USA > California > Santa Clara County > History of Santa Clara County, California : including its geography, geology, topography, climatography and description > Part 30
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Warehouses .- The two substantial brick warehouses situated here were constructed and completed in May, 1878, by J. A. Wright, of Mountain View, for Messrs. Smith and Bubb. The one built for the storage of hay is one hundred and sixty by fifty-six feet, twenty feet in the clear, and has a capacity of about one thousand five hundred tons. That used for grain is one hundred and sixty-three, by forty-eight feet, is fourteen feet in the clear, with a capacity of about twenty thousand saeks. Up to the present these buildings have been found of paramount advantage to shippers, during the last season both of them having been filled to their utmost.
MAYFIELD .- In the year 1853 what is now the beautiful farm of Edward Barron, was located on by E. O. Crosby, who gave it the name of Mayfield, which has, as we have remarked before, been transmitted, first to a post- office and then to the town, and too much credit cannot be given to the gentleman who laid out the town for continuing the sweet sound instead of adding to the already too long list of villes and cities in California. But steady ! Mayfield was not the town of that name yet. Where it now stands had earned a celebrity of another nature
It may be remembered that James Otterson had located on what is now the ranch of ex-Governor Stanford, and, believing it to be Government land, sold it to David Adams. On perfecting this transaction, he moved to what is now Mayfield. By some means or other he had become possessed of the knowledge that it was the intention of the authorities to divert the county road from its then route below the railroad, to its present line, he, therefore, conceived the
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idea to construct a public house on its line, near where it would cross the road into the redwoods. The building was completed August 15, 1853; it was named, by common consent, "Uncle Jim's Cabin," and when the county road was made, it was found to be on its direct line. But there were other settlers before him. When he came from the ranch, he says, a Mexican called Jesus Ramos, lived on the spot afterwards occupied by Jaines Dunn; under the live-oak tree, next to Peter Towne's livery stable, there was a shanty where dwelt Pancho Salazar, a Mexican-Indian; Chatto Robles had a house near the residence of Mrs. Meyers, close to the Matadero creek ; while, on the bank of the same stream dwelt a Frenchman, whose name cannot be recalled. "Uncle Jim's Cabin" had a wide reputation in those days, belated travelers often pushing their jaded beasts, so that the hearty welcome of host and hostess-for his family had joined him in 1852- might be attained and comfortable rest enjoyed. The next building to go up was the butcher shop, kept by Andreas Ramos and Cinovia, in 1854, and stood a little to the south of the brick building now occupied as the agency of Wells, Fargo & Co. The next house was a little store, erected on the opposite side of the brick store before mentioned, by C. J. Fuller, in 1855, to be followed shortly after by a blacksmith's shop, next to it, owned by George La Pierre. This building is still in existence, being used as an outhouse on the farm of Peter Coutts. Then Pat. Clark put up a shoeing shop below the brick building already noted. In the year 1855, William Paul became possessed of the tract of land now known as the Ayrshire Farm, and at Christmas, 1856, finding that there was not enough trade to support two stores, bought out Fuller, brought down his stock of goods from the creek, and, with those purchased, established his emporium, also near where the " brick store" now stands, where he had purchased an acre of ground.
It should have been mentioned that in 1855, a post-office had been estab- lished at Mayfield and the appointment given to James Otterson, the business of the office being conducted by his step-daughter, Sarah Ann Smith. This estimable lady, now the wife of William Page, lumber merchant, at May- field, informs us, that at this time mail-matter was carried by the stage- coaches between San Francisco and San José, but so primitive was the carry- ing service, that one bag containing the letters would be made up at the forwarding office, for the whole district, and, wherever there was a post-office established, there would this bag be opened, the letters for the locality taken out, the bag resealed and handed back to the driver. To be sure the districts of California were not then very populous, but in these days of voluminous correspondence, the outery, were such a plan still in operation, can be more readily assumed than explained. In this year there was a school building-a mere cabin-standing under one of the umbrageous live-oak trees, near the present school house. It was taught by Miss Mary Tice, of San Francisco.
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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
The building now stands at the corner of First and Sherman streets, and was at an early time, dubbed " The Herring Box," by a facetious State Superin- tendent. In this year Jerry Easton erected the dwelling-house now occupied by George La Pierre, on Sherman street. In1 855, too, have we mention of the first wedding, that of A. Kaiser to Miss Elizabeth Keisner, and the death of David Adams, by a fall from his horse, on the road near Fuller's store.
In 1857 " Unele Jim" made extensive additions to his cabin and opened it as a hotel, but. on the erection of the Mayfield Hotel, on its site, it was transported to the opposite side of the street, and now does duty as the res- idence and butcher's shop of C. Velati. About this time, or probably a little earlier, Dr. Gunning, an English physician, commenced the practice of his profession, having departed from the defunct town of Ravenswood; while in the same year, Judge, Wallis came to the locality, established himself in business, and has ever since been the only lawyer conducting an office in Mayfield.
Thus matters would appear to have rested for a few years. The coming of the railroad was anxiously looked forward to ; at length, in or about the month of January, 1864, it arrived at Mayfield, but the first station for that district, was situated about three-fourths of a mile from the little town where had now gathered a considerable population. In the meantime William Paul had become possessed of a house, located on some land, which he rented. To his consternation and the chagrin of his tenant, who, we believe, was John Duchesneau, he found another building being ereeted directly in front of him, and so close that ingress and egress was almost debarred. To hurry off at once to San Francisco, to consult with the late W. C. Ralston, the agent for the proprietor, was work of imperative necessity, the outcome of which was that Paul purchased the balance of two twenty-acre lots, and conceived the idea of laying out a town. Meanwhile the little community felt aggrieved at the position chosen for the railroad depot. Naturally they wanted it at Mayfield, and steps were taken to attain that object, yet considerable opposition was felt, but, after two years, it was brought down and established on the site of the present buildings, and Walter Henderson appointed the first agent at Mayfield. This building is now occupied by William Paul as a private residence.
The town was laid out by William Paul, March 20, 1867, and surveyed by J. J. Bowen, at that time County Surveyor, and not long afterwards names given to the streets and their grading proceeded with. The town is built chiefly on three original Mayfield lots, and W. Hawkhurst's addition, while provision is made for its extension by the plots laid off by L. Dornber- ger and F. W. Weisshaar. The streets running north-east and south-west are named Lincoln, Sherman, Grant, Sheridan, and Washington, the cross
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streets being known by their numbers, while Lincoln street was the first opened, and the sale of lots on either side inaugurated.
Among the earliest purchasers were J. L. Chandler, and Horatio Orr, the first of whom acquired a piece of ground, removed his dwelling from some dis- tance out of town, placed it on his newly-obtained lot, where it now stands occupied by Joe. Spaukling, next to the Delavan House. Mr. Orr also trans- ferred his house from outside the community, and it is now occupied by a Frenchman called Victor.
In the year 1866, William Page and Alexander Peers started a lumber- yard; in 1868 a brewery was opened by M. Klineclaus; in 1871 the Catho- lie Church was erected ; in 1872 the Methodist Episcopal Church was built; while the growth of the town has been even since its foundation, it now con- sisting of two churches, a school house, one drug-store, a post-office, Wells, Fargo & Co.'s agency, three dry-goods stores, a brewery, a bakery, two butchers, several blacksmith shops, and the usual number of saloons.
Mayfield Lodge, No. 192, I. O. O. F .- Lodge No. 192 was instituted Sep- tember 13, 1871, the following being the Charter Members: T. B. Curley, Joseph Kaufman, J. N. Spencer, F. W. Weisshaar, James Carleton, Walter Henderson. The first officers were: T. B. Curley, P. G., N. G .; Joseph Kauf- Iran, V. G .; J. N. Spencer, Sec .; F. W. Weisshaar, Treas .: Joseph Ware, R. S. N. G .; Walter Henderson, Warden; James Carlton, I. G .; J. W. Boulware, R. S. S .; H. W. Duffy, L. S. S .; T. B. Curley, Joseph Kaufman, Walter Hen- derson, Trustees. The present membership is fifty-three, who meet every Tuesday evening in the hall rented by them from Jeremiah Clark. The officers for the current term are: W. W. Brown, N. G .; James Mockbee, V. G. E. A. Minsch, P. G .; Charles M. Kellogg, Sec .; C. Van Buren, Per. Sec .; Wal- ter Henderson, Treas .; Joseph P. Ponce, R. S. N. G .; Joseph Wilson, L.S. N.G .; Harry Tompkins, R. S. V. G .; Thomas Kewley, L. S. V. G .; Ginzi Pallanda, R. S. S .; William Mount, L. S. S .; James Broady, Warden ; George R. Sharp, Conductor; Christopher Dueker, I. G .; Hermann Banta, O. G .; C. Ducker, J. P. Ponce, A. J. Pitman, Trustees. The lodge is in a flourishing condition, and has lost but four of its members since institution.
Lumber Yard .- This yard was originally started by William Page and Alexander Peers, in 1866, under the style of Page & Peers. In 1867, Page bought out Peers, and alone continued the business until 1868, when he sold a half interest to Hanson, Ackerman & Co., and the yard became known as the Big Redwood Mills. In 1871, the whole concern was bought by Peers, who conducted it in his own name until 1879, when Page purchased the yard and a one-half share in the timber lands, which is the present state of the undertaking. The timber lands are situated in San Mateo county, on a branch of the Pescadero, called Mill creek, where there is a steam saw-mill
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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
that supplies the yard at Mayfield with lumber, in which there is usually stored from five hundred thousand to one million feet, which is the average amount of the yearly business done.
Mayfield Railroad Brewery .- This enterprise was started in the year 1868 by M. Klineclaus, on the site which it now occupies, by whom it was man- aged until 1871, when Christopher Ducker, the present proprietor, took charge and has since conducted it under the firm name of Ducker & Co. The building has a frontage on Lincoln street; is forty by sixty feet in size, and comprises all the necessary buildings, while a yearly business with the vicinity of about one thousand barrels is done.
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GILROY TOWNSHIP.
GILROY TOWNSHIP.
Geography .- The township of Gilroy is bounded on the north by those of New Almaden and Burnett; on the east by Merced county; on the south by San Benito county, and on the west by Santa Cruz county.
Topography .- The Gilroy section of Santa Clara valley is a fertile plain, fairly timbered in a park-like fashion, with oak, syacamore, cotton-wood and willow trees, inclosed on the north-east by the Contra Costa range, dividing it from the San Joaquin country, and on the west by the lofty Coast Range of mountains. At either extremity the mountains curve and apparently meet, as if inclosing the valley within their rocky barriers, but even in their narrowest place, the foot-hills are still half a mile apart, while at the south- ern end the Santa Clara merges into the Pajaro valley.
Streams .- The water outlets of Gilroy township are the Coyote, Las Llagas, Las Uvas, and the Pajaro, with their tributaries, affording no navig- ble communication, but plenty of sport in the trout and salmon seasons, while several good-sized sheets of water, notably the Soap lake, are covered with wild fowl of all kinds.
Climate .- From the bays of San Francisco and Monterey glide in the sea- breezes, tempering the Summer heats, they themselves being rendered balı- ier by their travel through the winding gaps and over the woodland vales, losing all their bleakness, yet retaining much of their freshness. Cold, chill- ing blasts are never felt, owing to the two opposing currents, and even the fogs drop their refreshing moisture pleasantly, having lost their rawness in their mountain climbing. The sweltering heat often encountered at the depot by railroad travelers, who halt for their midday meal, has unjustly given the City of Gilroy a torrid name, but such is only the dictum of the bird of passage, observation, both barometrical and thermometrical, proving the undoubted salubrity of the township.
Soil .- Nothing can be said in this regard but that nature has been more than usually benign to this favored spot. The valley is prolific to a degree, being especially adapted to fruit-culture and dairying, while the cereals attain the richest perfection.
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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
Products .- The valley is a district of artesian wells, natural and artificial, the latter ranging in depth from over three hundred to fifty feet, the water thus obtained being in great demand for irrigating and other purposes. The dairying interest is one of the most important resources of the district, no less than twelve hundred thousand pounds of cheese being annually made. The most prominent dairymen are Messrs. Rea, Reeve Brothers, Sar- gent & Butterfield, Donnelly & Laughlin, Henry Reeve, Bryant, Ellis, Wat- son, Rowland, Zuck, Dexter, Doan, Eschenberg, Maze, A. Wilson, Davis & Cole, E. A. Davison and Henry Miller, whose dairy upon the Bloomfield ranch is a model institution. The fruit products, embracing apples, pears, peaches, plums, berries, and grapes, average about three hundred and fifty tons a year, a portion of which is driel. Among the principal growers, although nearly every farmer has an orchard, may be named Messrs. Horace Wilson, Hall, Fine, Hildebrand, Ferguson, Angney, Massey Thomas, Ousley, François, Cordiss of Oakland, Chappell, Dryden, Starle, Day, O'Toole, Furlong, Patterson, Miller, Haycock, Trombly, Duncan, Hodges, Rea, and Reeve. Of these C. François manufactures annually in the vicinity of twenty-five thousand gallons of wine and brandy; Horace Wilson pro- duces each year about six thousandl gallons of cider and two thousand of vinegar; Mr. Hall has a considerable flock of highly-bred Angora goats; while the immense possessions of Miller & Lux, and of the Sargents, with their almost innumerable cattle, are too well known to need any further description from us. Tobacco has heretofore been grown in considerable quantities in the district, and is still cultivated with great success by Mr. Culp on the San Felipe farm, in the southern portion of the township.
Timber .- The redwoods on the east side of the Coast Range provide the district with lumber, posts, poles, pickets, shingles and fire-wood, and beyond this produces enough to cause a by no means small export trade of fifty thousand dollars annually. The principal part of this business is done by Whitehurst & Hodges, who are the principal owners of these timber lands, where they have a saw-mill, erected by Bodfish in the year 1853. Besides this particular class of timber the county abounds with various other speci- mens, all having their particular use, either in the fashioning of dwellings or tending to the comfort of one's " ain fireside."
Early Settlement .- Would it were possible to banish grim death, preserve the ancient settler in his pristine vigor, and retain him with his memory unimpaired; were such things possible, then 'twould be an easy task to pen the recollections of the courageous men who were the harbingers of joy and comfort to what is now a fertile district and a contented people. Foremost among the alien settlers of California, and first in Santa Clara county, is the name of John Gilroy, the godfather of the township now under consideration.
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GILROY TOWNSHIP.
Such, however, was not the proper name of this pioneer. His name was John Cameron, a native of Inverness-shire, in the north of Scotland, was a member of that famous clan which acknowledged Lochiel as its chieftain, and was born in the year 1794. In his youth, feeling the restraints of home some- what keenly, and the emb of filial duty slightly strained, he left the "land of brown heath and shaggy wood," bade farewell to the rocky precipices of Ben Nevis, that grand old mountain, and the bleak, dreary moors of Knoy- dart, while without leave-taking or sign of any kind, he turned his back upon his home and went forth to fight the battle of life with the plaintive highland wail of " Lochaber No More " mayhap lingering in his ears. Once removed from home the roving disposition which had incited him to leave father, mother, brother, sister, urged him into choosing the sea as a profession, and it is in this capacity that we find him on the coast of California, running under the false colors of an assumed name, for he had adopted that of his mother, who was a Gilroy.
There are divers statements current as to how Gilroy came to the State, some averring that he arrived in a Hudson Bay Company's ship, and others that he came in a vessel belonging to the North-west Company. We are inclined to discredit cither of these representations, but place the most impli- eit reliance on that of Julius Martin, himself a pioneer of 1843, who, besides enjoying the fullest confidence and personal friendship of John Gilroy for years, had many times heard from his own lips the story of his flight from home, his assumption of his mother's name, his landing in California, and his locating in Santa Clara county, reasons for believing Mr. Martin's story which are indisputable, when joined to the fact that he is a gentleman of much ability, good education and excellent memory.
John Cameron alias Gilroy arrived at Monterey in or about the year 1813, on one of Her Britannie Majesty's ships, on board of which he was rated as Captain's coxswain. When on duty at that port, receiving an order from a subordinate commissioned officer which he failed to carry out, he was repri- manded by the Midshipman, when Gilroy's passion getting the better of his discretion, he struck his superior, thus committing the most unpardonable breach of discipline. He knew that for this offense there could be no excul- pation, therefore arrangements being perfected, he was judiciously entered as siek and with a fellow-sailor sent ashore to recuperate, and await the turn of affairs. When in siek quarters he concocted a plan for escape, and took into his confidence a comrade, who was afterwards known by the name of "Deaf Jimmy." Leaving the hospital they lay perdu in Monterey for several days, when the vessel sailed without them, trusting to find them at some future time. The " Union Jack " once out of sight, these worthies cast about for employment, and ultimately found their way into the Santa Clara valley, and stopped at the little village of San Ysidro. Here Gilroy would appear 18
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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
to have fairly established himself. In 1821 he married a daughter of Ignacio Ortega, the owner of the San Ysidro Rancho, and upon his death received a portion of that large tract of valuable land. Mr. Martin states distinctly that when he arrived in 1843, there were but two owners to the San Ysidro grant, John Gilroy and his brother-in-law Quentin Ortega. The residence of the former, which has been unfortunately torn down, stood at the corner of the Old Gilroy and San Felipe road, near the present residence of Francisco Sil- veira, in the village of San Ysidro or Old Gilroy; while that of Quentin Ortega occupied a position close to where stands the small frame building of Joseph Gilroy, one of the few living representatives of the old Scotch pioneer, and about a hundred yards from the dwelling of Mr. Crews. The two houses were not more than fifty yards apart, and midway was drawn the imaginary line bounding the two properties, that lying to the north being owned by Gilroy, and that to the south by Ortega.
John Gilroy was a remarkable man. In his prime he stood six feet in his stockings, as straight as an arrow, broad in the shoulders, a well-propor- tioned frame, with a keen eye, wide forchead, and lowering brow. He was gifted with considerable intelligence, and though not having the advantage of an early scholastic training, became in the days of his manhood an excel- lent mathematician. He served for many years as Alcalde of the district in which he resided, and was chosen a Justice of the Peace by Commodore Stockton in the troublous times of 1846, which his long residence among the natives fitted him for; he had, however, one besetting sin; he became an inveterate gamester. The game of monte was the plague spot on every Spanish family ; where strangers could not be found to join in it, then it was indulged in among the members of their families in their own homes; and thus did this stalwart Scot fritter away his lands, his herds, and at last his reputation, to meet his gambling debts, until nothing was left to him but death. Towards his last years he was in absolute want. Such was his pov- erty that he made application to the Society of California Pioneers at San Francisco, February 10, 1865, for assistance, which was refused, it is said on account of his not being a member of that association; but thanks to the British Benevolent Society of that city, his old age received that modicum of comfort refused by the other institution. In 1868 he was bed-ridden from rheumatism ; he died in July, 1869, aged about seventy-six years. The only issue of his loins now alive is a son who resides in San Luis Obispo county, and some grandchildren who are in and about the village of San Ysidro, but who have little remembrance of the earliest known settler in California. Gilroy's hospitality is still gratefully remembered by many a pioneer, and his memory is perpetuated in the thriving city which bears his name. His comrade of 1813, "Deaf Jimmy," after remaining with him for some time, found his way to Sonoma and died on the rancho of Juan Martin. What
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his real name was, whether William Malcomb or Malcolm, as Mr. Lancey says, we cannot say, for neither does Julius Martin, who knew him well, nor any other person whom we have consulted, remember ever having heard his proper cognomen.
The honor of being the first American settler in Gilroy township belongs to Philip Doke, who was a block and tackle maker on board a whaler, and left his ship at Monterey. He came into the valley before the year 1822, and marrying a daughter of Mariano Castro the owner of the Las Animas grant, settled on the tract now the dairy farm of Henry Miller at Bloom- field.
The third settler was a Dane named Mathew Fellom. He landed, from a whaler, in one of the Russian settlements on the coast, either Bodega or Fort Ross, Sonoma county, in the year 1822, and finding his way to the valley in the following year, acquired a portion of the San Ysidro tract and located on the land now occupied by one of his sons, and William N. Furlong. Mr. Fellom, or Fallon, as his name is usually pronounced died in the year 1873.
It must not be gathered from the foregoing that the strange settlers were by any means isolated. In those days small villages were formed princi- pally as a protective measure. Indians were plentiful, and treacherous, wild animals were numerous and bold, therefore the ranchero and his followers built their dwellings within hail of each other, and the cluster of houses received the name of the grant on which it stood, thus was the village of San Ysidro brought into existence by Ignacio Ortega, and houses with gar- dens covering a considerable space, dotted here and there with no particular regard to the laying out of streets nor roads. Besides the immediate retain- ers of the rancheros, there were those who followed, not so much to labor in their own interest, or toil for their wealthier fellows, but that they loved the dolce far niente mode of living to be found on the haciendas of the rich. A certain amount of state was maintained, which had been imbibed from the splendor-loving cavaliers of Old Spain; the ranchero seldom moved abroad, but when he did, it was upon a handsomely caparisoned horse, with attend- ant out-riders, armed to protect their lord from attack. The earlier loca- tors brought with them cattle which in the natural sequence of things became roving bands of untamed animals that provided master and servitor with meat, while enough grain was not so much cultivated, as grown, to keep them in food. Their mode of traveling was entirely on horseback; accommodation there was none; when halting for the night an umbrageous tree was their roof, the valley, at once their stable and pasture, while, when food was required, to slay an ox or kill a deer was the matter of a few moments. Nearly all of the labor was performed by Indians, the natives of Spanish blood doing little but riding about looking after live-stock. Fan- dangoes and gambling afforded amusement to all, while Sunday was the gala
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