USA > California > Santa Clara County > History of Santa Clara County, California : including its geography, geology, topography, climatography and description > Part 35
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tion of his mill, but it was not completed until 1854. Considering the times, it was a well-constructed building, with wheels twenty feet in diam- eter, but with the slight fall of water of only twenty feet. Failing in the hands of Forbes the works passed into those of a French firm, V. Marzion & Co., who also failed; it was then rented by Pfister & Co., and others, for a term of years, who found it unprofitable, owing to the lack of power for so large a mill, through the dry season. In 1862 Samuels & Farmer, who rented the mill, constructed a new dam, and made a head of thirty feet of water. In 1866 W. H. Rogers & Co., on the purchase of the property, raised the head to sixty feet, and in lieu of the former overshot wheels, placed those known as " turbine." In 1870 the head of water was raised to two hundred feet, a power that has been found ample. When W. H. Rogers & Co. took possession of the establishment the company was made a joint stock affair, with the following incorporators: W. H. Rogers, J. Y. MeMillin, W. H. Rector, W. S. MeMurtry and C. C. Hayward. In 1869 they erected a four-set woolen mill, two stories high, covering an area of fifty by sixty feet, and finding employment for thirty persons, about one hundred feet south of the flour-mill. It was run successfully until 1872, when it was unfortunately destroyed by fire, and has not been rebuilt. It may be as well to mention that from the tail-race of the Los Gatos mill comes all the water supplied to the San Jose Water Company, the immense volume thus required being conveyed through pipes into reservoirs, until distributed throughout that city.
We have now shown that the first building, in the little town, was the mill. In 1859 there were no houses except the mill and two shanties, built for the laborers engaged on its reconstruction; in 1861-2, however, the dwelling, in which Dr. McMurtry now resides, was erected by Mr. Samuels, while there were a few shanties springing up around, but no actual rate of building can be followed, neither can we trace the names of permanent settlers, most persons, then coming to the village, being transitory employés on the mill. About 1863 a store and lumber yard was started, by W. S. McMurtry and J. Y. McMillin, on the ground now in possession of the Los Gatos Manufacturing Company; while, about this time, a school was inaugurated. We have mentioned above the establishment of the hotel. On December 8, 1864, Henry D. McCobb was appointed the first postmaster; in 1871 a church was built; and early in 1877, the trains of the South Pacific Coast Railroad, first made their appearance in the little town; since when its prosperity has been on the increase.
Los Gatos, situated ten miles from San Jose, at the mouth of a canon in the Santa Cruz mountains, is a romantic spot, and will, in the course of time, become a favorite resort for invalids and world-weary people, from the fact of its possessing a fine climate for both health and semi-tropical fruit culture.
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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
Here flourishes the " green bay tree," its pungent perfume, glossy and green foliage, and a symmetrical form, being among its many virtues. The orange, lemon, fig, almond, prunes, pomegranate, and all the more hardy varieties of fruit, grow to high perfection, while of the grapes, sunny France, herself, cannot boast of better than are grown in this locality.
Los Gatos Lodge, No. 76: A. O. U. W .- This society was organized in Los Gatos, January 11, 1879, with the following names on the original, Charter: J. T. Harris, T. S. Cleland, H. C. Black, John B. Waterman, A. T. McFarland, Homer A. Swaney, W. R. Rogers, Henry U. Ball, Thomas W. Cox, and William Parks. At the end of the thirty days' extension allowed by the Grand Lodge, the following names were added to the list of Charter Members: J. W. Miller, William Lundy, A. Lee, F Reynolds, S. Bishop, John Erickson, C. G. Erkson. The first officers elected to serve were: J. T. Harris, P. M. W .; T. S. Cleland, M. W .; H. C. Black, F .; J. B. Water- man, O .; A. F. McFarland, Recor .; H. A. Swaney, Finan .; W. R. Rogers, Recr .; H. U. Ball, G .; Thomas W. Cox, I. W .; William Parks, O. W. The lodge has at present twenty-six members on its roll ; meets at Lundy's Hall every Thursday evening; and is in a flourishing condition. The officers for, the current term, are ; E. F. Reynolds, P. M. W .; J. W. Miller, M. W. ; John Erickson, F. ; H. U. Ball, O .; T. W. Cox, Recor. ; J. Mc Whorter, Finan. ; E. Chase, Recr .; S. Dahal, G .; John McCoy, I. W .; Arthur Murphy, O. W. Trustees; William Parks, H. U. Ball, William Lundy.
Victoria Lodge, No. 328, I. O. G. T .- This lodge was instituted May 21, 1880, with the following Charter Members: W. W. Parks, W. D. Hud- son, Mrs. W. D. Hudson, D. Parks, Mrs. Clara Parks, M. Swall, J. R. Hughes, P. Peterson, Mrs. P. Peterson, Frank Reynolds, John Reynolds, E. Main, John Franklin, Miss Verena Daves, Miss Clarissa Crocker, W. Johnson, Rev. Jesse Smith, Mrs. Lena Smith, George McMurtry, S. Talbot, W. H. Spencer, Roderick Forbes, Mrs. George Senor, P. Moiles, F. Waterman, Z. Le Fevre, J. Smith, H. W. Vandervaart, Mrs. M. J. Vandervaart, F. Whitaker, O. Rodgers, Mrs. S. Andricks, Mrs. Mary Frost, F. Perkins. The original officers who served were: W. D. Hudson, W. C. T .; Mrs. H. A. Hudson, W. V. T .; Rev. Jesse Smith, W. Chaplain; F. Perkins, W. Sec. ; Miss Verena Daves, W. Asst. Sec .; John Reynolds, W. F. Sec .; Mrs. S. Andricks, W. Treas .; J. Franklin, W. M .; Miss C. Crocker, W. D. M .; F. Whitaker, W. I. G .; O. Rodgers, W. O. G .; Mrs. C. Parks, W. R. H. S .; Mrs. M. Frost, W. L. H. S. ; F. Reynolds, P. W. C. T. The lodge, though recently established is in a flourishing condition; has seventy members on its roll, and meets in, Rodgers' Hall every Wednesday evening. The present officers are: W. W. Parks, W. C. T .; Mrs. M. J. Vandervaart, W. V. T .; Mrs. E. E. Hoyt, W. Sec .; Albert Marshall, W .- Asst. Sec. ; George McMurtry, W. F. Sec .; Miss
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Jessie Smith, W. Treas .; D. Parks, W. M .; Mrs. H. A. Hudson, W. D. M .; Miss Florence Johnson, W. I. G .; Fred Baker, W. O. G .; H. W. Vander- vaart, P. W. C. T .; Rev. Jesse Smith, W. Chaplain ; Mrs. Baker, W. R. H. S .; Mrs. Lena Smith, W. L. H. S.
Los Gatos Flouring Mill .- The early history of this enterprise will be found above; we will here record what has been done by the present proprietors, W. H. Rogers & Co. In the year 1880, while Mr. Rogers, was attending the Miller's Convention, at Cincinnati, he became convinced that improvements were necessary in the working of his establish- ment, if he wished to keep pace with the times. He therefore pur- chased an entire new stock of machinery, and forwarded it to this coast. In July, 1880, the old mill was shut down, the required improvements effected, and re-opened about November 1st of the same year. The mill, as it stands, is the original building erected by James Alexander Forbes ; is four full stories in height, and covers an area of fifty by eighty feet. In 1880, a store-room building, thirty by eighty feet, with two full stories was added, having a capacity of five thousand barr els of flour and twenty thou- sand bags of wheat. The most improved machinery for making gran- ulated flour was adopted, consisting of eight runs of the Milwaukee Mid- dlings Millstone Company's mills; five other runs of stone; three sets of the Downton chill iron rolls; eighteen flour bolts; two bran dusters; six mid- dlings' purifiers; twenty-eight sets of elevators, which include large receiving and shipping elevators; two smut machines; one large wheat brush: four wheat graders and separators; and all the other machinery necessary for a complete new process mill, the whole of which was erected under the per- sonal supervision of George B. Smith, of the mill firm of Smith Brothers, of Milwaukee, who came to California for this especial purpose. The Los Gatos mill has been run, from that time to the present, with entire satisfac- tion to customers and stockholders, and with the very best results. Its capacity is two hundred barrels of flour per day, besides a large amount of barley and feed. A side track runs from the main line of the South Pacific Coast Railroad to the mill, placing it in direct communication with all points on that line.
Lyndon Hall .- This Hall was built in the Fall of 1878, by John W. Lyndon, and is situated next to the Los Gatos Hotel. It is eighty feet in length and thirty-two in width, fitted with a stage at the northern end, and has a seating capacity of from six to seven hundred.
Los Gatos Hotel .- This establishment may be said to have had its ineip- ience in a cottage which stood a short distance above the railroad depot, owned by H. D. McCobb, who, in 1868, sold it to J. W. Lyndon, who dis- posed of it to Morgan Covell; it then passed into the hands of Jacob Rich,
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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
and, in 1872, was re-purchased by Mr. Lyndon, who, in 1878, leased it to James J. Eddy. On the arrival of the railroad, in 1878, it was moved to its present position opposite the depot, and considerable additions made to it. It now contains nineteen rooms, including parlor, dining-room, etc., the charges being moderate.
The Davis & Crowell Lime Quarry .- In the month of March, 1879, G. Guerinot disposed of a quarter-section of land in the hills, about one mile to the east of Los Gotos, to Edward Skuse, who opened a quarry thereon, but, owing to financial difficulties, in February, 1880, he sold the property to Davis & Crowell, the present owners. The kiln has a capacity of sixty barrels per diem, and the entire works are under the superintendence of S. S. Holmes.
The Remillard Lime Quarry .- These works are situated on the hills about one mile south of Los Gatos, on land owned by Frank Veiser, who leased, in March, 1880, to Peter Humel, for a term of six years. In the fol- lowing May, he transferred his lease to the Remillard Brick Company, who had the term extended to ten years. Up to the present time, about eight hundred barrels of lime have been taken out of the quarry, under the super- vision of Peter Humel, the Superintendent.
SARATOGA .- In or about the year 1849-50 there took up a quarter-section of land, which included the site of the village of Saratoga, one Martin Mc- Carthy. In the year 1851 he laid out a town, gave it the name of Mccarthys- ville, and built the first house there, that in which his widow now resides. The next settlers to come to the village were William Haun and his wife, and his father-in-law, John Whisman. In the Winter of 1851-2 they com- menced the erection of a water-power flour-mill on the site of the Saratoga Paper Mill, and the residence in which now lives John Maclay. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1864. The next house to go up was that of Ashbury Shepard, a portion of which is now used as the Temperance Hotel, and in the same year, 1853, the residence now of Mrs. Haun, was erected by a man named Beckwith. At this period Washburn & Pipkins had a store in the old house next door to Frank Whipple's saloon, while Henry Jarboe had then opened the first blacksmith's shop, and on November 2, 1855, Levi Millard was appointed postmaster for McCarthysville and Bank Mills.
In the month of December, 1863, a re-survey of the town site was made by C. T. Healy and filed in the office of the County Recorder, which shows an addition to the original limits of three blocks of twelve lots each, three of six, one of seven, eight and nine lots respectively, while names were given to the streets, such as Lumber, Oak, and St. Charles ; Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth.
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Near to the village is situated the Congress Springs, one of the most pop- ular resort in the State, the waters being equally beneficial at all seasons of the year. Congress Hall was opened June 16, 1866, was originally fifty feet square, and was established as a Summer resort by such leading capital- ists as D. O. Mills, A. Hayward, A. J. Easton, E. W. Knight, O. F. Griffin, Louis McLane, John O. Earl, and George R. Spinney. The present length of the building is two hundred and twenty-five feet, and contains sixty-three well ventilated rooms. A more extended notice of this establishment, now conducted and owned by Lewis A. Sage, will be found on page 39 of this work.
In Saratoga are situated the Saratoga Paper Mill, and Caledonia Paste- board Mills, histories of which will be found below.
Located as Saratoga is on the foot-hills, the views from some points are magnificent. The mountains rise in irregular cones, one close upon another ; some bold, others covered with timber or brush wood, and all running down into softly undulating hills dotted with evergreen and majestic live-oaks, which shelter many a neat homestead. To the east the mountains rise sharp and clear into the infinite blue of the cloudless sky; deep shadows darken the many cañons and defiles ; below, extending to the Bay of San Francisco, lies the gorgeous Santa Clara valley, while off to the right the range of the Contra Costa is detected in the dim distance, but nearer are the blue peaks of Mount Hamilton, grander than the rest, but not too grand for its being the site of the finest astronomical observatory in the world.
Saratoga Paper Mill .- This enterprise was established in the year 1868, by E. T. and W. T. King, who, shortly after, took A. Pfister into partnership, and the firm became known as E. T. King & Co. In 1874 the establishment was amalgamated with the Lick Mills property, when Blake, Robbins & Co., of San Francisco, were taken into the firm, the association converted into a joint stock company, and both concerns conducted, until 1878, as the Saratoga and Lick Mills Paper Manufacturing Company. In 1878, A. D. Remington, of the Remington Paper Company, Watertown, New York, pur- chased, and segregated the Lick property, and shortly after, the mill now under notice was leased to E. T. King, under whose management it now is. The capacity is about two and one-half tons daily ; the power used is steam; while there is an annual comsumption of two thousand cords of wood, and twelve hundred tons of straw.
Caledonia Pasteboard Mills .- This ,establishment was erected about the year 1868, by Peter Somerville, who conducted it until the Summer of 1878, when he assigned it to his brother. In January, 1879, the property was leased for a year by Brown Brothers, who purchased it in January, 1880, and who now own the enterprise. When they took possession the quality
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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
of the manufacture had much deteriorated, but by earnest labor, and careful workmanship, so good a business has been built up that the premises are too small, and a removal to more ample quarters in Santa Cruz county is con- templated.
LEXINGTON .- This is a quiet hamlet situated about two miles above Los Gatos, in the Santa Cruz range of mountains. It is unnecessary to say more of it than that at one time it had a considerable lumber trade. Some three- and-twenty years ago Roork & Herrick constructed a saw-mill nearly four miles above the village, which in 1859 was reconstructed by Dr. W. S. Mc- Murtey, now of Los Gatos. When this gentlemen went to reside there, among the residents were S. N. Johnson, Scott Hall, James Kennedy, the toll-keeper on the Santa Cruz turnpike, while R. S. Swain conducted a small hotel, and a man named Josephs had a store. Lexington is now a voting precinct, but otherwise has no prominence.
ALMA .- This is a hamlet on Los Gatos creek consisting of only a few houses, and bearing no importance of any kind.
WRIGHT'S STATION .- This is a depot on the narrow guage line of the South Pacific Coast Railroad, and is principally composed of the cottages of their workmen, and the necessary shops.
A
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SAN JOSÉ TOWNSHIP.
SAN JOSÉ TOWNSHIP AND CITY.
IN this chapter of our history of Santa Clara county we have been per force obliged to adopt a different method from that pursued in the annals of the other townships, for the population is so large in San Jose that it would have been next to impossible to follow the residents as they arrived and set- tled in so densely crowded a district. With this simple observation we leave our researches in the hands of the reader.
During the Gubernational regime of Don Felipe de Neve, which we have already shown commenced in December, 1774, and closed September, 1782, reports upon the topography, character and condition of Upper Cali- fornia, and what situations were most suitable for establishments were frequently made to His Most Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain, through the Viceroy in Mexico. The country from south to north, from San Diego to the Bay of San Francisco, then the Dan and Beersheba of our State, was carefully examined, and permission sought to locate two pueblos or towns, viz .: that traet of land, now Los Angeles, which lies contiguous to the river La Portineula, one hundred and twenty-six miles from San Diego and six from the Mission of San Gabriel; and also, that tract on the margin of the river Guadalupe, seventy-eight miles from the presidio of Monterey forty- eight from that of San Francisco, and two miles and a quarter from the Mission of Santa Clara. The dispatch embodying these measures bore date June 3, 1777, but so long was the Governor in receiving the awaited reply, owing chiefly to the distance which separated him from the City of Mexico, that he took the responsibility upon his own shoulders, and directed Don José Moraga, the Lieutenant commanding the presidio of San Francisco,. to detach from garrison duty there nine soldiers of known agricultural skill, and two settlers, with three others obtained for that specific purpose, and with them proceed to form a settlement on the banks of the Guadalupe. On November 29, Anno Domini 1777, this little band planted themselves on the margin of that stream, about a mile and a quarter north of the center of the present city, dubbed their camp a pueblo, and gave to it the name of San José de Guadalupe, after the holy Saint Joseph.
The information hereinbefore given is derived chiefly from Mr. Hall's " His- tory of San Jose; " let us see what an older authority has to say in regard to the founding of the Peublo de San José de Guadalupe: In the " Noticias de Nueva California " by the Rev. Father Palou, among the manuscript archives
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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
of the City of Mexico, we are distinctly told that the pueblo was founded November 7, 1777, and that the persons taking possession, made their set- tlement in the name of his Majesty, making out the square for the erection of the houses, distributing the solares (house-lots) and measuring to each settler a piece of ground for the sowing of a fanega of maize (two hundred varas by four hundred,) and for beans and other vegetables. The Regula- tion for the Government of the Provinces made by Governor Neve, at Monte- rey, June 1, 1779, and approved by the King, by Royal Order, October 24, 1781, as is hereafter shown, allowed to each settler four lots of two hundred varas square, besides their house-lot, and was acted upon by the Commissioner -but we must not anticipate.
On April 15, 1778, Governor Neve communicated his step to the Viceroy, who, in reply dated July 22d of the same year, fully approved the action taken, and warmly commended the Governor for his share in the affair. As in duty bound the Viceroy reported the measure to the Central Government, a full approval being received by letter bearing date March 6, 1779, wherein His Majesty expressed his supreme satisfaction at the action of Felipe de Neve, who was charged to use ever caution to the end that the new pueblo be an assistance and not a hindrance to the neighboring Mission of Santa Clara.
The little company of pioneers were early left to their own devices for the Lieutenant had returned to his military duties at San Francisco. It is not hard to picture their solitude. True the same genial sun that had warmed them in their aimless youth now shown upon the budding of a useful man- hood; the same moon which caused the merry shadows to gambol around their Mexican homes, now lent her pure rays to illuminate their lonely dwellings; and surely these are the same stars that playfully twinkled over their infantile diversions and now brighten their monotonous tedium; there- fore rather than permit the canker worm of care to ingraft itself upon their minds, they were up and doing, and first commenced a desultory kind of cultivation, and so went on until the sway of Governor Neve had ceased and Don Pedro Fages was appointed in September, 1782.
On the 24th December, of that year, Lieutenant Moraga, who, it would appear, is intimately connected with the earliest history of this city, was appointed a Commissioner to proceed to San José to parcel out the land to the nine founders, so that the possessions should be uniform and regular, and that a proper line of demarcation should be introduced between vacant lands, common lands for pasturage, vacant suburbs for building, and wood lands. This duty Moraga performed in the following manner, according to his official report, dated, September 1, 1783, a document bearing his own, as well as the signature of the two assisting witnesses, whom he was ordered to appoint, Felipe Tapia and Juan José Peralta: On May 13th, of that year, he nominated
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the witnesses to office, which was duly accepted, and then on the following day, the 14th, he called the nine founders and the assisting witnesses to appear before him, when, in his company, the lands to be distributed were visited, and in the presence of all, the division of each was given, as under: First .- To Ignacio Archuleta he gave a house-lot, thirty varas square, adjoining, on one side, that on which stood the Ayuntamiento, or House of the Town Council, and on the other, the lot of Manuel Gonzales, as well as two hundred varas square (comprised in four suertes, or out-lots, two watered, and two dry), of cultivable lands, all of which were irrigable, and possession given to the said Archuleta. Second .- On the 15th, he gave the same amount of land to Manuel Gonzales, whose suertes were bounded by those of José Tiburcio Vasquez, Bernado Rosales, Claudio Alvires, and Sebastian Alvitre, the limits of his house-lot being that of Archuleta, on the one side, and Vasquez on the other. Third .- He gave a like quantity of land, on the same day, to José Tiburcio Vasquez, the tillable land thus apportioned being bounded by those of Francisco Avila, Bernado Rosales, Manuel Gonzales, and Manuel Amesquita. Fourth .- May the 16th, he assigned to Manuel Amesquita a house-lot bounded on one side by that of José Tiburcio Vas- quez, and on the other, by that of Antonio Romero; that he also gave him four suertes, bounded on one side by those of Claudio Alvires, and on the other by the lands of Jose Tiburcio Vasquez. Fifth .- The next day An- tonio Romero received a house-lot, bounded on one side by that of Manuel Amesquita, and on the other by that of Bernado Rosales, also four out-lots bounded by those of José Tiburcio Vasquez and Francisco Avila. Si.cth .- That on the same day he gave a solar (house-lot) to Bernado Rosales, bounded by that of Antonio Romero on one side, and on the other, by that of Francisco Avila; four suertes were also given, their lim- its being the lands of Francisco Avila, and Manuel Gonzales. Seventh .- To Francisco Avila, he apportioned, on the 18th, a house-lot, bounded on the one side by the solar of the Ayuntamiento, and on the other by that of Sebas- tian Alvitre; also four suertes, bounded by those of Jose Tiburcio Vasquez, Atonio Romero, and Bernado Rosales. Eighth .- That, on the same day, he assigned to Sebastian Alvitre, a solar, bounded on one side by that of Francisco Avila, and on the other by that of Claudio Alvires; as well as four out-lots adjoining those of Bernado Rosales, Claudio' Alvires, and Manuel Gonzales. Ninth .- And that, likewise on this date, he gave to Claudio Alvires, a house-lot, bounded by that of Sebastian; also, four out-lots, having as their boundaries, the parcels of lands allotted to Sebastian Alvitre and Bernado Rosales. As possession was given to each new-fledged land-owner, he was made the recipient of a branding-iron to mark his cattle ; he also received a title to each session; and was instructed to surround his house-lot with an alley ten varas wide; and around each suerte, or out-lot, one of four varas.
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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
ESTADO QUE MANIFESTA LAS SUERTES DE TIEND. REPARTEDS. A LOS POBLADO. DEL PUEBLO S'N JOSEF CON EXPRESION DE LAS QUE A CADA UNO CORYEPORDERY Y SON DE LA DONINTAS RL. POR COSTADE; PARA INFORME DE SEÑOR GOV'R ASAVER.
+
PUEBLO.
Realengo
De Manuel Amesquita
De Yden Amesquita
Realengo
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