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 133

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 133

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Coming to San Jose in 1872 he was educated in the public schools. After school days were over, when sixteen years old, he began work as a machin- ist in the Alameda foundry and machine works at San Jose, owned by Fred Altman, continuing for about four years. During this time at their works he worked on the couplings and connections for the San Jose electric light tower at Market and Santa Clara Streets, which was famous all over the United States. He was sent to aid in its construction, start- ing when it was forty feet high, and then worked until the tower was completed to the topmost plat- forms, 200 feet high. He next went to northern Arizona, where he ran a stationary engine in the San Francisco Mountains near Flagstaff, at that time just a small railroad station; then came to West . Berkeley and ran the engine for the Wentworth Boot and Shoe Company about one year. The fol- lowing four years he was with N. Clark & Sons Terra Cotta Company, in San Francisco,. Next he went to Vineyard Canyon, Monterey County and engaged in farming and stockraising for fourteen years, when he sold out and returned to San Jose in 1903. Here he began general teaming contracting, and since then continued in this line and in cement contracting, for a period of eighteen years. Many of the fine roads for which Santa Clara County is noted, have been constructed by him, among them being the Home- stead, the Story, the King, and the Berryessa roads; and Lucretia, Stone and Capitol Avenues. He has done extensive work in rock, gravel and cement, and his business continues to progress steadily since he turned it over to his son, F. E. Wehner.

The marriage of Mr. Wehner occurred in San Francisco, September 16, 1883, and united him with Miss Katherine E. Hennessey, a native of Springfield, Mass., and to them have been born three sons and a daughter; Fred E., as stated, is running the busi- ness; Ethel E. completed a business course and was employed by the Union Oil Company when she passed away in 1909, at the age of twenty-three; William Walter is a druggist at Gustine; Richard Harold is a public accountant, located at San Jose; he served in the U. S. Army during the World War. Mrs. Wehner is a cultured woman, enjoying the esthetic and beautiful things in life, and their home home is very attractive, both Mr. and Mrs. Wehner taking pleasure in showering their hospitality on their many friends. Mr. Wehner is a member of the Builders Exchange of San Jose and the Fraternal Brotherhood. He is a stanch adherent of the princi- ples of the Republican party and an enthusiast for outdoor life. He is held in high esteem as a pro- gressive citizen of San Jose and has ever manifested the deepest interest in questions of public concern.

ELMER E. CHASE .- A man of marked executive ability through which he has attained a high degree of success, is Elmer E. Chase of the Richmond-Chase Company. He was born in Aprit I, 1861, near Ro- chester, Minn., a son of George G. and Maria S. (Parce) Chase, and came with his parents to San Jose, Calif., in the year 1874. His father followed his trade of carpenter for a number of years; later en- gaging in agricultural pursuits. Both father and mother passed away in San Jose. There are three daughters and one son living.

Mr. Chase attended the public schools of Rochester and San Jose; later attending high school for a short time. His first venture into the business world was as an ordinary farm laborer; then he was employed by the Golden Gate Packing Company and served from general factotum to the responsible position of president and manager, serving in all some forty years. This was the oldest business of its kind in the state and was sold to Hunt Bros. in 1918. The experience of forty years in this particular line served to fully equip him for his later investments. In 1919, with E. N. Richmond, he formed a corporation known as the Richmond-Chase Company, dealers in dried and canned fruits. They operate two canneries-one of them located at Stockton-and two large packing plants and own and control about 600 acres of prune orchards. During the busy season, some 1500 people are employed to take care of their products. While his own individual business is the center of his activ- ities, yet Mr. Chase finds time to be of great value to the community. He served as president of the Board of Education for four years; he was a member of the board of freeholders that framed the city manager form of government and was elected a member of the city council at the general election in 1916, and served as president of the council two years; he also filled an unexpired term twenty years ago. He has served some ten or twelve years as president of the state organization of the Canners' League and in 1922 was re-elected to that office; is now president of the Security Warehouse and Cold Storage Com- pany, second vice-president of the Bank of San Jose, and president of the Traffic Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a loyal adherent of the principles of the Republican party, and fraternally is an active member of the Masons and the Elks. He is also a

F. Tr. Wehner

Kate E. Wehner.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

member of the Country Club, the Rotary Club, and Chamber of Commerce, having served as president, and the San Francisco Commercial Club, and a di- sector of the San Jose Commercial Club.

Mr. Chase's marriage to Miss Edith Granger, danghter of the late F. B. Granger, united him with a prominent pioneer family of Alameda, and three children have been born to them: Elmer E, Jr., associated with Richmond-Chase Company; Bernice, a student in high school, and June, who died in 1918 while a student at Stanford. Kindly by nature, public spirited, honorable and upright in all his business transactions, Elmer E. Chase is a man whom any city may well be proud to number among her citi- zens. He is very fond of music and for twenty-five years took an active part in amateur operas put on in San Jose, and was a member of the San Jose Orchestral Society during its existence.

ERNEST WOODBURY CONANT .- A native Minnesotan of acknowledged proficiency who has proven most efficient as a California public official, Is Ernest Woodbury Conant, the popular treasurer of Santa Clara County, with headquarters at San Jose. He was born in Hennepin County on July 2, 1862, the son of Timothy Conant, a veteran of the Civil War, who saw hard service with Sherman on his famous march to the sea when he was a member of Company F of the Fourth Minnesota Infantry, which had previously been commanded by Gen. John A. Logan, one of Sherman's most dependable aides. He married Miss Martha Davis, and with their family they came to California in 1874, and on February 17 settled in Santa Clara County, where Mr. Conant became an orchardist in the Willows, in which field of activity he continued until his death, in 1889, the same year in which his good wife died.

After finishing with the elementary schools, Ernest Conant was duly graduated from the high school at San Jose, and then he pursued successfully certain courses in the University of California at Berkeley. When his father's health became impaired, he took charge of the home ranch; and so he came to busy himself with the drying of fruit, and the planting of more orchard. After a while, he was able to ship fruit East; and he still has an orchard and takes good care of it. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and contributes in every way possible for the stimula- tion of those industries and lines of activity peculiar to this section.

When Mr. Conant married, he chose for his wife Miss Agnes Pender, a graduate of the State Normal, a native daughter, her father having been a '49er; and now they have three children, Ernest Leslie, David Jordan and Mabel Agnes, and a grandson, Ernest Roger Conant. Ernest Leslie, ranch super- intendent for Fred Thomas, on Ryer Island, Sacra- mento County, is married and father of Ernest Roger Conant. David Jordan, who served the Government as the head of the engineering department of the ground school at Berkeley during the World War, with rank of Second Lieutenant, is now engineer for the Western Well Works in San Jose. Mabel Agnes is in training for the duties of a professional nurse; all three graduated from the San Jose high school Mr. Conant is a Mason, holding membership in San Jose Lodge No. 10, F. & A. M., of which he served two successive terms as Master and is now Senior Past Master of No. 10; a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and Knights Templar and of Observatory

Lodge I. O. O. F and he also belongs to the Sons of Veterans, the Sciots and the Grange of Campbell. A Republican in national politics, and a nonpartisan advocate of what is best for community develop- ment and uplift, Mr. Conant was elected county treasurer in 1902, and he has been reelected every four years since. He is president of the state organiza- tion of county treasurers, serving his seventh year. He is extremely optimistic as to the future of Santa Clara County, which also means, very naturally, that he is interested in its historic past and wide-awake as to the golden opportunities here at the present.

MRS. LUCY A. ST. JOHN .- During the thirty- four years of her residence in San Jose Mrs. Lucy A. St. John has witnessed much of the growth and developnrent of the city, in which she has ever been deeply and helpfully interested. She was born in Sheboygan, Wis., a daughter of John and Angeline (Hadley) Laing. Her maternal grandfather, Jack- son Hadley, was a native of Livonia, Livingston County, N. Y., and a prominent figure in public af- fairs, serving as U. S. senator from Wisconsin from 1863 until 1867. He passed away March 4, 1867, deeply regretted by all who had the honor of his acquaintance, for he was a man of high principles and sterling worth. John Laing was born in Water- loo, Seneca County, N. Y., and on removing to Wis- consin he purchased land at Portage, while later he crossed Lake Michigan and took up his residence in Grand Haven when the subject of this review was seven years of age.

Mrs. St. John's mother passed away when she was twelve years old and she has two sisters living, Mrs. J. F. Warncke of San Jose and Mrs. Hattie Caldwell of Portland, Ore. In 1878 she went to Waterloo, N. Y., where she remained for a year, and then came again to Michigan. At White Cloud, that state, in the home of her brother, Charles Hadley, on September 4, 1879, she married Sidney Monroe Keith, a native of Lima, now known as Howe, Ind., and a son of Sidney and Angeline (Moore) Keith. His father followed farming and was a frontiersman in Indiana, obtaining a patent of land signed by President Martin Van Buren. S. M. Keith was born January 4, 1858, and in 1886, with his family, he came to California, settling in San Jose, where he followed the carpenter's trade. He engaged in building cars for the railroad and for a number of years was master mechanic, later having charge of the dynamos at the power plant on First Street. He made his home in that part of the city known as The Willows and throughout the period of his residence in San Jose he took a most active part in the work of public progress and improve- ment. He passed away in 1912 and his demise was deeply regretted not only by his immediate family but by all with whom he came in contact, for he was actuated by the highest standards of manhood and citizenship. Mr. and Mrs. Keith became the parents of two children: George Sidney, a resi- dent of Turlock, Stanislaus County; Mary A. and Mrs. L. C. Maynard, of San Jose.

Mrs. Keith's second union was with J. E. Cur- tiss, whom she married at the home of her sister, in Napa, Cal. He was born at Footville, Wis., No- vember 4, 1857, and by his first wife, Maria Fannie Bennett, a native of Barrington, Mass., he had two children: Fred, a well-known dentist of San Jose;

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and Ruth, now Mrs. L. A. Bunson. For many years Mr. Curtiss engaged in the farm-loan business at Fairmont, Nebr., and in 1900 he came to San Jose, where he lived retired until his death, which oc- curred May 6, 1919. He purchased land in The Willows, becoming the owner of one-half of the Owsley tract, and the property was later subdivided and placed upon the market. Mrs. St. John now resides on a part of that property, occupying a plot of three-quarters of an acre, and a street has been named in honor of Mr. Curtiss. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and his political allegiance was given to the Republican party, of which his widow is also an adherent.

On September 28, 1920, Mrs. Curtiss was married in Santa Cruz, Cal., to M. B. St. John, who by a previous union had three children, Edwin, Homer and Bayliss, all of Rockford, Ill. For many years Mr. St. John was identified with the paper mills at Rockford, Ill., removing from that state to Cali- fornia. He is a prominent Mason, being secretary of Friendship Lodge No. 210, F. & A. M., at San Jose and also belongs to the Consistory.

JOSEPH BOHNETT .- When Joseph Bohnett purchased his present homestead ranch in Santa Clara County in 1890 it was a hayfield, with no sug- gestion of higher cultivation, but he foresaw greater remuneration in store for him by having the tract in fruit, and forthwith planted the entire ranch to fruit- bearing trees, thirty-five acres being set apart for prunes, and the balance planted to apricots and cher- ries. Mr. Bohnett also installed a dryer upon his ranch, thus facilitating the preparation of the fruit for the market, this being but one of the many ap- pointments that go toward making his ranch one of the foremost in Santa Clara County.

Joseph Bohnett was born in Ann Arbor, Mich., March 26, 1848, a son of Christian and Mary Raus Bohnett, both natives of Wurtemberg. Germany. When a young man the father emigrated from Ger- many and settled in Ann Arbor, Mich., where as a shoemaker he spent the rest of his life, both he and his wife passing away in that state. Of the seven children born to them, three sons and four daugh- ters, Joseph is the fourth child. The first twenty- three years of his life were spent in Michigan, but he determined to settle where there was more hope of rapid advancement. The West seemed to hold forth more inducements than any other part of the country, and in 1871 he came to Santa Clara County, Cal. Hc located in the Cambrian school district in May of that year and it has been his home ever since; for thirty years he was a trustee of this same school dis- trict until he refused longer service. He is now the second longest resident in point of years in this dis- trict. His first day's work was on a ranch he after- wards owned and improved with an orchard. For three years he worked for wages and then leased 153 acres-the John Barker ranch-which he purchased it. 1876. The place was located adjoining his pres- ent ranch. About thirty-five years ago he sold the old Barker place and purchased his present place of forty-eight acres, a portion of the Casey ranch, and soon began setting it to orchards, so he transformed what was once a vast field of grain into one of the most productive orchards in Santa Clara County.

Mr. Bohnett was united in marriage with Miss Tamer lone Barker, a native of Santa Clara County,

born near Milliken's Corner, and a daughter of John Barker, a pioncer settler of the county. Mr. Bohnett was bereaved of his faithful wife on August 10, 1920. She was a woman of much charm, beloved by all who knew her, and at her passing was deeply mourned by her family and her numerous friends, her funeral be- ing the largest attended of any in the county. Their union was blessed by the birth of eleven children, all living and successful: Enos, an engineer, resides at Aromas; Mrs. Mary Evans of Campbell; L. D., an attorney in San Jose; Eva Pearl is Mrs. Powers, residing in Chico; Ralph is a rancher near Perry, this county; Grace is a graduate nurse who since the death of her mother presides over her father's home, caring for him with true devotion and ministering to his comfort. Calvin is an educator and resides at Campbell; Lois is private secretary to her brother, L. D. Bohnett; Floyd has the home ranch; Karl is associated with his brother Ralph in ranching at Perry; Hattie is Mrs. Gardner and lives at Campbell. Mr. Bohnett also has twenty-three grandchildren and takes much pride in his family. In 1919 Mr. Bohnett built a beautiful cement bungalow on his ranch and his son Floyd moved into the old family home where the children had been born and reared. Politically Mir. Bohnett is a Republican; he is a charter member o: Orchard City Grange and was master of the or- ganization for two years. Local progress and na- tional advancement are both causes dear to his heart, and he gives helpful aid to all matters that he believes will benefit his locality.

GEORGE E. McCLINE .- Real estate activity in San Jose finds a prominent representative in George E. McCline, an alert and progressive young busi- ness man, who is also extensively engaged in ranch- ing. A native of Ohio, he was born in Calla, Ma- honing County, June 17, 1892, his parents being A. H. and Dora (Hendricks) McCline, members of old families of that state. The father was a suc- cessful farmer and a prominent figure in public af- fairs of his locality, serving for twenty years as postmaster of Calla. In later life he removed to Fresno County, Cal., where he is now living retired. In the family were four sons and four daughters, of whom the subject of this review was the third in order of birth. A sister, Mrs. L. O. Wilcox, is the wife of a rancher and lives at Lawrence, in Santa Clara County, while another sister, Mrs. V. D. Goodrich, is residing in San Jose.

Mr. McCline acquired his grammar school educa- tion at Calla, Ohio, and in 1907 came to Santa Clara, Cal., where he completed a high school course. On starting out in life he went to Gerlach, Nev., where he homesteaded a half section of land, on which he proved up, gradually transforming the place into a productive ranch, on which he engaged in stock- raising for eight years. He is still the owner of this property, which is in Duck Lake Valley near Reno.

On September 23, 1918. Mr. McCline enlisted in the army and was sent to Camp Lewis, Wash., be- ing promoted to the rank of sergeant. He became a member of the Sixteenth Company, Fourth Bat- talion, One Hundred Sixty-Sixth Depot Brigade, re- maining at that camp until May 6, 1920, when he re- ceived his discharge. Returning to San Jose, he engaged in the real estate business as a partner of his brother-in-law, Virgil D. Goodrich, their in- terests being conducted at the San Joaquin Valley

Joseph Bohnet Jammer J. Bohnet

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Land Company. Mr. Goodrich was born in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, January 12, 1876, a son of A. K. and Rebecca B. (Devin) Goodrich. the former a native of Virginia, while the latter was born in Tennessee, the father following the occupation of farming and stock-raising.

Mr. Goodrich attended the public schools of Bolivar, Mo., and subsequently became a student at the Baptist College of that city. When a young man of seventeen he came to California, first locating in Sacramento and going from there to Placerville, where he secured a position as driver of a stage operating between that place and the mines. At the end of a year he returned to Sacra- mento and for ten years was employed in the men's clothing store of W. M. Petrie. In 1900 he went to Alaska and for two years worked in the general merchandise store of the Russian-Nome Gold Company at Fuller City, returning in 1902 to San Jose, where he has since made his home. Purchasing a ranch in Santa Clara County he en- gaged in dairying, while later he became interested in land in the San Joaquin Valley and organized the San Joaquin Valley Land Company, which has since become a very successful enterprise of ex- tensive proportions.

Mr. Goodrich has been married twice. In San Jose, in September, 1898, he was united with Miss California Main, a daughter of H. H. and Minnie Main, and for his second wife he chose Miss Mil- dred MeCline, whom he married in July, 1919. Two children have been born to Mr. Goodrich: Juanita June, who died at the age of ten years; and Virginia Donna. He is a Republican in his political views and is a public-spirited citizen and capable business man who stands high in his community.

In Santa Clara County, Cal., Mr. McCline mar- ried Miss Vera Chamber, a native of Olympia, Wash., and a daughter of Thomas and Lydia Cham- ber. Mr. McCline's political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he is a member of the American Legion of San Jose.

In addition to his real estate interests he is also cultivating a forty-acre ranch in the Patterson colony of the San Joaquin Valley which he devotes to the raising of alfalfa, and this is also proving a profit- able investment.

JOHN CAVALLARO .- For many years con- nected with the city fire department as assistant chief, in which connection he made a most com- mendable record, John Cavallaro was born in Paler- mo. Sicily, August 24. 1858, a son of Domingo and Anna (Laspinna) Cavallero, who had three chil- dren. When John was two years old his father died and his mother afterward became the wife of G. Zarcone, by whom she had four children.

When John Cavallaro was nine years of age he accompanied his stepfather to the United States. the mother and remaining children following them later. Soon after he arrived in New York City, young Cavallaro began carning his own livelihood learning the barber trade and selling the New York Herald, and in 1874 he came to California, settling in San Jose. For six months he was employed in the barber shop of A. G. Cook and then embarked in the business on his own account, successfully conducting his shop for twenty years. Under G. W. Lorigan's administration he became a member of the

Volunteer Fire Department of San Jose, acting as assistant in charge of the relief station at Eighth and San Salvador Streets for four years. In 1898 he was appointed by the commissioners an extra man on the fire department and was attached to the station on North Eighth Street, remaining there six months, when he was made assistant foreman of chemical No. 1. He served in that capacity for a year, and was then chosen captain of Chemical No. 1 and for four years continued to fill that post and then resigned. Soon afterward he was appointed assistant chief of the fire department under Henry Ford and until he resigned capably discharged the duties of that responsible position. Following his resignation he conducted a grocery store at the corner of Fifth and St. James Streets, having dis- posed of his barber shop on engaging in merchan- dising. He was then reappointed assistant fire chief under George Tompkins, resigning at the end of three years owing to injuries which he had received and which disqualified him for active work in the department. Upon regaining his strength he be- came caretaker of the Lincoln school and grounds and since 1911 has had charge of this work. He is also engaged in ranching, having a ten-acre tract on the Almaden Road, this being a part of the old Welsh estate, while in 1914 he purchased his present attractive home at 450 Vine Street, San Jose.

In San Jose, on September 1, 1879, Mr. Cavallaro was married to Miss Maggie Welsh, a native of this city and a daughter of John and Anastasia Welsh, the former of whom came to California in the late '50s and engaged in ranching in the Almaden dis- trict of Santa Clara County. Mrs. Cavallaro passed away in 1905, leaving three children, John E., Am- brose and Annie. The elder son married a Miss Lynch, of San Francisco, and they have one child, Vernon. Ambrose is also married and has three children, Andrew, Dolores and Mary. For his sec- ond wife Mr. Cavallaro chose Mrs. Harry Krapp, a native of Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, Cal., and a daughter of Anthony and Mary Fabretti, both of whom were born in Canton Ticino, Switzerland, and the father was formerly a resident of Aus- tralia, where he was occupied as a miner until coming to California in 1875, arriving in San Luis Obispo County where his daughter, Mrs. Cavallaro, was born in 1877. He farmed in San Luis Obispo County and his demise occurred in 1890 at Saratoga. His wife died there the year previous. By her first mar- riage Mrs. Cavallaro had two children: Frank, who died in childhood; and Harrison, who married Kath- erine Gibbons, a native of Boston, Mass. He is a printer and in February, 1914, enlisted in the Navy, receiving his training at Mare Island and becoming head of the printing department there. During the World War he served on the cruiser Rochester and is now stationed in New York City, being chief printer in that department of the navy. By this second marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cavallaro have a daughter, Virginia A., attending the high school.

Mr. and Mrs. Cavallaro are Republicans and he is a Scottish Rite Mason, being Past Priest of Har- mony Lodge No. 25 of San Jose. He is also con- nected with the United Ancient Order of Druids, in which he is Past Noble; he was one of the organiz- ers of Mt. Hamilton Lodge A. O. F.

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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 133

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