first to come by that route. Their
progress was slow, accompanied by perils and hard-
ships, but they finally reached San Bernardino about
Christmas time, 1849, coming on to San Jose in May,
1850, where Mr. Moody attended school until nine-
teen years of age. When he was twenty-one he cm-
barked in the flour-milling business with his father
and two brothers, Charles and Volney D. Aloody,
and continued in that business until his retirement
from active life. Their mills were known as the
Moody Mills, and afterwards as the Central Milling
Company, composed of eleven units in all, and dis-
tributed their products throughout the state. Later
these mills were combined with other mills and be-
came known as the Sperry Flour Company, and for
eighteen years he was secretary and auditor for this
company. For fourteen years, or until the liquidation
of the business, Mr. Moody w-as president of the San
Jose Woolen Mills, and he was also one of the pro-
moters of the Vendome Hotel. Since 1910 his pri-
vate interests have been demanding his full time.

Mr. Moody is a public-spirited citizen, who has the
fullest confidence of the community, and served as
city treasurer in 1862, w'hich office he held for t\.
years. In 186/, at a time of great public agitation,
he was called upon to act as county treasurer by the
board of supervisors. The incumbent of the office
had absconded with $23,000 of the county funds.
Great excitement was the result, but Mr. Moody took
hold of matters and carried them safely through the
critical time, finding no difficulty in giving at once
bonds of the heaviest nature. From 1867 to 1871
Mr. Moody was chairman of the Republican County
Central Committee, and September 27, 1886, he was
a prime mover in the organization of the Board of
Trade, which afterwards became the Chamber of
Commerce, which has done a vast deal of good for
this valley in advertising its advantages and resources
and in disseminating accurate and reliable informa-
tion. Mr. Moody was elected president at the first
and held that important office until going to San
Francisco for the Sperry Flour Company; he also
served on the board of education four years. In
addition to his business interests, he is the owner of
considerable real estate.

The marriage of Mr. Moody, June 27, 1861, united
him with Miss Jeannette B. Wright, a native of New
York. They have two children, Nettie, a graduate of
the College of the Pacific, and Anna L., both resid-
ing with their parents.

Mr. Moody, from his majority until 1900, was an
ardent supporter of the principles of the Republican
party, and has the honor of having voted for Presi-
dent Lincoln twice, and twice for President Grant;
however, he now votes the Democratic ticket. He is

a great lover of good music, and in this he finds his
recreation. He is a member of the Loring Club of
ban Francisco and attends rehearsal every Monday
night; he has been an active member of this club
for over twenty-five years. He is a composer of some
dis inction, havmg begun when eighteen years of age
and several of Ins songs have met with popular ap-
proval For twelve years he was the tenor of St
Joseph s quartet choir of San Jose. Mr. Moody was
a member of the board of freeholders, elected for the
purpose of traming a new charter for city govern-
ment, and was also a member of the committee of re-
vision, a responsible office requiring the highest qual-
ities. Ih.s board succeeded in establishing the com-
mission form of government in San Jose. Mr Moody
was a volunteer fireman in the early days, and for
"' '"7-^ "' r'' -''''^" '■'^"ived an exemption certifi-
arlv-'n ' relieves him from jury duty. Although

advanced in years, Mr. Moody is still active and re-
tams the energy and ability which have always dis-
tinguished him. ^

JOE HAGEMAN.— Among the prominent and
outstanding hgures in realty circles of San Jose, and
a name that is familiar to home builders and inves-
tors IS Joe Hageman. To him belongs the credit of
introducing the modern, high-class residence apart-
ments, which have become so popular with investors
and tenants alike. He was born m Franklin, Ind., on
July 26 1875, a son of Simon P. and Annie (McCol-
lough) Hageman. The family removed to California
during the year of 1884, and settled in San Jose
where the father was well known as an orchardist;'
both parents have passed away.

Mr Hageman received his education in the public
schools and high school of San Jose and spent his
spare time in helping his father on the home place
where he secured a training that was of much help
when he started to make his own way. He first en-
gaged in ranching; then entered the drug business
became a licensed druggist and followed that line for
the next six years. He again entered the ranks of the
ranchers and continued for eight years. During 1906
he quit ranching and went to San Francisco and was
engaged in the wrecking business in which he met
with success, helping to clean up the debris of the big
fire of April, 1906, which was the initial step in the
building of greater San Francisco. Upon his return
to San Jose, in 1909, Mr. Hageman built the first resi-
dence apartment house in San Jose, located at 330
South Third Street; since then has built another at
the corner of Third and Julian streets. When he first
commenced the plan and carried it into execution, it
was considered impractical and unprofitable, but the
success of the venture has proven so practicable and
this style of apartment so popular, that many have
followed his example and dozens have beeii con-
structed, aiding very mateHally in the housing prob-
lems of San Jose. In 1919, Mr. Hageman was the
moving spirit m the organization of the United Realty
Company, his business associates being Arthur L.
Grey and Joseph V. Cardoza, with ofiiccs at 61 West
Santa Clara Street. From the time of its establish-
ment, the United Realty Company has had its share
of the business and the volume and importance of
their transactions are growing month by month; in
connection with the realty business, they conduct a
general insurance business.

The marriage of Mr. Hageman occurred in San
Jose, June 24, 1901, and united him with Miss Jane

772

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Trader, a native of Jersey City, N. J., later removing
writh her parents to Kansas City, Mo. They are the
parents of one child, Bruce. Mr. Hageman is very
popular in the San Jose Lodge No. 522, B. P. O.
Elks and is an active member of the Chamber of
Commerce and the San Jose realty board. His leis-
ure time is spent in the open, and he is particularly
fond of camping trips in the mountains, a recreation
he enjoys as much as his busy life will permit.

JOHN Q. A. BALLOU. — Numbered among the
oldest and best posted horticulturists of the Santa
Clara Valley, John Q. A. Ballou still retains his clear
mind and alert intellect at the age of ninety-five and
it is indeed a rare privilege to converse with him.
The founder of the Ballou family in America was
Maturin Ballou, of French and Norman lineage, who
migrated from England in 1645, and became an asso-
ciate of Roger Williams in Rhode Island. He had
two sons, John and James. In the sixth generation
from him was Abram Ballou, a native of Rhode
Island and besides being a farmer was a shoemaker,
which occupation he followed for some years in New
York state and there died His son, Otis, was born
in Smithfield, R. I., and removed to New Hampshire,
where he married Lydia Chamberlain in 1816. Later
he settled in Hartland, Windsor County Vt., and
combined the trade of a shoemaker with the occupa-
tion of farmer. During their residence there his son.
John Q. A., was born, a representative of the eighth
generation in descent from the founder of the family
in the United States. When he was seven years of
age, the family removed to Walpole, N. H., and the
father continued his trade of shoemaking and farm-
ing. Later the family returned to Rhode Island and
there the father passed away. His wife died in New
Hampshire in 1849. She was a granddaughter of
Thomas Chamberlain, one of the earliest settlers of
New Hampshire and a lieutenant under General
Stark in the Revolutionary War.

J. Q. A. Ballou was the eighth child in a family of
twelve children, eleven of whom attained mature
years, and was born March 26, 1827. He attended
the common schools and learned the trade of cutter
in a shoe manufacturing establishment, and at the age
of twenty-two had risen to the position of foreman of
the manufacturing department. He continued in this
employ until March 1, 1849, when he and his brother,
George W., sailed from Boston on the ship Sweden
around the Horn, and after a voyage of 153 days
landed in San Francisco on August 3 of that year,
just fifteen days before the landing of Bayard Taylor,
correspondent of Horace Greeley's New York "Trib-
une." They hurried on to the mines, but six weeks
after their arrival George W., was taken ill and died
at Coloma. In January of 1852, J. Q. A. returned to
the east via Nicaragua and in May of the same year
accompanied by his two brothers, Warren S , and
Charles O., they started back by the same route.
Their tickets provided for passage in the North
American from San Juan Del Suer to San Francisco,
but that steamship having been wrecked they finished
their trip by a voyage on the S. S. Lewis instead.
Warren S. Ballou returned East within a year but
Charles O. stayed until 1860, when he also went back
and enlisted, became second lieutenant and was killed
during the terrific fighting at the battle of Fredericks-
burg, while acting as captain.

After his second arrival in California in 1852, J. Q.
A. Ballou went to the mines in Sierra County. In
March of 1853 he went to Santa Clara County, and
arriving at San Jose, March 14 of that year, he
put up at Price's Hotel, which was located where the
Wilcox Building now stands. Its proprietor was Col.
John Price, a brother of the Confederate general and
ex-governor of Missouri, General Sterling Price. In
1855 Mr. Ballou turned his attention to the nursery
business and in 1857 purchased his present property
in the suburbs of San Jose on the Milpitas Road, and
he was thus engaged until 1862, becoming the best
posted man on fruit cultivation in the Santa Clara
Valley and well deserved that honor, for many years
were devoted to the study of obtaining the best re-
sults with the varied products which the soil would
bring forth. One of the first experiments that Mr.
Ballou tried was the boring of a well on his ranch,
and in February, 1857, water was reached. Mr. Bal-
lou was associated with the introduction of bee cul-
ture in California. His ranch consisted of forty acres
and was planted to pears, apples and plums. In addi-
tion he has a stock farm of 140 acres on the Guada-
lupe on First Street a quarter of a mile north of the
city limits. For thirty-five years he has been interest-
ed in city property in San Francisco besides owning
valuable property in San Jose. He was the first man
to experiment in drying fruit in the sun, an indus-
try that has since developed into a most profitable
occupation in Santa Clara County. In 1864, while on a
visit to his New England home, he married Miss
Catherine J. Kimball, daughter of Timothy D. and
Jane Alice (Mann) Kimball, residents of Claremont,
N. H. Mr. and Mrs. Ballou were the parents of two
children; Allis K, Mrs. Wager Bradford, and George
Ballou, an accountant in the auditor's office of the
shipping board in San Francisco. Mrs. Ballou passed
away in 1914.

Mr. Ballou also helped pioneer the fruit canning
industry at San Jose, where the first cannery was
started in 1870 by Dr. Dawson, and in 1874 it was
incorporated under the name of the San Jose Fruit
Canning Company. In 1879 Messrs. Ballou and
Ozier became owners of three-fifths of the capital
stock and Mr. Ballou served as its president for
three years. He was also prominent in the organiza-
tion of the Farmer's Union Store and for many years
served in the capacity of secretary and is still a
stockholder and director. As a result of an opera-
tion for cataract. Mr. Ballou has lost his sight and
can only distinguish the light from darkness, but he
still retains his wonderful memory and it is indeed
interesting to converse with him upon the early his-
tory of California in the early mining days. Mr. Bal-
lou has been connected with the organization known
as "California Pioneers" since 1856. It was started
in 1849 and one of the points of eligibility is that
the member must have been a resident of Califor-
nia before statehood. This organization is a very
noted one, among other things being the residuary
legatee of the James Lick Estate. He is also a mem-
ber of the Santa Clara County Pioneer Association.
From the formation of the Republican party in 1856
Mr. Ballou has been a firm believer and an advocate in
Republican principles. In 1866 he was elected a
member of the county board of supervisors, but re-
signed three years later. Fraternally he is a mem-
ber of the Masonic lodge No. 10 in San Jose.

cMsKX

e.^^5o■

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

771

HON. ISAIAH ALONZO WILCOX.— A grate-
ful posterity such as makes up the rank and file of
California citizenship today will always gladly honor
such patriot pioneers as the late Hon. Isaiah ."Monzo
Wilcox, who for years participated in the direction
of public affairs, while he enjoyed distinction as one
of the foremost settlers who had contributed sub-
stantially toward the scientific and practical devel-
opment of the varied fruit interests of Santa Clara
County. A native of the great Empire State, he
was born in Herkimer County on September 16,
1822, the son of Asa and Clarissa (Nichols) Wilcox,
also natives of that county. His father both followed
agricultural pursuits and conducted a well-stocked
store, besides looking after other business interests,
and thus it happened that Isaiah, during his attend-
ance at the local schools, not only received such an
education as is possible to obtain from books, but
he imbibed much else of great benefit to him in
after years. He progressed so well, indeed, that at
twenty he undertook to teach school, and in that
field he asserted his powers and leadership qualities
to the extent that the authorities induced him twice
to accept the office of superintendent of schools. He
was far from satisfied with pedagogy, however, and
at the age of twenty-four began to study law. partly
under the distinguished Judge Loomis. Unfortu-
nately, too close application to his study impaired
his health, and he was forced to seek outdoor activity-
He took up various occupations, even trying his luck
at cod-fishing off the Banks of Newfoundland, in
1849; and having decided that he must make a still
greater change, he turned his attention to the genial
climate of the Pacific Coast, about which everybody
was then talking, on account of the excitement fol-
lowing the discovery of gold.

Making his way via the Isthmus of Panama, he
at length arrived in San Francisco in 1852; and al-
though he had almost an aversion to mining, he ac-
companied others in search of gold. He worked for
a while at Little York. Waulope and Red Dog, but,
discouraged on account of his continued poor health,
he returned to San Francisco, and soon made his
way to the new town of Alameda. Messrs. Chipman
and Augenbough, founders of the proposed city,
made him foreman of the survey, and he then went
to work in the redwood district north of Oakland. In
partnership with Henderson Llewelling, who had
been a pioneer in importing fruit trees to the West-
ern Coast, he bought 500 acres of land, later laid
out as Fruitvale, but owing to trouble on account
of the title, their plans with the property were never
made use of. In 1856 he went to San Francisco, and
there, with E. J. Loomis, he established a commis-
sion and produce house that was soon known for its
enterprise and dependability. Two years later, when
the excitement as to gold spread along the Fraser
River, he established stores at Victoria, on Van-
couver Island, but the failure of the mines and the
consequent departure of the miners forced him to
close the shops again.

Concentrating his attention upon the advantages
oflfered by Alameda County, Mr. Wilcox engaged
actively in fruit culture there; and in 1867, con-
vinced that Santa Clara County offered still greater
opportunities, he removed hither, settling on Olive
Avenue, three miles northwest of Santa Clara, where
he continued his fruit planting and cultivating on

about sixty acres. He had some 6,000 trees, mostly
Bartlett pears and French prunes, and between the
trees he cultivated onions and strawberries, evolving
with the latter a very profitable industry. He had
six acres of alfalfa, and managed that corner of his
busy ranch so well that he gathered six crops a year
from the rich land.

Mr. Wilcox was married in 1859 to Miss Mary
Frances Abbott, the daughter of the California pio-
neer, Stephen Abbott, a charming lady, who first
saw the light at Wilton. N. H., and bade adieu to
the scenes of this world on May 13, 1891, at the
age of fifty-three. The worthy couple were blessed
with four sons and one daughter: Frank Asa is the
subject of a review on another page; Harry W. is
deceased, survived by a widow, who resides in the
East; Emily A. Wilcox married Francis J. Henry,
who is engaged in mercantile pursuits at Glendale,
where they reside; Walter I. is a dentist and enjoys
a lucrative practice in San Francisco; he resides on
a part of the premises of the Wilcox Fruit Company,
and is that company's secretary and treasurer. Irving
.\. Wilco.x, who is married and also lives on a part
of the fruit company's property, is the manager.

Isaiah Alonzo Wilcox's prominence in the Western
fruit industry is attested by the fact that the Califor-
nia State Horticultural Society selected him as its
representative at the Industrial Exposition in New
OrUatis. wlurr he acmniplished much to arouse a
live intrrot in ihr -oil. climate and products of Cali-
fornia, and the trnil^ of his intelligent and conscien-
tious labors were apparent in the large number of
desirable settlers who afterwards located in the
state. He assisted effectually in organizing the
.\mcrican Horticultural Society, and was one of the
founders of the Horticultural Hall Association of
San Jose, a member of its first board of directors.
He was also one of the first directors in the Bank
of Santa Clara County, and he assisted in founding
the (Grangers Bank of California. He was a stock-
holder in the Farmers' Union store in San Jose, and
also in the Santa Clara Cheese Factory. On the
organization of the Santa Clara Grange. Patrons of
Husbandry, he became a charter member, and he
was twice honored as this body's representative in
the State Grange. Later he helped to organize the
San Jose Grange, and became its first worthy
master. He was a standpat Republican, and was a
member of the State Legislature for 1886-88, render-
ing great service to his constituency, .■\fter a very
busy and unquestionably useful career, "crowned by
prosperity and blessed by many warm friendships,"
as an earlier writer has said of him, "he entered into
rest April 1, 1897, mourned by the pioneers who had
labored by his side in the early days of Santa Clara
County, and followed to his grave by innumerable
tokens of respect on the part of his former associates
and companions."

PAUL C. SAINSEVAIN.— .\ representative of
one of the oldest families in the Santa Clara Valley
is Paul C. Sainsevain, whose father, Pedro Sainse-
vain, came to San Jose from his native place, Begay,
France, when he was eighteen years of age, in 1836,
and in this old Mission city he met and married
Miss Paula Sunol, a native daughter of San Jose,
whose father, Don .\ntonio Sunol, came hither from
Spain in 1818, and was the second of the foreigners
to come to Santa Clara \'alley. Don .Antonio Sunol

776

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

becamt a large landowner and a successful and in-
fluential man. On his maternal side Paul C. Sainse-
vain is also descended from the Bernal family, his
Great-grandfather Bernal coming hither in 1787 with
the old Mission Fathers.

Pedro Sainsevain built the first sawmill in San
Bernardino County, and with his brother Louis set
out a large vineyard at Cucamonga. Then he ran
a sawmill near Santa Cruz and had a grant of land
at Santa Cruz, a part of it now being the site of the
powder works. In 1849 San Francisco Bay was
full of idle boats, as captains could get no sailors to
man them because of the rush to the mines. Wish-
ing to make a trip to Chile, Mr. Sainsevain char-
tered a boat and had to guarantee a crew, so he
manned the boat with Indians, made the trip to
Chile, purchased merchandise, and on his return
sold his stock at a profit of $50,000. He also en-
gaged in business in Verba Buena. When his old-
est children were of suitable age he sent them to
Bordeaux, France, to go to school. The mother
made the trip and remained for some months, and
while she was there Paul C. was born in Bordeaux,
May 25, 1856. In 1864 Pedro Sainsevain started a
large w-ine business in New York City, but owing
to the conditions of the times he lost heavily. He
continued on his ranch in San Jo=e, where he had
116 acres of vineyard, now Saiii-i vain \'\Ur. After-
wards he was again in biiMius< in San Francisco.
Then for about eight years he wa> in business in
Central America, later returning to San Jose. After his
wife's death he returned to France, where he spent
the rest of his days. They had three children:
Michael, deceased; Charles, a rancher of San Jose,
and Paul C, of this sketch.

He was educated in the public schools of San
Jose and at Santa Clara College, and after this he
took up the study and practice of surveying and
civil engineering under A. T. Hennan for two years;
then with his father he went to Central America,
where he remained for a period of eight years. On
his return to San Jose he became secretary and
manager of the San Jose Electric Light Company,
a position he filled for two years, when he accepted
a position with Mr. Pieper, city engineer of San
Jose, continuing with him until Mr. Pieper's death,
when Mr. Sainsevain received the appointment of
city engineer, serving acceptably for a period of six
years. During this time he laid out the main sewer
and sewer system. Next he was deputy county
assessor under L. A. Spitzer until his death, and
then under Mrs. L. A. Spitzer until the close of her
term of office, when he entered the county surveyor's
office eight years ago, since which time he has been
serving under Mr. Ryder.

Mr. Sainsevain resides in a comfortable home he
owns in Sainsevain Villa, a subdivision his father
laid out of the 116-acre farm in 1870. In San Fran-
cisco occurred the marriage of Mr. Sainsevain and
Lillian Ebeling. She is a native daughter, born in
San Francisco, whose father was one of the pioneer
jewelers of that city. Their union has been blessed
with two children: Eugenio, died at the age of tw-en-
ty years, just as he was entering Stanford University,
and Isabelle, now Mrs. Schweitzer, who has one child,
Eugenio Schweitzer.

JOSEPH E. RUCKER.— From the date of his
arrival in California, in the early days of 1852, Joseph
E. Rucker was intimately associated with the upbuild-
ing of the Santa Clara Valley, first with its ranching
interests, and later as the founder of the firm popu-
larly known as the Rucker Realty Company, pioneers
in the real estate business of this locality and active
factors in its development.

Joseph E. Rucker was born in Floward County,
Mo., in 1831, the son of William T. and Verenda S.
(.Taylor) Rucker, who moved to Howard County,
Mo., in 1830, soon after their marriage in Virginia,
where the father was born in 1809 and the mother in
1810. In 1832 they removed to Saline County, Mo.,
and for the next twenty years they engaged in farm-
ing there, successful among their generation and
honored for their many sterling qualities. In 1852 the
whole family made the long trip across the plains to
California, and William T. Rucker succeeded in
bringing through 200 milch cows, no small undertak-
ing in that day, but a very profitable one for him, as
he had purchased them for ten dollars a head and
was able to dispose of them for from $150 to $200 a
head. Soon after arriving here he bought 160 acres
of land southwest of Santa Clara, which he sowed to
wheat, his first crop yielding fifty bushels to the acre.
This was in the season of 1852-53 when seed potatoes
and seed wheat each cost five cents per pound. Mr.
and Mrs. William T. Rucker were the parents of
eleven children: To:^iph E.. of this review; Mary L.,
Mrs. Benj, Camplull; John S.: W. D.; R. T.; Dr.
H. N.; 2. T.; Nam v C, Mr>. John P. Finley; George
F.; Margaret E., -Mrs. Clark; B. W. Mr. Rucker
passed away in 1879, his wife surviving him a number
of years, her death occurring in 1897.

In 1853 Joseph E. Rucker took up eighty acres of
land, which he farmed until 1855, when he bought a
dairy near Gilroy. In 1858 he disposed of this and
bought a ranch, w'hich he operated until 1864, when
he sold it. Then he bought the ranch at Campbell,
where he lived until he bought a tract of ten acres
in The Willows in 1874, and that same year went
into the real estate business, in which he was engaged
during the remainder nf his life. In 1883 he took his
son into partnership with him, the firm becoming J. E.
Rucker & Son, successors to Rucker & Page, and
this company became foremost among the realty and
insurance concerns of the Santa Clara Valley.

In 1855 Joseph E. Rucker was married to Miss
Susan Brown, a native of Holt County, Mo, who
came to California in 1851 w-ith her parents, Samuel
and Susan (Woods) Brown. They were also pio-
neer settlers of Missouri, coming there in 1825 from
their old home in Kentucky. Eight children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Rucker: William B., Annie,
deceased; Mary E., now Mrs. M. A. Boulware; James
T. and Samuel N., twins; the latter was a member of
the State Legislature in 1885, and in 1889 was mayor
of San Jose; Joseph H. is now head of the realty
business, with offices in both San Jose and San Fran-
cisco; Susan is the wife of Judge P. F. Gosbey of
San Jose; Lucy M., the wife of Dr. Chas. A. Way-
land. Joseph E. Rucker passed away in 1890, sur-
vived for seven years by his devoted wife. A life-long
Democrat, he took an active interest in the aflfairs
of his party, and he was a Mason, belonging to San
lose Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M , Howard Chapter

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CL.Ui

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

779

No. 14, R. A. M., San Jose Commandery, K. T., and
San Jose Chapter No. 31, O. E. S. A conscientious
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,
and a generous supporter of its benevolences, he was
the first single man to join this church in the Santa
Clara Valley, which church was built by his father
and known as Rucker's Chapel. A worthy pioneer,
he contributed much to the permanent upbuilding and
development of this section of California, his death
closing a career that had been upright and honorable
in every relation of his well-spent life.

FRANK A. WILCOX.— A representative of Santa
Clara County whose success in life has enabled him to
command an influence helpful to many others besides
himself, is Frank A. Wilcox, widely known for his
association with the Wilcox Fruit Company, resid-
ing on Cofiin Road, three miles to the northwest of
Santa Clara. The son of the Hon. Isaiah Alonzo
Wilcox, one of the most esteemed pioneers of Santa
Clara County, Frank Asa was born in Fruitvale,
Alameda County, on November 16, 1860, the eldest
in a family of four sons and one daughter, and while
yet a youth he was fortunate in mastering a thorough
knowledge of the fruit trade, so that long before
most young men, he was able to start in business
for himself with a good practical experience as part
of his capital. Toward the close of 1889, he secured
by purchase twenty acres of choice land lying west of
his father's ranch in Santa Clara County, and com-
menced to raise seeds and fruits, and two years later,
i;e added to his holdings a twelve-acre tract, which
he set out in fruit, and in 1904 he bought another
twenty acres, also for fruit culture. About the same
tmie he formed a working agreement with Charles
Parker of Santa Clara and W. H. Metson of San
Francisco, and first undertook the growing of vege-
tables for seeds; and from that early venture of nearly
twenty years ago, sprang the California Seeds, Inc..
of which Mr. Wilcox was secretary, and they shipped
seeds to all parts of the United States, and even to
Europe. Although so successful in the seed business
that that industry alone almost monopolized his at-
tention, he continued to operate his thirty-two acres,
arid also to take care of his one-fifth interest in his
father's estate.

After the death of his father, in 1897, the Wilcox
Fruit Coinpany was incorporated. It took over the
orchards and business of the deceased pioneer, and
developed an enviable property and trade. Its present
officials are F. A. Wilcox, president, I. A. 'Wilcox,
general manager; and Walter Wilcox, secretary and
treasurer. The company has sold off some land, and
bought other land, since Isaiah A. Wilcox's death,
and at present it has seventy-six acres. Frank A.
Wilcox with his two sons owns eighty-six acres, the
whole being devoted to growing pears. Mr. Wilcox
s;av the need of drainage for this section, so with
others laid a drain pipe line for 6000 feet to get
a proper outlet, and then he laid tile throughout
his propert}', which he finds of great benefit to the
land and his growing orchards. He has also installed
2n underground system for spraying the trees, oper-
ated from a central plant. By this method spraying
can be done immediately after a rain, instead of the
eld way of having to wait several weeks for the
ground to dry sufficiently to allow the hauling of the
tank wagon. He is a stockholder in the Bank of
Italy, and he also is a director in the California Pear

Growers Association, which he helped to establish
in 1918. He helped to organize at San Jose, the Co-
operative Canneries, a state-wide institution, and he
is a director of the Santa Clara unit.

At Santa Clara, in 1886, Mr. Wilcox was married
to Miss Mary L. Ortley, a native of Santa Clara
County and the daughter of Capt. John Jacob and
Almira Ortley, honored pioneers. Her father, one
c f the ablest sea captains of several oceans, brought
his own ship to the Pacific Coast in 1849, and after-
ward engaged in Coast trade; and her mother, who
was Miss Wade before her marriage, crossed the
great plains to the Golden State to reach her longed-
for goal. Captain Ortley, then running a line of
freight steamers between San Francisco and Alviso,
and he and Miss Wade were married on Christmas
Eve, 1858, and they made their home near Alviso.
A sister of Mrs. Wilcox is Mrs. Frank A. Hunter,
and her history is given elsewhere in this work in the
life-story of her husband. Three children blessed
this fortunate union of Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox. Fannie
Almira had become a gifted, promising young lady
of twenty when, in 1907, she died, popular as a grad-
uate of the Santa Clara high school. Lloyd Ortley
Wilcox, married Miss Nola McCline of Santa Clara,
and they have two children, Barbara and Frank Al-
fred. Adrian C. Wilcox, graduated from the Uni-
versity of California and has become an agricultural
expert. He entered the U. S. service and for two
years during the war he was associated with the
Agricultural Department in the work of increasing
the production of wheat — an important work for
\\ hich he was especially recommended by his former
professor; he was married to Miss Irma Currie of
Los Angeles, a granddaughter of the founder of Tus-
tin. Orange County. Frank A. Wilcox's father died
on April 1, 1897; and his mother, who was Mary
Frances Abbott before her marriage, breathed her last
on May 13, 1891. In 1906, Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox
built their beautiful residence, which they later re-
modeled, making it a commodious country house. Mr.
Wilcox is an Odd Fellow, a past grand and a past
chief patriarch in the Encampment.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY.— Wide-
ly known as among the most attractive of all the ex-
ternal features of the Stanford Urtiversity, the splen-
didly-equipped and equally splendidly housed library
of that world-famous institution of higher learning,
has become of absorbing interest and abiding satis-
faction both to the discriminating and exacting
scholar, and the ambitious student. Its superb build-
ing alone, according to the well-chosen phrases of
President Ray Lyman Wilbur, materializes a dream
once before almost a reality. When one studies the
simple and effective arrangement of the building, with
its many conveniences, made possible through experi-
ence— illustrative of more than one theory and fore-
thought of the librarian, George Thomas Clark, and
and those associated with him in the immense labor
of calling again into creation such a storehouse with
all its complicated machinery — he cannot but think
that perhaps the earthquake may have been kind in
its rude shattering of former hopes. The erection of
the library has hastened the inevitable rearrangement
of roads through the campus so as to provide the
easiest access to the residence district, in spite of the
great projected quadrangles blocking the direct course
from Palo Alto, and, attractive without, and beautiful

780

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

in its simplicity within, the new library has taken its
firm place in the life of Stanford scholarship.

When Stanford University first opened its doors
for instruction on October 1, 1891, there were only
3,000 volumes in its library, and the home of the
library was in the building occupied of late by the
law librarj'. At the end of the first year, there were
still accommodations for only about 100 readers, in
one large room, but the number of volumes had in-
creased to 8,000, and these books were on shelves
capable of holding 10,000 more; so that it is safe to
say that, in the first few years, the most important of
all works available for student use were in the pri-
vate collections of the professors, assembled at the
latter's expense. In tliis first year, however, was ac-
quired the valuable gift from Timothy Hopkins of
some 2,000 volumes on railroads, the nucleus of the
10,000 volumes he was ultimately to give as the Hop-
kins Railway Library. At the end of the second
year, the library's staff consisted of a librarian and
two student assistants, and the library, contained
15,600 books. At the close of this second year, oc-
curred the death of Senator Stanford, followed by
attempts on the part of the government to invalidate
the deed to the university, so that had it not been for
the continued munificent interest of Mr. Hopkins in
the welfare of the institution, the library would have
made little or no progress because of want of funds.
The library, for example, had less than $2,000 to
spend for books during the second year, and Mr. Hop-
kins alone gave three times that amount. In this
year was also acquired by purchase through p-rivate
subscriptions and eventually through the proceeds of
a great fair, or kirmess, in which nearly the whole
of the university took part, the valuable library of
Professor Hildebrand of Germany on Germanic phi-
lology and early literature, — a magnificent collection,
comprising about 4,600 volumes and over 1.000 pam-
phlets. Edwin H. Woodruff, who was the librarian
at Stanford from 1891, accepted a professorship of
law at Cornell University several years later, and in
time Herbert C. Nash, long private secretary for
Senator Stanford, contributed his intelligence and fine
personal qualities in helping to bridge over the diffi-
cult and lean years of the library. Not the least in-
teresting items in the history of this indispensable
adjunct of the university is the record of work per-
formed in 1898 by some seventy-eight volunteer stu-
dents, who, under the able direction of A. V. Babine,
prepared a card catalogue.

The temporary quarters of the library being out-
grown, Thomas Welton Stanford of Australia, who
had already given 2,000 volumes on that country, do-
nated $300,000 for a new library in the outer quad-
rangle, and when it was first occupied, over 50,000
volumes were installed — all removed through the vol-
untary assistance of about 250 students. The library
of the Department of Law, recently enlarged through
the private libraries of Supreme Justice Stephen J.
Field and others, moved in where the main library
had been. In 1901, Melvin G. Dodge, librarian o"f
Hamilton College, became associate librarian, and was
eventually made acting librarian, took hold, and dur-
ing his administration, which lasted until 1907, the
Dewey system of classification was adopted. In 1904.
as it was evident that the library building in the outer
quadrangle would not be adequate for the permanent
home of the growing library, and also was not prop-
erly protected from fire, Mrs. Stanford began the

construction of a new library building in front of the
quadrangle buildings. This building was about com-
pleted, except for interior finishing and furnishing,
when it was destroyed by the earthquake of 1906 be-
yond hope of economical reconstruction. In Febru-
ary, 1905, Mrs. Jane L. Stanford, on departing for
Honolulu for the benefit of her health, arranged for
the creation of a Jewel Fund, by the sale of her
jewels, for the purchase of books, and since Mrs.
Stanford never returned alive, the Jewel Fund was
established by the trustees in 1908. The bequest was
made none too soon: the same year, 1906, the earth-
quake destroyed not only the prospective library
home, but neighboring libraries as well, and the board
of tru.Ntces were face to face with the necessity for
immediate disbursements of a generous nature. In
1907, the librarianship, made vacant by Mr. Nash's
death, was awarded George T. Clark, then the suc-
cessful librarian of the San Francisco Public Library,
and under his exceptional leadership, the Stanford
Library entered upon a new era of development in
which, since then, there has never been any back-
ward movements. Valuable accessions to the gen-
eral library have been made from time to time, and
these have included the valuable professional libra-
ries of President Emeritus John Casper Branner, on
geology, and the late Professor Ewald Fluegel on
English philology and early English literature. Among
the donors of particular service to the library in these
later periods are Timothy Hopkins, Thomas Welton
Stanford, David Starr Jordan, John C. Branner, Her-
bert Hoover, Charles G. Lathrop, Horace Davis, and
J. E. Hewston. In 1913, the Board of Trustees de-
cided to construct a new building in keeping with
the wants of the university, and one that would meet
the growth of the university for many years to come,
but the erection of this important structure was de-
layed by the World War and the national needs ap-
pealing to patriots generally. At present the Uni-
versity Library, which has a staff of twenty-nine
members and sixteen student assistants, comprises
over 350,000, about 50,000 of which are permanently
housed in the Lane Medical Library in San Francisco,
and some 25,000 in the Law Library; and since the
new library building will accommodate about 700,000
volumes, adequate accommodations tor titty years to
come has been provided.

The Library of Stanford University has been placed
in such a position as to terminate the cross vista of
the quadrangles in much the same way that the
church terminates the vista of the central axis; and
when the buildings adjacent to the library are com-
pleted, the library will have a large open court in
front, flanked by smaller buildings. The structure is
180 feet wide by 235 feet deep, of steel construction
reinforced by concrete floors and roof slabs, and the
latter are covered with red tile in harmony with the
other buildings of the university. The main facade
is of San Jose sandstone, and the side and rear facades
are of buffed brick, trimmed with sandstone. Just
as the library itself is the central feature of the sec-
ond quadrangle, the space under the cupola is the
the central feature of the library. It is the place
where the staff and the public meet; and sentimen-
tally, as well as actually, it is the heart of the library.
The shape of this high room and its proportions lend
themselves admirably to a Romanesque treatment.
There is a very strong suggestion of the Byzantine,

u,H-^(pCc^^<^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

783

as is quite often found in Romanesque work, which
is further carried out by the hanging hghts.

The reading room is a well proportioned room, 42
by 177 feet, and here, as in the whole interior treat-
ment, the architects attempted to express the some-
what ascetic character of the monastic architecture
of the early middle ages, which is the type used in
the university buildings. At the right of the deliv-
ery hall is the main stack, equipped with shelves for
340,000 volumes, but with an ultimate capacity of
700,000 volumes. Across the western front are ar-
ranged the periodical room, the Timothy Hopkins
room and the faculty reading room. On the third
floor is the seminar library, with five seminar rooms,
while in the mezzanine between the second and third
floors are four additional seminars and also eleven
cubicles to be used for special assignment. Notwith-
standing the handicap of war conditions, the work on
this superb library structure proceeded with so little
serious interruption that it was made ready for
occupancy on July 7, 1919.

JOHN ZUINGLIUS ANDERSON.— A life of
great usefulness and far-reaching influence was ended
on May 21, 1916, when John Zuinglius Anderson was
called to his final rest at the age of eighty-seven
years. He was one of the sturdy pioneers of Cali-
fornia and his name is written high on the roll of
the honored dead who were among the real builders
and promoters of the state. A man of marked initia-
tive, enterprise and determination, his distinguished
ability would have gained him leadership in any voca-
tion which he chose to follow. Descending from
Scotch progenitors and early identified with the his-
tory of America, the Anderson family possesses the
high principles of honor characteristic of the one
race and the independent and enterprising spirit of
ine other nation. Loyal to the land of their adop-
tion, they have furnished representatives to aid the
country in almost every war in its history. The
great-grandfather of John Z. Anderson was a Revo-
lutionary soldier, enlisting with a regiment from old
\irginia. The grandfather, George S., removed from
that state to Pennsylvania, settling among the pio-
neers of Crawford County. When the War of 1812
began he was prevented from becoming a participant
by his responsibility as the head of a family, but two
of his sons responded to the call for volunteers and
showed the fighting spirit of their Revolutionary an-
cestor. When the family settled in Pennsylvania.
George, the father of John Z., who was liorn in Vir-
ginia, was a child of two years. Early in life he be-
came interested in general farming and stock busi-
ness and for a number of years engaged as a drover
over the mountains to the big cities of eastern Penn-
sylvania. The dairy business also claimed his atten-
tion for many years. His life was passed in the sarne
locality and he lived to be eighty-nine years of age.
His marriage united him with M^s Elizabeth Free-
man, a native of New Jersey of English extraction,
who accompanied her father, Thomas Freeman, to
Pennsylvania when thirteen years of age and settled
on a farm in Crawford County.

In this family of eleven children, of whom he was
the only one to establish a home in California, John
Z Anderson was the fourth in order of birth. In
this favored section of the East, he grew to manhood,
receiving a good education, and being trained in hab-
its of industry and perseverance. Becoming inter-

ested in the newly discovered gold regions of Cali-
fornia, he decided to seek the new Eldorado, so in
1852 he tiiade his way to California, being at that
time twenty-two years old. He made the journey on
the ship Daniel Webster to Greytown, when he
crossed by the Nicaragua route to the west coast
and thence on the vessel Pacific to San P'rancisco.
When the ship cast anchor he hastened to the mines
on the American River and for nine months followed
the adventurous life of a miner, but failing to find the
coveted gold in sufficient quantities to be paying, he
turned his attention to general farming in the Suisun
\'alley in Solano County, in which he met with suc-
cess. In 18,^7 he returned to Pennsylvania, where
his marriage orciirrcd. He returned with his bride
to Solano C(niiit\. C'.il., and for ten years continued a
resident ut this siali. but in 1866 revisited Pennsyl-
vania with the intention of remaining in the East.
However, he was not long satisfied with that part of
the country and soon returned to the Golden State,
establishing his home in San Jose, where he spent
the remaining years of his life.

While ranching at Suisun, in the early days, Mr.
Anderson also operated a line of freight teams from
California to Nevada, hauling supplies to the princi-
pal mining camps in that state, being thus occupied
from 1863 until 1865 and winning substantial suc-
cess in his operations along that line. Following his
location in San Jose, he became interested in the
fruit industry, shipping fruit to the East. He con-
ceived the idea of shipping fresh fruit from California
to the eastern cities by refrigeration, and many
thought this a very impracticable idea, but he refused
to abandon his project, so to test out he converted a
freight car into a refrigerator car, dividing it into
small sections and providing it with a plentiful sup-
ply of ice; thus he shipped the first carload of ripe
cherries frotn California to Chicago, the fruit being
sent from San Jose. The cherries arrived at their
destination in fine condition, and long-distance ship-
pmg of fresh fruit by refrigeration thus became a
realized fact. Mr. Anderson invented the present
cherry box used for shipping cherries that has since
become so popular and in general use. He was urged
by his friends to protect it by patents, but he refused
to do so, being desirous that all should profit by his
inventive genius. He was also first to employ
women packers in his packing and shipping of cher-
ries, thus opening a way for a new industry for
women. Mr. Anderson was the first man in this
state to ship ripe olives in carload lots to the East.
He became the heaviest shipper of fresh fruits in Cali-
fornia, sending consignments to Denver, Chicago
and all of the large centers in the Middle West. Mr.
Anderson was president of the J. Z. Anderson Fruit
Company, being associated with his son, George, in
this business until he retired from active business
life. He was also president of the California Fruit
Union, w^hich was organized in 1883, the first co-
operative fruit marketing organization formed for
shipping California fruits to the East. He was never
satisfied with old and worn-out business methods, but
was constantly striving for improvement and advance-
ment, and although a few of his experiments did not
prove the success anticipated, he enjoyed a large
degree of success and was responsible for many inno-
vations of value, resulting in a notable saving of time
and increased efficiency. His nature was a buoyant

784

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

one and he never allowed himself to become dis-
couraged by failure or defeat. He possessed the
ability to think in large terms and his plans were
carefully formulated and promptly executed.

--\t Meadville, Pa., in 1857, Mr. Anderson was united
in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Sloanc, a daughter of
Samuel and Elizabeth (Van Home) Sloane, the for-
rrer a native of Philadelphia, Pa., while the latter,
born near Meadville, was a member of an old Knick-
erbocker family; her Great-grandfather Van Hornc
viras born in Holland, while her grandfather, Cornelius
Van Home, a native of New Jersey, was the first
white settler to locate at Meadville and was cap-
tured by the Indians during one of the marauding
expeditions in Pennsylvania, but in the course of
time made his escape. As has been stated he was a
pioneer of Meadville and became a very prominent
man, the father of a distinguished family and lived to
be nearly one hundred years of age. Mrs. Anderson's
wedding ring was made from gold mined by her hus-
band in California in early days. She survived her
husband, passing away January 16, 1920, when eighty-
five years of age. She was a woman of much per-
sonal charm, culture and refinement, who was de-
voted to her husband and children, a noble, true and
loving mother in every sense of the word, whose
memory is cherished and loved by all who knew her.

They became the parents of ten children; Elizabeth
died at the age of fifteen years; Robert died when
but two years old; Josephine departed this life when
young; George H. is engaged in the fruit business in
San Jose; Grace died at the age of thirty-two; Alden,
who was formerly lieutenant-governor of California,
also serving as assemblyman and speaker of the
house, is now president of the Capital National Bank
at Sacramento; Callie E. and Edwin F. were twins,
the latter of whom died when but a year old; and
Elmer E. and Wilbur, were also twins, the former
a resident of Southern California, while the latter
died in infancy. Miss Callie E. Anderson, was born
in San Jose and acquired her education in the gram-
mar and high schools of this city, after which she
attended the State Normal School of San Jose.

Mr. Anderson was always an inspiration to young
men and his advice to them was to engage in business
for themselves and having chosen their business to
throw all of their energy into it and by right doing
and thinking make a success of it, and many a busi-
ness man of today gives credit of their success in
life to his advice and counsel. Mr. Anderson gave
his political allegiance to the Republican party and
he was at one time connected with the Ancient Order
f-l United Workmen. He was a prominent Mason,
having membership in the Blue Lodge, Chapter and
Commandery at San Jose. He took a deep interest
in preserving data and relics pertaining to pioneer-
ing and early historical events in California and was
very active in the formation and served as president
cf the Santa Clara County Pioneer Society for ten
years, spending much time to further its importance,
as well as looking to the comfort of the old pioneers —
being very solicitous regarding their welfare. A man
ot pleasing personality, always aflable, Mr. Anderson
was well known and esteemed and everyone who
knew him was his friend. He was a big man — big
in that power which understands conditions, grasps
situations and molds opportunity into tangible as-
sets. His was an admirable character, worthy of all

praise, and the record of his achievements is the best
commentary upon his Hfe and upon his ability and
enterprise. His honesty and integrity of purpose
gained him the greatest confidence and respect, so
much so that no man in Santa Clara County was
more trusted than John Zuinglius Anderson.

JOHN HARRIS HENDY.— A distinctive place in
the citizenship of Santa Clara County belongs to the
late John Harris Hendy, who contributed greatly to
the building up of this county by the establishment
of the largest manufacturing enterprise here, for it is
to the enterprise and industry of such strong and
forceful men that the continued prestige of Santa
Clara Valley is due. Mr. Hendy was born at Aiken,
S. C, March 31, 1861, and was a nephew of Joshua
Hendy, who built the first redwood mill in California
and was the founder of the Joshua Hendy Iron
Works, then located in San Francisco. The father of
John H. Hendy gave his life for his country during
the Civil War, leaving two sons, John and Samuel,
to whom Joshua Hendy gave a father's care.

John H. Hendy was fourteen years old when he
and his brother Samuel came out to San Francisco
to live with their uncle. He soon entered the plant,
starting in to learn every detail of the work, so what
little schooling he received was at night school, yet
he completed a course as mechanical draftsman and
by close application to business during the day be-
came an expert machinist. After the death of their
uncle the two brothers took full charge of the great
business, John H. being vice-president and superin-
tendent until his brother's death in April, 1906, when
he was elected president of the company, also con-
tinuing as superintendent. During the great fire and
earthquake of 1906 the plant was entirely destroyed,
but in spite of this loss Mr. Hendy was not discour-
aged, but determined to rebuild. Desiring more
space for the works, he looked around for a suitable
location and selected Sunnyvale, now the site of the
mammoth iron plant.

In San Francisco, on July 28, 1892, Mr. Hendy
was united in marriage with Miss Alberta M. Theuer-
kauf, a daughter of G. W. and Mary (Hertel)
Theuerkauf, pioneers of the '50s who settled at Cu-
pertino, where Mrs. Hendy was born. Her education
was obtained in the grammar and high schools and
later she was a student of the University of the Pa-
cific at San Jose. Mr. and Mrs. Hendy were the
parents of one daughter, Gladys Marie, who became
the wife of Capt. Rexford Shores of the U. S. Army.
Seven years ago Mr. Hendy built a beautiful, modern
residence at Sunnyvale, on Murphy Avenue, set
amidst the live oaks and surrounded by spacious
grounds with beautiful lawns and flowers. On Mav
8, 1920, Mr. Hendy, who was then fifty-nine years
old, suffered a stroke of apople.xy and passed away
on May 11 at his Sunnyvale home, and he was buried
at Cypress Lawn Cemetery with Masonic honors.

For many years Mr. Hendy was associated with
Fifth Regiment, National Guard of California, rising
to the rank of major. During the administration of
Governor Pardee he was appointed colonel on the
governor's staff, and then as colonel on Governor
Gillette's staff. For several years he had served as
a trustee of the city of Sunnyvale, and at the time
of his death was chairman of the board, and he had
also been a member of the board of school trustees.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

785

After locating the iron works at Sunnyvale and tak-
ing up his residence there, he was an indefatigable
worker for the upbuilding of the city, doing all he
could for its progress along modern, sanitary lines,
and although a very busy man he was never so occu-
pied that he did not give every attention to the re-
sponsibilities of the office he had assumed. He was
a member of Occidental Lodge No. 35. F. & A. M..
San Francisco, a charter member of the Olympic
Club of that city, and also of the Union League Club,
being a stanch Republican. He was well known in
business and social circles in San Francisco, and that
city, as well as the citizens of Santa Clara County.
deeply mourned his untimely taking away. While
all the days of his career were not equally bright and
the storm clouds at times gathered, yet he never be-
came discouraged or disheartened by conditions, and
his resolute spirit and energ\' enabled him to over-
come obstacles and difficulties. Mrs. Hendy, who as
a true and devoted helpmate assisted her late hus-
band by sympathy and encouragement, still resides
at the Sunnyvale home, surrounded by a large circle
of loving friends, and there she pursues her daily
tasks with that assurance that she "hath done what
she could," never shirking her full duty, and her life
is fuller and better thereby.

RAY LYMAN WILBUR, LL. D.— A distinguished
American educator who has done much to make
California favorably known in circles of higher learn-
ing throughout the world. Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur.
President of Stanford University, and the leader in
all of the many and varied activities of that great in-
stitution, has come to exert the most enviable in-
fluence wherever a son or daughter of Stanford may
he found, his mental calibre and the warmth of his
genial, impelling personality being as impressive as
his immense, commanding physique. He has been
at the helm of Stanford for the past six years; and it
is only fair to say, without invidious comparisons or
the disparagement in the least of any predecessor —
Stanford invariably standing for loyalty to its rec-
ognized chiefs — that the University, of which Cali-
fornians are so justly proud, has never had a better
presiding officer. He was born at Boonesboro. Iowa,
on April 13, 1875, the son of Dwight Locke Wilbur,
a native of Ohio and a graduate of the Law School
of the University of Michigan, who had settled for
the practice of law at Boonesboro, and had also be-
come a coal operator there. From Boonesboro he
moved to the Dakota Territory, and there became
interested, as agent of the Northern Pacific Railway,
in selling railway land. From Dakota he removed
again still farther West to Riverside, Cal., and there
acquired an orange grove. He took a lively interest
in local commercial affairs and w-as elected chairman
of the Board of Trade of Riverside. He also evinced
an intense interest in popular education and very
naturally was made a member of the Riverside
School Board. When he retired, he chose Los An-
geles as his residence, and there he lived until he was
sixty-four years old. While still in Ohio, Mr. Wilbur
was married to Miss Edna Maria Lyman, a daughter
of Elias and Hannah (Proctor) Lyman and a rep-
resentative of another long-established American
family, the Lymans and the Proctors, like the Wil-
burs, having come to New England in the earliest

periods there. Prior to his marriage, Dwight Locke
Wilbur enlisted for service in the Union Army as a
member of the 87th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and
being destined for capture had the distinction of fall-
ing into the hands of the famous Stonewall Jackson.
He was paroled, and returned to Ohio; and then,
with his wife, he removed to Iowa. Mrs. Wilbur
died in Los Angeles, the mother of six children,
among whom our subject was the fourth child.

Ray Lyman Wilbur was only eight years old when
his parents moved into the Dakota Territory and
settled in what is now North Dakota; and at James-
town he grew up and attended the local schools.
Coming to Riverside he continued his schooling and
in 1892 was graduated from the Riverside high
school. He then matriculated at Stanford University
in 1892 and was duly graduated therefrom in 1896.
He continued another year at Stanford and in 1897
rounded out his Master of Arts work. He next took
up the study of medicine and in 1899 was graduated,
with the coveted M. D. degree, from the Cooper
Medical College at San Francisco. In the course of
time Dr. Wilbur went abroad for post-graduate study
and during 1903-04 was a student at Frankfort-on-the-
Main and also at London, and during 1909-10 he was
at the University of Munich.

On December 5, 1898, Dr. Wilbur was married at
San Francisco to Miss Marguerite May Blake, a
native of the Bay metropolis and the daughter of Dr.
Charles E. Blake, a prominent physician and one of
the lecturers at the College of the Pacific, in the
medical department which later became the Cooper
Medical College. Dr. and Mrs. Wilbur have five
children: Jessica, Blake C, Dwight L., Lois Proctor,
and Ray Lyman, Jr.

During 1896-7, Dr. Wilbur was instructor in phys-
iology at Stanford University, and during 1899-1900
he was lecturer and demonstrator in physiology at
the Cooper Medical College; and from 1900-03 he
was assistant professor of physiology at Stanford
L'niversity. From 1909 to 1916 he was professor of
medicine at Stanford University, and from 1911 to
1916 he was dean of the Medical School there. On
January 1, 1916, he was inaugurated president of
Stanford University succeeding Dr. John Caspar
Branner, its former president, now deceased, who in
turn had succeeded David Starr Jordan, now chan-
cellor emeritus. In 1917, Mr. Herbert Hoover asked
Dr. Wilbur to become chief of the Conservation Divi-
sion of the U. S. Food Administration at Washing-
ton, and he also acted in that year as a member of
the California State Council of Defense. He was
regional educational director of the S. A. T. C,
District No. 11, in 1918, and in 1919 he was president
of the California State Confederation of Social Agen-
cies. Both the University of California and the Uni-
versity of Arizona conferred on Dr. Wilbur the
honorary LL. D. degree in 1919; he is a Fellow of
the A. A. A. S., a member of the American Academy
of Medicine, of which he was president in 1912-13,
and he is a Phi Beta Kappa. He belongs to the Uni-
versity, Commonwealth, Bohemian, and Pacific Union
clubs, and is not only highly esteemed and revered
as a profound scholar and a patriot, like his predeces-
sor. Dr. Jordan, but also, and equally popular, as a
man of the greatest cordiality and gifted with winning
qualities attracting to him the ambitious youth.

"86

HISTORY OF vSANTA CLARA COUNTY

The year 1922 will be remembered as the year of
the campaign to raise the tirst million for the Stan-
ford Endowment. President Wilbur has thrown him-
self heart and soul into this work and has met with
heartiest response froin the Alumni. At the present
writing, June 1, 1922, success is apparent, as $900,000
of the $1,000,000 has already been secured. Addition-
al glory was added to Stanford when on May 25,.
1922, Dr. Wilbur was elected president of the Amer-
ican Medical Association. He will assume office at
next year's convention.

WILLIAM R. PORTER.— Among those whose
intelligently directed labors have resulted in the agri-
cultural development of Santa Clara County is Wil-
liam R. Porter, who is the owner of one of the most
valuable prune orchards in this part of the state and
is also fruit buyer for Hunt Brothers' Packing Com-
pany. A native son of California, he was born in
Watsonville, January 22, 1886, of the marriage of
Charles Henry and Elizabeth Ann (Underbill) Por-
ter. In the maternal line he is a member of an
old English family, while the American progenitor
of the Porter family was a native of Scotland, es-
tablishing his home in this country during the period
of the Revolutionary War. The paternal grandfather.
Dr. John Porter, followed the profession of medi-
cine and w^as a man of marked patriotism and public
spirit. In commemoration of his professional serv-
ice and unselfish devotion to the sick of Duxbury
and environs, the people of that region erected to
his memory an impressive monument. He was one
of the most prominent men of his day and was a
personal friend of Daniel Webster. His daughter,
Jane Porter, married Dr. Bancroft and on her wed-
ding day Daniel Webster presented her with a
diamond ring which she kept until her death. She
willed it to her niece and namesake, Jane Elizabeth
Porter, a sister of the subject of this sketch, and
when she died it went to her mother, who in turn
presented it to her son, William R. Porter, on his
wedding day and it is now one of his cherished
keepsakes. The grandmother, Ann (Thomas) Por-
ter, was also a member of an old family and the
possessor of considerable talent in poetry, being able
to compose letters in rhyme, and she became well
known as a poetess. William Porter's mother was
a native of Boston, Mass. Her parents, James and
Ann (Todd) Underbill, came from Devonshire, Eng-
land, to Massachusetts, and she was the youngest
of their five children and the only member of the
family born in the United States. George K. Por-
ter, an uncle of our subject, came to California in
the early '60s, finally settling at what is now San
Fernando, Cal., where he owned a large ranch and
here he was joined about ten years later by his
brother, Charles H. Porter, who afterward returned
to Boston to visit his old home, where his marriage
occurred; with his bride he went to Kansas City,
Mo., being employed in the car shops of the Santa
i-c Railroad, but owing to ill health he left that city
and returned to Boston, where for a short time he
was employed as a master mechanic. He then re-
turned to California, settling in Watsonville, where
he purchased an eighty-acre ranch and devoted his
attention to farming, and also to the harness and
saddlery business. To Mr. and Mrs. Porter were
born three children: James U., a rancher of Santa
Clara County; Jane Elizabeth, who died in 1900, at

the age of sixteen years and seven months; and Wil-
liam R., the subject of our review. Charles H.
Porter and his wife now live retired in San Jose.

In the pursuit of an education, William R. Por-
ter attended the Watsonville grammar schools and
then went to Boston, where he completed a course
in Comers Business College. On completing his
studies he secured a position as office assistant with
Wason & Company, a large wholesale grocery house
in Boston, established in 1837, and remained with
that firm for five years, being promoted until he
became a traveling salesman. In 1905 he returned to
California with the family, and going to San Fran-
cisco, he became assistant cashier and bookkeeper
for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, with
which he remained for seven months, or until the
time of the earthquake. Six weeks afterward, when
their plant was established in Alameda County, he
again entered the service of that corporation, con-
tinuing with them until the plant was discontinued.
His father had purchased a twenty-seven acre fruit
ranch at Los Gatos and William assisted in its de-
velopment and cultivation. In 1913 with his brother
he purchased his father's ranch and they engaged in
the raising of poultry. Starting with eighteen hens,
he soon developed a large business, having at one
time as many as 2,000 laying hens. For fourteen
years he successfully conducted this business with
the exception of the year 1911, when he acted as cash-
ier of the A. H. Martin Grain Company of San Jose,
the undertaking then being managed by his brother.
In 1916 Mr. Porter purchased the interest of his
brother and continued the business alone until 1920,
when he sold the ranch. In 1918 he had accepted
a temporary position with the Hunt Brothers Pack-
ing Company, but his services were so valuable to
the concern that he was induced to remain and is
now their fruit buyer, largely confining his opera-
tions to Santa Clara County, although he visits the
entire state in their interests. He resides on his ten-
acre prune ranch, situated on Prune Ridge Avenue,
a short distance west of San Jose, purchasing the
land in May, 1920, and paying for it one of the high-
est prices ever paid for ranch land in the Santa Clara
Valley. It is well irrigated and supplied with all
modern improvements, constituting one of the model
fruit farms of the county.

In San Jose, on December 15, 1915. Mr. Porter
married Miss Elsie A. Aschmann, a native of San
Francisco and a daughter of William A. and Eliza-
beth (Jung) Aschmann, one of the old-time mer-
chants of San Francisco. Mrs. Porter attended the
grammar and high schools of San Francisco and by
her marriage has become the mother of a daughter,
June Elizabeth. Mr. Porter is a Republican in his
political views and fraternally he is identified with
the Masons, belonging to Los Gatos Lodge No. 292,
F. & A. M., and with his wife is a member of the
Eastern Star. Throughout his career he has closely
applied himself to the work in hand, and he now
ranks with the successful orchardists and valued citi-
zens of Santa Clara County.

MRS. MAYME ELLIOTT BARRY.— A proficient
and popular official, whose fidelity to duty, together
with a charming personality, has appealed to all hav-
ing occasion to invoke her services, is Mrs. Mayme
Elliott Barry, superintendent of the Palo Alto Hos-
pital, where she is also house anaesthetist— a woman

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

787

of remarkable natural ability and wide, valuable expe
rience, intensely interested in her arduous work. She
was born at Payette, Idaho, the daughter of Thomas
Elliott, an Idaho pioneer mining man, now deceased
but once well known to the Inland Empire, the Pa-
cific Coast and the Pacific Northwest; and she was
educated at Whitman College, in Washington. Shi
took her first training in nursing at the General Hos
pital, at Walla Walla, Wash., and then went to Chi-
cago and there pursued post-graduate work in hos-
pital management and anaesthesia at the Columbia
and the Chicago Post Graduate hospitals.

Returning to Washington, she took charge of the
Walla Walla General Hospital as superintendent and
house anaesthetist, but on resigning from that posi-
tion, she continued courses in anaesthesia at Cleve-
land and in New York City. Then she came to Cali-
fornia and became identified with the Peninsular Hos-
pital at Palo Alto — now known as the Palo Alto Hos-
pital— and she remained there as superintendent until
1917, when she resigned her position and established
herself at Palo Alto in private practice as an anaesthe-
tist. In July, 1918, however, she was appointed by
the U. S, Surgeon-General as anaesthetist-at-large
with the American forces abroad, and she went im-
mediately to Meres Center, in France, four hours by
train from Paris, where she had charge of all the
anaesthetists in that hospital. She did not return with
her base to the United States, as the value of her
professional services had now become recognized
and a continuation of her services was demanded.
She was next sent to Dijon, France, where she be-
came chief anaesthetist, and served until July, 1919,
when the American Hospital at Dijon was transferred
to the United States. Immediately thereafter, in re-
sponse to telegrams from Coblenz, Mrs. Barry was
sent to the Evacuation Hospital No. 27, in Germany,
and she became anaesthetist there, as it was desired
to have one who could administer nitrous-oxide as an
expert. When a base hospital was formed at Coblenz,
some Americans returning to the United States and
other Americans taking their places, she remained
and became chief anaesthetist, but in March, 1920, on
account of illness in her family, she returned to Cali-
fornia and Palo Alto, and immediately resumed her
work as superintendent and chief anaesthetist at the
Palo Alto Hospital.

This, the Peninsular Hospital, was taken over by
Stanford University, which operated it in coopera-
tion with the Palo Alto city government. On July 1,
1921, the hospital was sold to the city of Palo Alto.
and the city in turn leased it to Stanford University,
on a twenty-year lease, with Dr. George Somers as
superintendent. Now its status is such among hos-
pitals of the state that her present responsible post
may well be regarded as the fitting climax in Mrs.
Barry's career.

Her father, Thomas Elliott, was a native of De-
catur, and when the gold excitement broke out, he
was attending boarding school in his home town. He
ran away, and crossed the great plains while making
his way as the driver of a freight team; and he
reached California late in 1849. In time he became
identified with early mining interests, as well as poli-
tics, in Idaho, and it was he who discovered and de-
veloped the celebrated Sub-Rosa gold mine in the
Boise, Idaho, Basin, He brought all the mining ma-
chinery across the plans from the East, and made and
lost three fortunes. While at Boise, he was married

to Miss Jane Margaret Starr, a native of Iowa, and
an accomplished young lady several years his junior,
who had herself crossed the plains to Ogden, Utah,
and then moved on to Idaho. Now, at the ripe age
of sixty, she resides in comfort at Baker, Ore., the
wife of Charles W. Durkee, who developed the cele-
brated Durkee Mines at Baker city. Three sons in
the family of Mr. and Mrs. Elliott are still living:
Jess H. Elliott is interested in mines at Baker; and
Paul T. Elliott, who was in the service of his country
abroad during the war, resides near Hoplands. Cal..
where he is following agricultural pursuits. Norman
A. Elliott, also abroad in the defense of his country,
is a graduate of the University of California and will
continue the study of medicine.

WILLIAM COX.— An interesting California pio-
neer and orchardist. who was an upbuilder of Santa
Clara County, was found in William Cox, who came
to the Santa Clara Valley in 1852. He was an
Ohioan by birth, being born at Coshocton, on Janu-
ary 21, 1827, a son of John and Mary (Hammel)
Cox, the former a native of Virginia and the latter
of Pennsylvania, both parents being taken to Ohio
Avhile small children and there grew to young man-
hood and young womanhood. In 1846 they removed
to Lee County, Iowa, where they made their per-
manent home, residing there until their death. They
reared a family of two sons and five daughters. Wil-
liam, the eldest son, lived with his parents until 1852,
when he, his father, John Cox, and a sister, Mrs.
Serena Blythe, came across the plains, and were
about six months making the trip. There w'Cre four
wagons in the party who came through together to
the Santa Clara Valley, Capt. Robert Gruwell com-
manding the party. William at once hired out as
farm hand, and he and his wife, for a time, worked
at anything they could get to do, and one of the
first debts they paid was money borrowed to pay for
ferrying across rivers on their way across the plains.
The next season he rented a piece of land from his
brother-in-law, Samuel A. Blythe, and put in a
crop. In 1874 he bought seventy acres, which was
under a Spanish title at that time, and a few years
later bought more land, until he owned 315 acres, all
under cultivation. He set a number of acres to vine-
yard and planted an orchard of French prunes, also
peaches, apricots, pears and apples, and was one of
the most extensive grain growers in his locality.

The marriage of Mr. Cox occurred on August 10,
1848, in Lee County, Iowa, and united him with Miss
Dicey Baggs, a native of Champaign County, Ohio.
They were the parents of the following children :
John was a rancher and died on his home farm;
Jacob M. was also a rancher, as well as office deputy
county clerk, who passed away in San Jose; Maria
was the wife of Andrew Loyst; Mary Jane is Mrs.
Henry C. Walter, and they own and reside on the
old William Cox home place; George W. is an en-
thusiastic orchardist on a farm of the old Cox ranch;
Joseph E. and La Fa3'ette are prominent orchardists
on a part of their father's old homestead; Elmira
and William are deceased. The family are deeply
attached to their father's old home and have, with-
out exception, retained the portion of the estate
they inherited, which they have greatly improved
by setting it out to orchards, now full-bearing. Even
though they have other interests, their sentiments
hold them to the old homestead and they cling to

788

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and revere their father's memory and are worthy
descendants of a worthy sire. WiUiam Cox was a
school trustee for some years in the early days. He
was a Methodist in religion, and a truly good man.

JAMES E. BEAN.— As a successful horticultur-
ist and upbuilder of Santa Clara County, James E.
Bean as thoroughly merits as he also thoroughly en-
joys the esteem and good will of his fellow-citizens,
and his excellent judgment in business matters had
given him a place of well-deserved prominence, since
his advice can ever be given the utmost reliance. Mr.
Bean was born at Minneapolis, Minn., on February
28, 1862, the son of James and Roanna (Fox) Bean,
substantial American citizens, esteemed and influen-
tial w-herever they have resided. The father, who was
born in New Hampshire in 1822, removed to Minne-
sota and for years was the United States paymaster
to the Chippewa Indians. During his residence there
he became interested in banking and various commer-
cial enterprises. In 1880 he removed to West Branch,
Iowa, where he remained for two years, and then
came out to San Jose, Cal. He and his wife took up
their residence on the Alameda, and there at the
splendid old age of ninety-three, Mr. Bean died, his
wife having passed away ten years before.

James E. Bean attended the public schools of Min-
neapolis and was then sent to Providence, R. I., to
continue his studies at the Friends Boarding School,
ivhere his parents had also been educated; during
this time he also attended lectures at Brown Univer-
sity, Providence. On his return to the Middle West
he located at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and having chosen
to study pharmacy, he entered the wholesale and re-
tail house of G. C. Haman as clerk. Finishing his
pharmaceutical studies in 1887, he then entered into
partnership with his employer, the firm name being
Haman & Bean. Later he purchased another drug
store in Cedar Rapids and was also secretary and
manager of the Cedar Rapids Linseed Oil & Paint
Company. In December, 1890, he disposed of his in-
terests, and coming to California, located at San
Jose. He soon became manager of the Madera
Flume and Trading Company, with Madera as his
headquarters. The majority of the stock of the com-
pany was owned by stockholders of the Safe Deposit
Bank of San Jose; over 300 men were employed and
more than 33,500,000 feet of lumber were cut in a
season. The company maintained twelve branch
yards and offices, so that Mr. Bean was naturally a
very busy man. After eleven years he disposed of
the interests of the. company and returned to San
Jose, where he became secretary of the San Jose Safe
Deposit Bank, combining the duties of this office with
other active service in the bank until 1908, when he
bought the controlling interest of H. B. Martin &
Company, wholesale grain and produce dealers of
San Jose. Soon after this he took in partners from
Salinas, Cal., and changed the name of the corpora-
tion to the Salinas X'alley Grain and Produce Com-
pany, having warehouses and mills throughout the
Salinas and Santa Clara valleys. In 1918 Mr. Bean
closed out the business of this corporation, taking
two years to dispose of their interests, so that the
final disposition was in 1920. In addition to these ac-
tivities, Mr. Bean is interested in real estate, owning
ranches in different parts of California and timber
lands in Oregon and business property in San Jose.

On April 19, 1893. Mr. Bean was married in San
Jose to Miss Edith Coolidge, born in Honolulu, a
sister of C. C. Coolidge, district attorney of Santa
Clara County. Mr. and Mrs. Bean have been blessed
with five children; Mary Isabel, James Edwin, Jr.,
Jerome Coolidge, Donald and Paul Dows Bean. Mr.
Bean is a member of the San Jose Chamber of Com-
merce, the San Francisco Commercial Club, and
politically is a strong Republican. A truly self-made
man, his initiative, perseverance and application have
been the potent factors in his success. His record is
an enviable one and his advice on business matters
is frequently sought by others, who repose the great-
est confidence in his judgment. Of a pleasing per-
sonality and kindly, generous impulses, he is ready
to help others who have been less fortunate than
himself, and can ever be counted upon to lead in any
movement for the county's upbuilding.

GEORGE THOMAS CLARK.— Naturally promi-
nent among the distinguished librarians of the coun-
try, both on account of his own scholarly and literary
attainments, and also on account of the famous insti-
tution he helped to create and which he now directs
with such master}', George Thomas Clark, librarian
of Stanford LIniversity Library, enjoys a most envia-
ble position throughout California, wielding as he
does a powerful influence here in the cause of higher
learning. A native son, he was born at San Fran-
cisco in 1862, first seeing the light on December 7,
the son of the Hon. Robert Clark, a prominent busi-
ness man of the Bay City, who so ably represented
his district for a term in the California State Legis-
lature. He was a native of Vermont, and while still a
resident of the East, was married to Miss Augusta
Caryl, a native of New Hampshire, both parents rep-
resenting fine old American stock. George Thomas
Clark, growing up in an environment certain to de-
velop in him to the greatest extent his natural powers
and special talents, was graduated from the Univer-
sity of California in 1886, with the degree of Bachelor
of Science, and six years later, on June 8, at San
Francisco, he married Miss Annie Douglas, a native
of Ohio, then residing at that city, a lady of talent and
exceptional charm, who is now deceased. One son,
Douglas Clark, blessed this happy union, and in time
he was graduated from Stanford University, as a
metallurgist and mining engineer.

During the year of his graduation from the State
L'niversity, Mr. Clark was made assistant librarian
of tlie University of California Library, and from 1887
to 1890, he was deputy state librarian. For the next
four years, he was classifier at the California State
Library, and from 1894 to 1907, he was librarian of
the San Francisco Public Library. Since 1907, Mr.
Clark has been at the helm of the great center of re-
search and repository of literature which, more than
ever since the appalling earthquake and fire, has
moved forward to take front rank with the renowned
and most serviceable libraries of the world; and only
those who have used that library extensively, or have
watched with expert knowledge and regular review
the development and growth of the establishment,
can fully appreciate what Mr. Clark has done, in co-
operation with others and on the foundations already
laid, to make tlie library what it is. In 1913 Mr.
Clark was sent East by the trustees of Stanford Uni-
versity to look over the important libraries and to get
suggestions from them. When he was the head of the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

791

San Francisco Public Library in 1904 he had made a
tour of the country to gather ideas for a new build-
ing which was to be erected in that city. On this
iirst trip he visited practically all of the well equipped
libraries of that time, so that his later tour was a
rounding out of the former inspection and he looked
over only the buildings which had been put up in the
meanwhile. During the year 1920, Mr. Clark, during
a leave of absence from the University, made a jour-
ney around the world on which, as a side issue, he
visted famous libraries and purchased books. Ho
went first to Japan, where he was entertained by the
Stanford Club, which is composed for the most part
of Japanese graduates from Stanford. From Japan
he proceeded to the Malay settlements and India,
where he had planned to meet Dr. Brainerd Spooner,
'99, the deputy director-general of the Indian Archae-
ological Survey; but did not do this owing to the
fact that he did not reach Delhi, the capital, until
April, and the government had already moved to the
summer capital in the hills at Simla. Mr. Clark, fol-
lowing this course of travel, finally came to Europe.
On this trip he purchased over 10,000 volumes for
the university library. Most of them were out of the
way books which had been ordered for several years
and which had not been found in that time. While
a student at Stanford, Mr. Clark was an editor of
the "Blue and Gold" and in his senior year was the
joint editor of the "Occident," then one of the leading
student publications. He is a member of the A. L.
A., and also of the Library Association of California;
and he has to his credit the immense work of a
joint compiler of an index to the laws of California
covering the period from 1850 to 1893.

JOHN SNYDER.— During August, 1901, John
Snj'der passed awaj-, and Santa Clara County lost
one of its largest and most successful ranchers and
most energetic, capable and public-spirited pioneers.
On February 11, 1828, in Harrison County, Ind , he
was born, the son of Joseph K. and Sarah ( Fleming)
Snyder, the father, a native of Philadelphia. Pa., and
the mother born in France. Her name was originally
Flamonde, but it was changed to Fleming after she
and her sister Louise, afterwards Mrs. Harry Bowen,
came with Stephen Girard to Philadelphia, making
their home with his family until they were married.
The Snyder family had settled in Harrison County
in 1821, when it was but a wilderness, and in the
fall of 1839 removed to what is now Tipton, Cedar
County, Iowa, where the parents reared and educated
their family of five daughters and three sons. In
1849, when John Snyder was twenty-one, he joined
a small party in which were his father and brother-
in-law, Moses Bunker, in a trip across the plains.
The two wagons comprising their outfit, with ox
teams and provisions, traveled alone until reaching
the Missouri River, wlien they were joined by others.
The party undcrwi ni tin usual hardship and danger
incident to a tup ,ni, ,,- the plains in those early
days, and arrived in (,'alifuriiia where Chico has since
sprung into existence. The two older men soon re-
turned to Iowa. The following winter was spent in
the mines, and then Mr. Snyder went to Trinity
County, and after joining the new camp became
aware that the supply of provisions was running low.
and volunteers were asked for to go in search of
food to replenish the larder. Mr. Snyder was among

the number chosen to go to Humboldt Bay for this
purpose, and later he was one of a party to make a
trail to the Salmon River from Trinity County. He
then located in Weaverville. An expedition was or-
ganized by a man named Ross, who discovered the
Scott River, but never received the credit for his dis-
covery. Scott, after whom the river was named, met
Mr. Ross and party when they were in pursuit of
Pawnee Indians who had stolen their ponies, and
from the party learned of the location of the river.
Turning his course in the direction of the river, Scott
appropriated its discovery.

At a later period Mr. Snyder made another trip to
Scott River and took out considerable gold, but on
account of bad weather the party followed the course
of the river to its head, then in the direction of Fort
Jones, and to Shasta Butte and the Oregon trail.
Here the party broke up, some going to Oregon and
Mr. Snyder and his friends going to Sacramento. For
a short time he lived in the vicinity of San Jose, and
after working in the redwoods a few^ weeks was em-
ployed on farms during the winter of 1850-51. Re-
turning to Santa Clara County the following spring,
he was taken ill with fever and was unable to do any-
thing until 1852, when, in February, he returned to
the redwoods. In 1855 he was again in Santa Clara
County operating a farm and threshing machine, and
his success led him to establish a home of his own,
shortly after his marriage with Martha Kifer, in the
fall of 1855. Mrs. Snyder also came from a pioneer
family of the coast country, having been born at
Mount Sterling, Montgomery County, Ky., in which
state her father, John Kifer, had settled after his re-
moval from Tennessee. The father was born in
Pennsylvania, and in 1847 removed to Jackson Coun-
ty, Mo., where he engaged in farming, and from
where he crossed the plains with his family in 1853.
The train consisted of twenty wagons, and he had
150 head of cattle, and was selected captain of the
train. Settling near Mountain View, he purchased
government land and farmed for the balance of his
life, his death occurring at the age of seventy-seven
years. His wife, formerly Lucy Martin, was born in
Tennessee, and died at the home of her daughter,
Mrs. Snyder, at an advanced age.

Mr. Snyder continued to farm until the fall of 1859.
when he bought a farm near Mountain View, and
lived there until 1865. Aleantime, in 1861, he had pur-
chased the large tract of land on Permanente Creek,
which originally consisted of 1160 acres. He bought
the land on time, but he was fortunate with his crops
and from the first year's j'ield was able to pay for
one-half of it. His grain crop of 1862 was the first
raised in this section of the county. His success in-
spired others and was an incentive for his neighbors
to plant their land to grain, and the section became fa-
mous for the quality and quantity of its grain output.
He had about 500 acres under cultivation and twenty-
five acres in orchard, principally French prunes, and
sixteen acres in vineyard. He also owned eighty acres
in the Collins school district in vineyard, and his farm
near Mountain View of 160 acres in hay and grain. He
also owned 300 acres in Monterey County, a part of
a tract of 1200 acres he had purchased with his
brother-in-law, Mr. Kifer, in 1866, as well as valuable
property in San Mateo and Fresno counties. Fol-
lowing Mr. Snyder's death, his widow occupied the

792

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

home ranch of 700 acres. Mrs. Snyder proved an
excellent manager, and an ideal mother, rearing a
family of five children, all of whom reflect credit
upon her teachings and example. She passed away
in January, 1919, at the age of eighty-one. Her eld-
est daughter, Sarah Ann, is the widow of William F.
Foss, of San Jose; Arthur J. is a rancher of Mountain
View; John H. passed away six years ago; Martha B.
became the wife of Dr. W. H. Hammond; she passed
away on their ranch near Mountain View, leaving one
child, Muriel, who is the wife of Raymond Haynes;
Letitia became the wife of E. F. Kendall, residing on
a ranch called "Kendall Dell." five miles south of
Mountain View. Mr. Snyder was a Democrat in poli-
tics, and fraternally was a Mason. He was respected
and honored in his localitj' and contributed to its
standard of manhood by a noble and upright life.

EDMUND L. FELLOWS.— A man of recognized
worth and ability who has contributed much to the
horticultural development of the Santa Clara Valley
and whose mining interests are also extensive is Ed-
mund L. Fellows, a native son, born at Napa. April
4, 1865, the son of a pioneer family of 18S0, estab-
lished in the state in that year by his father, George
Fellows, one of the most interesting characters in the
early history of the state.

George Fellows left his native state, New Hamp-
shire, when nine years old, and accompanied his par-
ents to Galena, 111., where he was reared. In 1850
he joined the gold-seekers on the Pacific Coast, and
more fortunate than many, he acquired a genuine lik-
ing for mining and was interested for the remainder
of his life, operating on gradually increasing propor-
tions. From Hangtown he removed to Nevada
County, and there he discovered the Plumbago mines
and the Fellows lead, later called Gold Canyon.
Later he located other large, valuable properties and
he became known as one of the most successful gold
mine owners in that section. In 1862 he removed to
Napa, and while there, with others he built the Napa
V'alley Railroad, afterward a part of the Southern
Pacific system. From 1870 to 1875 he was superin-
tendent of the Phoenix quicksilver mines near Calis-
toga, and then engaged in farming, first near Brent-
v.ood. Contra Costa County, and then near Spokane,
Wash. He returned to Mountain View, Cal., in 1900,
and there his death occurred on May 15 of that year.
During his lifetime he made a fortune, and being
most liberal and kind hearted, much of it was given
to charities and to educational institutions. His mar-
riage had united him with Ann McCabe, who crossed
the plains with her parents in 1852, her father,
Thomas McCabe, settling near Brentwood, where he
.died in 1886. Mrs. Fellows passed away in 1901, the
mother of a family of eleven children, nine of whom
are still living.

The fifth child in the family, Edmund L. Fellows,
engaged in farming in the vicinity of San Jose until
1890, when he became interested in horticulture, help-
ing to set out and develop the orchards of the fa-
mous Quito Ranch, of which he has been for some
years the owner, this being one of the finest orchard
properties in the Santa Clara Valley. The ranch,
which consists of 550 acres, is beautifully located on
Saratoga Avenue. It is splendidly equipped, the head-
quarters being centrally located on the ranch, with
ample buildings to care for the stock and imple-
ments, as well as space for the dry yards, sufficient

to dry all the fruit on the ranch, including an evapo-
rator of large capacity. It is indeed a busy place, and
often a dozen teams may be seen in the morning,
starting to the various parts of the ranch to take care
of its cultivation. Before becoming so extensively
interested in horticulture, Mr. Fellows assisted his
father in his later mining projects in Nevada County
and is still largely interested in that district, a region
that has some very rich ore and has what is termed
picture rock, of high value.

Mr. Fellows' marriage united him with Miss Laura
E. McCoy, a member of one of the pioneer families
of this region. Her parents were Reuben and Ellen
D. (England) McCoy, who were married December
12, 1866, the latter a native of Missouri. Reuben
McCoy was born in Greene County, Tenn., February
4, 1825, and in 1836 went with his father to Missouri,
where he lived until April 13, 1850, when he started
for California in an ox-team train, reaching here on
August 29. He became a prominent farmer in Santa
Clara County and passed away on August 9. 1886,
his wife surviving him until I'ebruary 1, 1922. In
addition to his large horticultural interests. Mr. Fel-
lows is prominently identified with the political and
social affairs of the county, and is a stanch Republi-
can. Fraternally he is a member of True Fellowship
Lodge No. 283, L O. O. F., the Encampment and
Patriarchs Militant. Mr. Fellows' ranch is under a
high state of cultivation and is one of the truly pleas-
ant and hospitable rural homes in the neighborhood.
He is an ardent lover of nature, is devoted to his in-
teresting calling and being gifted with business sa-
gacity, has long since passed the experimental to the
assuredly successful stage.

JAMES H. ELLIS.— Throughout Central Califor-
nia no man was better known or more highly esteemed
than James H. Ellis, a successful dairy farmer, who
became prominent as a substantial and well-to-do resi-
dent of Gilroy. He was the descendant of a promi-
nent Virginia family and a native of the Old Domin-
ion, born November 25, 1828. His parents moved
to Illinois when he was but six years old; then re-
moved to Montrose, Iowa, on the Mississippi River,
and it was there he grew to manhood and acquired
an education in the public schools. He was a mem-
ber of a family of seven children, and after leaving
school learned the bricklayer's trade and was thus
engaged until he reached twenty-one, when he de-
cided to remove to California. In 1849 he came
across the plains with ox team and, locating in
Colusa County, Cal., he engaged in mining for sev-
eral years, and was quite successful at times, but he
amassed no great wealth in this venture. About 1854
he spent a short time in Sacramento. Later, coming
to the Santa Clara Valley, he located near Santa
Clara, where he engaged in farming.

Mr. Ellis was married to Miss Harriet Zuck on
November 25, 1855, his ' twenty-seventh birthday.
Mrs. Ellis was the daughter of David and Maria
Louisa (Linnton) Zuck, the former a native of Penn-
sylvania, and the latter of Ohio, and she was born
in Marion County, Ohio, May 10, 1838. When a
young man her father accompanied his parents to
Ohio, locating first in Ross County and afterward in
Marion County. In 1849 he came to California and
engaged in mining, but in 1851 returned to Ohio.
The following spring he again started west with his

---S^^^ryu^^yr^o^^^e^^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

795

family, and after a journey of six months behind ox
teams they reached their destination. The family
first located in Marysville and Mr. Zuck followed
mining until 1853, when he removed to Santa Clara
County and purchased land near Gilroy, and it was
upon this farm that both he and his wife passed
their closing years.

Soon after marriage the young couple moved to the
vicinity of Gilroy and it was there that Mr. Ellis rose
to prominence as a dairy farmer, continuing for forty-
six years. He had energy, was capable of hard work,
and was ambitious, and these qualifications secured
his advancement in the financial world. Retiring
from active pursuits in 1891, he spent his remaining
years in Gilroy, where his death occurred November
25, 1900. In national politics he was a supporter of
the Republican party. He was one of the original
stockholders of the old Bank of Gilroy and a director
at the time of his death. With Jesse D. Carr he or-
ganized the Salinas City Bank of Salinas; also with
Mr. Hawkins organized the first bank in Hollister and
was a stockholder in the Commercial & Savings
Bank of San Jose. After her husband's death, Mrs.
Ellis continued to reside on the home place until she
passed away in October, 1907. They w-ere the par-
ents of six children: Alvin L. died in May, 1919;
Milton, deceased; Laura is Mrs. Frank Vetterline;
Emma married George T. Dunlap and resides in
Oakland; Dora married Edgar Hollaway and both are
deceased; and Marion E. is deceased.

JAMES HENRY CAMPBELL.— The name of
James Henry Campbell is inseparably interwoven
with the history of Santa Clara County and more
especially the beautiful town of Campbell, for his
father, Benjamin Campbell, laid out the little town
and it was named in liis honor, now the very center
of one of the finest fruit-grow-ing sections of Santa
Clara Valley. Here our subject was born on Decem-
ber 12, 1852, a son of Benjamin and Mary Louise
(Rucker) Campbell, both parents pioneers of Santa
Clara County. In tracing the ancestry of Mr. Camp-
bell, we find his paternal grandfather, William Camp-
bell, to have been a native of Bourbon County,
Ky,, a tanner by trade, and a soldier in the War of
1812. He operated a tanncr\' near Greenville, Ky.,
prior to going to Missouri in 1839, and there followed
farming pursuits until he crossed the plains to Cali-
fornia in 1846, making the trip via the Platte River
route. Capt. Benjamin Campbell, the father of our
subject, was a youth of twenty when his parents
came to California, and during the trip across the
plains he drove one of the teams, walking most of the
way. William Campbell preempted a claim of 160
acres two miles south of Santa Clara and his son
Benjamin assisted him in preparing a home for the
family in the new country, staying with him until 1849,
when he returned to Missouri by way of Panama, on a
visit. Upon his return to California, in 1851, he pur-
chased the land upon which the town of Campbell
stands, and in the fall of the same year again re-
turned to Missouri, this time to claim his bride. Miss
Mary Louise Rucker, born in Missouri, daughter of
William and Verenda (Taylor) Rucker. They were
married in Saline County, Mo., and in the spring of
1852 he again made the trip to California, accompa-
nied by his wife, her father and his family, and also

two of his sisters and their families. He was captain
of the ox-team train and they brought a band of cat-
tle. Three children blessed the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Benjamin Campbell, of whom James Henry,
the subject of this review is the eldest; Laura Ann]
Mrs. Swope, is deceased, and Lena M. is Mrs. S. G.
Rodeck. In 1885 Benjamin Campbell began the cul-
ture of fruit commercially, which proved a good bus-
iness venture in that locality. In 1890 he conceived
the idea of founding a town in the midst of the fruit-
growing district and having determined upon a line
of action, he permitted no obstacle to turn him from
his accomplishment. Realizing the many evils of in-
temperance, he was determined that the town should
be founded on temperance principles, and the town
will forever remain so. The original plat of Camp-
bell contained but eighteen lots, but since then many
additions have been made by the Campbells with the
same clause in the deed, and the place has increased
m size and population. In executing the deeds to
these lots, the title was made subject to the follow-
mg conditions and restrictions: "That if the party
of the second part, his heirs or assigns, shall at any
time sell or keep for sale, on any portion of said
premises, or knowingly permit anyone to keep for
sale any spirituous of intoxicatin- liquors either dis-
tilled or fermented, the entiie t.lK- and estate in and
to said premises hereby created, sliall cease, and title
to said premises shall thereupon revert to said party
of the first part or his heirs and assigns forever, and
It shall then be lawful for said party of the first part his
heirs or assigns, to enter upon said premises and eject
said party of the second part, his heirs or assigns
and every person claiming under them, or either of
them." Benjamin Campbell was active in the afTairs
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. South, and for
many years Vas a steward and trustee and superin-
tendent of the Sunday school. In earlv davs he was
a Whig, then a Democrat, but prior to his demise
was a Prohibitionist in his political views. He was
the first postmaster of Campbell, and for two years
was a justice of the peace, school director for a num-
ber of years, a member of the board of trade, a pro-
moter of the Bank of Campbell, of which he was
vice-president and director, and he was a trustee of
the Grange. He died March 27, 19€7, and his widow
survived him until March 5, 1913.

James Henry Campbell received his education in
the local public schools and then attended a private
school and then followed the occupation of his for-
bears. The original 160 acres of land acquired by his
father in 1851 has been divided and sold as "town
lots until there are only two acres left of the old
homestead on which our subject makes his home. His
present marriage occurred on March 28, 1907, and
united him with Mrs. Jessie (Kelley) McKenzie, a
native of San Mateo, Cal., and they are the parents
of one child, Adelbert, a student in the University of
California. By his former marriage Mr. Campbell
has two children, George E. and Clyde E. Mrs. Camp-
bell had two children by a former marriage, Delia
May and James W. McKenzie. Politically, Mr. Camp-
bell is a Democrat and fraternally is an Odd Fellow.
Having spent his entire life in Santa Clara County,
his history is well known to its citizens, and his has
been an honorable and useful career.

796

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

EDGAR H. FREEMAN.— A native of Maine, Ed-
gar H. Freeman has attained a degree of success m
his California home that would have been impossible
in the midst of circumstances existing in the state of
his birth. He was born at Minot Corner, on the Lit-
tle Androscoggin, near Lewiston, Maine, October 10,
1857, the son of Daniel and Hannah D. (Marble)
I'reeman, who were natives of the same place. The
original ancestors came from England and three
Freeman brothers came to America on the May-
flower, from whom all the other Freemans are de-
scended. Great-grandfather Daniel Freeman was one
of the early settlers of Maine. Daniel Freeman, the
father of our subject, was a farmer in Maine, and in
1^50, leaving his wife and child in the home state,
he came via Panama to California, where he engaged
ia mining for two years; returning to Maine he con-
tinued there until 1876, when he again came to Cal-
ifornia. During the Civil War, when he was forty-
six years old, he enlisted, but was rejected on account
of being over age. The family lived in Sonoma
County, Cal., for one year, then removed to Hol-
lister, where they lived for three years; and then came
to the Santa Clara Valley, where they both died.

Edgar H. Freeman was educated in the grammar
and high school of Maine and after leaving school
was engaged in the manufacture of shoes at Lynn,
Mass. In 1878 he came to San Benito County, Cal.
and during 1878 and 1879 engaged in ranching near
Hollister; then removed to the Bodie gold mines m
Mono County and was there for five years, prospect-
ing and mining. In 1884 he came to Santa Clara,
where he was engaged for several years in raising
pure-bred fancy poultry, Brahmas, Plymouth Rocks,
Wyandottes, Leghorns; also Pekin ducks and Bronze
turkeys. He had the best stock procurable and at
the Santa Clara Valley poultry and kennel club show
at San Jose he won the diamond medal for best
poultry exhibit and at Petaluma he won the $100 gold
medal for best and largest exhibit at the California
State Poultry Show. He was one of the organizers
of the California State Poultry Association and was
secretary of the organization. In 1896 he took charge
of forty acres planted in grapes, a portion of his
father's old place; a part of this came into his pos-
session from the estate and the balance he purchased.
He removed the vines and planted it to prunes and
apricots, and the place has been brought to a higli
state of cultivation and productiveness.

Mr. Freeman's marriage at Lynn, Mass., in 1877,
united him with Miss Dorothy D. Wescott, also a
native of Maine, born at Castine. Her father, Capt.
Samuel Wescott, was part owner and master of his
vessel and for years sailed all over the world into
important ports. He died at sea. Her mother, who
was Margaret Dunbar, died at her old home in Maine.
Mr. and Mrs. Freeman arc the parents of four chil-
dren: Hersey D. passed away in Bodie; Eldora P,
a graduate of Stanford University, is Mrs. Ernest
Kimberlin of Sacramento; Edgar D., a graduate of the
College of the Pacific is an electrician with the South-
ern Pacific Railroad Company at Gold Run; Hazel,
a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School is
teaching at Mountain View, Cal. There are nine
grandchildren. Mr. Freeman is a Republican and
fraternally belongs to the Knights of Pythias, Wood-
men of the World, Fraternal Aid Union, is active

in the local Grange and Farmers' Educational &: Co-
operative Union, and has served his community as a
school trustee. He is a broad-minded, public spir-
ited man and citizen, and all movements for the ad-
vancement of the county have his hearty support.

HON. ALDEN ANDERSON.— Few men have

been associated more actively and none more honor-
ably with the financial and political history of North-
ern California than Hon. Alden Anderson, who grew
up and was educated in San Jose, Santa Clara County,
and is now president of the Capital National Bank
of Sacramento, and actively associated with a num-
ber of other financial institutions and enterprises that
aid in the advancement of the county and state. Wide
has been the influence exerted by him in the banking
circles of his portion of the state and varied as have
been his commercial connections, they have been
equaled by his intimate identification with the public
life of the commonwealth and by his patriotic partici-
pation in the upbuilding of his community.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Anderson was born
in Meadville, Crawford County, in October, 1867,
while his parents were at their old home on a visit.
His father, J. Z. Anderson, is elsewhere represented
in this volume. With such educational advantages as
were afforded by the public schools and the Univer-
sity of the Pacific, Alden Anderson began to earn his
own livelihood at a very early age, his first occupa-
tion being that of an assistant in the fruit business
conducted by his father. During 1886 he went to
Suisun City, Solano County, and embarked in the
fruit industry for himself, later drifting from the
growing of fruit into the shipping of same. X^'rom
that place he came to Sacramento in 1902, and after-
ward disposed of his interests in Solano County. From
his arrival in the capital city until the year 1908 he
acted as vice-president of the Capital Banking and
Trust Company. When he disposed of his stock in
that concern he removed to San Francisco, where,
until July 1, 1909, he held office as vice-president of
the Anglo-London Paris National Bank, and until
February, 1911, served by appointment as superin-
tendent of the Bank of California. During 1911 Mr.
Anderson made a protracted continental tour of Eu-
rope, Asia and Africa, returning to Sacramento De-
cember 1, 1911, at which time he purchased the Cap-
ital Banking and Trust Company, and of this institu-
tion under its present title of Capital National Bank,
he officiates as president. Mr. Anderson's place in the
banking circles of Northern California is one of as-
sured influence and increasing responsibility. He also
helped to organize a number of other banks in the
Sacramento Valley in the management of which he
actively participates. He was president of the com-
pany building the electric line from Sacramento to
Stockton, which aided an enterprise of the greatest
importance to the permanent upbuilding of the rich
agricultural region through which it passes. His
home is graciously presided over by the lady whom
he married at Rockville, Cal., March 2, 1893, and
who was Miss Carrie L. Baldwin. There is one
daughter in the family. Miss Kathryn.

Any account of the life activities of Mr. Anderson
would be incomplete were no mention to be made
of his association with the political history of the
commonwealth. Elected to the assembly in 1897-99

<A

yiZZ^i^-iM^'^^^t^-iyi-^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

799

and lyul, he soon became a force in the Legislature.
Measures for the benefit of his district received his
stanch support, nor was he less earnest in the promo-
tion of all movements for the welfare of the entire
state. In 1899 he was selected as speaker of the
house, and he filled that difficult post with the same
tact and ability displayed in every relation of public
life. A still higher honor awaited him in 1902, when
he was elected lieutenant-governor of California, and
he filled that eminent position for four years, retiring
with the good will of the party he had served with
such fidelity and distinction. It would seem impossi-
ble for a citizen having so many duties in public of-
fice, in business connections and in banking circles, to
enter with any activity into fraternal and social cir-
cles, but Mr. Anderson has not allowed his existence
to be dwarfed into a tedious round of irksome cares.
On the other hand, he has enjoyed society with the
same enthusiasm characteristic of his identification
with the other opportunities of life, and at different
times he has been a leading member of the Bohemian.
Pacific Union and Family clubs and Union League,
all of San Francisco, and the Sutter Club of Sacra-
mento, also the Woodmen and the Benevolent Pro-
tective Order of Elks. Practical philanthropy,
whether exercised privately or through the medium
of fraternal organizations, receives his steadfast sup-
port, and movements inaugurated and inspired by a
desire to help tlit luiih, to encourage .the depressed
or to uplift tlu i:ill._ii. h.ivc benefitted by his saga-
cious counsel anil syniiKiUu-tic participation.

JAMES M. PITMAN.— Business enterprise found
a stalwart exponent in James M. Pitman, whose pro-
gressive spirit and determination have been manifested
in all that he undertook, and by his individual effort,
nitelligently directed, he has gained a prominent posi-
tion in the business circles of San Jose, and is well
and favorably known throughout the State of Cali-
fornia for his uprightness and integrity of character.
He is one of the organizers and was elected the first
president of the Western Title Insurance Company
of San Jose.

A native of California, Mr. Pitman was born near
Marysville, Yuba County, January 30, 1851, a son of
Andrew Jackson and Armenia A. (Lewis) Pitman,
both natives of Missouri, His father was among the
early settlers who crossed the plains in 1849. After
a short experience in the mines, he decided that Cali-
fornia was a good country in which to settle perma-
nently, so, returning to his home in Missouri by way
of the Isthmus of Panama, he made the trip back
across the plains the following year; this time accom-
panied by his wife. His first residence was on the
Yuba River, where he followed the occupation of
mining, with the historic "rocker," continuing there
until 1852. In that year he removed to the Santa
Clara Valley, settling temporarily near the town of
old Mountain View. In the fall of 1852 he purchased
a ranch just north of Mayfield, which he owned until
1861, and which later became a part of the Palo Alto
Ranch, now the site of the Leland Stanford, Jr.,
University, the new Stanford Stadium being located
on part of the old Pitman farm. There Mr. Pitman
devoted himself to farming and dairying, which busi-
ness he continued on the ranch he purchased in 1861,
adjoining the town of Palo Alto on the northeast.
Mr. and Mrs. Pitman eventually removed to San

Jose, where they spent the remainder of their lives,
both passing away in 1896. Of their eight children,
one of whom died in infancy, James M. is the eldest;
Marion L. is a farmer and truck grower living near
Palo Alto on part of the old homestead; Cornelius Y.
is county assessor of Santa Clara County; William A.
resides in San Francisco; Bernard, commonly called
Berry, passed away at the age of thirty-five, leaving
a wife and child; Belle M. is married and resides in
St. Helena; Ernest resides in San Jose and is a sign
and screen painter of note.

James M. Pitman obtained his early education in
the schools of Mayfield and Santa Clara, supplement-
ing this with a course in the Pacific Business College
at San Francisco. He particularly excelled in mathe-
matics, and at the early age of fourteen he had gone
as far as trigonometry. He was always an excellent
penman, and this, coupled with his mathematical
ability, served to inake him a valuable county officer.
In 1869 he engaged in farming near Mayfield, con-
tinuing there until 1874. During this year he was
elected secretary of the State Grange, but resigned
the office in January, 1875, later removing to Quincy,
111., where he went into business with an uncle. His
stay there was of short duration, however, and in
1876 he returned to California and became deputy
county recorder under W. B. Hardy, retaining that
position for four years. He then engaged m the
dairy business at San Jose for two years.

Always actively identified with political matters,
Mr. Pitman was unanimously nominated for the of-
fice of county recorder on the Democratic ticket, but
a labor ticket was put in the field at the same time,
lessening the Democratic vote, and his opponent,
W. H. Stephens, was elected on the Republican ticket.
He again entered the race at the next general elec-
tion in 1882 and was elected county recorder, in which
capacity he served for four years. At the end of his
term of office, he went into the abstract business,
uniting forces with T. C. Edwards, the firm being
knowMi as Edwards & Pitman, continuing thus until
1891, when they formed a partnership with Pomeroy
& Howes, organizing the San Jose Abstract Com-
pany, of which Mr. Pitman became president, serving
for twenty-seven years. He mapped every piece of
property in the county, and among other notable
things, he made a plat of the city of Los Gates. He
is a stockholder of the First National Bank of San
Jose, the Garden City Bank & Trust Company, and
for many years served as president, and is now vice-
president, of the San Jose Building and Loan Asso-
ciation. He has been actively interested in orange
growing for a number of years, owning and operat-
ing a large and productive property known as Over-
look Groves, near Terra Bella, Tulare County. Since
1909 he has been secretary of the Grand View Heights
Citrus Company, having 1700 acres in Tulare County.

In 1876 Mr. Pitman was married to Miss Carrie I.
Fletcher, a native of Massachusetts, who came to
California with her parents at an early age. They are
the parents of three children: Florence V.; Blanche,
their second child, died aged seven years; and Homer
F. Homer is engaged in ranching and is manager
of the Overlook Orange Grove. He married Miss
Victoria Cuka and they have three children: Martha,
Marjorie and Barbara. Florence V. is now Mrs.
Howard W'. Cowell and the mother of two children:

800

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

James P. and Geraldine. Mr. Cowell is engaged in
the auto business in San Jose and is secretary of the
Western Title Insurance Company.

In fraternal circles, Mr. Pitman is a member of
Garden City Lodge , I. O. O. F., and for years was a
member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, of
which he is a past president. He is a stanch sup-
porter of the Democratic party and is an active and ■
conscientious member of the First Presbyterian
Church of San Jose. He has always been a promi-
nent figure in the business circles of San Jose, ever
ready to serve the community in which he has resided
for so many years. He served as a member of the
board of education of the San Jose schools for four
years, and was appointed on the board of trustees of
the San Jose State Normal School by Governor
James M. Budd. His has been an upright, honorable
and useful life, in which he has ever displayed unfal-
tering loyalty to high standards of citizenship and he
has labored effectively and earnestly to uphold those
interests which make for public improvement.

JAMES J. STANFIELD.— For over sixty years
the Stanfield family has been numbered among the
upbuilders and promoters of Santa Clara County and
as an orchardist and financier James J. Stanfield has
contributed to the prestige of a name that has long
been an honored one in this part of the state. He
was born in the Union district of Santa Clara County,
August 12. 1862, a son of John and Margaret (Cairns)
Stanfield. In 1858 the father arrived in California,
having made the voyage around Cape Horn, and after
spending three years in San Francisco, he came to
the Union district, purchasing a tract of 260 acres,
being one of the first settlers in the district and a
pioneer fruit grower, as well as banker, in Los Gatos.
He is elsewhere mentioned in this history.

James J. Stanfield is the only surviving member of
a family of three children and after completing his
education, which was acquired in the public schools
of the Union district, he assisted his father in the
operation of the home farm. Later, aside from horti-
culture, he turned his attention to finance, and as
early as 1887 he became connected with the Bank of
Los Gatos, of which in time he became vice-president.
With keen insight into business affairs and situations
and a thorough understanding of every phase of
banking, he labored effectively to promote the suc-
cess of the institution, which ranks with the substan-
tial financial enterprises of this part of the state. In
1919 he sold the home farm which he had brought to
a high state of cultivation until it was one of the fin-
est orchard and vineyard properties in the valley. He
had previously purchased the old Howe place near
Winchester, which he cultivated until 1922. when he
disposed of it to again make his home in Los Gatos.
All these years he had specialized in raising fruit,
having acquired a comprehensive knowledge of horti-
culture under the able instruction of his father in
earlier years and a continued study of the industry
from a scientific point, and much success rewarded
his efforts.

Mr. Stanfield married Miss Sue M. Place, born in
Jackson, Mich., and they became the parents of two
children: Helen, who died when fourteen years of
age, and John Harold, who is superintendent of
plant No 13, operated by the California Prune &

Apricot Growers Association at Los Gatos. He is
married and has two daughters, Susan Bell and
Margaret. Mr. Stanfield gives his political allegiance
to the Republican party and his fraternal connections
are with the Masons, the Elks and the Odd Fellows,
and he is past president of Los Gatos Parlor, N. S.
G. W. His entire life has been spent in Santa Clara
County, and he has watched with interest its devel-
opment and upbuilding, in which he has borne his
full share, his worth as a man and citizen being
widely recognized.

JOHN W. LYNDON.— One of the pioneer up-
builders of Los Gatos was the late John W. Lyndon,
who passed away July 14, 1913. A native of Ver-
mont, he came to California and settled at Lexing-
ton, Santa Clara County, in 1859, and a few years
later in Los Gatos, where he engaged in the mer-
cantile business, and organized the Bank of Los
Gatos, and also the Los Gatos Gas Company. He
subdivided the present town of Los Gatos into lots
and built some of the first buildings. He ran a
store and lumber yard, did a large business with the
New Almaden and Guadalupe mines in their palmy
days. He built the Lyndon Hotel, the Bank of Los
Gatos, Vermont and other buildings, and gave his
best efforts to the upbuilding of the town. By his
first marriage he had two children, one of whom is
living, Irma, now the wife of J. D. Farwell, of Los
Gatos. He was a Republican, but did not aspire to
office other than serve as city trustee, being a mem-
ber of the original board. He was a Mason, and a
member of the Episcopal Church.

JACOB MILAN COX.— One of the most popular
men among the court house officials of Santa Clara
County, who, for many years, filled the important
position of office deputy in the county assessor's of-
fice, was the late Jacob Milan Cox, who was born
in Iowa, September 28, 1851, the son of William and
Di':ey (Baggs) Cox, pioneers of Santa Clara County.
Tacob M. Cox was brought by his parents in an ox-
team train in 1852, his first recollections being of the
Saratoga section of Santa Clara County, where he
received a good education in the public schools,
after which he was graduated from the Garden City
Business College. He followed the trade of cabinet
maker and planing mill worker in the Fourth Street
mill and afterwards in the Hubbard & Carniichael
mill until he quit to look after his ranch, which he
set out to prunes, apricots and peaches. Meantime
he was appointed a deputy county assessor under
L. A. Spitzer and later was made the office deputy,
and continued his connection with that office for
more than twenty years, becoming one of the best
judges of property values in the county. His health
failing, he resigned his office and lived retired at his
home, 54 Union Street, San Jose, until his death.

His marriage occurred in Los Angeles and united
him with Mrs. Laura (Trailor) Gordon, a represen-
tative of an old pioneer family. Mr. Cox was very
prominent in fraternal circles. He was a Knight
Templar and Scottish Rite Mason and a member of
Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S , in San Francisco.
He was a past officer in the Blue Lodge. Chapter
and Commandery; he was also a past officer in the
Odd Fellows and held to the faith of the Christian
Church. A noble man and strong character, he was

VX..^S A, CjLo^^X-v_,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

very influential and was much loved and highly
esteemed by all who knew him. At his passing, Sep-
tember 28, 1916, he was mourned by his family and
friends and was buried with Masonic honors, in Oak
Hill Cemetery, San Jose.

JAMES A. CLAYTON.— A sturdy, far-sighted and
eminently progressive pioneer, an experienced, highly-
esteemed and influential public official, James A.
Clayton, who died on April 14, 1896, became an ex-
tensive landowner and one of the best-known resi-
dents of Santa Clara County, as he was one of the
leading citizens of San Jose. He was born in Derby-
shire, England, October 20. 1831, the son of John
and Mary (Bates) Clayton, the former a lead-miner
and farmer. They came to America in 1831, and set-
tled for a short time at Mifflin, Iowa County, Wis.,
where John Clayton worked in the lead mines; in
1840 the family removed to a farm near Mineral
Point, in Iowa County, where Mrs. Clayton died in
1853, followed four years later by her devoted hus-
band. They were the parents of twelve children, for
each of whom they did the best they could. In
passing it might be mentioned that the farm from
which the family moved at Mifflin was left to one
cf the younger sons and by him was sold at a later
date and on this same farm was developed one of
the most valuable and productive lead and zinc mines
in Wisconsin, discovered by deepening a well that had
been put down by Mr. Clayton.

James A. Clayton was brought to America by his
parents in infancy and remained at home until 1850.
when he came out to California. One brother,
Charles Clayton, who eventually became a member of
Congress and the surveyor of the Port of San Fran-
cisco, had preceded him to this state in 1844, and
this doubtless influenced the ambitious and adventur-
ous spirit of another brother, Joel Clayton, wlio made
four round trips to California prior to 1850, driving
superior American cattle, which he sold to the native
Californians to improve their native wild herds.
Though the country was infested with Indians, many
cf them hostile, he always managed to get through
in safety, being a diplomatic leader.

In 1850 influence was brought to bear upon Joel
Clayton, who had expected to retire after his various
California expeditions with cattle, to make up a train
and pilot it through to the West. This he did with
the definite understanding that his orders on all inat-
ters, even to making of wagons, be obeyed implicitly.
The mother prevailed upon Joel to let James accom-
pany him so that he would be under his protection en-
route. Joel did so, but he made certain stipulations
b\ which James was not to ride a horse or in a wag-
on during the journey; also that he and his com-
panion David Grenewalt, of the same age, were to
keep the train of ten wagons supplied with fresh
meat enroute. This was carried out to the letter by
young James, although he endured many hardships
and privations to do so. He and his chum were the
only ones in the party who were permitted to have
guns. The first and only real money he ever saw
prior to coiuing to California was obtained from the
sale of a hand-made saddle, made out of a pig skin
taken from a pig he had raised until it was ready
to kill. He tanned the skin by hand and when the
saddle was finished it was taken down the river to
one of the large cities where real money was in
circulation and was sold for eight silver dollars; the

young man was then sixteen years old. His educa-
tion was limited to but four months schooling one
winter, but he was patterned after Abraham Lincoln
and anxious to absorb knowledge so he borrowed
every book he possibly could from those who had
them in his neighborhood and by constant reading
became a superior, self-educated man. It was also
during the long winter evenings that he attended
revival meetings held by some itinerant circuit rider,
was converted and joined the Methodist Church.
This act affected his entire life and he never back-
slid from his teachings.

It took the train piloted by Joel Clayton eighty-
seven days to reach California, arriving in Santa
Clara County in August, 1850. This short time was
made because of the superior leadership of Joel Clay-
ton, by whom no single detail was lacking to keep
men, teams and wagons in the best of condition, so
that on their arrival they were able to state they had
lost neither man nor beast during the long journey.
It usually took six months or inore to make a jour-
ney of that length by most of the immigrants. James
Clayton and his chum stuck together and he tried his
luck in mining in Placer and Mariposa counties; even
going to Australia. I'pon arriving there the party
was warned of the animosity the Australians had for
the Californians because of the hanging in San Fran-
cisco Ijy the \'igilantes, of the "Sydney Ducks." The
Californians were distinguished, in those early days,
by their red-top l)oots worn outside of their pantlegs.
By concealing their boot-tops and avoiding the public
taverns Mr. Clayton and his chum reached the mines,
which proved, to their disgust, that there was vastly
more gold in California than in Australia. The young
men had saved money enough to pay their way hotne
and were ready to make the return voyage. The
ship being short of seamen the captain told them if
they would ship as sailors and help bring the boat
to San Francisco he would refund their passage money
and pay them $100 in money; to this they agreed
and James Clayton became third mate. After a haz-
ardous journey, fraught with many hardships, the
most important being the lack of water for drinking,
they reached port. Upon arriving at San Francisco
the captain decamped for the mines and the men were
unable to get any part of their money by the sale
o: the ship and its cargo, there being so many sim-
ilar cases of abandoned ships in the bay.

In 1853 Mr. Clayton became permanently identi-
hed with Santa Clara County, located in Santa Clara,
where he opened and conducted a photograph studio,
this being the second one to be opened in the state.
Later he moved the studio to San Jose, which had
become the largest of the two towns, and in the
latter part of the 'SOs, he moved there with his fam-
ily. Then the photographer made his own plates
and the "patient" had to sit for five minutes in order
to have the impression made on the negative. While
in Santa Clara. Mr. Clayton with John B. Hewston,
started the first movement ever made in the town to
curb the exteremely common use of liquor; and he
started the first movement to open a Y. M. C. A.
In 1861 Mr. Clayton was elected county clerk on the
Republican ticket, and reelected in 1863; at the same
time carrying on his photo studio. In 1867 he em-
barked in the real estate business in San Jose and
thereafter remained active in the realty field until
his death. The result of his identification with this

804

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

department of commercial and financial affairs was
that he became a large property owner, was able to
accomplish a great deal of good in his time, and
left a large estate to others to administer and enjoy,
vvhen he finished his period.

Prior to 1887, all the salable property and grant
lands in Santa Clara Valley passed through his hands
at least once. He acted as advisor to the native
Californians, by whom he W'as trusted implicitly to
buy and sell for them, also to loan their money, often
in the earlier days with no compensation. He started
the first abstract and title business in Santa Clara
County, one of the first in the state as well; was also
one of the promoters and original owners of the first
electric lighting plant in the county; one of the orig-
inal promoters of the First National Bank of San
Jose in 1874 and later became its president, serving
for many years. This was organized to reduce the
rate of interest to 10% per annum, the rate having
fluctuated from 15^% to 10% per month. After
he had been in the realty business several years he
branched out into the original booster for this Val-
ley and prepared neat illustrated literature which he
scattered widely in the Middle West and thus was the
cause of so many settlers coming from as far East
ai Illinois to take up bonus in this county. As a land
boomer he was a success, the majority of the settlers
coming from the mining camps in the early days,
while later they came from the states west of Illinois.
He always made good his guarantees.

In March, 1860, James A. Clayton was married to
Miss Anna L. Thompson, a native of Indiana and the
daughter of Robert P. and Amy F. Thompson, who
had come to California in 1857. Seven children
sprang from this happy union. Mary E. married Car-
roll W. Gates and lived in Los Angeles; both are de-
ceased; Edward W., now deceased, was for many
years associated with his father and later with the
James A. Clayton Comiiany in the realty business;
Willis C, also was connected with the James A.
Clayton real estate interests and is now president
of the First National Bank of San Jose; Ethel, grad-
uated from the University of the Pacific and is asso-
ciated with her father's company; Grace Elizabeth,
died in infancy; and the youngest members of the
family are John J., and Florence Clayton. Mrs.
Clayton passed away in 1914.

Mr. Clayton was a member of San Jose Lodge
No. 10, F. & A. M.; also of the Methodist Church,
and in 1888 he served as lay delegate to the confer-
ence held in New York; was a standpat Republican,
ard that same year was an alternate delegate at large
to the National Convention held in Chicago. He was
a trustee of the University of the Pacific, and no man
ever did his duty more conscientiously in sucli a po-
sition, and few have done more to advance on broad,
inviting lines the permanent interests of this important
i-istitution of higher education.

PETER J. DUNNE.— A most interesting man of
varied experience such as many would-be students of
life and the ways of the world might well envy, is
Peter J. Dunne, the far-seeing manager of the exten-
sive Catherine Dunne estate at San Jose. He was
born southeast of Gilroy in Santa Clara County, and
first saw the light on October 19, 1865. His father.
James Dunne, was born in Ireland in 1817, but

came to America when quite young and located in
New Orleans, where he worked at any honest labor
his hands found to do. He had but a limited school-
ing, thus his progress was slow. He prospered and
married and he and his wife became the parents of
five children of whom only one, J. F. Dunne, is alive.
He owns the original Dunne estate of 15,000 acres
ot fine ranch land at San Felipe, where is carried on
a general ranching business. This son was born in
tile '50s and spends part of his time in San Francisco.
The other children were: Caroline, Catherine, Peter
and Joseph, all dying before they reached the age of
ten years. Mrs. Catherine Dunne, his wife, died on
June 21, 1857, aged twenty-eight years. Mr. Dunne
spent some time in South America after he left New
Orleans as a flour merchant and he came to San Fran-
cisco in the latter part of the '50s and engaged in the
general merchandise business, meeting with good suc-
cess. In 1862 he married Mrs. Catherine Murphy
and they spent their married life on the San Felipe
ranch, which Mr. Dunne had bought and proceeded
to develop. This second marriage brought three
children: Mary P., Peter J., and Catherine B., all
born on the San Felipe Ranch, which was his home
at the time of his death, June 8, 1874. He was a
Democrat of the old school and was a man of energy
and strict integrity and ready to assist any worthy
project for the benefit of town, county or state.
Mary Phileta married Joseph H. Rucker, the real es-
tate dealer of San Jose; the second in the order of
birth is the subject of this review; and the Catherine
B. is Mrs. Ralph W. Hersey.

Peter Dunne was graduated from the Santa Clara
College in 1884 with the degree of B. S., and then
he engaged in business in San Francisco. In 1895
he removed to San Jose and took charge of his
mother's estate; and this, one of the notable California
properties, he has continued to oversee, while his
mother is still living, at present at the age of ninety-
four. With the fruits of a valuable training, and the
affectionate conscientiousness of a loyal son, Mr.
Dunne has been able greatly to increase the worth
ci the properties under his charge, and has so proven
a steward of the kind capitalists and corporations
are always seeking.

On April 6, 1888, Mr. Dunne was married to Miss
Josephine Rose Hasten, the daughter of N. K. Mas-
ten of San Francisco, and they have been granted
eight children, six now living — Peter M., a Jesuit
priest; Mary K. became the wife of Roy A. Silent of
Los Angeles and the mother of a daughter, Patricia;
Josephine M. married Cedric Rae Richmond of San
Jose; Dorothy R., a sister in the Convent of the Holy
Name; Catherine M. and Margaret M.; the fifth child,
James and the ycxingest, Eleanor, died in infancy. Of
those living, the three eldest girls were born while
the family lived in San Francisco and the others in
San Jose and they were educated at Notre Dame in
S;;n Jose and the Holj- Name in Oakland. Josephine
is a graduate of the University of California and
Mary was a senior when she left and Catherine was
a junior. The family attend the Catholic Church.
Mr. Dunne works for civic betterment under the
banners of the Democratic party, and belongs to
the Knights of Columbus and Y. M. I.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

807

WILLIS S. CLAYTON.— How much of the cred-
it for the phenomenal prosperity of San Jose is due to
the acknowledged leadership of such far-sighted, cour-
ageous and progressive men as Willis S. Clayton, the
president of the First National Bank, only those fa-
miliar with the dependency of commerce on the fin-
ancial, and the enviable part played by the First Na-
tional Bank in the life and growth of Santa Clara
County can realize. Born a native son in San Jose,
or October 10, 1864, and grounded well in the public
schools of the city, Willis S. Clayton graduated from
the University of the Pacific in 1884, and at once bc-
Kan his business career in the office of James A. Clay-
ton & Company, his father's firm. Eventually he be-
came managing partner, and in that responsible posi-
tion he remained for a quarter of a century, often
I'.aving charge of very important interests and helping
to build up the business.

This real estate business, of which he was such an
important part for many years, was established by his
father in 1867, and ever since that date has been one
of the sound institutions of the city and the oldest
business of the kind to remain in control of one family
in the state of California. It is located at 34 West
Santa Clara Street in a building owned by the firm,
and after the death of its founder the business was
continued by Willis S. and the late Edward W.
Clayton. In 1907 Willis S. was elected president of
the First National Bank of San Jose, of which his
father was the founder and for many years the presi-
dent. Giving up his real estate business he has since
devoted his entire time to building up the bank's in-
terests. The first year after he assumed the leader-
ship the deposits jumped from one to two million
dollars; and he was also instrumental in the erection
of the splendid bank building at the corner of Santa
Ciara and First Streets, one of the substantial as it
is one of the ornate structures in the city.

Willis S. Clayton was united in marriage at San
Jcse, with Miss Anna Bradley, daughter of E. L.
Bradley, prominent pioneer and large land holder of
the county. Mrs. Clayton is an accomplished woman
and is a leader in social and club life in San Jose.
Their children are James Bradley and Willis S., Jr.
Mr. Clayton was elected in 1921, president of the
California Bankers Association, serving in 1921-22
and he is president of the California State Automo-
bile Association, 1922-23. He is a Knights Templar
Mason and a Shriner and belongs to some of the
leading clubs of San Francisco and San Jose. Mr.
Clayton has always tried to do his part to advance
the material interests of city and county, is public
spirited and a supporter of all progressive measures
for the well-being of the people.

EDMUND W. MAYNARD.— One of the most
loved and highly esteemed business men who con-
tributed to make San Jose a better city through his
great love of books was the late Edmund W. May-
nard, who was born at Bratton, Yorkshire. England
His father was Col. Edmund Gilling Maynard, who
spent twenty-one years in the British Army, serving
with distinction in the Crimean War and in the In-
dian mutiny. In 1869 Col. Maynard brought his fam-
ily to Canada, where they resided for about six years.
However, the climate proved too severe for Mrs.
Maynard, so the Colonel decided to take up his resi-
dence in New Zealand, but upon arriving in Cal-
ifornia took a decided liking for this state with the

result that he came to Santa Clara County and set-
tled in San Jose. Thus it was here that Edmund
Maynard received his education. Here too he was
married in 1892 to Miss Anna M. Tomkin, a daugh-
ter of Dr. Alfred Royce Tomkin, an early settler
here, who was county coroner and public adminis-
trator at the time of his death, and a granddaughter
of James Alexander Forbes, one of the original
owners of the New Almaden mine and the first
British consul to California under the Mexican rule.
Edmund Maynard became a successful business
man in San Jose where he conducted one of the
largest and best known book and stationery stores
in this city. However, he was not permitted to en-
joy the fruits of his succtss, for he was called by
Providence July 5, 1917, rr.ourned by all who knew
him and particularly by his family and friends. He
was a great lover of books and was a good judge
of their merits, so his advice in courses of reading
was frequently sought, Hf was a talented musician,
the flute being his chosen instrument, and he was
an active member of the San Jose Symphony Orches-
tra and the San Jose Harmonic Orchestra. He was
also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and
the Business Men's Association, the Sons of St.
George, Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the
World. He was greatly interested in civics and
stood for high morals and Christian influence. Among
his business associates, Edmund W. Maynard was
looked up to as a man of unquestionable honor, of
progressive ideas and of unusual business ability.
With his personal friends he was loved as few men
are loved; his unselfishness, ready sympathy and
keen sense of humor, endeared him to all who had
the pleasure of his acquaintance; he was especially
fond of children and scores of them, large and small,
will sadly iniss "Uncle Ed" as he was afTectionately
called by his host of friends. His loss was greatly
felt in the business world as well as in the social
life of San Jose.

P. R. WIGHTMAN.— One of the foremost figures
in the business and public life of Sunnyvale is P. R.
Wightman. a successful merchant, who is also serv-
ing as maj'or of the town, and in both connections
he is making a most creditable record, holding to
high standards of manhood and citizenship. He was
born in Lockport, III., six miles north of Joliet,
March 15, 1873, a son of Hon. George Wightman,
who served in the Illinois Legislature and was also
a prosperous farmer and stockman. The mother,
Mrs. Susan (Sisson) Wightman, was a daughter of
Captain Sisson, an early pioneer of Illinois, who
aided in building the old blockhouse at Fort Dear-
born, in Cook County, to protect the white settlers
from Indian attacks, also engaging in warfare against
the Redskins.

When P. R. Wightman was a lad of fourteen his
tather died and his mother then sold the farm and
removed to Plainfield, 111., where he attended the
public schools, later entering a business college at
Valparaiso, Ind., where he spent a year in study.
He next went to Newton, Kans., and for a year was
employed in the store of his brother. Frank Wight-
man, at that place, after which he made his way to
Sayre, Okla., where for seven years he had charge
of the general mercantile establishment owned bv
his father-in-law, J. D. Clay. In 1907 he left that

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

etate for California, first locating at Glen Ellen,
where he engaged in merchandising for a year, going
from there to Cloverdale, in Sonoma County, where
for three years he was similarly occupied, and while
residing in that place was elected a member of the
board of trustees. He became proprietor of a large
general store at Sunnyvale, which he conducted most
successfully, having a thorough knowledge of the
business and ever recognizing the fact that satisfied
patrons are the best advertisement. In the early
tall of 1921 Mr. Wightman sold out his store, and
on November 1, 1921, with C. W. Shepard as part-
ner, he started the Sunnyvale Supply Company, deal-
ers in all kinds of lumber and building materials,
tuel and feed. This was accomplished by buying out
two Sunnyvale business concerns. The Sunnyvale
Fuel and Feed Company and the Minton Lumber
Company. His many friends are glad to know that
the Sunnyvale Supply Company is meeting with
merited success.

In Oklahoma, in 1900, Mr. Wightman was mar-
ried to Miss Myrtle Clay, a native of Texas and a
daughter of J. D. Clay, a prominent merchant of
Sayre, Okla. To this union has been born a son,
George Clay. Fraternally Mr. Wightman is identi-
fied with the Woodmen of the World and the
Knights of Pythias and the Elks Lodge at Elk City,
Okla., being a charter member of the last named
organization. In April. 1921, Mr. Wightman was
elected chairman of the city board of trustees. He
had previously served on the board for a short time,
being chosen to fill the vacancy caused by the death
of John Hendy, of the Hendy Iron Works. Mr.
Wightman is proving a capable executive, giving to
the town a businesslike and progressive administra-
tion, characterized by needed reforms and improve-
ments. A broadminded, public-spirited citizen, he
takes a deep interest in everything relating to the
welfare of the district in which he lives, and has
been most earnest in his support of those projects
whihc are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride.

MRS. HATTIE E. TOPHAM.— The highly-
esteemed daughter of a sturdy, successful pioneer,
Mrs. Hattie E. Topham of San Jose can look back,
in her contented sphere, and view with peculiar pride
and satisfaction the great strides made in the phe-
nomenal development of that part of the Golden
State with which she and her family have had so
much to do. A native daughter always proud of
her association with the California commonwealth,
Mrs. Topham was born at Forest Home, Amador
County, on October 29, 1853, the daughter of W. D.
Castle, a native of New York, who moved to Michi-
gan and there married Miss Frances Ferry, a native
of that state. Mr. Castle was a flour miller in Mich-
igan, and in '49, as a real Argonaut, crossed the
great plains on horseback. After a strenuous ex-
perience of three years on the coast, he returned
East to get his wife; and in 1853 he once more
braved the dangers and the hardships of continental
primitive travel and made his way back to Cali-
fornia. He was for a while a miner in Amador
County, and then he opened the Forest Home Hotel
and the local grocery there. In 1868 he came to
Santa Clara County, having just previously main-
tained a dairy in Amador County, which required
him to get into the mountains for feed for his cat-
tle. It will be seen, therefore, that Mr. Castle en-
dured and overcame much in order to progress in

such a manner that his prosperity would denote
real progress for his fellow-citizens and the state.

Inasmuch as the facilities for schooling were poor
m Amador County at that time, Mr. Castle sent his
daughter to the Perry Seminary at Sacramento; and
after coming to Santa Clara County, she attended
first the high school and then the Normal School.
After that she engaged in teaching for fifteen months
in Auburn, Placer County; and at Milpitas, on De-
cember 21, 1874, she married Edward Topham, a
native of Toronto, Canada, where he was born on
December 26, 1840. His father was William Top-
ham, and his mother, before her marriage, was
Eliza Sylvester.

In 1868 Edward Topham came out to San Fran-
cisco by way of the Isthmus, and for a while re-
sided in Santa Clara County. He was a blacksmith,
and was experienced in wagon and carriage building.
He bought out the interest of S. F. Ayers, and then
he and David S. Boyce were partners for years at
Milpitas. He had had a blacksmith shop there for
several j'ears previous to this marriage, and he also
owned a grocery; and he resided at Milpitas for
thirty-one years prior to his death, in April, 1905.
He and Charles Carle were partners for fifteen years
in the grocery, and he also had a farm of forty acres
near Milpitas. In addition, he and A. A. Davis and
Goulder Slankard had a cattle ranch m the moun-
tains near the New Idra Quicksilver Mines, and this
valuable property, consisting of about 10,000 acres,
was known as the Laguna Ranch, and supported on
an average of not less than 500 head of cattle. The
range was covered with springs, there was plenty of
water, and it was a beautiful spot. Spurred on by
the motto, "Nothing venture, nothing share," is it
fny wonder that Edward Topham succeeded for both
himself and others where many a competitor failed?
He was a standpat Republican, and as such did what
he could to elevate the standard of good citizenship.
He belonged to the Masons of San Jose, and both
he and his good wife were popular members of the
Eastern Star. Soon after he arrived in California,
Henry Topham, an elder brother, followed, then re-
turned East, and afterward came to Milpitas with
his wife; and for a number of years he kept a ware-
house there. Ten years later, William Topham, a
younger brother, also came to California, and he is
now living on a fruit ranch at Berryessa.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Top-
ham. Clarence is a farmer in Tulare County. He
married Nancy Cameron and they have three chil-
dren, Melba, Lester and Hariett. Frank H. is a
citrus grower at Lindsay. He married Miss Jessie
Chase and they have three children, Lois, William
and Francis. Edward is a surgeon and physician at
San Francisco. He married Cecile Belle McClellan
and is the father of two children, Neddie and Jack.
Chester A. is with the W. L. Atkinson Realty Com-
pany in San Jose. He married Anna Evans and has
two children living, Beverley and Chester; Maxwell
is dead. Blanche is Mrs. J. M. Barrett of San Jose
and has a son, Chester Barrett. Clifton is on the
Fort Miller Ranch at Friant in Fresno County. He
married Charity Harrison and they have three
daughters, Dorothy, Helen Ann and Betty Louisa.
Alida is the wife of Alexander H. Cameron, a citrus
grower at Lindsay, and has one son, Harold.
Estella's husband is J. B. Moore, a merchant of the
same town, and they have a daughter, Maxine.

d/UM^riyO^^W

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

811

AUSTIN FLEMING UMBARGER.— Among the

successful and highly respected pioneers of Santa
Clara County who did much to improve and build up
the Berryessa district as a fruit section, was the late
Austin Fleming Umbarger, who was born in Wythe
County, Va., on August 6, 1836, but at an early age
he accompanied his parents to Marshall, 111., where he
was reared on a farm. On the breaking out of the
Civil War he enlisted as a member of the Thirty-
fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Second Brigade,
Second Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, in which
he served three years. Soon after the war was over
he started to California via Panama, arriving at San
Francisco in 1866, then coming to Santa Clara County.
On November 29, 1874, Mr. Umbarger was married
to Miss Josephine Bowen, a native of Barrington,
111., and they made their home on their ranch on the
Penctencia Creek Road. Here they set out orchards
and brought the place to a high degree of cultivation
so that the Umbarger ranch was considered one of
the valuable properties of this locality. They spent
the remainder of their days on this ranch. Mrs. Um-
barger passed away March 16, 1912, and the father
died November 5, 1918. He was a member of the
Odd Fellows and the G. A. R. On the Umbarger
ranch their only daughter, Nellie was born and reared,
her education being acquired in the schools of this
district and in the San Jose high school. On June 27,
1911, she was married to Earl E. Blackburn, a native
of Callaway County, Mo., who came to California in
1908. They reside on the Umbarger ranch, which
Mrs. Blackburn inherited at her father's death, con-
tinuing the care of this valuable property, which is
in full-bearing orchards of prunes, apricots, and
cherries. Mr. and Mrs. Blackburn's marriage has
been blessed with the birth of a daughter, Jean Eve-
lyn, and from their attractive home, like the Um-
bargers, they radiate the old-time hospitality.

WILLIAM D. STEWART.— A fine type of the
self-made, se'.f-reliant Scotch-American is William D.
Stewart, now enjoying, at middle age, a comfortable
home at 377 South Second Street, San Jose. He was
born at Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland, on January
1. 1855. the son of Duncan Stewart, a farmer, who
had retired to Pitlochry, and was there living when
our subject was born. He was a Scotch Highlander,
well-informed and respected. He married Jane Duf?,
a sister of the late Dr. Duflf, of Edinburgh, where
Mrs. Stewart was born. The Duffs were always
rated among the best Scotch families, and Dr. Duff
was a minister in the Free Church of Scotland, and
for many years served as a missionary to India.
Both of these worthy parents lived and died in Scot-
land. They had twelve children, but all are de-
ceased save three: William D. is the subject of our
interesting review; Finley is a plumber doing an ex-
tensive business at Tongi, Morocco; and Maggie has
become Mrs. Leary, and resides near Liverpool, Eng-
land. She has a son. Jack, employed by the Cali-
fornia Packing Company at Madera, Cal.

William Stewart grew up in Scotland until his
fourteenth year; and then he decided to come to
America, doubtless largely on account of James
Stewart, one of two older brothers already in the
United States, who had served in the Union Army,
and after that had come to Nevada. In April, 1870,

William reached Elko, Nev.. although he had arrived
at Castle Garden, in New York, in July, 1869, after
a voyage on one of the old Anchor Liners running
out of Glasgow; his mother had died in Scotland
two years before, and he had said good-bye to his
father, relatives and friends. While in the East, he
went to Washington, D. C, to see the other elder
brother. Mungo Stewart, who was a stonecutter by
occupation and was working on the Capitol. He
stayed in Washington that fall and winter, and the
following spring set out for Nevada. He has thus
made his way in the world since he was fourteen.

He started to work in a livery stable, then became
a swamper, and having gained his employer's confi-
dence, he was advanced to seventy-five dollars per
month, and although a mere boy, received the highest
wages paid to the best of the men. He soon be-
came a teamster, and then he was getting $125 per
month and his board. He worked there for four years,
and all this time he saved his money. The railroad
was then built, so he went to Alpha and handled gen-
eral merchandise from Alpha to Eureka with an eight-
een-mule team. When the railroad was completed to
Eureka, the teams were put on to haul from Eureka
to Belmont, Nev., a stretch of 100 miles, and also
from Eureka to Tibo. another 100 miles, and from
Eureka to Piochi, 180 miles, and from Eureka to
Ward, now called Ely, another 100 miles. That was
in 1875, and he freighted all over those routes.

In 1878-79, he bought an eight-mule team from a
Frenchman, and in 1883 J. L. Whiteside was his part-
ner. From 1879 to 1883, their business grew, and in
1883 he owned five twenty-mule teams, with wagons
and equipment complete. In 1883 he bought out his
partner, who went to Los Angeles, where later he
died. Business fell off — came practically to a stand-
still; and he met with heavy reverses, largely be-
cause of the demoralization of silver. He saved two
twenty-mule teams, and started off with them to
Butte City, Montana, and he was thirty-three days
on the road going seven hundred miles. He slept
out, suffered the hardships of rain and even snow-
storms, and never stopped; and arriving in Butte,
he engaged in the wood business.

On January 26, 1886, he sold all the mules and other
equipment and came to San Jose, arriving here in
February, 1886; and he built three cottages for rent
on North Third Street, and up to June. 1888, did a
little real estate business. Then he had the oppor-
tunity to take charge of the Dean Estate stock ranch
at Beowawe. Nev., which consisted of a vast range
and had 4,500 head of cattle and 4,500 head of horses;
and for fourteen years he ran this stock enterprise
successfully. In 1902. he went to Tonopah, and upon
leaving the Dean Estate he was presented with a gold
watch, engraved as follows: "Presented to W. D.
Stewart, in gratitude for faithful service to the Dean
Estate, April, 1902." He was in Tonopah during the
gold boom, and he ran a feed corral, and between
1902 and 1905 he made $20,000: In the fall of 1905,
he came back to San Jose, and he has been here ever
since. Mr. Stewart is president of the Copa de Orr
Mining and Milling Company, owners of a mine
located at Glencoe, Calaveras County, Cal., which is
a good prospect; and he is at present retired except
for the looking after his interests there. In 1918 he
slipped and fell at the mine and injured his left hip-

812

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

joint, and he has been invalided ever since, and only
recently he has been able to get around slowly and
by the use of a crutch.

At Eureka, Nev., in 1883, Mr. Stewart was married
to Miss Maggie Wissig, a native of Germany, who
came to America the same year, 1869, in which he
migrated, and who grew up in Philadelphia and San
Francisco. One child blessed this union — Frank,
who is well known as a business man of Santa Clara.
Mr. Stewart is a Republican, and he holds to the
tenets of the Presbyterian Church.

HENRY C, WALTER.— Among the enterprising
men who have l)cen instrumental in building up the
horticultural interests of this section is Henry C.
Walter, whose property is located on the Saratoga
Road. He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on Novem-
ber 24, 1857. the son of Mathis and Caroline
(Krause) Walter, both natives of Germany, the father
being a cooper by trade.

The parents came to California in 1868, locating on
a ranch near Mountain View and later on Perma-
nente Creek, when the wife died, December 1, 1889,
at sixty years. The father is a veteran Odd Fellow
and is still living, hale and hearty at the age of
ninety-two years, having been born April 16, 1830.
They had seven children: Henry C, our subject;
John H. died at nineteen; Chas. W. resides at Long
Beach; Carrie J., Mrs. Seagraves, resides at Sara-
toga; Mrs. Louise Gaster resides at Lodi, and
Louis E. at Mountain View; Emma was the wife of
Geo. W. Cox and died in January, 1916.

Henry C. attended the schools of Pennsylvania
and Santa Clara County and has since devoted his
time to farming. He has always been a stanch ad-
vocate of temperance, neither does he use tobacco.
He has a fine collection of books and has made
several artistically finished book-cases and several
other valuable pieces of furniture.

His marriage occurred on February 21, 1897, at the
Wm. Cox home, and united him with Mary J. Co.x.
the daughter of William and Dicey (Baggs) Cox.
pioneers of this region. Mr. and Mrs. Walter have
one son, Howard C, who is in charge of their or-
chards on the old Wm. Cox home place. They have
about twenty acres here and twenty-one acres on
Cox Avenue devoted to prunes, now all full bearing.
The place is well improved with a large fine resi-
dence and other buildings including a dryer, being
beautifully located on Saratoga, near the corner of
Cox Avenue. Mrs. Walter was born on this place
in 1855 and was reared and educated here, so she is
ndturally very fond of her childhood hoine. After
completing the public school, she attended the Uni-
versity of the Pacific. She has become greatly in-
terested in horticulture and has been an able assistant
to her husband in his orcharding.

Liberal and kind hearted, they take pleasure in dis-
pensing the good old time California hospitality.
They are members of the Christian church at Sara-
toga and are adherents of the Republican party.

CARL WESLEY HAMAN.— A man of wide ex-
perience and executive ability, Carl Wesley Haman
has covered an unusual field in his business and
professional life, as a school teacher, in the banking
business, the newspaper field, as a horticulturist,
and now as assistant manager of Rosenberg Bros.
& Company, in all of which he has attained success.
He was born in Monticello, Lewis County, Mo., Oc-

tober 13. 1868, third son of Charles and Elizabeth
(Hudson) Haman, the father of German parentage,
while the mother was born in Tennessee, of En-
{.lish and Irish descent. Three of their sons are
I'ving: John H. is a retired farmer and capitalist of
Canton, Mo., and president of the Monticello Trust
Company. William F., a minister in the Christian
church, now residing at Canton, Mo., was formerly
pastor of Christian churches at St. Louis, Mo., and
at Sedalia, Mo. The youngest of the family is Carl
W., of this sketch.

Bereaved of his mother when he was only six
weeks old, C. W. Haman was reared by his uncle
and aunt, Frederick and Elvira (Lair) Haman, of
Shelby County, Mo., who, having no children of
their own, legally adopted him, and there C. W. re-
ceived his early education. After graduating from
the high school he entered the State Normal School
.it Kirksville, Mo., finishing the regular four years'
course there in the class of 1889. After graduating,
lie began teaching at Salem, Mo., where he was
first assistant in the high school. In 1892 he helped
organize the bank at Bethel, Mo., and became its
cashier, occupying that position until 1895, when he
snd his wife came to California.

Settling at Santa Clara, Mr. Haman entered the
newspaper field, working on the Santa Clara Jour-
r.al, a semi-weekly, for a year, N. H. Downing then
being the proprietor. Later he and the Messrs.
Downing purchased forty-three acres of land near
Santa Clara, which they set out to prunes, this
marking Mr. Haman's entrance into horticulture,
and he still owns part of this tract; he also has other
orchard interests. Next he engaged in the feed and
fuel business at Santa Clara, continuing in this for
five years and operating his orchard properties at the
same time. Several years ago Mr. Haman began
as a fruit buyer for Rosenberg Bros. & Company,
buying from growers in Santa Clara County. He
has been very successful in this work and is now
assistant manager of the Santa Clara plant.

On August 27, 1890, Mr. Haman was married to
Miss Bertha Morgan, who was born at Salem, lii.,
a daughter of John M. and Catherine (Bright) Mor-
gan, both natives of Ohio. When Mrs. Haman was
nine years old her parents moved to Kirksville, Mo.,
and there she was educated in the public schools
and at the Kirksville State Normal School. The
father is deceased, but Mrs. Morgan is still living
nt Kirksville, the mother of six children: A. R. Mor-
gan is principal of the Sherman School at St. Louis,
Mo.; Martha is the widow of the late Newton Wil-
liams of Kirksville, Mo.; Alice is the widow of G.
D. Dawson of Memphis, Mo.; Adah became the wife
of John M. Gates of Kirksville, Mo., and passed
.■iway in 1891, leaving a daughter, Adah, now Mrs.
Craig Reddish of Washington, D. C: Bertha E. is
Mrs. Haman; OHve is at home with her mother.
Mrs. Haman is a talented, cultured woman, and
both she and her husband are members of the Bap-
tist Church at Santa Clara. Cal., Mrs. Haman being
in charge of the music, and Mr. Haman being Sun-
day School Superintendent. Popular in Masonic
(ircles, Mrs. Haman is past matron of Santa Clara
Chapter No. 195, O. E. S., while Mr. Haman is past
master of Liberty Lodge No. 299, F. & A. M. He is
also an officer of San Jose Commandery No. 10.
Knights Templar, and belongs to Islam Shrine of
San Francisco. He is a stockholder of the Santa

iA^ayy^ ^^t^MS^M^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

817

Clara branch of the Bank of Italy and of the Bank
of San Jose, and for eight years was president of
the Santa Clara Board of Education. He served
several years on the Republican County Central
Committee, and is numbered among the influential
citizens of Santa Clara.

JOHN W. STRANDBERG.— Among the well
known ranchmen and cattle dealers of Santa Clara
County is John W. Strandbcrg, whose activities
have constituted a valuable contribution to the de-
velopment and upbuilding of the district in which
he lives. Although living a retired life, his com-
petency was gained only through many years of hard
toil. He was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, Decem-
ber 14, 1840, a son of Jacob and Annie (Hendrick-
son) Strandberg. During the year of 1844 the father
passed away and the following year the mother
died, leaving John W. an orphan. Friends of the
family took the boy in and his time was spent
between the city and country so there was very
little chance for schooling, his days being spent in
hard work. When he became old enough, he secured
work in the steamship shops of Gothenburg, remain-
ing there until he was twenty-two years of age,
then spent two years in Stockholm and then he
embarked for the United States with the determi-
nation of finding work in the copper mines on Lake
Superior. He came to America in 1864 and soon
after enlisted in Company K, Twenty-eighth Michi-
gan Infantry under General Schofield and General
Thomas. His company saw service in the battles
of Three Rivers, N. C. and battle of Nashville and
he was discharged from the service June 6, 1866, at
Raleigh, N. C. He was then employed with the
Union Pacific railroad, working in the shops at
Omaha, North Platte and Laramie City, Wyo., and
then he worked for the Western LTnion Telegraph
Company on construction work along the railroad
toward California. He was thus employed until
the fall of 1869, then removed to Omaha and worked
there until 1870; then to Helena, Ark., then to New-
Orleans, thence to Chicago and on to St. Paul,
working on the building of the Northern Pacific
railroad from St. Paul to Bismarck, N. D.

The work on the railroad was discontinued in
1873, and Mr. Strandberg took up a farm fourteen
miles north of Bismarck, building a house and other-
wise improving the place, and during the great flood
of that year caused by the overflowing of the Mis-
souri River everything was washed away, leaving
him utterly ruined. He then removed to Mineral
Hill, Nev., where he spent two years in the mines;
thence to Eureka, Nev., engaging in mining until
1886; then came to San Francisco, after a short
trip to Alaska. Upon returning to California, he
filed a claim for 160-acres of government land near
Mt. Hamilton, Santa Clara County, later acquir-
ing by purchase an additional 160 acres. These
320 acres were grazing land and for twenty-seven
years Mr. Strandberg was engaged in stockraising.
.\fter disposing of his ranch, he removed to Oakland
where he spent one year, then to San Jose and has
resided here continuously for the past ten years.

The marriage of Mr. Strandberg, in January, 1877,
in Omaha, Neb., united him with Miss Mary Eliza-
beth Bergquist, a native of Sweden, and they became
the parents of three children; Jennie, employed in
the Bank of Oakland; Edith, now Mrs. C. Peterson.

residing in Oakland; Alma died at the age of twenty-
one. Mrs. Strandberg passed away in 1887 while
residing on the ranch. Mr. Strandberg is a mem-
ber of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7 of San Jose, he
is a member of the Thcosophical Society of San
Jose and at the advanced age of eighty-one years
is living retired at 531 East William Street. He
has never had occasion to regret his determination
to come to the West and, utilizing the opportun-
ities here offered, has made a name and place for
himself in the city of his adoption.

DR. DAVID PAUL CAMERON.— A very skil-
ful dentist who has become a leader in his profes-
sion and is today one of the most distinguished rep-
resentatives of the second dental college in the world,
is Dr. David Paul Cameron, of 410 View Street,
Mountain View, at which place, for practically one-
(juarter of a century, he has resided and practiced.
He was born at Cincinnati on January 3, 1867, the
son of Dr. J. G. Cameron, one of the first dentists
in that city, and who, for forty years, was one of
the ablest professional men there. Grandfather Wil-
liam Cameron was a farmer in Cecil County, Md.,
and lived upon a portion of a grant given to the
Cameron family by Lord Baltimore, which grant has
been in the Cameron family for 200 years. The
Camerons may trace their ancestry back to noted
Scotchmen of birth and honor, and this branch of
the Cameron family became prominent in the states
of Maryland and Ohio.

David Paul Cameron grew up in Cincinnati and
lived there until he was thirty years old, educated in
private schools and for a while attending the Chick-
cring Institute, whose prcscrilxd course of study he
completed. He then studied dentistry under his
father, and when only sixteen could fill teeth. After
that he entered the Ohio Dental College at Cin-
cinnati, the second oldest dental college in the world,
of which his father was a trustee, while a brother.
Dr. Otis L. Cameron, was a lecturer there; and he
was duly graduated from the college, with the class
of '90. Thus favored with a complete course in den-
tistry. Dr. Cameron opened a dental office in Cin-
cinnati, and he practiced independently of his father,
who remained eminent in that city for four decades.
I'pon the latter's death in 1892, our subject suc-
ceeded to his patronage, maintaining a suite of offices
with his brother, Dr. Otis L. Cameron, who prac-
ticed medicine at 132 Garfield Place.

After a siege of double typhoid-pneumonia, when
he hovered between life and death for 110 days with
that dread malady. Dr. David P. Cameron came out
to California in 1897. abandoning the extensive
practice he had taken such pains to build up. Not
only had his life been despaired of, but he had been
reduced to a mere skeleton, and when he came to
California, he was so weak that he could scarcely
walk a block. He stopped for a while in Los An-
yeles, but not being content, he went to San Fran-
cisco and began to pick up both strength and flesh;
he weighed 108 pounds when he reached San Fran-
cisco; then he gained thirty-four pounds; after that
he went back to 135 pounds, where he stood for two
years, next he advanced to 170 pounds, and now for
several years past his normal weight has been 160
pounds. As he grew stronger, he began to look for
a place to locate, and in 1898 good fortune directed
him to Mountain View, where he has built up an
enviable practice, with his office at his residence.

818

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

At Cincinnati in 1890, Dr. Cameron was married
to Miss Florence Edith White, of Cincinnati, mem-
ber of a prominent Southern family and a third
cousin of Jefferson Davis. President of the Confed-
erate States; and their union has been blessed with
three children: David Paul Cameron, Jr., was grad-
uated from the Mountain View high school with the
class of '21, and he is now taking post-graduate
work at the high school, and is the captain of the
high school's football team; Otis Little is in first-year
work at the high school; Joseph Gay is still at home.

MRS. CATHERINE DUNNE.— It is not often

that Californians, alert to honor those pioneers who
have made straight for posterity the paths once so
crooked, have the opportunity to repay their debt
t)f gratitude to a nonagenarian such as Mrs. Catherine
Dunne, who has already attained the fine old age of
ninety-four and looks forward eagerly to seeing her
hundredth year. She first reached the Pacific on June
IC, 1851, and more and more, as the years have gone
by, has she and her worthy family enjoyed, as they
have merited, the esteem and good-will of everybody.

Wexford, Ireland, was the scene of her birth, on
August 3, 1828, when she entered the family of John
and Mary O'Toole, but she was scarcely two years
on the Emerald Isle when her parents migrated to
Canada, establishing their home near Quebec, and
there Catherine grew up to enjoy the advantages of
the French-Canadian education. In 1851 she met and
married at her home Bernard Murphy, born in 1818,
in Canada, whose father. Martin Murphy, had made
his way to California in 1844 and there founded the
.Vhirph\- family which has since risen to such prom-
nimce in California, especially in Santa Clara County;
and it was natural enough, that instead of remaining
in Canada, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy should start for
the Golden State. They traveled by way of Panama,
and arrived at San Francisco on June 16. Only a
short period of bliss was in store for this ambitious
and worthy man; for on April 11, 1853, he was one of
many who met death through the blowing up of the
steamer "Jenny Lind," while crossing San Francisco
Bay. One child, Martin J. C. Murphy, had been born
to these devoted parents in June, 1852; and while a
mere youth his brilliancy gave promise of a future in
which he would be a sustaining comfort to the mourn-
ing widow; but the Providence whose ways are ever
such a mystery called him away from his books when
.-it Georgetown College, whither he had gone to study
law, when just nineteen years, eleven months old, on
May 25, 1872. His remains were brought West to
Gilroy and interred beside those of his father in the
old cemetery in that town.

On May 6, 1862, Mrs. Murphy remarried, taking for
her husband James Dunne, who had arrived in Cal-
ifornia in the late "SOs, and after twelve years of mar-
ried life of the happiest kind, he died on June 4,
1874. He had lived to see the birth of their three
children, Mary Phileta, Peter J., and Catherine B.
Dunne; and to know that his widow would inherit
rather a vast estate, inostly large tracts of land in
Santa Clara County. Mary become Mrs. Joseph H.
Rucker, the wife of the San Jose realty dealer;
Peter J. married Miss Josephine Mastcn, the daugh-
ter of N. K. Masten of San Francisco.; Catherine B.
is Mrs. Ralph W. Hersey of Santa Barbara. Peter J.
is a graduate of Santa Clara College, has had a suc-
cessful business career in San Francisco, and since

1895 has been the right hand man of his aged mother,
managing with rare ability her extensive estate. This
property was originally held by Bernard Murphy, but
in the hands of both James and Peter Dunne, its
value has greatly appreciated. Much of the credit
of this wise management of a large and varied prop-
erty, as well as credit for the enviable status of each
member of her family, must be given this estimable
gentlewoman who looks back over almost a century;
for as wife, mother, neighbor and citizen she dis-
charged her responsible duties, showing exceptional
ability in many ways for such a task, and never los-
ing her faith in a future for the land of her adoption,
and the county and the town so closely associated
with his home ties. Mrs. Dunne is now residing with
Mrs. Hersey at Santa Barbara. Santa Clara County
is more than pleased to honor such a sturdy pioneer,
whose life has run parallel with the lives of thousands
v.ho have found their ultimate goal and the lealiza-
tion of their dreams in this favored section.

JOSHUA HENDY IRON WORKS.— Few peo-
ple, no doubt, have any adequate idea of the im-
portance and magnitude of the Joshua Hendy Iron
Works at Sunnyvale, a wonderful monument to its
founder, the late Joshua Hendy of San Francisco,
and also the late John Hendy, its former president
?nd general superintendent, whose widow is one of
the most highly-esteemed residents of Sunnyvale.
The present company was incorporated in 1903; it
ftarted to build its great plant at Sunnyvale in 1906,
md in February of the following year, it commenced
to operate. Following the death of their uncle, the
said Joshua Hendy, his two nephews, John and
Samuel Hendy, operated the works. On the death
of his brother, Samuel J. Hendy, John H. Hendy
became president and, on May 8, 1920. he was
stricken with apoplexy and passed away at the
family home a few days later.

The city organization is located in San Francisco,
and that branch takes care of all sales, contracts, etc.,
the organization at Sunnyvale turning out the
products desired. The officers are: president and
general manager, F. J. Behneman of San Francisco;
vice-president and assistant manager, Morris Levitt,
.'ilso of San Francisco: secretary and treasurer, C. C.
Gardner of Alameda, and the general superintendent,
H. S. Rexworthy of Sunnyvale. During the World
War, the Hendy Iron Works did its duty in con-
tributing a hugh share of what Uncle Sam needed
for his success at arms, but it was able to accomplish
this only by running shifts of men — 500 during the
day, and 400 during the night. It helped out the
Government by putting out a vast deal of heavy
work. Thus at this plant it built ten sets of triple-
expansion marine engines weighing 124 tons each
and having 2,800 horsepower each. It made one
single casting which weighed fifteen and one-half
tons. This was only a small part of the work done
at Sunnyvale.

The works occupy twenty-nine acres facing on
Sunnyvale Avenue in Sunnyvale, and the main build-
ing was carefully designed with reference to the
proper heating, ventilation, lighting and water sup-
ply. This building is one-eighth of a mile long, and
it is supplied with three traveling cranes of fifteen,
twenty and thirty tons capacity. The company owns
forty acres of additional ground near to the plot
upon which the works are located, and it has put in
a 700-foot well in which the water rises -TOO feet, and

T^^^^^^S^^W^ ^^^

U^^^^^^Aj)

HISTORY (3F SANTA CLARA COUNTY

821

ia then pumped by means of a large centrifugal
pump, driven by electricity into a water tank or
tower eighty feet high. This supplies water in suf-
ficient quantities for the use of the works, and also
for irrigating the lawns in front of the main build-
ing and adjacent lands; the lawns are well-kept and
beautiful, and so are the spare lands on which are
planted orchards and gardens. Tracks of the South-
ern Pacific Railroad Company enter the premises,
where the company has installed a weigh-box with
railway weighing scales which gives the weight of
every car as it enters and leaves the works. Elec-
trical power from the Pacific Gas and Electric Com-
pany furnishes the motive force, and gigantic trans-
formers provide the quality of power needed for the
various mechanical operations, while three great air-
compressors provide compressed air for operating,
riveting machinery, trip-hammers, clippers, etc. The
eastern quarter of the main building is the assem-
bling room; but at times the job is so big that the
assembling has to be done outside, especially in the
building of the massive head-gates for irrigation pur-
poses. The main buildings contain hundreds of thou-
sands, if not millions of dollars worth of up-to-date,
heavy steel and iron-working machinery.

To the rear of the main building are the foundry,
'the largest on the Pacific Coast), the carpenter shop
and lumber yards, the pattern shop, the pattern store,
the yard crane, the general store room, the car shop,
which contains a number of forges, and blacksmith
and plate shop, w-here is being manufactured at the
present a large number of construction cars for use
on the Dom Pedro Dam, at the head of the Modesto
and Turlock irrigation projects, and hydroelectric
works. Here is manufactured structural steel for
mining companies. There is also the building con-
taining the two great electrical transformers and the
three great air compressors. The foundry is a mar-
vel of efficiency and magnitude, and among its strik-
ing architectural features are three gigantic cupolas,
tor melting the iron, and three vast pits where the
moulds are made and metal is poured for massive
castings. The main building contains the oflSces of
the works, including the administration and engineer-
ing offices and the general superintendent's offices,
and also the commodious and well-arranged drafts-
men's rooms, and the storehouses; and among the
massive, truly wonderful machines installed in the
main building may be mentioned a grea^ gear-cutter
ihat can cut gears with exactness in solid steel up
to twelve feet in diameter, and up to a seventeen-inch
face. There is also a sixteen-foot vertical boring
mill, and a Putnam lathe of eighty-eight-inch cen-
ters with a thirty-six-foot bed, which is capable of
turning out fifteen-ton crank shafts and other big
work; a horizontal boring mill forty tons in weight,
designed and built and set up in these works. The
plant as a whole is very well lighted and ventilated,
with all sanitary conveniences and first aid for the
injured. The expanse of windows may be judged
somewhat from the fact that it costs about $500.00
for a single window cleaning.

Among the products of these famous works are
heavy mining machinery comprising stamp mills,
rock or ore crushers, ball mills, and machinery of all
description pertaining to mining, irrigation, hydro-
electric works, etc., etc. Machinery manufactured at
Sunnyvale have been set up in the most remote parts
of the earth, — as when two Hendy mills were in-

stalled at Nome, Alaska, in 1912. There are two-
stamp and three-stamp mills, and each is a model
in design and workmanship. The iron works also
manufacture ore and rock cars, for which they are
famous, and these include Hendy's Ideal Car, steel
double side dump "V"-shaped body cars, gable bot-
tom cars, and cradle or U-shaped body side dump
cars, and the Matteson side and end dump cars.
Original and leaders in their own path-breaking
movements, the Joshua Hendy Iron Works keep
pointing the way for others to follow, and they leave
no stone unturned to send out only perfectly-finished
goods, howsoever bulky and common in general style
they may happen to be. Both Sunnyvale, Santa
Clara County, and San Francisco are to be con-
gratulated on having such a product of the Twen-
tieth Century as the Joshua Hendy Iron Works of
Sunnyvale and the Bay City, the former boasting of
the factory whose efficiency is largely due to the
e.xceptional superintendence of the genial director,
Mr. H. S. Rexworthy.

LEWIS LARSON.— Prominent among the lead-
ers in the prune and apricot growing industry in
Santa Clara County is Lewis Larson, the thoroughly
progressive, if wisely conservative rancher of Sunny-
vale, where he ov/ns ten acres given up to a valu-
■ ble orchard and four choice acres within the town
s'.te. He was born near Victoria, Knox County, 111.,
on August 29, 1870, the son of Halvor Larson, who
was born in Sweden, married there, in 1867, and in
that year came to .'\merica, .'.ccompanied by his good
wife. They settled in Knox County, 111., where Mr.
Larson followed farming for ten years. Then he ar.d
!iis family removed to Stromsburg, Polk County.
Nebr., and there Lewis grew to be sixteen years of
uge. His father bought eighty acres of railway land;
hut selling out in 1887, he came to California and
pitched his tent for a while at San Pedro. He soon
moved to Selma, Fresno County, but at the end of
one and a half years, he shifted again to the vicinity
of Paso de Robles, in San Luis Obispo County.
Later, they moved to San Miguel and farmed there.
I'our children honored Mr. and Mrs. Larson: Lewis
is the eldest; Ida, now the wife of August Landen,
lesides on Murphy Avenue, Sunnyvale; Amanda
lives at home and presides over Mr. Larson's house-
hold; Jennie died at Selma when she was nine years
old. Both parents died at Sunnyvale.

Lewis Larson attended school at Stromburg,
Nebr., and when he struck out for himself, he rented
a grain ranch at San Miguel, which he operated for
seven years. The long droughts were so severe,
however, that the seed grain did not sprout, and he
iiad three crop failures in seven years. In the mean-
vhile his father had come over to this same place,
and he bought the ten acres during the winter of
1897-98, when he started planting prunes, peaches
and apricots, with which he has been very success-
ful. Mr. Larson is a member of the Prune and
Apricot Association, and he did very active and
efifective work as the chairman of the drive which
resulted in getting many signers in Sunnyvale, Bur-
ley and Jefferson districts. He has served repeat-
edly on the board of trustees and on the jury. In
1915 he was elected to the board of trustees of
Sunnyvale, and he was chairman of the board just
liefore John Hendy became chairman, and he was
reelected a trustee.

822

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

URIAH WOOD. — Starting for the west as early
as 1852, Uriah Wood upon his arrival in California
bravely endured the hardships of a pioneer existence,
cheerfully accepted the privations consequent to
frontier life, and persistently pushed his way forward
in the face of discouragement and occasional reverses,
and in the latter years of his life reached a position
where, with abundance of means and a record of a
well-spent life, wielded an influence born of material
success. When he crossed the plains he was a young
man, full of ambition, courage and perseverance, but
with scarcely any capital. Many of the characteristics
of Mr. Wood were his by inheritance from an hon-
orable ancestry, of remote German extraction, but
long identified with the United States. His grand-
father, David Wood, who was a native of New York,
suffered the terror of being taken captive by the In-
dians when a boy, but made his escape and reached
home in safet}'. When the Revolutionary War broke
out he became a soldier and fought for independence
with a bravery characteristic of his race. Uriah D.
Wood, son of this Revolutionary veteran, was born
and reared in New York and later engaged in lumber-
ing in the Allegheny Mountains. While the Missis-
sippi Valley was still an unknown region and its
wealth and fertile soil unrealized, he took his family
from New York to Illinois in 1839, making the trip
with horses through Ohio and Indiana. They
stopped in Chicago long enough to visit a drug store
and purchase a remedy for ague, the prevailing dis-
ease of those days. Arriving in Whiteside County,
he settled near Portland, where he took up land,
turned the first furrow in the soil and, being a car-
penter, erected all of his buildings. In 1841 he re-
moved to LaSalle County, where he engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits for the balance of his life. In poli-
tics he was a Whig, while in religion he was a mem-
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. At the time
of his death he had reached the age of eighty years.
His wife, Anna (Cline) Wood, was born in New
York of Mohawk-Dutch ancestry, and died in Illinois.
They were the parents of eight children. One son,
David, was a pioneer of 1849 in California and con-
tinued to make this state his home until he passed
away, at Gilroy, about 1891.

While the family were living in Cattaraugus Coun-
ty, N. Y., Uriah Wood was born September 5, 1829.
He was ten years old when he accompanied his par-
ents to Illinois. At the time the family resided in
Illinois, schools were so uncommon that there was
little opportunity of studying under teachers, yet he
acquired valuable information not to be found in text-
books. He was the possessor of a robust constitu-
tion, unusual capabilities, and his services were eager-
ly sought by farmers. At the age of seventeen he re-
ceived $15 per month, this being the highest wages
paid any man in all that country. Half of his wages
he gave his father, and the balance was used for the
necessities of life. With four yoke of oxen and a
breaking plow he turned the furrows in many acres
of primitive land, his work being always carefully and
well done. Somttimes he drove to Chicago with his
father, hauling wheat to market. During the fall of
1850 he worked for a man in Arkansas and while
with him made two trips to New Orleans on large
flat boats, returning on a steamer. There were three
young men in the party that started for the West in

1852. Their ox teams were shipped to St. Joseph.
Mo., where they were taken from the cars and hitched
to wagons. The difficult journey was made over
plains and mountains, across rivers and through
deserts, down the Humboldt River and on to Hang-
town, where they arrived in September, 1852. The
journey was less arduous for them than for many
emigrants, for the Indians did not molest them, nor
were they short of provisions Mr. Wood spent a
short time in Calaveras County in the mines; then
went to Spanish Flats and in the fall of 1853 tried
his luck on the middle fork of the American River.
He did not meet with the success that he had antici-
pated, and decided to change his occupation, so went
to Coloma, thence to Sacramento, where he received
$50 a month for driving a team. In the spring of 1854
he came to Santa Clara County, and bought two yoke
of oxen and a wagon, and engaged in teaming in the
redwoods. Money being scarce he accepted as pay-
ment horses and cattle. In this way he accumulated
one hundred head of cattle, which he sold, and with
the proceeds bought 842 head of sheep. For eighteen
months he herded his flock in the Pacheco Moun-
tains and then moved them into Merced County, es-
tablishing a sheep ranch at Los Banos, ten miles from
his nearest neighbor. After investigating land in
various parts of the state and finding nothing better
suited to his purpose than the land he occupied, he
bought the property. Each year his flock was al-
most doubled. At first he was obliged to pump all
the water needed by the flock, but after some years
the canal was built through his land. During the dry
year of 1863 he managed to keep his flock almost in-
tact, but in 1864 he suffered heavy losses, losing over
three thousand sheep.

Adding to his original purchase year by year, Mr.
Wood finally acquired 5000 acres. Much of this was
rented to tenants. When he first began to sell, he
received thirty dollars an acre, but afterwards was
paid as much as $125 an acre. In 1898 he owned 3500
acres of farm land in Merced County, operated by
two tenants, and principally under gram and hay. In
addition he owned the San Felipe ranch of 240 acres
near Gilroy. In 1905 all of his real estate was incor-
porated under the title of the Uriah Wood Company.
In 1885 he erected a beautiful residence in San Jose.
Various enterprises engaged his attention, among
them being the Farmers Union, the Garden City Bank
and the Bank of San Jose. He was one of the
founders of the Bank of Hollister and of the San
Benito County Savings Bank. He was also a stock-
holder in the Salinas City Bank of Salinas, Cal. Was
also a member of the Santa Clara County Pioneer
Association; fraternally was an Odd Fellow, and in
politics gave his influence and vote to Republican
candidates. During 1862 he returned to Illinois and
in Earlville married Miss Phoebe L. Smith, who was
born in Ohio and grew to womanhood in Illinois.
She passed away in 1905, while he died in June 1914.
They were the parents of four sons, Chester W.,
Walter H., Ralph W., and Louis E., all of whom are
successful landowners and agriculturists. Mr. Wood
belonged to that class of pioneers to whom California
owes a debt of gratitude, who gave the best that was
in them to aid in the development of the state and
the expansion of her interests.

^^llulciA. (H-atycL

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

823

WILLIAM E. SWEATT.— On the pages of Cal-
ifornia pioneer history appears the name of WiUiam
E. Sweatt, a native son, born in the city of San
Francisco, August 7, 1869. His parents, Leroy and
Abbie J. (Hanson; Sweatt, were natives of Con-
cord, N. H., who migrated to CaHfornia by way
of the Isthmus of Panama in the year 1867, settling
m San Francisco. The father was for a number of
years employed by the Pioneer Planing Mill No 1
as an expert shaper man. A few years later he
removed his family to Santa Clara County, when
William E. was seven years old, where he farmed for
a number of years near San Jose; then for three
years he engaged in farming in the Santa Cruz
Mountains near Saratoga.

W. E. Sweatt received his education in the gram-
mar schools of San Jose, where his father was en-
gaged in the house moving business, and which has
also engaged the attention of the son for thirty-five
years, as he and his father started together. He
does a general house-moving business, confining his
business now to the Santa Clara Valley. He em-
ploys two men the year round, although some years
ngo he ran five crews. Mr. Sweatt has never mar-
ried. He resides with his mother at 74 North Fif-
teenth Street, w'ho is hale and hearty at the age of
seventy-eight; his father died in the year 1910. His
political allegiance has ever been given to the Re-
publican party and he is also an active member of
the Builders' Exchange. He takes a good citizen's
part on all m.atters calculated to foster and aid in
the advancement of his community.

SIMEON BAKER.— A veteran of the Civil War
and who, at four-score and three, appears as hale
.md chipper as if he were only sixty, is Simeon
Baker, a charter member of Dix Post No. 42, G. A.
R., at San Jose, and the junior vice-commander of
that Post. He was born in Sturgis, St. Joseph
County, Mich., on August 28, 1838, the son of James
Baker, who came from Hornell, Steuben County,
N. Y., to Michigan in 1837, and took up a Govern-
ment claim of a quarter of section of land. He was
a member of a family that went back to at least the
-\merican Revolution. He married Miss Ana Mac-
Intyrc, a lady of Scotch descent, who was born in
the United States shortly after her parents migrated
hither from the land of Burns. James Baker, who
lUed altogether prematurely of pneumonia, was a
seventh son, as was his son, Siineon Baker.

Simeon grew up in a pioneer's home two miles
from the schoolhouse, and had to walk each day to
and fro from school; so it is not surprising that he
had the advantages of schooling only in the winter
time, and had to prolong his ordinary studies until
he was nineteen years old. He largely educated
himself, and then, having received a certificate in
Indiana, he spent a season teaching school. After
the death of James Baker, his widow remarried, be-
coming the wife of Andrew Kilberry, and moved
with her family to La Grange County, Ind., where
she lived to be eighty-two years old; and it was in
that vicinity that Simeon taught school.

When twenty years of age, our subject came across
the great plains, having joined an immigrant train
of people from his home neighborhood made up at
.Morris, 111 , starting with a yoke of oxen, a prairie
schooner and a yoke of cows, and continued with
them as far as the Missouri River. There the party
decided to break up. some to go to Pike's Peak,

then the cause of a gold excitement, to prospect;
while others, including Mr. Baker, preferred to push
on the California. So he sold his outfit to his brother,
O. L. Baker, and joined Jacob McKizzick, who was
driving a herd of 700 cattle across the plains from
the Middle West, and he was hired by Mr. McKiz-
zick as a cattle driver and caretaker. However, the
balance of the original party soon changed their
minds, and decided to come on to California; and,
at the summit of the Rockies, the portion of the
part\- with which he had been numbered, overtook
Air. McKizzick's outfit, and Mr. Baker came on to
the Golden State with his own people, landing in
Honey Lake Valley, Cal., on his twenty-first birth-
day, 1859, having traveled by way of Forts Kearney
2nd Laramie.

After reaching here, Mr. Baker tried his luck at
placer mining in Shasta County for a while, and
(hen, in 1860, he went to Virginia City, Nev., and
prospected there, without much success. He then
went to Plumas County, Cal., and farmed a large
acreage; and with his own team, he brought in the
first quartz mill there, for John Ellis and John Bid-
well, transporting it from Chico to Indian Valley.
He stayed there until the fall of 1862, and then he
came to San Jose, near which city he took up farm-
ing, and he continued to follow agricultural pursuits
until he went into the army.

He served in Company Q of the Eighth Infantry,
attached to the heavy artillery, from November 24,
1864. There were two companies at Mare Island,
four at Fort Point, and two at Black Point; he was
stationed at Port Point, and received his appoint-
ment of orderly sergeant there. He had charge of
the men mustered into Companies C and D and it
was his duty to equip Company C with 101 men,
and Company D with 100 men. He clothed, fed,
drilled and fitted out the men fully for service, or
saw that it was done, and he holds the record of
making only one mistake, involving thirty-eight
cents, the price of one pair of socks, in doing this
extensive and responsible work. He served until
November, 1865, when he received his honorable dis-
charge, after which he made a visit to his home in
Hornell, N. Y., and to La Grange County, Ind.

In 1866, Mr. Baker returned to San Jose, and
then went to Hollister, then in Monterey County.
In the winter of 1868, took up grain farming, and
sold out in the fall of 1872. He next went to Bakers-
field, where he took up 480 acres of Government
land, but he sold out in 1876. From Bakersfield he
went to Owens Valley, on Bishop Creek, near
Bishop, and there he stayed one winter. Then he
went to Mono County, and at Lundy he mined; he
was one of the organizers of the Tioga district, and
was its first recorder, and held that position until
the Lundy district took in that of Tioga. This was
after the mines were struck at Lund_v, and the set-
tlement went to Lundy, at which town he remained
for two years, when he sold out his mining interests.

He then returned to San Jose in 1880 and bought
a place of 160 acres near Saratoga; he had range
land and cleaned up some of it, and selling out in
1885 he moved to San Jose, where he engaged in the
livery business and ran a stage to Mt. Hamilton,
sending a bus up there daily. At the end of six
and a half years he sold out, and his health demand-.
ing a change of climate and work, he went to Mari-
posa County and prospected. The summers of the

824

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

following ten years he spent in the Yosemite Valley,
while each fall he bought up a herd of turkeys in
Mariposa and Merced counties, and drove them
North, usually from Merced, to the vicinity of
Stockton and Tracy, finally disposing of them at
Thanksgiving time. In 1908, he returned to San
Jose, and here he has since been retired.

On September 9, 1874, Mr. Baker was married
at Bakersfield to Miss Mattie Lundy, a native of
Cass County, Mich., and the daughter of James and
Elizabeth Lundy, farmer folks who came to Kern
County in early days. Five children blessed this
union. Effie is Mrs. John Brown of Fruitvale, Ala-
meda County; A. Elmo Baker lives at Gilroy; Wil-
liam J. Baker is in a lumber camp in Plumas County;
J. Wiley Baker is in the shipyards at Oakland, and
Alva R. Baker is in BurHngame. Mrs. Brown has
two children, a daughter and a son, and the latter
served his country in the late war, and was
at the naval aviation field, near San Francisco.
Three sons of Mr. and Mrs. Baker, Elmo, WilHam
and Wiley, also saw service in the late war, and
William got as far as France, where he was a
sergeant, and was in charge of German prisoners.
Wiley was detailed to Camp Mills, N. Y. Mr.
Baker is now a member of Sheridan-Dix Post.

ARTHUR J. SNYDER.— A native son of Califor-
nia, who was born, reared and educated in Santa
Clara County is Arthur J. Snyder, the only living son
of the late John Snyder, an early pioneer and a suc-
cessful rancher. Arthur J. was born on the ranch of
his parents near Mountain View, December 11. 1858;
he attended the country schools and in 1880 took a
business course in San Jose, and then assisted his
father in the management of his various tracts of
land. John Snyder, the father, was born in 1828 in
Indiana, the son of Joseph K. Snyder, a native of
Pennsylvania, who had married Miss Sarah Fleming,
born in France. The Snyders settled in Indiana in
1821, but in 1839 removed to Iowa, where their family
of five daughters and three sons were reared and edu-
cated. In 1849 John Snyder joined a party crossing
the plains and first settled where the city of Chico
now stands, and in the fall of 1855 he was married to
Martha Kifer. He became an extensive landowner
and his efforts along agricultural and horticultural
lines greatly increased the quantity of the products
cf the locality. He passed away during August.
1901, a man of noble, useful and upright characteris-
tics. Mr. Snyder passed away in January, 1919. aged
eighty-three. The maternal grandfather was Shelby
H. Kifer, born in Kentucky in 1842. His father,
John Kifer, was a native of Pennsylvania and his
mother of Kentucky. In 1845 the family removed to
Missouri and lived there for eight years. In 1853
they came to California, making the trip overland,
and finally settled in Santa Clara County, where they
purchased a ranch of seventy-five acres, all under cul-
tivation. In 1870 John Kifer married Isabella Smith,
a native of Nova Scotia.

The marriage of Arthur J. Snyder occurred in San
Francisco, September 14. 1887, and united him with
Miss Lenora A. Davidson, a daughter of Alonzo
Davidson, born in Nova Scotia, a pioneer of San
Francisco, engaged in the dairy business, but now
dead. The mother, Mrs. Lizzie (Ruffley) Davidson,
born in England, is still living at the old home place
on Eureka Street. San Francisco. Of their six chil-

dren four are living, Mrs. Snyder being the second
oldest. :Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are the parents of three
children; Alonzo J., who is engaged in business in San
Jose; Elizabeth E. is the wife of Major D. W.
Forbes, D. D. S., of the U. S. Army, and they have
two children — William and Donna; Arthur D.
died when but eight years old. Arthur J. Snyder
sold his ranch below Mountain View to take charge
of his mother's place on Permanente Creek until her
death, when with his sisters, Mrs. Foss and Mrs.
Kendall, he was appointed executor of the estate and
in 1920 disposed of 700 acres in the Fremont town-
ship to Archbishop Hanna on which will be erected
a Catholic seminary. Alonzo J. served in the late
war in Company H, Three Hundred Sixty-third In-
fantry, and was in the following battles, Ypres, Lys,
St. Mihiel, Meuse and Argonne, being at the latter
place nine days, five of which he was without food.
He was one of the boys to go over the top on that
memorable day, September 15, 1918. Arthur J. Snyder
owns an eighty-acre ranch one mile north of Moun-
tain View on the Sterling Road. (Since this biog-
raphy was written, Mr. Snyder passed away, March
29, 1922, mourned by his family and many friends.)

HENRY A. RENGSTORFF.— Following in his
father's footsteps, Henry A. Rengstorff is well and
favorably known throughout Santa Clara County
and stands for the best interests politically, socially
and religiously. He owns and operates a 195-acre
ranch located on the Charleston Road near Moun-
tain View and devotes most of his time to the cul-
tivation and improvement of this ranch. Born No-
vember 27, 1867, on the home ranch of his parents,
he was educated in the public schools of the Whis-
man district, and later attended the California Mili-
tary Academy at Oakland. His father, Henry Reng-
storff, married Miss Christine F. Hessler, both na-
tives of Germany, the father coming to California as
a single man in 1850. He came to Santa Clara
County from San Francisco in 1851 and worked on
farms, saved his money and in a few years acquired
large tracts of land. There were seven children in
the family, of whom Henry, the subject of this
sketch, is the sixth. The father passed away in 1906
and the mother in 1919. After finishing school.
Henry was called upon to assist his father in the
management of his different farms and assumed re-
sponsibility and management of the warehouses at
Rengstorfi's Landing, and for sixteen years was
steadily on the job, doing a large volume of busi-
ness in buying, selling and shipping hay and grain.
In 1915 he built his fine, modern bungalow on the
home place, which consists of 195 acres three and
one-half miles northwest of Mountain View on the
Charleston Road.

Mr. Rengstorff's marriage united him with Miss
Nellie S. Baker of San Jose, formerly a teacher in
the public schools at Mountain View. She comes
from a distinguished pioneer family. Her mother,
now eighty-six years of age, crossed the plains with
her parents in 1847, when eleven years old. They
were bound for California, but meeting a person
who told them of the fate of the Donner party, they
despaired of getting through to California, so
changed their course and went to Oregon instead.
Mrs. Baker is living with Mr. and Mrs. Rengstorff,
and is one of the oldest of the people, now living,
who crossed the plains to the Pacific Coast. Mr.
Rengstorff is a stockholder and director in the

^JW. } ■ y^^^^^ ^^■-<A^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Farmers and Merchants Bank of Mountain View.
Mr. and Mrs. Rengstorff are both actively interested
in the Christian Science Church of Mountain View,
she being the first reader and he the second. They
have been adherents of this faith since 1911 and are
both prominent in the atTairs of that movement.
They move in rhe best circles, and have many
friends. Mr. Rengstorf? gives his support to the
Republican party. He is a thirty-second degree
Mason, and is past master of the Blue Lodge at
Mountain View. Mr. and Mrs. Rengstorff are mem-
bers of Mira Monte Chapter O. E. S. at Mountain
View, and Mr. Rengstorff is also a member of Islam
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco.

LAURENCE G. RANDALL.— Popularly and
widely known, Laurence G. Randall, the manufac-
lurer of fine candies, frozen puddings and ice creams
at Mountain View, enjoys the patronage not only
of his own town and immediate vicinity, but also of
other parts of Santa Clara County, where connois-
seurs are willing to journey some distance in order
to get the very best. This enviable reputation, the
result of honest dealing and clever, progressive en-
terprise, has enabled Mr. Randall to build up a
wholesale trade of large volume.

A native son, Mr. Randall was born in San Fran-
cisco on May 9, 1892, the son of William J. Randall.
who had been born on the boundary line of Califor-
nia and Nevada. Grandfather William E. Randall
was a '49er, of Scotch origin, and came out to the
gold coast from the East. William J. Randall was
a well-known newspaper man, and had the largest
"Call" route in the Bay City, running from Larkin
Street and the City Hall to the Beach. He married
Miss Abbie L. Perham, and both died in 1909, within
nine months of each other. They had three children,
and two have grown up to maturity. William Edgar
Randall is the noted cartoonist on the New York
Dramatic Mirror; he was injured in an automobile
accident in San Diego, and since then he has drawn
his cartoons left-handed.

Laurence Randall was in the upper grade of the
grammar school in San Francisco when his parents
died, but he managed to enjoy the benefits of three
and one-half years in the high school after that,
when he started out into the world and entered the
confectionery trade, at which he served a regular
apprenticeship at Selby O'Brien's, and with other
leading confectioners. He learned the business thor-
oughly and for five years worked at Venice, Cal.
Then, in 1919, he came to Mountain View and
bought out Lovejoy's Candy Store; and with his
long experience at Venice, and two years in San
Diego, in the service of Barbour Brothers, he had no
difficulty from the first to get the interested atten-
tion and satisfaction of the Mountain View public,
the people of this locality being especially loyal in
supporting home industries. "Randall's" has be-
come famous for its luncheon menus, its ice creams,
its fancy specials, and its varied thirst-quenching
suggestions. The store has one of the best-main-
tained soda fountains in California, and a most at-
tractive ice cream parlor.

Mr. Randall's mother was of English origin, by
way of an early New England family, some of whom
served with the Green Mountain boys in the Revo-
lutionary War; and she was born in New Hamp-
shire and educated in Vermont. They were Unitar-
ians, noted for th^ir altruistic, intellectual interest in

society, and our subject has inherited their com-
mendable traits, with the natural result that he makes
and holds friends. He is a member of the Native
Sons of the Golden West, and is president of the
Mountain X'iew Parlor, one of the liveliest parlors in
the state, having recently initiated thirty-two mem-
bers at one meeting. He also belongs to the Elks.
He was married at San Diego to Miss Helen Mc-
Dougall, a daughter of John McDougall, the pro-
prietor of the Del Monte Restaurant at Mountain
View; and they have two children, Laurence, aged
.:ix, and Jack, who is three years old.

GEORGE P. BURKETT.— One of the represen-
tative citizens of San Jose who has the distinction of
being the president of the largest truck and storage
ousiness in the county of Santa Clara is George P.
Burkett, who began at the bottom and worked up
from an employee to be the owner and manager of
his own business. He was also counted among the
prominent ranchers of his neighborhood for some
time, during the ten years that he was engaged in
raising stock near San Felipe. He was born in
North Carolina, at Jeflferson, Ashe County, in April,
1856, and was the son of Daniel and Nancy (John-
ston) Burkett. His father was a planter of North
Carolina, who lived his entire life of one hundred
years and eight months in that state, dying in 1919.

George had only the opportunity of attending the
common school of Jefferson, N. C. In 1879, he left
his native state and went to Pueblo, Colo., and here
worked for the Pueblo Transfer Company a short
time and then he engaged in farming there, raising
grain and some stock. In 1883, he came to Cali-
fornia and settling in Santa Cruz, worked first for
the Daniels Transfer Company, which at that time
was located where the St. George Hotel now stands.
On January 1, 1889, he came to San Jose and en-
gaged in the transfer business for a number of years
in partnership with his brother-in-law, S. F. Mikel,
who later sold out his interest, and in 1891 Mr.
Burkett organized the San Jose Transfer Company.
Inc., of which he was made president. In the early
years of the company, horses were used and at one
time the company owned a hundred head of horses
and had their own corral and also were the owners
of their warehouses. Now instead of using horses,
they have about twelve trucks, ranging from one to
five-ton capacity. The San Jose Transfer Company
handles a great deal of transfer business through the
different forwarding companies of the Bay Cities,
shipping goods to all parts of the United States. In
connection with his transfer business Mr. Burkett
ran a stock farm near San Felipe for about ten
years, where he had an average of 100 head of cat-
tle and leased over 800 acres of land. His transfer
business had grown to such an extent that so much
of his time had to be given to it that in 1914 he
discontinued ranching and confined his entire at-
tention to his other enterprise.

Mr. Burkett's marriage, which occurred at Jeffer-
son, N. C, in the year of 1878, united him with Miss
Isabel Mikel, who was born in Jefferson, N. C, and
was the daughter of M. L. and Nancy (King) Mikel.
Mrs. Burkett's father was connected with a cotton
mill in the South. Mr. and Mrs. Burkett are the
parents of three children: Edgar is married and is
now residing in San Jose; Katheryn lives at home,
and Fannie became the wife of Cyril Odelin and
they also make their home at San Jose. Mr. Burkett

826

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

is a popular member of Garden City Lodge I. O. O.
F. of San Jose, and has passed all the chairs, and
is a member of the Encampment; he is also a Mason,
a charter member of Fraternity Lodge No. 399, F.
& A. M., and of the Scottish Rite bodies. In
national politics, he is a Democrat, but is always
ready to sanction good men and good measures
regardless of party lines.

DARWIN J. SOPER— For more than two score
years, Darwin J. Soper has been identified with the
county of Santa Clara, locating in San Jose during
the year of 1880. He first was employed in the
wagon building business for a number of years, later
purchasing land and engaging as an orchardist until
1903, when he disposed of his ranch, retired from
active business life and has since made his home in
San Jose. Mr. Soper was born on May 1, 1841, in
Wayne County, but reared in Niagara County, N. Y.,
and was the son of Jeremiah and Amelia (Wheeler)
Soper, both natives of New York; the father was a
mechanic and a blacksmith by trade and a good one.

With the school a mile and a halt away, Mr.
Soper's education was obtained only by a struggle
?ncl as the educational methods of that early day
were crude, he had to work hard for the educa-
lional privileges which he did receive. He lived and
worked at home until the war broke out when he
enlisted in August. 1862, entering Company F, One
Hundred Fifty-first New York Infantry, and was
under Captam Wilson and Colonel Emerson. There
were only eighty-eight men in his company, but
they went through some of the worst battles of the
war and their numbers were decreased to such an
extent that there were not enough men left to form
a company and so it was later merged into Company
C. He served in the Army of the Potomac under
General Meade and in all these battles came through
safely. He sustained a wound in the battle of the
Wilderness, which, however, did not prove serious.
After the battle of Weldon Railroad, Mr. Soper was
detached and sent to Baltimore and Frederick City
and was in the East to meet General Early's army
which was marching on Washington. Later at that
dramatic moment, when Gen. Robert E. Lee sur-
rendered to General Grant, Mr. Soper was directly
in front of General Lee. In June, 1865, he was dis-
charged in Rochester, N. Y., and then returned to
New York. Then he farmed for four years, and
when he disposed of his holdings and went to car-
riage building and wagon making at Newfane, N. Y.
He remained there but for a short time, however,
and disposing of his business and went to Alpena,
Mich., and followed his trade at this place for a
number of years. In the year 1880, Mr. Soper came
to California and settled in San Jose, where he again
followed his trade, and worked for four years as fore-
man at the bench and four years of the shop for the
San Jose Agricultural Works. He had purchased an
orchard of ten acres in the Willows in 1883, and in
1888 he gave up his trade for this new undertaking.
He kept adding to his acreage until he owned in all,
fifty-five acres of the very best fruit land which he
set out to prunes, peaches and apricots. He had one
ranch at Campbell, Cal., and one at Payne, Cal. In
1903, he sold the ranches and came to San Jose
where he retired from active business life.

Mr. Soper has been married three times and had
children by each wife, four of them now living;
Frank D. of Oakland; George H. of San Jose; Millie

Parselle of San Francisco, and Daisy, the wife of
Wm. R. Breyfogle of Madera. Mr. Soper is a Re-
publican in politics and in Michigan was one of the
township supervisors of Long Rapids township and
was one of the highway commissioners; he was also
very active as a school trustee and in general was a
very public-spirited man. Mr. Soper has also been
prominent in the Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, G. A. R.,
having served as commander in 1893.

DR. JAMES A. CUTTING.— A physician of
broad and comprehensive training who has devoted
his time and talents to the study of mental diseases
and who stands high in the field of psychiatry, is Dr.
James A. Cutting, assisting physician at the State
Hospital for the Insane at .^gnew. The medical
staff of this institution consists of Dr. Stocking, head
physician. Dr. Mullen, Dr. Cutting, Dr. Whisman
and Dr. Stevenson, all of high standing in this par-
ticular field of therapeutics. A man of brilliant mind.
Dr. Cutting has a thorough knowledge of medicine
and surgery, and his kind and considerate disposition,
his long experience and his scrupulous attention to
sanitation and the kind and proper treatment of in-
sane patients render his services here very valuable.
There are now 1739 patients at the hospital, 959 be-
ing men and 780, women.

Dr. Cutting was born at Riceville, Iowa, October
4, 1883, the son of Charles D. and Anna (Bourne)
Cutting, both parents belonging to old Eastern fam-
ilies, the father born in New Hampshire, while Mrs.
Cutting is a native of Massachusetts. For many
years they farmed in Iowa, later settling on a ranch
at Campbell, Cal., and they are now residing there,
retired from active business cares. Five sons were
born to these wortliy parents: Prof. Theodore A.
Cutting of the Los Gatos liitjh school; Will Cutting,
a rancher at Campbell; Frank Cutting of Pacific
Grove; Carl Cutting, a rancher at Campbell, and Dr.
Cutting, of this sketch. The latter was nine years
old when he came w-ith his parents to California and
here he grew up on a ranch at Campbell, graduating
from the Hamilton grammar school at Campbell.
He attended the Santa Clara high school for one
year, and when the Campbell high school w'as
opened, he took the remainder of his course there,
graduating in 1902.

Entering Stanford University, he pursued the clas-
sical course, graduating in 1906 with the A. B. de-
gree, and continued there for a post-graduate course
in physiology and anatomy. He then matriculated
at Cooper Medical College at San Francisco, now
a part of Stanford University, and completed the
medical course with the class of 1911. The next two
years he spent as an interne at the Lane Hospital in
San Francisco, and in 1913 he came to the State
Hospital at Agnew, entering upon his duties as as-
sisting physician on July 15, of that year, so that he
is now one of the oldest physicians, in point of ser-
vice at this institution. In September, 1921, Dr.
Cutting was added to the faculty of the Medical De-
partment of Stanford University, as instructor in
psychiatry. He lectures there every Monday and is
a valuable acquisition to that great institution.

On March 16. 1914. at San Jose, Dr. Cutting was
married to Dr. Margaret White, who is also a gradu-
ate physician and a specialist in mental diseases.
She was born in Kentucky but was reared in Oak-
land, Cal., and in 1909 she graduated from the Med-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

827

ical Department of the University of California. She
was appointed as assisting physician at the State
Hospital at Agnew and was a member of the medical
staff when Dr. Cutting took up his duties there.
Dr. and Mrs. Cutting are the parents of two chil-
dren. Arthur Graham and Barbara Ann. He is a
member of the American Medical Association and
the State and County Medical societies, and while
at Cooper Medical College was a member of the
Phi Beta Phi fraternity.

NEIL CARMICHAEL.— Probably one of the best
known and most expert millmen of Santa Clara
County is Neil Carmichael, who lives on his twenty-
one acre orchard home, beautifully situated on the
Mountain View Road, jiist north of Saratoga, and
one of the finest prdjn i li. -. in the county. A native
Gt Bruce Counts, ()nt:iii(i, .Xnl Carmichael was born
near Port Elgin, Septeiiiljcr _'(.l, 1861, the son of Don-
ald and Anna (McKinnoiij Carmichael, both natives
of the Island of Mull, Scotland. They were married
in Toronto, Canada, and were farmers in Bruce
County until they passed away. Nine of their thir-
teen children grew up, of whom Neil is the seventh.

Neil Carmichael attended school until he was nine
years of age when he was obliged to leave and help
lu's father on the farm. This he did until he was
seventeen. He then left home and went to the pin-
eries of Tawas City, Mich., where he followed log-
ging for two years; then back to his native country
for two years and in 1881 came to California, locat-
ing in Santa Cruz County, where his brother Daniel
liad been logging and sawmilling since 1874. He
worked in sawmills and became an able and expert
man in handling the big bull teams on the skid roads,
getting the logs to the mills, a very hazardous job
and fraught with much danger. In 1884, with his
brother Daniel he operated a mill for a year and then
tor four years operated one above Felton, when the
two brothers, with Thomas B. Hubbard, formed a
partnership to manufacture lumber, building their
first saw mill on Oil Creek; subsequently moving five
different times until they had cut the lumber from
about 2,000 acres; then there being no more acces-
sible timber, they quit manufacturing. Meantime,
about 1890, Hubbard & Carmichael Bros, had estab-
lished a planing mill and lumber yard in San Jose,
where their lumber was hauled by big teams and
the business grew to large proportions. Dudiiu the
time they operated their mills thev cut .i\(r I_\^ii,i(i.-
000 feet of lumber. They still own al.i.iu Jiuin auo
ot land lying in Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and San
Mateo counties. They also own 439 acres of alfalfa
at Newman, Stanislaus County, where tlie.\- ran a
dairy of .SOO cows until the^■ sold the stock and now
engage in raising alfalfa hay, wh.ch is slii].!..,! to dii-
lerent markets. Mr, Carmichael is ^till ml. irM. ,1 as
of yore in Hubbard ^: Carmicliael Bros, (.'(.mpany.
their large business and mill on West Santa Clara
Street being a busy and active place. However, he
now devotes his time to orcharding, for on shutting
down the mill he moved to Saratoga with his family,
where in 1913 he purchased the twenty-one acres of
land, his present home, devoted to prunes and apri-
cots and the following year built his beautiful and
commodious house and continued to make improve-
ments until it is one of the show places of the valley.
He also owns business property in Saratoga.

The marriage of Mr. Carmichael occurred at Sa-
linas and united him with Miss Bell Storts, born in
Nebraska, but reared near Boulder Creek. Five
children have blessed this union: Annie, now Mrs.
Leslie Cox of Saratoga; Mary Bell in San Jose high
school; Neil D., Lilly and Thos. B., at home. Mr.
Carmichael endorses the platform of the Republican
party. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow and he and
his family are Presbyterians. He is a member of the
Saratoga Improvement Association and the Men's
Club. Mr. Carmichael is a self-made man, proud of
the success he has attained through honest effort,
and believes in progress, doing all he can to build
up the county of his adoption. He and his generous
and accomphshed wife are greatly esteemed by all of
their friends and acquaintances and from their beau-
tiful home they enjoy dispensing the old-time Cali-
fornia hospitality.

JAMES^ M. REYNOLDS.— Among those who
came to California after having attained success in
the East and are now living retired in the city of
San Jose, .-s James M. Reynolds, who was a rancher
during the early days in Iowa, where he had been a
resident for many years. He is a native of Ohio,
Laving been born in Adams County, near Sinking
Springs on March 18, 1841, and was the son of
John D. and Fannie (West) Reynolds, both famiHes
being old residents of Providence, R. I. Mr. and
Mrs. John Reynolds came to Ohio when they were
young people where he was a log hewer and builder,
having built many homes there in the early days,
and he was also engaged in farming.

When ten years old, James moved with his par-
ents to Warren County, 111., and settled near Mon-
mouth, 111., where he went to school during the winter
months and as a farmer boy, worked on the farm in
the summertime. He was one of a family of seven
children and being the third child, a great deal of
the work fell upon his young shoulders. Only three
fi this family are now living, a brother, Joseph, is
living in Santa Clara County, and a sister, Mrs.
Jennie Brooks, is living in Hardin County, Iowa.
James lived at home and helped his father with the
work up to the time he joined the Union Army.
He volunteered his services at the first tap of the
drum and was mustered into service in May, 1861,
at Peoria, 111., in Company I, of the Seventeenth
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Captain Bruing-
ton and Colonel Ross, who were under General
Grant. He was for a month at Peoria and before
leaving this city the whole regiment was mustered
in for a period of three years. They went to Alton,
111., for a short lime and then to Iron Mountain,
Mo. Going down the Mississippi River, they spent
the winter at Cape Girardeau, later going to Fort
Henry, Tenn., a short time after that fort had been
taken by General Grant. He participated in the seige
of Fort Dontlson and was then moved on to Shiloh,
where they were engaged in the battle of Shiloh,
and then to Vicksburg Landing, where he became
very ill and was discharged. He remained home for
a while, and whe.i well enough began farming and
also establishing family ties. In spite of this, having
entirely recovered, he again enlisted, this time in
Company I, Second Illinois Light Artillery, and
served with Sherman on the noted March to the
Sea. In North Carolina, he served to the close of
the war, when General Lee surrendered, and was
then sent to Washington to turn over the cannons,

828

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

guns and ammunition; he was mustered out in
Springfield, 111., on June 16, 1865. After the war,
Mr. Reynolds and his wife went to Iowa and in
1868 settled in Grundy County, Iowa, near Grundy
Center, where he engaged in farming until 1910,
when he disposed of his farm, having then 200 acres,
and came to Healdsburg, Cal., where he lived for
two years. In 1912, he came to San Jose and here
he has made his home since that time, the family
residence being at 393 South Fifth.

On October 8, 1864, in Grundy County, III., near
Morris, occurred the marriage of Mr. Reynolds,
which united him with Miss Emma G. Thayer, a
native of Ohio. They were married just before Mr.
Reynolds enhsted in the defense of his country the
second time. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds became the
parents of five children: Jessie is the wife of David
Lennox and they reside at Marshalltown, Iowa, the
parents of four children, Fannie, Edgar David,
George and Grace; George is the father of one child.
Glen; Rose R. became Mrs. Porter and is living at
393 South Fifth Street, in San Jose, and is the
mother of a son, Robert; Elmer is living in Canton,
Ohio, and is foreman of the Pennsylvania and Erie
Railroad Shops in that city; John D. is living at
Richmond, Va., and is engaged as manager of the
American Locomotive Works at that city. Mr.
Reynolds was bereaved of his devoted wife and
helpmate when she passed away in the year 1918, at
San Jose, leaving many warm friends who feel the
lo;,s of her kindly, generous spirit. Mr. Reynolds is
a popular member of Sheridan-Dix Post G. A. R. of
San Jose. In national politics, he is a stanch
adherent to the Republican party.

CHARLES E. STRICKLAND.— A varied and in-
teresting career has been that of Charles E. Strick-
land, descended from an early pioneer of the state,
and one whose efforts have contributed no little
success to the development of California. A native
.^f Halifax, Nova Scotia, Mr. Strickland was born
July 18, 1845, a son of William and Julia (Huem)
Strickland, both natives of Nova Scotia. When but
an infant of six weeks, his family removed to Boston,
Mass. William Strickland was the captain of his
own ship, and as early as 1848 sailed around the
Horn to San Francisco, the voyage consuming a
year. Upon arrival in the Golden State, in 1849, his
crew deserted the vessel and rushed to the mining
district of California. However, this was only the be-
ginning of his misfortune. While his ship lay at
anchor in the bay, in charge of the first mate, the
vessel caught fire and was completely destroyed.
Discouraged by this severe loss, he engaged in the
gold mining and was thus engaged for three years.
In the meantime his family was anxiously awaiting
news from him in Boston. He was rewarded for his
energy and industry, and like many others of the
early prospectors, became quite wealthy. Being anx-
ious to return to his family in Boston, he accepted
the captaincy of a ship bound for New York. L'pon
arrival there, he purchased another ship, intending to
bring his family to California. All preparation was
made, and the day arrived for leaving, the family
happy in the reunion and delighted with the antici-
pation of their future home in California. When out
from Boston about six weeks, they encountered a
severe storm, and their vessel was so severely dam-
aged that it was completely dismantled, but they con-
sidered themselves very fortunate in saving their

lives. A temporary set of sails was improvised, and
they were able to return to New York. Upon arrival
there, the ship was dry-docked, where it remained
for six months undergoing a complete renovation.
With undaunted spirit, plans were again formulated
for the journey to California, but on the eve of de-
parture, he thought it best to make the trip alone to
San Francisco, dispose of his cargo and vessel and
return to New York, and take his family on a reg-
ular liner. This his family agreed to, and the father
started on his long voyage alone. Everything was
auspicious, until just after rounding the Horn, the
vessel was caught in a terrific storm. Those on
board were quickly loaded into a lifeboat, but it is
supposed it was too heavily loaded, and it was sunk
in the terrible storm. However, the first mate and a
sailor cast off in a small rowboat. and succeeded in
reaching shore. After the news of his death reached
his family, they removed from their home in Boston
to Hastings on the Hudson, and here Charles E.
Strickland attended school. In the year of 1858
Mrs. Strickland married Samuel Winton, and the
family moved to Michigan, where Mr. Winton pur-
chased eighty acres in Calhoun County.

Charles E. Strickland remained on the farm until
he was eighteen and helped his stepfather on the
farm. In the summer of 1863 he entered the service
of his country, enlisting in Company A of the First
Michigan Engineers, under Captain Williamson,
Colonel Innes and General Thomas commanding.
Mr. Strickland went through the Atlantic campaign
with General Thomas' forces, and upon completion
of this campaign, was transferred to General Sher-
man's army, and was in the famous "March to the
Sea." He remained in North Carolina until the ter-
mination of the war, whereupon, he was required to
report to General Thomas at Nashville, Tenn., and
was then sent to Jackson, Mich., where he was dis-
charged November 14, 1865. He saw much hard
fighting during his career as a soldier, at Mission
Ridge. Big Shanty, the siege of Savannah. Ga., and
at Bentonville. besides many skirmishes. Upon re-
turning to civil life, he established his own contracting
and building business.

The marriage of Mr. Strickland occurred Novem-
ber 14, 1868, at Athens, Mich., which united him
with Miss Sarah Cullen, who was born, reared and
educated there. She was the daughter of Mathew
and Mary (Ciller) Cullen, farmers, of Athens. In
1890, Mr. Strickland came with his family to Tulare
County, where he conducted his contracting business
for a number of years; later removed to San Luis
Obispo, and here spent sixteen years in his chosen
occupation. Many of the finest homes and business
blocks attest his ability as a builder. Then transfer-
ring his contracting business to Oakland, he re-
mained there until 1910, when, feeling the desire for
a more quiet existence, he selected the beautiful Santa
Clara Valley, as the place to spend his remaining
days. One son, Erve C, was born to Mr. and Mrs.
Strickland, and he is at the present time proprietor
of the Temple Laundry. He early exhibited a talent
for music, becoming a fine performer on the cornet
when but sixteen years old. Locating in Topeka,
he was made director of the Topeka City Band,
remaining in this capacity for a number of years.
Returning home for a visit with his parents at the
outbreak of the Spanish-American War, and while
visiting in San Francisco with his father, they

^ o^^yz^M/ ' ^ cx.^cy>^>^vocJijJ>^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

831

accidentally ran across his old Topeka Band,
who were then with the Twentieth Kansas Regi-
mental Band, and within ten minutes after ar-
riving at the recruiting office in San Fran-
cisco, he had enlisted in the service of his coun-
try as a musician, with his old Kansas friends. Later
he became the director of this band, and went to the
Philippines with them.

Mr. Strickland is an honored member of the
Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7. G. A. R., and occupied the
position of commander in 1916, and is at present
quartermaster sergeant of this post. Fraternall_v. he
is connected with the San Luis Obispo Knights of
Pythias and the Elks, the Odd Fellows, in Michigan.

DANIEL CARMICHAEL.— .\ man. who by in-
dustry and perseverance has won for himself a
prominent place in the community, is Daniel Car-
michael, successful as an orchardist and as a busi-
ness associate of his brother Neil, and T. B. Hub-
bard in the sawmill and lumber business in San Jose.
Mr. Carmichael was born near Port Elgin, Bruce
County. Ontario, December 29, 1852. and is the eldest
son of Donald and Anna (McKinnon) Carmichael,
natives of the Island of Mull. Scotland, a very old
family there on both sides, where the father was a
farmer. The Carmichael and McKinnon families in
Scotland were natural mechanics and could make
implements and tools. Both parents passed away
at their home in Canada.

Daniel attended the public schools in Canada, but
the school of experience proved of more real value
to him than the little schooling he was able to get.
Being the eldest of the family, the responsibility of
assisting with the rearing of the other children bore
heavily upon him. In 1874, with his brother Dun-
can, now in British Columbia, and a friend named
Mr. Shell, came to Denver. Colo., intending to go
into the mines, but they encountered severe weather
and concluded to come on to California, where the
Carmichaels had two cousins, Duncan and Anthony
McKinnon, living near Salinas. From San Fran-
cisco they took a boat to Monterey and then went
on foot to Salinas. Making their way to Santa
Cruz they arrived at the Soquel Mill at about sup-
pertime. They experienced some difficulty in secur-
ing a meal, finally assuring the foreman they had
money and would pay, after which they were asked
to stay, as the woods boss would be down that night
and they wished them to work. The difficult experi-
ence of obtaining supper nettled Mr. Carmichael and
he determined, if he ever owned a sawmill (and in
the same breath he resolved that he would, some
day) he would always give a man a meal at his
camp and later when he was at the head of the Hub-
bard & Carmichael mill his orders were to give any-
one something to eat who came at meal time. He
worked at the Soquel Mill for seven months, then
went back to Salinas for the winter and worked for
Mr. Lynn and this same experience he had each year
for nine winters, thus had the pleasure of each year
having Christmas dinner with Mr. Lynn. Summers
he continued to work at different mills, having many
hard and exciting experiences and became an experi-
enced woodsman and particularly as a swamper and
manager of men. In 1884, with his brother Neil, he
operated a sawmill on Ben Lomond Creek; then the
next four years they ran a mill above Felton for

the Union Lumber Mill & Lumber Company of
Santa Cruz. In 1889, Daniel and Neil Carmichael en-
tered into partnership with Thomas B. Hubbard,
who had sold his interest in the Union Lumber Mill
& Lumber Company, and they started a sawmill on
Oil Creek, Santa Cruz County and in time started
a lumber yard and planing mill in San Jose, doing
business as Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. The lum-
ber was hauled to San Jose, using seven four-horse
teams for the purpose. They raised short horn Dur-
ham cattle and draft horses on their range; their
horse, as well as their bull teams were supplied from
the stock they raised and were the best procurable,
and their bull teams were considered the best and
finest seen in any logging camp. Thus with Daniel
Carmichael in charge of swamping and Neil Car-
michael as master ox driver, there were plenty of
logs at the mill and the teams were kept busy haul-
ing the lumber to San Jose. They moved their mill
four diflferent times and after milling for thirty-seven
years, taking the lumber from over 2,000 acres, there
was no more accessible lumber, so they shut down
and discontinued manufacturing, but continued in
the planing mill and lumber business in San Jose,
and Mr. Carmichael is still a director and vice-presi-
dent in the Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. Company.
Their success was due to their close application to
their business. There was no work in the mill or
woods they could not do themselves and usually
better than anyone else. When they discovered a
capable man. they kept him and when they quit they
had men who had worked for them for thirty-seven
years. Hubbard & Carmichael Bros. Company have
a splendid alfalfa ranch of 439 acres near Newman
where for many years they ran a dairy of 400 cows
and had 750 head of cattle. When the mill was
shut down eleven years ago. the brothers came to
Saratoga and engaged in orcharding. Daniel Car-
michael had his residence on Main Street, Sara-
toga, and owned an orchard of thirty-two acres at
Milliken's Corners, but he sold it in 1920 and bought
the present orchard of twenty-two acres on the
Mountain \'iew Road, adjoining Saratoga, where he
now resides. He has become a successful orchardist,
no doubt due to the fact that as a boy back on the
farm in Canada, he was taught how to make things
grow not only by cultivation, but by enriching the
soil. Still active, he cares for the trees, and his or-
chard is one of the finest in the valley.

Mr. Carmichael was married at Santa Cruz Sep-
tember 1, 1898, to Miss Tilly Lyman, born in Santa
Clara County, a daughter of Serena B. and Mathilda
(Miller) Lyman, natives of Missouri, who crossed the
plains, locating in Santa Clara County, and afterwards
had a large ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where
they spent their last days. Of their five children,
Tilly is the eldest and was educated in the public
schools of Saratoga. Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael's un-
ion has been blessed with three children; Flora Bell
is a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School
and is now teaching at HoUister; Agnes Mathilda
is a graduate of Heald's Business College. San Jose,
and is bookkeeper for the American Can Com-
pany in that city; Duncan Donald assists his father
on the ranch. Mr. Carmichael is a Presbyterian in
religion. He has a good memory and a fund of
stories of his experiences in lumbering in the Santa
Cruz Mountains and is able to narrate them in-

832

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tercstingly, so that it is 'a. pleasure to converse with
him. He is an enthusiast over the possibiHties of
the beautiful Santa Clara Valley and uses his ef-
forts in behalf of all progressive measures.

GEORGE WARREN HANSON.— On a well-im-
proved property of five acres in the vicinity of San
Jose, resides George W. Hanson, a highly respected
and well-known citizen of the county, who has lived
in Santa Clara County for over forty years. He
was born in StrafTord County, N. H., June 22, 1841,
the fourth son of a family of eight children, a son
of Aaron and Deborah (Hall) Hanson. The father,
who died in December, 1861, was one of three broth-
ers who came to America from England, one set-
tling in Vermont, one in Maine and Aaron in New
Hampshire, all following farming pursuits. George
W. helped his father with the farm work until the
outbreak of the Civil War. In August, 1862, George
W. enlisted in Company E, Thirteenth New Hamp-
shire Infantry, serving under General Burnside in
the Army of the Potomac and on December 11-12
of the same year, he was in the battle of Fredericks-
burg, Va. In the Spring of '63 he was transferred
from the army to the navy, serving, for a time, on
the frigate Minnesota; later on the gunboat Flor-
ida and still later on the gunboat Quaker City. He
was in the siege of Fort Fischer, North Carolina,
and for a long time was in the service of running
down and capturing blockade runners. These prizes
of war were sold and his share amounted to $800.
In 1865 he was discharged at Philadelphia, Pa.,
and returned to his home in New Hampshire, en-
gaging in farming until 1866, v^-hen he removed to
Minneapolis and worked at market gardening. He
gave up this work and accepted a position in a
grocery store, working for two years, and then
went out with the first surveying parties for the
Northern Pacific, running the lines from St. Cloud
to Red River. He then returned to Minneapolis
and bought out one of the partners where he had
worked and continued in the grocery business for
two years, then disposed of his share and removed
to California in 1875, settling in San Jose.

On December 10, 1868, in Minneapolis, he was
united in marriage with Miss Martha A. Keesling,
a native of Indiana, a daughter of Thomas and Eliza-
beth (Hasty) Keesling. Her father was engaged in
farming in Indiana, but removed to Lake Minne-.
tonka. Minn., and was for years engaged in the
mercantile business. Soon after settling in San Jose,
Mr. Hanson became a cement contractor, doing
work for the city and the state, also general con-
tracting, being thus engaged for twenty years, doing
work in Watsonville, Hollister and as far south
as San Diego, in all of these places putting in the
very first cement work in them. He laid the cement
walks about the Normal School buildings and did
considerable work at the Agnew State Hospital. He
invested his earnings in real estate, a ranch on Lee
Avenue of ten acres; one near Campbell of fifteen
acres, and one at Mountain View of fifteen acres,
all fruit land. Reverses came in 1893, his farm-
ing projects were a failure, but the worst misfor-
tune which befell him was the loss of his health.
He had been receiving a pension from the gov-
ernment of eight dollars per month, but during
President Cleveland's administration Mr. Hanson's
pension, together with several others, was discon-

tinued, and for two years, he was in straitened
circumstances. The pension was finally re-estab-
lished, but was reduced from $8 to $6 per month. He
later secured a position as a rural mail carrier and
held this position for twelve and a half years. In
1905 he retired from active life, content to spend
his remaining days on the beautiful five-acre cherry
orchard that has been his home for the past thirty-
five years. Mr. and Mrs. Hanson are the parents
of two sons: Eugene W. is a druggist of Watson-
ville. He married Miss Flora Lord and they have
two children, Waldron and Frederick Pierce. The
other son, Herman is a dentist, he married Marie
Hayes and resides in San Jose. In his political con-
viction, Mr. Hanson is a stalwart Republican. He
is a member of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, G. A. R.
Department of California and Nevada, of San Jose.
Public-spirited and hospitable, he has always been
on the square in all his dealings and he has friends
all over the Santa Clara Valley.

EBERHARDT HENRY HOLTHOUSE.—

Among the early settlers of California and one who
became prominent as an orchardist of the Santa
Clara Valley was Eberhart Henry Holthouse, a na-
tive of Nahne, Osnabruck, Hanover, Germany, born
in 1827. He was the son of Herman and Mary
Elizabeth (Brockman) Holthouse, who were also
natives of the same place, where he received a
good common-school education and was taught the
details of 'farm work. Leaving his native land in
1849, he crossed the ocean to the New World in a
sailing vessel and landing at New Orleans went up
the river to St. Louis, Mo. Here he spent two or
three years at various occupations, crossing the
plains in 1852, with an emigrant train of ox teams.
There were many hardships encountered through the
loss of stock and they were obliged to abandon some
of their wagons, but after a long and tedious trip,
Mr. Holthouse reached Placer County, in the fall of
the year, having spent six months in making the
trip. He purchased a claim in Placer County and
commenced mining. For seven years he followed
this occupation and his venture proved profitable,
most of his time being spent in the mines of Plumas
County. From 1859 to 1870 he engaged in various
pursuits, among which were quartz-mining, stock
raising, farming and general merchandise business.
At the expiration of this time, he removed to Al-
viso, where he rented a farm and engaged in stock-
raising and dairying for about four years, then pur-
chased a place of 140 acres two miles southwest of
.\lviso on the corner of Mountain View and Al-
viso roads, most of the farm being devoted to the
raising of hay and grain and pasture for his cattle
and horses. Here he later planted twenty acres to
orchard of apples, pears, peaches, prunes and plums,
and about seven acres he set to strawberries. Two
fine artesian wells furnished all the water needed,
and a comfortable residnce was erected.

In 1864 Mr. Holthouse married Mrs. Elizabeth
(Madden) Ratliff, a native of Dublin, Ireland. They
were the parents of five children; Herman E., Hugh
N., deceased, Mary E., Mark H. and J. Fred, whose
sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Holt-
house passed away December 27, 1902, and Mr.
Holthouse May 30, 1920, at the age of ninety-three,
honored and respected by all who knew him.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

835

CARLON R. WILLSON.— A son of a worthy pio-
neer, Carlon R. Willson has won for himself a posi-
tion of prominence among the agriculturists and dairy-
men of Santa Clara County by his untiring industry
and integrity. He was born July S, 1857, at San
F'elipe, Cal., the son of Albert Willson. a native of
Keene, N. H., born March 10, 1829, and one of the
earliest pioneers of Santa Clara County. Grandfather
Charles Willson was born in Massachusetts and even-
tually located in New Hampshire, where he died in
1846. His wife, Lavina Collins, before her marriage,
who was also a native of Marlboro, N. H., came to
California in 1853, accompanied by her son, Horace
Willson, and settled at Gilroy, and she died at the age
of eighty-si.x.

Learning the trade of a brickmason, Albert Willson
was engaged in this line for about six years at Ran-
dolph, Mass., and vicinity until starting for California
by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He sailed from
New^ York on January 9, 1852, and arrived at San
Francisco on February 15, having walked across the
Isthmus. His first work in California was on the
canal at Robinson's Ferry, and then for four years
he resided at Shaw"s Flat, where he tried his luck as
a miner. On March 12, 1856, he was united in mar-
riage with Miss Eliza Jane Hildebrand, a native of
Mt. Auburn, Ind., w'hose father, Abraham W. Hilde-
brand, w'as also a pioneer of Santa Clara County,
having crossed the plains in 1853, locating first at
Shaw's Flat, where he mined. Later he removed to
the Pajaro Valley and engaged in farming and stock
raising. The day after his marriage, Albert Willson
came with his bride to Santa Clara County, locating
on the Soap Ranch — so named because soap was
made there — now known as the San Felipe district,
where he leased land for some years, then purchased
a tract of 500 acres and adding to it until he owned
617 acres. Here he made a specialty of dairying and
cheese making, which he carried on extensively, sup-
plying the markets in San Francisco. He passed
away on September IS, 1904, honored and respected
as one of the community's sterling citizens. Mrs.
Willson is living in Gilroy, hale and hearty, at the
age of eighty-five years.

Carlon R. Willson received his early education in
the San Felipe school and the Gilroy high school,
and in 1874 entered the California Military Academy
at Oakland, graduating in 1878. In 1881 he returned
to his father's native state to claim his bride. Miss
Agnes M. Reed, who w-as reared and educated at
Keene, N. H., and they immediately set out for Cali-
fornia, settling on San Felipe ranch on their arrival
here. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Will-
'son: Ada L., died in childhood, and Agnes A., now
the wife of Wm. P. Spratt, manager of the College
Avenue branch. Bank of Italy, in Oakland, and the
mother of two children, Margaret W. and Jeradinc.

For thirty years Mr. Willson was actively and ex-
tensively engaged in farming and stock raising, and
his holdings consist of 1000 acres of fertile soil, well
watered and supporting a large herd of cattle. He
has followed in the footsteps of his father in the
manufacture of cheese, the family having been en-
gaged in that business for over fifty years, shipping
to the San Francisco markets. He is a member
01 the California Cattlemen's Association, and for
many years w^as a director in the old Bank of Gilrov,

which was absorbed b\- the Gilroy Branch of the
Bank of Italy, and he is a member of the advisory
board of the bank, his long years of residence here
making him an authority on land values. Always
a friend of education, he is president of the board of
education of the Union high school and a member
of the board of trustees of the grammar schools of
Gilroy; is a member of the Chamber of Commerce,
and fraternally, is affiliated with the Elks, Odd Fel-
lows and Masons. Mr. Willson is a valuable asset to
the community where he has lived for so many years,
and his ability and sterling worth have made for him
a high place in the esteem of his fellow citizens.

MARK H. HOLTHOUSE.— The career of Mark
H. Holthouse adds another to the many illustrations
which Santa Clara County has furnished of the splen-
did results attained by intelligence, industry and per-
severance in combating discouragement and overcom-
ing difTiculties, and his example along horticultural
and agricultural lines may well be emulated by the
younger generation. He owns and successfully op-
erates perhaps the largest ranch in the northern
part of Santa Clara County, comprising some 688
acres devoted to dairy, hay and grain. A Cali-
fornian by birth and breeding, he was born August
27, 1872, in Alviso, Santa Clara County, a son of
Eberhardt Henry Holthouse, a native of Osnabruck,
Hanover, Germany, who came to America when a
young man, living for a time in St. Louis, Mo. In
pioneer days crossed the plains to California, locat-
ing in Plumas County, where he engaged in gold
mining, and afterward followed mercantile pursuits.
In 1870 he removed to Santa Clara County where
for four years he was engaged in dairying near Al-
viso, and in 1874 he purchased a ranch and profit-
ably followed in general farming and stockraising.
He married Mrs. Elizabeth (Madden) Ratliff, a na-
tive of Dublin, Ireland, a daughter of Michael Mad-
den. She left her home in Ireland to come to
America, settling in New York City, and two of her
brothers came to California in 1850 by way of the
Horn. Mr. and Mrs. Holthouse were the parents
of five children, Mark H., the subject of this sketch,
being the fourth in order of birth. Mrs. Holthouse
passed away December 27, 1902, at the home farm
near Alviso, and Mr. Holthouse lived to be ninety-
three years old.

Mark H. grew up on the old Holthouse home
ranch; and when he reached the age of twenty-
two purchased ten acres of the Alurphy subdivi-
sion, adding to it from time to time until he had
seventy-three acres, which he farmed to alfalfa and
grain; subsequently he sold the tract to good ad-
vantage. His first marriage united him with Miss
Esther Martin of .\lviso. and they were the parents
of four children; Theodore H.; Mark Vernon; Wil-
fred E.. and Nadinc, a trained nurse, graduate of
O'Connor's Sanitarium at San Jose. His second
marriage was to Mrs. .-^nna (.\rbiter) Hill, and
there are three children in this family; Hugh James,
Frederick John and Armond. Mrs. Hill had one
child. Will Hill, by her first husband and he lives
on the Holthouse ranch.

Three years ago Mr. Holthouse and his brother,
J. F. Holthouse, bought what is now known as the
Ynigo dairy ranch of 688 acres from the Hirsch
Land Company on a ten-year contract and later
Mark H. took over the interest of his brother and

836

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

is now the sole proprietor. He has greatly added
to the productivity of the ranch by developing wells
for irrigating purposes, having eight in all, which
are run by electric power. He has brought the
ranch to a high state of cultivation, planting it to
alfalfa, tomatoes, sugar beets, hay, and grain, be-
sides a number of acres of grazing land, and he
has sixty milch cows of the Holstein breed. Mr.
Holthouse is ably assisted in the ranch work by his
sons and Mrs. Holthouse is indeed a capable help-
mate. The family stands very highly in the com-
munity and the hospitable spirit of their home is
greatly enjoyed by their many friends and acquaint-
ances. Mr. and Mrs. Holthouse are stanch Repub-
licans. Mr. Holthouse has served on the election
board; also as a juryman. His example of thrift
and industry has had its influence on many young
men. and his efforts in behalf of progressive meas-
ures have been given unreservedly.

J. FRED HOLTHOUSE.— A young man of ster-
ling worth, who by strict integrity and close appli-
cation to business, is being amply rewarded for
his industry and perseverance is J. Fred Holthouse,
who was born and reared on the 140-acre ranch
which was developed by his father, Eberhardt Henry
Holthouse, a pioneer of California of 1852. The
father was a native of Germany and upon his arrival
in America, he began the journey across the plains
in an ox team. As most of the pioneers of Cali-
fornia were drawn hither with the tales of the
finding of gold. Mr. Holthouse entered the mines
in Plumas County and was thus engaged until he
removed to Santa Clara County in 1874. His mar-
riage occurred there and united him with Mrs. Eliz-
abeth (Madden) Ratliff, a native of Ireland, who
came to California from New York some time in
the early '60s. They were the parents of five chil-
dren, four of whom are living, the subject of this
sketch being the youngest. The mother passed away
December 27, 1902, and the father May 30, 1920, at
the age of ninety-three.

J. Fred Holthouse was born December 17, 1877,
and he first attended the Braly public school. Later
he supplemented with a business course at the San
Jose Business College, from which institution he
graduated in 1894. After finishing school he started
out for himself, baling hay during the summer
months and boring wells during the winter seasons.
From the very beginning of his business career, J.
Fred Holthouse prospered, but not without much
hard work and many disappointments, but undaunted
he stuck to the task and he is now running three well
boring rigs, operated by hand power and employs
three crews regularly. Wise is the man that oper-
ates several lines of business, and Mr. Holthouse ex-
cels in various lines in which he is interested. He is
a rancher, well driller, pump manufacturer in San
Jose and manufactures concrete irrigating pipe and
concrete drain pipe at Sunnyvale. He owns and
operates three White trucks and one service wagon,
and gives steady employment to fifteen men in his
well drilling operations and upon his ranch, employ-
ing them the year round. He is the president of
the California Concrete Products Company at Sun-
nyvale and they turn out the best quality of concrete
irrigation, drain and sewer pipe. He is vice-presi-
dent of the Campbell & Budlong Machine Works,
manufacturers of all kinds of machinery besides do-

ing jobbing work. They are located at 890 South
First Street, San Jose, and are manufacturers of a
deep-well turbine pump of which Mr. Holthouse
has the exclusive agency in this district. Being thor-
oughly familiar with the geological stratification of
the soil in the great Santa Clara Valley where he
has brought in hundreds of water-wells, his judg-
ment in matters pertaining to water supply is given
great weight. A good indication of the kind of
work which Mr. Holthouse turns out is that he
gives a two-year unconditional guarantee with all
his wells and pumps, and thereby is building up a
large and profitable business. Besides the home place
of 140 acres, he owns a tract of 160 acres and an-
other of 640 acres on the Gila River in Arizona.

Mr. Holthouse's marriage in 1901 united him
with Miss Frances Arbiter, a native of Kansas, a
daughter of William and Hedwig Arbiter, who were
both natives of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Holthouse
are the parents of four children; Freda Adeline, a
graduate of Notre Dame; Mary Louise, a student
in high school; Henry F., in the grammar school,
and Vincent, a student in the Braly school. The
family are members of the Catholic Church at Santa
Clara. Politically Mr. Holthouse is a Republican
and fraternally, he belongs to the Druids. He is a
man of strong executive force and by his industry
and strict integrity has won for himself a place
of prominence in the community which is. undoubt-
edly deserved and is justly popular. An enthusiast
over the growth and prosperity of Santa Clara, he
gives his time and means to the building up of
the community.

LLOYD E. FREEMAN.— One of the oldest set-
tlements of Santa Clara County, Santa Clara has of
late manifested strongly the spirit of reconstruction
and upbuilding, due to the progressive young busi-
ness men who are now at the helm of this old Cali-
fornia city. A leader among them, Lloyd E. Free-
man, has done his full share to establish this spirit
of enterprise since his coming here, as one of the
owners of the Mission Garage at 945 Main Street.

A native son, Mr. Freeman was born in Marin
County, March 8, 1896, and is a son of J. E. Free-
man, also born in Marin County, and his wife, who
was Lydia L. Perrins before her marriage. She is
a native of Springfield, Mass., and is of English
origin, being a third cousin of a member of the firm
of Lea & Perrins, of "Worcestershire Sauce" fame.
Mr. and Mrs. Freeman, who reside in Santa Clara,
are the parents of five children: Mrs. Byron Smith;
H. E. Freeman, with the Modesto Milk Company,
where he resides; Lloyd E., of this sketch; Mabel,
employed in San Jose; Arthur D., attending the
Santa Clara high school.

After attending school at Orland, Lloyd E. Free-
man went to work there in 1912 in a small auto
repair shop, where he laid the foundation of his
present expert knowledge in this line. In 1915 he
came to Santa Clara and soon thereafter entered upon
his present business career as proprietor of the
Mission Garage. The business has steadily grown
until it requires the services of five men to handle
its increased volume. Associated with Mr. Freeman
are his father, J. E. Freeman and his brother-in-
law, Byron Smith. The former has charge of the
tractor department and not only looks after this
end of the establishment, but does much contract

'^^^^^^ cf^-^TU-/^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

837

work outside, plowing, cultivating, etc. Mr. Smith,
who is an expert vulcanizer, has charge of the
department of oils, gasoline, tires and tubes, while
Lloyd Freeman, with two helpers, attends to the
mechanical work of the garage. It is a well-estab-
lished and organized firm in which the spirit of co-
operation is made manifest in a growing and profit-
able business. Of a genial disposition and an ex-
cellent co-operator and organizer, Mr. Freeman takes
a leading part in the community's activities, and in
addition to his garage interests, he is a stockholder
in the Homer Knowles Pottery Company.

JOHN SMITH.— .A. man who has earned an inde-
pendency by hard work and honest toil is John Smith,
who is now living in peace and contentment on his
beautiful orchard home, "Rawdon Dell," of thirty-
two acres located on the Saratoga Road, with his
wife and his family of six children. A native of
England, he was born in Yorkshire, September 23,
18S3, and was educated in the schools of his native
country. He worked at various occupations until
he came to America, locating in Santa Clara County,
1888, where some of his relatives lived. He came into
possession of land, which he immediately planted to
orchard of apricots, prunes and cherries. In 1916
he built his beautiful house of splash cement and it
is finely located and is one of the show places of the
Valley. It is named Rawdon Dell after their old
home place in England, of which Mr. and Mrs. Smith
as well as the older children cherish fond memories.
He has disposed of a portion of his acreage and now
has thirty-two under high cultivation.

Before leaving England Mr. Smith was married
to Miss Eliza Bilton, also born and reared in York-
shire and four of their six children were born in
England. When he first left England he brought
with him his son Thomas and within a short time
returned to England and brought the rest of the fam-
ily. There are three sons and three daughters;
Thomas is a merchant; Fred B. is an orchardist;
Jennie B. is Mrs. F. J. Currier; Harry E., a grad-
uate of Stanford University, is an attorney practic-
ing in San Jose; May E. is graduate of the San
Jose State Normal and is a teacher; Grace A. a
graduate of Riverside Library School, is with the
Santa Clara County Library in San Jose. There are
seven grandchildren. The family are active in the
affairs of the Congregational Church, Saratoga. Mr.
Smith is Republican in politics and with his family
he is intensely interested in everything pertaining
to the development and future of Saratoga and sur-
rounding country.

WILLIAM B. ORTLEY.— One is reminded of
the fact that many interesting industries engage the
attention of brainy folk in the world, without the
world at large knowing much about it. from the
story of William B. Ortley and his business enter-
prise, the gathering and shipping of clams and oyster
shells. He was born in Alviso. — a native son, by
the way, proud of his association with the Golden
State, in 1875. and his parents were J. J. and Almira
(Wade) Ortley. The Wades came across the plains
at an early day, and were enrolled among the sturdy
California pioneers. Mr. Ortley was a boatman on
San Francisco Bay, and it was then that he began
to develop the shell trade, for he had a large w^are-
house, and many boats to carry bay freight. At that
time, too, a great deal of the hay and grain was

shipped out of Alviso, and this was stored in his
warehouse, prior to being shipped. Fruit has now
taken the place of the hay and grain, and the ware-
houses are used for different purposes, and business
in general is not as extensive as it used to be.

Our subject, however, in part to make up for this
falling-off of profitable trade, has developed the clam
and oyster shell trade, and to carry that on he has
a boat of 150 tons, with a pump attachment, with
which he pumps out the shells from the bay bottom,
and then hauls them to the shore. He then sacks
the shells and wholesales them to poultrymen and
commission merchants over the entire West. He
also uses his boat to load bay barges of 300 tons
with shells, and these barges run to Sacramento and
Petaluma. where the shells are disposed of. J. J.
Ortley, the father, lived to be eighty-six years old,
and he continued long in active business, assisted
by his son, who eventually took over the enterprise.
Mr. Ortley ships, on the average, two carloads a
month of shells, from which he derives a very satis-
factory income, although his necessary operating and
maintenance expenses are also high — much higher
than most persons would be inclined to consider.
Politically, Mr. Ortley is an independent, believing
in holding himself above the narrowness of party
lines, and giving his support generously to the man
and the measures he believes to be best and most
worthy of endorsement.

JAMES S. CARSON.— An efficient and, therefore,
a very popular official is James S. Carson, the super-
intendent of the Santa Clara County Poor Farm,
near Milpitas. who was born in South Mountain,
Canada, on August 31, 1856. the son of James and
Elizabeth (Pelton) Carson. His father was a farmer
having a ranch of 100 acres devoted to general farm-
ing; and he reared a family of nine children, among
whom our subject was the next to the youngest
born. He attended the public schools at South
Mountain; but his father having died when he was
only ten years of age, he began to make his way in
the world from his thirteenth year.

He first worked five years on a dairy farm, milk-
ing; and in 1871 he came to Marin County, Cal., and
engaged in hay-bailing at Tomales. He then went
to Santa Clara County, removed to San Luis Obispo
County, and after returning to Santa Clara County
spent about seven years farming.

In 1905 he became superintendent of the County
Farm near Milpitas, and he has since continued in
that responsible office requiring for its successful ad-
ministration experience, common sense, and humane
sympathy. Besides performing his official duties
there, Mr. Carson manages a farm of 100 acres of
his own known as the old Sinnot ranch. The County
Farm has about 230 acres, 100 of which are devoted
to vegetables and hay, and the balance to pasture
and grazing. There is a dairy of thirty-five head of
milch cows, with about 100 head of stock on the
farm, and the place has three irrigation wells. The
Farm cares for from 150 to 300 unfortunate persons,
varying according to season, many leaving in the
summer months, others coming in the winter, about
two-thirds of this number being incapacitated in
some way; but enough are able to work, to help
keep the farm in running order. Perhaps particularly
as the result of his experienc with those who come
to him as the county's representative for relief, Mr.

838

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Carson believes in the selection of men for office
regardless of partisan claims. Mr. Carson's mother,
who came to California about 1896, and died here
five years later, was of Scotch descent, and his
father of Irish descent, so that he has been for-
tunate in his blood-inheritance.

At Oakland, Cal., on Christmas Day, 1888, Mr.
Carson was married to Miss Margaret Mokler, a
native of Tomales, Cal., the daughter of Charles
and Mary Mokler. Her father was an early settler
and a dairyman at Tomales, and highly respected.
Four children have been born to this union: Nellie
is Mrs. Joseph Ramelli of Milpitas; May has become
Mrs. James Cropley of San Jose; Stella has become
Mrs. John Martin of San Jose; and Ralph is a stu-
dent at Santa Clara College.

JOHN COX. — Great honor is due the courageous
pioneers of the Golden State in view of the great
hardships they experienced in their untiring efforts
to blaze a path for a later civilization, and John
Cox. now deceased, may well be counted among
these noble men. He was born in Iowa, July 9,
1849, the son of William and Dicey (Baggs) Cox,
both natives of Ohio, who were pioneers of Santa
Clara County. John Cox, the eldest of their family of
nine children, crossed the plains with his parents in
an ox-team train in 1852 and was reared on the
home farm in the Saratoga district in Santa Clara
County, receiving a good education in the local
schools while assisting his parents in their ranching.
His marriage occurred at Los Gatos October IS, 1879,
and united him with Miss Almeda Morrison, born
near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, December 31, 1861, a
daughter of Willis and Sarah (Williams) Morrison.
Her grandfather, David Morrison, of Scotch-Irish
parentage, was born on the Atlantic Ocean, while his
parents were emigrating to the United States. He
lived in Indiana and there married Eliza Allen, a
descendant of Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga.
Sarah Williams was born in Indiana, a daughter of
Adin Williams, a native of old Kentucky. WilHs
Morrison was a wheelwright and a farmer, who
came to California in 1863 via Panama, while his
wife joined him in 1864, making the journey across
the plains, bringing their three children. Mrs. Cox
was at that time a small child but still remembers
the thrills incident to the trip. Mr. and Mrs. Mor-
rison were the parents of nine children. Willis
Morrison spent a short time in the mines when he
arrived in California and then came to Santa Clara
County and worked in the sawmill near Wrights,
then went to Oregon, where he ranched for a short
time and returned to Santa Clara and bought 160
acres near Saratoga. Later he spent two years at
railroad work in Southern Oregon and then moved
to Los Angeles County and bought a ranch of sixty
acres of walnuts. He passed away in 1915 at the
age of eighty-one years, being survived by his widow,
now eighty-five years old. At the time of their
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cox located on the farm of
105 acres on Saratoga Avenue where she still re-
sides. A grain field then, they began setting out
orchards of prunes that are now full bearing. At the
time of Mr. Cox's death they owned a ranch of 150
acres. He was an energetic man and was never idle,
however, he was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of
his labors for he passed away August 15, 1916. He
was a man widely known and esteemed as an up-

builder of the district and he and his wife were
members of the Methodist Church. Since his death
his widow continues to reside on the home place,
looking after the interests left by her husband and
aiding the various movements for the upbuilding of
the Saratoga section. Mr. and Mrs. Cox were the
parents of eight children, seven of whom are liv-
ing; Clara is the wife of E. C. Stamper, and they
are the parents of three children — Arthur, Eveline and
Donald: Cora is the wife of Robert K. Wells and they
have four children living — Eleanor, Herbert, Chester
and Clyde; John W. married Alta Laddick and they
have one child — Raymond; Frances is Mrs. Fred Mc-
Coy and she had a child by her first marriage named
George Rowell; Jessie, Mrs. Robbins of Roseburg,
Ore.; Willis M. married Ethel Gage and has one child.
Milton: and Frank, the youngest of the family.

WILLIAM GRIFFITHS.— Of a constructive and
mechanical turn of mind, William Griffiths has
turned his talents to the manufacture of a house-
hold necessity and is thereby establishing a busi-
ness in Santa Clara that is a credit both to him-
self and the town. Mr. Griffiths, who was born
in San Francisco on April 2, 1884, is the son of
James and Johanna (Mahoney) Griffiths, the lat-
ter a native of Ireland. The father, who was born
in Bristol. England, was a boilermaker and he came
to San Francisco in the early days of 1856. Here
he followed his trade for a number of years, work-
ing for such pioneer firms as Monahan, Scott and
the well-known Union Iron Works. Later he went
to Mexico and built boilers for the various Mexi-
can railway companies; his death occurred in San
Francisco in 1890. There were three children in
the Griffiths family: Mrs. Sellers and Mrs. Fuentes.
both of San Francisco, and William, of this sketch.

William Griffiths, the youngest of the family, was
only six years old at the time of his father's death,
and as a mere lad he had to go to work. For seven
years he was with the Union Iron Works at San
Francisco, and just before the earthquake there in
1906 he had become interested in the cement busi-
ness, and was engagd in building foundations, walks
and buildings. During this period he became ac-
quainted with Charles Wesley, the originator of the
cement laundry tray, who had recently come from
Chicago, and after a time he was engaged by Mr.
Wesley to make the necessary molds for the trays,
such as are now manufactured by Mr. Griffiths.
They are built according to the standard specifica-
tions adopted by the Pacific Coast Cement Tray
Manufacturers Association, reinforced by means of
wire netting, with zinc bottoms and rims and the
necessary plumbing connections.

In 1913 Mr. Griffiths came to Santa Clara and
bought the property at 829 Franklin Street, which
he has remodeled into modern apartments, one of
which he occupies, while in the rear he is building
a structure to accommodate his growing manufactur-
ing interests. He is now manufacturing on an av-
erage of 150 trays per month and they are meeting
with excellent satisfaction and a constantly increasing
demand, being made of the best materials.

Mr. Griffiths was married in San Francisco to
Miss Eva Pyne, born and reared in Santa Clara.
She is the daughter of William and Mattie (Murphy)
Pyne, and one of a family of four children. Her
father, who was born in London. England, came

yMMAj^dcu Ji^/r}>,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

843

to Santa Clara in 1897. and passed away there in
1900. Grandfather Pyne was a Civil War veteran
and a California pioneer. Mrs. Pyne, who makes
her home with Mrs. Griffiths, was born in Phila-
delphia, Pa., a daughter of Thomas Murphy of that
city. Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths are the parents of two
children, Willie and Budd. Mrs. Griffiths efficiently
assists her husband in his business, and is the ofiice
manager, stenographer and bookkeeper, while Mr.
Grifiiths manages the sales department and oversees
the work of the shop. He is a member of the
Plasterers and Cement Finishers Union of San Jose.
Both he and Mrs. Griffiths are prominent members
of the Episcopal Church at Santa Clara, and have
made for themselves a lasting place in the community
through their progressive spirit and enterprise.

JAMES LOGUE.— A substantial farmer of the
Sunnyvale district, James Logue has acquired valu-
able holdings there through his years of industrious
labor, having been a resident of California since 1875.
County Derry, Ireland, was the scene of his child-
hood and there he was born on March 2, 1853, his
parents being Michael and Ellen (McKenna) Logue.
He attended school until he was fifteen, meanwhile
helping his father, who was engaged in farming, and
later he went to work for his grandmother. When
he reached the age of eighteen he made up his mind
to come to America, and going from Belfast to
Liverpool, he crossed the ocean to New York, land-
ing there the first week of October, 1871. He im-
mediately went on to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he had
two cousins, and while there he remembers well
seeing the fire engines being loaded on the cars to
be rushed to the great Chicago fire.

Mr. Logue remained in Pittsburgh for three years,
hauling coal and lime, and then came west to San
Francisco, Cal., arriving in April, 187S. He worked
for the contractor who was building the Grand
Hotel, shoveling sand for him, and after a month
came to San Jose. His first employment was with
Joseph Keep on North First Street, then with Roy
McLaughlin and Judge Archer, being three years
with the latter. On July 5, 1880, he came to the
great Murphy ranch at Sunnyvale and worked under
Michael Farrell, who was then foreman, for three
years. By that time he felt that he should begin
operations on his own account, and accordingly
rented a place of 165 acres on the north side of the
Mountain View and Alviso road, remaining there
for a number of years. Later he began to pur-
chase land, his first purchase being seventy-three
acres from the late C. C. Morse, the secdman; this
he sold and since he has made three different pur-
chases from George Swall of Mountain View, and he
now has 176H acres, a valuable tract of land which
he keeps up to the highest state of cultivation, every-
thing being run systematically. "A place for every-
thing and everything in its place," has always been
strictly adhered to by Mr. Logue.

In 1887, Mr. Logue was married to Miss Catherine
Mulhall, who was born at Morristown, N. J., and
came to California in 1876. Her father, Jerry Mul-
hall, was a contractor in Santa Clara. Five chil-
dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Logue:
Aloysius died at the age of si.xteen; Mary, a grad-
uate of the San Jose State Normal, is a teacher at the
Mountain \'iew grammar school; James M. was in
the U. S. Navy during the war and got as far as

England: he is now at home and helping operate
the farm: Genevieve died at the age of eight; Cath-
erine is a graduate of the Mountain View high school
and is now attending the State Normal School at
San Jose. The family are members of the Roman
Catholic Church at Mountain View, and Mr. Logue
is a member of the Prune and Apricot Growers,
Inc., a stockholder and director in the F'irst National
Bank of Mountain View and a stockholder in the
Sunnyvale branch of the Bank of Italy. Politically
he is a Democrat and a stanch supporter of all that
pertains to the welfare of his community, where he
is held in the highest respect.

THE FARMERS & MERCHANTS NATIONAL
BANK OF MOUNTAIN VIEW.— The thriving
city of Mountain View has been fortunate in the
part played by the far-sighted and experienced
bankers in her agricultural and commercial develop-
ment through which she has come to take a place
of influence, and prominent among the agencies
which have made for the greatest progress must be
mentioned the Farmers and Merchants National
Bank, the leading banking institution of Mountain
View. Its success is due, in great measure, to the
fact that it possesses every banking facility and
meets every local requirement, and its increased
working capital, together with added modern con-
veniences, which have added greatly to the con-
venience and general satisfaction of the patrons,
has widened its territory, added to the number of
its patrons, and enabled it to do business on a
broader and more liberal basis. Much of the im-
provement and growth is due to the personal at-
tention to every detail, and the hard, conscientious
work by Wilbur L. Camp, the first cashier of the
institution and now serving as the capable and
efficient president.

In 1905 J. S. Mockbee together with Wilbur L.
Camp and a few other men — men of vision and
faith who expand communities and develop com-
monwealths— seeing the necessity of a banking in-
stitution, established the Farmers and Merchants
National Bank 6f Mountain View. It was duly
incorporated under the laws of the State of Cali-
fornia, capitalized at $50,000, $25,000 of which was
paid up at the time of organization, and a beauti-
ful and commodious bank building was erected at
200 Castro Street. In 1898 the Bank of Mountain
View had been organized and in 1909 it was ab-
sorbed by the Farmers and Merchants National
Bank. In 1918. Mr. Mockbee resigned as president
of the bank, owing to impaired eyesight, and Wilbur
L. Camp was elected to fill the position and has
associated with him vice-presidents J. S. Mockbee
and M. Farrell; O. W. Whaley, cashier; P. C.
Whaley and W. A. Griffin, assistant cashiers, and
a board of directors composed of himself, George
Swall, H. A. Rengstorff, J. S. Mockbee, O. W.
Butz, George Jagels, M. Farrell, O. W. Whaley and
A. M. Crittenden. Its present paid-up capital is
$100,000 with a surplus of $20,000, and total re-
sources of over $1,000,000. The bank has a fire,
burglar-proof vault, with safe deposit accommoda-
tions and ample rooms for the convenience of its
patrons, with commodious offices for its officers,
its general equipment being the equal of any insti-
tution of its size in the country. It is no wonder
that the Farmers and Merchants National Bank enjoys

»u

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the entire confidence of the people of this section, for
it has become a member of the great Federal Reserve
system, and as such is sure to provide the best of
banking conditions through good times and bad

The high standing of each of the officers of the
Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Mountain
View, their well-known personal character, their ex-
perience and ability, and the reasonable conserva-
tism thus far demonstrated in the progressive pro-
grams of the institution, give a double assurance to
patrons and public alike as to the present healthy
state of the bank. Mountain View is justly proud
of this institution and the bank looks proudly to-
ward the city of Mountain View of tomorrow.

FRED W. WEHNER.— Through his straightfor-
ward methods of doing business and a high degree of
personal integrity, Fred W. Wehner has truly been
an upbuilder of the county and has established an
enviable place for himself throughout the commu-
nity. He has recently turned his business over to
his son. Fred E.. who is now running it, being well
qualified for the responsibility, since he has been as-
sisting his father for a number of years. Mr. Wehner
now lives retired at his pleasant country place on
Alum Rock Avenue, where he has a modern, beau-
tiful bungalow situated on an eminence giving a beau-
tiful view of the valley and city of San Jose, and
here he engages in poultry raising, having very fine
poultry yards. Mr. Wehner was born in Hanover.
Germany, June 26, 1861, the son of John C. and
Hannah (Angerstein) Wehner, both natives of Ger-
many, from whence the family came to America in
the year 1872, when our subject was eleven years old.
Fred was ne.xt to the youngest of a family of thirteen
children born to this worthy couple, who both passed
away in San Jose.

Coming to San Jose in 1872 he was educated in
the public schools. After school days were over,
when sixteen years old, he began work as a machin-
ist in the Alameda foundry and machine works at
San Jose, owned by Fred Altman, continuing for
about four years. During this time at their works
he worked on the couplings and connections for the
San Jose electric light tower at Market and Santa
Clara Streets, which was famous all over the United
States. He was sent to aid in its construction, start-
ing when it was forty feet high, and then worked
until the tower was completed to the topmost plat-
forms, 200 feet high. He next went to northern
Arizona, where he ran a stationary engine in the
San Francisco Mountains near Flagstaff, at that time
just a small railroad station; then came to West
Berkeley and ran the engine for the Wentworth
Boot and Shoe Company about one year. The fol-
lowing four years he was with N. Clark & Sons Terra
Cotta Company, in San Francisco,. Next he went
to \'ineyard Canyon. Monterey County and engaged
in farming and stockraising for fourteen years, when
he sold out and returned to San Jose in 1903. Here
he began general teaming contracting, and since then
continued in this line and in cement contracting, for
a period of eighteen years. Many of the fine roads
for which Santa Clara County is noted, have been
constructed by him, among them being the Home-
stead, the Story, the King, and the Berryessa roads;
and Lucretia, Stone and Capitol Avenues. He has
done extensive work in rock, gravel and cement, and
his business continues to progress steadily since he
turned it over to his son, F. E. Wehner.

The marriage of Mr. Wehner occurred in San
Francisco, September 16, 1883. and united him with
Miss Katherine E. Hennessey, a native of Springfield.
Mass., and to them have been born three sons and
a daughter; Fred E., as stated, is running the busi-
ness;^ Ethel E. completed a business course and was
employed by the Union Oil Company when she
passed away in 1909, at the age of twenty-three;
William Walter is a druggist at Gustine; Richard
Harold is a public accountant, located at San Jose;
he served in the U. S. Army during the World War.
Mrs. Wehner is a cultured woman, enjoying the
esthetic and beautiful things in life, and their home
home is very attractive, both Mr. and Mrs. Wehner
taking pleasure in showering their hospitality on their
many friends. Mr. Wehner is a member of the
Builders E.xchange of San Jose and the Fraternal
Brotherhood. He is a stanch adherent of the princi-
ples of the Republican party and an enthusiast for
outdoor life. He is held in high esteem as a pro-
gressive citizen of San Jose and has ever manifested
the deepest interest in questions of public concern.

ELMER E. CHASE.— A man of marked executive
ability through which he has attained a high degree
of success, IS Elmer E. Chase of the Richmond-Chase
Company. He was born m April 1, 1861, near Ro-
chester, Minn., a son of George G. and Maria S.
(ParceJ Chase, and came with his parents to San
Jose, Calif., in the year 1874. His father followed his
trade of carpenter for a number of years; later en-
gaging in agricultural pursuits. Both father and
mother passed away in San Jose. There are three
daughters and one son living.

Mr. Chase attended the public schools of Rochester
and San Jose; later attending high school for a short
time. His first venture into the business world was
as an ordinary farm laborer; then he was employed
by the Golden Gate Packing Company and served
from general factotum to the responsible position of
president and manager, serving in all some forty
years. This was the oldest business of its kind in
the state and was sold to Hunt Bros, in 1918. The
experience of forty years in this particular line served
to fully equip him for his later investments. In 1919,
with E. N. Richmond, he formed a corporation known
as the Richmond-Chase Company, dealers in dried
and canned fruits. They operate two canneries — one
of them located at Stockton — and two large packing
plants and own and control about 600 acres of prune
orchards. During the busy season, some 1500 people
are employed to take care of their products. While
his own individual business is the center of his activ-
ities, yet Mr. Chase finds time to be of great value to
the community. He served as president of the Board
of Education for four years; he was a member of the
board of freeholders that framed the city manager
form of government and was elected a member of
the city council at the general election in 1916, and
served as president of the council two years; he also
filled an unexpired term twenty years ago. He has
served some ten or twelve j-ears as president of the
state organization of the Canners' League and in
1922 was re-elected to that office; is now president
of the Security Warehouse and Cold Storage Com-
pany, second vice-president of the Bank of San Jose,
and president of the Traffic Bureau of the Chamber
of Commerce. He is a loyal adherent of the principles
of the Republican party, and fraternally is an active
member of the Masons and the Elks. He is also a

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

847

member of the Country Club, the Rotary Club, and
Chamber of Commerce, having served as president,
and the San Francisco Commercial Club, and a di-
rector of the San Jose Commercial Club.

Mr. Chase's marriage to Miss Edith Granger,
daughter of the late F. B. Granger, united him with
a prominent pioneer family of Alameda, and three
children have been born to them: Elmer E,, Jr.,
associated with Richmond-Chase Company; Bernice,
a student in high school, and June, who died in 1918
while a student at Stanford. Kindly by nature, public
spirited, honorable and upright in all his business
transactions, Elmer E. Chase is a man whom any
city may well be proud to number among her citi-
zens. He is very fond of music and for twenty-five
years took an active part in amateur operas put on
in San Jose, and was a member of the San Jose
Orchestral Society during its existence.

ERNEST WOODBURY CONANT.— A native
Minnesotan of acknowledged proficiency who has
proven most efficient as a California public official,
IS Ernest Woodbury Conant, the popular treasurer of
Santa Clara County, with headquarters at San Jose.
He was born in Hennepin County on July 2, 1862,
the son of Timothy Conant, a veteran of the Civil
War, who saw hard service with Sherman on his
famous march to the sea when he was a member of
Company F of the Fourth Minnesota Infantry, which
had previously been commanded by Gen. John A.
Logan, one of Sherman's most dependable aides. He
married Miss Martha Davis, and with their family
they came to California in 1874, and on February 17
settled in Santa Clara County, where Mr. Conant
became an orchardist in the Willows, in which field
of activity he continued until his death, in 1889, the
same year in which his good wife died.

After finishing with the elementary schools, Ernest
Conant was duly graduated from the high school at
San Jose, and then he pursued successfully certain
courses in the University of California at Berkeley.
When his father's health became impaired, he took
charge of the home ranch; and so he came to busy
himself with the drying of fruit, and the planting of
more orchard. After a while, he was able to ship
fruit East; and he still has an orchard and takes good
care of it. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce
and contributes in every way possible for the stimula-
tion of those industries and lines of activity peculiar
to this section.

When Mr. Conant married, he chose for his wife
Miss Agnes Pender, a graduate of the State Normal,
a native daughter, her father having been a '49er;
and now they have three children, Ernest Leslie,
David Jordan and Mabel Agnes, and a grandson,
Ernest Roger Conant. Ernest Leslie, ranch super-
intendent for Fred Thomas, on Ryer Island, Sacra-
mento County, is married and father of Ernest Roger
Conant. David Jordan, who served the Government
as the head of the engineering department of the
ground school at Berkeley during the World War,
with rank of Second Lieutenant, is now engineer for
the Western Well Works in San Jose. Mabel Agnes
is in training for the duties of a professional nurse;
all three graduated from the San Jose high school
Mr. Conant is a Mason, holding membership in San
Jose Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M., of which he served
two successive terms as Master and is now Senior
Past Master of No. 10; a member of the Royal Arch
Chapter and Knights Templar and of Observatory

Lodge I. O. O. F. and he also belongs to the Sons
of Veterans, the Sciots and the Grange of Campbell.
A Republican in national politics, and a nonpartisan
advocate of what is best for community develop-
ment and uplift, Mr. Conant was elected county
treasurer in 1902, and he has been reelected every four
years since. He is president of the state organiza-
tion of county treasurers, serving his seventh year.
He is extremely optimistic as to the future of Santa
Clara County, which also means, very naturally, that
he is interested in its historic past and wide-awake
as to the golden opportunities here at the present.

MRS. LUCY A. ST. JOHN— During the thirty-
four years of her residence in San Jose Mrs. Lucy
A. St. John has witnessed much of the growth and
development of the city, in which she has ever been
deeply and helpfully interested. She was born in
Sheboygan, Wis., a daughter of John and Angeline
(Hadley) Laing. Her maternal grandfather, Jack-
son Hadley, was a native of Livonia, Livingston
County, N. Y., and a prominent figure in public af-
fairs, serving as U. S. senator from Wisconsin from
1863 until 1867. He passed away March 4, 1867,
deeply regretted by all who had the honor of his
acquaintance, for he was a man of high principles
and sterling worth. John Laing was born in Water-
loo. Seneca County. N. Y., and on removing to Wis-
consin he purchased land at Portage, while later he
crossed Lake Michigan and took up his residence
in Grand Haven when the subject of this review
was seven years of age.

Mrs. St. John's mother passed away when she was
twelve years old and she has two sisters living,
Mrs. J. F. Warncke of San Jose and Mrs. Hattie
Caldwell of Portland, Ore. In 1878 she went to
Waterloo, N. Y., where she remained for a year,
and then came again to Michigan. At White Cloud,
that state, in the home of her brother, Charles
Hadley, on September 4, 1879, she married Sidney
Monroe Keith, a native of Lima, now known as
Howe, Ind., and a son of Sidney and Angeline
(Moore) Keith. His father followed farming and
was a frontiersman in Indiana, obtaining a patent
of land signed by President Martin Van Buren.
S. M. Keith was born January 4, 1858, and in 1886,
with his family, he came to California, settling in
San Jose, where he followed the carpenter's trade.
He engaged in building cars for the railroad and for
a number of years was master mechanic, later having
charge of the dynamos at the power plant on First
Street. He made his home in that part of the city
known as The Willows and throughout the period
of his residence in San Jose he took a most active
part in the work of public progress and improve-
ment. He passed away in 1912 and his demise was
deeply regretted not only by his immediate family
but by all with whom he came in contact, for he
was actuated by the highest standards of manhood
and citizenship. Mr. and Mrs. Keith became the
parents of two children: George Sidney, a resi-
dent of Turlock, Stanislaus County; Mary A. and
Mrs. L. C. Maynard, of San Jose.

Mrs. Keith's second union was with J. E. Cur-
tiss. whom she married at the home of her sister,
in Napa, Cal. He was born at Footville, Wis., No-
vember 4, 1857, and by his first wife, Maria Fannie
Bennett, a native of Barrington, Mass., he had two
children: Fred, a well-known dentist of San Jose;

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and Ruth, now Mrs. L. A. Eunson. For many years
Mr. Curtiss engaged in the farm-loan business at
Fairmont, Nebr., and in 1900 he came to San Jose,
where he lived retired until his death, which oc-
curred May 6, 1919. He purchased land in The
Willows, becoming the owner o£ one-half of the
Owsley tract, and the property was later subdivided
and placed upon the market. Mrs. St. John now
resides on a part of that property, occupying a plot
of three-quarters of an acre, and a street has been
named in honor of Mr. Curtiss. He was a member
of the Masonic fraternity and his political allegiance
was given to the Republican party, of which his
widow is also an adherent.

On September 28, 1920, Mrs. Curtiss was married
in Santa Cruz, Cal., to M. B. St. John, who by a
previous union had three children, Edwin, Homer
and Bayliss, all of Rockford, 111. For many years
Mr. St. John w^as identified with the paper mills at
Rockford, 111., removing from that state to Cali-
fornia. He is a prominent Mason, being secretary
of Friendship Lodge No. 210, F. & A. M., at San
Jose and also belongs to the Consistory.

JOSEPH BOHNETT.— When Joseph Bohnett
purchased his present homestead ranch in Santa
Clara County in 1890 it was a hay field, with no sug-
gestion of higher cultivation, but he foresaw greater
remuneration in store for him by having the tract in
fruit, and forthwith planted the entire ranch to fruit-
bearing trees, thirty-five acres being set apart for
prunes, and the balance planted to apricots and cher-
ries. Mr. Bohnett also installed a dryer upon his
ranch, thus facilitating the preparation of the fruit
for the market, this being but one of the many ap-
pointments that go toward making his ranch one of
the foremost in Santa Clara County.

Joseph Bohnett was born in Ann Arbor, Mich.,
March 26, 1848, a son of Christian and Mary Raus
Echnett, both natives of Wurtemberg, Germany,
When a young man the father emigrated from Ger-
many and settled in Ann Arbor, Mich., where as a
shoemaker he spent the rest of his life, both he and
his wife passing away in that state. Of the seven
children born to them, three sons and four daugh-
ters, Joseph is the fourth child. The first twenty-
three years of his life were spent in Michigan, but he
determined to fettle where there was more hope of
rapid advancement. The West seemed to hold forth
more inducements than any other part of the country,
and in 1871 he came to Santa Clara County, Cal. He
located in the Cambrian school district in May of
that year and it has been his home ever since; for
thirty years he was a trustee of this same school dis-
trict until he refused longer service. He is now the
second longest resident in point of years in this dis-
trict. His first day's work was on a ranch he after-
wards owned and improved w'ith an orchard. For
three years he worked for wages and then leased 153
acres — the John Barker ranch — which he purchased
in 1876. The place was located adjoining his pres-
ent ranch. About thirty-five years ago he sold the
old Barker place and purchased his present place of
forty-eight acres, a portion of the Casey ranch, and
soon began setting it to orchards, so he transformed
what was once a vast field of grain into one of the
most productive orchards in Santa Clara County.

Mr. Bohnett was united in marriage with Miss
Tamer lone Barker, a native of Santa Clara County,

born near Milliken's Corner, and a daughter of John
Barker, a pioneer settler of the county. Mr. Bohnett
was bereaved of his faithful wife on August 10, 1920.
She was a woman of much charm, beloved by all who
knew her, and at her passing was deeply mourned by
her family and her numerous friends, her funeral be-
ing the largest attended of any in the county. Their
union was blessed by the birth of eleven children, all
living and successful: Enos, an engineer, resides at
Aromas; Mrs. Mary Evans of Campbell; L. D., an
attorney in San Jose; Eva Pearl is Mrs. Powers,
residing in Chico; Ralph is a rancher near Perry,
this county; Grace is a graduate nurse who since the
death of her mother presides over her father's home,
caring for him with true devotion and ministering to
his comfort. Calvin is an educator and resides at
Campbell; Lois is private secretary to her brother,
L. D. Bohnett; Floyd has the home ranch; Karl is
associated with his brother Ralph in ranching at
Perr}'; Hattie is Mrs. Gardner and lives at Campbell.
Mr. Bohnett also has twenty-three grandchildren and
takes much pride in his family. In 1919 Mr. Bohnett
built a beautiful cement bungalow on his ranch and
his son Floyd moved into the old family home where
the children had been born and reared. Politically
Mr. Bohnett is a Republican; he is a charter member
o; Orchard City Grange and was master of the or-
ganization for two years. Local progress and na-
tional advancement are both causes dear to his heart,
and he gives helpful aid to all matters that he believes
will benefit his locality.

GEORGE E. McCLINE.— Real estate activity in
San Jose finds a prominent representative in George
E. McCline, an alert and progressive young busi-
ness man, who is also extensively engaged in ranch-
ing. A native of Ohio, he was born in Calla. Ma-
honing County, June 17, 1892, his parents being
A. H. and Dora (Hendricks) McCline, members of
old families of that state. The father was a suc-
cessful farmer and a prominent figure in public af-
fairs of his locality, serving for twenty years as
postmaster of Calla. In later life he removed to
Fresno County, Cal., where he is now living retired.
In the family were four sons and four daughters,
of whom the subject of this review was the third
in order of birth. A sister, Mrs. L. O. Wilcox, is
the wife of a rancher and lives at Lawrence, in Santa
Clara County, while another sister, Mrs. V. D.
Goodrich, is residing in San Jose.

Mr. McCline acquired his grammar school educa-
tion at Calla, Ohio, and in 1907 came to Santa Clara,
Cal., where he completed a high school course. On
starting out in life he went to Gerlach, Nev., where
he homesteaded a half section of land, on which he
proved up, gradually transforming the place into a
productive ranch, on which he engaged in stock-
raising for eight years. He is still the owner of this
property, which is in Duck Lake Valley near Reno.

On September 23, 1918, Mr. McCline enlisted in
the army and was sent to Camp Lewis, Wash., be-
ing promoted to the rank of sergeant. He became
a member of the Sixteenth Company, Fourth Bat-
talion, One Hundred Sixty-Sixth Depot Brigade, re-
maining at that camp until May 6, 1920, when he re-
ceived his discharge. Returning to San Jose, he
engaged in the real estate business as a partner
of his brother-in-law. Virgil D. Goodrich, their in-
terests being conducted at the San Joaquin Valley

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

851

Land Company. Mr. Goodrich was born in the
Ozark Mountains of Missouri, January 12, 1876, a
son of A. K. and Rebecca B. (Devin) Goodrich,
the former a native of Virginia, while the latter
was born in Tennessee, the father following the
occupation of farming and stock-raising.

Mr. Goodrich attended the public schools of
Bolivar, Mo., and subsequently became a student at
the Baptist College of that city. When a young
man of seventeen he came to California, first
locating in Sacramento and going from there to
Placerville, where he secured a position as driver
of a stage operating between that place and the
mines. At the end of a year he returned to Sacra-
mento and for ten years was employed in the
men's clothing store of W. M. Petrie. In 1900 he
went to Alaska and for two years worked in the
general merchandise store of the Russian-Nome
Gold Company at Fuller City, returning in 1902
to San Jose, where he has since made his home.
Purchasing a ranch in Santa Clara County he en-
gaged in dairying, while later he became interested
in land in the San Joaquin Valley and organized
the San Joaquin \"alley Land Company, which has
since become a very successful enterprise of ex-
tensive proportions.

Mr. Goodrich has been married twice. In San
Jose, in September, 1898, he was united with Miss
California Main, a daughter of H. H. and Minnie
Main, and for his second wife he chose Miss Mil-
dred McCline, whom he married in July, 1919. Two
children have been born to Mr. Goodrich: Juanita
June, who died at the age of ten years; and Virginia
Donna. He is a Republican in his political views
and is a public-spirited citizen and capable business
man who stands high in his community.

In Santa Clara County, Cal., Mr. McCline mar-
ried Miss Vera Chamber, a native of Olympia,
Wash., and a daughter of Thomas and Lydia Cham-
ber. Air. McCIine's political allegiance is given to
the Republican party and he is a member of the
American Legion of San Jose.

In addition to his real estate interests he is also
cultivating a forty-acre ranch in the Patterson colony
of the San Joaquin Valley which he devotes to the
raising of alfalfa, and this is also proving a profit-
able investment.

JOHN CAVALLARO— For many years con-
nected with the city fire department as assistant
chief, in which connection he made a most com-
mendable record. John Cavallaro was born in Paler-
mo. Sicily, .\ugust 24, 1858, a son of Domingo and
.\nna (Lasjiinna) Cavallero. who had three chil-
dren. Wlun John was two years old his father
died and liis mother afterward became the wife of
I'.. Zarcone, by whom she had four children.

When John Cavallaro was nine years of age he
accompanied his stepfather to the United States,
the mother and remaining children following them
later. Soon after he arrived in New York City,
young Cavallaro began earning his own livelihood
learning the barber trade and selling the New York
Herald, and in 1874 he came to California, settling
in San Jose. For six months he was employed in
the barber shop of A. G. Cook and then embarked
in the business on his own account, successfully
conducting his shop for twenty years. Under G. W.
Lorigan's administration he became a member of the

Volunteer Fire Department of San Jose, acting as
assistant in charge of the relief station at Eighth
and San Salvador Streets for four years. In 1898
he was appointed by the commissioners an extra
man on the fire department and was attached to the
station on North Eighth Street, remaining there six
months, when he was made assistant foreman of
chemical No. 1. He served in that capacity for a
year, and w^as then chosen captain of Chemical No. 1
and for four years continued to fill that post and
then resigned. Soon afterward he was appointed
assistant chief of the fire department under Henry
Ford and until he resigned capably discharged the
duties of that responsible position. Following his
resignation he conducted a grocery store at the
corner of Fifth and St. James Streets, having dis-
posed of his barber shop on engaging in merchan-
dising. He was then reappointed assistant fire chief
under George Tompkins, resigning at the end of
three years owing to injuries which he had received
and which disqualified him for active work in the
department. Upon regaining his strength he be-
came caretaker of the Lincoln school and grounds
and since 1911 has had charge of this work. He is
also engaged in ranching, having a ten-acre tract on
the Almaden Road, this being a part of the old
Welsh estate, while in 1914 he purchased his present
attractive home at 450 Vine Street, San Jose.

In San Jose, on September 1, 1879, Mr. Cavallaro
was married to Miss Maggie Welsh, a native of this
city and a daughter of John and Anastasia Welsh,
the former of whom came to California in the late
'SOs and engaged in ranching in the Almaden dis-
trict of Santa Clara County. Mrs. Cavallaro passed
away in 1905, leaving three children, John E., Am-
brose and Annie. The elder son married a Miss
Lynch, of San Francisco, and they have one child,
Vernon. Ambrose is also married and has three
children, Andrew, Dolores and Marj-. For his sec-
ond wife Mr. Cavallaro chose Mrs. Harry Krapp, a
native of Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, Cal..
and a daughter of Anthony and Mary Fabretti, both
of whom were born in Canton Ticino, Switzerland,
and the father was formerly a resident of Aus-
tralia, where he was occupied as a miner until coming
to California in 1875. arriving in San Luis Obispo
County where his daughter, Mrs. Cavallaro, was
born in 1877. He farmed in San Luis Obispo County
and his demise occurred in 1890 at Saratoga. His
wife died there the year previous. By her first mar-
riage Mrs. Cavallaro had two children; Frank, who
died in childhood; and Harrison, who married Kath-
erine Gibbons, a native of Boston, Mass. He is a
printer and in February, 1914, enlisted in the Navy,
receiving his training at Mare Island and becoming
head of the printing department there. During the
World War he served on the cruiser Rochester and
is now stationed in New York City, being chief
printer in that department of the navy. By this
second marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cavallaro have a
daughter, Virginia A., attending the high school.

Mr. and Mrs. Cavallaro are Republicans and he
is a Scottish Rite Mason, being Past Priest of Har-
mony Lodge No. 25 of San Jose. He is also con-
nected with the United Ancient Order of Druids, in
which he is Past Noble; he was one of the organiz-
ers of Mt. Hamilton Lodge A. O. F.

852

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

FRANK W. KNOWLES, M. D.— The delightful
home-town and famous winter resort, Los Gatos,
declared by no less an authority than the London
Lancet to be, with Assuan, in Egypt, one of the two
places in all the world with the most equable cli-
mate, owes much of its attraction, to those particu-
lar about health and the safety and enjoyment of
life, to the presence and activity there of the dis-
tinguished Illinois physician and surgeon, Dr. Frank
W. Knowles, now one of the leading members of the
American Medical Association, and also the medical
societies of both California and Santa Clara County.
He was born near Port Byron in Rock Island Coun-
ty, in the Prairie State, on March 2, 1858, the son
of Smith S. and Mary (Crooks) Knowles. His fa-
ther was born in Ohio and there he married Miss
Crooks, w^ho was born in Virginia; they were pio-
neers of Illinois and farmed near Port Byron, where
the father passed away, and his widow spent her
last days in California. Of their eight children, Frank
W. Knowles is the third oldest, and after attending
the Moline, III., public schools, Frank was graduated
from the high school at that place, then entered
Rush Medical College in Chicago, from which he
was graduated with the class of '83 with the degree
of M. D. Ready for practical work, he came to
California in 1883, and direct to Los Gatos, at a time
when there were few people here, the valley all
devoted to grain raising, so that many of his calls
had to be made to patients far away among the
settlers in the mountains, making his trips on horse-
back. Since then, he has practiced here continu-
ously, with the result that he has grown up with
the country, has had much to do with influencing
its development, and has come to know thousands,
while everyone knows and loves him. Dr. Knowles
is also interested in ranching, and he set out forty-
two acres of orchard on San Jose Avenue, one
mile north of Los Gatos, now in full bearing. It is
equipped with an electric pumping plant and is de-
voted to prunes, apricots, peaches and grapes. He
is a member of the Prune & Apricot Growers As-
sociation and was an original stockholder of the
First National Bank of Los Gatos and a director
and vice-president of the bank.

Mrs. Knowles was in maidenhood Miss Olive
Warren, a native of Chicago, 111., who has come to
share with him his well-earned and enviable popu-
larity for real good; and they have one son, Frank
W. Knowles, Jr. Dr. Knowles was made a Mason
in Los Gatos Lodge No. 292, F. & A. M. and was
the first candidate initiated. He is a past master of
the lodge and a member of Howard Chapter No.
14, and with his wife is a member of the Los Gatos
Chapter No. 128, O. E. S. He also belongs to San
Jose Commandery No. 10, K .T., and is a life mem-
ber of Islam Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine
in San Francisco. He is a Republican in all pref-
erences as to national political affairs, but believes
thoroughly in nonpartisan support of the best men
and the best measures in order to get the desired-for
unity in the community. He is fond of hunting, and
is an expert at the sport; so that when the pressure
of medical or surgical work does not confine him
to his well-appointed office over Green's Pharmacy,
he is abroad with gun and game bag, both of which
he knows how to use to advantage.

LOUIS P. COOPERS.— Prominent in the busi-
ness circles in San Jose, Louis P. Coopers is also a
native son, having been born in this city on Novem-
ber 23, 1866. He is one of eight children, five of
them still living, that were born to Edmond and
Mary (Brady) Coopers, numbered among the earli-
est settlers of San Jose. The father was a native of
Belgium, born in 1834, and while living in his native
country was sent to the schools of his town and
afterwards was in the employ of the customs serv-
ice until he decided to strike out for America with
some friends, who declared their intention of going
to California. Leaving home at the age of seven-
teen, Mr. Coopers spent si,x months in making the
trip to San Francisco, having come around Cape
Horn in a sailing vessel and arriving at his destina-
tion during the year 1851. He immediately went
to the mines on the Yuba and Feather rivers and
was fortunate in making good money, averaging about
$35 per day. At that time everything was high in
price — a meal of ham and eggs costing $1.50 — so his
money came easily and went the same way. In 1854
the young emigrant came to San Jose in his wander-
ings over this part of the state, then he went south
to Los Angeles and San Bernardino, investigating
the opportifnities before locating. He was so well
satisfied with San Jose that he returned here in 1855,
and thereafter this was his home and the scene of his
activities until his death.

Mr. Coopers engaged in the butcher business on
Market Street on the present site of the post office,
v.'orking for Peter Reeve for a time, then he began
driving a butcher wagon for himself, after which
decided he w'ould try ranching and bought forty acres
;n The Willows, on Willow Street, what is now known
as the Keesling Place. This was covered with wil-
low trees and these he grubbed out and began setting
cut one of the first orchards in this section. As
an e.xperiment he set out various kinds of fruit and
vines and found the soil adapted to their rapid
growth. He spent about five years on the ranch and
decided he was not cut out for a farmer and sold
his property and moved back into town and em-
barked in business with M. Blanchard, who had a
butcher shop on Market and Post streets. This part-
I ership continued until 1881, when Mr. Coopers sold
( ut and opened a place of his own. The Coopers'
Meat Market was located on First Street, between
San Antonio and San Fernando streets, for thirty
years and Mr. Coopers had the satisfaction of assist-
ing in the growth of the city and as a consequence
he profited by it as he built up a good trade.

It was in 1864 that Mr. Coopers was united in
marriage in San Jose, with Miss Mary Brady. She
was born in Ireland and had come to America and
lived in Boston for a time, then came to California,
crossing the Isthmus of Panama, in company with an
older sister and they settled in San Jose. It was in
this city that their eight children were born and edu-
cated and here both parents passed to their last rest-
ing place surrounded by a host of friends who knew
them for their true worth as citizens. Mr. Coopers
died in 1901 and his wife in 1913, aged seventy-four,
Louis P. Coopers attended the public schools in
San Jose and at the age of fourteen went into the
shop to work for his father and from the bottom of
the ladder he gradually climbed until in 1900, on ac-
count of his father's illness, he took over the
butcher business and carried it on alone until 1913.

y^^^^Cx^^^^-c^^-^ ^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

853

when it was incorporated and his brother, Joseph B.
was taken into partnership, becoming secretary of
the new concern, while Louis P. is the president and
manager. As their business increased they added to
their number of employees until they now have six.
The Coopers' Market at 85 South Second Street,
where they moved in 1908, is one of the most sanitary
as well as busiest shops in the city and they handle
only the very best of meats and prompt and courteous
treatment is accorded all patrons.

The marriage of Louis P. Coopers and Miss Laura
M. Dewart was celebrated in Gilroy in 1900, the
bride being a native of that city, whither her parents
had settled upon coming to California. Of their
union two daughters have been born, Marie Louise
and Agnes Lorraine. Mr. and Mrs. Coopers are
popular in their social circle in San Jose and have
many friends. Mr. Coopers is a member of the San
Jose Chamber of Commerce; the Commercial Club
and the Merchants Association and fraternally he be-
longs to the Y. M. L, where he is one of the charter
members. He is public spirited and gives his sup-
port to all worthy movements for the advancement
of the social and commercial interests of city and
county. The family are members of St. Joseph's
Catholic Church.

HOWARD IRVIN MABURY.— A worthy repre-
sentative of one of the old pioneer families of Santa
Clara County is Howard Irvin Mabury, the hustling
proprietor of the Empire Wet Wash Laundry at San
Jose, one of the best organized and best managed in-
dustrial establishments of its kind in the entire state.
He was born on Mabury Road, named in honor of
his father, on September 23, 1876, the son of Frank
Howard and Helen A. (Cadwell) Mabury, who came
from Jeffersonville, Ind., and Deerfield, III, respec-
tively, the Cadwell family journeying to California
by way of the Isthmus of Panama in June, 1868.
They both came to California when young and were
married. Mr. and Mrs. Mabury settled early in Santa
Clara County, where they grew to be large land-
owners and exerted an enviable influence because of
their progressive ideas and methods. They had three
cliildren, Howard I., Mrs. Laura Nevada Taylor
and Florence Mabury Earnshaw, living in Oklahoma
City. Okla , and Seattle, Wash., respectively. Mr.
Mabury died in 1909, and Mrs. Mabury passed away
■At 1914. Both parents were of that sterling type
which has always been found most desirable for the
building up and the upbuilding of a great country.

Howard attended the Grant public school and later
mastered an excellent course in a first-class business
tollege; and owing to his rather delicate health, he
took up laundry work with H. S. Kelley. He com-
menced with the delivery wagon, which enabled him
to remain outdoors, and at the end of six years in
that field, he went to Fresno and during 1905-06 was
with the telephone company there. Returning to San
Jose he served the telephone company here for a
time, then went with the St. James Laundry.

In 1912 Mr. Mabury started his present laundry
embarking on the enterprise with partners, each of
whom in time he brought out, so that now he is the
sole owner of the institution which San Jose points
to with pride. Only wet wash is handled, but there
is enough of this to keep ten experienced men busy
all the time. Public-spirited to an exceptional de-
gree, and deeply interested in all that pertains to the
welfare of Santa Clara County as well as the city of

San Jose, Mr. Mabury so conducts his business enter-
prise that it is in the widest sense beneficial to the
community and its residents.

On April 18, 1905, Mr. Mabury was married to
Mrs. Laura Billingsley of Visalia, Tulare County, an
attractive lady who already had two children by her
former marriage. Earl and Claude, both married.
They resided in the same house on North Tenth
Street until November, 1920, when they removed to
'07 North Second Street, where Mr. Mabury lived
when he was seven years of age. He belongs to
San Jose Parlor No. 22, N. S. G. W., the Knights of
Pythias and the National Union. As one of the sub-
stantial business men of the city, Mr. Mabury also
belongs to the Chamber of Commerce of San Jose,
in which excellent organization he is always ready
to discharge his full share of the responsibility. He
also belongs to the Laundry Owners' Club of Santa
Clara County, the Laundry Owners' Association of
California, and the Laundry Owners' National
Association.

HENRY M. KERR.— Fortunate it is for any city
\\hen it numbers among its citizens and active men
of atifairs such well-trained, highly-conscientious and
experienced representatives of the professions as
Henry M. Kerr, of the Kerr Abstract and Title Com-
pany of San Jose, a well-maintained concern to
which San Jose repeatedly turns for expert service.
Mr. Kerr is the manager and under his leadership
the conipan\- bi(l> fair to expand and to prosper in
keeping with the phenomenal growth of San Jose.

Henry M. Kerr was born in Iowa in June. 1862,
the son of William and Sophia (Keck) Kerr, worthy
and devoted parents, of whom only the mother is
still living; and after finishing with the excellent
public schools of his locality, he enjoved all the ad-
vantages offered by the up-to-date Elliott's Business
College at Burlington. Having been raised on a
farm, which developed in him an enviable hardihood.
Mr. Kerr followed railroad work for twenty years
with success, as agent, operator and traveling freight
;aid passenger agent, and in 1901 first came to Cali-
fornia. His wide experience enabled him to select
with unerring judgment the city of San Jose as the
most promising center for him, although he did not
actually settle here until 1907; and in the following
year he joined the Garden City Abstract Companv,
which had been organized in 1905. He had already
had experience in this line in Butte County, where he
located in the fall of 1901, and at once took up this
v.ork in Oroville, and he entered upon his work in
San Jose as one of the clerks; and after having been
vice-president of the progressive company, he was
made manager in March, 1919. He continued in this
position until it was sold in June. 1921, then engaged
in business under the present title of the Kerr Ab-
stract and Title Company.

While still in Iowa, Mr. Kerr married, at Don-
nellson, Miss Mary E. Hill, a native of the Hawkeye
State and an accomplished woman well fitted to be
the companion and stimulation of a professional man;
and their union has been rendered happier by the
advent of two children, named Ruby M. and Hazel
M. Kerr, both educated in San Jose, and Ruby M.
is a graduate of Stanford wiih A \I .md A.B. de-
grees and a teacher in the S.mt,; Cl.ira high school.
The family attend the Pre;.h\tc.rian ehurch of San
Jose. Mr. Kerr supports heartily the work of the
San Jose Chamber of Commerce and is an adherent

854

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of the principles of the Republican party. He be-
longs to the Maccabees, and finds much of his recrea-
tion in the mountains and in California's wonderful
outdoors. His constant researches into the interesting
historic past of the great Pacific commonwealth and
the highly-favored Santa Clara County and Valley
stimulate his interest in the California of the future,
and it is probable that, although not a native son,
he is second to no more optimistic citizen of San
Jose and confidently believes that a wonderful fate
is in store for this section of the state.

HENRIETTA REHOR KRIEG.— A native of
Germany, Henrietta i.Rehor) Krieg was born at Nas-
sau, August 5, 1846, the daughter of Joseph and
Louisa Rehor. The paternal grandfather was a Rus-
sian, and went to Germany to fight against Napo-
leon. The father, Joseph Rehor, was a foundryman
and worked in the foundries of Nassau. Both par-
ents passed away when Henrietta w-as a small child.
She was educated in the schools of Nassau and re-
ceived a very thorough training. In 1866 she em-
barked for the United States and settled in Chicago,
111., and engaged in teaching the German language
in private families and schools. During these years she
studied and became proficient in the English language.
During the great Chicago fire she lost all of her be-
longings, and becoming homesick to see her native
land she decided to visit her brother Frederick, in
Metz, Germany. Within a few weeks after her arrival
in Metz, her brother died, and again she set sail for
the United States; later coming to Santa Clara Coun-
ty, Cal., and on April 6. 1878, she was united in mar-
riage to Jacob Smith, also a native of Germany, born
March 25, 1825, a son of Jacob and Mary Smith, of
French and Germany parentage, respectively. When he
was four years old, his parents came to New York and
located at Eden, about twenty-five miles from Buffalo
and remained there four years, when they removed to
Hamburg, Erie County, where they lived until they
passed away. Jacob Smith, Sr., was a soldier under
Napoleon I for nine years and was past ninety-eight
years when he died. They were the parents of six
children, three sons and three daughters.

Jacob Smith's opportunities for schooling were lim-
ited and he had to work during the intervals. In the
f;.ll of 1851 he traveled over Ohio, Michigan, Indiana
and Illinois, and in the spring of 1852 returned to
New York and came to California via Panama. He
was stricken with the Panama fever and was laid up
for a week, then left for San Francisco, arriving on
June 15, 1852, and for six years he engaged in min-
ing near Hangtown. In 1858 he settled on govern-
ment land and lived on it until 1877, when he re-
moved to Santa Clara County and bought 165 acres
on the Homestead Road. Parts of it were disposed
of until there arc now only forty-six acres left, all
being set to orchard and vineyard. Mr. Smith passed
away on the home place.

From Mrs. Kreig's home she has a most beautiful
view of the mountains and could not be happy away
from it. Her second marriage united her with Engel-
btrt Krieg a native of Hesse-Nassau, Germany,
who came to California in early days. Mrs. Krieg
is active in ReQ Cross circles and has also done a
great deal of church work and is a liberal giver
toward the upbuilding of the community and can be
counted upon to .--upport all measures for the prog-
ress and prosperity of her locality.

FRANK STOCK.— For many years on of San
Jose's most successful business men, Frank Stock
is now enabled to live in comfortable retirement as
a reward of his years' of activity. He was born in
Chicago, 111., on June 26, 1854, the son of John and
Susanna (Berg) Stock, and the nephew of Frank
Stock, who broke the ground, so to speak, for the
rest of the family in San Jose, by coming here two
years after the admission of the state to the Union,
when he started a small stove and household fur-
nishing store and was the pioneer in that field in the
city. John Stock followed in two years, arriving in
December, 1854, and the brothers opened a store at
the corner of Santa Clara and Market streets, a short
time before Frank Stock bought the South First
Street lot now occupied by Woolworth's Store and
the Pellerano Drug Store. On that lot he erected the
first brick building seen on that street and there the
brothers removed as soon as possible.

In 1861, John Stock succeeded his brother as the
sole proprietor, and until he retired in 1884, he con-
ducted the business in his own name. In 1869 he
acquired the lot and built the front part of the store
now occupied by his sons, and when he laid aside
active duties, he had the satisfaction of seeing his
three sons, John L., Frank and Peter H. Stock, take
hold of the helm together. John Stock died January
26, 1916, his wife having preceded him March 30,
1889. They were the parents of seven children:
John L. died June 17, 1904; Frank is the subject of
this sketch; Peter H. is the proprietor of The John
Stock Sons; Clara is the widow of A. H. Marten;
Helena is Mrs. J. P. Martin; Miss Elizabeth Stock
and Mrs. Louise Dore, all residents of San Jose.

In addition to his public school studies, Frank
Stock had the advantage of a period of study at
Santa Clara College, but he said goodbye to the
classroom when he was fifteen and for fifteen years
he ran the finances of the store and such was his
diligence and exactness that he would work at his
desk until the wee sma' hours, if necessary, for it
was his rule never to leave his desk until it was
cleaned up. On February 1, 1884, when the father
retired, the three sons became the proprietors, the
firm then becoming The John Stock Sons. I'rank
Stock continued the management and the business
grew steadily, new departments being added until
they had the largest and most complete store in the
county in their line. He remained actively in the
business until 1917, when he sold out to his brother
and retired. He is an original stockholder and di-
rector in the Security Savings Bank of San Jose.

At San Jose, October 21, 1877, Mr. Stock was mar-
ried to Miss Juanita F. Hinkelbein, a native daughter
of San Jose, who received her education at Notre
Dame convent. She is a daughter of Adam and
Verena (Miller) Hinkelbein, who came to San Jose
in 1855, where Mr. Hinkelbein was one of the early
merchants. Three children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Stock: Susan is Mrs. W. H. Pomeroy; George
passed away at the age of fourteen, while Nannie
lived to be only eight months old. The family are
members of St. Mary's Catholic Church. Mr. Stock
is a Republican, has served as a library trustee, be-
longs to the Knights of Columbus, in which he has
taken the fourth degree, and w^as one of the organ-
izers and directors of the Board of Trade, out of
which grew the present Chamber of Commerce.

I H^lyU^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

857

and

IGNATZ KOHNER.— An indefatigable worker
experienced fruit handler, who has very

naturally become successful in one of the most im-
portant fields of Californian agricultural industry,
Ignatz Kohner is content to retain his splendid ranch
for his homestead rather than to accept an advance
of many thousands, in a proffered offer, for its sale.
He lives on the Kifer Road, two miles to the North-
west of Santa Clara; and even at that distance from
town, the well-cultivated and well-managed rancho
draws from afar those ever alert to discover the latest
word in horticultural progress.

He was born in Bohemia on January IS, 1871,
the son of Adolph Kohner, a drygoods merchant
who had married Miss Mary Epstein; and as the
fourth among seven children, he grew up in Bo-
hemia. When he was twenty-one years of age, he
left for America, sailing from Bremen on the North
German Lloyd Steamship Line, and landed in New
York; and for six years he stayed in Plainfield,
N. J., where he clerked in a drygoods store. One
winter he went back to visit his parents, and upon
returning to the United States the next Spring, in
1897, he came direct to Santa Clara, Cal., and he has
been here ever since.

He entered the employ of A. Block, a grower
and packer at Santa Clara, and he worked there
steadily for thirteen years while the Block concern
was the largest shipper of green fruit in the Santa
Clara Valley. He then went with the Pioneer Fruit
Company, at San Jose, and for eleven years he was
a trusted employe, shipping cherries, pears, apples,
and the principal table fruits grown in the great
Santa Clara Valley. He made a second trip to
Bohemia in 1902, and visited his parents. Since
then, his father has died, but his mother is still
living. In New Jersey, he was naturalized, to the
day. as soon as the law permitted; hence his re-
turn, each time, to America was with a peculiar
feeling of satisfaction. Now he owns an exception-
ally fine pear and prune orchard of thirty-five acres,
which he bought from Grandin Bray in December,
1919, and such is its appreciated value, that he has
Ijeen offered more than $25,000, above its cost to him,
should he care to sell. He now devoted all of his
time to care and management of his orchards and
carrying out his plans for the shipment of his fruit.

In 1906 Mr. Kohner was married at Santa Clara
to Miss Olga Kohner, a lady of the same name, but
of no relation to him. who was also born in Bo-
hemia. She was the daughter of Phillip and The-
resa (Hermann) Kohner. large farmers, and her
father was a capitalist, connected with the Bourse
in Vienna. Olga Kohner was educated in the city
of Pilsen and was graduated from a ladies' semi-
nary and business college there. Her uncle. Abra-
ham Block, was a pioneer of Santa Clara, and she
also had a sister here, Mrs. Max Kohner, so in April.
1906, she crossed the ocean and came here on a
visit, where she met Mr. Kohner, the acquaintance
resulting in their marriage. They have two children,
Herbert Walter and Helen Doris.

Mr. Kohner was made a Mason in 1900 in Liberty
Lodge No. 299, F. & A. M.; he is a member of
Howard Chapter No. 14. R. A. M.. of Santa Clara;
and of True Fellowship Lodge No. 238. I. O. O. F.
of Santa Clara, of which he is past grand, and is
past chief patriarch of Santa Clara Encampment and

past captain of Canton No. 9, Patriarchs Militant,
and with his wife is a member of Rebekahs. He also
belongs to the Woodmen of the World, the Cali-
fornia Prune & Apricot Association, and the
California Pear Growers Association.

JOSEPH T. BROOKS.— In the front rank of
those whose foresight, activity and optimism have
meant much for the continued prosperity of the Gold-
en State undoubtedly stands Joseph T. Brooks, a
councilman of the City of San Jose, and also of the
field department of the California Prune and Apricot
Association. He was born at St. Louis, Mo., on
Washington's birthday, 1865, the son of Johnston
Brooks, who had married Miss Susan Briggs, natives
of Ireland and Greenville, 111., respectively. His
father came to St. Louis, Mo., when a boy in his
'teens. He became a well-known contractor in that
Missouri metropolis until his death there. They had
four children, and Joseph was the youngest in the
family. He went first to the grammar school, and
then to the excellent high school in St. Louis, but
perhaps he got the most, in his educational growth,
out of the school of hard experience. At an early
age he engaged in printing and publishing, and was
fortunate to associate himself with J. H. Chambers
at St. Louis. He then ran a branch office in Chicago
tor a year, and also for three months an office at
."Atlanta, Ga.. and for five years he was a corre-
spondent, with headquarters at St. Louis.

Coming out to Santa Cruz, Cal., in 1890, Mr.
Brooks embarked in the hotel business, removing to
San Jose in 1899. For two and a half years he
managed the Vendome Hotel. His exceptional abil-
ity as a good executive having become recognized,
he was drawn into Chamber of Commerce work,
and for thirteen and one-half years was the secre-
tary of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce. He
worked hard, with the single idea of buildin.g up that
organization so valuable to the city, and his hard,
intelligent work bore the best of fruit, the Cham-
ber of Commerce expanded and grew by leaps and
bounds, and now his services are recognized as most
efficient in the field department of the California
Prune and Apricot Association.

At Oakland on September 12, 1900, Mr. Brooks
was married to Miss Estella B. Ede, a native of
Plumas County. Cal.. and the daughter of Stephen
and Ellen Ede. Two children have blessed this
union; and they bear the attractive names of Phillip
and Bernice.

In May, 1920, Mr. Brooks was elected city coun-
cilman, taking office in July, 1920, for a period of
six years, and he is rendering very valuable serv-
ice. He has made a study of traffic and traffic con-
gestion and was the originator of the safety zone
ordinance and also of the new parking ordinance
which greatly relieves the congestion in the busi-
ness district. Mr. Brooks championed, against much
opposition, the advent of the Western Pacific into
San Jose; in fact in all these years there has not
been a movement that had for its aim the better-
ment of the city and county but Mr. Brooks has
had an active part in putting them over.

A Republican in national politics. Mr. Brooks is
intensely patriotic, and was active during the late
war in all bond and Red Cross drives, some of which
he personally conducted. He was also active in the
American Protective League, connected with the

858

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Intelligence Department of the U. S. government.
As one fond of outdoor life and especially interested
in agriculture, he has done much to advance the de-
velopment of the horticultural, agricultural and com-
munity interests not only of Santa Clara County,
but of the commonwealth of California. He is di-
rector and vice-president of the San Jose Chamber
of Commerce and is a charter member of the Com-
mercial Club. He is also an active member of Ro-
tary Club, the San Jose Grange and is repre-
sentative of the Chamber of Commerce and the
board of supervisors of Santa Clara County to the
California Development Board. He is a Knights
Templar Mason and a member of Islam Temple,
A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco, and of the
Elks and Odd Fellows, and in each of these or-
ganizations enjoys a well-earned popularity.

GEORGE W. LYLE.— Exceptionally fortunate in
her long line of wide-awake, intrepid sheriflfs whose
patriotism, intelligence, energetic aggressiveness and
personal bravery have added so much to the superb
stature of American manhood. California is at pres-
ent to be congratulated because of a recent accession
to the shrievalty officers' ranks in the person of the
accomplished, public-spirited and popular sheriff of
Santa Clara County, George W. Lyle of San Jose.
A native of Missouri, he was born at St. Louis on
August 14, 1885, and grew up in that bustling metrop-
olis of the Louisiana Purchase at a time when the
traditions of such men as Fremont, the Chouteaus,
Blair, Schurz, Shaw and Eads still inspired youth and
infused life on the Mississippi with largeness of spirit,
and when Pretorious, Francis, Lehman, Simmons,
Busch and others were pointing the way to still great-
er accomplishments. His father was Phillip Lyle, and
his mother, before her marriage, was Ella Hansberry;
they were blessed with three children, and among
these our subject was the oldest child.

Having progressed through the usual courses of
the excellent public schools in St. Louis, and finished
the high school curriculum there brought to such a
high standard by William Torry Harris, afterwards
L^ S. Commissioner of Education, George Lyle at-
tended the famous Christian Brothers College in St.
Louis, one of the finest Roman Catholic institutions
in America, owing much of its material prosperity to
the St. Louis philanthropist, John O'Fallon, who
spent more than $1,000,000 for local benevolent pur-
poses, gave to Catholic science $100,000, and, in his
broad-mindedness, also gave liberally to the non-
sectarian Washington University. Mr. Lyle was thus
well-equipped to go out in the world; and it is not sur-
prising that he succeeded in all of the several and
varied enterprises into which, as a young man yet
uncertain of his desired-for goal, he threw himself.

In 1902, he formed the lucky resolution to move
West, and to move immediately; and the same year
his bright star guided him into Santa Clara County.
For twelve years he was constable, having been
elected for four terms; and in 1918, he was chosen
by popular vote for the more responsible office of
sheriff, — his good record for faithful, unselfish serv-
ice undoubtedly playing an important role. Indeed,
his election was far more than an ordinary tribute, for
he was supported in his candidacy on a nonpartisan
ticket. He has always been a "man above party,"
and this may be one of the secrets of his unusual
influence and success. In addition to the thorough

discharge of his official duties, Mr. Lyle is a live
member of the Chamber of Commerce.

In June, 1910, Mr. Lyle was married at Santa Cruz
to Miss Ora Van Curen, of Elmira, Solano County,
Cal., a talented lady who has proven just the help-
mate desired by a man of his laudable ambition and
temperament; and to this union have been born two
children, bright, promising boys named, respectively,
George and Robert. Mr. and Mrs. Lyle and family
enjoy the highest esteem of all who know them in
San Jose and elsewhere, and Mr. Lyle is not only
popular with his associates in office, but he is a
favorite in the circles of the Elks, Woodmen of the
World, the Commercial Club and Chamber of Com-
merce, in which organizations he is a member.

JAMES A. LAFFEY.— A ranch superintendent
who is not only a man of valuable experience, but
has proven an executive of exceptional foresight and
initiative, is James A. Laffey, the superintendent of
the California Packing Corporation's ranch at Milpi-
tas. He was born at San Jose on August IS, 1880,
the son of Michael and Elizabeth (McCormick)
Laffey. and grew up full of the California spirit, his
mother's mother, Ann McCormick, having come
into the Golden State about the time of its entrance
into the Union. She is still living at San Jose,
at the ripe old age of ninety-two, — abundant evi-
dence, if any were needed, of the beneficent effects
of the California climate upon those advancing in
years. Michael Laffey came to California from
County Mayo, Ireland, about 1870, and as he was
a butcher, he engaged with Gus Wendt, Sr., in the
retail meat trade. He died in 1909. at the age of
sixt)-one, survived by his widow, who still makes
her home at Sa Jose.

James Laffey attended the Orchard School, and
then went to St. Joseph's College, and at thirteen
years of age he started out into the world to do for
himself. For five years he worked for the Ogier
brothers on their ranch, and then he spent about an
equal length of time in the R. D. Fox nursery, a
ranch of some 300 acres devoted to the raising of
fruit and ornamental trees. He then leased his
grandmother Ann McCormick's place on the Gish
Road and farmed for two years, where J. C. Mc-
Cormick, his grandfather, had invested in the land
and made his home.

In 1907, Mr. Laffey accepted a position with the
California Fruit Canners' Association, with which
company he remained until and after it became the
California Packing Corporation. He worked on the
Milpitas ranch, and for the last fifteen years he has
been ranch superintendent for the company at Mil-
pitas. This ranch comprises 1680 acres, and is the
largest single acreage known in the world that is
devoted exclusively to the growing of sugar peas for
canning. The company puts up six sizes of peas,
from the tiny sifted to the larger size. A Republican
in matters of national political import, Mr. Laffey
works for the stimulation and steadying of trade,
and he also lends himself, in the most admirably
nonpartisan manner, to the promotion of the best
interests of the community.

At San Jose, on January 12, 1912, Mr. Laffey was
married to Mrs. Winifred Monroe Lewis, a native of
Sierra County, Cal., and the daughter of C^ C. and
Fannie (Chandler) Monroe, the father, late of the San
Jose police force, while her uncle was Police Captain

/^W.^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

861

J. A. Monroe. Mrs. Lewis already had a daughter,
Maude Frances Lewis, who graduated as a trained
nurse from the Santa Clara County Hospital at San
Jose, a member of the class of '21. Mr. and Mrs.
Laffey make their home on a part of the C. P. C.
ranch, and it is needless to say that where they re-
side, there is true California hospitality. Fraternally,
Mr. Laflfey is a member of the Elks.

VOLNEY AVERILL.— A man who gave his best
effort for the preservation of the Union and has also
done much to improve and build up the horticultural
mdustry in Santa Clara County is Volney Averill, a
native of Vermont, born near Highgate Springs,
Franklin County, August 12, 1847, a son of Mark
Richard and Adah (Durrin) Averill, both natives of
Vermont who lived on their New England home-
stead until 1852, when they removed to Whiteside
County, 111., and were farmers near Prophetstown
until they retired and their demise occurred there.

Of their eight children, \'olney is sixth and the
only one now living. Like the farmer boys of that
day, he assisted his parents on the farm while at-
tending the public school near by. Thus his edu-
cation was not neglected. However, his patriotism
was stirred to such an extent that, having obtained
his father's consent, he left his books and enlisted in
October, 1864, in Company B, Thirty-fourth Illinois
Volunteer Infantry and was sent south In a detach-
ment of the Fourteenth and Twentieth Army Corps he
took part in the battle of Nashville under General
Thomas, after which he guarded the block house
near Chattanooga until March, 1865, when he was
sent with others via Washington to Wilmington, N.
C. joining his regiment in Sherman's Army at Golds-
boro, N. C. After the military operations were over
he marched to Washington, and had the pleasure of
taking part in the Grand Review. After this he was
stationed at Louisville, Ky., until he received his
honorable discharge, July 12, 1865, being mustered
out at Chicago, 111., July 17, of that year, still under
18 years of age. He attended school that winter in
Sterling, 111., then spent a year working on a farm,
when he went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as traveling
salesman for an agricultural implement house for two
years and then spent a year as a clerk in their store.

In the fall of 1869 he came to California, living in
the Santa Cruz Mountains where be was employed
on a ranch for a year and then returned to Iowa
and engaged in farming for two years — but the call
of California and its splendid climate was too strong,
so in the spring of 1873 he returned to Santa Clara
Count\' and immediately took up ranch work in the
Santa Cruz Mountains.

On June 2, 1873, Mr. Averill was married to Miss
Alice Schultheis, who was born on the old Schul-
theis ranch on the summit in this county, a daughter
of Martin Schultheis, a pioneer, who with his wife
Susan (Byerly) Schultheis, crossed the plains in an
ox-team train in the early fifties and located in the
mountains above Lexington and there reared their
family, becoming successful farmers and valued citi-
zens. In 1874 Mr. Averill bought fifteen acres
which he cleared and set out to orchard and as he
prospered he bought land adjoining until he owned
75 acres, 35 acres being devoted mostly to French
prunes. His orchard lies well to the summit, on the
Santa Cruz and Santa Clara County line, his resi-
dence being in the latter county. Mr. Averill was

among the first to engage in raising prunes for
ial purposes in his section, and he has been
a close student of conditions of soil and climate, and
has cared for his orchard in the most scientific way.

Mr. and Mrs. Avcrill's union was blessed with
seven children: Anna, Mrs. Flynn, passed away, leav-
ing three children: Fred resides in Seattle; Mrs.
Mamie Piper died leaving one child, as did Mrs. Flor-
ence Banich at her death; Bessie, Mrs. Romes, lives
near Palo Alto. Alice assists her mother to preside
over the house; Arthur E. owns the home ranch, is
married and has two children. Mr. Averill is a popu-
lar member of E. O. C. Ord. Post 82 G. A. R. at Los
Gatos, and is a stanch Republican.

THOMAS MAKER.— Living in the midst of the
fine prune orchards of the Santa Clara Valley, Thom-
as Maher and his family reside in comfort on the
thirty-acre ranch, known as "Fairfax Farm," on the
San Francisco highway near Mountain View. One
of the old settlers of the Golden State, Mr. Maher
has been a resident of California since 1864. He was
born October 14, 1851, at Freeport, Stephenson Coun-
ty, 111., his parents, Michael and Ann (Ryan) Maher,
both being natives of Ireland. The father, a hard-
working farmer, was wont to supplement his income
by working in the lead mines near Galena, 111., and
in Lafayette County, Wis., and it was while working
at the latter place that he died, leaving a widow
and eight children — seven boys and one girl — to face
life without him. To add to their hardships, the
Civil War broke out and two of the older boys, Ed
and Steve, enlisted and served for three years. Ed
Maher now resides at Parsons, Kans., and was for-
merly sheriff there, while Steve Maher is a contrac-
tor at Colton, Cal. The only daughter is Mrs. Maria
Anderson of Sacramento. After the sons returned
from the army, the family decided to come to Cali-
fornia, crossing the plains when Thomas Maher was
only twelve years old. They settled at Michigan Bar
in Amador County and all seven of the boys went
to mining. It was hard work and the educational
advantages were decidedly meager in that typical
placer mining camp, but they managed to get along.
Thomas saved a part of his earninigs, and while yet
in his "teens, went to San Francisco where he be-
came engaged in the furniture business, continuing
there for forty years, and at the same time conduct-
ing a transfer business.

While living there Mr. Maher was married to Miss
Mary DuPont, born in San Francisco, the daughter
of Francis and Rosalie DuPont, who came from
France to San Francisco in the early '50s. The
father was employed as foreman on the Fairfax Farm
in Marin County, and was living there at the time
Mrs. Maher was born. Five children have been born
to Mr. and Mrs. Maher: Anita, Charles; Ada. the
wife of Mortimer Samuels, the owner of Fairfax
Farm; Dennis; Jewell, the wife of Wm. Hopkins, in
business in San Francisco; and Florence; she, as well
as Mrs. Hopkins, have scored successes on the music-
al comedy stage. A twin sister of Mrs. Hopkins
passed away some years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Maher
have made their home on the ranch since 1915, en-
joying the quiet comforts and beautiful surroundings
of this vicinity. Mr. Maher gives his time to super-
intending the cultivation of the thirty acres of Fair-

862

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

fax Farm, which contains one of the finest and most
productive apricot orchards of its size in the Santa
Clara Valley. The members of the Maher family
adhere to the Roman Catholic faith.

PHILIP G. SHEEHY.— Those who have watched
the career of Philip G. Sheehy in its unfolding have
noted the steady progress that he has made as a
member of the bar in the handling of important
ligitated interests. At the present time he is senior
member of the firm of Sheehy and Helwig, expert
accountants, of San Jose. He was born near Watson-
ville, Santa Cruz County, in May, 1872, and is the
son of John and Ellen (Bowen) Sheehy. The father
came to California in the year 1852 by way of the
Isthmus of Panama; here he engaged in mining and
later followed farming as a pioneer of the Pajaro
Valley. During the year of 1895 the family removed
to San Jose, where the father passed away in 1908.
The mother still resides in San Jose; she also crossed
the Isthmus on mule back.

Mr. Sheehy began his education in the public
schools of Santa Clara; upon graduation he entered
the Hastings Law School where he spent one year;
in 1900 he was admitted to the California bar and to
the Federal Court in 1903. For eight years he served
the city of Watsonville as city attorney, and from 1913
to 1919 he was deputy internal revenue collector for
six of the central coast counties. At the end of this
time, he formed his present partnership with Mr.
Helwig. Their business relations have been con-
genial and they are counted among the successful
business men of San Jose.

Mr. Sheehy's marriage on October 10, 1905, united
him with Miss Loretta Freiermuth and they have
five children; Ellen, Rose Marie, Philip G. Jr., Anita
and John J. Mr. Sheeiiy adheres to the principles
^.dvocated in the platform of the Democratic party.
Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the
World, and is also a member of the Chamber of
Commerce and the Hundred Per Cent Club. Fond
of the great outdoors, he spends as much time in the
open as his bus}' life will allow. He is a broad-
minded, public-spirited man and citizen of fertile
ideas and boundless energies, and that which he has
won only presages a future of continued efforts and
consequent success.

JAMES B. LEAMAN.— An enterprising man of
affairs, whose anticipation of the needs of the com-
munity has not only resulted in marked public serv-
ice but has enabled him to do well for himself, is
James B. Leaman, the proprietor of the Red Star
Laundry Company, and who, until March 1, 1922,
maintained one of the highest grade vapor dry-clean-
ing establishments in the state. He was born at San
Jose on March 21, 1890, thus commencing life luck-
ily as a native son, and his father was James B. Lea-
man, who came to California in the historic year of
'49, traveling by way of Panama, then returned East,
and the next year came back to the Golden State by
way of the great plains. He was the sheriff of Yuba
County, and later the Collector of the Port of San
Francisco; and as early as 1887, he settled here and
was highly esteemed as an experienced, retired capi-
talist. In 1890 he established the Red Star Laundry,
from the management of which he retired just
twenty years later. On April 11, 1911, he passed
away, leaving behind the most enviable record of use-

fulness. He married Miss Mar}- B. Harmon, and
as an accomplished woman devoted to her husband's
memory, she has survived him to this day.

James B. Leaman, Jr., enjoyed the usual advantages
of a grammar and high school education, and for a
while was a student at Stanford LIniversity. Then
he studied law for a couple of years. He attempted
to conduct the laundry and cleaning business while
still studying, but soon found that he could not carry
on the two, and hence left the university for the
counting room. The Red Star Laundry has an ever
increasing business in which are employed sixty-
eight persons; and such has been his success in the
past, due to the generous, appreciative patronage of
the local public that his business had quadrupled since
he took charge. He never fails to demonstrate his
live interest in the welfare of Santa Clara County; is
a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and served
three terms as a director; is a director of the Rotary
Club; belongs to the Commercial Club and the
Country Club.

At San Jose, on October 25, 1913, Mr. Leaman was
married to Miss Margaret Shillingsburg, a native of
California, and they have two children, Margaret and
Robert. Mr. Leaman is a thirty-second degree Scot-
tish Rite Mason and a Shriner, a Native Son of the
Golden West, an Elk, and he is fond of fishing and
hunting, and of outdoor life in general. In national
politics he is a Republican.

PETER STOCK. — An enterprising business man
of wide experience, is Peter Stock, the genial pro-
prietor of The John Stock Sons Hardware Store, so
long an emporium not only for the people of San
Jose but for Santa Clara County as well. He was
born in San Jose at what is now the entrance to the
Ryland Block, the son of John Stock, whose name, as
far back as 1854, represented the pioneer stove store.
An uncle, Frank Stock, had really settled in San Jose
u''. 1852, when he started a small stove and iron store,
the first of its kind in the place; and two years later
bis brother John joined him, coming from Chicago
Their store was situated on Market Street; and a
short time afterward Frank Stock bought a lot on
First Street, the present site of the Woolworth Store
and Pellerano Drug Store, and erected the first brick
building in First Street, into which they then moved.

In 1861 John Stock bought his brother's interests,
and from that time until he retired, he carried on the
business in his own name. Meanwhile, he bought the
lot and built the front part of the store now occupied
by John Stock Sons, and into this he moved in 1869.
In 1884 John Stock retired, succeeded by his sons,
John L., Frank and Peter H. Stock. On April 1,
1898, he lost his devoted wife, whose maiden name
was Susanna Berg; and on January 27, 1916, he
passed away. This worthy couple had seven children,
among whom Peter is the youngest son.

He enjoyed both grammar and high schood ad-
vantages, and at the age of eighteen entered the
business with his father. In 1884 he joined his
brothers in succeeding his father, enlarging the busi-
ness. The firm became The John Stock Sous and
m 1919 Peter Stock became sole proprietor.

At San Jose, in the year 1885, Mr. Stock was mar-
ried to Miss Elizabeth O'Brien, a native of Boston,
Mass., and like himself a member of St. Joseph's
Catholic Church; and their union has been blessed
bv four children. Clara has become Mrs. Melehan;

y^r^X^I^^'t^^^

i

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

865

Hazel married Jay Jones; and Evelyn is Mrs. Adrian
Anderson. Geneva, the third in order of birth, is at
home. There arc also eight grandchildren, — four
boys and four girls. Mr. Stock is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce and Merchants' Exchange.

CHARLES C. LESTER.— A scientific orchardist
who well represent.-^ twentieth century progress in
California in this important field of agricultural in-
dustry, is Charles C. Lester, who was born near
Norwich, Conn., on January 9, 1881, the son of Amos
Lester, who first saw the light in the historic town
of Ledyard, in New London County, Conn., on De-
cember 3, 1839. The Lesters settled in New London al-
most as early as did the Ledyards, for whom the
town was named; and the paternal grandfather, after
whom .'^mos Lester was named, was probably born
in Ledyard and died there in 1842, aged sixty-six
years. His old homestead housed three generations
of the family, and there Isaac A., his son, and Amos,
his son's son, entered into the Lester family circles,
the former having been born on the first anniversary
of the inauguration of James Madison, in 1810. Isaac
Lester joined another well-known Colonial family of
New London County, by marrying Mary Chapman,
who was born in Led3'ard on March 12, 1815, a daugh-
ter of the farmer, Ichabod Chapman.

Amos was the eldest of two daughters and nine
sons born to Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Lester, and before
he migrated to California in 1861, he graduated from
the New Britain Normal School and taught school in
Connecticut for a few terms. Settling in Napa Coun-
ty, he met with only varying success on his first
ranch, and he returned in 1866 to his old home in
New London County, locating at Norw'ich. Two
years later, on May 28, he was united in marriage
V ith Carrie G. Spicer, a native of Ledyard, where
she was born on May 28, 18S0, so that their marriage
took place on the bride's birthday. She was the
daughter of Judge Edmund Spicer, who was born
in Ledyard in 1812 and died in 1890, completing a
very creditable career as a probate jurist of his na-
tive town. In 1890, the lure of the great West again
drew Amos Lester to California; and after putting
in a year near San Jose, where he had an interest in
twenty-five acres of orchard with two brothers, he re-
moved to the home in time so widely known as the
Lester place, four miles southeast of Gilroy. He
bought 463 acres which he brought under a high state
or cultviation, and came to make a specialty of horti-
culture. He followed only the most scientific, up-to-
date methods, and thus he was able to attain an en-
viable financial standing in the community, represent-
ed by his former participation, as a director, in the
Napa Bank. Long a member of the Presbyterian
Church, he became an honored elder there; and
having joined the ranks of the Republican Party in
the second administration of Abraham Lincoln, he
became one of the patriotic citizens whose counsel
was often sought by the leaders of the G. O. P.
Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Amos
Lester; and besides Charles C, the subject of this
sketch, John S., Minnie B. and Milton M. came to
live on the home ranch, while another son. Henry
\V., settled in San Jose. An infant son and a
daughter. Mary, and another son, Amos Everett, died
in Connecticut.

Charles C. Lester was reared and schooled in the
Down East .State of his forefathers, and when nine

years of age accompanied his parents to California.
He attended the Willow Glen School and later was
graduated from the San Ysidro public school. From
boyhood, he had his share to do of the chores about
the farm, and at the age of twenty, he struck out on
his own resources, and in 1901 leased the home place
from his father, twenty-five acres of which had been
set to prunes in 1892. In 1904 he acquired the
ranch by purchase, and farmed it to hay and grain,
while also conducting a dairy, and for about eight
years he operated the Lester Cheese Factory at Gil-
roy. As he became more and more interested in
fruit culture he bought, in June, 1917, 200 acres lo-
cated one mile nearer Gilroy than the home place;
eighty acres of this was in prunes, fifty acres in
bearing, and twenty acres in apricots, at time of
purchase. He set to work with his customary en-
ergy and planted the balance to prunes. In 1916, with
some associates, Mr. Lester bought the Pacheco
Ranch of SSI acres and as manager of the cor-
poration he began developing the place. In 1917
he purchased the interests of the others and now
is sole owner; that same year — 1916 — he bought 100
acres on the Pacheco Road, near the home place,
and this he has set to prunes. It was in 1919 that
he and Hon. H. S. Hersman bought from Miller
& Lux Estate 120 acres now known as the Hersman-
Lester orchard on South Monterey Road. On this
tract is one of the best orchards in the county; in
1919 the yield reached 800 tons of green fruit from
ninety acres of prune trees, the balance of the trees
being apricots, and 37S tons of dried prunes.

The attraction of the Pacheco ranch, where there
are 38.000 trees, afifords a wonderful vista in blos-
som time, but demands the highest developed or-
ganization and the utmost industry in harvesting the
crops. The planting of this ranch was accomplished
under heavy odds and at great expense in 1916-17.
when Mr. Lester lived at the ranch eighteen months
and supervised 100 men in the huge task of first
clearing the land of trees and stumps. In 1918 he
had a bumper crop of tomatoes, for he had set out
275.000 plants between the trees; the yield was im-
mense, some 4,000 tons of tomatoes being gathered
and sent by truck to the California Packing Cor-
poration at San Jose, transportation requiring the
service of ten trucks. The heavy rains at that period,
the first known for that season of the year for a
period of fifty years, destroyed more than twice that
amount, as the ground was saturated with water for
ten days. About fifteen per cent of his total acre-
age of prunes are of the Imperial variety, the bal-
ance being French prunes. To get a fair idea of
the extent of Mr. Lester's operations, one can well
afiford. when motoring through this district, to tarry
long enough to inspect these orchards. He has
lon.g surrounded himself with men of superior caliber
as his lieutenants and he has twenty men regularly
employed on his ranches and at special seasons
that number runs into three figures. Mr. Lester util-
izes only the most modern of machinery on his
ranches and has ever been at the fore in his field
of agricultural enterprise because, by the hardest work
and unremitting attention, at much cost to him per-
sonally, he has mastered and assured every detail.
It is .said that Mr. Lester is one of the largest in-
dividual growers of prunes in California, a fact of
which Santa Clarans may well be proud, .\lways

866

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

alive to the interests of his locaHty he assists in all
movements for the public good and is serving as a
member of the city council of Gilroy. In 1914, in
connection with Hon. H. S. Hersman and E. R.
Green. Mr. Lester increased the capital stock of the
First National Bank of Gilroy from $25,000 to $75.-
000 and served as a director until the bank was
merged with the Garden City Bank and Trust Com-
pany, becoming the Gilroy branch.

At Gilroy, on November 19, 1914, Mr. Lester was
united in marriage with Miss Henrietta Fieri, a
daughter of Mrs. Mollie Fieri, and the family home
is located at 63 North Eigleberry Street, Gilroy.
Mr. Lester is a member of the B. P. O. Elks of
Watsonville and of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows at Gilroy. In April. 1921, he was elected
by the growers a member of the voting board of the
California Frune and Apricot Association.

JOHN ROLL.— After many years of faithful serv-
ice in Santa Clara County, John Roll has been re-
elected time and again to the responsible office of
supervisor, while his associates have honored him for
the past four years by selecting him as chairman of
the board. He has served them in that capacity more
than twenty-seven years, being chosen by a large
majorit}' at each election. His mind and heart have
been engrossed in the well-being of the county and
such has been his success in the solution of many
difficult problems that his fellow-citizens more and
more have reposed confidence in him.

The Roll family settled in the state of Wisconsin
as early as 1846, being pioneers of the then very
sparsely settled territory and it was there, six years
later, that John Roll was born, receiving his education
m the public schools of his state. After his school
days were over, he was employed at railroading in
Iowa and Minnesota, later, in 1882, removing to Ari-
zona where for eighteen months he followed mining.

In 1884 he removed to Santa Clara,. Cal., and for
ten years was employed by the Pacific Manufacturing
Company. During this time he served four years as
a member of the board of trustees of Santa Clara,
thus aiding in securing the municipal water works and
electric light plant for the town. In the year 1894,
he was elected supervisor for the fourth supervisorial
district of Santa Clara County, to which position he
has been reelected each time and is now serving his
seventh term and at the present time is chairman of
the board. Always interested in having good roads
his years of experience in that endeavor have well
qualified him as a judge in that line and he is looked
upon as an authority in road building not only by the
people of his county but throughout the whole state.
The County Hospital has also received his strong
support and for twenty years he has been at the
head of the hospital committee and it is largely due
to his energy and zeal that Santa Clara today has
one of the finest county hospitals in the state.

Mr. Roll is well and favorably known throughout
the state and was one of the organizers of the State
Supervisors' Association and at the first meeting was
elected treasurer of the association, a position he was
honored with by election each year until at the meet-
ing in Sacramento, 1920, when he was elected presi-
dent, the highest honor that could be bestowed on
him and thus he acted as presiding officer for the
accustomed one year.

The marriage of Mr. Roll united him with Miss
Emma M. Runge, also a native of Wisconsin. Five

children have been born to them: Robert I., Julia,
deceased; Clara, August E., and John H. The latter
served his country overseas in the World War.
Mr. and Mrs. Roll also have four grandchildren.
Politically a Democrat, Mr. Roll has served both his
party and his community acceptably and efficiently.
Fraternally he is a Knights Templar Mason and a
Shriner, being a member of San Jose Commandery
No. 10, K. T., and Islam Temple A. A. O. N. M. S.,
San Francisco, as well as a member of the Odd
Fellows and the Red Men. He is at all times deeply
interested in the welfare of his community and has
never failed to accomplish the duties nearest him
and aided materially in the county's advancement to
a toremost place m the great commonwealth of
California.

THEODORE O. ANDERSON.— One of the pros-
perous and influential horticulturists of Santa Clara
County is found in Theodore O. Anderson of the
Cupertino district, where he is superintendent of the
Carolan property of eighty acres and also is the
owner of valuable property at Sunnyvale and at Oak-
dale, Stanislaus County. Born in Gothenburg, Sweden,
on June 10, 1869, and educated in the good public
schools there, Mr. Anderson made up his mind that
after his school days were over he would seek
broader opportunities in America than were offered
in his native land and accordingly, in 1888 he came
to this country, remaining for two years at Erie,
Fa. In 1890 he arrived in California and set about
looking for a location that suited him. He spent the
first six months in Fresno and found the climate very
hot and then, having heard of the Santa Clara Val-
ley, came to San Jose and ever since this county has
been his home.

After working about on ranches for a few months
Mr. Anderson bought a tract of land in 1892, in the
Cupertino district and ever since that date he has
been interested in the fruit business. He set out
part of his land to various kinds of fruit as an experi-
ment at first, then found the varieties that were the
most productive and, after selling out, again invested
in fifteen acres at Sunnyvale, which he now owns and
keeps in first-class condition, and which is under a
high state of cultivation. He is a member of the Cali-
fornia Frune and Apricot Association and vitally
interested in the cooperative movements that have
been brought to the notice of the citizens of the coun-
ty. In 1916 Mr. Anderson purchased twenty-four
acres at Oakdale, Stanislaus County, which is also set
to orchard fruits. Although he has interests in other
sections of the state he believes that there is no bet-
ter climate to be found anywhere than in the western
part of Santa Clara County.

In 1912 Mr. Anderson accepted the position of
superintendent of the Francis Carolan ranch on the
Stevens Creek Road in the Cupertino district and
since that time he has devoted a great deal of atten-
tion to improving that beauty spot. He set out the
orchard of some sixty acres, laid out the grounds and
planted the flowers and shrubbery and has met with a
gratifying degree of success in his labors. He brings
to bear a thorough knowledge of the landscape gar-
dener's art and the orchardist's training, and his
efforts have been so successful that the property is
now on a self-supporting basis.

The marriage of T. O. Anderson on February 9,
1921, united him with Miss Minnie Bertha Buckow,
a native daughter, born in Sacramento, whose parents

K)A/t^<o. Jz:^;t,^fe;z^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

867

were among the early settlers; she was a trained
nurse prior to her marriage; and shares with her hus-
band the admiration of a wide circle of friends in
their community. Mr. Anderson is a Republican
and fraternally is a member of the Odd Fellows and
the Rebekahs, to which order Mrs. Anderson be-
longs. He is ever ready and willing to assist all
worthy movements for the building up of the county
and his time and attention are concentrated upon
his business activities and his intelligently directed
efforts have been important factors in raising the
horticultural standards of the Santa Clara Valley,
while his public-spirited citizenship and sterling worth
have won for him the respect of all with whom he
has been associated.

ERVE C. STRICKLAND.— As manager of the
Temple Laundry Company, Inc., the largest concern
in this line in the city of San Jose, Erve C. Strickland
is numbered among the progressive business men of
this city. Mr. Strickland was born in Athens, Mich.,
on November 29, 1874, and was the son of C. E. and
Sarah (Cullen) Strickland, who came to California in
1896, locating in 'I'ul.ire, Thev now^ reside in San lose.

Mr. Strickland att, iidcd the public schools in Mich-
igan until 1888, when he removed with his parents
to Augusta, Kan., and later to Topeka, where he
graduated from the Topeka high school, then from
Johnson's Business College in Topeka; thus he ob-
tained a useful training, which served him in good
stead on his entrance into the competition of the
business v\-orld. His early inclinations were in the
line of merchandising, and he had at different times
four mercantile establishments in the state of Kansas.
In 1897, disposing of his mercantile business, he
came to California. However, on the breaking out of
the Spanish-American War he enlisted in the Twen-
tieth Kansas Volunteer Infantry as a private; being
a musician he became a member of the band and w^as
advanced to principal musician and later to band-
master. He was with his regiment in their Phihp-
pine campaign under General Frederick Funston and
has the honor of having been engaged in every battle
in which the Twentieth Kansas took part, for in that
regiment the members of the band carried arms and
served in the engagements and battles, two members
being killed and five wounded. Mr. Strickland served
as an aide under General Funston and was in the
following engagements: Manila, February 4, 5 and 6;
Caloocan, February 10; defense of Caloocan. Febru-
ary 11 to March 24; Tuliajan River, March 25; Polo
and Maliuta, March 26; Marilao, March 27; Bocaue
and Guguinto, March 29; advance on Malolos, March
30 and 31; defense of Malolos, April 1 to 24; Bag Bag
River, April 25; Rio Grande, April 26, 27; San Tomas,
May 4; defense of San Fernando, May 6 to June 8;
battle of Bacolor, Alay 24; engagements north of San
Fernando. May 25, and reconnaissance to Santa Rita,
May 25. Returning with his regiment, he was mus-
tered out at the Presidio, at San Francisco, in October,
1899, the regiment going east as a unit to Topeka,
v.'here they were disbanded. Mr. Strickland received
a medal of honor from the State of Kansas and also
one from the U. S. Government by order of a special
act of Congress, and he he also received a letter from
President McKinley.

As a musician, Mr. Strickland began playing in
bands from the age of twelve years, and in time be-
came leader of bands in different parts of Kansas,

until he was director of the celebrated Mid-Continent
Band at Topeka. After the Spanish-American War
he became military instructor and bandmaster at
Ilaskell Institute, Lawrence, Kan., a position he filled
ably and well for two years, when he resigned in
1901 to locate in California. Engaging in the mer-
cantile business in San Francisco for one year, he
removed to San Luis Obispo, and followed general
contracting until January 1, 1912, when he came to
San Jose and purchased the Temple Laundry, then
located at Seventeenth and East Santa Clara streets,
which under his capable management grew to such
proportions that in 1919 they found it necessary to
seek larger quarters, and purchased their present
site of seven lots on Fifteenth and St. Johns streets,
extending back to Sixteenth. Here they erected an
up-to-date building, 100x260, and also built a garage
and a warehouse, and in 1920 they enlarged it by
building an annex devoted entirely to family wash
service. The whole plant is planiieil for larility of
service and is equipped with the most nuxlern ma-
chinery. They employ more than a hundred people
and have steadily grown until it is not only the larg-
est laundry in the county, but is the largest and most
complete plant between San Francisco and Los An-
geles. The Temple Laundry uses sixteen motor de-
livery trucks in their delivery department and cover
the entire valley. Aside from the management of his
large business, Mr. Strickland also finds time to de-
vote to horticulture, in which he is greatly inter-
ested. He owns a fifty-acre pear orchard near Monti-
cello in the heart of the Berryessa Valley, Napa
County, which he developed from a stubble field.

Mr. Strickland is very popular among the business
men of San Jose and belongs to a number of fra-
ternal and business organizations. He is a charter
member of the San Jose Commercial Club and is a
n. ember of the Chamber of Commerce, the One Hun-
dred Per Cent Club, the National Institute of Laun-
drying, the State Laundry Owners' Association, and
is president of the Santa Clara Laundry Owners Asso-
ciation. He is also a member of the Order of Moose,
the Spanish-American War Veterans and Veterans
of Foreign Wars. In politics he is a Republican.

SAMUEL FREEMAN AYER.— One of the inter-
esting and worthy pioneers who had the welfare of
Santa Clara County uppermost in his mind and heart
was the late Samuel Freeman Ayer, who was born
January 23, 1840, his parents, James and Elizabeth
Ayer, at that time being residents of Sackville, New
Brunswick. Samuel Ayer learned the carriage maker
trade in Sackville and in May, 1860, he came to Cali-
tornia by way of Panama. He first located in the
town of Santa Clara, working a few months in the
shop of John Dickson. He then received an ad-
vantageous offer from Abraham Weller of Milpitas,
removing to that place where he was employed in Mr.
Weller's shop until the spring of 1861, when he leased
the shop and set up in business on his own account.

He was married in 1862, his wife being Miss Amer-
ica E. Evans, the accomplished daughter of Josiah
Evans, one of the pioneers of the state and a gentle-
man widely known and respected. In 1863 Mr. Ayer
gave up his lease on the old shops and built new
ones of his own, which he conducted successfully until
1868. At this time he purchased a tract of ISO acres
situated a mile east of Milpitas toward the foothills,
and giving up his shops he engaged in agriculture.

868

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNT V

In 1875 the supervisorial districts of Santa Clara
County were reorganized, a district being formed
from the townships of Fremont, Alviso and Milpitas.
An election for supervisor was held in 1876, and Mr.
Ayer became a candidate. The district was Demo-
cratic, but although Mr. Ayer was a Republican he
was elected. He efficiently discharged the duties of
bis office and was reelected each time to succeed him-
self, excepting two years when he was not a candi-
date, remaining in office until his death on June 5,
1899; his widow surviving until December 22, 1920.
This worthy couple had a family of nine children,
eight of whom are living: Edith E. of San lose;
Ethel C. of Oakland; Mrs. C. H. Mitchell of Oak-
land; Mrs. J. L. Ogier and Mrs. Frazer O. Reed,
both of San Jose; Joseph E. and Samuel E. of Sar-
gent, Cal.; Henry M. of San Jose. As a public offi-
cial Mr. Ayer originated and carried to a successful
termination some of the most beneficial measures
of the county government. As a farmer he was al-
ways in the front rank of progress and as a citizen
he was esteemed and respected by all,

FANNIE BONNEY SNITJER.— In the annals of
e^-ents in Santa Clara County the life history of Fan-
nie Bonney Snitjer should be recorded, as it is of
great interest. A native of Missouri, she w-as born
in Clark County, the daughter of Joel and Eveline H.
(Worthington) Bonney, born in Maine and Missouri,
respectively. Her grandfather, Edward Worthington,
was married in Kentucky to Miss Elizabeth Wayland,
a native of that state. They drove across the country
lo Clark County, Mo., and were the seventh white
family to locate in northeast Missouri, where they
did much to improve the country. Mrs. Snitjer's
great-grandfather, Elijah Wayland, was a native of
Germany, a son of a nobleman, and coming to Virginia
in the early days, served through the Revolutionary
War. The Worthington family were also of Revo-
lutionary stock and members of the family also served
in the Indian wars. Edward Worthington had a
land grant in Kentucky, but moving out to Missouri,
his property in Kentucky w^as sold for taxes and it
is now the site of Louisville. Joel Bonney came
from Farmington, Maine, to Clark County, Mo.,
when he was a young man and there he married Miss
Worthington. He was a graduate M. D. and prac-
ticed medicine in Clark County until the Civil War.
when he located in Quincy, 111., where he practiced
for fifty years. He was a thirty-second degree Scot-
tish Rite Mason, and spent his last days with Mrs.
Snitjer, where he died, being survived by his widow
who, at the age of ninety-four, lives with and is ten-
derly cared for by Mrs. Snitjer. Mr. and Mrs. Bon-
ney had five children: William, a prominent attor-
ney w^as judge at Ellensburg, Wash., when he passed
away; Oscar was an attorney and a judge of Adams
County, 111., spending his last days in Quincy; Fan-
nie is Mrs. Snitjer; Joe Laura was. the wife of John
W. Lord of Chicago and died in 1921; Dr. Sam-
uel B. Bonney resides in Los Angeles.

Fannie Bonney received her education in the pub-
lic schools and Franklin high school of Quincy, 111.,
then entered La Grange College, La Grange, Mo.,
v/here she finished her college course. She was mar-
ried at her parents' home in Quincy, 111., to Drikus
Snitjer, who was born in Holland, where he obtained
a good education, being well advanced in his studies
when he came with his parents to St. Louis, Mo..

when fourteen years of age. He secured employ-
ment in the Singer Sewing Machine Company's
plant in St. Louis, where he worked for a few years,
leaving the company to engage in business for himself
in Quincy; later, however, he accepted the position
of manager for the same company in St. Louis.
When he first started to work for this company he
received fifty cents a week and when he left the com-
pany to come to California he was general manager
of the Singer Sewing Machine Companv, receiving
526.000 a year. The family removed to California in
1894 on account of the poor health of Mrs. Snitjer;
for a time they lived in San Jose, but later bought
seventy acres on the Homestead Road set to young
orchard and here Mrs. Snitjer regained her health.
Mr. and Mrs. Snitjer were the parents of five chil-
dren, two of whom grew to maturity, Alice and
Edwin. Mr. Snitjer was a Republican in his politics,
and fraternally was a Mason and Knight Templar.
He passed away in 1918 at the family home in San
Jose. Mrs. Snitjer has recently purchased a fifty-
acre orange grove at Lindsay. Cat., well irrigated
and in full bearing.

When Mr. and Mrs. Snitjer removed to San Jose
they had one child, Alice, who married Albert Arm-
strong, a native of New York, who lost his life in
the service of his country in the Spanish American
War, while a member of Roosevelt's Rough Riders
in Cuba. Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong were the parents
of one daughter, Bonney. Mrs. Armstrong later
married Dr. Richardson Burke of San Jose, who has
since passed away. Mrs. Burke is a very capable
woman and is prominent as a platform lecturer, and
during 1910 she covered the eastern, northern, west-
ern and southern boundaries of the United States in
an automobile on a campaign for woman's suffrage.

Bonney Armstrong was born in San Jose and at-
tended the grammar and high schools there, continu-
ing her education at Hollins, \'a., and Columbia
LTniversity, New York. Her marriage united her with
Elbert J. Brown, who was reared in San Jose and
attended the public schools there. He was first em-
ployed by the W. R. Grace Company and then be-
came purser on the Pacific mail steamer, Peru, from
which he was later transferred to the Newport, and
was then appointed agent for the Pacific Mail at
San Jose de Guatemala. While living at San Jose
de Guatemala, Mr. Brown and his fiancee decided not
to wait for his return to the United States. He then
sailed for San Francisco on the Newport and was
met by his future bride, and together they went to
San Jose de Guatemala, having been married on board
the Newport by Captain Yardley. After living in
San Jose de Guatemala for three monthsr Mr. Brown
received a promotion, being transferred to Yoko-
hama, Japan. While residing there, a son, George
Elbert, was born to them. Mr. Brown was later
transferred to Kobe as agent there for the Pacific
Mail Steamship Company, and is now general mana-
ger for the whole Philippine territory, with head-
quarters at Manila.

Edwin Snitjer married Miss Bertha Quentine of
New Haven, Conn., and they have three children —
Frances, Billie, and Louise. He has just perfected a
compound nailing machine for use in packing houses
which has a capacity of 30,000 boxes a day, and is
already being installed in the packing houses at Fres-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

873

no for the raisin crop. Mr. Snitjer makes his head-
quarters in San Francisco.

Mrs. Snitjer superintends her ranches and sees
that they are properly taken care of. In religious faith
she is a Baptist, in which church her mother has
been a member for eighty-three years.

JOHN R. CARLO.— A merchant whose unre-
mitting labor and enterprise, together with com-
mendable public-spirit and unimpeachable integrity
have brought their own reward, is John R. Carlo,
of Milpitas. who was born at Horta on the Island
of Fayal, in the Azores, on April 6, 1871, the son of
Manuel and Anna (Fortado) Carlo, estimable farmer-
folk, in excellent standing in the community in which
they toiled and died. They had a good-sized family,
but John is the only one living of the once happy,
united circle. He attended the public schools at
Horta, and when fifteen years of age came out to
the United States, stopping for a short time at Bos-
ton. Then, in August, 1886, at the beginning of the
great boom here, he came on to California and set-
tled at Warmsprings in Alameda County. There he
again went to school, but having a good chance to
get some work on a farm, he accepted a position
which he held for seven years.

He then farmed a part of the old William Curtain
ranch, on the Downing Road, the part now operated
by J. F. Rose, and only at the end of eight years sold
out his interest, being attracted to Milpitas. Here
he entered into a partnership with Joseph Pashote.
the father of the Pashote Bros., to conduct the
grocery and general merchandise business now under-
taken by the Pashotes, the partners buying out Mr.
Cunha, but in 1908 he sold his interest to Mr. Pa-
shote, and he built another store in Milpitas, which
he has since conducted.

At Milpitas, in January, 1904, Mr. Carlo was mar-
ried to Miss Lena Pashote, the daughter of Joseph
and Mary Pashote, the former an early settler of San
Leandro, where he engaged in farming. The bride
was born in San Leandro, and in the excellent schools
there received her education. Four children have
blessed this union, Mary, John, Alfred and Joseph,
all of whom attend the Milpitas school. In national
political affairs a standpat Republican, and one who
is influential in local councils, Mr. Carlo is popular in
fraternal circles. He is a member of the I. D. E. S.,
and he is secretary of the Milpitas lodge; he is also
secretary of the U. P. E. C. of Milpitas, is the
supreme director of the S. E. S. of Milpitas, and a
charter member of the Milpitas lodge of the Wood-
men of the World.

HENRY D. MATHEWS— An experienced and
accommodating official, whose dependability is ap-
preciated by all who come in contact with him, is
Henry D. Mathews, a native of New York City,
where he was born April 11, 1845. His parents
were James H. and Mary Elizabeth (Gorse)
Mathews, and they settled at St. Paul, Minn., when
Henry was eleven years old. His great-great-grand-
father, David Matthews, a native of England, set-
tled in New York, and was mayor of that city from
1777 to 1783; at that time the family spelled their
name with two t's.

Henry D. Mathews went to the public schools in
New York City and St. Paul, and from his seven-
teenth to his twentieth year w-as in the Civil War as

a member of Company G, Sixth Minnesota Volun-
teer Infantry, serving from August 13, 1862, until
August 19, 1865, when he received his honorable
discharge. Returning to St. Paul, he was with James
J. Hill when the latter was steamboat agent there,
from April, 1866, to March, 1869; afterwards he was
with the Northern Line of steamboats on the Missis-
sippi River for a few years and then was agent for
the Diamond Joe Line at St. Paul for about fifteen
years. Becoming president and treasurer of the
Northwestern Lime Company, he was thus occupied
until 1894, when he disposed of his holdings to come
to California.

On coming to San Jose, Mr. Mathews was presi-
dent of the Los Gatos Wine Company, and when
the Good Government League was formed in 1902,
he was elected councilman at large for San Jose.
After twenty months in that office, he was appointed
city treasurer and four months later was elected
to that office, in 1904. At the end of two years
he was elected mayor of San Jose in 1906; owing
to the effects of the earthquake of that year, much
had to be done to public buildings and public works,
and it so happened that the responsibilities of office
were greater for Mr. Mathews in that period than
they ordinarily would have been and he was able to
accomplish just so much the more. On leaving the
office of mayor, Mr. Mathews served as bank exam-
iner under Alden Anderson, state superintendent of
banks, until 1911, when he became manager of the
Kennett branch of the First Savings Bank of Shasta
County, continuing there for seven years. On Octo-
ber 1, 1918. he resigned and returned to San Jose,
and since then has been manager of the Safe De-
posit Department of the Garden City Bank and Trust
Company of San Jose.

In Chicago, in 1890, Mr. Mathews was married
to Miss Martha E. Shideler, and their son is Henry
D. Mathews, Jr., an automotive electrician. He was
in the officers' training camp at Camp Taylor, and
thus did his part to help along the American cause
in the great World War.

Mr. Mathews is past master of Friendship Lodge
No. 210, F. & A. M.. is a member of Howard Chap-
ter No. 14, R. A. M., and past commander of San
Jose Commandery No. 10, K. T. He is also a life
member of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at
San Francisco, and with his wife belongs to San
Jose Chapter No. 31, O. E. S. and to Rose Croix
Shrine No. 7, of tlie order of the White Shrine of
Jerusalem. He was formerly a member of Acker
Post, G. A. R., in St. Paul, but since coming to
California has been a member of Sheridan-Dix Post.
An enthusiastic Californian, Mr. Mathews is a good
"booster" and leaves no stone unturned to help along
the great work of development of town, county
and state. In May, 1920, Mr. Mathews was elected
to the post of city councilman, taking up the duties of
this office in July, 1920, for a period of six years, and
is rendering very valuable service. He has made
a study of traffic and traffic congestion, was
the originator of the safety zone ordinance and is
also the father of the new parking ordinance which
greatly relieves the congestion in the business dis-
trict. Mr. Matthews championed, against much oppo-
sition the advent of the Western Pacific into San
Jose which gives the city another railroad. In fact
all these years there has not been a movement that

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

had for its aim the betterment and development of
the city and county but Mr. Matthews has taken an
active part in the putting them over.

PROF. JOSEPH WESLEY RAINEY.— A man

who has contributed to the pleasure of the music
loving people and has done his share to raise the stand-
a'-d of music in San Jose is Prof. Joseph Wesley
Rainey, a native of County Antrim, Ireland, born
October 8, 1838, a son of Hugh and Sarah Rainey.
The father was a farmer and died when our subject
was three years of age. When a lad of ten years
he came to Birmingham, Mich., where he attended the
public school. He showed much talent for music,
possessing a splendid voice and he continued the
study of music under Migalo Signor, a well-known
teacher of his time in Detroit, and later Mr. Rainey
was engaged in teaching singing. During the Civil
War he showed his patriotism by volunteering his
services, enlisting in Company D, Twenty-second
Michigan Volunteer Infantry, on September 3, 1862,
taking part in the battles of Danville and Hickman
Bridge, Ky., Peavine Creek, Chitkamauga, Wauhat-
chie and Missionary Ridge, Tenn , Atlanta, Ga. He
was mustered out at Nashville, Tenn., June 26, 1865.

Mr. Rainey was married December 16, 1868, at
Birmingham, Mich., to Miss Hattie Philbrick, who
was born at Troy. Mich., a daughter of Henry Phil-
brick, a native of New York State and a successful
voice teacher in Michigan. Hattie Philbrick studied
piano and voice and possessed a beautiful alto voice.
They were located at Pontiac, Mich., where Mr.
Rainey was chorister of the Methodist Episcopal
Church and Mrs. Rainey was the organist, and in that
city, too, he taught voice.

Becoming interested in the Pacific Coast region, Mr.
and Mrs. Rainey removed to San Jose in 1883, where
they became well known in music circles, Mr. Rainey
as a teacher of voice and Mrs. Rainey as a teacher of
piano. He was leader of the Methodist Episcopal
choir for two years and the Presbyterian choir for
seven years; at the same time Mrs. Rainey served as
the organist. At the end of this period, Mrs. Rainey
became organist for the True Life Church at Eden-
vale, a position she filled for eighteen years, at the
same time being a member of the church. Prof.
Rainey continued teaching in San Jose and at the
same time sang at the Catholic churches in that cit.v
for about thirty years, the last engagement being at
St. Joseph's Church, over a period of nine years.
Possessing a very sweet and pure tenor voice, he gave
his audiences much pleasure by his interpretation
and clear rendition of solos, and continued his singing
until eighty-one years of age. He and Mrs. Rainey
now live retired, spending a part of the year in San
Jose and the balance at their orchard home in the
Lakeside district of the Santa Cruz Mountains, where
he owns fifteen acres devoted to the culture of prunes,
being an enthusiastic member of the Prune and Ap-
ricot Growers Association. Thus at this cozy country
home, Mr. and Mrs. Rainey in their liberal and
kmd-hearted way dispense a generous hospitality.
They have one daughter Lessie M., the wife of
Prof. Joseph E. Hancock, head of the Grant grammar
school in San Jose, the parents of two children —
\elda and Joseph Rainey Hancock. Mr. Rainey is
a Knights Templar Mason, a Knight of Pythias and
a member of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, G. A. R.. and

with his wife is a member of the Eastern Star. They
now look back upon their interesting and pleasant
careers in San Jose with much pleasure and are de-
lighted that so much of their active life was spent
in this beautiful Santa Clara \'alley.

JAMES WESLEY FORWARD.— A contractor
who thoroughly understands the many ins and outs
of successful building in California is James Wesley
Forward, a native of Morrisburg, Dundas County,
Ontario, Canada, where he was born on April 13,
1850, the son of James Forward, who was primarily
a farmer but also a minister in the Methodist Church;
preaching in the neighboring meeting houses. He
had married Miss Ann Gocher, and she lived, the
devoted mother of our subject, until he had attained
his twentieth year. They had five children, three
sons and two daughters, and among these James
Wesley was the youngest. All are dead excepting the
latter and one brother, Thomas, who lives at Ches-
terville, Ontario, Canada.

James Wesley was sent to the grammar school of
his home district, and then for fifteen months he at-
tended the high school; but he spent a good part of
his early life on the home farm. In 1872, breaking
away from the associations of his past, he crossed
into the States and came to California; and in Sonoma
County he followed dairying for a year. On his re-
turn to Canada, he was married at Chesterville on
Februarv' 17, 1874, to Miss Mary Garrow, a native
of Chesterville and the daughter of Allen Garrow, a
farmer, who had married Eliza Mcintosh. For the
next five years Mr. and Mrs. Forward lived at Wil-
liamsburg, but farming there proved unprofitable, and
Mr. Forward sold out and took up building, at the
same time moving back to Morrisburg. The For-
ward family have great constructive genius; many
of this family have been successful builders. In this
connection it may be stated that Edgar Forward of
Montreal, a nephew of our subject, is one of the
Canadian Government's leading engineers. It was
he who completed the great steel bridge of the Grand
Trunk Railway, which spans the St. Lawrence River
at Quebec, after others had failed.

Mr. Forward relates with keen interest how he
got into building. While at Morrisburg, he was
hauling lumber needed for the building of the Metho-
dist Church; and when the contractor asked him to
help finish the two towers, he responded and soon
got such an understanding of the trade that he re-
mained with the contractor for five years. As this
contractor was a man of much experience and en-
gaged only in notable undertakings, Mr. Forward had
the best of apprenticeship, and when he finally left
him, he also left the locality. He went to Minne-
apolis, and spent there the summer of 1887; but not
being impressed with conditions there, he and his
wife and family came out to San Jose. Here
he took up building again; and entered upon that
aggressive career as a contractor which has made
him so well known throughout the Santa Clara Val-
ley. A Republican, with all which that historic name
implies, Mr. Forward has always worked and voted
for that which seemed best for the interests of the
country or the community at large.

The following children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Forward: Mabel married Haven W. Edwards,
the well-known educator; Frank is living at Superior,
Wis.; Effie Lillian is Mrs Robert B. Bailey; Flor-
ence .\my married Gilbert Nelson and resides at San

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

877

Jose; Mabel is the mother of a girl named Mary H.;
Effie has three children, Vivian, Orville and Jack;
and Frank has a daughter, Teresa Mary. Four chil-
dren died in infancy. Mrs. Forward died at San
Jose in 1891, and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Forward was married a second time August 29,
189 J. to Miss Edith A. Pillow, born at Lee, county of
Kent, England, being a daughter of Thomas and Ann
I Aspen) Pillow, who were born, reared and married
in London. The father was a lighterman, waterman
and shipping agent, and belonged to the higher mid-
dle class of England. In January, 1872, the parents
with their eight children, four boys and four girls,
embarked on the sailing vessel "Dover Castle" for
New Zealand, and after a four months' voyage
landed safely at Little Harbor. They continued to
live in New Zealand until 1888, when they embarked
for San F'rancisco, where they landed in November,
1888. They soon moved to San Jose, and Mrs. For-
ward continued to live at home with her parents until
her marriage. Her father died in San Jose in 1902.
The widowed mother went to New Zealand again.
In 1912 Mrs. Forward made a trip to New Zealand
to \isit her mother in her last sickness; she arrived at
her niotlier's bedside just four days before her death,
and remained in that country one year before re-
turning to San Jose. Mrs. Forward is a woman of
deep religious conviction and has served as secretary
of the Women's Missionary Society for many years.
Mr. and Mrs. Forward are members of the United
Presbyterian Church. They are comfortably domi-
ciled and live happily, in their new bungalow, at the
corner of East Julian and North Sixteenth streets,
which Mr. Forward built in June and July of 1921.

SAMUEL J. IRWIN.— An expert printer who
has equally demonstrated his ability to make a suc-
cess of pear growing, is Samuel J. Irwin, of the vicin-
ity of Agnew. He was born within six miles of the
city of Londonderry, in the northern part of Ireland,
on June 8, 1870-. the son of William Irwin, a farmer,
who had married Miss Mary McCarthur. They had
six children, Samuel being the fourth. He attended
the national schools in Ireland, and then learned the
typesetting and printing trades. He also worked as a
journeyman printer, enlarging his experience. In
1891 he came to America and settled in Pennsyl-
vania; and there he continued to do job printing.
He also moved to New York, then to Philadelphia,
and finally to Chicago; and in each of these places he
worked at his trade.

In 1901 Mr. Irwin migrated far enough west to
settle in Santa Clara, and for six years he worked
as an attendant at the Agnew State Hospital. While
thus employed, he met and in April, 1920, married
Miss Dora McComas, the daughter of the late
Charles L. and Elizabeth Jane McComas, the well-
known pioneers. Mr. McComas was a native of
West Virginia, who located in Missouri, and in 1856,
at Platte City, he married Elizabeth J. Hatfield, a
native also of West \'irginia, and a daughter of John
Hatfield, and who had moved to Missouri with her
; parents and located in Platte County. Her grand-

I mother, Susan Brumfield, before her marriage, was

! also born in West Virginia. In 1863, Mr. and Mrs.

! McComas set out across the plains for California,

I and having at length arrived at Alviso, they soon

I moved to the vicinity of Santa Clara. In 1872 they

' purchased eighty acres three miles northwest of

Santa Clara and one mile west and Mr. McComas

grew to enjoy eminence among the farming folk
through his success in raising strawberries, black-
berries, raspberries, alfalfa and grain. He passed
away in 1885. Later, Mrs. McComas demonstrated
her talent for managing the ranch until her death
in 1905. Of their nine children Mrs. Irwin was the
sixth child; only four are now living.

Recently Mr. Irwin has also become a horticultur-
ist, and has developed some fourteen acres of a pear
grove. He has made a specialty of Bartlett pears, and
his orchard is a beautiful sight to behold. His ten-
year-old trees are heavily laden, and this is largely
due to his thoroughly scientific and practical meth-
ods of caring for the trees and their products.

Mr. Irwin was made a Mason in Liberty Lodge
No. 299, F. & A. M., Santa Clara, and is a member of
San Jose Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., was knighted in
San Jose Commandery No. 10, is a member of Islam
Temple A. A. O. N. M. S. in San Francisco, and is a
member of the Order of Sciots in San Jose. Mr.
Irwin was reared a Presbyterian, while Mrs. Irwin
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South. Politically he is a Republican.

ROBERT K. O'NEIL.— An enthusiastic, pains-
taking student of the law, whose knowledge and coun-
sel have been frefjuently sought by the professional
attorney, is R. K. O'Neil, chief deputy county clerk
of Santa Clara County. He is a native son, born in
San Francisco, on Silver Street, South Park, April
21, 1869. When he was only six years old he was
placed in a home for children in San Francisco and
until he was twelve he was reared in that sheltering
institution, then was taken to a ranch near Antioch,
Contra Costa County, where he spent the next eight
year of his life, since which time he has made his
own way in the world.

In 1894 he attended Heald's Business College in
San Francisco, and after finishing his course, came
to San Jose and studied law in the ofiice of W. L.
Gill, the noted criminal lawyer, for about eighteen
months, then for the ne.xt six years and until the be-
ginning of 1906, he worked and studied in the law
office of Jackson Hatch, of whom he has always been
a great admirer. In 1898, while in Mr. Hatch's office,
he was admitted to practice at the bar of California.
Directly after severing his connection with Mr. Hatch,
Mr. O'Neil opened an office and began building up a
clientele for himself and was getting nicely estab-
lished, when the earthquake of 1906 broke up his
plans and practice. On July 1. 1906, he accepted a
position in the county clerk's office and has gradually
worked his way to the position of chief deputy. For
S'x years he was clerk of department number one,
and in 1912, followed W. T. -Aggeler as chief deputy,
which position he now occupies, attending to the
legal afTairs, particularly naturalization, passport and
election work of the office. As the result of his con-
stant study of law, his experience in office practice
and as courtroom clerk, Mr. O'Neil has become one
of the best-versed men in legal lore in the county.
He is a member and secretary of the local Bar Asso-
ciation, and expects to eventually resume the practice
of law. For many years he has been a member of
Observatory Parlor of the Native Sons. In national
politics a Democrat, Mr. O'Neil is broad-minded
when it comes to local issues and is a supporter of
the best men and the best measures.

Mr. O'Neil was united in marriage at San Jose.
September, 1901. with Miss Sae Alice Thompson.

878

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

born in Denver, Colo., the daughter of John and
Carrie Thompson, who now reside in Oakland. Mr.
Thompson was for many years a prominent con-
tractor and builder in San Francisco, Oakland and
San Jose. Mr. and Mrs. O'Neil have two children,
Agnes B. and Robert Grant, both attending the San
Jose high school. The family have resided for
several years at 327 Willow Street.

JAMES ALEXANDER FORBES.— Numbered

among California's very earliest pioneers, James Al-
exander Forbes lived a full and eventful life in the
years of his long residence here, and as a man of
education and culture, he left a strong impress on the
developing affairs of his generation. He was born
in Inverness, Scotland, of a wealthy old family there,
and began his education in his native place, receiving
the highest training in the classics, as well as in music
and languages. Later he accompanied his uncle, a
British official, to Spain, where he lived to manhood,
graduating from the famous college of Salamanca.
Entering the service of Spain in the warfare against
the Moors, he later came to California on a Spanish
man-of-war, landing at Yerba Buena, now San Fran-
cisco, in 1828. Returning to Scotland, he came a
second time to America, making a prospecting tour
to Vancouver and coming to California in 1833 with
a party of the Hudson Bay Company, camping on the
San Joaquin River where the city of Stockton now
.'.tands. During this time he wrote a history of Cal-
ifornia for the English Government, which was pub-
lished in London and was the first history of this part
of the country written in the English language. Ap-
pointed consul by England. Mr. Forbes removed to
the Mission of Santa Clara, in Santa Clara County,
and was stationed there when California became a
part of the United States. He soon took a prominent
part in the development of the country under the new
rule, and built a beautiful residence in Santa Clara,
with many modern conveniences, such as dumb
waiters, speaking tubes, etc. and had sent from Eng-
land the first cook stove to be brought into California,
and also brought the first carriage and plow into this
county. He constructed the stone flouring mill at
Los Gatos at a cost of $180,000, built at the peak of
high wages, and ran it for some time, when it passed
into other hands and then remained idle for many
years before passing into the hands of its present
owners. During the Mexican War, when the native
forces under the command of General Sanchez gave
battle to the American forces, sent here at the battle
of Santa Clara, as it is known in history, Mr. Forbes,
as British consul came out with a British flag and
halted the engagement and advised the Mexican
forces that on account of lack of equipment they had
no chance and to cease their resistance as it was use-
less for them to try to win over the well-equipped
American forces.

Mr. Forbes was an experienced mineralogist and
chemist, and when he first came across ore from what
became the New Almaden Mine, he pronounced it
cinnabar or quicksilver. He was one of the original
owners of the mine and was for many years its treas-
urer. His uncle was a member of the banking firm of
Baron and Forbes, Mexico City, with a branch at
Tepic, Mexico, and it was through him that the mine
\vas originally financed. They took enormous sums
out of this venture, but later much of this fortune was
lost through litigation. While acting as British con-

sul, Mr. Forbes was married to Anita Maria Galindo,
the daughter of Juan C. Galindo, who was a member
of one of California's best-known Spanish families,
and the owner of the Stockton ranch, lying between
San Jose and Santa Clara, which afterwards became
tlie property of Mrs. Forbes. Mr. and Mrs. Forbes
became the parents of twelve children, the only
survivor being James Alexander Forbes of San Juan,
Capistrano, Cal., an eminent historian, scholar and
musician. The late Alonzo Forbes, a former judge of
Monterey County, passed away in 1921. Mr. and Mrs.
Forbes spent their last days at Oakland, and there he
died on May 6, 1881, aged seventy-seven years.

Mr. Forbes early saw the need of an institution for
higher education in the Santa Clara Valley and so
induced Father Nobili to open the school at Santa
Clara which was the nucleus of the present Univer-
sity of Santa Clara, and he contributed $3,500 to help
m its establishment. He was a man of scholastic
attainments, and was the master of six languages;
throughout his life he remained an extensive reader,
abreast with the advanced thought of his day, and
his life was a precedent for the high standard of
education of this great commonwealth of today.

CHARLES W. DAVISON.— A distinguished
member of the California Bar who has also been
privileged to serve his fellow-citizens in high offices
of responsibility in civic life is Charles W. Davison,
a native of New Hampton, Chickasaw County, Iowa,
where he was born on July 30. 1874, the son of
Lorenzo B. and Esther J. (Annabel) Davison,
worthy pioneers of that state, who performed their
part, in their day, in building the nation, and who
eventually, migrating westward to California, came
to live in Santa Clara County. Charles W. Davison
graduated from the New Hampton high school on
June 10, 1892, and then attended the Valders Normal
School at Decorah, Iowa, during 1893-94.

He next matriculated at the Kent Law School,
the alma mater of so manj' eminent jurists, pursuing
courses there during 1894-95, and he was admitted
to the Bar of California by the Supreme Court on
December 24, 1895. Later, the U. S. District Court
at San Francisco on October 23, 1899, admitted Mr.
Davison to practice, and on July 1, 1907, the U. S.
Circuit Court at San Francisco also granted Mr.
Davison admission to practice in the Circuit Courts.

Responding to the call of President McKinley for
volunteers in the Spanish-American War, Mr. Da-
vison enlisted on May 8, 1898, in Company E,
Seventh California U. S. Volunteer Infantry, and he
served his country until the close of the war. Then,
having luckily returned to his home, Mr. Davison in
1902 was elected municipal judge of San Jose, and
in 1906 he was re-elected; and in 1908 he was still
further honored at the hands of his fellow-citizens
by being elected mayor of San Jose, and in 1910
he was re-elected to that office. Mr. Davison's ad-
ministration as mayor marked a new era in munici-
pal development closely identified with the most
rapid strides in the forward march of the city.
Modern pavement was installed on the main thor-
oughfares, the narrow-gauge lines of the street rail-
way were surrendered and the standard broad-gauge
tracks built, and the city authorities obtained a gen-
eral transfer system from the carlines. A devoted
Republican in respect to political affairs of national
import, Mr. Davison has assumed a nonpartisan

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

879

attitude in local aflfairs, and has been a first-class
"booster," lending a helping hand whenever and
wherever needed.

The day before Christmas in 1902 at San Jose,
Mr. Davison was married to Miss Maude L. Welch
of San Jose, a lady of exceptional gifts who taught
in the public schools for a number of years. They
have one son, Henry Welch, who was born on De-
cember 13, 1903, a student in the San Jose high
school. From August, 1910, to August, 1911, Mr.
Davison was great sachem of California's Improved
Order of Red Men, and from 1905-06 department
commander of California United Spanish War Vet-
erans. He is a member of Fraternity Lodge No.
.599, F. & A. M., and also belongs to the Woodmen
of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America.

H. RAY FRY. — A scholarly, experienced attor-
ney whose successful practice in law has added
dignity to the legal profession in California is H.
Ray Fry, of the well-known firm of Fry & Jenkins,
San Jose. A native son, proud of his mother state,
he was born in Dewitt, Cal., on April 7, 1876, the
son of George Washington Fry who came to Cali-
fornia via Panama and thence by sailing vessel to
San Francisco in 1852, and for nine years tried his
fortune at mining in Lassen County. In 1861 he
took up farming and stockraising, and in that field
of agricultural industry he continued until his
death, in 1892. Mrs. Fry, who was Miss Mary
Louisa Wiggin, crossed the great plains to Cali-
fornia in 1863, and in Lassen County they were mar-
ried; she is still living.

Ray attended the grammar schools of Dewitt and
San Jose, and in the latter city also pursued the
excellent courses at the high school, from which he
was graduated in 1896. Then he matriculated at
Stanford, studied there for two years, enlisted on
May 4, 1898 in the First California Volunteers for
the Spanish-American War, and on receiving his
honorable discharge, returned to Stanford University
and was graduated in 1901 with the A. B. degree.
The following year, the same institution gave him
the LL.B. degree.

In 1901, Mr. Fry was admitted to practice at the
California Bar, and for twelve years he was a part-
ner with Judge Beasly, the two attorneys handling
many important cases and defending many important
interests. In 1913 Mr. Fry joined hands with D. T.
Jenkins, and the partnership of Fry & Jenkins then
established still continues, the firm being rated as a
leader both in and beyond Santa Clara County. Mr.
Fry belongs to the State and County Bar associa-
tions, in which his personal character as well as his
knowledge of the law have given him a very enviable
reputation for model practice.

Mr. Fry was married to Miss Edna F. Milco. and
they are the parents of two attractive children —
Leland R. and Percy W. Fry. Mr. Fry belongs to
the First Presbyterian Church, and he is also active
in Masonry, being a past grand master of the
Grand Council of the State of California: he is also
a past high priest of Howard Chapter No. 14 R.
A. M., and past commander of San Jose Command-
ery No. 10, and is a Shriner. He is fond of hunt-
ing and fishing, and also finds recreation in such
commendable undertakings as the erection of a
three-story building — one of the finest in the city —

at the corner of San Carlos and First streets. This
structure is owned by Mr. Fry, and stands as a
worthy contribution toward the continued expansion
of a city widely known for its edifices.

DANIEL J. McGRATH.— For many years the
name of McGrath has been associated with Santa
Clara County where Daniel J. McGrath has been in
the furniture business at San Jose, and at the present
time he is the owner of a successful enter-
prise at 138 South Second Street. A native son,
born in San Jose May 9, 1868, he is the son of
Patrick and Bridget McGrath. His father, who was
an ironmolder by trade, migrated to the Pacific
Coast in 1852, settling in San Jose; here the parents
were married and both passed away here.

Daniel J. McGrath received his education in the
public schools of San Jose. After finishing school
he became associated with Lion's in the furniture
business and remained with them about fourteen
years, then began for himself and in 1918 located at
138 South Second Street-, where the business is yield-
ing ample profits to its owner. His success has come
only through intelligent effort, backed by a determi-
nation to overcome every obstacle. In political affilia-
tion a Democrat, Mr. McGrath has served one
term under the Davidson administration as council-
man from the Second Ward. He is a member of the
Native Sons of the Golden West, and whenever op-
portunity affords he spends a few days in the moun-
tains, hunting and fishing. He is a stanch supporter
of all municipal improvements, and enjoys the confi-
dence and good will of all who come in contact with
liim in business or social matters.

JOHN A. RAWLINGS.— The son of one of Santa
Clara County's pioneer residents, himself a native of
the county, John A. Rawlings is making good in the
field of horticulture at his thriving orchard home on
Pearl Avenue, south of San Jose. He was born Feb-
ruary 25, 1874, near San Jose, his parents being
George S. and Florence Minerva (Roberts) Rawl-
ings, highly esteemed residents of this neighborhood.
The father, who was born in Kentucky, settled here
m 1866, being employed for several years on the
large ranch of John G. Roberts, part of which later
passed to Mrs. Rawlings on the death of Mr. Rob-
erts, and during all the years since then it has always
been the family home.

John A. Rawlings attended the public schools of
his neighborhood, but early in life he deserted the
school room for the more practical tasks of helping
his father on the home ranch. Here he remained
until 1915, getting a thorough experience in every
detail of ranch and orchard work, when he pur-
chased a tract of twenty acres near the home place,
and this he has developed into a fine prune orchard,
doing practically all the planting himself. He has
given it his careful attention and its value is steadily
increasing.

Mr. Rawlings' marriage united him with Miss Lois
V. Williams, the daughter of Alexander and Emma
(Perry) Williams. She was born in the Almaden
neighborhood, her mother's family being well-known
old residents of that locality, Perry Station being
named for one of the family. Mr. Rawlings is a
Democrat, and has a public-spirited interest in all the
affairs of the community.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MRS. CLARA C. BRAY.— Among the most fa-
vored native (laughters of Santa Clara County is Mrs.
Clara C. Bray, a daughter of that prominent pioneer,
James Faris Kennedy, who was born in Bucks County,
Pa., January 18, 1810, the son of William and Jeanette
(Faris) Kennedy. The paternal grandfather's par-
ents came to the United States from the North of
Ireland in colonial days, and his father served in the
Revolutionary War as a captain. The maternal
grandmother's family came from Scotland and set-
tled in this country about the same time that the
Kennedy family did. James F. Kennedy was the
eldest in a family of eight children, all reaching ma-
turity. He lived in Philadelphia until he was twenty-
one years old, then spent about eight years traveling
over the country. For several years he was in the
lead mines of Galena, 111., then returned to Philadel-
phia, and in June, 1840, married Serena Salter, a na-
tive of that city, born January 6, 1820, who died
near Los Gatos, Cal., June 16, 1888. Her father,
Samuel Salter, was an Englishman, who came to the
United States in 1790. Upon his arrival here, finding
mirrors very high, he engaged in their manufacture,
importing for that purpose plain glasses from Paris.
He followed this business for several years and be-
came independently rich and retired from business.
Samuel Salter married Catharine Myers, a native of
Pennsylvania, of German descent.

James F. Kennedy resided in Philadelphia and was
superintendent of the Fairmount Water Works until
he came to California in 1830 as agent for Commo-
dore Stockton, and had charge of the sale of 3000
acres of land between San Jose and Santa Clara. He
made his home for ten years on this ranch. During
this time he was nominated and ran for lieutenant-
governor, when Leland Stanford ran for governor, on
the Republican ticket, and was defeated. In 1863 he
was elected sheriff of Santa Clara County and filled
the office until he died in 1864. In the fall of 1860
he bought 500 acres of land near Los Gatos.

Clara C. Kennedy was born on the Stockton ranch
on the Alameda, January 25, 1852, and is the only
girl in a family of six children: William C, a lawyer
in San Jose, now deceased; James F. is a nursery-
man and is well posted on the history of Santa Clara
County and is a writer; Theodore died in Goldfield,
Nev.; Edward died in San Jose; Clara C. of this
sketch; Frank is in the nursery business with his
brother James. The Stockton home on the Alameda,
where Mrs. Bray was born, called the White House,
has been beautifully preserved. It was all cut and
ready to be put together with wooden pegs, in Phila-
delphia, and shipped around the Horn, and upon ar-
rival was so constructed. Clara C. attended the old
Santa Clara Seminary, now the College of the Pa-
cific, and knew her husband, Frank Bray, from child-
hood. She continues to reside upon the eighty-acre
home place, where she has lived for the past fifty
years. This ranch is one of the best in the county,
located on the northwest corner of Scott's Lane and
the State Highway. It is a beautiful place, with its
home-like, old-time residence with a luxurianct of
flowers and shrubs, fruitful fields and orchards. Frank
Bray was born in Missouri and crossed the plains
with his parents to California in the '50s, his father,
J. G. Bray, coming to California the year previous.
The father engaged in the merchandise business in
Sacramento, and later, in company with his brother.

the commission house known as the Bray Bros, was
established in San Francisco. The business is now
operated by twin brothers, nephews of J. G. Bray,
who in connection w-ith T. EHard Beans, founded the
Bank of San Jose. Mr. and Mrs. Bray are the par-
ents of eight children: Francis William, who died at
the age of fifty, was a mining engineer; Anna L. re-
sides with her mother; Ernest C. is in the automobile
tire business at Santa Clara; Wallace, who married
Miss Laura Curtiss, was manager of a baseball team;
he passed away at Los Angeles at the age of thirty-
eight; Charlotte Louise married W. L. Atkinson, the
well-known real estate broker and a member of the
board of trustees of San Jose and they are the parents
of four daughters — Eleanor, Claire, Margery and
Marian; Serena married Angus Mclnnis, with the
Chase Lumber Mill at San Jose, and they have three
children — Bruce, Douglas and Donald; James Gardin,
a member of the police force at Oakland, Cal., mar-
ried Minnie Pippin; they are the parents of four chil-
dren— Frances, Vernon, Jane and Junior, twins; Har-
old is associated with W. L. Atkinson in the real
estate business; he married Miss Letcher Verve, and
they have a daughter, Elizabeth. The parents of
Mrs. Bray w-ere the founders of the First Presby-
terian Church in San Jose; later the Kennedys be-
came the organizers of the First Presbyterian Church
in Santa Clara.

HON. ARTHUR MONROE FREE.— For many
years prominently identified with the profession of
law in San Jose, Arthur Moru-oe Free actively en-
gaged in his chosen profession until being sent to
Congress in 1920. As a native son, he was born in
San Jose, January 15, 1879, a son of George A. and
Ellen E. (Littlefield) Free. His father, George A.
Free, an only child, came with his parents when but
one year old, the family being among the early
pioneers of the valley; the mother is a native daugh-
ter of the state, and her father, John M. Littlefield.
served his community as county superintendent of
schools and also as county clerk.

Mr. Free was educated in the grammar and high
schools of Santa Clara; graduating from grammar
school in 1893; high school in 1896; during 1896-7
attended the College of the Pacific; in the year 1901
he received his A. B. degree from Stanford Univer-
sity and his LL.B. degree in 1903 from the same
college. He was admitted to the bar September 16.
1903. From 1904 to 1911 he served as city attorney
for Mountain View, Santa Clara County, and from
January 1, 1907, for three terms, he served as dis-
trict attorney for Santa Clara County. In politics
he is a stanch supporter of the Republican party,
and fraternally he is a 32nd degree Scottish Rite
Mason; a Knight Templar, and Shriner; a member
of the Odd Fellows: Elks; Eastern Star; Sciots;
Order of Amaranth; Rotary Club; Commercial Club,
and a director of the Chamber of Commerce. Re-
ligiously he supports the Episcopal Church.

Mr. Free's marriage on November 11, 1905, united
him with Miss Mabel Carolyn Boscow, a resident
of San Francisco. To them have been born five
children; Lloyd Arthur; Gerald Monroe; Geraldine
Floyd; Robert George; Herbert William. Gerald
and Geraldine and Herbert and Robert are twins.
During the recent war, Mr. Free was unselfishly
active in all war work. He was campaign manager
of the first Red Cross drive, commissioner on the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

War Work Council of Santa Clara County, and a
speaker on the trophy train that toured Arizona,
Nevada and California. As a member of the speak-
ers bureau, he devoted one year to his work and spoke
in every city in California, Arizona and Nevada, in
behalf of the Food Administration, Liberty loans.
Red Cross, War Savings Stamps and Y. M. C. A.
His has been an unright, honorable and useful life
in which he has ever displayed loyalty to high
standards of citizenship, and he has labored
eflfectivcly and earnestly to uphold those interests
which make for public progress and improvement.
In November, 1920. Mr. Free was elected to Con-
gress from the Eighth District of California and he
took the seat on April 11, 1921, in the special session
called by President Harding. He is a member of
Merchant Marine and Fisheries, and Immigration
and Naturalization committees.

JEROME V. STAPP. — An experienced hotel
man particularly well known to sporting folks, and
one who, as a successful agriculturist and a public-
spirited man, has done much to forward more than
one important industrial interest in California, is
Jerome V. Stapp, formerly the proprietor of the
Alviso Hotel, but now located at TS'/z E. Santa
Clara Street in San Jose, where he is engaged in
the real estate, loan and fire insurance business as
the P. and S. Investment Company.

Mr. Stapp was born in Healdsburg, Sonoma
County, Cal., in December, 1876, the son of M.
D. and Agnes May (Jerome) Stapp, also both na-
tives of the Golden State, and the grandson of
sturdy pioneers on his father's side who came across
the great plains to California in 1849, and settled in
Sonoma County. His grandfather on his mother's
side, as well as his grandmother, was a native of
Brooklyn, N. Y.; and soon after Mrs. Agnes Stapp's
birth, her parents went to New York again, where
they lived until she was eleven years old, the time
of their passing away. Some afterward, she be-
came heir to the Russ Hotel in San Francisco,
whereupon she came alone across the Continent to
the Pacific. Later, she was married at Ukiah, to
which place she had gone to reside; her husband.
M. D. Stapp. being sheriff for sixteen years of Hum-
boldt, Mendocino and Sonoma counties. He was
also a wholesale butcher, getting his supplies most-
ly from Russ & Stapp. Humboldt County's larg-
est cattlemen. In addition, he was an inventive
genius, and among things evolved by his fertile brain
is the railway car coupling so extensively used to-
day. Full of years, and rich in friends, he died
at Los Angeles in 1912.

Jerome Stapp, after attending the San Francisco
public schools, graduated from the University of
California w'ith the class of 1900, and having left
the acquisition of theoretical knowledge, he went
in for the practical by embarking in the hotel field.
He has had a wide experience in the management
of hotels at various places in South America, the
Hawaiian Islands, Prescott, Ariz., and Mazatlan,
Mexico, and it is not surprising that he has made
such a success of his present venture. In 1919 he
came to Alviso and purchased the Alviso Hotel,
which he sold in November, 1921. He still retains
launches for bay use, and seven duck-hunting boats,
all the blinds for duck-hunting in this district be-
longing to him, and he is a member of the South

Bay Yacht Club, located at Alviso. He owns a
ranch of 1200 acres used for stock-raising and graz-
ing, and having some fruit, in Sonoma County. A
spirited Democrat, but also a good local, non-parti-
san "booster," Mr. Stapp has been deputy sheriff of
Sonoma County for four years, and for two terms,
from 1903 to 1907. he was a member of the State
Assembly, from the Twelfth District.

At Corona, Riverside County, Cal., Mr. Stapp
was married on September 10, 1913, to Miss Laura
Brummier, a daughter of Henry and Jenny Brum-
mier, citrus growers in Riverside County, and a na-
tive of Corona; their union has been blessed with
the birth of two children, Jack and Georgina. Mr.
Stapp belongs to the B. P. O. Elks, and holds a
life membership in Lodge No. 171 at Oakland.

CARL F. TUTTLE.— A dairy rancher who de-
deserves the esteem of his fellow-farmers and the
gratitude of those who come after and enjoy the
many benefits of developed, well-established Cali-
fornia agriculture, is Carl F. Tuttle, who lives on
the Trimble Road about five miles north of San
Jose. He is a native son, which may in part ac-
count for his contagious optimism as to the fu-
ture of the Golden State, and was born at Salinas,
in Monterey County, on May IS, 1893. His father,
Hiram C. Tuttle. was one of four brothers who came
out to California soon after the Civil War and
settled in Monterey County; he had been a mem-
ber of the Eighth Iowa Infantry and fought through-
out the war with this regiment; he was a participant
in the Battle of Shiloh and did splendid service in
the defense of the Union; and although he lived to
rear a family of seven children, of whom our sub-
ject was the fourth son and sixth child, he eventually
died, when Carl was only three years old, from the
effects of the awful exposure to which he was
subjected in that prolonged struggle of the South
against the North. He married Mrs. Rebecca Mc-
Loughlin, whose maiden name was Miss Rebecca
Wilson, and she became the devoted mother of a
worthy family, passing away December 2S, 1921.
Sidney is a farmer at Salinas; Raymond is a dairy
rancher on Spring Street, in San Jose; Donald
is a dairyman on Capitol Avenue, northeast of San
Jose; Carl F. is the subject of our story. Hiram
C. is in Oakland where he is a salesman. He served
through the war. won the Belgian war cross for
services in the Argonne; Joy has become Mrs.
Rasmussen, and resides at Seattle, and Maud is
now Mrs. Pesante, a teacher in the Oakland schools,
and is widowed.

Carl attended the county school at Salinas, and
afterward continued his studies at the high school
at Alameda, from which he was duly graduated in
1910. Then, from his seventeenth year, he began
to do ranch work; and he has followed up agricul-
tural pursuits ever since. For three years, he and
his brother, Donald, managed his mother's fruit
ranch of forty acres and when this was sold and
the family moved to Santa Clara Valley, the same
two brothers purchased a sixty acre ranch on Capi-
tol Avenue devoted to the growing of alfalfa and
dairying. When, in 1917, the brothers divided their
interests, they had forty milch cows; Donald stayed
on the dairy ranch, while Carl went to Napa County
and bought a fruit ranch consisting of forty acres.
In the fall of 1920 he sold this ranch and returned

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to San Jose and leased an alfalfa and dairy ranch
of forty-three acres, owned by Richard P. Keeble
and situated on the Alviso Road about three miles
north of San Jose, and there he was engaged in
dairying, with his usual enviable success, until the
fall of 1921, when he bought twenty-two acres of
the Trimble ranch and built a dairy barn to ac-
commodate forty cows. Unlike many ranchers, he
employs only Americans, and he keeps not less
than two constantly at work with him, thus carry-
ing out *a principle and a theory as to the ad-
vantage of American labor, and the willingness of
efficient Americans to work for those of their own
nationality. A Republican in his preference for na-
tional party platforms. While at Napa he rendered
his fellow-citizens good service as a trustee of the
school district.

At Chico, on February IS, 1917, Mr. Tuttle was
married to "Miss Mary Agnes Young, a native of
Ohio and the daughter of Ernest C. and Effie (Sny-
der) Young. — the former a civil engineer associated
with a large development company in the Sacramento
Valley. Miss Young came to California as a child,
and was reared in Chico, where she attended the
local schools, although she previously had gone to
school for a while at Salinas. Three children have
been granted them — two fine lads named Carl and
Robert, and a daughter, Rebecca Jane.

HENRIE GRANVILLE HILL.— A scholarly,
conscientious and thoroughly dependable representa-
tive of the California Bar is Henrie Granville Hill,
the junior member of the firm of Bohnett and Hill,
the well-known attorneys of San Jose. He was
born at St. Louis, Mo., on September 7, 1884, the
son of Walter Baylor and Zoe (Taylor) Hill, with
whom and the rest of the family he came out to
California in the late '80s. Walter Baylor Hill is
deceased, but his devoted wife is still living, the
center of an honoring circle.

Henrie Hill attended both the grammar and the
high schools of San Jose, and in 1909 he was grad-
uated from Stanford University with the A. B. de-
gree. Two years later he was given by the same
institution the degree of J. D. In the meantime, dur-
ing 1909 and 1910, he had studied law at the Har-
vard Law School. In 1911 he was admitted to prac-
tice in California. The first two years he was asso-
ciated in practice in San Francisco with Senator
A. E. Boynton and Chas W. Slack and in 1914
he located in San Jose and opened a law office. In
1917 with L. D. Bohnett. he formed the partnership
in which he at present figures. During his college
days he was a member of the Delta Chi and during
his senior year he was elected a member of the
scholarship fraternity Phi Beta Kappa and the law
scholarship fraternity "Order of Coif." Fraternally
he is a member of San Jose Lodge of the Elks, the
Garden City Lodge of the Odd Fellows and the
Masons, and is a past master of Lodge No. 10, F
& A. M., of San Jose.

Mr. Hill was married at San Jose on March 2,
1912. when he took for his bride Miss Bernice Field,
a native of California and also a graduate of Stan-
ford University. They are the parents of one daugh-
ter, Zoe Ann Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Hill are both
patrons of good music, and both ready and anxious
to forward in every way possible the best and last-
ing interests of the county and city.

CHARLES L. WITTEN.— A most interesting rep-
resentative of the legal profession in California, whose
;;ctive participation in the varied p"ents through which
he has lived enables him to review some of the most
stirring chapters of Golden State history, is Charles
L. Witten, who was born in Contra Costa County,
on November 1, 1860. His father, T. Z. Witten,
was a genuine '49er. who started across the great
plains before gold was discovered, and when he
reached here, mined at Placerville. In 1852 he came
into this valley, and later he removed to Contra
Costa County, where he lived for years and died.
He married Miss Rachel Smith, and she also passed
away there. They were the parents of six children, —
four boys and two girls, — and our subject grew up
the youngest of this family.

He attended the local schools, and after that pur-
sued courses of study at the University of the
Pacific for a term. He next studied law with Judge
S. F. Leib, and he also took a course of lectures
upon law by Judge John E. Richards at the Univer-
sity of the Pacific. A thorough student, he was ad-
rritted to practice in California in August, 1885;
and then he was in Judge Leib's office until 1888,
when he entered the district attorney's office, and
served as deputy for a term under D. W. Burchard.
He then devoted himself to his private practice, in
which he was recognized as one of the leaders of
the bar, until he received the appointment, on Jan-
uary 3, 1921, of justice of the peace to succeed
Judge F. B. Brown who had been elected one of the
superior judges; and although retaining a selected
portion of his private practice, much of his time is
devoted to official business.

At San Jose, in April, 1894, Mr. Witten was mar-
ried to Miss Nellie Hanson, a daughter of pioneer
parents and a native of Sonora, Cal., and they have
four children: Winifred I. is the wife of G. H.
Miller, of San Jose, the clerk of Judge Witten's court,
and she has three children, Dorothy, Janie and
Grandin; Alice Louise is a student at the LIniversity
of California at Berkeley; Muriel M. is assistant
cashier of the Bank of Milpitas; while the youngest
of the children is Kenneth R. Witten. Mr. Witten
belongs to Fraternity Lodge No. 399. F. & A. M.,
and to San Jose Pyramid No. 9, A. E. O. S. He
joined Pacheco Lodge No. 117, I. O. O. F. in 1881,
in Contra Costa County, passed the chairs of that
lodge, then becoming among the youngest past grands
in the state. When Observatory Lodge No. 23 was
organized in San Jose about 1894, he became a char-
ter member. He also marches with the Republican
party. He has been the attorney for the Bank of
Milpitas since its organization, and a member of the
San Jose Board of Library Trustees, of which he
was president for some years. He is an active mem-
ber of the ,San Jose Bar .Association, and until re-
cently was its president.

Judge Witten is fond of "hiking, " and takes an
annual trip, using the railroad to certain points, and
then walking over new ground. For the past fifteen
years, in fact, he has thus spent his vacations, and
during this time he has covered the most interesting
points in California, Oregon and Washington, on some
occasions walking 250 miles. There are no points
of interest, resorts, missions, etc., which he has not
visited, and all his trips are written up and published
m the local paper and to this mode of recreation he
attributes his fine physical condition and good health.

HISTORY OF SAXTA CLARA COUNTY

883

BERT T. KIRK.— A descendant o£ a worthy family
ot" which he is a worthy scion, Bert T. Kirk, in fol-
lowing farm pnrsuits, not only made use of his early
training, but followed the bent of his ambition and
today he is one of the representative horticulturists
of Santa Clara County. His fine ranch, well known
i-s the Socrates Kirk place, containing 100 acres, is
located on the Dry Creek and Kirk roads. This
r;mch was a claim taken up many years ago, the
family having owned the water right for the past
sixty years. For many years the entire acreage was
devoted to the raising of grain and it is within the
n.emory of the subject of this review when most of
the valley was a vast grain field.

Born April 2S. 1874, on the old home place of his
parents in Santa Clara County. Mr. Kirk is the only
son of Socrates and Louise (Guerraz) Kirk, pioneers
01 the county. Socrates Kirk and his brother The-
cphilus came to the county as young men and to-
gether the brothers purchased and improved their
land, the two families owning over 900 acres of fine
fruit land. The father passed away in 1906. his death
being a real loss to the community in which he had
lived and worked for so many years. Mrs. Kirk
survives him and still resides on the home place.

Bert T. bcRan his education in the public school at
Willow Glen; then he attended Hoyt's Oak Grove
School at San Mateo, and from this institution he
entered the Garden City Business College owned by
Prof. Worcester, and iicre he was duly graduated.
Leasing a portion of his father's large orchards,
he engaged in fruit raising, making a study of it from
a scientific standpoint and with his energy and ex-
perience- has made a success of it. His 100-acre or-
chard of prunes, cherries, and peaches is located at
the corner of Dry Creek and Kirk roads and there he
has built a large, modern residence, as well as suit-
able farm buildings. He is constantly making improve-
ments and his ranch is most modern in equipment, in-
cluding a drying plant. He also OAvns seventy-three
acres at Edenvale, which he operates in connection,
and valuable business property on East Santa Clara
Street and on the corner of Fountain and Second
streets, which he has improved, so it brings a nice
ircome. He has also been an interested dealer in
real estate in other parts of California.

The marriage of Mr. Kirk in San Jose, February
14, 1899, united him with Miss Mary K. Hamilton,
a native daughter of California, her parents being
early settlers of Santa Clara County. Mrs. Kirk's
father. Prof. William Hamilton, came to California
around Cape Horn in the early '50s. The boat was
wrecked, but the family was saved. He was an edu-
cator for many years, now retired, and living in Santa
Rosa, a well-educated and cultured gentleman, whose
refining influence has left an indelible impression
cr the communities in which he resided. Mr. and
Mrs. Kirk's union has been blessed with three chil-
dren: Louis, educated at Heald's Business College.
San Jose, is ably assisting his father in his horticul-
tural enterprise; Bert. T., Jr. is a graduate of Heald's
Business College and also is assisting his father, while
Clarence H. is attending the grammar school. Mr.
Kirk is a believer in protection as a fundamental prin-
ciple and never fails to give his allegiance to the Re-
publican party. Mr. and Mrs. Kirk are liberal and
enterprising and their home is the scene of much
social enjoyment and hospitality.

JOHN FRANCIS SHANNON.— Law, order and
a regard for the rights and best ititerests of
humanity are well represented in John Francis Shan-
non, the alert, efficient and popular constable of San
Jose, who was born in the city he so well serves on
October 31. 1875. His father was Christopher Shan-
non, for thirty- five years a police officer; he had
married Miss Nellie O'Keefe. and they had nine
children, all living. Mr. Shannon died on May 2,
1919, at the age of eighty years, and Mrs. Shannon
passed away in 1898.

John, the eldest in the family, went through the
grammar school in San Jose, and then for a nuin-
ber of years worked for the Western Meat Com-
pany. Rather naturally, perhaps, considering the
record of his father, he was elected constable in 1902,
and he has been re-elected so often that he is now

( )n M;i\- 2.^. 1")04. .Mr. Shannon was married to
Miss Harriet I,. Zienu-r. a native of San Jose. They
attend the Catholic Church, and are familiar figures
in the circle of the Pastime Club. Mr. Shannon also
belongs to the Native Sons, the Ancient Hibernians,
the Modern Woodmen and the Ancient Order of
Foresters. He is fond of hunting and fishing, and
in politics is a Democrat.

That Mr. Shannon takes a broad view of the duties
of a constable is shown in the careful administration
of his office — endeavoring, as he does, to afford the
greatest protection to society, and yet remembering
the human side of those who fall, need correcting,
but also need bracing up, if possible, to a better life
and for a new start to usefulness.

LAWRENCE E. BARBER.— One of the substan-
tial men of his district and a successful rancher,
Lawrence E. Barber is located on the ranch pur-
chased by his father in 1880. A native of Wiscon-
sin, he was born in Oak Grove, Dodge County. June
20, 1872, the son of Reuben S. and Sarah (Evans)
Barber. The wonderful stories of the opportunities
of the Golden State lured Reuben S. Barber to re-
move to California in 1852, where he first mined,
then came to Santa Clara County and farmed for
fourteen years. Returning to Wisconsin he lived for
fourteen years in his old home county. There he
was engaged in the manufacturing of agricultural
machinery and at one time owned a one-half interest
in the Barber & 'Van Brunt Works at Horican,
Wis., the shop now run by the John Deere Plow
Company. Returning to California in 1880, the
family settled at Milpitas and a farm of 222 acres
was purchased and set out to orchard. The ranch
is now devoted to truck gardening and fruit raising,
mostly pears and prunes, and is well watered from
three fine artesian wells.

Lawrence E. Barber attended the public schools
of Milpitas and his vacation and spare time was
spent in working with his father on the ranch. When
his parents passed away, a sister and he became the
owners of the old Barber ranch. In San Francisco
in December. 1912, he was united in marriage with
Miss Kate Bellew, the daughter of Michael and
Eliza E. (Kinney) Bellew. the father a native of
Ireland who came to California in the '50's. making
his way westward via the Panama route. He chose
Milpitas as the most promising spot in the Santa
Clara Valley in which to establish a home, settling
here in 1862, and he acquired about 800 acres of land.

884

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

which was devoted to the raising of grain, the cul-
tivation of fruit, and the management of a first-class
dairy. Mr. and Mrs. Bellew were the parents of five
children, Mrs. Barber being the fourth of the family.
Mr. Barber is a member of the Masons of San Jose
and all the other branches, including the Islam Tem-
ple of San Francisco. He has served his district as
a school trustee of Milpitas.

EARLE C. FANCHER.— A far-seeing, progress-
ive and successful rancher whose life story is interest-
ing and instructive, is Earle C. Fancher, residing at
the corner of North Thirteenth and Gish streets, San
Jose. He was born near Anita, Iowa, on July 28,
1886, the son of Charles WilHs and Maria C. (Hol-
combe) Fancher, farmer-folks dealing extensively in
stock and grain of their own raising, and the parents
of four boys and two girls. An uncle, George H.
Fancher, was a pioneer of California, and was one of
the first to enter the Yosemite Valley. Charles W.
Fancher also made a trip across the plains in early
days, but returned to Iowa, where he followed
farming. Earle, the youngest of the family, attended
the grammar and high schools at Anita, Iowa, and
when he was fourteen years old, removed to San
Jose with his parents. In the latter city he continued
his schooling, and topped off his studies with a busi-
ness college course at San Jose.

When nineteen years old, Mr. Fancher learned the
automobile building and repairing trade, and for four
years he filled the important post of "trouble
finder" for Osen & Hunter in San Jose. Then,
pushing out into the larger world, he went to Los
Angeles, entered the employ of the Los Angeles
Motor Car Company, where he labored on truck
work, doing and also demonstrating various kinds of
expert shop service. After that he became associ-
ated with the Spreckels Ditch, of the Otay Dam near
San Diego, and participated in the construction of
that difficult piece of engineering. He next joined
the crews at work on the Los Angeles Aqueduct,
and for eighteen months assisted in the accomplish-
ment of that wonderful enterprise, being locate near
Mojave; and when through with that arduous under-
taking, he spent some time in various parts of Nev-
ada, Texas, Mexico and Alaska, always engaged in
construction work of one kind or another.

In 1912, Mr. Fancher returned to Santa Clara
County, and became floor foreman for the Letcher
Garage. His father, as early as 1898, had acquired
a ranch of 4,000 acres in Merced County, five and
one-half miles east of Merced, devoted to the rais-
ing of grain; and in 1912 he joined his father in
ranching. The day before Christmas, 1913, he took
charge of the home ranch, and ran it until Septem-
ber 22, 1919, when it was sold to the California Pack-
ing Corporation, and set out to peaches and apricots,
becoming the largest orchard of its kind in the
world. In 1919, he returned to San Jose, and pur-
chased the old Fox nursery property of forty-two
and one-half acres devoted to the culture of prunes
and pears, well irrigated by a splendid well.

At Fresno, on December 22, 1914, Mr. Fancher
was married to Miss Maybelle Neumann, a native
daughter, who was born in Le Grand, Cal., the
daughter of Paul and Mattie Neumann, worthy pio-
neers and among the most progressive and extensive
grain farmers of Merced County. Three children
have blessed this union, Pauline, Eldon and Jack.

Mr. Fancher is a Republican, keenly interested in the
problems of national politics; but he is too broad-
minded a citizen and patriot to allow partizanship
to narrow either his range of vision or his field of
activity, and he is always ready to put his shoulder
to the wheel and do his share.

ANTON WAGNER.— A native of Southern Russia
who has more than made good since coming to Cali-
fornia is Anton Wagner, the enterprising and suc-
cessful rancher of Swift Lane, about one and a half
miles to the northeast of Evergreen. He was born
at Neiburg on March 17, 1859, the son of Jacob and
Barbara (Engel) Wagner, — the former -a native of
historic and picturesque Wurtemberg, Germany, and
the latter a native of musical and artistic Hungary.
His father was for a quarter of a century a school
teacher, and hence our subject began life with excep-
tional educational advantages at his service.

When, therefore, he left home as a young man
and crossed the ocean to the United States, he was
well equipped for a tussle with the New World; and
rood judgment directed him to South Dakota, where
he took up a quarter-section homestead in Turner
County, not far from the ranch of his father, who
had also come out to America. The latter, in his
sixty-eighth year, was paralyzed, and after that he
came to live with his son, who was the third among
four children, the eldest being Jacob, the next elder
Gottlieb, and the youngest Charlotte. His father
lived to be seventy-four, and then died, honored of
r11 who knew him.

On October 12, 1881, Mr. Wagner was married to
Miss Theresa Lorenz, the ceremony taking place in
Yankton County, S. D. She was a native of Germany
and the daughter of Andres and Theresa (Schmidt)
Lorenz; her father was for years in the employment
of the German government. After their marriage,
Mr. and Mrs. Wagner went to Gregory County, S. D.,
and there for many years leased a ranch; and in
time they bought 560 acres, and for sixteen years
raised cattle on their own land. When he sold out,
Mr. Wagner came out to California with his family
on account of failing health, and in 1912 he bought
his present ranch of twenty-one and a half acres
on Swift Lane, nine acres of which he has set out
in pears, apricots and prunes. Nine children have
been granted Mr. and Mrs. Wagner: Rose, Minnie.
Sophie, Carrie, Mary, Clara, Walter, Henry and
Emile. Rose is Mrs. Metzger of Evergreen, and has
one child — Fred; Minnie is Mrs Berg of South Da-
kota and has eight children — Gilbert, Fred, Solomon,
Richard, Gertrude, Helen, Alma and Laura. Sophie
has become Mrs. Hombal and the mother of three
children — Mary, Carrie and Ida, and also lives in
South Dakota; and Carrie is Mrs. Bradshaw, and
she resides near her parents; her children are Doris,
William and Joseph.

Two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Wagner entered the
service of their government in the last war and did
their full duty by their country. Walter enlisted on
September 28, 1917. and was sent to the Presidio as
a cook, and from there he was despatched to Camp
Sheridan, Ala., where he served until he was dis-
charged, on March 10, 1919. Henry became an
enlisted soldier on May 4, 1918, and was in the
Fourteenth Company of the C. A. C, and trained in
the Philippines, and then went to Fort Mills, and

^/^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

887

was discharged at the Presidio on August 26, 1916.
These two boys are now in partnership as Wagner
Bros., proprietors of a boiler works in San Jose.

Mr. Wagner is a Republican, and above all a loyal
American very much interested in civic reforms, and
he used to be a member of the Workmen order.
Mr. and Mrs. Wagner are members of the German
Methodist Church. Mr. Wagner has a high standard
m all his dealings with his fellow-men, and these
commendable traits have found favor with all who
know him, so that he is not only prosperous in busi-
ness, but rich in friends.

ANTOINE MATTY.— Arriving in California in
1853, the late Antoine Matty witnessed practically the
entire growth and development of the state and was
well known as the proprietor of the popular resort
known as Wrights Station, which he conducted for
over three decades. A native of France, he was born
■n Ville d'Antrevaux, in the Maritime Alps, April 20,
1840, a son of Francois and Teressa (Colombet)
Matty. His mother was a sister of the late Clemente
Colombet, a pioneer of the Santa Clara Valley. Mr.
Matty's father was a cabinetmaker by trade and
passed away when seventy-six years of age.

When a lad of twelve years Antoine Matty accom-
panied his uncle, Joseph Colombet, on his emigration
to the United States and after landing in this country
they started across the plains to California in 1853.
When they left St. Joseph, Mo., their party included
twenty-five persons and Joseph Colombet was chosen
esptain of the little band. On approaching the
mountains they soon became acquainted with hard-
ships and privations and passed the location where
the ill-fated Donner party had stopped. Winter fell
upon them while they were traversing Carson Valley,
and leaving six men in charge of the stock and wag-
ons, the rest of the band pushed on toward Cal-
ifornia. On the way to California their stock of food
gave out and after days of wandering without food
they crossed the trail of two hunters, whom they
compelled to supply them with food for which they
paid liberally, Mr. Colombet carrying $5,000 in his
belt. The next night they were again lost but ran
across the pony express and through the assistance
of the men in charge were able to reach a new trail.
They met up with many Indians but without excep-
tion they manifested toward the party a spirit of
friendliness. In due time the party reached Stockton
and came on to Mission San Jose. Antoine Matty
took up his residence with another uncle, Peter
Colombet, assisting him in his work. Another uncle,
Clemente Colombet, built the summer resort "Warm
Springs" and Antoine continued with him until 1855,
when he went to San Francisco, arriving there during
the reign of the Vigilantes. For a short time he was
employed as a clerk in the auction rooms of Smiley
Brothers & Company, and in 1859 made his way to
Virginia City, Nev., where for eight months he worked
in the mines, returning to San Francisco at the end of
that period. For thirty-five years he was proprie-
tor of Wrights Station, the well-known resort in the
Santa Cruz Mountains, near the line which divides
Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties. This is one
of the most attractive and popular resorts in this
part of the state and the property is valued at more
than $80,000. Mr. Matty owned 360 acres but re-
tained 134 acres. He made extensive investinents in
real estate in the Santa Clara Valley and sold to the

Western Pacific Railroad Company ^the site for their
new depot in East San Jose, construction of the line
hr.ving been started in 1920.

In 1896 Mr. Matty was married in San Jose to
Miss Sarah Slomon, born in County Galway, Ireland,
but reared and educated in Boston, Mass., coming to
California by the isthmus route. She passed away
1.1 November, 1903, a few months after the tragic
death of their son Louis. Six children were born
to their union. Teressa met an accidental death
when eighteen. Frank, who resides at Wrights
married Katherine Goodman and has two daugh-
ters, Antoinette and Aileen. Annie married Emil
Meyer of Wrights Station, and they have two chil-
dren, Arthur and Alyce Marie. Mr. Meyer is the owner
of the Mar Vista Vineyard, situated at the summit
of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Louis was burned
to death in a forest fire at Wright's Station in August,
1903, when he was forty years of age. Thomas C.
died at the age of twenty-six. Alice, a very capable
young business woman, is now in the employ of the
California Hotel Corporation. When fifteen years
of age she became station agent at Wright's Station
for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and con-
tmued to hold that position for nine years.

Mr. Matty received his citizenship papers at San
Jose as soon as he came of age and he thoroughly
identified his interests with those of his adopted
country. He was the organizer of the Wright School
district, and was identified with the Exempt Fireman
of San Jose. He was also a valued member of the
Santa Clara Pioneer Association, No, 45. It was
organized in 1853 with four hundred members of
whom but five are now living. Some years ago,
when Vendome Parlor, Native Daughters of the
Golden West, built a log cabin at Alum Rock Park
in memory of the pioneers, Mr. Matty at his own ex-
pense had the trees felled on his property at Wrights
and prepared the logs for the cabin. He was also a
member of the Sempervirens Association, a society
organized to preserve the redwoods for future gen-
erations. Mr. Matty passed away April 12, 1922,
lacking only eight days of living eighty-two years.

WILLIAM GIOTTONINL— Prominent among
the progressive ranchers of Santa Clara County who
have been most successful in growing alfalfa and to
whom the present high state of dairying is due, may
well be mentioned William Giottonini, who lives on
the Sabatti ranch, which is also known as the Cali-
fornia Dairy, on the Alviso Road, about three miles
north of San Jose. A native of Italian Switzerland,
Mr. Giottonini was born in Canton Ticino. at a pic-
turesque place called Frasco, on July 1, 1896, the
son of Benjamin and Polyanna Giottonini, his father
a Swiss farmer, being one of the first natives of
that canton to come out to California. On the
first occasion when he made his way here, in 1860,
he was a young man, and he remained in California
twelve years: returning to Switzerland, he married
and reared there a family of ten children. Joseph
is employed at the California Dairy; Lucy has be-
come Mrs. Lesnini and lives at Kings City; Al-
bert is in Mexico, and the rest are Prudence, Angea.
Pauline, Mary, William and Katherine (twins), and
Benjamin Giottonini.

When William was eleven years of age, his parents
came with their family to California, and this time
they settled in San Luis Obispo County. William

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

attended the granimer school at San Luis Obispo,
and a year after he arrived here, he began to work
for himself. He followed dairy ranch labor for six
years in Harmony Valley, and when he was yet
twelve years old. he milked twenty cows each day.
He then went to Kings City, and for a year worked
for wages in a dairy: then, for a short time he was
at Fresno and also at Coalinga; and next pitched
his tent for a while at Red Bluffs. Tehama County,
and at Portland, Ore. Returning to California,

William worked again at Fresno, then at Los Banos,
and after that he came to Santa Clara County.

On July 26, 1921, Mr. Giottonini joined Pasquali
Tonini, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this
volume, and in partnership they bought an alfalfa
ranch of forty acres, also leased a dairy ranch of
equal size about three miles north of San Jose on the
Alviso road. There they have a very fine herd of
some sixty-five milch cows, with which they are
scoring great success. In national political affairs
Mr. Giottonini is a Republican, but he is also a
good "booster" for the locality in which he lives,
putting aside narrow partisanship and supporting the
best men and the best measures, and he is first, last
and all the time an American.

FRED BOWEN. — Another representative of an
interesting pioneer family who has added to the
high reputation of California mechanicians is Fred
Bowen, the senior member of Messrs. Bowen & Ro-
necker, the leading plumbers and sheet metal -work-
ers in Santa Clara. He was born in Monterey
County on September 1^ 1883, the son of Alfred
Bowen, who was a native of Centerville, and the
grandson of Joseph Wythe, a sailor who hailed from
Scotland, and who steered for California in the
gold-mining days. The Bowens have thus been
identified with this section since the early days of
the Pacific Commonwealth.

Fred was only four years of age when he came
tc San Jose, but he well recalls the street cars
drawn by horses. His uncle, John Bowen, was a
machinist who worked in Joe Enright's shop, and
he set up the steam engine used to furnish the first
substitute for horsepower for the railway. Later,
the company turned to electricity as the motor
power. The lad rode on the first electrical car on
First Street, and the riding was sport, indeed.

When eleven years of age. he began to work out.
and for twenty years he ran the steam engine in
the brickyard and subsequently ran stationary engines
for other institutions at various other places in the
county, so that he gained a wide acquaintance. He
then took up plumbing and worked for Levin & Son,
and as he could not have had a better apprentice-
ship, he learned plumbing as thoroughly as he had
steam-engineering, and was just the man to form the
promising partnership with Charley Ronecker.

The firm of Bowen & Ronecker was established in
the spring of 1921, and they have been busy as bees
ever since. They operate a general plumbing and
sheet metal business and guarantee to do Vi'hatever
is undertaken so that it need not be done over again
the next day. This assurance means so much in the
present age of careless inefficiency that the up-to-date
folks of Santa Clara have not been slow to appreciate
their efforts. They and their five employes have all
they can do. They have many residences to their
credit and the excellency of their work is the merit
which attracts a constantly increasing patronage.

At San Jose in 1907 Mr. Bowen was married to
Miss Louise Bimmerly, a native of San Jose, where
bhe was reared. She is a daughter of August Bim-
merly, who died in San Jose on March 14, 1921, and
of his good wife, nee Louise Boughtenthistle, both
pioneers. Two children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Bowen — Evelyn and Harold. The Bowens re-
side in their hospitable home on Willis Avenue.

BEVERLY ALLEN ENGLAND. — A sturdy
pioneer of Santa Clara County whose reminiscences
of California reach back for almost seventy years is
Beverly Allen England, who can narrate many inter-
esting happenings of the early days here, where he
was long associated with Martin Murphy, Jr. A na-
tive of Missouri, he was born at Steelviile, Crawford
County, Mo., on October 12, 1842, the son of John
and Jane (Cornigham) England, both natives of Vir-
ginia. They were married in Missouri and there the
father died in 1848, followed to the grave a year
later by the mother, leaving six orphaned children,
two boys and four girls.

The fourth of the famih^ Beverly A. England, was
reared by an uncle, Ruggles England, who started
across the plains in 1853 as captain of a train of
eight wagons and ox teams. Beverly was then a lad
of eleven years, and he rode a horse all the way
from St. Joseph. Mo., to Hangtown, Cal. They
stopped for a time at the ranch of Martin Murphy Sr.,
Santa Clara County's earliest pioneer, and then for
nine years he worked for his uncle, who had gone to
the mines in Butte County, and as a bookkeeper
in the hotel and post office near the mines. On his
return to Santa Clara County he engaged in farm-
mg with his brother at Milliken's Corners, where
his brother-in-law, the late J. W. Johnson, had lo-
cated. Mr. Johnson had first crossed the plains in
1849, later taking up a Spanish grant at Milliken's
Corners, the title to which proved defective, so
that he was compelled to pay for it a second time.

At Santa Clara Mr. England was married to Miss
Jennie Simpson who had also crossed the plains in
1853, but in another train. Two children were born
to them, Gus A England, whose sketch appears on
another page of this history, and Harry England,
who married Miss Mary Wicker of San Jose, and
they are the parents of two children — Winifred and
Lorraine. Mrs. Beverly England died in 1913, and
smce that time Mr. England has made his home with
his son Harry in San Jose. For many years Mr.
England rented land in the vicinity of Santa Clara
;ind farmed there successfully. He has always taken
an active interest in the phenomenal development of
Santa Clara County, coming here, as he did, long
before there were any railroads, and as an American
citizen preferring the political tenets of the Demo-
cratic party, he has done what he could to make this
favored section come into its own. As a boy, in
crossing the plains, he proved to be one of the
valued and dependable members of the emigrant
train, and he was sent out to reconnoiter for roads
and the best places to camp, as well as to look out
for hostile Indians, and the lessons of this experience
continued to bear good fruit in later life. Now, as
one of the oldest living pioneer settlers of this local-
ity, he can look back upon a life filled with interest-
nig experiences, beholding as he has, a transformation
that it has been the privilege of but few to witness.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

JAMES TURNER.— A persevering, successful hor-
ticulturist, who finds real pleasure in hard work and
who has become influential in his community through
the force of his example as a man whose thrift and
proficiency have made him successful, is James
Turner, a native of Chicago, III., where he was born
in 1863. the son of James and Mary (Gantz) Turner.
Reared in the metropolis of the West, Mr. Turner
attended the public schools of that city. He started
his business experiences as a traveling salesman and.
continuing this for many years, he traversed every
state in the Union except Florida. Then for twelve
years he conducted a brokerage business in Boston,
Mass., where he met with good success.

Mr. Turner's marriage united him with Miss Jessie
Crawford, and in 1912 they moved to California and,
locating in Santa Clara County, purchased his pres-
ent ranch of forty-three acres, which is located on
the Los Gatos and Santa Clara road, about two miles
south of Campbell, Cal. He has erected a substantial
and attractive residence. His ranch is a very valu-
able property and his orchards, which are mostly
set to prunes, are now in splendid bearing. Mr.
Turner has been active in building up the commun-
ity, and was one of the prime movers that organized
the Campbell Investment Company, the builders of
a row of business buildings on Campbell Avenue, in-
cluding the postoffice, a moving picture theater and
three stores, and the Growers' National Bank build-
ing, constructed of white enameled brick. He was
one of the organizers of the Growers National Bank
at Campbell, of which he is president and a director.
He is a member of the California Prune and Apricot
Growers' Association. In national politics Mr. Tur-
ner is a Republican, and in 1920 was a prominent
candidate as such at the primaries for state senator.
He was made a Mason in Home Lodge No. 508,
A. F. & A. M., Chicago, and he is also a member of
San Jose Lodge No. 522, Elks. Mrs. Turner is a
member of the O. E. S. and the Woman's Federated
Club. She organized the idea of "prune week" and
her energy and enthusiasm put it through. When a
member of the Grange, she wrote a paper advo-
cating a prune week, urging the Grange to take it
up. The article was published and later it became
a national matter and now prune week is well es-
tablished all over the Union. Mrs. Turner has been
very prominent in civic and social affairs and shares
with her husband deserved popularity.

LOUIS M. RICHARD.— A successful rancher
whose prosperity naturally leads one to both study
and admire his progressive methods, is Louis M.
Richard, now living on the Alviso-Milpitas road,
not far from Alviso. He was born at tlie Mission
Dolores, in San Francisco, on November 17, 1861,
the son of August Richard, who came to California
in 1857 and, having married Miss Josephine Aggeon,
established himself as a market gardener. He and
his good wife were blessed with six children: Louisa
A., now deceased, became Mrs. Anderson: Annie is
Mrs. Carabal; Louis is the third in the order of
birth; Emelia and Eugene are both deceased; and
Henry of the family circle.

August Richard was a native of the Basses-
Pyrenees, in France, and when he came to Cali-
fornia as a young man, he brought with him the
experience and traditions of a corner of the globe
where the natives thoroughly understood how to

coax nature to do her best. He did not find it
difficult therefore, to specialize in fancy truck farm-
ing for exclusive trade; and on settling in Alviso, in
1869, he was able to purchase a home tract of twenty-
one acres of land on the Alviso road. Louis attended
the Alviso school and remained at home with his
father until the death of the latter in 1883.

Pushing out into the world, Louis Richard worked
for wages on farms in the vicinity of Alviso, and
then, in 1886, he started to farm for himself on the
old Young Ranch of 400 acres located at the north
end of the Zanker Lane, off the Alviso-Milpitas road.
This was a grain and stock ranch, and he leased it
until Mr. Standish purchased it in 1914. In that
year, Mr. Richard moved onto the farm of 120 acres
on the Alviso-Milpitas road, devoted to grain rais-
ing; and he has since resided on the ranch. Since
then he has also purchased a small ranch of twenty-
seven acres at the north end of the Zanker Lane, just
west of the Standish Ranch; and there he has re-
cently completed a well, to obtain the water necessary
for irrigation purposes, and has succeeded in getting
an abundant supply. A broadminded Democrat in
favor of every progressive movement, Mr. Richard
has been especially active in supporting whatever
tended to conserve the resources of the state; and
for a number of years he rendered good service to
his fellow-citizens in the capacity of game warden for
the northern part of Santa Clara County.

NEWMAN HALL.— Erected in 1914, Newman
Hall of San Jose will ever stand as a monument
to its builder, the late Archbishop of San Francisco,
Patrick William Riordan, through whose generosity
it was made possible, while its name will recall that
great prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, Cardi-
nal Newman, whose kindly spirit won for him the
love and veneration of his people.

The Newman Club of San Jose was organized pri-
marily as an institution among the Catholic girls to
foster the ideals that have been the basis of progres-
sive civilization during the Christian era. The earliest
manifestation of the idea of a Catholic university
ciub seems to have been at Oxford. The Newman
society there, under the direction of the Jesuits,
organized in the early '90s. The first club of the
kind in America was an organization of Catholic stu-
dents at Harvard in 1895. Similar organizations
lollowcd until there are Catholic clubs in most of the
state universities and a number of the normal schools
and teachers' colleges, and at \'assar, DePauw, Cor-
nell, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Columbia, Brown, Stanford.

The substantial brick and concrete structure erected
at 75 South Fifth Street. San Jose, about seven
years ago, is now the liome of 160 young women
students of the State 'I'eachers College at San Jose,
li was one of the last activities that marked the life
achievements of .^rchbisliop Riordan, his death oc-
curring in December, 1914. .\ large, one-story struc-
ture, it has a large auditorium with a splendidly-
equipped stage, an ideal recreation hall, a library,
reading room, great hospitable-looking fireplaces and
an open lanai attractively fitted with porch furni-
ture, and there is no question regarding the enjoy-
ment of the young women who are fortunate in
this environment. Here they may find not only a
place for rest, study and recreation, but a place
where they may attend lectures, hear good music,
and enjoy other cultural advantages, all of which are
to better equip them for their profession as teachers

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Father Collins, the rector of St. Patrick's Church
of San Jose, is chaplain of the club and through him
spiritual pabulum is liberally supplied; it has a
board of directors consisting of twelve ladies of San
Jose, while the discipline and the details of the busi-
ness is in charge of a resident secretary. In addition
to its marked Christian character, it breathes out a
strictly Californian spirit and is a valuable adjunct
to the State Teachers' College.

BART GATTUCCIO, M. D.— Among the many
physicians who loyally responded to their country's
call during the late war, giving of their professional
services during that crucial time, must be mentioned
Dr. Bart Gattuccio. Able and dependable, he is fast
taking a place among the foremost practitioners of
San Jose. He maintains a suite of offices in the Bank
of San Jose Building, where he has been located
for the past three years. Dr. Gattuccio was born
in Tratra, Province of Palermo, Sicily, on July 28,
1893, the son of Joseph and Sarah (De Matteo) Gat-
tuccio, who came to Santa Clara County when Bart
was but a lad. His parents are ranchers in the Ever-
green district, owMiing a thirty-acre fruit ranch.

Bart Gattuccio attended the Evergreen grammar
school and later the San Jose high school where he
graduated with the class of 1912. He then matricu-
lated at the Hahnemann Medical College, at San
Francisco, now affiliated Avith the University of Cali-
fornia and there he took the regular four-year medi-
cal course, graduating in 1916. After that he served
as an interne at the San Francisco County Hospital
for a year, then went to Santa Cruz and opened up
an office and practiced in Santa Cruz County for a
year. The war breaking out at that time, he enlisted
in the medical service of the U. S. Army and was
stationed at Ft. Riley, Kans., at Camp Lewis, and
Camp Kearney, where he received his honorable dis-
charge, having been given his commission as first
lieutenant. The war being over, doffing his uniform
tor civilian attire, he returned to San Jose there to
resume his practice.

Dr. Gattuccio's marriage, which occurred Decem-
ber 16, 1920, united him to Miss Anna Wallfisch who
was born in New York City, but reared in San
Francisco. He is prominent both socially and pro-
fessionally, and enjoys a large and growing general
practice. Fraternally, he is a member of the Amer-
ican Legion, and is a member of the national, state
and county medical societies, in all of which he is a
I'opular leading member.

THOMAS C. HOGAN.— San Jose owes much to
such experienced and enterprising men as Thomas C.
Hogan, the junior member of Messrs. Popp & Hogan,
the popular printers, for a first-class exposition of
the "art preservative of arts," and the steadily-increas-
ing patronage accorded this wide-awake firm is well
deserved. A native son, and one always alive to
whatever makes for the development and fame of the
Golden State, Mr. Hogan was born at San Jose on
December 4, 1865, the son of Henry Hogan, a painter
who rose to be a contractor. He married Miss
Bridget McCarthy, with whom and their children
he came from Boston across the Isthmus of Panama
in 1863. Landing at San Francisco, the family
pushed inland to San Jose. There were eleven chil-
dren and nine grew to maturity; but only six are
now surviving.

Having progressed through the public schools,
Thomas became a student at St. Joseph's College,

at San Jose, and then he learned the printer's trade.
He worked for a while on the Times, and then on
the Mercury, and then, in 1893, he went into busi-
ness for himself. Those familiar with his skill, and
that of his partner, their taste, methods of transact-
ing business and their high-grade products, will not
be surprised to learn that Messrs. Popp & Hogan
have done well from their start.

A member of the Native Sons of the Golden West,
and their San Jose Parlor No. 22, Mr. Hogan is also
a member of the Y. M. I., the Eagles and the Elks.
He belongs to the Roman Catholic Church, and he
is a Democrat. He has served for two years on the
board of library trustees of San Jose, for two years
on the board of education, and for four years as a
member of the city

DANIEL W. STOUT.— A craftsman who can well
be proud of his excellent workmanship, perfected
through many years of painstaking work is Daniel
W. Stout, cabinet maker, who is counted among the
most expert in the city of San Jose. A native of
Green County, 111 , where he was born at White-
hall on February 28, 1854, his parents were Dr. J. M.
and Julia (Henderson) Stout, born in Ohio near
Coshocton and removed to Illinois where the father
was- pioneer physician, riding horseback in his prac-
tice and carrying medicine in his saddlebags. Both
parents have passed away; they had eight children
of whom Daniel is the fifth, and he attended the
schools at Whitehall, 111. At the early age of four-
teen years, he began to learn the carpenter's trade
and worked in that line until eighteen years of age.
He went to Kansas and there drove a stage for four
years out of Chanute and Independence. Returning
home again, he stayed a short time, working as a
carpenter, and then going West, spent a while in
Colorado, and New Mexico, where he drove a stage
and also worked at his trade. The year 1890 marks
his coming to San Jose and for twenty-eight years
he was foreman for J. D. Stuart. During that time
he built many substantial structures, such as the
Abbot Hotel in Salmas, a large building in Gilroy
for Thomas Rae and two buildings at the Lick Ob-
servatory on Mount Hamilton and has built numer-
ous residences and business houses in San Jose. When
J. D. Stuart passed away, Mr. Stout took over the
business and now does mostly shop work and has
become very successful; he also does a large amount
of cabinet work, in which line he is considered an
expert. Aside from his contracting business, Mr.
Stout -with his two sons own a 2,000-acre ranch be-
yond Mt. Hamilton, which is well wooded and
watered and devoted to farming and stockraising.

Mr. Stout's marriage, which occurred on Novem-
ber 8, 1882, united him with Miss Sina Fair, a native
of Whitehall, 111., and they are the parents of four
children: Percy and Carl were both enlisted in the
defense of their country during the World War;
Percy is now on the ranch and Carl is engaged in
mining at Virginia City, Nev.; Nina and Leola. Mr.
Stout and his family have made a large circle of
friends during their long residence in this city and
has a high standing in business circles residing with
his family at 325 Gifford Avenue. He is past grand
of Observatory Lodge No. 23. I. O. O. F., and past
chief patriarch of the Encampment and with his wife
is a member of the Rebekahs. In national politics,
he is a stanch adherent of the Republican party.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

891

PAUL RUDOLPH.— A highly-esteemed represen-
tative of the successful, influential California financier
is Paul Rudolph, the popular cashier of the First Na-
tional Bank of San Jose, a native son who was born
in Bitter Water Valley, San Benito County, Cal., on
March 31, 188L His father, C. L. Rudolph, came to
California about 1864 and settled down to farming,
and here he was married to Miss Ellen Marie Schmidt,
who came out to the coast shortly after his arrival.
Mr. Rudolph died in March, 1911, the father of six
children, among whom were four boys. Paul, who
was next to the youngest, attended the public schools
of his locality and then remained at home assisting
his father on the ranch until eighteen years of age,
V, hen he found eniploynieiit at rancliiiiK. accumulating
the means by whicli he was able to attend the Pa-
cific Coast Business College in San Jose, from which
he was graduated in 1904. For a while he was with
O. W. Palmer, and when he had become thoroughly
conversant with the ins and outs of mercantile and
financial transactions, he entered the service of the
First National Bank, in November, 1904, commencing
as a clerk. From the beginning, Mr. Rudolph found
banking congenial to his temperament and worked
himself up through various positions, and in May,
1919, he was made cashier. This responsible office
he still fills, to the satisfaction of all who know him,
giving personal attention to the wants of all who deal
with the bank. He has been honored with the sec-
retaryship of the San Jose Clearing House, and has
been made secretary of Group 3 of the California
Bankers Association and in addition his fellow-citi-
zens have asked him to serve as treasurer of San Jose.
Interested in the cause of education, Mr. Rudolph has
consented to serve as trustee of Hester school district,
to which he generously gives the necessary time and
attention. The family reside on Yosemite Street and
he is a member of the Hester Improvement Club.

At Palo Alto on August 30, 1911, Mr. Rudolph was
married to Miss Evelyn Kennedy of South Dakota,
v.ho was educated in Beloit, Wis., completing her
education at Stanford University, and they have three
children — Eva R., Ellen M., and Paul Rudolph, Jr.
The family attend the Presbyterian Church and par-
ticipate in much uplift work in the community. Mr.
Rudolph was made a Mason in Fraternity Lodge No.
399, F. & A. M., of which he is past master, is a mem-
ber of the Consistory, San Jose Country Club, the
Elks, president of the 100 Per Cent Club and a
charter member of the Commercial Club.

VALENTINE KOCH.— An interesting representa-
tive of one of the most interesting, because most im-
portant of modern industries is Valentine Koch, the
senior meinber of the well-known and popular firm,
V. Koch & Sons. He was born in Bavaria, Ger-
many, in March, 1850, the son of Valentine Koch,
whose good wife was Caroline Kline before her mar-
riage. Both of these worthy parents, who did what
they could to start the lad well in the world, are
now deceased.

Valentine Koch, Jr., enjoyed the advantages of the
common schools in Germany, until fourteen years of
age, when he crossed the ocean to the New World.
For three years he remained in New York, and there
he took up the harness-maker's trade, learning it
thoroughly and thus well-equipping himself for the
tuture. In 1867, however, he decided to come out
to California. Here he pitched his tent at San Jose

and for thirteen years worked with Mr. Stern in the
harness business. Then, with a Mr. Kaiser, he took
up the making of buggies and harness, and under the
firm name of Kaiser & Koch, they advanced to suc-
cess and prosperity. From his seventeenth year,
then, until the present, Mr. Koch has followed sad-
dlery; and now he is engaged with his sons in the
handling of automobiles, a line of trade founded by
them seven years ago. They handle the Elgin Six
and have Santa Clara County for their territory.

In 1879, at San Francisco, Mr. Koch was tnarried
to Miss Molly Leibenberg, and they have been
blessed with two boys and two girls. Mr. Koch
belongs to the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Shriners
and the Elks, and is a Republican in his preference
for national political platforms. Mr. Koch served
his fellow-citizens as mayor of San Jose in 1896-97,
and prior to that he served in the San Jose city
council for four years. He was also a commissioner
of the Agnew Asylum for four years, having been
appointed by Governor Waterman. Mr. Koch helped
to organize the San Jose Building and Loan Asso-
ciation, and he is now its president, and the only
member living that served on its first board of di-
rectors. He is, in addition, a director of the First
National Bank.

JOHN W. MACAULAY.— In whatever part of the
world you find the Scotchman, the people of his com-
munity look to him as an example of thrift and
industry; a friend of education and enlightenment
and standing for all that constitutes good citizenship.
The citizen of whom we narrate is John W. Macau-
lay, a native of the land of Burns, who has been
identified with Santa Clara County for more than a
half century and whose parents were among the set-
tlers of 1870, coming to this city when it was nothing
more than a small town.

Born on February 24, 1860, John W. was the son
of John and Elizabeth (Wilson) Macaulay, who were
also natives of Scotland and coming to America in
1865, made their first home in this country in Chicago
and then later coming to California, located in San
Jose in 1870. The father engaged in the photograpli
business and continued in this line until his death,
which occurred in 1876, the mother surviving him
until the year 1903.

John received a fair education in the public schools
of San Jose and went to work in his father's estab-
lishment and at his father's death, took charge of the
business. For a while he was in partnership with Mr.
Milton Loryea, who was also a photographer, and
they worked under the firm name of Loryea and
Macaulay, their studio being at 26 South First Street,
and here they worked together from 1880 to 1886.
Mr. Macaulay then associated himself with the T. W.
Hobson Company in their clothing store for about
twenty years. In 1906 he embarked in the orchard
business at Visalia with J. H. Henry. Disposing of
this property in 1919, he established himself in the
realty business as the Macaulay Farms Company,
at 119 North First Street, in which he has been
very successful.

Mr. Macaulay married Miss Mattie Hobson, a na-
tive of San Jose, and they are the parents of a
daughter. Hazel I., and a son, Thaddeus W., who is
secretary and manager of the Macaulay Farms Com-
pany, Inc. In 1921 Mr. Macaulay, in conjunction
with his brother-in-law, W. B. Hobson, the pioneer
clothier, formed the San Jose Securities Company,

892

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

incorporated, which is now a flourishing organization,
its offices being with Macaulay Farms Company, Inc..
at 119 North First Street.

Mr. Macaulay has always been a very active man,
taking part in all movements for the good of the
city in which he lives and serving well the country
of his adoption. He served for three years in the
California National Guards; was a member of the
city council for the four years during 1898 and 1902,
when the first charter went into effect; in many ways
he has shown his deep interest in work of the
Chamber of Commerce and the San Jose Realty
Board, being secretary of the latter. He is a popular
member of the B. P. O. Elks, and in national politics
he is a stanch adherent of the Republican party.

MRS. ADELA R. GUGLIERI.— An esteemed
resident of Madrone, Santa Clara County, whose
early years were spent in the land of her birth, Mex-
ico, is Mrs. Adela R. Guglieri, whose husband, the
late Dr. August A. Guglieri, was a well-known phy-
sician of San Francisco, and who, in addition to his
large medical practice, was extensively interested
in horticulture and viticulture, leaving a valuable es-
tate at his passing away.

Mrs. Guglieri was born at Colima. Mexico, De-
cember 16, 1874; her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Marce-
lino Rodriguez, both died when she was a babe, and
she was given a mother's care by Mrs. Viviana Ca-
rillo, a close friend of her parents. She was reared
and educated at Colima, residing there until 1893,
when she accompanied Mrs. Carillo to San Fran-
cisco, where they made their home until Mrs. Ca-
rillo's death in 1897. In May, 1902, at San Fran-
cisco, she was united in marriage with Dr. A. A.
Guglieri. and the Bay section remained their home
until 1907, when they removed to Madrone, where
Dr. Guglieri passed away on November 29. 1919.
One child, a daughter, Mary, was born to them and
she is now the wife of E. Bolli of Madrone and the
mother of a son, Eugene.

Dr. A. A. Guglieri was born at Genoa, Italy, De-
cember 13, 1859, the son of a wealthy merchant of
Genoa, who for many years operated a large fleet
of merchant vessels from this port. He often took
passage on these vessels on their long journeyings,
and so became acquainted with the people and cus-
toms of many lands and climes. When twenty-eight
years old he started on a trip around the world and
on arriving in Mexico, was so fascinated with this
country that he took up the study of herbalist with
the Indians at Colima. In 1890 he, removed to San
Jose and practiced his profession for eleven years,
then went to San Francisco and entered Cooper
Medical College, and after graduating from this well-
known institution, now a part of Stanford Univer-
sity, he took up the practice of medicine in San
Francisco, becoming widely known and establishing
a lucrative practice, in which he actively continued
up to three years before his death, maintaining an
office in San Jose for a few years.

Dr. Guglieri's first marriage had united him with
Miss Frances Carillo, who was a native of Colima,
Mexico, and four children were born of this mar-
riage: Gregory Guglieri, whose sketch appears else-
where in this volume; Louise, the wife of Charles
Haggans of San Francisco and the mother of one
daughter; Irene, Mrs. Marco Borello of Mor.gan
Hill, has one son; Frances, Mrs. Albert Pauls of

Gooding, Idaho, has a son and a daughter. Mrs.
Frances Guglieri passed away at San Francisco on
the third of February, 1901.

In September, 1899. Dr. Guglieri acquired a tract
of ninety acres east of Madrone, which he developed
into a fine vineyard. Successful in his profession he
accumulated a competency, and from time to time
increased his property holdings, and at his passing
away he left an estate made up of valuable realty
holdings in San Francisco, Oakland. Morgan Hill.
Redwood City and Madrone. A man of high stand-
ing both in professional .and business circles. Dr.
Guglieri had a wide circle of friends, to whom his
death, in November, 1919, came as a distinct loss.

ELTON R. BAILEY. — An efficient administrator
whose wide experience and especial adeptness to the
peculiar demands of his responsible position have had
much to do with oiling the machinery of local com-
mercial and financial life, is Elton R. Bailey, the
superintendent of the Merchants Association Credit
Bureau, with headquarters at 74 North First Street.
San Jose, and a membership of 394. As might be
expected, he is a native son, and first saw the light
at Yreka, Cal., on May 22, 1858. His father. Caleb
Bailey, born May 7, 1827, married Miss Arilla Cox,
born February 20, 1827, and together they came
across the plains by oxen in 1849, proceeding first
to Oregon. They brought one son with them, their
oldest child. One son was born in Oregon and four
daughters and our subject were born in California.
Four of the seven are living. From there they
journeyed to California, and at Yreka Mr. Bailey en-
gaged in mining. After several years of hard and
fairly successful work in that field, he and his family
removed to Mendocino County; and there he fol-
lowed farming until his death on February 14, 1896.
Mrs. Bailey, a devoted wife and mother, is also dead,
having passed away on February 1, 1910.

Elton went through the local schools at Ukiah.
but as a mere boy he had to go to work, and so a
large part of his most helpful education was ob-
tained in the great school of experience. He re-
mained on the farm until he was twenty-one years
of age, and then he came to San Jose and took a
course in bookkeeping at the business college in
this city, .^t the same time, he entered the serv-
ice of the Southern Pacific Coast Railroad, and there
he remained until he was appointed secretary to the
medical superintendent of the .^gnew State Hospital,
a position he continued to fill with credit to him-
self and satisfaction to many others for eight years.
Then he engaged in real estate transactions in San
Jose for a year, and at the end of that period was
appointed bookkeeper at the Agnew State Hospital,
v.here he remained for ten years. Returning to San
Jose, he was made day captain of police and for five
\ears was charged with the preservation of law and
order in and about town. In July, 1913, he accepted
his present responsible trust, requiring for its suc-
cessful discharge a good knowledge of human nature
and daily transactions in life, and much tact and far-
sightedness. Naturally Mr. Bailey is a live wire in
the San Jose Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Bailey has been married twice. His first union
was with Annie Foster, a native daughter by whom
one child. Hazel, now Mrs. David A. Dowsett, of
Honolulu, was born. His second marriage united
him with Miss Laura P. La Montagne, also a native

f^^^^/il^L^ ^^7c., ^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

897

of California and one daughter has blessed this
union: Marion J., a student in the public school.
In politics, Mr. Bailey is a Republican, and is a
,!2° Mason, is past master of San Jose lodge No. 10,
and in the San Jose chapter of the Eastern Star he
is a past patron. He also belongs to the Native Sons
of the Golden West, and to San Jose Pyramid No. 9

A. E. O. S. (Sini^e this sketch was 'written, Mr.
Bailey passed away, on June 10, 1922.)

WILLIAM B. HOWE.— A public-spirited man who
left behind him a blessed memory at his passing
away was William B. Howe, who located in Cali-
fornia in 1882. A native of Schenectady, N. Y., he
was born on February 27, 1854, a son of Erastus and
Mary J. (Burton) Howe, who moved to Wisconsin
ind settled in the vicinity of Sparta when their son
v,as a child. Both parents passed their remaining
years in that locality, the mother surviving until the
summer of 1921, when she died at the age of eighty-
William B. Howe attended the public schools of
Sparta, Wis., and at an early age took up agricul-
tural pursuits, following that calling in both Wis-
consin and near Minneapolis, Minn., when he came
to California in 1882 on account of his health. He
liad married Miss Letty Lanham and they had one
son, William L. Howe, now residing in San Jose
and the father of two boys, Edwin W. and William

B. Mrs. Howe died before he came to California.
Mr. Howe settled in San Jose on account of the
f^ne climate and he soon became a traveling sales-
man, representing at different times, various houses
of San Francisco, and he continued that vocation for
eighteen years. For eight years he was connected
with the Pacific Milling Company at Paso Robles,
where he made his home. He ne.xt bought an inter-
est in the Scovel Iron Store Company of San Fran-
cisco and made his home at San Jose, where he had
I urchased a six-acre orchard in The Willows and
curing the time he was not on the road devoted his
time to cultivating his place.

Soon after coming to this state Mr. Howe was
married to Miss Clara B. Bonar on February 19.
1883, who was a native of Iowa and a daughter of
the late Joseph A. Bonar and his wife, who was in
maidenhood Miss Anna Forgraves, both natives of
Ohio, the latter of Virginian stock. Mr. Bonar came
to California in 1872 and followed the trade of a
contracting plasterer for many years and was em-
ployed on many of the public buildings, business
blocks and residences in San Jose during his active
career. He died here in 1902 and Mrs. Bonar passed
away in 1906. Of their seven children three are still
living: Mrs. Lydia Dalve of Richmond, Cal.; Charles
W., of San Francisco, and Mrs. Howe.

In 1892 Mr. and Mrs. Howe purchased the tract
of six acres known as the Pitkin orchard, located
on Meridian Road in The Willows and this has since
been the famliy home. Mr. Howe passed away on
May 14, 1914, honored and respected by all who
knew or had business dealings with him. Since
his death Mrs. Howe has carried on the ranch with
fair financial returns. She is a member of the Parent-
Teachers Association of the Willow Glen School and
cf the San Jose High School. She has an adopted
daughter. Eola A. Howe, now a student in the San
Jose State Normal. Mr. Howe was a Thirty-second
degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner, holding

n^-mbership in Aahmes Temple in Oakland. He
was made a Mason in 1878 at Salem, Wis., but de-
mitted to the San Jose lodge after he settled here.
He was also a member of the Woodmen of the
World and in politics he was a Democrat on national
i!-sues, but for local atifairs he supported the best
man for public office, regardless of party affiliations.
At his passing the county lost a stanch and honor-
able citizen, one who was respected and honored by
all who knew him.

GEORGE L. KEESLING.— Among the early set-
tlers of Santa Clara County came the Keesling fam-
ily from far-away Minnesota, now so worthily repre-
sented by George L. Keesling, the manager of the
Earl Fruit Company of California; and having lo-
cated in San Jose, they have ever since performed
their share in the buihling of the city. George Kees-
ling was born in Minneapolis on October 10, 1867,
a son of Thomas B. and Elizabeth (Hasty) Keesling.
both of whom are now deceased, the latter having
passed away on January 25, 1913, and the former on
January 11, 1918. Mr. Keesling, who came to Cali-
fornia with his family in 1873, had been engaged as a
farmer and a merchant in or near Minneapolis, and
he became one of the pioneer orchardists of San Jose.

George attended the Willow Glen grammar school,
and then pursued the courses of the high school in
San Jose, and topped off his studies with a good
practical commercial course in the Garden City Busi-
ness College of San Jose, receiving in all a splendid
training for the duties of life. He busied himself in
his father's orchards until he reached his twenty-
first year, and then he was for four years in the
employ of the Wells Fargo Express Company. He
next clerked in a grocery for three years, and in
1891 planted an orchard on Bird Avenue, to which
he gave his personal attention until 1915, when he
.subdivided the five acres, which were in the city limits.

Since 1918, Mr. Keesling has been manager of the
San Jose branch of the Earl Fruit Company of Cali-
fornia, a position for which his long years of special
training and broad experience have eminently quali-
fied liim. The San Jose branch of this famous com-
pany employs, during its busy season, more than
100 people all comfortably quartered in one of the
ipost sanitary establishments of modern equipment
such as always makes work easier, and it is not sur-
prising that the company is able to send out a product
cf only the highest quality, and easily to maintain
the standard. Mr. Keesling was elected to member-
ship in the city council, but he served only a portion
cf the term, having been compelled to resign on ac-
count of the demands of his private business affairs.

Mr. Keesling's marriage on April 26, 1891, united
him with Miss Lila M. Hodges, who was a native
of San Jose, and now they are the parents of two
children, George H. and Jeannette L., who became
Mrs. Thomas P. Kennedy and passed away at the
?ge of twenty-four. In his earlier years Mr. Keesling
served for three years in the National Guard of
California, and thus maintained the public-spirited,
patriotic tradition of his pioneer folks. His parents
reared and educated eleven children, all of whom are
still living, save one, — Oliver M. Keesling, who died
en October 10, 1921. The others yet honoring the
good name of their ancestors are Mrs. G. W. Hanson.
F. M. Keesling, L. B. Keesling, H. G. Keesling. A. C.
Keesling, Mrs. Carrie E. Mitchell, George L. Kees-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Img, Thomas C. Keesling, and Edwin E. Keesling,
jnd his twin-sister, Mrs. Jacob Knack. In national
politics a stanch Republican, Mr. Keesling belongs
to San Jose lodge No. 522, B. P. O. Elks.

MRS. EMMA HIRSCH.— Widely known as one of
the best-appointed and most up-to-date of all imder-
taking cstabhshmcnts in Santa Clara County is the
spacious, ornate building, elegantly and appropriate-
ly furnished, belonging to Mrs. Emma Hirsch, a
woman of attractive personality who so well mas-
tered her profession, and so well succeeded in her
business that she has not only built, but paid for,
her extensive equipment; and risen to her leading
position in both Santa Clara and San Jose. Her
strength of character, her agreeable temperament and
uplifting sentiments, her family connections which
have always made and kept her active in society,
where she is a favorite, — all these features have con-
tributed to draw to her those in distress and need-
ing, often at the very moment when most helpless
themselves, guidance, comfort and helpful service.
Mrs. Hirsch is entitled to the credit of building up
her well-arranged and well-managed enterprise un-
der the name of the Santa Clara Undertaking Com-
pany, w^hich is now located at 1098 Jackson Street.
at the corner of Benton. She started business in the
building of the Bank of Italy, and when the owners
decided to remodel the edifice so as to devote the
entire building to banking offices and stores, Mrs.
Hirsch, finding no other place suitable for her needs,
decided to put up a structure of her own. She is
the widow of the late Emil G. Hirsch, for many
years justice of the peace and for five years an un-
dertaker at Santa Clara, who had died on March 31,
1913; and as she had learned embalming and the other
details from her husband, she had continued to con-
duct the business founded by him.

She was born in San Jose, and is a daughter of the
late Fred and Emma (Kreig) Buncmann, well-known
pioneer merchant folks at San Jose. They came to
San Jose in early days, and Mr. Bunemann was
well and favorably known as a manufacturer and
business man. He contracted erysipelas and died in
less than two weeks at the age of forty-two. Mr.
Bunemann was a gifted vocalist and frequently fav-
ored San Jose audiences with his beautiful voice and
he was much loved and esteemed by everyone. His
widow now lives in San Francisco, the mother of
five children, among whom our subject is the second.

She attended the schools in San Jose, enjoying
both grammar and high school advantages, and then
clerked for Nathan & Dohrman, the Palace Crockery
dealers. On May 2, 1894, she was married to the late
Emil G. Hirsch, a native of Chicago who came to
Santa Clara as a young man, and for eighteen years
worked for the Eberhard Tannery Company. He
was elected justice of the peace in Santa Clara and
served for a term; during this time he studied law
and became well versed in all legal matters. He
then went into undertaking, after he and his tal-
ented wife had taken the courses at Barnes School
of Embalming, from which both graduated, receiv-
ing state licenses. However he passed away just as
he had the business established, leaving a daughter,
Ora Lee, a graduate of Santa Clara High and the
Practical School of Business in San Jose and during
the war saw service as a yeomanette, rising to the
position of Chief Yeomanette. She is now the wife

of Theodore E. Merritt, a broker in Oklahoma City,
Okla. Judge Hirsch was a prominent Mason and
was past master of Liberty Lodge, F. & A. M.,
Santa Clara, and was also a member of San Jose
Chapter, R. A. M. and San Jose Commandery,
K. T., and Islam Temple A. A. O. N. M. S. in San
Francisco. He was also an Odd Fellow in which he
was a past grand.

Mrs. Hirsch drew the plans, and built and paid
for her fine building at the corner of Benton and
Jackson streets, in Santa Clara, which is designed
exclusively for undertaking; and she is able to de-
velop her ideas as to the ideal thing in undertaking,
as fast as the ever-growing patronage makes it pos-
sible to expand. She belongs to the Rebekah lodge of
Santa Clara and Santa Clara Chapter, Order of East-
ern Star; and also to the Kings Daughters in the
same city, and she is a member of the Episcopal
Church in Santa Clara. She is a niece of J. J. Son-
theimer. the father of Urban Sontheimer, justice of
the peace of San Jose, and of Gustav Nelson, the
retired capitalist of that city, and she is also a niece
of the late John J. Stock of San Jose. Thus popular
and welcome in business, religious and fraternal cir-
cles, Mrs. Hirsch exerts an enviable influence for
good, to the brightening and stimulating of many
lives, and accomplishing far more than merely the
making of success in a commercial enterprise.

CHARLES M. RICHARDS, M. D.— Prominent
among the representatives of medical science in Cali-
fornia may well be mentioned Dr. Charles M. Rich-
ards, the Roentgenologist, of whom both San Jose
and Santa Clara County are justly proud. He was
lorn in the pretty home town of Watsonville on No-
vember 10, 1881, the son of William S. Richards,
\\ ho came to California with his family in 1878 and
five years later removed to San Jose, where he be-
came president of the Security Bank, which he had
organized. He married Miss Alice Alexander, a cul-
tured lady who exerted a wide influence, made many
friends and passed from this life to the Great Beyond
on April 22, 1920, Mr. Richards having preceded her,
his death occurring on June 10, 1915.

Dr. Richards began his educational training at the
Washburn School, after which he matriculated at
Stanford University from which he was duly grad-
uated, with the Bachelor of Arts degree, in 1903.
Going East, he commenced the study of medicine
at Harvard, and in 1907 was graduated from the medi-
cal department of Harvard University, with the degree
of M. D. "cum laude." He spent a year as interne
in the Boston City Hospital, then went to Europe
and studied in Vienna. Returning to America Dr.
Richards settled at San Jose, the only place in
which he has ever practiced, and from the beginning
of his career here he has been unusually success-
ful. He belongs to the American Medical Associa-
tion, the State and County medical societies, and also
I he Pacific Coast Roentgen Ray Society, American
Roentgen Ray Society, the Radiological Association
of North America. In addition, as a representative
man of affairs, he is vice-president of the Security
State Bank of San Jose.

Dr. Richards was married at San Jose on August
28, 1907, to Miss Alice Rodgers, a native of Quincy,
Cal., and the daughter of Chas. G. and Elizabeth
(Hcmler) Rodgers; and their union has been blessed
with the birth of two sons: William S. and Charles M.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

901

Richards, Jr. The family attend the First Pres-
byterian Church of San Jose. Dr. Richards is a
member of the Elks, the Rotary and the Country
clubs, and he devotes some of his leisure to his
hobby, the study and enjoyment of music, being di-
rector of the Elks Concert Orchestra of San Jose,
and the Richards Club, — a chorus of male voices. He
is a former member of the San Jose Library Board
and the Board of Health, and during the World War
he served for eighteen months in the U. S. forces
,TE captain in the medical corps with Base Hospital
No. 30 in France. Since returning from the service
lie has limited his practice exclusively to X-ray and
radium work.

ANGELO DI FIORE.— Coming to California in
the vigor of his early manhood forty-eight years ago,
.\ngelo Di Fiore, is an excellent representative of the
pioneer clement of his day. Daring, enterprising, and
full of life and energy, he at once became identified
with the development of the horticultural resources
of the state. A native of Italy, he was born in Paler-
mo on January 23, 1848, a son of Dominic and Rose
Di Fiore, his parents coming to the United States
forty-two years ago. Both parents have passed away.

Angelo di Fiore was educated in the public schools
of Italy and Santa Clara County, and came to Amer-
ica when he was twenty-two years old. He worked
on ranches for a time and later traveled over the
East and South, dealing in oranges and other fruits
;ind became well known as an honest and conscien-
tious dealer. In 1874 he settled in Santa Clara County
and his first purchase of land consisted of twelve
acres on which he built his house and planted his
orchard, and still is the home-place. He bought
another place of eleven acres near by and set that
to fruit trees: then he purchased forty acres in the
Berryessa district, and in addition to that has 240
acres above Saratoga; fifty acres now in grapes,
which is one of the most profitable ranches in the
fertile Santa Clara Valley. It is known as the Sum-
mit Rock Ranch, and in order to reach this vineyard
he was obliged to build seven miles of private road.
Success has come to him through his faithfulness,
industry and hard work, and he is counted among
the most enterprising and successful orchardists of
his community.

Mr. Di Fiore's marriage occurred in Santa Clara
ar.d united him with Miss Rose Flora, and they are
the parents of five interesting and intelligent chil-
dren: Rose, Elizabeth, Angeline, Domenico and
Genevia. In national politics he supports and votes
for the candidates as endorsed by the Republican
party. The optimistic spirit which he possesses sus-
tained him through all the trials of frontier existence
;;nd brought him, in the enjoyment of a competency,
iG the present era of prosperity and progress.

BYRON MILLARD.— Anyone who has been in
San Jose for a considerable time knows what su-
perior postal facilities that progressive, fast-develop-
ing city enjoys, but not everyone is aware that the
public is indebted for the perfected and well-main-
tained service largely to Byron Millard, the genial
and accommodating postmaster. He first saw the
light at Green Lake. Wis., on October 9, 1861. His
father was George S. Millard from New York State,
who had married Miss Phoebe J. Cook, also a native
of that state; and they became early settlers in Wis-
consin in the '50s. After a while, they migrated to

California and San Jose; and here the esteemed old
folks lived until their deaths. They had six children,
and Byron was their third child.

He attended the grammar and high schools in
Wisconsin, and for several terms taught school in
that state and in North Dakota. Then he was in the
lailway mail service for six years in North Dakota
and Montana, but in 1893 came out to California. He
went into the book and stationery trade, and in part-
nership with his brother, F. J. Millard, started the
firm of Millard Bros., still under that name. They
started in a modest way, worked hard and have been
verv successful.

On October 14, 1891, Mr. Millard married Miss
Gertrude B. Tilden, a graduate of Jamestown College
and a member of a long-established New England
family. Their union has been blessed with four
children: Phoebe passed away at the age of eight;
Bryant Tilden is a graduate of Stanford and as a
civil engineer worked on the State Higliway; Roger
E. is in high school; and the next younger is Ger-
trude B. Millard. The family attend the Trinity
Episcopal Church and they share Mr. Millard's en-
thusiasm for fishing and camping in the mountains.

Mr. Millard's party preferences lead him to affiliate
with the Democrats, but he is both broadminded
and public-spirited, and has served very acceptably
as a member of the board of education. He belongs
to the Lions Club and was a director of the Cham-
ber of Commerce for a number of years, and always
takes an active part in civic affairs. Very naturally
he came into line for still greater service to his
fellow-citizens, and he was made postmaster in July,
1913, serving until 1922, his appointment being one
of the first in the state by President Wilson.

ROBERT I. BENTLEY, JR.— A well-organized,
highly productive and very prosperous establishment
of which San Jose is justly proud is the Muirson Label
& Carton Company, whose president is Robert I.
Bentley, Jr., a native of Santa Clara, where he was
born on April 3, 1887. His father, Robert I. Bentley,
was born in Chicago, the son of a Methodist Epis-
copal clergyman who came out to San Jose in early
days. The father came with his folks to San Jose
when he was six years of age, and eventually became
manager of the Fifth Street Cannery. Now he is
president of the California Packing Corporation. He
married Miss Georgia Dixon, a native of Santa Clara
County, whose parents came across the plains with the
Pyle family. Growing up. Miss Dixon taught school
and so had a special share in helping to lay the first
timbers for the commonwealth's foundation. Both
parents of our subject are still living.

The family left for Sacramento when Robert was
still a child, and he attended the Military Academy
at Belmont and afterwards finished at the University
of California. Then he was with the California Fruit
Canners Association in San Francisco until 1910, and
after that went into business for himself. In 1914
he came to San Jose and with G. A. Muirson estab-
lished the business with which his name has become
so intimately associated. Mr. Muirson was presi-
dent until his death in December, 1919, when Mr.
Bentley succeeded to that responsible office. The
company employs fifty men, and has another plant
a<- Stockton where it gives steady employment to as
many more skilled workers. Mr. Bentley belongs to
the San Jose Chamber of Commerce and also to the
Rotary Club. In national politics a Republican, he

902

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

does what he can to favor sound legislation favorable
to a health}' state of business good for evervbody.

At Oakland, on April 27, 1908, Mr. Bentley was
married to Miss Edna Whitney, of that city, and they
have two children, — a son, Robert I. Bentley, third,
and a daughter named Edith Adams Bentley. Both
the Country and the Sainte Claire clubs claim Mr.
Bentley as one of their own, and he is fond of golf
and other outdoor recreations. Patriotic and public-
spirited to a high degree, he was major of field
artillery in the recent World War, enlisting as a pri-
vate in June, 1917, and served six months in France.

JAMES MILTON KIDWELL.— Hard work,
economy and perseverance constitute the basis for the
success of James Milton Kidwell, a rancher on the
Homestead Road, two miles west from Santa Clara.
He is a native of Missouri, born near Newark, Knox
County, August 30, 1878, the son of Lee and Martha
(Eve) Kidwell. The father was a native of Kentucky
and removed to Danville, 111 , when a young man and
farmed there; later he removed to Knox County, Mo.,
where he farmed near Newark until he sold the place
and returned to Illinois, engaging in farming and
stock raising near Danville, Vermillion County, in
time becoming the most extensive feeder of cattle in
that region. He died in 1885, aged only thirty-five
years, leaving a widow and five children, of whom
James Milton is the third oldest. The mother con-
tinued on the farm for a year when she moved to
Knox County, Mo. She was also born in Kentucky,
but her brothers were living in Missouri, and there
.she purchased eighty acres of land and reared her
family. A noble woman, she lived for her children
and did all she could to rear and educate them well.
She passed away at the a.ge of sixty years.

James Milton Kidwell divided his time between at-
tending the local school and working on the home
farm until twelve years of age, after which he worked
out on farms for wages, which he gave to his mother,
so the most of his education has been obtained by
self-study, reading and in the school of experience,
and he has become a well-informed man. Soon after
reaching his majority he was married at Shelbyville,
Shelby County, Mo., August 17, 1898, to Miss Lena
Cox, a native of Knox County, Mo., the daughter of
James Howard and Rebecca (Plunkett) Cox, born
in Indianapolis, Ind., and Sangamon County, 111., re-
spectively, but were married in Missouri and became
well-to-do farmers near Newark, Mo. The father is
now seventy-two years of age and the mother is sixty-
five. Of their six children Mrs. Kidwell is the sec-
ond oldest, and she received her education in the pub-
lic schools in Missouri. Soon after their marriage
they purchased twenty acres at Epworth, Shelby
County, and engaged in general farming, until they
decided to come to California. Selling their holding
they arrived at Santa Clara, Cal., March 13, 1902,
where Mr, Kidwell was in the employ of the Pacific
Manufacturing Company for eighteen months w-hen
they returned to Shelby County, Mo., purchasing an
eighty-acre farm. However, their longing and desire
to live in the land of sunshine and flowers became so
great that they sold this farm and on April 7, 1909,
they returned and purchased a home in Santa Clara
and Mr. Kidwell returned to his former place of em-
ployment, continuing until 1912, when he purchased
an eleven-acre ranch, a part of the old Woodham
place on Woodhams Avenue, later seventeen acres

adjoining, so he now owns twenty-eight acres in a
body. The ranch is amply irrigated and in full-bear-
ing prunes and apricots. He also has leased a thirty-
scven-acre orchard on the Homestead Road and farms
this in connection with his own place. He also owns
another residence on Homestead Road as well as
town property in Herald, Sacramento County. He
has been a close student of horticulture and has be-
come one of the best-informed men in that direction
in his section. Mr. and Mrs. Kidwell are the parents
of two children: Hazel is now Mrs. Morton of San
Jose; Carl, a native son, born April 7, 1912, is at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Kidwell are both stanch Republicans;
fraternally Mr. Kidwell is a member of Santa Clara
Lodge No. 238, I. O. O. F. They are both consistent
members of the First Baptist Church of Santa Clara
in which Mr. Kidwell is a deacon and trustee, while
Mrs. Kidwell has been clerk of the official board for
several years and is a member of the Ladies' Auxil-
iary. She is a woman of much energy and business
acumen, and Mr. Kidwell gives much of the credit
for his success to her faithful cooperation, encourage-
ment and assistance,

EDWARD FRANCIS DISTEL.— Among the men

who stand for progress and improvement in all that
has to do with the public life of the community and
has made a place for himself in the business circles
of San Jose, is E. F. Distel, manager of the San
Jose Engraving Company. He was born in San
Francisco on February 11, 1869, the son of Francois
and Josephine (Anstett) Distel. The father came to
California in the early sixties and engaged at first in
the shoe business and followed this occupation until
his death in 1880.

Edward Distel received his education in the schools
of San Francisco and then started engraving at the
age of sixteen. He was one of the first men to learn
the art of photo-engraving in California, studying
under Van De Castell and R. S. McCabe, who intro-
duced photo-engraving in San Francisco. The devel-
opment of this new art was an epoch-making event
in the printing world, as it revolutionized the whole
field of illustration. So accustomed is the present
generation to life-like illustrations and elaborate lay-
outs, Avorkcd out with the utmost artistry, as, for
instance, in magazine advertising, that it is difficult
to realize the radical change that photo-engraving
has brought since the days of woodcuts and lithog-
raphy. The first money he ever earned was on
March 17, 1887, when he made some of the first
photo-engraving for R. S. McCabe Company, who
furnished all the daily papers of San Francisco,
namely, the Morning Call, Evening Bulletin, Daily
.Mta California, Chronicle, Examiner, Evening Post,
Franco-Californian and the Daily Report. On Oc-
tober 9, 1902, he came to San Jose, where, on Oc-
tober 10, 1902, he established the business in which
he is now engaged and where he employs six men.
At first it was a hard struggle to get the business
on a profitable financial basis but he has now at-
tained success, the well-deserved reward of a man
who has had to put forth every effort in his early
years of business.

Mr. Distel's marriage imited him with Winifred
\'eronica Wise, born in Watsonville, Cal., whose
father, Preston Wise, was a veteran of the Mexican
War and settled in California in the year 1852. In
religious faith Mr. Distel is a Catholic. He is past

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

905

grand knight of the San Jose Council Knights of
Columbus, and is a member of the Elks, Loyal Or-
der of Moose, the Grand Fraternity and the Native
Sons of the Golden West. A firm believer in the
principle of protection Mr. Distel in national politics
IS a Republican.

HENRY W. LESTER.— The owner of a large
acreage comprising some of the finest orchard prop-
erty in the Edenvale district, Henry W. Lester has
made a decided success in the field of horticulture.
The oldest living son of one of Santa Clara County's
most esteemed residents, Mr. Lester was born at
• Norwich, Conn., on Tune 6, 1876, his parents being
Amos and Carrie (Spicer) Lester, both members of
old Colonial families of New London County, Conn.,
prominent since pre-Revolutionary days in the life
of the state.

In 1890 Henry Lester accompanied his parents to
California, and his boyhood days here were spent on
the ranch, attending school at San Ysidro, where
he graduated. He former a partnership with his
brother, John S. Lester, and they operated a ranch
on Malone Avenue for some time. In 1912 he pur-
chased 130 acres of the famous Hayes orchard at
Edenvale, and since then he has acquired forty-seven
acres devoted to a fine orchard, on Senter Road, near
Edenvale. These valuable properties are yielding
heavily, producing 650 tons of green fruit in 1921,
and they are bringing in a handsome income. Mr.
Lester has three irrigation systems on his two places,
their cost totaling the sum of $20,000, and he usually
requires the services of three men the year around to
take care of this large orchard property, using both
horses and Yuba tractors in its cultivation.

At Trinity Church, San Jose, in July, 1913, Mr.
Lester was married to Miss Ethel Edith Cottle, the
daughter of Mrs. Edith R. Cottle, the Cottle family
heing well-known pioneers of Santa Clara X'alley.
They have one daughter, Edith Ethel, and reside at
the Cottle home place on Snell Road. An industri-
ous worker and a man of the strictest integrity, Mr.
Lester is keeping up the traditions of his forebears,
nnd well deserves the success that has come to him.

MRS. JAY ORLEY HAYES.— California has al-
ways done honor to her women of intellect, culture,
influence and leadership, and Santa Clara County
will not fail to provide a wreath for those who have
contributed to enrich its life. Prominent among such
women of true nobility must be numbered Mrs. Jay
Orley Hayes, a native of Racine, Wis., where she
was reared in an environment of education and cul-
ture. Clara Lyon Hayes is the daughter of William
Penn and Adelia C Buncombe) Lyon; the former born
in Chatham, N. Y., the latter in St. Thomas, Ontario.
Both were of English descent. She has one brother,
William Penn Lyon, who is business manager of the
San Jose Mercury Herald. Her father, William Penn
Lyon, was a truly self-made man, who by his strong
personality, ability and hard work rose to the high-
est place in the judiciary of the state of Wisconsin,
to which state he had moved in youth. He occupied
many positions of honor and trust in Wisconsin.
He was twice elected district attorney of Racine
County, was twice elected to the State legislature,
both terms serving as speaker of the Assembly;
was first captain of Company K of the Eighth Wis-
consin \'olunteer Infantry, later for three years was

colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment and was mus-
tered out of service as brigadier-general. While at
the front he was elected judge of the first Wis-
consin circuit, later being appointed Justice of the
Supreme Court of Wisconsin to which position he
was elected several times, during the later years of
his service there occupying the position of Chief Jus-
tice of the Court. He voluntarily retired from the
bench at seventy years of age but later was appoint-
ed to the State Board of Control, a board charged
with the government of all the penal, reformatory
and charitable institutions maintained by the state,
and served for about seven years as president of
that board. In all these positions he acquitted him-
self with distinction and honor; his striking ability,
modesty of manner, his fairness to and sympathetic
interest in and consideration for others, endeared
him to all with whom he came in contact and at-
tracted to him a host of loving, loyal friends. The
evening of the lives of both Judge and Mrs. Lyon
was spent at Edenvale, Cal., with their loving chil-
dren and grandchildren.

Clara Lyon, after being prepared for college, en-
tered the University of Wisconsin, where she grad-
uated in 1876 with the degree of bachelor of science.
A few years later she went abroad, traveling through
the British Isles and on the continent for a year
and a half. She was united in marriage in 1885
with Jay Orley Hayes, an attorney-at-law and mining
man. The first year they resided in Ashland and
then moved to the mines on the Gogebic range
where they lived for a little more than a year, when
they came to Edenvale, Cal. Here she devoted her
life to her family and children and individually
saw to their care and comfort as well as to their
training and education while they were growing.
When she felt her duty to her own was accom-
plished she threw herself into the work of the Moth-
ers' Clubs and Parent-Teacher Association, and she
helped to organize and establish the work in Santa
Clara County. For this work she has been called
by many the mother of the Mothers' Clubs of Santa
Clara County. She was the first president of the
San Jose High School Mothers' Club. She was dis-
trict president of the P. T. A. and has been delegate
to national conventions on different occasions. On
account of her deep interest in the moral education
of children Mrs. Hayes prepared a book list for use
of supplementary reading for the schools and mem-
bers of the P. T. A.

Mrs. Hayes was the representative from Santa
Clara County on the Woman's Board of the Panama
Pacific Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915.
For many years she has been intensely interested
in many public and charitable organizations and was
a director of the Associated Charities of Santa Clara
County for many years. The Travelers' Aid Society
has also engrossed her attention, Mrs. Hayes hav-
ing been appointed to organize the society for Santa
Clara County and she has been a director since its
organization. She also aided materially in organiz-
ing the Association of the Collegiate Alumni for
Santa Clara County and was its first president.

Mrs. Hayes in 1919 served in the capacity of fore-
man of the grand jury in Santa Clara County and
is said to have been the first woman foreman of a
grand jury in the United States. She is an active
member of the True Life Church and a trustee from

906

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the date of its organization. Her interest in the
work of the True Life Church led her to compile
and have published a hymnal for the use of the
Church for which she wrote twenty-five hymns, one
of which appeared in "Heart Songs," a collection of
favorite songs published by the Chappel Company of
Boston. She assisted her mother in arranging and
editing Judge Lyon's letters written during his serv-
ice in the Civil War and a volume of the letters
with a few of his addresses delivered upon patriotic
occasions was presented to each veteran who had
served under him during the war or to the families
of those who were gone.

Her union with Mr. Hayes has been blessed with
five children. Mildred, Mrs. Almon E. Roth, a grad-
uate of Stanford University, resides at Stanford Uni-
versity. Lyetta is cashier of the Mercury Herald
Company. Elystus L., a graduate of the College of
Letters as well as the Department of Law of Stan-
ford University, served as first lieutenant in the U.
S. Army, being sent overseas. He is now practicing
law in San Francisco. Miriam, Mrs. Edgar C. Kes-
ter, resides in Burlingame. J. O., Jr., is a senior at
Stanford University.

MRS. ALICE LEE TALBOTT.— In all the hu-
manitarian agencies of our cilivization, no higher or
more worthy work can be found than in the caring for
little children whom circumstances of many sorts
have made it impossible for the parent or parents to
care for them in their own homes. Among the noble
and gracious women with lofty ideals who have given
their hands and hearts to this task is Mrs. Alice Lee
Talbott, who has shown rare capability in the man-
agement of the Haven Grove Home, located near
Santa Clara on the Saratoga Road, an ideal situation
for an institution of this nature. Mrs. Talbott is a
native of Colorado, where she was born at Trinidad,
Los Animas County, a daughter of William Alfred
and Mary Frances (Bailey) Garner. The father was
a native of Tennessee and a descendant of an old and
honorable family of that state. During the Civil War
he fought on the Union side and was promoted to the
rank of captain. On one of the marches through
Tennessee his regiment passed over the plantation of
Grandfather Benjamin Bailey, an extensive planter
there, and it so happened that Captain Garner was
entertained in the Bailey home, where he met his
future wife, Mary Frances Bailey. At the close of
the war he returned to the Bailey plantation to renew
the acquaintance and at first his attentions were bit-
erly opposed by the father, because he had been an
officer in the Union Army, but his persistency won
and the young people were later married, making
their home in Lawrence County, Tcnn., where Cap-
tain Garner engaged in the practice of law, becoming
state senator from Lawrence County during the ad-
ministration of Governor Jackson. He was a member
of the committe from Tennessee that was present
at the inauguration of Vice-President Johnson, and
afterwards served as acting governor. Later the family
removed to Trinidad, Colo., and Captain Garner be-
came a prominent factor in the growth and prosperity
of the state, then in its early days. He first followed
ranching and became a large cattle owner, meanwhile
locating a coal claim which eventually became very
valuable and was sold to the Colorado Fuel & Iron
Company. Later he resumed the practice of law,
devoting his activities to constructive measures, and

he was instrumental in putting through the first irri-
gation canal in Las Animas County. He passed away
in 1913, mourned by his business associates and a
large circle of friends. Mrs. Garner was educated in
the female academy at Nashville, Tenn., and was
reared in the cultured environment of a tj'pical South-
ern home. Coming to Colorado in the early days was
a great change from the comfort and affluence of her
old home, but she bravely met the trials and hard-
ships of pioneer life. Being ambitious, she continued
her studies and passed the teacher's examination,
teaching school at Trinidad until her death on Decem-
ber 10, 1879, at the early age of thirty-four, a severe .
loss to the bereaved husband and children. Captain
and Mrs. Garner were the parents of four children,
but all have passed away but Mrs. Talbott.

Alice Lee Garner began her education in the schools
of Trinidad and was then sent to Tennessee to live
with her Grandmother Bailey where she attended high
school. Later, on returning to Colorado, she was
graduated from the State Normal School at Pueblo
and became a kindergarten teacher, following her
profession until her marriage to John Reck Talbott
on May 20, 1892. His parents were Joseph and Marie
(Reck) Talbott, and they were both natives of Ohio,
where they were married, driving overland in a prairie
schooner to Kansas in the early days before railroads
were built, and there the father became engaged in the
real estate business. John Reck Talbott was born
and reared in Atchison, Kans., and while still a young
man came to Colorado and engaged in the cattle busi-
ness with his uncle, Frank Reck. Mr. and Mrs. Tal-
bott have been blessed with three children: Grace
Jean, a graduate of the San Jose State Normal, is a
kindergarten teacher at Fresno; Alice J., a graduate
nurse, is assisting her mother as a teacher; John
Frank lives in San Jose.

In 1904 Mrs. Talbott came to San Jose, where she
was occupied in various kinds of children's w-elfare
work, and through this she became intensely inter-
ested in all children, and their welfare and education.
During this period she had become well acquainted
with members of the State Board of Charities and
Correction and the State Board of Control, so that
when she decided to establish a home for children she
had no difficulty in obtaining the necessary authority
from the state. In June, 1918, she opened Haven
Grove Home; her work spoke for itself and soon her
home was full of healthy, happy children. Her large
residence is beautifully located for such a phil-
anthropy, and with her unusual ability, makes the
place a real home for children, whose parents are de-
lighted to have their dear ones come under her faith-
ful and able supervision. Her ambition in establish-
ing Haven Grove Home was to get away from the
ordinary institutional environment and make it a real
home in every sense of its sacredness, providing
abundantly for their material welfare with plenty of
room, warmth and the best of food. The children are
taught up to the fifth grade and with the individual
attention given them they make rapid progress. Music
is not neglected in their education, as they are not
only given instruction but have their own little orches-
tra. Her desire in having them under her influence is
to develop in them the traits of character that will
tend to make them the best of men and women for
American citizenship. She is endowed by nature
with those characteristics that make the children love

/x^ /a^X-^yT'-i^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

907

her, thus she has their confidence and implicit faith, so
that there is no difficuhy in the disciphne of the
school. Mrs. Talbott finds great joy in the loving
care she is giving these little ones, and the noble work
she is doing is resulting in real and lasting good.

WALTER H. WOOD.— Standing high in the esti-
mation of the people, the late Walter H. Wood was
.\ worthy member of the pioneer family of that nairie,
and at his passing was mourned by his devoted
family and a host of friends. A native son, he was
born at San Felipe, Santa Clara County, December
5, 1868, a son of Uriah and Phoebe L. (Smith)
Wood, the father a native of Cattaraugus County,
N. Y., and the mother was an Ohioan, but grew to
womanhood in Illinois. Uriah Wood was born Sep-
tember 5, 1829, and when ten years of age he ac-
companied his parents to Illinois.

The Woods are of remote German extraction, but
long identified with the United States. The paternal
great-grandfather, David Wood, was a native of New
York who suffered the terror of being taken cap-
tive by the Indians when a boy, but made his escape
and reached home ni safety. Some years afterwards,
when he had grown to man's estate, he became a
soldier in the Revolutionary War. The paternal
grandfather, Uriah D., was born and reared in New
York and in early manhood engaged in lumbering
in the Alleghany mountains. In 1839 he took his
family from New York to Illinois, making the trip
with horses through Ohio and Indiana, settling in
Whiteside County. However, he removed to La
Salle County within the ne.xt two years, and here
devoted himself to farming.

Uriah Wood, the father, in company with three
other young men started for the West in 1852,
crossing the plains with oxen and arrived at Hang-
town, Cal., in September of 1852. He engaged in
various occupations, the last being teaming in the
redwoods. Money being scarce he accepted as pay-
ment horses and cattle, and thus accumulated 100
head of cattle By exchanging and selling, his herds
were increased, and all the time he was buying land,
until he had acquired some 5,000 acres. All of his
real estate was incorporated under the title of Uriah
Wood Company, he acting as president and his four
sons being directors in the organization. In 1885
that famih' removed to San Jose. In 1862 he was
married to Miss Phoebe L. Smith, and they were
the parents of four sons, Chester W., Walter H.,
of this review; Ralph W., deceased, and Louis E.

Walter H. Wood began his education in the pub-
lic schools, supplementing with a course at Brewer
Military Academy at San Mateo, and later at the
College of the Pacific, San Jose. His first business
venture was in the banking business in Seattle,
Wash., but that was of short duration: then he
established an export and import business in the
same city and was thus engaged until 1894, when
he returned to the Santa Clara Valley and assisted
his father and brothers in the management of their
extensive stock business in Santa Clara and San
Joaquin counties. Later he engaged in the dairy
business near Los Banos, Merced County, and was
very successful in this enterprise. At the time of
his father's death on June 13, 1914, he assumed full
charge of the large land holdings and stock business.
Mr. Wood was married at San Jose in 1893 to
Miss Maude E. Madegan, a native of California,
born near Petaluma. Sonoma County, a daughter of

William and Alice Mary (Cooper) Madegan. Her
father descended from a Scotch-Ir'sh family and the
mother was of English parentage and a native of
New York. At the time of her marriage, she was a
student at the College of Notre Dame in San Jose.
They are the parents of two children, Doris M.,
the wife of Ed. Koch of San Jose, and Aletha. Mr!
Wood was a man of sterling worth and character;
he was a great lover of outdoor life and spent his
vacation periods each year with his family, seeking
the restful peace and quiet of the National Parks,
especially Yosemite. It was in July, 1918, that he
made his last trip into Yosemite. After having spent
a time with his family in the park, he had returned
with a number of his business friends from San
Jose on a hunting and fishing tour and was stricken
suddenly ill, which resulted in his 'death on July 29,
1918, at the Yosemite Hospital.

Mrs. Wood is conducting the business interests of
the estate bequeathed to her and the children and
shows remarkable aptitude in all financial and busi-
ness matters. She enjoys the association of a host
ot friends and acquaintances, extending gracious
hospitality of her beautiful home at 425 South Second
Street, San Jose. Politically Mr. Wood was a stal-
wart Republican and fraternallv he was a member
of the Elks of San Jose.

RALPH R. BENNETT._A progressive business
man who deserves much credit for the stimulating
prosperity of a corporation rated among the best of
Its kind in all the state, and of which both San Jose
and banta Clara County are justly proud, is Ralph
R. Bennett, the president and manager of the Pack-
ers & Canners Equipment Company at San Jose
He was born at Des Moines, Iowa, on November 27
1883, the son of Dr. J. L. Bennett, a physician and
.^urgeon of high standing who had married Miss
Clara E. Briggs. Both parents, rich in friends and
enjoying an enviable record of professional and social
usefulness, are still living, residents of Nebraska.

Ralph attended both the grammar and the high
schools of Kearney, Buffalo County, Nebr. While still
attending high school. Mr. Bennett began ranching in
Nebraska, and after his school days were over he gave
it all of his attention, raising grain and stock on a 900-
acre ranch and also followed buying and shipping cat-
tle. After twelve years he sold the ranch and stock
and located in San Jose in December, 1912, entering
the employ of the Bean Spray Company as a machin-
ist. While thus employed he took a correspondence
course in civil and structural engineering. In Janu-
ary, 1915, he entered the service of the Anderson-
Barngrover Company at San Jose with whom he re-
mained for five years, traveling for them, instalHng
and repairing machinery. During this time he made a
trip to Australia to superintend the installing of ma-
chinery in a large canning plant for the government at
Leeton. New South Wales and was there from No-
vember 1, 1917, until March 20. 1918. When he left
this concern he was head of the production depart-
ment, and had acquired a valuable experience.

In 1919, Mr. Bennett and his associates estab-
lished the business which he now directs, being located
at 806 South First Street. It manufacturers about
everything in the way of machinery or appliances
needed by packers, canners or growers of vege-
tables or fruit. The most original commonsense ideas
are illustrated by their modern, convenient and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

economic devices, and it is no wonder that their
products are in such demand that the business is
rapidly increasing.

At San Jose, in 1911, Mr. Bennett was married to
Miss Emma Thompson of San Jose, born in Plainfield,
Will County. 111., who came to San Jose in 1901 with
her parents, Wm. and .\nn (Leonard) Thompson. A
gifted, broad-minded lady, she shares with him a keen
interest in the uplift work of the Second Presbyterian
Church, to which they belong. A daughter, Frances,
brightens the home. Mr. Bennett is a Republican,
but in matters of local import he likes to cast parti-
sanship to the winds and help what he can to further
tlic cause of the best candidates and the best propo-
sitions for community growth and betterment.

MARTIN MURPHY.— The subject of this histori-
cal review is the only living male adult representative
of the famous pioneer fainily, being a great-graandson
of Martin Murphy, Sr., who was born in County Wex-
ford, Ireland, November 12, 1785. He grew up in his
native county to be an intelligent, industrious and
pious man. He married at an early age, Mary Foley,
whose family afterwards became prominent in Amer-
ica. Several children were born to Mr, and Mrs.
Murphy in Ireland. As the family increased so did
their desire for a larger measure of freedom than was
accorded to Irish citizens by Great Britain in those
days; so, taking all his children except his oldest son,
Martin, and his daughter, Margaret, with hiin, they
set sail for the New World, settling in the township
of Frampton, near Quebec, where he bought land and
built a home. Two years later the aforementioned
son and daughter came from Ireland and joined the
rest of the family. Martin Murphy, Jr., went to work
at Quebec, where he met and married Miss Mary
Bulger, July 18, 1831. Being still unsatisfied with
their political surroundings, they looked longingly
across the borders to the great republic. In 1840 the
elder MurphJ^ with nearly all of his family, removed
to Holt County, Mo. Martin Murphy, Jr.. remained
at Quebec until 1842, when he and his brother James,
who had been left behind, also migrated to Missouri.

It was at Quebec that Bernard D. Murphy, the fa-
ther of the subject of this sketch was born on the
first day of March, 1841. Still longing for greater lib-
erty and freedom than even Northwestern Missouri
afforded, the family resolved to seek their ideal in
far-away California, beyond the Rockies, which was
then under Mexican domination. The party, with
Martin Murphy, Sr., and Martin Murphy, Jr., and
their families, consequently outfitted with 100 or
iTiore wagons, numerous oxen, mules, and the first
American cattle ever brought across the mountains
into California. They started from St. Joseph, Mo.,
and traversed such a route, at such a path-breaking
period that the Donner party, trailing along two
years later, were able to use cabins erected by the
Murphys, thus through their pioneering and hardships,
ameliorating to some extent the terrible sufferings
ofthose that came later.

Martin Murphy, Sr., with the unmarried portion of
his family, which consisted of his three sons, Bernard,
John and Daniel, and his daughters, Ellen, Margaret
and Joanna, reached California in 1844, and soon
thereafter came to what is now Santa Clara County,
and purchased the Rancho Ojo de Agua de la Coche,

situated on the Monterey road south of San Jose,
near what later became known as "Twenty-one Mile
House. Here they made their permanent home, and
were loved by native Californians and highly re-
spected by all the immigrants who came later, dis-
pensing liberal hospitality and lived clean God-fearing
lives in accordance with their highest social and
religious ideals. They were foremost in matters of
both church and state. Martin Murphy, Jr., at first
settled near Sacramento, but before long he, too, came
over to Santa Clara County and bought a vast tract
of land where Sunnyvale now stands, which became
known as the "Murphy Ranch." He there built the
first good frame house ever built in California from
lumber which had been cut and framed at Boston,
Mass., according to his plans and specifications and
shipped in the "knock-down" around Cape Horn to
California. This house is still standing; it is the sum-
mer home of Mrs. Mary Ann Carroll, and is in an ex-
cellent state of preservation, and there our subject's
father, Bernard D. Murphy, grew to manhood, and
as the Murphys were most excellent entertainers in
addition to their being California's first pioneer fam-
ily, he became acquainted with all of California's lead-
ing public men, and many other of the nation's lead-
ing characters, as for instance. Bayard Taylor,, Amer-
ican writer and lecturer, who visited the Murphys in
1859, while making a tour of California as corre-
spondent for the New York Tribune, then owned by
Horace Greeley. Mr. Martin Murphy, Jr., took a
leading part in the establishment of the College of
Notre Dame at San Jose, while Bernard D. Murphy
was once elected to the assembly, twice to the state
senate and thrice elected mayor of San Jose, being a
leading politician and a most efficient and popular
public servant, whose altruism and high sense of
honor led him to turn over his salary to the public
library fund, and to other general welfare purposes.
His example would indeed be worthy of emulation by
politicians of the present day.

A native son of California, Martin Murphy was
born April 3, 1873, in San Jose. His early education
began in San Jo>e; later taking a course at George-
town University in Washington, D. C, where he
graduated witli (Ik- A. B. degree with the class of
1895. After completing his course, he returned to
San Jose and became clerk under Judge Wallace of
the Justice Court, and remained in this capacity until
1916, when he succeeded to the same position under
Judge Sontheimer, Judge Wallace's successor.

Mr. Murphy has been married twice. One daugh-
ter, Ruth, resides with her maternal grandmother,
Mrs. M. D. Phelps, in San Jose. His second mar-
riage occurred in San Jose in 1912 and united him
with Miss Helene Gratapaglia, a native daughter of
San Jose. They are the parents of one child: Barney
D., attending St. John's Military Academy, located
in Los Angeles, Cal. Fraternally he is an active mem-
ber of the Eagles, and is serving the local lodge. No.
8, as vice-president. Politically he is a consistent
Democrat, as were his paternal ancestors for several
generations before him. In his public and private
capacities Mr. Murphy has won the respect and good
will of his associates, and man.v years of activity for
the public good have established his name among the
high-minded, dependable and successful men of
Santa Clara County.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

909

PALO ALTO PUBLIC LIBRARY.— A city may
well be judged both by the intelligence of the aver-
age citizen within its confines and the various agen-
cies which it contains for the promotion of intellectu-
al life and activity; and Palo Alto owes much of its
fame as one of the most desirable of all residential
centers to the fact that it is well-equipped in educa-
tional institutions. Prominent among such, and one
of which Palo Alto is especially proud, is the well-
planned, well-stocked, and well-managed Public Lib-
rary, conveniently located and safely housed in a
structure worthy of the purpose to which it has been
dedicated. One of the most interesting of the his-
toric buildings of Palo Alto is the one now occupied
by Ralph Dodson's Music Store and Miss Herrick's
Art Store, formerly by the Easterday Co.. and before
that for years by D. A. Curry, the pioneer furniture
dealer and founder of Camp Curry in Yoscmite Val-
ley. This was erected by Major Norris and C. L.
Crabtree and was named by them, on account of their
co-partnership, Nortree Hall. There in 1893 was
started a reading room under the auspices of the
Y. M. C. A., although it must have taken consider-
able courage to start such an enterprise before the
little village was even incorporated. As might have
been expected, the public did not rush to support the
venture, and as the Y. M. C. A. found that it could
not maintain the establishment, it was glad to ,L;:\r
way to the Woman's Club, an organization divelci'id
about that time from a small Mothers' Clul), 1 he
ladies had conceived the idea of starting a I'ree Lib-
rary, and had formed the nucleus of one with a mis-
cellaneous collection of about 200 books obtained by
means of a book social held on March 21, 1896. The
day previous Prof. A. B. Show had addressed the
Club on "The Need and Value of Town Libraries,"
an address especially interesting today on account of
the vision of the professor, who foresaw in large
measure the Palo Alto of the Twentieth Century.
The Woman's Club favored the idea of unitm- its
library project with the abandoned reading room,
but, fearing financial responsibility, contented itself
with passing resolutions promising moral support.

On the corner now occupied by the Stanford Bank
stood a two-story building, long since deinolished,
where the free reading room was formally opened on
February 13, 1897. A subscription list, including
payments made to the Y. M. C. A. fund, had yielded
soine $200, of which sum about $150 was used for
rent and the remainder for light, fuel, janitor service
and incidentals. Such were the "magnificent distan-
ces" of the scattered young town that soliciting was
no light task, the unpaved streets and muddy cross-
ings testing the ardor and faith of the library en-
thusiasts; but the workers went bravely on, spending
much valuable time and bringing into requisition the
whole available force of the club in gathering maga-
zines and newspapers. Some donated magazines.
after reading them, others subscribed for periodicals;
the Times and the Live Oak gave their exchanges,
all of which had to be collected and arranged Re-
sults of the first year's work showed the crying need
of such a place, but when the New Year opened, the
committee was loath to continue the task unless
more money and more helpers were forthcoming,
guaranteeing something more than a mere existence.

When for some weeks the fate of the venture had
hung in the balance, more women became interested
and it was decided to go on. A uniform subscrip-

tion rate of twenty-five cents a month was estab-
lished. The list of subscribers and donations is still
on file and shows that some gave as much as a dollar
a month; some gave ten cents — what they could — ,
while only a few names have "No" after their sig-
natures. Ten public-spirited citizens each gave one
dollar and made possible the purchase of 100 volumes
of fiction from an abandoned library in San Fran-
cisco. A second book social was given which added
105 volumes, and with 300 books in the library the
institution was formally adopted by the Woman's
Club on February Id, 1898. The first librarian was
Mrs. A. L. Corl)ert, who was on duty from 9 to 12
and from 2 to 5. for which service she was paid $15
per month. Operettas and other entertainments, and
a lecture by Dr. Jordan, who was from the first
keenly interested, bfgan to swell the funds. Even
after the town was contributing officially to the main-
tenance of the work, various kinds of entertainments
were given to raise funds; teas, a Christmas Fair, a
Mrs. Jarley's Wax Works, an evc.ning given by the
Young Ladies' Cycling Club, and a Thanksgiving
Business Men's football game.

All members of the club worksd hard to assure
the success of the library, but particular mention
should be made of Mrs. E. L. Campbell, the first
president, whose energy, perseverance and wisdom
prevailed on the Club to sponsor the project. Mrs.
Julia R. Gilbert seems to have been given charge of
the library committee of the Club almost at the start,
assisted by Mrs. Culver, Mrs. Emerson, Miss Ford
and Mrs. George Parkinson. Mrs. Gilbert w-as later
inade a trustee under town control and appointed to
the new board under the charter, eflfective in 1909.
She remained a member until her death in 1916, thus
completing twenty years of most efficient service.

In December 1898 the library was moved to a
room on Emerson street, now occupied by Crandall's
Homeware Store, and in the following January Miss
Anne Hadden was appointed librarian at a salary of
$15 and the free use of a rear room. The latter was
later given up and the salary raised to $30. In Oc-
tober. 1899, the town voted to appropriate $20 per
month to the Library, and this was continued for
nearly three years, although the Woman's Club con-
tinued in control and made up the amount necessary
for running expenses with subscriptions, entertain-
ments and other activities. In January, 1902, the
town's appropriation was raised to $50 per month
By October, 1902. the Woman's Club had received
and expended $4258 and was spending about $1200
per year. With 2300 books on the shelves it was felt
that the institution was large enough to be taken over
by the town officially. This was done by the adop-
tion of an ordinance establishing a public library and
levying a tax of one mill for its support, this yielding
an income of $1076. The first board, which took of-
fice on October 15, 1902, was composed of J. S.
Lakin. Mrs. Mary Roberts Smith, Mrs. Dane Cool-
idge, Mrs. A. F. Wallace, A. S. Ferguson, and B.
F. Hall. Miss Elizabeth Hadden was appointed as-
sistant librarian, to serve without pay.

By the early part of 1903 the growth of the lib-
rary showed that a new building was a necessity and
an appeal was made to Andrew Carnegie. This was
presented in person to Mr. Carnegie's secretary by
J. F. Parkinson, and shortly after Mr. Parkinson's
return from New York word came that $10,000 would
be given on the usual terms, that a site should be

910

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

provided and an amount equal to at least 10 per cent
of the gift appropriated annually. The Board of
Trade undertook to secure the lot and raise the
amount necessary to purchase it. A committee con-
sisting of Prof. Fernando Sanford, George R. Parkin-
son, and C. S. Downing, was appointed to handle the
matter, and through their efforts the site at the
corner of Hamilton avenue and Bryant street was
selected from among half a dozen or more offered.
The purchase price, $2170, was met by private sub-
scription and appropriation from' the treasury of the
organization. $100 was also donated by the Board
of Trade for a corner stone. On November 10, 1903,
the corner stone was laid, with Prof. A. B. Show as
master of ceremonies. Mrs. Gilbert read a historical
paper, an address \vas made by Prof. Nathan Abbott
of the Stanford law department, and President Jor-
dan told of the visit of Andrew Carnegie twelve years
before, when he suggested that Palo Alto would
some day be ready to receive his donation for a lib-
rary. But as that was in the days of the box car
depot, Mr. Carnegie thought it scarcely likely that
he would be called upon. The new library was
opened with a public reception on November 1, 1904.
With a building and fixtures representing a cost of
$10,939.48, the town was at last possessed of a real
library and one that it was felt would be sufficient
for the needs of the community for many years to
come. Miss Frances D. Patterson had been added
to the staff in 1903, and in 1908 a third assistant, Miss
Ethel P. Gale, was appointed. Miss Anne Hadden,
who had been librarian since her appointment in
1899, resigned in September, 1913, to take charge of
the Monterey County Library, and Miss Patterson
was appointed to the chief position.

There have been various changes in both staff and
trustees since the opening of the new building. With
the growth of the city the demands upon the staff
have become more and more exacting, but ft has
not been found possible to increase the number of
employees, even with an additional amount granted
in taxes, the money, as far as possible, having been
put into increases of salaries of those already em-
ployed, until these salaries are now more nearly ap-
proaching what is felt to be a fair return for trained
employees. But the most serious problem has been
to provide more room. Various methods were at-
tempted to solve the problem, a second and a third
appeal being made to the Carnegie fund without suc-
cess, and two bond elections being held for building
and ground for an addition, both lacking the neces-
sary two-thirds vote. By 1921 even the public began
to realize that the library must be enlarged if it was
to keep pace with the demands upon it and with the
growth of the coinmunity dependent upon the library,
a population far exceeding the political boundaries of
the city proper. A campaign was started by the
Civic League under the direction of Mrs. Theodore
Hoover which resulted through private subscriptions
and the holding of a May Day Fete in the raising of
enough money to purchase the lot adjoining the
building for an addition and leave a balance for the
purchase of furniture and necessary equipment for
the new building. On November 15, 1921, bonds to
the amount of $40,000 for an addition to the Library
were carried by a large majority, the vote being the
largest ever cast at a bond election. This addition
will be completed by October 1, 1922, and will make
a building of which Palo Alto may well be proud.

PACIFIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY.—

Prominent among the important industrial concerns
to which Santa Clara County is indebted for much of
the rapid, yet sound and permanent development
which has of late made this section one of the most
progressive of all the counties of the Golden Gate, is
the Pacific Manufacturing Company, for the past
thirty-five years tmder the able management of its
president, James H. Pierce. His father, the late
James P. Pierce, had been president before him, and
ever since the latter's death James H. has had the
reins well in hand. Associated w'ith him are J. G.
Kennedy, manager of the San Francisco office; Her-
bert J. Quinn, manager of the Los Angeles branch,
and R. T. Pierce, secretary and treasurer, another de-
pendable official with a record of thirty-five years of
service. The directors are: James H. Pierce, J. G.
Kennedy, R. T. Pierce, J. L. Pierce (son of R. T.
Pierce), of San Jose, L L. Morse and F. A. Birge of
San Francisco, and W. F. Hayward. The concf.rn
employs five hundred men, the year around, and has
its main office at Santa Clara, and is, without doubt,
the most substantial industry in Santa Clara County,
and the largest manufacturing concern of its kind in
the State of California.

This company, founded wath such foresight by the
late James Picronnctt Pierce, and guided so admirably
by James H^enry Pierce, his son, and those happily
associated witli him, has a most interesting history, as
recently outlined in the Pacific Factory Developer.
In 1875, the Pacific Manufacturing Company started
with a small planing mill and lumber yard to supply
the local needs of the town of Santa Clara, and ever
since this progressive company has steadily enlarged
its scope of work and field of operations, until now its
business covers all of California, the Hawaiian Islands
and extends as far east as Utah. The company for
many years has been a prominent factor in the build-
ing up of San Francisco, particularly so since the great
fire in 1906. Many of San Francisco's principal build-
ings bear convincing evidence of the quality of the
work turned out by the Santa Clara mill. We may
mention the St. Francis and Palace hotels, the Hum-
boldt and First National banks, and the Southern
Pacific and Balfour-Guthrie buildings as testimonials
of its handicraft, and several of the many buildings
which are now under construction in the Bay Cities.

The company ranks high among the sash and door
factories of the state. However, its specialty is fine,
hardwood, interior finishings, and the quality of the
work it turns out in this line is recognized by different
architects throughout California as being unsurpassed.
The company maintains a mill and lumber yard at
Santa Clara, covering an area of twenty acres, and a
private switch connects with the Southern Pacific
Railroad, so as to facilitate the handling of its large
output, and for receiving lumber and raw materials.
In a recent interview, W. F. Hayward, the popular
representative of the Santa Clara office, said that his
company had been doing a capacity business for some
time past, vv'hich necessitated the employment of be-
tween 500 and 600 people. During the war the Pacific
Manufacturing Company made a specialty of airplane
parts, and received much praise from the Government
on the quality of the finished work. Pioneers in their
line, the Pacific Manufacturing Company are always
in a position to render excellent service, and all work
turned out by them is known only as the best.

O'. 77.£^Q^

ot^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

913

R. NELLA ROGERS. — A naturally-gifted, thor-
oughly trained, and highly-accomplished musician
and instructor in music, who has done much, in de-
veloping and raising the standard of her department,
to make the College of the Pacific one of the very
best educational institutions in all the west, is R.
Nella Rogers, the teacher of voice culture, and mu-
sical favorite in San Jose, where she is known as a
soloist, as well as at Helen Guth Hall, where her
pleasing personality makes it a pleasure to reside.
She was born near Princeton, Bureau County, 111.,
the daughter of Andrew Rogers, a native of Eng-
land, a cabinet maker and a furniture d^^^aler at
Princeton, 111., and also a landowner. While in
Illinois, he married Miss Mary Ross Whitney, a na-
tive of Oliio. Her maternal great-grandfather came
from England and settled in Maine where her grand-
father. Ephraim Whitney, was born; her grand-
father afterwards settled in Ohio where he was mar-
ried to Miss Edith Ross, a native of the Buckeye
State, a daughter of Squire Wm. Ross, who was
mayor of Urichsville, Ohio, for forty years. Miss
Ross was very musical and had a splendid voice
much appreciated in those days and their children
were all talented as musicians. Miss Rogers' mother
also possessed a beautiful soprano voice and was in
demand for church singing. She spent her last days
in Los Angeles. She was the mother of three chil-
dren, one of whom is now deceased. Edith E., a
sister of our subject, is tlie wife of J. A. Shank, a
dealer in lumber and fuel in Spokane.

.'Vs a little girl, Nella Rogers came to Jefferson.
Iowa, brought there by her mother; for her father
had died three months before her birth. She at-
tended both the common and high schools at Jeffer-
son, and in time matriculated at the Conservatory
of Music at Obcrlin College, Ohio, where she studied
both voice and piano; then she became a 'teacher of
voice and piano in the Conservatory of Music of
Grand Prairie Seminary at Onarga, III. During this
period she did concert work throughout the state
of Illinois. Meanwhile she made two trips to Europe;
the first time she studied at Hanover and then found
her way to Weimar, the classic city in which Liszt
lived and taught; and there she became a pupil of
Frau von Milda. Her second trip she went first
to Berlin, where she studied under Georges Gra-
ziani; and in Paris she took instruction from Mme.
de la Grange. Her mother meantime had married
a second time to Mr. Charles Fellows Peck of New
London, Conn., had removed to Fremont, Nebr.,
and on her return from abroad Miss Rogers joined
her mother in that city and the two immediately
made preparations to come to Los Angeles, Cal., to
spend the winter. Dr. Eli McClish, who had been
president of Grand Prairie Seminary, while she was
a teacher there, had become president of the Uni-
versity of the Pacific (now the College of the Pacific)
and learning that Miss Rogers was in California
tendered her the position of teacher of voice, which
she accepted, coming immediately and taking up her
work in 1897; since 1899 she has been the head of
the department of voice culture. In 1911 she studied
with William Shakespeare of London, England, while
that celebrated musician was teaching in Los An-
geles, and in the summer of 1916, she was a pupil
of Dudley Buck in New York; she also studied un-
der Kronberg of Boston, and during 1917, 1918 and
1919, she was a student at the McBurney studios,

in Chicago. How enthusiastically progressive she is
may be gathered from the fact that for four consecu-
tive years she has gone East for graduate work.

As a soloist with an exceptionally pleasing mezzo-
soprano voice. Miss Rogers has been singing in the
First Congregational Church in San Jose for the
past nine years; and she has frequently contributed
to public programs of various kinds, favoring her
audiences with her talent. With practical experience
in oratorio work in America, and a thorough and
broad knowledge of musical conditions in the musi-
cal centers of the Old World, as well as in the
United States, Miss Rogers has been of inestimable
service to many an aspirant, in developing real tal-
ent, and in encouraging the ambitious to reach the
highest possible goal.

JAMES FRED PAYNE.— Among the worthy
Iii(.ih ( r-. (.f S.iiita Clara Valley who did much to in-
'■n.i-' till li ^ijurces of the county was the late
Jaiiu s 1 red I'ayne who was born in Columbia Coun-
ty, N. v., March 20, 1833, a son of William Payne,
who was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1799. John
Payne, the paternal grandfather, was also a native
of Yorkshire and in 1802 brought his family to New
York, locating in Columbia County. William Payne
farmed in that county until 1837, when he removed
to Schoharie County, where he lived until his demise
in 1866, aged sixty-five. His wife was in maidenhood
Gertrude Crapser, daughter of John Crapser, a native
of New York and a soldier in the War of 1812.
Gertrude (Crapser) Payne, the mother of our sub-
ject, lived to be eighty-four years old. She was the
mother of seven son^ and four daughters, who were
given the best education possible of attainment in
the country schools of New York state and were reared
to habits of industry and usefulness. Until 1855
James Fred, the fifth in his father's family, worked
on the home farm and then came to California by
way of Panama, locating in Tuolumne County, where
he resided until 1858. That year he purchased a farm
in the foothills in Santa Clara County. Two years
later, in 1867, he located on a farm a mile east of Los
Gatos, and in 1873 came to the place that became his
permanent home and where his widow still resides.
He owned 126 acres of land that he devoted to farm-
ing and fruit raising and in time had large orchards
devoted to prunes and apricots. He was thrifty and
he had good substantial buildings as well as good
equipment for caring for the fruit, including a large
drier. The grounds around his comfortable residence
were well laid out and abounded in flowers, shrubs
and trees which are still a monument to his energy.

Mr. Payne was married in Mountain View in 1874,
being united with Miss Phoebe McClellan, a native
of Missouri, born near Independence in 1848, in
which state her father settled after removing from
his native home in Tennessee. The McClellan family
were pioneers of Santa Clara County. Her parents,
William and Eveline (Dickey) McClellan. natives of
Tennessee and Kentucky, respectively, crossed the
plains to California bringing their children in an ox-
team train of seventy wagons. After a trip of six
months through the Indian country, they arrived
safely in the fall of 1849. After teaming for a while,
Mr. McClellan purchased a farm near Mountain
View and later on bought and owned several places,
among them being the old Captain Stevens ranch

914

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

for whom Stevens Creek was named. On this place
Mr. and Mrs. McClellan resided at the time of their
death. They had nine children, seven of whom are
living. Mrs. Payne was only six months old when
her parents started across the plains in 1849, so she
is now among the oldest settlers of Santa Clara
County. Mr. Payne died January 25, 1915, mourned
by his family and many friends. Since his death his
widow continues to reside at the old home, the estate
comprising about 100 acres, nearly all in fruit trees.
Her son, George C, an able horticulturist, has charge
of the orchard, thus relieving her of all care. Mr.
and Mrs. Payne were the parents of five children:
George C, the manager of the Payne ranch; Hurley,
is also a horticulturist and resides in Campbell; Ger-
trude E. Howard and Louise are at home. In reli-
gion Mrs. Payne is a Presbyterian, and politically a
Republican. She is now one of the few pioneers of
1849 that are still living and able to narrate accounts
of early days in California.

JOSEPHINE MARSHALL FERNALD.— Stand-
ing high in musical circles of the state as a teacher
of voice and piano, Josephine Marshall Fernald is
the efficient director of the Stanford Music School
and of the Berkeley School of Music, recently estab-
lished at 2168 Shattuck Avenue. She comes from one
of the most disinguished families in America, being
a direct descendant of Chief Justice John Marshall,
and she has all the virility and acumen of her illus-
trious progenitor, who in a more clear and forcible
way than any other jurist, construed the Constitution
of the United States. ,

Mrs. Fernald's parents were Maj. Lewis Field
Marshall and Mary Helen Mar Force. Her father
was born in 1825 and was the son of John Marshall,
whose wife was Mildred Field. She was the daughter
of Lewis Field, born in 1763, the son of Colonel John
Field, born in 1720, whose wife was Ann Rogers
Clark. Col. John Field served in the French and
Indian War in 1756, and in 1758 as a captain under
Forbes in protecting the frontier. In 1760, as colonel
of a company, he was ordered to join General Brad-
dock at Fort Duquesne during the battle on the
Monongahela River. Braddock was mortally wound-
ed. General Washington taking his place, and under
him Colonel Field served as lieutenant-colonel. In
1764 he was a major in Bagnet's expedition, and in
1865 he was a burgess. In 1774 he enlisted in an
independent volunteer company of thirty-five men,
reinforced by 100 Virginia Regulars, and joined Col-
onel Lewis at Fort Union. He was killed at Point
Pleasant, October 10, 1774, during the fight with
the French and Indians under Comstock, whom he
defeated, for which service his heirs were granted
large tracts of land in Kentucky by Lord Fairfax,
part of this land now being Bourbon County. Mrs.
Fernald is also a descendant of George Rogers Clark,
the intrepid explorer of the Northwest, in whose
honor the Lewis & Clark Exposition at Portland was
held. Another ancestor, Lewis Field Marshall, en-
listed in the Revolutionary War in 1779, at the age
of sixteen. He was captured in June, 1779, by Little
Turtle, the Indian Chief, and was for some time held
a prisoner at Montreal and Quebec. Capt. William
Marshall, father of John Marshall, born in 1730, was
a captain of Virginia Militia in 1776. On September

3, of that year, he marched with his company to Wil-
liamsburg, Va. His father. Col. William Marshall,
grandfather, Col. Thomas Marshall of Westmoreland
County, and his great-grandfather, Col. John Mar-
shall, were officers in the Colonial and Indian Wars.
Capt. John Marshall of England and Ireland distin-
guished himself at the siege of Calais, for which ser-
vice he demanded the restoration of his lost title.
Earl of Pembroke and Sturguil. Capt. William Mar-
shall was a lineal descendant of William Marshall,
first Earl of Pembroke of the Marshall line, and
Regent of England in 1216, and whose name is first
after that of King John upon the Magna Charta of
England. Mary Helen Mar Force, French "Faure,"
was descended from the widow Faure, who with four
children, was sent by the bounty and goodwill of the
King of England on the ship Mary and Ann, arriving
July 23, 1700, after thirteen weeks passage from Lon-
don with the first Huguenot refugees, about 700 in
number, and settled at Manakin Tower, eighteen
miles below Richmond on the James River.

Mrs. Fernald was born May 25, 1880, in Bland-
ville, Ky., and at the early age of nine years was re-
ceiving a salary as organist of the Baptist Church
of Memphis, Tenn., where she studied piano, voice
and theory for two years. She joined the Emma Ab-
bott Opera Company, taking minor parts, and re-
ceived in.'^truction under Emma Abbott for three
years and accompanied her in concert. Then for two
years she was vice-president and head of piano and
voice departments of the California Conservatory of
Music in San Francisco; she then entered the Boston
Conservatory of Music at Boston, Mass.. and was a
pupil of Otto Bendix, piano, and Edith Evani, voice.
After graduation from the Boston Conservatory of
Music she. continued private instruction with Bendix,
who had then removed to Chicago, acting as his
concert substitute and toured in concert with him.
She taught in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, and
established her own music school in San Francisco.
She has traveled all over America in concert, ora-
tories and opera; was with Emma Eames Opera
Company and the Metropolitan Opera Company; she
founded the Woman's Symphony Association and
St. Frances Delphian Club, and was one of the pro-
moters of the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
and the San Francisco Dramatic Society, San Fran-
cisco, Cal. In October, 1919, she founded the Stan-
ford Music School, which is now located at 915
Waverly Street, Palo Alto, Cal.

Mrs. Fernald has taken a leading part in the cam-
paign to have women artists admitted to positions in
symphony orchestras on the Coast. She is active in
national and local politics, becoming a candidate for
Congress on the Democratic ticket in 1916, running
against the present congressman, Julius Kahn, from
the San Francisco district: she was elected and served
as chairman of music at the National Democratic
Convention at San Francisco in 1920, and her counsel
is sought on matters of political moment. She is
an ex-state treasurer of the Daughters of the Amer-
ican Revolution of California, a regent of Esperanza
Chapter, and a member of the United Daughters of
the Confederacy. Mrs. Fernald is the mother of two
sons; the elder of the two is in the U. S. Army and
the younger resides with her at Palo Alto, at 915

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

917

Waverly Street. While the greater portion of her
time and energy is occupied by her musical work,
she is always interested in all public-spirited move-
ments that make for the betterment of the community.

JOHN HAUK. — An enterprising business man
whose splendid success has been due to his intelli-
gent industry, together with a fortunate hotel site,
is John Hauk, the proprietor of the popular resort,
"Alum Rock Lodge," at the summit of Alum Rock
Avenue, about five miles east of San Jose. He was
born in the town of Nebes, Marhan Province, in
Czecho-Slovakia, the son of John Hauk, a linen
weaver. John made his own living from the time
he was ten years old. working at wire weaving for
his uncle until thirteen years of age, when he went
to Vienna, Austria, and then tried different trades,
but found it uphill work until he learned the waiter's
trade and in time got on his feet. When fifteen he
made a trip home, after which he apprenticed at the
tailor's trade in Deutsch Lebau, for three years,
after which he worked as a journeyman in Austria
and then came on foot over the Rodeburg Moun-
tains to Dresden, Germany, after which he worked
in Berlin. Heligoland and Hamburg, then back to
Berlin again, where he remained for five years. In
this city he had the opportunity of studying the
sciences and he majored in economics and politics.
While living there he was married January 10, 1890,
to Miss Elizabeth Fremde, descended of a splen-
did old German family, and five months later he had
saved sufficient money to migrate to Chicago, 111.,
arriving in August, 1891. Here he worked at his
trade and also made patterns for ladies' suits. A
year later, however, he started a business of his
own, engaging in millinery and dressmaking. Later
on he dropped the latter to give all of his time to the
millinery store, and by close application made a
splendid success. Three years after he started he
bought a lot and built his own business building and
under the sign "Leading Millinery," he established
himself as a leader in this line.

In 1902 Mr. Hauk came to California, traveling
over the state investigating and looking for a loca-
tion. In June, 1903. he came out again with his wife
and purchased twenty-two and one-half acres on
the summit of Alum Rock Avenue. His wife returned
to Chicago, but he remained to start the improve-
ment of his orchard property. After he had built a
residence he and his wife lived here, but they con-
tinued the business in Chicago. He was at the
spring opening there in 1906, when a wire telling him
his wife was very ill called him home, but she died
six weeks later, on April 1. After this he sold his
business in Chicago and made a trip to Europe,
traveling in different countries, but he was homesick
for California, so after nine months he returned.

He was again forced to take over his old business
in Chicago and conducted it eight years, going back
and forth; thus he has made twenty-four round trips.
In July. 1919, he sold the business and was free to
stay on his California ranch. He has bought ad-
joining land, so he now owns sixty acres devoted to
raising apricots and prunes. The orchard is beau-
tifully located on a hill, is above the frost and com-
mands a magnificent view of the valley, having ample
water for both domestic and irrigation purposes.
Mr. Hauk has converted it into a hotel resort. He
has a fine residence built of cobblestones and has

also seven cottages and a building 30x60 with ten
sleeping porches, all modern and well-equipped. This
resort he has appropriately named Alum Rock Lodge
and it is popular and well-patronized.

Mr. Hank's second marriage occurred in Schenec-
tady, N. Y., when he was united with Miss Theresa
Wendt, born in Gratz, Austria. They have had six
children: Hans, deceased; Margaret Elizabeth, Hans
Walter, Elsie, Arthur and Diana. Mr. Hauk is a
straightforward man, reliable in all he says and does;
he is a thorough American, and when he votes he
acts according to his dictates as a thinking, free citi-
zen, spurning narrow partisanship.

MRS. EMILY J. HORN.— That a wide-awake, far-
seeing and conscientious woman may successfully dis-
charge all the responsibilities attending the manage-
ment of an extensive ranch, and very creditably de-
velop to a still higher degree valuable property sacred-
ly entrusted to her by last will and testament, is am-
I'ly and interestingly demonstrated by Mrs. Emily J.
Horn, who was born in Eureka, Nev., and now re-
sides on the Alviso Road, about three and a half
miles north of San Jose, where she has a handsome
fruit farm of forty-two and one-half acres. Her
father, Charles H. Prince, was a hardy western pio-
neer. For many years he conducted a freighting busi-
ness, living in Eureka, Nev., where his wife was the
only white woman for miles around. In 1872 he
removed to San Francisco, where he continued to
manage one of the best liveries in that city. He had
married Miss Elizabeth Mates, who proved the most
devoted of wives and mothers, but who died when
Emily was ten years of age. The child attended the
grammar schools in the Bay City, and when her
father died, during her nineteenth year, she remained
in San Francisco and kept up the home for her three
brothers until she was married. Her parents both
came from Walton-on-Thames. England, and so Miss
Emily grew up with the combined advantages of the
best influences of English and American life.

At San Francisco, she was married September 14,
1894, to Bernard J. Horn, a native of San Francisco,
where he first saw the light, on July 22, 1862. the
son of Bernard and Elizal>eth Horn. New Yorkers,
who came to California in the carlv "SOs. The elder
Horn had large herds of cattle, and as one of San
I'rancisco's largest wholesalers, he supplied that bust-
hng city and its vicinity for years with an immense
quantity of the best fresh meat. With his brother,
Thomas, Bernard J. Horn continued in the San Fran-
cisco meat trade, and in 1904 he purchased a ranch
of forty-two and a half acres, where Mrs. Horn
now engages in agriculture. He developed this
ranch from a vacant piece of ground by planting it
to alfalfa. Since his death, Mrs. Horn has planted
40 acres to Bartlett pears, and still further improved
it by putting in an up-to-date pumping plant and
an underground system of irrigation by means of
cement pipe. Mr. Horn, to whom his devoted widow
gives all the credit for having already brought the
ranch to a very high state of cultivation, passed
away, highly honored by a wide circle of friends,
in 1914, and since then, true to his memory and in
great part following the lines he laid down, Mrs. Horn
has kept up the ranch herself. She has been very ably
assisted in her work and operations by her youngest
brother, Fred M. Prince, who is making his home
with her on the ranch.

918

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. Horn was a Democrat, a San Jose Elk, a
Mason, and a member of the Knights Templar Com-
mandery No. 1, of San Francisco; Mrs. Horn main-
tains a keen interest in public afiairs, and lends a
hand whenever she can for social betterment, while
in her successful operation of the ranch property she
helps to advance the permanent development of Cali-
fornia agriculture.

SAMUEL T. MOORE.— Highly esteemed as one
the most public-spirited, progressive and representa-
tive citizens of Gilroy, Samuel T. Moore, the ex-post-
master, enjoys exceptional popularity and influence
among the business element in Santa Clara County.
He was born in Missouri on March 10, 1849, and ac-
companied his parents across the plains to California
in 1853, settling for a short time near Sacramento.
Later, he removed to Sonoma, where he was reared
and went to school. He attended the Sonoma College,
a school under the control of the Presbyterian
Church, from l'86S-69, where he received a thorough
training in mathematics and languages; and then
taught school near Plainsburg in Merced County.
At the end of two terms, he removed to San Benito,
where, some forty years ago he opened a store, start-
ing on a modest basis, and with successive successful
seasons he made good his enterprise; from 1876 to
1878 he was postmaster of San Benito. In 1886 he re-
moved to Gilroy, invested in orchard property and
later became a partner of Alvin L. Ellis in a general
merchandise business; and when he acquired his part-
ner's interest by purchase, he conducted the business
under his own name until 1892, when he sold out. He
then reorganized the Farmers Union, and successfully
built that up to a good volume of business, when the
heavy depression of 1896, caused its dissolution. This
led to his taking over the dry goods department
which he conducted until he sold it to Messrs. Roth
& Winans, who are still in that field.

Mr. Moore served on the city council for eight
years, and it was during his incumbency that the gas
and water works were installed. In 1916 he was ap-
pointed by Woodrow Wilson to the office of post-
master at Gilroy, and was reappointed in 1920, but
retired from that office on May 1, 1922. After taking
the office, he accomplished much good in his depart-
ment, making an increase of from twenty-five to forty
per cent. In October, 1920, the new building, which
was erected for the Government at an expense of
some $20,000 by Michael Casey, was officially opened,
and m its modern, complete form, it stands as a
monument to its builder and the untiring efforts of
Mr. Moore in his struggle for the progress of Gil-
roy. From this office the rural delivery serves the
people over routes each f^fty miles long. Two city
routes were also established in 1919, and so, through
Mr. Moore's efforts, excellent service, both in the de-
livery and in the collection of mail has been pro-
vided for both town and suburbs.

^ At Gilroy in 1874, Mr. Moore was married to Miss
Sarah E. Dryden, a native of Missouri but a resi-
dent of Santa Clara Valley for twelve years prior to
her marriage. Her father crossed the plains for the
first time in the year of '49, and he became a prom-
inent rancher and orchardist at San Jose and Gilroy.
Six children have blessed this union. Oscar is mar-
ried, has two children and resides at San Diego.
Lucille is the wife of H. E. Robinson, a prominent

merchant and ex-mayor of Gilroy; they have three
children. Fannie is the wife of F. F. McQuilkin, an
orchardist residing near Gilroy; and they have one
child. Walter E. is married, has two children and
lives at Redwood City, where he is a bond and in-
surance merchant. Elizabeth has become the wife
of Homer L. Burr, and they reside at Pomona, with
their three children. Cecil is married and is a clerk
in the Gilroy post office. He has one son. The fam-
ily has long been associated with the First Presby-
terian Church at Gilroy; and in 1871 Mr. Moore was
made a Mason, and belongs to the Keith Lodge No.
187 F. & A. M., at Gilroy, and to Hollister Chapter
No. 68 R. A. M., and the Scottish Rite Temple at
San Jose and is a member of the Elks of San Jose.
In politics he is a Democrat.

HENRY M. AYER.— A broad-minded and liberal-
hearted man is Henry M. Ayer, the popular super-
visor, a progressive public official, who was born at
Milpitas, in this county, November 22, 1866, the son
of Samuel F. Ayer, a California pioneer, who was
also an able official of this county.

Henry M. Ayer attended the Milpitas school and
then completed the course at the San Jose high
school, and in 1887, after the proper amount of work
there, the University of the Pacific conferred upon
him the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. The fol-
lowing two years he lived on a cattle ranch in
Nevada, and since his return to San Jose he has
been interested in the same line of endeavor — that of
raising and selling cattle. He has a couple of valu-
able ranches, so that he has acquired first hand
knowledge of certain phases of California agriculture.

In 1904 Mr. Ayer was first elected supervisor of
Santa Clara County, and he has been reelected so
often that he is now serving his fifth term, having
presided as chairman for ten years of the time. Mr.
Ayer has only had to advocate true progressive
policies needed to help Santa Clara County to come
to her own, and he has never failed of popular sup-
port. Many of the forward movements of the county,
such as the improvement in the highways, have
either been initiated or at least sponsored by him,
and he has continued in office long enough to see
many measures requiring time for their development
proven to be the very thing that was most needed.
Mr. Ayer enlisted in June, 1898, in Company M,
Eighth California U. S. Volunteer Infantry, for the
Spanish-American War, serving seven months, when
he received his honorable discharge at Alcatraz in
January, 1899.

At San Jose, on December 30. 1896, Mr. Ayer was
united in marriage with Miss Louise Schemmel, a
native daughter of San Jose, where she was reared
and educated and where she has a host of warm
friends. She is a member of an old-time family,
being the granddaughter of Adolph Pfister, who
served for two terms as mayor of this city and was
one of the founders of the city library. Mr. Ayer is
a member of San Jose Lodge No. 522, B. P. O. Elks,
and the Pastime and St. Claire clubs, and in national
politics is a Republican. He is one of the most active
men in Santa Clara County, giving substantial en-
couragement to every plan for the promotion of pub-
lic welfare, and he is found in the vanguard where
progress is the watchword.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNT Y

921

FRANK CHAPMAN WILLSON.— An cxper-
i'jiiced, successful rancher who has become an au-
thority on matter pertaining to horticulture and nur-
series, Frank Chapman Willson is also known as an
excellent business man who has contributed definitely
toward the expansion of California industry and com-
merce. He was born iit Ontario, Canada, on Feb-
ruary 9, 1862, and there grew to maturity. His
father, Robert Willson, was a farmer and stockman,
and Grandfather Robert Willson, a native of Penn-
sylvania, was a pioneer settler of Ontario County,
CJntario. Coming there in the early days he bought
Government land and was the first white man to cut
a stick of timber on his farm where the town of Ux-
bridge, Ontario, now stands, Indians then being found
on all sides. Originally the Willson family were En-
glish and they represent some of the best pioneer
stock. They were Quakers and as such came to be
well known in Pennsylvania before their migration
to Canada. The maternal grandmother of Robert
Willson, the father of the subject of this sketch,
was Elizabeth Linton, a daughter of John Linton,
who was a son of Sir Roger Linton of England. John
Linton was educated for the ministry, and turned
Quaker, for which, his father. Sir Roger Linton, dis-
owned him, and so he came to America. Mrs. Robert
Willson, the mother of our subject, was Huldah
Orvis before her marriage, and she was a native of
Ontario, Canada, her parents coming from Vermont.

r-'rank Chapman Willson was a young man when
his father died, and his inother removed to North
Dakota with her six sons and one daughter about
1884. They settled in Barnes County, where they
lived for three years, and Mr. Willson, who had had
a high school training, taught school for two winters.
In the winter of 1886-87. he came out to California
and for some years lived at Stockton. It was his
desire to engage in fruit growing in California, as
he had worked in orchards and nurseries in Canada,
where he made the most of his opportunities. Here
iie found many kinds of fruit not grown in the East,
and wishing to learn the growing of these new var-
i^-'ties, he spent several years in the Stockton nur-
series, acquiring a knowledge of California fruit grow-
ing that has been valuable to him in later years.

In 1892 Mr. Willson came to Santa Clara County
and established a nursery at 192 North Market Street,
San Jose. Later he purchased a portion of the Mur-
phy ranch near Sunnyvale, and planted nursery stock
ill between the rows of his orchard, and so had his
first nursery crop. He succeeded well both with his
orchard and nursery and then bought bare land,
planted orchards and grew one crop of nursery trees
in between. Four different tracts, aggregating 110
acres, were handled this way, it being his belief that
new land was needed for growing healthy trees, free
from all disease. Two of these orchards he later sold,
largely on account of the distance between them and
the difficulty in getting competent labor.

Among other things for which Californians will ever
feel grateful to Mr. Willson is the Willson Wonder
Walnut, which he originated, and which has had a
great sale. In his nursery he first built up a good
home trade, and he took great care to make good his
claims to recognition in propagating walnut, peach,
cherry, apricot and prune stock, and he was equally
successful in producing a splendid brand of sun-cured
fruit. He has a large and valuable cherry orchard.

the principal varieties being the Black Tartarian, the
Royal Anne and the Bing, and his exhibit of the lat-
ter two won the medal of honor and the gold medal
at the Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco.
Mr. Willson has made a careful study of everything
pertaining to successful horticulture, and is espe-
cially well informed on the problems of eradicating
pests and diseases.

At Sunnyvale, in 1900, Mr. Willson was married
to Miss Mabel E. Wilson, a native of Iowa and the
daughter of Lewis and Harriet Wilson, and their
fortunate union has been blessed with the birth of
two children, Harold O. and Helen E., both in the
Falo Alto high school. Mr. Willson is a member
ol the San Jose Grange and the Modern Woodmen
of America. A Quaker by birthright, he adheres to
the principles of that religion and particularly governs
his life by the Golden Rule of doing unto others
as he would be done by.

ALVIN RYLAND WARD.— Descended from an
old Eastern family, who have been prominent in the
history of their old homes, Alvin Ryland Ward,
after many busy years in the industrial world, is
enjoying the comforts of his beautiful orchard home
near Morgan Hill. Mr. Ward was born at Cumber-
land, Md., on June 10, 1852, the son of James William
and Maria (Ryland) Ward, the former a native of
Winchester, Va. Grandfather Joel Ward was a resi-
dent of Harper's Ferry, and prominently connected
with the history of that place. The Wards have for
years past been an exceptionally long-lived family,
nearly all of them reaching the age of ninety or over
Our subject has two brothers living, John J. Ward of
Bellingham, Wash., and Delono Ward of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Ward passed away when Alvin R. was only
two years old. and in 1857 the Ward family removed
to Wheelint;. W. Va , and here he received most ot
iiis schooling. He entered the plumbing shop of
Redding Bros, at Wheeling, but in a short time he
had an opportunity to take up the trade of a machin-
ist, and glass mold maker. He worked in the shop of
A. J. Sweeney until 1869, when he removed to
Bellairc, Ohio, where he followed his trade for many
years. In 1906 'he family removed to San Fran-
cisco, arriving there in March. Mr. Ward accepting
,1 position with the Illinois Pacific Glass Manufac-
luring Company at Fifteenth and Folsom streets.
They went through the harrowing experiences of the
earthquake and fire, this occurring shortly after their
arrival, and in the fall of 1907 he acquired a ranch
of ten acres located on San Pedro Avenue, near
Morgan Hill. This property was a barren piece
of land when they came to it, but by much hard
work they have planted it to French prunes and
walnuts and have made of it a fine property, from
which they derivo nuuh satisfaction and where they
enjoy the country- life with city facilities.

At Bellaire. Ohni, Xfr. Ward was married on Janu-
ary 31. 1881, to Mi<;s Junnietta Kuhns, who was bcrn
at Quaker City. Ohio". December 2, 1858, the daugh-
ter of J. H. Kuhns. a pioneer of Ohio. Two children
were born to them: Wilbert Clarence, a graduate of
the University of Illinois, passed away at thirty-one,
and Renna May died when she was seven. Mr.
Ward is a member of the Blue Diamond Walnut
Growers' Association of Santa Clara, is a Republican
m politics and belongs to the Knights of Pythias.

922

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

JONATHAN FRANKLIN JACKSON— Among

the native sons of California who have demonstrated
their ability to make a success in agriculture and
horticulture is Jonathan Franklin Jackson, who was
born near Edgewood, Siskiyou County, July 1, 1872,
a son of Samuel and Caroline (Sherrill) Jackson. The
father was born near Gainesboro, Va.. January 27,
1827. the family being of Scotch and Irish descent.
He remained on the home farm in the Old Dominion
until October, 1851, when he went on a visit to
Ohio, where he spent the winter, then on to Illinois,
going from there to St. Louis and from there to
New Orleans. There he met two men returning
from California whose stories of the Golden State
interested him so that he decided to make the jour-
ney himself. With about $500 in his pocket he came
via the Isthmus of Panama, landing in San Francisco
in November, 1852. He went to Sacramento and
worked in a bakery for eighty dollars a month, then
to Lower Springs, near Shasta, where he began
mining, then on to Weaverville. In the fall of 'S3
he went to Yreka, but finding it dull went on to
Cottonwood, where he had a rich claim in Rocky
Gulch; he soon sold this for the small sum of $250
and went to Virginia Bar, so named by him for his
home state. He brought in a ditch by which he
operated his placer for a time, and then continued
on to Big Shasta Valley, Siskiyou County, where he
bought the place which became his home, where he
resided until his death. The improvements con-
sisted of a log cabin without a roof, 400 rails and a
few potatoes planted. Mr. Jackson raised three
crops and then rented the place and went to Green-
horn, that county, where he bought two claims and
again engaged in mining. After two years he con-
cluded that farming was, after all, more profitable
so returned to his ranch.

On January 10, 1861, Samuel Jackson was mar-
ried to Miss Caroline Sherrill, also of Scotch
descent and a native of Independence County, Ark.
Mr. Jackson added to his purchases from time to
time until he had a large ranch of approximately
4,000 acres. He engaged extensively in the stock
business and became a well-to-do and influential
man. He died on November 4, 1904, al the age of
seventy-seven, while Mrs. Jackson had preceded
him on April 21, 1902, aged seventy-one. Samuel
Jackson was a liberal and kind-hearted man and on
his large ranch he dispensed the good, old-time hos-
pitality and was much esteemed and honored by
everyone. He and his wife were the parents of
four children that grew up and are now living:
Thomas Jefferson resides in Texas; Samuel Henry
lives in Oakland; Alice Virginia is Mrs. Koppel of
Oakland, and Jonathan Franklin of this review, known
as Frank Jackson to his numerous friends.

He attended school in the Mt. Shasta and Cedar
Park districts, making himself generally useful on
his father's ranch from the time he was a lad, thus
early mastering the cattle business as well as gen-
eral husbandry, remaining at home until after his
father passed away. On June 28, 1905, at Santa
Monica, he was married to Miss Ida H. Dunbar.
a native of South Carolina and the daughter of
N. A. H. and Mahala Anna (Pittman) Dunbar. The
father was a native of County Kildare, Ireland, and
came to South Carolina when he was sixteen years
old. He was an energetic worker and business man

and became the owner of a large corn and cotton
plantation near Union, S. C, now the townsite of
one of the largest cotton mills in the South. His
wife was of English, Scotch and Irish descent, be-
ing a native of South Carolina, and they made their
home on their plantation until their death, the wife
and mother having survived her husband many years,
her demise occurring in 1899. This worthy couple
were the parents of seven children, four of whom
are living, as follows: Mary Telula, wife of H. E.
Bauknight, now of Goree, Texas; Ida H., Mrs. Jack-
son; Geo. P. of Morgan Hill, Cal.; Henry A. of
Union. S. C. Ida H. Dunbar received her educa-
tion in Clifford Seminary, after which she remained
at home caring for her invalid mother until her
death, soon after which Miss Dunbar came to Cam-
eron, Texas, where her brother. George P. Dunbar,
resided. In 1902 she came to Santa Barbara, Cal.,
on a visit and sometime later, while in Ventura,
she met Mr. Jackson, the acquaintance resulting in
their marriage, which has proved a very happy one.

After his marriage, Mr. Jackson with his bride,
located on his ranch of 485 acres in Siskiyou County,
which had come to him on the settlement of his
father's estate, and on which they erected a beau-
tiful residence. The ranch was well wooded and
watered, being irrigated by a ditch taken from the
Shasta River, and had natural meadows and a fine
range for his cattle. They made their home there
for six years, selling it in 1911 and removing to the
San Martin district in Santa Clara County, where
they purchased a ranch of 926 acres devoted to hay
and grain, and engaged in raising cattle, mules and
hogs. For seven years they resided on this ranch
and then sold it and bought their present place of
fifty-three acres on the Homestead Road in the
Cupertino district. It is a full-bearing orchard, twen-
ty acres in apricots, two in cherries and twenty-eight
acres in prunes, which Mr. Jackson has brought to
a splendid state of cultivation, and it is now one
of the finest orchards in the district. He has a
splendid well, equipped with an electric pumping
plant which throws 700 gallons of water a minute.
This is located on the highest point of the ranch
so the entire tract is irrigated by gravity flow.

Mr. Jackson at one time owned a ranch at Ga
zelle. Siskiyou County, and one of 600 acres in Ven
tura County. This latter he exchanged for a citrus
ranch in the El Cajon Valley, San Diego County,
but on account of the distance he sold it. He also
disposed of his 400-acre ranch in Mariposa County
as it was so far away from his home. Mr. and Mrs
Jackson also own a valuable four-story brick busi-
ness building at 249-277 Pine Street, San Francisco.
Since disposing of their Siskiyou ranch and coming
to Santa Clara County with $30,000, they have been
very successful, accumulating all their other prop-
erty since then, which is valued at about $200,000,
showing what can be done by united and well-
directed effort. Mrs. Jackson is possessed of rare
business ability and Mr. Jackson attributes much of
his success to her able counsel and assistance. She
is a cultured woman of a very pleasing personality
and both have a large circle of friends. Politically
they are believers in the principles of the Demo-
cratic party, and are progressive and enterprising,
aiding in all movements tending to improve and build
up the community. Mr. Jackson has been a mem-

cfotoL 7<f^^.^

(i^^'T^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

923

ber of Mt. Eddy Camp. W. O. W. at Weed for
more than twenty years, and Mrs. Jackson belongs
to the Episcopal Church. Success has crowned the
efforts of these energetic ranchers and in the mean-
time they have found time to take an active interest
in the affairs of their county and state.

MAX J. CROW.— Deservedly famous among the
many show places of Santa Clara County are Crow's
Nurseries, conducted by Max J. Crow & Son. at Gil-
roy. Mr. Crow was born in Empire City. Nev.. on
August 8. 1866, and his father was Alfred AI. Crow,
a native of Kentucky who had migrated to Missouri
in the early '40s. He was one of eight sons all of
whom in time came out to California: and he led the
way in crossing the great plains in 1850. Alfred M.
Crow located at Shaw's Flat, where he became a
stockman; and later on he entered the lumber busi-
ness at Empire City, Nev., and supplied lumber to
miners at Gold Hill. Virginia City and throughout
the mines in that section. His first wife having died,
he married Miss Martha L. Hicks, a native of Ala-
bama who was reared and educated in Missouri: she
crossed the great plains in 1865, in a party captained
by Isaac P. Crow, an uncle of our subject, and she
later married and settled at Empire City, Nev. In
1871 Alfred M. Crow and his family returned to Cal-
ifornia, located at Stockton for a short time, later
settling at Crow's Landing, Stanislaus County, where
Mr, Crow died in 1884. Mrs. Crow, mourned as was
her husband, by a large circle of devoted friends,
passed away at Morgan Hill, Cal.. in 1909. This
family belongs to the Crow family that settled in
Stanislaus County in the early 'SOs.

The eldest child of this union. Max J. Crow passed
through the public schools of the section in which he
grew up. and then attended, for a couple of terms,
the University of California. In the end. he con-
cluded his studie.5 by completing the excellent busi.
ness courses at Heald's College in San Francisco.
He had passed his boyhood on the stock-range and
'^arm; and upon the death of his father, when the
estate was divided, he removed with his mother to
Berkeley, in 1885, and remained there for three years.
He then entered the employ of the Leonard Coates
Nursery at Napa, with which firm he remained for
seven years, and when hei decided to take up fruit-sup-
plying for himself, he opened his own store and con-
ducted it until 1897. That year he went to Missouri
and became the advertising manager of Stark Bros.
Nurseries and Orchards Company, with which he
continued for eleven years. In 1908 he came back
to California, located at Morgan Hill where he had
acquired an interest in the Leonard Coates Nurseries.
In 1909 he sold his interests and in December of that
year he founded Crow's Nurseries at Gilroy.

Since then, this business has grown rapidly, and
he made his son a partner in the fall of 1920' The
headquarters are located on a beautiful tract of land
in the southern part of Gilroy. and have become a
veritable Mecca to which people from far and near
come to select nursery stock, ornamental trees and
flowers. The fruit tree nurseries are located in Butte,
Yolo and Stanislaus counties, it being the policy to
select land and location for the different fruit trees
where they can be grown to highest perfection.
Crow's Nurseries, from time to time, sends out cata-
logs and price-lists, throughout the U. S. and foreign
countries, and these are made up with such scientific

care and accuracy, and evidence such good judgment
and business enterprise that they are decidedly cred-
itable, and speak well for California agricultural in-
dustry. In June, 1922, a retail store was opened at
42 Martin Street, Gilroy, for the sale of seeds, plants
and cut flowers, with nursery offices in connection.
Mr. Crow is a past president of the California Asso-
ciation of Nurserymen and is at present a member of
the executive committee, and he is secretary-treasurer
of the Nurserymen's Bud Selection Association of
California, in the interest of whose work and success
he has spent much effort and money. During 1915-16,
and again during 1919-20, he was a member of the
city council of Gilroy.

At Napa, in 1890. Mr. Crow was married to Miss
Lena F. Coney, a native of Jackson, Amador
County. Cal.; and their union was blessed by a son.
Harold Cornwell Crow, who served in the U. S. Avia-
tion Corps in the World War. doing his duty by
country and humanity, and on his return to Gilroy
became a partner with his father in business. Mrs.
Crow died on January 19, 1898. and in June, 1900, Mr.
Crow married Miss Ida C. Rose, a native of Louisi-
ana. Mo. She has the distinction of having had
Champ Clark as her high school teacher. The Crow-
home is on Ninth and Rosanna Streets in Gilroy. A
Republican in national political affairs Mr. Crow is
also a Mason and an Odd Fellow and his son is
master of Keith Lodge No. 187, F. & A. M. of Gilroy.

JAMES RICHARD 'WRIGHT.— The original an-
cestor of the Wright family, John Wright, came to
Canaan. Conn., from England as a colonial settler.
and one of his descendants. Eleazcr Wright, settled
in Tallmadge, Ohio, where James R. Wright was
born. He was a graduate of Obcrlin College, then
studied language and theology at Elyria. Ohio, and
became a minister in the Congregational Church
after which he taught Latin and Greek, and preached.
He married Sarah Vincent, a native of Boston, Mass.,
and also a graduate of Oberlin College. Mr. Wright's
health became poor, so he brought his family to
Santa Clara County, Cal., and purchased a tract of
land on the Summit, which he improved, setting out
orchards and building a comfortable residence, his
ranch comprising 250 acres.

Mr. and Mrs. Wright are the parents of ten chil-
dren: Charles, a talented educator in San Jose, was
candidate for city superintendent of schools when
he died: Eli is on the home ranch; Frederick and
.\Hiirt (lii-d in \outh: Lucy, the wife of Capt. Albert
Whiltlr.iv, usides in Portland. ' Ore.; Ward is in
the rial c-^talc business in Bakersfield. Cal ; William
H.. who died in San Francisco in 1920, was with the
River Bay Dredging Company; Sumner, now retired
from the Abstract and Title business, resides in Col-
ton; Frank V. is a business man in Alameda; Clara
presides over the old home place. James R. Wright
was a personal friend of A. E. Davis, who w^as pres-
ident of the company building the narrow gauge
from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, and Mr. Davis
named the nearest station Wright's Station in honor
of Mr. Wright. Mr. Wright passed away September
3. 1902, eighty-two years of age, his widow surviving
him until April. 1908. Mr. Wright's life was un-
doubtedly greatly prolonged by his residence in this
beautiful and health-giving mountain region. The
ranch is still in possession of the family and the

924

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

orchards are well cared for under the supervision of
Eli Wright assisted by his sister Clara, and they oc-
cupy the old home. Mr. Wright was a cultured
gentleman interested in civics, and he stood for moral
uplift in the community, and his teachings and life
are well worthy of imitation.

ALMON WHEELER.— An experienced arbori-
culturist who has also made a practical study of
plants and plant life, is .\lmon Wheeler, the presi-
dent of the Ruehl-Wheeler Nursery Company, Inc.,
of San Jose. He was born at South Bend, Ind., on
October 1, 1867, the son of Alfred and Elizabeth
Ruth (Garrison) Wheeler; the former was a cousin
of Vice-President Wheeler and the latter closely
related to Chief Justice Marshall of Virginia. The
Wheelers came to San Jose in 1885, and this city
remained their home until they were called by death.
Mrs. Wheeler died in February, 1902, and Mr.
Wheeler passed away in December of the same year.
He had been a prominent newspaperman in his time
and always interested in politics, and served as audi-
tor of St. Joseph County, Ind., for a number of years
and he left a record of peculiar usefulness to society.

Almon Wheeler finished the grammar and high
school courses in the public schools of South Bend
and came to California with his parents in 1885.
Soon after his arrival here he entered the service of
John Rock, pioneer nurseryman of San Jose, to learn
the details of the business and he remained with
Mr. Rock for a number of years. In 1902, he formed
a partnership with H. Ruehl, organizing the firm of
Ruehl-Wheeler & Company, and opened their place
of business where the Studebaker Garage now stands.
As time advanced and their business grew, the part-
ners bought the site at 163 South Market Street.
improved it to suit their needs and have since con-
tinued to make that their headquarters. They main-
tain their gardens on a tract of land on the Mon-
terey highway about nine miles south of San Jose
and keep a large force of men to meet the demands
of their ever-growing business. The company make
a specialty of growing roses under contract, supply-
ing some of the leading eastern nurserymen with the
finest, hardiest and choicest of rose bushes. They
expect to bud over one million roses in 1922. In
fact, the demands are so great for their products
that they find it difficult to find proper land upon
which to propagate their stock and keep their patrons
supplied. Besides their extensive eastern business
they have a large local trade which insist upon plants
from this particular firm. In making the shipments
east they use iced refrigerator cars to protect them
in transit from heat and cold.

Santa Clara County is rapidly becoming famous
as the rose center of the country, for no other part
of the state offers the climatic and soil conditions
to be found here. It is possible to mature the stock
and have it sturdy enough to dig and ship in the
fall, and this enterprising firm have been quick to
recognize this fact and profit by it and some of the
finest roses grown in the Eastern states have come
from their California stock. The president of the
company is Almon Wheeler; H. Ruehl, an expert
rose man. is vice-president and J. J. McClue is sec-
retary and treasurer.

Having full faith in the county where he had met
with his success, Mr. Wheeler has backed his judg-
ment with his money and he bought and developed

a fifty-acre walnut and prune orchard to a high state
of productiveness and sold it, only to again purchase
a like number of acres in the vicinity of Gilroy, and
this tract he is bringing under control and has a
fine acreage in strawberries, and the balance is de-
voted to dairy purposes. The Ruehl-Wheeler Nur-
sery Company, Inc.. lease some seventy acres near
the property owned by Mr. Wheeler where they a"-
preparing to grow deciduous stock. Mr. Wheeler is
a poultry fancier and has a number of fine birds of
various strains on his ranch and in which he finds
considerable entertainment and recreation.

In 1914 Mr. Wheeler was married to Mrs. Grace
L (de la Pliene) Schofield, born in Kansas City,
Mo., and there is a daughter. Grace Royana Wheeler.
He is a member of the Nurserymen's Bud Selection
Association and of the San Jose Chamber of Com-
tnerce; politically he is a Republican. Although very
busily engaged in looking after his own and his
company's interests he still finds time to interest
himself in the movements that make for a better and
bigger San Jose and Santa Clara County.

BRUCE INGELS.— A pioneer whose foresight and
wide-awake enterprise have been productive of one
of the notable industries in Santa Clara County, is
Bruce Ingels, the former proprietor of the Marble and
Granite Works at Gilroy. to which town he came soon
after the dawn of the present century. He was
born on September 25, 1846, the son of Samuel
Ingels, while his mother, who was Miss Phoebe
Rambo before her marriage, was enroute to Iowa,
and was near the Missouri-Iowa State line; the
parents were both natives of Iowa, and became set-
tlers of that territory before it was admitted into
the Union as a State; and Samuel Ingels was one
of the earliest postmasters of Oskaloosa, where he
was also a merchant and farmer.

At the age of eighteen, Bruce Ingels enlisted in
Company H, of the Twenty-fifth Iowa Volunteer
Infantry, for a three years' service, and he was trans-
ferred to the Ninth Iowa Volunteer Veteran Infan-
try when they were home on furlough. He served
under Grant. Sherman, and Logan until July 19,
1865, when he marched in review at Washington, and
he had the honor of marching with Sherman through
Georgia. In 1865 he returned to his home in Iowa,
and the following year he was married to Miss Par-
thenia Larsh, who was born on March 21, 1843. a
native of Des Moines and sister to another volunteer
soldier who stood by the Republic in the time of
war. She was a teacher in Polk County, Iowa, for
several years prior to her marriage.

Sainuel Ingels had acquired a stone and marble
business through default, and Bruce having entered
into partnership with him, made good at the trade.
In 1871 he came out to California on a prospecting
tour, and he liked San Francisco so well that he
remained there for two years and worked at his
trade. The next year, he returned to Iowa; but in
1882 he removed with his family to Hollister and
there took up agricultural pursuits. In 1890 he re-
moved to the San Juan Valley to engage in orchard-
ing; and twelve years later he sold everything and
came to Gilroy. He entered the employ of A. A. Mar-
tin & Bro. who had the stone and marble works on
North Monterey Street, and after working steadily
for that firm for eighteen years, he acquired by pur-
chase the desirable business which he conducted

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

927

until his retirement in April. 1922. He and his wife
own a residence at Seventh and Church streets.

Mr. Ingels is a Republican, and cast his first vote
for Abraham Lincoln. For twelve years he served
as secretary of the Improved Order of Redmen.
Mrs. Ingels is a member of the Gilroy W. C. T. U.,
and the Civic Center, and a student in Dr. Russell's
Bible School, and in such work as this she is handing
down the traditions of her parents, William Lewis
and Mary B. (Tacitt) Larsh, who were both members
of prominent Ohio families, and related to members
of the State legislature and the judiciary. She is,
besides, past president of the W. R. C. of Hollister,
and has proven herself a great organizer. Three
children were granted Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Ingels,
and from them have sprung ten grandchildren and
two great-grandchildren. Kitty is the wife of John
Waters of Vallejo, and they have four children. Clyde
Larsh Ingels is married, also has four children; he
served in the Spanish-American War, and resides
near Monterey. Edith M. has become the wife of
Martin Heath, and they reside at Oakland with
their two children. Leroy Waters, one of the grand-
sons, served seven years in the U. S. Navy and has
sailed the seven seas, while his brother Carl has
served one year in the Navy.

JOHN E. WHITE.— Among the most popular of-
ficials of Santa Clara County is John E. White, a
native of England, born in Dorchestershire on Sep-
tember 15, 1860, the son of Charles and Sarah (Par-
sons) White, both of whom sprang from the same
Dorset soil. He was reared and schooled at Buck-
horn Weston; and when only nine years of age, was
employed by his uncle, J. Adams, a construction
engineer, to work on the new railroad from Bristol
to New Passage, for which he received eighteen shil-
lings per week. Later he worked at the Forest of
Dean, and received twenty-four shillings per week.
In the latter part of 1873 he set out for the United
States, and in December, after three weeks out from
Liverpool, he arrived at Gilroy, having survived the
sinking of the City of Chester when he was fortu-
nately picked up in midocean by the passing City of
Brussels. Seven years before, his older brother,
George T. White, had located at Gilroy, and on his
reaching here he obtained employment on the Ellis
Dairy Ranch, where he put in his first half-year in
.■\merica. The following two years he was employed
by James Rea, and then for many years he was
cheesemaker on the Doan ranch. The year 1895
found him happily recovered from a serious illness,
and he was then elected on the Republican ticket to
the office of constable of Gilroy township; and he
has the exceptional honor of holding the same office
ever since. He was made a citizen of the United
States in 1876 by order of Judge Rhoades, and he
has been among the first and the most efficient in
maintaining law and order.

.\t Gilroy, in 1876, Mr. White was married to Mrs.
Sarah (Rhoades) Cavanaugh, the daughter of Thomas
Rhoades, and a widow with two children: Nettie is
the widow of Lyman Wilson, and has one child.
Minnie is the wife of George Milias, the prominent
hotel proprietor of Gilroy. and they have one son.
Mrs. White was born on November IS, 1853, a na-
tive of Missouri, and crossed the plains with her
parents; and when they reached the River Platte
her father was drowned. The widow, with her

babe, proceeded to California, and at Sacramento
joined a brother, already in public life and a mem-
ber, from 1854-60, of the State Legislature. Her
mother died at Old Gilroy in December, 1910, aged
sixty-four years. Four children were born to this
union: Carrie is the wife of William Burchell, the
owner of the L. A. L. Garage; they have two chil-
dren and reside at San Jose. Nellie married J.
Summers; they have one son and reside at Oakland.
George married Vera Wilson, a rancher at Old Gil-
roy. Walter married Miss Laura Gilbert, and with
their two children they reside at San Jose. Mr.
White owns twenty-three and a half acres of very
desirable irrigated alfalfa land at Old Gilroy, on
which his son conducts a dairy, while operating some
thirty acres of his own. Mr. White is an Odd Fellow,
and Mrs. White is a member of the Rebekah Lodge.

STEPHEN WHITE SHELDON.— Not many
pioneers have enjoyed a higher esteem in their day,
or been more honored and mourned for after their
demise, than the late Stephen White Sheldon, for
many years the superintendent of the vast and valu-
able Miller & Lux ranches in Santa Clara County.
A native of Rhode Island, lie was born at Chepachet
on February 17, 1848, in the same city where his
grandfather, Jeremiah, rounded out a long and very
useful career, and served both his city and his county
in various position of public trust. He was a mem-
ber of one of the earliest Yankee families, and owned
the historic Scotch Hill, a farm which had been the
scene of several bloody tragedies of the Revolution-
ary War. He was among the sturdiest musketmen
in the Colonial ranks, and yet he was able to be-
queath to his son, Joseph, the father of our subject,
the material rewards of a life filled with gratifying
success. Joseph Sheldon was also a Rhode Islander,
who learned the carpenter's trade. Proud of his own
family tree, he chose for his wife Miss Nancy Young,
a member of another old Rhode Island family, by
whom he had seven children, a daughter becoming
the wife of Henry Miller, of Miller & Lux, and the
youngest being Stephen White Sheldon.

He grew upon on the home farm and then en-
gaged in teaming in Chepachet, while he attended
both the country and city schools. He ventured out
to California in 1878, relying for his capital upon his
youth, his health, and his character. He accepted
a post as farm hand for Miller & Lux, the land and
cattle barons on the West Side of the San Joaquin
Valley, and wise he was to do so. for his enterprise
and fidelity soon came to the personal attention of
his employers, and he was given rapid advancement
as recognition and reward. After a while he became
foreman on the Santa Rita Rancho, held by the
same company, and in 1884 he was made superin-
tendent of Miller & Lux's Peach Tree Ranch in
Monterey County. In 1886 he filled a similar posi-
tion on the ranch at Soap Lake, in Santa Clara
County, when he made his headquarters on the
Bloomfield farm. By 1890 Mr. Sheldon's status with
the company had so far improved that he was placed
over their Bloomfield. Soap Lake, Mount Madonna
and Oak Grove, and other ranches in Santa Clara
County. Eleven years afterward he resigned his
large and trying responsibilities and moved into Gil-
roy, and there, at the corner of Forest and Lewis
streets, he built a large and beautiful residence for
himself and family. He also put up a barn of 200

928

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tons capacity for the storage of hay, which he
shipped to the San Jose and San Francisco markets.
After 1901 he was very successful as a dealer in
horses, and as a hay merchant in Gilroy. He was
a member of the Knights of Pythias. In 1914, on
January 20, he passed away, survived by his widow
and three children. Mrs. Sheldon was Miss Minnie
W. Pfeififer. a niece of Henry Miller, before her mar-
riage, on August 2. 1883, and she is an active mem-
ber of the Gilroy Women's Club, and the Tuesday
Reading Circle. Josephine W. Sheldon became the
wife of Henry Kickham. a prominent stockraiser of
Santa Clara County. Gerry W. saw service in the
World War overseas for over two years, and on his
return home married Miss Lily A. Tilton. He car-
ries on ranching at Gilroy. Mildred C. has become
the wife of S. G. Cornett, and the mother of one
child, Mildred Marie. They reiside in Los Banos,
where Mr. Cornett manages the Bank of Italy.

MRS. ELIZABETH LOWE WATSON.— Emi-
nent among the most distinguished California women,
widely known and honored for their intellectuality
and effective participation in important movements
for the uplift of the human race, Mrs. Elizabeth
Lowe Watson, the famous inspirational speaker, en-
joys an enviable status throughout the Golden State.

This friend of good things was born in Solon,
Ohio, in 1843. Her parents, Abraham and Lucretia
Daniels Lowe, soon moved to Leon, N. Y., where
Elizabeth received a common school education, and
early became an inspirational speaker on liberal re-
ligious lines anti-slavery, temperance, peace and
woman's rights. For over fifty years she has been
a life-member of The American Peace Society.

In 1861 she married Jonathan Watson, prominent
in the development of the Pennsylvania oil fields.
They established a beautiful home in Rochester,
N. Y., which soon became a center of intellectual,
spiritual and reform activities. This young woman
cared for five step-children and four of her own ;
diptheria came and two little ones were gathered in
by the good angel of immortality. Her eldest. Will
L. Watson, the stay and comfort of his mother, at
twenty-five, suddenly sickened and "was not, for God
took him."

The gifted daughter, Lucretia, a graduate of the
University of California, beloved by all who knew
her, "Life's Golden Flower," her mother's one per-
fect joy, married B. Grant Taylor of Collins, N. Y.,
now clerk of the Supreme Court of California, and
both were ardent coworkers with Mrs. Watson until
the passing on of Mrs. Taylor in 1913.

In 1878 reverses of fortune came and in 1880 the
family moved to Santa Clara County, making an
ideal country home, "Sunny Brae," at Cupertino.
Mr. Watson passed away in 1892. Almost imme-
diately after coming to California, Mrs. Watson was
engaged for regular Sunday services in San Fran-
cisco, out of which grew the Religio-Philosophical
Society, with Mrs. Watson as its pastor, at the Metro-
politan Temple. The Temple had a seating ca-
pacity of 1500, and was often filled to the doors with
an audience composed of people of all denomina-
tions. In 1882 she filled a four months' lecture en-
gagement in Australia, which was in every way a
pronounced success.

"Sunny Brae," still owned by Mrs. Watson, with
its lovely lawns, noble trees, rare shrubbery, wooded

ravme and nearby mountains, has been the scene
of remarkable gatherings. For nearly thirty years,
on the first Sunday in June, religious services were
held under "Temple Oak," which has a spread of
eighty-seven feet in all directions, — where crowds
from far and near came to hear the gospel of human
brotherhood, peace, equal rights, temperance and a
demonstrated immortality. On these days the neigh-
borhood church dispensed with its morning service,
minister and congregation joining generously in the
meeting at "Sunny Brae." Here Susan B. Anthony
and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw delighted crowds of
people during one of the latest suffrage campaigns.

Mrs. Watson was president of the California Equal
Suffrage Association for two years, 1910-11, and the
suffrage victory was won during her administration.
Notwithstanding her almost fourscore years she is
still popular as a platform orator and is earnestly
working and praying for the abolishment of war
and the perpetual reign of peace on earth. She is
the author of "Song and Sermon," a small collection
of poems and lectures, and is at present engaged in
writing the history of her psychical experiences.

WILLIAM WATSON ABERNATHY.— Among
the highly-esteemed settlers of Santa Clara County
are William Watson Abernathy and his good wife.
residents of the vicinity of Saratoga, who are en-
loying the fruits of courageous industry, foresight
and thrift. Mr. Abernathy was born in Ohio near
Xenia, June 18, 1849, the son of Samuel and Lydia
Abernathy. His father was a farmer and when
William was twelve years of age, his father moved
to Lafayette, Ind., and there William lived until
he was twenty-one years old, then returned to Ohio
where he worked in a tile factory for two years.
Then he went to Linn County, Iowa, and was mar-
ried there at Center Point. September 21, 1873. to
Miss Sarah E. Hodgell, who was born near Barnes-
ville, Ohio, in 1853, the daughter of John and Emily
(Carpenter) Hodgell. The father was a native of
Ohio and of English origin, while Mrs. Hodgell was
a native of the same state. They were farmers and
removed to Linn County. Iowa, in 1872, where they
died. John Hodgell served in the Civil War as a
member of an Ohio regiment.

Mr. Abernathy engaged in farming in Iowa until
1876, when they moved to Jewell, County, Kans , and
engaged in farming near Jewell until 1901, when
they came to San Jose, Cal. Mr. Abernathy was in
the feed and fuel business for nine years and then
he and his son bought their present place on the
Saratoga Road, near Moreland Station, and here
they have since resided. Mr. and Mrs. Abernathy
have two children: Minnie now resides in lola, Kans.,
she is the wife of Frank R, Forrest, and they be-
came the parents of three children — Josephine. Ed-
win and Wendell; A. Frank married Miss Nettie
Melone and they have two children — Florence and
^ranees. A. Frank was superintendent of the
Sorosis Farm in Santa Clara County for about seven-
teen years but is now running his own orchard. Mr.
.'Kbernathy's farm consists of fifteen and a half acres,
two acres are set to apricots, one acre to peaches,
and the remainder in prunes. Mr. and Mrs, Aber-
nathy are active members of the Christian Church
at San Jose. Mrs. Abernathy is a charming lady of
talent and winning personally and has been a true
helpmate to her ambitious and industrious husband.
He is a member of the Modern Woodmen.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

931

EDWARD F. ELLIS. — From pioneer times to the
present the Ellis family has been connected with the
development and upbuilding of Santa Clara County
along agricultural lines, and Edward F. Ellis, who is
operating a portion of the old homestead, is worthily
sustaining the traditions of the name in this respect.
He was born near Los Gatos, on the old Ellis Home-
stead on Shannon Road, December 8, 1871, a son of
John and Ann (Kennedy) Ellis, born in New York
and Canada, respectively, who journeyed to California
around Cape Horn in a sailing vessel in the '50s.
The father was a tanner by trade and the family
took up their residence on a farm of 163 acres situ-
ated on the Shannon Road, where Mr. and Mrs.
Ellis spent their remaining years, the former passing
away in 1876 and the latter in 1915. They had three
children, all of whom arc living. Edward being the
oldest and the only one now in Santa Clara County.
After completing his public school course he aided
his mother in the cultivation of the home ranch, as
his father had died when he was only five years old,
continuing to operate the ranch and care for his
mother on the home place until she died. He now
owns thirty-four acres thereof, the remainder of the
property having passed out of the possession of the
family. He is a practical agriculturist, whose stand-
ards of farming are high, and everything about the
place indicates that he follows progressive methods.
He has an orchard of apricots and a vineyard.

Mr. Ellis gives his political allegiance to the Re-
publican party, for he deems that its policy best con-
serves national progress. He is a lover of fine horses
and for recreation turns to hunting and fishing. His
entire life, covering a period of fifty years, has been
passed in this community, whose welfare and
progress are to him matters of deep moment, and the
sterling worth of his character is indicated in the
fact that he is held in the highest esteem by those
who have known him from the early days of his boy-
hood to the present time.

JAMES PRINCEVALLE. — Justly prominent
among the business men of Santa Clara County is
James Princevalle. the popular mayor of Gilroy, who
has done so much in the creating of the new, up-to-
date and beautiful city. The historic town owes a
generous share of its mercantile impetus to this na-
tive son who was born there on September 1, 1875.
and who came to be the owner of two of the most
profitable and desirable enterprises, an ice-cream and
confectionery manufactory, and a grocery, formerly
owned by his highly-esteemed father, long the land-
inark at the corner of Monterey and Fourth streets.
His father, Giacomo Princevalle, identified with the
past rather than with the present Gilroy, was born
in Italy and crossed the wide seas in 1849, his mind
aglow with better prospects in the land of gold; but
meeting with the same small measure of success
there which discouraged thousands, he wisely turned
his energies to other channels, and settled in San
Francisco, where he opened a store. He had many
difficulties with which to contend on account of a
lack of knowledge of English and of American busi-
ness ways; but the wide-awake folks of the hustling
bay city were not slow in recognizing the value of
his honesty and his genial, helpful ways, and in time

he found a foremost place among the most prosper-
ous of Italian-Americans there. He found his ideal
m an Italian maiden named Palmina Lomietta, and
having married her, they established themselves in
prospective domestic comfort and happiness; but a
disastrous fire in San Francisco, sweeping away
everything he had. and almost demanding as addi-
tional toll the lives of his wife and babv, turned his
attention to inland Gilroy.

Re-establishing himself here in 1869. Giacomo
Princevalle commenced again, facing and surmount-
ing each succeeding new difficulty with fortitude and
optimism. Beginning with a little fruit stand on a
street corner which many pioneers will recall, he en-
tered the grocery trade, branched out and further
developed, until he was able to retire from active
business life in Februarj-, 1904. Four sons and one
daughter blessed their union, and James, the subject
of our story, was next to the youngest in the family.

James got all the help and benefit possible from
the public school courses, and then pursued a com-
mercial course at the Garden City Business College,
from which he was graduated in 1896, when he en-
tered upon the years of training under his father
which were to prove, after all. the most valuable aids
of all. In 1898 he commenced to manufacture con-
fectionery, and also began to make ice-cream and
to operate a fine soda-water plant. He was success-
ful from the first; and in February, 1904, he was able
to purchase the well-established grocery from his
father,' and to carry the responsibility of the joint
enterprises. His store soon was recognized as one
of the most substantial institutions in the local com-
mercial world, carrying a large and varied assortment
of strictly first-class goods.

As might be expected from so enterprising and
public-spirited a young merchant, who has here in-
vested ail his estate, and who is therefore deeply in-
terested in the future welfare of the whole region,
Mr. Princevalle has been long interested in political
movements and propositions, especially those fostered
by the Democratic party. He first assumed the re-
sponsibility of public office when, in 1904, he was
elected by a large majority as the Progressive can-
didate to the Gilroy City Council, soon serving as
chairman of the street, and a member of the police,
fire, water, gas and public buildings committees. His
broad, progressive views made themselves felt
throughout town life; and it is not surprising to find
him mayor of Gilroy. having been elected to that
high office in May. 1920. He is a member of the
Gilroy Fire Department, is active as second vice-
president of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, is a
member and secretary of the State Retail Grocers'
Association, his popularity there and high standing
in the community of Gilroy as a representative mer-
chant enabling him to exert the widest influence on
measures most favorable to the grocery-consuming
public. When Mr. Princevalle married, at Hollister,
on June 29, 1902, he chose for his life-companion
Miss Eva F. McFarland, a native of Albany, Ore.,
and she presides with grace over their household.
Mr. Princevalle is a member of the I. O. O. F. and
the Foresters, and he is also a member of the B. P.
O. Elks of San Jose, and is president of the Gilroy
Golf and Country Club.

932

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

H. L. PARKMAN. — Prominent among the most
progressive, able business men of California may well
be mentioned H. L. Parkman, one of the honored
citizens of San Jose, who, together with his accom-
plished wife, who is a member of a well-known pio-
neer family of Santa Cruz County, are representatives
of the best forces and tendencies in the California
civilization of today. Although living on his fine
fruit ranch at Sunnyvale, Mr. Parkman carries on his
extensive business operations in San Francisco and
so joins his country life with the throb of the Coast
metropolis. He was born at San Jose on February
17, 1879, a son of the pioneer musician. Professor
George Park'man, who is still alive, at the ripe old
age of eighty-five, and resides with his daughter,
Mrs. C. C. Spalding at Sunnyvale. Notwithstanding
his advanced years he is busily engaged every day,
and holds a very responsible position at the State
Hospital at Agnew, where he is superintendent of the
shoe department. He was San Jose's pioneer band
and orchestra leader, and was born at Cardiff, Wales,
and was married in England to Miss Elizabeth Ann
Parsons, a native of the ancient and beautiful city
of Bath. He came out to America in 1851, and
crossed the great plains the same year with his de-
voted wife; and they at once located at San Jose.
Mrs. Parkman continued to live in Santa Clara
County until 1913, when she passed away on June 6,
in her seventy-third year, at the home of her son, the
late Dr. Wallace E. Parkman, in San Jose.

Eight children were granted this eminent pioneer
couple. George, now sixty years old, is a musician
at Eureka. Elizabeth died in her fourth year, while
crossing the great plains. Charles died twenty-four
years ago. Will passed away in Montana, in 1911.
He was a carpenter by trade. Jessie is the wife of
the Hon. C. C. Spalding, of Sunnyvale, whose life-
history will be found outlined in another part of
this historical work. Dr. Wallace E. Parkman
breathed his last at San Jose, on October 5, 1915,
forty-three years old. Maud died when she was ten
years old; and Harry Leland, the subject of this
sketch, who is the youngest of the family. The lat-
ter's early life was passed in San Jose, and when able
to take up responsible work, he entered the circulation
department of the Evening News, taking charge
oi' that responsible work, and later managed the ad-
vertising end. His first employer was Charles Will-
iams, at that time the proprietor of the News; and
he was with him for many years. Mr. Parkman con-
siders that the training and experience he acquired
there were invaluable, for Mr. Williams was one of
the greatest masters of system in San Jose business
circles. Resigning from the News, Mr. Parkman
went to San Francisco and engaged with the Em-
porium, where he w-as for a year in charge of the
credit department; and when he left, he joined the
Gorham Rubber Company as a salesman. When that
concern was absorbed by the United States Rubber
Company, he entered the employ of the latter, and
having amply demonstrated his ability and dependa-
bility, remained in their service for ten years. Re-
signing once more, he became district manager of the
Republic Rubber Company, with whom he remained
six years. He resigned that position on January 1,
1921, and accepted the management of the Acme
Rubber Company's interests, with the Ralph Pugh
Rubber Company, at San Franisco.

When Mr. Parkman left the United States Rubber
Company, eight years ago, he sold his residence at
3217 Central Avenue, Alameda, built by himself, and
bought twenty acres on Pastoria Avenue, Sunny-
vale; and in 1920 he built a beautiful, two-story resi-
dence there. Mr. and Mrs. Parkman otifered numer-
ous ideas and novel features which were incorporated
in the general plan by the architect, Warren Skill-
ings of San Jose; Henry Bridges of the same city
became the contracting builder. It is one of the
finest residences at Sunnyvale, surrounded as it is
by a well-kept ranch in a high state of cultivation,
with a fine orchard of apricots, peaches and prunes.
Mr. Parkman has always been public-spirited, and
is at the present chairman of the board of school trus-
tees of Sunnyvale.

At San Jose, on October 12, 1904, Mr. Parkman was
married to Miss Birdie R. Cummings, a native of
Santa Cruz and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George
H. Cummings, the well-knov.n teamster contractor of
Santa Cruz. She is also the niece of Fred and Charles
Cummings, prominent citizens of that city. Mr. and
Mrs. Parkman have one child — a daughter, Harriet
Rowena. Mr. Parkman is a member of Apollo Lodge,
F. & A. M., at Alameda, Lodge No. 522, B. P. O. E.,
at San Jose; Sunnyvale Lodge, I. O. O. F., the
Eastern Star of Sunnyvale and the Transporta-
tion Club of San Francisco. Mrs. Parkman is a
member of Carita Chapter of the Eastern Star No.
115, at Alameda, while she is capably and creditably
serving as the first president of the Parent-Teacher
Association at Sunnyvale.

ALAN ELTZROTH CURTNER.— Among the

native-born sons of California who is a worthy repre-
sentative of the Curtner family of Santa Clara
County, is Alan Eltzroth Curtner, whose father is
also a native of California. Alan E. was born in
Warm Springs, Cal., January 17, 1896, the son of
Allen E. and Rosabella (Hewitt) Curtner. The father
was born in Warm Springs, October 5, 1867; and grew
to manhood on the farm of his father, Henry Curt-
ner, and received his education at the Irvington
Academy, of which the latter was one of the found-
ers, and one of Santa Clara County's best known
philanthropists, whose life story is found elsewhere
in this history. Allen E. Curtner married Miss Rosa-
bella Hewitt, a native of England, who came to Cali-
fornia with her parents when she was fourteen years
old. They reside on a ranch located on Maude
Avenue, one and one-half miles from Sunnyvale,
which consists of 275 acres, most of which is rented.
They are the parents of three children, of whom Alan
E., the subject of this sketch, is the youngest. Isa-
bella is the wife of Bud Moore; Louise is the wife
of Derol Chace. Alan E. obtained his education in
the grammar schools of Warm Springs, after which
he attended Washburn school and the Mountain
View high school. When he was eleven years old
his father moved to the ranch on Maude Avenue,
and here he grew to manhood. On June 1, 1918, he
entered the U. S. Army and was sent to Camp
Kearney, being attached to Battery E, One Hundred
Forty-third Field Artillery, and was in training until
August 1 of the same year, when with his regiment
he was ordered overseas, entraining to Camp Mills,
Long Island; sailing on the transport Armach from
Hoboken he landed in Liverpool, thence to La Havre,
France, via Southhampton, then to Poitiers, and was

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

933

encamped there two weeks. For a short time he was
stationed near Bordeaux, then was at Camp de
Souges one and one-half months. At the time the
armistice was signed his company was preparing to
take position at the front at Mctz, Germany. He
was then returned to the embarkation camp near
Bordeaux and was among the first to arrive in New
York, receiving his discharge at the Presidio, San
Francisco, in January, 1919.

Mr. Curtner's marriage occurred at Santa Rosa on
July 3. 1920, and united him with Miss Celesta June
Burch, who was born in Illinois and received her
education in the grammar and high schools of Los
Angeles. After his marriage Mr. Curtner engaged
in horticulture, and in the spring in 1921 purchased
his present ranch on Homestead Road which is de-
voted to raising prunes and apricots and is well
watered by Stevens Creek, making it a very beautiful
and attractive place with a magnificent view of Santa
Cruz mountains. Mr. and Mrs. Curtner are achiev-
ing success in their horticultural efforts and have a
host of admiring friends.

MISS EMILY S. WILSON.— A highly esteemed
resident of New York City, who very worthily rep-
resents a pioneer in Santa Clara Countj' still held
in sacred remembrance, is Miss Emily S. Wilson, of
58 West S7th Street, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
William Wilson, since the late '60s identified with
this region. They had put behind them, ere coming
to California, the hard day's work, and so from their
advent in the Golden State they were able to live
in comfortable retirement, serene in a grateful ap-
preciation of the past and in an optimistic view as
to the future — immediate and vastly beyond. Mr.
Wilson was born in Marlboro, Mass., on October
13, 1810, the sixth in a family of five sons and six
daughters, and he grew up to help his father around
the home place. His father, William Wilson, first
saw the light at Cambridge, Mass., while his mother,
who was Elizabeth Rand before her marriage, came
from New Hampshire. The grandfather of our sub-
ject operated his own small farm near Marlboro,
with which he achieved that success which afforded
a support for the family. When eighteen years of
age, William Wilson, Jr.. tiring of farm work, was
apprenticed to a wheelwright and carriage-maker,
and having mastered the trade, he followed it, for
years, at the old Massachusetts town. As a Free
Soiler and Whig, he was town assessor for seven
years, and he also served on the board of selectmen
of Marlboro and served as the board's chairman.
Later he turned his attention and his energies to the
care of a large estate in Marlboro, which he man-
aged for years. He had been apprenticed to S. R.
Phelps, the leading carriage manufacturer of that
region, and his daughter, Miss Martha Phelps, be-
came Mr. Wilson's wife, in every way realizing his
expectations of noble and sympathetic womanhood,
bravely shouldering, both in the East and West,
whatever of responsibility came her way. She died
at Gilroy on November 18, 1893, the mother of five
children, Charles F., deceased; Sarah, Mrs. Winslow
M. Warren, deceased; Emily Susan, our subject;
Lavinia A., Mrs. Marshall E. Hunter, deceased; and
Winslow. Mr. Wilson also died in Gilroy July 29,
1905, when past ninety years of age. The family were
members of the Congregational Church, to whose
support they contributed generously.

Miss Emily was born at Marlboro, Mass., on Sep-
tember 12, 1840, and attended Mt. Holyoke College,
at South Hadley, from which she was graduated with
honors in July, 1861. Then she became a teacher
at Mt. Holyoke. and when Mills College wanted a
certain instructor, she joined the stafif of that grow-
ing institution at Oakland. She came to enjoy the
diversion and stimulation incidental to wide, edu-
cating travel, and spent two and one-half years in
Europe, besides making several voyages to Hawaii,
and an eight-months' cruise in the South Seas, where
no white woman had ever been before, terminating
with a dehghtful visit to New Zealand, Java, China
and Japan. Miss Wilson organized the Tuesday
Reading Club, and later the F. R. F. G. Study Club,
composed of a limited number of the younger women
of Gilroy, and belonged to the Tuesday Club of
Marlboro, and the Barnard Club of New York; and
in each of these she is an enviable influence for higher
and better things. Her many friends in Santa Clara
County rejoice at the opportunity afTorded her to
render real service to the world.

ALBERT J. CARREY.— Numbered among the
notably successful men of the Gilroy district is Albert
J. Carrey the owner and proprietor of the Pioneer
Soda Works. He was born in Bordeaux, France, on
July 4, 1864, the son of Louis and Katrine Carrey,
farmer folks and peasants and parents of nine chil-
dren. The father lived to be ninety-four and the
mother sixty-five. He was reared and schooled in the
country and assisted his father with the farm work
and remained at home until 1884. when he decided
that a greater future and more opportunities were to
be found in America and California, where he had a
brother at Gilroy. Arriving in San Francisco in the
fall of 1884. he made his way to the town of Gilroy.
He found employment on the large ranch of Miller
& Lux, and though his knowledge of the English
language was very limited, his determination to suc-
ceed led him to apply himself during his spare mo-
ments in the study of the language and he was ad-
vanced to the position of chief foreman of the cheese
factory, a position he held for ten years.

The marriage of Mr. Carrey occurred in 1895 and
soon after he entered into partnership with James
Sergeant at the Sergeant ranch and conducted a
dairy business for twelve years, manuf.icturini; cheese
for the San Francisco markets; those \ca?-^ ucii.' years
of toil, hut success came abundantU- and hv strict in-
tegrity and wise investing, Mr. Carrey became inde-
pendent in a financial way. Late in 1902 he decided
to leave the ranch and removed to Gilroy where he
had considerable town property, on which he erected
several fine residences which bring him satisfactory
returns; he also owns the building occupied by the
Buckhorn Billiard and Bowling rooms on South
Monterey Street. Mr. Carrey resides with his family
in a comfortable home located at 345 North Monte-
rey Street. In 1914 he established the Pioneer Soda
Works and is distributor for Napa Soda and Cook's
Spring waters and has built up a fine business, his
radius of distribution covering thirty miles north
and south of Gilroy and extending into San Benito
and Monterey counties. He has always taken an
active interest in civic activities since receiving his
U. S. citizenship papers in 1890 and is considered
among Gilroy's most progressive citizens. He is a
charter member of the Chamber of Commerce and

934

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

is a stockholder in the Gilroy branch of the Garden
City Bank & Trust Co. In his political affiliations he
is a Republican and fraternally he is a member of
the Moose and Druids, being a past officer of the
latter order. He and his family are members of the
Catholic Church, and he is president of St. Mary's
Church Improvement Club, in Gilroy. Mrs. Carrey
is active in the work of the church. Mr. and Mrs.
Carrey are the parents of two children, Celine, a
stenographer in San Francisco, and Albert, Jr., a stu-
dent in Stanford University. Mr. Carrey is proud
to be identified with the prosperous city of Gilroy
and his loyalty and public-spiritedness can be counted
upon at all times.

LOGAN L. WHITEHURST.— A son of a wor-
thy pioneer of California, Logan L. Whitehurst is
successfully carrying on the lumber business estab-
lished by his father under the name of Whitehurst
& Hedges, or the Gilroy Lumber Yard, so many
years ago. A native of Santa Clara County, Logan
L. Whitehurst was born near San Jose, February 25.
1866. a son of L. A. and Hettie A. (Logan) White-
hurst. The father was born in Princess Ann County,
Va., June 4, 1834. When he was six years old the
family removed to St. Louis, Mo., and there resided
for four years; thence they moved to Lexington, that
state. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California,
and proceeded to Bidwell's Bar, Butte County, where
he engaged in mining; but meeting with poor suc-
cess, he returned to Missouri in the fall of 1852. Re-
maining in that state until 1859, he once more re-
turned to the Pacific Coast and, crossing the Isthmus
of Panama, arrived in Sacramento September 22.
1859. At the end of two months he removed to
Santa Clara County, and after a short stay in San
Jose, located on the Santa Cruz toll road not far from
Lexington, and engaged in lumbering. After re-
maining here for ten years, in the winter of 1869 he
went back East for a visit, but returned to California
the following March and took up his residence in
Gilroy, where he resided until he passed away at
the age of seventy-three, on May 14, 1907. On Jan-
uary 31, 1860, he married Miss Hettie A. Logan, a
native of Missouri, and they were the parents of
seven children, five of whom are living: W. A.;
Janet, Mrs. A. M. Kelley and L. L., twins; Nettie,
Mrs. E. E. Brownell; and Hettie, Mrs. W. E. Cun-
ningham, all residents of this county. Mrs. White-
hurst died in October, 1907, aged sixty-three. Mr.
Whitehurst was a member of the I. O. O. F. for
many years, and he served as mayor of Gilroy, and
always was a strong advocate of all municipal im-
provements; was president of the Bank of Gilroy for
about twenty years and a director of the Bank of
Hollister and the Safety Deposit Bank of San Jose.

Logan L. Whitehurst received his preliminary ed-
ucation in the public schools of Gilroy and later at-
tended a business college in San Francisco. After
completing his education he entered the employ of
his father and engaged in the milling of lumber in
the Santa Cruz mountains and in working the ranch.
In 1906 he became manager of the home yard at Gil-
roy, which had been established some years before
the railroad was projected through to Gilroy.

In 1909, at San Jose, Mr. Whitehurst was united in
marriage with Miss Jennie Funkier, who was born
and reared in San Jose, a daughter of William and
Jennie (Ruf?") Funkier, and they are the parents of

two children, Logan L., Jr.. and Yvonne C. In 1910
Mr. Whitehurst erected a fine residence at 308 South
Church Street. Fraternally he is a member of the
Odd Fellows at Gilroy and the Elks at Watsonville.
while Mrs. Whitehurst is a member of the Women's
Civic Club of Gilroy. The lumber yards at Gilroy
are operated under their corporate name of White-
hurst & Hodges, or the Gilroy Lumber Yard, and
are a distinct success owing to the ability, coupled
with honesty and fair dealing, of the manager, who
possesses the same high business principles of the
elder Whitehurst.

JOSEPH EDWARD HANCOCK.— No section of
California has been more fortunate than Santa Clara
County in attracting to its territory and service the
cream of educational talent; and among those who
have come to reside and work here, who are already
distinguished in the pedagogical world, may well be
mentioned Joseph Edward Hancock, the popular
principal of the Grant School in San Jose. He was
born at New Almaden. Santa Clara County, on No-
vember 24. 1874. the son of Joseph Hancock, a miner
and foreman of construction, who married Miss Emma
Harris, and with her came to San Jose about 1872.
The father is now deceased.

Joseph Edward finished his public school work
only to go on with his studies at the San Jose Nor-
mal School and Stanford University. Then he was
made principal of the Franklin School at San Jose,
and so successfully discharged his responsibilities
there that he remained the head of that excellent in-
stitution for five years. Then he became principal
of the Grant School, and he has been in charge there
ever since, a period of twenty-three years. When
he took hold of the helm he supervised the work of
350 pupils and 12 teachers; now 25 teachers enthusi-
asticallj' follow his lead and instruct 1.000 pupils.
Mr. Hancock has been three times elected president
of the alumni of the San Jose State Normal School;
he is a member of the National Educational Associa-
tion, the State Educational Association and the State
Council of Education. For eleven years he has been
a member of the Santa Clara County Board of Ed-
ucation, and several times has been president of that
board. He was also the chairman of the committee
having charge of the great historical pageant, "San
Jose." which was produced in 1917 for the benefit of
the Red Cross at the beginning of the war. He be-
longs to the Chamber of Commerce and for many
years has been a member of the board of directors
of the Y. M. C, A. When the county board of su-
pervisors organized the County Charities Commis-
sion, early in 1921, Mr. Hancock was appointed a
member and has been chairman of that body since
its inception. During the war Mr. Hancock served
as county war garden director.

J. E. Hancock was married at San Jose, on No-
vember 29, 1899, to Miss Lessie M. Rainey of Michi-
gan and San Jose, and they have two children.
Velda and Joseph Rainey. Mr. Hancock is a Knights
Templar Mason, is a past master of Fraternity Lodge
and past patron of the Eastern Star; belongs to the
N. S. G. W., of which he is past president; is Past
Exalted Ruler of the Elks and a member of the Lions
Club and the Sciots, being at this time Toparch of
that order. For recreation he is fond of hunting and
fishing, and gets fun and hard work out of ranching.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

935

JONAS CLARK, M. D., F. A. C. S.— A distin-
guished representative of the medical profession in
CaHfornia widely known as a specialist, is Dr. Jonas
Clark, F. A. C. S., a native of Waltham, Mass.. now-
residing at 192 Fifth Street, Gilroy. He was sent as
a boy to a private academy, the Waltham New
Church School, and afterwards was graduated from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, when he
received the B. S. degree. In 1875, at the completion
of his studies in the Harvard Medical School at Bos-
ton, that famous institution conferred upon him the
degree of Doctor of Medicine. While at Harvard
during one year. Dr. Clark made class dissections for
Oliver Wendell Holmes, the poet, for demonstration
to the class; for nearly thirty years Dr. Holmes
was professor of anatomy and physiology at the col-
lege. In 1874 Dr. Clark was extern, then intern and
in 1876 house surgeon in the Massacheusctts Charit-
able Eye and Ear Infirmary at Boston.

Dr. Clark specialized in the treatment of the eye,
ear and throat, intending to follow a career in the
East; but on account of his health, he came West
and located at Woodland, where he soon established
a good practice. Then for one year he took charge
of the private practice and the work of Dr. Stallard
in the San Francisco Polyclinic. In 1892 he re-
moved to Gilroy, and in time opened offices on North
Monterey Street. From 1910 to 1913 he was superin-
tendent of the Santa Clara County Hospital, and for
ten years he was district surgeon for the Southern
Pacific Railroad. He served as city health officer of
Gilroy and has been president of the Santa Clara
County Medical Society and a member of the State
Medical Society; and he is a member of the American
Medical Association. The recipient of many degrees
bestowed upon him by colleges in various states. Dr.
Clark is still the democratic, unpretentious, influen-
tial and ideal .'\merican citizen, decidedly one of the
most esteemed residents of Gilroy. For years he
has planned to retire, and to a certain extent he has
relinquished the reins to his son. Dr. John A. Clark;
but the persistent calls for his experience and skill
have jnade it difficult for him to refuse the claims of
suffering humanity.

In Boston Dr. Clark was married to Miss Hon-
oria Tierney, w^ho died in 1902 from the efTects of a
runaway accident, leaving two children. In 1909, he
remarried, choosing for his second wife Miss Emily
Casey, the daughter of Michael Casey.

John A. Clark, the son, is a graduate of the science
course at Santa Clara University, and received his
M. D. degree from the University of California; and
since then he has become one of the prominent phy-
sicians of Gilroy; and Miss Marie Clark, is a regis-
tered graduate nurse. Dr. Jonas Clark has prospered
materially since locating in California, and he owns
some very desirable ranch properties in the Santa
Clara Valley, and some equally desirable residence
property at Gilroy. He is a member of Keith Lodge
of Masons of Gilroy, and of the Independent Order
of Foresters, and is a member of Harvard Alumni.
In national political affairs he is a Republican.

WARREN H. POMEROY.— A flourishing com-
mercial establishment of much import to the city of
San Jose is the clothing emporium of Pomeroy Bros.,
the firm consisting of Warren H. and C. C. Pomeroy,
the sons of Marshall Pomeroy, whose life story ap-
pears on another page of this historical work. Main-

taining at all times one of the largest stocks to be
found anywhere in California, this old-established
house oflfers the latest products of the most fashion-
able studios and the most celebrated mills.

Warren Pomeroy was born in San Jose on October
13, 1878, and after finishing with the local grammar
schools he continued his studies at the Santa Clara
high school. Then he picked out the best business
college in San Jose, tackled its curriculum, and
learned all that it could teach him. Pushing out into
the world for himself, Mr. Pomeroy joined his brother,
already referred to, and bought out W. K. Jenkins!
The business long ago established by him, they have
continued, and have so enlarged their stock, extended
their territory and expanded their scope that they are
today serving a larger and a finer public than ever
before. As might be expected of such an enterprising
man with a broad-minded public-spiritedness, Mr.
Pomeroy belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, and
is one of its active members.

^ On August 11, 1907, Mr. Pomeroy was married at
San Jose to Miss Susie Stock of that city; and to-
gether they have identified themselves pleasantly with
San Jose social life. Mr. Pomeroy belongs to the San
Jose parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West,
and he is also a member of the Elks. He endorses
the platforms of the Republican party, and did his full
share m supporting the various drives during the re-
cent participation by America in the World War.

ALEXANDER MILNE.— Possessed of excellent
judgment and sound common sense, backed by in-
telligence which kept him well informed, the late
Alexander Milne occupied a position among the farm-
ers of Santa Clara County which was won by energy
and perseverance. Throughout his agricultural and
horticultural activities he displayed ability and capa-
bleness. and his ranch, through his untiring efforts,
was brought to a high state of cultivation and the
many substantial improvements, including the house
and farm buildings, have added much to the value
of the property. He was born May 8, 1844, in Elgin,
Scotland, which was also the birthplace of his father
and mother, John and Helen (Murdock) Milne. His
parents migrated to Canada with their family, set-
tling on a farm near London. Middlesex County,
where they spent the remainder of their lives, both
passing away at the age of seventy-six years. They
were the parents of seven children, and Alexander,
the subject of this sketch, was the only member of
the family who came to California. He was reared
and educated in London, Ontario, and became thor-
oughly conversant with the various branches of agri-
culture. On January 14. 1868, he left home and jour-
neyed to New York City, where he started via Nica-
ragua for California, and after a journey of thirty
days, eight of which were spent in crossing Nica-
ragua, he arrived in San Francisco. Coming directly
to Santa Clara County, he worked for a short time in
the Skuse lime kiln, and then took the contract for
cutting 120 cords of wood, the work requiring three
months. He worked in the woods at Lexington for
a time, and was then employed as a harvest hand for
one season. He then went to the Almaden, and
felled w-ood in the summer and ranched in the win-
ter, and remained there for two years. He then en-
gaged in business for himself, taking large contracts
for getting out and hauling square and round tim-
bers, logs and wood, and worked at this for twelve

936

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

years. In 1881 he purchased his farm on the Burchell
Road, consisting of 380 acres, about four miles from
Gilroy. All the improvements were of substantial
character. Most of the land was devoted to the
raising of grain, for which it is well adapted, and a
fine orchard of about fifty acres and a vinej'ard of
forty acres. Under his labor and management the
ranch became exceptionally productive and his suc-
cess was well deserved.

After being four years in California Mr. Milne re-
turned to Canada and there his marriage occurred
in Ontario, on September 26, 1872, and united him
with Miss Isabella Forbes, a native of that place,
who accompanied him back to California, and they
were the parents of eight children, all born in this
county: Edna E. married James White, now de-
ceased, and lives in Colusa with her son and daugh-
ter, Francis and Evelyn; William A., living on the
home ranch, married Luella Ogan, who died, leaving
one daughter. Evelyn; Isabella, Mary Louise. Jessie
M., all single, at home; John T. has charge of the
home ranch; Annie G., wife of Chris Lund, near
Gilroy; James C also at home. Mr. Milne passed
away at the family home on Burchell Road on July
29, 1920, and since his demise John T. Milne has
conducted the ranch and fruit business, and has put
out thirty-five acres of grapes. Mr. Milne was a
stanch Democrat and had served the community as
school trustee. He was a member of the A. O. U. W.
and was a faithful member of the Catholic Church.
Mrs. Milne resides on the home place and is active
in all business matters, and is a wide-awake, public-
spirited citizen. Mr. Milne was a charter member of
the California Prunrt and Apricot Association, and
Mrs. Milne continues to take an active interest in the
affairs of that organization.

O'CONNELL BROTHERS, INC.— The firm of
O'Connell Bros., Inc., is composed of Charles T.,
Franklin J., George D., Albert F. and Elmer S.
O'Connell, who are very successful cattlemen, ranch-
ers and business men. In 1901 the sons took over
the holdings of their father, Thomas O'Connell, an
old-established wood and coal business, to which
they in time added a grocery store and butcher shop.
Later on they began raising beef, and for this pur-
pose they leased the old Weber ranch of 12,000 acres,
which they later purchased, also acquiring the Fiacro
Fisher and the Peter Gossibert lands at Coyote,
making their total holdings 15.200 acres in one large
ranch, requiring about forty miles of fence to enclose
it and many miles of cross fencing. The ranch is
well watered and wooded and is traversed by Coyote
Creek, Packwood Creek and Los Animas Creek, be-
sides having a number of large springs. They have
recently completed a large dam on Los Animas
Creek, impounding a large body of water which fur-
nishes irrigation to much of their ranch by a gravity
system, flowing through miles of concrete pipe line.
The ranch is studded with live oak, pin oak and syc-
amores, and it also contains valuable deposits of
magnesite, copper and chrome ore. The O'Connell
Bros, engage in raising hay. grain and stock, and
are widely know for their high-grade shorthorn Dur-
ham cattle. They have built a modern abattoir in
San Jose, where they do the slaughtering of their
own cattle and manufacture the various products
which they retail at their market at Sixth and St.
James streets, also selling to the wholesale trade.

Most of their cattle, however, are shipped to San
Francisco and Los Angeles on the hoof, and they
have also consigned cattle to Alaska.

O'Connell Bros, were incorporated July 9, 1906,
and they are active in the membership of the Mer-
chants' Association and Chamber of Commerce of
San Jose. The brothers are all active in the busi-
ness; Charles Thomas is manager of the company;
Franklin J. manages the ranch; George D. is super-
intendent of the meat department; Albert assists in
the management of the ranch, while Elmer S. has
charge of the fuel department. They have recently
purchased the Crowley stockyards at Coyote, which
they use in shipping, giving them an outlet and inlet
by rail from the ranch. They have also leased 17,000
acres of the San Luis ranch at Pacheco Pass as an
addition to their cattle ranch, and are increasing
their cattle holdings accordingly. Energetic young
men of industry and good habits, they all attend
closely to building up the business of their various
departments, co-operating in all their undertakings
and doing business in harmony and accord.

J. D. FARWELL.— A man of sterling worth and
one who may be counted upon at all times to give his
support to matters pertaining to the progress and
development of the county and state is J. D. Farwell,
the efficient vice-president of the Bank of Los Gatos.
Born in San Francisco, March 4, 1872, he is a son of
Captain J. D. and Elizabeth Foy Farwell, both par-
ents being early settlers of California. Captain Far-
well, a native of Vasselboro, Maine, was master in
the Merchant Marine service, sailing into the impor-
tant ports of the world. In 1850 he brought a sailing
vessel around Cape Horn to San Francisco and in
that city he was a ship chandler. In the early days
he had the honor of being the vice-president of the
\'igilance Committee in San Francisco, who had their
own distinctive ways of enforcing the laws of the
community. He became very well known around the
San Francisco Bay. He married Miss Foy of San
Francisco; she was a native of Vermont, and both
died in San Francisco. Next to the youngest of
the four children, J. D. Farwell was educated in
the grammar and high schools of Oakland, and after
graduation became associated with the California
Engineering Company that constructed cable roads
and power plants. For several years he remained
with this company, and in 1894 removed to Los Gatos
and became interested in the growing of fruit. As
early as 1895 he was one of the organizers and be-
came manager of the Glen Una Electric Company
that supplied electricity to the residents of Los Gatos.
In 1903 he was one of the organizers of the Los
Gatos Gas & Electric Company. He was manager
of the company until they sold out to the Pacific Gas
& Electric Company in 1913, since which time he
has been a director of the Bank of Los Gatos and in
1920 he was selected to fill the position of vice-pres-
ident, thus taking an active part in the management
of the affairs of the institution.

The marriage of Mr. Farwell in Los G.itos united
him with Miss Irma Lyndon, born at Los Gatos, the
daughter of that worthy pioneer John W. Lyndon,
whose biography appears elsewhere in this work. Mr.
and Mrs. Farwell's union has been blessed with the
birth of a son, Lyndon Farwell, attending Los Gatos
Union high school. Mr. Farwell gives his political

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

939

endorsement to the Republican party. He is a mem-
ber of the San Jose County Club and has been pro-
minent in the development of the county's fine roads.
A man of high principles and steadfast purpose, he
is earnest in his support of every cause which he
endorses, forceful and resourceful in all that he un-
dertakes. He has a large circle of warm friends
throughout this part of the state enjoying the high
regard of all with whom social, political or business
relations have brought him in contact.

C. MARIAN BARR, A. M.— Eminent among the
distinguished educators who have contributed much
toward extending widely the fame of California in the
educational World. Miss C Marian Barr, Dean of Wo-
men, 'College of the Pacilic at San Jose, enjoys envi-
able position and influence. Slie was born near Mon-
mouth, 111., the daughter and only child of John Barr,
who w^as born near Glasgow, Scotland, and came to
America when he was eighteen years old. He located
ni Missouri and later removed to Illinois, where he
attended the University of Chicago, from which he
was graduated in excellent standing in 1878; after
which he became a minister of the Baptist Church
for the preaching of the Gospel. In 1880 he married
Miss Addie Dutzschky; and seven years later they
removed to California. They settled at Pomona, and
in 1900 the Rev. Mr. Barr retired from active work.

Miss Marian Barr, after completing Pomona high
school, selected the University of California at Berk-
eley, to which city her parents also removed, and
where, in February, 1913, Mr. Barr died, survived by
this daughter and his widow, who still resides at
Berkeley. In 1904, Miss Barr was graduated from
the university with the degree of A. B.; and two
years later she was given by the same institution the
degree of A. M. In 1907 she became an instructor
in Latin and German at California College, Oakland,
and in 1910, having ably discharged her first respon-
sibility, she joined the staff of the College of the
Pacific as Dean of Women, and is also instructor in
vocational education.

As Dean of Women, having very much the inter-
ests of both the students and the institution at heart,
Miss Barr has become exceptionally busy, and she
has proven the right person for the direction of the
new course in vocational education, which deals with
the vocational opportunities of women and was in-
stituted at the College of the Pacific in 1917. She
resides at Helen Guth Hall, and has her offices in
the same hall on the beautiful campus of the college,
where she has for years been a leading and familiar
figure, enviably popular with the young women, on
the average of superior capacity, attracted to this
growing institution. Miss Barr is a member of the
American Association of University Women, formerly
the .Association of Collegiate Alumni, and in various
ways is able to make her influence for educational
and moral uplift wideh' felt.

EDWARD FERRY EASTMAN.— The life which
the narrative chronicles began in Eastmanville, Mich.,
on January IS, 1863, in the home of Galen and Mary
Lucina (Ferry) Eastman, who were representatives
of Colonial families of New England. Galen East-
man was born July 8, 1829, at Canaan, Maine, and
was engaged in the lumber business, owning his craft
and barges on the rivers and lakes, and his own
mills. What education he had acquired was by his
own efforts, but whatever he undertook he succeeded

in doing well. During the year of 1836 his parents
had removed to Michigan. Mrs. Mary Lucina East-
man was a sister of the Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, who
was a member of House and U. S. Senate from Mich-
igan for twenty-six years, and upon the death of
Henry Wilson, became acting vice-president of the
United States. In 1879 Galen Eastman took a trip
into the frontier of New Mexico and became the gov-
ernment agent for the Navajo Indians at Fort De-
fiance, N. M. For several years he was also a suc-
cessful hardware merchant in San Francisco. He
passed away on January 18, 1899, aged sixty-nine,
and his widow passed away in 1903 in San Francisco,
when sixty--.ix xcar^ ,,]d.

Edward Iv la^lin.iii was educated in the schools
of Grand H.imii. .\|i,h., and during the year of 1876
left school to lake a trip on the Great Lakes. Touch-
ing at Chicago, he traveled on and on until in Feb-
ruary of the following year he was in Louisiana,
where he soon found employment in towing and
freighting on Grand Lake, transporting thousands of
feet of lumber and thousands of tons of merchandise
to points on Bayou Teche. Another experience was
while living on the Indian reservation; he became
much enamored of the wild life of the Indians, and
in 1881 was called upon to act as guide for a party
of tourists going to the Canyon de Chelley in Ari-
zona. Leaving Albuquerque, N. M., well equipped
with packs and horses, he headed so as to cross the
head of the canyon and made the trip without any
serious accident. Four years later he was in the
Wasatch Mountains in L'tah and working in the
silver mines. Various enterprises engaged his atten-
tion from smelterman to engineer, and the experi-
ence gained throughout all the years was never amiss.
However, in. 1885 he gave up his mining operations
and left for San Francisco.

On November 3, 1887, Mr. Eastman was married
to Miss Nellie Florence Sleeper, born in Columbia,
Tuolumne County. Cal., the daughter of the sturdy
pioneer, William Osgood Sleeper, who was born in
1816, a native of St. Albans, Maine, and who crossed
the Isthmus in 1851, arriving in San Francisco early
in 1852. He was engaged in the buying and ship-
ping of gold dust, and also tried his luck at mining.
He married Miss Almira Foss, and in 1868 they re-
moved to San Francisco. Mr. Sleeper died in Santa
Rosa in 1901, and Mrs. Sleeper passed away in Santa
Clara County in 1908.

In 1887 Mr. Eastman removed with his family to
Santa Rosa, and there purchased a ranch and was
engaged for the next two years in farming, but still
believing that he could find a fortune in the mines,
he disposed of his ranch and went to Utah, wdiere
he remained until November, 1891, when he located
in the Santa Clara Valley, and since that time has
been a resident of that county most of the time. For
eleven years he was in the hardware and the marble
business in San Francisco, and continued until the
time of the great fire and earthquake in 1906. The
reverses which he and his brother suffered at that
time never caused our subject to give up the fight,
but by hard work and good judgment he has suc-
ceeded in establishing himself on a substantial basis.
For many years he owned and operated the extensive
ranch property, consisting of 652 acres, known as
Mountain Dell, in the Uvas in Santa Clara County.

Mr. and Mrs. Eastman are the parents of two
children; George W. is married and is a practicing

940

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

chiropractor and resides in New York City; Alice L.
is the wife of Percy Dunlap and they reside in Se-
bastopol. Mr. Eastman is a stockholder in the Farm-
ers' Union store at Morgan Hill. In 1919 the Moun-
tain Dell ranch was sold to Harold McD. Smith,
and Mr. Eastman erected a modern and comfortable
residence on a nine-and-a-half-acre ranch on the
Uvas Road eight miles from Morgan Hill, called
"Creek Side." Politically he is a stanch Republican,
and fraternally he is a Mason, holding membership
in Mission Lodge No. 169, F. & A. M.; a charter
member of Mission Chapter No. 79, R. A. M.; a
member of California Commandery No. 1, K. T., and
Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Eastman are members of Mag-
nolia Chapter, O. E. S., Gilroy. Mr. Eastman has
practically lived retired since 1908, but is ever inter-
ested in the welfare and future of his locality.

RICHARD ATKINSON.— An esteemed and wor-
thy pioneer of Santa Clara County was Richard
Atkinson, a native of England, born in Chester
County on May 10, 1837. He came to America while
still a very young man and was engaged in farming
on the Tarpy Rancho on the coast below Monterey,
and in the early '60s removed to the New Almaden
Mines, where he was employed as engineer for many
years, and his untimely death was caused by injury
received there. He passed away at the Atkinson
home on Croy Road, Uvas Canyon, October 4. 1875.

In 1862 Mr. Atkinson had married Miss Sarah
Gallagher, a native of County Sligo, Ireland, born
August 19, 1839, who passed away November 16,
1918, at the family home. After Mr. Atkinson's
death the burden of proving up on the land fell on
the mother, but she was equal to the task, and on
April 9. 1881, the family came into clear and full
possession of the 160 acres on the Croy Road. Mrs.
Atkinson also had the responsibility of rearing and
education of three children: Sarah died in childhood;
Mary is now owner of the ranch; Josephine is the
wife of Philip Daly, and they are the parents of five
children and reside at Mendota; Richard J. is de-
ceased. The children were educated in the Uvas dis-
trict school, of which Mrs. Atkinson was the founder,
having given a portion of her ranch for the establish-
ment of the school in 1875, and she furnished part of
the lumber, while J. W. Week and Peter Bosset
built the building.

EMORY C. SINGLETARY.— A representative
pioneer settler of California, and a prominent and
highly esteemed resident of San Jose, the late Emory
C. Singletary occupied an honorable position among
the venerable and well-to-do agriculturists of Santa
Clara County. A descendant of one of the early
colonial families of New England, he was born May
16, 1824, in Holden, Mass. On both sides of the
house he was closely connected with families of dis-
tinction, among others being the Goulds, the Dwin-
nells, the Pierces and the Greeleys. He came of
patriotic stock, one of his earliest American ances-
tors, a brave soldier, having been killed by the
Pequod Indians, and another ancestor, his Great-
great-grandfather Singletary, having served as an
officer in the Revolutionary War. His grandfather,
Amos Singletary, was born and reared in Massachu-
setts, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits
during his active life. He married a Miss Johnson,
of English descent, and of the children born of their

union Emory was the father of Emory C. Singletary,
the subject of this review. His father grew to man-
hood on the aticestral home place in Massachusetts
and obtained a fair education in the district schools
of his home town. Removing to Wisconsin in 1838,
he located in Walworth County, where he acquired
large possessions, and was for many years an ex-
tensive and prosperous farmer. He died in Elkhorn,
near the homestead which he had there improved, at
the age of ninety-three years. He married Lois
Pierce, a native of Massachusetts, a daughter of Aus-
tin Pierce, a first cousin of President Franklin
Pierce, and she passed away in Massachusetts. There
were three children born of their union, all deceased.

Reared and educated in Massachusetts, Emory C.
Singletary started for the far west in 1840, being
then a youth of sixteen years. After some time
spent in the vicinity of the Great Lakes, he located
in Walworth County, Wis., and there engaged in
farming and stock raising, and became an extensive
dealer in cattle. He became well acquainted with
many of the prominent men of the states through
which he journeyed, and was acquainted with Abra-
ham Lincoln. In 1853, accompanying a party in
which there were nineteen men, Mr. Singletary
crossed the plains to California. Leaving his Wis-
consin home in February, he outfitted in Middletown,
Logan County, 111., and May 16, 1853, left Council
Bluffs, having with him his family and driving 200
head of cattle. Leaving Salt Lake City on the left,
the party came down the Humboldt Valley, and had
several skirmishes with the Indians on the way, but
arrived at Beckwith Pass, Colusa County, Cal., in
October, in good condition, having nearly every head
of stock. Purchasing land near Colusa, he em-
barked in farming and stockraising, and for several
years was the largest and best-known cattle dealer
m the state. Later he became a horse breeder of
note, and shipped many horses to the eastern mar-
kets. He also became one of the largest landholders
of the state, at one time holding title to over 35,000
acres. In 1873, he sold 9,700 acres of land and re-
moved to the Santa Clara Valley, hoping to regain
his health, which had become impaired, and there
he resided until his death. He formerly owned about
20,000 acres of land in Kern County, which he later
sold, and also owned the Calden ranch of 2,200 acres.
In 1874 he was one of the organizers and the first
vice-president of the First National Bank of San
Jose, and was a stockholder at the time of his death;
he was also a stockholder in the Bank of Visalia,
Cal. For a number of years he carried on a large
business as a money lender, being one of the best-
known brokers of this locality. In 1884 he built his
fine residence on Stockton Avenue, surrounded by
all the comforts and luxuries of that day.

Mr. Singletary was twice married. In Walworth,
Wis., he married Caroline A. Wilson, a native of
Ohio, a daughter of Alexander Wilson, a pioneer
farmer of Wisconsin. She passed away while resid-
ing in Colusa County, Cal. On January 11, 1877,
Mr. Singletary married Aliss Florence Grigsby, who
was born near Potosi, Grant County, Wis., a daugh-
ter of William E. Grigsby. Educated in the public
schools of Wisconsin and in the State Normal School
at Platteville, Wis., she taught school in her native
state and in Iowa for a number of terms. Coming
to the Pacific Coast in 1870, she was a teacher in

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

943

the Bishop Scott School, in Portland, . Ore., for a
year. In 1871 she taught in Santa Clara Count}-,
and subsequently entered the San Jose Normal
School, from which she was graduated in 1874, and
in which she was afterwards a teacher until her mar-
riage. She was the mother of two children, Emory
Grigsby and George Curtis, twins, the former de-
ceased and the latter a resident of San Jose. Mr.
Singletary was a member of Friendship Lodge No.
210, F. & A. M. For a number of years he was one
of the directors of the State Agricultural Society,
and was a life member and one of the first organ-
izers of the Marysville, Cal., fair. Mrs. Singletary
is a member of the Isabella Chapter, D. A. R., and
is a member of the Episcopal Church of San Jose.

PAUL H. CORDES.— Another citizen of the kind
which Americans have always appreciated, and of a
type which Germany, especially in earlier years, fre-
quently gave to both America and California, was the
late Paul H. Cordes, who was born at Hanover,
Germany, August 18, 1840, and came to America in
the spring of 1855, w+ien he crossed the Atlantic as
a steward, thus earning more than his wav. He
married Miss Mary E. Bicknell, July 3, 1859, who
died at the home place near Gilroy on June 3, 1892,
survived by a son and two daughters; Paul Henrv,
died 1907; Mrs. T. F. White, and Mrs. George D.
Monnin. May 16, 1897, Mr. Cordes married Mrs. Izora
Viers, who died February 29, 1915. For many years
before he acquired land, Mr. Cordes worked as a
gardener, at Oakland, growing vegetables extensively
in the '60s upon land, at the corner of Fourteenth
Street and Broadway, where now stands the metrop-
olis. When he sold out, it was to engage in more
extensive grain farming in the San Joaquin Valley.

Mr. Cordes made it a principle and a practice to
treat his employees as he would like to have been
treated when he first started out at the bottom of
the ladder; with the result that he was always able
to command loyal service. By industry, foresight
and strictest integrity, he acquired, one by one, sev-
eral ranches, totaling over 438 acres — bare fields,
when he took hold of them, and requiring much
pioneer work before they could be made to bear
fruit. He gradually developed these lands, and in
1875 the family located at "The Nest" near Gilroy,
in Santa Clara Valley. Mr. Cordes was widely es-
teemed, for he was half a century ahead of his gen-
eration. He was among the very first to see the
future of the fruit industry, and had many vines and
trees set out before other folks thought of doing the
same. He had learned the secret of real success as
a boy, and he lived to be seventy-eight years old and
to enjoy the fruits of his hard and honest labor, pass-
ing away on June 6, 1917.

THOMAS F. WHITE.— Interesting among the
efficient executive whose proficiency is undoubtedly
due to a sensible reference frequently to the exper-
ience of the past, is Thomas F. White, who resides
upon the P. H. Cordes place, on the Watsonville
Road, about seven miles northwest of Gilroy. He
was born at San Jose, on St. Valentine's Day, 1867,
the son of Thomas and Mary A. (Ford) White,
whose life-story is given elsewhere in this volume;
and was reared and schooled mostly at Gilroy. He
grew up as a farmer's boy, and worked for his mother
until he was twenty-three years of age; and then
he struck out for himself into the world.

On June 24, 1896, Mr. White married at Gilroy,
Miss Anna L. Cordes, the eldest daughter of the late
Paul H. Cordes, a sturdy pioneer of California and
the Santa Clara Valley; and this union was blessed
with the birth of three daughters. Miss Marie L.
White, Miss Laura F., and Miss Gladis White, who
were educated in Oakland and San Francisco. For
several years Mr. and Mrs. White resided at San
Jose; and from 1897 to 1902, Mr. White served as a
deputy sheriff. In 1903 he removed to Oakland,
where he entered the employ of the Traffic Depart-
ment of the Oakland Rapid Transit Company; and
since then he has owned a fine residence in that city.
He retired from railroad service, however, at the
time of the death of his father-in-law, June 6. 1916;
when he took active management of the Cordes es-
tate. He is a Republican, and member of the Wood-
men of the World; is a hard, intelligent worker, and
a mighty good citizen.

ROLLA BUTCHER, SR.— A distinguished and
influential pioneer whose interesting life story, setting
forth a career of great usefulness, inspired by high
ideals and practical aims, will ever be a part "of the
history of the Golden West, was the late Rolla
Butcher, who, ^or many years identified with notable
mining interests, became known and honored among
financiers for the shrewd judgment characterizing all
his business affairs. He was born in Wood County,
Va., in 1825. and his early days were spent upon his
father's farm. He studied hard to acquire an educa-
tion and in his young manhood was a teacher in the
schools of his section; later he was extensively en-
gaged in the lumber business on the Kanawha River,
but the heavy floods of 1856-57 entailed such losses
as to compel him to retire from this pursuit.

Going from his native state to Missouri, Mr.
Butcher took up teaching, taking particular interest
m teaching geology and metallurgj-, and later took
up metallurgy as a profession, becoming an eminent
exponent of that science, and in time was honored by
the naming after him the city of Rolla, Mo., the seat
of the School of Mines and Metallurgy, of the LTni-
yersity of Missouri. He then resolved to make min-
ing his life work and in 1857 joined Albert Sidney
Johnston's expedition to Salt Lake; his primary pur-
pose was to put his knowledge of mining into prac-
tice in the great mining country of the Far West,
and secondarily to get the protection of the militarv
forces during those perilous days of Indian and Mor-
mon uprising.

At Salt Lake City he became interested in mining,
going from there to Idaho, and thence to Mon-
tana, where he became acquainted with such men as
the Walker brothers, Senator William A. Clark, Mar-
cus Daly, Senator George R. Hearst, and other
pioneer mining men. Going to Butte County, Cal.,
he was married there and remained for a time, then
returned to Idaho, and from there went to Butte.
Mont., where he developed some noted mines, among
them the famous Alice Mine, which was afterward
sold to Walker Brothers of Salt Lake City; this was
later listed in the Eastern stock market for $10,000,-
000. Mr. Butcher also owned and operated the Star
West Mine.

While in Butte County, Cal.. Mr. Butcher met and
married Miss Emma Ann Smith, who was born in

944

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Essex County, England, on April 24, 1834, the
daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Cheke) Smith,
both descendants of distinguished English families.
Her father, Samuel Smith, an Essex County farmer,
was born on October 13, 1809, while her mother,
Elizabeth Cheke, was born at Essex, England, on
June 5, 1811, a descendant of Sir John Cheke, the
famous English statesman and scholar, whose life
span stretched from 1514 to 1557, and whose life
story may be found in English histories and also in
the Encyclopedia Brittanica. He was a professor of
Greek and actively identified with the introduction
of classical study at both Oxford and Cambridge.
He became the tutor of Edward, the son of King
Henry VHI, and when the former came to the
throne he was also his counsellor. Samuel Smith
came to the United States with his family in 1862,
and after a short stay at Council Bluflfs, he crossed
the plains with his family, traveling by ox team;
while en route his death occurred near Silver Creek,
on the banks of which he was buried. Mrs. Smith
continued to reside in Utah, reaching the age of
ninety-three, and was the mother of. four children,
of whom Mrs. Butcher was the second. She received
a common school training in her native country and
was the first of her family to come to America, ac-
companying friends with whom she had lived in Lon-
don. After a trip of six months, across the ocean
and then across the plains to Salt Lake City, they ar-
rived in Butte County, Cal., in 1857, and there she
was married to Mr. Butcher. Three children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Butcher: RoUa, is represented
elsewhere in this volume; Josephine married A.
C. Hollenbeck and passed away in 1900, leaving a
daughter, Elizabeth; Arthur C, is an orchardist, re-
siding on a portion of the original Butcher ranch at
Butcher's Corners, Santa Clara County.

In 1881 Rolla Butcher sold out his mining interests
on account of failing health and came to Santa Clara
County, Cal., where he bought 160 acres and started
in to improve this land, which was located between
Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. He was left but a short
time in the enjoyment of his home, however, as he
passed away February 13, 1882. His widow still
makes her home on part of the ranch, in the enjoy-
ment of all her faculties at the age of eighty-eight.
She can look back on a well-spent life, as through her
wise management and the industry of her sons the
ranch property was brought to a high state of im-
provement and brought in an excellent income, al-
though her husband's long illness had left his finan-
cial affairs considerably involved at the time of his
death. During his lifetime Rolla Butcher was a con-
sistent Democrat and influential in his party's coun-
cils. Patriotic and public spirited, he was particularly
interested in education for the masses and served as
an active member of the board of education of Butte,
Mont., and as its presiding officer for several terms.
He was also county commissioner of Silver Bow
County, Mont., and had to he so chosen, any office of
trust in the gift of the people would have been at his
command, so highly was he respected.

ROLLA BUTCHER.— A prosperous rancher who
may well be proud of both the enviable traditions of
his cultured, historic family and also his own relation
as a native son of the Golden State, is Rolla Butcher,
who first saw the light in Butte County, and now
resides on the State Highway, between Santa Clara
and Sunnyvale. He was born May 26, 1864, the son
of Rolla Butcher, a native of Virginia, who had mar-
ried Miss Emma A. Smith, who was born in England.
The father was reared to manhood in his native state
and then went out to Missouri, where he followed
teaching and became a noted metallurgist. In 1857
he came out to Utah with Albert Sidney Johnston's
expedition, later in Idaho and Montana continuing
the distinguished career elsewhere narrated in this
historical work. He passed away in 1882, leaving a
fine record for valuable contributions to human prog-
ress, particularly as a mining man, and one greatly
interested in educational matters. Mrs. Butcher is
still living at the age of eighty-eight and resides on
the ranch adjoining the home place of her son.

Rolla Butcher attended the public schools of his
locality and later went to Ames, la., where he pur-
sued the civil engineer's course at the Iowa State
College, graduating with the class of '83. Prior to
that he had been in Butte, Mont., had carried the
first copy of the first paper printed there, and as
printer's devil on the Butte Tri-Weekly Miner had
set up the first report received of the Custer mas-
sacre, late in June, 1876. Later he learned the black-
smith trade, and on coming to California, whither
the Butcher family had removed, he became a regis-
tered pharmacist.

In San Luis Obispo County, on November 20, 1895,
Mr. Butcher was married to Miss Minnie Matthews,
a native of Petaluma, and the daughter of Elias M.
Matthews, who was born near Dayton, O. In 1852
he crossed the plains of California, arriving at Los
Angeles about Christmas time. He brought his wife
and two children with him from South Bend, Ind.,
where he had lived and worked as an architect and
builder, and where he had taken for his life com-
panion Miss Juliette Phelps. The family removed
from Los Angeles to Petaluma and Mr. Matthews
passed away at San Luis Obispo at the age of eighty-
nine, while Mrs. Matthews died when she was eighty-
one. They were the parents of four children, Mrs.
Butcher being the fourth.

For many years Mr. Butcher was a fruit buyer for
a wholesale house in San Francisco and through that
experience he has become thoroughly familiar with
the fruit business and well acquainted with the fruit
men of California. He is now a successful horti-
culturist, and one of his orchards is planted entirely
to cherries and interplanted to peaches, and is highly
cultivated. In all these enterprises Mr. Butcher has
been ably assisted by the good counsel and en-
couragement of his wife, a truly noble woman, and
they are both highly esteemed as among the most
substantial citizens of Santa Clara County. The
family reside on their ranch, admirably situated on
the State Highway near Butcher's Corners, between
Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. Two sons have been
born to them, Rolla Matthews and Craig Cheke, both
in their names honoring their worthy ancestors. The
former served in the Marine Corps during the war
and the latter is helping manage the home place.

<Oj^ ci..n.v.vcu W.J'OU^^Q,,;^cJU

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

SUSANNA W. FOURCADE— A prominent and
successful rancher of Paradise Valley, Santa Clara
County, Cal.. is Susanna W. Fourcade, whose skill as
a manager of her property has effected her entrance
into a field in which men only are thought to excel.
Most of her life has been spent in the Santa Clara
\alley, her parents coming to California in 1869, when
she was four years of age. Mrs. Fourcade was born
in Sunderland, County of Durham. England, on May
4, 1865, and is a daughter of the late John Douglas,
who had married Miss Susanna Stovert, and they
were both natives of England. Her grandfather,
John Stovert, was a shipbuilder and became very
wealthy and he died in England. John Douglas and
his father, Martin Douglas, were rope manufacturers
i>'. England, but after coming to California John
Douglas speculated in mining stocks. He died at the
age of seventy-seven and the mother, at seventy.

Mrs. Fourcade was reared in Santa Clara Count.v.
Her first marriage in San Jose, in 1882, imited her
with Manuel Gallarda, a native of New Me.\ico. and
they had five children; P. H. is in the real estate and
nursery business at Chowchilla, Cal., John W. is a
vineyardist and orchardist there and is the father ot
four children: Alexander is married and ha.-' four sons
and is a dairyman in the Chowchilla district; Rose
Ethel is the wife of Peter Peller and they reside in
Santa Clara County; Alice married John Pasch and
is deceased, and her son, Robert F., has been reared
by Mrs. Fourcade. In 1896 Mrs. Fourcade moved
into Paradise Valley and managed and worked a
ranch while the children were growing up. They cut
300 cords of wood from the timber on this ranch.
In 1907 she purchased fifteen acres of fine valley land
one-half mile from her other home and set out a vine-
yard and it is now full bearing; seventy-nine tons
of grapes from twelve acres, a record yield, were
sold from this ranch in 1920.

In San Jose on December 22, 1920, occurred the
marriage that united her with Mitchel Fourcade. a
native of California, born near San Luis Obispo
on May 29, 1866. He spent fourteen years of his
life in San Luis Obispo County, then came to Para-
dise Valley where he has continually resided to the
present time. He has always been a hard worker
and the success that has come to him has been
through honest toil. Mrs. Fourcade is a member of
the California Prune and Apricot Association and
also of the California Grape Growers Exchange. She
is the possessor of ample means, representing years
of constant toil and the exercise of good judgment
in the conduct of various enterprises with which she
has been associated and she is an esteemed and
worthy citizen of her locality.

ANDREW P. DALHGREN.— A sturdy pioneer of
Santa Clara County, held in high esteem by all who
knew him, was the late Andrew P. Dalhgren, who
was born in Oland, Sweden, May 24, 1847, and came
to America at the age of thirty years, locating in
Santa Clara County at the Almaden mines, where he
was employed as blacksmith. He soon became the
active foreman of the furnaces and filled this im-
portant position for thirty years. Throughout all the
years he was faithful and thorough in his work and
was a valuable employee.

The marriage of Mr. Dalhgren, in Sweden, united
him with Miss Johanna Christina Larson, who was
born in Oland, Sweden. November 22, 1845. They

became the parents of five children: Emma C, is a
teacher in the Uvas district school; John O., is em-
ployed at the U. S. Navy yards at Mare Island and
is the proud possessor of the Congressional Medal
of Honor bestowed upon him for meritorious service
with the Marines at the time of the Boxer War in
China; he is also a veteran of the Spanish-American
War; he is married and has three children and the
family reside in Vallejo. Henry A. is an ex-service
man who served overseas in the U. S. Army with the
"Grizzlies" for thirteen months; he is a rancher and
carpenter and resides on the home place; Almar J.,
is a rancher and resides at home; Fred H., is also
on the home ranch. During the year of 1891 Mr.
Dalhgren purchased a tract of 160 acres on the Little
L'vas and added to it from time to time until the
ranch now consists of 560 acres. In 1909 his sons
planted eighteen acres to vineyard, which has been
yielding good profits ever since; twenty acres are in
hay and grain and the balance is used for stock and
pasture. F.\er\- variety of climate and scenery can
be obtained on this ranch and many people enjoy the
camping privileges of this beautiful section. Mr.
Dalhgren passed away at his home place on May 23,
1913, at the age of sixty-four years. In his poHtical
affiliations he was a Repul)lican, and he was a mem-
ber of the Odd Fellows.

JOHN HAROLD STANFIELD.— A native son
of California, representing the third generation of
the family in Santa Clara County, John Harold
Stanfield occupies an enviable position in business
circles of Los Gatos and is now capably filling the
position of superintendent of plant No. 13 of the
California Prune and Apricot Growers' Association.
He was born in Los Gatos, September 9, 1893. and
is a son of James J. and Sue M. (Place) Stanfield,
honored pioneers of Santa Clara County. The father
has won a position of prominence as an orchardist
and financier and is one of the best known and most
highly respected residents of this district. Their
family numbered two children, of whom the daugh-
ter, Helen, is deceased. The son, J. H. Stanfield,
was graduated from the Los Gatos high school and
afterward spent three years as a student at Santa
Clara College, pursuing a course in mining engi-
neering. Subsequently he went to Alaska, following
his profession in that country for three years, and
then returned to California. For a time he had
charge of the management of his father's ranch and
then became inspector for the California Prune and
Apricot Growers' Association. His excellent work
in that connection led to his promotion to the posi-
tion of superintendent of plant No. 13 at Los Gatos
in 1919. and under his capable management the ac-
tivities of the organization at this point have been
attended with a gratifying measure of success.

Mr. Stanfield was united in marriage to Miss Sara
Shiels, of San Francisco, and they now have two
daughters. Susan Belle and Sara Margaret. His
public spirit finds expression in his membership in
the Chamber of Commerce and he is a member of
Los Gatos Lodge No. 292, F. & A. M. An energetic,
alert and progressive young business man, he has
already advanced to a substantial point on the high-
road to success, and he worthily bears a name that
for almost seven decades has been synonymous with
business integrity and enterprise in this locality.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

JAMES GOULD.— The life record of James
Gould constituted a fine example of manliness and
industry and his demise deprived Santa Clara County
of one of its most valued and highly respected resi-
dents. He was a native of the state of New York
and was born at Newburgh on the Hudson, in 1836,
his parents being John and Mary (Lombard) Gould.
He attended the grammar schools of his native city
and then served an apprenticeship to the carpenter's
trade, which he followed in connection with farm-
ing. From 1873 until 1876 he resided in Worthing-
ton, Minn., going from there to Forest Grove, Ore.,
where he spent four and one half years. His next re-
moval took him to Spokane, Wash. When they
settled in Spokane there were only 250 white people
in the town, but plenty of Indians, great beggars.
always asking for muck-a-muck (meaning bread and
meat). Mr. Gould was engaged in carpentering and
farming. He could have taken Government land in
what is now Spokane, but it did not appeal to him
because it did not lay so well for farming. He re-
mained there until 1897. and then came to California,
purchasing a ten-acre tract on the Shannon Road,
in- Santa Clara County. To the cultivation and im-
provement of this place he devoted his attention until
his demise, transforming it into a highly productive
prune orchard. It was an almond orchard when he
bouglit it, but he grafted it to prunes, and they are
now large healthy trees that produce a richer and
better fruit than on the native prune. His orchard
is noted for its excellent fruit, and he took particular
pleasure in caring for it. He was an honored vet-
eran of the Civil War, in which he served for three
years as a member of Company F, One Hundred
Forty-fourth New York Volunteers, valiantly de-
fending the Union cause, and was twice wounded in
battle. Mr. Gould was the fourth in a family of eight
boys and one girl. Seven of the boys fought in the
Civil War. a splendid record for one family. A
brother, Charles Gould died in service; another,
Wesley Gould, was six months in Salisbury prison,
and the onlv one of the family living.

Mr. Gould was married in Hancock, N. Y., on
March 4. 1860, to Miss Mary Elizabeth Hughes, who
was born at Summit, N. Y., the daughter of Harvey
and Elizabeth (Docks) Hughes, born in Albany and
Otsego Counties, N. Y., respectively. Her father
was a farmer and in time removed to Delaware
County, N. Y., where he resided until his death, his
wife having preceded him several years. This worthy
couple had seven children, Mary Elizabeth being
the third oldest in order of birth. Two of her
brothers. Albert and Warren Hughes, served in New
York regiments in the Civil War. Albert was
wounded at Gettysburg and also at Atlanta. Both
have now passed away. The marriage of Mr. and
Mrs. Gould was blessed with five children, three
of whom grew up. Martha Elizabeth, called Libbie,
is Mrs. Alfred R. Stratton of Spokane, Wash,; Orrin
J., a newspaperman, passed away in Spokane in
December, 1906. Fred H. was in the U. S. Army for
nine years; he served through the Spanish-American
War, both in Cuba and the Philippines, and later
was in the Boxer rebellion, and in recognition of
distinguished service performed while stationed in
the Philippines, was awarded a medal. He is now
superintendent of mails in the Watertown. N. Y.,
postoffice. Whrti Congress declared war on Ger-

many, his patriotism was stirred and he volunteered
his service, entering an officers' training camp, but
his years of service in the Philippines had told too
much on him, so he could not stand the strain.
Since her husband's death, Mrs. Gould has sold the
home farm, although she has permission to occupy
the house as long as she desires, and during the
winter seasons she resides with her daughter in
Spokane. She is a member of the Rebekahs and of
W. R. C, being past president of E. O. C. Ord.
W. R. C, No. 51, Los Gatos, and nearly every year
takes pleasure in attending the department conven-
tion of California and Nevada. She is a member of
the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Los Gatos,
in whose benevolences she takes an active part. Mr.
Gould was a member of the Grand Army of the
Republic and his political allegiance was given to
the Republican party. He left behind him a memory
that is cherished by all with whom he was associated,
for he was progressive in business, loyal and public-
spirited in citizenship and true to the ties of home.

FELIX SOURISSEAU.— A pioneer of California,

Felix Sourisseau arrived in the state in 1846 and was
a witness of its development, and San Jose owes much
to his progressive spirit. He was a native of France,
born in Bordeaux, February 16, 1827, a son of Vic-
tor and Marie Sourisseau. The father was a civil
engineer and the possessor of considerable inventive
genius — a trait inherited by his son Felix. Victor
Sourisseau became a prominent contractor and
builder, building up a large fortune in that connec-
tion, all of which was swept away in the revolution
of 1845. Believing that the opportunities olTered in
a newer and richer country would enable him to
recoup his losses and reimburse his creditors, he
sailed for America, accompanied by his son Felix,
leaving the remainder of the family in France. In
1846 they reached San Francisco. Cal., and soon
afterward entered the mercantile circles of the city as
gunsmith, opening a store on Market Street. Scarcely
a month later, however, they embarked on an expe-
dition for Chile, a member of the family of the late
Leopold Lion being one of the party. Fortune fa-
vored them in that country and in 1849 they returned
with the original company to San Francisco to find
that gold had been discovered on the American River.
Mr. Sourisseau and his son at once went to that
locality, opening the first gun and locksmith shop in
Marysville. For a short time the father engaged in
prospecting, but as the returns from his store were
more certain, he decided to devote his energies ex-
clusively to his mercantile interests, and their busi-
ness grew by leaps and bounds. Among the treas-
ured heirlooms of the family today are a number
of gold slugs which were used as money in trading
with the miners in the days of '49. Some months
later they disposed of their store in Marysville and
came to the Santa Clara Valley, traveling with a
mule and wagon. The vehicle was handmade, the
wheels having been constructed from the trunk of a
tree of large circumference and attached to a wooden
axle. Ere they reached their destination the mule
was stolen by bandits and they were obliged to draw
the cart into San Jose, pitching their camp on North
Market street, adjoining the city hall. The following
year they purchased the property, on which they
built a shack, securing their lumber from Coyote
Creek. They soon became identified with the busi-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

953

ness life of the place, opening a gun and locksmith
store. With the growth of the district their trade
increased in proportion, and with his earnings Mr.
Sourisseau, Sr., made investments in other enter-
prises, his interests becoming important and exten-
sive. Having accumulated sufficient money, he re-
turned to France to pay his debts and also to bring
his wife and two daughters to this country. He was
not long permitted to enjoy the fruits of his labors,
passing away in 18S9, soon after his return. He
was a man of strict integrity, whose life had ever
been guided by high and honorable principles.

His son Felix did not inherit riches, but became
the possessor of large property interests which were
heavily incumbered with mortgages. The property
included Hotel La Fayette, which was operated in
1859, a large store and real estate on South First
street, all of which had been partly paid for. In
clearing the estate of all indebtedness Mr. Souris-
seau faced heavy responsibilities, which he met with
poise and assurance, proving himself the possessor
of marked executive ability and administrative pow-
ers. He soon became a dominant figure in the
business life of the community, and Hotel La Fayette
was a well-patronized and popular stopping place.
During those days he was a member of the first
band organized in San Jose and was its bandmaster.

In 1863 Mr. Sourisseau was united in marriage to
Miss Mary Hayden, a girl of striking beauty, who was
born in Ireland and came to America during her
girlhood. The wedding ceremony was performed in
the residence of John Auzerais and the festivities were
continued for several days. In 1861 Mrs. Sourisseau
engaged in making garments for the Union soldiers
in association with Mrs. Mary Bradley, their work
being done in a building on South First Street. Mr.
and Mrs. Sourisseau became the parents of seven
children. Marie Louise, who acquired her education
at Notre Dame, passed away at San Jose, July 16,
1919; Alice became the wife of Henry Pasquale, by
whom she had a daughter, and her demise occurred
in February, 1892; Louis, who was born and reared
at San Jose, assisted his father in the gem store and
passed away May 11, 1916; Thomas Felix became
an expert jeweler and for about twenty years engaged
in the manufacture of jewelry at 89 South First
Street, San Jose. Later he opened a retail store at
143 South First Street, where he continued manu-
facturing and diamond selling in which he was an
expert and had a large retail store. Recently he sold
out and retired from that business and is now a
rancher at Campbell. He married Miss Maude Still-
well, a daughter of J. M. Stillwell, a native of this
state and an honored pioneer of San Jose, his home
being at 452 South Ninth Street. Mrs. Thomas F.
Sourisseau is a graduate of the San Jose State Nor-
mal, and previous to her marriage engaged in teaching
for four years. She is the mother of a son, Thomas
Felix, Jr., the only grandson in the family; Henry
is a jewelry engraver and resides on Delmas Avenue.
San Jose. He married Miss Pearl Houseman, born
in Kansas; George, who has traveled extensively,
is now a resident of Los Angeles. Eva resides at
the old homestead, 45 West St. James Street, which
has been the home of the family since 1870.

Felix Sourisseau passed away on May 26, 1909 and
the widow was called to her final rest on October
26. 1916. At his death Mr. Sourisseau left a large

estate, which is held as a trust by the children. He
was a stanch Democrat in his political views, deeply
interested in the welfare and success of the party.
The call of charity never found him unresponsive
and he was ever ready to extend a helping hand to
those in need of assistance. In his passing, California
lost one of its honored pioneers, San Jose one of its
promoters and upbuilders, his associates a faithful
friend and his family a devoted husband and father.

ROLLA FREEMAN FULLINGTON.— A lead-
ing business man of San Martin, extensively engaged
in the real estate and insurance business, R. F. Ful-
lington has had a long and interesting career in
varied lines of activity, both in the Middle West and
in California. A native of \'ermont, he was born at
Burlington, on May 17, 1851. In 1852 the family re-
moved to Union County, O., and in 1863 they re-
moved to Iowa and there he finished the courses of
the public schools of Newton, then attended Thomp-
son College at Newton, la. On leaving there he
entered the employ of the Pope-Davis Grain Com-
pany of Chicago, 111., being employed by them as a
grain buyer for several years at Colfax, la., where
they had their elevator, and while there he was one
of the incorporators and one of the first councilmen
of Colfax in 1875.

In December of 1875, Mr. FuUington removed to
California, locating at San Francisco, where he was
a traveling representative of the McCormick Harves-
ter Company in this state. Beint^ an expert in
demonstrating their machinery he attended all county
and state fairs and field trials and he was a very valu-
able man to the company and for ten years was af-
filiated with them. Later he went into grain raising
on his own account near Santa Barbara, and he op-
erated as high as 5,000 acres at one time. He made
his home at Santa Barbara, and as his time and
means afforded him excellent opportunity for travel
he took many extensive journeys. He was also a
resident of Fresno from 1890 to 1900, and while there
established and conducted the Park Livery Stables
on the site of the present post office. During the first
development of oil in Kern County, Mr. FuUington
was one of the early promoters of the Posey Creek
field, serving as superintendent and manager of the
Commonwealth Oil Company.

Returning to San Francisco in 1900, Mr. FuUing-
ton opened a real estate and insurance office at 1010
Market Street, and here he established a thriving
business that was making a splendid growth until the
fire of 1906 wiped him out, with thousands of others.
He then went to Oakland and took part in the sub-
division of Allendale and Fruitvale, removing in 1908
to San Martin. The townsite of San Martin had been
surveyed in 1892 by C. H. Phillips, who was suc-
ceeded by C. M. Wooster & Company, with whom
Mr. FuUington had been associated previous to 1900,
and he at once became active in the disposal of the
lands of the San Martin Ranch after locating here,
building up a good insurance business, as well hand-
ling fire, life, indemnity, health, accident and auto-
mobile insurance. In addition to his business prop-
erty at San Martin, which he has improved with
buildings, Mr. FuUington owns twenty-four acres of
land at Romas, Monterey County, planted to apricots,
apples and pears. On February 12, 1871, at Newton,
la., Mr. FuUington was married to Miss Mary Ger-

954

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

hart, who was born in Minnesota, and three children
were born to them: Fred T., who was formerly a
railroad man, now resides at San Martin with his
wife and two sons; RoUa Earl, deceased, is survived
by his widow and one son; Daisy, Mrs. J. Wesley
Evans of Ducor, Cal.. is the mother of five children,
three living. Mrs. FuUington passed away at Hen-
rietta, Tex., in 1885, while on a visit to her sister and
brother there. Mr. Fullington's second marriage,
which occurred at Fresno in 1892, united him with
Mrs. Annie Illif, a native of Newton. la., and the
mother of one son, Bruce I. FuUington, who is on
the ranch at Romas. Mr. FuUington is a Democrat
and prominent in the Odd Fellows, being now one
of the oldest surviving members of Channel City
Lodge No. 232, I. O. O. F., at Santa Barbara, in
which he is a past officer, and he has been a delegate
to the Grand Lodge. In business circles he is a
member of the United Realty Association. He has
pioneered in San Marin and has improved consider-
able acreage, which he has sold at good profit.

JOHN A. RICE, D. D. S.— Well and favorably
known in professional circles in Santa Clara County
since 1888, where his influence as a public-spirited and
progressive upbuilder has been demonstrated, is John
A. Rice, D. D. S., a native of New York state, born
at Spencerport near Rochester. December 9, 1857.
His father was Dr. Austin Rice, who had married
Miss Jane Cole, both natives of the Empire State,
where the father was a prominent and well-known
dentist, John A. Rice enjoyed the helpful instruction
in the public and the State Normal School of New
York and then took up the dental profession with his
father. On the latter's death, he continued the prac-
tice until he came to Los Gatos, Cal , in January,
1888, and has since practiced continuously in this
beautiful foothill city.

Dr. Rice was united in marriage with Miss Kitty D.
Van Deventer of Spencerport, N. Y. Politically he is
a Republican and fraternally he is very prominent in
Masonic circles. He was made a Mason in Etolian
Lodge No. 479, A. F. & A. M., Spencerport, N. Y„ and
is now one of the oldest members of Los Gatos Lodge
No. 292, F. & A. M. He is also a member of Howard
Chapter No. 14, San Jose, and San Jose Commandery
No. 10, K. T., and is a 32nd degree Scottish Rite
Mason of the Consistory in San Jose; also a mem-
ber of Islam Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine,
San Francisco, and with his wife is a member of
the O. E. S. Dr. Rice is deeply interested in all
that pertains to the public welfare, and is a whole-
hearted, companionable man, endowed with the qual-
ities that make friends. He is deservedly popular
among his many acquaintances and friends. Public
spirited and willing at all times to take a good citi-
zen's part, he can be counted upon to aid in all pro-
gressive movements.

EBY ATHY HETTINGER.— Prominent among
the thoroughly experienced builders of Santa Clara
County is Eby Athy Hettinger, of Palo Alto, who has
done so much to control and mould public art taste
in that city, and to secure for the famous university
town the best housing and office conditions. He was
born in Red Bluff, Tehama County, on September
23, 1860, the son of Benjamin F. Hettinger, who first
saw the light near Philadelphia, as had his Grand-
father Hettinger before him. He married Miss Sarah

Eby, a native of Wayne County, Ohio. The cere-
mony took place in Pennsylvania, and after Mr. Het-
tinger had lived for a while in Ohio, he set out with
his family in 1856 to make the overland journey to
California. Originally a tailor by trade, he believed
that he might find better fields on the Coast, and for
a while he tried his luck at mining. Subsequently he
moved to Red Bluff in Tehama County, and in 1861,
he removed to Los Angeles. After a year, he re-
turned to Red Bluff, and entered the service of
the Antelope Saw Mills, where he was for years head
sawyer. Some memories of those crude pioneer days
are still retained by our subject. One night when he
was two years old, Indians surrounded the mill and a
couple of Indians were killed in the fight put up by
the whites in defense of themselves and their families.
Mrs. Hettinger held a candle in the oven, thus
screening the light so that the savages could not see,
while at the same time she afforded light enough for
the men to reload their guns. At the same time, also,
the children — our subject and his nine-year-old sis-
ter— were put between feather beds to protect them
from the firing of the Indians. Benjamin F. Hettin-
ger passed the closing years of his life in Red Bluff,
and his widow went to Drummond, Mont., to spend
her advanced years.

Eby went to the public schools, and also to the
academy in Red Bluff, and when he was fourteen
years of age. he commenced to learn the carpenter's
trade, and served an apprenticeship under his brother-
in-law, Edwin Dunckel. in Butte City, Mont. After
working as a journeyman in Butte, Helena and Red
Bluff until 1886, he came to California and settled at
Monterey, where he assisted in building the cele-
brated Del Monte Hotel. On April 22. 1887, he first
took up his residence in Santa Clara County, locat-
ing at Mayfield, and in July, 1888, he built the first
building at Palo Alto, a real estate office for a Mr.
Marshon, still standing at the back of Southwood
and Watson's real estate office. He made his resi-
dence for years at 541 Ramona Street.

Mr. Hettinger has built many of the finest struc-
tures in this part of the state; and among the edi-
fices erected by him or for which he furnished and
completed the e.xterior or interior woodwork, may
be mentioned the Assembly Hall, the Library and the
chemistry building at Stanford University, Stanford
Memorial Church, one of the finest buildings on the
Coast, which he constructed originally, and also
aftex the earthquake, when it was completely rebuilt.
He also put up 1000 feet of the Museum Building.
He built the Stanford Inn, the Phi Delta Theta Club
house, the Delta Kappa Epsilon Club house, the
Bachelor's Club house, the Delta Upsilon Club house,
the George B. Cooksey residence, the James Dough-
erty, or first five-story building erected in San Jose,
and in Palo Alto the Masonic Temple, the City Hall
and the City Water Works, and he also designed the
Post Office building, the Palo Alto Garage, the larg-
est in the County, and he remodeled the First Na-
tional Bank. He also built the New Lyndon hotel at
Los Gatos, and the San Jose high school, destroyed
by the earthquake, was another evidence of Mr. Het-
tinger's craft. During the war he signed a contract
to complete the various buildings and structures at
Camp F'remont. For eighteen months, from Novem-
ber 1, 1917. to April 1, 1919, he was the general

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

955

contractor and employed as high as 440 men for
several months, doing work aggregating $400,000.
He finished Camp Fremont proper, the rifle range,
and machine gun range, the remount station and the
base hospital, all under the inspection of Major J. B.
Chaffey, who had charge, under the Government of
the entire construction work at Camp Fremont. He
was the promoter of the project for buying the Palo
Alto postofifice building for the local order of the
N. S. G. W. and is president of the board of directors
of the N. S. G. W. Hall Association of Palo Alto.

On November 30, 1890, Mr. Hettinger was married
at Mayfield, the birthplace of the bride, to Miss Tillie
Weisshaar, a daughter of Frederick William Weiss-
haar, a native of Kreuzburg, Saxe-Weimar, born in
1832, who became an expert overseer on a farm of a
thousand acres. He sailed for Baltimore in 1852 and
made his way to New Orleans, and later came to San
Francisco by way of the Isthmus. Reaching the Bay
City in 1856, he set himself up for five years in the
furniture trade; but then he decided to move inland
to Mayfield, and with a partner purchased land and
was one of the first to subdivide and to encourage
others to settle there. He became prominent in the
Odd Fellows and the Druids. Mr. Hettinger has
been a member of the Native Sons of the Golden
West since 1907, and a Knight of Pythias since 1881.
He was also a city councilman of Palo Alto from
1909 to 1915. In national politics he is a Republican.

JOSEPH EMORY COX.— A representative man,
Joseph Emory Cox is one of the enterprising and
active ranchers in Santa Clara County, giving sub-
stantial encouragement to every plan for the pro-
motion of the public welfare, and is recognized as
one of the leading horticulturists. He was born on
the old home place located on Saratoga Avenue, June
10, 1866, and is the son of William and Dicey
(Baggs) Cox, both natives of Coshocton County, O.,
and a cousin of former Governor Cox, candidate for
president. William Cox was a pioneer of Santa Clara
County, locating here in 1852, establishing a family
that do him honor to this day.

Joseph Emory Cox received the educational ad-
vantages of the public schools of Moreland district,
and then taking a commercial course in the Garden
City Commercial College in San Jose, where he was
graduated in 1886, he was well qualified to meet the
problems, of life. After completing liis business
course, he assisted his father on the farm and or-
chard, and helped in caring for and propagating the
nursery stock, learning budding and grafting, the
stock being used to set out their whole orchard.

Mr. Cox's marriage at Saratoga on September 24,
1890, united him with Miss Emma Scale, a native of
Kentucky, the daughter of John and Theresa (Chase)
Scale, born in Virginia and South Carolina, respec-
tively. They were merchants near Lexington, Ky.,
and spent their life there. Mrs. Cox is next to the
youngest of a large family, but the only one who
came to California. She was educated in the public
schools of Kentucky and came to California in 1885
with friends, and at Saratoga she met Mr. Cox. Mr.
and Mrs. Co.x are the parents of four children: Floyd
A., married X'elma Rice of an old and prominent
family here, and he is an automobile salesman in
San Jose; Ruby, is assisting her mother in presiding
over the household; Leslie M. Cox, married Miss
Annie Virginia Carmichael, also a member of a prom-

inent family, and they have one child, Virginia
May, and he is a rancher and assists his father; Ed-
win Cox is also assisting on the home farm. Mr.
Cox has been a very successful orchardist and is
owner of forty-seven acres, a portion of the old Wil-
liam Cox ranch that is set mostly to prunes; he also
owns another ten-acre prune orchard nearby and also
twenty acres in prunes on Prospect Avenue. These
orchards are now full bearing and are yielding
a splendid income. Mr. Cox, with his sons, have
been close students of the propagation of a fine vari-
ety of large prunes and were fortunate in obtaining
a very select large-sized prune, which is called Cox's
Double X, a French prune now much sought after all
over the Pacific Coast country. These buds are taken
from two trees that he had obtained and only for the
great care he gave them, they would have died; but
he saved them, to the great advantage of the prune
growers of the Pacific Coast. In connection with
their orchards, they have a nursery where they make
a specialty of growing the Cox Double X prune.
For the past eighteen years, Mr. Cox has been
deputy assessor and has faithfully fulfilled his duties
in that capacity and has always been ready to help
with any good movement for the uplift and in sup-
port of his community. He has inherited many of
the good traits and sterling qualities of his father,
and his has been an active and useful life in which
he has improved his opportunities wisely and well,
not only in the advancement of Iiis individual for-
tunes but for the benefit of the community at large.
He has a wide acquaintance and all who know him
speak of him in terms of warm regard. In national
politics he is a Democrat and he and his wife are
members of the Christian Church at Saratoga.

MRS. MYRTLE WALKER JOHNSON.— Among

the substantial residents of her community and a fac-
tor for good and progress in moral and social circles
is Mrs. Myrtle Walker Johnson, an orchardist on the
Los Gatos-San Jose Road. She is a native Califor-
nian, born on her father's place, a part of the old
Parr ranch called Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos
in the early days. Mrs. Johnson is the daughter of
Robert and Eliza Jane (Parr) Walker and is the sec-
ond oldest in a fainily of three children. Her educa-
tion was obtained in the schools of Santa Clara
County and she grew to young womanhood in her
father's ranch. On June 17,1896, at San Jose, she
was married to Frank A. Johnson, a native of Wis-
consin, who came to California and was engaged in
farming until his death. They were the parents of
two children: Robert P. and Alice. Mr. Johnson
passed away in May, 1900.

Mrs. Johnson inherited a thirty-eight-acre ranch
from her mother, who was a daughter of Jonathan
Parr, and in 1900 this place was set to an orchard of
prunes and apricots. Since the death of her husband,
Mrs. Johnson has managed the property in a thor-
ough and systematic manner which bespeaks much
business ability and the substantial improvements on
the ranch are of such nature as to increase the value
of the property. Mrs. Johnson is an active member
of the Rebekahs Lodge at Campbell, is a past noble
grand and has been a representative to the Grand
Lodge of that order. Her life has been an active,
useful and honorable one and has been crowned by
successful accomplishment.

956

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MRS. ISABELLE MERRIMAN.— How effectively
the sweet memory and blessed, uplifting influence of
a life well lived continues to cheer and stimulate
those struggling along after, is well and beautifully
exemplified in the story of the late Mrs. Isabelle Mer-
riman, who died at her home in Palo Alto on June 13,
1920, at the age of seventy-two years. She was born
in Connecticut, the daughter of Leonard and Sarah
(Burns) Pardee, both natives of the Nutmeg State
and both worthy members of representative, old
American families; and she married Louis Merriman,
also a native of that state and a farmer, who brought
his family to California in 1885, when they located in
Santa Clara County and continued agricultural pur-
suits. At first, they lived near San Jose; then they
moved to Los Altos; and after that they pitched their
tent at Palo Alto, coming here in 1907. They had
two children, who are both living and reside in Palo
Alto; Mrs. Marion J. Marriott and William N.
Merriman. At the time of her lamented demise, the
San Jose Mercury Herald contained the following
touching tribute to Mrs. Merriman's cherished memory
from the pen of Mrs. Marian Shaw:

"Help all God's creatures" —

So you lived your life,

In loving service to the poor and sick,

None were too lowly, nor had sinned too far.

You voiced the suffering of the dumb,

Lifted high a Magdalen's sore heart,

And stooped to shelter in your arms

Some wounded dog.

Friend of the helpless,

Surely in the great beyond

A recompense divine doth sound

Within thine ears:

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto

one of the least of these, my brethren,

ye have done it unto Me."
The Mercury Herald also contained this equally
affectionate tribute by Anne Whitney Wakefield: "In
the passing away of Mrs. Isabelle C. Merriman,
a rare and wonderful personality has left us. The
thought of death cannot be associated with that life
so intense, so vivid. Of her now the parting words
of Browning sing themselves into our ears:
" 'Greet the unseen with a cheer!

Strive and thrive Cry 'Speed, fight on, fare as ever
There as here.' "

"Authough in failing health for about a year, Mrs.
Merriman was most active to the last, and one re-
joices that the end came so quickly to her. A long
illness and failing powers would have been the heav-
iest cross for her to have borne. Her humane work
for man and beast has been pursued in this county
since before 1906. It was unremitting. And her
private means were lavishly poured out in the self-
imposed work.

"L^pon her surely fell the mantle of America's great-
est humanitarian, Henry Bergh, who was for long
periods a guest in the home of her childhood, and
from him she surely imbibed much of the burning
desire to alleviate the sufferings of dumb beast and
abused child. Day and night, year in and year out,
she has responded unfailingly to the call for help.
She has been known to carry on her own back at
night a bundle of hay to some starved cow or horse
when no one else would go, so that it might be re-

lieved before morning. The burden of all the griefs
she bore for others at times seemed almost to break
her heart, but she never flinched nor faltered. Her
last years were most cruelly saddened by malicious
attacks made upon her character and work by some
who probably have never achieved the smallest frac-
tion of the good for humanity that she did.

"The cause of the negro race ,and the great need
of helping its advancement now was one in which she
took a most vital interest. She was a member of
the National Association for the Advancement of the
Colored People, and secured many memberships to the
San Jose branch by personal solicitation among her
friends. Above all else she mothered scores of home-
less, abandoned or illegitimate babies or children, tak-
ing them into her home, clothing, feeding and lov-
ing them. Personally, she found private homes for
all these children, and always kept herself in touch
with conditions after they left her sheltering care.
Hers was a great, tender, mother-heart, and there was
also a burning sense of justice that would fight against
all odds for the oppressed. For her no human words
of praise should be spoken, — only the Divine, "Well
done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the
joy of thy Lord.' should echo in our hearts. "And
they shall be Mine' saith the Lord of Hosts, 'in that
day when I make up Mv jewels.' "

PATRICK B. SINNOTT.— A member of one of
Santa Clara County's pioneer families whose name
will ever be linked with its early history and develop-
ment, Patrick B. Sinnott has had a part in its stirring
events, having come here in the year 1851. He was
born on April 23, 1841, at Quebec, Canada, the son of
John and Elizabeth (Bolger) Sinnott, the latter being
a sister of Mrs. Martin Murphy, of the well-known
Murphy family, who started to cross the plains in
1844, the first white family from east of the moun-
tains to settle in California. John Sinnott was born
in County Wexford. Ireland, in June. 1800. He was
fortunate in having good facilities for an education
and in grasping the opportunity, so that when he
embarked on his career he was well fiitted to assume
its responsibilities. He followed the occupation of
farmer and stockraiser in his native country until
1831, when he came to Quebec, Canada. There he
married Miss Elizabeth Bolger, a native of Canada,
and they became the parents of five children: Cather-
ine is in the Notre Dame Convent at San Francisco;
Mary became the wife of John Murphy, and both
passed away at San Jose, leaving eight children:
Thomas J., who was a prominent farmer at Milpitas,
is deceased; Patrick B. is the subject of this sketch;
Ellen resides at Milpitas and is the owner of part of
the old Sinnott ranch.

In 1851 John Sinnott brought his family to Cali-
fornia via the Isthmus, following the Chagres River
and Crossing to Panama City with pack mules. They
reached San Francisco in June of that year and came
directly to Santa Clara County, where Mr. Sinnott
rented a farm of his brother-in-law, Martin Murphy,
near Mountain View. In 1856 he purchased 200 acres
of the Alviso estate at Milpitas, and to this he added
by purchase until he was the owner of 1,000 acres,
where with the assistance of his sons, he was exten-
sively engaged in farming and stock raising. His
sound sense and business judgment assured him suc-
cess in his undertaking and he soon ranked among
the leading farmers of the county. He lived to be

MRS. ISABELLE MERRIMAN

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

959

eighty-three, and his wife reached the age of eighty-
two, and both passed away at Milpitas, highly hon-
ored for their fine traits of character.

Patrick B. Sinnott was a lad of ten years when the
family arrived in California, and so became identified
with the open life of the West in his early years. He
was thoroughly trained in the duties of farm life on
his father' ranch and became a vaquero of note. Much
of his boyhood was spent in the saddle and he
could mount and ride any horse, however wild, and
had a reputation far and wide for his daring feats of
horsemanship. For a time he attended Santa Clara
College, but the greater part of his time was spent
in assisting in the care of the large interests of the
Sinnott ranch. Upon the death of his father he be-
came the owner of a fine farm of 367 acres, part of
the estate, and for many years he operated it as an
extensive dairy, meeting with splendid success. There
he made his home until four years ago, when he re-
tired from active business life and purchased his
present home at Palo Alto.

In 1887, Mr. Sinnott was married to Miss Ella
Twohig, who was born at San Francisco, the daugh-
ter of Timothy J. and EUen (Carroll) Twohig, highly
respected pioneer residents of Alameda County. Seven
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Sinnott. The
eldest passed away in infancy; John J. died at the
age of eighteen; Helen Aloyse graduated .it the San
Jose Teachers College and took a post-graduate
course at the University of California; she is now a
teacher in the Palo Alto schools; Elizabeth is a sister
in Notre Dame Convent at San Franisco, and Mary
is also a member of that order; Ethel C, who gradu-
ated from the San Jose State Teachers College and
also attended Stanford University, is secretary for
the city health office of Palo Alto; Maud T. gradu-
ated at the San Jose State Teachers College and also
attended Stanford University: she is engaged in teach-
ing at Centerville, Alameda County. Mr. Sinnott has
lived a long, useful and interesting life in the state
of his adoption and he and his family stand high in
the community where they have lived so many years.

THOMAS BENTON NICHOLS. — Counted
among Mayfield's most progressive and enterprising
citizens are Thomas Benton Nichols and his talented
and estimable wife, who are the editors and proprie-
tors of the Mayfield News, a clean and newsy week-
ly newspaper. He was born at Maquoketa. Iowa,
December 9. 1861, and grew up in Jackson County.
His father w^as born near Cleveland, Ohio, on August
1, 1834. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was a
member of a company of volunteer infantry and was
mustered into service during September, 1862, at
Maquoketa, Iowa. He was shot on October 19,
1864, in the battle of Cedar Creek, W. Va., and on
November 27, 1864, passed away at the hospital at
Winchester. His mother, before her marriage Eliza-
beth D. Viers, was left a widow with two children,
Emma L., who is now the widow of Jean Stevens
and resides in Los Angeles, and Thomas Benton, the
subject of this review. His mother, married the sec-
ond time to George W. House, a Civil War veteran,
and they ran the old Phoenix House at Maquoketa for
many years after the war. Thomas B. grew up there
and at the age of sixteen went into the old Maquoketa
Sentinel office as "printer's devil" and office boy.
He also worked in the job office and on the weekly
paper and was occupied for six years; then went west
to Sioux City and worked on the Sioux City Journal;

later on he went to Kansas City, Mo., and worked
for Kansas City Bank Note Printing Company on
job work; he then worked in various places, Chicago,
Kansas City, and Omaha.

Mr. Nichols' first marriage united him with Miss
Minnie Koder and they were the parents of one
child, Loise, now the wife of Joe Birkcnholt, a gov-
ernment employee at Monroe, Iowa. Mrs. Nichols
passed away in Omaha and Mr. Nichols then re-
moved to Monticello, la., where his second marriage
occurred, uniting him with Mrs. Harriet Waters, nee
Conery, a daughter of a Civil War veteran John Con-
ery, who had also enlisted from Maquoketa, la., and
served in the same company with Mr. Nichols' father.
When the latter was shot, he fell into Conery's arms.
Mrs. Conery was Miss Margaret Fopplis. Mrs.
Nichols is the mother of three children by her first
husband: Harry, who died at the age of twelve years;
Bertha, Mrs. A. T. Anderson, resides in Fresno;
Richard R., works at Stanford University.

Some twenty-five years ago, when Richard was
quite young, being then about five years of age, he
became separated from his mother, and although a
diligent search was made for him, his parents were
unable to get any tidings of his whereabouts. His
mother, who had been untiring in her efforts to find
her boy, was at last rewarded. He had grown to
manhood and married, and with the knowledge that
he was born in Maquoketa, la., he wrote there and
located his uncle and aunts. Word was rushed to
Mayfield and the mother was nearly overcome with
happiness that her son was found. On October 22,
1921, he arrived in Mayfield.

Mr. Nichols worked with John Lanigan on the
Monticello Times until he removed to California in
1904; then he worked on various papers and in job
offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Niles and
other places. Settling in Redwood City he worked
on the Redwood City Democrat for J. V. Swift, its
editor and proprietor, and they are the best of
friends; then he removed with his family to Mayfield
and he bought the Mayfield News from Thomas B.
Scott, about six years ago. During the month of
December, 1916, a disastrous fire occurred which
destroyed the entire printing plant, and they carried
no insurance. They nobly made a new start, bought
new and more modern equipment and now operate a
first class newspaper and job printing office. They
are enthusiastic "boosters" for Mayfield and were
energetic in helping to get the State Highway
through Mayfield, which has been an impetus toward
greater advancement. May 1, 1922, Mr. Nichols dis-
posed of a one-half interest in the Mayfield News to
Mr. Herbert D. Triplett of San Francisco who there-
by became a partner in the Mayfield News. He is
a native of Austin, Nev., where he was born April 2,
1894. Educated in the public schools of Nevada and
the Mission High School of San Francisco, he early
entered the printing and newspaper business and has
a wide acquaintance with newspaper men on the
Coast. He was married at San Francisco, February
8, 1919, to Miss Bernice Jones, a native daughter and
now the mother of one child, Wm. Charles Triplett.
Mr. and Mrs. Triplett are valuable acquisitions to
the staff of the Mayfield News and are heartily wel-
comed in Mayfield.

Mr. Nichols is an Odd Fellow. Mrs. Nichols is
the past president of the Ladies' Relief Corps of
Redwood City and is now an active member of the

960

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

W. R. C. of Palo Alto; she is also active in the
Methodist Church of Mayfield. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols
radiate a spirit of progress and good fellowship and
stand for everything that is good for the upbuilding
of Mayfiield and environs.

HENRY TANNER HILL.— A thoroughly wide-
awake and successful rancher who is not only deeply
interested in developing his ranch, but i; also ready
to support any movement of common interest to other
ranchers as well, is Henry Tanner Hill, who lives
on North First and Gish streets, San Jose. He was
born in County Cork. Ireland, on August 16. 1861. the
son of Henry M. and Jane (Tanner) Hill — the former,
who wa5 a farmer, a native of Scotland and the latter
a native of England. As a boy, Henry lived four
miles from the nearest school; and as he was com-
pelled to hop, skip and jump across the bed of a
river on thirty-two stepping stones in order to reach
the school at all. it may be surmised that he did
not have the best opportunity for acquiring a very
extended education.

On July 1, 1880, Henry Hill reached Santa Clara
County, and although he had a sister living in Ala-
meda County, he preferred to settle here. For three
years he worked on a threshing machine, and for
the next two years, he undertook whatever seemed
most lucrative. Next he worked for four years for
Mr. Colombet as caretaker of his place and then
five years for the San Jose Gas Co., and a short
time for the city water works, then worked eight
years for the Griffin Skclley Packing Co., after that
two years for the Santa Clara County Fruit Exchange.
Next he put in three months for the city of San
Jose at Alum Rock Park, and so he progressed
until 1901 when he bought a ranch of twelve un-
improved acres at the corner of Gish Road and First
Street in San Jose. There he erected a dwelling and
suitable farm buildings, and set about developing the
tract; and when he had brought it to a high state of
improvement, he sold the property and bought the
ranch on Gish Road, just across from his former
ranch. This new farm tract comprised eighteen
acres, and was also unimproved land when he entered
into possession; but there also he was not long in
putting up a farm dwelling and other desirable build-
ings, and then he planted the acreage in alfalfa.

Mr. Hill has been twice married. On March 1,
1890. he w-as joined in matrimony with Miss Anna
Murphy, a native of County Cork, Ireland, and
the daughter of substantial Irish folk who never left
their native country. She died in San Jose six years
after marriage. On the occasion of his second mar-
riage, at San Jose, on Christmas Day, 1897, Mr.
Hill took for his wife Mrs. Lenora (Hoehn) Miller,
the widow of O. U. Miller, who passed away in Illi-
nois before she came to California, and by whom
she had had one son, Fred Miller, with the Asso-
ciated Oil Company in Fresno. She was the daughter
of Fred and Amelia Gottschall Hoehn, and was born
in Illinois, but her father was born in Adlesburg.
Saxony, December 4. 1832, while the mother was
born in Reimsfeldt. Germany, in 1845, and died at
Carlinville, 111., September 18, 1892. Her great-
great-grandfather, Christofal Hoehn, was born in
Switzerland, 1695. He was of large stature, 7 ft.
8 in. tall. He was night watchman in Nearohta, Ger-
many, and died at 105 years of age from a broken
limb sustained while skating on ice in the perform-

ance of his duty. His son, also named Christofal,
was born in Switzerland in 1720 and died on the
march to Moscow in Russia while serving as a vol-
unteer soldier in Napoleon's army. He left three
sons: George H., Carl and Fred. George Henry,
who was the grandfather of Mrs. Hill, was born at
Nearohta, in 1794. He entered service under Napoleon
when sixteen years of age and afterwards served in
the Prussian army against Napoleon. He brought
his family to America in 1846 and died at Alton,
111., in 1851 of cholera. He married EHzabeth Dora
Erhardt of Reimsfeldt, Germany, who also died at
Alton in 1867, seventy-two years of age. Mrs. Hill's
father's full name was Frederick John Christofal
Hoehn, and he came to America in 1846 with his
parents, four brothers and a sister. The trip on
the sailing vessel to New Orleans took seven months
and four days, after which they steamed up the
Mississippi to St. Louis. When twenty years of age,
under Jerry Job of Alton, he helped to bring a drove
of 500 cattle across the plains, there being twenty-
two persons in the company. They started March
28, 1853, and arrived in California October 1, that
year. In 1860 he returned to Macoupin County, 111.,
by the way of Panama. He lived on a farm in Illi-
nois for thirty-four years; then he returned to Cali-
fornia with his family of seven boys and three girls,
his wife having died in Illinois. In 1917, after
an absence of twenty-four years he returned again
to Illinois for a visit and although eighty-five years
of age had an enjoyable trip. He died in San Jose
in 1909, aged eighty-seven years. His children were:
George H.; Frank L.; Lenora, now Mrs. Henry
Tanner Hill; Theodore H.; Mrs. Julia Lawson; Al-
bert A.; David A.; Walter F. ; Mrs. Ida Isham. and
Harry Hoehn.

For twenty years Mr. and Mrs. Hill engaged in
dairying and from their herd of about thirty Jersey
cows, sold and distributed milk twice a day to their
family trade in San Jose. In 1921 they discontinued
the dairy and are now planting their acreage to pears.
Their union has' been blessed with two children:
Harry, who is attending the University of Santa
Clara, class of '23, and Russell, who is in San Jose
high school. Patriotic and public-spirited, Mr. Hill
served as a special policeman under Chief DeLacy,
and proving to be a fearless and efficient officer he
was given the opportunity to join the police force
permanently and work in politics. He had little taste,
however, for the latter, and so he abandoned for agri-
cultural pursuits what would have appealed to many
as a promising career.

FRANK W. NIGHTINGILL.— A member of the
bar of California since 1905 and a practicing attorney
since that time, both in San Francisco and in Santa
Clara County, Frank W. Nightingill has specialized
particularly in land law. He is a native son, having
been born 'in San Francisco in February, 1882, and
is a graduate of Stanford University, Since 1919 he
has maintained his office and resided in Palo Alto
with his family, consisting of his wife and daughter,
Nancy. Mr. Nightingill has always practiced law
upon the theory that most controversies between in-
dividuals are subject to fair adjustment without the
necessity of litigation, that where parties are repre-
sented by counsel, a knowledge of the law, together
with a disposition to be fair, is all that is essential
to the determination of their rights and obligations.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

963

MARION L. PITMAN.— A prominent horticul-
turist whose life touches the history of the world-
renowned Stanford University in an interesting man-
ner is Marion L. Pitman, a native son, who was born
on his father's farm in October, 1854. This farm
consisted of fifty acres, and it is now included in the
Stanford University grounds. His own land is part-
ly in Palo Alto, and 1)\ bis Miiiitilu industry, he has
made it of especial attiai iion, ,it thr xamc time that
he has raised its cffici(jiic\ in pioductiun to the high-
est limit. His father was Andrew Jackson Pitman,
the well-known pioneer, a native of Missouri who
married Miss Armenia A. Lewis, also of the Iron
State. He crossed the great plains in the year of the
Argonauts, and as a genuine '49er, he located in
Santa Clara County, where he continued to reside
until his death, in 1897, at the age of about seventy
years. He was a farmer, and in the pursuit of agri-
culture bought fifty acres, which he sold again in
1863 to a Mr. Gordon who, in turn, let Senator Stan-
ford have it for the proposed institution of higher
learning. After that he bought another fifty acres,
and the present farm of our subject is a part of this
second investment. He was a man of exceptional
intelligence and highly progressive; he sought to
develop his farm interests along scientific, but emi-
nently practical lines, and, in his upward, progressive
trend, he encouraged other ranchers as well.

Marion Pitman attended the local public schools
and then pursued the courses of the State Normal
School at San Jose. After that he removed to Wash-
ington and at Walla Walla taught for a year. Re-
turning to Santa Clara County, he was for five years
in the milk trade at San Jose, and in 1888 he started
to farm where he is now located and where he has
ever since successfully tilled the soil. He carries on
general farming at the same time that he raises
truck-garden stuff and varied fruit; and he has
a valuable and beautiful property. At San Jose.
in 1881, Mr. Pitman was married to Miss Elizabeth
Denne, a daughter of George Denne, a native of
Dover, England. They have one daughter, Georgie,
who married Joseph E. Shearer of Palo Alto. Mr.
Pitman, like his father, is a Democrat.

ELMER S. O'CONNELL.— An enterprising young
man who is making a splendid record in the business
world and of whom the citizens of San Jose arc justly
proud, is Elmer S. O'Connell. president of O'Connell
Bros., Inc. He was born at HoUister, San Benito
County, December 26, 1888, the son of Thomas
O'Connell, a California pioneer, who is represented
on another page of this history.

Elmer S. O'Connell is the youngest member of his
family, who in 1895 moved to San Jose, and there he
grew up, attending the Grant and McKinley gram-
mar schools and the San Jose high school. From a
lad he had assisted his father in his business, and on
July 9, 1906, when O'Connell Bros, was incorporated,
he joined his four brothers in the organization, enter-
ing heartily into the business and giving it all of his
time. Since 1911 he has been a director and in 1917
he was elected to the office of president of the cor-
poration, a position he is filling with much credit and
ability. Having worked his way up from the bottom
rung of the ladder to the top, he has become very
familiar with all the details of this extensive business

during all these years of active participation in the
affairs of the company, and so is especially well quali-
fied for his important place and appreciates the con-
fidence reposed in him. as the guiding hand in its
progressive policies.

During the World War, in July, 1918, Mr. O'Con-
nell entered the U. S. service, being assigned to
Company H, Thirty-second Infantry, and was sta-
tioned at Camp Kearny, San Diego, until February
-1. 1919. when he was mustered out and honorably
discharged with the rank of corporal, after which he
immediately reUirned to San Jose and took up the
duties of his position with the company, it having
been earned on by his brothers during his absence
Fraternally, Mr. O'Connell is a member of the An-
cient Order of Hibernians and the Independent Order
of Foresters of San Jose. Reared in San Jose from his
youth, he was trained by his parents to habits of in-
dustry and self-reliance, which instilled in him the
ambition to succeed, and he stands out prominently
among the boys of San Jose, who, while yet com-
paratively young, have more than made good.

WALTER WALSH.-An able representative of
the ranching and horticultural interests of Santa
Clara County is Walter Walsh, who was born at
San Jose, October 17, 1876, the son of Walter Walsh,
Sr., a native of County Kilkenny. Ireland, where he
was born on November 1. 1846. not far from the
three beautiful lakes that have made Kilkennv fam-
ous. His parents were Patrick and Mary (Whalen)
Walsh, and they were the |,arents of seven boys and
two girls, Mrs. Walsh passed away in 1853, and
Patrick Walsh survived her until 1895, passing away
at the age of ninety-seven on the old home farni,
where he had spent all his life, and which had been
in the Walsh family for many generations, descend-
ing from father to son.

In 1860, when but thirteen years old, Walter
Walsh, Sr., crossed the ocean and joined an older
brother in Boston, Mass.. and for several years was
engaged in various kinds of employment in that
vicinity. In 1869 he came to California, crossing the
plains by rail not long after the transcontinental
railroad was completed. He located at San Jose and
in October. 1870, was married to Mrs. Annie (Coch-
ran) Casey who came from her birthplace in Ireland
with her parents when she was eight years old. They
settled in Massachusetts, remaining there until 1861.
when they came to California. In 1878 Mr. and Mrs.
Walsh removed to the Catherine Dunne ranch near
Tennant Station, and for the next nine years Mr.
Walsh managed the property, purchasing his own
place of 120 acres in 1888, a tract of land lying five
miles east of Gilroy, where he engaged in farming
and stockraising. He passed a\\a_\ in December 29,
1907, the father of four living children: Wm., of San
Jose; Walter; Mrs. Marguerite Miller, of Beaumont.
Cal.. and Joseph, on the home ranch.

The third eldest of the family. Walter Walsh. Jr..
attended the schools of San Ysidro in the pursuit of
an education and his young manhood was spent on
the cattle range, where he became thoroughly con-
versant with the cattle business. During the Spanish-
American War he made two trips to Manila, P. I.,
and Panama, as an engineer, spending ten months in
that occupation. He then entered the employ of the

964

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Oakland Meat Company, continuing with them for
eight years. On September 6, 1910, he was married
to Miss Louise Vaccarezza, born in Alameda, a
daughter of Louis Vaccarezza, an orchardist of the
Rucker district who was born in Italy and lived in
the United States since a child. Four children have
blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Walsh: Walter
Walsh, III; Bernice; James, and Gladys E, the two
younger having passed away. Mr. Walsh devotes
the greater part of his time to his horticultural inter-
ests at present, and is the owner of forty acres of
orchard and ten acres of vineyard property, twenty
acres of bare land, which he inherited from the
Walsh estate after the death of his mother on Janu-
ary 14, 1920. He has many friends in the Gilroy
district, where much of his life has been spent, pos-
sessing those qualities which constitute a good citizen
and a successful business man.

JOHN ESREY.— More than half a century has
come and gone since John Esrey came across the
plains to California and settled thirty miles south of
Fresno at a town now known as Lemoore, taking
up his abode there in 1864, and made that his home
to the day of his death. His daughter, Mrs. Eliza
Ann Sutherland, whose sketch also appears in this
work, still owns a ranch adjoining the original home
place, which is now very valuable. Great have been
the changes that have occurred since John Esrey
first located there. The wild land has been reclaimed
for the purposes of civilization, and has been trans-
formed into rich and productive places. Towns and
villages have sprung up and all the comforts and con-
veniences of an older civilization have been intro-
duced. In all matters of citizenship and business life
and in every relation with his fellow men, Mr. Esrey
displayed the sterling traits of character that in every
land and clime command respect and confidence. He
was born in Illinois. June 28. 1828, and in Missouri
in 1849 he married Miss Sarah Jane Stratton, a na-
tive of Kentucky, born September 6, 1829, and in
1864, on account of his wife's delicate health, joined
the overland train under Captain Duncan, consisting
of thirty families, with horses, mules, oxen and cows.
The long journey across the arid plains to the West
was fraught w'ith severe hardships, and the con-
stant fear of attacks from the Indians, made the ad-
venture one long to be remembered. Owing to Mrs.
Esrey's state of health, she was an easy prey to
mountain fever, so prevalent in those days, and
though everything was done for her that loving hands
could do, she died and was buried at the little village
of Galena, about three miles from Washoe, Nev. Mr.
and Mrs. Esrey were the parents of five children:
Eliza Ann, the widow of James Sutherland, whose
biography appears in this volume; Madelnah, Mrs.
William Ingram, deceased; John Wesley Esrey, re-
siding at Lemoore; Mrs. Mary L. Martin of Los
Angeles, and Thomas S. of San Francisco. At the
time of crossing the plains, their daughter, Eliza Ann.
was thirteen years old, and the incidents of the jour-
ney and the losing of her mother, can never be
erased from her memory; to add to their sorrows,
the two younger girls, Madelnah and Mary, were
taken sick with the same disease that their mother
died with, and for many weeks they lingered be-
tween life and death, so that when they became con-
valescent they were unable to walk.

Weary of heart with his misfortune, but with that
true pioneer spirit, so inherent in those early set-
tlers of California, John Esrey pressed on until he
arrived at his destination in what is now Kings
County, where relatives had settled at an earlier date.
When he retired he moved to Millville, Shasta Coun-
ty, where he died June 2. 1888, after a most noble
and useful career. His influence w-as ever on the side
of justice, truth and right and his honorable career
exemplified his belief in all that was uplifting and
of permanent benefit to mankind.

CHARLES P. COOLEY.— A member of the board
of Supervisors of Santa Clara County, who has
found the Pacific commonwealth a true Golden State,
is Charles P. Cooley, to whom both San Jose and
Santa Clara County owe an agreeable debt they can
hardly hope to repay. He was born northeast of
Palo Alto on January 7, 1869, the son of Lester F.
Cooley. a native of Vermont, who was married in
San Francisco to Geraldine E. Sutton, a native of
New York. Lester Cooley came to California in
1860, and settled as a farmer; and he died at the age
of forty-seven on his farm where Charles was born.
Mrs. Cooley came to California when about twenty
years of age, and she long ago adopted the state as
her very own. She is now Mrs. Geraldine E. Frisbie
and is the President of the Woman's Relief Corps
of California, her sketch appearing elsewhere in this
volume. After finishing the courses prescribed in the
public schools, Charles commenced to work on the
home farm. His father died when he was only eleven
years old, and for twenty-five years Mr. Cooley man-
aged the home place, which contained some 400
acres. In 1907 he came to Palo Alto, and for sev-
eral years thereafter he continued to farm. He also,
for years, followed road building and other forms
of contract work. In 1895, at Menlo Park, he was
married to Miss Grace Boulware of Palo Alto, a
daughter of Wm. and Laura (Williams) Boulware,
both Kentuckians, and California pioneers, the father
being a 49'er, and one son, Stanley, has sprung from
the union.

In 1913, Mr. Cooley began to serve his fellow-cit-
izens as a member of the city council, and in 1916 he
was elected mayor of Palo Alto, and in 1917-18 was
reelected. When war was declared, he did much
valuable work with the army engineers, helping lo-
cate Camp Fremont, and was chairman of the finance
committee which raised funds for the primary es-
tablishment, buying out leaseholds and settling with
the tenants who, of necessity, had to be dispossessed
in order to secure possession of the site for the
Government's use. He met the first company —
of coast artillery — sent here, and provided temporary
quarters for them until Camp Fremont was ready.
He was chairman of the Palo Alto Red Cross drive
in 1918, of the Y. M. C. A. drive, of the War Work
Council, and of the Victory Loan drive. He also
took part in the War Camp Community service. Mr.
Cooley has been president for the past four years of
the City Planning Commission, and he is now chair-
man of the Committee on Public Works. While
mayor he cleared the Circle of jitney stands and all
other obstacles, for the establishment of the bus
depot. He also caused the interurban line to ter-
minate in the rear of the Southern Pacific passenger
depot, thereby centering the passenger traffic for the

fitr/Wy (tWlMp^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

967

safety and convenience of all. He caused a double
track crossing to be placed on the Southern Pacific
right of way at the point of its intersection with Uni-
versity Avenue and put in effect in the City Hall a new
billing and bookkeeping system. There was also
installed during his administration in the City's plant,
two Diesel engines, each costing fifty to sixty thou-
sand dollars, and the gas-plant was bought at a
cost of seventy-two thousand dollars. Through Mayor
Cooley and other far-seeing and public-spirited citi-
zens, the Hostess House, originally erected at Camp
B'remont, was secured and moved down to the city
of Palo Alto and reconstructed as the present
Community Center. When the war broke out he
set aside all his own work in order to give his ser-
vices undividedly to his country's welfare. He is a
Republican, a member of the Presbyterian Church,
and belongs, of course, to the Native Sons.

Perhaps nothing could be more indicative of all
that is most characteristic, morally and mentally, in
the make-up of this hi,ghly representative citizen than
a contribution made by him some time ago to the
memorial number of the Daily Palo Alto Times, when
he set forth clearly "Why Palo Alto Flourished," and
from which the following excerpts are quoted: "Look-
ing back over the greater part of a half-century passed
in the immediate vicinity of Palo Alto," he said, "one
can feel a spirit of pride in the notable development
that has been realized in this community. I was born
not far from what is now the prosperous city of Palo
Alto, on the San Mateo County side of the San Fran-
cisquito Creek, and have spent most of my life at
first on the home place and later in Palo Alto.

"In the early days Cooley's Landing, then my
father's ranch, was a point of considerable shipping
activity. The volume of commerce was not large,
but the bay served well to afford a means of cheap
transportation until other methods supervened. The
land, aside from the various holdings that had become
the country homes of the wealthy, was devoted to
agriculture and grazing. Dotted thickly with its
growth of magnificent live-oaks, it was a scene of
surpassing beauty, where one loved to roam and
perchance to hunt, but no man gave a thought to its
destiny as a model city. Then as Stanford L'niver-
sity grew into being under the touch of the fairy wand
of its splendid endowment, the demand became in-
sistent for a city that should be in keeping with the
architecturally perfect pile of buildings which the hu-
mane-hearted Stanfords had made reality with the
broad vision that embraced the youth of the land for
all the years to come. Menlo Park, Mayfield, Col-
lege Terrace, and Menlo Heights each in turn as-
pired to greatness, but it was otherwise ordained.
The broad acres facing the university ground were
the destined site for the city-to-be.

"In 1892 Palo Alto began to grow in promise, and
the first business enterprises began to center here.
The pioneer citizens were a splendid class of people
and were gifted in an unusual degree with civic fore-
sight and wisdom. In the spring of 1894 the town
was incorporated, and under the guidance of these
far-seeing pioneers the young municipality had its
course shaped in the sure direction of future pros-
perity. The era of municipal ownership began as
early as 1896 and has continued to broaden in scope,
until at the present time Palo Alto is known nation-

ally for Its marked success in the management of
Its municipal utilities. The city has been beautifully
and substantially built, public improvements have
been kept in line with the needs of the time, and as
a result a city morally and physically attractive has
grown to the pride of the Santa Clara Valley. Aside
from the splendid results of municipal ownership,
no more important accomplishment is of record thaii
the acquisition for a period of ninety-nine years by
the city of the splendid tract of land lying along the
city front with the Stanford Arboretum and El
Cammo Real on the opposing side. This tract gives
a parlor entrance to the city, and when fully improved
as a community and recreational center it will be the
most notable and beautiful spot along the entire
Highway from Siskiyou to San Diego.

"Here is clustered the greatest educational develop-
ment on the Pacific Slope. Here are the great Stan-
ford I'niversity, St. Patrick's Theological Seminary,
the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Manzanita Hall,'
Castilleja. and Harker's schools, and an exceptionally
excellent and finely-housed and equipped high school,
with a public school system of high standing. An
outgrowth of the intelligence of the community is the
Freeholder's Charter that was adopted in 1909. This
document is unique, a grant of rights unlike that of
any other city. Under its provisions the welfare
of the city is completely safeguarded, and the control
of municipal afifairs so excellently exercised that con-
ditions are as nearly perfect as can be desired. The
benefits of such government accrue to all the peo-
ple, in good service, cheap rates for municipal utility
commodities, low taxes and a morally clean commun-
ity. The existence here of Camp Fremont, with its
40,000 national defenders, created unusual conditions;
yet the needs of the occasion were met and the camp
commanders have highly commended Palo Alto for
its freedom from vice under this influx of people, and
for so fully meeting all the requirements of the na-
tional governinmt m tlie stress of the war period.
"Could »nyour ;isk- more than is here aflforded to
create an ideal hunir city? The unexcelled climate,
the splendid location, the attractive scenery; the cul-
ture that marks an educational center, the excellence
of the local government, the nearness to the gr-a'
metropolis of the Pacific, all these and many other
advantages are things that bless life with comfort
and contentment. Those who will may come and
share in the solid charms that nature has bestowed
on this marvelous valley, and those who come will
stay, with never a regret nor a desire to disturb their
household goods."

WALTER HAMMOND NICHOLS.— Palo Alto
has long been so famous as one of the most ad-
vanced educational centers of the United States that
it is not surprising it should eventually draw to its
varied field of activity Walter Hammond Nichols, the
well-known teacher who has accomplished so much in
various communities, with the science of pedagogy.
He was born at Chicago on February 19, 1866, the
son of Joshua R. Nichols, purchasing agent for the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and later
assistant superintendent of the Union Pacific Rail-
way. He had married Miss Charlotte E. Hammond,
the daughter of Col. Charles G. Hammand, of the
Chicago & Michigan Central Railway. Walter at-
tended the local schools, and eventually, in 189L

968

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

graduated from the University of Michigan, when he
received the degree of B. S., after specializing in
chemistry. Still later, in 1891, he concluded some
post graduate work at Columbia University, for
which he was given the A. M. degree. His first
venture, on taking up the practical affairs of life, was
in fruit farming at Ann Arbor, Mich., then he was
trustee of an estate, and later in the banking busi-
ness at Boulder, Colo., where he was vice-president
of the Mercantile Bank & Trust Company. He was
instructor in history at the University of Colorado at
Boulder from 1897-98, and later professor of history
and economics there; and at Columbia University,
in the department of the Teachers College, he was
secretary and an occasional lecturer. While living at
Boulder, he served as school trustee and he was also
a director of the Commercial Association. At Michi-
gan he did post-graduate work, and also at the Uni-
versity of Chicago and the University of Colorado —
from 1891 to 1896. From 1913 to 1915, he was a
teacher of English at the Pasadena high school; from
1915 to 1919, he was superintendent of schools and
principal of the high school, at Palo Alto; and since
1919, he has been the very eflficient and popular prin-
cipal of the high school. He has enjoyed exceptional
advantages of both American and European travel.

At West Bay City, Mich., on September 27, 1892,
Mr. Nichols was married to Miss Esther Blanche
Connor, the daughter of Michigan pioneers. Four
children blessed this union, one of whom gave his life
for his country. Helen Blanche, Alan Hammond,
John Ralph and Dorothy Esther, a student at Stan-
ford University. Two of the sons were in the World
War. Alan Hammond Nichols went with the first
Stanford Ambulance unit, and later joined the French
aviation corps; and he was killed on June 1, 1918,
during the big German drive on Compiegne. John
or Jack, went with the second Stanford Ambulance
unit, and then joined the U. S. A. tanks; and he
was in the St. Mihiel and Argonne offensives. The
family attend the Congregational Church; and Mr.
Nichols votes with the Progressive Republicans. At
Boulder, Colo., he belonged to Lodge No. 45, F. &
A. M., where he was a warden and a master, then he
joined Columbia lodge at Monrovia; then he belonged
to San Pasqual lodge No. 252, at Pasadena; and is
now a member of Palo Alto lodge No. 346.

The Palo Alto Union high school, of which Mr.
Nichols is the experienced and inspiring head, is
justly regarded as one of the best institutions of its
kind in all California, daily fulfilling its motto, cut
into the stone over the doorway of the main audit-
orium, "Wisdom is knowing what to do next: Virtue
is doing it" — a noble sentiment from Dr. David Starr
Jordan, who gave the address at the school's dedi-
cation. The magnificent site of thirty acres was prac-
tically donated by the Stanford trustees, and those
of prophetic vision have seen the possibility of this
school growing into a junior college to take care of
early years of university instruction. To the school-
man who is accustomed to look upon a new high
school building as a compact urban structure, limited
to a single city block, the Palo Alto high school is a
distinct and pleasant surprise; for there is about
this group of buildings the charm of the olden-time
California mission and the spirit of the small college.
The land is the property of Stanford University, and

has been rented to the school district for 100 years
at the nominal sum of $1 per acre per annum. Ground
for the new buildings was broken in December,
1917. The academic classes are lodged in the admin-
istration building, which includes the library, study
hall, the office of the school and fourteen classrooms.
The science department includes three laboratories
and a lecture room, and a small biological garden.
The commercial department consists of a typewriting
room and a bookkeeping room. The domestic arts
department, with its class-rooms, sewing and cook-
ing rooms, etc., is in the heart of the group and
connects the commercial department with the audi-
torium. The manual arts department forms the
southeast wing of the group where its activities will
not disturb the remainder of the school. The art
department and the cafeteria form the eastern wing
of a court, upon which the girls' gymnasium, the
auditorium and the domestic arts departments will
back. A feature of this court will be a swimming
pool. The northernmost wing of the group con-
tains the auditorium. Probably the most novel fea-
ture of the entire group is the study court.

The central idea of the building is embodied in the
library, concerning which Mr. Nichols, when superin-
tendent of the Palo Alto schools, remarked: "Books
remain the master tool of educational processes, all
pseudo-vocational, moving picture theories of educa-
tion to the contrary notwithstanding . , , Exact science
is poverty-stricken without its master-interpreters
and seers whose names stand out on the library
shelves. In the library are gathered the ideals of
all time and all men, and even a dullard must be
quickened into some sort of vision of life by the very
fact of sitting quietly surrounded by books. In the
full faith that the library may be made the well-
spring of idealit)' in the lives of high school pupils,
the trustees have set their seal on this spacious,
central room."

Considering the undoubtedly important part which
the Palo Alto high school will play in the future de-
velopment of education in Northern California, some
observation by its distinguished head on general edu-
cational affairs in the Golden State are here worthy
of record. "Educational affairs in California," said
Mr. Nichols not long ago, "are being excellently di-
rected by a strong, efficient, non-political State Board
of Education and by the Honorable Will C. Wood,
just elected State Superintendent of Public Instruc-
tion. Mr. Wood is an educated statesman of high
order, wholly devoted to the interests of the children
and the educational institutions of the State."

PERCY O'CONNOR.— A profound student both
of the law and of human life who, on account of his
broad knowledge, is able to administer a public trust
in almost an ideal manner, is Percy O'Connor, the
popular assistant district attorney, with headquarters
at San Jose. A native son who has never lost his
admiration for the Golden State, he was born at Los
Angeles on September 8, 1892, the son of M. F. and
Delight (Hopkins) O'Connor, and he was educated in
both the public and private educational institutions
of the state. When he had finished with the public
schools in Los Angeles, he attended St. Vincent's
College in that city and later matriculated at Santa
Clara University, from which he was graduated in
1913 with the Bachelor of Arts degree, receiving from

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

971

the same alma mater, two years later, the LL.B.
degree. In 1915, he was admitted to practice at the
California Bar; and since then he has been inter-
ested more and more in the administration of jus-
tice and the preservation of law and order. He be-
longs to the County Bar Association, nor is there
a more welcome mcnilxr. Hi was appointed to his
present post, as assistant ti. District Attorney C. C.
Coolidge, on January 1'', 1"2().

In July, 1917, Mr. O'Connor enlisted in ili. Inhed
States Army for service in the Worlil W ,ii. . .ininnnc-
ing as a private; and as first lieutenant <.i l!u I'.ii^hth
Infantry, he discharged his duty in !■ ranee and Ger-
many, and remained a soldier until November, 1919.
He belongs to the American Legion, the Y. M. C. A.,
the Masons and the Elks, and when national issues
are at stake, he marches with the Republicans. He
belongs to Trinity Episcopal Church, and partici-
pates frequently in special uplift work.

JAMES WILLIAM THAYER, M. D.— Promi-
nent among the distinguished representatives of the
medical profession in Santa Clara County is Dr.
James William Thayer, for thirty-four years a resi-
dent of Gilroy, and now the health officer in that
town, and as a leading pioneer of this section, is one
of the well-known and influential citizens in the
county. He was born in the vicinity of La Grange,
Wyoming County, N. Y., on July 23, 18S4, in an an-
cestral house long in the family, the son of William
John and Eliza (Lockwood) Thayer, both natives of
that county, and schoolmates together, the father
having first seen the light in 1820. Mrs. Thayer died
in 1885, aged sixty-five, the mother of six children.

James William attended the public schools of Wy-
oming County, the Wyoming Academy and the Un-
ion Collegiate Institute at Attica, and was graduated
from the classical and scientific courses on June 19.
1874. He began the study of medicine while at the
Institute, but broken health interfered and he was
compelled to postpone his favorite work. Then, for
a couple of years. Dr. W. B. Sprague, of Pavilion,
N. Y., was his preceptor, and in 1875, he went to
Ashland, Nebr., and there continued his medical work
under Dr. Gray. A year later he matriculated at
the medical college at Keokuk, Iowa, and in Feb-
ruary, 1879, was duly graduated. Then he established
himself at Ogdensburg, Kans., and from that town
he moved to Milford, that state, where he had a drug
store as well as his medical practice to keep him
busy. In 1883 he was appointed resident physician
of the principal hospital of the Mexican Central Rail-
road at Chihuahua, Mexico, receiving promotions
from time to time, until when he resigned in 1886,
he was acting chief surgeon of that road. He next
followed his profession at El Paso, Texas, in partner-
ship with Dr. W. M. Vilas, remaining there until
the spring of 1888.

On account of failing health. Dr. Thayer decided
to try California, and in February of 1888 he came
out to the Coast and for three months traveled over
the state seeking a climate suitable for his condition
of health and decided upon Gilroy as the most advan-
tageous. In May of that year he began the practice
of his profession here and in 1890 was appointed dis-
trict surgeon of the Southern Pacific Railroad, main-
taining that position until 1905. In 1916 he again as-
sumed that position, which he still holds; he also

became examiner for thirty-two insurance companies,
his ability and his conscientious duty commending
him to corporations wishing to get only the best.
Dr. Thayer is a member of Santa Clara County Med-
ical Society and holds the oldest consecutive member-
ship of living members there; he is a member of the
State Medical Association and the American Medi-
cal Association; as well as the Pacific Society of
Railroad Surgeons and International Association of
Railway Surgeons.

Although among the busiest professional men of
Santa Clara County. Dr. Thayer has never failed to
give some of his time to promote the municipal wel-
fare, generally working with the leaders of the Re-
publican party to effect the reforms or progress
desired, but being too broad-minded not to put his
shoulder to the wheel, when occasion has demanded
It. in non-partisan endeavor, and accepting public
office himself, that he might more effectively "lend
a hand." For fourteen years he served conscientiously
as a member of the city council and for many years
he has been the health officer of Gilroy, and the dep-
uty health officer of the southern portion of Santa
Clara County. He also did pioneer and far-reaching
work for twelve years as the secretary of the Gilroy
Charnber of Commerce, resigning that responsible
position on account of his many other duties, in Sep-
tember, 1920, after having contributed a great deal
to the success of that organization of great efficiency,
which had evolved from the Gilrov Proinotion Club
of 1905-08. The Chamber of Commerce of Gilroy,
however, was not organized until April. 1912, when
H. Hecker was elected pr.sid. nt .and Dr. Tha\er
secretary. In 1921, a rr, ,rLMni/.,ti. m and drive 'for
new members proved a i^ie.u -n, ^ i-^, 1,. \\'. Wdieeler
then assuming the presideney, and C. T. Bolfing be-
coming secretary. During the last eight years, es-
pecially, the Chamber of Commerce has been working
wonders for the benefit of Gilroy, and it is no small
honor to have participated, actively and willingly, as
Dr. Thayer has done, contributing frequently to both
the Gilroy and the rest of the Santa Clara County
press. He was one of the organizers and a member
of the board of trustees from its organization to the
present time of the Gilroy Public Library and a mem-
ber of the Presbyterian Church and secretary of its
board of trustees.

Dr. Thayer has been twice married. In June, 1874,
at La Grange, N. Y., he was united with Mary S.
Dexter, who was born in 1855, and died in August,
1876. the mother of one daughter, Delia Fforine
Thayer, born in Pavilion N. Y. While practicing
medicine in Ogdensburg. Kans., he married Miss
Effie A. Parrish, by whom he had one daughter,
Laura E. Thayer.

Miss D. Florine Thayer was reared and educated
in Gilroy, and had begun to pursue the courses of
study at the San Jose State Normal School, with a
view to teaching, when impaired health induced her to
change her work, and for twenty-one years she has
been Dr. Thayer's office assistant. Of resourceful
capability. Miss Thayer has proven a factor for real
good in Gilroy. She is the financial secretary of the
Independent Order of Foresters, and a past noble
grand of the Rebekahs and musician of the local lodge
for years. She has been particularly influential for
progress and the better things in clubs, and is a char-
ter member and for twenty-one years secretary of the

972

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

F. R. F. G. Club, and was the first secretary of the
Women's Civic Club of Gilroy. She belongs to the
First Presbyterian Church, and is secretary of the
Women's Missionary Society and the Mite Society.

MRS. ALLIS KIMBALL BALLOU BRAD-
FORD.— A native daughter of California, who has
traveled extensively is Mrs. AUis Kimball Bradford.
She is a representative of the ninth generation of the
Ballou family in the United States, and was born in
San Jose on the Oakland Road on one of her father's
ranches. She grew up in Santa Clara County and
was educated in the grammar and high schools and
later attended the State Normal school at San Jose
and graduated with the class of 1885; later she went
to Boston, Mass., and studied voice culture. Her
father, J. Q. A. Ballou, is a native of Windsor Coun-
ty, Vt., who came to California in 1849, going first
to the mines in Amador County. In 1853 he removed
to Santa Clara County and purchased forty acres on
the Milpitas road, which he set to an orchard. He
has always been a prominent and progressive citizen
of Santa Clara County, and has been interested in
various projects that counted for the upbuilding of
the county. He resides with Mrs. Bradford at her
home in Palo Alto at 350 Addison Street and is
ninety-five years old, being totally blind.

In San Jose in 1897, Miss Ballou was united in
marriage with Wager Bradford, a mining engineer,
who was born in Stockton and educated at Hamilton
College, New York State. Immediately after mar-
riage, Mr. and Mrs. Bradford went to Johannesburgh,
South Africa, where Mr. Bradford was employed as
a mining engineer for the Eckstein Gold Mining
Company. He became a captain in the British army
defending the Rand mining district in the Transvaal.
Mr. and Mrs. Bradford, who were the parents of two
daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth, resided in Africa
thirteen years. Mr. Bradford was taken ill there
with pneumonia and passed away July 9, 1909, and
Mrs. Bradford returned to San Jose with her hus-
band's remains and he was interred in Oak Hill cem-
etery at San Jose. In 1910 she removed to Palo
Alto, purchasing her home at 350 Addison Avenue.
She is active in civic aflairs and serves on the advis-
ory board of the Stanford Convalescent Home for
children, and also belongs to the Woman's Club of
Palo Alto. During the recent war she served on the
home section of the Red Cross. She is devoted to
her home and the care and education of her daugh-
ter and administering to the needs of her blind father.
She .believes in constructive measures and is inter-
ested in the welfare of the community.

ALFRED SEALE.— A native son, fortunate in an
inheritance of deep interest for California and her
splendid institutions, and devoting most of his time
to his real estate affairs, Alfred Scale, of 537 Cole-
ridge Avenue, Palo Alto, contributed definitely to-
ward the rapid and permanent development of the re-
soures of the favored Golden State. He was born
at San Francisco on December 16, 1865, and started
life with the advantages of a metropolitan environ-
ment. His father, Thomas Scale, was a native of
Ireland, having been born in Banagher, County Kings,
m 1826; and when he first came to the United States,
he lived for a while in. New Orleans. Then, in 1850,
he came out to California by way of the Isthmus
of Panama, and he located in San Francisco, where
he established himself with his brother, Henry W.

Scale, as a contractor and undertook much of the
difficult and important grading work in the early
days of that city. In 1853, he came down into Santa
Clara County, and settled at May field; and there he
became the owner of more than a thousand acres of
land. It lies south of Palo Alto, and in its owner-
ship, Mr. Scale had his brother, Henry W. Scale,
as a partner; the area is now known as the Scale
Tract. The brothers farmed the land successfully
until the death of Henry W. Scale, in 1888. Thomas
died nineteen years later. He )iad married Miss
Marion Sproule, and their union was blessed with
two children — Alfred, the subject of this sketch, and
Mabel, now the wife of Gustav Laumeister, of Palo
Alto. Henry W. Scale married Miss Jessie D. Carr,
a daughter of Jesse Carr, the California pioneer.

Alfred, on settling down to his sphere in life, en-
tered the realty field as an owner, and has done his
part to favor the appreciation of land value and to
develop his holdings. He is a Democrat, as was his
father and uncle, favoring the substantial traditions of
the historic party, and his influence is often felt for the
uplifting of civic affairs.

When he married, Alfred Scale took for his wife
Miss Grace E. Ross, a native of Lassen County,
Cal., and the daughter of A. E. Ross, a pioneer
stockman. Four children came to gladden the hearts
of these worthy parents. Marion, Barbara, Alfred, Jr.,
and Marjorie. Mr. Scale is a Mason, and a Shriner;
and he is also a very esteemed member of the Na-
tive Sons of the Golden West.

ARTHUR E. ARNOLD.--Coming to Stockton,
Cal., in 1876, Arthur E. Arnold was for a number of
years a resident of the San Joaquin Valley, at a time
when, compared with the present, that part of the
country was sparsely settled. A native of Connecti-
cut, Mr. Arnold was born at Norwalk, November 2.
1850, and when thirteen years old accompanied his
parents to Boscobel, Wis., and there he spent the
ne.xt thirteen years of his life at farm work and at
threshing operations. In 1876 he came to California
and went to work on a ranch in San Joaquin County;
he remained there but a short time, however, going
from there to the Sperry Bros, ranch, near Stockton.
Later he organized a threshing crew and contracted
for the threshing of grain throughout San Joaquin.
County when it was a vast grain field, continuing
there until 1895, when he came to Santa Clara Coun-
ty. He decided on the rich district of Morgan Hill as
the scene for his future operations and purchased
thirty-five acres of the Dunne tract, situated on Ed-
mundson .\venue, and here he has since made his
home, continuing his threshing operations each sum-
mer in San Joaquin County until 1919.

In 1880 Mr. Arnold was married to Miss Vina C.
Carlon, who was born in Iowa, the daughter of Kin-
sey and Henrietta (Mallard) Carlon. The father,
who was born in Pennsylvania in 1824, was a pioneer
settler of Iowa, and Mrs. Carlon was born in New
Jersey in 1837; she lived to be eighty-one years old.

passing away

1918. Mrs. Arnold, who

was fortunate in having a fine education, followed
the profession of teaching in Iowa for about four
years before her marriage to Mr. Arnold, whose ac-
quaintance she made while on a visit to California.
Three children have been born to them: Vivian,

-y/^o^^ (Z:.dZ£A^c

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

973

married to John Ricardo, and they reside at Antioch;
Wallace, deceased, is survived by a son, Arthur F.
Arnold, who lives at San Jose; Carl, married Miss
Kruger of Watsonville, and they reside near Morgan
Hill; he has a fine record for service during the
World War, serving for two years and spending
twelve months overseas in the Engineers Corps. Mr.
Arnold is a Republican in politics and takes a keen
interest in all that concerns the community's good.
Mrs. Arnold has been a member of the Methodist
Church for twenty-six years and of the W. C. T. U.
for twenty-seven years.

FRED W. OSTERMAN.— Prominent among the
most progressive and successful nurserymen of Cal-
ifornia is Fred W. Osterman, who was born on the
Alameda, in San Jose, on October 29, 1866, the son of
William and Mary Agatha (Brunst) Osterman. His
father came to California across the plains in an ox-
team train in the early fifties, and for a while was
employed in the lumber mills at Fort Bragg, in Men-
docino County. He had come to America and New
York City from Bremen when he was fourteen years
old, and later made his way to California; and he had
to struggle with adversity, for his parents' property
had been confiscated by the Russians. Mrs. Osterman,
on the other hand, came from Klingen Munster,
Rheinfelsen, and she and Mr. Osterman were married
at San Francisco, after he had been shipwrecked
while journeying from Ft. Bragg to the Bay City. Mr.
Osterman took up mill work at the Froment Lumber
Companj', and later accepted a position with the Santa
Clara Valley Lumber Company in San Jose, where he
continued till he died. His widow is living in San Jose
aged eighty-six years. She has three children, Fred-
erick W., our subject; Margaret, Mrs. Jas. Donnelly
of San Francisco; and Wm. J., of San Jose.

Fred Osterman attended the Hester school, and at
fifteen was apprenticed to learn the plumber's trade.
He worked under Fred Klein for four years, and then
for a couple of years, or until they discontinued, for
Badgley & Behrendt. After that, for sixteen years
he was in the employ of Chris. Hirth. He then went
into business for himself, and for five years had a
plumbing shop at 732 South First Street. From a lad
Mr. Osterman had been interested in growing flowers,
plants, seeds and trees and always cared for the home
gardens and he became experienced in budding and
grafting as well as propagating plants, so in 1904 he
sold his plumbing business to devote all of his time
to the nursery business. He established his first nur-
sery at 501 Prevost Street, and after four years he
sold out to Charles Navlet. Then lie bought the
old Hannah Nursery of ten acres on the McLaughlin
Road, and there he has cultivated all kinds of nur-
sery stock, and became an expert in bulb growing. He
has installed a first-class pumping plant, and many
modern improvements. He has also installed a system
of irrigation from pipes laid underground. He makes
a specialty of raising bulbs and all kinds of ornamental
stock, narcissus, peonies, jonquils, daffodils, gladioli,
as well as all kinds of roses and has established a rep-
utation for growing the finest roses, importing roses
from France and jonquils from Holland.

At San Jose on .^ugust 7, 1889, Mr. Osterman was
married to Miss Orianna Waldorf, a native of Mt.
-Auburn, 111., and the daughter of Jacob and Adaline
C. (Slayton) Waldorf. Jacob Waldorf was born
in Warnerville, N. Y. Coming to Michigan he mar-

ried Adaline C. Slayton, who was born in Hillsdale,
Mich., and they removed to Illinois where they were
farmers. During the Civil War, Mr. Waldorf was
captain of Company G, U. S. Heavy Artillery, taking
part in the Georgia campaign and march to the sea.
In 1873 Mr. Waldorf removed to Virginia City, Nev.,
where he was employed in the Bonanza King mine,
his family joining him in 187S. In 1887 the family
came to San Jose, and seven years later the father
joined them there, where he died. His widow con-
tinues to reside in San Jose, aged seventy-nine years.
Of their seven children, five are living: Mrs. Minnie
McCourt of San Francisco; Orianna, Mrs. Osterman;
John T., a prominent man of San Francisco, who was
enrolling clerk of the U. S. Senate for four years;
Geo. W., an attorney in San Jose; Addie, deceased;
Jacob was with the aero squadron in the World War
and is also deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Osterman have
two children, Florence, a graduate of Heald's Busi-
ness College, is in the employ of the California Prune
& Apricot Growers, Inc. Frederick Elmer was in the
government service and on a vessel that plied between
the United States and China during the war. He is
now associated with the Philippine Vegetable Com-
pany at Manila.

Mr. Osterman is a member of the San Jose Nurs-
erymens' Association and of the Seventh Day Adven-
tist Church. Mrs. Osterman is a member of Anna
Ella Carroll Circle No. 1, Ladies of the G. A. R. and
of the Baptist Church. Mr. Osterman gives no small
credit for his success to his faithful wife who mani-
fests the greatest interest in his business and has
charge of the floral department, making all the bo-
quets and floral designs for the trade.

SAMUEL G. TOMPKINS.— No San Josean is
better known or more deeply respected than Samuel
G. Tompkins, attorney, American plan advocate,
golf enthusiast — and flute player, and from the days
of his early boyhood, when he was struggling for a
foothold against heavy odds, until the present years
of fulfillment, his life is the interesting story of a
truly self-made man. !Mr. Tompkins was born in
Louisiana, where his father was a man of promi-
nence, a circuit judge whose jurisdiction extended
over three counties, or parishes, as they were called
in that state. The father enlisted in the Confederate
army, and his four years' service during the Civil
War left him in impaired health, so he sold his
holdings of 1500 acres for $1500 and planned to
move to California. The tickets were bought for
the family, which then consisted of father, mother
and four children, the eldest just eleven and the
youngest a baby of thirteen months. Everyone was
happy in the prospect of the journey; and one day the
fatlier went to the river landing to superintend the
shipping of their household effects, and all was well
until the boat was four miles out from shore, when
it burned to the water's edge and nothing was saved.
On the way home the father encountered a severe
rainstorm and this exposure, in his weakened condi-
tion, caused his death. In this pitiable plight, Mrs.
Tompkins did the only thing possible, and using the
tickets already purchased she brought her little fam-
ily to Yuba City. Cal , where some of the father's
relatives lived. Here she taught music for a year,
and hearing that Colusa offered better opportunities,
she moved there.

974

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Samuel G. attended school at Colusa until he was
fourteen, and then quit school to earn his living,
working at all sorts of odd jobs — digging cellars,
chopping wood, working in the hay field — keeping
this up until he was eighteen, when he was awakened
to the great need of an education and, as he puts it.
the desire "to be somebody." Some neighbors were
moving to Oakland in order to give their boys bet-
ter educational advantages and their plans gave him
the determination to get an education. Securing a
job with a threshing gang, he worked from before
sunrise until the last glint of daylight had disap-
peared. He had heard of the College of the Pacific
and wrote there, telling of his ambition to get an
education, and in reply received a nice letter of en-
couragement from Dr. C. C. Stratton, the president,
telling him if he had accomplished a certain amount
of Latin, he could enter the third year preparatory
work in August. Mr. Tompkins set to work, study-
ing at the noon dinner hour under the cook wagon
or inside the wagon at night, while the Chinaman
washed the dishes. When the summer's work was
over, he bought a ticket for San Jose, arriving there
with $50 two weeks before college opened. Pres-
ident Stratton, recognizing the boy's ambition and
determination, secured work for him on the campus,
the earnings to apply on his tuition, and Samuel also
secured a job as night messenger for the American
District Telegraph. Next he became janitor of the
old Presbyterian Church, doing his work at night
after the day's study at college was finished, keeping
this up for two years, and he was able to keep up his
studies until he graduated in 1886. Two weeks later
he took the teacher's examination and secured a
first-grade certificate, teaching his first year at the
Jefferson school near Santa Clara, and then two
terms at the Hester School at San Jose. When he
first entered college he made the decision that he
would be a lawyer, so he then gave up teaching and
entered the office of T. H. Laine, and after a year
there he passed the Supreme Court's examination
successfully. At last the time had come when the
goal of his ambitions was in sight; but his money
was gone, so he went back to teaching, this time tak-
ing two positions to make up for lost time, a day
school at the Guadalupe mines and at the night
school in San Jose. He made the round trip of
twenty-four miles every day with a horse and cart.

About 1890 Mr. Tompkins opened up his law of-
fice in the building where the Madsen Furniture
Company store now stands, but kept his night school
position to pay his expenses while waiting for busi-
ness to come. Needless to say, it did come, and as
the years have gone by, Mr. Tompkins has taken
his place among the leaders of the bar of Santa Clara
County. In reply to the query as to what he attri-
buted his success, Mr. Tomkins once said, "I attribute
it to making up my mind to do a thing — and stick-
ing to it. It is not so much brilliancy that counts,
but energy and fair dealing. I suppose that every
man at some time in his life thinks that when he has
accomplished certain things that he will quit busi-
ness, but some year ago something occurred to me
that was enlightening. A successful man whom I
knew well decided to retire from business, visioning
long years of enjoyment and ease. Some months

afterwards I saw him standing on a corner, just
looking up and down the street. After greeting him
I said, 'What are you waiting for?' I will never for-
get the tragedy of his reply, 'Sam, I'm just waiting
to die.' As I walked away I changed my mind about
ever giving up work. I wanted to be a lawyer. I
am a lawyer; and I shall continue to practice law.
One can rust out quickly, but it takes a long time to
wear out." Mr. Tompkins is a great lover of music
and has been for many years an artistic performer on
the flute. He says, "The history of my flute playing
goes back to Colusa County, when I was fourteen
years old. I attended a concert and heard a boy play
a piccolo — an octave flute — and for years I carried
that tune in my head, until I located it in Von Web-
er's Oberon. When I left the concert that night I
wanted to learn to play. I hustled around and got a
subscriber for the Youth's Companion. The prize
was a fife; it came and I welcomed it, but it wasn't
a flute. Finally I found an eight-keyed flute and
now I own a Boehm flute for which I paid $185.
Music is my recreation and mj^ pleasure. There is
something about, especially flute music, that is soul
satisfying. Somehow I thing that what I did with
the flute is just what we have to do in life with a
chosen line of work. We have to select something
and then make ourselves master of it — whether it's
a flute or a profession."

DALLAS E. WOOD.— Among the progressive
and active citizens of Palo Alto, whose influence is
felt along all lines, is Dallas E. Wood, the editor
and joint publisher of the Daily Palo Alto Times. A
native of California, he was born in Merced, on
January 27, 1886. His father, Mirabeau Dallas
Wood, was a native of Florida, while his mother,
Maron L. Wood, was a native of Missouri. His
maternal and paternal grandparents were from Vir-
ginia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Dallas E.
began his education in the grammar school of Mer-
ced and was graduated from the grammar school in
June, 1900; and from the Merced high school in June,
1904; he immediately entered the Stanford Llnivers-
ity and was a student from 1904 to 1908. After his
graduation his first work was as advertising writer
in San Francisco, and he was thus engaged for seven
years. In 1915 he became the city editor of the
Merced Sun and was thus occupied until July 1,
1919, when he became editor and joint publisher of
the Daily Palo Alto Times in partnership with
George F. Morel! and William F. Henry.

Mr. Wood's marriage occurred in Stockton, Cal.,
August 24, 1921, and united him with Miss Elizabeth
A. Wright, a daughter of the late Judge E. G. Wright
of Putnam, Conn., and Mrs. Wright, now of Boston,
Mass. Mrs. Wood is a native of Connecticut and
her education was begun in that state; later she was
a student and was graduated from the Stanford Uni-
versity with the class of 1908. Mr. Wood is the
owner of a fig orchard in Merced County. Political-
ly he is a Democrat and fraternally belongs to the
Knights of Pythias. During his residence in Palo
Alto he has entered enthusiastically into the civic
life of the community and is ever ready to put his
shoulder to the wheel to help its progress.

0i^^^^ ^ 0e^c^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

975

FRANK J. O'CONNELL.— Already securely es-
tablished in the business life of the community,
Frank J. O'Connell, the vice-president of O'Connell
Bros., Inc., and manager of their extensive cattle
ranch, is greatly interested in the growth and devel-
opment of Santa Clara County along broad and com-
prehensive lines and zealous in his work towards
making it one of the banner counties of the state
in agricultural and horticultural resources. The sec-
ond eldest of a family of six living children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas O'Connell, pioneers whose
sketch appears elsewhere in this book, he was born
at Hollister, San Benito County on October 23, 1881,
where his early education was gained. In 1895, when
a lad of thirteen years, he accompanied the family
when they removed to San Jose, and there he con-
tinued in school for another year, when he left the
classroom to give all his time in assisting his father,
who was engaged in the fuel and feed business.

In 1902, Mr. O'Connell, with his brother Charles,
took over their father's business and continuing
in partnership until July 9, 1906, when the five
O'Connell boys incorporated the business as O'Con-
nell Bros., Inc., in which he has since been a direc-
tor and vice-president. They then enlarged the busi-
ness, establishing a grocery department, as well as
a wholesale and retail butcher business, and iinding
a great need for a large supply of cattle, in 1911 they
launched out into cattle raising. This end of the
business has grown to great proportions and they
now own 15,000 acres near Aladrone. and control
another 17,000 by lease at Pacheco Pass, a descrip-
tion of their holdings being found in the article on
O'Connell Bros., Inc. In 1911 Mr. O'Connell took
charge of the cattle and ranch interests and has
since superintended that part of the business. A .
close student of the stock industry, he has become
exceptionally well informed and is considered one of
the best judges of cattle in this part of the state,
buying cattle from Mexico to Oregon, as well as
east to Nevada.

In San Jose, on June 17, 1911, Mr. O'Connell was
married to Miss Rhea Fenton, a native of Iowa, and
they have three children, Fenton Frank, James W.
and Ruth Irma. Mr. O'Connell is a popular mem-
ber of the Woodmen of the World and Ancient
Order of Foresters. He is a straight-out Republican
and protectionist, progressive in his ideas, and al-
ways ready to boost for the great commonwealth of
his birth. Widely known throughout this part of
the country, his genial manner has made him a host
of friends over the state.

GEORGE B. CALL. — A representative citizen of
San Martin w'hose years of application to business
have brought him affluence in this world's goods,
George B. Call is the son of worthy pioneers of the
Golden State, who came here in the '50s. A native
son, he was born at Tehama City, Tehama County,
on November 5, 1863, the son of John and Sarah
(Shortridge) Call. In the early '70s the family re-
moved to Sonoma County, where the father was en-
gaged in ranching, and there George B. was reared,
receiving his education in the schools there.

Mr. Call's marriage united him with Miss Ida
Bandfield, a native daughter of San Francisco, her
parents being John and Mary Bandfield, wlio were
residents of Santa Rosa until their demise. John

Bandfield is numbered among California's pioneers,
having come to San I'raiuisco in 1849, where he was
in the employ of the Ccvi i miunt. In 1890 Mr. Call
located near Forctville, Sonoma County, and there
followed general farming and fruit raising until 1900,
when he removed to Santa Ana, Orange County,
where he farmed on the famous San Joaquin Rancho.
owned by James Irvine, and comprising thousands
of acres devoted largely to growing lima beans. In
1903 he came to San Martin and located on a ranch
which he developed into one of the most profitable
orchard and vineyard properties in this district. His
holdings now consist of fifty acres, located on Church
-Avenue, and while he has retired from active work on
the ranch, it is being cared for under his capable
supervision and brings him a handsome income each
year. A Republican in politics, Mr. Call has always
taken a public-spirited interest in whatever concerned
the welfare of the community and for eight years
served as road supervisor during the term of H. S.
Hersman. He joined the Odd Fellows lodge in
Sonoma County and has always retained his affilia-
tion with this order. A firm believer in co-operation,
he was one of the charter members of the California
Prune & Apricot Association.

MRS. OLLIE M. -WILKES.— A woman who has
nobly done her part to build up and improve the
hotel business in Palo Alto, and who, as proprietress
of Hotel Palo Alto, has displayed much business
acumen in her efforts to give satisfaction and enjoy-
ment to her patrons, such a woman is Mrs. OUie M.
Wilkes, wlio is a native of Wisconsin, having been
born at Milwaukee. Early in life she was deprived of
both parents and was adopted by Peter R. and Mar-
garet Wolf. Her foster-father has passed away, but
Mrs. Wolf resides with her at the Palo Alto Hotel,
now eight-five years old.

In 1896 she married Albert Balentine Wilkes, a
native of Clinton, Iowa, and that year they removed
to Seattle, Wash. Several years later they settled
in Sonoma County, Cal., and remained for four years;
then came to Palo Alto in 191S and rented the Palo
Alto Hotel. Mr. Wilkes is at present engaged in
business in Texas, and Mrs. Wilkes manages the
hotel with the help of her son. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkes
are the parents of two children; Evan C. was in the
V. S. Navy as gunner's mate; Merna M. is the wife
of J. F. Van Druten, who is engaged in newspaper
circulation and movie promotion enterprises in Cal-
ifornia cities. They reside in Palo Alto and are the
parents of one child, Margaret. Mrs. Wilkes was
brought up in the Episcopalian faith and takes an ac-
tive interest in philanthropic and patriotic work, being
past president of the Woman's Relief Corps of Palo
Alto. Before her marriage Mrs. Wilkes was the effi-
cient auditor for the A. W. Rich Company, large mer-
chants in Milwaukee, and this experience has enabled
her to carry forward her hotel business with thorough-
ness and faithfulness which have been the principal
elements of her success. The Palo Alto is the principal
commercial hotel in the city and under her efficient
management is proving a decided success. Mrs.
Wilkes is a good example of what an American wo-
man can accomplish. Bright, interesting, and public-
spirited, she never loses an opportunity to speak a
good word for Palo Alto.

976

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

TOM CARDOZA.— A prominent and influential
resident of Santa Clara County is Tom Cardoza,
vice-president of the Palo Alto Dairy Company,
of 314 University Avenue, once active in the build-
ing world, hauling over one-half of the materials
required for the Stanford University structures. For
the past eight years he has been a leader in the
local dairy vi-orld, and in that role has done much
to advance California agricultural interests. He has
lived for thirty-six years in Palo Alto; and although
he himself had little or no opportunity to go to
school, he is affording his children the best of edu-
cational advantages, determined that they shall not
be handicapped as he has been. He was born in
the Island of Pico, in the Azores group, on De-
cember 23, 1863, the son of John Cardoza, a farmer,
who owned his farm, and Laura (Silva) Cardoza.
There were four children — three sons and a daugh-
ter— in the family; and Tom was the second in the
order of birth. He stayed at home until he was
seventeen, and then, setting sail from the balmy
islands, he landed at old Castle Garden on June
14, 1880. He came by rail to San Francisco, when
he was fourteen days in crossing the continent; and
for five years he worked as a teamster in Contra
Costa County.

He then came, as a young unmarried man, to
what is now Palo Alto, and for two years he worked
for Henry Seale, and thirty-five years ago he was
married to Miss Mary Silva, who passed away after
four years of felicitous wedded life. Two children
had died within eleven months, and it was their
death that caused the demise, from a broken heart,
of the devoted mother. Thereafter Mr. Cardoza
took up contracting for teaming, and hauled gravel,
rock and sand-gravel for building purposes in Palo
Alto. He also supplied road-building gravel. He
attended strictly to business, and it grew until he
had twenty-two teams. He also hauled furniture for
the boys' dormitory, for Encina Hall, also the old
Robley Hall, from the railway cars; and as he was
more than dependable, he never lacked for work.

Mr. Cardoza first became interested in dairying at
Palo Alto. He became financially interested in the
Palo Alto Creamery Company, now known as the
Palo Alto Dairy Company, of which he is the prin-
cipal stockholder and vice-president, George Will-
iams of Manteca being the president. Among val-
uable city property, he owns two residences and sev-
eral lots; and he is also stockholder in the Palo Alto
Bank. The Palo Alto Dairy Company employs five
workmen and a bookkeeper, and in its field it is one
of the most desirable of local enterprises.

Mr. Cordoza was married a second time on Feb-
ruary 29, 1892, when he chose for his wife Miss Anne
Andrade in San Leandro, Cal. They have had eleven
children, nine of whom are living. Alfred is a student
at Stanford University, and the others, Harry, Louisa,
Annie, Laura, Josie, Eva. Efiie and Elsie (twins), all
attractive and highly creditable children. Laura mar-
ried Charles Ross, and resides at Palo Alto. Louisa
married Tom Oates, resides in Bakersfield where he is
engaged in the laundry business. Mr. Cardoza resides
with his family at 760 Homer Avenue. He is a mem-
ber of the U. P. E. C. Society, of which he was treas-
urer for many years, and he also belongs to the In-
dependent Order of Foresters. He prefers the plat-
forms of the Republican party, but he never allows

partisan politics to interfere with his doing what-
ever he can to endorse and forward the most com-
mendable local

GEORGE F. MORELL.— A successful man who
always finds time to lend a hand, and generally a
very helpful one, to advance every worthy movement
in local affairs is George F. Morell, the genial man-
ager of the Palo Alto Times. Born at South Am-
herst, Mass., September 24, 1886, he is the son of
John Fowler Morell, born in Lenox, Mass., and
Alice (Goodrich) Morell, a native of Stockbridge,
Mass. Both paternal and maternal grandparents re-
sided in Massachusetts. Prior to 1800 his maternal
ancestors were prominent in the life of Connecticut
settling there as early as 1630. His paternal ances-
tors were from Pennsylvania, locating there in 1756.
George Morell began his education in the grammar
schools of South Amherst and then entered the
Flushing high school in New York City, and was
graduated with the class of 1904; he then came out
to California and was a student of the Stanford Uni-
versity from 1905 to 1910. Upon completion of his
course at Stanford he became the advertising man-
ager of the Co-operative Land Company of San
Francisco and San Joaquin \'alley, and in August,
1912, he was sent to Merced in the interest of this
company, in 1915 being made manager of their Mad-
era and Merced county colonization projects. He
also became interested in cattle raising and remained
m Merced until 1917.

The marriage of Mr. Morell occurred on August
19, 1911, and united him with Miss Athene Frances
Bates, a daughter of Dr. Walter E. and Eudora
(Hart) Bates, and a resident of Davis, Cal., the
young people meeting at the Stanford University
where they were both students. Mr. Morell was a
resident of Merced at the beginning of the late war
and organized a company of volunteers in April,
1917; he enlisted at the Presidio in San Francisco in
August, 1917, in the Reserve Officers Training Corps.
On November 27, 1917, he was commissioned first
lieutenant and was assigned to the Twentieth In-
fantry, and in August, 1918, he was commissioned
captain in the same regiment. During the time of
his residence in Merced he served as trustee of the
Union high school, was secretary of the Merced
County Board of Forestry, and took a leading part
in many other civic enterprises. In June, 1919, he
purchased a controlling interest in the Times Pub-
lishing Company of Palo Alto and is now manager of
that company and the Times. The Times has been
a daily at three different periods. Once for four
months, in 1895, under the direction of Tom Kemp;
next in 1902 for five months, and thirdly, since 1905
to the present time. In Ogtober, 1920, Mr. Morell
became a member of the executive staff of the Bank
of Palo Alto, and during 1920, 1921 and 1922 he
served as vice-president of the Chamber of Com-
merce of Palo Alto. Mr. Morell was the organizer
and first commander of Fremont Post No. 52, Amer-
ican Legion, at Palo Alto, and in 1920 was the chair-
man of the American Legion committee for the
Eighth congressional district, also chairman of the
Welfare Fund committee of the American Legion
for Palo Aho Public Health Hospital. He is the
owner of ranch property in Monterey, San Benito,

ANNE ANDRADE CARDOZA

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Madera, and Merced counties. A consistent worker
for higher civic standards, better citizenship and
community advancement of every sort, Mr. Morell
was organizing chairman of the Palo Alto Rotary
Club and the first vice-president of that organiza-
tion. He holds a commission in the Reserve Corps
of the U. S. Army and is now captain, commanding
Company F of the 36jrd Infantry, 91st Division.

ANTONIO RIANDA.— Among the successful
dairymen of the Gilroy district is Antonio Rianda,
who by hard work and a determination to succeed
has achieved his ambition and has become well-to-do.
He was born in Canton Ticino, Switzerland, Sep-
tember 25, 1865, the son of Antonio Rianda, also a
native of the same canton. His mother was Agnes
Leoni before her marriage, and she passed away
when her son Antonio was seven years old. The
father left his home and went to South America and
from there came to California in 1849 and engaged
in mining, and finally returned to Switzerland and
spent the remainder of his days in his native canton.
In 1881, Antonio Rianda, Jr., came to America, and
California, and located near Watsonville, where he
remained for five years and later engaged in farming
near Salinas and Soledad. In 1886, he removed to
the James H. Ellis' place, near Gilroy, and conducted
a dairy business on shares successfully for eight
years. He manufactured butter and cheese at Fac-
tory No. 15 on this ranch.

The marriage of Mr. Rianda united him with Miss
Ellen Watson, born Jaimary 22, 1872, the daughter
of that early pioneer, Alexander Watson, a native
of Scotland, who was born October 6, 1834. When
he was a babe in arms he was brought by his parents
to the United States, and they first located in South
Carolina, then went to New York where Alexander
was reared and educated in Herkimer County. He
lived on a farm until 1859 when he started for Cali-
fornia via the Isthmus, and on his arrival here went
to work in the mines. In 1860 he came to Santa
Clara County and was employed as a dairyman for
several years; in 1868 he purchased an interest in a
ranch, but this was subdivided in 1871. He inarried
Lavina Bryan, a native of California, and they were
the parents of three children: Ellen, Mrs. Rianda;
Martha, Mrs. Linderleaf; and Alexander.

Mr. and Mrs. Rianda are the parents of four child-
ren: Roy, served twenty-two months in the U. S.
Army overseas in the engineers corps, and is now a
rancher near Gilroy; George, enlisted in the army
during the late war and served three months at a
training camp; Harry, was ready to go when the
armistice was signed, and is at home; and Elsie G., a
stenographer at Gilroy. These children were born,
reared and educated in Gilroy township. Mr. Rianda
became a citizen of the United States in 1887. receiv-
ing his papers in Judge Lorigan's court. In politics
he is a liberal Republican. He has been a member
of the Swiss Benevolent Society since 1887, and an
Odd Fellow since 1888. In 1894 he purchased forty-
eight acres of land in the Watson subdivision. His
home place now consists of ninety acres, making a
fine, highly cultivated ranch and dairy farm. He also
owns 195 acres of range and hill land. With the help
of his sons he has conducted a dairy since 1894. He
was one of the original stockholders of the First
National Bank of Gilroy. now known as the Gilroy

Branch of Garden City Bank and Trust Company,
and he is also a stockholder in the Bank of Italy, Gil-
roy Branch.

ROBERT WALKER.— In the passing of Robert
Walker, Santa Clara County lost one of her most
progressive liii/rn- uhc, during his long residence
here, did liis lull slum in bringing about the won-
derful transfurmatiun that has made the Santa Clara
Valley one of the garden spots of the United States.
Mr. Walker was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Can.,
September IS, 1842, the son of John and Ann (Mc-
intosh) Walker, the former born in Edinburgh,
while Mrs. Walker was a native of the Highlands of
Scotland. When a young man he crossed the ocean
to America, locating at Montreal, Canada, where he
was married, and from there removed to Ancaster
Township, near Hamilton, being one of the pioneers
of that district. He passed away in 1885, his widow-
surviving him several years, passing away at the age
of ninety years.

One of a family of eight children, Robert Walker
remained at home until he was twenty years old,
and in 1862 he left on the long journey to California
via the Isthmus of Panama. On reaching San Fran-
cisco he left by the next steamer for Victoria, British
Columbia, and in 1863 he went inland to the Caribou
gold mines, near the Eraser river, and nearly 400
miles from Victoria. Here he remained until the fall
of 1865, when he returned to San Francisco, and in
the following spring he made another trip to British
Columbia, this time engaging in mining at Big Bend,
on the Columbia River. Not finding the mines profit-
able, however, he returned to California and settled
in Monterey County, where he farmed for three
years. In 1871 Mr. Walker came to Santa Clara
County and purchased land on the Los Gatos and
San Jose road, and there he built a country home
that was one of the well-known landmarks of that
part of the country. He added to his holdings until
he had over 400 acres, and through his capable super-
vision it became a very valuable property. A leader
in the financial life of the community, he was a
director of the Bank of Los Gatos and of the Los
Gatos Fruit Packing Company.

While living in Monterey County, Mr. Walker was
married to Miss Eliza Jane Parr, a native of Santa
Clara County and the daughter of Jonathan and
Eliza (Lowe) Parr, both born in England and pio-
neers of California coming across the plains in 1846.
Jonathan Parr became owner of 3000 acres on both
sides of Los Gatos creek, and here they both died.
Mrs. Eliza (Parr) Walker died in October, 1893, the
mother of three children, Leslie R., deceased. Myrtle,
and Vivian C, deceased. Myrtle Walker, the only
child living, became the w^ife of Frank A. Johnson,
and two children were born to them: Robert P.,
who was in the U. S. service for eighteen months
during the World War, and Alice A. Mr. Johnson
passed away in 1900 and Mrs. Johnson still makes
her home on her ranch near Los Gatos. Prominent
in the fraternal circles of his days, Robert Walker
became a member of the Odd Fellows in 1888, and
he was for many years a member of the Ancient
Order of United Workmen. He passed away in
October. 1900. closing a life full of kindly deeds, and
in which success had come as a reward of his integ-
rity and upright spirit.

982

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

FRANK ALLEN GUSHING— Business inter-
ests in Los Gatos find an enterprising representative
in Frank Allen Gushing, who for the past fourteen
years has here engaged in contracting teaming and
he is also the owner of a blacksmith shop, display-
ing sound judgment and capability in the conduct of
his affairs. A native of Iowa, he was born at Red-
ding, March 1, 1876, and his parents were Benjamin
and Addie (Allen) Gushing. The father became the
owner of a stock ranch in South Dakota and in 1890
he came to Galifornia, where he continued to follow
his chosen occupation on a ranch at the Summit in
Santa Gruz Gounty until his demise, which occurred
on July 4, 1917, while the mother had passed away
in 1880 in Illinois. Of their three children, two girls
and one boy, Frank Allen is the second oldest.

Frank Allen Gushing acquired a public school
education in South Dakota and at Austin Gorners
district school in Santa Glara Gounty, but quit school
to assist his father in the operation of the home farm
until he was sixteen years of age, when he started out
in the world on his own account. He began work
for Mr. Sabin on the Tip Top Ranch driving a
team; then with R. R. Bell of Los Gatos in the
same work; then for others until 1903 when he bought
a six-mule team and outfit at Boulder Greek and
teamed for one year. In August, 1904, he came to
Los Gatos, where he engaged in teaming, purchasing
more teams, which he used in hauling lumber and
other commodities from the mountains. His busi-
ness has developed with the passing years and he
now uses thirty-two head of horses and furnishes
employment to from four to ten men. He takes
contracts for hauling and does all kinds of excavating,
road building, etc., in addition to which he is the
ovvner of a blacksmith shop, and in both lines of
activity success has rewarded his efforts. He owns
a residence at 120 Santa Gruz Avenue where he re-
sides with his family. He still owns the old ranch in
the Santa Gruz Mountains.

In Los Gatos. Mr. Gushing married Miss Dora
Hensley, one of Galifornia's native daughters from
Porterville, a daughter of William and Phoebe Hen-
sley, pioneers of Tulare County. William Hensley
came to Galifornia across the plains with an ox-
team, and subsequently he crossed the plains twice.
He has passed away, but his widow is still living,
hale and hearty, at Los Gatos. Mr. and Mrs. Gush-
ing are the parents of two children: Ben is associ-
ated with his father in business, and Pearl is the
wife of John Panighetti of Los Gatos. There is
one grandchild, Allen Garlos Panighetti. Mr. Gush-
ing gives his political allegiance to the Republican
party. He has led an active and useful life, employ-
ing every opportunity to advance, and is accounted
one of the public-spirited men of his community.

SAN JOSE MERCURY HERALD.— The history
of the San Jose Mercury Herald starts on June 20,
1851, with the publication of the Weekly Visitor, which
in August, 1852, was changed to the Register. In
1853, F. B. Murdock procured control of the weekly,
changed its name to the San Jose Telegraph, and as
such it continued to appear until 1860, when it was
merged into the Telegraph and Mercury, acquired by
William N. Slocum, who soon dropped the word
Telegraph, and called it the San Jose Weekly Mer-
cury, and the Mercury it has been ever since. In the
spring of the following year, 1861, J. J. Owen ac-

quired control of the paper, and from then until
1884, when it was purchased by the late Charles M.
Shortridge, the history of the paper and the name
of J. J. Owen are inseparably linked. Dreamer, vis-
ionary, poet, "forty years ahead of his time," as he
was declared to be, the influence wielded by him,
through the columns of the Weekly Mercury from
1861 to 1871, and the Daily Mercury for the thirteen
years following, in the growth and upbuilding of San
Jose and Santa Glara Gounty, can truthfully be
said to be without parallel.

For three months after November S, 1861 — the date
of its first appearance — the Daily Mercury was dis-
tributed, but on February 2, 1862, under an editorial
headed Our Brief Candle, Owen advised his readers
that publication would be suspended. Nine years later,
in August of 1869, under the co-management of
J. J. Conmy, the Daily Mercury again made its ap-
pearance. In March of 1871, Cottle again became
Owen's partner. The two purchased the Guide and
the Independent, merged their three newspaper prop-
erties into a daily, and the San Jose Daily Mercury
for the third time resumed publication. From that
time publication has been continuous.

Of outstanding importance in the first issue of the
Daily Mercury (1861) is J. J. Owen's declaration of
the policy of the paper, a simple, straightforward ex-
pression of a journalistic ideal of the highest order
that more than anything else explains the survival
of the Mercury through long years of struggle and
disappointment. "We do not e.xpect to please all,"
Owen wrote. "Our minds are differently consti-
tuted, and we cannot all see alike. Upon questions
of public policy we shall express our views fearlessly,
advocating only what we believe to be right, regard-
less of consequences." The first Daily Mercury lived
but three months, but the declaration of policy enun-
ciated in thet first issue has lived to this day.

Much could be written of the gifted men who have
at different times been members of the staff of the
Mercury. Of those none has gone farther in jour-
nalism than John McNaught, who did some of the
best work of his career in the column known as
"Random Notes." At one time secretary to Joseph
Pulitzer, he later became a director in the Pulitzer
School of Journalism and chief editorial writer for
the New York World. Others who have since made
names for themselves in various professions are H.
S. Foote, to whom the county is indebted for an
earlier history; Judge John E. Richards, who was
chief editorial writer for six years and contributor of
special articles; Madge Morris Waggoner, one of
our most graceful Galifornia poets; Eugene T. Saw-
yer; W. C. Morrow; Walter R. Rutherford; John T.
Wallace; Dr. E. A. Clark; Ernest Simpson; John.
Charles and Guy Milnes: .Charles N. Kirkbride.
Charles South, Clifford. J. Owen; Charles P. Owen;
Gerald Beaumont; James Fellom; Ralph Coykendall;
Judge David Beldcn, and many, many more.

For the fifteen years following 1884, it was Charles
M. Shortridge, brother of Senator Samuel M. Short-
ridge, who guided the destiny of the Mercury. Serv-
ing first as an errand boy, he continued with the
paper for seven years, leaving it to enter the real
estate business. At the age of twenty-eight, aided
by business men who had faith in his ability as a
journalist, he purchased the San Jose "Times." This

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

985

was in 1883. The following year he acquired a con-
trolling interest in the stock of the Mercury. He
consolidated the two papers into the Times-Mercury,
and in 1885, after an unsuccessful attempt by W. A.
Taylor to purchase the paper, it became again the
Mercury, still under the ownership of Shortridge.
Although worth considerably less than $10,000 at the
time he acquired it, Shortridge so daringly and ten-
aciously pushed the paper forward, aided by a rap-
idly growing community, that late in the '90s he
was able to dispose of it for $100,000 to an associa-
tion of San Jose business men headed by Clarence
Wooster and W. H. Wright. Alfred Holman, now
editor and owner of the San Francisco Argonaut,
was taken into the association, soon acquired a con-
trolling interest, and published the paper until its
purchase in 1901 by E. A. and J. O. Hayes, the pres-
ent owners. About Christmas time of the preceding
year, the Herald, an afternoon paper, then "on the
rocks" so high and dry that it had not issued a
paper for several weeks, had been acquired by the
new Mercury owners, who continued to publish both
the Morning Mercury and the Evening Herald until
November 1, 1913, when the Herald made its last
appearance, being merged with the Alercury into
the San Jose Mercury Herald.

The acquisition of the Mercury by E. A. and J.
O. Hayes may rightly be said to mark the new order
of things in the local journalistic field. The day of
the eight-page morning daily for Santa Clara County
was gone forever. A new press was purchased, new
equipment was added to the mechanical department,
an engraving department was installed, new features
were added to the paper, and under the managing
editorship of E. K. Johnston the San Jose Mercury
Herald soon became the equal of the newspapers of
which other and larger cities had long boasted. To-
day, after sixty-one years of publication, reaching
over 16,000 subscribers daily, the San Jose Mercury
Herald stands a living and ever-growing monument
to those pioneers who, through its columns, did so
much for the upbuilding of the Santa Clara Valley.
It continues a fitting tribute, not only to the efforts
of those who brought it into being and guided it
through the years, but to the principles with which
it was imbued and for which it has always consist-
ently stood. From the date of its inception the Mer-
cury Herald has been loyally Republican.

THE STANFORD BANK.— This well known fin-
ancial institution was incorporated December 30,
1904, under the title Mayfield Bank and Trust Co.
Among the incorporators of the firm were George R.
Parkinson, J. J. Morris and Joseph Hutchinson of
Palo Alto, and Alexander Peers, Joseph P. Ponce and
Leonard Distel of Mayfield, all local pioneers. The
bank was first located in the Bracchi Building, on
Mayfield's main street. It remained there until 1908,
when it moved into its new modern bank building
at the corner of the State highway and Lincoln
avenue, Mayfield. This is now known as the May-
field branch of The Stanford Bank. The building is
one of the most up-to-date, country bank buildings
in the state. In 19ll the name was changed to The
Mayfield Bank. From January, 1909, to June, 1918, the
officers were Edward C. Ellet, president, and his son,
Charles Ellet. cashier. In 1918, Edward C. Ellet

retired, and Charles Ellet, who is still the cashier of
The Stanford Bank, seeing the great growth and de-
velopment in the City of Palo Alto, completely
reorganized the old Mayfield Bank. This was done
by increasing the capital, changing the name to The
Stanford Bank, and changing the principal place of
business from Mayfield to Palo Alto. The old May-
field Bank was retained as a branch of the new
and enlarged institution. When organizing the Stan-
ford Bank, in 1918, Charles Ellet sent for and was
joined by his brother. Alfred W. Ellet, then deputy
bank commissioner of the state of Kansas, who has
since served as vice-president.

The Stanford Bank is planning soon to increase
its capitalization. The present capitalization is $50,-
000. This bank has already passed the half-million
mark in assets and is growing very fast. The officers
and directors are as follows. Officers — Dr. Carl G.
Wilson, president; A. W. Ellet, vice-president;
Charles Ellet, cashier and treasurer; C. C. Baugh-
man, assistant cashier.

Directors— Dr. Carl G. Wilson, Elmer J. Worth,
Dr. W. H. Ketchum, Royal T. Heath, Dr. R. G.
Reynolds, Charles Ellet and A. W. Ellet. The names
of employes include also Owen J. Jones, head teller;
W. H. Rowe, second teller; Miss Marie La Brant
and Miss Maree Collins in Palo Alto and C. C.
Baughman and Miss Mary McGinty in Mayfield.

A total investment of $33,000 is represented in the
remodeling of the building and purchase and instal-
lation of equipment for The Stanford Bank at the
new location, corner of University Avenue and High
Street, where the bank wall transact business here-
after. The bank occupies a space 25x100 feet, the
larger frontage being on High Street. The building
conforms in both the lines of architecture and bufi
sandstone material used, to the plan of the Stanford
University buildings and is said to be the first bank
to employ the Romanesque lines in its building and
interior decorations.

The work has been executed under the supervision
of Mr. A. F. Roller, manager of the bank planning
division of the firm of M. G. West & Company, re-
nowned bank architect specialists of San Francisco.
The w^ood work is in cathedral oak. While designed
to give ever}' convenience to patrons, oiScials and
employes, the ornamental effects are strikingly beau-
tiful and original. Credit for the employment of the
style as well as the organization and naming of the
bank itself is due Mr. Charles Ellet, who, as cashier,
divides his time between the head office in Palo Alto
and the Mayfield branch.

The floor of the bank is ornamental tile. The
fixtures, including the screen and walls of the lobby,
are of San Saba marble to a height of three and one-
half feet. The top screen has been executed in ca-
thedral oak. Carved standards and rails of the screen
are richly decorated in polychrome. On each stand-
ard is mounted a globe of the earth, each bearing an
inscription pertaining to some specific field in the
domain of arts, science, industry and religion.

On June 3, 1922, this bank held its opening. The
visitors were entertained by music and refreshments
and were shown through the building with its many
comforts, conveniences and safeguards, including the
safety deposit vault guarded by a door weighing four

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tons, and is fire, drill and acetylene-torch proof. Its
present outlook presages a great future growth and
stability for its business affairs, in the conduct of
which service, efficiency and courteous treatment
enter into every transaction.

J. BYRON BLOIS.— An interesting self-made
man who is a master of the laundering industry and
the director of the most important enterprise in that
field in Palo Alto, is J. Byron Blois, manager of
the Stanford Laundry, and prominent in Masonic
circles. He was born at Glenwood, Cal., on August
1, 1884, the son of a farmer, James Blois, a native
of Nova Scotia, where he married Miss Elizabeth
Lively, also of that Down East coast country. They
migrated to California soon after their marriage, and
came to have ten children, eight of whom are still
living. From his third month our subject, who
was the sixth in the order of birth, grew up on his
father's farm near San Jose, and he attended the
public school in the Orchard district. He also went
to the San Jose Business College, where he took a
commercial course, graduating in June, 1900, and
then he became assistant bookkeeper in the Red Star
Laundry at San Jose. Four years later he entered
the laundry proper as a laundry worker in order to
learn the operating end of the business, and thus
acquired a thorough knowledge of all the ins and
outs of the business.

In 1906 he became the outside representative, and
had charge of all the territory in Santa Clara County
north of the city of Santa Clara, including Sunny-
vale, Mountain View, Los Gatos, Mayfield, Stan-
ford University and Palo Alto, the business requir-
ing four autos to take care of it.

In the meantime, having become well acquainted
with J. B. Leaman, Sr., and J. B. Leaman, Jr., he
formed a partnership with the latter, and as Blois &
Leaman bought out the Stanford Laundry, formerly
owned by Fairfield & Schutte; and under the excel-
lent management of Mr. Blois, this laundry has come
to be strictly up to date. It is excellently lighted,
clean and sanitary, and so arranged that all its busi-
ness is transacted with safety and dispatch. It has
four auto-delivery wagons, and improvements are be-
ing made in its outfit right along. Two new flat-
work ironers of most up-to-date design have recently
been installed, the larger alone costing some $6,000.
Three new thoroughly modern washing machines and
one extractor have also been put in, and a $5,000
water softener system has been installed. The laundry
also has good first-aid facilities. "Quality and Ser-
vice" is the motto of the Stanford Laundry, and they
have never failed, as practical ideals, to be realized.
Mr. Blois is secretary of the Laundry Owners" Club
of Santa Clara County, and an active member of the
state and national Laundry Owners' Associations.
The present firm own the property at the corner of
Forest Avenue and Ramona Street and it is especially
adapted for laundry use.

Mr. Blois was married in 1905 to Miss Pearl M.
Smith, born in South Dakota, of w'hom he was be-
reaved in April, 1910, the mother of one son, Robert
Byron. He was married again at San Jose in Octo-
ber, 1911, to Miss Edna May Torbert, of Woodland,
where her people are members of the oldest and most
esteemed circles. This union has been blessed with
three children: Molly Julietta and Edward James,
twins, and Betty May. The family reside in their

own home on Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Mr.
Blois is a member of the Palo Alto Parlor N. S. G. W.
Both husband and wife belong to the Grace Baptist
Church at San Jose, and also to the Eastern Star at
Palo Alto, in which Mrs. Blois is chaplain. Mr.
Blois was made a Mason in San Jose Lodge No. 10
F. & A. M., later admitted to Palo Alto Lodge No.
346, F. & A. M. He is a member of Palo Alto Chap-
ter No. 93, R. A. M. and of Palo Alto Command-
ery No. 47, K. T., as well as all the bodies of the
Scottish Rite at San Jose, Islam Temple, A. A. O. N.
M. S. San Francisco and the Stanford University
Masonic Club. He is a member director in the Palo
Alto Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club.
He organized the Pyramid of Ancient Egyptian Order
of Sciots in Palo Alto on January 26, 1921, and was
made its first Toparch; and on September 16, 1921,
he was elected for another year.

DR. ALFRED ROYCE TOMKIN.— For many
years a leading and influential citizen of San Jose, his
activity in business affairs and his co-operation in
public interests kept Dr. Alfred Royce Tomkin in
the foremost rank of those to whom the city owes
its development. His life was characterized by up-
right, honorable principles, and it also exemplified
the truth of the Emersonian philosophy that "The
way to win a friend is to be one." His genial kindly
manner won him the regard and good will of ?11
with whom he came in contact, and thus his death
was uniformly mourned throughout San Jose and the
surrounding district. Dr. Tomkin was born in With-
am, Essex County, England, June 7, 1826, a son of
Dr. Thomas M. Tomkin, a graduate of the College of
■Physicians and Surgeons, in London, England. Dur-
ing his lifetime he practiced medicine, and instituted
a private insane asylum, besides being much engaged
in medical literature, w:riting for the Lancet and other
medical journals. He passed away in 1858. The
mother of our subject was a Miss Eleanor Royce, a
native of Essex County. She passed away in 1868.

Alfred Royce Tomkin attended the Merchant Tai-
lors' School, then in Suffolk Street, London, for seven
or eight years, passing the usual examinations. On
March 13, 1849, he embarked on the St. George, and
sailed around the Horn to California, the trip occu-
pying seven months, one of which was spent in Val-
paraiso. He reached San Francisco on October 13,
and, storing the goods he had brought with him, like
all newcomers at that time, started immediately for
the mines. After digging a little gold at Mud Springs,
he was taken sick, and returned to San Francisco,
only to find that his goods had been destroyed by
fire, leaving him absolutely without means. He later
received a remittance from England and opened a
drug store in Santa Clara in 1854. He remained
there sixteen years, and then removed to San Jose,
where he resided until his death. In 1887 he was
elected coroner and public administrator of Santa
Clara County and reelected to the office, which office
he held at the time of his death, July 25, 1891, about
the close of his second term.

In 1858 he was united in marriage to Miss Martha
F. Forbes, the eldest daughter .of James Alexander
Forbes, who came to this country from Edinburgh,
Scotland, in an early day, and was British consul dur-
ing the Mexican occupancy of California, before it
was ceded to the United States. Mrs. Tomkin

(S^i-^-*^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

passed away in 1875. They were the parents of seven
children: Alfred Forbes Tomkin of San Jose; Charles
Tomkin of San Francisco; Mrs. Eleanor Cunningham
of Saratoga; Thomas P. Tomkin of San Jose; Mrs.
Anna M. Maynard of San Jose; Mrs. Martha Dassell,
died at Morgan Hill in 1921; and Mrs. Clara B. Tur-
ner, died in San Francisco. While Dr. Tomkin estab-
lished a good business it was not his success alone
that won for him the respect and friendship of his
fellowmen, but his high character and his exemplifica-
tion of honorable, manly principles.

BENJAMIN FRANK WESTON.— A native of
Maine, Benjamin Frank Weston was descended from
a long line of New England ancestors, his grand-
father, Joseph Weston, having come from Massa-
cheusetts to Madison, Maine, as its first settler.
On his mother's side, the lineage goes back to
Stephen Hopkins, who came to Plymouth, Mass.,
on the Mayflower in 1620. The second son of Col.
William Weston, he was born at North Anson, Maine,
December 3, 1849. Prior to the Civil War, with the
movement of the logging and lumber business to the
Great Lakes, he accompanied his parents to Mil-
waukee, Wis. He was educated in the public schools
and at Northwestern University, Evanston, 111., be-
ing a member of the Phi Kappa Psi. With his
father and older brother he was successfully en-
gaged in lumbering and banking in Michigan and
also had large lumber interests in Wisconsin.

At the time of his marriage in 1883 Mr. Weston
came to California and for many years made his
home in Oakland and Berkeley. He was a man of
wide business interests, owning valuable pine lands
in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, and was a
director of the North Coast Steamship Company.
In 1886 he bought the orchard property now known
as Weston Place, near Santa Clara, which under his
supervision became the most valuable Bartlett pear
orchard of its size in the state. He was a prominent
Knights Templar Mason in Muskegon, Mich., and
at the time of his death, September 1, 1916, he was
a member of Oakland Commandery, K. T. He was
survived by his wife, Abbie M. (.Bunker) Weston,
and three children, William Bunker Weston, Samuel
Hopkins Weston and Helen Gould Weston. A man
of unblemished reputation, Mr. Weston was just and
generous, standing high in the community.

IRVING P. VANDERVOORT.— The son of a
pioneer of 1850, Irving P. Vandervoort, secretary
and treasurer of the Palo Alto Transfer and Storage
Company, has spent all his life in the Golden State.
His father, G. J. Vandervoort, was born at Belle-
ville, Canada, near Toronto, came to California in the
"SOs, where he engaged in farming at Sunol and also
taught the Centerville school in Alameda County. He
was married at Centerville to Miss Eliza Proctor,
born in Illinois, and they became the parents of
eight children: Mrs. T. M. Fuller of Palo Alto; J. E.,
Chevrolet agent at Tracy, Cal.; S. M., of the firm of
Fuller & Company, grocers at Palo Alto; W. S.,
rancher and mechanic of Palo Alto; Edward T., of
Palo Alto; Irving P.. of this review; Mrs. F. S. Allen,
of Palo Alto; Mrs. G. F. Brown, of Palo Alto. The
father passed away in Palo Alto in 1903. aged sixty-
three, and Mrs. Vandervoort still maintains the fam-
ily home at 241 Hawthorne Avenue, where she re-
sides with her son, Irving.

Born m February 18, 1877, in Alameda County
Irvmg P Vandervoort spent his early years on his
fathers farm there, where wheat and barley were
grown on a large scale, and he had a thorough train-
Tn^lsosT"'' ''^'' •'"°'"'"g a" excellent horseman.
In 1898 he came to Palo Alto and for the next four
years was with the firm of Fuller & Company, gro-
cers there. He then became mterested m the trans-
fer busmess with Charles Mosher, who is now a prom-
inent buddmg contractor of Los Gatos. Mr. Mosher
laid the foundations of the present transfer business
as tar back as the '90s, using eighteen head of horses
on h.s wagons, drays and trucks. The Palo Alto
Iranster kz Storage Company, an outgrowth of this
busmess, was mcorporated in 1912, with a canitaliza
t.on Of §20,000, and the.r offices 'are located at 11 1
are'n H V H° ^"°- ^he officers of the company
are H. H. Vandervoort, president; I. P. Vandervoort,
secretary and treasurer; Joe Silvey, vice-president
Ihe company put on its first motor truck in 1914
and they now own and operate three Mack trucks of

rTruf T^ '°"' '^=^' ^"'^ ^^^° °"e-t°n Ford

trucks. This company specializes in the transfer and
storage, packing and shipping of household goods
pianos and baggage, and m addition to the.r locai
business, they handle a large volume of moving to
and irom San Jose, Oakland and Fresno. They Lve
several storage warehouses in Palo Alto, including the
large, two-story reinforced concrete warehouse
erected in 1919 at 165 Homer Avenue. The Vander
voort family have for many years been devoted mel
bers o the Episcopal Church and Mr. Vandervoo t
subscribes to the creeds of that denomination. In
politics he has always been a stanch Republican

EDWARD RECORD MAZE.-One of the most
successful and painstaking farmers in the Gilrov
precinct is Edward Record Maze, a native Califor
man who was born at Saratoga on February 4, 1856.
The tather, Spencer M. Maze, was a Kentuckian and
IS mentioned on another page of this book. Edward
attended the public schools of Gilroy and the Mc
Clure Military Academy at Oakland, and all his life
he has lived on the home ranch. On July 8, 1886 he
was married to Miss A'lrginia Strange, a daughter of
Edward MacGruder Strange, a native of Virginia
who canie to California and mined for a short time
at Murphys Camp. He was a graduate in law of the
Lniversity of \ irginia and practiced a short time in
Ca iforn.a, passing away in 1887. He was married in
California to Emmeline H. Whitney, born in Wis-
consin who came with her parents across the plains
in 1831 and located in Calaveras County, where she
was married and where her four children were born
namely: Maria S. Reeve, of Gilroy; Edward W of
San Francisco; Virginia S., Mrs. Maze; and Helen
Strange Block, of Arizona. Mrs. Strange is still liv-
ing, aged eighty-five, making her home in Gilroy.

Mr. and Mrs. Maze are the parents of four chil-
dren; Irwin Strange married Miss Adele Henry, a
graduate of the University of California, and they
reside at Oak Park, 111.; he graduated from the
Davey School of Tree Surgery at Kent. Ohio, and is
following that profession, and was at Camp Sherman
during the war; Winnifred Bernice, is the wife of
J. W. Burchell, and they reside at Walnut Grove,
Cal., and have two children, Elton Spencer and Win-
nifred B.; Virginia, is the wife of J. W. Parmelee.
residing at Gilroy; Spencer M., who served three

990

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

months in the S. A. T. C. at Berkeley, is a rancher,
residing at home. In national politics Mr. Maze is a
Republican, and fraternally a member of the Odd
Fellows since 1885 and a past grand officer and
delegate to the Grand Lodge. His many qualities
have placed him among those upon whom a com-
munity depends for its substantial support.

DR. LA FOREST E. PHILLIPS.— A scholarly,
expert surgeon of high scientific attainments, whose
distinguished ser\-ices in the cause of suffering and
imperiled humanity— particularly during the recent
crisis incidental to the epidemic of the influenza-
have conferred an enviable lustre upon Palo Alto, the
scene of his conscientious labors, is Dr. La Forest
E. Phillips, the widely-known physician and surgeon
whose splendidly-equipped offices are at 172 Univer-
sity Avenue, while his handsome residence is at 337
Hamilton Street. He was born at Surry, Hancock
County, Maine, on March 7, 1876, the son of R. F.
Phillips, who is happily still living, retired, at 2526
Hilligas Avenue, Berkeley. He was long a lumber-
man, actively and extensively engaged in that in-
dustry in both Maine and California, and he married
Miss Mary France? Caspar of the same place, both
Mr. and Mrs. Phillips coming from very old New
England families, long established in Maine. The
Phillips family is of Welsh origin, and their hardi-
hood is attested by the fact that there has not been
a death in the circle for the past fifty j-ears. Dr.
Phillips has two brothers and two sisters. Agnes
has become the wife of J. O. Davenport, a pioneer
of Monterey and a member of the Davenport family
hailing from Massachusetts, where for generations
they were prominent whalers. They sailed around
the Horn and came to California and Monterey in
early days; and settling in California identified
themselves with important industries. Mr. Daven-
port is at present in the lumber trade at San Fran-
cisco. A. R. Phillips is in the automobile business
at Oakland. La Forest Ethelbcrt Phillips is the
subject of this review. Rodney Forseth Phillips,
Jr., is also in the automobile trade, in San Fran-
cisco. Julia Josephine is the wife of Dr. Clarence
Page of Berkeley.

In 1878, La Forest Phillips came out to California
with his parents and settled in Mendocino County,
where his father entered upon what was to prove an
engagement of forty years as a very trusted employee
with the L. E. White Lumber Company; and our
subject grew up in Mendocino County, at Fort
Bragg, later removing with the rest of his folks to
Point Arenas. He attended the local schools, and in
1895 was graduated from the Mendocino high school.
Then he took up serious study at the Cooper Pre-
Medical School and prepared to enter the regular
department, and having matriculated at the Cooper
Medical College, of San Francisco, he was graduated
with the class of '99, and is now an alumnus of the
Medical Department of Stanford University.

Upon graduating, he accepted an internship as a
house physician and surgeon in the San Francisco
Hospital in 1901, and he then went to Jackson, Am-
ador County, and hung out his shingle. During the
World War, he volunteered to give his medical ser-
vices, and he was in line for appointment to a respon-
sible post; but the armistice interfered before the
Government could call upon him. Now, having set-
tled at this important center of scientific investiga-

tion and practice. Dr. Phillips does a general surgical
and medical service, and gives his whole time and
attention to the best and lasting interests of those en-
trusting their difficulties to him. During the awful
epidemic of influenza. Dr. Phillips had no less than
125 cases under his immediate charge, and he won the
enviable distinction, as one of the most successful
doctors in California, of bringing almost all his pa-
tients safely through. He has a beautiful suite of
offices and there, with every facility that could be de-
sired, treats minor surgical cases. For major opera-
tions, however, he takes his patients to the Palo Alto
Hospital. Naturally, on account of his high stand-
ing. Dr. Phillips is frequently called upon to consult
with other physicians of eminent standing.

At San Francisco, on July 25, 1901, Dr. Phillips
was married to Miss Bella Pierce, a native of San
Francisco, and the daughter of the late Samuel J.
Pierce, well-known San Francisco contractor and
builder; and their home-life has been brightened
through the gift of four children, each already speak-
ing for itself in the world. Frances took a course in
the Pre-Medical School at Stanford and is married
to C. M. Jenks, a Stanford graduate, and resides at
Merced; and La Forest, Jr., who is a student at
Stanford University in the Pre-Medical Department.
Alberta L is in the Castellija School at Palo Alto,
and Rodney Pierce is a pupil in the William War-
ren Military Academy at the same place. Of ex-
ceptionalh' bright mind, and a kind, considerate and
helpful disposition, imbued with high ideals as to the
conscientious performance of professional duty, Dr.
Phillips has won the high regard of his fellow-citi-
zens, while his accomplished wife and wide-awake
children are justly popular and real favorites in Palo
Alto and in Stanford University.

CHARLES H. PIERCE.— A popular city official
of Gilroy, who is also a live-wire in the local Cham-
ber of Commerce, is Charles H. Pierce, the chief
of the Gilroy Fire Department, a native of Santa
Cruz. He was born on July 15, 1871, when he en-
tered the family of Henry and Martha (Liebbrandt)
Pierce, citizens of Santa Cruz since 1850 and both
now deceased. When only thirteen j^ears of age,
Charles was thrown upon his own resources; and
then he entered the employ of Peter Branigan and
worked for him in his blacksmith shop at Plato,
in Monterey County. Having served his apprentice-
ship, he established himself with his first shop at
Alma, when he was twenty-nine years old and hav-
ing had valuable experience, in part, some years be-
fore, as a tool dresser for oil-well boring in that
locality, he did not want for patronage. When he
came to Gilroy, therefore, in 1915, after having had
a forge at Plato, he opened a very modern shop; and
such has been his success and growth that he em-
ploys seven men and in rush times even more. While
a resident of Alma Station, Mr. Pierce was a deputy
county constable, clerk and fish and game warden,
and also school director, for fourteen years; and at
a meeting of the board of fire delegates, in 1921, he
was nominated chief of the Gilroy Fire Department,
with William Radtke as first assistant, and Gus
Cruse as second assistant, and as there was no oppo-
sition, the election ensuing was a matter of form.

At San Jose Mr. Pierce was married to Miss Ar-
milda Frances Minter, who was reared in the Santa
Clara Valley; and their union has been blessed

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

991

through the birth' of ten children. Martha married
Carl Weppner, an expert mechanic, and they reside
with their four children at Gilroy. Henry, who
served in the World War, is a rancher and an or-
chardist living near Gilroy. Jessie's husband, Wes-
ley McCandles, is a garage owner at Gilroy. Maude
is the wife of Reginald Holloway, an expert me-
chanic and the garage owner at Gilroy. Bertha,
the sixth in order of birth (after the daughter who
died in infancy), assists her father in his business;
and George, Roy, Albert and Leslie are still busy
with their school books. Mr. Pierce owns the de-
sirable property at the corner of Second and Mon-
terey streets. He belongs to the Masons, is an Odd
Fellow, a member of the Woodmen of the World,
and in national political afifairs, he is a Democrat.

ALFRED BREED POST.— An experienced fin-
ancier of highest ideals, admirable integrity and en-
viable executive force, is Alfred Breed Post, for many
years one of the pillars of the Garden City Bank
of San Jose, and now the efficient and accommodat-
ing cashier of the bank of San Jose. He was born
at Santa Clara, Cal., on February 4, 1873, the son
of Alfred Breed Post, who came to California in
1870 from Indiana, where he was born at Logansport.
His mother was a Breed, a descendant of the Breed
family after whom Breed's Hill, the site of the his-
toric- Bunker HiU, was named. Another ancestor
was Stephen Post, the founder of Hartford, Conn.,
both the Posts and Breeds being leading Eastern
families. The Breeds fought at Ticonderoga, with
Ethan Allen, while the Posts fought under General
Washington in the Revolutionary War. The Posts
and Breeds were Puritans, and therefore of English
origin, although in 1056 the Posts came to England
from Holland, having descended from Baron von
Post. Thus the Post family existed in England for
more than 400 years. They migrated to the Bay
Colony in Massacheusetts, and from there went to
Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, and thence
moved westward.

The mother of Alfred Post was Adelaide Holmes,
and she was born near Janesville, Wis., where our
subject's father w'as a Presbyterian minister. He
came out from Janesville to Santa Clara to preach,
and died at Santa Clara when he was twenty-eight
years old, three months before Alfred was born.
Another child had already entered the family, a daugh-
ter named Mary, who is now the wife of Dr. John J.
Miller of San Jose. Mrs. Post removed to San
Jose when Alfred was a young man, but he grew up
at Santa Clara and attended the public schools there,
topping off with some fine courses at the University
of the Pacific at San Jose. In his sophomore year,
however, his college career was cut short, and he
entered the service of the Pacific Manufacturing
Company, at Santa Clara, and for five years or until
he was twenty-two years old, he worked for them
as their cashier. He then entered the employ of the
Garden City Bank at San Jose, and commencing as a
receiving teller, he continued in their service for a
quarter of a century, during which time he became
assistant cashier, and for the last ten years cashier
of that flourishing bank. In 1920 he severed his
connection there and sold his stock in the Garden
City Bank and came over to the Bank of San Jose,
and became one of its stockholders. He is also a

stockholder in the Pacific Manufacturing Company
at Santa Clara, and a director of the Bean Spray
Pump Company of San Jose. He owns a ranch in
the Santa Clara Valley, and has other important fin-
ancial interests.

At San Jose, in 1902, Mr. Post was married to
Miss Mary W. Giles of Chicago, by whom he has
had three children: Alfred Breed, Jr., Janet Giles
and Charles Truman Post, and they now reside in
the handsome residence he built at 845 Hedding
Street. He belongs to the Elks, the Masons, and is a
Knight Templar. He is a member of the Bankers
Association, and is the president of Group No. 3 of
the California Bankers Association— one of the many
honors and responsibilities in a very busy career.

ROBERT K. PATCHELL.— Among the enter-
prising business men of Morgan Hill is Robert K.
Patchell, whose continued success has been brought
about by his thoroughness and faithfulness to the
task in hand. He was born in Westchester, Pa.,
February 25, 1862. His father, John Patchell, is of
Scotch-Irish parentage and married Miss Sarah Mc-
Hurter of a well-known Scotcli family. Robert K.
was reared on a farm and at tlie age of seven years
entered the district schools. At the age of seventeen
he entered the employ of Swift & Company in Chi-
cago, serving the usual time as an apprentice, and in
1892 he resigned his position of superintendent and
removed to San Francisco to become the general
superintendent of their plant in that city. The work
of building up the packing department was empha-
sized and the business steadily grew to enormous pro-
portions. When Mr. Patchell assumed control, the
company employed 125 men, and in 1910, 360 men
were employed; during the thirty years of his super-
intendency he has had the satisfaction of systematizing
the work until the factory runs like clock work.

Mr. Patchell's marriage, July 2, 1893, in Chicago,
united him with Miss Clarissia Mae Crawford, a
native of Lafayette, Ind., who was reared and
schooled in that city. In 1898 Mr. Patchell bought
fifty-seven acres of bare land in the Machado tract
and began developing an orchard. In 1904 he set
out 2240 French prune trees, the first set out in this
district, which cost him six cents each. During 1909
he removed to the ranch and has since resided there.
Mr. Patchell sold fifty-four acres of his ranch, re-
taining three acres surrounding his residence. He
erected a commodious residence in Morgan Hill
High School Park. He has always been actively
identified with co-operative marketing of farm prod-
ucts and is at the present time the president of the
Morgan Hill Farmer's Union store, a co-operative
business owned and controlled by a number of local
ranchers and capitalists. In 1920 this business reached
the total of $300,000 for the year and in 1921 the
business exceeded this amount considerably. Poli-
tically he is a Republican and fraternally a promi-
nent member of Lodge No. 463 of Morgan Hill, F.
& A. M.; he also is a member of Howard Chapter,
R. A. M., San Jose Commandery No. 10, K. T. and
Islam Temple. A. A. O. N. M. S. He has never
failed to do his part as a public-spirited citizen and
many are the projects that he has fostered that have
helped to make Santa Clara County one of the best-
known localities in California.

992

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

PHILIPPE PRUDHOMME.— Many European na-
tions have made valuable contributions to California's
citizenship, and Philippe Prudhomme, a prominent
member of the French colony of San Jose, found in
the vineyards of the Golden State opportunities for
the attainment of success, of which he was not slow
to avail himself, and now, after years of industry and
earnest effort, he is living retired in the enjoyment of
a well earned rest. He was born at Matha, Charentt-
Inferieure, France, March 1, 1857, the son of Jean
and Josephine (Caute) Prudhomme, who were farm-
ers in that locality, who passed away there leaving
three children of whom Philippe is the second oldest
and one of twins, his twin brother Stanislas, residing
in the vicinity of the old home; Philippe acquired his
education in the schools of his native province. He
assisted his father in the operation of the home farm
and the care of the vineyard and also assisted in
making wine, an art in which for centuries the people
of his nation have been unexcelled. Having com-
pleted his military service, which covered fifteen
months, he decided to seek the opportunities pre-
sented in a newer country, and early in 1882, when
a young man of twenty-five years, sailed for the
United States. He arrived in San Jose on August
17, 1882, and soon afterward purchased a tract of
lOS acres near Evergreen, which he devoted to the
growing of grapes. His previous experience had
thoroughly acquainted him with every phase of the
industry. He named his place the Saintonge vine-
yard from the province in which he was born, and
the excellence of his wines secured for them a ready
sale on the market. As the years passed he at-
tained a substantial measure of prosperity and con-
tinued active as a vineyardist until national prohibi-
tion became a law, when he sold his ranch and pur-
chased a six and one-half acre orchard and is en-
gaged in raising prunes and apples. For nineteen
years he had a wholesale wine and liquor store at
19 South Market Street, San Jose, which was sold
when he disposed of his vineyard.

In San Jose, June 3, 1883, Mr. Prudhomme was
united in marriage to Miss Mary Pellier, a daughter
of Pierre Pellier, of whom more extended mention
is made elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Prudhomme
passed away in Evergreen in 1905. Four children
were born of that union; Louis, who served as a
member of Company B of the California Home
Guard and passed away at the age of thirty; Helene,
now the wife of Joseph V. Simon, a promnient resi-
dent of San Jose; Madeleine, deceased; and George,
who is married and resides in San Jose. In 1909 Mr.
Prudhomme married Mrs. Marie (Vivier) Grosman-
gin-Bonnore, who was born in Dieuze in the prov-
ince of Lorraine, France, November 1, 1860; her
first marriage was to Simon Grosmangin, a chocolate
maker who had learned his trade in Paris. Following
their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Grosmangin emigrated
to the United States and subsequently made their
way to San Francisco, Cal., where for fifteen years
they conducted one of the leading confectionery
stores in the city. Owing to the ill health of her
husband she assumed the burden of the business and
has the distinction of being the first woman in Cali-
fornia to manufacture the famous pure Parisian
chocolate bonbons. She had learned the art in Paris,

France. They later engaged in ' the confectionery
business in Portland, Ore., and took the first prize
for the excellence of their candies, but her husband
became ill and they came in 1888 to San Jose, where,
a few weeks later, he passed away. She is a fine
scholar and taught French to private pupils here as
well as in the East. At the French celebration of the
I''all of the Bastile, in Portland, she was selected as
the Goddess of Liberty. She is a woman of marked
strength of character and possesses a kind, genial
and sympathetic nature, her life being a true exem-
plification of the spirit of Christianity. Mrs. Gros-
mangin was married a second time to P. Bonnore,
also born in France; he was a vineyardist and died
in San Jose in 1907.

Mr. and Mrs. Prudhomme reside in an attractive
home at 785 South Fifth Street and theirs is a life
of contentment and happiness. Mr. Prudhomme is
a prominent member of the Foresters of America,
being affiliated with Lodge No. 263, and for over
twenty years he has been connected with the order.
He deserves much credit for what he has accomp-
lished in a business way, for he has worked his way
steadily upward through industry and determination,
and in winning prosperity he has at the same time
gained the respect and goodwill of the community.

CHARLES T. O'CONNELL.— An experiepced,
enterprising and thorough!}' dependable leader in the
local commercial world is Charles T. O'Connell, of
Messrs. O'Connell Bros., who was born in San Benito
County on March 18, 1876, and so commenced life
with the fortunate environment of a native son. His
father was the highly esteemed Thomas O'Connell,
whose interesting life story is outlined in another part
of this work. The lad attended the San Benito
schools and when he was ready for the more ad-
vanced courses, he became a student of the Santa
Clara College.

Taking up the task of supporting himself, Charles
first worked for J. W. Borchers for four years, and
then for a short time he was with the Saratoga Meat
Market, and also Woodward & Bennett. The next
four years he was deputy superintendent of streets
of San Jose, and following this he was appointed
deputy city treasurer under Charles Lightston. In
November, 1901, with his brother Frank, he took
over the wood business which his father had con-
ducted so successfully, and then, as the other brothers
came of age, they also entered the firm, and on
July 9, 1906,\the business was incorporated as O'Con-
nell Bros. That same year the firm erected their
fine structure at Sixth and St. Jaines streets, and
there they have since been, conducting one of the
best headquarters for groceries, meats, wood and
coal to be found anywhere in the county. They aim
to carry only the best of everything and are alert to
meet and anticipate the wants of their customers.
They also own 15,000 acres of land, twenty-three
acres being in orchard, while the rest is devoted to
stock raising, and are now putting in a dam which
will furnish irrigation for over a hundred acres of
the land. This ranch is near Coyote, convenient to
the market, and is enclosed by over forty miles of
fence. Mr. O'Connell is a member of the Journey-
men Butchers Protective and Benevolent Association,
having been secretary for twenty years, and it is

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

995

needless to say that he does what he can to make
that excellent organization what it is.

On September 21, 1910, Mr. O'Connell was mar-
ried to Miss Elizabeth M. Cunan, who was born in
San Jose, the daughter of John and Mary J. (Dur-
kin) Cunan. Their married life has been blessed Ijy
the birth of three children. Maurice R, Adrian E.
and Clarice. The family attend St. Patrick's Cath-
olic Church, and Mr. O'Connell belongs to the
Knights of Columbus, in which he has attained the
third degree. He is a member of San Jose Parlor,
X. S. G. \\'., and also belongs to the Foresters.

JOSEPH H. BONE.— A distinguished representa-
tive of a \ery interesting, widely-scattered and numer-
ous Engli>h family in America is Joseph H. Bone, the
successful rancher to whom much credit is due for
the formation, a few years ago, of the California
Prune and Apricot Association. He was born at
Portchester, Hampshire, England, near where both
the Romans, and later the Normans, built a famous
castle, and on September 2S. 1862, he entered the
family of Samuel and Emily (Combs) Bone. His
father, who belonged to a family of not less than 1,0UI)
representatives in the United States today, was a sub-
stantial merchant, and lived to be sixty-five years of
age, survived bv his devoted wife al)out eight years.
They had seven children: Emily, Mrs. Heal; Alice
Katherine, now deceased; Joseph H., our subject;
b'rances Emma. Charles Edmund, a substantial busi-
ness man of Red Bluff, who died in August, 1920.
and Edward, deceased.

Joseph attended a private school at Fareham, walk-
ing two miles to reach the schoolhouse. after which he
was an apprenticed bookkeeper, working for his board
and lodging. Once a thoroughly-trained bookkeeper,
he entered the employ of William Whitel_v, of Lon-
don, popularly known as the Universal Provider; and
afterwards he had charge of the books of a large re-
tail dry good^ t^tiihlishment in London, prior to com-
ing out to the LnUed States in 1887.

On rcachiuK the States. Mr. Bone went to Florida,
and for n whiK settled near Ocala, where he acquired
fort\' acres (,t Land upon which he raised oranges, by
means uf e.\ei]lent irrigation. At the end of twelve
months, ]io\\e\er. Ije came back to New York, and in
the metropolis he found profitable activity for three
years with a large lace-curtain house on Broadway.
He then migrated to the Northwest, and pitched his
tent at Seattle; this was the summer after the great
fire. He had charge of the shipping and receiving de-
Iiartment for McDougall & Southwick, and later be-
came chief bookkeeper to the Seattle branch of the
Standard Oil Company. All in all, he spent ten years
in Seattle. He next went to Minneapolis, Minn., and
organized the F'raternal Industrial Cooperative Asso-
ciation, but later entered upon five-year engagement
with the National Biscuit Company there.

In September, 1906, Mr. Bone came to San Jose
and took up vegetable seed production at Greenfield,
in Monterey County, in which he remained for four
years, selling mostly to the Barteldes Seed Company
of Lawrence, Kans., and during this time he made his
home at San Jose. When he sold his seed-farm and
business, he bought the old Fleming Ranch of forty
acres on Fleming Avenue, three-fourths of which
was bare land, which he set out to apricots and wal-
nuts; and after a wdiile he sold half of this ranch, re-

taining the other twenty acres. In July, 1919, he
purchased a home place of four acres in Linda Vista
district at the corner of Alum Rock and Kirk ave-
nues. Mr. Bone belongs to the Grange. In 1915 he
began the movement to reorganize the California
Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc., and with the assist-
ance of others this movement became a reality on
May 1, 1917, Mr. Bone serving as secretary and treas-
urer for the first two years.

At St. Pancras Church, London, on June 6, 1886,
Mr. Bone was married to Miss Phoebe Ellen Booth,
the daughter uf James Booth, a hotel man, and his
good \\ ife, .^usainia; and this marriage was blessed with
the birth of one daughter, Maude Emily, who was born
in Florida and who is at present the wife of J. H.
Waalkes of San Jose, and the mother of a son, John
H. Waalkes. Public-spirited to a large degree, Mr.
Bone is that much of a true patriot, that he always
puts the issues at stake above the demands of partisan-
ship, and so is able to exert a wider and more endur-
ing influence for the elevation of politics and the ad-
vancement of the public weal.

ALBERT F. O'CONNELL.— Proud of his birth-
right as a native son of the Golden State, Albert F.
O'Connell takes a keen interest in the development
of Santa Clara County, where the greater part of
his life has been passed, and in preserving the
history and interesting landmarks of its early days.
A son of Thomas O'Connell, the pioneer, whose life
story appears on another page of this work, he was
born at Hollister, San Benito County, F'ebruary 22,
1887, but was reared in San Jose, where he attended
the Grant School and the Sati Jose high school.
From the time he was a boy he made himself gen-
erally useful, assisting his father in his fuel and feed
business inornings and evenings while going to
school and during his vacations, and thus he formed
the habits of thrift and industry that have become a
most valuable asset to him.

After his schooldays were over, Bert O'Connell,
as he is familiarly called, continued to assist his
father in the business until July, 1906, when with his
four brothers they incorporated it as O'Connell
Bros., Inc., after which they branched out into the
wholesale and retail butcher business, as well as
establishing a grocery store. They also began cattle
raising on an extensive scale and in time came to
own a ranch of 15.000 acres at Madrone, a descrip-
tion of which is given in the sketch of O'Connell
Bros., Inc. Giving his time to the new firm, Mr.
O'Connell became very proficient in all the details of
the grocery and meat business, contributing much
toward its success. In September, 1918, he entered
the U. S. service, being assigned to the Signal Corps,
and was stationed at Camp Kearny until after the
signing of the armistice. He was honorably dis-
charged December 12, 1918, when he returned home
and again took up the duties of civil life, giving his
time and attention to their cattle and ranch interests,
as assistant to his brother. I-rank J. O'Connell. He
continued there until October 1. 1921. when his ser-
vices were required in the otfice and he now has
charge of the books of the corporation. He is a
director and secretary of the company, having held
this office since 1915.

At San Jose, on September 21, 1921, Mr, O'Connell
was united in marriage with Miss Grace Marie Clark.

996

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

She was born in Colorado, but reared and educated
in Kansas City, Mo., where she was a graduate nurse.
Coming to San Jose, in 1913, she became head nurse
at the O'Connor Sanitarium, and it was in this city
that the young people met, the acquaintance result-
ing in their fortunate marriage. Mr. O'Connell is a
firm believer in protection and hence is a stanch
Republican. He is a member of San Jose Lodge,
Loyal Order of Moose, belongs to the Eagles and is
a popular member of the Pastime Club, and his
patriotism is shown by membership in and support
of San Jose Post No. 89. American Legion.

G. DANIEL O'CONNELL.— Accounted one of
San Jose's progressive young business men, G. Da-
niel b'ConncJl has achieved a marked success as a
member of the enterprising firm of O'Connell Bros.,
Inc., who conduct a large wholesale and retail busi-
ness in the sale of meats, groceries, feed and fuel at
Sixth and St. James streets, and are also owners of a
large cattle ranch, stretching out 15,000 acres beyond
Madrone. Mr. O'Connell is a native son of Cali-
fornia, born at Hollister, San Benito County, Feb-
ruary 21, 1883, a son of Thomas and Julia (O'Brien)
O'Connell, pioneer settlers represented on another
page of this history. Dan O'Connell, as he is known
by all his friends, received his primary education in
the Hollister schools, and later in San Jose, where
the familv removed in 1895, the father engaging in
the feed and fuel business there. Thomas O'Connell
passed away at the age of sixty-four, but the mother
still makes her home in San Jose, and the family are
well known and highly respected throughout the
community. At the age of fifteen Dan O'Connell
started out to make his own way, working in the
butcher shop of J. W. Borchers for five years and
thoroughly learning this business. In 1906 five of
the O'Connell brothers, succeeding to their father's
business, incorporated the firm of O'Connell Bros.,
establishing a wholesale and retail business in meats,
groceries, feed and fuel, and Dan O'Connell became
one of the firm. In addition to this thriving business
they own and operate a great ranch of 15,000 acres
east of Madrone, which is largely devoted to raising
cattle and feed, a description of the ranch being
found in the sketch of O'Connell Bros. By industry,
energy and integrity on the part of all the partners
the business is steadily growing, and the proprietors
enjoy the respect and confidence of a large and in-
creasing patronage.

On October 18, 1908, Mr. O'Connell was united
in marriage with Miss Mary McMurray, a native of
Butte, Mont., a daughter of John and Mary Agnes
(Casey) McMurray. The father was for many years
coroner and public administrator of Butte, Mont.,
where the family was well known, but both parents
have now passed away. Mrs. O'Connell was educated
in the grammar and high schools of Campbell and
Heald's Business College at San Jose, and she is the
mother of two children, Irwin Thomas and Kenneth
Daniel O'Connell. Mr. O'Connell is a member of
the Knights of Coluinbus and of the San Jose Par-
lor, N. S. G. W. Politically he votes the Republican
ticket, and progressive in his ideas, he can be de-
pended upon to give of his time and means to all
movements calculated to secure substantial progress.

GEORGE E. NICHOLSON.— The associations of
a life-time bind George E. Nicholson to Santa Clara
County, where he has become one of its influential
citizens through years of intelligent and unremitting
industry. He is the owner of a very valuable ranch
in the excellent pear section of Santa Clara Valley
which lies on the San Jose-Alviso road, about seven
miles north of San Jose. To the place where he is
now living he came as a boy of teti years, with his
parents and two sisters. He was born in Syracuse,
N. Y., December 24, 1859, his parents being George
and Elizabeth (Kelly) Nicholson, both emigrants
from Ireland, though married in the state of New
York. Soon after his marriage and before the birth
of his son, the elder Nicholson determined to try his
fortune in the storied Eldorado of the West, left his
bride in the care of friends and set out for California
via the Isthmus of Panama. Arriving in San Fran-
cisco he immediately boarded one of the steamers
navigating the sloughs to Alviso. After a few months
in the employ of Richard Fox, pioneer nurseryman
of California, he sent for the bride and the son he
had never seen. The family arrived in San Jose in
1859, resided there a few years and then took up
their abode on a ranch rented by the father, where
with the aid of all hands sufficient means were ac-
cumulated to make a first payment on the present
homestead in October, 1868. Three children were
born to this worthy pioneer couple: George E. of
this sketch; Elizabeth, who passed away some time
ago; Mary F., now Mrs. L. E. Appleton of San Jose.
Mrs. Nicholson passed away in 1894, but the father
survived until 1918, passing away at the exceptional
age of ninety-seven years and six months.

After the death of the mother in 1894, George E.
Nicholson succeeded to the home place which the
father deeded to him, one consideration being that a
stated sum should be paid to the surviving sister.
Since then Mr. Nicholson has purchased an adjoin-
ing twenty acres and has made many valuable im-
provements on the place, splendid irrigation being
furnished by wells and pumping plants. He has a
fine orchard and devotes quite an acreage to market
gardening; thirty-five acres are in pears and twenty
acres in various kinds of apples.

Mr. Nicholson's first marriage, which took place
at San Jose, united liim with Miss Minnie Lorigan,
a sister of the late Charles M. Lorigan, prominent
attorney and pioneer citizen of San Jose, and of W.
G. Lorigan, Justice for many years of the Supreme
Court of the State of California. Two sons were
born to them: George A. and Edward L. Nicholson,
both graduates of the University of Santa Clara, and
now rising young attorneys, occupying the office in
San Jose long used by their uncle, C. M. Lorigan.
While they succeeded to much of his practice, they
have forged ahead upon their own merits and are
creditable acquisitions to the bar of Santa Clara
County. Mrs. Minnie Nicholson passed away on
February 8, 1898, and Mr. Nicholson was married in
1905 a second time to Miss Anna Baumgartner. One
son has been born to them, Wilmot J. Charitable
and public spirited, Mr. Nicholson can be depended
upon to help in every good movement. For twenty-
six years he has been a member of the board of
trustees of the Alviso school district, having served
as clerk of said board for more than a quarter of a

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

997

century, and during the late war contributed much in
time and money to the local success of drives and
bond issues. He was the drive leader for the Alviso,
Midway and Agnew districts in conjunction with Dr.
Stocking, superintendent of the State Hospital at
Agnew, while Mrs. Nicholson served as head of the
Red Cross in the Alviso district. Mr. Nicholson
helped to organize the Pear Growers' Association and
lends his best efiforts to its success. Faithful to his
early teachings, he is a member of St. John's Cath-
olic Church at Milpitas.

GEORGE W. PAGE.— A public-spirited citizen
of the Campbell district, well known in the Santa
Clara Valley -through his efforts in promoting the
improved water system in and around Campbell,
George W. Page has made a fine success as a hor-
ticulturist since settling here. He was born at Elsie.
Clinton County, Mich.. October 9, 1868, the son of
James and Mary Ann (Snyder) Page. Both parents
are now deceased, the mother passing away at San
Jose in 1905, while Mr. Page's death occurred at
Fresno in 1912.

George W. Page's early years were spent at Ga-
lena, Ohio, where he attended the grammar and
high schools, then learned telegraphy. Leaving his
Ohio home, he went to Kansas City seeking em-
ployment, but unable to find anything in his line
of work he took a position on the street railroad
of Kansas City. Conditions did not look encourag-
ing there, however, so borrowing a few dollars, he
set out for California, landing at San Jose with just
twenty-five cents in his pocket, on April 21. 1889.
He went to work in the orchards near here, shortly
becoming foreman for R. D. Shaw. That fall he
took charge of the Fleming warehouses at a salary
of sixty-five dollars a month, giving good service
here for a year, and then started on his independent
career as an orchardist by purchasing five acres on
the San Jose-Los Gatos Road. Later his mother
and brother, C. R. Page, came out to California and
his mother became interested with him in this orchard
and with his brother, C. R. Page, Mr. Page also
bought the old Lovelady estate of forty acres on the
Los Gatos-Santa Clara Road, and here he gave his
best efforts to developing a fine orchard, meeting
with most gratifying results.

At San Jose, October 23, 1895, Mr. Page was
married to Miss Bertha P. Williams, who grad-
uated in the same class with her husband at Galena,
Ohio, and spent several years teaching in Nebraska
before her marriage. Three children have been born
to them: lone Marie is a graduate of the College
of the Pacific with the degree of A. B., after which
she did graduate work at Stanford University, major-
ing in economics. She is a talented musician, pos-
sessing a splendid mezzo-soprano voice. She is now
in New York and while teaching economics is con-
tinuing her studies in voice culture. Earl Virgil
is attending the State Teachers College at San Jose
and Edwina is at the University of California. The
family are members of the Methodist Church and
active in its benevolences. Mr. Page being one of
the trustees. Mr. Page possesses much ability as
an engineer and is regarded as an authority on irri-
gation and flood control. To him is due the credit
for the excellent irrigation system the orchardists in
and about Campbell now enjoy as through his in-
fluence the system was combined and developed to

take care of a vast acreage. Mr. Page has always
worked for and promoted those things that would
be of permanent value to the people, but has stood
firm on the other hand, against projects that his
sound judgment told him would not give the public
an adequate return on their investments. Cultured
and refined and a very capable woman, Mrs. Page
has been a true helpmate to her husband and is
taking an active part in community affairs, being
the first woman elected as trustee of the Campbell
school district, and it was largely through her ef-
forts that the bond issue providing for the present
grammar school was put through. They reside in
their ' beautiful country home on the Los Gatos-
Santa Clara Road, just outside of Campbell, where
they extend a genuine hospitality to their friends.

BERNARD D. MURPHY.— Eminent among the
particularh- estimalile pioiUL-rs to whom their friends,
nciglilioij, and tVllow -citizens were devotely attached,
and in whom posterity ought always to feel an af-
fectionate interest, was undoubtedly Bernard D. Mur-
phy, popularly known as Barney Murphy, who died
on December 28, 1911, a grandson of the intrepid
pioneer, Martin Murphy, Sr., and son of Martin Mur-
phy, Jr., who braved the dangers of continental
migration, reaching California in 1844. With 100
or more wagons, numerous oxen, mules, and the first
American cattle brought into California, the party
started from St. Joseph, Mo., and traversed such a
route, at such a path-breaking period that the Donner
party, trailing along two years later, were able to use
cabins erected by Martin Murphy, and so, through
his previous enterprise and hardship, ameliorate to
some extent their own sufferings. A sister of our
subject is Mrs. Mary Ann Carroll.

Bernard Murphy was born at Quebec, Canada, on
March 1, 1841. the son of Martin and Mary (Bulger)
Murphy, and having come to California, attended
Santa Clara College, as did all the otlier Murphy
boys. At the Mission Dolores in San Francisco, in
1869, Mr. Murphy was married to Miss Annie Lucy
McGeoghegan, daughter of Thomas J. McGeoghe-
gan, who had married Miss Evelyn Green; and they
became parents of nine children: Mary G. Murphy,
Evelyn A., Martin, Elizabeth G., Gertrude J., Helena
D., Patrick W., Bernard D., and Thomas, the last
three of whom are deceased. The family were stanch
Roman Catholics, ready and eager for religious and
all other uplift work. Mrs. Murphy died on Febru-
ary 17, 1901, in her fifieth year, esteemed and beloved
by all who knew her.

Proud of the fact that he was a member of the
first white fainily to settle permanently in California,
Barney Murphy grew up to become an active and
patriotic citizen ready to labor for the rapid de-
velopment of the Golden State, and as an influential
Democrat was constantly sought in the councils of
the party. He was thrice elected mayor of San Jose
and twice chosen as state senator; and he was trustee
of both the Lick Estate and the Lick Observatory.
He was intimately acquainted with nearly all of Cali-
fornia's leading pul)lic men and politicians. His life
spanned much of the period of California's most
wonderful development, in which he had such an
active, influential and enviable part. Public-spirited,
far-seeing and optimistic, he effected much that was
to have its own salutary influence in a succeeding

998

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

generation, and lor the blessing of posterity, rather
than for the benefit of himself or his family: and
genial, sympathetic and loyal, Barney Murphy proved
the best of friends, and was idolized by neighbors.
He was a tower of strength politically, and was
honored as few men have ever been by the great rank
and file of his fellow-citizens. Santa Clara County
may well be congratulated that it was her broad and
fertile acres that induced the settlement of and be-
came the home of such a devoted, broad-minded and
large-hearted group as that of the Murphy family.

GEORGE S. McMURTRY.— A wide-awake rep-
resentative of important California realty interests,
who has done much to advance the growth of Santa
Clara County, is George S. McMurtry of Los Gates.
He is a native son and was born near Los Gatos, at
Ivcxington, on June S, 1865. His father. W. S. Mc-

Murtry,

a genume

■49er and reared at Grass

Valley, after which he located in Santa Clara County.
He was one of the first settlers of Los Gatos and
with J. Y. McMillin established the first saw mill on
Los Gatos Creek, above Lexington. The product of
the mill was used to build the early residences and
farm buildings in the Santa Clara valley. He made
his home in Los Gatos and was elected a member of
the State Senate, where he served acceptably for one
term. He married Miss Olivia A. McMillin who
was born in Rockvillc, Ind., and he passed away in
1908 at the age of 86 years, leaving behind a splendid
record of accomplishment, his widow surviving him
eight years, passing away April 30, 1916.

Of their family of four children, Geo. S. is the
eldest and was reared in Los Gatos, where he enjoyed
both grammar and high school advantages, attending
the Los Gatos and San Jose schools and then enter-
ing the University of the Pacific. After his school
days were over he was employed in the Los Gatos
Flour Mills about two years when he formed a part-
nership with T. S. Cleland and engaged in general
merchandising under the firm name of Cleland &
McMurtry. The business was successful and later
Mr. McMurtry absorbed Mr. Cleland's interest and
continued the business alone until 1891, when his
store was completely destroyed by fire entailing a
big loss. Soon after this he entered the Bank of
San Jose as a teller, a position he filled ably and
satisfactory until 1898, when he resigned to make the
trip to Cook's Inlet, Alaska, where a year was spent
in prospecting and mining after which he returned
from the frozen North and resumed his old position
in the Bank of San Jose which had been tendered
him on his return. Two years later he resigned to
accept the position of assistant cashier of the Com-
mercial & Savings Bank of San Jose, a place he
filled to the entire satisfaction of the ofiicers of the
bank as well as the people for several years, when
he resigned, and now for the past eighteen years he
has conducted a real estate and insurance business
in Los Gatos, being now the oldest man in that line
of business in this city. His many years of exper-
ience enables him to judge property values accurate-
ly, so he naturally has a large clientele, his advice
being frequently sought in real estate transactions.
He i^ a (liicctnr of the Bank of Los Gatos.

Mr M(Murtr\ was married in Los Gatos July 4,
191,1. to Mrs. I'.stelle B. Harwood, a native of New

York state, reared in Charles City, la., a woman of
charming personality who presides gracefully over
her husband's home. Interested in civics he is active
in projects that have for their aim the upbuilding of
this beautiful mountain city, has served acceptably
as city treasurer for some years and is a library
trustee as well as a trustee of the Presbyterian
Church. He is a member of Los Gatos Lodge No.
292, F. & A. M., as well as the Elks.

ANDREW I. LOYST.— Coming to California
about fifty-four years ago, Andrew I. Loyst has had
a variety of experiences, and is one of the highly
respected and worthy citizens of San Jose. The
greater part of his career has been de'voted to agri-
cultural pursuits, but he has also found an outlet for
his energies in many other enterprises linked wnth
the life of the Western coast. He was born at
Kingston, Ont., Can., on March 29, 1848, his father,
Isaiah Loyst, also a native of Canada. Grandfather
Loyst was born in Holland and settled in Canada in
an early day and served through the seven years of
the Revolutionary War. The father, Isaiah Loyst,
was both a farmer and a logging, lumbering and road
contractor, and built many government roads. He
married Miss Comfort McKim, born near Napanee,
Ontario. Grandfather McKim was of Scotch des-
cent, while Grandmother McKim was born in the
Green Mountains of Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Loyst
were the parents of three boys, of whom our subject
is the youngest. The parents passed away in Canada.

Andrew I. Loyst received his education in the
public schools of Ontario and at the age of seventeen
struck out for himself, going to the oil fields at
Franklin, Pa., where he was engaged as a driller and
engineer for three years, when he returned to Canada
on a visit and while there became greatly interested
in the reports from California. On January 8, 1868.
he arrived in San Francisco and immediately went
to San Jose where he found employment as a farm
hand; later he and his brother, J. W. Loyst, pur-
chased a threshing outfit and engaged in threshing
throughout the Santa Clara valley, and then they
bought a ranch on the Pierce Road, containing 164
acres of choice land. This ranch they set to grapes,
but the vines died, so they set out an orchard. Mr.
Loyst still owns fifty-four acres of this tract, and is
now devoted to raising prunes and hay. Mr. Loysl
improved, cultivated and operated this ranch until
1918, when he rented it and bought his present oiact.',
an orchard home located on Mountain X'iew road,
which he has improved with a comfortable residence
and a fine prune orchard.

Mr. Loyst has been married twice. His first mar-
riage occurred in the Saratoga district and united
him with Miss Maria Cox, born in the old Cox home,
a daughter of William Cox, an old pioneer of that
district. Mrs. Loyst passed away in 1892, leaving
three children, Mrs. Mabel Breeding, W. W. and G.
G., all of this county. His second marriage in San
Jose in 1906 united him with Miss Clara llarst. a
native daughter of California, born at Michigan I'lat.
a daughter of John Karst, a native of Germany, wlio
came to California in early days and was engaged
in mining, where he spent his last days. He had
married Miss Emma Bauer, also born in Germany,
who came when a child to Philadelphia, then to Cali-

liRNARD D. MURPHY

I

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1001

fornia. Both parents passed a\va\- when Mr.<. I,o.\st
was a small child, and she is one of a family of seven.
She attended school in Eldorado County mitil she
was fifteen years old. then removed to San I'rancisco
and later to San Jose. Mr. Loyst is a stockholder
in the Home Union at San Jose, one of the organ-
izers and a member of the California Prune & Apri-
cot Growers' Association, a charter member of the
Grange in Saratoga, and a member of the Santa
Clara County Pioneer Society. In politico he is a
Republican and he has been a liberal contrii)utor in
the erection of church buildings and school houses.
Mr. and Mrs. Loyst's interests are tliorou.yhly iden-
tified with those of the West, and at all times tl.ev
are ready to cooperate in any movement calculated
to benefit this section of the country.

MRS. LILLIAN J. PETERSON.— The fitness
and capability of women to hold public office and dis-
charge the duties with efficiency is amply demon-
strated in the case of Lillian J. Peterson, who is
the capable city treasurer of Mountain View. A
native of Tennessee, she w-as born near Nashville,
the daughter of Alfred and Einma (Stotts) Martin,
both parents being natives of Tennessee. The father
owned a sugar plantation and was engaged in the
manufacture of syrup. There were eight children
in the family, our subject being the second child;
her parents removed to California when she was a
very small child; later they moved back to Tennes-
see, but again returned to California, settling in
Mountain View when Afrs. Peterson was six years
old. The parents live on a ranch at Fairmead.
Cal. Her education was obtained in the pub-
lic schools of Mountain View, and she always
showed great aptitude for mathematics and pen-
manship, both of which are requisite in her
present position. On November 14. 1898, she
was united in marriage with Fred L. Peterson, the
owner of a plumbing establishment and an ex-fire
chief of Mountain View. They are the parents of
four children, three of whom are living: Fred H.,
Marjorie and Georgie Mae.

Mrs. Peterson is the first woman to be elected to
a city office in Mountain View, her first election
being in 1914 for a two-year term. So capably did
she perform the duties of the office that she was
re-elected in 1916 by a handsome majority and again
in 1918, when she had no opposition. She was again
re-elected in 1920 and under the new law will hold
office for four years. She is the custodian of all
the city's funds and has attended to all the bond
issues. The last bond issue was for $20,000 for
pumping water mains, road machinery and street
improvements. She has demonstrated what a woman
can do and the excellent services she has rendered
her community puts her in line for higher public
responsibilities. She is the secretary of the Woman's
Club of Mountain "View and during the war was ap-
pointed by W. J. McAdoo, the Secretary of the
Treasury, the authorized agent for the treasury de-
partment for the year ending September 31, 1918, to
receive and issue the cost prices on war savings
stamps and thrift stamps. She is a prominent mem-
ber of the Eastern Star of Mountain View, and
served as worthy matron of lodge No. 141. Mountain
View, in 1912. She belongs to the Past Matrons
and Past Patrons .Association of Santa Clara County

and also of San Francisco, and is a consistent mem-
ber of the Christian Science Church of Mountain
View. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are both members of
the Mountain View Grange, and the oldest son, Fred
H,. is a member of the Order of De Molay of San
Jose. Mrs. Peterson attends to her household duties
besides the duties of her public office, and assists
her husband in the office work connected with his
plumbing business, and she is the local agent for the
Connecticut Fire Insurance Company of Hartford.
Conn. She has the capacity for hard and respon-
sible work, but never loses sight of her home duties.
A woman of gracious and kindly manner and of
many admirable personal characteristics, she enjoys
the high regard and esteem of all who know her.

FRED L. PETERSON.— A prominent citizen of
Mountain View and one whose efforts have been
■ised for the good of his community is Fred L.
Peterson, the genial constable and veteran plumber.
He was the first fire chief of the town of Mountain
View, serving for six years and helped to organize
the volunteer fire department ten years ago. He
was born in Santa Cruz August 3. 1873, and grew
up in Santa Cruz County and at Vallejo, where his
father, the well-known Capt. George T. Peterson,
was construction foreman for the United States
Government at Mare Island Navy Yard. Captain
Peterson was a native of Schleswig. Germany; he
married Miss Celia Britton, the daughter of Henry
Britton, a pioneer of Santa Cruz County, and Knights
Ferry, Stanislaus County, and she was born while
crossing the plains in 1850. When only a boy of
thirteen Captain Peterson ran away from home and
shippecl before the mast. He sailed around the Horn
many times, arriving the first time in San Francisco
about 18.^0. He became a sea captain and like his
brother, Capl. Lawrence Peterson, became very well
known in the Bay region, parsing away in 1891 at
Vallejo. Fred Peterson was then only sixteen years
old and from that time began to make his own way.
He was apprenticed to the plumbing firm of Dalzell
and Muller at Oakland and served for four years at
$2.50 per week. He was alwa\s fond of aquatic
sports and while living at \allejo became an expert
diver and swimmer and was eniploxed as a swim-
ming teacher at Santa Cruz. Capitola Beach and at
Oakland, and later was employed by t. A. Hean
of the Life Saving Station at Santa Cruz. He made
an excellent record, saving many lives during his
Uve years of service.

The marriage of Mr. Peterson occurred on No-
vember 14, 1898, and united him with Miss Lillian
Martin, native of Tennessee, the daughter of .Alfred
Martin, a ranclier at Fairmead, Cal. Mrs. Peterson
is the capable city treasurer of Mountain \"iew and
her sketch will be found elsewhere in this work.
They are the parents of four children: Lawrence died
when nineteen years of age; Margery; Fred J. is a
plumber, and Georgia May. Mr. Peterson served on
the city council of Mountain \'iew for two years.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are prominent in Ma-
sonic circles of Mountain \'iew. and he is past patron
and she past matron of the Eastern Star lodge. He
helped to organize the Mountain View Parlor of
the Native Sons of the Golden West and was its
first president. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson are both
active members of the Christian Science Church.

1002

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. Peterson has been in the plumbing bii
for twenty-three years and has given excellent satis-
faction to his numerous patrons. His establishment
on Castro Street is well-equipped and carries a full
line of plumbing accessories. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson
are deservedly popular in their locality, and have
ever been most deeply interested in all progressive
movements and the prosperity which has come to
them is well deserved.

EPHRAIM BALSBAUGH. — An enterprising
likable business man of Palo Alto is Ephraim Bals-
baugh, a cement contractor who can be depended up-
on to do honest and excellent work. He was born
on his father's farm near Harrisburg, Pa., October
13, 1859, a son of George and Susan (Moyer) Bals-
baugh, who were both natives of Pennsylvania. The
Balsbaugh family were pioneers of Pennsylvania,
coming from Germany and settling there in 1747.
Ephraim received his education in the public schools
of his native district and helped his father with the
farm work, and also became handy with the saw
and hammer. When eighteen years old he left home
and went to Maftoon, 111., and was employed doing
farm work; then he went to Western Kansas and
continued to do farm work and in time purchased
his own farm there.

Mr. Balsbaugh's marriage occurred at Stockton,
Kans., and united him with Miss Minnie Culler, a
daughter of George and Catherine Culler, her father
a native of Pennsylvania and her mother of Ohio.
In 1887 he and his family removed to Colton, Cal.
and he was employed in the Stover Mountain Marble
Works and held that position for three and a half
years and then he followed gold mining in the Search-
light section for two and a half years. Mr. and
Mrs. Balsbaugh are the parents of one daughter,
Mary. In 1904 the family removed to Palo Alto
so that their daughter might have the advantages of
a university education. She was graduated from
Stanford University and received the degrees of A. B.
and A. M., and later was united in marriage with
John Deirup, an attorney of Chico, who passed away
in that city. They were the parents of two children,
Maryle and Torbin.

Mr. Balsbaugh is the leading resident cement con-
tractor of Palo Alto and has done most of the street
curbing of that city; and laid many of the sidewalks;
At present is doing the concrete work on the new
Schmidt Block on Emerson Street. He keeps from
three to ten men busy in his business, building foun-
dations and chimneys for residences throughout the
county; he also does considerable fancy work in
cobblestones and concrete and erected the beautiful
cobblestone posts, costing $5000, for the portal of
Mountain View, which is one of the finest pieces of
cobblestone art work in California; he has also done
much of the same kind of work at Camp Curry in
the Yosemite Valley, where he worked steadily for
a period of seven months: the Masson cobblestone
chimney in the Big Basin was also built by Mr.
Balsbaugh and is a fine piece of work. His art work
is beautiful and substantial and has a peculiar indi-
viduality that attracts attention.

Mrs. Balsbaugh came from an excellent eastern
family and with her mother is a member of the
Christian Science Church; her mother, Mrs. Cath-
erine Culler, is grandmother of Mr. John G. Nie-
hardt, the poet laureate of Nebraska, author of

"Three Friends," "Hugh Glass," "Epic of the
Northwest" and other celebrated poems. "Three
Friends" secured him the prize for the best poetry
written in America for 1919. Mr. Balsbaugh was
brought up in the United Brethren Church and is
now a member of the Congregational Church. A
man of the highest principles and unquestioned in-
tegrity, he and his family are held in the highest
regard in the community.

REV. FATHER PATRICK J. O'HARA.— When-
ever the historian shall address himself to the de-
lightful task of penning the history of Los Gatos,
he will not fail to record the life and labors of the
Rev. Father Patrick J. O'Hara, and in the recording
thereof find inspiration. He was born at Omagh.
County Tyrone, Ireland, June 17, 1871, the son of
Francis and Susan (McWilliams) O'Hara, both na-
tives of County Tyrone descended from ancient Irish
families. Francis O'Hara was a prominent merchant
in Omagh. He passed away at the age of ninety
years and his widow survived him one year, she,
too, being almost ninety years of age at the time
of her death. This worthy couple were the parents
of ten children, all living, of whom Patrick J. is the
fifth. He attended Christian Brothers' College in
his native place until he was twelve years of age,
when he entered the Jesuit College of Clongowes
Wood, where he made his classics and philosophy.
Next he studied at the American College at Lou-
vain, Belgium. On completing his course at Louvain
he came to San Francisco, Cal., in 1899, and soon
afterwards he made his way to St. Paul, Minn.,
where he was ordained to the priesthood at the Ca-
thedral in St. Paul by Archbishop Ireland for the
diocese of San Francisco.

His first appointment was as assistant at St. Pat-
rick's Church, San Francisco, under Rev. Father
Cummings; and he continued to discharge that re-
sponsibility for five years. Then he served as assist-
ant pastor at other places in the diocese. His first
pastorate was at St. Mary's Church, Cotati, Sonoma
County, where he officiated for two years. During
this time Father O'Hara built the new church and
parochial residence at Cotati and brought the parish
to a successful and sound financial basis. In 1917
he was appointed pastor of St. Mary's Roman Cath-
olic Church at Los Gatos. He has a large territory
to look after, stretching from the summit of the
Santa Cruz Mountains to Campbell, and including
about 400 families; but he is untiring in his arduous
work as shepherd of his flock, and is esteemed and
beloved by all who know him. He takes a deep in-
terest in civic affairs, and he is particularly active
in the Knights of Columbus. With the same zeal
and ardor, he is building up the parish and has ma-
terially reduced the indebtedness placed on it by
the erection of the beautiful church and rectory. St.
Mary's parish was established by the Jesuits about
eighteen years ago. but they relinquished the parish
in 1913, and Father Barshab was the first pastor to
take the helm, until his transfer to Sausalito,
when he was succeeded by the present incumbent.

While attending the American College at Louvain.
Father O'Hara's vacations were spent in travel, hav-
ing visited every country on the continent. He had
the pleasure of visiting Rome and was fortunate in
having an audience with Pope Leo. In 1902, and
again in 1906, he made trips back to Ireland, where

LuJ, '^^^^y^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1005

he visited his parents, who were still Hving at the
old home, and in the latter year he also traveled
over the British Isles. However, on his return to
his beloved adopted home in California he was more
pleased than ever to get back to this favored section
of the world.

CHARLES WEEKS.— A splendid example of the
successful, progressive and enterprising Califor-
nian is Charles Weeks, the widely-known poultry-
man and wide-awake subdivider of Runnymede, the
delightful suburb of Palo Alto, to whom Santa Clara
County owes much for the extension of its fame.
A man of real, natural genius who still had to pass
through many interesting and instructive, if not
always satisfying experiences before he "found" him-
self, he has never failed to associate the highest
integrity in the exercise of his gifts, with the result
that he has come to render the most valuable ser-
vice to his fellowmen, and to acquire, as well-merited
returns on his varied investments, an enviable po-
sition of influence and a comfortable competence.

He was born near Wabash, Ind., on February 18,
1873, the son of Thomas C. Weeks, an esteemed
resident of the Hoosier State, who was born in
Wabash County, Ind., and who has come to be one of
the most successful farmers and stockmen. He mar-
ried, in that county. Miss Mary Frances Jackson,
also born and reared in Indiana, a distant relative
of General and President Andrew Jackson, and she
died at her Indiana home in September, 1921, about
seventy years of age, leaving a family of five chil-
dren, four of whom are still living. In December,
1921, Mr. Weeks, in the enjoyment of his seventy-
third year, came to California for a visit, leaving the
attractive farm of ninety acres in Grant County, Ind.,
which has been the home place of the Weeks family
since 1884. A sister of our subject, Mrs. J. F. Collins,
resides at Runnymede, but the rest of the family
are still residents of Indiana.

The only son in this interesting circle, Charles
Weeks grew up at home until he was seventeen,
attending the country district schools, and then he
became a student at the Fairmount Academy, in
Grant County, from which, in time, he was duly
graduated. After that, he taught school for four
years, and then he matriculated at De Pauw Univer-
sity, where he pursued courses for three years, teach-
ing at the same time. He next became interested
in the restaurant business in Chicago, and after two
years in that field and city, he removed to New York
and for two years continued in the same field of en-
terprise. In his famous poultry book — one of the
best, by-the-way, ever given to the press by an Am-
erican writer — Mr. Weeks tells how having dropped
in to see a poultry show in the Eastern metropolis,
the cackle of the high-grade fowls awakened mem-
ories of earlier days, and he decided to embark in
poultry-rasing.

In 1904, he came out to California looking for a
place favorable to intensive farming and the raising
of poultry, and as a trial, he bought a ten-acre place
at Los Altos. He soon found tliat water was too
hard to get there, so he sold his little holding and in
1909 came to Palo Alto. He there purchased five
acres with a good pumping plant, tank-house and cot-
tage, and this is now his well-known home-place;
and since then he has bought an additional five acres,
and has rebuilt, putting up a new residence, with a

large club-house and a lecture-hall, as well as an
office, creating a social center along with the head-
quarters of a poultry school. His office is located
in a large and well-planned structure, and there he
has also sleeping rooms for employees, a cook house
and a dining-room, used at times for lectures. After
his second trial, in New York City, of the restaurant
business, he returned to Indiana, where for two years
he experimented in raising poultry; and since he be-
gan to study it both from a scientific and a business
standpoint, he had attained to something definite
and worth while in progress before he came out to
the Coast.

During the past seventeen years in which Mr.
Weeks has been in California, he has evolved
"Weeks' System" of poultry raising and egg-pro-
duction, and he has so developed his own undertak-
ings in this line that he keeps 15,000 hens on his
ten-acre ranch. He builds his own mammoth incuba-
tors— seven machines which hatch out 25,000 eggs
per annum; and he has made a specialty of breeding
the justly celebrated variety of white Leghorns
known as the Weeks heavy laying strain — the re-
sult of careful selection, for years, of Leghorns
promising vigor and heavy egg-production. He also
breeds Duroc swine and rabbits. He is the prime
mover in the annual fair held each year at Runny-
mede. which has become of much interest to the gen-
eral public, affording, as it does, a revelation of what
may be ccomplished in poultry production, under
the Weeks' System, with the proper conditions of
soil, water and climate, in particular by the "little
farmer." It was Bolton Hall, the great writer, who
said, "three acres and liberty;" but it has been left
for Mr. Weeks to demonstrate the possibility of a
competency from one acre.

This charming suburb of Palo Alto famed for its
balmy, bracing climate, situated on the bank of the
San Francisquito Creek, has a deep-black, loamy
and very productive soil, and excellent irrigation
facilities. Such was his faith in this section from
his advent here, that Mr. Weeks has bought, sub-
divided and sold four valuable tracts, the first sub-
division having been the Charles Weeks Poultry
Colony. This was parceled out into one-acre lots,
all of which were sold off during the first year, in
1916. The next year, another subdivision, also of
160 acres, was put upon the market, and this tract.
Subdivision No. 2, he also sold within the year. In
1918, Mr. Weeks cut up a third tract of 160 acres,
known as the Woodland subdivision, and this he also
sold within the year after it was opened. In 1919, he
offered Subdivision No. 4, upon which he installed a
large pumping plant and an extensive reservoir, from
which he piped water to each lot, thereby saving
much labor and expense to the lot-purchasers; and
the arrangement has proven very satisfactory to all
concerned. Mr. Weeks has already laid out and
sold 600 acres in Runnymede proper, in one-acre
lots, thus greatly encouraging the ambitious person
who hopes to attain his goal with a small amount of
land, often all he can conveniently afford, and he is
still adding to the Colony by buying and subdividing,
from time to time, small, contiguous tracts, and only
recently has acquired three new tracts at Runny-
mede, near Palo Alto, of twenty-five, fifteen and ten
acres, respectively, where he is working his realty
wonders. When Mr. Weeks first came to Los Altos,

1006

HISTORY (3F SANTA CLARA COUNTY

he had only $1,275; and both there and at Palo
Alto he lost money, in the beginning, actually get-
ting into debt to the tune of $10,000. Then, through
actual and sometimes bitter experience, he worked
out the original system for which he has become fa-
mous, and after that he made poultry pay. He found
that the primary consideration was the right kind of
hen. and then that it was necessary to have the best
kind of soil, an abundance of green feed, and plenty
of good water: and since he began to do well for him-
self, he has devoted no little part of his time and
energy to assisting other folks to succeed and make
money. Having made a pronounced success of every
subdivision at Runnymede. near Palo Alto, after
many months' of investigation of land in the vicinity
of Los Angeles. Mr. Weeks selected Owensmouth.
Los Angeles County, as the ideal location for another
colony. This he has named Runnymede No. 2. He
is now busily engaged in colonizing the first forty
acre unit, being a portion of the large Jenal Estate,
adjoining the town of Owensmouth which is only
26 miles from Los Angeles on the lines of the
Southern Pacific and Pacific Electric, while the
Highway Boulevard, Sherman Way, passes the prop-
erty, Mr. Weeks says that this is destined to be-
come more famous than the renowned Runnymede
at Palo Alto, and will aflford an opportunity for
hundreds of people to own a self-supporting gar-
den-home in a cooperative community where the
highest science is used in intensive production on
small acreage.

Mr. Weeks is the editor and publisher of the "Lit-
tle Farms Journal," a bright poultry paper now
published monthly; and he has made himself famous
as the author of the fresh, instructive, diverting and
handsomely-illustrated volume, "Egg Farming in
California;" which bears this inscription: "This book
is dedicated to all who are interested in intensive
production on small acreage — to those who love na-
ture, and enjoy plants and animals — and especially
to those who contemplate a state of higher indepen-
dence on the land." The volume opens with a des-
cription of Mr. Weeks' boyhood days, then tells how
he progressed backwards — from the city to the old
farm; continues with an account of his first attempts
at poultry raising in California; pictures the new
poultry ranch as it is possiible on rich soil with plenty
of water, and next describes the most intensive egg-
farm in the world. There are other absorbing chap-
ters on sanitation in poultry houses, and the keeping
of poultry in the back-yard, and the spirit of uplift
and value to humanity in the whole book may be
judged from such chapter-headings as "The Sanest
of -Arts, the Art of Making a Living on a Little
Land," "The Producer, the Hero and Savior of the
War-Mad World," and "Runnymede — a Place of
Higher Independence for Man in His Own Garden
Home." Mr. Weeks' style is clear and interesting,
and this may account for his demand, not only as a
contributor to the leading agricultural journals of
the day, but as a lecturer, as well. He makes ex-
tended lecture-tours, sometimes absenting himself
for weeks at a time; and he has been particularly ac-
tive in cooperating with farm bureaus around Los
.Angeles and San Diego. He employs ten men regu-
larly, and has in G. S. Oliver, a most efficient and
trustworthy office manager. He has been one of the
most enthusiastic supporters of the State Land Set-

tlements near Durham, and seldom fails to attend a
poultry association meeting in California.

.At Palo Alto, in 1905. Mr. Weeks was married to
Miss Alice Johnson, of Fairmount. Ind., and their
union has been blessed with the birth of two children
— Thomas B. and Charles, Jr.

FRANK EMILE BOURGUIGNON— An enter-
prising leader in California's ever-growing agricul-
tural industry is Frank E. Bourguignon, a native son
who was born in San Francisco on July 7. 1877, the
son of Emile H. Bourguignon. a native of Brussels,
Belgium, where he was born on March 9. 1849. He
was the son of Maximilian and Desiree (Housoy)
Bourguignon. both natives of the same locality, and
the parents of four children, of whom two sons and
a daughter attained maturity. The eldest. Emile.
was sent to the local public school, and when a mere
lad he was apprenticed to learn landscape gardening.
M eighteen years of age he became a Belgian Gren-
adier, and during five years of service he was pro-
moted to be a sergeant. On leaving the army, he
went into business at Brussels; but when the Centen-
nial of our nation drew attention to the United States
in 1876. he crossed the ocean with his family and
came direct to California.

For a couple of years, he lived in San Francisco,
and having canvassed the situation thoroughly, he
removed in 1879 to San Jose, and established himself
in the florist business. He began, as it were, at the
beginning; but by 1903 he had 60,000 square feet
under glass, and was raising flowers which he had no
no difficulty in selling in the markets in San Jose.
San Francisco. Los Angeles and Sacramento. Dur-
ing the winter time, he made a specialty of raising
cucumbers. Mr. Bourguignon was twice married,
his first step in matrimony having been taken in
Belgium, and his first child. Frank, being born in
San Francisco. At San Jose he became the husband,
of Miss Oraza Waltham, a native of Nova Scotia.

Frank E. Bourguignon attended the grammar and
high schools in San Jose, and afterwards went to the
Garden City Business College, where he was gradu-
ated in 1895; and then he remained with his father,
assisting him in his growing enterprises, as a flori-
culturist, until he was twenty-eight years old. Setting
up for himself, he w-ent in the business of growing
vegetables and garden seeds, and leased 200 acres
twelve miles south of San Jose on Coyote Creek,
and devoted the acreage to raising seeds for twelve
years, then he was in employ Northrup King & Com-
pany of Minneapolis and travelled over the North-
west as buyer and contractor, continuing with them
for three years. He then returned to Moorpark
.\venue to take charge of his father's greenhouses
and he has been there since, conducting his own hot-
house business. His father died on .\ugust 2, 1916.
rich in the accomplishments of seventy-two worth-
while years, and also rich in friends and the esteem
of his fellow-men; and Mrs. Bourguignon passed
away in 1888. also beloved by all who knew her.

Mr. Bourguignon's ranch consists of three acres
on Moorpark Avenue, two acres of which are under
glass, about 90,000 square feet, the largest in the
county. He has fifteen greenhouses in all, and he
devotes these to the raising of hot-house vegetables
for the Thanksgiving, Christmas and winter trade,
most of his produce being shipped out of Santa Clara

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

County for the fancy trade. He raises lettuce and
tomatoes, but his specialty is hot-house cucumbers.

At San Jose. May 22, 1905. Mr. Bourguignon was
married to Miss Serena Carteri, a native of Santa
Barbara County, California, and the daughter of Leon
Carteri and his wife, who was Matilda Foxen before
her marriage. Mr. Carteri was famous as one of
the most extensive stock-growers of the Pacific
Coast, and one who did much to advance, along
permanent, broad lines, its vast agricultural inter-
ests. He was born in Toulouse, Southern France,
in 1839, a son of Bertram Carteri, a prominent and
well-to-do man, and after completing a college course,
he sailed from his native land in 1868, and coming
direct to California, established a large mercantile
business at Santa Ynez, in Santa Barbara County.
He subsequently became part owner of the Foxen and
Shaw ranches, and the sole proprietor of two other
large farming estates. Besides, he rented the Santa
Rosa ranch, and the Santa Lucia ranch at Lompoc,
and once able to command these extensive tracts, he
embarked in stock-growing and dealing, and became
one of the largest operators in that field in Cali-
fornia. He had about 40,000 sheep. 20,000 head of
cattle, and 500 horses, fed them and shipped them
to all the near-by markets. Notwithstanding these
cares. Mr. Carteri left his immense interests long
enough to go to Europe and travel for three years;
and having returned to Santa Barbara County, he
continued his operations, and subsequently leased
ranches in Sisquoc, Santa Maria and Casmalia. Dur-
ing 1897 and 1898, he rented mountain ranges in Te-
hama and Plumas counties, later removing his stock
to ranges in Yuba County. Selling his Santa Bar-
bara lands. Mr. Carteri in 1900 moved with his fam-
ily to San Jose; and continuing stock-raising, he
rented the Webber ranch in Santa Clara County,
and the Topo ranch in San Benito County, and de-
voted the former to cattle, and the latter to sheep
raising. Finally, he disposed of all his northern
stocklands. and devoted his entire time to his Santa
Clara and .Sail Benito County ranches; and having
bought the estate at the corner of Thirteenth and
Santa Clara streets, San Jose, he improved a fine
home by creating a beautiful yard and attractive
surroundings, and made it one of the most desirable
places of residence in the cit\'. While out driving
with a friend, however, in the summer of 1903, a
runaway team caused Mr. Cartcri's horses to run
away, and he was thrown from the carriage and
dragged on the ground, receiving injuries that caused
his death six weeks later. He passed away on Sep-
tember 5, 1903. a consistent member of St. Patrick's
Church, and was buried in Calvary Cemetery.

On November 16, 1878, at Santa Barbara, Mr.
Carteri was married to Miss Matilda Foxen, a native
of Santa Barbara and the daughter of William Ben-
jamin Foxen. The latter was born in Norwich. Eng-
land, and had the distinction of being the first Eng-
lish or .American settler of Santa Barbara County.
At Goleta he built the first schooner used for mail
service between Monterey and old San Diego; and
having established himself as a merchant in Santa
Barbara County, he had seven stores there in full
operation, and in addition extensively followed agri-
cultural pursuits, having a fine stock ranch. He
proved of great aid to General Fremont, who had a
camp on his farm and received from Mr. Foxen his

needed supplies. Mr. Foxen married Edwarda Osuna,
who was born in San Diego of Spanish ancestry, her
parents, descendants of the Spanish nobility, having
emigrated from Castile, Spain, to California, to act
as administrators of churches along the Pacific Coast,
and to help organize and build new churches through-
out California. Mrs. Fo.xen lived to be eighty-three
years of age, passing away at Santa Barbara. Mr.
and Mrs. Foxen had fourteen children, eleven of
whom grew to maturity, and Matilda was the young-
est child. She was brought up in Santa Barbara and
attended St. Vincent's College. A lady of exceptional
refinement and culture, she is an active member of
St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Mrs. Bourguignon
has a family of six children, Desiree, Elise, Frank
Emile Jr., Leon, Bertrand and Andre. Mr. Bour-
guignon is a protectionist and holds strongly to the
platforms of the Republican Party.

CARL CAMPBELL.— A native of Pennsylvania,
*CarI Campbell was born at West Sunbury, Butler
County, April 3. 1881. the son of Allen and Katherine
iMeckling) Campbell. The father, born in Butler
County of Scotch descent, was a veteran of the Civil
War. having served two enlistments. He enlisted
the first time .\ugust 7, 1862. under Capt. John F.
White in Company C of the One Hundred Thirty-
fourth Pennsylvania Infantry and served nine
months, and was discharged May 27. 1863, at Harris-
burg. Pa. He enlisted a second time as corporal
under Capt. W. R. Hutchinson in Company A of the
Sixth Pennsylvania Heavy Field Artillery, which was
known as the Two Hundred Twelfth Pennsylvania
Volunteers, enlisting on August 30. 1864. He was
honorably discharged June 13, 1865. at Fort Ethan
.\llen, Va., after the close of the war. After his dis-
charge he returned to his occupation of farming and
also owned and ojierated a grist mill at West Sun-
bury, Pa., in partnership with his brother, James.
Allen Campbell was married at Butler, Pa., in 1876.
and the j-oung couple began housekeeping at West
Sunbury, Pa., where the bride was born, a daugh-
ter of Joseph and Martha (Muntz) Meckling. Mrs.
Campbell being one of a family of seven children.

In 1892 the family removed to California, where
the father purchased a ranch of sixteen acres on the
Porter Road, just east of San Jose, which is now
devoted to prunes and apricots. Allen Campbell was
a strong supporter of the Prohibition party and was
a popular member of Sherman-Dix Post, G. A. R.,
in San Jose, and with his wife was a member of the
ITnited Presbyterian Church. This Civil War vet-
eran passed to the Great Beyond on December 21.
1919, His widow still resides on the home place
with her son, Carl, who looks after her interests.
thus shielding her from needless care and worry.
This worthy couple had five children. Blanche is
a teacher in the Los Angeles schools; Bessie is the
wife of William Holland of Evergreen; Carl, the
subject of this review; Homer Ward is principal of
the Elmhurst school in Oakland, while Joseph died
when sixteen years of age.

Carl Campbell attended the Hauck school in his
district, and after his school days were over he
assisted his father on the ranch until he assumed
charge of the place. From a boy he has had much
experience in orchard work, and being a close ob-
server as well as a student of tree life, he has be-
come well informed as an horticulturist, so aside

1008

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

from caring for his own orchard he is caring for
several other orchards in the vicinity of his home,
having a complete farming outfit for the purpose.
He is also leasing lands and raising grain and hay.
Mr. Campbell is a member of the California Prune
and Apricot Growers, Inc., and fraternally is a mem-
ber of Garden City Lodge of Odd Fellows and the
Woodmen of the World, while politically he is a
strong protectionist and Republican. A generous
and big-hearted man, Mr. Campbell with his pleas-
ing personality is highly esteemed and appreciated
and can always be depended on to assist as far
as he is able worthy and laudable enterprises for
the improvement of the valley and enhancing the
happiness of its people.

MRS. WILLIAM H. CARMICHAEL— Among

those who are successfully following the profession
of teaching in San Jose is Mrs. William H. Car-
michael, whose many estimable qualities have won
for her the respect and admiration of an extensive
circle of friends. Mary Pierce, as she was known in
maidenhood, is a native daughter of California, born
in San Francisco, her parents being Patrick and Mary
(Culligan) Pierce. In the late 'SOs her father came
to California by the Isthmus of Panama route, first
engaging in mining in Placer County, after which he
went to San Francisco. He assisted in the construc-
tion and became yard foreman for the Southern Pa-
cific Railroad Company, occupying that position until
his hand was crushed in an accident, when he acted
as helper in the yard. After thirty years of faithful
and efficient service he was pensioned by the com-
pany and he passed when seventy years of age, con-
tinuing active until the last. The mother died dur-
ing the infancy of the subject of this review.

The youngest in a family of five children, Mamie
P. Carmichael, as she is familiarly known by her
many friends and particularly by the Native Daugh-
ters all over the state, pursued her education in Notre
Dame College of San Francisco and after her grad-
uation she entered the San Jose State Normal, from
which she was graduated with the class of 1892. She
then took up educational work, teaching for the first
two years at Guadalupe and afterward at San Jose,
being thus engaged until September IS, 1898, when
she was married in this city to William H. Car-
michael, a native of San Jose, born March 6, 1869,
and a son of Jacob and Mary (Comons) Carmichael.
Jacob Carmichael was born in Ohio, and coming to
the Coast became a pioneer business man of San
Jose, being engaged in general merchandising at the
corner of Market and Post streets for many years,
and became well and favorably known. The Car-
michael family trace their ancestry back to Penn-
sylvania and Virginia. Some of the ancestors served
in the Revolutionary War, three of Jacob's brothers
served in the Civil War, two of them being wounded.
Jacob Carmichael passed away in 1881, his widow
surviving ■ him till 1914. They reared a family of
four children, William H., Dr. Thos. Carmichael,
Emeline, Mrs. A. J. Henry, of San Jose; and Cecelia,
who is an instructor in the Grant School.

William H. Carmichael was born in the same house
in which his widow now resides, at 312 West San
Fernando Street, and on entering business life he
secured a position in Spring's clothing store, grad-
ually working his way upward until he became head
salesman. For fifteen vears he continued in this

responsible position, during which period he gained a
comprehensive knowledge of the trade, and he then
embarked in the clothing business on his own account
as a member of the Carmichael-Belaris Company.
At the end of ten years, in 1910, he disposed of his
interest in that enterprise and became one of the
founders of The Adler, Inc., Mr. Carmichael being
vice-president and secretary, and established two
stores in San Jose, one in San Francisco and one in
Sacramento, with which he remained until his demise,
March 15, 1912.

Mr. and Mrs. Carmichael became the parents of
seven children: Jacob and Pierce, both graduates of
San Jose High, now attending Junior College;
William H.. also a graduate of San Jose High, viJho
is now connected with the Moorehead-FIeming Drug
Company; Arthur and Merritt, who are attending
high school; and Keith and Mary, who are pupils in
the grammar schools.

When national issues were at stake, Mr. Carmichael
cast his ballot in favor of the candidates of the Dem-
ocratic party, but at local elections he voted for the
man who in his estimation was best fitted for the
office, regardless of political affiliation. His fellow-
citizens recognized his worth and ability, and from
1894 until 1898 he served as police and fire commis-
sioner. He discharged the duties of those offices
with faithfulness and efficiency, being actuated at
all times by a public-spirited devotion to the general
good. He was a member of Palo Alto Parlor, now
San Jose Parlor, N. S. G. W., and was past president,
and served as district deputy several terms. He was
also a member of the Independent Order of For-
esters. He took a most active and helpful part in
the work of public progress and improvement and
his integrity in business affairs, his fidelity in friend-
ship and his devotion to home and family were char-
acteristics which won for him the high and enduring
regard of all with whom he was associated.

Mrs. Carmichael is a member of Vendome Parlor,
N. D. G. W., No. 100, San Jose, and has taken a prom-
inent part in the activities of that order, having served
as president of the local parlor, and was grand
president of the Grand Parlor in 1916 and 1917, and
as such visited every parlor in the state. After her
husband's death Mrs. Carmichael continued her in-
terest in the The Adler, Inc., being elected a director
and vice-president of the company and she gave her
undivided attention to the business until 1915, when
she disposed of her interest in the company. Soon
she found she was not content with inactivity and so
turned to her old profession and again took up edu-
cational work and is now in charge of the sixth grade
at the Grant School. She has been very successful
as an instructor, her thorough training and natural
qualifications well fitting her for work of this char-
acter. She is a member of the city, county, and state
teachers' associations. The home in which she now
resides was erected in 1865 by Mr. Carmichael's
father and as a member of one of the pioneer families
of San Jose she well merits the respect in which she
is universally held.

JOHN ROBERT ROESSLER.— Determination to
succeed is inherent in John Robert Roessler, and this
brief sketch will show wlicre this characteristic will
lead, if coupled with industry and thrift. A native
of Portland County, Wis., he was born six miles
from Waterloo, September 3, 1880, the son of Thomas

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1011

Roessler, a tinner and sheet metal worker, who came
from AustraHa to Wisconsin. Mrs. Roessler passed
awaj' when John Roessler was a young lad. He is
the oldest of a family of four, the next being Lewis,
a resident of Rochester, Minn.; Mary, now Mrs.
Kelly, residing in St. Paul, Minn., and Laura, who
passed away at the age of twelve.

John Roessler attended the public schools of Water-
loo, but had very little time for education, as he was
obliged to make his own way when very young,
working on dairy and cattle farms in Wisconsin until
he removed to California. Having worked as a
blacksmith and wagon maker in Wisconsin, his
natural inclination was toward the mechanical, and
when he arrived in San Jose in 1901 he was em-
ployed with the Osen Motor Company, very soon
becoming the head mechanic. He remained with
them until 1918, having charge of all the service
work, unloading new cars and getting them into
shape for selling. During 1918 he secured a lease on
a lot at the corner of Capitol and Alum Rock avenues
and built a garage, and here he does first-class repair
work on all makes of cars.

On August 18, 1906. Mr. Roessler was married
to Miss Adelaide Schroeder, a native of California,
born in San Francisco, a daughter of Clark and Kath-
erine Schroeder. When Mrs. Roessler was a girl of
twelve, her father purchased a ranch in the San An-
tonio Valley east of San Jose, which consisted of
about 400 acres of land, and engaged in the stock
business, the family making their home in San Jose,
where Mrs. Roessler was educated. Mr. Schroeder
was a general contractor and did a great deal of work
on the construction of the San Francisco roads and
streets. He passed away in 1903 and the cattle
ranch was sold. Mrs. Schroeder later became Mrs.
Nash and resides in Oakland.

In 1910 Mr. Roessler bought a lot and built a home
on Alum Rock Avenue not far from his place of
business, and here the family have continuously re-
sided. They are the parents of four children, Loal,
Jack, Vernon and Clark, all attending private school,
in San Jose. An expert mechanic, Mr. Roessler has
built up a splendid business and has all the work
he can handle. In politics he is a Republican.

HONORABLE JOSEPH R. WELLER.— A dis-
tinguished citizen of Santa Clara County, Joseph Rush
Weller was born near Washington, Warren County,
N. J., on October 10, 1819, the son of Peter Rush and
Elizabeth (Smock) Weller, both of whom were of
colonial ancestry. The paternal grandfather. William
Weller, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Two
brothers of William Weller, Phillip and Peter, were
also soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Philip was
with Washington at Braddock's defeat in 1755. All
three brothers fought at the battle of Monmouth.

Born with a patriot's heritage, Joseph Rush Weller
loved his country as those do who are willing to
sacrifice for it. When he was five years old his
parents moved to Livingston County, N. Y., where
he was reared on a farm in the Geneseo Valley. He re-
ceived his early education at Temple Hill Academy,
Geneseo. N. Y., under the tutorship of Horatio N.
Robinson, author of the celebrated mathematical
text-books. He afterwards taught in the public
schools and attended the Ithaca Academy. While a
student at the academy he was appointed to attend
the State Normal School at Albany, from which in-

stitution he was graduated in 1846. He was imme-
diately engaged by Col. W. W. Wadsworth to take
charge of the agricultural department of a college
in the Geneseo Valley, where he remained until Col-
onel Wadsworth's health failed and the college enter-
prise was discontinued. While superintendent at
the college Mr. Weller was able to devote consid-
erable time to the study of law. In the spring of
1849 he went to Staten Island, N. Y., and accepted
a position as teacher in the private seminary of Prof.
H. M. Boehm. In May, 1850, he left New York on
the brig John French, for California and after a
stormy passage of thirty-three days reached the mouth
of the Chagres River where he, with six companions,
took a small boat and rowed up the river to the
town of Cruces. Thence they went over the Bolivar
trail on pack mules to Panama where, with several
thousand others, six weeks were passed waiting for
a steamer. Passage was finally secured on the Co-
lumbus and landing was made at San Francisco,
August 7, 1850.

Mr. Weller did not remain long in San Fran-
cisco, but went to the mines at Coloma, El Dorado
County. At the end of a month he returned to San
Francisco ill with Panama fever. In the foUow-ing
spring, still suffering from its effects, he came to
Santa Clara Valley and located on the Charles Weber
ranch, twenty miles from San Jose, where he remained
until his health was fully restored. He again went
to the mines, remaining only a short time. In the
spring of 1853 he bought a large tract of land in the
Tularcitos Rancho adjoining Milpitas, where he made
his residence and was identified with agricultural
interests until the time of his death. There were no
roads, fences or bridges. With the spirit of the true
pioneer, "the future is purchased by the present," he
spent much time in developing the country. He organ-
ized the Milpitas school district in 1855 and was one
of its trustees until 1879. From 1856 until 1878 he
hold the office of justice of the peace and for a num-
ber of years he was an associate judge of Santa Clara
County. In 1878 he was elected a member of the State
Constitutional Convention and assisted in framing the
present constitution of the State of California. In poli-
tics, Mr. Weller was a Republican with progressive
tendencies and decided character, taking a deep inter-
est in all matters affecting the prosperity of county,
state and nation. Possessed of a genial disposition
and a firm Christian faith he was ever ready to act for
"right as it respected his God, his country and him-
self." He was a member and supporter of the Pres-
byterian denomination, occupying the position of elder,
which took him to the larger councils and assemblys
of the church which he ever keenly enjoyed and
where his opinions were received with respect and
confidence.

In 1861 Mr. Weller was united in marriage to Mrs.
Marion W. (Hart) Battey, the widow of Jonathan
Battey, a native of New York. A woman of rare
courage and faith, Mrs. Weller was a true helpmate.
Her ancestral history was also mingled with the early
history of the United Setates. The first representa-
tives of her family came from England and settled
in Massachusetts in 1628. Her great-grandfathers
were in the war of the Revolution. She was an early
pioneer of California, having crossed the plains in
1852 with her first husband, Jonathan Battey. To
Mr. and Mrs. Weller, two children were born: Ma-

1012

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

rion Elizabeth and May Lucinda, now Mrs. Will-
iam M. Curtner, the daughters becoming step-sisters
to Henry Grey Battey. Mrs. Weller's child by her
first marriage. Retaining his virile mental faculties
to the last. Judge Weller passed away March 4,
1915, at the age of ninety-five years. Mrs. Weller,
the beneficence of her character radiating her declin-
ing years, breathed her last on May 14, 1916, at the
age of eighty-eight.

FRANCIS C. BATES — A distinguished member
of the Grand Army of the Republic, active for years
in the East, who has cast his fortune in with Cali-
fornia and, like so many Easterners of foresight and
enterprise, has met with such pronounced success that
he has found the state truly "golden." is Francis C.
Bates, who was born at Jersey City, N. J., on March
1, 1847, the son of Perry G. and Amy Ann Frances
(Carpenter) Bates, both natives of Rhode Island,
whose families were among the earliest settlers there.
Mrs. Bates died when Francis was only eleven days
old, and while he was still a lad, his father removed
with him to Troy, N. Y., and there they were living,
our subject attending the Troy high school, when the
war over secession and slavery broke out. He made
ammunition for the the three-months soldiers, and on
June 16, 1863, he enlisted in defense of the Union,
and served with credit until he was discharged on
May 25, 1865. He joined Company C of the Eigh-
teenth New York Cavalry and served under General
Nathaniel Prentiss Banks in the campaign to Red
River. He went through seventeen general engage-
ments, among them Pleasant Hill, Sabine Cross-
roads, Cane River, Big Prairie, Moore's Plantation,
.'Mexandria, Morganzi Bend and Port Hudson, all in
Louisiana, and the capture of Mobile, Ala. He sus-
tained seven wounds, and from one which he re-
ceived at Pleasant Hill in May, 1864, he is still suf-
fering today. This wound was made when he was
struck in the right knee by a bullet which lifted the
knee-cap and then passed on through the horse he
was riding, killing the faithful animal, and finally
grazing his left leg. Because of the miserable sani-
tary conditions in those days, the patient suffered
from gangrene before the wound healed. Col. Wil-
liam H. Burns went through the same seventeen en-
gagements without a scratch, and was later killed in
the Custer massacre.

Francis Bates was so young at first that he was
able to enlist only as a bugler. He relates an inci-
dent of the third day's fighting at Pleasant Hill, when
the color-bearer, retreating, was shot and killed. The
colors lay on the ground, some five hundred yards
in the rear, and Col. Burns called for a volunteer to
bring them in. Our subject was off in a jifify, reached
the sacred standards, picked them up, and returned
with them safely, untouched, amid a hurricane of
whistling bullets. When really wounded, however,
he did not recover for two or more years.

While learning the machinist's trade in Massachu-
setts, and awaiting recuperation, Mr. Bates also
studied law at the night school. He became such a
first-class millwright that he was able to take a po-
sition with the Lowell Machine Works. He then in-
vented the first rotary veneer cutting machine, per-
fected his patent, and moved to Northern Vermont,
about two miles from Newport. He started a veneer
factory, and as a result the town of Batesville was

founded, now a place of about 5,000 population.
This rotary veneer cutting plant supplied veneer ma-
terial for car ceilings, depot ceilings, chair-bottoms
and all work in which veneer is used, and proved so
popular that Mr. Bates was encouraged to build a
second and then a third plant. In 1896, on account
of impaired health, Mr. Bates sold his factories and
his patent rights to a firm from Sheboygan, Wis., and
the new company enlarged the veneer works to
twenty mills, now the largest in the world. When at
Newport. Mr. Bates, who is a Republican, served as
one of the county selectmen for seven years.

Still in pursuit of health, Mr. Bates came to Cali-
fornia in 1896 and settled at San Jose, and having in-
vented the Bates-Holley automatic signal mail box
for rural delivery service, he turned his attention to
its manufacture on a large scale. The box had been
approved by the postmaster-general, but he soon
found that the same could not be made in California
for the price necessary to meet the government de-
mands. He therefore set out to find a firm which
could make them cheaper, and in Joliet, 111., he suc-
ceeded. For nine years this firm turned out some
10,000 boxes a month, and then the demand was
.greater than they could meet, and after three years
more, the firm gave up the manufacture of the util-
ity altogether. Mr. Bates also invented a semi-auto-
matic signal box for city mail service, which is still
being manufactured.

In 1908 Mr. Bates became a patent attorney and
opened an office in the Rs'land Building at San Jose;
but in 1918, on account of his knee and the bother it
gave him, he had to give up active work, and since
that time he has lived retired. In 1897 he took the
lead in organizing the New York Social Union of
San Jose, and for a long period he was its president,
running it up from 13 to 500 members. In Brooklyn
he joined the Anthon Lodge No. 769. A. F. & A. M..
and he was also an active member of Grant Lodge.
I. O. O. F., at Brooklyn. He joined the Grand Army
at Newport, Vt., and was the commander of Baxter
Post No. 51, G. A. R., at that place; and on coming
to San Jose, he joined John Dix Post, and when it
was merged with Sheridan Post No. 7 he continued
there a year; since then has been aiSliated with Col.
A. G. Bennett Post No. 186.

Mr. Bates was twice married. At Lowell, Mass.,
on January 16, 1867, he took for his wife Miss Emma
C. Smith, a native of Newport, Vt., and the daughter
of Jonas G. and Lucretia Smith. Six children sprang
from this happy union. Amy Ann Frances died three
days after birth, and Perry G. passed away when
three years old. Hattie Frances has become Mrs,
Henry F. Sander, and lives at Somerville, Mass.
Lenor C. died when six months old. Elsie May
reached her ninth month. Henry F. was graduated
with all the honors of old Harvard, and also came to
California with his father for his health; but he
passed avi'ay at the age of twenty-three. Mrs. Bates
died at Newport, Vt., on March 5, 1890; and two years
later, in New York City, Mr. Bates married a second
time, choosing for his wife Miss Sloma M. Baker.
She was born at Newport, Vt., June 25, 1866, the
daughter of Peter Baker, a lumber merchant, who
had married Phoebe Baker, and with Mr. Bates she
shares the rewards of a long and useful career.

^^rvO/vA®^ AP. \^J^JAS~"

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1015

PIERRE MONTMAYEUR— Among the many
French-Americans who have found their way to
California, and to whom Santa Clara County has held
out large inducements, may he mentioned Pierre
Montmayeur. proprietor of the Lamolle Grill, located
at 36 North First Street, San Jose.

In a typical home in Grenoble, France, Mr. Mont-
mayeur was born October 25, 1865, the son of Noel
and Euphrasia Montmayeur, and there he was edu-
cated in the public schools of his native land. Upon
his graduation, he determined to become proficient
in the art of cooking, taking up the profession of
chef. In the year 1891 he migrated to the United
States, coming directly to San Francisco, where he
engaged in business for himself. In 1903 he came
to San Jose, where in partnership with Mrs. La-
molle he established the first grill in the city. In de-
ciding upon a name for their establishment Mr.
Montmayeur said to his partner, who was an old
pioneer, they would call it the Lamolle Grill. The
l)usiness proved lucrative and brought to its owners
gratifying profits, and the partnership continued
until Mrs. Lamolle died. Then Mr. Montmayeur
bought her interest, and his thorough knowledge of
his business and many years of training in catering
to the public taste has made his restaurant a favorite
dining place for many.

The marriage of Mr. Montmayeur united him to
Miss Catherine Fayeance, also a native of France,
and they have one child, a daughter, Irene, who is
a graduate of Notre Dame and now employed in the
Garden City Bank. Mr. Montmayeur is a standi
adherent of the principles of the Republican party.
and fraternally he is a member of the Elks and Odd
Fellows; also a member of the Chamber of Commerce
and the Merchants .Association. He is broadminded
and public-spirited and is intensely interested in the
progress of the community in wdiich he resides.

WASHINGTON B. COATES— A highly-esteemed
veteran of the Civil War, respected and beloved for
his sterling American patriotism and his exemplary
Christian character. Washington B. Coates, of 29
South Twenty-first Street, San Jose, exerts a wide
and enviable influence. He was born in Susquehanna
County. Pa... on .August 19. 1841, the son of William
H. and Jane (Morley) Coates, and w^hen four and a
half >-cars old \v,is t.iken by his parents to Green
Count\. \\ is., wlurr he settled at Monticello. He is
of English descent, for his father hailed from Eng-
land, and his mother's family came of good old
Pilgrim stock.

Washington attended the public schools at Mon-
ticello and grew up on the home farm of his father,
who cleared a piece of timberland in the Burr Oak
openings, and there built a house and barn. At the
outbreak of the Civil War. he volunteered and
enlisted Septemlier .^ in the Fifth Wisconsin Battery,
Light Artillery, under Captain Oscar F'. Pinney, of
Monroe. One month later he was called to Racine
to drill at Camp Utley. His battery was sent into
action along with the Fifty-ninth, Seventy-third and
Seventy-fourth Illinois Infantry, and the Twenty-
second Indiana Infantry, comprising the brigade un-
der General JefTerson C. Davis.

Mr. Coates was first sent to Cairo, 111., then to
New Madrid. Miss., and after that to Louisville,
Ky.. where has was placed in the Army of the Cum-
berland. He was in twenty-two engagements, in-

cluding the celebrated Battle of Chattanooga, and he
and his comrades were cut oflf and hemmed in until
Grant and Sherman came to their rescue. He was
also in the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga
and many others. He was twice taken prisoner, and
for two weeks, or until he w^as exchanged in 1865, he
was in^ Libbey prison. He reenlisted at Chattan-
ooga, Tenn., in January. 1864, and served throughout
the war, until June, 1865.

Our intrepid veteran passed through many hazard-
ous experiences, without once being wounded, and
this good fortune he attributes to Divine protection.
One instance in particular, he himself relates. He
was in charge of an expedition to forage in the sur-
rounding country, when he was suddenly confronted
by five rebels who came upon him unexpectedly.
They all pulled their carbines and shot repeatedly,
but not one of them was able to hit him, although
he was taken prisoner. After the War, he returned
to Wisconsin and attended school at odd times dur-
ing a period of three years; and then, teachers being
at a premium, he taught school. During this time
he attended Hillsdale College.

On August 25, 1868, at Jonesville, Hillsdale Coun-
ty, Mich.^ Mr. Coates was married to Miss Eliza-
beth A. Goodwin, a native of that place, whose par-
ents were born in New Hampshire, or on that state
line. They came to Michigan when thev were a
young couple, and had a family of six daughters,
among whom Mrs. Coates was the third. Her
father was Londrus Goodwin, and he married Miss
Cornelia Bowman; and the latter died when Eliza-
beth was sixteen years old. Elizabeth attended
Hillsdale College, where Will Carleton. the poet, also
studied, and it was there that she met Mr. Coates.
A year after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Coates re-
moved to Nebraska and there took up 160 acres of
Government land eleven miles from Crete, in Saline
County; they proved up and lived upon this homestead
for eleven years, meanwhile raising grain as their
principal crop. Then they sold out their farm and
went back to Michigan to care for Mrs. Coates'
father, who w^as in failing health, and who lived only
two and a half years after their return. Subsequent
to his death, they ran the old home ranch until 1882,
when they came to California and settled at San
Miguel, in San Luis Obispo County, where they
rented a grain ranch.

In 1894 Mr. and Mrs. Coates removed to San Jose,
and resumed farming with the raising of fruit. They
rented a ranch for awhile, and then bought forty
acres of bare land and set fourteen acres to fruit, in
particular apricots and prunes. This ranch is located
eleven miles east and somewhat south of Santa Jose,
beyond Evergreen; and there they lived for several
years before moving into San Jose, when Mr. Coates
retired from active ranch work. He sold a half-in-
terest in the forty acres to his third son, and he
still retains a half-interest in the farm. For the past
eleven years he has lived in San Jose, where he is
a member of the Sheridan-Dix Post, G. A. R., in
which he is a past commander. In politics he is a
Republican.

Mr. and Mrs. Coates have been given four chil-
dren, all sons. Wilbert A. married Miss Cruess. and
they live in Oakland with their five children — Earl,
Luella. Viva, Wilbert and Emma — one child, Zelma,
having died. Clifford G. married Miss Jamison and

1016

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

now lives near Pleasanton; they have two children —
Willis and Lucile^ — and have lost one. Herbert L.,
who is on his father's ranch, married Miss Maude
Holland, and they have one child. Morris. Victor
H. lives on Nineteenth Street, in San Jose, with his
wife, who was a Miss Billings, and their three chil-
dren— Henry Loraine, Hubert Le Roy, and Elmer
Elery. Since 1858, Mr. and Mrs. Coates have been
consistent Methodists. Mrs. Coates is a member of
the Ladies of the G. A. R. Mr. and Mrs. Coates
have one great-grandson, Paul Gilbert, the son of
Mrs. Luella Gilbert..

ANDREW RUSSELL— Another enthusiastic lodge
worker, widely and everywhere pleasantly known
through his various fraternal associations, is Andrew
Russell, the efficient and popular superintendent of
Plant No. 2 of the Richmond-Chase Packing Com-
pany, at the corner of Cinnabar and Montgomery
streets, San Jose. He was born in bonnie Scotland,
and first saw the light near Glasgow on August 21,
1873, the son of Lawrence Russell, an expert ac-
countant while he was in his native country. He
came to the United States in 1885 and immediately
settled at Clifton, Arizona, and three years later he
brought his family to California and pitched their
tent at Saratoga, in Santa Clara County. Near that
town he purchased eighty acres of land, which he
devoted to prunes and apricots; and there he engaged
actively in both the growing and packing of fruit.
He organized and conducted the first cooperative
fruit packing association in the county, located at
Saratoga, and thus centralized the eflforts of the
growers in marketing; and for the last thirty years
he has been enviably influential as a wide-awake, far-
seeing man, known among the horticulturists for
exceptional executive ability, still supervising the
plant he so successfully organized, although in reality
practically retired. He married Miss Mary Mac-
Vicar, and she became the mother of our interesting
subject who. under her intelligent encouragement,
attended both the grammar and the high schools,
and then matriculated at the College of the Pacific.
Lawrence Russell is still living on his ranch near
Saratoga, at the ripe old-age of seventy-one, and
Mrs. Russell is still devotedly at his side, one year the
younger. Eight children were born to the worthy
pioneer couple, and among them the oldest is the
subject of our review. Hamilton Russell is with his
father on the ranch. Jessie became Mrs. A. L. Cil-
ker, of Los Gatos. Belle is at home with her par-
ents. Alexander is a California State civil engineer.
Margaret is also at home with her parents. Mary,
whose marriage made her Mrs. A. E. Stewart, lives
at Berkeley; while Lawrence, affectionately recalled
by many appreciating friends, passed away at the
age of twenty-four.

The inception of the packing business at Saratoga
came from a suggestion by Andrew Russell that he
and his father would better put up their own fruit
on account of the erratic prices in the prune market
at that time. Up to then, very few in that neighbor-
hood had had any experience in drj'ing and packing.
There was a Chinaman who was working for a Mr.
Rose at Los Gatos; and in order to get an insight into
the work under the Chinaman, Andrew offered his
services gratis. He stayed a month, and then, hav-
ing by accident acquired the secret of packing strictly

first-class fruit, he returned home and assisted his
father to start their business. Their first year's out-
put was two car loads, while today thirty car loads
is the annual output. They still retain many of their
original customers, and with some they have supplied
their needs for about twenty-five years. In all this
time, the Russells have made a specialty of packing
only first-class dried fruits; and their fine products.
easily marketed under the "Russell Brand," are widely
known throughout the United States.

After having been thus associated with his father
for twenty years, Andrew Russell's health became im-
paired, and he went to work for the Peninsular
Railroad Company, as conductor and then as adver-
tising man, with which company he remained for a
decade. When, however. E. N. Richmond established
a fruit-packing business at Edenvale, he became iden-
tified with him, remaining there for three years; and
from the time of the incorporation of the Richmond-
Chase Company at San Jose, in 1918, he has been
the superintendent of the packing department of their
Plant No, 2, in San Jose. This plant alone, in 1919,
put out about 22,000,000 pounds of fruit, and in 1920.
under less favoring condition, the output was still
the enormous amount of about half of that quantity —
a fine testimonial to Mr. Russell's knowledge, execu-
tive and technical ability.

Mr. Russell has also experimented, for the past
three years, with the manufacture of "Blanco," a
factory-finish whitewash designed to withstand the
elements, to retain its color, and never scale or peel
off. He has overcome most of the obstacles hitherto
encountered in the use of whitewash, and he expects
to have the product upon the market in the near
future, when the secret, patented formula will have
been perfected, thereby adding another contribution
made by the Russell family toward the industrial
development of the Golden State.

At San Jose, on July 12, 1897, Mr. Russell married
to Miss Annie Davidson, a native of Marin County,
and the daughter of Henry and Laura Davidson, now
both deceased. From her fourth year. Miss Annie
attended school in the San Jose district; and there,
amid a growing circle of devoted friends, she was also
reared. Two children sprang from this fortunate
union: Dorothy L. Russell graduated from the State
Normal School at San Jose, and is now a teacher in
the Willow Glen School, and a member of San Jose
Chapter No. 31, O. E. S.; and Norman A. Russell, a
charter member of DeMolay Order, is with the Union
Oil Company, at San Jose.

Mr. Russell, naturally a live-wire member of the
San Jose Chamber of Commerce, is a Republican in
matters of national political import, yet a non-partisan
"booster" such as any community would always wel-
come. He is a member of San Jose Lodge No. 10,
F. & A. M., also a charter member of Pyramid No. 9,
A. E. O. S. of San Jose, and he is, too, a member of
Loyal Oak Lodge No. 4997, L O. O. F., and is a past
noble grand of this order, and is affiliated with the
Manchester Unity, the parent of the American order.
He is equally enthusiastic about the Woodmen of the
World, and belongs to Alamo Camp No. 80, of San
Jose, of which order he has been an active member
for twenty-four years. He is also a member of the
Foresters of America, and has passed through all
of the chairs of this order, while from 1896 to 1906
he was the Foresters' financial secretary.

UirnJOmJjA^jLLMAlu

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1019

FRANK L. HUFF._If asked to designate a per-
son that would typify the best manhood of Santa
Clara County's present-day generation of native sons,
there would be no mistake in nominating Frank Huff,
the present postmaster at Mountain View. He was
born on the old Huff homestead on the Charleston
Road, two miles north of Mountain View, March 24,
1867, a son of the late James A. and Emily E. (Card)
Huff, honored pioneer settlers in this part of Santa
Clara County, being the second oldest of the five
sons surviving of a family of nine children, and grew
to manhood on his father's farm. He was early
called upon to follow the plow, and as a boy, attended
the Whisman school, while his vacation days were
busied with work on the farm. The elder Huff was
very much interested in the success and welfare of
the Whisman school, serving as chairman of the
board of trustees for many years and taking a very
active interest in the education of his children. He
himself having had very meager educational ad-
vantages, without doubt made him all the more
solicitous in matters pertaining to education.

Having completed the home school, Frank entered
Washington College at Irvington, Alameda County,
pursuing the scientific and commercial courses,
graduating from both departments in 1888. During
his senior year he was called upon to teach Algebra
and to assist in the business department. After his
graduation, during the years from 1888 to 1891, in-
clusive, he was a teacher in the commercial depart-
ment of said institution. When Stanford opened in
1891 he matriculated with the first class. For the
next two years he was a student there, after which
he was called back to Washington College to become
the head of its business department; but after one
year resigned and resumed his studies at Stanford
for another year. He then took the teachers' exam-
ination in Santa Clara County, receiving the high-
est standing in a class of thirteen. His first experi-
ence as a public school teacher was four years as
principal of the Boulder Creek Grammar School in
Santa Cruz County, where he was also a member of
the county board of education, after which for eigh-
teen years he held the position of principal of the
grammar schools in Mountain View, where he feels
was done his greatest work as a school man. He
resigned this position in the fall of 1917 to accept
the principalship of the city schools.

He resigned the principalship of the Washington
School in the fall of 1919, wishing to give his full
time to his orchards, never having entirely relin-
quished the determination formed when a boy to own
and manage a fine orchard, making his life work
in horticultural pursuits. In 1900, while teaching at
Mountain View, he had set out the twenty-acre home
ranch on Levin avenue, owned by his wife, to prunes
and apricots, and he lived upon it and cared for it
during the major part of the time he was engaged in
teaching. In 1920 he purchased a splendid young
orchard planted in prunes and peaches at Hollister
which he still owns and manages.

He married on December 28, 1898, at Mountain
View, Miss Mame Levin, the daughter of Joel and
Mary (Swall) Levin, well-to-do and highly honored
pioneer citizens of Mountain View. Mr. and Mrs.
Huff have but one child, a son, William E., born

February 20, 1900, who graduated from Stanford in
January, 1922, having majored in Geology. He was
top sergeant at the College of the Pacific during the
war, and at its close was in the officers' training
camp Waco, Tex., with the infantry replacement
troops. He is now engaged in the engineering de-
partment of the Cinco Minas Mining Company in
the state of Jalisco, Mexico.

In politics Mr. Huff is a stanch Republican who
sincerely believes in America for Americans, and is
strongly opposed to the immigration into our coun-
try of people who are out of harmony with Amer-
ican institutions and ideals, particularly those of such
blood as cannot be assimilated by the Caucasian race
to its benefit. While supervising the Washington
School, Mr. Huflf had under his charge something
like eight hundred pupils from the kindergarten to
the eighth grade, largely of Italian parentage, and
during the World War, in his school and war work,
he had fine opportunity to observe the Americanism
of men and women barely able to speak the language
and of their children not yet out of the grammar
schools. As a result he has great faith in their pos-
sibilities as citizens, and wishes it distinctly under-
stood that his objection to foreign immigration is
based on duty to our own and our children's chil-
dren, and a desire to build up a clean-cut American
type with similarity in ideals of life and government
rather than on the question of the possibility, through
our schools and civic life, of bringing the foreigner
to Anurican standards. Whatever Mr. HufT may
have accomplished, or may yet accomplish along
other lines, his greatest work will remain the im-
planting of American ideals of char.icter and conduct
in the minds of the hundreds of children who have
come under his influence, and in the training he has
given them for clean American citizenship. In a
recent talk on American ideals to the pupils of the
Mountain View high school during graduating exer-
cises he said to them in closing. "I'it yourself for
accomplishment; lie virile; take your i>art in affairs,
and help to see that the Golden Gate swings only
outward to those who hold not our American ideals."
One of the greatest satisfactions of his life is the
esteem of those who were once his pupils, and the
feeling that he may have aided in the building of a
character that fitted them for success.

Mr. and Mrs. Huff are prominent in religious and
social circles. Mr. Huff had much to do with the
building of the Presbyterian Church at Mountain
\'icw, and for many years, prior to leaving to take
charge of the school in San Jose, served as a mem-
ber of its board of trustees. It was during his term
as trustee that the title to the present church prop-
erty was cleared and the new church building erect-
ed. Believing thoroughly in the principle of co-
operation in selling the products of the soil, Mr, HuiT
belongs to the Prune and Apricot Growers' Associa-
tion, while every other project intended to promote
the general welfare receives his encouragement. He
w-as active in the campaign that removed the saloons
from Mountain View. He declined invitations to ac-
cept civic honors other than those of a teacher on
the grounds that one civic position is all that should
be intrusted to a person at a time. He is at the
present time chairman of the civic affairs' committee

1020

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of the Chamber of Commerce, a stockholder in the
Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Mountain
View, a member of the Mountain View Grange, an
Odd Fellow, and a Native Son of the Golden West.
He is also a member of the committee for putting
over the project of a new $200,000 high school for
Mountain View. His appointment as postmaster at
Mountain \'iew came to him in April, 1922, and he
entered upon the active duties of his office on the
fifteenth day of the month following.

Coming from one of the county's best families,
being still a comparatively young man and an un-
tiring worker, with a thorough education and a high
moral character, it is safe to say that his career will
be graced by even greater successes and higher
honors than he has already achieved.

JAMES T. DUNN — A noted apiarist whose fame
has extended far beyond the confines of Santa Clara
County is James T. Dunn, a native son, born at La
Fayette. Contra Costa County, on December 28,
1876, the son of Edward B. and Anna B. (Walker)
Dunn. A great uncle on the Walker side came to
California far back in 17''2, is biiri. .i in the family
plot at Martinez, Cal.. ami W.ilk.r-- I',.-, leading to
the Yosemite Valley .s nanud all.r hnu. Edward
B. Dunn is a native of Kentucky, aiul he crossed
the plains on foot driving an ox-team in 1850. Hav-
ing arrived safely at Sacramento, he pushed on in the
spring of 1851 to San Jose. Three generations ago.
the Dunns came from Ireland; while Mrs. Walker's
family came originally from Missouri. The Walkers
were large stockmen and owned the west side of Mt.
Diablo into the valley.

Edward B. Dunn spent some four years hauling
quicksilver ore from the New Almaden mines, and
then he moved to Contra Costa County and near La
Fayette engaged extensively in grain, stockraising
and dairying. He had two ranches, and for many
years he ran a threshing machine, with old-fashioned
horse power, in the days prior to the "Old Minne-
sota Chief" threshing machine. In connection with
his farm land. Mr. Dunn also had considerable hill
land for range. He ran a stock farm and cheese fac-
tory and resided there for thirty years, or until a
short time before his death; he lived to be seventy-
two years and ten months old. Mrs. Dunn died at
the age of fifty-tour, and both are buried in Martinez.
They had eight children, among whom our subject is
the youngest living; and he and a sister, Mrs. Han-
nah Young, of Oakland, are all that survive.

James T. Dunn attended the grammar school at
La Fayette and at the completion of school he served
an apprenticeship in the hardware trade under Rit-
tingstein. of Oakland; and at the end of the three
years he went to work for the Hawley Bros. Hard-
ware Company, of San Francisco, with which con-
cern he remained until he became of age. He also
attended evening school in Oakland for a couple of
years. As soon as he attained his majority, how-
ever, he took up the bee business, for which he had
always had a fancy, and he commenced with two
colonies of bees in the fall of 1882 at La Fayette.
He spent several years in Fresno and Butte counties
and gradually increased his holdings; and while liv-
ing in Fresno, he served for several years as county
bee inspector. In Butte County he had a large

apiary on the Phelan ranch, and he was also bee
inspector of that county.

For the past seventeen years, Mr. Dunn has made
San Jose his home, and while here he has taken up
the "queenery business," and has also branched out
into extensive shipping of bees, and as one of the
authorities on bees along the Pacific Coast, he has
naturally come to enjoy a very enviable prosperity.
His queenery he started in 1900 from almost nothing;
and yet in 1919 he raised and shipped 8,000 queen-
bees to all parts of the world, all raised in Santa
Clara Valley. He breeds only the Italian bees, as
they are the least susceptible to the various diseases
the California beekeeper has to deal with.

In 1917 Mr. Dunn took up the shipping of bees
from California to distant points in the United
States, and also abroad, and he uses small boxes,
each one containing two pounds of bees; and while
they are enroute, the bees are fed by a solution of
sugar water, until they arrive at their destination.
As an illustration of how this interestint; industry,
under the farsightedness and experience ut .\lr. Dunn,
has grown, it may be stated that in l'il7 he shipped
only 400 of these two-pound boxes. uhiU- m \'>20 his
volume of exports exceeded live tons. IK ,ilso buys
many bees in Monterey Counlv. Salina- \ alley and
at Carmel, purchasing hundreds of colonies; he does
much of the shaking of the bees at Salinas, and
from that point they are hauled by way of auto-
trucks to San Jose, where they are packed and sent
off by express. San Jose is the logical shipping
point, and among apiarists San Jose is regarded as
the greatest bee-producing town in the world, just
as Santa Clara County is regarded as the center of
the queen-bee producing industry — a fact not gener-
ally known and appreciated. Mr. Dunn's shipments
alone of two-pound boxes to the Western Honey
Corporation of Reno, Nev., will also give an idea
of the extent of his growing trade in bees. On June
10, 1921. he sent sixty packages; on the twelfth,
seventy-one; the next day, seventy-seven; on the
sevententh, 250; on the twenty-first, 231; on the
twenty-fourth, 122; on the twentv-fifth, 118; on the
twenty-eighth, si.xty-live: on July 9, 120; on the
tentli. forty; on the twelfth, eighty-hve. on the thir-
teenth, 150; and on the fourteenth, 100. During the
war, the price of bees soared to $2,000 a ton; but at
present it is $1,500. Mr. Dunn has two queeneries —
one in San Jose, and one at Lathrop, on the San
Joaquin River. When the season's nectar gives out
in the Santa Clara Valley, he moves his queenery
to Lathrop, where the bees feed on the alfalfa
nectar. Mr. Dunn is also general field inspector for
the Western Honey Corporation, with his head-
quarters in the Claus Spreckels Building, San Fran-
cisco, and travels all over the west and Mexico. To
show the rapid growth of the production of honey in
California, the estimate of the honey crop for 1922
by the Western Honey Corporation is 1,000,000
pounds of honey. Mr. Dunn is a member of the
California State Beekeepers Association.

On November 25, 1896, Mr. Dunn was married at
Walnut Creek, in Contra Costa County, to Miss
Ethel M. Godfrey, a native of Beaver, Minn., and
the daughter of George and Emerette (Clark) God-
frey. Mr. Godfrey came to California in 1889, as a
farmer; and he is still living at the age of eighty-

^ZX/. oC^^t^^t^-K'^^r.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1021

three years in San Jose. Ethel attended the Beaver
grammar school, and on coming to California lin-
ished her studies at Oakland. Seven children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Dunn, and five are still living.
Harvey G. and Robert O. are with the Western
Honey Corporation and queen-bee breeders. Ruby
died when she was one year old. Bernice also Hved
to be only half a year older. Arthur L. is attending
the Grant School. Lloyd died at nine months past.
The sixth in the order of birth is Madeline. Mr.
Dunn is a member of Observatory Lodge, No. 23,
Odd Fellows, also the Encampment, and is just en-
tering the Canton; while Mrs. Dunn is a member of
Josephine Rebekah Lodge. Mr. Dunn is a member
of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics is an in-
dependent, believing in supporting the best man and
measures regardless of party preferences.

JAMES A. SPENCER— A native son of San Jose
and a member of one of the old and honored families
of California, James A. Spencer is well known in
business circles of the city as an expert well borer,
having successfully followed that occupation for the
past twenty-three years. He was born August 28,
1865, of the marriage of James C. and Frankie E.
(Laird) Spencer. In 1853 the father started across
the plains for the West and for three years he
followed mining at Nevada City, Nevada, after which
he came to California, settling at McCartysville,
now known as Saratoga, in Santa Clara County.
He purchased a small ranch near the town, devoting
his attention to its improvement and operation and
also engaging in hauling soda water from the Con-
gress mineral springs to Santa Clara, the roads in
those early days often being is such condition that
it was necessary to convey the soda water on pack
mules. Mr. Spencer was a native of Columbus,
Ohio, while his wife was born in Illinois, and when
eight years of age she came to California by the Isth-
mus route. In 1871 they became residents of San
Jose, where the father engaged in teaming contract-
ing, and also hauled wood from his ranch at Mc-
Cartysville to this city and to Santa Clara. In his
later years he became foreman of the John Tully
ranch of 1,600 acres and acted in that capacity for
twenty-five years. He passed away in 1920, but the
mother is still living and is now seventy-six years of
age. In their family were eight children, five sons
and three daughters.

James A. Spencer acquired his education in the
public schools of San Jose and when sixteen years
of age he started out in life for himself, but in order
to better prepare himself for a commercial career
he took a business course. For a few years he was
employed on ranches and then accepted a position
as foreman of a construction gang employed by the
Bay City Water Company at Coyote, California. For
ten years he was thus active and the next three years
were spent as chauffeur for the secretary of that
company. In 1898 he embarked in the well-boring
business, in which he has since continued, and his
services are in constant demand. The excellence of
his work is indicated in the fact that patronage
comes to him unsolicited. He never allows the small-
est detail of his task to be slighted and is thoroughly
reliable and conscientious in all business transactions.
He has confined his operations to the Santa Clara
Valley and has put down wells for the Herbert Pack-
ing Company of San Jose, the Richmond & Chase

Packing Company, also of this city, the Braslan
Seed Company at Gilroy and numerous wells at
Edenvale and other parts of tlie valley.

In San Jose, on March 8, 1890, Mr. Spencer
married Miss Mary Frances Warren, a native of
Saratoga, California, and a daughter of A. T. and
Fannie Warren, who passed away during her girl-
hood. Her father was associated with Ransom
Wilkes in the operation of a sawmill at Long Bridge,
the plant being run by water power. Mrs. Spencer
acquired her education in the schools of Ben Lomond
and Boulder Creek and by her marriage she has
become the mother of three children. Oscar P.
is assisting his father in business. Dorothy Florence
married Chester C. Clevenger of San Jose, who is
also interested in well drilling with his father-in-law,
and they have two children. Dorothy and Betty.
Francis Warren, the yt)unKi'^t of the family, is like-
wise engaged in buxnn --^ with his father. Mr. Spen-
cer gives his politiral allc,i,'iance to the Republican
party and fraternally lie is identified with the For-
esters of America. He has never been afraid of
hard work, realizing that success is gained only at
the cost of earnest labor and persistency of purpose,
and that he is a man of strict integrity and moral
worth is indicated by the high esteem in which he is
held by those among whom his life has been passed.

CHARLES GARDNER LATHROP.— For many
years business manager and treasurer of the Leland
Stanford. Jr., University, the late Charles Gardner
Lathrop was a brother of the late Mrs. Leland Stan-
ford, being her junior by twenty-one years and the
youngest of a family of seven children, a son of
Dyer and Jane Ann Lathrop. He was born at Al-
bany, N. Y., May 11, 1849, and educated in the public
schools of Albany, and at an age of fourteen years,
went to work in the L^nion Bank of that city. In
1877 at an age of twenty-eight, he came to California.
At first he engaged in the brokerage business at San
Francisco, then spent some time in the service of the
passenger department of the Southern Pacific, after
which he joined his older brother, Ariel Lathrop, in
the management of Governor Stanford's business
affairs. Together they opened up the first set of
books that the Governor had ever kept, and when
Stanford University was founded, the scope of their
activity was enlarged so as to include the affairs of
the University.

In 1892 Ariel Lathrop returned to the east and
Charles assumed full control of the duties which the
two brothers had previously exercised. After Gover-
nor Stanford's death, in June, 1893, Mrs. Stanford
retained him in the same position, appointing him a
member of tin l)oard nf trustees, and in 1892 making
him treasurer and business manager of the Uni-
versity. In 1899 Mrs. Stanford in an address to the
board of trustees insured his retention in this respon-
sible position by directing that upon her death "my
brother, Charles G. Lathrop, shall become and remain
treasurer and business manager of the board of
trustees, . . . and I wish him to have the same
powers and duties that he now has."

In 1912 Mr. Lathrop felt that the state of his health
required him to be relieved from a portion of his
responsibilities, and therefore formally tendered his
resignation as business manager, but the board per-
suaded him to continue in the office. On January 20,

1022

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1914, he once more tendered his resignation and
urged its acceptance, saying: "During all these years
I have tried to serve the interests of the University
faithfully and to discharge the duties of the position
to the best of my ability. For the last two years,
however, I have felt that I have not been m a condi-
tion physically to give the work the attention it
requires, and I therefore desire to be relieved of the
duties which I have been discharging in my capacity
as business manager for the board of trustees. My
withdrawal of this office will be a relief to me, and
I am sure, would serve the interests of all con-
cerned." On this occasion the Board accepted his
resignation as business manager with expression of
regret, continuing him, however, as treasurer.

The University lost a most conscientious and faith-
ful servant in Charles G. Lathrop. Loyalty to his
sister and to her wishes for the University was the
guiding principle of his life. Any proposal which ran
counter to his conception of her desires met his in-
flexible opposition, and he worked with unwearying
zeal for what he believed would be her plans for
Stanford. His own particular province was the busi-
ness and financial management of the University;
but he manifested keen interest in other departments
of its activities and lent them support. For years
he maintained a fund in the library for the purchase
of books relating to California, particularly its early
history, and he was one of the chief contributors to
the medical department library. The undergraduates
in him had a friend ever ready to help finance trips
for their athletic teams, while he liberally oiTered
trophies to stimulate competition in sports. He was
one of the earliest members of Stanford Union.

Mr. Lathrop's first marriage took place at Albany,
N. Y., in 1870, and united him with Libbie Griswold
of that city, by whom he had two children: Leland
Stanford Lathrop, has one child, Leland Stanford
Lathrop, Jr , and resides at Belvidere, Cal.; Jennie
Lathrop, who is now Mrs. Watson, and resides in
Los Angeles and has two children, Helen and Robert.
Mrs. Lathrop died on July 3, 1885, and on January
19, 1893, at San Francisco, Cal., he was married to
Miss Annie Mary Schlageter, a daughter of Hermann
and Barbara Ulrich Schlageter, a native of Mariposa,
Cal., while her parents were both born at Buehl-
Baden, in Germany, and were married at Louisville,
Ky. They moved thence to San Francisco, Cal., in
the late fifties. The father was a mechanic in earlier
life, but later became a hotel proprietor in Mariposa
County. Mr. and Mrs. Schlageter had nine children,
Mrs Lathrop being the eighth. The youngest of the
family is Dr. H. J. Schlageter of San Francisco, well
known physician and surgeon, now resigned from the
army. Of Spanish-American and World War fame
he received the rank of lieutenant-colonel in France
and had charge of U. S. Base Hospital No. 86.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Lathrop together selected
the site of their beautiful home at Alta Vista and
together planned and built the palatial residence
where Mrs. Lathrop still lives. It is beautifully
located, overlooking the University quadrangle and
the campus, as well as San Francisco Bay. Here
Mr. Lathrop enjoyed an ideal family life with his
wife and child, a daughter, Hermina. now the wife
of Major Robert Du Rant Harden of Letterman

General Hospital, Presidio, San Francisco, which hao
been the place of their domicile ever since the Major's
return from France. They have two children, Jane
Ann and Barbara. Major Harden held the rank of
lieutenant-colonel in the U. S. Medical Corps in the
late war and was in command of U. S. Base Hospital
No. 87, at Toul, France.

Funeral services for Mr. Lathrop were held in
Memorial Church, Wednesday morning, May 11,
1914, Chaplain Gardner officiating. In religion he
was a Protestant, but Mrs. Lathrop adheres to the
Catholic faith in which she was reared. She careful-
ly keeps up the traditional hospitality of the Lathrop
home and takes a live interest in the great institution
that her husband served so well. A loving mother,
a kind friend and neighbor, she and the Lathrop
name continue to be most highly respected.

FRED E. LESTER.— A native son of Santa Clara
County, Fred E. Lester was born at the old Lester
family home on South Lincoln avenue, San Jose,
April 5, 1888, a son of Nathan L. and Sarah E.
(Spicer) Lester, pioneer settlers of the county, repre-
sented on another page in this work. He is next to
the youngest of their seven children and was reared
on the home farm, educated in the public schools and
at the Pacific Coast Business College, where he was
graduated in 1908. Frorn a boy he was trained in
horticulture and early in life took charge of the home
place and is still operating it, two ranches in all, of
which sixty-seven acres are devoted to prunes.

In 1915 Mr. Lester was married to Miss June Von
Dorsten, the ceremony taking place at her parent's
home, a daughter of Otto F. and Matilda (Snyder)
Von Dorsten, natives of Colusa and Calaveras coun-
ties, respectively. Her grandfather, H. A. Von
Dorsten, crossed the plains with an ox-team train in
pioneer days and was one of the earliest settlers of
Colusa County, becoming a stockman and grain
grower near Princeton; afterwards he came to Santa
Clara County and improved the Von Dorsten orchard
on Foxworthy road, that is still owned by his two
sons. Mrs. Lester's maternal grandfather, P. N.
Snyder, came to San Francisco via Cape Horn and
was a pioneer miner in Calaveras County, where his
active business life was spent; but he died in Santa
Clara County. His wife, Caroline Hodecker, came
via Panama with her parents to Calaveras County
and married there, and she also died in Santa Clara
County. Mrs. Lester is the oldest of two children
and a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School.

While still operating his mother's ranch, Mr. Les-
ter finds time for still further enterprises. In 1914
he became interested and associated with his brothers.
Nathan L. and William W., in a 175-acrc orchard
and was active until 1918, when they divided the
property and the partnership was dissolved. He then
became associated with Otto F. Von Dorsten in
orcharding, and they own a splendid orchard on Fox-
worthy road and a large orchard on Almaden road,
devoted to the raising of prunes. He is a member
of the California Prune & Apricot Association and
the California Walnut Growers' Association. Mr.
and Mrs. Lester have three children: Edith Annette,
Fred Raymond, and Marjory Alice. In politics Mr.
Lester is a Republican, and he belongs to Fraternity

C Ju'^J^^ ^ ^.^"^Q^^i^cA.^r

c

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1025

Lodge No. .399, F. & A. M., of San Jose, and with
his wife is a member of the San Jose Chapter No. 31,
O. E. S., and both are members of the First Congre-
gational Church of San Jose.

CHARLES L. BURDICK— Among Santa Clara
County's retired ranchers, in whose life the word
success is spelled by far-sightedness and persever-
ance is Charles L. Burdick, who is numbered among
the G. A. R. veterans of San Jose, with a proud
record for service in the stirring days of the Civil
War. Charles L. Burdick was born in Warren
County, New York, near Athol and not far from
Warrenburg, the county seat, on June 6, 1847, and
was the son of David and Polly (Fuller) Burdick.
The father was a farmer and a lumberman and his
birthplace was at the same place as that of Charles.
David Burdick was also a bridge and barn builder
and Charles learned the business under the instruc-
tion of his father. The Burdicks trace their family
back as far as 1653, when Robert Burdick came over
from England and settled at Rutherford. Connecticut.
His great-great-grandfather Burdick died in battle
during the Revolutionary War, fighting under Gen-
eral Sullivan.

When Charles was eight years old, he came with
his parents to Lake County, Illinois, settling near
Waukegan, but the family lived there only a year,
when they went to Minnesota where his father took
up a timber claim in Blue Earth County near Man-
kato, Minnesota. However, he did not like the new
country and there were no schools, so they moved
back to Lake Coimty and here Charles made his
home until the War of the Rebellion broke out. In
February 1864, when he was past sixteen years of
age, he enlisted at Chicago, Illinois, in the Thirty-
ninth Illinois Infantry, serving under General Butler
in the Army of the Potomac at Richmond and was
at Bermuda Hundred. He served in the army until
December, 1865, having been at Appomattox Court
House when Lee surrendered. He was also one of
the soldiers at Norfolk, Virginia, when it was under
martial law, and Colonel Mann was the mayor of the
town and his forces policed the town and kept order;
in all he spent four months in this city, having also
been stationed in Richmond. He participated in five
of the largest engagements of the war. In 1869, his
father moved to Iowa, and in November, 1870, took
up government land in Sioux County. Charles fol-
lowed his father and took up 160 acres of land during
the year 1871. It was here that David Burdick
served as township assessor in Lincoln township, and
Charles Burdick was his assistant; his father also
served as justice of peace of Lincoln township and at
that time Charles Burdick served as clerk of the same
township. David Burdick also served on the school
board, and having the interest of the community at
heart, he served in these different positions faithfully.

Charles Burdick's marriage, which occurred March
16, 1869, in Cypress, Wis., near Kenosha, united
him with Miss Annie Lowe, who was born in Lake
County, Illinois, and was the daughter of Warner
and Frances (Bell) Lowe. Her father was a native
of Pennsylvania and the mother was born in Ohio.
Mr. Burdick and his young wife drove from her
home in Illinois to Iowa, across the country in a
wagon and a span of colts; arriving at his father's
home in Floyd County, they spent the winter of
1871 there and then went on to Sioux County and

took up government land and lived there until 1878,
when he disposed of this property and came to Cali-
fornia, settling in Monterey County, nine miles from
King City, and preempted 160 acres of hill land.
Here he engaged in raising stock and hay and in De-
cember, 1888, he came to San Jose, and took up the
business of contract building, specializing in first-
class (1\M Hitit;- and continuing in this business until
he nlirrfl m I'ljo He is now spending his days very
conif()rlal)l\ . helping others to strive for and gain the
success that he has worked so diligently to obtain.
Mr. and Mrs. Burdick were the parents of four child-
ren and also are the grandparents of five: George B.
resides in San Jose and is in the employ of Richmond-
Chase Company. He married Agnes Ferguson and
they are the parents of three children— Donald L.,
Kenneth D., and Muriel; Belle became the wife of
A. E. Reynolds and resides on a farm near Kings
City in Monterey County and she has one son, Har-
old; Maud married A. O. Kent, a plumber of San Jose,
and they are the parents of a son, Keith Kenneth
Kent; Frank B. is a butcher by trade, single, and
living in San Jose. Mr. Burdick has lived in East
San Jose since 1893. locating there when there were
very few homes in that vicinity. He is very popular
and influential in the city of San Jose; in 1906 he was
one of the organizers and member of the first board
of trustees of East San Jose; served a number of
years on the school board in Iowa and in Monterey
County; is a member of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7,
G. A. R., of San Jose, and during the year 1901 was
its commander, and since 1905 has been a member of
the cemetery committee of this post and its secretary
since 1911. In national politics, he is is a stanch ad-
herent to the views of the Republican party. Mrs.
Burdick is a member of the Ladies of the G. A. R.

MRS. ELLA S. PARKHURST— Since 1878 Mrs.
Ella S. Parkhurst has made her home in San Jose
and as one of the honored pioneer residents of the
city she enjoys the unqualified esteem and regard of
a large circle of friends. She is a native of Michigan,
her birth having occurred about ten miles from Ann
Arbor, and her parents were Thomas and Susan
(Whitehead) Featherly. Her family originally

settled in New York State, whence her father re-
moved to Michigan and for sixty years operated a
farm in that state, passing away there when eighty-
two years of age. He was an honored veteran of the
Civil War, in which he served for four years in
Company G, Third Michigan Cavalry.

The sixth in a family of eight children, consisting
of four sons and four daughters. Ella S. Featherly
attended the grammar schools of Whitmore Lake.
Michigan, and in 1875, when twenty-one years of age,
she came to Marysville, California, being accom-
panied by her oldest and youngest brothers and one
sister. For three years she remained at Marysville
and then came to San Jose, where she was married
October 10, 1878, to Lorenzo Dowe Parkhurst. who
was born near Montpelier, Vermont, and came to
California in the '60's. He became the owner of
several hundred acres of land in Sutter County, while
later he conducted a large general merchandise store
at Yuba City and also engaged in the grain business.
Possessing marked executive ability, his interests
were most capably and successfully managed and
after coming to San Jose he lived retired until his
demise, which occurred September 10, 1888, when

1026

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

he was forty-five years of age. In 1881 he built a
large residence at the corner of Lincoln and Willow
streets, in which Mrs. Parkhurst now resides. He
was of' English parentage and in his passing San Jose
lost one of its valued citizens, his associates a faithful
friend and his family a devoted husband and father.

Mr. and Mrs. Parkhurst became the parents of a
daughter, Veda G.. now the wife of George Moore,
who was formerly engaged in merchandising m this
city, and they have a son, Kenneth Parkhurst Moore.
Mr.' Parkhurst was a Mason of high standing, having
membership with the order at Marysville, and Mrs.
Parkhurst is a member of the Eastern Star; the
woman's auxiliary of the Maccabees; the San Jose
Circle, Ladies of the G. A. R.; and the Loyal Workers
of San Jose, which is a branch of the Woman s
Relief Corps; and for twenty-five years has been
an active member of the local Grange, manifesting
a keen interest in the development, upbuilding, and
progress of Santa Clara County.

GIACOMO PEIRANO.— A progressive and influ-
ential Italian-American who will long be remembered
for his usefulness to his fellow-countrymen in the
Golden State and his successful efforts to help de-
velop this promising portion of the great Pacific
commonwealth, was the late Giacomo Peirano, who
was born near Genoa, Italy, on November 26, 185o,
and when sixteen years old crossed the ocean to
America. He came on West, and in 1870 arrived
at Sonora, in Tuolumne County. There he joined
his brother, who had come here some years before
and was running a market garden for the miners,
and for a couple of years he remained in his employ.

In 1872 he came to San Jose and started a grocery
;.l the corner of Market and Saint Augustine streets;
and there he was in business for five years. On
November 25, 1877, he was married at San Jose to
Miss Anna Savio, a native of Torino, Italy, whose
father had died when she was a baby, so that she
was adopted by a Mr. and Mrs. Giraud, with whom
she came to America by way of the Horn when she
was ten years old. They stayed a short time in San
Francisco, and then moved inland to San Jose, where
Mr. Giraud was the gardener at the College of Notre
Dame. Miss Savio attended school at Notre Dame,
but when she was twelve years old her adopted
mother was taken ill, and after that she had to work
to care for the invalid. The old Giraud home was
on South Market Street, opposite the Columbia Hos-
pital, and there Mr. Giraud continued to live until
he was eighty-two years of age.

In 1880 Giacomo Peirano went into the commis-
sion business, and bought and sold grain, hay, fruit
and farm products. His sons, Aldo and Paul Peirano,
ioined him, and they had a store at 73-75 North
Market Street. In 1907 he sold out and went to
Seattle and there conducted a commission business
until 1910, at which time he returned to San Jose,
leaving Aldo and Paul to run the business. In 1911
Aldo returned to San Jose and Paul took in a part-
ner, but in 1914 he sold out and worked for other
Seattle firms. In 1919 Paul returned to San Jose
and opened the Seattle Grocery at the corner of
River and Santa Clara streets. On December 8.
1919, Giacomo Peirano passed away, the father
of six children: John died when he was eight years
old; Mary lived for only four months; Aldo is at
home; Paul is the well-known merchant; Joseph

and Vera are both dead. Mrs. Giacomo Peirano
continued to live at the old family home — 31 South
River Street, which they built about 1900.

Paul Peirano attended the common schools in San
Jose, and when old enough he began to help his
father in business. At San Jose, on Easter Sunday,
1908, he was married to Miss Clara Solari, a native
of Murphy, Calaveras County, Cal., who passed
away in 1911. On June 6, 1915, Mr. Peirano was
again married, this time to Miss Mildred Stingley,
the daughter of William P. and Celia Anna Stingley,
and a native of Kansas. Her father came to Califor-
nia by way of the Reno route when she was a little
girl, and in later years he and his faithful wife were
farmer folk, although at first, as an emigrant travel-
ing in a prairie schooner, he had the mining fever.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Peirano and their family are
all Democrats; and he is a member of Eagles No. 1.
at Seattle. His father, Giacomo Peirano, was presi-
dent of the Italian-American Society for a number
of years, and also head of the building of the Italian
Church in San Jose.

JUDGE T. H. MILLER.— Prominent among the
most popular Federal officials in Santa Clara County
may well be named Judge T. H. Miller, the efficient
postmaster at Morgan Hill. He was born at Woods-
town, N, J., on July 1, 1863, a son of Anthony and
Anna (Hudson) Miller, who came to America from
Ireland, a newly-married couple. His father was a
native of Germany, but his mother was born in Ire-
land; she was a sister of the late Rev. Father Hudson
of St. Mary's Parish, Gilroy.

In 1867 the Miller family came to California and
located in San Francisco, and at the age of nine
T. H. went to Gilroy and made his home with his
uncle, Father Hudson. Here the lad grew to young
manhood, enjoying an excellent public school educa-
tion; and on graduating, in 1880, he entered the
employ of the Machado Rancho Company, near the
present site of Morgan Hill. In 1888 he acquired,
by purchase, a ranch of fifteen acres on the Watson-
ville road, near the State Highway, and there he con-
tinued farming successfully for twenty years.

For the last ten years, Judge Miller has lived at
Morgan Hill; in 1902 he was elected justice of the
peace for Morgan Hill Township, and for twelve
consecutive years he served in that responsible of-
fice. He resigned, in fart, only because, in 1914.
President Wilson appointed him postmaster at Mor-
gan Hill, an office he has conducted to every-
body's satisfaction ever since. He owns the Post
Office building on Monterey street, having erected
it in 1908. Two good rural free delivery routes have
been built up since 1914, and this may be one reason
why, although the Judge is a Democrat, he has been
retained by the present administration. He is a
member and past officer of the American Yeomen.

At San Jose, Cal., on April 8, 1888, Mr. Miller was
married to Miss Clara \'andervorst, the daughter of
Henry and Johanna Vandervorst of San Jose, where
she was both reared and schooled. Four children
make up the family: Thomas J., has a wife and one
son, and resides at San Jose; Harry V., who is now
pursuing the electrical engineering course in the Uni-
versity of Santa Clara, saw service in the late World
War as first lieutenant in the U. S. Army; Frank I.,
is employed by James Slavin at Tres Pinos; and

1^

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1029

Albert J., is a student at the Live Oak High School.
The family attend the Roman Catholic Church of St.
Catherine Parish; the Judge is a memljer of the
I. O. F. and the American Yoeniau.

JACOB P. FULMER— An honored veteran of the
Civil War and now retired from active business cares.
Jacob P. Fulmer is enjoying the fruits of years of
toil, content to spend his remaining days in the
beautiful Santa Clara Valley. He was born in the
town of Steuben, Oneida County, New York, Novem-
ber 12, 1843, a son of David and Mary (Schell) Ful-
mer, of old Knickerbocker stock on both sides, the
father following the occupation of farming. They
were the parents of three children, two boys and a
girl. On account of having to assist with the farm
work, the schooling of Jacob P. was very meager,
with no opportunity of attending school after he was
twelve years old. September 6, 1862, he enlisted,
with his father's consent, for he was under age, in
Company I, One Hundred Forty-sixth New York
Infantry under General Warren; later being under
General Jenkins and General Grinnley. The first
battle that his company engaged in was at Fredericks-
burg, Virginia. Following is a list of the battles in
which he was engaged: Bristow Station, Rappahan-
nock, Mine Run, Wilderness, Weldon Road, Chapel
House, Hatcher's Run, White Oak Road, Five Forks
and Appomattox Court House. In the battle of the
Wilderness, he was wounded in the right arm and
started for the hospital at Washington, D. C. He
left by the steamer "State of Maine" but before he
reached the hospital, gangrene had set in and his
sufferings were intense. At the time of his injury
he was a corporal, the bullet piercing his chevron.
He remained in Washington only four days, when
he was removed to Baltimore, as the wounded were
coming in so rapidly that those who were able to
be removed were taken away to make room for
others. He was able to rejoin his company in 1864.
His corps was the last to be mustered out at Arling-
ton. Virginia, and he returned to Syracuse, New
York, and was discharged as a sergeant July 16, 1865.
After his discharge from the army, he returned to
his father's home and remained for eight years.

The marriage of Mr. Fulmer at Booneville, New
York, in 1869 united him with Miss Sarah Hurlburt,
a daughter of Francis and Sarah (Beardsley) Hurl-
burt. Her parents were farmers in Ava, New York,
where Mrs. Fulmer was born and reared. One son,
Francis B., who now resides in Oakland, was born
to Mr. and Mrs. Fulmer. Mrs. Fulmer passed away
at the family residence at Oneida Castle, New York,
in 1883. The second marriage of Mr. Fulmer, Nov-
ember 11. 1885, united him with Mrs. Jennie (Bris-
tol) Austin, a daughter of Alfred and Sarah Bristol.
She was born and reared in Oneida County, N. Y.,
and taught school two years before her first mar-
riage. Her father was a carpenter by trade, follow-
ing it for years while residing in New York. By her
first marriage Mrs. Fulmer had two children, Nellie,
Mrs. Haskins of Madison, Wisconsin, and Winfield,
who is a cheese buyer in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In
1881, Jacob P. Fulmer took up the trade of cheese
making in Oneida, New York, and was thus engaged
for ten years. Then he removed to Byrds Creek,
Richland County, Wisconsin, and opened a cheese
factory, which he conducted for eight years. In
1901 he sold out his interests in Wisconsin and

removed- to Corning. Tehama County, California,
when he was engaged in fruit packing. In 1912 the
family removed to San Jose and have continuously
resided there since, with the exception of one year
when they lived in' Santa Clara.

Mr. Fulmer is prominent in G. A. R. circles, being
past commander of the Maywood post at Corning,
and is at the uresent time, junior vice-commander of
the Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7. of San Jose. Mr. Ful-
mer owns considerable real estate in San Jose, among
the more valuable being a half-interest in an apart-
ment house located at 247 West San Carlos Street.
Politically, he is a stalwart Republican, adhering
strictly to the principles as advocated by their plat-
form. WMth his wife he is a consistent member
of the Centella Methodist Episcopal Church of San
Jose. Mrs. Fuliner is a member of Sheridan-Dix
W. R. C. No. 2, San Jose, being past president of
Mayw^ood Corps. Mr. Fulmer has led an upright,
honorable and useful life in which he has ever dis-
played unfaltering loyalty to high standards of citi-
zenship.

GASTON R. FONTAINE,— A competent and
trusted employe of the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company who has also demonstrated his ability as
a rancher, is Gaston R. Fontaine, the son of the
well-known nurseryman. Henry Fontaine, and his
wife, who was Miss Fannie Plausa before her mar-
riage. Gaston was born in Paris, France, Novem-
ber 9, 1883, the second of a family of seven chil-
dren, his elder brother, who died at the age of
thirty-eight, having been Henry Fontaine, Jr. Mau-
rice and George live at San Jose. Jennie is now Mrs.
Phillips and lives at Oakland; Raymond is with his
mother, in San Jose; and Carmen has become Mrs.
Hubbard, and lives near her sister, Jennie.

In 1893, Henry Fontaine, Sr., came to Kansas
City, and having found a good location about three
miles out of Kansas City, he established himself
in the nursery business, and went in for specializing
in ornamental stock. Thus it happened that Gaston
commenced his schooling at Kansas City and finished
at San Jose, where his father removed in 1898, when
he purchased two acres of land on North Thirteenth
Street, and continued handling fancy stock. He built
a greenhouse on his little ranch, and successfully
developed his enterprise, so that when he died at
San Jose in 1904, he was accounted a worthy citi-
zen, whose services had been of real benefit to the
community. For a number of years, Gaston worked
with his father, and then he left home to accept
a post of responsibility in the service of Mr. Meyers,
who had a fine nursery at Burlingame. At the end
of three years, the offer of the Southern Pacific
Railroad Company drew him into that corporation's
service, and he has been with that concern at San
Jose ever since 1907.

At Redwood City, on October 6. 1914. Mr. Fon-
taine was married to Miss Elizabeth Sprugasci, the
daughter of Angelo Sprugasci, a native of Biasca,
in Canton Ticino. Switzerland, who had married
Miss Louise Winina; he was a carpenter and had
the following children: Dorina, Mose, Elizabeth,
Adele, Veronica, who fell a victim in 1919 of the
influenza; and Antonio. When she was twenty-three
years of age. Miss Elizabeth came alone to Califor-
nia, and settled in Santa Clara County. Mr. Fon-
taine has purchased a prune and apricot ranch of
three acres on North Thirteenth Street, near his

1030

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

mother's place, and there he has just finished a
modern bungalow home. .\ naturalized citizen, he
endorses the platforms of the Republican party, and
under the banners of that great organization seeks
to march to civic victory.

Gaston Fontaine's brother, Raymond Fontaine,
served in the World War. entering into service on
November 2, 1917. He trained at Camp Mills, N. Y.,
and in March. 1918. was sent to France with the
Intelligence Department of the Eighteenth Infantry,
First Division. He was in many severe battles, in-
cluding the Aisne, Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse, Ar-
gonne, and the great defensive sector. He was once
gassed with chlorine, but he survived to be one of
twenty-five men who took a strong point in the
lines near Soisson, — the service being estimated by
his superiors as of such hazard and value that he
and his comrades were awarded a medal for dis-
tinguished bravery. He also was awarded the bravery
shoulder cord by the French government. This
redoubt was located on Hill No. 204. and the place
and act are now historic.

MRS. MARIA FARRELL.— A woman of strong
character and much business ability is Mrs. Maria
Farrell, the superintendent of Calvary Cemetery,
on Alum Rock Avenue, San Jose. She was born in
County Kildare. Ireland, a daughter of William and
Mary (Sex) Black, the Sex family being represented
in this history in the biography of James Patrick
Sex. William Black was an extensive farmer in
Ireland, owning ISO acres of land, which was con-
sidered a large farm in that country, and here the
parents resided until their death.

The next to the youngest of their four children.
Maria Black attended the national schools of County
Kildare. and in 1888 came to California, locating at
San Jose. The following year she was joined by
her sister, Julia Black, who has made her home with
her ever since. On January 31. 1894, she was mar-
ried to Thomas Farrell. the ceremony taking place
in San Jose. Mr. Farrell was born in County Lang-
ford, Ireland, a son of Patrick and Mary (Farrell)
Farrell, but while they had the same familv name
they were not related by consanguinity. They were
tillers of the soil and a fine family. Thomas Far-
rell left his home in Ireland to come to America, set-
tling first in the vicinity of Boston, Mass., where
he engaged in farming until he came to California
in 1885. locating in the Laurelwood district of Santa
Clara County, where he farmed until March, 1894,
when he was appointed superintendent of Calvary
Cemetery, a position he filled ably and well until
his death, on February 11, 1912, a good man, who
was well liked and esteemed by all who knew him.
and a popular member of the Hibernians.

Aiier Mr. Farrell's death. Mrs. Farrell was ap-
pointed superintendent of Calvary Cemetery in his
stead, as it was but natural that the board of trus-
tees should turn to her. knowing full well that she
was better qualified and more familiar with the
work in connection with the work of the cemetery
than any one else. She has demonstrated her ability
and business acumen in connection with her po-
sition to the satisfaction of both the people and the
trustees. Mrs. Farrell is a Democrat in national
politics, but is inclined to be nonpartisan in local
aflfairs. She is a member of the Young Ladies In-
stitute in San Jose, and a woman of much native
ability, she is well liked and favorably known.

JOHN LINDSLEY WALLACE.— Now residing
at 6 Mayellen Avenue. San Jose, was born at Win-
nebago City, Faribault County, Minn., on February
12, 1883. He is the oldest son of the union of John
Slower Wallace, a pioneer of Minnesota and Emma
Forbes, another early resident of that state. Mrs.
Wallace vividly remembers the incidents of the rush
to forts and cities for protection following the news
of the great New Ulm Indian massacre. A brother.
Robert Lee Wallace, now a construction engineer
of Los ."Xngeles, is the only other issue from that
marriage. By a former marriage J. S. Wallace had
a daughter. Bertha L., now Mrs. Farrant Putnam, of
San Jose. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wallace trace their
ancestors back to pre-Revolutionary days.

John S. Wallace was a prosperous wood, coal and
lumber merchant in Minnesota, but having made a
couple of visits to California, decided to forego the
discomforts of the severe winters and disposing of
his business interests, came to California in 1895 to
make Santa Clara Valley his permanent home. Be-
ing interested in agricultural pursuits he purchased
seventy acres of orchard property near Cupertino;
and so it happened that although he had commenced
his schooling in Minnesota, John L. Wallace com-
pleted his elementary schooling in the Lincoln Dis-
trict School. This was supplemented by two years'
attendance at the San Jose high school, followed
by a business college course at the Pacific Coast
Business College and further supplemented by a
couple of terms in the James Lick Polytechnic High
of San Francisco.

Following the school work he labored on his
father's ranches until January 1. 1906, when he opened
a small automobile repair shop at 255 South Mar-
ket Street in partnership with Mr. A. C. Hardy. A
year of close attention to business built up such a
promising patronage that larger quarters were nec-
essary and with the assistance of his father the prop-
erty at the northwest corner of Market and St.
James streets was purchased and a large building
erected especially planned for the requirements of
the automobile business. This at that time was the
largest and best garage in California. At this time
Mr. Hardy retired and Mr. Wallace's brother took
his place, the business then being run under the
name of Wallace Bros., until their interests were
sold in 1914. They were early day agents for the
following cars, namely: Rambler. Regal. Hupmo-
bile, Oakland. Chandler and Hudson. As an item
of interest it might be stated that their garage was
a relay point for the first transcontinental and around
the world automobile races.

Subsequent to the automobile business Mr. Wal-
lace and his brother took up the development of a
large tract of land in Arizona; he returning in 1916
to become general ranch development superinten-
dent of The Lewis Company, which connection he
continued until July, 1920. At this time he re-
signed to enter the employ of Wallace & Bush, con-
struction engineers. Upon the removal of their
office to Los Angeles Mr. Wallace entered the em-
ployment of the Rice-Greisen Company, brokers.

At Franklin. Sacramento County, on October 7.
1907, Mr. Wallace was married to Miss Helen G.
Holman, a native of California and the daughter of
pioneer settlers; her mother coming to California
via ox emigrant train in the early fifties and her
father by boat from Chile where he was born, the

/7-^/-u^, yyf^S-^^^^f'

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1033

son of a Scotch building contractor. Seven chil-
dren have come to Mr. and Mrs. Wallace, five of
whom are still living. Vivian Marie died at the age
of three and Mabel Virginia, when five. The others
are, Olive Corrine. Raymond Kenneth, Laverne,
Hugh Lindsley and Floyd Holman. Mr. Wallace
belongs to Lodge No. 522. B. P. O. Elks, and has
always registered as a Republican.

HENRY HEBER BURTON— Everything stir-
ring, forceful and vital that is contained in the mean-
ing of the word pioneer finds its exemplification in
the life history of Henry Heber Burton. There is
no phase of western development with which he is
not familiar and his memory forms a connecting link
between the primitive past and the progressive
present. For many years he was prominently iden-
tified with cattle and ranching interests in the West,
but is now living retired in San Jose at the age of
seventy-eight years, enjoying a well-earned rest. He
was born November 2, 1843, on the Pacific brig
Heber, of Baltimore, while the family were en route
from Australia to Oregon, just as the vessel was
crossing the equator, this being in the vicinity of the
Marquesas Islands. At Honolulu, the ship com-
pleted its voyage and while the parents were await-
ing the arrrival of a schooner to convey them to
their destination in Oregon the babe was christened
by the American consul, being named Henry in
honor of the captain and Heber for the brig.

His father, John James Burton, was a native of
London, England, and when a lad of nine years
went with his mother to Australia. The paternal
grandfather, James Burton, was a sea captain. He
was captured by the French and held as a prisoner
of war for seven years, being liberated after the
battle of Waterloo. He again took up his sea-
faring life, which he continued to follow until his
demise, which occurred in Cuba as the result of an
attack of yellow fever. The great-grandfather in
the maternal line, Mr. Linnor, was also a native of
England and was conscripted by the British govern-
ment and forced into military service. He was sent
to America to fight the Continental troops in the
Revolutionary War, but at Philadelphia, Pa., de-
serted the British forces and espoused the cause of
the colonists. He enlisted in General Greene's army,
with which he remained for seven years, or until
Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Va., on Oc-
tober 17, 1781. He also defended American interests
in the War of 1812 and after its close he deemed it
safe to return to England, which he had been obliged
to leave without the opportunity of bidding farewell
to his wife and family, who were residing in Lanca-
shire. It was not until 1816 that he again had the
opportunity of seeing the shores of his native land
and he died shortly after rejoining his family.

Owing to the favorable reports of America handed
down to posterity by Mr. Linnor, John J. Burton de-
cided to visit this country. In New Zealand he
had married Margaret W. Watson, and they went
to Australia, and it was while they were making the
trip from that country to Oregon that the subject of
this review was born. In March, 1844, their ship,
which was commanded by Captain Couch, crossed
the Columbia River bar, and it took three weeks to
get up the river before a landing w'as made at the
present site of Portland. The father selected North

Yamhill, in Yamhill County, as his place of resi-
dence, there taking up a donation claim of 640 acres
in 1844 and locating the boundaries of his land by
stepping it off. He was the first to locate in that
region and this section became a landmark, the other
settlers who followed in his wake using his land as
the starting-point from which to measure their
claims. Many years afterward when the government
surveyors came to Oregon it was found that in lo-
cating his land he had only exceeded the correct
measurements by fourteen acres, and they afterward
used this section as the point from which all other
claims were surveyed. At that early period the
only settlement of any size in the state was Oregon
City, which had been founded by the Hudson Bay-
Company, of which Dr. John McLoughlin, who be-
came known as "The Father of Oregon," was the
head, the legal tender at that time being a bushel
of wheat. Mr. Burton engaged in stockraising in
Yamhill Connty until 1848, when he left his family
on his claim and made his way to California, locat-
ing on the north fork of the American River. There
he engaged in placer mining, in which he was very
successful, the miners in those days taking out about
$100 a day. Having accumulated a good-sized stake,
he returned to his family at the end of seven
months. During his absence four or five other set-
tlers had located in the community and Mr. Burton
began the erection of a home, for which he pur-
chased a small stove, paying for this luxury the sum
of eighty dollars, as it had to be shipped there by
way of Cape Horn. He also bought a wagon and
devoted his energies to the cultivation and improve-
ment of his land, which he at length converted into
a valuable and highly productive property. He en-
dured all of the hardships, trials and privations of
those early days and was numbered among the pion-
eer builders of the state. In the family of Mr. and
Mrs. Burton were eight sons and seven daughters.
Henry Heber Burton, the third child and the
eldest son in the family, was nine years of age when
he attended his first school, in a log cabin which
was open for but three months each year, in the
winter season, and in order to reach the school he
was obliged to walk two and a half miles. During
the summer he drove an ox team and assisted his
father with the farm work. Mr. Burton remained at
home until his twentieth year, when he went to the
Orofino district of Idaho, working in the placer
mines there until September, 1864. He reached
home in October of that year, in time to cast his
first ballot for Abraham Lincoln. The Civil War
was then in progress and on the 1st of December,
1864, he enlisted in Company B., First Oregon In-
fantry, under Capt. Ephraim Palmer and Colonel
Curry. He was kept under heavy drill at Fort Hos-
kins, in Linn County, Ore., for a time and was then
ordered to Vancouver, Wash., expecting to be sent
east in the spring of 1865, but his regiment went in-
stead to Idaho and Utah, where it was split up into
companies, which were used in fighting the Indians.
Mr. Burton's company was first stationed at old
Fort Hall, near the present location of Pocatello,
Idaho, and detachments ordered to various locations,
guarding emigrants from depredations by the In-
dians. He received his discharge at Vancouver,
Wash., on December 4, 1865, after a year's service.

1034

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Returning home, Mr. Burton engaged in farming
for a year and then attended school at Forest
Grove, Ore., for nine months, after which he went
to Eastern Oregon, in Umatilla County, where he
became identified with the sheep business driving in
1,000 head, and when he sold out his interests four
years later and went to Texas he had about 3,000
head. He first went by team to Denver and from
there took the Pecos route to Texas, being for a
distance of ninety miles without water while going
from the Pecos River to the head waters of the
Concho River. From Concho he proceeded to
Houston, Texas, but the cattle in that section did
not meet his requirements and he went north to
Austin, where he purchased a thousand head, driv-
ing the herd north through Indian Territory, follow-
ing the Chism trail to Caldwell, Kans., and passing
through that state, struck the Arkansas River at
Great Bend. He continued along the Arkansas
River to Colorado and spent the winter on the state
line which divides Colorado from Kansas. Later he
engaged in speculating, buying and shipping cattle
to Chicago from Colorado, Kansas and Texas, and
for three years was thus occupied. In the panic
caused by Jay Cook in 1873 he suffered severe fin-
ancial losses and was obliged to again build up his
business. Going to Missouri, he engaged in buying
and selling cattle, hogs and sheep in small quan-
tities, shipping them to Chicago, and gradually re-
trieved his losses. He then purchased 1,000 head of
sheep in Macon County, Mo., driving them into
Colorado, where he had formerly wintered his cat-
tle. At the end of two years he sold his sheep and
drove overland to Fort Worth, Texas. There he con-
ducted a livery stable and wagon yard until the
death of his wife, in 1877, when he rented the wagon
yard and was on the police force for two years.

Subsequently Mr. Burton disposed of his interests
at Fort Worth and returned to Yamhill County,
Ore., where he farmed four years, at the end of
which period he sold his property there and went
to Portland. He became connected with the North-
ern Express Company of that city and for twenty-
eight years remained in their employ, doing faithful
and cflficient work. He then came to California,
reaching Gilroy in January, 1912, but at the end of
a year purchased a small ranch at Old Gilroy, upon
.which he made his home until December 12, 1918.
He then sold the property and took up his residence
in San Jose, where he has since lived retired.

Mr. Burton has been married twice. His first
wife was Miss Lizzie Scott, whom he wedded in
Macon County, Mo., in August, 1873. She was born
near Peoria, III., and as a child removed with her
parents, Solomon and Martha (Davis) Scott, to
Macon County, Mo., where she grew to woman-
hood. Following her demise he was married at Bar-
num, Texas, to Mrs. Mary F. Davis, who by a pre-
vious union had become the mother of five children;
William, Leona, Etta, Harold and John. She was
born in Pike County, Mo., a daughter of Franklin
and Nancy Robb, who were of Scotch descent and
became residents of Adams County, 111. Three
sons of Mr. and Mrs. Robb defended the Union dur-
ing the Civil War, while two others were soldiers
ill the Confederate Army. After reaching mature
years Mrs. Burton removed to Fannin County.

Texas, where she was married to the subject of this
review. On December 13, 1918, she suffered a para-
lytic stroke and on February 14, 1920, she passed
away. Mr. Burton's son, Harry Elmer Burton, born
in Yamhill County, Ore., June 10, 1881, is now assist-
ant superintendent of the San Jose branch of the
Peninsular Railroad. He was married at Gilroy to
Miss Bertha Fine and they have become the parents
of four children: Harold Heber, Raymond Dwight,
Elmer De Forest and Adda Frances. One grandson,
Harry Davis, participated in the World War, serv-
ing in the Marines, and two nephews, Walter B.
Anthony serving in the Aviation Corps, and Harry
Williams was in the Infantry.

Mr. Burton is a stanch supporter of the prin-
ciples and candidates of the Republican party, with
which he has been identified since age conferred
upon him the right of franchise. He is a valued
member of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, G. A. R., of
San Jose, and is now serving as its commander. His
has been an eventful life of varied experiences, and
his course has been characterized by integrity and
honor in every relation, commanding for him the
respect and goodwill of all with whom he has been
associated.

JAMES WILSON.— An estimable pioneer of the
Santa Clara Valley, James Wilson has spent nearly
fifty-six years of his life here, coming to California
with his parents, William and Mary (Scott) Wilson,
both natives of England, in 1866. They made the
journey by way of Cape Horn in a sailing vessel,
it requiring six months to complete the journey to
San Francisco, and soon after landing there the
family came to Santa Clara County, where the
father secured employment in the New Almaden
mines. While employed at his labor he lost his life
by a cave-in; the mother also met an accidental
death through a fall, and when she died, left four
boys to mourn her loss, James, William, Joseph, now
dead, and Robert, born in California, and the three
live in Santa Clara County.

James Wilson was the oldest of the family and was
born in Yorkshire, England, April 13, 1859. He at-
tended school a short time in his own country and
finished his school days in the public schools at
Almaden. His first work was on a ranch; after that
he went to Oregon, hoping to take up Government
land, but did not like the climate, but meanwhile he
made seven trips on a coastwise steamer between
San Francisco and Portland, Ore., as a fireman.
During the time he was in Oregon the first rail was
laid for the Oregon Short Line railroad; also the
Oregon City locks were built. Another frontier
experience was his participation in the Modoc War.
He was making a trip on horseback from Albany,
Ore., where he made headquarters for two years, to
Goose Lake, Cal., and he and his companion were
surrounded by Indians; they had to protect them-
selves, and so joined the settlers and remained in the
fight until the Redmen were subdued and the chief-
tains captured. Mr. Wilson received two bullets in
his left leg during the encounter. After he left the
sea he worked again on a ranch here, then was em-
ployed as hoisting engineeer. helping in the construc-
tion of the State Asylum at Agnew, also at the
building of the San Jose State Normal School. Later
he became a teamster and hauled all the sand rock
from the quarry at Almaden to the railroad in San

(hjaJtop^^ C^aJU^t.^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1039

San Jose that was used in building the Union LcagvK;
Club building in San Francisco.

It had always been Mr. Wilson's plan to have a
ranch of his own and in 1906 he was able to buy a
place on McClellan and Regnart roads, and to this
he has added until he now has fifty-one acres of fine
orchard, prunes, apricots, peaches and a vineyard,
having set out the trees and vines with his own
hands and carefully tended them until now he has
one of the best producing ranches in the county. He
is a thorough and competent orchardist, studying the
best methods of getting the most out of his land;
and has put all of the improvements seen on the
place after his own ideas of comfort and convenience.
He is a charter member of the California Prune and
Apricot Association; is always ready to assist every
worthy cause for the betterment of local conditions;
supports vigorously the good roads movement and
other transportation facilities; believes in maintaining
the schools to their highest efficency and is counted
a man always to be relied upon at all times as a
good citizen, friend and neighbor. In 1922, Mr. Wil-
son added to his holdings twenty acres of land ad-
joining his home place, set to prunes and apricots,
and considered one of the best ten-year-old orchards
in the county. This gives Mr. Wilson seventy-one
acres in a body, excepting the right-of-way for the
railroad.

The marriage of James Wilson, on May 1. 1884,
united him with Miss Phillippa Tucker, who came
from her native country, England, to California when
she was a child. They became the parents of three
children: Thomas, Mary and Richard, all born, reared,
educated and living in Santa Clara County. Mrs. Wil-
son and her husband shared their joys and sorrows
together during the many years they were spared to
each other, and her passing on January 9, 1914, was a
severe loss to family and friends. Mr. Wilson has
taken two girls into his home to rear and educate. In
politics he is a Democrat in national affairs, and fra-
ternally is a member of the Odd Fellows and of
the Woodmen of the World. Besides his ranching
interests he is also a stockholder in the Cerro Gordo
Gold Hill Mining Company. It has been his privi-
lege to witness the great transformation in Santa
Clara County, and in fact the entire state, since his
first settlement here fifty-six years ago. A loyal citi-
zen, no one can say that James Wilson has ever
shirked a duty and he has a host of friends through-
out the entire county.

MATTHIAS KNOEPPEL. — Faithfulness and
reliability have been the factors in the life of Mat-
thias Knoeppel which have finally resulted in his
present responsible position of trust. He was born
at Trier in Rhine Province, Germany, February 13,
1864, the son of Bernard and Maria (Linn) Knoep-
pel, farmers in their native land. Matthias was edu-
cated in the public schools of Germany, with no
chance of a college education, his spare time being
spent in helping with the work on the farm, being
the eldest of a family of four. Thus he was em-
ployed until he was old enough to enter the army
of his countrj' and for three years, from the time
he was twenty until twenty-three he served in the
German army. In 1888 he came to the United States
and for two years he worked in the rolling mills of
Pittsburgh, Pa., then went to Chicago and w^orkcd
in the stockyards for a year and a half. In 1891 he
came to California, settling in the Santa Clara Val-

ley, and for fifteen years was with the Santa Clara
Valley Lumber Company, meanwhile residing on
North Seventeenth Street continuously. He then
was employed as superintendent of the Glenwood
Lumber Company's yards on North Third Street.
San Jose, and has continued with them up to this
time. In September, 1905, he purchased a two-and-a-
half-acre place on Jackson Avenue on which he con-
structed a comfortable and commodious residence.
Mr. Knoeppel's marriage occurred in Pittsburgh,
Pa., June 18. 1890, and united him with Miss Louisa
Barth, also a native of Germany born in Wurtem-
burg. whose people also were farmers. She came
to the United States in 1887 alone and worked in
Pittsburgh until her marriage. They are the parents
of four children, Matthias Jr., Lewis, Mary and
Emma. Matthias Jr. married a Miss Ruby Eley
and they have a son. Ross. Mary is now Mrs. Law-
rence Henericks. Politically Mr. Knoeppel is a
Republican. He takes great pride in beautifying his
home place and the family enjoys the products of
a fine home garden.

FRANK E. CHAPIN.— An experienced, conscicn^
tious and far-seeing railroad man who is able to
make the rare and proud boast that during years of
varied administration, he has never had a railroad
strike to contend with, is Frank E. Chapin, the gen-
eral manager of the Peninsular and the San Jose
railroads. Fortunate at the very beginning of his
career in first seeing the light in California, he was
born in Tuolumne County on January 28, 1857, the
son of Edward R. Chapin, who married Miss Ann
Keech. They both crossed the Isthmus of Panama,
and settled for a while in Tuolumne County, where
Mr. Chapin established himself as a mining engineer,
and when he removed to San l''rancisco in 1864. he
soon made a name lor himself as a building con-
tractor. He (lied in llSd'', hiKlily esteemed for his
progressive methods and hi-, unfailing integrity; and
his devoted widow has since passed away, beloved
l)y all who knew her womanly virtues.

I'Vank profited from his public school and business
college training, and in 1874 entered the service of
the old Market Street railway system. Removing
to Stanislaus County, he was employed by the La
Grange Hydraulic Ditch Mining Company for four
years, and when he came back he joined the Cali-
fornia Street Railroad Company in 1879 as a con-
ductor and also a grip-man. In time he was made
starter and then assistant superintendent, which of-
fice he held from 1882 to 1904; and in that year he
came to San Jose as general manager of the San
Jose and Los Gatos Interurban Railroad. This was
incorporated into the Peninsular Railroad and then
the company purchased all the city lines of San Jose
and incorporated them under the name of the San
Jose Railroad. Now Mr. Chapin is general mana-
ger of both corporations, and an honored member
of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, of the
Rotary Club, and of the Commercial Club.

Popular as a fraternal feIIow% Mr. Chapin holds
membership in the Masonic order, the Odd Fellows,
the Encampment, the Elks and the Native Sons of
the Golden W^est. He takes a deep interest in the
welfare of the men under his employment and
authority, and never lets an opportunity escape him
to improve their situation and prospects; with the

1040

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

natural result that no railroad manager in all the
world could enjoy a more grateful or heartier sup-
port from the employes. This is a fortunate circum-
stance for the public and may account for much of
the excellency in the service afforded steadily by the
two corporations mentioned.

Mr. Chapin was united in marriage in San Fran-
cisco to Miss Josephine Walsh, daughter of Hon.
Thos. Walsh of Eureka, Cal., where she was born.
Mrs. Chapin passed away on March 26, 1922, having
been in ill-health for the past two vcars.

ALPHONZO M. KELLEY.— Although not a
Californian by birth, Alphonzo M. Kelley has spent
so much of his life in this state that he is thoroughly
acquainted v^'ith its possibilities and intelligently con-
versant with its history. He was born near Clinton,
111., on January 5, 1860, and is the son of Dr. Thomas
Kelley, whose long and useful life was spent in al-
leviating the sufferings of others. His grandfather,
Alexander Kelley, was born near Barboursville, Ky.,
a son of James Kelley, who immigrated from Ireland
in an early day and settled in Kentucky, but later
removed to Illinois, and he passed away in Clinton.
The farm of Alexander Kelley was located six miles
southeast of Lincoln, near Two Mile Grove, in Logan
County, 111., and there his oldest child, Thomas Kel-
ley, was born September 18. 1836. In 1841 the family
removed to Dewitt County, 111., where grandfather
Kelley engaged extensively in farm pursuits until his
death. His paternal grandmother was Miss Lucinda
Anderson before her marriage, who was born in Ohio.
Her father was Joel Anderson, a native of Pennsyl-
vania, of Scotch descent, and was a farmer by oc-
cupation. At twenty years of age Thomas Kelley
began to teach school in Dewitt County; later he
took up the study of medicine under Dr. John
Wright. On August 24, 1861, he enlisted as a pri-
vate in Company K, Forty-first Illinois Infantry,
and at Bird's Point, Mo., was mustered into the army
of the Tennessee, with which he participated in the
battles of Forts Henry and Donelson, Pittsburg
Landing, Shiloh. Hatcher's River, Coldwater, Miss.;
siege of Vickburg, Jackson, Miss.; and the Georgia
campaign from Resaca to the fall of Atlanta. While
on the Jackson battlefield, Mr. Kelley was promoted
to be first lieutenant of Company K, and there too
he was wounded in the right thigh; he made his
escape from the field and after his recovery rejoined
his regiment and remained at the front until the ex-
piration of his term of service and was mustered out
at Springfield, 111., October 8, 1864. He then en-
gaged in farming and continued his medical studies
under Dr. Wright and in 1868 entered Rush Medical
College from which he was graduated in 1871; in the
fall of the same year he came to California and set-
tled in the Santa Clara valley. In 1875 he became a
partner of Dr. Benj. Cory, a pioneer physician of
San Jose, and remained with him for sixteen years.
Most of his time was devoted to his professional
duties, but he found time to engage in the fruit in-
dustry. He purchased a tract of ISO acres in
Tulare County, which was planted to orchard and
vineyard, but was later sold. He married Miss Alice
Leeds, a native of Batavia, Ohio, and she died in
Illinois during the war. Our subject is the only son
of that union. Dr. Kelley's second marriage united
him with Mrs. Sarah A. Watkins. a native of Ohio.

who passed away in 1902 in San Jose. Three daugh-
ters and one son were born to them: Mrs. C. H.
Leadbetter, of Portland, Ore.; Mrs. B. B. Alexander,
of San Diego, Cal.; and Mrs. F. A. Towner, of San
Jose. Dr. Kelley was active in county and commit-
tee work of the Republican party, and during the
administration of President Harrison, in 1891, was
appointed postmaster of San Jose and held the office
for over four years; he served as county physician
and was engaged as surgeon to the O'Connor Sani-
tarium. He was made a Mason in Illinois. He
passed away at the age of sixty-seven at the family
home on Third and William streets, San Jose, on
February 14, 1906.

Alphonzo M. Kelley was educated in the schools
of San Jose and in 1884 received his A. B. degree
from the College of the Pacific and his A. M. in
1886 from the same institution. During his father's
incumbency he served as assistant postmaster of San
Jose. For a number of years he taught in the public
schools of the county, and also was city editor of the
Mercury during the last year of the ownership of
Mr. Owen. In 1898 he purchased a tract of 160
acres situated on the Llagas road and has resided
there since 1900.

Mr. Kelley has been married twice. The first mar-
riage, in October, 1893, united him with Miss Meggie
L. Robb, well-known as a teacher in the high school
of San Jose. She died in 1898, and the second
union occurred on March 21, 1907, and united him
with Miss Janet Whitehurst, a daughter of the late
A. Whitehurst, banker and lumberman of Gilroy,
Cal. Politically Mr. Kelley is a Republican and has
been on the county central committee from his dis-
trict. His culture and social qualities draw to him
many lasting friendships, and he is esteemed and
respected for his true worth.

PONTUS OSTENBERG.— Among the alert
young business men of San Jose is numbered Pontus
Ostenbcrg. who is conducting one of the leading in-
dustrial enterprises of the city, being associated with
his brother in the manufacture of deep well pumps,
;ind although recently established, the business has
already assumed large proportions. Mr. Ostenbcrg
was born in Des Moines, Iowa, June 3, 1886, a son
of John A. and Amelia Ostenbcrg, who reared a
family of five children. One of the sons, Zeno Os-
tenbcrg, is a graduate of Leland Stanford Univer-
sity and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He was a lieutenant in the World War, being in
the Naval Aviation service, and was stationed suc-
cessively at North Island, San Diego, and Pensacola,
Fla. The father is a master mechanic and for sev-
eral years was prominently identified with business
interests of San Jose but now lives in Los Angeles.

Pontus Ostenbcrg remained in his native state
until eight years of age, when he accompanied his
parents on their removal to Vermont, where they
resided for four years. When he was twelve years
of age the familj' home was established in San Jose
and he here attended the public schools. On lay-
ing aside his textbooks he began working for his
father, who was engaged in the building of engines,
manufacturing the Ostenbcrg motor and also being
the inventor of the Victory oil motor. His brother
Ncroy, who is also a native of Des Moines, Iowa,
enlisted- on June 27. 1917. He became a member

^ ^^i^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1043

of the Naval Reserve and for thirteen months was
in training at the camp at San Pedro, Cal. He then
went to Mare Island, where he remained for a short
time, after which he was stationed at the submarine
base at San Pedro. He entered the service as a
second class machinist, and was furloughed to the
Reserve on June 25, 1919, as a first class machinist.
In 1919, in association with his brother Neroy,
Pontus Ostenberg opened a shop on West Santa
Clara Street in San Jose, where they have since en-
gaged in the manufacture of deep well pumps. Both
are expert mechanics, having inherited their ability
along this line from their father. They manufacture
the Ostenberg deep well pump, which they have
protected by patents. From its inception the busi-
ness has been a success and their present yearly
output is thirty pumps, which they expect to increase
to 100 in the near future. In the conduct of his in-
terests Mr. Ostenberg displays sound judgment, en-
terprise and marked administrative ability and suc-
cess in substantial measure is rewarding his efforts.

MRS. MELINDA C. PLANK. — A highly-
esteemed woman who is particularly interesting as
a successful manager of large aflfairs, is Mrs. Me-
linda C. Plank, who was born in Guaymas, Sonora,
Mexico, on October 12, 1847, the daughter of Charles
Rich Conant, a native of Pittsford, Va., where he was
born on December 5, 1807 a lineal descendant of the
celebrated Roger Conant, the founder of Salem.
Mass., and the first governor of that colony, contin-
uing in office three years as stated in the Conant
genealogy. Roger Conant was born in Devonshire,
England, on April 9, 1592, and our subject is of the
eighth generation of Conants in America. Roger
was married in London, England, in November, 1618,
and came out to Massachusetts in 1623 on the vessel
named "Anne." Fort Conant, now known as Stage
Fort, was named after him. In time, Charles Rich
Conant moved to Putnam, Ohio, with his parents,
and came in 1830, with the David Crockett party to
Texas, later coming to Mexico, traveled through So-
nora and at Buena Vista, in 1840, he married Miss
Simona Maldonado, then settled at Guaymas. He
became interested in both lands and mines in So-
nora, Mexico, but in 1849 he rushed north to Cali-
fornia at the news of the discovery of gold, return-
ing the next year to Mexico to bring his family to
California. He and his wife had six children, and
they were named Charles, Thomas, James Francis,
Mary Melinda, — the subject of our review; Simona
Frances and Joseph Benjamin.

Charles R. Conant and his family settled at Stock-
ton in the spring of 1850, living on the vessel Attila,
which he partly owned, and for a short time the
prospects were satisfying, and then he went to Stan-
islaus County and there built a dam on the Stan-
islaus River, intending to use the water for irrigat-
ing land. But just as the dam was about com-
pleted, a freshet washed it away in 1852. He then
came back to Stockton and bought an interest in a
foundry, which he conducted for years. He was
really a physician by profession, as his father be-
fore him had been, although he was interested in
these various enterprises, and for sixteen years he
had practiced medicine before coming to California,
and during the early cholera epidemic he and Dr.
McLean were the only doctors to fight the epidemic
in Stockton. He had an interest in mines at Cop-

peropolis, Cal., but he died eventually near Alamas,
Mexico, in 1863. His wife had died there eight
months previously.

Miss Melinda Conant was married at Alamos,
Mexico, on July 25, 1868, to Frederick Plank, a na-
tive of Cold Springs, N. Y., where he was born on
November 2, 1843 the son of Philip and Mary Plank.
Philip Plank, a mechanic by trade, spelled his name
Planque; and in 1851 Frederick accompanied his
parents from New York to California by way of
Panama, and later he and his father went to Sonora,
Mexico, where Dr. Plank became interested in
mining in the Alamos district. At the time of their
marriage. Dr. Plank's father was chief engineer of
the Mint at Alamos, Sonora, Mex., and he also was
interested in mines in Chihuahua. After their mar-
riage. Dr. Plank continued mining very successfully,
in Baucari, and located many valuable claims, but
in 1884, the couple moved back to California and
lived at San Francisco until 1888, when they re-
moved to San Jose. While here Dr. Plank bought
the David Spence property on the Alameda, and also
bought lots and several orchards, improved them and
sold at a profit. Later still, they moved back to
Lower California, engaged in mining near Los An-
geles Bay, and stayed there until 1906, when they
returned to San Jose. Dr. Plank then bought the
Rudolf Spence home on the Alameda, and there the
family lived until 1920, when they moved to 326
North Sixth Street.

Mr. and Mrs. Plank had a family of seven chil-
dren: Frederick died, aged twenty-eight; William,
at home; Francis died, aged thirty-one, leaving a
son. Frederick Edmund; Amelia, Mrs. C. C. Coo-
lidge of San Jose and mother of four children, Elea-
nor, Frederick, Adele and Claire; Adela, wife of
J. W. A. Pearson of Mexico City; Charles at home,
and Mary Lucy who died in infancy. Dr. Plank
passed away while in San Francisco on December
29, 1911, and is buried in San Jose. Mrs. Plank
still has extensive mining interests in Lower Cali-
fornia and lands in Sonora, Mexico, and still re-
tains the old hacienda at Baucari.

WILBUR H. DRAPER.— A successful career is
that of Wilbur H. Draper, a native son of San Jose,
who has worked his way steadily upward until he
now occupies the position of manager of the George
B. McKee Paint Company and is most capably dis-
charging the responsible duties which now devolve
upon him. He was born August 2, 1887, a son of
Edwin W. and Martha J. (Beck) Draper, the former
a native of Jackson, Mich. In 1863 the father crossed
the plains to California, first going to San Fran-
cisco, where he lived for two years. He then re-
moved to Livermore, purchasing a 200-acre farm in
the Panoche Creek country and devoting his atten-
tion to the raising of grain and stock. For eight
years he operated that place, which he then sold,
and coming to San Jose, he engaged in threshing
grain for many years, having a Minnesota Chief
thresher. He became well know-n in that connection,
operating in the San Joaquin and Santa Clara Val-
leys, engaging in threshing in the former locality
for ten successive seasons and also going as far south
as Salinas. In Centerville, Alameda County, he mar-
ried Miss Martha J. Beck, a native of Missouri, and
purchasing a five-acre tract in San Jose, he there
made his home until his demise on December 24.
1918, this ranch being now occupied by the subject

1044

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of this review and his mother. In the family
were three children: Wilbur H.; Edwin A., in The
Willows; and Mrs. F. E. Whipple, who is residing
in East San Jose.

Mr. Draper attended the grammar and high
schools of San Jose and the Cox Business College
and for four years assisted his father in threshing.
In 1907 he entered the employ of the George B.
McKee Paint Company, starting in as an appren-
tice and steadily advancing through merit and ability
until he is now serving as manager. He thoroughly
understands all phases of the business and this prac-
tical knowledge, combined with his keen insight and
sound judgment, has enabled him to so manage
the affairs of the company that its trade has shown
a steady growth. In his political views Mr. Draper
is a Republican and is a Scottish Rite Mason and
a Shriner of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.

ELIJAH M. SALEEBY— The vicinity of San Jose
and surrounding country are fortunate indeed to
have as able and conscientious a druggist to care
for the physical welfare of its citizens as is found
in Elijah M. Saleeby, who is the proprietor of the
University Drug Company, located at 50 East Santa
Clara Street. Mr. Saleeby was born in Mt. Lebanon,
Syria, on April 8, 1878, and was the son of Mitry
and Helena Saleeby, the father being the superin-
tendent of schools of Mt. Lebanon. The Free Church
of Scotland had sent ministers and missionary teach-
ers to these schools to educate the youth, and Mr.
Saleeby's father, who was an educator, had the direc-
tion of these schools in his hands. The father lived
to be an old man, having attained the age of eighty-
two years when he passed away in 1920, his wife
having preceded him many years ago.

Elijah Saleeby attended the public schools and the
high schools in Mt. Lebanon and then entered the
American College of Pharmacy in Beirut, graduating
at the age of twenty-two years with the degree of
Ph. M. During the year 1901 he went to Egypt and
took a position, where he worked for a period of
two years, and then came to New York in 1903. He
did graduate work in New York College of Pharmacy
and spent four years in New York City as a pharma-
cist, after which he voyaged to the Philippine Is-
lands, became the chief pharmacist in the U. S. Civil
Hospital for a short time, and then was the chief
pharmacist of the Philippine General Hospital for
two years. He then left the government work and
opened a drug store at Zamboanga, in the Philip-
pines, which he conducted for eight years, and dis-
posing of this business he became the manager of
the Martini Drug Company at Manila, P. I., at
which place he stayed for one year. The year 1919
marks the returning of Mr. Saleeby to the United
States, at which time he made an extended trip;
starting from San Francisco, he traveled via Los
.'\ngcles, Denver and Washington, D. C, to Penn-
sylvania, visiting his wife's people, who lived at
Altoona, Pa., and also visited his friends in New-
York, and returned to California, this time settling
in San Jose. He arrived during the month of July,
1919, and in August of the same year he purchased
the University Drug Company of San Jose, which
he has since conducted with gratifying success.

Mr. Saleeby's marriage, which occurred on De-
cember 27, 1917, in Manila, P. I., united him with
Miss Laura Teeter, who is a native of Pennsylvania,
having been born near Altoona, the daughter of An-

drew and Katherine Teeter, and they are the parents
of one son, Charles. Mr. Saleeby is a very public-
spirited man and is interested in the progressive de-
velopment of the country; is very popular in the
San Jose Progressive Business Men's Clubs and is
an active member of the San Jose Chamber of Com-
merce. He is also a Mason, having taken the thirty-
second Scottish Rite degrees, and is a member of
Nile Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Seattle, Wash.,
and he is also a member of the Sciots and Eastern
Star and of the Alameda and Santa Clara County
Pharmaceutical Associations. In national politics
his inclinations favor Republican principles.

ORA P. MILLS.— In each community are found
men of business enterprise whose particular line of
work has made them real builders of the prosperity
of the county, and among them is Ora P. Mills, well
known in business circles as a pump and irrigation
expert. A native of California, he was born in Yolo
County, at Cache Creek, in March, 1862, a son of
H. and Millie Mills. In the early '50s his father
ciossed the plains to California and engaged in the
cattle business on an extensive scale. Subsequently
he purchased 640 acres near Vallejo, Cal., upon
which he continued to reside until the sixties, when
he left that locality owing to Indian troubles, and re-
turned to Yolo County. In 1873 he removed to San
Jose, and soon afterwards removed to Santa Maria
Valley where he resumed his operations in the cattle
business, winning a substantial measure of success
in the conduct of his interests along that line.

After completing his grammar school course, Ora
P. Mills yielded to the fascinations of circus life and
ran away from home, concealing himself in one of the
show wagons after the evening performance. He
was not discovered until they had proceeded some
distance from San Jose and the foreman of the
canvas men at first threatened to send him back
home, but speedily changed his mind when Ora dis-
played his skill as a tight rope w^alker in walking
up one of the guy ropes on the tent. He was but
thirteen years old at the time he joined the circus,
which was known as the Montgomery Queen Circus,
and during that season they exhibited at Gilroy.
Salinas, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Santa
Paula and Los Angeles, going up the San Joaquin
Valley to Sacramento. Subsequently Mr. Mills
toured the entire Middle West with the circus, leav-
ing the outfit at St. Louis, Mo., to accept a more
.-ittractive salary offered by the manager of the Fore-
paugh Show. He was an expert performer and was
the first performer to walk the tight rope from pole
tc pole without a balance rod. For six years in all
he remained in the business and then having had his
fill of circus life, returning to his home in San Jose,
which he had visited twice during that interval.

After returning to San Jose, Mr. Mills purchased
a lot on the corner of Santa Clara and Orchard
streets, which he has since owned. Going to Red-
wood City, Cal., he worked as a machinist and car
repairer for a time at that place and then made his
way to Sacramento, where for some years he was
employed in the shops of the Southern Pacific and
later in the San Jose yards, remaining with that
company until the time of the strike. He then pur-
chased a ranch of thirty-three acres at Evergreen,
which he set to^ orchard and devoted his time to the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1047

raising of prunes, apricots and peaches, but was
compelled to give up the place owing to his inability
to secure water for irrigation, the efforts of three
drilling crews having proved fruitless. He then de-
cided to enter the drilling and pump business and
has since been active along this line, in which he
has become recognized as an authority in the Santa
Clara Valley. He handles all kinds of deep-well
pumps, including centrifugal, turbine and lift pumps.
In 1888 he brought in a well on a ten-acre ranch
belonging to his mother's estate and it proved so
successful that a number of farmers in the vicinity
were able to obtain a supply of water from it. He
has made an exhaustive study of irrigation and has
been very successful in his horticultural operations.
The fruit from his ten-acre farm in The Willows
was the finest in size and flavor delivered to the
East Side Dryer in which he was a stockholder. He
has the credit of being among the first to establish
an irrigating system in the valley.

In San Mateo City, Cal., June 10, 1889, Mr. Mills
was married to Miss Delia F. McElhany, a native
of Willitts, Cal., and a daughter of James M. and
Mary (Ford) McElhany. The family name was
originally Fore, of French origin, and w-as changed
to Ford. Mr. McElhany was of Scotch-Irish and
Knickerbocker stock and settled in California and
became a pioneer rancher of Mendocino County, sub-
sequently he engaged in merchandising at Santa
Maria. He built the first store, first hall, owned
and operated the first newspaper, the Santa Maria
Times. Both parents are still living. Mrs. Mills was
educated at Healdsburg, Cal., and by her marriage
she has become the mother of four children: Eldon
Cecil, a resident of San Jose; Mrs. Lulu Maxey, also
of San Jose, has three children, Zola, Junior and
Kathleen; Delora W. is Mrs. Taylor of Berkeley and
has one child, Naomi G.; and Ora P., Jr., who is
attending San Jose high school. In his political
views Mr. Mills is a stanch Democrat and fraternally
he is connected with the Woodmen, being a member
of the lodge of that order at San Jose.

MRS. DELIA VOLKERS.— Coming to San Jose
a half century ago. Mrs. Delia Volkers has been an
interested witness of the growth and development
of this section ot the state and her reminiscences
of the early days are must interesting and instruc-
tive. A native ot the East, she was born in Rens-
selaer County. N. Y., her parents being James and
Mary (McGann) Linehan, who were born in County
Clare, Ireland. They came separately to the United
States and were married in New York State in
about 1848 and were engaged in farming in Rens-
selaer County. N. Y. In 1870 they came to San
Jose, where they established their permanent resi-
dence, the father passing away in his eighty-fourth
year, while the mother's demise occurred when she
was seventy-six years of age. They reared a family
of nine children, of whom the subject of this review-
was the second in order of birth.

Mrs. Volkers attended the public schools of New
York until ten years of age. As a child she recalls
the Civil War, with its harrowing experiences, and
also the death of Lincoln. She came with her
parents to California in 1870 the journey being
made by way of the Isthmus of Panama. She con-
tinued her studies in San Jose, becoming a pupil at

the old Thirteenth Street School and then at Notre
Dame College, and continuing at home until April
12. 1883, when she was married at the Santa Clara
Mission to August Henry Volkers, a native of Nien-
burg, Germany, and a son of William V. and Sophie
Volkers, the former a butcher by trade. When a
youth of fourteen years he came to the United
States, crossing the continent to California on an
emigrant railroad train. Previous to his marriage
Mr. Volkers worked on various farms and after-
ward he removed with his bride to Edenvale. where
he was connected with the raising of grain and
stock. About 1887 they took up their residence
at 448 North Tenth Street, in San Jose, where they
continued to make their home for twenty-seven
years. Mr. Volkers was made collector for the Com-
mercial Bank and remained in the employ of Mr.
McLaughlin for several years. After this Mr. Volk-
ers became manager of the Auzerais estate, of which
he had charge for twenty-five years. When he re-
signed they presented him with a silver service as
a testimonial of his years of faithful service. He
was next made superintendent of the First National
Bank Building and was occupying that position at
the time of his death, w-hich occurred on September
6, 1916, when he w-as fifty-two years of age.

To Mr. and Mrs. Volkers were born eight chil-
dren. Fred, a gas and steam fitter by trade, resides
at Vallejo, Cal.; he married Miss Eva Mclntyre,
of Castroville, this state. Alice, who resides at
home, is bookkeeper for the Normandin-Campen
Company: Mary, also at home, is bookkeeper for
the Mission Motor Company; Leo, who is a rancher
at Marysville, married Anna Sullivan of San Jose,
and they have two children, Thelma and John Ray-
mond; Aileen is the wife of A. J. Crabb, an automo-
bile merchant of Milpitas, Cal., and they have be-
come the parents of three children, Madeline, Helena
and Raymond Alexander; William Keith, who is
connected with the Standard Oil Company at San
Jose, married Violet Martella. On May 1, 1918,
he entered the U. S. service and was first sent to
the Santa Clara training school, under command of
Colonel Donovan, going from there to Camp Fre-
mont, where he remained for six weeks, and on to
Camp Taylor. Ky. He was commissioned a second
lieutenant and was stationed at Camp Jackson. S. C,
being attached to the field artillery. There he re-
ceived his discharge about December 15, 1919, reach-
ing San Jose just before Christmas of that year.
Raymond and George died in infancy.

Mr. Volkers was a stanch Republican in his po-
litical views and Mrs. Volkers is also an adherent
of that party. Fraternally he was identified with the
Woodmen of the World at San Jose and he was
also affiliated with the United Workmen of America
during the existence of that order. He was a great
lover of flowers and trees, with which he beautified
his home, in which he took great pride. Mr. and
Mrs. Volkers were members of the Second Ward
Improvement Club that built the pergolas at the
Grant School and planted trees on Empire Street
from Fourth to Seventeenth streets, a great im-
provement for this section. Mr. Volkers found his
greatest happiness at his own fireside and was a de-
voted husband and father, and he left behind him a
memory that is cherished by all with whom he was
associated. For the past five years Mrs. Volkers
has resided at No. 129 North Thirteenth Street.

1048

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

where she has an attractive little home. Like her
late husband she is very fond of flowers and trees
and takes great pleasure in seeing things grow and
it is her delight to care for her flowers and shrubbery.

CHARLES M. LORIGAN— An enviable record
of duty and service is the story of the life of the late
Charles M. Lorigan, who was born in New South
Wales, Australia, on January 14, 1861. His father
was B. W. Lorigan, a native of Ireland, who went
to Australia, was married there, and removed with
his family to California in 1862. in which year he
settled in Santa Clara. He has been a successful
diamond miner in Australia, but was cheated out of
what should have been abundant riches by fraudu-
lent dealers.

Charles spent his boyhood in Santa Clara and at-
tended the University at that place; and in 1882
he was duly graduated with honors. Five years later
he entered the law offices of S. F. Leib; and in 1889,
upon successfully passing the examinations of the
Supreme Court, he was admitted to practice at the
Bar in California. He then formed a partnership
with Mr. Leib. and until Mr. Lorigan's death, they
maintained the most cordial and helpful relations.
He was twenty-five years in active service in probate
and office work, enjoyed a large clientele, and not
only was very highly esteemed for his knowledge of
the law, but had the confidence of all who had come
to know him as practitioner.

On November 3, 1903, Mr. Lorigan was united in
marriage with Miss Eugenia E. Bohlmann, a daugh-
ter of Frank Bohlmann, one of the well-known pio-
neers of California, and a native of San Jose; and
they were blessed with the birth of one child, Lor-
raine M. Lorigan, now a student at Notre Dame.
Mr. Lorigan did not enjoy the most robust constitu-
tion, and his inability to partake of the more stren-
uous life was amply compensated for by the com-
forts and joys of his beautiful home, made so attrac-
tive through his devoted and charming wife and
daughter. He passed away, to the heart-felt regret
of a wide circle, on September 24, 1920, at his resi-
dence at 235 South Tenth Street. The funeral took
place from St. Patrick's Church, which was filled by
mourning friends, members of the Bar Association,
leaders in many corporations, churchmen and church-
women, and people from throughout the state; on
which occasion a solemn requiem mass was cele-
brated by the Rev. Father Collins, pastor, as cele-
brant, the Rev. T. J. Murphy, S. J., president of the
University of Santa Clara, as deacon, the Rev. J.
Collins, S. J., as sub-deacon, and the Rev. William
M. Boland, S. J., as master of ceremonies. A large
number of the Sisters of the various Catholic orders
of the county were present, including many from the
O'Connor Sanitarium, in which the deceased was
keenly interested; and he was laid to rest in the fam-
ily plot in Oak Hill Cemetery by six nephews-
Frank Lorigan, Jr., of San Francisco, and Sidney K.
Lorigan, Charles K. Lorigan, B. W. Lorigan, E. L.
Nicholson, and G. A. Nicholson, all of San Jose. In
delivering a splendid eulogy to the life and character
of the deceased, the Rev. Father Collins said:

"Mr. Lorigan's public and private life was his own
eulogy. Blessed by God with a good mind and an
intrepid spirit, he stood before the public as an ex-
ample of the perfect Christian gentleman. To him
all men were equal, and neither wealth, nor power, nor

promise could sway him in a just judgment, nor was
anyone so poor and lowly to be beneath his rever-
ence and service. As a Catholic, he was a perfect
example of Christianity. He measured all his judg-
ments and actions as if conscious of the ever-present,
all-seeing eye of God. He was proud of the dignity
of being a true Christian, and his daily life was an
example of it."

Nicholas Bowden, on behalf of the Bar Associa-
tion, also delivered a eulogy before the Superior
Court of Santa Clara County on Friday, October 8,
1920, in which he said:

"The life and character of Charles M. Lorigan de-
serve more than passing notice. For thirty years,
and until the beginning of his last fatal illness some
months ago, he was a conspicuous and familiar figure
in the courts and in this community. Early in his
career as a lawyer, he made warm and lasting friend-
ships, and quickly secured the confidence and respect
of client and citizen. To these friends, and to this
confidence, he was ever and always true and loyal.
He was an alumnus of the University of Santa Clara.
His Alma Mater endowed him with a liberal and
Christian education. It was a rich endowment. It
was the foundation of his professional success and a
sure and safe guide in all the relations of life. Hand-
icapped by physical affliction, Charles M. Lorigan
radiated sunshine and happiness. His affliction walked
with him through life. It was with him in his com-
ings and goings. It stood beside him at his hearth-
stone. He knew that most of the activities and pleas-
ures of youth and manhood were forever denied him,
and this fact was graciously accepted without a
murmur, never a complaint. Two other of Charles
M. Lorigan's distinguishing characteristics were his
open-hearted candor and his unimpeachable integ-
rity. No whisper of suspicion was ever breathed
against his name. The record of his life is the record
of dut}' and service."

DA'VID WIGHT.— A pharmacist of wide experi-
ence, whose close application to work during many
years enabled him to retire in comfort is David
Wight, a native son, who was born in Vallejo, on
February 5, 1860, the son of David Wight, an hon-
ored pioneer who passed away in San Jose on May
25, 1919. He was reared and schooled in Glasgow.
Scotland, the city of his birth, and he became an
engineer, coming to California as first assistant en-
gineer of the steamer Fremont around Cape Horn
to San Francisco in 1851, following his trade after
he came to California for about three years on the
Pacific Mail Steamer. He married Miss Nicholas
Douglas, who was also born in Scotland, and she
passed away on June 18, 1920. at her home on Wil-
lows Street. They had six children, all of whom
are still living, and among them our subject was the
fourth. David Wight became w-ell-known as an en-
gineer in the Bay City, and in 1SS4 he removed to
Vallejo, and assisted in the great work of construct-
ing the Navy Yard. Indeed, to him belonged the
distinction of having driven the first pile needed in
that pretentious work. At the conclusion of his serv-
ice, he returned to San Francisco and there founded
the California Iron Works. The year 1870 brought
severe reverses to the family, and they then removed
to San Jose. David Wight. Sr., took charge of the
iron foundry, owned by John and Donald Mc-
Kenzie, and located at the corner of First and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1051

San Antonio streets, San Jose; and he also in-
vested in a small home-place in The Willows. Later,
he became manager for Joseph Enright, who was
engaged in the manufacture of straw-burning thresh-
ing engines. Mr. Wight lived to the ripe old age
of eighty-nine.

David Wight, Jr., had the advantages of the pub-
lic schools of San Jose. In 1876, at the age of six-
teen, he entered the employ of Rhodes & Lewis,
pharmacists on South First Street, San Jose, and
began the study of pharmacy; he then entered the
California College of rharniacy. and was graduated
by the University of California in 1882. After serv-
ing as a pharmacist in various cities in California he
became the manager for Grenell & Beaumont, con-
tinuing in that capacity for five years, and there he
was one of the organizers of the McKenney Drug
Company and established a pharmacy on South
First Street. He was vice-president and director
and continued to give his services as pharmacist to
the business until they sold out to the Wolfe Drug
Company in 1898. Since he quit his profession he is
engaged as horticulturist. In San Jose in 1886 Mr.
Wight married Miss Susie E. Cottle, the only sur-
viving daughter of the late Ira Cottle, the pioneer
and orchardist, who came to California in 1854. Mr.
Wight is a member of Fraternity Lodge No. 399,
F. & A. M., and is a member of San Jose Consistory
of Scottish Rite, is a member of the O. E. S.; he
is also a member of the Odd Fellows and the Re-
bekahs; and Mrs. Wight belongs to the Eastern Star
and the Rebekahs. Mr. and Mrs. Wight have built
for themselves a beautiful residence on a fine por-
tion of the Ira Cottle estate, which they retained,
while they disposed of the rest of the choice prune
orchard at the corner of Minnesota and Lincoln
avenues in the Willow district, and out of this has
been created the handsome Lincoln Park.

MILDRED P. HANSON.— Prominent among the
best-trained, most successful teachers, whose popu-
larity, extending through Santa Clara County, has
been clearly due to hard, efficient work coupled with
the influence of an attracting personality, is Miss
Mildred P. Hanson, who resides at 774 South Eighth
Street, San Jose. A native daughter proud of her
heritage, she was born at Sonora, in Tuolumne
County, Cal., and her father was Jesse Kimball Han-
son, a member of an honored New England family
of farmer folk. He came out to San Francisco in
'49, sailing around Cape Horn to get there, and from
San Francisco he hurried into the southern mines
of Tuolumne. He was not particularly successful,
however, and instead of pinning his faith to the dig-
ging for gold, he opened a book store, where he also
sold Chinese curios. He also managed the telegraph
station at Sonora, for he was an expert operator.
He was a well-read man, and found a worthy, in-
spiring companion in his wife, who was Miss Annie
E. Patrick before her marriage, the member of a
family that had migrated in 1760 to South Carolina
from French Lorraine, and which eventually became
represented in North Carolina, Tennessee and North-
ern Alabama. Miss Patrick's father made his way
to California for the first time via the Isthmus of
Panama, after which he returned to the East by the

same route; then he brought his family across the
great plains, and once here he became a member of
the State Legislature, and for many years he was
sherifi" of Tuolumne County. Mr. and Mrs. Hanson
removed to Fresno County, where the mother died
in 1870; the father continued in the employ of the
Southern Pacific Railroad, whose service he had
entered, being stationed at Tehachepi and Tulare.
When the private line was built from Goshen to
Visalia he became station agent at Visalia. In 1878
he, too, passed away, honored by all who knew him
as a progressive, dependable pioneer citizen.

Miss Mildred Hanson was graduated from the San
Jose high school in 1883, and eighteen months later
received from the State Normal School at San Jose
her certificate for teaching. The first school to
which she was assigned was in the Elbow Creek dis-
trict, where she was in charge of some thirty-five
pupils for a year; and then she spent a year and a
half in the public schools of San Luis Obispo County.
After that, she moved north to Washington, and
for a season taught at Waitsburg, getting a good
idea of the conditions of life in that locality, and so
enlarging her knowledge of Pacific Coast geography.
In the fall of 1889, she came to San Jose and entered
the Willow Glen School as a primary teacher, be-
coming the fourth teacher on the staff for that sea-
son; and at the beginning of the school term in 1908
she was appointed principal, and then there were six
teachers. Ever alert and untiring in constructive
work and desirable legislation, and the building up
a fine elementary school. Miss Hanson has kept
abreast of the times, and now a new and handsome
school edifice is being erected to accommodate the
increasing number of pupils there. The coming year
Miss Hanson is to continue as the vice-principal of
tlie school, although for some time she has con-
templated retiring from active professional duties.
For years she has been a member of the executive
committee of the Santa Clara County .Teachers'
Association, in wliicli her influence has always been
wide and helpful to every important interest, and in
support of the worthiest movements.

With her sister. Miss Margaret Hanson, who is
vice-principal of the Visalia-Jefferson Grammar
School, Miss Hanson owns the residence at 74 South
Eighth Street. San Jose, which has been their home
for some years; another sister is Mrs. C. L. Witten,
the wife of Judge Witten of San Jose. History and
ancestry, both recalling the fine old days of early
California and New England, as well as Southern,
are subjects of attraction to these ladies, for their
forefathers were among the Kimballs and Hansons
who settled in New Hampshire as early as 1640,
became prominent professionally, and figured in
Colonial history and the building of the nation. These
forebears also included Maj. John L. Patrick and his
brother, Capt. George W. Patrick, whose reputation
for prowess in another part of the United States was
equally enviable. They have good reason, there-
fore, to be proud of their ancestors, as thej' are of
the great Pacific commonwealth in which they them-
selves have had their part in social and educational
formations, and Santa Clara and Tulare counties
may well be congratulated upon securing such
pedagogical talent as that of the Misses Hanson.

1032

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

HAROLD L. FATE. — A native son of California.
Harold L. Fate is now identified with the Associated
Oil Company of San Jose and is an alert young
business man who is making the most of his time,
talents and opportunities. He was born in Santa
Cruz, Cal., February 28, 1896. a son of Lewis and
Mary Fate. His father was_ a native of Ohio and
as a child was taken by his parents to Danville, 111.,
where his youthful days were spent. In 1890 he
made his way to the Pacific Coast, first establishing
his home in San Francisco, and later removing to
Santa Cruz, where he entered the employ of the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company. In 1899 he
came to San Jose as an employe of that road and
resided here until 1903, when he went to Salinas,
where he remained until 1907, during which period
he continued with the railroad. In the latter year
he returned to San Jose where he has since lived.

In the public schools of San Jose and Salinas.
Harold L. Fate acquired his education and on start-
ing out m the business world he obtained employ-
ment with the firm of Popp & Hogan, job printers,
tor whom he worked as pressman for fifteen months.
He then secured a position with the S. H. Chase
Lumber Company of San Jose, with whom he re-
mained for a little over two years, and then was wood
turner for the Hubbard & Carniichael Company of
this city for seven years. He next became con-
nected with the Associated Oil Company, but at the
end of twelve months left that firm and returned to
the Chase Lumber Company, with whom he con-
tinued for a year and a half. Leaving San Jose,
he went to Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, and there
was occupied in planing mill vi'ork for about eight
months. Upon returning to California he resumed his
former connection with the Associated Oil Company
and has since continued in their service, proving a
faithful and efficient employe.

Mr. Fate is independent in his political views, cast-
ing his b.allot in favor of the candidate whom he
deems best fitted for office, regardless of party ties.
He is a member of the Pastime Social Club, of which
he has been treasurer and a trustee and is now
president. He is also connected wth the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, the Eagles and the Good
Fellows Lodge of San Jose, being a past exalted
director of the last named organization.

DAVID HAROLD CRAMER, Ph. B.— The vicin-
ity of Campbell and the surrounding country are
fortunate indeed to have as an able and conscientious
man to care for the educational welfare of the
children of the citizens of that locality as is found
in Prof. David Harold Cramer, an eminent and ex-
perienced teacher who is now the principal of the
Campbell Union high school. Professor Cramer
is a native of Bloomdale, Ohio, and was born No-
vember 12. 1881. He is the son of David L. and
."Mice S. (Lesher) Cramer, both natives of Penn-
sylvania. David L. Cramer is a carpenter and he
and his wife are now residents of Fostoria, Ohio.

David H. Cramer received his education at Bloom-
dale grammar school. Fostoria high school and
Wooster College, all in the state of Ohio. He was
graduated from Wooster College in 1906 with the
degree Ph. B. and for the next two years he was
teacher at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, high

school and the following two years he served as
principal of the same school. In the spring of 1910
he came to California, and that fall he took a grad-
uate course in the University of California, major-
ing in mathematics. Then going to Globe, Ariz.,
he was employed in the offices of the Old Dominion
Copper Mining Company for a while, coming to
Campbell in the fall of 1912. He became the vice-
principal of the Campbell high school and continued
in that position for a period of eight years, when
he was elected as principal. The Campbell Union
high school has had a good growth having now
about 170 students and eleven teachers.

Professor Cramer's marriage, which took place
at Lake Geneva. Wis., united him with Miss Flor-
ence Davidson, who was born in Nevada, and reared
in Wisconsin, the daughter of Ebenezer and Elea-
nor (Stevensl Davidson. Mr. and Mrs. Cramer are
the parents of two children: Harold D. and Hugh G.
Mr. Cramer is a Knights Templar Mason. Politic-
ally, he is a stanch Republican, and in religious
faith, he and his family are active in the work
of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Campbell.

ARTHUR T. BRITTON.— An experienced and

enterprising business man whose success represents
the Twentieth Century spirit, is Arthur T. Britton,
the owner and manager of the busy automobile-
machine and repair shop at South First Street, San
Jose, noted for its modern equipment and its ability
to turn out work of almost any kind within that
field of industry. A native son, he was born at San
Diego in 1880, the son of William and Laura A.
(Inman) Britton, who came early to California, were
married at San Jose and lived here for some years,
and then removed to San Diego. Mr. Britton had
ccme across the plains in 1854, while Mrs. Britton
came by the Isthmus. Arthur attended the usual
grammar schools, but profited most, later on in life,
in the great school of practical experience.

He learned the blacksmith trade and came to San
Jose in 1910, when he worked at his trade in the
employ of others for two years. Then he opened
what was the beginning of his present undertaking,
equipped the shop in every respect for first-class
work, so that now he is able to keep busy a score
or more of skilled workmen. He manufactures the
W. & B. cylinder grinder, and Britton's auxiliary air
valve for motorcycles, and ships his products all over
the United States.

When Mr. Britton married, on September 18, 1908,
he took for his wife Mrs. Flora (Kifer) Morton, a
native of San Gregorio, San Mateo County, and the
daughter of S. H. and Isabelle (Smith) Kifer, and
they have had one son. Jack .Arthur Britton. Mr.
Britton likes to fish, and he is also fond of motor-
ing, in fact he and his wife revel in California's out-
door attractions. He endeavors to remain inde-
pendent in national political aflfairs, and is thus able
»o work more freely for what he believes to be the
best man and the best measures. During the Span-
ish-American War he served in Company B, Eighth
California Regular Infantry, and served until he was
mustered out with his regiment in 1899. He is a
member of Wheaton Camp. Spanish-American War
\>terans, and of the Chamber of Commerce.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1055

JOHN HICKS ADAMS.— Among the notable
California forty-nuiers resident in Santa Clara County
who have joined the silent majority of that adven-
turous host and found homes in yet fairer golden
lands than those to which they struggled amid count-
less hardships in 1849, John Hicks Adams deserves
especial mention in any historical record annalling
the aflfairs of Santa Clara Couiit\ , since he was a real
pioneer in that county. On Septeiuljcr 4, 1878, the
county and that section of the state was called upon
to mourn the taking otiE of a true and worthy man,
one who had been true to his own ideals and convic-
tions, and who by his large life work conferred bene-
fit upon hundreds of his fellow citizens who of neces-
sity shared in what he accomplished toward the ma-
terial progress and upbuilding of his community.
While on his way from his mine in Arizona to Tuscon
he was killed by Mexicans in ambush. He was
born at Edwardsville, 111., June 13, 1820. His
father, John Quincy Adams, (.named for the presi-
dent) who had been a resident of Illinois since 1816,
was engaged in wool carding and in the manufacture
of woolen goods. In 1822 he commenced raising the
castor oil bean, having obtained a few seeds from the
East Indies. In 1823 he gave seeds U. his ncighliors,
who put in crops, and their letuiiix ran ,is h:,L;li as
one dollar per bushel, paid them liy Mr. AdaniN, who
had erected a factory that season where he made cas-
tor oil to supply the market. This vvfas the beginning
of this industry in the state of Illinois.

In 1823, Mrs. John Q. Adams died and the son.
John H., our subject, was sent to school at Shurtleff
College, in Upper Alton, and remained there two
years. In the meantime his father had married a
Miss Gordon, then John H. returned home and
assisted in his father's factory and store. On the night
of April 12, 1838, the castor oil mills, five in number,
with 20,000 bushels of beans and fifty barrels of oil,
were completely destroyed by fire, there being no in-
surance, the loss being something like $45,000. Thi^
was a severe loss, but they immediately set about
erecting another building and continued their busi-
ness. In 1838 John Quincy Adams was elected
county sheriff and his son, John Hicks, was appointed
a deputy and looked after collection of taxes and
court business. During the winter of 1838 a bold
jail break was effected by two men and, as Sheriff
Adams was absent, John Hicks took full charge of
the pursuit and after several daj's captured the two
desperate men and returned them to the jail. On
May 16, 1840, the father passed away at Edwards-
ville, leaving five children by his first wife and three
by his second. John Hicks Adams then went into
business with H. K. Eaton, and for the next two
years manufactured castor oil; then he and his broth-
er, W. R. Adams, carried on the business until low
prices forced them to suspend.

In the spring of 1847, Jolui Hicks Adams assisted
in raising a company for the Mexican War and was
mustered in on May 20, 1847, at Alton, 111., in Com-
pany J, Fifth Illinois Volunteers, and Mr. Adams
was commissioned first lieutenant, and at Fort Leav-
enworth he received the appointment of regimental
quartermaster, taking charge of the government sup-
plies, stock and wagons to cross the plains to Santa
Fe, 120 wagons in all; later in July Lieutenant Ad-
ams was advanced to a captaincy, upon the death of
Captain Niles, and took command at 110-mile Creek

near the border, and during the march and cam-
paign acquitted himself with honor. At the close of
the war he returned to Illinois with his regiment and
was discharged at Alton on October 12, 1848. During
the winter of '48-'4y the news of the discovery of
gold in California had reached Illinois and Captain
Adams was among the first in his locality to leave.
With a six-inulv u.tiii and light wagon, accompanied
by Allen i'oiii,,,,^. W ilham Reynolds and Dr. C. M.
Lusk, he Kn .St, J,,s^|,l,, Mo., April 8, 1849. They
passed heavily- loaded trams, guarded carefully against
Indian attacks, were joined by several other parties,
and after many hardships and deprivations from lack
of water, arrived at Hangtown August 1, 1849. Cap-
tain Adams mined and ran pack trains in various
camps in Northern California for two years, then
went back to Illinois via Panama and arrived at Ed-
wardsville, October 12, 1851. In the spring of 1852
he started for California over the plains with his
wife and two children, and arrived in Placerville on
September 6 of that year. The winter of 1852-53
was spent at Manhattan Creek near Georgetown,
where his brother-in-law, Allen Pomeroy had located
a claim for him and he was very successful.

In August, 1853, Captain Adams removed to Santa
Clara County and settled on a farm near Gilroy, and
the present Adams district school near Gilroy stands
on the land which he donated to the county for that
purpose in 1856. Those were wild west days, to be
sure, when upon arriving at the schoolhouse in the
morning, bear and lion tracks were to be found in
front of the door and around the building. In 1860
Captain Adams was elected a member of the coun-
ty board of supervisors to represent Gilroy and Al-
maden townships. In the fall of 1863 he was elected
sheriff of Santa Clara County and removed with his
family to San Jose; he held this office for three suc-
cessive terms; again reelected in 1871-73 and retired
in March. 1876. While in office he acquired a repu-
tation as a brave and eflicicnt officer and a shrewd
detective, second to none in the state. His connec-
tion with the pursuit and capture of Vasquez, the no-
torious bandit of California, is well known by old-
timers and the praise he received was well deserved.
To Captain Adams is due the credit for making the
first exploration of Lake Tahoe. One of a company
of eight men. he set out from Georgetown on May 1,
1850, in search for gold, and on May 20 he reached
this now-famous lake, exploring this region exten-
sively prospecting for the yellow treasure.

In December, 1841, Mr. Adams married Miss Ma-
tilda Pomeroy, born in Shelby County, Ky., and they
were the parents of eight children: John H. died in
Illinois in childhood; ALiry married James Hanna
and lives at Livermore and has one son livin.i,'; Alicr
M., widow of John Gordon, resides in San lost;
Sadie married James Reed and both are dead; Wil-
liam H. of the Llagas district; Charles C, also on
the Llagas; Abraham L. of Los Angeles has one son
and one daughter; Nellie M. married George Stark
and resides in San Jose and has one daughter living.
Mr. Adams organized the Home Guards in Gilroy
during the Civil War and was their captain; he also
served as president of the South Almaden Quicksilver
Mining Company. He was public-spirited in citizen-
ship, was trustworthy in business, faithful in friend-
ship, and in his home was most devoted to the wel-
fare and happiness of his wife and children. Many

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

were his good qualities and few his fauUs. He loved
truth and justice and represented a high type of our
American manhood.

WILLIAM HUMBOLDT ADAMS— The life
which this narrative chronicles began in a tent at the
Sink of the Humboldt in Nevada, on August 12, 1852,
while his parents were en route from Illinois to Cali-
fornia with ox-teams. He is the oldest living son of
Capt. John Hicks and Matilda (Pomeroy) Adams,
the former a sturdy pioneer who first came to Cali-
fornia in 1849. William Humboldt Adams was reared
in Santa Clara County and he attended the Adams
district school and later Ciates Institute and Business
College in San Jose. In 1870 he was a student at the
University of the Pacific, and served during 1873-76
as deputy sheriff under his father. In 1876 he went
to San Benito County, where he owned a stock ranch,
but the dry year broke him up; then he returned to
San Jose and engaged in contract teaming until set-
tling on his present ranch. In 1896 he removed to
the Llagas district, where he had purchased eighty-
five acres, twenty of which he set to prunes. When
he first settled on the ranch, the land was covered
with oak trees and poison oak brush, but he perse-
vered until the tillable land was cleared and a fine
orchard property was developed.

Mr. Adams' marriage on May 9, 1877, at Emmet,
San Benito County, united him with Miss Nellie
Ackley, a daughter of Samuel Ackley, a pioneer of
San Benito County, and they are the parents of five
children: Gertrude I. is the wife of Roy Ackley, an
orchardist at Llagas; Harry J. is married and with
his wife and two children reside on the Llagas; W.
H., Jr., died at the age of thirty-five, survived by his
widow and five children, who reside in San Fran-
cisco; Earl S. is married and has two children and re-
sides at Gilroy; Ruby M. is the wife of Wesley W.
Burden; they have two sons and Mr. Burden is man-
ager of the Adams home place. Mr. Adams is an ac-
tive member of the California Prune & Apricot As-
sociation and politically is a stanch Republican; for
eighteen years he has served as trustee of the Llagas
school district.

IRA H. GRIM. — Although one of the more re-
cently established business enterprises of Campbell,
the Orchard City Garage has already secured a large
share of the public patronage, owing to the enter-
prising methods and capable management of its own-
er, Ira H. Grim. A native of West Virginia, he
was born March 10, 1887, and in the public schools
of that state he acquired his education. While in
Columbus, Ohio, in 1908, he enlisted in the U. S.
Army and spent three years in the Coast Artillery.
Coming to California he was stationed first on San
Francisco Bay and then on the Mexican border and
at the expiration of his enlistment he was honor-
ably discharged from service as a corporal. Liking
the Pacific Coast region he decided to cast in his
lot with Californians, and engaged in the automo-
bile business at Los Bancs. He went from there
to San Francisco, being for three years in the em-
ploy of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company, and
while residing in that city he was also connected
with the Ford Motor Company. In 1914 he went
to Rhode Island in the interests of the American
Automobile Protective Association and during the
World War was a government employe. In 1918
he arrived in Campbell, becoming connected with

the automobile industry, in which he has since con-
tinued actively. He estabhshed the Orchard City
Garage which was located on Dillon Avenue, until
the new garage on Campbell Avenue was completed
for him and here he carries a full line of automo-
bile parts, accessories, and is equipped to do all
kinds of repairing, employing three men to aid him
in his operations. He is an expert mechanic and
owing to the first-class work turned out of his
garage it has found favor with automobile owners,
his business having already assumed large propor-
tions. Enterprising and progressive, he is a mem-
ber of the Campbell Improvement Club, the San
Jose Chamber of Commerce, California Auto Trades
Association, Orchard City Garage, and a charter
member of the San Jose Commercial Club.

In Oakland Mr. Grim married Miss Mary Downey,
a native of England, and they now have three chil-
dren: Robert, Arnold and Betty. He supports the
platform and candidates of the Republican party and
in public affairs has always taken a deep and help-
ful interest. He is a capable and enterprising young
business man who is contributing to the commer-
cial development of his community.

EUGENE D. WEBSTER.— Born in the town of
Sylvester, near Albany, Green County, Wis., June
12, 1846, Eugene D. Webster is a son of Benjamin
and Laura A. (Babcock) Webster, both parents na-
tives of New York state, of an old New England
family who migrated west to Wisconsin during the
.year of 1844, where they followed farming. In 1862
Benjamin Webster enlisted in the service of his
country in the Thirty-first Wisconsin Volunteer In-
fantry, but on account of poor health was mustered
out a few months later. When Eugene D. Webster
was but a young boy of sixteen, he enlisted and en-
tered camp at Racine, Wis., later being sent to Ken-
tucky in Company I, Thirty-first Wisconsin Volun-
teers, and was engaged in forty-two battles and
skirmishes. He took part in the battles before At-
lanta, and was under General Sherman in his famous
March to the Sea; was at the taking of Savannah,
Ga.; then in the battles of Goldsborough, Raleigh
and Rintfjnville until Lee's surrender. Later, as one
of Slurnian's nun, he took part in the Grand Review-
in Washington, and was honorably discharged at
Madison, Wis., on July 24, 1865. During the war h'is
parents had removed to Jackson County, Wis.,
whither he followed. Upon his return to civil life,
he engaged in the hotel and livery business and was
very successful. He was united in marriage Janu-
ary 7, 1877, with Miss Mary Rogerson, a daughter
of John and Harriett Rogerson, pioneers of Madison,
Dane County, Wis. They are the parents of two
sons, Albertus R., and Thornton D., both of San Jose.
For many years Mr, Webster followed his chosen
line of work m Xcillsville, Clark County, Wis., be-
coming promiiuiilly idcntilied with the affairs of his
local community, .scr\ing as councilman for a num-
ber of years. Having sold his business in Wiscon-
sin, Mr Webster came to San Jose, Cal., July 12,
1902. He purchased a ranch west of Santa Clara
consisting of forty acres planted to prunes, peaches
and walnuts, and was active engaged in horticulture
pursuits until 1915, when he sold his ranch and
erected a residence on Minnesota Avenue; later this
was sold and his present residence was built at 1 1
South Lincoln Avenue. He is a Republican and is

HISTORY OF SANTA. CLARA COUNTY

1057

a prominent figure in G. A. R. circles, Ijeing ;i past
commander of Bacon Post G. A. R. in .Will^ville.
Fraternally he is a member of the Nrills\iiU- Lodge
of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He is
also a member of Liberty Lodge No. 299, F. c^ A. M.,
Santa Clara, and is a Scottish Rite Mason.

HON. JAMES R. WELCH.— A jurist of state
wide reputation, Hon. .lames R. Welch has been on
the State Superior liench since Pm, in Santa Clara
County. He has frequentU' been called to other
counties of the state to sit in important cases and has
also sat as Justice pro tem in the Appellate District
Court. Santa Clara County being one of the busiest
counties in the state in legal matters, Judge Welch,
during his occupanc.v of the bench has disposed of
n;any large cases of statewide interest. He presides
over Department One of the Superior Court, and is
the senior member of the bench in and for Santa
Clara County. He stands amongst the foremost
thinkers and jurists of the state.

He was born I'cbruaiy 2, 1860, near Plainview,
Macoupin County, 111., where his father was a well
lo do farmer, stockraiser and owner and operator of
a flour mill. In 1866 his father moved to Missouri
where with his family he resided a short time. The
family sutTered great monetary loss in the financial
depression in the 70s, and when a lad of fourteen,
young Welch was thrown on his own resources. He
set about deliljeratel.v and persistenth- to get an
education. He crossed the plains in a prairie schooner
in 1877 and located in Boise City, Idaho, where he
succeeded in preparing himself to enter the highest
public school of the capital city. At the age of
twenty years, he l)ecanie a teacher there in a position
next to that of the principal.

In the Indian outbreak in the late '70s he entered
service under Capt. Ma.xon against the depredations
of the Indians. This old soldier did not raise his
company to stay at home, but went out on the sage
brush plains and drove the marauders into the
mountains of Montana. Mr. Welch came to San Jose
in 1882, and has since resided here. He entered
the University of the Pacific in 1882 and graduated
ill 1887 with the Ph. B. degree. Three years later
the degree of A. M. was conferred upon him by his
Alma Mater. During a vacation period while he was
a student at the university, he graduated at Heald's
Business College, and throughout his entire college
course, was principal of the commercial department
of the university. Upon graduation he took up the
study of law alone and was admitted to the bar by
the Supreme Court of the state in 1888. The legal
records of Santa Clara County would not be com-
plete without a reference to the Union Savings Bank,
California Cured Fruit Association and the Tarpey-
Nicholson 40-year old litigation, as well as many
other important cases in which Judge Welch suc-
cessfully participated before he went on the bench.
During the fifteen years as an attorney, his rise was
rapid and sure. He was city attorney of San Jose
trom 1894 to 1897, when he resigned to devote his en-
tire time to his private practice.

Judge Welch's family consists of a wife and four
children — three daughters and one son. He is a
Mason and an Elk, and also a member of the Phi
Kappa Psi fraternity. He registers as a Republican.
In addition to his official duties he takes an active
interest in public and civic affairs. He is a fruit

grower and at the present time a member of the
\oting board of the Cahfornia Prune and Apricot
Growers Association, and is ardent in the cause of
the growers of the state in successfully marketing
their fruit cooperatively. He has also espoused the
cause of Saiua Clara County and the State against
the city of Santa Cruz in that city's endeavor to divert
the Sk.vline Boulevard from the Summit Ridge of the
Santa Cruz Mountains to a canyon route. He has re-
c^ently present arguments before the State Highway
Commission in favor of retaining and building the
Skyline drive along the crest of the Mountains, as
a great scenic trunk line, for the use of the whole
state. Before many chambers of commerce, civic
and commercial organizations of the state, he has
been untiring in his advocacy of this highway and
Its routing along the skyline of the mountains.

ALVA CURTIS KEESLING.— Among the early
settlers of Santa Clara County, no name is more
familiar than that of Keesling, and the subject of
this sketch, Alva Curtis Keesling, is a worthy rep-
resentative of that honored name. He was born
near Lake Minnetonka, Hennepin County, Minn., on
November 8, 1857, the son of Thomas Bulla and
Elizabeth (Hasty) Keesling, who came to Califor-
nia in 1873 and settled in The Willows and became
one of the most successful fruit growers in the
county. The father was born in Preble County,
Ohio, in 1824, his father, John Keesling, a native
of Wythe County. Va., and his wife. Melinda (Bulla)
Keesling, a native of North Carolina, having moved
into Ohio in an early day. The family removed to
a point near Newcastle, Ind., where the father went
to school and worked on his father's farm. The
father was commissioned postmaster of Mechanics-
burg, Ind., in 1848 by President Tyler and he held
that position for eight years, meanwhile conducting
a general store and a sawmill, the postoffice being
in his store. He heard as a boy many and wonder-
ful tales of the great West beyond and resolved to
some day cast his fortunes in this land of greater
opportunities, so in 1856 he removed with his fam-
ily to Minnesota and settled where Minneapolis
now stands. At that time there were but few shan-
ties on the west side of the river, although on the
east side was the town of St. Anthony's Falls. He
bought twelve acres of land now in the center of
Minneapolis, and remained there for sixteen years,
during which time he was employed in a sawmill
and at gardening. Having always had a fondness
for horticulture, which was unsatisfactory in Minne-
sota owing to the intense cold, he made a trip to
California, settling in the Santa Clara Valley in
1872. In 1848 he married Miss Elizabeth Hasty, a
native of Preble County. Ohio, her parents also re-
moving into Indiana during its early settlement.
Her parents were Thomas Hasty, a native of Ken-
tucky, and Anna Raper, a native of Virginia. They
were the parents of eleven children, of whom Alva
Curtis is the fifth.

He was educated in the grammar and high schools
of San Jose; then went to work for his father on
his ranch. In 1883 he purchased a ranch on Fruit-
vale Avenue; then in 1906 he purchased his home
on the Los Gatos and San Jose roads, consisting of
ninety-six acres, mostly in fruit; he has erected a
fine residence, commodious and modern in every re-
spect. He has been secretary and manager of the

1058

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Campbell Telephone Company since its organization
in 1906. He is a member of the California Prune
and Apricot Association.

The marriage of Mr. Keesling united him with
Miss Edna Hobson. the daughter of Stephen Hob-
son, and they are the parents of five children: Mil-
dred C. is the wife of George L. Husted of Camp-
bell: Rollo H. and Mervin are at home, Mervin
being associated with his father and has an interest
in the home place; Audrey A. is the wife of Dr.
E. A. Abbott of San Jose and Wana is attending
Stanford University. There are seven grandchildren.
In local affairs, Mr. Keesling has served his com-
munity as school trustee; also has been master of
the Orchard City and Pomona Grange. In national
politics he is a Republican, and is a stanch supporter
of prohibition. He is one of the most substantial
citizens in the county and never fails to support all
measures for the advancement of the county.

WILL GREEN HARTON.— Among the native
sons of California, Will Green Harton is achieving
prominence in a business way in San Jose, and well
deserves the success that is the reward of strict in-

tegrity and a firm determination to progress.

He

,.„. born in Fresno County, Cal., December 12,
1889, an only son of Charles Harton and Lulu
(Green) Harton, the latter a daughter of Gen. Will
S Green, an early settler of Colusa County. He
landed in Colusa on July 6, 1850, piloting the new
steamer Colusa up the Sacramento River, and for
five years more than a half century he was a citizen
of that town, of which he first saw the site from the
pilot house of the pioneer steamer.

Early in his experience in the Sacramento Valley.
General Green saw that to reach their highest pro-
ductivity there must be a drainage of the rich bot-
tom lands, for protection against floods, and irriga-
tion of the rich plains for protection against the
normal drought of the dry season. He was one of
California's first apostles of agriculture, and land
was the text of all his epistles. As an engineer, he
surveyed the land. As a legislator, he drew the
land code of the state. As surveyor general of the
United States, he protected the public domain for
the settlers who would till it. As treasurer of the
state, he conserved and economized the taxes paid
by the owners of the land. As the foremost editorial
writer of the state, he considered the land as first
material object of human interest. He developed
the first plans for irrigation and drainage of the Sac-
ramento Valley; and though high-salaried engineers
have wrought upon the same problem, his plans
stand unimpeached. On account of the vastness of
the great work which he conceived, he came to be the
final authority upon more things of vital concern to
the state than any other man in California. This
is but a brief resume of the important things for
which he gave the best years of his life.

Mrs. Harton passed away when her infant son was
only one year old. and he was given into the care of
his illustrious grandfather. When he had reached the
age of fourteen, he was sent to Bingham Military
Academy at Asheville, N. C, a preparatory school
for Webb's Training School, located at Bellbucklc,
Tenn., from which institution he graduated when
twenty years of age. General Green passed away in
1905, and Mr. Harton was thrown upon his own
resources. He spent several years in various parts

of the Middle West, working at whatever he could
find to do to earn an honest living. At the outbreak
of the World War in 1917, he was a resident of
Southern California and he enlisted in the navy at
San Pedro in the submarine service. He was im-
mediately put into an officers' training school, re-
ceiving actual experience on submarine chasers, and
thus twelve months were spent up and down the
coast. At the close of the war he was released
from active service, but is subject to call at any time.
He removed to San Jose during the year of 1919 and
was employed as sales manager of a local automobile
firm; later he established his own business, selling
used cars. With a small capital he began business
and in 1921 Dr. F. B. Pierce was taken into the
partnership and the Harton-Pierce Motor Company
was formed, Mr. Harton taking full charge of the
business management. The company has the exclu-
sive sale and service for the Oakland car, specializing
on the "Oakland Sensible Six." The company
realizes that their patrons' interests are a part and
parcel of their success and that their business de-
pends upon thoroughly satisfying their customers.

The marriage of Mr. Harton in January, 1920,
united him with Miss Muriel Warner, a daughter of
John Warner, a pioneer merchant of Santa Clara
Valley. Fraternally he is a member of the Masons.
Elks and American Legion, as well as of the N. S.
G. W. Upright and honorable in every, relation of
life, Mr. Harton has won the esteem and respect of
business associates and counts his friends and
acquaintances by the score.

ALBERT H. CURTNER.— A worthy native son
whose memory will long be cherished by a wide
circle of friends who were indebted to him for some-
thing that made life more attractive and inspiring,
was the late Albert H. Curtner, who was born on the
Henry Curtner estate, at Warm Springs, in Alameda
County, on October 7, 1878, next to the youngest
son of Henry and Mary (Myers) Curtner, now also
deceased — honored pioneers and citizens of Califor-
nia. The mother died when Albert was about five
years old; he was of a studious disposition, and the
preparatory work of his schooling was completed at
Washington College, near Irvington, in his sixteenth
year. At seventeen he entered Leland Stanford
University. In time, he majored in higher mathe-
matics and electrical engineer, and he became a
student fellow. Then he took up the intensive study
of economics and sociology; becoming deeply ab-
sorbed in his work.

On October 24, 1900, Mr. Curtner was married
to Miss Amy E. Welch, the daughter of the late
Lorenzo Welch, the farmer and honored pioneer of
Contra Costa County. As a child of twelve years,
he came out to California with his parents by way
of the Isthmus of Panama, and when twenty-six
years of age he was married to Miss Sarah Frances
Howard, whose father had crossed the plains in 1850.
She was born in California. Her father tried his
luck in finding gold, and eventually he settled in the
San Joaquin Valley, in Contra Costa County. Miss
Amy was next to the youngest of her family, and
she was attending the University at Palo Alto, and
should have graduated with the class of '03 if she
had not married. Five children blessed this happy
union. Dorothy and Alberta are students at Mills

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1061

College; Virginia, Evelyn and Albert H,. Jr.. arc
at home carrying on their school work. Mrs. Curt-
ncr and her family attend the Christian Church.

Mr. Curtner acquired by gift from his father a
ranch and orchard near Sunnyvale, which was the
family residence up to the time of his premature
death; although he was temporarily living in South-
ern California when he died on March 17, 1915, fail-
ing health having led him to seek the higher altitude
at Monrovia. He was always a Republican, but he
never aspired to public office. Just before his death
he sold the ranch, and now Mrs. Curtner lives at 75
South Thirteenth Street, San Jose, where she dis-
penses a generous hospitality.

JOHN J. STANFIELD.— A man of enterprise
and much force of character who left an indelible
impression on the business and horticultural inter-
ests of the Santa Clara Valley, was the late John J.
Stanfield, a native of Belfast, Ireland, born August
12, 1834. His parents were born in Scotland and
England and he was reared and educated in the
schools of the city of Belfast. He started out for
himself and going to Liverpool he was employed
there until he got the gold fever and came in a
sailing vessel around Cape Horn, landing in San
i'Vancisco in 1858. However, he did not go to the
mines, but remained in San Francisco. He was in
the employ of Dr. Woodard in the What Cheer House
tor three years, when he came to Santa Clara County
and purchased 260 acres of land in the Union dis-
trict. He engaged in farming and later set out or-
chards and a vineyard, becoming successful in the
held of fruit raising. He was one of the organizers
of the Bank of Los Gatos in which he was director
and vice-president, was an organizer and director in
the Farmers' Union in San Jose and interested in
other enterprises that his influence helped build up.

In San Francisco, Mr. Stanfield was inarried to
Margaret Cairns, also born in Belfast, who made the
."■ix months' journey around Cape Horn in a sailing
vessel, to join her fiance in San Francisco, where they
were married upon her arrival in 1860. They be-
came the parents, of three children, the eldest being
twins; James J. is a banker and horticulturist of
Los Gatos; Phoebe J. died aged fifty-eight, while
Sarah H. died in 1898. Mr. Stanfield and his wife
were members of the Episcopalian Church and he
was a strong Republican politically. He died in
July, 1894, while his widow survived until 1908. John
j. Stanfield was one of the very earliest settlers in
the Union district of Santa Clara County, having
located there while it was a wild country, covered
with oak and brush and tanglewood, which he cleared
from his land by himself and made it into a produc-
tive grain farm. He was truly one of Santa Clara
County's first and foremost men.

RALSTON ALISON.— In financial circles of Santa
Clara County Ralston Alison is well and favorably
known as manager of the Campbell branch of the
Garden City Bank and Trust Company, in which
capacity he is controlling one of the sound moneyed
institutions of this part of the state. He was born
in Marshall, Mo.. June 11. 1878, and is a son of
W. H. and Susan (Brown) Alison, who since 1904
have made their home in San Jose. Santa Clara
County, the father now living retired from busi-
ness activities.

Reared on a ranch. Ralston Alison pursued his
education in the grammar and high schools, while
later he completed a course in the Mason City, Iowa,
business college. Coming to California in 1901
lie spent some time in San Francisco and in 1904
he arrived in Santa Clara County, where he de-
voted his attention to orcharding. In 1910 he ac-
cepted the position of bookkeeper in the Bank of
Campbell, which was later consolidated with the
Garden City Bank and Trust Company, — his trust-
worthiness and capabilities winning him promotions
from one position to another of greater importance
and responsibility until he was made manager in
Februa|;-y, 1920. He is now the incumbent in this
office and the policy he follows is such as carefully
safeguards the interests of depositors and at the
same time promotes the success of the institution.

Mr. Alison married Miss Etta Conway, also a na-
tive of Marshall, Mo., and they now have two
daughters, Lucille and Helen. The family are mem-
bers of the Methodist Church and in his political
views Mr. Alison is a Republican, but has never
allowed himself to be bound by the narrow ties of
partisanship. Fraternally he is connected with the
Masonic order and is a Knight Templar and
Shriner. He is also a member of Orchard City
Grange and the CampljcU Improvement Club, and
for recreation he turns to tennis and fishing. He is
deeply interested in everything that pertains to the
welfare and progress of his community, county and
state and is recognized as an able financier whose
present success is directly attributable to his enter-
prising spirit and keen business sagacity.

MRS. AMELIA D. GEORGE.— Among the
prominent and highly respected residents of San
Jose is numbered Mrs. Amelia D. George, who is a
native daughter of California and has spent her en-
tire life in this state. She was born near San Rafael,
November 29, 1859. Her father, H. M. Bentley, was
born in the state of New York in 1811 and came to
California by the Isthmus route, arriving in San
Francisco in 1849, when the gold excitement was at
its height. He married Miss Pauline Corey, who
bore him five children, and in order to provide a
livelihood for his family he engaged in farming and
merchandising.

The daughter, Amelia D. Bentley, was reared and
educated in Dixon, Solano County, Cal., and in 1880
v.as united in marriage to Edwin A. George, who
was born in Michigan, October 25, 1852. In 1855,
when he was but three years of age, his parents,
William H. and Frances Harriet (Harden) George,
crossed the plains to California, locating near Ham-
ilton, where the father became interested in the
stock business. Following their marriage, Mr. and
Mrs. Edwin A. George took up their residence in
San Benito County, Cal., where he followed the
occupation of farming and also engaged in the stock
business. Through the capable management of his
interests he won a substantial measure of success
and the esteem and good-will of all who knew him.
He passed away on October 8, 1919, and in his de-
mise the community lost a valued citizen, his asso-
ciates a faithful friend and his family a devoted
husband and father.

Mr. and Mrs. George became the parents of eight
children, five sons and three daughters: Frances H.
is the wife of F. H. Herrman and they have four

1062

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

children; Herbert H. resides at Hollister, in San
Benito County, he is married and has two sons;
Walter H. is now married and is operating a ranch
near Hollister; Hiram C. enlisted in the U. S. Army
during the World War; Reuben L. is a veteran of
the World War, in which he made a brilliant record
serving overseas. He was a corporal in Company A,
Fifty-ninth Infantry, Fourth Division, and received
the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary
heroism in action on September 20, 1918. After his
platoon had became badly disorganized under heavy
fire and all the sergeants had been killed or wounded,
Corporal George took charge of the platoon, reor-
ganized it with great courage and initiative and led
it on in the attack against hostile machine guns.
He was wounded shortly afterwards but remained
throughout the night where he had fallen, refusing
to be moved till all the other wounded had been
cared for. This was the fourth engagement he par-
ticipated in. Returning home after over two years'
service, he now owns 640 acres of good grazing land
in San Benito County, upon which he has proved
up since his discharge from the service in 1919;
Ernest, a well known rancher of Newman, Cal., is
married and has two children; Ethel is the wife of
George Bennett, of Oakland, Cal., and they have a
daughter; Elinor married Charles Mills, who is also
an ex-service man, having served in an ammunition
train for fourteen months overseas.

Mrs. George has reared her family so that all have
become useful members of society, early impressing
upon their minds the value of truth and honor, and
she may well feel pride in the result of her teaching.
She is still the owner of the ranch in San Benito
County, but since 1916 has made her residence at 435
South Second Street, in San Jose. Her life has
been an unselfish one, devoted to the welfare and
happiness of her family, and her many admirable
traits of character have won for her the admiration
and esteem of all with whom she has come in contact.

ALBERT LESTER HUBBARD.— A highly re-
spected representative of important commercial af-
fairs, whose wide and varied experience enables him
to serve his fellow-citizens with signal ability in
public office, is Albert Lester Hubbard, member and
manager of the well-known firm of Hubbard and
Carmichael Bros., dealers in lumber, and one of the
supervisors of Santa Clara County. Fortunate in
his birth as a native son, Mr. Hubbard was born at
Woodland, Yolo County, on May 20, 1872, the son
of Thomas B. Hubbard, a native of Missouri who
crossed the plains to California in 1852 with his
parents when he was a boy of twelve years. His
father resided for some years in the mining region
in Placer County, where Thomas Hubbard grew
to manhood. Starting out for himself, he went
to Woodland, Yolo County, where he farmed until
1874. Coming to Santa Cruz County in that year,
he was associated with the Union Lumber Company,
this concern having several sawmills in the county.
In 1884 he opened a lumber yard in San Jose for
this company and he then moved his family here.
In 1887 he resigned his position with the Union
Lumber Company, after a long term of faithful
service, and organized the firm of Hubbard & Car-
michael Bros. They engaged in the manufacture
of lumber, having their mills in the Santa Cruz

Mountains, and in 1892 they opened a lumber yard
in San Jose, later starting a planing mill there. Mr.
Hubbard remained in control of the business until
his death on November 23. 1917. He was at one
time supervisor of Santa Cruz County and while
in that office made a reputation for progressive views
and acts and unquestioned probity. His marriage
had united him with Miss Sierra McKoy, a native
daughter of Placer County, whose family were old
pioneers there, and she still makes her home in San
Jose, the mother of three children, the eldest being
Albert Lester Hubbard, of this sketch.

After the family took up their residence in San
Jose in 1884, Albert L. entered the public schools
there, graduating from the San Jose high school in
1892. He spent his summer vacations at the com-
pany mills in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and after
his graduation he entered the business in San Jose,
and under his father's guidance he learned every de-
tail of its operation. It was not long before he was
placed in charge of the lumber yard and soon be-
came an able assistant to his father, so that many
years ago when his father gave up the active man-
agement of the business he was well equipped with
his thorough training to take charge of it, and since
that time he has displayed marked executive ability
in the conduct of its afTairs. After the death of
Thomas B. Hubbard the business was incorporated
as Hubbard & Carmichael Bros., with A. L. Hubbard
as president and manager, continuing the business at
384 West Santa Clara Street, where they occupy
258 feet frontage on both sides of the street. There
they have built up a large manufacturing plant, hav-
ing one of the largest planing mills in the valley,
a busy, profitable concern giving employment to sev-
enty-five men. Thus it will be seen that Mr. Hub-
bard has more and more identified himself with
the city of San Jose and the surrounding territory.
This live interest in the future of San Jose and its
wonderfully favored outlying sections led rather
naturally to his participation in the government of
the county. After having served for two and a
half years, out of the four for which he was elected,
as city councilman, he was elected supervisor in
1904. and since then he has been elected four times, —
in 1908, 1912. 1916 and 1920. and is now serving his
fifth term or eighteen year; he has been a leader
in all progressive movements, such as the paving
of the county highways and the replacing of wooden
bridges with concrete. Mr. Hubbard belongs to the
Republican party, but he is too broad in his views
to allow partisanship to bias or hinder him from
community cooperation.

On January 11, 1898, Mr. Hubbard was married
at Sacramento to Miss J. Josephine May. a native
of New Jersey who was reared in California; an
accomplished woman, she presides gracefully over
his home, which has been blessed with the birth
of five children: Thomas Lester; Wilbur, Alberta,
Wesley, and Grace. Mr. Hubbard is a Knights Tem-
plar Mason and a Shriner, being a member of -Islam
Temple, of San Francisco, and he also belongs to
the Modern Woodmen, Odd Fellows, Native Sons
of the Golden West, the Elks, the Hundred Per
Cent Club, Lions Club, and is a charter member
of the San Jose Commercial Club. A strong, capable
man of pleasing personality, a tireless and energetic
worker, Mr. Hubbard is never satisfied except to do
things thoroughly and well, giving much study and

^ a ^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1065

thought to the business which he has learned from
the ground up. With his natural ability and val-
uable years of training he has built up the plant
until it is second to none in the valley and his many
friends are naturally proud of the success of their
fellow-townsman.

JAMES A. HUFF.— Among the most influential
and best known of the men who devoted many years
ot their active lives to the agricultural enterprises of
the Santa Clara Valley, was the late James A. Huff,
who, from 1864, was a successful farmer and fruit
grower of Mountain View. He was an Ohioan by
birth, born in Butler County, P'ebruary 21, 1832, the
second in a family of nine children born to Amos
and Margaret (Case) Huff, both of whom were na-
tives of Pennsylvania. The father was a carpenter by
trade and left his home section to live in Ohio in
1835, subsequently removing to Cass County, Mich,
where he purchased a farm. Devoting his time as-
siduously to his trade as carpenter and builder, the
farm work w-as left to his sons, six in number, and
they cleared and cultivated the land for him. The
later years of his life were spent upon this place and
he reached the advanced age of eighty-seven years;
his wife also died there.

Owing to the unsettled condition of the country to
which his parents had removed and scarcity of schools,
Mr. Huff's education was exceedingly limited. He
worked upon his father's farm until attaining the age
of twelve, then for a neighbor for si.x and one-half
years, afterward spending three years more on the
home place. He then bought a farm of his own and
shortly afterward, January 28th, 1857, married Emily
E. Gard, the second daughter of Jonathan Gard, a
wealthy pioneer of Cass County. Mich. On April 6,
1863, with his wife and two children, he started over-
land to California, the trip being made by means of
hcrse teams and covering a period of six months.
The two children were buried on the way, one in
Omaha and the other on the banks of the Platte.

The party of which Mr. and Mrs. Huff were mem-
bers settled in Napa \'alley, but they continued to the
vicinity of Mountain View, where they arrived Sep-
tember 6, and began farm pursuits upon a farm
v.-here the water works in Palo Alto is now situated,
harvesting a crop from about 200 acres in the fall
of 1864. Later in the same year, Mr. Huff bought
his first farm in California — ninety-seven acres about
a mile and a half north of Mountain View. Suc-
cessful as a farmer and stockraiser, he branclied out
into the seed, fruit and berry business, adding more
acreage as his industry demanded, until his holdings
consisted of 460 acres.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Huff
in this third California home, of whom five are living
at this time: Henry, an orchardist near Mountain
View, is an extensive grower of walnuts, apricots and
prunes. Active in church, civic and agricultural
progress, he was a clerk in the Indian Service for a
number of years, and later a bookkeeper for the Ren-
ton Clay Works at Seattle, Wash., before deciding
■,o give his whole time to horticulture. Frank L , the
postmaster at Mountain View, is represented else-
where in this work. Emily Lozetta, died when seven
years old. William E., deceased, conducted a meat
market at Palo Alto. He died when twenty-eight
years old, after marrying Miss Gertrude Bubb, of
the pioneer Bubb family of Mountain View. His

widow now resides in Palo Alto. Their one child,
Lucile, a graduate of Stanford, married Dean Bu-
chan, vice-president of the First National Bank of
Palo Alto, who served as first lieutenant, Q. M. C,
in the late war, and is now vice-commander of the
American Legion in Palo Alto. J. Arthur is an or-
chardist on a part of the old Huff home place near
Mountain View. Charles A , for many years employed
in the Post Office Department at Washington, D. C,
is now engineer for the Scotia Lumber Company in
Humboldt County. Alpheus E., commonly known as
Bert, is also an engineer with the Scotia Lumber
Company of Humboldt County.

In politics, Mr. Huff was a Republican, but pre-
ferred to exercise his right of franchise as an Ameri-
can citizen in private life free from the entangle-
ments which usually beset the office seeker. His
chief activity centered in his farm. Although hay,
grain and stock were at first his chief products, he
later gave much attention to the fitness of various
soils to the growth of seeds, berries and trees. His
experiments along these lines were necessarily ex-
tensive and carried over long periods of time. Al-
though they were sometimes very expensive and, of
course, attended with many individual failures, they
ultimately had much to do with his individual success,
and were of inestimable value to the community.
He was a pioneer in what is now one of the greatest
berry and fruit sections in the world. Although ex-
ceedingly busy on his farm, he was not uninterested
in public affairs He was always active in church
and school matters as well as an active director in
the Farmers' and Merchants' National Bank of Moun-
tain View. During nearly the whole period of his
life in the vicinity of Mountain View, he was a clerk
ot the board of trustees of the little country school
near his farm, and a worker in the Christian Church
of which he and his family were members.

Mrs. Emily Huff died in March, 1890, and in 1906
Mr. Huff married Mrs. Emma Ball, a lady from his
old Michigan home, an accoinplished and charming
woman, acquainted with many of the friends of his
youth who helped much with his many friends and
his sons to keep his old age active and cheerful.
She is now living in Mountain View. His death,
vhich occurred on October 8, 1915, left a vacancy in
the citizenry of his community hard to fill.

ERNEST P. LION.— A worthy representative of
a pioneer family, Ernest P. Lion, vice-president of
the L. Lion & Sons Company, was born and reared
in Santa Clara County. He first saw the light of
day April 11, 1865 at the family home in San Jose,
adjacent to St. James Park, the son of Lazard Lion,
who had come to California as early as 1852. His.
sketch appears on another page.

Ernest P. Lion began liis education in the Gates
private school, later completing,' hi> -.tudies by taking
a business course in the Cardni Cily Business Col-
lege. He left school at the earl\ age of fourteen and
entered his father's store and at nineteen took an
active part in the business, first as secretary and now
as vice-president of the company. He was assistant
manager of the Los .Angeles branch of the business,
from 1886 to 1890, when he was associated with his
brother, Gustave F., and also was employed by him
in his San Jose store.

Mr. Lion was united in marriage in Los .A.nge!es
in November, 1888, to Miss Clara Jobson of San

1066

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Francisco, and their son Paul L., who was born
there, is actively associated in the extensive business
in San Jose. Politically Mr. Lion casts his vote
for the Republican candidates, and fraternally he
belongs to the B. P. O. Elks and the Native Sons of
the Golden West, while locally he is active in the
aflfairs of the Rotary Club, Commercial Club, and
the Chamber of Commerce, also the San Jose Golf
and Country Club.

CHARLES BRANDT.— A prominent, influential
citizen of the Milpitas district who has earned the
right to leadership is Charles Brandt, a native of the
Laguna district, just east of Milpitas, where he was
born November 22, 1867, the son of Frederick and
Euphemia (Palmer) Brandt; the former a native of
Konigsberg, Germany, came to California in 1864,
and settled in the hills east of Milpitas. Three
children were born to this worthy couple: Edward.
Charles and Euphemia. who became the wife of
James Hansen, and died in 1917, and whose portrait
appears elsewhere in this work. Frederick Brandt
died when only forty- five years of age, while his
devoted widow survived until 1906, when she passed
away at the age of seventy-five.

Charles Brandt attended the grammar school in
the Laguna district, although he also had to help
with the farm work, commencing to milk when he
was only seven years old. By the time he was four-
teen he had become so experienced and capable that
he left school to help his widowed mother, who
had 160 acres of land taken upon a squatter's claim,
devoted to grain and stock, and she also bought addi-
tional land. The year after her death Charles Brandt
bought a farm of 140 acres on Capitol Avenue about
one-fourth mile north of Cropley Avenue, whither
he removed, and in 1907. his mother's estate was
distributed. In that year Mr. Brandt built his home
and farm buildings, and now he has six acres of
prunes, while the rest is leased, and devoted to mar-
ket gardening. In 1913 Mr. Brandt purchased an
additional ranch of seventy-one acres on the Silver
Creek Road, devoted to the growing of hay. but
this fine place he sold in 1920. He has two wells,
one of ten-inch bore and the other of fourteen-inch
bore, which furnish an abundance of water, also an
electric turbine pump capable of throwing an un-
usually large stream. Mr. Brandt also became the
owner of twelve acres on Calaveras Road, adjoining
Milpitas on the east. The Western Pacific bought
five acres of this land in 1920; that company com-
pleted its new depot and laid out the Milpitas
station yards early in 1922.

A stanch Republican, but properly nonpartisan in
local affairs, Mr. Brandt served for thirteen years as
.a member of the school board in the Laguna school
district, prior to his removal to Capitol Avenue. He
is a representative man of affairs, enjoying the re-
spect and confidence of rich and poor alike. While
he leases out most of his land, he continues to b- a
hard worker, and farms thirty acres himself. A.l-
though independently well-to-do, he continues to do
personal work on his farm from day to day, bemg
ably assisted by his loyal wife and helpmate. He
has made a success of everything which he has
undertaken ever since he was a boy. He is the
secretary of the board of directors of the Bank of
Milpitas. which institution he was monumental in
starting; he was a prime mover in its organization
in 1911, and was a member of its first board of

directors, and was serving as such when it threw
open its doors for business on the second day of
January, 1912. He was appointed secretary of the
board in 1918, serving continuously ever since.

At San Jose on April 27, 1912, Mr. Brandt was
married to Miss Emma E. Katz. a native of San
Francisco and the daughter of Alexander and Char-
lotte Katz. The father came to San Francisco in
1852 and for a time engaged in mining, and shortly
after he returned to the Bay City where for ten
years he was employed as foreman in the Pioneer
Flour Mills. He removed to Santa Clara County in
1875, having the foresight to see the future pros-
pects of this section, and settled on Capitol Avenue,
at the corner of Cropley Avenue, and there they
reared a family of seven children: Charlotte, Alex-
ander. Emma, Gustave, Robert, William and Albert.
Gustave and Charlotte are living on the home place,
and Gustave is road superintendent of District Num-
ber Three, Santa Clara County, while he is also
cultivating fifteen acres devoted to prunes. Robert
and William live at Salt Lake City and Albert is at
Stockton. Mrs. Katz passed away a number of
years ago, Alexander Katz surviving until 1910. A
son of honored California pioneers, Mr. Brandt
stands in the line of preferment, belonging as he
does to Santa Clara's first generation. He grew up
under conditions of self denial, diligence and
frugality to become the successful and upright man
that he is. Our commonwealth is honored by such
native sons, and stands in need of men of his hon-
esty, mental calibre and strength of character.

ISAAC OBERG— In the annals of Santa Clara
County no more worthy name can be found than
that of Isaac Oberg. an honored resident of the
county, now retired from active service. He is a
man of sterling character, possessing in a high de-
gree those traits that command respect and gain
esteem, and his life record is such as to reflect
credit on the community in which he resides. He
was born at Luled, Sweden, on March 4, 1857, and
was educated in the public schools of his native
land and at the age of fifteen was confirmed in the
Lutheran faith. He was reared on a farm owned
by his father and there acquired lessons of thrift
and industry. Possessing a roving disposition and
having a desire for adventure, he joined a party of
young men in 1880 bound for America. Landing at
New York they proceeded west to Colorado and
located at Leadville and engaged in mining; he re-
mained there for two years and his operations were
successful; then he came to San Francisco but was
there only a short time when he went to Montana,
then to Arizona and later to Mexico and stayed
there for awhile working in the mines, a foreman
for a mining company at Cananea, and from there
went to Calaveras County, where he was foreman and
superintendent ten years. In 1898 he purchased nine
acres near Morgan Hill and added to this until he has
fifty-eight acres, which he has developed.

The marriage of Mr. Oberg occurred in Arizona
in 1892 and united him with Miss Matilda Peter-
son, a native of Stockholm. They are the parents
of three children: Alvin. born in Bisbee. Ariz., but
schooled and reared in Santa Clara County, en-
gaged in mining several years; he married Miss
Venley Benson and they have two children, Alice
May and Roy Alvin; Harold was also born in Bis-
bee. Ariz., and married Miss Mabel Horton and

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(2^^^'t-t-^'»-t.^?u (o C\)a£'^-^'^^^-C^-^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1071

they have two children, Harold Jr., and Ellen Lu-
cille; Clarence assists his father in the management
of the ranch. All the sons live on the ranch near
Madrone. Mr. Oberg received his final U. S. citi-
zenship papers at Tombstone. Ariz., May 13, 1895.
In politics he is a stalwart Republican, and frater-
nally has been a member of the Odd Fellows for
thirty years. From 1912 until he resigned in 1921
Mr. Oberg served as trustee of the Live Oak Union
high school. Besides being an expert rancher, Mr.
Oberg is an authority on mining and locating rich
deposits of ore. Thirty years of practical mining
has given him a fund of information not to be
gained in any other way and it is a real pleasure
and a liberal education to listen to his stories of ad-
venture and experience, of the years spent in the
mines of several states. He has spent many years
in the study of the geological formation of various
sections of the earth and is thoroughly convinced
that he holds the correct assay that will solve the
problem of the remarkable "sunshine meteor" which
fell in Arizona many years ago, causing a depres-
sion 630 feet deep and one mile across the brim, with
an area of 120 acres at the bottom; this has given
rise to many questions and many scientists of note
have journeyed to Arizona in the hopes of solving
the problem. Mr. Oberg has never failed to accom-
plish the duties nearest him and with untiring energy
laid hold of any opportunity for advancement which
presented itself to him.

THORNTON DELOS WEBSTER.— Business
enterprise and progressiveness find manifest expres-
sion in the career of Thornton D. Webster, who is
the assistant manager of the People's Finance and
Thrift Company, a wage-earners" bank, operated on
plans similar to the "Morris" plan. Born in Neills-
ville. Wis., on November 5, 1889, he is a son
of Eugene D. and Mary A. (Rogerson) Webster,
both parents being natives of the state of Wisconsin,
their biographical sketch appearing elsewhere in this
history. The boyhood of Thornton Tt. Webster was
spent with his parents in Wisconsin, removing in
1901, with his parents, to the Pacific Coast, settling
in San Jose, and where the home was established.
Here Mr. Webster attended the grammar and high
schools of San Jose, graduating from high school in
June, 1909; the following year he took a post-gradu-
ate course and upon finishing, entered the employ
of the J. H. Ruckcr Realty Company in the depart-
ment of insurance and collecting. He was soon ad-
vanced to the position of manager of the department
of insurance, which steadily grew- under his able
management from year to year. Later when the
insurance and rental business of Jos. H. Rucker &
Company was taken over by the Rucker-McChesney
Company he became financially interested, continu-
ing as insurance manager, and is now secretary-
treasurer of the company. Upon the formation of
the People's Finance and Thrift Company, his serv-
ices were solicited and he became a stockholder and
assistant manager for the company.

Fraternally Mr. Webster was made a Mason of
Liberty Lodge No. 299, F. & A. M., Santa Clara, of
which he is a past master. He has the unique dis-
tinction of having raised his father to the sublime
degree of master mason. He also has the honor of
being one of the youngest men in California to serve
as master of a Masonic lodge. He is also a Scottish

Rite Mason, and is past patron of Santa Clara Chap-
ter O. E. S. He was united in marriage to Miss
Annie E. Jorgenson, born in Idaho, who came to the
Santa Clara Valley in 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Webster
are the parents of one child John Delos. Mrs.
Webster is also an active member of the Santa Clara
Chapter of the Eastern Star. They have a delight-
ful suburban home at 44 North Lincoln Avenue in
the Willows district. Mr. Webster also owns an
eighty-acre tract near Irwin City, Merced County,
which was purchased in 1914. which is steadily ad-
vancing in value each year.

SOL JACOBS.— A native son of California and a
member of one of its honored pioneer families, Sol.
Jacobs has charge of important interests as super-
intendent and manager of the Campbell plant of the
California Canneries Company, and for over sixty
years the family name has been one of prominence
in connection with the fruit-packing industry in this
state. He was born in San Francisco, August 15,
1873, of the marriage of William and Bertha
(Wiener) Jacobs, the former arriving in that city
in 1851 and the latter five years later, both journey-
ing across the plains. The father at first devoted his
attention to mining and in 1860 he engaged in the
fruit-canning business, in which he acquired a po-
sition of distinction, being a prime mover in organ-
izing the Packers Exchange of San Francisco, serv-
ing as its first president, a position he filled for over
ten years. He passed away in 1884 and the mother's
demise occurred in 1900.

In the grammar and high schools of his native
city Sol. Jacobs acquired his education and as a
young man became connected with the fruit-packing
industry, upon which he has since concentrated his
attention, not only in the management of canner-
ies, but also in building them, and as earlj- as 1900
built the cannery on Monterey Road, San Jose.
On May 13, 1919, he came to Campbell as super-
intendent and manager for the interests of the Cali-
fornia Canneries Company at this point, the business
at that time being conducted in a very small estab-
lishment. He at once set to work to build a thor-
oughly modern plant, which began its operations in
the latter part of June of that year. He gives his
close personal attention to every detail of the busi-
ness and that the position is one of large respon-
sibility is indicated in the fact that during the busy
season employment is furnished to over 300 persons.

Mr. Jacobs gives his political allegiance to the
Republican party and is a member of Mission Parlor
No. 38, N. S. G. W. of San Francisco, of which he
is a past president. Fraternally he is identified with
the Masonic order, being a Scottish Rite Thirty-
second degree Mason and a member of Islam Tem-
ple A. A. O. N. M. S.. San Francisco. He is also
a member of the Sciots in San Jose, as well as
San Jose Lodge of Elks. He is fond of travel and
has not only traveled extensively throughout the
United States and Canada, but has visited many of
the interesting countries in the Orient as well as the
Occident and thus has added greatly to his store of
knowledge. He is a veteran of the World War. en-
listing at San Francisco, and as a member of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force was sent overseas.
He was attached to the infantry and participated in
many major engagements, being wounded and con-
fined in a hospital for four months. He was in ac-
tual service for two years and ten months and was

1072

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

discharged with the rank of sergeant. Throughout
his business career he has devoted his attention to
the fruit-packing industry and is proving a worthy
successor of his father, displaying the same enter-
prising spirit and executive abihty which charac-
terized the latter, and in every relation of life he
measures up to the highest standards of manhood.

ALBERT SYLVESTER BACON.— A citizen of
San Jose who was loved by every one who came to
know him for his true worth as a man, was the late
Albert S. Bacon, founder of the establishment con-
ducted under the firm name of A. S Bacon & Son,
dealers in footwear of all kinds. Albert S. Bacon was
horn at Pitcairn. in the Adirondack Mountains in
Northern New York, on December 27, 1854, the son
of Albert and Angeline (Burt) Bacon, both of Eng-
lish descent. On the paternal side he was connected
with the illustrious family of General Warren.

Albert Sylvester was educated in the Gouverneur
Seminary in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., completing
his course at the age of eighteen. He went to Bara-
boo, Wis., taught school and worked in the wheat
lields for one year, then returned to New York and
took up the study of law in the office of Judge E. H.
Neary, at Gouverneur, continuing for one year. Evi-
dently the life of a professional man did not appeal
to him and he went to New York City in 1874 and
was employed by a mercantile concern there, later
embarked in business for himself, in the old Fulton
Market, for five years. After that he moved to Pots-
dam and spent thirteen years in the shoe business,
and while there he served on the village coimcil and
always did his part to assist all movements for the
benefit of the people and the town. While living at
Potsdam, N. Y., he was united in marriage on De-
cember 27, 1879, with Miss Mary Lord, born in New
York State and an able helpmate to this ambitious
man. They became the parents of six children: San-
ford L., a partner and manager of the A, S. Bacon
& Son Company in San Jose, who became a member
of the firm in 1906 and who has ably assisted in build-
ing up a prosperous business. Cora, married Eugene
C. Howe, an instructor at Wellesley College; Ruth
Lord died in infancy; Albert Sylvester, Jr., employed
by the A. S. Bacon & Son Company. These chil-
dren were born in New York. Ruth is the wife of
Robert K. Vickery of San Jose; and Bruce Bacon
is also employed in the shoe store. The last two
were born in San Jose.

In 1892 A. S. Bacon and his family migrated to
California and settled in San Jose where he embarked
in the shoe business and as the city grew, he devel-
oped a business widely known throughout the whole
county for its dependable goods. In 1906 he took
his son, Sanford L., in as a partner and ever since the
firm has been known as A. S. Bacon & Son and is
located at 74 South First Street. Mr. Bacon could
always be depended upon to do his duty by his fel-
lowmen, aided in all civic movements for the good
of the town and county, became prominent in social,
business, political and church work. He was a Royal
Arch Mason; was a Democrat in national politics,
though broadminded and nonpartisan in local affairs;
he served as a member of the county and state central
committee of his party and under its banner rendered
all possible aid to elevate the standard of citizenship.
He served as a director of the Chamber of Commerce
and as president of the Merchants Association of

San Jose. But his greatest work was in connection
with the Y. M. C. A., in which he was a director and
also president of the board of directors for some
years, and Trinity Episcopal Church, where he served
twenty-two years as a vestryman and almost twenty
years as senior warden, taking part in all church ac- '
tivities and giving hearty financial support to all
programs of the church for many years. He lived a
Christian life and was a faithful friend to all who
knew him and worked with him in carrying out the
precepts of his creed, and at his passing on May
23, 1921, at San Jose, the city lost one of her most
ardent workers for every good project for the eleva-
tion of social and moral standards.

ALFRED B. SMITH.— One of the highly re-
spected citizens of San Jose; and formerly a promi-
nent rancher, Alfred B. Smith is known by his
friends in Santa Clara County as an upright, honest
man of sterling worth. A typical representative of
those sturdy Easterners he has witnessed the won-
derful changes that have taken place here during the
last twenty-nine years, and in its transformation has
been an important factor. Born near Clinton, Onei-
da County, N. Y., January 11, 1837, he is the son of
John N. and Mary Ann (Beebe) Smith. When
Alfred B. Smith was eight years old his parents re-
moved to Janesville, Wis , going by train to Buffalo,
N. Y.; thence crossing the lake, where severe hard-
ships were encountered, but their destination was
finally reached. Upon arrival in Wisconsin, the
father purchased forty acres for the sum of fifty
dollars and built a log cabin. Mr. Smith has in his
possession a letter dated June 14, 1845, written by
his father to an uncle living in New York state, the
postage on this letter being twenty-five cents. Alfred
B. Smith obtained his education by attending school
only through the winter months, as his summers were
spent in helping about the farm work, and going
to Milwaukee with their produce, seventy-two miles
away from the. home place. In 1859 Mr. Smith with
courage and determination, set out for himself, re-
moving to Filmore County, Minn., where he pur-
chased 160 acres, and continued farming.

The marriage of Mr. Smith occurred in March,
1860, and united him with Miss Sophrona Boynton,
a native of New York, born in 1846, but who had
resided in Minnesota since 1859. Mr. Smith enlarged
his holdings and became a very successful farmer,
but when the Civil War broke out, he disposed of his
fine property, and left his family in his brother's
home near by and offered his services to his country,
enlisting in Company E, Eleventh Minnesota Volun-
teer Infantry, as a private. On September 20, 1864,
the Eleventh was sent to Fort Snelling, thence to
La Crosse, Wis., and then by railroad to Chicago,
111 , where they were detained for one week, then
were moved to Nashville, Tenn., where they camped
under the guns of Fort Negley and did guard duty
about three weeks, later the companies were dis-
tributed along the L. & N. Railroad, doing guard
duty, Company E at Gallatin, where regimental head-
quarters were established, and they remained until
the close of the war. He was honorably discharged
June 26, 1865, and settled in Waverly. Bremer
County, Iowa, served as street commissioner two
years and also farmed. During the year 1873, he
removed with his family to South Dakota and for
nineteen years was a very successful grain and stock

■^J3

ac^^-^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1075

farmer in Turner County. He served as county
commissioner of Turner County for two terms, and
was a prominent factor in all movements for the ad-
vancement and prosperity of the community in which
he resided. In politics he is a stanch Republican.

In 1892, desiring a milder climate, Mr. Smith and
family removed to San Jose, and invested in a
twenty-acre ranch in the Valley View district, and
in a few years he developed his land to be one of
the finest orchards in this section of the county;
here Mrs. Smith passed away on June 19, 1914.
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith:
Frank C. married and with his wife and seven sons
are prosperous farmers of 480 acres in eastern Ar-
kansas; Clara I. is an orchardist in the Mountain
View district, and owns and operates one of the
finest cherry orchards in the county.

The second marriage of Mr. Smith united him
with Mrs. Elizabeth Ann (Veatch) Magee, who was
a native of Davis County, Iowa, born March 22,
1848, who came to San Jose in 1896. Her parents
were pioneer farmers of Iowa. Her father, Elias
Veatch, born in Sangamon County, 111., was a per-
sonal friend of Abraham Lincoln, and her mother
was Miss Sarah A. Cole, a native of Kentucky of
Scotch and German descent. Mrs. Smith is an ac-
tive member of the W. R. C. of California and
Nevada department of the G. A. R., and gives of her
time and influence to the advancement of this organ-
ization, and she is an active member of Circle No.
1, Ladies of the G. A. R., has held various minor
offices and was twice president. The home at 10
Brooks Avenue was purchased by Mrs. Smith in
1913, and it is here that Mr. and Mrs. Smith still
reside. Although Mr. Smith disposed of all his
holdings and retired from active work in 1918, he
is still a man of sound judgment and keen under-
standing, and with a progressive and public-spirited
nature he lends his best efforts towards the promo-
tion of movements calculated to improve the general
condition of the community. He has been a promi-
nent member of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, G. A. R.,
for almost twenty years.

CHARLES C. RIBBLE.— A highly respected
citizen of Santa Clara County who has lived a long
and useful life is Charles C. Ribble, who takes an
active interest in the activities of the local G. A. R.
Born in the rural district adjacent to Chicago, 111.,
April 27. 1844, he is a son of John T. and Antha
Jane (Robison) Ribble. early settlers of Kane
County, 111. The father was engaged in farming,
having acquired his land by homestead and purchase;
he was also a carpenter by trade, possessing much
natural ability in a mechanical way, which proved
of great advantage to him. The family removed to
Linn County, Iowa, near Cedar Rapids, when Charles
was three years old, and here he was reared. He at-
tended the district school, but opportunities for
schooling were extremely meager. When the Civil
War broke out. he entered the service of his country
August 9, 1862, and was mustered into the service
at Davenport, Iowa, in Company I of the Twentieth
Iowa Volunteers, serving under Captain Cook.
Colonel William McE. Dye. commanding. This
regiment was the first to respond to the call of
President Lincoln for 300,000 volunteers. The regi-
ment was removed to Clinton. Iowa, serving under
Major William T. Thompson for a short time; then

they were returned to Davenport, Iowa, August 31,
remaining there until September 5, when the regi-
ment was sent to Benton Barracks, St. Louis. Dur-
ing the months of October and November, 1862,
the regiment marched 500 miles. The regiment was
assigned to the First Brigade, Second Division,
Seventh Army Corps, and later on in the war was
transferred to the Thirteenth Army Corps. On De-
cember 4, the regiment was ordered to reinforce
General Blunt at Prairie Grove, a march of 118
miles, which was accomplished_ in three days of hard
marching. Without any time for rest, the battle of
Prairie Grove was fought December 7, the regiment
doing gallant service during the battle. Mr. Ribble
was painfully and seriously injured in the left breast,
from which he suflfered intensely, but he never left
his command, and within a few months, was able to
do active duty with his regiment at Vicksburg, Miss,
thence to Yazoo City and joined in the march to the
Black River, returning to Vicksburg July 22, 1863.
A few days later the regiment was transferred to the
Gulf .A.rmy, encamping at Port Hudson; later being
removed to Carrolton, La., and on September 6, 1863
went to Fort Morgan, La., returning to Carrolton
October 10 of the same year. Two weeks later the
regiment was sent to Brownsville Texas, doing gar-
rison duty on Mustang Isle for seven months, until
July 29, going to New Orleans August 2, 1864;
then were ordered to Fort Gaines. Ala., taking part
in the seige and bombardment of Fort Morgan. On
January 8. 1865, they were removed to Kennerville,
La., aiid the following February they embarked for
Florida, encamping at Florida Point until the cam-
paign of Mobile, in which they took part, capturing
Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. On July 8, 1865,
Mr. Ribble was mustered out at Mobile. Ala., return-
ing to Clinton. Iowa, remaining on the old home
place for several years.

The marriage of Mr. Ribble occurred on March 20.
1867, at Bear Grove, Iowa, uniting him with Miss
.A.manda M. Welch, a native of Kane County. 111.,
a daughter of William P. and Jerusha R. Welch. A
farm property of 160 acres was purchased near Bear
Grove, Gutherie County, and for four years, Mr.
Ribble was engaged in farming, and then he moved
to Vinton, Benton County, and followed the buddmg
business and farming. He came to San Jose. Cal.,
in 1908. Mr. and Mrs. Ribble are the parents of eight
children: Rosina. Mrs. William Short, residing in
Iowa, and the mother of Harry, Clair, Ray, Stella,
Nellie George and Esther; Addie A. is the wife of
Calvin R. Thompson, living in San Jose, and they
are the parents of three children, Cadie, Pearl, and
Carl; Eleanor Clarinda, now Mrs. Melville Smiley,
living in San lose and is the mother of five children.
Harold, Herbert, Helen, Esther, and Arthur; John
W was married to Miss Clara Monroe, and with their
three children, Charles, Bernice, and Edwin, lives in
Des Moines. Iowa; Richard Herbert died i" inffn/y^
Horace Oscar married Miss Bonnie W. Stockdale
and thev reside in Colfax, Cal.. and are the parents
of two children, Dolores and Douglas; Rubie Matilda,
now Mrs. Clarence Soden and the mother of Theo
and Floyd, resides in Iowa; Charles Henrj', residing
in San Jose, married May Bowers and they have two
children, Harry and Marian. Mr. Ribble has three
great-grandchildren. Mrs. Ribble died at the age
of thirty-three years, in 1883, at Bear Grove. Mr.

1076

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Ribble was a charter member of Shelsburg (Iowa)
Post, G. A. R., and after it disbanded he became a
member of the Union Veteran Legion. After com-
ing to California he joined A. J. Bennett Post \o.
162, G. A. R., in which he is an officer. While all
the days of his career have not been equally bright,
his resolute spirit and energy have enabled him to
overcome obstacles and difficulties and steadily ad-
vance on the road toward prosperity. He has a large
circle of friends throughout this part of the state,
enjoying the high regard with whom social or busi-
ness relations have brought him in contact.

JAMES F. McCAULEY.— Although one of the
more recent additions to the building contractors of
San Jose, James F. McCauley is rapidly develop-
ing a good business, for long experience has given
him an expert knowledge of this branch of activity
and the excellence of his work commends him to
the confidence and support of the general public. A
native of Ireland, he was born in County Tyrone.
November 5, 1877, his parents being Patrick and
Margaret (Harrington) McCauley. the former of
whom was a member of the British Embassy, being
attached to the secret service. In 1883 the father
was sent to Perth, in the province of Ontario, Can-
ada, in connection with the work of that department,
and there the family resided for one year, after
which they crossed the border into the United
States, taking up their home in Milwaukee, Wis.
James F. was seven years old when he came to Mil-
waukee, where he attended thet public schools.

When fourteen years of age he started out in
life for himself, serving an apprenticeship to the
carpenter's trade with the Abbott Manufacturing
Company of St. Paul, Minn. He remained with
that company for six years and then went to St.
Louis, Mo., where for two years he was connected
with the Selden-Breck Construction Company as
foreman. The next seven years he spent as a
journeyman, following his trade in many states of
the Middle West. In the spring of 1912 he went
to Chicago, 111., where he entered the employ of
the John M. Griffith Company, working on the
construction of their large office building and foun-
dry, and in the following year he came to San
Jose, arriving in December, 1913. He opened the
Grand Restaurant on Lightston Street, which he con-
ducted for two years, but the business did not ap-
peal to him and he secured construction work with
the Twohy Brothers, with whom he remained until
1917. when he took a position as carpenter, aiding
in erecting the buildings at Camp Fremont. Cal.
In May, 1918, he became assistant superintendent
of the Producers Warehouse Company of San Jose
and in 1919, when this firm was absorbed by the
California Cooperative Canneries, he was made su-
perintendent of plant No. 1. At the end of the
1919 packing season he took charge of the con-
struction and maintenance work on the canneries
for this company at San Jose, Modesto and Visalia,
remodeling the former and building the last two.
In September, 1920, he severed his connection with
that company and embarked in the general building
and contracting business in San Jose. In his build-
ing operations he uses only the best of material
and employs the most skilled workmen, while in the
execution of contracts he is prompt and reliable,
hence his business is rapidly increasing.

In San Rafael. Cal.. on August 28, 1915, Mr.
McCauley was married to Miss Beatrice George, a
native of California, and a daughter of John and Eliza-
beth George. Her parents came to this state about
1880, settling in Santa Clara County, where she ac-
quired her education. In 1919 Mr. McCauley erected
an attractive residence on Menker Street and the
hospitality of their home is often enjoyed by their
many friends. He has had broad experience in a
business way and in the management of his inter-
ests he displays sound judgment and marked execu-
tive ability. Starting out in the world when four-
teen years of age, he has steadily worked his way
upward through close application and persistency
of purpose and his progressiveness and strict in-
tegrity have won for him the unqualified respect of
all. with whom he has had business dealings.

DAVID P. FOUTS.— In various ways David P.
Fonts has been identified with the development and
progress of San Jose, and while now retired from
active business life, he is still interested in the pro-
gress and welfare of his community. Born in the
vicinity of Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, January
19, 1835, he is the son of Henry and Fannie (Gable)
Fonts, the two families originally coming from Penn-
sylvania and were early settlers in Wayne County.
They were the parents of nine children, David P.
being next to the oldest. The father was a farrner
in Wayne County, and David helped his father with
the farm work. The father passed away when David
was a boy of fourteen. leaving a large family.

David P. Fouts began his early education in the
common schools of Wooster; later attending Ottcr-
bein University at Westerville. After leaving college,
he spent several years in teaching school in Wayne
County. On September 19. 1862, he enlisted for
service with Company C, First Ohio Cavalry. His
company was sent to Washington, D. C, and en-
tered upon the Gettyburg campaign, as an escort to
General Kilpatrick, who w^as in charge of three
brigades in the campaign. On July first and second
the companies were in battle at Hanover Courthouse.
Pa., with Stewart's cavalry, and the following night
again encountered him at Hunterstown. Following
this. General Kilpatrick received orders to join Gen-
eral Meade at Gettysburg, and was in the battle from
July 3 until General Hood was defeated; on the
morning of the Fourth of July, General Kilpatrick
captured a rebel wagon train in the Blue Ridge
Mountains at Monterey. The following spring
David P. Fouts was granted a two weeks' furlough,
at the end of which time he was to report back to
General Kilpatrick, but the general was so badly
wounded that he was disabled for active service, so
his company reported to General Wilson at Nash-
ville, Tenn., where he remained all summer. On
September 19, 1865, he was honorably discharged,
having served for three years. After the close of the
war, he removed to Schuyler, Colfax County, Neb.,
taking up a homestead. During the year of 1874 he
sold out and removed to California, settling in Fres-
no and was engaged in following his trade, that of
painting, and was thus engaged for twenty years. He
returned to Ohio during the summer of 1886 on a
visit with relatives and friends.

The marriage of Mr. Fouts occurred in Novem-
ber, 1886. uniting him with Miss Mary Siler, a daugh-
ter of John and Mary Siler, early settlers and one of

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1079

the founders of Muscatine. Iowa. Mrs. Fouts was
educated in the pubHc schools of Muscatine. She
came with a sister and brother to Cahfornia in early
days. In 1904 the family removed to San Jose, where
Mr. Fouts engaged in the contracting business until
about five years ago, being nearly eighty years old
when he retired from his activities. Mr. and Mrs.
Fouts are the parents of one daughter, Florence, the
wife of Mr. Ogier and they have one daughter.
Dorothy, the family residing at Pacific Grove. Mr.
Fout's course in life has been upright and honorable
in every relation, winning him the confidence, good
will and high regard of all with whom he has been
associated. He is prominent in G. A. R. activities
and was quartermaster of Atlantic Post at Fresno
when it was organized, and afterwards was chaplain.
He is now a member of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7,
San Jose. Politically, he is a stanch Republican,
and has ever believed in constructive measures.

JAMES FERRELL.— A self-made man who has
become well known as a cement contractor of Santa
Clara County is James Ferrell, having resided in
San Jose for the past twenty years. Born at Morton.
Delaware County, Pa., August 6, 1851, he is a son of
James and Sarah (Coats) Ferrell. The father was a
butcher by trade, serving at his trade in Philadelphia,
but living nine miles in the country at Morton.
James Ferrell is the third child of a family of eight.
He attended grammar school, but the opportunities
for an education were very meager, as he was able
to attend but three months each season. When he
was eleven years old, he started out to earn his own
way working on farms. In 1868 he removed to Rock
Island, 111., where he remained for a short time; he
continued west until he came to El Paso, Texas,
then to Phoenix, Arizona, then to Yuma, and on to
California in 1871 remaining in Los Angeles but a
short time. He then left the Southland and journeyed
as far north as Lake County and for several years
was engaged in driving a stage from Calistoga to
the Big Geyser Springs in Lake County from the fall
of 1871 till' 1876. From Lake County he went into
Humboldt County and drove a logging team in the
lumber camp of John Vance on Mud River at Ar-
eata. He then drove a logging team on the Salmon
River at Table Bluff for Mr. Jones. In 1881 he came
to San Joaquin County and engaged in ranching,
raising grain, beans, and potatoes on the river bottom
lands in San Joaquin County. He lived for a time
in Stockton and did teaming between Stockton and
the mining camps in the Sierras. In 1901 he re-
moved to San Jose and cn.i^aged in cement work,
doing sidewalk, curbing, concrete foundation and til-
ing Mr. Ferrell was married in Vallcjo February
14. 1884 to Miss Frances Rule, a native of Vallejo,
a daughter of Samuel and Isabel (Moffat) Rule, her
father a pioneer of 1850 arriving in California after
a long and hazardous journey around Cape Horn.
He was engaged in the building business for the gov-
ernment at Vallejo and Mare Island. He passed
awaj' in 1883. Frances Rule Ferrell was educated
in the public schools of Vallejo. Mr. and Mrs. Fer-
rell are the parents of nine children; Isabel, now
Mrs. Harris, resides in Oakland; Samuel married
Ethel Lee and they live in San Jose, where he is
engaged in paving work; Sarah, a graduate of San
Jose .State Normal, is a teacher in the Oakland
schools; Margaret died in infancy; Frances, also a

graduate of San Jose State Normal, is a teacher at
WiMow Glen; Lydia, now Mrs. Adoradio. resides
in San Jose; James, now ranching at San Jose, was
in an officers' training camp at Stanford University
until taken sick with influenza; Charles is employed
by the Bethlehem Steel Works, Oakland, as mechanic;
Kenneth is a student in the high school in San Jose.
The family have resided at 882 East Julian Street for
the last seven years. Mr. Ferrell was bereaved of
his wife October 6, 1915, a sad blow to the family
and their many friends.

FRANK A. VON DORSTEN— An experienced.

efficient official is Frank A. Von Dorsten, the super-
vising foreman of the Pacific Telephone & Tele-
graph Company, with headquarters at San Jose, who
is a native of Colusa County. He was born in
Colusa on December 12, 1872, the son of Henry
August Von Dorsten, who was born on February
17, 1832, and started to come to California in 1849
but was compelled to delay his journey until the
fall of 1851. He first tried to cross the great plains
in an ox train, and in doing so underwent some very
severe hardships. The Indians broke up the emi-
.grants' outfits, and they were compelled to return
home; and when they got through Mr. Von Dorsten
made for the mines in Shasta County, There he was
employed in a grocery store, and then he hauled
supplies between Benicia and Shasta. He bought
the oxen himself, and ran between the mines and
Benicia. He leased sheep land near Stony Corrall
west of Maxwell, and followed sheep raising for
some years, and then he took up land and engaged in
the growing of grain, adjoining Maxwell on the
west. He then removed to Oakland, where he spent
two year.^. and in 1884 he came to San Jose. In 1888
he engaged in orcharding, and having sold out his
interests in Colusa County, he continued to special-
ize in his new field until his death on October 15,
1915. He was a member of the Masons, and was
buried with Masonic honors.

Mr. Von Dorsten had married Miss Frances Dun-
lap, born at Concord, N. H., on August 13, 1836,
who came to Colusa County in the early days,
and she died on January 10, 1875, beloved by all
who knew her. They had another son. Otto F.
Von Dorsten, born April 16, 1867, and he is still
living on the home ranch in Santa Clara County.

Frank A. enjoyed all the local educational advan-
tages and attended first the grammar and then the
high school, in San Jose, and after that he followea
w^ith success tne courses of the San Jose Business
College from which he was graduated in 1891. Then
he joined his father and brother on the home ranch
in 1891 and remained there until June, 1895, when
he entered the service of the Pacific Telephone &
Telegraph Company, then the Sunset Telephone &
Telegraph Company. He has been with this con-
cern ever since, and has occupied his present posi-
tion for the past eight years. With his brother he
owns the old Van Dorsten home ranch of 100 acres
devoted to raising prunes and they are members
of the California Prune and Apricot Association,
and Mr. Von Dorsten is also vice-president and di-
rector of the Home Union and a stockholder in the
Security Bank. In San Jose, on January 29. 1902.
Mr. Von Dorsten was married to Miss Bessie Dun-
gan Rutherford, a native of Little Rock, Ark., and
they have one child living, a daughter named Frances.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

He is a member of Fraternity Lodge No. 399,
F. & A. M., Howard Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., San
Jose Council No. 20, R. & S. M., San Jose Com-
mandery No. 10, and with his wife is a member of
San Jose Chapter O. E. S. He is also a member
of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco,
and is a member of San Jose Lodge No. 522. B.
P. O. E., and he also belongs to the Telephone Pio-
neers of America.

Mr. and Mrs. Von Dorsten are fond of motoring
and each summer they take long trips with their car
enjoying the scenery of the Pacific Coast states, each
year going into the high Sierras, where they have
great pleasure and enjoyment in hunting and fishing.

FRANK ABERNATHY.— A representative or-
chardist of Santa Clara County, Frank Abernathy
was for twenty-one years the capable and efficient
manager of the Sorosis Fruit Company, becoming
well and favorably known as a horticulturist and
manager of large affairs but is now looking after
his own properties. He was born in Iowa in 1876
and is the son of William Watson Abernathy, a
native of Ohio, born in 1851. The paternal grand-
parents were Samuel and Lydia Abernathy and were
farmers. His father was also a farmer and when
William was twelve years of age, moved to Indiana
and he lived there until he was twenty-one years
old, when he returned to Ohio where he worked in
a tile factory for two years. In 1873 William W.
Abernathy was married to Miss Sarah E. Hodgell.
a native of Ohio, born in 1853, and in 1880 they
removed to California, and after residing in dif-
ferent parts of California, finally settled in San Jose
in 1901. Mr. Abernathy was in the fuel, feed and
delivery business for several years and then he pur-
chased his present place on the Saratoga Road, where
he and his wife now reside. They are the parents of
two children: Minnie, the wife of Frank R. Forrest,
and Frank is the subject of this sketch.

Frank attended the public schools of Jewell, Kans.,
and then entered the State Normal at Emporia;
later he taught school for two years in Jewel! Coun-
ty. In 1901 he removed to California and entered
the employ of the Sorosis Fruit Company, owned
by F. M. (Borax) Smith, and in 1908 became the
manager for the company and occupied that re-
sponsible position for six months after Mr. Smith
sold it to the new owners. Wishing to give all of
his time to the management of his own orchards
he resigned this position in January, 1922. Since
1908 Mr. Abernathy has owned orchards, adding to
his holdings by the purchase of full-bearing groves
from time to time, until he now owns live different
orchards in the vicinity of Saratoga, embracing 143
acres, devoted principally to raising prunes, although
he also grows apricots, peaches, and pears. On his
ranch at Congress Junction he is also engaged in
raising White Leghorn poultry, having modern and
well equipped yards for the purpose. His home
ranch, known as the Bonney Orchards, is located on
the heights above Saratoga, commanding a beautiful
view of the Valley. His dry yards are located at the
Congress Junction ranch, where he cures all of his
fruit from the various orchards.

Mr. Abernathy's marriage united him with Miss
Nettie Melone, a native of Illinois, and they have
two children, Florence and Frances. Fraternally

Mr. Abernathy is a Modern Woodman, and with his
wife is a member of the Christian Church of San
Jose, being a member of the official board.

ADA SCOTT MORTON, M. D.— Prominent
among the distinguished members of the medical
profession in Santa Clara County, Dr. Ada Scott
Morton is a well-known surgeon of San Jose, who
has been able to exert a helpful influence in the ad-
vancement of the practice of surgery. A native
daughter, she was born at Stockton, a member of a
family of physicians. Her maternal grandfather,
a native of Alabama, was Dr. John Ferguson, and he
was widely known in both Alabama and Arkansas
as a successful practitioner. When he passed away,
he also enjoyed the prestige as owner of an extensive
plantation. Her paternal grandfather was Dr.
Thomas Scott, and he lived and died in Kentucky.
' Her father, Richard Scott, was born in Kentucky,
was married in the East and crossed the plains in
1849 in a wagon train, locating at Stockton. He
brought mules and cattle across the plains, as well
as a large freighting outfit; and engaged in freight-
ing between Stockton and the mines, as well as into
the upper San Joaquin Valley. His brother. Dr.
David Scott, and relatives, crossed the plains in 1857
and were killed in the Mountain Meadow massacre.
Dick Scott, as he was familiarly known, was success-
ful as a freighter. He went through some hazardous
and harrowing experiences in those early days, hav-
ing been held up and robbed more than once. Later
on he engaged in ranching and became the owner
of several farms and after he retired, leased them.
He always made his home in Stockton until he came
to San Jose, where he spent his last days with Dr.
Morton, passing away in 1919. Her mother, who
was born in Alabama, where she was reared and
educated at a female college, is a cultured and refined
woman, who makes her home with her daughter.
Dr. Morton, at her home in Linda Vista, aged eighty-
four. Dr. Morton's brother. Dr. C. L. Scott, is a
practising physician at Hanford; another brother is
Dr. W. P. Scott of Bakersfield.

The twelfth child in a family of thirteen, Ada
Scott grew up in Stockton, where her father operated
as a large grain farmer. She was born in Stockton.
March 17, 1882, and graduated from the Tulare high
school in 1900, and then took, first a pre-medical.
and then a medical course at the California ^ledical
School at San Francisco, after which she entered
the medical department of the University of Illinois
at Chicago. She was graduated on June 4, 1907.
with the degree of M. D., and in the same year
began her active practice, associating herself with
her brother. Dr. W. P. Scott, at Bakersfield. At the
end of the year, in May, 1908, she removed to San
Jose and practised until 1911; then, during 1911-12,
she pursued post-graduate work for eleven months
at the Mayo brothers' celebrated clinic at Rochester,
Minn., and each year she spends a month or two
among Eastern clinics. Just before the outbreak of
the World War, she joined the clinical congress of
surgeons of the world in London. In January, 1914,
Dr. Morton went to England and France, and while
there attended clinics under different surgeons, among
them being Drs. Warterhouse and Lane in the former
country, and Hartman and Tuffier in the latter; and
she was in France when war was declared; in fact,
was in a surgeons' meeting, standing by the side of
Dr. Tuffier when he received the message that war

d.

2.,^2^-6-^^/C

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1083

was declared. When she was ready to return, their
ship was chased by submarines.

In the early part of 1913, Miss Scott married Dr.
A. W. Morton of San Francisco, whom she later
divorced, and from three to four years she practised
in San Francisco as surgeon for the Santa Fe Rail-
road Company. On May 8, 1919, she was married
to her present husband, Robert H. Frederick, popu-
larly known in athletic circles, where he is famous
as an athlete and wrestler, as Ed. "Strangler" Lewis,
and they are the parents of one child, Bobada Lewis.
He was born at Sheboygan Falls, Wis., in 1890, of
German extraction, is six feet one and one-half inches
tall, and weighs 240 pounds. He was educated at
Louisville, Ky., and was the athletic instructor there.
He offered his services to the U. S. government, was
stationed at Camp Grant, Rockford. 111., and taught
the soldier boys hand-to-hand fighting. He is now
the world's champion wrestler. ' Dr. Morton retains
her former name for professional reasons, and she
enjoys an extensive practice as a surgeon.

CURTIS ELDEN HANGER.— Coming to Cali-
fornia and the Santa Clara Valley in 1883, Curtis E.
Hanger is counted among the successful horticul-
turists of the county. He was born near Lafayette,
Ind., on October 5, 1855, a son of M. M. and Ann
(Ellis) Hanger. The father was born in Augusta
County, Va., and came with his parents to Tippe-
canoe County, Ind., where he was reared on a farm.
In 1850 he came via Panama to San Francisco and
followed mining for a couple of years then returned
East again by way of the Isthmus. He was married
in Indiana to Miss Ann Ellis, the daughter of Thomas
and Elizabeth (Stoner) Ellis, of English and German
descent, respectively. The Hanger, Ellis and Stone
families were all pioneers of Indiana when there
were Indians all around that part of the country.
M. M. Hanger and his family came to California
in 1881 and in 1883 they settled in Santa Clara
County, where they bought and improved an orchard
at the corner of the Union and Los Gatos roads.
Here the mother died in October. 1900, Mr. Hanger
passing away in September, 1902. They were the
parents of four children: Curtis E. of this sketch;
Edward E. lives in Indiana; Elizabeth died at the
age of seven; Fred G. of this place.

Curtis E. received his preliminary education in the
schools of Indiana; later attended the Wabash Col-
lege and the Purdue University and Northern In-
diana State Normal. Before coming to California, he
had worked on a ranch, and after arriving here was
with his father on the ranch in the mountains near
Wright's Station. He then removed to his present
location on LTnion and Los Gatos roads, where he
has since engaged in horticulture. He has also done
his part in developing orchards here, for he bought
thirty-five acres of stubble which he planted to prunes
and brought to a high state of cultivation before he
disposed of it.

The marriage of Mr. Hanger occurred at Campbell,
in March, 1902, and united him with Miss Rose
E. Kimber, born in Brighton, England. Mrs. Hanger
was the daughter of David and Elizabeth (Perrin)
Kimber, born at Brighton and Cambridge, England,
respectively. The father was a machinist until he
retired and they still make their home at Brighton.
They are the parents of seven children, five of whom
are living, Mrs. Hanger was the eldest of the family

and the only one in California. In September, 1896,
she came to California to visit friends who were liv-
ing in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and it was while
here that she met Mr. Hanger. Mr. and Mrs. Hanger
have no children of their own, but have adopted
an orphan niece of Mrs. Hanger's, named Olive
Hanger, now attending Campbell high school. In
national politics, they are Republicans, and Mr.
Hanger has been a trustee of Cambria school district.
The family are active members of the Methodist
Episcopal Church at Campbell, while Mrs. Hanger
IS a member of the Ladies' Aid and the Country
Woman's Club and Pundita Club. In 1904 Mr. and
Mrs. Hanger made a trip abroad, visiting Mr.
Hanger's old home, Brighton, England, and also
traveling into diflferent parts of England as well as
on the continent, and on their return home they
visited the large cities of the East and Canada.

HARRY BARNES.— Although of English birth.
Harry Barnes has spent practically his entire life
m the United States and has thoroughly identified
his interests with those of his adopted country, be-
ing now numbered among the leading orchardists of
the Santa Clara Valley. He was born in London
England, May 13, 1882, a son of WiUiam and Alice
(Stroud) Barnes, who came to the United States
m 1887, settling in southwest Texas. At the time
of the Galveston flood in 1900, Mr. and Mrs. Barnes
and their six children were residing in that city.
Harry was the oldest and had left Galveston for
Dallas, the night before the storm. The rest of the
family all perished excepting the father, who es-
caped miraculously and now lives in Ft. Worth. In
the schools of the Lone Star state Harry Barnes
acquired his education and on starting out in life
for himself entered the employ of the firm of Stone
& Webster, Engineering Corporation of Boston,
Mass., becoming superintendent of power house con-
struction, which position he continued to fill for
ten years, his work in that connection taking him
all over the southern portion of the United States.
He was likewise identified with the agricultural in-
dustry, being engaged in raising stock, grain and
fruit, having a thirty acre orchard of peaches, pears
and plums. He continued in Texas for nine years
and then decided to locate in California, having been
very favorably impressed with this region during
previous visits to the state, having first visited the
Santa Clara Valley twenty years ago. Disposing of
all of his interests in Texas, he came to the Santa
Clara Valley in February, 1921, and purchased a
tract of eleven acres on the corner of Casey Road and
Union Avenue, near Campbell. He specializes in the
raising of prunes, in which he has been very suc-
cessful, for he believes in advanced methods and
keeps abreast of the times in every way.

Mr. Barnes was married in Dallas, Texas, July
31, 1905, to Miss Marie Brundrett, a native of Texas,
and they now have a daughter, Harriet Brundrett
Barnes. Mr. Barnes is a member of Orchard City
Grange and the California Prune and Apricot Grow-
ers, Inc. He finds recreation in hunting and fishing
and is nonpartisan in his political views, placing the
qualifications of a candidate above all other consid-
erations. In the management of his business affairs
he has been progressive, energetic and capable and
in the discharge of his duties as a citizen has at all
times been actuated by patriotic principles.

1084

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

HENRY B. FISHER.— A man of high standing in
his profession who has been identified with the
county of Santa Clara since 1893. is Henry B. Fisher,
surveyor and civil engineer, with offices in the Grow-
ers Bank Building, San Jose. Mr. Fisher is a native
of Wisconsin, having been born at Port Washington,
on September 17, 1866. a son of William F. and
Emeline (Beach) Fisher; the father, who served dur-
ing the Civil War, passed away while the family
were still residing in St. Paul, Minn.; the mother
made her home with her son in San Jose until her
death, August 31, 1921.

Henry B. Fisher attended the public schools of
St. Paul, Minn., and also had the advantage of a
course in a St. Paul business college. Later he took a
course in the International Correspondence School, in
civil engineering. He first worked in St. Paul as dep-
uty county surveyor of Ramsey County, Minn.; later
as assistant engineer of construction of the Woods
Harvester Works, and still later served one season in
the river and harbor work of the U. S. War Depart-
ment. In 1893, he came to California and settled in
San Jose, where he has established himself in busi-
ness, and here he has been very successful, each year
widening his circle of influential friends and clients.
He is city engineer for the towns of Santa Clara. Gil-
roy, Morgan Hill, Alviso, and Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Mr. Fisher's marriage united him with Miss Laura
Lacey. a native of Wisconsin, and they are the parents
of three children: Raymond W., Helen, and Flor-
ence. Mr. Fisher is popular in the fraternal and
business circles of San Jose, being a Scottish Rite
Mason, a member of the Odd Fellows, Woodmen
of the World, Sons of Veterans and Royal Arcanum.
Mr. Fisher and his family are active workers in the
Congregational Church, and in national politics he
is a Republican. He is a lover of outdoor life, is
very fond of baseball and spends his leisure time
during that season watching that interesting sport on
the diamond.

HOWARD S. WALTZ.— A prominent builder and
contractor of San Jose who is contributing to the
upbuilding of the Garden City by the attractive
homes he is erecting for others as well as those
he is building and selling himself, is Howard S.
Waltz, proud of his heritage as a native son of Cali-
fornia, having been born in Oakland, on August 30.
1888. He is the son of Dr. George and Gertrude
(Smith) Waltz; the father, who was a dentist, came
to California in the early '80s and settled at Walnut
Creek, where he resided at the time of his death;
the mother is still living and makes her home in
San Jose.

Howard was educated in the public schools and
having come here in 1895. he took the high school
course in San Jose. For six years he was in the
employ of Frank Wolf as an architectural drafts-
man and later served one year as head draftsman of
Wright and Kimbrough at Sacramento, Ca!., later
returning and engaging in contracting, taking con-
tracts for such buildings as the George Glendenning
home, the Horace Kecsling home. Dr. H. B. Rey-
nold's residence in Palo Alto and others there, also
the home of H. C. Phillips in Los Gatos. He is
now building and selling homes himself, in which
undertaking he has been very successful.

Mr. Waltz's marriage united him with Miss Gladys
Trimble, who is a native of California, having been

born in San Jose, and they are the parents of four
children: Dorothy L.; William Howard; Betty Jane;
and Jean Eleanor. Mr. Waltz is an active member
of the Chamber of Commerce, also the Builders'
Association and the Woodmen of the World. In
national politics, he is a stanch adherent of the
Republican party. In his youthful days, he was a
devotee of bicycling and attained considerable reputa-
tion as a racer, and he still keeps up his interest in
out-door sports by camping trips in the mountains.

JOHN MOSSI.— A successful rancher who is a
strong advocate of cooperation among farmers, is
John Mossi, the vine^'^rdist who resides on the Wat-
sonville Road, eight miles northwest of Gilroy. He
was born at Buenos Aires, in the far-away Argentine
Republic, on October 18, 1872, although his father,
Jdhn Mossi, was a native of Canton Ticino, Switzer-
land. He was a remarkable man, and when twenty-
two years old, in 1852, he made a trip to South
America, taking over a year in a sailing vessel to make
the trip, to locate and establish a packing house
for the handling of tallow and hides; he resided
many years at Buenos Aires, where he became well-
to-do; and when he sold out, he returned to Swit-
zerland. During his stay in the Argentine Republic,
he was for four years consul from Switzerland; and
he made numerous trips from South America to
Europe, and also became well known in New York,
where, for eleven years he was proprietor of one of
the highest-class restaurants, which he had estab-
lished. He also opened a restaurant at San Fran-
cisco, and when he was eighty-six years old, he re-
tired and returned to Switzerland, where he died
October 18, 1921. Mrs. Mossi is still living, enjoying
good health at the age of eighty.

John Mossi accompanied his mother, in 1876, from
Buenos Aires to Switzerland and was there reared
and educated in a fine private academy. When he was
eighteen years old, he crossed the ocean to America
and followed his father to San Francisco, a year
after he had gone hither; and in 1891 he went to work
on a ranch near San Luis Obispo for a Mr. Farrey.
At the end of six months, he removed to the Santa
Clara Valley; and he soon became foreman of the
vineyard and orchard development work on the Ban-
der ranch in the Morgan Hill Valley. In 1894 he
leased the John Wise ranch and orchard, and at the
end of six years rented the P. H. Cordes Vineyard,
where he then lived for eleven years, engaged as a
vineyardist and wine-maker. In 1910 he acquired
by purchase some fort\' acres of barren land on the
Watsonville Road, and this he has since developed
into a fine vineyard and orchard.

At Gilroy, in January, 1898, Mr. Mossi was married
to Miss Rosie Mautino, the daughter of Frank Mau-
tino of Gilroy, a talented woman who presides over
her home gracefully. Two children have sprung
from this happy union, Artillo and Modesta. Mr.
Mossi was made a citizen of the United States at
San Jose in 1896, and since then he has voted the
Republican ticket. He is a member of the Gilroy
lodge of Odd Fellows, and Mrs. Mossi is a member
of the Rebekahs. He is always public-spirited, and
has never failed to help the development of worthy
public enterprises.

\j(j'Z^A/uy C^. '^2!^<.<^MjL/\^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1087

AUGUSTUS A. SCHOENHEIT.— An old pioneer
family is worthily represented by Augustus A.
Schoenheit. who was born in Santa Clara County
in the Cupertino district August 31, 1872, the son
of Augustus and Julia A. (Lutz) Schoenheit. The
father was the discoverer and manufacturer of the
famous Schoenheit remedies, and he was also the
founder, in the pioneer days, of a drug business in
San Jose. Born in the midst of the Thur-
ingian Forest, in Saxony, Germany, December 12,
1827, his earliest youth proved a keynote to his novel
and out-of-the-ordinary career. He was born in a
humble mountain home, in a region offering great
inducements to his father, John Schoenheit, a civil
engineer and surveyor. Left an orphan when three
years old, while still a small lad, Augustus Schoen-
heit removed to Moscow, Russia, where he lived
with his eldest sister and there he attended the
gymnasium, and later pursued his studies in a simi-
lar institution in St. Petersburg. He remained in
Russia until he was sent back to Germany for
military service, when he enlisted in the Third
Jaeger Corps of the German army and advanced to
first lieutenant before his twenty-first year. From
1848 until 1851 he saw service in the Schleswig-
Holstein war. After completing his military serv-
ice he spent two years in the University of Got-
tingen, and there met Prof, ^^'iliiam Setlii;, his
lifetime friend. In 1853, Mr. SchoenlK-it sailed from
New York for California, crossing the Isthmus of
Panama on foot. He suffered great privations on
this trip, and after arriving in San Francisco mined
at Coloma. in the Sugar Loaf district, in Sonora and
Big Oak Flat, in the latter place hearing from the
Indians that there was a \)lacc where tlie water came
pouring down from the sky. Knowing that the
Red men meant to de.scrilie a valley, accompanied
by three companions, they proceeded in the direction
indicated by the Indians. Going through a forest
of big trees and wading through grass as high as
man and beast, they came upon the great Vosemite
Valley from the Big Oak Flat side, and were over-
whelmed by its vastness and grandeur. With the
exception of Hutchinson, who had been there a few
days before, they were probably the first white men
to enter this now famous valley, and they may be
said to be the first discoverers and practical ex-
plorers, for they brought back the first description
ever given of one of the greatest wonders of the
world. This was in 1854. Returning to San Fran-
cisco, Mr. Schoenheit soon afterward came to San
Jose and became a clerk in the first drug store in
California, founded in 1849 by an Italian by the
name of Davini. Some years later it was sold to
Dr. Van Cannigan and Dr. Lee, under whom Mr.
Schoenheit worked as a druggist. Eighteen months
later he purchased the business, located on North
Market near the corner of Santa Clara Street, the
present site of the Rea Bldg. In 1858 he moved to
Santa Clara Street, where the Smout building now
stands, and in 1878 he moved across the street at the
corner of Lightston Alley and Santa Clara Street.
Mr. Schoenheit made a trip to Europe, traveling
extensively in different countries, where he contin-
ued his studies of chemistry and pharmacy in the
great centers of learning, and experimented with
certain remedies which he desired to place on the
market. In 1898 the business was removed to the

Letitia building at 72 South First Street, and he
continued to manufacture his remedies. His lini-
ment gained for him a world-wide reputation, as well
as his other remedies. He married Miss Julia Lutz.
a native of Hartford, Conn.f and two children were
born to them, Augustus A., of this review, and
Sophia, Mrs. Geo. E. Merrill of Santa Rosa, Cal.,
a graduate of Stanford University. Mr. Schoenheit
passed away in 1906; and his widow now resides at
Santa Rosa.

-Augustus A. Schoenheit's early education was ob-
tained in the grammar schools of San Jose, when
he entered Santa Clara College, on completion of
which he attended Heald's Business College in San
Francisco, where he was duly graduated. In 1893
he took active management of his father's drug busi-
ness. Many improvements were made and the ca-
pacity of the manufacturing plant was increased and
newer and more modern methods were adopted. In
1907, one year after his father's death, he sold the
business and took a position with the Security State
Bank; starting at the bottom he worked his way up
until he is now paying teller. In 1912 he bought
a thirty-six acre ranch on the Stevens Creek Road
between San Jose and Cupertino and two years
later moved on to it; he built a beautiful bunga-
low residence, and laid out spacious lawns. For ir-
rigating his orchard he has a pumping plant with
a capacity of 1060 gallons of water per minute.

On June 5, 1901, Mr. Schoenheit was united in
marriage with Miss Winifred MacLeod, a daughter
of Edward and Elizabeth MacLeod, born at Somers-
ville, Cal. Mrs Schoenheit received her education in
the schools of Santa Clara. They are the parents of
one daughter, Helen Marr. In politics he is a Repub-
lican; he belongs to the Presbyterian Church, and is
■A member of San Jose Lodge, B. P. O. Elks.

JULES EMILE RISPAUD.— A native son, Jules
Emile Rispaud. was born at Long Bridge, two miles
above Sar.Htou^,. May 25, 1884. His father, Joseph
Rispainl. \\,is I), .111 in Hautes-Alps, France, and came
to S.iii JraiHiseii. Cal., in 1866 and soon afterwards
located III Santa Clara County and in time he bought
320 acres on Campbell Creek in partnership with
Maurice Garcin, another old pioneer. Later they
divided this ranch, each retaining 160 acres. Mr.
Rispaud improved the place and built his residence
and set out orchards when he had cleared the land.
Here he reared his family and resided until his death,
in 1910, aged sixty-three years. He was clerk of
the school board in Booker district for over twenty-
five years and was then succeeded by his son Jules.
Mrs. Rispaud was Ehzabeth Calpin, a native of Bel-
gium, and their marriage occurred in California. She
passed away over twenty-five years ago. Of the
seven children, five are living: George, of San Jose;
Jules, the subject of this review; Mary is Mrs. Al-
bert Athenour of this county; Henry is deceased;
Louise is Mrs. Leon Athenour, also of this county,
Joseph lives in San Jose; Louis is deceased.

Jules Rispaud attended the public school in the
Booker district meanwhile from a lad made himself
generally useful on the ranch helping to improve it
and set out the orchard and vineyard. After his
father's death he purchased the home ranch and has
since engaged in fruit raising and general farming.
He was married in San Jose, January 1, 1914. to

1088

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Miss Rose Corbella, who was born in San Jose a
daughter of Louis and Margaret (Serra) Corbella,
natives of Tornio, Piedmonte, Italy, who were mar-
ried in San Jose, and were farmers on the Quito
Road until they sold the place in 1921 and now are
living retired. Mrs. Rispaud, their only child, re-
ceived her education in the Boulder . Creek school.
Mr. and Mrs. Rispaud have one child, a daughter
Julia. When Mr. Rispaud's father retired from the
school board, he was elected trustee of Booker dis-
trict to succeed him, and he has held the position
ever since, covering a period of fifteen years. Mr. and
Mrs. Rispaud are liberal and hospitable and are
much esteemed and highly respected.

THOMAS LOFTIN BLANCHARD, M.D.— A

distinguished member of the medical profession in
Santa Clara County to whom the Golden State is
indebted for some of its reputation as one of the
most desirable corners of the earth in which to live,
is Dr. Thomas Loftin Blanchard, of San Jose, in
which progressive city he is both familiarly and
agreeably known, and his offices in the Bank of San
Jose building have become a Mecca to those seeking
the benefits of the last word of science. Dr. Blanch-
ard was born in Missouri on July 17, 1886, the son of
George B. Blanchard, a lumberman and stockraiser
who came from Missouri to California in 1893 and
settled in San Jose, where he established the largest
wholesale hay business. He married Miss Emetine
Payne, and they resided at 875 University avenue.
Thomas L. attended the public schools at San Jose,
and also Santa Clara, finishing there the high school
course, and then he studied at the Cooper Medical
College in San Francisco, and was graduated there-
from in May, 1909, with the M.D. degree.

For a couple of years Dr. Blanchard practiced in
Campbell, after which he took a trip to Europe and
studied at both Vienna and Berlin, doing post-gradu-
ate work. On returning to America, he opened an
office in San Jose, and there he has since practiced,
making a specialty of surgery. He joined the staff
of the O'Connor Sanitarium, and when the world
conflict called for such professional services as his,
he became a first lieutenant and served his country
and humanity for seventeen months.

On October 28, 1913, Dr. Blanchard was married
to Miss Mariam A. Harris, a native of California, a
gifted lady, well fitted to be his helpmate. He is a
Mason and belongs to the Consistory, in which he
has risen to the thirty-second degree, and to the Com-
mandery. Dr. Blanchard's status as a skillful surgeon
and a thoroughly up-to-date practitioner is reflected
in his election as president of the County Medical
Society, and his activity in both the State Medical
Society and the American Medical Association. A
Democrat in respect to his preference for party
platforms, he is ready at all times to cast aside par-
tisanship when a nonpartisan support will elect or
adopt those persons or measures which would be
most desirable for the community. He is fond of
gardening and the other diversions of outdoor life,
and as this is one of the garden-spots of the world,
is deeply interested in Santa Clara County, its past
and its future. On July 6, 1922, Dr. Blanchard re-
turned from his second trip to Europe, having spent
five months in London, Paris, and Vienna hospitals.

studying surgery and women's diseases. From the
LTniversity of Vienna he received his diploma for
post-graduate surgical work.

CARLO PANIGHETTL— Many of the sons and
daughters of Sunny Italy have aided in the develop-
ment of the orchards and vineyards that have made
the Santa Clara Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains
famous, and among them none have done more than
Carlo Panighetti and his estimable wife who with
pride can point to their six sons and three daughters
who have also aided them in accomplishing the de-
velopment of one of the valuable vineyards in this
mountain region. Carlo Panighetti was born at Ro-
mianca. Province of Novara, Italy, February 19,
1856, a son of John and Theresa (Franchioli) Pani-
ghetti, of an old family there. The father worked in
mines in Italy. Switzerland, France and Germany.
He died in Neufchatel and the mother died at the old
home. Of the seven children. Carlo was the second
oldest, and only two are now living. He was reared
on the home farm to habits of industry, at the same
time he attended the local schools. However, at the
age of fourteen years he struck out to paddle his
own canoe, going to Neufchatel, Switzerland, where
he was employed in an asphalt mine for twelve years.
During this time he made several trips to his old
home and on one of these visits he was married, on
New Year's Day, 1883, to Miss Marie Perone, who
was born in the same vicinity. She is the daughter of
X'incent and Josepha (Rossetti) Perone, farmers
there, and the second oldest of their eight children.
After leaving the asphalt mines Mr. and Mrs. Pani-
ghetti spent a short time in France, and then, in 1885,
came direct to the Santa Clara Valley, Cal., a step
they have never regretted.

Mr. Panighetti worked on farms and in orchards
and vineyards and in time became foreman. Having
accumulated sufficient means to engage in agri-
culture on his own account, he purchased his present
ranch, in 1893, comprising eighty acres. There was
very little improvement, so he set to work, clearing,
grubbing and breaking the soil, and faithfully set out
and cared for the vineyard until today it is a splendid
property with thirty-five acres of bearing vineyard
and orchards, the latter being devoted to raising
prunes and cherries, apples and pears. His buildings
are comfortable and in keeping with the prosperous
condition of the ranch. He also owns an eighty acre
ranch, purchased 1909, located two miles below his
home, on the Bear Creek Road, both lying on the
Santa Clara side of the Summit. On this ranch he
also cleared much of the land and set out orchard
and vineyard until he now has all of thirty-five acres
in a high state of cultivation to which he and his
family give splendid care.

Mr. and Mrs. Panighetti's union was blessed with
eleven children, two of whom died in infancy before
they emigrated to California; but nine grew up and
are living, to whom they have given the best educa-
tion within their means and trained to habits of in-
dustrv and good American citizenship. The eldest,
John,' who served in the V. S. Army in the World
War, is married to Pearl Cushing and resides in Los
Gatos; Mrs. Delphine Scilini, of Alma; Mrs. Emma
Pianto, of Los Gatos; Carlo Alphonso, who married
Miss Camilla Tonini, is ably assisting his father to

yya^\^^^-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1089

care for the orchard and vineyard. Then there are
Marie Alvera, Noah, Albert, Charles and Salvatore.
who are also assisting their parents and attending
school. Mr. Panighetti is interested in the cause of
education, being a member of the board of trustees
of Brown school district, having served for some
years as clerk of the board. He is proud of his
American citizenship and casts his vote under the
banners of the Republican party. Mr. Panighetti
gives no small credit to his estimable wife, who has
stood shoulder to shoulder with him in accomplish-
ing their aim of a w-ell earned competency.

JUDGE WILLIAM G. LORIGAN.— An eminent
jurist of the State of California, and a man of bril-
liant mental attainments. Judge William G. Lorigan
ever wore the stainless ermine of judicial integrity,
displaying in his rulings a quick perception of the
principles of justice and a deep and discriminating
study of the precedents and precepts of law applica-
ble to every case, bearing himself always with a lofty
impartiality toward the parties and the interests in-
volved. In his bearing toward the bar he was dis-
tinguished for the courtesy accorded to every mem-
ber, and the esteem, confidence and veneration in
which he was held will continue to make fragrant
his memory through the years to come.

The parents of this distinguished jurist were both
natives of Ireland and came to the United States in
their early youth, settling in Ohio, but in 1852 they
removed from Cincinnati to the gold fields of Aus-
tralia, and during their temporary residence there
William G. Lorigan was born in 1855. Kive years
later his parents returned to America, and coming to
California, settled in Santa Clara County. Here the
son passed his youth, taking up his residence in San
Jose in 1884. His education was obtained at Santa
Clara College, and at St. Vincent's College at Cape
Girardeau, Mo. Early in life he began the study of
law, and after a thorough course of preparation with
the firm of Moore, Laine, Delmas and Leib, at San
Jose, he was admitted to practice by the Supreme
Court in 1879, when only twenty-three years of age.
He immediately engaged in practice in partnership
with Harry Benson, and it was not long until he
became recognized as one of the best lawyers in the
city. An interesting coincidence of this early partner-
ship is the fact that his associate iiecame Justice of
the Supreme Coutt of Oregon, while Judge Lorigan
rose to the same distinction in California

Judge Lorigan was elected twice to the now extinct
office of justice of San Jose, and in the fall of 1890
to the office of Superior Judge of the county. He was
reelected to the Superior Bench twice and immedi-
ately after being chosen for the third term he was
appointed by Governor Gage to the Supreme Court
of the state to fill a vacancy caused by death; he w-as
elected again and again to this high position until he
retired in the fall of 1918. A man of deep convictions.
Judge Lorigan was greatly impressed with the re-
sponsibilities imposed by the judicial office entrusted
to him under our system of government, and for a
judge to "play the political game" was in his eyes
beneath the dignity of the Supreme Court.

The bench and bar of the community had great
admiration for the ability of Judge Lorigan, and at
his passing, Justice John E. Richards of the District

Court of Appeal, said: "I regard Judge Lorigan as
one of the ablest jurists who ever sat on the bench
m the State of California. From the time of his
admission to practice in the early '80s he displayed
the possession of a fine legal and judicial mind to a
marked degree. He was selected as a member of
the Supreme Bench of California among many aspi-
rants, and from the time of his first appearance on
that tribunal he ranked among the most capable of
the men who have sat upon it during the long term
of his service there. He was particularly marked for
his great industry and for his intense and constant
love of justice in the concrete and for his knowledge
of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the State of
California. His opinions were always full and able
especially those in the domain of criminal law, in
which he excelled. He contributed to the body of our
substantive law a large number of very able opinions
and the law as he declared it in these opinions will
be cited by lawyers and jurists with special reference
to himself during all the state's subsequent history."

The following tribute is from the Modesto Herald-
'■Some twenty years ago. Judge Lorigan, then of the
Superior Court of Santa Clara Countv, was by mutual
agreement of the anti- and pro-irrigationists called to
Modesto to decide a case. Judge Lorigan listened
very patiently to the attorneys on both sides for about
a week and promptly decided that the anti-irrigation-
ists were in the wrong and the pro-irrigationists were
m the right. Immediately thereafter the pro-irriga-
tiomsts took heart, the irrigation bonds rose from
nominal to a comparatively fair valuation, and the
Modesto and Turlock Irrigation districts came into
the developing stage. These bonds are now above
par, and upon the development of these districts and
their bonds many other irrigation districts of Cali-
fornia are based. Stanislaus County, in particular
and the ever-increasing irrigation districts, owe more
to Judge Lorigan's decision in the cases in which he
sat in Modesto than to any other influences that have
ever been exerted. And Judge Lorigan's decision in
this case was so comprehensive and complete that
appeal was never contemplated."

Judge Lorigan was in failing health for about two
.years and he passed away at San Francisco, where
he had been making his home, on April 2, 1919 at
the age of sixty-four. He was survived by 'his
widow Mrs^ Annie F. (Burgis) Lorigan; a son,
Barthol W. Lorigan, a real estate dealer at San Jose-
a daughter, Mrs. Burgis Lacoste of San Francisco'
and three brothers, Henry F. Lorigan of Oakland,
Frank A . Lorigan of San Francisco, and Charles M
Lorigan of San Jose; the latter has since passed away
A deceased sister, Minnie, was the wife of George
N icholson of Alviso. Mrs. Lorigan was a native daugh-
ter, born m San Francisco, whose father, Capt. Rob-
ert Berseford Burgis. a native of England, was a sea-
captain. His wife was Anrie Picking, also born in
England, and they were married in Christchurch
New Zealand. In the early '50s Captain Burgis took
up his residence on Rincon Hill, San Francisco, but
continued to follow the sea until his death. Mrs.
Lorigan completed her education at Williams' Young
Ladies' Academy. Judge Lorigan was an influential
member of the Young Men's Institute, the Foresters
and the Elks. Rising by native force of character to

1090

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

an eminence of distinguished usefulness, his career
commands the admiration of all classes of society,
and should especially excite the young men of today
to an imitation of the virtues of his exemplary life.

EDWARD NOBLE WILLIAMS.— A resident of
California since 1875, Edward Noble Williams was
born in Burlington, Iowa, July 28, 1858. His father.
J. M. Williams, was born in New Jersey and was a
pioneer of Burlington, engaged in contracting and
building. The family moved to San Jose in 1875,
when the mother died. His father spent his last days
on our subject's ranch, passing away at the age of
eighty-five. Edward N. was the youngest of four
children born of this, his father's second marriage,
being educated in the grammar and high school in
Burlington until his junior year, when he accompanied
his parents to San Jose in 1875. His brother, B. F.
Williams, was a surveyor, and Edward worked under
him as a surveyor until Black's store was opened,
when he became a clerk in this store. Four years
later he resigned to begin ranching on the Summit,
having purchased sixty-five acres from the Burrell
ranch about forty-one years ago, which he immediate-
1> began clearing and setting to orchard and vine-
yard, and now has one of the fine places in the Bur-
rell district, the orchard being in prunes and plums.
Mr. Williams was married in the Burrell district
to Mary E. Pratt, born in Marysvillc, Cal., where
she was reared and educated. Four children have
blessed their union: Hattie B., E. J., A. B. and Mari-
an E.; E. J. served overseas for about tw^o years dur-
ing the World War. Mr. Williams has served ac-
ceptably as trustee of Burrell school district for
twelve years. Fraternally he is a member of Soquel
Lodge of Odd Fellows.

HERMAN SUND.— One of the oldest settlers of
Los Gatos who has had much to do with the growth
and development of the city, as well as shaping the
destinies of its civic and municipal government is
Herman Sund, who is highly respected and greatly
loved and esteemed by everyone in this beautiful
city. He is a native of Sweden, born at Venesburg,
in December, 1844, a son of Herman and Margaret
Sund. He was reared in his native place, had the
advantages of the excellent schools for which Sweden
is famous, and when fifteen years of age he left home
and apprenticed to the carpenter trade. When twenty-
three years of age he shipped aboard a vessel as a
carpenter and sailed to different countries including
Europe, West Indies, North and South America. In
1865, having quit the sea, he came to the United
States and followed his trade in dififerent Southern
states and in Kansas until 1873, when he came to
California. Locating in Oakland he worked at his
trade in San Francisco. As foreman of carpenters
he assisted in building the First and Second street
cable roads in that city, on Clay and Geary streets.

In 1881, Mr. Sund located in Los Gatos and bought
a ranch in the city, adding to it until he had forty-
one acres. He engaged in contracting and building.
and also established a lumber yard in 1884, which he
ran for many years in connection with his building
business, and being very active and energetic he built
up a great portion of the city. He also improved
his ranch with orchards, and since the city has grown
he has laid out a portion of his land which he has

sold to builders of homes. When Los Gatos was in-
corporated in 1887 he was elected a member of the
board of trustees and reelected to the office. He took
an active and prominent part in shaping the destiny
of this beautiful foothill city, being now the only one
living of the original charter board he is not only
referred to as the father of the town but as the
grandfather of the town.

Mr. Sund's first marriage was in Kansas, when he
was united with Josephine Peterson, who died leav-
ing three children. After coming to Los Gatos he
was married to Miss Louise Schrepper, born in
Glarus, Switzerland, a well-educated and cultured
lady who came to San Francisco when twenty-two
years of age and to Los Gatos in 1883, so she has
also seen the growth of this pleasant city. Mr. Sund
is a splendid specimen of the upbuilders and sup-
porters of worthy measures, and a believer in pro-
tection for Americans, he is a stanch Republican.

CHARLES GAGLIASSO.— An energetic man
who did much to improve Santa Clara County and
make of it the garden spot of today was the late
Charles Gagliasso, who was born in Monforte, Pied-
monte, Italy, October 15, 1864, where he was reared
to habits of industry and received a good education
in the common schools of his native place. He was
married at Alba, Piedmonte, January 5, 1885, being
united with Miss Margherita Lora, who was born in
Guarena, Piedmonte, in 1865, and grew to woman-
hood in that interesting country in Northern Italy.
In 1887 the young couple came to Santa Clara Coun-
ty, Cal., and located in the Montebello district. Mr.
Gagliasso became foreman on Dr. Peroni's ranch and
cleared and set out the Peroni vineyards, as well as
superintending the building up of the winery on the
place, and after ten years had 100 acres of the place
in vineyard. He then purchased 160 acres of land
on Table Mountain at the head of Stevens Creek and
proceeded to clear the land and set out vines, in time
having a vineyard of over 100 acres, and improved
the place with residence and suitable buildings. Later
he purchased the Dr. Hillman ranch, afterwards
known as the Trout Farm, and proceeded in the
same energetic way to improve it. However, these
two ranches was not the limit of his capabilities for
he also leased the Doyle ranch of 600 or 700 acres
and operated it in connection with his two ranches
until he passed away, March 4, 1911, leaving his
widow and eight children and numerous friends to
mourn his demise.

Since her husband's death, Mrs. Gagliasso took
over the management of their ranches and w-ith the
aid of her children continues to care for and operate
the properties. She sold the Trout Farm and pur-
chased a splendid thirty-acre orchard at Campbell and
a twenty-acre orchard on McLellan Avenue, near Cu-
pertino, where she makes her home. Their eight
children are all living and proving themselves
worthy sons and daughters of a pioneer couple.
Joseph assists his mother in the management of the
different ranches; Anne, is the wife of H. W. Reg-
nart, a horticulturist of this district; John, also as-
sists his mother; Angelina, is Mrs. Conrote of Gil-
roy, but now traveling in Europe with her husband;
Charles, is also assisting on the home farm; Onorina,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1093

is the wife of Boze Krilctich, and resides in San
Francisco; Fiurivanti and Michael are at home. The
children have been given a good education and are a
credit to the parental training they have received.
Mrs. Gagliasso is an interested meml.icr of the Cali-
fornia Prune and Apricot Growers' Association and
with her family is a member of St. Joseph do Cuper-
tino Catholic Church.

ALFRED WASHINGTON ELLET.— Since
coming to Palo Alto, Alfred Washington Ellet, the
efficient vice-president of The Stanford Bank, has
lived so quietly that few of his acquaintances have
even guessed at his exceptional technical knowledge
of the banking business. The old adage of "poets
being born, not made," applies equally to banking
as Mr. Ellet has clearly proved by many years of
successful work in this intricate and interesting busi-
ness. Mr. Ellet is the son of Edward Carpenter
Ellet and a grandson of Brigadier-General A. W. El-
let of national fame. He was born at El Dorado,
Kan., August 15, 1871. His childhood was spent in
El Dorado until he was sixteen, when he entered
Swarthmore College where he followed the general
college course, and by his close application to his
studies laid the foundation for the remarkable suc-
cess which has attended his business career. At the
age of nineteen he entered the master mechanic's
office of the Union Pacific Railway at Ellis, Kans.,
where he remained for six months, and then held a
position with the Gille & Van Peyma Wholesale
Hardware Company of Kansas City, Mo., for three
years, after which he became a clerk in the National
Bank of Commerce of said city, where he remained
for a period of twenty-five years, perfecting himself
in the work of all departments.

At the end of a quarter century in the bank, Mr.
Ellet was appointed deputy bank commissioner for
the State of Kansas, and for seven years was an
honored and most efficient member of the State
Banking Department of that state. He was w'idely
quoted as an authority on banking and has made its
every detail a close study. After resigning from the
Bank Commissioner's office, he was made vice-pres-
ident of The Stanford Bank which was then being
established at Palo Alto, and by his keen judgment
and personal oversight, as well as his great exper-
ience, he has placed the venture upon a firm basis,
and made The Stanford Bank one of the solid insti-
tutions of the valley. Although holding the office of
vice-president of both the Palo Alto and Mayfield
branches of the Stanford Bank, he personally attends
to all the details of the business of the two estab-
lishments and closely oversees the work of his care-
fully trained assistants. Every day finds him at his
desk and his office hours are the same as those of his
employes. The new. handsomely furnished home of
the Stanford Bank in Palo Alto owes its inception
to him. Without doubt Mr. Ellet is amontr Califor-
nia's most proficient bankers, having gained his
knowledge by close and thorough study in all lines
of the business from the days of his earliest man-
hood, and has perfected himself in the mysteries of
finance and banking as carefully as astronomers or
other men of science study their art. The growth of
The Stanford Bank has been steady and healthy.
On May 31, 1918. it opened with total assets of

$210,352.18, and on June 30, 1922, its sheets showed
$503,773.58, and this is mainly due to the clever man-
agement of its skilled vice-president.

On September 29, 1898, Mr. Ellet married Lida
.Anna Lewis of Kansas City, Mo., a charming and
Iiopular girl and the daughter of William H. and
Mary F. (Doggett) Lewis, a well-known wholesale
shoe dealer of Kansas City. Mrs. EUett's grand-
father, the late Rev. W. H. Lewis, of Missouri, was a
prominent minister in the Methodist Church, South.
He was the author of the History of Methodism in
Missouri, was a frequent contributor to the Chris-
tion Advocate and the founder of the Young Ladies
Seminary at Independence, Mo.; he lived to reach
the age of ninety-six years.

Mrs. Ellet's ancestors trace back to the Spotts-
wood family of Virginia, of which Alexander Spotts-
wood was governor in Colonial days, and to the old
Burwell stock one of whom, Lewis Burwell, was a
colonel during the Revolution. One of her ancestors,
Anna Spottswood. was the heroine in the famous
novel "The Virginian," and the "Anna" in Mrs. El-
let's name comes from her.

Mrs. Ellet is thus entitled to membership in all
the leading patriotic organizations, the Daughters of
the Revolution, Colonial Dames, and the Society of
Colonial Governors. Mrs. Ellet was born at Chilli-
cothe, Mo., but when she was seven years of age
removed with her parents to Kansas City. She was
educated at the Central Female College m Lexing-
ton, Mo., a school of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. She is a very gifted woman, generous and
beloved by all who know her. Coming as she docs
from distinguished southern blood, she is an un-
swerving Democrat, and laughingly refers to their
marriage as the union of the "Blue and the Gray."

STILLMAN H. BENNER— Prominent among the
young business men of San Jose is Stillman H. Ben-
ner. His untiring energy, his indomitable will to
succeed, has been the means whereby he has gained
the respect and confidence of the community in
which he lives. He was born at Rocky Ford. Colo.,
Februarv 13, 1890. His parents, Stillman M. and
Flora H. (Sheldon) Benner, moved to the state of
Washington when Stillman H. was but a year old,
his father being an orchardist. In 1893 his parents
removed to Campbell. Santa Clara County, Cal., and
it was here their son attended the grammar and
high schools. When but sixteen years of age, Still-
man H. started out to make his own way in the
world. His first experience at wage earning was
vi'ith the Western Union main office at San Jose.

Having determined to make a place for himself in
the music business, Mr. Benner entered the employ
of the Filers Music Company, where he remained
for one and one-half years. The next year and a half
he spent with the Sherman Clay Music Company.
Following this, for four years, he was with the
Brown Music Company. Leaving the employ of the
latter firm, he accepted a position with Allen's Em-
porium at an advanced salary. He remained with
them until February. 1920. when he definitely de-
cided to open up a business for himself, naming his
place Benner Piano Hospital, at No. 33 East San
.\ntonio Street. He deals in new and second-hand
pianos, is an experienced piano tuner, and a piano
repairer, and gives it his personal supervision, and he

1094

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

is already taking his place among the live young
business men of San Jose.

On January 1, 1910, Mr. Benner was married to
Miss Mignonette F. Capien. a native of Akron, Ohio,
the daughter of J. H. and Lilly M. Capien. The fam-
ily came to California when their daughter was
eleven 3'ears old. Two children, Lester and Fay, have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Benner. Having obtained
a thorough experience in the art business at Allen's
Emporium, Mrs. Benner has opened an art depart-
ment in connection with her husband's music busi-
ness, known as Benner's Art Shop. Mr. Benner is a
member of the W. O. W. of San Jose.

JOSE J. BERRYESSA— A family with a most in-
teresting history is that of Jose J. Berryessa, who
was born in the old Mission of San Jose on Novem-
ber 9, 1842, the son of Carlos Antonio Berryessa,
who had married Miss Josefa Galindo. Nicholas Ber-
ryessa, the great-grandfather of our subject, came
from Spain around Cape Horn about 1765 and settled
in Old Mexico — that is, he tried to settle there, but
found that he could not do so with advantage, on
account of the wild tribes there. He therefore pushed
north into California, and pitched his tent in the
Santa Clara Valley. Grandfather Berryessa was also
named Nicholas, and was born in this county and
died here. Juan Crisostomo Galindo, the maternal
grandfather, who died in 1877 at the age of 106
years, was born in Santa Clara County, the great-
grandfather having migrated to California prior to
the founding of the Missions in this county, when
the inhabitants were Indians and wild animals
roamed the plains and mountains. Mr. Berryessa
remembers when stock became so numerous that
they had to gather them in corrals to be killed for
the hides and tallow so as to give feed for the re-
mainder. After coming here, the Berryessas and
the Galindos acquired large portions of land, section
after section, in fact all the land that lies between
the present eastern limits of San Jose and the moun-
tains to the east, and as far north as Milpitas. In
after years, this great area was designated in a
Spanish grant; but when the Easterners came to Cali-
fornia, the Berryessas lost out through the treachery
of one of their family. Carlos Berryessa then bought
some of the same land, and later still about one-
quarter of a section, from the Pueblo, and there the
parents resided until they died. Don Jose is the eldest
of their family of eight children, five now living.

Mr. Berryessa was reared to farm life and stock-
raising, one result of which was that his schooling
was entirely neglected. This deficiency he partly
made good in after life. He remained at home with
his father until he was thirty-one years of age, al-
though he was not satisfied with the life of a farmer.
Then he engaged in other pursuits, and among them
he took up the threshing of grain; and by his industry
and economy, together with his acquired business
habits, he was able to purchase a threshing machine,
engine, etc., and for many years he has been actively
engaged in this line of work. He owns thirty-six
acres of the old Berryessa land, which he bought
from an uncle, devoted to the cultivation of prunes
and general farming, and in 1908 he removed from
this ranch to San Jose and retired, and now rents
his ranch. He used to raise fine Norman horses and
roadsters on these trim thirty-five acres, and with the
little ranch are interwoven cherished memories.

At Berryessa, on November 1, 1873, Mr. Berryessa
was married to Miss Helena Agnes Davis, born in
San Francisco, the daughter of Thomas and Ellen
(Herron) Davis. Her father was a native of Eng-
land, but at the time of her marriage, he resided in
Virginia City, Nev. Her mother, who died when
Mrs. Berryessa was only three years old, was of
Irish descent. Helena Agnes received her education
in the convent in Santa Clara. Eight children were
born of this union: Josephine Agnes became the wife
of Walter Schlosser, a government electrician living
in the State of Washington; they have one child,
Mildred. Mary Catherine is Mrs. J. E. Tetrault of
Porterville; Mary Elizabeth is Mrs. Martin Haley, of
Berryessa; she is the mother of one girl, Catherine;
Frederick married Miss Lillian Williams, a San Jose
girl, and the daughter of Michael and Anna (Farrell)
Williams, who came to California in 1870 by way of
the Isthmus of Panama route, from Dubuque, Iowa;
Frederick is in the laundry business in San Jose, and
he and his wife have two children — May Edith and
James Lochr. Arthur was in the U. S. army dur-
ing the war, but now employed at Mountain View;
Walter is married to Edna Stackhouse. They live
in San Francisco and have one child, Eugenia; Neva
is living at home, and Albert is at San Jose. The
Berryessas are of especial interest, perhaps, because
they are among the few California native families to
thoroughly Americanize themselves, so 'ithat they
have long taken an active part in politics. Mrs. Ber-
ryessa died March 17, 1902, mourned by a large circle
of friends. Mr. Berryessa is a Republican, and under
the banners of that party has sought to do what he
could to effect civic reforms. He is a member of
Santa Clara County Pioneer Society.

ALBERT E. MORRELL.— A native son of Cali-
fornia, Albert E. Morrell was born on the Morrell
ranch on the Summit, Santa Clara County, October
8, 1874. His father, H. C. Morrell, a native of Maine,
came via Panama in 1853. His mother, Clarissa Bur-
rell, was born in Ohio. Grandfather Lyman J. Bur-
rell came to California in 1849, crossing the plains
in an ox-team train. He returned East for his family
in 1852 and brought them around Cape Horn and
located in Santa Clara County. He purchased land
in the Santa Cruz Mountains, being about the fourth
or fifth to locate on the Summit, residing there for
many years until he retired. Clarissa Burrell came to
California when six years of age.

Mr. and Mrs. Morrell engaged in farming and im-
proved the Morrell ranch, now one of the best fruit
ranches in the district. Some years ago they retired
to San Jose and there Mrs. Morrell died in February,
1922, at the age of seventy-six years, while her hus-
band survives her aged eighty-seven years old. Their
family comprised five children: Lizzie, Mrs. H. D.
Norton, of Grants Pass, Ore.; H. C, Jr., and J. B.,
of San Jose; Minnie, Mrs. W. W. Thompson, of San
Francisco, and Albert E., who received his education
in the local school and at Los Angeles. From a youth
he learned horticulture under his father on the home
place. In 1908, with his brother J. B., he leased the
Morrell ranch until 1911, when he bought his brother's
interest and the partnership was dissolved, and he
continues to lease the 3000 acre ranch and cares for
the 150 acres of orchards on the place, devoted to

MyO^Si

^ Jyln^^. ^- ^,xr^LA.AyTX^t^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1095

prunes, plums and pears, being considered among the
finest in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

In San Jose Mr. Morrcll was united in marriage
with Edith Hammon, who was born in Oregon but
reared in Cahfornia, this union having been blessed
with three children, Dorothy Claire, Edwin Albert
and Shirley Mildred. Mr. Morrell is keenly inter-
ested in the county where he has spent his entire life,
and he has become a well-informed horticulturist.
Fraternally he is a member of San Jose Lodge No.
522, B. P. O. EllvS, in which he is a popular member.

JAMES W. FORWARD.— An alert and far-see-
ing dairyman who is striking into new paths in the
interest of the patronizing public, is James W. For-
ward, whose ideal dairy ranch is on the Brokaw
Road, northwest of San Jose. He was born near
Spokane, Wash., on January 29, 1884, the son of J.
A. Forward, a native of Montreal, Can., and a car-
penter and builder. He married Miss Edna Walker,
a native of Bloomfield, Cal., and a member of the
Walker family who were early pioneers at that place,
being a daughter of Alonzo and Elizabeth (Peters)
Walker. J. A. Forward took up a homestead in
Washington, and later came to Santa Rosa; but he
remained there for only a short time and then moved
back to Washington. In 1891 he came to San Jose;
and here James W. Forward attended first the gram-
mar and then, for two years, the high school 'long
such a credit to the city.

When he started out for himself, James W. For-
ward worked for one year in the mills of the Santa
Clara Valley Mill & Lumber Company, and after
that he learned the carpenter's trade under the direc-
tion of his father. Later, he took up a course in
drafting and from that he passed on to architecture,
which he used in connection with contracting, in
which he engaged in for eight years. Next he went
to British Columbia and acquired a tract of land, but
after three years he returned to San Jose, where he
again engaged in contracting; but in 1914 he bought
twenty acres of land on the Brokaw Road, north-
west of San Jose, and thereon he has since built his
home. He planted the land to alfalfa and started a
dairy. He commenced in a small way, and at pre-
sent he has forty cows, to which he will add from
time to time. He sells all the milk direct to the con-
sumer, and under his unique method of handling the
milking, he has evolved the highest-test milk in the
vicinity of San Jose. The cows are milked with
machinery, and after passing through a pipe line,
the milk is cooled to a very low temperature and
deposited in a large tank from which it is bottled,
the milk at no time coming in contact with the per-
son handling it. The machine and pipe line are
taken apart every day and washed and sterilized. Mr.
Forward has two feeding pens, each w-ith a feeding
capacity for thirty cows; these pens face each other,
so that all the cattle can be fed from the same car-
rier. Mr. Forward has a separate milking pen where
the cows are taken to be milked, and this pen has
a capacity for thirty cows. All that is necessary to
increase the capacity of his plant is the addition of
another set of feeding pens; the one milking pen will
suffice for as many cows as he cares to handle. He
also has special cooling rooms and milk rooms.

At San Jose, on June 27, 1909, Mr. Forward was
married to Miss Leola Lyth, the daughter of F'rank
and Prudence Lyth who came out to California from
Nebraska when she was three years old. Mr. Lyth
was a contracting builder. Miss Lyth went to the
grammar and the high school, and the San Jose
Normal; she then taught school for a short time
previous to being married. Two children have been
born to this union, Frances and Robert.

HENRY C. HOGG.— Among the prominent citi-
zens of Santa Clara, who was well known and loved
by all, Henry C. Hogg still lives in the hearts and
memories of his family and numerous friends. He
was born in Letcher County, Ky., January 29, 1836.
His father, Hiram Hogg, was a native of Culpepper
County, Va., and removed with his parents in 1802,
when two years old, to Kentucky; there he married
Miss Levina Polly, a native of Kentucky, and reared a
family of eleven children. Mrs. Hogg passed away
in 1846. Hiram Hogg afterward married Miss Polly
Roark, and they were the parents of seven children.
He passed away in 1863 and his wife in 1884. Henry
C. Hogg, the youngest living son of the first family,
made his home with his parents until he was nineteen
years of age. He was educated principally in Lee
County, Va. At the age of twenty-one he studied
law and was admitted to the bar and practiced law in
Perry County until September, 1861. He volunteered
his services in defense of the Union and enlisted in
Company D, Nineteenth Kentucky Infantry, as a
private. On February S, 1863, he was commissioned
first lieutenant and March 10, of the same year, re-
ceived his commission as captain. He was at Cum-
berland Gap in 1862, and in December went to Vicks-
burg with General Sherman, and remained there until
after the surrender of the city. From Vicksburg his
regiment was sent to New Orleans, where he served
under General Banks until he was mustered out,
January 28, 1865. He then located at Booneville,
Ky., opened a law office, and also engaged in general
merchandise. Living there until 1885, when he sold
out and came to California. He had made a previous
visit to the state in 1884. and purchased a ranch near
Saratoga on the road leading from Saratoga to Moun-
tain View, consisting of some forty acres of highly
improved orchard.

The marriage of Captain Hogg occurred in Boone-
ville, Ky., April 16, 1867, and united him with Miss
Martha A. Marion, a native of Booneville, Owsley
County, Ky.. a daughter of Matthew and Rebecca
(Kelley) Marion, who moved from Virginia to Ken-
tucky in 1850. Grandfather Marion was a cousin of
General Marion of Revolutionary fame. Her father
was a farmer at Booneville, Ky., and they came to
California in 1888 and resided at their ranch near
Saratoga. The father died twenty years ago after
that the mother made her home with Mrs. Hogg, pass-
ing away 1915, at eighty-six years of age. Captain and
Mrs. Hogg were the parents of five children: Charles
H., resides in San Francisco, and is an attorney; Cora
E., is now Mrs. Arthur L. Johnson, and resides in
Providence, R. I.; Raymond C, is a rancher in Sara-
toga; Carry V., is the wife of H. F. Stout of Saratoga;
and Elton M., is in business in Honolulu. Captain
Hogg was prominent as a Republican and fraternally
was a member of the Masons and G. A. R. Finding

1096

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

no Methodist Church in the district in which he lo-
cated, Mr. and Mrs. Hogg set about to estabHsh one
and were always prominent in the affairs of this or-
ganization; both were trustees and Mrs. Hogg is still
on the official board, an active member of the Eastern
Star and the Woman's Relief Corps, and superintends
the home place, taking an active part in the progres-
sive movements of the community. Captain Hogg
died February 5, 1912, a highly esteemed man, and
was buried with Masonic honors.

HERBERT WILLIAM REGNART.— A native
son of Santa Clara County, Herbert William Reg-
nart was born on Regnart Avenue, near Cupertino,
January 26, 1877, a son of William and Agnes (Gre-
gory) Regnart, natives of England, who located in
California over fifty years ago, along with his
brother. After following mining for a short time
they located in Santa Clara County, where Mr. Reg-
nart became a successful orchardist. He first set out
an orchard on Regnart Avenue, which was named
for the family, and also with the aid of his son
Herbert cleared and improved an eighty acre orchard
in Regnart Gulch, 2Yi miles from Cupertino. His
wife died in 1881, and he was married a second time
to Margaret Watts, who was born in Scotland.

By his first marriage he had two children: Jessie,
the wife of Robert Regnart, and Herbert W.; and
by his second three children: Virginia, the wife of
John Montgomery; Douglas, and Marjorie, all of
Cupertino. William Regnart passed away in 1917,
a truly worthy upbuilder who had done his share in
contributing to the prosperity of the country.

Herbert William Regnart grew up in the environ-
ment of his birth place, obtaining a good education
in the Lincoln public school. From a lad he was
kept busy assisting his father, and from the time he
was twelve years old he made a hand in clearing
and breaking the land, getting it ready for the crops
as well as helping in setting out the vineyard and
orchards. The former died from the prevailing grape
disease and the forty acres was set out to orchard.
He owns forty acres of the eighty acres he helped
to improve and has also purchased their original
twenty acre orchard place which his father at one
time disposed of. The two orchards are devoted
principally to prunes, to the cultivation of which he
is bringing into use the most scientific methods of
care and the latest modern machinery for the cultiva-
tion of the soil. Mr. Regnart's success has not been
accomplished without expending much energy and
thought in his chosen line of work for he has applied
himself closely to his task and by incessant labor and
forceful application has accomplished his ambition.
He has had his ups and downs having sold prunes as
low as $25.00 a ton, but also as high as $250.00 a ton.
He is an enthusiastic member of the California
Prune and Apricot Growers' Association, and also
of the Fruit Growers of California, Inc.

The marriage of Mr. Regnart was celebrated in
San Jose, March 7, 1908, when he was united with
Anna Mary Gagliasso, who was born in the Monte-
bello district, Santa Clara County, a daughter of
Charles and Margherita (Lora) Gagliasso, natives
of Piedmonte, Italy, who were early settlers of
Santa Clara County, where Mr. GagHasso was fore-
man for Dr. Peroni in the improvement and setting

out of the Peroni vineyards, after which he pur-
chased 160 acres and improved vineyards and or-
chards on Tabic, Mountain, and later bought and im-
proved the Trout Farm. He died in 1911, survived
by his widow and eight children of whom Anna is the
second oldest. Mr. and Mrs. Regnart have five
children: Margaret, Hazel, Eva, Alice, and Herbert
William, Jr. Mr. Regnart gives no small degree of
credit to his accomplished wife who has assisted and
encouraged him in every way to accomplish his ambi-
tion. He is a member of the Woodman of the
World and politically is a Republican. Enterprising,
liberal and progressive, Mr. and Mrs. Regnart are
well and favorably known and much esteemed in
their community.

JAMES HANSEN.— A rancher whose splendid
success has been attained through his years of indus-
try, a self-made man in the true sense of the word, is
James Hansen, who is located about four miles east
of Milpitas, on the Calaveras Valley Road. He was
born in Denmark, September 23, 1865, the son of
Frederick and Maria Hansen, the eldest of their
three children, the others being Mary C. and Johannes
Christian: the latter fought all through the World
War in the German Army but was never wounded;
he now lives in Schleswig-Holstein. The father
served in the Danish Army during the wars of 1864
and 1870, and he, too, came through without any
injury. Mrs. Hansen passed away in May, 1873,
when James was not yet eight years old, and after
his father's second marriage he remained at home
only seven months, starting out at the age of nine to
make his own way in the world, and he has done
so ever since. He was confirmed in the Lutheran
Church when he was fourteen and that ended his
school days, as two weeks later, on April 18, 1880,
with his few belongings packed in a bundle, he bade
good-bye to his grandmother. Maria C. (Ferdinand)
Hansen, who had shown him many kindnesses, and
started on his voyage across the Atlantic. Landing at
Castle Garden, New York, after a two weeks' voyage.
two days later he started for California, reaching
San Francisco on May 18, 1880, just a month after
leaving his home. Here he was met by his uncle.
Lawrence Martin Hansen, who had generously sent
him the money to make the trip, and the same day he
accompanied his uncle to the latter's ranch near Mil-
pitas, in the Laguna Valley.

Here he attended school and worked on his uncle's
ranch for two years to pay back the $110 his trip
had cost. Later he was employed on other ranches
HI the neighborhood and then he rented his uncle's
ranch of sixty-one acres at Milpitas during the years
1888-1890. Afterwards he rented the SOO-acre stock
ranch owned by his uncle and which was located two
miles above Alum Rock Park; here he engaged in
stock raising on shares and was so engaged at the
time of his uncle's sudden death, in 1890. James
Hansen was appointed administrator of the estate,
and when the sixty-one acre ranch was sold to pay
tlie indebtedness of the estate, he bought it in, the
500-acre stock ranch going to Lawrence M. Hansen's
mother, the grandmother of our subject.

It was on this sixty-one acre ranch that Mr. Han-
sen got his first real start. He farmed it to hay and
grain and by his good management and industry he
began to accumulate a competence, purchasing sev-
eral ranches, until he became the owner of 720 acres

/^

^.^-^^^^^^

^.

EUPHEMIA B. HANSEN

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1101

on the Calaveras Valley Road, part of which he has
already given to his two sons, both of whom are
very capable in all kinds of ranch work, as well as
blacksmithing. horseshoeing and machinery repair-
ing, Mr. Hansen having always maintained a machine
and blacksmith shop on his place. In 1894 he was
married to Miss Euphemia Brandt, a sister of Ed-
ward and Charles Brandt, and a member of a pio-
neer family that settled near Milpitas in 1863, and
there she and her brothers were born. She was a
beautiful and talented woman, and her death on Feb-
ruary 3, 1917, brought the deepest sorrow to her
family and a large circle of friends, who will ever
remember her as a true wife and loving mother, a
kind neighbor and a noble woman. She left three
children, the eldest being Lawrence J., who married
Miss Lucile Heine, and they have three children —
Carol Mercedes, Marie and Catherine Phyllis; he
is the owner of a prune orchard on Cypress Avenue,
four miles west of San Jose; Edward C, who runs
the home place of 720 acres, rendered valuable ser-
vices to his country during the World War as an
instructor in the government horseshoeing school
of the Three Hundred Thirty-second Field Remount,
and was stationed at Camp Fremont when the armis-
tice was signed; Myrtle Mary, called Mabel, is the
wife of Herman J. Dunkel, a prosperous raisin grower
near Fresno, and they have a son, Darmon Edward.
On October 21, 1919, Mr. Hansen's second mar-
riage occurred, when he was united with Mrs. Mary

E. (Smith) Papson, who w-as born near Middletown,
Lake County, Cal., a daughter of Nathan and Julia
(Stephens) Smith; the former, who was born in
Ohio, came as a boy to California with his parents,
James Hartford and Elizabeth (Tribby) Smith. Mrs.
Hansen was reared near L'pper Lake, Lake County,
and there she was first married to George W. Pap-
son, who was born near Berryessa, Santa Clara
County, a son of William and Matilda A. (Freer)
Papson, very early settlers of this county. By this
marriage she became the mother of five children,
four now living: George Raymond, a rancher in
Santa Clara County; Verona K.; Ina A., the wife of

F. M. Vermillion, has one child, Evelyn; Earl W.
Mr. and Mrs. Hansen now make their home on a
fruit ranch of thirty-three acres one mile south of
Berryessa, on Capitol Avenue, where they have a com-
fortable country residence. They are members of St.
Mary's Catholic Church, San Jose, and are held in
high respect by their many friends. Mr. Hansen has
indeed made a wonderful success and he is now en-
joying the rewards of his well-spent years.

MRS. GRACE C. MILLER.— Born in Rochester,
N. Y., Mrs. Grace C. Miller was in maidenhood Grace
Clark, the daughter of James T. Clark, a newspaper
man viho was foreman of the Rochester Democrat
and Chronicle. Later he removed to New York City,
where he was with the Evening Post in the same
capacity. In 1908 he came to San Jose, where he
engaged in the real estate business with James Clay-
ton, the firm being James A. Clayton & Company,
being thus engaged until his death, 1915. The Clark
family are of English descent. Grandfather Thomas
Clark coming from England to Rochester, N. Y.,
where he was a merchant tailor. Mrs. Miller's mother
was Mary Bosworth, a native of Batavia, N. Y.,
whose father. William Bosworth, a Vermonter, be-
came a farmer at Batavia. Mary (Bosworth) Clark

traces her lineage back to seven Mayflower ancestors,
and is a charter member of the Mayflower Society of
California. She resides in Oakland and is now com-
piling the Bosworth geneolog)\

Grace Clark was the third oldest in their family of
five children and spent her youth in Rochester. After
graduating from the Rochester public schools she
completed her education in the Girls' High School,
Brooklyn, N. Y. She was married in San Jose to
James B. Miller, who was born in Altoona, Pa., a
son of John G. Miller. \\li<. m r\,(l in a Pennsylvania
regiment through the (.'ml \\,;i, Ikiiik mustered out
as a sergeant. James .\iill<i i- ,i iiionotypist, and is
now in charge of the nioiiuiype department of the
University of California. FVaternally he is a Mason.
On account of her daughter's health, Mrs. Miller
came to Los Gatos in 1921, and wishing to occupy
herself she leased the old Riddle residence on Bay-
view street, at the head of Main street, and converted
it into a family hotel, naming it Hillside Villa. In her
religious belief Mrs. Miller is a Congregatonalst.

JAMES W. SHEPHERD.— A worthy representa-
tive of some of the earliest settlers in Andrew Coun-
ty, Mo., James W. Shepherd, the rancher of the
Rucker district in the vicinity of Gilroy, was born
about twenty-five miles north of St. Joseph, on Feb-
ruary 4. 1861, the son of James and Mary Jane
(Conner) Shepherd, well-to-do farmers of that sec-
tion, who removed to McDonough County, 111., in
1863. and five years later returned to Missouri. They
located this time in Cooper County, and engaged in
the raising of mules, horses and stock. Mr. Shep-
herd also became an extensive grain-buyer, and op-
erated throughout Missouri and Kansas. In 1870,
the family removed to California, and located in
Calistoga. Napa County, but in 1876, they bought a
ranch in Santa Clara County; later they located at
San Jose, where Mr. Shepherd died at the age of
fifty-six years.

James W. Shepherd attended both the public
schools and the Garden City Business College at
San Jose, and near that city he entered into grain-
farming with his brother, John L. Shepherd, with
whom he continued for many years on leased land.
In 1895 he removed to the Rucker district from San
Jose, and here acquired five acres, where he set out
an orchard. This in itself was an interesting pio-
neer movement, for he planted his orchard just as
quickly as the Catherine Dunne rancho had been
subdivided and sold, he being one of the very
first to buy property. He was successful from the
beginning, and little by little added to his holdings,
until now he has some sixty-three acres of peaches
and prunes. Until 1908, Mr. Shepherd was the
superintendent of the Dunne ranch — an important
period, for the trees were then coming into bearing.

When Mr. Shepherd married in November, 1883, in
San Jose, he chose for his bride Miss Flora Lanz,
who was born near Alliance, Ohio, and when seven
years old accompanied her mother, two brothers and
three sisters to California, when they settled at San
Jose. Her mother, Mary Lanz, passed away at San
Jose in 1895, beloved by all who knew her. Three
daughters have honored this union. Mabel has become
the wife of B. H. Franklin, the rancher at Rucker, and
they have one son, William L. ; Alma is Mrs. A. W.
Chesbro. and she resides at Gilroy w ith her husband
and two children — Helen and Elizabeth; Maude mar-

\1D2

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ried W. E. Keltner. and they reside near Manteca.
She is a graduate from the art department of the
University of the Pacific, and the manual training
department of the State Normal at San Jose, and for
six years successfully followed teaching in Stanislaus
and Santa Clara Counties. Mr. Shepherd, who is
a Democrat in matters of national political moment,
rendered the Ruckcr district long and able service
as a member of the local school board. He also be-
longs to the Fraternal Aid Union and the Redmen
and he is a charter member of the California Prune
& Apricot Association.

MRS. MARY E. HANSEN.— Representing the
third generation of California pioneers, Mrs. Mary
E. Hansen can well be proud of her ancestry and
the honored part they have played in the progress and
advancement of the Golden State. Her maternal
grandparents were Robert A. and Mary (Tye) Ste-
phens, the father's birthplace being on the English
Channel, vi^hile Mrs. Stephens was a native of Con-
necticut. They were married in New York City and
in 18S2 came to California by the way of the Isthmus.
Robert A. Stephens was a soldier in the U. S. Army
and while en route to the Pacific Coast his ship was
wrecked but he was among those saved. After arriv-
ing in California he was stationed at Fort Redding
to guard the immigrants from the depredations of the
Indians, and here his wife, who had received a good
education in her native state, was engaged by the
government to teach the Indians the ways of civili-
zation, but notwithstanding all her efforts she met
with the same discouragement that many other bene-
factors of the race have experienced owing to the
Indian's untoward nature.

On February 16, 1863, while Mr. and Mrs. Ste-
phens were still stationed at Fort Redding, the first
of their nine children was born, a daughter, Julia,
who became the mother of Mrs. Mary E. Hansen,
our subject. When Julia Stephens was a babe of two
years, her parents removed to Santa Clara County,
settling at Santa Clara in 1855, and here she was
reared and educated. In 1875 she was married to
Nathan Smith, at San Jose; he had come to Cal-
ifornia as a boy with his parents, James Hartford and
Elizabeth (Tribby) Smith, who were pioneer settlers
of Lake County, Cal., and shortly after his marriage,
Nathan Smith settled in Lake County with his bride
and this remained their home until Mr. Smith's
death in 1909. Four children were born to them.
Frank Smith, a resident of Milpitas; one child died
in infancy; Mary, now Mrs. James Hansen of Mil-
pitas; William, a farmer in Lake County, died in
1919 and left three children. There are nine grand-
children and one great-grandchild. At San Jose, in
1920, Mrs. Smith was married to Douglas Gififord of
Lake County, where he is a large ranch owner in
Cobb 'Valley. Mrs. Gifford is also the owner of
valuable property in San Jose and San Francisco.

Mary E. Smith was born on the Smith home-
stead in Cobb Valley, Lake County, and here her
girlhood days were spent until her first marriage
which united her with George W. Papson, who was
born near Berryessa, Santa Clara County, his par-
ents being William and Matilda A. (Freer) Papson,
very early settlers and ranchers of Santa Clara
County. Mr. and Mrs. Papson became the parents
of five children, four now living as follows: George
Raymond, a rancher of Santa Clara County; Ver-

ona K.; Ina A., the wife of F. M. Vermillion, has one
child named Evelyn; Earl W. Mr. Papson passed
away on October 23, 1915, and on October 21, 1919,
Mrs. Papson was united in marriage with James
Hansen, a highly-esteemed resident of the Milpitas
district, w'hose sketch also appears in this history.
Mr. Hansen has been a resident of this section for
more than forty years and has made a splendid suc-
cess both as a rancher and as an orchardist. Mr.
and Mrs. Hansen now make their home on a fruit
ranch of thirty-three acres south of Berryessa on
Capitol Avenue, where they have a cozy country resi-
dence. Liberal and kind-hearted, and a woman of
much capability, Mrs. Hansen has entered heartily
into the life of the community and has in every way
demonstrated her worthy heritage as the descendant
of her honored pioneer forebears.

GEORGE E. ABEL.— A very successful and in-
fluential rancher who has remained in the vicinity of
his birth and become more and more identified with
that region, is George E. Abel, a native of Milpitas,
where he was born on January 3, 1882, a son of
Henry and Margaret (Mulhern) Abel. In pioneer
days, Henry Abel set out from Wisconsin for Cali-
fornia, and he chose Milpitas as the best place in
which to found family and fortune. He became a
retail meat-dealer, and continued in that important
trade for forty years. His shop stood on the same
spot on which now stands the home of our subject,
on the main street of Milpitas, south of the Catholic
Church. When he quit his butcher shop and busi-
ness, Mr. Abel went into farming, and he acquired
a farm of 500 acres on the Trimble Road, southwest
of Milpitas. Mr. and Mrs. Abel had a family of four
children, and our subject was the youngest. William
H., the first-born, resides on the Abel ranch in Ne-
vada, near Winnemucca. The daughter. Miss H.
Gertrude, lives at Milpitas. Arthur F. Abel is on
the same stock-farm with his brother William.
Henry Abel was an active member of the school
board in Milpitas, and in that capacity served his fel-
low citizens faithfully.

George E. Abel attended the public school at Mil-
pitas, and then pursued a general course at the Santa
Clara College, spending about fifteen years, in the
meantime, with his father in the butcher business,
and then following his father to the ranch. Henry
Abel passed away on January 29, 1917, four years af-
ter the death, on September 29, of his devoted wife,
and since his death, George Abel has been managing
the Milpitas portion of the Abel estate. The 500
acres are devoted to grain, hay, vegetables, and fruit,
thirty-five acres being in pears, and the ranch is irri-
gated by artesian wells.

While at Winnemucca, Nev., George Abel was
married to Miss May Staunton, the ceremony taking
place on September 29, 1914. The bride was the
daughter of Michael and Jennie (Melarkcy) Staun-
ton, her father was one of Nevada's earliest pioneers
who mined for years throughout California and Ne-
vada, and later became a merchant in the Sage Brush
State. They had four children, Michael D; Edward
W; May and another daughter, Josephine, who be-
came Mrs. T. P. Keating, of San Francisco. Mrs.
Abel attended the public schools at Winnemucca, and
later the Alameda high school, and finished her stud-
ies at Mills College, in Oakland. Two children have

//Jy/z^^L^ (3 rr^

^^^^L-TyV^^Liy'TyLy

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1105

blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Abel, George
Staunton and Margaret. The family attend the Ro-
man Catholic Church at Milpitas, and in that town
recently Mr. and Mrs. Abel built their attractive
home. Ill national politics a Republican, he is a
member of the Knights of Columbus of San Jose,
and a charter member of the lodge.

GEORGE WEBSTER TURNER.— A far-seeing,
experienced official who has amply demonstrated ex-
ceptional executive ability is George Webster Tur-
ner, the president of the Los Gatos Telephone Com-
pany. He was born at San Francisco on November
25, 1860, the son of Cephas Turner, Jr., a native of
Hampden, Me., who had married Miss Vienna Bell
Webster, a native of Sanborn, Me. One of the pa-
ternal ancestors, John Turner, a native of England,
came on the Mayflower, in 1620, to Plymouth, Mass.,
and founded the family that have since become prom-
inent and leading citizens in every walk of life
throughout the entire United States. On his maternal
side, George W. Turner is descended from Major
Samuel Nasson, who was of French Huguenot origin,
and the family were also early settlers of New Eng-
land, some of whom served in the Colonial wars,
while Major Nasson served in the Revolution as
major of a Maine artillery regiment.

Cephas Turner Jr., was one of the argonauts that
left New England in 1849 for the California gold
fields, coming as a passenger on the sailing vessel
Harriette Rockwell, around Cape Horn, arriving at
San Francisco in February, 1850. After following
mining with varied success, he located in San Fran-
cisco, where he rose to business prominence and be-
came one of the leading manufacturers. In 1858 he
returned to Maine by way of the Isthmus of Panama,
where he married Miss Webster, and returned with
his bride to San Francisco, where he resumed his
business. He was prominent in civic and social aflfairs
in the early days of San Francisco and was a citizen
highly esteemed and much loved by all who knew
him. He passed away about twenty years ago. His
widow is still living, at the age of eighty-nine, and
makes her home with and is tenderly cared for by
her son, George Webster Turner.

Mr. Turner attended both the grammar and the
high schools of San Francisco, but because of trouble
with his eyesight, he was compelled to give up study-
ing. He then engaged in the insurance business in
San Francisco, and he has been active with insurance
and real estate since 1876. In this field he has made
an enviable reputation, both for valuable experience
and integrity and dependability, and he has done what
he could to stabilize insurance and realty in the
Golden State. In 1908 he came to Los Gatos to
make his home, and for the past eleven years he has
been associated with the local telephone company,
while for ten years he has been, as he now is, presi-
dent. He served on the city council for four years,
and for two years he was chairman of the board, and
it was during his term of office that the city hall and
the sewers were built, the streets paved, and many
improvements effected.

At San Francisco, November 9, 1887, Mr. Turner
was married to Miss Harriette B. Chapman, a native
daughter, born in San Francisco, the daughter of
Henry F. and Ann E. (Seed) Chapman, natives of

Connecticut and Yorkshire, England, respectively.
The Chapman family were among the earliest fam-
ilies of Connecticut and some of Mr. Turner's ances-
tors served in the Revolutionary War. Henry F.
Chapm.an was a '49er, locating in Sacramento until
the flood of 1863, when he moved to San Francisco.
He was a naturalist and was one of the founders of
the Academy of Science in that city. Mrs. Turner
was a graduate of the San Francisco high school.
Two children have come to bless their union: Enid
is the wife of Dr. Hans Lisscr, a practicing physician
in San Francisco and instructor in the Medical De-
partment of the University of California. Ruth Bell
Turner is at home. Mr. Turner was made a Mason in
Occidental Lodge No. 22, F. & A. M., at San Fran-
cisco, thirty-three years ago, and is a past master of
the lodge, as well as one of its oldest and most hon-
ored members. He is also a popular member of the
San Jose Lodge No. 522, Elks, and the Royal Ar-
canum, and of California Chapter, Sons of the Ameri-
can Revolution, San Francisco, and was formerly a
member of the Bohemian Club. He is proud of being
a native son and deiply interested in preserving the
old historical and pioneer landmarks in the state.
Having uccuninl.iti d a i unipetencc, he spends much
of his time in scientific research and is particularly a
student of ethnology.

WILLIAM EDWARD FOLEY.— Prom inen t
among the attorneys of pronounced ability of Santa
Clara County, whose reputation for fidelity to the
best interests of his clients has become a valuable
capital in itself, may well be mentioned William Ed-
ward Foley of San Jose, in wdiich city he was born,
a native son, on December 12, 1879. His father, John
Foley, came to the United States from Ireland in
1850, and for a while lived at New Orleans and worked
on the steamboats plying on the Mississippi. Then
he joined the \J. S. Cavalry and saw service on the
great plains for five years. After that, for two years,
he was a pony express rider from Box Elder to Salt
Lake City, and finally, in 1860, he came to California.
Until 1863 he was at Virginia City, and on his return
to San Jose, he sailed in steamer service from San
Francisco to Panama. He married Miss Honora
Fleming, an accomplished lady, the mother of our
subject. John Foley died in December, 1916, but his
devoted widow is still living. They had two boys and
two girls, and one of the latter died in 1894. A
brother and sister are living on the old home place
with their mother, the lot of which was purchased by
the wide-awake father in early days in the trade of a
saddle horse.

The youngest of the family, William E., attended
the local schools, and finally matriculated at Santa
Clara College; but just as he was about to graduate,
he had to give up his college course on account of a
broken leg. Then he worked for the Farmers Union
for eight months, and after that was in the real estate
office of Jas. W. Rea & Company. Then, forming a
partnership with Jas. W. Rea, lu was for several
years a member of the firm of Foley & Rea, widely
known for their operations in realty. At first, Mr.
Foley studied law privately, and in 1914 he was admit-
ted to practice in the California courts. He was asso-
ciated with Ed Rea in the practice of law for two
years, and he then established himself in private prac-

1106

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tice, which has grown rapidly and become notable in
the history of the Santa Clara Bar. In national polit-
ical affairs a Democrat, Mr. Foley has done good
work as secretary of the Democratic County Central
Committee for the past six years.

On October 22, 1910, Mr. Foley was married to
Miss Alma Brelle, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., who
was reared in Humboldt County, and their union has
been blessed with two sons, James William and Wil-
liam John. Mr. Foley is a charter member of the
Commercial Club.

CHARLES O. SMITH.— A prominent representa-
tive of most important industrial interests in Santa
Clara County whose marked business ability and
strength of character have made him well qualified for
the position he holds and contributed to render him af-
fluent and independent, is Charles O. Smith, of the
Smith Manufacturing Company of San Jose. He was
born in Truro, Nova Scotia, on November 12, 1878, the
son of John S. Smith, whose native town was Went-
worth. Nova Scotia. He was a piano maker and he mar-
ried Temperance E. Fillmore, w'ho was born at Am-
herst, N. S. They were of Scotch and English descent,
their ancestors early coming to New England: but
being United Empire Loyalists, they removed to
Nova Scotia and naturally helped to build up that
prosperous country. In 1888, however, John S. Smith
came into the States and brought his family out to
California and Los Angeles; and a year later they
migrated north to New Westminster and Chilliwack,
British Columbia, where he engaged in manufactur-
ing until 1900, when he returned to California and
settled at San Jose. In 1903 he commenced to manu-
facture supplies for orchardists and canneries, on
West Santa Clara Street, and understanding both the
science and art of manufacturing, he turned out only
excellent machinery and appliances. His business
grew steadily, and from time to time he had to en-
large his plant. His son, C. O. Smith, joined him,
and he continued in business until he retired in 1921,
when our subject took over his important interests.
The eldest in the family of one son and seven
daughters, C. O. Smith, from a lad, assisted his
father in manufacturing, meanwhile himself attend-
ing the schools of his locality. In 1900, he came
to San Jose with his father, when they started
their factory; but in 1906, when the mining boom
struck Nevada, he determined to join the gold-
seekers at Tonopah, afterwards going to Globe, Ariz.,
and thence to Sonora, Mexico, where he was with a
land development company for three years. In 1912,
he returned to California and became sales manager
for the Patterson Ranch Company, owners of the Pat-
terson Irrigated Farms, and he saw, as well as aided
in the building up of Patterson, now a garden spot
in the San Joaquin Valley. He continued in charge
of their sales department imtil 1915, when he re-
signed, to again enter into business with his father, in
the Smith Manufacturing Company, started in 1903.
Beginning with a capital of $200, they manufactured
machinery for packers, canners and fruit growers, and
as the business grew gradually, step by step, they en-
larged it from time to titne, until in 1916 they pur-
chased their present location, 170 feet front on Stock-
ton Street, at the corner of Alameda, where they have
three large buildings, giving 51,000 square feet of
floor space. The shops are well arranged. There is

a large wood-working department, a machine shop, a
metal shop, a foundry, a pattern shop and a boiler-
shop, and plans are under way to add some 19,600
square feet of floor space within the year 1922. Each
shop and department is equipped with the latest ma-
chinery and devices for the manufacture of their dif-
ferent lines of products, 70 per cent of which is
shipped outside of and beyond the valley, to domestic
and foreign trade. Their goods are shipped to the
Orient, South America, South Africa, Australia and
the Pacific Islands, as well as to Europe.

As has been stated, Charles O. Smith in 1921 pur-
chased his father's interest; but a year later, wishing
still further to enlarge the enterprise, he formed the
Smith Manufacturing Company, Inc., with a capital
stock of $500,000, and he is the president and man-
ager. Under his able direction the business has
grown to be one of the largest in California. At San
Jose, in October, 1905, Mr. Smith was married to
Miss Julia S. Paige, a daughter of Elgin W. Paige,
a pioneer rancher in this county. They have been
blessed with three children: Alice Dione, Oliver
Paige and Lois.

DAVID GARROD.— A well educated gentleman
who spent about a quarter of a century as an educa-
tor is David Garrod, a native of England, born at
Halstead, Essex, November 14, 1846, a son of Rich-
ard and Emma (Staines) Garrod of Halstead. The
father was with "Courtaulds," a manufacturer of silk
crepe of that place, for fifty-four years. David Gar-
rod, the eldest of a family of eight children, was
educated at Trinit}' Training School, at Halstead.
after which he entered Battersea College, London,
where he was graduated with honors, winning a
Queen's scholarship, after which he became principal
of schools. He was married in Petmarsh, England,
August 20, 1878, to Miss Sophia Ann Creffield, born
at the family home "Brookehouse," Petmarsh, Es-
sex, England, the place being still in the possession
of a member of the family. She was the second
child of eight children born to Thomas and Jennina
(Sycamore) Creffield, farmers, who spent their entire
lives in their native place. Sophia Ann was educated
at Trinity Training School. Halstead, then passed the
examination in London and received a teacher's cer-
tificate after which she followed the profession of
teaching until her marriage.

Mr. Garrod served as principal of schools in dif-
ferent parts of England and Wales until 1892. His
health becoming seriously impaired, he was advised
to seek a milder climate. Arriving in Santa Clara
County, Cal., in May, 1892, Mr. Garrod located on
the San Jose-Los Gatos Road, in the Cambrian school
district until the fall of 1893, when the members of
the family purchased the present ranch, four and one-
half miles northwest of Saratoga. Here he and his
son, Ralph W., have set out orchards and improved
it until they have a splendid full bearing orchard of a
variety of fruits, principally prunes. He has built a
comfortable residence on a knoll overlooking the
southern portion of the Santa Clara Valley. Mr. and
Mrs. Garrod have three children: Ralph Vince, who
is managing the Garrod ranch and orchards, is pres-
ident of the state division of the Farmers Educa-
tional and Co-operative Union of America, w-ho, by
his union with Emma Stolte has three children—

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1107

Louise Sophia, Vince Stolte and Richard Ralph; Mary
Creffield, a graduate of San Jose State Normal, is
the wife of Henry Pfeffer, an orchardist, at Castle
Rock Ridge on the Twenty-seven Mile scenic drive,
and they have two children — Rose Mary and Dorothy.
The youngest child, Harold, is in the importing
department of the Santa Fe Railroad Company, with
headquarters in San Francisco; he married Hazel
Collins of Santa Cruz and has two children — Olga
and Harold David.

Mr. Garrod took a prominent part in and was
secretary of the Men's Village Cluh in Horringer,
and was a member of the Odd Fellows at Benwick,
Cambridgeshire. Mr. and Mrs. Garrod are mem-
bers of the Episcopal Church, and Mr. Garrod was for
fifteen years organist at Horringer and Ickworth.

WILLIAM DENNIS TAYLOR.— A man who
left an enviable record as a progressive and enter-
prising native son was the late William Dennis
Taylor, who was born on the Summit, Santa Cruz
Mountains, January 18, 1864, the adopted son of
James and Margaret (Higgins) Taylor, born in Prov-
idence, R. I., and New Jersey, respectively. Wil-
liam Dennis Taylor's father was William Dennis,
and his mother was Ann Tillman, early settlers of
the Santa Cruz Mountain region, but the mother
died when William Drnnis was born, leaving this
infant son and an older son, John, who resides in
Oakland. William Dennis was adopted by James
Taylor and his good wife, who reared the boy with
tender care and showered their affections on him as
if he were their own child, and William Dennis in
turn loved them as a father and mother and would
never leave them. James Taylor was born January
19, 1825, the son of James and Margaret (Ellen)
Taylor, natives of Ireland and Scotland. When six-
teen years of age James left home and began life for
himself. In 1852 he started for California, leaving
New York, February 2, on the clipper ship Kate
Hayes, commanded by Capt. Moran, and sailed
around Cape Horn, arriving in San Francisco, July
3. He followed different occupations in that city
until 1856, when he purchased a small farm in The
Willows, near San Jose. In 1857 he sold it and
located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where he
owned three different ranches before he purchased
the place the Taylor family still own. He moved
on this ranch in 1864, and with the aid of his family
he set out orchards and vineyards. In 1854 he mar-
ried Margaret Higgins, who was born and reared in
New Jersey. She crossed the plains in an ox-team
train in 1845, consuming seven months en route.
James Taylor and his wife were highly esteemed and
his passing away in 1889 was a distinct loss to his
family and to the community; his widow survived
him until March 30. 1898.

William Dennis received a good education in the
public schools and aided in cleaning and improving
the orchards. On the death of his parents he inher-
ited the Taylor ranch and engaged in orcharding.

He was married in San Jose, April 6, 1891, to Miss
Anna Marie Biller. who was born in Kongsvinger,
Norway, a daughter of Anders and Anna (Johansen)
Biller, the father being a watchmaker and jeweler,
and both spent their days in the native land. Of
their seven children, six came to the United States.

Mrs. Taylor received her education in the excellent
schools of Norway. She came to Wisconsin in 1887
and there became acquainted with Mrs. Nielsen,
from Wrights, Santa Clara County, Cal., and she
accompanied Mrs. Nielsen to her home, and it was
there she met William Dennis Taylor.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Taylor con-
tinued in horticultural work, and in time came to
have splendid orchards. Deeply interested in having
good educational advantages for the children, Mr.
Taylor served acceptably as trustee and clerk of the
Summit school district for many years. In 1912 his
health failed to such an extent he turned the manage-
ment of the ranch over to his son, William A., and
located in East San Jose. He passed away March
25, 1919. He was a member of Ridgeley Lodge No
294, I. O. O. F., at Los Gatos. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor
were the parents of four children: William A., is
operating the home ranch; Clarence J., resides in
Alameda; Carl E., resides in San Jose; Ida Margaret,
IS with the California Prune and Apricot Growers'
Association in San Jose. Mrs. Taylor continues to
make her home in San Jose and there, surounded by
friends, is looking after the interests left by her hus-
band. She is a member of the Swedish Mission
Church in San Jose, as well as the Ladies' Aid, and
like her late husband she is a Republican.

F. H. HOLMES. — A successful, influential busi-
ness man and rancher is F. H. Holmes of Morrill
Road, two miles to the northeast of Berryessa. He
isa native son and was born in San Francisco, March
15. 1865. His father, A. Holmes, a native of Maine,
came to California and married Emily C. Foye, also
a native of Maine. A. Holmes was the first princi-
pal of the State Normal at San Francisco. Going to
Rio Vista to farm when a boy, Frank H. Holmes
started his big collection of birds and skins. In 1886,
he moved to San Jose to farm his uncle's ranch
which consisted of 160 acres which he developed to
prunes and apricots. He was married to Hattie
Lake in 1890 in San Jose, a native of the Golden State
and the daughter of an Argonaut. His mother is still
living in Palo Alto at the age of eighty-two. In 1899
Mr. Holmes owned his first automobile, a Stanley
Steamer, one of the very first in the valley. It was
in this machine he made the first trip into Yosemite
Valley, the first machine in and out under its own
power. In 1905 he started to manufacture Sunset
automobiles in San Francisco. Being burnt out by
the 1906 fire he moved his factors- to San Jose, the
latter being sold in 1912. In 1892 he started in the
fruit packing business, increasing his business each
year until in 1917 he packed out as many as 160 car-
loads of fruit from the packing house during a sea-
son. Though leading a busy life as a rancher, manu-
facturer and packer, he devoted much of his time to
collecting birds and to fishing, being a great lover of
outdoor sports.

His two sons. William Roy and Ellis Holmes were
born in 1892 and 1894. respectively. William Roy
went first to Berryessa grammar school, then to San
Jose high school and was graduated from the Uni-
versity of California in 1906 with a degree in pom-
ology. Ellis Holmes went first to Berryessa school,
then to Lick Polytechnic in San Francisco and later
spent a year in Santa Clara College, finishing off his

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

course of study in the agricultural school of the Uni-
versity of California at Davis. Now he and his
brother are the owners of a ranch of 160 acres near
Fresno, 120 'acres of which is being set to table and
raisin grapes, while forty acres are in fig trees, all
being sixteen years old. The brothers alternate in
assuming the executive or superintendents offices.
They also manage the orange grove at Terra Bella in
Tulare County, owned by their uncle and father, con-
sisting of fifty acres in Navel and Valencia oranges
eight years old. They are also silent partners of the
VV. J. Benson Company auto distributors of the
Stephens automobile for Northern California, Ne-
vada and the Islands. Both are Elks, William Roy
Holmes belonging to San Jose Lodge No. 522 and
Ellis Holmes to Fresno Lodge No. 437. William Roy
is also a Mason.

JOHN W. DINSMORE, D.D., LL. D.— A promi-
nent minister of the Presbyterian Church and one of
the most distinguished alumni of Washington and
Jefferson College, Rev. John W. Dinsmore, D. D.,
LL. D., died at Los Gatos, April 2, 1922. Dr. Dins-
more was born on the Dinsmore farm in Canton
township. Pa., (now the residence of the sixth genera-
tion of the Dinsmore family). March 13, 1839, a son of
William and Rebecca (Anderson) Dinsmore. He re-
ceived his academic education at Crosscreek Academy,
was graduated from Washington College in the class
of 1859, and from the Western Theological Seminary
in Allegheny in 1862. He was licensed by the pres-
bytery of Washington, April 2S„ 1861, and ordained
June 28, 1863, by the presbytery of Winnebago. He
was stated supply at Cambria, Wis., for one
year; pastor at Prairie-du-sac, Wis., 1864-1870;
Bloomington, 111., 1870-1891; San Jose, Cal., 1891-
1901, and retired from the active pastorate in 1901.
Dr. Dinsmore was moderator of the synod of Illinois.
1883; synod of California, 1904; a member of ten
Presbyterian general assemblies; chairman of the gen-
eral assembly special committee on judicial commis-
sions, which framed the constitutional articles provid-
ing for the supreme court of the Presbyterian Church
in U. S. A.; was chairman of the permanent judicial
committee; organized the effort, in conjunction with
Archibishop Riordan of the Catholic Church and
bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and se-
cured the passage of the law exempting churches of
all denominations in California from taxation; was an
original member of the board of aid for colleges and
academies of the Presbyterian Church, and member
of the executive committee; director of McCormick
Theological Seminary of Chicago; director of San
Francisco Theological Seminary; and member of the
board of visitors to U. S. Naval Academy and U. S.
Military Academy. He had written much for the
press, and was the author of the well known work
"The Scotch Irish in America," a valuable historical
work, the researches of whose author added materi-
ally to the knowledge of this important part of our
population.

Dr. Dinsmore came of the stock of the early set-
tlers of Western Pennsylvania. His great-grand-
father, James Dinsmore, and his brother, Robert,
came from Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania, and settled
at Millers Run in Allegheny County, in 1774. There
James Dinsmore took out a patent for 300 acres of

land, which farm, after various changes of ownership,
has now for the third time come into the possession
of the Dinsmore connection, being the farm on which
the Maud mine of the McClane Mining Company is
now located.

Dr. Dinsmore was married to Miss Adeline Vance,
a daughter of Isaac Vance, December 22, 1852. She
was born on the farm which is now the site of
Marshalsea, in Allegheny County. To this union
were born six children, four of whom are still living:
William V. and Paul A. Dinsmore, of Oakland, Cal.;
Dudley F. Dinsmore of San Jose, Cal., and Mrs. Mar-
garet Dinsmore Bachus, whose present residence is
in Alaska. Dr. Dinsmore was twice married, his last
marriage being with Miss Alice Blackford, in 1919.
Previous to her marriage Miss Blackford had been a
teacher under the care of the Women's Board of
Home Missions. Dr. Dinsmore's late home was in
Los Gatos, where his wife survives.

Dr. Dinsmore was a man of large mould and vigor-
ous personality, a preacher of great power, and a man
who always took a foremost place in the assemblies
of the church. He was a man of genial personality
and a delightful companion. He contributed much to
the life and guidance of the Presbyterian Church in
the United States, having been chairman of the per-
manent judicial commission, and largely instrumental
in the formation of that and other agencies of the
church, as above noted. He was a leader in the civic
reforms of every community in which he had his resi-
dence and was a man of courageous speech to defend
what he deemed were needed reforms.

EMILY JOSEPHINE COLOMBET. — Promi-
nent among the influential and highly-esteemed
women of San Jose whose family associations are. of
especial interest may well be mentioned Mrs. Emily
Josephine Colombet, who is living retired at her com-
fortable residence at 225 Vine Street. She is the eld-
est daughter of the late Wayne Butler Rogers, who
had married Miss Sarah Borgrove, and she was born
at the Rogers home, on the Rancho de Santa Ter-
esa, south of San Jose. She. attended the local Oak
Grove School, and during the session of 1867-68 was
a student at the College of the Pacific; and now she
is an honored member of the Emendia Society, the
oldest college society on the Pacific Coast. On
March 2, 1876, she was married to Charles Thomas
Colombet, now deceased, son of the late pioneer,
Clemente Colombet. Charles Thomas Colombet,
was born at the Mission San Jose on November 23,
1852, and was reared in Santa Clara County, where
he attended the University of Santa Clara. He be-
came a prominent stock dealer, and used to operate
very extensively in California, Nevada and Arizona.
Three children were born to the worthy couple. Cle-
mentina J., now the wife of F. C. Struven, a merchant
of San Francisco, has one daughter, Bernice. Char-
lotte is the bookkeeper for Armsby & Co., at their
office in San Jose, and Charles Wayne married Miss
Florence Campbell, who is a daughter of the late
Edward Campbell, an honored pioneer of Santa
Clara. In 1916, due to frail health, Charles T. Col-
ombet retired from active business and enjoyed the
quiet of his San Jose fireside; and on January 27,
1921, he passed to his eternal reward. He was held
in high regard by all of his fellow-citizens, and was

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1109

a member of the Fraternal Aid. Mrs. Colombet, also
has been fortunate in enjoying the same complimen-
tary esteem from all who have known the Rogers and
Colombets. She is among the interesting members
of the Pioneer Sons and Daughters; she has done
good work in the Trinity Guild of San Jose, of
which she is an active member; and she belongs to
the Flower Lovers' Club.

One of the most interesting events in the annals of
the family occurred on June 11, 1917, when Mrs.
Wayne B. Rogers, Mrs. Colombet's mother, celebrat-
ed her ninetieth birthday anniversary at the home of
her daughter, Mrs. F. J. Brandon, at 1U37 South
First Street, San Jose. There was no attempt at a
formal affair, says the San Jose Mercury Herald of
June 17, but scores of friends remembering the sig-
nificant date, called upon the beloved little gentle-
woman, bearing good wishes and tokens of their af-
fection. During the course of the afternoon, she was
presented with twenty beautiful bouquets. Two large
birthday cakes, also, one lighted with ninety pink
candles, the other ornamented in lavender and bear-
ing ninety lighted candles, were the center of attrac-
tion at the buffet luncheon throughout the day. Mrs.
Rogers is a native of Baden, Germany, and came to
this country when a baby with her parents and
grandparents. The families settled in Ohio, and it
was in Bucyrus on April 23, 1849, that Miss Sarah
Borgrove plighted her troth to Wayne B. Rogers, a
prominent pioneer of Santa Clara County, born in
Bucyrus, Ohio, January 31, 1827. His father, Icha-
bod Rogers, was born in New York and later re-
moved to Bucyrus, Ohio, where he was a miller and
farmer. In 1849, he came across the plains to Cali-
fornia but remained only a short time, returning to
his home in Ohio, where he spent the remainder of
his days. His wife, Lucy (Widger) Rogers was also
born in New York and passed away in Ohio at the
age of ninety-seven years. When she was seventy-
five years old she visited California, making the jour-
ney alone.

in 1852 Mr. and Mrs. Wayne B. Rogers started
to California. They were five months en route across
the continent in their "prairie schooners," enduring
many hardships, and arrived at the Santa Teresa
rancho on Christmas Day, 1852. For fifty-eight
years Mr. and Mrs. Rogers lived in the same house
on the Santa Teresa, and there all but two of their
eleven children were born, six of whom are living:
Mrs. Emily J. Colombet; Mrs. Amanda C. Brandon;
Mrs. Ida R. Council; Mrs. Lillie M. Odlin; Mrs.
Adella S. Lester, and George L. Rogers, all of San
Jose. Mr. Rogers was active in aiding the settlers
to get deed to their land on the Santa Teresa rancho,
and made several trips on horseback to Stockton for
that purpose. In 1856 he returned East and bought
a drove of horses, intending to bring them across
the plains, but on account of the Indian uprising he
sold them and came to California by the way of
Panama. Mr. Rogers passed away December 6,
1909, other pioneers of the famous old rancho passed
on, and on June 11, 1917, at the age of nir.ety. Mrs.
Sarah Rogers was the sole survivor of the early set-
tlers on the grant. She was also the oldest member
in point of years and membership in the First Metho-
dist Church of San Jose. Until a few months be-
fore this ninetieth birthday celebration, Mrs. Rogers

enjoyed excellent health and was able to be up and
about the house and garden at Mrs. Brandon's
home, where she resided; she passed away December
3, 1919. This loveable woman, remarkably young
in appearance, considering her age, approached the
sunset of life with a grace and gentle dignity that
marked her as a philosopher and true disciple of the
Great Teacher, who dealt most kindly with her dur-
ing the passing of the years.

PATRICK MURPHY.— An old resident of the
Santa Cruz Mountain region is Patrick Murphy, a
native of Wicklow, Ireland, born October 10, 1854,
the youngest of . three children born to Edward and
Bridget (Lawler) Murphy. He was brought up on
tile farm in Ireland, at the same time attending the
public schools of his locality. In 1875 he emigrated
to Herkimer County, N. Y., being employed at farm
work until 1879, when he came to California. After
a year spent at Lodi he came to the Santa Cruz
Mountains, being employed at logging in the sawmill
of Mr. McKoy at Felton for a couple of years, then
a short time for Tom Hubbard, after which he w^as
with Hubbard & Carmichael Bros Company, logging
and swamping, continuing with them until they closed
their mills from the lack of further available timber.
Since then he has continued to work for the Carmi-
chael brothers on their ranches in the Saratoga dis-
trict, except a short time for Mr. Rodvin, the con-
tractor. Mr. Murphy now makes his home in Sara-
toga; he is a great lover of the great outdoors and
enjoys hunting and fishing, and in the early days on
holidays he could be often seen with his rod and gun
wending his way over mountain and stream, enjoying
nature to the fullest. Fraternally, he is a member of
the American Foresters at Saratoga.

P. MILTON SMITH.— One of the well known
journalists of Central California, P. Milton Smith
during the decade or more which has marked his
conniction with the Register Leader of Mountain
\'iew, he has always been a vigilant champion of any
cause he believed to be right. While employed by
the Palo Alto Times, he was called "Unshakable
Smith" and the name seemed to suit him. His great-
great grandfather, James T. Smith, with his young
wife left Scotland in the early part of the eighteenth
century and settled in Virginia, where founded the
family. Many brainy and noted men and women
sprang from this sturdy Scotch pair, one of whom
<\'as General Kirby Smith. The Smiths lived in Vir-
ginia for several generations, but all of them abhor-
ring slavery, they finally moved to Pennsylvania be-
fore the emancipation period.

P. Milton Smith was born February 19, 1869, on a
farm in Pulaski County, Ind. His father, Harvey H.
Smith, was a country school teacher, and taught and
farmed all his life. His mother was Sarah Ann Curry,
a Pennsylvanian of Scotch-Irish descent and of strong
Prcsl^vterian faith. They were the parent.sof nine
children, four of whom were stricken with scarlet
fever, and passed away in one week. Those now liv-
ing are Eugene E., a farmer in Pettis Countv, Mo.,
Mrs. Ella Dunn of Versailles, Mo., and P. Milton
Smith of Mountain View, Cal., the subject of this
sketch. One sister, Carrie, the wife of S. A. Webb
of Mountain View, died in 1899, leaving no children.
Milton was the youngest child of the family. When

1110

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

he was one year old, his father removed to Missouri,
where they located near Booneville. There young
Smith followed the usual life of a country boy, hunt-
ing, boating and fishing in the river, attending the
country school and working on the farm. To have
an education was his major ambition, and knowing
that if he gained it he would have to work hard, he
chopped wood, farmed and hustled in every honest
way possible to get clothes and books. When he was
seventeen he entered Clarksburg College and fol-
lowed the classical course for two years, when, owing
to lack of funds he was obliged to leave and go to
chopping cord wood, which was the most remunera-
tive work he could find. At twenty he started out
and taught school for two years, and then re-entered
college, filled with hope that now he could complete
a full course. Finally he began work as devil on the
Clarksburg Collegian and later was made editor.

In 1893 and 1894 in connection with John W.
Hoist, now a professor at the University of Montana,
he started the Populist at Versailles, Mo., and made
it a lively sheet. In the fall of 1894 he went to St.
Louis and found work on the Evening Chronicle, the
first penny sheet published west of the Missouri
River. He remained with the Chronicle three years
and then went to Kansas City doing city reporting,
and worked in any capacity on the Kansas City Star.
In the spring of 1900 he came to Portland, Ore.,
where he worked on the Oregonian and also on the
Portland Evening Telegram. In the spring of 1901
he came to San Francisco where he worked on a lit-
tle journal called the Western Oil News until the
demise of the sheet that fall. Then he began report-
ing for the San Francisco Chronicle. He left the
city in the spring of 1902 on account of bad health,
and following medical advice, came to the Santa
Clara Valley where he has found life fairly prosper-
ous and has excellent health. In Palo Alto he found
a place on the force of the Times, and on July 1,
1902, he set one galley of the first issue of the Daily
Times. He remained with the Times two years and
then located in Mountain View, where he has fol-
lowed a successful journalistic course.

Mr. Smith owned the Mountain View Leader from
1905 to 1910, when he sold it, and his successor at-
tempted to merge the Leader with the Register
which was the first paper to be established in Moun-
tain View, it having been started in 1888 by Frank
Bacon, the well-known actor and playwright, and
Harry A. Johnson, now deceased. The Leader was
a younger venture, being established in 1903 by H.
G. Copeland. In 1905 Mr. Smith bought out Cope-
land and the Leader, and in 1910 the two papers were
merged into the Register-Leader. Since 1912, when
Mr. Smith took over full control, the paper has been
one of the fearless friends of all that its owner
thought to be right and fair, and has never missed an
issue. He has been an earnest worker in the tem-
perance cause, and even when his frankly expressed
opinions might cause him financial loss, he never
hesitated to voice them.

In 1909 Mr. Smith married Miss Ara V. Copeland,
a sister of his former business associate, H. G. Cope-
land, and has three children, Phyllis, Jean and Aud-
rey. That he has prospered is evidenced by his well-
equipped office and his pretty home on Oak street.

But his present well-earned good fortune does not
mean that Mr. Smith is not a purely self-made man
who has obtained his education by very hard work
while he was striving to overcome almost unsur-
mountable obstacles. Always poor during his early
life, he still had his heart and mind set on the time
far ahead when he would be a strong factor in the
work of moulding public opinion; and the years de-
voted to wood chopping, farming, working at poorly
paid jobs on newspapers never daunted his purpose.
Even the awful experience in Missouri, w-hilc he was
yet a lad, failed to starve his ambition even if it did
nearly starve his body. Grasshoppers, the fatal
plague which more than once devastated the Middle
States, paid an autumn visit to his locality, quietly
deposited millions of eggs in soil which had been
fallow-ed for winter W'heat. With the first warm
breath of spring, when grain grew green, the hoppers
hatched in swarms and soon devoured every vestige
of growing things. Not a leaf was left on tree or
vine, and poverty of the most awful type settled over
the entire region. But neither hoppers nor the pangs
of hunger could long keep down the lean, lank youth
who has now developed into the Santa Clara Valley
"Unshakable Smith."

OTIS BLABON.— One of the early settlers of
Santa Clara County is Otis Blabon. A native of
Maine, he was born June 20, 1840, the son of Otis
and Mary Blabon. The father came around the Horn
from Boston to San Francisco, landing July 4, 1849.
In the spring of 1850 he removed to Santa Clara
County and located on a ranch near San Jose, on the
Stevens Creek Road. In the early sixties he returned
to Maine and remained there for some years, return-
ing to California and settling at Saratoga in 1870.
He lived to the good age of ninety-nine years. The
mother had previously died in Maine.

Otis Blabon, at the age of twelve, ran away from
home to go to sea. During the first year he was
twice shipwrecked and was then willing to remain
at home and work on the farm in Maine. However,
his desire to see the world became so strong that in
1856 he left for San Francisco, removed to Santa
Clara Valley and engaged in farming with his brother
for six years. His next removal was a trip to the
Sandwich Islands, wdiere he remained for a year;
then to Idaho for six years; then he returned to
Saratoga and teamed for two years and then en-
gaged in the livery business and ran a stage from
Santa Cruz and Congress Springs to Santa Clara for
a number of years. He spent five years camping
from Oregon to Mexico, finally locating permanently
in Saratoga and engaging in the harness business,
which he has continued to the present time.

Mr. Blabon's marriage united him with Miss Adie
Carroll and they were the parents of two children,
one of whom, Charles, is living and resides in River-
side County. Mrs. Blabon died in Oregon, and Mr.
Blabon was married to Mrs. Lucy (Berry) Verrie,
and she died in San Jose five years ago. They had
one child, Mark, killed while fireman for the South-
ern Pacific Railroad at Sargent Station, when he was
twenty-four years old. Mr. Blabon is a firm believer
in the principles of the Republican party and belongs
to the Santa Clara County Pioneer Society.

^/u--^ /n-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

nil

EMIL MEYER.— A very enterprising viticulturist
who is proud of being a native son is Eniil Meyer,
who was born in San iM'ancisco. September 1, 1871.
His father, Ernst E. Meyer, an early settler of Cali-
fornia, was born at Denmark in 1843, a son of Judge
Andreas Meyer, an attorney and judge who attained
to prominence in his day and became one of the
leading men in Hadesleben. Ernst E. received a
good education, completing the polytechnic school,
majoring as a draftsman, after which he served in
the German navy during the years of 1863-64. Then
he was engineer on the Hamburg-American line be-
tween Hamburg and New York, quitting the sea to
locate in San Francisco, in 1868, where his brother,
William, was a w'holesale and retail florist on Geary
Street, and there he continued in business until 1884.
Meantime he had purchased four and one-half acre.s
on Stanyan Street, at the Golden Gate Park entrance,
and established the Eureka Nursery, and was the
first to subdivide and lay out lots in that district.
Running through this property were Penoches Ave-
nue, Gratton Street, Stanyan Street, and others. This
was accomplished in 1883-84. As early as 1881 Mr.
Meyer had purchased 1700 acres of land in the Santa
Cruz Mountains, and on November 26, 1884, he
located on the place and started the Mare Vista Vine-
yards. Between 1881 and 1884 he sold ofi fourteen
different tracts to people who improved the lands.
The Meyers built over thirteen miles of road at their
own expense, and later on these roads were given
over to the county. They cleared the land and set
out vineyards and built a winery and cellars.

Ernst Meyer was married in San Francisco in
1870 to Maria Detje, born in Hamburg, Germany,
whose father, Martin Detje, was a musician. She
came to San P'rancisco with her sister, and thus the
acquaintance that had been formed in Hamburg was
renewed in the metropolis of tlie Pacific. Mr. Meyer
died April 8, 1918, survived by Ills widow and two
sons: Emil, the subject of this review, and Arthur,
who is president of the Michaletschke Company,
wholesale cigars and tobaccos in San Francisco; he
is widely traveled and was one of the early salesmen
in his line for the Alaska trade. The mother, who
did her share in making Mare Vista Vineyard a suc-
cess, still makes her home on the ranch with her son.

Emil Meyer attended the public schools of San
Francisco until thirteen years of age, when he came
to Mare Vista Vineyard, after which his education
was in private schools. From a lad lie learned viti-
culture under his father's guidance and in time he-
came associated with him in the business. Since the
death of his father he has taken over the business and
is manager of the Mare Vista Vineyards, comprising
500 acres of land — eighty acres being in different
varieties of wine grapes. He has a bonded winery
but is now specializing in the manufacture of unfer-
mented grape juice. At Wright's, in 1904, Emil
Meyer was married to Miss Anna J. Matty, born in
San Jose, a daughter of Antoine Matty, a pioneer of
San Jose, otherwise represented in this work. To
them have been born two children: Arthur K. and
Alice Marie. Mr. Meyer is interested in the cause of
education and is a trustee of Wright's school district.
He is also greatly interested in the good roads move-
ment and is an advocate of the Skyline Boulevard

from San Francisco to Woodwardia and continuing
to Watsonville and the Southland, a much-needed
thoroughfare. He has faithfully attended the meet-
ings and given his influence for the fulfillment of the
project, well knowing, after it is completed, the
lateral roads will fall in.

Enterprising and progressive, Mr. Meyer can always
be counted on to aid and give his influence towards
worthy movements that have for their aim the build-
ing up and improving of this favored garden spot of
the world. Politicallv, he is a decided Republican.

CHARLES EDWARD BARNS.— Santa Clara
County, famed the world over for landscape beauty,
climate, fruit and intelligent, progressi\r and kiml-
hearted people, is also known, to those l.imili.ir with
the real California of today, as among the leading
shires in the Golden State for attracting those so
distinguished in the world of scieiue. an or letters
that any section of the countr>- would feel itself
honored in their residence. Prominent among such
eminently desirable citizens to whom this favored
portion of the coast has made an irresistible appeal,
and who, in turn, have conferred something upon
life here of exceptionally high value, is Charles Ed-
ward Barns, the astonomer of Morgan Hill, known
to the scientific world as a fellow-scientist, to the
literary world as an inspiring writer, and to the
world of art as the genius presiding over the Diana
Printerv, which bids fair to rival, in genial fame,
the renowned Walpole Press of old Strav.berrv Hill.

Mr. I'.arns was born at r.urliiii,non. W,.,. on Julv
23, 18fi4. the son of Caleb P. and Elizabeth A.
(Eddy) Barns, who were both natives of Northern
New York. They migrated westward, and became
sturdy pioneers in the Badger State, where Caleb
became a banker, and thus it happened that Charles
Edward attended the excellent Wisconsin schools,
where the processes for stimulating the curiosity of
a lad are properly appreciated and used by the peda-
gogues, and then, at the academy at Racine, he pre-
pared for college. In 1884, he entered Columbia
University Law School, and soon after was busy
studying the natural sciences and high mathematics.
He also became a special writer on the staff of the
New York Herald.

Later, when only twenty-three years of age, Mr.
Barns made a tour of China, Japan and India, pri-
marily to recover shattered health; but he also ac-
quired a wealth of material, fact and local color,
which he applied to excellent advantage in his work
ill fiction during the next eight or nine years, most
of which time, after his return to New York, were
spent in the service of the New York Herald. It
was his fortune during this period to make a trip to
Continental Europe, and he spent two years in ex-
tensive travels in France and Italy, stopping a good
part of this time at Venice and Florence. Such a
man, with an unusual head upon his shoulders, and
something very unusual therein, could not lie around
idle; he was. in fact, in constant demand by Eastern
publications.

For many years, Mr. Barns had been associated,
as a friend, with Charles Kellogg, the naturalist, and
having visited his home near Morgan Hill in 1915,
he was greatly impressed with the natural resources
and the beauties of the Santa Clara Valley. He re-
solved to locate here some day; and in 1918 he made

1112

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

good his resolution and removed with his family to
California. Now he has a comfortable home in a
handsome orchard of twenty acres at Morgan Hill,
in which he has erected a dwelling house, a study
and an observatory; for he was busy with astro-
nomical work for many years before coming to Cali-
fornia. He is a member of the American Astro-
nomical Society, which includes representatives of
every department of astronomy, and is a charter
member of the Association of Variable Star Ob-
servers. He is a thoroughly modern scientist, and
looks forward confidently to a complete revision of
the rules governing experimental astronomy.

A most interesting evidence of Mr. Barns' intense
and unselfish devotion to the cause of astronomical
science is afforded in the learned publications, issued
from time to time in the form of very neatly-printed
booklets, from his own private press known as the
"Diana Printery." Such an one is the little volume
entitled, "The Practical Observing of Variable
Stars," a series of timely essays on this most fas-
cinating field of practical astronomy, wherein Ed-
ward C. Pickering wrote upon "Organized System,"
and other scholars discussed the "Conversion of Cal-
endar Date to Julian Days," the "Variable Stars for
the Amateur," "The Variable Star Problem," "The
Spectrum of Variable Stars," "The Overcoming of
Initial Difficulties," "Charts and Their Uses,"
"Method in Observing," "Conditions in Observing
Faint Stars," "The Subject of Personal Equation,"
and "The Plotting of Light Curve," and there is
much good matter by the secretary. The work is
well illustrated, and is serviceable as well as enter-
taining. In some respects a more important issue
of these brochures is that devoted to a "Memorial
to Edward Charles Pickering," whose life stretched
from 1846 to 1919. a memorial of the American Asso-
ciation of Variable Star Observers. Besides an ex-
cellent portrait, and the well-written tribute, there
is a lengthy poem entitled, "Translated," by Charles
Edward Barns, which well reveals the author's depth
of thought and sympathy of heart, and is a graceful
and worthy addition to the great mass of Pickering
In Memoria. Particularly suggestive, in the light of
recent world-events, is the content of the last admir-
able verse:

Monarchs maintain and pass, forsooth —
The exiled kings, unsceptered czars:

But who adds one cosmic truth.
He shall be deathless as the stars.

At Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1884, Mr. Barns was mar-
ried to Miss Mabel E. Balston, the daughter of
James P. Balston, a native of Fredricksburg. N. S..
and their union has been blessed with three children:
Cornelia has become the wife of Arthur Garbett. the
composer and writer, for several years associated
with the title department of the Victor Phonograph,
they have one child, Charles Richard; Fred B., who
is an electrical engineer and graduated from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, served in
the United States Army during the late war. and
while in France for two years was commissioned first
lieutenant, he is married, and resides in New York
City; and Miss Anne Barns was formerly of th<>
traffic department of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Mr. Barns is a Blue Lodge Mason.

HERMAN W. HOBSON.— San Jose is indeed
fortunate in having the life and property of its citi-
zens safeguarded by one so trustworthy as the pres-
ent chief of the tire department, Herman \V. Hob-
son. A man of great energy, intensity of purpose
and strong convictions, he was born December 17,
1872. a native son of San Jose. He is the son of
Thomas M. and Sarah (Calaway) Hobson, who came
to the Golden West in early pioneer days. The
father was first engaged in brick making, but later
was engaged in farming and was for many years
a successful orchardist; in later years he retired
from active life. He passed away several years
ago, but his wife is still living, and makes her
home with her son in San Jose.

Herman VV. Hobson was educated in the public
schools of San Jose. After leaving school he entered
the employ of the Santa Clara Valley Lumber Com-
pany and became an efficient workman in the sash
and door department. In the year 1908 he entered
the service of the city fire department as lieutenant
on Engine No. 1 and in 1910 he was advanced to
the position of captain. In 1915 he became assist-
ant chief and three years later, in 1918. he became
chief of the San Jose Fire Department.

Mr. Hobson's marriage in 1898 united him with
Miss Mary J. Boyer. who passed away in 1914.
One daughter, Marion, survives her mother. He is
an upright, agreeable, and generous man. contribu-
ting to worthy causes, and making his influence felt
in Republican circles, and general city government,
having taken an active interest in his community's
welfare. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Moose.
Eagles, and Garden City Parlor No. 22, N. S. G. W.
He is a member of the National Association of Fire
Chiefs and the Pacific Coast Fire Chiefs Association.
When enabled to do so, he spends his leisure hours in
the mountains or at the seashro.e

PETER NELSEN. — An energetic and industrious
rancher is found in Peter Nelsen. who came to
America in early manhood. He was born and grew
to manhood in Skane, Sweden, his birth occurring at
Christianstad, February 28, 1846. and was the son of
Nels and Carste Pearson, farmers in Sweden. He
is next to the youngest in a family of five children,
namely, Edna, Hans, Bettie, Peter, and Batilda. The
father lived to be an old man. Peter attended the
public schools of his native land until he was eight
years old; then he started to work on a farm; as
soon as he was old enough, he learned the plasterer's
and bricklayer's trade and worked at it for three
years in Sweden before leaving for America. In 1869
he started on his long journey for America and go-
ing directly to Chicago, he worked for four years
there at his trade; and was there at the time of the
big fire in 1871 and helped rebuild many of the
buildings. In 1875 he reinoved to Oakland. Cal., and
followed his trade until he began contracting plaster-
ing and continued there until 1909.

The marriage of Mr. Nelsen occurred in Oakland,
in the spring of 1892 and united him with Miss Hilda
E. Samuelsen, also a native of Sweden, a daughter
of Charles Samuelsen. She was educated in the
schools of her native district, and on reaching young
womanhood came to America and for a few years
lived in the Eastern States before coming to Cali-
fornia. Mr. and Mrs. Nelsen have two children liv-
ing, Charles Albert, living on a ranch on the Home-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1113

stead Road, and Lolo, now Mrs. Frostholm. who lives
at home most of the time, her husband being a me-
chanical erecting engineer on ships. During the year
of 1909, Mr. Nelsen removed to Santa Clara County,
and purchased an eight-acre ranch on the corner of
Fremont and Hollenbeck Avenue. This ranch was
devoted to the growing of prunes and was in fine
shape when he disposed of it after keeping it three
years. In 1912, Mr. Nelsen bought a twenty-acre
ranch on the Saratoga and Mountain View Road about
three quarters of a mile from Cupertino. This place
is well irrigated and is set to prunes, and the build-
ings are substantial and attractive. Fraternally he
belongs to Berkeley Lodge No. 270, I. O. O. F.

ANDREW J. CAMPBELL.— A native son of Cal-
ifornia. Andrew J. Campbell was born on the sum-
mit of the Santa Cruz Mountains, October 16, 1865.
His father, Wm. J. Campbell, was born in Ohio of
Scotch descent. He married Miss Celinda Brafifett,
also a native of the Buckeye State, who was of
French descent. In 1851 they started across the
plains for California, making the journey of six
months in an ox-team train to Placer County, where
Mr. Campbell followed mining until about 1857, when
he located on government land which he cleared,
improved and engaged in stockraising; later he set
out orchards and vineyard. In time he sold this place
and purchased another which he also sold and in
this way he owned several ranches. He died on his
ranch in Highland district at the age of forty-eight
years, leaving his widow and nine children. The
mother sold the ranch and purchased another in the
Summit district, where she reared the family, giving
them the best school advantages within her reach.
She was a splendid woman of strong character and
when she passed away in 1915 at the age of seventy-
eight years, she was deeply mourned by her family.

Andrew J , the sixth oldest of the family, attended
the local schools and assisted on the home farm.
After his father died he continued to aid his mother
until he was twenty-one, when he began for himself,
engaging in teaming, hauling lumber and wood from
the mountains to Los Gatos. using a six-horse team.
He continued in this line for about fifteen years,
when he quit to engage in orcharding, being employed
on the Burrell place since 1907, and he has lately
leased this place. The fifty-five acres is devoted to
raising prunes, pears, plums, cherries and grapes, and
with the care he gives it, is an excellent producer.
He is a member of tlie California Prune & Apricot
Association. In his political views he gives his sup-
port to the Republican party.

THEODORE C. LUNDIN.— Businesslike, alert,
energetic and genial, Theodore C. Lundin is engaged
in the lucrative business of merchant tailor, with
attractive rooms in the Bank of San Jose building.
He thoroughly understands his business, having had
many years of practice in his chosen line of work.
He was born in Alameda County, near Fruitvale,
a son of Theodore C. and Anna C. Lundin. and at-
tended the grammar and high schools of San Fran-
cisco. In 1886 he took up the tailoring trade at
the John J. Mitchell Cutting school in New York
City, and ten years later he removed to San Jose
and entered the employ of Springs. Inc.. having
charge of their tailoring department until 1907. He
then took a post graduate course with John J.
Mitchell in New York, after which he returned to

San Jose and opened up for himself, his business
steadily increasing year after year.

The marriage of Mr. Lundin occurred in San
Francisco. February 22. 1894. uniting him with Miss
Kitty Roberts, a daughter of William and Sarah
Roberts. Her father was a native of England,
coming to California and settling in San Francisco
in an early day. He was also a merchant tailor and
was for years located in the Palace Hotel. Mrs.
Roberts is deceased while Mr. Roberts is still liv-
ing. Mr. and Mrs. Lundin are the parents of two
children. Aimer Roberts, and Dorothy Kitty. Aimer
Roberts enlisted for service in the World War,
March, 1917, training at Camp Kearney and Fort
Scott in the Fortieth Division of a sanitary train,
going to France. For three months he served with
the English forces. While in France he served in
the One Hundred Fifty-ninth Infantry under Col-
onel Farrell, seeing thirteen days of heavy fighting
on the Somme. He returned to America by the
way of Saint Nazaire arriving at Hoboken, N. J.,
he was sent to the Presidio. San Francisco, and
was discharged in May. 1919. He then took a course
at the University of California agricultural school
at Davis and on completion of his course in 1920
took charge of the twenty-one acre property in the
Almaden district adjacent to San Jose, planted to
apricots and walnuts.

Fraternally, Mr. Lundin is a charter member of
the Elks of San Jose: also a member of the Ma-
sons, being a Knight Templar. He is active in the
Rotary Club of San Jose. Politically he is a stal-
wart Republican. He works for the best interest
of the commonwealth with the same thoroughness
that he manifests in the conduct of his business
affairs and in both has made substantial progress.

TOM D. ANDERSON.— One of the well-known
business enterprises of San Jose. Santa Clara County.
is that conducted under the firm name of T. D. An-
derson, manufacturers of awnings and tents. Mr.
Anderson is well known as the originator of the
collapsible auto-tent and bed, called the Campo
Comfy Camp, which has become so popular with
tourists and campers, and has made a specialty
of catering to the needs of campers. He manufac-
tures a tent that can be attached to an auto by straps
which pass over the top; also manufactures beds
and mattresses and many different styles of tents
used by campers on vacation trips. These camping
articles have become so popular that Mr. Anderson
ships them to all parts of the L^nited States. Canada
and even to the Orient. He maintains his factory
at 246 West Santa Clara street and enjoys a very
lucrative business.

Tom D. Anderson was born July 28. 1887, at
Devils Lake, N. D., a son of H. D. and Amalia B.
(Peterson) Anderson, who came to California in
the year of 1900; both parents reside in Los Angeles
at the present time. Mr. Anderson received his
education in the grammar and high schools: upon
leaving school he was taken into the business of his
father, that of manufacturing awnings and tents.
His inventive mind has revolutionized the vacation
problem and through his invention, campers may
now enjoy many of the comforts of home. His great
love of the outdoors led him to manufacture those
things which make life in the open even more de-
sirable and pleasurable.

1114

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. Anderson's marriage April 8, 1906. united him
with Miss Ethel M. Bradly of San Jose. To them
have been born two children, Maurine and Leola.
Politically he is a supporter of the principles of the
Democratic party and is active in all affairs pertain-
ing thereto. His course has been directed and gov-
erned by a public-spirited and unselfish policy, and
he has never hesitated to condemn reprehensible
schemes in municipal life or to encourage movements
whose tendency has been toward the elevation of
the moral and industrial status of the community.

WILLIAM E. AUSTIN.— An experienced, wide-
awake leader in the musical world who has been
working hard and successfully, with stimulating fore-
sight, to help bring San Jose into the forefront of
California musical centers and to raise the standard
of music in Santa Clara County, is William E. Aus-
tin, the efficient manager of the Wiley B. Allen
Company, dealers in musical instruments. He was
born in Tennessee on February 24, 1881, and first
came to California in his thirty-sixth year.

He attended the common schools of his locality,
then pursued the high school courses, and for three
years was a student at Holly Spring College. Next
he busied himself in various fields of activity in
West Virginia, and in the Western. Middlewestern
and Northwestern states, and after that sailed on
coastwise boats. This varied occupation added ma-
terially to his experience, especially with human na-
ture, and experience that is always an asset. In
1907, Mr. Austin came to California, and for nine
months he was with the Columbia Phonograph Com-
pany in San Francisco. Then he made three trips
on the transport Sheridan to Manila and back, and
at the end of that engagement received the highest
credentials from the captains of the vessels.

On returning to Oakland in 1909, Mr. Austin en-
tered the service of Messrs. Eilers in that city,
with whom he remained for two years. In 1911 he
became connected with Wiley B. Allen Company and
in 1913 he was rewarded by advancement to his
present responsible position. He employs eighteen
people to discharge the ever-growing business of
the firm, and in the shop alone he has supervision
of five expert workmen. The local store enjoys
an enviable patronage in Alameda. San Mateo, San
Benito, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo and
Santa Clara counties, and bids fair to extend even
this extensive territory, so great is the demand for
their goods, and so well satisfied are most folks with
their painstaking efforts to please as well as serve.
In this great work the Wiley B. Allen Company
and Mr. Austin are constantly effecting an educa-
tional influence of the highest order and the most
lasting, as well as far-reaching, in the great work
of upbuilding and uplift in new communities. Mr.
Austin's honesty and frankness have commended
him to strangers, who soon come to place implicit
confidence in both his judgment and his integrity,
and often allow him carte blanche in the selection
of the musical instruments they need.

At Thanksgiving. 1909, in San Francisco Mr. Aus-
tin was married to Miss Louise Glasson, a most at-
tractive lady, a native of Michigan, who has lived
in California since she was one year old. She has
entered heartily into Mr. Austin's ambitions, with her
talents and companionability, and also enjoys with
him the great outdoors. Mr. Austin belongs to the
Lions Club, the San Jose Chamber of Commerce,

and is a Mason of the Eighteenth degree. During
the World War, both Mr. and Mrs. Austin were
active and helpful in all the war drives.

FREDERICK LEE HIATT.— A member of one
of the prominent families of the Union district, Fred-
erick Lee Hiatt is well know in Santa Clara County
as an enterprising horticulturist. He was born in
San Francisco, July 21. 1896, and is a son of Levi
and Marie (Edwards) Hiatt. The father is also an
orchardist and for the past thirty-two years has en-
gaged in raising prunes, cultivating a tract of sixty-
five acres in this locality. In the acquirement of an
education Frederick L. Hiatt attended the grammar
schools of Santa Clara County and high school at
Campbell, but owing to illness was obliged to discon-
tinue his studies before completing his course. On
choosing an occupation he decided to follow in the
footsteps of his father and has also proven his ability
as an orchardist, cultivating choice varieties of prunes
and apricots on his eighteen-acre ranch in the Union
district. He carries on his operations along the most
modern and progressive lines and success is reward-
ing his efforts.

Mr. Hiatt was united in marriage to Miss Glee
Hageman, of San Jose, Cal., a member of one of the
pioneer families of Santa Clara County, and they
have become the parents of a daughter, Jean. His
political allegiance is given to the Republican party
and he finds diversion in hunting. He is a represen-
tative of a family that for over thirty-two years has
contributed to the prestige of Santa Clara County
along horticultural lines and in the development of
his talents he has already won a well established
position among the progressive orchardists of thi>
part of the state.

JOSE C. ANGELC— Without any one to assist
him in securing a start in the business world, and
without the aid of fortuitous circumstances, com-
monly known as "good luck," but by persistent
labor and the constant exercise of frugality, Jose
C. Angelo has brought himself to the position where
he possessed the means necessary for the purchasing
of land. He now resides on the place of ten acres,
near Cupertino on the Doyle Road, which he pur-
chased twenty-eight years ago and set to orchard.
Mr. Angelo was born in the Azores Islands, in the
year of 1861. and was the son of John and Mary
Angelo. who were also natives of Azores, and com-
ing to the United States, they were for many years
engaged in farming near Half Moon Bay, Cal. Mr.
Angelo's father lived to be eighty years of age, his
demise occurring in 1918, his wife's death occurring
some years before.

Jose C. Angelo came to the United States at the
age of sixteen and landed at New Bedford, Mass..
in 1877. and for the next six years followed the
life of a sailor. After returning from a trip back to
his native land, he came to California and settled
in Santa Clara County in 1883, bringing with him
his bride, whom he had married while he was in his
homeland. Mrs. Angelo's maiden name was Mary
Vieria and she was also born in the Azores Islands.
Mr. and Mrs. Angelo became the parents of a family
of twelve children: Joseph served in the One Hundred
Fifty-eighth U. S. Infantry; after training at Camp
Lewis and Camp Kearny was sent overseas and
served in France during the late war; he is now a
rancher at Sunnyvale; Mary is Mrs. Martin of Santa

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1115

Clara; Anna is Mrs. Adrian of San Jose; Antonio
aided the cause of the Allies by giving his services
to the U. S. Navy; Manuel, Frank, Rose, Peter,
Enos, Carl, Phillip, and Jesse are all at home.
Politically, Mr. Angelo is a Republican.

CHAS. ROBERT ROCLIFFE.— A resident of
Santa Clara County since 1893, and owner of the
Giant Oak ranch in Saratoga district, Charles Robert
Rocliffc was born in Easingwold, Yorkshire, England,
January 24, 1860, a son of John and Kate Jepson,
farmer folk in Yorkshire, where they spent their
entire lives. There were five children in their family
of seven that grew to maturity, two of whom reside
in California, Thomas Clough Rocliffe of Orosi and
our subject, who is the eldest living child. He was
brought up on the Yorkshire farm where he received
a good education in the public and private schools.

When eighteen years of age, Mr. Rocliffe migrated
to Canada, where he became messenger for the Can-
adian Express Company, running out of Montreal to
Quebec and Toronto, from 1878 until 1893, when he
came to the States, stopping in Chicago for the
World's Fair, thence on to Denver, Colo., for a short
time and in the fall of 1893 came to San Francisco.
His brother was living in Santa Clara County, so he
took up his abode here. He was employed on the
Simons & Chipman ranch for about a year and he
then purchased his present place of twenty acres and
named it Giant Oak ranch because it has a majestic
white oak spreading its giant limbs over his residence,
probably the largest tree of its species in California,
measuring twenty-two feet in circumference. Mr.
Rocliffe improved the ranch, getting the soil in con-
dition and set out an orchard of prunes and apricots
w-hich he has faithfully cared for until now they are
full bearing and yielding a satisfactory income.

Mr. Rocliffe is a member of the California Prune &
.\pricot Association. He joined the Odd Fellows
in Montreal and was a member of the order for
many years and is a member of the American For-
esters at Saratoga. He has a great love for the out-
doors and spends much time hunting with his pack
of fox hounds he keeps especially for the chase. He
has the finest bred hounds in the country, being of
the same splendid stock that Isaac Branham had —
and it is a great pleasure to enjoy this interesting
gentleman's description of the chase. Mr. Roclifife
is a life-long Republican and he did his bit during the
World War in supporting the various drives.

FRANCIS JAMES HAMBLY. — Prominent
among the attorneys of Santa Clara County whose
scholarly knowledge of law and ethical practice have
reflected distinction upon the California Bar may well
be mentioned Francis James Hambly, who was born
at Belleville, Canada, on April 21, 1874, and who
there received his early education in the excellent
schools for which the great Dominion is noted. His
father was James Hele Hambly, a distinguished
chemist, who married Miss Emma L. Roblin, a daugh-
ter of David Roblin, M.P.P., of Napanee, for many
years the representative of the Counties of Lennox
and Addington in the Dominion Parliament, known
throughout Canada as one of her ablest men prior
to Confederation. Mr. Hambly's father died ir, Can-
ada in 1880, but his mother, a gifted and accom-
plished lady, is living and resides with our subject.
After coming to California in 1891, Mr. Hambly stud-
ied law in the offices of Messrs. Morehouse & Tut-

tle, at San Jose, being admitted to the Bar by the
Supreme Court of California in April, 1895. He im-
mediately entered upon the practice of his profession
in the office of Senator Morehouse, the firm of More-
house & Hambly coming into existence in 1897, and
continuing until 1900, when the senior partner moved
to San Francisco and later to Nevada. Since that
time Mr. Hambly has been actively engaged in prac-
tice on his own account, and he has a large and rep-
resentative clientage. A Republican in matters of
national political moment, but broadly nonpartisan
in his support of whatever seems to him best for the
community, Mr. Hambly served his fellow-citizens as
Police and Fire Commissioner for terms under
Mayors George D. Worswick and Henry D. Mat-
thews, and while in that office made an enviable rec-
ord. Decidedly a progressive thinker, he has never
failed to participate in all that might make for the
advancement of the community.

RONALD G. STEWART.— Among the young
progressive, and successful lawyers of Santa Clara
county is Ronald G. Stewart, a native son of San
Jose, born October 24, 1896, a son of William R.
and Magdalena (Schilling) Stewart. His mother
is a daughter of the old pioneer family of Schillings,
prominent in the early history of California.

His preliminary education was obtained in the
grammar and high schools of Oakland, where he
graduated in 1913; he then entered Santa Clara
College, w^here he obtained his A. B. degree in 1917;
in 1918 he returned for a post-graduate course and
received his J. D. degree, and the same year was
admitted to the bar. He spent a short time in San
Francisco, and in the year 1919 he established his
law business in San Jose. He now occupies the po-
sition of professor of law in Santa Clara College,
a signal honor for one of his years, and a recog-
nition of his grasp on matters of jurisprudence.

Politically Mr. Stewart is not a member of any
party, preferring to support the man he deenis best
fitted for office. He is ever ready to assist in any-
thing that tends for the betterment of his commun-
ity, and is regarded as a man of strong character
and sterling worth, a good citizen and a successful
man in his profession.

CHARLES EDWARD HOWES.— Among the
active, successful men of important business affairs in
San Jose today is the well-known realtor, Charles
Edward Howes; and none, it is safe for those to say
who are familiar with liis common-sense, dry humor
and skill as a raconteur, can prove more entertaining
in the narrative of a life-story. He was born at
DownieviUe, Cal., on August 23, 1859, the son of
Sam P. and Laura B. Howes, and the latter is still
living. His father, now deceased, was a searcher of
records, nor was there one more expert, in this day.
in all the state.

After Charles declared himself graduated from the
grammar schools of DownieviUe he got to work, not
at all ambitious for coUe.ge and losing no sleep about
degree. He put in four days at carriage painting,
when he was declared N. G.; then he worked for a
month as a printer, or until the foreman passed upon
him the same eulogy; after that he dried fruit for a
night, but did not stop to learn what the fruit owner
though of his incapability, and eventually he searched
records for ten years, abstracting from them every-

1116

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

thing that any wight could expect to find. More
eventually he got into real estate, and there he has
been ever since, so that today he and his family are
in comfortable circumstances, and he doesn't owe a
farthing to anyone. He still works hard, enjoys the
leisure hour when it rolls around, and never wor-
ries about an ancient past and a genealogical record
with crests and coats of arms, being mighty thank-
ful— and why shouldn't he, in the light of modern
events — ^that he is "just here."

At Pleasanton, in 1885, Mr. Howes was married
to Miss Kate Farr, and their union was blessed with
the birth of one child, Charles E. Howes, Jr., the
genial manager of J. E. Sloan at San Jose, himself
the father of two children, of whom his granddad is
properly proud. Mr. Howes is a member of the Elks,
in which fine organization he has managed to be-
come a natural leader without having the trouble to
fill any office; while in politics he is, to employ his
own characterization, a free lance. He was born a
Democrat, but jumped the party when Bryan first
ran; and he kept on opposing him until he at length
found himself within the pale of the Republican
party. "I am the political boss of the first ward,"
he says very solemnly, "and prefer to handle the
officers when once they are elected. I have no mili-
tary record, very naturally, for I never did believe in
fighting; I am too fat to run, and must halt the
enemy to argue. Of course I believe in churches —
when they are subject to police supervision and
control; and as for San Jose and Santa Clara County,
who ever lacked faith in them when once they had
seen the most promising city and environs in all the
Golden State?"

CHARLES E. HOWES, JR.— An experienced and
highly efficient business man who has repeatedly
demonstrated exceptional executive ability, is
Charles E. Howes, Jr., the general manager for J.
E. Sloan; a native son, having first seen the light at
San Jose on January 24, 1888. His father is Charles
Edward Howes, the well-known real estate expert,
who was born at Downieville, Cal., in 1859. the son
of Sam P. Howes, in his day highly-esteemed as a
very conscientious and thoroughly dependable
searcher of records. In 1885 Charles E. Howes mar-
ried Miss Kate Farr, by whom he had one child, the
subject of our sketch.

Charles E. Howes, Jr., finished with the grammar
schools of his district, and then attended the high
school of San Jose, from which he was graduated
with the June class of '05. He then worked for his
father for a couple of years, and next put in a year
in the lumber business. Then he was assistant
credit man in a large department store for a year,
and after that he was accountant for the P. G. & E.
at San Rafael.

In 1914 Mr. Howes came back to Santa Clara
County, and associated himself with his present con-
cern as a demonstrator; and the following year he
became manager. In the handling of the Buick car
and the White truck for both Santa Clara and San
Benito counties, he has been more than successful.
and the prospects are that with each year the estab-
lishment under his excellent leadership will do an
ever-increasing business.

At San Rafael on October 21, 1912, Mr. Howes
was married to Miss Aida M. Duffv, of that attrac-

tive place, a gifted lady rich in friends; and their
wedded life has been blessed with two children —
Gordon and Allen. The family attend the Roman
Catholic Church, Mr. Howes is a Republican, and
he belongs to the Elks and the Olympic Club, as well
as a charter member and director in the Commercial
Club, and holds membership in the Chamber of
Commerce, in all of which flourishing organizations
he enjoys an enviable popularity.

EDWARD HALEY.— Among the native sons of
California, who have given of their best energy and
ability, as well as the best years of their lives in
the service of the community is Edward Haley, who
was born in San Jose. Cal., on May 5, 1858, the son
of Martin and Bridget (Gallagher) Haley, natives
of Ireland, where they grew up and were married.
The young couple came to New York City and the
fatlier came to California in the year of 1851 coming
around the Horn, the mother following a year later
by the same route. Martin Haley at first engaged
ni mining and settling in San Jose about 1853, was
employed by the Cottrell Bros, distillers. Later he
engaged in farming and also in freighting between
San Jose and Alviso which was the shipping point
to San Francisco and receiving point for San Jose
until the Southern Pacific was built into San Jose.
In time he came to own and improve several ranches.
He died on his ranch on Storey road in 1907, his
wife having preceded him many years, passing away
in 1864, leaving him six children, four of whom are
living, Edward being next to the youngest.

Ed. Haley, as he is familiarly called, was reared
in San Jose and educated in the public schools, after
which he assisted his father for a few years. He
then learned the trade of painter and decorator un-
der Mr. Hogan and followed this line of business
until 1895, when he was elected constable and re-
elected to the office, resigning in the middle of his
second term to accept the office of chief of police of
San Jose in 1901. One year later, however, he re-
signed to engage in business for himself as contrac-
tor, decorator and painter, continuing for six years.
In 1907 he was again appointed chief of police, effi-
ciently discharged the duties of that office for four
years, when he resigned in 1910 to accept the office
of chief of the fire department of San Jose to which
he gave all of his time as head of the department
until 1919, when he resigned to engage in ranching.
He owns a twenty-two acre prune orchard on the
Monterey Road nine miles south of San Jose. This
he improved from stubble and set out the orchard,
which is now full bearing. Since 1919 he has also
been the manager of the American Dairy Company,
the largest wholesale and retail dairy in the county.
He makes his home at 187 South Market Street
where he resides with his family. Mr. Haley from a
boy served in the fire department; he was in the
volunteer department with engine No. 1 ; then be-
came a driver in the organization of the paid depart-
ment, and drove a hose cart for eight years up to
the big fire of 1892, when he resigned. During
these years he was offered the position of chief at
different time, but would not accept.

Mr. Haley's marriage occurred in San Jose in the
year 1883, and united him with Miss Mary Cobb,
who is also a native of California, having been born
in San Jose and coming from one of the earliest
families to settle in this city. Her father, Sam Cobb,

^jfc^r ^i^^^^^-^-^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1117

came here in an overland ox team train the first
wagons to come through by the southern route;
they started in 1848 and arrived in 1849. After mining
they located in San Jose becoming large farmers,
owning a ranch known as the Cobb ranch. Mr. Cobb
passed aw^ay in May, 1906. at the age of ninety-two.
His wife, Mrs. Mary Cobb, passed away in 1868,
leaving three children, two girls and one boy, Wil-
liam Cobb resides on the home farm; Mary is Mrs.
Haley and Eliza is Mrs. Weaver of San Jose. Mr.
and Mrs. Haley are the parents of one daughter,
Leta M. Mr. Haley is a member of the San Jose
Parlor, N. S. G. W., in which order he takes an
active interest. In national politics, he is an ad-
herent of the Republican party. He is vcr\ fond
of the outdoor life and takes delight in huntin.i.; and
fishing, spending his leisure time in this way.

L. H. ELMER. — Among the California industries
that have won world-wide fame are the nurseries
owned by Elmer Bros., located at 78 South Market
Street, of which L. H. Elmer is one of the owners and
.general manager. He was born on July 15. 1888, at
Midland, Mich., the son of A. J. and Louvisa (Avery)
Elmer. A. J. Elmer and his family came to Cal-
ifornia in May 1889, and soon after engaged in the
nursery business which he continued here until 1906,
when he retired.

L. H. Elmer received his education in the grammar
schools and San Jose high school, which was supple-
mented with a course at Heald's Business College in
San Jose. After graduating from that institution, he
immediately selected the nursery business for his life
work. He had been familiar with it from the time
he was a youth, having assisted his father from the
time he was a mere boy and thus he had acquired the
experience and knowledge of propagating, grafting
and caring for trees. In 1911 he started in business
with a capital of sixty dollars and as the business
grew he gradually branched out so it took in every
department of the nursery business. In 1913 his
brother, Walter M.. joined him in the partnership of
Elmer Bros., and since then they have worked har-
moniously together, each having explicit confidence
in the other, and they have built up five large nur-
series, three being located in Santa Clara County and
two at Loomis. Cal. During the bus>- season they
employ SOO men and their stock is shipped all over
the world. They have the largest budded rose nur-
sery in the world and they handle several million fruit
trees a year. Elmer Bros. Nursery is conceded to be
one of the most valuable assets of the county and
they are frequently spoken of as the nursery that
made Santa Clara Valley famous. This success has
been accomplished by persistent effort, close applica-
tion to their task and honest and fair dealing. The
original nursery was started with a capital of sixty
dollars, so it is readily seen what a wonderful growth
has been accomplished by these two energetic and
conscientious young men, all their trees being propa-
gated from selected buds. They introduced the apri-
cot known as the Losse Blenheim, which has had a
large sale. All their new varieties of fruit trees, as
well as roses are tested out on their own experimental
grounds before they are placed on the market. All
of their new varieties of roses are imported from all
parts of Europe and are of the finest stock obtain-
able. Their headquarters and offices are located at
78 South Market Street where they own 68x210 feet
and here they are planning to erect a large office

building. The enterprise of these young men places
them in the front rank of the upbuilders of the county.
Mr. Elmer's marriage united him with Miss Edith
M. Ames, and they are the parents of one child.
Ames Elmer. Mr. Elmer is very popular in all the
bigger undertakings for the betterment of both San
Jose and Santa Clara County, and took a very active
part in all of the war drives during the World War.
Mr. Elmer is a past president of the 100 Per Cent
Club and was chairman of the 100 Per Cent Industrial
Exposition held in San Jose in 1920. wdiich was a
record breaker for being the largest ever held here.
He is vice-president of the International 100 Per
Cent Club and is charter member and director of the
San Jose Commercial Club. Mr. Elmer is also a
member of the Country Club and is past president
of the Hester Improvement Club, and he is very
active in the movement to make San Jose double its
population. He is decidedly enterprising and progres-
sive, and he is an enthusiastic member of the San
Jose Chamber of Commerce. Fraternally, he is a
member of the San Jose Lodge No. 522 B. P. O.
Elks, and in national politics gives his allegiance to
the principles of the Republican party. The family
reside at 75 Hanchett Avenue.

JOHN JACOB WAGNER.— A resident of Santa
Clara County for over forty years, John Jacob Wag-
ner lives on a highly improved ranch on the Calde-
ron Road, near Mountain View, and is strong, bright
and interesting at the age of eighty. He was born
at Trevis, Germany, July 4, 1842, a son of Mathias
and Anna Maria (Crondhaver) Wagner, both natives
of the same kingdom of Prussia. The father was a
farmer and mother passed away in 1854, aged forty-
three. They were the parents of six children, John
Jacob being next to the oldest. The only member
of his family who came to America, he embarked
from Havre, France, early in 1859 and landed at
Castle Garden, March 28, 1859. He stopped in New
York for a short time, then started on his western
journey, working and traveling until he reached
Texas in 1863, but the following August of the same
year he removed to Helena, Mont., and was em-
ployed in the gold mines there. On July 5, 1871, he
left Montana and on March 2 of the following year
he arrived at Gold Run. Placer County, Cal. Here
he mined for five years when he took a trip back to
Germany and remained there on a visit until March
25, 1878, when he returned to California, and went
direct to Nevada County, where he worked in the
placer mines.

Mr. Wagner's first marriage united him with Miss
Lucy Strupp, a daughter of Peter Strupp, also born
and reared in Germany. His second marriage oc-
curred in Nevada County, and on March 5, 1885,
with his wife and five children he came to Mountain
\'iew. He bought land, set it out to orchard, also
worked in the lumber yards at Mountain View at
different kinds of work. He first bought three acres
and established his home, and it is still his home;
later he bought five acres and improved them, but
finally sold them. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner are the
parents of seven children: Lucy, died when two years
old: Jacob, married Miss Teressa Hinch of Eureka,
and they resided in Berkeley until his death three
years ago; Annie, is now Mrs. Herbert G. Harvey,
living at Grand Forks, N. D.. and they are the par-

1118

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ents of four sons; William, is married and resides in
Stockton, employed by the Southern Pacific railroad;
Lewis, is a druggist and proprietor of Wagner's
Drug store, the leading drug store in Mountain
View; Frederick, served in the late War in France
and is now at home; Francis, died at the age of
twelve years. Mr. Wagner is a naturalized citizen
and is thoroughly American; he has led an industri-
ous, useful and honorable life and has reared his
family so that they are highly respected in the local-
ities in which they reside.

MRS. SIERRA NEVADA HUBBARD.— A native
daughter, Mrs. Sierra Nevada Hubbard was born in
Mt. Gregory, Eldorado County, Cal. She is a daugh-
ter of Hubbard and Betsey (Newhall) McKoy,
natives of Vermont of Scotch and English descent.
They removed to Wisconsin and from there Mr. Mc-
Koy crossed the plains in an ox-team train in 1849,
his wife with her two children coming via Panama to
join him in 1852. Mr. McKoy first followed mining
at Mt. Gregory, then was in the hotel business in
Georgetown, after which he returned to Mt. Gregory
and engaged in sawmilling until 1868, when he moved
to Santa Cruz and engaged in the hotel business.
Again he began lumber manufacturing and had a
sawmill at Felton until he sold his lumber interests
and retired. He passed away at Felton aged seventy-
three. His widow made her home with her
daughter, Mrs. Hubbard, but while on a visit to
Santa Cruz she died, lacking only three days of being
eighty-eight years old. She was active, hale and hearty
till the last. A wonderful woman, possessed of a
remarkable memory; her narration of early events
of pioneer days in California were very interesting.
She was the mother of five children as follows;
Daudencio Hubbard, resides in Sacramento; Lil-
lian Betsey, is Mrs. Hayes of Oakland; Sierra Ne-
vada, is Mrs. Hubbard; Annie L., was the wife of
Joseph Ball and passed away at Ben Lomond; Norma
Cecelia, Mrs. West, resides in Oakland.

Sierra Nevada was the first child born after her
parents location in California, being named for the
region in which she was born, and was educated in
the public schools of Mt. Gregory and at Felton.
She was married at her father's home in that place,
July 18, 1871, to Thos. Benton Hubbard, a native of
Macon County, Mo., born November 14, 1840. His
father, Daniel Campbell Hubbard, was born in Ken-
tucky and became an early settler of Macon County,
Mo., where he served as sheriff for many years.
They were of that sturdy type of American manhood
from which came that noble race of trail breakers
whose deeds are yet reflected in the progress of the
state. Thos. B. Hubbard crossed the plains by
wagon in 1852, when twelve years old. Arriving in
Eldorado County he soon began mining and pros-
pered. In 1858 he removed to Woodland. After his
marriage, in 1871, they resided in Woodland for a
short time, but soon moved to Felton, where they
engaged in the hotel business, and then began lum-
bering with his father-in-law. Hubbard McKoy, run-
ning a sawmill. The partnership continued tor a
few years when McI'Coy sold his interest and retired.
A few years later Mr. Hubbard established a lumber
yard in San Jose and soon afterwards he formed a
partnership with Daniel and Neil Carmichael to op-
crate a sawmill in the Santa Cruz mountains. A mill

was also erected in San Jose to do the company's
city work — and they built up a big business. Mr.
Hubbard was the manager of the San Jose office and
yards and was kept very busy and active until his
death on November 23, 1917, and since then the
business has been managed by his son, A. L. Hub-
bard. Mr. Hubbard incorporated the Thos. B. Hub-
bard Corporation, of which he was president till he
died. He served as supervisor of Santa Cruz County.
Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard had three children; Albert
Lester, manager of Hubbard & Carmichael Bros.,
is also a supervisor of Santa Clara County; Irene,
Mrs. Grant, resides with her mother; Susie B.,
Mrs. Eaton, lives at Lawrence. Mrs. Hubbard is
not only a native daughter but is now also one of
the pioneers of California. She is active and helpful
in matters that have for their aim the building up
of the valley; is a member of the Flower Lovers'
Club of Santa Clara County, San Jose Chapter No.
31, O. E. S., the White Shrine of Jerusalem, and of
the Red Cross. Liberal and progressive she gives
generously of her time and means as far as she ii
able to worthy enterprises. Her daughter, Mrs.
Grant, is equally interested with her in civic and
social circles being worthy matron of San Jose
Chapter, O. E. S., is a member of the executive
committee of the local chapter of Red Cross, and is
past president of the San Jose Woman's Club.

FOSTER WOODEN CHASE.— Among the old
and highly respected citizens of the Summit dis-
trict, Santa Clara County, is Foster Wooden Chase,
born at East Machias, Me., December 4, 1848. His
father, Cyrus Chase, was also born in East Machias
and was a lumberman. The Chase family is traced
back to England when four Chase brothers came
from England to Plymouth colony a few years after
the landing of the Mayflower. Great-grandfather
Ephraim Chase was born in Massachusetts, and was
a pioneer of East Machias, Me., locating there in
1763. He was a millwright but became a lumberman.
At the Battle of Machias he commanded one of the
three schooners that captured a British sloop-of-
war for which he received a commission as a com-
mander in the Navy. The grandfather of our sub-
ject was Levi Chase, a native of Maine, who mar-
ried Lucy Foster, a daughter of Wooden Foster,
who also came from Massachusetts to Machias, Me.,
where he was the pioneer blacksmith, and he, too,
took part in the Battle of Machias and with his
brother Jacob were the first to refuse to deliver
lumber at the demand of the British sloop-of-war.
Later on Wooden Foster was in the U. S. revenue
service and commanded a revenue cutter.

Cyrus Chase married Sophronia Bagley. who was
born at Eastport, Me., a daughter of John Bagley
who came from New Hampshire and had served in
in War of 1812. Cyrus Chase started for the Cali-
fornia gold fields via Panama in 1852, but died on the
way aboard ship. Later in life the mother joined
the children in California, where she spent the re-
mainder of her days.

Of their nine children Foster W. is the next to the
youngest and the only one living. After completing
the public schools he entered Washington Academy for
a short period, but he soon began working in the
sawmill in East Machias, continuing from thirteen to
eighteen years of age. His brother, Joseph W. Chase.

c/ /h /l^o-^^^ot^-o/

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1119

had gone to California in 1859. arriving via Cape Horn
in San Francisco in the spring of 1860. He had a
sawmill in the Santa Cruz Mountains, so when
Foster Chase arrived in 1867, having come via the
Golden Age from New York to Aspinwall and the
Golden Gate to San Francisco, he came to the pres-
ent ranch then owned by his brother J. W. In
the spring of 1868 he took charge of his brother's
lumber yard at Lexington until 1873, w-hen the dis-
tributing point was changed back to the Summit
and he continued in charge until the lumber busi-
ness was discontinued. Mr. Chase then took charge
of the present ranch until he purchased it in 1890
and since then has made valuable improvements,
having now a fine bearing orchard. He owns 180
acres on the Soquel Road. 36 acres of which is de-
voted to the growing of prunes.

Mr. Chase was married at Lexington to Miss
Nancy Howell, a native of Missouri who crossed the
plains with her parents in 1852 when eighteen years
old, their union proving a very happy one until her
death in September, 1904. Six children blessed their
union as follows: Maude resides in Soquel; Ralph
makes his home on the ranch; Charles died at
eighteen months; Walter lives at Modesto: Irma is
Mrs. Ringold, a resident of this county; Chester,
who for years was associated with his father in im-
proving the place, is now operating the Chase ranch
on his own account. Mr. Chase has a splendid
record as a citizen and neighbor; his kindness and
hospitality is well known and the younger genera-
tion are also highly esteemed. Foster Chase has al-
ways been a friend to the cause of education and
served as a trustee of schools for many years.

HENRY C. DOERR.— An inspiring illustration
of what a man may accomplish, both during his life
and in the beneficent influence which such an active,
well-spent and highly-useful life may leave behind, is
afforded by the late Henry C. Doerr, one of the sons
of the esteemed pioneers, Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Doerr, of San Jose. He was born, a native son, in
San Jose, on January 6. 1871, and all his days were
more or less actively identified with the growth and
increasing prosperity of Santa Clara County.

Having enjoyed the usual educational advantages,
Mr. Doerr grew up to engage in trade, and at the
time of his death was both president and manager
of the Garden City Electrical Company, and also
president of the San Jose Builders' Exchange. He
belonged to the Merchants' Association, in which
he was an active director, and he was also a director
of the San Jose Cooperative Delivery System. He
ever had the interest and the welfare of both the
city and county at heart, and was constantly work-
ing for the advancement of each, and was the in-
stigator in having the car line extended to Alviso
and the development of the harbor, so that his
demise has been naturally very keenly felt.

Mr. Doerr was afflicted with sickness only a few
weeks, and at first, in the hope of combatting his ills,
he was taken to the O'Connor Sanitarium. Later,
he was removed to the home of his parents, where
everything possible that medical skill and profes-
sional nursing could endeavor w^as tried in his be-
half. Death came quietly at last on April 27. 1920,
at the Doerr residence at 266 South Second Street.

Fond to a reasonable degree of social life and pleas-
ure, Henry Doerr was one of the leaders in Ob-
servatory Parlor No. 177, N. S. G. W., and he also
belonged to the Elks and other fraternal orders.
Whoever knew him, esteemed and loved him. and
his memory will long and sacredly be cherished by
more than one mourning circle.

ROBERT EDOUARD REGNART.— A native
son of Santa Clara County, Robert Edouard Regnart
was born in San Jose, October 26. 1876, a son of
Robert and Emily (Keat) Regnart, born in London.
England. Grandfather William Regnart was a
wholesale butcher in London; he accompanied his
four sons, William, Robert, Harry and Arthur, to
California in about 1870. The four brothers pur-
chased 160 acres in the Cupertino district on what
is now Regnart Road. The brothers were also en-
gaged in mining and for a time Robert Regnart fol-
lowed mining in Arizona. The grandfather and two
of the brothers, Robert and Arthur, eventually re-
turned to England, but William and Arthur remained,
honored old-time residents of the county.

It was in 1880 that Robert Regnart, accompanied
b>- his wife and two children, returned to London,
where lie engaged in the butcher business, meeting
with success. He kept the forty acres in Santa Clara
county and had about six acres of orchard on the
place. His wife died in 1900. Robert Regnart now
resides in Godmanchester, England. The three chil-
dren, born of this union, are: Robert Edouard. of this
review: Louis, who lives in London, served in the
English army during the World War and was on
both the Italian and Western fronts: Edwin, also
served in the English army and was in the Darda-
nelles campaign and severely wounded — he is now in
the government employ in Lancashire Hospital.

Robert E. Regnart was graduated from Tottenham
College, but did not enter the university. He was em-
ployed in the offices of Hope Brothers, London, but
his desire to see the land of his nativity became so
strong he finally decided to cast in his lot with the
glorious state on the Pacific; so in the fall of 1897
we find him again in Santa Clara County. For a time
he made his home with his uncle, Harry Regnart,
in Santa Clara. Then he decided to improve the
forty acres owned by his father in Regnart Canyon
and devote his time to horticulture. There were
only six acres in trees, so he set to work clearing
the balance of the land and breaking the virgin soil.
He set out prune and apricot trees and now has a
full-bearing orchard of thirty acres yielding a nice
income; also built a comfortable residence with the
necessary farm buildings, including a dryer for the
curing of the fruit.

Mr. Regnart was married in San Francisco in 1903,
where he was united with Miss Jessie Regnart, a
native daughter of Santa Clara County, whose father,
William Regnart, was an early settler and success-
ful horticulturist in this famous valley. Their union
was blessed with seven children: Stanlej', LeRoy,
Doris, Oswald, Bernice, Maurice, and Thelma. Mr.
Regnart is a member of the California Prune &
Apricot Association. Fraternally he is a meinber of
the Odd Fellows Lodge at Cupertino and with his
wife is a member of the Rebekahs, and religiously
adheres to the teachings of the Episcopal Church.

1120

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MRS. MARTHA B. HAMMOND.— A womanly
woman, cultured and rctined. was the late Mrs. Mar-
tha B. Hammond, a native daughter of Santa Clara
County, who was born at "Hillside," the old home of
the Snyders, on Pcrmancnte Creek near Mountain
View, February 24, 1863. She was a daughter of
John and Martha (Kifer) Snyder, pioneers of the
county, who are elsewhere represented in this work.
Of their five children, Martha was the next to the
youngest and enjoyed her youth to the fullest; being
fond of the great outdoors she had much pleasure as
she grew to womanhood at Hillside, especially when
driving over the splendid roads of Santa Clara
County with her favorite horse. After completing
the San Antonio grammar school, she entered the
College of the Pacific, where she continued her
studies with great credit to herself until just before
graduating, she was married November 17. 1881, to
Dr. W. H. Hammond, who was born in Ohio, but
reared in Iowa. He received a good education and
taught several terms in the Hawkeye State and then
came to Santa Clara County, teaching in the San
Antonio district, and it was then he became acquainted
with the Snyder family. He had always a predilection
for the study of medicine and with that end in view,
he continued to teach to obtain the funds to put
him through medical college. Entering Cooper Medi-
cal College in San Francisco, he was duly graduated
with the degree of M. D. A post as government
surgeon was ofTcred him by the King of the Hawaiian
Islands, which he accepted and soon after his mar-
riage to Miss Snyder, they sailed for Honolulu. On
his arrival he was stationed on the Island of Kauai,
where he practiced medicine as well as filling the du-
ties of his post for more than a year. While living
there, their daughter, Muriel, was born. Mrs. Ham-
mond, owing to her great love of her home, was nat-
urally homesick and longed for the lovely Santa Clara
\'alley. particularly the Permanente Creek region of
her childhood, with its beautiful foothill mountain
scenery, so Dr. Hammond resigned his position and
they returned to California, where he located in San
Jose and engaged in the practice of medicine. He
served ably as county physician for two terms. Hav-
ing had a seige of pneumonia, his subsequent ex-
posure in his night work forced him to retire. Mrs.
Hammond had received from her father, a ranch on
Permanente Creek and there they l>uilt a residence
and here Dr. Hammond rested comfortably, but the
disease had made too great inroads on his health, and
he passed away in June, 1893. about two years after
he had retired. He was a man of fine education and
address, was a Mason and .Odd Fellow and was also
prominent in medical societies. After his death Mrs.
Hammond continued the improvement of her place,
setting out orchards and vineyards; later the vineyard
died and she continued orcharding, having about one-
fifth of her 163-acre ranch in prune orchard. The
place is beautifully located, twelve miles west of San
Jose, being watered by Permanente Creek, so named
because it is always flowing. A ditch has been con-
structed to take the wafer out of the creek above
the ranch for irrigating the orchard.

Mrs. Hammond was a great lover of nature and
particularly was she fond of roses, her grounds be-
ing well laid out with an abundance of roses pre-
dominating. Her younger sister, Letitia, who
had resided witli her mother, had become Mrs.
Kendall, so Martha Hammond took up her home

at Hillside as a companion to her mother and there
she was called to the world beyond January 29,
1909, her interment being at the Snyder family plot
at Oak Hill Cemetery. She was a woman of affable
and graceful manners, dearly loved by all who knew
her, and her loss was deeply felt by all. She was
a fine Christian character, although not an active
member of any denomination. Her only daughter,
Muriel May, owns her mother's ranch and continues
the care of the place; she plans enlarging the or-
chards materially, and having the same love of na-
ture, delights in caring for the roses and lovely trees
of her mother's planting. She was educated at the
Washburn School in San Jose, and was married in
1906 to Raymond T. Haines, an orchardist, and be-
sides operating the home ranch he also owns a ranch
at Coyote which he cares for. Their union has been
blessed with one child, a daughter, Althea. Rever-
ing her mother's memory, whose earnest desire was
for her daughter always to keep the ranch in the
family, Mrs. Haines naturally takes much pride in
carrying out her mother's plans.

WILLIAM MORRISON CURTNER.— A man

of varied interests, William Morrison Curtner, son
of Henry Curtner and his wife Lydia (Kendall)
Curtner, was born near Centerville, Alameda County,
California, February 28, 1864. When he was four
years old his father moved to the Curtner Ranch at
Warm Springs, where he was reared. He attended
the public school and Washington College. His be-
loved mother passed away when he was thirteen
years old. After finishing his college work he went
to a cattle ranch in Nevada, which was owned by
his father and William Downing. He remained there
only a short time. The ranch was sold, and William
Downing having purchased a part of the Curtner
Ranch, he entered into partnership with him m
the cattle business. He remained in the cattle busi-
ness three years, then sold his interest in cattle and
removed to Irvington where he was engaged in
farming for several years, then sold his land at
Irvington and came to the ranch on which he now
lives. This ranch is located on the southern end of
the Curtner Ranch and is in the northern part of
Santa Clara County. This ranch he has developed
by conserving its water supply and planting orchards.
The hill part of the ranch is devoted to raising early
vegetables and is tenanted. After coming to this
ranch he had charge of his father's land interests for
ten years, and a part of it until his father's death.
He also owned stock in the Abel Curtner Land &
Livestock Company of Nevada of which he was
secretary. He has varied interests outside of his
ranch, but the home place is where he has spent the
most profitable and pleasurable part of his time.
The home is located on an interesting spot, chosen
three times as a place of abode. The veil of time
has hidden the story of the first dwellers. Only as
excavating is done is their presence shown by the
finding of interesting Indian relics. Then it was
chosen by the early Spanish settlers as a site for a
hacienda, being a part of the Rancho Aguas Calien-
tes. They built the adobe buildings, which are now
on the property, planted the old fig and pear trees,
and the cacti fence which at this time are more than
125 years old. Their whispering leaves tell again
of a period in the Santa Clara Valley before the ad-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1121

venturer and the prospector came. The old adobe
still echoes the clanging of spurs and merry clatter
of horses feet as their riders gather under the trees —
the days of boundless hospitality that fled when the
"etranjero" came. By the side of the old, old trees
the olive, orange and lemon, the chestnut, walnut,
almond and fruits of all kinds thrive, making a pre-
sent-history as interesting as the past.

Mr. Curtner is a director of the vSecurity State
Bank in San Jose. In politics he is a Republican.
He belongs to the Sierra Club, the San Jose Country
Club and the Commercial Club, and he is a member
of the Presbyterian Church. He married May L.
Weller, daughter of Joseph Rush Weller and his
wife Marion (Hart) Weller. He has two children,
William Weller and Marion Lucy, now Mrs. Theo-
dore Warford Weller of Boston, Mass. His son
received his college education at Harvard University
and Leland Stanford, Jr., University, receiving his
A. B. and M. A. degrees at Leland Stanford, Jr.,
L'niversity. His daughter attended Wellesley and
Leland Stanford, Jr.. University, receiving her A. B.
at Leland Stanford. Jr., University.

ALFRED FARLEY HILLS— A veteran of the
Civil War who has been very prominent in Educa-
tional circles in California is Prof. Alfred Farley
Hills, who was born in Westfield. Vt., July 13,
1845, a son of James D. Hills, who was born in
Windham. N. H., of English ancestry, his forefathers
coming from England to Massachusetts in 1638.
Professor Hill's mother was Caroline French, who
was born in New Hampshire of an old Massachusetts
family traced back to England. The father removed
from Vermont to New Hampshire, where he was a
farmer; he and his wife were members of the Pres-
byterian Church and both passed away in New
Hampshire, leaving six children, three of whom are
living: Mrs. Charlotte A. Abbott and Albert French,
a twin brother, who served in the Civil War in the
same company and regiment as Mr. Hills. When
-Mfred F. was a child of four years his father moved
to Hollis, N. H., and there he received a good educa-
tion in the public schools. Leaving his books he en-
listed on September 28, 1861, in the Seventh New
Hampshire Volunteer Infantry and served for three
years and three months without a day oflf. He was
at Fort Wagner, the siege of Morris Island, Olustee,
Fla.; siege of Petersburg, and at Richmond. He was
mustered out in December, 1864, at Concord, N. H.,
and honorably discharged. After remaining at home
a year he engaged in clerking in Boston for a time
and then entered Pinkerton Academy at Derry, N. H.,
where he prepared for Harvard and where he was
graduated in 1872 with the degree of A. B. Coming out
to Illinois he taught school at Pittsfield for two years
and in 1874 removed to California. He taught school
at San Gregorio and then at San Mateo for five
years, after which he was principal of schools at Half
Moon Bay in San Mateo County, then taught in
various counties in California, with four years in
-Arizona and two years in Nevada.

During this time he made his home in Santa Clara
County on his orchard home near Campbell, which
he had purchased in 1882. About five years ago he
retired from teaching and now gives his time to
caring for his orchards embracing eleven acres of
splendid land devoted to raising prunes, apricots

and apples, his place being located on the San Jose-
Los Gatos Highway.

Professor Hills was married at Idagrove, low^a,
August 20, 1884, being united with Miss Harriette
G. Barber, a lady of culture who has aided him
in every way. She was born at Derry, N. H., a
daughter of Joseph Fuller and Nancy (Moulton)
Barber. The father was born in Boston. Mass., in
1808, and the mother in Hookset, N. H., May 3,
1821. The Barbers are traced back to Samuel
Barber, who came from England and was an early
settler in Massachusetts. One of his descendants,
Mrs. Hills' great-grandfather, Samuel Barber, served
in the Revolution and was at the Battle of Bunker
Hill. The Moultons arc also an old New England
family. Joseph F. Barber owned a w'harf and was
also a ship owner. After his marriage he removed
to Derry, N. H., purchased a farm and was thus
employed until the family removed to Woburn,
Mass., where he resided until his death, while his
widow died in Iowa. Mrs. Hills was educated at
Adams Female Academy and the Pinkerton Acad-
emy. After teaching at Chester for a year she spent
three years in Woburn, Mass., and then came out
to Galva, Iowa, where her brother, Clarence Bar-
ber, was a stockman. The acquaintance with Mr.
Hills back in New England was renewed and re-
sulted in their marriage. They have one child, Ethel,
the wife of Ralph E. Williams of Campbell. Mr.
Hills was one of the original members of the board
of trustees of Campbell Union high school. While
teaching in Mono County he was president of the
county board of education. He was a member of
Ocean View Lodge No. 143, I. O. O. F., at Half
Moon Bay, and is a member of E. O. C. Ord. Post
No. 82, G. A. R., having served as commander of
the post and as an aide on the staff of Department
Commander Martin. Mrs. Hills is ex-president of
E. O. C. Ord. Relief Corps. Los Gatos, and was
secretary to the Department President, Alice M. Gil-
lette. Prof. Hills is a member of the Harvard
alumni. Well read and a ready speaker he is an
interesting conversationalist.

CHARLES J. VATH.— An American by adoption
who has become both an exemplary, devoted citizen
and as great an enthusiast for California as any native
son, is Charles J. Vath, who was born in Germany
on November 28, 1869, the son of a government
oflicial, Sebastian Vath, well-known for his progres-
sive ideas and methods. He had married Miss Bar-
bara Geiger. an accomplished woman who. like her
husband, made many friends. They provided a good
home and sent Charles to the best local schools, so
that he was given a helpful start in the world.

Fate provided that when only fifteen he should
come out to the United States, and it also demanded
that he should work hard soon after arriving here:
but his ambition led him to attend night school, and
in this way he overcame what might otherwise have
been a serious handicap in a country to whose
language and customs he was a stranger. He located
in New York for five years, and then passed ten
years in San Francisco in the butcher trade.

Removing to San Jose in 1901, Mr. Vath estab-
lished himself as a bottler of all soft drinks. He
owns the most modern of equipment, and from his
well-equipped plant at Fourth and Virginia streets,
he ships to Santa Clara, San Benito and San Mateo

1122

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

counties. He belongs to the Rotary Club, the Elks
and the Olympic Club of San Francisco; is a stand-
pat Republican, and never neglects an opportunity to
further the best interests of the community in which
he lives and thrives.

On July 10. 189S, Mr. Vath was married at San
Francisco, to Miss Frances Wrede, a native of San
Francisco, and they have one child, a promising son
named Herman S. Vath, who saw service with the
U. S. Army as clerk of a hospital corps during the
recent World War, and is now carrying on the busi-
ness. He married at San Jose, Ethyl Scheele, who
was then living in the Garden City.

FRANK A. HUNTER.— Among the worthiest
representatives of interesting and long-honored pio-
neer families to be found in all Santa Clara County,
handsomely maintaining the old California hospital-
ity, are Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Hunter, progressive
farmers living on the the Agnew Road, northwest
of Santa Clara. Highly successful as horticulturists,
they are famous for their Bartlctt pears. They own
forty acres of choicest orchard, a part of the old
Hunter home-place. Mr. Hunter was born on the
old Hunter homestead on October 8, 1860, the son
of A. B. Hunter, familiarly called by his friends Gus
Hunter, a native of Augusta County, Va., where
he was born on November 26, 1826. At an early age.
his parents took him to Illinois, and from there he
and his step-sister moved to Washington County,
Mo., where they went to school. A. B. Hunter con-
tinued his business in Missouri until 1849, when he
set out across the great plains to California; and
having proceeded to the Feather River, he remained
there at Bidwell's Bar until the fall of 1850. He
then went to American Valley, in Plumas County,
and became one of the first settlers. In 1852 he
settled for a couple of years in Santa Clara County
then went to the mines but in 1855 he returned to
Santa Clara County and located his farm of 160
acres west of what is now Agnew, and there erected
a fine residence. He identified himself with the
Santa Clara Cheese Factory, and was its treasurer.

On September 18, 1855, A. B. Hunter was mar-
ried at Santa Clara to Ann Rutledge, a descendant
of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence, and a cousin of Ann Rutledge who
had the distinction of having been the first sweet-
heart of Abraham Lincoln; and several children
blessed their union. John Finley was born on
August 22, 1856, and he was accidently killed on Oc-
tober 29, 1881, while hauling lumber for a barn — the
load falling and killing him. Minnie J. married Cal-
vin Miller, the orchardist, operating above Alum
Rock, and they reside in San Jose. Frank A. is the
subject of our sketch. Carrie T. is now the wife
of Grandin Bray, the retired rancher, and they live
at Santa Clara. Archibald Ernest Hunter, who was
born on November 26, 1874, is well established in
the automobile trade in San Francisco. This chap-
ter in the history of the family is interesting es-
pecially on account of the antiquity of the family.
A. B. Hunter belonged to the third generation of
Samuel Hunter, who was born in Virginia, of pre-
Revolutionary stock coming from the Cavaliers who
migrated from England.

Augustus B. Hunter was a prominent man of
affairs in Santa Clara County for many years. He
held many positions of trust, and always had the

confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens. In
1881 he was elected a metnber of the State Legisla-
ture and this office he filled for two terms. He re-
tired to San Jose in 1882 and in 1888 he was elected
councilman from the second ward and served in that
capacity for several years. As a true Argonaut of
the "days of '49," he named his stock ranch in
Plumas County the American ranch, and from the
ranch the valley was called American Valley; and
at the ranch he opened a trading post or store, which
he conducted very successfully. When, in the fall
of 1852. he sold out, owing to impaired health, he
intended to go to the Sandwich Islands, but he con-
cluded first to visit friends in Santa Clara Valley.
He found the climate so beneficial that he was
soon restored to health, and he determined to buy a
home near Lawrence Station, and to settle down to
farm life. The cattle business was a great industry
then, and this contributed to exercise his energy and
sagacity. By thrift and industry he accumulated
a handsome fortune, and as his children grew to man-
hood and womanhood, he provided generously for
each of them. During the later years of his life.
Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Hunter resided at 86 North
Sixth Street in a commodious house he had built
there, and for many years he had been a prominent
member of the Santa Clara lodge of Odd Fellows.
The character of his life, the good he wrought, and
the noble ambitions he still held out as a possible
goal, make the manner and the time of Mr. Hunter's
taking off a matter of the deepest sorrow and re-
gret. On the afternoon of October 16, 1902, Mr.
Hunter was killed, by accident, on the road above
Alum Park. He was returning to San Jose with
his wife from a visit to their daughter, Mrs. Miller,
and when at a point in the road where there is a
dangerous grade, the horse became frightened. Be-
fore anything could stop him, he backed the buggy
over the grade, some thirty or forty feet. Mrs.
Hunter was held in buggy by the top, and in some
way or other protected from serious injury; Mr.
Hunter, on the other hand, fell out, and either
the horse or the buggy crushed him. He lived
to ask his wife if she was hurt, in answer to her
solicitous inquiry, but was dead when picked up by
Charles Bozhe, who had witnessed the accident and
gone to their assistance. When at the bottom, Mrs.
Hunter, who was not badly hurt, called to her hus-
band to learn of his injuries. "Are you much hurt?"
she asked. "Yes, mother, I am badly hurt; but
are you safe?" Mrs. Hunter found that her foot
was caught in the buggy in some way, and that she
could not release it until she unlaced her shoe, which
she did, and crawled to where her husband lay; but
when she reached him, he had ceased to breathe, his
words of tender solicitude as to her injuries being
the last he spoke. The aged couple were devotedly
attached to their children, and the children recipro-
cated with an affection that was beautiful to see. Their
very visit to the Millers was in accordance with their
custom of spending a night or two with each of their
children at least once a week.

Frank Hunter was reared on the old Hunter home-
stead and educated in the local school and in a
private school in Santa Clara, and from early days
he assisted his father on the farm. On Decem-
ber 24, 1882, he was married to Miss Lydia A.
Ortley, a daughter of Captain John Jacob Ortley,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1125

who was born in New York City on September 14,
1827, and there resided until his eighteenth year.
Having learned the sailmaker's trade, he shipped on
the barque Rosina on June 26, 184S, and voyaged
to South America; and he was afterward employed
on the brig Don Juan, which was engaged in the
slave trade. He remained with that craft only a
short time, however, and once more shipped on the
Rosina, where he remained for three and a half
years; and then, as an able seaman, he sailed on the
Union to New Orleans, and made two later trips as
second mate. He then came out to California on
the ship Caroline Reed, in 1849, and he was after-
ward in the service of different vessels on the Coast,
while he for many years was proprietor of the Union
line of packets plying between Alviso and San Fran-
cisco. He came to own certain warehouses in Al-
viso township; while in the town of Alviso he had
a comfortable home and thirty-five lots, and he
was a school trustee for ten years. On the day be-
fore Christmas, in 1858, Captain Ortley was married
to Almira Wade, by whom he had ten surviving
children: Lydia A., the wife of the subject of this
story; JuHa D., Lucy W.. Mary L., John J., Almira
L.. Emily E., Oliver J.. William B., and Hattie R.
Mrs. Ortley died in 1907, closing a fruitful, happy life
in which she had made many friends. Captain Ort-
ley passed away in 1913. Almira Wade crossed the
great plains with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wade, in
1849, and having settled near Alviso, the Wades ever
afterward were identified with movements for pro-
gress in the Valley. After their marriage Mr. and
Mrs. Frank A. Hunter engaged in farming on the
Hunter ranch, and here he raised alfalfa and grain,
and conducted a dairy. In 1888 they became the
owners of sixty acres of the old homestead; they
built a new house and in connection with rairying
they set out a year orchard, raising berries while
the orchard was young. Three children have been
born to them: A. B. Hunter, is a rancher, with a
fine pear orchard in the Jeflferson district, where he
lives with his wife. Mary Jane Malley before her
marriage, and their two children, A. B. Hunter, Jr.,
and Clifford B. Hunter. Elva is the wife of B. L.
Ward, the undertaker at San Jose; they have two
children, William B. and Frances H. Clifton mar-
ried Maud M. Coyle; and they are ranching in Yuba
County. Mr. Hunter is a member of the California
Pear Association and politically indorses the prin-
ciples of the Democratic platform.

H. J. LUND. — A horticulturist and viticulturist.
located on the summit in the Santa Cruz Mountains,
is H. J. Lund, who was born at Taasinge, Denmark,
September 9. 1868. a son of Anders and Karen (Han-
sen) Lund, the father being a general contractor. The
parents are now both dead. H. J. is the second oldest
of their five children and he and a brother, John Lund,
are the only ones in the LInited States. As soon as
his school days were over, H. J. went to work on
farms, and in 1891 he came to the United States, first
locating in Washington, but remained only a short
time, when he removed to Oregon, remaining a year,
and then came to California in 1900. He spent two
years in Oakland, and then in 1902 he located in Santa
Clara County, rented an orchard and engaged in

fruit raising. Later he leased a 174-acre place of
orchard and vineyard.

He believes in cooperation, so was one of the first
in his section to become a member of the California
Prune & Apricot Association. In August, 1920, he
purchased his present orchard and vineyard of twenty
acres on the Summit, where he is raising prunes and
grapes. It is the consensus of opinion he raises the
finest table grapes in his region. "

In Stockton Mr. Lund was married to Miss Hazel
Smith, who was born in Los Gatos, a daughter of
William P. Smith, one of *the early settlers of the
foothill city. There union has been blessed with four
children: Kathryn, Ella, Andrew and Wilbur, the
two last being twins. In politics Mr. Lund is a Social-
ist. He served as trustee of Lexington school district
for several years, beng clerk of the board.

OCTAVE J. FRANCIS.— An early settler of Cali-
fornia arriving here in 1862 is Octave J. Francis, a
native of Canada, born at La Prairie, near Montreal,
November 27, 1843, a son of Benoit and Flavy (La
Fevre) Francis, natives of Canada, descended from
old French-Canadian families. They removed to
Malone, N. Y., in 1846, where they reared their
family on the farm. Later in life our subject returned
to Malone and brought his parents to his California
home where they were cared for until their death at
seventy-two and sixty-eight years, respectively. Oc-
tave J. was ■ the fifth oldest of a family of eight
children born to this worthy couple and from a youth
learned habits of industry on his father's farm, three
miles from Malone, and also attended the local pub-
lic schools. When nineteen years of a,ge he started
for California, coming via Panama to San Francisco
in 1862, on the old Constitution. He came immedi-
ately to Santa Clara County and followed farming.

In 1866 he made the trip back home via Panama,
returning via the same route a year later. In 1869
he again returned East via Panama and the same
year brought his father and mother out by rail, just
after the railroad was connected at Promontory
Point. Mr. Francis then purchased sixteen acres of
raw land in LTnion district, setting out an orchard of
prunes, peaches and apricots. His family made their
home on this place while he was engaged ''n the saw-
mills in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In 1870 he
began work in Froment's mill, and worked up to
sawyer. After eight years he left, to become sawyer
for Jim Cunningham, on Boulder Creek, for two
years, and then with Hubbard & Carmichael Bros.,
with whom he was head sawyer for twelve years,
continuing steadily with them until all the available
timber was made into lumber and the mill shut
down, when he retired to his ranch where his family
had resided all these years. In 1917 he sold the ranch
and purchased a residence at 26 Asbury Street, San
Jose, where he now makes his home.

Mr. Francis was married in San Jose to Miss Ade-
laide La Montague, who was born at Malone, N. Y..
also descended from an old French-Canadian family,
their union having been blessed with five children:
Dennis was accidentally killed in 1915 while driving
in an automobile race in F'resno; \"ictor. Milton and
Roy are engaged in the automobile and garage busi-
ness in San Francisco; the latter was an aviator and
was the first boy who ever flew over this county.

1126

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and during the World War he was instructor at Kelly
Field, Texas, holding a captain's commission; Venia
is Mrs. P. A. Jerome of Lassen County. Politically,
Mr. Francis gives his allegiance to the Republican
party, while, religiously, he is a member of St.
Joseph's Catholic Church.

HAROLD J. STANLEY.— An energetic business
man of progressive ideas and up-to-date' business
methods is Harold J. Stanley, proprietor of the
Ford Garage and Ford agency at Los Gatos. He
was born in Alliance, S^ark County, Ohio. June 7,
189L His father, B. T. Stanley, was 1)orn in Damas-
cus, Ohio, while his mother was Anna Nicholson, born
at Harrisonville, the same state. They were farmers
there until 1904, when they brought their family to
Los Gatos, Cal., where they engaged in ranching. The
parents now live on San Jose Avenue.

Of their three children, Mr. Stanley is the second
oldest. His first schooling was in his home district
in Ohio, and after coming to California he attended
the Los Gatos grammar and high school, supple-
mented with a course at Heald's Business College
He then began the study of architecture in San
Francisco, but after two years, found the confinement
incident to the work of an architect too wearing on
him so he turned to carpentering until 1913, when he
began dairying, establishing Stanley's dairy farm
supplying Los Gatos families with milk. On January
1, 1922, he sold his dairy business and equipment but
retained his twenty-acre ranch on Kennedy Road,
where he resides with his family. On May 1, 1922,
he purchased the equipment and machinery of the
Ford Garage at Los Gatos from Mrs. Hart and was
also appointed the Ford agent. The garage is lo-
cated on Santa Cruz Avenue, and is well equipped
for complete Ford service.

Mr. Stanley was married in Los Gatos to Blanche
Angel, who was born in Wisconsin, and their union
has been blessed with three children, Helen, Leonard
and Rachel. Mr. Stanley is enterprising and pro-
gressive and takes an interest in civic movements that
have for their aim the upbuilding of the community.
He is a member of the Automobile Association and
politically indorses Republican principles.

WALTER ALLEN VAN LONE.— A native son
who is proud of his association with Santa Clara
County is Walter Allen Van Lone, who was born on
the old Logan ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains
half way to the summit from Los Gatos, October
12. 1863. His father, William D. Van Lone, was a
pioneer of California, crossing the plains in 1854 and
after mining a while came to the Santa Cruz Moun-
tains, where he had first come as early as 1857, and
located permanently in 1859. He was married here
to Miss Romelia Allen, who was born near Clav-
ton, N. Y., July 25, 1836. Her father, Thomas Al-
len, was born in Johnstown, N. Y.. in 1807, a descend-
ant of Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga. and
her mother was Anstres Cary. born in Utica, N. Y.,
in 1811. Three of their children grew up; James
J., of Los Gatos. Elizabeth died in California, and
Romelia. In 1859 with her brother. James J., she
crossed the plains in an ox-team train with Zenas
Sikes and his wife to California. Romelia remained
with Mr. and Mrs. Sikes at Alviso for a year and
then she and her brother came to the Burrell ranch
at the Summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains, for a
year, then she was with the Hubbard family, where

there was sickness and death, and she helped them
out. In 1862 she married W. D. Van Lone and
they farmed in the valley for two years and then
purchased a place near Saratoga, then called Mc-
Cartysville. In 1869 they moved to a farm near
Tracy, where they were ranching until 1875. when
they returned to the Santa Cruz Mountains and pur-
chased a ranch on Bear Creek Road, which they im-
proved to orchard and vineyard. There thev resided
until November 1. 1920, when the ranch was sold
an.^. they located in Los Gatos and there Mr. Van
Lone passed away May 24. 1922. Their union re-
sulted in the birth of six children: Walter, our sub-
ject; William of Los Gatos: George of Lexington;
James, deceased; Elizabeth, Mrs. Laddick of Alma;
and Charles, deceased. Mrs. Van Lone's brother.
James Allen, is now ninety years old; he served
as postmaster at Tracy from 1906 until 1911, when
he resigned and returned to Santa Clara County and
makes his home with his sister in Los Gatos. Mrs.
Van Lone was very helpful and capable when there
was sickness in the homes of the community, waiting
on the neighbors when in sickness, sorrow and need,
being so well thought of for her qualities as a nurso
that a physician said of her, when he came in re-
sponse to a call: "You don't need me when you have
Dr. Van Lone."

Walter A. Van Lone was educated in the public
schools in Tracy and in the Brown district at the
Summit. He followed farming, orcharding, and get-
ting out tanbark until 1890, when he built a box mill
on the home ranch and manufactured box shook
from 1892 till 1896. In 1898 he began work as a tool
dresser for a local oil company and in 1899 he was
with the Golden Gate Oil Company in Moody Gulch.
In July, 1901. he went to Santa Maria in the same
capacity, for diflferent oil companies, until 1904. when
he returned home for a year. In 1905 he was with
the Brookshire Oil Company and in 1907 became
driller for them, continuing until 1916. when he re-
signed and returned to the ranch and worked for a
local oil company, and since November. 1920. he has
also had charge of his father's estate. In 1890 Mr.
\'an Lone joined Ridgely Lodge No. 294 of Odd
Fellows in Los Gatos and he is also a member of the
Rebekahs. He was made a Mason in Hesperian
Lodge No. 264 F. & A. M. at Santa Maria, and in
all of these orders he is well received and popular.

SAMUEL MARTIN.— A merchant whose well-
organized, dependable service is much appreciated
by a discerning public is Samuel Martin, the experi-
enced dealer in feed and grain at 180 South Market
Street, San Jose, in which city he was born Decem-
ber 10. 1869. His father, James B. Martin, who had
married Miss Margaret Craven, came with her to
California around Cape Horn from New York in a
sailing vessel in 1860. landing at San Francisco. He
was a stationary engineer. After leaving San Fran-
cisco he went to Monterey and where he remained
until he came to San Jose in 1863. where he was
engineer at Fremont's Planing Mill and when he
gave up this line of work and became a merchant.
In 1886 he died, highly esteemed by all who had
dealt with him. Mrs. Martin, whose qualities as a
good neighbor have always been appreciated, is still
living and resides at Cupertino. Of their six chil-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1129

dren, all of whom are living. Sam, as he is familiarly
called by his friends, is the youngest.

After the usual elementary schooling, he went to
work as a mere 3'oungster. and until 1890 he fol-
lowed the grocery trade with the Mariposa Store,
after which he went into the grain business with his
brother, H. B. Martin, of the firm of H. B. Martin
&- Company, and for eighteen years was with him,
working from the bottom up to assistant manager.
Then, in 1908, he opened a store for himself on
South Second Street, and later he came to his pres-
ent location at 180 .South Market Street. From the
beginning he has been phenomenally successful; and
it is natural that he should early have been selected
as a director of the Growers' Bank, of which he was
one of the organizers and first vice-president. He
is a member of the Merchants' Association, the San
Jose Chamber of Commerce, the San Jose Progres-
sive Club and a charter member of the Commercial
Club of San Jose.

At San Jose, in 1906. Mr. Martin was married to
Miss Lila B. O'Hanlon, the daughter of Robert J.
O'Hanlon, a well-known pioneer of his time; she
was born at San Jose and reared here and is a grad-
uate of San Jose high school and San Jose State
Normal. The union has proven a happy one, and
they are the parents of two children, James Beau-
mont and Lucretia Birch Martin Mr. Martin be-
longs to the Woodmen of the World, and he is a
charter member of Observatory Parlor No. 177, of
the Native Sons of the Golden West.

ALLEN R. LATHAM.— A veteran of the Civil
War, Allen R. Latham is a native of New Hampshire,
born at Concord, December 8, 1842. The family is
traced back to William Latham, who came from
England in the Mayflower in 1620. Mr. Latham's
father, Allen Latham, was born in Tyme. N. H., No-
vember 5. 1818 and settled in Lamont. 111. He
practiced dentistry for fifty years and passed away
November 25. 1894. Mr. Latham's mother was Clara
Eastman Jenness, born in Chichester, N. H.. April
9. 1820. and died in Danville. 111., August 22, 1852.
Their only child to grow up was .Mien R., who came
with his parents to Ilhnois in 1X52, attended school in
Danville and studied dentistry under liis father until
1862, when he volunteered in Company M, Second
Ilhnois Light Artillery, but was later placed in Com-
pany H of the same regiment. He was in the Battle
of Harper's Ferry, then with General Burnsides in
Eastern Tennessee and later with General Thomas
at Nashville. He was mustered out at Camp Butler,
111.. July, 1865, as corporal, after two years and nine
months' service. After the war he made his way to
what is now Ludington. Mich., and followed saw-
milling until 1872, and then located in Springfield,
111., where he practiced dentistr\- and later engaged
in the drug business. In 1886 he removed to Delta,
Colo., where he engaged in general merchandising, in-
cluding a drug department, the firm being Latham
& Williams. Setting out he came to California in
June, 1891, and a month later he located in Los Gatos.
Finding it to his liking he engaged in the grocery
trade for five years and then foUow^ed clerking in the
Farmers' Union and also in A. W. Bogart's hard-
ware store for some years. During these years he
had purchased and improved a ten acre ranch to
prune orchard; he cared for this orchard for many

years until the work became too arduous, when he
sold it. Meantime as early as 1892, he purchased
his present place of two and one-half acres which
he has set out to orchard.

Mr. Latham was married at Hamlin. Mich., to
Emma Christina Gustafson, born in Sweden, who
was reared in Michigan from the age of fifteen years.
Mr. Latham was bereaved of his wife on May 15,
1919. Their union resulted in the birth of two chil-
dren; Robert Allen died in August. 1917; John Ed-
ward died January 1, 1909; he had married Florence
Blank, who survives him and presides over Mr.
Latham's home. She has one son. Allen Emmett, a
graduate of ' Oakland high school, class of 1922. Mr.
Latham was made a Mason in Pierre Marquette
Lodge, Ludington, Mich., in 1872, is a past master
of Springfield, 111., Lodge No. 4, A. F. & A. M., and
is now a member of Los Gatos Lodge No. 292. He
is a member of Howard Chapter No. 14, R. A. M.,
and San Jose Commandry No. 10, K. T., and all the
Scottish Rite bodies in San Jose. He is also a mem-
ber of E. O. C. Ord. Post No. 82, G. A. R.

FRED G. MUSSO. — One of San Jose's progres-
sive vounK huMii, ^s men is Fred G. Musso, who w^as
born in It:il\, januarx 14, 1888, the son of Eugene
and Mary .\lus;,o, l)oth natives of Italy; the latter
with their family came to S.-iii Jo^c in 1892 to join
the father who had preceded tluiii liy two years.
Both parents are still residing in San josc.

F. G. Musso was educated in the grammar and
high schools of San Jose, later attending St. Joseph's
College. He also attended night school in order to
acquire a speaking knowledge of the English
language. His first position was as an apprentice
with a drug company and at the end of three years,
he took the examination for assistant pharmacist:
later taking a correspondence course and successfully
passed all examinations, and at the end of five years
became a registered pharmacist and for fourteen
years was engaged in his chosen profession.

Desiring to own a business for himself, Mr. Musso
cstaljlished what is known as the Musso Outing
Equipment Company, with an attractive store and
factory at 190-192 '(Vest Santa Clara Street, where
he manufactures the famous .Musso "Auto-Home-
Camp-Bed." The jiroducts of his factory are so
poinilar tliat he ships to all parts of the United
States; to the South Sea Islands; the Hawaiian Is-
lands; the Samoa Islands; but his greatest field is
in this state and the adjoining states of Utah and
Nevada. This "camp-bed" is moderate in price,
comfortable to sleep upon, and the pleasure of a
camping trip is enhanced by the comforts it affords,
and it is winning prosperity for its maker. He al-
ready has one patent and something like fourteen
claims, with others pending. He opened his business
in a very modest way, working principally among
his friends, but the business has so increased, that it
has become necessary to seek larger quarters. His
present payroll consists of fifteen men and fifteen
women constantly engaged in the manufacture of
camp equipment.

The inarriage of Mr. Musso united him with Miss
Edith Starkey and to them has been born one son,
Frederick Warren. He casts his vote with the Re-
publican party, and fraternally he is a member of the
Independent Order of Foresters; he is also a mem-

1130

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ber of the Drug Clerks' Association and the One
Hundred Percent Club of San Jose. He adheres to
tlie teachings of the Catholic Church. He is a great
lover of outdoor life and finds time to take his fam-
ily on hunting and fishing trips. He believes there
is a great future for Santa Clara County, and is an
enthusiastic supporter of all movements for the bet-
terment of the beautiful Garden City.

DOXEY ROBERT WILSON, M. D.— The high
professional attainments of Doxey Robert Wilson,
M. D., have given him a place of prominence in the
medical fraterntiy of San Jose, and his experience and
training have well qualified him for his. responsible
post as superintendent and physician in charge of the
County Hospital. A native of Indiana, he was born
at Noblesville, on April 19, 1884, and was the son
of Coleman and Mattie (Doxey) Wilson. He received
his education in the public schools &nd Culver
Military Academy of Indiana and later attended
Stanford University, taking his medical work at
Cooper Medical College. He received the M. D.
degree in the year of 1908 and at the convocation
of that college in 1920 a fellowship in the American
College of Surgeons was conferred upon him. For
two years Dr. Wilson served as an intern at the
Santa Clara County Hospital and then devoted some
time to private practice in San Jose, before his ap-
pointment in 1913, to ttie position of superintendent
and physician in charge of the County Hospital
where he has shown signal administrative and exec-
utive ability. In 1918 Dr. Wilson enlisted in the
Medical Department, U. S. A., was commissioned first
lieutenant and served in the orthopedic department
of Letterman Hospital at San Francisco and at Camp
Lewis, Washington, he received his honorable dis-
charge in April, 1919.

Dr. Wilson's marriage united him with Miss Eliza-
beth Cornell, a native of San Francisco, Cal,. and they
are the parents of three children: John, Martha and
Elizabeth. Dr. Wilson is very popular in the Wood-
men of the World and the Odd Fellows lodges. He is
a member of the American Medical Association and
the State and County Medical Societies. In national
politics, he is a Republican, but being a man above
party ties, he is liberal in his views, voting for men
and measures rather than party ties.

EDWARD R. POLHEMUS.— A highly progres-
sive business man of San Jose who is doubly inter-
esting as a representative of one of the oldest, his-
toric families in the state, is Edward R. Polhemus,
the efficient and popular secretary and treasurer of
the California Plow Company at San Jose. His na-
tive city is San Francisco, where he was born on
August. 1889; and his parents, now both deceased,
were Edward and Eunice (Blanchard) Polhemus.
As early as 1860, the father settled near Anaheim,
where he had a sheep ranch; then he migrated north
and spent some years in Seattle; but lured by the
old spell of California, he came back to the Golden
State and once more lived at San Francisco, where
he passed away.

Edward R. Polhemus attended both the grammar
and high schools of San Francisco, and then went to
Stanford University and in 1909 he said good-bye
to lecture-halls and entered the exporting trade in
San Francisco. Ten years later, in June, he came
to San Jose and soon after associated himself with
the California Plow Company, a concern still in

its infancy, but of great promise. He was made
secretary and treasurer, and as he was already expe-
rienced in handling agricultural implements, and es-
pecially tractors and all that goes with that Twen-
tieth Century device for the farmer, the development
of the plow manufacturing enterprise moves steadily
forward, on broad, permanent lines. In November,
of 1921, Mr. Polhemus became interested in the
\"alley Oil Refinery, located at the corner of Pol-
hemus Street and Stockton Avenue, San Jose. This
company operates two stills and make a superior
quality of gasoline; also lubricating oils, distillates
and an oil especially made for spraying.

Mr. Polhemus, who is an Episcopalian, is a Scot-
tish Rite Mason, a Shriner and an Elk, and also a
member of the S. E. A., a college fraternity. He is
fond of sport, and is well known is yachting cir-
cles. In political niovemtnts, he invariably assumes
the attitude of the man aI)ove narrow partisanship,
and his influence as a citizen is far-reaching.

CHRIS RASMUSSEN.— Since coming to San
Martin in 1908, Chris Rasmussen has done much
toward the upbuilding of this section, for in addition
to developing his own ranch, he has done a great
deal of work for others in the line of orchard plant-
ing and taking care of orchards, operating every
season both with horses and Yuba tractors. Mr.
Rasmussen is a native of Denmark, born near Aarhus,
on May 9, 1880, his parents being R. P. and Mary
fVester) Rasmussen, both members of well-known
families of that part of Denmark. The father stood
high as a teacher, and he gave his son the oppor-
tunity of schooling in good educational institutions.
Mr,-,. R,i>nui>,,cn pas>ed away in 1896, but the father
:> still liviiiL; .It Aarhiis .it the age of seventy-nine.

Th, l,,urth child <.i tlK family, Chris Rasmussen
first was employed three \ ears in the hardware busi-
ness, after his school da.vs were over. In 1900-01
lie served in the Danish Army as a corporal in an
infantry regiment, training at Aarhus. After his
military training was over he decided to migrate to
the United States, and in 1903, arrived in Mitchell
County. Iowa, a stranger in a strange land, but am-
bitious to give his best efforts to making a success
111 the new land. For a time he worked out on farms,
saving his money meanwhile, and in March, 1906,
came on west to California, locating at Fresno, and
lor a short time worked on a ranch, and then entered
the sawmill business at Shaver, then came to San
I'rancisco. In 1908 Mr. Rasmussen came to the
Santa Clara Valley, and purchased a tract of thirteen
acres on Church Avenue, San Martin, which he devel-
oped into a valuable property, four acres being in
Royal Anne cherries. Here he made his home for six
years, until the coming of his brother, R. U. Rasmus-
sen, to this section. Disposing of this place to his
brother, they purchased a larger ranch and there the
three brothers reside, as M. Rasmussen is also con-
nected with the farm. The place consists of
twenty acres on Colombet Avenue, all being set
to fruit trees. Efficient and hard working, he has
given his orchard the best of care and is now re-
warded by its excellent returns. In 1922 R. U. and M.
Rasmussen purchased a thirteen and one-half acre
ranch of young orchards, on Church Avenue. A
loyal citizen of his adopted country. Mr. Rasmussen
received his final citizenship papers in San Francisco
in 1912. He belongs to the California Prune and
Apricot Association, and in politics is a Republican.

/fi^ /CMu^i.^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1133

JAMES EDWIN BLAUROCK.— A wide-awake,
efficient business man of the type which always
makes itself manifest in a progressive community, is
J. Edwin Blaurock, the popular manager of the Pa-
cific Fruit Product Company at San Jose. He was
born in East Orange, N. J., on May 6, 1873, the son
of Samuel and Hattie (Sommerville) Blaurock.
worthy citizens, devoted parents and good neighbors,
with a host of friends.

After leaving school Mr. Blaurock worked with
his father in the plumbing business in East Orange
but tiring of that he went to New York City and
was employed as salesman and in other capacities
until going to Colorado in 1897. He worked in the
mining business, at plumbing and as salesman there. —
then in 1904 went back to Chicago and was in busi-
ness for himself until coming to California in 1909.

Mr. Blaurock spent two s'ears in Sacramento and
San Francisco, — in the former city with the John
Bruner Company, and in the latter with the Coast
Fire and Alarine Salvage Companj'. On September
26. 1911, he came to San Jose, and he has been
with the Pacific Fruit Product Company ever since,
starting at the very bottom and working his way
through the different departments until, since July.
1916. he has discharged the varied responsibilities of
his present position.

In the busy season, the Pacific Fruit Product Com-
pany employs some seventy-five people, and they
pack dried fruit under contract for the California
Prune & Apricot Association. They also maintain a
jam department, and put up jam of a very high qual-
ity, and they formerly packed cherries and other
green fruit, selecting only the best raw materials,
and preserving them in the most scientific manner.
Mr. Blaurock's thorough training, partly in the com-
mon schools of the East, part!}' in a business college,
and partly in the great school of experience, has
enabled him to manage this growing business con-
cern with the true spirit of enterprise. In national
politics a Republican, he is ready at all times to cast
aside partisanship and to pull a long and strong
stroke in favor of the best things locally.

In 1900, Mr. Blaurock was united in marriage at
Cripple Creek, Colo., to Minnie E. Largent, a na-
tive of Cedar Rapids. Iowa, and they have a daugh-
ter Edna May.

Mr. Blaurock is fond of all outdoor recreations;
and fraternally he joins his fellows in the circles
of the Brotherhood of .\merican Yeomen and the
Woodmen of the World, and is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce.

SYLVAIN LE DEIT.— An enterprising, progres-
sive business man who is never satisfied with the
success of today but has his eye far ahead on to-
morrow, is Sylvain Le Deit, of the Garden City
Glass Company, at San Jose, in which city he was
born on June 13, 1887. His father. Matthurin Le
Deit, came to San Francisco in 1852 by way of the
Horn, and for a while was a cowboy. Later in San
Jose, he engaged in the poultry and butcher trade;
and here he lived until his death, in December, 1907.
He married Georgetta Gaire, a native daughter, who
was born at San Francisco.

Sylvain attended the public schools and then
worked in a mill. After that he learned the art-glass
trade, beginning in 1902, and seven years later he
established a business for himself, and in 1920 took
into partnership Richard French, and purchased the

Garden City Glass Company. Now they have the
largest art-glass plant between Portland and Los
Angeles. Their shop is located at 122 Lenzen Ave-
nue, and there they employ ten men regularly, turn-
mg out everything from the plainest window glass
up to the most artistic specimens, and sending their
products all along the coast and the nearby western
territory. Mr. Le Deit belongs to the Chamber of
Commerce and never loses an opportunity to endorse
and otherwise help any movement of benefit to his
fellows in business as well as to himself.

At Santa Clara, in 1911, he married Miss Mar-
cella Williams, of San Jose, and they have two
sons. James and Sylvain, Jr. The family attend the
Roman Catholic Church and Mr. Le Deit is a mem-
ber o the Foresters of America, the Woodmen of
the \\ orld and the Elks.

. RifhY*^ French, Mr. Le Deifs partner, was born
m England, on April 24, 1879, the son of Joseph
and i- ranees French, who came to Pittsburgh Pa
with their family from England in 1887 and later
moved to St. Paul. Minn. Richard, who came to
America in 1890, was educated for the most part in
England, and for a term at a St. Paul Minn., school
In 189.1, he engaged in the glass business; and on
March 10. 1920. he came to San Jose and with Mr
Le Deit succeeded to the proprietorship of this com-
pany. He married Miss Stella J. Winks, and they
ree children, all girls, Laura Thelma, Stella

ha

Pave, and Mary Velma. Mr. French did not take
long to join hand and heart with his fellow-Amer-
icans, and he participated in the Spanish-American
War as a member of Company G, Eighteenth U. S.
Infantry, thereby doing his highest patriotic duty

WILLIAM F. SERPA—Among California's na-
tive sons, who have done their share in the up-
building of the city of San Jose, is William F. Serpa,
who IS engaged as a plumbing and sheet metal con-
tractor, having been engaged in this business for
himself since the year 1914. Mr. Serpa was born
on February 21. 1885, and is a native of San Jose,
a son of Manuel F. and Marv (Marshall) Serpa
The father came here in 1874 and it was here that
he met and married Mrs. Serpa, who was also a na-
tive of California, having been born in Placer County;
her father was an early settler, coming to Califor-
nia during the pioneer days; Mr. and Mrs. Serpa
still make their home at San Jose.

Mr. Serpa attended both the grammar and high
schools of San Jose and at the age of twenty-one
became an apprentice in the plumbing trade. He
worked for a number of years as a journeyman in
Oakland and San Jose at this line of business and.
then he decided to start in business for himself, es-
tablishing his shop during the year 1914. He has
installed the plumbing in many of the larger resi-
dences, and buildings, among them Mr. Schmidt's
residence at Wright Station, and Mrs. Joseph's resi-
dence. Evergreen; S. H. Chase residence. R. H.
Borches' residence. C. Kimberlin residence, Naglee
Park; the Metropolitan Store, the Curtner- Wright
Garage, the Delmas Paper Company, on North Mar-
ket Street; the Montgomery Building, all school
buildings in 1920, but one, and did a large amount
of sheet metal work on the park and race track, and
has secured the contract for all work for the Western
Pacific from Milpitas to San Jose. In all his un-
dertakings he has been very successful, and he has
established a reputation for excellent work.

1134

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. Serpa's marriage in March, 1907. united him
with Miss Marie Ickler and they are the parents of
four children: Clara, Hazel, Thelma, and Beryl.
Mr. Serpa was very active during the World War
in the different war drives, showing the patriotic
spirit which he feels toward his country. He is also
active as a member of the Chamber of Commerce
and fraternally, is a member of the Modern Wood-
men of America and the Odd Fellows. In national
politics, he casts his vote with the Republican party.

A. KIEFFER BURKETT.— In each community
are found men of business enterprise and thrift whose
activity and progressive ideas place them in the front
rank of the real builders of our commonwealth and
among these in San Jose is A. Kieffer Burkett,
contractor and builder. He was born in Jefferson,
Ashe County, N. C, June 16, 1882, the son of R. H.
and Elizabeth (Smithdeal) Burkett. The father and
grandfather were both natives of North Carolina
and the mother was born in Virginia.

A. K. Burkett was educated in the grammar school
of Jefferson and at the age of sixteen, he went to
West Virginia and worked in the coal fields of Mc-
Dowell County for a year and a half. In 1901 he
came to California, located near Santa Cruz where
he was employed on a dairy ranch for three j-ears.
He next was employed by the California Powder
Company, which later became a branch of the Du
Pont powder companies, for seven years, in time
becoming a foreman in the manufacturing depart-
ment of dynamite and black powder. In 1914 he
came to San Jose and spent three years with L. I.
Kelly, contractor, learning the carpenter trade, after
serving his apprenticeship, he began contracting for
himself, specializing in first-class bungalows.

On February 5, 1918, Mr. Burkett was married to
Miss Stella Stowers, a native of Bluefield, W. Va.,
the daughter of Stewart Stowers, a successful farmer
of Bland County, W. Va. Mr. Burkett is a Demo-
crat and has been quite active in the ranks of his
party; fraternally he is a member of the Odd Fel-
lows. Besides attending to his contracting business,
he is improving an eighteen-acre ranch on the Mon-
terey Road. He manifests an interest in questions of
public concern and he has ever held to high standards
in manhood and citizenship.

LYLE R. NASH.— A successful executive who
profits both by his own valuable experience and that
of others, and who never fails to study environment
and present-day conditions, with the result that,
while seeking immediate prosperity, he is also paving
the way for the attainments and profits in the mor-
row, is Lyle R. Nash, the efficient general manager
of the Nash, Englehart, Silva Manufacturing Com-
pany, at San Jose. He was born at Monmouth, War-
ren County. 111., on September 9, 1882. the son of
Robert W. Nash, who is superintendent for Ander-
son-Barngrover Company in San Jose, and had mar-
ried Miss Clara Rodgers. The family came to Cali-
fornia in 1883, so that Lyle is almost a native son,
coming here when he was a few months old.

He enjoyed all the advantages of the public school
system, the San Jose State Normal and the fine
courses of one of the San Jose business colleges
where he was graduated in 1903, and after that he
was fortunate in learning the machinist's trade in
the machine shop of Anderson-Barngrover Com-

pany, at which he worked for several years. On
the first of February, 1913, the Nash, Englehart, Silva
Manufacturing Company was established, with the
services of five men; and now, such has been the
remarkable development of the concern and its
flattering patronage, twenty-five men are needed
to do the work in the making and repair of
general agricultural and other machinery. Their
plant is located at 502 to 512 West Santa Clara
Street, where they have a complete machine shop
and have the agency for the Fairbanks, Morse & Co.'s
motors, engines, pumps and accessories. Mr. Nash
belongs to the San Jose Chamber of Commerce and
Merchants Association, and as a practical man of
real business accomplishment is able to contribute
toward whatever that excellent organization plans.
In national politics he is a Republican.

At San Jose on May 24, 1905, Mr. Nash was mar-
ried to Miss Dorothy V. Drinkwater, a native of
San Jose and a graduate of San Jose State Normal.
One child, Wilmer Westelo, has blessed their union.
Mr. Nash is a member of the United Presbyterian
Church. He was made a Mason in Fraternity Lodge
No. 399, F. & A. M , San Jose, and is a member of
San Jose Scottish Rite bodies and of the San Jose
Pyramid No. 9 of the Sciots. and is a Yeoman and a
Modern Woodman, and he is fond of hunting, fish-
ing and the game of baseball. He is public-spirited,
and has been a popular school trustee.

STANLEY BASSETT SMITH.— An enterprising
horticulturist of Santa Clara County is Stanley Bas-
sett Smith, who for the past fourteen years has de-
voted his energies to the operation of a desirable
ranch, situated on the Los Gatos-Santa Clara Road.
A native of the state of New York, he was born July
31, 1889, of the union of James and Ellen (Sawyer)
Smith, the former a well-known educator, who was
for ten years principal of the academic department of
Grinnell College. Iowa, and after coming to California
in 1888 he became prominently identified with edu-
cational interests of this state. He was one of the
organizers of the Campbell Union high school and
acted as its principal from 1900 until his demise,
which occurred in 1912. While residing in the East
he also conducted private schools and his life was
devoted to the profession of teaching, in which he
was very successful. The mother makes her home
in Campbell.

Stanley B. Smith is one of seven children of this
family, five of whom were graduated from the Camp-
bell high school, and later he entered Leland Stan-
ford University of this state, which conferred upon
him the A. B. degree in 1911. He has since given his
attention to the cultivation and development of his
ranch of twenty-seven acres, which is situated in Santa
Clara County, specializing in the raising of prunes
and apricots. His labors have ever been of a. con-
structive nature and intelligently carried forward.

Mr. Smith married Miss Isabel Rowell, born in
Fresno, Cal., daughter of W. F. Rowell, a pioneer
rancher of Fresno County, who died in San Jose.
Mrs. Smith is also a graduate of Stanford, class of
1914. This union has been blessed with two children,
Frances and Albert. Mr. Smith is a valued member
of the local Grange, being past master, and his
political support is given to the Republican party.
He is a member of Charity Lodge F. & A. M., at

M- , f ^'^^.t^z^jo^.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1137

Campbell. He is deeply interested in everything that
pertains to the welfare and progress of his conimun-
ily, county and state, and is a young man of enter-
prise and determination, who is making wise use of
his time, talents and opportunities.

JOHN E. TEED.— A veteran of the Civil War,
who has been a resident of California since 1900, is
John E. Teed, born in Cleveland, Ohio. March 3,
1847. His father, E. D. Teed, was born in New York,
removing to Ohio. He there married .Susan Gee,
a native of Pennsylvania, and they were farmers in
the Buckeye State until they removed to Waupaca,
Wis., and thence on to Owatonna, Minn., where the
father spent the rest of his days. The mother died
in Cottonwood County, Minn. Of the six children
born to this worthy couple, John E. is the second
and grew up on the Minnesota farm from ten years
of age, receiving his education in the public schools.
At the time of the Civil War, his youthful soul was
stirred with patriotism and he left his books to enlist
in the Union Army, February 11, 1863, in Company A,
Tenth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, being mustered
in at Fort Snelling and sent to the front and under
General Price he served in the battles of Tupelo, Miss,,
Oxford, Miss., then in the campaign after General
Forrest and the battle of Nashville: thence via New
Orleans to Spanish Fort, Miss., and was in the en-
gagement of the taking of Spanish Fort; thence to
Montgomery, Ala., Meridian and Vicksburg, Miss.,
and was then transferred to Fort Snelling, where he
was mustered out in August, 1865, having just passed
his eighteenth year. He resumed his studies, caught
up with his classmates, and in due time he obtained
a teacher's certificate. He taught school at Big
Bend, Minn., and was there at the time of the big
blizzard, January 14, 1872. He kept the children in
the school house all afternoon and night and until
four the next afternoon, using all the scantlings,
benches and desks for fuel and that, too, in a newly
built schoolhouse. About four o'clock the second
afternoon the nearest neighbor, a physician, braved
the storm and brought some food. Mr. Teed went
back with him, obtained his team and sled and with
it brought the children to the doctor's house. After
teaching for five years, he engaged at carpentering
and was a successful contractor and builder, having
built many fine residences.

In 1900 he came to Sonoma County, Cal., thence
he inoved to Oakland and in 1901 to Los Gatos, com-
ing here because he was suffering severely from in-
flammatory rheumatism. In a short time he was re-
lieved of his trouble and again engaged in contract-
ing and building, a business he has continued with
success ever since; he has become a property owner
in Los Gatos and has great faith in the future of this
beautiful foothill city.

Mr. Teed was married in Owatonna, Minn., to Miss
Charlotte Jones, who was born in New York State,
coming to Medford, Minn., with her parents where
she was educated for and followed the profession
of teaching. They have two children, Mrs. Jessie
Johnson, of Johnson Avenue, where her father makes
his home and Mrs. Delia Stoneking of Taft. Mr.
Teed served as town trustee of Los Gatos for one
term and is an active member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church and served as a member of the
official board for many years both in Minnesota as
well as here. He is a member of the E. O. C. Ord
Post, No. 82, G. A. R.

DAVID WILLIAM CAMPBELL.— For decades,
San Jose has been famed, among the most prosperous
business centers and the most attractive home towns,
for its law and order, and much of its recent en-
viable reputation is undoubtedly due to the efficiency
and conscientiousness to duty of David Williairi
Campbell, the popular captain of police. A native
of Loudoun County, Va., Iiorn near Leesburg, Sep-
tember 30, 1850, he is the son of Henry and Amelia
A. Tarlton Campbell, both of whom are dead, the
father having passed away prior to his devoted wife.
Three brothers of our subject participated in the
Civil War and lost their lives in the great conflict.

David attended the private schools of his local-
ity, the public school system not having then been
developed in that part of the country, and for years
he followed farming in Virginia. In 1870 he nioved
to Clark County, Ohio, and that fall went to Spring-
field, III., where he farmed in Sangamon County
until March, 1876, when he came to San Francisco,
Cal., arriving March 16. Three days later he came
to San Jose and here he worked on a dairy farm
for five years and then delivered bread and other
bakery wares for six years more and such was his
fidelity and cheerful attention to the wants of his
customers that he soon built up a large business.

In December, 1888, Mr. Campbell was appointed
to the police force, and January 1, 1889, he began
his work as policeman. At the end of two years he
was elected constable for two years, and at the
conclusion of the first term was re-elected for a
like period. In 1895 he returned to the police force;
and in 1902 he was appointed captain. Since then
Captain Campbell has been very closely identified
with the development of the best interests of the
city. His views on civic affairs lead him to endorse,
as a rule, the platforms of the Democratic party;
but he is really a man above mere partisanship, and
so finds it easy to pull strong and effectively with
any body of local citizens for whatever is apparent
to him as promising the best for the community.

In San Francisco in 1882, Captain Campbell was
married to Miss Mary Welch, born in San Francisco,
a daughter of John and Mary Welch, early settlers
of San Francisco, and their union has resulted in the
birth of two children. Eva, the elder, is Mrs. B.
Henshaw of San Jose; while Ethel, who also had
many friends, died in her twenty-first year. Mr.
Campbell is the oldest man in service in the police
department, having served a third of a century.

LOUIS F. OLDHAM.— One of the enterprising
and active men in the Santa Clara County, who
gives substantial encouragement to every plan for
the promotion of the public welfare, is Louis F. Old-
ham, a native son and the son of a '49er, and he has
aided materially in bringing about the prosperity all
now enjoy. Mr. Oldham was born on Moorpark
Avenue, Santa Clara County, December 17, 1856,
where the County Infirmary now stands. He is the
son of George W. and Isabelle (Sanor) Oldham,
now deceased, the father, a native of Indiana, and the
son of Thomas Oldham, the family tracing their an-
cestry back to John Scott, who fought under Lord
Baltimore in Colonial days. The mother was a native
of Ohio and a daughter of Michael Sanor.

George W. Oldham came to California in 1849,
crossing the plains with an ox-team, and first went
to Placerville, where he was for a short time in the

1138

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

mines. In 18S0 he came to Santa Clara Valley and
took up a 300-acre tract of land, where our subject
was born, and engaged in farming and stockraising.
He reached the ripe old age of ninet}--three years,
passing away in 1917, his wife having died at the age
of seventy-two years. Mr. and Mrs. George Oldham
were the parents of five children: Charles F., Win-
field Scott, now deceased; Louis F., of this sketch;
George T., and William R. Louis F. received his
education in the public schools of Santa Clara County
and since making his own livelihood has spent his
time in ranching and raising stock. In 1878 he
started out for himself and in 1880 he moved to Sara-
toga, where he engaged in farming, later he opened a
meat market and continued in this business for some
years, till he again took up farming, making a
specialty of orcharding. In 1917 he purchased his pres-
ent place, a ten-acre ranch, which is mostly set to
prunes, and is in full bearing.

Mr. Oldham's marriage, which occurred on August
28, 1878, united him with Fannie Jepson, a native of
Fond du Lac, Wis., the daughter of Benjamin and
Frances (Yates) Jepson, both natives of England.
Mr. Jepson came to the United States at the age
of twenty-one and coming to California about the
year of 1870 engaged in farming; he served in a Wis-
consin regiment in the Civil War for three years
and five months under General Sherman. There
were three children in the Jepson family: Sarah, de-
ceased; Charles and Fanny. Mr. and Mrs. Oldham
are the parents of one child, Le Roy. They are
members of Centella Methodist Episcopal Church in
San Jose. Mr. Oldham is a member of the California
Prune & Apricot Association.

IRVING WALTER SNOW.— No hne of work is
so productive of good to a community as that of the
molder and trainer of the youth of the land, and
Irving Walter Snow, as supervising principal of the
Los Gatos schools, is proving himself a prominent
factor in the educational development of the com-
munity. A native of California, he was born in the
rural district near Berryessa, June 7, 1879, the son
of George W. and Cora A. (Lucas) Snow, the father
a prominent orchardist who came to California in
1876 and settled on the place near Berryessa, where
he lived and died. He passed away in 1917; his
widow survives him and resides in Los Gatos. Irving
Walter received his preliminary education in the
grammar school at Berryessa; then at the academy
of the College of the Pacific and the College of the
Pacific, graduating in 1904 with the degree of A. B.
He then entered the University of California and in
1907 received his Master's degree. His first position
was as assistant and vice-principal of the Campbell
LTnion high school and he remained in this capacity
until 1912, when he was elected principal, serving until
1920, when he became supervising principal of the
Los Gatos schools.

The marriage of Mr. Snow united him with Miss
Angeline Weaver, a resident of San Jose and a
daughter of A. M. Weaver, who came from Connecti-
cut in the '60s. Fraternally he is a Mason and an
Odd Fellow, and he is actively interested in the
National Education Association, the California
Teachers' Association, the California High School
Teachers' Association, and the California Principals'
Association. His political endorsement is given to

the candidate best fitted for the office, rather than
following strict party lines. Success has crowned
his intelligently directed efforts and his years of con-
centration have culminated in gaining for him a posi-
tion of responsibility in the intellectual and moral
development of the city and county.

GILROY PUBLIC SCHOOLS.— None of the many
progressive communities in California is prouder of
its public schools than Gilroy, for under the able
leadership of Prof. Elmer E. Brownell, the popular
supervising principal, they have come to rank ainong
the best schools in the Golden State. The grammar
school is attended by Gilroy pupils only, and until
lately only the youth of Gilroy have enjoyed the ad-
vantages of the Gilroy high school. On August 21,
1921, however, a change for a broader and better
policy was effected. Then, on the recommendation
of the county superintendent of schools and certain
supervisors of the districts to be affected, the Adams,
Rucker, Live Oak, Redwood, Sunnybrook, San
Ysidro and Prunedale school districts were annexed
to the Gilroy high school district, thereby extending
widely the range of usefulness, and creating at Gil-
roy a union high school. This annexation was the
more notable, for it was one of the first of its kind
in Santa Clara County, and it was popular from the
beginning, for it affords to pupils from the districts
mentioned physical education, drawing, manual train-
ing, music, cooking and sewing and other advantages
heretofore beyond their reach. Five' motor busses
are now used to transport the pupils between their
homes and the high school, at a minimum cost.

Before 1911, the grammar and high schools at
Gilroy occupied the same lot, in two separate build-
ings, but the board of trustees acquired eighteen
additional acres of land, and a new high school build-
ing, erected at a cost of some $40,000, was con-
structed. This high school structure was formally
opened in December, 1911, and according to the
more extensive ground plan, the main building will
be gradually surrounded by other structures, each to
be practical and ornate, and to be dedicated to a
particular service. A junior high school will be
formed in time, and the eighth and ninth-year pupils
will be segregated from the tenth, eleventh and
twelfth-year pupils. In 1904 four teachers formed
the staff, and today there are twelve teachers and
175 pupils. The first graduation was held in 1904,
when eight students stepped forth into the world;
in 1920 a class of twenty-five graduated, and in 1922,
there was a class of twenty. In 1904 eight teachers
taught 350 pupils in the grammar schools; in 1921
fifteen teachers had charge of the welfare of 550
pupils. On May 6, 1922, Gilroy grammar school
district voted $180,000 in bonds for the erection of a
fourteen-room building in the Hanna field, on ten
acres of land, to accommodate a kindergarten and the
first six grades; also an eight-room building on the
high school grounds, to accommodate the seventh
and eighth grades, and to form a junior high school.
Professor Brownell has had heavy odds to over-
come, but he has always had the confidence of the
citizens in his pioneering work, and that has enabled
him to accomplish what he has with the Gilroy
schools, in both original and permanent reforms. An
evening school was organized in 1916, with regular
courses of study in the commercial department, and

/ /%>1/Vi^7^^i^^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1141

with courses in mathematics, languages, etc., four
teachers directing the ambitious work of from sixty
to seventy-five students. A branch of the Free
County Library has been installed for the use of both
the students and the public, and this in itself has
added to the public appreciation of the educational
service at their disposal in Gilroy. Professor
Brownell has his heart and soul in the work com-
mitted to his care, and it must afford him satisfac-
tion that the board of trustees have been agreeable
to all requests for advancement.

S. H. HERRING.— A California pioneer of 1856
and a veteran of the Civil War, S. H. Herring was
born in the town of Poland, Maine, June 20, 1834.
The family is traced back to England, and were early
settlers of Massachusetts and thence removed to
Norway, Maine. Mr. Herring's father, Daniel Her-
ring married Phelanda Morey, whose father served
in the Revolutionary War; she passed away in 1838.
The father removed to Illinois to locate on Govern-
ment land, but was taken sick and returned to Maine,
where he married a second time and in 1856 the fam-
ily moved out to California and here he passed away.
S. H. Herring is the only one living of his eight
brothers and sisters, of which he was one of the
youngest. His youth was spent on the farm and he
was early set to work like other farmer boys. He
attended the public schools, but obtained the greater
part of his education by self study, for they were a
family of students, and even in those early days they
received eleven different periodicals, all of them
scientific. Thus he acquired habits for research work
that have continued with him all through life. For a
time before coming to California Mr. Herring was
employed in a nursery at Brighton, Mass., so had
become interested in horticulture before arriving in
the Golden State in 1856, having made the trip via
Panama. At first he located on a ranch six miles
above Mafysville and made improvements, but had
to leave it on account of a defect in the title. He
then removed to near Forbestown, but having con-
tracted malaria while in Yuba County, he went into
the mountains at Gibsonville, where he recovered.

In 1861 Mr. Herring volunteered in Company D,
First California Cavalry, for service in the Civil War.
They proceeded to Southern California, marched
across the desert through Arizona and New Mexico
to El Paso, Texas, and thence as escort to 105 pris-
oners to Fort Clark, after which they returned to
El Paso. Thence he went to Fort Craig and a year
later was detailed with others to escort Governor
Goodwin and his outfit to Fort Whipple, Ariz., where
he remained until his discharge. September 7. 1864,
after which he returned to California. At first he
followed orcharding in Butte County; then he be-
gan teaming into Nevada, hauling lumber to the mines,
and he later helped build the railroad through the
Sierra Valley; afterwards he spent some time riding
after cattle and learned to handle and rope cattle. In
1871 he came to San Jose and established the Califor-
nia Agriculturist as a monthly and published it seven
years in the mtercsts of the farmer, standing stanchly
for prohibition. He also published two diflferent
dailies, the Independent Californian and the other the
Garden City Times. In December, 1878, he was taken
ill and had to go to the mountains to save his life,
so he sold out to the Rural Press of San Francisco.
He then homesteaded on government land in the San-

ta Cruz Mountains, built a residence, and set out a
twenty-acre orchard of apples, prunes and pears; the
rest of the ranch he devoted to stockraising; later he
turned the management of the ranch over to his son
and for a time lived in San Francisco. Twenty-
seven years ago he located in Los Gatos where he
owns a comfortable home and resides with his wife,
whom he married in Santa Cruz. She was Dr. Laimee
(Perkins) Jewell, a widow who was graduated in
medicine in New York City. She had first come to
California as early as 1851, but returned East and
studied medicine in New York City, after which she
practiced medicine in Santa Cruz. A woman of much
capability and culture, she has been a splendid help-
mate and devoted wife, their union having been
blessed with two children: Fred D., who is on the
old home ranch, and Joe P., a taxidermist in Los
Angeles. Mr. Herring is an Odd Fellow and with
his wife is a member of the Rebekahs and the Santa
Clara County Pioneer Society. He is also a member
of the E. O. C. Ord Post No. 82, G. A. R., Los
Gatos, of which he is a past commander and Mrs.
Herring is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps.
SIDNEY M. CUTHBERTSON.— Among the pop-
ular and efficient officials of Mayfield, Cal., Sidney M.
Cuthbertson is capably filling the position of city clerk
in a creditable and satisfactory manner. Besides attend-
ing to his official duties, he is active in the real estate
and insurance business, and is the owner of several
houses and town lots in >,Iayfield. He is a native son
of California and was born at Manchester, Mendocino
County, June 23, 1873, on the 160-acre ranch which
his father had taken from the Government as a home-
stead. This land is still the property of the two mem-
bers of the Cuthbertson family. His parents, R. H.
and Grace (Grant) Cuthbertson were both natives of
Scotland. His father was a weaver by trade and
worked in the silk mills of his native city of Glas-
gow. The name Cuthbert came from St. Cuthbert.
a prelate and noted Scotch divine, and the same traits
and characteristics have been handed down from gen-
eration to generation, there being many public
speakers and preachers in the family; also machin-
ists and manufacturers. The mother is a distant
relative of the late General U. S. Grant, and when
quite a young girl was left an orphan. She came to
Canada with her parents, but her father died when
she was seven years old. She was bound out for
seven years as was the custom for homeless orphan
children, but received such ill treatment that she ran
away to Detroit when nine years of age. While in
the employ of the wife of a U. S. Army officer, she
came to San Francisco. At Detroit she had met
Mr. Cuthbertson, her future husband, and he followed
her to San Francisco where they were married. They
became the parents of ten children, all of whom are
living and all well educated, most of them being col-
lege-bred men and women: George W. became a
lieutenant commander in the L^. S. Navy during the
late war and is now in the commercial marine ser-
vice; Harriet is the wife of Prof. R. E. Swain, pro-
fessor of chemistry in Stanford University. He was
mayor of Palo Alto three different times and is a
very prominent citizen of that city; Robert is a broker
in Los Angeles; Sidney M. is the subject of this re-
view; Jessie is a graduate of the San Jose Normal
School and is now a teacher in the grammar schools
of Palo Alto; Henry resides in Palo Alto; Grace, a
graduate of the San Jose Normal School and a stu-

1142

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

dent of Stanford who is now the wife of Joseph H.
Borden, the president of the Palo Alto Furniture
Company; he is an ex-president of the Palo Alto
Chamber of Commerce and is now a school trustee
of the Palo Alto grammar schools; Alexander M.
married Miss Irene Childs. the daughter of the ex-
president of the First National Bank of Palo Alto.
He is a graduate of the Stanford University and is
now teaching in the Redwood City high school.
He is a chemist of note, having pursued post grad-
uate courses at Heidelberg, Germany, and at Yale.
He was a trustee of the Union liigh school in Palo
Alto and clerk of that board; Ernest J. is a graduate
of the San Jose Normal school and is now the prin-
cipal of the Union Grammar school at Campbell, the
largest union grammar school in the county; Alice B.
is the wife of Donald Steele. She is a graduate of
the Stanford University and received her A. M. de-
gree from that institution. She taught in the Mendo-
cino high school and is an accomplished musician.
R. H. Cuthbertson died in Palo Alto in 1920, at the
age of eighty years; Mrs. Cuthbertson is still living
and resides in Palo Alto and is hale and hearty at the
age of eighty.

Sidney M. Cuthbertson began his education in the
public schools of Mendocino County, and later enterei
the San Jose high school and has the honor of editin ■■
its first class annual, "The Blue and Silver." He also
organized the Ecclesia Literary Society. He was
graduated in 1895; then entered the University of the
Pacific and spent one year there. He was an honor
student, excelling in public speaking and was selected
as the orator to deliver the address for the anni-
versary of the Arcania Literary Society, an honor
rarely conferred on a freshman, it being the usual
custom to select an upper classman. He entered Stan-
ford University in 1896.

Mr. Cuthbertson's marriage united him with Miss
Margaret Bailey, a native of Crescent City, Del
Norte County, Cal., a daughter of Mrs. Mary Bailey
and is a member of a large and prominent family,
owners of a big ranch on the Smith River in Del
Norte County. Her father died when she was ten
years old but her mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs.
Cuthbertson are the parents of three children: Don-
ald is a freshman in the Palo Alto high school; was
the valedictorian of his class in grammar school;
Florence, and Beatrice. Before his marriage, Mr.
Cuthbertson was general agent for the King, Rich-
ardson Publishing Company and was one of the prize
agents of that firm winning a prize bicycle in the
summer of 1896. Later he became an agent for the
International Correspondence Schools at Scranton,
Pa.; held agencies in California and also one in Ne-
vada. He again distinguished himself in this capa-
city, collecting more money in one month than any
other agent in the employ of the I. C. S. at that time
(1904), winning the "Honor of the World," and
Rank No. 1, and thus became known to all I. C. S.
agents everywhere, the prize being a free trip to the
St. Louis World's Fair, so with his bride he took
in the exposition on his wedding trip. Returning to
California he and his wife settled in Mayfield and in
1905 built their commodious and modern residence.
He was chosen secretary of the Santa Clara County
Promotion Association, and worked to organize this
body into a County Chamber of Commerce. He was
made secretary of the Mayfield Chamber of Com-
merce and was placed on the speaking force of the

State Association of Chambers of Commerce at the
1915 State Convention held in San Francisco and is
considered one of the best and most forceful speakers
on the force and is a good booster for improvements
and advancement along all lines. In politics he is a
stanch Democrat and was chosen secretary of the
Democratic Central Committee in 1908 and served
in that capacity until 1916. He was appointed to the
position of City Clerk and in 1919 was duly elected
to the position for a period of four years. He is a
notary public and is the Mayfield agent for the Liver-
pool. London and Globe Fire Insurance Company.
Hard work and persistent effort in business affairs
has brought him prosperity and Mayfield is indeed
proud to count him among her enterprising boosters.
The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal
Church of Mayfield and Mrs. Cuthbertson is a mem-
ber of its choir.

ST. JOSEPH'S HIGH SCHOOL.— Prominent
among the institutions of learning in Santa Clara
County doing so much to help make California one
of the most desirable of all states in the L'nion for
home centers and places of residence, is St. Joseph's
High School, an outgrowth of St. Joseph's College, a
Catholic institution, embracing a grammar school
for boys and girls, and a high school for boys. The
building was erected in 1906, directly after the great
earthquake and fire, and in August of the following
year it was opened for instruction with an approxi-
mate enrollment of 100 boys. The original faculty
consisted of Brother William, who is at present the
head of St. Louis College in Honolulu; Brother
Adam, who is now the principal of the school, and
Brothers James and Thomas. There are 250 pupils
enrolled, under the direction of a faculty of eight.
Brother Adam is assisted by Brother John, Brother
Thomas, Brother Alexander and Brother WilHam,
and these scholarly instructors make up the high
school faculty; while Brothers Aloysius,' Thomas,
Nicholas and Paul have charge of the grammar
school. Besides these two departments, the Sisters
of Notre Dame conduct the girls' grammar school
department with an enrollment of 400. In addition
to imparting sound learning, the greatest precautions
are taken, also, to safeguard the morals of those
entrusted to the authorities of the institution.

Brother Adam was born and reared in Chicago, a
son of Adam and Susan Adam, and first saw the
hght on December 23, 1867. He came to San Jose
at the commencement of the school, and since 1908
has been principal of the boys' department. He has
had a wide e.xperience in educational work, part of
which was acquired at Chicago, San Antonio, Texas;
Washington, D. C; Louisville, Ky., and at Baltimore.
The school offers complete grammar and high school
courses, and affords facilities for the study of science,
mathematics and business. Even a wireless school
is conducted here under the direction of C. D. Her-
rold. The "get-together" spirit is fostered to a gr.eat
extent by the faculty. During the past three years,
since Reverend Grisez has had supervision of the
school, the basement has been excavated, cement
floors and partitions put in, the former covered with
wooden flooring, iron supports have replaced the old
wooden posts for bracing the floor above, and an
adequate heating and lighting system installed. Dur-
ing the school season moving pictures are shown

d't.^ . Cf . hi Girj:u,^.^.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1143

every Friday afternoon for the pupils and in the
evening the program is repeated for the benefit of the
grown-ups, to whom an invitation is always extended,
and afterwards a dance is given, with music by the
school's orchestra. Socials and business meetings
are also held here. A cafeteria has been installed and
a daily service is maintained at reasonable prices for
the convenience of all pupils who wish to take ad-
vantage of it. The service is also in operation during
the dances and social gatherings.

REV. THOMAS R. MARTIN, S. J.— A cultured
and highly educated man, filled with enthusiasm for
the education of boys for the priesthood, and train-
ing them to be devout and religious, Rev. Thomas R.
Martin occupies the position of rector of the Noviti-
ate of the Sacred Heart located at Los Gatos, which
he is filling w'orthily and capably. He w^as born in
Boston, Mass., the fourth oldest of a family of six
children born to Thomas and Catherine (Kelly)
Martin, natives of Scotland and Boston, Mass., re-
spectively. Thomas was reared in the cultured en-
vironment of the Hub City and there attended the
public schools. On completing the high school in
Massachusetts, he came to Los Gatos, Cal., in 1902
and entered the Novitiate of the Sacred Heart as a
novice where he made his classics. He then entered
the House of Philosophy at Gonzaga College at Spo-
kane, Wash, where he completed philosophy and then
taught at Gonzaga College for two years; then at St.
Vincent's College, Los Angeles for three years; then
entered Woodstock College in Maryland, where he
completed his theology and was ordained at that ed-
ucational institution in 1917 by Cardinal Gibbons for
the California Province. He taught one year at Seat-
tle College, then came to Los Gatos as teacher of
classics at the Novitiate of the Sacred Heart and in
July, 1921, was made rector, thus becoming the head
of the institution where he began his novitiate.

The Novitiate of the Sacred Heart at Los Gatos
is an interesting educational institution. For many
years it was located at Santa Clara and is one of sev-
eral colleges on the Pacific Coast, or rather the
California Province, of the Society of Jesus. The
provincial headquarters are in Portland and they have
colleges at Los Angeles, Santa Clara, San Francisco,
Seattle, and Spokane and have churches in various
places and Indian missions in Montana, Idaho,
Oregon, and Alaska. In time the quarters of the No-
vitiate at Santa Clara became too small, so in 1888 they
established the Novitiate at Los Gatos. The present
grounds, comprising a quarter section of land in the
foothills above Los Gatos, commands a wonderful
view of the Santa Clara \''alley and the large and
commodious buildings are erected on a natural pla-
teau, requiring much e.xcavation and filling for the
site of the buildings. The first wing was built in 1906
and the right wing was finished in 1914, each two sto-
ries high. The class rooms, study rooms and dormito-
ries are all equipped with the most modern furnish-
ings and there is also a large chapel. Here the schol-
astics are trained in mathematics, academic and clas-
sical courses, preparatory to entering the House of
Philosophy. There are about sixty young men in the
institution and the faculty is composed of six Jesuit
Fathers, who teach the various branches, with Rev.
Thomas R. Martin in charge. Father Martin is in-
tensely interested in the institution, where he re-

ceived his instruction in classics, and leaves no stone
unturned to assist the scholastics under him to ad-
vance their education and instill in them a high regard
for their leading an upright and true Christian life.

WILLIAM AND GEORGE LIDDICOAT.—

As partners under the firm name of Liddicoat
Bros., William and George Liddicoat are running a
first-class meat market in the Economy Block at
322 University Avenue in Palo Alto. Both are natives
of Petwan County, Cornwall, England, where Will-
iam was born February 14, 1885, and George, July
31, 1891, being the sons of William and Ellen (Wet-
ter) Liddicoat, who are both still living at Par, Eng-
land, the father being a well-known shipwright. Will-
iam and George were both schooled in the grammar
and high school of their native town, and both as
soon as they were able to work, were apprenticed to
the butcher's trade. While yet a mere lad, William
was apprenticed to his uncles, the Liddicoat Brothers,
prominent stockmen and meat market proprietors
at Loswithel, England. He thoroughly learned every
phase of the meat business, including stock-raising,
feeding, butchering and retailing meat, as well as
buying and selling cattle and other livestock. Thus
equipped, at the age of twenty, he resolved to come
to the United States, where he arrived in 1905. He
worked as a journeyman butcher from coast to coast
for some years, thus becoming thoroughly conver-
sant with conditions in America before embarking
in business for himself. At La Honda, Cal., he opened
up his first shop and soon thereafter was joined by
his brother George in 1912. Forming a partnership,
they leased a 2000-acre stock ranch at La Honda and
in addition to running their meat market, they en-
gaged in farming and stockraising, feeding and fin-
ishing beef cattle for the market. The brothers were
thus profitably operating a large and growing busi-
ness at the time of the outbreak of the recent war,
when having becom-e naturalized American citizens,
George joined the ranks while William continued to
conduct the business. Joining the Three Hundred
Sixteenth ammunition train. Ninety-first Division,
George Liddicoat trained at Camp Lewis; he landed
at Cherbourg, France, in June. 1918; was at the front
for ten months, taking part in the Meuse-Argonne
campaign, saw terrific fighting and bloodshed, but
with the exception of a painful cut from barbwire,
came home in fine physical condition. He was sta-
tioned at Cornay, France, November 11, 1918, at the
signing of the armistice and spent Christmas of that
year in Paris. He was then stationed at Le Mans,
France, until April. 1919, when he returned to America
and was honorably discharged at the Presidio, San
Francisco during May, 1919. He immediately went
to Mountain View and with his brother bought out
Swall's meat market and together they ran it for
thirteen months; then they sold out and leased their
present place in Palo Alto in the Economy Store
Block and opened for business July 15, 1920. Will-
iam Liddicoat is the outside man, buying the live-
stock and superintending the slaughterhouse; while
George has charge of the retail work in the market,
employing four experienced butchers to take care
of the trade. The Liddicoat Bros, do the largest
retail business of any market in Palo Alto, having
their own refrigerating system and requiring two
trucks with two drivers to take care of their
deliveries.

1144

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. George Liddicoat's marriage occurred in 1920
and united him with Miss Mary Lennon of San Mateo
and they are the parents of one child, Mary EUen.
Fraternally he is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge
at Pescadero, Cal.. while William is a member of the
Masons and Sciots. Liddicoat Bros.' latest venture
is in the dairy business. They have recently started
a large dairy farm on the Page-Mill Road, where
they keep thirty registered Holstein milch cows. At
present their product goes to San Francisco, but as
soon as pasteurizing machinery and other necessary
dairying equipment can be installed, it will be retailed
from their own market in Palo Alto.

FRANCIS MARION RIGHTER.— A very suc-
cessful horticulturist, whose attainments have encour-
aged others to work for higher standards and better,
larger results, and who thereby has greatly advanced
the science and art of California husbandry, is Francis
Marion Righter, a resident of Campbell. He was
born in Indiana, near Indianapolis, March 4, 1843,
and is the son of George G. and Salome (Kilbourne)
Righter, born in Virginia and Ohio, respectively.
George G. Righter was a farmer and blacksmith and
also ran a sawmill and threshing machine. He passed
away at the age of fifty-four, and the mother survived
him several years.

Francis M. Righter received a good education in
the grammar and high school and assisted his father
in operating a sawmill. After his father's death,
wishing to gain a higher education, he determined to
obtain the funds by manufacturing lumber. He was
under twenty years of age, but arranged for backing
and credit and purchased a sawmill and made a suc-
cess of the enterprise. After several years he sold
out, having made sufficient to pay his way at the
National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, after
which he taught school in his native state, Indiana,
and during a part of the Civil War he served in the
commissary department at the ' front. Coming to
California in 1873, he taught in the schools in different
parts of the state, and then going to Southern Cali-
fornia, he taught in the schools, now within the city
of Los Angeles. After that he went to Santa Clara
County and taught in the Mayfield and San Jose
schools, and for a short time in Saratoga. During
this time he was principal of the schools at Eugene,
Ore., and the fourth ward school in San Jose.

In 1879 Mr. Righter was united in marriage with
Miss Belle Lutes, a native of Ohio, who was born
near Cincinnati, July IS, 18S7, the daughter of Alex J.
and Lavinia (Willey) Lutes, also natives of Ohio,
who were farmers there. Mr. and Mrs. Righter be-
came the parents of two sons, George Lutes and
Cornelius Erwin Righter, both graduates of Stanford
University, and both served in the World War,
George, the oldest returning with a first lieutenant's
bar. The younger son, better known as "Swede." has
made a name for himself as an athlete while at Stan-
ford, playing on the football and basketball teams.
Perhaps his greatest honor came when he was selected
as a member of the All-California Rugby team which
represented the United States at the Olympic games
in 1920. In the final game at Antwerp they defeated
France and became Olympic champions, for which
they were presented gold medals by King Albert of
Belgium. A tour of Southern France followed the
Olympic games in which the team was successful

against the French. During the intervals between the
games the members visited points of interest in Hol-
land, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. Both
of the boys are now engaged in physical education
work in California.

In 1882 Mr. Righter purchased a ten-acre ranch at
Campbell which was set out in apricots, so in 1887,
when it had begun to bear fruit, he decided to retire
from teaching and now spends his time in improving
and taking care of his orchard, which is a model in
many respects. He also owns a ten-acre prune or-
chard at Valley View, which is well improved. Mr.
Righter has been prominent and active in local
affairs, having been a director in the Santa Clara
County Mutual Fire Insurance Company since its
organization more than twenty-five years ago. He
was also one of the organizers of the Farmers' Tele-
phone Company of Campbell and is president of the
company. He was also one of the original stock-
holders in the Bank of Campbell, has been an active
participant in every cooperative movement in the
valley, and is a member of the California Prune &
Apricot Association and the California Peach Grow-
ers Association. He has given many years of study
to cooperative selling and, as he says: "There is but
one all-sufficient cooperative law, and that is the
Golden Rule. All things being equal, one must do
unto others as he would have others do unto him,
there being no other right basis of action. Those
who accept this foundation and build their organiza-
tion on it may hope to form a permanent association."
Mr. Righter wrote a pamphlet on cooperative mar-
keting of all farm products, outlining the method and
showing that by this method the producer receives
more for his product and the consumer pays less.
The Farmers Club of San Jose published and dis-
tributed Mr. Righter's pamphlet. Mr. Nutting, living
near Fresno, who had done a great deal along co-
operative lines of marketing, heard of Mr. Righter's
method, and after obtaining a copy of the pamphlet
substituted Mr. Righter's method for his own. chang-
ing only the method of price making. Mr. Righter's
method was to sell at public auction to the highest
bidder, the organization reserving the right to reject
any or all bids. The association's method was to
make its own prices without reference to the buyers.
On this basis Mr. Nutting and W. H. Wrightson,
with a large number of other prominent cooperators,
organized the California Raisin Growers Association.
It goes without saying that this association has not
only brought untold prosperity to the producers, but
has also greatly benefitted the consumers. W. H.
Wrightson, ex-state president of the Farmers Educa-
tional & Cooperative Union of America, publich'
stated at a state meeting of the above Union in San
Jose that F. M. Righter has the honor of having fur-
nished the basis of the California Associated Raisin
Growers.

For over twenty-five years Mr. Righter has made a
report of his weather observations to Washington,
having a U. S. Weather Bureau station on his ranch —
latitude N. 38° 18', longitude west 121° 57', elevation
217 feet above sea level — his station being established
before there was a public station in San Jose. He is
a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and in
religious faith is a member of the Congregational

JUl^tji:^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1149

Church. Mr. Righter has taught a Bible class for
more than forty years. He has not been ill for more
than sixty years and will be eighty years old on his
next birthday. He has no use for pessimism, for he
believes optimism is the mainspring of progress. He
has always been independent in his political views,
voting for men and measures rather than parties, and
wielding his influence for the good of the community.

JUDGE JOHN M. HOESCH.— A public official
whose record has been such as to commend him
heartily to his fellow-citizens is the Hon. J, M.
Hoesch, justice of the peace of Gilroy Township and
police judge of Gilroy. He was born near Erie,
Penn., on January 5, 1860, the son of Conrad and
Barbara (Hicbeck) Hoesch. The father was a native
of Germany who preferred to accept the stern hos-
pitality of the forests of Pennsyylvania to the harsh
requirements of military service, with the result that
he made his way across the ocean to the Keystone
State and was soon clearing away stumps and trees
and establishing a home, humble but comfortable.
Mrs. Hoesch proved a devoted wife and mother; but
such were the handicaps confronting the parents
that from his twelfth year John was compelled to
make his own way in the world.

In the spring of 1884, he pushed westward to Sul-
phur Springs Valley, in Arizona, and in time he
made several trips into Old Mexico. In the fall he
arrived in San Francisco and shortly after came
down to Gilroy, where he found employment on a
grain ranch, working for several seasons driving a
header. He had a great desire to learn, and when
he was twenty-seven to thirty years old he was at-
tending the public school in Gilroy, and, encouraged
by his friends, he made rapid progress and in 1886
was the presiding officer in a debating society. In
1889 he passed the teacher's examination, but never
took up the profession. For several years he has
read law, preparing to practice before the California
Bar. For thirty years Mr. Hoesch was connected
with the Gilroy fire department, first with the Eureka
Hose Company and later with the Vigilant Engine
Company, and twenty-two years of that time he was
engineer of the department and had charge of all
apparatus; five years of that time he was also col-
lector for the municipal utilities, and nine years in
addition he was superintendent of the water works
and plumbing inspector. In national politics he is
a Republican, but in local matters he is decidedly
non-partisan. During the World War he supported
all the allied drives to the best of his ability.

In 1905. at San Francisco, Mr. Hoesch was mar-
ried to Miss Minnie L. Schroeder of Amador County,
and they have a daughter, Catherine Marian Hoesch.
Mr. Hoesch is a member of the Gilroy Lodge of
Odd Fellows and is a past noble grand, and for
twenty years has been a trustee of his lodge. It was
in 1918, when Gilroy was enjoying a veritable boom,
that Mr. Hoesch entered the race for the office of
justice of the peace of Gilroy Township and he was
the successful candidate of the seven aspirants. When
he took the oath of office in January, 1919, he suc-
ceeded Judge Willey, who had filled that honored
office for thirty-six years. The duties of the office
keep him busy and his work is characterized by
honesty, energy, efficiency and economy at all times.
In meting out justice he is impartial, and it is in-

teresting to note that in none of his decisions has he
ever been reversed by the higher courts.

ANTHONY GRECO.— An enterprising man of af-
fairs, who has attained success in the canning busi-
ness and as an orchardist and rancher, is Anthony
Greco, of San Jose. He was born in New Orleans,
La., on January 6, 1885, and is the son of Fortunate
and Josephine Greco, who came to California in 1897
and located in Redwood City, where the father
started a salt plant and here he is still engaged in
business, now being the owner and president of the
Greco Salt Works, and though well along in years,
he is very active and personally superintends his
business affairs. The mother passed away in 1917.

Anthony Greco received his early training in the
public schools of New Orleans, later entering St.
Stanislaus College at Bay St. Louis, Miss., receiving
a good all-round training. In 1900 he came to Red-
wood City, Cal., and in 1909 located in San Jose,
where he engaged in the canning business as vice-
president of the Greco Canning Company. He served
in that capacity for four years, or until the company
was reorganized. He then engaged in business under
the firm name of the Anthony Greco Cannery. The
plant was located on Park Avenue in Santa Clara for
one season, packing $105,000 worth of tomato paste
only. The plant was entirely too small to handle
the increasing volume of business, so in 1918 Mr.
Greco bought the plant located at Eighth and Jack-
son streets, San Jose, where he carried on a very
large volume of business and employed 160 first-
class workmen. He shipped goods all over the United
States and even to Europe, in which field he was
very successful, thus spreading the fame of Santa
Clara County. The business was incorporated, after
they settled in San Jose, under the name of the Alba
Canning Company, with Mr. Greco as president, with
an every-day increase in their business, the outcome
of good conscientious service, consideration and the
quality of their goods, which gained prestige over
some of the older brands of canned goods. In 1920
the Alba Canning Companj' sold out and in 1921
Mr. Greco bought 337 acres of land, known as the
Sweigert Ranch, on the Sweigert Road, eight miles
from San Jose; sixty acres of this land is in orchard
and the balance in grain, and it is the intention to set
a considerable acreage to grapes in the near future.
The property has been greatly improved since Mr.
Greco has taken charge and bids fair to surpass the
majority of orchards in the entire valley. Mr.
Greco's residence is situated on a beautiful eminence
about 750 feet above sea level, from which a magnifi-
cent view of the whole valley can be obtained. This
property is located in what is know as the thermal
belt, where frost and its damaging results have never
been known, thus making the property valuable from
the standpoint of the orchardist and early vegetable
growing. Numerous springs are scattered over the
ranch, which furnish sub-irrigation to growing crops
and from which water is secured for domestic pur-
poses, as well as for the 150 head of stock on the
place. A visit to the Alba Ranch is one of the
pleasant memories of those who make the journey.

In New Orleans, on December 6, 1916, Mr. Greco
was married to Miss Edna Cabirac, a native of New
Orleans of French descent, and they are the parents
of three children, Anthony, Jr., Alba and Adelaide.

1150

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. and Mrs. Greco have made many friends in San
Jose since taking up their residence here. Mr. Greco
is a live member of the Chamber of Commerce of
San Jose. He belongs to the Catholic Church and
in national politics he is a stanch Republican.

GEORGE H. ANDERSON.— Among the men who
have done much to advance the fruit interests of the
Santa Clara Valley, likewise a native son of the
Golden State, is George H. Anderson, of San Jose.
He was born in Fairfield, Solano County, on August
17, 1863, a son of the late J. Z. Anderson and his good
wife, who was in maidenhood Miss Sarah Sloan. The
elder Anderson was among the early pioneers of Santa
Clara County and helped to develop the fruit industry
in pioneer times. He died in 1916 and was followed
to the grave by his widow in 1920. A sketch of their
lives appears on another page of this history.

George H. Anderson attended the grammar and
high schools of Santa Clara County, supplementing
his education by attending a business college. When
a lad he began to learn the details of the fruit in-
dustry from working with his father, who operated
when the industry was in the experimental stage,
and this training has stood him in good stead in later
years for he is an authority on fruit, from preparing
the land to marketing the product. He owns some
valuable interests in San Benito County and controls
other orchard interests in Santa Clara County, be-
sides he has been engaged in the buying, packing
and shipping of fruits for several years.

Mr. Anderson has been twice married; his first
wife was Miss Susie Brown, daughter of the pioneer
family of that name, and she passed away on July
16, 1912, leaving three children: Howard Anderson,
is an employe of the Federal Reserve Bank in San
Francisco; J. Z. and Elizabeth are attending the public
schools in San Jose. The second marriage united
Mr. Anderson with Mrs. Clara Simpson of Santa
Cruz, a lady well qualified to cooperate with her
worthy husband in all his undertakings. The family
home is located at 661 North First Street, San Jose.
Mr. Anderson's interests have been identified with
Santa Clara County for many years and he has taken
an active part in all movements for the development
of its varied resources, at the same time doing his
part to advance civic reform under the banner of the
Republican party, being elected a member of the
State Assembly in 1901. He is an Elk and a member
of the Saratoga, Olympic and the Commercial Clubs
and of the Chamber of Commerce. He is an en-
thusiastic sportsman and was a member of the five-
man team of trap-shooters that held the champion-
ship for Santa Clara County for several years; as
an expert shot he has many trophies to show for his
marksmanship. An agreeable, courteous gentleman,
Mr. Anderson has won and maintained friends where-
ever he is known and these friends rejoice at his fin-
ancial success and high standing in his community.

FRED B. SMITH. — An enterprising, industrious
horticulturist who is successful in his eflforts to help
advance the best interests in his community is Fred
B. Smith, who was born in Yorkshire, England, in
January, 1879, the son of John and Eliza (Bilton)
Smith, both natives of England. The father made
the first trip to America alone and then returned for
his family and brought them back when Fred was
only eleven years of age, locating at Saratoga, where
they have been residing ever since.

Fred B. Smith attended the public schools of his
district and received a fairly good education. His
marriage united him with Miss Lucy Shorrocks, who
was born in Minnesota, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Harry A. Shorrocks. She attended the San Jose
State Normal and taught for the three years fol-
lowing her graduation. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the
parents of three children, Doris E., Clifford F., and
Kathleen Mae. John Smith is the owner of thirty-
three acres of land and Fred Smith has the fourteen
acres adjoining his father, and they are closely asso-
ciated in the operation of their farms. The acreage
is planted to prunes, apricots and cherries, and the
trees are bearing splendidly. Politically, Mr. Smith
is a stanch Republican. Fraternally, he is a member
of the Odd Fellows lodge, and in religious faith, he
and his family are active workers in the Congrega-
tional Church of Saratoga.

ED. R. GREEN.— .\n able financier and a man of
excellent judgment, Ed. R. Graen has firmly estab-
lished himself as a leader in the progressive com-
munity of Gilroy since coming here in 1912 as the
cashier and one of the organizers of the First Na-
tional Bank of Gilroy. Mr. Green was born at Mai-
den, Bureau County, 111., on October 20, 1874, the son
of Timothy F. Green, a prominent farmer who pio-
neered in Illinois, Kansas, and Nebraska. In 1880,
the family removed from Illinois to Horton, Kans.,
and there Ed. R. Green finished his education.
In 1890, they took up their residence at Audubon,
Iowa, where he accepted his first position as clerk
and delivery boy with a general merchandise store,
which he filled to the satisfaction of his employer.

The year 1897 marked Mr. Green's entrance into
the banking business, when he became associated
with a private banking house at Dow City, Iowa,
and he soon rose to the position of cashier, contin-
uing there until 1901. He then removed to Overton,
Nebr., where he assisted in organizing the Alfalfa
State Bank of which he became cashier. Later Mr.
Green became affiliated with such men as A. U.
Dann, W. T. Auld and N. J. Paul, among the most
successful bankers of Nebraska, in the purchase
of the Alfalfa State Bank and the organization of
the First National Bank of Overton, Mr. Green be-
coming cashier. This association was of much value
to Mr. Green, in the broadening understanding and
conception of the world of finance. He remained at
Overton until the fall of 1911, when he came to Gil-
roy, Cal., through the solicitation of J. S. Adair.

In April, 1912, the First National Bank of Gilroy
opened its doors, with Mr. Green as cashier, and
having a capital stock of $25,000. By 1915 so suc-
cessful had the organization become that it was nec-
essary to increase the capital stock to $75,000, the
officers at this time being H. S. Hersman, president;
C. C. Lester, vice-president; E. R. Green, cashier;
in the following twenty-eight months the business
showed an increase of 578 per cent. The building
which houses this successful banking house was de-
signed by William Binder of San Jose and was erected
by William Radtke, at a cost of $40,000, a $15,000
addition being erected early in 1920 to accommodate
its growth. In 1918 a merger was consummated with
the Garden City Bank & Trust Company of San Jose
by which the Gilroy Bank became a branch of the par-
ent bank, a move that was productive of much in-
creased business, the deposits growing from a half

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1153

million to over a million dollars in a few months. The
advisory board consists of E. R. Green, chairman; H.
C. Hagen, Welburn Maycock, A. W. Brown, Cecil
Carlyle and A. \V. Chesbro, Mr. Green being manager
of the bank and responsible for the direction of its
financial policy.

At Denison, Iowa, Mr. Green was married to Miss
Emma Downes, the daughter of Airs. Lucy Dovvnes,
who passed away at Gilroy in September, 1920. A
capable, talented woman, Mrs. Green has taken an
active interest in the social and civic life of Gilroy
and served as treasurer of the Woman's Civic Club
soon after it was founded and is a member of the
P. E. O. Society. Prominent in Masonic circles, Mr.
Green is a member of Keith Lodge No. 187 of Gil-
roy. and Howard Chapter, R. A. M., and of San Jose
Commandery K. T. He is a member of the Pres-
byterian Church at Gilroy. A leader in all commun-
ity enterprises, he gives his support to the Republi-
can party in political affairs.

DUNCAN P. McLACHLAN.— A member of a
noted family of engineers, well known in Scotland,
Duncan P. McLachlan has for the past eight years
been connected with the municipal public utilities of
Palo Alto as mechanical engineer, and for four years
he has been superintendent at the' city's electric light
plant, water works, pumping plant, incinerator and
swimming pool, all the power machinery being housed
in the fine water works plant on Newell Road. All
are municipally owned, Palo Alto having made an out-
standing success in the ownership of its public
utilities. Mr. McLachlan was born in Dumbarton-
shire, Scotland, October 25, 1886, the son of George
and Marian (Lockhard) McLachlan, both natives of
the land of the heather, but residents of Palo Alto for
a number of years. The father is a stone cutter, and
superintended the stone cutting and erection of nearly
all the work in the Stanford University quadrangle.
He preceded the family here, being joined by them in
1900. The McLachlan family is well known in Scot-
land, practically all its members being machinists and
engineers of note, with the exception of George Mc-
Lachlan, who took up the work of stone cutting and
is an expert in this line. His brother. Admiral Mc-
Lachlan, was prominent in the transportation service
between France and England in the late war.

Mr. and Mrs. George McLachlan were the parents
of six children, five of whom are living, Duncan P.
being the third child. He was only two years old
when his parents came from Scotland to Toronto,
Ontario, where they lived for several years, going
from there to Virden, Manitoba, and then to Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, where they lived for two years. When
Duncan was eleven years old, they removed to De-
troit, Mich., and there he worked in various machine
shops, among them the power house of the Ameri-
can Car & Foundry Company. He became inter-
ested in the automobile business in its infancy, being
associated with the Oldsmobile plant, and worked for
the pioneer automobile manufacturer, Mr. Olds, help-
ing turn out the first thirty of forty engines for the
first Oldsmobile runabouts ever built.

In 1902 Mr. McLachlan came to Palo Alto and at-
tended the preparatory school in Manzanita Hall for
three years, and in 1905 he started the first garage in
Palo Alto, located on High Street, and here he handled
the Pope-Hartford automobiles, this being one of the
earliest companies to manufacture cars. This building

was wrecked in the earthquake of 1906, and Mr. Lach-
lan suffered a severe financial loss. He then went to
Redwood, Cal., and for two years ran an automobile
repair shop there, then took charge of three launches
and three automobiles for the late W. H. Hanson at
his planing mill at Tacoma, Wash., and remaining
there for five years. Returning to Palo Alto in 1913,
he entered the employ of the city under Jolm F. Eixljy
Jr., who is still chief city engineer and luad of the
Board of Public Works of Palo Alto. Mr. McLachlan
has helped install every engine in the city's power
house, and with his usual capability, he stands high as
one of the city's most efficient and trusted employees.
In 1907, at Palo Alto, Mr. McLachlan was married to
Miss Cornelia Ann Buckhout, a native daughter, born
at Chico, Cal., and they are the parents of three chil-
dren, Donald, Elizabeth and Margaret. The family
home is at 1148 Bryant Street.

C. H. THOMAS.— A civil engineer of unusual
ability and high professional standing, C. H. Thomas
was selected by the California State Highway Com-
missioners to take charge of the rebuilding of the
State Highway through the Mayfield district, a task
that he is bringing to a successful completion. It has
been a very difficult road to build on account of the
nature of the subsoil. Mr. Thomas was sent here in
July, 1921, and he has built a very strong and durable
road, of thick concrete, doubly reinforced by steel
bars and steel netting, and it is probably the best
road ever built by the State Highway Commissioners,
replacing one of the worst pieces of highway on the
Peninsula.

Mr. Thomas was born at Toledo, Ohio, April 24,
1884, the son of Robert F. and Anna M. (Crane)
Thomas, and both parents are living and make their
home at Portland, Oregon, the father, being an auditor
for the S. P. & S. Railroad Conipany. C. H. Thomas
grew up at Toledo and graduated from the University
of Ohio at Columbus, where he received the C. E.
degree in 1902. For two years he was with the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a civil engineer
at Toledo, and in 1904 came to the Pacific Coast, lo-
cating first at Portland, Ore., where he entered the
employ of the Southern Pacific, working on the con-
struction of various roads and structures of this sys-
tem in Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, Oregon
and Montana. Resigning his position with the South-
ern Pacific, Mr. Thomas entered the Government serv-
ice and built roads into Rainier National Park in
Washington, Crater Lake Park and Yosemite Park.
At the latter park he built the El Portal road in 1916,
and while there the war broke out and he resigned to
enlist, but was rejected on account of the rigid physi-
cal requirements in his branch of the service.

In July, 1917, he was employed by the California
State Highway Commission in the capacity of civil
engineer on road construction and he built the Gar-
berville Road in Humboldt County, a difficult job, and
coming to San Francisco was assigned to Division
4, in December, 1918. He completed that portion of
the Santa Cruz Highway which runs from Summit to
Glenwood, and the stretch of road from Novato and
Petaluma, and a dozen other pieces of construction.

In Portland, Ore., in 1909, Mr. Thomas was married
to Miss Rose Adeline Gaylord of that city, an ac-
complished young woman, who has proved herself a
true companion. Many times since their marriage,
Mr. Thomas' professional duties have taken him to

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

inaccessible places, far removed from any town, but
Mrs. Thomas has always accompanied him, sharing
the hardships of camp life, at times living in tents
and depending on the results of the chase for game,
not being able to reach any market, where they could
supply their needs. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have
made many friends during their stay in Palo Alto.

FRANK DI FIORE.— A well-to-do and influential
rancher and horticulturist who has done much to ad-
vance California agriculture while building a fortune
for himself and near of kin, is Frank Di Fiore, a na-
tive of the province of Palermo, in Sicily, whore he
was born of his native land, and round about home
worked on farms until, in 1883, he came out to Cal-
ifornia and settled near San Jose.

At San Francisco, Mr. Di Fiore was married to
Miss Lina Lovotti, native of Buenos Aires, in South
America, whose parents later removed to Italy and
then continued their migrations until they reached
San Francisco. Her father had been a cattleman,
who had a transport company between Italy and Ar-
gentine Republic, he was a man of affairs, therefore,
and something of initiative and executive talent was
transmitted to his family.

Frank Di Fiore went to work as a laborer on
ranches in the vicinity of San Jose, and later he en-
gaged in the growing, buying and selling of fruit.
He at first rented a fruit ranch, and then he pur-
chased fifty-five acres near Alviso, which he devoted
to the growing of prunes. He sold this ranch at a
profit, and after that rented twentj' acres on King
Road. Next he bought fifty-five acres on Cropley and
Morrill roads, set out to prunes, cherries, peaches
and apricots, and this splendid ranch he still owns- —
one of the finest irrigated ranches in Santa Clara
County. He also rented a part of the old Shaw ranch
on the Berryessa Road, and later bought thirty-three
acres of this ranch, all in prunes.

In September, 1911, fire destroyed the old home
and the cook-house, and in 1912 Mr. Di Fiore erected
a splendid, new dwelling, together with a new kitchen.
Since then, in 1920, he has added to his new farm
buildings, a modern evaporator, doing the work of
evaporating in twenty-four hours. He sunk a well,
and installed one of the first Layne & Bowler deep-
well turbine pumps for irrigation in Berryessa, since
which time the supply of water has been large. Mr.
Di Fiore has also purchased the Titus ranch of sixty-
seven and a half acres near Saratoga on the Pros-
pect Road, devoted to prunes and walnuts, the house
on this ranch was fifty-seven years old, and was one
of the old landmarks, until it burned down in January.
1922. The eldest son, Domenic A. Di Fiore, lives on
this place. Mr. Di Fiore is a trustee of the California
Prune & Apricot Association and also a member of
the advisory board of San Jose branch of the Bank
of Italy. He was bereaved of his faithful life com-
panion November 20, 1917, an amiable woman
mourned by her family and many friends. Three
sons made up the family of Mr. and Mrs. Di Fiore.
Domenic A. was graduated from Santa Clara Univer-
sity with the Class of '12, when he received the B. S.
degree and he married Miss Pennington of San Jose.
Carl Frederick is also a graduate of Santa Clara Uni-
versity, a member of the class of 1915; and he re-
ceived the B. S. degree in civil engineering. Leo-
pold Pasqual Di Fiore was given the same degree in
this subject, by Santa Clara University in 1920. Carl
married a Miss Kartschokc, of San Jose, and they

have one daughter, Dorothy. Leopold was a noted
football player at college, and although at present at
home, he intends pursuing engineering. Ail three of
the sons were in the World War. Domenic enlisted
in the aviation section of the U. S. Army, was com-
missioned a lieutenant and served overseas for nearly
two years. Carl Frederick enlisted in the U. S. En-
gineers and was also commissioned a lieutenant.
Leopold P. enlisted in the Heavy Artillery and served
overseas until after the armistice. So not only Mr.
Di Fiore, but the citizens of Santa Clara County are
proud of the record of the three boys.

WILLIAM FUNKLER.— Gilroy owes much to
her far-sighted, enterprising and optimistic mer-
chants, prominent among whom is William Funkier,
who came to the Golden State in the late '80s. He
was born of German parentage, in the historic king-
dom of Wurtemburg, on June 24, 1870, and was
reared and educated up to his sixteenth year in his
native land. Then, attracted by the greater indi-
vidual freedom of America, he crossed the ocean,
pushed westward to California, and in March, 1888,
located at San Francisco. The next year he re-
moved to San Jose and found work at the Fred-
ericksburg brewery; and for eighteen years he was
employed there, rising in time to be foreman. In
1906 Mr. Funkier removed with his family to Gilroy,
and for the following four years, or until the prop-
erty was destroyed by fire, he conducted a well-
known hotel in the town. Since then he has ac-
quired a very desirable ranch, a portion of the famous
Miller & Lux estate, one mile to the west of Gilroy,
set out as a young orchard. In 1918, he opened a
popular store which has become the headquarters for
the best of refreshments. In national politics a Re-
publican, Mr. Funkler's nonpartisan support of things
local has added to his popularity.

Mr. Funkler's mother died when she w^as eighty
years old, but his father is still living in Germany,
at the fine old age of eighty-three. William was
married June 21, 1891, in San Jose, to Miss Johanna
Ruff, a resident of San Jose since 1890, and they
have had six children: Jennie has become Mrs. L. L.
Whitehurst, and the mother of two children: Clara
is a graduate trained nurse, in charge of Dr. Beatty's
offices; Augusta is a graduate of the State Norma!
School and a teacher in the public school at Hilo.
Hawaiian Islands; Sophie has become Mrs. Howard
Steinmetz and resides at Pacific Grove; Louise, a
stenographer, is an employe of the Monterey Lumber
Company, in Monterey: Emma is a graduate of the
Gilroy high school. The family reside at 58 Forest
Street, Gilroy. Mr. Funkier is a past officer of the
Druids, and he is also a member of the Moose Lodge.

H. C. SCHMIDT.— A splendid example of what a
man may accomplish who works intelligently, honor-
ably and persistently, is afforded by H. C. Schmidt, a
weil-known and influential citizen of Palo Alto. He
was born in Baltimore, Md., January 28, 1863, and
grew up in that city, and learned the plumbers trade.
He then established a plumbing business in Baltimore
and manufactured and sold a number of articles of
his own patenting used by plumbers.

Mr. Schmidt's marriage united him with Miss Cora
Belle Watts, a native also of Baltimore, Md., and they
are the parents of one son, H. W. Schmidt, manager
of a moving picture film exchange in San Francisco;
he is married and has one child. When Mr. Schmidt

^^a^Pj^^T^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1157

removed to California he first located in San Francisco
and followed his trade of plumbing and many of the
best plumbing jobs in the Bay City attest the fine
workmanship and thoroughness which characterized
his work, among them being the Butler building on
Sutter Street. Owing to labor troubles in San Fran-
cisco he removed to Palo Alto in 1912 and seeing the
possibilities of the moving picture industry, he bought
out one of the first moving" picture establishments of
Palo Alto, located at Emerson Street and University
Avenue. Not only did he encounter all the handicaps
and perplexities incident to the experimental stage of
the motion picture theater but met set-backs resulting
from bitter opposition. Firmly determined to excell
in his line he put all of his first four roar's earnings
into rehabilitating the old picture .show and .si.x weeks
thereafter was burned out by a fire of undoubted in-
cendiary origin and all of his savings went up in an
early Sunday morning blaze without a cent of insur-
ance. Undaunted he arose Phoenix-like from the
ashes, and three years thereafter built the "Marquee"
now known as the Stanford theater, at 217 University-
Avenue and ran it successfully for six years. He made
a modest fortune, when he disposed of it and is now
reinvesting it in the erection of the Schmidt block on
Emerson Street, adjoining the postofhce. Tlie build-
ing will be reinforced concrete and will contain three
store rooms and two smaller shops in the rear.
Mr. Schmidt is an able business man wliose standing
in the community is among the best, financially and
socially. He deserves much credit for his enterprise
and has absolute faith in the future prosperity of Palo
Alto and the Santa Clara Valley and expects to in-
vest all of his means in the upbuilding of Palo Alto.
He owns a good residence at 313 Waverly Street and
is about to erect a more pretentious one. After six-
teen years experience he considers Palo Alto the best
city socially and commercially in California. He and
his wife are highly respected in the communit}'.

MARK E. KENNEDY.— Numbered among the
rising young men of Santa Clara County, whose good
business judgment and energy are contributing
largely to its substantial growth, is Mark E. Kennedy,
teller of the Campbell branch of the Garden City
Bank & Trust Company. He was born in Santa Clara
County in 1899 and is the son of Robert W. Kennedy,
who is now a retired farmer living in Campbell, a
native of Missouri who crossed the plains wlien he
was but eight years old with his parents, a good old
pioneer family, who faced the hardships of an over-
land journey and the even greater hardships connected
with settling in a new region. Robert W. Kennedy
chose for his helpmate, Miss Ella Giles, a native of
Shasta County, Cal, and spent an active life as one
of the large ranchers of this county, and now is en-
joying, in the afternoon of life, those comforts which
have been justly earned by arduous effort and close
application to his business affairs.

Mark E. Kennedy attended the public schools of
Santa Clara County and after graduating from the
grade school and high school he attended Stanford
University. During the late war he enlisted in the
hospital corps of the U. S. Navy, served at Goat
Island, then at San Diego, Cal., and after the armis-
tice was stationed at Ft. Lyon, where he was honor-
ably discharged October 13, 1919, spending eighteen
months in all. Upon returning to Campbell, he
entered the real estate business, and had an up-to-

date ofllce where he dealt in both farm and city prop-
erty, also giving considerable of his time to insur-
ance. In January, 1921, he sold his real estate inter-
ests and June 15, 1921, entered upon his present
position with the Garden City Bank & Trust Com-
pany at Campbell. Mr. Kennedy was married in
Campbell, November 17, 1921, when he was united
with AIiss Mary Jane Conway, of Missouri, a grad-
tiate of Carrollton high school. He is a member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church at Campbell, and
was made a Mason in Charity Lodge No 36' F &
A. M., at Campbell. ' '

PETER AND JEAN CASAURANG.-One of the
oldest established bakeries in the northern part of
Santa Clara County is that of Casaurang Bros., pro-
prietors of the Mayfield Bakery, also known as the
French Bakery, the firm being composed of Peter
and Jean Casaurang. This establishment is located
on Lincoln Street, Mayfield, and occupies a large lot
100x150 feet, upon which are a number of buildings
—the bakery, the flour warehouse, garages for two
touring cars and four Ford delivery trucks; sleeping
rooms for the help and living quarters for the fam-
ilies of the two partners. Both of the brothers, as
well as two other men are constantly employed in
conducting the steadily growing business.

These premises were leased by Peter Casaurang
and Emil Claverie, in 1911; Mr. Claverie having died
m 1918, the firm was changed to Casaurang Bros., and
they purchased the property in 1919 and immediately
set to work to remodel and enlarge it, expending the
sum of $7,000. They built one new oven and relined
the old one, which is now over fifty years old, being
the oldest oven actually in use in the county. The
premises are clean, orderly, sanitary, light and well
ventilated, and their head baker is Pascal Bamerio, who
is a master of the art of baking, making the celebrated
French bread which has made their bakery famous.
In their flour warehouse may be found at all times
a stock of from one to three car loads of the best
brands of white and rye flour and three auto trucks
are in constant use, delivering the bakery goods to
Mayfield and vicinity, Menlo Park, Palo .A.lto, Red-
wood City. Portola, La Honda and Los Altos, so
that they do an extensive business.

Peter L. Casaurang was born December 13, 1888,
and Jean L. on November 11, 1890, and both are
natives of the Basses-Pyrenees country of France,
where their parents are well-to-do and prosperous
peasants, owning a large acreage which is devoted to
farming and stockraising. The parents have reared
a large family of children, all of whom were educated
in the schools of France in the Roman Catholic
Church, a faith from which they have never departed.
Peter Casaurang came to San Francisco from France
in 1907, and two years later he was joined by his
brother Jean. Both of them worked in some of the
best bakeries of San Francisco until 1911, learning
every detail of the business.

Jean Casaurang was married in San Francisco to
Miss Marie Hounau, who was also born in France,
and they have two children, Marcella and Bernard;
he was in class 4, in the late war, and the armistice
was signed before he was called. Peter L. Casaurang
however, served for two years and seventeen months
in France, in the Third Bakery Company, which made
a million pounds of bread for the army daily. On re-
turning to the United States, he immediately resumed
his work at the bakery after receiving his honorable

1158

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

discharge. He was, in France, during the war, united
in marriage, his betrothed being Miss AHne Houde-
ville, of Dijon, France. He is a member of the Odd
Fellows at Mayfield, while Jean belongs to the Red
Men. They take rank among the leading business
firms of the north end of the county, are able, ener-
getic and deserving of the success they are achieving.

HENRY WILLIAM EDWARDS.— A resident
of California for nearly all of his life, Henry William
Edwards was born in Chicago, 111., March 1, 1841.
His father, Henry Edwards, a native of England,
settled in Utica, 111., where he was engaged in the
stock business. He was a pioneer of California of
1850, and as early as 1853 came to San Jose and
became a farmer on the Almaden Road. Henry \V.
Edwards came to California when a lad with his
father in 1850, and was educated in the public and
private schools of San Jose. In 1863 he went to
Nevada and tried his hand at mining in different
camps. However, he did not meet with much suc-
cess, so when he returned to San Jose he had only
fifty dollars as his capital when he started farming
on leased land near Edenvale.

Mr. Edwards was married December 11, 1867, to
Miss Alice C. Hall, who was born in Lincoln, Mo.,
but was from childhood a resident of California. Her
father, Andrew J. Hall, born in Kentucky, settled in
Lincoln, Mo., where he married Delia Cottle, a native
of Missouri, a daughter of Edward and Celia Cottle.
In 1850, leaving his family in Lincoln, Mo., Andrew
Hall and his two brothers-in-law, Thomas and W.
Cottle, came to California, engaging in mining. An-
drew Hall was destined to never see his family again,
for he died at Georgetown in 1851. The Cottle boys
returned to Missouri, and in 1854 the Cottle family
emigrated to California, coming across the plains in
an ox-team train, of which Edward Cottle was the
captain. They made the six months' journey safely,
for Grandfather Cottle had laid in a large supply of
coffee, sugar and bacon, and wisely distributed a
generous portion of it at three dififerent times to the
Indians. Arriving in Santa Clara County in October,

1854, Edward Cottle purchased a portion of the
Santa Teresa ranch and engaged in stock-raising,
making a specialty of raising standard and thorough-
bred horses, having brought some fine specimens with
him across the plains. His wife passed away in

1855. He continued to reside on the ranch until his
death at the age of seventy-two years. Andrew Hall's
widow brought her two little children, Alice and
William Hall, in her father's train to California,
presiding over his home until she married a second
time, becoming the wife of James McLellan, who
was also a pioneer of California, and they lived on
their ranch on Monterey Road, one-half mile south
of the present city limits of San Jose. After Mr.
McLellan's death his widow spent the last years of
her life with her daughter, Mrs. Edwards, passing
away at the age of almost eighty-seven years.

Alice Hall attended Miss Buckman's private school
and San Jose Institute, from which she was gradu-
ated, after which she engaged in teaching for two
years, until her marriage to Mr. Edwards. As Mr.
Edwards prospered he purchased eighty acres, and
by subsequent purchase acquired 450 acres in the
Oak Grove school district, devoting his time to rais-
ing grain and stock until he began setting out or-
chards. He was interested in the Farmers' Union in

early days and was one of the founders of the Home
Union, being president of that large mercantile es-
tablishment for many years. He was also interested
in banking. His ranch was well improved with a
large, beautiful country residence, but it was de-
stroyed by fire, after which he purchased a large
residence on South Second Street in San Jose, where
he made his home until his death, March 31, 1915.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwards were blessed with two chil-
dren: Mrs. Cora Conklin died in San Jose, and
Wilbur J. is the president of the Security State Bank
of San Jose. Henry W. Edwards was a member of
San Jose Chapter No. 10, F. & A. M., and in politics
he was a stanch supporter of Republican principles.
He was a man of splendid judgment and an able
manager, very liberal and enterprising and always
ready to do his part in the building up of the county
and state, and worthy objects always received his
hearty support and cooperation. In his business
dealings he was honest and reliable, having the con-
fidence of all with whom he came in contact in a
business way. His friendship was greatly prized,
and at his passing Santa Clara County lost one of
her best citizens. Since his death Mrs. Edwards
continues to reside at the old home and, with the
assistance of her son, looks after the large estate
left by Mr. Edwards, who always gave much credit
for his success to his wife, who encouraged and aided
him in every way. Mrs. Edwards is now one of the
pioneers and, having been very observant, she is a
fund of information, and it is interesting to hear her
discourse of early days in Santa Clara County. She
attends the Episcopal Church.

FRANK J. MILLER.— A far-seeing, enterprising
and successful business man of Palo Alto, whose
success in his affairs has been due to his tenacity of
purpose is Frank J. Miller, the capable proprietor of
Miller's grocery, located at 203 University Avenue.
He was born in Vienna, February 28, 1881, of respected
parents who were in comfortable circumstances, and
grew to manhood in the beautiful capital of Austria.
His education was obtained in the fine schools of
his native city; he gained a reading, writing and
speaking knowledge of the Slavic languages, as well
as German. Early in life he began working in stores
and bakeries in Vienna, as a salesman, as well as
baker and caterer, but desiring to better his condition,
he came to America, arriving here when he was
twenty-four years old, and worked in bakeries and
delicatessen shops in New York, Chicago, Denver
and San Francisco. He was married in San Fran-
cisco to Miss Josephine Mesenburg. a native daughter
of California, born and reared in San Francisco,
the daughter of a well-known business man of the
Bay City, and a woman of much ability; she is truly
a helpmate to her husband and he attributes much of
his success to her assistance and encouragement.

Fourteen years ago Mr. Miller located in Palo Alto
and started in business in a modest way. He has a
thorough knowledge of the grocery business, delica-
tessen and bakery lines, as well as the art of catering,
serving and furnishing viands for banquets, parties,
etc. Since coming to the United States, he has ac-
quired a good knowledge of the English language
and of business management. He has built up a
large and paying business in Palo Alto, using two
auto trucks for delivery, and employs a number of
bakers and clerks. Mr. Miller has built his residence

>»

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1159

at US Emerson Street, with all the comforts and
conveniences of a thoroughly up-to-date American
home. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of one
son, Frank J., Jr., a bright lad of eleven years. Mr.
Miller carries a full line of groceries, and makes all
his delicatessen and bakery goods in his own shop in
his building at University Avenue and Emerson
Street. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have won the friendship
of their townspeople and are justly popular in Palo
Alto business, fraternal and social circles.

RAY MUIR. — An able business man of Mayfield
who is contributing to the growth of his town is Ray
Muir, a native son of California and the grandson of
a pioneer who came from the East in the days of
'49. Mr. Muir was born at Willets, Mendocino
County, and is the son of A. J. and Laura (Bigelow)
Muir. The father, who was also born in Mendocino
County, was engaged for many years in farming and
stockraising, and also in the meat business, and he
and Mrs. Muir still make their home at Willets.

One of a family of two sons and three daughters,
Ray Muir grew up at Willets. attending the public
schools there and also the Santa Rosa Business Col-
lege. Before attending business college however, he
worked on his father's farm and at the slaughter
house in connection with his meat business, and after
his graduation he helped incorporate and organize
the Little Lake Meat Company at Willets, and for
several years acted as its secretary and treasurer. In
1919 Mr. Muir came to Mayfield, where he leased
the Mayfield Cash Market and started in business,
handling a complete line of fresh and smoked meats.
This is the oldest market in the northern part of
Santa Clara County, in fact it was established and
doing business before the town of Palo Alto was
in existence, and has been operated continuously as
a meat market with the exception of the two years
just before Mr. Muir leased it. Under his propriet-
orship the market is doing a prosperous business, as
he handles only first-class products and gives his per-
sonal attention to every detail of the business. Mr.
Muir is at present fitting up a first-class meat mar-
ket in the new Allison Peacock Block at 111 Lincoln
Street in Mayfield. This market will be equipped
with mechanical refrigeration and first-class fixtures;
and particular regard will be paid to sanitation.

At Willets Mr. Muir was married to Miss Edith
Lewis, a native of Canada, and they are the parents
of one son, Ray, Jr. Mr. Muir was placed in Class 4
during the late war and was not called until just
before the armistice was signed. Though a Democrat
in politics, Mr. Muir is not unduly partisan but takes
a live interest in all public matters, giving his aid
and influence to all that will aid the community.

EUGENE DELYON.— Born under the French
flag, on the Island of Martinique, Eugene Delyon
has had the unique experience of a four years' resi-
dence on the Island of Tahiti, in the South Seas, now
the mecca of thousands of travelers whose tastes are
for the far places of the earth. Mr. Delyon was born
at Flor de France on July 13, 1882. and there he was
educated and spent the years of his young manhood.
A wish to see more of the world led him to leave
his island home and his first view of the United
States was when he crossed the continent on his way
to the South Seas where for four years he conducted
a shoe business on Tahiti. '

Coming back to the United States, he located at
Palo Alto and for four years was employed at Thoit's

Shoe Store there. He then started in business for
himself, opening up a shoe store and repair shop at
Stanford University. In 1910 he opened up a sec-
ond shop at Mayfield and operated them both until
the late war, when for a time he v,-as in the service
of his adopted country. At this time he disposed of
his Stanford University shop to his brother, who still
runs it, and since returning from the U. S. service
he has given all of his time to his business at May-
field. He carries a well-selected stock of footwear
and has a full complement of shoe-repairing machin-
ery, run by electric power, and he is himself an ex-
pert in this work. This is the only exclusive boot
and shoe store in Mayfield and Mr. Delyon has built
up a substantial business there which bids fair to in-
crease year by year, due to his genial personality
and his up-to-date business methods.

STEVE ANDERSON.— A public-spirited ofi^cial,
who, as chairman of the committee on roads and high-
ways of the city of Mayfield, is largely responsible
for the excellent new reinforced-concrete highway-
running through this city, is Steve Anderson, a pio-
neer resident of northern Santa Clara County and
well known in business circles as a dealer in sand,
stone and gravel and conducting a general teaming
business. Mr. Anderson was born near Stockholm,
Sweden, March 3, 1870, the son of Anders and Jo-
hanna Person: the mother is still living at the old
home place in Sweden. The father, who was for
many years a carpenter, died at the age of eighty-
nine years, on March 7, 1922. at his home in Sweden.

In 1887 Mr. Anderson came to America, joining his
brother Peter, who had been in California some time
and who is now a successful building contractor in
Oakland. Another brother, Martin, died in Oakland
in 1917, while a third member of the family, Anton
Anderson, is a well-known resident of Mayfield, being
proprietor of the Mayfield Transfer Company. When
Steve Anderson first came to California he went to
work for Judge Stanley on his great ranch, vineyard
and orchard in Napa County. There he remained for
two years, when he came to the large stock ranch of
Senator Leiand Stanford at Palo Alto. He went to
work. as a farm hand, but it was not long until Sena-
tor Stanford learned that young Anderson was an
expert horseman, and so set him to work teaming,
handling the big teams in the ranch work. He was soon
made stock foreman and had charge of the thousand
head of work and draft horses on this immense estate.
He helped raise grain where the city of Palo Alto now
stands, and saw Stanford University built up nearly
from the beginning. Mr. Anderson continued on the
Stanford ranch for many years, and in 1911 he came
to Mayfield and started his present teaming business,
in which he uses four draft horses, while his son
drives an auto truck.

Two children were born of Mr. Anderson's mar-
riage to Miss Hannah Anderson, Sante Howard and
Mabel. Mr. Anderson is captain of the volunteer
fire company, having held that post for the past ten
years. In 1920 he was elected a member of the board
of trustees of Mayfield and as chairman of the com-
mittee on roads and highways, he has done excel-
lent work, the new road through Alayfield being one
of the best pieces of highway in the state and a credit
to the town. Republican in politics, his influence and
counsel are eagerly sought by the local party leaders
and he is justly popular. He belongs to the Druids
and the Ancient Order of Foresters.

1160

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

HARRY JOHNSON. — A nurseryman and orchard-
ist who uses modern methods and scientific care in
the development of his holdings, is Harry Johnson,
whose ranch lies on the Almaden Road, five and one-
half miles south of San Jose. He is a native son of
Santa Clara County and was born two miles south of
San Jose on the Northern Road April 1, 1882, his
parents being Andrew and Hattie (Farley) Johnson,
born in Skane, Sweden, and Quebec, Canada, res-
pectively. The father was a sailor who came around
Cape Horn to San Francisco when he was eighteen
years old. He quit the sea and was one of the early
farmers here, coming here in the 70s. and here he
married Miss Farley, who had come here with her
parents. Andrew Johnson passed away when Harry
was only four years old. Mrs. Johnson continued
horticulture, making her home on the ranch until
her death in 1908. They had three children, two of
whom are living, Harry being the oldest; he obtained
his education in the public schools, with the addition
of a course at the San Jose Business College, where
he was graduated in 1898, and then went to work on
ranches in this vicinity. He saved his money and
when he was only seventeen years old he was able
to' make a payment of $300 on his first piece of prop-
erty, which he afterwards sold at a profit. In 1905 he
began raising nursery stock, as well as fruit growing
and in 1917 he purchased his present place, adding
to it until he had ninety acres devoted to nursery and
orchard, but he has since disposed of some of his
holdings and now has a fine tract of forty-five acres,
half of which is devoted to his orchard and nursery.
He makes a specialty of growing trees that are par-
ticularly adapted to this locality and he finds a ready
market for his stock. He also grows about forty
acres of garden truck a year.

On March 4, 1904, Mr. Johnson was married to
Miss Gertrude Greenwalt, born in this vicinity, a
member of a well-known old-time family here. Her
father, George Greenwalt, was also born here and her
grandfather was a pioneer settler. Mr. Johnson is
a Republican and as one of the community's public-
spirited citizens he can always be counted upon to aid
in any progressive movement. At present ^he is
serving as school trustee of Pioneer school district.
MRS. CATTHERINA GERAUD MATTEIS.—
A successful rancher of Santa Clara County is found
in Mrs. Cattherina Geraud Matteis, who owns and
controls 364 acres of land on the Croy Road, nine
miles from Morgan Hill. She was born on August 5,
1859 near the village of Moncucco, Italy, and grew to
young womanhood in her native village. On April
2, 1882, she was married to Ernest Matteis, who was
born in Moriondo, Province of Turino, on June 5,
1858 and was reared and schooled in his native town.
Their first child was born on January 15, 1884 and
died in infancy. On April S. 1885. Joseph A. was
born near the place where his father first saw the
light of day. During that same year the young peo-
ple started for their new home in America and Califor-
nia, and arrived in San Jose in October, 1885. During
the following twelve years Mr. Matteis was occupied
steadily as chief chef at the La Molle House in San
Jose; later at the Overland Club and the California
Restaurant altogether for about twelve years. In
1897 the family removed from San Jose to the Uvas
district where Mr. Matteis had purchased 194 acres
of forest lands, which has been gradually brought
tmder cultivation and set to orchard and vineyard.

The ranch is about nine miles from Morgan Hill.
Joseph A. was married in 1909 to Miss Irene J.
Baker, a daughter of the late pioneer, Reuben J.
Baker, who settled near Almaden in the early 'SOs,
and married Miss Winifred Hart, now living in San
Jose, Mr. Baker having passed away August 6, 1918.
Miss Irene Baker was born in Hollister and attended
the Notre Dame Convent in San Jose and later the
San Jose State Normal School from which she grad-
uated in 1905. She taught for five years in the schools
of Stanislaus, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
They have three children: Ernest J., Richard W.,
and Luceil I. Joseph Matteis is a member of the
Eagles' Aerie No. 8 of San Jose, and in politics is
a Republican. He has served as a trustee of the Uvas
district school for nine years; for fourteen years he
was road master of the district and superintended the
construction of many new bridges and roads; he is
now manager of his mother's ranch; Michael C, born
at San Jose, November 15, 1886, served in the U. S.
Army in the One Hundred Forty-fourth Field Artil-
lery and was five months overseas with the Grizzlies;
he was eighteen months in the service and was dis-
charged January 28, 1919, and is now home working
on the ranch; Teresa M. was born June 15, 1887, and
is the wife of Giacinto Conrotto and they are the
parents of two children, Catherine M., and Michael B.
Mr. Matteis lived to be fifty years old and passed
away July 14, 1908. The work of clearing and pre-
paring the land for vineyard was no easy task, but
they have a fine vineyard of seventy- five acres; choice
California wines were made and shipped from the
ranch until 1918 and since that time the good prices
paid for green grapes are so attractive that all the
vineyardists sell their grapes in this way for ship-
ment throughout the country. Mrs. Matteis is a typ-
ical home-body, highly esteemed by her many de-
voted friends, and is a worthy mother of a fine
family of children who are respected throughout the
ity in which they reside.

PHILLIP DAL'V.— Among the useful citizens of
the Morgan Hill community is Phillip Daly who is
the owner and operator of a baling press for hay and
grain and by hard work and strict attention to busi-
ness has won a place for himself in that locality. He
was born on Staten Island. N. Y.. December 31.
1864, the eldest son of Patrick Daly, a native of
Ireland, who came to America in 1850. He married
Miss Kate Connely, also a native of Ireland, in 1862.
and in 1868 they removed to San Jose, Cal.. and
in July, 1872, the Daly family came to Gilroy and
settled on North Monterey Street, where the original
home place still stands. His father died in 1899, aged
seventy-four and the mother on October 3. 1916. at
the age of seventy years. Phillip entered the public
schools in 1868 and in 1873, at the age of ten years,
was obliged to leave school and assist his father.
When he reached the age of seventeen he hired out
as a ranch hand with Horton & Daniels and worked
with a threshing crew for ten years in San Benito.
Monterey and Santa Clara counties.

Mr. Daly's marriage united him with Miss Jose-
phine Atkinson, a daughter of Richard Atkinson, a
pioneer of Santa Clara County, whose biographical
sketch will be found in this work. Mr. and Mrs.
Daly, are the parents of five children: Viola is a
graduate nurse of St. Joseph's Hospital and now re-
sides in San Bernardino; Richard served in the U. S.

yv.(ry7T^M^^^a/H.e/^^--

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1163

Navy on board the cruiser Montana and did trans-
port duty for eleven months; he is married and has
one child Hving; Phillip A. served in Company A,
First U. S. Engineers, overseas for five years and is
now in active service. He has the honor of wearing
the Distinguished Service Cross, awarded him after
a sharp engagement at Verdun in 1918; he has also
been awarded the French Croix de Guerre; Gladys
is a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School
with the class of 1919 and is now teaching in Men-
dota, Fresno County, Cal. ; Bernice is the wife of Al-
phonse Bonetti, a rancher of Morgan Hill and they
are the parents of two children. What success has
come to Mr. Daly has been through his own eflforts
and perseverance, and the family enjoy the respect
and esteem of the entire community.

ALFRED D. GALLAGHER.— Prominent among
the most enterprising, scientifically-venturesome and
eminently successful representatives of sturdy, pro-
gressive pioneers whose toil and sacrifice were such
that they and their descendants have deserved to in-
herit the fruits of the earth and to enjoy the good
things of life, is Alfred D. Gallagher, next to the
largest pear grower of Santa Clara County, who is
ranching on some 360 acres on the Alviso Road,
about four miles north of San Jose. He was liorn
on the old Gallagher Ranch in Santa Glai.i Cuniy.
on April 5, 1869. the son of .Xmlrcw Thomas ( Gal-
lagher, who was born in New York City on May 4,
1831, the son of Andrew T. and Mary (Siskron)
Gallagher, natives of Ireland, who had migrated to
America and had settled in the metropolis. Andrew
Thomas grew up in New York, attending school and
at fourteen entering the employ of William T. Jen-
ninigs & Company, well-known merchant tailors of
Gotham. On October 16, 1848, however, he took
passage on the barque John W. Cater, then com-
manded by Captain Richard Hoyt and bound for
California by way of Cape Horn; and on the four-
teenth of March, 1849, he reached San P'rancisco.
Shortly after his arrival, he purchased the launch
Mary and Catherine, but after running her for a few
trips to Sonoma he sold the vessel and pushed on
inland to Tuolumne County, where he tried his luck
at mining at Sullivan's Camp. After a few months,
he moved over to Santa Clara County, and for a
few weeks was employed in the Redwoods; and then
he took up teaming between Redwoods and Alviso,
and still later he transported freight from .Alviso to
San Jose and Santa Clara. At the same time, he
also transported freight between San Francisco and
.\lviso, using the schooner Catherine Miller which
he purchased for that trade and sometimes even com-
manding the vessel himself. At the end of two years,
he decided to make a complete change of work, and
then he took a position as clerk in one of the ware-
houses in Alviso. faithfully performing his duties,
different as they were to his previous, more inde-
pendent operations, until 1863.

As early as June, 1853, Mr. Gallagher, following
his marriage, had established his residence upon
property he had purchased in the Alviso district,
about four and a half miles north of Santa Clara and
one mile south of Alviso — a fine farm of 160 acres
of very productive land, and there, besides rich pas-
turage, he was soon raising grain and hay. He also

had forty acres of orchard, devoted to nearly all the
varieties of fruit grown in that section, and to toma-
toes and other vegetables, of which he also had eight
extra acres, the same amount of land which he set
aside for raspberries and blackberries. Five artesian
wells gave him all the water needed, and a pleasant
and comfortable cottage home, with outbuildings,
testified to his enviable prosperity.

On September 26, 1852, Andrew T. Gallagher was
married to Miss Maria Remonda Martin, the dau-
ghter of John and Vaclecia Bernal (Ortega) Martin.
The maternal grandfather, John Martin, was a na-
tive of Scotland, a ship's carpenter on a man-o'-war,
who came out to America about 1828 or 1829 and
settled for a while in San Francisco. Later he went
inland to the neighborhood of Sausalito, in Marin
County, and in 1834 he came to Alviso, where he
acquired several thousand acres of the Embarcadero
Grant; and during the cholera epidemic of 1850 he
died of that dread disease. Mrs. Maria Ramonda
(Martin) Gallagher was born at the Mission San
Jose and died at the age of forty-four years, on the
thirtieth of May, 1879.

They w-ere the parents of thirteen children: Mary,
liorn August 12, 1853, became the wife of Mortimer
D. French of San Jose— she died 1911. aged fiftv-
>.ven years; Martha, born May 1, 1855, died in 1897
Irom injuries received in a runaway; Andrew T., Jr.,
born March 17, 1857, died the same day as the
father, June 20, 1897; Sarah, died at nine years of
age; Edward E., born December 26, 1860, lives re-
tired at Long Beach, Cal. — married Miss Mattie
Taylor of Pullman, Wash., and has one child, Mary
Anita, the wife of Lester Folger of Pullman, Wash.;
Richard M., born August 10, 1863, resides at San
Jose, Cal., retired; he married Miss Elizabeth Stezer
of San Francisco; George F., born September 18.
1865, at Alviso. became one of the leading pear-
growers of the Santa Clara Valley; he died May 20,
1921, left a son, George E. Gallagher, and his widow
whose maiden name was Jul'ia A. Loverin who
passed away at San Jose, on January 23, 1922;
Basilia M., born July 13, 1867, became the wife of
Edward F. Mohrhardt of San Francisco; she died
November 10. 1918, and left one child, Edward F.
Mohrhardt; Alfred D., born April 5, 1869, of this
review; Charles W., commission merchant of Oak-
land, married Miss Stella Shrader; they have three
children, Andrew T., Raymond and Martha E.; Wil-
liam M., born June 16, 1873; Mabel L., the wife of
Arthur S. Luce, resides at San Jose; James Walter,
was an infant when his mother died. May 30, 1879,
surviving her by three weeks.

Alfred attended the Alviso schools while being
reared on the old Gallagher ranch where, some forty
years ago, his father had instituted irrigation by
means of an artesian water supply. This ranch,
which was gradually expanded to its present size,
includes 120 acres devoted to the growing of pears,
130 acres of apples, and 110 acres for pasturage,
berries and hay. About 1905 a packing house was
built near the old home ranch, and in 1919 a second
packing house was erected on the new ranch.
Twenty-five men are employed here steadily on the
average, and in the busy season this number is in-
creased to twice as many. For the last four years

1164

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the average yield has been sixty carloads of pears,
and each year about six to eight carloads of quinces
are shipped to distant points.

At San Jose, on July 6, 1912, Mr. Gallagher was
married to Miss Mamie Davis, a native of Alton,
Humboldt County, and the daughter of Harrison
and Margaret (Keating) Davis. Her father was a
native of Ohio, where he was born about 1835; he
accompanied his parents to Illinois, when they re-
moved to that state and remained there until about
18S0, when he came across the plains to California
and settled in Gilroy; but after two years he went
into Humboldt County. Mr. Davis is dead, but her
mother, Mrs. Davis, still lives and is residing here, a
very interesting lady, as a native of England and
the representative of an old English family. Mrs.
Gallagher is the seventh in a family of twelve child-
ren. Harry was the oldest, then came Elizabeth,
Bert, Rose, Thomas and Francis, and after Mamie
were Sewell, Ernest, Angeline, Sarah and Vernon.
Mrs. Davis, who lives with the Gallaghers and con-
tributes greatly to the cheerfulness of their hos-
pitable hearth, is a daughter of John and Elizabeth
(Janner) Keating. John Keating was a sea captain;
Ehzabeth Janner was a native of Southampton. Eng-
land, and when she was four years old, her parents
removed with her to Australia, where they lived until
this daughter was seventeen years old, residing at
Albana, on King George's Sound. From Australia
the family came to California, and here she met and
married Mr. Davis. Mrs. Gallagher attended the
schools of Humboldt County, and now she has three
children of her own in school: Margaret. Alfred, Jr.,
and Geraldine.

OTTO L. KETCHUM.— Another practical rancher
of pronounced executive ability is Otto L. Ketchum,
the experienced and very efficient superintendent of
J. E. Smith's Solis Ranch, on the Watsonville Road,
about eight miles northwest of Gilroy. He was born
at San Jose on December 17, 1867, the son of Elvin
M. Ketchum, a native of Michigan who migrated to
California in 1850. by way of the Isthmus of Panama
— a worthy, sturdy pioneer who survived the turbu-
lence of the mining period, and reached San Jose in
the early '60s. He married Miss Henrietta Edson,
daughter of Henry B. and Achsah H. (Soper) Edson,
both of whom were natives of Vermont; and they mi-
grated to California by way of the Isthmus, in 1856,
located in the Santa Clara Valley, and finally settled
at San Jose. Mr. Ketchum was an expert carpenter,
a man capable of accomplishing a great deal for the
young commonwealth into which he had come; but
he died a premature death in the early '70s.

Otto Ketchum was reared and schooled in the
Llagas district; and he also attended the Reed Street
school at San Jose. From the time of leaving school
until coming to his present place, he followed ranching
and orcharding. In 1914 he became a foreman for the
Solis Ranch of J. E. Smith, near Gilroy, his long ex-
perience in fruit culture, since he was a boy, com-
mending him to the proprietor of the famous farm
tract. He has eighty acres of very choice land under
excellent cultivation, and now very fruitful. Mr.
Ketchum resides upon the Smith place with his
mother, and he is thus able to give the ranch his
closest attention.

A Republican in matters of national political im-
port, but a good, nonpartisan "booster" when it comes
to putting his shoulder to the wheel, Mr. Ketchum is
a member of the Gilroy lodge of Odd Fellows, and
also the Masonic lodge at Gilroy. He takes pride in
discharging responsibility in the most conscientious
manner, and devotes as much personal care to Mr.
Smith's choice ranch as if it were his own. Fellow-
ranchers feel the value of an inspiration to do, and
to do well, derived from his stimulating example.

WILLIAM F. GIACOMAZZL— An enterprising,
progressive rancher who, in forging steadily ahead,
has set the pace for others as well as for him-
self, and has promoted the good fortune of neigh-
bors and competitors, while building up his own
prosperity, is William Francis Giacomazzi, the well-
known dairyman whose farsightedness led him to
invest in a motor transport for milk which has
been of the greatest service. He was born at Salinas,
on August 14, 1896, the son of James and Catherine
Giacomazzi, the former a native of Mogheno, Switz-
erland, in Canton Ticino, who came out to Cali-
fornia in 1886 and settled in Monterey County. Mrs.
Giacomazzi passed away at Salinas in 1900, but Mr.
Giacomazzi survived until 1910. Both lived worthy
lives, and both died rich in friends. They had
three children beside our subject, who was the third.
Vincent was born in Switzerland on August 14,
1886. James, Jr., is deceased; and Elven, the young-
est, is with his brother in business.

William Giacomazzi attended the grammar school
at Salinas, and later went to Heald's Business Col-
lege, and he grew up to inherit an interest in a
fine grain farm of 330 acres in Monterey County. In
1916, he came into Santa Clara County, and three
yey.rs later, in November, he opened a dairy on the
Tuttle Ranch on Capitol Avenue. In 1920, he sold
the dairy back to Mr. Tuttle, and then he took up
trucking. In partnership with his brother, Mr.
Giacomazzi owns two trucks of one and a half tons
each, and two trucks of two tons each, and one
truck of three and a half tons; and he makes both
day and night trips; a night trip to Oakland and a
day and night trip to San Francisco. — hauling milk
for the farmers, carrying consignments to the East
Bay Milk Producers' Association. All in all, they
haul about 350 cans of milk daily, and although
they employ two drivers, they take turns in going
along themselves.

Public-spirited and patriotic to an admirable de-
gree, Mr. Giacomazzi served in the late World War,
enlisting on September 5, 1918. He was sent to
Camp Kearny and was in the Sixteenth Trench
Mortar Battery, stationed there until the end of
the war. Then, on February 5, 1919, he was hon-
orably discharged at the Presidio at San Francisco.
On February 8, 1920, he was married at San Jose
to Miss Mabel B. Wilcox, a native of Berryessa,
and the daughter of F. C. and Mary C. Wilcox and
a granddaughter of Orin Wilcox, who with his
family of seven children came around the Horn to
California in 1861. They left their Connecticut home
on the day that the Civil War broke out. Orin
Wilcox became a prominent jeweler at Watsonville.
Mrs. Giacomazzi was schooled at Berryessa and San
Jose, where she attended Heald's Business College.
One son has been granted Mr. and Mrs. Gia-
comazzi,— William Francis, Jr. Mr. Giacomazzi is

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1165

a Republican, and as such has sought to elevate
the standard of citizenship, especially among his
parents' countrymen coming to California and as-
sociated with him; and in fraternal matters, he is
active as a member of the Maccabees and the Wood-
men of the World at San Jose.

ALDEN FRENCH.— An enterprising, successful
rancher whose progressive methods are as interest-
ing as the splendid results he has attained, is Alden
French, who dwells about two miles south of Alviso.
He was born on the old French Ranch on November
2, 1879, the son of Mortimer D. French, a native of
Wisconsin, who had married Miss Mary Gallagher,
a native of Santa Clara County, the daughter of An-
drew Thomas and Maria (Martin) Gallagher, and
the granddaughter of Andrew T. and Mary (Sis-
kron) Gallagher, of New York. In the fall of 1848
her father sailed on the bark John W. Cater for Cali-
fornia by way of Cape Horn, and he reached San
Francisco the following March. He took up mining,
among his other ventures, in Tuolumne County, and
when he came to Santa Clara County went to work
in the Redwoods. Later he purchased a schooner
and carried freight between San Francisco and Al-
viso. Eventually, he settled down to farming on 160
acres in the Alviso district, near Santa Clara. Mrs.
French died in 1911 at the age of fifty-seven years,
while Mortimer D. French passed away in 1906, at
the age of sixty-six, and was buried on the day be-
fore the great San Francisco earthquake. He was a
farmer, a cattleman, and also a grain and hay farmer,
the eldest in a family of seven children; and he was
thirteen years old when his father died. His mother
was a native of New York and crossed the plains
from the Empire State with her parents. Mortimer
D. French prospered exceedingly as a farmer and
stockman, his holdings being increased to 300 acres.
He was a large grain farmer and later on he became
a breeder of Percheron horses and Durham cattle
and was a leader in this line for many years. The
French home ranch was a noted place.

Mr. and Mrs. Mortimer French had eight children:
Alden, John, Ernest A., Hazel, Marian, Albertina,
now deceased; Gertrude, and Andrew, also deceased:
and when Alden was four years old, his father left
the ranch, moved to San Jose, and in partnership
with Mr. Jarvis engaged in distilling. Then he took
up the buying and selling of horses, hay, wood and
coal. Alden, therefore, attended the grammar school
in San Jose, and for two years he continued his stu-
dies at the high school in that city. When nineteen
years old, he entered the service of the Southern
Pacific Railroad Company, and for nine years he was
in charge of their store room in San Jose. Then, in
various departments, he worked for over eight years
for the Walsh-Col Wholesale Company of San Jose.
In the spring of 1919, Mr. French became actively
engaged in the management of the Gallagher ranch,
on the San Jose-Alviso Road, and he has ever since
been foreman of this farm, in which he also has an
estate interest. It was purchased by Andrew Tho-
mas Gallagher in the fifties, and had about 123 acres,
in time well-irrigated and supplied with artesian
water. More land was added, and now there are
about 360 acres, one-third of which is devoted to the
growing of pears, somewhat more to apples, while

110 acres are given up to pasture, berries and hay.
Packing houses are near-by, and from twenty-five
to fifty men are given employment. Sixty or more
carloads of pears and six to eight carloads of quinces
are shipped annually. Mr. French also has an estate
interest in a ranch of fifty acres left by his father, on
the Mountain View-Alviso Road, which is devoted to
pasture and hay.

At San Jose, on October 18, 1904, Mr. French was
married to Miss Anna M. Purcell, a native of San
Jose, and the daughter of John and Delia Purcell.
Mrs. Purcell, who was Teresa Gorman before her
marriage, was born in Australia and came to San
Francisco at the age of twenty. In 1868 she came to
San Jose and two years later she was married to Mr.
Purcell. Of their seven children, three are living;
May, married Joseph Calice, the manager of Black's
Package Company at San Jose; Anna, is Mrs.
French; Naomi, is Mrs. Alfred J. Pinard of San Jose.
Mr. Purcell, who was at one time superintendent of
streets of San Jose, died in 1900. Mr. and Mrs.
French make their home on a part of the Gallagher
Ranch, although they also own a home at 438 North
Sixth Street, San Jose. Four of their children are
still living — Mildred Gertrude, Alden Edward, Mary
Martha, and Mortimer Alfred French; but their
second-born, who w^as also named Alden, passed
away .aged eleven months. In national politics a
Republican, Mr. French is too good an American
not to throw aside narrow partisanship and work
for the best interests of the community in which he
lives, supporting heartily those men and those meas-
ures most appealing to him.

EDWARD DELMAESTRO.— San Jose owes
much to the enterprise, progressiveness and business
ability of Edward Delmaestro, whose activities as a
building contractor have contributed to the improve-
ment and development of the city. He has an ex-
pert knowledge of the carpenter's trade, which his
grandfather and father also followed in this state, and
the family name has long figured prominently in
building circles of this district. A native son of Cali-
fornia, Mr. Delmaetro was born at the New Almaden
mines on October 23, 1889. His paternal grandfather,
John Delmaestro, a native of Switzerland, came to
California in 1851 and engaged in contracting, then be-
came the first foreman in charge of the construction
of the New Almaden mines, continuing with them
until his death in 1889. The father was reared in
Switzerland, but when fourteen years old he went
to South America where he learned the carpenter
and cabinet maker's trade. In coming to San Jose,
he engaged in contracting and then went to the
New Almaden mines, where he became foreman,
continuing for thirty years and is now living retired
at the age of seventy-two years in San Jose; the
mother passed away in 1906. Mr. and Mrs. Delmae-
stro had eight children of whom Edward is the
youngest, the others being John, who is connected
with the Bean Spray Pump Company of San Jose;
and Madeline, deceased; Mercedes, Isabel and Teresa
of San Jose; Leta of Los Angeles and Mrs. Jennie
Sterling, deceased.

In the acquirement of an education Mr. Delmae-
stro attended the public schools at New Almaden and
then learned the carpenter's trade under the able
guidance of his father, when then a lad of fourteen

1166

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

years. He came to San Jose and when sixteen he
started out as a journeyman carpenter and has pro-
vided for his own support since fourteen years of
age, and after following his trade for a number of
years took a course in architectural designing, con-
tracting and building in the International Correspon-
dence Schools of Scranton. Pa. He has become recog-
nized as one of the leading building contractors of
the city, specializing in the designing and erection of
first-class bungalows, and also doing general repair
work. His work, which is of high character and
standard excellence, has been a credit to the city and
a feature in its substantial improvement, while his
business methods have ever balanced up with the
principles of integrity and honesty.

In January, 1906, in San Jose, Mr. Delmaestro was
married to Miss Adeline Lunsford. a native of this
city and a daughter of Lewis and Isabel (Courtois)
Lunsford, who are mentioned elsewhere in this vol-
ume. Mr. and Mrs. Delmaestro are the parents of
three children: Pearl attending Notre Dame College.
Ldward, Jr., and Frederick. Mr. Delmaestro is a
Republican in his political views, interested in the
welfare and success of the party. He is a member
of the Builders' Exchange, and with his wife is a
member of the Fraternal Aid Union.

MRS. MARY W. GEORGE.— A distinguished rep-
resentative of the educational profession in California
who has been privileged to contribute something
definite, far-reaching and permanent toward the devel-
opment of popular education in the great Pacific
Commonwealth, and especially to help mould and
direct educational movements in Santa Clara County,
is Mrs. Mary W. George, formerly dean of women
at the State Normal at San Jose. She was born in
Racine, Wis., the daughter of S. W. and Elizabeth
-\. Wilson, and coming to San Jose with her mother
at the age of twelve. She attended the high school
of this city, and then continued her studies at the
State Normal at San Jose, later matriculating at Stan-
ford University. There she specialized in psychol-
ogy and education, and in due time received the
Bachelor of Arts degree.

At San Jose, on June 7, 1888, Miss Wilson was
married to Professor T. C. George, at that time a
member of the faculty of the University of the Pa-
cific, a native of Ohio who brought with him to the
Coast the Ohioan's glorious inheritance of a love and
respect for learning. He was a deep student of the
natural sciences, especially astronomy, visiting all the
great observatories in Europe, and in the United
States. This travel and first-hand knowledge of ob-
servatories and their work helped to make Professor
George a very successful instructor in the department
of astronomy. He had made his home in San Jose
since coming to California in the '70s; and there he
passed away, in 1895, the father of two children:
Carolyn, who is now Mrs. William Huff of Kellogg,
Idaho: and Charles M. George of San Francisco.

After Professor George's demise, Mrs. George took
up work again at the State Normal School at San
Jose, and soon became the dean of women: and for
twenty years she continued in that eminent and re-
sponsible position, traveling extensively throughout
the world and giving much time to the development
of human geography in the schools of California,
until her resignation in 1919.

She now lives at Carmel Highlands, the center of
a devoted circle in which are both affectionate chil-

dren and grandchildren. Mrs. Huff is the mother of
two children: Elizabeth and Mary; and Charles M.
George is the father of a son, Marquam Charles. Mrs.
George maintains a keen interest in all that is going
on in the world, and she is particularly interested
in the elevation of politics, the promotion of higher
civic standards, marching, as did her highly-esteemed
husband with the Republicans, and never failing to
give her full moral support to all that seems best for
the community or region in which she lives.

M. J. ROCHE. — An enterprising rancher who has
done much for the permanent and healthy devel-
opment of the commonwealth of CaUfornia is M. J.
Roche, the successful farmer and stockman living on
the Alviso Road, one mile north of Santa Clara, on
the historic Donohue estate known as the Laurel-
wood Farm which he leases and operates in sight of
the eminent cross erected by Father Colligen to mark
the spot where the first Santa Clara Mission, founded
in 1777, was located. He was born in County Gal-
way, Ireland, forty-nine years ago, the son of James
Roche, the head steward and manager for Edmund
J. Concannon, a lawyer of distinction and a wealthy
land-owner; and in that capacity, our subject's father
bought hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, and
conditioned and exhibited blooded cattle and sheep
at the principal fairs in Ireland and England. He
married Miss Mary Monroe, and they had eleven
children, among whom the subject of our interesting
story was the eighth in the order of birth.

The lad was sent to the Christian Brothers' school
and then to St. Gerlet's College, in Tuam, and after
that he worked at farming and stock-raising and trav-
eled with his father, and bought live stock and at-
tended many fairs. He may be said to have been
born in the cattle and livestock business, and to have
been in it all his life; so that on coming out to Cali-
fornia, when he was less than fifteen years old, he had
already received the most valuable training. Arriv-
ing in the Golden State, where he was to begin to
earn his own way in the world, Mr. Roche engaged
with the California Powder Company, at Santa Cruz,
and entered the office as a confidential employ of the
company's president, the late Colonel Peyton, at the
same time that he made a modest commencement
in the cattle trade. During fifteen years' employment,
he saved enough money to buy a stock ranch of 1500
acres in Monterey County and stock it; and ever since
that he has been engaged in buying, raising and sell-
ing cattle for beef and dair\- purposes.

In 1904, he came to Santa Clara County and leased
Iiis present place, consisting of about 900 acres, and
in addition he has leased hill land in Santa Clara
County. At present he owns 500 head of cattle; but
at times he has had four times that number, and he
has leased hill and mountain range besides. In or-
der to replenish his herd he has made trips to
Nevada, New Mexico and Mexico and other places, to
purchase cattle which he gathered together in train-
load lots, and he shipped them to his home ranch and
fed and later sold them. Mr. Roche also owns an ex-
cellent farm at Milpitas devoted to a model dairy. He
owns, too, other property in the Santa Clara Valley,
and has prospered well. Many years ago, Mr. Roche
became a citizen of the Linited States, and he belongs
to the St. Clare's Catholic Church at Santa Clara,
and to the Eagles at San Jose.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1169

ERNEST A. FRENCH.— Another wide-awake
and prosperous representative of an interesting pio-
neer family is Ernest A. French, who lives about five
miles north of San Jose, on the Alviso-San Jose
Road. He was born in San Jose, December 23. 1887,
the son of Mortimer D. French and his good wife,
who was Mary Gallagher before her marriage, and
he was the third in a family of eight children. A
more extended mention of the parents and grand-
parents is found in the biography of Alden French,
on another page of this history.

Ernest A. attended the Alviso grammar school
and for three years he pursued the prescribed courses
of the San Jose high school; and then, in his nine-
teenth year, he struck out for himself. He took up
the sheet metal trade in San Jose, and then, going
to Montana, secured a homestead near Galata, but
he stayed there only two years and then gave it up.
He next returned to San Jose and became foreman
on a part of the Gallagher ranch, where he worked
for seven years bringing the estate to its highest de-
velopment. About that time, he purchased six acres
of the old Trinkler Ranch, which he retained for
three years and then sold. This enabled him to buy
twenty acres on the Alviso Road running to San
Jose, and in 1920 he completed a pretty stucco bun-
galow there. He devotes his land to apples, and his
scientific, painstaking culture enables him to produce
the finest variety and quality in enviable crops.

At San Jose, on January 5, 1915, Mr. French was
married to Miss Elizabeth Kerr, the daughter of
well-known California pioneers; and their union has
been blessed with the birth of three attractive child-
ren— Ernest, Virginia, and Walter. Mr. French is
an Odd Fellow, and belongs to Lodge No. 238 of
Santa Clara. He is also a Republican, but his en-
thusiasm for the platforms of that party in their
relation to national politics and problems does not
permit him to assume any narrow, non-partisan at-
titude toward local questions. He is a good booster,
and the success of many movements has been due to
the hearty support of Mr. French and his patriotic
fellow-citizens.

FREEMAN L. HOWES— Many native sons of
California have been content to spend their entire
lives in the Golden State, finding here excellent op-
portunities for advancement, and to this class belongs
Freeman L. Howes, a representative of an old and
honored pioneer family and a leading horticulturist
of Santa Clara County. He was born on the old
homestead, in the Union district of California. Oc-
tober 28, 186S, of the marriage of John and Eliza-
beth (Moyer) Howes, who were the first to settle in
that locality. His education was acquired in the pub-
lic schools there and later he attended the Garden
City Business College at San Jose. When Mr. How-es
was but twelve years of age his father died and on
starting out in life for himself he took up the occupa-
tion of farming. For fifteen years he had charge of
the Lion ranch and then returned to the Union dis-
trict, where he has since resided. He is the owner
of a productive and well-improved tract of sixty-five
acres, upon which he raises prunes and grapes, and
has recently erected an attractive modern home on
his property, which he has converted into one of the
most desirable farms in the district. His ranch is

situated on the Los Gatos and Almaden Road and is
operated along the most modern lines.

Mr. Howes married Miss Clara B. Place, of Los
Gatos, who passed away on June 14, 1921, leaving two
children: Ray L., a resident of Morgan Hill; and
Ruby D. Ray served for four years in the U. S.
Navy and during the World War was assigned to
the battleship Florida. In his political views Mr.
Howes is a Republican and fraternally he is identi-
fied with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
His life has been one of diligence and determination
and his genuine personal worth and activity have
combined to make him one of the representative men
of this section whose careers have been influential
factors in horticultural development.

MATTHEW J. GLENNON.— A man who was
identified with the hotel interests of Santa Clara
County for many years is Matthew J. Glennon, a na-
tive of Ireland, born on June 18, 1858. the son of
Peter and .A.nna (Kelly) Glennon, both natives of
the Emerald Isle, who lived and died there. They
were the parents of eleven children of whom Mat-
thew J. Glennon, our subject, was the sixth child
in the order of birth. He was a student in the schools
of Ireland until he reached the age of fifteen w-hen
he decided to come to the United States. Arriving
in New York City, he spent a number of years in
the hotel business and then came on to Chicago and
accepted a position with the Palmer House. While
there Ferdinand De Lesseps of France and General
Grant were guests at the hotel. Afterwards he was
with the Grand Pacific Hotel until he returned to
New York where he continued in the hotel business
until 1887, when he accepted a position with the
Coronado Beach Hotel at San Diego. Cal. Eight-
een months later he came to San Francisco, re-
maining until 1892, when he spent some time in
Detroit. During the World's Fair he was with
the Auditorium Hotel in Chicago until the fall of
1893, when he came back to California and engaged
in the hotel business in San Jose. He was with
the Vendome Hotel for a year and a half and then
was in the hotel business for nine years in Santa
Clara and also in Agnew, retiring in the year 1908,
a successful man wdio had made good entirely
through his own efforts and now is enjoying the
fruits of his labors.

Mr. Glennon's marriage, united him with Miss
Fanny Ryan, who was a native of Detroit. Mich.
During the World War, he took an active part in
the different war drives, being chairman of his dis-
trict in the Liberty Loan Drives. Prominent in the
Elks, Mr. Glennon is also a member of the Ancient
Order of Hibernians and the Knights of Columbus.
He has ever been prominent in all forward move-
ments for the benefit of the Irish people and was
chairman of the drive to raise money for Irish In-
dependence.

GEORGE H. LE DEIT.— For many years the
Le Deit family has been prominently identified with
the meat business in Santa Clara County and George
H. Le Deit is now at the head of a large enter-
prise of tliis cliaractif. tuiiiL; numbered among the
successful business nun and progressive citizens of
San Jose. He is widely and favorably known in
this city, where he was born in March, 1889, his
parents being Mathurin and Georgietta Le Deit. The
father was a native of France and as a young man

1170

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

he came to California by way of Cape Horn, ar-
riving in San Francisco in 1852, during an early
period in its settlement, spendinpr about twenty years
in various parts of tlie ^tatr. He was a butcher by
trade and dealt extensively in the !)uying and selling
of cattle. In the early 7()s he settled in San Jose
and for a number of years successfully followed his
trade, becoming recognized as an alert and enter-
prising business man. The mother was a native of
San Francisco, Cal.

George H. Le Deit acquired his education in the
grammar schools of his native city and on starting
out in life independently he followed in the footsteps
of his father, taking up the trade of a butcher. Leav-
ing San Jose, he worked in various sections of the
state, finally returning to the city, where for some
time he was employed in butcher shops. Through
industry and economy he accumulated sufficient cap-
ital to enable him to enter business circles independ-
ently and in 1917 he engaged in the wholesale meat
business, taking over the abattoir on Coyote Creek.
He buys his stock in all parts of California, also
going as far as Nevada, and he ships his cattle to
San Jose in carload lots. His average output is 200
beeves a month and most of his meat is purchased
by the markets of San Jose, and he also has a large
output of sheep and lambs. His abattoir is supplied
with the most modern equipment and accessories and
he has every facility for handling his extensive trade.

At San Jose, in June, 1911, Mr. Le Deit was united
in marriage to Miss Ruth Bailey, a native of San
Francisco, who came with her parents, Arthur and
Mary (Lynch) Bailey, to San Jose during her child-
hood and acquired her education in the grammar
schools in this city. Two children have been born
of this union, George and Arthur. Mr. Le Deit is
a Republican in his political views and his coopera-
tion can at all times be counted upon to further any
project for the general good, and all wdio know him
esteem him for his energy, his aggressiveness and
his sterling integrity.

HIRAM COYE HUTTON.— A western man by
birth and training, Hiram Coye Hutton is imbued
with the spirit of western enterprise and progress
that has been the dominant factor in the wonder-
ful development of this section of the great West.
He was born on Market Street, San Francisco, on
the site of the old Baldwin Hotel, March 4, 1860,
and was the son of Henry and Eleanor (Foster)
Hutton, both natives of New York. Henry Hutton
made four trips to California by way of the Isthmus
of Panama, coming first in 1849. He landed in San
Francisco and went to work in the mines where he
spent a short time, then came back to San Francisco
where he engaged in building wharfs for a few years
then was in the wholesale butcher business until he
went on a farm back of Oakland. While there he
drilled an oil well but the well was too small to
make it profitable to continue development. In 1870
he removed to Santa Clara County and purchased
240 acres of land for twenty dollars per acre on the
Quito Road and here he raised grain and hay. be-
ginning in 1873 to plant fruit trees, and in 1886 he
subdivided his place for the children. He passed
away when eighty-four years old, in July, 1896, his
wife surviving him until 1911, when she died at the
age of ninety-four. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hutton
were the parents of a family of seven children: War-

ner has an orchard adjoining our subject's property;
Laura became the wife of Parker Kieth and they
also reside on a part of the old home place; Hiram
C. of this review; Ann, who became Mrs. Finley,
died in 1914; Sarah was Mrs. Coye and died in 1912;
Jacob A. died in 1895; George was accidently killed
when a boy in New York City. Henry Hutton was
at one time under sheriff in New York City.

Hiram Hutton attended the public schools of San
Francisco, Santa Clara, and Saratoga, gaining a good
education. When he began making his own way, he
engaged in ranching and has continued in that line
of work since. His marraige, which occurred in
1883, united him with Miss Flora Brandenburg, a
native of Butte County, Cal., born in 1862, the daugh-
ter of Charles and Sarah (Mullen) Brandenburg.
The father was a native of Bulbrook, Ohio, who died
in 1913, when eighty-three. Mrs. Brandenburg was
born in Clairsville, Ohio, in 1834 and now makes
her home with Mr. and Mrs. Hutton. Mr. and Mrs.
Brandenburg crossed the plains by means of an ox-
tcam train in 1861 and located in Butte County, later
moving to San Francisco and then to Santa Clara
Valley. They first lived on the outskirts of Santa
Clara, then in 1887 they moved to what is now known
as the Brandenburg farm on the Quito road. Mrs.
Hutton received her education at Santa Clara where
she attended the public schools and graduated from
high school and then attended the College of the
Pacific. Her brother, Harry Brandenburg, lives on
the old homstead.

Mr. Hutton's ranch of twenty-eight acres is most-
ly set to prunes, with some apricots. They are the
parents of one daughter, Alfaratta, who, after finish-
ing her education at Stanford University, married
George Schuyler and are living at the old Hutton
home, which joins her father's ranch. They have
two children, Alan and Douglas. About 1897 Mr.
Hutton built a well drilling machine and with a part-
ner, Thos. Springer, engaged in well drilling in this
county, continuing for fourteen years. One season
was spent in Santa Cruz ' County drilling prospect
wells for the Watsonville Oil Company. During
these fourteen years they obtained some splendid
results in securing water and proved to citizens that
good wells for irrigating purposes could be obtained
by deep drilling on the high lands.

Mr. Hutton has many friends and is highly es-
teemed as one of the prominent orchardists of that
section of the county. Politically, he is a Republican.
He is a popular and active member of the Grange
and with his wife and family is a member of the
Congregational Church of Campbell.

FRANK H. O'KEEFE.— Few, indeed, arc they
\iho, fortunate in their birth in the Golden State,
ever leave its borders to choose a residence elsewhere,
as the lure of the land by the sunset sea outweighs all
else. Among the native sons of California who have
spent all their years here and have prospered is Frank
H. O'Keefe, a member of the Walsh-Col Company,
wholesale grocers. Mr. O'Keefe is now retired from
active business life and is now enjoying the fruits of
his year of industry. He was born in Stockton, Cal.,
on November 3, 1861, and was the son of Patrick and
Margaret (Keating) O'Keefe. The father came to
California by way of the Isthmus in 1854 and settled
in San Jose in 1863, where he engaged and prospered
as a rancher. The father passed away in 1896, the

y^^iLy

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1173

motlier surviving him until 1898. Frank O'Keefe
vas educated in the public schools and higli school of
Stockton, and afterwards engaged in farming for a
while. He then became interested in the wholesale
grocery business and later helped to organize tlic
well-known firm of Walsh-Col Company, where he
spent many active years, and he still retains an inter-
est in the business

Mr. O'Keefe's marriage united him with Miss
Mamie Haven, who was born in San Jose at the
Auzcrais House. Her father was a school teacher in
the Milpitas schools in the year 18S9; Mr. and
Mrs. O'Keefe were the parents of three children:
Gertrude. Marjorie and Frances. Mr. 0"Keefe is
very popular and is a member of the Country Club,
which with E. K. Johnson, he helped to organize,
and being a devotee of golf, he spends much of his
leisure time on the links there. He is also a member
of the B. P. O. E. and the Garden City Gun Club and
is a trustee of the San Jose Public Library. He has
a deep interest in all that concerns the development
of Santa Clara County and the city of San Jose, and
can always be counted on to lend a hand.

FRANCIS J. McHENRY.— Not merely the Cah-
tornia hotel world and its thousands of traveling
patrons, but the citizens generally of Santa Clara
and San Luis Obispo counties, will long mourn the
departure of the late Francis J. McHenry, until his
death the popular proprietor of the Montgomery
Hotel. He was born in San Luis Obispo, September
25. 1876, the son of Patrick and Catherine (Coyle)
McHenry, who came to California in the early '60s,
each unknown to the other, and were joined in wed-
lock at the old Santa Barbara Mission. They are
still living, happily retired in comfortable circum-
stances. After completing his schooling in San Luis
Obispo, Francis entered the hotel business, where
he met with success. He was manager successively
of three of the principal hotels of San Luis Obispo
before coming to San Jose, and the Montgomery
Hotel, whose directorship he assumed in 1911. While
a resident of San Luis Obispo he was prominent in
civic work and fraternal life there, being a charter
member of the Y. M. L of that city, as well as a
charter member of the Elks Lodge, of which he was
afterwards exalted ruler. This experience in civic
work and natural aptitude for leadership made Mr.
McHenry a valuable worker for the development of
San Jose when he came here and displayed an in-
terest in civic aflfairs. He early identified himself
with the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, and at
the time of his death was one of the directors in
that institution. As manager of the Hotel Mont-
gomery he was the ideal host, and there was a charm
in his quiet welcome. During the war he took an
active part in all programs and labored energetically
and effectively on some of the most important com-
mittees. As a Rotarian he lived up to the ideals of
service emphasized by that organization, and he gave
of his energy and time in assisting to solve some of
the financial problems of St. Joseph's Church.

In 1902 Mr. McHenry was married at San Fran-
cisco, wdien he took for his bride Miss May Murphy,
a native daughter of that city. Besides his widow,
he left six children — Murphy. William, Katherine,
Francis J., Jr., Elizabeth, and' Patricia. He also left
three sisters and a brother — Mrs. Margaret Brown
and Mrs. Paul S. Roberts of San Luis Obispo, Miss

Kathryn McHenry of the same town, and Patrick
Arthur McHenry of Richmond.

At the time of Mr. McHenry's demise a friend
published the following tribute, well deserving of
permanent form: "It was the night," he said, "of
the first banquet of the San Francisco Hotel Men's
Association, on February 14, 1908, that we first met.
Already the hundred odd guests had been seated
about the long oval-shaped table at the St. Francis.
A bell-boy tapped the writer on the shoulder and
announced that a gentleman at the door wished to
speak to me. Answering the call, I met a squarely-
built, handsome young man of thirty-one. Intro-
ducing himself, he said: 'I am Jim McHenry of
San Luis Obispo, and I have come over two hundred
miles to attend this banquet, so that I could learn
something of hotel keeping. Now that I am here,
I find that you have a lot of politicians as speakers.
What do they know about the hotel business?' Such
orators as George A. Knight. Rabbi Jacob Voor-
sanger, President Benjamin Ide Wheeler of the
University of California, Governor James N. Gillett,
and Gavin McNab, the cream of the after-dinner
speakers of the Pacific Coast, didn't satisfy this 'plain
country hotel keeper,' as he termed himself. Jim
McHenry was thirsting for knowledge about his
business — that of hotel-keeper. The above incident
was characteristic of the man. He was filled with
pride for his profession, and no effort was too great
for his tremendous strength to take up if it only
promised to add to his store of knowledge of that
line. That evening, eventful in many ways, marked
the beginning of a friendship between 'Mac' and the
writer that has never vifavered for a moment since,
and the memory of which will be always pleasant.
No man who ever called Jim McHenry friend ever
had reason to change his mind. McHenry's loyalty
to his friends and his profession, and his deep love
for his family were the traits that marked the man.
Ever generous in his views toward others, he was
always the first to forgive. In his untimely passing
in the very flower of his manhood, the hotel pro-
fession loses one of the grandest of its characters,
and all of us who knew him will forever miss his
genial, warm, loyal comradeship. For no friend
ever called upon him for help or advice who did
not receive more than he had a right to expect. Dur-
ing the two years when Mr. McHenry was president
of the Northern California Hotel Association, he
was tireless in his eflforts to uphold that organiza-
tion. Day and night his mind was busy planning
campaigns which, when completed, should cause its
membership to recall his leadership as one of con-
struction and improvement. There is a saying that
those whom God loves best He calls first. His
passing at the early age of forty-four seems to bear
evidence to its truth."

G. C. STURA.— Coming to California to seek suc-
cess, G. C. Stura is making good as owner and pro-
prietor of an automobile paint shop located at 715
High Street, Palo Alto. He was born in the Province
of Piedmont, Italy, on March 10, 1889, and is the
son of Philip and Santina (Imarisio) Stura. who were
farmers in the Piedmont district, and there his father
passed away.

G. C. Stura attended the public schools of his na-
tive province and at the age of twelve began to make
his own wav in the world and was apprenticed to

1174

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

learn the painter's trade. After completing his ap-
prenticeship he worked at his trade until he was sev-
enteen, then he set out alone for the New World.
Sailing from Havre, France, he landed in New York
City, and arrived at San Francisco August 28, 1906,
settling at Oakland, where he soon found employ-
ment at his trade; later he worked in San Francisco.
In 1910 he removed to Palo Alto and entered the
employ of Luscher & Huber and worked for them
steadily for over eight years. Realizing the neces-
sity of a speaking and writing knowledge of the Eng-
lish language, our subject diligently pursued the
study of the language in the night schools of Oak-
land and San Francisco. Not being satisfied to work
for others all his life, in 1919 he started into business
for himself and purchased his present place of busi-
ness on High Street.

The marriage of Mr. Stura occurred in 1914 and
united him with Miss Louisa Degiorgis, a native of
the same province as her husband. They are the par-
ents of two children, Lucile and Albert. Mr. Stura
is a stalwart supporter of American ideals and can
be counted upon to lend his aid to the support of
progressive measures.

PIERRE C. POURROY.— A man wlio has done
much to aid in the improvement and the building up
of the orcharding interests of Santa Clara County, of
which he has been a resident since January, 1887,
is Pierre C. Pourroy, a native of France, born near
Gap, Hautes Alps, November 11, 1866. His father
was also named Pierre and was a farmer and stock-
man as well as a successful dairyman, who had mar-
ried in early manhood. Miss Celestine Espitillier, and
they had a family of thirteen children, only three of
whom are living at the present time. Besides our
subject, a sister, Pauline, is in France and a brother,
Eloi, who also resides in the Saratoga district. The
father died at sixty years, while the mother was
only forty-eight when she passed away. Pierre was
the oldest son and from a young lad assisted his
father in the grain fields and with the stock. His
schooling was limited to winters, for during the sum-
mers there was plenty of work to do, but he was
studious, so obtained a very good education by read-
ing and self-study. Having determined to try his
luck in California, he left home in 1886, coming
direct to Bakersfield, Cal., arriving in January, 1887.
For three years he was in the employ of a sheep
man. In 1890 he came to Santa Clara County and
the first year he worked for Adrien Bonnet and next
for Narcissus Aubrey, with whom he continued for
four years. He then purchased forty acres five miles
above Saratoga, where he built a residence.

In San Jose, May 30, 1891, Mr. Pourroy was mar-
ried to Mary Aubrey, a native of Saratoga, a daugh-
ter of Narcissus and Rose Aubrey; the father was a
successful vineyardist and here the parents both
died. Mr. Pourroy improved his ranch with trees
and vines and as he prospered, he purchased land
adjoining until he had over 400 acres which he im-
proved, but after he lost his boys he sold 200 acres
to Mr. Dyer, so that he now has 210 acres devoted
to prune orchard, vineyard and hay. Thus by un-
ceasing toil of himself and wife, he has acquired
a competence and now owns a valuable ranch.

To Mr. and Mrs. Pourroy were born an interest-
ing family of ten children, as follows: Pierre enlisted
in the U. S. Army for the World War, but died
while stationed at Phoenix, Ariz.; Marguerite re-

sides in San Francisco; John volunteered in the U. S.
Army for the World War and died of influenza at
Camp Lewis. Louis died in 1916, aged seventeen;
Marie is Mrs. Sylvester of San Francisco; Mrs. Em-
ily Zermuhlen resides in San Francisco; Lucile is
attending the high school of commerce in San Fran-
cisco; Marcel, Medard and Amelia. In accomplish-
ing his success, Mr. Pourroy has been ably assisted
by his estimable wife, who has worked hand in hand
with him to gain their ambition and independence.
They are kindhearted and free in their hospitality
and are highly esteemed by all who know them. Fra-
ternally Mr. Pourroy is an Odd Fellow, being a mem-
ber of San Jose Lodge. He is a member of the
California Prune and Apricot Association.

JAMES N. CRAWFORD.— The enterprising
proprietor of the Gateway Garage at Los Gatos,
James N. Crawford, is a native of Shenandoah, la.,
where he was born on March 15, 1893, the son of
Albert J. and Rebecca E. (McCalmon) Crawford;
the former a farmer in Iowa prior to his coming out
to Montana. At first, the family removed to Mon-
tana, where James attended the public schools; but
in 1914 they left for the Pacific Coast. They located
at San Francisco, and while there James N. Craw-
ford enlisted, in 1914, in the First Battalion of the
Fourth Regiment, Thirty-fourth Company, U. S. Ma-
rine Corps, in which he served for four years. He had
served eight months in the Guard of Honor at the
Panama-Pacific Exposition at San Francisco; then
three months in Mexican waters on board the old
San Diego, then at the San Diego Fair, in 1916,
as Guard of Honor for three months; then to Santo
Domingo, 1916, with his regiment in the expedi-
tionary force to Santo Domingo. When America
entered the World War he was sent to the Porto
Rice wireless station and was in charge of trans-
portation for eighteen months, when he returned
to New Orleans, La., honorably discharged as
corporal, permanent warrant, October 26, 1918. He
also received the button of merit, given only to those
who never had a mark against them. On leaving the
service he came back to San Francisco, and in 1919
he went back to Iowa on a visit and while there his
father sold his Iowa holdings. In the fall of the
same year, Mr. Crawford and his people removed to
Los Gatos, and here Albert Crawford built the Gate-
way Garage, centrally located on Santa Cruz Avenue,
which was opened on July 3, 1920. His father, Albert
J. Crawford, continued his interest in the business
until his death, on April 9, 1921, and then James
Crawford assumed charge as sole proprietor.

The Gateway Garage is a completely equipped re-
pair shop with thoroughly modern machinery. The
equipment alone costing over $5,000, and the whole
establishment calls for an investment of about $20,-
000 and is a place of which Los Gatos may well be
proud. It enjoys a steady patronage and keeps three
first-class mechanics busy attending to the expert
work called for. Mr. Crawford is a member of the
Santa Clara County Auto Trades Association and
his 'is the California State Automobile Association's
official garage. He is also a member of the Los
Gatos Chamber of Commerce and of Ridgely Lodge,
I. O. O. F., Los Gatos.

On November 10, 1919, at San Francisco, Mr.
Crawford was married to Miss Marjorie Pfiefer, and
they have a little daughter, Mildred. Like Mr. Craw-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1179

ford, the family is fond of out-door life — just what
Los Gates in particular stands for; and Mr. Crawford
finds stimulating diversion in politics, he himself
Ueing a stand-pat Republican.

LEONARD P. EDWARDS.— Numbered among
the successful joung men of Santa Clara County is
Leonard P. Edwards, manager of the San Jose Ab-
stract and Title Insurance Company. A native son
of California, he was born in San Jose July 23, 1886,
the youngest son of a family of five children of Thos.

C. and Mary (Haven) Edwards. His maternal grand-
father was James M. Haven, a pioneer of Oakland.
His father, Thos. C. Edwards, who was one of the
founders of the San Jose Abstract and Title Insur-
ance Company in the year of 1891, has been active
in the building up of the business, and is now pres-
ident, making his home in Pacific Grove. Leonard
P. Edwards was educated in the grammar and high
schools of San Jose, later supplementing with one
year at Stanford University. When nineteen years of
age he quit his university course to enter the title
business, and under the tutelage of his father he rose
to his present position in 1912, and since then has
devoted his time to the growing business. His pleas-
ing personality and upright character has won for
him the esteem of all who know him.

The marriage of Mr. Edwards occurred in San
Jose, June 29, 1909, and united him with Miss Clara
E. Donlon, and of this union were born three chil-
dren, Martha Frances. Thomas C, Jr., and William

D. Politically Mr. Edwards is an advocate of the
principles of the Republican party and in fraternal
circles is a Scottish Rite Mason and a member of
Islam Temple, A. A. O., N. M. S., of San Francisco
Locally he is a member of the Chamber of Com-
merce; besides serving in the capacity of manager of
his own company, he is vice-president of the San Jose
Coffee Club and a member of the Rotary Club, also
charter member of the Commercial Club.

DANIEL LINDEN McKEOWN.— Leaving his
native land when he was eighteen years old, Daniel
McKeown came to America with his sister, Lizzie,
in 1873, and for three years he made his home in
New York State. A native of Ulster, Ireland, Mr.
McKeown was born on May 5, 1856, the son of Ed-
ward McKeown, who passed away early in life, leav-
ing a widow, Elizabeth (Linden) McKeown, and nine
children to fight their battles alone. As a conse-
quence Daniel had a very limited opportunity for
schooling, being thrown on his own resources when
he was a lad of eight.

In 1876 Mr. McKeown came to California and
located at Gonzales, Monterey County, wliere he
worked on ranches in that vicinity until 1879. when
he went to farming for himself on rented land near
that town, raising wheat and barley. He met with
good success and from time to time enlarged his
operations, becoming one of Monterey County's pros-
perous stock and grain farmers, continuing there
until 1905, when he came to the Santa Clara Valley.
Here he purchased a valuable tract of twenty acres,
devoted to a vineyard, the marketing of his grapes
having been handled through the California Wine
Association, until he joined the San Martin Wine
Company, Inc., in which he has held membership for
a number of years.

On November 7, 1884, Mr. McKeown was married
tc Miss Annie Curran, who came to California to

wed Mr. McKeown. She was born at Jordan, N. V..
on August 9, 1858, the daughter of Michael and Mar-
garet (Folk) Curran, the father a native of Ireland
and the mother born in England. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Curran arc now deceased. Two children were born
to Mr. and Mrs. McKeown, Edward L. and Lillie
May; the latter died aged three and one-half years.
Edward L. McKeow^n is a graduate in law from Stan-
ford. 1911, and resides at Carson City, Nev , with his
wife and one daughter; the former was in maiden-
hood Donalda Pierre, born in Nevada of French par-
entage; he is well known in educational circles, being
principal of the high school and superintendent of
the schools of Carson City. Now retired from stren-
uous work on his ranch. Mr. McKeown lives in com-
fort at his home on San Martin Avenue, maintaining
an active interest in the current events of the day. A
loyal citizen of his adopted country, he received his
Citizenship papers at Salinas, Monterey County, and
since that time he has been an adherent of the plat-
forms of the Democratic partv.

WARREN GODFREY TOMLINSON.— Promi-
nent both in civic affairs and in the horticultural de-
velopment of Santa Clara County was the late War-
ren Godfrey Tomlinson who died at his residence in
Saratoga, February 8, 1922. He was a native of
Sherwood, Branch County, Mich., born November 1,
1861, a son of A. E. and Harriett (Studly) Tomlin-
son, early settlers of Michigan, the father coming
from England and settling in Branch County in 1837.
The educational advantages of the rural district in
which he was reared were limited, but he attended
school during the few months each year and mean-
time helped his father on the farm. He spent his
youth and young manhood in the state of Michigan,
and shortly after his marriage to Miss Cora E.
Mason moved to Los Gatos in the year 1888. He
did not remain there long, but went to work on the
Wakefield ranch near Saratoga, where he was fore-
man for six years. He then entered the grocery busi-
ness first as a clerk, afterward joining in a partner-
ship with Clarence Gardner under the firm name of
Tomlinson & Gardner. The firm ran a store in
Palo Alto as well as in Saratoga, but the members
subsequently separated, Mr. Gardner taking the Palo
Alto and Mr. Tomlinson the Saratoga business,
which lie sold to Corpstein & Metzger. He then
opened a store at Sunnyvale, retaining his residence
in Saratoga, and later establishing the grocery busi-
ness in Saratoga, from which he retired because of
declining health.

Mrs. Cora Mason Tomlinson died, and in 1904 Mr.
Tomlinson married Mrs. Hattie E. Voyle, daughter
of Lyman McGuire, an old resident of Saratoga. By
his first wife he had four children: Harry A., now
of Mill Valley; Walter L., of San Jose; Milder L.
and Warren Norris, who are both living in Saratoga.
With these children, the present Mrs. Tomlinson's
daughter by her former marriage, Mrs. Ethel M.
Sidensol of San Jose, was brought up, and to her
Mr. Tomlinson was always an affectionate father.
For the greater part of his life in Saratoga he was a
member of the Christian Church, and was also a
member of the Odd Fellows and the Rebekah lodges.

Mr. Tomlinson is greatly missed in Saratoga, where
he had formed many strong friendships. He was a
man of fine presence, of most agreeable manners, of
a kindly disposition and excellent character. It was

1180

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

always a pleasure to meet him because of his un-
failing courtesy, which was that of a true gentleman,
and his own engaging friendliness which aroused a
responsive feeling in others. He was enthusiastic
over the progress that Santa Clara County had made
and devoted much time and energy to the develop-
ment of his particular locality.

GEORGE C. LAWRENCE.— An enterprising
horticulturist who did much toward the development
of the Summit district was the late George C.
Law-rence, a native of Lee County, Iowa, the son of
Joseph Lawrence, who was a veteran of the Civil
War and died from the hardships he experienced in
that struggle. His widow married again and brought
her children to California, locating on a farm in the
Summit district, Santa Clara County; here Mr. Law-
rence grew to manhood, receiving a good education
in the public schools. Aside from farming, he en-
gaged in teaming, hauling lumber and wood from
the mills to the station. He met with success and,
realizing that land is the best investment, he pur-
chased an unimproved ranch on the Summit. About
this time he made a visit back East to see his
mother's people in Missouri, and there he met Miss
Minnie Murray and the acquaintance resulted in
their marriage at Edina, Mo., April 1, 1887. She was
born near Ft. Madison, Iowa, a daughter of Hiram
and Nancy (Martin) Murray, natives, respectively,
of Ohio and Pennsylvania. They were farmers in
Lee County, Iowa, until they removed to Knox
County, Mo., where Mr. Murray purchased and im-
proved a 160-acre farm. The parents died there, the
old farm being now owned by one of the sons. Of
the seven children born of this union, five are still
living, Mrs. Lawrence being the youngest of the
family. She was reared on the home farm near
Edina, Mo., where she had the advantages of excel-
lent public schools. Immediately after his marriage
Mr. Lawrence brought his bride to his home in the
Santa Cruz mountains, while he continued teaming
for a w-hile. He also improved the ranch, buili a
residence and cleared away the trees and brush and
broke the ground. When he had the soil in good
shape he set out a prune orchard and vineyard, and
in time had a nice income. In all this Mr. Lawrence
always gave much of credit for his success to his
noble wife, who from the first entered heartily into
his ambition and gave him every aid within her
power that they might eventually obtain a compe-
tency. However, Mr. Lawrence was not allowed to
enjoy the fruits of his labors, for he was stricken by
death June 5, 1908, at the age of forty-nine. He was
in poor health, so May 1, 1908, with his wife he
made a trip to Missouri to visit his old home, and
while there he passed away on the above date; his
body was interred in Los Gatos Cemetery. His
death was a deep loss to the community w'here he
was so well and favorably known. He served as
school trustee and manifested much interest in the
cause of education. Fraternally he was a member
of the Los Gatos Lodge of Odd Fellows and the
Rebekahs. In politics he was a Republican.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Lawrence
was blessed with two children: Lena, the wife of
Dee Adams, who is a horticulturist and is operating
Mrs. Lawrence's orchards; Roy is also engaged in
orcharding on the Summit. Mrs. Lawrence, after
her husband's death, continued to operate the ranch

with the aid of her son until she rented it to Mr.
Adams. She is a member of the California Prune
and Apricot Association and is an ex-president of
the Summit District Mothers' Club.

ROBERT O. SUMMERS.— A well-trained, widely-
experienced and thoroughly up-to-date general con-
tractor, who has been effective in upbuilding Santa
Clara County, is Robert O. Summers, who was born
in Byron, Ontario, Canada, on October 21, 1871, the
son of Robert and Esther (Sissons) Summers, both
of English descent. The father was a contractor and
builder and, in 1873, he brought his family to Cali-
fornia and settled at San Jose, where he followed the
same business endeavor until he retired in 1908. He
died in September, 1911, honored for his high integ-
rity and his enterprising methods. Mrs. Surnmers is
still living. Of their six children Robert is- the second
oldest, and coming to San Jose in his second year,
this is the scene of his first recollections. After
attending school, he learned the carpenter's trade,
mastering its every detail, and in 1905 he embarked in
his present business of contracting and building, with
offices at 17 North First Street. He has thus been
able to influence public taste, and to add to this city
some of the best specimens of modern architecture.
On April 28, 1897, Mr, Summers was married to
Miss Maude Hyde, an accomplished lady, born at
Marysville, and they have had six children. Robert
died at the age of eight. The others are Esther,
Frances, Jane, Phyllis and Bert. Mr. Summers is a
thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason; he also
belongs to the Independent Order of Foresters, the
Lions, the Chamber of Commerce, and is a charter
member of the Commercial Club of San Jose.

JOHN J. CUTTER.— Prominent in the formative
days of Dakota Territory, where he was a large
landowner and took an active part in its civic and
political life, John J. Cutter brought with him con-
siderable means when he settled in the Mountain
View district, in 1893, where he then bought his home
place. He is the owner of an excellent fruit ranch
of twenty-three acres on the San Francisco High-
way, sixteen and a half acres being given over to
prunes, five acres to apricots, while the balance is
occupied by the residence and barn yards. Ten acres
were in year-old trees when he purchased the place,
and the rest he has planted; he has brought it up to
a high state of cultivation and it has become one of
the valuable properties of that district. Mr. Cutter
was born in McHenry County, 111., December 1,
1850. His parents, Richard and Helen (McLean)
Cutter, were natives of New York, born, respectively,
in Tompkins and Richmond counties, and they came
to Illinois in the early days. The father, who was a
cabinetmaker, maintained a shop on his farm, so that
early in life John J. had much of the responsibilities
of the farm work on his shoulders. The father died
in 1862, leaving the mother with eight children, of
whom our subject was the third; of his three sisters,
one died in infancy.

When sixteen years old, Mr. Cutter set out for
himself, going to Mackinaw, Mich., where he spent
one year among the fishermen. He has obtained a
fairly good education, having attended his home dis-
trict school and also a college at Rockford, 111., so
he next went to Missouri and joined a party of sur-

^.

ij2^_ ksD. C\.OcA^ Tln^c^Jli^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1183

veyors; his brother, Eugene, had already become a
surveyor for the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad,
and was later with the Kansas City, Memphis and
Mobile Railroad. John J. did not continue in this
work very long, however, returning to Illinois and
passing through Chicago the day before the great
fire that laid that place in ruins in October, 1871.
The next spring he went to Sioux City, la., where he
worked for a time in the railroad yards as a brake-
man, and then started further west to Dakota Terri-
tory, expecting to enlist in Custer's cavalry. He was
taken sick, however, and instead he later joined a
party of surveyors. Taking up a homestead of 160
acres and a timber claim of the same amount in
Turner County, Dakota Territory, he proved up on
them, meanwhile being made postmaster at Parker,
in that county, being first appointed by President
Arthur and reappointed by President Harrison. He
served in this office with satisfaction to all the com-
munity and became influential in the local councils
of the Republican party. In 1893 Mr. Cutter came
to Mountain View and purchased his present ranch,
then a grain field, except for ten acres in young trees,
and was joined by his family the following year.

In Sioux City, la., in 1874, Mr. Cutter w-as married
to Miss Laura M. Edminster, the daughter of L. H.
Edminster of Sheldon, la. Mrs. Cutter was born in
Washington, Me., her parents being members of old
down-east families of culture and education. She
came with her parents to Appleton, Wis., when ten
years old, and after attending Appleton College,
taught for some time in both Wisconsin and Iowa.
With her husband she passed through the common
pioneer experience in Dakota Territory, when their
crops suffered from grasshoppers, prairie fires, hail
and blizzards, but she has always been a stanch and
able helpmate. After her husband left for California,
she was retained by the Government to run the post
office at Parker, an office she ably occupied for about
a year, until she joined Mr. Cutter at Mountain View.
Mr. and Mrs. Cutter are the parents of two children,
both born in Dakota Territory; Janet M., is Mrs.
H. W. Reynolds of Fresno, and Lawrence E., is a
professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford Uni-
versity; he married Miss Lottie Deidrich of San Jose
and they have one son, Richard D. Mr. Cutter is a
stanch Republican, as is his wife; he belongs to the
Masons at Mountain View, and both are members of
the Eastern Star there.

WILLIAM W. ANDERSON. — Well known
among the successful ranchers of Santa Clara Coun-
ty, William W. Anderson, who resides at the corner
of Sierra and Piedmont roads, enjoys the distinction
of being one of the representative citizens in his own
native district. He was born at Berryessa on July 4,
1871; and his parents were Phillip and Rebecca (Ca-
hill) Anderson. His father was a native of Aber-
deen, Scotland; and having migrated to Nova Scotia,
he moved westward by way of the Isthmus, traveling
from Amherst, N. S., to San Francisco; while his
mother was a native of Nova Scotia, and the mem-
ber of a family originally haihng from England, and
she also came alone to California by way of the Isth-
mian route. Mrs. Anderson passed away in 1888,
survived for thirty-one years by her devoted hus-
band. They had seven children, Margaret Alice of

Berryessa being the eldest, and our subject the sec-
ond-born. Then came Mabel V., of San Francisco;
Leslie C, who died in March, 1917; Roscoe A., of Los
Angeles; A. Ray, of Berryessa; and Emily Oressa.
Phillip Anderson, who was a blacksmith, came into
Santa Clara County after the short stay of six months
in San Francisco; and at Berryessa he opened a shop
which proved of great service to the community, so
that for years he reared his family from the products
of his smithy labors.

William Anderson attended the Berryessa gram-
mar school and later enjoyed the advantages of the
high school at San Jose, and when nineteen years of
age, he started to work upon ranches for wages. Then
his father purchased a ranch of 252 acres in the hills
some four miles east of Berryessa and along the Ber-
ryessa Road, and this investment led to our subject
associating himself, for many years, with his father
in ranching enterprise. The farm was devoted to
grain and stockraising. and at the present time Mr.
Anderson has from ISO to 200 head of stock there.
For the past three years, Mr. Anderson has been a
member and clerk of the board of trustees of the Ber-
rvessa School, and he belongs to the Alum Rock
Camp No. 724, W. O. W.

On November 27, 1895, Mr. Anderson was married
to Miss Matnie J. Smith, also a native of Berryessa,
and the daughter of Christopher Columbus Smith,
her mother, Sierra Nevada Ogan, being the daughter
of John Martin and Lucy Ann (Harris) Ogan. Mr.
Ogan came to California in 1853, by way of the Salt
Lake Route from Missouri, and settled at the same
location — the corner of Sierra and Piedmont roads.
He purchased 160 acres of an old Spanish grant, and
found himself possessed of rich grain-farm land. Mr.
and Mrs. John M. Ogan had a family of nine chil-
dren, and Mrs. Smith was the youngest. Mary Ann
Ogan, the eldest child, became Mrs. Campbell, and
is now deceased. Pathena Katherine also married,
taking a Mr. Wells for her husband, and is among
the great silent majority. Zella Frances became Mrs.
H. Verser and died. Thomas Dudly Ogan is de-
ceased, and so is Euphemia, the wife of John Shuart.
Higgeason Ogan is dead, and also Elizabeth Jane,
who was Mrs. W. A. Smith. James Robert, the
eighth in the order of birth, is residing at Reedley,
and the youngest, as already stated, is Mrs. C. C.
Smith, Mrs. Anderson's mother. Mrs. Anderson's
grandfather, John Ogan, lived to be eighty years old,
and his wife, Lucy Ann (Harris) Ogan, attained her
sixtieth year. Mrs. C. C. Smith was born in Utah,
en route to California, while the family was coming
across the plains, and was therefore named Sierra
Nevada; she is still living with Mr. Anderson's family,
and with Mr. and Mrs. Anderson belongs to the
Pioneer Society of Santa Clara County. Mr. and
Mrs. C. C. Smith had seven children. Mrs. Anderson
was the eldest; then came Charles T., who is now at
Susanville; and the others are: O. J. Smith, of Ber-
ryessa; Beede, who is Mrs. Nisbet, of Concord, Cal.;
Euphemia, who has become Mrs. A. W. Mathew, of
Fallon, Nev.j Robert R., who resides on Auni Rock
Avenue; and Maud, Mrs. Arnold Gifford, of Berry-
essa. Mrs. Anderson attended the Berryessa school
and grew up familiar with and in sympathy towards
this locality and its enterprising people.

1184

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Following their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson
lived on the Anderson Ranch of 252 acres on the
Sierra Road, in the hills, for about twenty years;
but in 1915 moved down to the old Ogan ranch,
at the corner of the Sierra and Piedmont roads, and
have lived there ever since. They have been favored
with six children. Nevada has become Mrs. C. W.
Haag of Bakersfield; Bessie A. is a graduate
of the County Hospital in San Jose; Warren is at
home; and so are Esther, Zella and Alice. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are Republicans; and they
are "boosters" of the ideal kind, ready to work for
Santa Clara County and California.

T. A. GOODRICK.— Prominent among the live-
liest and most efficient "boosters" that have ever
come to Santa Clara must be rated T. A.
Goodrick, the wide-awake, accommodating and pop-
ular station agent of the Southern Pacific. He has
been very alert in looking to the industrial welfare
of the city, and has heartily joined the citizens as
well as the railroad company's industrial agent in
studying the best interests of the rising municipality.

A native son, Mr. Goodrick was born at Salinas
on November 26, 1891, and in 1913 he was graduated
from the Monterey high school. He then matricu-
lated at the Oakland Polytechnic, and was graduated
from that excellent institution with the class of '15.
His progressive career as a student was such as
might have been expected from a son of J. A. Good-
rick, who was a native of Thorpe Bank, England,
came out to California and married, at Salinas,
Rufina Cantua, the granddaughter of General Castro,
erstwhile Governor of California. Both of Mr. Good-
rick's parents are living; and he has four brothers,
he being the youngest of the family.

Our subject continued at Monterey as cashier for
the Southern Pacific for two years, and then worked
at relieving other agents at various stations along
the line in the Coast division between Los Angeles
and San Francisco. In October, 1919, Mr. Goodrick
came to Santa Clara from Watsonville, and soon as-
sociated himself with the Santa Clara Chamber of
Commerce, in which he became vice-president and
secretary of the industrial committee. A personal
friend of A. K. Frye, the industrial agent of the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, having head-
quarters at San Francisco, Mr. Goodrick was able
to be of special service in inducing the Homer
Knowles Pottery Company to locate at Santa Clara;
and when the corner-stone of the building was laid
with impressive ceremonies on June 9, 1921, he took
an active part in the fitting celebration. On March
8, 1922, Mr. Goodrick was promoted to the responsi-
ble post of freight and traffic agent of the Southern
Pacific Railway at San Jose, this being the most im-
portant freight agency on the Coast division out-
side of San Francisco. He was chosen for his effi-
ciency over competitors many years his senior, a
fact in which he can well take pride.

HON. HUGH STEEL HERSMAN.— A thor-
oughly representative man of Santa Clara County
who has won his recognition entirely on Iiis own
merits is the Hon. Hugh Steel Hergman, former
member of Congress from Santa Clara County. He
was born at Port Deposit, Md., on July 8, 1872, the
son of Rev. William Mathew and Mary Harvey
(Steel) Hersman, well-known orchardists and ranch-

ers of the Coast counties. Reverend Hersman was a
Presbyterian minister and both he and his wife be-
longed to families who had been identified with the
United States of America for more than two cen-
turies, names of both families being found in the
annals of those prominent in public aflfairs Reverend
Hersman and his family came to California from
Maryland in 1880, and upon their arrival here were
so well satisfied with conditions that Mr. Hersman
at once identified himself with the communities where
he lived as a Presbyterian preacher and continued
during his entire life. He later bouglit property, first
in San Luis Obispo County and later in Santa Clara
County, dying on the ranch at San Martin in 1904.
Mrs. Hersman makes her home in San Jose.

Hugh S. Hersman was educated in the Southwest-
ern Presbyterian University of Tennessee, graduating
with the class of '93, and receiving his A. B. degree.
He then did post-graduate work at the University of
Cf-Hfornia, and after finishing his schooling became
identified with business and ranching interests with
his father, and later on his own responsibility. He
always took a decided interest in politics and was
elected a member of the board of supervisors of
Santa Clara County and served for two terms. In
1918 he was the choice of the people to represent his
district in Washington as a member of Congress, and
served one term. Mr. Hersman has important finan-
cial interests and served as president of the First
National Bank of Gilroy, and is now a director of the
Garden City Bank & Trust Company of San Jose,
since the merger of the two banks. With C. C. Lester
he acquired 120 acres of fine orchard property south
of Gilroy, said to be the finest prune orchard in that
section of the county.

As a citizen, Mr. Hersman has endeavored to do
his part to elevate the standards of citizenship under
the banners of the Democratic party and adheres to
the tenets of the Presbyterian Church. He is a public
spirited and popular man, a man of sound judgment
and financial acumen, and has a large circle of friends
in this county and environs.

LEWIS B. EBINGER.— A skilful and progressive
blacksmith is Lewis B. Ebinger, whose shop on Bcr-
ryessa Road, about three miles east of San Jose, has
become the much-frequented headquarters for resi-
dents of that section. He was born on Maple Avenue,
between Seventh and Eighth streets, in Los Angeles,
on June 4, 1888, the son of Louis Ebinger, a native
of Germany, who came to the United States when a
young man. He crossed the great plains as a
veritable '49er, and in time married Miss Minnie
Boshard, a native of Switzerland, He started busi-
ness in Los Angeles in a small way, and eventually
became one of the notable bakers of the Southland.
So successful and important was he that Harris New-
mark, the famous pioneer in the City of the Angels,
pays him a marked and highly complimentary tribute
in his historic autobiography, "Sixty Years in South-
ern California," where he says:

"Hail fellow well met and always in favor with a
large circle, was my Teutonic friend, Lewis Ebinger,
who, after coming to Los Angeles in 1868, turned
clay into bricks. Perhaps this also recalled the days
of his childhood when he made pies of the same
material; but be that as it may, Lewis in the early

^;^^^.^^^

7^^^^^^a-^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1187

seventies made his first venture in the bakery busi-
ness, opening a shop on North Spring Street. In the
bustling boom days when real estate men saw naught
but the sugar-coating, Ebinger, who had moved to
elaborate quarters in a building at the southwest
corner of Spring and Third streets, was dispensing
cream puflfs and other baked delicacies to an en-
thusiastic and unusually large clientele. But since
everybody then had money, or thought that he had,
one such place was not enough to satisfy the raven-
ous speculators; with the result that John Koster
was soon conducting a similar* establishment on
Spring Street near Second, while farther north, on
Spring Street near First, the Vienna Bakery ran both
Lewis and John a merry race." Lewis Ebinger con-
tinued active as a baker until about eight years ago;
and since then he and his wife have been living, re-
tired, in Los Angeles. Six children were born to this
worthy couple: Minnie, is Mrs. Burkhardt of Los
Angeles, and Oscar and Arnold live in the same city;
Lewis B., is the subject of our review; Estella and
Erwin are also residents of the southern metropolis.

Lewis B. Ebinger attended the grammar school of
his locality in Los Angeles, and when thirteen years
of age started to learn the blacksmith trade in a
three-year apprenticeship under his cousin, Fred
Ebinger of that city. Then, for three years, he
worked as a journeyman shoeing horses for the Los
Angeles Jockey Club, and there he continued until
the small tractors began to supplant the horse in agri-
cultural industries. He then went to Sacramento,
where he worked at his trade one and one-half years,
after which he went to San Francisco, where he fol-
lowed his trade for another year until he went back
to Los Angeles, where he was married in 1913. After
his marriage he went to Orange City, where he plied
his trade for three years. Selling out his establish-
ment, he went to Kern County, and at Taft put in a
year and a half in the Southern Pacific Railroad
shops, and being transferred to Maricopa, he contin-
ued there for another year and a half in the employ of
that company. He came to Santa Clara County in
1919, and here he opened a shop for himself near
Berryessa. about three miles from San Jose From
the beginning he gave the community first-class serv-
ice, and he has prospered steadily.

At Los Angeles, on July 15, 1913, Lewis B. Ebinger
and Miss Lucy Harris, a native of Texas, were joined
in matrimony, and they have three children: Erwin,
Lynette and Vivian. The bride's father was a build-
ing contractor, who moved into California when Lucy
was eight years old. He located at Burbank. in the
San Fernando Valley, and there made his home until
he was killed, at Los Angeles, being struck by a
motorcycle. Broadminded in political views and
actions, Mr. Ebinger gives his hearty support to the
best men and the best measures in the locality in
which he lives and prospers.

C. LANFRI— The business standing attained by
C. Lanfri is the result of years of practical experience,
coupled with unfailing perseverance and as president
of the Golden West and National Cleaners, located
at 25-29 South Third Street, San Jose, has won the
esteem and respect of his business associates of the
Garden City. A native of Lucca, Italy, he was born
March 13, 1885, a son of Thomas and Mistica (Bioc-

chi) Lanfri. The father was engaged in the marble
quarries of Italy for a number of years, later passing
away in his native city. The mother still resides in
the country of her nativity. Seven children were born
to them, of whom five are living; two are still resi-
dents of Italy, the other three living in San Jose.
C. Lanfri came to America soon after reaching the
age of twenty-one, settling in San Jose. For eight
months he worked in a macaroni factory. At the end
of this time he entered the employ of Mr. Moody, of
the Parisian Cleaners of San Jose, working for him
three years. Following this the business known as
the Golden West Cleaners was established, witli a
capital of $15,000, in partnership with tli' l..in.luiM
brothers, also employees of Mr. Moody. \i„,i)\ lii,
same time the National Cleaners was e^tal>llsh.Jd l.\
Peter Steffani. In November, 1914, the two compa-
nies consolidated and was incorporated under the
name of the Golden West and National Cleaners,
Mr. Lanfri being president and manager.

The marriage of Mr. Lanfri occurred in 1911, unit-
ing him with Miss Ella Pera, and they are the
parents of three children: Frola, Thomas and Emma.
The family home is at 320 Grant Street, San Jose.
Fraternally, Mr. Lanfri is a member of the Druids.
The success of the business of which he is president
owes much to his business ability, and today ranks
among the first of its kind in the city.

Peter Steffani, a stockholder and the efticient assist-
ant manager of the company, is also a native of Lucca,
Ital}-, born August 20, 1887, a son of Pietro and An-
gelena Steffani, parents of five children, four of whom
are still living. The father was a tradesman in his
native city of Lucca, owning a grocery store. Three
brothers embarked for America at the same time,
arriving in San Francisco in 1901, later coming to
San Jose. During the World War two of his broth-
ers returned to Italy and became soldiers under their
native flag, and there they still reside. After arriv-
ing in San Jose in 1903, Mr. Steffani worked for a
time in the vineyards as a laborer, later entering the
employ of his uncle, Mr. Gussioni, who operated a
macaroni factory, then becoming an employee of Mr.
Moody. With two companions, Mr. Arbor and Mr.
Lee, they established the National Cleaners, and when
this business was consolidated with the Golden West
Cleaners, Mr. Steffani became one of the partners
and fills the position of assistant manager with capa-
bility. His marriage united him with Miss Esta
Bellocci, born and reared in Italy. They are the par-
ents of one child, Geno, and reside at 271 Santa
Teresa Street. Fraternally, Mr. Steffani is a member
of the Druids and of St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

F. Landucci, the capable secretary of the Golden
West and National Cleaners, was born November 17,
1879, in Lucca, Italy, a son of Patrick and Catherine
(Graziana) Landucci. The father was a vegetable
farmer in his native land and passed away when
fifty-three. The mother still lives in Italy and is now
seventy years of age. A daughter, Jenna, also resides
in Italy. Mr. Landucci was married in Italy to Mrs.
Alvira EUenducci, also born and reared in Lucca,
Italy. They are the parents of four children: Viola,
the wife of Dorio Zapelli, a groceryman on Market
Street; they are the parents of three children —
Frankie, Adolpho and Gemaldo; Albert is in the San

1188

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Jose high school; Mario, and Alfred. The family
belongs to St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Fraternally,
Mr. Landucci is a member of the Druids and For-
esters. In 1907 a home was built at 831 State Street
in San Jose, and here the family reside. He has the
oversight of all the dyeing work of the firm.

Hugo Landucci is a stockholder and superintends
the pressing department. He was born in Lucca,
Italy, March 29, 1878, coming to San Jose in 1901.
After arriving in San Jose, he was employed by Mr.
Moody and worked for him for six years, becoming
proficient in his chosen line of work. His marriage,
in Italy, united him with Miss Caroline Branchini,
also born in Lucca. They are the parents of five
children: Pete, Joe, Garibaldi, Frank and Anita. In
1914 the family residence was erected at 131 Vir-
ginia Street in San Jose. Mr. Landucci is a member
of the Foresters, and has taken out his first papers for
American citizenship.

ADRIEN BONNET.— A pioneer who has lived
in Santa Clara County for fifty-five years, Adrien
Bonnet was born near Gap, Hautes-Alps, France",
December 22, 140, where his father, Pierre Bonnet,
was a large farmer. His mother was named Frances
Tex, and both died in their native place. Adrien
was the third youngest of their twelve children and
the only one now living, being educated in private
schools until eighteen years of age, when he went
to Algeria, Africa, and spent eighteen months, when
he returned. His father had died during his ab-
sence and he leased the home place and operated it
until 1867, when he decided to come to San Fran-
cisco, Cal. After three months he located at Alviso,
then a flourishing town, being an important shipping
point. He worked on farms and in vineyards for
three years, and then spent a year in San Jose, after
which he came to Saratoga and leased Wildwood
Park from Mrs. Springer, which he farmed for four
years. When he first came to Saratoga it was a
lively town and then named McCartysville, with a
paper mill owned by King Bros. & Pfister, and a
flour mill run by Senator McClay, and with the
mills in the mountains there was much teaming and
travel. The name was later changed to Saratoga.
At the termination of his lease on Wildwood Park,
Mr. Bonnet purchased land in the mountains above
Saratoga, which he cleared and planted to orchard
and vineyard, and in time came to own 600 acres
three miles above Saratoga on the Summit or Turn-
pike road. In clearing the land he cut wood, which
was sold in the valley, and he got out over 7000
cords of wood. After selling this ranch he pur-
chased a small place of twenty-three acres on the
Saratoga road, which he also cleared and set to vine-
yard and orchard. This, too, he in time sold, and he
now makes his home in Saratoga.

Mr. Bonnet was twice married, first to Mary
Corpstein, a native daughter, who died many years
ago, leaving four children, two of whom are living,
Louis J., on an orchard at Azule Springs, and John,
of Coalinga. Mr. Bonnet's second marriage occurred
in Saratoga August 1, 1901, when he was united with
Caroline Nusebaum, who was born in Neufchatel,
Switzerland, a daughter of August and Emile (Hut-
ter) Nusebaum and the third oldest of their six
children. Coming to California twenty-three years
ago on a visit, she met Mr. Bonnet and the acquaint-

ance resulted in their marriage. Mrs. Bonnet is in-
terested in Red Cross work and is a member of the
Ladies' Aid of the Methodist Church. Mr. Bonnet
naturally takes great pride in the growth of the
Santa Clara Valley, having seen it improved from
wild range land to a garden spot of orchards and
vineyard'^, in the transformation of which he has
well performed his part.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF LOS ALTOS.—
The history of the finance and the financial insti-
tutions of a community are an index to its growth
and development as a whole, and the First National
Bank of Los Altos, whose doors were opened for
business on December 1, 1919, has been manifestly
successful since its establishment. Organized with
a capital of $25,000, its volume of business has grown
from its inception to a marked degree; its resources
arc $200,000, with deposits amounting to $150,000.
R. M. Tooker was the first president of the insti-
tution and W. T. Clements its first cashier, and
M. O. Adams, vice-president. Its board of directors
consists of the following well-known citizens: Paul
Shoup, Frank J. Costello, R. M. Tooker, M. O.
Adams, S. F. Oliver, George N. Herbert, W. T.
Clements, and Guy Shoup, attorney for the bank.

W. T. Clements, cashier of the bank, has dis-
played a wide knowledge of the banking business
in his important position. He is a native of Kansas
City, Mo., and in 1919, having disposed of a bank
in his native state, removed to California. Much
of the credit of this splendid bank is due to the
untiring energy, ability and boosting spirit of Mr.
Clements, who keeps in close touch with the money,
bond and stock markets of the country; he is the
adviser of many in this section as regards financial
matters, and is a consistent, constructive upbuilder
who believes strongly in the present and future of
Los Altos and the richly productive agricultural
and development sections for which Los Altos is
the financial center. The officers and directors of
this institution are among the most widely known
and able men of this section of the State of Califor-
nia, successful leaders who have achieved results,
inen who have the confidence of the bank's de-
positors and of the people of this rapidly growing
community. The First National Bank of Los Altos
owns its own buildings, and Los Altos is proud of
her First National Bank; and the bank looks proudly
toward the city of Los Altos of tomorrow.

HENRY C. STAU.— Coming to the Santa Clara
Valley nearly forty years ago, Henry C. Stau is now
one of the old residents of the San Martin district,
where he owns a fine ranch of thirty acres on Center
Avenue. He is a native of Denmark and was born
on December 23, 1868, and reared by his uncle.
Charles Kromlin, now of San Mateo County, and
in 1881 accompanied this uncle to this country. In
1885 our subject entered the employ of Miller &
Lux, the pioneer grain and stock raisers of Central
California, and for several years was engaged on
their ranches at Bloomfield and Soap Lake, and he
also conducted a freighting train over Pacheco Pass
to Los Banos and as far south in the San Joaquin
Valley as the Button Willow ranch.

In the early '90s Mr. Stau entered the employ of
William Hersman and for ten years was employed
on his ranch on Foothill Road, San Martin. At the
same time he acquired six acres of choice ranch

'^^2// 2.^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1191

land near by and began to put it under cultivation.
From time to time he added to it and he now has
a fine home place of thirty acres, a valuable piece
of property which has been developed under his
capable care and supervision. In addition to this
Mr. Stau conducted the San Martin rural route from
its establishment, being in the United States mail serv-
ice for eleven and a half years, retiring in 1916.

At Gilroy, Cal., Mr. Stau was married to Miss
Olive R. Mathus, the daughter of Mrs. A. L. Mathus,
who now resides at Morgan Hill. Four children
have been born to them: Lena H. married E. S.
Mundy, they have one son and reside at San Jose;
Clarence served during the World War in the U. S.
Navy, being on board a submarine chaser on the
Pacific Coast; Mildred is deceased; Elbert was in
the Aviation Corps during the war, stationed at
Ellington Field. Texas. He is married and resides
at San Jose; all the children were born and reared
at San Martin. Mr. Stau became a citizen of the
United States in 1890, and he is a true patriot of
his adopted country, politically giving his preference
to the Republican party. He is a trustee of the
Presbyterian Church at San Martin and for twelve
years was treasurer, but resigned this oflfice in 1917,
and for six years was a trustee of this school district.

W. T. CLEMENTS.— One of the leading bankers
of Santa Clara County is W. T. Clements, the able
and efficient cashier of the First National Bank
of Los Altos. He was born in Piatt County, Mo.,
September IS, 1867, a son of John R. and Eliza
Jane (Moore) Clements, both natives of Kentucky,
the father a successful farmer and stockman who
enlisted in the Union army from Missouri and
served for the duration of the Civil War. Mr. and
Mrs. Clements are the parents of nine children, eight
boys and one girl, and W. T. Clements is the only
one in California.

W. T. Clements began his education in the public
schools of Missouri and then entered the William
Jewell College at Liberty, Mo., taking a four year
classical course and was graduated with the degree
of A. B. in 1891; then he entered the University of
Missouri at Columbia and in 1896 was graduated
with the degree of L.L. B. After leaving school
he entered politics and was appointed postmaster
by President McKinley at Platte City, Mo., and
served throughout his administration and that of
Roosevelt, Taft and a part of the Wilson adminis-
tration; he then removed to Raytown, a suburb of
Kansas City, and purchased a controlling interest
and took charge of the Raytown Bank in 1915. He
remained there until 1919 when he sold his interest
in the bank and removed to California; he traveled
from place to place throughout California and de-
cided to settle in Los Altos. At the earnest solici-
tation of Mr. Paul Shoup, the prominent railroad
man, the First National Bank of Los Altos was or-
ganized with a capital of $25,000, with a surplus of
SS.OOO; a building was obtained and converted into
a modern banking house and the doors were thrown
open ready for business on December 1, 1919.

Mr. Clements' marriage united him with Miss
Laura M. Valliant, a native of Kansas City, Mo., and
was educated at the Gaylord Institute in Platte City,
Mo.; then went to Bishop Robertson Hall, an Epis-
copal school in St. Louis, and is a graduate of that
mstitution. Mr. and Mrs. Clements are the parents

of one child, Louise Elizabeth, now Mrs. S. C.
Garrett. Mr. Garrett is now assistant cashier of
the First National Bank of Los Altos and as such
is associated very closely in a business way with
Mr. Clements. Politically Mr. Clements is a Re-
publican; and fraternally is a Mason, a member of
Platte City Lodge. Since the organization of the
First National Bank of Los Altos, Mr. Clements
has been the efficient and popular cashier, and he
can always be counted upon to give of his best for
the advancement of the locality he has chosen for
his permanent home.

ALBERT T. DE FOREST.— A remarkable man,
qualified, through native ability, special training and
exceptionally fortunate business and social connec-
tions, to handle enterprises and responsibilities of the
first magnitude, is Albert T. De Forest, who resides
at 950 University Avenue, Palo Alto. He was born
in Cleveland, on June 4, 1863, and in that city grew
up and was active in business circles until 1903.
Owing to his father's early death, he passed through
a boyhood and youth darkened through many hard-
ships, and received at best only a partial high school
training. There were three children in the family,
but he was the only one that lived to maturity.
His father was Lewis Germain De Forest, and he was
also a native of Cleveland. The grandfather, Tracy
Robinson De Forest, was a native of New York State,
and came to Cleveland in 1832, where he was a United
States steamboat inspector for several years. Lewis G.
De Forest was a dealer in jewelry at Cleveland. He
married Teressa Suydam, who was born and married
in Cleveland, and she lived to be seventy-six years
old, and passed peacefully away in May, 1919, at the
home of her son in Palo Alto, beloved and respected
by all who knew her.

At the early age of fifteen, Albert De Forest went
to work to earn a living in the steel and wire mills in
Cleveland, and in time became secretary of the H. P.
Nail Company, makers of wire nails, which concern
later became part of the American Steel and Wire
Company of Cleveland, when Mr. De Forest was dis-
trict manager for the Cleveland district. At Cleve-
land, in 1888, Mr. De Forest was married to Miss
Lcttie West, a daughter of Henry B. West, well
known hotel man of Cleveland and Put-in-Bay Island,
ond in 1903, with his wife and daughter, and his
mother, he came out to San Francisco to take
charge of the sales of the subsidiary companies of the
U. S. Steel Corporation. The next year, 1904, he
came to Palo Alto and became interested in the build-
ing of the Peninsular Railway from Palo Alto to
Alum Rock Park, an electric line, now a part of the
Southern Pacific Railroad System. John F. Parkin-
son was the main projector of this road, but Mr. De
Forest acquired an active interest. Now' he has an
office in the Rialto Building in San Francisco, and
being associated with the U. S. Steel Products Com-
pany, he has charge of their sales for the states of
Nevada, Arizona, Oregon. California. Washington
and Northern Idaho. In 1907, he built for himself
an elegant residence, and he owns a valuable ranch
property south of Mayfield, which he manages as a
dairy and fruit farm, taking a live interest, as a true
country gentleman, in the details of its operation.
Mr. De Forest is a member of the Blue Lodge

1192

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Masons, the Chapter in Palo Alto, and the Com-
mandery, and to the Council and the Scottish Rites
bodies at San Francisco. He was chairman of the
Salvage Bureau of the Red Cross during the late
war, and his jurisdiction included the entire state.

ARTHUR H. WASHBURN, A. B.— A man of

letters who left a deep impress on educational circles
in San Jose was the late Arthur H. Washburn, a
native of New York, born at Fredonia, in 1856.
In his youth he came with his widowed mother and
her family to San Jose, where had lived since pioneer
days his uncles, the late E. P. and Elliott Reed. His
father was a physician and surgeon of high repute.
who gave his life for his country during the Civil
War. A year and a half and more Arthur Washburn
spent as a deep-sea sailor, twice doubling Cape
Horn and seeing much of the world. Returning to
San Jose he attended for a time the Normal School,
and then entered the Polytechnic Institute of Wor-
cester, Mass., where he graduated with distinction as
a mechanical engineer. Following his profession for
a time, he came back to San Jose, where he made his
home and engaged in business for some years. In
1888 he married Miss Jessica Thompson of San Jose,
who survives him, together with two sons, Henry
and Lowell, and a sister. Miss Lucy M. W^ashburn.
Their marriage occurred in San Jose, January 22,
1889. Mrs. Washburn was born in Lacon, 111., a
daughter of Samuel and Emeline (Hubbard) Thomp-
son, born respectively in Maine and Connecticut, the
Thompson family being an old and prominent family
of Parsonsfield, Maine. Mrs. Washburn attended
the San Jose State Normal and the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor, after which she was head
of the English department at the San Jose State
Normal for six years. Then entering Stanford Uni-
versity she was graduated with the first class in 1892
with the A. B. degree. Mr. Washburn also took a
degree from Stanford.

In 1894 Mr. and Mrs. Washburn established the
Washburn School, which quickly proved to be a high-
ly successful and useful institution. During the
eighteen years it was under their control a large
number of young people were fitted for Stanford and
the university at Berkeley, and another large number
were trained for active life. The ill health of Mr.
Washburn compelled their retirement from this
work and they settled on their fruit ranch near the
foothills east of San Jose. Two or three years ago,
in hope of getting relief from asthma, they pur-
chased a lovely home in Los Gatos, but he passed
away in April. 1921. He was a very modest, unob-
trusive man, without any craving for publicity, thor-
oughly honest and honorable in all the relations of
life, deeply .devoted to his family, a faithful and affec-
tionate friend, a good and public spirited citizen, an
humble and consistent Christian. His moral ideals
were high, and these he sought to realize in
conduct. All the memories and influences he
leaves are pure, wholesome and uplifting. For many
years he was a communicant in the First Presbyter-
ian Church of San Jose, and up till his removal to
Los Gatos, he was a highly respected and influential
office-bearer in that congregation. The memory of
this modest, quiet, faithful and affectionate man will

be long and tenderly cherished by great numbers of
those who survive him. His life was a testimony to
the enduring value of simple goodness.

THOMAS J. WOODWORTH.— A leading busi-
ness man of Los .'Mtos is found in Thomas J. Wood-
worth, who carries a full line of wood, coal, hay,
grain, roofing cement, lime. etc. He is a native of
Kansas and was born near Walnut on March 24,
1874, the son of E. R. Woodworth, a native of Han-
cock County, 111. The father walked across the
plains in 1855 and entered the mines at Placerville;
later he bought a ranch near Marysville, then re-
turned via Panama to New York City, then to Il-
linois where he was married to Miss Helen Glas-
gow. The young people moved to Kansas and were
among the early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Wood-
worth were the parents of five children, Thomas J.
being the oldest and only one in California. The
father passed away in Kansas in 1920, at the age
of eighty-four years, while the mother still lives
there. Thomas J. grew up on his father's 200-acre
stock farm and was educated in the public schools
of Walnut, Kans., and was graduated from the high
school of Walnut in 1896; then went to the State
Normal school at Emporia, Kans.. for one year; and
the next year entered the Agricultural College at
Manhattan, Kans. Upon finishing school he entered
into partnership with his father and they farmed,
raised stock, bought and shipped cattle and hogs
to the Kansas City markets. In the spring of 1906
the stock was sold and his father retired to live in
Walnut, Kans., and Thomas J. came west and set-
tled at Stratford, Kings County. He was a time-
keeper for the California Door Company for one
season and in 1907 bought fifty-five acres of the
Empire ranch and within a few years made a first
class dairy farm out of it. He now leases it as a
dairy farm. In May, 1920, he removed to Los Altos
and finding the business he now owns for sale, he
purchased it from S. McCormick, and also purchased
Mr. McCormick's residence on First Street.

In 1908 Mr. Woodworth returned to Kansas and
at Walnut was married to Miss Edna Balla, born
at that place, a daughter of John Balla, a pioneer
of Kansas and a Civil War veteran. While resid-
ing in Kings County, Mr. Woodworth served as
director of the Chamber of Commerce; and was also
the clerk of the school board; Mrs. Woodworth
also served a term as clerk of the school board.
They are the parents of two children, Jane, and
Edwin B. Mr. Woodworth and his family are at-
tendants of the Union Church of Los Altos.

C. E. BERRY.— Perhaps the earliest settler of Los
Altos is C. E. Berry, who came there before the
railroad was built, when it was a part of a cattle
range. He was born in Alaine on June 16, 1864, the
son of David R. and Ann R. (Knapp) Berry, both
natives of Maine. The father first came to Califor-
nia in early days with his brother-in-law, Charles
Knapp, a well-known and prominent citizen of Santa
Cruz, and in 1876 Mr. Berry brought his family
to California. The Knapp family were among the
earliest settlers at Massachusetts Bay Colony and
were of Scotch-English ancestry, and on both sides
were pre-Revolutionary stock. Several families from
Maine came to California with the Berrys and settled
at Watsonville, Santa Cruz County. Until he- was
twelve years old, C. E. Berry lived most of the time

(Aa" {yk^OLAT- Cv-oucit^^t^^^u^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1195

with an aunt in Boston, Mass., and went to school
there; when his family removed to California, he at-
tended the schools at Watsonville. He remained at
home and helped on the ranch until he was twenty;
the family removed to San Jose about 1896.

Mr. Berry was married in San Jose to Miss Eva-
line Blois, a daughter of James Blois and a sister of
J. B. Blois of Palo Alto, whose sketch appears else-
where in this volume. Soon after settling in San
Jose he engaged in building fruit cars for the rail-
road; then for six years he was with the Van Dorn
Ice & Cold Storage Company five years with H.
Hart & Company in the ice Ijusiness in San Jose;
meantime he had purchased a fifteen-acre ranch near
Los Altos, a portion of the Taaffe ranch, and im-
mediately took up the task of planting it to fruit;
he also engaged in planting orchards for others. He
then started in the livery business and built a fine
barn, which he now uses for his transfer business.
When autos and trucks replaced horses, his barn
was changed to a commercial garage; he carries pas-
sengers and freight throughout the northern part of
California. For eight years he was deputy sheriff
under Mr. Langford. Mr. and Mrs. Berry are the
parents of two children; C. Austin, married Miss
Grace Reid, resides in Palo Alto and works for
Los Altos Grocery Company; Homer G. is with the
Stanford Laundry Company at Palo Alto. He mar-
ried Miss Genevieve Meeker and resides at May-
field, and has one child, Beatrice Betty Berry. Mr.
Berry is a Republican in his politics and he and his
family are highly respected citizens of Los Altos.

THOMAS J. BURROWS.— Located on the mag-
nificent Toyon Farm on the IMoody Road east of Los
Altos, Thomas J. Burrows is a thoroughly experi-
enced farmer and horticulturist, a hard worker and
a good manager, and enters heartily into his work
of tilling, planting and beautifying the great Toyon
Farm, owned by Horace L. Hill, Jr., of Los Altos.
He was born in Surrey, England, November 2, 1883,
where he grew up, enjoying common school advan-
tages. On January 4, 1909, he was married to Miss
Esther Elizabeth Devcnish, who was born and reared
in London. Mr. Burrows desiring to better his con-
dition emigrated to the United States, arriving the
latter part of 1909, and first settled in New Jersey
where he found work on a farm, also was employed
in a nursery for a time. He worked in various
nurseries throughout the East, and in March, 1912,
was joined by his wife in Connecticut, where he was
then employed. Desiring to see the Pacific Coast,
he, with his family, came to California that same
year. They went to San Mateo County where he
worked in the McRorie and McClarins nurseries at
San Mateo. While residing there their three children
were born, Esther Dorothy, Douglas Malcomb and
Margery Alice. By careful and industrious work he
rose to be foreman and was occupied in tlie capacity
until 1921, when he came to the Toyon Farm. He
has charge of all the agricultural and horticultural
work on said ranch, which is one of the most beauti-
ful farms- in all California, its owner spending money
freely to make it beautiful and productive. It is
situated in the Los Altos hills and is a natural beauty
spot, enhanced by expert landscape work and culti-
vation. Mr. Burrows has already set out two acres
of the celebrated Renaree raspberries, which are a
favorite in this section of the county. Though an

SI

Englishman by birth, Mr. Burrows enters heartily
into the affairs of the United States, being a natural-
ized American citizen and a stanch Republican.

JOHN SCHULZ.— Coming to San Martin October
24, 1901, John Schulz located on South Street in a
beautiful grove of live oaks, the land, however, being
uncultivated, so that he had a long, hard task to bring
it to its present state of development. He set out
twenty-six acres to a vineyard in 1902, it being one of
the first in this section, and after it came into bear-
ing the California Wine Association contracted with
him for its yield for ten years. In the early days the
grapes brought only eighteen dollars a ton, and in
1921 the price was $140 per ton. Mr. Schulz also
farmed part of his ranch to hay and grain, and on
ten acres he has harvested as high as thirty-seven and
a half tons, an excellent yield. He has added to his
holdings until he now owns ninety-two and a half
acres of choice land near San Martin.

Mr. Schulz was born near Kiel, Germany, the scene
of the famous naval parade in pre-war days, May 16,
1842, being the date of his birth. His parents were
Henry and Catherine (Reese) Schulz, both native of
Kiel and farmers of that vicinity, while the father was
a bridge contractor as well; as the eldest son of their
large family, John received a fine education and
started out for himself early in life. He became
prominent in political life and for twelve years served
as a government jurist in his district. Bordesholm
was the county seat of his district. In 1867 there was
a severe strain on the small land holder because the
large holder of land had so many more votes accord-
ing to his acres and he could defeat measures that
gave the small farmer equal rights, and those who had
nothing could not vote at all. Mr. Schulz took up the
fight for equal rights for all and carried it to head-
quarters of the government and eventually won out.

When the German government officials noted that
this particular district wanted to be free from this
levy tax that was voted by the rich men, it was
granted and the same opportunity was then given
the whole country to take advantage of it, but not
another province took it up. Thirty-seven years
later those who rejected that first offer came to see
what advantages were to be gained and made applica-
tion, but did not get it. On November 1, 1886, Mr.
Schulz married Miss Christina Hansen, born on
the Isle of Fohr on August 22, 1864, the daughter of
George and Flora (Martin) Hansen, and she was
reared and educated on her native isle. Soon after
their marriage they came to America, and journeyed
on to Davenport, Iowa, to visit Mr. Schulz's uncle,
■ Detlef Schlofeldt. Later they located at Pomeroy,
Garfield County, Wash., where they developed a farm
from the virgin soil and remained for fifteen years,
coming from there to San Martin in 190L which has
since been their home. They have assisted in the de-
velopment of this section whenever called upon, having
backed every movement for progress.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Schulz:
Carl is a newspaper man in San Francisco; Kurt W.
is a rancher at San Martin; Elfreda is the wife of
J. A. Swanson and they reside at San Francisco; Her-
bert married Miss Elizabeth McFee and they live at
Berkeley; Vigo married Miss Verdie Bradshaw and
they make their home at Stockton, and Bruno lives
in Stockton. Walter, the fourth child, died at ten

1196

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

years of age. All five sons of Mr. Schulz gave their
services to their country during the World War,
Vigo and Kurt going overseas, a family to be proud
of, and he also had a long military record before
coming to this country, serving in 1857, 1864, 1866
and 1870 in his native land. His brother, Johan
Schulz, came to this country many years before him,
and fell at the siege of Vicksburg in 1864, during the
Civil War. While living at Pomeroy Wash., Mr.
Schulz received his final citizenship papers, and since
then he has performed his patriotic civic duties under
the leadership of the Republican party. He was one
ot the organizers of the San Martin Company tnat
built the winery at San Martin.

VICTOR STANQUIST.— Having made a success
as a cement contractor and builder in San Francisco,
and having acquired a suificient amount of money,
Victor Stanquist is making a decided success of the
orchard business and is using the same thorough-
ness and faithfulness in this line that he did in the
other lines of work. He was born at Wisby, Got-
land, Sweden, July 25, 1868, the son of Lars Nich-
olas and Maria Christina (Jungman) Stanquist. The
father was a ship's carpenter, while the paternal
grandfather was a well-known locksmith, machinist
and blacksmith in Sweden.

Victor began his schooling in the common schools
of Sweden; then studied navigation, and passing all
required examinations successfully was duly licen-
sed as a navigator. He sailed for several years on
Swedish, American and English ships and visited
France, England, Italy, Spain, South America and
North America ports. At the end of seven years he
removed to America and settled in Illinois and
sailed the Great. Lakes for one year. He was quarter-
master on the first "whaleback" freight boat on the
Great Lakes; and made Chicago his headquarters.
In 1890 he married Miss Hanna Christine Peterson,
born at Slite, Sweden. While living in Chicago, he
worked in a hardware store and thus had his first
business experience. He removed to California in
1893 and settled in Alameda, where his brother Ed-
ward lived. Mr. Stanquist bought a home in Ala-
meda and resided there until 1901. While resid-
ing in Alameda he worked for Gray Brothers, gen-
eral contractors in cement work, until 1898, when
he started in business for himself; two years later
he went to Nome, Alaska, but only made expenses;
returning to San Francisco he again opened a ce-
ment contracting business. While he met with many
discouragements, he won his way to the front, hav-
ing 100 men and seven teams on his payroll. He
constructed the first large reinforced concrete busi-
ness block in San Francisco after the fire, namely
the Flannery Building; he also put in the founda-
tion of the Lincoln building; St. Ignatius Church;
St. Paul's and St. Peter's, and also built several
large concrete garages.

During 1908 Mr. and Mrs. Stanquist made a trip
to Sweden to visit their old homes. Her parents
are still living, but his have now passed away. In
1904 Mr. Stanquist became a member of the Golden
Gate Lodge No. 30, F. & A. M., of San Francisco
and is a member of the Islam Temple, A. A. O. N.
M. S. of San Francisco. He is a charter member
of the Swedish-American Balder Lodge. Mr. and

Mrs. Stanquist reside on their ranch of thirteen acres
known as the "Lone Oak" ranch on Dale Avenue one
mile southeast of Mountain View, which is devoted
to apricots, cherries and peaches. In 1922 Mr. Stan-
quist helped organize the Growers Ice and Pre-Cool-
ing Plant at Mountain View. This organization has
just completed a $60,000 plant at Mountain View,
and is the best thing for the growers of the vicinity
that has ever been started.

ALDEN E. BRADFORD.— A direct descendant
of one of New England's finest old families, A. E.
Bradford traces his ancestry back to Governor Brad-
ford of Massachusetts, whose name is indelibly linked
with the history of Colonial days. His parents were
Levi and Francene Malindy (Gill) Bradford, the
latter a native of New York. Levi Bradford was
born in the historic old town of Plymouth, Mass.,
and was given an education in the best schools of
his time. Like many of the family, his inclinations
were toward the professional life, and he practiced
law in New York, moving to Kenosha County, Wis.
He practiced at Perris and was admitted to the bar
in 1872. He passed away in 1880 at the age of
sixty-six in St. Croix County, Wis., and his wife
died there aged eighty-six.

A. E. Bradford was born at Homer, Cortland
County, N. Y., January 1, 1853, and in 1854 the
family removed from there to Kenosha County, Wis.
In 1860 they went to Northern Wisconsin, locating in
St. Croix County, and there A. E. was reared and
educated, the youngest son of a family of four
sons and four daughters, and he with his sisters
are the members of the family now surviving. When
a lad of sixteen he was thrown on his own resources,
and he went to work in the lumber camps of North-
ern Wisconsin, being employed there in the winter
and on the rivers in the summer time. In 1894 he
took up the work of building contractor and has fol-
lowed this business ever since. Seeking a milder
climate he came with his family to Morgan Hill.
Cal., on December 4, 1906, and here he purchased
ten acres of bare land on San Pedro Avenue. This
he has developed into a nice orchard of French
prunes and peaches, and it is well repaying his efforts.
In the meantime he has continued his work as a
contractor, and he has found plenty to do in his line
in the new district of Morgan Hill.

In 1889 Mr. Bradford was married to Miss Jose-
phine Cheal, who was born and reared in Wisconsin,
and they are the parents of two children, Josephine
lone, residing at home and Mary Caecil, widow of
Guy Barrett, and the mother of two children — Har-
ry B. and Alden B. Mr. Barrett had a record to be
proud of during the late war, serving as a machine
gunner from March, 1918, to July, 1919. He passed
through many perilous times, three men being killed
at his side while in action. He died on May 1,
1922, from the effects of being gassed while in action.
Mr. Bradford is a stanch Republican and a strong
admirer of Roosevelt. He has for years been a
member of the Odd Fellows, being a past officer,
and as early as 1878 was a delegate to the Grand
Lodge. His favorite recreation is trapping and hunt-
ing, and these sports he indulges in today the same
as when a boy on the rivers of Wisconsin.

^^. *%..^ oAn^niL

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1199

FRANKLIN M. FARWELL.— A man of high
standing who had much to do with shaping the civic
affairs of Saratoga and did much to improve and
build up Santa Clara County, was the late Franklin
M. Farwell who was born in Morrisville, N. Y.,
August 8, 1834. His father, John W. Farwell, was
born in Mansfield, Conn., November 14, 1809, and
when a young man removed to Madison County,
N. Y., where he married Nancy M. Morris. John
W. Farwell was a well-educated man, was a fine
penman and taught penmanship. He served as
county clerk of Madison County. N. Y. Later he
moved his family to Brooklyn, N. Y., while he was
associated in business with Kinnear & Company. In
1849, leaving his family comfortably domiciled in
Brooklyn, he came via Panama to San Francisco,
where he engaged in business. In 1852 his wife and
four children joined him; having made the journey
via the Isthmus, they arrived in San Francisco De-
cember 31 of that year. In 1856 he located with his
family at Saratoga on 160 acres of government land.
This was when Saratoga w-as called McCartysville.
They cleared and improved the place, which neces-
sitated cutting down giant oaks. John W. Farwell
died in 1866, his widow surviving him. There were
four children as follows: Franklin M., of this sketch;
Charles, died in 1859; William, died here in 1877;
Jennie M.. the only one now living, resides in a
comfortable residence on a part of the old Farwell
ranch in the environs of Saratoga.

Franklin M. went to the California mines in Neva-
da and Sierra Counties in 1856 and mined for about
five years, when he returned home and assisted on
the home ranch until 1871. He then went to San
Francisco and engaged in business until 1878, when
he returned to the ranch. He engaged in orcharding
in which he met with success, being principally en-
gaged in raising prunes. He sold a portion of the
estate, retaining seventy acres. He found horticul-
ture interesting and enjoyable and was content to
continue it until his demise in November, 1905. For
many years he was school trustee of Saratoga dis-
trict, and he was also a member and trustee of the
Congregational Church. Mr. Farwell was an origi-
nal member and secretary of the board of trustees of
the Cemetery. Association, and always took a prom-
inent part in civic and social affairs.

Jennie M. Farwell, the only surviving member of
the family, was born in Brooklyn, N. Y., but reared
in California, completing her education at the San
Francisco State Normal. After her brother Franklin
M. passed away, she sold the old Farwell place to
Mr. and Mrs. Blaney, retaining only a homesite
where she built a residence wherein she makes her
home, surrounded by her many friends and the scenes
of her childhood now so dear to her. Here she is
content to enjoy life, being a member of the Foothill
Study Club, as well as the Congregational Church
and its societies.

ROBERT S. ROBINSON— A leading citizen of
San Martin who has taken advantage of his oppor-
tunities for travel and profited thereby, and is now
one of the best-informed men of the vicinity, Robert
S. Robinson left his home in Ulster, Ireland, when he
was nineteen to cross the ocean to America. He
was born in County Antrim, April 9, 1875, and there

attended the public schools from his sixth year until
finishing the course of the Model Academy in 1891.
In 1894 he came to Canada, joining his brother,
James Robinson, among the earliest settlers of Mani-
toba and very prominent in its development. The
first cooperative marketing association was built up
by James Robinson, who is now vice-president and
managing director of the Saskatchewan Cooperative
Elevator Company, one of the largest organizations
in the world handling bulk grain. For one year the
brothers were in partnership, growing grain, but in
1896 Robert S. Robinson withdrew and conducted
his farming operations alone. He became the owner
of 320 acres of land there and produced fine crops
of wheat there for a number of years, the yield being
as high as forty bushels to the acre.

Mr. Robinson returned to Ireland in 1909 and
there was married to Miss Jennie Stewart, the daugh-
ter of William and Jennie Stewart. The father has
since passed away but Mrs. Stewart still makes her
home in County Antrim. January, 1910, they re-
turned to Canada and in 1912 Mr. Robinson removed
to California, settling at San Martin, where he had
been preceded by another brother, the late Henry
Robinson. Here he acquired a fine ranch and vine-
yard on Llagas Avenue, where he resides with his
wife and mother, Mrs. Jane Cunningham Robinson,
who at the age of eighty-three is still hale and hearty.
Mr. Robinson spends his time superintending the
care of his vineyard and as president and manager
of the San Martin Wine Company, an office he has
occupied since the death of his brother, Henry Rob-
inson. He is also a member of the California Prune
& Apricot Association, Mr. Robinson received his
citizenship papers at San Jose and since then he has
been an adherent of the Democratic party. A member
of the Masonic Lodge at Morgan Hill, in religious
circles he and his wife are prominent in the Presby-
terian Church at San Martin, where he is treasurer
and a trustee.

JAMES S. CARLYLE.— Coming of fine Scotch
stock and numbering professional men on all sides,
James S. Carlyle, one of San Martin's most ex-
tensive orchardists, traces his descent back in direct
line to that famous essayist and historian, Thomas
Carlyle. His parents were William and Mary Jane
( Crawford) Carlyle, the father a native of Dumfries,
Scotland, who accompanied his parents to Ontario,
Canada, . while quite young, while Mrs. Carlyle was
born in Ontario, Canada. There they were married,
later taking up their home on a farm and here
James S. was born on May 5, 1860, the third of a
family of ten and is the only one in California.

In those early days, it was necessar3- for every
one in the family to help provide for its support,
so that James S. had a very limited schooling. At
the age of twenty he set out for himself, gonig to
Eastern Oregon in 1880, and soon after removing
to Mendocino County, Cal. In 1881 he entered the
employ of the Gualala Lumber Company and remained
in their employ seventeen and a half years. He
learned to be a sawyer and for thirteen and a half
years was their head sawyer. Leaving there he was
at Scotia, Humboldt County, then went to Crescent
City, Del Norte County. He then spent eight years
with the Northwestern Lumber Company in Men-

1200

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

docino County. In 1893, soon after the San Mar-
tin Ranch had been surveyed and offered for sale in
small tracts by C. H. Phillips, Mr. Carlyle pur-
chased seventeen and a half acres, but it was not
until 1911 that he gave up his responsible position
with the Northwestern Lumber Company to locate
on his property. As soon as the family were settled
at San Martin, he began the improvement of his
ranch, and from time to time he has added to it,
so that he is now the owner of fifty-five acres, all
set to prunes, now yielding an immense crop. It
is one of the finest prune orchards in this district
and it is now incorporated as J. S. Carlyle & Sons,
and they are charter members of the California Prune
& Apricot Association.

Mr. Carlylc's marriage united him with Miss Em-
ma Louise St. Ores, born near Gualala, Cal., the
daughter of George and Louise (Rouse) St. Ores,
descended from honored French ancestry. The par-
ents came to California many years ago, via the Is-
thmus of Panama, and settled in Mendocino County,
where they engaged in farming and in the lumber
business. Mr. St. Ores passed away in Mendocino
County on August 24, 1906, at the age of sixty-
eight; the father, who makes his home at San Jose,
is now eighty-four. Four children have been born
to Mr. and Mrs. Carlyle: Stella M. married Eugene
Daney, a well-known attorney of San Diego, and
they are both prominent in civic circles there; they
have one daughter, Lucile; Cecil L., the assistant
manager of the Gilroy branch of the Garden City
Bank and Trust Company, saw over a year's service
overseas in the Aviation Dept. as an officer. He mar-
ried Miss Vera Carl of Gilroy and they have a son,
James Howard; C. L. served in the U. S. Army during
the World War; Clair H., who was in the U. S. Navy,
in transport service, was on the San Diego when it was
torpedoed, lives at home and is one of the firm of J.
S. Carlyle & Sons; James St. Ores Carlyle is attend-
ing Morgan Hill high school; all of the children were
born in Mendocino County, For many years a stanch
Republican, Mr. Carlyle was prominent in the cir-
cles of his party when in Del Norte County, serving
as chairman of the Republican County Central Com-
mittee there, and during the war gave his hearty
support to all the Red Cross and Government pro-
grams. In fraternal circles he is a member of Keith
Lodge, F. & A. M. of Gilroy, and the Woodmen of
the World, and Women of Woodcraft, while Mrs.
Carlyle is active in the Women of Woodcraft, and
has had charge of the yearly drives of the Red
Cross Auxiliary. A cultured, capable woman, she
is the teacher of the Young Women's class of the
Presbyterian Church at San Martin, and prominent
in its home and foreign mission work, while Mr. Car-
lyle occupies the office of elder.

J. WALTER BRETON. — An enterprising and suc-
cessful rancher, J. Walter Breton is established upon
his ranch of twenty-four acres near Morgan Hill,
devoting the land to the cultivation of fruit. A na-
tive of Racine, Wis., he was born March 29, 1859, a
son of John Breton, a native of the Isle of Guernsey,
thirty miles off the coast of France. His mother
was Miss Margaret Brehaut and was also a native
of the Isle of Guernsey. His paternal great-grand-
father, John Breton was cited and given a medal
for bravery, by the King of England, for piloting

a vessel of Lord Somards' fleet during the French
and English War. The Bretons for a number of
generations were seamen and farmers. Mr. and
Mrs. John Breton came to America in 18S7 and en-
gaged in farming in Wisconsin, and in that state the
father received his U. S. citizenship. Both parents
passed away at Paradise Valley, Cal., the father at
the age of eighty-eight and the mother at the age
of ninety-one.

J. Walter began his schooling in Milwaukee, Wis.,
and when thirteen years of age removed with his
parents to Sparta, Vv'is., where he finished high
school in 1876. He then entered the employ of the
Chicago & North Western Railroad as a telegraph
operator and agent at different points in Minnesota
and South Dakota. For twenty-two years he was
located at Huron, S. D., as train dispatcher and was
a charter member of the Train Dispatchers Associa-
tion of America, the first organization of its kind in
the world. During the year of 1893 he made a tour
of the Western states, stopping at Paradise Valley
and Morgan Hill, Cal., and was so impressed with
the desirability of Paradise Valley as a permanent
place for a home that he settled up his business
in the East and returning to Santa Clara County pur-
chased a tract of twenty-four acres, and in 1904 re-
moved his family to California and settled on their
ranch. Considerable determination and fortitude were
required to make the change from railroading, which
he had followed for thirty years, to that of ranching,
but with never a thought of failure he set to work
and success has come to him in good measure. For
three years after locating on his ranch he followed
railroading on the Southern Pacific Coast division,
but in 1907 he retired from the service and devoted
his full time to his farming operations.

The first marriage of Mr. Breton occurred in Sparta,
Wis., and united him with Miss Lizzie P. Sawyer
and they were the parents of two children: Walter
Sawyer is married and resides in Sacramento and
occupies a prominent position with Libby, McNeil
& Libby. He and his father were interested in the
Farmer's Union in Santa Clara County and was man-
ager of the Farmer's Union Warehouse at Morgan
Hill. W. S. moved to San Francisco and became
state sales manager. Edith L. is the wife of A. F.
Edwards, and they have three children and reside
in Paradise Valley. Mrs. Breton passed away in
Huron, S. D., in 1886. Mr. Breton was married the
second time to Miss Gertrude Ward, adopted daugh-
ter of J. Parmelee Ward, who had the honor of
having named Paradise Valley, of which he was a
pioneer settler. He was an Ohioan by birth, born
October 23, 1834, and was descended from a well-
known Massachusetts family, his great-grandfather
being a soldier in the Revolutionary War. In 1878
Mr. Ward removed to Dakota Territory and took up
a government claim near Parker, Turner County,
and became identified with the public affairs of that
locality. In the fall of 1893 Mr. Ward left South
Dakota and spent some time in travel, going to San
Francisco and through California and Mexico. He
finally chose a place for a home, selecting Paradise
Valley and in August of 1894 he removed his family
to his ranch. His farm was a part of the Catherine
Dunne estate, and upon it he built a fine residence
and engaged extensively in farming and orchard pur-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1201

suits. He married Orra J. Hulet, a native of Ohio,
and they were the parents of two children, Wilbur H.
and Grace; they also adopted two daughters, Gertrude
B. and Ruth, and reared and educated them as their
own. Mr. Ward was prominent in the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and in Dakota Territory served in
the legislature two terms. Mr. and Mrs. Breton have
had three children: Agnes, died in infancy as also
did Vincent; and Vivian H. is married and resides in
Corning, Cal., and she has two sons. Mr. Breton
is a stockholder in the Farmer's Union store at
Morgan Hill and is also a charter member of the
California Prune and Apricot Association. For
forty-two years Mr. Breton has been a Mason and
now belongs to Morgan Hill Lodge No. 324, F. &
A. M., and politically he is a Republican. He was
a member of the Santa Clara County Water Conser-
vation Committee, which had charge of the election
in October, 1921, for the creation of irrigation dis-
tricts and which conducted an investigation for con-
servation of water for irrigation purposes in Santa
Clara County. He is a practical, up-to-date rancher,
interested in all that pertains to the development of
his prosperous neighborhood.

RALPH VINCE GARROD.— A young man of
splendid attainments who is devoting much time to
the California Division of the Educational and Co-
operative Union of America of which he is president,
Ralph Vince Garrod is a native of England, born in
Horrniger, Suffolk County, September 9, 1879, a son
of David and Sophia Ann (Creffield) Garrod, educa-
tors, the father being a graduate of Battersea Col-
lege, London, the mother receiving her education at
Trinity School, Halstead. Ralph Vince is the eldest
of their three children, the others being Mrs. Mary
C. Pfeflfer and Harold Garrod. When twelve years
of age, he accompanied his parents to New York,
the family being bound for California on account of
the father's ill health, but an accident aboard ship
necessitated Ralph Vince stopping at St. Vincent's
.Hospital in the Metropolis until he could join his
parents two months later, his arrival in Santa Clara
County being July 7, 1892. He attended the Saratoga
and San Jose schools and for a time the family
resided on a fruit ranch between Campbell and Los
Gatos. In the fall of 1893 the family purchased their
present ranch of 146 acres at the hiad of Calabasas
Creek, four and a half miles northwest of Saratoga.
They moved on the ranch in the spring of 1894 and
began the improvements that have finally made it a
valuable property of full-bearing orchards of prunes,
apricots, walnuts, pears, apples, peaches and vineyard.
To these Mr. Garrod gives most excellent care and
attention, cultivating the soil and fighting the orchard
pests according to the latest and most scientific
methods. Intensely interested in the calling of horti-
culture, he is a student of the science and brings into
practice the most modern and approved methods.

Mr. Garrod's marriage occurred at Oak Ridge
ranch, the home of the bride, on the Twenty-seven
Mile Scenic Drive in Santa Cruz County, April 3,
1916, when he was united with Miss Emma Stolte,
who was born in San Francisco, a daughter of Cap-
tain and Anna (Peters) Stolte, natives of Germany,
who were early settlers of California, Captain Stolte
being engaged in the coasting trade out of San Fran-

cisco until he located on Oak Ridge Ranch in the
Santa Cruz Mountains. Mrs. Garrod has two sisters,
Mrs. Charlotte Frahm and Mrs. Josephine Beatty.
After completing her studies in the grammar school
she entered Heald's Business College in San Fran-
cisco, where she was duly graduated. They have
been blessed with three children, Louise Sophia,
Vince Stolte and Richard Ralph.

Mr. Garrod is a charter member and secretary and
treasurer of Saratoga Local No. 82, Farmers' Educa-
tional and Cooperative Union of America, being the
oldest secretary and treasurer in years of service of
any local in California. He was an active member
of the state legislative committee of the above and
afterwards vice-president of the state division. At the
meeting of the state division of the Farmers' Educa-
tional and Cooperative Union of America at Turlock
he was honored by being elected president of the
state division, December 7, 1921. He was for years
a member of the Grange, and ever since he has been
engaged in farming he has been active in all co-
operative movements in relation to agriculture in
California. Thus we found him a member of the
California Prune and Apricot Growers' Association,
the California Peach Growers' Association, a director
in the Fruit Growers of California, as well as the
Santa Clara Valley Growers' Association, a member
of the California Cooperative Canneries, the Santa
Clara County Fire Insurance Company. Fraternal-
ly he is a member of the American Order of Forest-
ers, the Odd Fellows, and Rcbekahs, in Saratoga,
and the Saratoga Improvement Club. He is an in-
fluential Republican, having served four years as a
member of the Republican County Central Commit-
tee and was a member of the State Central Com-
mittee for another four years. Mrs. Garrod has al-
ways been interested in cooperative movements,
serving as secretary and treasurer of the Lakeside
local of the Farmers' Educational and Cooperative
Union of America, and is also a member of the
Rebekahs. Vince Garrod, as he is familiarly called
by his friends, is a capable speaker and an able
presiding officer — a successful leader of any move-
ment to which he gives his support. In these co-
operative and educational movements he is ably as-
sisted by his gifted wife, who has also given these
matters much thought and study and ably encourages
Mr. Garrod in his work in behalf of the movement
that has for its aim the bringing together of the pro-
ducer and consumer to their greater benefit. With
his family Mr. Garrod is a member of St. John's
Episcopal Church of which he is church-warden.

JOHN GILLESPIE.— A well-trained mechanic
with both a scientific and a practical knowledge of
electricity and electrical conditions, who has kept
pace with Twentieth Century progress and so has
been in a position to bring San Jose into line with
the leading municipalities of the Golden State, is
John Gillespie, city electrician of San Jose, a native
of Nevada, v.-here he was born on May 2, 1865, the
son of Archie and Agnes Gillespie. The father came
to California in 1849, where he worked in the mines
as a blacksmith; later he removed to Virginia City,
Nev. In 1881, he returned to California; and in San
Jose, amid pleasant surroundings, the parents died,
honored as pioneers.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

John went to school in Nevada, and then, when
it was time for him to prepare to earn a H\'ing,
learned the trade of electrician; and he has been
busy following that industrial line ever since, en-
trusted with work of much responsibility and con-
stantly adding to his experience. For fourteen years
he worked in the department of which he is now
head; and in October, 1919, he was appointed city
electrician by Dr. Bailey, city manager. Part of
his duty is to inspect the police telegraph and the
fire alarm systems; and in other ways he is able to
exert an influence to give San Jose the best of elec-
trical service.

At San Jose in 1899, Mr. Gillespie was married
to Miss Mamie Rife, a native of San Jose, as was
her mother, Elizabeth Rife, who is still living; and
with her husband she is deeply interested in Santa
Clara County and especially in the future of San
Jose. Mr. Gillespie votes the Republican ticket, —
and he votes it "straight."

FRANK V. CASWELL.— Business enterprise at
San Jose finds a worthy representative in Frank V.
Caswell, the proprietor of the business known as the
"Reliable Tire Repair Shop." He is a native of
Summit, Jackson County, Mich., and was born there
October 8, 1884, a son of Charles and Mary (Red-
ner) Caswell, who were both born and reared in
Michigan, Mrs. Caswell being a native of Grand
Rapids. Mr. Caswell's father was engaged m farm-
ing in Jackson County, and was also successful in
the lumber business. For eleven years Frank V.
lived with his parents on the farm, and in the pub!ic
school acquired his education. While still but a lad,
he set out for himself, taking up farm work. Not
being satisfied to remain in this line of work, he
journeyed to Albion and worked in the iron founderies
there for some time, where he learned the trade of
moulder. Not having settled on the line of work he
wished to pursue throughout his life, and wishing
to see more of the world, he enlisted in the Navy,
entering the Newport Naval School in 1901. After
ten months of intensive training, he was commis-
sioned as third class petty officer. Traveling from
port to port, for many years, has served to give him
a varied education, and has contributed much to his
present success in the business world.

Having served his country with credit, Mr. Caswell
was released from service and upon his return to
New York, he entered the employ of the New York
Central Railroad as fireman, but very soon tired of
this kind of work, so left their employ and went
home for a visit to his parents in Jackson County.
\Vhile there, he decided to take up the trade of vul-
canizing, which has proved to be the line he is most
fitted for, and he has been extraordinarily successful
•'n this work. He was in charge of the vulcanizing
classes at the "Old Rehable Tire Shop" in Detroit,
Mich. During the year of 1917 Mr. Caswell came
to the beautiful Santa Clara Valley. Although pos-
sessing but limited capital, with true pioneering
■spirit, he launched out in business for himself, and
has been eminently successful.

In Detroit, Mich., Mr. Caswell was married to
Miss Blanche E. Zelifif, a native of Chicago, 111.
Her education was acquired at Chicago, 111., and in
1918 she removed to Cahfornia. Mr. Caswell is
actively identified with the Odd Fellows and the

Woodmen of the World, and also holds membership
in the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

MAXWELL BENNO HAASE.— Among the na-
tive sons of California who have materially pro-
moted the theater business of Santa Clara County
may be mentioned Maxwell Benno Haase, who was
born in San Francisco August 14, 1871, the son of
Maxwell and Marie (Mosson) Haase. The father.
Maxwell Haase, was a native of Boston, who mi-
grated to the western coast in the early sixties, and
had a wide acquaintance here through his business,
that of traveling salesman. Both father and mother
are deceased.

Maxwell Benno Haase was educated in the public
schools of San Francisco, Fresno and New York,
finishing the high school course. He first engaged
in the theatrical business in San Francisco, and in
1917 he migrated to San Jose and became the lessee
of the Victory Theater. By his continued industry,
directed by genuine business acumen, the theater
has become a pajdng proposition, and to him alone
is due the success and patronage which the theater
enjoys. During the past twenty years, many people
have leased the theater and have attempted to make
a success of it, but not until Mr. Haase took hold
of it, did the current of public sentiment change,
and has succeeded even beyond his expectations.

The marriage of Mr. Haase united him with Miss
Eva Glass, a native of Portland. Ore. Mr. Haase
is a stalwart adherent of the principles of the Re-
publican party. Fraternally, he is a member of
B. P. O. E. Council 161, Saratoga Springs. It is
said that every busy person should have a hobby
in order to keep in good health and spirits; the
hobby of Mr. Haase is the gathering of antiques, of
which he has a very interesting collection. His
recreation hours are spent, as much as possible,
in the great outdoors, which he enjoys to the fullest
extent. He has at all times been a champion of
progress and improvement and has recognized the
opportunities offered in the growing west, using these
opportunities not only for the benefit of his in-
dividual fortunes, but as factors in the improvement-
of the state and county.

HIRAM A. BLANCHARD.— A scholarly, experi-
enced member of the legal profession who is ren-
dering valuable service both to the profession which
he honors and to the public at all times concerned
with the accuracy of legal procedure and the cor-
rectness of official documents and reports, is Hiram
A. Blanchard, popular attorney, who was born near
Marshall, Mo., on December 24, 1874, the son of
George B. and Emeline (Payne) Blanchard. His
father was a lumber merchant and stock raiser in
Missouri, and coming West to California in 1893, he
settled at San Jose and engaged in the hay business.
He had the largest wholesale business in town, and
his residence was at 875 University Avenue until
his death. Mrs. Blanchard is still living.

Hiram A. Blanchard attended the grammar and
high schools in Marshall, Mo., and then took a
thorough course at the San Jose Business College;
and for twenty years he was an official shorthand
reporter in Santa Clara County. He studied law
w-ith Messrs. Richards and Jury, and later with
W. C. Kennedy; and he was admitted to the Cali-
fornia Bar on May 1, 1897. Since then he has
practiced alone.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1203

On August 1, 1900, in San Jose, Mr. Blanchard
was married to Miss Henrietta Gardner, the daugh-
ter of W. H. Gardner, a pioneer of CaUfornia, and
they have had two children, Vivian G. and Hiram
D. Blanchard. The family belong to the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Blanchard is a
director of the Y. M. C. A.; and he is also a leader
among the San Jose Democrats. His official, no less
than his personal associations and experiences, make
him naturally keenly interested in Santa Clara
County, and the entire Golden State.

Mr. Blanchard has been honored repeatedly with
public trusts and the confidence of his fellow-citi-
zens in periods when the whole-hearted support of
great movements meant much to everybody con-
cerned. He organized the College Park Sanitary
district, and was a member of the board having the
matter in hand. He was president of the Y. M. C. A.
lor eleven years and during the World War, and
helped to raise the funds for the new building. He
was a delegate to the Democratic National Conven-
tion in Denver in 1908, and also to many state con-
ventions. He was the leader in the movement that
resulted in the paving ot the Alameda, and the
building of the Hester School, and also in financing
the Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A.

WILLIAM J. CROSS.— Interesting as one of the
successful young men in Santa Clara County, Wil-
liam J. Cross of San Jose is also worthy of attention
as having in a very short time come to command in-
fluence such as many, longer established, have
sought in vain. He was born at Cheboygan, Mich.,
on June 30, 1882, one in a family of four children
whose parents were William N. and Minnie B. (Wat-
rous) Cross, the former a native of New York, the
latter of Mississippi. His father, William N. Cross,
early established his law office at that place and for
many years served as county judge, which position
he continues to hold. William J. spent his boyhood
years at home attending public school, and in 1898
was graduated from high school, although for the
last few months of the term he was absent, having
enlisted in the Michigan Volunteers for service
abroad. He was the youngest member of the Ex-
peditionary forces in Cuba and made a very enviable
record. He was finally invalided home, where he
received his diploma from the board of education in
reward for duties discharged away from school.

Later, Mr. Cross entered Yale University and in
1909 was graduated with high honors from the De-
partment of Law. He then became the junior part-
ner in the firm, Cross & Cross, with his father, but
in 1913 gave up the active work of the office and
court to engage in the law publishing business in
Seattle, Wash., where he organized the Cross-France
Company, pioneers in their line on the Pacific Coast,
and publishers of legal publications. He founded and
edited the Lawyers' Review, of which he became
president and general manager, recognized as a reli-
able and leading agency for lawyers in the North-
west. In his work as editor, Mr. Cross made exten-
sive tours through nearly every country of the world,
studying and transcribing the comparative legal juris-
prudence and compiling much interesting data.

In July, 1917, Mr. Cross was again inspired for
patriotic duty and organized the first unofficial
citizens training camp at Fort Lawton, near Seattle.

Although a civilian, he was, in recognition of his ser-
vices in connection therewith, given command, the
camp being of sufficient size and equipment to per-
mit of the training of from 250 to 300 men. At the
conclusion of this camp for officers he organized a
similar one for corporals and sergeants located in the
center of Seattle. This unofficial non-commissioned
officers training camp, the first of its kind in the
United States, was later taken over by the University
of Washington and continued to function during the
entire war. For his work in connection with these
camps, Mr. Cross was highly commended by the
War Department and by high army officers of the
Northwest. In August, 1917, Mr. Cross retired from
command of the camp and entered the Second Of-
ficers' Training Camp at the presidio of San Fran-
cisco from which he was commissioned as a first
lieutenant and assigned to the Eighth Infantry of
the Regular Army, stationed at Camp Fremont, Cali-
fornia. He was soon promoted to a captaincy and
made adjutant of the regiment, having later recom-
mended for promotion to major, which rank he still
holds in the Officers' Reserve Corps of the U. S.
Army. He has been instrumental in organizing the
San Jose Aero Squadron, a unit of the U. S. Reserve
Corps, an organization devoted to the advancement
of military and commercial aviation, and of which
he is commanding officer.

On June 29, 1918, while still an officer in the Army,
Mr. Cross was married to Miss Huanna Leigh,
daughter of Hugh A. and Barbara Leigh, of Camp-
bell, one of the old families of Santa Clara County.
Her father passed away in 1916, but her mother still
resides at the family home on Leigh Avenue in Camp-
bell. Their one child, named Leighann, died in in-
fancy. Mr. and Mrs. Cross reside at Hanchett Park,
San Jose, where they are both active members of
the Hester District Improvement Club which Mr.
Cross assisted in organizing and of which he is a
director and secretary. He is also an active member
of the American Legion. Not the least of his civic
activities has been his activity in promoting the San
Jose Commercial Club, having been a member of its
first board of directors and serving as its first secre-
tary. In politics, Mr. Cross is an independent Re-
publican and the family attend the Episcopal Church.
He is a "booster" of the Santa Clara Valley, and has
extensive real estate and mining interests there. He
maintains offices at 408 First National Bank Building
at San Jose.

CHARLES SAVSTROM. — An enterprising
orchardist of Santa Clara County who has made
good in his chosen line of work is Charles Savstrom,
owning an orchard of fifteen acres on Plummer Ave-
nue, which he has brought to a state of productive-
ness and which brings him a good income. He was
born in Gothenburg, Sweden. December 23, 1868, a
son- of August and Charlotte Savstrom. both of
whom were born, reared and died in that country.

Charles was educated in the public schools of
Sweden, finishing the grammar grades there. He
remained at home until he was fourteen, then he
went to sea, which he followed until he was twenty-
one years of age, touchin.g at nearly all the principal
ports of the world during that time. He set out
for the new world of greater opportunities and set-
tled in Santa Clara County in 1889 and worked as

1204

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

a ranch hand on the ranch of Socrates Kirk and
was thus occupied until his marriage in 1896 to Miss
Anna Buck, a native of Germany. After his mar-
riage he leased part of the Kirk ranch for a num-
ber of years and then in 1904 bought his place of
fifteen acres on Plummer Avenue, which has been
set to peaches, apricots and prunes, which has been
well cared for and is yielding a good profit. Mr.
and Mrs. Savstrom are the parents of five children:
William, Frank, Herbert, Isabella and Helen. Their
son William served in the U. S. Navy three years
during the recent war, carrying troops across the
Atlantic on transports. In national politics, Mr.
Savstrom is a Republican; and fraternally is an
Odd Fellow. He is one of the substantial citizens
of his community, and takes pride in advancing meas-
ures for the general good of his locality.

BEN ANZINL— As the proprietor of the Junc-
tion House on the state highway at the junction of
El Monte Avenue and the highway, Ben Anzini
contributes very materially to the comfort and con-
venience of the thousands who traverse the state
highway. The house was built in 1906 by his brother,
Victor Anzini, and the ten acres surrounding it
planted to prunes and apricots. This summer and
winter resort is well built and up-to-date and is
conveniently and beautifully located. A native of
Switzerland, Ben Anzini was born at Menzoni, Can-
ton Ticino, January 6, 1874, the son of Pietro and
Lucia (Grandi) Anzini. The parents were married
in Switzerland and in 1865 the father left alone for
America and settled first in Marin County and re-
mained there until 1870. They were the parents of
three children: Victor, Ben and Luisa. The parents
owned the home in Switzerland and there it was
that the father died at the age of seventy-four; the
mother still lives at the old home, aged eighty-nine.
Ben Anzini grew up and attended the schools of
Switzerland and learned to speak the Italian lan-
guage. His brother Victor preceded him to Cali-
fornia, arriving in 1882, and on November 10, 1891,
Ben landed at San Francisco. He worked around on
dairy farms for ten years for wages and in 1901
went into the dairy business with a partner for two
years; then for the next three years he became the
sole proprietor, milking from 250 to 260 cows, be-
sides operating a creamery.

On October 12, 1903 he was married to Miss
Clelia Berri, a daughter of Victor and Angelina
Berri. She was born and reared in Marin County,
Cal., and was the youngest of a family of five chil-
dren. Her mother died when she was only two
years old, and later her father married Mrs. Ma-
rianna Silacci. He immigrated to California in an
early day, and became a large dairy farmer and well-
to-do, his dairy supporting 250 cows, which he ran
forty-four years; then retired to Petaluma, Sonoma
County, where he died. The dairy farm which Mr.
Anzini rented contained 2,003 acres; known as the
Tomasini ranch in Marin County. After disposing
of his dairy business he removed to Petaluma, Cal.,
and engaged in business for the next five months
when he sold out and in 1907 took his wife for a
trip through Switzerland, also visiting France and
Italy. Upon their return, he bought back his busi-
ness in Petaluma and operated it until 1915. He
invested some of his earnings in city property in
Sebastopol, Sonoma County, which he still owns.
On May 13, 1913, he purchased the Junction House

from his brother and rented it out at first, but for
the past five years he and his wife have conducted
it. He was naturalized in San Francisco in 1901,
and in national politics he is a Republican. He be-
longs to the Eagles No. 333 of Petaluma, and he
and Mrs. Anzini are members of the Catholic Church
at Mountain View.

GEORGE ALBERT KELLY.— An expert in the
use of tools of all kinds, George Albert Kelly has
been for many years actively identified with the up-
building of San Jose as a general contractor. His
parents, John and Winifred (Connelly) Kelly, both
deceased, came to California in 1880, settling on a
farm near San Jose, and during their residence there
George Albert was born on May 12, 1888, next to
the youngest of a family of four boys and two
girls. Mr. Kelly was educated in the public schools
of his community and from boyhood on has followed
the building trade. In 1911 he and his brother
Charles formed the firm of Kelly Brothers, house
movers and general contractors, and this partner-
ship continued for eight years or until 1919, when
George Albert Kelly bought out his brother's in-
terest and since that time he has conducted the
business alone, confining his work to moving heavy
weights exclusively. He employs about eighteen
men during the busy season.

On August 12, 1914, he was married to Miss Mar-
garet Morovanni, also a native of San Jose, and
three children have been born of this marriage:
Albert, Genevieve and Howard. Enthusiastic and
public-spirited Mr. Kelly has the best interests of
Santa Clara County at heart and for a diversion seeks
out-of-door sports and games, being especially fond
of hunting. He is a member of the Odd Fellows
and Eagles and of the Chamber of Commerce.

E. C. HAMLIN.— A resident of Santa Cbra for
more than twenty years, it has been the privilege of
E. C. Hamlin to witness the many changes that have
taken place during these decades. A native of Min-
nesota, he was born in Blue Earth County on August
13, 1866, the son of Andrew S. and Lucinda (Dur-
kee) Hamlin. His early years had been spent on
the Alinnesota farm of his parents, where he re-
mained until he was seventeen, and then was four
years with a lumber company of that locality. En-
gaging in the hardware business at Lake Crystal,
Minn., he remained there for twelve years, when
he decided to avail himself of the more varied op-
portunities of the Pacific Coast.

Arriving in California in 1901, Mr. Hamlin spent
his first eighteen months at Morgan Hill, Santa
Clara County, and then came to San Jose, where he
entered the employ of the Santa Clara Valley Mill
and Lumber Company, remaining with them from
July, 1903, until April 1, 1910, when he resigned.
In October, 1910. he became the secretary and man-
ager of the Pacific Coast Pottery and Terra Cotta
Company, in which he was a stockholder, and it
was largely due to his energy and successful meth-
ods that the company was enabled to prosper as it
did, until they sold out and disincorporated in 1920.
In September, 1921, Mr. HamHn bought the local
branch of Earl C. Anthony, Inc., and continued the
business, having the agency for the Packard and
Reo cars. In connection he has a modern, up-to-date
repair shop and garage, his quarters at 361 South
First Street extending from First Street to Mar-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1209

ket and he is associated with his son, Howard G.
Hamlin, the firm being E. C. Hamhn & Son.

Mr. Hamlin's marriage on June 12, 1888, united
him with Miss Elva M. Coonley, and two sons have
been born to them: Homer C. is manager of plant
No. 4, California Prune & Apricot Growers, Inc.,
and Howard G., in partnership with his father. On
entering the service of his country during the World
War, Howard G. Hamlin was assigned to an officers
training camp and was on a cruise when the armis-
tice brought a cessation of hostilities. In his politi-
cal affiliations E. C. Hamlin is a Republican and he
is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Fraternally he is a member of San Jose
Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M., and the Sciots, and with
his wife is a member of the Eastern Star. A man of
excellent business ability and experience, he is well-
informed on the questions of the day and takes a
lively interest in all community affairs, where he is
held in high regard.

JAMES T. BAKER— HERBERT C. BAKER.—
Prominent among the contractors and builders of
San Jose, especially in the field of brick and tile work,
are J. T. Baker and Herbert C. Baker, and who have
been steadily engaged in this work at San Jose since
coming here in 1904.

A native of Wales, J. T. Baker came to the United
States when he was only seven years old, the family
settling at Pittsburgh, Pa. His education was ob-
tained in the public schools of Pittsburgh, and when
he became a young man he was employed in the
steel works of that city, and proved himself so very
capable that it was not long before he became a
foreman there. He made a specialty of brick work
and when he came to San Jose, he gave his time to
this work. Having had so much practical experi-
ence along this line, the people of San Jose soon
learned of his reliability, and gladly turned their
work over to a man whom they knew understood his
business and could relieve them of any responsibil-
ity, knowing the work would be well done. When
his son Herbert grew to manhood he took him in
as a partner and they are now handling the work
together. They have built many of the larger build-
ings, such as the Potash Furnaces, one of the largest
structures in the county, and the Linquist and Isaac-
son Feed House, the first tile buildings in San Jose,
and they erected the Growers' National Bank build-
ing of Campbell. Cal. Mr. Baker and his son spe-
cialize in fire brick construction and are consulted
by some of the engineers on the coast in regard to
this work. In the busy season they have as many
as twenty-five men in their etnploy. H. C. Baker
has taken up the manufacture of concrete irrigation
pipe, the plant being located on Stockton and Ala-
meda avenues, operating under the name of the
Santa Clara Valley Concrete Pipe Company, Inc.,
and doing a growing business throughout Santa
Clara County, with H. C. Baker as manager.

J. T. Baker's marriage, which occurred while he
was a resident of Wilkesbarre, Pa., united him with
Miss EHzabeth Powell. They have had three chil-
dren: Lillie, wife of G. A. Conant; Herbert C, and
William J. Herbert C. Baker was educated in the
public schools of ban Jose and later graduated from
the Santa Clara high school and then attended Stan-
ford University, where he took up civil engineering.
He then joined his father in his work and stands

among the popular builders of San Jose. When the
World War broke out Herbert enlisted in the in-
fantry on May 6, 1917, just one month after war v. as
declared, but he did not get to go abroad. He was
honorably discharged with the commission of second
lieutenant. Both father and son belong to the Odd
Fellows lodge of San Jose, and Herbert Baker is
also a member of the Masons and of the Zeta Psi
fraternity of Stanford University. They are very
popular among the business men of San Jose. Pub-
lic-spirited and deeply interested in Santa Clara
County and although stanch Republicans, they throw
aside their national politics, when it concerns local
alTairs, and give their influence to the candidate
who seems best qualified for public office.

R. E. HENKLE.— Determined to make the most
of his opportunities, R. E. Henkle is being rewarded
for his perseverance and industry, and these charac-
teristics make him a valuable asset to the locality
in which he resides. A native of Oregon, he was
born in Corvallis, May 9, 1880, the son of G. W.
and Columbia (Butler) Henkle. The father fol-
lowed the mercantile business for many years. Both
parents are still living and enjoying the fruits of
their labors.

Educated in the excellent schools of Oregon, R. E.
Henkle completed the grammar and high school
courses and then entered the Agricultural College
at Corvallis, later graduating from Columbia Uni-
versity as a pharmacist. He then located at San
Francisco and for two years worked at his profes-
sion; then went to San Jose where he purchased
an interest in a business known as Curtis & Henkle
and was thus occupied for fifteen years, when the
business was sold to the Owl Company and he
removed to Sacramento, remaining there for a year.
During November, 1919, he removed to Saratoga and
purchased the business which he operates very suc-
cessfully. He has revolutionized the drug business
in Saratoga and his store is modern and up-to-date
in every particular.

The marriage of Mr. Henkle united him with
Miss Nan Shivley of Astoria, Ore., and they are
the parents of two daughters, Betty Jane and Pa-
tricia Anne. Loyal to his locality, he votes for
the best man for office rather than adhering to strict
party lines. Fraternally he is an Elk and an Odd
Fellow. He gives his hearty cooperation to all
measures that stand for progress and prosperity for
county and state.

ARTHUR P. BACIGALUPI.— Commercial activ-
ity in San Jose finds a worthy representative in
Arthur P. Bacigalupi, a native son, born in San
Jose, March IS, 1877, a son of John and Ellen (Sbar-
boro) Bacigalupi. The father. John Bacigalupi, mi-
grated to California in the sixties, settling first in Bar
Francisco and later renioveri lo '^•^-'a Clara County,
where he died in 1900; .111. ' his wife passed

awav. Arthur is the ol<1' of nine boys,

seven of whom are livin;:, ."'I i!i r the death of
his parents, he supported and educated the family
of six brothers until they were established.

Arthur was educated in the grammar and high
schools of San Jose; later taking a course in St.
Joseph's College, however, the school of practical
experience proved the most beneficial, and when but
a boy of thirteen he entered the employ of the Lick
Market, where he learned the ins and outs of the

1210

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

butcher business under G. Nocentelli, and in 1899,
when he purchased an interest in the business. The
partnership with G. NocenteUi was continued for
for four years, when it was dissolved, J. E. Williston
becoming the business associate of Mr. Bacigalupi,
and for eighteen years the congenial partnership has
continued at 59 North Market Street.

The marriage of Mr. Bacigalupi in San Bernardino
united him with Miss Caroline Pollock, also a native
of San Jose. Mr. Bacigalupi adheres to the princi-
ples of the Republican party. Fraternally he is a
member of the San Jose Parlor, N. S. G. W.; San
Jose Lodge No. 522, B. P. O. E.; is past sachem
of Gowonga Tribe No. 252, Redmen, and is presi-
dent of the local Journeymen Butchers' Protective
and Benevolent Association; also a member of the
Merchants' Association and the Progressive Club.

GEORGE B. SEELY.— The accomplishments of
one of the interesting American pioneer families of
enviable association with the development of the
West is recalled in the life-stories of George B.
Seely, of 1651 South First Street, San Jose, and
his highly-esteemed father, the late Charles R. Seely,
who crossed the plains twice before settling in San
Jose, after which he became one of the oldest and
best-known citizens of Santa Clara County. He
was born in New York State on December 29, 1830,
and when twelve years of age accompanied his par-
ents to Jones County, Iowa. Subsequently, he
chose for his life companion Miss Salena Southern,
and they were married on September 1, 1849; and
when, in 1854, he found himself the father of two
sons and the lure of California beckoning him west-
ward, he left his loved ones in the hands of friends
and sailed for the Isthmus of Panama, and hurried
north by water. In 1857, he returned to the East
and rejoined his family.

Two years later, in the spring of 1859, Mr. and
Mrs. Seely and family, together with one or two
other families, started on the long and dangerous
journey across the plains, and they took nearly half
of the year to make the trip. There were nine in
the little company, and when at Goose Creek, they
were attacked by Indians, but through the cool-
ness and courage of Mr. Seely, who had been elected
captain, the lives of the party were saved, and the
Redskins forced to retreat. Immediately on arriv-
ing in California, Mr. Seely engaged actively in
agriculture; and this occupation he followed success-
fully until 1869, when he concluded that he had ac-
quired sufficient of this world's goods to permit the
spending of declining years in comfort.

Accordingly, he sold his farm and took passage
with his family on board a steamer bound for New
York harbor, and from there he came west by rail
to Chicago, and then went to Cambridge, 111., where
they visited for a short time their relatives. In
Cambridge Mr. Seely purchased a family carriage and
a beautiful span of bay horses, and with his family
drove over into Iowa, to the little town of Olin,
where his father had resided ever since he first
settled in the state; and supposing that their roam-
ing was at an end, Mr. Seely purchased his father's
farm and built a beautiful residence. Two winters
there, however, made him sigh for the more con-
genial climate of California, and he once more out-
fitted to cross the plains.

In the spring of 1871, Mr. Seely started out on the
old emigrant trail accompanied by his father, Norman
B. Seely, and a younger brother, M. J. Seely, who
later successfully entered the medical profession. Mr.
Seely once more took up his old occupation in the
production of California's natural and most staple
product, wheat, cultivating thousands of acres in
different sections of the country until 1880, when
he again retired and settled on Tenth Street, San
Jose, where he resided with his family until 1884,
when he purchased one of the finest orchard and
residence properties in Santa Clara County, known
as the McAlister place, on Bascom Avenue. There
he again took upon himself the cares of an active
business career, and engaged in horticulture, and
remained until 1894. Then death took away Mrs.
Salena Seely, his estimable companion through all
of his wanderings and varied successes, and the
mother of thirteen children. In 1895 Mr. Seely
took to himself a second wife, Eliza Judson before
her marriage, and by her he had another son and
daughter. He left a valuable estate, although he
spent thousands of dollars in giving financial as-
sistance to his more unfortunate fellowmen. He
was liberal-minded, S3'mpathetic and tender-hearted,
a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church nearly
all of his life, and withal a stanch, true Christian of
the genuinely old-fashioned and practical type.

George B. Seely was born near Dixon in Solano
County, on February 28, 1864, the second son of
Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Seely, and a nephew of
G. W. Seely, who became well known in California.
Idaho and Oregon for his mining operations, and
lived to retire on his farm near Aromas. George
was reared on the home farm, sent to the local
public schools, and then, for a term or two, at-
tended the Garden City Business College. For seven
years, 1874 to 1881, he was engaged as an extensive
grain farmer near Waterford, in Stanislaus County,
the Seelys being the first to engage in wheat rais-
ing in that section of the San Joaquin Valley. Oak-
dale was then the market-center, as the railroad
from Stockton ran only to Oakdale.

In 1889 Mr. Seely was married to Miss Margaret
Turner of San Jose, a native of Alleghany, Pa., who
came with her parents, Joseph and Anna McClellan
Turner, via the Nicaragua route to California in 1867.
She attended the San Jose State Normal School in
1886-87, where she further acquired a liberal educa-
tion, and has since participated ideally in all of Mr.
Seely's ambitious plans and in the social life of their
circle. Since 1889 Mr. Seely has been active as a
rancher in Santa Clara County, and he has also been
a leader in dairying. In partnership with his brother,
Charles Seeley and George Graft, he founded the
Garden City Creamery of San Jose, ran it four
years and sold it and continued dairying. He has
also been a pioneer in the wholesale and retail dis-
tribution of milk and creamery products in Santa
Clara Valley, and for many years he has been a
very successful hay-farmer and dealer in hay, at
times operating as many as 2,000 acres, some years
handling as high as 5000 tons of hay. His ranches
lie several miles from San Jose and his home, off
the State Highway toward Gilroy. He owns 500
acres in the Yaqui Valley, Mexico; devoted to grow-
ing rice, and with associates owns 6,000 acres in

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1211

Sinaloa, Mexico. Mr. and Mrs. Seely reside at 16S1
South First Street, San Jose, and are loyal members
and supporters of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

LEWIS E. BAKER.— Prominent among the
splendidly-organized and equally well-maintained
establishments which have contributed to make San
Jose famous as a commercial and an industrial cen-
ter may well be mentioned that of Messrs. T. E.
Baker & Son, now exclusively dealers in electrical
appliances, one of the finest stores of its kind in the
West. Its president is Lewis E. Baker, a native son,
who was born in Ivos Angeles on January 28, 1880,
the son of Terry E. Baker, who died in May, 1912.
He was reared in San Francisco from four years
of age. When sixteen years old removed to Los
Angeles, where he was with the Southern Pacific
Railroad for about twenty years. There he married
Miss Margaret E. Wilson, a native of Illinois, and
with her and their family came to San Jose in 1903.

Lewis attended the common schools until he was
fourteen years of age, and then he learned the trade
of the electrician. On August 15, 1909, Terry Baker
had established a business for his four sons, and had
it duly incorporated, and one of these sons was
William T Baker, the noted athlete, who was killed
in a motorcycle race in 1910. Mr. Baker was presi-
dent, and at his demise, he was succeeded in office
by the subject of our review. Under the latter's
expert management, the firm has found it necessary
to employ fifteen men in the busy season to meet
their trade's demands; and since they carry a very
complete line of everything likely to be needed, they
have come to be the leaders in their important line,
and to have a very close and enviable relation to the
development of not only San Jose but also Santa
Clara County. Mr. Baker is a member of the San
Jose Chamber of Commerce, and it goes without
saying that he performs his full share of its work.
He is a Republican, and believes in laws and law-
makers who favor stabilizing industry and trade.

In San Jose, in 1906, Mr. Baker married Miss
Anna Bell Holman, a native of San Jose and the
daughter of James Holman; and their married life
has been made the happier through the birth of a
son, Richard E. Baker. Mr. Baker is a Scottish
Rite Mason, as well as a Shriner, and is a charter
member of the Commercial Club.

LAURENCE GEORGE CASALETTO.— Among
those of Italian birth who have profited by the ex-
cellent opportunities for advancement presented in
:.he Santa Clara Valley is Laurence George Casaletto,
who is successfully conducting a blacksmith shop
at 140 East Main Street, Los Gafos. He was born in
the provmce of Naples, Italy, September 4, 1888,
and is a son of Salvador and Lena Casaletto, who
came with their family to Virginia City, Nev., in
1892, making their way to Santa Clara County in
1901, and they are still residents of this section.

After completing his studies in the public schools,
Laurence G. Casaletto started out in the business
world, serving an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's
trade under John Crosetti in San Jose, and then
worked at his trade for various firms here and in
ether parts of California. Following the entrance
of the United States into the World War, he en-
listed for service in the army and was assigned to
Train Company, Three Hundred Nineteenth En-
gineers, as farrier, being sent with that command

overseas and served in England and France for
seven months. He was discharged at Camp Kearney,
April 17, 1919, at the end of fourteen months' serv-
ice, and on October 20 of the same year opened a
blacksmith shop at Austin Corners, and in 1921
moved to his present place in Los Gatos. He has
an expert knowledge of his trade and owing to the
excellence of his work and his thorough reliability
has secured a large share of the public patronage in
the line in which he specializes.

Mr. Casaletto was united in marriage to Miss Ada
Marshall, born in Watsonville, Cal., and they have
adopted Mrs. Casaletto's niece, Naomi Anderson,
whom they are rearing and educating as if she were
their own daughter. Mr. Casaletto supports the
platform and candidates of the Republican party
and is a member of the American Legion. Frater-
nally he is identified with the Eagles and with Poca-
hontas Tribe of the Redmen order, and when leisure
permits, spends as much time as possible in the open,
being appreciative of the beauties of nature. He has
given unmistakable proof of his loyalty and devo-
tion to his adopted country and is recognized as an
energetic and progressive young business man and
a public-spirited citizen whose influence is at all
times on the side of advancement and improvement.

HUGO W. OTTER.— On November 25, 1920,
Hugo W. Otter passed away mourned by the whole
county of Santa Clara, where he had spent his en-
tire life and was greatly loved and esteemed by all.
He was a man of exceptional business ability, honest
in all dealings, and although of a quiet and retiring
disposition, maintained the business prestige of his
native county. He was born in Santa Clara, Santa
Clara County, on Tebruary 22, 1861, a son of Charles
c-nd Bertha (Knoche) Otter. His father migrated
to California, by way of the Horn, in the year 1848;
six months were consumed in the journey, beset by
many dangers and hardships. For about eight years
he was employed in the mines throughout the state,
then removed to San Jose, where he engaged in the
real estate and insurance business; then for a time
the hotel business engaged his attention. He served
the city of his adoption as councilman for a number
of years, and passed away in 1899, honored and re-
spected by all who knew him; his wife surviving
him until 1901.

Hugo W. Otter attended the public schools of
San Jose and supplemented his education by a six-
year course in the schools and universities of Ger-
many and France. After completing his education,
he learned the plumbing and tinning trade, working
m this line for ten years. It was in the year of 1888
that the firm of Mangrum & Otter was established;
stores were also opened at Palo Alto and San Fran-
cisco, and the business grew steadily from its incep-
tion. All the stores were later disposed of, with the
exception of the one in San Francisco. Mr. Otter
resided in San Jose for many years, and here he was
the most interested.

The first marriage of Mr. Otter united him with
Miss Julia Stegman, who passed away in 1910, leav-
ing two daughters: Mrs. Estella Benn of Oakland,
who has two children, and Mrs. Gladys Switzer of
Coalinga, who has one child. Mr. Otter was married
the second time in Oakland to Miss Regula Knoble,
born in Glarus, Switzerland, coming to America
with her parents, David and Martie (Wahlburg)

1212

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Knoble, who located in San Jose, and she was reared
and educated in that fair city. Her father passed
away May 20, 1906, but her mother is still living.
In his political affiliation, Mr. Otter was a stanch
Republican, and served his community as council-
man. Fraternally he was well known and popular,
and was associated with the Odd Fellows, having
passed through all the chairs, and was for eighteen
years treasurer of the Garden City Lodge; he was
also a member of the Elks and a Knights Templar
and Mason and Shriner. In local afifairs he was
prominent in the Chamber of Commerce and the
One Hundred Per Cent Club of San Jose. Mrs.
Otter is a member of the Eastern Star and the
Rebekahs. Mr. Otter was buried at Oak Hill Ceme-
tery with Masonic and Odd Fellow honors. He was
actuated in all that he did by high ideals and his
life work has been far-reaching and beneficial.

WALTER M. ELMER.— A native son who has
risen to a high degree of success in the nursery busi-
ness is Walter M. Elmer, born in Santa Clara on No-
vember 11, 1891, a son of A. J. and Lovisa (Avery)
Elmer, natives of New York and Michigan, respec-
tively, who came out to California in 1890 and started,
in a small nursery on Sixteenth Street, the nucleus
of the present large nurseries of Elmer Bros.

Walter M. is the fourth eldest in a family of eight
children and was educated in the Horace Mann
school, San Jose high school, after which he was
graduated from Heald's Business College in San
Jose in 1912. From a small boy he worked in his
father's nursery, learning to graft and propagate
trees and shrubbery. While still in the grammar
school, with his older brother, Leon H., he started in
the nursery business, taking over their father's nur-
sery when he retired. The nursery was originally on
Sixteenth Street, then on Twenty-fourth Street, East
San Jose, and it was there they took it over and
started the present firm of Elmer Bros. Nursery.
They outgrew this location and leased land until they
had three ranches under lease in this valley and then
outgrew them and took still larger leases of land. They
now have 400 acres of land in this valley devoted to
their nursery and experimental orchards, where they
are raising all kinds of fruit trees and rose bushes.
They have ninety acres devoted to raising rose bushes
in which they are specializing, and now have over
3,000,000 rose bushes, which are sold in the eastern
market. During the shipping season they employ
from 200 to 250 men to dig, pack and deliver them.
They ship, during the rose season, a carload of rose
bushes per day. Their rose business has become so
large that they grow more roses than any other one
nursery in the world. They began specializing in
growing roses six years ago and the business has
been exceedingly prosperous, growing by leaps and
bounds. They import roses from France and Eng-
land, and have as many as 300 different varieties from
those countries, only the buds from these plants be-
ing used for budding and propagating rose bushes.
In all they now grow over 1,500 different varieties.
The shipping season for rose bushes starts October 1
and continues until December 15; then starts the
shipping of fruit trees which continues until April 1.
requiring about 100 men.

During 1917, they leased land near Loomis, Placer
County, where they are raising much of their fruit
stock. Their headquarters are at 78 South Market

Street, San Jose, on a valuable lot which they own,
while their packing sheds are on Twenty-fourth and
William streets. They own 110 acres near Evergreen,
which they have set out to prunes, peaches and apri-
cots, and also lease a number of prune orchards.
Leon Elmer manages the business end of the com-
pany, while Walter M. looks after the growing, pack-
ing and shipping of their products. The work is
thoroughly systematized, with an experienced fore-
man on each ranch. Great care is exercised in experi-
menting on any new variety of fruit tree before it is
allowed to go on the market, and their patrons know
that they do not put a tree out until it has been
tried out and found satisfactory.

Six years ago Mr. Elmer purchased a lot in Han-
chett Park, where he erected a comfortable home.
He was married in San Jose to Miss Ruby Taylor, a
native of Petaluma, Cal. Fraternally he is a member
of the San Jose Lodge No. 522, B. P. O. Elks, and he
was one of the charter members of the San Jose Com-
mercial Club, a member of the Chamber of Com-
merce, the California Nurserymen's Association and
the Pacific Coast Nursery Association. Mr. and
Mrs. Elmer are members of the Trinity Episcopal
Church of San Jose.

FRANK T. LANNIN.— .\ wide-awake exponent
of the twentieth century methods of successful sales-
manship is Frank T. Lannin. of San Jose, dealer in
real estate, investments, bonds, loans and insurance,
with offices in the First National Bank Building.
He was born in Elk County, Pa., on May 6, 1891,
his parents being John and Agnes (Weitoflf) Lan-
nin, and he is the third of seven sons. In 1905 his
mother, with all his brothers, moved to Ashland,
Va., where they acquired the remaining portion of
the John Mallory plantation and at the early age
of sixteen Frank became the manager and respon-
sible head of the ranch, the brothers preferring to
follow other lines of activity. In December, 1909,
the family came to California, so that while still in
his 'teens Frank became identified with the state.

Mr. Lannin's first position in San Jose, was that
of a proud delivery boy for the compensation of three
dollars per week. Upon hearing that the Farmers'
Union paid more money as well as giving a month's
pay at the end of each successful year, Frank jour-
neyed to the manager, W^. C. Andrews, who was
finally convinced that the store would go broke un-
less Lannin was given a job. After three years' hard
work, having been promoted to a bookkeeper, he de-
cided his education was insufficient and entered San
Jose high school, in 1911. While there he always
took an interest in athletics and other activities and
became known as the "high school politician," in
fact, he visited the principal's office several times on
account of his "political" maneuvers. He was grad-
uated in 1915. Upon graduation he became asso-
ciated with the Rucker Realty Company, and later
with J. R. Chace. Almost immediately upon the
declaration of war, Mr. Lannin enlisted in the army.
He was sent to Camp Kearney for training in May,
1917, and did not return to civilian occupations un-
til March, 1919. He again associated himself with
J. R. Chace and upon whose advice he entered the
real estate business, and has since been so engaged.

An active Republican, with progressive ideas, he
believes governments are instituted for the welfare
and happiness of all of the people. He exerts an

5^^/ ^^^^2.^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1213

enviable influence on behalf of good government
and higher civic pride in local affairs. Active in the
American Legion from the beginning, he is a charter
member of San Jose Post No. 89, of that patriotic
order. He is a past commander of his own post
and as representative from the eighth congressional
district to the first national conference at Minneap-
olis, he helped give impetus to the Legion's ideal of
providing amply for the disabled, regardless of con-
sequences to that order. He is a member of the
Elks, San Jose Commercial Club, the San Jose Coun-
try Club, and the Progressive Business Men's Club.

RALPH ALLEN HUSTED. — A prominent
orchardist of Santa Clara County and one who is
keenly interested in the prosperity of the community
especially along educational lines is Ralph Allen
Husted. A native of Illinois, he was born at Galva,
a son of L. B. and Frances (Brown) Husted, born
in Virginia and Illinois, respectively. His father
was a veteran. Ralph A. came to California in 1888
and was educated in the public schools, the College
of the Pacific and Stanford University. After leav-
ing school he engaged in farming on a part of the
old homestead established by Grandfather Husted,
who was an early pioneer of Santa Clara County.
This ranch he afterwards purchased of the estate
and it consists of forty-eight acres, well-improved
to orchard, and besides providing a home of com-
fort, is proving a most profitable source of income.

The marriage of Mr. Husted in Santa Clara
County united him with Miss Ada Goodrich; she was
born in La Crosse, Wis., a daughter of B. S. Good-
rich, a grain merchant. Mr. Husted was one of the
organizers of the Saratoga Alutual Telephone Com-
pany and served as its president from its organiza-
tion for ten years, and as manager saw to its con-
struction. The company later sold out to the Pacific
Telephone & Telegraph Company. Politically he is
a Republican and has served the community as a
member of the school board of the district. He is a
Knights Templar Mason and a Shriner and with his
wife is a member of the Eastern Star. He is deeply
interested in the growth of the county and gives
his aid to progressive measures and takes pride in
advancing the affairs of county and state.

HERMAN B. KRAUSE.— Early recognizing the
fact that determination and energy are salient fea-
tures in the attainment of success, Herman B.
Krause has so directed his labors that he is now-
classed with the leading business men of his sec-
tion of the state. A native son, he was born in
San Jose, Cal.. January 29, 1892, his parents. Otto
and Eleanor (Volheim) Krause having migrated to
California in the year 1890. The father was. for a
number of years a successful manufacturer of sur-
gical instruments, but now engaged in the manufac-
ture of brass goods, his foundry being located on
River Street near Santa Clara Street.

The oldest of their three children, Herman B.
Krause, gained his education in the San Jose gram-
mar and high schools and later supplemented his
training by special courses in his profession, thus
becoming very proficient in his chosen work of de-
signing and decorating. He was first employed
by Mr. H. Lewis remaining with him for eleven
years. In the year 1920, however, he established his
own business, that of architectural designer and in-
terior decorator; he has designed many of the store
fronts in the city, and is an authority on the interior

decoration of homes, displaying an artistry that has
won for him unqualified praise and an increasing
clientele. He maintains offices in the Bank of San
Jose Building, and devotes himself steadily to his
business, as he is greatly interested in his profes-
sion, and prides himself on doing first-class work.

Mr. Krause's marriage united him with Miss Iva
Jenny, born in Idaho. Fraternally he is a member
of San Jose Lodge No. 522, Elks; he is a past presi-
dent of San Jose Parlor N. S. G. W.; also a member
of the Chamber of Commerce, and the Progressive
Business Men's Club. He concentrates upon the
work at hand, accomplishes his purposes by unfal-
tering determination and well-defined methods, and
while active in connection with public interests, he
has gained for himself a most creditable position
as a representative in his profession, his knowledge
being comprehensive and exact.

CAPT. WALTER A. PAGE.— For the past four-
teen years Capt. Walter A. Page has bee-i identified
with the fire department of San Jose, having fivst
entered this work as tillerman of truck No. 1 and
in 1909 he was made captain of Chemical No. 1; he
was then transferred to Chemical No. 5 and has
since been employed in that capacity. He was born
in San Jose, Cal., on March 11, 1871, and was the
son of Samuel S. and Bridget (McGovern) Page;
the father was a native of Yorkshire, England, and
the mother was born in County Meath, Ireland.
When a young man of twenty-five, the father came
to California, settled in San Jose and took a position
under Sam Bishop in the street car company and
remained with this company for a number of years,
then became a watchman for the Pacific Manufac-
turing Company, located at Santa Clara, later going
into the express and transfer business in San Jose,
in which he was engaged when he retired. He
passed away in San Jose at the age of seventy-
seven, while the mother lived to be seventy-two years
old. Samuel S. Page was very active for a number
of years in New York in railroad work before com-
ing to San Jose, being connected with the New York
Central lines until coming to California. He was a
strong adherent of the views and policies of the
Democratic party, and active in its affairs.

Walter received his education in the old St. Joseph
School on the corner of San Pedro and San Fer-
nando streets, where the business of Benson and
Weaver now stands. After he finished his school-
ing there, he took a course in the Garden City B.usi-
ness College under H. B. Wooster, who was the
head of the college at that time, and at the age of
seventeen he became employed for awhile with
George B. McKee and Company, paint manufac-
turers and dealers in painters' supplies, located at
Second and San Fernando streets. In 1907 he took
a position with the San Jose Fire Department as
tillerman of Truck No. 1, then in 1909 was made
captain of Chemical No. 1, and later was transferred
to Chemical No. 5, and has been in this station since
that time. This branch covers all of the southwest
portion of San Jose and has facilities for recharging
chemicals while at a fire, having two sets of fire
fighting apparatus, so that while one is in use, the
other can be recharged. Chemical No. 5 responds
to fire calls outside of San Jose, both to the south
and to the west and for the splendid services ren-
dered a fee of fifty dollars is charged, this being

1214

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

turned over to the city fire department. During the
last year Chemical No. 5 earned $1,200 for San Jose
in fighting fires outside of the city.

Mr. Page's marriage, which occurred on April 11,
1894, at San Jose, united him with Miss Bessie
Newman, who was born in San Jose, a daughter of
Owen and Catherine (Murphy) Newman. Her
father was born in Germany and her mother was
born in San Jose, Mr. Newman being a cigar manu-
facturer and a merchant. Mrs. Page received her
education in the Convent of Notre Dame. Mr. and
Mrs. Page are the parents of two children: Har-
riet M. is the wife of Joseph A. Maissoneuve, and
Albert Joseph is assistant manager of the advertising
department of the Mercury-Herald at San Jose. Mr.
Page is a member of the Equitable Fraternal Union,
and also is a member of the Degree of Honor.

THEODORE JOHN MORRIS.— Among the cit-
izens of Santa Clara County who, by his culture,
education and extensive travel before locating in
this favored section of the globe, did much to build
up, improve and make the valley more beautiful,
was the late Theodore John Morris, who was born
at Harrison, Ohio, July 21, 1849, and was educated
in the schools of his native city. Mr. Morris had
an interesting and somewhat unusual career. For
thirty-four years he was in mercantile life in Yoko-
hama, Japan, and for the greater portion of that
time was connected with the China-Japan Trading
Company. This concern was for many years the
oldest and largest trading company in the far East.
Mr. Morris went to Japan at the age of nineteen,
and upon his arrival met some of the great states-
men of the country, and some of these were included
in classes which were formed to study English and
for which he was tutor. During the first three years
of his residence in Japan he w^as instructor of Eng-
lish in some of the most prominent Japanese families.
He had a rich fund of Japanese stories which he re-
lated at one time to Edward Greey, a New York
writer, who published them in narrative form; all
but one of the stories contained in these publica-
tions were gathered by Mr. Morris.

In 1901, Mr. Morris came to California and, look-
ing over the state for a home, he finally bought the
old Miller place, two miles from Los Gatos, and
started the resort known as the Nippon Mura Inn.
Tourists from all parts of the world who visit this
valley include Nippon Mura Inn in their itinerary.
The site is a very beautiful one and the owner fre-
quently stated that it reminded him of Japan. Not
the least of the attractions of the beautiful resort
was the personality of the genial and lovable host.
Mr. Morris passed away at his home place. Crescent
Dell, on November 21, 1914, leaving his widow in
possession of the entire estate.

Mrs. Morris was born in the pilgrim town of
Duxbury, Mass., and is eighth lineal descendant of
Governor William Bradford, the second governor of
Plymouth Colony. She is the second daughter of
Capt. George F. and Lucy (Bradford) Nickerson,
born in Boston and Duxbury, Mass., respectively,
Capt. Nickerson having had one of the most re-
markable careers of any of the deep-sea captains
on the Atlantic coast. As owner and master of his
vessel he sailed for many years into the different
important foreign ports of the world. During one
of Capt. Nickerson's voyages. Lucy Nickerson ac-

companied her father and mother on a trip around
the world, and in Yokohama she met Mr. Morris
and the acquaintance resulted in their marriage five
years later. Mr. Morris lived long enough to see
the fulfillment of his ambition for Nippon Mura.
and his life was no doubt prolonged by his having
lived in the beautiful Santa Clara Valley. In all
their plans for the improvement and beautifying of
Nippon Mura, Mr. and Mrs. Morris were ably as-
sisted by Mrs. Morris' sister, Miss Helen Frances
Nickerson, who lived with them in Japan and came
here with them, and has been active in the work for
the entire twenty-one years.

THE NIPPON MURA INN.— A picturesque spot
in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains is the
site of the Nippon Mura Inn, fifty-two miles south
of San Francisco and ten ntiles from San Jose on the
San Jose-Los Gatos Interurban Railroad, halfway
between Saratoga and Los Gatos. It is on the fam-
ous Twenty-Seven Mile Drive through the foothills
of the Santa Cruz mountains. The Nippon Mura
Inn was given this name by its founders, Mr. and
Mrs. Theodore J. Morris, who had spent many years
in Japan. The first unit of the Inn was laid out in
1901 in semi-Japanese style, and steadily the plant
has grown until there are twelve buildings and sev-
eral cottages. The plant is surrounded by thirty
acres of grounds and is open all the year. Tourists
and people in general are attracted to this spot on
account of the equable climate and many who stop
there locate permanently in the beautiful Santa Clara
valley. Everything has been done to preserve the
beauty of the natural scenery, and here may be
found the quiet, comforts and luxuries of country
life; the climate is unsurpassed, and there are de-
lightful drives and walks in the vicinity to give re-
creation and enjoyment to the guests.

HERMAN ISAACSON.— A business man of
many years residence here, Herman Isaacson, is one
of the partners of the Farmers Grain and Poultry
Supply, which was established in the year of 1892,
and although Mr. Isaacson has changed partners,
he has stayed at his post, giving the good service
that has given this firm its enviable reputation.

Herman Isaacson was born in Finland, in 1870,
and was educated in the schools of his native land.
At the age of nineteen, came to the United States
and locating in Pennsylvania, he worked there for
about a year, and then went to Salt Lake City, Utah,
where he spent a short time. Spending another
year in Santa Cruz County, he came on to Santa
Clara County, arriving in San Jose in 1892. Here
he went into business with a Mr. Gaynor, engaging
in the sale of grain and poultry supplies, where they
continued for some time. Then Mr. Gaynor sold
out to a F. A. Linquist.

Mr. Isaacson's marriage united him with Miss
Emma C. Linquist, who was a native of New York
State, though a resident of San Jose. Her father
is C. A. Linquist of San Jose. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac-
son are the parents of a son, Raymond Melville.
Mr. Isaacson is a member of the Modern Woodmen
of America, and of the Druids. He is a loyal sup-
porter of all those interests which make for the
development and the upbuilding of the community,
giving his aid and influence at all times on the side
of progress and improvement. In national politics.

^'SLcrx.LoYt.VX

CTY^Y-L^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1217

he is independent in his views, being influenced in
his choice by the character of the candidates for
office and the good measures they represent instead
of being controlled merely by party ties.

WILFRED A. McDANIEL.— The younger gen-
eration of business men of San Jose includes none
more energetic and promising than Wilfred A. Mc-
Daniel. general contractor and builder, who was
born in that city on August 15, 1874, the son of
J. J. and Amanda (Fine) McDaniel. born in Ken-
tucky and Missouri, respectively. His father came
to Montana in 1866 and followed mining there un-
til about 1868. when he came to Santa Clara County,
Cal., and here he married Amanda Fine, who came
to California across the plains with her parents in
1849, when a babe of six months. Mr. McDaniel
became interested in contracting and building here
and died in 1918. Mrs. McDaniel is still living.

Wilfred A. McDaniel was educated in the Hester
School and the San Jose State Normal and after
finishing his schooling he studied dentistry under Dr.
DeCrow for several years, but was obliged to give
it up on account of failing eyesight. In 1900 he
made a trip to Nome, Alaska, where with his
brother, E. J. McDaniel, he followed mining, re-
maining in that region for eight years, and making
a trip to Siberia in 1905. On returning to San Jose
he engaged in contracting and building, and has
erected some of the finest residences on the Alameda
at Hester Park and Hanchett Park, among them
being the three Singletary residences, and built the
Growers Bank. He is a member of the Builders'
Exchange.

In San Jose, in 1914, Mr. McDaniel was married
to Miss Ada L. Bayley of San Jose, a native of New
York, and they have two children, Wilfred A., Jr.,
and Dorothy Irene. Mr. McDaniel is a highly re-
spected member of the community, deeply interested
in all that pertains to the welfare of his native
country, and he finds great pleasure in all out-of-
door sports. The son of a Confederate soldier who
served throughout the great conflict between the
North and the South, Mr. McDaniel is likewise a
stanch adherent of the Democratic party.

ERNEST O. PIEPER.— Prominent among the ex-
perienced, far-seeing and thoroughly up-to-date men
of pronounced enterprise to whom Santa Clara
County has come to look for a progressive leader-
ship such as a fast-developing state demands in
order to keep pace with the swift-moving twentieth
century, may well be mentioned Ernest O. Pieper,
the president and popular manager of the Braslan
Seed Growers' Company, Inc. He is not only a
native son, but he first saw the light at San Jose,
on May 13, 1875, when he entered the family of
John Henry and Adele (Hoflman) Pieper, natives
of Germany, but who came to California in the early
'60s and here married.

Ernest finished the courses of the grammar school,
and then spent two years at the high school, after
which he entered the office of the dentist. Dr. J. L.
Asay, where he remained for a year, resigning to go
to Astoria, Ore., and there associated himself with
Dr. W. C. Logan, another dental expert. In 1897
he passed the required examinations and became a
licensed dentist, and then he returned to San Fran-
cisco and became the traveling representative of the
J. W. Edwards Dental Supply Company, one of the

leading houses in the United States. He next en-
tered the dental department of the College of Physi-
cians and Surgeons in San Francisco, for extended
study and was graduated therefrom in 1900. Two
dentists in turn offered him lucrative engagements,
and with one he worked successfully for three years.

In 1902 Doctor Pieper returned to San Jose and
opened an office of his own; and until 1911 he con-
tinued to be one of the leading exponents of modern
dentistry in Santa Clara County. Then he joined
the Braslan Seed Growers Company, Inc., and be-
came the efficient president and manager, and much
of the success of the concern in rendering a service
highly appreciated by its patrons is undoubtedly due
to the conscientious attention of Doctor Pieper to
every detail in the daily routine.

At San Jose, on July 5, 1909, Dr. Pieper was mar-
ried to Miss Rae G. Gagliardo, a native daughter,
born in Amador County, and the daughter of John
Henry Gagliardo; one child, a son named Ernest O.
Pieper, Jr., has blessed this union. Dr. Pieper be-
longs to the Elks, the Country Club, the Rotary
Club, the Sainte Claire Club, the Commercial Club
and the Chamber of Commerce, serving as president
1921-22; while in national political affairs he pulls a
long steady stroke for the principles enunciated by
the Republican party.

CEDRIC RAE RICHMOND.— A rising young
man who is taking his place among the representatvie
citizens of San Jose is Cedric Rae Richmond, one
of the stockholders and a plant superintendent of
the Richmond-Chase Company. A native of San
Jose, he was born on December 11, 1888, the son
ot George and Rosalie fMcPhail) Richmond, who
.~ame to California in 1865, and settled in the Sacra-
mento Valley, where Mr. Richmond engaged in
farming. Later he came to San Jose, where he be-
came interested in the fruit packing industry, taking
charge of the dry fruit department of the J. K.
Armsby Fruit Company and holding this responsible
position until he retired. Mr. Richmond passed away
in December, 1918, while the mother is still a resi-
dent of San Jose.

Cedric Rae Richmond attended the grammar
school and also the high school at San Jose, and
upon completing his training, he started out to make
his own way. Engaging in the same work in which
his father had been so successful, he first took a posi-
tion with the J. K. Armsby Company and was with
ihem for a period of fifteen j'ears, learning all the
dififerent branches of the packing business. He
then became identified with the Richmond-Chase
Company of San Jose, but when the United States
became involved in the world conflict, he showed his
patriotism by leaving his business and enlisting on
August 5, 1917, in the U. S. Army. Detailed to the
field artillery, he trained at Camp Kearney, Cal.,
and later at Fort Sill, Okla. He sailed with the
U. S. troops in July, 1918, from Hoboken, N. J., to
Liverpool, thence to Southampton and across to
Havre, serving with several diiTerent outfits in the
field artillery. After attending the officers' training
camp, he was commissioned second lieutenant, and
in France his capability was given recognition by
his promotion to the rank of captain in the field
artillery. After six months' overseas service, he re-
turned from Bordeaux, France, and on January 29,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1919, he received his honorable discharge from the
service at the Presidio at San Francisco. On his re-
turn to San Jose, he became a member of the Rich-
mond-Chase Company.

On December 21, 1920, Mr. Richmond was mar-
ried in San Jose to Miss Josephine Dunne, also a
native of San Jose and a daughter of Peter J. Dunne.
Mrs. Richmond is a graduate of the University of
California. Mr. and Mrs. Richmond are popular in
the social circles of San Jose and take an interested
part in all of its affairs. Mr. Richmond is a mem-
ber of the Olympic Club of San Francisco, the Sainte
Claire Club of San Jose and of the San Jose Country
Club. He shows a public-spirited interest in the
civic life of the community and politically, is inde-
pendent in his views.

ADOLPH V. SCHUBERT.— Prominent in fra-
ternal circles, Adolph V. Schubert has been engaged
as the secretary of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks of San Jose since 191S. He is a native
of Illinois, having been born in Chicago, on June
15, 1871, a son of Frank and Antonia Schubert; the
family came to San Jose in 1890 and still make their
home here.

Adolph Schubert received his education in the
public schools of Illinois, also attending a private
Gchool, where he gained a good training and when
he became a young man, he engaged in the jewelry
business for some time. Having decided rnusical
talents, he engaged as a musical director and directed
theatrical orchestras, where he enjoyed a large degree
of success and popularity.

In 1915 Mr. Schubert was selected as secretary
of the local Elks lodge and has been in this position
since that time, having complete charge of all of
the business that has to be transacted and all details
of the building; in fact, he attends to all the im-
portant business affairs that come up, a position of
no small responsibility, since the membership is now
more than 1,000. Mr. Schubert is also a Scottish
Rite Mason and a Shriner, taking active part in all
the affairs of these organizations in which he is also
very popular. He gave freely of his time during
the various war drives, especially in the Salvation
Army drive, and helped to put it "over the top."
Mr. Schubert is very fond of all outdoor sports and
spends his leisure moments in fishing and mountain
trips. In national politics he is a Republican.

THOMAS E. SMITH.— A public-spirited citizen
of Saratoga who is succeeding in the general mer-
chandise bu.siness is Thomas E. Smith. He was born
in Yorkshire, England, in 1876, the son of John and
Eliza (Bilton) Smith. When but ten years old he
came to America with his family, who later returned
to England for his family, and on coming back to
California resumed ranching at Saratoga, in which
he has since been engaged. Thomas E. Smith's
early education began in the schools of Saratoga
and meantime helped his father on the farm and thus
became well equipped for his life work. He then
began clerking in a store and in 1908 he purchased
the store and built up the business until it is a
model establishment.

The marriage of Mr. Smith united him with Miss
Laura Cloud, a daughter of Samuel Cloud, who
came here in the '80s. They are the parents of two
children, Charles Herbert and Elsie Gertrude. He
is a stanch Republican and fraternally is an Odd

Fellow, in which order he is a past grand;
also a member of the Encampment, and with his
wife is a member of the Rebekahs. He also belongs
to the Foresters of America. He is serving his
locality as a school trustee and is a member and
trustee of the Congregational Church in Saratoga.
He is active in civic affairs as a member of the Sara-
toga Improvement Club and the Men's Club. His
best efforts are always cast on the side of progress
and he is constantly seeking out new methods to
develop and enlarge his business.

MANUEL MONTOYA.— The spirit of Western
enterprise finds exemplification in Manuel Montoya,
who has steadily worked his way upward through
application to his cement contracting business until
he now ranks with the leading cement contractors
of San Jose. He is a native son of California, his
birth having occurred on the Almaden Road about
two miles from San Jose, February 10, 1862. His
father was Peter Montoya, a native of Sonora, Mex-
ico, who became one of the early settlers of Santa
Clara County, taking up his residence near San Jose
in 1830. He married Miss Guadalupe Podia, and of
their large family there are six living children.

Manuel Montoya attended the Guadalupe Mines
public school for only a short time, and when but
nine years of age was riding a horse and helping
care for stock. About 1884 he came to San Jose and
was employed as a teamster; a year later he pur-
chased a couple of good teams and began hauling
sand and gravel for building and street work in the
city, and doing contract teaming. In' the early days
he paid his employees a dollar and a half per day
and sold his gravel for fifty and seventy cents a load
— a marked contrast to present-day conditions,
gravel now selling at two dollars a yard, while his
emplo5'ees receive from six and one-half to nine
dollars per day. For the past fourteen years Mr.
Montoya has been doing cement contracting and
he has done a large amount of work for some of the
leading people of the county who know his reliabil-
ity and progressive methods, and these have enabled
him to build up an extensive business. He spent
about ten years on a ranch at San Mateo for Alvinza
Hayward from 1895 to 1905.

In San Jose, Mr. Montoya was united in marriage
with Mrs. Antonia (Carlos) Patrone, who was born
November 26, 1860. Her father, Peter Carlos,
emigrated from Germany to the United States, be-
coming a resident of San Jose in 1850. Here he
became well known as a barber, conducting one of
the early shops in the city. Antonia was the eldest
of their family. She first married Phillip De Soto,
and has three living children by that marriage. Her
second union was with Fred Patrone and she had one
child by that marriage.

Mr. and Mrs. Montoya are members of St. Joseph's
Catholic Church, and he is serving as financial
director for the Mexican Society of San Jose. He is
also a member of the Order of Good Fellows. He
owns his residence at 351 Keyes Street and also has
other valuable real estate in San Jose. In his busi-
ness affairs he has displayed keen discernment and
unfaltering enterprise and the years have marked his
progress along the lines which lead to success. In the
commercial circles of San Jose his standing is of the
highest and in all matters of citizenship his influence
is on the side of progress and improvement.

^■^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1221

JEFFERSON F. TATHAM— An energetic, pro-
gressive business man who has done much to solve
various problems pertaining to the health, comfort
and general welfare of the public in Santa Clara
County is JefTerson F. Tathani, the efficient and popu-
lar manager of the San Jose Ice Company. He was
born a native son, proud of his association with the
great California commonwealth, at Casper, in Mendo-
cino County, on December 15, 1S80, the son of John
and Sonoma — so called from the county where she
was born — (Pendergrast) Tatham, both of whom were
also natives of California. The family came to Santa
Clara County in 1898, and there John Tatham passed
away. His devoted wife, the mother of our subject,
is still living in San Jose.

Jefferson attended the schools of San Benito
County, and was graduated from the Hollister high
school in 1898. Then he profited by the courses in
Heald's Business College in San Jose, having pre-
viously ■ clerked in a grocery store. He was book-
keeper for the Edenvale Fruit Company for two
years, and he had charge of the Hayes plant there.
Then he went to the New Almaden mine as book-
keeper and cashier for three years, and then was ap-
pointed general manager of all their California prop-
erties, the concern being a New York corporation;
later he became a stockholder and was elected direc-
tor and treasurer of the corporation and was assistant
to the president of the corporation, continuing with
them for eight years. A brief history of the magni-
tude of the New Almaden mine is interesting and in-
structive. The Indians first discovered the deposits
and for many years used the cinnabar ore (a bright
red) for war paint. When the Mexican government
obtained control, they granted it to an American,
who opened the mine and ran it for many years until
a New York corporation was formed. The Quick-
silver Mining Company that took over the property
developed it until it became the second largest quick-
silver mine in the world, being only exceeded in rich-
ness by the Almaden mine in Spain — though this
mine had a greater output because the Almaden
mine in Spain was limited by Spain, in its work and
output. A record of the workings and production
of the New Almaden mine have been kept since 1848.
The richness of the mine can best be shown by stat-
ing the fact that one year the ore ran over 76.4%.
The property comprises 8800 acres in the southwest-
ern part of Santa Clara County; of this 1500 acres is
tillable land and the balance grazing land, though all is
mineral bearing land. In 1913 the New York company
leased the mine for twenty-five years and it is now
being operated under this lease. During Mr. Tat-
ham's management, he started new development,
blocking out a new ore body that has since proven
very rich and valuable and now forms the active
workings of the mine. There are over 125 miles
of underground work with tunnels, shafts, drifts, etc..
and the deepest portion is 2550 feet, but the great-
est depth at which ore has been found is 2400 feet;
however, the best ore seems to lie between 800 and
1500 feet. The property is well improved with fences,
roads, dwellings and they have employed as high as
2500 men at one time.

Still progressing from various angles, Mr. Tat-
ham ranched for two years, after that was with
the California Peach Growers, Inc., for a while at
Fresno, and from there came to his present posi-

tion five years ago, or July 1, 1917. The San Jose
Ice Company produces only the finest grade of ice,
and to such an extent is its up-to-date organization
appreciated that it requires twelve trucks to accom-
modate all of their regular retail and wholesale cus-
tomers. The plant of the company is at San Augus-
tine and Center streets.

The marriage of Mr. Tatham occurred at Modesto
and united him with Mrs. Celia Walker Simpson, a
native of Santa Monica, but educated in the schools
of Santa Cruz. In national politics a Democrat, yet
decidedly above party when it comes to working for
what he knows to be best, Mr. Tatham neglects no
opportunity to help every approved local movement,
especially those seeking to upbuild as well as to
build up the city and environs; and he is equally in-
fluential and helpful in the fraternal circles of the
Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and the
San Jose parlor of the N. S. G. W.

HARLEY B. MILLER. — Many of the con-
veniences of life which tend to make San Jose al-
ways one of the most desirable of home cities not
merely in California but in America are undoubtedly
due to the experience, progressiveness and enterprise
of such far-seeing men of industry as Harley B.
Miller, the well-known plumbing contractor, whose
establishment is at 348 East Santa Clara Street. He
was born at Rochester. Ind., on April 12, 1889, the
son of Henry Miller, who came to San Jose in 1890
and who was for twenty years a wholesale dealer in
paper here. He is now living retired with his wife,
who was Miss Mary Sanders before her marriage.
Highly esteemed for both what they were and what
they have tried to be in relation to the communities
in which they have lived, labored and thrived, Mr.
and Mrs. Miller may look back with considerable
satisfaction upon the past, and an equal confidence
toward the future.

Harley Miller enjoyed the advantages of a com-
mon school education, but when still a lad went to
work, to establish the foundation for a living. He
learned the plumbing trade with Moltzen and Keaton.
worked at it in San Jose for a time, then followed
it for three years in the State of Washington, where
he had his own shop at Spokane. In 1915 he came
back to San Jose and at once opened up a business
for himself. From the beginning he found that the
San Jose public could fully appreciate good work,
at whatever reasonable cost; and it is not surprising
that he has been called upon to do some of the best
work required in the city. His contracts have in-
cluded the Gilman Apartments, the Robinson Groc-
ery and apartment block, and many fine residences
such as those of Nicora, Tarmain, Dr. Kress
and others, his business being confined to his private
trade. He employs five men, and since he came to
California first from Rochester. Ind., in 1890, has wit-
nessed the marvelous development of building, to
which he himself has contributed not a little. Be-
sides plumbing, he also does expert sheet-metal work.

At Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in 1910, Mr. Miller was
married to Miss Grace Sullivan, a native of Canada,
and the daughter of John Sullivan, a millwright, in
Canada. Three children, Herbert Wilfred, Mary
Elizabeth and Robert Stanley, have come to bless
the Miller home, and a happy family circle is there.
He is a member of the Odd Fellows and is indepen-
dent in politics, and believes that through such broad-

1222

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

er nonpartisanship he is able to exercise a far more
salutary influence on civic and social life, helping all
the better and quicker in the great work of up-
building the city.

PATRICK EUGENE VAUGHAN.— An enter-
prising business man whose foresight, up-to-date
methods and optimism as to the future of Santa
Clara County have made him a leader sought by
many, is Patrick Eugene Vaughan, the president of
the Western Well Works at San Jose. He was
born in Mecklenburg County, Va., December 2,
1882, the son of George Vaughan, the railroad con-
tractor long so widely known, and his good wife,
who was Mary Thompson before her marriage. They
were devoted parents, and Patrick enjoyed the ad-
vantages of the best Virginia public schools.

At the age of sixteen, however, he left home, and
for several years he engaged in railroad, oil well
or waterworks labor, following successive oil booms.
In 1906 he came to San Francisco, and from there
pushed inland to Bakersfield and later San Jose;
and in 1915, when the Western Well Works was
established, he became its president. He has re-
mained at the head of the notable organization ever
since, and much of its flourishing condition is un-
doubtedly due to his ability to study the past and
to forecast the future, as few among his contempo-
raries have a better knowledge of this field.

Mr. Vaughan belongs to the Chamber of Com-
merce, and also to the B. P. O. Elks; and in na-
tional politics he is a Republican. Those knowing
the whole-heartedness with which he supports every
worth-while movement likely to benefit the com-
munity need not be told that in all local affairs he
casts partisanship to the winds, and works hard and
unremittingly to attain success.

JOHN P. FITZGERALD.— A distinguished rep-
resentative of the legal profession in California of
whom Santa Clara County in particular is natural-
ly proud, is John P. Fitzgerald, the scholarly, ef-
ficient and popular assistant district attorney, who
was born at the New Almaden Mines, Santa Clara
County, Cal., on April 18, 1875. so that he is for-
tunately a native son. His father, Thomas Fitz-
gerald, came to California by way of Panama in
1853, and his mother. Miss Mary Cullen in maiden-
hood, also crossed the Isthmus, in the latter '50s,
and they were married here. They first settled at
Gilroy, but in time they removed to the New Al-
maden Mines where they conducted a dairy. Re-
turning to Gilroy. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald con-
tinued to reside there until his death in 1888. The
devoted and honored mother is still living. They
had five children, all living.

John went to the grammar and high schools at
Gilroy, and when he was given an opportunity,
studied law in private law offices, his studies being
affected by the responsibility thrust upon him, at
his father's death, of having to care for the home
ranch. But he persevered, as might be expected
of one bearing his time-honored family name, and
in 1897 was admitted to the Bar in Cahfornia. He
practiced for a while at Gilroy. and then removed
to San Jose, where he was a deputy under James
H. Campbell. He also sat on the Superior Court
Bench, to fill out an unexpired term, and then
he returned to private practice. In 1919. Judge
Fitzgerald entered the office of the district attor-

ney for Santa Clara County, and here he has been,
to everybody's satisfaction, ever since, an able, fear-
less, but broadminded and sympathetic prosecutor.
In matters of national politics a Democrat, Mr.
Fitzgerald still finds it possible and agreeable, as a
nonpartisan citizen and neighbor, to put his shoulder
to the wheel with others, and work for whatever is
best for the community at large, thus stimulating
the rapid and permanent growth of the city, and
helping along its sound development.

At Los Angeles, in November, 1915, Mr. Fitz-
gerald was married to Miss Edith M. Barge, born
in Canada, at Niagara Falls, and they had a son,
Edward Victor, who died, aged three years. Mr.
Fitzgerald is past exalted ruler of the Elks, past
state president Y. M. I., member of the Hibernians,
in which he has served as state grand vice-president,
the Foresters, the N. S. G. W., the Modern Wood-
men and the Lions Club. He is fond of outdoor
life, and has a special liking for baseball.

ELTON RANDALL SHAW.— An eminently use-
ful and esteemed citizen of Santa Clara County.
Elton Randall Shaw, has been an important factor
m advancing the dried and canned fruit industry of
this section of the state. Born in San Francisco,
August 8, 1867. he is the son of the famous portrait
painter, Stephen William Shaw, and Mary Frances
(Meacham), both natives of New England. Stephen
William Shaw came across the Isthmus in 1849,
and reached California on the ship Humboldt. His
father, Seth Shaw, a farmer, was a native of Wind-
sor, Vt., and his mother was Elizabeth Barrett of
Massachusetts, whose ancestors came over from
England in the Mayflower. Many heirlooms have
been handed down to the present generation, and
;ire prized very highly. Mary Frances Meacham, a
native of New England, was the daughter of General
Meacham, a famous hero of the Modoc wars. Her
family came to California in the early days, and
Mary Frances is said to have the distinction of being
the first white female child to cross the plains to the
Pacific Coast. Many were the hardships encoun-
tered, but with true pioneer fortitude, they reached
their destination without serious mishap.

Elton Randall Shaw received his education in the
public school of San Francisco, which on the advice
of his father, he later supplemented with a course
<-!.t the Art Institute of that city. During the sum-
mer vacation in 1885. he journed to San Jose and
was employed in the fruit industry, returning to San
Francisco for the fall term. During the next season
he returned, and was employed in the first year of
the Flickinger Cannery. Upon leaving the Art In-
stitute he took up the study of mechanical and
steam engineering, completing this course within
two years. When but twenty-four years of age, he
began the practice of his profession as construction
engineer, and for a number of years he followed this
line of work, in the mining industry of California
and New Mexico. However the fruit industry, with
its varied lines, appealed to him from its mechanical
side, and in 1890 he became superintendent of a
drying plant, gradually working into the fruit can-
ning business, and later the preserving branch which
now occupies his full attention as president and
general manager of the Shaw Family, Inc.

The first marriage of Mr. Shaw occurred April
3, 1893, which united him with Miss Mary Suther-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1225

land, .vho died in 1913. She was the daughter of
Spencer Sutherland, a resident of Saratoga. Three
children were born to them, Mary Frances, Elton
Sutherland and Marjorie, all living. His second
marriage occurred November 7, 1918, in San Fran-
cisco, uniting him with Miss Grace E. Russell of
San Jose, a daughter of John H. Russell. For three
years in early life Mr. Shaw was a member of the
Second Artillery of the National Guard of California.
During the years of 1914-15, he served as police and
fire commissioner of the city of San Jose, and was
city councilman from 1916 to 1920. Politically, he
is an advocate of the Republican party. He is ac-
tively affiliated with the San Jose Country Club, the
San Jose Chamber of Commerce, and the Rotary
Club of San Jose. He is an ardent believer in the
teachings of Jesus Christ, and with his family, holds
memberships in church organizations in San Jose.
.-\mong his associates he enjoys the confidence born
of well-applied industry, personal integrity, and
devotion to the welfare of his city and state.

WILLIAM HENRY JAMES— Among the pio-
neers who came to California to take advantage of
the opportunities that were afforded in the new
country, the James family have been identified with
Santa Clara County for more than a half century and
among the present representatives of these far-sighted
people is William Henry James, who is keeping up
the good characteristics of his forefathers, and is
working for the development of his community.

Mr. James was born twelve miles southwest of
San Jose on September 3, 1882, at Guadalupe Mines,
Santa Clara County, a son of Charles H. and Jane
(Tucker) James, w'ho were both pioneers of Cali-
fornia, having come to California in about the year
1865; the father was born in Penzance, Cornwall,
England, and they w-ere married in this state. He
carne to America and in time to California where he
mined at New Idria and New Almaden. Thirty-five
years ago he started the transfer business now man-
aged by our subject. He and his estimable wife are
both living here retired.

William H., the fourth oldest in a family of six
children, received his education in the public schools
of San Jose and when he grew up, he followed in
his father's footsteps and learned the transfer busi-
ness. In 1909 he became a partner in the business and
took over the management, thus relieving him of the
responsibilities, the firm being known as the City
Truck and Transfer Company, and is one of the
three pioneer transfer companies of San Jose. He
has a large local business, such as freight and furni-
ture and it has grown in volume until it requires
five trucks and four teams to handle it. The firm
owns the two-story building at 133 North Market
Street in which tliey are located, which is ,90x193
feet, and extends from Market to San Pedro Street,
also having a warehouse on the S. P. Railroad with
a switch from the main line. In addition to his
trucking he does a large storage business.

Mr. James was married in San Jose, August 23,
1904, to Miss Effie Carper and they became the
parents of three children: Raymond Charles, Wilma
Maud, and EtTie Estelle. Mr. James is a member of
San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M. and also of
Pyramid Lodge No. 9 of the Sciots and also San
Jose Parlor No. 22, N. S. G. W. and the Junior Order
of American Mechanics. He is very active in the

Chamber of Commerce, and Merchants' Association,
also the Builders' Exchange and the Drayman's As-
sociation. The family reside at 162 Viola Street.

A. ATHENOUR & BROS.— The owners of a fine
vineyard in the Los Gatos district, the firm of A. Ath-
enour & Bros, have developed a splendid business,
the products of their vineyard being shipped all over
the country. Natives of sunny France, the three
brothers, Albert, Henry and Leon, were born near
Gap, Hautes-Alps. Their father, Jean Athenour,
with his three brothers, started to California in 1852,
but one brother died at Panama while they were en
route. On arriving at San Francisco, Jean Athenour
went to Placerville. where he followed mining, re-
maining in California for eight years and becoming
a citizen of the United States. In 1860 he returned
to France and married, following farming until he
brought his wife and four children to California in
1888. He first located in Los Angeles, then engaged
in fruit raising on a ranch of 189 acres in Fresno
County. In 1894 he came to San Jose and started a
bakery on Post and Vine Streets and later a store
on Post Street, near First, continuing in the business
for ten years. He passed away in 1909, survived by
his widow and four children: Clara, Mrs. Junqua;
Albert, Henry and Leon. Removing to Los Gatos,
where they owned a ranch on Redmon Road, the
brothers later purchased a vineyard of 137 acres on
Branham Road, formerly the property of Mr. Freis-
lag. Both places are now devoted to fruit, and bring
in a handsome income.

L. M. Athenour is the manager of the business,
and with his brothers he gives all of his time and
efifort to its development. He was married on July
26, 1908, to Miss Louise Rispaud of Saratoga, Cal.,
and one child has been born to them, a son, Leon, Jr.
Mrs. Athenour was born at Long Bridge, this county,
a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Colpin) Ris-
paud, a pioneer of Long Bridge, and she is next to
the youngest in a family of six children.

Mr. Athenour is a Republican in politics and in
fraternal life is affiliated with the Odd Fellows in San
Jose, being past grand of Lodge No. 242 in San Jose
and is past district deputy. Industrious and ener-
getic, he takes a genuine interest in all neighborhood
affairs, and can ever be found on the side of progress.

LELAND H. WALKER.— A native son of Cali-
fornia, born at Santa Cruz, and later of Los Gatos
and San Jose, Leland H. Walker is a citizen of
ability and energy and as such has contributed his
best efforts in the advancement of this community.
Born November 5. 1888, his parents were William
S. and Margaret R. (Montross) Walker; his father
came to California in the early sixties, and was em-
ployed in the mines; later he established the Los
Gatos News, and then bought the Los Gatos Mail.
He was engaged in the newspaper business all his
life up to the time that he passed away in 1909.
Mrs. Walker makes her home at Los Gatos.

Leland H. Walker attended the grammar school
of Los Gatos and graduated from the Santa Cruz
high school in December, 1906; in 1912 he received
his A. B. degree from Stanford University and his
J. D. degree from the same college in 1914. During
the same year he began the practice of law in San

1226

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Jose and has proven successful in his chosen work.
Politically he is an advocate of the principles of
the Republican party and fraternally he is a third
degree Mason, being a past master of Los Gatos
Lodge No. 292. His marriage on April 21, 1915, at
Los Gatos, united him with Miss Marie A. Soule
of that city, and one son, Harrison M., has been
born to them. Mr. Walker belongs to the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church, and can always be counted
on to aid in its good works. During the recent war
he willingly gave his time to active war work; he
is a popular and forceful addition to the business
life of San Jose, and is regarded as one of its most
promising, public-spirited and genial citizens. He
belongs to Bar Association, is a director of First
National Bank of Los Gatos, and a member of the
Republican County Central Committee.

RICHARD P. VAN ORDEN.— An enterprising,
progressive business man who has capitalized his ex-
perience to the great advantage of his fellow-citizens
as well as himself, is Richard P. Van Orden, the
president of the Fruit Growers of California, Inc. He
was born in Spring Valley, Rockland County, N. Y.,
on February 27, 1859, the son of Peter L. Van Or-
den, a farmer, who had married Miss Euphemia
Felter. His paternal great-grandfather, Peter S.
Van Orden, acquired his farm from the government
after the Revolutionary War, in which he had served;
he was a native of York State of Knickerbocker
stock, his ancestors having emigrated from Hol-
land, his father and two brothers being early pio-
neers of New York. Frederick Van Orden, grand-
father of our subject, resided on the farm his father
owned and here Peter L. was born, engaging in
farming all of his life; during the Civil War he vol-
unteered for service, but was rejected. Mr. and Mrs.
Peter L. Van Orden were the parents of four chil-
dren, all living, the subject of this sketch being the
oldest of the family and the only one in California;
a brother, Silas D., now owns the old family home
in New York. Both parents are now deceased.

Richard attended the public school at Spring Val-
ley, N. Y., and when he became of age he first mi-
grated to Minnesota in 1880, where he worked as a
carpenter for two years in Rochester; he then re-
moved to Las Vegas, N. M., for a year, and after
that to Dakota Territory, where he liked it so well
that he remained for twelve years, engaged in farm-
ing. He purchased land at Lisbon, Ransom County,
N. D., and engaged in raising wheat on a large
scale. He took a prominent part in the movement
of statehood in North Dakota and was deputy sher-
iff for six years and county assessor of Ransom
County for four years. In 1898, at the time of the
gold rush in Alaska he made the trip to Telegraph
Creek by way of Ashcroft over the Telegraph Trail,
and established a store at Glenora. one hundred fifty
miles inland from Fort Wrangell, on the Stikine
River, and ran it until August of the following year,
when he went to the new diggings at Atlin, B. C, and
was engaged in mining and merchandising until the
fall of 1890. He then returned to California and fol-
lowed mining at Groveland, Tuolumne County, un-
til 1904, when he removed to Santa Clara County
and settled at Mountain View, where he still has
sixty-eight acres in prunes and apricots; and there
he has been exceptionally successful. On May 8,
1919, Mr. Van Orden and others organized the Fruit
Growers of California, Inc., and from the beginning

he has been president of the association, which has
been so well received that it may be said to be per-
manently established and, considering its age, in a
very flourishing condition. It is run on purely co-
operative lines, handling and shipping the green and
ripe fruit raised by the different members of the
association, which has a large membership, extend-
ing to the counties of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra
Costa, and San Benito. Mr. Van Orden makes his
home on his ranch, in the prosperity and growth of
which he takes keen pride. He realizes marketing
of products is vital and is giving much thought and
attention to this branch of the industry. He be-
longs to the Mountain View Commercial Club, and
both in that body, and through kindred afiiliated or-
ganizations Mr. Van Orden has been working stead-
ily for the advancement of the best interests of
California horticulture. He was also one of the
prime movers in the organization of the California
Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc., and he is still one
of its trustees. As president of his company he is
a member of the California legislative committee
that has been doing so much work in the line of re-
search and obtaining of statistics for aid in the
enacting of legislation beneficial and protective to
the growers. In national politics a Republican, in
local affairs more nonpartisan, Mr. Van Orden is
first and last an American, and during the Spanish-
.\merican War, when he was a member of the Na-
tional Guard of North Dakota, volunteered for for-
eign service, but the company was not called for
service. He was made a Mason in Cheyenne Valley
Lodge No. 12, A. F. & A. M., Lisbon, N. D., and
belongs to the Odd Fellows, and is also a member
of the Ancient Order United Workmen. Locally he
is a member of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce
and the Commercial Club.

HARRY ELLSWORTH SMITH.— Another suc-
cessful practitioner of law of whom the California
Bar is certain to be prouder as the years go by. is
Harry Ellsworth Smith, of San Jose, a native of
England, but as enthusiastic a son of Santa Clara
County, as if he had sprung from the local soil. He
was born in comfortable-going Yorkshire, on July
29, 1885, and he came with his parents to California
when he was four years old. His father, John E.
Smith, had married Miss Eliza Bilton, and together
they migrated to America, pushed on West to the
Golden State, and located in Saratoga, where Mr.
Smith became an orchardist. Both are still living.

Harry went through the grammar school at Sara-
toga and the high school at Santa Clara, and was
graduated from the latter in 1906; and after that he
matriculated at Stanford University, from which he
was graduated with all the honors of that flourishing
alma mater, in 1910. On November 8, 1911, he was
admitted to the bar to practice law in California; and
'.or three and a half years he was located in San
Francisco. No better field for experience of the
most enviable sort could be found; and when he de-
cided to remove inland, he had an asset in his Bay
City practice such as anyone with sensible ambi-
tions might have coveted.

In 1914 Mr. Smith came to San Jose, and ever
since he has been increasing the scope and the im-
portance of his practice. He has been associated
with or in charge of many notable cases, and has
thoroughly established his reputation as a well-

~^,^iAi^-<UyLt...^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1229

posted, ethical advocate. Besides being active in the
County Bar Association, Mr. Smith has found it
possible, as a broad-minded Republican, to help raise
the local civic standards.

At Berkeley, on August 14, 1915, Mr. Smith was
married to Miss Amelia A. MacSwain, a most at-
tractive lady, who did much good, and drew about
her a circle of devoted friends, passing away,
mourned by many, January 22, 1919, the mother of
one child — a daughter, Winifred Jean. Mr. Smith
is a Scottish Rite Mason and an Odd Fellow. He
enjoys a personal popularity through the geniality of
his optimistic temperament.

CHARLES M. CASSIN— A California attorney
whose growing prominence enables him, more and
more, to help elevate the status of the California
Bar among the legal profession of the United States,
is Charles M. Cassin, who was born at San Francisco
on January 10, 1868, the son of Michael and Anna
(Daly) Cassin, both of whom are now dead. He
attended the public schools in Monterey and Santa
Cruz counties, and in 1888 was graduated from
Santa Clara College with the B. S. degree. He also
studied at the University of Notre Dame, and in
1891 was given the LL. B. degree by the University
of Michigan.

At Santa Cruz Mr. Cassin opened his first office;
and so easily did he demonstrate an exceptional
knowledge of the law, and also show his tempera-
mental fitness for tactful practice and the honest
defense and prosecution of his clients' best interests,
that he rapidly acquired patronage which might have
kept him in that delightful Coast city all his life.
He took a fancy to San Jose, however, removed
here in 1913, and ever since has been numbered one
of the most successful of the elder barristers of
Santa Clara County.

On August 24, 1896. Mr. Cassin was married at
Watsonville to Miss Catherine Sheeby, the daugh-
ter of Jeremiah and Catherine Sheeby and a native
of Watsonville; and their fortunate marriage has
resulted in the birth of six children: Catherine,
Charles, Marion. Gerald. Anna and Robert. The
family attend the Roman Catholic Church, and Mr.
Cassin is both an Elk and a member of the Native
Sons of the Golden West.

EMERSON H. WEMPLE.— A representative pio-
neer settler of California. Emerson H. Wemple oc-
cupies an honored position among the well-to-do re-
tired residents of Santa Clara County. He has spent
a busy and useful life, and many of the events of
his career are worthy of record in this historical
work. Born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., Novem-
ber 17, 1853, a son of Harry A. and Betsy (Smiley)
Wemple, who were both natives of New York, he is
the third son of a family of six children; two brothers
are deceased, three sisters still survive. Early in
the year of 1860, his parents joined a company of a
hundred people, who were determined to brave the
hardships attendant upon crossing the plains; six
months were consumed in making the journey in
wagons drawn by horses. The family settled on
the Sacramento River in Sutter County, where Harry
A. Wemple owned and developed a 200-acre grain
farm. There the mother died about 1870. In 1874
Harry Wemple located on a farm at Biggs Station,
remaining until 1880, when he removed to Fresno
and engaged in viticulture. Later he sold out and

retired and spent his last days with his son in San
Jose, passing away at eighty years of age.

Emerson H. Wemple received his early education
in the public schools of Sutter County and in 1874
he entered the San Jose State Normal with the in-
tention of becoming a teacher, but at the end of two
years he returned to the Sacramento Valley and in-
vested in a 160-acre farm near Biggs, Butte County,
and for two years farmed with considerable success,
selling his wheat crop in 1877 for $2.27^ per cental;
but the wet years of 1878-9 drowned him out and he
sold his farm and removed to Mendocino County,
settling near Covelo. Round Valley, where he served
as caretaker in charge of the livestock for the gov-
ernment on the Round Valley Indian reservation for
three years; looking after 5,000 head of cattle and
several hundreds of horses, besides about sixty fam-
ilies of Indians. Before going to Round Valley Mr.
Wemple was married in Butte County in 1877 to
Miss Dora Fisher, a daughter of Rev. J. S. Fisher,
Methodist minister at Big Station, Butte County.
One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Wemple: Ruby,
the wife of George Rucker, and they reside on
South Fourteenth Street, San Jose. In the year of
1882 Mr. Wemple removed from Round Valley to
San Jose, and established himself in the grocery
business in which he gave his undivided time. In
1901 the Wemple Grocery Company was incorpor-
ated and he continued as president until he sold out
in 1903, after twenty-one years in business.

From the very start, the business began to show
signs of success, growing to such proportions that
the company was forced to enlarge their store. For
two years after selling out he prospected in the
Sierras, and was fortunate in finding and developing
a placer mine called Clipper Ship Mine, where he
built a ditch and installed an hydraulic giant, and
still retains a partnership in it. Upon returning to
San Jose, he again entered his chosen line of work,
opening an attractive, modern grocery store. In
this business venture he was assisted by his son-
in-law, and the partnership of the Wemple Grocery
Company was maintained until 1919 when it was
dissolved. They were both active in the affairs of
the Chamber of Commerce, and the Merchants As-
sociation of San Jose. After the sale of the busi-
ness in 1919, Mr. Wemple purchased a half inter-
est in the Crystal Creamery Company and his son-
in-law was made an officer of the corporation.

Mr. Wemple has always been actively identified
with the advance movements of his community.
He was a member of the city council for two years,
then library trustee two years, and for six years he
was a member of the board of school trustees, two
years of the time being chairman of the board. Po-
litically he is a stalwart Republican, and at one time
served on the Republican County Central Commit-
tee of Santa Clara County. Fraternally, he has been
an active member of the Odd Fellows since 1895,
being a member of Garden City Lodge, and is a
member of the Rebekahs and is past chancellor of
the Knights of Pythias.

In 1917, Mrs. Wemple passed away at the family
residence at 409 North Fourth Street, where they
had continuously resided since 1888. On December
25, 1919. his second marriage occurred, uniting him
with Miss Marie Jakuillard, a long-time friend of the
family. She is a graduate registered nurse of San
Francisco, who had been for many years, special

1230

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

nurse to Dr. Ward in San Francisco. Mr. Wemple
is fond of out-door life and spends much time in
motoring. Although practically retired, he is a
man of intense vitality, of conserved energy and
great resourcefulness, and he takes a vital interest
in all movements for the development of the re-
sources of his community. His high general stand-
ing, his genial and cordial manners, and above all
the noble aims of his life have made him many friends.

JOSEPH CHARLES STILLWELL.— An effi-
cient, genial public official of Santa Clara County is
Joseph Charles Stilhvell, the popular custodian of
the State Normal School at San Jose, who enjoys
a wide acquaintanceship throughout the county and
beyond. His native town of San Jose, where he was
born on June 26, 1879, a member of one of the his-
toric families of California, his grandfather having
come here in 1846 as a member of the Donner party;
his parents, who are happily still living, are Joseph
M. and Josephine Stilhvell, the former also a native
of San Jose. The Donner party, it will be recalled,
was part of a train which went its own way, in the
hope of finding a shorter route, and being lost in the
Sierras amid the heavy snows of the winter of 1846-
47, suffered so terribly that only a few survived.
Fortunately Grandfather Stillwell was made of those
enduring qualities which enabled him to weather the
storms and suffer the famine and other privations,
and eventually become one of the most influential
builders of the Pacific commonwealth.

Joseph C. Stillwell attended the public schools of
San Jose, and when he was through with the school-
masters, he learned the painter's trade, which he
followed for seventeen years. He then and there
established a reputation for excessive conscientious-
ness to work and duty, and this was part of his capi-
tal when, in 1909, he was appointed by the president
of the State Normal School custodian of that insti-
tution. He soon demonstrated his fitness for this
position and he has performed the responsible duties
ever since. He is a Republican, when it comes to
a preference for national party programs, and yet
there are few, if any, more encouraging "boosters"
of the city and locality, willing to throw aside all
narrow partisanship and help the town and its en-
virons, and particularly to advance in every way he
can the progressive institution with which he has the
honor to be connected.

At San Francisco, and in 1905, Mr. Stillwell was
married to Miss Mamie Miskel, a member of another
old Santa Clara County family, and they have one
child, Lorraine, to brighten their home.

EDWARD J. STOPPELWORTH.— An experi-
••nced, far-sighted realtor who has done much to
stabilize land and property values in Santa Clara
County, although a somewhat recent comer here, is
Edward J. Stoppelworth, who was born in St. Louis
on February 6, 1876, the son of Edward F. Stoppel-
worth, an inventor. He married Miss Kate Huber,
who proved just the wife for such an intellectual,
ingenious man. Both of these worthy parents passed
away in 1900.

Edward enjoyed the usual common school ad-
vantages, and when he had a chance to do so, learned
the ins and outs of a planing mill. In 1905 he first
came to Californi.i. and in the fall of that year he

located in San Jose. He was for a year manager of
the branch office of the W. J. White Company, at
Campbell, and then he took the coast managership
cf the LuLher Grinder Company of Milwaukee, and
for two years traveled for them as their representa-
tive. Then he entered the service of the San Jose
1 umber Company, where, for a couple of years, he
was department foreman. Having decided to ven-
ture into the more attractive field of real estate, Mr.
Stoppelworth resigned from the lumber company's
service, and has been very successful in this field,
and such has been his good work as president of the
Fifth Ward Improvement Club, that he became a
candidate for membership in the San Jose City
Council. A man above the restraints of narrow
partisanship, Mr. Stoppelworth has been able to
broaden local issues, and thus to render the greatest
possible civic service.

At St. Louis, on April 19, 1899, Mr. Stoppelworth
was married to Miss Marguerite Schroeder, a daugh-
ter of Robert and Amalia Schroeder, and a native of
St. Louis; and to them two children were born:
Elsie was a graduate of the San Jose high school
and was attending the College of the Pacific at the
time of her death in February, 1921; Mabel is a
graduate of the high school and now attending the
State Norma! School. Mr. Stoppelworth belongs to
both the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.

FRED F. STUDER.— Among the men who have
been an aid in the upbuilding of San Jose in bring-
ing to that city his expert services, is Fred F.
Studer, a heating and sanitary engineer, who has
been engaged by some of the leading residents of
San Jose in his expert line of work. He was born
in Peoria, 111., July 4, 1869, and was the son of Dr.
Joseph and Elizabeth Hermann Studer.

Fred F. Studer was the fourth eldest of their six
children, was educated in the public schools of Illi-
nois and at the age of thirteen he began his appren-
ticeship at the plumbing trade. Desiring to see
more of the world, in 1897 he took a trip to Alaska
and then through British Columbia, where he spent
two years. Coming to San Francisco, Cal., he soon
went to the Philippine Islands for the U. S. Govern-
ment on the Transport Grant, spending one year
there, and then went to Tien Tsin, China, on the
Hospital Ship Relief, and was there during the
Boxer Rebellion. Later he returned to Japan and
San Francisco, resigning his position after four years'
service. He continued at his trade in San Fran-
cisco until 1909, when he came to San Jose, where
he has since made his home, the family residence
now being at 667 East St. James Street. Here he
has engaged as a heating and sanitary engineer, tak-
ing contracts for the heating and plumbing of many
large buildings and homes, among them the Gross,
Ryan, Kimberlin, Lion, Pratt and Hopkins resi-
dences, the Don Felipe Apartments, Colombet Apart-
ments, Piedmont Court at Santa Cruz, Elks Build-
ing at Bakersficld, Elks Building at San Luis Obispo,
and the San Jose Undertaking Parlors. During the
busy season he employs five expert workmen.

At San Francisco, in 1903, Mr. Studer was married
to Miss Mabel C. Watson, a native of Cobdcn,
I'nion County, 111.; she came to Los Angeles in
October, 1898, and later to San Francisco. Mr. and
Mrs. Studer have made many warm friends during

^^^!^4:.-^><*^^^^^<^.t/cX.^-ClXjL

^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1233

their residence in San Jose. In political matters
Mr. Studer has always been independent in his
views, feeling that he can best serve his community
by an unbiased attitude toward political measures
and aspirants for public office.

HIRAM D. TUTTLE— The ethical administra-
tion today of law throughout California is largely due
to such able, conscientious and fearless advocates as
Hiram D. Tuttle of San Jose, who was born in
Keosauqua, Van Buren County, Iowa, on October S,
1856, the son of Owen and Mary Ellen (Burns)
Tuttle, who moved to California in 1873, and at
Watsonville took up farming. They were highly es-
teemed as substantial country folk, and when Mr.
Tuttle died, in 1899, he left a record for usefulness
and straightforward dealing such as anyone might
envy. Mrs. Tuttle is still living, at the age of eighty-
four. They had nine children, and our subject was
the eldest of the family.

Mr. Tuttle finished the courses of the Watsonville
high school and then, in 1879, graduated from the
Pacific Commercial College and became a clerk in a
law office. Three years later the Hastings College
of Law conferred upon him the degree of a Bachelor
of Laws, and July 25, 1881, he was admitted to the
bar. Just prior to that, he had filled a responsible
post which added largely to his experience, and widely
extended his acquaintanceship. When the Superior
Court was organized in 1879, Mr. Tuttle became the
private secretary of the Superior Judges, and he held
that appointment until he was admitted to the bar.

He first practised law at Salinas, in 1883, and then,
from 1886 to 1889, he was district attorney of Mon-
terey County. Then he removed to San Jose, and
continued here his practice and was in partnership
with H. V. Morehouse from 1890 to 1895; while from
1897 to 1902 he was a partner with Joseph R. Patten.
He was appointed Judge of the Superior Court, and
served the unexpired term of 1903-04, after which he
resumed practice. Mr. Tuttle has one son, Hiram D.
Tuttle, Jr. He is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and
a member of the State and County Bar Associations.

JOSEPH L. CRAMER.— Santa Clara County
owes much to her enterprising and successful mer-
chants whose energy and aggressive methods have
led them to push forward and to attain for them-
selves early returns; and whose level-headedness
and sensible conservatism have contributed to steady
finance and trade. Among these energetic men we
mention Joseph L. Cramer, well-known and success-
ful merchant in San Jose. A native son of the
Golden State, he was born in Monterey County on
February 28, 1879, a son of Joseph and Lucy (Glea-
son) Cramer. His father was a native of Germany
who came to the United States and California and
established the first harness and saddle shop in San
Miguel; he also had a shop in Monterey for many
years. His mother was a native of this state and
a niece of the late Tom Watson, who will ever be
remembered by the older residents of this part of
the state as sheriff of Monterey County for many
years. It was during his tenure in office that the
notorious bandit. Vasquez, was pillaging the vil-
lages in this section and Mr. Watson showed his
courage in taking him single-handed and running
his followers to their final undoing.

Mr. Cramer's maternal grandfather, James Glea-
son, married Catherine, a daughter of James Wat-
son of Monterey, an Englishman who came to Cali-

fornia in 1822 and established trading posts on this
coast and did trading with the Indians. James
Gleason was also a pioneer of the Pacific Coast and
came to Monterey when that was the capital of
California. He became a well-known and success-
ful stockman and amassed considerable valuable
land. The maternal grandmother was a daughter of
an old Spanish family whose members were part
owners of the famous San Lucas Rancho, a Spanish
grant that comprised thousands of acres of choice
land in Monterey and San Benito counties.

It was in this traditional environment that Joseph
L. Cramer was reared. At the age of fifteen, having
finished his school days in the public schools in
Monterey, he took up the life of cowboy and rode
the range for years and became a well-known figure
in stock circles in Monterey County, continuing
for twenty-seven years. His tastes did not lie in
the direction of the stock business and in 1905 he
established a store at New Monterey. His next
venture was to establish a chain of seven stores
from Salinas to San Jose and known as the Lib-
erty Groceterias. He gave these stores his personal
supervision and soon built up a lucrative business.
In 1917 he sold them, just prior to the United States'
entrance into the World War. In 1920 he once more
entered the business world and opened a bakery,
known as the Ho Say Bakery, at 7 West Santa Clara
Street, and a cash grocery and specialty store at 65
South Second Street in San Jose. Since that date
his has been an ever-increasing business and his
returns are most gratifying. He employs fourteen
people in the conduct of his business.

The marriage of Joseph L. Cramer in 1903. united
him with Miss Cora B. Fry, a resident of San Jose
since 1900 and they are the parents of two chil-
dren; LeRoy Henry and Orvil C. George. Mr. and
Mrs. Cramer are popular in their social set in San
Jose and accounted among the public-spirited citi-
zens of the city. Mr. Cramer is a stanch Republican
in national affairs, but he gives his support to the
best men and measures that in his estimation are
for the greatest good to the greatest number re-
gardless of party ties.

A. F. BROSIUS.— Among the leading business
houses of San Jose, Cal., is listed A. F. Brosius and
Company and "The Loose Leaf House" bookbind-
ers, the present owner and proprietor being A. F.
Brosius. This business was established in 1890 by
his father, who came to San Jose when our subject
was only eight years of age. Taking advantage of
the educational privileges afforded in the public
schools of San Jose, he received a fair training, but
at a very early age, he began working in his father's
shop, learning all the details of' bookbinding and loose
leaf work, so at the time of his father's death, which
occurred in 1902, while young in years he had re-
ceived such a thorough training that he was entirely
competent to take up his father's work, and so con-
tinued the business. His shop is one of the most
modern in equipment and he has always given the
very best of service in the way of workmanship,
having in his employ four men and four women well-
trained in this line of work. He is very well known
and people are still better acquainted with his work
and for that reason, he receives the greater part of
the work in this section. The growth of modern
business systems, applicable even to the smallest con-
cerns, has added an immense volume to the loose

1234

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

leaf business, and the excellent work turned out by
Mr. Brosius has given "The Loose Leaf House" its
full share in this growing line.

Mr. Brosius is very popular in both social and
business circles of San Jose, being an active mem-
ber of the Chamber of Commerce, and also a mem-
ber of the Observatory Parlor of the Native Sons
of the Golden West. He is a member of the Masonic
Lodge and the B. P. O. Elks. He takes great pleas-
ure in hunting and fishing, being very fond of out-
door recreation.

DR. EDMUND GOLDMANN.— A man of splendid
attainments and high professional worth was the late
Dr. Edmund Goldmann, who was born in Schotten
Hessen, Darmstadt, Germany, in 1834. He studied
at the University of Geisen, then at Heidelberg, where
he was a graduate in medicine, after which he emi-
grated to New Orleans, La., and practiced medicine,
subsequently taking post graduate courses in Belle-
vue Hospital Medical College. He was prominent
in civic and educational matters in New Orleans,
serving as president of the board of education, and
it was during his term that the free book system was
introduced in New Orleans. He was a friend of
Sheridan, Sherman and Farragut and during the
Civil War served as a surgeon in the Union Army.
so naturally during this period he lost much of his
savings. After the war he removed to Galveston,
Texas, where he practiced medicine, and it was there
his first marriage occurred to Amelia Correth, a na-
tive of Germany who was a countess; her father,
Count Correth, had settled in Texas immediately
after the revolution of 1848. Their married life was
of brief duration, for she passed away a year later.
Six years afterward. Dr. Goldmann married a second
time, being united with Miss Julia Bergstedt, born
in Bremervorde, Germany, the daughter of Franz
Bergstedt, a successful business man who established
a fine resort. Her mother was Anna S. Sorke and
both parents passed away in Germany. To this
worthy couple were born seven children, all daugh-
ters, of whom Julia was the fourth oldest; grew
up in their native country and there secured a splen-
did education. She immigrated to Galveston, Texas.
and there made the acquaintance of Dr. Goldmann.

After their marriage. Dr. and Mrs. Goldmann im-
mediately removed to Monterey, Mexico, where he
practiced medicine until 1886, when he came to San
Jose. His knowledge of and experience as a physi-
cian and surgeon was well received and he soon had
a lucrative practice. In 1889 he purchased the ranch
where he established the health resort and named
it Villa Bergstedt. After practicing in San Jose,
he gave it up to give all of his time to his resort.
Mrs. Goldmann planned the grounds, had the level-
ing and excavating done, planned the hotel and cot-
tages and had them built. The splendid spring water
was piped to the hotel and grounds; this water is
splendid and healthful, having a trace of iron. There
are also three other big springs on the place. Villa
Bergstedt ranch comprises twenty-six acres, located
near the summit of the Santa Cruz mountains at an
altitude of 2000 feet; about fifteen acres of the ranch
is devoted to orchards of a variety of fruits, but prin-
cipally of prunes. The resort is four miles from
Wright's station and is also four miles from the
San Jose-Santa Cruz Highway. The new Skyline
Boulevard is planned to embrace the country road
now along the lower side of the ranch. The resort

is well planned and guests are made very comfort-
able and people come from all over the state as well
as from Mexico.

Dr. Goldmann was, however, not permitted to en-
joy the fruits of his labors, for he died February 29,
1910. He was a strong Republican and was an hon-
ored member of the Medical Association and the
state and county societies. He was a man of much
ability, spoke six different languages, was well read
and contributed articles to medical journals. A wide
traveler and a good judge of climatic conditions, he
found the most ideal location for his health resort
in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Dr. and Mrs. Goldmann were the parents of four
children: Inez is the wife of Fred C. Scheffauer, a
Government employe who resides in Mill Valley and
they have three children — Juanita, Gisella and Louise;
Juanita is devotedly assisting her mother to preside
over Villa Bergstedt; Edmund who is with the San
Francisco Savings & Loan Society Bank, married
Eleanor de Prefontaine, has two children — Leonard
and Eleanor Virginia. Elsa is a graduate nurse of
Mt. Zion Hospital. She was a Red Cross nurse,
going overseas and served in Base Hospital 30, her
services in France and at Coblenz covering a period
of eight months. On her return she became the wife
of Lee Stopple and they reside in San Francisco.
Since Dr. Goldmann passed away, Mrs. Goldmann
continues the cherished improvements of the resort,
carrying out the plans of Dr. Goldmann for a year
around resort and it has become popular, surrounded
as it is by the quiet and beautiful scenery of the
Santa Cruz Mountains. Dr. Goldmann gave much
of the credit for the success of Villa Bergstedt to his
estimable wife and family, who so faithfully assisted
him in carrying out his plans. Mrs. Goldmann with
her accomplished daughter is greatly loved and es-
teemed by their many friends from all over California.

VICTOR CHALLEN.— Among the citizens of
worth who. from a small beginning, have achieved
success in the field of real estate, is Victor Challen.
who was born in Plumas County, Cal., on August
18, 1880. a son of James H. and Mary Frances (Ad-
dington) Challen, his father, an early settler of Cali-
fornia, crossing the plains in 1850. Both father and
mother were natives of Kentucky, where they lived
and married. In 1890 the family located in San
Jose, and here the father passed away in 1917, but
the mother is still living. They were the parents of
five children, of whoin Victor is the youngest.

Victor Challen was educated in the public schools
of Santa Clara. He was for a short time in the
mines of Plumas County, then was employed in San
Jose by Wm, Cooper as real estate salesman, later
becoming a partner. In the year of 1911 he estab-
lished his own real estate business, but Mr. Cooper
recognized his worth and in 1912 the present com-
panj' was formed and Mr. Challen was elected to
the office of vice-president of the Cooper-Challen
Realty company. This company is enjoying a most
lucrative business, demanding the services of twelve
salesmen. His activities have been constructive and
he has favored all measures for the betterment of
his local community and has served as police and
fire commissioner and on the board of education.

The marriage of Victor Challen on January 22,
1906, united him with Miss Jeanette Stiles, a grad-
uate of the State Normal School at San Jose. Two
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Challen;

^'<^.

JdUwj

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

123<J

Victor B. and James Kenneth. Politically he is a
very active member of the Republican party and
fraternally is a member of the Elks; Native Sons
of the Golden West, and the National Union; for a
time Mr. Challen was director of the Chamber of
Commerce and is a member of the Commercial
Club and the Rotary Club of San Jose. Dur-
ing the World War he took an active part in
all the drives, serving on committees, and was
also active in Y. M. C. A. work. He has never
failed to accomplish the duties nearest him and with
unceasing energy laid hold of every opportunity for
advancement which presented itself to him, note-
worthy among them he was one of the freeholders
that drafted the new charter when the city of San
Jose adopted the commission form of government.

JOSEPH A. THOMPSON.— A far-seeing, enter-
prising man of affairs, whose extended experience in
one of the most important fields of California indus-
try has enabled him to make some definite contribu-
tion toward the progress and welfare of a vast num-
ber of people, is Joseph A. Thompson, the manager
of the San Jose branch of the J. B. Indcrrieden
Company of Chicago, the well-known packers of
fruit. He was born at Santa Clara in August, 1877,
the only surviving son of Patrick Thompson, who
first came across the plains in 1849, and two years
later returned and brought his wife, who was Miss
Bridget Moore before her marriage. They settled
for a while at Sacramento and saw much hardship,
but as early as 1855 they removed to Santa Clara,
nnd from that time Mr. Thompson followed farm-
ing at Sorosis and was sexton of the Santa Clara
Cemetery until he retired several years before his
death in 1895. Mrs. Thompson still survives at the
fine old age of ninety years, residing in banta Clara
with her only living daughter, Mattie Thompson.

Joseph attended the Santa Clara College, and
when old enough to do so. engaged in fruit and
orchard work. He bought fruit for a while for vari-
ous companies, and then he packed; and so, all his
life, it may be said, he has been active in a depart-
ment in which he is now regarded as an expert. In
1912 he effected his fortunate engagement with the
J. B. Inderriedcn Company, and he has been the
popular manager of that fast-growing concern ever
since. Although far from a patriarch, Mr. Thomp-
son can look back to the beginning of things in Cal-
ifornia fruit culture, having been privileged in his
time to witness its marvelous development.

When Mr. Thompson married, he took for his wife
Miss Edith Huber of San Jose, a devout member of
the Roman Catholic Church, like himself; and their
home-life has been singularly happy. He is a Knight
of Columbus, belongs to the Elks, the Chamber of
Commerce, votes with the Republicans, and indulges,
when he can, in such outdoor recreations as fishing.
All in all, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson both give to and
get from life much that is worth while.

ERNEST DELMUE.— The degree of success at-
tained by Ernest Delmue since his arrival in Santa
Clara County proves him to be a man of energy and
sagacity. He was born in Virginia City, Nev., No-
vember 3, 1882, and is a son of Baptist and Teclia
Delmue, all now residents of San Jose. The family
removed from Nevada to San Jose when Ernest was
a child of one vear.

He received his education in the common schools
of San Jose; then learned the carpenter trade; then
he was engaged in the auto repair business for two
years at their home place; then fully realizing the
advantage of establishing a business for himself, in
the fall of 1918 he opened the Delmue Auto Repair
Shop, Seventeenth and Santa Clara streets, which
employs three men. A natural mechanic, with a
genius for locating trouble and repairing it, he is
building up a good business which is bringing him
in a comfortable income. He is typical of the true
American, independent in his views, believes that
men rather than party should be considered first
in political matters. He has always been interested
in the welfare and upbuilding of the community in
which he makes his home, and he is highly respected
and esteemed by his fellowmcn. He is an enthu-
siastic sportsman and whenever his business will
permit, takes a trip to the mountains or seashore
and enjoys himself to the fullest.

ANTHONY G. DU BRUTZ.— An experienced,
progressive and very successful business man whose
influence counts for much in movements that are
helping both San Jose and Santa Clara County rap-
idly onward to a foremost place in the great Golden
State, is Anthony G. Du Brutz, of the Snyder &
Du Brutz Company, the well-known contracting
plumbers, who install all kinds of heating apparatus,
and do much of the best metal work obtainable in
this section. He was born, a wide-awake native son,
m Visalia, Tulare County, on November 10, 1880.
the son of Anthony B. Du Brutz, a very successful
lawyer, who had married Miss Sarah Roach. The
pioneer couple came to Fresno when it had only one
building, and so were early identified with the devel-
opment of the Pacific commonwealth. Mr. Du Brutz
died in 1885; and since then his devoted wife has
c'lso passed awav, but both will long and pleasantly
be remembered bv those who knew them for their
qualities as citizens, neighbors and friends.

Mrs. Du Brutz and her family removed to San
Jose in 1888, and there Anthony continued his
schooling, progressing through the public schools
and afterward pursuing successfully a business col-
'ege course. In 1896 he entered the employ of
Mangrum. Otter & Company, and under them
learned the business in all of its details and is now
Ihe junior member of their successors, the Snyder
Du Brutz Company, in the prosperous operation of
the business described above. The concern employs
about twenty men and does most of the important
work in their field in this locality. Mr. Du Brutz
belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, and for five
years served as a director, and he was president of
ihe Rotary Club for the year 1920.

In San Jose, on January 29, 1904, Mr. Du Brutz
was married to Miss Henrietta Armstrong of San
Jose. Mr. Du Brutz is a Knights Templar Mason,
and he marches with the Republican party. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Du Brutz are fond of outdoor life,
and deeply interested in the present and the future
of Santa Clara County, where Nature is at its best,
and where the settler has such favoring opportun-
ities. San Jose owes much to the progressive meth-
ods and the consequent success of such a substantial
firm as the Snyder & Du Brutz Company.

1240

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

THOMAS MONAHAN— An enterprising under-
taker who leaves nothing to be desired in the conduct
of his profession is Thomas Monahan, who was born
at San Jose on the Fourth of July, 1866, just after
the close of the great Civil War which cemented our
nation. His father was Patrick Monahan. a native
of Ireland, who came to California in 1853, located
at Placerville, spent some ten years in the mines,
after which he went back to Ireland. There he
married Miss Mary E. Beirne, and returning to the
United States and California, settled at San Jose,
where he lived until his death, in 1898, five years after
the death of his wife. They had five children of
whom Thomas was the second. On his first trip
West he came across the plains in the primitive
outfit of the pioneer; going back to Europe he
traveled by sailing vessel around the Horn; and
on his pushing westward again, he came via the
Isthmus of Panama.

Thomas began his education at the Hester School,
after which he spent one year in the University of
Santa Clara; and when sixteen years of age he went
to San Francisco to learn the blacksmith trade. Then
he became a letter carrier in San Jose, and resigned
to accept a position in the sheriff's office as chief
jailer. When he gave up that responsibility it was
to pursue a course of embalming and funeral direct-
ing, which enabled him to establish himself as an
undertaker in 1909, a profession he has since followed.
As an undertaker, Mr. Monahan was the first to use
the aeroplane for a funeral, the flight commencing at
Aviation Field, Alum Rock Avenue, to Oak Hill
Cemetery, a distance of six miles; it was featured in
the moving picture shows all over the world, and
given a full page in "Sunnysidc," the leading under-
takers' magazine.

At the Mission Dolores Church, in San Francisco,
on February 18, 1909, Mr. Monahan was married to
Miss Josephine G. Moriarty, a native of Ohio, and
they arc the parents of four children, Mary B..
Josephine S., Elizabeth A., and Thomas, Jr. From
his father's family, through their five children have
sprung twenty-two children, and five grandchildren.
Four nephews of Mr. Monahan were in the late World
War and all did valiant service. A Republican in
national politics, Mr. Monahan allows nothing to
interfere with his whole-hearted support of San Jose
and Santa Clara County, and he is first, last and all
the time an American. In April, 1912, he was elected
grand president of the Native Sons, at the Grand
Parlor at Oroville; and in May of the same year he
was elected mayor of San Jose and served for two
years. He belongs to the Elks, the Knights of Col-
umbus, the Eagles, the Y. M. I., the Redmen, the
Moose, and he is a member of the Pioneers, the
Pastime Social and the Progressive Business Clubs.

NELS O. HULTBERG. — An active, useful and
worthy career has been that of Nels O. Hultberg,
who was born near Skane, Sweden, on March 25,
1865, and spent his boyhood in his father's farm,
blacksmith shop and implement factory, from which
he attended the local public school. It did not af-
ford extensive educational advantages; but he
learned what he could, and when, as a young man,
he crossed the ocean to America, he was better pre-
pared than many to secure a safe and satisfactory
foothold. He went to work on a farm near Rochelle,
II!., but he also attended the night schools when

he could, and so continued his studies. In 1893,
he made a trip to Alaska, in the foreign mission
work, and he established at Galovin the first school
for the Swedish Mission Church of America. From
the start, he labored earnestly; and such was his
success both in religious and educational work, that
he spent five and a half years in that far-north field.
Here it may be noted that Mr. Hultberg was the
first white man to notice the deposits of rich gold-
bearing ore in that territory, after watching the
natives going to the place where they found copper
and lead deposits. The natives had any amount of
the stuff which they pounded into vessels and imple-
ments, without of course knowing the metal's worth;
and after studying their movements, Mr. Hultberg
staked a mining claim; but before he could realize
from it, he was forced to return to the United States
on account of his family. He had married, and had
become the father of three children; and it was a
deep sorrow to him that the two eldest should die
ere he could return to the United States. In 1894,
he was met at St. Michael, Alaska, by Miss Hanna
Holm, a native daughter of Sweden, who had also
made the trip to Alaska in mission work; and at
Unalakleet, on July 8, they were married. Three
children were born to this excellent couple. Hilda
died in infancy in Alaska, from a severe cold, and
so did Amnon, another infant child. Albia A. is a
graduate of the San Jose Normal School and has
been a teacher at the Gratton school, north of De-
nair. and is now a teacher in the Cambrian district.

Having come back to the United States in 1898,
Mr. Hultberg went back to Illinois; and the same
year he made a trip to Sweden, taking with him his
wife and child. He returned to America in 1899,
and then located on a ranch in the Santa Clara
Valley, near Campbell, where he remained for four
years. He took up colonization work in 1901 and
the following year went to Turlock, Stanislaus
County, where he began operations in bringing set-
tlers and developing that section of the county. He
always had the interests of the people at heart and
took an active interest in political, social, educa-
tional and religious movements.

Mr. Hultberg took an active part in the coloniza-
tion of the Hilmar Colony south of Turlock, and he
also went in for real estate development in the Tur-
lock irrigation district. Since 1917 he has been iden-
tified largely with Campbell, Santa Clara County,
and he has scores of friends in both Santa Clara
and Stanislaus counties, for he has done as much
as any one man in colonization work in Turlock
district, always attracting the better class of set-
tlers and home-seekers.

Four more children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Hultberg, two in Santa Clara County and one in
Stanislaus County. Hilmar. born in Illinois, is
named in honor of the colony started by his father,
is now in business at Turlock. Charles H. is farm-
ing with his father; Hazel is training for a nurse
at Stanford Hospital in San Francisco and Chester
is a high school student of Campbell. Mr. Hultberg
is both a Mason and an Elk. holding membership in
the former at Turlock and the latter in Modesto
Lodge No. 1282. He was one of the original mem-
bers and workers in the California Prune and Apri-
cot .Association, also an early member of the Cali-
fornia Cooperative Association. In 1902 he advanced
the necessary capital for Professor Fowler to go

t/M^;^H^ui /72^7^uzAa^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1243

to England to study the cooperative plans there and
feels gratified that it was largely through the effort
of Professor Fowler that the cooperative movement
has been made a success here.

FRED H. BRINKMAN.— An enterprising busi-
ness man of San Jose, whose success and pros-
perity are evidenced in a modern and very attractive
garage with every desirable equipment, is Fred H.
Brinkman, who was born in Du Page County. 111.,
at York- Center, August 16, 1883, the son of Henry
H. and Louisa (Myers) Brinkman. Mr. Brinkman's
grandfather, Henry Brinkman, came from Germany
and went to Chicago when there were only six
buildings in the place, and was known as Fort
Dearborn; he was at that time an engineer; then he
returned to Hanover, Germany, and there Henry H.
Brinkman, our subject's father, was born. After
some years the grandfather brought his family to
the United States and settled at Elmhurst, 111. He
then engaged in farming and bought up consider-
able government land, paying twenty-five cents per
acre for it, and here he reared his family and
passed away in 1905. Henry H. Brinkman inherit-
ed some of this property from his father. He did
not have the opportunity of attending school, and
started to make his own way when he was but a
lad; for some time he was with the Lathrop Steel
Works of Melrose Park, near Chicago, working in
the engineering department. After some years he
returned to country life, and has since made his
home on his farm of 178 acres, at Elmhurst. 111.

Fred H. was the eldest of a family of ten chil-
dien, eight of whom are living, four boys and four
girls. When fifteen years of age, he started out to
make his own way, and taking up mechanical en-
gineering at Highland Park College, Des Moines,
Iowa, he attended two and a half years. He finally
had to quit school at the end of that period, and
in 1910 came to California, located at San Jose,
wh.cre he took a position at the Vendome Hotel,
where for five months he was clerk. He then
bought a car and went into the taxi business and
\vithin two years was the owner of eight cars, when
he sold out for $6000. He then opened a garage at
First and Julian streets and operated this place for
the next two years. In September, 1918, he entered
tne U. S. service as a mechanic in the aviation corps
and was for seven months at Rockwell Field, then
for four months was at East Field and in June, 1919,
was sent to the Presidio to be discharged. Return-
ing to San Jose he opened a garage at 66 North
Market Street, which is known as the Market Street
garage, and here he has since been engaged. For
a time, Mr. Brinkman had the agency for the Stearns
car, and the Signal truck. He has the agency for
the G. & J. tires and speciaHzes in lubrication, in-
stalling the Alemite system, which is considered su-
perior by many. He does a general garage and re-
pairing business, employing four capable workmen.

Mr. Brinkman's marriage, which occurred April
24, 1917, united him with Miss Hazel Fischer, who
was born in San Francisco, Cal.. and is the daugh-
ter of Albert H. and Martha (Paul) Fischer. When
Mrs. Brinkman was only a year old, her father
moved to Elmhurst, 111., where he engaged in farm-
ing, then organized and put in running order the
electric power plant of Elmhurst, later sold to the
Edison Electric Company. It was here she grew up,
she and her husband being school children together.

About ten years ago, Mr. Fischer returned to San
Francisco, and two years later, about 1913, took
up his residence at San Jose. Grandfather John
Fischer was a pioneer of Illinois and his sons are
among the most prominent attorneys of Chicago to-
day. Mr. and Mrs. Brinkman are the parents of one
child. Ruth Lucille. Mr. Brinkman is a member of
the Masons, the Maccabees and San Jose Lodge No.
522 B. P. O. Elks. He and his family are mem-
bers of the Christian Church, and in national poli-
tics, he is a Republican.

BAUMGARTNER BROTHERS.— One of the
outstanding firms engaged in the vulcanizing and
auto tire business in San Jose is the firm of Baum-
gartner Bros., Edward C. and Frank L. Baumgart-
ner composing the firm. Baumgartner Bros, are
factory distributors for Samson tires, and Amalie
oils and greases for Santa Clara County. They have
a large vulcanizing establishment and are doing a
fine, lucrative business, having recognized the grow-
ing possibilities of this territory, and the opportu-
nities for expansion in their line of business.

Edward C. Baumgartner was born in San Jose.
Cal., October 2, 1889, and is the son of Frank and
Mary Baumgartner. His father migrated from Wis-
consin, near Milwaukee during the year 1882 and
for a number of years was engaged in business in San
Jose. Edward C. completed the grammar and high
school courses in the public schools of San Jose.
Upon graduation from high school, he entered Stan-
ford University, remaining there for two terms.
Upon leaving the university, he secured a position in
the Stephens-Duryea garage, as a mechanic, his ad-
vancement to the sales department coming within a
short time. Returning to San Jose, he entered the
employ of Wallace Brothers, and was later with
W. J. Benson.

During the year 1912, filled with the spirit of ad-
venture, he took a trip to Alaska, spending one year
there hunting and prospecting. The lure of his native
state proved too much for him, however, and return-
ing, he settled in San Jose. He immediately engaged
in the automobile business, being agent for the Paige
and Columbus cars for two years. At the end of
this time, he went into partnership with Mr. Rabau,
in the tire and vulcanizing business.

Edward C. Baumgartner was married on June 24,
1915, to Miss Theodora Popp in the city of San
Francisco. Miss Popp was born in San Jose, the
daughter of Edward and Gertrude (Lenzen) Popp,
both early pioneers of Santa Clara County. Two
children have blessed this union, Betty and Thomas.
Mr. Baumgartner is a member of the Observatory
Parlor of the N. S. G. W., also of the B. P. O. E.
of San Jose. He is a firm believer in the principles
of the Republican party.

Frank L. Baumgartner, the junior member of the
firm, was also born in San Jose, his birthday being
November 14 1894 also was a student and graduate
of the grammar and high schools of San Jose. Upon
his graduation from the high school in 1913 he en-
tered Stanford University as a law student and re-
ceived his A. B. degree in 1917. On November 4,
1917, he entered the military service of his country,
training at Camp Lewis in Sanitary Squad No. 47,
an unattached contingent. In June, 1918. he em-
barked for overseas service, landing at Southhamp-
ton, England, thence to Cherbourg, France. His

1244

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

company received orders directly from General Head-
quarters and his detachment was sent throughout
France on sanitation work. He was advanced to
the rank of first class sergeant and on returning to
the United States in July, 1919, was discharged from
the service at the Presidio, San Francisco.

Frank L. Baumgartner was married July 14. 1920,
to Miss Maybelle Peck, a native daughter, born and
reared in Los Angeles. He is also a prominent mem-
ber of the Elks Lodge of San Jose, and of The Ameri-
can Legion.

In August, 1919, the partnership of Rabau and
Baumgartner was dissolved and the firm of Baum-
gartner Brothers was founded. Energetic and enter-
prising, both brothers entered enthusiastically into
the business and have already established themselves
among the progressive firms of San Jose.

ERNEST WILSON.— Liberally endowed with re-
sourcefulness and inborn ability, coupled with untir-
ing energy and industry, Ernest Wilson is a conspic-
uous and interesting person, and an outstanding fig-
ure in the business life of California. He is a native
of Salem, Ore., where he was born August 4. 1876.
His brother. Herbert, the secretary and treasurer
of the Ernest Wilson Company, was also born there
on July 17, 1870. The father, Thomas Howard Wil-
son, was born in Tennessee and came to Oregon via
the Isthmus of Panama at an early day and settled
in Salem, where he followed farming pursuits and
married Miss Matilda Frances Melson. He passed
away, but the mother still lives in Palo Alto.

Ernest began his education in the public schools
of Salem, Ore., and later entered the preparatory
department of Willamette University, and upon his
graduation from that institution came to Palo Alto
and entered Stanford in the fall of 1896. There was
a little candy store on the campus owned by a couple
of students, and here the newcomer found work
during his freshman year. He bought a half-interest
at the end of the semester, and soon became sole
owner. As he studied and worked, he made friends
with everybody, and on account of his popularity and
sticktoitiveness, soon became familiarly known as
"Sticky" Wilson, an appellation which will likely
always remain with him. As "Sticky" Wilson stuck
to Stanford, so the name stuck to "Sticky" and has
become a fi.xture in the college town.

The four years passed; a new century dawned—
and brought with it the graduation of the student-con-
fectioner with the class of 1900. To the members of
this class, as to countless classes before it, the pro-
fessions beckoned to some, adventure whispered to a
few, while many drifted out groping, aimless and
undecided. But Sticky's mind was made up. He had
been attending two kinds of classrooms during his
college career; one in the imposing buildings around
the Quad, and another in the little store on the cam-
pus. His life work was to be the making of good
candy and the serving of good food. In order to
gain a thorough knowledge of his chosen work, he
went to San Francisco, where he began at the bot-
tom as an employee of a large candy manufacturer,
and continued there for a space of about a year, hav-
ing in the meantime disposed of his candy store on
the Stanford campus. Another year passed and
Sticky returned to the little town where he had spent
his college days and reopened a candy shop in Palo
Alto; this was the year 1902. It prospered, for the

students were glad to patronize a place so clean and
attractive. To "Sticky's" came the youthful swain
for sweets to woo his co-ed fair. The happy ending
of a romantic college courtship of a certain talented
young suitor culminated by his presentation to his
charming co-ed sweetheart a choice box from Wil-
son's, labeled in his own handwriting, "The Candy
with a College Education," and by so doing at once
won a sweetheart and inspired the adoption of that
slogan for Wilson's products.

From the first tiny shop has grown a large cor-
poration operating five of the finest stores in the
state, each with its own model kitchen, dining room
and parlor, namely at Fresno, San Jose, Turlock,
Stanford and Palo Alto. The Ernest Wilson Com-
payn is incorporated with a capital stock of $250,-
000. Some of the stockholders are prosperous Stan-
ford graduates, who first watched the business grow
during their own years in college. Sanitation, con-
venience, comfort and elegance characteriEe each
store, which has its own manager, and according
to the policies of the Ernest Wilson Company, the
managers are recruited from the ranks of the em-
ployees, and it has never been necessary to go out-
side for efficient heads. The Ernest Wilson Com-
pany specializes in chocolates with distinctive names
such as "University," "Co-Ed," Leland Stanford,"
"College Maid," and "Wilson's Clods." Its products
are wholesaled as well as retailed. Every one of
Wilson's stores is fully up-to-date and in keeping with
the development of the city in which it is located,
and in fact to "keep ahead of the town" is the well-
established Wilson policy. Especially have patrons'
comforts been considered — steam heat in winter —
and washed-air cooling system for summer — and
cuisine delights at every season. You are a guest
rather than a patron when you visit Wilson's. Its
simple home-like hospitality makes you feel thor-
oughly at ease. Whether it is for cooling drink
or course dinner, you always feel welcome at Wil-
son's. He says:

"I have never tried to run a store like any one else.
Originality is a big asset. To be original, one has
only to think. If we make a chocolate that is partic-
ularly good, we have one of our salesladies demon-
strate it in our store, giving samples to everyone.
The success that I have had is due very largely to a
corps of loyal employees. It has been my policy
to give responsibility to heads of departments and
demand results. I don't try to do all the work my-
self, but plan to get away from my business fre-
quently, take plenty of outdoor exercise, and give
someone else a chance to show that he can do the
work better than I could." This spirit of live and
let live practiced by Mr. Wilson has made the road
to success easier and the satisfaction that it has
brought can hardly be reckoned. Of a jovial dispo-
sition, Mr. Wilson makes friends wherever he goes
and he is always ready to give of his time and energy
to any good cause.

JOSEPH T. CORPSTEIN.— .\ worthy represent-
ative of an old and honored family is Joseph T.
Corpstein, whose family has been a factor in the
development of the rural district around Saratoga
since 1864. He was born on Pierce Road near
Saratoga March 4, 1866, the son of Nicholas and
Susan (Brown) Corpstein. The father came to Cali-
fornia May 18, 1864, and in 1868 homesteaded 160

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:^M

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

124:

acres, which he improved and which the family still
own. The father passed away in 1892 and the moth-
er died in October, 1914. This worthy couple had
nine children, four of whom are living, Joseph T.
being the youngest living. He began his educa-
tion in the Lincoln School of his home district and
assisted his father on the ranch until he passed
away. In 1901 he entered a grocery store as clerk
and within the following three years purchased the
business. In 1906 the firm of Corpstein and May-
hew was formed and in 1908 Mr. Metzger bought
out the interest of Mr. Mayhew and the firm is
now Corpstein and Metzger and they are doing a
successful business, during the busy season em-
ploying five men to take care of their large and
growing trade. Mr. Corpstein still owns his ranch,
a part of the old homestead.

The marriage of Mr. Corpstein in San Francisco
united him with Mrs. Mary E. (Laheff) McCarthy,
who was born in Morris Flat, Nevada County, whose
father, David Laheff, was one of the pioneers of
California. Politically Mr. Corpstein advocates the
principles of the Democratic party; fraternally he
is a member of the Foresters of America, the Wood-
men of the World and the Modern Woodmen of
America. He is a member of the Saratoga Improve-
ment Association and the Catholic Church. Santa
Clara County and this section of California is large-
ly indebted to the efforts of the Corpstein family
for early pioneer development, and Mr. Corpstein
takes a good citizen's part in all present matters
that make for prosperity and progress.

WILLIAM L. GALLAGHER.— A native son of
California, William L. Gallagher has been identified
with the business circles of San Jose and Santa
Clara County for many years, where he is a partner
m the concern known as Gallagher-Cole Furniture
Company. Mr. Gallagher was born in Livermore,
.Alameda County, m the year of 1884, and was the
son of Patrick and Elizabeth (Leahy) Gallagher, who
were pioneers of Alameda County; the father has
passed away, but the mother resides in Oakland.

Mr. Gallagher received his education in the pub-
lic school and high school of Livermore, in the
meantime, helping on the farm, where he remained
until he had reached the age of twenty-one, at which
time he went to San Francisco, where he was em-
ployed in the furniture business of W. and J. Sloane
until the month of February, 1907, he came to San
Jose and became associated with C. H. Robinson's
furniture establishment, where he continued for the
next six years. With Geo. H. Cole he incorporated
the Gallagher-Cole Furniture Company, Inc., with.
Mr. Gallagher as the president of the company. This
growing firm, which has a large and attractive place
cf business at 69 to 7i East Santa Clara Street,
occupying two stories, with a mezzanine floor, han-
dles a complete line of high-grade furniture and
household equipment, and their well-selected stock
has had no small part in contributing to the beauty
and comfort of many of San Jose"s attractive homes.

Mr. Gallagher's marriage united him with Miss
Marguerite E. Plummer and they are the parents of
■A child, William E. Mr. Gallagher is very popular
both in social and business circles, and he is a mem-
ber of the Chamber of Commerce, the Merchants'
Association and was a charter member of the One
Hundred Per Cent Club, in which he has always

been a very active member. He is also a charter
inember of the Commercial Club. In national poli-
tics he is a stanch adherent of Republican principles.

HAROLD G. HUNT.— Among the sons of early
settlers of Santa Clara County, Cal., who are worthy
representatives of their pioneer fathers is H. G.
Hunt, proprietor of a business which is located at
577 to 585 South First Street, San Jose, where he
handles bicycles, motorcycles, and auto tires. He
was born in San Jose, August 10, 1889, the son of
Edward Vincent and Edith (Bent) Hunt. His
parents came to California in the year of 1886 and
settled in San Jose, where they continued to make
tlieir home, the father, becoming the proprietor of
a grocery store soon after locating here.

H. G. Hunt received his education in the public
schools and high school of San Jose, from which
he graduated, then helping his father in the store,
he learned the grocery business. Mr. Hunt then
started out for himself, becoming the owner of a
bicycle, motorcycle and auto tire shop and here
he prospered. At the time of his father's death, he
contmued to conduct his father's store and at the
same time carried on the business in his own shop,
but finding the two concerns were a little too
much for one man to have to manage, he sold
the grocery store in 1912 and confined his time
and attention to his own work. He handles the
Dexter. Redding, Winchester and Triumph bicycles
and the Excelsior. Henderson and Cleveland motor-
cycles, and employs two mechanics.

Mr. Hunt's marriage united him with Miss Effie
Iverson. born in Salinas, and they are the parents
of one child, Gordon. Mr. Hunt is a member of
San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M.. San Jose
Lodge 522 B. P. O. Elks, as well as the Lions
Club and Sciots, and also of the Merchants' Assn.
and the Chamber of Commerce and is president of
the Bicycle and Motorcycle Assn. of Santa Clara
County. In national politics he is a Republican.
Like all of California's native sons, reared in the
open life of the great West, he is fond of all out-
door sports, particularly of hunting and fishing and
enjoys them on every possible occasion.

DUDLEY F. DINSMORE.— That San Jose well
illustrates in her various business enterprises all
the life, aggressiveness and progress of a great in-
terior city is admirably illustrated in- the develop-
ment and activities of such important concerns as
Dudley F. Dinsmore's Wholesale Grain and Feed
Store at 352 South Market Street, under the per-
sonal direction of the proprietor, who was born in
Bloomington, 111., in May, 1873. His parents, Rev.
J. W. and Adeline (Vance) Dinsmore. came to
Santa Clara County in August, 1891; and after
the calm satisfaction of a long and very fruitful
life as a Presbyterian minister, standing high in that
denomination, he passed away in April, 1922.

Dudley Dinsmore finished the work required in
the public schools of his locality, and then took
an excellent course in the Lake Forest Academy
when he came to San Jose in 1891. On coming to
California, he engaged as an orchardist in the east-
ern foothills in both the growing and buying of
fruit. At the end of seven years he sold the ranch,
when he engaged in buying and shipping fruit for
a period of six years. He then began the grain
business and at the same time he engaged in the

1246

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

cattle business in Contra Costa County for five years
and then started his present estabUshment exclusive-
ly for the sale of grain and feed in large quantities.
He knew what the public not only called for, but
what it needed, and how and when and where; he
even anticipated their wants, and so, very natural-
ly, from the first he has been successful, shipping
all over the coast country. He belongs to the San
Jose Chamber of Commerce, and through his sup-
port of the good work done by that fine organiza-
tion, he keeps himself in vital touch with the agri-
cultural and commercial life of a community in which
he has become such an important part.

In national politics a Republican, and first, last
and all the time a patriotic American. Mr. Dinsmore
enjoys an enviable popularity in the circles of the
Masonic fraternity, as well as a member of the An-
cient Egyptian order of Sciots and is also a member
of the Royal Arcanum. In patriotic societies we
find him a member of the California Society of the
Sons of the American Revolution.

JOHN R. PENNINGTON— It is almost impos-
sible to imagine what would be the condition of the
country without the development of its great agri-
cultural resources, and valuable indeed has been the
contribution which John R. Pennington has made
toward the cultivation and irrigation of vast areas of
arid lands with a hydraulic well-drilling machine
which he had perfected. He was born November
29, 1871, in a rural district near Brenham, Texas, a
son of Asa Pennington, who migrated with his family
from Galesburg, 111., to Texas in 1849. His paternal
great-grandfather. Sir Richard Pennington, a native
of Lancashire, England, came from that country and
settled near Galesburg, 111. His paternal grandfather,
Elijah Pennington, brought his family to Texas and
engaged in stock-raising, and there Asa Pennington,
his father, became an extensive cattleman and land-
owner, the present townsite of Brenham being located
on property formerly owned by him. In the early
pioneer days of Brenham, wild horses roamed the
prairies and were a pest to the farmers. He became
prominent in the cattle business, controlling at one
time about 34,000 acres of choice land.

John R. Pennington's education was obtained in
the grammar and high schools of Brenham, later at-
tending the Agricultural College at Bryan, Texas,
and graduating in 1894 from the department of
mechanical arts with the degree of M. E. He then
entered the office of his uncle, Robert E. Penning-
ton, a prominent attorney of Brenham, and spent a
year and a half reading law, but was not satisfied to
make the practice of law his life's work, so early in
1899 he was employed by the American Cotton Com-
pany at Houston, as a buyer of cotton. Very soon
he was placed in the position of mechanical superin-
tendent of their mills and the "round bale" was per-
fected and brought into use, which revolutionized the
cotton industry. He then accepted a position as chief
engineer for the Gravity Canal Company of Bay
City, Tex., a company which constructed immense
flumes for the transportation of water for the irriga-
tion of the vast areas of uncultivated lands. In 1901
the whole state was aroused by the striking of oil at
"Spindle Top," the first gusher in Texas. Mr. Pen-
nington was a witness to this event, and for the next
few years he was interested in oil and oil lands at
Beaumont, Texas, making and losing a fortune sev-
eral times over. While a resident of Texas, he

served as a first lieutenant in Company C of the
Second Regiment of the Texas National Guard. In
1906 he resigned his position with the Gravity Canal
Company and began to develop 300 acres of rice
land, and his crop in 1907 amounted to 2480 bags.

The marriage of Mr. Pennington occurred May 14.
1896, at Paris, Texas, and united him with Miss
Effie Smith, a daughter of R. E- Smith, a prominent
merchant of Paris. Mr. Smith served as councilman
for Paris for twenty-one years, was also active and
prominent as a member of the Methodist Church, a
strong personality and an influence for good in the
community in which he resided. He passed away in
September, 1912. Mrs. Pennington is a graduate of
the Female College in Paris, majoring in music.

During the year of 1908 the family removed to
Houston. Texas, and there Mr. Pennington became
associated with the Layne & Bowler Pump Com-
pany, doing an extensive business throughout Color-
ado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Arkansas.
Later the family removed to Stuttgart, Arkansas,
and in 1914 they came to the Santa Clara Valley,
purchasing a residence at 97 Randol Avenue, an ex-
clusive residence section of San Jose. Mr. Penning-
ton also owns an orchard property of ninety acres
near Morgan Hill devoted to the cultivation of
prunes and walnuts; and is a member of the Cali-
fornia Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc. Mr. and
Mrs. Pennington are the parents of five children.
On April 9. 1917, Richard L. left his studies at the
College of the Pacific to enlist in the Aviation Corps,
going to Angel Island, and thence to Kelly Field
Ground School for three months. He also received
private instruction at Stinson Flying School at San
Antonio, Texas. On the first of August, 1917, he
reached England and became instructor of flying of
the Fifty-sixth Royal Flying Corps, just fifteen miles
from London. He witnessed the bombing at night
of London by the enemy. At the time of the sign-
ing of the armistice he was ready to receive his pro-
motion to captaincy, but was discharged before this
could take place, on June 26, 1919. In partnership
with E. T. Todd, he conducted a flying school at
Santa Clara, which they operated for six months.
He is married to Miss Emily Gould and they have
a daughter — Elizabeth. At present he is interested
with his father in the operation of the hydraulic well-
drilling machines. Evelyn, now Mrs. Watts, has one
son and resides at Burlingame; Thelma is a student
at the State Normal school in San Jose; Dorothy at
Notre Dame College; Rex is deceased.

While residing in Texas, Mr. Pennington in 1907
perfected his hydraulic rotary well-drilling machine
for drilling oil and water wells, and was actively en-
gaged in drilling oil wells. Since coming to Santa
Clara County he has made and built improvements
to fit the conditions for drilling water wells in the
valley and has drilled over 200 wells for irrigating
purposes, thus demonstrating his success in obtain-
ing water, and has made a specialty of drilling large
and deep wells by the use of the hydraulic rotary
system. The business has grown so he now uses
three different outfits for the drilling of deep wells,
each outfit costing about $12,000. Mr. Pennington's
work here cannot be overestimated, for on plenty of
water for irrigation depends the future success of
the horticultural and agricultural interests of the
county. Politically Mr. Pennington is a Democrat
in his convictions. Fraternally he is affiliated with

^^<_

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1249

the San Jose Lodge No. S22, B. P. O. E; Observa-
tory Lodge No. 23, L O. O. F., and Friendship
Lodge No. 210, F. & A. M. He is an active member
of the Chamber of Commerce and the 100 Per Cent
Chib of San Jose. He has led an active and useful
hfc, and has the respect of his fellowmen.

JOSEPH CARSON CUNNINGHAM.— A suc-
cessful orchardist of Santa Clara, who crossed the
plains when only a small boy of nine years and who
with his parents settled in Santa Clara County, was
the late Joseph Carson Cunningham, who passed
away at his home October 27, 1918. He was the son
of Joseph Cunningham, a native of Tennessee, while
his mother, Mary Jane Goodding, was a native of
Missouri. Joseph Cunningham was the fifth genera-
tion of the Cunningham family who followed farm-
ing for a livelihood. In 1863 he sold his farm and
removed to California, settling first in Solano County
in 1864 and remained there until 1881, when he re-
moved with his fam.ily to Santa Clara County. He
purchased at that time a ranch containing about
thirty-two acres and set it out to orchards of prunes,
pears, apples, apricot?, and grapes. Here he and his
wife resided until their death.

Joseph Carson Cunningham was born in Missouri,
November 2. 1849, and was but a small lad when his
parents brought him across the plains to California.
He came to San Jose in 1881, and here he was mar-
ried to Miss Nancy J. Easterday, who was born and
reared in San Jose, a daughter of Solomon \V.
Easterday, one of the early business men of San
Jose. After her husband's death, Mrs. Cunningham
resided on the farm until she passed away, Febru-
ary 21, 1921. Their union was blessed with two
children: Vida L. is the wife of Roy E. Graves and
they reside in San Jose; Frank L., since his father's
death has had charge of and operates the orchards.
He is a member of Saratoga Lodge No. 428. I. O.
O. F., of which he is a past grand. Joseph C. Cun-
ningham took a deep interest in the affairs of the
community in which he resided for so many years,
and served as school trustee of the Saratoga district
for nine years. His home place in which he took
much pride consists of fifteen acres of the finest soil
and the best improvements that years will produce
and he made a splendid success as an orchardist.
Always enthusiastic over the resources of Santa
Clara County, he supported all movements for its
advancement and prosperity.

WILLIAM J. THOMPSON.— One of the best
known and most successful veterinary surgeons in the
Santa Clara Valley is William J. Thompson, a native
of Massachusetts, born in Boston, August 19, 1859.
the son of W. J. and Caroline (Kingsmill) Thomp-
son, both parents having been born and reared in
Massachusetts. The father was a manufacturer of
cloth, but he passed away early in life, and the
mother removed to California with her son, William
J., in 1864, and settled in San Jose. Subsequently
she was married again, to William S. Brewer, a
merchant in Saratoga. She spent her last days there.
Of her first marriage, William J. is the only child;
while of the second marriage there were three
children, two of whom are living. When four years
old William came to California with his mother via
the Isthmus of Panama. He attended school at the
Normal Square in San Jose and then was among the
first pupils to attend the Hester school. In 1867

he removed with his folks to a ranch in the Santa
Cruz Mountains, built the first frame house on the
summit, and engaged in stock raising, and they also
dealt in shakes and shingles and pickets. In 1873
they removed to Saratoga and bought a five-acre
p-iace and engaged in the mercantile business, also
handling hay, grain and lumber. When twenty he
returned to the summit and engaged in the stock
business, having a ranch of 1,100 acres. His practi-
cal experience and common sense, coupled with
necessity, has made him a capable veterinarian, and
is called into consultation frequently and his expert
knowledge of the diseases of animals results in com-
plete recovery. In 1892 he again located at Saratoga
and practiced veterinary medicine. He is the oldest
practitioner in this line in this section of the valley.
At different times, he has owned a valuable string
of race horses and at present has a number of hunt-
ing hounds. Among the horses he has owned were
Cloverland, Apache, Wecland and Mamie T.

The marriage of Mr. Thompson united him with
Miss Emma C. McClain, born and reared in Canada.
They are the parents of four children: Carrie, now
Mrs. Louis Burnett of the Saratoga district; Roscoe
is engaged in the butcher business at Sunnyvale;
Eva is Mrs. L. H. Wakefield of this vicinity; and
William J.. Jr., of Saratoga. There are six grand-
children. Politically Mr. Thompson votes the Re-
publican ticket. He uses his efforts in the upbuilding
and development of the locality in which he has lived
and labored for so many years and takes great pride
in the prosperity of the county and state.

MRS. JULIA E. BURKET.— A splendid example
of the capable American woman in business is af-
forded by Mrs. Julia E. Burket. the proprietor of
the popular Patterson Drug Store at 251 South First
Street, San Jose. She was born in Tipton, Iowa,
and her parents were John J. and Freda Escher.
She attended the grammar and the high school at
Tipton, and finished her studies with higher educa-
tional courses in the State University at Iowa City.
She continued to reside at home until she was
married, on May 27. 1884, to John Eberle Burket,
a native of Dixon, 141 , the son of Peter and Eliza-
beth Burket. Mr. Burket was an undertaker at
Creston, Iowa, before he was married, and when he
and his devoted wife came out to California in 1891,
they settled at Paso Robles, and there Mr. Burket
established a furniture and undertaking business. At
the end of eight years, he sold out and they removed
to Watsonville; and in 1905, after having again en-
gaged in undertaking business, he passed away.

Mrs. Burket remained in Watsonville until 1912,
when she removed to Berkeley for the education of
her two children. Eventually Harold Kscher was
graduated from the University of California with the
class of '16 as an engineer and architect, and he is
at present with the Wallace & Bush Company of
Long Beach. Elizabeth also graduated from the
University of California, and later she received her
state certificate as an instructor. At present, as a
member of the staff of the San Jose high school, she
has charge of public health and welfare work.

In 1918 Mrs. Burket removed to San Jose, upon the
death of her sister, Mrs. Emma E. Patterson, and
became the administratrix of her estate. She re-
modeled Mrs. Patterson's home at 22 South Eleventh
Street, and now makes that her residence. She

1250

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

purchased the Patterson drug store, and later took
in Nicholas J. Volino as a partner, who is a native
son of San Jose, is a graduate pharmacist, and has
charge of the prescription business. Mrs. Burket
also owns twenty-two acres of almond orchard, one
of the finest in that part of the state, at Paso Robics.
Mr. Burket was a prominent member of both the
Odd Fellows and Kniglits of Pythias, and he marched
under the banners of the Republican party; and Mrs.
Burket. who shares the political preference of her
husband, also belongs to the ladies' auxiliaries of
those orders. Mrs. Burket takes a keen interest in
public affairs, and is ever ready to do what she can
toward the upbuilding as well as the building up of
San Jose and Santa Clara County.

URBAN A. KAMMERER— Another worthy rep-
resentative of a famous old pioneer family long iden-
tified with this favored section of the Golden State
is Urban A. Kammerer, of the Coast Electric Serv-
ice, the leading experts in the installation of motors,
pumping plants, pole lines and house wiring, of 1022
South First Street, San Jose. He was born at the
Kammerer home place on King Road, the sou of Al-
exander and May Katherine (Holland) Kammerer,
and was reared on the ranch and sent to the Jackson
district school. His grandfather was Peter Kammerer,
a native of Germany, and a member of one of the old
and honored families there, who had married Miss
Marian Hoffman, also a representative of a very well-
known German family line; and very soon after the
admission of California as a state, he crossed the
ocean to America and migrated to the Coast. He fol-
lowed mining with varying luck, and in 1855 took up
200 acres of land in Santa Clara County, on the King
Road, in the Jackson school district, about two and
one-half miles east of San Jose. There he lived hap-
pily, enjoying the work of cultivating and improving
the place, until 1864, when his life-companion died;
then he lingered a year, and he, too, passed away.
This left Alexander Kammerer, the father of our sub-
ject, a four-year-old orphan; but he found the best
of guardians in their next-door neighbor, J. D. White,
the farmer, whose family received him as one of their
own, brought him up, sent him-to school, and taught
him to follow agriculture. When he was twenty-one,
Alexander inherited half of the family estate, the other
half going to his sister, Lena, of Oakland: and once
in possession of the ranch, he made it somewhat fam-
ous as a place for the cultivation of fruit, and the rais-
ing of hay, grain and stock. When Mr. Kammerer
was married, on October 17, 1883, he led to the altar
May Katherine, the daughter of Simeon and Hannah
(Broadbent) Holland, both of whom had come from
England, their native country, to Santa Clara County.

After finishing with elementary and secondary
school work. Urban Kammerer attended the State
Normal School at San Jose, and when only seven-
teen also assumed responsibilities on the home ranch.
Then he worked for the Pacific Gas & Electric Com-
pany, and became foreman in the department of dis-
tribution, and remained with the company, running
out of San Jose. He then entered the service of the
Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, and the
U. S. Long Distance Telephone Company, spending
in their employ, at San Francisco, Oakland and Los
Angeles, most of the intervening years up to 1919,
He became well known and well liked, and was alto-
gether a popular fellow all the more serviceable to

his employers. After this he began electrical contract-
ing for himself, and is now one of the partners in
Coast Electric Service, engaged in electrical business
in San Jose. The offices of the concern are at 1022
South First Street, and from there the electricians
go out, to city or country places, and install the
most up-to-date apparatus, requiring a thorough
knowledge of electrical science.

While in San Francisco, Mr. Kammerer was mar-
ried to Miss Marie Freeman, a native of San Mateo
County, and the daughter of Charles M. Freeman,
a successful rancher there. The happy couple live
at 360 King Road, formerly a portion of the Kam-
merer rancho. Mr. Kammerer was made a Mason
in San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M., and is also
a member of the Knights of Pythias, and is an inde-
pendent Republican.

JOHN H. ALLEN.— Capable and resourceful,
John H. Allen through his thrift and application may
well be considered successful, having started making
his own way when only seventeen. He was born in
Richmond, Va., March 20, 1883, the son of Charles H.
and Catherine Allen, the father being a Virginia
planter. John was one of a family of five children,
and when he was five years old his parents came to
California, first settling at Oakland and later moving
to San Francisco. Here he received his education,
attending the grammar and high schools of San Fran-
cisco. His father was a locomotive engineer for the
Southern Pacific Railway Company until the year
1899, when he met with an accidental death, the
mother passing away just six months later, in 1900.
John Allen at that time was seventeen years old,
and starting out to make his own way, he took up
railroad work with the Southern Pacific Railway
Company, entering the train service as brakeman,
later becoming a fireman, continuing in this line
for seven years, spending the greater part of his
time in California and on the Coast Division.

Coming to San Francisco in 1906, Mr. Allen took
up electrical work and became an electric journey-
man, working for the firm of Columbia Electric
Works. In 1907 he came to San Jose in the interest
of this firm, and here he had charge of all the out-
side electrical sign work. He then accepted a posi-
tion with the San Jose Water Works and here he
remained for fourteen years, in the capacity of elec-
tric operator for the city water works. In 1918 he
purchased the Lenox Hotel on South First Street
and conducted it until May, 1921. On November 1,
1921, he became proprietor of the Anderson Apart-
ments at the corner of San Antonio and Second
streets. The house is strictly a first-class apartment
building with nineteen two-room apartments.

Mr. Allen was married on September 14, 1914, to
Miss Hazel Thompson, who was born in San Jose,
the daughter of Gilbert and Sadie Thompson. Mr.
Thompson is a stationary engineer and at the present
time has charge of the heating system of the Y. M.
C. A. building of San Jose. Mrs. Allen received her
education in the Grant grammar school and then at-
tended the San Jose high school, finishing her sopho-
more year. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson are residents of
San Jose, and are still hale and hearty. Mr. Allen
is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America
and of the Chamber of Commerce of San Jose. In
national politics, he and Mrs. Allen are stanch ad-
herents of the Republican party.

(Pi^-z^pt^p-j^xA-^lJ^^Zy

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNT V

1253

CHARLES W. RUST.— Among the most interest-
ing of residents in Santa Clara County, particularly
on account of his enviable record for valuable serv-
ices rendered his country in military defense of the
nation, may well be numbered Charles W. Rust, the
retired Civil War veteran living at 128 South Twen-
tieth Street, San Jose. He was born on September
7. 1842, in Jennings County, Ind., where he resided
until 1846, the son of Henry Rust, who had married
Miss Mary McFarlan. When four years old, he ac-
companied his parents to Platte County, Mo., and
there, on a half-section of land, his father cut away
the timber, cleared a small field, and literally hewed
out a home. Owing to the wilderness, however, he
decided to return to Indiana with his family until
the country should become more settled; but he soon
tired of the peaceful Hoosier state, and returned
again to Western Missouri. This was in 1848, and
he again landed in the wilds with a family of five
and seventy-five cents in his pocket. This time, he
went to work on a tobacco press; but the labor was
distasteful on account of the nauseating fumes of
tobacco, and because he was made a slave-driver; and
in 1849 he was glad to regain possession of his old
farm in Platte County, to which he moved and where
he toiled until 1855.

The j'ear previous, Kansas had become a territory,
and Henry Rust determined to try his fortune there;
so he became one of the first pioneers of the new
El Dorado in .\tchison County, crossed the Mis-
souri River at Atchison, proceeded southwest some
six miles, and found an ideal spot for a home. He
laid a pre-emption claim to a quarter-section of land,
and erected a log house, into which, in the spring
of 1855, he moved his family, using a flat boat to
cross the river. There were no signs of civilization
there at that time, although one could see for miles
over the prairie. His tract included a fine grove of
eighty acres of timber land, a good s|)ring of water,
and eleven acres of sod land, where he himself had
planted corn. Flour was seven dollars per sack of
ninety-six pounds, and hard to get.

As a mere boy, Charles assisted his father, and
when their springs were frozen over, he helped care
for the cattle, cutting holes in the ice on the Missouri
River, when the ice was from 18 to 24 inches thick,
and at fifteen, he had become a first-class oxen
driver. He had never attended school, however, and
he scarcely knew one letter from another, for there
were then no schools in that territory. After a while
he returned to Indiana with a friend of his grand-
father, and they stopped at Weston, Mo., en route,
where they took the New Lucy, a southern steamer,
to St. Louis. He had then never seen a house larger
than a story and a half, or a railroad train; and he
found St. Louis a wonderful city, and also the old
Planters Hotel, where he and his friend Spencer
stayed that night, a wonderful affair. He had never
seen an orange, and in St. Louis he purchased his
first citrus fruit. At St. Louis he and his friend
boarded an onmibus and crossed the Mississippi
River on a ferryboat.

He also boarded the first railroad train he had
seen and traveled to Terre Haute, Ind., and at Terre
Haute they stopped to see friends of Mr. Spencer,
and the next day resumed their journey to Vernon,
at the end of the railway line. Grandfather Rust,
a native of Ohio, had come to Indiana in 1838, when
the state was only sparsely settled; and as there were

seven stalwart sons, he had plenty of help in clearing
his land and building a good home. He also had
both a saw and a grist mill; and Henry, the eldest,
was chosen miller, and worked where, thirteen years
later, our subject found the mill still being operated.
In the spring of 1858, however, this old mill was
destroyed by flood of the Muscatatuck River.

Charles, when fifteen, attended his first school, at
his grandfather's, a private undertaking supported
by the patrons, and there he selected only a speller.
When informed that he must also have a reader, arith-
metic and copy-book, he argued that they were not
necessary until he had learned to spell. In four
months, however, he had advanced to the third
reader, and by 1859 he was able to send the first
letter written by himself home to his parents. In
1858, he also walked through deep snow to attend
a night school. In the late spring of 1859, he re-
turned to his Kansas home after having received all
the education considered necessary for a young
pioneer of the unsettled West. He traveled from
North Vernon on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad,
to St. Louis, then went by rail to Jefferson City,
and then by boat up the Missouri to Atchison,
where a surprise or two awaited him. His father
had replaced the log house with a frame building of
a story and a half, and had also put horses and
mules in place of the oxen. Neighbors also had
surrounded his father's quarter-section.

.•\fter the very dry year, 1860, when farmers left
Kansas on account of the drought, the winter of
1860-61 left the soil in fine shape for spring planting,
and Charles helped to put in the crops and make
hay. The disturbed political affairs of the day also
absorbed him, and in May, 1861, he assisted in or-
ganizing a company of young men under Colonel
May, fifty in number, for home-guard duty. In Sep-
tember, 1861, when the Governor of Kansas had au-
thorized the formation of the Seventh and Eighth regi-
ments of Kansas volunteers, he enlisted, and on
September 19 he and his comrades assembled at
Atchison and marched to Fort Leavenworth, where
they were mustered into the U. S. service, being in
Company C, Eighth Kansas Infantry, serving under
Captain J. M. Graham, and on October 1 they set
out to march to Fort Riley. 125 miles distant.

On February 3, 1863, he proceeded to Nashville,
reached Cairo on the 14th, three days later arrived
at Fort Donelson, and reached Nashville on the 23rd.
There the Eighth Kansas remained until June, 1863,
when they were ordered to join the army at Mur-
freesboro. On the 8th of July the Eighth was ordered
to search the Cumberland Mountains for a bunch
of guerillas who were harassing the people, but
without success; and on the 17th of August the army
marched to Stevenson, Ala., and soon moved over to
Caperton's Ferry on the Tennessee River, and after
taking part in an engagement on Sand Mountain,
reached the top of Lookout Mountain. On Septem-
ber 19 he was in the battle of Chickamauga. and seven
days later General Grant arrived on the scene. On
November 15, General Sherman arrived at Chat-
tanooga, and on the 27th Mr. Rust and his com-
patriots marched to the relief of Knoxville. a distance
of 150 miles, which they reached on December 7.
He had been a corporal; but on January 4, 1864,
he was appointed, by Col. John A. Martin, sergeant
in Company C, the promotion being for gallant serv-

1254

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ice during the Battle of Chickamauga and for gallan-
try in the Battle of Mission Ridge.

On February 9, 1864, our subject was mustered out
of service as a volunteer, and immediately reenlisted
and was mustered into service as a veteran volunteer,
for another term of three years, or for the duration
of the war, after which he enjoyed a furlough of
thirty days; he did picket duty, and took part in
minor skirmishes up to December 15, when he was
in the Battle of Nashville. While on Montgomery
Hill he was wounded so badly that his leg had to
be amputated. He had been at Nashville four times
in 1863 and '64, and on March 28 he left for Indiana,
to visit his grandfather's home, when he found that
both his grandfather and his father had taken part
in the war. He was at North Vernon when Lee
surrendered, and he also attended the memorial
funeral services there, in honor of Lincoln, on April
19th. On April 21, 1865, he started for Kansas, and
on June 14, at Fort Leavenworth, he was discharged.
He went to St. Louis to see if he could be provided
with an artificial leg; but this proved a failure.

Henry Rust was county clerk before the war, and
resigned a short time before war was declared; and
in the fall of 1865, Charles Rust, unaware even that
he had been nominated, was elected by popular vote
to succeed his father. He applied himself assidu-
ously to his duties, studied law, and held the office
for twenty-one years. He was principal and deputy
county clerk, county treasurer, city assessor, and
also held a commission as notary public; and he held
all these offices until 1887, giving satisfaction to
everybody, when he came West to California. He
settled in Napa County, and for a short time en-
gaged in the sale of real estate and insurance, then
he went into San Francisco and there for ten years
continued in the same field. In 1904, he went to
Oakland, where he lived until 1911, when he retired
from business activity and settled at East San Jose.

On December 26, 1867, Charles W. Rust was mar-
ried at Atchison, Kan., to Miss Mary J. Biddle, a
native of Columbus County, Ohio, and the daughter
of Joseph Biddle. Her father had served in the
same companj' and regiment with Henry Rust, who
died from fever at Ft. Smith, Ark., in 1863. Charles
had three uncles in the service. The Rusts have had
a family of seven children. The eldest, Lillian B., is
the wife of Everett R. Brent of East San Jose; Mabel
C. has become Mrs. Frederick Wood of San Jose;
NeUie died at the age of seven; Joseph is living in
Napa Valley. He served with Dewey on the Olympia
in the Spanish-American War; Alice had become Mrs.
Lee Shaw, and she died in California; George R. died
in his second year; and Eva, the seventh-born, died,
aged two. Of the grandchildren, Mrs. Wood has four:
Inez is Mrs. Klemm of Oakland; Marie is Mrs. Ellin-
wood; Morris Wood is the famous baseball player;
Frederick is in the high school at San Jose. Mrs.
Shaw also has a son, Raymond Shaw, who is the
head of the Union Indemnity Company, with their
branch at Los Angeles. Joseph Rust, too, has four
children: Joseph, Jr., and Derrick are in the U. S.
Navy; while the third and fourth are Queen and
Martha. Mrs. Klemm has two children: John W.
and Fay Klemm; and Marie Ellinwood has a son.
Thus Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rust have two great-
grandsons and one great-granddaughter.

Recalling all the incidents of this career, in which
Mr. Rust never failed to do his full duty as he

saw it, and the sacrifice he made on the battlefields.
which condemned him to a life of partial incapacity
and inconvenience, it will be seen that Sergeant Rust
will forever be entitled to all the esteem and good-
will which his fellow-citizens can shower upon him,
and will also merit the reverence of posterity that
comes after and enters into the fruits of his life and
unselfish service.

STEPHEN M. SAUNDERS.— Among the pro-
gressive men of San Jose who are the promoters of
its business interests, is Stephen M. Saunders, who
is the manager as well as one of the proprietors of
the Consolidated Laundry Company, now one of the
largest laundries in the county. It is located on
San Fernando and Autumn streets, where it is do-
ing an ever-growing business. Mr. Saunders is a
native of Indiana, having been born in Shelbyville,
and is the son of Isaac and Lydia (Ludlow)
Saunders. The father, who is of English extraction,
is now engaged there as a florist, Mrs. Saunders
having passed away some time ago.

Stephen Saunders attended the grammar school of
Shelbyville, Ind., and at the age of fourteen years
took a position with Schnell & Company, whole-
sale grocers, at Indianapolis, where he was employed
for six years. Coming to California in 1906, and
settling at San Francisco, he was employed at vari-
ous places and in a number of businesses, until he
learned the barber trade and then he followed in
that line of work for a period of eight years, being
in business at Twenty-fourth and Mission streets.

In 1911, Mr. Saunders came to San Jose and here,
with a partner, Mr. W. A. Katen, he introduced the
Towel Supply in San Jose under the firm name of
the Valley Towel Supply Company and this was the
first business of the kind in the valley. They con-
tinued for five years, when they absorbed the St.
James Laundry, and a year later they leased the
U. S. Laundry, operating under the new firm name
of the Consolidated Laundry Company, and still
later they acquired the latter by purchase. In 1917,
Eli Bariteau purchased Mr. Katen's interest and
since then Mr. Saunders and Mr. Bariteau have been
sole owners of this business, and have been very
successful. They have in their employ over sixty
people, all e.xpert along this line. Delivery is made
on twelve routes, covering the whole of Santa Clara
County. The laundry is operated by the most modern
machinery that is obtainable, having the very latest
improvements. They have their own 280-foot well
of splendid water and use in connection a water-
softening process, where the water passes through
a bed of zeolite mineral that removes all hardness,
leaving it like rainwater. By actual tests it has
been demonstrated that by using this process the life
of linens are doubled. They have their own pumping
plant, with a sixty horsepower engine and a one
hundred horsepower boiler.

On March 25, 1913, occurred the marriage of Mr.
Saunders which united him with Miss Ruth Tucker,
the ceremony being solemnized in San Francisco.
Mrs. Saunders is a native of Ohio, having been born
at Conneaut and was the daughter of Amos and Leah
Tucker, who came to the state of California during
the year 1911. Her father is interested in the amuse-
ment business and is now operating a skating rink
in San Jose, thus providing for the young folks of
this city a good, wholesome recreation. Both Mr.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

125;

Saunders and his partner, EK Bariteau, are very
active in the work of the Chamber of Commerce,
always ready to help in movements for the good of
their community. Mr. Bariteau also has contributed
his share to the defense of his country by serving in
the World War. Mr. Saunders is a member of the
Independent Order of Red Men in which organiza-
tion he is very popular and is a charter member of
the Commercial Club. In religious faith. Mr. Saun-
ders and his family are consistent members of the
First Methodist Church, and in national politics
he is an adherent of the Republican party.

MARION E. ELLIS.— In the death of Marion E.
Ellis on May 8, 1904, Santa Clara County mourned
the loss of one of her wealthiest and most honorable
citizens and California one of her most prosperous
dairy farmers and successful agriculturists. He was
born on the Ellis home place at San Ysidro (Old
Gilroy) on October 20, 1873, the son of James H. and
Harriet (Zuck) Ellis, who are mentioned on another
page in this history.

Marion was educated in a private school at Gilroy,
and then attended Stanford University and later was
graduated from Brewer's Military Academy at Palo
Alto. After leaving school he engaged in business in
Gilroy, and after his father's death assumed full
charge of the dairy business near San Ysidro, and
he served one term on the town council of Gilroy.
Mr. Ellis was a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the
Eastern Star, the B. P. O. Elks and the Odd Fellows.

The marriage of Mr. Ellis occurred in April. 1899,
and united him with Miss Annabel Swan, born in the
Salinas Valley, a daughter of Hugh Swan, an early
settler of California, born in Scotland and a veteran
of the Mexican war. Her mother was Miss Isabella
Jackson, a native of Ireland. They were married in
California, lived for a time in San Francisco and
eventually located in ^^lonterey County, where they
died at Salinas. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis had one daughter,
Marion I. The Ellis ranch consists of 400 acres of
fine rich land, on which has been conducted a dairy
for fifty-six years, and is one of the profitable old-
time dairies in the valley, the principal product of
the dairy being fine California cheese, which is mar-
keted in San Francisco. Mrs. Ellis has proven her-
self a capable and efficient manager of her husband's
estate. The daughter, Marion, attended Mills College
and also the Junior College at San Jose. She is an
ardent lover of the great outdoors and with her
mother enjoys the sports and games at their beauti-
ful summer home at Monterey. At the death of her
grandmother Ellis, she inherited some very desir-
able real estate in Gilroy, and some of the original
capital stock of Salinas City Bank, and is taking an
active interest in business affairs.

ADOLPH JOHN BAIOCCHI. M. D.— A success-
ful physician and surgeon whose brilliant future is
easily forecast by his exceptional scientific training
and valuable practical experience and his keen in-
tellect and its powers, is Dr. A. J. Baiocchi, a native
of San Jose, where he was born on November 19,
1890, the son of Stephen Baiocchi, a native of Lucca,
Italy, who came to New York on an old ship loaded
with lumber and traveling so slowly that it took
forty days to make the trip to New York. He
reached San Jose about 1880, and soon engaged in
the manufacture of confectionery, organizing the
San Jose Paste Company on Market Street, now

known as the San Jose-Ravenna Paste Company,
located on San Pedro Street. He owned and oper-
ated this company until his death. He had married
in San Jose, Miss Marie De Mattel, a native of
Genoa, Italy, and when he died in 1891, he left his
devoted wife with our subject, then only eleven
months old. The beloved woman is still living in
San Jose, the mother of four children.

A. J. attended the San Jose grammar and high
schools, and then matriculated at the Santa Clara
University, from which he was graduated with the
Bachelor of Arts degree on June 10, 1914. After that
he took an A. B. degree at Stanford University, in
1915, and three years later received his M. D. degree
from the medical and surgical department of Stan-
ford, after which he served as an interne at the San
Francisco County Hospital for one year, then served
as house officer of the Stanford Surgical Service at
the San Francisco County Hospital until in Febru-
ary, 1920, when he opened offices in San Jose for
private practice as physician and surgeon, and he
has been so successful in an ever-increasing practice
that he intends to make San Jose the center of
his activities. On September 10. 1921, Dr. Baiocchi
was united in marriage at San Jose with Miss Martha
B. Frain of Harrisburg. Pa.

When the World War called for experts on be-
half of the government Dr. Baiocchi entered the
Medical Reserve Corps and served for eighteen
months in government work at the San Francisco
County Hospital, which was under government direc-
tion, his assignment there running from November.
1917 to May, 1919; and he had a very active part
in caring for many of the 3.800 cases of influenza-
pneumonia treated. He belongs to the Santa Clara
County Medical Society and the State Medical .Asso-
ciation, and is a member of the medical fraternity,
the Omega Epsilon Phi. He belongs to the Knights
of Columbus and the Y. M. I., and he is naturally
a member of the San Jose Parlor of the Native Sons
of the Golden West.

HARRY E. BRANDENBURG.— An experienced,
well-read and well-informed rancher, Harry E. Bran-
denburg enjoys the esteem of all who know him in
and around Saratoga and Santa Clara County, where
he has lived since the early '60s. He was born in
Muscatine, Iowa, on December 8. 1857. the son of
Charles Henry and Sarah M. (Mullen) Branden-
burg. Harry was only three years old when his
parents came to California, crossing the plains in
1861, first going to Butte County where the father
engaged in mining, and from there to Santa Clara
County about four years later. The elder Branden-
burg was a farmer until he died September 7. 1913,
aged eighty-three, while his widow is still living,
aged eighty-seven years. Of their three children,
our subject is the eldest of the two living. He was
educated in the public schools of Santa Clara and a
private school there, and later he attended the Garden
City Business College in San Jose, where he was
graduated in 1878. He engaged in farming two
years; then in business in Oakland and Alameda two
years, and then spent almost a year mining in Ari-
zona, when he returned to Santa Clara.

Mr. Brandenburg's marriage, which occurred in
Santa Clara, November 2, 1886, united him with
Miss Sarah J. Hartwick. born in Santa Clara, the
daughter of Christian J. and Sarah (Beecher) Hart-

158

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

wick, who were natives of New York. Christian J.
Hartwick came to California in the early days, lo-
cating in Santa Clara, where he was a carpenter
and builder. Grandfather Charles Beecher. an own
cousin of Henry Ward Beecher, spent his last days
in Stockton, Cal., where his son John Beecher was
a pioneer business man. Mrs. Brandenburg's father
died in 1872, being survived by his widow who died
in March, 1895. Four of their nine children are
living, of whom Mrs. Brandenburg is the youngest.
Mr. and Mrs. Brandenburg are the parents of four
children: Juanita Avcnel, a music teacher residing in
San Jose; Elizabeth E., Mrs. William Wight of
Saratoga; Charles Edgar, a graduate of the Camp-
bell high school and Heald's Business College, San
Jose, and served fourteen months in the Quarter-
master Corps during the World War, being stationed
at Jacksonville. Fla.. and was mustered out Febru-
ary 6, 1919. He is now with the Ainsley Packing
Company at Campbell, but makes his home with
his parents. Annabel is the wife of H. A. Fosgate
and resides at Corning, Cal.

In 1890 Mr. and Mrs. Brandenburg located on the
present ranch of ten acres which he set out to
orchard, and it is now highly improved, a full-bearing
orchard of prunes, apricots, peaches and cherries.
This tract is a choice bit of land and he has spent
much time and labor in bringing it to its splendid
condition. Politically he is a Republican and with
his wife is a member of the Orchard City Grange
and he is a charter member of the Saratoga Lodge
of Odd Fellows.

MERVYN A. DAVENPORT.— An industrious,
straightforward business man, who is justly achiev-
ing success in his line of work is Mervyn A. Daven-
port, the genial proprietor of Austin Corners
Garage. Born in San Francisco, December 26, 1890,
he is the son of Withold and Hanna (Tobias)
Davenport, both natives of New York State, where
Withold Davenport was a merchant. Removing to
California in 1886, Mr. Davenport continued to fol-
low mercantile lines, and both he and his wife are
living and make their home in San Francisco.

Mervyn is the oldest of three sons, and received
his education in the public schrool and St. Joseph's
Academy, Oakland, and then Ferrels Military School
at New Orleans, La. His school days being over,
he took a position as a helper in an automobile
shop and was content to work from the ground up
in order to become conversant with the business,
and in this way he became a thorough automobile
mechanic and familiar with repair work. In the fall
of 1919 he located with the Sunnyvale Garage;
then on October 14, 1920, came to Austin Corners
and established himself in business, at first renting
a small garage, and he has been very successful
His business outgrew his quarters and he purchased
two acres at the Corners where he erected a garage
building 42 by 100 feet and has his residence adjoin-
ing. His garage is equipped for repairing any kind
of car, and he specializes in first aid, towing, and
.general repairing and has established a branch station
at the summit, from which he can be reached by
telephone and thus give immediate aid to stranded
cars. He is also serving his community as deputy
constable of Redwood Township under F. Lobdell.
Mr. Davenport spent some time in New York Citv at

three different times, and from 1914 to 1917 he was
in the rent car service at 181st Street.

Mr. Davenport's marriage united him with Miss
May Keeler of New York, and they are the parents
of two children, Marion and Mervyn A. Jr. On
November 14, 1917. he enlisted in the Four Hundred
Fifth Telegraph Battalion of the U. S. Army, sta-
tioned at Camp Lewis until March, 1918, when he
sailed from New York for France. Landing at
Saint Nazaire, he served as dispatch rider for seven-
teen months, and nine months after the armistice was
signed he came home and was mustered out at Camp
Dix in November, 1919, as corporal. Locally he
gives his support to progressive, constructive legis-
lation, regardless of party lines, supporting the best
man for public office.

FRED S. RYAN, M. D.— The profession as well
as the public accords Dr. Fred S. Ryan a prominent
position among the medical practitioners of San Jose.
He is specializing in surgery and through constant
reading and close study of the cases that come under
his care, he has gained that skill which brings to
his work the utmost possibility of accitracy in results.
Dr. Ryan :s a native of North Dakota, his birth
having occurred in Pembina, three miles from the
Canadian line, on October 1, 1882. His parents are
G. W. and Mary E. (Short) Ryan, the former a
native of Ohio, while the latter was born in Vir-
ginia. The father became one of the early settlers
of North Dakota and a prominent banker of that
state, having previously resided near Danville, 111.
In 1900 he came to San Jose and is still a resident
of this city. An uncle of Dr. Ryan enlisted for
service in the Civil War and was killed at the battle
of Lookout Mountain, while an uncle of his mother
was a personal friend of Napoleon Bonaparte and
also of the King of Spain.

In the acquirement of an education Fred S. Ryan
attended the grammar and high schools of Pembina,
N. D., and the University of California, from which
he received the B. S. degree in 1903. Later he went
to Chicago, entering the medical school of the North-
western University, which conferred upon him the
M. D. degree. He afterward served an internship at
the Cook County Hospital and then came to San
Jose, opening an office in the Garden City Bank
Building. His labors have been attended with a
gratifying measure of success and with the passing
years his practice has steadily grown in volume and
importance. He has developed expert ability as a
surgeon, in which branch of the profession he is
specializing, and is a member of the surgical staff
of the O'Connor Sanitarium, and chief of staff of
the Good Cheer Club and connected with the surgi-
cal staff of Santa Clara County Hospital. He is
also an advisory member of the Board of Health of
San Jose, and local surgeon for the Southern Pacific
Railway Company. In addition to his professional
activities he- has an interest in a ranch of 160 acres
and in one of 44 acres in the San Joaquin Valley,
both of which are irrigated by private pumping plants
and devoted to the raising of peaches.

At Pembina, N. D., on February 25, 1911, Dr.
Ryan was united in marriage to Miss Vida Mc-
Cafferty, a native of that city and a daughter of
John and Sarah (Cox) McCafferty. the former a
farmer by occupation. Dr. and Mrs. Ryan have a
family of four children: S. Elizabeth and V. Mar-

^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1261

garet are attending grammar school, and George M.
and Fred S. In August. 1918, Dr. Ryan enlisted for
service in the World War, being commissioned first
lieutenant. For six weeks he was at Fort Rilcy,
going from there to Rochester, Minn., where he had
the benefit of six weeks' instruction under the cele-
brated Mayo brothers. From there he was sent to
Camp Knox, Ky., being attached to the Seventy-
second Field Artillery, and was stationed at that
point until January 8, 1919, when he was discharged,
and returning to San Jose, where he has since con-
tinued in practice. His political allegiance is given
to the Republican party, and fraternally he is a
Knights Templar Mason and a Shriner, and he is
also a member of the Elks Lodge and Commercial
Club. His innate talent and acquired ability have
brought him to a most creditable position in pro-
fessional circles, and he kcejis abreast with the times
in the field of medical and surgical practice.

ARTHUR EARL AVERILL.— .\ native son of the
('.olden West who is energetic in his desire to aid in
the upbuilding and improving of this favored region
of the globe, Arthur Earl Averill was born in Santa
Cruz. May 13, 1893, a son of Volney and Alice (Schul-
theis) Averill. The father was a pioneer of the Santa
Cruz Mountains and a veteran of the Civil War,
(Isewhere represented in this history, while the mother
Avas a native of Santa Clara County, a daughter of
John Martin Schultheis, one of the earliest pioneers of
the Santa Cruz Mountains. Arthur Earl was the
youngest of their seven children and received his edu-
cation in the Summit school, from which he was grad-
uated, after which he completed a special course in the
Acme Business College in Seattle. He then returned
to the home ranch, where from a boy he had assisted
as best he could, thus learning the various phases of
orcharding. A year later, in 1915, he leased the home
ranch from his father and operated it with success.
In the fall of 1920 he went to Areata. Humboldt
County, where he was employed in the cattle business
with the Minors. In June, 1921, he returned to the
Summit, and a year later he purchased his father's
ranch of seventy-five acres, which he devotes princi-
pally to the culture of prunes; he is a member of the
California Prune and Apricot Association.

The marriage of Mr. Averill occurred in Oakland on
February 24. 1915. being united with Sophie Larsen.
a daughter of Ole and Anna (Hemmingsen) Larsen.
The father is now superintendent of the Mountain
View Cemetery at Piedmont. Mr. and Mrs. Averill
are the parents of two children, Dorothy Catherine
and Gladys Eley. Mr. Averill is a member of the
board of trustees of Summit school district, where he.
as well as his mother, attended school.

HARRY C. LEWIS.— One of the best known
commercial artists of Santa Clara Valley is Harry
C. Lewis, who is known far and wide by his work
as an artist. He is a native son of California, and
first saw the light of day in 1872, in the thriving city
of San Jose, where he has since made his residence,
and was the son of J. B. and Mary K. McKee Lewis.
The father was a native of Massachusetts, while the
mother was born in Connecticut; they came to San
Jose in the very early days and the father was en-
gaged in the drug business, being one of the pioneer
druggists remaining in this line for many years.

Harry Lewis attended both the grammar and high
schools of San Jose and when he became seventeen

years old, he started to make his own way, taking
up the work of typesetting at the "Mercury-Herald"
office, and continued in this line for twelve years
with the newspaper work. He then took up color
work in the year 1903 and commercialized it, es-
tablishing a business of his own and now has a
very large and profitable trade in commercial art,
making a specialty of designing show cards and all
work along this line. His place of business is now
located at 130 South First street, and the volume of
his business is continually increasing, due to the orig-
inality of his ideas and the artistry embodied in his
work. Mr. Lewis is very popular in fraternal circles,
being a member of the San Jose Parlor No. 82, Na-
tive Sons of the Golden West, and of San Jose Lodge
No. 552, of B. P. O. Elks.

FLOYD A. HANSON.— One of the important
commercial enterprises of San Jose is the Bean Spray
Pump Company, of which Floyd A. Hanson is the
general sales manager, and the fact that he has been
chosen to fill this important position is indisputable
proof of his executive ability, business acumen and
enterprise. He was born at Waukon. la., March 30,
1881. the only child of H. Thomas and Leha (Peck)
Hanson, the former also a native of the Hawkeye
State, while the latter was born in Beaver Dam, Wis.
The father followed the occupation of farming and
also engaged in business as grain dealer, winning a
substantial measure of success through the capable
management of his affairs and becoming a prominent
and highly respected resident of his community. The
paternal grandfather, Ole Hanson, emigrated to the
LInited States from Norway in 1845 and became a
resident of Round Prairie, near Waukon, la., where
he continued to make his home until his demise,
when sixty-eight years of age. He was one of the
pioneer settlers of the state and was highly esteemed
by all who knew him.

In 1898 Floyd A. Hanson was graduated from the
Waukon high school, and responded to the second
call of the government for troops to aid in the
Spanish-American War. He enlisted in the Forty-
ninth Iowa \'olunteer Infantry, reaching Des Moines,
la., in May. 1898. From there he was sent to Jack-
sonville. Fla.. and in October. 1898, was in camp at
Savannah, Ga. His command became a part of the
Seventh Army Corps, which landed at Havana.
Cuba, on December 23, 1898, there remaining until
the following April. As a private he had a most
interesting and commendable military career, receiv-
ing his honorable discharge from the service at
Savannah, May 13, 1899.

After spending some time on the Atlantic Coast
Mr. Hanson returned to Iowa, but after a short time
sought the opportunities of the Northwest and spent
two and a half years in Spokane, Wash., and Mon-
tana. In 1903 he arrived in Sacramento, Cal., going
from there to San Jose and thence to Los Gatos,
where he obtained steady employment on a large
fruit ranch. Early in 1907 he became connected with
the Bean Spray Pump Company, which was at that
time located in a small shop on South First Street.
He at first worked in the machine shop, after which
he became an assemblyman in their new factory.
Later he received an offer to represent the firm upon
the road, but at first refused the position, which.

1262

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

however, he accepted three years later. As state
representative he was very successful, being popular
with the trade and building up a large business for
the firm. He was thus active for six years and was
then made manager of the Fresno branch, of which
he had charge until December, 1918, when he was
appointed manager of the sales department of the
home plant at San Jose. He has advanced with the
growth of the business and long experience has made
him thoroughly familiar with every phase of the
work, and owing to his progressive business methods
and capable direction the sales of the company are
constantly increasing in volume and importance.

In San Jose, on June 6, 1906, Mr. Hanson was
married to Miss Mabel Root, a native of Santa Cruz
County, Cal., and a daughter of Mrs. EUa Root, who
was also born in that locality. Mr. Hanson gives his
political allegiance to the Republican party and fra-
ternally is identified with the Modern Woodmen of
America at Los Gatos. He is also a Mason, be-
longing to San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M., and
San Jose Consistory, also a member of Islam Tem-
ple, at San Francisco. Throughout his life he has
completely mastered each task assigned him and his
close application and earnest study of the business
with which he is connected have brought him to the
front in commercial circles of San Jose.

MRS. ELIZABETH A. DOIDGE.— An old-time
resident of the Saratoga district who has done her
part in the building up of this favored fruit section
of the world is Mrs. Elizabeth A. Doidge, a native of
New Jersey, born at Dover. She was in maiden-
hood Elizabeth A. Mitchell, a daughter of John Mit-
chell who was born in Carharroc, England, when he
married Elizabeth Trabilcox, after which they emi-
grated to Pennsylvania and later to New Jersey.
Mr. Mitchell was a contractor in the iron mines.
Later he removed to Mineral Point, Wis., where he
was engaged in lead mining. In 1852 he brought his
family to California via Panama and was engaged in
mining until his death, 1857. The mother with her
family then returned to England, but in time she
brought the family out to Dover, N. J., when the
mother died when forty-five years of age. Two of
their four children are living, Elizabeth A. being the
oldest. She was educated in the public schools in
Dover, and there too she was married in 1866, being
united with William Stile, who was also born in
England. He was a miner in New Jersey, was a
kind and considerate man, much esteemed by his
family and friends when he passed away seven years
after their marriage, leaving her three children:
Thomas, who lives in Chico; Ernest, manages his
mother's ranches; May, is the wife of Ralph Blabon.

In 1876 Mrs. Stiles married a second time, being
united with Robert Doidge, born in Devonshire.
England, who came to New Jersey and followed
mining. He had made several trips to California
before his marriage, so he came out again in 1877
and was mining at the Reed mine in the Capay Val-
ley, Yolo County, when Mrs. Doidge joined him in
1878 with her three children. Two years later they
settled at Saratoga and for a time owned a ranch on
I'Vuitvale Avenue, but soon sold the place and pur-
chased twenty-five acres on Pierce Road. They be-

gan settmg out an orchard when Mr. Doidge was
called to the Great Beyond in 1884. To this union
were born three children: Florence, is the wife of
Joseph Spenker of Burlingame; Harry and Edna,
died at ten and six years, respectively. After his
death, Mrs. Doidge continued orcharding, caring
for and improving it until it is now fuUbearing. In
1915 she purchased eight acres on the Mountain View
Road, near Cupertino. She is a member of the Cali-
fornia Prune and Apricot Growers' Association. Mrs.
Doidge is very enterprising and well deserves the
competence she has won. She is a member of St.
John's Episcopal Church and of the Foothill Club.

HORACE WILSON.— Horace Wilson was born
in Dublin, Ind., August 7, 1850, the next to the
youngest of eight children born to John W. and Mar-
garet (White) Wilson, natives of North Carolina,
of Scotch and English descent. Grandfather Chris-
toph C. Wilson was born in Scotland, settling in
North Carolina. John W. Wilson removed to Wayne
County, Ind., in 1834, where he was an extensive
farmer and stockman, and also had three packing
houses on the canal. During the war he bought
horses for the army. Selling his holdings he removed
to Kansas, his sons having previously located at
Glasco, Kans., and there he resided until his death.
He was a Quaker in religious belief. The mother
was a graduate of a college in Virginia and was a
minister in the Society of Friends. She was a
talented and gifted speaker and an extraordinary
woman of nobleness of purpose and heart, having a
fine influence for good in the community. She passed
away in Indiana.

Horace Wilson, after completing his education in
the public schools, assisted his father in the stock busi-
ness. In fact, as early as twelve years of age his father
sent him out to buy stock. In 1872 Mr. Wilson re-
moved to Kansas and located a homestead of 160
acres at Glasco. This he improved, breaking the
virgin soil with ox teams, and was a pioneer grower
of wheat and corn in that county, as well as buying
and feeding cattle, and as he prospered he purchased
lands until he acquired about 2,000 acres. He bred
Short Horn Durham cattle and in time had the finest
herd in that region, demonstrated by the fact that he
sold one bull for $2,000. He also served as town-
ship assessor and school trustee. In 1900 he sold and
removed to Los Angeles and with his son, N. F.
Wilson, engaged in the brokerage business. In 191o
he came to Santa Clara County, purchasing an or-
chard of thirteen and one-half acres on the Summit;
having since added to it he now owns a twenty acre
orchard of full bearing prunes, pears and cherries.

While he and Mrs. Wilson were driving in their
auto on Park Avenue, San Jose, November 14, 1918,
they were run into by the street car and Mrs. Wilson
was killed and he was picked up for dead, but re-
covered after six weeks in the hospital. Mrs. Wilson
was in maidenhood Viola Shafer, and was born at
Assumption, where their marriage occurred. She was
a cultured woman and their union proved a very
happy one until he was bereaved of her by the un-
fortunate accident. By a former marriage Mr. Wil-
son had two children: Nicholas Field Wilson, who
is engaged in the brokerage business in London.

^ ^y^ ^ ^ <T~z.^j2nJf^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1263

England, and Dora Sylvia, now Mrs. Daniels, resid-
ing in Palo Alto. Mr. Wilson's political preference
has always been with the Republican party.

A. C. COVERT.— One of the interesting men who
shows a remarkable energy and ambition in his ad-
vanced age is A. C. Covert of Los Gatos, who was
born in Johnson County, Ind., December 1, 1833. His
father, Jacob S. Covert, was born in Mercer County,
Ky., October 10, 1810, and was married in that state
to Martha Overstreet, who was born in Mercer
County, Ky., Feb. 14, 1811. They moved to Johnson
County, Ind., and then to Effingham County, 111. A. C.
was the oldest of twelve children, only two of whom
are living. He was reared on the home farm and
attended the local school which was held in a log
house with puncheon floors and the pupils sat on
.slab benches. He displayed a natural talent for music
and was a choir leader; he had a splendid voice and
f.cquently favored audiences with solos. In 1856 he
removed to X'infon, Iowa, but a year later located
at Effingham, 111., whither his father had moved.

On November 18, 1860, at Mason, III., Mr. Covert
V as married to Harriet E. Deneen, a native of Ohio,
born near Cincinnati. January 4, 1835, who had come
to Mason, 111., with her mother. After his marriage,
Mr. Covert bought a farm, but after the Civil War be-
gan, on August 15, 1862, although they had a little
child, Mr. Covert showed his patriotism and re-
sponded to the call arui enlisted in Company H,
Eighty-eighth Illinois Regiment, Volunteer Infantry,
taking part in the Battle of Perryville, Ky., October
8, 1862, Murfreesboro, on December 30-31, 1862, and
January 1, 1863, and Chickamauga, August 20, 1863,
where he was shot through the body and left on the
battlefield in the hands of the enemy and taken pris-
oner. However, as soon as arrangements could be
niade, there was an exchange of prisoners that could
not walk, by Generals Rosecrans and Bragg and he
was exchanged September 11, 1863. After he had re-
covered he remained in service at Camp Butler,
Springfield, 111., until he was honorably discharged
June 30, 1865. Returning to his home, he had lost
his farm as he could not meet the payments while
ill the service. Soon after his return from the war, he
removed -to Stewartville, Mo., but a year later moved
on to Kansas and purchased a farm which he operated
for seven years and then removed to Rosita, Custer
County, Colo., where he followed mining and cattle
r.iising for seven and one-half years.

On November 25. 1882, Mr. Covert arrived in San
Jose, Cal., and a month later purchased a ranch above
I,exington where he farmed for two and one-half
years and then located in Los Gatos and engaged in
teaming for eight years, most of the time hauling
lumber and wood, when he turned the business over
to his son, Arthur W., since which time he has en-
gaged in the real estate business and is now asso-
ciated with Barker & Barker. He owns a comfort-
able residence on Massol Avenue as well as other
residence property in Los Gatos.

Mr. Covert was bereaved of his faithful life com-
ff-.nion on October 18, 1881, after a very happy mar-
ried life. They were blessed with nine children: Al-
mira J., Mrs. William Davison, died at Rosita, Colo.;
Chas. E. lives at Morgan Hill; Mary E. died at the
age of fourteen; Effie B., Mrs. Matheson of Los
Gatos; Carrie E, Mrs. Pelton of San Jose; Nellie D.
is a graduate nurse, San Francisco City and County

Hospital, and now presides over her father's home,
caring for him and ministering to his comfort; Ar-
thur W. of Ceres, Cal.; Harriette E., Mrs. Tozier of
Corvallis, Ore.; Raymond died when a few months
old. Mr. Covert was married a second time in Los
Gatos to Miss Nannie Mitchell, born in Spiceland,
Ind., and she passed away February, 1916, after
they had been married twenty-four years.

Mr. Covert served as school treasurer while on the
farm. He is a member of E. O. C. Ord Post. No.
82, G. A. R., of which he is a past commander and is
a member and deacon in the Presbyterian Church.

MRS. LOUISE McLELLAN-FINLEY.— An en-
terprising woman who is endowed with much busi-
ness ability is Mrs. Louise McLellan-Finley who has
been a resident of Santa Clara County since 1879.
She was born in St. Paul, Minn , a daughter of Rob-
ert G. and Catherine (Garrett) Aldrich, natives,
respectively, of England and Natchez, Miss., the
latter being a member of a prominent old Southern
family. Grandfather Garrett being a large planter.
Robert G. Aldrich was in the Merchant Marine ser-
vice as a second mate in the Queen's Navy. Decid-
ing to leave the sea he located in New York and
there met and married Miss Garrett and soon after-
wards removed to St. Paul, Minn., where he built up
a resort on Lake Como. Later he removed to Port-
land, Ore., and seeing the great possibilities in the
salmon industry he established a salmon packing
plant on the Columbia River, twenty miles above
Astona, a place known since that time as Aldrich
Point. In time he became the largest salmon packer
on the coast in his day, shipping his product all over
the United States, as well as Europe and to the
Islands of the Pacific. Having sailed extensively he
knew merchants in important ports of the world and
had no difficulty in introducing his goods. After his
death his widow continued the business for a year
when she disposed of it, after which she spent twenty
years of her life with Mrs. Finley in California, but
was in Portland, Ore., at the time of her death.

Louise Garrett had the advantage of the excellent
public schools of Portland and in that city she was
married to Edward F. McLellan, who was born in
Santa Clara County. They immediately came to Mr.
McLellan's ranch on Monterey Road, this county,
where they engaged in general farming. Some years
ago she becatne Mrs. Finley, and about eighteen
years ago she purchased the present ranch of forty-
five acres. It was a run-down place, but she im-
mediately began improvements, setting it to prunes,
doing everything about the place but plow. The
result has been most satisfactory as it is now
a valuable orchard place, yielding a good income.
"Bon Air" (Good Air) as she has named the place is
located fourteen miles west of San Jose, is a beauti-
ful place, well watered by springs and has splendid
soil and a delightful climate. Thus Mrs. Finley nat-
urally takes much pride in her accomplishment.
Being a good judge of values and experienced in
orcharding she finds time aside from her ranching
enterprise to engage as a real estate dealer, her head-
quarters being at 34 East Santa Clara Street, San
Jose, where she is associated with Frank E. Quilty.
By her first union Mrs. Finley had three children,
two of whom grew up: Harry, was educated at San

1264

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Jose high, later becoming a professional nurse at
the County Hospital; he died in Medford, Ore.;
Ralph M., is a talented singer and professionally he
is well known on the stage as Geo. \V. Stanley. Mrs.
Finley is a member of the Neighborly Club of San
Jose and in religious views is an Episcopalean. She
is a member of the California Prune and Apricot
Growers' Association.

MANUEL J. ALLEMAO.— Another Portuguese-
American who has fully justified his wisdom in re-
solving to bid adieu to the familiar associations of
the Old World and seek his fortune in the New, is
Manuel J. Allemao. who was born on the Island of
Pico, Azores Group. Portugal, on September 8,
1856, the son of Antonio Jose and Rosa (Cosacio)
Allemao, both natives of the same island. His father
was a prosperous farmer and a devout Christian, who
exerted an enviable influence on account of his ex-
emplary way of living, and this influence extended to
the end of his allotted sixty years. Mrs. Allemao
died at the age of forty-five. Manuel J. is the oldest
of their eight children; of the others, Antonio re-
sides on the old home place; Marie was married.
came to the United States, and passed away in the
East; Violante is married and lives in the East: Jo-
seph is a farmer at Clarksburg, Yolo County; Mrs.
Rosa Souza lives at Sacramento; Mariana was mar-
ried and died at the old home; and John is a farmer
in their native land.

Manuel was reared on the old home farm and at-
tended the local day schools, but being the oldest of
the family it was necessary for him to assist with the
work, hence his school advantages were very limited.
When about eighteen years of age, he had a desire
to come to California, having heard of the great op-
portunities that awaited young men of energy who
were not afraid to work, so he planned, as soon as he
was able, to come hither. On October IS, 1888, he
reached the United States, and pushing westward,
located at San Francisco, where a younger brother
had settled some four years before. Later, he located
near Los Banos, where he worked on a grain ranch
for four years; and then he removed to Sacramento,
but remained only a short time, when he sold his
place and came into the Santa Clara Valley about
1893. He bought thirty acres and set out an orchard,
later selling seven acres and retaining the twenty-
three acres located on Senter Road, five miles from
San Jose. Here he built a residence and other build-
ings and has an orchard of apricots and prunes; and
he still owns this fine ranch, which is well equipped
for handling the fruit.

Mr. Allemao now resides in a beautiful residence
at 906 South Tenth Street, in San Jose, in which
city, about twenty-six years ago, he was married to
Miss Mariana Constance Rives, the daughter of Man-
uel Bernardo and Marie Constance Rives, natives of
Portugal, where the father passed away. They had
four children; Manuel died at the age of twenty-
four years; Maria C. is Mrs. Silva of Livingston,
Cal.; Antonio Teixiera lives in San Jose and is a
fine portrait painter and architect; Mrs. Allemao
came to California when twenty-seven years old with
her mother to join her brother, Antonio, who had
been here some years. The mother died afterwards
in FlagstafT, Ariz. It was in San Jose she met Mr.
Allemao and they were married. Mr. and Mrs. Al-

lemao were the parents of a daughter, Maria Constan-
cia, who died when sixteen months old.

Mr. and Mrs- Allemao have always been warm
supporters of religion and religious work; and to
their generosity is due the two wonderful bells in
the Church of the Five Wounds, East San Jose,
costing over $1,500, besides contributing liberally to
the building of the church, and when the cornerstone
services were held Mr. and Mrs. Allemao furnished
the marble cornerstone at a cost of $150. They are
very kind-hearted and generous and many a poor and
needy family have been made happier by their aid.

JOHN S. WILLIAMS.— A man who has ac-
quired success in the mercantile line as well as tak-
ir.g an active part in the building up of San Jose and
Santa Clara County is John S. Williams, a native
son, born at Hayward, on Christmas Day, 1871, the
son of John P. and Anna Williams, who were among
the pioneer settlers of this great commonwealth, the
father having come to this state when he was but a
lad. In time he became a farmer in Santa Clara
County, continuing to follow the line of agriculture
for forty-five years, passing away in 1919, his esti-
mable wife having preceded him several years.

John S. Williams attended the public schools of
San Jose, but his acquirement of knowledge did not
end then, for he has been a student all of his life.
As a boy he assisted his father on the home farm,
but having a keen desire fer a business career, he
was not content to remain on the farm. In his six-
teenth year, in 1886, he obtained a position in the
store of G. R. Silva, one of the leading clothiers in
San Jose, and there he began to learn the busi-
ness he had selected as his life work. After five
years of valuable experience he began business on
his own account, and in 1891 he opened a store, which
was destined to be the nucleus of his present large
clothing establishment, in a building adjoining his
present store. It was not long until he outgrew it
and from time to time he sought larger locations,
all being in this block. In 1911 he purchased the
present site and building which he remodeled for
his purpose, being located at 44-48 North Market
Street. The fixtures and equipment in the .store are
most modern and of latest design, thus making a
most up-to-date clothing establishment in a building
50x137 feet, so that now he has the largest exclusive
clothing store in the city of San Jose. After having
become firmly established in San Jose Mr. Williams
began to reach out into other communities and he
now has six branch stores named in the order they
were acquired or started: Livermore, Watsonville.
Modesto. Hanford, and Turlock. For some years he
had a store at Hollister, which he removed to Merced
in 1922. All the stores are exclusive clothing and
men's furnishing goods stores. This vast business
has all been built up from a little store started thirty-
one years ago by a youth with a very small capital.
His success has come through the same source that
success alone comes, such assets as perseverance,
honesty of purpose, hard and dilligent work. Mr.
Williams has in his employ about sixty persons.
However, these large afifairs are not the limit of Mr.
Williams' capability, for he is intensely interested in
agriculture; he owns a twenty acre orchard on Wil-
liams Road, near Campbell, devoted to prunes, and

(T^

(2llMy^<^^-cur'

i

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1265

also owns a 175 acre alfalfa ranch near Tracy. This
acreage he has improved from a stubblefield. It is
Mr. Williams' intention to convert the place into
three dairy ranches. He is connected with various
financial institutions, being a director in the Secur-
ity State Bank of San Jose and a stockholder in the
Bank of Italy, and the Growers' Bank of San Jose,
being one of the original stockholders of the latter
institution. He is also a stockholder in the New
Commercial Club Building.

In San Jose occurred the marriage of Mr. Wil-
liams when he was united with Miss Antoinette Du-
buis. who was born in San Jose of French parents,
a daughter of a pioneer family of this county. Their
union has been blessed with the birth of two chil-
dren, Adeline and John S., Jr. Mr. Williams has
served on both police and fire commissions, being
chairman of the board for four years. In fraternal
organizations, he is a member of the Odd Fellows,
Foresters, the Native Sons of the Golden West, the
Druids, Modern Woodmen of the America, Wood-
men of the World, and the Elks. He is also a mem-
ber of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he has
been a director for j-ears, and is also a director of the
Merchants' Association, serving as its president for
two terms, and is a trustee of the California Prune
and Apricot Association. He is a charter member
of the San Jose Commercial Club, as well as the
Rotary Club, and is a stanch Republican.

GEORGE S. KIDDER.— A native son born near
Santa Clara, Cal., February 25, 1874, George S.
Kidder is the son of Charles S. Kidder, born in
Norridgewock, Maine. Arriving at young manhood
he crossed the plains to California in 1856, and after
mining for a short time he settled in Santa Clara
County. He was a natural mechanic, having learned
seven different trades. He follovi-ed ornamental
painting, designing and painting some of the early
signs in this city, and is well remembered. He died
on the old Owen ranch on Stevens Creek road in
1886. He was married in this county to Sarah F.
Owens, a native of Indiana, the daughter of Rev.
Isaac Owens, who brought his family across the plains
in 1849 at the head of an ox-team emigrant train.
He was the first superintendent of California mis-
sions sent out by the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Arriving in California he gave his time and labored
faithfully, founding churches in different sections of
the state. He was presiding elder for many years and
devoted his life to the Methodist Church and its insti-
tu'tions. He was one of the founders of the University
of the Pacific, and trustee for many years. He owned
a farm on the corner of Stevens Creek and the Los
Gatos and Santa Clara roads. His death occurred in
San Francisco; four of his five children grew up:
John, Sarah F., William, and Hiram, now all de-
veased. Mrs. Kidder later married C. J. McHugh.
and she purchased a ranch in San Felipe Val-
ley beyond Evergreen, where she reared and edu-
cated her family. She spent her last days with her
son, George S., passing away in 1917, aged seventy-
three years. Of her union with Mr. Kidder there
were seven children, five living: Mary L., was Mrs.
Albert, who died in the spring of 1922; Elizabeth,
was the wife of Frank Lee, and she died in 1920; Mrs.
Lorena S. Nichols, resides in Shasta Countv; Charles

L., lives in Shasta County; Geneva F., Mrs. Kricker-
berg, lives at the old home in San Felipe; George S.,
is the subject of this sketch; Gertrude J., is Mrs. B.
Ingram of Escalon. There was one child born of
the second marriage, Cornelius J. McHugh. a mining
man in Plumas County.

George Kidder grew up on the San Felipe Valley
ranch, receiving his education in the Highland school.
He assisted his mother on the farm until he was
twenty-one years of age, when he engaged in mining
in Plumas County. At the first tap of the drum for
the Spanish-American War he immediately respond-
ed and enlisted in May, 1898, in Company C, First
California \'olunteer Infantry, being mustered in at
the Presidio, and was sent on the first expedition to
the Philippines, following Admiral Dewey's victory
at Manila, it being conceded it was the first ex-
pedition of the army sent from the United States to
a foreign port. Leaving San Francisco on the trans-
port City of Pekin, they sailed into the harbor of
Guam, Ladrone Group, and took possession for the
LTnited States, leaving a small detachment of troops
and came on to the Philippine Islands, landing at
Cavite, July 3, 1898. They mo\'ed on to Paranaque,
where they had several engagements, and were in the
final assault on Manila before its caiJture, August 13,
1898. Being stationed therr for several months he
was taken with typhoid feVLT am! ncirly died. When
convalescent he was mustered out at Manila, De-
cember 25, 1898, and came home via Hongkong. On
his return he engaged in the transfer business in San
Jose under the name of Garden City Transfer & Stor-
age Company for several years, after which he again
mined in Plumas County. Returning to San Jose
at the time of the earthquake, in 1906, he did special
police duty, during which time he was accidentally shot
through the leg, which laid him up for over a year.
He then had a private detective agency^ for nearly a
year, with offices in the Ryland Block, afterwards
serving two years as a patrolman. In 1910 he was
appointed chief of police of San Jose by the Fire &
Police Commission, under Mayor Charles W. Davi-
son, and continued during the two years of his
second term. Since that time he has been engaged
as a real estate dealer, being associated with Cooper-
Challen Realty Company. Mr. Kidder is still inter-
ested in mining in Plumas County, being one of the
owners of the Rich Bar Mining Company. Rich Bar
is a historic spot, being the place where the first
while child was born and the first postoffice estab-
lished in California after American occupanc}'. The
mines there were very rich, millions of dollars worth
of gold having been taken from the bar. The Rich
Bar Mining Company is now engaged in tunneling
for the old mine bed on the cast branch of the North
Fork of the Feather River, with a fine showing for a
coarse gold property.

Mr. Kidder's marriage occurred in San Jose in
1907, where he was united with Miss Mabel M.
Moyer, who was born near Ames. la., coming with
his parents to California, who were early settlers at
Dos Palos. Their union has been blessed with three
children, Donald, Marion and Lois. After his re-
turn from the Philippines Mr. Kidder joined the
National Guard, serving a year in Company B, Fifth
Regiment, until he went to the mines, when he oh-

1266

HISTORY OF SAXTA CLARA COUNTY

tained his discharge on account of his removal. He
belongs to the Spanish-American War Veterans and
of the Red Men, and San Jose Chamber of Com-
merce, and is an active member of the First Christian
Church in San Jose.

ARTHUR W. BOGART.— A man of exceptional
business qualifications, with broad and liberal views
in commercial affairs, was the late Arthur \V. Bo-
gart, a native of Nova Scotia, who was a shoe manu-
facturer until he came to San Francisco in 1871,
uhere he became one of the early shoe manufacturers
in that city, being associated with Messrs. Earl and
Sawyer of the firm of Earl & Company, the business
growing to large proportions. When Mr. Bogart's
oldest son reached the age of twenty-one he sold his
interest in Earl & Company and started the hard-
ware business on Market Street, the firm being A. W.
Bogart & Son, and they built up a large and profitable
business. Mr. Bogart's years of very active life had
hnally worn on him and his health became impaired
and he retired from business, choosing Los Gatos
:cs his home, but it was not long he could remain idle,
however, so he purchased frontage on Santa Cruz
Avenue and built the Bogart Building, and there
he started a hardware store. He also built other busi-
ness property in Los Gatos.

Mr. Bogart was married in Lynn, Mass., to Jemima
.\. Templeman, a native of Massachusetts, the
daughter of Andrew and Patience (Beardsley) Tem-
pleman, born in Maine and Nova Scotia, respectively.
Her grandfather, John Templeman, was a native of
England, a seafaring man, and as captain sailed to the
various foreign ports of the world. He married Miss
Avis Graham, who travelled with him until he met
an accidental death at St. Johns, New Brunswick, his
w-dow being left with four children. Mrs. Temple-
V'?.n, a woman of remarkable personality, then sold
her husband's shipping interests and engaged in the
nitrcantilc business and thus reared and educated her
children. Andrew Templeman was the eldest child
and ably assisted his mother until he became inter-
ested in shipping, becoming a vessel owner and cap-
tain sailing into different ports. He was largely in-
terested in fishing at the Grand Banks, the headquar-
ters for his dozen fishing vessels being Pt. Lome He
was a splendid man and one of the best of husbands
and fathers. He passed away at the age of fifty-one
>cars, the father of fifteen children, Mrs. Bogart be-
ing the eighth. Only five of the children are now liv-
ing. After her husband's death, Mrs. Templeman
continued the business, passing away at the age of
seventy-five years. Mrs. Bogart was deeply inter-
ested in her husband's success and his passing away
at their San Francisco residence on February 13,
1916, l,eft a deep void and sorrow in her life. They
had eight children, four of whom grew to maturity:
Sewall was associated with his father in San Fran-
cisco until he moved to San Jose, where he became
:'. very successful business man. He passed away, aged
thirty-one, leaving a widow and two children — Sewall
Jr. and Edith. He was a prominent Knight Templar
and Shriner. Frank is a violinist, is located in Oak-
land; he is a member of the hardware firm of Bogart
Mercantile Sales Company, is married and has two
children. Mrs. Florence Brooks is the only daughter.
Harry Andrew Templeman, a graduate of Brewer's
Military Academy, studied music in Italy, has a fine
br.ritone voice and sang in opera in Europe, as well

as the United States; he is located in Fresno as a
teacher of voice, is married and has a daughter, Bar-
bara Adeline, who studied piano and toured Europe.
She is now the wife of Adrian Rogers Moreland of
San Francisco.

After her husband's death, Mrs. Bogart took up
business affairs and is looking after their large in-
terests and being possessed of much business ability
is giving a good account of her stewardship. She has
travelled extensively throughout the States and Can-
ada, as well as in Europe, and every year or two
makes a visit back to Massachusetts. In 1919 Mrs.
Bogart completed a beautiful colonial residence on
Glenridge Avenue, Los Gatos, where she makes her
heme and dispenses a generous hospitality to her num-
erous friends. She is a member of the Eastern Star
and the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Bogart was a man
cf exceptional business ability and his enterprise and
public spirit had much to do with the building up of
Los Gatos where his memory is revered.

WILLIAM ORLANDO POST.— A successful
orchardist on Castle Rock Road in the Santa Cruz
Mountains, the proprietor of Lakeview Farm is Wil-
liam Orlando Post, born in Saybrook, Conn., Sep-
tember 23, 1850. His father, Selden Post, a farmer
in Saybrook, died in 1871, aged forty-eight years.
His mother, Harriett Louise Tiley, spent her last
days in California with her son, William O., coming
out to this state when seventy-five years of age, and
she lived to be ninety-one years old.

William O. was the only child of the union and
grew up on the Connecticut farm, having the advan-
tages of the public schools and also Essex Academy.
But his education did not stop there, for he has been a
student all his life by reading along various scientific
lines. When a boy of twelve years it devolved upon
him to run the Connecticut farm, his father having
died, so he took up the duties that had fallen on his
young shoulders. He was married in Ohio, in 1876, to
Miss Sarah Augusta Worcester who was born in
Pittsfield, Ohio, a daughter of James Worcester, a
native of Vermont who moved to Ohio, where he
was a farmer and contractor. Mrs. Post was edu-
cated at Oberlin College, majoring in music.

After his marriage Mr. Post moved back to Connec-
ticut and for a time followed farming, afterwards en-
gaging in the clothing business at Deep River, Conn.,
for six years, until, on account of throat trouble he
was advised by his physician to seek the climate of
California. In 1887 he came to Pomona, where he
resided for seven years, and then removed to Beau-
mont, Cal., as manager of a large ranch, a position
he filled for four years, when he removed to Red-
lands, and there he resided until 1904, when he came
to Los Gatos and purchased his present ranch of 43
acres. He has named it very appropriately Lake
View ranch, lying at an elevation of 1800 feet, and
here he has orchards of prunes, cherries and pears
which yield him a good income. He ran a summer
resort on the ranch until 1918 when he gave it up,
wishing that he and his wife be relieved of the extra
work and care. Mr. and Mrs. Post have three chil-
dren: Vernon R., residing in Patterson, N. J.; Emma,
Mrs. Byrdine Jones, resides in Modesto; Ezra James,
is assisting his father on the ranch, a beautiful place
overlooking the gentle slope of the mountain and
vallev. Mr. Post is a member of the Universal Es-

d-.n^cnyaJ^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1269

ptranto Association, the California Prune and Apri-
cot Association. As a boy he carried a torch in the
Abe Lincoln procession: however, of late years he is
an independent in politics.

MONTEZUMA MOUNTAIN SCHOOL FOR
BOYS. — Eleven years ago, Ernest A. Rogers and
William J. Meredith, both teachers in the schools of
California, became dissatisfied with the restrictions
imposed, by the methods of instruction employed
in the average school, upon the initiative and oppor-
tunity for the expression of personal convictions
by teachers. Through years of teaching and studying
methods of instruction and the results accomplished
they saw a great gap between what the public
school is equipped to do and what is demanded of
it. They had reached the point where their ex-
perience pointed to a better way of doing things
intimately related to the very foundation of human
education. Since they did not have the opportunity
for putting their ideas into practice while teaching
in the public schools nor the natural environment
conducive to natural education, at their own expense
and by making sacrifices, they estabhshed the
Montezuma Mountain School for boys in its pres-
ent ideal location in the Santa Cruz Mountains,
high above Los Gatos and the Santa Clara Valley.
In 1912 they were joined by Homer J. Lloyd, who
was not only deeply in sympathy with the idea, but
also possessed keen business ability. Largely through
his sacrifice, his untiring efforts, and his sound fin-
ancial judgment, the school was able to maintain it-
self until public recognition was assured its founders
that the experiment was entirely sound and practical.
It was an experiment and they found defects in their
system, corrected them and experimented further un-
til their method became more nearly perfect. The
sum total is that the method now employed at Monte-
zuma is conducive to the highest degree of three-fold
development of boys — physical, mental and moral.
The aim is to promote, by expert guidance, the
change of disposition, the choosing of attitude, the
formation of habits that will fit a man to function
at his best in a democratic society. It is meant
to give a boy such instruction and training that
lie will choose to do the right thing unhesitatingly
because he knows it is right and sees that it is
best for his community, state, nation and the world.
It includes actual living in a self-governing com-
munity, until good citizenship becomes habitual and,
in a sense, instinctive.

The student body is an actual democratic state
ii: miniature, self-governing through a mayor and
board of commissioners, acting under a siinple con-
stitution and elected by ballot, holding office sub-
ject to recall on petition at the pleasure of the elec-
torate. Legislation and administration are actually
subject to review, of course, by the faculty, which
functions in this respect as a court of appeals. Con-
stitutional amendment and by-laws are initiated from
time to time by the commissioners, or petition, as ex-
perience shows the need. The personnel of the school
is world-wide. A large proportion of the boys come
fiom outside of California, east to New York and New
England, north to Alaska and Canada, and south to
Ecuador and South Africa. There have been boys
from England, France and a number whose parents,
though American, are living in the Orient, Hawaii, and

the Far East. The boys lead an outdoor, pioneer
life, in keeping with the principles of the school.
They sleep on the open porches of the school dormi-
tories, where they are constantly under the super-
vision of directors. The open air gymnasium, the
library, the assembly hall, the swimming hole, the
pond with its boats and slides, the teeters and the
merry-go-round add varied interest to the day's
program of events after school hours.

The school is equipped with electricity, modern
kitchen and dining-hall, sanitary plumbing with tubs
and showers. The drinking water is piped from
mountain springs on the place, insuring a pure and
constant supply. Boys are not admitted without
evidence of good health, as well as good character
and good mental ability. A well-equipped infirmary,
however, with an efficient nurse in charge, provides
for emergencies. The Aztec style of architecture is
being used for all the new buildings. Recent addi-
tions bring the school holdings of land up to about
two hundred acres of orchard and forest. The board
of directors of the school corporation are Ernest A.
Rogers, president; Charles B. Rogers, vice-presi-
dent; Homer J. Lloyd, secretary and treasurer and
Dora C. Rogers, Dorathee R. Lloyd.

GEORGE E. BOOKER.— A native son interested
in advancing the horticulturist interests of this fav-
ored vallev is George E. Booker, born near Los
Gatos. December 6, 1872. His father, William Wade
Booker, was born in Morgan County, Ala., in 1834,
of an old Southern family. He came out to Texas
where he was a plainsman and frontierman and
while in Texas he was a member of the Texas
Rangers. In about 18S9 he crossed the plains in an
ox-team train to San Bernardino County, but soon
drifted north to the Santa Clara Valley, locating a
homestead of 160 acres on Campbell Creek, which
is still in the possession of his children. He was
for a time in the wood business, cutting wood for
the paper mill. After clearing the land he set it out
to orchards of apples and pears. He organized the
first school in the district, which was called Booker
district, saw to the building of the school house and
was a trustee from the beginning up till the time of
his death, December 6, 1893. Mr. Booker was mar-
ried in this county to Margaret Nelson, who was a
native daughter, her father having been a pioneer
of Santa Clara County. Mrs. Booker survived her
husband till December 28, 1915, leaving five chil-
dren: George E., our subject; Mrs. Mary Mclntyre
of Salinas; William S. and A. C. reside on the old
Booker homestead; Mrs. Edith Marshall of Belmont.

George E. Booker was educated in the Booker
public school and from a lad he had assisted his
father and became familiar with the science of or-
charding. In 1902 he started a wood and fuel busi-
ness in Sunnyvale, calling it the Sunnyvale Fuel
Company, and had built up a substantial business
when he sold out in 1910. Next he located in Indian
Valley, Monterey County, being engaged in cattle
raising until 1915, when he sold his cattle interests
and returned to Santa Clara County, leasing a ranch
near San Felipe, being engaged in dairying for
three years, when he sold out and for almost a year
was at Watsonville. In 1919 he returned to his old
home, leased the old Booker ranch from the estate
and also the Marengo Ranch of 200 acres, devot-

1270

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ing his time to the cultivation of the orchards and
caring for the trees. Besides this he also cuhivates
Mrs. Morris' orchard.

In Sunnyvale, Mr. Booker was married to Miss
Etta Russell, who was born in Oregon, their union
having resulted in the birth of four children: Pearl
is Mrs. Brooks of Watsonville; Elton is a plumber in
the same town; Vera and Russell are still under the
parental roof. While living in Indian Valley, Mr.
Booker was a school trustee and is deeply interested
in the cause of education as was his father before him.
He is a member of the California Prune and Apricot
Association.

WILLIAM WARD PITMAN— A man of unques-
tioned integrity of character and one who was held
in high esteem in his locality was William Ward
Pitman, whose passing away is mourned by his many
friends and his devoted family, to whom he was
father, friend and counselor. He was born in Cottle-
ville, Mo., May 29, 1852, the son of Prof. Richard H.
and Ella Virginia (Ward) Pitman, the father a native
of Missouri and his mother of old Virginia stock.

William Ward began his education in the public
schools of Missouri and then entered the university
at Fayette. After finishing school he was married
at O'Fallon, Mo., Nov. 26, 1884, to Miss Ellen O.
Kerr, and after marriage engaged in farming in Mis-
souri six years; then came to California, stopped a
short time in Tulare County, then settled in San Jose
in the fall of 1890. In 1891 he purchased thirty-five
acres in the Ware tract on the Ross Road and planted
it to orchard, and also set out fifteen acres for a
nephew-. All of this land was a grain field, and the
work of planting and cultivating and setting to orchard
was no small task, but with his usual patience and
thoroughness it was successfully accomplished. Mr.
Pitman resided on his ranch until his death, January
12, 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Pitman were the parents of
six children; D. K. ; Richard, an architect of Santa
Barbara; Augusta, Mary, Nellie, and William Ward.
Mrs. Pitman is active in educational affairs and is now
president for the second time of the Cambrian Parent-
Teachers' Association; and also served as secretary of
this organization. The family are members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and are held in high
esteem by the citizens of the county.

Mrs. Pitman's father, Thomas Kerr, w^as a native
of Scotland who came to America when a lad and set-
tled in Virginia, where ho lived until the news of the
discovery of gold in California. He joined a corn-
pan of men who came across the plains in 1849, and
upon his arrival here, went to the mines in the
northern part of the state, and "was among the suc-
cessful searchers of the precious metal. After he had
acquired sufficient for his needs he returned to Vir-
ginia and invested in coal mines, and here again he
met with financial success. When he sold his hold-
ings in Virginia he went to St. Louis, Mo., with his
family and engaged in the commission business at
the Eads Bridge. In time he became what was re-
garded at that time, a wealthy man. His death was
due to an accident. He was the father of nine chil-
dren, three of them living. The eldest, Mrs. Carrie
Hall, lives in the City of Mexico; Mrs. Louise Far-
row resides in Virginia, in the same locality where
her father amassed part of his fortune; and Mrs.
Ellen O. Pitman is a resident of California, the state

where her father made his first money as a gold-
seeker in the days of '49.

Since the death of Mr. Pitman, his widow has car-
ried on the work at the ranch, doing a considerable
portion of it herself and overseeing the balance. She
is an experienced rancher and has helped to develop
the place she now owns. Besides her ranch work she
takes care of hex house and looks after the welfare
of her family; at the same time that she takes an
active part in local civic affairs. She has had an in-
teresting career from her early girlhood and there is
no more highly respected citizen of the county.

ELOI POURROY.— A native of France, Eloi
Pourroy was born near Gap, Hautes-Alps, December
4, 1868, a son of Pierre Pourroy, a worthy gentle-
man of an old and highly respected family. Eloi
Pourroy was reared on his father's farm, mean-
while attending the public schools of his locality. He
assisted his father on the home farm until 1891, when
he was employed on other farms in the vicinity for
two years, during which time he saved sufficient
funds to pay his expenses to California, where he
desired to try his fortune in this land of opportunity.
In January, 1893, he arrived in the Golden State
and after spending three months in Bakersfield, he
came to Santa Clara County, where he immediately
found employment on the ranch of Mr. Aubrey. In
1895 he purchased a portion of the Adrien Bonnet
ranch from a Mr. Jordan, who then owned it, and
began farming; he set out orchards of prunes and also
a vineyard and his trees and vines are full bearing
and are cared for and cultivated in the most modern
and up to date methods. His 240-acre ranch above
Saratoga presents a beautiful appearance with its
numerous springs and woodland dells.

Mr. Pourroy w-as married in Saratoga to Mathilda
Boisseranc, who was born in Saratoga, a daughter
of Jacob Boisseranc, a pioneer and honored early
settler of Saratoga. Mr. Pourroy was bereaved of
his faithful companion August 19, 1912, leaving him
seven children: Helen, Mrs. G. Lcgalls of Wrights;
Elizabeth presides over her father's home; then
there are Henry, Robert, Mathilda, Mary and Ger-
maine. As a fruit grower, Mr. Pourroy is a member
of the California Prune and Apricot Association.

AUGUST BOISSERANC— A native son of Santa
Clara County, August Boisseranc was born in San
Jose, November 28. 1874. His father, Jacques Bois-
seranc, a native of Hautes-Alps, France, came to
Santa Clara County, Cal., in 1869, and married Vic-
toria Nicholas, also a native of France. He was a
well-known and highly respected citizen of the Sara-
toga section, passing away in 1919, aged eighty-one
years. He was one of God's noblemen, liberal and
kind-hearted and was everybody's friend. This
worthy pioneer couple had two children: August,
our subject and Mathilda, who became the wife of
Eloi Pourroy, but died in 1912. August was reared
at Saratoga and educated in the public schools,
after which he attended Santa Clara College until he
began farming. He purchased twenty-five acres in
the Saratoga district which he improved to orchard
and vineyard. In 1903, he made a trip to his father's
old home in France where he spent four inonths,
during which time he became acquainted with the
lady that afterwards became his wife, their marriage
occurring in San Jose August 13, 1903, the bride
being Miss Mary Galleron, who was born near Gap,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Hautes-Alps, France, a daughter of Joseph and
Philipine (Lozier) Galleron, who were substantial
farmers. To Mr. and Mrs. Boisseranc have been
born eight children: Eugenia and Clementine are
in Notre Dame high school; Adelle, Nathalie, Au-
gust, Joseph. Marguerite and John. Mr. Boisseranc
is greatly interested in the improvement of the San-
to Clara Valley, whose development he has watched
from the time he was a lad. Thus he has only the
highest praises for this region that is showing itself
the .garden spot of the world. Politically he is a
Republican and in religion he and his family are
members of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

FIRMIN LADARRE.— A farmer in the Saratoga
section of Santa Clara County, Firmin Ladarre was
born in Basses Pyrenees, France, September 2,
1882, a son of Peter and Mary Ladarre, farmer folk
who are now both deceased, the father passing away
at the age of ninety-one, while the mother died in
1887. Firmin was reared a farmer's boy and re-
ceived a good education in the local schools. He
served as a soldier in the French Artillery for three
years when he was honorably discharged and could
emigrate to any country he wished. He had heard
flattering reports of California and the opportunities
here, so he determined to cast in his lot with the
country on the great Pacific Ocean. On Septem-
ber 14, 1912, he arrived in San Jose, and immediately
found employment on the ranch of Mr. Pourroy.
Saving his money, he was soon able to purchase the
present ranch of thirty-seven and a half acres, which
is devoted to orchards of prunes and cherries and a
vineyard. Mr. Ladarre was married in the city of
San Jose in January, 1918, to Mrs. Cecelia (Dorch)
Eichom, who was born in Algeria, Africa, of French
parents. She had one child by her first marriage^
Eugene Eichom. Mr. and Mrs. Ladarre have one
child — Henry. Mr. Ladarre is a stanch Republican
and is a mernber of the California Prune and Apricot
Association.

JAMES A. THOM.— A veteran of the Civil War.
James A. Thorn was born in New York City, April
2'). 1846. His father, .\rchibald Thom, was born in
.\yreshire. Scotland, a carpenter by trade, who came
to New York City when a young man, where he
married Mary Merrill, a native of Canada. They
removed to Milwaukee, Wis., in 1850 and later
moved to Columbia County, Wis., engaging as a
contractor and builder. Still later he located in
Clarence, Iowa, engaging for a while in farming but
later as a hardware merchant. After this he lived
for a time in Huron, S. D., until he came to San
Jose where he resided until his death, while his
widow spent her last days in Long Beach,

James is the oldest of their six children, was
reared in Wisconsin where he attended the public
schools. In February, 1865, he volunteered and
enlisted in Company B. Forty-eighth Wisconsin
Regular Volunteer Infantry. After being mustered
in at Milwaukee, he was sent to St. Louis and then
campaigned in Missouri and Kansas until after the
close of the war. Returning to Wisconsin he was
mustered out in Madison, in February, 1866. After
the war he engaged in farming in Minnesota, living
in Olmstead, Mower and Meeker counties at dif-
ferent times. Next he homesteaded in Renville. Coun-
ty. Minn., where he farmed until 1890, when he came

to California with his family and located in Santa
Clara County. He purchased a ranch on the Los
Gatos Road where he set out an orchard. He also
worked in warehouses and was employed in one
warehouse in Campbell for twenty-three years from
the time it opened until his health failed which
forced him to give up his work.

Mr. Thom was married at High Forest, Mower
County, Minn., September 30, 1877, to Mrs. Ellen
(Ross) Johnson, born in Palmyra, N. Y., a daughter
of Clark and Alice (Warren) Ross, natives of New
York. Mrs. Thom's maternal grandfather, Caleb
Warren, served in the War of 1812. Clark Ross re-
moved to Fond du Lac, Wis., engaging in farming.
He served in the Second Wisconsin Regular Vol-
unteer Infantry during the Civil War as did four
of his sons.. Ellen Ross was first married in Wis-
consin, to Philander Johnson, a native of Vermont,
a farmer in Wisconsin where he died, leaving his wid-
ow and four children: Alice, Mrs. Hutchins, who
has been with the J. C. Ainsley Packing Company
since 1884; Frank died near Los Gatos; Harley
lives in Iowa and George in San Francisco. Soon
after Mr. Johnson's death, his widow removed to
Mower County, Minn., where her mariage to Mr.
Thom occurred, which resulted in the birth of three
children: Ella and Carl died of diptheria while the
family was enroute to California. Ross lives in Van-
couver, B. C. Mr. and Mrs. Thom make their home
on Sunnyside Avenue, Campbell. Mr. Thom was
made a Mason in Clarence, Iowa, and is now a
member of Charity Lodge No. 362, F. & A. M., at
Campbell. He is a member of E. O. C. Ord Post
No. 82, G. A. R., Department of California and
Nevada at Los Gatos, while Mrs. Thom is a member
of the E. O. C. Ord Women's Relief Corps.

CHARLES PERONE.— A resident of California
since 1894. Charles Perone was born in Ramianca,
Novara, Italj', March 25, 1878, a son of Vincenzo
and Josefa (Rosctti) Perone. farmer folk who spent
their days in their native countrv, the father passing
away in 1893. Of their family of eight children, three
are living: Mallia is a farmer and stockraiser at
the old home. Mrs. Maria Panighetti of Los Gatos,
and Charles, the subject of this biography, who was
reared on the home farm. On March 25, 1894, his
sixteenth birthday, he left for California, arriving in
San Jose, April 20, of that year. He worked for
Mr. Panighetti on the ranch and soon learned hor-
ticulture and viticulture as it is done in California.
He continued to work for Mr. Panighetti for eigh-
teen years. During this time he made two trips back
to Italy; in 1899 he made his first trip to the old
home, visiting his mother, his father having passed
away before he left home. After a four months'
pleasant visit, he returned to California. His mother
died the next year, in 1900.

In 1911 Mr. Perone made a second trip to his old
home and while there he was married on October
28, 1911, to Miss Delphina Balardone, and returned
to California with his bride. In 1914 he purchased
his present place of eighty-one acres, located just
ofif the Bear Creek Road and this he has improved,
so he has a full-bearing orchard and vineyard. He
is a hard worker and is very energetic and well de-
serves the success that has come to him. They have
two children, Josephine and Vincent. Politically
Mr. Perotie is a Republican.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ALEX W. HESS, SR.— Hale and hearty at the
age of sixty-six, so that he forges ahead hke a vigor-
ous man in his forties, and popular as an active and
prominent man in the fraternal life of the community,
Alexander W. Hess, chief engineer of the San Jose
Water Works, enjoys opportunity, influence and an
enviable status in a section of the great California
commonwealth whose natural resources and assured
future have drawn hither an exceptionally large num-
ber of able men, each representative of something
worth while. He was born in Santa Clara County,
four miles southwest of San Jose, on the old Infirm-
ary Road, just opposite the old brick yard, on Decem-
ber 12, 1855, the son of James B. Hess, a native of
Indiana, who came across the plains in an ox-team
train in the stirring days of '49, when it took seven
months to make the trip. He married Miss Mary
Josephine Walton, born in Kentucky, who came to
California via the Isthmus of Panama in 1852, and
in San Jose she met Mr. Hess. James B. Hess was
a miner; and with a brother, Alexander Morris Hess,
later located in Santa Clara Valley in about 1851.
They each had claims of 160 acres of land in the
middle of the valley. This land was on the old
Galindo Grant, and afterward the Galindo estate con-
tested the rights, and all the land involved was in the
court for several years. Later, when the Government
secured control, James Hess preempted the land.

Unfortunately, James Hess eventually was swin-
dled out of the land and lost all that he had; and
when our subject was sixteen years old, he took his
family — consisting of nine children, among whom
Alexander was the oldest — and all his belongings and
moved the family to San Mateo County, where he at
first settled on the Hamm Ranch. But he stayed
there only a couple of years, after which he returned
to San Jose, where he spent the rest of his days.
He had at length passed through many hardships,
and the strenuous life he was forced to lead caused
him to break down much sooner than might have
been expected. When sixty-eight, he laid aside the
cares and worries of this world, conscious at least
that, as a sturdy, honest, intelligent pioneer he had
done something commendable for those who came
after him. Mrs. Hess is still living, at the remark-
able age of over ninety years.

When five years of age, Alexander had to walk
a long way to school, along a path which led through
the haunts of wild cattle, and had to look sharp and
move lively at times to look out for his own safety.
He recalls other experiences at an age even earlier.
The Digger Indians, a dirty, thieving tribe, had been
prowling about his father's place at one time, and
one morning, when the little fellow was at play and
his mother was not watching, an Indian picked him
up and started ofif with the object of stealing him.
His mother luckily discovered his absence soon
enough to survey the landscape, and when she saw
the pack of Indians moving oflf, and one Indian car-
rying the dangling, screaming child, she raised
such an alarm as a fond, anxious mother might be
expected to give, James Hess responded by seizing a
pitchfork and hurrying after the kidnapers; and
catching up with them, he jabbed the fork into the
Indian carrying the child, and in short order got the
youngster safely into his possession again. The In-
dians, however, were so covered with filth and ver-
min that before taking the boy back to his weeping

mother, he stripped the tot of all his clothes, pre-
ferring nakedness to infection. Mr. Hess remembers
when, as a boy growing up, the valley was nothing
but plains. Wild cattle roamed at will, and
there were many wild animals such as California
lions and bears around the foothills. In 1862 there
was a big flood and he has seen the valley covered
with water and the same year it was also covered
with snow. In those days the country between Dry
Creek and Los Gatos was covered with chaparral
and May Day picnics were held at Froments Mills,
Los Gatos. In the sixties a dry year came and
cattle starved by the thousands. They browsed on
the leaves of trees and yet they starved and died,
leaving skulls and bones all over the valley. The
San Francisco and Santa Clara Railroad came into
the valley in the sixties, and the stagemen were loud
in their complaints, but they found new pursiiits and
forgot it, and now the railroads are confronted with
the competition of auto stages and trucks. So things
are reversed again. Thus he has seen the whole val-
ley change from plains to waving fields of grain, and
from the grain fields to alfalfa and orchards, a
veritable garden spot.

Alexander Hess attended the country school until
he was twelve years old, and later on he enjoyed two
years at the L^niversity of the Pacific, at San Jose, and
one year at a business college in San Jose. On push-
ing out into the world to earn a living, he first
sought work in the Mackenzie Foundry, where he
labored for two years; and then he joined the fire
department, and for seven j^ears was an engineer
there. He then spent two years in the machine shop
of Joseph N. Wright; and followed a busy period
there. This was a good introduction to his present
responsibility in the service of the San Jose Water-
works, upon which he entered in 1885; for he has
been there so long and so actively, that he is the
oldest employee in the San Jose Waterworks, his
badge being number 1, and he has been chief en-
gineer of the home plant at 374 West Santa Clara
Street all but three years of the time. This plant
has a capacity of six million gallons in twenty-four
hours. He has held his position now for thirty-
seven years. When he came all the company had
was a 42 inch by 12 foot boiler and a No. 10
Knowles pump. That same year they installed a
compound Duplex pump of two million gallons
capacity in twenty-four hours, including two seventy-
five horsepower boilers. This ran for ten years.

In 1895 they installed the Holly engine, which
did duty until 1914, when they began using electric-
ity, but the Holly plant is kept in running order in
case of accident. They also had two 150 horsepower
boilers to run the Holly pump station.

In 1914, as stated above, they installed four seven-
ty-five horsepower electric main pumps, and also a
fifty horsepower and a seventy-five horsepower elec-
tric well pump, and since then they have added a new
well and seventy-five horsepower pump. Thus all
the improvements have been made since Mr. Hess'
advent with the company, and he has had charge of
the installation of the machinery and pumps.

On June 15, 1880, Mr. Hess was married to Miss
Flora M. Spangenberg, the ceremony taking place
in San Jose, a gifted lady born in historic Westches-
ter County, N. Y. Her father was an artist who
attained fame. Two children have blessed the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

union of Mr. and Mrs. Hess. The elder is Alexan-
der W., Jr., who served his time as machinist with
the Union Iron Works, then made a trip to China
and Japan on the S.S. "Korea." Soon after his re-
turn he enlisted in the U. S. Navy, serving two en-
listments, or eight years. The last four years he
was chief machinist. During this time he served on
the cruiser New York, cruiser Maryland, and the
battleship Kearsarge. After eight years he retired
from the Navy and was employed by the Pelton
Water Wheel Company in San Francisco, resigning in
1917 to become machinist for the San Jose Water-
works under his father and has continued there
since. He married Ethel January, a granddaughter
of Wm. A. January, one of Santa Clara County's
honored pioneers, and they have two children, Carol
and June. The only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alex-
ander Hess, Hazel Helen, is the wife of Hugo Mans-
feldt, a noted San Francisco musician. She is also an
accomplished musician, being a fine pianist, and
they are both teaching in San Francisco.

Mr. Hess was made a Mason in San Jose Lodge,
No. 10. F. & A. M., of which he is senior warden.
He is also a member of Howard Chapter, No. 14,
R. A. M., and San Jose Council, No. 20, R. & S. M.,
San Jose Commandery, No. 10, K. T., Islam Temple.
A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco, and is a member of
the Sciots and the Commandery drill corps. He
has been a Modern Woodman for the past eighteen
years, and is escort in San Jose Camp, No. 1111,
and holds membership in Liberty Camp. No. 5134.
Royal Neighbors of America. He is a stockholder in
the San Jose Building and Loan Association, and in
national politics is a Republican.

JAMES SMITH.— A native of England, James
Smith was born in London, February 4, 1842. Com-
ing to the United States at an early age, he grew up
in Maine and when twenty years of age he enlisted
December 28, 1862, at Skowhegan, in Company E,
First Maine Cavalry, going to Virginia with his regi-
ment. On October 12, 1863, he was wounded and
captured by the rebels and was sent as a prisoner to
Belle Isle. After enduring suffering and starvation
he was exchanged at Richmond, March 7, 1864. He
was honorably discharged June 20, 1865, on the ex-
piration of the war. Among some of the engage-
ments in which he took part are Brandy Station,
Culpepper C. H., Middleburg, Charles City Cross
Roads, Slaughter Mountain, Weldon Railroad, and
numerous skirmishes. After his discharge he came
to New York City, where he was employed in
Lloyd's Leather Factory. In England he had known
the Lloyd family and an attachment sprang up be-
tween Alice Lloyd and himself which resulted in
their marriage in 1874. Alice Lloyd was born in
England and came to Connecticut with her parents
when she was two years old. Her mother passed
away three weeks after they landed, and she was
brought up by an elder sister and educated in the
Brooklyn schools, whither her father had removed
and established Lloyd's Leather Factory.

After their marriage Mr. Smith removed to Con-
necticut and worked in a leather factory at Peabody
six years, when he came out west to California,
arriving at San Francisco, Cal , in 1881. In 1S87
he located a homestead of 160 acres at Wrights,
Santa Clara County, where he was engaged until

1894, when he came to Campbell, where he built
a residence and resided until his death in 1915.
He was a member of the G. A. R. and the U. V. L.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith had two children: Joseph
George, served in the First California Regiment
in the Spanish-American War, and is now in
Alaska; Alfred William, is an expert automobile
mechanic and a graduate of the International Cor-
respondence Schools; he now makes his home with
his mother. Mrs. Smith continues to reside in Camp-
bell, looking after the interests left by her husband
and is a valued member of the Methodist Church.

ANTON M. JENSEN.— A successful contractor
and builder in Los Gatos is Anton M. Jensen, a
native of Denmark, born in Jylland, February 22,
1885, a son of Hans and Cecilia (Askov) Jensen,
farmers of the island kingdom, who had nine chil-
dren, seven of whom are living, Anton M. being the
fifth eldest. He received a good education in the ex-
cellent schools for which Denmark is noted. When
fourteen years of age he apprenticed at the carriage
maker trade for four years at Esbjerg and during
this time he attended night school, where he studied
architecture and drawing, a knowledge of which he
has found of great value and assistance these later
years. Soon after completing his apprenticeship
he came to the United States in 1903, locating first
in West Denmark, Wise, where he worked at the
carpenter trade for eleven months. Having a brother,
Nicholai Jensen, a rancher at Salinas, Cal., Anton
came hither in 1904. He entered the employ of the
Western Union Telegraph Company, working on
the line through to Los Angeles for two months,
then spent eleven months working at the carpenter
trade in Fresno, after which he came to San Leandro,
being employed in the woodworking department of
the Best Manufacturing Company. In February,
1906, he located in Los Gatos, working at his trade
here and in San Jose.

In 1906 Mr. Jensen was married in San Jose to
Miss Juanita Gerlefsen, also born in Denmark, who
came to Los Gatos with her parents when she was
three years old. Her father, Hans Gerlefsen. was the
blacksmith on the Hume ranch until he established
the first blacksmith shop at Austin Corners. After
two years he sold the business, since which time he
has been engaged in orcharding near Los Gatos.
His wife was in maidenhood Anna Petersen, and
Mrs. Jensen is the only child. In 1909 Mr. Jensen
began contractng and building in Los Gatos and
many fine homes and business buildings bear testi-
mony of his ability, among them being Crescent Dell,
Austin school house, the G. Wood and B. C. Scott
residences, Saratoga; Saratoga school, Crider, Beck-
with and Nicholas residences, Los Gatos; Crider's
store. Field and Fred Berryman buildings in Los
Gatos. Mr. Jensen is the leading contractor in Los
Gatos and is very successful. He owns a fine resi-
dence on Santa Cruz Avenue, where he resides with
his wife and two children, Gertrude and Wanita.
He is a member of the Odd Fellows, and with his
wife is a member of the Rebekahs of which Mrs.
Jensen is a past noble grand; and she is also a mem-
ber of the Civic Center, Ladies' Aid and the Pres-
byterian Church. Mr. Jensen is enterprising and
progressive and is a member of the Los Gatos Cham-
ber of Commerce.

1278

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

HENRY BONETTI — A conspicuous example of
the outstanding success that can be gained solely
through one's own eti'orts is found in the life of one
of Santa Clara County's prosperous citizens, the late
Henry Bonetti, who left his native country at the
tender age of thirteen, coming to this country all
alone to get a start in life while young, and through
his untiring efforts and keen business ability he ac-
cumulated a comfortable fortune and was one of the
largest landowners of Santa Clara County. A native
of Switzerland, he was born in Canton Ticino on Jan-
uary 2, 1862, the son of Juliano and Addolorata Bo-
netti. His father was a leader in the public affairs
of his community and a keen business man, being
the postmaster in his home town and also the owner
of a large merchandise store there. Attracted to
.America by the tales of the Argonaut days, he made
the trip around the Horn in 1852, landing in San
Francisco, spending about two years in the mines.
He then went to Australia, where he spent ten years,
engaging in the stock business, and then returned to
Sviitzerland, having circumnavigated the earth. Here
he was married and blessed with a large family, atid
remembering the opportunities that awaited one in
California and being very ambitious for his children,
he asked his eldest son, Henry, if he would not like
to go to this new^ land. Although but thirteen, Henry
readily assented and started on the long trip alone.
Arriving at New York, he crossed the continent to
Sacramento and came by boat down the Sacramento
River to San Francisco. He remained there but a
short time, going to Olema, Marin County, where
he worked on a dairy and stock farm for about three
years, getting five dollars a month and his board.

In 1877 Juliano Bonetti brought his large family
to California, first settling in Marin County, going
to San Luis Obispo County in the latter part of 1878,
where they acquired considerable land. From there
they moved on to Guadalupe, Santa Barbara County,
and there bought a large acreage. After having es-
tablished all of his children in ranching and other
lines of business, Mr. Bonetti, with his wife and two
youngest children, returned to Switzerland, where
he passed the remainder of his days, living to be
seventy-seven years old; Mrs. Bonetti lived to be
seventy-one years of age. Of their eleven children,
of wdiom Henry was the eldest son, but four are
now living: Americo and Pia, now Mrs. Pezzoni, now
live in San Jose; Victoria is in Switzerland and
Marino is in New York.

At the time the father returned to Switzerland,
Henry Bonetti and his brother, Teofila, leased the
ranch in Guadalupe and prior to his marriage sold
his interests to his brother. Henry acquired some
land in Guadalupe, and when his father died, as ad-
ministrator, he sold the father's ranch and his own
in Santa Barbara County, where he vifas extensively
engaged in the dairy business, having a herd of 200
milk cows, and was also engaged in breeding cattle
and sheep on a large scale. He established a Swiss
cheese factory on his place, and produced some of
the finest Swiss cheese in the state, employing his
own countrymen, who were expert cheese makers.

In 1908 Mr. Bonetti removed to San Jose, where
he purchased the ranch of Dr. Charles Wayland,
consisting of 130 acres, the Melrose estate of 130

acres, and the J. H. Henry ranch of 4,000 acres.
Later he disposed of the first two ranches and a part
of the Henry ranch, but still was the owner of 3,554
acres of fine land. In 1914 he purchased the William
Bogen place at 1440 Alameda, and this has since been
the family home.

The marriage of Mr. Bonetti. uniting him with
Miss Artemisa Arellanes, occurred at Santa Maria.
October 4, 1888. She was born in Ventura County
and was educated in the convent at San Luis Obispo,
and was the daughter of Juan B. and Francisca
Arellanes, her father being an early settler and prom-
inent stock-raiser of Santa Maria. Eleven children
were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bonetti, six sons and
five daughters: Alfonso, Henry, Oliver and James
are on the ranch in Santa Clara County; James at-
tended the Agricultural School at Davis; Edward
attends Santa Clara University. Theodore, Peggie.
Artimisa. Mary. Dolly, and Edwina were all edu-
cated in the convent at Hollywood, Cal. In political
affairs Mr. Bonetti gave his support to the Republi-
can party. He was heartily interested in the welfare
of his adopted country and was a liberal subscriber
to all the Red Cross and Liberty Loan drives during
the war. Mr. Bonetti died December 29, 1921, aged
almost sixty years.

R. C. SUESS. — A man of good business ability,
R. C. Suess is filling a long felt need in operating a
radiator and fender repair works in San Jose, and is
an expert in his line of work. His business, located
at the corner of Market and William streets in San
Jose, in with the Eagle Auto manufacturers, con-
stitutes the principal radiator and fender repair works
of the city. Mr. Suess was born in Houston, Texas,
July 4, 1876, a son of Henry and Margaret (Nebut)
Suess, the father being engaged in farming and stock-
raising in that state. R. C. attended the public
schools of his native state, but the school of practical
experienced proved the most profitable. When the
call came from his countrj- for his services, he en-
listed in Company C, First Infantry, serving two
years of the Spanish-American War. at Havana,
Cuba; Savannah, Ga., and in Florida. He afterwards
rendered valuable service on the police force of his
home town. He was later employed by the Houston
and Texas Central Railway and by other large shops,
becoming an expert sheet-metal worker.

The marriage of Mr. Suess in 1900 united him with
Miss Annie Small, a native of Hill County, Texas,
?nd eleven years later they removed to San Jose,
Cal. They are the parents of three children: Walter,
who enlisted with the Thirteenth Infantry and saw-
service in France, Germany and Austria-Hungary;
Chester, a student in the grammar school in San
Jose; Vernon assists in his father's business. The
family residence is at 42 North Willard. Fraternally
Mr. Suess was made a Mason in the Blue Lodge at
Corsicana, Texas; is a member also of the Scottish
Rite, the Sciots and is a Shriner, being a member
of Islam Temple, San Francisco. He is a Democrat
in his political affiliations, and with his family he
attends the Baptist Church of San Jose. He is a
man of engaging personality, of strength and in-
tegrity of character, and has a striking spirit of
good-fellowship that is winning for him an enviable
position among the business men of San Jose.

r

^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1281

SAMUEL H. CARPER.— A native Ohioan whose
previous experience in civic affairs as an honored
pubHc official has made him particularly welcome as
a citizen of California, is Samuel H. Carper, well
known for his success in the building line. His head-
quarters are at 419 Josefa Street, San Jose, but his
field of work is anywhere in Santa Clara County. He
was born at Bettsville, Seneca County, Ohio, on July
25, 1858, the son of Frederick Carper, a native of
Berkeley County, W. Va., who had married Miss
Mary A. Britton, also of West Virginia.

Grandfather William Britton was of English de-
scent, the ancestors being owners of valuable property
that is now a part of the business section of London,
England, an estate that has never been settled. The
ancestors on both the Carper and Britton sides served
in the War of the Revolution. Frederick Carper was
a blacksmith and removed with his taniil\- In St-iuca
County, Ohio. He served in the Civil War, enlist-
ing in 1861 in Company K, Forty-ninth Ohio \'oluu-
teer Infantry, and afterwards served in the Forty-
seventh Ohio, and was with Sherman in his Georgia
campaign and on the March to the Sea, serving until
the close of the w.ir, w hen lie removed with his family
to Keokuk, Lee L'nur.t\', Iowa, where he followed his
trade. His wife pa>se<i away there and later he came
to the Coast, and died in Oregon.

The eighth in a family of nine children, Samuel
Carper attended the public schools and lived at home
until he was a young man, and besides farming,
learned the carpenter's trade. In Clark County, Mo.,
August n, 1878, he was married to Miss Sadie E.
Cobb, a native of Montgomery Co., that state, a
daughter of Isaac and Martha (Hamblin) Cobb, the
latter being a direct descendant of Daniel Boone. On
the Cobb side Mrs. Carper is a distant relative of
William Jennings Bryan. Her paternal grandfather
served in the War of 1812 and she also had ancestors
who served in the Revolutionary War. Isaac Cobb
was captain in the Confederate army during the Civil
War, while her uncle. Col. Alvin L. Cobb, served
under General Price.

Mr. and Mrs. Carper resided in Missouri until 1883,
when they removed to the Chickasaw Nation, Indian
Territory, where he worked at his trade and on farms,
as well as riding the range after cattle. Next they
returned to Missouri, where he was employed for two
years, after which they removed to Taylor County,
Iowa, where he engaged in farming and carpentering
at Athelston, being occupied there until 1897, when
he came to California and located in San Jose. Since
then he has always followed the building business and
has contracted with various individuals to build a
number of handsome houses. For some years they
resided in East San Jose, but in 1902 they build their
present residence on Josefa Street.

Five children of Mr. and Mrs. Carper are living:
Myrtle is Mrs. E. E. Foss of San Jose; she has one
child living, Irma Foss, a valued employe of the San
Jose postoffice, and a stepson, Wayne R. Waddell.
who is like a grandson to Mr. and Mrs. Carper. He
enlisted in the U. S. army for four years in Septem-
ber, 1918, trained at the Presidio, and is serving in the
Motor Transport department; being good at calcu-
lating he has served a portion of the time in the com-
missary department. Samuel F. Carper resides at 47
Wabash Avenue, San Jose, and is among the best car-
penters in the city; he is also an artist of no mean

ability and has some fine specimens in oil of his own
painting; Effie J. is musical, having studied voice cul-
ture; she is now Mrs. William James of San Jose
and they have three children, Raymond, Wilma and
Estella. Mabel is Mrs. H. T. Forsythe of San Jose
and she has a son, Leonard Drake, by her first mar-
riage. Dottie, a graduate in voice at the College of
the Pacific, is the wife of J. A. Tyson, a rancher at
Los Gatos and they have one child, Dorothy Nadine.

About ten years ago Mrs Carper took up the propa-
gation of the dahlia and she has since put out many
hundreds of bulbs of all varieties. She is an ardent
student of this flower and is a member of the Dahlia
Association of California and the Flower Growers
Club of San Jose. She raises all of her dahlias at their
city home and experience shows that she has an ex-
cellent location for this fascinating industry, and she
nnds a ready sale for all the cut flowers and bulbs.
By propagation she has been enabled to raise some
very beautiful varieties, which she has named and reg-
istered. Her Sammie Boy, Royal, Henry W. Mc-
Comas and Sunmaid have all won prizes.

\yhile at Athelston, Iowa, Mr. Carper was always
active in the civic affairs of the community and for
three terms served as mayor of Athelston; he was
also constable for a couple of terms and after that for
two years was deputy sheriff. Since coming to San
Jose he has had many opportunities to engage in civic
work, but has preferred to give all his time to his
building business, and so to help influence the build-
ing of the future. He is a member of San Jose Local
316, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners
of America. He is a strong Republican and Mrs.
Carper is an active member of the Baptist Church.

WALTER L YOUNG.— An enterprising business
man of Los Gatos is Walter I. Young, born at So-
quel, Santa Cruz County, March 27. 1877, of a pio-
neer family. His father, W. A. Young, a native of
Kentucky, came out to Missouri and in 1853, crossed
the plains with his parents in an ox-team train.
During the migration. Grandfather Young, who was
a physician, was at the head of the party and locat-
ing at the Mountain House, Butte County, he prac-
ticed medicine and mined until his death. W. A.
Young was married in Butte County, to Elizabeth
Emily Ruggles, who was born in Missouri. Her
father. Elisha P. Ruggles, was also born in Missouri,
and brought his family across the plains in 1853,
the journey being accomplished in true pioneer style.
He also brought a herd of cattle and located in Santa
Clara County, where he acquired a ranch of 2000
acres which he later traded for the Mountain House
in Butte County, thinking at the time he had made
a good trade. After ten years he disposed of the
Mountain House and engaged in farming at Nelson,
Butte County, until his death. He was a thirty-
second degree Scottish Rite Mason.

W. A. Young attended the Santa Clara College,
then studied medicine for two years, when he en-
gaged in mining in Butte County, and there he mar-
ried, but never resumed the study of medicine. He
also mined in Nevada for a time after which he
came to Santa Cruz County, where he engaged in
manufacturing lumber for some time. He then pur-
chased a ranch at Redwood Lodge which he im-
proved to orchard and vineyard, residing there until
his death in 1897, his widow surviving him until 1917,
passing away in San Jose. This worthy pioneer couple

1282

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

were the parents of six children, five of whom are
living. Walter I., the youngest, received his school-
ing in the Highland district, which was supplemented
with a course at the Salt Lake Business College,
where he was graduated in 1894. After spending some
time at sawmilling, he entered the employ of the
Pacific Gas & Electric Company and ten years were
spent in various places over their system.

Walter I. Young was married at Campbell, Santa
Clara County, May 21. 1913, to Miss Iris Maude
Seroy, who was born in Cabery, 111., a daughter of
Joseph E. and Elizabeth (Wroot) Seroy, born in
Kankakee and Somonauk, 111., respectively. Grand-
father Seroy was born in Canada and Great-grand-
father Seroy in France, while her Great-grandfather
Wroot came from England to Illinois. Joseph E. Seroy
brought his family to Bakersfield, Cal., in 1892,
where he was in the real estate and oil business,
later taking up his residence in Oakland, where he
now resides and in that city he was bereaved of his
wife in 1917. Mrs. Young is the second oldest of
their family of five children and is a graduate of the
Berkeley high school. While stationed at Stockton
for the Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Mr. Young
resigned in September, 1918, and began auto truck-
ing, hauling fruit from the Santa Cruz Mountains to
Los Gatos and San Jose and during the season he
hauled rice and grain in Butte County. In the
spring of 1920 he purchased the transfer business
of George G. Curtis, in Los Gatos and continued the
business as well as the handling and transporting of
fruit and grain to the warehouses and markets.
Young's Transfer office and headquarters being lo-
cated across the railroad from the depot in Los
Gatos, a most central place for his growing
trade. Mr. and Mrs. Young have two children, Rob-
ert and Carmclita. Mrs. Young is a member of the
Rebekah Lodge at Durham, the Eastern Star in Los
Gatos as well as the local Civic Center, Young Mat-
ron's Club and the Sew and So Club. Mr. Young
is a member of the Odd Fellow's Lodge in Soquel.

COL. CARL J. YOUNG.— One of the most inter-
esting men in the Santa Cruz region, the proprietor
of Idlewild Inn, is Col. Carl J. Young, who was
born in Cecil County, Md., in 1850, descended from
a prominent old Southern family. His father, Ed-
ward Young, served as a captain in the Civil War,
after which he became a business man in Wilming-
ton, Del. He married Margaret Gray, who was of
Scotch descent. Carl J. Young was reared on the
Eastern shore in Maryland and at Wilmington, Del.,
completing his education at Hyatt's Military School
in Wilmington. In 1869 he came to Elko, Nev., en-
gaging in mining, locating many mines. He opened
the Merger mines, a part of the Tonopah Extension,
and was among the pioneer miners in Goldfield,
Manhattan and Tonopah. In fact, it is impossible
in this brief space to discuss his prominence and
activity in mining, as well as Nevada politics. Serv-
ing as colonel on the staff of Governor Dickerson,
he has since then borne the title of colonel. He has
been in and out of California for many years and had
a mining and real estate office in San Francisco for
a number of years.

Colonel Young was married in Nevada to Miss
Etta M. Heffernan, a native of Massachusetts. In
1921 he purchased Idlewild Inn, above Alma, and
with the assistance of his estimable wife is rapidly

making of it a popular family resort. It is a large,
modern hotel with many cottages set in the midst
of ten acres of ground, watered by Moody Gulch,
where redwood, oak, madrone and other native trees
abound, making a most beautiful setting for a year
around resort. Colonel Young is also engaged as real
estate dealer and has charge of the selling of building
lots in the Idlewild Inn tract. A man who is well
traveled and well informed on climate. Colonel Young
finds that the Santa Cruz Mountains in Santa Clara
County has the most ideal climate in the world.
Thus he is well pleased that he cast in his lot in this
beautiful and healthful region.

GEORGE STEPHEN BUCKLEY.— A native son
who was a highly esteemed business man of Los
Gatos was the late George Stephen Buckley, born at
Colfax. Nevada County, June 15, 1878 His father,
Mark Buckley, was an Eastern man of Scotch-Irish
parentage who crossed the plains in pioneer days.
He was a merchant in Colfax until 1888, when he
located on a ranch at The Willows, near San Jose,
where he died. George Buckley's mother was Elsie
Kirkwood, a native of New Zealand of Scotch par-
ents. She died in San Jose. George Stephens was
the youngest of their ten children, and made his
home in Santa Clara County from ten years of age.
After graduating from the San Jose high school, he
entered the Affiliated Colleges in San Francisco where
he was graduated in 1900 with the degree of Ph. G.
He first followed his profession in San Jose, then in
San Francisco, where he was a pharmacist with Mc-
Donald's Pharmacy.

In that city Mr. Buckley married on January 3,
1901. Miss Clara Agnes Campbell, who was born in
Marysville, Yuba County, a daughter of Thomas
William and Mary Elizabeth (Sweeney) Campbell,
born near Boston, Mass. Thomas W. Campbell was
an engineer. Crossing the plains to Marysville, Cal.,
in pioneer days he followed engineering there, until
he died in 1879. Mrs. Campbell, when fourteen years
of age, came via the Isthmus of Panama to Marys-
ville: she survived her husband until 1921. passing
nwav at tlie age of seventy-three years at the home
ot Mr>. I'luckky. where she had spent the last four-
leen years of her life. Clara Agnes was the youngest
.hild of their family and finished her education at
the Marysville high school. After his marriage Mr.
Buckley was manager of Kirk's Pharmacy in Grass
Valley until 1907, when he came to Saratoga as man-
ager of Hogg's Pharmacy for two years until Dr.
Hogg sold out, after which Mr. Buckley followed his
profession in San Francisco until 1913, when he pur-
chased the same old drugstore in Saratoga he had
previously managed, and as a proprietor he built up
a splendid business. He was square and honest in
his dealings, a man of fine and pleasing personality.

Mr. and Mrs. Buckley purchased a homesite of
one and one-fourth acres at the head of La Paloma
Terrace, where they built a beautiful bungalow resi-
dence; but Mr. Buckley was not permitted to enjoy
it for he died June 4, 1918, a man sorely missed in
his community. He was deputy county clerk for
many years, a member of the Retail Drug Clerks'
Association in San Francisco and the Saratoga Im-
provement Association. Fraternally he belonged to
the Odd Fellows and Foresters of America and was
an Episcopalian in religion. After his death Mrs.
Buckley, having worked in the store with her hus-

7?i.a.€-

w'

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

128.T

band, assumed the management of the pharmacy
until she disposed of it. She still retains her com-
mission as deputy county clerk. She opened the
Saratoga branch of the County library in her store
and was librarian until she resigned in 1921. She is
a member of Saratoga Rebekah Lodge No 334. of
the Saratoga Improvement Association and the Foot-
hill Study Club.

M. A. BENJAMIN.— A career of more than ordi-
nary professional and business promise is that of M.
A. Benjamin, horticulturist, landscape gardener, tree
doctor and consultant, residing in San Jose, Cal., and
having his offices with the Prune and Apricot
Association, at the corner of Market and San
Antonio Streets. He was born at Rockford. 111..
March 3, 1884, and when he was six months old
was taken by his parents, N. H. and Lovinia (Wil-
liams) Benjamin to Kansas City, Mo. -There he at-
tended the public schools, finishing the grammar
and high schools and entered Parkville College.
His father, who was a contractor, engaged in build-
ing cable street car lines, is now Uving with his son
at the age of seventy-four, the mother having passed
away in 1907. They were the parents of five chil-
dren, four girls and one boy, of whom the subject of
this sketch is the fourth.

Mr. Benjamin has been an enthusiastic devotee of
the study of plant life and horticulture ever since a
boy. and when eight years old ran away from home
and worked in a greenhouse for nothing, so eager
was he to learn how the plants grew. The founda-
tion of his professional work was laid in Kansas
City under the great German expert. Prof. Beltz,
but he has never ceased to work and study, and since
coming to California eight years ago has pursued
correspondence courses from both the University of
California and the Agricultural College at Davis,
Cal. He has worked, studied and achieved and is
counted among the most expert horticulturists in
the state. Above all he is preeminently a student.
who is willing to pay the price with work and then
puts his knowledge into actual use, so that others
may profit by his knowledge. At one time, being
hard pressed for money, he went to work in the
pressroom of the Kansas City Journal, working from
midnight until four o'clock in the morning to ob-
tain funds with which to pursue his plant study. He
carefully cultivates his own orchard of fourteen-acres,
located on the Stevens Creek Road and Cypress
Avenue, which is planted to prunes and apricots, but
does a great amount of work for other orchardists
and farmers. He has made a careful and extensive
study of plant diseases, their prevention and cure,
and has discovered the cause of fire blight in pear
trees, die-back in other trees and blight in walnut
and olive trees; and has succeeded, after many years
of careful work, in finding a remedy for these de-
stroying diseases. He has made application for a
copyright for his formula and process of treatment
for blight. During 1921 he made a trip of ten days
into Lake County, visiting pear orchards and adminis-
tering his remedy, which has proven a specific against
blight. His confidence in the efficacy of his formulas
and cultural methods is so great that he has under-
taken the operation of orchards in run-down and
diseased condition, under agreements to take his pay
in increase of crop, and has in every instance suc-

ceeded in bringing every orchard to a healthy condi^
tion with marked increase in yield

Mr. Benjamin is a proficient landscape artist and
is prepared to furnish plans and specifications. Dur-
ing the Reed administration in 1917 he was ap-
pointed and served as the superintendent of parks
of San Jose. He has done landscape gardening for
many of the most prominent people throughout the
county and his expert knowledge of diseases of plants
and trees is often sought by the orchardists of the
county, his methods of culture and treatment pro-
longing the lives of fruit trees and increasing their
productiveness. First of all Mr. Benjamin is a stu-
dent and loves his work and often goes to the moun-
tain.s to spend a week or so in studying trees and
plants, their characteristics, diseases and peculiar-
ities of growth and life. He is a writer of note on
horticultural subjects and has contributed valuable
articles to the magazines and newspapers through-
out the United States, and in this way reaches thou-
sands of orchardists and agriculturists and imparts
knowledge that is invaluable. He has built up a large
business during his eight years of residence here and
employs sixty men. whom he trains in this work,
paying them the highest wages.

Mr. Benjamin's marriage occurred in Kansas City.
Mo., and united him with Miss Sue Morris, a grand-
daughter of Col. McGee, the noted pioneer and town-
site man. Col. McGee was a historical character and
was one of the fourteen men who purchased the West
Port Landing, the original Kansas City; and sur-
veyed the site of Kansas City. Mo., with Indians as
helpers, carrying the surveyor's chain. They are the
parents of one boy. Morris, who is studying botany
and such other branches as will fit him to enter the
business with his father, being a student in the agri-
cultural department of the l^niversity of California
at Davis. Cal.. majoring in horticulture.

JOHN EDWARD ELLIS.— Born near Wakefield.
Yorkshire. England. November 9. 1849. John Edward
Ellis was the son of William Robert Ellis, a native of
Hull. England, a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge,
as was his father and grandfather before him. His
grandfather. Sir William Ellis, was an M. D., and
physician to Queen Charlotte and was knighted. The
Ellis family is traced back to Kiddal. founded by
William Ellis in 1160. William Robert Ellis, the
father of our subject, was a barrister. He married
Harriette Warner Elliott, a native of London of the
old Northumberland family of Elliotts.

John Edward Ellis is the sixth oldest of eleven
children and the only one in the United States. He
was reared in the south of England and educated
under a tutor and at Highgate School, after which
he studied two years at Neuwied on the Rhine, Ger-
many, and during this time traveled over various
countries on the Continent. He then went to sea as
an apprentice on the Matoaka. a full rigged ship, to
New Zealand, and at Littleton he left the ship by
leaving the day before she sailed and hiding until
after her departure. The Matoaka was never heard
of again, so the vessel and all must have been lost
at sea. He went to work with a Scotchman, John
McCloud. who was in the cattle business and later
became his partner and spent two and one-half suc-
cessful years with him; then he went to Australia
where he spent six months before returning to England
in 1870. After a visit of three months he started back

1286

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to New Zealand in 1870, making his way through the
United States to San Francisco to take the steamer
to New Zealand. In Kansas City, Mo., he ran across
an old friend who induced :Mr. Ellis to go into the
cattle business with him. So they went in partner-
ship at Eureka, but Mr. Ellis later sold his interest
and traveled on to California. He liked the climate,
and going to Mendocino County he engaged in sheep
raising on the Eel River. Here he continued from
1872 until 1875, when he sold his holdings and moved
to Ukiah, where he built the first gas works and
system in that city. In 1878 Mr. Ellis sold the plant
and moved to San Francisco and was in the asphalt
and roofing business. While there he took up mining
and held a position in an assay office in Nevada
County. Then he was with the San Francisco Cop-
per Mine at Spenceville, and while there he was mar-
ried in Ukiah in 1882 to Miss May Carpenter, who
was born in Grass Valley, Cal., a daughter of A. O.
Carpenter, a pioneer of Ukiah, a very prominent
and popular citizen. Mrs. Ellis was engaged in edu-
cational work until her marriage.

Mr. Ellis continued with the Mining Company at
Spenceville until they ran out of ore, and then located
in Los Gatos in 1885, where he opened a limestone
quarry to get out phosphate of lime. He also set out
an orchard. In 1886 he built his residence on Cle-
land Avenue and Reservoir Road, where he resides
with his family. He organized the Los Gatos Lime
Company and built a lime kiln, but soon found he
could not compete with others, so sold out in 1890.
Leaving his family here he engaged in mining in
Plumas County for four years when he sold his inter-
est. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis have six children, five of
whom grew up: Helen, is the wife of N. B. Phillips,
a banker in Seattle; William Robert resides in Ala-
meda and is with the Hercules Powder Company;
Edward E. is engaged in the automobile business
and resides in Alameda; Jno. Frank was killed
by a powder explosion; May E., formerly called
Peggie, is a graduate of the University of California,
now traveling in Ecuador, South America. They
also are proud of their seven grandchildren. Mr.
Ellis has been secretary of Los Gatos Lodge No. 292,
F. & A. M., for thirty years, and with his wife is a
member of the Order of Eastern Star of which Mrs.
Ellis has been matron.

WILLIAM HENRY HALL.— A pioneer of Santa
Clara County since 1854, William Henry Hall was
born in Lincoln County, Mo., in December, 1849.
His father, Andrew J. Hall, was a native of Ken-
tucky, where he was reared, coming out to Missouri
when a very young man and there he married Delia
Cottle, a native of Missouri. He was a farmer, but
becoming interested in the California gold fields he
left his wife and two children in Missouri for the
time being and came along with two of his wife's
brothers. Thomas and William Cottle, to California.
Being engaged in mining at Georgetown, he died in
1851, it being a sad blow to his little family in Mis-
souri. The two Cottle boys came to Santa Clara
County, liked the country and purchased land, after
which they returned to Missouri, and it was decided
the whole Cottle family would emigrate to California.
In 1854 a train was outfitted with Grandfather Ed-
ward Cottle, a Vermonter, at the head, bringing a
drove of cattle and horses along across the plains.
He piloted the train safely through the Indian in-

fested plains to Santa Clara County, where he be-
came a large landowner and successful stockman,
making a specialty of raising fine horses. His wife
died in 1855, but he lived to be seventy-five years
old. His daughter, Mrs. Delia Hall, presided over
his home until her second marriage to James Mc-
Lellan, an early settler and rancher near San Jose.
.After his death, Mrs. McLellan resided with her
daughter, Mrs. Edwards, until her death. The two
children of her first marriage are Mrs. Alice Edwards
of San Jose and William Henry, our subject, famil-
iarly called by his many friends, Budd Hall. By
the second marriage there was one child, Edward F.
McLellan, who resides in San Francisco.

Budd Hall was four years old when he crossed
the plains in his Grandfather Edward Cottle's train.
He attended the public schools of his district and
also took a business college course in San Jose.
For some years he was in the employ of W. H. Ed-
wards, until he purchased a ranch four miles south
of San Jose. A few years later he sold it and pur-
chased a place eight miles south of town w-hich he
operated. When he sold it he purchased a ranch
near San Jose, on which he engaged in intensive
farming until 1920 when he rented the place and
now makes his home in Los Gatos. He also owns
150 acres ten miles south of San Jose devoted to
growing seeds.

Mr. Hall was married in San Jose October 8, 1873,
being united with Miss Mary E. Henning, a native
of Santa Clara County. Her father, Jno. P. Hen-
ning, a native of Virginia, crossed the plains to
California in 1849; he liked the country and returned
to Missouri to bring his family out. In 1854 with
his wife and three children he piloted an ox -team train
across the plains, bringing a herd of cattle. On his
arrival he engaged in stockraising. He also ran a
sawmill below Alma, and he laid out and named the
town of Lexington, choosing the name of his old
town in Missouri. He was married in Saline Coun-
ty, Mo., to Mary Van Meter, a native of Virginia,
who came to Missouri with her father when she
was six years of age. The Van Meters became
very large land owners in Missouri. John P.
Henning was a cabinetmaker by trade and kept
his ranch up in the best of shape. He introduced
the most modern agricultural machinery and brought
in the first header used in the valley. He was a very
liberal and progressive man. gave the lumber for
the schoolhouse at Alma and also for the Temper-
ance Hall in that place, and was helpful in all pro-
gressive movements of his day. He died while resid-
ing at San Miguel, while his wife died at the home of
her daughter, Mrs. Hall. Mary E. Henning was the
fourth oldest of their family of six children, three of
whom are living. After completing the public schools
she attended Gates' Academy and. obtaining a certifi-
cate, she taught school a year until her marriage to
Mr. Hall. Their union resulted in the birth of nine
children, seven of whom grew up: Edith, died at the
age of twenty-three years; Louis A., is a rancher at
Mountain View; Mrs. Myrtle Abadie lives in Oak-
land, Cal.; Albert J. Hall, is the inventor of the Hall-
Scott motor and head of the Hall-Scott Motor Com-
pany of Berkeley; he served in the U. S. Army
during the World War, being placed at the head of
production of aviation, serving both here and over-
seas, and during this time he, with J. T. Vincent, de-

l^ /^..Tfc

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

signed and built the Liberty Motor. He was com-
missioned a colonel; Mrs. Clara Etel of Los Gatos;
Hayes W., was also in L^. S. Army, serving overseas
in charge of the Army post office in Paris, being
commissioned a lieutenant; Harold, is an inventor
and designed and invented the California motor; he
makes his home in Los Gatos. Budd Hall and his
estimable wife have good reason to be proud of
their family and particularly the distinguished ser-
vice rendered the government during the war by
their sons. They are both Republicans and also are
members of the Santa Clara County Pioneer Society.

MISS ETTA E. BOOTH.— The College of the
Pacific, in its enviable reputation as one of the lead-
ing institutions for the study of art in the United
States, owes much to the native genius, the trained
talent and the attractive personality of Miss Etta
E. Booth, the director of the School of Art, a gifted
and accomplished lady, all the more interesting as
the representative of an early Puritan family prom-
inent in the Revolutionary War, whose history dates
back to the Mayflower through Elder William Brew-
ster, Stephen Hopkins, John Tilly and John How-
land, names well known in early days.

The Booth family are descended directly from
.\dam DeBoothes, who came over to England with
William the Conqueror in 1066. The American branch
of the family are descended from three sons of
George Booth, the first Lord Delaware, who was
created Earl of Warrington and who came over to
New Haven, Conn., in 1639. Miss Booth's great-
grandfather, Joshua Booth, fought in the War of the
Revolution, as did Hugh Gunnison, an ancestor in
the maternal line.

Miss Booth was born at Goshen, N. H., the daugh-
ter of Silas Booth, a farmer and teacher, who was a
native of that place. He was a member of the New
Hampshire Legislature for four years, and his father,
Oliver Booth, who was prominent in the public life of
his day, was a member of that body for eight }-ears.
Silas Booth married Miss Alice M. Gunnison, a
talented woman with a great love for art, who also
was a native of Goshen. Her brother. Lieutenant
John W. Gunnison, who lost his life in the. Gunnison
massacre at the time of the Indian troubles on the
frontier, was a graduate of West Point and was sent
out by the Government to explore and survey the
western part of the country and was in command of
the party making the first survey for the Central
Pacific Railroad. He belonged to the Topographical
Engineers and his labors in that corps won for him
a name the first in the country. The Black Canyon
of the Gunnison, Gunnison Mountain, Gunnison
River and a town in Colorado bear his name. He
wrote the first history of the Mormon church, one of
the most interesting records of the interior growth
of this country that has ever been written, and this
book was afterwards republished in Europe. An-
other uncle of Miss Booth, A. J. Gunnison, of the
firm of Gunnison and Booth, was the oldest prac-
ticing lawyer in the state of California at the time of
his death. Before coming to the state he practiced
in the courts of Massachusetts. At the time an at-
tempt was made to detach the state of California
from the Union, Mr. Gunnison was a member of the
Legislature and vigorously resisted the attempt. He
delivered an all-night speech to gain time against
the secession movement, and this was one of the

most important factors in its defeat. Miss Booth's
brother, Andrew G. Booth, a well-known lawyer
of San Francisco and a member of the firm of Gunni-
son and Booth, was a member of the Legislature
and prominent in political circles. She has one sis-
ter living, Mrs. George Noursc, who resides part of
the time at the old Booth home at Newport, N. H.

Miss Booth entered Kimball Union Academy at
Meriden, N. H., from which she was graduated as a
student in the classical course; she also attended the
Abbott Academy at Andover, where she did special
literary work. From childhood she could draw and
make pictures and she was also a ready versifier.
She wrote poems for papers and magazines, and
short stories at the beginning of her 'teens; and after
a year's study in Boston, she took a teacher's course
at the Normal Art School, always studying art dur-
ing her vacations. She studied under Professor
Geary and Miss Hoyt, and later came to California,
where she studied, giving instruction at Napa.

She then went abroad to study and sketch through
Germany and Holland, as well as in Belgium, Italy,
England and Paris, and in the latter famous center
of art she became a student at the Academie Julien
and Academie Delacluse, and worked under the
French masters, Bouguereau, Paul Delance and Cal-
lot; she was also a pupil of Professor Ertz and Pro-
fessor Van der Weiden and later of William Chase
in the United States. Returning to California, Miss
Booth studied at the Solly Walter School of Illustra-
tion at San Francisco, and accepted a position at the
College of the Pacific under Dr. Eli McChsh, then
president of the College, and since 1898 has been the
director of the School of Art. Some of her best-
known paintings are water-color scenes made in
Carmel and Laguna and also at Boothbay Harbor,
Maine; many of her works done in foreign art schools
have been reproduced here, as for example, her
study, "The Rag Picker." Many of her works have
been exhibited in Paris. She makes a special point
of always keeping in touch with the work of the
Eastern art schools and artists, the better to impart
knowledge. Her main work is to educate teachers
for instructing in drawing and art in the public
schools, and her highest testimonials are the pupils
who have studied under her and later attained pro-
nounced success as teachers of others.

Z. A. MACABEE.— A resident of Santa Clara
County since 1864, Z. A. Macabee was born at Ma-
lone, N. y., October 14, 1857. His father, Edward
Macabee, a Canadian by birth, was reared in New-
York from the age of six years, and later he became
a farmer near Malone. In 1864, accompanied by his
wife and three children, he came via Panama to San
Francisco. Coming on to Santa Clara County, he
purchased a farm in the Union district, following
farming until 1868 when he returned East, but soon
came back to Santa Clara County and followed
ranching for many years until he became proprietor
of the Alpine Hotel. When he retired he moved to
San Jose, where he resided until his death. His wid-
ow, Mathilda Francis, also a native of Canada, is
still living at the age of eighty-four years. Of their
eight children six are living.

Z. A. Macabee, the second of the family, came
via Panama with the family in 1864; as stated, the
family returned East in 1868. but in 1869 found their
way back to California, coming by way of Pa

1290

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

each time. He was educated in the public schools
in the various districts they lived, after which he en-
tered the Garden City Business College at San Jose,
where he was graduated in June, 1883, after which
he was associated with his father in farming and in
the hotel business until he engaged in the barber
business in Los Gatos. After seven years his health
became impaired and he was advised by his physi-
cian to seek out-of-door employment. His first at-
tempt at rusticating was to exterminate gophers
that were girdling his cousin's fruit trees. He tried
all kinds of traps and saw much need for improve-
ment, and concluded he could make a better trap.
Obtaining some wire and with a plier and vise he
made a trap that suited him and was a success.
This trap embraced the principles of his present
Macabee gopher trap which has since become so
popular and successful, not only famous all over the
Pacific Coast region but also in the Middle West
and East. On October 22, 1900, he patented the
Macabee gopher trap and began their manufacture
on Loma Alta Avenue, Los Gatos. He made all the
machines used in their manufacture and is now mak-
ing about 1000 traps a day, sold principally to the
jobbing trade over the United States and Mexico,
and it is estimated he has three-fourths of the busi-
ness in this line in California.

Mr. Macabee was married in Los Gatos to Eliza-
beth Gansburger, a native of Germany, coming to
California with her parents when she was a young
girl. Their imion has been blessed with three
children: Raymon, is assisting his father in business;
Lucile is a graduate of the College of the Pacific,
majoring in music; she is now director of music in
the Napa public school; Rona is a graduate of Los
Gatos high school and of Heald's Business College,
and is now Mr. Macabee's secretary. Mr. Macabee
for many years has been a member of the Odd Fel-
lows and the Independent Order of Foresters, and
belongs to the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce.

REV. BENJAMIN V. BAZATA.— A lover of
nature who has created a beautiful home place on
Azule Creek, Saratoga district of Santa Clara Coun-
ty, is Rev. Benjamin V. Bazata. He was born near
Prague, Bohemia, September 28, 1867. His father.
Francis Bazata. was a graduate of the gymnasium,
became a literary man and scholar and there he mar-
ried Antoinette Kletzau. and they had four children,
born in that country. In 1870 he brought his family
to Greenpoint, N. Y., and in time became a success-
ful merchant in New York City until he retired.
He has passed away, being survived by his widow,
aged eighty years. Of their seven children, Benja-
min V. Bazata is the fourth oldest. The scene of
his first recollections is of Brooklyn, N. Y., where he
attended the public schools. Later he entered Bloom-
field Academy, where he was prepared for college,
entering the College of the City of New York.
Having chosen the ministry as his profession he
(|uit the college in his junior year and entered the
Union Theological Seminary in the same city, con-
tinuing his studies for two years, when he took up
college settlement work. In 1895 he came to Califor-
nia and completed his theological course at the San
Francisco Theological Seminary at San Anselmo.
where he was graduated in 1896 with the Bachelor
of Theology degree. Having accepted a call to Al-
hambra. he was there ordained in 1897 in the Los

.\ngeles Presbytery, and he was pastor of the Pres-
byterian Church in Alhambra for eight years.

In 1905 he was married in Alhambra to Miss Min-
nie H. Bailey, who was born in Maui, H. I., a daugh-
ter of William and Anna (Hobson) Bailey, natives
of Hawaii and Connecticut, respectively. Her grand-
father, William H. Bailey, went to the Hawaiian Is-
lands in 1832 as a missionary for the Congregational
Church and spent the most of his life there. Grand-
father Hobson was master of his own vessel. In
1848 he established the Inter-Island Steamship Com-
pany, and built the first railroad in the Islands.

Rev. Benjamin V. Bazata was called to the Con-
gregational Church in Maui and there he spent two
and a half years when he resigned to become pastor
of the Congregational Church in Burlingame, remain-
ing for three and a half years, when he resigned to
devote his time to the improvement of his sixty-
seven acre ranch he had purchased on the Pierce
Road in the Saratoga district, and here he built a
residence of Italian architecture.

Rev. and Mrs. Bazata have one child, Anna Eliza-
beth, attending Palo Alto high school. Mr. Bazata
was made a Mason in Alhambra Lodge No. 126.
F. &. A. M., and now a member of Burlingame
Lodge of Masons. He is a member and president
of the board of trustees of the Saratoga grammar
school district. He is a member of the Santa Clara
Council of the Congregational Church. He belongs
to the California Prune & Apricot Association and
politically he is a Republican.

CHARLES DUFOUR. — An enterprising and pro-
gressive citizen who is much interested in the de-
velopment of the Santa Cruz Mountain region and
proprietor of "Edgemont" on the Summit is Charles
Dufour, a native of Switzerland, born in Geneva,
March 12, 1877. His father, John Dufour, was a
restaurateur, and as a steward he traveled all over
the world, finally settling down at his old home in
Geneva. He had married Annie Brun, a native of
that place, and they spent the remainder of their
lives in Switzerland. Charles, their only child, after
completing the local school entered Maria Hilf Col-
lege, a Jesuit institution, where he was graduated,
after which he was apprenticed and learned the trade
of a jeweler and designer, and then entered L'Ecole
des Beaux Arts in Geneva, where he was graduated
with four first prizes. He then went to Paris, France,
as a designer of jewelry until he came to Philadel-
phia, Pa., in 1902, entering the employ of Rosenthal,
a manufacturer, for six months; he then spent two
years with Sheer, a manufacturer in New York City.
Coming to San Francisco in 1905 he was a diamond
setter for Shreve for a year, when he was taken ill
and when convalescent with his wife he made a six
months' trip to Switzerland.

On his return to California Mr. Dufour purchased
a ranch at Felton, where he engaged as a viticul-
turist and also had a summer resort for four and a
half years when he disposed of his property and re-
moved to Healdsburg, Cal., purchasing a ranch on
the Russian River at the foot of Fish Mountain,
which he named Chanticleer Ranch, a summer resort,
and six months later sold it at a profit and came to
Santa Clara County and purchased his present ranch,
which he has improved for a year-around resort.
"Edgemont" is a ranch of twelve acres, located on
the State Highway at the Summit, five acres being

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1293

devoted to orchards. And here he has built a large
hotel and several cottages, and has an abundance of
spring water for domestic use. "Edgemont" is set
in the midst of beautiful redwood, oak and madrone
trees. He secured the location of the post office at
his hotel named Patchin, and he has been the post-
master for eleven years. In all his successes he has
been very ably assisted by his estimable wife, whom
he married in Geneva, Switzerland. May 29, 1901.
She was in maidenhood Hortense Serravalla, born
in Geneva, a daughter of Antonio and Madeline
(Marcenavo) Serravalla. natives of Genoa, Italy.
Her father was a dealer in musical instruments and
music boxes in Geneva, Switzerland, where Hortense
was reared and educated. She is the mother of two
children, Ernest and George. Mr. Dufour is a
member of the Italian Lodge of Foresters in Oak-
land. He was made a citizen of the United States
in Santa Clara Countj- and gives his political alle-
giance to the Republican party.

CHARLES DAVID HERROLD, E.E., R.E.—
Characterized by the same energy, business apti-
tude and integrity that distinguished his sturdy an-
cestors, Charles David Herrold, the eminent elec-
trical engineer and specialist in radio, head of the
Herrold Laboratories and Herrold College of Engi-
neering and Radio at San Jose, holds as high a posi-
tion among the most respected residents of Santa
Clara County, where he has lived for more than thirty
years, as he does among the most capable leaders
in the field of science in which, both in the prosecu-
tion of his own interests as a professional man, and
in the services rendered by him to the Government
during the late war, he has accomplished so much.
A man of ceaseless activity and extensive enterprise,
he has been intimately associated with the industrial
progress of the Santa Clara Valley, and by wise
judgment and prudent forethought has steadily built
up the famous business which he originated. Mr.
Herrold is known far and wide as one of the first
radio experts to operate on the Pacific Coast, and this
speaks for itself, considering the importance attained
l)y that branch of electrical science.

Charles D. Herrold was born in Fulton, Whiteside
County, 111., a Mississippi River town, on November
16. 1875, the son of Capt. William Morris Herrold,
a veteran of the Civil War, who was a merchant and
owned a large flour mill and grain elevator, and who
had married Miss Mary Elizabeth Lusk, a school
teacher and Bible lecturer. Mr. Herrold served in
Company F, Ninety-third Illinois Volunteer Infan-
try, and there as captain became one of the popular
commanding officers. He was of an unusual inven-
tive mind, although he had been denied a technical
education, and he gave to the world several practi-
cal, useful inventions, including the automatic prune
dipper, used in every prune section of the country; and
the "jumbo" wagon, so constructed as to be able to
turn in a very small space, making it especiall.\ useful
in orchards. He was a member of the first Grange,
and for a number of years he was a director of the
Farmers" Union of Santa Clara County. He owned
a fine ranch of eighty-three and one-half acres, highly
improved with peaches and apricots, which he planted
at Riverbank, as well as having developed several
of the finest ranches in Santa Clara Countv. He died
in 1919. Mrs. Hcrrold—whose grandmother was
among the first settlers in Illinois on the l)anks of

the Mississippi— passed away on September IS, 1920,
a year after the death of her lamented husband.
There are two surviving sons— Charles David, the
subject of this review, and George H., who resides
in St. Paul, Minn., filling the position of city planner.
Mary Elizabeth Lusk Herrold had written and lec-
tured extensively on Bible subjects. There is a
genealogy of her family extending back to William
the Conqueror and dealing extensively with the
d'Omphrey Villes and the Humphreys.

In 1883 Mr. and Mrs. Herrold and family removed
to Sioux City, Iowa, and the following year took up
their residence at Sloan, in that state. This was
situated in a rich grazing district, where the educa-
tional facilities were very poor; but this did not deter
Charles in his trend as a student, and aside from
mechanics, he began to take an Interest in natural
phenomena. The only books on scientific subjects
in the town were two volumes of Zell's Encyclo-
paedia, and these books were read from cover to
cover until they fell apart from sheer use. Fortu-
nately for the lad, a teacher who was above the aver-
age, J. M. Jaynes, arrived to take charge of the little
school, and he gave him a good grounding in Eng-
lish and mathematics, and helped him to gain clear
concepts of science, so that in less than a year he
had so far progressed as to be able to build unaided
a perfectly-working telegraph line, including all the
instruments and batteries, and even the insulating
of the wires used in the coils.

After the fearful blizzard of 1888— in which a school
teacher at Broken Bow, Nebr.. just across the Mis-
souri River, was frozen to death and her entire flock
of little children lost — the Herrold family took a
trip to California, to try and restore the little mother's
health, shattered by the rigors of a prairie climate;
and on their return to Iowa. Charles wrote up the
records of the trip and won the rhetorical contest in
which representatives from schools in several Iowa
towns took part. The same year, the family migrated
once more to the Coast and settled permanently in
San Jose, and from that time on the facilities for
Charles' education, immediately taken advantage of,
rapidly improved.

In 1891 he was able to enter the high school at
San Jose, and he began to evince intense interest in
astronomy; and the files of the San Jose Mercury
contain reports of his work in building a telescope
and driving clock, as well as the observatory, which
still stands at Fifth and Washington streets. During
this period, he came in contact with R. S. Gray, the
president of the National Microscopical Society, and
became an expert microscopist, and he also succeeded
in taking celestial photographs with his telescope,
especially those of the sun, using a high-speed, focal-
plane shutter of his own construction. The immediate
result of his work on the sun was the formulation of
the theory that there was a direct connection be-
tween facular disturbances and terrestrial electro-
magnetic phenomena. It was at this particular time,
too, that he commenced his work as a teacher; and
in his small private laboratory he trained students
in chemistry, among others Dr. Will Bailey and Dr.
Arthur Smith, now of Oakland. Although deeply
engrossed in scientific studies — or perhaps because
of them, considering the relation of the work of
Helmholtz, for example, to sound and music — he
found time for a study of counterpoint and ha

1294

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and of the pianoforte in the Conservatory, and wrote
several musical compositions illustrating what he
had learned.

Shortly after his graduation from the San Jose
high school in 1894, the first reports of Marconi's
experiments with wireless telegraphy across the Eng-
lish Channel excited his interest, and stimulated his
delving into the works of Herz, Maxwell and others
relating to oscillating currents and electro-magnetic
waves; and in the laboratory at Stanford University
he saw repeated the Marconi experiments, and in his
own laboratory at San Jose sent the first wireless
message, transmitted sixty feet, in California. When
he entered Stanford University, he selected astron-
omy as his major subject, and he was one of two
students enrolled in the new department; but when
Prof. W. J. Hussey was called to Yerkes, the depart-
ment of astronomy was left without a head, and so
our subject changed his major to physics.

Continued ill-health compelled Mr. Herrold to take
a year's leave of absence from universit}' work, and
after having accomplished over three years' study,
he associated himself with an electrical undertaking
in San Francisco, with which he continued until all
operations were cut short by the San Francisco
earthquake and fire. During the period he was able
to keep active, Mr. Herrold produced over fifty dif-
ferent electrical devices in dentistry and surgery, and
he perfected an electrical deep-sea diving illuminator
used by salvage companies and in the pearl fisheries,
and he attained reputation as a pioneer in some re-
markable developments in electrical machinery for
pipe-organs. After the great disaster to the Bay
City, he removed to Stockton, took up the teaching
of engineering, and became the head of the technical
department of Heald's College, where he remained
for three years. Much important work was accom-
plished during this time, including the designing and
constructing by student labor of a high-speed tur-
bine and electric generator, and he also laid the
foundation of subsequent developments in under-
water wireless, the firing of mines by wireless im-
pulses, and radio-telephony.

In 1909 Mr. Herrold returned to San Jose and es-
tablished a radio-telephone station, for experimental
work, the oldest active radio-telephone station in the
United States. He also opened, in 1909, a school of
engineering and radio, which has turned out over
1,200 students. Perhaps his most important work
was the training of some 200 young men during the
late World War, 130 of whom were accepted by the
Government and given work at the various stations
and shops, so that at one time many of the Govern-
ment radio stations on the Pacific Coast were in
charge of men who had been instructed by Mr. Her-
rold at San Jose. In 1910 he commenced develop-
ments on the radio-telephone, and after two years
of hard work developed a system of his own which
was tested out at Mare Island Naval Radio Station
and at Point Arguello, in 1913, and he had the dis-
tinction of being the first to maintain a wireless
telephone system for almost eight months in contin-
uous operation between the top of the Fairmount
Hotel and his laboratory in San Jose, a stretch of
fifty miles, and this great scientific attainment was
accomplished at a time when wireless telephony was
unknown outside of a few technical and governmental
laboratories. A number of patents were taken out

on these inventions, and at present Mr. Herrold is
engaged in developments in the clarifying of speech
by means of the radio, and apparatus for the magni-
fication of heart sounds.

Mr. Herrold is principal of the Herrold College of
Engineering and Wireless at San Jose, and the head
engineer of the Herrold Laboratories. The electrical
engineer, Robert J. Stull — a son of the late Judson
L. Stull, of the mercantile firm of Stull & Sonnik-
sen— was Mr. Herrold's first student, and a young
man of decided ability, who is fast becoming well-
known in the radio and magnetic-electric world.
Their laboratory is located at 467 South First Street,
San Jose, where path-breaking work, following ex-
perimentation of a high order, is being accomplished
day after day. There is table room for twenty stu-
dents. Mr. Herrold perfected a successful street and
station indicator in 1917, which underwent rigid prac-
tical tests. He is an active member of the Institute
of Electrical Engineers, and also of the Institute of
Radio Engineers; he holds licenses from the Gov-
ernment for land radio stations, for portable stations,
and for scientific experiments in the radio line, and
without doubt he ranks among the best-known of
California's radio experts, and it is safe to predict
that, as the Herrold laboratories will continue to
make San Jose a leading radio center on the Pacific
Coast, he will become more and more famous.

At San Jose, on October 20. 1913, Mr. Herrold
was married to Miss Sybil May PauU, the daughter
of William and Maud Eva Paull, formerly of Eng-
land. Her parents came out to the United States
and Montana, and for many years her father was
chief of the Butte City fire department, where he was
highly respected for his personal worth. Two chil-
dren liave blessed this union: Robert Roy Herrold
and Donald Sanford Herrold. Mr. Herrold is genial,
kindly, tactful and generous, and with his gifted
wife, whose public spirit is in harmony with his, he
takes a keen interest in all that pertains to the de-
velopment of the West, and especially of San Jose
and Santa Clara County. Mrs. Herrold assisted
greatly in war work and turned out several expert
students. A large circle of friends and acquaint-
ances enjoy the hospitality of their typically Cali-
fornia home, all the more interesting because of the
scientific devices to be seen there. In national poli-
tics Mr. Herrold is a Republican, but he appreciates
the value of giving nonpartisan support to the best
men and measures proposed for the community in
which he lives and thrives.

WILLIAM HENRY MULLEN.— A successful
business man of Los Gatos and native son is Wil-
liam H. Mullen, who was born near San Bruno, San
Mateo County, December 24, 1866. His father,
Patrick Mullen, was born in Ireland, came to New
York City where he was in the employ of a shipping
company, and at that city he was married to Mary
E. Gilligan, also a native of Ireland. In 1861 they
came via Panama to San Francisco, where Mr. Mul-
len was with a wholesale commission merchant, until
he located on a ranch in San Mateo County and en-
gaged in general farming. In 1875 he came to Los
Gatos and engaged in teaming, hauling lumber from
the mills in the Santa Cruz Mountains to San Jose
and to the new Almaden mines for many years, when
he retired to a well earned rest. He passed away in
1507 at the age of seventy-eight years, his widow sur-

\i/ylyytQJiyi^WC^K.'

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1295

viving him until 1912, being eighty-one years at tlic
time of her death. Of their seven children William
H. is the third oldest, being reared in Los Gatos
from the age of nine years, receiving his education
in the public schools. He assisted his father in his
teaming until he was eighteen years of age, and
then took over the business, running three freight
teams. Three years later, however, the railroad
came and the business was cut down to such an ex-
tent that he sold his outfit. He then apprenticed as
a painter, continuing as journeyman for eight years,
when he established the present business which iias
grown satisfactorily, so that he is now the leading
painting contractor in his city. Among the resi-
dences and business houses he has done are the fol-
lowing: Messrs. Case, Balch. and Farwell, Mrs.
Knight and Dr. Tevis, The Los Gatos Bank and
Lyndon Hotel. His business necessitates his em-
ploj'ing five painters.

On March 31, 1891, at San Jose, Mr. Mullen was
married to Miss Annie Bray, who was born in San
Luis Obispo, a daughter of Fred Bray, who came to
San Luis Obi.spo and later to Los Gatos. Mr. and
Mrs. Mullen have one child, William Nelson, a grad-
uate of the Law Department of the University of
Santa Clara. During the World War he served for
two years in the War Risk Department in Washing-
ton, D. C, and is now in the Chief of Claim Depart-
ment in the State Compensation Fund in San Fran-
cisco, Cal. Mr. Mullen is a Democrat in national pol-
itics, a member of the Los Gatos Chamber of Com-
merce, and fraternally he is a member of the Inde-
pendent Order of Foresters.

VINCENT ISASCA.— A young man who saw
active service overseas during the World War, and
is now an enterprising orchardist in the Montebello
district, Santa Clara County, is Vincent Isasca, a
native of Savigliaiio, Province of Cuneo, Italy, born
May 11, 1898. His father, Vinccnzo Isasca, a native
of the same place, married Maddalena Gautero, and
was engaged in flour milling until he emigrated with
his family to California, arriving in San Jose in Jan-
uary, 1891. Here he was employed on the ranch of
V. Picchetti for about six years, when he purchased
the ranch of forty-four acres he and his son are now
operating. Their two children are Vincent, the sub-
ject of this review, and Teresa, who lives in San
Francisco. Vincent Isasca was reared in the Monte-
bello district, attending the school of that name. I'rom
a boy he assisted his father to clear the ranch and
getting it in shape to set out a vineyard. However,
the vineyard died and the ranch was used for general
farming. When Vincent's school days were over he
became interested in horticulture and began setting
out orchards of prunes, apricots and peaches, now in
full bearing and a source of satisfactory profit.

Mr. Isasca served in the U. S. Army during the
World War, entering the service September 20, 1917,
being assigned to Company G, Three Hundred and
Sixty-third Regiment U. S. Inf., Ninety-first Division.
He trained at Camp Lewis until he went overseas
with his division; left Philadelphia on the transport
City of Cairo July 6, 1918 for France. After train-
ing there a month they were ordered to the front.
He was a reserve at San Mihiel from September 11
to September 13. 1918; in the Meuse-Argonne offen-
sive, September 26, 1918, to October 4, 1918, when he

was in the first line trenches and with his comrades
went over the top, breaking the German lines. Next
they were sent to the Belgium front in the Ypres-
Lys otTensive October 31, 1918, when they went over
the top twice. They left France for home March 31.
1919; stopping at Camp Merritt, N. Y., they came on
to the Presidio, San Francisco, where he was muster-
ed out April 21, 1919, and he came home immediately
and took up his ranching duties which his parents
had looked after during his eighteen months' ab-
sence. He is greatly interested in orcharding, having
made a study of local conditions pertaining to his
calling, so he is able to give his fruit trees excclient
care and obtain good results. Mr. Isasca is a Repub-
lican in national politics and is a member cf Post
No. 89, American Legion, in San Jose.

WILLIAM RAYMOND WILSON.— An enter-
prising citizen of Santa Clara County is found in
William Raymond Wilson, who combines ranching
with real estate, and is unusually successful with both
lines of work. He was born in Victoria. British Co-
lumbia. June \S. 1876. tlic son of William and Einily
(Harris) Wilson, both nativis of l-",nt,'land. the for-
mer born in Yorkshire and lli' laitn m Lancashire.
The father came to British r.ilnml.i.i u lu-n a young
man and engaged in the nurcantilc Im^incss, and was
a prosperous business man in \'ictoria. During the
financial panic of 1893, the father's business was com-
pletely ruined and he lost all he possessed. The
Harris family were pioneers of Victoria, Grandfather
Thomas Mainwaring Harris being the first mayor.
Mr. and Mrs. William Wilson were the parents of
eight children; William, Gilbert, Harold, Lamburn.
Ralph, ClifTord, Edith and Winifred, our subject being
the only one to locate in California. The father
passed away August 1. 1920, past seventy years of
age; Mrs. WiKon i-. '-till living and is past seventy.

William R:i\ niMii.! n rrived his education in the
grammar and liiyh mIickiIs of Victoria. He was the
representative of the Giant Powder Company of San
1-Vancisco for the interior of British Columbia, with
offices at Rossland, later being transferred to Den-
ver, Colo. In 1897 he made his first trip to Cali-
fornia. Wishing to locate here, he resigned his
position in 1905 and came to Santa Clara County,
arriving on the 4th of May, and located in San Jose.
He purchased an interest in the real estate business
nf the firm of Garrison & Crowe, and within a year
Mr. Garrison retired from the business and the part-
nership became Crowe & Wilson, with offices on
South First Street, San Jose. For three years this
partnership was continued, when Mr. Wilson opened
offices in the Porter building; since 1913 Mr. Wilson
has been the business agent of the Porter building;
he also has charge of the Tiburon Investment Com-
pany's properties and the Hewlett apartments, and is
interested in different country properties throughout
the county; he is a member of the San Jose Realty
Board and in 1916 served as its president. He is also
a member of the Chamber of Commerce, San Jose
Country Club, and the Commercial Club.

The marriage of Mr. Wilson occurred in San Jose,
July 2, 1902, and united him with Miss Mary Ade-
laide Martin, a native of San Jose, the daughter of
Charles J. Martin, an early settler and prominent
business man, who served as mayor of San Jose and
is now deceased. Mrs. Wilson ol)tained her educa-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

don in the grammar ami high schools of San Jose.
They are the parents of two children: Charles Har-
ris, and Elizabeth Delzell. In his political affilia-
tions, Mr. Wilson is a Republican, and he is a mem-
ber of Trinity Episcopal Church.

SYLVANUS RAYNOR WADE.— One of the most
prominent figures in the business life of the city of
Campbell was Sylvauus Raynor Wade, now deceased.
He was the pioneer merchant of this place, and hav-
ing been engaged in business here for over twenty
rears, had helped much in its growth from a village
to an up-to-date, hustling city, its civic improvements
ind educational facilities keeping pace with the rapid
Jevelopment of the city in population.

Mr. Wade was born in Sag Harbor, Long Island,
s'. Y., in 1841, the son of Benjamin and Sarah (Ray-
,ior) Wade, both natives of New York state. At the
ige of eighteen the lure of travel seized him, and
thinking he would like to see more of his country,
ivhen the opportunity came to sail with a whaling
vfessel he lost no time in making ready to embark.
They sailed around the Horn, and encountering a
storm, they were wrecked ofT the coast of Mendo-
cino County. Cal. Upon finding himself stranded and
in a strange town, he immediately beggn looking for
work, and finally found employment tallying in a
lumber yard at Casper. He was quick in figuring
»nd became so adept in th« business that he soon
A'as advanced to the position of bookkeeper, and rose
CO superintendent of the mill and store. He was a
constant student and became a telegraph operator,
and was also an express agent. He was supervisor
of Mendocino County and he held that position until
he removed to Gualala, a different district; at the
latter place he was manager of the store for the
Tiualala Lumber Company.

In Point -Arena, in 1872, Mr. Wade was united in
marriage with Martha E. Walton, who was a native
af Warsaw, Indiana, born in 1853. the daughter of
Louis and Sarah (Blake) Walton, born in West Vir-
ginia and Ohio, respectively. Mrs. Wade came with
her family by way of the Isthmus in the year of
1860, her father coming here for his health, first lo-
cating at Napa, Cal. Louis Walton was a farmer
back East and was counted among the most pros-
perous, when his health failed him and he had to
seek a milder climate. Mrs. Wade was educated in
the Napa schools and in a private college. Mr. and
Mrs. Wade came to Santa Clara County in the year
of 1893, principally on account of the educational ad-
vantages, and bought and located on a ranch of five
acres a half mile from Campbell. Here they con-
tinued to live for the next twenty years, then having
built a home in Campbell, they moved there, after
^elling their tract of land. They became the parents
jf four children, all of whom are living: Herbert R.,
of Alameda; Lila V. married John B. Strong of
Campbell; Benjamin lives at Campbell; Florence is
the wife of Martial Cottle of Edenvale.

Mr. Wade was a man that took an active part in
the life of his town, always trying to improve and
make conditions better. He was interested in fruit
growing and fruit drying and never missed an op-
portunity to encourage farmers in this line of work.
He established a branch store of the San Jose Farm-
ers' Union in Campbell and was manager of this store
until his demise, which occurred in 1913, after he had
reached the age of seventy-two; after his death his

son-in-law, Mr. Strong, took up the work of this
sturdy old pioneer and is now the manager of this
store at Campbell. Mr. Wade helped to organize
and was vice-president and director of the Bank of
Campbell. He was a helpful factor in many ways
in the local afTairs, always a leader in matters that
tended to promote and increase interest in business
and civic life of Campbell. His motto was "Always
do well whatever you have to do." He was a strong
advocate of temperance, and aided much in keeping
Campbell a "dry" town. In national politics he was
a Republican and was a thirty-third degree Scottish
Rite Mason, and was buried with Masonic honors.
Mrs. Wade is a member of the Grange. For years she
has been a student of Christian Science and has been a
Christian Science practitioner for ten years. She is
a member of the Campbell Improvement Club, of
which organization her husband was the president
at the time of his passing awav.

IGINO ALLEGRINI.— Identified with Santa Clara
County as proprietor of an up-to-date hostelry, Igino
Allegrini has been the owner of the St. Charles Hotel
iind grill for the last sixteen years, located at 39
North Market Street, San Jose. Mr. Allegrini is a
native of Italy, having been born in the province of
Lucca on January 11, 1868.

He was educated in the elementary schools and
then the Latin scfiool, and then began study for the
priesthood, continuing for more than two years when
his eyes failed him and he quit studying for two
yiars. He then attended the normal school at Pisa,
but before he had completed the course was again
c.bliged to quit on account of his failing eyesight.
Then he was in the Seventh Artillery of the Italian
army serving thirtj'-four months when he received
an honorable discharge. He then decided to see some
of the world, so in the year of 1892, he made the
\oyage to America. Landing in New York City he
eame on to San Francisco and obtained work of
various kinds, and in October of 1892 he came to
,San Jose. He then spent two \'ears as a rancher in
Sj'.cramcnto, but the floods came and swept every-
thing in their wake, ruining him financially, so that
he became discouraged in that line of work; in the
year of 1895 he again came to San Jose and at first
engaged in the vegetable business where he was
engaged for eleven years. During this time in 1905
he purchased the St. Charles Hotel and for sixteen
years has been proprietor of this modern, and up-to-
date hostelry, giving personal attention to the com-
fort of his guests and with his pleasing personality,
he has made many good friends here and is a leader
among his countrymen.

Mr. Allegrini's marriage October 21, 1899 united
him with Miss Catherine Baumann and the ceremony
was solemnized in San Jose, Cal. Mrs. Allegrini was
born in San Francisco and was reared in San Jose
from nine years of age and here she attended Notre
Dame convent. Mr. and Mrs. Allegrini became the
parents of two children: Emma R., a graduate of
the San Jose high school and now employed in the
county surveyor's office in the court house at San
Jose; and Elio. Mr. Allegrini stands high in the
Masonic lodge, which order he first joined in Italy,
and now belongs to Harmony Lodge No. 26, San
Jose. He is also a member of the Druids in which
he has passed the chairs and has been delegate to
the Grand Grove for fifteen different times. Is a
nuiiiber of the Franco-Italian lodge of I. O. O. F.;

^

c^

^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

also a member of the I. O. R. M., the Ridgley Pro-
tective Association and Italian Benevolent Society,
cf vhicli he is past president. He takes a live interest
in the affairs of San Jose and is always for projects
:;nd movements that make for the betterment of the
community and the welfare of the commonwealth.

THE GROWERS BANK.— The city of San Jose
is liberally endowed with institutions calculated to
advance materially the financial welfare of its in-
habitants, and the most recent acquisition to finan-
cial circles is the Growers Bank, which held a public
reception on the occasion of its opening April 30,
1921, in the handsomely-remodeled and spacious five-
story building located at the northwest corner of
Santa Clara and Market streets, known as the Grow-
ers Bank building. The bank was organized with a
capital and surplus of $330,000 and the personnel of
its officers presage success in their undertaking. The
exterior is of the attractive Napoleon gray marble,
which gives promise of what the interior will be.
On entering one sees gray marble floors and highly-
polished marble walls blended harmoniously with
the woodwork, quarter-sawed oak finished in silver
.gray and trimmed in bronze. That the institution
comes into being with the best wishes of bankers
of all parts of the state, was indicated from the
many outside bankers who paid their respects to the
new institution on opening day. Not only were
words of greeting received from all the local banks,
but twenty-two representatives from banks in other
parts of the state, including the Citizens National
and the Merchants National of Los Angeles, were
also guests of the Growers Bank, and all wished
it every success during the long life which is pre-
dicted for it. On the right as one enters the door,
is the patrons' waiting room, next the offices of the
bank's officials, and farther on the commercial de-
partment, all equipped in the most artistic and up-
to-date fashion. All office furniture is of steel, the
best procurable, and a unique combination of beauty
and utility.

.At the end of the lobby is the savings department,
while back of this department are the bank's two
main vaults, one the money vault, and the other the
safety deposit vault. They are protected by mas-
sive steel doors, each five and one-half tons in
weight, equipped with time locks, and so delicately
protected that the slightest touch on the combination
dial once the door is closed, will set off three bur-
glar alarms.

.\djoining the safety vault are four coupon rooms
for the convenience of the bank's patrons. In the
rear, and to the left, is located the directors' room,
finished in mahogany, with a twenty-foot table, con-
structed of three solid pieces of mahogany, two and
one-half inches in thickness. To the right of the
lobby are the foreign and domestic exchange de-
partments, and the receiving and paying departments,
in the equipping of which no expense has been
spared. At the rear end to the right of the building
is the stairway which leads to the ladies' rest room
on the second floor. This is attractively furnished,
and serves both as a reading and rest room. Outside
a McClintock clock has been installed at a cost of
$1,700 with Westminster chimes sounding the hour
and the half hour, which is a delight and convenience
to the general public.

Officials of the institution, who were the recipi-
ents of many congratulatory messages, are: S. E.

Johnson, president; G. C. Smgletary, vice-presi-
dent; Sam Martin, vice-president; Fred W. Sinclair,
cashier and manager; H. S. Kittredge, secretary-
treasurer; J. I. Bujan, assistant cashier, and C. A.
Swain, assistant cashier. Over 1,000 new accounts
were added to their clientele on opening day, which
gives them something like 4,000 accounts.

EVASIO PORTALUPI. — A successful, experi-
enced baker whose unremitting industry has enabled
him to establish himself, with equal prosperity in
other fields is F.vasio Portalupi, who was born in
Torino. Italy, on June 9, 1885, the son of Joseph
Portalupi, a building contractor, who had married
Miss Adelaide Rigolone. Mrs. Portalupi died at the
birth of her son; and his father passed away when
our subject was eighteen years old. Evasio was sent
ic the grammar schools, and then, to complete his
higher education, he attended the College at Torino.
Joseph Portalupi had long had an intimate friend,
a building contractor in San Francisco, and his let-
ters to the old Italian home district led to Evasio's
crossing the briny deep himself. A serious disap-
pointment, however, awaited him in San Francisco:
arriving in this far-off city on November 25, 1906,
he found that the friend in question had been taken
ill, and therefore could not continue to do contract
work; and consequently the young man was thrown
upon his own resources, and had to accept day labor.
He worked for a short time with a pick and shovel,
and then accepted a position with the United Rail-
way Company of San Francisco. He worked there
for four months, and then was in the service of the
St. Francis Hotel for two years.

About that time Mr. Portalupi bought out the
Telegraph Hill Grocery at the corner of Grand and
Greenwich streets, and for eight years he managed
that enterprise so well that it steadily grew, and be-
came a profitable investment. On April 13, 1916,
he sold out and removed to San Jose, and here he
entered the bakery field, and with the aid of his ac-
complished and faithful wife, established the New
Style French Bakery. This fine business they sold
out in 1919. giving way to Petrino & Ferrarris, and
then Mr. Portalupi started the Italian Grocery at
130 West Santa Clara Street, a thriving business
since moved to the corner of First and St. John
streets. He then began to invest in real estate, and
he is today an active operator in that important field.
When Mr. Portalupi was managing the bakery busi-
ness now conducted by his brother-in-law, Mr. Pet-
rino, he so developed it that he had wholesale
wagons running throughout San Jose and vicinity,
while he was shipping bread to such points as Gil-
roy and Milpitas, and for three years supplying the
county hospital and almshouse.

At San Jose, on April 13, 1916, Mr. Portalupi was
married to Miss Mary Petrino, a native of Montiglio,
in the Province of Alexandria, Italy, and the daugh-
ter of Evasio and Tersilla Petrino. Her father was
a successful commission merchant, and she had the
advantages of a good home. In 1908 she came to
San Francisco and in 1910 to San Jose. One child,
a son named Henry, has blessed the union. Mr.
Portalupi is a Republican, and a member of the
Masons, as well as the Maccabees and the Red Men,
of San Jose, and he has been an active officer in all
of the lodges.

1300

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

CHARLES GENARDINI.— For more than a
quarter of a century Charles Genardini has been active
as a dairyman of Santa Clara County, and his success
has been obtained through close application to busi-
ness, coupled with honesty and uprightness of charac-
ter. A native of Switzerland, he was born at Gor-
dola, in Canton Ticino, June 29, 1865, the son of
Joseph and Rosalia (Pata) Genardini, Charles being
the fifth child in a family of six. The father was a
farmer and orchardist. Charles was educated in the
public schools of his native land, and spent his boy-
hood on the farm helping his father with the farm
work. In 1886, when he was twenty-one, he came
to California, settling in San Luis Obispo County.
Mr. Genardini was a carpenter by trade and when he
came to California he could turn his hand to any
kind of work. He started to work in a dairy, but
he found the milking of cows very hard and thought
he never would learn it, but in three months he had
mastered it, so he could hold his own with anyone.
He attended strictly to business and in time his em-
ployer sold out to him and he continued the business
for four years, then started in the dairy business for
himself near the town of Morrow, ten miles from San
Luis Obispo and continued for four years; then
leased a ranch at Chorro and ran it eight years, when
he came back to Morrow, where he leased two differ-
ent ranches. In time he came to have one of the
largest dairies in that region, having 170 milch cows.
He was one of the first dairymen to see the practica-
bility of the separator and was one of the first to in-
stall a steam separator in his dairy and also a power
churn, where he manufactured butter. During sev-
eral months of the year he made 200 pounds of
butter a day, which he shipped and sold in the Los
Angeles markets through commission men, obtain-
ing a record price. He was said to have the best
bunch of cows on the Coast. He saw to it, too, that
his men had comfortable quarters and good food
and he was known as one of the most reliable and
enterprising men in the county. He continued dairy-
ing there until 1913, selling out his dairy in San Luis
Obispo County and settled in Santa Clara County on
a ranch near Lawrence Station, consisting of 160
acres. He rented this place for about five years,
then bought forty-four acres on Bascom Avenue
devoted to prunes, which he later sold, and pur-
chased his present home on the Stevens Creek Road;
remodeling the house into a modern bungalow and
putting the place in good shape.

Mr. Genardini's marriage occurred in San Luis
Obispo in 1889 and united him with Miss Elizabeth
Canet, the daughter of Joseph and Valentine Canet.
Grandfather Canet came from Spain and settled
in California in very early days. Mrs. Genardini was
educated in the schools of San Luis Obispo, and was
reared on a farm. She and her husband are the
parents of five children: Rosalia, deceased; Armenia,
accidentally burned to death when two years old; Jo-
seph married Miss Jennie Tonini of Morrow and they
have three children — Alfred, Helen and Stanley
Charles; Mary is Mrs. Fred Tonini and they have
three children — Ellis, Carl and Eileen; Dante entered
the service of his country in June. 1918, and was one
month at Camp Lewis in Company L, Three Hundred
Sixty-fourth Infantry of the Ninety-first Division;
was transferred to the Signal Corps in New York
and went to France as a telephone operator, and

spent eleven months overseas in Company C of the
Three Hundred Sixth Field Signal Battalion and re-
ceived the rank of corporal, having a fine record in
the service. He returned home July, 1919, and was
honorably discharged. He married Miss Irene
Jacques and they reside in San Jose.

Politically, Mr. Genardini is a stanch Republican,
and he became a citizen of the United States in 1894
at San Luis Obispo. In August, 1906, he made a
trip back to Switzerland to visit the old home, where
he had a pleasant time, as his mother, who was
eighty-two years old, and sister were living. He
spent over three months, during which time he
traveled into Italy and different countries on the
continent, visiting his brother, Elia, in Paris, return-
ing to California pleased to get back. His mother
lived to be eighty-eight years of age. Fraternally
Mr. Genardini is an Elk of the San Luis Obispo lodge
and a member of the Druids No. 90 of Cayucos. He
is a strong admirer of his adopted country and does
all he can for the advancement of his locality.

MRS. RENEE RISPAUD.— A native daugh"ter
who takes pride in having been born in the Garden
City is Mrs. Renee (Reynaud) Rispaud. Her father,
L. Reynaud, a prominent business man in San Jose,
was born near Gap, Hautes-Alps, France, in 1865. He
was a baker by trade, and coming to San Jose when
eighteen or nineteen j'tars of age, he followed his
trade in that city for some years, until he opened the
Eldorado Bakery in the Delmas building on Post
Street, later moving it to Post and Vine streets.
During these years he made three trips on visits to
France. The latter part of his business career was
in partnership with his son-in-law, Henry Rispaud.
He was a member of the Odd Fellows and the Club
La France, and died December 9, 1918. The mother
of Mrs. Rispaud was Eugenia Richier, also born in
France; she died about twenty-one years ago, leaving
two children, Renee, and Louis, who is associated
with Mrs. Rispaud in business. Renee Reynaud was
educated in the College of Notre Dame, Santa Clara
County. Going to France, she spent four years at
Gap, and there attended Academie Providence. On
her return home, after completing the course at
Notre Dame, Santa Clara, she was graduated from
the Pacific Coast Business College.

Her marriage in San Jose in January, 1912, united
her with Henry Rispaud, who was born at the old
Joseph Rispaud home at Long Bridge, above Sara-
toga. After his marriage Mr. Rispaud engaged in
business with his father-in-law, L. Reynaud as pro-
prietors of the Eldorado Bakery and Winery, contin-
uing the business until 1919. when they quit on
account of national prohibition. Two children were
born of this union, Eugene and Henrietta. The fam-
ily were bereaved of their husband and father August
29, 1920, a deep sorrow to them as well as to his
many friends. In September, 1921, Mrs. Rispaud
came to Long Bridge and purchased her present
place, where she has a small store with confectionery
and soft drinks, and also has a camping grounds
equipped to accommodate automobile and picnic par-
ties, with pits for cooking and tables for serving the
meals. Trout fishing can be had in the Campbell
Creek on which her property is located. In this
enterprise she is associated with her brother, Louis
Reynaud, who is assisting her in its management;

^U^Z^ ^^^--Z>^2>^^,^^l-z^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1303

they still own their property in San Jose. Mr. Ris-
paud was a member of the Odd Fellows, Eagles,
Native Sons of the Golden West and the Club La
France, of San Jose.

CLIFFORD BYRON GOODRICH.— The suc-
cess achieved by Clifford Byron Goodrich in business
Hud the high standing he enjoys as a citizen fur-
nishes an example of what may be accomplished by
a man of determination, perseverance and energy.
A native of the county, born in Saratoga, October 1,
1894, he is a son of E. E. and Lilly (Dutchcr) Good-
rich; the father, a retired rancher, resides at Capitola,
Santa Cruz County. They were the parents of five
children: Clifford Byron, the subject of this sketch;
Leo, an oil driller, living in Coalinga; Claude E., an
oil driller living in Texas; Adell, residing in San
Jose: Vera resides in Saratoga. His mother passed
away in 1917.

Mr. Goodrich's boyhood days were spent on a
ranch near Saratoga; later removing with the family
to a place on Tenth Street, San Jose. His education
was obtained in the public schools of San Jose, sup-
plemented with a business course at Heald's Busi-
ness College, graduating in 1912. He entered the
employ of J. B. Leaman, San Jose's laundryman and
dry cleaner, learned the business and for three years
he served as foreman of the dry cleaning establish-
ment. Later, for one year, he was manager for the
Vapor Dry Cleaning Company. On November 1.
1921, he became connected with the French Benzol
Company on North Fourth Street, where modern and
up-to-date machinery is used, making the plant
sanitary and also places it in the front rank of busi-
n.esses of this kind. Mr. Goodrich is a self-made
man in the best sense of the word; while working
he made his own way through school, and is now
reaping the rewards of an honest, consistent and
well-directed efforts. He has acquired a pleasant
home at 183 Humboldt Street in San Jose,

The marriage of Mr. Goodrich united hiin with
Miss Viola Neville, a native of Kansas City. Mo.,
and they are the parents of two children: Adell and
June. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding a mem-
bership in Friend.ship Lodge No. 210. F. & A. M.;
lie is also a member of the Sciots, and is active in
the Chamber of Commerce of San Jose. During the
Mexican trouble of 1916-17 he served his country
on the border.

MELVIN JOSEPH ARANA.— An expert plumber
who has rapidly come to the fore in San Jose is
Melvin Joseph' Arana, of 371 West San Carlos
Street, at which headquarters he has been manufac-
turing various kitchen and other practical utensils
of such a novel design as to command unusual at-
tention. He was born in Santa Cruz on January 14,
1888, the son of John Arana, also a native of Santa
Cruz and a farmer, the son of a pioneer of 1850, who
was drawn to California by the rush for gold. Later
he went into San Luis Obispo County, and there
engaged in the raising of cattle. He lived to be
seventy-four years of age. John Arana married Miss
Santa Rodriguez, of the family so well known as
early-timers and stock-raisers, and herself a native
of Santa Cruz. She attended Notre Dame College
in ■ San Jose in the early period of that institution,
and became an artist in weaving worsted cloth with
faces, images and fancy designs in variegated colors,
of such real merit that many of her masterpieces

were exhibited at the Panama-Pacific Fair in San
Francisco in 1915. Grandfather Rodriguez came to
San Francisco as a pioneer and lived on the sand
hills where Golden Gate Avenue and Devisidero
Street now cross. John Arana acquired a large farm
of 700 acres in Santa Cruz County, at Arana Gulch
Twin Lakes, and there he raised cattle until he re-
turned to Santa Cruz, where he died. The mother
now resides in San Francisco.

Melvin Arana, familiarly called by his many
friends "Mel," attended both tlie grammar and high
schools of Santa Cruz, and when a young man took
up the plumbing trade with Alexander Tait in Santa
Cruz, remaining in his service about twelve years.
He then went to San Francisco and worked for
eight years for the Scott Company. In June, 1920,
he came to San Jose and opened a plumbing shop;
he is a very fine mechanic and an excellent and
honest workman, and such has been his progress,
development and prosperity that he is now in a po-
sition to do the plutnbing and steam-fitting of the
largest types of public and office buildings. He was
in charge of all the plumbing and steam-fitting on
the Faith, the concrete vessel built during the war,
at Redwood City, by the Government as an experi-
ment in concrete vessels, and partly as both the
cause and the result, he is now planning the manufac-
ture of concrete laundry trays and sink combina-
tions. He has already bought the plot of ground
in East San Jose where he intends to build and man-
ufacture these fixtures. "Mel" Arana has certainly
done much to increase industrial activity in San Jose;
and as a Republican he has always favored that legis-
lation most likely to steady and improve business.
He is an enthusiastic member of the Master
Plumbers' Association of San Jose.

On June 30, 1912, Mr. Arana was married at San
Francisco to Miss Estella M. Francis, a native of
Buffalo, N. Y., and the daughter of David and Rose
Francis, natives of France and New York, respec-
tively. David Francis came from France to Buffalo,
N. v., when a young man. and there he married.
They brought their family to San Francisco when
Estella was a small child; she was the third oldest
of their six children and received her education in
the Lincoln school in San Francisco. Mr. and Mrs.
.A.rana have been blessed with one child, Evelyn.
Mrs. Arana is an accomplished and attractive wo-
man who studied singing and dancing under the best
teachers in San Francisco. She made a success as
a vocalist and dancer, teaching fancy dancing to a
large class. From a small child she displayed marked
ability as a dancer; when only seven years old, she
played with Florence Roberts in the old California
Theatre in San Francisco, and afterward, as a toe
dancer, gave performances at the old Grand Opera
House. She had flattering offers after her mar-
riage, but she gave up her career, preferring to
devote all of her time to her home. Their daugh-
ter, Evelyn, inherits the same talent from her
mother, having been taught by her mother from a
child, and from the age of four j^ears she danced on
the stage, and David Belasco pronounced her a child
wonder. During the late war baby Evelyn gave
eight months of her time and talent for the Red
Cross and benefits to the soldier boys. She has had
many flattering offers from Belasco, Fo.x and Others,
but her parents thought it wiser for her not to ac-

1304

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

cept them, very naturally wanting their baby at
home with them, and she is now among the bright
pupils of the Lincoln grammar school. Mr. Arana
is a member of the Maccabees and it goes without
saying that Mr. and Mrs. Arana are recipients of
their share of well-deserved popularity.

JAMES K. KENNEDY.— Among the men of af-
fairs who left their imprint on Santa Clara County
and by their well applied energy helped to make the
county more prosperous must be mentioned the late
James K. Kennedy. He was of Scotch descent and
a native of St. Johns, New Brunswick. Canada,
where he received a good education. After spending
a few years in New York City he came to California
in the early 70's, locating in San Francisco, where
he was married on July 1, 1876, to Miss Mary F.
Pippin, a native daughter of California, born in Stanis-
laus County, a daughter of Samuel H. and Sarah A.
(McClung) Pippin. His maternal grandmother was
a member of the Rutledge family that settled in
Nashville, Tenn. Her father, Samuel H. Pippin, was
a native of Maryland and in frontier times he re-
moved with his family to Warsaw, Mo. In 1852, in
company with thirty other families, he started for
California, this being one of the largest trains of
emigrants that ever came into the state. They were
six months in reaching their destination, the journey
being one of great hardship and peril. Grandfather
McClung and his wife were in the train, and they
were very kind to the Indians, giving them food at
various points on the road, and one evening when the
party was camping on the banks of the Platte River,
an old Indian crept up to the grandmother and indi-
cated by signs that an attack was to be made upon
them that night. She implored the leader of the
train to break up camp and move to a point farther
on, but this he refused to do. The grandfather, feel-
ing uneasy, the McClungs and a few others left the
remainder of the party and sought a more remote
place in which to spend the night. This was in the
vicinity of Fort Laramie and they subsequently
learned that of the original band all except one were
massacred that night by the Indians. Owing to her
robust constitution, Grandmother McClung was able
to withstand the hardships of the journey and passed
away at the venerable age of eighty-six years and
four months.

Samuel H. Pippin first located in Stanislaus
County, whence he later removed to Montezuma, in
Tuolumne County, where he successfully followed
mining. Subsequently he went to Sutter County,
where he purchased a tract of land comprising 160
acres, devoting his attention to the raising of grain,
in which he continued active until ten years ago,
then moved to Sacramento and resided there until
he died, at the age of ninety, his wife having pre-
ceded him. A short time before his death he took
a ride in an airplane, being one of the oldest resi-
dents of the state to venture on a trip of this nature.
Mary F. Pippin was one of three children, the other
members of the family being Zella and William P.,
the latter a resident of Oakland.

In 1892 Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy removed to San
Jose; wishing to rear their family, particularly their
sons, on a farm, they selected and purchased a ranch
of ninety-five acres on Capitol Avenue. It was raw
land and no fruit to speak of was raised in that sec-
tion, but with true optimism he set out orchards and

devoted his attention to the growing of prunes and
apricots. Although his ranch was not irrigated, he
raised some of the finest fruit in the Santa Clara
Valley, being very successful as a horticulturist,
and bringing his ranch to a high state of cultivation.
However, his health failed and he passed away in
1905. In his demise San Jose lost a valued citizen,
for his life was an upright and honorable one, his
earnest toil bringing him success and his integrity
winning for him the high regard of all with whom
he was associated.

Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy became the parents of four
children: Robert K., now a resident of Portland.
Ore., married a Miss McDowell and they have three
children— Robert K. Jr., James and Betty. William
F., of Los Angeles, Cal., married a Miss McAbee, of
San Jose, and they have become the parents of two
children — William F. and June Ethel. Allen Rut-
ledge, a resident of San Jose, wedded a Miss Eva M.
Holland, a native of this city, and they now have
two children — Mary A. and John Rutledge. Bessie
C, the youngest in the family, married L. B. Bever-
son, of San Jose. There are seven grandchildren,
who represent the third generation of the Rutledge
family in California and the sixth generation in the
United States. Mr. Kennedy was an adherent of the
Republican party, to which his widow also gives
her political allegiance, while she is likewise a mem-
ber of the Eastern Star and White Shrine. Frater-
nally he was identified with the Masons and Odd
Fellows, belonging to the San Francisco lodges.

PETER SABATTE.— Identified with the com-
mercial activities of California for almost forty years
and in Santa Clara County for fourteen years, Peter
Sabatte established the garage located at 222 South
Market Street, and which is now operated by his
two sons, Edmond and Joseph Sabatte. He was
born in the year of 1865 at Oloron in the Basses-
Pyrenees, France; and when he was seventeen years
old, came to America and California; locating in Oak-
land he established himself in a creamery, with a
restaurant. He had married Miss Jeanne Baitx, and
she proved the best of wives and mothers. Later
the family removed to Santa Clara and where, for
three years, Mr. Sabatte conducted a dairy on New-
hall Street. He then purchased a ranch of forty
acres on the Alviso Road, about three miles north
of San Jose, given to alfalfa culture, and for eight
years he conducted there a large dairy. Mr. and
Mrs. Sabatte are the parents of five children: Ed-
mond, Joseph, Yvonne, Elsie and Frank.

In August, 1921, Mr. Sabatte purchased the garage
and its patronage at 222 South Market Street, San
Jose, from Picchetti Bros, and turned it over to his
two sons. Edmond and Joseph; and Edmond Sabatte
was made manager. The garage building is 60x120
feet in size; and it is equipped with every appliance
necessary for first-class overhauling of all makes
of machines. The public appreciate the service there
guaranteed, and it is necessary to employ five men
regularly to handle the patronage. The Sabatte
Bros, are also the agents, for Santa Clara County.
for the Reliance Trailers.

Edmond, the eldest of the brothers, was born
in Oakland July 24, 1898, and Joseph, born in the
same city February 12, 1900, and they attended the
public school in Berkeley and Santa Clara parochial
school, then Edmond attended Santa Clara College
for a time while Joseph went to Santa Clara high

HISTORY OF SANTA CLA'RA COUNTY

1307

school. They then assisted the father on the dairy
ranch until they took over this garage, which they
now own and manage. Edmond Sabatte was mar-
ried in San Jose February 23, 1921, to Miss May
Shaw, a native of England.

Mr. Sabatte is a stand-pat Democrat. He works
for the best interests of the community with the
same thoroughness that he manifests in the conduct
of his private business affairs, and his eflforts have
counted for much in his locality.

MRS. MINNIE B. ZASTROW.— A native of
Ohio. Mrs. Minnie B. Zastrow was born at Beverly,
April 4, 1868, the youngest child of eight children
born to Charles M. and Martha W. (Power) Mat-
thew, natives of Virginia who were farmers in Wash-
ington County, Ohio. The father was a deacon in the
Primitive Baptist Church. Minnie B. was educated
in the public school. She learned gardening and en-
gaged in business for herself; later she engaged in
the grocery business in Beverly until she disposed of
it and started a broom factory as well as running a
knitting factory. In 1901 she married Fred William
Zastrow, a native of Germany, and in 1902 she sold
her factories and removed to Chehalis, Wash., where
she started the Jersey Dairy and in time built up a
splendid herd. Purchasing a farm she was in the
dairy business there until 1919, when she sold her
ranch and shipped her best cows to Santa Cruz
County, Cal , and ran a dairy as well as being pro-
prietor of the Washington Hotel at Boulder Creek.
In November, 1921, she removed to Los Gatos and
established the Jersey Dairy with headquarters at
188 Loma Alta Avenue, where she is furnishing her
patrons with splendid service in her line.

Mr. and Mrs. Zastrow have five children: Leah, is
Mrs. Engman and resides in San Francisco; Ruth,
also of San Francisco; Esther, Paul Matthew, and
Charles Joseph. Mrs. Zastrow is a literary woman and
has written many poems and also wrote and published
the book, "Unity and Variety of Truth," and she
has just completed "Banner of Truth or Faith," a
book against Russellism. She is a member of the
Primitive Baptist Church and has always been a
close student of the Bible.

E. NOMMENSEN.— Among the general contrac-
tors and builders in San Jose whose work is not
confined to Santa Clara County, but is carried on in
different portions of California, and who is meeting
with deserved success, is E. Nommensen, who left
his native Denmark to seek a home in the newer
country of America and settled in the beautiful and
productive Santa Clara Valley, which has continued
to be his home since 1906. He was born March 3,
1885, at Aabenraa, a son of Jess and Cathinka (Dam)
Nommensen, both natives of Denmark. The father,
who was a hardware merchant, passed away in his
native land, but the mother still lives at the old
home. This worthy couple had ten children, four of
whom are living. One brother lost his life in the
World War. Mr. Nommensen is the oldest living
child, and he has a sister, Mrs. Cathinka Berger, liv-
ing at Bakersfield, Cal.

E. Nommensen was educated in the private schools
of Denmark, but his most valuable knowledge was
gained in the school of experience. Having com-
pleted a course in a local business college he became
bookkeeper in his father's hardware store in his

native country; then he spent four years in the same
line in different cities of Germany; he then concluded
to try his fortunes in the Land of the Stars and
Stripes, so came across to New York and immediately
to San Jose, Cal. Seeking outdoor work, he chose
the carpenter's trade and served his apprenticeship
under J. H. Miller, an old contractor, and continued
with him for a few years, when he became a partner
of his employer. Since then he has become one of
the largest general contractors in the valley. He
specializes in concrete work and has constructed some
of the most handsome business blocks in the city.
He built the King City auditorium, the Greenfieid
school and an addition to the County Hospital, and
is now building six bridges in Monterey and Santa
Clara counties, two of them being 340 feet long; he
also built the Alum Rock and Keyes Street bridges,
three bridges on the Almaden Road and three on
Pleasanton Road. He has erected many fine resi-
dences and bungalows in San Jose, as well as over
the valley, and employs some fifty men.

The marriage of Mr. Nommensen in San Jose
united him with Miss Esther Larsson, a native of
Sweden. Politically he supports the Republican
party, and fraternally is a member of the Dania
Lodge of San Jose. He is a booster for good roads
and bridges, and all practical utilities, and is active
in all municipal improvements. Whenever the op-
portunity affords itself, he recuperates at the moun-
tains or seashore. He has a pleasant home and a
paying business, which has brought him contentment
in the city of his adoption. He is respected for his
industrious life, his unquestioned integrity, and his
devotion to his family and friends.

GEORGE J. FIEHMANN.— An experienced pear-
grower, whose pronounced success has proved a
I.elpful stimulation to like endeavor by fellow-
ranchers, is (-eorge J. Fiehmann, a native son happy
m his association with the Golden Statu, havmg been
born at Trarv, in San loacniin C<)unt\'. On Decem-
')er 211, 1881, he .iitcred tlic tanuly of August Fieh-
mann who came from Germany, liis native land,
>vhen he was a lad of sixteen years, and in time
settled in San Joaquin County, Cal. He married
Miss Caroline Schulte, reared a family of seven chil-
dren, George being the eldest, and acquired some
ii40 acres of land, wlicli he farmed.

George attended school in the Lammerville school
district, in San Joaquin County, and when twenty
years of age started to make his own way in the
world. He worked for wages on ranches near Tracy,
for a number of years, and removing to Santa Clara
County in 1910, he continued to work out as a farm
hand. Now he lives upon a ranch owned by his
mother, the old Schulte ranch set out with pear
trees by his grandfather, Bernard Schulte, a pioneer
of the valley. This fine farm he leases from his
mother, who lives in Sunnyvale; she was born in
Minnesota and came to California with her parents
when a girl. August Fiehmann died in 1907 on his
ranch at Tracy. George employs two men all the
year around, and during the rush season keeps about
twelve men busy. The home ranch comprises twenty-
acres devoted to the cultivation of Bartlett and ship-
ping pears; Mr. Fiehmann, through his careful culti-
vation and care of his orchards, has made a decided
success, so much so, that a short time ago he pur-
chased a ranch of six and one-half acres adjacent

1308

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to the Southern Pacific Railway, also a valuable pear
orchard, from which much may be expected under
his skillful management. He is a member of CaH-
fornia Pear ' Growers' Association and fraternally is
a member of the Woodinen of the World.

At Sunnyvale on February 26, 1910, Mr. Kiehmann
was married to Miss Lola Lang, a native of Cottage
Grove, Ore., and the daughter of George and Lena
CKerr) Lang. Her father was a rancher, and she
attended school at Cottage Grove and St. Mary's
Convent at The Dalles, Ore. One child has blessed
the fortunate union — a daughter, Emma. A Repub-
lican in matters of national import, Mr. Fiehmann
with his wife are loyal and active members of the
Methodist Church of Sunnyvale, and both as citizens
and churcli nieml)crs endeavor to favor uplift work.

PROSPER ESTRADE.— Among the settlers of
the later '60's in Santa Clara County who had much
to do in the development of property from grain and
hay fields to vineyards and orchards was the late
Prosper Estrade. an industrious and enterprising
citizen. He was born at Barat Chien Dessus. Haute
Garonne, France, February 12. 1851, and grew to
young manhood and received his education in his
native district. When he was sixteen years old he
left his own country and made his way to America
and California, settling in Santa Clara County in
1867. Upon his arrival here he had just forty dol-
lars to his name, and to avoid having it stolen, gave
it to one of his countrymen to keep for him, and for
two years he was employed as a ranch hand; at the
same time he learned the ways of the New World and
saved his money, so that he was able to buy four
horses and a wagon and then began to take contracts
to supply the Almaden mines with timber. This he
would hire cut and then would haul it during the
winter months, while in the smnmer he worked the
Almaden ranch of 700 acres, where he raised hay
and grain. He added to his stock until he had four-
teen head of horses for teaming and ranching.

In 1882, Mr. Estrade was able to buy seventy-six
acres of land near the Masson ranch, and at once
started in to improve it. setting out an orchard and a
vineyard of wine grapes and in time he became a
large manufacturer of wine, averaging 250.000 gallons
each year, which he sold in San Francisco. He kept
five or six men busy the year 'round and superintended
the work in person. He also became the owner of
eight acres at Robertsville, on the Almaden Road
and Branham Lane, and erected the store building
and carried on the business for several years, at the
same time living on the property. This property
was sold by Mrs. Estrade in 1919 to E. H. Muller,
who succeeded to the business in 1913. In 1902 Mr.
Estrade was taken ill and from that date until his
death, on September 11. 1916. was unable to take an
active part in conducting his business, although he
still directed his ranch and wine-making affairs.

On November 16, 1880. Prosper Estrade and Miss
Lizzie Lanz were married. She was born at Stras-
burg. Stark County. Ohio, and came with her parents
to California in 1876 and located in San Jose. There
were four children born of this union: Mary, Mrs.
F. N. Pfeiffer, of San Francisco; Frank P. Estrade
has two daughters, Esther and Mildred; Lillie died
at the age of three and one-half years; Edward A.
Estrade lives on the home ranch and is the father
of two sons, Melvin and Eugene. Mr. Estrade was
a Republican and an Odd Fellow and liberally sup-

ported all projects for the good of the county. Since
the passing of Mr. Estrade his wife has managed the
ranch so efficiently that she is assured of a good in-
come each season. She is a Republican in her polit-
ical affiliations, and is interested in all that pertains
to the general advancement of the welfare of the
community.

MANLY M. CURTIS.— A veteran of the Civil
War, who after living a life of varied experiences in
many climes has found the land of peace and con-
tentment, is Manly M. Curtis, who for more than a
decade past has been a resident of the San Martin
district. A native of Canada, Mr. Curtis was born
in Eaton township, eighty miles south of Quebec,
on March 1, 1836, his parents being William and
Roxy (Powers) Curtis, the latter a native of Canada.
William Curtis was a native of Vermont and a
farmer and mechanic, who after his marriage removed
to Canada, where he became interested in farming
on the frontier, and also was engaged as a builder.
In 1837 the family removed to near Port Hope,
Upper Canada, and in 1844 they crossed the border
to the United States, settled in the vicinity of Lock-
port, N. Y., and four years later settled at Canada
Corners, near DeKalb, 111.

Soon after the family had settled in Illinois they
moved to Beloit, Wis., later going on from there to
Steele County, Minn., where they engaged in farm-
ing on 160 acres of land. While living there the
Civil War broke out and Mr. Curtis lost no time in
offering his si'rvices to his country, enlisting in April,
1861. in Company G, First Minnesota Volunteer In-
fantr}'. After serving one month of his ninety days
he w-as discharged. After the Battle of Bull Run
he re-enlisted in the same regiment and company,
serving until January 26, 1862. He returned to Min-
nesota, but soon went on to Montana, where for
eleven years he prospected and mined for gold, op-
erating in the streets of Helena, and experiencing all
the hardships of that life. On his return to Minne-
sota in 1877 he settled near Marshall, Lyon County,
and there engaged in farming on about one-half a
section, but in 1898 the lure of gold and the love of
adventure again took him from the peaceful pursuit
of farming to the gold fields of Alaska. Fortune
did not attend his efforts there, however, and the
following year he crossed the continent to its south-
eastern extreme, locating near While City, Fla.
Again the Northwest called him and he removed to
Port Angelus, Wash., where he spent about eighteen
months, coming to Gilroy, Cal., December 1, 1901.
Here, in 1908, he purchased ten acres of land of San
Martin ranch, which had been set to vineyard and
which he later sold, and he is also the owner of a
vineyard of fifteen acres on Bodfish Road near Gil-
roy, a desirable piece of property. In 1919 he bought
ten acres of prunes on Colombet Avenue north of
Middle Avenue.

After his life of travel and adventure, Mr. Curtis
is still looking after his property, finding in the
Santa Clara Valley the ideal home place and enjoy-
ing the fruits of his years of labor. A Republican
in politics, he has always taken an active interest in
public affairs, and while living in Steele County.
Minn., was a member of Somerset township board
of supervisors. A great reader and of a philosophic
turn of mind, Mr. Curtis has published a book en-
titled "Cause of Variation."

^^^K^.^c/^y^ &^d^a.

■hut,, taken 1902

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1311

FRANK N. ARNERICH.— Among the rising
young men of San Jose, who have accomplished
much, although young in years, is Frank N. Arner-
ich, who started in the restaurant business when
only a lad of seventeen and now owns a place of
business under the name of The Oyster Loaf Res-
taurant. He was born in Jugo-Slavia, on June 11,
1888, and was the son of Nicholas and Antoinette
(Chargin) Arnerich. His father came to California
in the year 1875 and settled in Amador County, en-
gaging as a miner. He made three trips back to the
old country, and in the year 1916 he passed away
at his old home, the mother surviving him until 1918.
He came to Amador County in 1900, joining his
brother, and there attended the public schools of
Amador City and later went to night school in San
Francisco. Having learned the business of restaura-
teur in San Francisco and in San Jose, at the early
age of seventeen he engaged in this line in San Jose
in the year of 1905, and has continued here ever
since. He engaged in business for himself and with
his experience in this line, he has built up a good
trade, and he has since been very successful; his up-
to-date restaurant. The Oyster Loaf, being both pop-
ular among San Jose's residents and increasingly
profitable for himself.

Mr. Arnerich's marriage united him with Miss Lucy
Chargin, who was also a native of Jugo-Slavia, and
a sister of Joseph, Jerry and Nicholas Chargin.
They are the parents of three children — Antoinette
Frances, Lawrence Nicholas and Beverly Lucile — •
and the family reside at 137 North Sixth Street. Mr.
Arnerich is a member of the Order of Red Men, and
of the Slavonic-American Society of San Jose and
is past officer in both orders. He is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce, Elks, and is a charter member
of the Commercial Club. In national politics he is a
stanch Republican.

BURL E. RICE. — Among the progressive young
men of Santa Clara County is Burl E. Rice, who was
born in Madison, S. D.. November 5, 1895, the son
of Emmett R. and Anna F. (Eaton) Rice. His
father, who was a native of Vermont, was the sta-
tion agent for the Union Pacific Railroad at Madi-
son, S. D. On the mother's side, the family proudly
trace their ancestors back to the two Eaton brothers,
who came to the United States in the Mayflower.
Grandfather Eaton was an early settler of Illinois^
and the story is told that he was once offered the
land where the city of Chicago now stands for an old
horse. When Burl was but three years old he ac-
companied his parents to Kansas, and there his father
became station agent at Randolph, Kans. From Kan-
sas they moved to Denver, Colo., and his father be-
came identified with the Union Pacific Railroad there,
when his health failed, and his son, Claire, took his
place with the railroad.

The Rice family lived in Denver six years, and
then Burl attended the Marie Wolcott School, later
removing with the family to California. They lived
a short time at Watsonville, but finally settled at
Hollister, San Benito County, and lived there one
year, his father taking up the carpenter trade. In
1906 the family moved to San Jose, where Burl at-
tended the San Jose High School a short time, but
when nineteen years old, stopped school to make his
own way in life. At first he worked in various lines
then started working at the T. & D. Theater as

usher, and within six months, through his ability
and pleasing personality, became assistant manager.
In July, 1917, Mr. Rice enlisted in the Naval Re-
serve Force and was sent to San Pedro for three
months, and from there to the San Francisco Naval
Port Guard. Later he was transferred to the Asiatic
Squadron on board the Flagship Brooklyn, where he
served m foreign waters eighteen months, dividing
his tmie between China, Japan, the Philippines, and

Vladivostok. Later he returned to California and
was released to the Naval Reserves in August 1919
and July 5, 1921, received his honorable discharge
and went back to San Jose, and in a short time was
back in his old position, filling it until Oct. 1 1921
when he resigned to accept a position in the' office
ot the San Jose Lumber Company.

. ^y- ^'.^': '^ 'he next to the youngest of a family of
eight children, six of whom are living: Claire R
Dwight M., Elsie A., Glenn H.. and Verne D.. and
our subject. Claire R., at present is a train dis-
patcher at Stockton. He entered the service in
August, 1917. in the Russian Railway Service Corps
and was sent directly to Japan, and was there six
months, being instructed in the Japanese and Rus-
sian languages. He was then sent to Vladivostok and
thence into the Siberian interior. He visited every
station on the Siberian Transcontinental Railway,
and was discharged from the service in November'
1919; Dwight tried to enlist several times, but was
rejected; he then volunteered his services to the
United States in the Oakland shipyards, and when
the first draft was called he was accepted April 1.
1918; he was stationed with the Infantry at Camp
Kearney about one year, and was discharged from
there in July, 1919; Glenn enlisted in the One Hun-
dred Nineteenth Engineers at Camp Fremont in
August, 1917, and after six months' training he was
sent to France. Arriving at Brest, he was later sent
to the firing line, and in one of the engagements was
knocked unconscious by a piece of shrapnel which
hit his helmet. He returned to the United States
and received his discharge in July, 1919; Verne, the
youngest brother, was under the draft age, so gave
his services working in the Oakland shipyards; he
was in line to enter service when the last draft was
called, at the time the armistice was signed.

On January 30, 1921, Mr. Rice was married to
Miss Ethel Le Alieux, the talented daughter of Jas.
A. Le Mieux and Agnes E. Le Mieux, of Menom-
inee, Mich., where she was born. Her father came
to California when she was nine years old and
went into the building contracting business in San
Jose, and here she was reared, attending the St.
Mary's grammar school. Mr. Rice keeps up his
interesting military associations by membership in the
American Legion, and is one who stands high in the
estimation of his many friends.

CLARENCE A. LUTTER.— In industrial circles
of San Jose Clarence A. Lutter is well known as an
expert foundryman and an enterprising and capable
business man to whom success has come as the re-
ward of earnest and untiring effort. He was born
in Waukegan, 111., a son of Charles W. and Katherine
(Rehling) Lutter, the former a prominent cigar man-
ufacturer. After completing his grammar school
course Mr. Lutter entered the high school at Wauke-
gan, where he was a student for two years, and
when sixteen years of age became connected with the
Thomas Brass & Iron Works, where he served an

1312

HISTORY OF SAXTA CLARA COUNTY

apprenticeship to the foundry trade. He then worked
in the PuHman car shops for a time, going from there
to Kenosha. Wis , where he secured a position in the
shops of the Jefifreys Automobile Company, with
which he remained for two years. His next removal
took him to Kokomo. Ind., where he became identi-
fied with the Haynes Brass and Aluminum Foundry,
a branch of the Haynes Automobile Works. At the
end of two years he severed his connection with that
corporation and spent the next few years in traveling
through Ohio. Michigan and Indiana with his brother,
securing work in the foundries of the various cities
where they stopped.

Mr. Lutter then spent a short time in Lyons, Iowa,
and in 1909 came to California at the solicitation of
the Bean Spray & Pump Company, who were desir-
ous of having him take charge of their brass foundry.
His services in that connection were so satisfactory
that at the end of a year he was given supervision
over the foundries for the plant and continued to fill
that position for five years. Having carefully saved
his earnings, he then decided to found an independent
enterprise and in association with T. C. Kearney
established a brass and iron foundry, which they
operated for two years and two months and then
sold. Mr. Lutter expects in the near future to open
a first-class brass foundry in San Jose, in partner-
ship with his brother Martin, who is also an expert
foundryman, and the venture will undoubtedly prove
a successful one.

In San Jose was solemnized the marriage of Clar-
ence A. Lutter and Miss Lelia Oswald, a native of
this city and a daughter of Benjamin and Aurelia
Oswald, the former of whom followed the occupation
of mining. To this union have been born three chil-
dren: Olivette, Lelia and Clarice. Fraternally, Mr.
Lutter is connected with the Loyal Order of Moose,
belonging to the lodge at San Jose. Throughout his
career he has closely applied himself to the work in
hand and has steadily advanced, each forward step
bringing him a broader outlook and wider oppor-
tunities, thus gaining that superior knowledge which
makes him an authority in the branch in which he
specializes.

FRANK W. JOHNSON.— After a faithful record
of twenty years' service with the Pullman Company,
Frank W. Johnson is now living on his comfortable
ranch on Murphy Avenue, San Martin, which he
has owned for the past twenty years. He was born
at Iowa City, Iowa, December 28, 1857, the son of
Rolla and Helen (Morse) Johnson. The father was
a native of Massachusetts and he migrated to Tiffin,
Ohio, where he was in the mercantile business in the
early days, before the coming of the railroad to that
state. A man of fine education, he became a suc-
cessful merchant in Iowa, and was very prominent
in the public life of his day, serving as a representa-
tive of Johnson County in the Iowa State Legisla-
ture, and he lived to be over ninety years old. Mrs.
Johnson, who was a native of Ohio, passed away
in California, as did her husband, having made their
home in this state since 1906.

Frank W. Johnson was reared and educated in
Iowa, and at the age of sixteen he took a position
with a dry goods firm, which later was merged into
a partnership with his brother-in-law, Joel Lightner,
continuing in this business until 1890. He then went
to Chicago and entered the service of the Pullman
Company, and spent the next seventeen years in the

employ of this corporation. On account of his health
Mr. Johnson gave up his railroad work in 1904, com-
ing to San Martin, where he had purchased twenty
acres of open land in 1902. He had this land planted
to a vineyard, and soon regained his health and
strength in the freedom of the outdoor life in this
balmy climate. Returning to the Pullman service,
he was detailed to the Coast division on the South-
ern Pacific, from San Francisco to Portland, and he
roimded out twenty years with this company before
retiring, years filled with interesting experiences that
would fill a volume.

In 1890 Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Augusta
Wolfe, born at Tipton, Iowa, where she was reared,
the daughter of William and Hannah (Colony)
Wolfe, the father being extensively engaged in farm-
ing and prominent in the public life of Iowa. He
was born March 18, 1827, in Knox County, Ohio,
while Mrs. Wolfe was born in March, 1833, in that
state. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have one daughter,
Helen E., the wife of Chas. G. Barnes of Morgan
Hill, and the mother of two children, Helen L. and
William Mansel, who have added much joy to the
Johnson household.

SAM PISTURINC— A far-sighted, progressive
rancher whose methods have been both studied and
copied by others, is Sam Pisturino, a native of the
Province D'Reggio, in the extreme southern portion
of Italy. His parents were Joseph and Grace Pis-
turino, and his father was a farmer who died when
our subject was nine years old, followed only a year
later by the mother. Joseph Pisturino operated
extensively in the management of a vineyard and
the growing of oranges and olives, and he was a
generous provider for his four children, Jennie, Sam,
and Rocco and Angelina, the two latter deceased.

In 1898 Sam Pisturino left his home and native land
and crossed the ocean to America, settling first in
New York City, .vhence he traveled for about eight
years throughout the East, the Middle West and the
West, stopping longest in Chicago and Portland. In
September, 1906, he came into California and took
up ranching for himself. He bought six acres on
Capitol Avenue, just south of Berryessa, and later
purchased ten acres additional. These sixteen acres
are now devoted to raising prunes and apricots and
the land is amply irrigated. The ranch is also hand-
somely improved with a home which he himself
built, and with other necessary buildings.

Mr. Pisturino's cousin, John, has been with our
subject most of the time since he came out to Amer-
.ca, and together they have operated. John was
born at the same place as Sam, in Southern Italy, on
May 29, 1885, th- son of Peter and Katherine Pis-
'urino, and entered a family eventually of six chil-
flren. Joseph, the eldest, died in 1910; Mary and
Cecilia came next; John was the fourth in order of
birth, and Peter and Jennie were the youngest. When
John Pisturino came to California in 1906, he joined
his cousin Sam in San Jose. The following year, on
March 16, he married Miss Sarah Giosa, a native of
the Province of Palermo, and the daughter of Joseph
.-.nd Rose Giosa. Now they have a family of seven
children: Katherine, Peter, Frank, Joseph, Rosalie,
Mary and Rosaria, the latter deceased. John Pis-
turino has a ranch of twenty-five acres on Capitol
.\venue, just north of that of Sam, fifteen acres of
which are given to the cultivation of prunes, and
the rest to apricots, buildings and drying yards.

'^^^^'Z.^^L.y^^a^ — ^^:-^j=^^>c<^^5,^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1315

VICTOR CAUHAPE.— Among the citizens of
foreign birth who have helped to build up the great
state of California so that it ranks high in the com-
mercial world was the late Victor Cauhape, for many
years a very successful buyer of stock and a resident
of San Jose. He was born at Cier de Riviere, in the
Haute Garonne section of France, on March 6, 1849,
the son of John and Bt-rtrande Cauhape, who were
large land holders in that province.

Next to the youngest in the family, Victor Cauhape
attended the local schools in pursuit of his education
up to his nineteenth year. It had been the intention
of his mother — his father having died in 1852 — that
Victor should be sent to Polignan college to prepare
him for his life work, but the young man thought
otherwise and declared that he was through with
books and was coming to America and California, and
that his future was in the New World, his success only
awaiting his arrival. After much discussion he had his
way and the money for his passage, and $700 be-
sides, was given him by his aunt. He came to Cali-
fornia via Panama and arrived in San Francisco the
day after the great earthquake in 1868. His money
enabled him to make a tour of the state and to study
conditions and decide upon a place to begin opera-
tions. To familiarize himself with local conditions
he went to work as a ranch hand at San Juan, riding
the range as a cowboy, and soon learned to spen ,
Spanish and English, so that eight years later, in
1876, he began on a small scale to buy stock for the
markets of San Jose. He opened an office and main-
tained his headquarters in San Jose until his death,
and in time became one of the best-known buyers in
Central California. He bought eight acres of land
southeast of the town and erected a slaughter house
and there prepared the meat for the customer. In
1910 he gave up slaughtering and only supplied the
markets with animals on the hoof. He leased large
areas of land, on which he grazed his stock to fatten
them for market; for nineteen years he was a
tenant of David Jacks of Monterey, and they became
fast friends.

Mr. Cauhape was united in marriage at San Jose,
August 21. 1879, with Miss Marie Landry. She was
born in Mexico on July 24, 1862, the daughter of
Joseph and Francesca (Marino) Landry, who came
to California in 1867 on account of the revolution in
Mexico, and located first at Carpinteria. Santa Bar-
bara County. It was at Almaden, where Mr. Cau-
hape had a meat market, that she first met her
future husband and they were later married. They
settled in San Jose in 1892, on the land where Mr.
Cauhape had maintained his slaughter house, but
which he had moved to replace with a modern resi-
dence, and there the family lived until 1919. There
were seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cauhape,
four boys and three girls: Bertrande Marie, now Mrs.
John J. Hartmann of San Jose, and the mother of a
son, John J., Jr.; Victor, died at the age of two
years; Blanche Marguerite, Mrs. .\rmand V. Turon-
net, also of San Jose; Rita Antoinette, is Mrs. John
M. Brown and she has a son, Benjamin M.; Francis
Eugene, married Henrietta Beatty; they have two
children, Francis E., Jr., and Victor, and reside in
Los .A.ngeles; Louis Charles, married Bernice Cork-
cry and has a child, Louis C, Jr. Louis is carrying
on a stock business and is quite successful. He
served in the World War in the United States Army,
enlisting July 2, 1917, and joined the motor truck

transport corps; July 3, 1918, he landed at Liverpool
and a week later was in France and saw eighteen
months' service with the M. T. T. C, being pro-
moted to top sergeant. He was discharged at St.
Agnews on April 9, 1919, and while in Europe toured
France, Spain and Belgium as a civilian, returning
to San Jose on June 10. 1919. The youngest son,
Felipe Landry, is attending Tamalpais Military Acad-
emy. These children were all born and reared in
San Jose, the girls being educated at Notre Dame
and the boys at Santa Clara College. In 1885 Mr. and
Mrs. Cauhape made a trip to France to visit Mr.
Cauhape's mother; the second trip was made in
1890. This time they were accompanied by their
two eldest daughters. Mr. Cauhape died in San Jose
on November 28, 1917, mourned by all who knew him
for his worth as a citizen and friend, husband and
father. He was a member of the Chamber of Com-
merce and was a Republican. He was liberal in his
support of all worthy movements for the good of the
county; was a quiet and unassuming man, always of
cheery disposition and never so happy as when sur-
rounded by his family. He was always ready to aid
his countrymen who came to him for work and many
of them owe to Mr. Cauhape their start in life in
California. The family are members of the Roman
Catholic Church.

RICHARD J. MERRILL.— For nearly thirty
years a resident of the Morgan Hill district, R. J.
Merrill has for more than a quarter of a century
lived in the residence which he erected on his ranch
on Llagas Road. Mr. Merrill is a native of Wiscon-
sin, born in Dodge County. July 25, 1850, the son
of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel G. Merrill, the father being
a native of Ohio, who lived to the ripe old age of
eighty-five and died at Janesville, Minn. Three older
brothers of our subject, Alex, Silas and Simeon,
served in the Civil War. In 1860 the family re-
moved to Waseca County, Minn., and there he passed
his boyhood days, getting only a limited amount of
schooling and learning the hard work of the farm.

In 1877 Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Merrill removed to
Dakota Territory and there pre-empted and home-
steaded 320 acres of land. Here they passed through
much hardship, due to crop failure, blizzards and
the untoward experiences that are a part of pioneer
life, but doing their part in bringing about the de-
velopment enjoyed by its residents today. Here they
remained until 1893, when they sought the milder
climate of California, coming to Morgan Hill, where
Mr. Merrill's older brother, Silas Merrill, had pre-
ceded him, and who lived here until his death in
19115. Soon after locating here Mr. Merrill pur-
chased his ranch property and he has since been oc-
cupied as an orchardist and is the owner of thirty-
five acres, devoted to fruit. In 1911 he also became
• interested in raising registered Berkshire hogs, and
since then has bred and sold much fancy, high-priced
stock, until marketing conditions became unfavorable.

While a resident of Minnesota, Mr. Merrill was
married, on November 22, 1875, to Miss Alice M.
Morse, born in Wisconsin, a daughter of Jacob
Morse, a native of England, who came to this coun-
try August 15, 1857. Two children have been born
to Mr. and Mrs. Merrill: Frank L. is a cement con-
tractor and resides at Los Angeles with his wife and
son; Roy M. assists on the home ranch. Mr. Merrill
is a member of the American Berkshire Association,

1316

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

a charter member of the Cahfornia Prune and Ap-
ricot Association, and for thirty-seven years has be-
longed to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. A
Democrat in politics, he has always taken a public-
spirited interest in community affairs, and while liv-
ing in Dakota, scrve^ as director of the district school.

V. T. McCURDY. — Among the successful orchard-
ists of Santa Clara County worthy of special notice
is V. T. McCurdy, who is located upon a fine property
of fifty-five acres in the vicinity of San Jose, where
he is engaged in intelligent and practical agricultural
efforts. A native of Sedalia, Pettis County, Mo., he
was born December 20, 1870, a son of John and
Elizabeth (Miller) McCurdy. The father, a native
of County Antrim, Ireland, emigrated to America,
settling first in Kentucky, where he was married,
later removing to Missouri in 1860. He was an ex-
tensive farmer, owning a large acreage. The mother
was born in Kentucky, the third generation back com-
ing from Holland. The Miller family were prorni-
nent in the upbuilding of the Blue Grass State, Mil-
lersburg being named after one of its members, and
the maternal grandfather was for years extensively
engaged in farming south of Lexington.

The boyhood of Mr. McCurdy was spent on the
farm, and after finishing the common country schools,
he attended the Normal school at Warrensburg, Mo.,
and in 1888 received a teacher's certificate. However,
he did not wish to follow teaching, but was inclined
toward the study of law, but his strong physique made
his services an asset on the farm. He was the ninth
son of a family of ten children, and everyone who was
strong was pressed into service on the farm. The
McCurdys bent their energies to the raising and fat-
tening of hogs and cattle for market, and in the
course of twenty years, they became prominent stock
men of that locality. They marketed exclusively in
Chicago, and at one time farmed 1,000 acres, never
selling a bushel of grain, all being used for feeding
their large herds of cattle.

The marriage of V. T. McCurdy in June, 1902,
united him with Miss Estelle Blanchard, a daughter
of George and Emeline (Payne) Blanchard, natives
of Warsaw. Ky., but who resided in Santa Clara
County at the time of the marriage. Mrs. McCurdy,
who is a graduate of the San Jose State Normal,
followed the teacher's profession for three years,
teaching at the Hester School, near her home on the
Alameda. She is a member of the Arden Art League
and active in Eastern Star circles.

On September 12, 1912, Mr. McCurdy purchased
the present McCurdy ranch of fifty-five acres of the
tract known to early settlers as the "Capt. Senate
Rancho," who had purchased it from the Bascom
estate. Twenty acres of this ranch are in forty-five
year old pear trees, the balance are in trees from two
to eleven years old. all fancy stock of the following
varieties; Bartlett. Feralls, East Berren, Winter Nel-
lis, Golutmorcan (a delicious French pear), B. Hardy,
D. Comice, B. Bosc; nine acres are in apple trees
of the following varities: Astrakans, Alexanders,
Skinner seedlings, the latter variety being developed
in this Valley. Mr. McCurdy has made many improve-
ments upon his property, among them being a fine
packing house, where all the fruit is packed by ex-
perts, labeled with the McCurdy label and shipped
from Bascom station. He maintains a standard of
excellence in the choice of the fruit and the manner
of packing, which enables him to command the best

of prices for his products. Through wise manage-
ment and strict attention to details, he has so estab-
lished his shipping as to distribute his fruit to all the
principal markets in the L^nited States, and also sup-
plies the export trade to Cuba, England, New Zea-
land, South America and Canada. His habits of
thrift and industry have made him independent, and
he has always given his support to all measures of
advancement for his particular locality, and believes
in the future of Santa Clara County. Fraternally Mr.
McCurdy is a member of the Masonic order, being
a Knight Templar and a Shriner. He is a director
in the Garden City Bank, Richmond-Chase Company,
Bean Spray Company, the Y. M. C. A. and the Cham-
ber of Commerce and a member of the Grange, Fed-
erated Farmers, Rotary Club and Commercial Club.
Politically he is a Democrat in national affairs,, but
locally he is an independent, supporting the best men
and measures. He is a man of intense vitality, of
conserved energy and great resourcefulness, an ac-
tive, helpful force in the business and social life of
town and county. His high general standing, his
genial and cordial manners, and above all the noble
aims of his life have made him many friends and
secured the confidence and respect of the entire
community.

THOMAS B. BECK.— The owner of a fine ranch
of fort}'-five acres in the San Martin district, Thomas
B. Beck has rounded out a service of nearly twenty-
four years with the Pullman Company, and expects
soon to retire from his position with this corpora-
tion so that he can give all his time to the develop-
ment of his ranch property. Mr. Beck was born
at Plattsville, Ontario, Canada, February 17, 1858,
and spent the years of his boyhood in this vicinity.
In 1884 he came to Northern Minnesota and there
entered the employ of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and
Manitoba Railroad, and later was with the Northern
Pacific, with which system he continued until 1893,
when he removed to Chicago and entered the service
of the Pullman Company, becoming a conductor in
1898. He took one of the western routes and in
1912 was transferred to the San Francisco division.
In 1901 he had purchased ten acres of land at San
Martin, and in 1912 the family took up their resi-
dence there. They gradually added to their holdings
until they now own forty-five acres, devoted to
French prunes and walnuts, and a vineyard, which
has been producing for a number of years.

At St. Paul, Minn., in 1884, Mr. Beck was married
to Miss Belle Menzies, a native of St. Louis, Mo.,
but a teacher in St. Paul for several years, and four
children have been born to them: J. Charles., at
home; Thomas B. enlisted for service in the World
War on December 12, 1917, in the Thirty-fifth Aero
Squadron, trained at Waco, Texas, and was over-
seas for ten months, serving with the Royal Air
Force; he received his honorable discharge at San
Diego, March 25, 1919, and has since managed the
home ranch; Nellie Grace is engaged in teaching at
San Martin; Evan F. is also engaged in ranching;
he was also in the U. S. service, entering the S. A.
T. C. at the College of the Pacific. Enterprising and
public-spirited, the Beck family are among the pop-
ular residents of San Martin. Mr. Beck is a mem-
ber of the California Prune and Apricot Association,
the Pullman Conductors' Association and the Odd
Fellows, and in politics he votes with the Democrats.

^S.,-.c^(ayC2y-^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1317

SEW ALL B. BOGART.— A man who for many
years took a prominent part in the business life of
San Jose and was greatly interested in the growth of
the community was the late Sewall B. Bogart, a son
of A. W. Bogart, represented on another page in this
work. Sewall B. Bogart was born in Lynn, Mass.,
June 11, 1872, but came to San Francisco when a
small boy with his parents. After completing the
public schools he chose the hardware business for his
field of action, learning the business in all of its de-
tails with Huntington, Hopkins & Company of San
Francisco, after which he started a hardware store
on Market Street of that cit5% continuing until he
came to San Jose, and with Arthur Holmes was
owner of the San Jose Hardware Company. After
a number of years of successful business Mr. Bogart
sold his interest and established the S. B. Bogart
Hardware Company on South First Street, San Jose,
where his straightforward method in his dealings
enabled him to build up a large business. He even-
tually sold out his business and returned to San Fran-
cisco, becoming a member of the firm of Brittain &
Company, hardware merchants, having charge of the
general hardware department. He was rated as one
of the best men in his line in the city. He was not
permitted, however, to enjoy the fruits of his labors,
nor to carry out his plans, for only a short time after
their opening he was stricken by death, dropping
dead in front of the Emporium on Market Street as
he was hastening to take a train, May 9, 1909.

Mr. Bogart was married in San Francisco, October
13, 1894, to Miss Fannie Kennedy, who was born in
San Francisco a daughter of James Kennedy, a
pioneer dry goods merchant on Post Street, in the
metropolis. Mrs. Bogart was reared in San Fran-
cisco and completed her education at Irving Insti-
tute. They were blessed with two children: Edith
Adeline, a graduate of Washburn School, San Jose,
studied music, specializing in piano and organ; she
is now the wife of Thos. Alton, Jr., of San Mateo,
and they have a child named Margery; Sewall B., is
a graduate of San Jose high school and resides with
his mother. Mr. Bogart was a Knights Templar,
Mason and Shriner, being a member of California
Commandery No. 1 and Islam Temple of San Fran-
cisco, and was also a member of the San Jose Lodge
of Elks. He was a talented musician, excelling on
piano and organ, and from the age of nineteen he
was organist in churches. While residing in San
Jose he was the organist at the Second Presbyterian
Church, of which he was a member. He was buried
with Masonic honors. After her husband's death
Mrs. Bogart made her home in the family residence
in San Jose, caring for and looking after the educa-
tion of their two children. In 1920, with her son, she
took up her residence in San Mateo. Like her hus-
band, she too is a Presbyterian.

MANUEL ANDRADA.— A native of the far-away
Azores, Manuel Andrada was born at Ponta Delgada,
the island port well known to thousands of tourists
on their way to the Mediterranean, the date of his
birth being August IS, 1870. Like thousands of other
lads of his race, he desired to see more of the world
than his island home, so in 1886, when he was six-
teen, he sailed to the Hawaiian Islands, where for
ten years he w'as employed on a great sugar planta-
tion. In 1896 Mr. Andrada came to California and

located at Morgan Hill, where he acquired six acres
of land on Hills Avenue, which he at once set out
to develop, and in 1910 he purchased an additional
tract of eleven acres on Llagas Avenue, where he
and his family make their home.

In 1889 Mr. Andrada was united in marriage with
Miss Mary Manisee, a native of Portugal, and eight
children have come to bless their home: The two
eldest, Mary and John, have passed away; Manuel
is married and is living at Hollister; Rosie, Susie
and George are at home, and Minnie and Antone
are attending school. The family are members of
the Roman Catholic Church, attending the church
at Morgan Hill. Mr. Andrada can well take satis-
faction in the success he has made here, as his well-
kept ranch is now entirely free from incu'T^brance,
due to his thrift and willingness to work.

LEWIS H. BRIXTON.— An educator of high
standing in Santa Clara County who has had a long
experience of unusual interest in the military service
of his country is Lewis H. Britton, now principal
of the Live Oak Union high school at Morgan Hill.
Mr. Britton is a native of Santa Clara County and
was born at San Jose January 14, 1881. His parents
were Ephraim and Mary Jane (Montgomery) Brit-
ton, the father a native of Ireland who came from
County Donegal, in Ulster, to America when a boy
of twelve years. He located on a stock farm near
Philadelphia, Pa., where he grew up, and after his
marriage came to California, arriving here in the
early '6O3, locating at Murphy station, now Sunny-
vale, where he acquired a large farm and continued
to prosper until his death in November, 1914, Mrs.
Britton having passed away in 1904.

Lewis H. Britton attended the Braly district
school and later the Santa Clara high school. While
a student there, at the age of seventeen he enlisted
in the U. S. Army during the Spanish-American
War, serving for twelve months and receiving his
honorable discharge in February, 1899, at San Fran-
cisco. On receiving his diploma from the San Jose
high school he entered the Washburn Preparatory
School and upon completing the courses there matric-
ulated at Stanford University in 1901, receiving his
A. B. degree in 1905. He then entered the U. S.
Army, was commissioned a second lieutenant and
immediately dispatched to Manila, and remained in
the Philippine Islands from 1905 to 1908.

On his return to civilian life, Mr. Britton was in-
strumental in organizing the high school at Gonzales,
one of the first L'nion high schools in Monterey
County, and he remained there for two j-ears. From
1910 to 1913 he was head of the history department
of the Stockton high school, and in the latter year
came to Santa Clara County, where he became the
head of the Morgan Hill schools. In 1916 he was
given a leave of absence and again entered the mili-
tary service of his country as first lieutenant in the
Fifth CaHfornia Infantry. Accompanying the ex-
peditionary forces to Mexico; he was in that country
for eight months, returning in March, 1917. He be-
came a member of General Funston's staflf, and
while on duty guarding the bridges and tunnels of
the Northern division of the Southern Pacific Rail-
road, he received orders to report at Camp Kearny,
where he reorganized and named the One Hundred
Fifty-ninth Infantry. He was promoted to a cap-

1318

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

taincy and wont overseas, being attached to the
Second Army in France, and he spent twenty-six
months in the service there, a period filled with inter-
esting experiences, during which time he was able
to travel over a goodly portion of France. On his
return to the United States he received his honorable '
discharge in April, 1919.

On December 17, 1910, Mr. Britten was married
to Miss Mabel L. Lopeman of San Jose, the daughter
of Rev. A. S. and Amanda Lopeman, now residents
of Imperial Valley. One daughter. Nellie Jane, has
been born to them. Mr. Britton stands high in fra-
ternal circles, being a Scottish Rite Mason and a
Shriner, a member of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M.
S., at San Francisco, a member of the Elks at San
Jose, and of the American Legion and the Veterans
of Foreign Wars. Politically he is a Repubhcan.
In addition to his professional work, Mr. Britton has
important horticultural interests, being a half owner
of the holdings of Britton Brothers, fancy pear and
prune growers, of Sunnyvale, Cal., an enterprise that
has proven very successful.

LIVE OAK UNION HIGH SCHOOL.— After
considerable effort on the part of several public-spir-
ited citizens, the Live Oak Union high school opened
at Morgan Hill in September, 1904, with a small en-
rollment. Montgomery Hall was used to house the
pupils for the first term, for although bonds had been
voted, the construction of the high school building,
now known as the administration building of the
present group, was not completed until 1905. Pro-
fessor Petitt had charge of the first term of school,
and he was succeeded by Prof. Franklin H. Talbert.
who remained with the school until 1910. He was
followed by Prof. C. C. Childress, and three years
later, in 1913, Prof. Lewis H. Britton took the prin-
cipalship, and with the exception of the years, 1915-
1916 and 1917-1918, has been in charge of this grow-
ing educational institution and the leading figure in
the marvelous development in the Morgan Hill
schools. In 1915-1916 Professor Abbott, now dean
of the College of the Pacific, succeeded Mr. Britton
temporarily, and in 1917-1918, H. C. Tillman, now of
the faculty of the San Jose high school, occupied this
responsible post. On both occasions Mr. Britton was
called into the military service of his country, and
gladly gave up his chosen vocation to accompany the
U. S. Army to Mexico, as a first lieutenant under
General Funston, later being promoted to captain
and seeing over two years' service overseas during
the World War. Needless to say, he received a
warm welcome on his return, both from his pupils
and the patrons of the school.

At the organization of the Live Oak Union high
school, the following rural districts were included:
Highland, Burnett. San Martin, Machado and Mor-
gan Hill, and in August, 1921, the addition of the
Coyote, Llagas and LIvas districts added greatly to
the enrollment. In April, 1921, the $45,000 bond is-
sue carried, this sum to be used for the construction
of three additional buildings, making a fine group,
and also for the purchase of ten acres in the town
of Morgan Hill. The departments of chemistry.
science, home economics and physical training are
now well cared for. with modern equipment through-
out the entire courses, and the machine shop and

woodworking department deserves special mention.
The Smith-Hughes agricultural work is carried on
under the close supervision of Prof. S. H, Davidson
and has been given high and well-deserved com-
mendation by the federal inspectors.

The fact that a great number of the students who
attend the high school live at some distance from
Morgan Hill made the problem of transportation
quite a difficult one to cope with, but a fleet of motor
busses are now operated by the school, and so far
this has proved very successful. In 1921 the first
kindergarten was established and this was temporari-
ly housed at the high school on account of the con-
gestion in the grammar school. The trustees are
Robert Britton, president; C. D. Robertson, clerk;
Mrs. A. F. Cochrane, E. E. Worcester, and Charles
Kellogg, and the high school faculty consists of
Lewis H. Britton, principal; Sidney H. Davidson,
vice-principal; Mrs. B. G. Bevier, Arthur G. Van
Gorder, Will Jessup, Miss Florence I. Yesberg, Miss
Agnes Corcoran, Charles A. Pihl, Miss Genevieve
Barlow, and Miss Myrtle L. Shafer. The district is
very fortunate in having a representative board of
trustees and a splendid spirit of cooperation exists
between them and the faculty and student body, this
harmonious relationship being manifested in the
activity and progress of the pupils.

ROBERT BRITTON.— Among the successful
property owners of Santa Clara County, who have
contributed much to the prosperity and advancement
of the community, is Robert Britton of Paradise
Valley. He was born in County Donegal, Ireland.
March 16, 1870, and was reared and schooled there,
finishing the grammar grades at the age of thirteen.
His father, William Britton, died when he was four
years old leaving the mother, Margaret Britton, with
four children to rear and educate. Robert attended
night school one winter in Manchester, England, and
then caine to America. His mother still resides in
County Donegal, Ireland, and has reached the age
of ninety years, a woman of a fine Christian charac-
ter. Robert remained with his mother until 1893,
when he left home to make his own way. Arriving
in California he secured a position with the Western
Meat Company at South City, having com.plete
charge of their refrigerating plant, and remained with
them for thirteen years. He had bought fifty-two
acres of the Machado Tract in Paradise Valley,
Santa Clara County, and while employed with the
Western Meat Company was developing his ranch.
From time to time he purchased more land until he
now owns 200 acres, forty of which is in full bearing
prune trees; the remaining acres are devoted to gen-
eral farming, the hill land being used for grazing
purposes. Mr. Britton completed his LT. S. citizen-
ship in Judge Welch's court in San Jose. Mr. Brit-
ton is a charter member of the California Prune and
Apricot Association.

The marriage of Mr. Britton occurred at South
City in 1904 and united him with Miss Mary Jane
Young, a native of Liverpool, England, where she
was reared and educated, and they are the parents
of four children: William Y., George, Margaret, and
Charlotte. Politically, Mr. Britton is a Republican
and fraternally a member of the Keith Lodge of
Masons in Gilrov. For twelve years Mr. Britton

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1321

served his community wisely and well as president of
the board of trustees of the Live Oak Union High
School of Morgan Hill and his work is outstanding
for its progressiveness and stableness. He is high-
minded and generous, loyal to friends, to his work,
and the community in which he makes his home, and
he has never regretted settling in Santa Clara County.
In 1901 his brother. W. H. Britton, came from Ire-
land and settled in Paradise Valley and is engaged
in the orchard business also.

MRS. ELISE RENAUD.— A worthy representa-
tive of an old and interesting family is found in Mrs.
Elise Renaud, the widow of Leon Renaud, a French-
man who came to California in the early '80s, and
the daughter of that distinguished pioneer, Pierre
Pellier. Elise Pellier was born in Santa Clara County
on her father's ranch, known as the Yerba Buena
ranch, east of Evergreen in the foothills. The father
was born in Santa Pauliet, France, was reared and
schooled there, and as he grew up, worked hard on
his father's place. After he had served seven years
in the army of France, he and his brother, Louis,
decided to come to America, and in 1849 they left
their native land and journeyed, by way of the Horn,
to America, arriving in San Francisco six months
later. He made three trips to California before he
married Miss Henrietta E. Octeau, bringing her to
California about thirty years ago, one trip to Cali-
fornia being made via the Isthmus of Panama.
Locating in Santa Clara County, he established his
home on the 315-acre Yerba Buena ranch, east of
Evergreen. The last time that Pierre Pellier came
to America he brought with him cuttings and seeds
of many varieties of fruits from his native country,
among others the first French prune trees set out
in the Santa Clara Valley. There were also wine
and fancy table grapes; and in 1855 the brothers en-
gaged in the nursery business at San Jose. In 1880,
Pierre Pellier, accompanied by his two daughters,
Helene and Elise, returned to France for a visit, and
in 1895 he died at Evergreen, on the home place,
where his wife had passed away fifteen years before.
Pierre Pellier and his wife were the parents of five
children. Louis died at the age of si.xteen; Henrietta
is the wife of Thomas Casalegno; Helene is deceased;
Elsie is Mrs. Renaud; Josephine is Mrs. Mitchell
Casalegno, the mother of six children, and the family
reside at Morgan Hill.

Elise began her education in the Evergreen
schools, finishing at the convent of Notre Dame in
San Jose, and on June 2, 1883, she was united in
marriage with Leon Renaud, a native of France,
born near La Valle. Mr. Renaud came to California
in 1882. locating in the Santa Clara Valley on a
ranch of eighty-seven acres near the Pellier home.
This tract of land was in its virgin state and he set
to work to clear it of the thick undergrowth and
planted one-half of it to vine\ard, later setting out an
orchard of thirty-five acres to apricots. Mr. and
Mrs. Renaud were the parents of eight children;
Theophile L., rancher in Evergreen; Virginia is the
wife of John Claverie, a baker, and they reside in
San Jose; Clementine married John Caillou. a baker,
of San Jose; Leon T. assists his mother on the ranch;
Henrietta is a graduate nurse of the O'Connor Sani-
tarium; Victoria, Martin and Adelaide, the latter a
graduate of San Jose high school and Heald's Busi-
ness College. Mr. Renaud was a member of the

Franco-Italian lodge of the Odd Fellows of San Jose.
He was accidentally killed by being thrown from a
wagon and passed away September 16, 1900. In
1906 Mrs. Renaud built a commodious residence upon
her ranch of seventy-eight acres, which is devoted to
vineyard, prunes and apricots. The place has a most
beautiful situation, overlooking the Santa Clara Val-
ley; it lies high and is above the frost belt; is very
productive, and is especially adapted for early vege-
tables. Mrs. Rcnaud's home life is ideal; she is loved
by her family and respected by all who know her.

HARRY H. FITCH.— An enterprising, successful
business man, whose wide experience is evidenced in
his happy anticipation of the public's wants, is
Harry H. Fitch, the president and manager of the
San Jose Auto Supply Company, located at 248 North
First Street, San Jose. He was born at Augusta,
Maine, on June 25, 1865, the son of Horace W. and
Emily (Nason) Fitch; but his parents died when he
was a mere baby. When seventeen years of age, he
migrated to Minnesota, and for six years labored hard
there on a wheat farm; and then went to Montana
and for ten years was manager of a cattle ranch.
From the spring of 1898 to the fall of 1908 he was in
Alaska, going in over the Valdez glacier at the head
of Prince William's Sound, traveling on foot and by
raft 450 miles to Dawson. He prospected and mined
on Forty-Mile and located a claim; later mined at
the head of the Chitina River and remained there for
several years, meeting with success in gold and cop-
per mining, particularly the latter. He was one of
the original locaters of the Kennicott mines at the
head of the Kennicott River, now owned by the Gug-
genheims. In 1908 he disposed of his holdings and
came to San Francisco, after spending ten years in
the frozen north. As early as 1900 he located his
family in San Jose, and made ten round trips between
San Jose and Alaska. Following his location in San
Jose, he became associated with the Osen Auto Com-
pany, and in February, 1912, he organized the San
Jose Auto Supply Company and established it at 248
North First Street. From a small beginning the busi-
ness has grown until it is now the largest establish-
ment of its kind in the county. In 1919, Mr. Fitch
purchased the Campijcll-Collins Company, wholesale
auto accessories and appliances and moved it to 248
South First Street, and it is now the wholesale de-
partment of the Auto Supply Company. Mr. Fitch
is the president of the Auto Supply Company, man-
ager of the Campbell-Collins Company, and secretary-
treasurer of the Osen Motor Sales Company. He
belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, the Merchants
Association and the One Hundred Per Cent Club,
and there is no more welcome member of those flour-
ishing organizations.

At Detroit City, Minn., on June 25, 1889, Mr. Fitch
was married to Miss Rose L. Blanchard, a native of
Wisconsin, and their union has been blessed with
one daughter, Margaret, a graduate of Stanford Uni-
versity. Mr. Fitch was made a Mason in Cascade
Lodge No. 28, A. F. & A. M., in Great Falls, Mont.,
and is now a member of Fraternity Lodge No. 399,
F. & A. M., in San Jose, and of Howard Chapter
No. 14, R. A. M., San Jose Commandery No. 10, K. T.,
San Jose Pyramid No. 9, Sciots, and Aahmes Temple,
A. A. O. N. M. S., of Oakland, and of the San Jose
Lodge of Elks. Locally he is active in the Santa

1322

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Clara County Auto Trades Association and was its
president for the first three years of its existence and
is still a director; and is also a member of the State
Automobile Association. Mrs. Fitch is an active
member of the Eastern Star and the Order of Ama-
ranth, and the White Shrine, and is prominent in civic
and social circles. In national politics Mr. Fitch votes
with the Republicans, and duing the recent war he
was on all the Liberty and Red Cross drives.

GIACOMO MARTELLA.— A fine old California
family whose patriotism in the hour of trial was never
found wanting, but demonstrated its value in unmis-
takable fashion, is recalled in the life story of Giacomo
Martella, a native of Switzerland, where he was born
at Gordola, in Canton Ticino, in 1859, the son of
Giacomo and Bernarda (Giattonini) Martella. He
attended the excellent Swiss schools, grew up to a
useful round of labor, and when eighteen and ready
to cope with the world, he left Switzerland, continu-
ing his journey until he reached California and San
Luis Obispo County. For a number of years he
worked on dairy ranches, and then he leased a large
dairy ranch near San Luis Obispo from a Mr. Lopez,
which he operated for three years.

On November 24, 1883, Mr. Martella was married
at San Luis Obispo to Miss Adelina Canet, a native
of San Luis Obispo County and the daughter of
Joaquin and Lucia (Mirra) Canet. Her grandfather,
Vincent Canet, a native of Valencia, Spain, served in
the Spanish navy, finally sailing around Cape Horn,
and while in a South American port he left the ves-
sel to come to California while it was still under the
Mexican regime. He received a grant on Morro
Creek, San Luis Obispo County, and there he thrived
as a large farmer, stockman and miller, building the
first mill in that region, which was run by water
power from a dam that he constructed. Here he
manufactured meal and fine white flour, people com-
ing long distances from remote places to obtain what
was then a luxury in this part of the country. He be-
came wealthy and very influential, and when he died
his request to be buried on a cliff opposite his ranch
home was followed, and there his body rests in peace.
His marriage had united him with Rosa Butron, a
native daughter of California and a relative of the
Alviso family, and six children were born to them,
Joaquin Canet, Mrs. Martella's father, being the eld-
est. After finishing his college course, he followed
farming on the home ranch until he became interested
in stock raising in Northern Mexico, where he died of
smallpox. Mrs. Martella's mother came from a
prominent old Castilian and Chilean family, who were
early settlers of Santa Clara County but later re-
moved to San Luis Obispo County, and there she died
at the age of sixty-seven. Of her five children, Ade-
lina was the second eldest, and she was reared on a
part of the old Canet grant, attending a private
Spanish school and the public schools.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Martella lived
for a while on part of the Canet grant, and then they
removed to Guadalupe, in Santa Barbara County, and
followed farming on the old Jerry Donovan ranch,
where they had a large dairy. While in Santa Bar-
bara County Mr. Martella was in partnership with
Henry Bonetti, late of San Jose, and represented else-
where in this volume. In time Mr. Martella went to
Los Alamos, Santa Barbara County, and there for
two years he had a dairy in partnership with his

brother Benjamin, then moved back to Guadalupe and
leased Mr. Bossi's ranch and for many years ran that
place. Selling out to J. J. Johnson, Mr. Martella en-
tered into both dairy and the raising of cattle on a
larger scale than ever before, and he ran two ranches
and had between 700 and 800 head of cattle. He sold
out to Henry Bonetti for $16,000 in 1903 and moved
into Kings County, where he purchased two ranches
near Hanford — one of 500 acres and one of 490 acres,
devoted to alfalfa. There he maintained a dairy of
200 cows and also conducted a good-sized cheese
factory. After a while he sold the 490 acres, but Mrs.
Martella still owns the 500-acre ranch. He also pur-
chased a ranch of 100 acres near Tracy, and this ranch
Mrs. Martella also owns, as well as the hundred or
more cows upon it, which are leased to a dairyman.

In May, 1911, Mr. Alartella moved onto a ranch of
forty acres which he had bought on Lundy Road,
in the Berryessa district. This place was devoted
to alfalfa and he maintained a dairy of forty cows
here, and Mrs. Martella is now leasing this property.
With a devoted wife, who proved the best of help-
mates, and a family of nine children, all of whom are
living, Mr. Martella had much to live for, but he
bade goodbye to the scenes of this world on Janu-
ary 7, 1921, leaving behind him a record for useful-
ness many might well envy. The following are their
children: Mary, a Sister of Charity, died at Emmets-
burg, Md., in 1918; Theresa, Mrs. Giovanetti, lives at
Santa Clara; Margaret is Mrs. Regetti and resides at
Redwood City; Kate is the wife of Charles Toole of
San Jose; Cora married Leland Calice, assistant man-
ager of Black's Package Company, San Jose; Willie
is on the home ranch; Victor is with the Southern
Pacific Railway; Violet is Mrs. William K. Volkers of
San Jose; Irene, who is engaged as a stenographer,
and Charles, a graduate of Heald's Business College,
reside with their mother in San Jose.

Two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Martella saw service in
the World War in defense of their country. William
enlisted in July, 1918, and went to Camp Lewis, where
he trained in a machine gun company; and in Janu-
ary, 1919, he received his honorable discharge, Victor
entered the United States Navy in June, 1918, and
was sent to San Pedro to train, being furloughed to
the reserve in January, 1919. These chapters of army
and navy service the young men are naturally proud
of, performing their patriotic duty efficiently and well.
Since Mr. Martella's death, Mrs. Martella has as--
sumed the management of the property which she
owns, continuing in the line marked out by her hus-
band, carrying out his ideas and ambitions and show-
ing much ability. She is a member of St. Patrick's
Church at San Jose and contributes liberally to all its
benevolences.

JOSEPH L. JUAREZ.— Undoubtedly the oldest
settlers of the Uvas district, the Juarez family have
been closely identified with its development, and as
manager of the large Juarez ranch, Joseph L. Juarez
is following the traditions of his forebears. He was
born on August 10, 1883, on the home place, the son
of Juan Juarez, born at Monterey, Cal., in 1841. He
married Felicita Garcia, born in San Luis Obispo,
and they had sixteen children, eight now living:
Albert, of Guadalupe; William, of San Jose; Alice, of
San Jose; Frank, of Riverside County; John, of Los
Gatos; Joseph L., the manager of the ranch; Daniel,
of Oakland; and Edward, in Santa Barbara County.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1327

Those deceased are: Frances, Nellie, Angie, Andre,
and Juanita, all of whom died after twenty years old;
Josie and Louis died when eighteen and Vincent at
the age of three. The family were reared on the
ranch on the Uvas road and attended the Mountain
Dell school. The father died in 1899, at the age of
fifty-eight, from heart failure while at his work clear-
ing timber from the hillside. Part of the property
when acquired was Pueblo lands, and some he ac-
quired from the government. The land was divided
among the heirs after the death of Mr. Juarez, each
having their own interests. The proceeds of the
acreage are divided, also the expenses of production.
The Juarez ranch consists of 390 acres of land. Ten
acres are set to vineyard, a fine property in itself,
and the balance is devoted to grain and stock raising.

After the death of his father, John L. Juarez be-
came the manager of the ranch, and lived with and
cared for his mother until her passing away in 1919
in her seventieth year. A hard worker, industrious
and capable, he gives the property his undivided at-
tention, devoting practically all his time to its man-
agement, and he has a bright future before him, as a
reward for his years of efficient labor.

JOHN L. HAGELIN.— A successful rancher who
enjoys the esteem of a wide circle of acquaintances
is John L. Hagelin of Campbell. Having taken out
his naturalization papers soon after coming to Amer-
ica, he is a good, patriotic American citizen, loyal to
the land of his adoption. He was born in Animskog,
Elsborslan, Sweden, March 3, 1856, and is the son
of Andres and Anna (Anderson) Hagelin, who were
both natives of Sweden and spent their lives there,
the father being a blacksmith. John vi'as reared and
educated in the schools of his native country, learned
his father's trade and did military duty in Sweden.

In 1880 he came to the United States and landed
in New York, then went to Pennsylvania. He first
worked in a tannery at Wilcox and later at Dagus
Mines. At this place his brother Anton was accident-
ally killed in the mines. Later he worked in tanbark
and lumber camps in Kane Countj'. Going on to
Chicago for a sliort time, he again went to work in
the mines, this time in Ishpeming, Mich. It was in
this state that he met and married Miss Britta Mag-
nuson, also a native of Sweden. They became the
parents of two children: Anton Walter, is deceased;
Anna, who lives at home, received a splendid educa-
tion, graduating from high school and then later tak-
ing a business course. In 1898, with others, Mr.
Hagelin went to St. Michaels, Alaska, and with a
comrade, John Bryantson, and four others, were the
discoverers of Nome. He spent four summers and
one winter there and meeting with good success.
During this time his family were residing in San
Francisco, and in 1904 they moved to Santa Clara
County where they purchased nineteen acres where
they now reside. He has made many improvements
on his ranch setting it mostly to prunes and apricots,
and is receiving no small income from the fruits of
his labors. He has made three trips back to Sweden,
but is always glad to be back on the soil of his chosen
state — California. It is interesting to know that his
entire wealth consisted of $6.75, besides he was in
debt for his passage, upon arrival in the United
States, and he is proud, to be recognized as a "self-

made" man, and well he may be, since his success
has been accomplished in the face of seemingly insur-
mountable difficulties. The family are members of
the Swedish Mission Church in San Francisco.

GEORGE C. WOLFE.— A rancher of the Gilroy
section of Santa Clara County who has been fairly
successful in the development of a fine orchard prop-
erty is George C. Wolfe, residing on New Avenue,
northeast of Gilroy. He was born in Red Willow
Count3% Nebr., October 12, 1878, the fourth son of
Henry M. and Mary C. (Richman) Wolfe, natives
of West Virginia, where they were married in July,
1873. Their first two children were born in that state
before they removed to Nebraska, which was at a
time when there were no railroads in that locality
and Indians were numerous and often dangerous.
Soon after locating in Nebraska Mr. Wolfe engaged
in the stock business and met with good success in
the venture. Always of a progressive nature he
erected a small flour mill at Indianola, Nebr., and
operated it for a time, but not finding it large enough
to meet his demands he disposed of it and went to
Culbertson, that state, and there erected a larger mill
and prospered accordingly. Such were the excel-
lency of his products that he took many premiums
at the various fairs in the state. After a residence
of nearly twenty years in Nebraska he migrated to
California in 1893, bringing his family and locating
for a short time in the vicinity of San Martin, but
soon sold out there and bought some land, fifty-three
acres, in the San Ysidro district, and immediately
began its development and soon had the third prune
bearing orchard in his section. When he located on
his property there were but four houses between
Morgan Hill and Gilroy on the east side of the val-
ley, there were no north and south roads and the
country was one vast grain field. He had the first
prune drier and dipper in his locality and believed in
keeping abreast of the times in every way. He also
was a buyer of prunes, which he dried and sold.
Deeply interested in educational advancement, he
served as a trustee of the San Ysidro district for
some years: likewise was one of the pillars of the
M. E. Church in Gilroy. A Republican and a Mason,
he died in 1917 at the age of sixty-two years. Mrs.
Wolfe makes her home with a daughter in the vicin-
ity of the home place.

George C. Wolfe was reared on the Nebraska farm
and attended the public schools of their locality and
finished at the school in Gilroy. Until his marriage
he assisted in the development of the home ranch
and learned the details of the orchard business by
practical experience. For about ten years he op-
erated a hay baling machine in this part of the county
and became well known to the majority of the ranch-
ers hereabouts. In 1898 he bought thirty acres on
New Avenue, prepared it for orchard and by hard
work and patience added to his holdings until he
now has eighty-three acres of finely improved or-
chard which yields handsome returns. He believes in
cooperative movements and is a member of the Cali-
fornia Prune and Apricot Association.

In 1898, Mr. Wolfe was united in marriage with
Miss Stella L. Branin, who was reared and educated
in San Francisco, and they have four children: Mil-
dred A., became the wife of Ralph W. Fowler, and

1328

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

they are ranching near Gilroy; Delbert, is assisting
his father with the ranch work; Inez V., graduated
from the Gilroy High School in 1922 and is at home;
and Ernest W., a pupil in the public school. In pol-
itics Mr. Wolfe is a Republican and fraternally be-
longs to the Foresters and the Fraternal Aid Union.
He is also an active member of the Methodist Church
of Gilroy. Always vitally interested in public affairs,
he can be counted upon to do his duty at any and all
times for the advancement of his locality.

ARTHUR W. TEMPLEMAN.— Prominent as a
hardware merchant of Los Gatos, Arthur W. Temple-
man is contributing his share to the progress and
growth of the local community. He was born in
Hampton, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Decem-
ber 1, 1877. the son of John and Annie (Hoffman)
Templeman, both natives of Nova Scotia of English
parentage. John Templeman was a farmer but also
followed the sea; he became a prominent and influ-
ential man in hi.s community, where he still resides,
\vhile his wife [lasscd away some years ago. Of the
five children born to this worthy couple, Arthur W.
is the oldest. When ho arrived at the age of eight-
een he followed in the footsteps of his father and be-
came a seafaring man and was for five years on coast-
wise vessels. In 1900 he concluded to leave the sea,
and coming to California, located in San Francisco,
where he was employed as clerk for three years in a
hardware store. Coming to Los Gatos he clerked and
occupied the position of manager for five years for
what was then a small concern. In 1915 he pur-
chased the business, which he has enlarged so it is
now counted one of the finest hardware and sporting
goods houses in this section of the state.

Mr. Templeman's marriage occurred in San Fran-
cisco in November, 1904, and united him with Miss
Laura Hardwick, born at Annapolis, N. S., a daugh-
ter of William and Elizabeth (Fleet) Hardwick of
Nova Scotia, also of English parentage. They are
the parents of one daughter, Mima. Politically Mr.
Templeman is a Republican of stanch party loyalty.
He was made a Mason in Los Gatos Lodge No. 292,
F. & A. M., and is a member of Howard Chapter
No. 14, R. A. M. and San Jose Commandery No. 10.
a; well as the Scottish Rite bodies in San Jose and
Islam Temple, in San Francisco and with his wife is
.1 member of Los Gatos Chapter No. 128, O. E. S.
and the White Shrine in San Jose. While being alert
to every business chance or opportunity, he is also
interested in everything that pertains to the general
Vv'elfare and his cooperation can be counted upon
to further any measures for the public good.

TRACY LEARNARD.— A distinguished citizen of
Gilroy is Tracy Learnard, widely known as a suc-
cessful journalist and now serving as postmaster of
Gilroy. He was born at Lawrence, Kans., on July
19, 1872, the son of the late Col. O. E. Learnard, who
first saw the light at Fairfax, Vt., on November 14,
1832; and as a boy he attended first the common
schools in the Green Mountain State and then the
Bakersfield Academy. After that he attended Nor-
wich University, and still later he was graduated from
the Albany Law School; and he began the practice
of law at Crestline, Ohio. There he became interested
in the struggle for freedom in Kansas, and deter-
mined to go into the territory and do what he could to
make Kansas a free state, with the interesting result

that of those sturdy pioneers who came to found a
free commonwealth on the Western prairies, few did
more in that noble cause than Col. O. E. Learnard.
He arrived in Lawrence in the winter of 1855-56, and
soon became active in the free state ranks. He was
put in command of a regiment of cavalry in the event-
ful year 1856; and the campaigns of that year were
strenuous and almost continuous, and Col. Learnard
rendered valuable service through all the critical per-
iod. He successfully executed the movement ordered
by Gen. Lane for the final expulsion of the Border
Ruffians, and he was frequently complimented by the
free state leaders for his devotion to the cause and
for his ability as an officer.

In the winter of 1856-57. Col. Learnard made plans
for founding a new town in Kansas, and in this enter-
prise he associated himself with other business men
at Lawrence. In the spring of 1857 they laid out
the town of Burlington, in Coffey County, and there
Col. Learnard built the first mill, the first business
house. He also erected the first building for church
and school purposes. In the fall of 1857, Col. Learn-
ard was elected to the territorial council, serving
three sessions in this important body; he was not
only an ardent Free State man, but a Republican.
He was chairman of the convention at Osawatomie,
convened on May 18, 1859, which organized the dis-
trict; and he resigned to become lieutenant-colonel of
the First Kansas Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War.
In 1863 he resigned his commission, but in 1864 he
again offered his services when Kansas was threaten-
ed by the Price Raid; and he was in all the battles
of that campaign which defeated General Price. For
many years. Colonel Learnard was associated with
the railroad development of Kansas; he was claim
agent and tax commissioner for the L. L. & G. Rail-
road, and from this position he went as a director to
the Kansas City, Fort Scott & Gulf Railroad, after-
ward known as the Kansas City, Springfield & Mem-
phis Railroad, and now a part of the 'Frisco system.
He was tax commissioner for this railroad for thirty
years, and a great part of the time he had an office
at Kansas City. He also engaged in the newspaper
business, and published the Lawrence Journal, a con-
solidation effected by him. after purchase, of the
Lawrence Daily Journal and the Daily Tribune. This
paper he owned and edited until a short time before
his death. President Cleveland appointed him super-
intendent of the Haskell Institute, the Indian School
near Lawrence, and this position he held for a year.
He was a Unitarian and one of the chief members
of the Unitarian Church of Lawrence. In 1862 he
married Miss Mary S. Eldridge. daughter of the well-
known pioneer of Lawrence. Kans., now deceased.
Colonel Learnard passed away at his home in Law-
rence on November 5, 1911, and at present he is
survived by his widow and two children, one of whom
is the subject of our review. After his demise. Col.
Shalor W. Eldridge paid him a noble tribute in his
•■Recollections of Early Days in Kansas."

Tracy Learnard was educated at a private school
at Cambridge, Mass.. which he attended from 1888
to 1890, the institution being known as the Brown &
Nichols Academy, still flourishing there; and be-
tween 1891-94 he attended the State University at
Lawrence. In that city, upon leaving his studies,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1329

he entered the printing department of his father's
newspaper and learned the mechanical side of the
newspaper business; then he became a reporter, and
next an advertising manager, and at the age of
twenty-three, he acquired a one-fourth interest in the
business. He next became assistant manager, and
also secretary for a period of four years; and he
served as secretary of the Douglas County Fair As-
sociation, and was instrumental in staging some ex-
cellent expositions in the county. In 1898 Col. O. E.
Learnard acquired by purchase the land known to all
pioneer settlers of Gilroy as the Colonel Angney
place — 1,000 acres devoted to grain and stockraising;
and four years later our subject came out to Gilroy
and located on this ranch, and set to work vigorously
to developing it as a first-class vineyard and orchard.
Since then, he has been president of the California
Grape Growers' Protective Association, Santa Clara
County branch, and also vice-president of the State
association with headquarters for a number of years
at San Francisco. He has been a member of the
Republican County Central Committee for many years.
At Lawrence, in 1896, Tracy Learnard was married
to Miss Georgia Wilder, a native of Lawrence, whose
parents were among the sturdy pioneers in Kansas
hailing from Massachusetts. She was reared and
schooled at Lawrence, and was a graduate of the
State University there. Four children make up their
happy family. Tracy W. Learnard enlisted for the
World War on April 16, 1917, served overseas for
seven months and returned with the Twenty-seventh
New York Volunteer Infantry, and he is now in the
employ of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company at
Fall River Mills in Shasta County, Cal. Harry Paul,,
formerly a cadet at West Point, is with the Bank of
Italy at Gilroy. Mary and Polly Dee both attend
Stanford University. At college, Mr. Learnard was
a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and he
belongs to the Elks, the Sons of Veterans, and the
Loyal Legion. In politics, he marches under the
banners of the Republican party. In April, 1922, he
received his commission from President Harding as
postmaster of Gilroy.

The Learnard home is located in a most captivat-
ing portion of the Bodfish Canyon. The property
was the winter home of Colonel Learnard during his
life and he spent a great deal of his time in putting
out the extensive vineyard on the place. Mr. Learn-
ard took an active part in all the Allied drives during
the World War and was a director of the Red Cross
from its organization in Gilroy.

LUIGI GAGLIASSO.— A resident of Santa Clara
County since 18iS'), Luigi Gagliasso was born in
Piedmonte, Italy, in 1869, where he was reared to
a farmer's life and educated in the local public
schools. In 1889 he crossed the ocean and the great
.\merican continent to Santa Clara County, where
he began working on ranches, becoming foreman on
the Sullinger ranch in the Cuperinto district. .\s
soon as he was here the required time he took out
his citizenship papers. He was married in Cupertino
to Christine Sutlane, who was born in France in 186".
After this he purchased a farm of 103 acres on the
Soda Springs Road two and one-half miles above
Alma, where he cleared fifty acres that he set to
orchard and vineyard. Since the fall of 1913 he has
also been in the employ of the State Highway.

Mr. Gagliasso was bereaved of his wife in 1919,
who left three children, Alice is a Sister of the
Holy Family in San Francisco, Jane lives in San
Francisco and Louis in Los Gatos. Mr. Gagliasso
has been a member of the Italian-French Lodge
of Odd Fellows in San Jose since 1893.

EDGAR P. BONAR.— Among the men who have
aided much in the building up of Santa Clara County
is Edgar P. Bonar, who was born in Farmington,
Iowa, on April 10, 1861, the son of James S. and
Elizabeth (Cook) Bonar. His father was a contract
plasterer and was among the earlier settlers of Iowa,
where he worked for a number of years. Coming to
California about 1871, by way of one of the first rail-
road trains to cross the unsettled country to Cali-
fornia, they settled in San Jose and here they have
been residents since that time, the father continuing
at his trade, and worked on the first building of the
College of the Pacific. The father is a native of
Ohio and the mother came from Indiana. James S.
Bonar lived to a good old age, passing away about
1905, when he was in his seventy-seventh year, while
the mother passed away in 1878. Edgar P. was the
fourth child of a family of eight children, four boys
and four girls; two daughters are living, one in Ore-
gon and one in Healdsburg, Sonoma County, while
Edgar is the only son living.

He attended the grammar schools of Farmington,
Iowa, until he was in his tenth year, and then coming
to San Jose, he attended the schools of that city.
Naturally a mechanic, he took up lathing, working
on the homes his father plastered, and continued with
him in this business until he was about eighteen years
of age. In 1880, he went to work for L. Lion, at
that time engaged in the furniture business, and Mr.
Bonar was placed in the carpet department, in which
capacity he proved very successful, continuing in Mr.
Lion's employ for twenty years.

In 1900, Mr. Bonar opened an upholstering, awning
and tent business, in a building at 378-80 South First
Street, and he was in this line for seventeen years,
disposing of it when he sold it to Bell and Greenley,
the business later becoming the property of the San
Jose Awning and Tent Company. He also had a
carpet-cleaning plant that proved very remunerative.
He sold out his business in the fall of 1917. He
stored all of his machinery, but was frequently impor-
tuned by his old customers to go back into business, so
in 1922, having a complete equipment, he opened a
new business place, where he is engaged in manu-
facturing tents and awnings and also in the uphol-
stering business, at 386 South First Street.

In the spring of 1880, in San Jose, Mr. Bonar was
married to Miss Kate Bell Macaulay, a native of Nova
Scotia; her parents being John and Margaret Macau-
lay. She came to California with her parents at the
early age of two years, and was reared at Santa Cruz,
where she received her education in the grammar
school of that district, and her mother passed away
in Los Angeles about ten years ago, her father hav-
ing passed away shortly after coming to California.
Mr. and Mrs. Bonar were the parents of four chil-
dren: Pearl became the wife of J. H. Bennett, who
is engaged in the automobile business in San Fran-
cisco; Edgar Ray is with W. A. Plummer & Com-
pany of San Francisco: Ruby is the wife of H. D.
Melvin of Melvin. Roberts &' Haworth of San Jose;

1330

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mildred passed away in the year 1919. Mr. Bonar
was a trustee of the Gardner school in San Jose for
fifteen years and president of the board for ten years.
He has lived in San Jose for fifty-one years and has
resided at his present home, 448 Auzerais, for the
past fifteen years. Mr. Bonar is a member of the
Woodmen of the World and a stanch adherent of the
Democratic party.

DR. GEORGE H. WORRALL.—Prominent

among the distinguished professional men of Santa
Clara County who have contributed much, by their
advanced, ripe scholarship, scientific training, un-
impeachable character and influential lives, to make
California one of the greatest Meccas in the world
to home-seekers, may well be mentioned Dr. George
H. Worrall, the well-known dentist of 1085 Santa
Clara Street, Santa Clara. He has built up an en-
viable practice, while finding time to follow his pub-
lic-spirited tendencies and do something for the
general weal; and such has been his particular in-
terest in the public schools of Santa Clara that it is
largely due to his enthusiasm that the Santa Clara
high school occupies a foremost place among the
accredited high schools, both at Stanford and the
University of California.

He was born at Media, Delaware County, twelve
miles west of Philadelphia, on May 10, 1859, the son
of Isaac Worrall, a contractor and builder of
Welsh origin, and a member of an early Pennsyl-
vania family, all stanch Episcopalians. As the re-
sult of his intelligent industry and high principles
governing all of his work, he met with such suc-
cess that he retired with a competency, when only
forty-five. He married Miss Susanna Broughton,
a native of Manchester, England, in which country
she was brought up, and they had eight children,
our subject being the only one in California. He
was educated in Pennsylvania, and while there be-
came well acquainted with Dr. A. E. Osborne, his
preceptor in Media, and through him he came to
matriculate in the Dental Department of the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania, from which he was gradu-
ated in 1881. For ten years he practiced in Media;
then came to California and settled in Santa Clara.

At Santa Clara, in 1891, Dr. Worrall was married
to Miss Ella Eves, a native of Chester, Delaware
County, Pa., where she was reared; and soon after
he bought the residence on Santa Clara Street in Santa
Clara in which he has lived for the last twenty years.
It is historic, for it belonged to Don Luis Arguello,
whose residence, also an historic edifice, adjoining Dr.
Worrall's is now being wrecked, after the stately affair
has been kept up mainly by the doctor. Four chil-
dren were born to Dr. and Mrs. Worrall, and three
are still living. Eoline graduated from both the
high school and the State Normal School at San
Jose, and is now the wife of Chauncey D. Kent;
she resides at Saratoga with her husband, who is
an internal revenue agent at San Jose. George Os-
borne Worrall died when he was ten years old.
Lorraine graduated from the Santa Clara high
school, and is now attending the State Normal
School at San Jose; Aletha is in the Santa Clara
high school.

Dr. Worrall belongs to the State Dental Associa-
tion, and he is among its most active and progres-
sive members, ever seeking to advance the important
science to which he has devoted his life. For

twelve years past he has served on the school boards
governing the grammar and the high schools of
Santa Clara, and during that period, for six years,
he was president of the board of education, and
never neglected an opportunity to discharge his
sacred trust in such a way that the public might
derive the greatest benefit from every dollar ex-
pended. A pronounced and steadfast friend of both
pupil and teacher. Dr. Worrall has been able to
carry through to successful completion all that he
ever proposed, fortunate always in having a united
public behind his movements.

EDWIN P. GAMBLE.— A gentleman of large ex-
perience in the affairs of life, whose days of retire-
ment are brightened by the possession of a large
circle of devoted friends, is Edwin P. Gamble, of
1431 Waverly Street, Palo Alto. He was born in
Cincinnati on December 18, 1852, and his father was
James Gamble, a native of the North of Ireland, who
came to the United States in far-away 1818. They
located in Cincinnati, where Mr. Gamble engaged
in the manufacture of soap. He formed a partner-
ship with William Procter, a candle manufacturer,
and together they founded a company, in 1836, which
later became the firm of Procter & Gamble, makers
of Ivory Soap. Mr. Gamble married Miss Elizabeth
Morris, and she was also born in Ireland.

Edwin Gamble finished his formal education at
Cornell University, and never having been active in
his business, he spent thirty years on his stock farm
near Paris, Kentucky. He married Miss Lawder, a
native of Ireland, and they have four children: Dr.
James Gamble, George E., Elizabeth F., and Launce-
lot J. Gamble. In 1901 Mr. Gamble came to Cali-
fornia and the next year he built his home at Palo
.■\lto, where he has for years spent most of his time.
He was among the founders of, and is still active as
a director in, the Palo Alto First National Bank, of
Palo Alto. He belongs to the Methodist Church, and
he and his devoted family hve at 1431 Waverly
Street, where they dispense a generous hospitality,
California, and especially Santa Clara County, wel-
comes such estimable citizens as Edwin P. Gamble.

FRANCISCO PASSANTINO.— Retired from ac-
tive labor, and now enjoying the fruits of his many
years of toil. Francisco Passantino makes his home
at his ranch near Coyote. He was born in the
province of Palermo, Italy, on May 24, 1851. His
father died when Francisco was but eleven years old.
and as the eldest son of the family he was obliged
to go to work early in life to help support the
mother and younger children. For many years he
worked at any employment he could get, and then
determined to cross the water w-here he could find
a chance to become independent. Arriving at San
Jose, Cal., in 1882, Mr. Passantino worked out on
fruit farms in this vicinity, meanwhile saving his
money, so that in 1889 he was able to send for his
wife and four children and a brother to join him.
He later sent for his mother who came to Cali-
fornia. She lived to the ripe old age of ninety-nine
5'ears and six months, passing away at his home
at Coyote. In 1898 Mr. Passantino purchased a
ranch of ten acres at Mountain View, and on sell-
ing that at a good advantage in 1914, he removed
to Coyote, where he purchased fifty-three and one-
half acres of fine land. There were no improve-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1333

ments on the place at the time, but he has built
it up into a comfortable home place, considerable of
the acreage being devoted to fruit, cherries, peaches,
apricots and prunes.

While still a resident of Italy, Mr. Passantino was
married to Miss Antonia Balestreri, and nine children
were born to them: Frank resides at Sunnyvale with
his wife and nine children; Lena married S. Taran-
tino and they reside at San Francisco with their
seven children; Ignacius, who owns thirty-nine acres
near Coyote, resides at San Francisco with his wife
and six children; Jensy, married P. Arito and died,
survived by a son, Muzio Arito; Joseph resides at
Coyote with his wife and seven children, he is the
owner of a twenty-acre ranch and also manages his
father's place,; Antonitta, Mrs. I. Balestreri, has one
child and resides at San Francisco; Charles lives
at Coyote; Rosie is the wife of N. Alioto, and they
reside at San Francisco with their two children;
Catherine married Antonio Balestreri, they live at
San Francisco and have one child. Mrs. Passantino
passed away July 13, 1912, deeply mourned by her
family, to whom she had been a devoted wife and
mother. Mr. Passantino received his citizenship pa-
pers at San Jose in 1891, and he have ever been
a loyal citizen of his adopted land, appreciating the
prosperity he has attained since coming here, which
has come through his years of perseverance and in-
dustry. He has for many years been an adherent
of the Republican party, and takes an interest in all
that will aid in the community's upbuilding.

JOHN F. DUNCAN.— A California financier, in
the front rank of those to whom so much credit
is due for various forward movements through which
the state has in reality become one of the great
commonwealths of the Union, is John F. Duncan,
the far-sighted vice-president of the Garden City
Bank & Trust Company of San Jose. He was born
at Schoolcraft, Mich., that interesting little town
named after the explorer of the Mississippi River's
sources, on December 20, 18S5, the son of Delamore
and Mary H. (Field) Duncan, both of whom, as
substantial Michigan folk, lived and died there.

John F. Duncan attended the elementary and
then the high school of liis town, and afterward en-
joyed the stimulating courses of a first-class business
college, growing up on a farm, and doing most of
his studying in the winter. In April. 1892, he came
to California and located at Campbell, where he
helped to organize the Campbell Fruit Growers'
Union. He entered the office as .bookkeeper and as-
sistant manager, and made himself so invaluable that
he remained there for four years. Then, in 1896, he
organized the Bank of Campbell, and became its
cashier; and when, in 1918, after years of exceptional
•prosperity for an institution of its proportions, the
bank was amalgamated with the Garden City Bank
of San Jose, he continued in the service, placing
at the stockholders' disposal all the valuable experi-
ence of years. On March IS, 1920, having attained
an enviable position among the bankers of Santa
Clara County, he became the vice-president of the
Garden City Bank, which position, to the satisfac-
tion of its large body of progressive patrons, he is
still filling with signal ability.

At Schoolcraft, on October 17, 1888, Mr. Duncan
was married to Miss Elizabeth Parker, an accom-
plished lady of Michigan; and their fortunate union

has been blessed with the birth of five children.
Mildred, the eldest, has become Mrs. J. E. Carter;
then come Marion, Alice and EHzabeth; while the
youngest in the family is John Parker. The family
attend the Congregational Church. Mr. Duncan
belongs to the Republican party, but he is ever
ready to cast aside partisanship, when by so doing
he can accomplish more good, and put his shoulder to
the wheel for any local or other advancement. He
helped to organize the Union high school, and was
Its clerk for fifteen years. He is a Knights Templar
Mason, and a Shriner, and he also belongs to the
Grange, the National Progress Club and the Com-
mercial Club. He is fond of outdoor life and sport,
especially enthusiastic about camping, and favors the
same devotion by others to the real pleasures of life
as one of the surest roads toward helpful prosperity
and a satisf3'ing happiness.

LEVI W. -WOLFE.— A worthy citizen of this
locality who has made his influence felt in the build-
ing up and the upbuilding of the Gilroy district into
one of the most prosperous fruit sections of Santa
Clara County, is Levi W. Wolfe, now residing in
the vicinity of Watsonville, Cal. He w^as born in
Taylor County, West Virginia, July 28, 1874, and is
the eldest son of the late Henry M. Wolfe, whose
sketch is found in another part of this history in
connection with that of George C. Wolfe.

Levi W. Wolfe attended the public schools in Ne-
braska and also after coming to California with the
family in 1893. He grew up on the farm in Nebraska,
and also after coming to California assisted in mak-
ing the old Wolfe ranch one of the most productive
in the San Ysidro district. His marriage united him
with Miss Emma Bales, a native of Iowa, and they
are the parents of three children: Harold C. served
during the World War in the Ninety-seventh Cali-
fornia aviation unit, and is an expert gunman; he is
married and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio; Kenneth Floyd,
and Dorette Bernice. For a number of years the
ranch known as the Wolfe Place was conducted by
his father and himself, who were quite extensively
engaged in buying and selling fruit. In 1914 they
disposed of their holdings and the partnership was
dissolved; the ranch is now operated by the Rich-
mond-Chase Fruit Packing Company of San Jose.
Mr. Wolfe then conducted the Highway Garage at
Gilroy for some months, and looked after his real
estate holdings in Oakland and San Francisco. He
at one time owned the entire location where China-
town now stands in Oakland. Recently he purchased
a ranch of sixty acres near Watsonville and the
family are now residing on it, which they are im-
proving. He is a stockholder in the Corralios Fruit
Growers' Association of Watsonville; also a member
of the Pacific Cooperative League and the local
Chamber of Commerce. Politically he is a Republican
and fraternally is a member of the Fraternal Aid
Union. During his residence of twenty-five years
near Gilroy he was the efficient superintendent of
the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School in Gilroy for
twelve years. His activities have always been con-
structive and in whatever community he lives, is
found ready to aid all progressive matters, and is
especially interested in the betterment of the schools
of the community.

1334

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ANDREW P. LEPESH.— Having heard of the
wonderful opportunities in California afforded to
an}' man who was willing to work, Andrew P.
Lepesh left his native home in far-away Dalmatia
to see what America had to ofter, and he has not
been disappointed, for he came to this country
a poor boy and has attained the success for which
he has worked. He was born in Smokavliani, Dal-
matia, on December 11. 1865, and was the son of
Peter and Kate Lepesh, natives of that country,
who have both passed away.

Mr. Lepesh attended the schools of his native
land, but gained most of his knowledge from the se-
vere school of experience which, though sometimes
a dear teacher, yet is a good one. He started to
work at the early age of twelve years, and at the
age of seventeen he made the trip to the United
States, coming direct to San Jose, in 1883, where
he had a cousin living, John N. Lepesh, who had
come here twenty years before and who died in
1888. He began to work for fruit ranchers and
was in this line of employment for a period of
two years, when he engaged in restaurant work
and continued in this occupation for about a year
and a half. In 1888 he bought the grocery and
fruit store, located in the Rca Building from his
cousin's widow, and in 1910, he and J. S. Mise
formed a partnership under the firm name of Lepesh-
Mise Company and moved to their present location,
at Market and St. Augustine streets, where they are
operating a wholesale and retail grocery business
which has proved most successful.

Mr. Lepesh is an enthusiastic and energetic work-
er in the interest of his people and in this work also
he has made great progress. His activities during
the war in the various loan drives as a member and
captain of the Slavonian committee, were very com-
mendable, so much so that he received thanks from
the state and received a medal from the Federal
Government for the good which he had accom-
plished. He is considered the leader among the
Slavonian people, having been president of the Sla-
vonian-American Benevolent Society, and was a
member of the committee from San Jose that made
the Slavonian day, September 20, 1915, such a suc-
cess at the San Francisco Exposition. He is a
member of the Red Men, the Chamber of Com-
merce and is a member of the advisory board of
the Bank of Italy. In national politics he is a
Democrat, and in all charitable movements he has
been a liberal supporter.

JOSEPH S. DESIMONE.— The success achieved
by Joseph S. Desimone in business and the high
standing he enjoys as a citizen indicate the possession
on his part of superior qualifications and furnish for
the rising generation an example of what may be
accomplished by a man of judgment, perseverance
and energy. Born in New Orleans, La., January 27,
1882, he is the son of Frank and Conchetta (Alaimo)
Desimone, both natives of Sicily, Italy. When but
a young man of twenty, the father came to New
Orleans and by hard and persistent work became a
man of considerable wealth. He was extensively in-
terested in the fishing business, owning and operat-
ing a fleet of boats on the Gulf of Mexico. During
the year 1891, he removed with his family to San
Jose, where he resided until the time of his death,
December 22, 1922, at the age of eighty-two.

Coming with his parents to California when a small
lad. Joseph S. Desimone obtained his early educa-
tion in the public schools, and afterwards graduated
from the San Jose Business College during the year
1900. Following his graduation he accepted a po-
sition as delivery boy for the Chapman & Johnson
Company, and while serving in this capacity he de-
termined to purchase an interest in the business.
When he had accumulated $200 he purchased an in-
terest in the grocery business, and from this time
his success was assured, so that within twelve years
he had accumulated enough capital to purchase the
entire business known as the Enterprise Grocery
Company. Mr. Desimone takes an active interest in
all municipal affairs, is a member of the Chamber
of Commerce and the San Jose Merchants' Asso-
ciation. Fraternally he is connected with the Mod-
ern Woodmen of America. Although still a young
man, his is a strong and self-reliant personality, full
of optimism and hope, enjoying the respect and con-
fidence of his associates.

WILLIAM RICHARD COUPLAND.— Many na-
tions have contributed to California's citizenship, and
among those of English birth who have profited by
the superior advantages for horticultural development
that have made the Santa Clara Valley famous
throughout the country is William Richard Coupland,
who for thirty-four years has been a resident of the
Golden State. He was born at Hull, England, Au-
gust 4, 1864, a son of Thomas and Mary Jane
(Cressey) Coupland, and in 1883, when nineteen
years of age, he sought the opportunities offered in
the L^nited States, first settling in Antelope County,
Nebr., where he resided for five years. In 1898 he
came to Santa Clara County, and has since been iden-
tified with horticultural interests. He has set out,
developed and sold several orchards and has made a
success of orcharding, while for the past ten years
he has acted as manager of the Ainsley orchard, and
is most capably looking after the interests of which
he has charge. He has made a close study of the
science of horticulture and his labors have been ef-
fective and resultant.

In Los Gatos Mr. Coupland married Miss Ada
Shermantine, a native daughter of California, born
in Los Gatos, and they have become the parents of
five children: Mary Jane, the wife of A. T. Larson of
West wood, Lassen County; Frank W'. enlisted in the
One Hundred and Forty-fourth Field Artillery in the
World War, trained at Camp Kearny, was sent
overseas to Brest, France, then was transferred to
the Ninety-second Field Artillery and took part in
all of the five battles in which the Americans were
engaged; after the armistice he served nine months
with the Army of Occupation at Cologne; returning
to San Francisco, he was honorably discharged in
July, 1919, after serving over two years, and wears
the emblem of five stars; he is now assisting his
father; the other children are Gertrude, Mrs. D. W.
Pabst of Sisson; Gladys, and Grace. Mr. Coupland
is a Republican in his political views, and for twenty-
two years has been connected with Morning Light
Lodge No. 4, I. O. O. F., at Campbell, having passed
through all the chairs in that organization, and with
his wife is a member of the Rebekahs. He is also
a member of the Orchard City Grange, at Campbell,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

133/

of which he is now serving as master, and is repre-
sentative to the State Grange. He keeps well in-
formed on all modern developments along horticul-
tural lines and his labors have at all times been of a
constructive nature.

VINCENT AZZARELLO.— An orchardist of
Santa Clara County, whose early training was received
in his native land of Italy, is Vincent Azzarello, an
energetic and industrious rancher residing on Pom-
eroy Avenue in the suburbs of San Jose. He was born
in the Province of Palermo, Italy, March 18, 1870, the
son of Antonio and Anna (Cormella) Azzarello, the
father being an orchardist and vineyardist there. Vin-
cent was the third oldest in a family of twelve chil-
dren: Antonio, Frances, Vincent, Joseph, Ignatia.
Virginia (deceased), Samuel, Anna, Rosie, Mary, Au-
gust, and Josephine. \'incent had little time for
schooling, most of his time being spent in helping his
father; this he did unlil he was twenty-five years old.
then came to the United States and worked in Chi-
cago, 111., for four years at various kinds of labor.
In 1899 he came to California and was engaged in
ranch work throughout Santa Clara County until
he bought twenty acres on Pomeroy Avenue. This
orchard was purchased in 1919 and is set to prunes
and apricots and is well irrigated.

Mr. Azzarello was married at his home in Italy in
1898, to Miss Mary Spagnola, the daughter of Charles
and Saveria Spagnola. They are the parents of seven
children; Anthony A., Charles, Mary, Joseph, Samuel,
Cosmino, and August. All the children have had the
advantages of the grammar and high schools of
Santa Clara County. Before coming to America Mr.
Azzarello was a soldier in the Italian army for three
years. Upon his arrival in .America he lost no time
in taking out his naturalizaticin p.iiK.i'i, .ind in his
political affiliations he is a Rtpiililii an. .iiid a member
of the Italian-American Bene\olcnt Society.

ALBERT S. BROWN.— Among the horticultur-
ists of the Santa Clara Valley who have achieved
success is Albert S. Brown, who is being amply re-
warded for his enterprising activities. He is a native
son of California, born near Stockton, January 26,
1870, a son of B. E. and Lucy (Dean) Brown, and
he grew up and was educated in the public schools
of the district. He was engaged in farming pursuits
until he was twenty-six years of age; then for
twenty-five years followed railroading as engineer and
fireman. In March of 1919 he left the road to take
care of the ranch, which came to Mrs. Brown as her
part of the Stockton estate. Mr. Brown married
Miss Frankie Stockton, and they have one child.
Hazel. Her father, S. P. Stockton, was a pioneer
of 1852, and his first purchase of land consisted of
seventy-nine acres in Branham Lane, it being cov-
ered with brush and timber. In two years he had
cleared twelve acres and planted it to vines, and year
by year more land was cleared and planted without
additional expense until in 1888 the whole tract of
land was set to vines. In 1882 an additional tract
of 100 acres was purchased and set to vines.

In 1887 his vineyard yielded 300 tons of grapes;
twenty acres were planted to prunes and the remain-
der was devoted to the raising of hay and grain. S.
P. Stockton was a native of Alabama, born July 16,
1829. His mother died when he was young and he

left home at an early age; he drifted westward to
Mississippi and later made his home in Tennessee
and Arkansas. Upon arriving in California he first
located at Santa Cruz; then, in 1854, he went to Mon-
terey, where he went to farming, pre-empting 160
acres of land. Later he was engaged in stockraising
in San Luis Obispo County, and retained his in-
terest in the business for several years, but after 1859
left it in charge of his partner and devoted his full
time to his large land holdings. Twenty-eight years
of his life were devoted to viticulture and his success
was gained by careful application to the details of
the work. In 1869 Mr. Stockton married Miss Susie
Welch, formerly of Missouri, but a resident of this
state since 1852. They were the parents of three
children — Paul, Frankie, and Herbert. Mr. Brown
is an adherent of the Republican principles in na-
tional politics, and with his wife takes an active in-
terest in community affairs.

THOS. E. KEARNEY.— An enterprising and far-
seeing manufacturer of San Jose is Thos. E. Kearney,
the proprietor of the State Foundry and Pattern
Works, located at 14 Stockton Avenue, San Jose. He
was born at San Francisco, his parents now being
numbered among the highly esteemed residents of
Berkeley. After having attended the Columbus gram-
mar school of Berkeley, he graduated from Humboldt
evening school of San Francisco as mechanical
draftsman; at the same time he served an appren-
ticeship as pattern maker after working at his trade
both as workman and as foreman for manufacturers
in connection with foundries. In 1914 he came to
San Jose as foreman pattern maker of the Bean
Spray Pump Company, remaining with them until
1917; resigned to go to the Mare Island Navy Yard,
Vallejo County, remaining as pattern checker until
the armistice, then returning to San Jose, his favor-
ite city, to open the State Foundry and Pattern
Works, which was a success from the start. He
then married a San Jose girl and has planned to re-
main a permanent resident of this city, enjoying the
climate and beauties of the Santa Clara Valley.

MARY E. SCHERREBECK.— The daughter of a
worthy pioneer of Santa Clara County, who is an
esteemed resident of San Jose, is Mary E. Scherre-
beck, the daughter of Patrick G. and Bridget (Madi-
gan) Sullivan, both natives of Ireland. The father
was born in Askeaton, County Limerick, in 1813, and
his parents, John and Mary (Sheehy) Sullivan, were
natives of that county. In 1827 the family emigrated
to Eastern Canada and located in St. Edwards
County, where he engaged in farming and stock-
raising, in which occupation Patrick was reared, re-
ceiving at the same time a good education. He con-
tinued with his father in operating the farm until
1842, when he took a portion of the old homestead
and operated it for himself. In 1842 he married Miss
Bridget Madigan, the daughter of Daniel and Ann
( Hanley) Madigan, natives of Ireland, who emigrated
to Canada and in 1853 came to California. Mr. Sul-
livan was engaged on his farm until 1851, in which
year he and his wife came by steamer to California
via the Isthmus of Panama. Arriving in San Fran-
cisco January 2, 1852, he immediately located in Santa
Clara County, where he rented land and took his
place among the pioneer farmers of the county. In

1338

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1854 he purchased his first land, comprising fifty-
three acres located just east of San Jose. He reside*
upon this land until 1856. He then purchased 266
acres of land situated on the Alum Rock Road at the
corner of King. This he stocked with about 300 head
of cattle, among which was a dairy of seventy cows,
and he became one of the pioneer dairymen of the
county. The land increased in value and he made
improvements upon it, then others claimed owner-
ship under Spanish grants, and he had to buy out
the claimant, and in 1865 he gained a complete title
and ownership to the property. His operations had
proved very remunerative; also his fifty-three-acre
tract first purchased had become very valuable, and
he ranked as one of the most prosperous and wealthy
farmers of his section. He conducted his farming
operations until 1879, when he retired from the active
pursuits of life and sold his farm to his sons. Mr.
Sullivan had previously sold fourteen acres of his
fifty-three-acre tract, and at his death, which occurred
April 6, 1886, left the balance of his valuable prop-
erty to his widow. He always ranked in public spirit,
enterprise, and liberality in public improvements,
among the leading men of his section. He was one
of the projectors of the Alum Rock Road, and gave
the right-of-way through his land, and fenced the
road at his own expense. Of a family of nine chil-
dren, the subject of this review is the youngest, and
only two others are living, Annie A., now Mrs. Fitz-
gerald, and Frank J. Mrs. Sullivan lived to be
eighty-five years old.

Mary E. Sullivan was born on the site where she
now resides, on the northeast corner of Alum Rock
Avenue and King Road. She was educated at Notre
Dame College, San Jose, remaining at home with
her parents until her marriage, which occurred April
3. 1888, and united her with Thomas J. Scherrebeck,
a native son of San Jose, born November 21, 1849.
His father, Peter Scherrebeck, was a native of Den-
mark and came to California, around Cape Horn, in
1835. He was a seafaring man, and for many years
was engaged as a trader in the harbor of San Fran-
cisco and surrounding country. His mother, Mary
(Sullivan) Scherrebeck, came to Santa Clara County
in 1846, as a member of the family of Martin Murphy,
Sr. The father passed away in San Francisco in
1862, and the mother in 1892. Until the age of fif-
teen he attended school, receiving his education at
St. Ignatius College in San Francisco, and upon the
death of his father he became a clerk in a dry-goods
store, continuing until eighteen years of age. He
then learned the trade of carpenter and followed this
until 1878. He then spent a year working in the
lumber mills in Mendocino County, returning to San
Francisco in 1879. He continued his occupation as
a carpenter until April, 1888, when he came back to
Santa Clara County, when he was married and took
up his residence here. Mr. and Mrs. Scherrebeck
are the parents of two children: Marie S. is a gradu-
ate of Notre Dame College and San Jose State Nor-
mal, and taught at Napa until she became the wife
of Claud Harry Dean of Napa, who is with the Napa
City Water Company, and they have three children —
Marie A., Dorothy D., and Doris E. Thomas P. was
educated at St. Joseph's high school, then spent four

years with Wells Fargo & Co. Express Company
and a like period with the San Jose and Peninsular
Railway as motorman and conductor, and is now
fireman between San Francisco and Santa Barbara
for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He is married to
Miss Rosella Seebach, a native of San Jose, and
they make their home with his parents. He is a
member of the Knights of Columbus Lodge No. 879
of San Jose, and the Order of Railway Employees,
and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and
Enginemen.

ANTON T. NIELSEN.— The proprietor of the
Altomont Creamery at 262 University Avenue, Palo
Alto, Anton T. Nielsen, has met with splendid suc-
cess in his business since locating here and has also
established a branch creamery at Mountain View.
Mr. Nielsen was born in Jylland, Denmark, Novem-
ber 24, 1886, the son of Niels K. and Mette Nielsen.
The father, who was a railroad man, died when
Anton was only four years old, and when he was
nine, his mother also passed away, so that he had to
face the problem of making a living at a very early
age. There were four sons in the Nielsen family,
and among them Anton is the third, and the only one
in America. He began his life as a wage earner
among strangers, working on a dairy farm, mean-
while attending school as much as he could, and he
received a thorough training in dairy and farm work
that stood him in good stead in later years. When
he was twenty-two years old, Mr. Nielsen came to
America, Oakland, Cal., being his destination, and
shortly afterward he went to work on a dairy farm
near Pleasanton, and after six months he came to
San Jose, being employed by the Golden Nugget
Creamery there. He was a hard worker and ambi-
tious, so soon mastered all the details of the cream-
ery business, becoming buttermaker. He then formed
a partnership with Mrs. Jackson in the Royal Ice
Cream Company for two years, when Mr. Gulmon
bought out Mrs. Jackson's interest, the Royal Ice
Cream Company being operated by the firm of Gul-
mon and Nielsen for the next year. Mr. Nielsen
then started the Crystal Creamery, which he operated
for two years, then going to Stockton, where he
leased the Royal Ice Cream Company's business for
a year. In 1918 Mr. Nielsen came to Palo Alto and
bought the University Creamery and soon thereafter
the Altomont Creamery, which he operates with fine
success, as well as the branch at Mountain View,
eighteen people being on his paj' roll.

In 1911 Mr. Nielsen was married to Miss Opal
Young, who was born at Allen, Mich., and they have
one child, Virginia Ruth. They make their home in
the attractive residence which Mr. Nielsen pur-
chased, at 624 University Avenue, Palo Alto. He also
purchased the property at 262 University Avenue,
where his business is located, and here he expects to
erect a two-story and basement building of concrete
to accommodate his large and fast-growing business.
The Altomont Creamery uses about 500 gallons of
milk a day and makes about 200 gallons of ice cream
daily, also a large output of butter and cottage
cheese, which all find a ready market due to their
superior quality.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1339

FATHER WILLIAM J. LANDE.— Closely identi-
fied with all the movements that aim to encourage and
strengthen the moral and uplifting forces of the com-
munity, Father William J. Lande. the well-beloved
pastor of the church of St. Joseph a Cupertino, at
the town of Cupertino, and also Sacred Heart Church
at Saratoga, is among the most active and progress-
ive of the clergj'. A native of Ireland, he was born
in County Limerick on April 14, 1875, a son of Will-
iam J. and Ellen (Cummins) Lande, natives of that
country who were engaged in farming pursuits until
they were called by Providence to the world beyond.

William J. Lande was educated in Christian
Brothers College at Doon, when after completing his
classics he entered St. Patrick's Theological Sem-
inary at Thurles, where he finished his physics, the-
ology and dogmatics, after which he was ordained
a priest at Thurles Cathedral bj' the great Arch-
bishop Croke, for the Archdiocese of San Francisco,
on June, 18, 1899. Among his classmates ordained at
the same time were Bishop John J. Cantwell, of Los
Angeles; Father Sampson of Sacred Heart, Oakland;
Father Kiely of Petaluma; Father Quinn of St. An-
thony's, East Oakland: Father Butler of San Fran-
cisco; and Father William Cantwell of Ross Valley.
Soon after his ordination Father Lande came to
America, arriving at San Francisco December 4,
1899. His first charge was at St. Brendans Church,
San Francisco, then for two years he served the par-
ish of St. Patrick's Church, San Jose. The next ten
years he was located at St. Peter's Church, San
Francisco, and during the last two years there he was
acting pastor. Eight years of this period his time was
given principally to the work of the City and County
Hospitals of San Francisco, also the Contagious Pa-
vilion, Pest House, St. Catherine's Home and to the
tubercular patients around the Bay, ministering faith-
fully to them and looking after their spiritual welfare,
doing his duty with unselfish devotion, so that his
name is a household word in many homes around
the Bay. Father Lande was next appointed assis-
tant pastor of St. James Church, San Francisco, where
he remained for three years, and in 1915 he took up
his present charge, at Cupertino and Saratoga.

For twenty-five or thirty years, services had been
held at Villa Marie, on Stevens Creek, the country
home of the Jesuit Fathers of Santa Clara, in the
chapel near the entrance to the property. Succeed-
ing Father Ricard, S. J., who had succeeded Father
Cichi, Father Gabriel took charge of the chapel in
1902. As the larger portion was coming, not from
Montebello, as formerly, but from the valley, it was
decided in 1907 to close the chapel and build a church
at Cupertino. Alex Montgomery donated the site
of one acre and the church was erected at a cost of
$9,000, with Father Gabriel in charge. After this
Rev. W. McMillan, S. J., was in charge for three
years, being again replaced by Father Gabriel, the
last Jesuit father to have charge of the parish, for
in 1913 Archbishop Riordan, D. D., transferred au-
thority in most of the missions in Santa Clara County
to the secular priests, when Father Thomas O'Con-
nell, the present pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Oak-
land was appointed the first rector of the parish. In
August, 1915, Archbishop Riordan appointed Father
Lande to take charge, Father O'Connell being trans-
ferred to Mission San Jose.

The parish, though rather new, is progressing rap-
idly, as the territory, with its wonderful orchard

development, is coming into world-wide notice.
Recently Archbishop Hanna purchased the Snyder
farm on Cupertino Hillside, within the parish of St.
Joseph a Cupertino, and soon plans to establish a
$5,000,000 preparatory college for boys studying for
the priesthood. The farm is beautifully located on
Permanente Creek at the foot of Bald's Peak and
commands a magnificent view of the valley. Father
Lande is greatly beloved in his parish for his deeds
of charity, and his friends and parishioners appreciate
him for his true worth as a citizen of the community.

MATHIAS P. JEPSEN.— Among those who have
of recent years been attracted to Palo Alto by the
superior educational advantages of Stanford, is the
family of Mathias P. Jepsen, now happily domiciled
in their new home at 471 Channing Avenue, entering
heartily as they do into the civic life of the city. A
native of Denmark, Mathias P. Jepsen was born near
Tunderin, Slesvig, on April 1, 1863, being the oldest
son and child of the four children of Mathias A. and
Paulina Jepsen, the former being a blacksmith who
participated in the war with Germany in 1864,
through the outcome of which, that portion of Den-
mark was forced under the German flag. The par-
ents have passed away; while three of their children
are still living: Mathias P., of this review; Hans
Christian Jepsen. the treasurer and clerk of Douglas
County, Xev.; Christine who came to Nevada as a
young lady, married in California August Hansen,
moving back to Nevada. Siie died at Reno in No-
vember, 1901, leaving three cliildren. Margrethe is
the wife of Adolph Kastensen, and lives in Sles-
vig, which, since the World War, has regained its
place under the folds of the Danish flag. The Jep-
sens never became reconciled to German authority,
and although they were compelled to learn German
in their schools, yet they spoke mainl}' the Danish
language in their home.

Resolved never to become a German soldier, Ma-
thias Jepsen left home when nineteen years of age,
for Mono County, Cal., where he arrived in 1883,
and entered the employ of T. B. Rickey, the cattle-
man, where he worked steadily for seven years and
thoroughly learned the cattle business, Mr. Rickey
being the owner of 18,000 cattle on the average.
About this time he found a helpmate in Miss Marie
Jensen, who, as a young woman, left her Danish
home and came to Douglass County, Nevada, in
1885. They were married in 1889 and in 1890 Mr.
Jepsen bought' 150 acres in Douglass County, Nev.,
and began as a farmer and stockman. Good for-
tune attended him and as that part of Nevada devel-
oped, the town of Gardenville was located upon his
land, and was needed for townsite purposes. He
continued farming for thirty years, platted a part of
his holdings and in 1918 disposed of all the balance
to good advantage. A son being then a student at
Stanford, he and his family moved to Palo Alto
and bought their present residence property on
Channing Avenue.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Jepsen has been
blessed with six children: Sophine, graduated from
the Reno Normal, taught for a short time and married
Robert Dempster, a storekeeper at Gardenville, Nev.,
and is mother of three children — Kenneth, Gordon
and Bobbie; Matilda graduated from the University
of Nevada at Reno, and later did post-graduate work
at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, and became

1340

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

a high school teacher in Nevada. She married Otto
Hussman, a civil engineer, at Grant's Pass, Ore.,
where they are now living; they have two children —
Margaret and William; Paulina is the wife of H. C.
Springmeyer, a well-to-do rancher at Menton, Nev.,
and they have two children — Leslie and Paula. Clar-
ence died at the age of twelve; Hans J., who was at
Camp Fremont during the recent war, received his
A. B. degree from Stanford and is now a law
student at the Law School of the University of Chi-
cago; Mabel is at home. Mr. Jepsen is a man of
high ideals, an American, by choice, and devoted to
his adopted land. He was naturalized while living
in Mono County, Cal., and adheres to the principles
of the Republican party.

H. HOOPER. — A man who has contributed his
share towards the building up of Los Gatos and
vicinity is H. Hooper, who has been a resident of
California since 1889, locating in Los Gatos the fol-
lowing year. He was born in Anson, Me., Sept. 16,
186L His father, Francis Hooper, was a stone mason
and followed contracting and building. Our subject
received a good education in the public schools and
when he arrived at the age of seventeen years he was
apprenticed at the carpenter's trade, soon removing
to Brookline, Mass., where he completed the trade,
he continued to work in Massachusetts until 1887,
when he came to San Francisco, Cal., and in 1888
located in Los Gatos. He was immediately employed
as a carpenter continuing steadily for a period of
seven years, and then engaged in contracting and
building, and many of the business houses and resi-
dences are specimens of his work.

Mr. Hooper's first marriage occurred in Boston,
Mass., where he was united with Miss Agnes Holi-
han of that city. She passed away in Los Gatos,
leaving a son, Frank Hooper, who resides in Oak-
land. Several years later Mr. Hooper was married to
Mrs. Nellie O'Connor, a native daughter of Califor-
nia, and they reside in a comfortable home on Glen-
ridge Avenue. In politics Mr. Hooper is an in-
dependent, preferring to vote for the man and not
be bound by party preferences. Enterprising and
public-spirited he is ready at all times to aid move-
ments for civic progress.

MARY F. BARNES.— Highly favored as the
daughter of a worthy pioneer whose place is assured
among those to whom the society of. today owe so
much, Mary F. Barnes of 58 South Ninth Street, San
Jose, is a native daughter naturally proud of her as-
sociation with the Golden State; she was born in
Santa Clara County, while her father, Martin Barnes,
was a native of New York City. He lived to be
seventy-nine years, three months and fifteen days old,
and he passed away on April 14, 1915. He had mar-
ried Miss Katherine Malonc, a native of County
Mayo, Ireland. Her father was a public officer and
for twenty years a censor in the Censor Building at
Dublin. Her mother's first cousin, John T. Malone,
was for years district attorney of Santa Clara Coun-
ty. An uncle of her mother was James Malone,
another California pioneer, and for years a court
reporter in San Francisco, who enjoyed the reputa-
tion of being the fastest shorthand reporter of the
West. The above John T. Malone, who married a
Miss Fallon, after being district attorney, became an

actor of national repute, comparable with Booth and
Barrett. Grandfather Jno. Marshall Barnes was an
extensive and successful brick contractor in New York
City and under his father, Martin Barnes, learned
brick building in all its details.

Martin Barnes came to California in 1862, and Miss
Malone came out the next year from Boston, and
they were married in San Francisco, where Mr.
Barnes established himself as a contractor; and he
remained actively engaged until his seventy-fifth
year when he retired from building. He came to
Santa Clara County soon after his marriage and made
this city his home until his death. Among other
edifices in San Jose he was foreman on the old
Normal School Building and did all the brick work
on the James Lick Mill, the wine vaults of the Gen-
eral Naglee ranch, the Knox Block, the Court House,
and many others, as well as many buildings in San
Francisco. He died at San Jose, the father of three
children, James H. Barnes, Mary F., the subject of
this review, and William J. Barnes. James H. Barnes
took up brick contracting and for years was as-
sociated with Robert Scott and helped to build the
famous Scott furnaces for the Cinnabar mines. He
is now putting in a large Scott furnace at Marathon,
Tex. William J. Barnes is engaged in the piano
trade in San Jose.

Mary Barnes attended the Notre Dame Convent
for eleven years and there obtained the thorough
education which has contributed so much to her hap-
piness in life. James H. attended the grammar and
high school in San Jose and then went to Santa
Clara College. William J. Barnes finished with the
grammar schools and after that pursued an excellent
course at the Business College in San Jose. Mrs.
Barnes died when Mary was onl}- two years old, and
when the latter had finished her schooling, she took
charge of the home, presiding gracefully over her
father's household until his death, and still resides
at the old home. Martin Barnes for years made his
home on San Fernando Street, between First and
Second, and the children were born in a house that
stands about the present location of the Navlet Nur-
sery Building at 20 East San Fernando Street.

WILLIAM J. BLAUER.— A merchant who has
attained success through having built on a founda-
tion of unremitting industry, experience and integrity,
is William J. Blauer, the president of the Stanford
Meat Company, a corporation with a capital stock
of $25,000. He was born in Chicago, 111., on January
28, 1874. His father, Gottlieb Blauer, was a native
of Switzerland, and upon his arrival in America came
to California and engaged in the dairy business in
1864 in California and Nevada. He went back to
Switzerland and married Miss Mary Berger and on
returning to the United States lived in Chicago, 111.
When our subject was four j'ears old, the family
removed to Corning, Kans., and here he grew to man-
hood and received his education in the public schools
of that city. His father passed away at Corning
when William J. was twenty-seven years old, and his
mother died at the same place. They were the par-
ents of five children: two died in infancy and a
brother passed away in Corning at the age of forty,
so that there are only two now living, the subject of

c/c^-f^'Zy^^^^^^^^^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1343

this review and Emma, now Mrs. Rudolph Haniii of
Corning, Kans.

When William J. was sixteen 3'ears old he came
out to San Jose and worked for his uncle Rudolph
Blauer, a pioneer delicatessen dealer in San Jose;
then he was employed with Louis Henning, the two
positions covering a period of thirteen years, and in
that time Mr. Blauer became thoroughly conversant
with the meat business. He then removed to Palo
Alto and was at first in partnership with A. W.
Krumbeck, under the name of the Stanford Market,
for three years, then incorporated in 1906 as the Stan-
ford Meat Company. Mr. Krumbeck was president of
the company until 1914, when Mr. Blauer became
president. Fraternally he is a member of the Foresters
and is counted one of Palo Alto's dependable citizens.

JOHN TONKIN.— A native of England, whose
early days were spent in his native country of Corn-
w-all, John Tonkin was born at St. Just on October
28. 1860. His parents were Charles and Elizabeth
(Ellis) Tonkin, and in the early days the father left
his family and their Cornish home in 1862 and came
to the United States, settling in Santa Clara County,
where he worked in the New Almaden mines. Later
he returned to his native land and passed away
there. Mrs. Tonkin subsequently came to California,
where three of her sons had preceded her, and her
death occured at the .mines, where the boys were
employed. She was the mother of four sons: Charles
lives in San Jose, William died in that city; Thomas
is also of San Jose and John, the youngest is the
subject of this sketch. He received a good educa-
tion in the public schools at St. Just until the age
of sixteen when he and his mother came to New
Almaden, Cal. where three of his brothers lived. He
began working as a stationary engineer in the New
Almaden mines running the hoist, continuing in
that capacity for about fifteen years when he went to
Tuolumne County and for two years was busy in
the same line of work there, but on returning to
San Jose he worked with Mr. Rich, laying track
for the street railway then being constructed in
San Jose. In 1896 he purchased his present ranch of
thirty acres on the Los Gatos-Almaden Road, and
this has since been his home. It is all set out to
prunes and has become a well-improved property.

Mr. Tonkin's marriage united him with Miss Eliz-
abeth Cook, born in Keokuk, Iowa, the daughter of
August and Dorothea (Wolf) Cook, who brought
their family of two children, via the Isthmus of
Panama, to Sacramento, Cal. where Mr. Wolf was
car inspector for the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company for many years until his death, December
23, 1887, his widow surviving him until May 11,
1892. They were the parents of five children, three
of whom grew up. Christina is the widow of Will-
iam Tonkin, residing in Union district; Elizabeth,
Mrs. John Tonkin, deceased; Amelia, Mrs. Hemmen-
way, died at Sacramento.

Mr. Tonkin was bereaved of his faithful wife in
January, 1901, when she passed away, leaving him
two children; Raymond enlisted in the World War
December, 1917, serving in Battery D, Three Hun-
dred Forty-fourth LT. S. Field Artillery, and was
sent overseas, sailing for La Havre, France, July 4,
1918, serving on foreign soil for nearly eleven
months, returning to Camp Jackson, South Carolina,
in June, 1919, and thence to the Presidio, San Fran-

cisco, where he was mustered out after nineteen
months' service. He was married in 1920 to Augusta
Pohlman, born in Medford, Ore., and he assists his
father on the home ranch; Gladys presides gracefully
over her father's home. Nonpartisan in his views
when local political matters are concerned, Mr. Ton-
kin takes deep interest in the country's progress. He
is a member of the Prune & Apricot Association
and fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of
Pythias and the Sons of St. George.

WM. EDWARD TRIMBLE.— A resident of Cal-
ifornia since 1870, who is greatly interested in the
preservation of early landmarks and history of the
Valley is Wm. Edward Trimble, who 'is a native of
Callaway County, Mo., born February 14, 1854, a son
of Wm. H. Patsey (Hughes) Trimble, natives of the
same state who were farmer folk and spent their
entire lives in the vicinity of their birth. W'illiam
H. Trimble had a brother, John Trimble, who crossed
the plains to California in 1849, bringing a herd of
cattle and became a successful stockman, owning
a ranch at Milpitas and Trimble Road, the latter
road being named for him.

Wm. Edward Trimble was reared on the farm and
had the advantages of a good public school educa-
tion. When sixteen years of age he concluded to
come to California, so in 1870 we find him on his
Uncle John Trimble's farm at Milpitas, for whom he
worked faithfully for five years, when he started in
the cattle business for himself on the Mt. Hamilton
range, but later he changed his operations in the
cattle business to Evergreen. In October, 1910, he
came to Lakeside as keeper for the San Jose Water
Company and in the same conscientious way he is
looking after the interests of the water company, to
the benefit of the consumers.

Mr. Trimble was married in San Jose to Miss
Mary Ann Selby, who was born near San Jose and
is a sister of W. H. Selby, who is also represented
in this volume. Their union has been blessed with
two children: Claude Selby is a very successful
rancher in Sonoma, Mexico. Gladys is Mrs. How-
ard Waltz of San Jose. Mr. Trimble is enterpris-
ing and public spirited, has great faith in the future
success of this county and is one of the good boosters
for the Santa Clara Valley.

MARCUS HARLOE STEVENS— A well-known
orchardist of Mountain View. Marcus Harloe Ste-
vens, who is popularly known as "Mark" Stevens,
with his capable wife operate a fine orchard of four-
teen acres at the end of Levin Avenue, southeast of
Mountain View, which has been his home during
the past eleven years, and which he has built up,
planted and brought to a high state of cultivation.
He is a native son, having been born at Half Moon
Bay, on December 8. 1859. being the oldest son of
Benjamin Franklin Stevens, born in New York, who
as a young man. took to the sea, joining a whaling
expedition and for several years cruised far and wide
as a whaler, rounding Cape Horn five times. The
whaling fleet that he was with sailed around Cape
Horn to the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) and
there he heard rumors of rich gold diggings in Cal-
ifornia. He obtained his discharge, but found, to
his dismay that there was no vessel going from
Honolulu to San Francisco; so he shipped back
to New York around the Horn, and, arriving there,
reshipped via the Horn for San Francisco, receiving

1344

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

his board and $100 for his services as a sailor. The
captain of the vessel was parsimoniously inclined,
and set young Stevens ashore, without money and
even without breakfast on a cool September morn
in 1849. So in a mood of dejection, he loitered on
the wharf hungry and penniless, when he met a
former associate, a sea captain whom he had met
on the China Sea. The captain immediately passed
him onto his own ship with instructions that he be
treated as his guest. Mr. Stevens soon found a job
lightering, at which work he excelled, and was
soon making $100 a tide. He continued at this work
until the next spring, when he had sufficient money
to equip prop'erly for a mining expedition up the
North Fork of the American River. At first he
engaged in placer mining and met with excellent
success, clearing up $10,000 in a comparatively short
time. A brother who was with him decided to go
back East and farm the home place and take care
of the aged parents, but he mysteriously disap-
peared after his arrival home and is thought to have
been robbed and murdered for the gold he carried.
B. F. Stevens remained and formed a large com-
pany on the American River, for the purpose of
diverting the waters of that stream and thus se-
cure the gold at the bottom of the river bed, but
no gold was there, and so his first fortune had van-
ished. He then w^ent to Santa Cruz County and
engaged in farming for four years, thence went to
the Half Moon Bay country where he met and mar-
ried Miss Sophronia C. Duke, who was born in
Ohio and had come to California with her mother
and stepfather, John Piatt Height, when six years
of age. her own father having died when she was
only three. She was employed on Judge Michael
Wolf's large dairy farm near Half Moon Bay and
was married at fifteen, her first child, our subject
being born when she was only sixteen. She was a
noble mother and died in 1906. while on a visit to
her daughter Josephine in San Luis Obispo County.
The parents moved up to Monterey County in 1869
and engaged in farming near Soledad, where B. F.
Stevens died in 1885. They were the parents of
five children: Marcus Harloe, the subject of this
sketch, named after Capt. Marcus Harloe, chief
wharfinger at San Francisco, an intimate friend of
his father; Wm. H. died when nineteen years old
in 1880; Mary died when four years old in 1867;
Josephine is the wife of Postmaster Charles U.
Margetts, of Shandon, San Luis Obispo County; Sar-
ah F. is the wife of Wilson J. Dry, a railroad man
in the employ of the Salt Lake Route, residing in
Los Angeles. Mark, being the oldest son and child
in the family, was early called upon to help on the
farm. His educational advantages, so far as school-
ing is concerned, were meager, but notwithstanding
this, Mr. Stevens has become a very well-informed
man, having obtained his knowledge through wide
reading and actual business contact with the world.

He was married in 1887 to Miss Grace L. Hulse,
the daughter of A. P. Hulse, of the pioneer firm of
Hulse and Kneadler, dealers in cement, lime and
building materials at San Jose. Mrs. Stevens' mother
is now Mrs. Augusta Ingraham and is still living.
She is an honored pioneer and at family reunions
enjoys the distinction of being the oldest of four
generations of daughters. She is a granddaughter

of Judge Brown of Ohio, who was for many years the
warden of the Ohio State Penitentiary.

After his marriage Mr. Stevens farmed at Sole-
dad for two years, when he sold his 320-acre farm
and spent the next five years at Seattle. In 1895 he
returned to Santa Clara County, Cal. and bought a
five-acre place on the Springer Road. Needing more
land, he sold it and bought in his present neighbor-
hood where he has lived since 1911. Here he has
built a commodious country residence. Eight acres
of the place is at present planted to French prunes
while the rest is in peaches, apricots, walnuts and
apples. In 1915 he raised thirty-five different kinds
of fruits and vegetables on his place and he often
lielps out in making exhibits at local fairs, where
his products uniformly attract favorable comment.
Very quiet and conservative in his ways, he leads
a consistent Christian life, having been a member of
the Baptist Church since he was twenty-two years
old. He has served as treasurer, deacon and Sun-
day school superintendent of the Baptist Church at
Mountain View. In politics he is a Republican. He
is known as one of the most generous of neighbors
and takes an active interest in the general welfare
of his community and is a member of the Prune &
Apricot Growers Association, the Masons and the
Modern Woodmen. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have two
children: Alpha Tacoma (born in Tacoma, Wash.),
now the wife of Merl N. Job, electrical worker at
Palo Alto and they have two children — Thomas
Stevens and Ruth Jean; Grace Wenonah.

KNUT H. HANSEN.— A young man of sterling
w-orth, Knut H. Hansen, is one of the recent acces-
sions to Palo Alto business circles and has recently
become the owner and proprietor of the University
Creamery, with its store, manufactory and ice cream
parlor at 209 University Avenue. He brings to his
business, the efiiciency and competency, born of years
of hard and painstaking work, especially in the ice
cream line, having for several years held positions of
responsibility with several of the leading manufac-
turers and caterers on the Pacific Coast and in the
Middle West. He was born at Copenhagen, Den-
mark, November 11, 1880. and is the only son of
Harold and Judith (Haslund) Hansen, the former be-
ing the well-known Danish chemist for several years
employed by Christian Hansen, an own cousin, as
chemist in the originating and manufacture of Han-
sen's butter coloring. The parents came to America,
settling in St. Paul, Minn., in 1891, and to California
in 1895, and the father died in 1917, leaving his widow
and four children. The mother resides with our sub-
ject in Palo Alto, while the three living daughters are:
Mrs. Julian Heidekker of Berkeley; Mrs. Thyra
Haslund of St. Paul, Minn., and Mrs. Inga Nyby, the
wife of lb Nyby, oil man, in Kern County, Cal.

Knut H. Hansen came to America with his parents
in 1891 and at the early age of thirteen went to
work upon a dairy-farm near St. Paul. He contin-
ued to work in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the
creamery line until 1907, when he came to California
wdiere he has specialized in the manufacturing of
ice cream, having held positions of responsibility with
such well-known firms as Christopher's at Los An-
geles and Sherry Bros., of San Francisco. It is
safe to say that he has no superior in his line in
Santa Clara County. He came to Palo Alto in

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1347

1919 and for three years was engaged with Mr.
A. T. Nielsen, the proprietor of the Altamont
Creamery. On June 1, 1922, he bought out the
University Creamery and looks forward to a suc-
cessful and honorable business career.

LaFAYETTE RIDLEY.— For two decades La-
Fayette Ridley has made his home in Santa Clara
County and during this period he has concentrated
his attention upon the cultivation of the soil, being
now engaged in operating a highly productive farm
in the Union district. A native of Arkansas, he was
born near Little Rock, May 17, 1860, of the union
of James and Louisa (Gibson) Ridley, both born in
Tennessee. His parents came to California in 1861,
settling in Yolo County, where both passed away.

In the public schools of this state LaFayette
Ridley acquired his education and for a time he fol-
lowed agricultural pursuits in Yolo County, special-
izing in the growing of wheat. In 1900 he engaged in
the hotel business at Oakland, and the following
year came to Santa Clara County, and is now oper-
ating the Riggs place of 100 acres in partnership
with his son. The property is situated in the Union
district, on the Los Gatos and Almaden Road, and
he brings to its cultivation a true sense of agricul-
tural economics, never allowing a foot of the land
to be unproductive, hence his labors have been
crowned with success. He is also operating two
other orchards, devoted to raising prunes, peaches,
cherries, apricots and grapes; he also raises hay
and grain. Mr. Ridley, like his father has been a
splendid horseman, having a natural ability to judge
the fine points of a horse. He has owned some val-
uable drivers in his day and he now has very fine
draft horses on his ranch. He also uses a tractor
in connection with his teams.

Mr. Ridley has been married twice. His first
union was with Miss Lovina Giguiere, who passed
away leaving two children: Edgar, who is associated
with his father in his farming operations; and Pearl,
now the wife of Charles Johnson of San Jose. For his
second wife, Mr. Ridley chose Miss Florence John-
son, born in California, and the circle of their friends
is a large one. He is a Republican in his political
views and for forty years has been identified with
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has
never been afraid of hard work and has labored dili-
gently and persistently to attain his present success.
Recognizing the duties and obligations as well as
the privileges of citizenship, he has ever taken a
deep and helpful interest in public affairs and his
aid and influence are always on the side of advance-
ment and improvement.

FRANK PHILLIPS.— A progressive, enterprising
young business men of Palo Alto, CaL, Frank Phil-
lips is a native son of this state, born at Half Moon
Bay, San Mateo County, Cal., and for the past seven
years has conducted the Elite Market located at 218
L'niversity Avenue, Palo Alto. His parents are
Manuel and Mary Phillips, retired farmers hving at
Half Moon Bay, the parents of seven children, four
sons and three daughters, of whom six are living.
One son, Joe, is in the dairy business in Palo Alto

Frank grew up on his father's farm and received
his education in the public schools of the district.
Early in life he selected the meat market business
for his life occupation and worked in his home town
until 1913, when he came to Palo Alto and was em-

ployed in several markets and became efficient in all
lines of the business. In 1915 he purchased the
market formerly owned and conducted by George
Carey and since Mr. Phillips assumed control, the
business has received new life and is steadily grow-
ing. Mr. Phillips caters to the best trade in Palo
Alto, his market is scruplously clean and sanitary,
and he carries the usual line of fresh and salted meats,
has ample coolers, refrigerators and has the most
modern, sanitary and up-to-date refrigerator show
cases. In his political views, Mr. Phillips is a sound
Republican, and he belongs to the N. S. G. W.
He owns an attractive prune orchard of five acres
beween Mountain View and Mayfield, and belongs
to the Prune Growers' Association. A generous,
public-spirited citizen, he subscribes liberally toward
the support of all projects for the benefit of the town
and county.

GEORGE W. CALKINS.— A rancher whose in-
telligent operations and enviable results entitle him
to general respect is George W. Calkins, living at
his home on the Saratoga Road. Mr. Calkins was
born in Richmond, Wis., 1863, and is the son of
George and Mary (Markham) Calkins, who were
both natives of England. Mr. Calkins' parents came
to the United States when they were very young,
and began farming in Wisconsin. The father passed
away some time ago in Wisconsin, while the mother
spent her last days in Santa Clara County. Of their
six children, George is the youngest. He attended
school in Wisconsin, after which he followed farming
until 1893.

Mr. Calkins was married in Lawson, Colo., in
1893, to Miss Bertha Bullock, born near Janesville,
Wis. They came to California and settled in Santa
Clara County in the year 1893, where he purchased
his present property, consisting of twenty-two acres,
which was set to prunes, peaches and apricots. His
orchards arc considered among the very best in that
vicinity and he has spent much time and labor and
planning in bringing them to this degree of product-
iveness. He is a believer in cooperative marketing
and is a member of the California Prune & Apricot
Growers Association and the California Peach
Growers Asociation and the Farmers Educational
and Cooperative Union of America. Mr. Calkins
is a man who has always worked for the forward
movement of the community in which he lives and
has made many good friends. Politically, he is a
Republican. He is a member of the San Jose Grange
and of the Woodmen of the World. In religious
faith, he and his wife are active members of the First
Methodist Episcopal Church in San Jose.

A. E. TANNER.— As manager of the California
Garage, 328 University Avenue, Palo Alto, A. E. Tan-
ner has shown unusual capability and initiative in
this position, for which his training and experience
has well qualified him. Mr. Tanner, popularly known
as "Steve" Tanner among his friends, is the son of
E. H. Tanner, who is at the head of this firm, and
who is also a resident of Palo Alto. He was born at
Oscoda, Mich., September 24, 1889, and when he
was seven years old his parents removed to San
Francisco, Cal., where his boyhood days were spent.
At the age of twenty he became connected with the
Tacoma Motor Car Company as a machinist and
was with them from 1909 until 1911. He then became

1348

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

a machinist for the Tacoma Bottling Company, later
joining the sales department of that concern, and then
city salesman for four years.

In 1912 Mr. Tanner was married to Miss Ida M.
Edwards of Tacoma, Wash., also a native of Michi-
gan, and one son has been added to their household,
Albert E., Jr. In September, 1921, E. H. Tanner and
our subject took over the business of the California
Garage, one of the largest and finest garages in the
Santa Clara Valley. They maintain a well-equipped
machine shop and service station, and handle a full
line of tires and all auto accessories. They also have
a well-organized sales department, having the agency
for three high-grade and popular makes, the Hudson,
Essex, and Franklin cars. The Tanner family have
been a very substantial acquisition to the business
and social circles of Palo Alto, where they have
rapidly made a place for themselves.

L. A. MONIER.— A business man whose steady
stream of success is well deserved is L. A. Monier.
the popular proprietor of the Liberty Cash grocery
at 254 University Avenue, Palo Alto. He was born
in France on June 23. 1879, the son pf Antoine
Monier, who was an artillery officer for thirty years
in his native land. As our subject grew to manhood,
he too enlisted in the French Army, training for five
years; then for two and a half years was at Nancy,
France, and two and a half years in Susa, Tunis,
Africa, a French possession, serving as an artillery-
man. Having completed his ten years of military
service under the French flag, he came to America
with a sister. Arriving in San Francisco in 1903,
he entered the Park Riding School and learned the
art of riding and training horses and was there at
the time of the great earthquake and fire in 1906.
He then removed to Berkeley and was employed in
a creamery; then he went to San. Mateo and entered
the employ of Levy Bros, department store. His
intelligence and capabilities were soon recognized and
he was given the position of buyer for the firm, and
for twelve years he filled the position with thorough-
ness and faithfulness, and the training has been in-
valuable to him. In 1917, in company with his
brother-in-law, he visited Palo Alto with the view of
establishing his own store and during that year
opened his store in this beautiful college city. He
handles a first class stock of domestic and imported
delicacies, and staple and fancy groceries, and em-
ploys five clerks to take care of his growing busi-
ness. Mr. Monier's marriage occurred in Oakland,
Cal., and united him with Miss B. Gelin, and they
are the parents of one child, Marie T. Mr. Monier
contributes generously to all that tends to the de-
velopment of Palo Alto and county.

CLIFFORD M. FORD.— A recent graduate of
Stanford University who by intelligence and good
management is making a success of the restaurant
business is Clifford M. Ford. He graduated with the
class of 1921, majoring in business economics and is
now putting his college training to practical use. He
is one of the genial proprietors of the Stanford Cafe,
located at 214 University Avenue, Palo Alto, Cal.,
W. C. McCombs and Lloyd E. Schwab being in
partnership with him. He was born at Fullerton.
Cal., November 1, 1898, the son of Elmer R. and
Grace (McDermont) Ford, the former a native of

Battle Creek, Mich., and the latter the daughter of
an Orange County pioneer, Alexander McDermont.
His father became an extensive walnut grower and
rancher in Orange County and both parents still
reside there.

Clifford M. Ford grew up in Orange County and
his education was received in the grammar and high
schools of Fullerton, where he was graduated with
the class of 1917. He then entered the Universty of
California at Berkeley and began his course of busi-
ness economics remaining there for two years; then
he transferred his credits to the Stanford University
and was graduated in 1921 with the degree of A. B.
Mr. Ford's pleasing personality and kindly disposi-
tion has brought him a large circle of friends who
appreciate him for his honesty of purpose, integrity
and worth. The Stanford Cafe is filling a long-felt
need in the way of excellent quality at moderate
prices; sanitation and modern equipment is strictly
adhered to and the patronage is steadily increasing.

WILLIAM BENJAMIN ALLEN. — Prominent
among the successful business men of Palo Alto,
whose integrity and progressive methods have highly
commended themselves to their fellow-citizens, and
so provided for them a loyal, patronizing public, is
William Benjamin Allen, a native son of Santa Clara
County, who was born in San Jose in 1878. He is a
son of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Graves Allen, well-
known pioneers, Mr. Allen having come to San Jose
from New York State in 1856 and spending the
greater part of his life in this vicinity. In 1871 he
married Harriet Abies, whose family was prominent
in the Berryessa District. William B. Allen was
educated in the public schools of San Luis Obispo
County, and when sixteen years old started working
in a hardware store, and has continued in that import-
ant field ever since. Pushing out into the world, he
sailed for the Hawaiian Islands, where he remained
for five years. At San Jose, on June 26, 1901. Mr.
Allen married Miss Winifred Jeffreys, a native daugh-
ter. Thev have two children, Lloyd Jeffreys, born
in Honolulu, May 26, 1902, and Edyth Winifred, born
in Palo Alto, January 9, 1906.

In 1903, Mr. Allen returned to Cahfornia and
pitched his tent in Palo Alto. Here' he established
the Palo Alto Hardware Company, which is among
the enterprises most worthy of mention in the com-
munity. It is located in the Nevada Building, at a
corner of University avenue and Bryant street, and
occupies the entire ground floor and basement. The
purchase of this building and the maintenance of
high-grade stock are the substantial evidences of the
faith the Palo Alto Hardware Company has in the
permanent grovv'th of this renowned academic center.
The Palo Alto Hardware Company was incorporated
at the same time it was established, and for the past
nineteen years has occupied a leading place among
the mercantile establishments of Palo Alto. It has
been under the active management of W. B. Allen,
its president and manager, who had associated with
him, his father, B. G. Allen, as secretary and treas-
urer, until the latter's death in January 1919. At all
times the company has had an efficient staff of as-
sistants, which has enabled it to maintain a high
standard of service, much appreciated by this com-
munity of representative people.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

CHARLES BERRY. — A wide-awake, experienced
and successful man, and an early settler of Santa
Clara County, Charles Berry has been closely identi-
fied with many of the forward movements of Camp-
bell. He was born in Lancashire, England, December
21, 1863, the son of John and Mary (Wilkinson)
Berry who were also natives of Lancashire, where the
father was a cotton manufacturer.

In 1877 John Berry brought his family to the
United States, thinking of the better advantages and
greater opportunities and in Marshall, Lyon County,
Minn., he engaged in flour milling and farming until
1884, when he located in Santa Clara County where
he engaged in farming. There, too, he and his wife
died. Of their four children, Charles is the second
oldest, and at the time of their arrival in this coun-
try was only fourteen years of age. He received
his education in the splendid schools of England
where he was graduated before coming to America;
then he assisted his father in the mill until he took
up the study of telegraphy and on completing the
course he entered the service of the Western Union
Telegraph Company being stationed in the city of
Chicago, until he moved to California to join his
parents. He arrived in Santa Clara in 1885, where he
entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Rail-
road Company; then in 1886 he moved on to Camp-
bell and since that time has been in the employ of
the same company here as agent and is now in his
thirty-sixth year in one position. He also served
as postmaster of Campbell for two years and has
been the Wells Fargo agent for thirty-five years.

Mr. Berry's marriage occurred in Portsmouth,
N. H., December 17, 1890, when he was united with
Miss Gertrude A. Bell, a very able young woman
who has proven to be a true helpmate. She is a
native of New Hampshire, having been born at
Portsmouth and is a daughter of Meshach H. and
Harriet H. (Works) Bell, born at Kittery, Maine,
and Portsmouth, N. H., respectively. The Bells are
an old and prominent New England family, Mrs.
Berry being a lineal descendant of George Bell, a
member of the Continental Congress. Meshach H.
Bell served in the Civil War in the Tenth N. H.
Volunteers. He w-as a merchant in Portsmouth
until he retired. He passed away May 12, 1921,
while Mrs. Bell had preceded him many years. Mrs.
Berry is the only child of this union and is a grad-
uate of Portsmouth high school. Mr. and Mrs.
Berry are the parents of two children: Clififord was
educated at the Campbell high school and the Poly-
technic School of Engineering at Oakland, serving
in the radio department of the U. S. Army as a
teacher during the World War; he is an electrician,
and owns and conducts the San Jose Battery station
on South Market and Williams streets. Millard W. is
a graduate of Campbell high school and was in the
First Division of U. S. Engineers, serving two years
overseas at the front during the World War and is
now assistant agent of the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company at Sunnyvale. Mr. Berry is a member of
Charity Lodge No. 365, F. & A. M., Campbell and is
also past grand of the Morning Light Lodge No. 42,
I. O. O. F. He was one of the organizers of the Camp-
bell Board of Trade, now the Campbell Improvement
Club, having been an active member since its or-
ganization. Mr. and Mrs. Berry are widely and fav-
orably known in Santa Clara County Mr. Berry's

long years with the Southern Pacific bringing him in
contact with many people, who appreciate his kindly
courtesy. In politics he maintains an independent
course, voting for men and measures rather than
party. He concentrates his efforts and attention upon
his business aflfairs and in all that he undertakes
manifests a most progressive spirit.

HALE ROY MILLER.— Agricultural life has
ever had a lure for Hale Roy Miller and his success-
ful career has been developed through continued ap-
plication, coupled with energy and ability. A native
son of the Golden West, he was born in San Fran-
cisco, May 3, 1874, the son of Stephen B. and Mar-
garet (Secord) Miller. Stephen B. was a native of
the Province of Ontario. The grandfather, William
Baldwin Miller, was born in New York and removed,
when a young man, to Canada, where he married.
He was a farmer by occupation and bought 100 acres
of rough land, cleared it up and made it his home
until his death. There was a family of ten children
of whom Stephen B. Miller was the youngest. He
lived on the home place and was married there April
24, 1861, to Margaret Secord, a native of the county
where he was born. After their marriage, they re-
sided on the home place until 1869, when they came
to California. He first entered the mines, then into
the lumber camps near Dutch Flat, and was there
for two years, then went to San Francisco where he
engaged in the wood and coal business with his
brother William, and continued in this business for
about fourteen years; he passed away in 1885. After
the death of her husband, Mrs. Miller made her home
in San Francisco until the next fall, when she pur-
chased her present ranch of twenty-four acres near
Los Gatos, on the Los Gatos and Saratoga Road,
where she built a fine residence and made other valu-
able improvements. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were the
parents of four children: Kittie G., Nettie E., Wil-
liam J., and Hale Roy, the subject of this review.

He was educated in the public school of the Aus-
tin district and at the age of sixteen he started in
driving a team and for eight years successfully han-
dled a six-horse team over the rough mountain roads
of the Santa Cruz and Big Basin country. When
twenty-three, he entered the employ of the Hume
ranch, under J. D. Farwell, continuing as teamster
foreman and engineer on the ranch for twenty years.
When James A. Clayton & Company of San Jose
purchased the ranch, Mr. Miller was made superin-
tendent and continued in charge for three years,
when he leased the place and is now extensively en-
gaged in orcharding, and he also owns an orchard
on Glenn Una Drive.

In Los Gatos on September 7, 1898, Mr. Miller was
united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. Clinkinbeard,
a native of Monterey, Cal., a daughter of Kinzea
Stone Clinkinbeard, the pioneer, who was born in
Missouri in 1842 and crossed the plains in 1851 in an
ox-team train with his parents. They resided in
Jackson, Amador Countj', where he attended school
at Squaw Valley, near Truckee. He was a farmer
and operated a hay press, then went to Lake Tahoe
and there built and owned the first steam launch on
Lake Tahoe. He married Miss Sarah Ella White-
head, born in the Sierra region of California in 1856;
her parents crossed the plains to California in 1853.

1352

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

The father followed bridge building on the Southern
Pacific; then located at Oakland, where he invented
a process for the manufacture of artificial marble.
Later he removed to Monterey County and became
the superintendent of the Laurellis ranch of 7000
acres, then owned by Mr. Spaulding of Oakland, Mr.
Clinkinbeard's brother-in-law, and now owned by the
Del Monte Company. He built the flume that fur-
nishes water for Pacific Grove in 1880, employing 500
Chinese to do the work. He next came to Santa
Clara County and bought forty acres three miles
below Santa Clara and set it to Bartlett pears and
strawberries, one of the first pear orchards in the
district. Selling the ranch to B. F. Weston, he
moved to Santa Clara and later to Los Gafos, where
he died in 1895, leaving a widow and ten children, of
whom Mrs. Miller is the fifth oldest. He was a
Knights Templar Mason and helped to organize the
O. E. S. of Los Gatos, and was a life member of the
Odd Fellows in Oakland. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are
the parents of one child, Robert James, a student in
Los Gatos high school. Mr. Miller is a stanch Re-
publican and fraternally is a member of the Wood-
men of the World and the Chamber of Commerce in
Los Gatos. For eighteen years he was a member
of the Los Gatos Volunteer Fire department. Mrs.
Miller is a member of the Los Gatos Chapter, O. E.
S. A lover of nature and horseback riding, with her
saddle horse, Sandy, she has explored and is very
familiar with the trails throughout the Santa Cruz
Mountains. Deeply interested in Santa Clara Coun-
ty, Mr. and Mrs. Miller gladly give their best efforts
to the advancement of the community.

CARLTON CARLYLE CRIPPEN.— Daily en-
gaged in the arduous work incident to the Mainte-
nance Department of Stanford University, Carlton
Carlyle Crippen is of an acquiring and inquiring
mind, who can write very authoritatively on the
trotting horse, his breeding and development, partic-
ularly as related to the period when the great Palo
Alto Stock Farm was at the zenith of its glory. It
has been said that a man's real character manifests
itself in his diversions. Visiting the Palo Alto Stock
Farm was Governor Leland Stanford's diversion. It
was easily the greatest estabhshment of its kind in
the world, and here the great builder of the Central
Pacific and the University which bears his name.
came for recreation. After years of faithful service
in helping the Governor bring out his galaxy of
record-breaking pacers and trotters, coming in con-
tact with him under all conditions, Mr. Crippen has
no hesitancy in saying that Governor Stanford was
one of the finest men that ever lived.

As a young man of good attainments, who had
grown up on an Ashtabula County, Ohio, farm, Mr.
Crippen, while yet a young man, became a fancier
of fast horses. When the colts from Mr. Stanford's
celebrated stallion "Electioneer" first startled the
world with their record-breaking performances, Mr.
Crippen was curious to know whether their phenom-
enal records were due to their breeding or to spe-
cial training, and so in 1889 he came out to Califor-
nia, secured employment on the great Palo Alto
Stock Farm and there went to work as a trainer un-
der the noted horseman Charles Marvin, then super-
intendent of the Palo Alto Stock Farm, continuing

in Governor Stanford's employ for many years.
While the Palo Alto Stock Farm was a place where
Governor Stanford came for diversion and relaxa-
tion, nevertheless, it became a financial proposition
of great magnitude. From this farm was sold over
$500,000 worth of horses within six months. One
horse, "Ario," which was discovered and trained by
Mr. Crippen, brought $125,000, being the highest
price ever paid for any racer up to that time, while
a shipment of 100 horses brought on an average
$1,500 each in the New York Madison Square Garden
sale, January, 1892. It is safe to say that the Palo
Alto Stock Farm became the most noted establish-
ment of its kind in the world, and there Governor
Stanford produced more record breakers and vCorld's
champions than any other dozen men in the world.
Without doubt Governor Stanford's four greatest
horses were: Electioneer, champion sire of world's
champion trotters, the greatest sire of early and ex-
treme trotting speed that ever lived, begetting kings
and queens of the trotting world from all classes of
mares: Palo Alto, 2:08-}4, world's champion trotting
stallion in 1891 and one of the gamest trotting race
horses that ever lived, having met defeat but twice
during his entire racing career; Sunol, 2:0854, the
wonderful daughter of Electioneer who held the
world's 2 years-old record in 1888 of 2:18, and
world's three-years old record in 1889, 2:10'^, and
the world's four-years old record in 1890, 2:10^, and
champion trotter of all ages in 1891, as a five-year
old, 2:08^, and sold to the late Robert Bonner for
$41,000. She is the only trotter that ever held the
world's record at 2, 3, 4 and record of all ages at five
years old; Arion, 2:0754, was discovered, broken to
harness and received his first lessons from C. C. Crip-
pen. Made record of 2:10J4 as a two-year old,
which remained the world's two-year old record for
seventeen years, and sold for $125,000 to J. Malcomb-
Forbes of Boston, Mass. Besides the many colts
that Mr. Crippen handled and trained at Palo Alto
that developed into record-breakers he trained or
managed many others that in their day also were
champions of the race course, among them Search-
light, 2:03%, world's champion 3, 4 and 5 year old
pacer that sold for $15,000; Kinney Lou, 2:07.)4, a
champion trotter for which $25,000 was twice re-
fused; Sonoma Girl, 2:0454, "The Girl from the
Golden West" as she was often called, sold to Lotta
Crabtree, the actress, for $26,000 after winning a
number of sensational races on the Grand Circuit in
1907; Lecco, 2:09.>4; Redeem, 2:09^4; Bonnie Ansel.
2:0954, and Oyoho, 2:07^4. Mr. Crippen's greatest
interest was in the scientific breeding and training
of fast horses, but as the interest in horse racing
waned, he found it necessary to take up other lines
of work. He has contributed many excellent articles
to such well-known sporting papers as the "Breeder
and Sportsman," "The California Horseman" and
"The Western Horseman."

Mr. Crippen was born at Colebrook, Ashtabula
County, Ohio, June 14, 1866. His father, Cyrus R.
Crippen, was a soldier in the Civil War. who after
that struggle married Miss Desire Marsh of Ashta-
bula County, Ohio, where they settled down to farm-
ing and reared their two children, Carlton Carlyle of
this review, and a daughter, Dora, now the wife of

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1353

Dr. Sterling of Kansas City, Mo. Carlton Car-
lyle grew up on his father's farm, attended the com-
mon schools, and later graduated from Orwell acad-
emy in Ashtabula County.

He was married at Mayfield to Miss Augusta
Duke, a daughter of Captain George and Mary Duke,
both of English blood, pioneers at Mayfield. Mr.
and Mrs. Crippen have a very cozy home at Mayfield
and are the proud parents of two children, both well
known and highly respected: Roy D., who is adver-
tising manager for the Fidelity Bank at Fresno, and
Dorothy May, who graduated from the San Jose
Teachers' College, and is now engaged in the schools
at Mayfield as a teacher. Mr. Crippen has held his
present responsible position for the past five years;
he attends very closely to his work, is capable and
efficient, and last but not least, is very faithful to his
trust. He is a great admirer of the founder of the
University, while his love of the equine species and
sportsmanship is as keen as ever.

DISMO M. DENEGRI.— One of a large number
of men who have found business opportunities in the
county of Santa Clara, and in turn have endeavored
to promote the commercial activities of this portion
of California, Dismo M. Denegri is one of the suc-
cessful druggists in San Jose. A native son of Cali-
fornia, he was born in San Francisco, March 30, 1882,
a son of John B. and Mary Denegri. During the
Civil War, his father served in the Confederate army;
later migrated to California and settled in San Jose
and engaged in the grocery business. Both father
and mother have passed away.

His early education was obtained in the public
schools and afterwards attended the San Francisco
Polytechnic school; later going to the College of
Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco, from
which institution he graduated in 1902 with the
degree of Ph. G. He is an able linguist, being able
to converse fluently in four languages. For a time
after his graduation, he clerked in various drug
stores of San Francisco, but in the year of 1914, came
to San Jose and established his own business, which
is growing steadily, now owning two stores.

The marriage of Mr. Denegri in November 1912,
united him with Miss Mary Vatuone, a daughter of
the old pioneer family of that name. Two children,
Dismo, Jr.. and Elena, have been born to them.
Politically Mr. Denegri votes the Republican ticket,
and served his party as assemblyman for one term
in 1911-12. He presented the bill and was instru-
mental in having Discovery Day changed to Colum-
bus Day. His influence has been a many-sided one,
and embraces practically all phases of growth in the
town. Especially has he promoted all movements for
the betterment of his fellowmen. During the World
War he was active in all the drives, and his familiar-
ity with several languages, enabled him to sell as high
as $75,000 worth of Liberty bonds in one day. At
the 1919 election he became a councilman for San
Jose. His forceful, determined disposition, backed by
the esteem of the community, enabled him to suc-
cessfully conduct his own campaign. He held the
honored position of president of the Italo-American
Club of San Jose, is a Knight of Columbus, also an
Elk; is an active member of the Chamber of Com-
merce, the Merchants' Association, and the Com-

mercial Club. He and his family are consistent
members of the Catholic Church of San Jose. For
his recreation, he is an ardent admirer of the national
game of baseball; also enjoys a bout with his fellow
boxers. The optimistic spirit which he possesses has
brought him his present prosperity and the esteem of
his community.

MICHAEL O'BRIEN.— A worthy veteran of the
Civil War, who bore more than an average part in
that great conflict is Michael O'Brien, for many
years an upbuildcr of the orchard interests of the
Santa Cruz Mountain region. He, was born in Utica,
N. Y., April 14, 1840, a son of Patrick and Margaret
(Griffin) O'Brien, farmers in that splendid section of
the Empire State, where Michael assisted on the
home place as he grew up to habits of industry and
economy, while he received a good education in the
local public schools. Stirred with patriotism he
volunteered his services to his country in the spring
of 1862, enlisting in Company E, Fourteenth New
York Volunteer Infantry, a second-year regiment;
but he was held in service for three years, being first
transferred to Company B, Forty-fourth New York
Volunteer Infantry (the Ellsworth Avengers) until
that regiment was discharged, when he was trans-
ferred to Company D, Second New York Heavy Ar-
tillery. During his service he was in thirty-two gen-
eral engagements besides numerous skirmishes.
Among others he was in the Seven-Day Battle, Mal-
vern Hill, Gaines Mill, Chancellorsville, Fredericks-
burg, Antietam, South Mountain, Gettysburg, where
he was slightly wounded in the right leg; Mine Rim,
Petersburg, where, on June 17, 1863, he was taken
prisoner and sent to Andersonville and imprisoned
in that horrible place for six months and three days.
During this time, with sixty others, he tunnelled out
and they made their escape, separating and going in
pairs; by travelling nights and hiding daytime he
made his way within twelve miles of Charleston,
where he and his partner were captured and returned
to Andersonville, and there he had the scurvy very
bad. Both armies had arranged for an exchange of
10,000 prisoners. They were formed into squads of
ninety and each squad went inside of the dead line
to be examined by a doctor, the. worst cases being
allowed to go. He was not passed as the doctor said
he could stand it another month, but his partner was
passed. Mr. O'Brien watched until he saw the
guard's back turned, then jumped across the line into
the ranks of his squad, thus he was paroled with the
others, but he took a desperate chance of being shot
to save his Hfe, for he would have died had he re-
mained in prison much longer. They went to Annap-
olis Camp, where he rejoined his command to help
to take Richmond. He was present at the surrender
of General Lee at Appomattox, after which he
marched to Washington and took part in the Grand
Review. He was mustered out and honorably dis-
charged at Alexandria, Va., in May, 1865. Returning
to his home, he spent some time on the Erie Canal,
steering a canal boat, and became very familiar with
that region. In 1867 he took the steamer San Fran-
cisco and crossed to the Pacific side via of the Nica-
ragua route, from where he came on the old boat
New York to San Francisco. For a time he was
engaged in trucking, and then came to Santa Clara

1354

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

County and took a homestead of 160 acres at
Wrights, built a cabin and by grubbing and clearing
improved the place so he had a good tarm later
setting out an orchard and vineyard. He farmed it
for thirty-three years and then sold it to his brother,
Thomas, who has since died. He then bought an-
other ten acre ranch near Wrights, devoted to orch-
ard and vineyard, but sold it in 1920. He lived at
Wrights until March, 1922, when he located at Los
Gatos. He is a member of E. O. C. Ord. Post.

HARRY V. GORDON.— A young man who has
made a success of horticuUure who also served his
country in the Spanish-American War is Harry V.
Gordon, a native son of Sonoma County, born at
Healdsburg, September 27, 1877; his father, Eugene
Gordon was also born there. Grandfather Andrew
J. Gordon was born in Missouri and crossed the
plains in 1846 a member of the Donner party until
the train divided and he came with those who took
the old trail and came safely and in due time to
California. Andrew J. Gordon followed farming
near Healdsburg, locating on Dry Creek and owned
a large farm on the Russian River bottoms, now
very valuable as hop lands, but he sold it in early
days and moved to Anderson Valley, Mendocino
County, and engaged in stockraising; later he re-
moved to Texas where he became a large landowner
and resided until his death. The father, Eugene
Gordon, was also a stockman in Anderson Valley
until he removed to Texas, where he followed the
same business until his death. The mother of our
subject was Laura Trailor; she was born in Illinois
and came to California with her parents, who lo-
cated at Kelseyville, Lake County, Cal., where she
grew to womanhood. Some years after her husband's
death, Mrs. Laura Gordon married Jacob M. Cox,
a prominent rancher and official of Santa Clara
County, a union that proved very happy until Mr.
Cox was summoned by death. She now makes her
home in Oakland.

Harry V. Gordon is an only child and was reared
in Texas from the age of three until twelve. In
1890 he came to San Jose with his step-father, Jacob
M. Cox, who is represented on another page in this
history. Harry V. Gordon attended school at the
Alameda Hester school and during these years he
took up horticulture under Mr. Cox, who owned an
orchard as well as being the deputy county assessor,
so after his school days were over he took charge
of the Cox ranch. On the breaking out of the Span-
ish-American War, he enlisted at San Francisco
July 6, 1898, in Battery I, Third U. S. Artillery, be-
ing stationed at the Presidio, until he was honorably
discharged March 23, 1899. He signified his will-
ingness to go East as a range finder in the U. S.
Army, so was sent East and was attached to the
range finding department. Battery M, Fifth U. S. Ar-
tillery, serving at Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island,
until his discharge March 23, 1902. During his
stay in New York City he became acquainted with
his future wife. Miss Barbara Nosova, who was born
in Prague, Bohemia, a daughter of Francis and
Marie Nosova. The father passed away in his native
land and the mother brought the children to New
York City, where she still makes her home. Mrs.
Gordon was educated in the schools of Prague and
when she came to the United States she resided in
New York City until her marriage to Mr. Gordon,

on June 16, 1901. On his discharge, Mr. Gordon
brought his wife to his ranch in Santa Clara County,
which is a portion of the old William Cox ranch.
He has been successful in raising fruit and now owns
thirty-four acres devoted to growing prunes. Mr.
and Mrs. Gordon have three children: Alma Marie,
a graduate of San Jose high school, is the wife of
Ralph E. Weaver, residing in Evergreen; Camille
Clifford is attending the Los Gatos high school; and
Jackson Milan. Mr. Gordon was made a Mason in
Liberty Lodge No. 299 F. & A. M., at Santa Clara.

A. H. MATHEWS.— A hard-working, successful
business man of Palo Alto, who thoroughly under-
stands his business is A. H. Mathews, the wide-
awake owner and proprietor of the enterprising firm
of Mathews & Company, dealers in staple and fancy
groceries at 323 University Avenue, Palo Alto, Cal.
He was born in Montreal, Canada, March 31, 1865,
a son of Richard and Mary (Borbridge) Mathews,
the father being engaged in the real estate business
at Montreal. Both parents are now deceased.

Mr. Mathews attended the public schools and later
took a business course in the senior high school in
Montreal. After leaving school he sought and ob-
tained employment as a salesman in the millinery
store of John. MacLean and later had charge of the
trimming department, remaining in that capacity for
eight years. In the fall of 1893 he came to Califor-
nia; locating in San Francisco he was employed by
Robert L. Toplitz & Company, wholesale milliners,
and was in the trimming department for three years
when his health failed and he was obliged to take a
vacation, and for over two years he traveled about
California in quest of health. He went to Carpin-
teria, Santa Barbara County, and entered the employ
of Charles Curtis, an old school friend, as a clerk
in his grocery; then he went to Redwood City and
was engaged in the poultry business for two years,
and then came to Palo Alto in 1903, He went to
work for Earle & Company and was with them for
sixteen years, thoroughly learning the grocery busi-
ness. On October 1, 1919, he established his own
business, first as Mathews & Smith; later his partner,
Ray Smith, sold his interest to Mrs. E. D. Clark and
the firm name became Mathews & Company; in
November, 1920, Mrs, Clark sold her interest to
Leslie E. Sampson. Mr. Mathews was married in
1894 at Martinez to Miss Ethel Agnes Borbridge, a
native of Canada, and they have a comfortable resi-
dence at 244 Byron Street.

CHARLES BEEDLE.— Among those whose pro-
gressive spirit and intelligently directed labors have
resulted in making Santa Clara Valley the garden
spot of California, Charles Beedle is deserving of
special mention as one of the leading orchardists of
this section of the state. He is a native of Cornwall,
England, his birth having occurred February 18,
1850, his parents being William and Hannah (Davis)
Beedle, who spent their entire lives in that country,
the father being an expert landscape gardener.

Charles Beedle was the ninth of their twelve chil-
dren and is the only one in the United States. He ac-
quired his education in England and engaged in min-
ing from seventeen until twenty-one years of age,
when he came to the United States in 1871, first set-
tling in New Jersey, where he worked in the iron

^

^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1357

mines and remained for a year. He then spent a
short time in New Hampshire and for four years
resided in Vermont, going from that state to Nevada
in 1877. There he was for four years stationary en-
gineer for the G. W. Grayson Company at the In-
dependence Mine at Tuscarora, and then made his
way to Oregon, bought a farm in Union County and
farmed one year, and then sold and located at Pioche,
Nev., as engineer for the same company. In 1883
he came to San Francisco and in January, 1884, to
Santa Clara County, where he purchased twenty years
of the Garden tract on the Shannon Road, which he
planted to fruit. The next year, in order to make a
livelihood, he went to Fresno as a stationary engineer
in the Hildreth gold district, continuing for four
years. Mr. Beedle is an expert horticulturist, special-
izing in the raising of prunes and apricots, in which
he has been very successful. He has a nice row of
orange trees that is well cared for and he has sent
exceptionally fine specimens of this fruit to London.
England, for exhibition in their fairs.

On December 30, 1877, in Vershire, Vt., Mr. Beedle
was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth S. Rowo,
born in Devonshire, England, who came to Vermont
when six years of age with her parents, Samuel and
Mary (Cheynoweth) Rowe, and they became the
parents of a daughter, Nellie B. Mr. Beedle's po-
litical allegiance is given to the Republican party.
Although he has traveled extensively, he has never
found a region so well adapted to the raising of fine
fruit as the Santa Clara Valley, and he is enthusiastic
in his support of its advantages, pronouncing it the
garden spot of the world. With his family, he is a
student of Christian Science.

WILLIAM RADTKE.— An enterprising, thor-
oughly competent contractor whose executive ability
has been well demonstrated at Gilroy, is William
Radtke, who was born at San Francisco, on March
11, 1888, the son of August Radtke, a cooper by trade,
who had established himself in business at San Fran-
cisco in 1886. He retired to take up orcharding in
the Santa Clara Valley, and for a number of years
he farmed near San Jose in the Hamilton district, and
passed away in August, 1916. He had married Miss
Adelheid Blanken, who proved a devoted wife and
an affectionate mother, and attended conscientiously
to the elementary schooling of her son, sending him
to the Hamilton Grammar School. At the age of
fourteen, the lad went to work at the Enterprise
Foundry, owned by John Roll of Santa Clara, but
six months later he went into San Francisco to enter
the employ of Robert Hall, the machinist. Not long
afterward, he took up the carpenter trade, serving a
three-year apprenticeship in the employ of Charles
Stockholm; and by the time he had reached his
eighteenth year, he had done some small jobs in
contracting, and decided to work for himself.

Among the first contracts completed were those
for the Los Altos Grammar School, the private resi-
dence of Paul Shoup, the president of the Southern
Pacific Railroad, at Los Altos; the Ed Seifert Garage
at San Jose, and the bridge across Guadalupe Creek
at West Santa Clara Street, in San Jose. In 1913,
he concreted the reservoirs for the City of Gilroy,
which impounds the water-supply for Gilroy and con-

serves some 8,500,000 gallons of water. The year
previous, Mr. Radtke came to Gilroy, and since then
he has contracted the very finest of all the buildings
in the town. During 1921 alone, he successfully
completed over $250,000 worth of contracts in Gilroy,
and in addition he was also almost constantly busy
with one contract or another in the suburban or rural
districts. Among the larger buildings in Gilroy are
the Louis Hotel, and Masonic buildings.

At Oakland, on March 21, 1912, Mr. Radtke was
married to Miss Clara Loewen, and their home life
has been made brighter by two children, both boys,
John William and Thomas Madsen Radtke. Mr.
Radtke is both a Mason and an Odd Fellow; and al-
though a Democrat by national political preference,
he has shown such broadminded nonpartisanship that
his fellow-citizens have honored him with member-
ship in the citj'- council.

CHARLES L. NICHOLS.— A far-sighted, hust-
ling business man. whose enterprise in providing the
best of everything, and plenty of it, for the car-
owner and car-user, has been thoroughly appreciated
not only in Los Gatos, where he is established, but
in near-by sections of Santa Clara County, is Charles
L. Nichols. The experienced and accommodating
proprietor of the Los Gatos Auto Supply Company
is a native of the Buckeye State, born at St. Claires-
viUe, Ohio, on July 19, 1885, the son of J. W. and
Caroline (Hoge) Nichols. The father died when
Charles was a mere child, and in 1903, Mrs. Nichols
and her son came to California and soon settled at
Los Gatos. Charles was fortunate in becoming a
student in the Preparatory College at Swarthmore,
near Philadelphia, Pa., and then he worked as as-
sistant surveyor for the Western Pacific, when they
were building through Plumas County, Cal. He next
entered the service of the Chicago, Milwaukee and
St. Paul Railroad and engaged in preliminary and
location work on the transcontinental line in Mon-
tana and Idaho. Through hard study and practical
experience he gradually mastered engineering; but he
was induced to go to Tampico, Mex., and to purchase
a ranch, which he farmed for a year and a half.

In 1908, Mr. Nichols returned to Los Gatos and
married Miss May Lyndon, one of the popular belles
of the town; and then, in this section, he worked for
the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. In 1916, he
made the move of particular interest to all those who
have since been served by him through his thorough
knowledge of the automobile industry and the life
and wants of the autoist: he began in the auto sup-
ph' trade, modestly at first, but in such a level-headed
manner as to assure future success. Today, having
builded and grown gradually, but surely, he has one
of the most complete stocks in this region, carrying
tires and oils, and also doing first-class vulcanizingl
Mr. Nichols both meets the want of the traveler and
he also anticipates his needs and so is ready for every
emergency. Mr. and Mrs. Nichols attend the Pres-
byterian Church, and Mr. Nichols is a member of Los
Gatos Lodge No. 292, F. & A. M., and with his wife
is a member of the Eastern Star. He is a member of
the Santa Clara County Auto Trades Association,
the State Automobile Association, and the Los Gatos
Chamber of Commerce.

1358

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

LOUIS ONEAL. — Amoug the leading lawyers of
Northern California, Louis Oneal figures prominent-
ly. At the time of his election to the California
Senate, in 1901, he had the distinction of being the
youngest member of that body, but his marked abil-
ity was soon recognized by his colleagues and in the
session of 1903 he was appointed chairman of the
committee on corporations, a position he filled with
such capability as to attract the attention of his asso-
ciates. He was particularly interested in the removal
of the capital from Sacramento to San Jose, for which
he presented a bill, but with unfavorable results. The
ability displayed while a member of the State Senate
was indeed gratifying to the Republican party, which
nominated him, and to his community in general.

Near Winnemucca, Humboldt County, Nev., Sen-
ator Oneal was born, November 24, 1874, being sec-
ond among three children comprising the family of
George W. and Sarah G. (Trousdale) Oneal, natives,
respectively, of Missouri and Illinois, but both resi-
dents of Nevada since about 1851. At the time of
crossing the plains George W. Oneal was only a boy,
but he at once began to mine at Gold Hill. Later he
engaged in the cattle business in Paradise Valley,
in which he continued for a long period; in later
years horse and cattle raising occupied his attention.
During his entire residence in the west he was inter-
ested in mining. For many years he resided in Santa
Clara County, but is now deceased. Louis Oneal ob-
tained his early education in the public schools of
San Jose, supplemented with a business course. His
first means of livelihood was as a grocery clerk, but
being energetic and determined to succeed, he began
to study law privately and continued until he was ad-
mitted 'to the bar, April 25, 1895. With B. L. Ryder
as a partner, he opened a law office in the Ryland
block and later was in the office of Howell C. Moore.
In 1896 he was appointed deputy district attorney
under B. A. Herrington and filled the position accepta-
bly for two years, after which he became a member
of the firm of Herrington and Oneal. The county
board of supervisors appointed him city justice in
January, 1900, to fill the vacancy caused by the death
of John W. Gass, and he remained in the position
until November, 1900, when he resigned, subsequent
to his election as state senator. He has extensive
interests in cattle and horse raising in Santa Clara
County, to which he gives considerable time.

The marriage of Mr. Oneal in November, 1902,
united him with Miss Anna Hatman, who was born
in this city and received a thorough education abroad
in the University of Leipsic. In that famous institu-
tion her special studies were music and art, in which
she had the advantage of the training of the best
masters that Germany afifords. One son was born
to Mr. and Mrs. Oneal, Duncan, a Santa Clara Uni-
versity student. Mr. Oneal is a stanch supporter of
the principles of the Republican party and firmly be-
lieves that the platform of this party is conducive to
the highest progress of the nation and the greatest
prosperity of its citizens. The Santa Clara County
Republican League, when under his leadership, took
an active part in campaign work and proved a valu-
able aid in local party work. Fraternally, he is a
member of the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and
the Elks. He is progressive and enthusiastically in-
terested in all civic affairs, and is a member of the

Chamber of Commerce. During his busy life, he
takes time for recreation and finds the most pleasure
in horseback riding. It was largely through his in-
fluence that the California Round-up Association was
organized, thus bringing to the present generation a
touch of the vivid life of the old Spanish days. He
has ever believed in constructive measures and has
occupied a position of leadership, and is actuated at
all times by a high sense of duty.

TOM LAMBERT.— During the latter part of 1920,
three enterprising Sunnyvale young men, who are
very much interested in the art of wireless communi-
cation, established the Radio Shop in San Jose. These
young men are Tom Lambert, Arthur E. Bessey and
E. H. Bessey. Their efforts have met with success
and the first unit of a manufacturing plant at Sunny-
vale was completed about February 15, 1922; it has
been found necessary to double the size of the plant
and the second unit is now under construction. The
plant is equipped to manufacture wireless apparatus
of all descriptions, receiving sets, amplifiers, tube
transmitters, rheostats, condensers, etc. In addition
they will handle standard lines of other "makes.

Tom Lambert was born at Plymouth, England, in
1893, and came to Cahfornia when he was twelve
years old. He attended the grammar school at Oak-
land, Cal., and subsequently was graduated from the
Polytechnic high school of that city. As a youth he
became intensely interested in radio work and wire-
less telegraphy and gained such proficiency that in
1908 he entered the radio sea-service, and for the next
seven and one-half years he worked as radio opera-
tor in the merchant marine, flying the American flag.
His interest in radio development was unflagging
and he found his greatest pleasure in the study of
radio operation development.

Returning to California, he was placed in charge
of the Marconi Institute at San Francisco, and was
director of instruction during the late war. He then
started in to manufacture radio appliances in San
Francisco, and after continuing two years sold out
and came to San Jose in February, 1920. Then he
became associated with his present partners. In a
back room in the Bank of Italy building in San Jose,
the three young men worked, manufacturing on a
small scale, ran a radio school and opened up a retail
shop. Their business prospered and has paid its way
from the start. Quarters in San Jose becoming too
small, they moved to Sunnyvale, which is their home
city. The site of their plant is on Murphy, Radio
and Sunnyvale avenues, and the first completed unit
is 40x220 feet, the building and equipment to cost
in the neighborhood of $100,000. They now employ
125 radio mechanics, which will soon be increased to
200, as they have advance orders for $750,000 of their
products. They are perfecting a new special receiv-
ing apparatus which will be especially adapted for
home use. It will be built similar to the ordinary
phonograph cabinet, an ornamental piece of furniture
which only needs to be connected up and the owner
can listen in on concerts given by broadcasting sta-
tions in different parts of the country. One-hour
concerts are now given at the Radio Shop in Sunny-
vale every Tuesday and Friday evenings. These
concerts are regularly heard in Sterling, 111., which is
close to record distance for music and voice. From a

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1361

single room in the Bank of Italy building in San
Jose to a magnificently equipped factory, from a
business starting with nothing to advance orders on
hand aggregating $750,000, in two years, is the actual
achievement of these young men, whom the city of
Sunnyvale may well congratulate itself on acquiring.

JOHN BAUMAN. — Born in that picturesque part
of Switzerland, Canton Uri, John Bauman first saw
the light of day in 1861. His boyhood and early man-
hood was spent in his native land and his advantages
for an education were extremely limited. He knew
nothing but hard work, but the lessons of thrift and
economy of his younger days served as a stepping
stone to his success in later life. When he reached the
age of eighteen, he sailed from Havre, France, bound
for America, to him the land of opportunity. Upon
his arrival at San Francisco, he worked for wages and
by careful saving and sacrifice, he was able to accu-
mulate enough to go into business and for twelve
j'ears he was in business with his present partner,
Frank Marty in San Jose. All the money they could
save was invested in dairy cows until they now have
fcrty milch cows on their ranch of 100 acres leased
from Sam Martin. From a very small beginning, Mr.
Bauman has steadily climbed until he has become
well-to-do and is highly respected in the community
in which he lives, and is numbered among the suc-
cessful dairymen of the country. His native intelli-
gence has made him a well-informed citizen and he
can be counted upon to lend his aid in all measures
for the advancement of his locality. To such citizens
as Mr. Bauman the community and the county are
indebted for those sterling characteristics which en-
courage investment and general advancement. He is
public-spirited and active in public affairs.

MITCHELL UCOVICH— NICK UCOVICH—
PETER UCOVICH.— As keen and progressive busi-
ness men of Santa Clara County the three brothers,
Mitchell, Nick, and Peter Ucovich, compose a trio
of successful restaurateurs, who have taken their
place in the ranks of active business men. Mitchell
Ucovich, the eldest of the three brothers, was born
in Dalmatia, Jugo-Slavia. in 1881, a son of Paul and
Mary (Skanse) Ucovich. The father, Paul Ucovich,
was a successful farmer in his native land, acquiring
some 10,000 acres of land, on which he raised olives
and grapes. Both parents are deceased. They were
the parents of eight children, one of whom is de-
ceased, the other seven children being the heirs to the
large estate left intact by the father.

Nick Ucovich was born in Dalmatia in 1884, and
Peter, the youngest of the three brothers, was born
in 1886. The boys were reared on the farm, and
there learned valuable lessons in industry and thrift.
Two of their maternal uncles were early settlers in
Leeds City, N. D., and wrote such glowing letters to
the family in Dalmatia that Mitchell Ucovich deter-
mined to seek his fortune in the far-away land of
promise, and in 1898 he embarked for America, land-
ing in New York City May 2. Remaining there but
a short time, he came direct to San Jose, where he
began work in the Overland Restaurant. His early
lessons in frugality caused him to save his earnings
and invest in business for himself. In a few years
he was able to purchase the Overland Restaurant,
and on April 19, 1906, he was joined by his brother
Nick Ucovich, and in 1908 the third brother, Peter,

joined them. They became the owners of two res-
taurants, which they later disposed of, and in 1916
the restaurant known as "Nick's Place," at 9 North
Market street, was established. Nick Ucovich was
the originator of the establishment and the name was
suggested by him.

The marriage of Nick Ucovich united him with
Josephine Munoz, and Peter Ucovich married Isa-
bella Munoz, her sister, both natives of San Jose who
were daughters of an early Spanish family. Mr. and
Mrs. Peter Ucovich have one child, Mitchell.

Mitchell Ucovich is a naturalized citizen and is an
adherent of the principles of the Republican party,
and supports its candidates for various offices. Fra-
ternally he is affiliated with the Loyal Order of
Moose. He is the business manager, while Nick and
Peter Ucovich are the efficient chefs, a combination
that is bringing them the deserved patronage and
success. They are stockholders in the new Growers'
Bank and take just pride in local community affairs.
As public-spirited citizens they subscribe liberally to
all measures that lead toward the advancement of
the locality in which they live.

J. S. FARIA. — Portugal has furnished many desir-
able citizens to California, particularly in relation to
the dairy industry, and among those who have
become prominent in this field of activity is J. S.
F'aria, who in association with his brother is the
owner of a well-irrigated and finely-improved farm
in Jefferson district of the Santa Clara Valley. For
the past fourteen years he has operated this place and
ii'' business matters his judgment has ever been found
scund and reliable and his enterprise unfaltering. He
was born on the Island of Fayal, in the Azores, May
19, 1867, and in the fall of 1883. when a youth of six-
teen, left his native land and sailed for the United
States. For several months he worked in a brick-
yard at Taunton, Mass., and on January 6, 1884, he
arrived in California, settling at Milpitas, where he
secured employment on a dairy farm. For nine years
he continued in the employ of one farmer and during
that period gained a comprehensive knowledge of
dairying, afterward turning his attention to the bail-
ing of hay, at which he worked steadily in Santa Clara
County until 1907, with the exception of three sea-
.sons, which were spent in a similar manner in San
Mateo County. For the past fourteen years he has
been associated with his brother, Frank S. Faria, who
is two years his junior, in the ownership and operation
of an excellent dairy farm of fifty-two acres, situated
in the Jefferson precinct, on the Lawrence Road.
Their farm is conducted along the most modern and
progressive lines, a large pumping plant having been
installed, one of the wells being 445 feet in depth,
while their buildings are thoroughly equipped and of
substantial construction. They keep thirty high-grade
Holstein cows and theirs is one of the model dairy
farms of the celebrated Jefferson District.

Mr. Faria married Miss Minnie S. Silva, a native
daughter, who passed away three years after their
union. Her sister, Mary, born at Watsonville Cal.,
is now the wife of his brother, Frank, and they are
the parents of four children: Thomas H., Marie A.,
Teressa C, and Clarence J. Mr. Faria has become
a naturalized citizen of the United States and his
study of the political questions and issues of this coun-
try has led him to become a supporter of the Re-
publican party. In religious faith he is a Catholic

1362

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and he is also a member of the U. P. E. C. A man
of fine physique and attractive personality, his strict
integrity, close application and executive ability have
won for him the unqualified respect and esteem of all
with whom he has been associated and he ranks with
the progressive agriculturists and dairymen of Santa
Clara County.

THOMAS ELLARD BEANS. — Preeminent
among the men of affairs in Santa Clara County
whose exceptionally fruitful lives have made their
demise a matter of wide regret and will more and
more to insure to them the most enviable and last-
ing fame possible, Thomas Ellard Beans enjoyed to
an unusual degree the esteem and goodwill of his
fellow men. He was born in Salem, Ohio, on De-
cember S, 1828, of Irish-Scotch parentage, his father,
Israel Beans, who had married Miss Jane Byrnes,
having emigrated to Ohio from Virginia early in the
century. Thomas was sent to the schools of his
native town; and later his course of study was sup-
plemented in a private academy. He commenced
his business career as an apprentice in a newspaper
office, next served as a clerk in a country store, and
still later was a salesman in a wholesale house. At
the age of twenty he was one of a party from Pitts-
burgh who determined to try their fortune in the
then newly-exploited EI Dorado of California; and
leaving Pittsburgh in the early spring of 1849, Mr.
Beans and his companions crossed the plains in a
prairie schooner, in those days the only means of
transport, and they arrived at Sacramento in the
month of August, 1849.

Mr. Beans engaged in placer mining with some
success, and then, with a number of his associates,
formed a partnership and opened a general miner's
supply store in Sacramento. In 18S0, a great flood
swept over the country along the Sacramento River
and destroyed their building and its contents; and
the partnership having been thus automatically dis-
solved, Mr. Beans went to San Francisco, intending
to return to the Eastern States. While waiting in
that city for a steamer to New York, he met an old
acquaintance from his native town, a Dr. Patterson,
then filling a Federal Government post on the Coast;
and Dr. Patterson prevailed on Mr. Beans to aban-
don his Eastern trip and to join him and some others
in a mining venture in the country near what is now
Nevada City. Dr. Patterson wished to set out at
once; but owing to the great flood of the year be-
fore, it was decided by the miners to remain in San
Francisco for the winter. Mr. Beans not only con-
cluded to remain with the claims, but he was instru-
mental in forming a miners' association of which he
was elected the secretary and recorder. This organi-
zation was effected to protect the claims of the ab-
sent miners from unlawful infringement, and its of-
ficers soon found plenty of e.xciting work to do in
carrying out its objects. After a few years, however,
of alternate success and failure as a miner, Mr. Beans
again turned his attention to merchandising; and
established a general merchandise store in Nevada
City, which he successfully conducted for eight years.
He then engaged in the general commission business
in San Francisco until 1866 and in that year he em-
barked in banking; and having associated himself
with Dr. W. J. Knox, the bank of Knox & Beans

was opened for business in San Jose. This firm was
succeeded in 1868 by the corporation ever since
known as the Bank of San Jose, of which Mr. Beans
was elected cashier and manager. He served in that
capacity until 1871, w"hen he was elected president
and manager; and he continued in that position until
his death. In addition to his connection with this
bank, Mr. Beans was prominently identified with
many public and private institutions. He was at
various times a director of the San Jose Woolen
Mills, the San Jose Fruit Canning Company, the
Home Mutual Insurance Company, and other cor-
porations; and he was for fifteen years a trustee of
the San Jose State Normal. As a member of the
board of fifteen freeholders, he supervised the
preparation of the charter of the City of San Jose;
and as a member of the California Pioneers, of which
he was at different times an honored officer, he took
a lively and substantial interest in the welfare of the
survivors of the stirring days of '49. Quietly, too,
and in a most unostentatous way, Mr. Beans gave
freely and liberally to public and private charities;
and deep was the sorrow of innumerable friends
when it was announced that he had breathed his
last at his home, 489 North First Street, San Jose,
on July 12, 1905.

At Nevada City Mr. Beans was married to Miss
Virginia Knox, a sister Dr. W. J. Knox, who became
his associate in business. Mrs. Beans passed away
in about 1862, leaving two children, a son, William
Knox Beans, now president of the Bank of San Jose,
and a daughter, Mary. Mr. Beans was married a
second time, being united with Miss Charlotte Bray
and their union was blessed with two children, Fran-
ces and Rowena Beans. Mr. Bean's widow survived
him until 1910, when she, too, passed to the Great
Beyond. Fraternally Mr. Beans was a Mason and
an exemplary and highly esteemed man. The day
of his passing, William Knox Beans was elected
president of the Bank of San Jose, to succeed his
father; and Mrs. Charlotte B. Beans was chosen a
director. Under such able and conscientious direc-
tion, the perpetuity and the continued success and
prosperity of the splendid memorial which the genius
and the nobility of Mr. Beans erected to both the city
of San Jose and himself was assured.

FRANK KASSON.— For the past eleven years
city clerk of Palo Alto, Frank Kasson is numbered
among the early residents of that city, having located
there in 1895, when there were only a few inhabitants,
and only four years after the opening of Stanford
University. Mr. Kasson was born near Broadalbin,
N. Y., on September 22, 1856, where his forefathers
had settled about 1740. The family is of Huguenot
descent, having fled from France at the time of the
St. Bartholomew massacre, finding refuge in Ireland.
In 1720 Adam Kasson and six sons arrived in Bos-
ton, and shortly thereafter one of the sons associated
himself with Sir William Johnson, who colonized
what is now Fulton County in New York State.

George Kasson, the father of the subject of this
sketch, married Jane Gay, whose family came from
England to Prince Edward's Island and later to
Massachusetts. The Gays were men of liberal educa-
tion, numbering many preachers and teachers among
them. Frank Kasson was one of a family of eight

i

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1363

children, and as his people were not wealthy he had
to fend for himself from the age of fourteen. He
began teaching school when sixteen years old, and
later graduated from Claverack College. When
twenty-two years old he went to Illinois, where he
taught for a time and where he later engaged in news-
paper work which he followed for thirty years. In
1885 he married Miss Fannie Scott, a descendant of
the Lees of Virginia, and a few months after that
event moved to Pasadena, where he was associated
with H. J. Vail in founding the Pasadena Star, the
first daily published in that city, and of which he was
city editor for two years. He then founded the Mon-
rovia Leader, and still later he was associate editor
of the Redlands Citrograph. He was for a time on
the stalT of the Los Angeles Tribune and was also a
special writer for the San Francisco Examiner. In
1893 he became joint publisher of the Mariposa Ga-
zette, being associated with Mrs. Frances A. Rey-
nolds (nee Utter), whose family vi-as among the early
settlers of New Jersey. Two years later she became
his second wife. Mrs. Kasson was an experienced
newspaper woman and a brilliant writer, and was the
first woman to publish a newspaper in CaHfornia.
A year after locating in Palo Alto, Mr. and Mrs. Kas-
son began the publication of the Palo Alto Live Oak,
which they continued to issue for four years. A news-
paper merger united the Live Oak and the Daily
Times, with which Mr. Kasson was connected for a
number of years as city editor.

In 1910 Mr. Kasson was appointed city clerk and
assessor of Palo Alto, which office he still holds. His
work naturally implied an interest in civic and polit-
ical affairs, and he has always been an adherent of the
Republican party with strong progressive tendencies.
Mr. Kasson had two children by his first marriage.
They are Eugene Field, who won a first lieutenancy
in the World War, and is now engaged in newspaper
work in Philadelphia, and Mrs. Xyris Gay Ely of San
Francisco. Mrs. Kasson also has two children, Irene
E. Rfvnolds of Palo Alto and Richard F. Reynolds
of San Francisco.

CHARLES MULE.— A resident of San Jose for
more than twenty-five years, Charles Mule is a pio-
neer in his field of endeavor. He was born in Sicily
on February 1, 1858, the son of Nicholas Mule, a
shoemaker, who died when our subject was only two
and a half years old. He had married Maria Lazza-
roni, also a native of Sicily, where they grew up to
enjoy a climate much like that of Santa Clara County;
and she remarried after her husband's death. When
between six and seven years old, Charles went to
work in a bakery and macaroni factory; and when
he reached military age, he served for thirty-two
and a half months in the Italian Army.

On reaching his twenty-fourth year, Charles Mule
migrated to the New World, sailing from Palermo on
the Vincennes of Florio; and he landed at the his-
toric old Castle Garden in New York on September
28, 1883. He worked in New York City for a while,
and there learned the barber's trade; and from the
metropolis he went to New Orleans, then to Bryan,
Texas, and next to Dallas, at each of which places
he worked as a barber. He reached San Francisco
on November 19, 1889, and there bought a half-
mterest in a barber shop on Grant Avenue; but at the
end of eighteen months, he bought into a shop on

Dupont Street, between Broadway and Vallejo streets,
again securing a half interest. At the end of a year
and a half, he had built for himself a shop at the
entrance to the Midwinter Fair of 1893-94, and on
June 27, 1894, he came down to San Jose and pur-
chased a barber shop on Fountain Street. He has
since then had no less than five different barber shops
in various locations in San Jose, established for the
convenience of the public, — a fact that the public
has not been slow to appreciate, as may be seen
from his handsome patronage. His present shop is
at Zl South Market Street.

Mr. Mule has been twice married. He was joined
in matrimony first in the fall of 1894, when he was
united with Miss Flora Malatesta, a native of San
Jose, who died in 1896. In July, 1902, at San Fran-
cisco, Mr. Mule was married to Miss Maria Paggeto,
a native of Sicily who came to America in 1901.
She was the daughter of Frank and Antoinette Pag-
getto, both of whom died in Italy. She was reared
ill a convent at Palermo; and coming to America, she
stayed for fourteen months with an aunt at San
Francisco, and then, in 1902, came to San Jose. Two
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mule: Mary
is a junior in the San Jose high school, while Lena
is a sophomore in the same institution. Mr. Mule
IS the owner of the residence at 897 Vine Street,
where the family make their home. He belongs to
the Masons and Odd Fellows, and in politics is a Re-
Hiblican, active in the local party organization.

MICHAEL DE MATTEL— In commercial circles
the San Jose Ravenna Paste Company holds a po-
sition as one of the strongest and largest concerns
oi its kind in California. The business of the firm
is transacted at its main office and factory in San
Jose, located at 49-55 North San Pedro Street, where
macaroni and kindred products are manufactured. This
is a San Jose concern, which has grown from a small
beginning and has become an important industry,
tcur tons of food products being produced every
day. The manager of the company, Michael De
Mattel, is one of the able and deserving business men
of San Jose. Much of his time is spent in travel
ti-.roughout California selling the products manufac-
tured by the company. He is a native son of San
Jose, born July 4, 1880. His father, August Mattel,
was born in Italy and came to San Jose in 1865.
After arriving in the United States, he learned the
butcher's trade and followed it for many years. He
was married in San Jose in 1875 to Miss Teresa Nic-
ora, also a native of Italy. They were the parents
of four children, three now living: August, Michael,
and Teresa, the wife of Louis J. Trinchero, who re-
sides art Niles, Cal.

Mr. De Mattel attended St. Joseph's College and
graduated with the class of 1896. Soon after leaving
school, he was employed as bookkeeper for the San
Jcse Paste Company. In 1915 a consolidation of the
San Jose Paste Company and the Ravenna Paste
Company was effected and Mr. De Mattel assumed
the managership of the new company, and to his
native ability is due, in a large measure, the success
that has come to the enterprise. The factory is com-
modious and sanitary in every respect, and their
products are of a high grade.

The marriage of Mr. De Mattel united him with
Miss Flavia Baiocchi, a native of San Jose, educated
a» the College of Notre Dame. They are the parents
of three children: Elmer, Arthur, and Bernadette.

1364

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. De Mattei is affiliated fraternally with the
Knights of Columbus, is an active member of the
Native Sons of the Golden West, also of the Cham-
ber of Commerce of San Jose. The family are mem-
bers of the Catholic Church of San Jose. Pre-
eminently a business man, finding his greatest pleas-
ure in the management of his commercial interests,
he nevertheless does not neglect any duty that falls
upon him as a citizen, but has always been a con-
tributor to the development of his community.

OSCAR FREDERICK GOHRANSON. — A

Swedish-American whose admirable thrift and econo-
my have enabled him to succeed where so many would
have signally failed, and who has, therefore, as a wel-
come American by adoption, made good in such a
manner as to reflect the highest credit not only upon
himself and parentage, but upon the land of his birth,
is Oscar Frederick Gohranson, a native of Stockholm,
where he was born on December 13, 1835. His father
v.as Oscar Gohranson, an importer and exporter of
ail kinds of first-class provisions, and he had married
Anna Magdalena Lindroth, a talented lady who
proved an excellent wife and devoted mother. They
had only the one child — Oscar F., the subject of our
story. Up to his ninth year, Oscar lived with country
folks near Stockholm, and then he came into town and
attended the grammar schools. At the very early
age of twelve, he went to sea, shipping on a sailing
vessel plying between the Northland and the Med-
iterranean; but after one trip, he commenced school
at Gothenburg and for three years pored over his
books. He then became a clerk in a grocery store,
where he remained for six years; and after that, he
went to sea again, and for several years he toured
the ocean, visiting the chief ports of the world.

Stopping at Australia, Mr. Gohranson opened a
store at Parker, near Melbourne, from which he sup-
plied the mines; but when, at the end of four years,
the mines were closed and the camps broken up, he
lost heavily, and was induced to go to sea again, sail-
ing to Java, Borneo, and from there to Singapore,
where he was taken seriously ill and had to remain
for a long time in the hospital. After that, he returned
to his native land and visited his old home, and having
seen the friends and scenes familiar in childhood, he
became steward on an American schooner bound for
New York. At London, however, his feet were badly
scalded in an accident, and he was compelled to lay
over to recover. On one of his voyages between
London and the East Indies on the "Oriental Queen."
sailing around Cape of Good Hope they ran out of
fresh water and had to use condensed sea water; they
also ran out of vegetables and the crew got the Scurvy.
Their destination was Madras and they finally drifted
into that port. There they obtained medical aid and
also plenty of vegetables and fruits and soon recov-
ered. Thence they went to Malmain and loaded
teak-wood and returned to England. After discharg-
ing their cargo they went to New York for a cargo
of wheat, leaving New York December 25, 1861.
When two days out, they encountered a severe storm,
the cargo shifted, and their vessel, the "Oriental
Queen" sprung a leak; the crew took to the boats
and it was thirty-six hours before they were rescued
and taken back to New York by the Nantucket
light ship. He then shipped on the Jersey Brig, but
v.'hen out at sea a big storm swept over them and
they went back to Jersey City. He then took a

ship back to Sweden. Shipping on an English ves-
sel bound for Australia, from Australia he came to
California, landing at San Francisco in 1868, and here
he decided to give up the sea. He had saved con-
siderable money, and with his little capital, he came
on to San Jose, Cal., and invested in a chicken ranch.
He was unsuccessful, however, and in the venture
lost all he had, save $100. This precious sum he put
into a restaurant business, entering into partnership;
but he stuck to his guns there only a short time, when
he sold out and went to farming. He rented a small
farm for six years, and raised berries, and then he
purchased the ranch of eleven acres just north of San
Jose. He steadily developed the ranch, and after
many years of hard work and self-denying saving,
he cleared his property of debt, and it is now a trim
little farm irrigated by means of a fine artesian well
and devoted to peas, apples, prunes and apricots.

In 1869, Mr. Gohranson made another trip to
Gothenburg and on his return to California, he
guided a small company of immigrants bound for
San Francisco and was instrumental in securing good
positions for the six young ladies in the partj', he
himself marrying one of them, at San Francisco, on
August 8 in the following year. She was Miss Laura
Victoria Kellberg, a native of Stockholm, a college
graduate and educator, and she became a
talented writer of beautiful poetry and short stories,
many of her writings appearing in papers in both
Sweden and the L'nited States. She was the center
oi a wide circle of friends; and when, in 1906, she
died from shock suffered on account of the San
1 rancisco earthquake, her untimely passing was la-
mented by many. Five children had sprung from
this happy union; Oscar S. Gohranson, a carpenter
of San Jose; Frederick, deceased; Victor T., also a
carpenter living in San Jose; Laura C. is Mrs. Meade
of San Francisco; Svea C, is Mrs. Benj. Mason of
San Jose. Mr. Gohranson is a member of the So-
ciety of Pioneers of Santa Clara County; and he is
also a stanch Republican.

FRANK H. LOBDELL.— A useful citizen of Los
Gatos and one who can be depended upon to give
his best efforts to the upbuilding of the community,
is Frank H. Lobdell, the capable constable of this
thriving foothill city. On August 10, 1857, he was
born in New Jersey, the son of S. H. and Susan
Lobdell, and both parents are now dead. Frank H.
was educated in the public schools and an academy,
afterwards learning the painting and decorating
trade, which he followed for four years. Leaving
his native state, he journeyed to California, arriving
at Los Gatos on January 10. 1910, and for the next
four years was occupied at his trade. On account
of failing health, however, he took a position as
guard at San Quentin penitentiary, remaining in this
capacity until he resigned on being elected constable
of Los Gatos.

The marriage of Mr. Lobdell united him with Miss
Lynn L. Lytle. He is a strong Republican and is
active in the councils of his party. Fraternally he
is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias. He is
highly esteemed in his locality for his honesty and
integrity, and Los Gatos is indeed fortunate in se-
curing such a conscientious man to fill the office of
constable. He supports all measures for advance-
ment, taking great pride in the prosperity of the city.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1367

GARNER R. SEARL.— Progressive San Jose
owes much of her fame as a city well able to care for
whoever knocks at her hospitable door to such en-
terprising managers as Garner R. Searl, the owner
of the Hester Apartments, 1060 The Alameda, a
native of Riverside County, Cal., where he was born
un January 6, 1896. His father, O. C. Searl, a native
of Illinois, came west to California and settled as a
grain farmer at Hemet; he married Miss Idella F.
Reinhart, who was born in Missouri. Garner at-
tended the grammar school at Riverside, after which
he took a course of three and a half years at Heald's
Business College at Riverside.

He then engaged at the Alameda plant of the
Union Iron Works, Alameda, Cal., and became chief
pricer, and going overseas for patriotic duty in the
great World War, he was sergeant in the One Hun-
dred Sixty-first Infantry and served at St. Mihiel,
France, in the Adjutant General's department. He
returned to San Francisco in 1919 and was honorably
discharged August 18 at the Presidio, and was mar-
ried at Berkeley on October 10, 1919, to Miss
Hester Geraldine Lester, a daughter of the Rev.
James N. Lester, who died in San Jose five years
ago, a native of Illinois, who had married Miss Cora
V. Hester, also a native of the Prairie State. Mr.
and Mrs. Searl have been blessed with one child,
Mildred Hester Searl. They are members of the
Christian Church.

In 1921 Mr. Searl purchased the Hester Apart-
ments, a large three-story, frame structure on The
Alameda, and immediately began to improve the
same, making the building one of the attractive and
serviceable edifices in San Jose, and as would be
expected, they are meeting with well-merited suc-
cess. Their object was to appeal to a select class of
tenants, and this object has been attained. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Searl move in the best circles of San Jose
society, and this fact enables them to serve, in thtir
new venture, the most appreciative renters. Rev.
James N. Lester was a pastor at Worcester, Mass.,
and as a man of letters interested in the problems of
daily life, he attained distinction as "The Boy
Preacher" of the Christian Church. He was eloquent
and had just finished the w-ork for the Ph.D. degree,
but he died before it was conferred. Mrs. Searl
graduated from the Berkeley high school in 1913;
then took the classical course at the University of
California at Berkeley, from vi-hich she was gradu-
ated in 1918 with the A. B. degree, and in 1919 the
same university conferred upon her the degree of
Master of Arts.

JAMES A. GOODWIN.— One of the best-known
and most successful business men of Santa Clara
County is James A. Goodwin, one of the leading real
estate and insurance men of San Jose. He is a man
of unquestioned ability and integrity, who has
achieved success by his thorough mastery of his
calling, fidelity to his trusts, and honest dealings with
all persons with whom he is brought in contact.

A native of Providence, R. I., Mr. Goodwin was
torn March 29, 1863, and where his forbears had
been prominent since early colonial days. The Good-
win family came from England in an early day. Mr.
Goodwin's mother was Miss Amanda Eddy before
her marriage, her family originally coming from
Scotland, who also settled in Rhode Island. She
passed away in 1917 at the age of ninety-three years.

She was a cousin of the famous surveyor and civil
engineer who laid out the site of San Francisco, who
was also an honored pioneer; she was also distantly
related to the famous organist, Clarence Eddy. Mr.
Goodwin's father, Robert Goodwin, was well and
favorably known in San Francisco as a pioneer in
the furniture business, and was associated with his
brother, J. P. Goodwin. He passed away in San
Francisco at the age of seventy-four years. The
family came to the coast for the first time in 1851,
but were not content to remain permanently, making
two trips across the continent, the last trip was made
during the year of 1872. The family consisted of
four children: Robert H., mining and civil engi-
neer, residing in Oakland; Amanda M.-, Carrie E.;
and James A., the subject of this review.

Mr. Goodwin received his education in the public
schools of San Francisco; when still a boy, he entered
the employ of W. J. Landers, an insurance firm, and
vas thus employed for twenty-six years. Mr. Moel-
lering, his partner at the present time, was also em-
ployed in the same office for twelve years. In 1910
these two young men removed to San Jose and
formed the partnership which still exists. By strict
integrity and much natural ability, the firm has grown
until it is, at the present time, one of the best-
known and most reliable real estate and insurance
firms of Central California. Mr. Moellcring handles
the real estate end of the business, and Mr. Goodwin
attends to the insurance part of this thriving busi-
ness, and is one of the oldest and best-posted insur-
ance men in California. The business was founded
during the year of 1867 by W. A. Parkhurst. The
firm deals in all kinds of insurance, automobile, cas-
ualty, plate glass, fire and hfe insurance. The firm
has been instrumental in selling and exchanging some
of the finest properties in the valley.

Mr. Goodwin's marriage united him with Mrs.
Chessie A. Williams, formerly Miss Jones. Frater-
nally he is a prominent Mason, being a member of
the Blue Lodge and also the Chapter in San Fran-
cisco, and of the Knights Templar of San Jose.
He is also active in the San Jose Business Men's
Club. He has always been a firm believer in the
prosperity and development of Santa Clara County
and with the interest of a loyal citizen has watched
its growth and advancement until it has reached its
present high standard of civilization.

JOHN JOSEPH SIMMONS.— One of the pros-
perous and well-known business men of San Jose
who enjoys a steadily-growing business, is John Sim-
mons. He was born May 12, 1882, in Jugo-Slavia,
a son of Ignatius and Mary (Lendvaj) Simunic.
Ignatius Simunic was a man of good education, speak-
ing fluently five languages; he is now eighty-two years
of age and resides at Drnje, Jugo-Slavia, Mrs. Simunic
having passed away. His father, Alexander Simunic,
was, for a number of years, postmaster at Drnje and
was a man of wealth and influence in his community.
Ignatius Simunic was an officer in the Austrian army,
highly esteemed for his honorable and upright char-
acter. Mr. and Mrs. Simunic were the parents of
twelve children, of whom John was the youngest.

John Simmons received his education in the schools
of his native land, later taking a three-year course
in a commercial college; he also studied the sciences
and other languages so he now reads, writes and
speaks three languages. At the age of seventeen he
was employed by his uncle, Steve Lendvaj, in the

1368

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

meat market business in Drnje; here he became
thoroughly conversant with the different lines of the
meat business, remaining in the employ of his uncle
for three years. He then entered the Austrian army,
enlisting in the Sixteenth Infantry Regiment, serv-
ing three years and three months, and attained the
rank of sergeant. Upon his discharge from the
army, he bid farewell to his family and sailed for
America, on the steamship Carmania of the Cunard
line, and landed at Ellis Island May 17. 1907; later
he removed to Braddock, Pa., and for two months
worked for the American Steel and Wire Company;
then for two months worked in a tannery in Mil-
waukee, Wis. While thus engaged, he was studying
the English language. On coming to the United
States he was naturalized at the first opportunity,
taking the name of Simmons, for convenience of pro-
nunciation. In September, 1907, he removed to Oak-
land, then worked for a short time in Watsonville,
Cal., removing to San Jose, November 12, 1907. Here
he became an employe of the Russ House, working
there for eight years, working from the bottom up
to assistant manager; later was employed by C. J.
Vath as foreman; then for the Esteribon Market and
later George Wagner's Market. Not being content
to work for others, he leased a store building at 25
West San Fernando Street, and established his pres-
ent business December 1, 1920, equipping his shop
with the modern refrigerating machinery, carrying the
best grade of fresh meats, smoked and dried fish, and
he keeps it thoroughly sanitary and up-to-date in
every particular.

The marriage of Mr. Simmons united him with Miss
Amanda Pasetta, a daughter of Mat. Pasetta, who
is engaged in the dried fruit business in Santa Clara.
Mrs. Simmons is a native daughter of San Jose and
was educated at Notre Dame Convent. Politically
Mr. Simmons supports the principles of the Repub-
lican party, but he has never been an aspirant for
official honors. During the World War he applied
and passed the examination for entrance to an Officer's
Training Camp and was accepted, but the Armistice
was signed just before he was called. Fraternally, he
is identified with the Eagles and the Slavonian So-
ciety; also a member of the Pastime Club; the San
Jose Meat Market Association and the Merchants
Association. Although Mr. Simmons is a man who
has won more than the ordinary share of success,
in manner he is modest and unassuming, and his
friends respect him for his genuine worth of character.

MANGNIN BROTHERS.— Among the men of en-
terprise and ability, who are acquiring prosperity and
influence, Mangnin Brothers are counted among the
successful business representatives. Since the first
of April, 1921. the three brothers, C. F., T. J. and
W. J. Mangnin have been the owners and proprie-
tors of the Overland Garage located on East Santa
Clara Street, San Jose. Their establishment is one
of the most important automobile service shops in
the county. They carry a full line of all automobile
accessories, gas, oils; do auto painting, manufacture
automobile tops; they also do expert work in acety-
lene welding and other repairs requiring the services
of thorough mechanics. The two younger brothers
arc versed in all mechanical lines, and are assisted
in their work by seven other machinists and me-
chanics, who are kept continuously at work. Nothing
but the best work is allowed to pass from their shop.

A specially-equipped service car is always held in
readiness for emergency calls. They handle acces-
sories for all makes of cars, and all the requirements
of automobilists can be supplied under one roof.

The three boys arc native sons of the county
where they were educated. They are able, energetic,
paying strict attention to their steadily-growing busi-
ness, and success is crowning their well-directed ef-
forts and their popularity is well deserved. C. F.
Mangnin was born in Boulder Creek, April 21, 1890;
T. J. Mangnin was born in San Jose on May 17, 1892,
and W. J. Mangnin was born February, 1894. They
arc the sons of T. J. Mangnin, Sr., an honored and
well-known citizen of San Jose, who settled in Cali-
fornia in early pioneer days. He still resides in San
Jose, where, for many years, he was in the laundry
business, but is at present assisting in the Mangnin
Bros.' Garage. All three of the Magnin boys grad-
uated from the San Jose high school. The two
younger boys are good plumbers and mechanics and
have charge of the mechanical department of the
company, while C. F. Mangnin has charge of the
office work. The three brothers are excellent co-
workers, and by such cooperation the business is as-
suming large proportions.

All three of the boys began working in a cannery
when only ten years of age and by careful economy
they were able to save a sufficient amount of money,
which they invested in a number of milch cows. They
rented the old Colonel Young ranch on the Alviso
Road and successfully carried on a dairy business for
ten years. After selling out their business, C. F.
Mangnin became a railroad man and was promoted
to the position of conductor on the Sacramento North-
ern Railroad. He spent five years in this line of
work; meanwhile the two younger brothers were
learning their trades of plumbing and mechanics,
all in training for the business in which they are now
engaged. C. F. Mangnin worker for three years in
the largest department store in Chicago and later
went into the garage business there, giving it the
unique name of "Neal's Grease Spot." This busi-
ness proved very prosperous, and in 1920 he dis-
posed of it and returning to San Jose, entered into
partnership with his brothers.

The marriage of C. F. Mangnin united him with
Miss Isabelle Grant, a daughter of Roderick Grant,
born in San Diego, but reared and educated in San
Jose. They are the parents of two children, Eugene
Cornelius and Dorothy May.

T. J. Mangnin was united in marriage with Miss
Hazel Guthrie, a daughter of Frank Guthrie, pro-
prietor of the Expert Dyeing and Cleaning Works.
They are the parents of one child, Catherine Hazel.
The marriage of W. J. Mangnin occurred in San
Jose and united him with Miss Alice Richardson, a
daughter of Charles Richardson, and they are the
parents of one child, Aileen.

The brothers are all active in fraternal circles, af-
filiating with the Maccabees, the Woodmen of the
World, and the Native Sons. They are popular mem-
bers of the Pastime Social Club of San Jose. Politic-
ally, they cast their votes in favor of the Republican
candidates. Their business is conducted along pro-
gressive lines, modern machinery is being installed,
and everything that tends to an equipment that will
adequately serve the public needs. They are all
hard workers, generous contributors to worthy causes
and friends on whom one can invariably rely.

/v-uoAA^tyyi/ <— - . Kj c^iJcXy,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1371

I

MARTIN CHARLES BALL.— A native son of
California and a successful horticulturist of Santa
Clara County is Martin Charles Ball, who also con-
ducts a nursery in connection with his orchard. He
was born on the old home place on the Mountain
View Road. July 10, 1873, the son of Peter Ball, who
was born August 17. 1844, in La Salle County, 111.
Peter Ball's father was Martin Ball, a native of Ire-
land and he was born about 1807; he married there
and immigrated to Canada, where he resided for a few
years, when he removed to Buffalo, N. Y. ; later he
removed to La Salle County, 111. and in 1850 left
there bound for California. The journey was made
overland to Sacramento, where they located, and he
engaged in the hotel business until the big fire of
1852, which destroyed all he had. The following
spring of 1853 he settled in Santa Clara County and
took up 370 acres supposed to be Government land.'
but which afterwards proved to be a Spanish grant
and he was obliged to purchase the land. He resided
there until about 1875 when he removed to Santa
Clara, where he died, his wife passing away in 1878.
Peter Ball purchased 265 acres from his father, and
a large part of the acreage he set to vineyard, kept
in a fine state of cultivation. In 1882 Mr. Ball was
appointed deputy assessor of Santa Clara County,
which position he held for five years. He was mar-
ried in 1868 to Miss Mary E. Plunkett, a native of
Australia, a daughter of Richard Plunkett, a pioneer
of Santa Clara County, and they were the parents
of five children. Peter Ball passed awav June 3,
1901. and Mrs. Ball on August 11, 1911.

Martin C. Ball received his education in the public
schools and Santa Clara College, and after finishing
school he returned to his father's ranch. During the
year 1900 they suffered the loss of their vineyard,
and immediately the task of planting the land to
fruit trees was begun, 114 acres being set to orchard.
In connection with this orchard, he has a fine nur-
sery of popular varieties of fruit trees. It is con-
ducted as is the orchard under the firm name of
Ball Bros., and they have met with splendid success.
.\s a nurseryman, Mr. Ball's years of experience in
orcharding have gained him much knowledge, so his
advice being frequently sought by other horticultur-
ists. He makes a specialty of the improved or
double-x prunes, apricots, and pears. None but
selected buds are used for grafting, so he grows a
quality of tree that has a record for production. His
business is not alone confined to the Santa Clara
Valley but shipments are made to different points
along the coast as well as into the Sacramento and
San Joaquin valleys. He is progressive and enter-
prising, aiding as far as he is able, movements for
improving and building up the county, and is a mem-
ber of the California Prune & Apricot Association.

ROBERT JUDSON STULL.— A careful student
of electrical engineering and radio work, who has al-
riady demonstrated an enviable theoretical knowledge
and has also accomplished much in practical, scientific
experiment, is Robert Judson Stull. today one of the
most promising young men in the California world of
science. He has the distinction of having been the
first student of Prof. Charles D. Herrold, the widely-
known expert on radio and one of the first to intro-
duce wireless telephony to California civilization as
narrated in his own life-story given elsewhere in this
work. .A. fine specimen of physical manhood, Mr.
Stull has an intellect to go with it, and it is fair to

assume that he will more and more lay science under
tribute and make humanity his debtor.

Robert Stull was born at San Jose, on January 23,
1893, the son of the late Judson Leroy Stull, founder
of the drygoods firm of Stull & Sonniksen, San Jose.
He attended both the grammar and high schools of
San Jose finishing the courses of study in the latter
institution in 1912, and he put in one year in the
theory and practice of wireless at the Herrold College
of Engineering and Wireless, and having studied elec-
trical engineering, he was graduated in 1917 from the
University of California with the degree of B. S.,
topping his work by a thesis on wireless telephony,
considered a masterly work, considering that wireless
telephony was in its infancy. Then he spent some
time in the department of automatics of the Western
Union Telegraph Co. at San Francisco, returning to
San Jose to join Professor Herold.

At San Francisco, in October, 1817, Mr. Stull was
married to Miss Lucille Marie Hughes, the daughter
of Mrs. Sabina F. Hughes; and they have two sons,
Roljert Judson Stull. Jr.. and Charles Leroy Stull. Mr.
Stull. when at the I'uivcrsity, joined the Sigma Alpha
Epsilon fraternity, and he is a Royal Arch Mason and
a past-secretary of the Society of American Ma-
gicians, at San F'rancisco.

JACOBI POULSEN— By industry and honorable
dealing. Jacobi Poulsen has gained many friends,
who, remembering the good service he has given
them, send him new patrons, which in turn do the
same. He deals in hay, grain, wood and coal, and is
located at 73 Orchard Street, San Jose. He was
born in Denmark, September 21, 1862, the son of
Christian and Ingeborg Mana Poulsen, who spent
their entire lives there. They were the parents of
eight children, most of whom have settled remote
from the old home and are now widely scattered;
three of the girls settled in Brazil; two girls came
to California, where one of them died; two died in
infancy. Jacobi was the youngest and was educated
in public schools and was employed at farming till
in 1880, when he sailed from Isberg, Denmark, as a
stowaway to escape the compulsory military training,
his native land. Schleswig. having become a posses-
sion of Germany. Reaching America, he soon came
to California, and for the first year, he located in
Alameda County, where he worked on farms around
Oakland and Alanuda. In 1883, he came to Santa
Clara County, and worked on the ranch of Frank
Buxton, near Saratoga, until the spring of 1886, when
he moved to San Luis Obispo County and took up
land at Paso Robles. Here he proved up on a home-
stead of 160 acres in the Union district, and leasing
land he farmed for twenty-two years or until 1908,
when he came to San Jose and became proprietor of
the Peacock Livery Stable, at 59 North San Pedro
Street. The automobile industry finally made • such
a difference in his business that in 1913 he had a
public auction and sold all of his stock and spent a
year free from the responsibility of business. He
then engaged in hay, grain, and fuel business, locat-
ing at the corner of Julian and San Pedro Streets,
His partner, H. A. Hansen, a brother-in-law, suffer-
ing a stroke of paralysis, they sold out that business
and Mr. Poulsen opened up his present place of busi-
ness in the fall of 1915.

Mr. Poulsen's marriage, which occurred in San
Francisco in 1883. united him with Miss Catherine

1372

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

M. Jorgensen, who was also born in Schleswig, and
came to California in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Poulsen
own a residence at 479 East Julian Street, where
they have been living since 1908. They are the par-
ents of four children, two of whom grew up; Chris-
tian, who married Virginia Gerse, is a fireman on
the Southern Pacific Railway and resides at 415
East Julian Street; Alfred lives at Owensmouth,
and is the proprietor of an ice business. He mar-
ried Mamie Penman and they became parents of
two children, Alfred and Althea.

Mr. Poulsen is a member of Observatory Lodge
No. 23, San Jose, and has filled every office in the
subordinate lodge, including that of district deputy
grand master and so is a member of the Grand
Lodge of California. Mr. Poulsen joined Paso
Robles Lodge No. 286, F. & A. M., in 1906, and
demitting he is now a member of Fraternity Lodge,
No. 399, F. & A. M., San Jose. In 1910 he joined
the Scottish Rite Lodge of Perfection No. 10, San
Jose, and has since become a full 32 degree Mason,
a member of San Jose Consistory. Interested in
civic matters, Mr. Poulsen is always helpful in
movements that have for their aim the building up
of the city and county, as well as advancing the
comfort and happiness of its peoples.

WILLIAM TAYLOR RAMBO— Among the
highly esteemed citizens of San Jose whose record
of usefulness and substantial success may well be
incorporated in the annals of Santa Clara County, is
William Taylor Rambo, who was born at Chicago
on May 6, 1876. His father. Edward B. Rambo,
who had married Miss Mary Taylor, came to Cali-
fornia with his family in 1883, as Pacific Coast man-
ager of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company,
and located in San Francisco. Soon after settling
there he bought a ranch in Santa Clara County,
where the family spent about two months of each
year; both he and his devoted wife died in San Fran-
cisco, the former in 1897, his wife having preceded
him in 1887.

After graduating from both the grammar and high
schools of San Francisco, William Taylor Rambo at-
tended Stanford University, and later went to New
York City, where he was a student at Columbia Uni-
versity. Leaving college, he spent some time in Eu-
rope, and on his return to the United States he was
employed for three years in fruit jobbing in New
York and Chicago. Impaired health led him to
come out to California again, and he secured a posi-
tion with a leading insurance brokerage firm in San
Francisco, where he remained for several years.

In the meantime, he had bought a ranch at Law-
rence Station in Santa Clara County, and after the
claims in which he was interested had been settled
in San Francisco, following the great fire of 1896, re-
moved to his farm property. In 1910. however, he
joined a Mr. Hall in forming the firm of Hall &
Rambo and opened an insurance office in San Jose;
and soon after that acquired Mr. Hall's interest.
Now he carries on a general insurance business, and
being a man of wide and valuable experience in that
field, and invariably attentive to the best interests of
his patrons, he is naturally meeting with success. He
is vice-president of the California State Association
of Insurance Agents, and that speaks for itself. He
is also a live wire in the San Jose Chamber of Com-
merce, where he is a director, and in the Commercial
Club of San Jose.

Mr. Rambo married in October, 1910 to Miss Ma-
rietta B. Hall, a native of Chicago, and they have
one daughter. Marietta H. Rambo. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Rambo are popular in their social circle, and
have a wide acquaintance both in San Jose and in
San Francisco. He was one of the originators of
the San Jose Chapter of the American Red Cross,
and has been secretary ever since; and is a member
of the Sainte Claire Commercial and Country Clubs
of San Jose, and the Bohemian and Old Colony
Clubs in San Francisco; also of the B. P. O. Elks.

PAUL L. CAVALA— Among the citizens of
Santa Clara County who are known for their public
spirit and integrity is Paul L. Cavala, successful
realty dealer, with offices at 79 West Santa Clara
Street, San Jose. He was born near Naples, Italy,
October 17. 1873, the son of Andrew and Carmella
(Guidina) Cavala. Andrew Cavala came to Califor-
nia from his native land in 1873, locating in Merced
County. After he had established himself on the
West Side he sent for his wife and son, Paul L., who
joined the husband and father in the new home. The
family remained in that county until the year 1910,
when they were induced to come to Santa Clara
County by their son, Paul, who had preceded them,
and both are still honored citizens of this county at
the present time.

Paul L. Cavala was reared from infancy to young
manhood in Merced County, where his parents were
among the pioneers of the Los Banos section. He
attended the public schools there and later took a
course at Heald's Business College in San Francisco,
then started out in the world to make his own way.
His first position was in the general store operated
by the firm of Miller & Lux at Los Banos, and after
one year there he entered upon a mercantile career
in that city and carried on business with increasing
success until 1899, when he disposed of his interests
there to come to Santa Clara County. It is interest-
ing to note that Mr. Cavala served as a member of
the board of trustees of the school district where he
first attended school at Los Banos; also that he took
an active part in local politics and was deputy as-
sessor of Merced County three years; he was also
secretary of the board of trustees of the Los Banos
high school for some time. In fact, he became one
of the leading citizens of the West Side in Merced
County through his strict integrity of purpose and
square dealings with all with whom he came in con-
tact and when he decided to remove to Santa Clara
County it was a distinct loss to that community that
had known him for so many years.

Immediately upon coming here Mr. Cavala en-
gaged in a wholesale bottling business and for ten
years carried on an ever increasing and prosperous
business. The real estate field engaged his atten-
tion in 1910 and he began making a scientific study
of orchards and soils, so that today there is no one
more familiar with land arid land values than Mr.
Cavala. He specializes in orchard properties, and it
is conceded that he is an authority on that kind of
property in Santa Clara County and has handled
some of the finest class of properties sold during the
past ten years. His word is considered as good as
his bond and hence his success is assured.

On July 20, 1900, in San Jose, occurred the mar-
riage of Paul L. Cavala with Miss Grace M. Spinelli,
and they have two children: Louis A. and Evelyn
G., both reared and educated in Santa Clara County.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1373

Fraternally, Mr. Cavala is a Mason and an Odd Fel-
low, and is a member of the Pastime Club, the Mer-
chants Association and the Chamber of Commerce;
and he is treasurer of the Italo-American Club of
San Jose. In national politics he is a Republican.
There is no better "booster" for Santa Clara County
than Mr. Cavala, and for all movements for the ad-
vancement of the general welfare of the people or
the county he is ready and willing to give of his
time and means to accomplish the end in view. The
family home is located on a fine orchard property
on Lincoln Avenue, San Jose.

CHARLES HENRY SQUIRE.— A prominent
and successful merchant in Santa Clara County who
has been in business at Wrights for many years, and
is also highly esteemed as the popular postmaster,
Chas. Henry Squire is a New Yorker, born in Johns-
town, August 2, 1882, a son of William B. and Eliza-
beth J. Squire, natives of England, who settled in
Johnstown, N. Y. Mr. Squire was a glove manu-
facturer, and later came to San Francisco, when he
followed the same line until his death at the age of
fifty years. The mother died in New York when
eighty-three years old. This worthy couple were the
parents of nine children, six of whom are living.
Chas. Henry, the youngest member of the family,
received a good education in the public schools of
Johnstown. In 1890 he removed to Tacoma, Wash.,
where he spent two years and then came to San
Francisco. He was a great sufferer of asthma, so
came to Wrights, Santa Clara County, and fortunate-
ly found immediate relief and decided to remain in a
locality where he could obtain such comfort. He be-
gan clerking in the local general merchandise store
and two months later his brother, James A. Squire.
purchased the store and Chas. H. continued with him
for eight years, except a short period spent in Los
Angeles, in the same line of work. In about 1901
his brother disposed of the business to H. H. Gar-
rity and Charles H. was placed in charge of the
store, a position he held five years, when he bought
out his employer April 1. 1906. He was just start-
ing in on his own account when the earthquake
wrecked the place, the shelving being shaken down
and the goods piled in heaps. Saving a few things
from the wreck, he put in a new stock and fixtures
and continued business ever since. The railroad
tunnel was closed up by the quake and it was more
than eighteen months before it was opened again.
However, he stuck to his business and has made a
substantial success. He tried ranching on the side
for a short time, but decided to give all of his time
to his business. As early as 1893 he was made assist-
ant postmaster, serving until September, 1906, when
he was appointed postmaster, a commission he has
held ever since.

The marriage of Mr. Squire occurred in Los An-
geles uniting him Miss Elizabeth Mattern, a native
daughter, born in San Francisco, and they have a
child named Edith E. Mr. Squire is also serving as
a trustee of Wright's school district, to which he
gives the necessary attention, for he believes in hav-
ing good schools for the rising generation. Frater-
nally he is a member of San Jose Lodge No. 522,
B. P. O. E., Ridgely Lodge No. 294, I. O. O. F.,
Los Gatos, and he was made a Mason in L'os Gatos
Lodge No. 292, F. & A. M. Politically he is a Re-

publican. Mr. Squire's honorable business career and
faithfulness to his public is much appreciated by the
citizens of the community.

L J. KOEHLE.— Well known in Santa Clara
County, I. J. Koehle is prominent and popular in
lodge circles of the Garden City and is well and
favorably known for the excellent quality of his
cement work. He is a native of Pennsylvania,
having been born at Cambria City, Westmoreland
County, November 1, 1863, a son of Ignatius and
Catherine (Schenk) Koehle, both parents being na-
tives of Wurtemburg, Germany. Ignatius Koehle
came to the United States and settled for a short
time in Chicago; later going to Pennsylvania, he
worked in the rolling mill of the Wood-Morrell
Company at Johnstown, Pa. In 1874, he removed
to California and worked for two years for Peguil-
lan Bros., wholesale butchers of San Francisco, then
on July S, 1876, came to San Jose and worked for
the Martin-Schroeder Brick Company. While work-
ing on St. Joseph's Church he was injured and was
forced to lay off for a time; then began working
for the Eberhard Tannery at Santa Clara and worked
there for thirty years. Both parents lived to be
eighty years old, and during 1913 passed away with-
in two weeks of each other. They were the parents
of four children, the subject of this review being the
eldest child.

I. J. Koehle attended the public school at Cam-
bria City; then St. Vincent's School of the St. Bene-
dictine order, at Trobe, Pa., and is still an active
member of the alumni of this institution. Since the
age of sixteen he has made his own way in the
world; he first worked for three years and ten
months for the Eberhard Tannery; then was with
the Pacific Manufacturing Company, later taking
charge of Dr. Breyfogle's place on Third and Santa
Clara streets. On June 25, 1885, he returned to
Santa Clara and for sixteen years worked as a
mechanic for the Pacific Manufacturing Company.
Following this he became the superintendent of the
Catholic Cemetery and for nineteen years gave faith-
ful and efficient service. In 1918, on December 1,
he leased a twenty-two acre prune orchard on the
Los Gatos Road, operating it for three years, and
in connection with his ranching duties, he has taken
up cement contracting, specializing on family vaults,
many of the substantial and artistic vaults in the
various cemeteries throughout the county attesting
his superior workmanship. He does not, however,
confine himself wholly to this kind of work, but
does general cement contracting.

The marriage of Mr. Koehle occurred on May
27, 1892, in Santa Clara, and united him with Miss
Emma Mary Zipf, a daughter of early settlers of
Santa Clara County, and a relative of the Oswald
family, pioneers of the county, prominent in the
meat business. Mrs. Koehle came to California with
her parents in 1877 and was educated in the schools
of Santa Clara. Mr. and Mrs. Koehle are the parents
of five children: George, Otilia, Josephine, Ruth and
Naomi, who are twins. In 1884 Mr. Koehle cast
his first vote in San Jose as a Democrat. Fra-
ternally he belongs to the Knights of Columbus,
is a member of the Santa Clara lodge of Foresters,
and has the honor of being the first chief ranger
of this lodge; he is also a member of the Red-
men and is at present the chief recorder of the

1374

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Santa Clara lodge, having passed through all the
chairs; he was the first man to make application
for membership to the Santa Clara charter of the
Woodmen of the World, and has passed through all
the chairs of this order. His son, George, entered
the U. S. Army in June, 1918, and was with the
One Hundred Twenty-fifth Field Artillery, Thirty-
fourth Division, and trained at Camp Corvallis, Ore-
gon. He took a special course of two months in the
auto-mechanics school, and on completing the course
was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma; then to Camp
Upton, N. Y. He went to France via Liverpool,
Winchester, Southampton, England, then to Cher-
bourg, France. He was sent to a camp near Bor-
deaux. France, and at Christmas time was at St.
Nazaire when he left for America, landing at New-
port News, Camp Stewart, then sent to El Paso,
Texas, where he was discharged and returned home
to Santa Clara.

OWEN DALE RICHARDSON.— Among the
many capable lawyers of Santa Clara County, Owen
Dale Richardson, ot San Jose, holds a noteworthy
position. A man of versatile talents, energetic, ex-
perienced and progressive, he has met with excel-
lent success in his professional career, and is recog-
i.ized as a citizen of worth and integrity. He was
born December 18, 1868, in Evansville, Ind , a son
of Robert Dale and Mary E. (Bollman) Richardson.
His father before him was an able lawyer and for a
number of years judge of the Circuit Court of Van-
derburg County, Ind. Both parents are deceased.

Reared in Indiana, Mr. Richardson obtamed his
early education in the public school, later attending
the state university of Indiana, from which institu-
tion he received his B. A. degree with the class of
1893. Removing lo California in 1894, he received
his A. M. degree from Stanford University and his
LL.B. in 1896 from Cornell. Upon finishing his
education, he established himself in his profession in
San Jose, where he has successfully practiced since
1896. In 1900 he served for six months as justice
of the peace.

The marriage of Mr. Richardson, August 31, 1901,
united him with Miss Marguerite E. Kibbe of San
Francisco, and two children have been born to them,
Helen Dale and Donald Bird. In politics he votes
with the Republican party; in his religious belief he
is a consistent member of the Episcopal Church, and
he is greatly interested in gymnasium work of the
local Y. M. C. A. He is one of San Jose's promi-
nent and very useful citizens, and enjoys the respect
and good-will of a host of friends, and contributes
very materially to the advancement of the community
in which he resides.

HENRY W. McCOMAS.— Prominently identified
with the legal profession of San Jose Henry W.
McComas takes a conspicuous part in all the com-
munity's affairs. A native son of California, he
was born on the Rush McComas tract near Santa
Clara, Cal., in the year 1871, a son of Hon. Rush
McComas, a native of Cabell County, W. Ya.. born in
1830. Rush McComas was the son of Hiram and
Rebecca (Hatfield) McComas, and in 1841 they re-
moved to Platte County, Mo., where Rush was edu-
cated. When but a young man of twenty^three he
was elected assessor of Platte County, Mo.; later
in 1857. having purchased an interest in a Missouri
steamboat, he was given the position of clerk on the
steamer. In the year of 1861, he came with his

family, by way of the Isthmus of Panama to Santa
Clara, Cal., and here he became greatly interested
in agriculture, in 1864 purchasing a ranch of eighty
acres, which he farmed successfully. In 1877 he
was elected a member of the assembly of the State
Legislature and in 1878 he was elected a member
of the Constitutional Convention which met and
formed the constitution of 1879; in 1879 he was
elected to the state assembly and served on the
committee of public lands, taking a leading part in
the successful effort to obtain the appropriation to
build the present State Normal School at San Jose.
In 1884, he was elected county treasurer of Santa
Clara County and served his community four terms
until 1892. In 1893 Mr. McComas became president
of the Garden City Bank and Trust Company, which
he filled for six years, and after his resignation as
president of the bank, he spent his remaining years
on his ranch. He passed away in April, 1903, an
honored member of the Masons and Eastern Star,
his widow surviving him until July, 1905. His mar-
riage in Platte County, Mo., in 1853 united him
with Miss Ann E. Swope, a native of Kentucky and
they were the parents of eight children; four of whom
are now living; Cora M. the wife of the late D. W.
Burchard; Ella, now Mrs. W. F. Cole; Harriett, and
Henry W., the subject of this sketch.

Henry W., the youngest child, was educated in
the grammar and high schools of San Jose. He was
graduated from high school in June, 1891, and was
employed in the county treasurer's office during the
last term of his father's incumbency; he then be-
gan the study of law in the offices of Judge F. E.
Spencer and D. W. Burchard and was admitted to
the bar in 1895. He has successfully practiced since
then, making a specialty of civil and probate law
cases. For seven years he served in Company B.
of the National Guard and largely through his in-
fluence Company M of the old Fifth Regiment, N.
G. C , was formed for service during the Spanish-
American War. He has always been affiliated with
the Republican party and believes that the prin-
ciples advocated by this party can best serve the na-
tion. He is an active member of San Jose Parlor
No. 22, N. S. G. W., of which he is secretary. Al-
ways interested in the welfare of orphans, Mr. Mc-
Comas is serving as local chairman of the Native
Sons and Native Daughters Homeless Children's
committee, in which work the above two orders are
sponsors and in this way are able to place for adop-
tion the homeless child in a childless home. Dur-
ing the recent war, he served his country as county
chairman of the Four Minute Men, having charge
of about thirty speakers and in that way did very
effective work. His service received recognition from
the government in a form of a Certificate of Honor
issued by the committee on public information; aside
from this he was also active in the various Lib-
erty Bond, Red Cross and other war drives. In
addition to his busy professional life, Mr. McComas
takes a live interest in horticulture, and spends his
week-ends on the old home ranch at Agnew, the
property of himself and his sister. Harriette. Forty
acres are devoted to the raising of pears, in which
he takes great pride. He was active in the organiza-
tion of the California Pear Growers' Association,
which organization has done so much to forward
and prorhote the pear industry in California. He is
also a great lover of floriculture and has raised some

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1377

fine specimens of dahlias and chrysanthemums and
has the honor of having the McComas Dahlia
named after him. Mr. McComas is an active mem-
ber of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce and
a charter member of the Commercial Club, and is
affiliated with the Christian Church of San Jose,
of which his parents were members. Thus his life
record is praiseworthy, containing many points of
interest and as a citizen he is highly esteemed in
the community of which he has so long been a
valuable member.

JOEL W. RANSOM.— Since his first location in
Santa Clara County in 1883, Joel W. Ransom lived
in the vicinity of Madrone and Coyote until the day
of his death, and to such men is due the progress
and development of the county, which has earned
for her the title, "The Garden of the World." At
the time that Mr. Ransom acquired his ranches they
were hay and grain fields and the progress in their
cultivation and development has been a remarkable
example of what industry and perseverance will ac-
complish. The Madrone tract contained 402 acres;
thirty acres were used for pasture land, while the
balance was given over to the cultivation of fruit,
which he superintended in setting out. In 1884 he
set out an orchard of about thirty acres of apricots
and three years later it bore a heavy crop, some of
the trees bearing as much as one hundred pounds
to the tree. He lost the entire crop and at once
pulled out the trees and set out prunes. He planted
about eighty-five acres in vineyard, table and raisin
grapes; also in 1884 he planted sixty acres to French
prunes and in 1885 100 acres were set to the same
fruit, and in 1886 added ten acres more, making in
all 270 acres in French prunes, which was at that
time probably the largest French prune orchard in
the world, containing 19,000 trees. The farm resi-
dence was a commodious, one-story building, well
adapted to the needs of his family. Much attention
was given to the grounds surrounding the residence
and numerous varieties of tropical and semi-tropical
plants could be found in them. At the same time
that he bought the property at Madrone some six
miles from this ranch, at Coyote, he purchased a
portion of the old Fisher grant that contained a little
over eighty-three acres; on this place he set out the
orchard and a small vineyard; there was a fine two-
story residence with all modern conveniences on the
place, and this he moved into in 1892.

Joel W. Ransom was born in Salem, New London
County, Ct., October 4. 1821. His parents, John S.
and Lydia (Newton) Ransom, came from old New
England families, and his paternal grandfather served
in the Revolutionary War. His father was a farmer
and was born in 1788 and passed away in 1871,
eighty-three years old. Joel was reared in his native
county until he left home in 1841 to make his own
way. He went south and located at Cahaba. Ala.,
and engaged in the general merchandise business;
while there he heard of the discovery of gold in
California and disposing of his property he set out
for New Orleans on January 22, 1849, where he
boarded a schooner for Panama. He was twenty-
four days crossing the Isthmus; he waited over two
months for a sailing vessel that would take him to
San Francisco. On the ninety-first day out from
Panama he sailed through the Golden Gate.

He at once went into the mines and his history
from that time is the history of nearly every miner
of those days; he had his ups and downs, and mined
throughout Northern California. In 1862 he went
to Idaho and from there to British Columbia and
later to Montana, where in 1866 he established him-
self in Butte City and remained there until he re-
moved to Santa Clara County; he engaged in several
kinds of businesses and in the years of 1871-72 was
county assessor of Deer Lodge County, Montana, a
territory at that time.

Mr. Ransom's marriage in Montana, on December
9, 1878, united him with Mrs. James Ruy, now de-
ceased. Since 1892 Miss Harriet N. Harvey, a daugh-
ter of his favorite sister, has made her home on the
Ransom ranch and caring for her uncle. Prior to his
death he deeded to her the eighty-three acres where
they were living. He was an active member of the
Odd Fellows and lived up to the precepts of the
order. He passed away July 11, 1897, honored and
beloved by all who were privileged to know him.

H. G. DODDS.— A native son of California and
now a retired resident of San Jose, H. G. Dodds
was born at Todd's Valley, Placer County, Cal.,
September 29, 1858, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth
(Fulton) Dodds. Thomas Dodds was born in Scot-
land, later migrating to Indiana, where his marriage
occurred. During the year of 1850 he crossed the
plains with an ox-team, settling at Todd's Valley.
In 1852 his wife came by the way of the Isthmus of
Panama and joined him in Placer County. The
father was engaged in mining, in which he had fair
success. He was a public-spirited man, serving his
community as county assessor and supervisor and
also as justice of the peace. He owned a small
ranch, which he cultivated and made his home. Mr.
and Mrs. Dodds were the parents of nine children,
three of whom are deceased, the subject of this
sketch being the oldest son.

H. G. Dodds received his education in the com-
mon schools of Placer County. When nineteen years
of age, he went to Nevada, where he worked in the
Comstock mine for four years, then removed to
Mexico, settling in the state of Sinaloa, where he
worked in the silver mines. His employer was the
noted mining engineer, Clarence King, and under
his direction and close association he received val-
uable and practical experience. Later he moved to
the state of Zacatecas. an elevation of 8000 feet
above sea-level. Later he prospected and opened a
silver and gold mine which he sold to a company and
remained as its manager. In 1894 he returned to
San Francisco and settled in San Jose, where he
was married to Miss Ida Humphrey, a daughter of
a Placer County pioneer; she was also born and
reared in Todd's Valley, her people migrating to
California in 1851 from Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs.
Dodds are the parents of two children; Lauren, a
graduate of Stanford LTniversity, now a resident of
San Francisco, employed by the Pacific Gas and
Electric Company. He married Miss Ann Tabor,
residing at Palo Alto, also a graduate of the Stan-
ford University; Alice is a student, at the present
time, of Stanford.

Mr. Dodds then engaged in mining in Trinity and
Tuolumne counties and was fairly successful. In
1901. during the great excitement at Nome. .Alaska,
he joined the exodus of the thousands headed for

1378

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the gold fields. He became well acquainted with
the late Charles Lane, the millionaire mining man
of California and Alaska, and was associated with
him in various mining ventures. Self-made and self-
reliant, Mr. Dodds has accumulated a considerable
fortune owning valuable mining property in Alaska
and elsewhere. He enjoys the best of health, and he had
his family are living in contentment in their beau-
tiful residence at 386 South Eleventh Street, erected
in 1920. All enterprises that tend toward the up-
building of his home city and county have his hearty
support, and it is doubtful if a native son could
feel a deeper interest in and love for Santa Clara
County than does he, and he enjoys the respect of
a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

HARRY E. CLOUSER. — It is interesting to chron-
icle the history of a young man who uses his spare
moments to originate a method to bring out and
make an article that will excel as a building material
and yet cheapen the cost, a matter very important in
these days, when the great forests of our country arc
being so rapidly depleted. Such a man is Harry E.
Clouscr, inventor and patentee of the duplex inter-
locking building block, who was born at DuBois, Pa.,
January 30, 1876. A son of John W. Clouser, a farmer
and lumberman, Harry naturally assisted his father
and learned farming and lumbering while he grew to
manhood; at the same time, however, his education
was not neglected, for he completed the courses at
the local schools in DuBois. When twenty-one years
of age he started for himself, working at the carpen-
ter's trade in DuBois until he found his way to Pitts-
burg, Pa., where he engaged in contracting and build-
ing from 1901 until 1909. In that year he removed
to Portland, Ore., and in that city he followed the
same line. In 1916 he removed to Stockton, Cal.,
where he was successful as a building contractor, and
it was while thus engaged that he perfected the du-
plex interlocking building block, which he patented.
In 1921 he organized the Duplex Construction Equip-
ment Company, of which he is manager, with head-
quarters in San Jose and San Francisco, the main
plant being in the latter city. The equipment for
the manufacture of this method of construction is
specially constructed moulds made of the best grade
of machine brass and the press is a high pressure
machine of an estimated pressure of forty-two tons.
• The units of this construction can be manufactured
either by hand or machinery, additional units can be
added as trade and business demands. The finished
product is absolutely moisture proof and in building
construction eliminates lathing, as plaster can be suc-
cessfully placed directly on the walls. Units are
ligidly cemented together by pouring in the grooves
provided for the same, a neat cement "grout" which
m the completed wall makes it monolithic or two
solid slabs or walls bound together with reinforcing
steel. This method of erection is adaptable to any
type of building or construction from septic tanks and
vaults to the most massive structures. By the sim-
plicity of the method of manufacture and applica-
tion in the building it is practical to use unskilled
workmen except for supervision and thereby reducing
the cost of concrete construction to that of frame
construction. The development of this new industry
was started in Stockton in the early part of 1920, the
first building being erected in that city in June of that
year. Since then about 200 buildings of various types

have been erected, from oil tanks, in and above ground,
septic tanks, water tanks, reservoirs, to warehouses,
dehydrating plants, cold storage plants, fruit houses,
precooling plants, business buildings, garages and
residences of various types.

This principle of a house within a house has been
applied to modern construction by the inventor of
the duplex construction system and has overcome ev-
ery objection lodged against concrete houses or build-
ings. A great advantage of this method of construc-
tion is to lessen the volume of material used and at
the same time making a stronger building by reason
of separating the volume in two lines at a proportion-
ate distance to its weight or thickness, giving a greater
base area of wall. Then, too, it makes the building
fireproof and can be manufactured wherever sand
and cem.cnt can be procured. All the essentials of
comfort, stability and durability are incorporated, and
at a cost reduced to that of frame construction, which
means much in this day of the rapidly diminishing
American forests, thus saving the pine and spruce
for other urgent needs. Three basic patents have
1-een allowed and others are pending. Associated with
Mr. Clouser, are Floyd O. Bohnctt and L. D. Bohnett,
two prominent young men of Campbell and San Jose.
This method has not only been introduced all over
California and the coast, but in the East.

Mr. Clouser was married in DuBois, Pa., to Miss
Jennie E. Brown, born in Penfield, Pa., a woman
of much culture and a lovable character, who lived
for her family and gave her influence for the good of
the cominunity. Mr. Clouser was bereaved of his
faithful wife May IS, 1922, a good woman, deeply
mourned by her family and many friends. Their union
was blessed with five children. Russell is a farmer
at Harrington, Del. Blanche is the wife of James

E. Trayer and presides over her father's home. Edna

F. is Mrs. Geo. Thompson of Escalon. Annie and
John are at home. Mr. Clouser is a member of the
Modern Woodmen of America and is a public-spir-
ited man, being optiinistic for the great future of his
country and ready at all times to give of his time and
means to the upbuilding of this great commonwealth.

THE SAN JOSE ABSTRACT AND TITLE
INSURANCE COMPANY.— The success of a title
guaranty company rests primarily on the broadness
of vision of the men who conduct its affairs and
there is no greater business calamity that could hap-
pen to a community striving to grow in a real estate
sense than to have a title guaranty company with
narrow-minded men at the head of it. Some cities
have such companies and such men and they are a
distinct detriment in a commercial sense to the com-
munity they exist in — they are throttlers of legiti-
mate real estate and mortgage business and a bane
on real estate activity. The progressive, up-to-date
community of San Jose is fortunate in having such
a forceful organization as the San Jose Abstract and
Title Insurance Company. It is a distinct asset, not
only to those interested in real estate, but for the
commercial good of all of San Jose. The San Jose
Abstract and Title Insurance Company is located at
76 North First Street and dates back with its prede-
cessors to the year of 1867, having succeeded to the
business of all of the early searchers of records, ex-
cept Edward Halsey, whose books and business have
more recently been added to this concern. T. C.
Edward became interested in abstracting in the sev-

^''^^rry Y' ^^^^^^<^^^'

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1379

enties and in 1891 with Edgar Pomeroy, Sam P.
Howes and J. M. Pitman, all pioneers, as owners
and founders of the business incorporated the San
Jose Abstract Company. They are all living and
residents of San Jose and Santa Clara County, T.
C. Edwards being the only one of the four who is
now actively interested in the company today, being
its present president. They formed this company
as a partnership, consolidating all the leading ab-
stractors of San Jose during the year of 1891, tak-
ing in the Edwards & Pitman Abstract Company
and the Pomeroy & Howes Company, first embark-
ing under the name of the San Jose Abstract Com-
pany. The company has recently been reorganized
in order to comply with California's stringent laws
pertaining to guarantors of land titles and was in-
corporated February 1, 1920, under the name of the
San Jose Abstract and Title Insurance Company,
with a capital and surplus of $250,000 and it now
guarantees titles as well as making abstracts. The
business is conducted along the most modern busi-
ness lines. Judge Tuttle of the San Jose Bar, an
authority on land titles and real estate law, be-
ing its principal title examiner. The officers are
as follows: T. C. Edwards, president; Hiram D.
Tuttle, vice-president; M. E. Lennon, secretary; L.
P. Edwards, the son of T. C. Edwards, is general
manager. They employ about twenty-five people,
all specialists in their lines, being proficient in their
work as searchers and abstractors. This company
has the only complete set of abstract books in the
county and can guarantee every title passed upon.
It has put up $100,000 in securities, with the State
Insurance Department which is held by the State
Treasury as provided by laws of California, the
company's patrons being protected in this manner,
and is progressing under its new incorporation, do-
ing a general abstract and title guarantee business,
and attending to escrows. Its valuable set of ab-
stract books are kept in fireproof concrete vaults,
which were especially built for its records during
the time the company was known as the San Jose
Abstract Company. This company built and owns
the building which bears its name, which is very
conveniently located near the Hall of Records of
Santa Clara County. Originally there were forty-
one Spanish grants, and there are now about 50,000
separate parcels of land in Santa Clara County and
the San Jose Abstract and Title Insurance Com-
pany has the complete records of every title and
every transfer, Lis pendens, mortgages and other in-
struments ever recorded in Santa Clara County.

ALEX. BERRYESSA. — An industrious, progres-
sive and very successful rancher who may well be
proud of his association with a family group of some
of the sturdiest and worthiest of California pioneers,
is Alex. Berryessa, who lives just south of Alviso,
about seven miles north of San Jose. He is not only
a Californian, filled with the spirit of the Golden
State, but he is a native son, and was born on the
ranch now occupied by J. M. Lords, and which was
long known as the old Berryessa Ranch. He first
saw the light on February 1, 1870, when he became
the son of Guadalupe Berryessa, a cousin of Jose
J. Berryessa, the well-known Santa Claran. Guada-
lupe Berryessa was born in Santa Clara County,
on what is now known as the Richards Ranch, on
the Alviso Road, fought for the Union in the Civil

War, and married one of the attractive ladies of
the neighborhood. Miss Nettie Sanchez, still alive,
seventy-four years old, and a resident of Alviso. The
paternal grandfather died in the period of cholera,
hence our subject does not know much about his
forebears, except that they were early-timers. Guada-
lupe Berryessa was one of a family of six children,
and grew up to be a very experienced rancher.

Alexander went to the Berryessa school, and
when eighteen he struck out to support himself.
Four years later, he was able to set himself up in
farming as his own master, and sometimes to give
a helping hand to others in the family. Guada-
lupe and Nettie Berryessa had ten children: Alex-
ander; Frank, now deceased; Guadalupe, Jr., resides
with his mother at Alviso; Fred, Minnie, Ellen, Ada,
Mollie, all dead; Lena, is now Mrs. Cyril Glasser
and lives at San Francisco; Lillie is deceased.

Alexander Berryessa is managing with his char-
acteristic vigor and farsightedness his ranch of
seventy-seven acres on the Alviso Road, ten acres of
which are devoted to pears, forty to farm-land and
the rest to apples, and in this scientific ranching he
is ably assisted by his good wife, who was Miss
Ella Baumbach, a popular American of German
birth. Her parents were Cave and Augusta
(Stranch) Baumbach; Mrs. Berryessa's parents af-
forded her the best educational advantages, first in
Germany and then in the United States, to which
country she came when a child, accompanying her
mother, who died here, September 29, 1921. Mr.
and Mrs. Berryessa were married at Oakland in
February, 1903. Now they have six children, and
each promises to confer additional credit on the
good old Berryessa name. The eldest is Elizabeth,
who is now the wife of Edgar Monsees, of San
Francisco; then comes Myrtle and Alexander, Jr..
and the others are Edward^ Ethel and Frank.

EDWARD C. ROBERTSON.— The son of one of
San Jose's pioneer merchants, Edward C. Robertson
is successfully engaged in ranching on a part of the
old Robertson estate near Edenvale, where he was
born on December 27, 1873. His parents, John and
Margaret (Curry) Robertson were both natives of
Northern Scotland, members of fine old families there.
John Robertson was a shoemaker and very expert in
his trade, and desiring the broader opportunity of
America for himself and his family, he came to this
country in 1868, crossing the continent to San Jose,
where he established himself in the boot and shoe
business, and was thus numbered among the early
business men of this city, carrying on the business
for about three years. Fully satisfied that this was
an ideal place of residence, he sent for his wife and
children to join him the following year. He passed
away in 1908, an honored citizen, being sixty-eight
years old, Mrs. Robertson survived him until 1915,
when she died at Edenvale, aged seventy-four.

About 1874 John Robertson acquired a ranch of
100 acres eight miles south of San Jose, known in
the early days as the Eight-Mile House, and here
Edward C. was reared, attending the Oak Grove
school. He worked on the ranch for his father until
he was twenty-one, and then, in 1894, desiring to
see more of the world, he took an extensive trip
through Mexico, spending two years there. After
returning to California, Mr. Robertson learned the
molder's trade and followed it as a journeyman in

1380

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

different cities on the Coast for six years. Later he
returned to the home place and conducted it for
several years, and after acquiring ten acres of it by
inheritance, he purchased another ten acres from
J. D. Robertson. Besides the careful attention he
gives his own property, which is in a fine state of
cultivation, he also operates the ranch of Mrs. Gavin
AIcNab at Edenvale.

At Everett, Wash., on December 17, 1900. Mr.
Robertson was married to Miss Daisy M. White,
and two children have been born to them, Evelyn
and Melvin. Always ready to lend a hand in any
plans for the upbuilding of the neighborhood, Mr.
Robertson votes with the Republican party in per-
forming his civic duties, and fraternally he is a
member of the Woodmen of the World.

CRISANTO CASTRO— In the old Spanish Mis-
sion of San Jose, Cal., Crisanto Castro was born
August 15, 1828, and during his life was an eye-
witness of all the changes from the old civilization
to the new, having lived under the flags of Spain,
of Mexico, and of the United States. Few men live
in one community for so long a period as Mr. Castro
has lived in Santa Clara County, pursuing but one
occupation. His fine, productive farm was one mile
northwest from Mountain View, and came to him
by inheritance. Crisanto was the youngest of eight
children born to Mariano and Maria Trinidad (Pe-
ralta) Castro, both parents born in San Francisco.
His father was born there in 1784, when California
was under Spanish rule, and he was a soldier in the
Spanish army. Early in the nineteenth century he
removed to San Jose and followed ranching until the
time of his death in 1856. He was a large landowner
and raised many cattle. His wife survived him sev-
eral years and passed away in Santa Clara County.
Crisanto Castro and the members of the Castro fam-
ily were generous, hospitable and public-spirited.
He donated the land for the public schools at Moun-
tain View and the site for St. Joseph's CathoHc
Church at Mountain View, while his mother gave
five acres for the first Protestant Church and burial
ground for all denominations.

Mr. Castro's education was received from private
subscription schools, which he attended in San Jose,
and when of suitable age he engaged in farm pur-
suits. He became an extensive grain farmer, ship-
ping as high as 400 tons of hay to San Francisco,
but for a number of years the land vi-as rented. This
had been his home since 1841, and prior to that his
parents lived in San Jose on the corner of San
Pedro and Santa Clara streets, the father, Mariano
Castro, being alcalde under the Mexican govern-
ment. The vast tract of land owned by him was
called "Pastoria de las Borregas."

In 1857 Mr. Castro married Miss Francisca Ar-
mijo, whose parents owned a large tract of land on
the present site of the Armijo high school in So-
noma; it adjoined the General Vallejo ranch. They
were the parents of nine children: Mariano, Mer-
cedes, Susanna, Andrew, Joseph, William, Frank,
Roque and Crisanto. The family are regular com-
municants of the Catholic Church of Mountain View.
In 1911, Mr. Castro built a magnificent country
home, a bungalow with an encircling porch with
beautiful arches in the Moorish style of architec-
ture, and where several of his children still live.
Mr. Castro passed away April 9, 1912, and Mrs.
Castro died August 3, 1907.

The Castro family are truly early settlers of Santa
Clara County and have been important factors in
its development. A hospitable gentleman, Mr. Castro
will long be remembered, and his family have the
high esteem of the

RAYMOND BARRETT LELAND.— Prominent

among the eminently successful educators in Santa
Clara County of whom Californians, ambitious and
jealous of their great system of popular instruction,
may well be proud, is Raymond Barrett Leland, the
efficient and popular principal of the San Jose high
school. A native of the Hawkeye State, he was born
at Cedar Falls on October 22. 1884, the son of Henry
Perry and Sophia C. (Barrett) Leland, both of whom,
after useful and honorable careers, and rich in es-
teeming friends, have passed away. For eight gener-
ations the Leland family have been citizens of Mass-
achusetts, following Hope Leland who came to the
colony in 1623. Great grandfather Oliver Leland
was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving in
a Massachusetts regiment, while Henry Perry Leland
served in the Civil War, rising to the rank of lieuten-
ant in the Third U. S. Infantry.

Raymond Leland attended both the common and
the high schools of Cedar Falls, and later he com-
pleted the course of the Iowa State Teachers Col-
lege in the same city, receiving the A. B. degree.
Then, with equal thoroughness and success, he did
graduate work in the State University of Iowa at
Iowa City. Entering the active pedagogical field, he
was for one year assistant principal at Manning,
Iowa, and then for two years was principal of the
high school at Chariton, in the same state. Next he
went to Brookings, S. D., where he was principal for
a year; and in the fall of 1910 he came to San Jose.
For eight years he taught history and had charge of
athletics; and his ability, both general and special,
having been recognized, he was elected principal of
the San Jose high school in 1918, the choice of the
board meeting with general approval. Since then,
while associating himself with the San Jose Chamber
of Commerce and the Rotary Club, and so placing
and keeping himself in vital touch with the life of the
town, Mr. Leland has devoted himself assiduously to
the rapid and high development of an institution al-
ready ranking high among the secondary schools of
the Golden State.

For three years in college, Mr. Leland had military
training and exercise, and for six years he was an
officer in the Iowa National Guard, with the rank of
captain. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of
Company B of the Fifth Infantry, N. G. C, and
then was commissioned major and also command-
ant of cadets by the adjutant-general of the
state, and has instructed the cadets since February,
1914. In national politics a Republican, he has never
neglected an opportunity to inculcate the healthiest
of American patriotism.

At Chariton, Iowa, on July 29, 1910, Mr. Leland
was married to Miss Carolyn J. Custer, also a native
of Iowa, and the daughter of Walter S. and Mabel
(Jewell) Custer. On her paternal side Mrs. Leland
is closely related to Gen. Geo. B. Custer. She is a
graduate of Laise-Phillips Seminary, Washington,
D. C. She is president of Chapter C. A., P. E. O.,
and a member of Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Leland has been
blessed with the birth of a son, Gordon Custer.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1383

They are communicants of Trinity Episcopal Church,
and Mr. Leland is a member of the Delta Tau Delta
fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the Elks. He
was made a Mason in Manuel Lodge No. 450, F. &
A. M., at Manning, Iowa, and later demitted to
Fraternity Lodge No. 399. F. & A. M., San Jose.
He is also a member of Harvard Chapter No. 14,
R. A. M., and San Jose Commandery No. 10, K. T.,
as well as the Sciots. He manifests his patriotism
in his membership in Sons of American Revolution
and the Sons of Veterans. For five years he has
been president of the North Coast Section of Cali-
fornia Interscholastic Federation, and is a member of
Santa Clara County School Masters Club, the Cali-
fornia High School Principals Association, the Cali-
fornia Teachers Association, and the National Educa-
tional Association. Mr. Leland is fond of out-door
life, and especially fond, as he is well posted in re-
gard to both baseball and football. When he turns
to more serious hobbies, he takes up such work as
that imposed upon him by his being a member of
the Santa Clara War History Committee.

DAVID H. LUNDY. — .'^n interesting representa-
tive of one of the best-known and highly honored
of California pioneer families is David H. Lundy, the
rancher, who lives on Lundy road, about three miles
east of San Jose. He was born in the old Lundy
Ranch, in Santa Clara County, on July 26, 1876, the
son of David and Margaret (McManus) Lundy, and
comes of an old North Carolina family of substantial
planters dating back to the stirring Revolutionary
days. David Lundy, the father, came out to Cali-
fornia in 1850 and settled in Santa Clara County; and
such a path-breaking pioneer was he that the Lundy
Road was named after him. There he acquired
fifteen acres, and later he bought a ranch of 400 acres
adjacent to Alum Rock Park; and as long ago as
fifty years, he built a home dwelling on the Lundy
Road, a comfortable structure still standing. He was
a grain farmer and a stockman, and he knew his
industrial problems, and what the soil and climatic
conditions about him might be expected to do.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lundy,
and among these our subject was the fifth. William,
the first-born, is now deceased; Elizabeth has become
Mrs. Gussman, and she resides on the King Road;
.Anna, her next youngest sister, was killed by the
Interurban Electric Railway near Berryessa; Eva,
now Mrs. Fuller, lives on the home ranch; Martin,
the next youngest brother of David, is a resident of
Watsonville; Abbie and Ezra are deceased.

David attended the Eagle district school, and then,
while remaining at home, started to work on his
father's ranch, since which time he has been follow-
ing agriculture, always endeavoring to farm in the
most progressive manner. He lives on the Lundy
Mountain Dell ranch, has a fourth interest in the
Lundy estate, and owns a ranch of fifty acres near
Hollister, which he devotes to the raising of seed.
David Lundy, Sr.. passed away in 1919; but his de-
voted widow is still living, the center of a circle of
devoted friends, at the age of seventy-five.

On October 15, 1914, Mr. Lundy was married to
Miss Agnes Harker DeVillier, the ceremony being
performed at San Jose. She was born at San Fran-
cisco, and is the daughter of Thomas DeVillier, of
a well-known Southern family. Mrs. Lundy received
the best of educational training m the San Francisco

schools, and has given all proper attention to the
education of her one son, Richard. Mr. Lundy is a
Democrat, but also a broadminded, nonpartisan citi-
zen in favor every time for the best men and the best
measures, regardless of party, for the community in
which he lives.

ERNST BROTHERS.— A representative firm
which has contributed toward the prosperity and the
fame of Santa Clara County is that composed of
George J. and Albert A. Ernst, ranchers northeast
of San Jose, who were born in San Luis Obispo
County, the former seeing light for the first time
on November 21, 1868, and the latter four years
later, on December 17. They are the sons of Martin
and Anna Ernst, and their father was born in the
duchy of Baden-Baden, Germany. He came to the
United States when a young man, and reaching Cali-
fornia about 1885, settled in San Luis Obispo County,
and soon came to raise grain and stock extensively.
In 1900 he came into Santa Clara County, and he
purchased a ranch of ten acres on Lundy road,
which he set out to trees in admirable fashion. In
time, he bought fifteen acres adjoining his ranch,
and later his two sons, our subjects, purchased a tract
of ten acres adjoining their father's ranch.

Nine children were granted Mr. and Mrs. Ernst,
and seven are still living: Anna has become Mrs.
Eckoff, and is living at Orange; Martin is at Camp-
bell; Fred died of influenza during the epidemic of
1919; Walter lives at Santa Clara; Edward is also
deceased; Mattic has become Mrs. Casterson and has
a pleasant home at Chowchilla. The seventh is
George J. Ernst, and the others are Elsie, who is at
home, and Albert A. Ernst. Both brothers attended
the Eagle school, and then they helped on the home
ranch, there acquiring the most valuable experience
which has made itself apparent in their later opera-
tions and success. Seventeen of the thirty-five acres
are planted to beets in rows between small prune
trees, and the entire ranch is devoted to fruit, and a
very fine, model fruit ranch it is. Inasmuch as both
parents are still living — Martin Ernst being past
seventy-five years of age — the young men are still
enjoying the parental roof, and still profiting by
association with the pioneer. Martin Ernst was al-
ways a Democrat, but George is a Republican, and
Albert an Independent.

Both Albert and George Ernst saw service in the
late war in patriotic defense of their native land.
Albert enlisted in September, 1917, and was sent to
Camp Lewis as a member of Company I, Three
Hundred Sixty-third Infantry, Ninety-first Division;
but after being there for three months he was dis-
charged and returned home to resume ranching.
George enlisted on July 23, 1918, and was also sent
to Camp Lewis, where he served for three weeks in
the Camp Depot Brigade, when he was transferred
to Camp Fremont, and was there placed in Head-
quarters Company, Twelfth Infantry, Eighth Divi-
sion, and served in the trench mortar platoon. From
Camp Fremont he was sent to Camp Miller, N. J.,
where he trained for four weeks, and then he was
transferred to Camp Stewart, at Newport News, Va.,
at which place he remained from November 24,
1918 until March 1, 1919, and then he was sent to
Camp Hill. Va., where he entrained for California.
On March 20. 1919. he was honorably discharged at
the Presidio. Miss Elsie Ernst, a sister of our

1384

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

subjects, was graduated from the State Normal
School in 1912, and since then she has been active
in teaching in various schools, in both Central and
Southern California. At present, while she is teach-
ing at Berryessa, she also makes her home with her
parents. Santa Clara is proud of her considerable
army of young, energetic and highly progressive
young men of the type of the Messrs. Ernst, and
proud that this dependable army is growing larger
with every passing year.

H. S. REXWORTHY.— Prominent among the
highly-trained captains of industry who have con-
tributed much toward bringing California into such
a front line among her sister commonwealths that
she is now everywhere recognized as the Golden
State, is undoubtedly H. S. Rexworthy, the capable
general superintendent of the Joshua Hendy Iron
Works at Sunnyvale, who has had an exceptionally
varied and rich experience in the building of im-
mense engines, heavy mining machinery and mas-
sive gates such as are used in the large irrigation
projects of the Turlock Irrigation Company and ex-
tensive hydro-electric undertakings in California and
the Pacific West. He was born in Gloucestershire,
England, on December 2. 1873, the only son of Cor-
nish parents and a descendant, on his mother's side
of John Sibree, a near relative to the noted African
explorer of the same name.

The mother is still living, in England, at the age
of seventy-eight; and there are three sisters. Mr.
Rexworthy was educated at the famous Bristol
Grammar School with its delightful hillside environ-
ments at Bristol; later he went to London and
there studied the general sciences, and when he left
the halls and lawns of those favored institutions to
which so many of England's great men had gone as
students, he was eighteen years of age and ready
for a tussle with the world. He took up mechanical
work under the widely-known John Mclntire, the
celebrated naval architect of Glasgow, and after
two years' preceptorship, he was made his assistant.
He went as a pupil to the East Ferry Company at
Millwa, near London and worked there for a num-
ber of years, and then he became assistant manager.

During that time Mr. Rexworthy was married to
Miss Irene Roberts, a daughter of Edward Roberts,
I. S. O. and F. R. A. S., an extremely clever mathe-
matician who has, for many years, been retained as
the chief assistant in the British Government's Nau-
tical Almanac's office, where he is known as one
of the world's greatest authorities on tides. Mr.
Rexworthy then traveled as engineer for the Murex
Company, and after that he took up mining, and
he made the first installation in the process for
handling carbonate ores, silver, lead and gold. Next
he made his way to Northern Siberia and became an
expert for the Bogolosky Company, probably the
largest gold and silver-mining company in the
world, owning and controlling some 4.000 square
miles of auriferous territory and employing 400,000
men. About this time the great World War broke
forth, and Mr. Rexworthy was recalled to his native
land for war purposes, and after that he was as-
signed to the task of perfecting the process of
tungsten alloy. After ten months in England, he
was sent to California to superintend a process
for the recovery of base metals and later he
became superintendent of the Lane Mines, for the
Darwin Corporation at Darwin, Inyo County.

He had first set foot on American soil at New
York in November, 1914, and from there he pro-
ceeded to the Pacific Coast and Mountain states,
and he was at San Francisco when he was called to
England to process tungsten steel. Eventually, he
came from Inyo County to Sunnyvale, where he
was appointed chief engineer. He has always been
and still is a hard worker, putting in from ten
to twelve hours a day. He has displayed excep-
tional natural and developed ability, and has risen
to eminence in the world of mechanism. He is a
member of the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce,
and it goes without saying that he worthily rep-
resents the great iron works elsewhere described.

Mr. and Mrs. Rexworthy have one child, a son, Ed-
ward. They have built a fine residence on Sunny-
vale Avenue, in Sunnyvale, and as members of the
Episcopal Church they enter heartily into the re-
ligious, civic and social life of their adopted town.
Mr. Rexworthy is a member of the Institute of
Mechanical Engineers of England, and his fame as
a leader of scientific attainment in the industrial
field has gone abroad through two continents.

FRANK ANELLO.— As a reward for his industry
Frank Anello has a fine ranch of thirty acres on the
Homestead Road, near Santa Clara, and its develop-
ment has been due to his energy and forethought.
Mr. Anello is a long way from the land of his child-
hood, for he was born in the Province of Palermo,
Italy, May 7, 1893, a son of Vincent and Providence
Anello, the father a farmer in his native land. Frank
is the youngest of a family of three children; Made-
line is now Mrs. Chiovaro and has two children,
Joseph and Francis, and they live on the Homestead
Road; Sam. married Miss Hill and they have three
children, Vincent, Providence, and Frank. In 1895
the father came to the United States and worked in
various parts of the country, finally settling in Dixon,
Texas, and in 1904 his family joined him.

Frank Anello received his education in the schools
of his native province and his early childhood days
were spent on a farm helping his father. Upon ar-
rival in Texas, the father leased a small ranch and
with the help of Frank ran it for one year, when they
removed to Santa Clara County, where our subject
worked for Frank Di Fiore and later for H. F.
Curry at Berryessa. The father bought a ten-acre
piece of property on the Senter Road, which was
devoted to fruit raising, and after sLx years, sold
this ranch and a forty-two-acre property was pur-
chased on the Homestead Road about three and a
half miles from Santa Clara. Later this ranch was
divided and his son-in-law now has ten acres and the
balance remained in the possession of the father,
while Frank and his brother Sam Anello operate the
orchard. The land is well improved with an irrigat-
ing well and good buildings.

On August 28, 1917, Mr. Anello entered the U. S.
Army and was sent to Camp Kearney and served in
the One Hunderd Forty-fifth Machine Gun Battalion
in Company B. After a month's training this com-
pany was started on its way to France, and after
arrival there Mr. Annelo was transferred to the One
Hundred Thirtieth Machine Gun Battalion, Com-
pany A, Thirty-fifth Division. Mr. Anello trained at
various points in France and twenty-one days before
the armistice was signed, his company was placed
in the Verdun sector. While serving at the front

^jL^./(k_^

d-

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1387

Mr. Anello sprained his ankle very severely and was
in the hospital for four months. He returned to his
home via Brest to Hoboken, N. J., and thence to the
Presidio, San Francisco, where he was discharged
May 23, 1919, and returned to his home.

In Oakland, on November 28, 1920, Mr. Anello was
married to Miss Mamie Chiovaro, a native of Louisi-
ana. While still a young girl, her parents removed
to Oakland and there she received her education in
the public schools. They are the parents of one
child. Providence.

VICTOR A. SOLARI.— An industrious, progress-
ive and successful rancher of the fine Italian-
American type always so popular, because of past
records of prosperity and usefulness, in Santa Clara
County, is Victor A. Solari, now farming with ex-
cellent results on the Dr. Bowen ranch two miles
east of San Jose. He was born in the province of
Genoa, on January 12, 1883, and his parents are G. B.
and Bernardine Solari. His father was a farmer,
who operated extensively in Italy, where he owned
vast acreage given to the culture of vines and varied
fruit; and after Victor had pursued the courses of
the elementary echools at Genoa, he helped his father
on the home farm. When nineteen years old, how-
ever, he set out from Italy across the ocean to the
United States; and having eventually reached Cali-
fornia, he settled in Santa Clara County; and here,
for many years, he worked for wages on fruit
ranches. He also worked in the market gardens in
the vicinity of San Jose, and there, as on the ranches,
was able easily to demonstrate his natural ability
in these fields.

For the last five years Mr. Solari has been leasing
the Dr. Bowen ranch of twenty acres devoted to
fruit, and there he has been raising some of the choic-
est prunes in the Santa Clara Valley. He gives
his undivided time and attention to his investments,
and since he is a good student, seeking to learn from
books and to profit by past experience, and inclined
to compare notes, he makes progress steadily, thereby
contributing something definite toward the advance-
ment of California agriculture, as well as toward the
enlargement of his own fortune. His only brother
in California, Joseph Solari, is with him on the ranch.

Ten children made up the fine family of Mr. and
Mrs. G. B. Solari, among whom Victor was the
youngest, and each has done well in the world. The
eldest is Andrew, then come Anna and Mary, and
next Joseph, already referred to, and after that Rosa,
Lawrence, Louisa, John and Angelo. Judging by
the success of the two brothers in Santa Clara
County, Italy, from which romantic country have
come so many good American citizens, is to be con-
gratulated on retaining the rest of the family.

MRS. ROSIE G. ROSE.— A resourceful, enter-
prising and very successful rancher is Mrs. Rosie G.
Rose, of Piedmont Road, northeast of Berryessa, a
splendid example of what a woman, and especially
what the woman in California can do. She was born
in Fayal. in the Azores Islands, on May 30, 1864, the
daughter of Antone and Teresa (Feliico) Garcia, and
she vias twelve years of age when she came out with
her parents to California, arriving here in 1876. Her
father bought ten acres of bare land near the Mission
San Jose, and went to farming; and there he and
his good wife reared their family of six children.
Mary is Mrs. Rodriguez; Ida became Mrs. Santos

and passed away in her fortieth year; Manuel is
a dairy farmer at Hanford; Rose, the next youngest,
is our subject; Marian, Mrs. Serpa, lives at San Jose;
Anna is Mrs. Rose of Oakland.

On September 26, 1881, Miss Garcia was married
to Joseph F. Rose, also a native of Fayal, where he
was born on August 25, 1854, the son of Manuel
and Ida Rose. Joseph F. Rose came to California
in 1874. when he moved into Santa Clara County,
and worked for wages on farms. He lived and farmed
upon the Downing Ranch on the Calaveras Road,
continuing there for twenty years, and there he died,
on October 30, 1907. He was a member, at the time
of his death, of both the U. P. E. C. and the I. D.
E. S. lodges of Milpitas.

Directly after her husband's death, Mrs. Rose
bought a ranch of twelve acres on the Piedmont road,
and there she has lived ever since. This farm is
about an hour's walk from Berryessa, within com-
fortable reach of the town, and is very successfully
devoted to the growing of apricots. Rosie, the eldest
daughter, is Mrs. Pedro, and she lives on the Down-
ing Ranch in Milpitas; Joseph is on the Calaveras
road; Manuel died of the influenza in 1918; Mary
is Mrs. Pedro; Anna is Mrs. Henriques of Sunny-
vale; Frank lives at home; Minnie died in 1891; An-
tone is ranching on Capitol Avenue; William is in
San Jose; John is also ranching; Minnie, the second,
died in September, 1898; Henry is at home; Carrie
is Mrs. Henriques and lives on the Evans ranch,
east of Milpitas; Minnie, the third, is at home. While
living in the hills, the children attended the Laguna
school, and after moving to the Piedmont Road
ranch they went to the Berryessa school.

JAMES SHORT.— A rancher of unusual interest,
first, because of his substantial results, and secondly
because of the methods he employs to attain success,
year after year, in his agricultural pursuits, is James
Short, a native of Aghada, County Cork, Ireland,
and now residing on Capitol avenue, south of Berry-
essa. He was born on October 3, 1881, the son of
Peter Short, a noted horseman, who had married
Miss Ellen Mackey, and he died in Ireland in 1895.
James is the second in a family of thirteen children,
the others being Ellen, Margaret, Peter, Mary, Katie,
Joseph, Thomas, Eugene, Richard, Thomas (second
so named), John and Patrick. The first Thomas,
Eugene, Richard, and John are now deceased.

James Short attended the excellent public schools
in Ireland, enjoying with his brothers the scholarship
and the sensible, if rigid discipline of the old-time
Irish schoolmaster, and he grew up to work on the
farm. In 1902, however, he felt the call to the West-
ern World, crossed the ocean and came out to Cali-
fornia, and his father having died, he made his ven-
ture into American life with his mother and the rest
of the family. Arriving at San Jose, he entered upon
what was to prove several years' service with the San
Jose Street Railway Company, working on the street
cars; but he also early purchased at Berryessa a
ranch of ten acres on Capitol Avenue, just north of
the Penetencia Creek Road, and eight acres of this
ranch are now in apricots, and two acres in prunes.
The little farm is fast becoming a show-place, and
it is certain that, since it came under Mr. Short's
skillful management, it has been the object of ad-
miration, if not of envy, on the part of many who know
what goes to make up a first-class ranch.

1388

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Naturally a home-body, and not allured by even
the attractions of fraternal society life, Mr. Short
finds pleasure in the fact that most of his brothers
and sisters are in California. Ellen has become
Mrs. John Guerin of San Jose; Margaret is Mrs.
James Healy and the wife of a popular member of
the San Jose police force; Peter is at San Jose; Mary
is living with her mother and our subject at Berry-
essa. Kate is the wife of Michael Coyle, who is a
valued employee of Lion's Furniture Store at San
Jose; Joseph is at Menlo Park, Cal.; and both
Thomas and Patrick live in San Jose. Of such valu-
able pioneers as the Short family the unrivalled Santa
Clara Valley has been built into the most desirable
home-section in the world.

JOHN R. BROKENSHIRE.— It is almost impos-
sible to imagine what would be the condition of the
country without the development of its great min-
eral resources and valuable indeed has been the con-
tribution which mining men have made to the prog-
ress of the world. Born at St. Day, Cornwall.
England, December 15, 1867, John R. Brokenshire,
the son of Mark and Mary (Roberts) Brokenshire.
came of a line of mining men, his father being a
mining superintendent. Both father and mother
were natives of Cornwall. His father was em-
ployed by the Wiggin Coal & Iron Company for
mining work in Africa and afterwards went to France.
On account of the extremes in the climate of Africa.
where the heat is so intense and then being trans-
ferred to France where he encountered extreme cold,
his health failed and he passed away in the moun-
tains of France. The mother passed away at the
old home in 1913.

John R. Brokenshire was reared and educated at
St. Stephens near St. Austell, and after school days
he followed mining. Upon coming to his majority,
he embarked for the United States and settled at
Ironwood, Mich., where he went into the iron mines,
doing contract work. Here on May 28, 1892, he
married Miss Mary Phillips, also a native of Corn-
wall, England. Her grandfather was manager of
clay works there and became very wealthy. She
was the daughter of Daniel and Fannie (Truscott)
Phillips and her father was the originator of a
process of making vitrolite glazed brick. When but
an infant, her mother died, and she was reared by a
stepmother.

In the spring of 1894 Mr. Brokenshire came to
California settling first in Amador County where he
engaged in mining, then was for a short time at the
Sutter Creek mines; after this seven years was spent
in the Trinidad mines in Placer County, where he
had charge of the mine and mill. Next he came
to San Jose and here entered the employ, in the
shops, of the Santa Clara Street Railway Company,
but soon returned to Trinidad mine, taking a lease
on it and made a success of the mine. A year
later the company took it back and he returned to
San Jose and entered the employ of the Southern
Pacific and is now stationary engineer at the shops.
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bro-
kenshire: Lewis, deceased; Guy, a mining engineer,
was a student at Stanford University before being
employed at the Shasta copper mines; John R., Jr.,
before the war was a law student at Stanford, but
at the present time is a reporter on the staff of the
Mercury-Herald of San Jose; Wesley was a student

of the San Jose high school, then took a course on
forestry at the University of Washington and is now
in the U. S. Forest Service; Dwight is stenographer
in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company; Lucille is presiding over her father's home
since her mother's death; Roy is a student of the
San Jose high school. For years the family lived
at 105 Grant Street, but in October, 1919, a home at
79 Magnolia Avenue was purchased. Mrs. Broken-
shire passed away in June, 1920, deeply mourned by
her family and friends.

Three of the sons, Guy, Wesley and John R., Jr.,
saw active service in France during the World
War. Guy entered the service of his country on
November 3, 1917. With Company A, Twenty-
seventh Engineers, he trained first at Camp Meade,
Md., for three months, then was sent to Hoboken
from which place he set sail on February 28, 1918,
landing at Brest, France, March 10, 1918. Here he
trained at Langres for five months and was then
sent into the Baccarat sector, thence to the St.
Mihiel sector, where he saw active service, also
in the Meuse-Argonne salient, and was stationed
near Thiaucourt and Pont-a-Mousson during the
active fighting there. After the signing of the
armistice, he was stationed at Givet near Bar-le-
Duc, from which place he embarked for the United
States, March 7, 1919, coming to the Presidio where
he was honorably discharged April 12, 1919, there-
upon returning to his home in San Jose. Wesley,
when eighteen, enlisted in Company M, Fifth Cali-
fornia Infantry, N. G. C, at San Jose, serving at first
at Fresno, guarding bridges. He then went to Camp
Kearney, and was there for about one year, from
there going to France with a detachment sent for
replacement work. He was transferred to Company
C, Thirtieth Infantry, Third Division, and saw ac-
tive service as a corporal with this division at
Chateau Thierry, St. Mihiel and in the Meuse-
Argonne drive. Shortly before the armistice was
signed, he was stricken with the influenza, was sent
to Bordeaux and returned to the LInited States on a
hospital ship in December, 1918, and was discharged
at the Presidio. John R., Jr., was disabled, on ac-
count of the loss of an eye, for active service; how-
ever, he took the civil service examinations and
served as quartermaster's clerk in the railroad
transport service at San Diego.

Politically Mr. Brokenshire is independent, believ-
ing in the fitness of the man for the office. He
is a consistent member of the Centella Methodist
Episcopal Church of San Jose and fraternally is a
member of the Woodmen of the World and the
Knights of Pythias. He has been a firm believer in
the prosperity and development of Santa Clara Coun-
ty and with the interest of a loyal citizen has watched
its advancement and growth until it has reached its
present high standard of civilization.

GUS A. ENGLAND.— A native son of Santa
Clara County, whose father is now one of the coun-
ty's oldest pioneer settlers, Gus A. England is the
popular manager of the University Bowling Alley,
Santa Clara. He was born at Milliken's Corners
on February 24, 1870, the son of Beverly Allen and
Jennie (Simpson) England, both natives of Mis-
souri, who crossed the plains in 1853, though in
different emigrant trains. Mrs. England passed
away in 1913. and Beverly A. England, now in his

Q-Ol^ £^^^^^^£^^^7^^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1391

eightieth year, makes his home with his son. Harry
England, at San Jose, and a sketch of his hfe and
early journey across the plains will be found else-
where in this work.

The eldest of the two children born to these
pioneer parents. Gus A. England came with his
parents to Santa Clara, and continued his studies
through the high school there. In 1895 he estab-
lished himself in business at Santa Clara, and since
that time he has been identified with the upbuild-
ing of this attractive city, which has experienced
a steady, constant growth of late years. In 1908
Mr. England was united in marriage with Miss
Eleanor Cramm. the ceremony being solemnized at
Santa Cruz. Mr. England belongs to the Santa
Clara Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden
West, and he is an enthusiastic admirer of the great
Golden State. The characteristics which helped to
distinguish his pioneer parents have largely become
his. and he is always glad to contribute towards
the further development of this great common-
wealth of the Pacific.

JOSEPH C. AZEVEDO.— .\ dairy-rancher whose
prosperity is the natural result of his foresight and
unremitting industry, is Joseph C. Azevedo, whose
trim farm is at the corner of Storey and King roads,
in San Jose. He was born in Oakland, on March
31, 1896. the son of Joe and Catherine (Silva) Aze-
vedo, natives of Pico, in the Azores Islands, who
come to California in 1890. They settled in Oak-
land, and had a dairy there. Imvc children blessed
their union: Lida, who died in infancy; Evelyn,
now Mrs. Fonti; our subject. Joseph C, of this
sketch; Antone. who died in 1920 at the age of
eighteen; the youngest passed away in infancy.

Joseph commenced his schooling in Oakland, and
when he was twelve years old he accompanied his
parents to Contra Costa County, where he finished
with his books. Two years later, when fourteen,
he set out to make his own way in the world, and
commenced to work on ranches in Walnut Creek;
and when he was eighteen years old. he returned
to Oakland and for two years worked as a painter
in the locomotive shops. .\fter that he removed
to San Jose and established himself in dairying;
and he succeeded so well that he came to have
sixty cows, continuing there for three years.

On October 1,3. 1917, however, he entered the
service of the U. S. Army; and he was sent to Camp
Lewis, where he joined the Three Hundred Sixty-
fourth Infantry. Company I.. Ninety-first Division,
and in July, 1918, he was sent to France. He had
qualified as a sniper before leaving America and on
arriving in France, he was transferred to the auto-
matic rifle squad. After training for two months
he was in the reserves of the St. Mihiel drive, and
took part in the Meuse-Argonne first offensive, and
was then sent to Belgium, where he participated
in the operations of the Ypres-Lys salient. When
the armistice had been signed, he was sent to Her-
zeelc. Belgium, for a month, and then to France, and
in March. 1919. commenced the return journey to
America. In .'\pril he was honorably discharged
at Camp Kearney and then he returned to San Jose.
He is a member of the American Legion and a
Republican in politics.

On February 14, 1920, Mr. Azevedo was married
at San Jose to Miss Mary Texiera. a native of Sau-
salito, and the daughter of Joseph and Rita (Lacer-

da) Texiera, experienced and successful dairy ranch-
ers still living on the White Road in Santa Clara
County. Mr. Azevedo is in partnership with his
father and now they have about 240 head of cattle,
150 being milch cows and a very fine dairy ranch.
His barns are modern and most sanitary and equipped
with milking machines. He is a charter member of
the San Francisco Milk Producers Association.

STEVE PASSELLI.— An experienced, successful
and prosperous rancher who not only well knows
what he is doing but is able, as he is always willing,
to tell "the other fellow" how best to operate, is
Steve Passelli, a native of Canton, Ticino, Switzer-
land, where he was born on January 24, 1886, the
son of Zaverio and Irmastina Passelli. His father
was a man who labored hard, but he also worked in-
telligently and faithfully for whomsoever he con-
tracted to serve; he had two sons, and the brother of
Steve was named Joseph.

Steve Passelli attended the grammar school until
he was fourteen years old, and then he commenced
to work in real earnest. He helped his father until
he came of age; and then, desiring to profit by the
greater opportunities in the New World, he crossed
the ocean, came out to California, and started to work
on a dairy farm near Gonzales, in Monterey County.
He worked for six years on dairy farms, and then
he leased a large dairy ranch for five years. After
a year's experience there, however, he sold out to
his partner and started a new dairy. He built this
up until he had about 100 cows, and at the end of
two years, he disposed of that ranch, also.

Mr. Passeli then made a trip home to Switzerland,
where he stayed for ten months; and there he mar-
ried, on November 18, 1920, Miss Paulina Barea, the
daughter of John and Scrafina Barea. Her father was
a stone mason by trade, and he took a pride in send-
ing his daughter to the excellent Swiss public schools.
On his return 'to America with his bride. Mr. Pas-
selli settled on Capitol Avenue, and on April 1, 1921,
he started a model dairy on the Tuttle ranch. Now
he has fifty-two cows and sixty-four acres in alfalfa,
and he is able to send about 100 gallons of milk a
day to the East Bay Milk Producers' Association.
Mr. and Mrs. Paselli, who have become favorites
with all who know them and are highly esteemed in
the town and vicinity of Milpitas, have one child,
a daughter named Elsie; and Mr. Passelli is a mem-
ber of Soledad Lodge No. 167, of the Druids.

HENRY CATANIA.— A native son of California,
Henry Catania was born in Los Angeles, Cal.. June
7. 1888. the son of Joseph and Josephine Catania,
both parents natives of the Pro' ince D'Palermo.
Italy. The father, Joseph, came to the United States
and settled in Louisiana when a young man and
farmed near New Orleans one year and removed to
California, but only remained one year, when he re-
turned to Louisiana and for the next nine years was
occupied in farming, after which he again returned
to California, content to remain the balance of his
days, and is now engaged in market gardening on
his farm on North Thirteenth Street. San Jose. Mr.
and Mrs. Catania are the parents of eight children,
all of whom are living: Joseph. Vincent. Henry,
Frank. Nicholas, Rosie. Effie, and Jennie.

Henry was educated in the grammar school of
San Jose and began to make his own way when
quite young. He worked for four years for the
Singletary brothers; for Henry Stelling for two years;

1392

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

then for two years he was with Charles Bocks, doing
orchard work. He also worked on the farms of
Frank Holmes and Ed. Johnson in the Cupertino
district. He then was employed by the Singletary
brothers as superintendent of their ranch on the Fre-
mont Road, after having completed a two years'
course at the agricultural school of the University
of California, at Davis.

The marriage of Mr. Catania occurred in San Jose
September 3, 1915 and united him with Miss Antonia
Vissal, born and reared in Baldwin, La., where she
received her education, and about twelve years ago
she accompanied her parents to California. She is
one of a family of four children. Mr. and Mrs. Cat-
ania are the parents of a daughter, Josephine. In
national politics, Mr. Catania is a stanch Republican.

FRANCISCO P. SCARES.— The subject of this
review is the representative of a pioneer family of
California, Francisco P. Soares, being the grand-
son of Antone Soares who came to California in 1849
around Cape Horn in a sailing vessel. He was born
in Flores of the Azores Islands, Portugal, October
31, 1872, the son of John and Victoria Soares. The
paternal grandfather on arriving in California worked
in the placer mines of Mono County; later he re-
turned to his native land via Panama to Boston,
thence across the ocean to Portugal. When our
subject's father, John Soares, was sixteen years old
he went to sea on a whaling vessel and after spend-
ing four years on the sea, he stopped at New
Bedford, Mass., expecting to meet his father, but
upon arriving there found that his father had already
returned to Portugal; he then secured employment
on a sailing vessel and gradually worked his way
back to his home; while at home he was married,
b It soon left for America leaving his wife in Flores;
for a time he was a sailor, plying between Philadel-
phia and New Orleans, but when the Civil War
broke out he remained in Boston. After the close
of the war he went to San Francisco and wrote for
his wife and family to come to California, but she
did not like the account of the Indian ravages and
thought California was uncivilized, so remained in
Flores with their four children, Mary, Francisco,
Joseph, and Emily. John Soares finally returned
to his old home and lived there until he passed
away in July, 1921; the mother is still living at the
age of eighty-nine.

Francisco was educated in the schools of Flores
and when he reached the age of seventeen he came
to America landing at Boston and coming by rail
to San Francisco in 1889. For eleven months he
worked as gardener, then went to the sheep camps
in the San Joaquin Valley and was engaged in herd-
ing sheep for seven months at $25 per month; then
he contracted to work for five years at $30 per
month and at the end of the five years he had
nothing, his employer having become bankrupt, Mr.
Soares receiving but $50.00 for his five years' work.
He then went to Reno, Nev., was with P. L. Flan-
nagan, a stockman trading camp, for over seven
years. At the end of this time he took a trip to
his old home and was gone eighteen months, during
which time he was married on February 4, 1903, to
Miss Mary Gomez, also born in Flores, a daughter
of Joseph and Mary (Peireira) Gomez. Her parents
were farmers. Mr. Soares remained one year in his
old home after his marriage and in February, 1904,
he returned to Nevada and again worked for P. L.

Flannagan. But before his wife could join him she
passed away in September, 1904, in Flores, and the
bereaved husband continued his employment with his
former employer and worked for him over five
years. He then went to work for Andrew Fran-
zen, a sheep grower and later went into partnership
with Mr. Franzen and Walter Sherlock. They pur-
chased 2,700 sheep and within three years' time their
flock had increased to 10,000. In July, 1917, the
partnership was dissolved and Mr. Soares sold his
interest for $30,000; then removed to Oakland and
on December 4, 1917, was married the second time
to Miss Anna Peireira, a cousin of his first wife,
her father and the first wife's mother being twins.
She is the daughter of John T. and Mary (Vascou-
sellas) Peireira. After his marriage Mr. Soares
bought fifteen acres on Pomeroy Avenue near Santa
Clara, devoted to the raising of prunes, apricots and
cherries. He has one of the finest orchards in the
district. Mr. and Mrs. Soares are the parents of two
children, Victoria Marie and John Francis. Mr.
Soares is a member of the St. Antonia lodge, and
Mrs. Soares of the U. P. P. E. C. in Santa Clara and
the S. P. R. S. I. of Hayward. In politics they are
adherents of the Republican party.

JOHN F. BEATTY.— Few men in Santa Clara
County are more deserving the success attending
their various efforts than John F. Beatty, the ex-
perienced, far-seeing and enterprising butcher of
Alviso, for in addition to his ability and industry, he
has always led in public-spiritedness, and has been
invariably an effective booster for Santa Clara County
and all within its favored borders. A native son,
he was born in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, on Oc-
tober 14, 1878, the son of George W. and Emma
Beatty. His father, who was a butcher in Santa
Rosa, came across the great plains in 1851, traveling
by ox team, when he was a mere child; and with
his folks he settled in Sonoma County.

John attended the grammar school of Santa Rosa,
and at the age of seventeen, he started to make his
own way in the world. He had learned the butcher's
trade under his father, and when twenty-one years
of age left Santa Rosa and went to Lovelocks, Nev.,
where he worked as a butcher. From there he moved
on to Pendleton, Ore., where he followed his trade.
In 1904, Mr. Beatty returned to Mayfield, where he
worked as a butcher for a short time, and he also
worked in the shops at Mountain View and Sunny-
vale; and in 1916 he came to Alviso and reopened a
shop which had previously been unsuccessful. Thor-
oughly understanding his business, he attained suc-
cess where others had failed, and now he buys grain,
feeds hogs, and butchers hogs and calves, and such
is the popularity of his high-grade products, that
his own cure of bacon is always in demand — far
ahead of its being prepared. He has raised a drove
of ninety head of hogs, and he has a large flock
of turkeys, and it is his intention soon to engage in
the raising exclusively of hogs and stock.

At Mountain View, on February 8, 1913, Mr.
Beatty was married to Miss Adele Girard, a native
of Santa Clara County, and the daughter of a rancher
who was also engaged in the management of a hotel
at Mountain View. Three children have blessed the
fortunate union, Clara, Evelyn and Frank. In na-
tional political affairs, Mr. Beatty prefers the plat-
forms of the historic Republican party.

^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1395

M. FARRELL.— The genial treasurer of the Cali-
fornia State Grange, M. Farrell, is a prominent figure
in the affairs of his locality and his gift for leadership
is appreciated by his fellow-citizens. He is of impos-
ing stature, standing six feet four inches, and his cor-
dial, kindly manner has won for him many friends and
a substantial place in the community. He was born
near Fond du Lac, Wis., at the landing known as
Eden, May 1, 18SS, a son of Ryan and Ann (Don-
nelly) Farrell. Making their way to New York in
1867, the family came via the Nicaragua route to San
Francisco, landing there about June 1 of that year,
the voyage consuming about a month. Settling at Los
Gatos, the family purchased a farm and resided there
until the father passed away in 1869; Mrs. Farrell
spent her last days at Mountain View, her death oc-
curring at the age of sixty-nine. M. Farrell was
twelve years old when the family left Wisconsin,
where he had received his elementary education in the
public schools, and on reaching Los Gatos he con-
tinued his studies there, meanwhile assisting on the
home ranch. Upon the death of his father he was
thrown on his own resources and began working out
on farms, and so diligently did he apply himself that
he became foreman of the Martin Murphy, Jr., ranch
of 5,000 acres at Sunnyvale when he was but twenty
years old, occupying this responsible position for
seventeen }'ears.

On May 20, 1880, Mr. Farrell was united in niar-
ria.ge with Miss Eliza South, a sister of Charles D.
South, the present postmaster of Santa Clara, the
ceremony being performed at San Luis Obispo. Mrs.
Farrell was born in New York State and reared at
Plattsburg, her parents being Captain Joseph and
Catherine (McMullen) South, born in Ireland and
Montreal. Canada, respectively. The father came to
New York when a 5'oung man and although the head
of a family v.hen the Civil War broke out he enlisted,
becoming a first lieutenant in the Ninety-sixth New
York Volunteer Infantry. As senior officer of his
company he was gallantly leading his men when he
was shot at the Battle of Cold Harbor in 1864. Mrs.
South spent her last days in California, passing away
at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Farrell. Mrs. Farrell,
who was educated at D'Youville Convent at Platts-
burg, N. Y., came to Santa Clara in 1876, and for four
years was engaged in educational work as governess
in the family of Martin Murphy, Jr.

For four years Mr. Farrell operated the Martin
Murphy, Jr., ranch under lease, in the meantime pur-
chasing a ranch of 120 acres north of Mountain View,
which he planted to apples, grain and truck garden.
and another place of 142 acres south of Los Altos,
upon which was a thirty-acre prune orchard, the rest
being devoted to hay, stock and grain. In 1911 he ac-
quired the twelve-acre ranch on EI Monte Avenue
and Springer Road, known as The Elms, largely
devoted to prunes, and here the family make their
home. Mr. Farrell has always taken a live interest
in the political affairs of the county, and has served
on the Democratic Central Committee, attending the
various state and county conventions. He is a mem-
ber of San Jose Lodge No. 522, B. P. O. E., and San
Jose Lodge No. 879, K. of C, also of the Ancient
Order of Hibernians, having served as county presi-
dent. Mr. and Mrs. Farrell were charter members
of the Mountain View Grange, which was the largest
grange in the state, and Mr. Farrell has held all the

offices of the local organization. He is a past worthy
master and since 1913 he has been state treasurer of
the California Grange and with his wife has attended
every state session, being elected a member of the
executive committee at the first session. Mr. Farrell
is the local chairman of the "sign-up" committee of
the Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc.; a charter mem-
ber of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of
Alountain View, he assisted in its organization and
was on its first board of directors, a large stockholder,
he is now serving as its vice-president and one of the
board of directors. Mrs. Farrell has been active in
civic and social circles and is a charter member and
ex-president of the Mountain View Woman's Club,
and is a charter member and past president of Col.
Peter Porter Circle of Ladies of the G. A. R. of
Mountain View. She is interested in the cause of edu-
cation and for nine years was president of the board
of trustees of the Mountain View grammar and high
schools. She is chairman of the Mountain View
auxiliary of the American Red Cross and gave valu-
able service during the war, as did her husband, who
was active in all the drives and other Government ac-
tivities. Mr. and Mrs. Farrell are members of St.
Joseph's Catholic Church at Mountain View.

GEORGE WASHINGTON TALLMON. — A
hale and hearty octogenarian resident of Morgan
Hill, whose more than four score years rest lightly
on his shoulders, is George Washington Tallmon, a
native of Chautauqua County, N. Y., where he was
born near the village of Dunkirk on October 12,
1837. The family removed to Iowa in pioneer days
and Mr. Tallmon was educated in the schools at
Davenport, then entered Iowa College at Daven-
port for a preparatory college course, finishing his
schooling at Beloit College, Beloit, Wis., and fol-
lowed the teaching profession, being principal of the
school at Davenport, Iowa, when he enlisted
on September 6, 1862, in Company E, Twentieth
Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was made second ser-
geant and a year later was commissioned as first
lieutenant. He was active on the various fronts dur-
ing his term of enlistment, though spent considerable
time on detached duty. His company wintered at
Prairie Grove and in the winter of 1862-63 Mr. Tall-
mon returned north as a recruiting officer. In March,
1863, he rejoined his company and went to St. Louis,
rejoined his regiment and embarked on boats at St.
Louis, Mo., going down the Mississippi, besieging
Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. The shortage of sup-
plies necessitated a heavy guard and in this work
and in solving the problem of getting additional
food for the troops Mr. Tallmon had many exciting
and unusual experiences. After the surrender of
Vicksburg and Port Hudson, he finally went on to
Washington, D. C. He resigned his commission on
May 9, 1865.

Settling in Scott County, Iowa, on his return from
the war. he became extensively interested in stock
and grain farming, raising as high as 6,000 bushels
a season. He was prominent in the public life of
the locality, and held the offices of school director
and justice of the peace for many years. During
the war, on March 2, 1862, Mr. Tallmon was united
in marriage with Miss Susan Carhart, a native of
Syracuse, N. Y., who passed away at their home at
Grinnell, Iowa. They were the parents of twelve
children, as follows: Grace died in infancy; Ada

1396

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

died at the age of twelve; Angeline is the wife ofc:
Rev. Burton Jones, — they reside at Forest Grove,
Ore., and have eight children; Clara is the wife of
Professor Lines Jones of Oberlin College and is the
mother of five children; George Albert, a rancher
at Morgan Hill, is married and has ten children;
Susan married Rev. B. F. Sargent and they reside
at Berkeley; Lucy is the wife of Harry Miler of
Walnut Creek and they have four children; Marga-
ret married Dr. L. Rutherford of Peoria. 111., and
they have five children; Clover married L. D. Smith,
has four children and lives in Humboldt County;
Esther is a teacher at Morgan Hill; Edith is a mis-
sionary in China; John died at the age of eighteen.
In 1902 Mr. Tallmon came to California, seeking
a milder climate, and for a time resided at
Berkeley, removing to Santa Clara County in 1906.
Since coming here he has acquired seventy-seven
acres in Willow Canyon and his residence and ten-
acre ranch on Dunne Avenue, near Morgan Hill,
where he lives in comfortable retirement, wide-awake
and interested in all the issues of the day. He has
always been prominent in G. A. R. circles, belong-
ing to Lookout Mountain Post at Berkeley. He is a
stanch Republican and has been since the days
when he cast his presidential vote for Lincoln, and
one of his cherished memories is the speech it was
his privilege to hear the Great Emancipator make
at Beloit, Wis., before he became president.

JOHN ANDREWS FREITAS.— A prominent
rancher of Santa Clara County is John Andrews
Freitas, who was born on September IS, 1887, the son
of Joseph and Lucretia (Cumbra) Freitas, natives of
Madeira, in the Azores Islands. They removed to
Hawaii and there lived for four years; and in 1897
they reached California, after which Mr. Freitas was
busy in Oakland, at various kinds of labor. They
had eight children, among whom our subject was the
seventh. Mary, the eldest is now Mrs. Dupont, in
Oakland; then there is Ernest Freitas; Antone a
farmer in East San Jose; Manuel lives on the Al-
maden Road, near Los Gatos; Marsoline lives at
Santa Clara; the next are Joseph and Margaret.

When he was seven years old, John Andrews ac-
companied his parents to Santa Clara, and in that
town he attended the grammar school. At the age
of eighteen, he began to make his own way in the
world, and he worked on farms, at the Western
Distilleries at Agnew and for ten years he was
employed by the San Jose Brick Company. In 1919,
he took up farming and rented twelve and one-half
acres of prune and apricot land at the corner of Kirk
and McKee streets. At the end of twa years he
leased ISO acres, five acres of which were given up
to a vineyard, and there he has prospered. Proud
of the land in which he has found such advantages,
Mr. Freitas, as a good Republican, has sought to do
his duty as a citizen, and to enthuse others with the
same admiration for America.

In Oakland, Cal., on June 29, 1908, Mr. Freitas
was married to Miss Margaret Fereirra, the daugh-
ter of Manuel and Antonia Fereirra, both natives
of St. Miguel in the Azores. Mrs. Freitas came
to the United States when she was eight years old.
and for another eight years lived in Boston, Mass.;
then removed to Oakland. Ten children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Freitas. Willard W. is the
oldest son, then come Alice May, and Margaret Ce-

ilia, and after them the twins, Charles and Rich-
ard, and then Manuel, Dolores Madaline, Roy Jo-
seph, Daniel Andrews and Robert James

JOHN J. MICHEL.— A native son of California,
John J. Michel has demonstrated what industry
and perseverance will accomplish in this favored
section. He was born at Nicholas, Sutter County,
September 1, 1874, the son of John Adam and Anna
Margaret (Krieg) Michel. The father came to Cali-
fornia in the '60's, from his native country of Ger-
many, having been born at Abrefaussen. He had
engaged in farming in his native land, and after set-
tling in California bought land in Sutter County and
continued to farm, raising grain and stock. He passed
away in 1900, but the mother still lives at the age of
eighty and is hale and hearty. They were the parents
of seven children: Frank Joseph; Mary Eva, now
Mrs. Otto Abel of Cupertino; Kasper Joseph; John
J. of this review; Folka Margretta, now Mrs. Hous-
ley; Elizabeth Catherine. Mrs. Waters of Shasta
County; and Regina Hermina.

John J. attended the public schools of Nicholas
and helped his father on his ranch until he came to
Santa Clara County. He was married at Nicholas
on June 30, 1915 to Miss Folka Margaretta Peter, a
native daughter, born at Nicholas, Cal., a daughter
of Kasper Joseph and Regina (Bergardt) Peter, the
father a farmer. Her mother's people came from
Germany and settled in California many years ago.
Mrs. Michel obtained her education in the schools
of Nicolaus. During 1915, Mr. Michel came to
Santa Clara County and bought a ten-acre orchard
on the Homestead Road a half mile west of the
Collins school house and has continued to live there.
Mr. and Mrs. Michel are the parents of two children.
Helen Virginia, and Esther Margaret. Mr. Michel
is a Republican and votes for and supports the
candidates of that party.

OTTO ABEL.— An enterprising rancher of the
Santa Clara Valley, who by industry and persever-
ance has succeeded in accumulating a substantial
competence, and comfortable home, is Otto Abel,
who owns a fine orchard on the Homestead Road.
He was born in the Rhine Province, Germany, June
22, 1865, the son of John and Eva Abel, both natives
of that country, and there he was reared on a farm
and received his education, remaining at home until
he was eighteen years old, when he left home, bound
for America and California. He settled first in the Sac-
ramento Valley and did farm work for ten years near
Marysville, Cal., then removing to the Santa Clara
Valley he bought ten acres on the Foxworthy Road.
For five years he farmed this place and worked for
neighlioring farmers, thus enabling him to pay for
his ranch. He resided on this place for twelve years,
then disposed of it and rented a fifteen-acre fruit
ranch, and ran this for two years; then in 1907 bought
the thirty-acre orchard on the Homestead Road.
This ranch was set to prunes, but was an old orchard
and Mr. Abel pulled out the old trees and planted it
anew; also built a new house and other buildings,
making substantial and attractive improvements.

Mr. Abel's marriage occurred in the fall of 1893 in
Sacramento, and united him with Miss Eva Michel, a
native daughter born near Nicolaus, Sutter County,
a daughter of Adam and Margaret Michel. Both
parents were natives of the Rhine Province in Ger-
many, and were farmers there. They are the par-

Jp U-t^yzX^J iryi ■ ^ Cl^--pt.u^ri^i

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1399

ents of three children; Anna, now Mrs. H. J. Baum-
gartner, residing on a ranch; Lawrence resides in
Sunnyvale; and Edward lives at home with his par-
ents. Mr. Abel disposed of ten acres of his ranch in
1915. retaining the balance of twenty acres.

JAMES MONROE KENYON.— A worthy repre-
sentative of a prominL-nt pioiKcr famil}', James Mon-
roe Kenyon, was l)(irii nn iIk- old Kenyon ranch on
Homestead Road, three niik> uest of Santa Clara,
lebruary 26, 1863, the son of James Monroe and Mar-
tha (Roberts) Kenyon. The father first came to Cal-
ifornia in 1849 and the following year bought the
ranch on Homestead Road. He was a native of
Adams County, Ohio, born May 29, 1817, on the
banks of the Ohio River. The paternal grandfather,
Jonathan Kenj'on, a native of Vermont, came to
Ohio when a young man, located in Adams County
and engaged in farming. He served as a soldier in
the War of 1812, and was a stanch Republican to
the da\- of his dcatli; he married Sarah Stratton. born
ii- KentiHk>, her lather Aaron Stratton. a native of
Virginia, haviii- removed to the Blue Grass state,
where he eiiKatred in the manufacture of salt. He
was an extensive slave owner and a man of prom-
inence in the eummunily, where he died in 1829. He
was also a soldier in the War of 1812. James Mon-
roe Kenyon, Sr., received a good education in the
I'ublic schools, and helped his father on the farm
until he was sixteen years of age, when he was ap-
prenticed to learn the carpenter's trade. He did con-
tracting and building throughout the county and in
Cincinnati. He then went to St. Louis and followed
his trade for a time; then to Alton, 111.; he then re-
turned to his Ohio home and followed his trade for a
few months. In company with his two brothers,
Samuel and Thompson, he went to Missouri and
worked at his trade, and in 1849 he started for Cal-
ifornia, making the trip with ox-teams. Upon his
arrival in the spring of 1850, he went into the mines
and remained there until the fall of the same year
v.dien he came to Santa Clara Valley. Mrs. Kenyon
was a native of Lewis County, Ky., the daughter of
Woodford Roberts. Her mother died while they
lived in Kentucky and after Mrs. Kenyon located in
California, Mr. Roberts came west on a visit in 1889,
passing away a few years later at an advanced age.
Mr. and Mrs. Kenyon had a large family, six of whom
grew to maturity. Mrs. Sarah F. Gardner was a
resident of Santa Clara County until her death; John
Fletcher is deceased; Harvey Thompson, deceased;
Mrs. Emma Slavens of Santa Clara; B. Frank resides
on the old home place; and James Monroe, of this
sketch. The father had been an active member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church since he was sixteen
years of age; he passed away in 1907 at the age of
ninety years and Mrs. Kenyon died the same 5'ear.

James Monroe Kenyon was educated in the public
schools of Santa Clara and the College of the Pacific.
In Santa Clara occurred his marriage at the age of
nineteen to Miss Mira Rea, a native of Placer County,
Cal., who passed away in 1918, the mother of three
children; Elsie V., now Mrs. Brickly, and resides in
Los Angeles; Minnie E., Mrs. McNally, resided in
Tuolumne County until she passed away in March.
1922, and Addie I. is Mrs. Paul Nerell and lives in
San Jose. There are seven grandchildren. After
his marriage, Mr. Kenyon farmed a portion of the

old home place and in 1885, he removed to Aptos.
Santa Cruz County, where he engaged in farming and
became the possessor of a 160-acre ranch, a portion of
it overlooking Monterey Bay and Salinas V'alley.
Here he set out an apple orchard; half of the prop-
erty is still in native timber with its tall redwood
trees. He still owns the ranch, but in 1908 returned
to Santa Clara County, taking up his residence on his
present place of fifty acres on Fruitvale Avenue. Here
he devotes his time to raising prunes and apricots
and has developed it into a very valuable place. In
politics Mr. Kenyon is a Republican; he is master of
Santa Clara County Pomona Grange, serving his
second term and is a member of the Saratoga Im-
provement Association. He joined the Methodist
Church when a young man of seventeen years, is now
a member of the Saratoga Methodist Episcopal
Church in which he is secretary of the board of trus-
tees and recording steward. He takes pride in be-
ing a member of the Santa Clara County Pioneer
Society, and can be counted upon to assist and en-
dorse all progressive measures.

RUFUS E. STEWART.— A man of vigorous ac-
tivities, who knows how to persevere and to give his
energy and intelligent direction to the task at hand,
Rufus E. Stewart holds the responsible position as
manager of the Esperanza Ranch on the San Jose-
Saratoga Road, near Cupertino. Mr. Stewart can
well be proud of his association with the Golden
State, as he is not only a native son, but the son of
an intrepid pioneer of '49, that hardy band whose
ranks are growing thinner year by year. He was
born at San Diego, Februarv 26. 1881. the son of
Robert M. and Mary (Ellef) Stewart, born in Texas
and Tennessee, respectively. Mrs. Stew^art passed
away some years ago, and the father passed away
in December, 1921, at the age of eighty-one, having
had an eventful life as a miner in Texas, Arizona and
California, coming here at the height of the gold
rush, crossing the plains in an ox-team train in 1849,
and afterwards engaged in stock raising in San Diego
County. He was one of the developers of the Dia-
mond Mine in that county, and owned a 3,000-acre
ranch; he afterwards farmed near Santa Ana. Rufus
E. Stewart was educated in the schools of Los An-
geles, the family having removed to the vicinity of
that city, and he then became interested in farming
and stock raising, gaining a thorough and practical
experience. From the time he was a lad he was em-
ployed by Thomas H. B. Varney, of Varney, Green
& Owens, known throughout Southern California as
bill posters and sign painters. Mr. Varney treated
him as if he had been a son, and a warm friendship
sprang up which has endured ever since. In 1913
Mr. Stewart came to Santa Clara County as super-
intendent of the Meads ranch at Alviso, and the
great care he gave their pear orchard brought it up
to good production and put it on a profitable basis.
After two and a half years he resigned this position
to accept his present place, offered him by his old
friend, Thomas H. B. Varney, as superintendent of
the Esperanza Ranch. In 1916 Mr. Varney pur-
chased the ranch and a few weeks later bought the
Col. Hersey ranch, adjoining, the two comprising
lis acres, and Mr. Stewart as superintendent has
given it his best efforts in the development, and is
rapidly bringing the orchards into splendid shape,
the quality of the fruit being a very high standard.

1400

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

During the busy season he employs fifteen people to
assist him in handling the products of this large acre-
age. The ranch is well equipped with the latest im-
proved farm machinery, including a tractor, and
the fruit of the orchards is handled by the California
Prune and Apricot Growers' Association, for both
Mr. Stewart and Mr. Varney are strong believers in
cooperative marketing. Mr. Stewart has been a
close student of horticulture and his valuable experi-
ence and close observation make him well posted and
authoritative in his line. He is very systematic and
methodical, so from the first day on the Esperanza
Ranch he has a record (card system) of every detail
and transaction, including a weather report.

In Santa Cruz, on November 4, 1908, Mr. Stewart
was married to Miss Annie Livingston, who, like
himself, is a native of California, born in San Fran-
cisco, a daughter of Henry H. and Agnes (Bodell)
Livingston, who were natives of Ohio and Chicago,
111., respectively. When a youth her father crossed
the plains over the overland trail in pioneer days
with his parents, and when the Civil War was raging
he enlisted in defense of the Union, serving in a Cali-
fornia regiment. He died in 1913, being survived by
his widow until 1914. Mrs. Stewart was reared in
Fruitvale and there received a good education in the
public schools. She is a woman of much native
business ability and is intensely interested in her hus-
band's work, aiding and encouraging him materially
in his ambition, and Air. Stewart gives her no small
credit for the success he has accomplished as a hor-
ticulturist. Mr. Stewart is a Democrat in his po-
litical affiliations and a loyal supporter of all that
makes for the upbuilding of Santa Clara County.
He is fond of the open, and spends as much of his
time in outdoor recreation as his busy life will permit.

JOSEPH WOLF. — About three miles west of
Santa Clara on the Wolf Road, is the well-tilled
farm of twelve acres belonging to Joseph Wolf, an
industrious and honorable citizen of Santa Clara
County. Mr. Wolf was born in Minneapolis, Minn.,
July 3, 1866, the son of Antone and Elizabeth
(Murer) Wolf. The father was a native of Ger-
many and came to Minneapolis when a young man
and was married after arriving here. When he
arrived in Minneapolis it was a small town and he
could have taken a 160 acre claim now in the city
of Minneapolis but like hundreds of other pioneers
he had the desire of locating where there was tim-
ber, so he took a claim in Medina township, about
eighteen miles out, and cleared the land. When he
had it well improved he sold it and bought a small
farm at Crystal Lake, four miles from Minneapolis.
There he built the first hotel, the Crystal Lake, and
was its proprietor for ten years when he rented it and
lived in Minneapolis. When the hotel burned he
built a large brick hotel; later he sold it and came to
California in 1886 and spent the rest of his life in
the Cupertino district as did the mother.

Joseph -was their only child and he was educated
in the public schools of Minneapolis. When he
reached sixteen years of age he was apprenticed
to learn the machinist trade in the Perry Machine
Shops adjoining the big flour mills and became
an experienced machinist, working at his trade for
four years. In 1886 with his parents he came to
California and upon arrival settled in Santa Clara
County. He purchased an eighty-acre tract of land

a quarter of a mile north of the Homestead Road,
three miles west of Santa Clara. The ranch was
grain land, and he was among the first to set out
vineyards and orchards. When it was all set out,
he began selling portions of it, until now he has only
twelve and one-half acres left, which is in full-bear-
ing cherries, apricots and prunes; there is an ir-
rigating plant on the place that flows 350 gallons
to the minute. Since settling on the ranch, Mr. Wolf
has made substantial improvements in the way of a
comfortable residence and other buildings. In 1909
he was instrumental in having the road put through
from the Homestead to the San Francisco Road and
it was named the Wolf Road in his honor.

Mr. Wolf's marriage occurred in October, 1916.
and united him with Mrs. Villa (Amos) Graham,
born in Iowa. She passed away in December. 1919,
leaving an adopted daughter, Grace Graham, who
presides gracefully over his home. Of recent years,
Mr. Wolf has been engaged in general hauling and
is equipped with a three and a half ton truck and
a two ton truck, which are especially adapted to
the hauling of fruit from orchards; he also has a
Sampson tractor with which he does orchard work;
and a w'ood saw for sawing stove and furnace wood.
Mr. Wolf has fitted up a machine shop on his
ranch run by a gasoline engine that furnishes power
for his turning lathe, circular saw and other ma-
chinery; he also does auto-body building and has
invented an auto-body that serves two purposes, for
general hauling and for hauling fruit from orchards.
He is a member of the California Prune and Apricot
Association and the California Cooperative Ca

RALPH W. EATON— The worthy son of a dis-
tinguished pioneer, now retired, Ralph W. Eaton is

interesting, first because of his family connections,
and secondly on account of what he himself has ac-
complished to add to the credit and honor of the
family name. He was born at Sterling, Reno County,
Kans., on May 27, 1882, the eldest son of Ernest C.
and Viola L. (Merrell) Eaton, and a maternal grand-
son of Major William Merrell, who served as a
major under General Sherman in the Civil War and
was later prominent in G. A. R. circles in California,
where he died. On July 12, 1901, Mr. Eaton re-
moved with his parents from Kansas to California,
where his father invested in a ranch on Homestead
Road, a fine orchard tract of twenty acres two miles
out of Santa Clara.

Ralph attended the Santa Clara high school for £
couple of terms, and soon was working as a rancher
and the stand-by of his parents. In July, 1910, he
signed a contract with the Government to transport
mail by automobile from San Jose to Mt. Hamilton
— a new departure from the old-time method of horse
and stage — and only after he had conducted this en-
terprise for three and a half years did he sell out to
a Mr. McCormick. Since that time, and before he
entered the service of the Government, Mr. Eaton
has been a Santa Clara Valley orchardist. He bought
and sold several ranches with profit, and at present
owns a ranch on the White Road, four miles from
San Jose, which he has improved from a stubblefield
to a prune and peach orchard.

Ernest C. Eaton, the father of our subject, made
an enviable reputation as a very successful operator
in ranch land, by himself highly developed, and as
one of the most respected directors of the San Jose

V^-^^Scr-^-'-eiSY-'

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1403

Mutual Loan Association; and Ralph Eaton, al-
though still a young man, has certainly proven a chip
off the old block. His parents were always con-
sistent prohibitionists, and he has been equally con-
scientious as a progressive in national politics, and
in every way a first-class "booster" of the region in
which he lives, works and thrives.

At San Jose. May 24, 1906, Mr. Eaton was married
to Miss Beulah James, born at Mattoon, 111., the
daughter of D. W. James, of Santa Clara, the well-
known mechanic, who is a native of Illinois and mar-
ried a native Ohioan, Miss Olive Crowel, like him-
self a pioneer worthy of the honor of posterity. One
child, Joyce La Verne, blessed this union; and she
is a student at Horace Mann School. The family
reside in their comfortable and hospitable home at
799 South Seventh Street, and with his wife Mr.
Eaton is a member of the Methodist Church.

FLOYD O. BOHNETT.— For over a half century
the Bohnett family has been continuously identified
with the agricultural development of Santa Clara
County and in this field of activity Floyd O. Bohnett
is proving a worthy successor of his father, being
recognized as one of the most progressive orchardists
of this part of the state. He was born on the old
home place on the Los Gatos and San Jose road,
August 15, 1894, his parents being Joseph and Tamer
(Barker) Bohnett, born in Michigan and California,
respectively. In 1870 the father came to California
from Michigan, purchasing a tract of 180 acres in
Santa Clara County, which he farmed a few years and
then sold and bought fifty acres on the Los Gatos
Road; here he set out an orchard and after twenty-
eight years sold it to his son Flo}d O. He now
lives retired in a bungalow on an acre of the ranch.
He was very successful in his farming operations
and in 1888 erected a beautiful home, in which our
subject is now living. The mother passed awav in
September, 1920. They had eleven children, 'five
girls and six boys, all living, and all but two of
them in Santa Clara County.

Floyd O., the eighth of the family, received a gram-
mar and high school education and in 1911, when
seventeen years of age, assumed the responsibility
of the operation of the home ranch, which he has since
successfully managed. In 1919 he purchased the or-
chard from his father and gives it close attention.
He is deeply interested in all modern developments
.ilong horticultural lines and utilizes the most im-
proved equipment, including an evaporating plant.
He is thus independent of the sun for drying pur-
poses and through this process obtains the maximum
cf weight in the fruit. His time and attention are con-
centrated upon his chosen life work, to which he gives
nnu-h thought and study, keeping abreast of the times
111 ( vci y way. Mr. Bohnett, his brother, L. D. Boh-
i.vtt. and the inventor. H. E. Clauser, hold the patent
riylit for the duplex interlocking building block, a new
system of permanent construction of concrete build-
ings. They are incorporated as the Duplex Construc-
tion Equipment Company and manufacture the ma-
chines and molds for making the above concrete
Ijricks and are now introducing it into the various
parts of the United States. It is as substantial as
brick or concrete buildings and at the same time com-
petes with frame construction in prices. Mr. Bohnett
individually has the Santa Clara County rights and

has a plant for manufacturing the brick on his ranch.
He believes in the cooperative marketing of fruit and
is an enthusiastic member of the California Prune &
Apricot Growers Association, the California Coop-
erative Canneries and the California Walnut Growers.
Mr. Bohnett was united in marriage at San Jose
with Miss Violet Morgan, born in this locality, and
they reside in their large residence on the ranch, which
has been, for many years, the home of the Bohnett
family. They have two children, Joseph, Jr., and
Thomas Morgan. In his political views Mr. Bohnett
is a Republican and he is now serving as school
trustee of the Cambrian district, the school that his
mother and all eleven children attended. He was
made a Mason in Charity Lodge No. 362, F. & A. M.
ai Campbell, in which he is past master; he is a
member of all the Scottish Rite bodies in San Jose
and he is also a member of Islam Temple, A. A. O.
N. M. S., at San Francisco. His work sustains the
eriterprising spirit that has long been synonymous
with the family name in Santa Clara County, for he
has lived up to worthy standards, and his influence
is always to be counted upon in the promotion of
any measure looking to the improvement of the com-
munity in which he lives.

ALPHONSE J. MAISONNEUVE.— Industry,

frugality and perseverance have been leading traits
of character in the career of Alphonse J. Maison-
neuve, who has been engaged in the mill business in
California for the past thirty years. Born December
16, 1871, in Kankakee, 111., he is a son of Paul
Maisonneuve, who also was engaged in milling. Both
father and mother were natives of Montreal, Canada,
removing to Illinois during their early married life.
The mother, Julia Lougtin, passed away after their
removal to Kansas, when Alphonse J, was a baby.
The second marriage united him with Miss De Lima
Paradise, who was also a native of French Canada
and came to the states in the early '60s. She proved
to be a mother to the orphan boy and his brother
Paul, who now resides in Oakland.

Mr. Maisonneuve's early education was obtained in
the public schools of Kansas, but as early as 1886,
when only fifteen years of age, he set out for him-
self to earn his own way in the world. His first
job was in a large flouring mill near Marshall, Minn.,
and where he remained for two years. In 1888 he
removed to California, settling in Ventura County,
where he only remained for a year. In 1901 he set-
tled in San Jose, establishing a home at 356 South
Ninth Street, but now lives at 121 Vine Street.

In 1895 Mr. Maisonneuve was married to Miss
Elizabeth Delaney, born in County Manchester, Eng-
land, coming to America with her grandmother in
1883. Five children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Maisonneuve: Aileen M. the wife of R. C. Ken-
ter, residents of Santa Cruz; Joseph, an ex-service
man, who served in the U. S. Navy during the
World War, was second gunner's mate, and was for
over three years in the Asiatic station; Elsie E.;
Cecil, wife of Sheldon E. Crawford of San Jose; and
Carmela. The children were all educated at St.
Mary's and St. Joseph's schools. Fraternally Mr.
Maisonneuve is an active member of the Woodmen
of the World, serving as the manager of Alamo
Camp No. 80 of San Jose, and is also a member of
Eagles No. 8, Gowonga Tribe of Redmen and Neigh-

1404

HISTORY (IF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

bors of Woodcraft, and Millmen's Union No. 262.
Politically he is a consistent Republican.

In 1914 Mr. Maisonneuve owned and operated the
Fourth Street Planing Mill, and constantly employed
sixteen men; however, in 1917, he disposed of his
business with the intention of engaging in the ice and
cold storage business, but on account of the restric-
tions of the Government, he was unable to get a
permit for such a business. He then assumed the
superintendency for Shirley & Sons Planing Mill,
who were formerly his partners. He has always been
liberal with time and money for movements for im-
provements, and is recognized as a progressive and
enterprising citizen. He believes in- the future of
Santa Clara County, and has never had occasion to
regret his determination to settle here.

FREEMAN H. KEMP.— A well-educated, genial
;;entleman, who is now living retired from active
service, is Freeman H. Kemp, a Civil War veteran,
who has led a most active and useful life. He was
born on September 29. 1837, in Boston, Mass., and
entered public school at the age of six years. In 185S
he went to sea on a whaler, cruising in the South
Pacific Ocean, then took a trip to the West Coast of
Africa. On April 10, 1861, two days before the call
of 75,000 recruits, he enlisted in Company C, Third
United States Infantry, and his regiment served as
bodyguard for General McClellan for many months.
During his service he was under McClellan, Burn-
side, Hooker and Meade and remained in the Army
of the Potomac during the entire rebellion. In April,
1864, the company in which he was serving was re-
duced to twenty men and sent to New York on a
recruiting expedition. He was honorably discharged
at Fort Columbus, N. Y., but remained there only
a short time when he reenlisted in Company E,
Forty-second Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and
went to Fort Alexander, Va., across from Washing-
ton, D. C. Five months later he was honorably
discharged at Reedsville, Mass.

In November, 1865, at Independence, Iowa, Mr.
Kemp was married to Miss Flora E. Root, born at
Worcester, Mass., on December 1, 1848, who re-
moved to Iowa in 1864 with her parents. Mr. and
Mrs. Kemp are the parents of three children: Charles
Grant came We^t with his parents and passed away
on June 30, 1920; Alice E. is the wife of A. J. Beaty
and they have four children and reside at Paso
Robles; Herbert Lincoln is married and has one
child and they reside at Healdsburg.

Early in 1873 Mr. Kemp removed with his family
to Knox County, Nebr., which was at that time a
pioneer country and they took up a homestead and
farmed until 1894. During the severe floods of 1881
he cared for sixteen of the sufferers and Mr. Root
cared for twenty-four. His farm consisted of 120
acres and was devoted to the raising of grain and
stock. In 1894 he removed to Paradise Valley and
was one of the pioneers who bought a tract of un-
cultivated land, covered with oak trees, which he
cleared, developed and set to orchard, which he
disposed of in 1919. On his forty acres, ten of which
was in orchard, he developed a spring that never has
ceased to flow. The family then removed to Morgan
Hill and invested in several pieces of property. Mrs.
Kemp is active in club life at Morgan Hill and
belongs to the W. C. T. U. and the Civic Club.

In politics Mr. Kemp is a stalwart Republican
and rejoices in the fact that he voted for Abraham
Lincoln and was in attendance at his second in-
auguration and was a member of the guard, one of
the very few surviving members of that body; he
was in Washington the night of Lincoln's assassina-
tion. A brother, Stephen B. Kemp, served in the
Tenth Massachusetts Infantry and was wounded
seven times; another brother, George H., was on the
Frigate Congress, destroyed by the Merrimac;
Frank E. Kemp, the youngest brother, was wounded
and captured and held prisoner at Libby Prison
and later was removed to Andersonville, where he
met death by starvation. It is not to be wondered
.7t that Mr. Kemp loves peace and hates war with a
vengeance. Of a sunny, philosophical, optimistic,
common-sense temperament, Mr. Kemp is a good
neighbor and a good friend, and is always appreciated
by those who know his character and his conversa-
tional powers as good company.

FRANK HUBBARD.— An enterprising, prosper-
ous stockman so conversant with California condi-
tions that he has set the pace for others in the
same field of alluring endeavor, is Frank Hubbard,
living about fourteen miles out of San Jose on the
Mt. Hamilton Road, and esteemed and influential
as perhaps the most extensive stockman near Halls
Valley. A genuine Hawkeye, he was born near
Council Bluflfs, Iowa, on January 8, 1850, and his
parents were Adam Clark and Abigail E. (Chase)
Hubbard. His father was born in Ohio in 1820,
and was reared in Wabash County, Ind. ; and in
1852 he crossed the plains to California, and for a
j'ear remained in Eldorado County. In September,
1853, he came into Santa Clara County, and as a
farmer he was located half-way between Evergreen
and Jackson. On account of his health, he went
up into the hills northeast of Mt. Hamilton, and
there engaged in stockraising; but the drought of
1864 bankrupted him.

Frank Hubbard joined his father in the stock-
raising business when a young man, and in 1882
came down to Halls Valley and bought 300 acres
of land; and now he controls about 8,000 acres of
range land and aims to let run about 500 head of
cattle. He has set out some twenty acres to orchard,
in which he has about 2,000 young pear and prune
trees, and has also erected a fine dwelling and all
the necessary farm buildings on his home-place.
He follows up-to-date methods, so it is natural that
he gets results of the kind that every ambitious
ranchman is always seeking after.

At San Jose, on November 17, 1880, Mr. Hubbard
was married to Miss Retta L. Brakefield, a native
of Pettis County. Mo., and the daughter of F. F.
and Elizabeth (Taylor) Brakefield— the former a
native of Ohio, the latter born in Virginia. Two
of her sisters came to California — Elizabeth and
Sofronia, now Mrs. J. D. Gucrraz, of Edenvale. Five
children and two grandchildren have sprung from
this marriage, a son, Frank L., married Miss Edna
Strong, and they have two children, Lucretia Eliza
and Ruth; Lewis Saxe lives in San Jose; Eugene
Clark is associated with his father in the manage-
ment of the ranch; John Augustus died on Novem-
ber 1, 1911; William Elmore was killed by his saddle
horse falling on him September 26, 1921.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1407

JOSEPH FRANCALANZO.— Recognized for gen-
erations as a profession of prime importance to the
health of every community, the apothecary and the
druggist have enjoyed an exalted status and re-
ceived a large measure of honor. Joseph Francal-
anzo, one of the successful pharmacists of San Jose,
Cal., was born in the Province of Foggia, Italy,
March 14, 1894, and was the son of Generoso and
Vincenza (Diblasio) Francalanzo, who came to Amer-
ica in 1896 when Joseph was but a small child. He
received his early education in the parochial and pub-
lic schools in San Jose. Cal.. whither he came with
his parents from Providence, R.I., in 1908. Ever
ambitious, he secured a position as delivery boy for
the Wagner Drug Store, and in 1913 began working
for the Fischer and Pellerano Drug Store, and it was
then and there that he resolved to become a pharma-
cist. With this end in view he gained valuable prac-
tical experience, and at the same time pursued a cor-
respondence course. In 1916 he became assistant
pharmacist, and in 1918 became a licentiate pharma-
cist, having satisfactorily passed all required exam-
ination's. He came to his present position with the
Patterson Pharmacy in September, 1920, which was
then located at 207 South First Street; but in Sep-
tember of 1921 removed to its present location, 251
South First Street, near the Hippodrome Theater.
The Patterson Pharmacy carries a large and up-to-
date stock and has one of the largest and most com-
plete prescription cases of any drugstore in Santa
Clara County. The Patterson drugstore has been
a familiar place and a well-stocked pharmacy for
several years, but is doing even a greater volume of
business at the present time. Mr. Francalanzo's
thorough knowledge of the business, and his per-
sonal acquaintance with most of his customers, and
above all his courteous and pleasing personality, has
contributed largely to its success.

LEE R. LENFEST.— A notably successful career
is that of Lee R. Lenfest, a prominent land developer
residing in Santa Clara County, the owner of a val-
uable ranch in the northeastern part of the city of
San Jose, and a fine tract of land near Manteca.
while the methods employed in the cultivation and
development of these places are the expression of the
latest scientific research along agricultural lines. A
n.Tlivc of Maine, Mr. Lenfest was born in Knox
County, September 27, 1859, his parents being Daniel
and Klizabeth (Whitten) Lenfest. The ancestral
record is traced back to Normandy, whence mem-
bers of the Lenfest family migrated to the Isle of
Guernsey, which was the home of the great-grand-
father of our subject, the family name originally be-
ing spelled Lenfeste. At the outbreak of the War
of 1812 he was conscripted into the British forces,
and when the ship reached a short distance from the
American Coast, he jumped overboard and swam
ashore. His son, Peter Lenfest, who was a farmer
in Washington Township, Maine, married Margaret
Campbell, a Scotchwoman, and they became the
parents of thirteen children. The eldest of this fam-
ily. Daniel Lenfest. removed to Clay County, Nebr.,
settling twenty-eight miles from Hastings, when the
Indians, buffalo and elk were numerous on the
!>lains. There he took up a tree claim and also
preempted eighty acres; he was seven years in prov-
ing up on these claims, which aggregated 240 acres,
where he raised grain and stock, but he died soon
after proving up on his land.

Lee R. Lenfest received few educational advan-
tages, being obliged to walk a distance of four and
a half miles to the nearest school, which he at-
tended only during the winter months. However
he was enabled to secure a certificate to teach a
country school, which he did for a couple of sea-
sons. The care of his mother and sister devolved
upon him after the death of his father, about 1881,
and he took charge of the home property, being
among the first to grow alfalfa in that country.
In 1894 he left Nebraska for Louisiana, settling at
Lake Charles, where he turned his attention to the
rice business, organizing a company which erected
the second rice mill west of New Orleans. The
venture proved such a success that the company
enlarged its activities, purchasing a tract of 2,000
acres, which they planted to rice, irrigated by pump-
ing plants with water from the river. They raised
large crops of rice, the entire development being
made under Mr. Lenfest's personal supervision, but
after twelve years spent in that state, failing health
compelled the family to seek the more salubrious
climate of California in 1005. The family home has
been in San Jose since I'U.i, Mr. Lenfest retaining
his property interests in LouiMana until 1915. They
settled first at Los Gates, where Mr. Lenfest pur-
chased The Big Oaks Ranch, having forty-seven
acres in prunes, apricots, pears and peaches. After
improving this place, he disposed of it three years
later and bought a ranch of 100 acres at Empire,
Cal., near Modesto, on which he engaged in grow-
ing alfalfa. At the end of four years he again sold,
but in the meantime he had acquired a ranch of 143
acres north of Santa Clara, a part of the old Morse
seed farm. This property being in a badly run-down
condition, he made many improvements thereon, in-
cluding the installation of a splendid pumping plant,
and ninety acres he devoted to alfalfa. He wrought a
great transformation in the appearance of the place,
which he sold at the end of two years for $350 an
acre, an advance of $150 per acre over the purchase
price. He next bought 229 acres in the northeastern
part of San Jose, of which 116 acres are now leased
for dairy purposes and ten acres for vegetables. He
has thirty acres in pears, and about fifty-five acres
now bein,g prepared for this fruit, the intention be-
ing to set the entire tract to pears of the best va-
rieties. When Mr. Lenfest sold his interests in
Louisiana, he acquired 220 acres in Tulare County,
which he developed to prunes and alfalfa, installing
a pumping plant and pipe lines. He next bought 1,200
acres near Manteca, which he is highly developing
along modern lines, and is putting out 400 acres
to "grapes and 600 acres in alfalfa. He brings to
his work a true sence of agricultural economics, and
never allows an acre of his holdings to be unproduc-
tive, his enterprises being ably directed.

On September 6, 1883, in Clay County, Nebr., Mr.
Lenfest was united in marriage with Miss Lillie E.
Slawson, a native of McHenry County, 111., and a
daughter of Henry H. and Polly (Lake) Slawson.
Originally residents of New York state, they became
early settlers of Illinois, where the father engaged
in farming, hauling grain to P'ort Dearborn, the site
of the present metropolis of Chicago, then but a
trading post. Mr. and Mrs. Lenfest have become
the parents of six children: Blossom married La-
vergne Graves, an oil expert; they have three chil-
dren and now reside in Texas. Ray is interested

1408

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

with his father as a partner in developing their ranch
property. Nellie, Mrs. Samuel Worsley, is the
mother of two daughters and lives in Providence,
R. I. Bessie and Dora, the youngest child, are at
home, while Jasper is attending the San Luis Obispo
State Technical School.

In his political views Mr. Lenfest is a Republican
and he keeps well informed on the questions of the
day, as affecting the welfare and progress of the
country. His life record illustrates the power of
honesty, determination and diligence in insuring suc-
cess, his labors ever having been of a constructive
nature, and have resulted in placing him in the front
rank of progressive agriculturists of California.

MANUEL S. BRAZIL.— An energetic, enthusi-
astic and successful dairy farmer who has been able
to retire on a competency through the assistance
of his capable and devoted wife and as a result
of their years of intelligent toil, is Manuel S. Brazil,
who lives one mile north of Lawrence in Santa Clara
County. Mr. Brazil was born on the Island of St.
George, in Azores, fifty-three years ago and when
eighteen he came to America, landing at Boston. He
stayed in the Hub City only a few days and then
migrated westward to Alameda County. Cal. For
two years he worked for wages on dairy farms,
mainly around Livermore, and then he started a
dairy for himself in Marin County, where he met
with exceptional success. In 1914 Mr. Brazil lo-
cated in Santa Clara County and began farming.
His ranch of 160 acres is situated on Lawrence Av-
enue, about one mile north of Lawrence on the South-
ern Pacific Railroad, a place he purchased that
year, he has since devoted it to dairying, though
at present leasing the dairy to others. This cele-
brated place was developed by an Eastern million-
aire, a race horse fancier named Mclnerney, who
maintained there a race track and built the finest
horse barns in the county and he also had erected
there a palatial country residence. The barns have
been remodeled by Mr. Brazil for dairy purposes
and one alone of the several structures can accom-
modate 100 milk cows.

On May 11, 1900. Mr. Brazil was married to Miss
Marie Costa, a native of his own birthplace and a
daughter of John M. and Marie Costa. Her father
was a prominent teacher and educator, who passed
away in that country and the mother then brought
her children to San Rafael, Cal., where one of her
older sons lived, arriving in August, 1897, and it
was there that Marie Costa met Mr. Brazil, the
acquaintance resulting in their marriage, a union
that has proven very happy to them both and has
been blessed with five children; Helen was edvi-
cated at Notre Dame College; John is a student at
Santa Clara University; Marguerite is attending
Notre Dame, and Manuel S., Jr., and Isabelle. All
these sons and daughters are bright and interest-
ing and such as would do credit to any family and
are popular in their social circle. The family at-
tend Saint Clare's Catholic Church in Santa Clara.
Mr. Brazil attributes no small degree of credit
for his success in life to his faithful wife, who has
been his ready and able helpmate, for being a
woman of much business acumen, she has aided him
materially in achieving their ambition. Mrs. Brazil
is very prominent in the S. P. R. S. I., a benevo-
lent Portuguese order in the United States, she

being one of the founders, with her sister, Mrs.
Anna C. Martin, while they were still the Misses
Costa. It was in March, 1898, that this national
Portuguese order was founded and it has grown to
a very large membership. Mrs. Brazil was an of-
ficer from its organization, serving five years as
secretary of the financial committee, and is one
of the past presidents of the Grand Council of the
S. P. R. S. I. of California, serving in that capacity
in 1915, and that year she travelled over Califor-
nia visiting the 122 councils from Siskiyou to San
Diego. The order is in very sound financial con-
dition and has paid over a million dollars in bene-
fits. Mrs. Brazil is also a member of the Y. L. I.
and the Catholic Ladies' Aid Society, being an ex-
treasurer of the latter. She is a cultured and re-
fined woman and her influence has done much to
improve the condition and establish high ideals among
Portuguese-American citizens of California.

Having started dairying at San Rafael. Mr. Brazil
also conducted dairies at Vallejo and Oakland, and
in the latter city he was in the dairy business for
seven years. He is a stockholder in the Portuguese-
American Bank of San Francisco and also is a mem-
ber of the San Francisco Milk Producers' Associa-
tion, of which for a time he served as a director.
Fraternally he is a member of the U. P. E. C. He is
a liberal and enterprising man with a kindliness of
heart and mind which enables him to assist worthy
enterprises that are meant to advance the comfort
and happiness of the people.

WILLIAM H. RESEBURG.— A capable rancher
who has been identified with the Morgan Hill dis-
trict for the past five years is William H. Reseburg,
a native of Wisconsin, who was born at Thorp, Clark
County, April 3, 1883. He is the only living son of
the late William Reseburg, who was born in Ger-
many, but as a small boy came to America and for
more than forty years was one of the sturdy pioneers
of Northern Wisconsin. He was an extensive farmer
and prominent in political circles, serving for fifteen
years as chairman of the county board of super-
visors and wielding a beneficient influence in the
public affairs of his community. The town of Rese-
burg was named in his honor and he will ever be
remembered here for his constructive work in the
upbuilding of this district, ilrs. Reseburg was Al-
bertina Theel before her marriage and she was also
a native of Germany; she came to America when a
small child and now resides with her daughter. Miss
Anna Reseburg. in Los Angeles.

William H. Reseburg attended the public schools
of Wisconsin until the family removed to Albany,
Ore., in 1896, and there he finished his high school
course. After a short business course there at Albany
he started out for himself, spent two years at Pull-
man, Wash., removing to San Jose in 1906, where
he acquired an orchard property of twenty-five acres
near Campbell, twelve acres of this being an im-
proved orchard. Soon after this he was joined by
ins father and the family, who decided to make their
home in the sunny Southland. During the time he
lived at Campbell he bought, improved and sold
three different orchards. In 1917 Mr. Reseburg
sold his orchard property at Campbell and removed
to Morgan Hill, where he purchased thirteen acres
on Dunne Avenue and two years later sold this
and bought the old Hatch ranch on Dunne Avenue,

XS^^:::^^;:^^^

-^^ . /^ . ^ /3^^Zf.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

consisting of twenty acres, and here he has made
many improvements.

On July 7, 1920, Mr. Reseburg was married to
Miss Roberta Raitt, born in Edinburgh, Scotland,
the daughter of William and Margaret (Oliphant)
Raitt; the father was for eighteen years professor
of mathematics at the Glasgow and West of Scot-
land Technical College, having the degrees of M. A.
and B. S., and died at Glasgow. After his death
the family came to California in 1904, settling at
Morgan Hill. Mr. Reseburg has entered heartily
into the life of the community since settling here,
and is a firm believer in cooperative movements, and
is a member of the Fresno Peach Growers Asso-
ciation, and a charter member of the California Prune
and Apricot Association. He is a member and a
trustee of the Morgan Hill Presbyterian Church.
Politically he is a Republican.

FRED SINZ. — An expert painter who has be-
come the leading contractor in his field in the north-
ern part of Santa Clara County is Fred Sinz, of
Mountain View, whose stock in trade, in addition
to the fruits of a long and thorough apprenticeship,
has always been his executive ability, of no mean
order, his agreeable personality contributing to give
satisfaction to all who have dealings with him. In
his business affairs, transacted from his cosy resi-
dence at 321 Bush Street, he is ably assisted by his
accomplished and attractive wife, who also concerns
herself to even anticipate the wants of patrons, and
their wide circle of friends rejoice at their pros-
perity. Mr. Sinz was born at San Francisco on
July'l9, 1887, the son of Ludwig and Mary (Pfeiffer)
Sinz, formerly of the Bay City, but who removed
to Mountain View in 1894, where they now live re-
tired, Mr, Sinz was also a painter, but on coming to
Mountain View he bought a ranch of twenty acres
on the El Monte Road, which he improved by plant-
ing, and recently sold. They have three children,
all sons: Fred, the subject of our review; John
runs the baking department in Spreckels' Market,
San Francisco; Louis works for the United Motors
Service Company at San Francisco, being an expert
magneto repairer.

From his seventh year, Fred Sinz was reared in
Mountain View, and having completed his grammar
school studies, he went to work to learn the painter's
trade. He profited greatly from an association with
his father, but he also had the exceptional advan-
tage of several years' work in San Francisco for
Wagner Bros, and Henry Kern. He began contract
painting in Mountain View in 1914, and now, em-
ploying from five to ten men, he is the leading house
painter in ^fountain View. He also extends his
operations to Los Altos, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, May-
field and vicinities, and is ever in demand by those
who are determined to have only the best.

At Mountain View, in 1916, Mr. Sinz was married
to Mrs. Gladys Beardsley nee Page, a native of Al-
viso and the daughter of George and Mary (Hutchin-
son) Page, and the granddaughter of Robert Hutchin-
son, a Santa Clara pioneer who was justice of the
peace and a prominent man at Alviso in pioneer
days. He was a sailor in early life, and made the
trip around the Horn in 1849 from Maine. Mrs.
Sinz has two children by her first husband: George
F. Beardsley is in the Mountain View high school,
and Edward Page Beardsley is in the grammar school.
Mr. Sinz who is a Republican and swears by the

platforms of the G. O. P. with the natural ardor of
an admirer of Lincoln, Grant, McKinley and Roose-
velt, naturally belongs to the Native Sons of the
Golden West at Mountain View, and he is also one
of the popular members of the Masonic Order at
the same place.

FRANK P. BARKER.— An efficient public official
i\-ho stands high in the regard of a wide circle of
acquaintances throughout Santa Clara County, where
he has spent practically all his years, is Frank P.
Barker, deputy county assessor. A New Englander
by birth, he was born August 16, 1860, at Bangor,
Maine, the son of Samuel Alphonso Barker, who was
born in Kennebec County, Maine, July 26, 1863. The
first representatives of the Barker family in Amer'ca
were two brothers. Noah and Carr Barker, vho
came from England and arrived seven years after
the landing of the Mayflower. Carr Barker, from
whom this branch of the family is descended, set-
tled in Maine while it was still a part of Ma.-fa-
chusetts. The maternal grandfather was a Revo-
lutionary soldier :ind while on the march to Can.ida
under Arnold, he selected the tract of land upon
which he afterward settled, and upon which a part
of the city of Hallowell, Maine, is located. He was
engaged in shipbuilding for a few years and then
settled at Reedville, where he bought a farm, this
land still being in the possession of his descendants.

Samuel Alphonso Barker was educated in his na-
tive state and in 18S4 began the study of law in the
office of Josiah H. Drummond. In 18S7 he was
admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Maine,
and for ten years he practiced in that state. Coming
to California in 1867 to renew his health, he located
at San Jose and resumed his legal practice but con-
fined himself to probate, land title and commercial
cases. He acted as attorney for the Garden City
Savings Union and the Board of Trade of San Jose,
and was a member of the bar of the Supreme Court
of California and the United States District Court.
While still a resident of Maine he was united in
■Tiarriage, on April 5, 1858, with Miss Sarah E.
Parshley, a native of that state, and three children
were born to them: Charles is the acting manager
of the Sainte Clair Club; Frank P., of this sketch;
and Alfred, of the Associated Oil Company.

Frank P. Barker attended the public schools of
San Jose, where he was reared from his seventh
\car, and was a student in one of the business col-
leges when he left his books to accept a position as
a deputy under County Recorder C. P. Owen. Three
years later he entered the commercial world and
became a member of the firm of Brown & Barker,
wholesale grain dealers, continuing in this business
:or five years. On selling out he entered the firm
of Raley & Company as one of its members, this
concern being engaged in the wholesale fruit busi-
ness, handling green fruits. After seven years Mr.
Barker located at Palo Alto, establishing a similar
business under the name of the Palo Alto Fruit &
Produce Company. Here he continued successfully
for the next three years, disposing of his interests
there to accept a position as deputy county assessor,
an oft'ice he has since held to the satisfaction of
everyone.

Mr. Barker's marriage united him with Miss Carrie
A. Pease, a native daughter of California, and they

1414

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

are the parents of a son, Samuel Richard, who served
during the World War in the Forty-second Artillery.
U. S. A. In fraternal circles Mr. Barker is a Mason,
and he never fails to take a good citizen's part in all
matters looking forward toward the advancement of
the community.

NEILS ADLER NEILSEN.— A strong determina-
tion to succeed has been the paramount character-
istic in the career of Neils Adler Neilsen, and he is
steadily attaining his desire. He was born in Man-
dal, the southernmost city of Norway, November 3,
1872, the son of Neil Johanson and Tomine Neilsen,
the father a ship carpenter by occupation. The father
was only fifty-eight years old when he died, but the
mother lived to be ninety-six years old, passing away
in her old home in 1917. Neils Adler is the youngest
of a family of nine children. Adolph Neilsen, as he is
familiarly called by his friends, came to San Jose
when he was fourteen years old, accompanied by
his brother, Obert, who resides in Oakland at the
present time. He first worked for wages, washing
dishes in the Scandinavian Exchange; then was for
two years at the Almaden mines; he then took up
ranch work, working for John Dunn, and later he
drove teams for George King; next he was em-
ployed in the Guadalupe lime kiln; then worked for
Joseph Cottle; after which he took up well drilling
with Blabou and Barnett. These jobs of short dura-
tion brought him to 1892, when he entered the em-
ploy of Judge S. F. Leib on his ranch west of
Cupertino, consisting of 160 acres. 120 acres in wal-
nuts and forty acres in apricots. He has proven him-
self a capable and conscientious foreman of the Leib
ranch, a position he has held since 1893. In 1919 he
purchased a sixteen-acrc apricot orchard adjoining
Judge Leib's ranch on the east, and in addition to
taking care of the Leib orchard, he runs his own
ranch profitably and well.

The marriage of Mr. Neilsen occurred in San Jose
March 28, 1897, uniting him with Miss Millie Morri-
son, born at La Honda, Cal. Two children were
born to them, Cecil and Edla. Mr. Neilsen's second
marriage was on April 10. 1902, at Reno, Nev., and
united him with Miss May White, a daughter of
David and Minnie White; a native of San Mateo
County, whose parents came to California in an early
day. In politics Mr. Neilsen supports the Socialist
party; fraternally is a member of the Odd Fellows
lodge No. 52 of Santa Clara, and is a past grand of
that lodge; he is also a member of the Cupertino
Woodmen of the World.

GEORGE CAMPBELL.— By hard work, strict
integrity and common sense, George Campbell has
established a place for himself among the citizens of
Mountain View, where he was born, August IS. 1873.
His father, the late James Campbell, came from his
native land of Ireland to Mountain View in 1862.
The railroad was just being built into Mountain
View and he was employed in the grading work; he
was also interested in farming, but continued to do
excavating and grading work. He was married in
Mountain View to Mrs. Margaret (Leonard) Burke,
born in Ireland, and she has two sons living in
Mountain View, Edward and Dan Burke. For six-
teen years James Campbell was a tenant on the
Hale Ranch and was successful as a grain and stock-
man. He next moved to San Mateo County and
still engaged in ranching. During 1890 he returned

to Mountain \'iew and built the Campbell home at
394 Franklin Street and there he died at the age
of seventy-nine years. Mrs. Campbell lives at home
surrounded by a number of her children. They were
the parents of ten children: George, the subject of
this review, being the oldest; Mary is the wife of
Bert Hitchcock; James, Will, Tom, John, Magpie
is Mrs. Peter Malone; Henry resides in San Fran-
cisco Two children died in early childhood.

George attended the public schools until he v.-as
sixteen years of age, leaving school to work with his
father in grading, teaming and farm w'ork. He be-
came an expert teamster, driving eight or ten horses
with perfect case. After his father's demise, he
continued with the business and has done much
reliable work, being well equipped with scrapers,
wagons, farming and orchard implements, ten good
horses, and one Yuba tractor. He ordinarily em-
ploys five men, but in busy times many more. His
reputation has been constructed on the foundation of
efficient work and square and honorable dealing, and
the year round is busy. He leases 150 acres in the
vicinity of Mountain View which is devoted to hay
and grain. He is a consistent member of the Catho-
lic Church; fraternally he is a member of the
l-'oresters and the Native Sons of the Golden West.
He is well and favorably known in his locality and
can be relied upon for good conscientious work.

EMIL SCHMIDT.— One of the most competent
rind capable machinists of Mountain View is Emil
Schmidt, who is the proprietor of the Junction
Garage, at the intersection of El Monte Avenue and
the State Highway. He has steadily built up a fine
business, and by honest work and efficient service is
gaining many new customers. He was born at
Argall. Switzerland, July 10, 1882, a son of Emil
and Elizabeth Schmidt. The father was a shoemaker
.md ran a shoe store in, Argall, his native town.
There are six children in the family, of whom our
subject is the fourth; and both parents are still living.
Emil was fortunate in being able to obtain a good
education; first in the grammar and then three years
in the high school; after that he was apprenticed to
the Oil Machine Company and attended the Poly-
technic Night School, and by unremitting application
successfully passed all examinations; and all during
his four years of apprenticeship displayed unusual
ability in his line of work. The Oil Machine Com-
pany were the manufacturers of gigantic printing
presses, and employed 1,500 men in the shops. Emil
learned to speak and write French, German and
Italian in his native country, which served him well
when he came to America. In 1904 he made his first
trip to America to install a $25,000 printing press
at Newark, N. J., and in 1906 he installed another
of the mammoth presses for his company in Chicago.
He became very much enamored with America and
lesolved to become an American citizen, so in 1909
returned to this country and settled in San Fran-
cisco, and entered the employ of the Standard L'nion
Mill Company as machinist; in 1910 he removed to
Sacramento and worked in the Southern Pacific
Railway shops for two and a half years. He then
was taken ill with malarial fever and was obliged
to change climate.

While living in Sacramento Mr. Schmidt was
married to Miss Josephine Horeb, born in Switzer-

€, ^. %tJ^-^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1417

land, and they are the parents of one child, Carl
Emil, born in Mountain View. The family removed
there in 1913 and at first Mr. Schmidt rented the
Reliance Garage and ran it for several years. Dur-
ing 1918 he bought the Junction Garage and he
employs several helpers to take care of the growing
business. He deals in Chalmers and Chevrolet cars,
parts and accessories; and is the authorized agent for
the Ford cars; besides dealing in oils, gas, etc. He
is a member of the Automobile Dealers' Association
of California. The location of the Junction Garage
is a fine one and the ability and reliability of Mr.
Schmidt makes his business a very prosperous one.
Mr. Schmidt was naturalized in San Francisco and
can be counted upon to be loyal to all progressive
movements and gives liberally of his time and means
to the promotion of measures for the general good.

CARL LINDHOLM. — An enterprising, success-
ful contracting builder, whose specialty is up-to-date
bungalow residences, five of which he at present has
under construction, is Carl Lindholm, of Mountain
\'iew, who resides with his attractive family in a
house of his own designing and finish at one of the
most advantageous situations on Chiquita Avenue.
He is in partnership with an uncle, and is the senior
member of the busy firm of Lindholm & Nelson,
and as a concern popular in other parts of Santa
Clara County, they have erected more than fifty resi-
dences, no two of which are alike. Mr. Lindholm
is a capable, experienced architect and an accom-
plished draftsman, on which account it happens thai
each of the buildings he has constructed has an
individuality of its own.

Mr. Lindholm was born in far-oflf Finland, on April
19, 1878, of historic, heroic lineage, his family being
closely related to the president of the Republic of
Finland. His father, Carl Lindholm, died when our
subject was only nine years old; but his mother.
Edla Carolina Freiberg, is still living in Finland,
at the age of seventy-five. Left with four children
at her husband's death, she gave herself unreservedly
to the bringing-up of her offspring, three of whom
are still living. Aurora became a teacher, spent
seventeen years of her life in educational work, and
married Provst Castren of the Finnish National
Church, of the Lutheran denomination. She is now
a widow and resides in Finland. Carl is the subject
of our story. Herman, the manager of a large man-
ufacturing establishment, is a finished scholar, speak-
ing seven different languages, and is a leading light
in the newly-organized Northern Republic. Valde-
mar.was the artist of the family — an accomplished
musician and painter, who came out to Sacramento
and accidentally fell from the scaffolding of a two-
story house, thereby injuring his spine. He returned
to Finland, where he died as the result of the in-
juries received.

Carl Lindholm was brought up in the Lutheran
Church, at the same time that he pursued the course
of the common schools in his native country. He was
reared at Eknes, Finland, and there served an ap-
prenticeship of three years, learning the cabinet-
maker's trade, and also pursuing the prescribed
courses in the related manual training school, in the
end receiving well-merited journeyman's certificate.
Then, having reflected a good deal upon the condi-
tions in his beloved native country and the future

prospects for those who should elect to stay there,
he resolved to bid adieu to associations dear enough,
and to seek his fortune in the New World.

FVom Hango, Finland, therefore, on April 19, 1902,
our subject sailed, at a season when six feet of snow
lay upon the ground; traveling by way of Copen-
hagen, Hull and Southampton, and eventually reach-
ing New York City, truly a stranger in a strange
land, but safe and sound. He landed at Ellis Island
on Saturday, May 3, 1902, equipped in part with his
technical knowledge, in part with his honest resolve
to earn, if possible, a living; and the third day of
his life in New York City he obtained a job as
ship's carpenter. After that, he worked in planing
mills and at odd tasks, on the outside; and the first
steady employment he had in America was on the
great seventeen-story hotel then being erected at
the corner of Fortieth Street and Tenth Avenue in
New York City, where he labored steadily for three
months. Then he found a good deal to do at Coney
Island, and next he joined his uncle, Edward Nelson
his present partner, the two doing expert joining or
finishing work in New York City, and being stead-
ily so engaged, with the exception of si.x months
in 1904, when Mr. Lindholm went back to visit his
mother in Finland.

Soon after his return to New York City, in 1904,
Mr. Lindholm was married to Miss Karinne England,
a native of Finland who, when sixteen years old,
came to New York City, the daughter of Anders
England, originally of Finland, but for twenty years
a shoe-dealer on Third Avenue in New Y'ork. His
wife was a convert to the Seventh Day Adventist
faith, and in 1905 he also became a convert, and has
ever since been a strict professor of that creed. On
account of Mrs. Lindholm's health, it became nec-
essary, in time, to seek another and more favoring
climate; and inasmuch as her brother, Anton Eng-
land, a tailor, was already in Mountain View, they
turned their thoughts and finally their faces toward
the Pacific Coast. In 1908 with their family they
migrated westward and settled at Mountain View;
and here Mr. Lindholm began to contract for build-
ing in a small way. His uncle, already mentioned,
worked with him, and a son, Henry Nelson, is the
present architect and draftsman of the firm, whose
business is rapidly expanding. Mr. Lindholm usually
works for others; but he has built ten houses at his
own expense and sold them after they were erected.
In 1910, he designed and built two bungalows in
Mountain View, and in 1912 he put up from his own
designs the Seventh Day Adventist School in Moun-
tain View, costing $20,000. He has also lately com-
pleted a $20,000 annex to the main building of the
Pacific Press Publishing Association's plant at Moun-
tain View, and at present he has, all in all, ten
buildings under construction. His building opera-
tions are also carried on in Palo Alto and other
communities.

Mr. Lindholm is fully in sympathy with the gov-
ernment of his adopted city, state and nation; he is
fully convinced that America offers greater advan-
tages to those worthy, able and willing, than any
other country; and with such patriotic sentiments,
he and his family are among the dependable citizens
such as Santa Clara makes it a practice always to
welcome, and to appreciate. His children are Carl
J., Evald, Elsie, Henrietta and Edith; and in prep-

1418

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

aration for useful lives of real value to the world,
they all attend the Seventh Day Adventist School
in Mountain View.

MATEO J. PASETTA— Among the business men
of Santa Clara County who represent the county's
industrial and financial progress Mateo J. Pasetta oc-
cupies a prominent position in the fruit-drying in-
dustry. Enterprising, far-sighted, he is ever alive to
the possible favorable opportunities for advancing
his plans. A native of Dalmatia, Jugo-Slavia, town
of Dubraunich, he was born January 20, 1865, a son
of John and Madeline (Cusija) Pasetta. When but
a lad of five years he suffered the misfortune of los-
ing father, mother, grandmother, brother and sister.
all within the space of a year. He was then adopted
by his uncle, Mr. Kijunach, a well-to-do merchant
and trader, who owned a number of sailing vessels
plying the Mediterranean Sea. Mateo J. Pasetta re-
mained with his uncle until he was seventeen years
of age; he then determined to start out for himself.
Hearing the alluring tales of wealth and opportun-
ities to be found in America, he embarked for the
Mecca of his ambitions. After a voyage of forty-
five days, he finally landed on the shores of America,
and made his way to California, arriving April S.
1883. settling in Plumas County, where he was first
employed in the mines at a wage of fifteen dollars
per month, working fourteen hours per day at placer
mining for gold. When the Eureka Gold Mining
Company began operations, Mr. Pasetta was em-
ployed and received forty dollars per month; here
he remained for five years, and by thrift and econ-
omy was able to purchase the Eureka hotel and livery
stable in Johnsville. At the hotel Mr. Samuel
Webb, present attorney-general of California, boarded
with him, and he also knew Judge Goodwin and Judge
Clough, who were his friends. While residing in
Plumas County, he received his naturalization papers,
and became a loyal citizen of the United States.

The marriage of Mr. Pasetta in 1896 united him
with Miss Annie Buhalov, also born in Dalmatia,
Jugo-Slavia, who was an old-time sweetheart. Coming
to California, soon after her arrival here their mar-
riage occurred, the happy culmination of the romance
begun on their native shores. Mr. and Mrs. Pasetta
are the parents of nine children: Madeline, the wife
of John Simmons, a successful merchant of San
Jose; Marian, John, Anna, Peter, Matthew, Eliza-
beth, Nicholas and Daniel. About twenty-five years
ago, Mr. Pasetta moved to San Jose and started, in
a small way, in the dried fruit business, starting with
ISO trays. From year to year the business has been
steadily growing, and he new handles 5,000 drying
trays, and during the busy fruit season cares for 400
tons of green fruit. His packing plant consists of
seventeen acres, adjoining the property of the Pacific
Manufacturing Company, adjacent to the city of
Santa Clara, which is growing more valuable each
day. His fruit drying business has not occupied his
whole attention, as he found time to develop a fifty-
acre orchard property, which he recently sold for a
fine profit. The family reside in a commodious
residence at 196 West St. James Street, San Jose.
where their many friends frequently enjoy their hos-
pitality. Mr. Pasetta still owns the old homestead
in Jugo-Slavia, around which cling fond memories
of days long past, and refuses to dispose of it. Fra-
ternally he has been identified with the Odd Fellows

for the past twenty-five years, and politically is a
stanch Republican. He is an ardent member of St.
Joseph's Catholic Church. He is 100 per cent Amer-
ican, ever ready to give of his time, influence and
means toward any advanced movement of the city
and county which has been his home for so many
years, and has won the respect and esteem of his
business associates by his integrity and upright busi-
ness methods. He is a stockholder in the Growers
Bank and is a charter member of the Jugo-Slavonian-
.\merican Benefit Society, giving his best efforts to
the upbuilding and advancement of this order.

MANUEL A. MACHADO.— Successful beyond
the measure of most men of his years, and with a
luture bright with promise was the late Manuel A.
Machado, who was prominent in the financial circles
of San Jose. He was born in the Azores on March
16, 1890, on the Isle of St. Jorge in the village of
Calheta, the home of his parents, Joseph A. Machado,
a farmer and stockman of the well-known family of
ranch-owners, who had married Miss Elizabeth A.
Mendonsa. Mr. Machado is known in his native
country for his interest in public welfare work, espe-
cially in the progress of his home community; and
he and his good wife are there prominent members
of the Catholic Church, through which he has given
mucli to charity. The family circle included seven
■ hildren, three sons and four daughters, and the
beloved grandmother; and having favored education,
Manuel was sent to the best private schools, after
which, in 1904, he entered the college on the neigh-
boring Isle of Terceira, where he studied for seven
years in a seminary, expecting to become a secular
priest. His intention was abandoned, however, when
the Government took charge of the schools.

Mr. Machado had heard of the fortunes being
made in America, and desiring to see the New-
World for himself, he crossed the ocean in October,
1911. He stayed for ten months with an uncle,
Frank A. Machado, at Lemoore, in Kings County,
and then he came to San Jose. In September, 1912.
he entered Heald's Business College, and in record
lime he finished the entire course. Then, under de-
lightful associations, he worked for twenty-two
months for Valentine Koch. Early in 1915 Mr.
Machado entered the service of the Bank of Italy
at San Jose, commencing in the savings department;
and when the bank was removed to its present loca-
tion, he was appointed overseer of the savings divi-
sion, with five men under him. In July, 1921, he was
advanced to be assistant cashier, and had the satis-
faction that he had contributed to make the concern
the largest banking institution west of Chicago.
Being a wide-awake, far-seeing and very progressive
business man, Mr. Machado was welcomed by all
interested, his appointment being heralded as both
just and good. Aside from assistant cashier, he was
the official interpreter for the bank, being a fine
linguist, as he spoke French, Italian, Portuguese and
English fluently.

At San Jose on March 14, 1918, Mr. Machado was
married to Miss Mayme A. George, the only
t'aughter of Frank P. and Mary (Rogers) George,
who live retired at their home on South Eleventh
Street, San Jose; and one child, a daughter named
Lucile, blessed the union. In the fall of that same
year, Mr. Machado acquired, by purchase, his at-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1421

tractive home at 445 North Seventeenth Street, and
there they dispensed a generous hospitality, bespeak-
ing the good old days. He was talented in music
and thus able to make his home the more attractive;
and he was the organist and the leader of the choir
of the Church of the Five Wounds since it was
founded. Mr. Machado was not permitted to enjoy
the fruits of his labors for he was taken ill and died
within a week, on November 21, 1921. The funeral
services at the Church of the Five Wounds was one
of the largest attended in the history of the city
and he was followed to his last resting place in
Calvary Cemetery by a funeral cortege of 159 auto-
mobiles. He was a member of the I. D. E. S.,
the U. P. E. C, the S. E. S., the I. E. S., the Druids,
the Knights of Columbus . and the Order of St.
Anthony; and he was secretary of the I. D. E. S.,
having filled that busy office since the inception of
the order in 1915. He was also once president of
the U. P. E. C, and secretary of the 1. E. S. At
one time, too, he was in the Noble Arch chair of the
Druids at San Jose. He and his devoted wife were
devout members of the Church of the Five Wounds,
and he was secretary of the society in charge of the
church's finances. He was a writer of ability and
contributed much to the press of Portuguese News,
published at San Francisco.

WILLIAM ALEXANDER WILSON.— A busi-
ness man of enterprise and qualifications that place
him among the leading citizens of Santa Clara is
William Alexander Wilson, who is one of the more
recent acquisitions to the business circles of that
city. In October of 1921 he bought out the Jewel
Baking Company and by his industry and close ap-
plication to the task in hand is succeeding in build-
ing up an excellent business. He was born in San
Jose, Cal., on September 26, 1894, a son of William
and Marie (Ley) Wilson. His father, William Wil-
son, was engaged for many years in the fruit brok-
erage business in San Jose and became well known
in his line. He passed away several years ago and
his widow now resides in San Francisco.

Being left fatherless, W. A. was thrown on his
own resources and leaving school to make a living
for himself and widowed mother, he found employ-
ment with the Breitweiser Baking Company in San
Jose. He worked steadily for many years, thor-
oughly learning the baker's trade, so he is now
without doubt one of the most thorough men in his
line in the county.

The marriage of Mr. Wilson in San Jose united
him with Miss Ursula Fisher, a native daughter of
San Jose, and they are the parents of one child,
Patricia. Mr. Wilson was made a Mason in Fra-
ternity Lodge No. 399 F. & A. M., San Jose, and is
also a member of the Sciots, the Woodmen of the
World and the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce.
During the World War Mr. Wilson entered the
service of his government, and on account of his
knowledge of his trade was made an instructor in
the ,\rmy Cook's and Baker's School at the Presidio,
a position which he filled most ablv and well.

The Jewell Bakery, of which Mr. Wilson is the
owner and proprietor, is an old and popular place,
but never before has it been kept more sanitary,
and certainly never more invitingly attractive than
under its present management. Although his entire
life has been one of honest toil, yet it has been of a

constructive character and he has builded wisely
and well. He is not only devoted to the promotion
of his individual interests, but in the development
of those activities which are of greatest benefit and
value to communitv. state and nation

WILLIAM C. PHILLIPS.— A representative of
an old and prominent American family whose mem-
bers have valiantly defended the interests of this
country from Revolutionary War times down to the
present, William C. Phillips, has been a resident
of San Jose since 1906 and has gained distinction
as an architect and estimation engineer, becoming
widely known in those connections. He was born
m Niagara County, N. Y., November 15, 1856, a son
of James C. and Louisa (Foster) Phillips. The
father was born in Monroe County, N. Y., in 1816,
while the mother's birth occurred in Rutland County]
Vt., in 1819. The great-grandfather of the subject
of this review was a native of England and on emi-
grating to this country he settled in Connecticut,
subsequently supporting the cause of the Colonists
in the Revolutionary War. The grandfather was
born in Monroe County, N. Y., and participated in
the War of 1812. His son, James C. Phillips, re-
moved with his wife to Niagara County, N. Y.,
where he followed the occupation of farming, be-
coming one of the pioneers of that part of the
state. He was a veteran of the Civil War, entering
the service in 1861 as a private of the Ninety-fourth
New York Infantry, which was attached to the Army
of the Potomac and was commissioned first lieu-
tenant, but known as Captain Phillips all through
the war. He took part in all of the engagements
participated in by his company and although he was
never wounded his death was due to the eflfects of
his exposure during the war. His demise occurred
in February, 1866, when he was fifty-two years of
age, while the mother, who was of English descent,
passed away in San Luis Obispo County, Cal., in
July, 1899, at the age of seventy-nine years.

In the acquirement of an education William C.
Phillips attended the public schools of Lockport,
N. Y., and in 1879 he removed to Nebraska, taking
up his residence on the Pawnee Indian Reserva-
tion, being there at the time Nance County was
formed. In young manhood he had learned the
machinist's trade, which he followed in Nebraska,
and in 1895 he arrived in San Luis Obispo County,'
Cal. In 1886 he had taken up the study of archi-
tecture in Nebraska and has since followed that pro-
fession. He came to San Jose in 1906 to super-
intend reconstruction work after the earthquake and
has since remained a resident of this city. He en-
gages in general architectural work and has made a
study of building costs, becoming recognized as an
authority on construction estimating. Thorough
technical training and long experience will qualify
him for the successful practice of his profession. His
work, which is of a high character, has been a credit
to the city and a feature in its improvement.

At Fullerton, Nebr., in December, 1880, Mr.
Phillips was married to Miss Lucie E. Swayne, a
native of Lockport, N. Y., and a daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. W. M. Swayne, who emigrated to the
United States from the British Isles. The father
became well known as a building contractor, suc-
cessfully conducting his interests along that line.
Mr. and Mrs. Phillips arc the parents of a daughter,
Gladys E., who is teaching school at Willow Glen,

1422

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

although she resides at home. Mr. Phillips is a
progressive, pubhc-spirited citizen, interested in all
that pertains to the welfare and progress of San
Jose, and his natural talent and acquired ability
have brought him to prominence in his profession.

ROBERT BRUCE MAGEE— In writing the his-
tory of a state as old as California it is but natural
that many to whose fortitude, courage and industry
is due in a large measure the prosperity that now
abounds on every hand should have closed life's little
day and passed on to the reward that awaits each
when his allotted time shall have been fulfilled.
Among such the name of R. Bruce Magee is held in
loving remembrance by those who knew him in life.
He was born in Macon County, Mo., April 25, 1845.
where he lived with his parents on a farm, and where
he obtained his early education; later he removed to
Davis County, Iowa, where he enlisted for service in
the Civil War on January 15, 1864, and served his
country faithfully until its close. He enlisted as a
private in Company D, Third Regiment, Iowa Volun-
teer Cavalry. Col. Cyrus Bussey commanding; later
Col. John \V. Noble was the commanding officer.
His brothers, Oliver P. and John L. Magee. served
in Company E of the Third Iowa Volunteer Cavalry;
also his stepfather. Joshua Wall, was commissary
sergeant of Company D of the same regiment. This
regiment took part in the great "Wilson Raid," in-
cluding engagements at Ebenezer Church, Selma,
Ala., and Columbus, Ga., capturing nearly 700 pris-
oners. His service throughout the war was distin-
guished by courage and faithfulness, and on August
9, 1865, he received his honorable discharge at Daven-
port, Iowa.

The marriage of Mr. Magee on April 2, 1867. united
him with Miss Elizabeth A. Veatch, a native of Davis
County, Iowa, born on March 22, 1848, whose family
were numbered among the pioneer settlers of the
state of Iowa. Later Mr. and Mrs. Magee removed
to Newton County, Mo., where Mr. Magee taught
school for six years, and then removed to Wellington,
Kans., and Mr. Magee served as chief of police of
that city and also as deputy sheriff, serving the com-
munity with satisfaction to all; he was also past com-
mander of the Elbert E. Peck Post. G. A. R., of
Hazelton, Kans. Desiring a milder climate, he mi-
grated, with Mrs. Magee, to California in 1896, set-
thng at San Jose, where he served as marshal and
tax collector for a number of years. At the time of
his passing away, he was affiliated with Sheridan-
Dix Post No. 7, G. A. R., Department of California
and Nevada, and was also the honored commander of
the Central California Veterans' Association for the
year 1912. During the years of 1911-12 Mrs. Magee
was president of the Anna Ella Carroll Circle No. 1,
Department of California and Nevada, Ladies of the
G. A. R., and has always been active in all the affairs
of the local organization and of the W. R. C. Her
brother, J. J. Veatch, was a lieutenant of Company
I of the Third Iowa Cavalry. After her husband's
demise Mrs. Magee became the wife of Alfred B.
Smith, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this
volume. Mr. Magee, who died April 12, 1913, rep-
resented the calm, patient and successful toiler, and
enjoyed the confidence of the entire community in
which he resided for so many years.

CHARLES PARKER.— Eminent among the
gifted, broad-minded and most progressive men and
women constituting the most influential citizens of
Santa Clara is the widely-known seed grower,
Charles Parker, who has been very successful in
most of his undertakings, and is perhaps the great-
est grower of radish seed in the world. He was
born near Independence, Jackson County, Mo., on
March 20, 1845, the son of William Parker, a native
of Kentucky, who came to Missouri in 1838, settled
near Independence and became a well-to-do farmer.
Before leaving Kentucky, he was married to Miss
Sarah H. Wilson, a native of Baltimore, and they
had a family of eight children, seven of whom grew
to maturity, among whom our subject was fifth.

Charles Parker grew yp in Missouri and there he
was married to his first wife. Miss Elsie T. Mason,
a native of Missouri and the daughter of James C.
and Mary (Staples) Mason, who died, mourned by
many, thirteen months after her marriage. Then,
having farmed for two years in Missouri, Mr. Parker
ni 1863 removed to what is now New Mexico, and
there he engaged in freighting from the Missouri
River and Kansas to Las Vegas, Old Fort Sumner
and over the old Santa Fe trail, continuing to afford
the best of transportation for four years. He next
went back to Missouri; but in 1871 he came to
California and settled near Santa Clara.

In 1876 Mr. Parker w-as married to Miss Jemima
J. Hudson, a native of Santa Clara and a daughter
of William D. Hudson, who had married Miss Mary
A. Haun and had come to California in 1850, travel-
ing straight from Missouri. One daughter has
blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Parker, Ethel,
now Mrs. Frank W. Stewart of Santa Clara. For
forty years following Mr. Parker was a rancher,
farming at first to hay and grain, and then making
a specialty of raising small fruit, such as straw-
berries. Finally he began growing seeds, especially
the seed of carrots, onions, lettuce and radishes, and
at one time he operated some 440 acres. He grew
garden seed, and probably threshed more onion seeds
than any other man in California. He invented his
own threshing machines and built them in Santa
Clara. He built fourteen threshers in all and sold
all of them to other seed growers, except the one
he operated on his own seed farm, which had a
capacity of 20,000 pounds of onion-seed per day.
Six or seven years ago he showed his appreciation
of Santa Clara by retiring here, and he and his good
wife now reside at 1217 Harrison Street. For forty-
seven years Mr. Parker has been an Odd Fellow,
and it is needless to say that both he and Mrs.
Parker are very popular within that circle.

WARREN J. McGRURY.— A native son of San
Jose and a member of one of the old and promi-
nent families of the city, Warren J. McGrury is now
serving as traffic officer of Santa Clara County and
is proving most efficient and trustworthy as a pub-
lic official. He was born March 9, 1890, a son of
Edward and Catherine (McManus) McGrury, the
former of whom came to California in 1855. making
the long journey from New York State, while the
mother reached here about ten years later, leaving
her home in Medford, Mass., and going by way of
the Isthmus. The father settled in the Santa Clara
Valley, where he purchased a ranch, on which he

(j{ . 6L^i.^-c^ yft€^^M^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1425

engaged in raising grain and stock, winning
as an agriculturist. He was one of the leading citi-
zens of his community and succeeded in effecting
the abolishment of the old Volunteer Fire Depart-
ment, becoming one of the organizers of the present
paid system, which was established in 1898. From
1876 until 1898 he served as a member of the Vol-
unteer Fire Department of San Jose and his in-
fluence was ever on the side of progress and im-
provement. He passed away on September 28,
1919, at the age of seventy-five years, while the
mother's demise occurred on February 2 of the
same year, at which time she had reached the age
of sixty-eight years.

In the pi:rsuit of an education Warren J. Mc-
Grury attended the grammar schools and the St.
Joseph high school of San Jose, in which his brother
Edwin was also a pupil, the latter being now a resi-
dent of Fresno. Cal., where he is connected with
the oil business. Mr. McGrury"s initial business ex-
perience was acquired in the teaming business, with
which he was identified for three years. He then
entered the employ of the San Jose Railroad Com-
pany, with which he remained for seven years, work-
ing in various departments. In the spring of 1919
he was made a deputy sheriff under Geo. W. Lyle
of Santa Clara County. He continued to fill that
position until .A.pril, 1921, when he was appointed
traffic officer of Santa Clara County, and is making
a most creditable record in that connection.

On the 12th of July, 1914, Mr. McGrury was mar-
ried in San Jose to Miss Mae Rizzo, a native of
this city and a daughter of William and Rose Rizzo,
who were formerly residents of New Orleans, La.
The father is still a resident of San Jose and for
many years was engaged in plastering. Mr. and
Mrs. McGrury have become the parents of two chil-
dren, Vivian and John, and reside at 271 West San
Fernando Street, the old family home. Mr. Mc-
Grury's entire life, covering a period of thirty-one
years, has been spent in San Jose and he has thor-
oughly identified his interests with those of the
city. He enjoys the esteem and good will of those
who have known him from his boyhood to the pres-
ent time, thus attesting his sterling worth.

ANDREW J. McCARRON.— A public-spirited
and progressive citizen of San Jose and an efficient
member of the police force of the city. Andrew J.
McCarron is a native of Ireland, his birth having
occurred in County Donegal on February 9, 1877.
His parents were Owen and Bridget (Devlin) Mc-
Carron, both of whom have passed away. The father
dealt extensively in grain, which he purchased in
his home county and sold to the trade at London-
derry. In the public schools of Ireland Andrew J.
pursued his education to the age of seventeen, when
he sought the opportunities presented in the United
States. After landing at Castle Garden, N. Y., he
went to Fall River, Mass., where he remained for a
short time and then made his way to the West, first
locating at Boulder Creek, Santa Cruz County, where
for a year he was employed in the lumber camps
and lumber yards. He then came to San Jose, se-
curing a position in the planing mill at the corner
of Fourth and San Fernando streets, and while thus
engaged attended night classes at the Horace Mann
School, being desirous of extending his education.
The next eight years were spent in San Francisco

in the lumber yards of the Harrison & Van Arsdale
Company and in 1911 he returned to San Jose, where
he obtained work with the Santa Clara Valley Mill
& Lumber Company, with which he remained until
he entered the San Jose police force in 1913. He
has since served in that capacity and has proven a
capable, trustworthy and conscientious guardian of
the law. In 1914 he purchased an attractive home
at 554 Spencer Street, where he has since lived.

In San Francisco, on June 8, 1903. Mr. McCarron
was married to Miss Anna McLafferty, who was
born in County Donegal, Ireland, a daughter of Dom-
inick and Mary McLafferty, the former a farmer
by occupation. Mrs. McCarron was educated in the
schools of her native land, coming to America in
young womanhood. Four children have been born
of this union: Raymond and Marcella, who are high
school students; Kenneth, who is attending gram-
mar school; and Mary Josephine.

Mr. McCarron gives his political allegiance to the
Democratic party when national issues are at stake,
but at local elections he casts his ballot in favor of
the man whom he deems best fitted for office regard-
less of party ties. He has never regretted the im-
pulse which led him to seek his fortune in a strange
land, for here he has found excellent opportunities
of which he has been quick to avail himself.

VERNON L. BEMIS— Broad experience along
electrical lines has made Vernon L. Bemis an expert
in the construction of storage batteries and in asso-
ciation with his partner, Arthur Moe, he is making
the Prestolite Agency one of the leading automo-
bile electric service companies of the city. He was
born at Elbow Lake, Grant County, Minn., Septem-
ber 11, 1893, a son of Lynn and Cora Bemis. The
father engaged in merchandising in that state and
in 1900 he removed to Spokane. Wash., where he
became a prominent building contractor. The sub-
ject of this review has a brother, Lawrence Bemis,
a well-known business man of Santa Ana, Cal.

In the grammar and high schools of Spokane,
Wash., \'ernon L. Bemis acquired his education, but
before completing his high school course he took
up electrical work, obtaining employment in connec-
tion with electric automobiles in 191U. For three
years he was with the Washington Power Company
of Spokane and at the time he left that concern he
had charge of a large storage battery valued at
$100,000 and also of other batteries. On leaving
Washington he went to New York City, where he
became identified with the Exide Battery Depot, Inc.,
with which he remained for a year, having charge
of the construction of the batteries. From there he
went to Waterbury, Conn., and for a year had
charge of the battery department of the New Eng-
land Engineering Company, afterward going to De-
troit, Mich., where he joined the Detroit Electric
Company, being there engaged in the construction
of storage batteries for six months. On severing
his connection with that firm he took charge of the
battery and electrical department of the Carney-
Labadie Tire & Storage Battery Company of that
city, remaining there for a year and a half. He
then came to Oakland, Cal.. and assumed charge
of the electrical work of the Western Motors Com-
pany of San Francisco. About this time he em-
barked in business on his own account, opening a
storage battery service station and electrical repair

1426

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

shop at No. 2412 Broadway, in Oakland. At the
end of a year he sold the business and in the spring
of 1919 came to San Jose, securing the Prestolite
agency and establishing a storage battery and elec-
tric service station under the name of the Motor
Electric Service Company at 245 North Second
Street. His partner is Arthur Moe. Both are enter-
prising and capable young business men who have
already succeeded in building up a large patronage.
They are members of the Santa Clara County Auto-
mobile Trades Association.

In Detroit, Mich., in June, 1917, Mr. Bemis mar-
ried Miss Mary Daugherty, whose father was a prom-
inent merchant of that city. She was reared and
educated in Detroit. They are the parents of one
son, Vernon L., Jr. Mr. Bemis' success is due to
his ability and close application and in business and
social circles of San Jose he is highly esteemed.

NICK NELSON— Among the progressive men of
Santa Clara County is to be found Nick Nelson,
prosperous rancher and orchardist, living on Ross
Road in the Ware tract. He was born in Slesvig.
Denmark, December 6, 1872, the son of Nels and
Magdalena Nelson, both natives of that country,
where the father died and the mother is still living
at a ripe old age. Nick had the advantage of a com-
mon school education in his native land and when
he was eighteen years old he decided he would come
to the United States and California. He had an old
schoolmate living in Santa Clara County and he came
directly to this place, and when he landed he had the
munificent sum of $4.75 in his pocket and w-as unable
to speak any English. Willing to work, he readily
found employment on ranches and continued for
fourteen years as a wage earner, and being frugal in
his habits, saved his money with the idea that he
would some day be the owner of a ranch in the Santa
Clara Valley. He i^rst bought a place of ten acres
at Madrone, improved it and sold at a fair price.
Then he went to the vicinity of Los Gatos and leased
land, but the price of fruit was so low that he was
unable to make it pay, and besides went into debt
over $1,000.

In order to recuperate his financial status Mr. Nel-
son came to the ranch where he now lives, as its
manager, and worked for wages for six years, then
the opportunity came and he was able to purchase
the sixty acres. He has added to it until he now
owns ninety-six acres of orchard, all in prunes ex-
cept twelve acres, which are in apricots. For many
years he has leased sixty acres near by which is also
in prunes. Out of the proceeds of these rich acres
he is amply repaid for all his hardships of the
earlier days. Overcoming handicaps has been his
lot, but he is happy in the thought that he can look
every man square in the face and say he has paid
one hundred cents on the dollar. During the many
years he worked for wages he was never idle a single
day unless he wished to be. He has always had his
hand in his pocket and his shoulder at the wheel to
help boost every project that had for its aim the
development of the county.

Mr. Nelson on July 21, 1918, was united in marriage
with Miss Eva Poncet, born in Mission San Jose, a
daughter of Marius Poncet, a pioneer of California.
Fraternally, Mr. Nelson is a staunch Republican in
national affair, but in local matters he is broadminded
and supports the best men and measures. Fraternal-

ly, he is a member of Dania Lodge of San Jose. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have a wide circle of friends in
the county and exert an influence for good citizen-
ship. For recreation he finds his pleasure in hunting
and fishing. As one of the progressive men of the
county, Nick Nelson has won the good will of all
who know him.

LEWIS M. LUNSFORD.— Among the well-
known residents of San Jose is numbered Lewis
M. Lunsford, a member of the city fire department,
who for thirty-two years has made his home in the
Santa Clara Valley. He was born at Mine Lamotte,
in Madison County, Mo., October 21, 1869, a son
of Lewis Barton and Mary Adeline (Edwards J Luns-
ford, the former the owner of lead and zinc mines
in that county and a successful business man. When
Lewis M. was but a year old his father died and
about a year and a half later his mother married
Dewitt Finley, their home now being in Los An-
geles. Mr. Lunsford was the only child of the first
marriage, but five children were born of his mother's
second union and all have now passed away with
the exception of two, namely: William Finley,
a master mechanic residing in Los Angeles; and
Earl Finley, who is connected with the Brown Paper
Mill Company of that city. A half-brother, James
Finley, died of smallpox while stationed in the
Philippines during the Spanish-American War.

Mr. Lunsford's educational opportunities were
very limited, his father's estate was so involved that
his mother lost all of the property, and when thir-
teen years of age he started out in the world for
himself, securing work in the mines at fronton, Mo.,
his initial wage being a dollar and forty cents per
day. He grew very rapidly and at the age of thir-
teen was allowed to do a man's work without ques-
tion as to his age. He continued to work in the
mines until his nineteenth year and in March, 1889,
came to San Jose, obtaining employment with the
Santa Clara & Alum Rock Railroad Company. For
two j'ears he drove horse cars and he also operated
the first electric cars installed on that line. When
the Alum Rock road was built he became a car
driver, continuing with the company for three years.
In May, 1903, he joined Engine Company No. 3 of
the San Jose Fire Department, with which he has
since been identified, proving faithful, efficient and
fearless in the discharge of his duties and winning
promotion to the rank of lieutenant.

In St. Genevieve, Mo., on March 5, 1889, Mr. Luns-
ford married Miss Isabel Courtois, a native of that
city and a daughter of Henry and Mary (Simpson)
Courtois, the former a member of an old French
family which settled on the banks of the Mississippi
during pioneer times. Eight children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. Lunsford: Adaline, the wife of Ed-
ward Delmastro, a prominent building contractor of
San Jose; Nellie, who married J. W. Ford, a civil
engineer of San Jose; Bessie Jane, now the wife of
Leo Lanford, of this city; Lewis Barton, an auto-
mobile mechanic of San Jose: John William, who
died in infancy; Gertrude, a high school student; and
Russell and Geraldine, who are attending the gram-
mar schools. Mr. Lunsford was bereaved of his
faithful wife October 23, 1921. a splendid and lovable
woman mourned by her family and many friends.

In politics Mr. Lunsford is a Republican with lib-
eral views and he is a member of the Junior Order
of the Union of American Mechanics, of which he

tr^(C^ ^^

'a^'^2^^^^a^tyc^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1429

was one of the organizers, while for thirty years he
has been identified with Masonry. His early youth
was a period of hard and unremitting toil and he
was obhged to face a man's responsibilities when only
a child, but he has worked his way steadily upward
and his sterling traits of character have won for
him the respect and esteem of all with whom he
has been associated.

MICHEL CASAUCAU.— The proprietor of the
Parisian Bakery at Mountain View. Michel Casaucau
has made his way to the front by industry and good
management and now owns and operates the leading
bakery there, his genial manners making and keep-
ing customers and friends. He was born in the
Basses Pyrenees, France, a son of Damien and Annie
(.Vignes) Casaucau. The father passed away fifteen
years ago, but the mother still lives at the age of
seventy-six and has a cattle farm and cattle business
at Buzy, France. Michel Casaucau is the only one
of his family in America. There was a family of
five children, one brother is a school master; there
are three sisters; one brother was killed in the
late war and the subject of this review. At the
age of fourteen he left his native soil and came to
America in 1891 and settled in Mayfield, Cal. He
learned the baker's trade under his uncle, Romain
Casaucau, well-known in Mayfield, now deceased.

At Oakland, Cal., Mr. Casaucau was married to
Miss Jennie Hourcade, born in the same town in
France as her husband. They are the parents of
five children: August, who served in the late war,
is now driving an auto truck delivery wagon for
his father: Albert is also a driver for the Parisian
bakery; Lucy, Harriet and Andrew. Mr. Casaucau
is the true type of the frugal and successful French-
American and the excellent products he turns out
from his establishment speak for themselves, his
goods being delivered fresh every day. He is a true
and loyal American in every particular and willingly
gives his best efforts to the measures that tend to-
ward the advancement and progress of his locality,
which he has selected for his permanent home.

CARMELITE MONASTERY.— Decidedly among
ihe most interest-'ng of all Roman Catholic institu-
tions of faithful, unremitting activity and wide,
permanent influence for good in California is the
Carmelite Monastery of Santa Clara, where the nuns,
leading a secluded life, pinning their faith to the
precept also voiced by Shakespeare, "More things
are wrought by prayer than this world knows of,"
pursue a routine of industry and severity, and yet
enjoy a sublimely happ}', supremely blissful existence
comparable, perhaps, only to the heaven they con-
template from afar. The name Carmelite is derived
from Mount Carmel, a Palestine mountain, famed in
song and story, the sanctified abode of the prophet
Elias. where, on July 20 each year, on the Feast of
Elias, thousands of pilgrims in the East — Christians,
Jews and Turks — frequent the mountain, to obtain
Elias' protection for their crops and a guarantee of
plentiful harvest. The Carmelites, embracing friars,
nuns and religious and secular tertiaries, from one
of the four great mendicant orders of the Roman
Catholic Church. The first written rule of the Car-
melites was given, A. D. 400, by John, Forty-fourth
Patriarch of Jerusalem, and in 1251, at Cambridge,
England, Our Blessed Lady revealed to St. Simon
Stock that those who died invested with the Car-

melite scapular will be preserved from eternal fire.
Since then, this scapular, or habit of the Carmelites,
has had a wondrous history, as wide as the world,
and through it the faithful participate in all the
good works, prayers and penances offered by the
religious. Following St. Teresa, justly called "the
glory" of Spain and the Church, the Carmelite sons
and daughters, have extended the benefits of the
order to the farthest parts of the earth, and never
have they allowed trials to daunt their courage or
quench the ardor of their charity.

A discalceated Carmelite, Father Andrew of the
Assumption, ofliered the first Mass in California, on
-N'ovember 10, 1602. In that year, Don Sebastian
Viscayno, having been sent to explore the Coast
line of the Californias, was accompanied by two
Carmelites: yet there was no foundation of Carmel
in this state until 1908. In 1619, some thirty years
after the death of St. Teresa, Lady Mary Lovell,
daughter of Lord Roper, founded a Carmelite con-
vent in Antwerp for English-speaking ladies. In
1790 Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, brother of
Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, the signer of the
Declaration of Independence, invited the Carmelites
to his vast diocese, just after the Revolutionary War.
In 1863 the nuns from Baltimore Carmel founded the
monastery at St. Louis; and during the great Catho-
lic Congress at Baltimore in 1889, the Boston dele-
gates learned of the esteem in which the Carmelites
,'-re held in that city, and devout Boston Catholics
wishing to have a house of Mount Carmel, the wish
was approved by the Archbishop of Boston, and five
nuns, appointed by Cardinal Gibbons, went to the
hub of New England, each there, amid the bustle of
materialistic life, to dwell in her cloister, daily pre-
sent petitions for remote souls, preparing her own
soul, in order to make her prayers the more effective,
by penances, by perpetual abstinence, by almost con-
tinual fasting, by sleeping on straw, wearing coarse
woolen, and by many other exercises of constant
mortification. In 1897 appeared a volume, now cut
of print, called "Carmel; It's History and Spirit;
compiled from approved sources by the Discalced
Carmelites of Boston," and designed to give informa-
lion as to the meaning of the fourth Carmelite
monastery in the United States and the first in New
England; and therein was sketched the history of the
ancient mount in Palestine, the progress of the
movement through the Greek and Latin eras, the
inspiring story of St. Teresa and the great reform
she wrought, the extension of the order to other
countries and the crossing of the Pyrenees, the rise
of the English Teresians and the going forth of their
American sisters, with an insight into the spirit and
rule of Carmel, and her devotions.

The laying of the cornerstone of the Monastery
of the Infant Jesus for the Carmelite Nuns of Santa
Clara took place on Gaudete Sunday, December 17,
1916, when the Most Reverend Archbishop Hanna
performed the ceremony, accompanied by many
priests and representative laymen, Knights of
Columbus, and throngs of people. The sermon, a
wonderful discourse on "Wisdom hath built herself
a house," was preached by the Very Rev. R. A.
Gleason, S. J. Provincial; the L^niversity of Santa
Clara offered hospitality to the visiting clergymen,
and everything was done to make the occasion a

1430

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

memorable one in the annals of the historic town of
Santa Clara. On November 1, 1906, Mrs. Alice
Phelan Sullivan, since deceased — the beautiful and
loyal daughter of the church in whose honor the
chapel and monastery will forever stand as a
memorial — accompanied by her son and daughter,
arrived at the Carmelite Monastery, Mt. Pleasant
Avenue, Boston, and there her child made the sub-
lime sacrifice of -ill the world calls dear and entered
the austere walls of Carmel. Some time after, the
Most Reverend Archbishop Riordan, going on his
ad limina to Rome, calling to see the former member
of his diocese, was favorably impressed with all that
he saw of the Monastery, and this led Mrs. Sullivan
later on to request His Grace to admit the Nuns to
his Archdiocese. He hesitated, however, for the
tarthquake and fire had wrought many ravages in
church and convent, and it seemed no time for new
endeavor; but when Mrs. Sullivan offered to assume
the responsibility of foundress, and when it was
made clear that the nuns, far from fearing condi-
tions, only felt in them an added spur to prayer and
a longing to aid in some way in the upbuilding of
the glorious city for a time laid low, he yielded and
wrote the invitation that brought a little colonj' 3,000
miles across the continent to settle in San Francisco.

Archbishop Riordan himself said the Foundation
Mass on October 4. The chapel was beautifully
appointed, the altar and pews and organ in place,
the "Turn" grating and partitions so arranged that
when the three days set aside by the Archbishop for
visitors were at an end, the nuns could very soon
;esume their regular life. Being so strictly cloistered,
it had been considered wise to permit them to meet
the public in order that prejudice might be removed
and friends be made for the newcomers, and indeed
the event proved the wisdom of the permission, for
the annals of Carmel record an unprecedented wel-
come from the Catholic body of San Francisco.

Carmel ranks in the church as a mendicant Order,
and cherishes poverty as a glory and a crown — a fact
the more interesting for so many who enter its
severely plain walls come from homes of wealth.
While accepting with profound gratitude the
grounds and monastery donated in memory of their
foundress, the nuns have from the beginning refused
endowment, and true to the ancient traditions of
their order, cast themselves upon the charity of the
faithful for their daily support. They came in abso-
lute povert}', for, though the monastery in Boston
offered, as is customary, the dowers of the nuns
who were to go, they pleaded to be allowed to leave
all behind and to trust themselves to God, and the
charity of those who were to receive them, and
they never had cause to regret their step. During
the first days before their manner of life was known,
Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan and Miss Phelan and members
of the family, took turns day by day and brought
with their own hands the alms of fish, vegetables
and groceries, upon which the Sisters lived. Soon
others learned the mysteries of the receiving "Turn,"
and the provisor of the Convent had wherewith to
supply the daily menage.

When the five nuns came from Boston to found
the Carmelite Monastery in San Francisco, the prem-
ises once occupied by Robert Louis Stevenson were
used for a while; and experiencing the need of more

room, they bought eleven acres on Lincoln Avenue,
ni Santa Clara, upon which they built the monastery
chapel, and the monastery, designed by the cele-
brated architect, Charles D. Maginnis. This chapel
contains the burial place of Mrs. Sullivan, who
founded the Monastery here. A book might be
written about this wonderful group of the Carmelite
Monastery at Santa Clara which not so long ago
led "The Architect," one of the best of art journals,
to say: "Of those who spin along the smooth high-
way through the orchards of the pleasant country
between San Jose and San Francisco, how many
know that a park of stately trees on the outskirts
of Santa Clara secludes a building which in Europe
they would gladly incur discomfort and expense to
visit, and is theirs to see for the mere stopping?"

In essential scheme, as "The Architect" has put it,
tne Carmelite Monastery Building (designed by Ma-
ginnis & Walsh) is a rectangular arcaded cloister,
.surrounded on three sides by two-story building, with
the public chapel projecting from one corner, the
whole structure slipping quietly and naturally into
its place among the trees like a thing which has al-
ways been. Italian or Spanish, unmistakably Medi-
terranean, the architecture is one with the broad,
5unny Valley of Santa Clara. The dominant charac-
ter of the building is adequacy, or poise. The rich-
I'ess never relapses into mere lavish display, but as-
sures a prevailing note of simplicity and restraint.
The exterior walls are plaster of a pinkish buff tone.
All ornament is of buff terra cotta, lighter and less
pink in tone. The roofs are tile in slightly varying
shades of red. These colors are ideal foils to the
?reen of the California foliage and the blue of the
California sky; and throughout the rainless seasons
of the year they must enter into happy combination
with the tawny brown of the dry grass covering the
ground. The similar interior cloister has pavements
of dull red brick. On the interior, the most note-
worthy room is the Nuns' Choir, behind the chapel
and connected therewith by metal grilles, through
.vhich the nuns can hear the services unseen. The
barrel vault and penetrations are of white plaster,
the walls of face brick of buff hues, varied by pale
tones of greenish and lemon yellow, the pavement of
dull red brick, and the wood of benches and altar is
gum in its rich natural color. The public chapel
is of cream plaster, light buff terra cotta, with dull
red brick pavement and open ceiling of wood in its nat-
ural color or but slightly mellowed by stain. The
richly-designed carved wood altar end is finished with
a soft metallic luster, a quasi-iridescent sheen. Sep-
arated by bronze grilles from the east aisle of the
chapel are the small Lady Chapel and the Mortuary
Chapel, the latter a memorial to the donor of the
building. Here are a scale and finish more jewel-like,
precious marble covering walls and floors, altars and
appointments of detailed perfection, and gilded plas-
ter vaults. The Building Review considers that the
architects have been very successful in their unique
and delicate expression of a domesticity presented by
this community of women, whose lives are wholly
consecrated to religion, in a cloistered order of an
unusual austerity of habit, where hours not devoted
to domestic duty are given to prayer, contemplation
and spiritual exercises; and speaks in particular of
the relation of the community to the public, and the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1431

architectural devices to facilitate this. The com-
munity communicates personally with the public by
voice only, the sisters not being visible, and this is
accomplished by the "speak-room," consisting of two
apartments (an outer and an inner speak-room), sep-
arated by a fixed grille of metal, veiled on the inner
side. The outer speak-rooras are directly accessible
from the public lobby of the convent, where is the
"turn," a revolving cylinder of wood, with shelves,
on which alms, in food or money, may be conveyed
to the community. This "turn" is a symbol of the
dependence of Carmel on the charity of the world,
and herein, perhaps, may be found the key to the
never-failing support given this institution.

JOHN A. CLARK, M. D.— A prominent and
promising member of the medical profession in Cali-
fornia, Dr. John A. Clark is especially interesting as
the son and worthy representative of one of the pio-
ix-LTs and most eminent men in the department of
medicine and surgery along the Pacific Coast, his
father. Dr. Jonas Clark, having settled in the Golden
State, with all the prestige of a former associate of
Professor Oliver Wendell Holmes, three decades or
more ago; a sketch of his life is given on another
page in this history.

Dr. John A. Clark was born at Knights Landing,
Volo County, Cal., on October 20, 1879, and received
his educational grounding in St. Ignatius College in
San Francisco, then in the public schools in Gilroy.
Entering the University of Santa Clara, he was
graduated therefrom in 1901, when he received the
degree of A. B., after a very creditable record in lit-
erary and classical studies. He entered the Medical
College of the University of California in 1903, and
four years later received the coveted ^L D. parch-
ment. While attending the University of California
he was instructor in anatomy. After that, during
1909, he pursued post-graduate work at Harvard, and
in 1910 he was instructor in Histologj- and Anatomy
at Santa Clara College. After his return to Gilroy,
Dr. Clark opened an office with his father, and in
1911, when the latter became superintendent of the
Santa Clara County Hospital, he took upon himself
the entire practice. In 1917, responding to the na-
tion's call. Dr. Clark entered the U. S. Army; but
owing to a broken vertebrae in his back, dating from
the year previous, and from the effects of which he
has never fully recovered, he was honorably dis-
charged. From 1914 to 1918, Dr. Clark amply dem-
onstrated his public spirit by serving as councilman
of Gilroy for two terms, and from 1910 to 1914 he
was city health officer. In national politics a Re-
publican, he has long stood for the highest stand-
ards possible in civic life and duty. His high repu-
tation as a very skilful surgeon has given him addi-
tional influence in any cause he seeks to advance.

At Oakland, in August, 1913, Dr. Clark was mar-
ried to Miss Mary E. Devine, who died in February,
1916; and then he married the sister of his deceased
wife, Kathleen Devine, daughter of Thomas and
Kathryn (Flynn) Devine. Three children have
blessed the second union; Marie, John and Alice.
While a student. Dr. Clark was a member of the
honorary society, of the Alpha Omega Alpha, and
also of the Zeta Omicron; and he belongs to the San
Jose lodge of the B. P. O. Elks. He is a member

of Santa Clara County Medical Society, the Califor-
nia State Medical Society and of the American
Medical Association.

CHARLES J. RONECKER.— A native son, the
representative of an interesting, long-establisbed
family, whose excellent workmanship as a plumber
and sheet metal worker has entitled him to the con-
hdence of all dealing with him and his firm is
Charles J. Ronecker, of Messrs. Bowen & Ronecker,
of 910 Main Street, one of Santa Clara's most sub-
stantial business houses. He was born in San Fran-
cisco on July 8, 1891, the son of Charles Ronecker,
i,ho was well-known in the commercial circles of
the Bay City, and who died in 1914, leaving a widow
and two children. Besides the subject of our re-
view, there is a daughter, Jennie. L., now the wife
of Roy Tuttle, a Santa Rosa druggist. Charles
Ronecker married Kate Dockery, a native of Mar3 s-
ville, Cal., who also came from a pioneer family,
.^n uncle, J. P. Dockery, was one of the organizers
of California Parlor No. 1 of the N. S. G. W., he
himself being prominent in that order; he was chief
milk inspector at San Francisco for twenty years.

Charles J. Ronecker attended the public schools
of San Francisco and Santa Cruz, and then learned
the plumber's trade as an apprentice to C. L. Meis-
terheim in San Jose. In 1914-16 he built up the
Marin Oil and Burner Company of San Rafael, and
he did so well that he was able to make a trip to the
Orient. In April, 1921, with Fred Bowen, Mr.
Ronecker founded the firm of which he is now the
wide-awake junior member. They were formerly
f-mployed by Le Vin & Son on South First Street,
San Jose, and are now working shoulder to shoulder,
and well known for the thoroughness with which
they carry out a contract, they are building up an
enviable trade in Santa Clara and environs, and their
establishment has become one of the most
dependable assets in the growing city.

JOHN F. CARDOZA.— A progressive native son
and self-made m.m who has learned to do by actually
doing, and is today a leading carpenter and builder
of Santa Clara County, is John F. Cardoza of Moun-
tain \'iew, residing with his family on Bailey Avenue,
in the community in which he has been known and
'cspected for ov.r thirty years. He was born at Half
Moon Bay on October 19, 1883, and when si.x years
of a,ge cam^- with liis parents, Jess and Mary B.
Cardoza, farmer folks of Santa Clara, to Mountain
View. His father was born in the Island of Fayal,
m the Azores, while his mother first saw the light
in the near-by Island of Flores. Mrs. Cardoza died
in June, 1918.

John was sent to the public school in Mountain
View while he was growing up on his father's little
^ix-acre place near that town, and when nineteen
years of age he took up carpentering. He formed a
partnership with a young brother, Joe Cardoza. now
a contractor at Hollister, and they commenced build-
ing. He had to be satisfied with day work at first,
and then they made contracts to put up barns and
tank-frames, and after that they built bungalows and
other residences, and even concrete bridges. So
well did Mr. Cardoza and his brother succeed in
establishing a reputation for both ability and de-
pendability that they were commissioned to erect

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

many of the notable structures in and around Moun-
tain View, including the Catholic Church at Sunny-
vale. They also put up the residences of Frank Rose,
Mrs. Merrill, Dutro at Sunnyvale, Ehrhorn, Lund.
Charles F. Hartley, Frank Abbott, Larry Randall
at Mountain View, and Haag's Dairy. Mr. Cardoza's
prosperity is expressed in part in his purchase of
twenty-seven acres at Hollister recently, which he
has planted to prunes and apricots, and he owns his
cozy bungalows, constructed by him in 1920.

In 1903 Mr. Cardoza was married to Miss Jennie
Brown, a daughter of Frank Brown of Redwood
City, in which town she grew up; and they have four
children — Jessie and Lucile, who are in the Moun-
tain View high school, and Jean and Jack. The
Cardozas belong to the Catholic Church at Moun-
tain View, and Mr. Cardoza is a member of the
Foresters, the Native Sons of the Golden West,
and the L D. E. S. In politics he follows the
standards of the Republican party.

JOHN W. DICKINSON.— A well-known former
member of the San Jose Fire Department, whose
local patriotism has made him one of the unselfish
supporters of every movement for the welfare of the
Golden State, is John W. Dickinson, recording sec-
retary of the Independent Order of Foresters and
prominent in lodge circles. He was born at Battle
Creek, Calhoun County, Mich., on May 6, 1855, the
son of John W. Dickinson, who was a physician in
his early career but later in life gave up professional
work for farming. He married Miss Cynthia Stiles.
and they came to have a family of five children.
A long distance intervened between their farm and
the nearest school, and so our subject enjoyed scarce-
ly three months of schooling in the year.

When John was twenty years of age, he started
to make his own way in the world; he took odd
jobs, and lived in Michigan until 1889, when he came
to California. Here he entered the service of the
Lake Box Factory of San Jose, for which he was
foreman during the ensuing three years; and having
made a success of box-making, he became foreman
of the box-making department of the Santa Clara
Fruit Exchange, which position of responsibility he
continued to fill for the next seven years. Later he
was made janitor in charge of the First Christian
Church of San Jose.

Mr. Dickinson has also become a most active lodge
worker. He entered the Independent Order of
Foresters in 1892, and soon passed through all of
the chairs of the order; and in 1900 he became their
recording secretary, and this office he has held for
the past twenty-one years. He is also a member
of the Junior Order of the United American Me-
chanics and has held every chair in that order at
San Jose. He served for thirteen years in the San
Jose Fire Department under the administration of
Mayor Warwick, and was assigned to Engine No. 2.
then known as the Empire Engine Company.

At Marengo. Mich., on June 20. 1875, Mr. Dickin-
son was married to Mrs. Sarah M. Sturges, a native
of New York and a widow with one son, Charles
Sturges, who married Miss Minnie Haywood, and
they had four children — Bertha, now Mrs. Widney of
San Francisco; Jessie, who has become Mrs. Mc-
Mullen of San F'rancisco; Florence, Mrs. Baker of
San Jose; and Pansy, the wife of Elmer William-
son, a merchant of San Jose.

JAMES ARMANASCO.— An energetic and capa-
ble foreman is found in James Armanasco, who has
charge of the seventy-one ranch of A. T. De
Forest, three and a half miles from Mountain View.
He was born in Lombardy. Italy, April 16, 1894,
the son of Gasparia .\rmanasco, who passed away in
1917. He attended the public school of Italy and
received a good elementary education in the Italian
language. At the early age of fifteen, he had the
misfortune to lose his mother, and the following
year he left Italy and came to America, settling in
the state of Washington, where he spent six years,
■vorking on various farms. It is to his credit that,
although he received a meager education, by applica-
tion he has acquired a good business knowledge of
the English language, so that he is able to readily
speak, read and write it. LTpon removing to Paio
Alto he began working for M. H. Tichenor on his
stock farm, near Palo Alto, where his honesty and
industry has suceeded in winning him many sub-
stantial friends. Later he was offered the responsible
post of foreman by A. T. De Forest, the duties of
v.hich he is fulfilling most capably. This ranch is
devoted to dairy, poultry, thoroughbred Holsttin
cattle, and there are fourteen acres in Bartlett pears
pnd three acres in raspberries.

Mr. Armanasco's marriage united him with Miss
Mary Ann Rosatti, also born in Italy. Mrs.
Vrmanasco has Contributed, in no small measure,
to the success of her husband. They are esteemed
throughout the community for their straightforward-
ness and strict honesty.

ARTHUR MOE.— Although one of the younger
business men of San Jose, Arthur Moe has already
made his influence felt in trade circles of the city
and his cooperation has been a valuable asset in
developing the Prestolite agency, of which he is one
of the partners. He was born in Menominee, Dunn
County, Wis.. December 31. 1892. a son of Adam
and Olea Moe. The father followed the occupa-
tion of farming and the subject of this review at-
tended the public schools of his native city until
fourteen years of age, when he accompanied his
parents on their removal to Spokane, Wash., Mr.
Moe, buying a farm tvi-enty miles from there.

For two years Arthur Moe attended the Spokane
high school and then started out in the business
world, securing a clerkship with the Spokane & East-
ern Trust Company, with which he was connected
for five years, gaining valuable experience along
commercial lines. He then went to San Francisco,
Cal.. and for a year was engaged in clerical work on
the exposition grounds. In 1916 he entered the
employ of the Hercules Powder Company, working
in the TNT department until the United States
declared war against Germany when he entered the
service. In August. 1918. he was sent to Camp Lewis,
Wash., being assigned to Battery C, Thirty-seventh
Field Artillery, and receiving training as a gunner.
He was stationed there until January 1, 1919, and
was discharged at the Presidio in San Francisco.
He then entered the electrical business in Oakland
as a partner of V. L. Bemis, an expert in this line,
and at the end of a year they disposed of their in-
terests in that city and came to San Jose, where
they have since been located. They secured the
Prestolite agency and under the firm name of Motor
Electric Service Company are located at 245 North

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1433

Second Street, and as automotive electricians have
already become recognized as one of the leading
enterprises of the kind in the city, their business
being operated along the most modern lines.

In Oakland, Cal., on August 16, 1919, Mr. Moe
married Miss Verna Hansen, a native of Spokane.
Wash., and a daughter of Ivan Hansen. One child
has been born of this union, Verna Mae. Frater-
nally Mr. Moe is identified with the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the
American Legion and the Santa Clara County Auto-
mobile Trades Association.

WILLIAM M. HERSMAN.— A resident of the
Santa Clara Valley for more than thirty years. Wil-
liam M. Hersman came to San Martin in 1891, to
work on the ranch of his uncle. Rev. W. M. Hers-
man. He was born at Middle Grove, Monroe County,
Mo., January 1, 1865, his parents being George H.
and Mildred (Pollard) Hersman, both natives of
Monroe County, but of Kentucky parentage. The
father passed away some time ago, but Mrs. Hersman
is still living and makes her home at Darby, Mont.,
with a daughter.

William M. Hersman was reared on the home farm
and at the age of eighteen completed the high school
course at Strother, Mo., and two years later, in 1885,
he removed to Kansas, where he continued to work
on farms. In 1889 he continued his westward jour-
ney to Montana, remaining there for two more years,
and then came down to California, locating at Tem-
pleton San Luis Obispo County, where he became
foreman on the ranch of his uncle. Rev. Hersman, and
after coming to Gilroy he spent four years on the
ranch of his uncle there. Feeling that it was time
for him to go to ranching on his own account, he
then leased land, which he farmed to grain for several
years, then leased the old White Place on Foothill
Avenue, San Martin, and planted part of it to orchard,
and he bought twenty acres on that avenue which he
cleared and set to orchard, the land being covered
with live oaks and stubble at time of purchase. In
1918 Mr. Hersman located on Monterey Road about
two miles and a half from Gilroy, having sold his
Iv.-enty-acre orchard and gone into partnership with
his cousin, former Congressman Hersman, and C. C.
Lester of Gilroy, where he has 120 acres in orchard.

At Gilroy in June, 1897, Mr. Hersman was married
to Miss Eva White, a native daughter, born at San
Ysidro, the daughter of Thomas White, and their
marriage has been blessed with five children: Mil-
dred is the wife of George Quale, a merchant at San
Martin, and they have one child; Myrtle passed away
at the age of sixteen; Margaret, George and Evelyn
are at home. Now one of the old, established fam-
ilies of this district, they are held in high esteem in
the community, where they take an active part in all
that pertains to the welfare of the people. While
living at San Martin Mr. Hersman served as trustee
of the San Martin school district two terms, the first
time being appointed to fill a vacancy.

MANUEL S. SILVA.— Many lines of activity have
felt the stimulus of the enterprise, business discern-
ment and well defined plans of Manuel S. Silva,
■/■ioneer transfer man, raifcher and capitalist of Santa
Clara, who wields a wide influence in commercial
circles of the city. He possesses initiative combined
with marked executive ability, and to him oppor-
tunity has spelled success. He was born on the

island of Graciojo, in the Azores, February 20, 1851,
upon the estate of his grandfather, Manuel S. Silva,
who reared a family of four sons and four daughters.
The father, Joel Souza Silva, was married on that
island to Callinna Souza Silva and they also had a
family of eight children, consisting of four sons and
four daughters. Mr. Silva followed the occupation
of farming for many years and passed away at the
age of seventy-four, vthile the mother died in 1859.

Manuel S. Silva, the youngest of the family, was
reared upon a farm and through assisting his father
t arly became familiar with stockraising, dairying and
the basic principles of agriculture. When sixteen
years of age he sailed for America, landing at Bos-
ton, Mass., and soon afterward became a member
of the crew of a whaling vessel, sailing from. Beverly,
on which he cruised the Atlantic for fifteen months.
They secured their first cargo of whale oil on the
Western grounds, which lie between the United
States and the Azores, going from there to the island
of Fayal, in the Azores, where they disposed of
their oil and other whale products. On their next
whaling expedition they went to South Africa, thence
to Brazil and the West Indies, taking in the Bar-
badoes, Guadeloupe and Dominique Islands and re-
turning to Fayal, whence they sailed for Beverly,
Mass., where Mr. Silva left the vessel. Going to
Boston, he there spent a week and then went to Fall
River, Mass., where for five years he was employed
ni a calico mill. At the end of that period he started
for the West, and after reaching San Francisco, Cal.,
arriving in 1873, he made his way to Half Moon
Bay, where he spent four years, devoting his atten-
tion to the development of a farm.

In May, 1878. Mr. Silva came to Santa Clara
County, being without funds. While residing in San
Mateo County he had planted 1,000 sacks of seed
potatoes, but owing to the prolonged drought of
-877 his crop was a failure and his indebtedness
amounted to $1,500. Land in the vicinity of Santa
Clara was then selling for twenty-five dollars an
acre and farming was in a demoralized state. The
farmers who did not understand soil and climatic
conditions were in the habit of sowing forty pounds
of seed grain to an acre and the yield was a very
V.oor one. Mr. Silva and other Portuguese farmers
conceived the idea of sowing a greater quantity of
seed per acre and instead of forty pounds they
sowed a sack to an acre. The result was a better
stand and the yield per acre was practically quad-
rupled, this method being later adopted by the other
farmers in the district, which was devoted prin-
cipally to the raising of hay and grain. For four
years Mr. Silva cultivated rented land and then pur-
chased twenty-six and a half acres near Santa Clara,
which he still owns, afterward taking up his home
in the city. Here he has engaged for many years
in the transfer business, being a pioneer in this line
in Santa Clara. Owing to his capable management
the enterprise has grown from year to year until it
has now reached large proportions. He handles all
of the freight consigned to Santa Clara business
houses over the Southern Pacific Railroad and his
son assists him in conducting the business, which is
operated along the most modern and progressive
lines. They utilize two motor trucks, one having a
capacity of two tons and the other of eight. They

1434

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

also have eight wagons which will carry from eight
•.o eleven tons of freight, with from two to eight
horses for each wagon, these being used for bad
roads and mountain traffic.

While residing at Half Moon Bay Mr. Silva mar-
ried Miss Mary Julia Silva, who passed away March
20, 1902, leaving one son, Manuel S., Jr. He mar-
ned Miss Mary Francisco and they have a daughter,
l.illie. They reside with Mr. Silva, Sr., in an at-
tractive home at 1567 Main Street. Mr. Silva is a
faithful member of the Santa Clara Catholic Church
.-ind is also identified with the I. D. E. S. and the
S. E. S. Starting out in life empty-handed, he has
worked his way steadily upward until he is today a
dominant figure in business circles of Santa Clara.

CHARLES PENNELL AND ALICE H. REED.
Within the past few years the poultry business has
become a great industry, requiring a specialized and
accurate knowledge of the work undertaken if one
would win success. Among those who have gained
prominence in this field of activity is Charles Pennell
Reed, a well-known poultryman of San Jose, who
is associated in business with his sister, Alice H.
Reed. A native of the East, he was born in Hon-
eoye, N. Y., December 29, 1877, a son of Thomas
R. and Elmyra (Pennell) Reed. In young man-
hood the father took up the occupation of farming,
afterward engaging in the meat business, while later
he became postmaster of Honeoye, N. Y.

In the public schools of his native city Charles
P. Reed acquired his early education, while later
he was graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan Uni-
versity of Delaware, Ohio, entering that institution
in 1896. In 1900 he came to the West, settling at
Hoquiam, Wash., where he spent a few years in
learning the lumber business. Going to Nevada,
he opened a lumber yard at Goldfield, which he
afterward sold, and opened another yard at Tono-
pah, Nev. Subsequently he established a third yard
at Fallon, Nev., which he conducted until 1910, when
he sold out -and came to San Jose, where he started
in the chicken business on a small scale. From the
beginning the venture proved a success and as time
passed he gradually enlarged his interests, now de-
voting his attention to the hatching and selling of
baby chicks. He has made a thorough study of the
business, which he conducts according to the most
modern and progressive methods, and has added a
new hatching house 60x80 feet in dimensions with
a capacity of sixty incubators, utilizing only elec-
trical machines. He keeps about 2,000 breeding
fowls and produces all of the eggs used for hatching,
having a capacity for hatching 30,000 eggs at one
time. His chicken ranch, which comprises two and
one-quarter acres, or fourteen city lots, is located
on South Fifteenth Street, in San Jose. He has
built up a large business, shipping to many points
in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah and
Wyoming, and during the season of 1920-21 he oper-
ated twenty-two incubators at their full capacity and
sold 50,000 baby chicks. In the conduct of the busi-
ness he is assisted by his sister, Miss Alice H. Reed,
who is an equal partner with him in the enterprise.
She was also born in Honeoye, N. Y., where she
acquired her education, and is a most capable busi-
ness woman, much of the success of the undertak-
ing being attributable to her able cooperation and ex-
cellent judgment. Since coming to San Jose Mr.

Reed's intelligently directed efforts and initiative
have been strong elements in his success and he
ranks with the leading poultrymen of the state.

MANUEL BRONK.— A successful rancher whose
methods as well as his results are worthy of the
most flattering study is Manuel Bronk, a native of
San Luis Obispo, where he was born on March 22,
1894. the son of Joseph and Amelia (Serafino)
Bronk, the former a native of St. Miguel, and the
latter of St. George of the Azores. Mr. Bronk came
to California from the Azores in 1885, when he was
eighteen years old, having stayed about one year
in New York, and once he reached the Golden State
he chose San Luis Obispo County as the most ap-
pealing section, and for twelve years raised beans
there on rather an extensive scale. He then re-
moved to Ventura, and for ten years cultivated
beans on a 400-acre ranch. Finally coming into
Santa Clara County, he bought a ranch of twenty-
seven and three-fourths acres on Capitol Avenue,
devoted to alfalfa and dairying, with one result that,
since he was ten years old, Manuel had to help his
father, at that early age even driving a team.

Manuel attended school in Ventura County for a
while, and then continued for a year in Santa Clara
County, after his father had removed hither. When
he was fourteen years old, he left home and for
eight years worked for other dairy ranchers, and
after that he put in four years at orcharding on the
Blackburn Ranch, at the corner of Alum Rock Ave-
nue and Piedmont Road. In May, 1920, however,
he returned home and entered into partnership with
his father in running the home dairy; and now they
have thirty head of choice cows on their ranch.

On December 6, 1916, Mr. Bronk was married
to Miss Mary Silva, a native of Fayal in the Azores,
and one of seven children of Jesse and Louisa Silva.
the former a farmer of experience and good standing,
who is still living in his native land, a* is his good
wife. Mrs. Bronk came out to California in July,
1915, and lived with her sister, Mrs. Antone Dutra
of Sunnyvale until she was married. One child,
Joseph Bronk, has blessed this union. Mr. Bronk
belongs to Wayne Station Lodge No. 132, of the
I. D. E. S., and it is needless to say that among the
members of that fraternity, no one is more welcome.

M. T. SEQUEIRA. — A native of the Azores who
has made good since coming to America, acquir-
ing United States citizenship and establishing him-
self comfortably as a progressive, successful rancher,
is M. T. Sequeira, of 52 Lucretia Avenue, about
two miles southeast of San Jose. He was born on
April 2, 1862, at Fayal, the son of M. T. Sequeira,
who had married Miss Mary Sequeira, and when
about fourteen or fifteen he crossed the ocean and
on June 29, 1877, arrived at New Bedford, Mass.
For nearly seven years he worked there for wages
on a ranch, during which time he had all too lit-
tle opportunity to attend school; and in 1883 he came
West to California, first stopping for a while in
San Francisco, and then locating in Contra Costa
County. His first work on the Coast was in brickyards,
as a laborer, and for fifteen years after he came to
San Jose, in 1889, he was employed by the R. Mil-
lard Brick Manufactury Company at their plant on
the Story Road.

While at New Bedford, Mr. Sequeira was mar-
ried to Miss Amelia V. Sequeira, a native of St.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1437

(jeorge in the Azores: and she has become the
mother of four children. Antone V. and Mary A.
go to school; and there are Hannah A. and Helen.
The family worship at the new Church of the Five
Wounds, to the building of which Mr. Sequeira has
donated much money. He belongs to the U. P.
E. C, in which he is a past president, and to the
Druids. A Republican in matters of national poli-
tics, he was made a citizen in San Jose. Mr. Se-
queira owns eight acres of fine prune and apricot
orchard near San Jose, while Mrs. Sequeira owns
seventeen acres of excellent prune orchard, both su-
perior ranch lands. He is a member of the Cali-
fornia Prune & Apricot Growers, Inc., and does
what he can to promote the activities and success
of that organization.

EDSON McKEE.— For more than fifty years
Edson McKce has been identified with Santa Clara
County, being one of the pioneer horticulturists and
ranchers of Cupertino, Cal. He was born in Calhoun
County, III., September 28, 1855, the son of James
McKee, born October 22, 1818, in Ohio. He came
out to Illinois, where he was reared, and in young
manhood married Abbie Rice, who was born in Mich-
igan, May IS, 1826. They were farmers in Illinois
until they migrated across the plains to Sonoma
County, Cal.. crossing the plains in 1858 in wagons
drawn by horses. From Sonoma County they went
to San Luis Obispo, where they resided until 1870,
when they located in Santa Clara County. In 1872
James McKee purchased a ranch of 75 acres on the
Doyle Road, and on this fertile farm he and his wife
spent their remaining days. He died May 12, 1895,
his widow surviving him until March 12, 1921. This
worthy couple were the parents of four sons: James
Frank is a resident of this county; William W. of
Los Angeles: Charles died October 30, 1855, aged
four years; Edson, the subject of this sketch, re-
ceived his education in the public schools of Cali-
fornia, meanwhile assisting his father on the farm.
When sixteen years of age he started out for him-
self, spending a year at Roseburg, Ore., and thence
making his way to Spokane, where he was employed
until he had saved some money. He purchased 142
ares of railroad land, which he improved, engaging
in general farming.

In Spokane Mr. McKee was married April 2, 1893,
to Miss Dora Fine, a native of Missouri, a daughter
of J. J. and Frances (Hopkins) Fine, farmers in
Missouri until they removed with their family to
Spokane, Wash,, where they were pioneers and im-
proved a farin. They now reside in Tekoa, Wash.
Mrs. McKee was the fifth oldest of their eight
children. In March, 1894, Mr. McKee brought his
family to Santa Clara County and took up farming
on his father's place, running the place for his father
until his death, and since then he has set out some
orchard and reset some of the trees, and installed a
pumping plant not only sufficient for irrigating his
orchards, but those of some of his neighbors as well.
Mr. McKee now owns and operates about twenty-
seven acres located on the Doyle Road, a part of the
old McKee homestead. It is very choice land and is
set to peaches, cherries, apricots, and prunes, all
in full bearing and is bringing in a splendid income.
He also owned a place in the St. Thomas district,
which he improved and sold at a satisfactory profit.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. McKee has been blessed
with nine children: Ora L. is Mrs. Sargent, residing
in Oakland; DoUie M.; Alfred served in the Forty-
sixth U. S. Field Artillery, being stationed at Camp
Kearney until after the armistice, when he was dis-
charged; Jayd, Ralph, Edmond, Floyd, Oliver, and
Amos. All of them, with the exception of Mrs.
Sargent, are under the parental roof and assisting the
parents in their horticultural enterprise. Mr. and
Mrs. McKee are liberal and enterprising, aiding as
far as they are able movements for the improvement
and betterment of the community. In national pol-
itics, Mr. McKee is a stanch supporter of the Re-
publican party.

JOHN CASTELLO.— A modern, well-improved
ranch of 103 acres, situated two miles from San
Jose, pays tribute to the care and labor bestowed
upon it by its owner, John Castello, who ranks with
the progressive farmers and dairymen of Santa
Clara Count}'. He was born on the Isle of St.
George, in the Azores, November 20, 1876, a son of
Victory and Isabella (Mendonza) Castello, both of
whom were born in Calyeata, on that island. The
father was the owner of a small farm, which he
continued to cultivate until his demise in 188S, when
he was fifty-three years of age, while the mother
passed away in 1898, also at the age of fifty-three.
Of their children four sons and a daughter are
residents of California, while a son and a daughter
are still living in the Azores.

When eighteen years of age, in 1894, John Cas-
tello started for Marin County, Cal., to join an
older brother, Joseph, who had preceded him to
that section by five years. This brother is now a
prominent rancher residing near Visalia, Cal., while
another brother, George, is the owner of a ranch
near Tracy, Cal. For five years John Castello re-
mained in Marin County, receiving at first twenty
dollars per month, and having carefully saved his
earnings, when he had $900. he made his way to
the Santa Clara Valley, he invested this capital in
good dairy stock. His farm was situated on May-
bury Road and in association with his brother,
George Castello, he continued to operate that place
for seventeen years. As time passed their business
continued to grow steadily and they kept eighty
milk cows, while they farmed 230 acres under lease.
Six years ago Mr. Castello purchased the old Curtin
Ranch of 103 acres, situated two miles from San
Jose, at the corner of the Capitol and Story roads,
and this he has since conducted. He has made
many improvements upon the place, erecting a mod-
ern residence and substantial barns and outbuildings,
while he also operates a dairy, employing three men
for this purpose. Aside from dairying he is also
engaged in horticulture, having about ten acres de-
voted to raising prunes. His buildings are well
equipped and thoroughly sanitary and he brings to
the management of his farm a scientific knowledge of
modern agriculture and a progressive and open mind.

Mr. Castello was married in San Jose to Miss
Mary Fielda, a native of Newark, Cal., and a daugh-
ter of Frank and Mary Fielda; the father is de-
ceased and the mother resides in Oakland. Mrs.
Castello is the second oldest of nine children. Mr.
and Mrs. Castello have two children: Angle, who
on December 25, 1920, married Antone Souza, of
Santa Clara; and La Verne. Mr. Castello is a

1438

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Republican in his political views and he keeps well
informed on the questions and issues of the day.
He is a member of the California Prune and Apri-
cot Growers, Inc., and of the Associated Milk Pro-
ducers of San Francisco, and is also identified with
the U. P. E. C. and the S. E. S., while his wife is a
member of S. P. R., S. I. and the Druids in San
Jose. His genuine personal worth and his activity
in a useful occupation have combined to make him
one of Santa Clara County's valued citizens.

JOHN SVILICH.— A leading orchardist of the
Santa Clara Valley, whose schooling was limited to
seven days in his entire life, but who has succeeded
far beyond many men more generously schooled, is
John Svilich. He was born on the Island of Lissa,
Dalmatia, November 30, 1861, a son of Martin and
Victoria (Vidovich) Svilich, both born in Dalmatia.
The father was a shoemaker and the family lived on a
farm. There were two sons in the family; Vincent
was a rancher in Santa Clara County until he became
blind and now lives in Oakland, and John, the sub-
ject of this sketch. Early in life John began to work
on farms about the home neighborhood, and before
coming to the United States he was in the Austrian
army for four years. When he arrived in America,
in 1889, he first settled in Portland, Ore., and re-
mained there for six months, then came to Santa
Clara County, Cal. Four months of each season he
spent in Washington and Oregon fishing in the Co-
lumbia River district and during the winter worked
on ranches and five years was thus consumed; then
for four years more he worked on ranches in various
parts of Santa Clara County and by good manage-
ment and economy accumulated sufficient money to
lease a twenty-acre farm on the Boity Road, and was
engaged in fruit raising for eight years. In 1906 he
purchased a twenty-acre ranch on the Homestead
Road about one-half mile west of the Collins School:
then he added five acres to his ranch bought from
Mr. Calvert: later purchased ten acres adjoining in
the D. C. Milligan subdivision. In 1919 he bought
the Wolff place of thirty-one acres, sixty-six acres in
all, a full-bearing orchard devoted to prunes, apricots,
peaches and cherries. He has his own irrigating plant
and the water is piped to the different parts of his
ranch, and with the best of cultivation, his ranch Is
paying a fine profit. He is also engaged in buying,
drying and selling fruit to packers, while he ships
cherries to Eastern markets.

Mr. Svilich w-as married in Lissa, Dalmatia, on
November 15, 1884, to Miss Irene Mardisich, the
daughter of Joseph and Prances (Bonomo) Mardisich,
all natives of Dalmatia. Joseph Mardisich was a sol-
dier in the Austrian army most of his life. Mrs.
Svilich is the youngest of a family of three children:
Mitchell, Antonette, who died in infancy, and Irene.
She was reared and educated in her native place and
has been an able helpmate to her husband, encourag-
ing and assisting him to gain his ambition. They
have five living children and there are seven grand-
children: Victoria is Mrs. Mariani, the wife of a
rancher in the Cupertino district, who are now visit-
ing the old home place in Dalmatia, they have four
children — Winifred. Irene, Matilda and Paul; An-
tonette is Mrs. Labrovich, the wife of a rancher on
Fremont and Saratoga roads, and they have three
children — Mary, Irene and Archibald; Joseph and
William are assisting the father, while Peter is going

to school. Mr. Svilich has devoted his time to the
cultivation and beautifying of his ranch and has
brought it to a high state of development.

C. G. SPARGUR.— For many years a leading
stockman of Modoc County, Cal., C. G. Spargur, has
recently purchased a fine ranch home near Moun-
tain View and with his wife are a welcome acqui-
sition to the community. A native of Carson City,
Nev., he was born on February 24, 1872, and when
but a year old, his parents brought him to Modoc
County, Cal., where he grew up and received his
schooling. While in his early manhood he became
interested in the cattle business, and by steady ap-
plication to this line of work, became a large stock-
man and farmer of Modoc County, his acreage final-
ly aggregating 1460 acres of land and for years he
kept from 500 to 600 head of cattle, raising them
and marketing them in San Francisco. By hard
work and intelligent planning, he prospered well.
In 1917 he sold his property in Modoc County and
removed to San Francisco, where he resided until
he purchased his ranch at Mountain View. Mrs.
Spargur was Miss Dora Gray of Modoc County, and
in September of 1920 they settled in Mountain View
on their beautiful and highly improved twenty-acre
ranch on the El Monte Road. There are ten acres
in prune orchard and ten acres devoted to apri-
cots and is located in one of the finest fruit and
residence districts of the county. Mr. and Mrs.
Spargur enjoy their beautiful country home, and
enter heartily into the spirit of the community which
is given to horticulture, rather than stockraising
which they had engaged in in Modoc County, and
find it an agreeable change. Mr. Spargur is a 32nd
degree Mason, being a member of the lodge at Al-
turas, Cal., and of the Consistory at San Jose, and
with his wife belongs to the Eastern Star Chapter at
Mountain View.

JULIUS H. RAINWATER.— As executive of the
San Jose Council, Boy Scouts of America, Julius
H. Rainwater is doing effective work in building up
this branch of the organization, his natural qualifi-
cations and broad experience well qualifying him for
work of this character. He was born in Pittsfield,
Pike County, 111., December 2. 1887, a son of E.
John and Anna (Foote) Rainwater. In the maternal
line he is a descendant of Nathaniel Foote, who came
from England to America between 1620 and 1625
and settled in the state of New York. The Rain-
water family, also of English descent, originally
settled at Savannah, Ga., later moving into Kentucky.
During the Civil War the grandfather, E. J. Rain-
water, espoused the cause of the Union, made his
way north and enlisted in an Illinois regiment, and
served in the Civil War; he was captured and while
a prisoner his death occurred. After the cessation
of hostilities his widow moved with her family to
Pike County, 111., where her son, E. John, was
reared and married.

In the acquirement of an education Julius H. Rain-
water attended the grammar and high schools of
Pittsfield, 111., and Drake University of Des Moines,
Iowa, after which he became a student at the Uni-
versity of Chicago. When twenty-one years of age
he became principal of the high school at Bondu-
rant. Iowa, filling that position for two years, and
in 1911 he was appointed by the South Park Com-
missioners of Chicago as director of Ogden Park

^J^^^ yS/iy^-l^.^^^^t4J^

O^/^^-n^ jS tr x^ti^C^tL

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1443

to which he gave his attention for seven years. In
October, 1918, he was made field scout executive of
the Chicago stockyards district, Boy Scouts of Amer-
ica, in which connection he had charge of the activ-
ities of forty troops of Boy Scouts, and in August
of the following year he was transferred to the
West Side district, being in command of 100 Scout
troops. In October. 1920, he came to San Jose as
executive of the San Jose Council, Boy Scouts of
America, and is rapidly building up the organiza-
tion here. At the time of his arrival there were
four troops, with an active enrollment of 124, while
there are now twelve troops and 425 Boy Scouts,
all this being accomplished by Mr. Rainwater in less
than a year and proving conclusively that nature has
especially qualified him for work of this nature.

At Springfield. 111., on September 6, 1911, Mr.
Rainwater married Miss Florence Nitsche, a native
of Chicago and a daughter of Fred C. and Laura
(Tilling) Nitsche, the former a steam engineer. Mrs.
Rainwater attended the grammar and high schools
of Chicago and she is also a graduate of the Chi-
cago Musical College. Three children have been
born to them: Julius H., Jr., Genevieve and Ger-
aldine. A man of high aspirations and ideals, Mr.
Rainwater's ambition is to make the Boy Scouts a
recognized department of prevocational education
for boys and he is performing work of a most im-
portant character, being connected with an organiza-
tion which is instilling in the youth of the land a
spirit of helpfulness, loyalty and patriotism destined
to prove a great national asset in years to come.

JOE J. FERREIRA. — An experienced, successful
orchardist who well represents the spirit of progress
which has placed California in the lead in scientific
agriculture, is Joe J. Ferreira, who was born on
the Isle of Pico, in the Azores, on April 21, 1867.
His father was Manuel J. Ferreira, one of a well-
to-do family of farmers, stockmen and ranch own-
ers; and his mother, before her marriage, was Miss
Annie J. Rose. Of strong, moral character, Mr.
Ferreira became a large factor in the building up
of the fine home parish in which he died, full of
years and honors, aged seventy-two, on March 24,
1888. Mrs. Ferreira came out to America and Cali-
fornia and lived to a fine old age, passing away
on August 18, 1916, at the home of our subject,
while he still lived on Maybury Road.

Joe Ferreira had very little schooling, but he
had the capacity to look far into the future, and
with plenty of courage and faith in himself, he left
home at the age of twenty-two and came out to
America, Two brothers had preceded him hither,
John E. having come eleven, and Manuel some seven
years before. He at first made for Siskiyou County
where he went to work in the mines for four years;
and then he entered upon stockraising and general
farming. Four j'ears later, he returned to his Old
World home to bring out to California the other
members of the family; and on his once more set-
tling in California, he purchased a farm in Sis-
kiyou County.

On November 26, 1903, Mr. Ferreira was married
to Miss Marv Noya, who was born on the Island
of Flores on June 22, 1886, the daughter of Joseph
Noya, a quartz miner, and his wife, Mary. Mr.
Noya passed away on April 24, 1920, honored by
all who knew him. Eight children sprang from
this union. Mary and Joseph are students; then

come Helen and Annie. Margaret and Tony are
twins; and George is the youngest born, of those
surviving. The last in the order of birth was Min-
nie, and she died when two and a half months old.

In 1904 Mr. Ferreira purchased sixteen acres in
the Campbell orchard district in the Santa Clara
Valley and removed to this county; and three years
later he sold his ranch and bought twenty-six acres
of orchard on the Maybury Road. In 1914, he ac-
quired forty acres of excellent soil on the Mc-
Kee Road, and twenty-eight acres of this he has
planted to French prunes, nine acres to pears, one
acre to peaches, one to apples, and one to alfalfa.

Mr. and Mrs. Ferreira and family are devout
members of the Church of the Five W^ounds, at
East San Jose, to the support of which they have
donated generously. Mr. Ferreira was made a citi-
zen of the United States some thirty years ago, while
a resident of Siskiyou County, and having joined
the ranks of the Republican party, he has ever since
held himself ready to support any measures for the
upbuilding of the town and county. He is a strong
member of the C. P. & A„ and he also belongs
to the U. P. E. C. and the I. D. E. S.; while Mrs.
Ferreira is a member of the S. R. P. S. I., and the
Ladies' Society of the Church of the Five Wounds.

GEORGE W. RYAN.— An experienced, successful
rancher whose long years of arduous, intelligent
labor have enabled him at last to retire in comfort,
enjoying the confidence and esteem of all who know
him, is George W. Ryan, a native of Bethel, Clare-
mont County, Ohio, where he was born on May 10,
1852. His father, Patrick Ryan, was a native of Ire-
land, who came to the United States when a mere
boy; he was a wagon-maker by trade, and he mar-
ried Miss Ann Erwin, a devoted wife and an aiTec-
tionate mother. Both died there.

George W. attended the grammar school at Bethel,
learned telegraphing, became an operator and a sta-
tion agent on the Wabash Railway, and afterwards
studied at Oberlin College. At the age of nineteen
he went to Shelby County, Illinois, and near Windsor
he commenced farming. He raised excellent corn
and stock, and continued there for eight years. In
1882 he moved to Pembina, Dakota Territory, and
there he owned a farm but engaged in the banking
business, continuing altogether eighteen years, and
established banks at Crystal and Cavalier in Dakota
and Hallock, Minnesota. In 1884 he moved to Spink
County, now in South Dakota, and there he home-
steaded land, proved up on it, and returned to Pem-
bina. In the eighteen years in which our subject re-
mained in Dakota, he acquired several thousand acres
of land, which he devoted to grain and flax. There,
too, he reared his family.

In 1900 he sold out and came to California, and
for six years he lived in the Sacramento Valley.
In 1906 he removed to San Jose, and he has lived
here ever since, engaging in the real estate, insur-
ance, and loaning business until 1920. He owns 235
acres in Placer County, Cal., a ranch devoted to
plums, pears, peaches and grapes. He also is inter-
ested in about 600 acres at Atwater devoted to
peaches, almonds, pears, and apricots. Both of his
ranches are w-ell irrigated.

At Fairmount, III., on December 1, 1881, Mr. Ryan
was married to Miss Mary Short, a native of that
place and the daughter of Thomas and Virginia

1444

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

(Lanham) Short. She is a lineal descendant of the
old Short family of Virginia, and is also related to
the Lanhams. She was educated in the schools of
Illinois, and has assisted in the education of three
children of her own. Fred S. is a well-known phy-
sician of San Jose, in the enjoyment of a large and
constantly increasing practice. Clarissa Maud is at
home, as is also Margaret C. Ryan.

Mr. Ryan is a Royal Arch Mason. He has today
one of the finest homes of San Jose; but the reader
will regret to learn that in 1920 he suffered a par-
alytic stroke which has made it difficult for him to
get about — a severe trial to one for so many years
so active and industrious, and always so considerate
of and attentive to the wants of others.

JOHN JAMES PEARD.— An honored veteran of
the Civil War, with an enviable record for valiant
service in that hard-fought conflict, John J. Peard
has been a resident of Santa Clara County for close
to half a century, witnessing its remarkable growth
in the passing decades and contributing no small
part to its development. He was born in New-
Brunswick, August 14, 1843, the son of Thomas and
Frances (Lynch) Peard, natives of Ireland, who
were Presbyterians in religion. The father was a
shoemaker and when John J. was four years old
the family moved to New York, which was the
family home for a number of years. Later they
came to California and here both parents died.

The youthful days of John J. Peard were spent
at East Pembroke, N. Y., where he was educated
in the public schools. When the Civil War broke
out he was eager to give his services to his adopted
country and left his books to enlist, September 5,
1862, in Company M, Ninth New York Heavy Ar-
tillery, and served for three years; he was in many
bitter engagements in that time, experiencing all
of the hardships of warfare. Among the engage-
ments in which he took part are the battles of Cold
Harbor, Petersburg, Monocacy, Charleston, Ope-
quam Creek, Cedar Creek, Petersburg, March 25
and April 2, 1865, Sailor's Creek, Appomattox, where
he was present at the surrender of General Lee,
April 9, 1865. He took part in the Grand Re-
view at Washington, after which he was mustered
out and honorably discharged, September 29, 1865,
having attained the rank of second lieutenant. In
1866 he came to California, locating at Dunning,
Yolo County, where he followed ranching for several
years. Early in the 70s he came to Santa Clara
County and purchased his ranch on Hamilton Ave-
nue and he still owns five acres which are set to a
fine orchard, devoted to prunes, cherries and apri-
cots. This has been his home ever since and he
is now one of the oldest residents in this section.

Mr. Peard was married at San Francisco in 1910 to
Miss Jennie Brock, a native of Toronto, Canada, an
accomplished woman, who was reared and educated
in New York City. She presides gracefully over his
home and has ever been an able helpmate. A stanch
Republican, Mr. Peard has always taken an active in-
terest in the affairs of that party, and he has been
very prominent in the ranks of the G. A. R., being a
member of Bennett Post, G. A. R., in San Jose. He
is a past commander of both Sheridan-Dix and
Bennett Posts.

MATTHEW FRANCIS MULCAHY.— A schol-
.irly, painstaking and highly ethical attorney of whom
Santa Clara County is naturally proud, is Matthew
Francis Mulcahy, the distinguished lawyer of San
Jose, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, en Sep-
tember 19, 1878, the son of Patrick and Margaret
(McDonald) Mulcahy, a worthy couple who came
to the Pacific Coast in the year of his nativity and
settled in California. For a while they lived in San
Francisco, and then they moved to Santa Clara; and
in both places they grew to be esteemed as citizens,
neighbors and friends. Mrs. Mulcahy passed away
in 1904, and her devoted husband in January, 1920.

Matthew went lo the Mission Dolores School and
to Santa Clara College, and then for six years he
was clerk in the district attorney's office. He studied
law privately and thoroughly, and in 1916 he was
admitted to the bar. In the meantime he had taught
school for a j'ear in the Philippines, thereby greatly
enlarging his knowledge of human nature; so that
'.'.-hen, in 1916, he opened a law office in San Jose,
he was successful in his practice and his growing
list of patrons from the start. His conscientious de-
votion to the best interests of everyone entrusting
their affairs to him has been rewarded, as it natur-
ally should have been, with more and more law work
to do; and his idealistic methods in the handling of
even doubtful cases have challenged the admiration
of those sitting in judgment on the bench, and won
for him the esteem and confidence of both superiors
and colleagues. An evidence of this high regard is
to be found in Mr. Mulcahy's election as secretary
of the Santa Clara County Bar Association in 1920

In national political affairs a Republican, Mr.
Mulcahy has never neglected an opportunity, while
not seeking political advantage, to help raise civic
standards and to increase the spirit of true patriot-
ism. A member of the Roman Catholic Church, he
has sought to further any good measure, or support
any acknowledged leader in the great work, so neces-
sary in such rapidly-building communities as those
of Santa Clara County, of permanent upbuilding.

FRANK P. ALVERNAZ.— A rancher represent-
ing the industry of the Azores and the spirit of
progress of the American, is Frank P. Alvernaz,
who was born on the Island of Fayal on Christmas
Day, 1873, and now lives comfortably on the Mc-
Laughlin Road near San Jose, the owner of seventy-
three acres of constantly increasing value. His
parents were Sego R. and Maria Madeline Alvernaz,
also natives of Fayal, well-to-do dairy folk who
enjoyed the esteem of their neighbors as stanch
Christians who aided in the building up and direct-
ing of the local church. They had seven children,
among whom Frank was the third in the order of
birth, while two of the sons, Tony and Jose'ph P.,
are also American citizens, the former a well-to-do
building contractor at Providence, R. I., the latter
a wealthy rancher and orchardist of the Jackson
district, in the Santa Clara Valley, although for-
merly of San Luis Obispo.

Following his brother, Tony, to the New World,
Frank Alvernaz started from home when he was
eighteen years of age, in 1891, and with ten dollars
in his pocket he reached New Bedford, Mass., where
he entered the employ of a dairy farmer, agreeing to
work for five dollars and his keep a month. By
1896 he had made enough headway to permit him

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1447

to come to California; and setting out with a friend,
he reached San Francisco in November of that year.
He was eager to work and to save, and finding
no employment open to him in the Bay City, he
set out for San Luis Obispo County; and there,
on a dairy ranch, he worked for eight years, milk-
ing and making butter.

Later, in partnership with his brother, Joseph P.
.A.lvernaz, he acquired by purchase a half interest
in 4U0 head of fine stock. E. B. Biaggini was the
other partner and this venture proved the first im-
portant financial success in his career. To make
possible a return trip to the Azores, however, his
brother J. P. sold his interest in the business to
Frank. He continued there six years and then sold
out and farmed at Morrow. Meantime J. P. had
returned from the Azores and the brothers bought
a ranch on Coyote Creek, Santa Clara County. Prior
to coming to Santa Clara County, Mr. Alvernaz was
a leading figure in the Associated Milk Producers of
San Francisco.

In 1918 Mr. Alvernaz moved to his ranch of sev-
enty-three acres in the McKinley district in this
count3-, and here he has improved the place with
building and is raising alfalfa, apricots and prunes.
At Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, he had mar-
ried Miss Roselene Gourat, a native of Fayal, and
on taking up their residence here, they both affiliated
themselves with the Church of the Five Wounds.
Since then Mr. Alvernaz has done much toward
the support of his church and the splendid work
done in this parish by Father Ribiero, one of the
fruits of his activity being the carload of livestock
collected by his efforts. This donation was made
by the Portuguese farmers throughout San Luis
Obispo County. His ranch is devoted to alfalfa
and oats and prunes. He is a member of the Califor-
nia Prune & Apricot Association, and is also a mem-
ber of the U. P. E. C.

L. H. SONNICHSEN.— One of the outstanding
meat markets of Palo Alto is that owned and op-
erated by L. H. Sonnichsen, who has steadily ad-
vanced to the front by hard work and strict at-
tention to business. A native of that part of Ger-
many which has since, the World War, gone back
to Denmark, he was born in Schleswig, May 19,
1881. The father passed away when he was one
year old, and one year later his mother died. The
maternal grandparents took the family of children
and brought them up at their home in Denmark. It
made a large family, but the children were given the
advantages of the German school and learned to
speak, write and read the Danish as well as the
German language. Upon reaching his teens, L. H.
Sonnichsen was apprenticed and learned the butcher's
trade in Denmark, and according to the military
requirements of the country, he served two years
in the German army.

Mr. Sonnichsen was united in marriage with Miss
Lorenza C. Hallum, a native of Denmark. The
fame of America had penetrated the locality in which
Mr. Sonnichsen lived, and sailing from Copenhagen,
vvith two other families, they landed in New York
in 1904 and lost no time in leaving for the Golden
State and Palo Alto, where a brother, A. Sonnichsen,
was already located. Being unable to speak Eng-
lish, Mr. Sonnichsen began working with his broth-
er, building roads, later working on the building of

the Catholic seminary. His first work in a meat
market in Palo Alto was for George J. Curry in
the Elite Market. He worked hard and saved his
money until he had a sufficient amount to embark
in business for himself and with Mads C. Laundsen
started the Palo Aho Market and in 1919 Mr. Son-
nichsen purchased the interest of his partner and
is now the sole owner. The market is equipped with
ice-making and refrigating machinery, excellent fix-
tures and showcases, is clean and sanitary and
attracts the best of Palo Alto trade. A force of
six people are required to take care of the business.
Recently Mr. Sonnichsen has purchased a store
building on University Avenue and this is being re-
modeled for his business.

The family resides on Newell Road and Mr. and
Mrs. Sonnichsen are the parents of four children;
Carsten and Jennie, and two deceased. Mr. Son-
nichsen is a member of the Foresters and the Fra-
ternal Aid. Coming to Palo Alto seventeen years
ago, without a knowledge of the English language,
Mr. Sonnichsen has diligently and industriously
worked up until he is now well-to-do and is esteemed
by all who know him. He is liberal and by his un-
selfish cooperation has made a valuable contribu-
tion to the prosperity of the community.

FRANK SILVEIRA CORREA.— A life of dili-
gence and activity, is bringing a substantial measure
of success to Frank Silveira Correa, who was born
at Fayal, Azores Isles, February 19, 1881. His
father, Antone S. Correa, also a native of the Azores,
was a man of sterling worth to his community, and
was extensively engaged in farming; his wife, Cath-
erine Silveira, was born and reared in the same
province. When but a lad of nine years, Frank left
home and came to live with his aunt and uncle, Mr.
and Mrs. John Freitas, who resided on a ranch at
Milpitas. Santa Clara County. The lad made the
journey to California in 1890 and spent but six months
in the public schools of Milpitas, then his uncle
moved to Niles where he also attended school. When
fourteen years of age he began the earning of a live-
lihood, being employed as a gang boy in the nursery
fields of the California Nursery Company at Niles,
the working day being eleven hours and twenty
minutes a day.

Realizing the need of a better education, he con-
tinued his studies at night and enrolling as a stu-
dent with the International Correspondence School
of Scranton, Pa., he finished a course in higher
mathematics in 1889. He continued with the Cal-
ifornia Nursery Company, working up in every de-
partment until he was in charge of the ornamental
tree department, remaining with them for twenty-
four years, making himself a valuable employe. He
then became a stockholder in the Ruehl- Wheeler
Nursery of San Jose, also purchasing a home there.

On September 11, 1907, Mr. Correa was united in
marriage to Miss Mary Elizabeth Freitas, a native
daughter of the Golden State. Mrs. Correa was
born at Alvarado. Alameda County, Cal., July 9,
1886, and is the daughter of Joseph R. and Mary
(.A.maral) Freitas, who were pioneers of Alameda
County. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
Correa; Arnold Ed., who died at the age of eight
years; and Charles Frank, who attends St. Mary's
school. In 1919, Mr. Correa moved to San Jose with
his family, where he became superintendent of the

1448

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Ruehl-Wheeler Nurserj-; however, he only remained
with them one year, when he was offered the place
of general manager at San Jose for the California
Nursery Company, and on November 1, he assumed
his duties. He still retains his interest in the Ruehl-
Wheeler Nursery, which he helped to organize.

Fraternally Mr. Correa is a Woodman of the
World at Niles; also a member of the U. P. E. C.
there. He rendered valuable service to the draft
board of the U. S. Army and Navy during the
World War and in every way supported all war
measures, has proven himself a public-spirited citizen
who has at heart the welfare of his community,
county, state and nation.

JOHN FAWCETT POGUE.— A native of Ha-
waii, John Fawcett Pogue was born on the Island
of Maui, February 17, 188S, the son of William F.
and Victoria (Saffery) Pogue. Grandfather John
Fawcett Pogue was born in Wilmington, Del. He
went to Hawaii and was a missionary for the Con-
gregational Church: there he married Maria Whit-
ney, who was the first white girl born on the islands.
Her father. Rev. Samuel Whitney, was born in Hart-
ford, Conn., and was married to Mercy Partridge,
born in Massachusetts, and they sailed on their
honeymoon around Cape Horn to the Hawaiian
Islands as the first missionaries to that country.
They were sent by the Congregational Church and
spent the remainder of their lives in that country.
Rev. John F. Pogue died while on a trip to the
United States and his wife spent her last days in
California. Wm. F. Pogue was also born on Maui
and was married to Victoria Saflfery, also a native
of Maui, whose father was an Englishman. William
F. Pogue was a farmer and for years followed
stock-raising; later he was the manager of a sugar
plantation and at the present time is manager of the
East Maui Irrigation Company. He and his wife
are the parents of eleven living children; William
F.; John Fawcett; Hervey W.; Cory; Maria E.;
Charles A.; Ruth E.; Henry B.; Fred M.; Jennie P.,
and Francis V. Pogue.

The father sent all of the children to California
to be educated and John Fawcett attended the Hester
school in San Jose and the Santa Clara public
schools. Ever since he was sixteen he has made
his own way in life. He first engaged as a press-
man in the printing office of W. G. Bohannan and
was thus engaged for two years; he then took up
the carpenter's trade, working for eight years, a
good part of the time for Morrison Brothers, build-
ers. As early as 1895 Mr. Pogue's aunt, Miss Jane
K. Pogue, had purchased a ranch on the Los Gatos
Road in the south part of Santa Clara County,
where John F. made his home while attending
school, as well as while working at his trade. In
1913 he quit carpentering and engaged in farming
and horticulture, devoting his time to growing ber-
ries, fruits and vegetables and also stockraising, spe-
cializing in pure-bred registered Poland China swine
and by close application and care he is making a
success. Mr. Pogue is a Republican in politics, and
fraternally is an active and prominent member of the
Fraternal Brotherhood, having passed through all
the chairs of this order. He is one of the sub-
stantial men of his district, and is held in high re-
gard by all who know him.

EDWARD NEWELL, M. D.— The last word of
science and the spirit of helpful interest in suffering
humanity are well exemplified in the arduous life
and successful work of Dr. Edward Newell, the well-
known physician and surgeon of San Jose, undoubt-
edly one of the best representatives of the medical
profession in California. He was born at East Hard-
wick, Caledonia County, Vt., on September 30, 1873.
the son of A. W. Newell, a substantial business man,
who died there in 1893, aged fifty-seven. He had
married Miss Lucy A. Hardy. Mrs. Newell came
to California in 1894, and rich in a wide circle of
friends, is still living. Edward attended the local
grammar and high schools, and then matriculated at
Colgate Academy, that famous alma mater for so
many worth-while men, at Hamilton, N. Y. Then,
for six years, he engaged in mercantile lines of trade,
and in 1894 he came West to California. Here he
continued high school and Normal school studies,
while he acted as agent for the Mercury when it
was owned by C. Wooster, and he, with Hugh De
Lacy, originated and carried out the present system
of distribution; and after that he enrolled in the
College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Fran-
cisco, from which he was graduated, with the M. D.
degree, in 1904.

Doctor Newell then served for nine months in
the city and county hospital as an interne, in San
Francisco, then he was with Drs. • Howard and
Amelia Gates for one year. He also profited by the
opportunity to go to New York for post graduate
medical work. Of recent years. Doctor Newell has
practiced for himself. Naturally he is an honored
member of the American Medical Association and
also the State and County Medical bocieties. In
August, 1908, he was married in San Jose to Miss
Ava E. Wilkin, of San Jose, an accomplished lady,
the meet companion for a professional man with
ideals and ambition; and their home life has been
blessed by their son, Paul Fowler Newell. The
family attend the Grace Baptist Church, and Doctor
Newell adds to the influence of the Republican
party. Doctor Newell belongs to the Y. M. C. A.
and is an enthusiast for both basketball and golf.

RICHARD V. BRESSANI.— A scholarly, experi-
enced and very successful attorney who has had the
advantage of several years of work in the county
clerk's office, is Richard V. Bressani, a native son
of California, who was born at San Jose on Febru-
ary 1, 1894. His father, August Bressani, and his
mother, who was Mary Del Piero before her mar-
riage, came here in 1889, and both are still living.
Richard went to school like all the other boys of the
neighborhood and in course of time he was gradu-
ated from St. Joseph's School. Then in 1913 he was
civen his Bachelor of Arts degree at Santa Clara
University and two j^ears later, the Santa Clara in-
stitution conferred upon him the coveted LL.B. de-
gree. For three years he was a deputy in the county
clerk's office, where his knowledge of local affairs
v.as decidedly enlarged; and on August 1, 1919, he
commenced to practice for himself. From the start
he was more than fortunate, and it is evident today
'.hat his chances for a brilliant future are such as
would inspire any young man. He is a member of
the Democratic County Central Committee, but is
broader in his view of civic problems, and favors

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1451

the endorsement of men and measures rather than
any form of partisanship.

A patriot professing the greatest devotion to coun-
try and state, Mr. Bressani is particularly interested
m Santa Clara County and its rational and rapid
development. His own record of service in the re-
cent World War will always give him status and
influence in urging upon others the performance of
simple, uplifting duty. He joined the U. S. Army
when his nation needed him, and spent one year and
three days in France and Italy.

Mr. Bressani is a member of the Dante Alighicri
and the Loyal Italo-American clubs. He is also a
member of the Y. M. I., the Knights of Columbus,
of which society he served as grand knight; the
Elks and Observatory Parlor, Native Sons of the
Golden West, as well as the Universal Order of
Foresters. At San Jose Mr. Bressani was united in
marriage with Miss Emma Nicora, born in Santa
Clara County, a daughter of Rolando Nicora, who
settled in San Jose in the early '80s.

JAMES LEE OGIER.— A native son, James Lee
Ogier was born on the Ogier ranch north of San
Jose on August 27, 1874, the son of James H. Ogier,
who was a Marylander and came to California via
Panama in 1852, settling in Santa Clara County,
where he engaged in ranching and horticulture until
his death in 1885. He had married Miss Margaret
Branham, and they had eight children, seven of
whom are living; Elizabeth Ogier, the eldest, resides
in Boston Mass.; John B. is ranching at Morgan
Hill; Frances G. is a teacher in the Oakland high
school; James Lee of this sketch; Adelaide has be-
come Mrs. W'ilmot and lives at Indio, Cal.; Walter
T. is a rancher at Agnew; Margaret is Mrs. Wynne
of Berkeley; Florence died in infancy. Isaac Bran-
ham. Mrs. Ogier's father, was a member of the Don-
ner party, until they reached the Cut-off, when he
said that he intended to take the regular route to
California, and invited all the others to join him.
He reached San Jose in safety in the fall of 1846,
while disaster met those who went the other route.

Isaac Branham settled on a ranch southwest of San
Jose, on the Branham and Almaden roads, the former
of which was named after him, and he bought con-
siderable land from the Spaniards, but in the dis-
putes over land titles that ensued, he lost title, and
it was thrice necessary to repurchase the land. Mrs.
Ogier was one of the first to attend the Convent of
the Notre Dame when it started, and she lived to
be seventy-six years old, passing away in 1917.

James Lee Ogier attended the old Orchard school
on Coyote Creek, and in 1889 he entered the Univer-
sity of the Pacific, attending there until 1896, and then
entered Stanford University, continuing his studies
there for a year. In 1897 he returned home and
worked on the Ogier ranch until 1900, when he took
up stock raising for himself. The next year he pur-
chased some range land northeast of Milpitas, and
from time to time he added to his acreage until he
now controls 15,000 acres of range land. He ranges
from 800 to 1,000 head of stock on his ranch a season,
all depending on the amount of feed the land produces.
He belongs to the California Cattlemen's Association.

On April 17, 1902, Mr. Ogier was married to Miss
Florence Ayer, daughter of S. F. Ayer, the well-
known pioneer, who had married Miss America
Evans. Mrs. Ogier was born on the old Ayer ranch

at Milpitas, and attended the grammar school and
later the L^niversity of the Pacific. One daughter
has blessed this union — Florence, a student at the
San Jose high school. In national politics Mr. Ogier
is a Republican.

JEROME B. THOMAS, M. D.— Occupying a
place of prominence among the leading physicians
and surgeons of Santa Clara County is Jerome B.
Thomas, a specialist in eye, ear, nose and throat
diseases. A man of superior ability and force of
character, with a well-earned stock of medical knowl-
edge, he has gained, during his eight years' residence
in this locality, the confidence of the people in an
eminent degree, and is rapidly building up a sub-
stantial and lucrative practice. A native of Kansas,
he was born April 30, 1867, in Wyandotte County.
When he was a small child his parents moved to
Ohio, where his father. Dr. Jerome B. Thomas, was
an army surgeon in the employ of the government,
with the rank of colonel; later he became governor of
the National Military Home at Dayton, Ohio, and at
this place the early years of our subject's life was
spent, tlis mother before her marriage was Miss
Harriet N. R. Tasker, a native of Massachusetts and
born in New Bedford. They were the parents of
six children, of whom our subject is the third.

Jerome B. grew up at the National Military Home
and attended school in the grammar and high schools
of Dayton, and was prepared for college at private
and preparatory schools in Ohio. He then entered
the University of Michigan at Ann Harbor and was
graduated from that institution in 1887 with the
degree of A. B. He then went to Europe and stud-
ied for fifteen montlis in the universities of Leipzig
and Munich. Upon his return to the United States
he entered the Long Island College Hospital at
Brooklyn, N. Y., from which he was graduated in
1892. He then served for a year as interne at the
hospital of his Alma Mater in Brooklyn, and at the
end of the year established his own office in Brook-
lyn and was thus engaged until he entered the Fili-
pino War in 1900. He was sent to the Philippine
Islands as acting assistant surgeon and later was
promoted to a captaincy in the United States Volun-
teers. He resigned from the army and was ap-
pointed surgeon in charge of the Civil Government
Sanitarium at Baguio, Province of Benguet, and
there met Governor-General Taft, General Wood,
and other civil and military officials. For three years
he remained in charge of the sanitarium and helped
to build it up. The sanitarium is located on a moun-
tain at an altitude of 5000 feet above sea level and
the government spent about three millions of dollars
in building up the place with good roads, etc. He
then came back to New York and entered the New
York Eye and Ear Infirmary, and took a post-gradu-
ate course of one year and again opened an office in
Brooklyn practicing his specialty.

While residing in Brooklyn Dr. Thomas married
Miss Mary Denison Wilt, of Dayton, Ohio. Dr.
Thomas remained in Brooklyn until 1910 when, on
account of failing health, he was obliged to change
climate and removed to California. Settling in Santa
Cruz, he opened offices and was occupied for three
years; in 1913 he moved to Palo Alto and opened
offices in the Frazer Building, located on University
avenue; for two years he served as a member of the

14S2

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

clinical staff of the University of California. Dr.
Thomas entered the service of his country during
the late war in May, 1918, and was commissioned a
captain of the medical corps and put in charge of the
eye, ear, nose and throat section of the base hospital
at Camp Fremont. He was honorably discharged on
December 10, 1918. At the present time he is con-
sulting surgeon in the United States Health Hospi-
tal at Palo Alto, and well deserves the reputation
which he enjoys of being one of the most skillful and
faithful physicians and surgeons of this section.

WILLIAM G. RHOADES.— Fortunate in his early
training in the East's most noted technical school,
William G. Rhoadcs, who is the proprietor of
Rhoades Ranch on Cochrane Road, Morgan Hills,
Santa Clara County, is managing the 160 acres with
efficiency and capability. The only son of Mr. and
Mrs. Ira O. Rhoades, he was born at Omaha, Nebr..
August 21, 1889. He attended the public schools,
finishing his elementary education at Berkeley in
1907, and in that year entered the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology at Boston. With but a few
months until his graduation, he left school to ac-
cept a position in the department of electrical engi-
neering of the Westinghouse Electric Company at
Pittsburgh, Pa. In 1909 Mr. Rhoades came back to
San Francisco, joining his parents who had located
there in 1905. His father started life for himself
as a railroader at the age of sixteen, with the Union
Pacific R. R., was then purchasing agent for the
Southern Pacific at San Francisco, and well known
in railroad circles through his successful career in
this field, and with his wife is now living retired
in San Francisco.

Early in August, 1917, W. G. Rhoades enlisted for
service with the U. S. forces and entered the officer's
training school at the Presidio at San Francisco. He
received a commission as second lieutenant and was
assigned to duty with the 63rd Infantry, serving un-
til January 2. 1919, when he was given his honorable
discharge. Since returning from the service, Mr.
Rhoades has had complete charge of the Rhoades
ranch, a fine tract of 160 acres, a part of the old
Laguna Seca grant and lying about three miles east
of Morgan Hill. This property had been pur-
chased by Mr. Rhoades and his father in 1911 and
the improvements made on the ranch have been super-
intended by our subject, who has managed the place
ever since its purchase, except the time he was in
the service of the government. In its primitive state
it was covered with oak trees and a dense growth of
poison oak, but extensive improvements have trans-
formed the property into a fairy land ranch, and now
its acres are a mass of bloom every spring, 125 acres
being in orchard, while the balance will be planted
in the near future. Mr. Rhoades uses horses and
tractor power on the ranch, and his modern and ef-
ficient methods are bringing him unqualified success.
In 1917 Ira Rhoades erected the handsome residence
on a knoll overlooking the orchards, and the beauti-
ful view from its vantage point, particularly in blos-
som time, will ever be an inspiration. In 1920 Mr.
Rhoades bought out his father's interest in the place,
and now is sole owner. He has installed a fine
pumping plant, with a thirty-two horse-power en-
gine which pumps the water from the creek and car-
ries it through underground pipes from Coyote
Creek. The plant has a capacity of from 1500 to

2000 gallons per minute. Mr. Rhoades is one of the
progressive and public spirited "boosters" of Santa
Clara County and can always be depended upon to
do his full share to help build up the county.

At Santa Cruz Mr. Rhoades was married to Miss
Katherine Garnett, a talented young woman, who
was a student at Miss Head's School, Berkeley, be-
fore her marriage. Her grandfather, the late J. S.
Garnett, was widely known as one of Solano
County's sturdy pioneers, where he had extensive
holdings which he left to his descendants. Mr. and
Mrs. Rhoades are the parents of two boys, William
G., Jr., and David Garnett. Mr. Rhoades is a Repub-
lican in his political preferences, and is a thirty-
second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner.
and an enthusiastic member of the California Prune
and Apricot Association.

MATHIAS STOCKLMEIER.— A worthy repre-
sentative of the type of citizen that has made Cal-
ifornia a great state was the late Mathias Stockl-
meier, whose strong and earnest manhood, forceful
character, and business ability have been given to-
ward the development of his home place located on
the bank of Steven's Creek. He was born on June
21, 1861, in Amberg, Bavaria, and there grew up
and received his education in the public schools of
his native land. At the age of sixteen, he left
Bavaria and came to the United States and almost
immediately enlisted in the U. S. Army serving un-
der General Shafter in the Indian warfare. He
entered the service as corporal and was advanced
to the position of sergeant and was studying for
the position of a lieutenant, but before he had at-
tained to that commission while stationed at Angel
Island, he met Miss Adelaide Irmlear in San Fran-
cisco, the acquaintance resulting in their marriage.
He then took his honorable discharge and quit the
army to settle down and they chose Los Gatos as
their home. Purchasing forty-five acres he engaged
in the poultry business, but the hard times of 1893
and the burning of their house took away their
chances of success. During the first great rush to
the gold fields of Alaska, Mr. Stocklmeier was
among the first to go. Going over Chilcoot Pass,
he made his way to the Yukon and there he con-
structed two boats with w'hich to carry supplies
down the river. On the trip one boat sank with
everything on board, and besides suffering the finan-
cial loss he suffered terrible hardships of intense
cold and lack of food and sufficient clothing. The
period of his first trip to Alaska covered two years,
during this time he followed mining, then he re-
turned to Oakland where his home was located,
but again the charms of the frontier life called
to him and he set out for Alaska, this time for
Nome, but misfortune again overtook him and he
lost everything, a tidal wave sweeping his mine;
and he returned to California. The family were
then living at Oakland, and they removed to Santa
Clara County, where Mr. Stocklmeier purchased
three acres on the Stevens Creek Road, his
residence being located on the banks of the
Creek. It is particularly well located for the
purpose he had in mind, that of making it a show
place, in the already beautiful and attractive Santa
Clara Valley. However, he was not inclined to set-
tle down until he had made one more trial for a
fortune in that new and wonderful country of Alaska.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1455

so he made another trip to Nome and after spend-
ing a few months there returned to his home and
took up the work of beautifying and improving his
home place, now comprising six acres. He did not
long enjoy his home, however, as he passed away
January 17. 1919, from influenza. Mr. and Mrs.
Stocklmeier were the parents of three children: Louis
E., a civil engineer, was a first lieutenant in the
U. S. Field Artillery and served overseas; Adel I.
is a teacher in the College of Notre Dame; and Al-
phonse J. is a civil engineer, and was a second lieu-
tenant in the Field Artillery. Mr. Stocklmeier was
a man of artistic temperament and had carried out
many of his plans and ideas in the construction of
their home, so it is indeed a beautiful spot, and Mrs.
Stocklmeier being in accord with her husband's ideas
is steadily improving it until in time Mr. Stockl-
meier's plans and ideas will have materialized. The
family are held in high esteem in the community
and their beautiful home is an example of what in-
dustry and perseverance will accomplish.

WILLIAM A. WHITEHURST.— In the rural
district at Lexington, near Los Gatos, William A.
Whitehurst was born February 25, 1864, a son of the
pioneer lumberman and banker of Gilroy L. A.
Whitehurst who was born in Princess Ann County,
Va., June 4, 1834. His parents moved to St. Louis,
Mo., when he was six years old and there resided
for four years. In 1849 he crossed the plains to
California and for a time mined in Butte County, but
met with poor success and returned to Missouri in
the winter of 1852. He once more returned to Cali-
fornia, in 1859, and located in Sacramento, but re-
mained there only a short time, when he moved to
Santa Clara County on the Santa Cruz toll-road and
engaged in lumbering. In 1869 he went back East
for a visit but returned the following year and took
up his residence in Gilroy. In 1875 he became con-
nected with the Bank of Gilroy and served as its
president for about three years. He had married
Miss Hettie A. Logan, a native of Missouri, on Janu-
ary 31, 1860. William A. was reared and schooled at
Live Oak and Gilroy, later supplementing with a
business course at Heald's Business College in San
Francisco. In 1884 he took active charge of the lum-
ber yards at Gilroy for his father, who had organ-
ized the old bank of Gilroy and was employed in its
management. For twenty-two years he operated and
successfully managed the lumber business, and was
succeeded by his brother, Logan L. Whitehurst.

In 1891 Mr. Whitehurst was united in marriage
to Miss Mae V. Bradbury, a daughter of the pioneer
Hiram Bradbury, now deceased, who was a fore-
man on the Miller & Lux ranch. They became
parents of five children: Thelma, G. R. N. of Queen's
Hospital, Hawaiian Islands; Albert, has been an in-
valid for sixteen years; Hettie, in training at St.
Luke's Hospital, San Francisco; Ed, a student, and
Charles, also a student. Mrs. Whitehurst passed
away at the home place in Gilroy December 11, 1911.
The second marriage of Mr. Whitehurst occurred
September 30, 1914, and united him with Mrs. Mable
E. (Heyman) Owen, who has two children, Harold
Owen and Ruth Owen, both of whom reside in San
Francisco. Mrs. Whitehurst passed away in San
Francisco January, 1921.

For eighteen years Mr. Whitehurst worked in the
old bank of Gilroy as bookkeeper and assistant
cashier. He has also served two terms on the city
council of Gilroy. Fraternally he has been a mem-
ber of the Odd Fellows since 1886 and has passed
all the chairs. Politically he is a stanch Democrat
Many have been the reverses in the loss of his first
wife and the rearing of his children, and then in the
loss of his second wife, but his courage and deter-
mination have never failed him. The beautiful
Whitehurst ranch, which consists of some 3000 acres,
is situated on the summit of the Santa Cruz moun-
tains, overlooking the wonderful Santa Clara Valley.
One hundred acres have been cleared and set to apple
trees, which are just coming into bearing, and a
more beautiful sight would be hard to find. Mr.
Whitehurst owns a residence in Gilroy, but spends
most of his time on the ranch. He enjoys the esteem
and goodwill of a large circle of friends and ac-
quaintances and gives freely of his time and means
towards the development of his community.

ERNEST C. ZICKENDRATH.— The city of
Palo Alto is fortunate in having a most complete
and up-to-date veterinary hospital, owned and ope-
rated by Ernest C. Zickendrath, which is complete
and modern in every detail. He was born at Greens-
burg, the county seat of Decatur County, Ind., Febru-
ary 15, 1877. His father was Frederick William
Zickendrath, a German by birth and a baker and con-
fectioner by occupation. His mother passed away
at the Indiana home in 1900, when our subject was
twenty-three years old, and the father makes his
home with our subject. They were the parents of
two sons; \\'illiam M., succeeding to his father's
business in Greensburg, Ind., and Ernest C, grew
up in Indiana and graduated from the Greensburg
high school with the class of 1895; in the fall of 1907
he came to California.

The marriage of Mr. Zickendrath occurred in
Berkeley during his second year as student in the San
Francisco Veterinary College, and he and his wife
lived in Berkeley until the fall of 1911, when they
moved to Palo Alto. Mrs. Zickendrath before her
marriage was Grace T. Jones, a native of Cincinnati,
Ohio, a daughter of Evan Winthrop Jones, a native
of Wales; her mother was Maria Thursfield, born in
Ireland of English parentage. Mrs. Zickendrath was
reared and school in Ohio; later she took a course
at Denison L'niversity majoring in music; she is
a fine pianiste and has held the position of organist
in the Baptist Church of Palo Alto; she took a two-
years' post-graduate musical course in Berlin under
the great German pianist Prof. Oscar Raif.

Immediately upon arriving in Palo Alto Dr. Zick-
endrath opened an office on Hamilton Avenue and
practiced for two years and a half before their pres-
ent residence was built in 1913. They purchased
three-quarters of an acre and erected a beautiful
residence, Mrs. Zickeidrath drawing the plans her-
self. The hospital was built in the rear and Dr.
Zickendrath specializes in the care of household pets,
and has built up an exclusive and lucrative patron-
age. He is a frequent contributor to the American
Veterinary Journal and a stockholder in the Grow-
ers Bank of San Jose, while both he and Mrs.
Zickendrath are active members of the Baptist
Church of Palo Aho.

1456

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

J. E. AZEVEDO. — Among those whose labors are
contributing to the development of the dairy industry
in the Santa Clara Valley is numbered J. E. Azevedo,
an enterprising, wide-awake and progressive young
man, who is acting as foreman of a large dairy farm
near Lawrence Station and is proving fully equal to
the responsibilities of this important position. A
native of California, he was born in Marin County,
on January 12, 1900, his parents being Andre and
Anna (Silvera) Azevedo. The father, a prominent
dairyman, is operating the Vendome Ranch, in the
Santa Clara Valley, one of the finest agricultural
properties in Northern California.

In the public schools of Marin County J. E. Aze-
vedo acquired his education, and when not busy with
his textbooks his time was spent in his father's dairy,
so that he obtained a thorough knowledge of the
business under the capable instruction of the latter.
When a young man of eighteen the son came to Santa
Clara County, and although but twenty-one years of
age he is now foreman of one of the largest dairy
farms in the entire valley. The ranch, which con-
tains 550 acres, is situated near Lawrence Station and
is owned by J. B. Enright, of Santa Clara, who
leases the property to F. A. Machado, a prominent
financier and expert dairyman and head of the Milk
Producers Association of San Francisco. The build-
ings are thoroughly modern and the dairy, under the
capable management of Mr. Azevedo, is operated
along the most progressive and efficient lines, so that
the enterprise is proving a most profitable one.
Careful training has given him a comprehensive
knowledge of the dairy industry and he is thus well
able to direct the labors of his four assistants. Mr.
Azevedo puts up a large quantity of hay each season
in order to supply the stock, which is of high grade
and consists of forty-eight young cattle, four regis-
tered bulls and 182 milch cows.

On January 26, 1921, Mr. Azevedo w^as married to
Miss Mary Machado. a daughter of F. A. Machado,
and they are popular in social circles of the com-
munity. Mr. Azevedo has inherited much of his
father's business ability and acumen and is rapidly
forging to the front in dairy circles of the Santa Clara
Valley. He is yet a young man, and judging from
what he has already accompHshed, his future career
will be well worth the watching.

L. W. GIBSON.— Continuously associated with the
commercial life of Palo Alto for over thirty years,
L. W. Gibson is a pioneer blacksmith and machinist
of the city, his place of business being at Emerson
Street and Palo Alto Avenue. His partner, and
brother-in-law as well, is G. L. Evans, the son of a
Milpitas farmer and among the leading pioneers of
Milpitas. Our subject comes from a prominent pio-
neer family of Santa Clara County, and he settled
in Palo Alto in the early days when there were not
more than fifteen families living there.

Mr. Gibson was born at Milpitas, Cal., on October
.1, 1877, a son of the late Edward O. Gibson, well-
known pioneer farmer and stockman. His father, who
was extensively engaged in grain farming and did
threshing throughout the Santa Clara Valley, was a
man of sterling characteristics and vet}' successful in
his operations. Several years before his death, he was
totally blind, having met with an accident which
caused the loss of his eyesight. He continued to do
business, however, until he passed awaj- in April, 1915.

He was a native of Canada and came to California in
the early days where he married Miss Annie Burnett,
a native of Mountain View, Cal., and a relative to
California's first governor. Grandfather Burnett, who
died while crossing the plains to California, married a
Miss Jaynes and settled in Mountain \'iew. When
the Southern Pacific railroad was surveyed through
that city, the right-of-way passed through the Jaynes'
house. Our subject is one of six children, three boys
and three girls, all living in Palo Alto, where his
mother also resides. When he was two years old his
parents removed to Santa Clara and settled on a
farm and there he grew up and received valuable ex-
perience in farm work, driving the big harvesters,
and mowers. His father always maintained a black-
smith shop in connection with his extensive farming
operations and there Mr. Gibson learned to do black-
smithing, repairing machinery, etc. He settled in Palo
Alto in 1891 and soon thereafter opened a shop and
has been in business continuously since that time,
at one time being associated with George W. Harms,
whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. For a
long time Mr. Gibson knew every person in Palo
Alto and he is justly popular here. Mr. Gibson's mar-
riage, which occurred in 1920, united him with Miss
Elsie Lippincot, and thev are the parents of one
child, Phyllis. The family resides at Mayfield.

PETER J. PETERSEN.— An experienced dairy-
man who is much interested in the progress of Santa
Clara Valley is Peter J. Petersen, who was born in
Silkeburg, Denmark, on March 26, 1869, the son of
Christian Petersen, a native of the same province,
who died at the age of fifty-six, after a very strenu-
ous life in the Danish forestry service. He had mar-
ried Miss Sarah Nisson, a native of the same pro-
vince, and on Ocober 3, 1921, she was eighty years
of age, happily residing at her old home. Peter was
reared in the home of his parents, and until he was
fourteen years of age, he went to school. Then he
secured work on a dairy farm in Denmark, where he
had plenty to do, but learned a great deal. In 1890,
he decided to come to America, and in company with
an older sister he reached New York in October,
1890. In a short time, they made their way westward
to San Francisco; but four years later, the sister re-
turned to her mother.

In the meantime, Peter Petersen had removed to
Sonoma County, and for ten years he was in the
employ of R. A. Linebaugh, who had a dairy near
Petaluma, and for whom our subject was cheese-
maker. He also worked as butter-maker on the
J. R. Denman ranch at Petaluma, where he remained
for four years. He engaged in the poultry business
at Tworock Valley for a few years, and. on disposing
of his property in 1918, he removed to Santa Clara
\'alley and located on the Shepherd Dairy, near Old
Gilroy. He operates a farm of 275 acres, with its
own irrigation system, keeps 115 head of high-grade
stock there, and has made much improvement since
1918. His cheese factory is No. 26.

At Petaluma, in 1902, Mr. Petersen was married
to Miss Elizabeth Fisher, who had been reared at
Tomales and is the daughter of Judge A. L. Fisher
of Marin County; and they have four children — Earl,
Clifford, Kenneth, and Norman, who are at school.
Mr. Petersen belongs to the Masonic lodge and is a
standpat Republican.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1459

JAMES CASTILLOU.— Among the worthy pio-
neers whose useful Hves are pleasantly recalled by
all who were fortunate to know and profit from
them, was the late James Castillou, a prominent citi-
zen of the Morgan Hill section. He was born in
Basses-Pyrenees, near Iloron on October 25, 1852
and attended school in his native province. Early
in 1869 he came to America and located first in San
Francisco; he then went to what is now San Benito
County and was foreman of a large ranch when only
eighteen years old, but later removed to Santa Clara
County. In 1884 he settled on the Catherine Dunne
ranch near Morgan Hill and the first year worked
as a wood cutter; the second year he farmed and
the third year he leased a portion of the ranch on
the east of Morgan Hill consisting of 3.600 acres
and farmed extensively to grain and stock; at one
time owning 1,000 head of Angora goats.

The marriage of James Castillouioccurred on Sep-
tember 4, 1886, and united him with Miss Anna Bor-
dcnave, also a native of Oloron, Basses Pyrenees,
who was born October 12, 1866. Her parents, Jean
and Mary (Barillies) Bordenave were both natives
of Oloron. Miss Bordenave came to America in
1884 with a sister, now Mrs. Clavere, who resides
at Gilroy, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. Castillou are the parents
of one daughter, Jennie, now the wife of M. Batcabe
and they reside with Mrs. Castillou. Mrs. Batcabe
was a graduate with the first class of the Live Oak
Union high school. For many years Mr. Castillou
was a successful rancher and dairyman and in 1909
purchased 105 acres on Tennant Avenue, where he
erected a fine residence and where Mrs. Castillou
still resides. Fort}' acres of his ranch were sold to
Charles Kellogg, the naturalist, and he and Mr. Cas-
tillou became boon companions. The last three
years of his life were spent in retirement on account
of his failing health. Mr. Castillou received his
United States citizenship in HoUister and was the
ninth person to receive citizenship in San Benito
County. Besides being a successful rancher, he was
active in financial matters, holding stock in the
Bank of Italy at Ciilroy and at one time was a
stockholder and director in the Morgan Hill Bank.

After a useful, well-spent life, Mr. Castillou passed
away at the family home September 28, 1920, leaving
many friends to mourn his loss. He was highly
esteemed by all who knew him for his genuineness
of character and high ideals of citizenship.

JOHN M. CAMP.— One of Palo Alto's most pop-
ular young business men is John M. Camp, the efii-
cient and genial local representative of Sherman
Clay & Company's piano store, at 340 University Ave-
nue. Genial and accommodating of disposition he takes
pleasure in assisting teachers, musicians and concert
people in advertising, printing programs and furnish-
ing Steinway and other high grade instruments for
public performances. He particularly aims to co-
operate with local educational institutions in furnish-
ing the best of pianos for their public recitals, school
and concert work as occasion arises, thereby further-
ing his company's business interests and at the same
time doing valuable services to the community.

A native of Holland, he was born at Amsterdam,
June 10, 1892. Having completed the course of pub-
lic instruction provided in his native country, he
entered the employ of Holland's largest piano house,
the firm of C. C. Bender at Amsterdam, who repre-

sent the Steinway and Aeolian Companies in Hol-
land, serving as an office boy and gaining sales knowl-
edge and a general familiarity with the piano business.
He arrived in America in 1909, and coming to Chicago,
he first worked in the factory of the Schultz Piano
Company, for two and a half years; then he worked
in the factory of the Kimball Piano Company for
four years. While he received a lilieral education in
his native tongue, when he came to America he at-
tended night school and in this way obtained a good
business use of the English language. In 1915 he
removed to California and went to work for George
Birkel of Los Angeles and in 1917 returned to Chi-
cago and again entered the employ of the W. W. Kim-
ball Company working in the repair department. He
was then sent out on the road as a salesman for the
Kimball Piano Company through southern Michigan.
When the late war broke out Mr. Camp enlisted and
was sent to the Presidio at San Francisco and served
in the Coast Artillery. After his honorable discharge
he went to San Jose and accepted a position with
Sherman Clay & Company, as a salesman, and was
with them until they opened their new music store
on August 20, 192(1 at Palo Alto; he was then solic-
ited to take charge of their new store and he became
the local representative and is making good in every
way. The business is steadily growing and Mr. Camp
is one of the most promising of all the young music
dealers in California. His efforts are ever toward
the advancements of all movements calculated to
enhance the general welfare of Palo Alto, and his fel-
low-townsmen esteem him highly for his many ex-
cellent qualities.

GUSTAF M. LILJENSTEIN.— An ambitious uni-
versity student who is combining business and stu-
dent life as one of the proprietors of the California
Restaurant at 530 Emerson Street, Palo Alto, is Gus-
taf M. Liljenstein. He gives his personal attention
to the operation and management of this business,
which is one of the most popular and best patronized
eating houses of the city. A young man of high moral
character and loft\' ideals, he is resolved to make the
most of himself, and keejis up with his classes at the
same time th.U he is shouldering the responsibilities
of a successful restaurant business. He was born
at Frederickstad, Norway, August 8, 1896. When one
year old he was taken by his parents, the Rev. Jonas
P. and Augusta (Hendricksen) Liljenstein, both na-
tives of Sweden, back to Sweden, where the father
became the pastor of a Swedish Congregational
Church. He was seven }'ears old when his parents left
their native land and removed to the United States
and settled in New London, Conn., where his father
has since been the pastor of the Swedish Congrega-
tional Church.

G. M. was educated in the public schools of New
London and was graduated from high school with the
class of 1916. Of the seven children in his family,
our subject and a sister, Mrs. Carlson, the wife of
Emil Carlson, a naval officer residing in San Diego,
are the only ones in California. In 1918 Mr. Liljen-
stein enlisted in the U. S. Navy and served at the
submarine base at New London and on the U. S. S.
Fulton. He was in the service fourteen months and
was honorably discharged as yeoman of the first
class at New London in 1919. He was determined to
get a higher education, so he came to Palo Alto dur-

1460

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ing 1919 and entered the Stanford University, pursu-
ing the chemical engineering course. So keen was his
determination to go through college that he began
working as a waiter; then the opportunity came in
February 1920 to buy an interest in the California
Restaurant with W. C. McCombs and they have been
successfully conducting it ever since. Mr. Liljenstein
is a member of the professional fraternity known
nS the Alpha Chi Sigma.

ROLLER & HAPGOOD.— Prominent among the
up-to-date, indispensable establishments of Palo Alto
may well be mentioned that of Messrs. Roller &
Hapgood, the undertakers, of 430 University Avenue.
Arthur Roller, the senior member, was born in San
Francisco, the son of J. W. Roller, a native of Michi-
gan, who married Miss Elizabeth Pfaff, of San Fran-
cisco. Her father came to the Coast as early as 1851
and ventured across the continent in doing so, meet-
ing and overcoming all of the perils and hardships
of the overland route. J. W. Roller came to Califor-
nia in 1863, and having established this business, he
managed it until he sold out to his son and Mr. Hap-
good in 1912. Arthur Roller attended the public
schools in San Francisco and also in Palo Alto, and
at Palo Alto, in 1909, married Miss Leah Arlene
Duncan. She was born in Mayfield, Santa Clara
County, and grew up an accomplished young woman.
Two children, Willis A. and Robert Lewis, have
been born to them.

Frank A. Hapgood, the junior member of the
enterprising firm, was born in Nebraska, and his
father, Alfred A. Hapgood, was a native of Ohio.
His wife was Miss Ella Frost before her marriage.
and she was born in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Hap-
good came to California about 1900, and Mr. Hap-
good is with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company
as its agent at San Jose. Frank went to the public
schools of Santa Cruz and then was employed in
the Bank of Palo Alto until 1912; since which time
he has been in this firm. He married Miss Eva
Kerr, a native of Iowa, and they have one son, Rob-
ert. Messrs. Roller & Hapgood enjoy a wide and
enviable reputation for the perfection with which
they operate their service in behalf of afflicted human-
ity and according to the last word of science.

ROBERT P. GOBER, M. D. — A physician and
surgeon of thirty-eight years' experience in Los Gatos
and a native son of California, is Robert P. Gober.
M. D., who was born in Sacramento. November 24,
1858. His father. Rev. W. R. Gober, was born in
DeKalb County. Ga.. in 1824, and was a minister in
the Methodist Church South; he married Nancy
Porter Beasley, a native of Lynchburg, Va., of a
prominent old Virginian family, and an own cousin
of General Robert E. Lee. In 1851 Rev. Gober, with
his bride, came to California, coming via Panama to
San Francisco. After preaching there for some time
he took up his work in Sacramento, and then from
1864 to 1868 w^as stationed in Santa Clara, and after-
wards his work was in various parts of the state. As
presiding elder of the San Francisco District he rode
horseback on his journeys from San Francisco to
Santa Cruz. In 1872 Rev. Gober joined the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church North, and his first appoint-
ment was at Kingsley Chapel. Sacramento. He was
presiding elder of Sacramento District for several
years, then of the Napa District, and was a delegate

to the General Conference of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church at Omaha, Nebr. He was chaplain at
Folsom Prison for some years before he retired.
Rev. Gober was one of the founders of Pacific Meth-
odist College, located at Vacaville, and was its pres-
ident for some years. In the early days he was a
member of the State Legislature, and still later he
was chaplain of the State Senate. This noble and
grand old pioneer died at his home in College Park
in March, 1908. being survived by his widow until
December of the same year, when she. too, passed
away, at the age of seventy-eight.

This worthy pioneer couple had six children, three
of whom are living, Robert P. being the only son.
Reared as an itinerant Methodist minister's son, he
attended the public schools in various places until
1878, when he entered the University of the Pacific,
now the College of the Pacific, where he was gradu-
ated in 1882 with the degree of A. B., and then, hav-
ing chosen the profession of medicine, he entered the
Medical College of the Pacific, afterwards Cooper
Medical College, for a year, then entered Bellevuc
Hospital Medical College in New York City, where
he was graduated in 1884 with the degree of M. D.,
and immediately returned to Santa Clara County,
locating at Los Gatos. where he took up the practice
of his profession, in which he has been so univer-
sally successful, and he is held in the highest esteem
by all who know him for his kindness of heart and
philanthropy. He has seen the country round about
grow from mustard fields to a garden spot of or-
chards, and the city of Los Gatos from a hamlet to a
city. He has built a beautiful residence on Santa
Cruz Avenue and Bean Street.

Dr. Gober was married in Los Gatos June 17. 1886.
to Miss Annette Bean, who was born at Hudson,
Mich., a daughter of John Bean, a native of Maine,
who settled in Michigan and was an inventor. While
in Springfield, Ohio, he invented a force pump and
also a turbine windmill. He came to Los Gatos in
1883. and was the inventor of the Bean spray pump,
and organized the Bean Spray Pump Company, be-
ginning their manufacture in Los Gatos. The plant
was afterwards moved to San Jose, where he built
up a large business. After years of activity, wishing
to retire, he resigned and spent his last days in Los
Gatos. which had always been his home in Califor-
nia. Mrs. Gober was educated in Springfield. Ohio,
and was a cultured woman whose esthetic influence
was felt in the community, where she was much
loved and appreciated. Dr. Gober was bereaved of
his faithful wife May 12, 1921, leaving two children:
Helen Porter, a graduate of Stanford, class of 1914,
married David Coleman, also a graduate of Stan-
ford, and she passed away February 21, 1922. leaving
a daughter, Nanette Coleman. Nancy Cornelia is a
graduate of St. Luke's Hospital Training School for
Nurses. She enlisted in the U. S. Navy as a nurse,
was sent overseas and served at Guam for one year,
when she returned and was mustered out of service.
She now presides gracefully over Dr. Gober's home.

Dr. Gober was prevailed upon to serve as school
trustee for four years. His time is taken up with
his profession and he will not consider political
preferment of any kind, but is a believer in the prin-
ciples of the Republican party. Fraternally Dr.
Gober was made a Mason in Los Gatos Lodge No.
292. F. & A. M., of which he is past master. He is

^^(^l^-^^i^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

a member of Howard Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., San
Jose, and of San Jose Commandery No. 10, Knights
Templar, of which he is past commander. He is also
a member of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., in
San Francisco. Dr. Gober is influential in medical
circles and has served as vice-president of the Santa
Clara County Medical Society. He is a vestryman
of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

FIORE CRIBARI— A worthy representative of
his family. I'iore Cribari, of San Jose, is ably car-
rying on the work of producing and shipping Cal-
ifornia products as manager of B. Cribari & Sons'
interests in Santa Clara County. He was born at
Coscnza. Italy on January 21, 1890, a son of Benja-
min and- Josephine (Abruzzini) Cribari, both born in
that same communitv in Italv where their son first
saw the light. In 1899, with their four children, they
came to America and located at Trinidad, Colo.,
where the father mined and worked in the coke ov-
ens. He had followed the transfer business in his
pr.tive country and this decided change gave him
an insight into many angles of American life. In
1903 the family came on to California and made set-
tlement in the Santa Clara Valley and ever since
they have followed ranching and orcharding. Mr.
and Mrs. Benjamin Cribari had seven children: Fiore,
of this review; Angclo G., lives in San Bruno; Stani-
slaus is deceased; Anthony also resides at San Bruno.
These were born in Italy. Erma, born in Colorado,
is a graduate from the State Normal at San Jose;
Mary was born at Morgan Hill and is a student at
Notre Dame; and Helen, also born at Morgan Hill,
is a student in the San Mateo high school.

When his sons became of age, Benjamin Cribari
formed the copartnership known as B. Cribari &
Sons, and working together they have accomplished
much good and aided materially in developing prop-
erty in this part of the state. The first parcel of
land they bought was forty acres at Morgan Hill.
and starting on a small scale in 1904, they increased
their operations until they owned and had under
lease some 3,000 acres of land in various locations.
They have developed orchards and vineyards; raised
hay and grain; developed a fine dairy with 225 head
of cows from the Mills herd, this latter at San
Bruno, in San Mateo County, where they lease 800
acres of land. They own ninety-five acres and a
v.-inery at Madrone; have eighty acres in the Lion
tract, which they will set to grapes and fruit. In 1922
they bought 330 acres near Hollister, which they
expect to put in vines and orchard. For several sea-
sons they have raised, bought, packed and shipped
wine grapes to markets in the East, specializing in
their brand — Sonnie Boy. In 1921 their shipments
reached 3,000 tons and they expect to increase that
amount in 1922 They use only the most modern
methods and appliances to save labor, although they
keep twenty-five head of horses on their ranches.
Eight men are employed regularly and in busy sea-
sons they have from forty to fifty.

Fiore Cribari was united in marriage at San Jose,
en July 6, 1919, with Miss Maria Bisceglia, a resi-
dent of the Golden State since 1902. and they have
two children, Josephine Maria and Theodore Stan-
islaus. The family are always glad to welcome their
inaiiy friends at their home, which is located on Bird
Avenue, San Jose. Mr. Cribari received his naturali-
zacion papers at San Jose, in September. 1915, and

ever since he has been a stanch Republican. He is
an active member of the Loyal Italo-American Asso-
ciation and of the Knights of Columbus, and ever
ready and willing to do his full share to make Santa
Ciara County a better place in which to live by par-
ticipating in all progressive movements.

Benjamin Cribari and his good wife live at San
Bruno, San Mateo County, where the family have
their headquarters. The sons, Angelo G., and Stan-
islaus, who died from the effects of his war service,
showed their patriotism and loyalty when they gave
their services to their adopted country during the
^Vorld War. Angelo served in France and w'as a
corporal there for one year and since his discharge
has taken his place w^ith the B. Cri!)ari X: Sons firm.
'J heir father had served three yeai > in the National
Army in Italy in his younger day> Taken all in all,
tliis progressive faniih- have advanced steadily in the
business world during their residence in California.

R. M. OLSSON-SEFFER, D. V. S.— The early
memories of R. M. OIsson-SefTer go across the ocean
to far-off Helsingfors, Finland, where his boyhood
years were spent. He was born in Vermland, Swe-
den, May 31, 1882, the .son of Pehr and Alma Maria
Olsson-Sefifer, and while he was still a young lad the
family removed to Helsingfors. The father was a
wholesale lumberman and engaged extensively in this
work, being the owmer of seven sawmills. Most of
his lumber was saw-ed in the forests near the White
Sea, west of Archangel. Russia, where he had ob-
tained valuable timber concessions, but owing to the
treachery and dishonesty of the Russian bureau-
cratic government, his right to ship out the lumber
was denied and the consequence was confiscation of
his entire fortune in 1900. The parents came to Cal-
ifornia in 1909, settling at Fruitdale, where the
mother still resides, the father having passed away
in September. 1921, at the age of eighty-seven. Both
parents came from excellent Swedish families, Mr.
Olsson-Seffer having been a member of the Swedish
lower house for eight years.

Of a family of eleven children, all of whom re-
ceived good educations in the universities of Upsala
and Helsingfors, Finland, R. M. Olsson-Seffer is now
the second eldest of those living. With his older
brother, Pehr Hjalmar, he left home at the age of
eighteen, sailing for Australia, where they spent
some time, also including the Orient, New Zealand,
Egypt and South Africa in their extensive travels.
Pehr Hjalmar Olsson-Seffer had graduated at the
University of Helsingfors and was a botanist of note,
so that they w-ere well received everywhere. In 1900
the brothers came to America, settling at Palo Alto,
Cal., where Hjalmar became an instructor of botany
in Stanford University and received his Ph. D. de-
gree. Later they were joined by their sister Ellen,
who entered the medical school of Stanford Uni-
versity, but the prospects of a brilliant career were
cut short by her death during her junior year.

Having graduated from the University of Helsing-
fors, Mr. Olsson-SefTer was prepared to take up a
professional career. He first took the regular vet-
erinary course in the San Francisco Veterinary Col-
lege, graduating with the class of 1907. He then
entered Stanford University for post-graduate work,
spending three and a half years there, specializing in
physiology, histology, embryology and biology, at
the same time engaging in veterinary practice in

1462

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Palo Alto, beginning in 1908, so that he has been
established here for eighteen years. He is also en-
gaged in the stock business, leasing a stock farm in
the vicinity of Palo Alto, where he raises about forty
calves each year for milk cows.

At Redwood City, Cal., Mr. Olsson-Seffer was
married to Miss Frances Walker of Palo Alto, a tal-
ented woman, who before her marriage was a trained
nurse; she is an active worker in the Episcopal
Church of Palo Alto. Fortunate in an excellent ed-
ucation, both in his native land and in this country,
Mr. Olsson-Seffer's scientific training places him
among the leading men in his profession in the Bay
Counties of California, and he is prominent in the
Bay Counties Veterinary Association. He is a
Knights Templar Mason, belonging to the Palo Alto
Commandery, and in politics is a Republican.

His brother, Pehr Hjalmar Olsson-Seffer, with
whom he came to America, went from Stanford Uni-
versity, where he was instructor of botany, to the
City of Mexico. There he was associated with the
governmental botanical laboratory, and at the same
time was the Mexican representative of the Chile
Sodium Nitrate Propaganda. He was government
botanist for the Mexican Republic and was a good
friend of Porfirio Diaz and President Madera, but
during the revolution his promising life came to a
tragic end when he was killed during an uprising
there. Another brother, Runar Olsson-Seffer. grad-
uated at the University of Wisconsin with the Ph. D.
degree, and was formerly a student at Stanford Uni-
versity. He now makes his home in Sweden, where
he is director of the Chile Sodium Nitrate Propa-
ganda for Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

HERBERT L. ROBERTS.— A career of more
than ordinary business promise is that of Herbert L.
Roberts, the cashier of the First National Bank of
Los Gatos, who was born and reared in this beauti-
ful mountain town. His birth occurred May 24,
1896, and is the son of Charles E. and Bertha (Hen-
derson) Roberts. The father was born in Massachu-
setts and came with his parents to Iowa, where he
was reared. Later he moved to Eugene, Ore., where
he followed ranching until he came to California in
the early '80s. Here he was engaged again in ranch-
ing and later in the meat business at Los Gatos and
San Jose until he retired. Mrs Roberts, who was
born in England, came to California with her par-
ents, her marriage to Mr. Roberts occurring at Los
Gatos. Of their six children, Herbert L. is next to
the youngest. His preliminary education began in
the grammar school at San Jose, and then at Los
Gatos, where he was graduated from the high school
with the class of 1914. After graduation he entered
the First National Bank, and his advancement was
rapid, for in 1918 he was made cashier, which posi-
tion lie has filled with capability and resourcefulness.
From July, 1918, till January 24, 1919, he served in
U. S. N. R. F. at San Diego as quartermaster of
Aviation. He is a member of Los Gatos Post
No. 158, American Legion, and is ex-treasurer and
member of the executive committee.

Mr. Robert's marriage united him with Miss Ruth
Littlepage, of Oregon, and they are the parents of
two daughters, Rosemary and Ruth Janet. Political-
ly a stanch Democrat he is a successful and popular
man of affairs, who always finds time to lend a hand

to advance every worthy movement in local affairs,
and the sterling traits of his character have gained
for him the high respect, confidence and goodwill of
his fellow townsmen.

D. W. JAMES.— A highly esteemed resident of
Santa Clara since the early '80s, D. W. James, of
1259 Main Street, has become well and favorably
known as the mechanic for the Hubbard & Carmichael
Planing Mill, on West Santa Clara Street, in San
Jose, where he has been since 1896. He was born in
Decatur, Macon County, 111., on May 24, 1858, and
in that town grew up until he was eight years of age.
His oldest brother, Benjamin James, was killed in the
Battle of Fort Donelson, in February, 1862, and his
body was returned to Decatur for burial. D. W.
James' father was Aaron E. James, a native of \'ir-
ginia, who had married Miss Mary Amos, also a
native of the Old Dominion; and on both sides, his
aiicestors were of English Cavalier stock, members of
colonial families established in America long before
the Revolution.

W"hen he was eight years old, he accompanied his
parents in their removal back to Staunton, Augusta
County, Va., the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson, but
the country was so devastated on account of the war
that the family settled at Litchfield. 111., and there
the lad grew up. His father was a cabinet maker
and by his trade provided the support for a family
ot eight children — four boys and four girls; only one
of whom went back to Virginia to stay, while seven
remained in Illinois. It thus happened that D. W.
James grew up to learn the cabinetmaker's trade.
The father, who was an invalid for several years,
passed away on Christmas Day, in 1876. He had
had many interesting experiences, as when, with the
son who was killed at the siege of Fort Donel-
son, he crossed the great plains and walked all the
way from Omaha to California in 1854. He sought
the hidden treasure in the Golden State, and after
nine months of successful mining, returned to Decatur
by way of the Horn in a sailing vessel.

He worked for four years in the furniture factories
of St. Louis, and then went to Illinois and secured
employment in the railway repair shops at Mattoon,
111., owned by the Big Four Railroad Company. In
1882, he came back to California and Santa Clara,
vi-here his sister Mollie, the wife of A. Boone Ford,
was then living. After coming here, he was employed
by the Pacific Manufacturing Company, he being
then a journeyman mechanic: and this position of re-
sponsibility he filled for eight years. In 1890. he went
to work for the Garden City Lumber Company, in
their planing mills on Orchard Street, and there he
was master mechanic for four years. Then he came
back to the Pacific Manufacturing Company, and
worked for them in Santa Clara until the end of De-
cember, 1895; and the following February he went to
work for Hubbard & Carmichael, and he has been
in charge of the sash and door department ever since.

In 1879, Mr. James was married to Miss Olive
Crowell. a native of Ohio who was reared in Illinois.
Her father, Amos Crowell, died when she was only
a year old; and her mother passed away at eighty-
eight years. Mrs. S. K. Sanders and Mrs. J. W. San-
ders of Santa Clara are both sisters of Mrs. James;
and she also had two brothers, George and Cory
Crowell. that fought through the Civil War. Mrs.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1465

James being the youngest of eight children. Four
children have entered the family of Mr. and Mrs
James: Beulah M., who was born at Mattoon,
111., is the wife of Ralph E. Eaton, the rancher of
San Jose; and they have one child, Joyce. Harriet
was born in California and grew to be seventeen years
of age, when she died. Grace, the third in order
of birth, is the wife of Dr. G. A. Snyder, a dentist of
San Luis Obispo. Marcella is a graduate of the Santa
Clara high school. Mrs. James is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal Church at Santa Clara. Mr.
James is a member of the Brotherhood of Carpenters
& Joiners, and he is a Progressive Republican.

EDWARD H. MULLEN.— An enterprising busi-
ness man, who is proud to claim Santa Clara County
as the place of his birth, is Edward H. Mullen, the
genial proprietor of the general merchandise store
at Robertsville, corner of Almaden Road and Bran-
ham Lane, better known as the Five Mile Corner.
He was born on September 3, 1884, the eldest son of
Edward and Kate (Lanz) Mullen, who came to
California in 1876 and settled in Santa Clara Coun-
ty. Besides Edward they had three other sons:
Harvey A., an engineer on the Western Pacific Rail-
way; Frank A., assisting Edward in his store; and
William W., an employe of the Shell Oil Co. at
Martinez. After ranching in this county for a time
the family moved to Redding. Shasta County, where
Mr. Mullen engaged in ranching for a number of
years, then moved back to Santa Clara County and
now with his wife is living on a ranch near Alum
Rock, enjoying the fruits of his labors.

Edward H. Mullen was educated in the public
schools of Santa Clara and Shasta Counties and
as a boy assisted his father on his ranch at Red-
ding and became thoroughly familiar with the busi-
ness. It was about 1901 that he came back to Santa
Clara County and went to work for his uncle. Pros-
per Estrade, in his store at Robertsville and he was
busily engaged here for about five years, then went
to Santa Cruz and became an assistant in C. D.
Hinkle's store, continuing until 1913, at which time
Mr. Mullen came back to this county and pur-
chased the merchandise business from his uncle.
He has added many necessary improvements and en-
larged his quarters until today he has a modern es-
tablishment and carries a large and well-assorted
stock of general merchandise, groceries, oils and
auto supplies. It was in 1919 that he made the
purchase of the eight acres and buildings thereon
from Mrs. Estrade and now is sole owner of the
property. His courteous treatment of all patrons
is well known and assures his ultimate success! He
employs three people to help care for the trade,
which has steadily increased.

The marriage of Edward H. Mullen and Miss
Edna Reeg occurred on June 2. 1913, and they have
two children. Winifred Bernice, a student at Notre
Dame College, and Edward R. Mrs. Mullen was
born in Placerville, Cal., the daughter of the late
Leonard and Clementina (McLaughlin) Reeg, who
also had these other children: viz, Oscar O., Chris-
tina M., and Mary L. Reeg.

Mr. Mullen is a Republican in his political convic-
tions and fraternally is a member of the Knights of
Columbus, of the third degree, and of the Foresters of
America. The family are members of the Catholic
Church. Mr. Mullen is always ready and willing to

assist in the promotion of all enterprises for the good
of the county and has served on various organization
committees of the Prune and Apricot Growers; was
one of the men who were largely instrumental in hav-
ing the San Jose-Almaden highway paved and in
many ways has shown his public spirit and enterprise
so that he and his family are highly esteemed by all
who know them, and particularly in the community
where they reside.

LOUIS EATON.— The able and affable manager
of the City Garage, located at 529 Alma Street, Palo
Altar, Cal, Louis Eaton is counted among the most
successful business men of the college city. He is a
native son of California and is a wide-awake, square
dealer and an able business executive. He was born
at Biggs, Butte County, Cal., February 11, 1877,
and is the son of B. F. Eaton, a pioneer of Califor-
nia, who was a freighter from Oroville into the
mines in the early days before the railroads were
built; he was born in Kentucky and came to Cali-
fornia in the 'SOs, and still lives with his son, the
subject of this sketch, and is an active and interest-
ing California pioneer. The mother was Miss Jessie
Jack, born in Scotland, and she passed away when
Louis was twenty years old; he is the only son, but
he had four sisters; one is dead, one lives in Oregon
and two in California, one of whom is Mrs. Henry
Sheets of Palo Alto.

Louis Eaton was educated in the grammar and
high schools of Oroville, and soon after his mother's
death he left Butte County, going to Southern Ore-
gon, where he became county jailer, in which ca-
pacity he served for a number of years. In 1911 he
came to Palo Alto and engaged in the ice business
with Mr. Woodard for eight years; then, in 1919, he
became manager of the City Garage, and he has been
the means of steadily increasing the business since
taking charge of it. Tlie City Garage has a well-
equipped machine shop with three expert automobile
mechanics constantly employed; they deal in Hood
tires, automobile accessories of all kinds, gasoline,
oils and greases.

Mr. Eaton's marriage occurred at Yreka. Cal., and
united him with Miss Myrtle Worth, and they are
the parents of eight children: Laura, Minnie. Mabel,
Louis, Bennie, Myrtle, Franklin, and Virginia, a
large and interesting family, favorites in Palo .^Ito,
and they live at 481 University Avenue.

SEW ALL S. BROWN.— Since his appointment as
superintendent of the Los Gatos plant of the Cali-
fornia Prune and .'\pricot Growers' Association.
Sewall S. Brown has done able and conscientious
work and is well qualified for the duties of his posi-
fon. A native of Kansas, he was born in Grant
County, November 20, 1891, of the union of Frederick
B. and Mary (Miller) Brown, who came to Cali-
fornia in 1893. The father is a man of high intellec-
tual attainments and is now serving as Judge of the
Superior Court, his rulings being characterized by
a masterful grasp of every problem presented for
solution. More extended mention is made of Mr.
Brown, Sr.. elsewhere in tlii^ wnrk,

Sewall S. Brown attc lulrd tli. Ljrammar and high
schools of San Jose and .n.iu.ird became a stu-
dent at Stanford Univci-ity. .\fter completing his
education he became connected with the San Jose
Water Works and then secured a position as field
representative with the California Seed Growers' As-

1466

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

sociation, with which he remained until June 1, 1921.
when he came to Los Gatos as superintendent of
plant No. 7 of the California Prune & Apricot Grow-
ers' Association. He has a comprehensive under-
standing of the work in which he is engaged and is
seeking in every way possible to advance the inter-
ests of hi.'; employers, who thoroughly appreciate
his services.

Mr. Brown married Miss Sue Bell, a daughter
of Richard R. Bell, a native of Los Gatos. and they
now have a son, Sewall S., Jr. In his political views
Mr. Brown is a Republican and the nature of his
recreation is indicated by his membership in the
San Jose Golf Club, while fraternally he is identi-
fied with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
He has the energy and faith in the future char-
acteristic of a young man and has already made for
himself a creditable position in business circles of
Santa Clara County, while his enterprise and ambi-
tion will undoubtedly carry him steadily forward.

WILLIAM HAMILTON CILKER.— One of the

tine orchard properties of the Los Gatos district is
the Lester. Cilker. Lester ranch of 186 acres, lo-
cated on the San Jose-Los Gatos Road, and owned
by William Hamilton Cilker and his two partners.
Nathan Lester and William Lester. William H.
Cilker was born on his father's old home place two
miles northeast of Los Gatos, the son of John Cilker.
long an honored citizen of Santa Clara County and
one of the extensive horticulturists of his day. He
was a native of Hanover. Germany, born there March
IS, 1833, and was brought to the United States when
an infant, by his parents. John and Elizabeth (Bar-
loga) Cilker. They located in Detroit. Mich., and
later came west to Joliet, 111., where Mrs. Cilker
died in 1840; the father went back to Detroit and
there he passed away the next year.

John Cilker, after his father's death, was bound
out to Alexander Buell. a lawyer in Detroit, and
later for two years to Peter Fisher, but when four-
teen he started out for himself. He lived in Wis-
consin, Illinois and Missouri, and in 1857 came to
California across the plains and went into the gold
mines near Placerville. In June, 1858. he went to
the Eraser River mines in British Columbia, where
he mined for a while, then removed to Washington
Territory, where for ten years he was in the lumber
business. While in Victoria, British Columbia, in
1867, he was married to Jane Lipsett, a native of
County Donegal, Ireland, and immediately after their
marriage they came to California and settled on the
ranch near Los Gatos, which was thereafter their
home. Here Mr. Cilker developed a fine orchard and
vineyard of 174 acres, and was a leader among the
fruit growers of the county. He was also president
of the Co-operative Wine Company of Los Gatos.
He died here in 1909, survived by his widow. Next
to the youngest of a family of eight children, Wil-
liam Hamilton Cilker was educated in the grammar
and high schools at Los Gatos, and graduated from
the College of Civil Engineering of the University of
California in 1909, with the B. S. degree. He fol-
lowed civil engineering principally in the city of San
Francisco as assistant city engineer on the new sewer
system, the high pressure fire system and the munici-
pal railroad system. In 1916 he became active in the
management of the ranch, owned by himself and his

two partners. Here they have developed water and
installed an electric pumping plant with a capacity of
150 inches, sufficient to irrigate the entire ranch,
which is devoted to raising prunes and grapes.

In San Jose, Mr. Cilker was married to Miss Hazel
Beatrice Lester, born in that city, the daughter of
Nathan L. and Sarah E. (Spicer) Lester, and they
have become the parents of four children: Beatrice
Ann. Marion Sarah, William Hamilton, Jr., and
George Edward. Where national issues are concerned,
Mr. Cilker is a Republican, and he is a Mason, be-
longing to Los Gatos lodge No. 292, F. & A. M.

AUGUST GUBSER.— A prosperous dairy farmer,
now retired, whose optimistic views of life and genial
temperament have made him popular in a wide circle
of friends, is August Gubser, of Old Gilroy, who was
born in Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland, on May 1,
1870. the son of Joseph and Annie (Giger) Gubser,
both natives of the same province. His father died
a premature death, but the lad was enabled to en-
joy the usual excellent public school advantages af-
forded in the Swiss Republic, although when he was
eight years old he began to work on a dairy farm.
His mother passed away when he was seventeen years
old; and the following year he came out to America.
A stranger in a strange land, he was glad to find
at Tres Pinos, San Benito County, Cal.. a number of
his own fellow-countrymen; and since they were es-
tablished in dairying, he worked for them for a while.
Next he hired out to A. Rianda on the Ellis Rancho;
and in a short time he became a partner in the
dairy and cheese enterprise, and remained there at
Factory No. 15 for seven years.

In 1901. Mr. Gubser acquired twenty acres of fine
land nearby, and since then, from time to time, he
has added seventy acres, until now he owns one of
the richest dairy farms in this section. He is a stock-
holder in the Gilroy branch of the Bank of Italy,
and having been made an American citizen when he
was twenty-one years old, he has since been active
in public affairs.

At Gilroy, on February 10. 1892, Mr. Gubser was
married to Miss Carrie Battis, the daughter of the
well-known pioneers, Charles and Beatrice (Malia)
Battis, natives of Vermont and Ireland, respectively,
who were married in Gilroy in 1867. and their four
children were born there. Five children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Gubser. August. Jr., is mar-
ried and resides at Old Gilroy, as does Charles, his
twin brother, with his wife and one child; Joseph,
too, lives there, with his wife and three children.
Anna' became the wife of Alex. Sturla and the moth-
er of two children, and makes Old Gilroy her home;
Laura lives with her parents. The family are active
in the Rebekah lodge and Mrs. Gubser is past dis-
trict deputy of the order. Mr. Gubser has been a
member of the Odd Fellows at Gilroy since 1902,
while he has been a Mason since 1906, holding mem-
bership in the lodge at Gilroy. He has served as
trustee of the San Ysidro school district for several
terms, and is now trustee of the Gilroy Union high
school. He recently erected a fine modern residence
at his home-place, and each of his sons owns a com-
fortable home on his respective portion of the Gubser
ranch, and shoulder their share of the labor and re-
sponsibility of conducting the extensive estate.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1469

S. CLYDE KYLE.— Prominent among the indus-
trial leaders of San Jose who have contributed large-
ly toward placing Santa Clara County upon the
wide-world map is S. Clyde Kyle, the efficient and
popular president and general manager of the Na-
tional Axle Corporation, whose proficiency marks
the natural mechanical genius of his family. He
was born in Marshall, Texas, on April 20, 1884,
the son of S. A. Kyle, a master-mechanic, who had
married Miss Ida V. Teague; and he began his edu-
cational courses in the Fort Worth schools, contin-
uing with instruction in mechanical engineering at
the Spring Garden Institute in Philadelphia. From
1901 to 1907, he was with the Baldwin Locomotive
Works, in that same city; and there he had charge
of the assembling and erecting departments, which
produced from ten to thirteen locomotives a day.
During the next two years, he was busy with motor
car and truck sales engineering work, and from 1909
to 1910, he served the Premier Motor Company in
executive capacity. For four years, dating from 1910,
Mr. Kyle was general manager of the axle depart-
ment of A. C. Clark & Company, which manufac-
tured truck parts and car-axles, and from 1914 to
1918. he was president and general manager of the
Engineering and Sales Corporation, Chicago, which
brought out, designed, produced and marketed very
successfully the Wisconsin Axle. Now the Wiscon-
sin Parts Company, which makes this axle, is the
third largest producer of worm-drive axles. The
basic design of this axle has proven eminently sat-
isfactory, and such has been its acceptance and en-
dorsement that no changes have been made to any
great extent since it was first produced and marketed.
Through 1918 and 1919, Mr. Kyle was sales engi-
neer for the U. S. Ball Bearing Manufacturing Com-
pany, at Chicago, and acted for them as their Pa-
cific Coast branch manager; and in 1919 he became
identified with the National Axle Corporation, as-
suming the position of vice-president and general
manager and later was elected president and gen-
eral manager. He is a member of both the Society
of Automotive Engineers and the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers. Although the National
Axle Company passed through some difficulties when
it first started, it is now in line for some of the
l)ig business of the world and is rapidly becoming
better and more widely known. Mr. Kyle individ-
ually has his own sales and engineering business
in San Francisco, with offices in the Rialto Build-
ing, representing on the Pacific Coast the follow-
ing companies: U. S. Ball Bearing Company of Chi-
cago, 111., Kelly Reamer Company of Cleveland,
Ohio. Savage Anns Corporation of Sharon, Pa.,
Hartford Auto Parts Company of Hartford, Conn.,
The Strom Steel Ball Company of Oak Park, 111..
Chicago Railway Signal & Supply Cornpany, Chi-
fago. 111., Hercules Motor Manufacturing Company
of Canton, Ohio, Union Spring & Manufacturing
Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., and several others.

.\t Chicago, Illinois, in October, 1916. Mr. Kyle
was married to Miss Bessie Erickson, a native of
Pennsylvania, and their union has been blessed with
one daughter, Betty Virginia Kyle. Mr. Kyle is
a member of the Independent Order of Foresters of
•America, but in national political affairs he holds

himself aloof from any particular party, seeks to
do his full duty as a public-spirited citizen, and
lends a hand, whenever it is needed.

NICHOLAS BORDENAVE.— A representative
French-American in Santa Clara County, particular-
ly well-known in and around Gilroy, is Nicholas
Bordenave, who is both highly esteemed and pop-
ular. He was born at Oloron, in the Basses-Pyren-
nees, France, on August 12, 1872, the son of John
and Pasqualle (Barreilles) Bordenave, both natives
of the same beautiful French village. His father,
who was a tanner of hides, died at the early age
of forty-two. The lad was reared and taught at
home, and at twelve years of age became an em-
ploye of a wholesale and retail merchandise estab-
lishment at Oloron. On October 10, 1888, wishing
to push out into the world for himself, Nicholas Bor-
denave left home for California; and having arrived
safely here, he located at Gilroy. He soon learned
some English, and he got a job working for the
Miller & Lux estate. Two brothers, John P. and
Joseph Bordenave, of Gilroy, and a sister, Mrs.
Clavere. now of Morgan Hill, had preceded him to
the Golden State, and ' of the nine children in the
domicile, one brother, Estanislaus, had gone to South
America from France before our subject was born.

In 1897 Nicholas Bordenave and his brother, Jo-
seph, leased 160 acres near Gilroy from the Spring
Valley Water Company and farmed that land until
1905 when they bought and conducted the French
Hotel at Gilroy, only retiring a few years ago. They
also acquired, from Miller & Lux in 1920, the Lewis
Place, on Bodfish Road, which is set to prunes. In
July, 1898, Judge Hyland of San Jose admitted all of
the brothers to United States citizenship, and since
then Mr. Bordenave has been a Democrat. He has
always been public-spirited and patriotic, a natural
quality of his fellow-countrymen, and ever since Oc-
tober, 1888, he has been a member of the French-
American Benevolent Society, of San Francisco.

ANTONE ALVES.— One of the finest vineyards
of its size in the Santa Clara Valley is that of Antone
Alves at San Martin, where he maintains his own
packing house, shipping his fancy fruit to all parts
of the United States. A native son, Mr. Alves was
born at Hayward, Alameda County, February 17,
1876, the youngest son of Manuel and Isabel (Nevis)
Alves both natives of the Azores and now deceased.
He entered the public schools at the age of six, but
when he was twelve he started out in life for him-
self, cnterins the employ of J. C. Alves at Moun-
tain View, working as an orchardist for three years.
The following four years were spent as a teamster
on the Delmas ranch and then as a driver in the
livery barns at Mountain View. He gave up this
work to become assistant clerk of the Mountain View
Hotel, and also became the owner of five acres of
land there, which he afterward disposed of.

In January, 1917, Mr. Alves came to San Martin,
where he located on thirteen acres of land which
had been considered almost a failure in producing
crops, but by special work and study with Professor
Boletta of the agricultural and viticultural depart-
ment of the University of California, Mr. Alves and
his wife have turned the ranch into a splendid pay-
ing proposition. Fancy Tokay and Black Emperor
■ grapes of the finest stock are grown exclusively,
and the reputation of the Alves vineyard has gone

1470

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

throughout the country. Mr. Alves has exhibited his
fruit on a number of occasions and each time it has
taken the blue ribbon.

Mr. Alves' marriage in 1907 united him with Mrs.
Lela M. (Voorhees) Barnes, who was the mother
of three children: Alice, the wife of William Boag
of San Francisco, has one child; Vera, Mrs. Frank
Gurries of Morgan Hill, has two children; Eva mar-
ried A, Karner of Oakland, and they have three
children. Two children have been born to Mr. and
Mrs. Alves, Isabel and Arthur, both attending school.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Alves has always taken
an active interest in civic affairs, and while at Moun-
tain View acted as deputy sheriff. Prominent in
fraternal life, he is past president of Mountain View
Parlor, N. S. G. W., past chief ranger of Court
Rose Hill, Foresters of America, past president U. P.
E. C, and the first president of the I. D. E. S. of
Mountain View.

BAPTISTE BORDI.— An old settler of Califor-
nia, Baptiste Bordi was born at Parma, Italy, Janu-
ary 24. 1841, where his father Augustin was a farmer.
Baptiste Bordi was left an orphan at nine years of
age, his father passing away -in 1845 and his mother
in 1850. Thus the little lad was thrown on his own
resources and naturally had a hard time of it in his
battle for a livelihood. For a short time he was a
soldier, then he became a traveler visiting France,
Spain, Portugal, making his own way. Then he
went to Brazil, next to South Africa and later on to
Morocco. Then we find him in England, where he
was employed in London and Liverpool until he
decided to come to California in 1869. After work-
ing a short time at gardening in San Francisco, he
made his way to Calaveras County, where he fol-
lowed prospecting, but with indifferent success. He
then went to Oregon and mined for a time near
Canon City and next was in business in Portland
for a short time, until he made his way to British
Columbia, where he engaged in mining about two-
hundred miles north of Victoria. On his return to
San Francisco he had a fruit store for a short time.
He came to Mountain View July 15, 1871, and leased
a farm and raised vegetables, meeting with sufficient
success to enable him to purchase the place. He
purchased lots in Mountain View and built the
Grand Hotel, of which he was proprietor for many
years In 1881 he bought 167H acres of his present
ranch on Stevens Creek, later on purchasing an ad-
joining ranch of 120 acres, making 287;/' acres in all,
which he has cleared and improved. About 100
acres of the ranch are under cultivation, devoted to
orchard and vineyard, being pronounced one of the
finest ranches on Stevens Creek, where Mr. Bordi
enjoys the quiet and contentment of his own home.

In Mayfield occurred the marriage of Mr. Bordi
and Dossolina Grazzor. She was born in Canton
Ticino, Switzerland, coming with her parents to
California via New Orleans when she was only
a child. Of the nine children born to them four arc
living: Isabella, Mrs. Tillman, resides near Mayfield;
Placido P. is a deputy sheriff under Mr. Lyle and
also assists his father on the ranch; Stephen is a
carpenter in San Francisco, and Antonio P. is a
stockman in San Mateo County. Mr. and Mrs. Bordi
have been very energetic and indefatigable in their
efforts, and have been successful in gaining a com-

petency. For many years he was a member of the
Eagles and Druids.

MORRISON & WALLACE.— The firm of Mor-
rison and Wallace, confectioners, 1012 Franklin
Street, Santa Clara, California, known as the Wallace
Candy Store, is one of the most popular and best
patronized business places in its line in the Santa
Clara Valley. This firm is composed of L. J. Mor-
rison and Mrs. A. C. Wallace — brother and sister,
being a son and a daughter of the late J. D., and
Mary Morrison, who were both of Scotch ances-
try and born at Glengarry, in the province of On-
tario, Canada, where they were married and reared
a family of ten children. In the early '90s their oldest
son, John Cameron Morrison, came to Santa Clara.
Soon thereafter he was joined by his two younger
brothers, Kenneth and Angus, and then, a little
later, came Norman D., and in 1902 the parents and
the rest of the family came to Santa Clara, and have
played an important part as leading citizens. The
father passed away in 1908, but the mother still lives
at Santa Clara, in comfortable circumstances, close
to the homes of several of her children, who are all
most highly respected. The ten children are: John
Cameron, the well-known and able draftsman for the
Pacific Manufacturing Company, resides in Santa
Clara; Donald, is a rancher at Milestone, Saskatch-
ewan, Canada; Kenneth, and Angus, comprise the
firm of Morrison Brothers, leading contractors and
builders at Santa Clara where they both reside; Sarah,
who is now Mrs. Jewell, and resides with her hus-
band at Chicago, Illinois; Dr. Norman D. Morrison
is a physician and surgeon of San Mateo, California;
Catherine is the wife of Angus J. Bradley, an exten-
sive rancher at Milestone, Saskatchewan, Canada;
Annie is the wife of A. C. Wallace, the shipping clerk
for the Pacific Manufacturing Company at Santa
Clara and a partner in the firm of Morrison & Wal-
lace; Louis J. Morrison also of the said firm resides
in Santa Clara, and Lolla, is the wife of L. Brown, a
rancher at Modesto. This large and remarkable
family, comes from some of the oldest and most noted
families of Scotland, and are a most valuable ac<iuisi-
tion to Santa Clara's social, business, industrial and
professional life.

The Wallace Cady Store is a first class place, with
an elegant ice cream parlor and lunch room, candy
store and kitchen, where confections of the best
quality are manufactured. The place is also provided
with an up-to-date soda water fountain, where syrups
and crushes made from choice Santa Clara Valley
fruits are manufactured and served. This place is
growing in trade and popularity, since both of the
partners, give it their best personal attention.

Louis J. Morrison is a draftsman of note, having
been employed as such for many years by the Pacific
Manufacturing Company before he entered in the
confectioner's line by starting his first store at Gilroy.
He had moved to Mountain View, where he was en-
gaged in the same line when the World War broke
out. He lost no time in enlisting in the Canadian
army, serving in the aviation department for two
years. He was born in Canada August 24, 1880, and
came to Santa Clara a young man, where he has by
hard work and square dealing reached a prominent
place among its prosperous business men.

Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Wallace are the parents of two
talented daughters: Catherine, who is a student in

k^^

HISTORY OF SANT A CLARA COUNTY

1471

the Teacher's College at San Jose, and Margaret, who
is in high school. They reside in their pleasant home
on Monroe Street. Mrs. Wallace is a Sunday School
teacher and with the rest of the Morrison family be-
longs to the Presbyterian Church and is consistently
Republican in politics.

PETER J. PETERSON.— .\n honorable, hard-
working man who long ago became well-to-do, and
who now, as a result of fortunate investments in an
oil company, is about to become wealthy, is Peter
J. Peterson, the well-known pioneer, who resides at
220 Palo Alto .\ venue. He was born at Loit Kirkeby
in Denmark, on June 17, 1860, and brought up in
the Lutheran Church, where he was confirmed at the
age of fourteen. His parents were Christian and
Maren Peterson: his father, who was a sailor, was
finally shipwrecked and drowned, when our sub-
ject was a mere lad. From his ninth year, therefore,
the boy had to make his own way in the world, and
his grandfather being a bricklayer and builder in Den-
mark, trade activity was expected from the child.
German rule had begun to make itself felt in Den-
mark, and Peter resolved that he would not remain
at home and serve as a soldier. Fortunately, just
at that time, a friend, Lewis Johnson by name, had
returned from Sonoma, Cal., on a visit to his home
in Schleswig, and ho agreed to take Peter along with
him to America. An uncle Jep, called Charlie Pe-
terson, was in California, a farmer in San Joaquin
County; and hither the ambitious youth made his
way. He sailed from Hamburg for New York, and
landed in August, 1874, but by that time his uncle
had sold out and removed to Napa. Peter reached
his home, however, and for two years worked for his
uncle at Napa and then he worked around for other
farmers. He worked by the month until he reached
his iTiajority; and when twenty-one he struck out a
second time for himself. He preempted 160 acres
in .-Mameda County, and he also homesteaded 160
acres; and he rented 1280 acres in addition, and there
pastured stock belonging to other people, and in this
manner got into the stock business. He was suc-
cessful as a teamster, ran headers and different ma-
chinery, and worked with thresher gangs. From
Napa he went to Dublin, Cal., and then to Sunol,
and after to Milpitas, and then to San Jose.

Mr. Peterson came to Palo Alto in 1901, soon after
the town was started; he bought lots, built upon
them, and contracted to haul sand and gravel from
Mountain View to Palo Alto for the foundations
of buildings at Palo .A.lto, among them the Nevada
Building, the only building that escaped serious
wreckage during the 1906 earthquake. He was elect-
ed president of the Teamsters' LTnion and was a
delegate to the Teamsters' Labor LTnions' conven-
tions at Stockton, Los Angeles and San Jose, .■\bout
ten years ago, Mr. Peterson sold most of his teams
and wagons, went into the oil business in Palo Alto
and under the name of the Peterson Oil Company,
he ran an oil tank and made a great success. At
the end of seven years, having built up the business
which was run-down when he took hold of it, he sold
out, and then he bought heavily of the stocks of the
California and Marine Oil and Refining Company
in the West Side Oil Fields, in what is known as
the Devil's Den Country, between Coalinga and Bak-
ersfield. Many well-known Californians joined him.

and they have succeeded beyond their most sanguine
expectations. Now they have thirty-two wells pro-
ducing high gravity oil, and they are contemplating
putting in a refinery. In all his arduous years of
experience in the business world, Mr. Peterson was
careful to earn and justify the reputation he enjoyed
of being a square dealer; and this enviable repute
has followed and even preceded him, to his great
advantage in every way.

Mr. Peterson has been twice married. On the first
occasion, when he was twenty-seven, he was joined
to Miss Elizabeth Pfiefle, now deceased, who be-
came the mother of one child, Ernest Peterson, the
aviator, who was a lieutenant in the late war. He
is married and resides in Texas. On the second oc-
casion, eleven years ago. Mr. Peterson became the
husband of Miss Ellen Bloom. He has two sisters
and a mother in Denmark, the latter being past
eighty. Mrs. Peterson, who is a native of Stockholm,
lost her father when she was two months old, and her
mother less than two years later. She was taken
into the family of Captain Bjorkman, who was in
the Swedish military service, and was thus reared
in a good home. When a young woman, she came
to San Francisco; and now she presides over their
excellent home at 220 Palo Alto Avenue, built by her
husband, in 1902, and she assists him to dispense
there true California hospitality.

CHARLES STEVENS.— A well- known and en-
terprising rancher of Santa Clara County, who is also
a native son, is Charles Stevens, born near Coyote,
Santa Clara County, March 3, 1868. His father,
Orvis Stevens, was born in Chittenden County, Vt.,
oi: November 11. 1830. In 1852, at the age of twenty-
one, he came to California via Panama, and proceeded
at once to the mines on the Yuba River, remaining
there for one year; then he went to Camptonville, and
from there to Sacramento, then to the mines in Sierra
County: two years later he removed to Nevada
County and conducted a dairy for one year; then he
enga,u;L-d in stockrai.sing in Solano County; he then
returned to Sierra County and resided there for a
\xar and a half, when he made a visit to the eastern
states, returning in three months to Sierra County,
where for several years he conducted a meat business.
In 1868 he came to Burnett township, Santa Clara
Ccvmty, and engaged in farming until 1875, when he
rented the "Twelve-mile House," where he had a
store, blacksmith's shop and hotel. He served as post-
master and scliool trustee. (Jn December 7, 1866, he
married Miss Louisa Leonard and they had ten chil-
dren. The first child died in infancy; Charles, the
subject of this review; Lee died when he was three
years old; Orvis died at two years old; Frank is an
orchardist at Coyote; Bert is a rancher at Coyote;
Jim is a rancher and resides at Coyote; Warren re-
sides in Alaska; Patti is an artist in San Jose; and
Sam, an auto-machinist, living in Cleveland, Ohio.
The mother was a native of Illinois and was born in
1842. She crossed the plains with her parents in 1852
and her father mined in Sierra County, after which he
came to Santa Clara County and bought a farm at
Coyote. Orvis Stevens passed away in 1916 and Mrs.
Stevens in 1920.

Charles grew up in Santa Clara County and ob-
tained what education he could in the district schools:
and has been intimately connected with orcharding

1472

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

from its very beginning in Santa Clara ' County, as
forty years ago he helped his father plant a large
family and commercial orchard, and Charles helped
to plant and care for it.

Mr. Stevens' marriage occurred in 1892 and united
him with Miss Fannie Fisher, who was born on the
old Fisher ranch at Coyote, being a daughter of
Thomas and Anna (Hanks) Fisher, pioneer farmers
and stockraisers of this county. After his marriage
Mr. Stevens engaged in farming and orcharding on
his wife's twenty-acre ranch at Coyote. In 1919 they
sold it and bought the present place of ten acres, on
Pastoria Avenue, near Sunnyvale. Mr. and Mrs.
Stevens are the parents of one son, Lawrence O., who
assists his father on the ranch. At the outbreak of
ine World War, Lawrence volunteered in the service
of his country and served for two years in France as
a mechanic in the aviation corps, being among the
first to go to France. He married Miss Ceda Evans
of San Francisco. Mr. Stevens is a member of the
Woodmen of the World, and of the Prune and Apri-
cot Association, and cooperates in every measure
for the good of the community.

STEVE SCORSUR.— A resident of California
since 1887, Steve Scorsur was born in Dalmatia,
Austria, August 14, 1861. His father, John Scorsur.
followed the sea for many years until he retired
to his farm. He had married Miss Mary Lopizich
and they were blessed with six children — four boys
and two girls — and two sons and two daughters are
still living. One brother, John Scorsur, is a fruit
buyer and lives on Pine Avenue, The Willows. The
parents both passed away on the home farm in
Dalmatia.

The fourth child of the family, Steve Scorsur, grew
up on the farm and as there were no public school
advantages in those days did the best he could to
pick up an education, though most of it was obtained
in the great school of experience. When sixteen
years old he went to sea, first in the Mediterranean
trade, and then in the transatlantic, touching at Phila-
delphia, Boston. New York, Providence, and Gal-
veston, Texas, his first trip to the United States be-
ing when he was nineteen years old, when he landed
in Philadelphia. He continued his seafaring life until
1887, when he came to Galveston on a three-masted
schooner, Martin L. Smith, and there he left the ship
and came to San Jose, Cal., where he had uncles and
cousins living. He found employment in the fruit
business, working for James Scorsur, but soon went
to Los Angeles, where he was employed for two
j^ears. Thence he removed to Madera, where he be-
came proprietor of a restaurant, being in business
there when Madera County was organized, and was
a warm friend of Judge Connelly. After eight years
in Madera, Mr. Scorsur sold out his interests there
and returned to San Jose, purchasing his present place
of one acre on San Antonio Street, where he erected
a residence, built a dryer and engaged in buying and
selling fruit, in which he has been very successful.
He also owns a ranch on Foxworthy Road, where
he is engaged in raising prunes and apricots.

Mr. Scorsur's marriage took place in San Jose,
March 12, 1901, uniting him with Miss Mary Geno-
vich, who was born in Dalmatia, and came to Amer-
ica that same year. Their union has been blessed
with five children: John, a graduate of Heald's Busi-
ness College, is now a bookkeeper in the Bank of

Italy at San Jose; Mary was educated in the San
Jose high school and Heald's Business College and
assists her mother in presiding over the home; Peter.
Stephen and Anthony are attending the grammar
school. Mr. Scorsur is a member and former vice-
president of the Austrian Benevolent Society of San
Jose. A man of affable manner and kindness of
heart, he has established an enviable reputation as
an enterprising and progressive citizen, and is well
and favorably known and held in high esteem
througout the community. The family are members
of St. Patrick's Catholic Church and take a generous
part in its benevolences.

BROUSEN P. LAUSTEN.— An able and trust-
worthy city official of Palo Alto who has been identi-
fied with the business life of this city since 1901, is
Brousen P. Lautsen, Palo Alto's pioneer and leading
merchant tailor. A native of Denmark, where he was
born April 9, 1868, he came to America with his par-
ents, Laus C. and Marie (Nielsen) Lausten, in 1874,
settling at Oakland, Cal., where Biousen P. attended
the public schools and supplemented his education
with a business college course. He then served a
regular apprenticeship with one of the best merchant
tailors in Oakland, after which he worked for ten
years in the leading tailoring shops in that city.

Mr. Lausten then opened up a shop of his own in
Oakland, which he conducted for five years, and in
1901 he removed to Palo Alto. Here he established
the business that is now the oldest in its line in the
city, and the succeeding years have brought him un-
qualified success. His workmanship is expert in every
particular and his shop, at 109 The Circle, is the head-
quarters for the latest and most authoritative fashions.
He has a large patronage among the university pro-
fessors and students, who appreciate his fine taste
and craftsmanship.

In Oakland, Mr. Lausten was married to Miss Rose
Ohair, a native of Iowa, and they have become the
parents of five children: Roy, Marie, Doris, Eliza-
beth and Jack. Mr. Lausten some time ago erected
the attractive home at Hawthorne Avenue, where the
family make their home. In the development of the
civic life of Palo Alto, Mr. Lausten has taken his full
share of responsibility. He was a member of the city
council fifteen years ago and is again serving on that
body, and holds the important post of chairman of
the committee on public works. Prominent in Ma-
sonic circles, Mr. Lausten is a member of Palo Alto
lodge No. 346, F. & A. M. is past high priest of Palo
Alto chapter. R. A. M.. and belongs to Commandery
No. 47, Knights Templar.

—GEORGE W. HARMS.— An enthusiastic advocate
of municipal ownership who did much to further this
civic development in the days of its adoption at Palo
Alto, George W. Harms is also well known through-
out the vicinity as a pioneer blacksmith of this city,
though he has recently entered a new field, being pro-
prietor of the Palo Alto Soda Works. He is a native
son of California and was born February 22. 1874, at
Pleasanton, Alameda County. His father, Theodore
August Harms, was born in Germany and came to
California when a young man, and in Alameda County
he married Louise F. Hauschildt, also a native of
Germanv, who came to California when she was
eighteen years old. She died May 3, 1922, at the age
of seventy-eight, but the father passed avi'ay more

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1473

than thirty years ago. They were the parents of six
sons and four daughters, two of the daughters having
passed away.

The seventh child of the family, George W. Harms,
.few up on his father's farm at Pleasanton, and at
tlie age of sixteen began his apprenticeship in the
blacksmith's trade, serving for four years in the shop
of C. B. Steane at Pleasanton. On January 16, 1906,
he came to Palo Alto and immediately opened up a
blacksmith's shop of his own at the junction of The
Circle and Alma Street, where the La Paloma res-
taurant now stands. Then he located at 426 High
Street, and in 1909 he removed to 601 Emerson
Street, where he continued until he disposed of his
business in 1921. On March 1 of that year he became
the proprietor of the Palo Alto Soda Works at 942
High Street, and has complete charge of its business.
The products of this growing concern are sold all the
way from Mountain View to Millbrae.

Mr. Harms' marriage united him with Miss Ethel
McKcnzie, a native daughter of California, and they
are the parents of two children, Lloyd and Elizabeth,
both in the Palo Alto high school. Mr. Harms has
built two residences in Palo Alto and the family
home is now at 680 Homer Avenue. When the plan
ot municipal ownership was in its early stages, Mr.
Harms was one of its ardent supporters and a stout
champion of the advantages during the days when
the idea still met with considerable opposition. For
three and one-half years Mr. Harms had charge of
the collection department of the municipal water and
light bureau, a post he filled faithfully and well. He
has always been prominent in fraternal circles and is
a past master of Palo Alto Lodge No. 346, F. &
A. M., past high priest of Palo Alto Chapter, R. A. M.,
was first consul commander of the Woodmen of the
World, past chancellor, Knights of Pythias, and for
more than twenty years has been master of finance of
the latter order. In politics he is a Republican.

FRANK A. LE SUER.— Concentration of his ener-
gies to any particular enterprise which he has on hand
doubtless is one of the paramount secrets of the suc-
cess that has attended the business undertakings of
Frank A. Le Suer. Identified for the past nine years
with the theatrical business, he is well qualified for
the work in which he is engaged, and the magnitude
of the business is due to his constructive work.

He was born on November 27, 1859, in Lawton,
Mich., near Kalamazoo. His father, Henry Le Suer,
was a native of New York, born near Jamestown;
and his mother was born at Ann Arbor, Mich., both
parents coming from old Virginia stock. His father
was engaged in the mercantile business most of his
life and lived to be seventy-eight years old; his
mother passed away when our subject was seventeen
years old. They were the parents of three children,
two daughters and one son; Hattie V., Mrs. I. G.
Betts, resides in Los Angeles; Frank A. of this
sketch; and Jennie is Mrs. Davis of Los Angeles.

Frank A. was educated in the grammar and high
schools, graduating from the Charlotte high school
v.-ith the class of 1883. Immediately following his
graduation, he entered the First National Bank as
oierk, and by hard work and his usual determination
to succeed he rose to be teller, and when he resigned
his position in 1911, he was cashier of the bank. For
ten years he was employed by Daniel Scott & Com-
pany, a wholesale tobacco company of Detroit, Mich.,

as their traveling salesman for the northern portion of
Michigan. After ten years on the road he went back
to Charlotte, Mich., and was solicited to enter the
employ of the First National Bank again, and he ac-
cepted and was made cashier, J. M. C. Smith being
the president of that institution. Mr. Smith now rep-
resents that district of Michigan in Congress as a
member of the House of Representatives.

The marriage of Mr. Le Suer occurred in Erie, Pa.,
in 1886 and united him with Miss Nellie C. Schneider,
and they are the parents of one daughter, Dorothy,
the wife of William Longmire, a graduate of Stan-
ford University; he is an oil geologist with the Pierce
Oil Company, and they reside in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Having for some time a desire to locate on the
Pacific Coast, Mr. Le Suer resigned his position with
the First National Bank of Charlotte, Mich., during
September, 1911, and located in Palo Alto. He took
a rest from active business cares for six months, then
in conjunction with his brother-in-law, Mr. Betts,
plans for a new building were drawn and negotiations
were opened with Mr. Wetzel, a capitalist of Kings
City to erect the building known as the Varsity Thea-
ter, which furnished excellent amusement in the way
of moving pictures. In 1921, Mr. Betts sold his inter-
est in the Varsity to Mr. Le Suer and a partnership
was formed with E. J. Arkhus, the proprietor of the
Stanford Theater, and the two theaters were incor-
porated under the name of the Palo Alto Theater
Company, with a capitalization of $50,000. Mr. Le
Suer is the capable and genial manager of the Var-
sity, while Edward Lowry is the manager of the Stan-
ford. Fraternally, Mr. Le Suer is a Knights Templar
Mason. A man of fine presence, excellent judgment
and executive force, he has brought to his business
experience and ability, and spares neither time nor
money in securing the best pictures to present to
Palo Alto's theatergoers.

PETER H. MEYER.— A very progressive and suc-
cessful rancher who has been a force making for gen-
eral prosperity in the Rucker district since the spring
of 1898 is Peter H. Meyer, who was born near Stade,
Germany, on February 24, 1862. In the early '80s,
after an excellent training in the thoroughgoing
Fatherland, he migrated to the land of still greater
opportunity, following westward to San Francisco
the path of his brother, who had come out to the
Coast metropolis in 1872. He brought with him the
blessed heritage of good parentage, his father having
been Henry Meyer, and his mother, before her mar-
riage Miss Annie Buck. Both were highly esteemed
in their day and place of residence, and sincerely
mourned when they passed away over thirty years
ago. Setting to work in San Francisco, Peter Meyer
entered the service of a large mercantile establish-
m.ent on Market Street; and in 1885. about one year
before he was made a citizen of the L^nitcd States,
he established his own store at the corner of Pearl
and Market streets which he conducted successfully
for twelve years. Then he became a prune rancher,
operating on some seventy-five acres in the Rucker
district, and he acquired a fine home on Woodward
Avenue, which he still owns. He belongs to the
California Prune and Apricot Association, in which he
has become a live wire.

At San Francisco, on February 8, 1890, Mr. Meyer
was married to Miss Mary Fauser, the daughter of
John Fauser, a merchant of San Francisco, in which

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

city she was reared and educated. Two sons have
sprung from this fortunate union. John grew up to
be a ranchman, is married and has one son, and resides
at Rucker. Walter H. owns a fine ranch near San
Martin. Mr. Meyer is a RepuhUcan, and since 1886
he has been an Odd Fellow.

HENRY C. MINTER.— A rancher who has at-
tained his enviable prosperity in the very locality
in which he has continued to live, and who therefore
thoroughly merits, as he also thoroughly enjoys the
esteem and good-will of his fellow-citizens, is Henrv
C. Minter of the Watsonville Road, five and a half
miles northwest of Gilroy. He was born near St.
Joseph, Mo., on May 11, 1875, the youngest child and
only son of Henry Minter, who met a premature
death by accident in 1877. As a result, the lad, Henry,
was thrown upon his own resources when he was
eight years old, although he came to California in
1882 with his mother, who had remarried, and his
stepfather, D. J. Howard. They at first located at
Arbuckle, in Colusa County. Mrs. Howard lives
in Gilroy, as do her daughters by Mr. Minter: Mrs.
C. H. Pierce, Mrs. R. A. Howard and Mrs. M.
Baptiste. In 1887. Henry struck out for himself,
for good, and finally came down to Los Gatos; and
began driving teams, hauling wood and freight into
Los Gatos when he was so small he could not load
his wagon; and in 1888, having acquired a fine span of
horses, he entered into a teaming contract. He filed
a claim on 160 acres of timber land in San Luis
Obispo County; but having proved up, he sold out
and then returned to Los Gatos. In the meantime
he supported his mother and sent two of his sisters
through school.

At the age of twenty-one, Mr. Minter was mar-
ried to Miss Mary Alice Gibson, a native daughter,
having been born in San Felipe, San Benito Countv,
of sturdy pioneer parents; and two children were
born of the union. Walter H. Minter operates the
North End Garage at Gilroy, and Myrtle M. is a
pupil in the Adams school.

For many years, Mr. Minter contracted to team
loads out of the mills in the Santa Cruz Mountains,
and executed one of the largest contracts on record,
transporting 3000 cords of wood from the timber to
the cars in the Glenwood district for the McKearnin
Bros, of Santa Cruz; but in 1908 he endeavored to
abandon this field of work, and took a temporary
job at Gilroy at thirty-five dollars per month on the
"Old Farmer's" ranch, near his present home in the
Bodfish district. In 1910 he purchased the largest
portion of the Holman ranch of IIS acres, for which
he incurred heavy indebtedness: but with unremitting
industry he has won out, and made a pronounced
success as a fruit-grower. He has developed an or-
chard of eighty acres, of both prunes and fancy pears,
and this has yielded some handsome returns. He
also farms the creek bottom and sand lands. He has
remodeled the ranch dwelling, and has also erected a
fine home on the rancli for the tenant. He has in-
vested heavily in modern, up-to-date equipment, and
gone in for the most .scientific, advanced methods,
and within ten years he has become independently
well-to-do. He belongs to the Farmers' Union, and
contributed largely to the construction of the pack-
ing house at Gilroy, which has since been taken over
by the California Prune & Apricot Growers, Inc., in
which Mr. Minter holds $1,300 worth of shares. Mr.

Minter and Mr. Fairbush constructed the Five Party
Telephone Line at a cost of $1,500, building seven
miles of line together. With his neighbors, he built
the electric line to supply electricity to their homes,
and he was largely instrumental in the bond issue for
the new Adams school building, and is a member of
the board of trustees of the district.

Mrs. Minter, one of the most estimable and highly-
esteemed ladies in this vicinity, having passed away
in September, 1916, Mr. Minter remarried in 1918,
choosing for his second wife Mrs, Esther E. (Lange)
Gimbel, of San Francisco, who had one daughter,
Margaret. Mr. Minter is a Master Mason, and there
are no more popular members of that historic or-
der in the Keith Lodge in Gilroy; he also belongs
to the Odd Fellows, and both himself and wife are
members of the Rebekahs.

THOMAS M. WILLIAMS, M. D.— A distinguished
member of the medical profession in California, who
stands out prominently in all the elements which
make up the strongest manhood, as well as the most
interesting and honorable traits characterizing Ameri-
can professional life, is Dr. Thomas M. Williams, of
300 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, where he maintains
his well-appointed suite of offices. He was born in
West Virginia, in Greenbrier County, on July 16,
1871, the son of Albert G. and Elizabeth (Donnally)
Williams, both representatives of old Virginia fam-
ilies of Irish, Welsh, Scotch and English extraction.
The father was a farmer, and on the home farm, with
its natural advantages, Thomas grew up.

He attended the public school in his native county,
and then went to a preparatory school at Morgan-
town, W. Va., and in 1893 came out to California,
and soon afterward entered Stanford University,
where he was graduated in 1897 with the Bachelor of
Arts degree. He then went East to New York and,
entering the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the
medical department of Columbia University, was grad-
uated in 1901, with the M. D. degree. After that he
put in two years at the New York Post-Graduate
Hospital as an interne. In the spring of 1904 Dr.
Williams commenced practicing medicine in Palo
Alto, and there he has since continued, save for a
year spent in still higher post-graduate study in Eng-
land and Germany. During the late war he held a
first lieutenant's commission in the U. S. Navy, and
was located at the U. S. Naval Base Hospital No. 2,
at StrathpefTcr, in the Scottish Highlands.

At Elyria, Ohio, May 20, 1901, Dr. Williams was
married to Miss Dora Moody, a native of Vermont.
She is also a graduate of Stanford University in the
class of 1897, with the A. B. degree, and thus as
classmates they became acquainted. They are the
parents of two children. Elizabeth and Rhona. Dr.
Williams is a member of the American Medical Asso-
ciation and the state and county medical societies.
He is still keenly interested in athletics, having
played center on the Stanford football team in
1895-96. For several years he has been chairman of
the Board of Athletic Control of Stanford University,
and in that capacity was most active in the building
of the new Stanford Stadium, constructed in 1921 at
a cost of $250,000 and capable of seating 60,000 spec-
tators. Dr. Williams' name will forever be insepara-
bly connected with it. since he, as chairman of the
board, in association with others, contributed the

C?^^X^^yU\^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1477

force, foresight and enthusiasm that resulted in its
materiaHzation, thereby creating and perpetuating a
keen interest in Olympian games and college athletics.

HENRY LOUIS KOPP.— A well improved and
highly productive orchard on the Los Gatos and Al-
maden Road pays tribute to the care and labor be-
stowed upon it by its owner, Henry Louis Kopp, who
for eleven years has made his home in Santa Clara
County. He was born in Buffalo, Scott County,
lovia, October 3, 1867, a son of Mathias and Anna
(Soehren) Kopp, both of whom have passed away.
The third oldest of nine children, Henry L. Kopp ac-
quired his education in the public schools of Buffalo
and was employed at farm work until twentj' years of
age, when he came to the Pacific Coast in 1887,
working at carpentry in San Diego, and in 1889 went
to the North Star mine in Fresno County. There he
proved up on a homestead which he still owns and
then mined in Tuolumne County for five years. Later
he went to Korea and China, spending three years in
milhvrighting in the Orient and on his return spent
two years in Nevada and then went to San Salvador,
Central America, in the employ of a mining company
for one year. Returning to Santa Clara County, Cal.,
in 19n, he purchased a fifteen-acre tract of land,
which he has since cultivated, devoting his attention
to the raising of prunes and apricots, in which he has
been very successful. He has worked diligently and
persistently as the years have passed and the methods
employed in the operation of his place are the ex-
pression of the latest scientific research.

Mr. Kopp, in Sacramento in 1907, married Miss
Irene G. Dingle, born at Virginia City, Nev., the
daughter of John W. and Catherine (Cahill) Dingle,
natives of England and Ireland, respectively. The
father was a sailor, visiting all the great ports of the
world, and rose to be captain. During the Civil War
he ran a transport, carrying the Union wounded to
the North. Arriving at San Francisco, he went to
\ irginia City. Nev., and here he met his future wife,
Mi^s Cahill. .Mrs. Kopp, tlie third of a family of
eight children, graduated at the Virginia City high
school and then taught in the schools of that city
until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Kopp have two
( hildren, Barbara and Jack Irving. Mr. Kopp's po-
litical allegiance is given to the Republican party and
he has ever taken a deep and helpful interest in pub-
lic affairs, especially along educational lines, now
serving his second term as school trustee of the
Cnion district. He is a Master Mason and is an
exemplary representative of the craft. Mrs. Kopp is
liiesident of the Parent-Teachers' Association.

GEORGE C. WHITE.— Preeminent among the
highly-esteenied citizens of Old Gilroy, and honored
I'Oth for what he is and what he has accomplished,
George C. White is the center of a circle of devoted
friends, and the envied of those who also know the
excellent attributes of his affectionate and gifted wife,
truly a right hand to him in recent years and trying
experience. A native son, he was born at Old Gilroy,
(San Vsidro), on April 22, 1883, the son of John E.
White, the popular constable of Gilroy, whose life
stoy is elsewhere related in this book. George was
reared and schooled at San Ysidro, and he also at-
tended the Gilroy high school; and then, in 1901, he
entered the business college of the Oakland Poly-
technic. After graduation, he took up his duties as

assistant agent for the Wells Fargo Express Com-
pany at Gilroy, and in that responsible capacity re-
mained for about two years, and then he filled posi-
tions of the same kind at San Francisco, San Luis
Obispo and San Jose.

.A^bout 1903, he took up railroading in another de-
partment, and became a brakeman on the Southern
Pacific Railroad; and he continued in that line of
work until, on May 7, 1906, at South City, a terrible
accident occurred, through which he lost his lower
hmbs. Fully twelve months passed before he even
partially recovered from the loss and shock. He did
not give up, however, and immediately started, in a
small way, on his father's dairy farm, and some years
later, the accident nearly forgotten, he acquired a
ranch of thirty acres near his father's, and he has
since bought and sold a number of ranches, realizing
a fair profit on each deal.

.\t Gilroy, in 1909, Mr. White was married to Miss
Vera Louise Willson, the daughter of Fred W. Will-
son, of the well-known pioneer ranch family of Gil-
roy, and they have four children: George Willson,
Sarah Lee, Margery \'era and Fadra Louise. Every-
one who knows tlu riri unistances gladly gives Mr.
White great crulil idi his sunny optimism, his faith,
his industry and his aggressive progressiveness, and
also to his devoted, conscientious wife. Mr. White is
a Mason and a Republican.

J. M. CHURCH WALKER.— Prominent among
the public officials of Santa Clara County whose sci-
entific attainments have enabled them to be of espe-
cial service to communities in the vast work of rap-
idly and permanently developing the resources of the
Golden State, is J. M. Church Walker, the efficient
engineer of the progressive town of Los Gatos. He
was born at Lincoln, Mass., on May 2, 1872, the son
of James A. Walker, a well-known railroad man, now
deceased, who had married Miss Gratia Paine, still
living and the center of a circle of admiring and de-
voted friends. Church Walker attended the local
grammar school and the high school at Brainerd,
Minn., to which state the family had removed in
1882, and then he became a student of the University
of Minnesota, where he took up special mechanical
work. For three years he followed engineering at
St. Helena, and then, for another three years, he
served the U. S. Government at Mare Island, doing
some special drafting for structural steel work. At
San Francisco, too, he added to his reputation as a
field engineer; and then he engaged in bridge build-
ing. He had learned drafting before coming to Cali-
fornia in 1901, and he gave valuable assistance in the
rebuilding of San Francisco, having associated him-
self with the company that built the Educational, the
Transportation, and the Agricultural bm'ldings, and
also the Iowa, the Illinois and the Swedish buildings
at the Panama-Pacific Exposition. Since coming to
Los Gatos and superintending tlu construction of
roads, streets, sewers and other parts of the public
systems, he has done wonders to make the town one
of the prettiest and most up-to-date of its size in
California. He himself has been living in Los Gatos
since 1916, pinning his faith to the fast-growing town,
and he has been town engineer since 1917. All the
improvements recently effected here, including the
bridge on Roberts Road, have been carried out under
his supervision.

1478

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. Walker was married at Berkeley, Cal., in 1901,
to Miss Bertha Cubbler, a native of the Keystone
State, and five children have blessed their union:
Theron, Bertram, Laura, Florence and Jasmine. Mr.
Walker is a Republican in matters of national poli-
tics, and belongs to the Masons and the Fraternal
Aid. The family attend the Christian Science Church.

MARION THOMAS GWINN.— Now the owner
of 225 acres of choice land in the San Martin dis-
trict, Marion Thomas Gwinn can well look back with
satisfaction on his achievement here, as when he
came to this locality, in 1904. he was practically with-
oui capital. He was born at Cambridge, Mo., May
18, 1872, the son of W. C. Gwinn, a pioneer farmer
there, who had married Judith Ford, who lived to
be sixty-seven years old, passing away at Sacramento
in June, 1920. The father, who was born in Saline
County. Mo., is still living, and resides at Sacramento,
aged seventy-six years.

In 1888 the Gwinn family removed to Red Bluff,
Cal., from their Missouri home, later going to Wood-
land. Here Marion Gwinn attended school, mean-
w-hile helping his father, and when he set out for
himself he returned to Missouri, remained about two
years, then came back to California and farmed near
Lodi one year. In 1904 he came from Oakland to
San Martin, and after making a small payment on
twenty acres here he proceeded to give his whole
energy and time to its development. Prior to this
he had been employed for two years at the Humboldt
Lumber Yards at Oakland, but he decided that the
life of a rancher offered far greater opportunities for
success, and, firm in the belief that one should choose
one line of work and bend all his energies to per-
forming its duties better than ever before, Mr. Gwinn
has made wonderful progress by living up to his
creed. W^hen he bought his land it was unimproved
stubblefield. and he has developed it to its present
state. He has given careful study to the problems
of horticulture and now 100 acres of the 225 are
in peaches, French prunes and apricots, thirty acres
being newly planted trees, while twenty-five acres
are devoted to a fourteen-year-old vineyard, from
which the returns for the past few seasons have been
most satisfactory.

On November 12, 1894, Mr. Gwinn was married
to Miss Annie Bell McMillan, who was born in Yolo
County. Her father, William McMillan, crossed the
plains when nineteen years old, in the train under
Capt. Crow. Her mother, Elizabeth Goodin, came
that same year with ox teams and they were married
in California. The former is living, but the mother
is dead. They had seven children, six living. Mrs.
Gwinn, with the exception of seven years spent in
Texas, has spent her entire life in her native state.
Eight children have been born to them: Wilbur L.
married Amy Robinson, dughter of the late Henry
Robinson, and they have one son, Wilbur C. They
reside at San Martin, where he is associated with his
father in ranching; he was in the U. S. service dur-
ing the World War, spending six months at the U. S.
Army Tank School at San Pedro. The other chil-
dren are: Dorothy May; Thomas W. and M. Ray-
mond, both engaged in ranching on the home place;
Warren C, deceased; Vernon C, Mary Elizabeth and
Annebel are attending school. The four younger
children were born at San Martin. Mr. Gwinn is a
Democrat in politics and for the past thirty years

has been a member of the Independent Order of
Foresters. A hard worker, efficient in his methods,
he is doing the work of two men on his ranch, and
he sets an example of industry and thrift, with their
reward of successful accomplishment, that is well
worthy of emulation. In all his ventures he has had
the faithful cooperation of his wife, to whom he
gives much of the credit for their present standing
in the county, for she has stood shoulder to shoulder
with him at all times. The sons have all assisted to
develop the ranch and all remain at home.

NICK SCORSUR.— A good example of thrift and
untiring energy is illustrated in the life of Nick Scor-
sur, now retired from active business life, and his
years of toil have resulted in a competency that is
justly deserved. Born in Dalmatia, Austria, January
1, 1858, he is a son of John and Catherine (Cavaletta)
Scorsur; his father was, for many years, in the stock
and sheep business. Five sons and two daughters
composed the family, of whom only two survive, the
subject of this sketch and an older brother, Ben, who
both live in California. As early as 1875, two broth-
ers, James and Benjamin, came to America, settling
in Virginia; and late in 1880 they came to California
by the wa3' of the Isthmus of Panama and located in
the beautiful Santa Clara Valley. In 1882 Nick Scor-
sur followed them and has continuously resided in
this section since that time. The brothers invested
in a 160-acre tract of land near the New Almaden
mines, which they cleared and developed. When they
were ready for planting, the owners of the mining
property informed them that they had no right or
title to the property, and were successful in beating
them out of their holdings, as well as others in the
neighborhood. This occurred in 1885, but, undaunted,
the three brothers located on a tract of land in East
San Jose, where they started in the fruit business.
Beginning at the bottom, by hard work and close ap-
plication, they gradually enlarged their operations and
increased their holdings; in 1892, however, they dis-
solved partnership. James passed away in 1915.
Meanwhile Nick Scorsur engaged in fruit buying,
handling cherries, peaches and prunes with good suc-
cess. He owned a forty-five-acre prune orchard on
White Road, which he kept for about five years, when
he sold it at a good profit. He owns a thirty-five-
acre cherry and prune orchard at Campbell and also
a twenty-acre orchard on Senter Road, which brings
him a handsome income each year. In 1900 he in-
vested in a tract of land in East San Jose, building a
commodious residence at the corner of Twenty-sixth
and San Antonio streets, still the family home.

The marriage of Mr. Scorsur occurred in San Jose,
April 4, 1889, and united him with Miss Ellen Talia,
also a native of Dalmatia, who was born August 14,
1865, and who came to California in May, 1888. She
is the daughter of Captain Matthew and Raphael
Talia. Her father was a man of sterling integrity
who followed a seafaring life as captain of a private
merchant vessel on the Mediterranean Sea. Mr. and
Mrs. Scorsur are the parents of five children; John is
manager of the ranches owned by the family; Mat-
thew, deceased; Nicholas graduated in 1917 from the
College of Commerce, University of California, with
the degree of B. A. He served as chief petty officer
in the hospital corps in the U. S. N. R. F. in the
World War and is now engaged in general merchan-
dising at Orange Cove, Fresno County; Andrew is a

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1479

student of law in Santa Clara University, class of
1924, and also served in the U. S. N. R. F. at the
time of the World War; Catherine is a student at
Notre Dame College in San Jose, class of 1922. Mr.
Scorsur gives no small amount of credit for his suc-
cess to his devoted wife, who has been his loyal help-
mate and coadviser, working in harmony to achieve
their ambition of becoming independent and rearing
and educating their children to be useful and honored
citizens. During 1901 Mr. and Mrs. Scorsur and
their children made an extensive tour of Europe, espe-
cially enjoying the visit of four months at the old
home place of their parents. Mr. Scorsur is now one
of San Jose's pioneer fruit buyers, and his success has
only been gained by the utmost care and intelligence,
backed by industry and integrity, which has aided
him in laying a foundation for a successful life. He
and his family are active and consistent members of
St. Patrick's Catholic Church of San Jose.

J. H. C. SCHROEDER.— After an eventful life as
a mining prospector, during which time he traveled
over a wide area, including South America, Mexico,
Canada and Alaska, Henry Schroeder, after turning
his attention to ranching developed a model orchard
and attractive home place on San Martin Avenue, San
Martin. Mr. Schroeder was born on February 20,
185.!. at Hamburg, Germany, and when he was seven-
teen he lost no time in crossing the ocean to America,
coming on to San Francisco, where he made his head-
quarters while a mining prospector.

In 1890, on January 19, Mr. Schroeder was married
at San Francisco to Miss Agnes Kuster, a native
daughter of that city, where she was reared and edu-
cated. Her father died when about forty-five, but
her mother, Mrs. Agnes Gerdes, is still living, aged
eighty-one, at Glen Ellen, Cal. Two children were
born to them. Sclma A. and Herbert O., who is car-
ing for the home place at San Martin. Selma Agnes
was born in San P'rancisco and was reared on Dead-
wood Creek. She attended the public schools at Yreka.
San Mateo and Morgan Hill, and after graduating
from high school entered the San Jose State Normal
School, graduating in 1917, receiving her certificate as
a teacher that same Fall. She taught at Trinity, Sono-
ma County, for one year, and in 1918 came to San
Martin, where she accepted a position in the gram-
mar school, now being the senior teacher there in
length of service. A talented and cultured young
woman, she has taken every advantage of her splen-
did educational opportunities and can number her
friends by the score.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder set-
tled at Yreka. Siskiyou County, where Mr. Schroeder
was engaged in mining, having developed what is still
known as the Schroeder mine on Deadwood Creek.
In 1905 they removed to San Francisco, where they
suffered the loss of all their possessions in the fire of
April, 1906, and then removed to San Mateo, com-
pelled to start all over again. In 1909 the family
came to San Martin and here Mr. Schroeder, nothing
daunted by his reverses, selected twenty acres of good
land, which he transformed by hard work and intelli-
gent care into a fine orchard property, which is al-
ready bringing in good returns. Mr. Schroeder was
always to be found among the public-spirited men of
the district when any progressive measure was consid-
ered and in this he was always seconded by his wife,
who proved herself a true helpmate. He was a mem-

ber of St. John's Lodge No. 2,7, F. & A. M., at
Yreka, having joined in March, 1902. He died on
January 20, 1922, at his home on the San Martin
Ranch, and was buried with Masonic honors.

JOHN STURLA, SR.— An early settler, who
cwmo to California when eleven years old is John
Sturia, Sr.. who has been actively engaged in farming
pursuits in tlic Gilroy district since he was seventeen.
A native of Italy, he was born in Genoa on Sep-
tember y, 1853, a son of Angelo Sturia, a farmer in
Italy, who came to America in 1862, accompanied by
his son James. They first located in San Francisco
and were engaged in vegetable farming and sold their
products in horse-drawn carts on the streets of the
cit}-. In January of 1864, John came to San Fran-
cisco via the Isthmus of Panama, taking four months
to make the journey. He joined his father and
brother in the vegetable business, and as they pros-
l)cred they invested in eight and a half acres in Old
Gilroy, tine rich land on the Pacheco Road. His
father passed aw.ix- .ilMnit IS''"', and John and James
started out to makr tin ii own way independently. By
economy and indn^try. Mr. Siurla now owns a fine
place of fifty-seven acres in prunes, apples and pears.

Mr. Sturia married Miss Louisa Rolari, born in
Ital}-, a daughter of Antonio Rolari, and she came
to America with her parents when she was fifteen
years of age. They are the parents of seven children
Angelo, who has three children and lives nearby; An-
tonio married Miss Alice Kickham and they reside on
the Rucker ranch and have four children; Louis mar-
ried and resides in Gilroy; Alexander married Anna
Gubser and reside at Old Gilroy and have two chil-
dren: John Jr., who is also married, served overseas
during tlie World War for eighteen months; Harold;
Mary is the wife of Joseph Batiel of Gilroy, and they
have five children. Politically Mr. Sturia is a Repub-
lican and his religious faith is that of the Catholic
Church. He is a stockholder and a director in the
Gilroy Branch, Bank of Italy; and is a member of
the California Prune and Apricot Association. He is
a familiar figure on the streets of Gilroy, and his affa-
ble manner has won for him scores of friends.

GEORGE W. SLOCUM.— A native of New York,
who spent many years in the well drilling industry
and who is now the owner of a fine twenty-acre
ranch, is George W. Slocum, of Church Avenue, San
Martin. He was born in Cattaraugus County, N. Y.,
March 4, 1855, and there he lived during the years of
his young manhood. Attending the Centennial Ex-
position at Philadelphia in 1876, Mr. Slocum was
much impressed with the wonders of the wide world
exhibited there and so was given the incentive to
start out and see for himself. In 1878 he went to the
oil fields of Pennsylvania, then coining into wide
lirominence as a new industry for this country, and
here began at the bottom in Warren and McKean
counties. Later he took up contract drilling, and in
this he was very successful.

In 1886 Mr. Slocum came to Stockton, Cal.. and
was employed by Col. E. J. Beane, and there he fol-
lowed well drillin.g, putting down several test wells,
but was not rewarded with oil in sufficient quantities
to make it a paying venture. He next turned his at-
tention to drilling water wells, spending one summer
in that occupation in Santa Clara County. Mr. Slo-
cum next went to San Diego, in 1889, and followed
his trade as oil well driller and working in the mines

1480

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

a' Julian until 1895; then was at Half Moon Bay.
next at Nevvhall in 1898, then going to San Benito
County in the fall of 1900, where he was employed by
the Watsonville Oil Company, and has been in their
employ off and on until 1921, when he retired to his
ranch. His home was in Gilroy until 1917. The pos-
sibilities of the San Martin section appealed to Mr.
Slocum strongly and he determined to make this his
home, and accordingly purchased his ranch property
in 1917, at San Martin, which he has developed into a
fine home place, having set out six acres in prunes.

Mr. Slocum's marriage united him with Miss Mary
Ayres, the daughter of the late John Ayres, and they
are the parents of two children, Ethel, at home, and
Helen, Mrs. J. S. Brown of San Jose. In fraternal
circles Mr. Slocum is a Master Mason, belonging to
Keith Lodge, Gilroy, and politically the Republican
party has had his allegiance for many years.

JOSEPH A. TERESI.— One of the most valuable
and highly productive orchards in the Santa Clara
V^alley is that operated by Joseph A. Teresi, located
on Saratoga Avenue. Known as the Sorosis Fruit
Company, besides the extensive orchards a large
packing plant is located on the ranch, which takes
care of the products of the orchards. Joseph A. was
born in Sicily, February 23, 1899, the son of Salva-
tore and Marianna (La Barbera) Teresi. also natives
of Sicily. The family removed to the United States
in 1903. His father was engaged in the horticulture
business in his native country, and he had seven boys,
who were all thoroughly taught the orchard business;
three of them are now at home.

Joseph A. was educated in the grammar and high
schools of San Jose, graduating from the latter in
1919, after which he was employed as solicitor for the
California Prune and Apricot Growers' Association
for one year; then he purchased a thirty-eight-acre
orchard on the Uvas Road, which he still owns. In
July, 1921, with his father and three brothers, he
purchased the Sorosis Farm, consisting of 220 acres,
including the large packing plant on the place. The
place is in full-bearing orchards, 190 acres being in
prunes and the balance in peaches. In connection
they own the Sorosis water rights from Quito or
Campbell Creek. They have a large dam where the
creek enters the farm, which impounds sufficient
water to irrigate not only the Sorosis Farm, but also
a large tract below the dam. making a very valuable
water right. The headquarters of the ranch is im-
proved with good buildings, large drying yard with
a large evaporator and a plant equipped with pack-
ing facilities.

The marriage of Joseph A. Teresi occurred in Los
Gatos and united him with Miss Clara Lencioni, born
in San Jose. In politics Mr. Teresi is a Republican
and is a stalwart American citizen, proud of the pros-
perity and progressiveness of Santa Clara County.

ALFRED R. NELSON.— Coming to San Jose
from his home across the water more than thirty
years ago, Alfred R. Nelson has been privileged to
see much of the progress made in the Santa Clara
Valley during the past generation and he is enthus-
iastic over the great opportunities still awaiting in
this section. Mr. Nelson was born at Helsingborg,
Sweden, on July 16, 1872, spending his school days
there and being confirmed at the age of fourteen.
In 1889 he came across the ocean to America and
then on to San Jose, joining his uncle, Olaf Zack-

rison, w^ho had come to this country thirteen years
before. Mr. Nelson spent four years in the copper
mines, Bisbee, Ariz.. 1900-04, and on locating here
worked as a coachman for five years at Edenvale, and
then purchased ten acres of land on Chynoweth Ave-
nue, Edenvale. This property he later disposed of,
and in 1906, he bought his present home place of
fourteen acres on Cottle Road, where he has erected
a fine new residence, up-to-date in all its appoint-
ments. The whole place, including the orchard of
prunes and peaches, which he set out, shows the re-
sult of his skilled cart- and the years of hard work
he has spent in its upbuilding.

In 1900 Mr. Nelson was married to Miss Mattie
Olson, who was born in Sweden and came to CaH-
fornia in 1890. Five children have been born to
them: Alton, a rancher; Vanley L., attending school,
as is Olive L.; Melvin, deceased; Ivian L., in school.
Mr. Nelson became a full-fledged citizen of this coun-
try in 1893, and he has always been active in support
of any measures for the welfare of the community.
Ke is now serving his second term as trustee of the
Oak Grove school at Edenvale and is a member of
the California Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc.

MARION A. STILLENS.— A native of Wayne
Countv, Ind., where he first saw the light on August
9, 1848, Marion A. Stillens has found delightful re-
tirement in the Golden State in his comfortable home
on Capitol Avenue, just south of Alum Rock Avenue,
about two miles east of San Jose. He is a son of
Joseph and Clarisa (Decker) Stillens, the former a
native of Pennsylvania and a farmer, v/ho moved to
Moultrie County, 111. There were four children in
the family — Ezra, the oldest; Marion, our subject;
Martha, who is now deceased, and Millie, the young-
est, and with these the lad shared the benefits of a
common school education.

When nine years of age Marion accompanied his
parents to Moultrie County, 111., and when twenty-
three years of age he left the home ranch and on
April 23, 1872, was married to Miss Laverna Shields,
a native of Virginia. She was nine years old when
ner parents removed to Moultrie County, 111., where
she continued her education. .After their marriage
Mr. Stillens farmed for a while in Illinois, and later
he went to Hall County. Xebr., where he followed
agricultural pursuits for six years. He then returned
to Illinois and located at Arthur, in that state; and
for the remainder of the time that he was in the
Middle West he engaged in carpenter work. His
wife died in 1889 and he was married a second time,
in 1902. to Miss Jennie Carpenter, a native of Indiana.

In 1902 Mr. Stillens came out to California and
settled at Whittier, where he lived for a year and a
half, and as a market gardener he made a real suc-
cess of his enterprise. Coming north to Santa Clara
County in 1904 he purchased five acres of land on
Capitol Avenue, and this he set out to prunes and
vines. His good wife died in 1917, lamented by all
who had come to appreciate her sterling qualities.
By his first marriage Mr. Stillens had five children,
and their names are EUroy, Joseph, Bige, Melvin
and Wilbur; and by his last union he has a daughter,
Mrs. Mary Maude Beaudikofer, of San Jose. Mr.
Stillens has always taken a live interest in public
questions and always sought to do his full duty as a
litizen in civic affairs. He endeavors to keep him-
self independent of mere party bias, and so is far
freer to pull a hard and steady stroke with his fellows.

U^t<2^ejUi^^ ^^/i^Z^o^^^—

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1481

LAWRENCE C. GRUWELL.— An enterprising,
experienced and progressive horticulturist whose
success in helping to advance the state of California
horticulture and agriculture has stimulated others
to renewed and great efforts is Lawrence C. Gruwell,
who enjoys the esteem and hdelit}' of a large circle
of admiring friends. He was born on the old Melvin
Gruwell Ranch on Saratoga Avenue April 8, 1867, the
son of Melvin L. pnd Sarah (Wear) Gruwell, natives
of Indiana and Missouri, respectively. Melvin Gru-
well, who was born in 1826, was a merchant in In-
diana until he cossed the plains to California in
1852 and located m Santa Clara County. With a
partner. Benj. Stinson, he owned a 172-acre farm
where he resided until his death, in 1910; his wife
surviving him one year. Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Gru-
well were the parents of nine children: William, de-
ceased; Arthur J , deceased; Charles Lee, a horticul-
turist here; Martha A. who is in partnership with
our subject; Lydia became the wife of Jacob Breiten-
stein, also of this vicinity; Lawrence C, the subject
of this sketch; Theresa, Mrs. Vanderpeer of Oakland;
Kate, the widow of Jas. Hemphill, resides with her
mother and sister on the farm; Lou became the wife
of Joseph Hemphill, and resides at Roselawn. Melvin
Gruwell was a very successful man and everyone
.-■poke of him in terms of warm regard. He was an
adherent of the Democratic party and in religious
faith was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South. He had been a member of the
Vlasonic lodge for sixty-three years, when ho passed
p.way at the age of eighty-four.

Lawrence Gruwell received his education in the
public schools in his neighborhood. He assisted his
lather on the farm from the time he was a lad of
ten years and when he became a man and started
in as a farmer and has continued in that line, now
operating a farm of fifty-four acres which belongs
'o him and his two sisters. He has brought it to a
high degree of productiveness, having set it to prunes
and apricots, operating it with a tractor and most
tnodern implements. They have substantial farm
buildings, including a drying plant. Mr. Gruwell is
.m independent in his political views, voting with the
party that best expresses his convictions. He was
made a Mason in Liberty Lodge No. 299, F. & A. M.,
Santa Clara. He is also a member of the Improved
Order of Redmcn.

JEREMIAH J. O'BRIEN.— A successful agricul-
turist who has also proven that he can make good
in quite another field of useful endeavor, is Jeremiah
J. O'Brien, the rancher and manufacturer, at Wayne
Station on the Oakland Road, who was born in Santa
Clara County on the old Gish Ranch, just north of
San Jose, fir=t seeing the light there on June 6, 1870.
His father, Jeremiah J. O'Brien came out to Cali-
fornia in the '50s, a native of County Cork, Ireland,
endowed with the best qualities which have always
made an Irishman a desirable settler and citizen; and
he mined for a while near Virginia City before com-
ing further, into Santa Clara County. He had mar-
ried Miss Katherine Carey, obtaining thereby one of
the best of helpmates, and he leased the old Alviso
Ranch, of approximately 400 acres, north of San
Jose, which he handled in model fashion. Later he
leased the old Gish Ranch, where Jeremiah was born,
and afterward he bought the twenty acres under that
name devoted to the culture of pears.

Our subject attended the Orchard school, when it
stood on the bank of the Coyote Creek, and then re-
mained with his parents until he was twenty years
old, when he became foreman of the old R. D. Fox
nursery, of approximately 700 acres devoted to rais-
ing ornamental and fruit trees, and there he con-
tinued progressively active for ten years. Then he
took up farming for himself, leasing in all 260 acres,
and so well did he prosper that ever since he has been
committed to ranching. He manages the De Rosa
Ranch of eighty acres on Capitol Avenue, and also
a ranch on Gish Road. In 1918 he purchased 1,100
acres one and a half miles from Cottonwood, in
Shasta County; and 300 acres of this ranch is under
the Anderson ditch and is very successfully devoted
to the raising of alfalfa.

Mr. O'Brien's ranching in Santa Clara County is
carried on largely for the raising of fruit and vege-
tables, and he is also the owner of a plant for the
manufacture of berry-baskets, which he runs on a
gross percentage basis. The factory is situated on his
ranch, and there from ten to twenty workers turn
out about 5,000,000 berry baskets a year, each being
of the wooden tray type. In this enterprise, as in
everything he undertakes, Mr. O'Brien's natural
honesty dictates the policy to be pursued — a square
deal for the customer — with the inevitable result that
he has customers, and plentj' of them.

At San Jose, on January 7, 1903, Mr. O'Brien was
married to Miss Maude Monroe, a native of Loyal-
ton, Sierra Count}', Cal., and the daughter of Charles
Colin and Frances (Chandler) Monroe — the former
of Scotch descent and an early settler in California.
Two children have sprung from this union — Wayne
Henry is a sophomore in the University of S.3nta
Clara, and Jerold is a pupil in the Orchard grammar
school. For the past sixteen years Mr. O'Brien has
ueen a member of the board of trustees of the
Orchard school district and for the past twelve years
has served as its clerk. He is also the deputy
county assessor of the third supervisorial district.
In 1911 he purchased a home place of an acre and a
half at Wayne Station and, having built there a
home, he has lived there ever since. He is a member
of the Native Sons of the Golden West, and is a
oast president of the Palo Alto Parlor, now called
the Garden City Parlor of the N. S. G. W.

MRS. BETTY GWARTNEY.— A highly es-
teemed resident of the Mountain View district who
.s showing great capability in the management of
her ranch is Mrs. Bettie Gwartney, whose home is a
center of community progress and hospitality. She
was born in Mississippi and when only three years
old, came with her parents, Seth Gibbons, a native of
North Carolina, and Martha (Appling) Gibbons, a
native of Virginia. Her father was a farmer by occu-
pation, and left Mississippi directly after the Civil
War and coming to California settled in Merced
County, where he engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs.
Gibbons are the parents of six children, all of whom
are living, but both parents are deceased.

Mrs. Gwartney began her education in the public
schools; later she was graduated from the State
Normal School at San Jose and became a teacher,
first at Sutter Creek and later at Mayfield, Cal. At
her childhood home in Merced County, she was
married to Prof. J. G. Gwartney; he was a native
of Indiana and was educated in the grammar and
high schools of his native state; then he entered the

1482

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

State University at Lincoln, Nebr., and after remov-
ing to California entered the State Normal School
at San Jose, from which he graduated in 1891. He
later graduated from Stanford University with the
class of 1898, receiving the degree of A. B. Pro-
fessor and Mrs. Gwartney were sent by the U. S.
Government to teach in the Philippine Islands, Pro-
fessor Gwartney preceding his wife by two years,
teaching there for six years, while Mrs. Gwartney
taught there for four years. Through the influence
and efforts of Mrs. Gwartney a sanitary restaurant
was established in the Philippine Islands as a branch
of her teaching of domestic science, and this res-
taurant has been kept up and is still running. In
1907 they returned to their ranch in Mountain View,
and Prof. Gwartney passed away October 1, 1916,
at the age of fifty-six. While Mrs. Gwartney
gives most of her time and attention to the manage-
ment of her fifteen-acre ranch, she still is deeply in-
terested in educational matters, and is held in high
esteem by the residents of the community.

HERSCHEL JOHNSON.— A leader among the
public-spirited men of the Edenvale district in Santa
Clara County, Herschel Johnson holds an assured
place. He was born near Boulder, Colo., May 28,
1877, the son of Daniel and Phoebe Ann (Jamison)
Johnson, the former now deceased and the latter
residing in San Jose. Daniel Johnson was born in
Winnebago County, 111., November 23, 1844, and
when a lad was taken by his parents to Northeastern
Iowa, where the family settled on a farm and con-
tinued to farm until 1860. It was then news had been
spread that gold had been discovered in Coloraao
and the Johnson family, consisting of Daniel and
his sister and their parents, crossed the plains witli
an ox team and for a number of years Daniel
worked in one of the big smelters about Blackhawk
and Central. In 1868 he located on a farm near
Boulder and in 1870 he was united in marriage with
Miss Phoebe Ann Jamison, who had accompanied
her parents across the plains with an ox-team train
from Missouri. Their party were continually seeing
the ruins of trains that had been destroyed by Indians,
but were fortunately not attacked. In 1879, with his
family, Daniel Johnson moved his stock to Northern
Colorado at the head waters of the Big Laramie
River and took up land and became interested in
raising stock. At that period wild game was in
abundance and for sixteen years this was the home
of the family. In 1895 Mr. Johnson came to Cali-
fornia to attend the Mid-Winter Fair and at the
."lame time bought a ranch of seventy acres in the
Santa Clara Valley, near Edenvale. He sold out
his interests in Colorado and removed with his fam-
ily to their new possessions and he engaged in the
orchard business until his retirement in 1907, when
he retired to San Jose and there he died, on Janu-
ary 23, 1920, at the home he had purchased on South
Seventh Street and where Mrs. Johnson still lives.
Their five children are, Orian C, of Cressey, Cal.;
Eslor F., in Fresno; Edith M , Mrs. J. P. Arnold of
Richmond, Cal ; Herschel, of this review, and Bertha,
Mrs. J. D. Arnold of San Jose.

Herschel Johnson attended the schools of the dis-
tricts in which the family lived in Colorado and
finished at the Oak Grove school on the Cottle Road.
He assisted his father in the development of the
ranch and made a study of horticulture. In 1915 he
bought his present place of thirty acres on Cottle

Road and has developed a fine prune orchard. He
also owns twenty acres of the old home place just
off the Cottle Road, this property he had helped his
father develop into a prune ranch. He is a hard
.vorker and also ever ready to learn and applies the
most modern methods in taking care of his orchards
and is being well rewarded in the practical results
he ha.s obtained. He believes in cooperation and is
a member of the California Prune and Apricot Asso-
ciation, Inc., and in all progressive movements for
the betterment of his community is always ready to
lend a helping hand.

The marriage of Herschel Johnson on June 21,
1906, at San Jose, united him with Miss Mary Eliza-
beth Bader, the only daughter of P'rederick and Ada
(Boot) Bader, natives of Germany and England re-
spectively. She has an only brother, Felix Bader,
now residing at Carter, Mont. Mr. Bader was born
in Germany on August 8, 1850, was brought by his
parents, J. G. and Mary E. (Messinger) Bader, to
America when three years old and reared in Allen
County, Ohio, until 1862, when they removed to
near Des Moines, Iowa, and continued farming. The
elder Bader served all through the Civil War with
Sherman and Grant. In 1866 Mr. Bader went to
Boulder, Colo., and while living there his wife died
in 1906. He and his family had spent a year, 1902-
1903 in California, but returned to Colorado. After
the death of his wife he spent part of his time in
Colorado and part in California, making the home of
his daughter his headquarters. In 1908 he practically
••etircd, having sold his interests in Colorado. Mr.
and Mrs. Johnson are parents of three children, all
attending the Oak Grove school, H. Lorcn, Hortense
E., and Florence Josephine. The family are highly
respected by all who know them and take an active
part in all civic activities of their neighborhood.

GEORGE E. PUTERBAUGH.— P r o m i n e n t
among the successful prosthetic dentists of Santa
Clara County is George E. Puterbaugh, who has
attained a high standing in his professional
career. His skilful work inspires confidence in his
patients, and invariably wins the regard and esteem
of all with whom he comes in contact. A native of
Iowa, he was born January 25, 1893, in Clarinda, a
son of John W. and Mollie (Barnett) Puterbaugh.
The father, John W., is a lineal descendant of the
great Puterbaugh family, pioneers of Illinois. He
resides in Chicago and is engaged in the automobile
business. The mother was born in Clarinda, a
daughter of John Barnett, a native of Virginia, who
came to California during the gold rush of 18^9.
He established a trading post at PlacerviUe, but later
farmed at Evergreen, and was a prominent pioneer
of Santa Clara County. The family moved to Ore-
gon when George was a small child of two years and
remained there for two years; at the end of that time
they came to California and settled in San Jose. His
education was obtained in the public schools of this
city; then he entered the machine shop belonging
to his father, and became a thorough auto-mechanic.
During the years of 1913-1916 he spent in auto racing
as a mechanician with a Mercer car, racing at Los
Angeles, Corona, San Francisco and San Diego;
other notables in these races were De Palma, Dario
Rcsta, Barney Oldfield, Eddie Rickenbacker and
others. He then began the study of prosthetic den-
tistry, serving an apprenticeship in dental labora-
tories in San Jose and San Francisco and in the

I)\, TO</Vy\Ajurx>^M^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1485

meantime taking courses in this line in the Southern
Branch of the University of California at Los An-
geles. In 1916 he first enlisted in the United States
Field Artillery for service on the border, after his
discharge returning to his profession. During the
World War he enlisted in the United States Dental
Corps and was commissioned a first lieutenant and
assigned to duty in the American Red Cross with the
Czecho-Slovak army, doing prosthetic dentistry in
Siberia, going inland 300 miles to Omsk. After the
close of his term of one year's service he returned
to California and received his honorable discharge.
Returning to San Jose he soon thereafter established
his own business.

The marriage of Mr. Puterbaugh in 1917 united
him with Miss Irene Milbury, a native of California,
born in Visalia. Mr. and Mrs. Puterbaugh are the
parents of one child, Melville. In January, 1920, he
established the Puterbaugh Dental Laboratory, lo-
cated in the Twohy Building in San Jose. He em-
ploys several assistants to take care of his large
and growing practice. He also does expert work for
leading dentists as far south as San Luis Obispo and
north to San Mateo. Fraternally he is a popular
member of Fraternity' Lodge No 399, F. & A. M.,
and of the Knights of Pythias. He enjoys a lucrative
Rnd extensive patronage and well deserves the esteem
and respect in which he is held in the community.

RALPH FARNSWORTH.— Two old-time Cali-
fornia families of more than passing interest are rep-
resented in the life-stories of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph
Farnsworth of San Jose, the former a native of
Amador County, where he was born on January 30,
1866, and the latter a native of Sutter County. Mr.
Farnsworth's father was Junius Farnsworth, born
in Ohio in 1831, and his mother before her marriage
was Ann Maria Scott, one of the well-known Scotts
who came to California in 1850, taking six months
to cross the great plains. Junius Farnswortli came
out in 1852, and he sailed all the way around the
Horn in order to get here. He became a merchant
at lone, and later went to Stockton; and from there
until he was eighty-one years old he traveled as
salesman for the Aurora Mills of Stockton, in which
city he lived until the age of eighty-nine years, ten
months and fifteen days when he died in July, 1921.
His wife, who is seventy-nine, is still living.

Ralph Farnsworth attended the public schools at
lone, and when eighteen years of age started out to
make his own way in the world. Taking up railroad-
ing, he entered the service of the Southern Pacific,
and finally became a passenger conductor. From
1888 to 1894, he ran out of Sacramento, and from
1897 to 1900 he ran on the Bakersfield and Point
Richmond division of the Santa Fe. In 1900 he
again joined the Southern Pacific, and for two years
he continued with that company. Since 1902 he has
lived in San Jose, where he has followed the work
of building up a business and then selling it at the
proper profit. Among the lines exploited in this
legitimate manner are the restaurant, cigar-stand, pool
hall and garage. In 1918 he joined T. J. Callahan
in the auto accessories trade, and now they carry a
full line and do principally a wholesale business cov-
ering Santa Clara Valley, Hollister, Watsonville and
Santa Cruz. He is also especially interested in the
Gilroy Midway Oil Company in the McKittrick field,
and he has been very successful in his oil dealings.

At San Francisco on September 24, 1902, Mr.
Farnsworth was united in marriage with Miss Annie
H. Graves, born in 1874, the daughter of Henry and
Mary A. (Terstegge) Graves, pioneers of Sutter
County, the former descended from good old New
England stock, born in Connecticut. He came to
California in 1849, crossing the plains and after min-
ing for a time went to San Francisco and with others
bought a quantity of supplies and a whalcboat and
started for the end of navigable waters up the Sacra-
mento to sell to the miners. After this venture he
bought land in Sutter County, became a rancher and
stockraiser and lived there until he died at the age
of fifty-eight. Mrs. Graves came across the plains
from Indiana in 1852, met and married Mr. Graves
and lived to the age of eighty-seven. Mr. and Mrs.
Farnsworth have one daughter, Ruth A., a graduate
of the San Jose high school and now doing post-
graduate work there. Mrs. Farnsworth is a member
of the Native Daughters. Mr. Farnsworth is a
thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a
Shriner; also a member of the Woodmen of the
World and the Native Sons; and is enrolled among
the members of the Chamlier of Commerce and the
Auto Trades .A.ssociation.

EARL E. KESLING.— A comfortably-situated
orchard owner who has found that California offers
the best of inducements to the horticulturist, is Earl
E. Kesling, who lives on the Sierra Road one and a
half miles east of Berryessa. He is a , native son,
and was born in Santa Clara County, on the Morrill
Road, on May 5, 1897, the son of Ernest N. and
Amelia Kesling. His father was a native of Ohio.
v,hile his mother came from Pennsylvania; and they
V ere married in Ohio and moved westward to Cali-
fornia in 1895. Mr. Kesling was an orchardist, and
boasted a very trim twenty-acre ranch devoted to
prunes and apricots on the Morrill Road. They had
a family of four children; and besides the eldest, our
subject, there were Carroll, lone and Eileen. In
1905 Mr. Kesling died, and the next year Mrs. Kesling
sold out the home place.

That same year, Mrs. Kesling purchased a ranch
of forty acres on Sierra Road, devoted to the raising
of prunes and apricots, and after a while she was mar-
ried a second time to William K. Luce. One daughter
by this second marriage is named Grace, and she is
aitending the Berryessa school. Mr. Luce, the step-
f:,lher, was killed in 1918, while oiling the pump drive-
shaft; it is supposed that his clothing caught in the
machinery, but whatever the cause, he was hurled to
the bottom of the well-pit. This tragedy left the
devoted mother a second time a widow.

Earl Kesling attended the Berryessa grammar
school, and then completed the courses of the San
Jose high school, and after that he studied for two
years at the College of the Pacific. The great World
War then appealed tremendously to his patriotic in-
stincts, and in November, 1917, he enlisted to fight
for Uncle Sam. He was sent to Berkeley and be-
came a flying cadet in the Aviation School, and after
that he was transferred to Rockwell Field. Cali-
fornia, where he was trained for three months and
v.as then commissioned second lieutenant. Next he
was sent to Dallas, Texas, where he spent one month
in a concentration camp, from whence he went to
Dayton, Ohio, and trained for one month at the
Wilbur Wright field. Then he was granted a fur-
lough home, and on his returning to duty, he went

1486

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to Mineola Field, L. I., and on October 17, 1918.
sailed for Southhampton. He crossed the channel
to Havre, France, and at Issodoun, in that country, he
trained until January, 1919. Then he was transferred
to Grande, France, and after that he went to Coblenz,
with the Army of Occupation. He left Germany in
July of the same year, and on August 12, 1919, sailed
from Brest, France, with just one port in view — the
metropolis of the United States. He was hon-
orably discharged at the Presidio, at San Francisco,
on August 25, 1919, after which he made haste to
return home. With his brother, he is at present ruii-
nmg the forty-acre orchard on Sierra Road.

While in France, Mr. Kesling was assigned to a
lursuit squadron, and although he was not in actual
f'-ont-line duty, he flew along the front frequently.

Mr. Kesling is a popular member of the American
Legion — as might be expected when one knows the
popularity of his father among both the Masons and
the Odd Fellows of San Jose, and is a broad-minded
Republican. At San Jose, on September 22. 1918.
he was married to Miss Cora Scales, a native of
-North Carolina and the daughter of Frank and Anna
Scales. Her parents had removed to California about
1914, and are now living retired in San Jose. Mr.
and Mrs. Kesling are the parents of one child, a boy
named Ernest F.

FRED LAWRENCE FOSTER. — Prominent
pniong the professional and business men of San
Jose, is Fred Lawrence Foster, the president of the
Foster Optical Company, a resident of San Jose for
twent}'-two years, and for seventeen years the head
of the company which bears his name. He was born
on March 9. 1868. at Ehzabeth. N. J., and was the
son of Frederick and Margaret (Todd) Foster. Both
parents arc living in New York City; the father, who
is now eighty-nine years old, was one of the officers
of the first safe deposit company in New York; he
and a friend, having the distinction of originating the
safe deposit idea. Fred was educated in private
schools in New York and later took special training
in his chosen profession at college in Philadelphia.
He came to San Jose in January, 1900, and estab-
lished the business in which he is now engaged,
which was incorporated in 1905.

Mr. Foster's marriage united him with Miss Mary
Halsey, who is a native of San Jose, and they are
the parents of three children: Margaret Vail, Emma
Louise, and Lawrence Halsey. Mr. Foster is a char-
ter member of the Lions Club and is an active mem-
ber of the Chamber of Commerce. He has served
many years as director of the Merchants Association
and during the war was vice-chairman of the War
Work Council, his district embracing many of the
professional men. Mr. Foster takes a keen interest
in his work as an optometrist and keeps abreast with
the latest developments and modern ideas by frequent
post-graduate studies. Well-known in his profes-
sion, he has served as a delegate to many conven-
tions in various cities.

KARL F. KENNEDY.— An honored representa-
live of early pioneers of California, back through two
generations. Karl F. Kennedy stands high in the
professional and civic life of the community where
he was reared and where he has made his home. His
grandfather, James Faris Kennedy, was one of Cali-
fornia's earliest permanent white settlers. Descended
from Revolutionary stock, his grandfather having
been an officer in the Revolutionary War. James F.

Kennedy was born in Bucks County, Pa., January
18, 1810, but was reared in Philadelphia, where his
parents settled when he was a child. Leaving there
at the age of twenty-one, he traveled through various
parts of the country, being employed for several
years at the lead mines at Galena, 111. As an agent
for Commodore Stockton, he came to California in
1850 and had charge of Commodore Stockton's tract
of land, consisting of 3,000 acres, lying between San
Jose and Santa Clara. In the fall of 1360 he located
near Los Gatos, where he purchased a large ranch.
He became extensiveh' interested in horticulture, in
which he met with good success, and likewise ac-
quired fame as an expert stock breeder, and raising
some of the finest thoroughbred horses ever bred in
Santa Clara Valley. A strong Republican in his
political affiliations, he was at one time the candidate
for lieutenant-governor, running on the ticket with
Leland Stanford. At the time of his death, in 1864,
he was sheriiT of Santa Clara County. Mrs. Kennedy,
who was Serena Salter of Philadelphia before her
marriage, survived him until June, 1888. They were
the parents of six children: William C, James F.,
Samuel T., Edwin A., Mrs. Clara C. Bray and Robert
F. James F. Kennedy served as Adjutant General
of California during the Civil War and as he was a
strong Union man he quelled many a secessionist
movement in the state and thus did much toward
keeping California from seceeding from the Union.

William C. Kennedy, the father of our subject,
was the eldest son of James F. Kennedy. He was
born in Philadelphia in 1844, and when only a lad was
brought to California by his parents, in 1852, via the
Isthmus of Panama. He grew up at San Jose, and
graduating from banta Clara College in 1868, was
.idmitted to the bar in the state of Nevada in 1871,
where he practiced for a time. On locating in San
Jose, he at once took his place as a leader in the
legal profession in this part of the state, continuing
his practice until his death, which occurred in 1912,
His marriage united him with Miss Kate Moody,
daughter of Chas. Moody and a native of San Jose,
and a sister of the late Mrs. Eugene T. Sawyer.
Mrs. William C. Kennedy, who still makes her home
at San Jose, is descended from the Lee family of
Virginia, her mother being a cousin of the famous
General Robert E. Lee.

The only son of his parents, Karl F. Kennedy was
horn at San Jose, March 21, 1880, and here the early
years of his life were spent. After his preliminary
education was finished, he entered Stanford Univer-
sity, completing the legal course there in 1904, and
was admitted to the bar in 1905. Following in the
footsteps of his father, he entered the practice of law,
practicing at San Jose and San Francisco for a period
of over thirteen years. During the World War Mr.
Kennedy gave up his professional work to ofTer his
services to his country, and was stationed in France
as secretary of the Y. M. C. A. work, attached to
the French army until after the armistice. He then
entered the Morale Department of the United States
Army, being appointed by Secretary of War Baker,
and holding the rank of first lieutenant. On his
return to California, after completing his services,
he became representative for The Safe-Cabinet Com-
pany of Marietta, Ohio, and is their distributor in
six counties south of San Francisco: San Mateo,
Santa Clara, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz and

(/f^^C^/^^-^^wi^^ v^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1489

San Luis Obispo. His position is largely advisory
to public bodies, professional and business men,
showing the advisability and legal necessity of pro-
tecting valuable documents and papers from fire and
theft. This is only possible by presenting expert
analysis of record values and the losses resulting
from their destruction. Mr. Kennedy is said to be
;he leading expert along these lines in this locality.

At Suisun, Cal., in 1912, Mr. Kennedy Vvas married
to Miss Ellen Downing of that place, where she was
born, the daughter of Dr. William Greene Downing
of Suisun, her education having been completed at
Mills College. Three children have been born to
ihem: Jean, Karl i'.. Jr., and Barbara, and the
family now make tlicir home in Santa Clara.

REV. JOHN C. GRISEZ, S. J.— A man of schol-
arly attainments and a sincere and devoted servant
in behalf of a cause to which he has voluntarily given
the best energies of his life, Rev. John C. Grisez,
S. J., pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church of San
Jose, is a native son of California, his birth having
occurred in Colusa on December 25, 1876. His father,
Celestine J. Grisez, was born in Ohio and in 1874 he
made his way to California. For many years he fol-
lowed the occupation of farming, but since 1916 has
been mechanical engineer at the University of Santa
Clara. He is a very devout and earnest Christian and
his life has ever been guided by high and honorable
principles. He married Miss Mary Maudru, also a
native of the Buckeye State, and they have become
the parents of eleven children. Mary, an older sis-
ter of the subject of this review, has since 1889 been
a member of the order now known as Evangelista.

Father Grisez attended the public schools of Siski-
you County, Cal., to the age of thirteen, when he
entered St. Ignatius College at San Francisco, where
he pursued his studies until April 18, 1892, when he
entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Los Gatos, there pur-
suing a course in Latin, Greek and English. In 1895
he completed his classical work and two years later
went to St. Louis, Mo., where he received three years
of university training in philosophy. From 1900 until
1905 he was an instructor at the University of Santa
Clara and in the latter year became a student in the
School of Theology at Woodstock, Md., which he
attended for three years. In 1908 he was ordained
to the Jesuit priesthood at Spokane, Wash., by Bishop
O'Dea of Seattle. His first charge was that of as-
sistant pastor of the parish at Missoula, Mont., where
he remained for four years, working untiringly to
build up the parish. In 1912 he went to Poughkeepsie,
N. Y., where he completed the Tertianship or the
third year of probation in the Jesuit Order, and in
1913 he was placed in charge of the educational de-
partment of St. Ignatius Church of San Francisco.
He was very active in the discipline educational
branch of the church, with which he was connected
until 1914, and the following year he acted as chap-
lain for students at St. Ignatius College. In 1915-16
he was superintendent and business manager at the
University of Santa Clara and the next year was
spent at Los Angeles as chaplain and manager of
Loyola College of Southern California. On July 31,
1918, he was made pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic
Church at San Jose, of which he has since had
charge, his parish now being a large one. He gives
his whole heart to the work and under his guidance
the influence of the church has constantly broadened.
He is also ex-officio member of the parochial

school of St. Joseph's Church. He is a man of
strong intellectual powers, an earnest student and a
deep thinker, and his life has been one of usefulness
and far-reaching influence.

WESTERN INDUSTRIES COMPANY.—
.\mong the varied enterprises which are important
factors in the business development and material up-
building of California and the Santa Clara Valley
the Western Industries Company figures conspicu-
ously. Thrir distill' ly is located at Agnew, on land
which v.as iniinnix liic homestead of the late James
Lick, and r. pi r-i iiN a large investment. This is the
largest distillery now in operation west of the
Mississippi River.

The officers and principal stockholders of the
Western Industries Company reside at San Fran-
cisco. Cal. The business was incorporated in 1903
for the manufacture of brandy and other spirituous
liquors, but since the passage of the Volstead Act
its production has been limited by the Government
manufacturing acohol for industrial, medicinal and
scientific purposes. It is subject to strict Govern-
mental regulations and is under the direct super-
vision of the internal revenue bureau, which main-
tains officers on the premises. The raw material
used is molasses, obtained from the Hawaiian
Islands, and the company pays strict regard to sani-
tation and the puritA' of its products, so that its out-
put is of the highest grade.

REV. FATHER M. A. DA CRUZ.— A pious,
scholarly and distinguished representative of the Ro-
man Catholic Church, whose life, work and influence
in the promotion of every good movement for the
general welfare of the community have made him
esteemed and endeared throughout Santa Clara
County, is the Rev. Father M. A. Da Cruz, a native
of Lisbon, Portugal, where he was born on August
IS, 1872, the son of Antonio and Miquilina A. (Soares)
Da Cruz. His father was a merchant in Lisbon, and
one who \\a- widel\- honored for his integrity and
hi> euterini.^t ; and he gave the best possible home
to his tivr I hilflren, three of whom are still living.
Edward aud Alljcrt are deceased; but our subject, the
eldest, has two Ijrothers — August, who is at present
in Brazil, and Armando, who is in Lisbon.

M. A. Da Cruz attended the Lisbon public schools,
and in time pursued his theological course at the
Seminario Conciliar Braga, at Lisbon, and he was
o'-dained as priest at Braga. in the year 1899. He
then had three charges, all in the Diocese of Porto,
in Portugal, before he came out to America, and they
were the parishes of Moldes at Arouca, Serzedo at
\ ilia Nova of Gaya, and Maceda at Ovar. In 1908,
he came to the United States and received his ap-
pointment as assistant pastor to the Half Moon Bay
parish of Pescadero, where he remained two years.

He was then transferred for a couple of months
to Ocean View, at San Francisco, and after that
was appointed assistant pastor of the Slavonia Church
in San Francisco, where he officiated one year. He
was then put in charge of the San Leandro Church,
of which he was assistant pastor for seven and one-
half years, and from there he came to Hayward as
assistant pastor. At the end of seven months, how-
ever, he was again transferred and put in charge of
three parishes. San Pablo, Pinol and Rodeo, and he
retained that charge for nine months. For a month
he was pastor of the new Pescadero Church, when
he was appointed to Milpitas, where he now ministers

1490

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to the spiritual wants of many, to the satisfaction
of all. St. John's has a membership of over 500
souls, and the present edifice, which was built after
the first church had been destroyed by fire, has been
in existence, an ornament to the town, for the past
twenty years. Father Da Cruz is an accomplished
linguist, speaking five languages, Italian, French,
Spanish and English. He was secretary to the
Patriarch of India, while yet a student, and was
with him in Rome, Paris, Vienna and other cities
of southern Europe, then went with him to India,
Panjim, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and other cities.

CHARLES A. HUNT.— Noteworthy as one of the
active and prosperous native-born residents of San
Jose, and as a man of unlimited energy, Charles A.
Hunt is deserving of more than passing notice in
this work. Of substantial pioneer ancestry, he was
born May 5, 1882, in San Jose, a son of Ephraim M.
and Betsy A. (Cornwell) Hunt. Ephraim M. Hunt
migrated to California in 1858, and Betsy A. Corn-
well came in the year 1868. They were married in
Redwood City, Cal., and for thirty years, Ephraim M.
Hunt conducted a feed and livery business, becoming
well known throughout this section of California.

Charles A. Hunt received his education in the
grammar and high schools, later taking a business
college course. From 1902 to 1919, he was employed
b\ a local firm of opticians, but determined on estab-
li.^hing his own business and feeling that he must be
better equipped, he entered the Los Angeles Medical
School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, and re-
mained there for si.x months. Upon his return to
San Jose, he opened up business for himself, which
has prospered from its inception.

Mr. Hunt's marriage united him with Miss Bina
J. Garvin, who is also a native of the Golden State.
They have one child, Mildred L. Fraternally Mr.
Hunt is a member of the Elks and Observatory
Parlor No. 177, N. S. G. W., and is a great lover
of all outdoor sports. He takes considerable pride
in advancing the general interests of his town and
county and is regarded as a booster where the wel-
fare of either is concerned.

MANUEL F. GEORGE.— An industrious, progres-
sive and successful rancher whose prosperity no one
will envy is Manuel F. George, developer of one of
the finest farms in Santa Clara County, eight miles
to the east of Milpitas in the Calaveras Valley. He
is a native son, and first saw the light at Half Moon
Bay, in San Mateo County, on August 21, 1888. His
father was Joseph F. George, a native of Fayal,
Azores Islands, but his mother, who reared with af-
fection nine children, passed away when he was so
young that he has little recollection of her. The other
members of the family are Mary, Rose, Jose, Frank,
Elizabeth, Angle, Domingos and Minnie George.
Joseph F. George died in 1915.

About 1880 his father came from the Azores, and
when Manuel was six years old Mr. George removed
from San Mateo to Santa Clara County where he
farmed on a ranch of 180 acres in the hills on the
Calaveras Valley Road, and conducted a large dairy.
Manuel was sent to the Laguna School, and after
that he remained on the ranch with his father until
he was of age. At the age of twenty-one Manuel left
home and for five years worked on the Carson
Brothers' ranch, and then for a short time he was on
the Sierra Prescott place; and when he made his
next move, about seven years ago, he came into the

Calaveras Valley and leased 1100 acres devoted to
the raising of grain and hay. Much of this acreage
lies a beautiful stretch of flat valley land, and it is
not surprising that the crops have been bountiful.
Those familiar with Mr. George's advanced way of
doing things will also not be surprised to learn that
he uses both horse and tractor power in his exten-
sive and varied operations.

At Milpitas on February 19, 1914, Manuel F. George
was married to Miss Mary Foster, a native of Castro-
ville, in Monterey County, and the daughter of John
and Mary Ferreria Foster, natives of St. George in
the Azores. Her father went to sea when he was
thirteen years old, shipping on a whaler, and as a
youth he had wonderful experiences on the high seas.
Ip his eighteenth year he came to and settled in
California and worked on one ranch after another,
and later, in Alameda County, he acquired a dairy
ranch for himself. This worthy couple had eleven
children, among whom the eldest was Mary,
while the others were named Isabelle, Joseph, Tere-
sa. John, Rose, Margaret, Agnes, Frank, Antone and
Edward. When she was eighteen years of age,
Mary Foster accompanied her folks to Santa Clara
Countj', and there continued her schooling; and the
fruits of her study are evident in her accomplish-
ments as wife, mother and hostess. Mr. and Mrs.
George have two children, William and Manuel, and
both parents are Republicans.

DOMINGOS A. SILVA.— An industrious, go-
ahead rancher who has something to show today for
his enterprise and hard work, is Domingos A. Silva,
a native of the Island of Pico, in the Azores, where
he was born in 1863, the son of Joseph and Frances
A. Silva. His father was a farmer, who lived to be
over eighty years of age; while his mother attained
her ninetieth year before she died. When Domingos
was seventeen years of age, he came out to the
United States and California; and in 1881 he was
fortunate in reaching Milpitas, where for eight years
he worked for wages. By that time, however, he was
able to go to ranching on shares, and for ten years
he farmed in conjunction with others. In 1916 he
purchased the ranch of eighty acres just off of Pied-
mont Road, about three miles east of Milpitas, and
he continued to devote the land to genera! farming,
the raising of fruit and vegetables. His methods, the
modern implements and machinery he employs, and
his touch with conditions in the progressing world
outside, all contribute to enable him to keep his
farm in an up-to-date shape, attractive to the eye and
as highly productive as the conditions of soil, climate
and the cooperation of science will permit.

At Milpitas, on June H, 1902, Mr. Silva was mar-
ried to Miss Belle E. Sousa, a native of Warmsprings
and the daughter of Joaquin and Rose E. (Costa)
Souza. Her father came to California when he was
a young man, a native of Graciosa in the Azores, and
he engaged in market-gardening near Warmsprings.
When Belle Souza was seven years old, she accom-
panied her parents to the Azores on a visit; and upon
their return to California, her father settled on the
Mf. Hamilton Road, and for eight years ranched in
the Calaveras Valley. Later, he went to Warm-
springs again and worked on the Curtner Ranch; and
then he purchased a ranch for himself on the Demp-
sey Road, east of Milpitas, where he lives today at
the age of seventy-six, still active on the farm, as-
sisted by his wife, who enjoys the best of health for

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1491

one of her age. These worthy pioneers had eight
children, three boys and five girls; and among them
the daughter Belle was the fourth. Mr. Silva is a
Republican; and when the duties of his farm and
domestic life have been discharged, he lends a hand
in the service of good citizenship.

Mr. and Mrs. Silva have been blessed with a family
of thirteen children, by each of which they have
done the best they could in home, schooling and a
start in life. Isabelle, their first-born, lived only eight
months to receive their loving care; Domingos is in
Milpitas; Isabelle, the second so named, is at home;
and Mary, Manuel, Candido and Rosie are the next;
Clarence died as an infant; the ninth in the family,
v.as also named Clarence; then came Edward, Ade-
lira, who died when she was two months old; Annie,
and Frank Ernest, who died when one month old.

CHARLES C. REED, JR.— A native son of Cali-
fornia, Charles C. Reed, special agent for the New
York Life Insurance Company, was born and reared
in Santa Clara County. He was born in San Jose
on July 10, 1873, and is the son of Charles C. and
Mary Imogene (Bergler) Reed, both natives of the
Golden State. The grandfather, James Frazier Reed,
was a member of the ill-fated Donner party, many
of whom perished at Donner Lake on their way to
California in 1846; his maternal grandmother was
also a pioneer of California, who crossed the plains
in 1856 and settled in San Jose. James Frazier Reed
and his wife were the parents of six children; the
family resided in San Jose and it was here that
James Frazier Reed died. The family of Charles C.
Reed, Sr., consisted of four children, Charles C. Reed,
Jr., being the eldest son. Charles C. attended the
public schools of San Jose and graduated from the
San Jose high school. His early days were spent on
a farm with his father who was engaged in grain
and stock raising. For twenty-five years Charles C.
Reed, Jr., was employed by the largest lumber firms
in California, and during this time was manager of
the filing room of the Weed Lumber Company in
Siskiyou County and later was with the Union Lum-
ber Company at Fort Bragg.

On January 14, 1903, Mr. Reed was married to
Miss Jo Vollmer, whose birth occurred at Big Rap-
ids, near Grand Rapids, Mich., the daughter of Al-
bert A. and Rose Margaret (Reck) Vollmer. Her
father was a merchant in Michigan at that time, but,
when Mrs. Reed was a child of four, her parents re-
moved to California, settling near Campbell, where
the father owned an extensive fruit ranch. It was
here her father passed away in 1911 and her mother
in 1907. Mrs. Reed was educated in the grammar
and high schools of San Jose, later attending the
San Jose Business College. Two children have been
born to Mr. and Mrs. Reed, Charles Abner and
Frazier O. Reed.

In 1917 Mr. Reed retired from the lumber busi-
ness and returning with his family to San Jose en-
tered the employ of the New York Life Insurance
Company and has remained with them continuously
from that time. He has met with splendid success in
his new field and is now the special agent of the
company at San Jose. Fraternally, Mr. Reed is a
member of San Jose Lodge of Elks. He is also a
member of the 100% Club and charter member of
the Commercial Club. Politically, Mr. Reed is a Re-

publican, giving stalwart allegiance to that party.
His life has ever been the expression of business
enterprise, of upright and patriotic principles.

DR. W. H. BUTTON.— An excellent horseman and
veterinarian. Dr. \V. H. Button has made his own
way in the world since a young boy of nine years, his
father having lost his life as a soldier in the Civil
War. He was born in Clinton County, Mich., Feb-
luary 23, 1857, the son of De La Fayette and Cath-
erine (Hane) Button. The father was born in Ohio
and he and Miss Hane were married there and came
to Michigan about 1855. The father enlisted in the
Civil War in 1862 from Morris, Grundy County, 111.,
ill Company C of the Seventy-sixth Illinois Volun-
teer Infantry, and drilled at Kankakee, 111. He
served for almost three years, then was wounded
in a skirmish and was sent home and on May 10,
1865, passed away at the age of thirty-nine years.
Dr. Button is the fifth of a family of six children.
In the spring of 1866, he left home, being only nine
years old, and went to the northwestern part of Iowa
in Kossuth County. He was among the pioneers of
that part of Iowa and trapped beaver on the Des
Moines River for a livelihood; and when ten years
of age he broke up forty acres of virgin prairie sod
with two yokes of oxen, barefooted among the snakes.
He knew nothing but the hardest kind of work, but
withal he managed to attend the common schools
and received a fair education. After a few years
spent in Iowa he went back to Illinois and worked
for Hyal Isham, a horseman of note in his day, and
caring for, training and riding race horses for Jim
Keltner, a noted racer of running horses at Morris,
111.; then for five years he followed the race track,
riding running horses at races; he became a favorite
and was a successful rider, becoming an expert rider
and was called "Billy Button." His riding attracted
the attention of the famous circus man .\dam Fore-
paugh, who offered him flattering inducements to join
his circus. During his five years of riding he be-
came too heavy, but being a lover of horses he took
up the training and driving of trotting and pacing
horses, and was successful in developing trotting
horses. In 1883 he went to work for the Santa Fe
railroad, starting as fireman and worked up until he
was conductor. In a railroad accident he lost his
right foot, which incapacitated him for railroad work.
Before his accident he was a sprinter of note, being
one of the best one-mile runners in the United
States. In a fifty-mile race, which he run in eight
hours and four minutes, he won the championship
belt of Illinois. This race was described in full in
the Peoria Transcript of April 9, 1881. He fortu-
riately owned eighty acres of land near Leavenworth,
Kansas, and being obliged to give up railroad work,
he settled on his ranch in Kansas.

Dr. Button's marriage occurred in Emporia, Kans.,
and united him with Miss Emma E. Tomlinson, born
near Rochester, Minn. Mrs. Button has two brothers
residing in Los Angeles. As a young man. Dr. Button
studied with Dr. Tenant of Ionia, Mich., and re-
ceived elementary instruction in anatomy, medicine
and surgery. After losing his foot, he matriculated
at the Chicago Veterinarian College from which he
was graduated in 1895. He then removed to Los
Angeles and practiced his profession and was ap-
pointed assistant livestock inspector and veterinary
for the Los Angeles Transfer Company; he then
went to Riverside, Cal., and was appointed county live-

1492

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

stock inspector; then removed to Santa Rosa, where
kis brother Eugene R. Button, a newspaperman is
associated with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Dr.
Button remained in Santa Rosa until after the earth-
quake of 1906, then went to Turlock, Cal., and was
the first veterinarian to locate there. He purchased
a business block and practiced successfully until he
sold out in 1911. He then spent some time in travel-
ing throughout the United States as a horseman and
veterinarian, and for a short time was occupied in a
special veterinarian line in Washington, D. C. During
1919 he located in Mountain View and has built up a
good business and he and his family are highly
regarded in the community. Dr. and Mrs. Button
are the parents of two daughters: Flossie L. is the
wife of George M. Bobst, a contractor and builder
at Mountain View; they are the parents of three chil-
dren— Fred, Bessie, and Gladys; Nina Fay is the
wife of Q. N. Shadel, agent for the Santa Fe at
Colton, Cal., and they have one child, Billy. Dr.
Button is an enthusiastic booster for Mounfain View
and is an active member of the Chamber of Com-
merce. He is the owner of several fast horses, a
trotter, Kiss Kee Dec, and a pacer, Prince Edward.

FRANK R. MACHADO.— A very successful dairy
rancher is Frank R. Machado, who is farming north
of Mountain View on 111 acres of his own lying east
of the Sterling Road, after having recently sold off
some eighty acres. He has one of the best dairy
farms in that section, and his many friends are pleased
that he enjoys the reputation of a well-to-do, public-
spirited man. He was born in the Island of Terceira,
in the Azores group, in 1866, and when twenty-one
years of age came out to California, and in the inter-
vening forty years he has rendered himself and
family independent. The greater part of this time
he was in San Mateo County, where he married
and where most of his children were born; and the
result of his long and faithful apprenticeship is that
he is an excellent dairy farmer, a good judge of milch
cows and dairy cattle and products. He buys and
sells a great deal; but he manages to keep one string,
O! thirty cows milking all the time. He has a regis-
tered Holstein bull, and often has as many as sixty
cows on his ranch. He is a hard-worker and a very
honorable man, kind-hearted and hospitable; and he
and his family enjoy the good will of all who know
them. His children ably assist on the ranch, all co-
operating in the work. Frank is now sixteen years
old; Anthony is a year younger; John is fourteen;
and Mary, the one daughter, is just twelve. Mrs.
Machado, who was Miss Maria Armina before her
n\arriage, is an invalid. Santa Clara County may
well be congratulated that it attracts to its favoring
localities such excellent citizenship as that furnished
in the industrious and self-respecting family of this
sturdy and progressive California ranchman.

C. H. CLARK. — A young man of ability, indus-
try, energy and commendable enterprise, C. H. Clark
is coming to the front as the owner and proprietor
of the Clark Cannery located on the Sterling Road
near Mountain View. The cannery had a large run
on Permain apples in the fall of 1921, and earlier
ill the season had a good run on apricots and pears.
Mr. Clark was born in Napa County, Cal., and is a
son of George and Ida (Irish) Clark. George Clark,
the father is a well-known pioneer of Napa County
and was constable of the town of Napa for many

years. Mrs. Clark is a native of New York and came
with her parents to California. C. H. Clark is the
oldest of their seven children, four sons and three
daughters, all of whom are living. Mr. Clark re-
ceived his education in the schools of Napa, and
when he was sixteen began to work in the cannery
of Libby, McNeill & Libby at Sunnyvale and was
there for eight years; then for four years he was
superintendent of the John McCarthy Jr. Caimery,
the largest establishment of its kind in Mountain
View. During the month of July, 1921, he opened
his present business, w'hich was formerly the factory
of the Concentrated Paste Company.

Mr. Clark was married in 1908 to Miss Mary
Perry of Dixon, Cal., and they are the parents of
f,ve children: Mary M., George, Evelyn, Lois and
Lawrence. Mr. Clark is active in the Woodmen of
the World and the Native Sons of the Golden West
of Mountain View. He concentrates his full energies
on his business, and is fast winning his way to the
front, and the products of his cannery are being
shipped to all parts of the world; the Clark brand of
apples goes to San Francisco and the Middle West
and many of his goods go to England and other
parts of the world, the Clark brand being a guar-
antee of excellence.

PETER TALIA.— Despite the handicap of being
l)orn in a foreign country, Peter Talia has made
good in the country of his choice, and has steadily
added to his finances, until he has reached a condi-
tion of affluence enjoyed by many of the ranchers of
Santa Clara Valley. He was born in Dalmatia, Aus-
tria, on April 18, 1875, the son of Peter Mathias and
Raffie (Zlovecera) Talia. The father was a seafar-
ing man and had crossed the Atlantic ocean twenty-
.■-ix times in the old fashioned sail ships. He lived
to be sevent}--two years old, and the mother passed
away in her seventy-fourth year. There were five
children in the family, Peter being the youngest. He
attended the grammar school in Dalmatia until he was
ihirteen years old; then went to sea in the coasting
trade, on vessels plying the Adriatic Sea and re-
mained in that line of work for three years. In 1891
he left Trieste, Austria, and went to Hamburg, Ger-
many, and then set sail for America; arriving in New
\ ork City he came by rail to San Jose, and here he
viorked for his brother-in-law, Nicholas Scorsur, and
the following eight years on various ranches. Sav-
ing his money, he began buying and selHng fruit, and
soon had sufficient money to purchase a three-acre
place on Pine Avenue, which he soon sold and in-
vested the proceeds in a seven-acre ranch on Minne-
sota Avenue and also a two-acre ranch on the same
avenue, which was the headquarters for his fruit
business. He sold the two-acre ranch and later the
seven-acre place to the Western Pacific Railroad and
invested in two ranches in the Campbell district, one
of twelve acres and the other of ten acres, both sit-
uated on Budd Avenue; later a nineteen-acre ranch
\»-as bought in the same district. All these places he
bold and purchased a ranch at Saratoga containing
fourteen and a half acres, and also another fourteen
and a half adjoining and these two ranches he has
retained; these places are in full-bearing apricot and
prune trees. He also purchased ten acres in the Ever-
green district, but held it only a short time, and in-
vested in a twenty-two-acre ranch at Los Gatos on
the Almaden road; selling that, he purchased his

oJetJek^ (JoMm^

oo(7)^i£^yuco^ c/<:^<ibt^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1493

present home place of nineteen acres, a prune and
apricot orchard on the Santa Clara-Los Gatos Road,
now his home place where he resides with his family.

In San Jose on May 10, 1904, Mr. Talia was united
in marriage to Miss Dominica Genavich, also born
in Dalmatia, Austria. She is the daughter of Peter
and Mary (\'alajo) Genavich, her father an orchard-
isl in his native land. There wrrc tivi rhildren in the
family, Mrs. Talia being the fcurlli. In l"l),l. she came
to Santa Clara County, Cal.. and lived with her sister,
Annie, now the widow of the late John Scorsur. until
her marriage to Mr. Talia. Mr. and Mrs. Talia are
the parents of five children: Ruth, a graduate of
Heald's Business College; Mary attends Campbell
high school; Rosie, Matt and Peter. Mr. and Mrs.
Talia appreciate the value of an education and are
striving to give their children the best schooling w-ith-
in their means. Mr. Talia is an active member of
the Austria Benevolence Society of San Jose and
is loyal to American ideals. Mr. Talia recalls his
early experiences in the valley, how he worked six-
teen hours a day applying himself closely to his work
until he saved sufficient money to get a start. He was
honest and industrious and soon made a record for
integrity, so that when he began in the fruit business,
people had confidence in him, and he soon acquired
enough capital to buy land and grow fruit. A natural
mechanic, Mr. Talia saw the advantage of tractors
for farming, using the most modern machinery be-
cause he is able to repair and keep it in running order.
He gives much credit to his estimable wife, who has
assisted him in every way, by learning every detail
of the fruit business, and Avhen Mr. Talia was away,
buying and transacting other business, she was at
the plant attending to sorting, dipping and handling
the fruit, besides attending to her household duties
and caring for the children. Thus in the same way,
Mr. and Mrs. Talia are training their children to be
industrious and honest and thus become useful citi-
zens of their country.

G. LACOSTE.— A welcome addition to the busi-
ness circles of Palo Alto is found in G. Lacoste, the
genial and enterprising proprietor of the French
Laundry, located at 642 Ramona Street. Palo Alto,
Cal:, where he does fine work and is giving the best
of satisfaction to his large patronage. He was born
in France near Massous, Hautes Pyrenees, on Sep-
tember 24, 1886. His father, Peter Lacoste, was a
carpenter by occupation in France and served his
country as a soldier in the war of 1871; he became
well-to-do and owned a number of houses in Mas-
sous and about fifty acres of land. His father passed
away in France in December, 1921, at the age of
eighty-two years, but his mother, Mary Lacoste, is
still living there.

G. Lacoste attended the public schools in France
and there learned the laundry business. In 1906 he
set sail for New York and then crossed the country
to San Francisco during the same year. He had no
trouble in finding employment in a laundry in San
F'rancisco and continued until the recent war, when
he worked as a machinist, continuing for two years;
then he was the proprietor of a laundry in San
Francisco. In 1921 he removed to Palo Alto and
purchased this business and is succeeding even be-
yond his expectations.

On May 1, 1921, Mr. Lacoste was married to Miss
Louise Lanassus, a native of France, and together

they are making a splendid success of the laundry
business. Mr. Lacoste keeps a well-lighted, well-
ventilated, clean and sanitary laundry and employs
three men and four women. He is public-spirited
and is taking his place among the business men of
his locality.

ALBERT M. MEYER.— A native of California,
who is making good as proprietor of the Chatterton
Bakery Company at San Jose, is Albert M. Meyer,
who was born December 7, 1890, in San Francisco,
the son of Martin and Meta C. (Tietjen) Meyer.
Martin Meyer came to California in the year of 1874,
embarked in the grocery business and for fifteen
years was manager of the Consumers' Compressed
Yeast Company of San Francisco, but now retired
and resides in Burlingame.

Albert M. Meyer enjoyed the educational privi-
leges of the grammar and high schools of San Fran-
cisco, and early in life became self-supporting. For
some time he was a traveling salesman and then
spent six years as manager of the Oregon and Wash-
ington offices of the Consumers' Compressed Yeast
Company and later located in San Jose, purchasing
the business of the Chatterton Bakery Company and
he has since continued there, doing a very large
business, both locally and throughout the county, as
the superior quality of his bread, fancy cakes and
pastries have been found so dependable, that they
have created a strong and increasing demand. Mr.
Meyer gives every detail of the business his careful
attention, sparing no effort to please his large and
growing list of patrons, and he also employs the
services of twelve competent people to aid him.

Mr. Meyer's marriage united him with Miss
.\ugusta C. Henne, and they are the parents of two
children, Gayle Kathleen and Lucille. Mr. Meyer,
associated with W. J. Connors, the inventor, and
William Kaiser, promoted the Individual Wash
Laundry, the plant being located at Orchard and
Balbach streets and equipped with special patented
machinery for doing individual washing, showing an
investment of over $100,000 when fully equipped for
service. He is a popular member of the Hundred
Per Cent Club. Lions Club, Commercial Club, and
Chamber of Commerce, and he is a thirty-second de-
gree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Islam
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S , of San Francisco. A
public-spirited citizen he is a supporter of all projects
that are for the good of the community and for the
uplift or the upbuilding of the city in which he lives.

CHRISTIAN M. KLOTZ— W. A. ALLEN.—
A native of Germany. Christian M. Koltz was born
in Stein, Baden, in 1827, and received his education in
that district. When he was still a young man he
came to the United States, first settling in New-
Jersey, and there he married Miss Margaret Peoples,
a native of Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland, of
Scotch descent, who came to the United States in 1849.
In 1861 the family removed to California and located
at San Jose, in 1864. after a visit to Germany, they
took up their residence in Bridgeport, Conn., re-
maining until 1867, when they returned to California
and San Jose, where they have continuously resided.
Mr. Klotz was engaged for a short time in gardening
and then started a winery in San Jose; he also set
out a twenty-acre vineyard near Saratoga. He died
in 1889 and his widow survived him until 1896. They

1494

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

had two children, Christina, now Mrs. Allen of
Saratoga, and John, who died in 1893.

Christina Klotz was born in San Jose, and in 1894
was married to Samuel Harper, a native of Belfast,
Ireland, after which they took up their residence on
the Klotz ranch. Mr. Harper died in 1913 and in
1915 Mrs. Harper married a second time, being united
with William A. Allen who was born in 1851 in
Buffalo, N. Y., where he was reared and educated.
At the age of twenty-one he came West and was
engaged as purser with the Pacific Mail Steamship
Company for twenty-five years. A son of Mr. Allen's
by a former marriage. Milton S. Allen, enlisted in
the Marines and passed away at Mare Island in No-
vember, 1918. Mr. Allen was prominent in Masonic
circles, being a Knight Templar and a Scottish Rite
Mason. He passed away on January 12, 1917, a
genial, kindly gentleman, who was mourned by a
large circle of friends. Mrs. Allen resides on the
homeplace, located on the Mountain View Road,
which consists of twenty acres in full-bearing orchard.

EDWARD P. GIACOMAZZI.— Enviably promi-
nent, popular and influential for great good, Edward
P. Giacomazzi of Milpitas, may well fee! that he is
enjoying some definite reward for the years of labor
and risk which have led up to the position he now
occupies as one of the representative men of affairs
in Santa Clara County. A native son, he was born
at San Jose on March 22, 1879, the son of Peter and
Poalina Giacomazzi, worthy folks who never failed to
have the confidence and esteem of those who knew
them. His father was a native of Canton Ticino,
Switzerland, and when a young man, he came out
to the United States and California, and settled in
Santa Clara County. At first, he worked in the
lumber mill on the Alameda, and later he engaged in
the cattle business near Pescadero. Edward attended
Santa Clara College, and also the old Garden City
Business CoUege on Market Street; and after a while
his father discontinued stockraising and embarked in
the handling of general merchandise, at Solcdad, in
Monterey County. From his father, he learned the
ins and outs of the trade, and for ten years was his
right-hand man. Then he became one of the book-
keepers at the Spreckels Sugar Company, at Spreck-
cls, Cal., and that responsibihty he continued to
discharge for a twelve-month.

Peter Giacomazzi then sold his business at Soledad
and removed to San Jose, where he joined Felix
Maggini in a partnership to conduct a general mer-
chandise store on Thirteenth Street; and Edward
remained with his father in this new venture for four
years. In 1903 he came to Milpitas and, having
bought out Mr. MuUer, established for himself a
general merchandise store. In 1905, he was appointed
the postmaster at Milpitas, and he was also made
deputy county clerk under Henry Pfister. In 1911,
Mr. Giacomazzi cooperated in the founding of the
Bank of Milpitas, and so well has this institution
been conducted that the Bank of Milpitas has the
record of being the first bank in Santa Clara County
to pay dividends the second year of its existence.
Mr. Giacomazzi has been a director of the bank since
its establishment, and since 1917, when he was elected
to succeed Michael Lynn, has been its president.

At San Jose, in 1899, Mr. Giacomazzi was married
to Miss Amelia Ramelli, a native of Santa Clara Coun-
ty, and the daughter of Joseph and Mary Ramelli. Her

father, a very early pioneer, was a dairyman when
lie came to California, and he had a dairy farm of 120
acres on Coyote Creek, about twelve miles south of
San Jose. One daughter, Elsie, a student at the high
school, has blessed the union. Mr. Giacomazzi is a
member of Lodge No. 522 of the B. P. O. E., and
he IS also a strong Republican.

JAMES HIATT.— One of the successful and pro-
gressive horticulturists of the Santa Clara Valley is
James Hiatt, whose twenty-acre prune orchard on
Union Avenue is among the most productive and
profitable in the county. He is a native of Wayne
County, Ind., and was born on November 4, 1877, a
son of lidward and Martha (Wellock) Hiatt. In
1891 the family removed to California and settled
in the Santa Clara Valley, where the father passed
away; previous to their removal to the coast, where
James' two brothers, Archie and Lee, had preceded
the rest of the family, they had lived in Kansas,
and there our subject had received his education.

The marriage of Mr. Hiatt united him with Miss
Effie Randall, a native of Colorado, and they are the
parents of a son, Richard James. Besides intensively
cultivating his twenty-acre prune orchard, he owns
a ranch in the mountains, and when opportunity af-
fords spends a time in the mountains hunting and
fishing. In his political affiliation he is a strict ad-
herent of the Republican party; fraternally he is a
Yoeman. His interest in the progress and prosperity
of Santa Clara County is manifested by his support
of all measures of advancement. He enjoys the re-
spect and esteem of his fcllowmen and is one of the
substantial citizens of his locality.

WILLIAM C. BARTLETT.— A progressive young
man who is interested in developing additional facil-
ities in the field of transportation is William C. Bart-
lett, local agent at San Jose, for the Pickwick and
the Star stage lines. He is a man of executive force
and a pleasing personality and is doing his share
in building up a good business for these companies,
and thus providing a new means of travel, com-
fortable and attractive, that has made California
famous all over the country.

Mr. Bartlett was born at Pittsburgh, Pa., and there
received his education in the public schools. When
he reached his fourteenth year he went to work in
the steel industry and was for a long time in the
employ of Crucible Steel and later entered the em-
ploy of the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company
at Pittsburgh. He then enlisted in the Twenty-eighth
Pennsylvania Regiment and went to France where
he served for a period of eighteen months, receiving
five wounds during this service overseas. He served
in a number of the more important battles, the Bat-
tle of Chateau Thierry, the second battle of the
Marne and the Vesle River and having risen to the
rank of sergeant, was honorably discharged, and
after the armistice returned to the United States.
He came to California in 1919, arriving in San Jose
on June 27, bringing with him his family and im-
mediately became engaged in his present business.
The Pickwick Stage business is expanding, and now
covers an immense territory along the Pacific Coast,
with connections from Portland, Ore., to the Im-
perial Valley, and covering 3,500 miles of California,
Oregon and Old Mexico's scenic highways. About
a year ago the Pickwick Stage Company took over
the site of the Peerless Stage Depot and under the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1497

good management and the interest in which Mr.
Bartlett attends to business, the trade has more than
doubled. He is an able and active young man, with
energy and perseverance, and is making good.

Mr. Bartlett's marriage, which occurred in Pitts-
burgh, Pa., on October 16, 1911, united him with
Miss Nellie Moore, and they are the parents of a
child, Alice. Mr. Bartlett is a member of the
American Legion. He is always interested in the
welfare of the city of San Jose and joins in sanc-
tioning any good movement which will help to up-
build this attractive, thriving city.

OLE JORDHEIM.— Industry and perseverance
have been leading traits in the career of Ole jord-
heim, junior member of the firm known as the Fault-
less Bakery, conducting a wholesale and retail baking
business in San Jose. Mr. Jordheim was born in
Jordheim, Gol Parish, Hallingdale, Norway, .August
KS, 1891, the son of Ole and Barbara (Grothe)
Brandwold, both natives of Norway. The father had
fine educational advantages in his native country, and
in 1900 he removed with his family to Edinburg,
N. D., where he owns a large general merchandise
store. The mother passed away when Ole was a
child of seven. She was the daughter of Odd Grothe,
better known as the "Larer og Kirkesanger," teacher
and deacon in the parish of Hemsedal. Although
eighty-eight years of age, he is still active and holds
an important position, able to teach and lead the
singing in the parish church. Mr. Brandwold was
married a second time and lives in North Dakota.

After the death of his mother, Ole Jordheim went
to live with his maternal grandfather. His educa-
tion was obtained in the government schools of his
native parish, later he took a course of two years in
the Christiania high school, where he became well
versed in the English and Norwegian languages.
His first ambition after finishing school, was to be-
come a teacher, but the glowing tales of oppor-
tunity and wealth to be gained in America proved
too alluring, and he sailed from Christiania, arriving
at Hull, England, thence by rail to Liverpool, where
he again took passage, arriving at Ellis Island, New
York in April, 1908. From New York he went to
Edinburg, N. D. for a visit to his father. In the fall
of 1908 he arrived in San Francisco, where his uncle,
Knudt Grothe, was engaged in manufacturing ice-
cream cones. Mr. Jordheim was employed in this
business for eleven years. At the end of this time,
he removed to San Jose where he opened an ice-
cream cone factory, but was only engaged in this
line for six months. On October 31. 1920, he ac-
quired an interest in the Faultless Bakery, purchas-
ing Mr. Gold's interest. Since that time, the bakery
has been removed to more commodious quarters
and remodeled. The firm does a wholesale and
retail business with a capacity of 4000 loaves a day.

The marriage of Mr. Jordheim in San Francisco
in 1915, united him with Miss Signe Woldhagen, a
native of Trondjhem, Norway. She came from Nor-
way to America when but seventeen years of age.
Mr. Jordheim is a great lover of music and was for
six consecutive years secretary of the Nordmandene's
Sangforenig of San Francisco; he is also a member
of the Sons of Norway. He gives unstintingly of his
time and means to promote measures of advancement
of his adopted city. That which has won Mr. Jord-

heim the esteem and popularity so universally ac-
corded him is the character which is his both by
inheritance and training, his many sterling qualities
establishing him firmly in the business and social
circles of the city.

MARTIN RAGGETT.— Hailing from San Fran-
cisco, Martin Raggett, a native son of California,
having first seen the light of day in that city, is the
proprietor of one of the leading hotels of San Jose,
the St. James, located at 131 North First Street, a
four-story structure of 185 rooms, which are all up-
to-date in their modern equipment. Mr. Raggett
is the son of Michael Rag.gett, who settled in San
Francisco in the early fifties, where he was a dry
goods merchant for many years, becoming well and
favorably known. His business was located on the
corner of Fourth and Market streets, on the site
where the California Theater now stands.

Martin Raggett received his education at the St.
Ignatius College and gained a splendid education,
after which he entered the business world of San
Francisco and here he was engaged for many years.
He then went to San Jose, and engaged in the hotel
business, purchasing the St. James Hotel October 1,
1920, and here he gives personal attention to the
comforts and the wishes of each guest. All of the
185 rooms of this modern hostelry are kept filled, as
he caters to the vr.ry best commercial and transient
trade. The hotel faces the park and is centrally
located, making it accessible to the business, manu-
facturing and packing districts, also it is in the midst
of the amusement and recreational centers of the
city of San Jose. .Scrupulous cleanliness is one of
their best assets; and hot and cold water, steam
heat, electricity, elevator service, and beautifully fur-
nished rooms contribute to the comfort of the
guests. The dining room, which is in connection
with the hotel, but is under separate management,
is strictly a first-class grill, having popular prices,
adding much to the convenience and the advantage
of the guests of the hotel.

JOHN A. MATHEWSON.— A cement contractor
and builder who has made splendid progress in Santa
Clara County is John A. Mathewson. He was born
in San Jose, the son of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Mathew-
son, the father being a pioneer carpenter and builder
of San Jose; the mother, who is now a widow, still
lives in San Jose. Walter G. Mathewson, a brother
of John, was secretary of the Builders' Trades Coun-
cil of San Jose until his appointment as State Labor
Commissioner.

John attended the Hester grammar school at San
Jose, and then learned the blacksmith and carriage
maker's trade, after which he specialized in carriage
making. The growth of the automobile industry
caused a change in conditions and he took up cement
and concrete work and has become a large general
contractor, specializing in cement and concrete work
and excavating and grading. For some years he has
been doing much bridge building, not only in this
county but in the counties along the coast from San
Francisco to Los Angeles, employing a large force
of men for the purpose. He has completed some of
the largest bridges in this county.

Mr. Mathewson is a member of the Builders'
Association and San Jose Parlor No. 22, Native Sons

1498

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of the GoId«n West, and San Jose Aerie No. 8, the
Eagles. He has been very successful, but it has all
come through hard work and good, practical judg-
ment in the use of the money which he earned.

EDWARD CLEMENT YOCCO.— Among the en-
terprising and successful business men of Los Gatos.
Santa Clara County, Edward C. Yocco is well re-
membered, for here he had made his home from
1883 to the time of his death, November 20, 1901.
He was a native son, his birth having occurred on
San Pedro Street, in San Jose, November 23. 18S7.
His father, Joaquin Yocco, born in the Alps of
North Italy, came around the Horn to California in
1849, and upon his arrival in the state engaged in
mining; he then located in San Jose and was suc-
cessfully engaged in a general merchandise and com-
mission business on Market Street. During this
time he was a member of the old Volunteer Fire
Company. In 1865 he returned to France and lo-
cated in Paris in order that he might educate his
children; he died in that city in 1889, when about
eighty years of age. His wife, formerly Josephine
Huet, a native of Pons, France, died March 4, 1901,
at about the same age. Of their two children, Ed-
ward C, the subject of this review, was the younger;
Pauline married Emile Lcbelle of Paris, France.

Edward C. went to the Gates school in San Jose
until he was eight years old, after which he was
taken to Paris and there attended private academies.
He was desirous of returning to California, the place
of his birth, and after completing his education he
returned to San Jose, which place he had selected
for his permanent home. He secured employment
with an uncle who was in the commission business
in San Jose, and remained with him for four years;
then became a clerk for Auzerais & Pomeroy in the
City Store on Market Street. He then went to
Almaden and was engaged in the butcher business
until 1883, when he removed to Los Gatos. For the
next six years he worked in a meat market, which
he afterwards purchased in 1889. and continued the
business as the Los Gatos Market until his death.
In the spring of 1898 he purchased a ranch of fiftv-
seven acres, the Henry B. Norton place at Skylan'd,
having thirty-five acres in orchard and vineyard.

In 1879 Mr. Yocco married Miss Grace Caret, a
native of Santa Clara County, who was born in
Mayfield, and who passed away in 1889. They were
the parents of three children, two sons and one
daughter; one son, George H., is a civil engineer at
Fall River Mill. Mr. Yocco's second marriage, in
Los Gatos, February 18, 1892. united him with Miss
Ella Knowles. She is a native of Rock Island
County, 111., born near Fort Byron on the Missis-
sippi River, and is the daughter of Smith Shaler
Knowles, a native of Ohio, who married Miss Mary
Rand Crooks, born in Pittsburgh. Pa. Her maternal
great-grandfather, John Cooey, served seven years
in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Knowles was a pio-
neer of Illinois and took up land near Port Byron,
obtaining a deed from the Government, and resided
there until his death. The mother spent her last
days in Los Gatos and died in 1901. Mrs. Yocco is
the youngest of eight children and was reared and
educated in the grammar and high schools of Moline.
111., and in 1883 came to Los Gatos with her mother,
where she resided until her marriage to Mr. Yocco.
They are the parents of two children; Edward Shaler

is a graduate of the department of agriculture of the
University of California, and Mary is a graduate of
the University of California and also of the Arm-
strong Secretarial School of Berkeley, and she is
now head of the commercial department at Pierce
High School at College City. Edward Shaler en-
listed in April, 1917, in the ambulance corps and was
sent to Allentown, Pa., where he remained for eight
months, then to the army medical school in Wash-
ington, D. C, where he assisted in making serum for
all kinds of inoculations. He was mustered out on
January 8, 1919. He possesses a rare baritone voice
and, aside from singing at the Presbyterian Church,
is frequently in demand for entertainments. Mr.
Edward C. Yocco was one of the organizers and a
large stockholder of the Los Gatos Cemetery and
was director and treasurer, and continued until his
death, after which, in January, 1902, Mrs. Yocco be-
came the secretary and superintendent of the asso-
ciation, a position she has since held, and her un-
ceasing work, coupled with much native business
acumen, has brought it to a successful issue, until it
is a credit to the community. Mr. Yocco's death
was a loss to the community, for he was a man whose
place it is hard to fill. For eleven years he acted as
school trustee of Los Gatos. In fraternal circles he
was an Odd Fellow, a past grand, and a member of
the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mrs. Yocco
has continued to reside in Los Gatos, in her mother's
old home on Church Street, and looks after the prop-
erty and business interests left by Mr. Yocco. She
is an active member of the Presbyterian Church
and of the Delphian Club.

PETER JOHN ZAKIS.— Although poor in purse,
upon arriving at San Jose, Peter John Zakis pos-
sessed those indispensable adjuncts of success, health,
self-confidence and a determination to succeed, so
that the goal of his ambition, a good business and
a comfortable home, was soon realized. He was born
in Greece, on September 14, 1885, and was the son
of Mr. and Mrs. John S. Zaharakis, both natives of
Greece. His father was a school teacher and Mr.
Zakis' early training was carefully looked after. On
coming to America Mr. Zaharakis changed his name
to Zakis by a court decree. His mother's death oc-
curing when he was only four years old, left him and
his brother, William Zaharakis, without the loving
care of a mother, but the father endeavored to take
the place of both, giving them the best educational
opportunities within his means. The brother, who
is a lawj'er, reinaincd in his native country and is
prominent in his profession, at Calames, Greece. His
father is also still living in Greece.

Having heard much of America and its opportun-
ities, he left his home in Greece in 1905, and sailing
for the United States, landed in New York, coming
iinmediately to Chicago, 111. His first employment
was in a stove factory where he worked for $7.50
per week and in a year he managed to save enough
to come to San Francisco. Arriving here a year
after the earthquake, he obtained work removing the
debris, clearing the streets, building sites, etc., doing
any kind of work that would make him an honest
living. When he came to San Jose, in 1908, he only
had twenty-five cents, but it was not long before he
had a place working in a restaurant. It was here
that he became associated with Chris Mihalakis, his

^^ c^ ^.^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1501

present partner. Mr. Mihalakis was also trying to
make the best of his opportunities, so the two young
men began saving their money and in 1917 they be-
came partners and opened the Del Monte Restaurant
at 255 South First Street. Here, they have worked,
early and late, giving constant and close attention to
their business, making improvements from time to
time, and now have one of the most up-to-date
restaurants in San Jose, using the late sanitary equip-
ment, making it a place where wholesome, appetizing
food can always be obtained, together with the best
of service.

Mr. Zakis' marriage, which occurred in San Jose
in 1918, united him with Miss Consuello Westlake,
who was born in San Jose; her father, Silas West-
lake, a '49er, crossed the plains in an ox-team train.
Mr. and Mrs. Zakis are the parents of two children,
Constance and John Richards. Mr. Zakis is the
owner of a comfortable and attractive home, located
at 310 South Sixteenth Street. He is a member of
Observatory Lodge I. O. O. F. in San Jose, the
Redmcn, and of the Merchants' Association and the
Chamber of Commerce.

GENOVESI BROS.. ZAPPELLl AND COM-
PANY.— Among the prosperous business men of
San Jose who have made good are Bruno and
Gioacchino Genovesi and Dario Zappelli, who are the
proprietors of the Central Grocery, which is located
at 300 South Market Street, on the corner of San
Carlos Street. Bruno Genovesi, the eldest, was born
in Province Lucca, Italy, in 1884, and when nineteen
years of age came to America, about eight years be-
fore the other boys sailed. Gioacchino Genovesi and
Dario Zappelli, who were also born in Province
Lucca, Italy, were the same age, both having been
born in 1895, coming to America when seventeen.

Bruno began working on a farm and later in a
macaroni factory and here he continued for some
time. In 1912 his brother, Gioacchino, and Dario
Zappelli arrived in the United States. Gioacchino
began working for O'Brien in the confectionery
business and was employed here for two and a half
years, while Mr. Zappelli worked at ranching and in
various lines. In 1915 Gioacchino Genovesi, Dario
Zappelli and Alberto Micheli embarked in the
grocery business and soon established a prosperous
trade. In 1917 Mr. Micheli sold his share to the first
two named, and in the following year, 1918,
Gioacchino Genovesi enlisted in the U. S. Army and
trained at Camp Lewis and Camp Kearny, serving
in the field hospital, where he was honorably dis-
charged. While he was engaged in the interests of
his adopted country, Dario Zappelli was in charge of
the business, and after the w'ar Bruno Genovesi
bought out a third interest and has been a partner
ever sinc<;. They now have an $18,000 stock and
are doing a large business.

Bruno Genovesi's marriage united him with Miss
Elena Demaggiora of San Jose, and they are the par-
ents of two children. Lena and Berri. Mr. Zappelli
chose for his wife Miss Viola Landucci, also of San
Jose, and they are the parents of three children,
Frank, Adolph and Gerald. Gioacchino Genovesi is
still single. They arc members of St. Joseph's
Church and in national politics they cast their votes
for the men that represent the best measures.

K. J. GRANANDER.— As a representative of the
profession of masseur, K. J. Granander is steadily
building up an extensive patronage, meeting with
success not only in a financial way, but in relieving
afflicted mankind. Many of the leading physicians
of San Jose turn over cases to him that medicine
has failed to relieve, and which he is able to over-
come by massage. A native of Sweden, he was
born December 16, 1873, in Westergothland, near
Ulricehamn, his parents both natives of Sweden.
His boyhood and early manhood were spent in his
native land, his education being obtained in the pub-
lic schools, and when he reached military age, he was
pressed into service, doing his full duty to his native
country. Filled with wonderment at the stories of
wealth and advantages to be gained in America, he
embarked for the United States in 1902, landing in
Boston. A course in Swedish massage enabled him
to engage in his chosen profession on landing in
Boston, and for two years he successfully followed
this line of work. He removed to Providence, R. I.,
and was employed there as masseur for one year.
Later he migrated to Excelsior Springs, Mo., and for
three years was with the Kilberg Sanatorium. He
then removed to Blair, Nebr., and began private
practice, and also successfully practiced in Colorado.
While residing in Nebraska, he was united in mar-
riage to Miss Hope Larson, a native of that state.
Mrs. Granander is of Danish descent; her father, an
early pioneer of Nebraska, was a thrifty and well-
to-do farmer. She is well educated and has many
accomplishments.

During the year of 1917, the family settled in San
Jose. Offices were obtained and handsomely fitted
up in the Twohy .Building, with accommodations for
his fast-increasing clientele. While not a politician
nor an officeseeker, he has always been interested in
matters affecting the welfare of his county and state.
The family residence is located at 384 Auzerais Ave-
nue. San Jose, where hospitality and good-will is
shared by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

GREGORY GUGLIERI.— A man of decided
energy and perseverance. Gregory Guglieri is num-
bered among the most successful ranchers of the
Madrone district. He was born at San Jose on
February 14, 1895, the eldest child and only son of
Dr. A. A. and Frances Carillo Guglieri, three daugh-
ters also being born to them: Mrs. Charles Haggans
of San Francisco, Mrs. Marco Borello of Morgan
Hill, and Mrs. Albert Pauls of Madrone. Doctor
Guglieri was born at Genoa, Italy, December 13,
1859, the son of a wealthy merchant there, who also
had a large fleet of vessels plying the seas, and it was
while on a journey around the world that Mr.
Guglieri first saw the land of Mexico when he was
twenty-eight. While a resident of Colima, Mexico,
he took up the study of a herbalist, he was married
to Miss Frances Carillo, a native of that place, and
in 1890 they removed to San Jose and later to San
Francisco, where Mrs. Guglieri passed away Febru-
ary 3, 1902. Later Doctor Guglieri was united in
marriage with Miss Adcla Rodrigues, also a native
of Colima, and she now makes her home at Madrone.

Gregory Guglieri was educated in the public
schools of San Francisco, graduating later from a
private school, and in 1918 he went to work on his

1502

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

father's ranch at Madrone, which Doctor Guglieri
had purchased in 1902. This consisted of ninety
acres of land which he converted into a fine vineyard,
and he also was the owner of other valuable prop-
erty at Madrone as well as in San Francisco, Oak-
land, Morgan Hill and Redwood City. On the death
of his father, on November 29, 1919, Gregory
Guglieri took over the management of this great
vineyard, and he has handled it most capably, giving
it his constant care and attention.

Mr. Guglieri's marriage, which took place at
Madrone, united him with Miss Beulah Draper, and
they make their home on the ranch at Madrone. A
Republican in politics, Mr. Guglieri is a public-
spirited citizen, and he has always contributed gener-
ously toward every public enterprise and thus greatly
helped in building up this section.

MRS. KASPAR LENER— Well known in mer-
cantile circles of San Jose as a capable business
woman, Mrs. Kaspar Lener has demonstrated her
ability to successfully manage the enterprise estab-
lished by her husband, who was for many years pro-
minently identified with business interests of the
city. She was born in the Austrian Tyrol, March
16, 1856, her parents being Joseph and Marie Hofer.
The youngest of six children, she is today the sole
surviving member of the family. When she was but
a year old her mother died and upon the father
devolved the task of rearing the children, so that
Mrs. Lener has never known a mother's tender care.
Her paternal grandfather, Andreas Hofer, was a
son of Andreas Hofer, the noted patriot, reformer
and military leader of Austria. In the struggle of
1809 which ended in victory for the French nation,
he was called upon to surrender, but refused, and
the order was then given for his execution. It is re-
lated that the firing squad directed nine shots at
him but all went astray. He was then ordered
to kneel, but refused, saying: "I will die as I have
lived — standing straight up," and with those words
bravely met death. In 1909, 100 years afterward,
Mrs. Lener returned to Austria for the purpose of
participating in the commemoration of that event.
In September, 1878, in Innsbruck, Austria, was
solemnized the marriage of Kaspar Lener and Mag-
dalena Hofer. Mr. Lener was born January 20,
1848, and was also a native of the Austrian Tyrol.
His parents were Andreas and Marie (Hofer)
Lener, the latter's father being a second cousin of
his wife's grandfather. The father became promin-
ent as a building contractor, erecting many large
public buildings throughout Germany. Kaspar Lener
attended the same school in the Tyrol in which
Magdalena Hofer was a pupil and they were com-
panions from childhood. When but thirteen years of
age he started out in life for himself, serving a three
years' apprenticeship to the locksmith's trade, and
also acquiring a thorough knowledge of the hardware
business. He worked for others along that line until
his twenty-fifth year, when he returned to the Aus-
trian Tyrol and opened an establishment of his own
as a hardware merchant and locksmith. A couple
of days after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lener be-
gan their journey to this country, and upon their ar-
rival went to Minnesota and purchased a home in
Minneapolis, and for several years he worked in
machine shops of that city. They then removed to

Tacoma, Wash., where Mr. Lener entered the meat
business, conducting a retail shop. This he disposed
of after a short time and left Tacoma for Seattle,
Wash., where he again took up the machinist's trade,
which he there followed for two years.

In 1886 he came to San Jose and here was em-
ployed at the carpenter's trade for a year, afterward
becoming a mechanic at the Fredericks Brewery,
where he remained until about 1900, when he pur-
chased a building at the corner of Josefa and San
Salvador Streets. There he conducted a hotel, in
connection with which he operated a delicatessen
shop, continuing at that location until September
20, 1916, when he moved across the street, opening
a grocery and general provision shop, of which he
remained the proprietor until his death on January
24, 1920. His industry, enterprise and close applica-
tion resulted in the attainment of a substantial
measure of success, while his sterling worth gained
for him the high regard of all with whom he was
associated. Since his demise Mrs. Lener has had
charge of the store and in its management she dis-
played marked business ability and foresight, main-
taining the same high standards of excellence that
her husband had established.

Mr. and Mrs. Lener became the parents of four
children: Marie, is now the wife of A. Epstein, a
druggist in San Francisco. Jacob is a mechanic in
the employ of the Anderson-Barngrover Company
of San Jose. He married Margaret W^enner and
they are parents of two children — Vera and Marjorie.
David Kaspar is a leading attorney of Ranger,
Texas. He married Mrs. Bertlow Fuller, of San
Jose. Fred, the youngest of the family, married
Gladys Walter, and is connected with the San Jose
branch of the Standard Oil Company. During the
thirty-five years in which she has made her home
in San Jose, Mrs. Lener has made many sincere
friends and she is deeply interested in all that per-
tains to the welfare and advancement of the city
with which she has allied her interests. When Mr.
and Mrs. Lener first came to this district to settle
there were very few houses and fruit trees of many
varieties grew where now stand hundreds of homes,
and their home was among the first erected here.

JUSTING MEDERIOS.— An experienced and
practical dairyman who owns his large dairy farm is
Justino Mederios, living a mile and a half northwest
ot Mountain View. He was born on the Island of
Pico on October 16, 1867, and when sixteen years of
age came out to America and California. He worked
for a while faithfully as a farm hand, and then went
to Nevada, where he secured employment as a sheep
herder. He was married May 11, 1898, at Half Moon
Bay, to Miss Minnie Dutra, a daughter of Anton and
Ella Phillips Dutra, both of whom, it is pleasant to
relate, are living well-to-do and retired at Half Moon
Bay. They were born and married on the Island
of Fayal, and they have eight living children: Anton.
Manuel, Frank, Mary, Ella, Minnie, Rosa and Carrie.

Mr. Mederios is an honest, hard-working man, and
is well-liked. He bought his present farm two years
ago. Mrs. Mederios was born at Half Moon Bay,
and comes from a prominent and wealthy family at
Half Moon Bay of Portuguese-Americans who, like
Mr. Mederios, have succeeded through their integrity
and intelligent industry. He keeps ISO head of cows.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1505

and 120 of these are milch cows; he also keeps regis-
tered sires, and has a high-grade herd. One child has
blessed the union of this worthy couple, Adeline.

Sad to relate, on October 28, 1921, Mr. Mederios
met with a very serious accident. He was driving in
his car on Embarcadero Street, in Palo Alto, when
he was struck by the engine of the Southern Paciiic
"Flyer," but miraculously escaped deatli. He was
seriously hurt, and was three weeks in the Palo Alto
Hospital, but has now fully recovered.

ANDREW HERMLE.— A successful orchardist
of Santa Clara County is Andrew Hermle, who by
hard work and economical methods has brought his
orchard to a high state of cultivation and productive-
ness. He was born in Wittenberg, Germany, March
19, 1879, the son of Columben and Ida (Grimm)
Hermle, both of whom were born, reared and died
in the old country. While still a very small child his
parents both passed away and he was left to the
care of strangers; however, he was fortunate to go to
the grammar schools in his native land, and so re-
ceived a fair education. He had heard glowing tales
of the prosperous country of America and after fin-
ishing the grammar grades set out for the new world,
where he had a sister living in Santa Clara County.
He was just past sixteen years of age when he ar-
rived in Santa Clara County and for the next fifteen
years was occupied with ranch work on the ranch
of John Klce, who took an interest in the lad and
treated him as his own son. The privations of his
younger years taught lessons of economy and thrift,
and he was then able to purchase his own place of
twenty-three acres from Mr. Klee on the Foxworthy
Road. Twelve and a half acres were already set to
orchard and he went to work and set the remainder
and built a modern residence, outbuildings, and to
have plenty of water for irrigating he drilled a 300-
foot well, installed a fine pumping plant and is amply
supplied with water so that he irrigates some 200
acres for others, and he is one of the most prosper-
ous orchardists in that locality.

Mr. Hermle's marriage in January, 1901, in San
Jose, united him with Miss Margaret Volmer, and
they are the parents of two children, Marcell and
John. Mr. Hermle is a good example of what indus-
try and faithfulness will accomplish toward ultimate
success. He took out his citizenship papers in 1908,
and since then has loyally supported Republican poli-
cies. He is a strong supporter of all movements
for the development of Santa Clara County and the
benefitting of all its citizens.

ARTHUR MILLS.— In thoroughness and the mas-
tery of every detail of the duties that have devolved
upon him lies the secret of the success which has
brought Arthur Mills to the prominent position ac-
corded him in business circles of San Jose. He is
a native son of Santa Clara County and a member
of one of the old families of this part of the state,
and was born a mile south of Campbell on the 27th
of July, 1877. a son of Owen and Susan (Moreland)
Mills. In the early days the parents started across
the plains from Missouri with California as their
destination and the father secured a homestead of
160 acres in the vicinity of Campbell, this being be-
fore the advent of the narrow-gauge railroad in the
state. The mother's brother, Henry Moreland, be-
came a prominent rancher of this section, the More-

land school being named in his honor. Mr. and Mrs.
Mills were the parents of sixteen children, of whom
five are now living.

In the acquirement of an education Arthur Mills
attended the Hester School and when fourteen years
of age started out in life for himself, securing work
as a ranch hand. For eight years he was in the
employ of Mayfield Smith and then went to King
City, in Monterey County, and subsequently to Sa-
linas, remaining in that county for one and a half
years. He then returned to San Jose, where he
worked as a teaming contractor until 1905. when he
secured the position of salesman with the Union Oil
Company, which he represented in Santa Clara
County for seven years. In 1913 he became identi-
fied with the Balfour Guthrie Company of San Fran-
cisco, Cal., and was operating their oil plant at the
time it was taken over by the Shell interests, then
for over six years he was manager at San Jose for
the Shell Oil Company and his previous experience
well qualified him for the discharge of the responsible
duties of this position. He is now connected with
the Ventura Oil Company and being thoroughly
familiar with every phase of the business is ably
representing the interests of the company.

At Salinas, Cal.. on the 26th of July, 1899, Mr.
Mills was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Kel-
logg, a native of Stockton, this state. Her father
was one of the early farmers of California and in
1897 he became a resident of Salinas. Six children
have been born to this union: Ida, Vinnie, Minnie,
Violet. Mabel and Melvin, all of whom are attend-
ing the local public schools. Mr. Mills gives his
political allegiance to the Republican party. He is
numbered among those self-made men who owe
their advancement and prosperity directly to their
own efforts, for he started out in life for himself
when fourteen years of age and by perseverance and
diligence has worked his way steadily upward until
he now ranks with the representative business men
and highly-esteemed citizens of San Jose.

GEORGE W. FIEGER.— The health of a city de-
pends primarily upon the purity of its water supply
and a most effective method of purification is fur-
nished by the Duplex Percolator, of which George
W. Fieger is the distributor for Santa Clara and San
Mateo counties. A native of Maryland, he was born
in Baltimore, October 2, 1882. his parents being Jo-
seph and Mary E. (Schantz) Fieger. The father
was a successful merchant of Baltimore, operating
a chain of stores in that city, and his demise oc-
curred in 1912, while the mother died in 1904.

In the pursuit of an education George W. Fieger
attended the grammar and high schools of Baltimore
and the Eaton & Burnett and the Saddler-Bryant
Business colleges of that city. Having passed the
civil service examination, in 1905 he was appointed
clerk in the postoffice at Baltimore, where he worked
for two years, and was then transferred to San
Francisco, Cal. He remained in that city until 1913,
when he was sent to San Diego, being employed in
the postoffice there during the exposition. In 1918
he was transferred to the Long Beach postoffice and
was sent from there to San Jose. He then severed
his connection with the service and became distribu-
tor for Santa Clara County of the Duplex percolator
and water cooler, his headquarters being in San
Jose. Although this business was established in the
southern part of California, it was practically un-

1506

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

known in this county until the aggressive advertising
campaign and expert salesmanship of Mr. Fieger
brought it before the public. He has succeeded in
creating a large demand for the percolator, which is
one of the most perfect appliances on the market
for removing all micro-organism and foreign sub-
stances from ordinary city water, rendering it abso-
lutely safe for domestic purposes. It has the in-
dorsement of the leading physicians and chemists
of the state and its value as a means of preserving
health cannot be overestimated. Mr. Fieger is the
owner and controller of the patent rights of the
Duplex Germ-proof Percolator and Water Cooler
for Santa Clara and San Mateo counties and con-
ducts his business under the firm name of "Duplex
Percolator Company" in these counties. He is also
connected with the new corporation known as the
"Duplex Percolator Company of San Francisco, Inc."
At Sacramento. Cal., in 1910. Mr. Fieger mar-
ried Miss Teresa Ellen Hain, a native of St. Louis,
Mo., and a daughter of George and Mary (Lee) Hain.
the former of whom came to San Jose a number of
years ago and entered mercantile circles, in which
he attained a position of prominence. To this
union has been born a daughter, Ruth Audrey, who
is a grammar school pupil. In his political views
Mr. Fieger is a Republican and fraternally he is
connected with the Woodmen of the World, belong-
ing to the Mira Mar Camp at San Diego.

CHARLES R. SMITH.— The enterprising spirit
and business ability of Charles R. Smith have
brought him to a position of prominence in com-
mercial circles of San Jose and he has become well
known as an expert well-borer, in which connection
he has built up a large business. He was born in
Bates County, Mo., February 8, 1868, a son of James
Oliver Smith. His mother died at his birth and he
was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Jeffries,
who carefully looked after his welfare and happi-
ness. His father and Mr. Jeffries both follow-ed the
occupation of farming.

In the public schools of Bates County, Charles
R. Smith pursued his education. He continued to
live with his foster parents until his marriage and
in 1890 came with his bride to California, settling
at Los Gatos, and subsequently had charge of the
F. F. Eritton ranch of 115 acres at Gilroy. Upon
this property he set out an orchard of prunes, apri-
cots and peaches, continuing its cultivation for four
years, when he came to San Jose, in 1894, and pur-
chased a fifteen-acre tract of undeveloped land near
the old Agnew stock farm. He engaged in the
raising of fruit and made many improvements upon
the place, including the erection of a good home.
While improving this land to a prune and apricot
orchard he also turned his attention to well drill-
ing, in which line he has been active for twenty-
seven years. He has two sets of hand tools and
one gasoline power rotary machine and has
built up a large business in the Santa Clara Valley,
also operating in the San Joaquin Valley. Owing
to the excellence of his work his services are in
constant demand and he has drilled the 300-foot,
ten-inch well for the St. James Hotel and he also
bored a deep well for the Twohy Building, this be-
coming a flowing well when completed.

In Cedar County, Mo., on February 28, 1889, Mr.
Smith married Miss Minnie Sellers, a native of Kan-

sas and a daughter of William Sellers, a farmer by
occupation. She accompanied her parents on their
removal to Bates County, Mo., where she was reared
and educated, and previous to her marriage she en-
gaged in teaching school in that county. Mr. and
Mrs. Smith have become the parents of three sons:
Harry R. and James Oliver, who are associated
with their father in business; and Roy M., who is
connected with the Southern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany. All three of the sons served in the World
War and Roy M. served overseas in the Second
Ammunition Train.

Mr. Smith gives his political allegiance to the Re-
publican party and is well informed concerning the
questions and issues of the day. His career has
been marked by steady advancement, due to his close
application to his study of the business to which he
has turned his attention and his unquestioned re-
liability and integrity.

LELAND J. SQUIRES.— Prominent among the
experienced railroad men of the Pacific Coast
to whom the public owes so much for the safe-
ty and conveniences of modern travel, is Le-
land J. Squires, the efficient and popular train de-
spatcher of the Peninsular Railroad Company. A
native son in more or less natural touch with Cali-
fornia conditions from his childhood, he was born
at Oakland on December 13, 1884, the son of George
D. Squires, who first came to California in 1872. In
the beginning he was employed in the U. S. Mint
in San Francisco and then for years he was a re-
porter on the chief papers of San Francisco, the
Bulletin, Call and Chronicle, so that he remained
a newspaperman until 1895. Later, he studied law,
and he is still a practicing attorney in San Fran-
cisco and has been active as a Republican. He had
married Miss Minnie Gabrell, a woman of enviable
accomplishments, but she is now deceased.

Leland attended the public school of Woodside, and
then he learned the printer's trade. In 1909 he came
to San Jose, entering the employ of the Peninsular
Railroad and he has been with this company for
eleven years. He worked for three years as a con-
ductor, and then he was advanced to his present po-
sition, that of train despatcher. Since identifying
himself with railroad work, he has sought to mas-
ter every detail, and with the result that his knowl-
edge and its conscientious application, his fidelity
and unselfish service have given satisfaction alike
to the patrons and officials of the road.

At Pacific Grove, on October 26, 1910, Mr. Squires
was married to Miss Lenora Mosher, a native of
Palo Alto, and a fit companion for so busy and am-
bitious a man. Mr. and Mrs. Squires attend the
Baptist Church. Mr. Squires belongs to the Inde-
pendent Order of Foresters, in which he is very ac-
tive and he is a district deputy. There is but one
court here, with a membership of about 300, and
it will not be Mr. Squires' fault if that member-
ship is not soon increased to 500. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Squires are public-spirited, deeply interested in
Santa Clara County and its future, and both did
good war w-ork. Mr. Squires was active as a commit-
tee man on the War Work Council for Santa Clara
County, and he is just as busy and efficient, when
his services are demanded, in boosting the programs
of the Chamber of Commerce.

/(g^2^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1509

JAMES ELWIN PERKINS— Broad experience
as a builder has well qualified James Elwin Perkins
tor the conduct of his present business as a building
contractor and his thorough knowledge of the trade,
combined with his reliable and progressive business
methods, have won for him a large share of the pat-
ronage of the public. He was born at Stetson, near
Bangor, Maine. April 22, 1871, a son of Joseph H.
and Emma (Randall) Perkins, the former also a
native of the Pine Tree State, while the latter was
born in New Hampshire, both being representatives
of old and prominent New England families. The
father followed the sea for many years, acting as
second mate on an ocean-going vessel. He passed
away at the age of sixtj^-six years and the mother
afterward removed to Lynn. Mass.. and in the gram-
mar schools of that city her son. James E. Perkins,
acquired his education. In 1888 he removed with his
mother and stepfather. Henry Damon, to San Jose,
Cal.. learning the carpenter trade under Mr. Damon.
He then followed his trade, working ten years for
Mrs. Winchester, after which he became foreman for
Z. O. Field, a prominent Santa Clara County con-
tractor, being in charge of the construction of the
V. M. C. A. building, the Alum Rock Xatatorium.
the Horace Mann School building, the Christian and
Methodist Churches and other public edifices. After
seven years as foreman, he severed his connection
with Mr. Field to enter the building field on his own
account and is now^ specializing in the construction
of first-class bungalows. Long experience enables
him to intelligently direct the labors of those whom
he employs and he uses none but the best of mater-
ials, erecting substantial as well as attractive dwell-
ings. He displays sound judgment in the manage-
ment of his interests and his business has enjoyed a
rapid growth, so that he now ranks with the leading
building contractors of San Jose. His operations are
not alone confined to San Jose and vicinity, but he
has also constructed residences in Los Gatos. Santa
Cruz and Hollister.

Mr. Perkins resides witli his mother, who is still
vigorous and active at the age of seventy-eight years.
They own two residences on Thirty-fourth and Santa
Clara Streets, where they make their home. Mr.
Perkins built one of the first houses in this district,
being one of the first to purchase lots on Alum Rock
Avenue. A Republican in politics, he is identified
with the Good Fellows Lodge. No. 1, of San Jose. He
is a member of the Builders Exchange and the Cham-
ber of Commerce also receives his support. Through-
out his career he has closely applied himself to the
work in hand and as the years have passed has
gained that expert knowledge which makes him an
authority in his line of work.

FLOYD A. PARTON. — Prominent among the
most interesting, because most promising young men
of important business affairs in Santa Clara County
may well be mentioned Floyd A. Parton. bond and
investment broker, associated with Mitchum, TuUy
& Company, the well-known investment firm of San
Francisco, who are correspondents of Kidder. Pea-
Ijody & Company of New York; himself identified
with Santa Clara County and San Jose since 1895.
He was born in Waitsburg, Wash, on March 25.
1886. the son of Frank Parton, a flour miller, presi-
dent of the Preston. Parton Milling Company of

Walla Walla, which had a branch at Waitsburg and
catered to both that state and the entire Northwest.
He passed away in 1893, while he was mayor of
Waitsburg, especially honored in Masonic circles.
He had married Miss Lucy Morgan, an accoinplished
lady who belonged to one of the most highly-es-
teemed families in Washington, and when he died
she took their three children and moved to California,
settling in 1895 at San Jose. She was a good mother,
and our subject passed a boyhood brightened through
a happy home and numerous educational advantages.

At San Jose, Floyd commenced his schooling in the
grammar grades, after which he went through the
high school, from which he graduated in 1905.
Naturally studious, and able to both hold his own
and assume leadership among students, he next
matriculated at Stanford University, which became
his Alma Mater when he bade adieu to the halls of
learning with the class of '09, and once shoulder to
shoulder with the world, he entered the employ of
the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, in
whose service he remained for over seven years,
leaving them only when he had attained to the dis-
trict traffic superintendency of the San Jose division.

For a while Mr. Parton was vice-president of the
Wilson Candy Company, a wholesale manufacturing
concern of Palo Alto and Fresno, which served both
Santa Clara and San Joaquin valleys; but in the
spring of 1919 he established himself in the general
insurance and investment brokerage. The activities
of Mitchum. Tully & Company, already referred to.
embrace the Pacific Coast states in the distribution
of conservative investment securities, providing for
the public an investment service of the most con-
structive character. They are correspondents and
representatives of Messrs. Kidder, Peabody & Com-
pany of Boston and New York, and on the Pacific
Coast they reflect the conservative character of that
long-established concern in the New England and
l''.nipire states. The pola les of these two companies
are idrntu ,il, .iiul are :il\\;i>,s conceived along lines
ui lii^;li idials .mil < oii.sei \ativeness, for Kidder, Pea-
bod>- & Company's position in the financial world is
the result of long, honest and industrious effort on
the part of men endowed with keen foresight and,
all in all, pronounced ability. Mitchum. Tully &
Company are made up of California men. promi-
nently identified for years with financial and invest-
ment circles, and Mr. Parton's part in extending the
connections of the firm is highly creditable.

At San Jose, on March 20, 1911, Mr. Parton was
married to Miss Wilna Andrews, the daughter of
W. C. Andrews, a pioneer of San Jose, president of
the Farmers' Union and director of First National
Bank, who married Miss Ada Cooper, a native of
Petaluma. Sonoina County, and a member of a
pioneer family who came out to California in early
days. Two children have been born to them, the
elder, Elizai)eth Parton, died at the age of eight
years, and the younger is William Andrews Parton.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Parton are very popular in the
social circles of San Jose, and Mr. Parton enjoys
prominence as a fraternal man. He is a Knights
Templar Mason, and he is also a member of the
B. P. O. Elks, in which organization he takes a very
active part. He belongs to the Lions Club, the Com-
mercial Club. Chamber of Commerce, the Countrv

1510

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Club, and San Jose Tennis Club. He is active in
athletics, holding the county tennis championship
from 1909 to 1912; since that time he has been
prominent in golf circles. In national politics he is
a stanch Republican; but he never allows partisan-
ship to interfere with his loyal support, as a good
"booster," of the best men and the best measures.

JAMES ROGER McCHESNEY.— Prominent in
the educational and financial world before coming to
California, James Roger McChesney has been the
vice-president and manager of the Rucker-McChes-
ney Company since December 1, 1915, this being one
of San Jose's leading firms in the realty and insur-
ance field. Mr. McChesney was born in Lafayette
County, Mo., April IS, 1872, his parents being Wil-
liam King and Julia Frances McChesney, both par-
ents being natives of Washington County, Va. The
father, who settled in Lafayette County, Mo., in 1858,
served in the Confederate Army.

The public schools of Missouri furnished Mr. Mc-
Chesney's early education, and he later attended
the University of Missouri, graduating there with
the degree of B. A. in 1906; he had also studied at
the University of California in 1902. Before begin-
ning his university course he had already entered the
profession of teaching in 1889, and for four years
taught in the public schools of Missouri; the next
seven years he held the responsible post of president
of Odessa College, at Odessa, Mo. Next he was
superintendent of the schools of Hamburg, Ark., for
eight years, thus giving nineteen years of splendid
service to educational work; he was also school ex-
aminer of Ashley County, Ark., for a short time,
and still holds state life teacher's certificates in
Missouri and Arkansas.

Leaving the pedagogical field, Mr. McChesney en-
tered the world of finance, and for six years was
cashier and director of the Bank of Selling, at Sell-
ing, Okla. Coming from there to California, on
December 1. 1915, Mr. McChesney purchased the
insurance and rent business of the Rucker Realty
Company, which at that time was incorporated as
the Rucker-McChesney Company, Mr. McChesney
becoming vice-president and general manager of the
company. The Rucker Company was established in
1874, and thus is one of the oldest firms in its line in
the Santa Clara Valley. Its founder w^as Joseph E.
Rucker, a California pioneer, who came to the
Golden State in 1852, and who passed away in 1890.
In 1883 he took his son, Joseph H. Rucker into
partnership with him, and in 1901 the firm was in-
corporated as Joseph H. Rucker & Company, popu-
larly known as the Rucker Realty Company.

At Odessa, Mo., Mr. McChesney was married to
Miss Minnie Alice Gammon, on December 26, 1894.
a talented woman of congenial tastes, who was for
several years engaged in teaching in Missouri and
Arkansas. Her parents were William T. and Eliza-
beth A. Gammon, the father holding the rank of
Colonel in Stonewall Jackson's army during the
Civil War. They are members of the Presbyterian
Church and active in all its good works. Mr. Mc-
Chesney was an elder in the Presbyterian Church in
Missouri and Arkansas of the U. S., popularly known
as the Southern Presbyterian Church for twelve
years, and in the Presbyterian Church of the U. S. A.
in Oklahoma and San Jose for ten years, and twice

was sent as commissioner to the General Assembly
of the church. For many years a Mason, Mr. Mc-
Chesney was senior warden and later worshipful
master of Prairie Lodge No. 465, F. & A. M., Ham-
burg, Ark., and king, Olive Chapter No. 12, R. A. M.,
of Hamburg. While a Democrat in national policies.
Mr. McChesney is inclined to be independent in his
views, where local measures are concerned.

JOHN ANDERSON.— A well-known figure in the
business life of San Jose, is John .A^nderson, one
of the early settlers, who is a dealer in staple and
fancy groceries, provisions of all kinds, wood and
coal, and mill blocks. Having been a resident for
forty-six years and engaged in business for over
thirty-five years in San Jose, he has witnessed the
marvelous growth of the city from a small village
to an up-to-date, hustling city of 50,000 population.
Mr. Anderson was born at Ollov near Engelholm,
Sweden. May 29. 1858. His parents. Christian and
Christine Anderson, were thrifty farmers and were
the owners of a good-sized farm, and John, the
second oldest son, grew up in the ways of farming
and gained a knowledge of those qualities which
make both a good farm and a good farmer. ' He
gained what education he received in the schools
of Sweden, and at the age of sixteen he decided to
come to America in 1875, where he joined his
brother, Niels, who had preceded him some time.
Arriving in San Jose he lost no time in finding a
place to work and took a place as a farm hand. Con-
tinuing for a 3'ear and a half, he went to Castor-
ville, Monterey County, and was employed for an-
other year and a half on a dairy ranch. He next
joined a gang of hay balers and worked on a hay
press for two years, then with a San Francisco meat
packing company he spent another two years as a
butcher. Returning to San Jose, in 1885,' he kept a
hotel for two years, becoming the proprietor of the
Old Scandinavian Exchange Hotel which was lo-
cated on Post Street in San Jose, and later was
the owner of a restaurant. He continued in different
lines of business until the year of 1900. when he
started in the grocery business which still engages
his attention. His store is located at 253 West San
Carlos Street and here he and his son Howard can
be found daily waiting on their numerous custo-
mers. Mr. .Anderson now owns the corner where
his store building stands, also a comfortable frame
residence located adjoining at 357 West San Carlos
Street where he and his family make their home.

Mr. Anderson's marriage, which occurred July 12.
1884, at San Jose, united him with Miss Johanna
Johnson, a sweetheart of his boyhood days, who
was also born in Ollov, Sweden. They were school-
children together and their married life has been one
of harmony. Mrs. Anderson became the parents of
a family of eight children, three of whom died when
very young and one. Carl, passed away at the age
of twenty-one years; Annie is the wife of Charles
R. Berry, a stationer in San Francisco; Hilda be-
came the wife of M. E. Pedler and resides at Pen-
ryn, Cal.; Jeannette is at home; Howard helps his
father run the store and also resides at home. Al-
though Mr. Anderson is now sixty-three years old
he is a man of rugged health and as hard-working
as ever. He and his wife take a live interest in the
community's welfare and to them there is no spot
equal to Santa Clara County. Mr. Anderson is a

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1513

member of the Grocers, Wood and Coal Dealers,
and other trade associations of San Jose, and also
of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, the Knights
of Pythias, the Druids, and the Druids Circle, the
Swedish lodge of San Jose. In religious faith, he
is an active member of the Swedish Lutheran Church
in San Jose to which he gives both of his time and
means. Politically, he is a Republican.

FRANK L. HOYT.— .\n enterprising general con-
tractor and building engineer who is widely known
for his many successful operations in various parts
of California, some of which have been carried out
on a bold scale, is Frank L. Hoyt, of San Jose. He
was born near Saratoga Springs, N. Y., on Septem-
ber 12, 1880, the son of Able Hoyt, who was a suc-
cessful farmer and who died in the East. He had
married Miss Elizabeth Grinnell, who came to Cali-
fornia after her husband's death and spent her re-
maining years here. They were a worthy couple, and
each enjoyed that priceless blessing, a circle of
devoted friends.

Frank L. Hoyt attended the schools of his rural
district, and when he went to Wisconsin, he pursued
the courses of a first-class high school at White-
water and was in time graduated with honors. He
was then fifteen years of age and he had been ap-
prenticed for two years to the carpenter's trade.
He then completed the millwright and flour mill-
ing trades, and afterwards operated and remodeled
some of the largest flour mills in the Northwest,
and then he studied civil engineering. Next he
traveled through the Northwest and in 1901 came
to California.

From 1903 until 1913 he was in business in San
Francisco and Santa Rosa where he erected many
large buildings, and in 1913 he removed to San
Jose and here he has since been engaged in the
contracting business. He designed and erected, among
other edifices, the plants of the Herbert Packing
Company, Inc.. Shaw Family, Inc., California Pack-
ing Corporation, at Seventh and Jackson streets, and
also built additions to their C. F. & C. A. plant, the
Temple Laundry Company's plant, the potash plant
of the Western Industries Company, at Agnew, the
Pacific By-Products Company plant and the building
for the Muirson Label and Carton Company, on
Stockton Avenue, are examples of his workmanship
as well as the refrigerating plants for the Security
Warehouse and Cold Storage Company, on North
First Street at the S. P. depot, and he designed and
built the Santa Clara County Walnut Growers Asso-
ciation plant at Santa Clara. He has done much re-
frigeration work for the Security Company, George
Le Dcit, the Crystal Gold Nugget Butter Company,
A. G. Col, J. F. Pyle & Son, Inc., O'Brien's, Sara-
toga Market and others. Mr. Hoyt designed and
constructed the Homer Knowles Pottery Company's
plant at Santa Clara, for manufacture of hotel and
dinner ware. This is the only plant of its kind on
the Pacific Coast and he is a stockholder and a
director in this concern. He also erected, among
many others, the fine residences for Mrs. J. E.
Fisher, H. J. Martin, Frank Howorth, M. F. Ball,
J. Q. Patton, Mrs. F. H. Ryan, and the business
blocks for O'Brien & McCabe and R. M. Lipe, as
well as many other important structures. Mr. Hoyt
specializes on industrial plants and is a large em-
ployer of labor, keeping from twenty to 150 mechan-

ics busy on an average, the year round. In 1919 he
purchased the controlling interest in the San Jose
Brick Company and is now the president and general
manager of the company.

On January 1, 1906, Mr. Hoyt was united in mar-
riage with Miss Leah Louise Barrows, and they
have one son, Frank Louis Hoyt. Mrs. Hoyt was
born in Colorado and is a daughter of J. W. Bar-
rows, a railroad builder, having been connected with
the Denver & Rio Grande; the Northwestern Pacific
and the Western Pacific, and now is roadmaster of
the Nevada County Narrow Gauge. The Hoyt fam-
ily attend the First Baptist Church in San Jose,
of which Mr. Hoyt was president of the board of
trustees for eight years. He is a member of the
Rotary Club, is a Thirty-second degree Scottish
Rite Mason and a Shriner; he is a Republican
and is serving on the Civil Service Commission.
Ranching appeals to him for recreation and he owns
154 acres on the San Felipe Road, which is devoted
to diversified production. He is a firm believer and
keenly interested in all that afifects the destiny of
Santa Clara County and the State of California and
he can be counted upon to do his full share in
helping to promote all worthv movements.

WILLIAM B. HEIMGARTNER. — A native
Ohioan, who had enjoyed an interesting career as an
editor before coming to California, William B. Heim-
gartner has turned his talents to the fruit and poul-
try business and is making just as outstanding a suc-
cess in this newer field of work. He was born at
Dayton, Ohio, August 8, 1877, and there attended
the public schools until the time came for him to
make his own way in the world. He then entered
the print shop of a newspaper and his diligent work
there took him up to the editorship of the paper
before he came to California in 1900. A serious
illness had made it necessary for him to seek a
milder climate and after traveling the length and
breadth of the state, he finally settled at Madrone
in the Santa Clara Valley, the equable climate there
making it especially desirable to him.

In 1904, Mr. Heimgartner had so regained his
health that he entered the newspaper business at
Morgan Hill, acquiring at the same time a poultry
business which was conducted in conjunction with
his orchard property at Madrone. He was a breeder
of high-grade utility stock and also operated a
hatchery. After renaming his paper the Morgan Hill
Times, Mr. Heimgartner published and edited until
1906, when he sold out, being succeeded in its pro-
prietorship by Attorney G. K. Estes of Morgan Hill.
Removing to Los Angeles, he established the job
printing business known as the Dayton Printery and
for the next four years he conducted a large and
successful business there.

While in Los Angeles, Mr. Heimgartner was mar-
ried to Miss Anna Hocfler, who was, like himself,
a native of Dayton, Ohio, but who had been a
resident of California four years previous to her
marriage. Two sons have been born to them, Wil-
liam B. and Franklin L. Mrs. Heimgartner, whose
girlhood years were spent in Dayton, was educated
at the Notre Dame Academy there. Upon return-
ing to Santa Clara County in 1910, Mr. Heimgart-
ner, with a partner, Mr. Noll, entered once more in
the poultry business, this time more extensively than
ever, and they now have several thousand birds
in their flock and they also maintain a modern, up-

1514

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to-date hatchery. They also are the owners of fifty
acres of fine prune and apricot orchards, which they
are giving highly specialized care. The Heimgart-
ner and Noll ranch is situated on Main Avenue, about
two miles from Morgan Hill. Both partners are
energetic men of high standing in the neighborhood,
and they represent the highest quality of products
in the line of poultry and fruit.

JOHN NEWTON BLACK.— San Jose is among
the progressive cities of California which has al-
ways appreciated a good public official, and that is
why, no doubt, it holds fast to John Newton Black,
the chief of police, and entrusts to him so much of
the responsibility for law and order in the city. He
is a native son and was born in San Jose August 4,
1871. His father was John C. Black, a pioneer who
came here in 1852. He is still living, aged eighty-
seven years, and has been practicing law for fifty-
six years — fifty years in the same office, at 18 and 19
Knox Block — and he was district attorney in 1872.
He married Miss Mariani J. Millard, whose father
crossed the great plains with oxen and ran 'buses
here before the advent of the railroad. Mr. and Mrs.
Black had a good family, and six are still living
to honor a name that long meant much in Cali-
fornia politics.

John Newton Black attended the public schools,
and then the College of the Pacific, where he took
an academic course; after which he studied law with
his father, although he did not take the examination
for the bar. He then engaged in the oil business
for a few years, and supplied Chinatown with oil,
acting as agent for twelve merchants who comprised
the Quon Hing Hoon Company. From 1893 to 1895
Mr. Black was a special deputy under Sheriff George
Bolinger. In 1895 he sold out his oil business, and
took a position as chief jailer under James H. Lyn-
don, who was the first sheriff to hold a four-year
term, and served to the end of the latter's term.
He was also deputy constable, and as such was de-
tailed to Chinatown during the Highbinder Wars.

In July, 1902, Mr. Black was made patrolman on
the police force; and in 1906 he was promoted to be
captain. He served until the Davison administra-
tion, but in 1908 lost his post on account of false
charges. He carried the case to the Supreme Court,
and at the end of five years, he was reinstated. After
nine years, he got back his salary. His reinstate-
ment took place on July 29, 1913, and then he was
made night captain. When the commission form of
government was adopted by San Jose, he was of-
fered the position of chief of police; this he at first
declined, but was induced to try it for one month.
Then, on November 28, 1916, he was almost com-
pelled to take the responsibility permanently. He
still retains his civil service standing, however, as
captain. Like his father, he is a Republican. He
has succeeded in establishing the up-to-date identifi-
cation bureau, and since prior to its installation no
officer could identify finger prints, this alone has
been a great advance. He also had a special school
established for officers, and judges and others have
given practical talks there very helpful to the men.

At San Jose on January 22, 1919, Mr. Black was
married to Miss Mary B. Marques; and one child
has blessed the fortunate union — a son named John
Newton Patrick. Mr. Black is a member of the
United Presbyterian Church. When a youth, Mr.
Black was well known as an amateur foot-racer.

and made 100 yards in a dash of 10 4-5 seconds.
This athletic prowess still aids him at times in
dealing with criminals or difficult situations. He
belongs to the California Association of Identifi-
cation, and the International Association of Chiefs
of Police. He is also a member of San Jose Parlor,
N. S. G. W. and the Ancient Order of Foresters.

CHARLES ALLEN PARLIER.— A man who has
moved steadily forward since he launched out for
himself is Charles Allen Parlier who now occupies
the position of superintendent of the plumbing busi-
ness of Snyder and Du Brutz. He was born near
Modesto. Stanislaus County, September 23, 1880, the
son of William Riley and Jeannette (Garner) Par-
lier, early settlers of California. The father was
born in 1849. The mother was born in California,
her parents coming across the plains in the usual
ox-team and settled near Modesto. The family re-
moved to San Jose when Charles was fourteen and
there he attended the grammar and high schools.
The family were quite extensive farmers in Stanis-
laus County, having 320 acres in grain; then he
farmed for a time in Fresno County.

Charles Allen is the third of six children. Barbara,
now Mrs. Marshall of Yuba City; Mrs. L. Reeves
of San Jose; Charles Allen; Olive Leland, also living
in San Jose; Mrs. Edna Bell, residing in San Fran-
cisco; and Mrs. Georgia Miller of San Jose. While
still a young man, he determined to make his own
way and for a time worked at whatever he could
find to do. For the past fifteen years he has been
employed by Snyder & Du Brutz learning thoroughly
all angles of the plumbing business and very soon
he was rewarded for his industry and faithfulness
by being advanced to the position of superintendent
of their business. During the year of 1921 he pur-
chased an acre on Alum Rock Avenue east of San
Jose about four miles and he and his family there
comfortably made their home.

On December 25, 1901, he was married to Miss
May Small, born at Fort Wayne, Ind., the daugh-
ter of Robert and Rachel Small. Her parents came
to California when she was but a small child, the
family living on a farm. The mother is still living
at the age of eighty-two. Mr. and Mrs. Parlier are
the parents of two children, Irma and Charles Allen,
Jr. Fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of
the World, Alamo Camp No. 80, and politically is a
Democrat.

JOSEPH F. ROSE. — A young man steadily forg-
ing ahead and noted for his energy, level-headedness
and foresight, is Joseph F. Rose, the fortunate owner
of eighty acres of exceptionally attractive land about
three miles east of Milpitas, on the Downing and
just off the Calaveras road. He was born near the
Mission San Jose, in Alameda County, on April 26,
1887. the son of Joseph and Rosic Rose. His father,
a native of Fayal in the beautiful Azores, came to
California while still a young man and settled near
the Mission San Jose, where he farmed; but when
Joseph was a lad of seven years, his parents re-
moved to Santa Clara County and settled on a farm
about two miles east of Milpitas, on which account
the boy went to the Laguna school. They had five
girls and eight boys, and Joseph F. was the second
child, Rosie, who became Mrs. Pedro of San Jose,
being the eldest. After Joseph came Manuel, who
died of the influenza in 1918; Mary, Mrs, Manuel

ey^eo-. ^3. fd^<^^Lyi^c?L(^CLyyt

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

15i;

Pedro of San Jose; Antone. William, Anna, now
Mrs. Manuel Hendricks of San Jose; John, Frank,
Henry, Carrie, who married Joseph Hendricks of San
Jose, and Minnie and Louis.

Joseph remained at home working with his father
for seven years, but he commenced to make his own
way by hard labor when he was fifteen. After that
he was in the employ of G. h. Downing and he con-
tinued with him until he was able to buy, in 1920, a
farm of eighty acres, one-fourth of which he devoted
to the cultivation of fruit. These eighty acres, ad-
joining Downing and Calaveras roads, are a part
of the historic Downing Ranch.

On June 11, 1912, Mr. Rose was married at Mil-
pitas to Miss Mary Rose, a native of Fayal, in tlic
Azores, and they now have two bright children.
Arthur and Clarence. Mr. Rose, who has become a
patriotic American citizen, is a Republican; and he
is also a member of the U. P. E. C. of Milpitas.

GEORGE B. BURDICK— Success has crowned
the intelligently directed efforts of George B. Bur-
dick, and he has the distinction of attaining a reputa-
tion as an expert accountant, without the help of
technical training. Born in Antioch, Lake County,
111., June 28, 1871, he is the son of Charles Lafayette
and Annie M (Lowe) Burdick, natives of New York
and Illinois, respectively; the father followed his
trade of carpenter and builder for a number of years.
When George B. was one j-ear old, the family re-
moved to Sheldon, Iowa, where the father was en-
gaged at his trade, and here it was that George B.
first attended school. He is the oldest of a family
of four children, having one brother and two sisters.
In the year of 1878 the family came to California,
settling at San Antonio, Monterey County. Here
the father farmed quite extensively, having as much
as 100 acres under cultivation; he also followed his
trade of contractor and builder. During the time the
family resided in San Antonio, George B. finished
his grammar school course and started out for him-
self. The family came to San Jose in the year 1888.
where the father was engaged in the building busi-
ness for many years. He is a veteran of the Civil
War, and was a member of the Thirty-ninth Illinois
Volunteers under General Butler. He served three
years and at the end of the war was discharged in
perfect health, and is still active at seventy-four.

George Burdick's first position was with Togni and
Tognazzi, grocers, as bookkeeper. Never having had
the opportunity to attend commercial school, he ac-
quired his knowledge through self study and actual
experience. He remained with them for a period of
four years, and upon leaving their employ, he ac-
cepted a position as receiving clerk with Castle Bros.,
packers and shippers of dried fruit in San Jose. From
receiving clerk he was promoted to bookkeeper; then
superintendent of the plant and afterwards local man-
ager for the company. In July, 1918, Castle Bros
discontinued business and Mr. Burdick was retained
as superintendent under E. N. Richmond, who had
taken over the plant. Soon after the incorporation
of the Richmond-Chase Company. Mr. Burdick was
made head bookkeeper, and later cost accountant.

On January 10, 1900. Mr. Burdick was married to
Miss Agnes M. Ferguson, a native of Fairfield, So-
lano County, Cal., a daughter of John and Christina
Ferguson, her father passing away when she was a
little girl. Her early education was obtained in the

public schools of Vacaville. later supplemented with
a course at the San Jose State Normal. Three chil-
dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Burdick: Don-
ald L., a student in Stanford University; Kenneth
L., in the employ of Richmond-Chase Company, and
Muriel A., attending grammar school.

Mr. Burdick has long supported the Republican
party, becoming one of its stalwart adherents on at-
taining his majority. Fraternally he is a member of
the Woodmen of the World, and is at the present
assistant clerk of the order. He is also a member of
the Junior Order of United American Mechanics,
passing from the lowest to the highest office. He is
an active member of the Christian Church of San
Jose, servmg as financial secretary for the past
twenty-two years. In his business career he has
made steady advancement through the wise use of
his time, talents and opportunities, and his record
illustrates what can be accomplished through dili-
gence and determination.

WILLIAM RAMSAY.— One of the recent addi-
tions to the citizenship of San Jose is William Ram-
say, who has here resided since 1920 and is now
connected with the California Packing Corporation,
with offices in this city. His 1)road experience in
business well qualifies him lor the duties of his
present position and he is regarded as a valuable
acquisition to the organization. He is a native of
Canada, his birth having occurred in Orillia, in the
province of Ontario, July 2, 1871, and a son of
William and Ellen (Gill) Ramsay, the latter also a
native of that province. The father was born in
Ayr, Scotland, and in 1837 came with his parents to
Ontario. He followed the trade of his father, that
of a carriage builder, and the paternal grandfather
also engaged in building carriages. The maternal
grandfather was a native of Pennsylvania but in his
youth took up his residence in Canada.

In the acquirement of an education William
Ramsay attended the public school and an academy
at Oriilia, Canada. In 1895 he came to California,
settling at Fresno, where, in association with a part-
ner, he established the Fresno Business College,
which they conducted for two years. Mr. Ramsay
then disposed of his interest in that enterprise and
became identified with the dried fruit industry, ac-
cepting the iiosition of head bookkeeper in the
Fresno branch of the J. B. Inderrieden Company.
l"or twenty years he remained with that corporation,
.spending three years of that period at the Fresno
office and the remainder of the time at their office
in San Francisco. In 1909 he purchased a ten-acre
ranch at Sunnyvale, devoted to raising prunes and
apricots. His property was provided with an in-
dividual irrigating system and he successfully con-
tinued his fruit-raising operations until 1920, when
he disposed of his ranch and moved to San Jose,
purchasing a residence on Naglee Avenue. He es-
tablished a garage on North Second Street, but after
conducting the enterprise for nine months he sold
out to W. R. Rubell. He has recently become identi-
fied with the San Jose offices of the California Pack-
ing Corporation, his previous experience, enterprise
and keen discernment proving valuable assets.

On the twenty-fifth of December, 1895, Mr. Ram-
say was married at Fresno, Cal., to Miss Edith
Knight, a native of Huron, Ohio, and a daughter of

1518

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Richard and Mary Knight, the former of whom was
born in England, while the latter was a native of
New York. Four children have been born to this
union: William, Jr. Margaret, Edith and Donald. In
all matters of citizenship Mr. Ramsay is loyal and
public-spirited and during the World War he was
active in Red Cross work in San Jose. Industry has
been the key which has unlocked for him the portals
of success and thoroughness and diligence have
characterized all of his work.

ELMER E. CHASE, Jr.— A native son of the
Golden West, Elmer E. Chase, Jr., was born in San
Jose on Tune 1, 1889, the son of Elmer E. and Edith
(Granger) Chase. His father was born in Roches-
ter, Minn., and was brought to California by his
parents and he grew up in Santa Clara County and
for more than forty years he has been identified with
the fruit industry and is now vice-president of the
Richmond-Chase Company of San Jose. A sketch
of his life appears on another page of this history.

Our subject was educated in the public schools of
San Jose and this he supplemented with a three and
one-half year course at Stanford University. Upon
leaving Stanford he was five years with the Golden
Gate Packing Company, after which he was given the
position of manager of canneries of the Richmond-
Chase Company at San Jose and Stockton, and he
bids fair to succeed in this line of work as he inherits
his father's energy and industry. He is constantly
seeking out new methods to develop the business of
the company and has displayed marked ability in the
introduction of plans which have been beneficial to
aid in building up the business. Mr. Chase is a
member of the B. P. O. Elks of San Jose and takes
a decided interest in advancing the general interests
of his town and county.

WALLACE E. BLAND.— Success, in whatever
line of work he undertakes, has been the keynote of
the life of Wallace E. Bland. Born at Norwalk, in
Los Angeles County, Cal., April IS, 1889, a son of
Samuel and Nancy (Worthington) Bland. His

mother was born in San Jose, her parents having
come to California from Lancaster, Pa., in 1849.
across the plains. Her father went into the mines
in the early days, mining for five years at Placer-
ville, Carson City and Chinese Camp. He then
went to what is now Riverside County and there he
lived until his death. The father was born in Nova
Scotia and came to California via Panama in 1857.
mined for some time and returned to Los Angeles
County, Cal.. and bought 360 acres of land "near
Norwalk and was engaged in farming, raising al-
falfa and hogs and here he passed away. Wallace
is the youngest child of a family of nine children.
William Edward, deceased; George S., of Lompoc;
Adeline L.; Harriet Maude; Amelia Cornelia, de-
ceased; Nellie; Agnes G.; Ruby, deceased, and Wal-
lace E. The father passed away in 1905 aged sixty-
nine, but the mother is still living, and resides at
Los Angeles, aged sixty-eight years.

Wallace attended the grammar school at Nor-
walk, later supplementing with a course at St. Vin-
cent's College. After finishing school he took up
the well-drilling business and learned his trade un-
der E. R. Pitzer of Los Angeles County, who did
drilling of irrigation wells in the Orange belt of
Southern California and at Whittier, San Dimas and
elsewhere. Mr. Bland worked at the drilling busi-

ness until he enlisted in the World War, except for
a period of eighteen months, when he was in the
automobile business in Pasadena. He was one of the
original volunteers that made up the Red Cross Am-
bulance Corps No. 1 of Pasadena, organized by Major
Charles D. Lockwood of Pasadena. He enlisted
May 25, 1917, and trained for a short time in the
south, then was sent to Allentown, Pa., where he
was promoted to first sergeant of section 566 of the
Red Cross Ambulance Corps. Here he trained for
eleven months and three weeks and then sailed
from Hoboken, N. J., for foreign service. His de-
tachment was sent to Italy and was one of the 1,000
American troops that was spread over a front area
of 400 miles. These companies did ambulance work
and transporting of rations for the Italian troops.
They passed through Gibraltar and landed at Genoa,
Italy, serving in the Alps and spending one year in
Italy and Mr. Bland was in three major Italian
oflfensives. Upon his return to the United States
May 1, 1919. he was discharged at Camp Dix., N. J.,
June 3, 1919. He immediately returned to Cali-
fornia and settled in the Santa Clara Valley and
became a partner of Nathan Charnock in the well-
drilling business. They own and operate four deep
well power drilling rigs, and they are usually kept
busy, covering the territory on the coast from San
Francisco to San Luis Obispo.

Mr. Bland's marriage occurred May 17, 1919, in
Eaton, Pa., and united him with Miss Harriet Mc-
Henry, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, a native of Penn-
sylvania, born in Catasauqua, where she was reared
and educated, completing her education in the Nor-
mal School of her native city. Her mother passed
away there in January, 1918. Mr. Bland is an hon-
ored member of the American Legion of San Jose;
fraternally he is a member of the Elks Lodge No.
672 of Pasadena and was an active member of the
baseball and drill team of this lodge. Locally he
gives his support to progressive, constructive leg-
islation, regardless of party lines, supporting the
best man for public oflfice. His home is 1498 Park
Avenue, San Jose.

PAUL D. CAMBIANO.— Success has crowned
the efforts of Paul D. Cambiano, who is the ener-
getic manager of the Art Fixture Shop located at
728 South Second Street. Born in Boulder Creek,
Cal., January 5. 1892, he is the son of Antone and
Catherine (Grella) Cambiano, pioneers of Califor-
nia, the father having arrived here in the '50s, while
the mother also belongs to one of the old families
here. They were married in this state and are living
in San Jose at the present time.

Mr. Cambiano was educated in the public schools
of San Jose and supplemented his high school course
with a business education. After his graduation
from business college, he did clerical work for eight
years, after which he was with Blake Brothers and
later with Wagner Brothers. In June, 1919, he
opened his own business, and for his shop built a
bungalow in the residence district, which is known
as the "no rent" store. He has a fine reception room
and carries a large and attractive stock of electrical
fixtures. He has the only exclusive lighting fixture
factory in the county, his business furnishing em-
ployment for six men. The Art Fixture Shop spec-
ializes in lighting fixtures and has furnished the fix-
tures for the lighting systems for many of the most
handsome residences and business houses in the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1521

county; among them being the residences of Mrs.
G. Nutting and S. D. San Filippo; among the busi-
ness houses, the private offices of Hubbard and
Carmichael, the drug store of E. H. Baker, the Hip-
podrome Theater, the Bordwell Jewelry Store.

Mr. Cambiano's marriage united him with Miss
Dora Slavich, the daughter of George and Martha
Slavich, pioneers of Amador County, who now re-
side in Santa Clara County. They have two sons,
Richard and Robert. Mr. Cambiano is an enthus-
iastic member of San Jose Parlor No. 22, N. S.
G. W., and of the Knights of Columbus; also of the
Chamber of Commerce of San Jose and a charter
member of the Commercial Club and being a believer
in principles of protection he is a Republican in na-
tional politics. He spends a part of each year camp-
ing out in the mountains, where he enjoys hunting
and fishing. His career has been characterized by
industry, perseverance and progressiveness, and the
prosperity which has come to him is well-deserved.

FRANK A. MACHADO,— A Portuguese-American
who is not only very prominent in church, business,
social and fraternal circles of his fellow-countrj'men,
but is well known and influential among all classes
of .Americans, is Frank A. Machado, the extensive
dairyman, and manager and treasurer of the Associ-
ated Milk Producers of San Francisco. He has pros-
pered and succeeded beyond his most sanguine ex-
pectations, and in all his ambitious operations he has
been ably helped by his bright and accomplished wife.
He was born in the Island of St. George, in the
Azores, on June 24, 1869, the son of John Machado,
a farmer, who died when our subject was only eight
years of age. The mother, whose maiden name had
been Mary Barba, remarried, choosing for her second
husband Manuel Barba, who now lives at Millbrae,
San Mateo County, in which district she died.
She was the mother of one girl and thirteen
boys — nine children by her first husband, and five
by her second. Three of Frank's brothers, and three
of his stepbrothers, have died.

Frank worked on the farm in the Azores, but had
no chance to go to school; and when he had reached
his fifteenth year, he had resolved to come out to
America with his mother and sister. They crossed
the ocean to Boston, and his mother and sister pro-
ceeded to California while he went to Vermont, where
he worked on a farm for eleven months, and with the
money he saved, came to California. He could speak
no English when he first went to Vermont, but in
California especially he had a chance to study at
night. On coming out to the Coast, he went to
.\apa; and as there was no work to be had from
strangers, he stayed with an aunt for six months.
From Napa County he went to Tomales, Marin
County, where he worked for wages in a dairy for
seven years.

He had saved his money, and when twenty-three
years old, he began business for himself, renting a
dairy farm at Sausalito and operating it for eight
years. In 1898 he moved to San Mateo County and
there rented a ranch of ISOO acres, with 300 cows.
He remained there until 1906, and in the meantime,
in 1899, he was married in Marin County to Miss
Caroline Cardoza, a native of San Mateo County and
a daughter of Manuel Cardoza. a pioneer. In 1906,
Mr. Machado came to Santa Clara County and rented
various places; and in 1913 he bought his home place
of 119 acres on Agnew Road, two miles northeast

of Sunnyvale, which he has converted into a dairy
farm, whereas it had formerly been a grain farm.
He has erected a large comfortable residence, three
large barns and other necessary buildings required for
a modern and sanitary dairy, and has set out trees
and made gravel roads, so the ranch presents a fine
appearance. He also leases the Enright ranch, where
he operates another dairy and besides leases three
other ranches, a total of 1190 acres as pasture for
the young stock to replenish his dairy. He keeps
high grade Holstein cows, and a number of registered
bulls, and runs eighty cows on the home place, and
200 cows on the Enright place.

Mr. Machado was the prime mover in organizing
the Associated Milk Producers of San Francisco,
which sells some 36,000 gallons of milk daily in San
Francisco. A director from the start, he was soon
selected as manager and accepting the responsibility,
he gave it his time and best business endeavor, con-
scientiously working for the building up of the associ-
ation and enhancing the value and marketing of the
products of the members, well knowing that co-
operation in selling was the only means of the
dairymen's achieving success. Having spent five
years as manager, and accomplished his aim of plac-
ing the association on a sound financial basis, he felt
he had given all the time he should and so resigned
as manager, but retains the position of treasurer.
He is an original stockholder in the Portuguese-
American Bank of San Francisco, and an original
stockholder and director in the San Francisco
Dairy Company and of the Portuguese Mercantile
Company of San Francisco, of which he is vice-presi-
dent. He is also a stockholder and director in the
Portuguese Dairy and Land Company, with head-
quarters in San Francisco, and a stockholder in the
Pacific States Security Company of Palo Alto.

Five children have blessed the union of Mr. and
Mrs. Machado. Manuel, a graduate of Heald's Busi-
ness College, is assisting in operating the ranch of
119 acres. Mary is the wife of John Azevedo of
Lawrence, the foreman of a dairy farm of SSO acres
there. Francis is attending Heald's Business College
in San Jose; and Joseph and Alfred are at the gram-
mar school. Caroline, the third-born of the family,
died at the age of three months. The family belongs
to the Sunnyvale Catholic Church. Mr. Machado
is a prominent member and treasurer of Palo Alto
Council No. 65, U. P. E. C, is a director of the
Supreme Council of California, U. P. E. C, and he
is president of the U. P. E. C. Hall Association in
Oakland. He is a member of San Mateo Council
No. 26. I. D. E. S. at Redwood City, in which he
holds the office of treasurer.

Mr. Machado has been greatly interested in secur-
ing a good port at the southern extremity of San
Francisco Bay, and in the foundation of the South-
Shore Port Company that is now dredging for a
harbor at a point between Mountain View and Sun-
nyvale, making a close and convenient place for ship-
ping and receiving the produce of the farms and fields,
by water from Santa Clara County, so it will be seen
that Mr. Machado's ambitions are not only for his
own interest but for assisting in other enterprises
that have for their aim the upbuilding and develop-
ment of the valley and state. Thus it is interesting
to note the life story of this successful, ambitious
man who began as a boy working on a Vermont
farm to make sufficient means to bring him to the

1522

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Golden State where as a lad of sixteen he started
out without any means and by energy, hard work
and good management he has accumulated a com-
petency and risen to a prominent place as a leader
not only among his countrymen but one of the in-
fluential men in the county.

JOHN D. VEDOVA— A loyal citizen of his adop-
ted country and one who favors and aids all progres-
sive movements is John D. X'edova, a prominent
cement contractor residing in Los Gatos, Cal. He
was born in Castelnuovo, Udine, Italy, May 4, 1877,
the son of August and Josephine (Tonnelli) X'edova,
both parents having lived and died in their native
land. John D. Vedova was educated in the public
schools of Italy and did not leave for the United
States until he was thirty years old. He fiist located
in San Francisco where he followed the cement busi-
ness until he removed to Los Gatos in 1911. He is
the foremost cement contractor in Los Gatos and
Crawford's fire-proof garage attests the kind of work-
manship he is doing. For many years he has had
the contracts for building the cement curbs and
sidewalks. He has just completed an $18,000 contract
with the city of Los Gatos for sidewalks, curbs and
gutters. He has done the cement and concrete work
on the principal business buildings and residences
here and many of the fine homes in the Los Gatos
hills also show the reliableness of his work. He reg-
ularly employs about a dozen men, and at times his
business requires many more.

The marriage of Mr. Vedova united him with Miss
Elizabeth Contardo, also born in Italy. While they
have not been blessed with children of their own,
they have adopted two children, a niece and a nephew,
Eleanor Nasimbini and August Vedova, whose fathers
were killed during the World War. Mr. Vedova is
proud of his American citizenship, having become
naturalized in 1915 and he is through and through
American, standing for law and order. He is affiliated
with the Republican party and is a member of the
Woodmen of the World, the Druids and the Los
Gatos Chamber of Commerce. His enterprise and
industry have won for him a place in the community
that can only be attained by constant application to
business and he takes great pride in the advancement
of the community which he has selected for his
permanent home.

WILLIAM F. COLT.— The owner and proprie-
tor of the Red Rock Spring Ranch at Morgan Hill,
William F. Colt has been an enthusiastic worker for
the welfare and progress of this section of Santa
Clara County ever since taking up his residence here
in 1917. The son of pioneers of Minnesota. Mr.
Colt was born at Riceford, Houston County, in that
state, July 22, 1877. His father, Martin Colt, set-
tled in Minnesota in the early '50s, where he was
one of the early pioneers. He became prominent
in the public life of that period, and established a
wagon shop and a large sawmill and had a half in-
terest in a foundry and blacksmith shop at Rice-
ford. In 1880 he went to Dakota Territory and took
up land in Lake County, being joined two years
later by his family. Although a stanch Republican,
he was appointed by President Cleveland as boss
farmer of the Crow Indian Reservation, serving from
1884 to 1888. an appointment that testified to his
unusual capability. Mrs. Colt was Miss Rosa M.
Fleming before her marriage, and a native of Hyde
Park, Vermont, born August 21, 1841. She came

to Minnesota with her parents in the early days, her
father being a veteran of the Mexican War of 1846.
She married at Spring Grove, Minn., September
8, 1858. In 1894 the Colt family removed to Sierra
County, Cal., and in this state the parents passed
the remainder of their lives, Martin Colt passing
away when seventy-three, in August. 1902, while
Mrs. Colt survived him until January 14, 1920, be-
ing seventy-nine at the time of her demise, in Sierra
County. There were nine children in their family,
four sons and one daughter survive.

William F. Colt finished his schooling in Sierra
County, and for three years worked on the ranch
and in the shingle mill at Sierra. In 1906 he entered
the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and for
six years worked in their shops, becoming inspector
of cars on the Sacramento division. Coming to Mor-
gan Hill in February, 1917, he purchased his ranch
of thirty-eight acres and since that time he has
given his best efforts to its development. He is a
hard worker and his industry and well-directed
methods are bringing him most satisfactory results.

In 1915, at Stockton, Mr. Colt was married to
Mrs. Mary M. (Faeh) Wilson, born near Smith-
field, Fulton County, 111. the daughter of Jacob and
Martha (Baughman) Faeh. She came to Cali-
fornia with her mother in 1878, and they settled in
San Luis Obispo County, where Mrs. Faeh died.
Mrs. Colt was given an excellent education and for
twenty-nine years she taught in the public schools
of this state, having a high school diploma and a
life diploma. Mr. Colt, who is a Republican in
politics, is aflfiliated with the Brotherhood of Amer-
ican Yeomen, and is a member of the California
Prune and Apricot Association and the Grape Grow-
ers .Association.

SAMUEL SCIARRINO.— Among the foremost
contracting and construction firms of San Jose is
that of Herschback & Sciarrino, who are very well
known throughout Santa Clara County. Samuel
Sciarrino was born in Palermo, Italy, on October 22,
1887; his father was a stone cutter, stone mason,
contractor and bridge builder in Italy and it was
here that Samuel learned much of this line of work.
One of six children, three of whom are living in
Santa Clara County, Samuel received his schooling
in Italy and while he was only a lad began working
with his father, helping in construction and bridge
building work. When twenty years of age, he came
to America and for three years worked in New-
York City, where he was employed on the Brooklyn
Bridge and many other noted structures and build-
ings in New York City and also he became a first-
class cement worker. He then came on to the
Pacific Coast, locating in San Francisco, where he
worked for wages. After nine months there, he
came to San Jose, arriving there in 1914 and, after
working for others for about two months, he started
contracting on his own account and did general
cement work on contracts for the next two years,
then began building bridges He built the bridge
at Madrone, on the Hot Springs Road, costing
$13,000: also the bridge across the Hughes Creek on
the Watsonville Road at a cost of $19,000; also the
one on Prospect Road near Saratoga at a cost of
$7,700. This bridge is very artistic and architectur-
ally beautiful He also built the $8,000 bridge across
Penetencia Creek near Alum Rock, which is also a

^M^^^. ilQ^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

very attractive structure. He contracted alone up to
the year of 1917, then formed a partnership with Mr.
Hcrschback. and has constructed in all fifteen bridges
in Santa Clara County. Besides doing bridge work
they do everything in cement work and general
construction work.

Mr. Sciarrino's marriage, which occurred in 1915,
at San Jose, united him with Miss Mary Moless, the
daughter of Frank and Rose (Carbelli) Moless, both
of whom are living in San Jose, Cal. Mr. and Mrs.
Sciarrino arc the parents of two children, Pauline
and Norville. Mr. Sciarrino is recognized as a self-
made man and the secret of his success is hard work
and a thorough understanding of his business in
which he employs from four to eight men. He owns
twenty acres at Morgan Hill which he bought in
1''20 which he has set out to prunes.

GEORGE A. GRAY, M. D.— One of the leaders
in the medical profession of Santa Clara County is
George A. Gray, M. D., diagnostician and internist,
whose splendid attainments and exceptional training
have given him a place among the leading physicians
of San Jose. He was born in Detroit, Mich., Decem-
ber 21, 1892, the son of Adam Oliver and Amy
(Davis) Gray. Dr. Gray's father, now deceased, was
a merchant tailor in Chicago, Ills., his mother now
makes her home in Detroit.

Dr. Gray was an only child and finished the gram-
mar school in Detroit, completing the high school
course in Chicago in 1911. Entering the Univer-
sity of Chicago, he graduated with the class of 1915,
having the degree of B. S. conferred upon him. He
matriculated at Rush Medical College, which is af-
filiated with the University of Chicago and was grad-
uated therefrom in 1917 with his degree of M. D.
On April 21, 1917, he entered the U. S. Naval Re-
serve force, going to the Naval Medical School in
Washington, D. C., where he received special train-
ing in tropical and military medicine. He was then
sent by the U. S. Navy to JeflFerson Medical Col-
lege at Philadelphia, and also to the medical depart-
ment of the University of Pennsylvania at Phila-
delphia, where he did post-graduate work. He was
then commissioned a first lieutenant in the Medical
Corps, U. S. Navy, and was sent to the Rockefeller
Institute at New York City, where he took further
special training in diagnosis and internal medicine
under Dr. Flexncr and staff and was there until
ordered to the Eighth Regiment U. S. Marine Corps
with which he served for eleven months at Galves-
ton, Texas. From there he was detailed to the
Eleventh Regiment U. S. Marine Corps, A. E. F., and
served eleven months in France. He was stationed
mostly in the interior of France, where he was do-
ing duty at the time the armistice was signed.
He returned to the United States in August, 1919,
for further special work in diagnosis and internal
medicine under Dr. Stitt now Surgeon General of
U. S. Navy, and was then ordered to the Naval hos-
pital at Mare Island, Cal , remaining there from
December 24, 1919, until November 29, 1920, when
he received his discharge and immediately located
in San Jose where he has since been engaged in
independent practice, with offices in the Twohy
Building, specializing in diagnosis and internal
medicine.

Dr. Gray's marriage, which occurred December
25, 1917, at Waco, Texas, united him with Miss

Florence I. Little of Detroit. Dr. and Mrs. Gray
are the parents of two children, Jane Tyhurst and
Wm. Thomas. Dr. Gray is a member of the Amer-
ican Medical Association, California State Medical
Society, Santa Clara County Medical Society. He is
a member of the staflF of the Santa Clara County
Hospital and the O'Connor Sanitarium of San Jose.
He belongs to Palestine Lodge No. 357 F. & A. M.
of Detroit, Mich.; Signa Alpha Epsilon literary fra-
ternity and Alpha Kappa Kappa Medical fraternity;
Santa Clara County Commercial Club and the Army
and Navy Club of Washington, D. C. He is a
member of Trinity Episcopal Church.

WM. E, SIGLE. — Broad experience and expert
mechanical ability well qualify W. E. Sigle for his
responsible position as superintendent of the plant
of the Bean Spray Pump Company at San Jose and
his services are proving very valuable to the con-
cern. He was born in Cassopolis, Cass County,
Mich., January 20, 1880. a son of W. E. and Mary
Sigle, both of whom are now deceased. The father
was long connected with the Michigan Central Rail-
road Company.

When W. E. Sigle was four years old his parents
reinoved to Elkhart, Ind., where he attended the
public schools, later completing an academic course
at the Elkhart Institute, and during vacation periods
he secured employment in order that he might de-
fray the expenses of an education. When seventeen
years of age he started out in tlie world on his own
account, serving an apprenticeship with the Buescher
Manufacturing Company, where he learned the art
of making brass band instruments, and during this
time he also completed a technical course with thi
International Correspondence Schools of Scranton.
Pa. In 1898, following the outbreak of the Spanish-
American War, Mr. Sigle enlisted in the U. S. Army,
becoming a member of the One Hundred Fifty-
seventh Infantry, under command of Capt. J. E.
Graves, with which he went to Cuba, there remain-
ing for a year. After receiving his discharge from
the service he returned to Indiana and for a short
time was in the employ of the National Manufac-
turing Company. His next iiosition was that of tool
and die maker with the Stimpson Computing Scales
Company, of Detroit, Mich., after which he went to
Quincy, 111., as foreman for the H. F. Dayton Book
Bindery. On severing his connection with that firm
he returned to Indiana and became tool designer for
tlie .Vniplex Motor Car Company of Mishawaka, that
state, tilling tliat position for eighteen months. From
there he went to Findlay, Ohio, as superintendent
of the motor truck department of the Adams Manu-
facturing Company, in which he was identified for
two years. His next removal took him to Dayton.
Ohio, where as master mechanic he had charge of
the Maxwell plants Nos. 1, 2 and 3 from 1913 until
1915. He then became manager of the factory of the
Allen Motor Car Company at Bucyrus, Ohio, re-
maining with that corporation for three years, and
then became connected with the Grant Motor Car
Company of Findlay. He assisted in the work of
transforming the old factory into a munitions plant,
of which he was made master mechanic, serving in
that capacity throughout the war. In this connection
he had charge of very important work, the plant
turning out 1,500-155 millimeter shells per day for

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

the U. S. Government. At the termination of the
war, Mr. Sigel came to California, accepting a posi-
tion with the Bean Spray Pump Company of San
Jose, and since April 1, 1921, has been plant superin-
tendent. He gives careful oversight to all phases
of the business and is capably directing the labors
of those under him.

In Hannibal, Mo., on May 14, 1907, Mr. Sigle
married Miss Minnie Sherman, a native of that city
and a daughter of John Sherman, a boatman on the
Mississippi River. Mr. Sigle gives his political
allegiance to the Republican party and fraternally
he is identified with the Odd Fellows, belonging to
Hancock Lodge No. 17, at Findlay, Ohio. His busi-
ness career has been one of continuous advancement
and ability and energy have constituted the materials
with which he has constructed his success.

JOHN H. FRENCH.— A progressive rancher and
one who is decidedly successful is John H. French,
the owner of a fourteen acre ranch on the Oakland
Road, five miles north of San Jose. His career has
been somewhat varied, but whatever he undertakes
he carries on to a successful end. He was born in
San Jose, November 2, 1884, the son of Mortimer
D. French, a native of Wisconsin, who married Miss
Mary Gallagher, a native daughter of California. She
is the daughter of Andrew Thomas and Mary (Mar-
tin) Gallagher, and the granddaughter of Andrew T.
and Mary (Siskron) Gallagher, of New York. In
the fall of 1848 her father, the late Andrew T. Gal-
lagher, embarked on the schooner John W. Cater
and sailed around the Horn for California. He
reached San Francisco the following March and took
tip farming in Tuolume County, and upon removal to
Santa Clara County, went to work in the redwoods.
He was later engaged in the transportation of freight
between Alviso and San Francisco. Eventually he
settled down to farming on a 160-acre tract in the
Alviso district. Mrs. French died in 1915, at the
age of fifty-one years, w^hile Mortimer French passed
away in 1906, aged sixty-six. He was a farmer, a
cattleman, and also a grain and hay farmer, the
eldest in a family of seven children, and he was
thirteen years old when his father died. His mother
was a native of New York, and crossed the plains
from the Empire state with her parents.

John H. French started out on his own way while
still a young man and went into railroading. He first
handled baggage and freight at San Jose and then
took to the road. He worked at firing on a switch
engine in the yards at San Jose; later firing a freight
engine on the coast division and finally was trans-
ferred to the passenger service. During 1907, he gave
up the road and took a position as stationary engineer
at the pumping plant of the San Jose City Water
works. For the next year and a half he was one of
the foremen on the Gallagher ranch near Alviso;
then for a time he was with the Standard Oil Com-
pany at San Jose; then with the American Express
Company. In March, 1920, he purchased a part of
the old Selby ranch on the Oakland road, consist-
ing of fourteen acres, three acres of which are set
to pears and the balance is in alfalfa. He irrigates
his orchard by means of an electric pump.

On December 2S, 1907, Mr. French was married
to Miss Ethel Kerr, a native of San Jose, the daugh-
ter of John and Jane Kerr. John Kerr came to
California in the early days and was first occupied in

doing carpenter work, later ran a store in -San Jose.
Mr. and Mrs. French are the parents of five children;
William Gallagher, Dcboria, Rose Marie, Mary Jane,
and Jack who died at the age of five and one-half
years. In his political affiliations, Mr. French is a
Republican. Since starting out in life on his own
account he has made steady advancement, through
his industry and diligence, and his life record proves
what may be accomplished through perseverance.

JOHN R. FREITAS.— Passing his early years in
the land of his birth across the Atlantic, and later
spending eight years in Honolulu, John R. Freitas
has never regretted that his travels brought him to
the beautiful valley of Santa Clara thirty years ago.
He was born in Madero, Portugal, January IS, 1877,
his parents being Joseph and Paulina Freitas. When
John was a lad of seven years, his parents made
the long journey to the Hawaiian Islands and the
succeeding eight years were spent at Honolulu. In
1892 they came to the United States, locating in
Santa Clara County, and here Joseph Freitas was
engaged in dairying until his death, which occurred
in 1918. Mrs. Freitas is still living.

John R. Freitas received his schooling in Hono-
lulu, helping his father for a time on the dairy farm
after coming to California. When he was twenty-
one he started out on his own account, however,
and bought his present place of twenty acres on
Doyle Road on May 9, 1903. He set to work at
once to develop it. by finishing setting out his trees
and erecting the buildings, and in this he has met
with unqualified success, and his well-kept orchard
now ranks among the profitable orchard properties
of the Cupertino neighborhood.

Mrs. Freitas is a native daughter, born in Wat-
sonville. and before her marriage .\pril 27, 1901, to
Mr. Freitas, she was Miss Kate Focha. Six chil-
dren have been born to them: Clara. Harry, Frank,
Adaline, Edward and Beatrice, — and attending the
public schools of the county. Mr. Freitas has al-
ways been identified with the Republican party and
served as deputy constable under Thomas Maloney.
He is prominent in fraternity circles and is a mem-
ber of the U. P. E. C, the I. D. E. S., the S. E. S.,
and served on the finance committee for three years;
and A. P. U. M.. and served as a grand president,
1919-1921, of the latter lodge for two terms and at-
tended the Grand Lodge at Honolulu and in Boston,
Mass. He is public spirited and enterprising and
ready to support all progressive methods.

LOUIS SMAUS.— Among those who have found
poultry raising a profitable field for the direction of
their energies is numbered Louis Smaus, who has
become well known throughout the Santa Clara Val-
ley in this connection, and his well devised plans
and systematic methods have resulted in the attain-
ment of a gratifying degree of success. A native of
Czecho-Slovakia, he was born July 22, 1885, his
parents being John and Marie Smaus, and in the
public schools of that country he acquired his edu-
cation. After his school days were over he worked as
a landscape gardener from 1900 to 1904. Then when
nineteen years of age, he sought the broader oppor-
tunities for advancement offered in the United States
and after arriving in this country remained for two
years in New York, where he followed landscape
gardening with a large firm that laid out private and
commercial grounds, after which he spent four years

^yfy.'-f-n^ A7t<C7C-t--i-7-^ <^^<^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1525

in New Jersey in the same line. He then came to
California in 1910 and worked as a landscape gar-
dener at Stanford University, and subsequently had
charge of the Lathrop grounds for one year. He
afterward entered the employ of A. B. Spreckels, for
whom he worked in San Francisco for two years,
while for five years he was in charge of Mr.
Spreckles estate at Napa, Cal. In 1919, in associa-
tion with Herman Hohn, he purchased a farm of
thirteen and a half acres on the Los Gatos and Sara-
toga roads, in Santa Clara County, the property be-
ing at that time in a badly neglected state. They
have supplied the place with the most modern equip-
ment and added many improvements, converting it
into one of the model poultry farms of this part of
the state. When they acquired possession of the
plant it was stocked with about 700 fowls, while they
now have 8,000, shipping most of their product to
the San Francisco markets. They have added three
new buildings, 20x300 feet, the latest and most modern
in their line. Their business is conducted along the
most modern and progressive lines and is enjoying
a remarkably rapid growth, due to the enterprise and
close application of the men at its head. On account
of a large pine tree in the front of the farm their
place is known as the Pine Tree Poultry Farm and
in its operation they employ three assistants.

Mr. Smaus married Miss Marie Muller, a native
of Schleswig, Germany, and a daughter of Louis J.
Muller. In his political views Mr. Smaus is a Re-
publican and he finds recreation in motoring, spend-
ing as much time as possible in the open. He is
deeply interested in all that pertains to the welfare
and progress of his community, county and common-
wealth and his close study and unremitting indus-
try have brought him to the front in his chosen work.

ANTONE K. HANSEN.— Living in his attractive
home on the San Jose-Saratoga Road, Antone K.
Hansen has taken his place among the capable and
progressive orchardists of the Cupertino district. A
native of Denmark, a land noted for the industry of
its people, Mr. Hansen was born there at Langland
on September 24, 1872. His parents were James
and Carrie Hansen, members of highly-respected old
families of that country and there they have always
lived, although the mother has now passed away.

Fortunate in a good education in the public schools
of Denmark, supplemented by private study, Antone
K. Hansen left his native land for the shores of
.'Vmerica when he became of age, arriving here in
1893. He soon came on to San Jose, Cal., and here
he worked at various occupations for a time. He
then removed to Salinas and for the next fifteen
years he engaged in farming on the Cooper ranch
on his own account, accumulating a goodly fund
of savings through his years of industry.

In 1911 Mr. Hansen returned to Santa Clara
County and bought a tract of eighteen acres on the
San Jose-Saratoga Road. Later he erected his com-
fortable home there and since 1915, this has been
his place of residence. He was married in San Jose
to Miss Minnie Christiansen, a native daughter of
Santa Clara County, and the daughter of an old-
time family here. In his ten j-ears here Mr. Hansen
has spared no time and effort to bring his place up
to a high state of cultivation and the work of these
years has been amply rewarded. In political mat-
ters he is a Republican, and while essentially a home

man, he keeps up some of the ties of his native coun-
try by membership in the Dania. He belongs to the
California Prune and Apricot Association.

LELAND HENRY WAKEFIELD.— Among the
solid and substantial orchardists of Santa Clara
County, Leland Henry Wakefield occupies a promi-
nent position. A native son of California, he was
born in East Oakland, September 30, 1881, the son
of Leland Howard and Mary R. (Warren) Wake-
field, the father a native of New Hampshire, born
July 9, 1823, and the mother a native of Oakland,
Cal. The father lived with his parents until he was
sixteen years of age, and attended the public schools
of Cornish, N. H., the New Hampshire Academy,
and the Academy at Rudolph Center, one of the
oldest academies in Vermont. He then went into
business as a traveling salesman for his brother,
Charles A., an inventor, and remained w-ith him for
two years. He then went to Boston and engaged in
the daguerreotype business for himself, and con-
tinued there for two years, when he went to
Kenosha, Wis. There he remained for three years
following the same line of work. In the spring of
1852 he removed to the coast and opened a store
in Albany, Ore. During the year 1856 we find him
in San Francisco as a buyer of goods for three
diflferent houses, his own and two houses in Hono-
lulu. However, he only remained in San Francisco
for one year, when he returned to Oregon and
opened another commercial house under the firm
name of Wilson, Wakefield & Company, at the same
time continuing his business in Albany. In 1864 he
represented Multnomah County in the Oregon Leg-
islature, which passed the amendment abolishing
slavery. He had stores in the mines at Lewiston
and Orofino in 1864. He was a director in the First
National Bank of Portland; was postmaster of Port-
land for four years; was instrumental in getting sub-
scriptions for the Portland Mercantile Library, and
was its president most of the time before his re-
moval to San Francisco. In 1873 he removed to
Oakland, Cal., and maintained an office in San Fran-
cisco, doing a commission business, mostly in lum-
ber. In 1883 he purchased 104 acres on Fruitvale
Avenue, near Saratoga and planted it to prunes,
apricots and grapes and for size and quality it was the
banner vineyard of Santa Clara County. In 1872 he
married Miss Mary R. Warren of Oakland and they
were the parents of two sons and two daughters.
The mother passed away in 1908, aged seventy-two,
and the father in 1914, at the age of ninety-one.

Leland Henry Wakefield was educated in the
grammar and high schools of Oakland, later taking
a business course in Oakland Polytechnic. His first
business venture was the manufacturing of mat-
tresses under the firm name of the Wakefield Manu-
facturing Company, and he followed this line for
three years. In 1906 he removed to the Wakefield
Ranch at Saratoga, where he managed the 104 acres,
until after his father's death, when it was divided
and he then continued to raise fruit on his portion,
a beautiful ranch on Fruitvale and Allendale ave-
nues, devoted to prunes and apricots. The ranch is
highly improved and is counted among the most
beautiful homes in the Saratoga district.

The marriage of Mr. Wakefield united him with
Miss Eva Thompson, a native daughter of Santa

1526

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Clara County, born at Saratoga, the daughter of
W. J. and Emma Thompson of Saratoga, and they
are the parents of two daughters, Harriet and Evelyn.
In national politics Mr. Wakefield is a Republican
and fraternally is an Odd Fellow. Mr. Wakefield
has contributed in large measure to the material,
social and moral progress of the community and
enjoys the esteem of a large circle of friends.

JOHN W. NELSON.— Of Swedish birth and
parentage, John W. Nelson has continuously resided
in California since he was nineteen years old. He
was born in Southern Sweden, May 10. 1882, a son
of Nels and Christine Nelson, both living in their
native land. He was educated in the schools of
Sweden and upon arrival in California came to the
Santa Clara Valley and worked on various ranches
throughout the county; then he was employed on
the street cars in San Francisco. Later he removed
to Santa Clara County and permanently located on
a ranch of fifteen acres on Miller Avenue, south
of Cupertino, which he had purchased in 1918, and
from the time of taking possession, to the present
he has been rewarded for his thoroughness and in-
dustry and today his ranch is a productive and profit-
able investment.

The marriage of Mr. Nelson united him with Miss
Anna Nelson, bearing the same name, but no rela-
tion, and they are the parents of four children:
Milton, a student in the Campbell high school; Clar-
ence; Lloyd; and Anna Jane. In his political con-
victions he supports and votes for the candidate best
fitted to serve the community. In Mr. Nelson the
community has a broad-minded, earnest, and con-
scientious citizen, and a man who embodies the safe
and reliable characteristics of the Swedish people.

ERNEST O. BILLWILLER.— Of prime impor-
tance in any country is the development of an ample
supply of pure water, and this is especially true of
California, and among those whose constructive w^ork
have made possible the fertile valleys and plains in
this section is Ernest O. Billwiller, who, in his pro-
fessional work as a hydraulic engineer, has been iden-
tified with Santa Clara County for a number of
years in irrigation and reclamation work, and in
developing its water supply.

Born on August 29, 1885, in Brooklyn, N. Y.. Mr.
Billwiller is a son of Charles James and Henrietta
(Steinhauser) Billwiller, natives of Switzerland and
New York, respectively. Fortunate in receiving a
splendid education, he attended the famous St. Paul's
school, picturesquely located near one of New Eng-
land's most attractive old cities, Concord, N. H. He
was there from 1899 to 1904, when he entered Cor-
nell University at Ithaca, N. Y., and began an en-
gineering course. The first real work along these
lines was in Idaho, locating the lines for the Oregon
Short Line Railroad. Then he decided to complete
his training at Stanford University and accordingly
came to California in August, 1907, entered Stan-
ford and completed his engineering studies. In
January, 1910, he located in San Jose and became
connected with the Bay Cities Water Company in
developing the water supply until 1912; then re-
moved to Stockton where he established himself as
a consulting engineer and engaged in irrigation and
reclamation work. On January 1, 1918, he returned
to San Jose, and since that time his time has been
occupied as a contracting and consulting engineer.

Mr. Billwiller's marriage, which occurred Januarv
30, 1912, united him with Miss Grace Elinor Flem-
ing, a native daughter of California, having been
born in San Jose, and they are the parents of one
son, James Lawrence. Mr. and Mrs. Billwiller are
very popular in social circles in San Jose and in
business circles and fraternal orders, Mr. Billwiller
is both active and prominent. He is a member of
the Masons, the Rotary Club, the Elks, the Stanford
Chib of San Jose, the American Society of Civil
Engineers, and the American Waterworks Associa-
tion. He is also an active member of the Chamber
of Commerce, having been vice-chairman of the
members' forum; he is secretary of the Rotary Club
and president of the Stanford Club. In national
politics, he is independent in his views, voting on the
side of the man with the highest character and sup-
porting the best measures.

CELESTINE J. GRISEZ.— A kind-hearted and
interesting Christian gentleman, who numbers his
friends by the hundreds will be found in Celestine
J. Grisez, who has more than passed the three score
years and ten and is the father of the genial Father
John C. Grisez, of St. Joseph's Parish, San Jose.
Born in Stark County, Ohio, November 12, 1840, he
is of French descent. His father was Xavier Grisez,
and his mother, whose maiden name was Catherine
Kalmalau, died when our subject was a child of
four years. Both father and mother were born and
reared in France and their families lived neighbors
in that far away land. The father was married three
times, the mother of our subject being the second
wife; she had seven children, Celestine being the
fifth child. His school days were very limited, and
the time spent in school was three months out of
each year for three years. His marriage occurred
in Ohio and united him with Miss Mary Maudru, (or
Maudraux, as it is spelled in French), also a native
of the Buckeye State, and they became the parents
of eleven children. Peter died at the age of eleven
months and the second son was also named Peter,
and is now living in Oregon; Mary, is Sister Don;
Ida keeps house for her father and presides graci-
ously over the Grisez household at Santa Clara;
Clara died when six years old, while Willie
passed away at the age of twenty-nine and a half
years; Jennie died at nineteen; Father John C.
Grisez. aforementioned priest at San Jose, whose
portrait and biography appears elsewhere in this
work; Frank C. is the manager of the lumber mill
at San Bruno; Charles James is in the real estate
business at San Francisco, and is a twin brother of
.■Moysius, who resides upon subject's ranch at near
Campbell in Santa Clara County and is salesman
for Normandin-Campen Company, at San Jose.

In 1874 Celestine Grisez made his w-ay to Califor-
nia and settled in Siskiyou County and followed the
occupation of farming; also owned and operated a
thresher as a business from 1884 until 1915, in which
year his wife died in Santa Clara, whither she had
preceeded Mr. Grisez a number of years, in order
to place her children in school in the University
at Santa Clara, and where, since Mrs. Grisez' death
Mr. Grisez has resided. While engaged in the
threshing business, Mr. Grisez became very efficient
in running stationary engines and he is now at the
age of eighty-one filling creditably the position of
engineer at the University of Santa Clara. He is

y& jAji/i/tv^^'^ o ^^^yiy^A^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1527

justly proud of the record which his son. Father
Grisez. has made, and takes pride in the fact that
his whole family of children are respected and
honored by the community in which they reside. Mr.
Grisez is highly regarded for his efficiency and sterl-
ing characteristics and his genial manner has won
tor him many true and admiring friends.

GEORGE A. NICHOLSON.— .'\mong the worthy
representatives of the legal profession in Santa Clara
County. George A. Nicholson has taken a place in the
front rank. A native of Alviso, Santa Clara County,
he was born July 13. 1894. the son of George E.
and Minnie (Lorigan) Nicholson. Grandfather
George Nicholson came to California in 1856, and
soon after he sent for his wife and family; they en-
gaged in farming for a livelihood. George E. Nichol-
son is still living, but his wife passed away on Feb-
ruary 8, 1899. They were the parents of two chil-
dren, George A. and Edward L.

George A. Nicholson's early education began in
the Alviso public schools, later he graduated from
the San Jose high school. In 1916 he received his
A. B. degree from the Santa Clara College and his
EL. B. in 1917 from the same institution. He then
took a post graduate course at the University of
California. After completing his education, he en-
tered the law offices of the late C. M. Lorigan, and
where he had full charge of the large and lucrative
practice. At the opening of the great war, he enlisted
for service in 1917, saw service in France and was
discharged in July. 1919. Now he is practicing law
in partnership with his brother, Edward L.

Mr. Nicholson was united in marriage on April 7,
1920. with Miss Marie Irilarry, a resident of San
Francisco. Fraternally he is an Elk and a member
of the Modern Woodmen of America: the Knights of
Columbus and American Legion; also is active in
the State and County Bar Association. He is a
member of the Catholic Church of San Jose. He
has made rapid progress in his professional work
and is counted among the prominent and success-
ful lawyers of Santa Clara County.

WILLIAM A. WOLFF.— A native son, William
.•\. Wolff was born in San Francisco, October 10,
1888, a son of Peter and Elizabeth Wolff. The father
was among the early settlers of California, coming
here in 1870 from Schleswig-Holstein, where he was
born under the Danish flag. He was a school teacher
for nine years, but ;ifter coming to California he
engaged in farming and dairying, first in Marin
County, and then in San Francisco where he is still
active in the dairy business. Mr. and Mrs. Wolflf
are the parents of four children: Beulah, William
A., Fred, deceased, and Helen. The second eldest.
William A., attended school in San Francisco and
helped his father in the business. Quite early in
life he started out for himself, going first to San
Mateo County, where he worked for wages on
ranches; later he did dredging work on the Sacra-
mento River and inland points for the Olympic
Dredging Company of San Francisco, In 1916 he
came to Santa Clara County to work for his uncle,
Claus WolfT, who owned a ranch on the Home-
stead Road about one-half mile west of the Cuper-
tino and Mountain View roads. The ranch con-
sisted of thirty-one acres set to prunes, and upon the
death of his uncle, which occurred shortly after he

began work on the place, he and his two sisters inher-
ited the place and continued to live on it for three
years. In 1919 they sold the ranch to J. Svilich, a
neighbor, and since that time Mr. Wolff has been liv-
ing on the ranch and working for Mr. Svilich.

Mr. Wolff's marriage occurred in San Francisco
on November 1, 1915, and united him with Miss
Debora Jones, a native of San Francisco and a
daughter of Patrick and Anna Jones. Her father
came to California in the early days and served
many years on the San Francisco police force, and
for a time he was employed by the Wells Fargo
Express Company. Mrs. Wolfif is the oldest of a
family of six children, namely, Debora, Nellie, James,
Morris, Patrick, Jr.. and Mary. She attended the
convent and also the public schools of San Fran-
cisco. Mr. and Mrs. Wolff are the parents of four
children: Geraldine. William A., Jr., Harold and
Beulah. Enthusiastic over the possibilities of this
section, Mr. Wolff expects to invest shortlv in an
orchard home in the Santa Clara Valley.

REV. RICHARD COLLINS.— The pastor of St.
Patrick's Church of San Jose, Rev. Richard Collins,
was born in Ireland and educated at St. Brendan's
Seminary in Killarney and St. Patrick's College at
Carlow where he studied philosophy and theology
and on June 9, 1900, he was ordained to the priest-
hood. He came to San Francisco in 1900 and for
seventeen years was assistant at St. Agnes Church,
during seven years of which time he was also Chap-
lain of the League of the Cross Cadets and then
was pastor at St. Rose's and St. Brendan's Church.
In November. 1919, he came to San Jose and since
then he has been pastor of St. Patrick's Church.

CLIFTON D. CAVALLARO.— A dehghtful in-
spiration is imparted through the life-stories of such
successful men as Clifton D. Cavallaro, one of the
esteemed and influential attorneys in San Jose, the
city in which he was born on October 26, 1880. His
father was Frank Cavallaro, who had married Miss
Marie La Cecla; and with their family they came to
California in 1877. They had, in time, four children,
and among these Clifton was the second. He at-
tended the grammar and high schools of San Jose, and
from the latter he was graduated in 1898. Then
he went to Stanford University, and for three years
specialized in law; and on August 15, 1905. he was
admitted to practice at the bar in California. Since
that year he has been a practicing attorney in San
Jose — and none has been more successful.

Mr. Cavallaro was married on August 23. 1905,
the ceremony taking place at San Jose, to Miss Mabel
Sutfin, and they have had one child, a daughter
named Geraldine Marie. The family attend the
Methodist Church. South, and both Mr. and Mrs.
Cavallaro participate in every movement making for
social or political uplift. A Republican in national
politics, Mr. Cavallaro is extremely public-spirited,
and he served in Camp Fremont for seven months
as a tent secretary for the Y. M. C. A. attached
to the Thirteenth California Infantry. He belongs
to the Native Sons, the Loyal Italian-American Club,
and also the Delta-Chi, the legal fraternity, and
the Santa Clara County Bar Association. If Mr.
Cavallaro has any hobby, it is music, and he is ever
ready to encourage the study and appreciation of
the great musical masterpieces. At the first Pro-

.«28

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

gressive Republican campaign, he was chairman of
the platform committee, and in that responsible re-
lation to the great movement of the time he had
his share in shaping the destiny of the Progressives.
Santa Clara County is proud that she is repre-
sented at the Bar by such a worthy member of the
legal profession.

BENJAMIN F. BARKALOW— Identified with
Santa Clara County for the past twenty years or
more, Benjamin F. Barkalow, one of San Jose's
fine old G. A. R. men, having reached the age of
eighty years, is now living a comfortable and retired
life in the Golden State, still enjoying good health
and having had many adventures; he is an interesting
conversationalist, his stock of good stories of war
and pioneer days never being exhausted. He is a
native of Ohio, having been born in Miami County,
on October S, 1841, and was the son of Derick G.
and Maria (Beach) Barkalow. The wife and mother
died in about 1848, and D. G. Barkalow migrated to
Iowa in 1855, and settled near Muscatine, where he
continued farming until he died.

Benjamin Barkalow did not enjoy many educa-
tional advantages, as in those days school privileges
were few. When the war broke out he enlisted in
Company G in the Second Iowa Cavalry in 1861 for
three years, and later in 1863 re-enlisted in the same
company. He served under General Grant up to
the time that he took charge of the Eastern forces,
after which he served under General Thomas; he
probably took part in twenty-five engagements in
all, serving for four years, from September, 1861,
to September, 1865. He was stationed in St. Joseph,
Mo., and participated in the battle of Fort Pillow,
and also took part in the engagements at Franklin
and Nashville. At the engagement at Prairie Sta-
tion he was wounded, being shot in the hip, but not
seriously, and was soon able to go back with the
regiment. After the war he returned to Iowa and
engaged in farming near the old home, and later, in
the spring of 1873, he came to Sonoma County, Cal.,
where he farmed, and also had an orchard at Green
Valley, near Sebastopol, remaining here until 1877,
when he returned to Iowa, where he purchased an
eighty-acre farm devoted ■ to general farming, and
here he continued until the death of his wife, who
was buried on Decoration Day, in the year 1900.
He then sold his holdings and came to California
and settled on a ranch at Berryessa, in Santa Clara
County, which consisted of twelve acres and was
devoted to fruit, but he only remained there for a
year when he disposed of his property and moved to
San Jose, making his home at 83 Pierce Avenue.

Mr. Barkalow's marriage, which occurred on Sep-
tember 16, 1866, in the city of Atalissa, Iowa, united
him with Miss Isabella Heberling, who was born in
Ohio and was the daughter of Andrew and Miranda
Heberling, and they lived a very happy life, until
her death occurred in 1900. Mr. Barkalow chose
for his second wife Mrs. Anna Irwin, a native of Eng-
land, who came to California when a young girl.
Their marriage was solemnized in October, 1901, at
Oakland, Cal. Having no children of his own, he
adopted two, whom they reared as if they had been
their own: Cora became the wife of Elmer H. Adams,
and now resides in Oakland, Cal.; while D. J. Barka-
low is a resident of Los Angeles, Cal. Mr. Barkalow
was bereaved of his faithful wife August 25, 1919.

He has long been a member of the G. A. R. and at
present is officer of the day of Sheridan-Dix Post
No. 7, G. A. R. He is a stanch adherent of the Re-
publican party.

MILO RAY PRIEST.— An enterprising business
man of the younger generation is found in Milo
Ray Priest, the genial and prosperous proprietor of
an electric shop in Saratoga. He was born in Harbor
Springs, Mich., August 29, 1899, a son of W. A. and
Lydia (Stutsman) Priest. His family removed to
California during the year of 1906 and locating at
Saratoga, the father engaged in his trade of car-
pentry and building. Both parents are still living.

Milo Ray began his education in the public schools
of his district and then took a commercial course
at Heald's Business College in San Jose; later en-
tered Herrold's Electrical School in San Jose, when
he was graduated in the spring of 1917, when he
immediately enlisted in the U. S. Navy and served
throughout the war as a wireless operator, and was
honorably discharged in 1919. after a service of
twenty-nine months. He then spent one year as
wireless operator in the Merchant Marine and made
a trip around the world. Soon after his return he
opened the present business, his shop being well
equipped with a full line of electrical supplies. He
travels all over the county doing contracting work
in his line. His business is steadily growing and
his electrical establishment is patronized and ap-
preciated by the citizens of Saratoga and surround-
ing country and Mr. Priest is winning a place for
himself as a substantial and influential citizen.

In Saratoga, in 1922. Mr. Priest was married to
Miss Mary Ruch, born in Nebraska but reared and
educated at Saratoga. Mr. Priest is a member of
the Saratoga Improvement Association, also the Odd
Fellows. He is an enthusiast for the great outdoors
and when his business will permit, spends what time
he can in the mountains and at the seashore. He is
deserving of whatever success has come to him, and
it is the wish of all who know him that he may
continue to advance in prosperity and usefulness and
the good will of his many friends.

FREDERICK C. WILLSON. — A successful
orchardist of the Morgan Hill district is Frederick
C. Willson, who has given constant attention and
unstinted labor to the development of his holdings
since locating here. Mr. Willson was born at Buf-
falo Grove, Iowa, June 21, 1872, the son of John
Warner and Lima (Hadsell) Willson, both natives
of Burlington, Mich., and members of worthy pio-
neer families of that state. John Warner Willson
had a fine record for service in the Civil War, serv-
ing as a non-commissioned officer in Company E,
Twelfth Michigan Volunteer Infantry and after the
Civil War he married and located in Iowa, where
Mrs. Wilson died in 1880.

When Frederick C. Willson was seven years old
the father and four children removed from Iowa to
Michigan, and in 1885, they located in western Kansas
near Oberlin, and here F. C. graduated from the high
school in 1892. He then went to Sedalia, Mo., and
completed a business course at the Central Business
College. Two years later he came on west to Cali-
fornia, and was graduated from Heald's Business
College in San Francisco. He then entered the em-
ploy of the Southern Pacific Railroad ferry service
and after a short time became cashier and book-

RS' ^G^t.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1531

keeper for the Brigham-Hoppe Company, continuing
until 1905. Mr. Willson then accepted a position
with the Goodyear Rubber Company at San Fran-
cisco as manager of their office department, contin-
uing with them until 1916. It was in November,
1916, that he and his family arrived at Morgan Hill,
Santa Clara County, and here he purchased the prop-
erty known as the Aydellote Rancho, one and one-
half miles east of the town. The place is devoted to
prunes, grapes and peaches, and under Mr. Willson's
care it is becoming a valuable property.

At San Francisco, on December 23, 1901, Mr. Will-
son was married to Miss Etta May Bennett, who
was born at Newton, Iowa, the adopted daughter of
her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. George Bennett,
esteemed residents and pioneers of Iowa, who came
to California in 1898, where Mr. Bennett died. Mrs.
Bennett is still living at San Martin. Mr. and Mrs.
Willson are the parents of three children: Mildred
L., Fred C, Jr., and J. Freeman, all attending school.

C. B. GOODWIN.— A very efficient public official
is C. B. Goodwin, city manager of San Jose. A
native son, he was born in Santa Clara County on
August 6, 1889, the son of William and Clara
(Schulte) Goodwin. Both of these parents enjoyed
enviable family ties; and on the maternal side, the
grandparents, as early settlers, did much in their
time and sphere to prepare the way for those com-
ing after them. Our subject attended the grammar
and high schools of San Jose, graduating from the
latter institution in 1908, and then he went to Stan-
ford University. There he had every advantage in
studying civil engineering, and in December, 1912,
he was the recipient of the A. B. degree. He also
was given his diploma as a civil engineer.

Taking up his professional work in earnest, Mr.
Goodwin went to San Francisco and for two and a
half years was with H. J. Brunnier, the well-known
consulting structural engineer; and after that, for
another two and a half years, he was with the Fed-
eral Construction Company, general contractors. His
return to San Jose marked his entrance into mu-
nicipal work here as the assistant city engineer; and
in September, 1918, he was made city engineer, a
responsibility he faithfully discharged until he ac-
cepted his present position of city manager, October 4,
1920. Independent in politics, loyal, first, last and
all the time to his native state, as to his country as
a whole, Mr. Goodwin has never wanted for occa-
sions when he could, and when he also did, display
his public spiritedness and his absolute confidence
in San Jose and the county.

On New Year's Day, 191S, Mr. Goodwin was
married to Miss Alma Robinson, a companion whose
varied gifts he has more and more appreciated. Mr.
and Mrs. Goodwin attend the Presbyterian Church
at San Jose, but they are also interested in, and
respond to the appeals of, the uplift work instituted
and carried on under other banners.

ROSCOE D. WYATT.— That the widely-influen-
tial San Jose Chamber of Commerce owes much of
its present eflficicncy, whereby it has been able to
accomplish much for the development of Santa Clara
County, to its wide-awake manager, Roscoe D. Wy-
att, all who have followed the Chamber's rapid and
healthy growth of late will realize. With all due
credit to those who did the invaluable pioneer work
before him, Mr. Wyatt has certainly carried the flag

of conquest beyond where, even under the most favor-
able circumstances, it had ever been placed.

Mr. Wyatt was born at Salem, 111., on March II.
1883, the son of Robert A. and Laura E. Wyatt, and
so came to attend the public schools of the Prairie
State. In course of time, he became a student at
the Southern Illinois State Normal University at
Carbondale from which he was graduated in 1903,
and then, having matriculated at the University of
Illinois, he was graduated in 1909 from the College
of Literature and Arts, with the Bachelor of Arts
degree, and from the College of Law with the LL. B.
degree. He then taught in both the grammar and
high schools in Illinois for three years and later, for
three and one half years, practiced law in that state.

Deciding to break into a new field, Mr. Wyatt
removed to the East and became manager of the
Hoboken, N. J., Chamber of Commerce, a post he
filled so acceptably that he remained there for four
years. His reputation traveled westward, and on
December 1, 1919, he was appointed manager of the
San Jose Chamber of Commerce. While in Illinois,
Mr. Wyatt had been mayor of the city of Salem from
1913 to 1915, as he was also secretary and treasurer
of the Salem Ice Com.pany, and in both of these
fields of endeavor, as well as in his Hoboken office,
he had acquired much, including an increased knowl-
edge of human nature, which has been of great
service both to San Jose and to Santa Clara County.
His general knowledge of Eastern as well as of
Western conditions is a valuable asset in itself.

At Carbondale, 111., on June 11, 1908. Mr. Wyatt
was married to Miss Lillian Ethel Toler, the daugh-
ter of Capt. John Toler of that city; and this union
has been blessed with the birth of one son, Fran-
cis D. Wyatt. While in college and the university.
Mr. Wj'att belonged to the Acacia College fraternity
and the Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity, and later
he became a Mason, and is a member of the Chapter,
the Council and the Consistory. He is also a member
of the Rotary Club.

ARTHUR W. VOLKERS.— The identification of
the Volkers family with the Pacific Coast section
of the Great West, dates back to 1878, when Fred
Volkers came to Santa Clara County, Cal., and en-
gaged in agricultural pursuits, later establishing a
transfer and storage business in San Jose, one of the
first in this line, of which Arthur W. Volkers is
manager and owner. A native of California, having
been born in San Jose December 14, 1885, he is the
son of Fred and Elizabeth (Birnbaum) Volkers; the
father came to California in 1878, the mother fol-
lowing four years later, and for the first four years
they engaged in farming. Then Mr. Volkers served
six years on the San Jose fire department and in the
year 1888, established the well-known business of
Volkers Transfer and Storage Company and later at
the present headquarters, 131 North Market Street,
and here he continued until the time of his death
in 1914; the mother is still living.

Arthur Volkers received his education in the pub-
lic schools of his native city and then took a com-
mercial course in the Pacific Coast Business Col-
lege in San Jose and for three years was in the
employ of the Bank of Palo Alto. In 1906, he began
working with his father and at his father's death, he
took over the active management of the business,
which he has built up to a high state of efficiency.

1532

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Hf has the name of giving the best and quickest
service in that city and prides himself in having the
goods dehvered in the very best condition. He
uses three motor trucks and employs five men.

Energetic and enthusiastic in all he does, Mr.
Volkers takes an active part in all the movements
that make for the betterment of the city in which
he lives and is an ardent worker in the Chamber of
Commerce. He is a member of the California State
Draymen's Association and also a member of the Ob-
servatory Parlor No. 177, N. S. G. W., of which he
is past president and he is also an enthusiastic mem-
ber of the San Jose Commercial Club. Mr. Volkers
is very fond of outdoor life and enjoying fishing and
hunting, he takes great pleasure in spending his leis-
ure moments in this way.

JOHN S. BARNUM— For more than a quarter
of a century, John S. Barnum has been identified
with the commercial activities of San Jose, and has
contributed much to developing the natural resources
of vSanta Clara County. He was born in Knoxville,
HI., on October 24, 1842, the son of Amond and Cath-
erine Barnum. the former a hatter by trade. Denied
the opportunity of an education, and losing both par-
ents when only a small lad, John S. Barnum was forced
to earn his own way, and being of a roving dispo-
sition, and without restrictions of any kind, he con-
cluded to make the journey across the plains, and
finally landed in Denver, Colo., in 1861.

On August 1, 1861, he offered his services to his
country, but was refused on account of his youth;
however, the enlistment officer agreed to accept him
if he would get the consent of his parents. He told
them that both of his parents were dead, and that
he had no guardian, and upon his word he was ac-
cepted and joined the First Colorado Infantry under
Col. John P. Slough. The Colorado troops were
used to protect the frontier from invasion, and were
sent on an expedition into New Mexico under Colonel
Slough. General Sibley, the rebel general, had or-
ganized a brigade to attack the frontier of New
Mexico, but Colonel Slough was so well acquainted
with the lay of the land along the frontier of New
Mexico that he and his troops overtook General
Sibley at Apache Canyon, and a sharp encounter
was engaged in, in which the rebel troops were
routed; following them up, a second engagement
at Peralta, N. M., was fought with disastrous results
to General Sibley's forces. Out of 3,800 well equipped
men who left Texas, only two squads returned, one
of 184, and one of ninety men, all their arms and
ammunition having been destroyed. Mr. Barnum
was returned to Colorado and discharged, his term
of enlistment having expired. He at once reenlisted
with his old command, which became the First Col-
orado Cavalry, and with them he served until the
close of the war.

During the year of 1863, Mr. Barnum was on a fur-
lough to join his brother. Col. W. L. Barnum. who
was in command of the Eleventh Missouri Volunteer
Infantry, had been wounded and was left for dead
on the battlefield, was recognized by his wife and
sent to a hospital and later recuperated near Spring-
field. 111. Arriving at Springfield, he found that his
brother had gone to Memphis, Tenn., only the day
before his arrival. His first thought was to proceed
on his journey to Memphis; but he joined a company
of convalescents on their way to St. Louis, Mo.; how-

ever, before reaching his destination, his furlough
had expired and he was arrested as a deserter. After
some tmie spent in explanation, he finally convinced
the commanding officer that he was not a deserter,
but that he was endeavoring to join his brother in
Memphis, Tenn. The commanding officer gave him
orders to return to Colorado to his own regiment.
However, after spending several days trying to get
transportation back to Colorado, he finally was
obliged to purchase a saddle horse, and made the
trip across the plains on horseback, which consumed
eighteen days, from St. Joseph, Mo., to Denver,
Colo., via the Platte River route, a distance of 720
miles. He then remained with his own regiment
until he was mustered out at Leavenworth, Kans.,
on November 18, 1865.

Retiirning to civil life Mr. Barnum went to Chi-
cago, 111., and visited his brother for a short time.
Durnig military service he succeeded in saving some-
thing like ^I75U and he made up his mind he would
travel and see something of the world. With the
true spirit of adventure, he had decided to take the
first boat out of Chicago, going whithersoever it was
bound, and had decided to end up at the South Sea
Islands; but here again he was to be disappointed,
for the extreme cold weather prevented hnn from
leaving Chicago, the lake being frozen for three miles
out. He then went to Junction City, Kans., where
a friend, Mr. Streator, owned and operated a large
merchandise house. He was employed by Mr. Strea-
tor, and in 1866 was placed in charge of ten four-
mule wagons loaded with sutler supplies bound for
Fort Lyon, Colo. When 120 miles out from Junc-
tion City, at Fort Harker. he was ordered not to go
on, because of the activities of the Cheyenne Indians;
however, undaunted, he proceeded on his journey
across the plains. After being out but one day from
l-ort Larned, at Owl Creek, the train was over-
taken and stopped by Indians; however, his presence
of mind served him well; hurriedly making a corral
of his wagons. So as to protect his men and sup-
plies in case of necessity, Mr. Barnum, who was the
youngest man in the party, boldly went out among
the Indians, and when he began speaking to them
in their own language, they listened attentively, and
an old Indian, whom he had befriended two years
previously, recognized him and told his associates
what Mr. Barnum had done for him, and the wagon
train was allowed to proceed on its way. Many men
had attempted this journey, but had met disaster.
Probably few pioneers enjoy such a record of
frontier life as Mr. Barnum; it is recorded that he
crossed the plains twenty-two times before the rail-
roads were in operation. He has the distinction, to-
gether with a Mr. Munger and Mr. Virgus, of nam-
ing the city of Wichita, Kans. They met with some
opposition, others wishing to have it named Sedg-
wick, but Mr. Barnum and his companions were de-
termined that the city should bear a distinctive name,
so it was finally decided to name it Wichita, after
the Wichita Indians, the cleanest of all tribes. Mr.
Barnum made a trip in 1909 to Wichita to see the
town he had been away from for thirty-one years.
In the '70s he served his government as a U. S.
deputy marshal; and was also deputy sheriff of Ells-
worth County. Kans. After leaving Colorado, he
spent ten years in the vicinity of Santa Fe. N. M.,
and then went to Washington and engaged in the

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1535

luitcher business for a time in Toledo, a town at the
foot of Mt. Rainier. In 1892 he came to CaHfornia
and settled in East San Jose, then the border of the
settled section of San Jose, establishing the fuel
business in which he is engaged at the present time.

The marriage of Mr. Barnum at Topeka, Kans.,
on December 31, 1867, united him with Miss Anna
F. Green, a native of Vermont and a daughter of A.
C. and Charlotte Green, whose father was a native of
Maine, but who migrated to Kansas in early days,
when the daughter was but eight years old. He had
the distinction of being a member of the first legis-
lature of Kansas; was a personal friend of the fam-
ous John Brown and was a strong abolitionist. Two
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Barnum: Alberta
Lou is deceased, and William L. is an attorney prac-
ticing in Chicago. Politically, Mr. Barnum is an
ardent Republican. Mrs. Barnum served twelve
years as treasurer of Dix W. R. C, in San Jose, and
was an active worker in church and charitable cir-
cles, and she died in San Jose in 1919. He is an
active member of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, G. A. R.,
and has the honor of being the colonel of the Union
Battlefield Regiment of San Jose, a Republican or-
ganization composed of soldiers of the Civil War,
who have participated in at least one engagement;
also a member of San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. &. A.
M. Mr. Barnum was one of the organizers of the
Fuel Dealers Association of San Jose, that has grown
to such an extent that it includes the whole state of
California. It is to such men as he that the present
and future generations in Santa Clara County owe
a debt of gratitude, for through his labors the path
to future successes in the work of developing the
resources of the county has been made clearer and
easier. Mr. Barnum is typically western, having been
in the west since eighteen years old; he has served
on three vigilance committees, wntnessed five hang-
ings, none legal; he became acquainted with Kit
Carson and Buffalo Bill (William Mathewson) and
other noted scouts of pioneer days; also ser\'ed as
Mout himself and was known as "Happy Jack."

JOSEPH RUSSO.— A far-seeing, thoroughly pro-
gressive merchant who has helped to make San Jose
an advantageous center for the building material and
fuel trade, is Joseph Russo, of the firm of Williams
& Russo, whose well-known establishment is at 79-
81-83 South Third Street. He was born in Vir-
ginia City, Nev.. on November 13, 1889, the son of
Peter and Isabella Russo, who had come to Virginia
City seventeen years before. In 1896 they moved
still further west, to California, and at San Jose
embarked in the grocery line. Mr. Russo is still
living, in very comfortable circumstances at the age
of seventy-six, but his good wife, who labored with
him, passed away on March 30, 1921, aged seventy-
two. This worthy couple were the parents of five
sons and two daughters, of whom Joseph Russo is
next to the youngest.

Coming to San Jose with his parents when he was
six years of age, he attended the Grant grammar
school, and for three years pursued the high school
courses in the San Jose high school, after which he
entered Heald's Business College, from which he
was graduated in 1908. Then he entered the service
of H. Hart & Co., the pioneers in building materials
and fuel, for whom he worked as a bookkeeper; and
when Mr, Hart retired in 1913, Mr. Russo acquired

his interest, and from that time the firm was styled,
as it is today, Williams & Russo. Alfred S. Wil-
liams sold his interest to G. R. Abraria in March,
1919, but they continue business under the old name.
They do an extensive business, delivering with auto
trucks. Besides the office and salesroom on South
Third Street, they have large warehouses on Fourth
and Virginia streets with a spur from the South-
ern Pacific Railroad Company. They supply build-
ing materials to local contractors, and are very large
dealers in wood and coal, giving particular attention
to the retail end of their business, and so have a
peculiar relation to the development of both San Jose
and the surrounding country. It is pleasant to note
that in this matter of assisting to maintain efficiency
and the highest standards in both construction and
public taste, Williams & Russo discharge their re-
sponsibility with credit.

In San Jose, April IS, 1917, Mr. Russo married
Miss Rose Abraria, a native of San Jose, and their
married life has been made happier by the birth of
two children. Dolores Elizabeth and Junior Joseph.
The family attend St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and
Mr. Russo is a member of San Jose Lodge No. 879,
Knights of Columbus, and of San Jose Lodge No.
522 Elks. Mr. Russo is straightforward and hon-
orable, his honesty and integrity of purpose never
having been questioned. He believes in treating ev-
eryone fair and square; when anyone has a just
grievance he rights it, a policy that has, no doubt,
been a large factor in his having built up such a
large business.

JOHN S. MARTEN— In the year 1915, the De
Luxe-Parisian Dyeing and Cleaning Works made its
appearance and was listed among the business houses
of San Jose, John S. Marten, being one of its pro-
prietors. This business has continued to grow un-
til now it is considered the largest and best estab-
lishment in this line in San Jose. Mr. Marten is a
native of San Jose, and was born on March 27, 1889,
the son of J. P. and Helen (Stock) Marten; the
father came here about the year 1885 and here it
was that he met and was married to Miss Helen
Stock. Our subject was born in the old Stock home
at 293 South Second Street, in the same room that
his mother was born. J. P. Marten was the owner
of a novelty store on South First Street, which he
conducted until he retired; both parents are living.
Granfather Stock was the first plumber of San Jose,
having been one of the pioneers of that city.

Mr. Marten received his education in the public
schools of this city, graduating from the high school
of San Jose with the class of 1910. He then worked
in various occupations until 1913 and was then em-
ployed in the freight rate department with the South-
ern Pacific Railway for two years, later engaging
in the dyeing and cleaning business at 255 South
First Street as one of the proprietors of the De
Luxe-Parisian Dyeing and Cleaning Works, and then
consolidated with the Imperial Dye Works, the old-
est business in this line in San Jose, when the con-
cern became known as the De Luxe Imperial Dyeing
and Cleaning Works. This consolidation occurred in
1915 and in March, 1917, they moved to the present
location at 224-26 East Santa Clara Street, where
they have the most modern and up-to-date equipment,
being able to give the very best of service and work-
manship. They employ fourteen workmen and have

1536

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

three wagons, covering San Jose and Santa Clara. In
1919 Mr. Marten and Mr. Heyrmann bought out the
third partner and Mr. Marten became general man-
ager of the company. Mr. Marten was married to
Miss Estelle M. Carson, also a native of Califor-
nia, who was born in Milpitas, Cal. Mr. Marten is
an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, and
also of the Knights of Columbus. He is a Repub-
lican in political preference.

PAUL A. CRIBARI.— In enumerating the men re-
sponsible for the business stability of San Jose men-
tion is due Paul A. Cribari, the genial and popular
owner of the fuel, feed and oil station located at
990 South First Street. He was born in the prov-
ince of Cosenza, Italy, April 3, 1886, the son of
Thomas and Clementina (Bisceglia) Cribari, also na-
tives of Italy. They came to San Jose in 1900 and
engaged in horticulture until they retired. Both are
now living in this city. They had five children, all
living, of whom Paul is the oldest. Coming to Amer-
ica in 1898, he spent two years in Nelson, B. C, and
in 19D0 settled in San Jose. He attended the public
schools for a while but much of his knowledge was
gained from the school of practical experience, which
proved of substantial benefit in later years. He
first assisted his father on the ranch and then en-
gaged in fruit raising as well as buying and shipping
fruit. In 1916 he established his present business
which was on a comparatively small scale, but which
has steadily increased until, at the present time he
employs seven men, with two trucks and two wagons
to look after his growing business.

The marriage of Mr. Cribari December 10, 1916,
in San Jose, united him with Miss Mary Barone,
daughter of Pasquale and Catherine Barone, born
in Palermo. Mr. Cribari is a member of the Italian-
American Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and the
Santa Clara Water Conservation. He is a very en-
terprising, public-spirited and generous man, priding
himself upon the modern equipment of his busi-
ness, and is constantly promoting practical plans
for the upbuilding of his neighborhood. Quiet and
unassuming, he has the dignity and assurance of the
well balanced and even tempered man, who has ex-
pected and deserves success, and has accomplished
his ambition.

AMOS OTIS WILLIAMS.— A painstaking, thor-
ough official whose knowledge of human nature and
the problems of everyday life, no less than his knowl-
edge of law, has enabled him to give entire satisfac-
tion in matters of peculiar delicacy and responsibility,
is Amos Otis Williams, the county coroner and pub-
lic administrator, with headquarters at San Jose. He
was born in that city on September 1, 1876, and
his father was Frank E. Williams" who had married
Miss Amelia White. They came to Santa Clara
County in 1858, and for some time Mr. Williams
was a farmer, abandoning the farm only when he be-
came sheriff of the county. He died on December 1,
1907, survived by his good wife, who is now seventy-
six years old. They had ten children, and the sixth
in the order of birth was the subject of our story.

He attended the public schools, and what he did
not learn there he gathered at greater cost, but per-
haps more effectively, in the school of experience
demanding of the pupil an actual brush with the
world. When old enough to do so, he learned to
build carriages, and for eighteen years followed that

trade. Then, having discovered a talent for music,
he went to San Francisco and for six years was the
first tenor of the Knickerbocker Quartet.

Returning to San Jose, Mr. Williams on April
1, 1917, took up the undertaking business, the funeral
parlors being located at 279 North First Street, the
firm known as Hacking & Williams, and in 1918
Mr. Williams was elected coroner and public ad-
ministrator of Santa Clara County and on January
6, 1919, he entered upon his term of office which
was to extend for four years; and as he has always
been deeply interested in the administration and
development of Santa Clara County, he has more
than made good with the public. In national poli-
tics Mr. Williams is a Republican.

On January 1, 1898, Mr. Williams was married
to Miss Minnie Blewett of California, and to this
union has been born three children: Charles, Lucile
and Vera. jMr. Williams was made a Mason in San
Jose Lodge No. 10 F. & A. M. and is a member
of all the bodies of the Scottish Rite Masonry in
San Jose, of the Eastern Star and in 1920 he was
honored with the degree of knight commander of the
Court of Honor. He also belongs to the Odd Fel-
lows, and the encampment, the Woodmen of the
World, Druids and Elks; and he is, of course, a live
wire in the San Jose Chamber of Commerce. Mr.
Williams' close application to his business and offi-
cial duties has not prevented him from continuing
his interest in music, for he is a member of the
First M. E. Church choir, besides he frequently fa-
vors audiences at concerts, lodges and social gather-
ings where his singing is greatly enjoyed.

JAMES B. PECKHAM.— The characteristics most
responsible for the success of James B. Peckham
are perseverance, determination and unswerving in-
tegrity, and they have indeed served him well in help-
ing him to attain his present high standing in the com-
munity. Born in San Francisco. October 4, 1880, he
was a son William H. and Elizabeth (Higgins)
Peckham, who was born in San Jose, California, in
1849. His grandfather came to California as early
as 1846 and settled in Santa Clara County, suflfering
the hardships and privations of the pioneers of this
valley. For a time the family resided in San Fran-
csico, but later came back to San Jose, where the
father passed away November 5, 1918; the mother
is also deceased.

James B. Peckham attended the grammar and high
schools and graduated from the latter with the class
of 1899; later he supplemented his high school educa-
tion with a course at Stanford University, graduating
with the class of 1903. In 1904 he was admitted to
the bar and the same year entered the offices of
Judge Gosbey and V. A. Scheller, and was employed
in the office of the district attorney as assistant
district attorney. For the past five years he has
maintained offices of his own and is meeting with
success in his chosen profession. He has always
l)eeu an admirer and supporter of Herbert Hoover.

The marriage of Mr. Peckman June 7, 1907 united
him with Miss Doona Louise Buttner, and to them
have been born two children, James B., Jr., and Don-
ald B. He is a lover of the great outdoors and when
the opportunity affords itself, goes to the mountains
or seashore for his recreation. The people of his
home city and county unite in testifying as to the

/(/\^>^^^^/^T^<-^^>^^^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1539

business ability, upright character and high principles
of honor that form noticeable attributes of this native-
born son of California.

HENRY A. HARMS— An enterprising, experi-
enced business man who is making splendid progress
is H. A. Harms,, who is emploj'ed as the representa-
tive for the American Biscuit Company in the Santa
Clara Valley. He was born August 10, 1863, in San
Lorenzo, Cal., the son of August T. and Louise E.
(Hauschildt) Harms. His father came to California
in 1859. and here he was married and they settled in
San Lorenzo, later moving to Pleasanton, where the
mother is still living, but the father passed away in
1890, aged sixty years.

Henry A. Harms was born and reared in a farm
and attended the public schools of Pleasanton, and
when he was nineteen he took charge of the hay and
grain department in a general merchandise store at
Pleasanton, where he continued for the following
fourteen years. On July 21, 1896, he located in San
Jose, purchasing a one-half interest in the local
agency of the American Biscuit Company, and at the
end of a year bought his, partner's interest, and here
he has resided since that time, making steady pro-
gress. He has built up a very good business, and in
proportion to the population of his territory his
sales rank with the highest.

Mr. Harms' marriage in 1897 united him with Miss
Emma Koch, and they are the parents of a daughter,
Helen, who is now Mrs. F. M. Braun, of San Jose.
Mr. and Mrs. Harms are very popular in social cir-
cles and are members of the Second Presbyterian
Church of San Jose. Mr. Harms is interested in
Santa Clara County and San Jose and is always for
good measures that will help in the upbuilding of
this commonwealth. He is a Knight Templar and a
Scottish Rite Mason, in which he has attained the
K. C. C. H., and a Shriner, holding membership in
Islam Temple A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco;
also is afifiliated with the Sciots, the Odd Fellows,
and the Woodmen of the World. He is associated
with the progressive work of the Chamber of Com-
merce and the 100% Club, and is likewise a member
of the Merchants' Association. A true American, he
showed his patriotic spirit in the various war drives,
where he was very active as the chairman of the
Fourth Ward district. He is on the board of direc-
tors of the Masonic Hall Association and the vice-
president and secretary-treasurer of the Scottish Rite
Hall Association.

JOHN HENRY NICHOLS.— Having crossed the
ocean when a mere boy, John Henry Nichols, a
native of England, who first came to Massachusetts,
later coming to San Jose, was one of California's
early settlers and has been identified with Santa Clara
County since the year of 1876, when he worked as a
carpenter and stair builder. In 1880 he established
a factory and shop and started to work for himself,
and for many years was located at 68 Orchard Street.
He was born at Torrington, Devonshire, August 23,
1855. Mr. Nichols received his education in the
public schools of Clinton, Mass., whither he had come
in his early youth. He first learned the carpenter
trade in Massachusetts, where he worked for a while,
then came on to San Jose in the year 1876, taking
up the work of a stair builder and following that
line up to the present time, having his factory and
shop at 68 Orchard Street where he moved in 1900.

He uses the most up-to-date and modern machinery,
turning out the very best work that can be found.
He gives good service and the very best quality and
has been very successful.

Mr. Nichols' marriage united him with Miss Annie
M. Ford, who is a native of Illinois, having first seen
the light of day in the city of Litchfield. Mr. and
Mrs. Nichols became the parents of three children:
James Frederick, Clinton Elwin, and Viola, who is
now the wife of John Lester; they also have one
grandchild, Veletta Nichols, the daughter of James
F., who has brought additional joy to their home.
Mr. Nichols is a great lover of his home but occasion-
ally finds recreation in attending the Odd Fellows
Lodge. Politically he voles the Republican ticket.

THOMAS J. RIORDAN.— Among the successful
lawyers of the younger generation, Thomas J. Rior-
dan was born in Salinas, Monterey County, April 14,
1892, the son of Thomas J. and Margaret (Sheehy)
Riordan. The family located at Salinas in 1901, where
the father was engaged in the inaciice of law, and was
also county clerk of ilunti rr\' Cmmty. He died in
1900, aged about forty-tuc Ik v,,is highly esteemed
for his integrity, and hib passing was regretted by a
host of friends and admirers. After his death, Mrs.
Riordan and her family moved to San Jose, where
she now resides.

Thomas J. Riordan was educated in the grammar
and high schools of San Jose; in 1911 he received
the degree of A. B. from Santa Clara College; in
1912 he had mastered and received his A. M. degree;
and in 1915 received his LL. B. He was associated
with D. U. Burnett and remained with him until the
date of his enlistment in the navy, December, 1917;
and after he returned from the service he was asso-
ciated with Senator H. C. Jones during 1919-20, and
on April 1 of that year he opened an independent
practice.

Mr. Riordan is a firm believer in the principles of
the Republican partj'. He is identified with the
Knights of Columbus, the Elks, and the American
Legion and the San Jose Country Club, and a mem-
ber of the Catholic Church. He is prominent in ath-
letic circles, and enjoys all clean sports; he is a man
of public spirit and a supporter of those projects that
mean the permanent growth of his home city. He
was united in marriage in San Jose on August 5,
1920 to Miss Elva Pointer, a native of Stanislaus
County, and they have one child, Kathleen Patricia.

JOHN G. REID.— A representative California busi-
ness man, both in respect to his relation to the
Pacific commonwealth by birth and his contribution
to the development of important interests which have
added to the wealth and glory of the Golden State,
is John G. Reid, the superintendent of the American
Can Company at San Jose. He was born in Monterey
County on July 31, 1877, the son of Robert M. Reid,
a native of Indiana, who crossed the plains to Cali-
fornia in 1850 and engaged in buj'ing and selling
cattle. He had married Miss Annie Gregson, who
was born at Sutter's Fort in 1846, the first child of
English parents born in the state of California — a
very interesting couple of pioneers who were here
before the Donner party. Mr. and Mrs. Reid had
fourteen children, among whom John G. Reid was
the eighth in the order of birth. Mr. Reid died in
1890; Mrs. Reid. who still survives, lived here for
sixteen years, but now resides in San Francisco.

1540

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

John attended the grammar schools of his locahty,
and then passed a year at the high school and later
studied at the Watsonville Commercial School. He
worked for four years at the mines in Angels Camp,
and two years in Chinese Camp in the reduction
works, next applied himself to various jobs for a
year, and in 1904 entered the service of the American
Can Company. For over four years he was in
Honolulu as that company's general foreman in their
shops, and having first come to San Jose about
twenty-five years ago, he has been superintendent of
the San Jose plant since 1915. He belongs to the
Rotary Club and may always be relied upon to stand
behind any movement making for the commercial
development of San Jose and Santa Clara County.

At Thanksgiving, in 1910, Mr. Reid was married to
Miss Edith Drew, a native daughter and an ac-
complished lady, the center of a large circle of friends.
Mr. Reid is a Mason and is also an Odd Fellow. In
politics he stands above mere party limitations, which
fact enables him to pull a long and steady stroke
against narrow partisanship and in favor of the best
man and the best measures for the community. Fond
of hunting and fishing, he is first, last, and all the
time for the Golden State which affords him such
wonderful opportunities for sport.

WILLIAM SCHUH.— Among those engaged in
the marble and granite business in the city of San
Jose is to be found William Schuh, one of the part-
ners of Schuh-Vertin & Company, located at 256
West Santa Clara Street where they are taking care
of a splendid business. Mr. Schuh is a native of
Ohio, having been born in Hancock County, on Au-
gust 29, 1866, the son of Clement and Mary Magdalene
(Kober) Schuh. They removed to Benton County,
Ind., in 1875, where they were farmers, the mother
passing away in 1888. The father came to San Jose
in 1904, and is a successful orchardiest, residing on
Stevens Creek Road.

Of their four children, two of whom are living,
William is the oldest. He did not get to attend
school very regularly, as much of his time was spent
working on the farm, helping his father in the many
tasks found to do there. He remained on the farm
until he had reached his twenty-second year and then,
coming to California in 1889 for his health, he not
only regained his strength, but became the owner
of a good business. For two years he was engaged
in various occupations and then began to work for
the Western Granite Works and here it was that
he learned the trade in which he is now engaged.
In the year 1897, he started business on his own
account, becoming a partner with Demicheli brothers,
under the firm name of Demicheli, Schuh & Company,
later Demicheli & Schuh, and continued until October
1, 1916, when Mr. Demicheli died and Mr. Vertin
bought his interest and they continued as Schuh &
Vertin Company. The establishment has the most
complete equipment of any firm in the city of San
Jose for the manufacture of large granite and marble
work. They also make a specialty of interior finish
and their workmanship and the quality of their
material may be noted at Stanford University and the
Santa Clara town hall, and they also built the Lester
monument, one of the finest memorials in Oak Hill.
Mr. Schuh employs seven first-class workmen who
are all expert in their line of work.

Mr. Schuh's marriage in San Jose, December 31.
1895, united him with Miss Annie Uheman, the
daughter of Mathias and Catherine Uheman, who
were early settlers of Santa Clara County and were
counted among the pioneers of San Jose. Mrs. Schuh
is a native daughter of the county and was educated
at Notre Dame Convent. Mr. and Mrs. Schuh have
had six children: Clement Joseph, who died during
the World War, succumbing to a severe attack of
the Spanish influenza, while in a training camp at
Santa Clara; George A.; William M.; Catherine
Marie; Clarence B.; and Edmund Nicholas. Mr.
Schuh is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and
is always ready to sanction any good movement for
the furtherance of the welfare of the community.

JACOB M. H. GATTER, JR.— One of the enter-
prising business men of San Jose is Jacob M. H.
Gatter, Jr., who was born at Philadelphia, Pa., Jan-
uary 29, 1885, and was reared and educated in Cali-
fornia. He is the son of Jacob and Christina
(Schmitt) Gatter, who migrated to California in the
year 1887, settling in Oakland; they later removed
to Hayward, where they still reside.

Jacob Gatter attended the public schools of Oak-
land until he was fifteen years of age; was then em-
ployed in a bakery and it was here that he learned
his trade. He worked in various cities, throughout
the state, and in some of the largest bakeries. He
came to San Jose August 1, 1918, and in the follow-
ing year he purchased the business owned by W. J.
Temple, known as the Faultless Bakery, a wholesale
establishment. Eight people are employed in the
business, and three motor trucks take care of the
deliveries. The business is steadily increasing, owing
to the untiring energy of its owners, J. M. H. Gatter
and O. Jordheim. and the high grade of its products.

Mr. Gatter's second marriage was on July 23, 1919,
to Miss Gertrude Alice Clunan. a native daughter of
the Golden State and of Santa Clara County, and they
are the parents of a son, born February 17, 1922.
His first marriage united him with Elizabeth A.
Gould, born in Boston, Mass., and by whom two
children were born: Christian H. C. and Elizabeth S.
He is a Republican in political a,ffiliation, and is
fraternally associated with the local organization of
Moose. Mr. Gatter finds great enjoyment in outdoor
life, particularly in photography, in which line he has
become very proficient. He is interested in all civic
improvements, and is a man of well-directed energy,
which has served to bring him success.

JOSEPH SPENCER GREENLEY.— Among the
rising young business men of San Jose and of Santa
Clara County is J. S. Greenley. of the firm of Bell
&: Greenley, auto trimmers. Their place of busi-
ness is at 505 South Market Street, and there they
are operating the largest business in this line in
Santa Clara' County.

Mr. Greenley was born in Knox County, Mo., on
June 1, 1891, and was the son of Joseph E. and
Virginia (Fort) Greenley. He was educated in the
schools of Missouri and California, the family having
come to this state, settling first at Los Gatos, when
he was very young. Here he worked in a cannery
and also spent a great deal of his time in gopher
trap manufacturing. In the year of 1914 he, in part-
nership with Mr. Bell, formed the firm of Bell &
Greenley, on October 13. Here they employ ten
men and are engaged in the making of auto tops.

J^^^.^:,^ ^^^.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1543

doing trimming and upholstering, and have built up
such a growing trade that they take in work from all
over Santa Clara County as well as local orders.
Both men are expert workmen in their line and as
they give every job the benefit of their personal at-
tention and thorough workmanship, they' have estab-
lished a reputation of which they may well be proud.
Mr. Greenley's marriage united him with Miss
Emily Pascoe and they are the parents of two
children: Virgil Henry and Ruth E. Mr. Greenley
is a member of the Masonic lodge, also an interested
worker in the Chamber of Commerce and the Auto
Trades Association. He is deeply interested in the
progress of Santa Clara County and takes a live
interest in the happenings in San Jose.

DR. WILLIAM D. GORDON— Enterprising and
successful. Dr. William D. Gordon, veterinarian, is
named among the representative men of Santa Clara
County, where he has been located in San Jose since
1914. Born in Forfarshire, Scotland, on September
9. 1879, the son of James and Wilhelmina (Guthrie)
Gordon, he left the old world for the new in 1905.
James Gordon, the father, was born in Banffshire
and the mother in Montrose, Scotland, and on both
sides were among the oldest and most prominent
families of the realm. His father, now deceased, was
a civil engineer by profession, and his mother, who,
after his father's death, came to America, makes her
home in Hanford, Cal., nearly eighty years old. Of
eight children that grew up, William D. is the sev-
enth. Three brothers and a sister also reside in Cali-
fornia. George is a veterinary surgeon with the State
Bureau of Animal Industry at Sacramento; Andrew
R. M. is a physician and surgeon in Los Angeles;
Robert is an attorney in Oakland; Mrs. Mary Grant
resides in San Francisco.

After graduating from the common schools of his
birthplace William D. entered the Croydon Poly-
technic school near London, and after graduation at-
tended a military school at Aberdeen. Scotland, dur-
ing w-hich time he served in the British army as a
member of the Gordon Highlanders. On his dis-
charge he came to Hanford, Cal., in 1905, and as-
sisted his brother, Dr. George Gordon, in his veter-
inary practice until he entered the San Francisco
Veterinary College, graduating from that institution
in 1914 with the degree of D. V. M. He practiced
for a short time in Hanford and later in the same
year removed to San Jose, where he has since made
his home and achieved success. In addition to fol-
lowing his profession he was appointed the first chief
meat inspector for San Jose and was later chief food
inspector, which office he faithfully and efficiently
filled for two years. Dr. Gordon established the first
meat inspection in San Jose, which system is still in
use. Recently he bought out the practice of Dr.
Browning and since that time has conducted the
veterinary hospital at 66 North San Pedro Street,
w-here he treats all domestic animals.

At Hanford in 1911 he was married to Miss Ella
Grace Church, a native of Michigan. They are the
parents of two children: William D., Jr., and Jean
Ella. Dr. Gordon is a stanch Republican in his politi-
cal convictions, and fraternally is affiliated with the
Masons, Elks, Woodmen of the World, Rotary Club
and Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of
the California State Veterinary Medical Association
and the American Veterinary Medical Association.

During the World War he gave much time to the
difi'erent Red Cross, Liberty Loan and other drives
for raising war funds. Dr. Gordon is very musical
and is possessed of a pleasing bass voice and is a
member of Richard's Choral Club. The family are
members of the First Presbyterian Church. Believ-
ing implicitly in the future greatness and prosperity
of this favored section, Dr. Gordon takes a keen in-
terest in all matters pertaining to the development
and upbuilding of Santa Clara County.

FRANK D. HILL.— Listed among the advertising
men of San Jose, we find Frank D. Hill, the com-
mercial artist, whose commercial signs and show cards
prove to be a drawing card to firms in almost any
kind of business. Frank D. Hill is a native of Cali-
fornia, having been born in San Jose, March 1, 1893,
the son of George and Charlotte (Cornish) Hill.
The father was born in Maine and came with hi?
parents to San Jose when he was a boy and here he
was reared on the farm. Later he bought land and
improved it, setting it out to fruit trees. He was
among the early orchardists of Santa Clara County.
His parents are now living in Lassen County.

Frank Hill received his education in the public
schools of San Jose and at Hopkins Art School at
San Francisco. He learned his profession by practical
e.xperience, at first beginning on a small scale, and
later, as he began to receive more work, he estab-
lished his place of business at 39 South First Street
and here he is engaged in doing first-class com-
mercial art work, painting attractive signs and making
neat, business-getting show cards.

lilr. Hill's marriage united him with Miss Alice
Austin, who is also a native of San Jose, and they
are the parents of one child, Betty. Mr. Hill is
deeply interested in Santa Clara County and is a
public spirited and respected man, always for all
projects that tend for the upbuilding of his native
county. In national politics he is a Democrat, but
in local affairs, he is liberal in his views and votes
for men and measures instead of adhering to strict
party ties. Mr. Hill is an outdoor man, fond of his
car and the open-air pleasures it brings, and likes
to hunt. He is a very popular member of the Ob-
servatory Parlor of the Native Sons.

HARRY A. HOUSER.— Among the rising young
men of San Jose will be found Harry A. Houser,
attorney-at-law, who was born in Colusa, Colusa
County, California, on November 5, 1895, the son of
Charles and Philomena (Erisay) Houser. His father
died while they were in the East. Harry received
his education in Santa Clara University, specializing
in law, and he received his LL. B. degree in 1917,
and was admitted to the bar on motion. He then
went into the county clerk's office and served a year
as assistant probate clerk.

After the United States entered the World War to
aid the cause of the Allies, Mr. Houser desired to
enlist for active service in the defense of his country,
but was unable to do so on account of a disability,
so entered the legal department of the government
and was stationed at Angel Island. He then entered
the office of Louis Oneal and was with him for a
year and a half, then became ois-oci:it. d with R. C.
McCornish, where he has continiud very Miccessfully.

Mr. Houser is prominent in the social affairs of
San Jose's younger set. He is a member of the
American Legion, Santa Clara Post No. 233, a

1544

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

member of the Santa Clara Parlor of the Native Sons
of the Golden West, in which he is past president.
and is a member of the Knights of Columbus and
the Y. M. I. In national politics he is a Republican.

OSCAR M. LANHAM.— Resourcefulness coupled
with energy has enabled Oscar M. Lanham to succeed
in his chosen line of work. A native of the state of
Nebraska, he was born at Plattsmouth. October 13,
1884, the son of David E. and Hannah (Johnson)
Lanham. The Lanham family migrated to California
in 1896, and the parents resided in San Jose until
1918, when they removed to Lassen County, where
they reside. The oldest of three children, Oscar M.
Lanham received a common school education in San
Jose. Upon leaving school, he was employed by an
oil burner company, where he became thoroughly
familiar in this line of work, working up from the
bottom. Being fully convinced that there comes a
time when nothing is to be gained by working for
others, he established his own business at 325 West
Empire Street in San Jose, where he built his resi-
dence and shop, and is now the agent for S. T.
Johnson Company of San Francisco and the Rotary
Oil Burner Company of Oakland, installing their
furnaces in residences, business houses and large
buildings, having a variety of different sizes. Owing
to his principles of integrity and his capability in this
field, his business is steadily growing.

His marriage in San Jose united him with Miss
Mary Maderis, a native daughter of San Jose. Three
children have blessed the union: Wesley, Jack, and
Stanley. In politics he is independent and prefers
to vote for the man rather than to be governed en-
tirely by party lines. Fraternally he is a member of
the Woodmen of the World. Loyal to the city which
has been his home from early boyhood, he labors
for the advancement of San Jose, as well as for his
individual business interests.

FRED W. LARSON.— To learn one thing thor-
oughly, and then to spend the active years of life in
the industry for which both study and natural inclina-
tion have fitted one, is to carry on the world's work
to the best of any man's ability. Such a man is Fred
W. Larson, one of the successful orchardists of Santa
Clara County, and a native of Denmark, where he
was born May 9, 1884, a son of Augustus and Metta
Larson, the former born in Sweden and the latter in
Denmark, and still living there, aged seventy-two.

Fred W. Larson was educated in the schools of
Denmark and at the age of eighteen came to the
United States, crossed the country to California and
stopped for a period in San Francisco. He engaged
in farm work and became deeply interested in horti-
culture. The first place he bought was located at
Bakersfield, but he never lived there; later he sold
this and removed to Palo Aho and in 1917 located on
his present place on Moor Park Avenue, consisting
of fifty acres, which had been planted to prunes
and walnuts and is among the oldest orchards in this
locality. He has lived in the county since 1904.

Mr. Larson's marriage united him with !Miss Emma
Anderson, a native of Kansas, and they are the
parents of three children: Cecil, John, and Thomas.
In national politics Mr. Larson is a Republican, but is
a supporter of the best obtainable for the local wel-
fare, both in respect to measures and men. He is a
firm believer in cooperative methods and is a mem-
ber of the Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc. Frater-.

nally he is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias.
As a lover of the great outdoors, Mr. Larson thor-
oughly enjoys looking after his beautiful orchard,
which is rewarding him for the care and cultivation
which he has given it.

WILLIAM ASHLEY RIGGS.— A native son of
California and a member of a pioneer family of the
state, William Ashley Riggs is well known through-
out Santa Clara County as a horticulturist and the
owner of valuable orchards. He was born in the
Llnion district, near Los Gatos. December 5. 1864,
and his parents were Zadok A. and Phoebe E
(Cairus) Riggs, born at Columbia, Boone County,
Mo., and Enniskillen, Ireland, respectively. Grand-
father Zadok A. Riggs was born in Kentucky, of old
Southern family and died in Missouri. Mrs. Phoebe
(Cairus) Riggs is descended of old Scotch family
ot Protestants and came to New York State about
18,S4 and to California in 1857, via Panama.

Zadok A. Riggs, the father of our subject, came to
California across the plains in an ox-team train, leav-
ing St. Joseph, Mo., May 1, 1850, and arrived in
California September 12 of that year. After mining
two years at Mokelumne Hill he came to Santa
Clara County, November 30, 1852, and purchased a
squatter's title to the old Riggs Ranch.

Later the ranch was thought to be in the Narvaez
Grant and Mr. Riggs paid Isaac Branham, owner of
part of the grant, and later the Government survey
showed it was Uncle Sam's domain, and he then paid
the Government for it and obtained his patent to
160 acres. Here he engaged in general farming and
at about 1889 began setting out orchards. He passed
away May 30, 1892. He was the second white man
in Almaden township, the first being James Dwyer.

Mrs. Riggs survived her husband until August 24,
1919, being then 83 years old. This worthy couple
had five children only, two of whom grew up: Wm.
A. of this sketch, and Zedd S., who resides in Los
Gatos. After completing the public school, W. A.
Riggs attended the Garden City Business College,
from which he was graduated in 1883, and for a time
he devoted his attention to general ranching. From
1910 until 1913 he was employed as bookkeeper by
a wholesale produce and meat firm of Portland, Ore.
On his return to Santa Clara County in 1913 he was
associated with his brother in the real estate busi-
ness as the Riggs Realty Company in Los Gatos,
continuing there for five years, when he sold his inter-
est in the business to his brother to accept a posi-
tion of assistant cashier of the First National Bank
of Los Gatos. In 1918 he was elected a member of
the board of trustees of Los Gatos, serving finance
and fire and water committees. He resigned his
position with the bank in July, 1920, and also as city
trustee, and removed to Klamath Falls, Ore., to be
office manager of the shook manufacturing plant of
the Growers' Packing and Warehouse Association of
California. He continued there until May, 1921,
when he resigned to return to Los Gatos, and soon
afterwards he accepted the place as foreman of the
Los Gatos Cured Fruit Company, and is rendering
excellent service in that connection, his constant aim
being to perform his duty according to the best of
his ability. Mr. Riggs and his brother still own 100
acres of Z. A. Riggs homestead, which is devoted to
raising prunes, grapes and hay.

Mr. Riggs was united in marriage in Los Gatos
November 16, 1892, to Miss Flora Thomson, and

&,dCr /':XZUt6-i<^o^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1547

they have a daughter, Mildred. Mrs. Riggs was
born near Eugene, Ore., and her parents, John and
Bertha Thomson, came from Iowa to Santa Clara
County, Cal., and later removed to Oregon; when
Mrs. Riggs was eight years of age they returned to
Santa Clara County.

Mr. Riggs' political support is given to the plat-
form and candidates of the Republican party, and
fraternally he is identified with the Odd Fellows,
belonging to the Subordinate Lodge and Encamp-
ment, and is a past grand of the order. In all of his
business affairs he has displayed keen discernment,
and the years have marked his progress along lines
which lead to success.

C. L. STEBBINS— The mercantile interests of San
Jose are well represented in the person of C. L.
Stebbins, one of the city's younger business men,
who has proved himself a potent factor in the upbuild-
ing of important enterprises and the development of
resources in the Santa Clara Valley. Born in San
Jose April 9, 1893, he is the son of C. R. and Bell
Walton (Taylor) Stebbins, who were for some time
located at Marysville, and they later settled in San
Jose, where the father was employed by the Santa
Clara Valley Mill and Lumber Company for a number
of years. He passed away in 1916. but the mother
still resides in San Jose.

C. L. Stebbins was educated in the grammar and
high schools of San Jose, graduating with the 1913
class. Immediately upon graduation he was em-
ployed by the California Fruit Canners Association
and for six years he had charge of the receiving
room for the company. When the merger was made
and the California Packing Corporation took over
the above association's business the new company
recognized Mr. Stebbins' ability, and retaine4 his
services, and he continued in their employ in the same
capacity at plant No. 3 until June, 1919, when he was
transferred to plant No. 4 as assistant superintendent.
In 1920 lie was promoted, being made superintendent
.if the plant, a position he is filling most capably.

The marriage of Mr. Stebbins in 1915 united him
with Miss Etta V. Ludwig. Three children have
been born to them: Chartley Irene, Richard Walton
and Eunice. Politically Mr. Stebbins is a supporter
of the Republican party. He is a member of Frater-
nity Lodge No. 309, F. & M., and is an active and
consistent member of the First Methodist Episcopal
Church of San Jose. Much of his success is due
to his genial, tactful and considerate manner, as well
as his business integrity, and unfailing perseverance.
He gives unreservedly of his time and means to all
progressive movements for the further development
of Santa Clara County.

ALEXANDER MATRACIA.— An enterprising
fruit and vegetable shipper who has studied the fruit
trade of California with such scientific care that he
is now rated as one of the experts in his field, is
.\Iexander Matracia, the district manager of the
Stewart Fruit Company at San Jose. He was born
at Palermo, Sicily, on April 30, 1871, the son of Alex-
ander and his good wife Mary Matracia, who breathed
her last at Chicago, to which city she had come to
join her son after his locating there in 1886. He
began his schooling in Sicily, and attended school for
only a short time in Chicago. When he was eleven
years old, his father having died about a month
before he was born, Alexander came to New Orleans,

where he remained about five years. After that, he
made his way to Chicago, and there he was engaged
in the wholesale fruit business until 1910, when he
came west to California. He came direct to San
Jose where he engaged in business as fruit and
vegetable shipper. He continued successfully, though
on a small scale, until he met Mr. Stewart of the
Stewart Fruit Company, who had known Mr. Ma-
tracia in Chicago. He had closed his San Jose plant
a few years before because it was not paying, but
Mr. Matracia assured him the business would pay.
Mr. Stewart had confidence in the ability of Mr.
Matracia, and in 1907 he became the manager of the
San Jose branch and has built up a splendid trade.
The Stewart Fruit Company employs seventy-five
women and fifteen men in the busy season and has
headquarters both in Los Angeles and in San Fran-
cisco. Mr. Matracia's wide and practical experience
enables him to meet and master every emergency
such as so often, and suddenly, arises in this trade
with perishable stuff. He belongs to the San Jose
Chamber of Commerce, and to the Italian-American
club, and it is needless to say that his counsel there
is much appreciated.

At Chicago, in 1906, Mr. Matracia was married to
Miss Esther Johnson, who was born in and who
passed part of her life in Michigan. She is an ac-
complished woman able to assist her husband materi-
ally and shares with him the social life of the Wood-
men of the World and the Modern Woodmen of
America. They have a daughter, Marian. Mr. Ma-
tracia votes with the Republican party, and with
Republicans seeks to improve trade relations and so
add to the country's prosperity.

SAM PEDGRIFT. — Although seventy-one years
of age, Sam Pedgrift is still the leading plasterer of
Palo Alto, Cal. He is of English birth, but an
American by choice and adoption, a man of un-
questioned integrity, reliable and honorable in all his
business affairs. He is of Saxon blood, originally
removing from Holland to England, his name being
"Von Grift," which in course of time became Ped-
grift. It is related that a Saxon ancestor settled in
England and was a soldier of the Crown, but left
the army and took up the trade of plastering, and
for seven generations, including our subject, have all
been plasterers, very thorough in their line. He
was born in Harlcston, County of Norfolk, England,
November 17, 1850, and when he was six years old
was taken by his parents, James and Jane (Fox)
Pedgrift, to London, where his father was a leading
plasterer. They were the parents of twelve children
of whom our subject is the only one living.

Mr. Pedgrift grew up at Kingston-upon-Thames
and began to make his own way in the world when
only ten years old; he worked around at various jobs
such as a boy could do: then began to work for his
father and when seventeen years old was a plasterer,
having received practical knowledge during the time
he worked with his father. He arrived in New York
on June 1, 1872, and lost no time in getting to Chi-
cago, where he got busy at his trade. An older
brother, John Pedgrift, had also come to America,
and the two brothers went into partnership as plas-
terers, continuing for two years; then in 1874 Mr.
Pedgrift removed to Denver, Colo., and after the
first year began contracting. In 1885 he came to
the Pacific Coast and settled in Victoria, British
Columbia, and there resumed operations as a plas-

1548

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

terer. He was then chosen chief of the fire depart-
ment and was there during the great fire which
destroyed the entire city with the exception of one
house. He spent one year in Victoria and one year
in Vancouver, then in 1887 came to Southern Cali-
fornia and settled in San Bernardino; he plastered
the first house in Rcdlands. In 1901 he took a trip
to the Hawaiian Islands and remained twenty
months; returning to California he stopped at Hol-
lister for a short time; then went to Stockton, and
while there was foreman for the workmen that plas-
tered the court house. He put in about three years
working in Montana, mostly at Butte, and four years
in Arizona, then went to Oakland and came for the
first time to Palo Alto in 1904; then he returned to
Oakland and was there until 1906, when he returned
to Palo Alto. He has practically done all the repair
work in and about Palo Alto and much of the plaster
work at the Stanford University. He is an expert
in his line and has done the largest and best jobs in
Palo Alto and environs, including the Peninsular
Hospital, and many residences and business houses;
he does much art work as well as plain plastering.

In August, 1921, Mr. Pedgrift was married the
second time to Mrs. Edith Byron, nee Ormsby,' a
native of Chicago, 111., reared in California, a daugh-
ter of Elon Ormsby, a photographer at Oakland,
Cal. Mrs. Pedgrift has one son by her first hus-
band, Clarence B. Byron, who is married and resides
in Oakland Mr. Pedgrift is the parent of four
children by his first wife; Florence is the widow of
Fred R. Brauer, a general contractor in Los Ange-
les, Cal.; Jennie is the wife of Al Kastner of Los
Angeles; Ethel and Robert reside in Los Angeles.
While residing in Colorado and Montana, Mr. Ped-
grift was active in politics, being a progressive Re-
pubh'can, and was well acquainted with Senators Wal-
cott and Teller in Colorado, also the governor, Alva
Adams, and all the leading political leaders in Mon-
tana. Fraternally he is a member of the Odd Fel-
lows, Woodmen and Knights of Pythias.

FERDINAND LUSCHER.— A first-class citizen,
generous and enterprising, is found in Ferdinand
Luscher, the senior member of the automobile paint-
ers Luscher & Huber, pioneers in their line. He
was born at Muhen, Canton Argau, Switzerland,
August 1, 1874, the only child of his parents, Fritz
and Louise Luscher, and he and his mother made
their home with his grandmother, Mary Magdaline
(EnRiscli) Luscher. Fie attended the public schools,
and when sixteen years of age went to Aarau to learn
the painter's trade. He showed great aptness in his
work and was soon selected to do the finest kind of
painting. After serving a three years' apprenticeship
he became a journeyman painter, w'orking in all the
large cities of Switzerland. In his travels he picked
up considerable French and Italian, as well as Ger-
man; he then went to France and worked at Nice,
Cannes, Monaco and Marseilles, then returned to
Switzerland and spent one year, then went back to
France and worked in many of the leading carriage
shops in Paris and was head painter in the shop
where all the de luxe carriages were made. He then
went to London and for three years worked in the
leading painting shops there, for Hooper & Company
then the coach builders to royalty. Here he met
Charles H. Huber, his present partner, and in 1898
the young men decided to try their fortunes in Ame-

rica and landed in New York in April, 1898. Mr.
Lusher worked for the Studebaker people at first,
but Mr. Huber could not find work there, so the
two young men started for Philadelphia afoot and
walked all the way. In Philadelphia he worked for
the Swartz Wheel Works for one year; then the
two young men went back to New York and sailed
for Buenos Ayres. He worked for the Parisian
Coach building works at Buenos Ayres for nine
months; then they went back to London and worked
there for one year at their trade. Mr. Huber re-
turned to Switzerland on a visit to his folks, but
Mr. Luscher returned to New York City in 1900;
there he worked for a year for Healy & Company,
coach builders. In the meantime Mr. Huber had
joined him and in the fall the two young men took
a vessel for Galveston, Texas, reaching there just
after the great flood. Arriving in San Francisco
about the first of October, 1901, they soon came to
Palo Alto and within a week purchased the first
carriage painting shop in Palo Alto. Their business
grew and prospered until they were forced to build
larger and more commodious quarters at 251 High
Street. In 1920 Mr. Luscher bought a beautiful
bungalow at 258 High Street and there the family
reside in comfort.

Mr. Luscher's marriage, which occurred in Palo
Alto in 1911, united him with Miss Marie M. Kap-
peler, born in Canton Zurich in the village of Diels-
dorf. They are the parents of two children, Ferdi-
nand and Marie. Mr. Luscher belongs to the Fra-
ternal Aid Union of Palo Alto and is a naturalized
citizen of the United States.

ROY I. JACKSON.— An enterprising, likable
young business man of Palo Alto who has readily
demonstrated his capacity for success in commercial
circles is Roy I. Jackson, the cleaner, dyer and hatter
located at 452 University Avenue, Palo Alto. He
was born near Shelbyville, Ind., on November 18,
1886, where his father S. S. Jackson was engaged in
farming pursuits; later his father entered the clean-
ing and dyeing business at Anderson, Ind., and is now
living retired on his farm in that state. Roy grew
up on his father's farm and followed the plow, and
when he could, attended school in the district; later
he was graduated from the Anderson high school
with the class of 1906; soon thereafter he entered
De Pauw University and completed three years oi
the liberal arts' course. When he was ready to enter
upon his senior year, his services were needed in his
father's business at Anderson and so he left school
and remained with his father for five years; he then
went to St. Louis and was foreman for two years in
one of the leading cleaning and dyeing establish-
ments of that city; thence to Louisville, Ky., where
he was foreman for the Schoppenhorst company.
Mr. Jackson studied the theory as well as the practice
of his chosen vocation and became a contributor to
the "Cleaning and Dyeing World." Next he went
to South Carolina, where he worked as foreman.
When the World War broke out he became foreman
of a large Government reclamation plant at Mem-
phis. Tenn. While there an explosion occurred in
which he was seriously injured and he was confined
to the hospital for a month. Later on he held im-
portant positions at Muscle Shoals, Ala., and Denver.

Always having in his mind a determination to
finish his college course, he got in touch with the

K ^«l

I^V 4|^*t^H

'-c<> \>l3-aAXtl.^^c^<^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

appointment secretary of Stanford University and
learned from her that Palo Alto afforded an open-
ing; consequently he arrived in Palo Alto in Sep-
tember, 1920, and bought out an established cleaning
and dyeing business. Mr. Jackson's extensive ex-
perience makes him one of the most practical men
in his line in Santa Clara County. He is building
up a good business and is keeping up his studies, and
will eventually complete his university course with
an A. B. degree. He is an athlete of note and is still
very much interested in football. While at De Pauw
■ he played full-back on the University team for four
years, during one year of which, in 1908, he was
captain. His playing attracted general attention and
drew forth much favorable newspaper comment,
upon several occasions being accredited with carry-
ing off the honors of the day.

ELI BARITEAU— A brief story of the progress
of Eli Bariteau, a prosperous laundryman living in
San Jose, is interesting, showing what may be ac-
complished by steady application and industry. Born
in St. Paul, Minn., September 17, 1890, Eli Bariteau
received his education in the grammar and high
schools there. He is the son of Joseph and Bertha
Bariteau, natives of Canada, but who migrated to
the United States in early days, settling at St. Paul.
Joseph Bariteau followed the occupation of contrac-
tor and builder for thirty years, aided materially in
the building of St. Paul. When Eli Bariteau was but
sixteen years of age, he came with the family to
San Jose. Being the eldest of the family, he felt
that it was his duty to start life for himself, and he
entered the employ of the Tucker Studio in 1906, re-
maining with them about eight months; then he be-
came driver for the old St. James Laundry; he served
them in this capacity for five months, when the union
called the laundry workers out on strike; at this time
the union established a small hand laundry and Mr
Bariteau became a driver for them; then for seven
years he was employed by the Temple Laundry.
However, he was not satisfied to remain a mere em-
ployee, so at this time he entered into partnership
with Reuben Walgren in the laundry business known
as the St. James Laundry. Within a short time he
sold his interest to his partner and spent one year
traveling. Upon his return to San Jose he purchased
an interest in the Consolidated Laundry and became
a partner with S. M. Saunders in the year 1915.
This business is the consolidation of the old St.
James Laundry and the United States Laundry. The
business has grown to such proportions that at the
present time they employ nine drivers and cover the
territory as far south as San Juan, Gilroy and Los
Gatos, and on the west to Santa Clara, Campbell and
Morgan Hill.

Fraternally, Mr. Bariteau was made a Mason in
San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M., and is a member
of the Sciots; he is also a member of the Woodmen
of the World, the Redmen, and the Lions Club of
San Jose and the Post of the American Legion at
San Jose; the Laundry Owners Club of San Jose, of
which he is vice-president, State Laundry Owners
Association and the National Laundry Owners As-
sociation. Politically, he adheres to the principles
advocated in the platform of the Republican party.
Mr. Bariteau entered the service of his country
December, 1917, receiving his first training at Camp
McArthur as a mechanic in Company 7, First Regi-

ment, Aviation Corps, training at Rich Field, near
Camp McArthur; remaining there but a short time,
he was transferred to Company 823, just organized,
and sent to Camp Mills, N. Y. On April 10, 1918,
he started overseas, and landing at Liverpool, Eng..
was sent to Winchester with his outfit. While there
he visited many places of note, among them the
great Hall and Cathedral; and was there, at the time
that General Liggett and his staff made his visit.
From Winchester, Mr. Bariteau was sent to Camp
Yates, in the vicinity of Bristol, England, training
there for six months; from there to Chipping-Sod-
bury, and then to Salisbury Plain for training, and
it was here that he was transferred to Company 210,
Aero Squadron, for active service at the front; the
company set sail for France and landed just before
the armistice was signed, and his company returned
to Camp Knotty, near Liverpool, where they went
aboard the Minacada, the first troop ship returning
to the United States, but their ship was destined to
be the second ship to arrive at New York, the Levia-
than being the first to land on the home shore. Mr.
Bariteau was sent directly to Camp Kearney, where
he was discharged December 23, 1919, and arrived
in San Jose on Christmas day, immediately taking
up his business life with renewed energy.

WALTER A. GRAEB.— A New Yorker with
typical Empire State enterprise who has demon-
strated the highest efificiency in one of the widely-
patronized industries is Walter A. Graeb, the pro-
prietor of Graeb's Candy Store at 32 West Main
Street, one of the real attractions of Los Gatos. He
was born in New York City on July 22, 1895, the son
of Adolph Graeb who came West to California in
1902. Mr. Graeb was manager of the Stroheimer
candy store in San Francisco and then was engaged
in the confectionery business in San Jose for five
years, when he built the building and established the
Graeb candy factory and salesrooms in Los Gatos.
In February, 1919, he passed away, mourned by the
many who had for years been his appreciative pa-
trons. His devoted wife, who was Miss Ida M.
Frank before her marriage, and a native of New-
York City, continued the business until July, 1921.
when our subject took charge of the concern. She
also built the Automotive Machine Shop Garage on
East Main Street.

Walter A. Graeb had been educated in the schools
of Los Gatos and the Montezuma mountain ranch
school, finishing his studies with a thorough commer-
cial course, and after that he went to the Oakland
Polytechnic Engineers College, where he learned to re-
pair automobiles. He next worked for Carl Rogers in
the Gem City Garage, and from there passed to the
service of Campbell Collins in the auto supply trade.

In 1917, in the same month that war was declared
by the United States, Mr. Graeb enlisted in Coin-
pany A, 3rd Engineers, U. S. A., and he was sent
to the Philippines until March, 1919, when he was
discharged, after having performed his patriotic duty
in defense of his native land. In April he returned to
Los Gatos and for a while joined his mother in the
manufacture and sale of candy; and after that he once
more undertook work for Mr. Main in automobile
repairing and later became his partner, as Main &
Graeb until he sold out. In July, 1921, Mrs. Graeb

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

presented the old-established candy business to her
son, and he at once left automobile work to follow
in the footsteps of his esteemed father. He main-
tains a first-class soda fountain, makes his own can-
dies and ice-cream, likes his work and is devoted to
the best interests of his increasing list of patrons.

In national politics a Progressive Republican, Mr.
Graeb belongs to the American Legion, and he is
also a member of the Odd Fellows and the Wood-
men of the World. He is deeply interested in Santa
Clara County and determined to do what he can to
contribute toward this section of the Golden State
that is rapidly and permanently coming to its own.

LOUIS JOSEPH BONNET.— A native son of
California, Louis Joseph Bonnet was born near Sara-
toga, February 9, 1885, the son of Adrien Bonnet, a
pioneer of Santa Clara, whose interesting life history
is on another page in this work. Louis J. was only
five years of age when his mother died, and he then
went to live with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs.
Corpstein, so grew up on their ranch while he at-
tended the Lincoln School, which was supplemented
with a course at the Pacific Coast Business College,
San Jose. He then leased the Corpstein ranch for one
year. In 1911 he leased Mrs. Elizabeth A. Doidge's
orchard on Pierce Road for two years, and in 1913
he purchased his present orchard of seventeen and a
tenth acres on Mt. Eden Road, about four miles
northwest of Saratoga, which he has given much
care and is now a full-bearing orchard of prunes and
apricots. He also leases the Campbell orchard of
twenty acres and the Kennedy orchard of like
amount, where he also grows prunes and apricots.
All this keeps Mr. Bonnet very busy, for he gives
them the best cultivation and care.

Mr. Bonnet was married in San Jose. August 8,
1913, to Miss Carrie Thompson of Saratoga, a
daughter of William J. Thompson, an old settler of
the county. Mr. and Mrs. Bonnet have three chil-
dren, Frank, Caroline and Marie. Mr. Bonnet is lib-
eral and enterprising, aiding and giving his influence
to all movements that have for their aim the build-
ing up of the community. He is a firm believer in
cooperative marketing, so he is a member of the Cali-
fornia Prune and Apricot Association. In political
preference he is a Democrat.

J. P. DE SILVA. — Numbered among the success-
ful j'oung business men of Palo Alto is J. P. De-
Silva, the enterprising automobile-top manufacturer,
located at 247 High Street. A native Californian,
he was born in Sonoma County, December 18, 1898
When he was two and a half years old he was taken
by his parents, J. P. and Mary Silva, to Marin
County, and located at Waldo, where the father was
employed by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad
Company. His father passed away six years ago.
but the mother still lives at Waldo. They were tlie
parents of six children, all living in California. On
finishing the grammar school in Sausalito. Mr. Silva
took the electrical engineer's course at Heald's Col-
lege in San Francisco; then entered the employ of
Don Lee, the Cadillac agent, as top-maker, and after
an apprenticeship of two and a half years was made
assistant foreman in the auto-top department; he
then worked six months for J. Mendes, body-builder
in San Francisco, and then became foreman for
Bowen & Berrios. auto painters and top builders.

where he remained for eight months. He then re-
moved to Palo Alto and opened up a shop at 251
High Street, removing in 1920 to 247 High Street.

The marriage of Mr. Silva in 1917 united him
with Miss Clara Pabst, of Mill Valley, Marin County,
Cal., and they are the parents of two children, Paul
Y. and Dolores M. Mr. Silva early in life exhibited
considerable initiative and ability; when only a lad
of twelve years, his father, who had charge of the
oil department of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad,
became severely ill and the company employed our
subject to fill his father's place, which he did credit-
ably and well. Since the organization of his busi-
ness in 1918, Mr. Silva has built up a good trade and
is recognized as a capable business man.

SIMONE CALCAGNO.— Prominent among the
business houses of San Jose are the establishments
operated by Simone Calcagno, the owner of two
meat markets, the Tripoli Market, located at 701
North Thirteenth Street, and the American Meat
Market at 40 Post Street, and having learned the
butcher's trade thoroughly, he is very capable and
has attained splendid success. Simone Calcagno was
born in Trabia, Palermo Province, on the Island of
Sicily, on August 29, 1891, and is the son of Joseph
and Marina Calcagno, who came from their old
home to America to spend the rest of their days in
the Golden State. The father was a prosperous
merchant in his native land, having. owned and con-
ducted a retail and wholesale meat shop, where he
had the good fortune to become successful.

Simone was the eldest son and from a boy as-
sisted his father in the business as well as attaining
a good education in the local schools; and when he
was in his seventeenth year he came to the United
States. Having worked at the butcher business at
home he followed it in Philadelphia for six months,
attending night school in the meantime, where he
learned to read, write and speak English. Going to
Cleveland, Ohio, about six months later, he stopped
there a short time, then came to San Jose and entered
the employ of an uncle, who was engaged as a meat
dealer. Being a very steady lad and willing to work,
in April, 1913, he purchased the shop from his uncle
and has become very successful.

Mr. Calcagno's marriage in San Jose, on September
15, 1912. united him with Miss Ida Bondi, who came
to California with her parents, Thomas and Sal-
vadora Bondi, in 1899, and settled at San Francisco.
Both parents passed away in San Jose. Mr. and Mrs.
Calcagno are the parents of two children, Joseph and
.\nthony. Mr. Calcagno has a brother who has a
very brilliant war record, having served five years
in the national army of Italy in the W^orld War.
Mr. Calcagno is very much interested in the welfare
of San Jose and sanctions all good movements that
arc for the advancement of this thriving city.

CHARLES O. CARLSON.— The owner and pro-
prietor of the plumbing establishment at 318 High
Street, Palo Alto. Charles O. Carlson is a man of
real mechanical ability. He comes honestly by his
genius, his father and grandfather having been expert
machinists, mechanics and inventors of Sweden. He
was born in Sweden, April 21, 1882, and his father,
C. J. Carlson, is still living, but his mother, whose
maiden name was Charlotte Johnson, has passed
away. Charles grew up in Sweden and was educated
in the excellent public schools of that country and

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1553

was brought up in the Lutheran faith. There were
six children in his family, of whom he is the fourth,
viz., Gusta, died when twenty years of age; Frank,
A., is engaged in the real estate business in Min-
neapolis, Minn.; Atilia, is the wife of Gust Holm-
gren, of Duluth, Minn.; Charles Oscar, of this re-
view, was christened Karl Oscar, but changed to
Charles Oscar at the time of his application for
citizenship at Duluth. Minn., and so recorded upon
being admitted to full citizenship at San Jose by
Judge Welch. The two youngest were twins: Gerda,
at home in Sweden, and William N., who died when
six months old. When Charles was twenty years old
he came to America. Having learned the black-
smith's business at his father's forge he had little
trouble in securing employment in a shop at Duluth,
Minn., where his ability was soon recognized, and
the local telephone company offered him an excel-
lent position as foreman of their construction depart-
ment. He came to Palo Alto in 1904 and took up
the plumbing trade, having previously been engaged
in this trade in Minneapolis, Minn.

Mr. Carlson's marriage occurred in Palo Alto and
united him with Miss Helen Engstrom, a neigh-
bor's daughter and a childhood friend of our subject
from his old home, Lidkoping, Sweden. They are
the parents of three children, Esther, Agnes and
Carl O. Mr. Carlson was associated with James E.
Naldret for several years until the partnership was
dissolved. In 1917 Mr. Carlson established his own
business and is meeting with well-merited success,
and is now counted among the best plumbers and
business men of Palo Alto. He is a prominent mem-
ber of the Master Plumbers of Palo Alto and Moun-
tain View, also a member in good standing of the
State and National Associations of Master Plumbers.
He stands well in the Odd Fellows and Woodmen
circles of Palo Alto, is a member of the Swedish
Lutheran Church of that city, and in his political
views he is a stalwart Republican.

E. E. BARNARD.— Los Gatos is to be congratu-
lated on having within its confines such an excellent
establishment as that of E. E. Barnard, the experi-
enced and enterprising jeweler, who is a native of
Australia, where he was born at Sydney, March 29,
1895. His parents were L M. and Edith (Hollander)
Barnard; and in 1913 Mrs. Barnard and our subject
migrated to California and settled at Eureka, Cal.,
where Grandfather S. F. Hollander was already en-
gaged in the jewelry trade, and has been active and
prominent in that field for the past forty years.

After graduating from the Sydney high school, E.
E. Barnard learned the jeweler's trade at Sydney,
having been apprenticed there for five years, and
having paid $500 to be initiated into one of the old-
est and most widely-recognized arts in the world;
so when he reached Eureka, Cal., he was able to
enter his grandfather's establishment and take hold
as an expert journeyman. At the end of five years
he came to San Jose and accepted a position at Both-
well's, which he filled to everyone's satisfaction for
two years, making many friends and also learning
more of the details peculiar to the American and the
California trade.

In 1919, Mr. Barnard removed to Los Gatos and
bought the jewelry store at the corner of Main and
University streets; and since taking hold he has more
than doubled the volume of trade, making it of real

importance in the local commercial and art worlds,
and the trade is constantly increasing, in that respect
keeping pace with the interesting growth of the
promising town. He carries a complete and costly
line, with enough of variety to meet everybody's
demands, and he also manufactures for those who
wish special, original work. Mr. Barnard is a live
wire in the Merchants' Association and Chamber of
Commerce, and as an adopted citizen, he is an equal-
ly live leader in the local councils of the Demo-
cratic party.

At Eureka, in December, 1916, Mr. Barnard was
married to Miss Aurea Carlin, a native daughter of
enviable accomplishments, who has entered into his
ambitious plans and joined him in extending a hos-
pitality worthy of the Californian. They have one
child, Harold. Mr. Barnard belongs to the Wood-
men of the World, Odd Fellows and Red Men.

AUGUST WILLIAM BARON.— The proprietor
of Baron Mineral Springs, one mile above Alma on
the Soda Springs Road, Albert William Baron was
born at Estenos, Haute-Garonne. France, April 19,
1870, the oldest of seven children born to Francis
and Anna Baron. He received a good education in
the public schools of his native place after which he
learned the cement worker's trade. In 1896 he came
to San Francisco, Cal, and soon afterwards located
in Los Gatos where he worked at his trade. After
the big fire. 1906, he worked for a time in San Fran-
cisco and San Jose. His brother, A. J. Baron, was
a cement contractor in Los Gatos and he worked for
him until his death. Then he continued the trade
working for others until he quit to improve his
ranch which he had purchased in 1904. Discovering a
mineral spring Mr. Baron improved it with a cement
basin and he now has a most excellent soda spring,
efficacious and pleasant to the taste. In political
preferences Mr. Baron is an independent prefering to
vote for men and measures rather than party.

WILLIAM E. RIKER.— A native son of Califor-
nia, born at Oakdale in 1873, William E. Riker's
father, Dan Riker, had crossed the plains in pioneer
days and settled at Oakdale. William E. was reared
and educated in the public schools of Oroville. After
his school days were over, he became a general
mechanic. Coming to San Francisco he followed
electrical mechanical lines and later traveled over
various portions of the East in that line of work.
Returning to San Francisco in 1915 he came to Santa
Clara County in 1917. As manager for the P. C.
D. W. he purchased seventy-five acres on the State
Highway, above Alma, where they built a large,
well-equipped garage, as well as a store and dining
room, together with a number of cottages. During
the coming twelve months they are planning to build
an auditorium with a free and open platform, also a
motion-picture studio as well as a printing plant.
Their store, dining room and garage are a great con-
venience, located as it is near the Summit, with these
accommodations at the same or even less than city
prices, and is much appreciated by the traveling pub-
lic. Mr. Riker was married in St. Paul, Minn., being
united with Miss Lucile Jensen, and they have one
child, Willis. Mr. Riker stands firmly for American-
ism and the upholding of law and order.

1554

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

CARL A. LARSON— Coming here when a lad of
eleven years, Carl A. Larson has been a resident of
San Jose for more than thirty years, and his years of
connection with the commercial interests of the city
give him a place among its substantial business
men. Mr. Larson is a native of Colorado, born in
Black Hawk, Gilpin County, January 26, 1879, the
son of B. A. and Carrie (Bengston) Larson. His
father was an experienced foreman in a quartz mill at
Black Hawk, Colo., until the family migrated to
Templeton, San Luis Obispo County, Cal., in 1890,
where they engaged in farming, and there the mother
passed away. Afterwards the father removed to
Fresno County and improved a farm of fifty acres on
Madera Avenue to orchard and vineyard. A few
years ago he sold out and retired from active busi-
ness cares and now makes his home in San Jose.
There were seven children born to this worthy
couple: Carl Alfred, the subject of this review;
Elmer, William, Waller, Mrs. Lillian Palmquist, and
Harry. Clarence died in his first year. Of the
above, Elmer Walter, Mrs. Palmquist and Harry
are ranching in Fresno County, while William is
with the California Club in Los Angeles.

Carl Larson was reared in Black Hawk, Colo., un-
til he was eleven years of age, when he came to Tem-
pleton, and where he attended school and assisted
his parents on the farm until after his mother's
death. He was then nineteen years of age and he
started out to make his own livelihood, coming to
San Jose in the fall of 1898. He assisted in the con-
struction of the electric railway in San Jose and then
was in the employ of Renzel & Co., wholesale com-
mission merchants. In 1908 he accepted the po-
sition of manager and distributor for the Mu-
tual Biscuit Company and has continued in
that capacity ever since. By close application, un-
ceasing energy and hard work, as well as by display-
ing much native business ability, he has built up a
large and satisfactory trade in Santa Clara County,
their location being at 127 North Market street, from
which point they distribute their high-class goods
to the trade. He has built a comfortable residence
at 48 Singletary Street, where the family reside.

Mr. Larson's marriage in San Francisco united
him with Miss Margaret Malley, born in Canada.
Two children have been born to them: Carl A., Jr.,
and Evylin Margaret. In politics Mr. Larson votes
with the Democrats, and fraternally he is a member
of the Masons, Modern Woodmen of America, Wood-
men of the World, Loyal Order of Moose, and Fra-
ternal Brotherhood and the United Commercial
Travelers. His pleasing personality has won him a
host of warm friends. He is a popular and substan-
tial man of the community, and has always mani-
fested a lively interest in his adopted city.

JUDGE JAMES ALONZO FORBES. — An
eminent and scholarly gentleman who was a prom-
inent lawyer and business man, James Alonzo
Forbes was born in the British consulate at San
Francisco February 16, 1843, a son of James Alexan-
der Forbes, an Englishman who was among the first
foreigners to locate in the Santa Clara Valley who
is elsewhere represented in this history, James
Alonzo Forbes was educated at the University of
Santa Clara, where he was graduated from the de-
partment of law and afterward admitted to the prac-
tice of law in California. He was married at the old

Mission Santa Clara, January 20, 1867, being united
with Miss Asencion Valencia, born in Santa Clara,
August IS, 1849, a daughter of one of the prominent
old Castilian families among the very early settlers
of this valley. She was educated at Notre Dame
Convent. James Alonzo Forbes was prevailed upon
to go to Sacramento to translate the old Spanish
laws into English, a task he accomplished, but the
confining work connected with its completion broke
down his health and he removed to Jolon, Cal., and
engaged in the practice of law. In those days it was
a wild country, with many lawless people, and he
used his refining influence to a moral uplift and
higher order of civics. Through his influence and
work in this direction a school was started. The
public funds available at first not being sufficient he
paid the balance out of his own pocket. He prac-
ticed law and had a large clientele, and was solicited
to accept the position of Justice of the Peace, but
resigned before the close of his term on account of
his health. With the aid of Joseph K. Knowland.
M. C, he reconstructed San Antonio Mission Chapel,
six miles from Jolon. He procured the Indians to
make the adobe and superintended the work of resto-
ration. He cooperated with the Native Daughters'
organization in that county in their work of preserv-
ing the pioneer landmarks and was a charter mem-
ber of the Landmarks League. He was well read on
early history and was considered an authority on all
topics of early times in California. As such he as-
sisted Bancroft in the preparation of the history of
the state, including a narrative regarding the native
Indians. He served as translator and interpreter for
Dr. Henshaw of Berkeley and J. Alden Mason.
Professor of Ornithology of Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania, in his preparation of a work on the Salinian
Indians. In 1868 he acted as translator of the state
statutes from Spanish to English and, previous to
this, during the Civil War he was assistant to the
United States' enrolling offices.

Mr. and Mrs. Forbes' family were as follows:
Robert Y. of Santa Maria; Frederick E., James A.,
Jr., and Louis P., all reside in Jolon; Mrs. Amelia
Coates of Oakland; Mrs. Anita Hamilton, died Sep-
tember S, 1921; Mrs. Henrietta Peel of Oakland;
Mrs. Martha Sepulveda and Mrs. Phoebe Cooler
reside in San Jose. Mr. Forbes passed away and his
widow now makes her home in San Jose. He was a
scholar and gentleman of culture and refinement and
left an influence for good that will always be felt.

JEAN B. BALCOMB.— The manager of the Palo
Alto Engineering and Construction Company at
Palo Alto, with offices at 548 Emerson Street, Jean
B. Balcomb was born at Binghamton, N. Y., on
June 26, 1868, being a son of Francis and Lydia E.
(Goodno) Balcomb, the former a leading carpenter
and builder at Binghamton, N. Y., who later moved
out to Kansas where he died in 1888. The mother is
still living, making her home at River Forest, near
Chicago, 111. Jean B. was five years of age when
the parents moved from New York state to Danville.
111., and was ten years old when the parents removed
to Russell County, Kans. There the father bought a
farm, but continued to work as a carpenter and
builder. Jean B. started working with his father in
Illinois at building when only eight years of age,

h.a.oC^

ayLXL

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1557

and grew to young manhood in the state of Kansas,
being the third of a family of six children: Clara,
Mrs. W. W. Greene, lived in Oregon where she died
in 1917; Ernest is a professor at the State Normal at
Areata, Cal.; Jean B, of this review; Emily Lydia,
the wife of R. R. Grant, resides at Andrews, Ore.;
Francis is a lawyer at Chicago, 111.; Mary, resides
with the mother at River Forest, 111., and is a noted
reformer, being a writer and lecturer, who was in
France during the war and after the war, spoke
throughout England for the cause of Prohibition.

After the father's death, Jean B. Balcomb helped
to support the widowed mother and family and paid
for his schooling and education out of his own earn-
ings. He began to work for the American Bridge
Company, doing certain lines of carpenter work when
but eleven years of age, and when fourteen went with
a surveying party in Kansas, being soon promoted to
rear chainman. Entering the Colorado Agricultural
College at Ft. Collins, Colo., he obtained the C. E.
degree in 1895, and became an irrigation engineer,
and later became U. S. mineral surveyor, being thus
engaged at Cripple Creek, Black Hawk and Tell-
uride. He then came out to California in 1900, doing
post-graduate work in civil engineering at Stanford
University in 1900-1901. After that he held positions
with the Pittsburgh Filter Company one year, Hud-
son River Concrete Company one year, the Lake
Construction Company, Chicago, six years, the Iowa
Mausoleum Company, Waterloo, Iowa, and the
Buena Vista Power and Irrigation Company in Har-
ney County, Ore., for five or six years until the
breaking out of the late war, when he was placed in
charge of the Officers' Training classes at Ft. Rosen-
crans. Ore., and was promoted to major in the En-
gineering Corps; his commission as major was on
the way at the signing of the armistice. He was
appointed as a member of the Federal Board in 1920
and served as educational director at San Francisco
and later was assigned to the Base Hospital at Palo
Alto, serving until the spring of 1922, when he be-
came the manager of the recently organized Palo
Alto Engineering and Construction Company. This
company has signed up for $80,000 worth of work
within the past two months. Among the jobs may
be mentioned the remodeling of the City Hall at Palo
Alto — a $20,000 job, the Tamplin residence, and the
Los Altos grammar scliool. Mr. Balcomb's engineer-
ing work is known to San Francisco, Chicago, Kan-
sas City, New York City and other places. He de-
signed and partly built the new sewer system for
Kansas City, Mo., in 1905. He put in the O. K.
Sewer at Kansas City, twenty-five feet in diameter,
capable of discharging 70,000 gallons per second,
at that time — 1905 — the largest in the world.

Mr. Balcomb was married at San Francisco in
1903 to Miss Rose Gibbs, of Los Angeles, Cal, who
is a graduate of the University of Southern Califor-
nia and a post-graduate student at the University of
California and Stanford. Mr. and Mrs. Balcomb have
l)ecome the parents of five children: Violet, a soph-
omore at Stanford; Jean, a junior in the Palo Alto
high school; Leland. Ernest and Rose. The family
live at No. 335 Emerson Street, Palo Aho. Besides
his work as engineer and builder, Mr. Balcomb ren-
dered valuable services as a member of the graft

mvestigation commission upon which he served for
six months. He is a very instructive talker and is
the author of a system of classification and charts for
employment and promotion purposes. He is a mem-
ber of the Chamber of Commerce of Palo Alto and
enters heartily with the upbuilding spirit of that
community where he is recognized as a man of un-
usual ability. He counts honestly by his ability as
a construction engineer. His father, a leading builder,
was thrown upon his own resources when only thir-
teen upon the death of his father, Silas Balcomb, who
was a lumber man. The Balcomb family is of pre-
revolutionary connection, of Welsh and English
origin, and have been actively engaged as builders
and lumbermen from the earliest times. Great-grand-
father Jonathan Balcomb moved from Connecticut
and settled in Pennsylvania, and thence the family
moved to Broome County, New York, in the early
part of the last century. They were active in Colo-
nial days Fought through the French and Indian
and Revolutionary wars. As an heirloom there is in
the family an old musket which saw service in the
hands of a Balcomb in the French and Indian War.

ALFRED FORBES TOMKIN.— A descendant of
one of the oldest and most highly respected families
in Santa Clara County, Alfred Forbes Tomkin was
born at Santa Clara June 6, 1860, the oldest of seven
children born to Alfred Royce and Martha Frances
(Forbes) Tomkin, and a grandson of James Alexan-
der Forbes, all represented in this work. When Al-
fred F. was eight years of age his parents moved
to San Jose, where he attended the public schools.
After his schooldays were over he followed clerking
for a time, but he preferred the great outdoors, so
he chose farming and soon drifted into horticulture.
In 1896 he purchased twenty acres of the San Mar-
tin ranch, five miles north of Gilroy, where he built
a large and comfortable residence and set out or-
chards and vineyard, and there followed fruit raising.
In 1908 he sold a part of the ranch and moved to
San Jose, where his children could enjoy better edu-
cational facilities. He makes his residence at No. 33
Little Delmas Avenue.

Mr. Tomkin was married in San Jose, February
26, 1882, to Miss Lillie Tuck, born in Cambridge,
England, her parents being Henry and Susan (Man-
ning) Tuck. In 1871, on account of the father's
health, the family moved to San Francisco where Mr.
Tuck died the same year. The widow with the chil-
dren came to San Jose, where the daughter, Lillie,
completed her education in Notre Dame Convent.
Mr. and Mrs. Tomkin have six children: Frederick
Royce, an electrician with the San Jose Gas & Elec-
tric Company; William Joseph, proprietor of the
machine shop on South First Street; Charles Alexan-
der, a rancher in this county; Martha Frances is the
wife of Charles H. Atkins of San Jose; Alfred I. is
a farmer at Orland; Madeline Louise is Mrs. Spicer
of San Jose. Mr. Tomkin has served as school
trustee of San Martin district. He and his wife are
students of Christian Science. He is now among the
old settlers of the county, as well as a native son, and
can be well proud of his ancestors who were among
the very first English speaking people to locate in
Santa Clara County.

1558

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

S. N. HEDEGARD. — A pioneer in the growing of
rice, both in Texas and Cahfornia, and an authority
on its culture, S. N. Hedegard is also engaged in
fruit growing on his ranch near Campbell. Mr.
Hedegard was born near Aalborg, Denmark, on May
3, 1874, the son of Ole and Johanna (Larsen) Hede-
gard, members of old families of that part of Den-
mark. In 1893 Ole Hedegard came to the United
States, where he spent several years, returning to his
native land and passing away there. The mother is
still living at her old home. S. N. Hedegard was
fortunate in receiving a good education in the schools
of his Danish home, but when he was seventeen he
made up his mind to seek the larger opportunities
across the ocean, and came to the United States, lo-
cating first at Atlantic, Iowa, working on farms there
for two years. He then removed to Southern Texas,
settling near Houston, and there entered the rice in-
dustry. In 1894 he was employed on the ranch
where the first crop of rice was grown in Texas. He
then engaged in rice culture in Texas, and in time
became one of the large growers there, continuing
until he came to Watsonville, Cal., in December, 1905,
where he purchased an apple ranch, giving his time
to its care for the next seven years. Mr. Hedegard
next located in Butte County, where he again pio-
neered in rice growing, remaining there from 1913
to 1916. He produced the first crop of rice for com-
mercial use in Butte County in 1913, and the first
successful crop in Colusa County in 1914. as one
had been tried there in 1913, but failed to harvest.

In 1915 Mr. Hedegard raised the pioneer rice crop
in Yolo, Tulare and Kern counties, having 640 acres
in Kern, 160 acres in Tulare and 640 acres in Yolo
County, harvesting a good crop. In 1916 he raised
the first successful rice crop in Stanislaus County.
The secret of his success is due to investigation of
soil, climate and water, and using an earlier matur-
ing variety of rice for seed than had been used in
the earlier experiments. He has continued grow'ing
rice each season and is now growing rice in Yolo
and Glenn counties, having about 950 acres this sea-
son. He has two complete farm outfits and some
seasons he has raised as much as 4,000 sacks of rice.
He is a member of the Pacific Rice Growers' Asso-
ciation. Since 1918 Mr. Hedegard, with his family,
has made his home at Campbell, Santa Clara County,
where he owns several orchards devoted to raising
prunes and apricots. His home place adjoins Camp-
bell on the west, where he has a large, comfortable
residence. He is also engaged in the real estate
and insurance business in Campbell, his offices being
centrally located on Campbell Avenue. Intensely
interested in the development of this favored section,
he is president of the Campbell Improvement Club
and a member of the board of trustees of the Camp-
bell Union grammar school, now erecting a new
building at a cost of $180,000. He organized and is
president of the Hedegard Fruit Company, fruit buy-
ers and shippers, and they have a dryer on Pine
Avenue. He is a member of the California Prune
and Apricot Growers' Association.

At Watsonville in 1907 Mr. Hedegard was mar-
ried to Miss Annie M. Petersen, a native daughter
of California, born in Watsonville, a daughter of
Peter and Esther Petersen, who came from Den-
mark to the Pajaro Valley, Santa Cruz County, in
1880, and became pioneer apple growers, improving

a fine orchard. They now reside in Campbell. Mrs.
Hedegard is the eldest of their two children. Mr.
and Mrs. Hedegard have been blessed with four chil-
dren—Leo P., Esther J., Milton S. and Sanford. Mr.
Hedegard is a member of Daneskjold Lodge No. 17
of Dania, in San Jose, in which he is past president
and ex-representative. He was an organizer of the
Danish Brotherhood Lodge No. 303 at Woodland,
and was its first president. In 1921, with his wife
and two children, he visited Denmark, and also trav-
eled into Germany, France and England, and also
visited a number of important cities in the United
States and Canada en route.

MAJOR WILLIAM ALEXANDER LORD.—
An honored Civil War veteran. Major William Alex-
ander Lord was born in Rochester, N. Y., August
31, 1837. His father, David E. Lord, ow^ned a line of
boats on the Erie Canal and also steamers on the
lakes, being engaged in the transportation business
until 1842, when he sold his interests and removed
to Pennsylvania, where he was farming in Erie
County until 1852, then he located in Chicago, 111.;
later he purchased a farm in Champaign County, 111.
William A. Lord, after completing the public schools,
graduated from Bell's Commercial College and then
from the Northwestern University with the degree
of A. B. He then assisted his father on the Cham-
paign County farm until the war, when he was
authorized by the government to raise a company
of men for service, furnishing their own horses and
equipment, and he was commissioned a first lieuten-
ant, and as such they campaigned in Missouri until
they joined the Fifth Missouri Cavalry. Next they
were a part of Col. Seigel's Regiment, the Thirteenth
Missouri Cavalry. The officers resigned in a body
in order to join their own state forces as well as
having their men credited to Illinois. He was then
commissioned captain of Company H, Fourteenth
Illinois Cavalry, and they took part in the Morgan
Raid and afterwards joined Sherman's army at Re-
saca. He took part in the Georgia and Atlanta cam-
paigns and was commissioned brevet-major by Pres-
ident Lincoln for gallant, meritorious services during
these campaigns. Under General Stoneman, he took
part in the Sunshine Church Battle. He was ap-
pointed an aide-de-camp on the staff of General
Schofield and took part in the Battles of Franklin
and Nashville. He was at the capture of Raleigh
and at the taking of Fort Fisher. Major Lord was
mustered out w^ith his regiment at Pulaski, Tenn.,
after a most distinguished service of four and a half
years, and the establishment of a w-arm, personal
friendship with General Schofield that lasted until
the latter's death. Major Lord then served as a
Deputy U. S. Marshal in the Indian Territory for a
year, when he took up the practice of law- in Nash-
ville, Tenn., until 1870 he located in Chicago, 111.,
engaging in the wholesale business. In 1901 he re-
moved to Seattle, Wash., where he built a residence,
living there until 1916, when on account of ill health
he removed to San Diego, but a year later located in
Los Angeles. In 1920 he came to Los Gatos, w'here
he built a comfortable residence and makes his home.
Major Lord was married in Chicago, 111., August
11, 1871, being united with Miss Nellie Seger, who
was born in Adrian, Mich., a daughter of Dr. A. W.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1559

Seger; she completed her education at Adrian Col-
lege. Their union resulted in the birth of two chil-
dren, one of whom grew up, W. D. Lord, a resident
of Seattle. Major Lord is a Knights Templar Mason
and Shriner and is a member of E. O. C. Ord., Post
No. 82, G. A. R., and is also a member of the Loyal
Legion. Mrs. Lord is a member of the Eastern Star
and the Woman's Relief Corps, and both are mem-
bers of the Episcopal Church. August 11, 1921,
Major and Mrs. Lord celebrated their golden wed-
ding anniversar\- to the great enjoyment of their
many friends.

S. E. GUGLIELMONI.— A resident of California
since 1890 who is greatly interested in the develop-
ment of the favored section of the globe is S. E.
Guglielmoni, who was born in Canton Ticino, Swit-
zerland, October 10, 1875, where he grew to man-
hood, receiving a good education in the excellent
schools of his neighborhood. As soon as his school-
days were over he came to California, arriving in
San Francisco in the fall of 1890. His brother was •
engaged in dairying and S. E. assisted him in the
delivery department for a period of twelve years.
In 1906 he came to Los Gatos, where he was with
Mr. Mariotte in the conducting of the Los Gatos
Hotel until 1920, except for four years spent in San
Jose and two years in San Francisco. In December,
1920, he leased the Los Gatos Hotel and has since
been the proprietor, and being well and favorably
known, he is meeting with deserved success. He is
also engaged in the cigar, tobacco and confectionery
business, having a fine location. His business is aug-
mented by his association with E. J. Calanchini, who
is a partner with him in business as proprietors of
the Liberty restaurant, which is a popular and well
patronized place.

Mr. Guglielmoni is a member of the Druids in San
Francisco and also of the Los Gatos Chamber of
Commerce. He is proud of his American citizen-
ship and exercises his franchise as a Republican.

HERBERT STOCKTON. — The family rep-
resented by the subject of this sketch, Herbert
Stockton, has been identified vi-ith the growth and
prosperity of Santa Clara County since 1860. He was
born on the old Stockton homestead on the Branham
Road, six miles southwest of San Jose, December 23,
1877, the son of Stephenson P. and Susan (Welch)
Stockton. The father bought the residence portion
of his land in 1860, consisting of seventy-nine acres,
and the land being in a wild state, he paid only $8
an acre for it. Year by year he cleared the land and
planted it to grapes, and in 1888 the whole tract com-
prised a fine vineyard. An adjoining 100 acres were
purchased and during 1882 thirty-five acres were set
to vines. In 1887 the vines produced 300 tons of
grapes. Twenty acres were also planted to prune
trees, and the remainder of the acreage was used for
raising hay and grain. The father, a native of Ala-
bama, was born July 16, 1829; his mother died when
he was young and he left home at an early age, drifted
westward and in 1850 was in Arkansas. He first
located in California in 1852, coming via Panama,
and settled at Santa Cruz; in 1854 he went to Mon-
terey and engaged in farming, preempting 160 acres;
however, he only remained there for a short time

when he went to the mines in Mariposa County;
later he engaged in stockraising in San Luis Obispo
County. For several years he retained his interest
in the business, but in 1859 turned it over to his
partner, P. O. McFadden, and devoted his entire
time to agriculture. His success as a viticulturist
came from twenty-eight years experience. In 1869
he v.'as married to Miss Susie Welch, formerly from
Missouri who with her parents came across the
plains in 1852. In politics Mr. Stockton was a Demo-
crat. Mr. and Mrs. Stockton were the parents of
three children: Paul, Frankie, and Herbert, the sub-
ject of this review. Both parents were active in the
Methodist Episcopal Church.

Herbert was educated in the grammar and also at
the San Jose high school after which he was for a
number of years employed as a shoe salesman; then
for twelve years was in the taxicab business in San
Jose. In 1917 he took charge of the old home place
and has been actively identified with horticulture
and his care was the means of bringing his orchard
to a high state of productivity. He has recently sold
forty-two acres of the original Stockton home place.
Aside from orcharding Mr. Stockton is intensely
interested in floriculture, specializing in the polleni-
zation of flowers, and his exhibits at the fairs have
won him many first prizes.

Mr. Stockton's marriage at San Rafael, January
1, 1901, united him with Miss Ida May Malone, a
native of California, born in San Francisco, the
daughter of Edward and Frances (Dunbar) Malone,
born in New York and Stanford, Conn., respectively,
and pioneers of San Francisco. They are the par-
ents of three children: Gladys Veda, attending Col-
lege of the Pacific; Ernest Pernell, attending San
Jose high school, and Herbert Donald in Lowell
grammar school. Mr. Stockton is a member of the
old Garden City Wheelmen. In politics he votes
the Republican ticket. Like his parents Mr. Stock-
ton is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
while his wife and children are members of Trinity
Episcopal Church.

SILVESTRO PANIGHETTI.— Among the very
oldest settlers of the Montebello district is Silvestro
Panighetti who was born in Novara, Italy, fifty-two
years ago, where he grew up on his father's farm
until eighteen years of age and then made his way to
Santa Clara County. For a while he worked at Villa
Marie and then for Vincenzo Picchetti, where he
was employed as teamster for sixteen years. Having
carefully saved some money he was enabled to pur-
chase eighty-si.x acres, his present place, adjoining
the Picchetti ranch, which he immediately set to
work to clear of timber and brush, breaking the soil
and preparing it in excellent condition for fruit grow-
ing, setting out prune and apricot trees until now
forty acres of the ranch is devoted to orchard.

Mr. Panighetti was married in San Jose, being
united with Miss Louisa Perasi, also a native of
sunny Italy, a union that was happy and blessed
with three children, two of whom grew to maturity,
Louis and Guido, who are assisting their parents in
the operation of the ranch. A stanch Republican,
Mr. Panighetti is also a member of the Italian Order
of Foresters in San Jose.

1 560

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

RICHARD HENEY.— A prominent factor in the
upljuilding of the Monte Vista section of Santa Clara
County was the late Richard Heney, who was born
at Lima, N. Y., in 1845. His father, also named
Richard Heney, was born in Belfast, Ireland, and
emigrated to New York, where he became a mer-
chant in Lima, that state. Later he brought his
family to San Francisco, where he was one of the
early men to engage in the furniture business, in
partnership with his two sons, located in the Ban-
croft Building, on Market Street. Richard Heney,
Jr., was educated in the schools of New York state.
After coming to San Francisco he was associated
with his father and brother in the furniture busi-
ness, the firm of William Heney & Company being
among the largest furniture establishments in the
city of that day. His health failed and he came to
the Monte \''ista section thirty-eight years ago and
purchased 100 acres of raw land which he set out to
vineyard; but the phyloxera destroyed the vines. He
then replanted with French rooted vines and in time
had a valuable vineyard and built up a large winery:
his wMues were noted everywhere and his display at
the Paris Exposition brought him a medal and di-
ploma. He was a student and was well read, taking
great pride in the industry which he conducted in
the most scientific way. He shipped his wines to
various countries including England, where its ex-
cellent quality netted him seventy-eight cents a
gallon. He also set out orchards of prunes. His
residence was erected adjoining a group of oak trees,
making one of the beauty spots of the country. Mr.
Heney was not permitted to enjoy the fruits of his
labors for any great length, for he passed away July
13. 1919. He was an active and genial man. never
idle but always planning and doing things. Hope-
ful and optimistic, he was enthusiastic for the future
greatness of this wonderfully favored region in soil
and climate. He was deeply religious, being a prac-
tical Catholic, with a wonderful life record for verac-
ity and honesty of purpose. Mr. Heney was a stanch
Republican and his church membership was with
St. Joseph de Cupertino.

LUIGI POLL— A hard-working, well-deserving
citizen who both merits and enjoys the esteem and
K'ood-will of his neighbors is Luigi Poll, a native
of the Province of Lucca, Italy, where he was born
on April 11, 1867. the son of Francisco Poli and his
wife. Miss Delnastia Rovay, before her marriage, and
they were blessed with a large family. Both parents,
kindly remembered by all who ever knew them, are
now deceased. In 1889, after a youth spent in his
native land, where he worked at various kinds of
industrial labor, and was taught to do whatever he
undertook to the best of his ability, Luigi Poli came
to America, and soon after arriving in the East,
pushed on to California and Gilroy. He worked in
vineyards and later began making wine of superior
quality, continuing until 1918. Mr. Poli owns a few
acres of vinejard and has recently planted an orchard
upon his small ranch, and in time is certain to pro-
duce fruit of a high order. He also owns a residence
in East Gilroy. He has given the most careful study
to the agricultural conditions in California, and has
particularly well posted on horticulture.

At Gilroy in 1894, Mr. Poli was married to Miss
Sarafina Bolcca, also a native of Lucca, where she
first saw the light on September 11, 1871. When
twenty-one years of age she came out to America,
and good fortune directed her to Gilroy. Mr. and
Mrs. Poli have five children, each of whom has done
creditably. Edward, now living at home, served in
the U. S. Army overseas; and Albert, who is also at
home, did his duty by his country in service under
the standards of the L^. S. Navy. Eva, Nesta and
Marguerite are attending school. Mr. Poli was made
a citizen at San Jose in 1895, and since then has been
a Republican in his political affiliations.

JOHN W. EDWARD HEYDE.— A native of Ger-
many the late John W. Edward Heyde w^as born in
Kassel, December 26, 1842. His grandfather Heyde
was a Scotchman who was sent to Germany as a rep-
resentative of the English government and the family
remained in Germany. Mr. Heyde's father was a
manufacturer of extracts and perfumes. John W.
Edward Heyde was a graduate of the School of Me-
chanical Engineering, after which he came to the
United States and became head draftsman for Eraser
& Chalmers in Chicago, 111 , after which he removed
to Saginaw, Mich., where he was superintendent of
Wicks Bros. Machine and Boiler Shops, continuing
with them for a period of thirty-five years. In April,
1902, he removed to Billings, Mont., where he pur-
chased a stock ranch to start his son Oscar in the
cattle business, but, unfortunately, his son was acci-
dentally killed in September of that year by the pre-
mature discharge of a gun. Soon after his son's
death, Mr. Heyde sold the ranch and moved into
Billings, where he resided until 1914, when he re-
moved to Boise City, Idaho, and two years later, in
1916. he came to Los Gatos, Cal., with his wife, and
they built their beautiful residence on Ellenwood Ave-
nue, and here he passed away, September 20, 1921.

Mr. Heyde was a Mason and had been master of
his lodge in Saginaw, Mich. He was also a mem-
ber of the Eastern Star, He was a member of the
San Jose Chess Club and was an excellent chess
player, having played and won many games by mail.

Mr. Heyde was twice married; first to Miss Martha
Eilen of Chicago. She died soon after the birth of
their daughter Martha, who is now the wife of Dr.
R. C. McDonald of Alameda. Mr. Heyde was mar-
ried again in Saginaw-, Mich., in 1877, to Miss Emelia
Asbeck, born in Stillwater, Minn. Her father, Ru-
dolph Asbeck, who was born in Maine, was a baker
and confectioner. He came to Minnesota and saw
service in the Civil War in a Minnesota regiment;
later he moved to Saginaw, Mich., where he was a
baker and confectioner. He died in 1915. Mrs.
Heyde's mother was Louise Wightman, a native of
Holland, who passed on in 1909. Mrs. Heyde is the
oldest of two living children of their union and she
was educated in the public schools in Saginaw, and
at a private school in Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Heyde
were blessed with two children: Walter is a gradu-
ate of the Michigan School of Mines, Houghton,
Mich., and is now with the state engineer's office in
Boise City, Idaho. Oscar, as before stated, died in
his twenty-first year. Mrs. Heyde is a member of
the Eastern Star, and in religious circles belongs to
the Congregational Church.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1563

INTERURBAN SANITARIUM.— The County of

Santa Clara is liberally endowed with institutions
calculated to relieve suffering humanity, and one which
is filling a long-felt want is the Interurban Sanitarium,
owned and conducted by Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Sobey.
This institution was founded by the mother of Mrs.
Sobey. Mrs. Clara A. Geer, who is a graduate nurse,
and she conducted it until August, 1920, when she
turned it over to her daughter and son-in-law. It is
exclusively for the care of old people and conva-
lescents, and no contagious or infectious diseases
arc accepted. The institution can now accommodate
fifteen people, and since Mr. and Mrs. Sobey assumed
charge they are planning on enlarging it so as to
take care of more people. This sanitarium is lo-
cated on the Meridian Road; and as Mrs. Sobey is a
graduate nurse, the old people that are so fortunate
as to be at the home are well cared for. It is beau-
tifully located at Fairfield Station on the Peninsular
Railroad, and the scenery and country air. with the
excellent care that Mrs. Sobey and a corps of help-
ers give the patients, they are nursed back to health
and vigor. An institution of this nature is a great
factor in the progress and prosperity of the county,
for the general good health of its inhabitants is the
best advertisement that a locality can have, and
thousands have experienced the beneficent effects of
the climate of the famous Santa Clara Valley.

MRS. CLARA A. GEER.— A very interesting and
estimable woman is Mrs. Clara A. Geer, who was in
maidenhood Clara A. Davison, a native of Fort At-
kinson, Iowa, but was reared and educated at New
Hampton, Iowa, and there she married C. F. Geer
and came to Santa Clara County, Cal., in 1897. Her
father, L. B. Davison, was a New Yorker, who moved
to Iowa, where he engaged in farming, and there he
married Miss Esther Annabel, also a native of New
York, and though he had one child, their daughter
Clara, when the Civil War came, he responded to
his country's call and enlisted in the Thirty-eighth
Iowa Volunteer Infantry, serving three years, and
was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant.
He migrated to Santa Clara County about thirty
years ago and purchased the farm on Meridian Road
that Mrs. Geer and Mrs. Sobey now own. He passed
away in August, 1918. His widow survives him and
resides in San Jose. Mrs. Geer was a graduate nurse,
as is her daughter, Mrs. Esther Sobey. They saw
the possibilities of establishing an old people's home
and purchased the home ranch of Grandfather Da-
vison, with its commodious residence, which they re-
modeled and opened as the Interurban Sanitarium.
This they conducted together until Mrs. Geer, wish-
ing to retire, turned the entire management over to
her daughter, Mrs. Sobey. Mrs. Esther Geer Sobey
was born in New Hampton, Iowa, and coming to
California with her parents, she completed her edu-
cation at Pacific Union College at Healdsburg, where
she was graduated in 1908 with the degree of .A.. B.
.\fter teaching for two years, as she was also a
graduate nurse, she took up the profession of nurs-
ing. Thus these years of experience qualify her well
for the important position as head of the Interurban
Sanitarium. She w^as married in San Jose in 1914
to Edward J. Sobey, who was born in London, Eng-
land. Coming to California, he engaged in ranch-
ing until his marriage, and now gives his attention

to looking after the management of the orchards and
form on Meridian Road, as well as their ranch at
Morgan Hill.

JOHN RODONL— A native son of California,
John Rodoni was born in Mountain View, Santa
Clara County, Cal., in July, 1869. His father, Alexan-
der Rodoni, was born in the Alps region of Switzer-
land and came to San Francisco when he was a boy
of fourteen years, and immediately made his way to
the mines, engaging in mining in Eldorado and
Placer counties. Some years later he came to Moun-
tain View, where he located a claim on Adobe
Creek and improved it. While out hunting deer in
the mountains his boy brought home a pretty colored
rock they had picked up. He sent it to be assayed
and it yielded $5.00. This stirred his enthusiasm" to
again seek for the elusive gold and he drove two
tunnels and lost all he had made. He again mined
in Eldorado County but without success. Returning
to Mayfield, he dug two tunnels on Stanford Uni-
versity place, then he located at Saratoga where he
resided until his death, in 1916. He was one of the
organizers and trustees of Booker school district for
many years and helped build the first school house in
the district. He was a well-educated man and could
read and write five different languages. John Ro-
doni's mother was Sarah Sheridan, a native of New-
York state, who now resides in Saratoga.

Of their eleven children six are living, John being
the oldest; he attended school at Mayfield and in the
Booker school district, after which he engaged in
teaming for himself eight years, then for Hubbard
& Carmichael Brothers for ten years, using seven
horses; and it was during this time he hauled the
largest load of lumber on two wagons over to San
Jose pulled over the mountains with seven horses;
the load contained 18,250 feet of lumber. In 1906
he quit teaming and began general contracting, and
has made a specialty of building fine residences and
business buildings. He built the Hogg Block, Tele-
phone Office, Bank Building, garage and addition to
the garage in Saratoga, and many of the finest homes
in Saratoga, designing and drawing his own building
plans, and also does general contracting, road build-
ing and cement and concrete work. Mr. Rodoni is
also engaged in agriculture, owning a 120-acre farm
five miles north of Santa Cruz, sixteen acres of which
is devoted to apple orchard, in the growing of which
Mr. and Mrs. Rodoni are greatly interested.

In Los Gatos, April 9, 1898, Mr. Rodoni was mar-
ried to Miss Estella Nickell, born in Jefferson
County. Kans. Her father, William Hayden Nickell,
was born in Virginia and came when a young man
with his parents to Jefferson County, Kans.. and
there he married Mary Howard, a native of that
county. In 1887 Mr. Nickell brought his family to
California. However, he made eight round trips
back and forth, one trip overland with mule teams.
He finally settled at Saratoga, engaging in teaming.
He passed away in San Jose, May 30, 1922, being
survived by his widow and four children of whom
Mrs. Rodoni is the second oldest and had the ad-
vantages of the excellent public schools in Saratoga.
Mr. and Mrs. Rodoni have been blessed with three
children: Willis and Lloyd are assisting their father
in his contracting business, while Rita assists her

1564

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

mother to preside over the home. Mrs. Rodoni is a
member of the Rebekahs and Fraternal Aid Union,
Saratoga. Mr. Rodoni is a member of Odd Fellows,
the American Order of Foresters, of which he is a
past officer, and the Saratoga Improvement Club.

JOHN J. BREITWIESER— Into what ever por-
tion of the world the German people have gone they
have exemplified in their lives the traits of industry
and thrift and in no respect have the members of the
Breitwieser family proved themselves exceptions to
the traditions of their countrymen. Such an enter-
prising, loyal and public-spirited man is John J.
Breitwieser, proprietor of the Breitwieser Baking
Company, one of San Jose's leading and progressive
citizens. He was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger-
many, Oct. 25, 1869, a son of John and Elizabeth
(Held) Breitweiser, both native Darmstadters, where
they made their home until they came to America,
locating in Alleghany City, Pa., and there the mother
died about thirty years ago. The elder Breitwieser
was a carpenter and at first followed the building
business, but later was a merchant in Alleghany City.

This worthy couple had one child, John J., the
subject of this biographical sketch, who had first the
advantages of the excellent schools of his native
place until later he accompanied his parents to Al-
leghany City, where he attended public school, after
which he apprenticed to the bakers' trade under his
uncle, Martin Breitwieser, continuing with him until
he decided to cast in his lot on the Pacific Coast. He
had two uncles, George and Ernest Held, who were
pioneers of San Francisco, having come hither in
1850, and from their letters to his mother and by
reading of the advantages of California, John J. de-
cided to come. He arrived at San Francisco in June,
1887, and immediately went to work, having obtained
a place in Whelan's Bakery, where he remained for
one year and then made his way to Sacramento,
where he was employed in the Pioneer Bakery, be-
coming foreman of a bakery when twenty-two.

While thus engaged he was married August 14,
1891, the ceremony occuring in Madera County, unit-
ing him with Miss Mary Flynn, a native daughter of
San Jose, whose parents came to the Garden City in
1857. Her father. Matt Flynn, was a pioneer of
Santa Clara County, owning a farm near Alum Rock
Park. Mr. Breitwieser returned to San Francisco,
but after several years' stay in the metropolis he
again went to Sacramento, where he accepted a posi-
tion as foreman of O'Brien's Bakery, a place he filled
acceptably and well until 1909, when he resigned to
locate in Santa Jose. Here he was for nearly three
years manager of the San Jose Baking Company, on
Vine Street, until Nov. 13, 1912, when he established
his present business, which is steadily growing and
now requires the services of fourteen men and two
girls, his payroll amounting to about $600 a week.

He owns a building 40x90 feet and rents an adjoin-
ing building, making him a 60-foot frontage. His
equipment is the most modern obtainable, particular
attention being paid to sanitation. He has two Peter
Glasser ovens and one Peterson oven with a com-
bined capacity of 25,000 loves a day. The machinery,
such as sifters, mixers, moulders, rounders and scales,
are all automatic and are electrically driven. Be-
sides bread he also makes all kinds of cakes and
pastries, and the business is conducted under the
name of Breitwieser Baking Company, and is cen-

trally located at 288-90 South Market Street. The
rapid growth of the business is shown when one com-
pares his first day's sales, Nov. 13, 1912. of $3.80 with
the business for 1920, which amounted to $200,000,
and over $35,000 of it paid out for wages. Four motor
trucks are required to handle the wholesale and retail
business. His earnings have all been put back into
the business and property used for the purpose, so
he is demonstrating his faith in the future growth of
San Jose by investing his profits in building up the
city of his adoption.

Mr. and Mrs. Breitwieser are the parents of three
children: J. H. assists his father in business; M. H.
during the World War was in the aviation section of
the U.S. Army, going overseas, serving sixteen months
in France, and is now with the San Jose Rubber
Works; Mrs. Eleanor Metzger, also of San Jose.
Politically Mr. Breitwieser gives his allegiance to the
Republican party, and fraternally he is a member of
the Eagles and Red Men. He is interested in civic
matters and is enthusiastic in his membership with
the San Jose Chamber of Commerce and the Mer-
chants Association, as well as a charter member of
the San Jose Commercial Club.

When he can find time from his busy cares of busi-
ness life, he thoroughly enjoys sports of outdoor life.
Mr. Breitwieser has worked hard and applied himself
diligently in the upbuilding of his business, and with
the aid of his study of applied economics he has been
very successful and become a substantial and pros-
perous man. He is naturally much interested in the
growth and development of this favored section of
the Land of the Stars and Stripes and all movements
for progress and advancement receive his hearty co-
operation. Thus he can always be counted upon to
give of his time and means to aid the best interests,
and he has never regretted that he cast in his lot with
Santa Clara County.

CLARK W. HAIGHT.— A native of the Empire
State, Clark W. Haight was born in Rochester,
N. Y., September 30, 1842. His father, Edward W.
Haight. brought his family to Barry County, Mich ,
in 1854, where Clark W. was educated in the public
schools. On September 6, 1861, before Clark had
reached his nineteenth year, he volunteered and en-
listed in Company F, Eighth Michigan Volunteer
Infantry, taking part in thirty different engagements,
among them being Second Bull Run, Antietam, South
Mountain, F'redericksburg, Wilderness, Spottsylvania,
and Weldon R. R. At Vicksburg, Mr. Haight was
taken sick and sent to the hospital at Cincinnati,
Ohio; afterward at Camp Dennison, Ohio, until he
rejoined his regiment then stationed at Knoxville.
On September 23, 1864, he was mustered out at
Petersburg, Va., by reason of the expiration of his
term of enlistment. He returned home and a year
later he apprenticed as a blacksmith at Gull Corners,
Mich. Completing the trade, he was married to Miss
Olive Wood. Owing to his wife's health, he came to
Los Gatos, Cal., in 1889, but business was dull so he
removed to Eugene, Ore., where he followed car-
pentering and building, and there he was bereaved of
his wife, who left him three children: Edward G.
resides in San F'rancisco; Alice, Mrs. Gibson of Los
Gatos; Bertha E., Mrs. Browning of Marshfield, Ore.

Mr. Haight's second marriage occurred at Oakland
in 1911, when he was united with Mrs. Mary E.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1567

(Johnston) Flynn, a native of Ontario. She is the
daughter of John and Ehzabeth (Stewart) Johnston,
who were born in County Armagh, Ireland, of Scotch
descent, and later came to Canada. By her first mar-
riage to Gilbert Flynn, who passed away in Canada,
she had eight children, five of whom are living:
VVm. H., Thomas, John, Mrs. Thomas Bullis and
Mrs. Ben Hoag. They continued residing in Oregon
until 1918, when they came to Los Gates, purchasing
the present residence at 310 Nicholson Avenue, and
here they take much pleasure and comfort, Mrs.
Haight being engaged in raising beautiful canary
songsters, of which she has a fine selection. She is
intensely interested in her singers, giving them most
e.xcellent care. They are both interested in local
civic and social circles, particularly in their member-
ship in E. O. C. Ord. Post No. 82, G. A. R., and the
E. O. C. Ord, Post, W. R. C, and Mrs. Haight is a
consistent member of the Christian Church.

DOMENICO DI FIORE.— A brief story of the
progress and success of Domenico Di Fiore shows
what may be done by steady application, industry
and well-directed energy. Early in 1874 Salvadore
and Emma Di Fiore migrated to California, and there
on September 21, 1886, Domenico was born. Salva-
dore Di Fiore early became interested in ranching,
and purchased ten acres on the Stevens Creek road,
on which Domenico's cannery is now situated. He
developed his place by planting cherry trees, and
later he set out peach, prune and walnut trees in his
orchard. He still looks after his business affairs,
and is part owner in the cannerj'. Mrs. Di Fiore died
in 1911, leaving five children, four of whom are now
living— Stefana, Mrs. John Burke; Domenico; Car-
melita, Mrs. Ed. Murphy, of Monterey, and Emilio,
who is associated in business with his brother. Joseph
died in 1916, at the age of twenty-five.

Domenico Di Fiore received his early education
in the public schools of San Jose, but it was by
actual experience in the world that he gained the
most valuable information. At the age of nineteen
he became a foreman in the large plant of the Cali-
fornia Packing Corporation, where for six years he
labored; and having from 1,500 to 2,000 people to
look after, he received a valuable training, which
served him well when, in 1913, he established his
own business, known as the Di Fiore Cannery. When
this first venture was undertaken by Mr. Di Fiore
and his father, the structure was only 30x60 feet in
size; and Domenico assisted in building the plant,
and in installing the machinery, and then acted as
manager of the plant. In 1915, when the plant was
burned down, it was only twenty-one days later that
the new cannery was in full operation, built on more
modern lines and upon a larger scale. From a force
of from fifteen to eighteen employes, when the busi-
ness was started, to from 200 to 250 in the new plant
is something of a jump, and their growth in annual
output has increased in proportion, being at present
from 80,000 to 100,000 cases annually. As the years
pass, improvements are constantly being made to
keep pace with the times, and the effect of these ad-
vances is apparent in the strepgthening of trade and
patronage, as well as reputation for the quality of
the output. Domenico Di Fiore acts as the general
manager of the cannery, and the entire business de-
pends upon his eflforts. The new plant covers some

54,000 square feet of space. Mr. Di Fiore packs
four standard brands of fruit — the Di Fiore, El Mar-
ino, Dominetta, and Cupertino, and he ships his pro-
ducts to all parts of the United States and to Eng-
land; and since he uses only modern machinery, he
accomplishes a vast amount of work.

Mr. Di Fiore's marriage at San Jose in 1917 united
him with Miss Maida Cornwell, a native daughter,
whose birthplace was HoUister; and in 1920 he
erected a modern and up-to-date residence adjacent
to his place of business, the dwelling costing about
$20,000. He is a member of Fraternity Lodge No.
399, F. & A. M., and San Jose Pyramid No. 9, A. E.
O. S., and he is also a member of Garden Citv Lodge
No. 142, I. O. O. F., and Encampment No. 11. He
is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the
National Canners' League of San Francisco, and the
Commercial Club of San Jose. He is vitally inter-
ested in all matters relating to the growth and pros-
perity of the community in which he resides, and is
highly esteemed by all who know him.

OSEA PERRONE.— An enterprising and inter-
esting gentleman who is enthusiastic in his admira-
tion of the Montebello section in Santa Clara Coun-
ty is Osea Perrone. who was born in Mattarana,
Italy, where he was reared and educated. His fa-
ther, Joseph Perrone, though he has visited Santa
Clara County, still makes his home at Mattarana.
An uncle of our subject, also named Osea Perrone,
was a physician, coming to San Francisco in 1881,
where he was engaged in the practice of medicine.
He became interested in viticulture, purchased a large
ranch on Black Mountain, Santa Clara County, and
here began the improvements which have resulted in
the Montebello vineyards.

Osea Perrone grew up in Italy, attending the local
school, where he received a good education, which he
has supplemented with reading, and being a keen
observer, he has become a well informed man. From
1894 to 1898 he served in the Italian army as a ser-
geant in a regiment of cavalry, and on receiving his
honorable discharge, he immediately made prepara-
tions to emigrate to California, arriving in San Fran-
cisco in 1898. The first three years were spent on
his uncle's ranch, when he entered the employ of
LaNorman's winery in San Francisco, where he be-
came foreman, remaining with them for a period of
twelve years. In 1910 he started in business for him-
self on Twenty-ninth and Mission streets, but two
years later removed to Twenty-fourth and Folsom,
where he was in business many years. His uncle.
Dr. Perrone, died January 2, 1912, and as he was un-
married, the Montebello vineyards became the prop-
erty of Joseph Perrone. the father of our subject, who
made a trip to Santa Clara County, but not wishing
to leave his old home, he returned to Italy, after
making his son the manager of the property, a trust
Osea has faithfully filled Since he has discontinued
his business in San Francisco he is able to give the
ranch more time and has brought it to a high state
of cultivation and productivity. When Dr. Perrone
first started improving the ranch there was not even
a trail, but he built one and sledded supplies in. The
lumber was hauled on sleds from the foot of the
mountain to a place as near as they could get to the
place selected for their first shack and was carried the
balance of the way by the men on their shoulders.

1568

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Later on the Montebello road was built by the coun-
ty. Montebello vineyard comprised about 500 acres
of vines in a tract of 1,500 acres on the top of Black
Mountain, extending down to Stevens Creek at an al-
titude of 3,000 feet. At this altitude there is a splendid
spring with an abundance of pure water that is piped
to the house, which is modern and pleasantly located.
Along the creek there is an abundance of redwood, ma-
drone and oak, making a most delightful and pleasant
place. From the higher elevation of the ranch there
is obtained a magnificent view of the Santa Clara
Valley and at night can be seen the lights in Palo
Alto, Oakland, Alameda, San Francisco, Los Gatos,
Gilroy and Mt. Hamilton. Towards the south can
be seen the Pacific Ocean, Pescadero and La Honda.
Mr. Perrone is delighted with this region and is very
optimistic for the future greatness of this wonderful
valley, showing a readiness and willingness to aid as
far as he is able all movements that have for their
aim the upbuilding of the county. Mr. Perrone ex-
ercises his citizenship under the banner of the Repub-
lican party.

PASQUALE BISCEGLIA.— An Itahan-American
who has made good in an important field and in such
a manner that his success, the results in part of fore-
sight, experience and unremitting industry, have bene-
fitted others besides himself, is Pasquale Bisceglia,
who was born in Cosenza, Italy, on February 9, 1871,
the son of Gabrielle and Clara Bisceglia, both of
whom died in Italy. They were the parents of seven
children, and two of the brothers of our subject,
Joseph and Bruno, came to America and California
in 1894, a year prior to the advent of Pasquale. The
names of the children are as follows: Joseph A.;
Clementina, now Mrs. Cribari of San Jose; Pasquale.
our subject; Filippina, now Mrs. DeRose; Bruno;
Maria; and Alfonso. Joseph, Mrs. DeRose, Bruno
and Alfonso are interested with our subject in the
operation of the great Bisceglia cannery. His school-
ing was largely obtained through his own efforts, with
the result that if he is anything, it is that he is self-
made in every way and exceedingly practical. He
assisted his father until he came to the United States
in 1895, arriving in San Jose in March of that year.
He chopped wood for a couple of years, and then the
brothers established a fuel yard in East Santa Clara.
In 1903 they established a small cannery at Llagas
Creek in Morgan Hill, in order to take care of the
tomatoes which they had raised that year, and their
first pack was 800 cases; two years later they moved
the plant to Morgan Hill and built a new cannery
and extended their operations to the canning of fruit
as well as tomatoes; then in 1907 they built a can-
nery in Gilroy and operated the two of them until
1913 when both were abandoned, and they purchased
nineteen acres on South First Street in San Jose and
built a modern cannery, and from time to time have
added to it until they now own and operate the larg-
est cannery in the valley. It is built of concrete, iron
and brick and is 264x710 feet. They use only the
best of everythnig, and apply only the best methods
and the most modern apparatus; and it is not sur-
prising that they ship their goods all over the world.
Their plant is sanitary in every particular and their
employees enjoy the fine rest rooms and dining room
and restaurant. The Bisceglia brothers cooperate

in every way and own and operate 200 acres of or-
chards; besides this they own much valuable real
estate in San Jose and Oakland; they also operate
their fuel business on Santa Clara Street between
Fourth and Fifth streets in San Jose. Mr. Bisceglia
is a live wire in the San Jose Chamber of Commerce,
an^l he endeavors to support all the programs of that
excellent institution.

When Mr. Bisceglia was married in Italy in 1906,
he took for his wife Miss Amalia De Rose, a clever
woman who has proven just the helpmate desired;
and they, with their children, Gabriel, Clara, Joseph,
Bruno and Clorinda, attend the Holy Family Cath-
olic Church. In national politics a Republican, Mr.
Bisceglia abandons party lines in all local campaigns
and votes for the best man and the best measures.

F. NED SCOFIELD. — An enterprising business
man, a progressive and helpful citizen, F. Ned Sco-
field has a record which places him among the repre-
sentative business men of San Jose. A native of
California, he was born in Santa Barbara, October 2.
1886, a son of the late Frank K. Scofield, who passed
away in San Francisco in January, 1921. He was a
member of the Scofield family who came over from
England and settled in Connecticut in 1629, near
Stamford, and where members of this famous family
have continued to reside. His mother was Miss
Gertrude Whitney, also of a noted pioneer famliy
of pre-Revolutionary times. The Whitney family
came from the North of Ireland, but their early an-
cestors were English, who migrated to Ireland, and
who had an English coat-of-arms. His mother re-
sides in Stockton at the present time.

F. Ned Scofield obtained his early education in the
public schools of Phoenix, Ariz., and when his par-
ents removed to California, he attended the public
schools of Los Angeles; later he supplemented by
terms in the Los Angeles Military College and the
Throop Polytechnic School at Pasadena, Cal. W^hen
his father established a millinery business on North
Spring Street, Los Angeles, he became a clerk in the
store. His father was very successful in all his mer-
cantile ventures, but during the great earthquake and
fire in San Francisco in 1906, he suffered severe losses
and was forced to sell 640 acres of the best land that
he owned in Santa Barbara County at a very low
price. However, undaunted by his losses, he again
engaged in business and prospered. Mr. Scofield
inherited his father's determination and will to suc-
ceed, and his advancement was accomplished rapidly.
He was engaged, for a time, with the Louis Simon-
sen wholesale tailoring establishment in Los Angeles,
Cal. During the year of 1914, in partnership with
his father, the Scofield Millinery store was established
in San Jose, and at the end of four years, he was sole
proprietor. He conducts a thoroughly up-to-date
establishment, modern in every particular, handsome
showcases, beautiful furnishings, and caters to the
most fastidious. He employs competent trimmers,
and has special buyers in the Eastern fashion centers.
He also employs five saleswomen, besides a window
trimmer. Besides his, San Jose store, he is the owner
and proprietor of a similar store in Stockton.

The marriage of Mr. Scofield occurred in Los An-
geles in 1909 and united him with Miss Martha Eliza-
beth Withers, a native of New Mexico. They are

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1571

the parents of two children, John Francis and Gran-
ville Owen, and the family reside at 435 South Four-
teenth Street, San Jose. Their home is the rendez-
vous for their host of friends, who find great pleas-
ure in their congenial company. Mr. Scoiield has not
devoted his time exclusively to his private interests,
but has taken a keen interest in municipal affairs,
always ready to lend his influence toward the advance-
ment of the community in which he resides. He is
a thoughtful, conservative business man, whose
greatest happiness is found in his home and in the
management of his important and steadily growing
business. He is very optimistic for the future great-
ness of Santa Clara Valley and is enthusiastic in his
praise for the beautiful city of San Jose and surround-
ing country. He is an honored and active member
of the Native Sons of the Golden West, also of the
Lions Club of San Jose.

EDGAR H. OWSLEY.— A native son of San
Jose, Edgar H. Owsley is well known to the resi-
dents of the city as a leading exponent of the terpsi-
chorean art in its highest form, being recognized as
one of the most successful dancing masters in the
state. He was born December 17, 1877, a son of
Henry and Abbie (Stoddard) Owsley, both now de-
ceased. After completing the work of the public
schools he served seven years* apprenticeship with
W. W. Montague, a leading plumber of this city.
He acquired a thorough knowledge of the trade,
which he has followed from the age of si.xteen years,
and since his twenty-fifth year has been in business
for himself. He has built up a large trade in this
connection, limiting his work to residences, and had
charge of installing the plumbing in the Hale resi-
dence in Alameda, and also in some of the finest
homes in San Jose. On examination by the state
board Mr. Owsley was given a plumber's certificate
of competency.

For a number of years Mr. Owsley has been en-
gaged in teaching scientific dancing to adults, his
place of business being located at 138 North Fif-
teenth Street, and he expects in the near future to
devote all of his attention to his professional work.
He has made an exhaustive study of the subject and
is thus well qualified to instruct his pupils in an art
which lends itself to such beauty and grace. His
classes are very popular with the better class of
people in the city and his school is provided with
eight grades: the first grade is novice and prepara-
tory, the second and third grades social, fourth and
fifth grades intermediate, the sixth and seventh, as-
sistants, and the eighth for teachers. He maintains
high standards in dancing, greatly deploring the
tendency of the age toward lowering this beautiful
and expressive art. He holds diplomas from the
United Professonal Teachers of Dancing of America.

Mr. Owsley is independent in his political views,
casting his ballot in favor of the candidate whom he
deems best fitted for office without regard to party
affiliations. Fraternally he is connected with the
Foresters and the Moose, and he finds recreation in
fishing and quoits. In his profession he has gained
that prominence which follows superior ability and
concentrated effort, and his efforts have not only
been crowned with individual success, but have also
been a source of benefit to his city along both business
and artistic lines.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTA CLARA.— Not

alone among the citizenry of Cailfornia, but through-
out the world, the name of Santa Clara brings thrills
to the hearts of sons who, far from their beloved
Alma Mater, cherish her memory and her teaching.
The University of Santa Clara is the oldest institu-
tion of higher education in Santa Clara County, and
is rich in historical value. Starting in the early Mis-
sion days, when, on March 19, 1851, Bishop Joseph
Sadoc Aletnany, who had been newly consecrated
for California, placed Father John Nobili in charge
of the abandoned Mission of Santa Clara. Eighteen
years earlier it had counted 1125 neophytes in its
Mission family; at the time Father Nobili assumed
charge, the churcli and furniture were out of repair
and the few buildings that were not either sold or
stolen, were in a state of ruin. Orchards and vine-
yards were destroyed or in possession of squatters.
The ten thousand cattle, ten thousand sheep and one
thousand horses had been stolen or scattered, but
the dauntless padre with $150 in his purse and bound-
less trust in Providence, labored faithfully, nursing
the poor natives through a scourge of cholera, and
teaching the few children. From this humble school
amid many hardships, he laid the foundations of the
first beginnings of Santa Clara University.

But the seed that was to grow into a flourishing
university was sown long before that time, even
though those enterprising pioneers did not anticipate
how great the harvest would be. Even in the days
when the Jesuit Fathers, Kino and Salvatierra, in
1697, traveled from Mexico to Lower California, and
began to fulfill their dream of Christianizing the
natives by establishing Missions, the hopes for a
glorious enlightenment of that portion of the New
World were born and nurtured in the hearts of those
courageous priests, and their faith in the ultimate
grand results did not fail to be realized. We must
here incidentally recall the historical fact that the
Jesuit Fathers, Kino and Salvatierra, assisted by nu-
merous recruits of their order from Europe, succeeded
in founding more than a hundred Missions in North-
ern Mexico and Lower California, during the com-
paratively short period of seventy years, from 1697
to 1767. In this latter year, by an iniquitous decree
of Charles III of Spain, all the Missions were sup-
pressed, fifty Jesuits were expelled from the country,
and thousands of native Indians cruelly deprived of
all spiritual ministration. The Roman authorities
soon replaced the exiled Jesuit Missionaries by the
zealous Franciscan Fathers, whose untiring and suc-
cessful labors in that field began in the year 1767.

The hundreds of alumni, whom this university has
produced, are now men conspicuously noted in the
scientific, professional and political world, and from
their places high in national honor they bow with
reverence and gratitude to their Alma Mater.

Many brilliant men have graced the staff of officers
and faculty, and the list of those who have served
as presidents helps to show by whom much of the
strength of intellectual and spiritual growth was
inspired. The first president of Santa Clara College
was the Reverend John Nobili, S. J., a native of
Rome, who had spent part of 1850 and 1851 minister-
ing to the spiritual needs of those stricken with
cholera, and who opened the first school in the Valley

1572

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of Santa Clara on the Feast of St. Joseph, March 12,
1851. At this little day school, the nucleus of Santa
Clara College, he continued to preside until his death
in 1856.

The Reverend Nicholas Congiato, S. J., a native of
Cagliari, Sardinia, vi^as the second president, his term
lasting from 1856 to 1858; then, for almost twenty
years, he was pastor of St. Joseph's Church in San
Jose, where he built the present stately church. He
died in 1897.

The Reverend Felix Cicaterri, S. J., was the third
president. He first saw the light at Venice, Italy,
where he acquired great learning in his study of lap-
idary inscriptions. His term was from 1857 to 1861,
and he died at Woodstock, Md., in 1873. During the
next four years the Reverend Burchard Villiger, S. J.,
who came from Switzerland, was the fourth presi-
dent, passing away in 1903, at Woodstock, Md., like
his predecessor.

Rivarolo, near Genoa, Italy, was the birthplace of
the Reverend Aloysius Masnata, S. J., the fifth presi-
dent, from 1865 to 1868. Cagliari again gave a Sar-
dinian for the ofiice — the Reverend Aloysius Varsi,
S. J., who, as sixth president, had charge from 1868
to 1876. He built the magnificent Church of St.
Ignatius on Hayes Street, corner of Van Ness Ave-
nue, which was destroyed by the earthquake and fire
of April, 1906. He died at the age of seventy-one.

The Reverend Aloysius Brumengo, S. J., who was
born in Turin in 1836, became the seventh president
in the historic Centennial Year of 1876, continuing
four years, and providing the ample outfit of physical
apparatus, for which the college became noted. From
1880 to 1883, and from 1888 to 1893, the helm was
taken by the Reverend John Pinasco, S. J., the
eighth and ninth president, who, like Father Masnata,
came from the vicinity of Genoa. The Reverend
Joseph W. Riordan, who w^as born at Quincy, Mass.,
in 1857, became the tenth president of Santa Clara
College, and, having taken charge when the whole
country was laboring under a general financial de-
pression, carried the institution safely through the
most dangerous crisis, both enlarging and beautifying
the library. The Reverend Robert E. Kenna, S. J.,
a native of Jackson, Miss., who crossed the great
plains with his parents in 1849, when only five years
old, was the eleventh and twelfth president, serving
from 1899 to 1905. During Father Kenna's incum-
bency the college celebrated its golden jubilee, and
the "Redwood" was started. It was at this time too
that, aided by the efforts of Father Kenna, the Cali-
fornia State Redwood Park became a reality. He
died in 1912, mourned tliroughout the state.

The Reverend Richard A. Gleeson, S. J., a native
of Philadelphia, was the thirteenth president of Santa
Clara College from 1905 to 1910, and in that latter
year he became the president of the Jesuit high school
in Los Angeles. Father Gleeson was succeeded by
erend Father Zaccheus J. Maher, S. J., the present
Santa Cruz, the fourteenth and last president of
Santa Clara College and the first president of the
University of Santa Clara.

The Reverend Timothy L. Murphy, S. J., ascended
to the presidency of the University of Santa Clara
in November, 1918. He resigned on account of ill
health in July, 1921, and was succeeded by the Rev-
erend Father Zaccheus J. Maher, S. J., the present

president, who was installed July 22, 1921, and is a
tower of strength to the institution.

There are 300 students in Santa Clara University
and many applicants, owing to its lack of buildings
and accommodations, had to be turned away. It is
fortunate for this venerable institution that one so
zealous, capable and enterprising as Father Maher
should be at its head during the critical hour in its
Million Dollar Drive for its rebuilding. He enters
heart and soul into the laudable project of making
it a first class modern seat of learning. The alumni
association is composed of men in the highest ranks
of California's professional, business and financial
life, and the necessary funds will no doubt be speed-
ily raised. In April, 1922, the University held the
centenary celebration and jubilee festival of the found-
ing of the Santa Clara Mission by the Franciscans,
and its children gathered home from many countries
to help their Alma Mater rejoice, and with worship,
song and drama- vividly portrayed the history of that
renowned Mission.

One of the faculty, the Reverend Jerome Sixtus
Ricard, S. J., has won almost world-wide renown by
his wonderful skill in forecasting weather, and the
title of "Padre of the Rains" has been affectionately
given him. Father Ricard is an authority on sun
spots and has written and lectured much on these
strange phenomena. In 1903 he was successful in
establishing a fine meteorological observatory, and
with the valuable instruments he secured has been
able to accomplish fine scientific work, highly appre-
ciated by both national and foreign astronomers. Santa
Clara has justly won fame through the brilliant
talents of many of her alumni. Too much praise can-
not be given Martin Merle for the splendid help he
has given during the several years he has been con-
nected with the college. As author and director of
the Santa Clara Mission Play, he has added fame to
the Alma Mater, and the production of this magnifi-
cent play has brought rich financial result;.

WALTER G. BERNTHAL.— .\ young man of
exceptional capacity for hard detail work and en-
dowed with executive force, Walter G. Bernthal has
already made a place for himself in the business
circles of Palo Alto, since coming here in April,
1919, as proprietor of the Ford Agency, in connec-
tion with which he operates a first-class garage and
machine shop. Mr. Bernthal was born at Detroit,
Mich., April 21, 1894, the son of Rev. G. A. and
Agnes (Pfeiffer) Bernthal. The father, who is prom-
inent in the clergy of the Lutheran Church, is now
the pastor of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran
Church in San Francisco, and there the parents make
their home at 969 Eddy Street.

When a lad of eight years, Mr. Bernthal was
brought to San Francisco by his parents and he was
educated in the public schools and in Concordia Col-
lege, from which he was graduated. Soon after he
left college, he became interested in the automobile
business and went to work for the Ford Motor Com-
pany at San Francisco, beginning at the lowest round
and holding nearly every place in the Ford plant,
finally becoming wholesale manager for the Ford
Motor Company for Northern California. When the
World War broke out, he entered the U. S. service
and was in the Three Hundred Sixteenth Ammuni-
tion Train for over seventeen months, receiving his

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1575

honorable discharge, with the rank of Heutenant, at
Gettysburg, Pa., February 4, 1919. Returning to
San Francisco, he decided upon Palo Alto as his
future location, and in April, 1919, he bought out the
garage and machine shop of Thomas N. Fuller, at
525 Alma Street. He handles the entire Ford line
and is building up a splendid business, keeping the
old patrons and making new friends every day. He
devotes all of his energies to his business and is
rewarded with its continually increasing volume, and
requires the services of from eight to twelve men in
his machine shop.

CLARENCE E. PHILLIPS.— A worthy repre-
sentative of a very interesting old American family,
harking back to the stirring days of the American
Revolution, is Clarence E. Phillips, the well-borer, a
native of Nebraska, where he was born at Shadron.
on January 24, 1892, the son of Frank and Jennie
(Zuver) Phillips, the former a native of Nebraska,
the latter a daughter of Iowa. Frank Phillips was
a well-borer and he engaged in the well-drilling busi-
ness at Shadron, where he had the old-fashioned
horse-power drilling rigs. He came to California
with his family in 1895, locating in San Jose, where
he established himself as a successful well-driller.
He was also a stationary and steam engineer and car-
penter, and he did general contracting and building.
He built the Brown Building, remodeled the St.
James Hotel, and tore down and dismantled the old
San Jose electric tower, 260 feet high, a great engi-
neering feat, and did it without stopping the street
car service for a ininute. He was a man of much
ability and business acumen. Six children made up
the Phillips family, and our subject was the third in
the order of birth: Ethel, Mrs. Bert Rodgers of
San Jose; Elsie, Mrs. W. A. Lawrence; Clarence E.;
Leora. now of Warm Springs; Claude and Ernest
live at San Jose. Claude enlisted when eighteen, on
June 7, 1918, in the heavy coast artillery, serving
overseas, returning in May, 1920, and was honorably
discharged at San Francisco, May 21, 1920.

When three years of age, Clarence E. accompanied
his parents to California in 1895, and in San Jose he
went to the Gardner School. At the age of fourteen
he commenced to learn well-boring under his father's
instruction; and two years later he entered the serv-
ice of the Herbert Machine Works of San Jose,
to learn the machinist's trade. He remained with
that concern eighteen months, and then secured em-
ployment with the Southern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany as a helper in the round house, where he
worked for nearly two years. His next engagement
was as a full-fledged machinist in the Oakland rail-
road shop of the Southern Pacific; but after only
four months he left to go to Sparks, Nev., where he
worked about seven months in the shops of the same
company. On returning to San Jose, he worked with
the Morton Machine Works for half a year, and then
he entered into partnership with the A. Ries Drilling
Company in that city. Withdrawing from this part-
nership at the end of a year, Mr. Phillips went to
the Capay rancho in Glenn County and worked for
the Layne & Bowler Corporation, helping them to
put 10,000 acres under irrigation. He continued in
that engagement for two years, having charge of all
the pump work and well-drilling on the place; and
coming back to San Jose again, he went to work
for the Bean Spray and Pump Company as an ex-

pert mechanic. Thence he went to Willows, and
there spent two years sinking wells in the rice fields,
and then, again pitching his tent in San Jose, he was
w-ith Arthur T. Britton's machine shop for a year.

Mr. Phillips and his father once more engaged in
well-drilling, when, in June, 1920, to the wide-spread
regret of a large circle of friends and acquaintances,
his father was killed by an Interurban railroad car on
Berryessa Road near San Jose; his widow is still
living at sixty-three years of age. Since then Clar-
ence Phillips has continued the business alone, main-
taining the same standards long such a source of
pride to his father. He has power rigs equipped
for drilling wells to a depth of 1,500 feet, if neces-
sary, and it goes without saying that work entrusted
to him is carried out with rare conscientiousness,
evidencing a recognition of its responsibility, and is
always dependable.

At San Jose, on October 7, 1914, Mr. Phillips was
married to Miss Louisa Miranda, a native of San
Jose, a daughter of Frank and Jennie (Flores)
Miranda, of old-time families here, the father being
a cattleman. In national politics Mr. Phillips is a
Republican; but his broad-mindedness forbids his
taking a partisan view of questions purely local, and
hence he is an unusually useful member of the com-
munity in which he resids.

FREDERICK J. HUXTABLE.— Born in Ottary-
St. Mary, Devonshire, England, March 21, 1878,
Frederick J. Huxtable belongs to an old Devonshire
family. His father, William D. Huxtable, was a
butcher, but the grandfather and great-grandfather
were master builders. His mother was Mahala Hay-
ward, whose mother was a Drake of the Sir Francis
Drake family, and she also traces her family back to
Sir Walter Raleigh. Mr. Huxtable's parents are still
living in their old home. He is the third oldest of
their family of six children and the only one in
America. His education was obtained in the national
schools. He became a teacher, a profession he fol-
lowed for three years, after which he served an ap-
prenticeship at the builder's trade for five years, dur-
ing which time, as was the custom, he received no
wages. He continued working at his trade for six
years or more in London and then made his way to
Manitoba, where he worked at his trade for two
years. Then, having become familiar with conditions,
he began contracting and building, establishing a large
business, employing forty workmen.

His wife and also his daughter's health being im-
paired, Mr. Huxtable was advised to seek the Cali-
fornia climate, and disposing of his holdings he came
to Sacramento in 1913, where he built two houses;
then came to Santa Cruz, where he tried farming,
but a big flood in September, 1918, flooded his ranch
and he lost everything. Starting anew, he responded
to the call for men in the shipyards and was em-
ployed at the Union Iron Works for six months. In
November, 1919, he located in San Jose, since which
time he has been engaged in contracting and building
in the Garden City, having some fine residences to
his credit. With his family he resides at oil South
Sixth Street. His marriage occurred in London,
England, in 1901, when he was united with Miss
Isabelle Gatenby, a native of London, and they have
two children, Joseph and Gladys.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ANDREW OLSEN.— Among the successful ranch-
ers in the Cupertino district is Andrew Olsen, whose
industry and perseverance have brought him financial
independence. He was born in Skane, Sweden, on
June 15, 1863, a son of Ole and Johanna (Swansen)
Johnson — the former a ship's carpenter, who lived to
be eighty years of age. The worthy couple had si.x
children, — Lena, Andrew, John, Sven, Carl and Nels,
the latter two now deceased. Andrew attended the
public schools of Skane and remained at home until
he was a young man; after which he w'orked on farms
until he came to the land of the Stars and Stripes. In
1883 he left the old home to cross the ocean, and
after arriving in the United States, he hurried west
to Oregon, and settled at Portland. There he was
employed for three years as a brick moulder. In
1885, he came to California and settled in Santa Clara
County, purchasing two and one-half acres on Prune
Ridge Avenue, which he set out to silver prunes. In
1887, he made him way to Bisbee, Ariz., where he
was employed in the Bisbee Smelter for two years;
and returning to Santa Clara County, he resumed
ranching.

On December 6, 1891, Mr. Olsen was married in
San Jose, thereby becoming united with Miss Emma
Carlson, also a native of Skane, Sweden, and the
daughter of Carlle Anderson and his w-ife, who was
in maidenhood Christina Mickelsen, substantial farmer
folks. Three of the four children in the family are
still living; and Mrs. Olsen is the eldest. She came
to California as a young lady of twenty-one years,
and made her home in San Jose, and here she met
and inarried Mr. Olsen. In 1892 he purchased ten
acres of land from the Barton estate in the Cupertino
district, where he built a residence and began setting
out an orchard. In 1895, leaving his wife to look
after the farm, he again w-ent to Bisbee, Ariz., to earn
money to meet the expenses on the home until it
could begin to yield an income. He had charge of
one of the furnaces in the Bisbee Smelter for a
period of twenty-six months, when he resigned and
returned to his ranch to resume fruit culture and
farming, in which he has since been very successful.
In 1899 he bought his present place of twelve and one-
half acres from the Barton estate, and here he has
made his home. In 1902 he purchased twenty-two
and one-half acres in the Truman tract, and in 1905,
he secured another ten acres or more, also from the
Truman tract, and ten acres of the Barton estate. In
1915, he built a residence costing $10,000, and in 1921
he put up a $5,000 summer home at Seabright, in
Santa Cruz County. Mr. Olsen now owns sixty-five
acres of the finest orchards in the county, — full-bear-
ing prunes and apricots, his place being sightly and
well-improved. He operates his orchards with a
tractor, and the most improved implements and
methods. In front of his beautiful residence is a
magnificent giant live-oak, a splendid symmetrical
specimen of these native trees.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Olsen has been blessed
with eight children. Albert Andrew enlisted on May
26, 1917, for service in the World War, and joined
Company D, Third U. S. Engineers, after which he
was stationed at Fort McDowell, on Angel Island,
until July 5, 1917, when he left for Honolulu. There
he saw service until December, 1918, when he re-
turned to San Francisco and was honorablv dis-

charged. He owns a ranch of 100 acres, in the Cuper-
tino district, partly in prune orchard, a very desirable
property. On September 15, 1921, he married Miss
Rona Fabling of New Zealand, and he is now visit-
ing that remote corner on his wedding tour. Mabel
I. Olsen was graduated from the San Jose high school
in 1914; and she then spent a year at the State Teach-
ers College in San Jose. She offered her services to
the government, and was sent to Washington, D. C.
where she did secretarial work from September 1,
1918, to November, 1920; and she is now engaged in
secretarial work in Oakland. Evelyn P. is a graduate
of the San Jose high school, and she is now attend-
ing Stanford University, with the class of 1922. Anna
S. also graduated from the San Jose high school, in
1917, and the State Teachers College in 1919. Then
she taught for two years in Merced County, and she
is now attending the University of California. A.
Amanda is another graduate of the San Jose high
school, having belonged to the class of '21; and she
is now taking a course as a trained nurse at the
O'Connor Sanitarium, in San Jose. Marie Christina
was accidentally killed bj' the discharge of a gun, pass-
ing away on June 12, 1909, at the tender age of six
years. Hilma C. and Esther Elizabeth are attending
the Palo Alto Union high school. From the above it
will be seen what a very interesting family are the
Olsens, and how the fond parents are placing within
the reach of their children all the educational advan-
tages of a high order they may command, believing
that the future greatness of the country depends on
the education and culture of the American youth.
Devoted to her husband and their children, Mrs.
Olsen is a splendid example of American womanhood.
She has been an able assistant to her husband, by ad-
vice and encouragement, in the attainment of his am-
bitions, and quite naturally Mr. Olsen gives her no
small credit for a share in his achievement of success.
Independent in politics, he believes in supporting the
candidate for office who is best fitted to serve the
community. Fraternally, he is an Odd Fellow,
affiliated with Mountain View Lodge.

THOMAS CHURNSIDE.— An horticulturist in
the- Saratoga district, Santa Clara County, Thomas
Churnside is a native of Australia, born at Little
River, Victoria, of Scotch descent; his father, Robert
Churnside, was an extensive sheeprancher in Vic-
toria. Thomas received his education in the schools
of Victoria and also Edinburgh, Scotland, and then
entered the University of Melbourne, where he was
graduated with the degree of LL.B. After some
years spent in a law office in Melbourne, he traveled
in Europe for several years and then came to the
United States, arriving in Nev^r York City in 1912,
and the same year came on to California. After
traveling over the state for some time, seeing con-
siderable of the Pacific coast region, he decided to
locate in Santa Clara County and engage in fruit
raising. He purchased his present place two miles
north of Saratoga, devoting his ranch to the cutliva-
tion of prunes and apricots, and is favorably located
in the foothills in a frostless belt. Intensely interested
in his chosen calling he is delighted with soil and
climate and naturally a booster for this valley of
wonderful resources. Mr. Churnside attends the

U^y^f^>n^^ 0. ClidJyH^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Presbyterian Church in San Jose, and he is a mem-
ber of the California Prune and Apricot Association,
deeming it an important adjunct to fruit raising.

FRANK L. CAMPS.— No one more than the well-
traveled autoist better knows the high quality of the
superior service offered and always guaranteed at
Camps' Garage in Los Gatos, a well-equipped estab-
lishment operated under the personal direction of
Frank L. Camps. In March, 1920, he bought this,
the oldest garage in Los Gatos, and he has made it
a success ever since he has had charge. Prior to
coming to Los Gatos, Mr. Camps was active in the
garage field in Lodi, and prior to that, for twenty-
four 3'ears, he had been a photographer at Ashland,
Ore., at the same time that he had the Ford agency
for a large portion of Jackson County, Ore., and all
of Siskiyou County, Cal. He thus had a great deal
to do with introducing not merely Ford cars into
the North, but to encourage automobiling in gen-
eral; and when he sold out, in 1916, to come to San
Joaquin County, and engaged exclusively in the
garage business, his departure was widely regretted.

So successful has he been since establishing him-
self at Los Gatos that he now employs four men
regularly, and often could use more to advantage.
He has a complete machine shop and makes a spe-
cialty of welding and battery work. A substantial
man of affairs in the commercial world, Mr. Camps
is equally solid when it comes to performing his
civic duties, which he generally discharges in ac-
cordance with the leadership of the Republican party.

A native of Germany where he was given the ad-
vantages of a sound general education, and inheriting
capacity for hard and thorough work, Mr. Camps
has become the best of Americans, adapting himself
admirably to the life and institutions of the country
in which he has so long been a public-spirited dweller
and toiler. He has been twice married, and has a
son. Max V. Camps, by his first union. His second
wife was Mrs. Lillith M. Harrison of Missouri, who
had two children by her former marriage. Mr.
Camps is an Elk, and also belongs to the Fraternal
Aid Union, and is a member of the Chamber of
Commerce, the Merchants Association and the Santa
Clara County Auto Trade Association.

MARSHAL E. THOMAS.— Coming to Gilroy,
Cal., in October, 1918, after a wide experience in
farming in several other parts of the country. Mar-
shal F, Thomas now makes his home on Foothill
Road, San Martin, and is already closely identified
with the affairs of this fine orchard district, one of
the thriving sections of the Santa Clara Valley. Mr.
Thomas is a native of the Hoosier State, born at
Anderson, Ind., the son of A. W. and Kate (Hill)
Thomas, the latter also a native of Indiana. A. W.
Thomas was a graduate of Harvard College and
was admitted to the bar when a young man, and for
some years was active as a practicing attorney be-
fore coming to Indiana. Both parents trace their
family history to the early days of America. The
eldest son of the family. Marshal E. Thomas was
educated in the public schools of Indiana, removing
with his parents to what is now North Dakota in
1883. Here the father engaged in farming and was
prominent in the affairs of that early day, being
U. S. Government agent and superintendent of the
Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, holding this of-
fice from 1884 to 1894; he was also active in the

political life of the community, being a staunch Re-
publican. He is now living retired at Ashland, Ore.
While living in North Dakota, Marshal E. Thomas
was married to Miss Jennie Smart, the daughter of
Mrs. Carrie Smart, now deceased. In 1909 they re-
moved to Oregon and in 1911 they took up their
residence in Missouri, where Mr. Thomas engaged in
farming. They remained there l)ut one" year, how-
ever, going on to Bartley, Redwillow County, Nebr.,
where Mr. Thomas became extensively interested in
raising fine stock and grain farming on a large scale.
They made their home there until 1918, when the
hire of the Golden State brought them to the Coast.
After a short residence at Gilroy, Mr. Thomas pur-
chased the William Hcrsman place at San Martin in
January, 1919, and removed his family to this fine
twenty-acre ranch, with its comfortable home and
highly developed prune orchard Five children were
born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas: Harold, now a rancher
at home, was in the S. A. T. C. at the L'niversity of
Oregon; William assists on the home ranch; Ray-
mond served in the U. S. Army, being stationed in
Texas; George and Levi are deceased. Mrs. Thomas,
who was born November 13, 1879, passed away at
San Martin, October 27, 1921, and her death, while
just in the prime of v.omanhood, came as a severe
blow to her family and the many friends she had
made during her residence here. For many years a
member of the Modern Woodmen of America, Mr.
Thomas is a Republican in his political preferences.
He is enthusiastic over the possibilities of the Santa
Clara Valley and enters heartily into all movements
for its development.

A. ANDERSON. — An experienced, enterprising
business man whose methods have commended him
to a large clientele is A. Anderson, the proprietor of
the popular transfer, and the dealer in fuel and feed
at 131 Lincoln Avenue, Mayfield. He is a self-made
man, possessed of good sense, and a hard, intelligent
worker, and as such he has been able to establish
himself comfortably in an enviable manner; and
being patriotic, public-spirited, generous, he never
fails to share with others some of the fruits of his
prosperity, and so exemplics tlie model citizen. He
has resided at Mayfield for thirty years and is an ex-
chief of the fire department there. He also served
four years as trustee of tlio city of Mayfield.

Mr. Anderson was born near Stockholm, Sweden,
on November 12, 1872. His father, Anders Person,
died at the age of eighty-nine years on March 7,
1922, but his mother is still living on the old home-
place in the Northland. When fifteen years of age
Mr. Anderson left his old home and landed in New
York City at Castle Garden, coming on to California
to join his older brother, Stephen, who was at May-
field and was working for Governor Stanford on the
Palo Alto ranch. He also was engaged by Stanford,
and he continued on his celebrated stock-farm for
five years. Governor Stanford, as everyone familiar
with the history of those days knows, had noted
running and trotting horses, for which Mr. Ander-
son helped to care, and in one season alone he sold
five horses for half a million dollars.

Mr. Anderson worked around in different placer
mines, spending five years in El Dorado and at
Placer, Cal., and in 1906 he engaged in business in
Mayfield. He knew what the community needed, and
he also knew what the people want — a square 'dealer;

1578

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and he has been successful from the start. He is
influential for good citizenship in Republican circles,
and is a popular member of the Druids.

MANUEL THEODORE AZEVEDO.— As the
president and manager of the American Dairy Com-
pany, one of the model institutions of its kind in
San Jose, Manuel Theodore Azevedo is counted
among the progressive men of the city and county.
He was born in Portugal on October 15, 1870, the
son of Manuel T. and Marianna Genevieve Azevedo,
who were both natives of that country and spent
their entire lives within its confines. Manuel Theo-
dore received his schooling in his native land and, at
the age of seventeen, in 1887, left home for his jour-
ney to America. He arrived in Boston on October
6, and at once began his journey across the conti-
nent to California, going direct to San Mateo, where
he secured work on a dairy and for three years
worked as a ranch hand, at the same time that he
was learning the ways of the American folks. He
was frugal and saved his money, and in 1890 he
leased land and began dairying for himself, spending
in all fourteen years in San Mateo County.

He had met with a fair degree of success in his
ventures, and his ne.xt move was to Napa County,
where he continued his business three years. The
lure of the alfalfa country about Newman, Stanis-
laus County, next drew the young man's attention,
and he moved down there and conducted a dairy
until 1916, when he disposed of his holdings to good
advantage and came to San Jose and bought an in-
terest with Manuel Lewis, and they took over the
old American Dairy delivery and at once organized
the American Dairy Company. As soon as Mr. Aze-
vedo became identified with the concern they pur-
chased the property at the corner of Seventeenth
and East Santa Clara streets and erected suitable
buildings and equipped them with the most modern
and necessary machinery, and on August 1, 1916,
they moved from their old location to the new. The
actual working time spent in erecting and equipping
the plant was forty days. Li 1917 their business was
incorporated and Mr. Lewis became the president.
Eighteen months after they began business Mr. Aze-
vedo disposed of part of his stock in the company
and went to San Francisco and engaged in the hotel
business for two years. Then he came back to San
Jose and bought the controlling interest in his old
company and assumed the entire management, and
ever since there has been a steady growth. As the
business has expanded he has kept adding equipment
from time to time and now has one of the most
sanitary plants to be found in Santa Clara County.
A force of twenty-three people are necessary to carry
on the business and there are five delivery wagons
and five auto trucks used in delivering their prod-
ucts to their customers. Besides their own prod-
ucts the company handles the Isleton butter. Mr.
Azevedo is a stickler for sanitation and cordially in-
vites the public to inspect his model plant.

When Mr. Azevedo married he chose for his wife
Mrs. Emily Belcher, and the event was celebrated
in Oakland. In politics Mr. Azevedo is a stanch
Republican, and fraternally he holds membership in
the Woodmen of the World, the United Ancient
Order of Druids and the Portuguese Fraternis; he
is a live wire in the San Jose Chamber of Commerce
and thi San Jose Progressive Club; and belpngs to

the Catholic Church. He is a loyal American and
during the World War participated in all the drives
for funds. He is honorable in all his dealings and is
well deserving of his success.

ANGELO STURLA.— A worthy representative
of the younger generation of the Italian-Americans,
whose parents were early settlers of Santa Clara
County, is Angelo Sturla, an esteemed citizen of Gil-
roy Township. A native son of California, he was
born at San Ysidro (.Old Gilroy) on August 24,
1883, the son of John Sturla, Sr., a native of Genoa,
Italy; his mother was Louisa Rolari, who came to
America when she was fifteen years old. John
Sturla came to America when he was seventeen
years old and went direct to San Francisco and
joined his father and brother in the vegetable busi-
ness. The first investment in land was near Gilroy,
and by good management and economy, John Sturla
has become well-to-do and the interest he has taken
in the development of the locality in which he re-
sides has made him a prominent citizen of Gilroy.

The eldest of a family of seven children Angelo
attended the public schools until about sixteen years
old; then for the next eleven years helped his father
develop his ranches, and the intelligence and care
exercised in the development of their land has added
greatly to the prosperity of the community. The
marriage of Mr. Sturla united him with Miss Anna
Schmitt, a daughter of Frank Schmitt, a pioneer of
San Ysidro, where Mrs. Sturla was reared and
schooled. They are the parents of three children:
Evelyn Barbara, Leland Frank, and Richard John.
In national politics Mr. Sturla is a Republican; fra-
ternally he is a member of the Improved Order of
Redmen and the Eagles. For twelve consecutive
years he has served on the San Ysidro school board
and his activities have resulted in many improvements,
such as new buildings and improved equipment. He
has also served as judge of the election board of the
San Ysidro district. He is a member of the Cali-
fornia Prune and Apricot Growers' Association and
he owns a fine twenty-five acre orchard set to French
prunes, located on the Holsclaw Road.

ARTHUR J. ROBINSON.— Born in far-ofTf Aus-
tralia, Arthur J. Robinson came to this country when
he was but fourteen years old, so that he has grown
up a loyal and patriotic son of his adopted land. Mr.
Robinson was born in Queensland on November 20,
1889, the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Winnett)
Robinson, the former a native of Ireland. In 1903
he came with his parents to San Martin, Cal.. and
the family located on a ten-acre ranch there. Of
their eleven children three were born in California.

Arthur J. Robinson attended school in the San
Martin district, completing the first year of the high
school course, and then went to work on the home
ranch, helping his father develop it, some of the
acreage being planted to orchard. Henry Robinson
gradually added to his holdings here until at the
time of his death, April 26, 1920, his estate consisted
of fifty acres of fine land to which has been added
thirty acres of vineyard and ten acres of pruties.

In 1913 our subject went to the great grain districts
in Manitoba, Canada, settling near Brandon, and
here he became heavily interested in grain farming.
It was while here that he was united in marriage with
Miss Meryle Callender, a talented young woman,
born and reared in Manitoba, the daughter of Mrs.

I • ^^^^y^^-tJ-O-ZZ^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1581

Charles Callender, who resides at Brandon. Mr.
Robinson's happy married life was of but short dura-
tion, however, as his bride passed away in April,
1920, but a short time after their marriage, and it
was only a few days later that the bereaved husband
was called to California by the news of his father's
serious illness. Despite his hurried trip he arrived
here just after the father had passed away, survived
by his widow -and eleven children, the former now
making her home at Gilroy, while his brother, George
W. Robinson, manages the Robinson estate. Arthur
Robinson has an undivided interest in the Robinson
holdings. A hard worker, capable and enterprising,
he is devoting his time to its development and is
meeting with well-deserved success. He is a mem-
ber of the California Prune and Apricot Association.

JOHN W. RICHMAN.— Among the well-known
and public-spirited ranchers of the Gilroy district,
John W. Richman has become prominent through
progressive and straightforward methods, and his
influence for the betterment of the community is felt
in many ways. He was born in Barbour County,
W. Va., on January 17, 1862, the son of Levi W.
Richman, born in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley,
and the family migrated west in 1873, locating in
Red Willow County, Nebr., in July of that year, and
were pioneer farmers of that state. Levi W. married
Miss Annie Nestor, a native of Barbour County,
W. Va., and they were the parents of eleven chil-
dren, five of whom survive the parents and four of
the five reside in Santa Clara County. In 1876, the
family removed to Frontier County, the father en-
gaged in farming and stockraising; also bought and
sold grain and owned and operated an elevator in
Moorfield. The father preceded his family to Cali-
fornia in 1893, and acquired a tract of land contain-
ing thirty acres, a part of the Catherine Dunne estate
east of Old Gilroy, and continued to live on this
place until he passed away May 31, 1908. He was
a highly esteemed and influential citizen.

John received his education in the schools of Ne-
braska and came to California in 1908. Before leaving
Nebraska, he was married to Miss Clara Craig, who
located in Nebraska in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Richman
are the parents of thirteen children, seven living;
D. L. served ten months in the LT. S. Armv overseas,
is now an enterprising rancher; Annie, is the wife of
Peter Peterson, and they have one child; George H.
assists his father with the ranch work; Mary is the
wife of Anton Taddei and they reside near Rucker;
Minnie is the wife of William N. Buak and they
reside at Watson ville; W. Jefferson is at home;
Charles R. is also at home. The Richman ranch now
contains ninety acres of highly developed orchard,
which is due to the industry and good management
of Mr. Richman and his sons; he also owns eight and
a half acres near Morgan Hill. He has developed a
fine irrigating well on his ranch, by means of which
he irrigates his orchard during the dry seasons, and
has a dehydrator for drying of the immense quanti-
ties of prunes from his orchards.

P. J. MARTIN. — One of the more recent organiza-
tions of the Santa Clara Valley, that is an important
factor to the development of the county is the Walnut
Growers Association, and one of the organizers and
the first president is P. J. Martin, who has devoted
much time and means to walnut growing. A native

of Connecticut, he was born at Naugatuck, August
7, 1858, the son of P. J. and Helen (Molloy) Martin.
The father, who was born in Kings County, Ireland,
learned his trade, that of ship carpenter, in England;
later coming to America, he settled in Connecticut,
at Naugatuck, continuing until he retired.

The youngest of nine children, P. J. Martin, at-
tended the high school of Naugatuck until he was
sixteen; then took up a trade and served an ap-
prenticeship as a moulder with the Tuttle & Whitte-
more Company, two years later removed to Cleve-
land, Ohio, and worked for the Eberhard Manufac-
turing Company, and at the age of twenty he was
placed in charge of the foundry of this company,
and two years later was made superintendent, having
full charge of the plant — the youngest man in charge
of a business of this kind in the United States — and
he continued in this business for several years. He
then removed to Muskegon, Mich., and in associa-
tion with three other men organized the Standard
Malleable Iron Works, Mr. Martin being vice-pres-
ident and treasurer for five years; then removed to
Racine, Wis , and there organized the Lakeside Mal-
leable Iron Works, where as vice-president and gen-
eral manager he remained for two years; thence to
Marion, Ohio, where he reorganized the company
and became the vice-president and genera! manager
of the Marion Malleable Iron Works — President
Harding was a stockholder in the above company.

The marriage of Mr. Martin occurred in Cleve-
land, Ohio, October 31, 1893, and united him with
Miss Anna Josephine Vouwie, the daughter of John
and Elizabeth (Holifman) Vouwie. The Vouwie fam-
ily was of French lineage and the mother w-as of
old Knickerbocker stock. The father was a manu-
facturer in Cleveland 'and one of the pioneer and in-
fluential business men. Mrs. Martin is next to the
youngest child in a family of ten children and at-
tended the public school and the Notre Dame Aca-
demy in Cleveland, from which she was graduated.
Mr. and Mrs. Martin are the parents of three child-
ren: Ralph, educated in the University of Santa Clara
and Stanford University and now associated with
his father in business; Helene, a graduate of the
Notre Dame College and the State Normal School
majoring in music and now supervisor of music at
Pittsburg, Cal.; Anita, who attends the Normal
Training School, San Jose.

In 1911, Mr. Martin sold his interests in Marion,
Ohio, and after visiting various centers in the East
looking for a permanent residence place, he arrived
in California in February, 1912, and three months
later settled in Santa Clara County, and purchased
his present place; his ranch contains fourteen acres
set to walnuts, interplanted with prune trees. Mr.
Martin began the study of walnut culture and mar-
keting and soon saw the necessity of cooperation
in marketing. There being some 2,000 acres in wal-
nuts in the county, and this resulted in the Santa
Clara County Walnut Growers' Association, afiiliated
with the California Walnut Growers' Association
with headquarters in Los Angeles, and Mr. Martin
is a director of the latter organization.

Mrs. Martin had a pleasant experience in social
affairs in Marion, Ohio, where Mrs. Warren G.
Harding was her first caller and a mutual friendship
was formed that has endured ever since. Mr. Mar-
tin gives his support to progressive, constructive

1582

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

legislation, regardless of party lines, and is an active
member of San Jose Council No. 879, Knights of
Columbus, as is his son, Ralph Martin.

WILLIAM N. ECONOMOU.— The far-off land
of Macedonia was the birthplace of William N. Econ-
oniou, where he first saw the light of Smardese, on
November 6, 1892. He is the son of the late Nich-
olas G. and Ellene (Dinken) Economou, both born,
lived and died in Macedonia. The father was a well-
to-do tradesman, owned extensive properties both at
Athens and Macedonia. He died at the age of
forty-five, while the mother passed from this life
when thirty-eight, survived by three children; Wil-
liam N., of this review; Apostolos, who served as
second lieutenant in the Greek army, and Constan-
tina, now attending school in Greece. Owing to the
early death of his parents, William was thrown upon
his own resources at a tender age and for two
years worked in a plaster and cornice decoration
works at Athens, Greece. Hoping to better his con-
dition, in 1907, he came to America and landed in
St. Louis, Mo., in November, where he found work
for a time. In 1912 he came to San Francisco and
soon after opened a cafe, known as the "Old Frisco"
at Polk and Broadway. He met with financial re-
verses and had to go to work for others until 1917.
when he opened a fine eating place in Berkeley, with
a friend for a partner. This was maintained amica-
bly until he enlisted for service in the World War.

It seems quite proper to make mention of the
services rendered the country of his adoption by Wil-
liam N. Economou when the world was rocked by the
World War. When the enrollment of men of suit-
able ages for military service was demanded by our
President, he enlisted on May 5, 1917, at Berkeley;
on April 26, 1918 he was notified to report for im-
mediate service and was sent to Camp Lewis, Wash-
ington, where he was assigned to Company Thirty-
seven, Depot Brigade; on May 25, he was trans-
ferred to Company D, Three Hundred Sixteenth En-
gineers, Ninety-first Division, known as the "Wild
West Division" as it was made up of men from eight
Western States. Aiter months of hard and inten-
sive training at Camp Lewis, orders were at last
received to go East and they were transported across
the continent and on July 6, 1918, embarked for
France. When crossing the Atlantic the boat on
which our subject was a passenger, sighted a Ger-
man submarine and the squadron formed battle for-
mation and had target practice for a few minutes.
The Ninety-first arrived at Liverpool on the 18th
and four days later were at Cherbourg, France. In
order to billet the men they were scattered in half
a dozen villages covering about twenty miles of ter-
ritory. Their intensive training was continued until
they were thrown into their first battle, and having
gone to France to fight, they were elated when that
call came, which was early in September; and on
September 6 they started their march toward the
front. September 12 they reached St. Mihiel front
and were at once ordered in reserve, but they did
not take part in that engagement at the front lines.
But even under shell-fire for three days, they at-
tempted to dry their clothes under cover of the woods
that partly protected them. September 16 they left
St. Mihiel and marched toward the Argonne-Meuse
front, where they achieved fame and glory. On Sep-
tember 19 they were only three miles from the front

line trenches, and when they arrived there they were
welcomed by gas alarms. September 24 Company
D, Three Hundred and Sixteenth Engineers, built
bridges over shell holes in No Man's Land by moon-
light. On September 25 orders came to take their
places in the front line trenches, which ha^ been
held by the French army for the last four years, and
at 2:30 in the morning of the 26th they made their first
move in front of the enemy. The barrage of the
guns from the Germans and the American batteries
was so intense that it seemed as if the whole world
was rocking and that the entire woods confronting
them were on fire with the terrific firing. Need-
less to say that the Ninety-first did its duty to the
last man, accomplished their objective in the face
of the heaviest odds, and after eight days of the
most severe fighting, in which they had 8,000 casual-
ties, were relieved and permitted to rest. Most of
those eight days the men had no warm food, and
only such as they carried or could gather as they
went along; they had no overcoats nor blankets, and
were so worn out with continual fighting that they
often slept standing for the few minutes they had. The
enemy were so firmly entrenched that it took the
most herculanean efforts to destroy his machine gun
nests, but the American forces set out to dislodge
the Germans and they never gave ground, once they
had obtained it, and held every position through the
hardest kind of work. It was at this place that our
subject distinguished himself by saving many of his
comrades who had fallen as they rushed towards
the enemy. This is conceded to be the most severe
fighting that the Americans participated in during
the war.

After resting a few days and filling up their
ranks, the Ninety-first was ordered to join the French
Corps in Belgium. Traveling via Paris and Ypres in
Belgium, they reached their destination and with
scarcely any rest were thrown into the battle on the
main road to Brussels at the crossing of the Ascout
River. Here again the Ninety-first distinguished
themselves and had a very important part in dis-
lodging the Germans from their strong fortifications
across the Ascout River from Audenarde, where it
flowed through the town. Volunteers were called
for to make reconnoissance and Economou was
among the eight men selected and he was the only
man who got through to the German lines, having
reached their divisional headquarters, one mile in-
side their lines. He secured all the information pos-
sible as to conditions confronting the advancing Al-
lied armies and made ready to rejoin his comrades.
The Germans were evacuating the town and at day-
break the rear guard artillery began shelling Auden-
arde, trying to get the spy who held many of their
secrets. So intense was the fire that our subject hid
in tunnels until he heard the last bridge blown up
and then came out of hiding, being surrounded by
Belgians who wanted to see the first American to
reach their town. The crowd drew a German air-
plane, who dropped three bombs near him. killed
some of the civilians, but Economou was safe. As
he made his way out of town he was followed by
artillery fire and it was hours before he reached his
own lines. He took refuge in a building which
was shaken down by the fire, in fact the town was
partly destroyed; at last they dropped a gas shell
and he was overcome for over an hour as he was

a

H ' ''gg%

/2'f/^^^^c>5>''^^';w^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1585

so weak and tired he could not get his mask ad-
justed in time.

He had his information and delivered same to his
officers, and the engineers set out to build bridges
over the river with material he had discovered while
on his reconnaissance. He was ordered to act as
pilot to the ambulances that were ordered into Auden-
arde that same night as he was the only man who
knew the road and it was so dark and stormy he
stood on the running board to safely guide them
through the dangers, and here again he was gassed,
as with his rifle and narrow space he could not get
liis mask on in time. Arriving in the town he had
orders to assemble the wounded and establish a first
aid station in the town, which he did at Hotel Le
X'ille. The Allied armies made twenty-three miles in
three days, continuous fighting all the way, but dis-
lodged the Germans after four days' hard fighting.
The Ninety-first was ordered to rest and later, the
French had taken their places and had lost some
of the ground gained by the Americans, they were
ordered to make their second offensive on November
10. 1918. They regained lost ground and were press-
ing the Germans back when the armistice was signed
and the war was over. For distinguished services
during the two offensives here at Audenarde, Econ-
omou received his decorations — the Croix de Guerre
and the Gilt Star from the French (".overnmcnt. and
the Silver Star and the Victory Medal with three
clasps from the United States Government. With
the Ninety-first. Economou left France, arriving in
San Francisco on April 29, 1919, and was discharged
at the Presidio on May 3.

'Returning to civilian life, Mr. Economou remained
about the Bay district a short time, then came to
Gilroy and bought an interest in the Liberty Grill,
remaining there until in August, 1921, when he sold
out and opened the Victory Cafe at the corner of
Martin and Monterej- streets. Here he has a very
modern establishment and is fast building up a good
and profitable business through his square dealing
with all with whom he comes in contact and he has
already made a place for himself in the community.
He takes an active part in the Gilroy Chamber of
Commerce and the local post of the American Le-
gion; is a Republican in national politics, but in lo-
cal matters believes in supporting the best men. In
religious faith he adheres to the teachings of the
Ortliodox Greek Church.

FRENCH W. LAKE.— A booster whose services
to Santa Clara County are alwaj's highly appreciated
is French W. Lake, the orchardist of Bodfish Road,
near Gilroy. He was born in Brodhead, Green Coun-
ty, Wis., on August 5, 1888, and since his settling in
the Golden State has made good to such an extent
that his own success is the best endorsement of
things Californian. His parents were Jacob and
Lavina (Burdick) Lake, the former a native of Wis-
consin, who was reared in Lafayette County, brought
up on a farm and there .sent to school. He engaged
later in lumbering and in milling, and in 1897 he
migrated to California and settled in Los Angeles.
After a while he conducted a general store at La-
manda Park, and there he also operated a ten-acre
ranch. At the end of three years he returned with
his family to Wisconsin, and when, in 1906, they
again came West, they located at San Jose. Since
then, Mr. Lake has been farming near Saratoga on a
very desirable ranch he acquired by purchase.

French Lake continued his studies at the Poly-
technic College of Engineers at Oakland, from which
he received his degree in 1913; he entered the em-
ploy of the Southern Pacific Railroad and remained
in the Department of Construction, Western Divi-
sion, until 1916, then enlisted in the U. S. Army, at
Oakland, and joined the infantry; and two years
later he received his commission as second lieutenant.

The following year he was made first lieutenant in
the First Engineering Corps, and then he was de-
tailed to service at Washington, D. C. He remained
with the War Department nine months, but at the
first opportunity for foreign service he volunteered,
reaching Antwerp, Belgium, in the fall of 1919.

While at W'ashinglon, Mr. Lake was married to
Miss Gertrude Smith, a daughter of Norwood Smith,
a prominent attorney of Natchitoches, La., represent-
ing the Texas, Louisiana & Pacific Railroad, and at
Natchitoches she was reared and schooled. On ar-
riving abroad he was assigned to Department B,
1st R. R. Op. Engrs., at Coblenz, and he had a won-
derful experience in a foreign land; and his exper-
ience was all the more agreeable because he was
permitted, with the privilege given concerning wives
to other officers, to send for Mrs. Lake. In August,
1920. a baby son was born to them at the romantic
spot on the Rhine, and the little fellow was at once
named I'rench W. Lake, Jr. In IJeceniher of the
same year. Lieut. Lake aske.l fur \us relea,e, and
resigned his post; and on returning to America, and
California, he came into the Santa Clara \'alley and
settled here. Wishing to establish interests for him-
self, he purchased the farm known as the J. P.
Sargent ranch, not far from the Lewis place in the
foothills near Gilroy, and he at once set about the
development of the property, and such has been his
success that in the past year alone he has made won-
derful strides. He is most optimistic about the future
of the ^'alley and he never loses an opportunity to
inspire others with enthusiasm and courage.

W. H. MAIN. — An expert, enterprising and very
progressive leader in the automobile world of Santa
Clara County who has done his part in affording
adequate service to the people of Los Gatos desirous
of getting prompt, first-class and moderate-priced
machine-shop work at home, is W. H. Main, owner
of the "Automotive," one of the best-equipped estab-
lisliments in this part of the state, at Los Gatos, near
which town he was born. On March 8, 1885, he
entered the family of J. M. Main, a well-known
orchardist who died in 1917, the son of pioneers who
came here in very early days; and growing up,
he was married to Miss Emma C. Franklin, the
daughter of the distinguished Major William H.
Franklin. J. M. Main hauled the first quicksilver
obtained from the mountains in this locality, and for
twenty-two years he teamed over the steep moun-
tain grades and was widely known as one of the
ablest of men in his line of activity, thoroughly fami-
liar with routes and knowing every face likely to be
encountered on the way.

W. H. Main joined the other boys at the local
schools, and when old enough to do so, entered the
oil business, working for two and a halt' \ iai> a^ a
driller and a steam engineer for the \\ ,it~(in\ ille
Company, then, for another two and hail \ Lar.-. he
was outside gas engineer for the Fairbanks Morse
concern. In 1905 he went to San Jose, took up auto-
mobile repairing and worked with Al Hall, famed

1586

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

for his association with the Liberty Motor, continu-
ing there for four years. He left San Jose in 1910
and opened the Gem City Garage; but in March,
1914, he sold out and then, for a couple of years, was
in the laundry trade. In 1916 he returned to the
automobile industry and four years later opened his
present place where he employs two men steadily
and which has such a full equipment of machinery
that he is prepared to take care of any job. Being
the pioneer automobile man of Los Gatos, the Main
shop remains the mainstay of the town.

At San Jose, 190S, Mr. Main was married to Miss
Maude E. Cornell of Los Gatos; and their married
life has been rendered happier by four children:
Dorothy. Edna, Barbara, and Rcttie. Mr. Main is
a Mason and a Republican.

ANDRE AZEVEDO.— Dairy interests of Santa
Clara County find an enterprising representative in
Andre Azevedo, who by his practical, progressive and
scientific methods has made the Vendome Ranch one
of the show places in Northern California. He keeps
abreast of the times in every way and his diligence
and determination have brought to him well-deserved
success. He was born on the Isle of St. George, in
the Azores, January 10, 1874, the son of John Mat-
tes and Izabel (Santos) Azevedo. For many years
the father successfully engaged in general farming,
but he is now living retired on that island at the age
of eighty years, and the mother also survives.

Mr. Azevedo is the fourth in a family of thirteen
children and he acquired a fair education' in the pub-
lic schools of his native island, on which he con-
tinued to reside until his seventeenth year, when he
sought his fortune in the United States, six of the
family having already preceded him to this country.
Landing at Boston, Mass., he journeyed to San
Mateo, Cal., and for a season was employed in driv-
ing the horses for a hay press, receiving $1.50 per
day. In October, 1891, he went to Point Reyes, in
Marin County, where he worked for two years, after
which he went to Sausalito, and with his hard-earned
savings purchased a one-eighth interest in the White
Kitt Ranch, near that place. Owing to the general
business depression then existing throughout the
country, he made slow progress and at the end of
twelve years removed his share of the business, con-
sisting of eighty head of stock, to another ranch, be-
coming a partner of Manuel S. Casho, and for five
years they were associated in dairying. Mr. Aze-
vedo then acquired possession of the dairy, which
he later removed to Novato, forming a partnership
with M. T. Freitas, now a retired capitalist of San
Rafael. This relationship continued successfully for
nine years, when the business was sold to Messrs.
Hill & Kilpatrick, its present owners, and while a
resident of Novato Mr. Azevedo was instrumental in
organizing the Novato Bank, of which he remained
a director until recently.

In 1919 Mr. Azevedo came to the Santa Clara
Valley and became one of the owners of the Ven-
dome Dairy, located on the Brokaw Road, north of
San Jose. His business associates are F. S. Soares,
M. A. Silveira and Frank Scamas, all of whom are
prominent residents of San Francisco, and proprie-
tors of the San Francisco Dairy Company. They
lease 420 acres, of which 300 acres are situated near
Alviso, while the 120-acre tract is located on the
Brokaw Road, where Mr. Azevedo resides, and they
are the owners of 300 head of stock. The Vendome

Dairy furnishes employment to eleven men, is mod-
ern, sanitary and well equipped. Mr. Azevedo pos-
sesses that expert knowledge of his occupation which
can come only through long practical experience and
is ably and intelligently conducting the dairy, which
he has made one of the models of its kind in this
section of the state.

On September 25, 1899, Mr. Azevedo was married
to Miss Anna Bettencourt, who came to California
with her brother in 1893, locating at Sausalito. Four
children have been born to them: Manuel, a resident
of San Rafael, married Miss Rosa Matos, of Novato,
by whom he has one child; John, of Sunnyvale, Cal.,
married Mary Machado, the daughter of F. A.
Machado, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in
this volume; Andrew and Eva are attending school.
Mr. Azevedo gives his political allegiance to the Re-
publican party and is a member of the Church of
Five Wounds at East San Jose. He is a charter
member of the Milk Producers Association of San
Francisco, and for the first four years following its
organization was a member of the board of directors.
He is a member of the Ancient Order of Druids and
is also identified with the U. P. E. C, the I. D. S. I.,
of which he is a past officer, and the I. D. E. S., of
Oakland, Cal., of which he is the supreme oflicer.

L. H. SHORE. — One of the prosperous ranchers
of the Mountain View district of Santa Clara County
is L. H. Shore, a representative of a prominent
family of Kings County, Cal., where he still owns an
excellent ranch of 160 acres. He was born in the
rural district near Hanford, June 24, 1874, a son of
John H. and Susan (Hahn) Shore. The father
crossed the plains in an early day and became a
pioneer of Tulare County. He passed away in 1890
and the mother in 1915. They were the parents of
nine children, the subject of this review being the
fourth child. His education was obtained in the
public schools of Hanford, and then he followed in
his father's footsteps, becoming a successful rancher
of Kings County.

The marriage of Mr. Shore occurred at Santa
Clara and united him with Miss Leora Bubb, the
daughter of that worthy pioneer, William Henry
Bubb, who was born in Washington County, Mo..
December 26, 1836, and with his parents crossed the
plains to California in 1850, arriving at Placerville,
September 26, going from there to Fremont, on the
Sacramento River, where they remained three
months; then to Nevada County, afterwards to Dow-
nieville, Yuba County, and finally to Santa Clara
County, locating at Mountain View in 1851. There
in conjunction with his father they followed the
stockraising business until 1855, and in 1857 went to
Fresno and Tulare Counties, started on his own ac-
count and continued there until 1865, when he sold
out and returned to the Santa Clara Valley. Mr.
Bubb became a very extensive farmer of the district,
and besides owning a ranch of 150 acres, he owned
a half-interest in the large warehouses at Mountain
View. On October 16, 1867, at Mountain View, he
was married to Miss Susan Farrar and of their
family of children only two are living, Mrs. L. H.
Shore and Mrs. Louise Adams, the wife of Charles
E. Adams, of San Jose. William Henry Bubb
passed away at his home forty years ago, the mother
surviving until 1913.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1587

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Shore farmed in
Kings County for five years; then they moved back
to the old Bubb homestead where they have Hved
ever since. They have improved their place and
keep it in a high state of cultivation. Mrs. Shore
represents a type of energy no less forceful than
that of her father, and through hard work and care
the old homeplace has been kept in excellent repair
and is one of the most comfortable of the old-time
houses in the Santa Clara Valley. The fine drives,
well-kept yards, family orchard, family garden, the
fine old live oaks, eucalyptus and other kinds of
trees, which were planted by her father, and are now
gigantic and imposing in their beauty.

GEORGE R. LEWIS.— Among the wide-awake,
far-seeing and capable business men, who are respon-
sible for the permanency of the buildings and resi-
dences of Los Gates, is George R. Lewis, the owner
of the oldest plumbing and tining establishment in
Los Gatos. A native of Burlington, Iowa, he was
born August 22, 1869, and is the son of Osmar and
Jennie E. (Gibson) Lewis; the father now resides in
Oakland. George R. attended the public schools of
his native city and then attended Doane College at
Crete, Nebr. In 1886 he came to California and
located at Los Gatos, and in the following year pur-
chased the business of Perkins & Son. In 1897 Os-
mar Lewis disposed of his grocerj^ business and
joined his son in the plumbing business. The father
is now retired, but the business is still known under
the firm name of Lewis & Son. Many of the best
business blocks, the high school and many of the
principal residences attest the splendid character of
Mr. Lewis' workmanship.

The marriage of Mr. Lewis united him with Miss
Maud Salisbury of Thompson, Pa., and they have
two children, Alfred O. and Howard S. Mr. Lewis
was a member of the board of trustees of Los Gatos
for four years and gave his best eflorts to improve
the city; during this time the Carnegie Library was
provided for and the erection of the building begun.
He has served his community as a member of the
board of school trustees for thirteen years and dur-
ing the entire time was secretary of the board He
is a member of Ridgely Lodge No. 294, I. O. O. F.,
and served as secretary for four years, and is also a
past grand. For twenty-six years Mr. Lewis has
served as superintendent of the Presbyterian Sunday-
school. Keenly interested in all matters that pertain
to the progress and prosperity of California, he is
an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and
takes a good citizen's part in all civic matters.

WILL GEORGE LIDLEY.— Los Gatos, now rec-
ognized as one of the most progressive and most
promising of towns in Santa Clara County, is fortun-
ate in having, among her well-equipped and well-
managed business houses, an excellent pharmacy, of
which Will George Lidley, one of the popular of
professional men in the Valley, is proprietor. He
was born at Kansas City, Kans., on January 7, 189L
the son of John Lidley, an expert mechanic, who had
married Miss Freda Liapple. The family came to
San Francisco in 1907, and there Mrs. Lidley, beloved
by a wide circle of appreciating friends, breathed her
last, survived by her husband.

Will G. Lidley enjoyed the advantages of both the
grammar and the high schools of Kansas, and in

that state and in San Francisco obtained his phar-
maceutical training. He came to Los Gatos as man-
ager of Wulzen's Drug Store, at that time a branch
of a concern with which Mr. Lidley had been as-
sociated in San Francisco, and he continued to man-
age the business for three years. Then, in 1919, he
purchased the establishment, and since then he has
directed his efforts toward making it the leading
drug store in Los Gatos and one of the best stores
of the kind and size in Santa Clara County. He has
been president of the Chamber of Commerce of Los
Gatos for the past three years and also served as
president of the Merchants' Association for a year;
these responsibilities speak for themselves.

At San Francisco, in 1917, Mr. Lidley was married
to Miss Blanche Arnold of San F'rancisco, a lady of
accomplishment deeply interested — as he is — in both
the present and the future of Los Gatos. Mr. Lidley
belongs to the Elks and the Woodmen of the World.

VINCENT B. STONE.— One of the well-known
painting contractors of San Jose and Santa Clara
County is Vincent B. Stone, of San Jose. He has
been identified in this line of work for many years
and is now located at 22 Colfax Street and conducts
business under the firm name of Stone & Curry
Company. He was born at Topcka, Kan., on July 3,
1886, the son of Alonzo and Mary (Burton) Stone,
the latter dying when Vincent was a child. The
father reared him, doing the best he could at all
times and giving him every advantage possible. He
is now residing on a farm near Pittsburg, Kansas.

Vincent attended the public schools of Cherryvale,
Kans., and being ambitious, studied at night school,
and later in a technical school, where he took up the
work of a draftsman. When he was only twelve he
had started to learn the painter's trade, and this call-
ing has engaged his entire time and attention ever
since, with the exception of two years he spent as a
salesman In 1907 he located in San Francisco and
was employed on many of the buildings erected there
until he came to San Jose in 1919. Arriving here on
April IS. he organized the firm of Stone & Curry
CoiTipany and has since been doing the leading con-
tracting business in his lines in this county, and has
executed contracts for many of the leading residents
of both city and country, and the leading business
concerns, among them the Carl Horn Dancing Acad-
emy; Dreamland Dancing Pavillion; La Molle
House; Swedish Lutheran Church; Lewis Building;
Congregational Church; Elks Hall. All of the As-
sociated Oil Company's stations from San Mateo to
Gilroy; the Cooperative Cannery; the A. J. Hart,
Dr. Dorothea Lee, and V. T. McCurdy residences,
and the McCoy and Allen apartment houses.

The marriage of Vincent B. Stone united him with
Miss Mildren Egan, a native of California and
daughter of William and Lena (Mitchell) Egan. The
Mitchells, WiUiam and Elizabeth (Gray) Mitchell,
were pioneers and the latter, still living, is a native
daughter. Her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Gray, is also
alive and a resident of San Jose, hale and hearty at
the age of eighty-six. Mr. and Mrs. Stone have two
children, Florence and Herbert. He is a Mason,
active on the coaching committee; an Elk and mem-
ber of the Chamber of Commerce, and is a Repub-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

licau and a Methodist. He is always ready to lielp
any movement for building up the city and county,
and is a successful man.

CHARLES O.' DEAN. — Varied experiences and
associations, with diversified occupations, have given
to Charles O. Dean a broad knowledge of the great
West, and have deepened in his mind a conviction
that Santa Clara County offers, to energetic settlers
with keen business judgment, opportunities unsur-
passed by any other section of the great empire
by the sunset sea. He was born in New Salem,
Armstrong County, Pa., on December 8, 1877, the
son of Calvin W. and Amanda (Lankard) Dean, both
natives of Pennsylvania. Calvin Dean was an engi-
neer and is now a resident of Los Angeles.

Charles Dean received a good education, having
attended the public schools of Pennsylvania. After
his school days were over he took up structural en-
gineering with the American Bridge Company, re-
maining with them for several years constructing
bridges and buildings. He came to California in
January, 1907, and located at San Francisco, where
he was superintendent of construction of steel build-
ings for three years; then began his career as a
contractor of steel structures, in which he made a
splendid record, his building operations extending
from San Francisco to Prince Rupert, B. C; and
at the latter place he constructed a 20,000 ton float-
ing dry dock, the largest dry dock in the world.
Among some of the Class A buildings in San Fran-
cisco of which he was the contractor of steel con-
struction, are the First National Bank, Mills Build-
ing, Mechanics Institute, Commercial Building,
Richelieu Hotel, the Alcazar, Columbia and Cali-
fornia theaters; he rebuilt the steel work for the
new Emporium and later did the steel work for
the addition to the Emporium. He also did many
other buildings, in fact twenty-four Class A build-
ings in the city, probably having more Class A
buildings to his credit than any other contractor on
the Pacific Coast.

In 1917 he came to Santa Clara County and
bought a sixty-acre ranch east of San Jose and after
improving it and building a good, substantial resi-
dence on the place, he sold it and purchased a
twenty-acre orchard on Williams Road, which he
also sold at a profit, and then bought another place
near by which he turned at a profit and then pur-
chased his present place of twenty-three acres on
the Santa Clara-Los Gatos Road where he resides
with his family. This orchard is full bearing and
devoted to raising cherries, apricots and prunes. Mr.
Dean is the local distributor of the Cletrac tractor
with offices and show rooms at 269 West Santa
Clara Street, and in connection has a complete serv-
ice department. His territory includes the best por-
tion of Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo coun-
ties, and he also carries a line of agricultural im-
plements to go with his tractor, among them the
Knapp disk plow, Oliver mold board plow and the
McAdam disk harrow.

In Butler, Pa., Mr. Dean was first married to
Miss Myrtle Covert, who passed away leaving two
children, Raymond and Richard. Mr. Dean's sec-
ond marriage occurred at San Jose, when he was
united with Miss Mattie E. Sheffer, a native daugh-
ter of Santa Clara County, born at Lexington, whose
parents were pioneers of the county. Mr. Dean is

considered among the most enterprising, capable and
resourceful men of his county, and he is the type
of citizen whose presence in San Jose has been most
helpful to the permanent welfare of the county. He
is a Mason of the Royal Arch degree, as well as
a member of the Sciots and of the Maccabees. In
national politics he is a stanch adherent of the
Republican party and is a metnber of the Chamber
of Commerce, taking an active part in advancing
the commercial importance and prestige of the county.

MRS. MADELINE STRALLA.— Born in the

province of Cuneo, Italy. Mrs. Madeline Stralla is
the daughter of Judge Antonio Pirra, who was born
in Nissa, France, of an old French family. He was
a prominent attorney-at-law and served as judge at
Leqnio, Tonaro, for thirty-six years until the time
of his death. He was a splendid man and left a most
excellent record, his memory being still revered by
the citizens of his district. Mrs. Stralla's mother was
Catherine Abona, who was also born in the province
of Cuneo and comes of an old and distinguished
Italian family who were wealthy land owners. Her
uncle, Capt. Carl Abona, was captain in the Italian
army until his death. In his youth he studied for the
priesthood but went to war, serving in the War with
Austria in 1848, being twice wounded. Mrs. Stralla's
mother was a well educated and cultured woman,
loved by all who knew her. She died at the age of
forty-two years leaving two children, Madeline and
her sister Marina who still resides in Italy.

Madeline Pirra received a good education in the
schools of Lequio, residing with her father, her
mother having died when she was only eleven years
old. In 1894 she was married to Louis Cornero, a
native of Italy, but of Spanish descent. He was the
owner of a good farm and after their marriage they
engaged in agriculture, horticulture and viticulture.
They were well situated but came to California the
result of a dare which was accepted and carried out.
Leasing their lands and residence they came to
Santa Clara County. Mr. Cornero was employed
at Los Gatos when he was accidently killed by a live
electric wire on January 14, 1908. A year later his
widow moved to San Francisco and engaged in busi-
ness. In San Jose, January, 1911, she w^as married
a second time, being united with Giacomo Stralla,
who was born in the same part of Italy. They were
proprietors of the Monviso Restaurant, 2124 Polk
Street, San Francisco, continuing for five years, when
they sold out. In 1901 she located in Los Gatos and
soon afterwards she bought out Ripkins Bakery and
established the American-French Bakery. It was a
small affair, but she remodeled and enlarged it and
installed up-to-date machinery. By the use of two
auto delivery wagons, bread and pastry is delivered
all over the adjoining country.

By her. union with Mr. Cornero she was the
iTiother of six children: Catherine; Antoniette, Mrs.
North of San Francisco; Frank; Antonio; Louis, and
Esther. Mrs. Stralla still owns her father's old farm
and residence in Lequio, Italy, where he held his
court and where she was born and spent her youth.
She is a member of the Catholic Church in Los
Gatos and is an American citizen, enjoying her fran-
chise as a Republican.

^yiLi^ .S^^i^M-.^.^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1591

ANGELO BERTELLI.— One of the most pro-
gressive and well-known young business men of San
Jose is Angelo Bertelli, who has been a resident of
this city for several years. He was born in Milano,
Italy, June 4, 1886, the son of Giovanni and Ccciha
(.Negri) BerteUi, both natives of Italy, the father
being a merchant in his native country. Angelo re-
ceived his education in the schools of Milano, and
having early determined on the line of work he
wished to follovi' throughout his life, when but six-
teen years old he took up the trade of a mechanic
and for about ten years followed this line. In 1913
he decided to leave his native land, and on arriving
in America he went on to Evanston, 111., and later,
with the small capital he possessed he opened up a
garage, known as the Dempster Street Garage, and
in connection therewith he had a large storage and
general repair shop, employing twelve men. He was
meeting with much success, when the severe cold,
which made serious inroads on his health, made it
necessary for him to seek a warmer climate. He dis-
posed of his business and came to California in 1916,
and for five months was proprietor of a garage in
Dixon, Solano Count3-. When the garage was sold,
he came to San Jose, arriving here January 1, 1917.
He found the wagon shop at Market and Pierce
streets for sale, with the rent only twenty-five dollars
a month, so he bought it for $750 and took over the
lease. .Later he sold out the stock and made a profit
of $3800, besides retaining some of the tools and ma-
chines, and then opened up a garage which he called
the San Jose Auto Repair Shop, and also engaged in
the buying, selling and exchanging of machines. His
business soon assumed large proportions and he took
in a partner, Peter Figone, continuing under the
same name. Both vi'orked early and late and their
patrons soon learned the value of their services, find-
ing that they could always find Mr. Bertelli on hand
to attend to their wants immediately. He took over
the agency of the Texan and the Loraine automobiles
and then bought the property, 186 by 192 feet.

In 1919 Mr. Bertelli took the agency for the Moon
automobile and dropped his other agencies to give all
of his time to distributing the Moon car over North-
ern California, changing the name of the business
to the Moon Automobile Company of San Jose, Ber-
telli & Figone, owners. In 1920 he opened a large
show room in San Francisco at 1125 Van Ness
Avenue, but finding that the two places took too
much of his time, he sold the San Francisco agency
in 1921, keeping the si,x counties of San Mateo, Santa
Clara, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San
Luis Obispo, having seven sub-dealers in these coun-
ties, with service stations for the Moon car. In the
meantime business had grown so that it was neces-
sary to have larger quarters, so he rented his place
and bought the Locurto Motor Company. Here he
has a modern, up-to-date plant, equipped with electric
power, completely fitted for service and battery work
of all kinds, and with a fine display room for all
types of Moon cars. He is also the owner of other
valuable property in San Jose.

On September 22, 1914, Mr. Bertelli was married
to Miss Naomi Berttolani, a native of Lucca, Italy,
and the daughter of Attilio and Ersiglia Berttolani.
One daughter has been born to them. Elsie. Mr.

Bertelli is a member of the Italian-American Club
and of the California Auto Trades Association. In
politics he is a Republican.

LUCIAN M. BEALL.— Among those who are
contributing to the conmiercial development of
Campbell through the capable management of their
business interests is numbered Lucian M. Beall, pro-
prietor of the leading drug store in the town. A
native of Michigan, he was born in May, 1859, and
his parents, S. N. and Celesta J. (Harrington) Beall,
are both deceased. In the acquirement of an educa-
tion he attended the grammar and high schools of
Michigan and in 1896 came to Campbell but did not
take up his permanent residence in the town at that
time, going to Los Gatos, where he remained for
eight years. For thirty-seven years he has been en-
gaged in the drug business, having been connected
therewith previous to coming to California in 1895.
On July 5, 1900, he was graduated from the College
of Physicians and Surgeons at San Francisco, re-
ceiving the first certificate as a registered pharmacist
ever issued by that institution and being offered a
chair therein, but did not accept. In May, 1914. he
purchased a drug store in Campbell and this he has
since successfully conducted, broad experience having
given him an expert knowledge of the business, and
his reliability in filling prescriptions, combined with
his reasonable prices and courteous treatment of
patrons, have won for him a large trade.

Mr. Beall was united in marriage to Miss Cora
Miner, also a native of Michigan, and they are well
and favorably known in Campbell, where they have
many friends. In his political views Mr. Beall is a
Republican and a Knights Templar Mason. In the
management of his business affairs he has been pro-
gressive, energetic and capable and in the discharge
of his duties as a citizen he has at all times been
actuated by a regard for the public welfare.

CARL A. JOHANSON.— A resident of California
for over forty years. Carl A. Johanson, who is famil-
iarly called by his many friends Carl Grant, was
born near Gothenburg, Sweden, August 12, 1849,
where he was reared on his father's farm and re-
ceived a good education in the public schools of his
locality. When twenty years of age he went to sea.
After being in the coasting trade for a while he came
around Cape Horn to San Francisco in 1874. The
vessel was out 144 days and ran out of vegetables
and he suffered great hardship. After arriving in
California he followed the coasting trade for several
years until he quit the sea and went to Gilroy Hot
Springs where he was employed for five years, after
which he came to San Jose in the employ of Thomas
S. Montgomery, manager of the Phelan property in
San Jose, having charge of the Martin Block and
the Phelan Building for several years. Resigning he
located at Wrights, where he was proprietor of
Wright's Station Hotel for two years. He then pur-
chased the present ranch of thirty acres where he
built his home and has made his residence with his
family ever since. He cleared the land and set out
a vineyard of Tokays which is well cared for. For
years he has been engaged in hauling fruit from the
ranches to Wrights and now has a two-ton truck for
that purpose. Aside from his farming he has been
the roadmastcr of his district for over thirty years.

1592

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

seeing that the roads are kept in good condition, a
matter in which he has had much valuable experi-
ence.

At Wrights, October 14, 1894, Mr. Johanson was
married to Miss Bertha Kuhn, who was born in St.
Louis, Mo., coming here with her parents. George
and Kate (Faber) Kuhn, when she was in her first
year. Her father was a tailor and he died at
Wrights, June 24, 1894, fifty-three years old. Her
mother now lives in Redwood City, aged seventy-six
years. Mr. and Mrs. Johanson have five children:
Carl August, Jr., served twenty-one months in the
U. S. Army, and fifteen months of the time overseas;
he is now at McKittrick; Herman is in Watsonville;
Josephine is in San Francisco; Edward is assisting
his father; Jack is attending Los Gatos high school.
Carl Johanson is a Repubhcan and fraternally is a
member of Ridgely Lodge, L O. O. F.. No. 294.

GEORGE C. WELTZ.— A native son of Santa
Clara County George C. Weltz was born near Alma,
July 28, 1891. His father, Xavier, a native of Alsace,
France, came to New York, and made his way
across the continent to California. After working
for some years in San Francisco, he located in Santa
Clara County, and since then has been a farmer in
the Santa Cruz Mountains. He was inarried in Cali-
fornia to Miss Louise Buron, a native of San Fran-
cisco, of whom he was bereaved a few years ago.
They were the parents of twelve children. George
C, the third oldest, received his education in the pub-
lic schools of his district. When seventeen years of
age he began his apprenticeship under Charles H.
Pierce, but later went to San Francisco, where he
worked at his trade for fourteen months and then
returned to Alma and worked for H. O. Smith as
blacksmith; later he worked at his trade in Gilroy
for C. H. Pierce, who had moved there from Alma.
During the World War he was rejected for service
in the army on account of physical disability, so he
went to work in the shipyards at Baypoint on the
building of transports, continuing until July 20, 1919,
when he returned to Alma and purchased the black-
smith shop at that place. In October, 1921, he built
the present shop on the State Highway, at Lexing-
ton, where he is engaged in general blacksmithing.
Mr. Weltz was married at Alma to Miss Irene
Van Loane, who was born at Ukiah; her father,
George T. Van Loane, now resides in Alma. Mr.
Weltz is a member of the Woodmen of the World,
the Los Gatos Lodge of Odd Fellows, and with his
wife belongs to the Rebckahs.

BERTEL BERTELSEN.— A native of Den-
mark Bertel Bertelsen was born in Holstebro, Jut-
land, February 5, 1883, a son of Jens and Marie
(Fulg) Bertelsen, who reside on the farm in Den-
mark. Bertel was the third oldest of their eight liv-
ing children and after completing the excellent
schools, for which Denmark is famed, he apprenticed
as a blacksmith in his native place for three and a
half years, after which he followed his trade in dif-
ferent parts of Denmark until twenty-three years of
age, when he entered the Third Company, Fourth
Regiment, of the Danish Army, serving the required
time and received his honorable discharge. After
this he engaged in blacksmithing on his own account
for a while, until he concluded to locate in California.

Selling out his belongings he arrived in the Golden
State in March, 1913, and worked at his trade in
Davis for four months. Locating in Los Gatos in
July, 1913, and in 1915 purchasing an interest in a
shop in Los Gatos, he sold out six months later and
located in Saratoga on February 9, 1916, buying out
Wilson's blacksmith shop. He continues the busi-
ness of general blacksmithing and horseshoeing, his
place being equipped with power drills, lathes, etc.

Mr. Bertelsen was married in San Jose to Miss
Laura Jorgensen, who was born in this city, a daugh-
ter of P. T. Jorgensen, a pioneer contractor and
builder in San Jose. They are the parents of one
child, Viola May. Mr. Bertelsen is a member of the
American Order of Foresters, the Saratoga Lodge of
Odd Fellows, and with his wife is a member of the
Rebekahs. He is also a member of the Saratoga
Improvement Club, and is past president of the San
Jose Lodge of Dania.

JOAQUIN J. PASHOTE.— A member of the
firm of Pashote Bros, of Milpitas, Joaquin J. Pashote
is identified with the commercial and social life at
Milpitas. Pashote Bros, own several business inter-
ests and houses in Milipitas and operate a store, auto
truck business, restaurant, ice-cream parlor and meat
market. At present the firm is composed of Joseph,
Frank and Joaquin J. Pashote and their mother, Mrs.
Marian Pashote. Joaquin J. Pashote was born at
Irvington, Cal., September 29, 1887, a son of the late
Joseph Pashote, who was born on the Island of
Fayal, in the Azores, and came as a young man to
California, where he became a farmer and crchardist.
He was married at San Leandro to Miss Marian
Prairie, who was likewise a native of Fayal. Through
frugality and industry they prospered, devoting their
attention to farming, stockraising and horticulture.

Tlie Pashotes' advent to Milipitas dates back to
1908, when the father came here and bought the
property which comprised a store and barber shop,
and placed his sons in charge of the various business
affairs, while he himself went back to his farm and
orchard. In 1909. a disastrous fire burned them out,
but their present enlarged premises were soon built.
The father located in Milpitas in 1912, but died the
year following at the age of fifty-four. To the par-
ents were born eight children: Joseph, who runs the
ice-cream parlor and restaurant at Milpitas; Lena,
who is the wife of J. R. Carlo, a merchant at Mil-
pitas; Frank, who is in charge of Pashote Bros.'
store and auto truck business in Milpitas, also helps
run the restaurant; Manuel is a barber in San Jose;
Joaquin James has charge of the meat-market inter-
ests of said firm at Milpitas; Tony, who was inter-
ested in the auto truck and restaurant business and a
member of Pashote Bros., died at Milpitas in Feb-
ruary, 1922, leaving a widow, whose maiden name was
Eva Dingham, and two children, Albert and Clarence;
Mary is the wife of Joe S. Nunes. who helps run the
meat market; Johnny Edward died in France; he was
wounded in the Battle of Argonne Forest and died
two weeks later.

Joaquin J. Pashote was married at Milpitas in 1911
to Miss Augusta McNamara, a daughter of Jeremiah
McNamara of San Jose. They have three children:
Edward Joseph, Dorothy Marie and Gertrude Marga-
ret. Mr. Pashote is a member of the W. O. W. and
of the Catholic Church. He is a deputy sheriff of

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1595

Santa Clara County and a member of the board of
trustees of the Milpitas schools. Active and popular,
he did much to make a splendid success of the Fourth
of July celebration at Milpitas in 1922, as head of the
barbecue and riding committee, 21C0 pounds of choice
beef being barbecued.

JOSEPH A. CHARGIN.— A patriotic American
whose associations from birth, leading him to look
back with fondness toward the Old World and for-
ward with eagerness and faith toward the land of
his adoption, have made him much interested in the
welfare of foreigners, is Joseph A. Chargin, of San
Jose, who was born in Mirca Brae, Dalmatia, Jugo-
slavia, on April 10, 1863, the son of Anthony and
Frances (Lebedina) Chargin, vineyardists in Dalmatia.
He was educated in part in his native country, and
continued his studies in America, at night schools
and through private teachers. In 1881, he first came
to California, and for a while he was active in Ama-
dor County. Then he removed to San Jose, but not
until he had tried restaurant management in San
Francisco, and somewhat similar work in Hollister.
For a quarter of a century he has been in San Jose,
and he is probably the oldest merchant in his line
here, and Chargin's Grill, through his enterprise and
affability became one of the most popular restaurants
in the city. However, catering was not the limit
of his' capabilities, for Mr. Chargin had become in-
terested ill horticulture and owned several ranches,
which began to take so much of his time that in 1920
he turned the management of Chargin's Grill over to
his brother Jeremiah, so as to give all of his time
lo the management and development of his orchards
;n which he is ably assisted by his sons. Associated
with his sons he owns thirty acres in Evergreen dis-
trict devoted to raising prunes and apricots and with
h'.s son-in-law, another ranch of twenty-four acres in
the Quito district, where he grows prunes, and with
his brother Jeremiah, he owns still another eleven
acres a short distance south of Morgan Hill, devoted
to walnuts and prunes. Mr. Chargin is a member
of the California Prune and Apricot Growers Asso-
ciation in which he has taken an active and prominent
part, not alone for himself, but particularly on ac-
count of the solicitation of his Jugo-Slav friends, who
insist on his acting as trustee to look after their inter-
ests. This trusteeship is for seven years. Mr. Char-
pin is also a member of the California Walnut Growers
Association as well as the Cherry Growers Association
of California. He was one of the organizers and has
been a director of the Growers Bank of San Jose
since its incorporation, and is also interested in other
financial and manufacturing establishments

In 1890 Mr. Chargin was married at Plymouth,
Cal., to Miss Josephine Smith of Amador County.
A daughter, Frances, is a graduate of both the San
Jose Normal and Notre Dame College and is now the
wife of Dr. W. H. Lawrence of San Jose; Victor A.,
a graduate of Santa Clara University is an attorney-
at-law practicing in this city; Joseph A., Jr., is also
a graduate of Santa Clara University as a civil
engineer. He was with the county surveyor and
during the World War was commissioned a first
lieutenant in the V. S. Army and served overseas for
two years. He is now engaged in ranching; Law-
rence J., a graduate of Santa Clara I'niversity, is now
engaged as a horticulturist here; the younger mem-
bers of the family are Madeline J., Gerald J., Maryon

and John M., Maryon passing away at the age of
e:ght years. Mr. Chargin resides with his family at
his comfortable residence, 167 Vine Street, and they
attend St. Joseph's Catholic Church. He belongs to
several fraternal orders and civic organizations and
was for several years president of the Slavonian-
.\merican Benevolent Society. He is a Democrat in
national politics.

HARRY ULYSSES BALL.— Among the old and
highly respected residents of Los Gatos is numbered
Harry Ulysses Ball, the pioneer blacksmith of the
town, who has made his home in Los Gatos for a
period of forty-six years. A native of Portsmouth,
Ohio, he was born April 10, 1844, a son of Orlando
Ball, whose demise occurred in the Buckeye state.
His education was acquired in the public schools of
Ohio, and on starting out in the business world he
served an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade
in Portsmouth, which he followed in that state for
four years. In 1863 he started for the West, drove
a mule team across the plains and first located in
Salt Lake City. Utah, where he remained for one
and a half years in the employ of Ben Holliday on
his various stage lines in Utah. Ten years w-ere
spent in Idaho as a horseshoer, and he then came
to California, arriving in Los Gatos in 1876. For six
years he was employed by Mr. Seanor, whose black-
smith shop he purchased at the end of that time, at
first having a partner in the enterprise, but is now
conducting the business independently, being the
pioneer in this line of activity in Los Gatos. He now
owns his shop and building on Main Street. He is
an expert farrier and blacksmith and the superior
quality of his work, combined with his well known
reliability in all business transactions, has won for
him a large share of public patronage.

Mr. Ball was united in marriage to Miss Sarah
Jenkins, a native of Canada, who passed away in
1911. In his political views he is a progressive Re-
publican, supporting the platform of that party where
national issues are at stake, but at local elections he
votes for the candidate whoin he regards as best
fitted for office. He has never dissipated his en-
ergies over a broad field but has continued in the
line of work in which he first engaged, and his pres-
ent success is largely attributable to this fact. In
business circles of Los Gatos his standing is of the
highest and as a citizen he is loyal, progressive and
public-spirited, his upright life having won for him
the unqualified esteem of a large circle of friends.

GEORGE RAGGIO.— A native son of California
and a member of one of the old families of San Jose,
George Raggio is numbered among the leading busi-
ness men of the city, being well known as a cement
contractor, in which connection he has built up a
large business. He was born on Twelfth (now Thir-
teenth) Street, San Jose, September IS, 1876, a son
of Antone and Mary Raggio, who reared a family of
seven children, three sons and four daughters. The
father was a native of Italy and by his first marriage,
which occurred in that country, he had two children.
As a young man. in the early '50s, he emigrated to
the United States, and making his way to California,
he settled in Tuolumne County, where for a few
years he was employed in the mines. He then came
to San Jose in about 1867 and purchased property on
what was then Twelfth Street but has now become
Thirteenth Street. He became a successful horticul-

1596

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

turist, purchasing tvvciity-onc acres of laud on the
Northern Road, which he devoted to the raising of
fruit, developing one of the finest orchards in this
section of the state. He passed away when fifty-four
years of age, but the mother survives and is now-
residing at 151 North Thirteenth Street, just across
the street from the old family homestead. With the
growth of the city the property has increased in value
and it has been divided into lots by the Rucker
Realty Company, constituting one of the attractive
residential sections of San Jose.

George Raggio attended the public schools of his
native city till the age of sixteen years. However,
during vacations, as early as twelve years, he secured
the position of water boy with a cement crew, thus
gaining his initial experience in a line of business
which he has since continued to follow. When six-
teen years old he began working for Brookbanks &
Kelley, pioneer cement contractors, and continued
with them for many years. His ready adaptability
and close application soon won him promotion, and
before he had reached the age of eighteen he was
made foreman of a crew of men. Through industry
and economy he accumulated sufficient capital to
establish a business of his own, and he now ranks
with the leading cement contractors of San Jose.
Owing to the excellence of his work and his straight-
forward, reliable dealing, he has been aw-arded many
important contracts, among which may be mentioned
the cement work on the Montgomery Hotel, the
Twohy Building, the Y. M. C. A. Building, the Alum
Rock Bath House, the hall for the Independent Order
of Odd Fellow^s and the Hall of Records Building.

In San Jose, November, 1901, Mr. Raggio was
married to Miss Jennie Corotto, who was born near
Hollister, Cal. Her parents were pioneers of San
Benito County but now reside in San Jose. Mr. and
Mrs. Raggio have become the parents of a daughter,
Genevieve, who is attending the San Jose High School.
The family reside in a fine home at 139 North Thir-
teenth Street. For recreation Mr. Raggio turns to
hunting, trapping and fishing, going to the Sierras
on hunting and fishing expeditions, both all over
California and into Oregon each year and is very
successful in securing lots of game and fish. He is a
Republican in his political views and for many years
he has been a prominent meinber of the San Jose
Builders Exchange. He has thoroughly identified
his interests with those of the city in which his
entire life has been spent and his progressiveness has
been a potent element in its upbuilding.

PICCHETTI BROTHERS.— Ranchers on the

Montebello Road. Anton and John Picchetti or Pic-
chetti Bros, arc successful horticulturists and viticul-
turists. They were both born in San Jose, Anton on
April 15, 1884, and John on September 12, 1886.
Their father, Vincent Picchetti, was born in Novara,
Italy, and came to California when a young man in
the early days, locating in Santa Clara County, where
he followed dairying for a while until he became
foreman of the Villa Marie for the Jesuit Fathers,
and while there he purchased 160 acres on the Monte-
bello Road, the nucleus of the present Picchetti
Ranch. He made a trip back to his old home in Italy
and there married Theresa Chicoletti and immediate-
ly brought his bride to Santa Clara County. Locating

on his ranch he began clearing and improving it,
setting out vineyard and orchards and built a winery,
adding to it from time to time until it comprises 500
acres; about half of the acreage is in orchard and the
balance is vineyard and grain land. He had com-
pleted a new residence, with everything well improved
when he was called by death in 1904 at the age of
fifty-six years; his widow now makes her home in
San Jose. She was the mother of five children, four
of whom grew to maturity: Anton and John of Pic-
chetti Bros., operating the Picchetti Ranch, and At-
tillio and Hector, engaged in the automobile business
in San Jose.

Anton and John Picchetti, after completing the
schools in their home district, entered the San Jose
Business College where they were graduated after
which they returned to the ranch and actively as-
sisted their father until his death, when they took up
the management of the ranch, continuing the im-
provements, clearing more land and setting out fruit
trees, mostly prunes and apricots. Anton was mar-
ried to Miss Anita Pecchorini, and they have two
children. Hector and Virgil. He is a member of the
N. S. G. W. John was married first to Emma
Grosetti, who died leaving one child, Alda. He was
married the second time to Miss Josephine Prattini.
Politically they are firm believers in protection for
Americans, and are stanch Republicans.

JOSEPH C. PROVENZANC— Among the many
desirable citizens whom Italy has contributed to
California is Joseph C. Provenzano, who dates his
residence in San Jose from 1907. He has built up a
large business as a plasterer contractor during the
intervening period of fourteen years, owing to his
thorough knowledge of the trade and known relia-
bility. His birth occurred at Corleone, in the prov-
ince of Palermo, Italy, on December 9, 1880, his par-
ents being Mariano and Frances Pauline (Corti-
meglia) Provenzano, the former a contractor.

In the grammar and high schools of Corleone,
Joseph C. Provenzano pursued his education, later
completing an engineering course, but he has never
followed that profession. When seventeen years of
age he left his native land, arriving in New York City
with one Italian penny in his pocket. He possessed
the confidence in the future characteristic of those
who are just starting out on life's journey, and, after
serving an apprenticeship to the plasterer's trade,
had no difficulty in securing work along that line.
For five years he remained in New York City and in
1902 made his w-ay to California, first locating at Lo.-;
Angeles, where he secured work as a plasterer with
a prominent building contractor of that city. His
employer was much pleased with the work done by
Mr. Provenzano, who had received thorough instruc-
tion in his trade under Gustave Lucchesi, a leading
contractor of New York City. While a resident of
Los Angeles he worked on the Bank of Italy Build-
ing and many other large structures of that city, but
in 1907 he came to San Jose, where he has since
made his home. He entered business circles here as
a plasterer contractor and has been ver.v successful in
the undertaking, having done the work on the Hippo-
drome Theater, the Catholic Church of East San
Jose, and many other large buildings in the city, in
addition to a number of homes, and his excellent

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1599

work and straightforward dealing have won for him
the confidence and support of the public. His busi-
ness has now reached large proportions and he ranks
with the leading plasterer contractors of the city.

In Los Angeles, Cal., on July 31, 1905, Mr. Pro-
venzano was united in marriage to Miss Rosa Can-
zoneri, a native of that city and a daughter of Giro-
lamo and Leoluchina Canzoneri, the former a promi-
nent fruit merchant of Los Angeles. To this union
six children have been born: Frances Pauline, Mari-
ano, Bessie, Mary Antoinette, Jennie Lillian and
Girolamo. Mr. Provcnzano gives his political alle-
giance to the Republican party and fraternally he is
identified with the Independent Order of Odd P'el-
lows and the Masonic Lodge at San Jose. His fel-
low townsmen attest his sterling qualities and per-
sonal worth, as well as his business ability, and he
has gained a wide circle of friends during the period
of his residence in San Jose.

JULIO ARGUELLO.— A member of the famous
Arguello family, intimately connected with the early
history of San Jose, Santa Clara, Monterey and San
Francisco, Julio Arguello was born at the old Ar-
guello home at Santa Clara on December 9, 1870, one
of the first mansions built there. It was later sold to
Senator James W. Phelan and now it is the property
of the University of Santa Clara and one of the col-
lege buildings will be erected on its site. It was the
center of much of the social life of its day and its
razing removes another landmark reminiscent of the
past generation. The Arguello home was built by
Don Jose Ramon Arguello, for many years the lead-
ing citizen of Santa Clara, being the son of Gov. Luis
Antonio Arguello, first governor of California under
the Mexican regime and now buried at the Mission
Dolores, San Francisco. His father was Comman-
dante Jose Arguello, a Castilian soldier, who was in
charge of the Presidio at San Francisco and also at
Monterey during the days of the Spanish rule. Our
subject's mother was Isabel Alviso before her mar-
riage, a member of the famous old Castilian family for
whom the town of Alviso was named.

Julio Arguello lived at the Arguello mansion until
he was seven j'ears old. when the family removed to
the Blake farm of 320 acres on Quito Road at Los
Gatos, now the property of P. J. Walker. There he
was reared until his fourteenth year, when he entered
St. Mary's College at San Francisco, from which he
was graduated at the age of eighteen. Don Jose Ra-
mon Arguello died in 1876, when Julio was six years
old, the father of fourteen children, and the mother
later married again. Of these children only three
survive: Isabel, the widow of Nicholas Denne, of
Santa Barbara; Quito and Julio. Don Jose Arguello
was at one time the most extensive landowner in the
Santa Clara Valley, and he was the pioneer who do-
nated the right of way to the Southern Pacific Rail-
road through his large holdings.

Mr. Arguello's marriage united him with Miss
Sarah Maud Jones, who was born in Wisconsin, but
was reared in Minneapolis. She came to California
about fifteen years ago and her marriage to Mr. Ar-
guello occurred at San Jose in 1911. By his first
marriage Mr. Arguello had a daughter, Claire, now
the wife of James Cortelyou. For some time Mr.
Arguello was successfully engaged as a real estate
broker, his specialty being the handling of vineyards
in the San Joaquin Valley. He closed some of the

important deals in this section, among them being the
sale of the American vineyards at Del Rey and Han-
ford, the two bringing $525,000, the William Neu-
mann vineyard at Belmont Avenue and Del Rey
Road, which sold for $210,000, and many others. Mr.
-Arguello died from pneumonia, after an illness of
only eight days, on February 14, 1922, and was
buried at Sauta Clara.

CHARLES A. PEARSON.— Among the younger
generation of business men of Mountain View
Charles A. Pearson has won a place for himself in
the commercial activities of his native town. Born in
Mountain View, February 15, 1888, he is the young-
est son of Charles and Hildah (Peterson) Pearson.
The father's sketch appears elsewhere in this work.
Charles Pearson attended the grammar and high
schools of Mountain View. He entered the employ
of Rogers and Rogers, in the general merchandise
business, and remained with them until his father
established his own grocery business in 1905, the
members of the firm being the father and son. The
business grew to be the largest and most up-to-date
grocery establishment in Mountain Mew, employing
fourteen men; and seventeen horses were used in the
delivery department. The business was later sold to
good advantage and Charles A. bought a half inter-
est in the Junction Garage owned by Charles C.
Skinner.

The marriage of Mr. Pearson on April 18, 1911,
united him with Miss Bertha J. Etzkorn, a native of
Missouri, who came to Mountain View to join her
parents, who had already settled here. Mr. and Mrs.
Pearson are the parents of two children — Edward
and Carl Pearson.

The business of the Junction Garage grew to such
proportion that the proprietors realized the need of
a larger building more centrall}- located and Mr.
Piatt agreed to build an adequate garage at the cor-
ner of California and Castro streets. It is one of the
finest and most modern garages iii the Santa Clara
Valley, up-to-date in every respect. They deal in
Chandler, Packard and Cleveland cars, Cletrac trac-
tors, Kelly-Springfield tires, and auto accessories,
and employ as many as twelve men in the machine
shop. Mr. Pearson is a capable executive and as
such is contributing his full share to the success of
the growing business.

CHARLES PEARSON.— A pioneer citizen of
Mountain View, who has spent many active years in
business and ranching is Charles Pearson. He was
l)orn July 15, 1855, at Sylvesborg, Sweden, near the
Baltic Sea. His father. Peer Brukson, was a house
and ship carpenter, and his mother, before her mar-
riage, was Kjorsti Jenson, and was born in the same
place as her husband. Charles Pearson grew up in
Sw'eden and received what education he could in the
common schools of his native land. When he was
fifteen he began w-ork in a leather store connected
w-ith a tannery, thoroughly learned the leather trade,
and by the time he was ninet.en. he was head man.
The best hides for sole leather came from South
America and Mr. Pearson's employee had built a
new three mast bark for the hide trade with South
America. Being of a venturesome disposition,
Charles Pearson interviewed the captain and became
one of the crew of the new bark bound for South
America. They sailed from Sw-eden via England

1600

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

taking on a load of coal there, touching again at
Montevideo, they took on a load of salt for salting the
hides. When they had secured a load of hides they
set sail for the home town in Sweden, having been
gone eleven months. Mr. Pearson imniediatel_v en-
gaged with another Swedish sailing company and for
six years was occupied on sailing vessels from Swe-
den, Norway, England and America and thus ac-
quired a fluent knowledge of the Scandinavian
and English languages. In his voyages, he visited
Denmark, Germany. Finland, Russia, England, Scot-
land, Ireland, France, Portugal, Italy and Sicily. For
three years he was engaged in the orange shipping
trade from Sicily to St. Petersburg. Finally ship-
ping as a sailor on an American sailing vessel, the
Big Bonanza, from New York City with a general
cargo of merchandise, he came around Cape Horn to
San Francisco, arriving May 8, 1881, after a stormy
voyage of six months, seven weeks of which was
spent in rounding the Horn, where the most terrific
storms were encountered. After arrival in San Fran-
cisco, he learned that he had a cousin by the name of
Andrew Johnson, at Mountain View. He was induced to
take a job working in a vineyard, so he gave up his idea
of becoming a master navigator or ship captain, which
for many years had been his ambition. He continued to
work for his cousin until his death in 1883 and then
rented a vineyard. The first year proved disastrous,
and he took a job as foreman on the Swain ranch.

The marriage of Mr. Pearson occurred in 1883 and
united him with Miss Hildah Peterson, a resident of
San Francisco, who was born and reared in the same
town in Sweden. For fourteen years he was fore-
man of the Swain ranch, and on the ranch being sold,
he removed to Mountain View and engaged in busi-
ness. While employed as foreman, he purchased a
home in Mountain View at the corner of Villa and
Bryant streets, and Mrs. Pearson and the two boys
resided there in order that the children might have
the advantage of the best school facilities. The first
ranch which Mr. Pearson owned was in the moun-
tains, which he disposed of and purchased a six-acre
piece of the Murphy ranch, which he also sold. In
1909 he purchased his twelve-acre piece on the Alviso
Road near Sunnyvale, on which he raises corn, sugar
beets and garden truck. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson are
the parents of two children: Alfred W., a structural
engineer, residing at San Mateo, married Miss Isabel
Williamson and they have one child, Alfred W., Jr.;
Charles A. is in business in Mountain View, the
junior member of the firm of Skinner and Pearson.
In national politics Mr. Pearson is a Republican.

ED. SCAGLIOTTI.— A highly-esteemed orchard-
ist and vincyardist whose .'success and prosperity
have been attained largely in the vicinity of historic
Gilroy, is Ed. Scagliotti, who resides three and a half
miles from town on the Bodfish Road. He was born
in Italy, in the province of Lisandria, on October 23,
1881, the second son of Peter Scagliotti, a well-to-do
farmer and vineyardist, who had married Miss Laura
Savio. Both parents were from the same province.

In 1900, Ed. Scagliotto reached California and
located at Gilroy; and being w-illing to work, he soon
found employment with Miller & Lux on the Glenn
ranch, and was paid from the start fifteen dollars per
month. The second year, he was promoted to be
foreman of the field men; and during the next four

years of his employment by the Miller & Lux estate,
he had entire charge of the Lewis Place ranch near
Gilroy, then was transferred to the Lomas vineyard,
and from there to the Bannister place, where he was
superintendent of the dried fruit department of all of
the Miller & Lux ranches in the vicinity of Gilroy.

In 1915 he resigned and, in partnership with three
brothers, acquired a tract of 120 acres of land known
as the Farmer Ranch, and he immediately commenced
developing it as a fruit orchard and vineyard, although
it required much hard work and expense to clear
the land. In 1920, he bought his brothers' interests
and assumed sole control, and he has since further
improved the farm by a beautiful and comfortable
home. For years he has also dealt in fruit and
grapes, being an independent buyer in other parts
of the state beyond the Santa Clara Valley, and
manufactured wine until prohibition was declared.

At Gilroy. on June 9, 1903, Mr. Scagliotti was
married to Miss Amelia Reale, a daughter of Joseph
and \'ina Reale, both of whom are now deceased, and
three children have blessed the union: Lillian, Wil-
liam and Peter, all attending the Gilroy high school.
Mr. Scagliotti was made a citizen at San Jose in 1915.
and since then he has supported the Republican party.

CHAS. H. MUIR.— A popular official whose exec-
utive ability is much appreciated is Charles H. Muir,
the manager of the San Jose Country Club, who was
born in Scotland, a native of Glasgow, where he first
saw the light on November 6, 1881, the son of Joseph
and Robina (Blake) Muir. His father was a mer-
chant, and he is still alive; the devoted wife and
mother, however, passed away in 1905. They had
six children, among whom our subject was the young-
est, the elders being John, Alexander, Anna, James
and Grace. Charles attended the high school at Glas-
gow, and then was apprenticed to an architect, whom
he served for five years at Glasgow. He then left
for Durban, in South Africa, and there identified him-
self with the firm of Greenstreet & Aldwinchal, in
whose service he remained for one and a half years.
On his return to Europe, he joined his father in con-
ducting hotels and a wine business in various parts
of Ireland, but after three years, he decided to come
to America. In 1906, therefore, he reached San
Francisco, just after that city had been laid low by
earthquake and fire, expecting to take up architec-
tural work again in the rebuilding of the town; but,
as conditions were not promising, for three years he
managed the MenIo Park Country Club. At the end
of that period, he came to San Jose and took charge
of the newly-organized San Jose Country Club, and
this he also conducted with success for three years.
He then opened a restaurant in Alum Rock Park,
and ran it as a summer concession. He provided
accommodations for 500 people, and with an enviable
experience, often catered to 1,000 and more people
at barbecues. In July, 1921, he again took the man-
agement of the San Jose Country Club. He is a
member of the Commercial Club of Santa Clara
County, and is a Republican.

At San Diego, on January 20, 1909, Mr. Muir was
married to Miss Saloma Cedelia Kimberlin, the daugh-
ter of James and Estella Kimberlin, and on the ma-
ternal side of Scotch-Irish descent. Miss Kimberlin
was born in Louisville, Ky., and when yet a girl
accompanied her parents to Kansas, where she at-

I

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1603

tended the grammar school. In her eighth year, her
mother died; but her father was spared to her until
1921. Mrs. Muir is a charter member of the San Jose
Y. W. C. A, and Mr. Muir belongs to the San Jose
Masons. He is also a life member of the Blythwood
Lodge No. 817, S. R., and is a member of the Elks.

EARL REEVE.— A native of California, |Eaxl
Reeve was born on the old Martin ranch south of
Gilroy. August 9, 1874, the son of Oscar A. Reeve,
born in Ohio in 1836, whose father, Henry Reeve,
was a pioneer of Santa Clara County. Henry Reeve
was a native of Albany County, N. Y., but his par-
ents moved to Lake County, Ohio, and there his
education was completed. In the year of 1849 he
farmed thirty miles west of Chicago, 111., remain-
ing there until 1853, when he crossed the plains
to California, bringing with him his wife and seven
children. On September IS of the same year he ar-
rived in San Jose, and embarked in farming and
dairying until 1854, when he removed to Gilroy town-
ship, and settled on his ranch one mile south of
town, comprising three hundred acres, and on this
old home place the father of our subject was reared.
He married Mary Jane Fine, who came around Cape
Horn in 1855 with her father, S. P. Fine; they had
six children, one being deceased.

Earl Reeve was educated in the schools of Gilroy
and spent his spare time working for his father on
his ranch west of Gilroy, known as the Fine Estate,
where they moved in 1896, and here he laid the
foundation for a thorough training in horticul-
ture and agriculture. A number of years ago Mr.
Reeve entered the fruit raising industry and de-
veloped sixty-six acres of the Fine Estate on the
Bodfish Creek Road, bringing them to a high state
of productivity and there his mother resides with
him. He belongs to the Farmer's Union and is a
charter member of the California Prune & Apricot
Growers, Inc. He is also a member of the Live Oak
school board of trustees, and politically he casts his
vote for the Democratic candidates.

OSCAR BENSON.— An orchardist who has pros-
pered during the years of his residence in the Golden
State, Oscar Benson has done his share toward the
wonderful progress made by Santa Clara County in
the past twenty years. Mr. Benson is a native of
Sweden and was born there on March 22, 1867, his
parents, Ben and Petronella (Ebbeson) Anderson,
now both deceased, having lived and died there. The
father, who was by trade a ship's carpenter, spent
many years as a seafaring man, in the line of his
work. After his schooling was completed in the
public schools of his home vicinity, Oscar Benson
became interested in the meat business and dealt in
cattle until he crossed the ocean to the United Stales,
arriving here May 1, 1892. Locating first at Mayfield,
Cal., Mr. Benson later came to San Jose, and there
he established Benson's Market. He conducted this
enterprise with good success for eighteen years,
when he sold out and came to the Pioneer school
district, where he purchased fort}' acres on Kooser
Road. Here he has an orchard of prunes and apri-
cots and a vineyard, and all of his time is spent in
giving his orchard and vineyard careful and scientihc
attention, with results that amply justify his labor.

Mr. Benson was married in this district to Miss
Caroline Malech, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred
Malech, pioneer settlers here, and three children have

been born to them — Elmer, Frederick Oscar, and
Olga D. In performing his political duties, Mr.
Benson votes the Republican ticket, and he gives in-
telligent cooperation to all that will help in the com-
munity's welfare, serving for twelve years as a school
trustee. In fraternal life he is prominent in the ranks
of the Woodmen of the World, having been a mem-
ber for twenty-four years.

EDWARD G. KEEBLE.— Operating on an exten-
sive scale as an orchardist, Edward G. Keeble has
become closely identified with the horticultural inter-
ests of Santa Clara Valley, since coming here to
make his home, nearly twenty years ago. Mr. Kee-
ble's native state was Tennessee, and there he was
born at what was known as Miller's Cove, Blount
County, on April 4, 1872, his parents being Marion
and Jane (Clark) Keeble, both born and reared in
Tennessee. Marion Keeble, who was a well-known
resident of this part of Tennessee, was postmaster at
Miller's Cove, and also served as justice of the peace
there; he passed away on May 5, 1890, the mother
surviving him only until December of that year.

In 1891 Edward G. Keeble made a trio to Cali-
fornia and was so much impressed w-ith what he saw
that he determined to some day make this his home.
He returned to his old home in 1892 and was mar-
ried in 1894 to Miss Mary Hatcher, a daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Hatcher, old residents of Blount
County. He again came to California in 1903, re-
turned the following year and in 1905 brought his
family to Santa Clara County, with the intention of
making this their permanent home. He first entered
into partnership with his older brother, R. P. Keeble,
but after a short time sold out his interest and
acquired the orchard of Judge Lewis at Edenvale,
taking up his residence there in 1906. In 1918 he sold
this orchard for ?95.000, and as an evidence of the
rapid increase in values of orchard property in the
Santa Clara Valley, in two years it was resold for
$150,000. In 1910' Mr. Keeble took a lease on the
Fisk orchard on South Monterey Road, this running
until 1930, and this fine property of 114 acres of
choice fruit requires his entire time in superintending
its care, a position for which his long training and
thorough experience has eminently qualified him.

Mr. and Mrs. Keeble are the parents of five chil-
dren: Annie P. married John Lannin of San Jose,
and they have one child; Rebecca lives at San Jose;
E. G., Jr., is a rancher; Florence and Martin are
attending school. Capable and enterprising, Mr.
Keeble has taken his place among the progressive
men of this district, and has served three years as
trustee of the Oak Grove school.

GASPARE GRECO.— Among the Italian-Ameri-
can business men of San Jose, Gaspare Greco occu-
pies a prominent place. He was born in Italy August
16, 1877, the son of Fortunato and Josephine Greco,
who immigrated from their native land of Italy and
settled first in New Orleans, later at Redwood City,
Cal., where the father established the Greco Salt
Works, owning and operating it up to the present
time. Gaspare Greco was educated in the public
schools of New Orleans, where the family located
upon their arrival in the United States. His first in-
dependent venture in the business world was as a
manufacturer of macaroni in New Orleans, where he
owned and operated the largest bakery there for ten

1604

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

years; then for ten years he was engaged in the
wholesale and retail grocery business; next he became
extensively interested in the brewing business, organ-
izing three companies and being connected with four
others, among them being the Dixie Brewing Com-
pany. In 1917 he came to California and with his
brother, Anthony, organized the Alba Canning Com-
pany and served as its president for two years. In
1920 he engaged in the canning business on his own
responsibility and orgatiized and erected the plant of
the Santa Clara Valley Canning Company, of which
he served as president. Owing to his initiative, cou-
pled with unlimited energy, he helped to start the
big boom in the canning business which has resulted
in a complete reformation of the methods employed

The marriage of Mr. Greco united him with Miss
Marie Sparicio, and to them three children have been
born: Joseph G., vice-president of the Greco Salt
Company, at Redwood City, owned by his grand-
father, Fortunato Greco; Josephine, Mrs. Philip Bar-
baccia, and Fortunato. Capable and industrious, Mr.
Greco is well deserving of the prosperity he has
enjoyed, and he is a loyal supporter of his adopted
city of San Jose.

WEIR C. LOSSE.— An enterprising, experienced
and successful business man, who is the worthy rep-
resentative of one of the most influential, because
most progressive men of aflfairs in the California
commercial world in his day is Weir C. Losse, of the
well known firm of Losse Bros., of San Jose. He was
born at Indianapolis, November 7, 1887, the son of
Henry E. Losse, a native of New York City, where
he was born in 1853. He migrated West to St. Louis
as a young man; there finished his education, and
married Miss Caroline Keogh, of St. Louis, but really
also a native of New York City; then he returned to
New York City, and entered the service of Austin,
Nichols & Co., the wholesale grocers; then came
back to St. Louis, and going to Indianapolis, he
assisted in forming the firm of Losse, Kuhn &
Larger, wholesale grocers of that city. This firm
sold out in 1890, and all three of the business asso-
ciates came out to Santa Clara County, Cal. H. E.
Losse was the first to visit the Coast, coming here in
1889, to buy prunes and dried fruit for his Indian-
apolis wholesale establishment. He was so favor-
ably impressed with the Santa Clara Valley that he
induced his partners to say good-bye to the Hoosier
State, come to San Jose and build the packing house
near the Southern Pacific Depot, for which they were
famous from 1890, since it was one of the first
wholesale dried fruit packing houses in the city.

H. E. Losse soon bought a ranch of 1100 acres at
Visalia, and later it was sold to California Packing
Corporation. Later Mr. Losse's San Jose packing
house was burned in 1911, and he then made his head-
quarters in his Santa Clara packing house, continu-
ing until he sold it to Rosenburg Bros. Mr. Losse,
in 1909, had purchased the great Delmas Ranch of
504 acres, near Sunnyvale, which once belonged to
the well known criminal lawyer of that name, and
Mr. Losse continued setting out orchards and to
manage it until his death, April 11, 1918, at his home
in Sunnyvale. Mrs. Losse died at Santa Barbara in
the spring of 1921, leaving this valuable ranch to the
three children surviving her: A. N. Losse, who was

born at Indianapolis and married on June 23, 1881:
W. C. Losse, the subject of our story; and a daugh-
ter, Vivian Losse, now the wife of Dr. Blair, who
also resides in San Jose.

Messrs. Losse Bros, own the largest apricot
orchard in the state, consisting of 150 acres, orchards
of peaches, pears and prunes. Although plentifully
endowed with this world's wealth, Mr. Losse and his
brother, after recently selling 164 acres to Mr. C.
Schlessinger, continue to visit the Fruitvale district
every day, and to do their full share of labor in the
orchard. H. E. Losse was president of the old Santa
Clara \'alley Bank of Santa Clara, which was later
sold to the Bank of Italy, and the sons inherit his
exceptional business ability.

At Santa Clara, in June, 1917, Mr. Losse was mar-
ried to Miss Anita Riordan of San Jose, and they
reside at 50 Hanchett Avenue, in that city. Mr.
Losse is a prominent member of the Country Club.
A sister of Mr. Losse, Mrs. Blair, lives at 7 Martin
Avenue, and has two children: Beatrice L. and
Caroline. Santa Clara County has been developed
largely through such men of rare foresight, optimism,
courage and aggressive enterprise as the late H. E
Losse and his equally public spirited, gifted sons.

JOSEPH MARION BRIMSON.— A native son
of the great Golden State, Joseph Marion Brimson
has won for himself a prominent place in the com-
mercial life of Los Gatos. He was born at Gilroy.
Santa Clara County, February 15, 1872, a son of
Thomas H. and Louise (Stayton) Brimson, the father
a pioneer of California of 1866. Thomas H. Brim-
son was born in England and came with his parents
to New York City when four years of age. After his
father's death his mother married a second time, and
he ran away from home when twelve years old, pad-
dling his own canoe until the Civil War. When
eighteen years old he volunteered and enlisted in an
Illinois regiment and served until the close of the
war. Immediately afterward he came to California,
crossing the plains in an ox-team train to Gilroy. Ho
was married in Gilroy to Miss Louise Stayton, born
in Nevada. Her father, Robert E. Stayton, crossed
the plains in 1849 to CaHfornia and was afterwards
a miner in Nevada and then later became an early
settler of Gilroy. Of the eleven children of Thomas
Brimson, six of whom are living, Joseph Marion is
next to the eldest. The father passed away in San
Jose in 1919 and the mother in 1900.

Joseph Marion Brimson was educated in the public
schools of Gilroy. He helped his father on the ranch
until he was nineteen years of age and then worked
at various occupations. During the year of 1906 he
removed to Dallas, Ore., and was in the butcher and
cattle business until 1914. when he disposed of it and
removed to Eureka, Cal., engaging in the butcher
and cattle business at McKinleyville until 1916; then
he sold out and located near Soquel, where he farmed
and conducted a hay business in Soquel. In Decem-
ber, 1917, he located in Los Gatos, where he engaged
in the dairy business, serving the townspeople with
an excellent quality of milk. In November, 1920, he
sold out and established his present real estate busi-
ness on Main Street, Los Gatos.

Mr. Brimson's marriage in Salem. Ore., united him
with Miss Nellie Hardy, born at Aromas, Cal., and
they are the parents of one child, Edith Jane. Polit-

I

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1605

ically he is a Republican ami lu IrIiuil;;. to the Odd
Fellows, the Yeomen of Anu! n ,i ami tin; Chamber of
Commerce. Liberal and kind heai ti .1, this generous
spirit, combined ^vith his tireless habits of industry,
makes him one of the community's dependable
citizens.

JOHN M. ZOLLARS.— Among San Jose's live
wires is John M. Zollars, who is now engaged in the
business of paints and contractor for paperhanging,
painting, etc., his place of business being located at
52 South Second Street, where he carries on a large
volume of business. Mr. Zollars was born at Mt.
Orab, Ohio, on September 29, 1857, and is the son of
Charles and Caroline (McMillan) Zollars; the father
is a native of Germany, while the mother was born
in Pennsylvania. John M. Zollars received his edu-
cation in the public schools of Ohio, and at the early
age of twelve years he was thrown on his own
resources, so he began working at odd jobs and then
learned the general carriage trade and later the black-
smith trade. In 1876 he entered the employ of Hall
and Locke at Cincinnati, Ohio, remaining there until
1885, when he removed with his family tu tlu Pacific
Coast, locating at San Jose, Cal., ami h. n ]<• invested
in real estate in the Hyde Park Tract. A-, it advanced
a great deal in value, he disposed of this property to
a good advantage and in 1892 established a carriage
and wagon business, locating at Third and East San
Fernando streets. Disposing of this in 1906, he en-
gaged in the paint business and as a contractor for
paperhanging. He built up a very profitable busi-
ness and continued at 30 West Julian Street until
1918, when the plant where the paint was manufac-
tured was destroyed by fire. He then located at 37
South Second Street, and in 1921 came to the present
location, where he has been even more successful.
He is now building his own plant and will be able
to move into it before long. Mr. Zollars is also the
owner of a forty-acre orchard at Livingston, Merced
County, Cal., which is also proving a profitable invest-
ment, in producing the finest fruits.

LESLIE E. SAMPSON.— Among the younger
business men of Palo Alto, Leslie E. Sampson is
making a name for himself as the junior partner of
the firm of Mathews & Co., enterprising grocers of
Palo Alto. A native son of California, he was born
in Redwood City, San Mateo County, September 28,
1894, a son of E. H. and Ella (Fisher) Sampson, the
former a native of Washington, D. C, and the latter
of Ohio. His father was mayor of Redwood City
for eight years and is now the chief engineer of the
S. H. Frank Tanning Company in Redwood City,
where both parents reside. Leslie is the younger of
two children; his brother, Eugene, lives in Fresno
and is employed by the Standard Oil Company.

Leslie E. grew up in Redwood City, and after fin-
ishing the grammar grades, he entered the Cogswell
Polytechnic College at San Francisco, from which
he was graduated in December, 1914, after pursuing
the regular four years' course in mechanical drafting
and the general polytechnic work, including survey-
ing, which he followed in 1915; then he was employed
by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company at San
Mateo, Cal., until the time of his enlistment, April
28, 1917, in the Aviation Corps. He went to Dayton,
Ohio, and there learned to fly and had charge of a

hangar. At the time of his discharge, March 1, 1919,
he was a sergeant, first class. On January 1, 1922,
he purchased the interest of Mrs. E. D. Clark in the
grocery firm of Mathews & Co. and the partnership
has proven both pleasant and profitable. He belongs
to the American Legion at Redwood City; is a mem-
ber of the Masons in Redwood City, of the Scottish
Rite bodies in San Jose, and belongs to the Sciots of
San Francisco.

■WILLIAM A. RICE.— A rancher whose assidu-
ous application to the problems of intensive agri-
culture and consequent success have entitled him to
the satisfaction in retirement, is William A. Rice,
now living at Morgan Hill. He came to California
to reside about twenty years ago, and since then he
has been more and more identified with the develop-
ment of the Golden State's resources. He was born
at Delton, Wis., on August 3, 1857, the son of Jacob
and Nellie (Morrison) Rice, both natives of Ohio;
and his father served with credit in the War of the
Rebellion. He went as a volunteer from Wisconsin,
returned home in 1864, but died soon after as the
result of the hardships in his lot as a soldier warring
in defense of the Union. All who ever knew him
testified to his sterling character, and he thus be-
queathed to his family the priceless legacy of a good
name. Mrs. Rice died at her home in Minnesota in
1918, at the age of eighty-four years.

Handicapped through the necessity of having to
work for others when he was a mere boy, William
Rice nevertheless acquired a fair public school edu-
cation; and then he entered the employ of the St.
Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway and for eight
years served as section foreman in Monroe County,
Wis., where he had charge of construction and road
building. He then removed to Lyon County, Minn.,
and acquired by purchase 160 acres of railroad land
near Marshall, in that state. He farmed there for
nineteen years, served as school trustee for many
years and was also treasurer of his township. In
1902, he came out to California; and inasmuch as a
son-in-law, M. R. Beach, had preceded him four
months to Morgan Hill, he too located there with
his family. He has since improved several very
desirable ranches, and he now owns twenty-five
acres of fine prune orchard. He belongs to the Cali-
fornia Prune and Apricot Association, and for six-
teen years has conducted a neighborhood drying
ground and yard, handling as high as 300 tons of
fruit in one season.

At Black River Falls, Wis., in 1882, Mr. Rice was
married to Miss Minnie Bement, who was born at
Madison, Wis., by whom he had one son, Arthur
Rice, now married and living with his wife and two
children at St. Paul. Mrs. Rice passed away in
Wisconsin thirty-eight years ago. Mr. Rice again
married in 1888, taking for his wife Miss Mary
Johnson, who was born near Marshall, Minn. Five
children have been born to this second union: Ella
is the wife of E. A. Johnson, the contracting team-
ster who resides at Morgan Hill, and they have one
child, .\licc is Mrs. M. R. Beach, of the same
locality. William A. Rice, Jr., saw faithful service
in the late war, and novi-, tnarried, has a ranch near
Morgan Hill. Earl and Robert are at home.

1606

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

EMILIO SCAGLIOTTI.— A patriotic Italian-
American now residing near Gilroy, is Emilio Scag-
liotti, major in the National Army of Italy, from
1914 to 1918, and the progressive vineyardist operat-
ing near the Adams school on the Watsonville road.
He was born in the district of Roncaglia, Casale,
Monferato, Italy, on January 29, 1876, the eldest son
of Peter Scagliotti, a well-to-do farmer and vineyard-
ist who gave his family such advantages that he
was sent to the public school amid delightful sur-
roundings, near the home of his father. Two broth-
ers had already come out to California when Emilio
arrived in 1907 with another brother, and since then
two more have come here

Seven years later, in 1914, Emilio returned to Italy
and entered the army of his native country where he
was made an instructor and for forty-two months
served with the great armies in the commissary de-
partment and doing guard duty. He was promoted
to major, and won his spurs in actual warfare. Upon
returning to California, full of patriotic fervor for
the best things Italian, but more than ever deter-
mined to espouse the still better, or broader stand-
ards of the Americans, he acquired in 1918 some
sixty-five acres of choice land near Gilroy, and since
then he has been developing it into a vineyard.

At Fiano Natta, Italy, on November 2, 1901. Mr.
Scagliotti was married to Miss Anna Porro, a native
of Italy; and their fortunate union has been blessed
with the birth of five children. Louis graduated
from school in Italy, and August, Edward, Angelo
and Laura are still pursuing their studies, August
attending Gilroy Union High and the others the
Adams school. Louis, .August and Laura were born
in Italy; Laura, while Mr. and Mrs. Scagliotti were
back there during the war. The other two were
born in this country. In 1"22. Mr. Scagliotti complet-
ed a beautiful, modern home on tliis ranch, and he
is settling himself permanently next to the Adams
school house, seven miles from Gilroy. Santa Clara
County is to be congratulated upon such citizens as
Emilio Scagliotti, devoted to his adopted country,
loyal to the State, and a great "booster" of the lo-
cality in which he lives and thrives. Assisted by his
neighbors he worked to get the electric line through
this district to supply lights and power. The family
belongs to the Catholic Church.

CHARLES THIEL.— A thoroughly progressive
and efficient business man of Palo Alto, Charles Thiel
is the enterprising proprietor of the Chatterton Bak-
ery, located at 527 Ramona Street. He is a native
of Germany and was born December 14, 1861, and
when very young learned the baker's trade in Saar-
l)rucken, Lorraine. When seventeen years old he
left for the United States and landed in. New York
City and was occupied with his trade. He lived in
several cities and either worked for others or operated
bakeries .of his own, but all the time he kept working
toward the Pacific Coast, being employed in St. Louis,
Philadelphia, Fort Smith, Ark., Seattle, Wash., and
Portland, Oregon.

Mr. Thiel's marriage occurred in South Manches-
ter, Conn., and united him with Miss Julia Lachat,
born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, and they are the
parents of three children, Harriet Elizabeth, book-
keeper for the Winchester Arms Company in San
Francisco; Frieda Alice, a senior in the Palo Alto

high school; William J. died at the age of thirteen
years. In March, 1919, Mr. Thiel sold his bakery
business in Ferndale, Washington, and the family
removed to Palo Alto and purchased the Chat-
terton Bakery. Mr. Thiel is an expert in his
line; and sanitation is strictly adhered to and his
bakery is modernly equipped. Mrs. Thiel is a true
helpmeet, assisting in the store besides attending to
home duties and the care and education of her chil-
dren. Mr. Thiel has prospered in his adopted coun-
try and has ever striven to give back from that which
lie has thus bountifully received.

GIACOMO MALATESTA.— One of the success-
ful enterprises of Mountain N'iew is the business
known as the Ratto Gardens, Inc., and which re-
quires an amount of skilled labor, daily and constant
attention, and a business management that would do
credit to a more pretentious corporation. One of the
three owners is Giacomo Malatesta, popularly known
among his friends as "Jack" Malatesta. A native of
Italy, he was born at the seaport town of Genoa, on
November 6, 1876, the son of Antonio and Teressa
(Torre) Malatesta, and the latter was born, lived and
died at Genoa. She reared a family of seven children,
all living except Maria, who passed away in Italy.
Emilio and his sister live in Genoa; Giacomo, of this
sketch; Frank is a merchant on Laguna Street, San
Francisco; Harry lives on Autumn Street, San Jose,
and is the owner of a twenty-four acre orchard near
Santa Clara; Luigia is the wife of Bernadette Crovo,
a partner with FVank Malatesta in the mercantile bus-
iness in San Francisco. The father, who was a chef,
left his Genoa home many years ago and came to
America; for some time he was chef at the Casto and
Europe hotels in San Jose and was well known here;
later he returned to Genoa and passed away there.
After attending the public schools of Italy, Giacomo
Malatesta learned the bricklayer's trade and also
worked on farms in his native country. He served
in the Italian army for twelve months, and when the
term of his service expired, he crossed the ocean to
New York, coming on to San Jose, reaching here
January 1, 1878. Here he met his father and soon he
went to work on ranches and orchards in Santa
Clara County, and later at Lindsay, in Tulare County;
for three years he was employed on the ranch of
Charles Swall near Mountain View.

In 1910 Mr. Malatesta, with V. Casalegno and John
Gamello. as partners, incorporated the Ratto Gardens,
for the raising of all kinds of garden produce. They
operate a tract of twenty acres one mile northwest of
Mountain View, the land being owned by John Ratto,
Mr. Malatesta's father-in-law, who has been a resi-
dent here for a third of a century. The company
employs from nine to twelve men and supply fresh
garden products to Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Los
Altos, Stanford, Mayfield, Cupertino, Palo Alto and
Menlo Park. Each of the three managing stockhold-
ers drives a three-ton truck, and go from place to
place until the load is disposed of.

Mr. Malatesta was married on December 26, 1909,
at San Jose, to Miss Minnie Ratto, the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. John Ratto and a native daughter,
liorn at San Francisco. They are the parents of one
daughter, Irene Anna. Both parents were reared in
the Roman Catholic Church and they adhere to the
faith of their forbears.

(j^^a^kLJC^ J-Ci^U^/ 1 (^

n

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1609

LUIGI M. MARIOTTI.— A substantial citizen of
Los Gatos who has contributed his full share to its
steady upbuilding is Luigi M. Mariotti, who was born in
the Province of Massa Carrara, Italy, on December 26,
1862. He was the son of Augustine Mariotti, a man
of affairs in the old home place, but both father and
mother are now deceased. The fourth of a family
of six children, Luigi M. Mariotti was educated in
the schools of his native province, and later assisted
his father in his business until 1887, when he came
to America, arriving at Napa, Cal., with $10.40 in his
pocket, where for the next nine years he worked on
ranches. He began working at eighteen dollars a month
and later started in the fruit business in San Francisco,
made some money and went to Los Angeles, where
he worked in a soda works two years. Then, after a
short time spent in Napa, he went to San Francisco,
where he engaged in the grocery and fuel business,
and later he was in the liquor and cigar business, re-
maining there until 1907, when he took up his resi-
dence at Los Gatos.

As early as 1904 Mr. Mariotti had purchased the
Los Gatos Hotel on East Main Street, that city, and
after the fire in 1906, he sold out his bakery and in
1907 came to Los Gatos and took charge of the
hotel. About the same time he established the Los
Gatos Soda Works, which he built up to a large
business. In 1912 he discontinued the hotel busi-
ness and converted it into a lodging house and res-
taurant that he rents, also four other stores.

He purchased to the rear of the lot at the corner
of Main and Wilcox streets and here he now has an
acre of ground, and manufactures all kinds of soft
drinks, in which he has built up an excellent pat-
ronage. He also owns other valuable residence prop-
erty in Los Gatos, which he rents.

In 1900 Mr. Mariotti took a trip back to his native
Italy and while there was married to Miss Elena
Babini, and shortly after their marriage they made
the long journey to San Francisco, where Mr. Mari-
otti again engaged in business. Six children have
blessed their marriage: Therese, August M., Frank,
Julia. Louis, Eugene, all at home, and are receiving
every educational advantage which their parents can
bestow upon them. Mr. Mariotti has been favored
with good success in his business enterprises and is
numbered among Los Gatos' prosperous citizens, a
well-earned reward for his years of thrift. He is a
member of the Druids in San Jose, and in politics is
an independent, favoring every movement that will
aid in the progressive development of this beautiful
district of California.

GENNARO FILICE.— An enterprising, progres-
sive and successful business man of whom Santa
Clara County may well be proud is Gennaro Filice,
president and general manager of the Filice & Per-
relli Canning Company, Inc., of Gilroy. A native of
Italy, he was born at Cosenza, August 7, 1890, the
son of Michael and Delfina (Bozzo) Filice, substan-
tial farmer folk and worthy in every way, who had
the courage to come out to California in 1906, when
they settled in Gilroy. Gennaro received but a lim-
ited schooling and at the age of eleven became a
wage earner, and at the age of seventeen he struck
out for himself and since then has gained a great
deal through practical experience, a severe and hard

teacher. He left his native country in 1906 and
landed in New York, going thence to Montreal,
Ontario and Winnipeg, then through British Colum-
bia, working as he went along and becoming familiar
with the conditions of the New World. He then
came into the United States and to California, ar-
riving at Gilroy in December, 1906, where he met
his parents, who had arrived here the month previous
from their native Italy. Looking about the town
and vicinity, Gennaro entered the employ of the Bis-
ceglia Brothers, proprietors of a cannery and owners
of a ranch near HoUister, and he began work on the
ranch and after mastering the details he became their
foreman in 1912 and held that position until 1914.
During those years he saved his money and he and
his father bought six acres near Gilroy and there
they erected their first cannery, being associated
with John Perrelli and his family, who had arrived
here in 1907. Mr. Perrelli was born in Italy on
October 26, 1895, and was only seventeen when he
joined with Mr. Filice in the canning business, and
they have since been associated together, working
under the firm name of Filice and Perrelli Canning
Company. The first year, 1914, they put out a pack
of 17,000 cases of tomatoes and this was only ac-
complished by the hardest kind of work, all those
interested in the venture working from sixteen to
twenty hours a day during the busy season in the
little cannery on the six acres owned by Mr, Filice
and his father.

So successful was their enterprise that in 1917 they
incorporated for $100,000 capital stock, bought four
acres in Gilroy at Lewis and Railroad streets and
erected a small, but sanitary plant adjoining the
Southern Pacific tracks. From that time their
patronage warranted the enlargement of the plant
each season and the increasing of their capital stock
until in 1922 it is $400,000, and they handle over 350,-
000 cases of fruit and vegetables each season. Be-
sides their canning and packing plant they own 205
acres of orchard, which they bought as bare land
and have set to orchard and now, 1922, is coming
into bearing. Their plant in town covers over one
and one half acres besides the cottages for their
help, the machine shop and boiler plant. During the
busy seasons they have in their employ from 400 to
500 persons, and they specialize in packing their
especial F. &. P. Brand and ship to all parts of the
country. To facilitate shipping they have a siding
for their own use. The officers of the corporation
are: Gennaro Filice, president and general manager;
John Perrelli, vice-president and assistant manager;
Frank Filice, second vice-president and assistant
manager, and these three make up the board of
directors of the corporation.

On July 12, 1914. at Gilroy, Gennaro Filice was
united in marriage with Miss Angelina Perrelli, who
died on November 27, 1917, leaving two children,
Delfina and Michael. On November, 1920, Mr.
Filice was again married, Miss Clara Bozzo becom-
ing his wife. In politics he is a Republican and he
and his family are members of the Catholic Church.
Mr. Perrelli married Miss Mary Filice and they have
a son, Phihp Perrelli. Both Mr. Filice and Mr. Per-
relli hold membership in the Gilroy Chamber of

1610

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Commerce and unite in doing all they can to help
build up the community in which they have made
their success.

THOMAS MAURICE DOWLING.— Among the
early-timers of San Jose, a resident of this city for
more than a score of years, is Thomas Maurice
Dowling, who was born in Iowa, at Muscatine, on
March 4, 1868, and was the son of William Edward
and Bridget (Kelly) Dowling. His father died some
twenty-two years ago, but the mother passed away
only recently.

Thomas Dowling was educated in the public
schools of Iowa and was reared on a farm, later oc-
cupying the position of manager of a grocery store
in Nebraska. He continued there until the year of
1897, when he came to California, and here he has
been engaged in various occupations. Then he be-
came employed as a conductor and motorman on the
Santa Clara Street line of the San Jose Railroad for
sixteen years; then worked for the Peninsular Rail-
road for a period of two years; he then returned to
Nebraska, but after a short time the lure of the
Golden State brought him back to San Jose. He
farmed for a year at Manteca, and then received a
position with Hale's Department Store, taking charge
of their stock room, and here he has been employed
for more than four years.

Mr. Dowling's marriage united him with Miss
Lula M. Kevan, and they are the parents of William
Edward, who was with the marines for two years;
Frances Thomas; Elizabeth Wayne is a teacher at
Mt. Pleasant, Cal.; and John Kevan. Mr. Dowling
is well known in the circles of the Pastime Club
and his popularity is attested by his election to the
presidency of this social organization. Mr. Dowling
is also affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of
America, having been a member for the past twenty-
four years. In religious faith, he is a member of the
Catholic Church, and in national politics he is a
Democrat, but in local affairs he puts party ties
aside and votes for the best men and measures.

EMIL A. JOHNSON.— For the past twenty years
Emil A. Johnson has resided in Morgan Hill, Santa
Clara County, and has conducted a teaming con-
tracting business up to the present time. He was
born in Chicago, III., July 26, 1878, a son of August
and Emma (Erickson) Johnson, both of whom are
natives of Sweden. Both the Johnson and Erickson
families emigrated to America in the early 'SOs and
settled in the vicinity of Chicago, and followed
farming pursuits. His father learned the shoe-
maker's trade and followed it in Chicago, 111., for
many years, having his own shop. The home place
of the Johnsons was located on Lawrence and Ked-
zie avenues, and what was the Johnson farm is now
cut through by some of the main thoroughfares.

Emil A. grew up on the farm and received what
education he could in the schools of Chicago, but on
account of his delicate health, Jiis schooling was lim-
ited. During the early part of 1901, he removed to
California and settled in Morgan Hill, and for the
first three years of his residence was employed by the
Gorham estate in ranch work. By hard work and
economy he saved enough to buy a team and wagon
and engaged in teaming and hauling between Mor-
gan Hill, Gilroy and San Jose. Since 1904, Mr.
Johnson has conducted his teaming business and has

met with success. He has also had considerable
experience in the orchard business and has just re-
cently sold his ranch on Dunne Avenue.

Mr. Johnson's marriage occurred October 14, 1908.
and united him with Miss Ella Rice, a daughter of
William A. Rice, whose sketch also appears in this
work, and she was born and reared in Marshall,
Minn. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are the parents of one
son, Clarence Robert. Mr. Johnson owns a fine
residence in Morgan Hill and the family are highly
respected citizens of that city. In his political affi-
liations he adheres to the principles of the Republican
party, and he is a member of the Foresters.

FRED J. ARNBERG.— The proprietor of a thriv-
ing dairy business at Gilroy, Fred J. Arnberg has
made an excellent showing in this line of work in the
short time he has been so engaged. He was born at
Portland, Ore., on August 12, 1885, the son of An-
drew and Clara (Magnussen) Arnberg, both natives
of Sweden. He learned the coppersmith's trade in
the shop of his father at Portland, and on coming
to California, in 1903, he located at Gilroy, and for
ten years was with the Thomas Mercantile Com-
pany, the following five years being identified with the
plumbing department of the Robinson Hardware
Company.

In 1916 Air. Arnberg purchased twenty-five acres
of land on the Bodfish Road, a part of the Los
Animas Rancho, and in 1920 he added seventeen
acres, fifteen acres of his holdings being in a fine
orchard, while seventeen acres are devoted to alfalfa.
In 1921 Mr. Arnberg started in the dairy business in
a small way, with a herd of choice Holstein cattle,
and he has now increased the number to seventeen.
In an open competition he was awarded the blue
ribbon and gold medal at the State Fair in Septem-
ber, 1921, the test of milk of his dairy showing 98.6
per cent, a record to be proud of.

Mr. Arnberg's marriage united him with Miss
Ruby Ross, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George
Ross of Gilroy, and they have become the parents of
four children: Fred, Jr., Jane, Ross and Thomas. In
politics Mr. Arnberg votes the Republican ticket, and
he gives his support to the commercial progress of
the community through membership in the Chamber
of Commerce 'of Gilroy.

GEORGE E. WALKER.— Coming of old New
England stock, George E. Walker spent his early
years amid the environment of the Green Mountain
State. He was born at Rutland, Vt., on March 17,
1862, the son of worthy parents, farmers there for
many years. He attended school at Rutland, and
when he had reached man's esate, he went on the
road as a salesman, representing the W. R. Kinsman
Monumental Works, and after five successful years
of traveling for this firm, he returned to the home
farm. In 1892 he removed with his family to Wor-
cester, and there they made their home until 1900,
when the desire for a milder climate and the lure of
California brought them to the Pacific Coast.

Soon after arriving here, Mr. Walker purchased
thirteen acres at Morgan Hill, where the family took
up their home, and in 1919 he added ninety-seven
acres to his holdings, part of which he expects to
plant to prunes. Progressive and enterprising, Mr.
Walker has developed his property along the most

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

■1611

modern lines, and has installed a gravity flow irriga-
tion system at a great expense, in order that he might
use the water on his land to the best advantage. He
has made a close study of the best horticultural
methods, and consequently has made a success.

While a resident of Rutland, Vt., on May 19, 1886,
Mr. Walker was married to Miss Nancy S. Holden,
descended from a sturdy old family of Scotch-Eng-
lish ancestry. Two children have been born to them:
Janet J. is the wife of Ronald H. Coatcs and the
mother of four children, and Louis M., who served
in the U. S. Army during the World War, is ranching
on the home place, on Llagas Road. Finding this
an ideal climate to live in, Mr. Walker is more and
more enthusiastic over the opportunities aiTorded in
the Santa Clara Valley. He is a member of the
California Prune and Apricot Association. In fra-
ternal circles, he is affiliated with the Modern Wood-
men of America, having belonged to this order for
twenty-two years.

OTTO F. JEMM.— For many years engaged in
the mercantile business in the Middle West, in which
he made a splendid success, and with an interesting
career in the military service of his adopted country,
Otto F. Jemm has been engaged principally as an
orchardist and vineyardist since taking up his residence
at San Martin in 1912. Mr. Jemm was born at Danzig.
Germany, on May 27, 1863, the son of Herman and
Teresa (Schulz) Jemm. Even while attending school,
he spent his spare time in learning the general mer-
chandise business, receiving a thorough training in
this branch of business that was of great help to
him in later years. Prior to coming to America. he
served three years in the German Army.

In 1885 Mr. Jemm came to America, and for two
years made his home in New York City. On May 6,
1887, he enlisted in Company I, Eighth U. S. In-
fantry, stationed at Fort Robinson, Nebr., and served
for five years in the army. He went through the
Indian troubles of 1890-91, experiencing all the dan-
gers, hardships and suffering entailed in that con-
flict. He was among the captors of the notorious
Indian chief. Sitting Bull, in September, 1890, and
was also in the bloody encounter at Pine Ridge on
January 2, 1891. He received his honorable dis-
charge at Fort McKinney, Wyo., May 5, 1892, after
which he located in Chicago, where he conducted a
store at La Salle and Monroe streets, in the heart
of the business district of that great metropolis.
From there he went to Kenosha, Wis., where he
established a large mercantile business, in which he
was very successful, conducting it for about fifteen
years. In August, 1912, Mr. Jemm came to Califor-
nia and settled at San Martin, where he has since
made his home. He had bought his property in 1910,
while on a visit to California. As an orchardist and
vineyardist he has been most successful, so that he
is now able to retire from active ranch life and enjoy
the means he has accumulated through his years
of successful activity.

At Chicago, in October. 1892, Mr. Jemm was mar-
ried to Miss Pauline Ochsmen, born on November
7, 1863, in Silesia, Prussia, the daughter of Wilhelm
and Caroline (Peitsch) Ochsmen. Mrs. Jemm came
to this country with her sister, now Mrs. Caroline

Barnickel of Allegan, Mich., arriving at New York
City in 1889. Mr. and Mrs. Jemm are the parents
of two children. Otto H., who had one year at Uni-
versity of California, is a Mason and served in the
U. S. forces during the World War, having grad-
uated as master gunner at Fortress Monroe, but did
not get overseas on account of a bad knee, but was
in service eighteen months and is now in the garage
business at Gilroy; Alice is still attending school.
A loyal citizen of his adopted country, Mr. Jemm is
a Republican in politics and one of San Martin's
dependable citizens. He has been a member of the
Masons since 1910, holding membership in Keith
Lodge, Gilroy, and belongs to the M. W. A.

F. L. RATHBUN.— A business establishment that
has grown to be a leader of its kind in the county
is that of F. L. Rathbun & Son, well drillers and
dealers in pumps and well supplies, plumbing and
plumbing supplies, in Los Altos, Cal. Mr. Rathbun
was born on January 12, 1851, in Allegany County,
N. Y., the son of Valentine and Myra" (Geary)
Rathbun. His father passed away when he was only
six years old, and one year later his mother died.
After the death of his parents, he went to live with
an uncle, and then at the age of nine he went to
Pennsylvania and began to earn his own way in life.
His father's people originally came from Scotland
to the United States and settled in Connecticut, the
Scotch spelling of the name being "Rathbone." The
paternal grandfather was a captain in the War of
1812. The only one living of a family of nine chil-
dren, F. L. Rathbun worked on farms at Erie, Pa.,
and grew to manhood there.

His marriage occurred in Erie City, Pa., and united
him with Miss Sarah Stoll, born in that city, the
daughter of George Stoll, among the first settlers
of Erie City, where he engaged in the brickmason's
trade. In 1875 Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun left Pennsyl-
vania for California and settled in San Francisco,
spending two and a half years there; then removed to
Placer County where Mr. Rathbun worked in a saw-
mill as foreman, and continued in that capacity for
ten years; in 1888 the family removed to Truckee,
thence to San Bernardino, remaining there for two
and a half years. They then removed to Oakland,
and Mr. Rathbun worked in a planing mill there and
in San Francisco. In 1902 the family removed to
Los Altos and bought a farm, and Mr. Rathbun was
occupied with farming for nineteen years. In con-
nection with his farming, he did contracting and
building, and in 1911 established the well drilling
business. Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun are the parents of
two children: George Clayton, an engineer in San
Francisco for the New Process Laundry; for nine-
teen years he was an acrobat, traveling ^vHth circuses;
he resides in San Francisco; Frank Williain was born
in San Francisco, learned the plumbing trade and
worked for ten years for George Dollarmore; he was
first married to Miss Minic Fistini of San Francisco,
and they had two children, Lottie, now the wife of
Ben E. Elkins, a radio operator residing in San
Francisco, who was in the government service dur-
ing the recent war; Juanita, married Walter Col-
bath, an employee of the Southern Pacific at Bur-
lingame. and they have one child, Ethel B. Mrs.

1612

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Rathbun passed away and he was married to Miss
Francis Nicholas. His third marriage united him
with Mrs. Agnes Meeker. F. L. Rathbun and his
sons are members of the Masonic order and all be-
long to the Sciots.

GEORGE EBER TARLETON.— A young business
man who is gaining a foothold in the business world
and who is well on the road to success is George Eber
Tarleton, one of the owners of Russell's Garage at
Saratoga, Mr. Russell being the former owner. A
native of Santa Clara County, Mr. Tarleton was born
at San Jose, December 13, 1891. the son of George L.
and Ada (Munn) Tarleton. The father is also a
native of California, his parents coming here in 1851.
The paternal grandfather, Geo. W. Tarleton, planted
his orchard in the Santa Clara Valley, some of the
trees coming from France. George L. Tarleton is
a buyer for the Pratt-Lowe Company and he and
his wife reside in San Jose.

George E. received his education in the excellent
schools of San Jose and after graduating from the
San Jose high school he went into the transport
service between San Francisco and Manila for one
year. At the end of this time he took up his resi-
dence in Honolulu and followed electrical work there
for about one and one-half years. Returning to San
Jose he entered the shops of the Bean Spray Com-
pany and was with them for nine months, when he
accepted the position of teller with the Bank of San
Jose, and was with them for six years, or until his
enlistment for service in the navy, July, 1917. He was
in the service of his country for two years, nineteen
months of which was spent aboard a submarine chaser
in foreign waters in the war zone as chief engineer of
Subchaser No. 148, doing duty there until August,
1919, when he brought the submarine to New York
City, coming to Mare Island, where he was honor-
ably discharged October 4, 1919. He then returned to
his place in the Bank of San Jose, until July 1, 1921,
when with a partner, George Wadey, he bought Rus-
sell's Garage at Saratoga, where the partners are do-
ing a thriving business. They carry a full line of
supplies, accessories, tires, and have the Ford agency.
The marriage of Mr. Tarleton united him with
Miss Anne Anderson and they are parents of one
child, Janet. He votes the Republican ticket and
thrcfvvs his influence on the side of all good measures.
Fraternally he is a Woodman of the World and was
made a Mason in the San Jose Lodge No. 10 F. &
A. M. and is also a member of the Sciots and belongs
to the Saratoga Improvement Association and San
Jose Post 89, American Legion.

CLARENCE F. BRONNER.— A successful
rancher of Morgan Hill, who has also been a trusted
employee of the U. S. mail service since 1907, is
Clarence F. Bronner, a native of Michigan, who was
born at Pokagon, Cass County, on November 2,
1866. His parents were Solomon M.' and Katherine
(Armstrong) Bronner, both natives of New York,
and the father is now making his home with his son
at Morgan Hill. Mr. Bronner spent his boyhood in
Indiana and Illinois, for a time attending the Uni-
versity at Valparaiso, Ind., later going to Montana,
where he was located at Madison Valley, on the
frontier, fifty miles from the nearest railroad station,
working as an electrical and steam engineer in the
copper mines in the Big Indian mine district.

At Freeport, III., March 25, 1903, Mr. Bronner was
married to Miss Anna J. Stebbins, who was born in
Lancaster Township, Stephenson County, May 18,
1880. She is the daughter of Warren Wayne and
Mary Ellen (Schreiber) Stebbins, both born in
Stephenson County and now residents of Freeport.
In the fall of 1905 Mr. Bronner came to California,
and in February, 1906, Mrs. Bronner joined her
husband; they purchased a ten-acre tract on San
Pedro Avenue, near Morgan Hill, and here they have
developed a fine orchard. In December, 1907, Mr.
Bronner started to conduct the rural free delivery,
route 24, out of Morgan Hill, and for five years he
covered this territory. When route 23 was formed
he took charge of it and now is handling route 1.
having been connected with the Post Office Depart-
ment for nearly fifteen consecutive years. Mr. Bron-
ner is a hearty booster for Santa Clara Valley and
its possibilities. Politically he is an independent,
supporting the best men and measures. Mr. and
Mrs. Bronner are enthusiastic over California, and
Mrs. Bronner takes an active interest in community
affairs and is secretary of the Ladies' Aid Society
of the Methodist Church at Morgan Hill. Mr. and
Mrs. Bronner have three sons, Warren M., Ralph
W. and W. Blatchford, all in school.

SYDNEY CASSADY AND MILO J. NORTH.—
Conducting their business as the Truck and Tractor
Service Company, Sydney Cassady and Milo J.
North have established a unique enterprise that bids
fair to open up a new field for the expert machinist.
They have devised a fully equipped portable garage
and work shop, completely fitted out for any sort
of ,work on automobiles, tractors, trucks or pumps.
They specialize on overhauling all kinds of farm
machinery, putting it in perfect order for the season's
work, so that no time need be lost in the midst of
a job, but it is easily seen what a convenience their
service may be in an emergency or an accidental
breakdown, when a telephone call will speedily bring
their portable outfit to the scene. Both partners
are expert machinists and they have already liandled
a number of important jobs.

The headquarters of the shop are on the North
ranch. Springer and Berry roads. Mountain View,
Cal., which has been the home of Milo J. North for a
number of years. He was born in San Francisco,
January 7, 1899, the son of John G. and Josephine
(Hansen) North, natives, respectively, of San Fran-
cisco and Virginia, their marriage taking place in the
Bay City. The father is the proprietor of the North
Machine Company at 324 Main Street, San Fran-
cisco. Milo J. North was reared in San Francisco
until 1908, when he came with his parents to their
twenty-acre ranch at Mountain View, and this has
since been the family home. His only brother, John
G., Jr., is an engineer in the Matson service and was
in the U. S. Navy during the late war.

Milo J. North attended the grammar school at San
Francisco and Mountain View and also the high
school at the latter place, and then learned the ma-
chinist's trade in his father's shop. In 1920 he was
married to Miss Lillian Cassady, and since their
marriage they have resided on the North ranch.

Sydney Cassady, who is a brother of Mrs. Milo
J. North, is the son of Robert and Catherine (Wei-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1615

land) Cassady. The father, a native of Toronto,
Canada, operates a garage at Mohawk, Plumas
County, while the mother is a native daughter, born
at Gilroy, Cal. Of their five children, Sydney Cas-
sady, of this review, was born in San Francisco,
November 23, 1899, and there he was reared, attend-
ing the grammar schools and taking a three years'
course in the Humboldt high school. After his
school days were over he started in to learn the
machinist's trade and he, too, gained his experience
at the shop of the North Machine Company in San
Francisco. Thus well equipped by training and ex-
perience, both of these young men have shown a
laudable spirit in pioneering in a new field.

JOHN E. McCARTY.— As a member of a well-
known family, John E. McCarty is fast making his
way to the fore as a prominent surveyor and civil
engineer and is now serving as city engineer of
Mountain View where his excellent work has put
him in the line of prefcrnunt for positions of even
greater public trust. A native of .Mountain View, he
was born May 1, 1887, the son of Luke and Bridget
(Clark) McCarty. Both parents were born and
reared in Ireland, the father in County Roscommon
and the mother in County Cavan. The father came
to America at the age of seventeen and settled in
South Carolina, but soon joined the ranks of the
Argonauts and for several years was actively en-
gaged in gold mining. He went on several prospect-
ing trips, one being to the Kootenay, B. C, country.
Later in life, however, he became a prominent con-
tractor and builder. The mother came to New York
City and thence to San Francisco, sailing with the
family of General Conley. a retired Union general,
who was appointed consul to Honolulu under Pres-
ident Arthur. In Honolulu she met Luke McCarty,
who was engaged in the contracting and building
business for the Hawaiian government and was en-
gaged by King Kalakua to build his palace. They
were married in Honolulu in 1882 and remained there
until 1884, when they returned to San Francisco and
the following year located at Mountain View. He
worked at Jack Wright's Mills for a time and then
purchased seven acres of the Castro-Calderon Sub-
division of Mountain View, later acquiring thirteen
acres more. He passed away at the age of sixty-four
in July, 1901, and seven months later the mother
died at the age of forty-eight. They w-ere the par-
ents of three children: Thomas, born in Honolulu;
John E., of this sketch; and Clara M., deceased.

John E. McCarty attended the public schools of
Mountain View-, later took a course in the com-
mercial high school of San Francisco, graduating
with the class of 190S. He became associated with
a civil engineering firm in San Francisco and was
there during the great earthquake and fire and was
active in the rebuilding of greater San Francisco,
resurveying streets, etc. In 1910 he successfully
passed the civil service examination and was assigned
to the board of public works under Marsden Man-
son, city engineer, and served under him and his
successor, M. M. O'Shaughnessy, continuing in the
city engineer's office until 1919, when he resigned.
Among the notable surveys he helped to make the

preliminary survey for the Hetch Hetchy and Lake
Eleanor water supply.

In October, 1918, Mr. McCarty was married to
Miss Eldora L. Freeman, a daughter of George and
Emma (Perrins) Freeman, both living in Palo Alto,
retired farmer, well known and esteemed in the
community. The father came to California in 1852.
locating at Tomales, Marin County, later removing
to San Luis Obispo County and in 1900 settled in
Mountain View. Mr. McCarthy is an active member
of Mountain View Parlor, N. S. G. W., and formerly
was a member of Twin Peaks Parlor of San Fran-
cisco. Mrs. McCarty is past president of the El
Monte Parlor, N. D. G. W., at Mountain View. Mr.
and Mrs. McCarty are the parents of two children,
John E., Jr. and Robert Clarke.

CHARLES C. SKINNER.— Through persever-
ance that knows no discouragement, Charles C.
Skinner is winning his way to the front as an ex-
cellent mechanic and business man, and as the senior
partner in the firm of Skinner and Pearson, garage
owners, has built up the business until they operate
the leading automobile repair shop in Mountain
View. A native of Illinois, he was born August 21.
1881, at Rockford, the son of George R. and Eva
(Watson) Skinner, the former a native of Indiana,
and the mother a native of New Melford, 111. Before
removing to California the family were prominent
farmers at New Melford, 111., and they now own
and operate a ranch in the Santa Clara Valley. The
paternal grandfather, John Skinner, was a native of
Indiana, who settled in Illinois after the Civil War.
He enlisted in the Indiana Light Artillery and served
throughout the war. Charles C. Skinner was edu-
cated in the district schools of New Melford, III.,
and grew up on the farm. Being of a mechanical
turn of mind, as he grew into young manhood, he
sought employment and worked in some of the lead-
ing factories and machine shops at Rockford and
was later employed as chauffeur by Dr. Green, one
of the leading physicians of Rockford.

The marriage of Mr. Skinner occurred at New
Melford, 111., and united him with Miss Ferena
Holden, a resident of that place. They removed to
Mountain View in 1912 and purchased a home on the
corner of Mountain View Avenue and Mercy Street.
They are the parents of two children, Florence and
Harold. Mr. Skinner started in business in a small
way in the Junction Garage on the State Highway,
and as his business grew and prospered, he sold a
half-interest to his present partner, Charles A. Pear-
son. These farsighted business men soon realized
the need of a bigger, better equipped and more cen-
trally located garage and they soon entered into an
agreement with Mr. Piatt to build the present up-to-
date building for them w-hich they have occupied
since 1919. They deal in the Chandler, Cleveland
and Packard cars, are fully equipped for repairing
all makes of automobiles, trucks and tractors, and
employ from six to twelve men. Mr. Skinner is
justly popular and his agreeable manner has won for
him a host of patrons and friends, and the comm.er-
cial life of Mountain View has been greatly benefit-
ted by his industry and uprightness.

1616

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MICHAEL McKENZIE.— Born in the state of
N'erniont, of Irish parents, Michael McKenzie pos-
sesses those characteristics which have won him
popularity, and his success as a rancher has been
won by hard and honest toil. He has witnessed the
marvelous growth and prosperity of his locality and
has, at all times, taken an active interest in neighbor-
hood affairs. He was born January 27, 1864, at Shel-
burne, Vt., a son of John and Bridget (Hart) Mc-
Kenzie, both natives of Ireland, but born and reared
in different counties in the western part of Ireland.
They were the parents of a large family and passed
away in Vermont. Michael made good use of hrs
limited educational advantages, but most of his boy-
hood days were occupied with hard work, working
out by the month on Vermont farms. He gradually
worked his way to California and after arrival here
worked on dififerent ranches.

Mr. McKenzie's marriage united him with Miss
Mary Byrne, a daughter of Patrick and Ellen (O'-
Brien) Byrne, born in County Tipperary, Ireland.
H^r parents were farmers and passed away in their
native land. She grew to womanhood in Ireland
and when she was twenty-five came to the United
States and settled in San Franciso. The marriage of
Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie was solemnized at San
Rafael in 1896 and their wedding trip was made to
Vermont, where they remained for two months.
Upon returning to California, they settled in Santa
Clara County and they first purchased ten acres near
Lyola Station. This place was sold to the University
of Santa Clara. In 1904 they bought fifteen acres of
the present place and have added to it by four sub-
sequent purchases until they now own thirty-six
acres. It is a part of the Emerson and Bubb tracts,
both owned by early pioneers. It is in a beautiful
location on Permanente Creek with never failing
water supply, with an orchard of full-bearing prune
and apricot trees. Mr. McKenzie has his own dry-
ing yards and his products are famed for quality.
Their hoine is one-half mile from Lyola Station on
the electric line and two and a half miles from Moun-
tain View. Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie are the parents
of four children: John looks after Frank Bacons
ranch; Bridget, a sister at Notre Dame, is a teacher
in that institution; Ellen is a student at Notre Dame
College; Robert is a student in St. Joseph's High
School. Mr. and Mrs. McKenzie have by hard and
constant work, and good management, built up and
paid for one of the finest fruit ranches in Santa Clara
County. They and their children are highly respect-
ed and adhere to the Catholic faith in which they
were born and reared.

JOHN TAYLOR.— A successful and prosperous
tailor, in whom may be found a satisfactory repre-
.sentative of the English expert designer and maker
of high-grade clothing, is John Taylor, now so well
known throughout San Jose and much of Santa Clara
County, especJally as the proprietor of the Crown
Tailors, 35 East Santa Clara Street. He was born
at Leeds, England, in 1884, the son of A. and Lea
Taylor, devoted and worthy parents who are still
living at Blackpool, the famous summer bathing
resort.

John was educated in the excellent public schools
of England, and when he was through with school-
masters and books, he learned the tailoring trade.
While he sat at the bench, the lure of the New World
seized hold of him; and in 1907 he crossed the ocean
to the United States. He recognized the attractions
of New York and the East; but he was far-sighted
enough to see in San Francisco much greater oppor-
tunity, and hither he came. It was soon after the
earthquake, and John Taylor, fresh from the land
acknowledged to lead in tailoring, was one of the
few then in San Francisco who could cater to the
elite; and so he had no difficulty in establishing there
a successful business which he continued to conduct
until 1920, to the satisfaction of everybody.

On May 22 of that year, Mr. Taylor came to San
Jose and opened one of the best tailor shops the city
has ever seen, which soon brought him into pleasant
relations with the San Jose Chamber of Commerce
and kindred organizations; and as his patronage
rapidly increased, he became still more interested in
the country round about. He had joined the Repub-
lican party years before, and he continued to do what
he could to raise the standard of citizenship. About
the same time that he set himself up in business
here he married Miss Betty Niman, a woman of ac-
complishments who shares his love of music. Mr.
Taylor belongs to the B'nai B'rith.

WILLIAM J. SANOR.— As a native son of Cali-
fornia and a representative of a pioneer family, W. J.
Sanor has proved himself a worthy descendant of one
of the most respected pioneers of California. Born
September 8, 1888, in San Jose, he is a son of J. E.
and Sarah (Higgins) Sanor, both natives of Cali-
fornia, and reared in Santa Clara County. The grand-
father, Michael Sanor, was an Ohioan by birth, his
father and mother being among the early settlers of
Columbiana County. He came of a family of farmers,
and when they left Ohio in the spring of 1839 and
journeyed to Ray County, Mo., they settled on a
farm, but Michael was not content with farming, so
learned wool-carding and the cabinet-maker's trade.
He was employed at these occupations until the gold
excitement of 1849, when with his father and two
of his brothers he crossed the plains with ox teams,
reaching Carson Valley early in September, 1849.
after a little more than four months. Only a short
time was spent in the mines, when Mr. Sanor settled
on a farm in Santa Clara County, commencing the
improvement of a farm of 148 acres in the vicinity of
Santa Clara. There the family lived until 1887, when
he disposed of his ranch and purchased a home on
Delmas Avenue, and while residing there, the mother
passed away. The father of our subject, J. E. Sanor,
was for many years a business man of Santa Clara,
but he is now living a retired life.

W. J. Sanor was educated in the schools of Santa
Clara. After graduating from the high school, he
went on the road as a wholesale cigar salesman and
followed it for ten years; later he entered business
for himself, and this has steadily increased in volume
from year to year. Mr. Sanor's marriage united him
with Miss Janie Murray and they are the parents
of five children: William J., Jr., George H., Sadie
Mae. Frances, and Janie. Mr. Sanor is a member of
the Observatory Parlor, N. S. G. W., San Jose.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1617

CHARLES STEVENS.— A well-known and enter-
prising rancher of Santa Clara County, who is also a
native son, is Charles Stevens, born near Coyote,
Santa Clara County, March 3, 1868. His father, Orvis
Stevens, was born in Chittenden County, Vermont,
on November 11, 1830. In 1852, at the age of twenty-
one, he came to California via Panama, and proceeded
at once to the mines on the Yuba River, remaining
there for one year; then he went to Camptonville,
and from there to Sacramento, then to the mines in
Sierra County; two years later he removed to Nevada
County and conducted a dairy for one year, then he
engaged in stockraising in Solano County; he then
returned to Sierra County and resided there for a
year and a half, when he made a visit to the eastern
states, returning in three months to Sierra County,
where for several years he conducted a meat business.
In 1868 he came to Burnett township, Santa Clara
County, and engaged in farming until 1875, when he
rented the "Twelve-Mile House," where he had a
store, blacksmith's shop and hotel, and he served as
postmaster and school trustee. On December 7, 1866,
he married Miss Louisa Leonard and they had ten
children: The first child died in infancy; Charles, the
subject of this review; Lee died when he was three
years old; Orvis died when two years old; Frank is an
orchardist at Coyote; Bert is a rancher at Coyote;
Jim is a rancher and resides at Coyote; Warren re-
sides in Alaska; Patti is an artist in San Jose; and
Sam, an auto-machinist living in Cleveland, Ohio.
The mother was a native of Illinois and was born in
1842. She crossed the plains with her parents in
1852 and her father mined in Sierra County, after
which he came to Santa Clara County and bought a
farm at Coyote. Orvis Stevens passed away in 1916
and Mrs. Stevens in 1920.

Charles grew up in Santa Clara County and ob-
tained what education he could in the district schools;
and has been intimately connected with orcharding
from its very beginning in Santa Clara County, as
forty years ago he helped his father plant and culti-
vate a large family and commercial orchard.

Mr. Stevens' marriage occurred in 1892 and united
him with Miss Fannie Fisher, who was born on the
old Fisher ranch at Coyote, being a daughter of
Thomas and Anna (Hanks) Fisher, pioneer farmers
and stockraisers of this county. After his marriage
Mr. Stevens engaged in farming and orcharding on
his wife's twenty-acre ranch at Coyote. In 1919 they
sold it and bought the present place of ten acres, on
Pastoria Avenue, near Sunnyvale. Mr. and Mrs. Ste-
vens are the parents of one son, Lawrence O., who as-
sists his father on the ranch. At the outbreak of the
World War, Lawrence volunteered in the service of
his country and served for two years in France as a
mechanic in the aviation corps, being among the first
to go to France. He married Miss Ceda Evans of
San Francisco. Mr. Stevens is a member of the
Woodmen of the World, and of the Prune and Apri-
cot Growers, Inc., and cooperates in every measure
for the good of the community.

NICHOLAS H. RUSSO.— In studying the record
of the life of Nicholas H. Russo, one cannot but be
convinced that there is no such word as failure to the
man who is determined to succeed. Mr. Russo is
the sole owner of the Russo Sheet Metal Works, the
successor to C. L. Meisterheim, the oldest sheet-
metal works in the county, located at 370 South

Market Street. Born in Virginia City, Nev., in 1883,
he is the son of Peter and Isabella Russo, who settled
in Virginia City during the year of 1872. In 1896
they removed to California, settling in San Jose,
where they engaged in the grocery business. The
father is still living and in comfortable circumstances.
Mrs. Russo died March 31, 1921.

Nicholas attended school in San Jose, and after
leaving school learned the sheet metal trade* and for
twenty years was engaged in this line of work, being
employed by his predecessor, Mr. Meisterheim, the
entire period. He purchased the business in 1919,
and it has steadily increased until he employs six
men doing all kinds of sheet metal and well pipe
work, and using only the most modern machinery and
equipment to take care of their growing patronage.

The marriage of Mr. Russo on August 14, 1910,
united him with Miss Annie Gogga, a daughter of
Steve and Pauline Gogga, a pioneer family. Mrs.
Russo is a native daughter of California. They are
the parents of one son, Clarence. In his political
views, Mr. Russo is a Republican, the principles of
which party he warmly advocates, and in all matters
intended to advance the public welfare he is generally
found lending a helping hand.

HARRY SILVER.— It may be said that to ad-
verse conditions Harry Silver owes all that his years
have brought him, for they have served to bring out
the strong and salient points in his character and have
imbued him with the energy and determination which
grows from opposition, so in the truest sense of the
word he is a self-made man. Born in the city of New
York, January 15, 1881 the son of Julius and Caroline
Silver, Harry was educated in the public schools of
his native city, and at an early age, he began working
for himself. His first position was in a department
store; then for three years he did farm work; then
was employed by a shoe house, all of which experi-
ence served as a practical education which was of
great benefit in after years. In 1913 he migrated to
California and remained in Oakland until in June,
1918, when he went to San Jose. With a well-directed
intelligence and a determination to succeed, he estab-
lished a business of his own at 38 South Market
Street known as the Cut Price Shoe Store and his
efforts are being richly rewarded.

Politically, Mr. Silver is a stanch Republican, and
in fraternal circles, a member of the Odd Fellows,
the Moose and Woodmen of the World. He enjoys
hunting and fishing for a recreation from the busy
cares of life. He is, at all times, interested in the
welfare of his community and always ready to lend
a helping hand to all worthy objects, and rightly
enjoys the respect and esteem of his business asso-
ciates. His untiring energy and integrity have won
him a prominent place in San Jose business life.

JAMES BROWN.— A native of Greece, James
Brown was born in Xanges, October 20, 1881. He is
the son of N. and Margaret Buzas, both natives of
Greece, and he too was christened N. Buzas at his
birth. On coming to the United States, however,
he decided to complete his Americanization by chang-
ing his name to James Brown. His father's occupa-
tion was that of a farmer and the son spent his boy-
hood and early manhood on the farm with his parents,
and was educated in the common schools of Xanges.
Upon reaching his twenty-first birthday, James con-
cluded to sail for America. He only remained in

1618

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

New York one week, coming on to St. Louis, Mo..
where he worked for two years for the Wabash Rail-
road Company. Being attracted by the wonderful
climate of California, he came on to Oakland and
was employed by the Southern Pacific Company
for four years. Having accumulated a sufficient
sum of money, Mr. Brown removed to San Jose
and in 1910, he opened the Superior Restaurant
at 60 Ntjrth First Street, where he is now located.
For four years he owned a place on South First
Street which he ran in connection with the Superior.

Mr. Brown was married in San Jose, Cal., July 16,
1918 to Mrs. Margaret Locoto, a native of New
York. Mrs. Brown is the daughter of John Locoto,
who removed here from New York, and is in the
grocery and butcher business on West San Carlos
Street. One child, Nicholas, has been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Brown. With a true, progressive spirit,
Mr. Brown has made extensive improvements in
his restaurant, building a new front and redecorating
the interior, and now has one of the best equipped
restaurants in San Jose. He is a member of the
Moose Lodge and the Chamber of Commerce.

JOSEPH V. SIMON.— Well known in business
circles of San Jose, Joseph V. Simon, for many years
has been foreman of the distillery operated by the
Western Industries Company at Agnew, and his
capable work in this connection has made his services
very valuable to his employers. He is a native of
Texas, his birth having occurred at San Antonio
on April 14, 1884. His father, Louis Alipe Simon,
was born in France in 1854 and when twenty-eight
years of age he arrived in America and became an
American citizen, settling at San Antonio, Texas,
where he married Miss Teressa Mary Waltz. In
188S the family came to California, locating in San
Jose, where the father won prominence as a builder
and contractor. They continued to reside in this
city until September, 1901, when they removed to
Healdsburg, Sonoma County. Cal., where the father
conducted a distillery for a time. His next removal
took him to Berkeley, in Alameda County, where he
continued his activities along that line, distilling al-
cohol for commercial and medical purposes. His
plant was known as the "Golden Gate," and he was
very successful in the conduct of the business. He is
now living retired in Berkeley, Mrs. Simon having
died on October 18, 1920. Mr. and Mrs. Simon be-
came the parents of five sons, of whom the subject
of this review is the eldest; then came Louis, now
deceased; Leo. in Berkeley; Eugene, of San Raphael;
and Harry, of San Jose.

In the public schools of San Jose J. V. Simon
acquired his education, accompanying his parents
on their removal to Sonoma County and later becom-
ing a resident of Berkeley. In 1905 he returned to
San Jose to assume the position of foreman of the
distillery operated by the Western Industries Com-
pany at Agnew for the manufacture of commercial
and medical alcohol. He is well qualified to dis-
charge the duties of this responsible position, for
long experience has made him thoroughly familiar
with every phase of the business, and he is proving
most capable and trustworthy in promoting the in-
terests of the company.

On May 11, 1907, Mr. Simon was united in mar-
riage with Miss Hclene V. Prudhomme, a daughter of
Phillip and Marie Helen (Pellier) Prudhomme, the

latter of whom passed away on August 6, 1905. The
father was formerly the owner of a large vineyard and
is now numbered among the leading citizens of San
Jose. Her grandfather, Pierre Pellier, brought the
first French prune trees from France and was a
brother of Louis Pellier, who had the first nursery,
establishing the business in 1856 at San Jose. Mrs.
Simon acquired her education in the schools of San
Jose, and by her marriage she has become the mother
of three children; Fernande T., Estelle Marie, and
Bernice Eleanor, who are attending the Horace Mann
school. The family residence is at 295 North Tenth
Street, and Mr. Simon also owns some very desirable
real estate at Carmel. In the management of his
business affairs he has been progressive, energetic,
and capable and in the discharge of his duties as a
citizen he has at all times been actuated by a regard
for the public welfare.

EDSON H. WILLIAMS— ROBERT D. WIL-
LIAMS.— Proprietors of a fast-growing and up-to-
date business, Robert D. and Edson H. Williams
have taken their places among San Jose's progressive
business men. A native son of California, Edson H.
Williams was born at Fairfield. Cal.. November 20,
1898, a son of William H. and Elizabeth (Harkness)
Williams. His father was born near Sacramento and
came of an old pioneer family. Both father and
mother have passed away, the former in Santa Rosa
and the latter in Sacramento.

Edson H. Williams attended the grammar and high
schools of Sacramento and San Jose, after which he
engaged in clerical work for two years; then was
employed by a laundry company. In 1913 the busi-
ness known as Rider and Williams Wet Wash Com-
pany was established, which included Edward Rider,
Mrs. Elizabeth Williams and her two sons, Edson and
Robert. During the year 1919. the sons purchased the
interest of Mr. Rider. By their perseverance and
energy, they succeeded in establishing a very lucra-
tive business, employing at the present time seven
people, with three autos taking care of the deliveries.
They are constantly adding modern machinery and
employing new plans and methods to increase the
business.

Robert D. Williams was born September 1, 1891,
in Solano County, attended school in Solano and
Napa Counties, and came to San Jose in the year
1913. Both brothers are advocates of the principles
of the Republican party and are active members of
the Chamber of Commerce. They are fond of all
kinds of clean sport, and are keenly interested in
everything that pertains to the general welfare and
their aid and co-operation can be counted upon to
further any measures for the public good.

JOSEPH LOPROTO.— In the city of Palermo,
Italy, Joseph Loproto was born on September 20.
1890, the son of Frank and Engleraa Loproto. For
twenty-three years, the father served on the police
force of Palermo, and here Joseph attended the
grammar school, but during his school days, at the
early age of seven, he was required to take up a
trade, that of blacksmithing, which he plied for ten
years. At the end of this time, he came to America,
coming direct to San Jose, Cal. He was employed
for a short time by the California Fruit Canners
Association as mechanic and blacksmith; then for five
years he was with the Pratt-Low Company in the
same capacity; then for five years he was with Mr.

g^./9 i2cJ.i.^,Bi;;h

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1621

Flickinger, working at his trade. Realizing the
necessity of advancement, he entered into partnership
with Nicholas Belardi, who conducted a grocery and
meat business. Owing to his industry and thrift,
within a year he was owner and sole proprietor of
the business.

On the 26th day of September, 1916, Mr. Loproto
was united in marriage to Miss Amelia Belardi,
daughter of Salvadore and Thersa Belardi, and they
have one daughter, Isabel. Mrs. Loproto's parents
were born in Trecarico, Italy, but she is a native
daughter of California. Fraternally, Mr. Loproto is
a member of the Eagles and Macabees of San Jose;
also a member of the Pastime Club of that city. In
all relations of life he commands the respect, con-
fidence, and goodwill of his fellowmen.

FRANK OLIVER BALISTRERI.— Although
one of the younger business men of San Jose, Frank
Oliver Balistreri is rapidly forging to the front in
commercial circles, being one of the proprietors of an
up-to-ilate and well patronized garage at 633 North
Thirtcentli Street. He was born in Syracuse, N. Y.,
on February 1, 1897, a son of Vincenzio and Josephine
Balistreri, the former a native of St. Elia, Italy. After
emigrating to the United .States the father became a
resident of Syracuse, N. Y., where he engaged in
contracting in produce, making agreements with fac-
tories and packing houses to furnish them their sea-
son's supplies of beets and beans, which he obtained
from the farmers. He built up a good business in that
connection, emploving a number of assistants. In
1899 he removed to Geneva, N. Y., and in 1904 came
with his family to California, establishing his home
in San Jose. Here he has since resided and is now
the owner of a small ranch on Thirteenth Street.

In the grammar schools of Geneva, N. Y., and San
Jose, Frank Balistreri acquired his education and his
initial business experience was obtained as an em-
ploye of the American Can Company in San Jose.
After a short time he gave up that position and se-
cured work with the Consolidated Garage, in the
same city, where he learned the trade of auto
mechanic. He afterward spent a year in working
in the orchards near San Jose and then became a
mechanic with the Anderson-Barngrover Company.
In 1917 he started a garage in partnership with
Charles Baxter, but soon afterward the latter joined
the navy and Mr. Balistreri disposed of his interest
in the business and entered the service of the Three
Leaf Cot Manufacturing Company of Sunnyvale,
with which he remained for about a year. He then
secured a situation in the Oakland shipyards, where
he was employed on construction work until the close
of the World War, after which he returned to San
Jose and reentered the employ of the Anderson-
Barngrover Company. He remained with that firm
until he decided to again embark in business on his
own account and in association with his cousin, Joe
Balistreri, he opened a garage in this city, with which
he has since been connected. He thoroughly under-
stands this line of work, being an expert automobile
mechanic, and is devoting every energy to the devel-
opment of the business, which is enjoying a con-
tinuous and healthful growth. Mr. Balistreri is a
Republican in his political views and is much inter-
ested in the welfare and success of the party. He has
already made for himself a creditable place in busi-
ness circles and his ambition and energy will un-
doubtedly carry him steadily forward.

CHARLES D. CUTTING.— An influential citizen
of his community, Charles D. Cutting is living re-
tired in Campbell, still owning his five-acre place on
Hamilton Avenue. He was born in Haverill, N. H.,
on July 10, 1834, the son of Abijah and Permelia
(Engles) Cutting. Both parents were pioneers of
Iowa and were occupied with farming pursuits in
that state and there they both passed away.

Charles D. received his education in the schools
of New Hampshire, and after finishing his education
assisted his father with the farm work until he was
seventeen years old, when he undertook farming on
his own account. In 1855 he removed to Riceville.
Howard County, Iowa, improved raw land and farmed
there for thirty-nine years; then he sold out and
came to California in 1893. and located in the Santa
Clara Valley, purchasing his home place of five acres
near Campbell. The family removed to Palo Alto
and resided there for six years while his sons were
students in Stanford University; then spent the next
five years in Pacific Grove; and for the past two
years have lived in Campbell. His orchard is devoted
to raising cherries, prunes, and apples, and is oper-
ated by his son.

The marriage of Mr. Cutting in Iowa united him
with Miss Anna Bourne, born at East Fallmouth,
Mass., and they are the parents of five sons: Wil-
liam, a rancher at Campbell; Francis H., landscape
painter at Campbell; Charles B., orchardist on Hamil-
ton Avenue; Theodore A., a graduate of Stanford,
teaching in Los Gatos high school; and James A.,
a graduate of Stanford, is a physician at the Agnew
State Hospital. There are eight grandchildren.

Before removing to California, Mr. Cutting served
as a member of the state legislature of Iowa. In his
political affiliations he is a steadfast Republican. He
has ever been an earnest and enterprising citizen,
intent on making the interests of his adopted state
lie parallel with those of his own personal efforts.
The family are active in the social, religious, and
political circles of their locality. The success which
he enjoys is merited by his long and industrious
career, his close devotion to personal interests, and the
wise judgment he has exercised in his investments.

ROMEO F. VATUONE.— Among the progress-
ive young business men who are contributing to the
building up of San Jose is Romeo F. Vatuone, a
native son of that city, who was born on June 4,
189S, the son of an old pioneer family. His parents,
Anthony and Presciosa Vatuone, came to San Fran-
cisco in 1875 and then in 1888 came on to San Jose,
where they made their home until their demise.
While living in San Francisco, Anthony Vatuone had
the good fortune to win the capital prize of $75,000
in the Louisiana lottery at one of its drawings. It
was then that he came to San Jose and built the
Vatuone Block, on North Market Street, about 1887,
which is still in the possession of the family. He was
a man of affairs and held a prominent place in his
adopted city.

Romeo F. Vatuone took advantage of the educa-
tional privileges offered in the public schools and St.
Joseph's Academy at San Jose, and then spent two
years in the University of Santa Clara. Taking up
the study of pharmacy with D. M. Denegri in his
drug store, Mr. Vatuone continued there for the next
two years, when he resigned to enlist in the service
of his country. He had been for some years a mem-

1622

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ber of Company B, C. N. G., and about three months
before Congress declared war on Germany, Mr.
Vatuone enlisted in Company B for service in the
World War, first doing guard duty in California and
Nevada, and then was in training at Camp Kearney
until sent overseas in June, 1918. Arriving at Havre,
he took part in engagements in the Argonne sector
until the armistice, and on his return home he was
honorably discharged at the Presidio in June, 1919,
coming back to San Jose after two years and ten
months service in the war. In March, 1920, with
his brother Anthony, he began the sale of Denby
trucks, and as their business enlarged they moved to
270 West Santa Clara Street, where they had a gar-
age and repair shop and engaged in the sale of
Columbia automobiles and auto accessories. In 1921
they disposed of this business and under the name
of Vatuone Brothers, they are now engaged in the
grocery business on Alum Rock Avenue.

On February' S, 1921, at San Jose, Mr. Vatuone
was married to Miss Minnie Zattera, a native
daughter of Santa Clara. Mr. Vatuone is a member
of the Loyal Order of Moose, the Woodmen of the
World, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Being
athletic in his tastes, he is very fond of outdoor
life and sports and spends much of his leisure time
in that way.

WALTER IRVING MERRILL, M. D.— The
vicinity of Campbell and the surrounding country are
fortunate indeed to have as able and conscientious
a physician to care for the physical welfare of its
citizens as is found in Dr. Walter Irving Merrill, an
eminent and experienced practitioner. He was born
at Mechanic Falls, Maine, August 26, 1886, and is
the son of Franklin A. and Amelia (Gatley) Merrill,
who were born in Portland, Maine, and Cornwall,
England, respectively. Franklin Merrill traces his
ancestry back to 1687, his forebears being French
Huguenots, who settled first in New York, later
removing to Maine. The original spelling was Mueri!,
but it was finally changed to Merrill. Grandfather
Edmund T. Merrill was a shipbuilder and helped lay
the steel plates in the Monitor, that later bested the
Merrimac in Chesapeake Bay. Franklin A. Merrill
was a sanitary engineer, attaining success in his pro-
fession, and he now lives in comfortable retirement
at Campbell.

Walter Irving Merrill was educated in the public
schools of Portland, Maine, graduating from the high
schools in 1905, and then entered Bowdoin Medical
College at Brunswick, Maine, receiving his M. D.
degree there on July 10, 1909. He then spent one
year at the Maine General Hospital at Portland,
and later took a post-graduate course in the New-
York Lying-in Hospital. Returning to his native
state, Dr. Merrill engaged in practice at South Paris,
where he continued until October, 1911. On Novem-
ber 4 he established himself in his profession at
Campbell, Cal., and there he has attained an enviable
reputation for his medical skill.

Dr. Merrill's mariage, which occurred in Portland.
Maine, united him with Miss Augusta C. Cookson,
who was born at Bayside, New Brunswick, the
daughter of Edward and Annie (Stuart) Cookson,
both of Scotch parentage, the father being a ship-
builder. Mrs. Merrill is a graduate of the State
Normal School at Gorham, Maine, in 1905, and was
engaged in educational work until her marriage. She

is the mother of two children, Stephen F. and
Annette. Dr. Merrill has contributed much to the
permanent development of the community and is
president of the Campbell Improvement Club. He
was made a Mason in Ancient Landmark Lodge No.
17, at Portland, Maine, and now is a past master of
Charity Lodge No. 362, F. & A. M., at Campbell. He
is also a member of the Scottish Rite bodies of San
Jose, and with his wife is a member of San Jose
Chapter, O. E. S. He belongs to the Odd Fellows,
the American Medical Association, and the state and
county societies, and is local health officer. During
the World War he served as a lieutenant in the
Medical Corps of the U. S. Navy in 1918-1920.

GLENN A. DEVENPECK.— A progressive young
business man of San Jose is Glenn A. Devenpeck,
junior partner of the firm of Empey and Devenpeck,
automobile trimmers and upholsterers. Mr. Deven-
peck was born in Glen, N. Y., February 22, 1896, the
son of Fred and Alice Devenpeck. His father was
engaged in the general merchandise business at Glen,
and here the son first attended school. During the
year of 1903 the family came to California and settled
in San Jose, where they have since resided. At the
present time the father is connected with the Cali-
fornia Packing Company.

Upon graduation from the San Jose high school,
Mr. Devenpeck accepted a position in charge of the
shipping end of the San Jose section of the California
Packing Corporation, remaining with them for five
years. During the World War. he entered the U. S.
Navy, and in March, 1918, he trained at San Pedro for
a short time, was then sent to Brooklyn, N. Y., for
one week. He was assigned to the U. S. S. Seattle
doing convoy service, and he was aboard this vessel
for four months; then going aboard a Standard Oil
tanker. This ship was known among the sailors
on board as the "suicide ship," and did guard duty
in the Mediterranean Sea and along the western
coast of Italy from Genoa to Naples. In February,
1919, Mr. Devenpeck was discharged from the service
at Camp May, N. J., and returned to San Jose.

On the twentieth day of April, 1919, Mr. Deven-
peck was married to Miss Edyth Empey, a daughter
of C. W. and Olga Empey, both natives of Santa
Clara County. As Mr. Empey was an expert harness
maker, it was very easy for him to become efficient
in auto upholstering and auto trimming, and they
formed a partnership in this line which has proved
successful and profitable. Mr. Devenpeck is a mem-
ber of the American Legion.

EMORY E. POSTON.— The son of pioneer set-
tlers of California, Emory E. Poston, like many
another native son, has been content to pass his
entire life within the confines of the Golden State.
He was born at the Great Western Mine near Middle-
town, Lake County, on September 26, 1878, his
parents being Dallas and Mary (Funk) Poston, born
in Kirksville, Mo. Dallas Poston served in the
Civil War, and in 1866 brought his wife to California
and settled in Lake County, where he was for many
years engaged in the butcher business at the Great
Western Mine, later in the hotel business in Middle-
town. He was admitted to the bar and served as
justice of the peace in Middletown, where he still
practises law.

Emory E. Poston spent his boyhood days in Lake
County, gaining his education in the public schools

^^£r/e^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1625

there, and when the time came for him to set out
upon his own responsibihty, he followed mining in
Shasta County and then at the Kennett Smelter,
where he was foreman in the boiler shop for two
years. In June, 1910, he came to Santa Clara County,
and for the next nine years he was in charge of the
yards of the Ainsley Packing Company at Campbell.
He next was employed for a short time in San Jose,
and on October 1, 1920, he accepted the responsible
position of foreman of the Bella Vista Ranch at
Saratoga, which comprises a fine tract of 100 acres
devoted principally to orchard.

In Shasta County, in 1900, Mr. Poston was married
to Miss OUie Farrell, like himself a native of Lake
County, the daughter of Frank and Cora Farrell.
While his political preference is given to the Demo-
crat party, Mr. Poston is broadminded in his views
where local matters are concerned, and in fraternal
circles he belongs to the Fraternal Brotherhood.
A natural mechanic, with considerable inventive
genius, Mr. Poston is the inventor of the two-in-one
dust cap for automobiles, which he has patented,
which is being introduced and well received, and the
prospects are bright for its large sale.

ROBERT WILSON.— A native son of Santa
Clara County, Robert Wilson was born at the Al-
raaden mines, April 2, 1864, a son of William and
Mary (Scott) Wilson, natives of Yorkshire, England,
who came to California in 1862. William Wilson
had been a miner in Yorkshire and on coming to
Santa Clara County he went to work in the Almaden
mines, and there he was killed by the caving-in of the
mine which crushed him to death in December, 1865.
His widow contiued to reside in the town until her
death in 1868. Robert was the youngest of four
children and made his home with William Yeager, a
carpenter at the Almaden mines and an old friend of
his father, remaining with him until 1878. During
these years he had attended the public schools at
Almaden, his first teacher being A. J. Sontheimer.

In 1878 Mr. Wilson began working for Isaac
Branham and while there attended the Pioneer
School taught by Prof. Bateman. Mr. Branham had
a grain and stock farm and Robert learned to drive
the big teams in the grain fields, and here his natural
love for horses found full vent, and he became an
expert judge as well as master of them, and also
studied their ailments, so to this day he can give
them expert care when they are sick. Next he en-
gaged in teaming, hauling between Almaden and San
Jose. His team of six fine horses, their harness shin-
ing with ornaments, and last but not least the splen-
did "bow of bells" was a daily sight on the Almaden
Road. After fifteen years of teaming he quit to
engage in farming in the Cupertino district. He
owns a small orchard ranch in Monte Vista, that he
has subdivided into building lots and is selling to
prospective home builders. Mr. Wilson is also en-
gaged in the confectionery business and has a wagon
for the purpose, thus serving the people of this sec-
tion in his line, but makes a specialty of serving at
picnic grounds. His entire life has been spent in
Santa Clara County, a region he enjoys, and is well
content that he was born in this favored section of
the globe. Enjoying his franchise he casts his vote
for the candidates of the Republican party.

ANTONIO TERESI.— It is interesting to note the
success of one of Santa Clara County's ambitious
young men, Antonio Teresi, who has become a
successful orchardist and an enterprising realtor.
A native of Sicily, he was born at Palermo. August
12, 1896, but he has been a resident of California
since he was a child, so he has very little recollection
of any other home than the sunny skies of the Golden
State. His parents were Salvadore and Mary (La-
barba) Teresi, who came to the United States about
1902, settling at San Jose, and the father is now the
owner of the Sorosis Fruit Ranch at Saratoga.

The fifth in a family of nine children, all living,
Antonia Teresi was educated in the public schools of
San Jose, and supplemented this with a course at
. Heald's Business College, where he was graduated in
1914. and following this he spent the next ten years
in various lines of work, principally as an orchardist.
As soon as he had the means he bought an orchard
at Berryessa. which he sold in 1919 at a good profit,
and immediately purchased an orchard on Prospect
Road, which he disposed of successfully fourteen
months later. His next purchase was a beautiful
ten-acre orchard on the Santa Clara-Los Gatos Road,
where he and his wife now make their home. Al-
ready he has made many improvements on the place,
particularly in beautifying the grounds, and his pros-
pects are bright for an increased yield and income
from year to year from his orchard, which is con-
sidered one of the prettiest in this section of the
valley. For the past three years Mr. Teresi has been
engaged in the realty business in San Jose with
Paul L Cavala, having offices on East Santa Clara
Street and handling all kinds of property.

At San Francisco, on July 1, 1920, Mr. Teresi was
married to Miss Katherine Elizabeth Semas, a native
of Salinas, Cal., and the daughter of Antonio and
Agnes Semas. Her father passed away on April 6,
1907, and the mother now makes her home on Wil-
liams Road, Santa Clara County. Mrs. Teresi was
educated in the public schools and in Notre Dame
Business College at Salinas. While numbered among
the younger orchardists of the district, Mr. Teresi
is already counted among the successful horticul-
turists, a recognition he well deserves. Politically
he casts his vote for the Republican party.

F. G. WILDHAGEN.— Among the men of re-
sourcefulness and executive ability who have chosen
San Jose, Cal. as the center of their activities,
is F. G. Wildhagen, superintendent of the automobile
department of the Campbell and Budlong Machine
Works. Great responsibilities rest upon him as the
overseer of a large number of men and in whose
well-being and progress he takes great interest.
He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., September 17,
1892, and was the son of F. A. and Katheryn Wild-
hagen, the father being a wholesale grape dealer
in Philadelphia.

Mr. Wildhagen attended the grammar and high
schools of Philadelphia, spending the last two years
of high school in the mechanical department, then
serving four years apprenticeship as a machinist with
the firm of Winterbottom and Carter Company at
Philadelphia. Pa., he became skilled in mechanical
work. He then became identified with the same firm
at Egg Harbor City, N. J., where they were engaged
in the manufacture of knife handles. In October,
1909, he came to San Jose, Cal., and spent about

1626

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

a year with Clarence Letcher, serving as a mechanic
in the automobile repair business. The next fourteen
months were spent with the San Jose Garage and
the following six years with Harrison P. Smith Com-
pany. In September. 1920, he became manager of
the Co-operative Auto Works, Inc., which was or-
ganized for the primary purpose of giving young
men interested in learning the trade of a mechanic,
a practical schooling, having them work with ex-
perienced men who were to give them instructions
which would be put to practice right in their own
garage, and it might well be called an apprentice
system college of the automotive industry. On
April 11, 1921, the local establishment was dis-
continued and Mr. Wildhagen accepted the position
as superintendent of automobile department of Camp-
bell and Budlong, manufacturing machinists, on South'
First Street, San Jose, where his experience and
ability are appreciated by his being placed in charge
of the automobile end of the business.

Mr. Wildhagen's marriage, which occurred August
23, 1916, united him with Miss Freda Baumgartner,
who is a native of California, having been born in
San Jose. She took advantage of the educational
privileges presented by the public school systems of
San Jose, where she was reared. Mr. and Mrs.
Wildhagen are the parents of two daughters, Irene
Frances and Eleanor Marie, and the family have
many friends in San Jose. Mr. Wildhagen is a
member of the Loyal Order of Moose and was a
charter member of No. 401, San Jose.

T. S. BURNS. — A prosperous, influential business
man of San Jose is T. S. Burns, who has established
a splendid growing mattress manufacturing business.
He was born in Derma, Miss., on March 4, 1883, the
son of T. M. and Jennie (McQuire) Burns, his
father being a native of Mississippi and a well known
planter in his home district.

Mr. Burns attended the grammar and high schools
of Pittsboro, Miss., and when sixteen years old, he
started out to make his own way, and, going to Texas,
took up work in the mattress making business at
Italy, that state. He then worked for the Patterson
Feather Company for the next five years, covering
Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. This company had
six crews of nine men each, who covered these three
states. Later, Mr. Mulkey, a member of this firm,
and Mr. Burns, left the Patterson Feather Company
and Mr. Mulkey began business for himself under
the name of the Mulkey Mattress Company, Mr.
Burns going as his assistant. They spent several
years together, covering the states of Kansas, Neb-
raska, and Utah, making repairs and renovating
mattresses. Later Mr. Burns spent one year by
himself working in Wyoming, South Dakota, and
Colorado.

Joining forces again with Mr. Mulkey, they came
to Sacramento, Cal., in 1914, remained a short time,
then went to Oakland where they were in business
for about nine months. Afterwards they were in
Santa Rosa and Napa for a short stay before coming
to San Jose, Cal., where Mr. Burns went into busi-
ness with Mr. Mulkey, under the name of Mulkey
Mattress Company. They continued together until
1919, when Mr. Burns bought Mr. Mulkey's interest
and changed the name to the Burns Mattress Com-
pany. Here Mr. Burns has continued, giving his
time and attention to developing the business that

today is the largest factory of its kind in Santa Clara
County and employs eight people. The services
that were rendered in other states by Mr. Burns have
aided a great deal in giving this concern a reputation
for good work, for the best advertising a firm can
receive is satisfied customers. He receives much
business from other states, and because he has the
equipment to handle a large volume of business he
receives many orders from hotels and institutions.

Mr. Burns' marriage occurred on January 19, 1920,
in San Jose, Cal., and united him with Miss Fonnie
Enoches, also born near Derma, Miss. She is the
daughter of William E. and Sue Elizabeth (Maxey)
Enoches, and her father, a planter and stockman,
also had a cotton gin. Mrs. Burns graduated from
the Derma high school and later attended the In-
dustrial Institute and College at Columbus, Miss.,
from which she graduated in 1915. Mr. Burns is a
loyal supporter of all interests which make for the
development and the upbuilding of the community,
giving his aid and influence at all times on the
side of progress, and San Jose is glad to have men
of his caliber in their midst. He is a member of the
Odd Fellows of San Jose, and in national politics,
both he and Mrs. Burns are Democrats, but in local
affairs cast their vote for the best men and measures.

THOMAS J. CALLAHAN.— The name of Thomas
J. Callahan figures prominently in connection with
commercial enterprise in San Jose, as junior partner
in the firm of Farnsworth and Callahan, dealers in
automobile supplies. A native of Ohio, his birth
occurred in the city of Cleveland. January 23, 1883.
his parents being Thomas and Bridget (Kavanaugh)
Callahan. The father. Thomas Callahan, was a
native of County Cork, Ireland, migrating to America
when but sixteen years of age; while the mother was
born in Cleveland, Ohio.

Thomas J. was educated in the public schools of
Cleveland, and upon graduation entered the employ
of the Erie Railroad as brakeman. During the year
of 1902 he came to the Pacific Coast and was located
for a short time in Los Angeles. He then went to
San Francisco, where he entered the employ of the
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, remaining with
them until the year 1913. During the time he was in
the employ of the Southern Pacific, he rendered
valuable and efficient service in the operating depart-
ment as train conductor.

Having determined upon the selection of the occu-
pation for his life's work, he became a valued employe
of a large automobile accessory house in San Jose,
where he remained five years. This period served to
give him broad and practical knowledge concerning
the business and when, in July, 1918, he entered into
partnership with Mr. Farnsworth, he established a
wholesale and retail automobile supply house, located
at ISO West Santa Clara Street. He has brought a
broad experience and a thorough training to the busi-
ness, which has served to make this firm the largest
of its kind in the Santa Clara Valley.

Mr. Callahan's marriage united him with Miss Edna
Maxwell of San Luis Obispo County, a native
daughter of the Golden State, and they are the parents
of one son. Maxwell, a student in the grammar school
at San Jose. Fraternally, Mr. Callahan is an honored
member of the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of
the World, and active in the Chamber of Commerce
of San Jose, and the Auto Trades Association.

e^O-T^^J^^yz^ ^^►^^j/z^^^^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1627

ANSELMO CONROTTO.— A young man of
ability, who by his energy and hard work is making
a success, is Ansehno Conrotto, who is farming the
old Doyle ranch on Stevens Creek at Monte Vista.
He was born under the sunny skies of Italy at Coco-
nato, Piedmont, on March 6, 1890. His father, Bap-
tiste Conrotto, was a farmer in that interesting sec-
tion of Northern Italy, and there Anselmo grew to
young manhood, obtaining a good education in the
local schools while he also learned the rudiments of
farming. He had heard and read of the great op-
portunities in California, and his ambition was stirred
to cast in his lot with this favored section. Arriving
in Gilroy, Santa Clara County, in 1906, he was em-
ployed at farming and orcharding until 1911, when
he returned to his native place to fulfill his duties
according to the military laws of Italy. Entering
Company Thirty-three of the Alpine Regiment he
served for two years, thirteen months of the period
being spent serving at the front in the Tripoli War.
After his discharge, in 1913, he remained for a time
in his native heath, where he was married to Miss
Rosa Conti in the spring of 1914, and soon after-
wards he brought his bride to California, returning
to Gilroy about two months before the great World
War broke out.

Mr. Conrotto engaged in orcharding and farming
in the vicinity of Gilroy until 1919, when he came to
Cupertino and secured the lease of the Doyle ranch,
embracing about SCO acres, 200 acres of the ranch
being devoted to orchard and vineyard and the bal-
ance to hay and grain. From a lad he learned to
care for trees and vines and since coming to Santa
Clara County he has had valuable experience and
made a study of horticulture and viticulture. He is
producing a fine quality of prunes, apricots, peaches
and grapes, enabling him to make a success of his
venture. Mr. Conrotto's marriage has been blessed
with two children, Giachinta and Louisa. He is a
Republican in his political preference and shows his
readiness at all times to aid in the upbuilding of his
adopted country.

HARRY E. BROWNE.— Although a young man,
Harry E. Browne is the manager of one of the largest
moving picture houses in San Jose, Cal., a high class
theater that caters only to the highest types of
motion pictures. He was born in Milwaukee, Wis.,
on November 19. 1888, and was the son of Herbert
and Mabel (McKee) Browne. His father was in the
employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul
Railroad Company, and passed away in 1912; his
mother surviving her husband only one year.

Mr. Browne was the eldest of a family of three
brothers and received his education in the schools
of Milwaukee, and ever since he was twelve years
old he has been making his own way. He gradually
worked into vaudeville and traveled over the Central
States, and as far east as Toledo. Ohio, and then
through the South. He was for some time on the
Pantages circuit and then went on the Marcus Loew
circuit, in the latter employ going north as far as
Winnipeg. Canada, and made most of the Canadian
towns, thence to Butte. Mont., and British Columbia,
coming south through Oregon, Washington, and Cali-
fornia, as far as San Deigo, Cal.

Here Mr. Browne quit the stage and came to San
Jose, in 1920, where he took a position with the

Herbert Packing Company and after a short time
he took a position with the T. & D. Theater as
assistant manager. When Mr. Miller left, Mr.

Browne was promoted to the position of manager.
He entered the U. S. service October, 1917, enlisting
in the Illinois Engineers. Thirty-third Division, and
was for six months at Camp Logan, Texas, where
he received training. He became the manager of a
large entertainment troupe at Camp Logan, Texas,
and had charge of the camp entertainment. He was
honorably discharged in 1918, and went back to his
old work on the vaudeville stage, continuing there
until he located in San Jose, where he has rapidly
taken his place as a live wire in business circles.

ALLEN RUDOLPH.— San Jose's enviable status
as a city of ideal homes owes much to the wonderful
success of the San Jose Building & Loan Association,
whose secretary is Allen Rudolph, a native of San
Benito County, where he was born on July 23, 1888.
His father was C. L. Rudolph, and he married Miss
Ellen M. Schmidt; and they enjoyed, wherever they
lived, the esteem and good will due them as industri-
ous and progressive citizens.

Allen attended the common schools of his neigh-
borhood, and then for a year pursued the courses of
the high school; and as a youngster he took charge
of his father's ranch. He also attended the Heald's
Business College at San Jose, and after leaving there
he joined the staflf of the First National Bank of San
Jose, but illness caused him to seek other lines of
occupation and he became special agent for the West-
ern States Life Insurance Company, where he made
an enviable record for himself. Finding a good busi-
ness opening in King City. Mr. Rudolph went there
and became a member of the board of directors of
the H. A. F. Company and also was ofifice manager.
Then he served in the World War in the subsistence
branch, keeping a record of food supplies that went
through the Western department. After his dis-
charge he was with Earl C. Anthony at San Jose for
a short time.

In June, 1919. Mr. Rudolph became secretary of
the San Jose Building & Loan Association, the
pioneer of the county, which has its headquarters at
81 West Santa Clara Street. It was incorporated
under the laws of California in 188S and was founded
by its first president, C. W. Breyfogle, and first
secretary, H." W. Wright. Its present officers are
Valentine Koch, president, and Allen Rudolph, secre-
tary, while The First National Bank is depository
and acts as treasurer.

The growth of the association has been so rapid
that this fact alone speaks of both its soundness and
its popularity. Two years ago its resources were
$540,000. while today it may boast of about $1,500,000.
Its principal purpose is to encourage industry, fru-
gality, home-building and savings among its share-
holders and members, and in that ambition has met
with unqualified success, and is still growing very
fast under its present management. It has made
possible the easy building of homes by small monthly
payments, and it has also for years aflforded a safe
place for the investment of money at six per cent.

Mr. Rudolph belongs to the American Legion, the
Commercial Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the
Lions Club, and is a Mason.

1628

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ROMOLO L. PUCCINELLI.— Prominent among
the younger generation of inventors and manufac-
turers who have brought to bear upon their work
intelHgence and well-directed enthusiasm, is Romolo
L. Puccinelli, a native son of the state and county,
born in Campbell, November 20, 1895, a son of Ezio
and Elena Puccinelli, the father removing to Cali-
fornia in 1879 and the mother in 1882, her name be-
fore her marriage being Serighelli. Her father was
a jeweler in San Francisco, but had his residence
near Campbell. Ezio Puccinelli was an orchardist
near Los Gatos until his demise in 1905. His widow
still survives and makes her home on their old or-
chard place. Of the six children born to this worthy
couple, Romolo L. is the second oldest. After com-
pleting the grammar schools he entered the Los
Gatos high school. On finishing the high school he
took a special course at the University of California
until the World War broke out. He then enlisted
in the aviation corps of the U. S. Navy and was sent
out on special work, being placed in charge of the
production at the Foster Engineering Company at
Newark, N. J., where he served for a period of a
year, until he received his honorable discharge.

On his return from the service he became inter-
ested in the process of the drying of fruits by artifi-
cial heat, and he immediately set about erecting a
dryer at Los Gatos, with the advice and assistance of
Prof. A. W. Christie of the University of California.
The first year the output of his plant was the great-
est of any in the state, and representatives from every
nation have inspected his methods of dehydration
and are satisfied that a way has been discovered
whereby fruits can be successfully cured without the
aid of the sun. By the experience gained at this
plant the method of dehydrating was further im-
proved upon by Mr. Puccinelli and a new system
inaugurated and patented. He is now building de-
hydrating plants in different parts of the state and
is planning an early trip East in the interests of his
business. At present he is building the two largest
dehydrating plants in California. He has established
offices in San Jose and also in San Francisco. The
business has grown very rapidly and is not confined
to the United States, but is established in different
foreign countries as well. Now in the prime of life,
with many years of activity before him, one may
safely predict for him an increased influence and
usefulness in his chosen pursuit and the prestige
which accompanies success. In his political rela-
tions Mr. Puccinelli has always taken an intelligent
interest in public matters and is a Republican. He
is a member of the local American Legion and of the
Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce, and is a charter
member of the San Jose Commercial Club.

FRED BIAGGI.— A native of the Golden State,
Fred Biaggi was born in Santa Clara County, Cal.,
on a ranch known as the Pala Olive Grove, May 31,
1888, his father being the foreman of this ranch.
The latter, Alfred F. Biaggi, was a native of Lucca,
Italy, born April 27, 1862; while his mother, Mary
(Bradley) Biaggi, was a native of Scotland, but
early in life migrated to California and was. at the
time of her marriage, employed on the Pala Olive
Grove Ranch. Fred Biaggi's grandparents, Bar-
tholomew and Venizani Biaggi, were both natives of
Italy, th^ grandfather being a successful gardener in

his native land. He brought his family to this coun-
try when Alfred F. was but eleven years old. His
opportunity for attending school in his native land
had been very limited, but upon his arrival in Cali-
fornia, while he was employed by George Miller
on his ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains, he there
improved his opportunities and attended the public
school. For ten years, the lad labored for Mr. Miller
on his ranch "Skyland."

After Mr. Biaggi's marriage to Miss Mary Bradley
in the summer of 1883, they removed to San Jose,
where he worked and accumulated sufficient money
to purchase about ten acres some seven miles east
of San Jose. He successfully farmed this for a
period of five years, then selling out, he removed to
San Jose and resided there for a number of years.
During the year 1911 he purchased nine and one-
half acres on South Twenty-fourth Street and planted
this to cherries and prunes. About 1913 a brother
arrived from Italy bringing w-ith him a quantity of
Italian cherry cuttings from the vicinity of Lucca,
Italy. These he budded, but only succeeded in grow-
ing one, but from this, he was able to propagate
a great many trees. They are a superior cherry and
Mr. Biaggi possesses the only trees of this variety
in the Valley. Five children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Biagga, four of whom are living, Frank
having died in infancy; William is an attorney-at-law
living in San Jose; Fred, the subject of this sketch,
is a mechanic and operates an auto repair shop at
15 Twenty-fifth Street, San Jose; Mamie married Mr.
Roderick, who is employed with the Standard Oil
Company; George, the youngest son, makes his home
in San Jose. During the World War he served in
the aviation department and was a mechanic in the
aeroplane motor department at the field near Sacra-
mento. While thus engaged, he contracted the "flu,"
which developed into double pneumonia. He was
critically ill for a long period of time; was taken to
a sanatorium near Saratoga; then removed to the
Government Hospital at Palo Alto, later taken to the
Presidio, and when he began to improve, was sent
to Tucson, Ariz., and later to San Diego. Five
grandchildren have come to gladden the lives of Mr.
and Mrs. Alfred F. Biaggi. Their son William has
one daughter; Mrs. Roderick two sons, William and
Lester; Fred has two children, Frances and Fred, Jr.

Fred Biaggi was educated in the public schools of
Santa Clara County, but at the early age of nine he
started out to earn his own living. He worked as a
mechanic for a number of years; spent one year with
the Standard Oil Company; was driver for the Asso-
ciated Oil Company for a short time; was employed
by the Norman Camping Company of San Jose for
a year; then with the Osen-McFarland Company,
working as a mechanic on the Dodge cars. About
this time he invested his savings in the garage busi-
ness, having three establishments, one on Santa Clara
Street, one on South First Street, and another one
on West Santa Clara Street, near the bridge. The
opportunity came to dispose of his garage business,
and he then entered the employ of Scripps-Booth and
Cole 8 as head mechanic until he again engaged in
the repair business. For a short time Mr. Biaggi
was engaged in the plumbing business, in the employ
of Mr. Ferguson as a journeyman plumber in Bakers-
field, and doing the plumbing work for the Greek
Theater and the City Hall.

<::^-^C2.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1629

During the year 1924, Mr. Biaggi married Miss
Myrtle McCartJiy. a native daughter of California,
and the daughter of William McCarthy. Mr. Biaggi
is a member of the Mechanic Association No. 1095,
and in national politics he is a stanch Republican.

LEM BROUGHTON.— One of the many interest-
ing residents of San Jose is Lem Broughton, who
was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 8, 1868.
His father, James I. Broughton, a merchant, was a
native of Yorkshire, England, and came to Utah
in the early days. In 1882 he moved to Walkerville,
Mont., following the same business as in Utah.
Lem's mother, Catherine (Senior) Broughton, also
born in Yorkshire, passed away w^hen he was but
eight years old and he lived with his Grandmother
Senior in Payson, Utah, until fifteen, attending the
grammar and high schools. He then took responsi-
bility on his own young shoulders and started out
in the world for himself, ending up in southeastern
Utah with 17S head of cattle. In 1890 he went to
Uray. Colo,, and became interested in mining. Seven
years later he left Colorado and started overland for
Alaska, attracted by the glowing tales of the gold
being found there, but only got as far as the northern
part of British Columbia. He spent sixteen years
at Aldermere, Canada, in the hotel business, and in
buying and selling cattle there. He was also post-
master there eight years. In the year 1913, he came
to California and settled near San Jacinto, in River-
side County, buying twenty-five acres of land, which
he set out in apricots. He stayed there for five years,
sold out and went to Modesto and various other
towns in California, and thence to Reno, Nev. After
running the Hotel Elm there for one year he went
back to Salt Lake City, and engaged in the auto-
mobile repairing business, then back to San Jacinto,
and from there to San Jose, purchasing the Hotel
Lennox, keeping it but six months, removing to
Stockton, where he took over Hotel Ray for a period
of six months. He then came to San Jose, buying
the Hotel Alton, containing sixty rooms, on South
First Street, and here has since continued as its
proprietor, having built up an excellent patronage.

On July 14, 1913, in Prince Rupert, B. C, Mr.
Broughton was married to Mrs. Myrtle (Storay)
Hudson, who was born in Kansas, but came to Cali-
fornia when a child, receiving her education in Los
Angeles and residing there in her youth. She is the
daughter of I. T. and Melvina Story of Modesto,
where they both passed away. By her former mar-
riage she has one daughter, Velma.

FOREST B. GEROW.— Among the attractive
business establishments of San Jose is the Wardrobe
Cleaning and Dyeing Shop of Forest B. Gerow, a
progressive and alert business man who, wisely using
his time, talents, and opportunities, has proceeded far
toward the goal of success. He was born at Detroit,
Mich., April 3, 1885, and is a son of Benjamin F.
and Phoebe Ann (Belknap) Gerow. His father is a
native of Oswego, N. Y., born in the year 1849. He
was the seventh son of a family of twelve children
born to Peter and Mary (Beckwith) Gerow; Peter
Gerow, a native of London, England, came with his
parents to the United States when four years old,
but afterwards settled in Canada, where he was a
ship carpenter for many years.

The father of Forest B. Gerow was a graduate of
Fulton Seminary; afterwards taking up the trade of
mechanic at Oswego, N. Y. He was married to Miss
Phoebe Ann Belknap, the daughter of Julius K. and
Lydia (Place) Belknap, who were Michigan farmers.
They are the parents of three children: Florence, the
wife of Mr. Betts of San Jose; Forest B.; Millard, a
mechanic employed by the Bettinger Auto Works.
In 1905 Benjamin Gerow and his family came to San
Jose, and here he engaged in the contracting and
building business until recently. He is a member of
the Masons and Knights of Pythias.

Forest B. Gerow attended the common schools of
Ann Arbor, Mich. Leaving school at the age of
thirteen, he started to look out for himself. In 1901
he came to San Jose and engaged in the cleaning and
dyeing business. He was thoroughly experienced
in this work, having engaged in the same line in
Ann Arbor, Mich., for years. Some five years were
spent in Stockton in the cleaning business and upon
his return to San Jose, he again opened up a similar
business. Some seven months ago, he secured a
location at 293 South First Street, where he estab-
lished the Wardrobe Cleaning and Dyeing Shop and
is succeeding even beyond his expectations. His
family have always been stanch Republicans and Mr.
Gerow is a stalwart supporter of the principles of
this party. He has never had occasion to regret his
determination to come to the West, and, utilizing the
opportunities here offered, has made a creditable
name and place for himself.

CHARLES L. BEATTY.— A representative citizen
of California, Charles L. Beatty has spent the major
part of his life in this state, and now occupies a note-
worthy position among the esteemed and valued resi-
dents of San Jose. A man of enterprise and ability,
he has been actively associated with the development
of the agricultural interests of his adopted home,
and takes great pride in the advancement and growing
prosperity of city and county. A son of James N.
and Rebecca (Davis) Beatty, he was born in Seward,
Nebraska, March 9, 1869, and spent the first sixteen
years of his life there, attending the public schools
of that city; from there he went to Lawrence, Kansas,
where he completed a business course.

A native of Ohio, James N. Beatty, when a young
man migrated to Nebraska with his wife, whom he
married in Council Bluffs, Iowa. With his brother,
they crossed the plains from Ohio to Nebraska with
the customary ox team with a load of merchandise
and provisions. From Omaha they came to Seward
and it was here that they built a sod house and
opened a provision center, being among the first
settlers of Seward, this being in the early '60s. Both
parents died in the Middle West.

It was in the spring of 1885 that Charles L. Beatty
came to California, working his way from his home
town. With the true pioneer spirit, he did not
hesitate to carry his roll of blankets upon his back
and work wherever he could obtain sufficient funds
to carry him forward to the mecca of his ambitions.
Fourteen years were spent in the southern part of
the state, principally on the Newhall Ranch in Los
Angeles County. He thought to better his condition
and in 1899 he sold out his holdings and came to
Saratoga, Santa Clara County, where he leased land.
In 1906 he bought land in Stanislaus County, near
Modesto, and this he developed and operated for

1630

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

thirteen years. In 1919 he sold out and came to
San Jose for his health.

Mr. Beatty married Miss Ellen Johnson, a native
daughter of California, May 23, 1901. Her parents
August and Caroline Johnson, are natives of Sweden,
but migrated to California in 1865, spending five
years in the mines. In 1870 Mr. Johnson purchased
a home near Saratoga and there he resides at the
present time; he also owns a ranch near Morgan Hill.
After their marriage, the Beattys lived near Saratoga
until they removed to Modesto, where they purchased
thirty acres on California Street. He raised peaches,
grapes, and alfalfa, besides running a dairy. Dis-
posing of this ranch in 1918, they removed to San
Jose, purchasing property on Lincoln Avenue. Mr.
and Mrs. Beatty are the parents of four children:
Edith, James, Robert and Eleanor, all attending the
public schools. Edith graduated from the San Jose
high school in 1922. Mr. Beatty's word and opinion
have a high value with all who appreciate integrity
and honor in a man, and his kindliness, good nature,
and loyalty have made him many friends.

IRVING E. HARRUB.— Among the successful
business men and valued citizens of Los Gatos is num-
bered Irving E. Harrub, who is well known as the
proprietor of the Dashaway Stable, which he has
conducted for over a decade. He was born at Scit-
uate, Mass., on May 31, 1881, his parents being Wil-
liam and Mary (Randall) Harrub. They came to
California in about 1887 and the father was with
ihe firm of Miller & Lux at Gilroy. An uncle, Wal-
ter B. Harrub, purchased the Hernandez place on the
Quito Road, in Santa Clara County, residing thereon
tor sixteen years, while subsequently he established
his home in San Jose. He has passed away and
his widow resides in San Francisco. Wm. B. Harrub
is now in business in Honolulu.

In the acquirement of an education, Irving E.
Harrub attended the public schools in San Tomas
district while residing on the Hernandez ranch and
afterward completed a course in the Garden City
Business College, paying for his tuition by trading a
promising standard bred colt to Mr. Webber, one of
the proprietors. He became a member of the National
(iuard, enlisting at the breaking out of the Spanish-
American War and being mustered out at the Presidio
at San Francisco in 1898. Following his discharge
I'.e secured employment on a fruit ranch in this
county and went went to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1899,
being for five and a half years in charge of the stable
cf one of the leading clubs of that city. He returned
to California at the time of the St. Louis Exposition
and about 1910 opened the Dashaway stable at Los
Gatos, which he has since successfully managed. He
specializes in fine saddle, livery and draft horses,
cf which he has thirty head, and has built up a large
business, the Dashaway Stable being known through-
out a wide section of the state. Owing to the many
beautiful trails leading from Los Gatos to the Santa
Cruz Mountains, Mr. Harrub has a large demand for
his saddle horses, drawing his patronage from resi-
dents of all parts of California, who are attracted here
by the exceptionally fine oijportunities presented for
horseback riding.

Mr. Harrub was united in marriage to Miss Flo-
lence Carrel, born at Victoria, B. C, but reared in
Santa Clara County, and they have become the par-
ents of a son, Carrel. Mr. Harrub's political allegi-

ance is given to the Republican party. He has at-
tained success by strict integrity, the conscientious
discharge of all obligations and unremitting attention
to a business in which he takes a great interest and
which he thoroughly understands.

CHESTER E. HERSHEY.— Commercial activity
of San Jose finds a worthy representative in Chester
E. Hershey, engaged in electrical engineering in San
Jose. Born at Hanover, York County, Pa., August
12, 1897, he is a son of Edward B. and May Hershey.
The Hershey family originally came from Holland
and are represented by three brothers who settled
in Pennsylvania. The father, Edward B., was a
farmer in Pennsylvania, but removed to California in
1907 and settled in San Jose. Later the parents
moved to Live Oaks, Cal., and engaged in ranching.

Chester E. Hershey took a University of California
extension course in electrical engineering and on com-
pletion of the course, was employed by the Guilbert
Electrical Company, first as a shop boy and gradually
working up until he became foreman. He has been
with them continuously since 1914, with the exception
of a period of six months when he worked in the
shipyard of the G. M. Staniford Company. He holds
a responsible position with the Guilbert Electrical
Company, doing all the estimating for the company.

The marriage of Mr. Hershey occurred in Live
Oaks, August 4, 1918, uniting him with Miss Edith
Flash, a native of Red BlufT, Cal., and a daughter of
Theodore and Delia Flash. Mrs. Hershey received
her education in the schools of San Jose. Her father
passed away in 1908, but her mother is still living,
a resident of San Jose. Fraternally, Mr. Hershey is
a Mason, and politically is a a Republican.

In 1919 Mr. Hershey purchased the Laton apart-
ments in San Jose, which he has since sold. Al-
though a young man, he is a trustworthy and highly
respected citizen, and can be counted on to aid all
movements for advancement in the city and county
he has chosen for his home.

CHARLES L. BURRIGHT.— The opportunities
which Santa Clara County offers to men of energy
are many, and Charles L. Burright, numbered among
San Jose's dependable citizens, has been far-sighted
enough to take advantage of them. Born in Harlan,
Shelby County, Iowa, October 4, 1880, he is the son of
Cornelius and Alice Burright, owners of a large farm
at Harlan, where he was born. The father was
a locomotive engineer and was with the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, covering the central
west division of this system. When Charles was six
years old, his father was killed, and the family moved
to Sioux City, Iowa, where they lived for four years,
Charles attending the grammar schools but a short
time, as his services were required to help support
the family. At the age of ten, he accompanied the
family to Washington; there his mother took up a
homestead, but the development work was so arduous
that she could not make a living of? of it, so she
engaged in the hotel business at Oakville, Wash.,
while Charles worked as a pressman at a printing
establishment there.

When he was nineteen years old, Mr. Burright left
Washington and went to Butte, Mont., and worked in
the quartz mines there; he was a natural mechanic,
and through his practical experience, steady applica-
tion and observation, he rose to the post of mining
engineer. On his return to Washington he became

^^3"^^^^^^^^^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1631

master mechanic for the Evans Creek mine at Monte-
zuma, Wash., working there for a year and a hali
later taking a similar position with the Whatcom
Coal & Coke Company at Bellingham, Wash. In
1906 he and his brother took a contract to produce
100 tons of coal per day at Chehalis, Wash., and
engaged in mining there for over two years, but at
the end of this time misfortune stared them in the
face and they were compelled to discontinue this
business. With his brother-in-law, he next engaged
in the building' and contracting business at Richmond
and Oakland, Cal., being there for four years, from
1913 to 1917.

On May 5, 1904, at Butte, Mont, Mr. Burright was
married to Miss Jennie Barnaman, born in Sedalia,
Henry County, Mo., the daughter of J. L. and Lizzie
Barnaman. They have four children: Melvin, Stanton,
Genevieve, and Robert. Mrs. Burright's parents re-
moved from Sedalia to Butte, Mont., a number of
years ago, and there her father engaged in the furni-
ture business, later moving to Richmond, Cal., where
he followed the same line for twelve years.

When the recent war broke out, Mr. Burright
could not leave home to enlist on account of his
family, so aided in backing up the government's
program by working in the Hercules Powder Mill
at Pinole, Cal., during the war. At the termination
of hostilities, Mr. Burright and his brother-in-law,
Melvin J. Snyder, came to San Jose and embarked in
the furniture business, in which they have been most
successful, their trade extending as far south as Gil-
roy and Salinas, and covering the entire Santa Clara
Valley. In 1913, Mr. Burright purchased a small
tract of land in San Jose, and here he and his family
now make their home. Mr. Burright adheres to Re-
publican principles in his views and takes a lively
interest in the affairs of his party.

EUGENE I. BENOIT.— Among the rising young
men of San Jose is Eugene I. Benoit, who has been
identified with the Century Electric Company for the
past twenty years. Mr. Benoit is a native of Cali-
fornia, having been born on September 20, 1889, a
son of Charles H. and Clarinda (Pellot) Benoit. The
father and mother, who came to this state many years
ago, were married in California; both parents are
living, and enjoying the sunshine of the Golden West.

Eugene was educated in the St. Joseph's school,
where he completed the regular high school course,
being fortunate in receiving a good training. His first
entrance into business life was in the capacity of
office boy in the Century Electric Company, and he
continued with this company, filling various offices,
in due time being promoted to assistant manager and
at the time of the death of Frank J. Somers, he be-
came manager, in which position he is serving with
the same steadfast efficiency as he has shown in the
other positions he filled. This company does work
all over the county, thirteen people being employed to
carry on their extensive installation business. Some
of the work that has been done is found in the
T. & D. Theater, the Hippodrome, the Prune and
Apricot Growers' plant, the Pacific Manufacturing
Company, many of the packing houses and some of
the fine residences of San Jose and near-by towns.

Mr. Benoit is very popular in the fraternal organiza-
tions of San Jose, being a member of the Knights of
Columbus, the Young Men's Institute, and is a mem-

ber of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member
of the Catholic Church, and in national politics is
a stanch adherent of the Republican party.

D. RUTLEDGE SPOONER— Having been a resi-
dent of California almost three score years, and a resi-
dent of San Jose since 1902, D. Rutledge Spooner,
specializes in the building of first-class houses and
bungalows, a line of work for which he is exception-
ally fitted. He is a native of Oregon, born in Oregon
City on January 30, 1860, and was the son of Rev.
A. B. and Roxana (Gilmore) Spooner. His mother's
people were from Ohio and they migrated from the
Buckeye State in the early days to Oregon while his
father's family came here from Maine in the late
fifties and settled in Oregon. A. B. Spooner was a
Methodist minister and D. Rutledge Spooner lived
the life of a frontier minister's son. In the year 1864,
the father came to Chico, Cal., and took a charge for
a short time and then was located in Humboldt
County at Eureka. During the year 1868, the family
moved to Morro, San Luis Obispo County, and here
the father was the pastor until he passed away eight
years later, leaving a widow and six children.

At the time of his father's death, D. Rutledge
Spooner was only sixteen years old and thrown upon
his own resources, he began making his own liveli-
hood. He but little opportunity for schooling and at
the age of sixteen he went to sea and spent three years
on the ocean and after many thrilling experiences he
became the pilot of a steamboat at Morro, and in this
capacity he served for the following ten years. In
1883, having saved his earnings, he had enough to go
into business for himself and so purchased the gen-
eral merchandise business at Morro and conducted
this store for a period of about nineteen years, from
1883 to 1902. He also held the office of postmaster
at Morro. from 1883 to 1892. In 1902 he disposed of
this business and came to San Jose and entered the
building contracting business in partnership with
P. L. Huntley, who later removed to Stockton, Cal.,
so that Mr. Spooner is now operating the business
alone. He has specialized in the building of first-
class cottages and homes and has been exceedingly
successful. When he first came to San Jose he made
his home on a six-acre ranch which he had purchased
just east of San Jose and here he lived for four years.
During the year 1906, he disposed of the ranch and
moved to San Jose, where he built a home on South
Seventeenth Street, the second house erected on that
street, and here he has resided since, although now
the street is considerably built up.

On May 8. 1889, Mr. Spooner was married to Miss
Emma K. Halstead, the ceremony having been per-
formed in Morro, Cal. Mrs. Spooner was a native of
Indiana, having been born in Clinton, Vermillion
County, and was the daughter of W. H. and Sabra J.
(Lee) Halstead. When but a child, Mrs. Spooner
came with her parents to Marin County, Cal., thence
to Sonoma County and in 1877 they moved to San
Luis Obispo County, Cal., where her father was a
stock and dairyman. Mr. and Mrs. Spooner are the
parents of two daughters: Nadien, who became the
wife of P. F. Pettigrew, and since his death has been
teaching the Hester School, San Jose; Roxana is also
a school teacher at Priest Valley, in Monterey County,
both being graduates of San Jose Normal. Mr. Spooner
vj very popular as a member of the Garden City

1632

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Lodge No. 142, I. O. O. F., San Jose, where he has
made many friends. In national politics, he is Re-
publican. He is very talented musically and plays
the cornet, violin and the bass viol, having since the
age of fourteen played the cornet. He has been the
director of the East San Jose Band, an organization
of twenty-two men, for a number of years. This
band is very popular and during the summer months
it has many engagements to furnish music through-
out this part of the country.

VICTOR V. GRECO.— One of the prosperous
business establishments of Santa Clara County was
that organized in 1913 by Victor V. Greco, when he
formed the Greco Canning Company, Inc., of which
he is the president. The company does a general
canning business, their plant being on Howard and
Autumn streets in San Jose. Victor V. Greco is a
native of Louisiana, having been born at New Or-
leans on November 25, 187S, and is the son of For-
tunate and Josephine Greco, natives of Italy, who
settled in New Orleans, but who came to California
in 1897, locating in Redwood City. Here the father
started a salt plant, in which business he is still en-
gaged, now being the owner and president of the
Greco Salt Plant. The mother passed away in 1917.
Victor received his education in the schools of
Louisiana and in the Soule College, and in all ob-
tained a good training. When he began making his
own livelihood, he engaged in the pastry and bakery
manufacturing business in New Orleans until coming
to California in the year 1905. He went to Redwood
City, where he had charge of the Greco Salt Plant
until 1913, when he came to San Jose and organized
the company of which he is now the president and
manager. He was chosen president of this com-
pany upon its organization and has been the guiding
hand in the rapid development of the business. Dur-
ing the canning season employment is given to 450
people and the business is growing larger and larger
each year. This establishment now occupies one
whole block and is still growing, and it is needless to
say that they have been very successful, for when
they began they occupied only a small building, and
they have expanded until they cover several acres of
floor space. They installed the most up-to-date and
modern machinery, also all the latest and most sani-
tary methods are to be found in the putting up of
the high grades of canned goods that find a ready
market, as they believe sanitation means everything
in this line of work. In 1920 the Greco Canning
Company branched out into agricultural lines, buying
seventy acres of land off the Brokaw Road, near
Santa Clara, and set out the tract to Bartlett pears.
While these are maturing they grow vegetables, etc.,
between the trees, to use in their establishment, the
policy of the company being to grow all of the ma-
terial to meet the requirements of their plant.

Mr. Greco's marriage in June, 1897, united him
with Miss Margaret Giacomarro, a native of Italy,
and they are the parents of ten children: Josephine,
Catherine, Fortunate, Gaspare, Laura, Edward,
Marie, Vincent, Margaret, and Robert.

Mr. Greco is very popular in both social and
business circles. He is an active member of the San
Jose Chamber of Commerce; the San Jose Commer-
cial Club; the San Jose Traffic Bureau; the Loyal
Italo-American Club of San Jose, of which he is the

president (1922); the Italian Chamber of Commerce
of New York City; the Italian Chamber of Com-
merce of San Francisco; the Canners' League of
California; the National Canners' Association, and the
Old Colony Club. Mr. Greco is a live wire in these
organizations and always favors those movements
that elevate the standards of social and commercial
activity that make for a better city. In national
politics he is a Republican.

CHARLES A. LARSON.— Prominent among the
representatives of the younger generation of business
men of San Jose is Charles A. Larson, one of the
proprietors of the De Luxe Restaurant, the only ail-
American restaurant in San Jose, located at 266 South
First Street. A son of John L. and Sophia Larson,
he was born in Kansas City, Mo., June 10, 1887. He
comes of good old American stock, his father, also
a native of Kansas City, was a thrifty merchant there
for many years, and resided there until his death.

Charles A. Larson received his education in the
public schools of Kansas City, but the practical edu-
cation gained through experience was the most valu-
able to him. At the age of seventeen, he began
to earn his own way, and his first employment was
in a restaurant. With a determination, backed by
energy and industry, he worked in every department,
in the kitchen, as a waiter, and in time became
thoroughly conversant with the restaurant business.
In 1906 he came to California, and coming direct to
San Jose was employed in various restaurants and
learned the advantages of various parts of the city
for business, and in 1914 he, with M. F. Bader,
established the business known as the De Luxe
Restaurant. They were pioneers in this part of the
city, but had implicit faith in the future of South
First Street and located one of the first eating houses
south of Santa Clara Street.

At the outbreak of the World War, Charles A.
Larson offered his service to his country, entering
the army in February, 1918, and training at Camp
Fremont in Company D of the Three Hundred Nine-
teenth Engineers, under Capt. D. W. Smith. When
this company left Camp Fremont there was some-
thing like $3,000 in the mess fund, and Mr. Larson
was custodian for this money. This company was
fortunate in securing cooks who had had at least
seven years experience, and the outfit was noted for
the fine meals served. Mr. Larson's regiment sailed
for England, landing at Liverpool, thence to Morn
Hall, Winchester, then on to Southampton, thence
to Havre, France. His regiment of engineers was
employed in the erection of the barracks for the
American soldiers at Brest, France. Returning from
France in September, 1919, he was honorably dis-
charged at the Presidio in San Francisco the same
year. The experiences and hardships of the World
War served to increase his patriotism to such an
extent that he employs only Americans. His business
requires the services of eighteen men, sixteen of
whom served in the World War, and six of them
are overseas men. He has purchased five acres
adjacent to San Jose, and intends to raise produce
to supply his needs.

He prides himself on serving his patrons with only
the best and freshest of everything, and the apprecia-
tion of the general public is demonstrated by the
fact that his business is steadily increasing. Mr.
Larson is a member of the American Legion of San

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1635

Jose and is afSliated with the Masons and Odd
Fellows. As a citizen, Mr. Larson is interested in
all measures that tend to promote the welfare of
this section of Santa Clara County and his example
of industry and sobriety may well be followed by
the seekers of success.

On February 25, 1922, Mr. Larson was united in
marriage with Miss Grace V. Larson, of the same
name but no relation, born in Oakland, Neb., whose
father was a pioneer in Oakland. Neb. She came to
San Jose and here met and married our subject.

NICHOLAS LOCICERO— An enterprising factor
in the solution of the problems of local transportation,
Nicholas, better known as "Nick," Locicero, the pro-
prietor of the Pacific Auto Stage running out of the
union auto stage depot on North First Street, has
rendered signal service to the public and proven his
capacity as both a citizen and a leader among pro-
gressive men. He has done much to strengthen the
ties between San Jose and the metropolis on the Bay,
and how well the travelling public has appreciated
these successful efforts, with what exceptional pros-
perity his various ventures have been rewarded, may
be seen in the handsome war-tax paid by his com-
pan) — $1000 and over for the month of April, 1921 —
for tickets sold the passengers between San Jose and
San Francisco, the fare being one dollar and the tax
eight cents.

Mr. Locicero was born in Palermo, Italy, on July
5, 1883, the son of Bartolo Locicero, a farmer, who
had married Miss Lucia Mimeo, and he attended the
grammar school at Palermo. When sixteen years old,
he started to make his own way in the world, and
for several years he worked at odd jobs. When he
was twenty-three years old, he crossed the ocean to
America, pushed on toward the West, and having
chosen San Jose as his camping ground, he worked
for nine years for wages; and after that, wishing
something more definite as a goal, he learned the bar-
ber's trade and as soon as possible, opened a shop for
himself in San Jose.

In 1916, just after the Panama-Pacific fair, Mr.
Locicero embarked in automobile staging; and he was
one of the first to attempt an auto-stage between
San I'rancisco and San Jose, calling the enterprise
the Pacific Auto Stage, and the proposition was well
received from the beginning; nevertheless, he suffered
a loss of $6,000 the first season. He leased a garage,
afterwards located at 199 North Market Street, San
Jose, for his repair work and he has since maintained
this well-equipped shop. He commenced with one
car, an Overland of the old type; as the business in-
creased, Mr. Locicero saw an opportunity to enlarge
his operations and in 1917 formed a partnership with
Floyd W. Hanchett, and they purchased twenty cars
of the Pierce and Packard makes, with a capacity of
fourteen passengers each. Mr. Hanchett attends to
the San Francisco end of the business, with offices at
33 Fifth Street, and Mr. Locicero is the manager of
the San Jose department; however, they each own, as
individuals, ten stages. He used to maintain an
hourly service between San Francisco and San Jose,
and later he cut this to a half-hour schedule. In
April, 1922, the business was incorporated under the
name of the Pacific Auto Stage, Inc., with Mr.
Hanchett as president and Mr. Locicero as vice-
president, both managing their individual ends of the
business. The stage station occupied by Mr.

Locicero's business is in almost the same location as
was the stage station in the early '50s, when horse
stages left daily for San Francisco. A Republican
and a strong advocate of protective doctrines, Mr.
Locicero has sought to support legislation favorable
to the combined interests of capital and labor.

At San Jose, on February 4, 1913, Mr. Locicero was
married to Miss Elsie Christina, a native of San Jose
where she was born into the family of Joseph and
Angelina Christina. Her father came from Palermo
to New Orleans when he was fourteen years old, and
there, establishing himself in business,, he lived until
1890, when he came to California. He embarked in
the fruit trade in San Jose, where he still lives, and
in this city Mrs. Locicero went to the city schools.
Two children have blessed this union of Mr. and Mrs.
Locicero; Richard and Lucille.

ADOLPH HEYMANN.— A skillful, progressive
and capable young business man, who emigrated
from his native country in France in 1903, Adolph
Heymann is worthy of the regard in which he is uni-
versally held, and who has been actively associated
with the mercantile prosperity of San Jose since 1911.
He was born in Beauvais, France, on July 31, 1884,
the city made famous because of its connection with
the trial and sentence of Joan of Arc. His parents
were Andre Luis and Flore (Duporque) Heymann,
also natives of France, and the father, who was an
expert in the use of dyes, was employed in the woolen
mills of Paris until he passed away at the age of forty-
eight years.

Adolph Heymann removed to Paris with the family
when he was two years of age, and his early educa-
tion was obtained in the common schools of Paris.
At the age of thirteen, he entered as an apprentice to
a dyeing firm, and was thus engaged until 1903, when
he felt the lure of America. Upon arrival in San
Francisco, he entered the employ of F. Thomas, dyers
and cleaners, whose manager was a friend of Mr.
Heymann, and remained there until the year 1906;
then for a time he was a resident of Los Angeles,
but returned to San Francisco and entered the em-
ploy of the Parisian Dye Works. In 1911 Mr. Hey-
mann removed to San Jose and worked for Mr.
Moody, who had established the firm in 1890 known
as the Parisian Dyers and Cleaners located at Ninth
and Santa Clara Streets. Desiring to own his own
business he invested his savings in the De Luxe
Imperial Dyeing and Cleaning Works, until he is at
the present time a half owner and in charge of the
dyeing and chemical end of the business, and his
partner, Mr. Marten, is general business manager.
In March, 1917, the company removed to the present
location at 224-226 East Santa Clara Street, where a
commodious and modern dyeing and cleaning plant,
42 by I371/2, has been erected. They are members
of the National Association of Dyers and Cleaners,
and by their strict honesty, have established an envi-
able position among the master dyers and cleaners of
San Jose. They employ a force of fourteen people,
with three autos for deliveries, their territory extend-
ing as far south as Bakersfield and north to Redding,
and covered by mail orders.

The marriage of Mr. Heymann united him with
Miss Jeanne Eche, a resident of San Francisco, who
has lived in California since 1903. Her mother,
Mrs. J. Morcel, is now a resident of St. Helena, Cal.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hey-

1636

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

mann: Andre, Armand H., and Flore Albertine. Mr.
Heymann is an active member of the Chamber of
Commerce; also of the French Club of San Jose since
1915. The success which he enjoys is merited by
his long and industrious career, his close devotion to
his enterprises, and the wise judgment he has exer-
cised in investments.

ALOYSIUS W. NUTTMAN.— The science and
art of Twentieth Century undertaking, with its wise
provisions for all that is sanitary, and its thoughtful
consideration for the deep sentiments of those most
immediately concerned, could hardly find a better ex-
position than in the painstaking and faithful work of
"Al" W. Nuttman, as he is popularly known, a Santa
Clara boy of excellent family and good education, who
has more than made good in the home field. He was
born here on Christmas Day, 1891, and attended the
Santa Clara College, after which he went to the State
of Washington, and studied at St. Martin's College
at Lacy, where he pursued a business course. His fa-
ther is J. H. Nuttman, an extensive casket manufac-
turer in San Francisco; and this fact doubtless condi-
tioned the future of the ambitious young man.

He was married in 1913 to Miss Lillian Reineger, a
native of San Francisco, and five years later he built
the new and elegant two-story stucco building, 40x80
feet in size, at 807 Washington Street, in Santa Clara.
The entire first floor is devoted to the undertaking
business. The chapel, a double room connected by slid-
ing doors, is so arranged as to accommodate either
large or small funeral parties. There is also an office, a
stockroom, an operating room and a morgue, and in
every possible detail necessary, there is provision for
the proper care of the dead and the equally proper
reception of the living. Mr. Nuttman is a professional
embalmer regularly licensed under the state laws, and
known for his thoroughness; and some of the qual-
ities which have made him eminently qualified for the
responsibilities entrusted to him, he probably inher-
ited, from his father, a wealthy gentleman and a suc-
cessful manufacturer, who was superintendent of the
local cemetery while he lived in Santa Clara. On
leaving Santa Clara he began to manufacture on a
small scale in San Francisco and his establishment at
321 Valencia Street, San Francisco, is now the second
largest of its kind in that city. In 1919 he put up a
four-story steel and concrete building at a cost of
$100,000. Mr. Nuttman's brothers, who were in the
Aviation Corps during the late war, are also under-
takers and manage first-class establishments at Red-
ding and Pittsburg, California.

Mr. Nuttman is a member of the National Funeral
Directors' Association at San Francisco and his un-
dertaking establishment is one of the finest in Santa
Clara County; only two others, both in San Jose,
are superior to his. He has a first-class auto-hearse
and a limousine ambulance, and a new Essex closed
car for office use, all of which are operated in connec-
tion with his business. Mr. Nuttman was a director
of the Chamber of Commerce for a year, and has just
been reelected for another year. He has also served
as deputy marshal.

Mr. and Mrs. Nuttman have one child, Ruth, and
Mrs. Nuttman acts as lady attendant and embalmer.
They reside in up-to-date apartments on the second
story of his building at 807 Washingon Street, where
they hospitably receive their friends, especially the

fellow-members of the Sodality Club of Santa Clara.
Mr. Nuttman belongs to the Native Sons of the
Golden West, and the Elks at San Jose; and also to
the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of
Columbus.

WILLIAN HINSDALE, A. B.— A young woman
of high intellectual attainments, Willian Hinsdale is
well known in educational circles of California as
director of the School of Expression and the head of
the Public Speaking department of the College of the
Pacific at San Jose and is meeting with splendid suc-
cess in the conduct of this department. She was
born near Onawa, Iowa, a daughter of William P.
and Elizabeth (Barnett) Hinsdale, also natives of that
state. In 1905 the family came to California and the
father purchased land near Los Angeles, on which he
engaged in growing grain. Mr. and Mrs. Hinsdale are
now living in Santa Barbara County.

Willian Hinsdale, the eldest of three daughters, has
been accorded liberal educational advantages, having
been a pupil of Mrs. Hunnewell, of the Los Angeles
State Normal School, Miss Neely Dickson, director of
the Hollywood Community Theater, and of Miss
Elizabeth Yoder, dean of the College of Oratory of
the University of Southern California, which con-
ferred upon her the A. B. degree in 1916, while in the
following year she won high school credentials and a
member of the Summer Art Colony of Pasadena,
working under Frayne Williams, formerly director of
the Literary Theatre of London. From September,
1917, until February, 1918, she was teacher of reading
at the Hawthorne grade school, teacher of oral expres-
sion and debating at the Calexico Union high school
from February, 1918, until June, 1919, since which
time she has been director of the School of Expres-
sion of the College of the Pacific. She is exception-
ally well qualified for the work in which she is en-
gaged through broad training and experience and as
an instructor she has been very successful, imparting
clearly and readily as others the knowledge that she
has acquired. She is a member of the Kappa Delta,
the American Association of University Women, for-
merly the Association of Collegiate Alumni, and the
National Drama League. Her innate talent and ac-
quired ability have brought her to a prominent posi-
tion in her profession, and she is recognized as a
young woman of strong mentality, while her attrac-
tive personality has won for her a host of warm
and admiring friends.

HOMER EON FLINDT.— Born in Albany,
Oregon, on September 9, 1888. the anniversary of
California's admission day, and a resident of the
Golden State ever since he was old enough to walk,
the subject of this sketch can fairly claim to be at
least a foster brother of a Native Son. Also, as his
career indicates, he possesses all the mental earmarks
of the typical Californian. His mother was Emma L.
Burkhart before her marriage to Henry Flindt, and
she was the daughter of a pioneer family that crossed
the plains by ox team in 1850. From her. Homer
inherited a stout constitution, an abiding practicality
and a sound sense of moral values. His father was
a shoemaker, himself the son of a pounder of the last.
Like most shoemakers he was a philosopher, but he
was a self-educated man to boot, and a highly original
one. From him, Homer inherited a thoughful dis-
position and highly developed power of creation
(Flindt, Sr., is an inventor in his spare moments).

(U^^[XJ^ f^-UX^tt^^yrixx^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1639

Homer's early education consisted of a term in
kindergarten, in the old Peabody school in San Jose,
followed by a few months in the Horace Mann
primary school. The family then moved to Porter-
ville for four years. Upon the return, Homer re-
entered Horace Mann, completing his secondary
grade education at the McKinley grammar school
where the high school now stands. Afterwards he
became delivery boy for a dry goods store. He says
that he was fired from this place; whereupon he
became office boy for an insurance agent. Here he
became interested in architecture and took up a
course in a correspondence school. Presently he
was occupying a draftsman's stool in the office of
William Klinkert, later changing to that of Theodore
Lenzen. When the great earthquake and fire of 1906
gave occupation to so many workers in his line,
Homer found employment in San Francisco with
Bliss and Faville and two or three other firms. He
"commuted it" daily from San Jose during this time.

It was then that Homer developed the power of
intensive study. He has always been an omniverous
reader of romantic fiction, such as the works of Rider
Haggard, H. G. Wells (early books), Jules Verne
and Conan Doyle. Finding that he was not cut out
to be an architect, he decided to try journalism. For
a year he reported on the now defunct San Jose
Morning Times, spending a few months of his spare
time at the local high school. His formal education
came to an end at that point. He says that he was
discharged from the paper. He had no idea, as yet,
that he was to become a writer. He began to learn
shoemaking in the shop on Second Street, owned by
his brother Charles.

In 1907 he met and wooed and won Mabel E. Wil-
liams of Nevada City, a native of Nevada. She was
educated in the Nevada City grammar and high
schools, and in the San Jose Normal. She taught
three years in Truckee before their marriage, on
July 30, 1911. She saw the latent originality in her
husband and urged him to attempt fiction. The begin-
ning was in motion picture scenarios, of which nine
were sold in 1914 and 1915. During the early years
of the war the market for scenarios went to pieces,
and Mr. Flindt turned to straight fiction. His first
piece of work was "The Planeteer," a short romance
of the future. It was printed in the All Story Weekly
as a complete novelette in March, 1918.

Like all writers he had a great amount of unac-
cepted material. However, "The Planeteer" was
followed by a sequel, "The King of Conserve Island,"
in the same magazine, the next October. After this
there came a rapid succession of stories, some short,
but mostly novelettes and serials; about iwenty, up
to the present writing, with a total of nearly a million
words. Among them was one collaboration, "The
Blind Spot." a serial that was partly the work of
Austin Hall. Except for his more recent work, these
stories are all highly imaginative, "their style a blend
of Wells, Haggard, and Doyle," as one critic put it.
The later stories come closer to earth, approaching
nearer and nearer the true novel type. Probably the
best known are "Sugar Coated," "Automatic Ad-
venture," and "The Three Riskyteers," and "On the
Stroke of 71," all of which are serials.

Mr. and Mrs. Flindt have three children: Max
Hugh, Bonnie Mabel, and Vella Francis. Mr. Flindt
is still employed in his brother's shoe shop on Second

Street, part of the working day; the rest of the time
is spent at the desk. He has already been elected the
first president of "The Plotwrights," an organization
of fiction writers and playwrights. He is a member
of Boot and Shoe Workers Union, Local No. 493.

His church relations are with the Congregational
Church, but, as may be supposed, his religion is
highly eclectic, insisting upon no one creed above all
others. Simifarly his politics, while essentially pro-
gressive, are opportunistic and flexible. He calls him-
self just as much of a Socialist as a Republican, some-
times registering as one and sometimes as the other.
He believes in the universal brotherhood of man and
in the ultimate co-operation of mankind to solve the
economic problems of the world. His chief ambition
is to add what he can to the world's preparation for
the future. His idea, in his fiction writing, is always
to educate; sometimes it is only a very little point
that can be brought out, but "it all helps," he says,
"to make folks willing to change their minds, and in
that way pave the way for the new order of things.
Meanwhile, however, we must not fail to hold fast
to that which is good."

LEROY H. KAMMERER.— An expert machinist
whose experience and untiring industry are much
appreciated in the local automobile world, is LeRoy
H. Kammerer, superintendent of the machine repair
department of Siefert's Garage on South Market
Street, San Jose, where he has been in charge since
October, 1920. He was born December 24, 1893, at
San Jose, the son of Alexander Kammerer, also a
native of Santa Clara County, born in San Jose town-
ship on August 12, 1861, the son of Peter and Marian
(Hoffman) Kammerer. Peter Kammerer, who was a
native of Germany, emigrated to the United States
and came out to California in 1851. After trying his
luck at mining he located in Santa Clara County in
185S: and soon after arriving here, he took up his
residence upon 200 acres of land situated upon what
is now the King Road, about two and a half miles
from San Jose. He kept cultivating and improving
the place until his death in 1865, a year after he had
lost his devoted wife, and when Alexander was only
four years of age.

Alexander Kammerer was taken into the home of
his guardian, J. D. White, a next-door farmer,
and brought up with the same affection and regard
for the educational and other interests of the child
as were Mr. White's own family. He attended the
public schools in San Jose, and he became a graduate
of the Garden City Commercial College, while he was
also trained to ranch work. On attaining his major-
ity, Mr. Kammerer came into possession of one-half
of the estate left by his parents, and this he developed
to a still higher degree, having a fine artesian well,
and raising thoroughbred horses. The other half
of the estate went to a sister, Lena, who married
George C. Hunt of Oakland. Alexander Kammerer
was united in marriage on October 17, 1883, with
Miss May Catherine Holland, the daughter of Simeon
and Hannah (Broadbent) Holland, natives of Eng-
land, but residents of Santa Clara County.

Reared on the home ranch, LeRoy Kammerer
attended the Jackson district school and remained at
home until he was sixteen years of age. Then, under
instruction from his father, he took up the training
of horses and became an expert rider, so much so that
at a competitive horse-riding show held at Salinas

1640

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

in 1911, he came into prominence when he scored
third prize for skill and mount. He next signed up
with the Dick Stanley Western Show Company, and
for three years toured the Pacific and Central West-
ern States. Three years later, he joined Bufifalo Bill's
Wild West Show for one season, and made a success
riding bucking horses in the ring. This proved to be
Bufifalo Bill's last tour.

At Salinas, in 1917, Mr. Kammerer was married
to Miss Agnes Joiner, a native daughter, who was
born at San Francisco, and they have one child,
Virginia May. They make their home at 234 West
Ninteenth Street, San Jose. In national political af-
fairs, Mr. Kammerer is an independent Republican,
and in local movements he is nonpartisan, supporting
the best men and the best measures.

MILTON G. MOENNING.— Among the promis-
ing business men of San Jose who has attained and
is still climbing further toward great success is
Milton G. Moenning, who, in partnership with Doug-
las Howard, is owner and proprietor of the firm
known as Moenning and Howard, dealers in pumps,
engines, electric motors, and all allied apparatus for
transmission and control of water, steam, gas, air
and electricity. They are successors to C. L. Meis-
terheim, whose business they purchased in 1919.

Mr. Moenning was born on May 2, 1885, and is
a native son of California, having been born in San
Francisco, a son of Emil and Minnie S. (Harms)
Moenning, the latter a native of San Francisco. The
father came to California in 1857, Grandfather Moen-
ning having come to California in 1851, traveling by
way of the Horn and his maternal grandfather came
the same route, but made the trip a year earher. Mrs.
Emil Moenning now resides in San Jose.

Mr. Moenning received his education in the public
schools of San Francisco and later, having to make
his own livelihood at a very early age, he attended
night school where he took a practical business
course in one of the business colleges of the Metrop-
olis of the Bay. At the age of thirteen years he
joined the ranks of the Crane Company of San
Francisco and was employed with them for a period
of twenty years, working in the capacity of sales-
man. He came to San Jose in the interests of the
Crane Company in the year of 1907.

Their place of business is at 365-69 South First
Street and 369 South Market Street, the building
extending from First to Market streets, and here
they employ as many as thirty expert workmen, giv-
ing at all times the very best of service, materials
and workmanship.

Mr. Moenning's marriage united him with Miss
Mabel Ball, a native of Chicago, 111., and they are
the parents of two daughters, Winifred May and
Glenna Bell. Mr. Moenning is very active in busi-
ness circles and fraternities. He is a Knights Tem-
plar Mason and also a member of Islam Temple
A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco, and is also af-
filiated with the San Jose Lodge No. 522, B. P. O.
Elks. His good citizenship is attested by the inter-
est he takes in public affairs and his devotion to the
public weal. He is a Republican in poHtics.

ANTHONY SCHUTTE.— A recent addition to the
field of electrical supplies in San Jose is Schutte Bros.
Electrical Supply House, one of the founders and
partners being Anthony Schutte, the place of business
being at 19 South Second Street. Mr. Schutte is a
native son of California, having been born in San
Jose, on December 12, 1883, a son of John and Isabell
Schutte. The parents were among the early settlers,
having settled in California in the early sixties; the
father passed away some years ago. They were the
parents of twelve children, all are living except Max,
who passed away in 1919, at the age of fifty.

Anthony Schutte received his education in the public
schools of San Jose and early in life went to work.
He learned the trade of an electrician and worked
for the Peninsular Railroad for a period of seventeen
years, then was with Henry Guilbert in his electrical
business for about two years. In December, 1919,
in partnership with his brother, Joseph, he estab-
lished the concern in which they are now doing such
a splendid business. They have done the electrical
installations on many buildings here, among them
the Murison Label Company, the John Christian
Manufacturing Company, Dr. Edward's house, and
have contracted all of the new houses in the Naglee
Terrace, and they are also contractors for the Cole
Realty Company, and do all of their work. They
not only do installation work, but have a full line
of electrical supplies and fixtures.

Mr. Schutte's marriage united him with Ethel
Roelling, who is also a native of California, having
been born in San Jose. Mr. Schutte is a member
of Observatory Parlor No. 22 N. S. G. W. He is
fond of outdoor life and spends much of his leisure
time in the open, fishing, hunting, or tramping.

WAGNER BROTHERS.— Among the most pros-
perous and successful establishments of San Jose is to
be counted the firm of Wagner Brothers, who have
one of the finest electrical fixture houses between
San Francisco and Los Angeles. This firm is com-
posed of two brothers, A. C. and L. L. Wagner, both
natives of Ohio, who have spent the last ten years
in San Jose, Cal. A. C. Wagner was previously
connected with the Consolidated Garage, while L. L.
Wagner was the local representative of the Willard
battery, until he disposed of those interests to George
Parkinson. Their place of business is located at 161-5
South Second Street. Wagner Brothers company was
formed in the month of August, 1919, when they
became successors to Blake Brothers, and since that
time they have greatly enlarged the scope of their
business. They have ten employees in the various
departments and they specialize in electrical appli-
ances and fixtures, carrying a verj' complete line.
They both manufacture and install these fixtures and
their excellent service has made them in demand.

A. C. Wagner's marriage united him with Miss
Flora M. Clark, and L. L. Wagner married Miss
Jeannette Bookmyer. Both of the brothers and their
wives are favorites in San Jose's social circles. Being
very much interested in Santa Clara County, both
Wagner brothers belong to the Chamber of Com-
merce. L. L. Wagner is also a member of the Rotary
Club and the B. P. O. Elks, and each belongs to the
Commercial Club.

Wf/-/' '

.&p^y^.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1641

CLARENCE HENRY WATERMAN.— Conspic-
uous among the prominent business men of San Jose
is Clarence Henry Waterman, who has been actively
engaged in the real estate and insurance business
since 1911. He was born on a farm near Vandalia,
111., April 18, 1865, the son of Henry C. and Mar-
garet (Llewelyn) Waterman, who removed to Pay-
ette, Idaho, in 1882. His father was prominent iii the
affairs of the county in which he resided; both par-
ents have passed away.

Clarence Henry Waterman was educated in the
public schools of his native state; later graduated
from Gem City Business College, at Quincy, 111. Not
being content with farming as an occupation, he mi-
grated to Missouri in 1882 and engaged in the mer-
cantile business for ten years; thence to Cincinnati,
Ohio, and Vi-as employed as the manager of the Cin-
cinnati branch house of the Buckeye Reaper and
Mower Company, remaining in this capacity until
the business was sold to the International Harvester
Company in 1896. He then entered the employ of
a life insurance company in Columbus, Ohio, and
was thus employed until the fall of 1898, when he
journeyed to Portland, Ore., where he remained for
eight years as state supervisor of agents for the
Mutual Life Insurance Company. Realizing his capa-
bilities, this company sent him to San Jose, Decem-
ber 25, 1905, as their district manager, and in 1910
he spent one year in the Hawaiian Islands in the
interests of the company. In 1911 he established his
present real estate and insurance business and is suc-
ceeding beyond his expectations. He is a member
of the San Jose Realty Board and has served his
community as county probation officer for two years;
is also a member of the board of directors of the San
Jose Y. M. C. A.

Mr. Waterman's marriage, September 13, 1887,
united him with Miss Sara Harrison, a native of Ken-
tucky, where she was married at Carrollton. and to
them have been born two children: Gladys, now Mrs.
Charles Parsons, has a daughter, Helen M., and they
reside in San Jose; Frank L. teaches in the Oakland
schools and has four children. Hazel R , Jeanne C,
Frances A., and Virginia V. Mr. Waterman is a very
active member of the Christian Church of San Jose.
Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order and
the Pomona Grange. He is a broad-minded, public-
spirited man and citizen, and lends his cooperation to
all movements for the betterment of the community.

FRED H. HORSTMANN.— Early recognizing the
fact that determination and energy are salient factors
in the attainment of success, Fred H. Horstmann, has
so directed his labors that he is now classed with the
leading business men of Santa Clara County. Born
in Talmadge, Nebr., May 2, 1887, he is a son of J.
William and C. Henrietta (Pahde) Hortsmann, both
born and reared in Missouri. The father has always
been engaged in farming pursuits and was also a
successful merchant, now living retired from active
business cares in Talmage, Nebr.

Mr. Horstmann acquired his early education in the
grammar and high schools of Talmage, graduating
with the class of 1905 from the high school. The
years of his boyhood and young manhood were spent
in South Dakota and early in 1909, he removed to
Portland, Ore., remaining there but a short time,
when he removed to Texas, settling in Buena Vista.,
He became connected with a cotton raising project.

but on account of not being able to secure water for
irrigation, crops were a failure, reverses of fortune
came and Mr. Horstmann was forced to dispose of
his holdings. He removed to Salinas, Cal. where
he engaged in searching records and making ab-
stracts, bemg affiliated with the Salinas Abstract
Company. At the outbreak of the war, he entered the
service of his country, and after the armistice was
deckred he received his honorable discharge at Fort
McDou-el. December 12, 1918. He then returned to
Salinas; later removing to San Jose and purchased
an interest in the San Jose Abstract Company, where
he has proven his worth and counts his friends by
the score. Fraternally he is a member of the Elks-

1 1 '^' u,°""''^' '^'"''- ^" P°''''i« he votes
with the Republican party. His activities are concen-
trated upon his business affairs, which have been
wisely and intelligently directed and have brought to
him a substantial measure of prosperitv.

STEVE PATTERSON.-Since 1917 a resident of
San Jose. Steve Patterson is a well known restaur-
ateur ot the city and a successful orchardist of Santa
Clara County. He was born in Constantinople,
Turkey in September, 1876. a son of F. and Carna-
tion Thimus, but since coming to this country has
adopted an American name. His father was con-
nected with the priesthood in Turkey, and the family
numbered two children, a son and a daughter He
was accorded good educational edvantages attend-
mg the graded schools and later completing 'a course
in the National College of Constantinople. After
laying aside his textbooks he learned the trade of a
jeweler, becoming an expert craftsman in gold and
silver. He continued to follow his trade in Turkey
until 1903. when he came to the United States arriv-
mg at Philadelphia, Pa., in August, 1903. He was
unable to obtain work at his trade and was variously
employed until his removal to New York City, where
he secured a position as cook in a restaurant. At
the end of a year he left the eastern metropolis and
went to Nashville, Tenn., where for two years he
was similarly engaged. From that city he journeyed
to New Orleans, La., but remained there for only six
months and then went on to Texas, opening a res-
taurant in Dallas, that state, and later establishing
a second eating establishment in that city. Sub-
sequently he disposed of his interests there and made
his way to Denver, Colo., where he was employed in
a hotel for a year.

His next removal took him to Salt Lake City, Utah,
where he was engaged in hotel work for two years',
and in 1913 he came to California, first locating
at San Francisco. After a short time, however, he
left that city and went to Del Monte, working in
the leading hotel of that place for about three months.
He then purchased a ranch near Monterey, which he
devoted to the raising of poultry, and for two years
conducted that business, after which he took up a
government claim, on which he engaged in breeding
cattle, but was not successful in this venture and at
the end of two years relinquished his claim and
worked for a neighbor for three years. In 1917 he
arrived in San Jose and in association with James
Markelos opened a restaurant. That relationship
was maintained until 1919, when Mr. Patterson pur-
chased his partner's intrest and has since been sole
proprietor of the business. His restaurant is situated
at No. 18 West San Fernando Street and is a first

1642

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

class establishment in every particular, conducted
along the most modern and progressive lines. Long
experience has made him thoroughly familiar with
the business and his cafe is one of the most popular
in the city. He also has other interests, being the
owner of a valuable fruit farm of twenty acres, situ-
ated on the Trimble Road, near Milpitas, and is
specializing in the growing of pears.

In San Jose, on the 26th of August, 1920, Mr. Pat-
terson was married to Mrs. Anna (Sousa) White,
who was born, reared and educated in Monterey,
Cat., her parents being John and Mary Sousa. Mr.
Patterson is a Democrat in his political views and
fraternally he is connected with the Independent
Order of Foresters at San Jose.

JOHN P. LACERDA.— A pubhc-spirited citizen
whose charitable disposition has made him highly
esteemed among his fellow-citizens, is John P.
Lacerda, a native of the Isle of St. George, m the
Azores, where he was born in the village of Ribeira
Secca on May 10, 1868. His father, Joseph A.
Lacerda, was a well-to-do farmer who also conducted
a large merchandise business, and he also enjoyed
the reputation of being rather an accomplished mu-
sician; he had married Miss Marie Augusta, also a
native of St. George.

Anxious to share the greater advantages of Amer-
ica, John P. Lacerda left home in 1882, at the age of
fourteen, coming directly to San Francisco, Cal. A
stranger in a strange land, he sought out a friend,
Antone Amaral. who then resided in Marin County,
and who later became a wealthy dairy farmer.' Mr.
Lacerda found employment on a dairy farm near Pt.
Reyes, at ten dollars a month. He was ambitious,
however, to enter some other line of work, so studied
at night, learning to read and write in English. At
the end of six years he removed to Humboldt County
to work for Manuel D. Mello, a dairyman at Fern-
dale, but soon entered the employ of Joe Russ at
one of his dairies at Bear River Ridge. Here he
spent three years, meanwhile continuing to study.
He was ambitious to attend school, so obtained a
place in the Revere House at Eureka, and while at-
tending to his duties there he attended night school
at Phelps Academy, taking a business course. The
proprietor of the hotel, Mr. Cramer, appreciated his
services and perceiving his ambition, made him man-
ager of the Revere House dining room, a position he
held for four years. Then, in partnership with a
friend, he undertook a cook camp at Camp Vance,
on the Mad River, but after five months the partners
abandoned the project.

During 1894-95 Mr. Lacerda was employed in the
Western Hotel at Eureka, and learning of the Coffee
Creek mine excitement in Shasta County, he went
on a prospecting trip for gold. He did not succeed,
and six months later he was back at the Hotel Para-
gon in Eureka. For the next two years Mr, Lacerda
and a Mr. Grober conducted a restaurant at Redding
in Shasta County, where each saved $4,000, and in
1900 Mr. Lacerda sold out in order to take a trip
back to his old home. He made a tour of five
months, during which time he also visited the Paris
Exposition.

On returning to California Mr. Lacerda located at
Redding and there opened a grill called the Olympia
Grotto, and at the end of five years, in which he con-

ducted the resort, he had become independent in
finances. Once again he sold out and took another
trip back to Portugal, visiting also in the nine months
both Switzerland and Italy, and on his return to
America in 1906 he located at San Jose. He leased
the property known as Ivy Green, at the junction of
Capitol and Alum Rock avenues. He remodeled the
building and started a retail grocery and liquor store
and then he set up a large business. In addition he
also established a wholesale commission market on
his property, known as the East Side Foothill Veg-
etable Growers' Association, where the early vegeta-
bles were brought by the growers, and commission
merchants from Bay Cities and San Jose came to
purchase their produce. It was a success from the
start and has grown to be an important business.
In 1919 he purchased the property and the three
acres of land with the building for $8,000 in cash.
He changed the name from Ivy Green to East Side
Park and laid out the park into beautiful grounds
and erected a pavilion and necessary buildings for an
amusement park, including a merry-go-round and a
large auditorium which is popularly used for a box-
ing arena. He has equipped the grounds with seats,
tables and a barbecue pit and during the summer
months it is rarely idle, for it is engaged ahead
foi the use of lodges and public parties. Mr. Lacerda
has also acquired four acres across the road, some
of which is set out to orchard, and erected a large
garage, which he leases to others.

At Antioch. in Contra Costa County, Mr. Lacerda
was married in 1912 to Miss Mary Texira, daughter
of A. J. Texira, and they have one child, a daughter
named Margaret. Mr. Lacerda has donated hun-
dreds of dollars to charity, particularly to the
churches, and he has been especially generous toward
the Church of the Five Wounds in East San Jose.
He is a member of the Exempt Firemen of Redding.

ATTILIO PICCHETTI.— Among the representa-
tives of old pioneer families of San Jose who arc
carrying on, under more promising conditions, the
work undertaken by their forebears, mention is due
Attilio Picchetti, owner of the Plaza Garage, located
at 222-230 South Market Street. He was born at
San Jose, August 9, 1889, the son of Vincento and
Teresa Picchetti, farmers of that district. The father
settled in San Jose in 1874 and saw it grow from a
small town to the thriving, prosperous city of today.

Attilio Picchetti grew to manhood in San Jose,
received his education in the public schools and Santa
Clara College, and later took a commercial course
in the old San Jose Business College. For the first
nine years on entering the business world he was
engaged in the livery business and then answered
the call of his country by giving his services in the
World War, training at Camp Fremont, Camp Mills.
N. Y., where he was made sergeant, and at Camp
Stuart, Va. He was engaged in drilling recruits part
of the time and was also supply sergeant and was
two days on the ocean when the armistice was
signed. After the armistice was signed and he re-
turned home he established the business he is now-
engaged in, namely, the Plaza Garage; he employs
eight men besides his office force. He has the ex-
clusive agency for Hood tires in Santa Clara County
and also is agent for the De Martini trucks and Reli-
ance trailers in Santa Clara, San Benito, Monterey

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1643

and Santa Cruz counties. Mr. Picchetti makes his
home with his mother, his father having passed away
in 1905. He belongs to the Native Sons of the
Golden West, San Jose Parlor No. 22, the Loyal
Order of Moose, and the Chamber of Commerce,
the Commercial Club, and the American Legion of
San Jose. For recreation he enjoys automobiling
and out-of-door hfe and all clean sports.

NOTRE DAME COLLEGE.— Nothing could be
more appropriate considering the history of the
early missionary work of enlightenment in California
than that the great Roman Catholic Church should
today be so well represented by the Notre Dame
College at San Jose, unquestionably one of the best-
planned, best-equipped and best-conducted educa-
tional institutions of the Catholic Church, amply
justifying its mottoes "Ora et labora" and "Ah! qu'il
est bon le bon Dieu!"

Notre Dame, which aims to afford special facili-
ties for the study of music, and has among its fea-
tures a fine library and a valuable museum, is a
monument to the energy and courage of the devout
Sisters of Notre Dame at San Jose, who, by their
intelligent work have built up this great institution
during the past seventy years. It was founded about
the time of the creation of the California common-
wealth, and the story of its inception is of interest.
In 1851, Sister Loyola and Sister Mary Catherine
came to San Francisco to conduct a new colony of
Sisters who were coming from Ohio to Oregon City;
but on their arriving there, they found that a long
wait of three months was before them. Rev. Father
Langlois, who was familiar with conditions in Ore-
gon, had discussed with Archbishop Alemany the
advisability of inviting the Sisters of Notre Dame
to the growing section of Central California. The
Archbishop had already placed a community in San
Francisco, but urged the Sisters to visit San Jose,
then the state capital. At Santa Clara, the Rev.
Father Nobili, S. J., was laying the foundations of
the present Santa Clara University. Martin Murphy,
already so interesting historically as one of the first
white persons to settle permanently in California,
conducted the visitors to their destination, and they
journeyed by wagon along the historic Camino Real,
and their hearts and eyes were delighted by the
vision of the beautiful valley, as Bayard Taylor, the
poet, who had been over the highway only a sea-
son or two before, pictures it in his Eldorado. The
diary of Sister Mary records her delight over our
lovely mountains, as she first saw them on that
glorious spring day, their full capital in her wallet,
■'two bits" or twenty-five cents, in nowise interfering
with her ardor. The people of San Jose were press-
ing in their demands to retain the Sisters, and
both the Archbishop and Father Nobili were deep-
ly concerned. At length. Sister Loyola decided to
open a house in San Jose, while preserving the Ore-
gon City foundation; and a spot outside the city
limits, on the old road that ran from the Alameda,
was secured. A single house was standing on the
premises; Jack Townsend, aged three, was the first
boarder, (with his nurse,) as he was the first and
sole alumnus of the college; and the fees paid by
Jack's guardian furnished the larder and provided
the few indispensable articles of furniture. After
three months, the colony from Cincinnati arrived.

quite astonished to learn, at San Francisco, that San
Jose and not Oregon City, was their destination.

These Sisters were Catherine, Mary Alenie, Aloy-
sius and Donatil, and they came by way of the
Isthmus of Panama, then a nigh impenetrable wil-
derness, apart from the trails. Drenched to the skin,
with no opportunity of drying their garments, fear-
ing the Indians, who, armed with long knives, infest-
ed the jungle; camping by night on the dizzy trails,
or along the uneven banks; riding all day on mule
back, or fording the river in the frail canoes of the
natives, they made the trip for five days, often at
risk to their lives, always at risk to their garments,
loose calico gowns and immense sunbonnets, as
they did not dare to travel in religious garb. In
the same party, was the Rev. Eugene O'Connell,
later the venerated Bishop of Grass Valley. Another
caravan, crossing at the same time, was that of
Bernard Murphy, who met with Sister Aloysius in
a very opportune manner. Her refractory mule
balked at a puddle of water on the trail, struck off
into the undergrowth and left her clinging for dear
life to a bough, her azure gown and white sunbonnet
looking like a magnified blue-bell, till Mr. Murphy
plucked her from the bough, and someone recaptured
the mule. Reaching San Francisco at length, they
were entertained by the Archbishop, the French Con-
sul and Judge Barry until Sister Loyola could reach
them by slow travel over the rough roads.

Very different was the Notre Dame of San Jose
that opened its doors to the little company from the
present institution. The first building was an old
adobe, fronting direct!}' on the road, and between
that and their next-door neighbor was an alley, the
rendezvous of revelling rats. The Sisters raised po-
tatoes and cabbages, then very valuable, as the Val-
ley was scarcely under cultivation, and meat was a
rarity. Potatoes, cabbages, the leg of a bear, these
were the features of a feast-day dinner. The early
frame buildings let in both sun and rain, and when
something better was provided, the carpenter worked
late, hammering the rude boards, while Sister Mary
held the flickerinii candle. The 1851 building is yet
standing, in which Sister Catherine had her millinery
and dres_-.niakniL; dtpartment. When Sister Loyola
erected the present west wing, the first brick building
in the town, the French Consul, visiting on "Exhibi-
tion Day," asked how she ever dared to undertake
such a work. "God is rich," answered the dauntless
Sister Loyola. In those days. Exhibition or Com-
mencement exercises lasted a week, and from all over
California, as well as from Oregon and Nevada, and
even further, guests came by wagon, requiring the
erection of a court-yard tent, and dependence upon
rather unsatisfactory Indian help. "Don Juan" was
the man of all work, and it is chronicled that a crony
of his, somewhat in his cups, one evening proved
rather obstreperous in his demands to see the old
Indian. The intrepid Sister Mary, issuing forth, pur-
sued the invader as far as the river, and the fire-
water feaster was not again heard from™ From
Father Nobili and his Jesuit colleagues the Sisters
received continual marks of kindness; and these tra-
ditions of good will are perpetuated today in the
worthy successors at Santa Clara and San Jose.

In January. 1854, the first Holy Commuion of the
pupils was received in the new chapel in the west
wing; and the body of the present chapel is made up

1644

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

of this primitive structure. Since that date, the de-
velopment of Notre Dame at San Jose has been the
record of unwearied, unselfish service by the noble
vv-omen who have come and gone, each adding a brick
or a stone, as it were, to the superstructure. A red-
letter day occurred in 1885, when the beautiful Lour-
des grotto was constructed, and immediately became
a place of pious pilgrimage. In October, 1910, was
another red or golden-letter day, for then was cele-
brated the coming of the Rev. Mother Marie Aloyse,
Superior General of the Institute, the first visit to
this country of a Superior General. A beautiful
memorial of this visit is the heroic-sized statue of the
Sacred Heart, modeled after the famous Montmartre,
which stands on the knoll behind Notre Dame Vil-
la, surrounded by the ampitheater of the wooded
hills. "Occulos levavi in montes unde veniet auxili-
um mihi." Within the reception room of the college
hangs the certificate of incorporation dated San Jose,
June 20, 1868, signed by H. H. Haight and a ma-
jority of the State Board of Education, and attested
to by H. L. Nichols, secretary of state.

The Museum also contains many exhibits of in-
terest. There is the old melodeon or harmonium,
with its two silver candlesticks, brought around the
Horn in 1843, and there are most exquisite silk
needle-work tapestries, the art of the pioneer Sis-
ters, whose successors, each in her way, still con-
tinues as indefatigible in their labors. There is also
a collection of beautiful butterflies and another of
mounted birds.

Notre Dame gives spiritual and intellectual hos-
pitality to 160 boarding-school pupils, and 180 day
high school pupils; and it also exercises supervision
over the Notre Dame Academy, which is preparatory
to Notre Dame College, and is located in Santa
Clara. It was founded in 1864, and has four acres
of grounds, in a beautiful grove, so that, with ex-
tensive buildings, well ventilated and otherwise ju-
diciously adapted to their various purposes, amuse-
ment and outdoor exercise of the pupils are provided.
The musical department is complete and every ad-
vantage is afforded to those desirous of giving spe-
cial attention to its culture. Like "Notre Dame Col-
lege, this important stepping-stone, the academy,
takes rank among the first of its class — a fact ap-
parently appreciated by its large number of patrons,
increasing with each year.

BENJAMIN SCORSUR.— For many years Ben-
jamin Scorsur has been prominently and successfully
identified with the fruit industry in Santa Clara
County and long experience has made him an author-
ity on this line of work. He also ranks with the
pioneer residents of this part of the state, having
taken up his residence here in 1871. A native of
Austria, he was born in Dalmatia, in the village of
Aregosse, April 11, 1855, the fourth in the family of
John and Cathrinia Scorsur, the father a well-to-do
farmer of Dalmatia.

Although it was his parents' desire that he devote
his time to his studies, Benjamin Scorsur preferred
hard manual labor to the routine of the schoolroom,
and hearing many favorable reports concerning Cali-
fornia, he decided to locate there. When fourteen
years old he went to sea, receiving five dollars a
month as pay; however, he followed the sea for five
years, when he quit the sea to come to California,
arriving in September, 1871. His elder brother.

James Scorsur, had preceded him to the United
States, arriving in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1866. In 1871
the two brothers started for California, but first made
their way to the mines of Virginia City, Nev. Not
meeting with success there, they packed all of their
belongings, consisting of a few blankets and tools,
and struck out for the Guadalupe mines in the Santa
Clara Valley. They divided their time between min-
ing and farming, preempting 163 acres of land ad-
joining the mines, which were at that time owned by
an English company, and at this period Benjamin
Scorsur became a citizen of the United States. For
eight years the two brothers devoted their attention
to mining, farming and stock raising, working labori-
ously to gain a start in life, but their efforts were
fruitless, for through a dispute in the title the land
once more became the property of the English com-
pany by decision of the Santa Clara County courts.
Possessing the dauntless spirit of youth, Mr. Scorsur
courageously faced the future, and removing to San
Jose, he entered business circles as a fruit buyer,
dryer and shipper. From a modest beginning the
enterprise grew to one of large proportions and for
thirty-five years he continued active along those lines.
He also became a prosperous horticulturist, purchas-
ing a good ranch of twenty-three acres on the Doyle
Road and a valuable cherry orchard on the San Fran-
cisco highway. During the World War, however, he
sold both places as he was unable to operate them
without the assistance of his sons, who were in the
service of their country. In 1918, following the close
of the war, Mr. Scorsur bought a sixty-acre pear and
prune orchard on King Road, where he now resides,
having erected a beautiful home here. He also owns
an apricot ranch on the Mount Pleasant Road and
with the aid of his two sons, John and Nick Scorsur,
conducts two large drying plants, which are also
proving a profitable scource of income. He carries
on his labors scientifically and keeps well informed
on all modern developments pertaining to his line
of work, in which he is an acknowledged expert.

In San Jose, Mr. Scorsur married Miss Kathrina
Buak, a native of Dalmatia, and they have become
the parents of six children: John, the eldest, who
resides in a fine bungalow on the sixty-acre home
ranch, is married, and has one child. He is a veteran
of the World War, serving for eleven months over-
seas as a member of the Ninety-first Division. He
is a member of the American Legion and is also
prominently identified with the Jugo-Slavian-Ameri-
can Society of San Jose. Nick is also engaged in
ranching, acting as assistant manager. Ben is mar-
ried and resides in San Jose, being proprietor of one
of the leading butcher shops in the city. He is also
a member of the American Legion, was sent over-
seas and for three months was confined in a hospital.
Dominic is successfully engaged in business as a
stock dealer. Kathrina married Mr. Scamperria, a
wealthy merchant of Watsonville, Cal. Pauline, who
completes the family, is the wife of Paul Lostellisto,
of San Jose.

Mr. Scorsur attributes much of his success to the
cooperation and able assistance of his wife, who is
the possessor of many admirable traits of character
and has ever been a faithful and sympathetic help-
mate and a devoted mother, rearing her children to
become useful members of society. He is a member

jrtd(B.j}i

■cyua^yyi

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1647

of the Austrian-American Society of San Jose and
in politics is a Democrat, being broad and liberal in
his views. He has worked diligently and persistently,
and success in substantial measure has crowned his
labors, while at the same time his eflforts have been
an important factor in the development and improve-
ment of Santa Clara County along horticultural lines.

NED B. MORGIN.— A highly respected and suc-
lessful orchardist is Ned B. Morgin, who came to the
Santa Clara Valley May 18, 1902, and has succeeded
t vcn beyond his expectations. He was l)orn at Smok-
kovljane, near Ragusa, Dalmatia, November 12, 1877,
a son of Ned and Nellie Morgin. Both parents passed
away in the old country. When Ned B. was twenty-
five years of age, he concluded to try his fortunes
in the New World, so embarked for the United States
coming direct to Santa Clara County, Cal., first set-
tling in Cupertino, but was compelled to leave there
within six months to find work. He went to Stanford
University and worked as gardener for six years; and
while there he studied evenings and learned to read
and speak English, which has since become so val-
uable to him in his business. In 1908 he purchased
an orchard of two and a half acres on Stevens Creek
Road at Cupertino, which he still owns. Here he
made his headquarters for twelve years, l)cing engaged
ill buying, curing and selling fruit, in which he met
with deserving success. In 1919 he purchased fifty
acres on Mountain View and Saratoga avenues, which
is devoted to prunes and apricots. He has continued
tc improve this property from the time he took pos-
session, has a complete and modern drying and pack-
ing plant, and is well equipped to care for all the
fruit raised on his ranch. He also engages in buying
and selling green and dry fruit. He counts his suc-
cess not only from a monetary standpoint, but he has
also used his best efforts to advance liis community.

The marriage of Mr. Morgin at Cupertino, January
4, 1912, united him with Miss Annie Kalafatovich,
who was also born in Dalmatia and came to San Jose
in 1911, and thev are the parents of four children:
Ned B., Jr., Martin B., Nellie, and Mary. Mr. Mor-
gan is proud of being an American citizen and exer-
cises his franchise as a Republican. He finds his
recreation in auto trips throughout the beautiful Santa
Clara Valley and at all times he freely gives his sup-
port to all progressive measures and is counted a
worthy citizen of the county.

F. A. LINQUIST.— A thoroughly experienced
miller whose success speaks well for the exceptional
opportunities afforded by the Golden State is F. A.
I,inquist, the efficient and popular manager of the
Alber Bros. Milling Company at San Jose. He was
born at Chelsea, Wis., on August 23, 1885, the son
of Charles A. Linquist, the well-known contractor
who came to California in 1887, and who had mar-
ried Miss Lena Larson.

Our subject enjoyed all the advantages of both the
grammar and high schools of San Jose, and he par-
ticularly profited from a first-class business course.
I'hen, for eleven years, he was with the Garden City
Bank and also the Bank of Italy, in San Francisco,
and after that he organized the Farmers' Grain &
Poultry Supply Company, in San Jose, a partnership
concern, in which he was active for a year. On
January 1, 1920, he assumed his present responsibility.
He threw himself enthusiastically into the undertak-

ing, mastered the details, and so built up an enviable
trade that the company now operates within a radius
of twenty miles and does an ever-increasing business.
All America knows the excellence of any Alber's
output, and the Alber Bros. Milling Company, under
Mr. Linquist's expert and energetic management,
bids fair to enjoy more and more popular favor and
to increase each year, with the natural and healthy
expansion and growth of Santa Clara County, in
sound prosperity.

At San Jose, in 1911, Mr. Linquist was married
to Miss Elsie C. Keffel, a native of San Jose and
the daughter of George Keffel, and their union has
been blessed with one son, F. A. Linquist, Jr. Mr.
Linquist is a Mason, and belongs to the Chapter, the
Council and Commandery, and he is also an Elk
and a Druid. He is fond of hunting and fishing,
and so naturally has some very good stories to tell.
Politically, he votes with the Republicans.

CHARLES E. LAURA.— A newcomer in San Jose
who has brought to California a record of steady
successes as a contractor in Detroit, is Charles E.
Laura, of 580 South Eleventh Street. He was born
about thirty miles from Detroit, in Michigan, on
February 11, 1869, and his father was Joseph Laura,
the well-known market gardener. He had married
Miss Mary Warner, but her death, when Charles was
beginning his teens, broke up the family life, and the
lad made his way in the world ever since. It so hap-
pened, therefore, that he had only four years of com-
mon schooling in the country districts. The Warner
family belongs to the circle of Michigan pioneers,
and Mrs. Laura was the sixth child in a family of
eleven. The father was in the Michigan Volunteer
Infantry and served in the Army of the Potomac.
He was wounded in the leg but recovered and is
still living in San Jose. In 1910 Mr. and Mrs. Laura,
Sr.. came to San Jose, and here Mr. Laura still lives,
aged seventy-six.

Commencing with odd jobs from the start, Charles
Laura served an apprenticeship at basket-making
and coopering, and then he took up the carpenter's
trade and continued at it until he became a building
contractor. He has put up many of the finest homes
in the best residential districts of Detroit, where he
continued as a leader in his field until 1919.

In October of that year he came to California and
settled at San Jose, where he bought a home in the
400 block on South Eleventh Street. He soon sold
It, however, and bought another residence at 580
South Eleventh Street, and there he is living today.
He has been busy carpentering, and intends soon to
launch out as a contractor able to erect the finest
kind of homes. It is only a question of time, there-
fore, and Mr. Laura may be counted upon to con-
tribute his full share toward the elevation of the
public taste in dignified, practical architecture.

At Detroit, Mich., on April 20, 1894, Mr. Laura
was married to Miss Anna Deemer, a native of Yale,
Mich., and the daughter of George and Sarah Jane
(McGinty) Deemer, worthy farmer folks. Mr. Laura
is a Republican in his political affilations.

WENDELL C. THOMAS.— A thoroughly enter-
prising, efficient and successful representative of the
widely-developed truck industry is Wendell C.
Thomas, the manager of the Mack Truck Company
at 173 South Market Street, and the agent of the

1648

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

popular Mack trucks. He was born in Pennsylvania
on March 20, 1880, the son of Mark A. and Margaret
(Eberhart) Thomas, and he came with his folks to
Oakland in 1883. His parents, having completed
years of hard and honest labor, are still living, m
comfortable retirement. Wendell attended the com-
mon and high schools of Oakland, and for three
years he had a manufacturers' agency, selling west
of the Mississippi and maintaining a home office at
San Francisco. He went on the road as a commer-
cial traveler for eight years, and he was president of
the Vacations Homes Company, a real estate con-
cern of Oakland, for four years.

In 1918 Mr. Thomas entered the service of the
Mack Truck Company, and the following year he re-
moved to San Jose, where he has since been more
than successful and is more and more prosperous.
The company handles only the Mack truck, and such
is their steady trade that they employ two service
men. Mr. Thomas has great faith in the future of
Santa Clara County, and that means, of course, that
he has increasing faith in the Mack truck in this
part of the Golden State.

At Oakland, in 1901, Mr. Thomas married Miss
Edythe A. Corwin, a native of Oakland and the
daughter of Everett and Fredericka Corwin. He be-
longs to the Chamber of Commerce, of course, and
also to the One Hundred Per Cent Club, the Com-
mercial Club, Auto Trades Assocation, the Elks, the
Woodmen of the World, and the Odd Fellows, and
he endorses the platforms of the Republican party.
One son, Mark E. Thomas, has inherited his father's
love for motoring and for ranch life — Mr. Thomas
owning fifteen choice acres in Los Gatos section.

A. M. WEAVER.— Born in San Jose on Septem-
ber 1, 1880, Arthur M. Weaver, proprietor of the Cali-
fornia Cleaners, located at 10 South Morrison Street,
is mentioned among the younger generation of men
who are rapidly coming to the front in Santa Clara
County. When he was a lad his mother moved to
Fresno County and here he was reared and received
his early education in the public schools and later
took a course in the business college at San Jose.
His first employment, after completing his business
course, was with the Southern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany at San Francisco and then he spent the next
three years with his foster father at Selma. He then
returned to Santa Clara County, selecting San Jose
as a place of location and soon engaged in the insur-
ance business, continuing in this line for seven years.
He then disposed of the insurance business and on
October 1, 1917, purchased his present establishment
and he has spared neither time nor money in its
improvement and upbuilding until the business has
grown to such proportions that it is necessary for
him to employ five men and two delivery wagons to
handle the trade. The plant was built by Mr. Weaver
for the accommodation of his business, and he has
his home at the corner of Morrison and Alameda.

On February 25, 1906, he was married to Miss
Charlotte E. Roese, the daughter of a well known
family of San Jose, both parents having been born
there. Two children have blessed the union of Mr.
and Mrs. Weaver, Armand and William. Mr. Weaver
joined the ranks of the Redmen and Moose lodges and
the Chamber of Commerce and religiously is a mem-
ber of the Catholic Church. He is fond of out-of-

door life and sports and is held in high esteem in his
community for his public spirit and the vital interest
he takes in the welfare and development of San Jose.

L. W. WINKLESS, JR.— A representative of an
old Eastern family who is meeting with success in
San Jose is L. W. Winkless, Jr., president of the
Model Extract Company, Inc., among the largest,
best-equipped and most progressive enterprises of
its kind in Santa Clara County. He is a native of
Newport, Ky., where he was born on September 5,
1879, the son of L. W. and Rebecca (Ross) Winkless,
the father surviving the mother, who passed away
October 19, 1915. The grammar school education
of our subject was supplemented by two years in the
high school at Cold Springs, Ky., and after leaving
school he followed the grocery Hne at first and then
worked for a time in jewelry stores at Newport and
Cincinnati.

On August 16. 1901, Mr. Winkless arrived in San
Francisco, Cal., but soon went to Prescott, Ariz.,
where he engaged in the grocery business, and while
living there was married on December 21, 1903, to
Miss Meta Ralston, a native of Bentonsport, Iowa.
She was the daughter of Dr. Joseph and Lida B.
(Keck) Ralston, born in Springfield, 111., and Greens-
burg, Pa., respectively. They located in Iowa and
later came to San Jose, Ca!., where Mrs. Winkless
was educated, graduating from the San Jose high
school in 1896 and from the San Jose State Normal
in 1898. She taught school in Nevada a year and in
Montana for a like period, then in Heald's Business
College in San Francisco until her marriage.

In July, 1905, Mr. Winkless located in San Jose
and followed the grocery business until the earth-
quake, when he bought an interest in the Model Ex-
tract Company, Inc., and has gradually acquired the
entire capital stock. In the management of the com-
pany he is assisted by his wife, who has charge of
the office. The up-to-date plant is located at Delmas
and San Carlos streets and is equipped with auto-
matic machinery for the manufacture of soft drinks.
Fraternally Mr. Winkless is prominent in Masonic
and Maccabee circles and takes an active interest in
all that pertains to the welfare of his home city.

AL COMPTON. — Among the foremost contractors
and tiuilfkrs in San Jose is Al Compton, who has been
identitieil with the larger concerns in this city for more
than eighteen years and he has contributed much to
the development of the city. Mr. Compton was born
in Burlington, near Cincinnati. Hamilton County,
Ohio on November 29, 1877, and was the son of
Spencer P. and Ruth E. (Immal) Compton, born in
Burlington and Mount Healy, Ohio, respectively.
The father was a contractor and builder in Ohio. At
Jacksonville, 111., he enlisted for the Civil War in an
Illinois regiment, serving from the start until the
close of the war. He was wounded in battle and
held a commissioned office. He returned to Ohio,
married, and there engaged in farming at Burlington,
Ohio, and later sold and located in Hamilton and
followed the building trade till he retired.

Al Compton's young manhood was spent at the
old Ohio home in Hamilton, there he received his
education in the public schools, where he gained a
good training, then learned the carpenter trade under
his father, for which he had a decided bent. He
worked at his trade in Ohio, coming to San Jose in

^ ' ^<^^AAyu--h^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1902. Here he began to build houses to sell and soon
his services were sought and he began contracting
and in that line he has been occupied for the past
eighteen years. He has just finished the high school
at Cupertino, a structure of which he may well be
proud. He has done work at the County Hospital,
also at the Isolation Hospital, and the Morgan Hill
high school and has built some very fine residences
throughout the citjr and county. He keeps a good
force of men, and as he supervises practically all
details of his building operations, he has built up a
reputation for artistic and dependable workmanship.
Mr. Compton's marriage in San Jose, February 26,
1906, united him with Miss Katherine Davis, who is a
native of Dubois County, Indiana, and came to San
Jose in 1906, and they have made many friends
since taking up their residence in San Jose. Mr.
Compton is a member of the Observatory Lodge
No. 23, Odd Fellows, and with his wife is a member
of the Rcbekahs.

ANTONE ZAREVICH.— A very successful hor-
ticulturist, who has been a resident of Santa Clara
County since June, 1886, and has established a rep-
utation for industry and square dealing, is Antone
Zarevich. He was born near Ragusa, Dalmatia,
September 18, 1867, and is one of six children, four
living, born to the parents, Antone and Mary
(Kilunak) Zarevich. Both parents are now de-
ceased. Antone as a lad had the advantages of the
public schools and was brought up on the home farm.
In 1886, when he was eighteen years old, he came to
the United States and immediately came across the
continent to San Jose, Cal. He had no funds, so he
immediately went to work in orchards and on farms,
and in time became foreman on the same ranches
where he had worked as a farm hand. For five
years he was foreman for Simowich, then foreman
for Blake for three years, after which he worked
on the Kraker ranch, first as foreman, then as man-
ager of the ranch until 1916. Meantime, as early as
1892, he had purchased land on Homestead Road,
where he had fifteen acres planted to orchard, and
when it reached full bearing he sold it at a good
profit. He had also bought land on Stevens Creek
Road and Saratoga Avenue, adding to this adjoining
land until he now owns forty acres, the entire cor-
ner, which is mostly in prunes, the balance being
in peaches, now in full bearing and very valuable.
He has built a garage on the corner, making a splen-
did improvement as well as a source of income. He
owns a home orchard of ten acres on Stevens Creek
Road, all in prunes, and there he has built a large,
comfortable residence.

In 1916 he resigned as manager of the Kraker
ranch to devote all of his time to the management of
his own properties. He was first married in San
Jose, in 1892, to Miss Micholetta Miglias. who died
six years later, leaving two children, Antone, now
deceased, and Mrs. Mary Klichin, who resides on a
ranch near San Jose. His second marriage occurred
in San Francisco and united him with Miss Annie
Josich, also born in Dalmatia, and they are the par-
ents of one child, Annie. Mr. Zarevich has been a
member of the Austrian Benevolent Society since
1887, and of St. Joseph's Benevolent Society, and the
Goodfellows Lodge of San Jose. He is an active
member of the California Prune and Apricot Grow-
ers' Association and is an example of what industry

can accomplish. Starting only with his two hands,
with no friends to back him, he has become inde-
pendent and well-to-do, as well as influential.

CHARLES S. ALLEN.— A retired lawyer, was
born in Michigan June 14, 1864. He graduated from
the University of Nebraska in 1886 with the degree
of A. B. Subsequently he received the degree of
A. M. from the same institution. From 1903 to 1914
he was a member of its board of regents. He prac-
tised law in Lincoln, Nebr., from 1889 until he re-
moved to San Jose in January, 1914. In his adopted
home he has shown an interest in civic affairs and
has served as a member of the Board of Education,
the Good Cheer Club, The Welfare Federation, and
other public service organizations.

HENRY C. ARTANA.— An enterprismg business
man, a progressive and helpful citizen, Henry C.
Artana is making a record for himself which places
him among the successful business men of San Jose.
A native son, he was born at San Francisco, Sep-
tember 15, 1881, a son of Louis and Louise (Lavotti)
Artana. His father was an early settler of San Fran-
cisco, where he was established' as a blacksmith and
carriage maker. In 1902 the family removed to San
Jose, and associated with his son he opened up a
blacksmith and carriage shop, and soon they
branched out into automobile repairs at the present
location. In 1919 Louis Artana retired from the
business, and with his wife makes his home at Del-
mas and San Salvador streets.

The eldest of six children, Henry C. Artana, at-
tended the public schools of San Francisco, later
taking a course at St. Ignatius College. On finish-
ing his education he learned the machinist's trade at
the Risden Iron Works and when the family removed
to San Jose he started in with his father as Artana
& Son, a business which has grown to large propor-
tions. In 1915 a modern structure was erected at
Santa Clara and River streets, on a lot 130x190, fully
equipped as a modern machine shop and woodwork-
ing plant. The firm is now Artana & Geoffrey, and
they are agents for Haynes automobiles, Fageol
trucks and tractors, and Vim trucks in Santa Clara,
San Benito and Santa Cruz counties, besides a full
line of tires and accessories, being the largest dis-
tributor of Goodrich tires in the county. It requires
the services of twenty-five people to care for their
profitable and growing business, the reward for con-
stant application and first-class service. Mr. Artana
is also interested in horticulture and with his partner
owns a 100-acre pear orchard north of Santa Clara.

On January 27, 1910, Mr. Artana was married to
Miss Aurelia Guinasso and they have two children,
Velda and Leo. During the World War Mr. Artana
was actively engaged in war work, enthusiastically
supporting all Government programs. Politically he
is a Republican, and fraternally a third degree Knight
of Columbus; he is also a member of the Chamber
of Commerce, the San Jose Progressive Club and a
charter member of the Commercial Club, the Santa
Clara County Auto Trade Association, and belongs
to the State Automobile Association. Fond of out-
door sports, he takes his recreation in hunting and
fishing, and is keenly interested in all that pertains
to the development of the community.

1650

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

NICHOLAS ZAREVICH.— A successful and pro-
gressive rancher who has been a resident of Santa
Clara County since June 2, 1889, is Nickolas Zare-
vich, who was born in the village of Majkovi, near
Ragusa. Dalmatia. February 18, 1871, a son of An-
ton and Mary (Klunak) Zarevich, fanners who were
representatives of very old farmers in that country,
their lives having been devoted to husbandry. Nick-
olas was the youngest of their five children and he and
his brother Anton, also of Santa Clara County, are
the only ones in the United States He was brought
up on the home farm, having the advantages of pub-
lic schools of his section. Having decided to cast his
lot with California, of which he had heard as well as
read favorable reports, he started for New York when
eighteen years of age, arriving in San Jose June 2,
1889. He immediately found employment in or-
chards and began studying horticulture, thus obtain-
ing the knowledge and experience in this branch of
agriculture that has been so valuable to him in later
years. During this time he was six and one-half
years in the employ of Capt. Blake of Cupertino.
Having accumulated some means, he invested his
money in a ranch which he was fortunate to sell at
a profit and in this way owned four different places
before he purchased twenty-five acres, the nucleus
of his present place.

At St. Mary's Church, San Jose, April 24, 1898,
the ceremony uniting Mr. Zarevich and Miss Annie
Simonitsch, was performed by Rev. Joseph Miller.
Mrs. Zarevich was born at Richmond, Minn. Her
father, Jacob Simonitsch, was a native of Kranska,
Austria, and came to Minnesota when a young man.
becoming a prosperous merchant in Richmond. There
he married Gertrude Stockard, of German descent.
On account of his wife's health, Mr. Simonitsch re-
moved to Oregon, where his wife died in 1889. In
1891 he came to Santa Clara County and began
fruit raising, becoming a large orchardist. He passed
away September 11, 1897, leaving two daughters,
Mrs. Mary A. Ladner of Cupertino and Annie, now
Mrs. Zarevich. who was educated in Notre Dame
Academy, Santa Clara.

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Zarevich en-
gaged in fruit raising on their orchard place, which
they have given great care. Meeting with success,
from time to time have purchased additional acreage
until they now own 112 acres, all in a body and con-
veniently located on Stevens Creek Road; ninety-five
acres of the place is devoted to a prune orchard and
the balantfe is in apricots, the place being operated with
the most modern machinery. Mr. and Mrs. Zarevich
have two children: Teresa is a graduate of Notre Dame
high school, San Jose, class of 1919, now attends the
State Teacher's College in San Jose. Ivan was edu-
cated at Santa Clara College and Heald's Business Col-
lege, San Jose, and is now assisting his father Mr.
Zarevich is a member of the Knights of Columbus, St.
Joseph's Benevolent Society, the Austrian Benevolent
Society, the Slavonian-American Benevolent Society
of San Jose and with his family is a member of St.
Joseph de Cupertino Catholic Church, Mrs. Zare-
vich is an active member of the Altar Society of the
above church and of the Catholic Daughters of San
Jose. Mr. Zarevich is a believer in and supporter of
Republican principles, and is a member of the
California Prune & Apricot Association.

JOSEPH A. ABREO.— A native son of Santa
Clara who is now residing in San Jose and the owner
of a business establishment, is Joseph A. Abreo, who
is the owner of a motorcycle and bicycle repair shop
known as Joe's Repair Shop and is located at 236
West Santa Clara Street, and here he has had a
splendid business and is making good. Joseph A.
Abreo was born in Santa Clara, on October 11. 1889,
the son of Manuel and Anna Abreo, who were early
settlers of California, having come to this country in
the year of 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Abreo became the
parents of ten children of whom Joseph was the
fourth. The father, who was a railroad man, passed
away on December 23, 1900, but Mrs. Abreo is still
living in Santa Clara.

Joseph received his education in the St. Joseph's
school and the Santa Clara University, where he re-
ceived a good education and upon becoming a young
man and making his own livelihood, he was employed
in various occupations, first in the Pacific Manu-
facturing Company for two years, then in the em-
ploy of the Agnew distillery for eight years. Be-
coming interested in the motorcycle business, he
worked for four years in this line and on August 1,
1917, he established his own business, taking the
agency for the Columbia bicycle, and he has since
been engaged in general repairing of motorcycles
and bicycles, carrying a full line of supplies. He
has been very successful in all of his undertakings,
giving the best of service.

Mr. Abreo's marriage united him with Miss Laura
Limas, who is also a native of Santa Clara, and they
are the parents of one child, Pearl Anna. Mrs. Abreo
conducts the Milady Shop at 41 South Second Street,
exclusively devoted to accessories for women; and she
also makes frocks for little children and so attractive
are they, that they find a ready sale. She employs
five people in her establishment. Mr. Abreo is a
popular member of the Foresters of America, being
past chief ranger, and also the Druids, in which he
is past arch druid, and the Woodmen of the World.
In politics, he is liberal, giving his vote to the best
men and the most progressive measures, and in
religious faith he is a member of the Catholic Church.

JOSEPH DAFT.— Among the thriving industries
ot Santa Clara County, the automobile has had a
leading part in helping in the development of many
other lines of business in San Jose and vicinity and
one of the early-timers who have aided in this new
industry is Joseph Daft, who is vice-president of the
Nash Sales Company, Inc., on South Market Street.
San Jose. Mr. Daft was born in Butte, Mont., on
May 15, 1889, and is the son of Joseph and Emma
Frances (Butcher) Daft. He was educated in the
public schools and the high school of Salt Lake City,
and after graduating he engaged in automobile shop
work for several years.

In 1911 Mr. Daft came to San Jose and was for
a time driver for Congressman Hayes, then, becom-
ing a partner of H. C. Hayes in the Hayes Motor
Car Company located at 393 South First Street; con-
tinuing in this line until the year 1919, when he sold
his interest, and four months later the Singleton,
Daft Company was organized, with Mr. Daft as vice-
president, and were located at 270 West Santa Clara
Street, handling the Marmon and Nash lines and
they met with splendid success from the start. When
Mr. Singleton sold his interest in December, 1920,

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1651

Mr. Daft formed a new company, taking over Single-
ton's stock, and organized the Nash Sales Company,
Inc., handling the Nash and La Fayette lines. Inas-
much as the La Fayette, a very high-grade car, is a
production of the Nash Motor Company, they re-
placed the Marmon with the La Fayette. Their
territory consists of Santa Clara County.

Mr. Daft's marriage, which occurred in Salt Lake
City, Utah, united him with Miss Hazel Clare Grose,
of that city. Mr. Daft is an active member of the
Chamber of Commerce and also belongs to the
Merchants' Association and the Automobile Associa-
tion. He is a lover of such sports as hunting
and fishing and is very active in athletic work, being
instructor at the Y. M. C. A. in wrestling, in which
sport he takes great interest. In national politics he
is a Republican.

LUTHER A. BATES.— Since coming to the Santa
Clara \'alley with his parents who located here in the
early '80s, L. A. Bates has been actively interested
m the agricultural development of the county. A
native of Blue Earth County, Minn., he was born on
July 14, 1877, the son of Gary B. and Galista (Acker-
man) Bates, who arrived in Santa Clara County in
December, 1884. The father was at first engaged in
the grocery business in San Jose and later purchased
a considerable acreage, and became a rancher, con-
tinuing until his deth.

L. A. Bates received his education in the gram-
mar and high schools of Santa Clara and received
a good training, one which has qualified him to meet
the problems of the world. He remained on the
ranch until he was twenty-two years old, then learned
the carpenter trade and followed it for the next five
years as a journeyman and then engaged in con-
tracting for another six years. After spending two
years in the real estate business, he became an em-
ploye of the American Dairy for two years, and since
then he has been engaged in the carpenter business.
The marriage of Mr. Bates occurred in San Jose in
1900, and united him with Miss Annie J. Sutherland,
a representative of an old family of pioneers who
settled in this state in 1852. Her father, James
Sutherland, was well-known to all early settlers as a
man of sterling worth. Mr. and Mrs. Bates are the
parents of three children, Francis, James and Lucille.
Fraternally Mr. Bates is an Odd Fellow, and is a
past noble grand of the Garden City Lodge No. 142.
In national politics he is a stanch Republican.

THOMAS CLEMENS HARNETT.— Among the
dealers in real estate that have insured the prosperity
of San Jose, by the constant opening up of new tracts
and the improvements which they have made possible,
is Thomas Clemens Barnett, of the well-known firm
of Barnett and Phelps. Mr. Barnett was born in
Bates County, Mo., on January 18. 1864, the son of
David M. and Ellen (Bartlett) Barnett, who were
both descended of old Virginia stock. His mother
died when he was only two years old, his father
surviving her about ten years, passed away when
Thomas was twelve years of age.

Thomas Barnett received his education in the public
schools of Bates County, Mo. At the age of twenty,
he came to California and for nine years worked in
the fruit business in the Cupertino district, then in the
year 1893, he began his career as a realtor in partner-
ship with Mr. W. G. Hawley. In 1899, he bought

Mr. Hawley's interest in the business and continued
alone until January 1, 1914, when J. R. Phelps became
his partner, and in the years that have passed they
handled many important deals and the volume of
their business is continually increasing.

Mr. Barnett is a charter member of the San Jose
Chamber of Commerce, having been a member of
the managing board of directors of this association
for twelve years, and for fifteen years he has been
one of the directors of the Anderson-Barngrover
Manufacturing Company. He has always been iden-
tified as very active in all movements that have for
their aim the building up and improving and enhanc-
ing the importance of the city of San Jose. In na-
tional politics he is a Democrat.

Mr. Barnett's marriage, which occurred in San
Benito County, in 1895, united him with Miss Lillian
F. Williams and they are the parents of two children,
Helen Frances and Thomas Cliflford. The former is
a graduate of San Jose State Normal School and is
engaged in teaching in the Campbell schools, while
the latter is attending San Jose high school. Mr.
Barnett was a charter member of the San Jose Com-
mercial Club, serving as a member of the organization
committee, assisting materially in the successful
formation of this club of San Jose men.

JACK E. BRITSCHGI— Prominent among the
business men of affairs whose diligent perseverance
and frugality have put him on the way to success
is Jack E. Britschgi. formerly one of the members
of the firm known as Rritschgi and Chardavoine.
of The Stutz Shop, but now in the employ of the
Service Garage on North Second Street. Mr. Brit-
schgi was born in Switzerland, on February 1, 1894,
and is the son of John and Marie Britschgi, who
moved with their family to Redwood City in the year
of 1907. Both parents are now living there.

Mr. Britschgi attended the schools of Switzer-
land, also the public schools of Santa Cruz, and all
in all received a very good training. In 1909 he
took up mechanical training at the Holt Manu-
facturing Company, Stockton, becoming a machinist
and in 1911 he accepted a position in Stockton in
the Shcrifif's office as a driver and later with the Bean
Spray Pump Company in San Jose as machinist, and
in 1913 was employed at the old Consolidated Garage.
The following year he was with the San Jose Elec-
tro Plating Works, where he continued for a year
and a half, then spent another year and a half at the
Garden City Garage. In 1917 he went to work for
the Stutz people and here worked another year and a
half. Having had much experience, he established a
business for himself in 1919, taking Mr. Chardavoine
as his partner. He specialized in Stutz cars repairs,
although he did a great deal of work on all makes
of cars. On February 1, 1922, he accepted a position
as shop foreman at the Service Garage.

Mr. Britschgi's marriage united him with Miss
Claire Dougherty, and they are the parents of three
children, Clair, Byron, and Bonnie Jean. Mr. Brit-
schgi is a very public spirited man and has won the
respect of all who know him. In national politics he
is a Republican. He is very fond of outdoor life
anr being quite a genius at mechanics, he is thor-
oughly interested in everything that pertains to auto-
mobiles and is always ready to talk about some new
appliance or improvement, that might add to the
comfort of car owners.

1652

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ORVIS HUMPHREDUS SPECIALE.— An able
representative of the bar in Santa Clara County, and
a citizen who is attaining prominence and influence
is Orvis Humphredus Speciale, who has been identi-
fied with the legal profession since 1917. He was
born in Palermo, on the island of Sicily, Italy, Feb-
ruary 13, 1892, a son of Gioacchino and Rosalie (Bar-
bagallo) Speciale. His father migrated to California
in 1892, settling in San Jose, where he established a
grocery business at Fourth and Santa Clara streets.
The family, consisting of his wife and four children,
came here in January, 1898. Mr. Speciale died in
San Jose on February 8, 1922.

Orvis Humphredus Speciale received his prclimi-
narly education in the local public schools, gradu-
ating from high school in 1912; then entered Santa
Clara College from which he was graduated in 1917
with the degree of LL.B., and was admitted to prac-
tice that same year; the following year he took a
post-graduate course and received his J. D. degree.
During the year of 1916 he read law in the office of
Robert R. Syer, and in 1917 he opened an independent
practice soon after his graduation. Success has
crowned his efforts and he is well versed in the
technique of the law and considered one of the most
promising lawyers of the Garden City and has a
growing clientele. He is Republican in political affili-
ation, and is a member of the Knights of Columbus,
San Jose Council No. 879, having attained to the
Fourth degree and is serving as advocate; also a
member of the Italo-American Club of San Jose.
He was a charter member of the Boy Scouts of San
Jose. He has served as secretary and as vice-presi-
dent of the local bar association. During the World
War he was ready to give his services to his country,
but was not called before the armistice was signed;
however, he gave freely of his time in assisting in all
the local drives, the Red Cross, Liberty Loans and
other Government activities. He is treasurer of the
Children's Aid of Santa Clara County.

Mr. Speciale's marriage on October 4, 1917, united
him with Miss Anita Barsuglia and to them have
been born three children: Joachim Joseph, Rosalie and
Anita; and the family are members of the Catholic
church. He is a hard worker, a generous contributor
to worthy causes and a friend on whom one can in-
variably rely. A stanch supporter of any measures
for the advancement of the community, he is a most
promising, public-spirited and worthy citizen.

EMIL V. FUCKS.— A man that stands for
progress and improvement in all that has to do with
the public life of San Jose and Santa Clara County is
Emil V. Fuchs of the firm of Herschbach and Fuchs,
Real Estate and Insurance, with offices in the Bank
of San Jose building. He was born in Maxville,
Jefferson County, Mo., on August IS, 1893, is the son
of Frank X. and Mary Josephine (Schuetz) Fuchs.
The father makes his home at Belleville, 111., but the
mother passed away July, 1914.

Mr. Fuchs was educated in the public and
parochial schools of Jefferson County, Mo., and had
four years in the high school department of St. Louis
University and two years in the arts and science
department of the university, coming to California
on July 12, 1913; one year was spent in Santa Clara
University in architectural engineering. In the
month of April, 1918, Mr. Herschbach and Mr.
Fuchs formed the partnership to conduct a general

real estate and insurance business, in which they are
still continuing with success. Mr. Fuchs saw service
overseas in the One Hundred Forty-fifth Machine
Gun Brigade, Fortieth Division, U. S. Army, during
the World War, and was stationed in France for ten
months. He received his honorable discharge at
the Presidio on May 23, 1919.

Mr. Fuchs is popular in the social affairs of San
Jose, and he is an active member of the American
Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He belongs
to the Knights of Columbus and the Young Men's
Institute, the Elks, and is also a member of the
Chamber of Commerce. In religious faith he is a
member of the Catholic Church.

MICHAEL SCHMITT.— A highly respected citi-
zen of Santa Clara County and one who was loyal
to the country of his adoption was the late Michael
Schmitt, who passed away at his home on Roberts
Road, esteemed by all who knew him. He was a
native of Germany, born in Alsace on November 17,
1852, and was educated in the schools of his native
land. He left home and came to the United States
when only sixteen years old and located in Pennsyl-
vania, where he remained for several years, then re-
moving to California, he located in the Sonoma Val-
ley and was occupied with farming, until he made a
trip to his old home, his visit occupying a year. Upon
his return to America and California he was em-
ployed by the Mt. Hamilton Vineyard Company and
remained with them for five years; then in 1895, he
purchased a tract of land containing something over
twelve acres, on Roberts Road, and planted it mostly
to prunes and apricots, and through industry and
perseverance his orchard has become a profitable
investment.

Mr. Schmitt was united in marriage in San Fran-
cisco, October 12, 1900, to Miss Marie Thelen, a
native of San Francisco, and the daughter of Joseph
Thelen, a pioneer of San Francisco. To them were
born two daughters, Dorothea, a student in the Uni-
versity of California, class of 1924, and Clarice, a
student in the high school of Los Gatos, class of
1922. Mr. Schmitt was a devoted husband and father,
of a cheery disposition and a man who is greatly
missed in his home and community. Mrs. Schmitt is
active in civic affairs of the locally and continues the
operation of the ranch as well, and is showing much
aptitude in its management.

C. T. BOLFING. — A much-appreciated "booster"
for Gilroy. who has also been exceptionally success-
ful in attracting the attention of the people to the
diversified farming interests of Santa Clara Valley,
is C. T. Bolfing, a native of Marshall, Mich., where
he was born on January 20. 1867. He was reared
at Marshall, and began his schooling in that place;
and he was also fortunate in pursuing the courses of
study at the Battle Creek high school. When only
twelve years of age, he started out into the world
for himself, and his first job was that of "devil" in
a printer's shop. He proved resourceful, and in 1884
he left Michigan for California. On arriving at San
Jose, a stranger, so to speak, in a strange land, he
entered the employ, in April, of the Farmers' Union,
and there he remained steadily engaged until January,
1899. He then went to Hanford and in April, 190'l,
Mr. Bolfing became interested in the hardware busi-
ness at Porterville, with a partner, A. J. Delaney,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1655-

and for eight years they pulled together, building up
a fine business. While a resident at Pcrterville, Mr.
Bolfing served on both the Board of Trade and the
County Health Board.

In 1909 he removed to Gilroy, and two years later
he shifted again to Fresno, where he became inter-
ested in the Barret-Hicks Hardware Company, of
which he was manager for eight years. At the
same time, he became a member of the Fresno Com-
mercial Club and the Chamber of Commerce of that
city. In April, 1921, he moved back to Gilroy, and
here acquired some very desirable orchard property,
soon after also taking up the raising of poultry, at
the family home place, one and one-half miles north
of Gilroy. He also has a mountain ranch in the
Uvas district. On August 1, 1921, he was elected
the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce of Gilroy,
and he is recognized as a very able business man
and leader. In national politics, he is a Republican.

At San Jose, in 1888, Mr. Bolfing was married to
Miss Harriet H. Needham, a native of Illinois, al-
though she was reared and schooled in San Jose.
Two children have been born to this union. Carl N.
is married, and he and his good wife and their three
children reside on a poultry farm near Gilroy, having
one of the veritable show places of the county. Byron
B. graduated from the Gilroy high school, and is now
an employe in the Gilroy branch of the Garden City
Bank. Mr. Bolfing is both a Mason, belonging to
the Porterville lodge, and a Woodman of the World.

JOHN B. ZELLER.— Perseverance, thrift and in-
dustry have been the underlying qualities that have
aided John B. Zeller to attain the position he now
occupies in the business circles of San Jose, and
as the proprietor of the Montgomery Hotel he has
become well known throughout the state among the
traveling public. He was born in New Orleans, La.,
September 11, 1875, a son of Frank and Annie
(Weber) Zeller, the latter still living.

John B. Zeller received his education in the pa-
rochial schools of his native city, and after leaving
school he began working in a hotel, and from the
bottom of the ladder he gradually worked his way
through the various positions until he left New
Orleans and went to Beaumont, Texas, where he
became the manager of Fields Hotel. His success
was easily demonstrated, and after the completion
of the new Crosby House in that city he was pre-
vailed upon to take charge, and he continued there
until coming to California at a later date. Arriving
in Los Angeles, he entered the ranks of the thea-
trical profession and continued that until 1920, when
he came to San Jose and once more entered the line
of work that his many years of experience had so
thoroughly fitted him for. He purchased the lease
and furnishings of the Montgomery Hotel, and since
becoming "mine host" at this modern hostelry has
built up a steadily growing patronage. His personal
attention is given to the comfort of the guests of
the hotel, and the popularity of both manager and
hotel is becoming more widely known as the years
pass. The location of the hotel is in the center of
the business district at the corner of South First
and San Antonio streets.

The marriage of Mr. Zeller on November 4, 1912.
at Oakland, Cal., united him with Miss Shirley
Emanuel, a native of Texas, and they are the parents
of two children, Francis E. and Robert G. Mr.

Zeller belongs to several fraternal organizations and
is a member of the vestry of Trinity Episcopal
Church in San Jose. He is public spirited and ready
to lend his aid to all movements for advancing the
best interests of San Jose.

CHARLES HENRY CALDWELL.— A man with
unlimited resources and with a spirit of progression
that knows no defeat is Charles Henry Caldwell, who
figures prominently in the -affairs of his local com-
munity. A native of Maine, he was born in Oxford,
March 21, 1850, the son of Frederick and Harriette
Kilgore (Eastman) Caldwell, who were farmers in
the New England countryside. Both parents passed
away in Maine. They were the parents of five sons
and one daughter: Mrs. Harriette Kimball, de-
ceased; John of Andover, Maine; Charles Henry,
our subject; Edwin E. of Leeds, Maine; Albert died
at twelve years of age, and Sidney, also deceased.

Charles Henry Caldwell began his education in the
public schools of Andover, Maine, then attended the
high school at Dicksfield. He assisted his father on
the farm until he was tw-enty years old, then went to
Lynn, Mass., and learned the carpenter's trade, work-
ing there for three and a half years and then in Prov-
idence, R. I., for six months. On December 2, 1874,
he came to California locating first in San Francisco,
working at his trade until May, 1881. He then re-
moved to Chicago, III, and again took -up his trade,
but worked only one year, when he engaged in the
real estate business and began the erection of houses
for himself. He purchased land and subdivided it and
became very prominent as a subdivider, building over
200 houses for himself; however, he disposed of his
holdings in Chicago and returned to California in
1903 and located two and a half miles south of Los
Gatos, trading his largest holding in Chicago for a
ranch at Lexington, Cal. His prune orchard pro-
duced an average of 100 tons of prunes a year, be-
sides large quantities of hay. In 1912, he sold this
ranch and moved into Los Gatos and put the C. H.
Caldwell Subdivision to Los Gatos, on the market;
there he planned and built thirteen residences, two of
which he sold. Meantime, he has designed and built
six houses in Oakland and nine in Alameda, all of
which he has sold.

By his first marriage to Miss Sarah A. Stewart of
Saco, Maine, Mr. Caldwell had two children, Mrs.
Blanch B. Jensen and Fred S. Caldwell. His first
wife died in Chicago in 1902 and subsequently Mr.
Caldwell was married at San Francisco to Miss
Helen A. Ashler, a native of Tuscola, 111., a daughter
of Fred and Johanna (Pundt) Ashler, early settlers
of Douglas County, III., where her father was a builder.
Her mother died in Chicago, while her father is liv-
ing in that city, ninety-two years of age. She is the
second oldest of seven children and the only one on
the coast. Mr. Caldwell attributes no small degree
of his success in the building up of his subdivsions
to his estimable wife, who has assisted him in every
way and encouraged him in his ambition to have
the finest subdivision and residence section in the
foothill city. Mr. Caldwell is affiliated politically
with the Republican party; fraternally he is a Mason,
being a member of the Blue Lodge Chapter and
Council. He was a director in the First National
Bank of Englewood, III., and was instrumental in the

1656

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

organization of the First National Bank of Los Gatos.
and was on the first board of directors. Capable of
handling and directing important interests, he has
made his way steadily upward in business connec-
tions, and takes pride in advancing the general in-
terests of his town and county.

JOHN PAVLICEVICH.— An orchardist, who
from a small beginning, is now enjoying the reward
of his hard labor, is John Pavlicevich, a native of
Dalmatia, born on December 23, 1888, a son of Vin-
cent and Mary Pavlicevich, both natives of Dalmatia.
The father came to California during the year of 1894,
settled in San Jose, worked for others for about three
years, then began for himself. His family followed in
1902; then he settled on a little place and engaged
in buying fruit and operated a dryer. He is now re-
tired from active business life, living on Lincoln Ave-
nue with his wife and daughter Annie. The youngest
daughter Draga, Mrs. Givich, lives on Prune Ridge.

John began his education in the schools of Dal-
matia and after coming to California finished the
grammar school course in Santa Clara County. He
worked for his father until 1913, then purchased a
tract of twenty-si.x acres on the Foxworthy Road,
and in 1919 another twenty acres on Union Avenue,
and in 1922 he bought eight acres just opposite his
home place. By the purchase of these properties he
assumed a considerable indebtedness, but with cour-
age and determination to succeed, he set to work and
at this time his property is bringing him a substantial
income each j-ear. He has kept adding improve-
ments from time to time and bringing the orchards
up to a high state of productivity.

The marriage of Mr. Pavlicevich in April, 1916,
united him with Miss Mary Kavaleto, born in Dal-
matia, and they are the parents of tw-o children, Mary
and Vincent. In 1911 Mr. Pavlicevich became a citi-
zen of the United States, and selected as his politics
the platform of the Republican party, and is a loyal
and faithful citizen of his adopted country. He is a
member of the Austrian Benevolent Society. He has
a very thorough knowledge of the fruit business in
every branch, from preparing the land for planting to
marketing the product. His is the practical informa-
tion, bringing to bear his personal experience in the
carrying out of his business and giving his personal
attention to overseeing his business. At all times he
is interested in the welfare of the county and state,
and endorses all measures looking toward the progress
and prosperity of the community in which he lives.

THEODORE M. MANCUSO.— An industrious
and enterprising orchardist who has spent the past
fifteen years in the development of his well-kept
ranch, seven miles south of San Jose on the Almaden
Road, is Theodore M. Mancuso, who has been a
loyal citizen of his adopted land for nearly thirty
years. He was born in Santa Christina, Palermo,
Sicily, December 20, 1877, his parents being Ciro and
Mary Argenta Mancuso. The father w-as a farmer,
who first came to the United States in 1889, settling
in New Orleans; then to Richmond, 111., where he
followed farming and there his family joined him in
1892. In 1894 they located in San Jose, and here he
has been engaged in horticulture and now resides in
San Jose. The mother of our subject died at the
old home in Italy, in 1885 at the age of thirty-three
years. Theodore M., the second oldest of their three

children, was fourteen years old when his family went
to Illinois and he attended public school there, and
two years later, when the family removed to San
Jose, he continued his studies in the public schools.
He then worked for a time on ranches in Santa Clara
and San Mateo counties, saving his money, so that in
1907 he was able to purchase his ranch of about six-
teen acres, situated on Almaden Road and Redman
Avenue, where he built his residence and is engaged
in raising prunes.

Mrs Mancuso, before her marriage, was Miss
Catherine Palermo, a native of New Orleans, La.,
born November 11, 1889, and her marriage to Mr.
Mancuso took place at San Jose, on October 14, 1906.
She is a daughter of Fortunato and Laura (Sham-
bor) Palermo, natives of Italy, and they were mar-
ried in New Orleans, La. In 1901 the father brought
his family to San Jose where both parents still re-
side. They have six children, of whom Mrs. Man-
cuso is the second oldest; and she was educated in
the public schools of New Orleans and the Washing-
ten School in San Jose. Mr. and Mrs. Mancuso are
the parents of seven children, six of whom are liv-
ing: Ciro, Mary, Fortunato. Joseph, Anthony, de-
ceased, Laura and Albert. The care of his thriving
orchard engages the greater portion of Mr. Man-
cuso's time and energy, but he can be counted upon
to do his full share in any progressive measure that
will benefit the community. Politically he is a Re-
publican, and he is one of the original members of
the California Prune & Apricot Association.

H. CHRIS. MADSEN.— California is interesting
as a state to which many nationalities have made sub-
stantial contributions in its development and promi-
nent among the settlers from distant parts, on account
of their progressiveness and industry have been the
sturdy Danes. Among the esteemed residents of
Santa Clara County hailing from this northern corner
of old Europe who may properly be mentioned is H.
Chris Madsen, the rancher of Oak Farm, on the Day
Road about four miles northwest of Gilroy. Mr.
Madsen was born in the small village of Perstrup,
Jutland, on September 9, 1874, the son of Mads and
Marian (Peterson), the parents of nine children.
Chris, went to school until he was fourteen, then was
confirmed and worked at home until nineteen when he
was employed in a creamery, and thus in one of the
greatest dairying countries in the world, he learned
the making of butter and cheese.

In 1903, Mr. Madsen left his native country with
a ticket direct to Fresno, Cal. Arriving in New York
the great eastern metropolis interested him, of course:
but in company with Rasmus Hansen he came direct
to California, reaching here on December 7, 1903, and
he settled for a while at Fresno. In 1905, he went
to Humboldt County, and was employed there as a
butter maker in a large creamery at Ferndale and
also worked in a notion store. In the fall of 1906 he
came to San Francisco, and worked in a creamery
for about six months. Having heard favorably of
Gilroy, he came here in May, 1907, and entered the
employ of the Live Oak Creamery, and for fifteen
months he was their expert buttermaker. In August,
1908, Mr. Madsen erected the first house in the
Phelps tract, on twenty acres he had acquired by pur-
chase in 1907; land barren and unattractive when he

lArV\/yy^ iX<?^^y^OOi}-iliX^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1659

took possession of it, but which his intelligence and
labor have transformed and made the beautiful or-
chard widely known as the "Oak Farm." He has
added to this, and now owns twenty-four acres. He-
put out the first orchard in tliis district, since then
the valley has become dotted with prune orchards.
He is a member of the California Prune and Apricot
Association, and prides himself on being something
of a live wire. In November, 1920, Mr. Madsen set
out for his native Denmark spending five months on
a visit to his mother and going to various parts of
Europe before returning to his Gilroy hoine.

WILLIAM LIONEL HARES.— Among the suc-
cessful orchardists of the Santa Clara Valley is num-
bered William Lionel Hares, who is thoroughly con-
versant with the details of modern horticulture and
viticulture and in the management of his business
interests displays foresight and enterprise. A native
of West Virginia, he was born in Greenbrier County,
February 24, 1874, his parents being Chas. H. and
Sarah (Proby) Hares, both of whom were born in
England. On his maternal side, Mr. Hares is a de-
scendant of the English nobility and traces his lineage
back to William Proby, the first Earl of Carysfort,
the family being represented in Foster's English
Peerage. Chas. H. Hares and Sarah Proby were mar-
ried in Beaton, Devon, where they were also born.
In 1871 they came to the United States, settling in
Greenbrier County, W. Va., where they were engaged
in stockraising until 1880. He removed to Le Mars,
Iowa, and in 1884 they made their way to California.
The father purchased a ranch in Paradise Valley, San-
ta Clara County, devoting his energie^ to its cultiva-
tion and improvement and in tiine came to have a
splendid orchard. Here he was bereaved of his faithful
wife in 1902, and in 1910 the father sold his holdings
and returned to his old home in England where he re-
sided until his death in December, 1920. This worthy
couple had five children, two of whom are living:
Chas. H., Jr., of San Jose, and Wm. L. of this review.

In the acquirement of an education William L.
Hares attended the public schools and the San Jose
State Normal, after which he assisted his father in
the operation of the home farm. For seventeen years
he has conducted his interests independently and is
now the owner of a well-improved orchard and vine-
yard tract of twenty-five acres situated just otif Union
Avenue, near the school of that name, in Santa Clara
County. He has made a careful study of soil and cli-
matic conditions here in relation to the production of
fruit and his operations are conducted along the most
progressive lines, resulting in excellent returns.

In San Jose in 1903, Mr. Hares was married to
Miss Mary Frances Machado, the daughter of B. S.
and Mary (Murphy) Machado; the latter was the
daughter of James Murphy who crossed the plains
with his family in an ox-train as a member of the
Murphy party in 1846. B. S. Machado was born in
San Diego and both parents were pioneers of Santa
Clara County. Mr. and Mrs. Hares have five chil-
dren: Louisa, Gladys, Lionel, Alma and Leo. Mr.
Hares is a Republican and fraternally he is identi-
fied with the Independent Order of Foresters. He
has led an active and useful life, and the years have
chronicled his growing success; at the same time he
has labored for the upbuilding of his community,
whose welfare and progress have ever been to him
matters of earnest consideration.

HENRY A. MINEO.— A native son of California
who was born and reared in Santa Clara County, and
who is prominent in the commercial life of Los Gatos
is Henry A. Mineo, owner of a successful trucking,
hay and wood business. He was born in East San
Jose. May 13, 1885, the son of Joseph and Josephine
Mineo. About fifty years ago Joseph Mineo came
to California and settled in the Santa Clara Valley
and has been engaged in the fruit business for many
years. Both parents now reside in Los Gatos. Henry
A. was educated in the public schools, but at the
early age of tliirUen left home to make his own way.
For a number of years he worked in the Almaden
Mines; then he worked at farm work and teaming.
In 1912 he engaged in teaming in the Santa Cruz
mountains and advanced until he now owns two
five-ton trucks .md during the busy season employs
about twenty-fne nun to take care of the business.
The men rut I'o^is, pickets and ties in the mountains
and they arc transported on pack mules to the roads,
where he can load his trucks to take them to market.

The marriage of Mr. Mineo, in San Jose, October
7, 1903, united him with Miss Rose Lancaster, born
in Los Gatos. the daughter of Henry and Mary
Lancaster, who came from England to Santa Clara
County where her father engaged in sawmilling. They
are the parents of one child, Mervyn. Mr. Mineo is
a Republican and fraternally he belongs to the Red
Men. He spends his leisure time in hunting, being
fond of the great outdoors, and is enthusiastic over the
growth and development of Los Gatos and the sur-
rounding territory.

CONRAD JESSEN.— A retired resident of Gilroy
who enjoys the esteem of all familiar with his excellent
record for industry and useful, successful life, is Con-
rad Jcssen, who was born on the Isle of Alsen, Den-
mark, on February 4, 1846, and was reared at home
until his fourteenth year. His father was Jess Jes-
sen, a tailor by trade, and he came to America in
1874. Conrad went to sea in 1860 entering the service
of the Danish national merchant marine on a vessel
called "Concordia." Next he was on the "George"
for a vear, then he was on several German ships and
on November 16, 1869, he left Hamburg for the last
lime on a Norwegian ship, Frederick Peterson. He
put in at San Francisco on May, 1870, 159 days out
from Hamburg; and once in the Bay city, he decided
to abandon the sea and to make a new start in life.

He had an uncle in Watsonville, and this led him
to locate there in 1870. In May, 1873 he opened a
boarding house, and from 1876 to 1882 he ran the
"Scandinavian House," then he built the "Watsonville
House." In 1900 he made a profitable exchange of
this property for a ranch near Gilroy, known as the
Anson place, a stock and grain farm of 288^ acres.
Sixty-five acres he set out to vines, and the balance
are farmed to hay and grain, while 135 acres have
been subdivided and sold. In national politics a
Democrat, Mr. Jessen has always favored that legis-
lation which best guaranteed the development and
protection of the industries and resources of the state.

At Watsonville, in 1873, Mr. Jessen was married to
Miss Elene Toft, a native of Denmark who came out
to America and California in 1871; and four children
blessed the union. Christina, who married Mr. Ryder,
died in 1913 and their two children, a daughter and
son, live at Oakland, and this granddaughter has one

1660

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

child. George married Miss Hazel Van V'orkees at
Sacramento, and they have one daughter. He died
in 1911, aged thirty-six. Cecelia is the wife of George
Driever, of Seattle; and they have one daughter.
James has a wife and two daughters; and they reside
at San Francisco. In 1874, Mr. Jessen sent for his
father and mother and a brother, and they came from
Denmark to California; his father died at Watsonville
at the age of eighty-one, and his mother died there
at the age of seventy-six. In the spring of 1912,
Mr, Jessen set out for Denmark and other parts of
Europe, and made a most delightful tour of four
months, luckily before the war-clouds darkened the
Old World. He erected a fine home on Bodfish Road,
and there he and his wife live in comfortable retire-
ment, enjoying in particular his fraternal friendships,
having been a member of the I. O. O. 1''. lodge at
Watsonville for nearly forty years.

BARBACCIA BROTHERS.— Among the live,
energetic and persevering young business men of San
Jose are Philip and Nicholas Barbaccia. They are
the sons of Giro and Josephine (Spatafora) Barbac-
cia, both parents being natives of Italy. The father
was an extensive farmer and stock breeder in his
native country. In 1900, leaving his family in com-
fortable circumstances. Giro Barbaccia came to Cal-
ifornia and engaged in horticulture; he purchased
raw land and set out diflferent varieties of fruit, his
family joining him later. He resided on his twenty-
acre orchard until his death, February 21, 1921, his
wife having preceded him July 17, 1919. Philip was
born in Marineo, Sicily, November 29, 1894; six years
later, on May 29, Nicholas was born. Their early
boyhood was spent with their father on the farm, the
family consisting of the two brothers and their sis-
ters. Lea and Rosa.

Philip attended the common schools in Sicily, re-
ceiving an education equivalent to our high school
course. In 1907 he embarked for America, coming
directly to San Jose, and here he was employed by
the California Packing Corporation for eight years.
During this period he became a trustworthy and ef-
ficient employee and learned the ins and outs of
canning all kinds of fruits and vegetables. At the
time of leaving this company, he was warehouse
foreman. The brothers interested local capital in
starting a new cannery, and on January IS, 1920, the
Santa Clara Valley Canning Company was organ-
ized, Philip being elected vice-president of the com-
pany. In 1920 the present building, 200x300 feet, was
built and equipped with the latest and most modern
cannery machinery for packing fruits and vegetables,
most sanitary and complete. Shipments are not only
made in carload lots all over the United States, but
into different parts of the world in both the Occi-
dent and Orient.

During the year of 1910, Nicholas, then a boy of
ten, came to America with his mother and two sis-
ters, coming directly to San Jose. Here he received
his education in the grammar and high schools of
San Jose. Upon his graduation from the high school
in 1917, he was with the California Packing Corpor-
ation for three years as time clerk. Instrumental in
organizing the company, he became cashier of the
Santa Clara Valley Canning Company from its or-
ganization in 1920. This company has a capacity of
150,000 cases, but pride themselves on the quality

rather than the quantity of fruit which they produce.
Exercising the lessons of thrift and industry which
their father had instilled into them during the early
years of their lives, in 1914, the two brothers, jointly,
purchased a fifty-acre ranch three miles southwest
of San Jose on the Dry Creek Road, planting orchards
of prunes, apricots, cherries and peaches. In their
various business transactions, the Barbaccia brothers
have met with excellent success and are now enjoy-
ing the reward of their earlier years of struggle and
toil. Both brothers are members of the Italo-
Atnerican Club of San Jose and St. Joseph's Church.
Strong believers in protection, they are stanch Re-
publicans.

ELVERT ERNEST PLACE.— Leading among
those whose successful management of worthy and
important enterprises has contributed much to Santa
Clara County is Elvert Ernest Place, the experienced
undertaker and proprietor of an ambulance service.
He was born at Burns, Mich., on November 5, 1863,
the son of Alexander F. and Sarah M. (Blood) Place,
natives of New York who migrated to Shiawassee
County, Mich., and there pioneered where the old
homestead, still standing, was the center of life to
many. Mr. Place took up flour milling and followed
it all through his busy life; and when he passed away,
on January 7, 1891, he left behind an excellent record
of accomplishment. Mrs. Place is also among the
great silent majoritj^ and she will be pleasantly re-
membered by many a pioneer appreciating her true
and neighborly character.

Elvert went to the local grammar schools, and then
was graduated from the high school at Laingsburg,
Mich., and he remained with his father, active in the
letter's enterprises, until he came out to California
in 1884, when he established this business under the
firm name of A. F. Place & Son, dealers in furniture
and undertakers. At the end of three years, however,
the elder Mr. Place again took up milling, this time
in San Benito County; but in 1891 he met with an
accident which cost him his life. Elvert had bought
liis father's interest in the firm when Alexander Place
went South, and he has continued the business ever
since. In the fall of 1887, he commenced for himself;
in 1884, the business was established on East Main
Street; and they remained there until the develop-
ment was such that in 1887 he found it necessary to
remove to the Willey Block, where he remained until
July 27. 1891; when he was burned out with a com-
plete loss. Not discouraged, Mr. Place immediately
opened a new establishment at 13-15 Santa Cruz
Street, with modern undertaking parlors and a furni-
ture store. In 1920 he purchased the old Curtis Cog-
shall home at lis Santa Cruz Street, which he remod-
elled, redecorated and furnished for a modern funeral
home. On January 1, 1922, he disposed of his furni-
ture interests and retired from that line to give all
his attention to funeral and ambulance service. As-
sociated with him is his son, Geo. B., also a licensed
embalmer. They have modern, up-to-date equipment,
and render the most satisfactory service in under-
taking and ambulance such as those sensitive about
scientific methods and artistic standards could desire.

At Laingsburg, Mich., on March 10, 1887. Mr. Place
was married to Miss Emma Beardslee, of his home
town, and they have one child, George B. Place. Mr.
Place's grandfather Blood was a noted missionary
among the Indians, and the old Blood homestead in

^Oy^Sa^(^^:^'^^^tJL

I

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1663

Michigan, on the CHnton-Shiawassee line, is still in
the Blood family. Mr. Place is a Republican and he
belongs to the Odd Fellows in which, as one of the
oldest members, he has progressed through all the
chairs, and he is a member of the Rebekahs, the
Knights of Pythias, where he is a past officer, and
the Druids. He w-as one of the organizers of the
Central Coast Counties Funeral Directors' Associa-
tion and has been its treasurer since; and active in
bringing about harmony and good will among the
members of the association. He is also a member of
the State and National Funeral Directors' Associa-
tions. He is a member Los Gatos Chamber of Com-
merce, Merchant's Association, and the Men's Club
of the Presbyterian Church.

A. J. TEIXEIRA.— Through industry and capabil-
ity, A. J. Teixeira has won a substantial measure of
success as a building contractor and he is now living
retired in San Jose, where for the past thirty-seven
years he has made his home. He was born on the
Isle of Pico, in the Azores, May 20, 1863, a son of
Manuel Bernardo and Mary (Constancia) Teixeira.
There the father successfully followed the occupation
of farming until his demise and the mother passed
away at Flagstaff, Ariz., while en route to San Jose.
When a lad of eight years A. J. Teixeira became a
sailor and until his twenty-third year he continued
to follow a seafaring life, being accorded few educa-
tional opportunities. At length he tired of that life
and in search of a suitable locality in which to take
up his permanent residence, at first went to Boston,
Mass., afterward to New York City, and at length
came to San Jose, arriving in the city, January 15,
1884. Conditions here pleased him so well that he
decided to remain and he has never had occasion to
regret his choice, for here he has found the oppor-
tunities for advancement which he sought. Taking up
the carpenter's trade, he soon became well known
in that connection and built up a large business as a
designer and contractor, owing to the excellence of his
work and his promptness and relialiility in the exe-
cution of contracts. For twenty years he continued
in active business, during which period his labors
were an important factor in the upbuilding and im-
provement of San Jose. He is still the owner of an
estate on the Isle of Pico, in the Azores, and is ac-
counted one of the substantial citizens of his com-
munity.

At Millboro, Mass., Mr. Teixeira was married to
Miss Mary D. Dutra, also a native of the Isle of Pico.
In 1882 she came to Boston, Mass. Her parents,
were Manuel and Mary Dutra, of Pico, where the
father was well-known as a shoemaker. Mr. and Mrs.
Teixeira have become the parents of seven children:
Mary, the wife of George La Selta, a prominent mer-
chant of East San Jose; Manuel, who is married and is
an engineer in the employ of the Southern Pacific Rail-
road Company; Mariana, Mrs. Price, resides at Cody,
Cal.; Tony, a graduate of Columbia University and
now a well-known architect and teacher of drawing in
the San Jose high school while during the World War
served as an officer in the U. S. Navy; Emmeline;
Joseph; and George. All of the children w^ere born
in California with the exception of Mary. Mr. Tei-
xeira is an artist of no mean ability. He has done
much fine decorating, such as altars and panelings in
Catholic churches. He did the painting and decorat-
ing in the Church of the Five Wounds in San Jose,

the Portuguese chapel in Turlock and his many
paintings in his home as well as in those of relatives
and friends. He is a member of the U. P. E. C. and
the Independent Order of Foresters. Starting out in
the world when but eight years of age, he has stead-
ily worked his way upward through persistency of
purpose, energy and determination, and none can
grudge him his success, so worthily has it been won.

GEORGE A. WOOD.— Born in the foothills of the
Green Mountains, George A. Wood, at the age of
twelve, went with his father's family to Wisconsin,
later removing to Minnesota, where he continued his
studies and taught school. He took his college course
at the LIniversity of Minnesota, graduating in 1878.
That same year he went into business in partnership
with his brother. They chose for the location of their
enterprise the new town of Ortonville in the western
part of the state, in territory which was being rapidly
settled, and carried the three staple commodities for a
new country — lumber, hardware and farm machinery,
the partnership continuing for thirty years. When the
railroad was extended westward into South Dakota
they moved their headquarters to the growing rail-
road town of Milbank, South Dakota.

The time and place were both advantageous for
their Hnes of gooiK, .mil l.\ diligent eflort and close
attention to busiius-. ih, \ luiilt up one of the largest
and most succcssinl iiuiil businesses in the state.
Having his businL>^ career successfully started, his
next move looked to the estalilishment of his home.
In 1879 he married Miss Caroline RoUit of Minne-
apolis, a daughter of the Rev. Charles Rollit, an
Episcopal clergyman. Mrs. Wood is also a graduate
of the University of Minnesota of the class of 1879.
They have seven children, six of whom have college
degrees, and all of them in California.

During his residence in the Middle West Mr. Wood
visited California for several successive winters, and
in 1908 he removed to Santa Cruz, where he and his
brother had bought a mill and lumber company of
which he is now president. In 1911 he took up his
residence in the beautiful foothill village of Saratoga,
a place which he considers the most beautiful in the
state, if not in the world, for an all-the-year-round
home. He still has interests in South Dakota. While
Mr. Wood generally votes the Republican ticket, he
reserves the right to vote for the man best fitted for
the office. He is an active member of the Congrega-
tional Church.

JOSEPH F. NOYER.— A rancher whose enter-
prise has resulted in his setting a pace for some of his
fellow-farmers is Joseph F. Noyer, of Hamilton Ave-
nue, Campbell. He was born in Flores, among the
beautiful Azores, on February 15, 1866. the son of
Frank and Frances Noyer, who first came to Cali-
fornia many years ago. They remained only a short
lime, however, and then they returned to their island
home. When Joseph was fourteen years of age, his
father crossed the ocean to New York, going on to
New Bedford, Mass., and at the end of three years
there, he came on to California, and worked on
ranches in Alameda County.

In 1884 Joseph Noyer came to Santa Clara County
and took up ranch work, and for ten years farmed oil
the Piedmont Road, growing hay and market-garden-
ing vegetables. On December LS, 1921, he bought
his present place of five acres devoted to raising

1664

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

prunes and apricots. At San Franc.sco, ou April 8,
1893 he was married to Miss Mary Rogers, a native
ot Boston and the daughter c.£ Antone and Rosalie
(Ferreira) Rogers, the father a fisherman ot? the
coast of Massachusetts, who in 1886 moved to San
Francisco, and for many years he worked for the
Sterling Furniture Company there. Twelve children
have blessed this union of Mr. and Mrs. Noyer. Mary
died in 1896; Rose is Mrs. Dutra; Clara passed away
>n October, 1918; Frank, Rita, NeUie, Joseph, John,
.\nna, Manuel, Henry and William are attending the
Campbell school. Mr. Noyer is a member of the
U" P E C of Milpitas, and Mrs. Noyer belong to
the S P R S- I- c'f -Mih.itas. Santa Clara County
owes much of her rrcMut ..r..U.k- prosperity to such
sturdy, progressive >et,l.r. a. -Ur^ and Mr,. Noyer,
vJiose steady advanceinent is well dcseived.

GEORGE C. PAYNE.— One of Santa Claras
prominent horticulturists is George C. Payne who,
with his brothers and sisters, owns and operates a
100-acre ranch on Payne Avenue, about two miles
northwest of Campbell, Cal., where he was born
November 28, 1874. on the old home place. He is
the son of James F. Payne now deceased who was
born at Hudson, N. Y. on March 26, 1833, and who
married Phoebe McClellan. a native of Missouri,
and the daughter of William McClellan. who was
born in Tennessee. Grandfather William Payne a
native of England, came to the United States when
only a boy. James F. Payne left New York at the
age of eighteen and came to California by way of
the Isthmus in 1852, and landed in San Francisco
He first went to Sonoma, Tuolumne County, and
there mined for some time, then coming to Santa
Clara County in 1854, he engaged in farming. His
wife, who was born in 1848, crossed the plains when
she was only one and a half years old; she is
still living at the age of seventy-two years.

James F. Payne first took up government land
at Cupertino, then sold it and bought 222 acres one
mile from Los Gatos and also bought the place at
Campbell where George Payne and his family now
live, in 1875. He had 126 acres here, and fifty-nine
acres were planted to fruit during his lifetime. He
was a very successful man, and was always a stanch
adherent of the Republican party. He passed away
in January, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. James F. Payne's
children were George C, of this sketch; Perley B.,
married Myra Hoag; Gertrude lives on the home
place; Frederick, deceased; and Louise and J. How-
ard, who are twins.

George C. Payne's marriage united him with
Helene Schultz who was born in San Jose, a daugh-
ter of Professor Charles Schultz of San Jose. They
live on the ranch that the children inherited when
their father passed away. It now consists of 100
acres and is operated by Mr. Payne and his brother,
J. Howard Payne. They are all worthy representa-
tives of their pioneer parents and are striving to
put into their work the same good qualities of kind-
ness and goodwill that made their father and grand-
father so successful. Mr. Payne is a Republican in
politics. He has been a close student of horticulture
and. has done much experimenting in that line. He
spent one year with Luther Burbank on his famous

ranch at Santa Rosa and did most of his hybridizing.
For nearly a year he was in Valparaiso, Chile, for
W. R. Grace, importers and exporters, looking up
the walnut industry of that country and arranging
for machinery for grading, bleaching, and packing
walnuts. He thoroughly understands grafting, and
not only does it on his own place, but for others in
the vicinity, and his advice is often sought, for it is
well recognized that he is an authority in horti-
cultural matters. He was the first to graft walnuts
successfully in a commercial way and his system of
walnut grafting has been adopted and is being taught
at the Oregon Agricultural College at Corvallis.

ALMANDA BAIOCCHL— Born in Lucca, Italy,
August 9, 1894, Almanda Baiocchi migrated with his
parents to America in the year 1900, coming directly
to California, settling near Allenton. on the Sacra-
mento River. He is the son of Natale and Dosolina
( Gini') Baiocchi. Upon arrival in California, his father
leased a ranch of some 350 acres on the Sacra-
mento River, raising grain and general produce. As
a lad, Almanda attended the public schools of Allen-
ton , and since the age of fourteen, he has depended
upon his own resources. His family had removed to
Santa Clara, and he was employed as waiter at the
Santa Clara College, where he remained for five
years. About this time the family removed to San
Jose, where they have since resided. Almanda is the
eldest of a family of five children: Paul, Masueto,
Bepeno, and Jessie, all living in San Jose. During
the year 1911. his father opened business on Santa
Clara Street near Vine, from there going to West
Santa Clara Street. In 1915 Almanda Baiocchi pur-
chased property at 695 West San Carlos Street and
erected a store building in connection with a resi-
dence, and there he engaged in general merchandis-
ing, his father managing the store. During the fruit
packing season Almanda Baiocchi is foreman for the
Pacific Fruit Product Company plant on West San
Carlos, making it very convenient, as it is only a
few steps from his home.

At the beginning of the World War. Mr. Baiocchi
offered his services to his adopted country, and on
June 30, 1918, he entered training at Camp Kearney,
remaining there for only tw-enty-five days, when he
w-as sent overseas to France, serving in Company G.
One Hundred Fifty-seventh Infantry, Fortieth Divi-
sion; remaining with this Division but three weeks,
he was transferred to Company I, Three Hundred
Twenty-third Infantry, Eighty-first Division. His
first service at the front was at the Vosges, after
which he took part in the Meuse-Argonne drive,
where he with others went over the top again and
again and kept going for three days without stop-
ping, and he was very fortunate in not being wounded.
After the armistice he remained overseas until early
in June, 1919, when he set sail from St. Nazaire for
America, arriving at Newport News. Va., and thence
to Ft. Russell, Wyo.. and on to the Presidio, San
Francisco, where he was honorably discharged June
28, 1919, after which he returned to his home in
San Jose and resumed his old position, which had
been kept open for him. Fraternally he is a member
of the Independent Foresters of America, and is a
past officer; also member of the Yeomen. He is an
active member of the Italo-Amcrican Club of San
Jose and politically he is a Republican.

0^- (o ayi^tn^^cAi.

^^r^^^z-z^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1665

JOHN SCORSUR.— A man who was highly es-
teemed for his splendid traits of character and the
warm friendships he made was the late John Scor-
sur, who was born in Dalmatia. Austria, in 1873, a
son of James and Thomasine Scorsur. The father
was a pioneer fruit man and a prominent and
successful horticulturist, having an orchard on the
Homestead Road. He died July 6, 1915, his wife
surviving him until August 16, 1916. Of the union
of this worthy couple, two children were born, name-
ly, Kate, Mrs. Felicich of San Jose, and John, the
subject of this sketch, who came to the United
States with his mother, joining his father, who was
then residing at Guadalupe. Some \ears later the
family moved to San Jose and here John attended
the public schools, as well as the business college.
He excelled in penmanship and received a diploma
for penmanship from the American Pen Art Hall.
After his school da\'S were over he assisted his
father in the care of the orchard as well as the fruit
business.

In the fall of 1900 Mr. Scorsur made a trip back-
to his old home in Dalmatia, and there on February
9, 1901, he was married to Miss Annie Genovich,
also a native of Dalmatia, the daughter of Peter
and Mary Genovich, farmer-folk in that far-ofi
country. He immediately returned to his home in
San Jose with his bride, arriving in March, 1901, and
they began housekeeping in the residence at 1398
East San Fernando Street, where Mrs. Scorsur still
lives. John Scorsur was engaged in the fruit busi-
ness with his father, looking after the orchards on
the old homstead, and became a well-posted and
progressive orchardist. He was in ill health sev-
eral years before his death, which occured April
6, 1915. He was a man of pleasing personality and
had a host of friends, being a member of the
Austrian Benevolent Society and St. Joseph's Benevo-
lent Society. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Scorsur
was blessed with five children, Thomasine, Marie,
.'\nna, James and Jennie, who all reside at home.
They are members of St. Patrick's Catholic Church.

H'. IRVING LEE.— Few departments of activity
pertaining to the financial world are of greater im-
portance than that represented by H. Irving Lee,
the well-known investment broker, with offices in
the Tuahy Building at San Jose. He has made a
careful study both of past and present conditions, and
in his extensive operations ably demonstrates the
value of thorough scientific treatment and the high-
est of ethics. His work has long contributed to sta-
bilize that which has so much to do with giving sta-
bility to other things, and also to protect the inex-
perienced. More than that, he has done much to en-
courage the public to invest where and how they
should. Frank H. Lee, the father of -our subject,
was a native of Portland, Maine, and came to Port-
land, Ore., with his parents and later south to Santa
Clara County in 1865 and here he married Miss
Elizabeth Kidder, a native daughter of the county,
whose parents were Charles S. and Sarah F. (Owens)
Kidder. Sarah F. Owens was a native of Indiana.
Her father. Rev. Isaac Owens, came from Indiana
across the plains at the head of an immigrant train
drawn hy dxin in 1849. He was the first superintend-
ent of nnssion-- sent out by the Methodist Episcopal
Church. After his arrival he gave his time to Chris-
tian work and was one of the founders of the Uni-
versity of the Pacific, of which he was a trustee for

many years and he was also a presiding elder. He
owned a farm at the corner of Stevens Creek and
the Los Gatos-Santa Clara roads where he resided
at the time of his death, a much loved and highly
esteemed man well known over all of Northern Cali-
fornia, after devoting his life to the spreading of the
Gospel and moral uplift of the people. He had five
children, four of whom grew up, but now all are
deceased. Frank H. Lee was engaged in farming
and stockraising in this vicinity for many years. The
mother passed away January 18, 1921," while the
father is still living.

H. Irving Lee having finished the courses of both
the grammar and high schools, graduated from the
Pacific Coast Business College and in 1913 organized
the National Cleaning & Dyeing Company, which, in
1915, was consolidated with the Golden West when
he became president of the new organization and in
that responsible position he remained until Decem-
ber, 191'), nhcn he disposed of his interest and be-
cann ;l^M.K i.iud with the General Securities Com-
pany ni San Jcise, of which he is the manager, having
offices HI the Tuohy Building. Mr. Lee is devoting
much of his time to the study of automobile financing
and to plans that will make it easier for automobile
men to obtain financial assistance, at the same time
making it safer for bankers to do business with auto-
mobile men. Mr. Lee is much interested in civic and
social affairs, is a member of the Chamber of Com-
merce and a charter member of the 100 Per Cent Club
and is an active member of the Progressive Business
Men's Club and charter member of the San Jose
Commercial Club. In national politics he is a Repub-
lican. He is a member of the San Jose Lodge No. 522
of Elks, the Native Sons of the Golden West, was
made a Mason in Fraternity Lodge No. 399, F. & A.
M., San Jose, and is also a thirty-second degree Scot-
tish Rite Mason and a member of Islam Temple.
A. A. O. N. M. S., in San Francisco. He has two
married sisters, Mrs. Myra D. Ingram of San Jose,
and Mrs. Daisy V. Watson.

GEORGE M. COSTA.— A very successful dairy
farmer who owns one of the best ranches of 123
acres in Santa Clara County, the old (.'.eorgc Small
place, is George M. Costa, of Charleston Road, about
three and one-half miles northwest of Mountain
View. He was born on the Island of Pico, in the
Azores, on June 22, 1873, and grew up on a fair-sized
farm owned by his parents, who were among the
moderately well-to-do people of that country. He
learned dairying; and he also followed, to some ex-
tent, the life and hard work of the seaf.irer. Grow-
ing to young manhood, he was marrnd while at
home to Miss Monna Joseph, also a nalna ui that
section in which she had been reared; and with his
devoted companion he came out to America in 1900.
They have resided in California ever since, working
with intelligent and unremitting industry.

For some time Mr. Costa was engaged on the
Leland Stanford stock farm at Palo Alto, and he
become a good teamster and could handle two, four,
six, eight, or even sixteen horses at one time under
the rein. He next engaged to work for Tom Cordoza,
and at the same period Mrs. Costa served as cook
for the company. They saved their earnings and
were thus enabled to rent the George Small dairy
farm, where he has succeeded beyond his expecta-

1666

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tions. This is in the pear section of the country, and
in ten to twelve years, if this farm be planted to
Bartlett pears, it will be worth $1,500 per acre. As
it is, he considers that he has a property worth
$100,000, and even at a somewhat lower estimate,
it will be seen that he is enviably situated. After
having rented the land for three years, he purchased
it in 1918 from Mr. Small and thus obtained one of
the most beautiful farms, with good buildings, drives,
etc., affording him and his family an excellent home.
He is a member of the California Milk Producers'
Association, and inasmuch as he is conservative and
doing well as a dairyman, he will continue in that
field. Mr. and Mrs. Costa have three children. Man-
uel and Joe, who render valuable assistance on the
farm, and Mary, all are favorites with those who
know them.

JOE JOAQUIN.— A successful rancher who has
accomplished much since he was fifteen years of
age is Joe Joaquin, the owner of the famous Frank
Hufif Place, one mile to the north of Mountain View,
on the Charleston Road. He was born on the Island
of St. George, in the Azores, on July 31, 1892, being
the son of a carpenter who died in the Azores at an
age of forty-seven years, when Joe was only one and
one-half years of age. When he was four years old
the widowed mother and her two children came to
California, where she married Joe Joaquin and set-
tled down to farm life in San Mateo County. The
two children by the first husband took the stepfather's
name and there they grew up on the extensive Joaquin
dairy ranch. A daughter, a full sister to Joe Joaquin,
named Mrs. Mary Azevedo, and a brother, Manuel B.
Joaquin, a gardener, also residing in San Mateo
County, make up the rest of the surviving family.

Ambitious and a hard worker, Joe Joaquin began
business operations for himself when he was fifteen
years old, by renting a dairy farm and engaging in
the dairying business. He was married at San Gre-
gorio to Miss Eva Terra and they have two chil-
dren, Joseph and Helen. They belong to the Roman
Catholic Church, and Mr. Joaquin does his duty as a
citizen under the banners of the Republican party.
When he first began to rent, Joe leased the great
1,200-acre farm known as the Old Garn ranch, and until
the past year he has usually had at least ninety milch
cows. He has recently bought his present ranch of
140 acres, and has continued to run the ranch he
rented until the past year, when he sold all his stock
to the Silva Bros., who are renting his place and
will hereafter run the dairy.

Mr. and Mrs. Joaquin will be more and more an
asset to Mountain View, and will find in that de-
lightful corner of Santa Clara County the largest
returns for any investment of industry and optimism
they may there care to make.

J. W. CHAMBERS.— The manager of the Peter-
son-Kartschoke Brick Company of San Jose, a native
son of California, is J. W. Chambers, born at Oak-
land, October 2, 1898, a son of G. R. and Adeline H.
(Hood) Chambers, the former born in Chicago, 111.,
and the latter in San Francisco. His paternal grand-
parents came from England to Illinois, while Grand-
father Hood was a native of Scotland and an early
settler of San Francisco. G. R. Chambers is a mem-
ber of the firm of Gladding McBean & Company of

San Francisco, manufacturers of clay products, being
vice-president of the company. J. W. is the young-
est of three children born to the above marriage and
was reared in Oakland, being graduated from White's
School at Berkeley, after which he went to sea as a
junior officer on one of the Standard Oil Company's
sailing vessels for a period of ten months. His
father, having become owner of the Peterson-Kart-
schoke Brick Company at San Jose, J. W. left the sea
August, 1919, and came to San Jose, where he began
at the bottom as truck driver, working his way up
until February, 1922, when he was made manager of
the company. The plant dates back many years to
a time when the elder Dreischmeyer ran a brick
plant on this site; he was succeeded by Mr. Peterson
who made bricks for the building of Lick Observa-
tory. Later Gust Kartschoke joined him and they in-
corporated the Peterson-Kartschoke Brick Company,
the present owner being G. R. Chambers, who is
president, while J. W. Chambers is manager. They
manufacture machine-made brick by the stiff mud
wire-cut process and all the product is handled on elec-
tric trucks. The capacity of the machine is 50,000 bricks
a day, while there is a 30,000 a day kiln capacity.
The yards and factory are located at Third and Keys
streets, while their clay bank or mines are on Coyote
Creek, three-fourths of a mile away, carrying a deposit
of loam clay which makes an excellent brick, their
product being shipped to different cities on the coast
between San Francisco and San Luis Obispo. Mr.
Chambers is a very enterprising 5'oung man and is a
member of the San Jose Builders' Exchange and
Chamber of Commerce, and is also a charter mem-
ber of the San Jose Commercial Club.

WILLIAM R. BIAGGI.— The family to which
William R. Biaggi belongs has been identified in a
substantial way with California's early history, his
parents being Anibale F. and Mary (Bradley) Biaggi.
Mrs. Biaggi was a member of the Bradley family of
Mendocino County, while the father was a passenger
on the first train over the Union Pacific Railroad,
and has the distinction of helping to lay the last
rail, on that memorable occasion when East and
West were linked. He planted the famous olive
orchard known as the Palo Alto Grove on Julian
Street and built the first modern olive oil mill on
that property. He is now a well-to-do orchardist
of Santa Clara County, and with his wife is now
enjoying the fruits of their early toil.

William R. Biaggi was born at San Jose and at-
tended the public schools of his native county. Upon
leaving school he accepted a position as third stew-
ard at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, remaining
there but one year, however, as he had always been
anxious to engage in the practice of law. With this
goal in view he went into the office of William A.
Bowden, a prominent attorney of San Jose, and on
October 28, 1910, he was admitted to the practice
of law, in which profession he has since continued.
His practice has grown to such proportions that he
is considered one of the most successful lawyers of
San Jose; he is an authority on tax title laws, and
has prepared a book on this subject.

His marriage in March, 1919, united him with
Miss Rebecca J. Johnson, a native daughter resid-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1669

ing at Gilroy, Cal., and they have one child, Nyla
Jane. In political views Mr. Biaggi is independent
and believes in the fitness of the man for the office
rather than party affiliation. At the beginning of
the recent war, he entered the service of his country,
but on account of physical disability, was discharged.
He is a trustee of the Italo-American Club of Santa
Clara County and is an active member of the County
Bar Association, taking an active part in all civic
reforms, and is ever ready with plans for the ad-
vancement of his community. An up-to-date and
enterprising lawyer, Mr. Biaggi is to be congratu-
lated upon the success he has made of his life.

JOSEPH CAPPA.— A self-made man in the best
sense implied by the term, Joseph Cappa is justly
entitled to the success which he has achieved in
the past thirty years. In the year 1890 he came to
this state with nothing but his own ability to pre-
sage the success which should one day be his, and
through the intervening years has worked with a
patience, energy and perseverance unsurpassed, and
today is the prosperous owner of many acres of the
finest orchard lands in Santa Clara County. Born
at Castellamonte, Italy, July 16, 1870, he is the son
of Dominic and Mary Cappa, both natives of the
same province. His early education was obtained in
the public schools of his native province, but the
family having only the meager earnings of his father
as a common laborer, Joseph Cappa became depend-
ent upon his own resources, and with the spirit of
independence and thrift, characteristic of his race,
sought to make his own way in the world. Realizing
the opportunities offered by America, he sailed from
his native land August 9, 1890, and reaching San
Francisco September 20, with fifty cents in his pock-
ets he went to work as a dishwasher at the meager
wage of eight dollars per month; a year later he en-
tered the employ of Louis Caffero, proprietor of the
Roma Hotel in Sacramento, and was with him for
three and a half years. While thus employed, he was
attacked by malarial fever, and his doctor ordered
him to go to Santa Clara Valley, and he came hither,
his resources having diminished to a last two-bit
piece; here he so fully recovered that he has since
enjoyed perfect health.

Having learned the trade of potter in the old
country, Mr. Cappa was employed by the Steigger
Pottery Works of San Jose for two years; then he
began working for J. C. Merithew, the owner of the
Santa Clara Wine Depot. With the practice of
economy and thrift he was able to save considerable
money, and in 1899 he bought out Mr. Merithew.
In 1919 this business was discontinued, and his re-
sources have been invested in orchard and vineyard
lands, and he now owns a fine property of 160 acres
sixteen miles from San Jose in the Cupertino dis-
trict, one of the finest orchard districts of Santa
Clara County; Mr. Cappa also owns a fine residence
property on East St. John Street, besides the busi-
ness block formerly occupied by the Santa Clara
Wine Depot, on the corner of Third and San Fer-
nando Streets, but now leased to the Orlando Meat
Packing Company.

Mr. Cappa was married in San Jose in 1900. be-
ing united with Miss Mary Baduini, also born in
Italy, and they have been blessed with two sons.

Victor E., a graduate of San Jose high school and
now a student in the Department of Law, University
of California, class of 1923, and Joseph D., a gradu-
ate of the San Jose high school, who is assisting Mr.
Cappa on the ranch. Politically a stanch supporter
of the Republican party, Mr. Cappa is an active mem-
ber of the Druids, having passed through ail the
chairs; also a member of the Italian Benevolent So-
ciety of San Jose. He has been a firm believer in
the prosperity and development of Santa Clara
County and with the interest of a loyal citizen has
watched its advancement and growth until it has
reached its present high standard of civilization. He
has always been a good friend, a generous neighbor,
and bears modestly and confidently a success which
might well be the inspiration of the toilers of today.

MIGUEL H. NARVAEZ.— The family of which
Miguel H. Narvaez is a member has been con-
nected with the history of Santa Clara County for
the past century. A native son he was born April
13, 1879, in San Jose, where his parents, Joseph and
Maria (Alviso) Narvaez, were born and reared.
Grandfather Narvaez came from Spain to California
over one hundred years ago and acquired vast hold-
ings by Spanish grants. The courage which promp-
ted the grandfather to leave the parental roof in
old Spain and seek a home in a new country, is the
kind that is the foundation of the civilization of the
West, and makes tlie pioneer and upbuilder of the
West a man of more than historical moment. In
history we find th.it a Narvaez was the chief lieu-
tenant with Columbus on his discovery of America.
Grandfather Joseph Alviso was born in this valley as
was his forefathers for several generations, and all
were prominent in their respective times. Joseph
Alviso was the local judge as well as a trader. He
traded tallow and hides for English cloth and silks
which were brought hither around Cape Horn. His
was one of the most prominent and aristocratic
families here.

Miguel H. Narvaez received his early education in
the public schools of San Jose, later taking a course
in St. Joseph's College and was, for a short time,
a student at Santa Clara College. Imbued with a
roving spirit, inherited from his grandfather, he spent
many years traveling extensively throughout the
country. After satisfying his wanderlust, he took
charge of a laundry in Santa Cruz; then was a mem-
ber of the San Jose Fire Department for fourteen
years, serving as captain for twelve years. In July.
1918, he became district manager of the National Ice
Cream Company at San Jose and is capably filling this
position. As such he opened the business for the
National Ice Cream Company in San Jose. He per-
sonally went into the field, extending along the Coast
from San Mateo to San Luis Obispo County, and has
succeeded in working up a business that has grown
to such proportions it is conceded to be the best
paying of any of the branches of the company whose
headquarters are in San Francisco. The local branch
has grown to be a plant with a value of $150,000 in
three years with a capacity of 6000 gallon storage
and the National Ice Cream Company has grown to
be one of the largest in California. Mr. Narvaez is a
stockholder in the company and naturally takes pride
in the part he has taken to make it a success.

1670

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

The marriage of Mr. Narvaez, November 20. 1907,
united him with Miss Mabel G. Cox, also a native of
California and a resident of Saratoga. To them
have been born three children. Creelman, Wilma,
and Marie. Politically, Mr. Xarvaez is an ardent
supporter of the principles of the Republican party.
He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and
the Independent Order of Foresters and also of the
Loyal Order of Moose. Whenever possible, he finds
recreation in outdoor life, and is an ardent admirer of
our national game of baseball. Mr. Narvaez is a
highly respected member of the community, and
is ever ready to cooperate in progressive measures.

W. C. McCOMBS.— Occasionally one meets a
young man who, while pursuing his college course has
the courage and determination to establish and oper-
ate a business of his own, as has W. C. McCombs,
who conducts the Stanford Cafe and the California
Restaurant located on Emerson Street, Palo Alto,
and is making good in both undertakings. He was
born in Texas, Februar_v 25. 1895, and came with his
parents, Henry and Mary Gertrude (Windsor) Mc-
Combs, to California and settled in Orange County,
where they still reside.

W. C. McCombs grew up at FuUertou and was
educated in the grammar and high schools, grad-
uating from the Fullerton high school in 1915: he
then entered Stanford University and is taking a
course in mechanical engineering. The Stanford
Cafe, of which he is the proprietor, caters to a good
trade, a first class quality is maintained throughout
and he is making a good profit year by year. Mr.
McCombs is a football player of note; he is large,
muscular, active and powerful, weighing 215 pounds.
He is possessed of a fine intellect and an optimistic
spirit, and is likely to succeed in all that he under-
takes. He is not afraid of hard work and his intel-
ligently directed efforts in his business affairs are
bringing him merited reward. A young man of strong
and forceful character, he is enterprising and public
spirited, and worthily enjoys the respect and esteem
of the residents of Palo Alto and vicinitv.

ERMENEGILDO CALANCHINI.— A resident of
California since 1905, Ermencgildo Calanchini, now an
enterprising business man of Los Gatos, was born in
Linescio, Canton Ticino, Switzerland, November 25,
1891. His father, Baptiste Calanchini, married Miss
Albina Bolli and was a farmer in the Alps region,
where the mother died in 1893. The father came to
California while our subject was still a little child, and
became a dairyman near Petaluma, where he now lives
retired. Of the two children born of this union, Er-
menegildo is the youngest and the only one to grow
to maturity and was carefully reared by his Grand-
mother Bolli, receiving a good education in the local
schools. When he reached the age of fourteen he de-
termined to tr}- his luck in California, and although
he regretted leaving his grandmother he responded to
the desire to join his father, arriving in Petaluma
November 4, 1905. For a while he assisted his father
in his ranching and also attended one term of public
school. He spent some years in San Francisco and
Petaluma, being employed in resaturants and hotels.
In 1913 he came to Santa Clara County, locating in
San Jose, where he was in the employ of the Swiss-
American Hotel for a period of four years, until he
enlisted in the United States Array November 4, 1917.

He trained at Camp Lewis, then at Camp Kearny, and
later at Camp Hancock, Georgia, until he was ordered
overseas. Leaving New York April 1, 1918, he duly
arrived in France, having stopped in Liverpool en-
route. After training for three weeks they were sent
to the front and he was at Chateau Thierry, July
15 to 20, when he went over the top with others of
his comrades; and afterwards in the Battle of the
Marne, on July 26, he was gassed and wounded, be-
ing carried from the field, necessitating his remaining
in the hospital for more than thirty days. Rejoining
his regiment he was in active service until the Armis-
tice. He was among the first of the troops ordered
home, and returning to New York he received his
honorable discharge in December, 1918, when he im-
mediately returned to San Jose.

Two weeks later he was married to Miss Edith
Bonzani, born at Pescadero, California, who has
proven to be his able assistant. Mr. Calanchini then
spent a little more than two years as a boiler maker
with the Southern Pacific Railroad, resigning October
20. 1921, to engage in business in Los Gatos. He
purchased the Italian Star Restaurant on East Main
Street and changed the name to the Liberty Restau-
rant. He also bought a half-interest with S. E.
Guiglielmoni in the Liberty Cigar Store, at the same
time selling a half-interest in his restaurant to Mr.
Guiglielmoni, continuing the business together, and
they are meeting with deserving success. Mr. Calan-
chini understands the restaurant business and leaves
nothing undone to make it a popular as well as a
profitable business place, dispensing the best of foods
and giving excellent service. He has a host of friends
in the county that go out of their way to patronize
him and wish him well. He is a member of the Druids
and the Los Gatos Camp of the American Legion.

LEWIS DAN BOHNETT.— .A. San Jose attorney
enjoying wide esteem, whose scholarly knowledge
and strictly ethical practice of the law has conferred
additional distinction on the California Bar, is Lewis
Dan Bohnett, of the well-known firm of Bohnett &
Hill, whose offices are in the Bank of San Jose
Building. He was born in Santa Clara County on
March 1, 1880, the son of Joseph Bohnett, a native
of Michigan who came West to California in 1871
and settled as a farmer in Santa Clara County. He
married Miss Tamer I. Barker, a native of this
county, and their happy union was blessed with
eleven children, among whom Lewis was the third.
He was able to go through both the primary and
the secondary schools, and was graduated from the
high school at Campbell in 1902, although he was
compelled for six j'ears to drop out of school. In

1906. he was also graduated from the law school of
the University of California, when he received the
degree of Bachelor of Letters.

Thus well-equipped for actual work. Mr. Bohnett
was admitted to practice at the Bar in California in

1907, and on March 1 of the following year he
opened on office for himself, at San Jose. From the
start, his services were in demand, and as each year
went by, he enjoyed more and more patronage of
the kind that every young lawyer likes to see com-
ing his way; and in the fall of 1916 he and Henry G.
Hill formed the partnership noted above in which
Mr. Bohnett is the senior member. Before practic-
ing, he had been deputy county clerk, and in that

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1673

responsible position he had added much to his ex-
perience. In 1908 he was elected to the State Legis-
lature from Santa Clara County, and from 1909 imtil
1915 he discharged that considerable responsibility
with credit to himself and the entire satisfaction of
all who had official relations with him.

At San Jose, on November 9, 1910, Mr. Bohnett
was married to Miss Ivadelle Bevens, a native of
Michigan, and the daughter of Edgar A. Bevens; and
their union has been blessed with two sons, John
Bevens and Lewis Dan, Jr. In national politics a
live-w-ire Republican, but in local affairs a good non-
partisan "booster," Mr. Bohnett lends a hand in the
work of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, and
the Commercial Club, and takes a healthy interest
in public affairs generally. He is a 32d degree Scot-
tish Rite Mason, and a Shriner, and belongs to the
Odd Fellows, Native Sons of the Golden West, and
Woodmen of the World — an interesting list of social,
political and civic commercial activities.

CARL BLADH. — A good education and practical
experience have enabled Carl Bladh to make a strik-
ing success of his life's work. A recent acquisition
to Palo Alto business circles, he is thoroughly versed
in all branches of the creamery business. Born in
Holmsjo, Sweden, April 3, 1880, he is the son of Carl
and Hildah Bladh, who were born, reared and mar-
ried in Sweden. His father was a farmer, and here
the son had his first lessons in agricultural pursuits.
The family consisted of one son and seven daughters.
The daughters are all married and live in Sweden.

Carl Bladh obtained his preliminary education in
the public schools of his native town; when he was
fourteen years of age, he went to Denmark to attend
the dairy school at Bogebjerg. Here he received
theoretical as well as practical training in cheese and
butter making, remaining there for a three year
course. After finishing school, he was employed as
manager for various dairies and creameries through-
out Denmark, covering a period of ten years. En-
thused by the stories of the wonderful land across
the seas, after a short visit with his parents in Swe-
den, he set sail for America on the steamship Oscar
the Second, landing at Ellis Island April 30. 1907.
Coming direct to California, he went to Humboldt
County, where he obtained employment with the
Sunset Creamery Company of Loleta. He was later
employed by different creameries in Humboldt
County for several years. Going to Fresno, he be-
came local manager and later sales agent for the Cali-
fornia Central Creameries. He next removed to San
Luis Obispo County and was engaged in the same
line of woik. Later still he removed to San Fran-
cisco, where he continued in the employ of the Cali-
fornia Creameries and later assumed the manage-
ment of the Russell Creamery Company, in San
Francisco, for two years, after which for the next
two years, he handled the products of the Marin
County Milk Producers Association as manager. His
next move was to Stockton, where he became man-
ager for A. B. Stowe of the Stockton Creamery; a
short time later he purchased an interest in the X'alley
Creamery Company, and a little later in 1915, he be-
came the proprietor of the Royal Ice Cream Company
at Stockton, which he successfully operated until he
sold it. He also purchased a creamery at Lodi, which
he afterwards disposed of at a fair profit. During

the year of 1919, he spent three months on a visit
with his parents in Sweden; returning to America
in 1920 he settled in San Jose. On May 1, 1921, he
purchased the half interest of Geo. Gulmon in the
Royal Ice Cream Company, at 54 South Second
Street. Disposing of his interests in San Jose Feb-
ruary 1. 1922, he came to Palo Alto and bought out
the Palo Alto Dairy, located at 314 Uiiiversity Ave-
nue, which he has remodeled and refurnished at an
expense of $6,000, paying particular attention to sani-
tation, in which respect it is the foremost plant of its
kind in the Santa Clara \"alley. He also purchased
the beautiful new bungalow at 151 Waverly Street,
Palo Alto, where with his wile and three children he
is happily domiciled. The marriage of Mr. Bladh oc-
curred in Fresno and united him with Miss Con-
stance Gardini, a native daughter of Oregon, whose
father, Joe Gardini, is a retired business man of
Fresno. Mrs. Bladh was reared and educated in the
schools of Fresno. Mr. and Mrs. Bladh are the par-
ents of three children; P. Leonard; Dorothy Ann and
Selnia Maxine. The optimistic spirit which he pos-
sesses, coupled with natural resourcefulness, has
brought him to the present era of prosperity and
progress. He has taken out his first papers, and gives
his loyal support to his adopted country.

MRS. ELMYRA T. PURVIANCE.— Prominent
in the social and civic life of Los Gatos, Mrs. Elmyra
T. Purviance is a native of Peru, Nebr., a daughter
of John C. and Margaret Wyne, who inoved from
Wabash, Ind., by teams and wagons in 1856 and were
among the first settlers of Peru, Nebr., where the
father opened the first blacksmith shop. He served
in the Civil War as a member of the Nebraska regi-
ment and was an honored memlier of the G. A. R.
He retired from the i-imi. . r lHi,inr-.s he had estab-
lished when he \\a> -, v^ iitx vrn , of age, and lived
to lie eight\'-four, his wile lui\ in.u i-receded him many
years before at the age of furty-seven, leaving him
nine children, eight of whom are living: Dora, Mrs.
Hazeltine, lives in Colorado; Klmyra, Mrs. Purvi-
ance; Mary. Mrs. Craig, died in Canada; Isabell, is
.Mrs. .\.lams of Peru; Mrs. Annie Hawley of Brock,
Xebi- ; Mrs. May Jones of Clarkson, Nebr.; Mrs.
l.eii.i Hu-tuii of Neligh. the same state; John V.
\\'Mie of Keiiesaw, Nebr., and Lola, Mrs. Bishop

Elmyra Wyne, after completing the public schools,
attended the State Normal at Peru, Nebr, She was
married in that city in 1879 to Warren C. Purviance,
a native of Eaton, O., a graduate of Notre Dame
College, Chicago. He engaged in teaching and came
to Peru, Nebr., in 1875, where he engaged in the
mercantile business. Later he was appointed post-
master at Peru and held the position to the satis-
faction of all concerned for seventeen \ ear-.. During
these years he was also interested in fanning in that
vicinity. Resigning as postmaster in bS'L' lie re-
moved to Los Gatos, CaL, with his fainil\. luirrli.is-
ing a ranch on Santa Cruz Avenue and eiii^.iwiiiu in
horticulture. He died in Los Gatos in 1910, having
made many friends, who with his family mourned his
loss. Besides his widow he left four children:
George A., of Lemon Cove; John Marshall, a rancher
at Los Gatos; Mrs. Sarah L. Alford of Watsonville;
and Warren Dorse\- of Los Gatos. an electrician who
served in the World War. Mrs. Purviance continues

1674

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to make her home in Los Gates, looking after her
interests which includes an apartment house on Uni-
versity Avenue. She is an active member of the
Christian Church and is ex-president of the Ladies'
Aid Society, as well as a member of the W. C. T. U.
Fraternally she is a member of the Rebekahs, Royal
Neighbors, Fraternal Aid, the Order of Pocahontas,
the Woman's Relief Corps, and Woman's Auxiliary
of the American Legion.

JONATHAN PIKE.— An interesting couple who
are happy in helping others and particularly those
who have not been fortunate in obtaining a start
are Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Pike of Los Gatos. Mr.
Pike was born in Delaware County. Pa., August 30,

1850, a son of Jonathan and Louise (Unible) Pike.
The father was born in New York state and migrat-
ed to Ohio, where he was a farmer, later removing
to Paris, Iowa, where he also followed farming. The
mother passed away in 1857, and the father some years
later. Jonathan was next to the youngest of their
four children, having removed with his parents to
Iowa in 1854, making the journey by team and
wagons, and there he was reared on a pioneer fann.
After his mother died, though only seven years of
age, he started out to paddle his own canoe, and
from then on made his own way. He naturally had
a hard time of it, for the pathway of the orphan boy
was not strewn with roses. He worked for his
living on farms as best he could and attended the
local schools when opportunity afforded, which was
usually limited to winters. When fifteen years of
age he began working at ten dollars a month, con-
tinuing tor the same man for three years; after-
wards his industry and willingness to work brought
him raises of wages to eighteen dollars, twenty dol-
lars, twenty-one dollars, the highest wages paid in
that section for farm work.

On January 8, 1872, Mr. Pike was married to
Sarah Lauder, a native of Iowa. In 1873 he re-
moved to Hamilton County, Nebr., where he took
a homestead twelve miles from Aurora, which he
improved and proved up on; later he purchased
an eighty-acre tract adjoining and had a splendid
farm with a good residence. This he sold and pur-
chased another farm nearer Aurora, and there his
wife died, leaving him seven children: Charles Ed-
ward resides in Fresno; Hattie B. and Zelma both
deceased; Arthur William resides in Hanford; Robert
E. lives in San Jose; Mrs. Edith Ellen Foster of
Spreckels, Cal.; Fred of Arlight, Cal., served four
years in the U. S. Navy.

In 1895 Mr. Pike came to California and superin-
tended a ranch for Mr. Jamison at Los Banos for
eight years, then he purchased a ranch at Dos
Palos, and while living there he married Mrs. Jen-
nie Luenhouse, who later passed away. Next he
removed to Pacific Grove where he had a wood yard
for twelve years. At Salinas in 1917, he was mar-
ried the third time to Mrs. Carrie A. (Van Wart)
Maynard, who was born in New York, a daughter
of William 'Van Wart, who was -with the side-wheel
steamer. New World, that came through the Straits
of Magellan, with 900 passengers to San Francisco in

1851. Her mother was Sarah Mongeir. born in New
York of French descent. She passed away in 1858.
In December of that year, Mrs. Pike came with her
father to San Francisco where she was married to

Harry Maynard, who was born in London, England,
and was a prize fighter in his younger days and an
engineer by trade. Coming to California, he was
employed at his trade in San Francisco. He or-
ganized the California Athletic Club, later the Pacific
Athletic Club. Later he took up ranching at Santa
Cruz and afterwards in Tehama County. He was
a talented musician and they travelled in musical
comedies for si-xteen years. Mr. Maynard played
thirty-six different instruments. Mrs. Maynard was
a gifted singer, having a wonderful voice with a
range of three octaves and with her playing, singing
and dancing, was his able assistant. There they
were both converted and entered into evangelistic
work in the Baptist Church, being located at Sac-
ramento, where Mr. Maynard was gardener at the
state grounds when he died September 23, 1908. She
then joined the Yolunteers of America and as captain
traveled in her work over two states, later doing
prison work in different parts of California. She
made her home in Pacific Grove and it was there
she met Mr. Pike. She then quit her work with the
Volunteers to devote her time to their household.
About a year later while Mr. and Mrs. Pike were
out riding they were ran down by a speeder and she
was crippled for life. In 1921, on account of Mrs.
Pike's health, they located in Los Gatos, purchasing
their present residence on East Main Street, where
they make their home; so here in this beautiful foot-
hill city this interesting and kindly disposed couple
are spending the evening of their life doing what they
can by their upright life to use their influence for
good. Mr. Pike is a member of the Free Methodist
Church and they are both strong for temperance and
civic and moral righteousness.

FRED PETER.— Coming from an excellent
Swiss-American family and a native son of Califor-
nia, Fred Peter is becoming very successful in his
business as proprietor of Peter's Cheese Depot, lo-
cated at 39 South Market Street. He was born in
San Jose on January 30, 1892, the son of Rudolph
and Louise (Bauman) Peter; the father is a native
of Switzerland, having been born in Canton Aargau
and educated in the public schools there. He came
to San Jose in 1887, and purchased a home. Later
he was with Larkins and Company for ten years, as
a carriage and automobile painter, but he is now as-
sisting his son in his business. The mother is also
a native of Switzerland, and she and her husband
came to America, when he was twenty-one years old,
landing in New York City in May, 1882. They
came to California and, going to Visalia, Mr. Peter
engaged in ranching near that city, later coming to
San Jose, where the family established their home
at 781 McKendrie Street. They are the parents of
four children: Rudolph Walter is manufacturing
dental and shaving cream in San Jose; Werner mar-
ried Miss Alice Harrington of San Jose, and is a
machinist in the empl'oy of Hendy Iron Works at
Sunnyvale; Fred, of this review; Erna is a graduate
of the San Jose high school, class of 1920, and is
now taking a post-graduate course.

Fred attended the public schools of San Jose from
which he graduated, and then he began clerking in
a store of R. Blauer, where he was steadily em-
ployed from the age of seventeen until in 1915. He
then purchased the business from his employer and

(D^/fj^

.^^yUt^^^-dUi^^l^^^f^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1677

began operating under his own name and iias proven
this to be a very successful undertaking. He makes
a specialty of full-cream cheese, both domestic and
imported; also has a well selected stock of delica-
cies. Mr. Peter's place in San Jose's business cir-
cles and his success are the result of having the best
goods obtainable and by courteous treatment to his
customers. He is popular in social and business cir-
cles of San Jose, is a member of the Yeomen Lodge.
Mr. Peter is much interested in the affairs of San
Jose and Santa Clara County and gives his aid to
all projects that will better the community. In poli-
tics he is a Republican.

FRANK GIARDANO.— Although foreign-born,
Frank Giardano is a loyal American citizen and is
proud of his adopted country. Born at Filadelfia,
Cantanzaro, Italy, March 23, 1875, he is the son
of Mikel and Veronica (Rendinelli) Giardano. The
father, a flour miller by trade, passed away in 1894,
but the mother still lives in Italy. They were the
parents of five children, Frank being next to the old-
est. Although having very little opportunity for
schooling, yet he studied by himself and has made
his way successfully. He worked for his father
until he was twenty-three years old, then came to
America, landing in New York City. He then went
to Morgantown, W. Va., and worked there for a
while and took out his first citizenship papers. He
then removed to Kentucky and later to Ohio where
he took out his second papers at Xenia, Ohio. He
worked for various railroad companies in the Eastern
and Middle West states, for some time for the
B. & O. Railroad, and also for the Santa Fe in
Missouri. In April, 1906, he reinoved to California
and worked for two years at Sacramento in the
Southern Pacific Railroad yards and then as a me-
chanic in the ice-making department of the Buffalo
Brewing Company. Then he removed to San Jose
and became the foreman of a construction gang on
the San Jose, Santa Cruz branch of the Southern
Pacific Railroad with sixty men under him. Not
being satisfied with this kind of work, he went into
the shoe-repairing business, having a shop on North
San Pedro Street and soon after opened a shoe
store at Tenth and Santa Clara streets and was
thus engaged until the outbreak of the last war.
He sold out his business and bought property on
White Road just south of Alum Rock Avenue. He
built the first store in that section and started a
shoe-repairing business. He then added a line of
groceries and since that time has built an addi-
tion which has more than doubled his store space
and has a thriving business, wholly devoted to gro-
ceries. He also has a feed business and oil filling
station in proximity to his grocery.

On June 14, 1908. Mr. Giardano was married to
Miss \'irginia Palermo, a native of Louisiana, born
at New Orleans. Her father was a native of Paler-
mo, Italy, born at Santa Christina, and on coming
to Louisiana engaged in farming. The family re-
moved to San Jose when Mrs. Giardano was a small
girl. The family are members of the East San Jose
Catholic Church, and Mr. Giardano is a member of
the I. D. E. S. lodge of San Jose. They are the
parents of eight children: Madeline, Mike, Martin,
Lena, Mario, Katherine, deceased, Manuel and
Katherine. At the time of his marriage, Mr. Giardino

had only $2.50 in his pocket and had no property.
After he was married he rented two rooms, bought
$175 worth of furniture, all on credit, and went to
house keeping. He went to work at ten dollars a
week and began paying off. Two months later an
automobile ran over him and broke his leg. While
convalescing he sold the only property he had, his
bicycle, for $5.00. The same day he found a small
place on San Pedro Street, rented it and started in
at shoe repairing. He had a sign painted for him:
"Shoe Repairing, All Work Guaranteed." It cost
him three dollars but he did not pay for it for two
weeks. He went to the Eberhard Tanning Com-
pany, got a quantity of leather on sixty days' credit,
paid his debts and cleaned up $250.00. Later he
bought this property and built his store building
which he later enlarged to 40x60 and also built a
warehouse adjoining, 20x30. He now conducts a
large business, discounts his bills and is worth in
the neighborhood of $21,000.

CARLETON JAY HINDS.— One of the most
enterprising and liberal hearted business men in San
Jose who always had the interests of Santa Clara
County at heart was the late Carleton Jay Hinds,
who was born in Midland, Mich., May 6, 1864, where
he received a good education in the grammar and
high school of his native city. After his school days
were over he entered the store of his father, Wm.
Hinds, known as the Pioneer Drug Store and there
he studied pharmacy and later was associated with
his father in business until he was appointed post-
master of Midland, a place he filled acceptably and
well for a term of four years. He then engaged in
the confectionery business in the same city, meet-
ing with success, and he became one of the pros-
perous business men. During this time he travelled
considerably in the East and South, spending sev-
eral winters in Florida. Wishing to locate in Cali-
fornia, he came to San Jose in 1892, where he estab-
lished himself in the confectionery business.

In this city, on December 31, 1896, he was united
in marriage with Mrs. Bessie (Darlington) May, a
native of Liverpool, England, who when fourteen
years of age, came to Toronto, Canada, with her
sister and there she completed her education in the
public schools. There too, she was married to George
May, their union resulting in the birth of two chil-
dren, one of whom is living, Victor D., who is now
associated with Mrs. Hinds in business. In 1891,
Mrs. May came to San Jose, and it was here she met
and married Mr. Hinds. Mr. Hinds disposed of his
first confectionery establishment and later started the
Victory Candy Chop, on North First Street, where
he built up a large business, their shop being ex-
quisitely furnished and artistically arranged. Tliey
soon had a large business as manufacturers, whole-
salers and retailers of fine confectioner^-. Mr. Hinds'
affability and pleasing personality won him hosts of
friends, who all regretted his unfortunate and un-
timely end, August 14, 1921, when he was murdered,
being shot down in cold blood by three assassins.

Mr. Hinds was progressive and enterprising and
was much interested in the San Jose Chamber of
Commerce, of which he was a member. Very promi-
nent in fraternal organizations, he was a member of
the Woodmen of the World, and was a 32nd degree
Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner, as well as a

1678

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

member of the Order of Eastern Star, the Amaranth,
and the White Shrine. A protectionist, he was nat-
urally a very strong Republican in his political prefer-
ment. After her husband's death, Mrs. Hinds as-
sumed the management of the Victory Candy Shop
and with the aid of her son, Victor D., who is asso-
ciated with her in the enterprise, she is building up
the business on the same plan outlined and followed
so successfully by her husband, a business in which
she is showing remarkable ability and tact. Mrs.
Hinds is a member of the Chamber of Commerce
and is also a member and has been an official in the
Order of Eastern Star, the Amaranth and the White
Shrine, and the San Jose Woman's Club.

LOUIS A. SCAGLIONE.— Business enterprise in
San Jose finds a prominent represntative in Louis
A. Scaglione, a successful contractor of this city.
He is progressive, energetic and capable in the man-
agement of his interests and with the passing years
his business has constantly increased in volume and
importance. He is a native of Italy, his birth hav-
ing occurred in the Aprigliano. Cozena, on April 1,
1884. His parents were Phillip and Louisa (Pino)
Scaglione, the former a merchant tailor. In their
family were six children, three sons and three daugh-
ters, the subject of this review being the third son.
Louis A. was reared in the city of Aprigliano, where
he received a good education, and after his school
days were over he apprenticed himself at the car-
penter's trade for three years, and then continued
carpentering there until he was nineteen years of age,
when he decided to cast in his lot with the Land of
the Stars and Stripes. Leaving the Mediterranean
port of Naples in the Steamer Weimer, he arrived
at New York in May, 1903, being a friendless youth
with no knowledge of the English language and cus-
toms of this country, and not being able to speak
English, he was unable to find employment in this
city. L^ndismayed by these obstacles, he fearlessly
faced the future and gladly accepted any employment
which would give him an honest living. So he made
his way to Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada, where he
worked hard with pick and shovel for eight months.
Having picked up a little English, he returned to
New York City and obtained a job as a carpenter
from a builder named John Fredel, and he showed
his ability as a builder to the extent that Mr. Fredel
was so well impressed with him in six tnonths' time
he made him foreman of jobs, and during the next
few years he had charge of the construction of some
large buildings, continuing in that position until 1911,
when he resigned, having decided to come to Cali-
fornia. During this eight years he devoted his leisure
hours to the mastery of English, a matter that has
been of great assistance to him. Arriving in San
Jose in January, 1911, friends having preceded him
to this locality, his worth and ability were soon rec-
ognized, and he was made a foreman of a crew of
carpenters. In 1912 he had accumulated sufficient
capital to enable him to embark in an independent
venture and he engaged in business as a contractor
and builder. In the execution of contracts he is
prompt and reliable, and with the passing years his
business has grown in volume and important until
it has now reached extensive and profitable propor-
tions. He also has other interests, being the owner
of a fifty-five-acre orchard in East San Jose.

In San Jose, on June 15, 1919, Mr. Scaglione was
united in marriage with Miss Antoinette M. Cribari,
a daughter of Thomas and Clementine (Bisceglia)
Cribari and a sister of Paul A. Cribari. She was also
born in Aprigliano, where she attended school, and
accompanied her parents to San Jose in 1900, where
her mother had several brothers, the Bisceglia
brothers having been early settlers and pioneers in
the cannery business, and it was in Santa Clara
County the young people met, acquaintance resulting
in their marriage, a union that has proven a very
happy one. Mrs. Scaglione, a woman of pleasing
personality and possessed of much native business
ability, has been of much assistance to her husband
in aiding him to accomplish his ambition. She is
liberal and kind-hearted and much of her time is
given to help others, as both Mr. and Mrs. Scaglione
are generous and take pleasure in aiding those who
have been less fortunate in this world's goods. They
make their home in an attractive residence on the
southeast corner of Bird and Coe Avenues. Mr. Scag-
lione is a valued member of the Builders Exchange
and the Italian-American Club, of which he is a di-
rector. He is independent in his political views, but
for America first, last and always. He is a self-made
man, before whom the door of opportunity has swung
open because of his persistency of purpose and lauda-
ble ambition, which have enabled him to overcome all
obstacles and difficulties in his path. As the archi-
tect of his own fortunes he has builded wisely and
well, and he now ranks with the leading contractors
of his adopted city. As a citizen he is loyal and
public-spirited and all movements tending to promote
the welfare and prosperity of his community, county
and commonwealth receive his hearty support, his
influence being at all times on the side of progress
and development.

PASQUALE TONINI.— A successful dairyman,
farmer and stockman, Pasquale Tonini is the senior
partner of the firm of Tonini & Giottonini, who
operate an up-to-date dairy on the Sabatti dairy and
alfalfa ranch of forty acres, three miles north of
San Jose, where they make their home, and in addi-
tion are the lessees of a SOO-acre dry farming stock
ranch at Edenvale, where they keep 100 head of
cattle. Both young men were employed by Mr.
Sabatti on this dairy farm for several years before
buying out the stock on April 20, 1920. They are
hard workers and experienced dairymen, and their
place, known as the California Dairy, is most orderly
and sanitary in every particular. They cooperate
harmoniously in all their work, and besides them-
selves they employ two milkers, taking rank among
the leading dairy farmers in their section.

Mr. Tonini was born in Canton Ticino, Switzer-
land, at Airolo, a city of 2,000 people near the en-
trance of the great St. Gothard tunnel, which his
father helped to bore. His parents were Andrew
and Catherine (Meyer) Tonini. dairy farmers of that
section, where they are still living, the parents of
fifteen children, eight boys and seven girls, Pasquale
being the fourth child. Here he spent a happy boy-
hood, educated in the public schools and brought
up in the \_atholic faith. He was early taught by
his parents how to care for livestock and all the de-
tails of dairy work, so that this experience has
stood him in good stead, in later years. On October

9^,^/^^

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1679

17, 1912, when he was seventeen, he left his old
home for the New World, sailing from Havre,
France, on the "La France," and landing at New
York on October 25. San Luis Obispo, Cal., was
his destination, and on reaching here on November
3, he went to work at once, for twenty-five dollars a
month. After that he worked for a year for thirty
dollars a month, being employed by John Walter, the
well-known dairy farmer at San Luis Obispo.

After four years at San Luis Obispo, Mr. Tonini
came to San Jose and for the next three years was
engaged by Mr. Sabatti on his present ranch. His
partner was also working for Mr. Sabatti, and the
two young men saved their earnings so that they
were able to buy out the dairy in April, 1920. Here
they have sixty fine milch cows, their herd being
headed by two full-blooded Holstein sires. Both are
good business managers and they arc meeting with
splendid success in their undertaking. Always am-
bitious, Mr. Tonini has acquired an excellent com-
mand of English through self study, and a practical
knowledge of American business methods that has
been a great asset in conducting his dairy along
modern lines.

In 1919 Mr. Tonini was married to Miss Lena
Giovanola, a native daughter of Piedmont, Italy,
whose parents are Joseph and Marianna (.Francioli)
Giovanola. They are the proud parents of a son,
Theodore A., born August 11, 1921. Though born
under ditiferent flags, Mr. and Mrs. Tonini have much
in common in their language, religion and ancestry,
and California home life has been enriched and
benefited by their advent. They are faithful to their
religious training and are regular worshippers at the
Church of the Holv Familv in San Jose.

EVERED HAMILTON NORTON.— An experi-
enced and well posted lumberman, I'.vcrcd Hamilton
Norton was born in Charlottetown, I'rinci- ICdwards
Isle, February 2i, 1860, and is descended from an
old and prominent family, among whose members
we find Dr. Norton of Drake University, Iowa, and
Dr. Schurman, ex-president of Cornell University,
and ambassador to China. Our subject's father, John
H. Norton, who was born in Wales, migrated to
Prince Edward Isle when a young man and in time
became a prosperous farmer. He married Miss Ellen
Veal, a native of England. John H. Norton was one
of the early Argonauts; with others he purchased
and equipped the brig Fannie, loaded her v.ith ready-
made or fitted houses for the San Fraiui^m ti-.uh
sailing her around Cape Horn on a nine inuiith.- trip
to the new Eldorado. However, he remauicd but a
short time when he returned to his eastern farm,
and there he and his wife spent their last days.

Of their seven children Evered H. is the fourth
and was reared and educated in Charlottetown. When
he reached the age of twenty-one years, with his
brother, Rupert, as a partner, he purchased a hard-
ware store in that city and immediately branched out
into the wholesale business, in which they were very
successful acquiring a large trade throughout Prince
Edwards Isle, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
During these ten years he applied himself so closely
to the business that his health became impaired and
he sold his interests and traveled for four years. His
first trip to California was in 1886. He was married
in London, England, to Miss Lillie Deason, a native

of Cornwall, a daughter of Commodore Jno. Deason,
who was in the deep water trade at the head of a
merchant fleet engaged in the East India trade.

In 1900 Mr. Norton removed to Colorado and for
seven years was superintendent of the Great Western
Sugar Company at Loveland, being connected with
the enterprise from its start and his years of business
experience contributed greatly towards its success.
He then spent two years in Southern California, and
in 1914 he located in Wenden. Ariz., engaging in
ranching, and also started a lumber yard at Wenden,
continuing the business there until June, 1919, when
he came to Los Gatos. Looking the place over he
was so pleased with it that inside of two hours he
had decided to locate and make it his home. He
brought his family and built a residence, and im-
mediately became interested in the business affairs
of the city. He purchased the local lumber yard and
continued business as the Los Gatos Lumber Com-
pany, being associated with his son. J. E. Norton,
and his son-in-law, H. K. Phelps. They enlarged
the business until it is six times as large as when
they took it over, constructing a planing mill for
the manufacture of finishing lumber, etc. In 1921
they established a yard in Santa Cruz with a planing
mill in connection, and they are now contemplating
establishing a lumber yard in Boulder Creek. Deep-
ly interested in the great West, Mr. Norton retains
his farming interest in Arizona. Mr. and Mrs. Nor-
ton have two chiUlrm: Jack E., is manager of their
Santa Cruz yard, and ('.race, is the wife of H. K.
Phelps, manager ui the Lus Gatos yard. Mr. Norton
is a memlur of the Los Gatos Chamber of Com-
merce, the Merchants Association and the Lumber-
men's Club of San Jose. Interested in national pol-
itics as a stanch Republican, Mr. Norton with his
family are members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church
in Los Gatos in which he is vestryman.

CHARLES H. HUBER.— The satisfactory results
of the work of Charles H. Huber as an automobile
painter of Palo Alto numbers him among the suc-
cessful and enterprising business men of that thriv-
ing city. He is associated with Ferdinand Luscher,
whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work, and
their business is located at 251 High Street. He
was born in Canton Zurich, Switzerland, September
11, 1877, as were his parents. His father. Frederick
Huber, owned and conducted a large painting estab-
lishment in Zurich and was considered a foremost
111,111 m his line.

Charles was educated in the schools of his native
canton and reared in the religion of Zwingli, the
faith of his parents. When he was seventeen years
old he left home and traveled over France and Eng-
land working at his trade of carriage painter. While
on this trip he met his partner, F. Luscher, a master
carriage painter, and in 1898 they came to America
and landed at New York City; being unable to find
work, Mr. Huber walked to Philadelphia, a distance
of ninety miles, where he entered the employ of the
Baldwin Locomotive Works, and remained with them
for one year. He then returned to New York, and
from there sailed to South America and worked in
Buenos Ayres for three months, when he returned
to England and worked for another year at his trade;
he then made a trip to his old Swiss home, and in
1901 returned to New York, and soon thereafter left

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

for San Francisco, accompanied by Mr. Luscher. In
casting about for a suitable location, they visited Palo
Alto, and within one week after their arrival, the
young men had purchased the first paint shop here.
The business grew to such proportions that they were
obliged to enlarge their quarters and in 1905 their
present shop was built. When the firm first started,
their work was mostly carriage painting, but as the
automobile has come more and more into use, their
business has grown in proportion. They cater to the
best trade and do first-class work and are easily the
the foremost automobile painters of Palo Alto.

Mr. Ruber's marriage in Palo Alto, in 1908, united
him with Miss Annie Haeberlin, of Bisseg, Switzer-
land, and they are the parents of two children, Annie
and Carolina. Mr. Huber belongs to the Fraternal
aid of Palo Alto and in politics he is a Republican.
He is in full sympathy with the excellent municipal
and public spirit of Palo Alto, and has made many
friends, both in social and business circles.

FRED BERRYMAN.— Prominent among the in-
dustrial establishments which have played an im-
portant role in the material development of both
Los Gates and the surrounding territory must be
mentioned the well-equipped plumbing and heating
shop of Fred Berryman, widely known in Santa Clara
Count}' for its superior sheet-metal work. Mr. Ber-
ryman was born at Marquette, Mich., on November
11, 1876, the son of Charles Berryman, who had mar-
ried Miss Mary Jane Rodgers and had come out to
California with the family when our subject was
three years of age. The family located in Grass
Valley, where Mr. Berryman engaged in mining;
and then in 1883, when he wished a new field in
which to try his luck in the same line, they came
into Santa Clara County. Sad to relate of so worthy
a pioneer who did much to help develop the resources
of the Golden State, Mr. Berryman was killed in a
mine accident, leaving a widow- who is still living,
devoted to his memory. Fred attended the public
school at the Almaden mines, and when he had fin-
ished his studies, he came to Los Gatos in Novem-
ber, 1892, where he was apprenticed to learn the
trades of plumber and sheet-iron worker. Once de-
clared a competent journeyman, he continued in the
service of various employers until 1910, when he set
up in business for himself. Prior to the first business
venture on his own responsibility, he was foreman
for ten years for O. Lewis & Sons; and he has been
in his present location for the past thirty years.
Among other contracts successfully completed by him
was the remodeling in the Lyndon Hotel, the heating
work in the Bank of Los Gatos, and the plumbing,
heating and sheet-metal work in the First National
Bank. Mr. Berryman has also done much of the
work in his line required by the newer and better
residences. He carries a full line of supplies and
steadily employs three men. In December, 1921, he
purchased his present lot and began construction of
his business building, 35x88 feet at 32 Santa Cruz
avenue. In February, 1922, he took his son, Fred W.,
into partnership, under the firm name of Fred Ber-
ryman & Son.

At Los Gatos, on March 3, 1899, occurred the mar-
riage of Mr. Berryman and Miss Calista Mae Fres-
hour, a native daughter, born at Aptos, Santa Cruz
County and they have four children; Fred W., who
is associated with his father in business, and Alice,

Charles and Arthur. Fred W. graduated from Los
Gatos high school in June, 1917, and a few days later,
though only seventeen years old, he enlisted in the
Ambulance Corps of U. S. Army, stationed at Camp
Fremont, thence to West Virginia, and was in New
York City, ready to embark for overseas, when the
Armistice was signed. He was mustered out in
March, 1919, since which time he has been with Mr.
Berryman. He is married to Juanita Nelson. Fred
Berryman was made a Mason in Los Gatos Lodge
No. 292, F. & A. M., and with his wife is a member
of the O. E. S. He is also a member of San Jose
Lodge No. 522, B. P. O. E., the Woodmen of the
World, Independent Foresters, the Los Gatos Cham-
ber of Commerce and the Merchants' Association. He
has been an active member of the Los Gatos Volun-
teer Fire Department for twenty-eight years and for
about twenty was secretary of the department. He
is still an active member, and he subscribes to the
platforms of the Republican party.

HENRY LAPACHET.— A hard-working, experi-
enced and very successful rancher whose intelligent
industry has enabled him to become the owner of a
dairy-ranch, is Henry Lapachet. He is ably assisted
in his growing enterprise by his wife, who helps him
materially to make his contribution toward the prog-
ress of agriculture in California. He was born in
the Basses-Pyrenees, at Eysus, on February 26, 1882,
the son of John and Emily Lapachet, and he grew up
on his father's farm, and at the same time he went
to school. When he was nineteen years old he
crossed the ocean to America, and on reaching the
LTnited States, made his way directly to San Fran-
cisco. There he accepted work on a dairy farm and
continued there for eight years. He then went to
Monterey County and worked for three years on
the Spreckles Ranch near Kings City; and he next
made his way to San Benito County and worked in
a dairy near Hollister.

In 1915, Mr. Lapachet came to Santa Clara County,
and the following year he bought a ranch of fifteen
acres, devoted to dairying, on the Trimble Road,
near Coyote Creek, about four miles northeast of San
Jose, and here he has a fine dairy of from twenty to
Twenty-five cows. The products are of the highest
standard and nothing has been neglected in making
the place thoroughly sanitary and wholesome.

At Redwood City, Cal., on August 28, 1914, Mr.
Lapachet was married to Mrs. Leontina Castillou,
widow of the late John Castillou, by whom she had
two children: Albert and Bernice, both living at the
home of our subject. Mrs. Lapachet's maiden name
was Leontina Sibers, a native of San Francisco, the
daughter of John Baptiste Sibers and his wife, who
was Julia Sarraille before their marriage. John B.
Sibers came to California in 1875 from the Basses-
Pyrenees, in France, and settled in Santa Clara Coun-
ty; and at a beautiful spot near Hillsdale he conduct-
ed a dairy. Leontina Sibers was only eleven months
old when her parents moved to Hillsdale, and conse-
quently she has grown up closely identified with
Santa Clara rather than San Francisco. Her mother
died in 1903, but her father is still living, at an ad-
vanced age. Mr. and Mrs. Lapachet have three chil-
dren: Lucile, Hazel and Henry. They are both Re-
publicans, and seek to do their duty as citizens inter-
ested in public questions.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MARION VIRGIL COOK.— Of the third gen-
eration of California's early settlers, Virgil Cook
can well look back with pride on the long associa-
tion of his family with the Golden State. He was
born in Fresno County on July 9, 1894, the son of
Francis M. and Sarah Elizabeth (Cartwright) Cook.
Both parents were descended of old pioneer fam-
ilies, the father coming here in 1868, while the mother
crossed the plains with horse teams, leaving their
home in Coles County, 111., the day Fort Sumter
was fired upon, taking four months and eleven days
to make the journey across the continent, arriving
in Chico, Butte County. Mr. and Mrs. Cook were
married in Colusa County, and became the parents
of four sons, Francis Elmer and Thomas Edwin,
both deceased; James E. and M. Virgil. Francis M.
Cook passed awav in Tulare Countv on September
13, 1914.

When Virgil Cook was five years old, the family
moved from Fresno County to Tulare County, and
there he was reared, having the advantage of three
years in the high school and a good course in a
business college at Fresno. After his father's death
he returned to the home ranch and with his brother,
operated it until 1917. When the World War broke
out he enlisted in the Quartermaster Corps and after
five months spent in this country he went overseas
and spent sixteen months and then was discharged
in May, 1919, in New York. He once more took
up ranch work in Tulare County and on January 1,
1920, he removed with his wife and mother to Val-
ley View, where he purchased seventy acres and
he has a fine prune orchard of forty-five acres.

Mr. Cook's marriage, which occurred on June 25,
1919, at Porterville. united him with Miss Harriette
Corwin, a native of Montana. Although one of the
later residents of this district Mr. Cook has entered
heartily into all its affairs and with the industry and
care w-hich he is giving his orchard, he is making
of it a successful and profitable investment. He be-
longs to the Masonic lodge in San Jose.

GUSTAV LAUMEISTER.— .\ sturdy highly-es-
teemed early settler, with a wealth of pioneer remi-
niscence, who has always worked for the best in-
terests of Palo .\lto, is Gustav Laumeister, of 275
University Avenue, Palo Alto, known as Universit}'
Park when he first pitched his tent here, inspired
with the idea that the proposed Lcland Stanford Uni-
versity would be the cause of a good-sized city, in
time. He came to this place from Menlo Park, to
work at carpentering for John McBain. the contract-
or, and he helped to put up the flags for the lot
sale for the Pacific Investment Co. That was in
1888. and there was then no house in Palo Alto in
which to live, but Mr. Laumeister had the faith of
a seer and a patridt. and he bought lots in Uni-
versity Park, which was later renamed Palo Alto. He
bought as much as he was able, and built as fast as
he could, and he has grown and prospered as a suc-
cessful builder and a director in the Palo Alto Mu-
tual Building & Loan Association, where he has his
office at 257 LIniversity Avenue. His high intelli-
gence, general education and executive ability, easily
enable him to make his assistance felt.

A native son, he was born at the Old Mission of
San Jose, in Alameda County, on January 27, 1865,
the son of the late John A. Laumeister, a native of
Frankfort, then in the State of Bavaria, who was

also a well-educated and well-trained man of excep-
tional ability as a practical miller and millwright.
When Germany broke out into Revolution, in 1848,
he sympathized with and joined such revolutionists as
Carl Sclnirz, and fled to America for refuge, sailing
with his family to New York. He gained American
citizenship at the earliest date, in 1852, and while in
New York he helped to build the Croton Mills. The
same year in which he became a full-fledged Ameri-
can, he migrated west to California for the purpose
of erecting the old Pacific Mill; and later he built
and managed the Laumeister Mills at Mission San
Jose, Calif. He had become married in Philadelphia
to Miss Fredericka Haussler, a native of Wurtem-
berg, Germany, who proved an excellent helpmate,
congenial to a man of his clear mind, determined
character and, withal, kindly heart. Although reared
under Catholic auspices in Bavaria yet he became a
very active and well-known Freemason in Califor-
nia, and a landowner of some importance near the
Mission San Jose, where Gustav Laumeister was
born, and where he passed his youth. In latter life,
he was largely engaged in buying grain. He died
in 1893. in his seventy-fifth year, as the result of an
old injury. His wife outlived him by several years,
attaining the age of eighty-six. There were two
daughters, sisters of our subject: Anna had become
the wife of Professor P. M. Fisher, of Oakland, for-
merly Superintendent of Schools in Alameda County
and now principal of the Oakland Polytechnic, and
also formerly editor of the State Educational Journal,
but she is now deceased; Christina W. is Mrs. Am-
brose Megahan of Oakland.

Gustave learned the carpenter trade under his fa-
ther, as well as under other expert builders, having
attended the public schools and Washington Col-
lege in Alameda County, and he also studied archi-
tectural drawing, w^hich has been of the greatest
service to him. He went to Menlo Park in 1886,
there to follow carpentering and building; and hav-
ing become acquainted with ex-Governor Leland Stan-
ford while yet a boy at the Mission San Jose, he
naturally lost no time in coming over to University
Park as soon as it became known that Mr. Stan-
ford intended to create there a great institution of
higher learning. He boosted the plans of the South-
ern Pacific Townsite Company, later the Pacific In-
vestment Company, for the upbuilding of Palo .-Mto,
fell at once into the progressive spirit of the new
town, invested heavily, and has never regretted it.
He not only built houses for his own investment, but
he and his good wife participated actively in the so-
cial life of the new burg; and it is an item of no
little interest that the first Mrs. Laumeister, formerly
Emma Loveland of Menlo Park, played the organ
at the cornerstone laying for the Leland Standford,
Jr., University, while Professor Ellwood of San Jose,
conducted the singing. Mr. Laumeister recalls clear-
ly the simple but very impressive ceremonies, at-
tended, of course, by Governor Stanford.

At first Mr. Laumeister put up small residences,
but he soon undertook to erect larger and more pre-
tentious structures, and public and business build-
ings. To his credit, for example, is the Peninsular
Hospital edifice, recently sold to the city of Palo Alto,
and he also designated and erected all the large and
beautiful buildings of the Castilleja School in Palo
Alto, and many lesser buildings and business blocks

1684

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

in the city, and he is still very actively engaged in
building operations. But his interest in the upbuild-
ing of Palo Alto is not limited to his own building
enterprises; he has energetically backed the movement
to secure a waterfront and a public wharf for the
town, and by personally buying the right of way in
1920, Mr. Laumeister has well nigh assured this
commendable project. He was also the first to pro-
pose having the Middlefield Road both graded and
macadamized, and made available to relieve the tre-
mendous and growing traffic on the State Highway
running through Palo Alto.

In 1909, and for the second time, Mr. Laumeister
was married when he took for his wife Miss Mabel
Scale, a daughter of the well-known pioneer, Thomas
Seale, who owned all the land where Palo Alto now
stands, in fact, owned all the land from the San
Francisquito Creek to a point far beyond the Em-
barcadero Road. A portion of this he sold, how-
ever, to Timothy Hopkins. The Scales have always
been deservedly prominent. Miss Emma Laumeister,
our subject's only daughter, has become the wife
of Ernest Haskell, the artist of international fame
residing at New York. Always patriotic, progres-
sive and generous. Mr. Laumeister rendered very
valuable service during the late World War, par-
ticipating actively on the Red Cross Home Service
Commission. He is a Republican and is a member
of the Masonic Lodge and Commandery of Palo Alto.

FRANK MILLICH.— An enterprising citizen who
is making a success as a fruit grower, the owner of
a splendid producing orchard in the Moreland school
district, is Frank Millich, a native of Dalmatia, born
at Krucica, October 13, 1886, the oldest of a family
of nine children born to Miho and Mary (Dragove)
Millich, also natives of Dalmatia, who are farmers and
are still living on their home place. Two of their
children died from the influenza, one of them, a son
who served in the World War, contracted it while
serving under the colors and died from its effect.

Frank Millich was reared on the home farm and
received a good education in the local schools. He
had a longing to try his luck in the land of the Stars
and Stripes, a country of which he had heard such
favorable reports. When sixteen years of age he
left the old home arriving at Rosendale, Ulster
County, N. Y., March 25, 1903, where he was em-
ployed in the cement works until 1904 when he made
his way to San Jose, Cal., reaching here on June 1,
of that year.

He immediately w^ent to work in the orchards and
thoroughly learned fruit growing and the fruit busi-
ness. He saved his money so that in three years
time he was enabled to lease an orchard and engaged
as a fruit grower as well as a fruit buyer, in which
he was very successful, so that in 1913 he purchased a
ten-acre orchard on Prospect Road, where he made
a success, and in 1919 he sold the orchards at a profit.
He then purchased his present place of twenty-five
acres located on Plielps Avenue in the Moreland
school district, his orch.Trd being full bearing and
devoted to raising apricots and peaches. The ranch
is well improved with buildings and he also has a
pumping plant for irrigating the orchards which
enables him to keep them in a high state of cultivation.

The marriage of Mr. Millich occurred in Santa
Clara County in 1912, when he was united with Miss
Mary Lobrovich, who was born in the same vicinitv

as her husband and came to San Jose in 1910. an
estimable woman of splendid attributes who has
been an able helpmate to her husband.

Mr. Millich is a member of Morning Light Lodge
Ko. 42, I. O. O. F., in Campbell, where he is well
known and popular.

HENRY KISSINGER.— A progressive young
business man of Los Gatos, who introduced the first
"cash and carry'' system in Los Gatos, is Henry
Kissinger, the genial proprietor of the merchandise
business in which he is profitably engaged. Born at
Fergus Falls, Minn., June 26, 1886, a son of George
and Mary (Peters) Kissinger, he was educated in
the grammar and high schools there; later he sup-
plemented his education with a business course at
Valparaiso, Ind. After leaving school, he farmed for
a time, then engaged in the general merchandise
business in Fergus Falls. He then removed to Mon-
tana and took up a claim and spent three years
there. On August 27, 1919, he located in Los Gatos
and was employed by C. Roemer until November 1,
1920, when in partnership with his brother, they
purchased their present business. He first purchased
the bakery business in June, 1920, and then bought
the grocery business and combined the two, and is
building up a fine and lucrative patronage.

The marriage of Mr. Kissinger united him with
Miss Hazel R. Beatty, of Minnesota. He is af-
filiated politically with the Republican party and
fraternally belongs to the Masons, Modern Wood-
man, and with Mrs. Kissinger is active in the social
affairs of the Eastern Star. He is a member of the
Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants Associa-
tion and takes a keen interest in the civic affairs of
the state and county which he has chosen for his
permanent residence.

CAPTAIN FERDINAND STOLTE.— Among
the old master mariners of the Pacific coast is Cap-
tain Ferdinand Stolte, w'ho first came to San Fran-
cisco in 1868. He was born in Bremen, Germany,
November 13, 1847, a son of August Stolte, a cigar
manufacturer, and his wife, Charlotte Meyer, both
now deceased. Captain Stolte is the oldest of their
nine children, six of whom reached maturity, and
three are still living. When fourteen he went to sea
on an East India square-rigged barque "Betty,"
rounded Cape of Good Hope and back, then with
the same company on the barque "Mary" to the
West Indies, trading with the Islands, having St.
Thomas as their headquarters on a two-year voyage.
Then he shipped as able seaman on the barque
"Cedar" on a long and active trip to the West Indies
and Lesser Antilles. He made a trip to the Rio de
La Plata River for salt, then took a cargo of dried
beef to Santiago de Cuba, which was peddled to
planters, then on to Manzanilla for a cargo of mahog-
any and cedar logs, from there taking coal to St.
Vincent Island, and then on to Ilo de la Sal, where
there was an American vessel wrecked and they
were drafted to take the passengers to Africa, mak-
ing the trip and return. Then they took the cargo
of salt to Santos, Brazil, and there loaded with
tobacco and coft'ee for Bremen. Mr. Stolte was
desirous of making a trip to Greenland and obtained
a berth on the "Beehive," and had some very inter-
esting and hazardous experiences. Next he made a
trip to Sweden; then -to Australia, where he left the

{

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1687

vessel and took the American ship "Black Eagle"
around the world to San Francisco arriving in 1868.
Later he was on the "Ocean Spraj-" in the coasting
trade, next on the barque "Callas" and then fell in
with his former ship "North Star" and was per-
suaded to go back to Bremen. He studied naviga-
tion in the Bremen School of Navigation and mean-
while was drafted into the German Navy in 1870
and served a 3'ear.

Shipping as mate to Rangoon, during the voyage
he was shipwrecked on Goodwins Sands at the
mouth of the English Channel, the graveyard of the
sea for Europe. They were taken off by a lifeboat
from Ramsgate. He then made a voyage in an Amer-
ican barque around Cape Horn to San Francisco and
return in 1871: again shipping, he made a voyage
from Liverpool around Cape Horn to San Francisco,
thence back to Havre. France, when he returned to
Bremen to see his family. After this he shipped to
New York, then around Cape Horn to Panama and
on to San Francisco. There he followed the coasting
trade and in 1877 had his own schooner "Express"
in Coos Baj-, continuing as master of her for some
years. Returning to San Francisco, he was on dif-
ferent coast crafts until 1880, when he quit the sea.

He had married in San Francisco Anna Peters, a
native of Ncckermunde, Pomerania, Germany. In
1881 he purcliasod a ranch of 160 acres on the Sum-
mit, now oil the Twenty-seven Mile Scenic Drive in
the Santa Cruz ^Mountains. He did not know any-
thing about farming, but set to work and cleared
and improved the place, set out orchard and vine-
yard, built a residence and in time had a nice place
from which he derived a good income. Captain
Stolte's wife died April 23, 1898, leaving him three
children: Charlotte is Mrs. Henry Frahm of San
Mateo; Emma is the wife of R. Y. Garrod of Sara-
toga: Josephine is the wife of W. J. Beatty, Jr., of
Alma. In 1916 Captain Stolte sold his ranch and
now makes his home at Alma. He has been a mem-
ber of the Odd Fellows since 1876. joining San Fran-
cisco Lodge No. 3. but is now a member of Ridgely
Lodge No. 294, I. O. O. F., of Los Gatos; and is
also a member of the Rebekahs. He was a charter
member of Lakeside local No. 61, Farmers' Educa-
tional and Cooperative Lhiion of America. Captain
Stolte is an interesting talker and it is a great pleas-
ure to enjoy his hospitality. He has been a Repub-
lican since obtaining his citizenship papers in 1876.

HON. WILLIAM A. JANUARY.— In 1849, en-
thused by the thrilling tales spread broadcast through-
out the land of the rich discovery of gold on the Pa-
cific coast, Hon. William A. January joined the tide
of immigration surging westward, and became nutn-
bered among the early pioneers of California. In the
prime of a vigorous manhood, clear headed, full of
activity and energy, he was one of the foremost in
advancing tlie cause of civilization, and from the first
was an important factor in promoting the industrial
and business progress of the state. During the long
years of his residence in San Jose, as a man of sta-
bility, integrity and financial wisdom he was ever
prominently identified with the best interests of
city and county. A son of Dr. Peter Thomas Janu-
ary, he was born February 16, 1826, in Maysville, Ky.
The January family trace their origin to Alsatia,
France, where their name was spelled Janvier. In
1685, on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, two

members of this Huguenot family, Thomas and
Pierre Janvier, immigrated to this country, settling in
Pennsylvania, where the name was anglicized to its
present form, January. Peter January, one of the
lineal descendants of Thomas Janvier, was the great-
grandfather of William A. January. He was a man
of prominence in colonial times, serving as provincial
armorer at Philadelphia, and taking an active part in
the Revolutionary war.

Samuel January, the grandfather of William A.
January, was born and reared in Pennsylvania, but
was subsequently engaged in mercantile pursuits in
Maysville, Ky., until his death. He married Elizabeth
Marshall, who was a cousin of John Marshall, chief
justice of the supreme court of the LTnited States from
his appointment in 1801 until his death, in 1835, A
native of Kentucky, Peter Thomas January inherited
the spirit of patriotism that animated his ancestors,
and during the War of 1812 enlisted under Governor
Shelby, and was an active participant in the battle
of the Thames, where Tecumseh, the Indian brave,
was killed. He afterwards enlisted in the United
States army, and as first lieutenant in the First LInited
States Regiment of Infantry was stationed for awhile
at Fort Mackinaw, where he became acquainted with
the young lady who afterwards became his wife. Re-
signing from the army, he took up the study of medi-
cine, and having received the degree of M. D. was en-
gaged in the practice of his profession in different
states, including Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Mis-
souri. He spent liis last years in Kentucky, dying at
the age of sevtiity-four years. He married Isabelle
T. Aitken, who was born in Montreal, Canada. Her
father. Capt. William Aitken, a native of Scotland,
married Miss McDonald, also of Scotland, and was
subsequently, as an officer in the British army, sta-
tioned in Montreal, Canada. She died in 1849.

One of seven children, William E. January spent
his bo3-hood days in different places, being in Galena,
III., during the time of the Blackhawk war. His early
education was principally obtained in the schools of
Kentucky, after which he resided in Indiana, and in
Stoddard County, M^, In Corydon and New Albany,
Ind.. he Icarni.il tin jmiiiI^ r'-; trade, and subsequently
completed his ^ttulic- in Kentucky. With a party of
twenty-one adventurous and ambitious companions
he started in 1849 for the Pacific coast, coming across
the plains with ox teams, via Forts Kearney. Laramie
and Bridger to Bear River, and then by the Lawson
route to the Feather River. Arriving in Sacramento,
Cal., he remained there until December, but was after-
wards engaged in mining on Feather River and in dif-
ferent localities until 1853. Settling then in Eldorado
county, Mr. January worked at the printer's trade in
Coloma and Placerville. In 1854, in partnership with
Dan Gelwicks, he established the Mountain Democrat.
In 1866 Mr. January located in San Jose, and estab-
lished the Santa Clara Argus, which he published
as a weekly for ten years, and then as a daily for two
years. In 1878 he sold the paper and the plant, and
the Argus was united with the Herald.

Mr. January took an active and intelligent interest
in public matter, and served with great acceptability
in different official capacities. In 1875 he was elected
county treasurer of Santa Clara county, and in 1882
was elected state treasurer on the Democratic ticket.
In 1892 he was elected tax collector of Santa Clara
County, and was subsequently three times re-elected

1688

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

to the same position, in 1894, 1898 and 1902. He was
a stanch Democrat in his political views, and for a
number of years was a member of the State Demo-
cratic committee.

In 1855, in Placerville, Cal., Mr. January married
Mary Helen Murgotten, a native of Indiana. Her
father, Henry C. Murgotten, came to California with
the gold seekers of 1849, and was joined by his wife
and children in 1852. Nine children blessed the union
of Mr. and Mrs. January. Arthur, William H., Sam-
uel Garrett Wall, John James, Peter Thomas, Dan
Gelwicks, Frank Bethel, Clementina Marshall, and
Susan Aitken. Fraternally Mr. January was very
prominent in the Masonic order, and did much to pro-
mote the good of the organization. January 8, 1855.
in Placerville, he joined Eldorado Lodge No. 26. F. &
A. M., which he served as master, and while in Placer-
ville was a member and high priest of St. James Chap-
ter No. 16, R. A. M. He was past master of San Jose
Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M.; past high priest of How-
ard Chapter No. 14, R. A. M.; and past thrice illus-
trious master of Sacramento Council No. 1. R. &
S. M.; was made a Knight Templar in Placerville in
1859, and was past commander of San Jose Com-
mandery No. 10, K. T.; past grand high priest of the
Grand Chapter of California; past grand illustrious
master of the Grand Council of California; past patron
of San Jose Chapter, Eastern Star; and past presi-
dent of the Pacific Coast Veteran Masonic Associa-
tion. Mr. January belonged to the Santa Clara Pio-
neers' Association, and was a faithful and active mem-
ber of the Christian Church.

FERDINAND BOUSSY.— One of the most enter-
prising and optimistic resort owners in the Santa
Cruz mountain region is Ferdinand Boussy, proprie-
tor of the Big Woods (Les Grands Bois) Tavern,
as well as the Soda Springs Hotel. He was born at
Annecy, near Aix-les-Bains, Haute Savoie, France,
September 27, 1884, a son of Cesar and Mary Boussy,
farmers in their native France, who came to Cal-
ifornia and now reside with their son Ferdinand, who
was the youngest of their two children, the other
being Marius, who resides in San Francisco.

Ferdinand Boussy received a good education in
the public schools at Annecy, after which he was ap-
prenticed and learned the cabinet maker's trade. In
1904 he immigrated to Montreal, Canada, where he
was employed for a while in a restaurant and there
spent two years as a cabinet maker in the Pullman
car shops of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. In 1907
he came to San Francisco, where for a year he was
employed at his trade. In that city he was married
to Miss Julia Gilly, born in the department of Lozere,
France, who studied domestic science and became an
excellent chef and for five years was chef at the
"Montniartre," Paris, after which she came to San
Francisco where she met Mr. Boussy, the acquain-
tance resulting in their marriage. Mr. Boussy had
always been interested in restaurants and hotels and
had a desire to follow it as a business and this gave
him an opportunity, as Mrs. Boussy was one of the
most excellent chefs on the Coast. Even before his
marriage, he had been looking around for a location
in the Santa Cruz Mountains, accessible to the city,
as a resort, so he purchased seventy-two acres on
the Soda Springs Road above Alma, and after his
marriage he located there. He planned the ground

and levelled it suitable for a site and then built the
Soda Spring Hotel with water piped for domestic
use from the spring. There are also small soda and
iron springs. His French dinners became popular
and he had a large number of guests from the Bay
Region as well as Santa Clara County and Mr. and
Mrs. Boussy became celebrated for their cuisine.

However, Mr. Boussy received a sad blow in 1919,
when he was bereaved of his faithful wife and de-
voted companion, who died from the influenza.
Though it was a great sorrow come into his life, he
rose to the occasion, and with the same old energy,
he continued the management and building up of his
business. Wishing to enlarge his operations, in 1922
he purchased the old Valley of the Moon property
near the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains, nam-
ing it the Big Woods (Les Grands Bois) Tavern,
situated in a beautiful valley surrounded by giant
redwoods. One of the largest springs in the moun-
tains is located on the ranch, from which he obtains
ample water for domestic use and the concrete swim-
ming pool for the use of the guests; from this pool
the water flows into a natural lake where boating can
be enjoyed. Mr. Boussy in his energetic way, is
rapidly improving the place and besides the hotel,
he has ten cottages, all modern and furnished to
rent to families. At the Tavern he continues the
same excellent cuisine and courteous attention and
his French dinners are as popular as ever. His union
resulted in the birth of one child, a boy, Henry, now
four and a half years of age. Mr. Boussy is a mem-
ber of the Odd Fellows lodge in San Jose and Cal-
ifornia Automobile Association, being a great advo-
cate of good roads.

GEORGE A. WILLSON.— A young man who,
through his efficient, faithful discharge of public du-
ties, won for himself a host of friends, was the late
George A. W'illson, popular deputy sheriff and jailer
at the Santa Clara County Jail, and a native of San
Jose, where he was born on February 15, 1889. His
father, Alfred B. W'illson, came to California from
New York in 1887, and for thirty years was identified
with the California Fruit Canners Association, doing
much to advance the permanent interests of that im-
portant industry.

George Willson attended the grammar and high
schools of San Jose, and when only fifteen years
old started to make his ovyn way in the world. He
secured employment with the Evening News, and
for four years was a valued employe. He then be-
came a pressman for A. Q. Smith, the job printer,
and he was in his service for another four years. His
next office of trust was that of treasurer of the Empire
Theatre, which he continued to fill for a year, and for
two years he was associated with the San Jose Street
Railroad. In 1913, he became a patrolman on the
staff of the Merchants' Patrol, and he rose steadily
there until the World War called for his services.

He entered the U. S. Army on June 28, 1918, and
was sent to Camp Kearney, where he was identified
with the Intelligence Department at the Camp Head-
quarters, and he remained in this work until he was
discharged, on February 2, 1919, having been made a
sergeant. He then returned to San Jose, and for
several months he served again on the Merchants'
Patrol. Then he was made a deputy sheriff, and later
the jailer of the Santa Clara County jail.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

1691

On June 14, 1918, Mr. Willson was married at
San Jose to Miss Margaret Guy, a native of North
Carolina, in which state she was born, near States-
ville, but who came to San Jose a few years ago. Mr.
Willson was a member of the San Jose Post of the
American Legion, and it is needless to say that there,
as elsewhere he was a man courageous in both con-
victions and actions. He died January 9, 1922, after
an illness of only foar days.

STEPHEN D. ZARO.— A man of much enterprise,
practical and progressive, Stephen D. Zaro, has at-
tained a good measure of success by his perseverance,
energy and ambition. Born in Dalmatia, in the town
of Bobovisch, Isle of Erac, on July 23, 1865, he is the
son of Peter and Madalaine (Sworeicke) Zaro, who
were well-to-do farmers of their native land, raising
olives and grapes in abundance. The father, Peter
Zaro, was a public-spirited man, serving as town
trustee, and was a highly esteemed and honored
citizen of his community.

Stephen D. Zaro spent his boyhood days on the
farm with his parents, and in the year of 1881, he left
home to seek bis fortune in the United States, coming
directly to Santa Cruz, where his brother, Mark
Zaro, resided, and who was a pioneer in the restau-
rant busines.'.. Stephen D. Zaro was employed by
him for more than seven years, learning thoroughly
the restaurant business. When Mr. Zaro was twenty-
two, he received word from his father that he wished
him to come home to be at his bedside when he
passed aj^ay, which he did, remaining there for a
year and a half, until his father died in 1888 at the
age of K-venty-eight years, his mother living to be
seventy-four years old. While on this visit to his
native land, the Austrian government gave him no-
tice to enlist in the army, or leave the country, and
in three days time, he was on his way to America,
returning to Santa Cruz; however, he only remained
thert for six months, when he removed to San
Jose, and entered the employ of the Overland Res-
tauf^mt as night manager, and was thus employed
for three years. Desiring to establish his own busi-
ne-s, he removed to San Francisco, where he opened
a restaurant on East Street opposite the Howard
,'^treet wharf, which he conducted for a year and a
half with marked success.

The marriage of Mr. Zaro on December 25, 1895,
united him with Miss Mary Cusanovich, a native
daughter of California born April 2, 1873, at Sutter
Creek, Amador County, the daughter of John and
Clementine (Lukinovich) Cusanovich, who came to
America in 1845, later removing to California in
1849. The father worked in the placer mines of
Aniador County and died aged sixty-five; the
mother resides in San Francisco; her early
ancestors were prominent seafaring men and
successful commission merchants. Mrs. Zaro was
educated in the schools of Sutter Creek, and was
especially interested in the study of the Bible, becom-
ing very proficient as a teacher, and was teaching in
the Sunday School at the age of eighteen, and con-
tinued to follow this line of work until her marriage
to Mr. Zaro. They are the parents of five children;
Peter died at the age of twenty-two, a fine young
man of excellent characteristics; Madeline is employed
by the Ford garage as cashier; Maria, deceased;
John, a student of the Lincoln school, and Louis,

also a student. In 1895, Mr. Zaro purchased the
Overland Grill, the oldest establishment of its kind
in San Jose. He was one of three partners, and the
business was operated successfully until 1909, when
the company suffered severe reverses, through no
fault of Mr. Zaro, but with courage and determina-
tion, he started anew, establishing a small restaurant
on West Santa Clara Street, and at the end of three
years he was forced to enlarge his quarters, and sold
an interest in the business to Peter Bava, who is
now chief chef. The business continued to grow until
they were compelled to remove to still larger quar-
ters, now known as Zaro's Grill, and is noted through-
out the locality for their excellent Italian and
French dinners. In 1918, Louis Dossee was taken
in as partner and is the capable house manager.
With an experience covering forty years in this line
of work, he has, through his efficient management,
helped to bring the business to a very lucrative
basis. Politcally, Mr. Zaro is a stanch Democrat,
who adheres strictly to the principles of this party.
Fraternally, he is a member of the Eagles, Red Men,
and is at pri-^cnt tlie vice-president of the Slavonian
Society of San Irancisco; he is a charter member
of the American-Slavonian Society of San Jose,
which was organized in 1894 by ten men, and which
he has served for fifteen years as treasurer. In 1909,
the family purchased a beautiful home at 152 Spencer
Avenue, where they still reside. On the 4th of July,
1917, Mr. Zaro's daughter was chosen for queen of
the float entered in the parade by the American-
Slavonian Society. A self-made man, he has worked
his way up from a poor boy to a position of afflu-
ence, honored and respected as an upright and reli-
able business man.

GASTON BONNET.— Among the men of foreign
birth who have made the best of the opportunities,
which they are unable to enjoy in their native land,
and that are offered in California, is Gaston Bonnet,
the proprietor of a ladies tailoring establishment,
whose place of business is located at i7 South Second
Street. He was the son of Joseph and Mary (Daynes)
Bonnett, his father being an expert shoemaker who
lived in diff'erent villages and towns in France where
he followed his trade.

Gaston Bonnet received his education in the French
grammar schools and later a school that is on a par
with the course given in our high schools. At a
very early age he took up tailoring as a trade, serving
four years as an apprentice, after which he spent
several years in Paris, and in 1904, coming to Amer-
ica, stayed in New York for several years. He re-
turned to France in 1910 to claim his bride and again
came to the LTnited States, this time making his way
direct to San Francisco, Cal., where he worked at
his trade for nearly two years and in September,
1912, came to San Jose and opened up a tailoring
shop, located in the Auzerais Building, until moving
to Z7 S. Second Street. Here he operates an exclusive
ladies tailoring shop, always giving the best of serv-
ice, making very chic garments, and the excellence of
his workmanship has given him an established clien-
tele among the best people of Santa Clara County.

Mr. Bonnett's marriage occurred in France in Jan-
uary, 1910, and united him with Miss Josephine
Desavmoz, who was also born in France in the vicin-

1692

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ity of her husband's birthplace. She ^'as the daughter
of Everest and Sophie Desaymoz. Mr. and Mrs.
Bonnet are the parents of a daughter, Genevieve.
Mr. Bonnet has been established in San Jose for over
ten years and the people of this community have
come to know- him as very reliable and expert, so
that he has built up an excellent business. In na-
tional politics, he is a stanch Republican and he is
a member of the Merchants' Association.

C. C. CHURCHILL. — Some exceptionally interest-
ing pioneer associations are recalled in the story of
C. C. Churchill, the rancher of Gish Road, near San
Jose, and his good wife, whose family were sturdy
frontier people. He was born in Lamoille County.
Vt., on May 27. 1848, the son of Norman and Eliza
M. (Spalding) Churchill, and descended from an old-
line Vermont family, among whom may be numbered
Winston Churchill, the well-known author now again
a resident of the Green Mountain State. Our sub-
ject's father was a farmer who had mechanical talent;
he put up all of his own buildings, and often erected
structures for his neighbors, as well. C. C. Churchill
enjoyed the advantages of both the grammar and the
high school educational courses, being the only son,
when his brother, Lyman N., died, and growing up,
he took charge of his father's ranch and ran it, and
he also learned the blacksmith trade. Coming out to
California he settled at Watsonville as a master black-

smith; and for thirty years he served the public there-
about as a clever and dependable smith might be ex-
pected to do in a growing community.

At Lafayette, in Contra Costa County, on February
21, 1880, Mr. Churchill was married to Miss A. Ellen
Gorham, a native of Lafayette, and the daughter of
Medford and Melissa Ann (Allen) Gorham. Her
father was a rancher who came to California in 1851
from Mineral Point, Wis., and her mother came across
the plains to California from Pike County, Mo., in
1846, the stepdaughter of Elam Brown, a member of
the first California legislature that met on December
15, 1849, under Governor Burnett. There were four
children in the Gorham family, the first-born being
O. A. Gorham, of Oakland, and the next in the order
of birth, J. E. Gorham of San Miguel. Henry M.
Gorham was the youngest, and the next after Ellen.

In 1904 Mr. and Mrs. Churchill left Watsonville and
purchased a ranch of sixteen acres en the Gish Road,
near the San Jose-Alviso Road, where he built a home,
set out berries, and established a dairy. Two children
have grown to maturity. Josephine married C. F.
Dexter; Arthur married Emma F. Dose, and they
have five children, — Stanley, Kenneth, Raymond, Lil-
lian and Clifford. Mr. Churchill is a Republican, has
passed all the chairs of the subordinate lodge of Odd
Fellows, and is a member of the San Jose Encamp-
ment of that order.