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 128

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 128

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William Stewart grew up in Scotland until his fourteenth year; and then he decided to come to America, doubtless largely on account of James Stewart, one of two older brothers already in the United States, who had served in the Union Army, and after that had come to Nevada. In April, 1870,

William reached Elko, Nev., although he had arrived at Castle Garden, in New York, in July, 1869, after a voyage on one of the old Anchor Liners running out of Glasgow; his mother had died in Scotland two years before, and he had said good-bye to his father, relatives and friends. While in the East, he went to Washington, D. C., to see the other elder brother. Mungo Stewart, who was a stonecutter by occupation and was working on the Capitol. He stayed in Washington that fall and winter, and the following spring set out for Nevada. He has thus made his way in the world since he was fourteen.

He started to work in a livery stable, then became a swamper, and having gained his employer's confi- dence, he was advanced to seventy-five dollars per month, and although a mere boy, received the highest wages paid to the best of the men. He soon be- came a teamster, and then he was getting $125 per month and his board. He worked there for four years, and all this time he saved his money. The railroad was then built, so he went to Alpha and handled gen- eral merchandise from Alpha to Eureka with an eight- een-mule team. When the railroad was completed to Eureka, the teams were put on to haul from Eureka to Belmont, Nev., a stretch of 100 miles, and also from Eureka to Tibo, another 100 miles, and from Eureka to Piochi, 180 miles, and from Eureka to Ward, now called Ely, another 100 miles. That was in 1875, and he freighted all over those routes.

In 1878-79, he bought an eight-mule team from a Frenchman, and in 1883 J. L. Whiteside was his part- ner. From 1879 to 1883, their business grew, and in 1883 he owned five twenty-mule teams, with wagons and equipment complete. In 1883 he bought out his partner, who went to Los Angeles, where later he died. Business fell off-came practically to a stand- still; and he met with heavy reverses, largely be- cause of the demoralization of silver. He saved two twenty-mule teams, and started off with them to Butte City, Montana, and he was thirty-three days on the road going seven hundred miles. He slept out, suffered the hardships of rain and even snow- storms, and never stopped; and arriving in Butte, he engaged in the wood business.

On January 26, 1886, he sold all the mules and other equipment and came to San Jose, arriving here in February, 1886; and he built three cottages for rent on North Third Street, and up to June, 1888, did a little real estate business. Then he had the oppor- tunity to take charge of the Dean Estate stock ranch at Beowawe, Nev., which consisted of a vast range and had 4,500 head of cattle and 4,500 head of horses; and for fourteen years he ran this stock enterprise successfully. In 1902, he went to Tonopah, and upon leaving the Dean Estate he was presented with a gold watch, engraved as follows: "Presented to W. D. Stewart, in gratitude for faithful service to the Dean Estate, April, 1902." He was in Tonopah during the gold boom, and he ran a feed corral, and between 1902 and 1905 he made $20,000: In the fall of 1905, he came back to San Jose, and he has been here ever since. Mr. Stewart is president of the Copa de Orr Mining and Milling Company, owners of a mine located at Glencoe, Calaveras County, Cal., which is a good prospect; and he is at present retired except for the looking after his interests there. In 1918 he slipped and fell at the mine and injured his left hip-

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

joint, and he has been invalided ever since, and only recently he has been able to get around slowly and by the use of a crutch.

At Eureka, Nev., in 1883, Mr. Stewart was married to Miss Maggie Wissig, a native of Germany, who came to America the same year, 1869, in which he migrated, and who grew up in Philadelphia and San Francisco. One child blessed this union-Frank, who is well known as a business man of Santa Clara. Mr. Stewart is a Republican, and he holds to the tenets of the Presbyterian Church.

HENRY C. WALTER .- Among the enterprising men who have been instrumental in building up the horticultural interests of this section is Henry C. Walter, whose property is located on the Saratoga Road. He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on Novem- ber 24, 1857, the son of Mathis and Caroline (Krause) Walter, both natives of Germany, the father being a cooper by trade.

The parents came to California in 1868, locating on a ranch near Mountain View and later on Perma- nente Creek, when the wife died, December 1, 1889, at sixty years. The father is a veteran Odd Fellow and is still living, hale and hearty at the age of ninety-two years, having been born April 16, 1830. They had seven children: Henry C., our subject; John H. died at nineteen; Chas. W. resides at Long Beach; Carrie J., Mrs. Seagraves, resides at Sara- toga; Mrs. Louise Gaster resides at Lodi, and Louis E. at Mountain View; Emma was the wife of Geo. W. Cox and died in January, 1916.

Henry C. attended the schools of Pennsylvania and Santa Clara County and has since devoted his time to farming. He has always been a stanch ad- vocate of temperance, neither does he use tobacco. He has a fine collection of books and has made several artistically finished book-cases and several other valuable pieces of furniture.

His marriage occurred on February 21, 1897, at the Wm. Cox home, and united him with Mary J. Cox, the daughter of William and Dicey (Baggs) 'Cox, pioneers of this region. Mr. and . Mrs. Walter have one son, Howard C., who is in charge of their or- chards on the old Wm. Cox home place. They have about twenty acres here and twenty-one acres on Cox Avenue devoted to prunes, now all full bearing. The place is well improved with a large fine resi- dence and other buildings including a dryer, being beautifully located on Saratoga, near the corner of Cox Avenue. Mrs. Walter was born on this place in 1855 and was reared and educated here, so she is naturally very fond of her childhood home. After completing the public school, she attended the Uni- versity of the Pacific. She has become greatly in- tcrested in horticulture and has been an able assistant to her husband in his orcharding.

Liberal and kind hearted, they take pleasure in dis- pensing the good old time California hospitality. They are members of the Christian church at Sara- toga and are adherents of the Republican party.

CARL WESLEY HAMAN .- A man of wide ex- perience and executive ability, Carl Wesley Haman has covered an unusual field in his business and professional life, as a school teacher, in the banking business, the newspaper field, as a horticulturist, and now as assistant manager of Rosenberg Bros. & Company, in all of which he has attained success. He was born in Monticello, Lewis County, Mo., Oc-

tober 13, 1868, third son of Charles and Elizabeth (Hudson) Haman, the father of German parentage, while the mother was born in Tennessee, of En- glish and Irish descent. Three of their sons are living: John H. is a retired farmer and capitalist of Canton, Mo., and president of the Monticello Trust Company. William F., a minister in the Christian church, now residing at Canton, Mo., was formerly pastor of Christian churches at St. Louis, Mo., and at Sedalia, Mo. The youngest of the family is Carl W., of this sketch.

Bereaved of his mother when he was only six weeks old, C. W. Haman was reared by his uncle and aunt, Frederick and Elvira (Lair) Haman, of Shelby County, Mo., who, having no children of their own, legally adopted him, and there C. W. re- ceived his early education. After graduating from the high school he entered the State Normal School at Kirksville, Mo., finishing the regular four years' course there in the class of 1889. After graduating, he began teaching at Salem, Mo., where he was first assistant in the high school. In 1892 he helped organize the bank at Bethel, Mo., and became its cashier, occupying that position until 1895, when he and his wife came to California.

Settling at Santa Clara, Mr. Haman entered the newspaper field, working on the Santa Clara Jour- nal, a semi-weekly, for a year, N. H. Downing then being the proprietor. Later he and the Messrs. Downing purchased forty-three acres of land near Santa Clara, which they set out to prunes, this marking Mr. Haman's entrance into horticulture, and he still owns part of this tract; he also has other orchard interests. Next he engaged in the feed and fuel business at Santa Clara, continuing in this for five years and operating his orchard properties at the same time. Several years ago Mr. Haman began as a fruit buyer for Rosenberg Bros. & Company, buying from growers in Santa Clara County. He has heen very successful in this work and is now assistant manager of the Santa Clara plant.

On August 27, 1890, Mr. Haman was married to Miss Bertha Morgan, who was born at Salem, Iii., a daughter of John M. and Catherine (Bright) Mor- gan, both natives of Ohio. When Mrs. Haman was nine years old her parents moved to Kirksville, Mo., and there she was educated in the public schools and at the Kirksville State Normal School. The father is deceased. but Mrs. Morgan is still living at Kirksville, the mother of six children: A. R. Mor- gan is principal of the Sherman School at St. Louis, Mo .; Martha is the widow of the late Newton Wil- iams of Kirksville, Mo .; Alice is the widow of G. D. Dawson of Memphis, Mo .; Adah became the wife of John M. Gates of Kirksville, Mo., and passed away in 1891, leaving a daughter, Adah, now Mrs. Craig Reddish of Washington, D. C .; Bertha E. is Mrs. Haman; Olive is at home with her mother. Mrs. Haman is a talented, cultured woman, and both she and her husband are members of the Bap- tist Church at Santa Clara, Cal., Mrs. Haman being in charge of the music, and Mr. Haman being Sun- day School Superintendent. Popular in Masonic circles, Mrs. Haman is past matron of Santa Clara Chapter No. 195, O. E. S .. while Mr. Haman is past master of Liberty Lodge No. 299, F. & A. M. He is also an officer of San Jose Commandery No. 10. Knights Templar, and belongs to Islam Shrine of San Francisco. He is a stockholder of the Santa

Henry Christian Walter.

Mary & Water

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Clara branch of the Bank of Italy and of the Bank of San Jose, and for eight years was president of the Santa Clara Board of Education. He served several years on the Republican County Central Committee, and is numbered among the influential citizens of Santa Clara.

JOHN W. STRANDBERG .- Among the well known ranchmen and cattle dealers of Santa Clara County is John W. Strandberg, whose activities have constituted a valuable contribution to the de- velopment and upbuilding of the district in which he lives. Although living a retired life, his com- petency was gained only through many years of hard toil. He was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, Decem- ber 14, 1840, a son of Jacob and Annie (Hendrick- son) Strandberg. During the year of 1844 the father passed away and the following year the mother died, leaving John W. an orphan. Friends of the family took the boy in and his time was spent between the city and country so there was very little chance for schooling, his days being spent in hard work. When he became old enough, he seenred work in the steamship shops of Gothenburg, remain- ing there until he was twenty-two years of age, then spent two years in Stockholm and then he embarked for the United States with the determi- nation of finding work in the copper mines on Lake Superior. He came to America in 1864 and soon after enlisted in Company K, Twenty-eighth Michi- gan Infantry under General Schofield and General Thomas. His company saw service in the battles of Three Rivers, N. C. and battle of Nashville and he was discharged from the service June 6, 1866, at Raleigh, N. C. He was then employed with the Union Pacific railroad, working in the shops at Omaha, North Platte and Laramie City, Wyo., and then he worked for the Western Union Telegraph Company on construction work along the railroad toward California. He was thus employed until the fall of 1869, then removed to Omaha and worked there until 1870; then to Helena, Ark., then to New Orleans, thence to Chicago and on to St. Paul, working on the building of the Northern Pacific railroad from St. Paul to Bismarck, N. D.

The work on the railroad was discontinued in 1873, and Mr. Strandberg took up a farm fourteen miles north of Bismarck, building a house and other- wise improving the place, and during the great flood of that year caused by the overflowing of the Mis- souri River everything was washed away, leaving him utterly ruined. He then removed to Mineral Hill, Nev., where he spent two years in the mines; thence to Eureka, Nev., engaging in mining until 1886; then came to San Francisco, after a short trip to Alaska. Upon returning to California, he filed a claim for 160-acres of government land near Mt. Hamilton, Santa Clara County, later acquir- ing by purchase an additional 160 acres. These 320 acres were grazing land and for twenty-seven years Mr. Strandberg was engaged in stockraising. After disposing of his ranch, he removed to Oakland where he spent one year, then to San Jose and has resided here continuously for the past ten years.

The marriage of Mr. Strandberg, in January, 1877, in Omaha, Neb., united him with Miss Mary Eliza- beth Bergquist, a native of Sweden, and they became the parents of three children; Jennie, employed in the Bank of Oakland; Edith, now Mrs. C. Peterson,

residing in Oakland; Alma died at the age of twenty- one. Mrs. Strandberg passed away in 1887 while residing on the ranch. Mr. Strandberg is a mem- ber of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7 of San Jose, he is a member of the Theosophical Society of San Jose and at the advanced age of eighty-one years is living retired at 531 Fast William Street. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the West and, utilizing the opportun- ities here offered, has made a name and place for himself in the city of his adoption.

DR. DAVID PAUL CAMERON .- A very skil- ful dentist who has become a leader in his profes- sion and is today one of the most distinguished rep- resentatives of the second dental college in the world, is Dr. David Paul Cameron, of 410 View Street. Mountain View, at which place, for practically one- quarter of a century, he has resided and practiced. He was born at Cincinnati on January 3, 1867, the son of Dr. J. G. Cameron, one of the first dentists in that city, and who, for forty years, was one of the ablest professional men there. Grandfather Wil- liam Cameron was a farmer in Cecil County, Md., and lived upon a portion of a grant given to the Cameron family by Lord Baltimore, which grant has been in the Cameron family for 200 years. The Camerons may trace their ancestry back to noted Scotchmen of birth and honor, and this branch of the Cameron family became prominent in the states of Maryland and Ohio.

David Paul Cameron grew up in Cincinnati and lived there until he was thirty years old, educated in private schools and for a while attending the Chick- ering Institute, whose prescribed course of study he completed. He then studied dentistry under his father, and when only sixteen could fill teeth. After that he entered the Ohio Dental College at Cin- cinnati, the second oldest dental college in the world. of which his father was a trustee, while a brother. Dr. Otis L. Cameron, was a lecturer there; and he was duly graduated from the college, with the class of '90. Thus favored with a complete course in den- :istry, Dr. Cameron opened a dental office in Cin- cinnati, and he practiced independently of his father, who remained eminent in that city for four decades. Upon the latter's death in 1892, our subject suc- ceeded to his patronage, maintaining a suite of offices with his brother, Dr. Otis L. Cameron, who prac- ticed medicine at 132 Garfield Place.

After a siege of double typhoid-pneumonia, when he hovered between life and death for 110 days with that dread malady, Dr. David P. Cameron came out to California in 1897, abandoning the extensive practice he had taken such pains to build up. Not only had his life been despaired of, but he had been reduced to a mere skeleton, and when he came to California, he was so weak that he could scarcely walk a block. He stopped for a while in Los An- geles, but not being content, he went to San Fran- cisco and began to pick up both strength and flesh; he weighed 108 pounds when he reached San Fran- cisco; then he gained thirty-four pounds; after that he went back to 135 pounds, where he stood for two years, next he advanced to 170 pounds, and now for several years past his normal weight has been 160 pounds. As he grew stronger, he began to look for a place to locate, and in 1898 good fortune directed him to Mountain View, where he has built up an enviable practice, with his office at his residence.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

At Cincinnati in 1890, Dr. Cameron was married to Miss Florence Edith White, of Cincinnati, mem- ber of a prominent Southern family and a third cousin of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confed- erate States; and their union has been blessed with three children: David Paul Cameron, Jr., was grad- uated from the Mountain View high school with the class of '21, and he is now taking post-graduate work at the high school, and is the captain of the high school's football team; Otis Little is in first-year work at the high school; Joseph Gay is still at home.

MRS. CATHERINE DUNNE .- It is not often that Californians, alert to honor those pioneers who have made straight for posterity the paths once so crooked, have the opportunity to repay their debt of gratitude to a nonagenarian such as Mrs. Catherine Dunne, who has already attained the fine old age of ninety-four and looks forward eagerly to seeing her hundredth year. She first reached the Pacific on June 16, 1851, and more and more, as the years have gone by, has she and her worthy family enjoyed, as they have merited, the esteem and good-will of everybody.

Wexford, Ireland, was the scene of her birth, ou August 3, 1828, when she entered the family of John and Mary O'Toole, but she was scarcely two years on the Emerald Isle when her parents migrated to Canada, establishing their home near Quebec, and there Catherine grew up to enjoy the advantages of the French-Canadian education. In 1851 she met and married at her home Bernard Murphy, born in 1818, in Canada, whose father, Martin Murphy, had made his way to California in 1844 and there founded the Murphy family which has since risen to such prom- inence in California, especially in Santa Clara County ; and it was natural enough, that instead of remaining in Canada, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy should start for the Golden State. They traveled by way of Panama, and arrived at San Francisco on June 16. Only a short period of bliss was in store for this ambitious and worthy man; for on April 11, 1853, he was one of many who met death through the blowing up of the steamer "Jenny Lind," while crossing San Francisco Bay. One child, Martin J. C. Murphy, had been born to these devoted parents in June, 1852; and while a mere youth his brilliancy gave promise of a future in which he would be a sustaining comfort to the mourn- ing widow: but the Providence whose ways are ever such a mystery called him away from his books when at Georgetown College, whither he had gone to study law, when just nineteen years, eleven months old, on May 25, 1872. His remains were brought West to Gilroy and interred beside those of his father in the old cemetery in that town.

On May 6, 1862, Mrs. Murphy remarried, taking for her husband James Dunne, who had arrived in Cal- ifornia in the late '50s, and after twelve years of mar- ried life of the happiest kind, he died on June 4, 1874. He had lived to see the birth of their three children, Mary Phileta, Peter J., and Catherine B. Dunne; and to know that his widow would inherit rather a vast estate, mostly large tracts of land in Santa Clara County. Mary become Mrs. Joseph H. Rucker, the wife of the San Jose realty dealer; Peter J. married Miss Josephine Masten, the daugh- ter of N. K. Masten of San Francisco .; Catherine B. is Mrs. Ralph W. Hersey of Santa Barbara. Peter J. is a graduate of Santa Clara College, has had a suc- cessful business career in San Francisco, and since

1895 has been the right hand man of his aged mother, managing with rare ability her extensive estate. This , property was originally held by Bernard Murphy, but in the hands of both James and Peter Dunne, its value has greatly appreciated. Much of the credit of this wise management of a large and varied prop- erty, as well as credit for the enviable status of each member of her family, must be given this estimable gentlewoman who looks back over almost a century; for as wife, mother, neighbor and citizen she dis- charged her responsible duties, showing exceptional ability in many ways for such a task, and never los- ing her faith in a future for the land of her adoption, and the county and the town so closely associated with his home ties. Mrs. Dunne is now residing with Mrs. Hersey at Santa Barbara. Santa Clara County is more than pleased to honor such a sturdy pioneer, whose life has run parallel with the lives of thousands who have found their ultimate goal and the lealiza- tion of their dreams in this favored section.

JOSHUA HENDY IRON WORKS .- Few peo- ple, no doubt, have any adequate idea of the im- portance and magnitude of the Joshua Hendy Iron Works at Sunnyvale, a wonderful monument to its founder, the late Joshua Hendy of San Francisco, and also the late John Hendy, its former president and general superintendent, whose widow is one of the most highly-esteemed residents of Sunnyvale. The present company was incorporated in 1903; it started to build its great plant at Sunnyvale in 1906, and in February of the following year, it commenced to operate. Following the death of their uncle, the said Joshua Hendy, his two nephews, John and Samuel Hendy, operated the works. On the death of his brother, Samuel J. Hendy, John H. Hendy became president and, on May 8, 1920, he was stricken with apoplexy and passed away at the family home a few days later.

The city organization is located in San Francisco, and that branch takes care of all sales, contracts, etc., the organization at Sunnyvale turning out the products desired. The officers are: president and general manager, F. J. Behneman of San Francisco; vice-president and assistant manager, Morris Levitt, also of San Francisco; secretary and treasurer, C. C. Gardner of Alameda, and the general superintendent. H. S. Rexworthy of Sunnyvale. During the World War, the Hendy Iron Works did its duty in con- tributing a hugh share of what Uncle Sam needed for his success at arms, but it was able to accomplish this only by running shifts of men-500 during the day, and 400 during the night. It helped out the Government by putting out a vast deal of heavy work. Thus at this plant it built ten sets of triple- expansion marine engines weighing 124 tons each and having 2,800 horsepower each. It made one single casting which weighed fifteen and one-half tons. This was only a small part of the work done at Sunnyvale.

The works occupy twenty-nine acres facing on Sunnyvale Avenue in Sunnyvale, and the main build- ing was carefully designed with reference to the proper heating, ventilation, lighting and water sup- ply. This building is one-eighth of a mile long, and it is supplied with three traveling cranes of fifteen, twenty and thirty tons capacity. The company owns forty acres of additional ground near to the plot upon which the works are located, and it has put in a 700-foot well in which the water rises 300 feet, and

Catherine Fume

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

is then pumped by means of a large centrifugal pump, driven by electricity into a water tank or tower eighty feet high. This supplies water in suf- ficient quantities for the use of the works, and also for irrigating the lawns in front of the main build- ing and adjacent lands; the lawns are well-kept and beautiful, and so are the spare lands on which are planted orchards and gardens. Tracks of the South- ern Pacific Railroad Company enter the premises, where the company has installed a weigh-box with railway weighing scales which gives the weight of every car as it enters and leaves the works. Elec- trical power from the Pacific Gas and Electric Com- pany furnishes the motive force, and gigantic trans- formers provide the quality of power needed for the various mechanical operations, while three great air- compressors provide compressed air for operating, riveting machinery, trip-hammers, clippers, etc. The eastern quarter of the main building is the assem- bling room; but at times the job is so big that the assembling has to be done outside, especially in the building of the massive head-gates for irrigation pur- roses. The main buildings contain hundreds of thou- sands, if not millions of dollars worth of up-to-date, heavy steel and iron-working machinery.

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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 128

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