USA > California > A history of the new California, its resources and people; Vol II > Part 26
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In those early days of mining in California scientific mining was an unknown art. Machinery had to be ordered in London and shipped around Cape Horn. This required nearly two years. In the meantime Mr. Coe, who had determined to engage in the business of providing this, settled in San Francisco as a purchasing agent for miner's supplies. He was emi- nently successful. Not until 1858 did he revisit New York. He did so then on a mission of no small importance to himself. He married the lady of his choice, Miss Hannah Huntington, of the distinguished New York family of that name, who had waited for him nineteen years. She had had many advantageous and flattering offers, for she had something to bring men to her feet. But through all those years she remained true to her first love. A finer testimony of his worth and her own would be difficult to imagine.
When Mr. Coe returned to California with his bride he found that Alvinza Hawyard, profiting by the crude state of the then existing mining law, had taken possession of his mine and was taking from it monthly a fortune. Happily Mr. Coe possessed an ample fortune of his own, as did his bride in her own right. They were both soon weary of contention; and weary of the sand-hills and hurly-burly of the town by the Golden Gate. The country had mort attractions to offer. And so they came to San Jose, where Mr. Coe purchased the beautiful section then and still known as "The Willows." Here he built a beautiful country seat, the hospitality of which was nowhere surpassed. At large expense he cleared an extensive tract, planting it to orchards and hop fields. The size of the fruit and the phenomenal yield attracted world-wide attention, and caused San Jose to be known as the Garden City of the Golden state. Mr. Coe was the first extensive shipper of fruit and hops to New York, Liverpool and Australia. The Central Pacific received its first consignment of freight from San Jose from Mr. Coe.
Nor did fruit culture alone absorb this man of seemingly tireless energy and enterprise. The first tobacco grown in California and the first silk grown and manufactured from the native product of the United States
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were grown and manufactured at "The Willows," the silk being made up into a beautiful flag presented to Congress in 1872. This flag was after- ward exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia; at the World's Fair in Chicago; and is on exhibition to-day in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. The experiment demonstrates the possibility of silk culture in the Santa Clara valley, both soil and climate being admirably adapted to the mulberry and cocoon. But cheap labor is essential, and cheap labor is not easily secured in California.
Nor was Mr. Coe's industry to be restricted to fruit growing or silk producing. As a grower of hops he was extraordinarily successful. He was the first to use sulphur in bleaching hops and fruit. This process, which renders both bright and attractive in appearance, is universally employed to-day. Men traveled expressly from Europe to purchase hops from Mr. Coe at "The Willows," his being declared superior to any grown elsewhere in any land.
But "The Willows" were to see a change. With all the success that attended his efforts here Mr. Coe suffered heavy losses by fire and by the failure of a large mining enterprise in which he was heavily interested. This induced him to part with all his property in "The Willows" after hold- ing it for fifteen years. The estate brought (it was 1873) seven hundred and fifty dollars per acre. Its rental value paid the interest, at two per cent, which was then legal rate, on the entire amount. Thereafter Mr. Coe led a retired life in the lovely San Felipe valley, a fit haven of rest, among the beauties of nature, where he had often expressed the wish that the evening of his life might be spent until its close. Surrounded by all who were dearest to him, the end came fittingly at sunset on Wednesday, the 7th of June, 1896, and Henry Willard Coe passed away without the slightest semblance of a struggle.
Thus ended a varied and worthy life. Whether considered as the young captain of industry with Chandler in Detroit, when Chicago was yet but a village; the merchant of his native Northwood; the enterprising cotton manufacturer of Cooperstown, New York; the pioneer crossing the plains and braving their dangers of every kind, in 1847; the voluntary school- master of Oregon City in the days of its foundation, exploring the Colum- bia ; fighting, where all were heroes, in the battles of the terrible Indian war; migrating, a leader ever, from Oregon to California overland; whether con- sidered as a miner or a merchant of the Golden state, in the hills or in the city; or whether remembered finally as a pioneer orchardist of Santa Clara. valley, bringing to San Jose its title of "The Garden City," the first of its hop growers and silk producers; in whichever way and at whatever time of life, recalled, Henry Willard Coe will ever stand to all who knew him or who learned his story as one of the highest types of the American gentle- man, the enterprising, fearless, generous, high-minded and public-spirited citizen. It is to such men as he that the country really owes what is best in its character and achievements.
One word more before bringing this monograph or memoir to a close. In presence, Mr. Coe was slightly over six feet. He was a man of striking
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dignity, but of most kindly manner. He was exceptionally well read. His memory was remarkable; and he retained his faculties up to within an hour of his death. He was charitable to a degree, as his story has evidenced. His reminiscences, had they been collected, would have made a most interesting volume. He remembered perfectly General LaFayette's visit to this coun- try. He and his brother Eben had stood watching on the banks of the Hud- son when Fulton ran his steamer on its waters. He knew San Francisco when it contained a population of only five hundred. He was fond of dwelling upon the marvelous development of science that he had seen take place within his own lifetime. He was broad-minded in all things and rejoiced in progress of every kind. Mr. Coe was survived by his widow, a native of New York, for four years. She died beloved by all, as she had lived. Her womanly graces and her great kindness of heart had endeared her to kinds and conditions of people from the moment she made her home among them. Two sons of her union with Mr. Coe survive them both. The habitual residence of one, H. W., Jr., is a magnificent ranch owned by both brothers in the San Felipe valley. Mr. Charles W. Coe is a resident of San Jose, having purchased the home of the late General Henry M. Naglee, one of the most beautiful places to be found anywhere, trees of almost every clime in the world heightening the loveliness of lawns and grounds laid out with great artistic skill. This lovely home has a mistress worthy of it, Mr. Coe having married in 1901 Miss Leontine Carteri, a native of Santa Barbara and a granddaughter of the first English settler in southern California, William D. Foxen, who, in 1836, built the first ship in California. Mr. Foxen it was, also, who saved General Fremont's small body of troops from annihilation by guiding them over the mountains instead of journeying through the Golata Pass, where destruction awaited them at the hands of General Castro.
Two beautiful boys, Eben and Willard, have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Coe, and they bid well to perpetuate physically and other- wise the best traits of the stock from which they sprang.
IN MEMORIAM. Sleep in peace, thy days are ended, Where tower the everlasting hills. Sleep in peace, who aye ascended. Thy requiem chant the mountain rills. Sleep in peace !
Sleep in peace, the World was better, For what thy life to that World gave. Sleep in peace, Mankind thy debtor. Thy crown :- The light above thy grave. Sleep in peace. H. W. C.
JAMES R. LOWE.
James R. Lowe is known as a man of high attainments and practical ability as a lawyer, and as one who has achieved success in his profession. His superior ability has won him marked success, has crowned him with high
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judicial honors, and in both political and private life he has won an enviable reputation. A native son of the old Bay state, he was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, April 25, 1840, a son of James R. and Mary A. (Tucakell) Lowe. The father was a native of England, but came to America when eighteen years of age and took up his abode in Massachusetts, where he became an agriculturist, horticulturist and florist. In 1852, via the Horn, he made the journey to California, and after a short time spent in San Fran- cisco located in San Jose, where he followed the same occupations, and through his instrumentality many of the choicest fruits and flowers now abounding in California were imported into the commonwealth. His death occurred in San Jose in 1874, while that of his wife took place in this city in 1862. She was a native of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and represented an old American family which claimed a direct connection to the celebrated Sherburn family, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and members of this family were prominent in the Revolutionary war.
James R. Lowe received his early mental training under the super- vision of his mother, who was a graduate of a college in Newburyport and was a highly cultured lady. Accompanying his parents on their removal to California when eleven years of age, the son James became a student in Gates Institute of San Jose, where he continued his studies until eighteen years of age, and from that time until 1864 was his father's assistant. He then took up the study of jurisprudence, under the preceptorship of Judge Spencer, and in 1865 was elected secretary of the San Jose Fund Commis- sion, who were authorized under the law to dispose of the public lands granted to the pueblo .of San Jose by the king of Spain, these lands being disposed of to create a fund for the benefit of the city of San Jose. In 1861 Mr. Lowe was elected city clerk, in which he was the incumbent for two terms. In 1867 appointed by President Johnston as United States Consul General at Tehuantepec, Mexico, returning shortly after owing to the severe illness of his wife. In 1870 he engaged in the practice of law as assistant to Judge Spencer, afterward continuing alone, and since that time has been a continuous practitioner at the bar of San Jose. In 1884 Mr. Lowe was elected state senator on the Republican ticket, and in that session and the extra session following took an active part in irrigation matters. In 1889 and again in 1891 he was made a member of the assembly, and in both of the sessions was chairman of the Republican assembly caucus, which proved him a recognized Republican leader. During the session of 1891 he was appointed chairman of the committee on corporations, which is con- sidered one of the most important committees of the legislature, having to deal with the most intricate and complex questions pertaining to corporate rights, etc. Mr. Lowe was also one of the first trustees of the State Reform School at Whittier, and in 1889 was appointed to select the location for the buildings, equipments, etc., and this is now considered one of the leading institutions of its kind in the United States.
The five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lowe, four sons and a daughter, are as follows: Ralph A., now of Los Angeles county, Alexander F., Dun- can, Eleanor and Edmund.
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DANIEL LUCE.
Daniel Luce, a capitalist whose judicious investment and capable control of business interests have won for him a position of prominence among the strong financial men of central California, now makes his home in Haywards. He was born in Williamstown, Vermont, on the 25th day of May, 1827. His father, Joshua Luce, was a native of the Green Mountain state and was descended from one of four brothers who came from England to America in the early part of the seventeenth century. From them are descended all of the representatives of the family in the new world. In the year 1828 Joshua Luce removed with his family to Ohio, where he continued to engage in farming as a life work until 1842, when he was called to his final rest. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Electa Sanderson, was also born in Vermont and was also a representative of an old family that furnished several patriots to the American army in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Luce sur- vived her husband only about four years, and died in 1846.
To the common school system of Ohio Daniel Luce is indebted for the educational privileges he enjoyed. He was reared upon his father's farm and attended school through the winter months, while in the summer seasons he assisted in the labors of field and meadow until sixteen years of age. He then learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for four years in Ohio and afterward spent a year and a half in the same pursuit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1848 gold was discovered in California, creat- ing great excitement throughout the entire country, and Mr. Luce was among those who made their way to the mining regions of the Pacific coast. He started with a party on the 12th of February, 1849, and after a long and wearisome journey arrived at San Francisco on the 20th of November of the same year. For one month after his arrival he worked at carpentering, being employed for nine hours each day at a rate of twelve dollars per day. He afterward went to Redwoods, California, with a number of others and was there employed during the winter. The party afterward made their way to the California mines above Auburn, near Dutch Flat. There Mr. Luce engaged in mining for one summer, after which he returned to Red- woods, where he again followed carpentering. Later he turned his atten- tion to the butchering business at Cold Springs, Amador county, where he continued for one summer. He next purchased cattle, which he took to Redwoods in order to feed them for the market, and while living there Mr. Luce gave his attention to teaming and hauling lumber. He hauled the first lumber ever taken to Oakland. which was used for constructing the first wharf in that city.
On the Ist of June, 1853, Mr. Luce started to return to the east, this time making the journey by way of the isthmus route. He spent the sum- mer there and in the next spring came to California, bringing with him a band of horses and cattle, which he drove across the country in 1854. He then engaged in raising stock about six miles from Haywards, and after- ward turned his attention to the manufacture of butter and to general dairy- ing, in which he continued for five years. He was engaged in the manufac-
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ture of cheese for about three years, and on the expiration of that period his attention was given to farming and stock-raising. In 1879 he took up his abode at Haywards, where he has since made his home, although for some years thereafter he gave direct supervision to the operation of his ranch. In recent years, however, he has sold that property and his stock, and his time and energies have been devoted merely to the control of his invested interests. In the spring of 1880 he erected a store on Main and B streets in Haywards, and he also built a brick block about eleven years ago. What- ever he has undertaken he has carried forward to successful completion, be- ing a man of strong purpose who has brooked no obstacles that could be surmounted by persistent effort and stalwart purpose.
On the 15th of January, 1854, Mr. Luce was united in marriage in Washington county, Kentucky, to Miss Elizabeth L. Cull, who was born in that state and is a daughter of James Cull, a farmer. Her father be- longed to an old American family from Virginia, and he lived and died at the place of his birth, his death occurring on the 12th of July, 1875. Two sons and four daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Luce: George P., who is now in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company; Daniel, who is recorder in the commissary department on Angel Island; Frances, the wife of Judge Charles Prowse, a real estate dealer and justice of the peace of Haywards, who is represented elsewhere in this volume; and Alice C., who is residing on the Colville Indian reservation above Spokane, Wash- ington ; the other children died at an early age.
Mr. Luce is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has remained a resident of California continually since 1849, and few men have so strong and comprehensive a mental picture of the early conditions of the state. He came here when the population was largely composed of those who were attracted by the gold discoveries. There was little recog- nized government, few improvements, and the towns were very primitive, being largely composed of hastily constructed buildings or tents. He has watched with interest the progress of the state as it has emerged from such conditions, and his influence and aid have long been potent factors for the material development of this portion of California. In his own business career he has exercised sound judgment, strong energy and unfaltering de- termination, and to-day he is ranked among the capitalists of California, a position to which he has worthily attained and which now enables him in the evening of life to put aside the more arduous cares of a business career and enjoy a well merited rest.
FREDERICK C. TURNER.
Frederick C. Turner, city engineer of Oakland, California, was born in Buffalo, New York, November II, 1865, son of George M. and Elizabeth (Chester) Turner, both natives of the Empire state, whose parents had lo- cated in that state when young.
George M. Turner came to California first in 1851, and was engaged in a manufacturing business here up to 1863, when he returned to New
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York. He remained in the east a dozen years, meantime marrying, and in 1875, accompanied by his wife, son and daughter, he came back to California to make it his permanent home, and took up his abode in Oakland, where he still resides. He was an accountant for many years, up to 1885, when he retired.
When Frederick C. Turner was one year old his parents moved from Buffalo to Brooklyn, where they remained until he was ten, and where his early education was obtained in the public schools. After coming to Cali- fornia he attended the grammar and high schools of Oakland, and in 1883 entered the University of California, where he remained four years, receiving the degree of B. S. in 1887. After his graduation from the university Mr. Turner was in the employ of the United States government as civil engineer for a short time, then spent one year on a fruit ranch in Placer county, and again entered the government employ, under the United States army engi- neers, engaged in river and harbor work. When the Spanish-American war broke out he enlisted in the Second Regiment, United States Volunteer Engineers, and was commissioned first lieutenant. Also he was made quar- termaster of the Third Battalion. With his command he went to Hono- lulu, where he was engaged in building the military post Camp Mckinley. This work completed, they returned to San Francisco, where Mr. Turner was mustered out in 1899. Immediately after this Mr. Turner went to San Diego and San Pedro, where he was engaged in river and harbor fortifica- tion work for a year. Coming back to Oakland, he followed the profession of civil engineer here, and at the general election of 1901 was elected city engineer for a term of two years, at the end of which time he was re-elected for another term, and is now the incumbent of that office.
Mr. Turner is a man of fine physique and has always taken an enthusi- astic interest in athletic sports. During his senior term at the university he was captain of and half-back of the college football team. Also he was pitcher of the college baseball nine. His college fraternity is the Beta Theta Pi. Politically he is a Republican.
In January, 1898, Mr. Turner married Miss Elsie B. Lee, a native of San Francisco and a daughter of Mr. Henry C. Lee. Mr. Lee was one of the early pioneers of California, coming here in 1850 and following mining and mercantile pursuits for a number of years, up to the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Turner have one daughter, Alice Lee Turner.
HON. JOHN H. MOORE.
Hon. John H. Moore is the Nestor of the Santa Clara county bar, for almost fifty-five years have come and gone since he began practice in San José, having arrived in this city in December, 1849. All through the years he has maintained a foremost place as a representative of the legal interests of this part of the state, and his name is found on the record of the most important litigation tried in the courts of his district. He has been the associate and peer of the most distinguished members of the pro- fession here and is not honored more for the length of his connection with
Ano. H. Moore
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the San José bar than for his marked ability and for the eminent success he has won.
Mr. Moore is a native of Callaway county, Missouri, born in February, 1827. He is indebted to the public schools of that state for the early edu- cational privileges he enjoyed, and which were supplemented by study in the Missouri University at Columbia, Boone county, that state. Following his graduation on the completion of his classical course, he entered the law department of Transylvania University, at Lexington, Kentucky, where he remained for a course of lectures and then returned to Missouri, where he continued reading law in the office of the firm of Hardin, Reed & Jones.
In 1849 Mr. Moore started for California, making the journey across the plains with an ox team, and in the summer he reached Hangtown, Eldo- rado county. The place is now called Placerville, but the early name sug- gests an event in the history of the locality such as was not uncommon at that time when lawlessness largely prevailed, ere the organization of the county and local government systems. After a short time Mr. Moore went to Sacramento, to San Francisco and then to San José, where he entered upon the practice of law in connection with Hon. C. T. Ryland, one of the distinguished legists of that early day. He has resided continuously in San José since December, 1849, and at different times has been asso- ciated in partnership with the following notable members of the California bar: H. A. C. Campbell, Hon. Lawrence Archer, Hon. John M. Williams, Hon. T. H. Laine, Hon. S. J. Leib and D. M. Delmar.
In 1850 Mr. Moore was nominated by the Whig party for the office of county attorney, and was elected by an overwhelming majority. He served for one term and was then elected district attorney, in which position he served for three terms, retiring from the office in 1857. In the meantime he was also elected city treasurer and filled that position for several years. On his retirement from the office of district attorney he was elected county judge, and sat upon the bench for four years. In 1860 he was nominated by the Douglas Democrats for the position of state senator, but was de- feated by a small majority by Judge A. L. Rhodes. In 1867 he received the Democratic nomination for representative to the state legislature, and was elected by a large majority, serving as a member of the house for two years. He has long been a recognized leader in political circles and has been a most active factor in molding public thought and opinion. He took a very active part in the campaign when Tilden was a candidate for the presidency and was a member of the Democratic state central committee for a number of years. He attended all the state conventions of his party until 1880, when he permanently retired from active participation in poli- tics, although he yet takes a deep interest in the questions and issues of the day and keeps in touch with the advanced thought. He is an ardent admirer of Bryan and of Hearst, believing firmly in the principles which they advocate.
In 1852 Judge Moore was united in marriage to Miss Mary S. Chape- bell, of Callaway county, Missouri, who died in 1857, leaving a son, Howell C., who is now very prominent in city affairs, and is associated in
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practice with his father, with offices in the Theater building on First street, in San José. In 1858 the judge was again married, his sec- ond union being with Elizabeth Price, a daughter of John R. Price and a niece of General Price. To this marriage four children were born, of whom three are living: Gertrude, the wife of W. K. Bean; Maud, now Mrs. H. Sutton Palmer, of London, England; and Bessie, the wife of Herbert Eustace, of San José.
The life record of Judge Moore forms a connecting link between Cali- fornia's early history and the progressive present. Coming to the state in the strength of early manhood, his strong nature, keen insight into con- ditions and needs, and his deep interest in the public welfare soon enabled him to become an active factor in public life, and a director of public thought and action. He not only gained distinction at the bar but has left the im- press of his individuality upon the policy of the commonwealth, especially during the middle portion of the nineteenth century. Crowned with honor and years, he is now spending the evening of life in San José, where he has lived for so many years, and though he has now reached the seventy- sixth milestone he is still an active factor in his adopted city, where he is held in uniform esteem.
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