History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 118

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928

USA > California > Santa Clara County > History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 118

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Apropos of the celebration, Father Ricard received a delegation sent by aeroplane from the San Fran- 35

cisco Call, and gave to them a message for the great body of his friends throughout California. In this, transmitted, with photographs of the events of the day, by flying machine to the Call's office in the Bay city, he said: "Fifty years ago I joined the Jesuits because I knew that they cultivated sanctity, loved learning and science. During my stay with them I have been happy as a lark, and shall ever be grateful to a kind Providence for the blessings of my vocation. Availing myself of this opportunity, I shall thank all those who have appreciated my efforts in harmonizing the noble science of astronomy to something practical on behalf of Coast navigation, and the general farm- ing and industrial interests of California and the whole country. Your humble servant had, with this end in view, to knock down a few antiquated ideas in regard to sun-spots, and introduce new ones. My warmest thanks to Professor See, Mare Island Ob- servatory; to the wise director of the students' ob-

servatory, University of California; to Dr. W. W. Campbell of the Lick Observatory, for valuable criti- cism and encouragement; to Prof. Walter Adams and Prof. G. E. Hale of the Mt. Wilson Observatory, for new lore about sun-spots; to Prof. Alex. McAdie of Harvard, to Messrs. Beals and Willson, Weather Bureau at San Francisco, and to R. F. Stupart, direc- tor of the Canadian Meteorological Service."

Father Ricard has attained much distinction on account of his predictions in regard to the weather, verifications of his forecasts having been published month after month. Following is given the May, 1922, schedule of predictions, published the previous month :

May 1, still under the previous disturbance, but rather fair. A strong high pressure wave hastening to clear the sky.

May 2, 3, 4, fair.

May 4, a rather severe storm will invade the North- west, be reinforced on the fifth and move to the Southeastward over Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Ari- zona, with some threat in California and little or no chance for rain.

May 6, a smart cool wave driving the storm away, continued on the seventh. (Cool wave is here synony- mous with high pressure area.)

May 8, 10, a moderate depression passing over the Canadian Northwest, affecting portions of the North Pacific States and barely touching California, owing to the resistance of high pressures on the ninth. Nearly fair on the eleventh, fair on the twelfth and thirteenth.

May 14, an unually severe storm will arrive from the North Pacific ocean, land over British Columbia and Washington, slur over Oregon and, on the fif- teenth, make it cloudy or partly so in parts of Cali- fornia, even as far as Tehachapi. A high pressure area will at the same time settle on the Southern side of the low and arrest its Southward motion.

May 17, fair here, cloudy over Northern California and beyond to the Northwestward and Eastward.

May 18, 19, 20, another accumulating disturbance of some intensity will run over the North Pacific States, producing general cloudiness, promising some rain over there, with little change of reaching serene California. High pressures beginning to enter on the eighteenth.

746

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

May 21, 22, diminishing cloudiness from here to Vancouver. Clear or partly cloudy in Southern Cali- fornia.

May 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, high pressure dominant, making it fair and increasingly warm from San Diego to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. May 27, late in the day, a minor disturbance (arca of moderately low barometer) will reach British Columbia and run Eastward, with little or no effect in California, be- yond some transient cloudiness on the twenty-eighth, when a high pressure will take possession.

May 31, another minor depression of no conse- quence in these parts, except a few clouds.

June 3, 4, bad weather over North Pacific States; way open down the Coast; possibly some rain in Cali- fornia, Northern and Southern.

Conclusions :-

1. The Centennial Celebration at Santa Clara will be held without any serious meteorological visitation.

2. The Sacramento Fair, in gay attire, will gladly run its course unmolested.

EDWARD CARPENTER ELLET .- Prominent among the various distinguished members of the fa- mous Ellet family of American patriots may be in- cluded Edward Carpenter Ellet of Mayfield, the father of Alfred W. Ellet, vice-president, and Charles Ellet, cashier of The Stanford Bank at Palo Alto and May- field. He is a son of the late Brig .- Gen Alfred Washington Ellet of Civil War fame. The Ellet family originates from French Huguenot and Quaker stock and goes back to the days of William Penn. This family is closely related to, and descended from, two noted pioneer Quaker families of Pennsylvania, lamely that of Thomas Lloyd and Samuel Carpenter, both of whom were intimately connected with the earliest Colonial history of Penn's Woodland The Lloyd family is one of the most ancient and sub- stantial families of Great Britain, having a genealogy which reaches back to William the Conqueror and even to Charlemagne. Thomas Lloyd, the progenitor of the Lloyd family in America, served many years as Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania. He was the son of Charles Lloyd, a gentleman of rank and fortune and of ancient family and estate called "Dolobran" in Montgomeryshire, in North Wales. He grew up in Wales and was educated at Oxford and is repre- sented as possessing superior attainments joined with great benevolence and activity of character. He died in Philadelphia in 1694, aged fifty-four years. The historian. Watson, in his Annals of Philadelphia, says: "Having established his colony on the broad principles of charity and constitutional freedom, he (Penn) left his executive power in the hands of the Council under the Presidency of Thomas Lloyd, an eminent Quaker. Penn was absent about fifteen years. Thomas Lloyd joined the Society of Friends in 1662 and became a highly useful and eminent member thereof. He arrived in Pennsylvania in 1683 and died July 10, 1694, honored by all who knew him."

The second noted progenitor of the family was Samuel Carpenter, who was also a Quaker, a con- temporary of, and a co-worker with, Penn. He was born in 1650 in England, and joined Penn in Phila- delphia in 1682; became a great merchant and very prominent in political ways and died in 1714, being then the treasurer of the province. Of him Watson, the historian says: " The name of Samuel Carpenter 13 connected with everything of a public nature in the

annals of Pennsylvania. I have seen his name at every turn in searching the old records. He was the Stephen Girard of his day in wealth, and the William Sansom inthe improvements he suggested and edi- fices which he built."

Samuel Carpenter settled near the present site of Salem, N. J. and from the union of his daughter io one Charles Ellet, who was of French Huguenot extraction, was born another Charles Ellet. He was a man of sterling quality and married Miss Mary Israel, the daughter of Israel Israel, a Philadelphian of wealth, political and social standing, who was noted in his day as a patriot, and who did much as a member of the "Committee of Safety" to establish American Independence. From this union sprang the great Ellet family of the Mississippi River Ram Fleet and Marine Brigade which attained undying fame during the course of the Civil War. Mary Ellet was also a patriot, and her wonderful character is truthfully and eloquently set forth in the following extract from an article by John W. Forney, pub- lished in the Philadelphia Press: "Her familiarity with American history for seventy-five years, includ- ing many of the characters who figured in and after the Revolution -- her patriotic ancestors and descen- dants-her own passionate love of country inherited from one and transmitted to the other-her spotless reputation-entitles her, I think, more than any other of her sex, to the appellation of the American Cor- nelia. In writing of her, 1 cherish no purpose of vain eulogy-I write solely to preserve the record of a remarkable life, that it may not be lost among men, and to present an example which every Amer- ican woman may study with pleasure and with pro- fit. Rarely has there been such a resemblance be- tween two persons as between the illustrous Roman matron and Mary Ellet-both renowned for purity of character, vigorous intellect, and a virtuous am- bition. Their love of country was supreme."

Charles and Mary Ellet became the parents of six sons, four of whom grew to manhood and all of whom gained distinction and prominence, namely, Charles Ellet, Jr, the famous engineer and inventor who or- iginated the Naval Ram and built and commanded the Mississippi River Ram Fleet; John I. Ellet, the pio- ncer of the West, well known to the early history of San Francisco and San Jose; Dr. Edward Carpen- ter Ellet, a well known physician at Bunker Hill, 111 .; and Brig. Gen. Alfred Washington Ellet, who was the father of the subject of the sketch.

Charles Ellet, Jr., the famous engineer, naval genius and hero, was born in Bucks County, Pa., January 1, 1810, and although he grew up on a farm, his inclinations led him to mathematics and engi- neering pursuits. After helping to build the Chesa- peake & Ohio Canal, he was able to visit Europe for study, and completed his education in the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, after which he became an engineer on the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, then on the Erie, and subsequently was chief engineer of the James & Kanawha Canal. In 1842 he planned and built the first wire suspension bridge in this country, it being a foot bridge, stringing it across the Schuylkill River at Philadelphia. He designed and built the first suspension bridge across the Niag- ara River below the falls in 1847. As a matter of in- terest and as a showing of his bold fearlessness, it may be here related that he drove a team or a carriage with

Ed to real-

749

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

his daughter, Mary Virginia Ellet, who is now Mrs. Mary Virginia Ellet Cabell of Washington, D. C., in the seat behind him across this bridge without any side railing, swaying with every footstep, over the surging waters of the rapids below, from Canada to the United States, while thousands of terrified spectators who were skeptical as to the safety of the bridge, held their breaths in silent horror. Mrs. Mary Virginia Ellet Cabell, formerly of Norwood, Va., but now of Washington, D. C, is, and for about a quarter of a century last past, has been President Presiding of the Daughters of the American Revo- lution, a position of honor which no one else has ever leld. She is an own cousin of Ex-Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, and of United States Sena- tor John Daniels of Virginia.

Among the many important engineering works planned and successfully consummated by Charles Ellet was the laying out of the temporary route of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad across the Cumber- land Mountains, which was used while the great tunnel was being made.

Charles Ellet, Jr., has the particular distinction of being the first to advocate a definite plan for the use of steam rams, and suggested a plan to the Rus- sian government by which the allied fleet before Sebastopol might be destroyed. At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, he became interested in military matters and devoted much attention to the use of rams in naval warfare. He sent a plan for cutting off the Confederate Army at Manassas to General McClellan, who rejected it, and Ellet then wrote two pamphlets censuring McClellan's mode of conducting the campaign. He urged upon the Gov- ernment the construction of steam rams, for use on the large rivers of the West, and after his plans had been rejected by the Navy Department, he presented them in person to the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, by whom they were approved, the rebels already having taken advantage of his ideas, in the construction of the Merrimac and several other rams of the coast. He was then commissioned Colonel ot the Staff of Engineers, and converted several pow- erful light-draft steamers on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers into rams. In his letter to Charles El- let, Jr., dated April 26, 1862, Secretary Stanton made it plain that he wanted Ellet to have a high legal authority and an independent command over the Ram Fleet. The rank of "Colonel of Staff" was the high- est he could bestow without the concurrent action of the Senate, which would have caused delay, else his commission would no doubt have been of greater dig- nity. As it was, Mr. Stanton made it clear that his command should be concurrent with, and not under, the Naval Commander. Thus the Ram Fleet and the Marine Brigade acted in closest cooperation with the Army and was the only independent command on the side of the Union forces, reporting direct to the Secretary of War. With the fleet of rams thus con- structed, he engaged in the naval battle off Mem- phis on June 6, 1862, and sunk and disabled the entire fleet of Confederate vessels except the ram known as the General Van Dorn, which escaped up the river. During the battle, Ellet was struck above the knee by a pistol-ball, and died from the effects of his wound.

Among his most noteworthy labors, says Apple- ton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, was his investigation of the hydraulics of the Ohio and Mis-

sissippi rivers, the results of which were printed by the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. He also published at Philadelphia, as early as 1855, a treatise on "Coast and IIarbor Defences, or the Substitution of Steam Battering-Rams for Ships of War." Cur- iously enough, his idea of the battering-ram in naval warfare has been adopted by every nation in the world-every cruiser, battleship and fighting craft afloat today is built with a powerful ram-like prow, and can be used as a ram in the destruction of an enemy craft whenever opportunity presents. But the universal adoption of this principle proves the great- ness of his mind and this idea.

John 1. Ellet, a brother of Charles Ellet, Jr., settled in San Mateo County as one of its path- breakers, in 1853, and named the town Belmont after the two bell-shaped mounds to be found there; he built the old Belmont Hotel, which is still stand- ing, shipping the lumber for it around the Horn in 1853. He afterwards moved to San Jose. He had two sons, John A. and Richard, and they taught in the College at Santa Clara, until the Civil War broke cut Then they joined the famous California 100, and were later transferred to the Ram Fleet. John I. Ellet left California in 1865, never to return to the Golden State, with whose development he had had an interesting participation. He arrived in New York harbor on the day when Lincoln was assassinated.

Charles Rivers Ellet, a son of the preceding Charles Ellet, Jr., was engaged at the outbreak of the Civil War in studying medicine, and he soon became as- sistant surgeon in one of the military hospitals. In 1862 he commanded one of his father's rams in the celebrated action at Memphis. After his father's death, on the organization of the Mississippi Marine brigade by his uncle, Alfred Washington Ellet, he was appointed Colonel and when his uncle was com- missioned brigadier-general, Col. Charles Rivers El- let was placed in command of the Ram Fleet. Choos- ing the ram Queen of the West as his flagship, he made many daring expeditions on the Mississippi, and succeeded in running the Confederate batteries at Vicksburg after ramming the City of Vicksburg under Vicksburg's batteries, in a most desperate and spec- tacular dash. As he was cruising between that stronghold and Fort Hudson, on February 10, 1863, he made an expedition up the Red River and captured the Confederate steamer Era and a number of other vessels, and destroyed many stores of provisions. After descending the river successfully, a traitorous pilot ran his vessel aground, placing her in such a difficult position that she was disabled by the fire fiom the Confederate fort, and fell into the hands of the enemy. Colonel Ellet would have blown up or burned her rather than allow her to fall into the hands of the enemy had it not been for the fact that one of his trusted officers and a personal friend was left lying on the deck mortally wounded from a musket- ball, and for that reason the noted fighting craft was abandoned. Colonel Ellet, however, true to the tra- ditions of a family as renowned for its valor as for its scientific ingenuity, made his escape by putting off boldly on a bale of cotton, from which he was res- cued by the Union De Soto, under his command. During the siege of Vicksburg and afterward, he rendered most valuable assistance to General Grant, which was later duly recognized in official despatches, in keeping open his communications; but in the per-

750

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

formance of this duty his health failed, owing to the climate, and he died suddenly in Illinois, to which State he had retired for a brief rest.

Alfred Washington Ellet was born on October 11, 1820, on his father's farm in Bucks County, Pa., on the banks of the Delaware, the youngest of six stalwart sons, and next to the youngest of a vig- orous family of fourteen children. In 1824, his father's family removed to Philadelphia, where Alfred entered the city schools; but at the age of sixteen, a sudden change in health necessitated his abandoning further educational advantages, and he took to agricultural pursuits. He engaged in farming near Bunker Hill, ill., about twenty-five miles northeast of St. Louis. This rough, out-of-door experience developed in him a gigantic physique, and when he came to man- hood's estate, he was six feet, two and one-half inches tall, and strong and enduring in proportion to his commanding size. He also developed temperate hab- its, a strong, moral character, and an uncompromis- ing sense of justice and right. By hard, intelligent industry, he established a home both for himself and l:is aged, widowed mother, in whose company on the streets of Bunker Hill his fellow-citizens often saw him-"his manner toward her ever that of a youthful and ardent lover toward his intended bride."

The humiliating defeat of the Union forces at Bull Run, so near their old home, fired Alfred Ellet's patriotic soul; and in July, 1861, as captain of a com- pany, raised by himself in and around Bunker Hill, he entered the service of his country, at the Arsenal in St. Louis, at the head of Company I, Ninth Missouri Volunteer Infantry. This entire regiment was com- posed of Illinois men, who had enlisted with the ex- pectation of being mustered into an Illinois regiment, under President Lincoln's call for 75,000 volunteers; but the quota of the State was filled about a week be- fore they were ready for muster, and so they were at first accredited to Missouri, although they afterward be- came the Fifty-ninth Illinois Infantry. Captain Ellet participated in the early and memorable Missouri cam- paigns, under General John C. Fremont and General S. R. Curtis, and was with his regiment in the Battle of Pea Ridge. While in camp, a few weeks later, he received an order to report to his brother, Colonel of Staff Charles Ellet, Jr., of ram flect fame, and was made second in command of the Mississippi River Ram Fleet, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. As commander of that fleet, after his brother's death, his career was brilliant; and in recognition of his distin- guished service on the Mississippi, the War Depart- ment determined to enlarge his command, and on November 1, 1862, promoted him to the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers and placed him in charge of both the Ram Flect and the Marine Brigade. This new command of the Mississippi River Marine Brigade included the rams which did such effective service and helped to make the thrilling record of high patriotic endeavor and accomplishment which has been told in detail in the "History of the Ram Fleet and the Mississippi River Marine Brigade in the War for the Union: The Story of the Ellets and Their Men,"-a handsome, compendious volume giv- ing the portraits and biographies of the famous par- ticipants. In the ready adaptation of himself to the duties of both these commands, Brigadier-General Ellet's remarkable resourcefulness of mind amazed even his most intimate friends. He at once mastered

the knowledge of river-craft and navigation, and so well managed the affairs of the rams that he was able to maintain their equipment and high standard of efficiency, and later organize and equip the brig- ade. While not a military tactician, he gathered about him those who were; and being quick to see advantageous positions, he inspired everyone with his unquestioned courage and skill. He was a su- perb horseman, in action like a fierce lion stirred up in his lair, and he maintained the most admirable per- sonal bearing amid appalling perils. He was exact- ing of subordinates, although generous and just in recognition of service by inferiors, and unflinching in his attitude toward the enemy. He ordered the burn- ing of Austin, Miss., on May 24, 1863, in retaliation for information furnished by citizens to Confederates ct General Chalmers' command, which enabled the latter to fire upon a Federal transport; and although, like so many of the greatest Americans, he could not escape envy and detraction, his eminent career has given him a position in the annals of his country where his name is imperishable. He died in Kansas in 1895. In the National Cemetery at Vicksburg. Miss., stands a bronze bust of him erected by the Government as a tribute to his valorous services.

The Mississippi Ram Fleet and Marine Brigade was the only independent volunteer command in the service. It was a part of the army and not of the navy, and as such was amenable directly to the Sec- retary of War, and in consequence every commis- sioned officer in it was appointed directly by the President and the Secretary of War instead of the governors of the states Both the fleet and the brig- ade acted in closest cooperation under the command of Brigadier-General Alfred W. Ellet, and though subjected to the jealousies of certain naval command- ers, it was a most effective force in clearing the Mis- sissippi River, and thus played a very important part in winning the war for the Union. The outstanding feature of its accomplishments was due to the bold intrepidity of its commanding general, who, in point of fearless courage, had no superior. Another thing which contributed to his success, was the fact that he was heart and soul in the cause against slavery and for the preservation of the Union. At times General Ellet seemed to act rashly; but his rashness was a failing which leaned to virtue. He was a man ct strong moral conviction and character. After the war, as a private citizen in the state of Kansas, he espoused the cause of prohibition with the same zeal with which he had opposed slavery, entered person- ally into the state campaign and played a very im- portant part in making Kansas a prohibition state.

Edward Carpenter Ellet, the subject of this sketch, who is Brigadier-General Alfred Washington El- let's oldest son, was born in Bunker Hill, Ill., on September 17, 1845, and although springing from a family never wanting in its encouragement of the Federal Government, he deemed it necessary to run away from home when the War broke out, and en- listed on July 15, 1861, under President Lincoln's first call for volunteers, being mustered into service on July 25, 1861, in Company F, Seventh Illinois Regiment at the youthful age of fifteen years and ten months, being the first one of the Ellet family to enlist. After marching on Cape Girardeau under General Benjamin E. Prentiss, he was transferred, upon request of his father, to Company I, Ninth

751

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Missouri Regiment and he remained with that regi- ment until the War Department ordered Captain A. W. Ellet to report to Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr., at New Albany, Ind, with 100 picked men for special and hazardous service. This was after the Battle of Pea Ridge, in which Edward C. Ellet had also participated, and after the regiment had marched to Cross Timbers on the eastern edge of Arkansas; and with Lieut .- Col. A. W. Ellet, Edward C. Ellet, as one of the one hundred chosen, started to join the then rapidly organizing Mississippi Ram Fleet. At New Albany, he was appointed aide on Col. Ellet's staff, and carried orders to the river boats then be- ing transformed into steam rams. He sailed with the Ram Fleet to Fort Pillow, then undergoing its fifty-two days of bombardment, and he was one of a small party who, a week or so after his arrival, planted the Stars and Stripes on that famous Con- federate fort after its fall.

The Ram Fleet then took the lead, and moved down the river to Memphis, where the famous naval battle was fought on June 6, 1862, and the Rebel fleet was destroyed, the Union Ram Fleet suffering the loss of its gallant commander, Col. Charles El- let, Jr., as narrated above. Edward C. Ellet, noted already as a dead-shot, was a sharp-shooter on the flagship, Queen of the West. After the fall of Mem- phis, the Ram Fleet moved down the river to Vicks- burg, pluckily passing the river batteries with only bales of cotton to protect their ship's boilers. While in Memphis, the youthful Edward C. Ellet was one of the four men who, under the leadership of Charles Rivers Ellet, pushed through the raging mob then surging the streets of Memphis to the postoffice build- ing, and there, while stoned and fired upon by the mob below, tore down the rebel banner, and placed Old Glory on the staff instead, and without escort safely returned to the Union boats. At Vicksburg, the rams, then under the leadership of Lieutenant- Colonel Alfred W. Ellet, found themselves alone in a hostile country, and learning that Admiral Farra- gut was with his flagship, the Hartford, and other naval craft below Vicksburg, Lieutenant-Colonel Ellet decided to communicate with him, so he called for volunteers to don citizens' clothes and steal their way across the well-patrolled point of land. Instantly his son Edward and three others stepped forward and volunteered for the hazardous journey, which they successfully made, after twice being almost cap- tured and after having been arrested by Admiral Porter's command, which suspected them of being spies for the reason that they resolutely refused to deliver their message to Admiral Porter, since they had strict orders to deliver it to Admiral Farragut in person. Having thus at the risk of their lives de- livered their message to Admiral Farragut in person, they were treated by the great Farragut with the utmost consideration, and were sent back up the river with dispatches under an escort of one hundred marines. Edward C. Ellet participated in the siege of Vicksburg, where his command erected a defense and battery, which successfully bombarded the city.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 118

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846- Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1928

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928