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 145

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 145

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The eldest child of this union, Max J. Crow passed through the public schools of the section in which he grew up, and then attended, for a couple of terms, the University of California. In the end, he con- cluded his studies by completing the excellent busi- ness courses at Heald's College in San Francisco. He had passed his boyhood on the stock-range and farm; and upon the death of his father, when the estate was divided. he removed with his mother to Berkeley, in 1885, and remained there for three years. He then entered the employ of the Leonard Coates Nursery at Napa, with which firm he remained for seven years, and when he decided to take up fruit-sup- plying for himself, he opened his own store and con- ducted it until 1897. That year he went to Missouri and became the advertising manager of Stark Bros. Nurseries and Orchards Company, with which he continued for eleven years. In 1908 he came back to California, located at Morgan Hill where he had acquired an interest in the Leonard Coates Nurseries. In 1909 he sold his interests and in December of that year he founded Crow's Nurseries at Gilroy.

Since then, this business has grown rapidly, and he made his son a partner in the fall of 1920. The headquarters are located on a beautiful tract of land in the southern part of Gilroy, and have become a veritable Mecca to which people from far and near come to select nursery stock, ornamental trees and flowers. The fruit tree nurseries are located in Butte, Yolo and Stanislaus counties, it being the policy to select land and location for the different fruit trees where they can be grown to highest perfection. Crow's Nurseries, from time to time, sends out cata- logs and price-lists, throughout the U. S. and foreign countries. and these are made up with such scientific

care and accuracy, and evidence such good judgment and business enterprise that they are decidedly cred- itable, and speak well for California agricultural in- dustry. In June, 1922, a retail store was opened at 42 Martin Street, Gilroy, for the sale of seeds, plants and cut flowers, with nursery offices in connection. Mr. Crow is a past president of the California Asso- ciation of Nurserymen and is at present a member of the executive committee, and he is secretary-treasurer of the Nurserymen's Bud Selection Association of California, in the interest of whose work and success he has spent much effort and money. During 1915-16, and again during 1919-20, he was a member of the city council of Gilroy.

At Napa, in 1890, Mr. Crow was married to Miss Lena F. Coney, a native of Jackson, Amador County, Cal .; and their union was blessed by a son, Harold Cornwell Crow, who served in the U. S. Avia- tion Corps in the World War, doing his duty by country and humanity, and on his return to Gilroy became a partner with his father in business. Mrs. Crow died on January 19, 1898, and in June, 1900, Mr. Crow married Miss Ida C. Rose, a native of Louisi- ana, Mo. She has the distinction of having had Champ Clark as her high school teacher. The Crow home is on Ninth and Rosanna Streets in Gilroy. A Republican in national political affairs Mr. Crow is also a Mason and an Odd Fellow and his son is master of Keith Lodge No. 187, F. & A. M. of Gilroy.

JAMES RICHARD WRIGHT .- The original an- cestor of the Wright family, John Wright, came to Canaan, Conn., from England as a colonial settler, and one of his descendants, Eleazer Wright, settled in Tallmadge, Ohio, where James R. Wright was born. He was a graduate of Oberlin College, then studied language and theology at Elyria, Ohio, and became a minister in the Congregational Church after which he taught Latin and Greek, and preached. He married Sarah Vincent, a native of Boston, Mass., and also a graduate of Oberlin College. Mr. Wright's health became poor, so he brought his family to Santa Clara County, Cal., and purchased a tract of land on the Summit, which he improved, setting out orchards and building a comfortable residence, his ranch comprising 250 acres.

Mr. and Mrs. Wright are the parents of ten chil- dren: Charles, a talented educator in San Jose, was candidate for city superintendent of schools when he died; Eli is on the home ranch; Frederick and Albert died in youth; Lucy, the wife of Capt. Albert Whittlesey, resides in Portland, Ore .: Ward is in the real estate business in Bakersfield, Cal ; Willian H., who died in San Francisco in 1920, was with the River Bay Dredging Company; Summer, now retired from the Abstract and Title business, resides in Col- ton; Frank V. is a business man in Alameda; Clara presides over the old home place. James R. Wright was a personal friend of A. E. Davis, who was pres- ident of the company building the narrow gauge from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, and Mr. Davis named the nearest station Wright's Station in honor of Mr. Wright. Mr. Wright passed away September 3. 1902, eighty-two years of age, his widow surviving him until April, 1908. Mr. Wright's life was un- doubtedly greatly prolonged by his residence in this beautiful and health-giving mountain region. The ranch is still in possession of the family and the

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

orchards are well cared for under the supervision of Eli Wright assisted by his sister Clara, and they oc- cupy the old home. Mr. Wright was a cultured gentleman interested in civics, and he stood for moral uplift in the community, and his teachings and life are well worthy of imitation.

ALMON WHEELER .- An experienced arbori- culturist who has also made a practical study of plants and plant life, is Almon Wheeler, the presi- dent of the Ruelil-Wheeler Nursery Company, Inc., of San Jose. He was born at South Bend, Ind., on October 1, 1867, the son of Alfred and Elizabeth Ruth (Garrison) Wheeler; the former was a cousin of Vice-President Wheeler and the latter closely related to Chief Justice Marshall of Virginia. The Wheelers came to San Jose in 1885, and this city remained their home until they were called by death. Mrs. Wheeler died in February, 1902, and Mr. Wheeler passed away in December of the same year. He had been a prominent newspaperman in his time and always interested in politics, and served as audi- tor of St. Joseph County, Ind., for a number of years and he left a record of peculiar usefulness to society.

Almon Wheeler finished the grammar and high school courses in the public schools of South Bend and came to California with his parents in 1885. Soon after his arrival here he entered the service of John Rock, pioneer nurseryman of San Jose, to learn the details of the business and he remained with Mr. Rock for a number of years. In 1902, he formed a partnership with H. Ruehl, organizing the firm of Ruehl-Wheeler & Company, and opened their place of business where the Studebaker Garage now stands. As time advanced and their business grew, the part- ners bought the site at 163 South Market Street, improved it to suit their needs and have since con- tinued to make that their headquarters. They main- tain their gardens on a tract of land on the Mon- terey highway about nine miles south of San Jose and keep a large force of men to meet the demands of their ever-growing business. The company make a specialty of growing roses under contract, supply- ing some of the leading eastern nurserymen with the finest, hardiest and choicest of rose bushes. They expect to bud over one million roses in 1922. In fact, the demands are so great for their products that they find it difficult to find proper land upon which to propagate their stock and keep their patrons supplied. Besides their extensive castern business they have a large local trade which insist upon plants from this particular firm. In making the shipments cast they use iced refrigerator cars to protect them in transit from heat and cold.

Santa Clara County is rapidly becoming famous as the rose center of the country, for no other part of the state offers the climatic and soil conditions to be found here. It is possible to mature the stock and have it sturdy enough to dig and ship in the fall, and this enterprising firm have been quick to recognize this fact and profit by it and some of the finest roses grown in the Eastern states have come from their California stock. The president of the company is Almon Wheeler; H. Ruehl, an expert rose man, is vice-president and J. J. McClue is sec- retary and treasurer.

Having full faith in the county where he had met with his success, Mr. Wheeler has backed his judg- ment with his money and he bought and developed

a fifty-acre walnut and prune orchard to a high state of productiveness and sold it, only to again purchase a like number of acres in the vicinity of Gilroy, and this tract he is bringing under control and has a fine acreage in strawberries, and the balance is de- voted to dairy purposes. The Ruchl-Wheeler Nur- sery Company, Inc., lease some seventy acres near the property owned by Mr. Wheeler where they ar preparing to grow deciduous stock. Mr. Wheeler is a poultry fancier and has a number of fine birds of various strains on his ranch and in which he finds considerable entertainment and recreation.

In 1914 Mr. Wheeler was married to Mrs. Grace L. (de la Pliene) Schofield, born in Kansas City, Mo., and there is a daughter, Grace Royana Wheeler. He is a member of the Nurserymen's Bud Selection Association and of the San Jose Chamber of Com- merce; politically he is a Republican. Although very busily engaged in looking after his own and his company's interests he still finds time to interest himself in the movements that make for a better and bigger San Jose and Santa Clara County.

BRUCE INGELS .- A pioneer whose foresight and wide-awake enterprise have been productive of one of the notable industries in Santa Clara County, is Bruce Ingels, the former proprietor of the Marble and Granite Works at Gilroy, to which town he came soon after the dawn of the present century. He was born on September 25, 1846, the son of Samuel Ingels, while his mother, who was Miss Phoebe Rambo before her marriage, was enroute to Iowa, and was near the Missouri-Iowa State line; the parents were both natives of Iowa, and became set- tlers of that territory before it was admitted into the Union as a State; and Samuel Ingels was one of the earliest postmasters of Oskaloosa, where he was also a merchant and farmer.

At the age of eighteen, Bruce Ingels enlisted in Company H, of the Twenty-fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, for a three years' service, and he was trans- ferred to the Ninth Iowa Volunteer Veteran Infan- try when they were home on furlough. He served under Grant, Sherman, and Logan until July 19, 1865, when he marched in review at Washington, and he had the honor of marching with Sherman through Georgia. In 1865 he returned to his home in Iowa, and the following year he was married to Miss Par- thenia Larsh, who was born on March 21, 1843, a native of Des Moines and sister to another volunteer soldier who stood by the Republic in the time of war. She was a teacher in Polk County, Iowa, for several years prior to her marriage.

Samuel Ingels had acquired a stone and marble business through default, and Bruce having entered into partnership with him, made good at the trade. In 187I he came out to California on a prospecting tour, and he liked San Francisco so well that he remained there for two years and worked at his trade. The next year, he returned to Iowa; but in 1882 he removed with his family to Hollister and there took up agricultural pursuits. In 1890 he re- moved to the San Juan Valley to engage in orchard- ing; and twelve years later he sold everything and came to Gilroy. He entered the employ of A. A. Mar- tin & Bro. who had the stone and marble works on North Montercy Street, and after working steadily for that firm for cighteen years, he acquired by pur- chase the desirable business which he conducted

almond Wheeler

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

until his retirement in April, 1922. He and his wife own a residence at Seventh and Church streets.

Mr. Ingels is a Republican, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. For twelve years he served as secretary of the Improved Order of Redmen. Mrs. Ingels is a member of the Gilroy W. C. T. U., and the Civic Center, and a student in Dr. Russell's Bible School, and in such work as this she is handing down the traditions of her parents, William Lewis and Mary B. (Tacitt) Larsh, who were both members of prominent Ohio families, and related to members of the State legislature and the judiciary. She is, besides, past president of the W. R. C. of Hollister, and has proven herself a great organizer. Three children were granted Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Ingels, and from them have sprung ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Kitty is the wife of John Waters of Vallejo, and they have four children. Clyde Larsh Ingels is married, also has four children; he served in the Spanish-American War, and resides near Monterey. Edith M. has become the wife of Martin Heath, and they reside at Oakland with their two children. Leroy Waters, one of the grand- sons, served seven years in the U. S. Navy and has sailed the seven seas, while his brother Carl has served one year in the Navy.

JOHN E. WHITE .- Among the most popular of- ficials of Santa Clara County is John E. White, a native of England, born in Dorchestershire on Sep- tember 15. 1860, the son of Charles and Sarah (Par- sons) White, both of whom sprang from the same Dorset soil. He was reared and schooled at Buck- horn Weston; and when only nine years of age, was employed by his uncle, J. Adams, a construction engineer, to work on the new railroad from Bristol to New Passage, for which he received eighteen shil- lings per week. Later he worked at the Forest of Dean, and received twenty-four shillings per week. In the latter part of 1873 he set out for the United States, and in December, after three weeks out from Liverpool, he arrived at Gilroy, having survived the sinking of the City of Chester when he was fortu- nately picked up in midocean by the passing City of Brussels. Seven years before, his older brother, George T. White, had located at Gilroy, and on his reaching here he obtained employment on the Ellis Dairy Ranch, where he put in his first half-year in America. The following two years he was employed by James Rea, and then for many years he was cheesemaker on the Doan ranch. The year 1895 found him happily recovered from a serious illness, and he was then elected on the Republican ticket to the office of constable of Gilroy township; and he has the exceptional honor of holding the same office ever since. He was made a citizen of the United States in 1876 by order of Judge Rhoades, and he has been among the first and the most efficient in maintaining law and order.

At Gilroy, in 1876, Mr. White was married to Mrs. Sarah (Rhoades) Cavanaugh, the daughter of Thomas Rhoades, and a widow with two children: Nettie is the widow of Lyman Wilson, and has one child. Minnie is the wife of George Milias, the prominent hotel proprietor of Gilroy, and they have one son. Mrs. White was born on November 15. 1853, a na- tive of Missouri, and crossed the plains with her parents; and when they reached the River Platte her father was drowned. The widow, with her

babe, proceeded to California, and at Sacramento joined a brother, already in public life and a mem- ber, from 1854-60, of the State Legislature. Her mother died at Old Gilroy in December, 1910, aged sixty-four years. Four children were born to this union: Carrie is the wife of William Burchell, the owner of the L. A. L. Garage; they have two chil- dren and reside at San Jose. Nellie married J. Summers; they have one son and reside at Oakland. George married Vera Wilson, a rancher at Old Gil- roy. Walter married Miss Laura Gilbert, and with their two children they reside at San Jose. Mr. White owns twenty-three and a half acres of very desirable irrigated alfalfa land at Old Gilroy. on which his son conducts a dairy, while operating some thirty acres of his own. Mr. White is an Odd Fellow. and Mrs. White is a member of the Rebekah Lodge.

STEPHEN WHITE SHELDON .- Not many pioneers have enjoyed a higher esteem in their day, or been more honored and mourned for after their demise, than the late Stephen White Sheldon, for many years the superintendent of the vast and valu- able Miller & Lux ranches in Santa Clara County. A native of Rhode Island, he was born at Chepachet on February 17, 1848, in the same city where his grandfather, Jeremiah, rounded out a long and very useful career, and served both his city and his county in various position of public trust. He was a mem- ber of one of the earliest Yankee families, and owned the historic Scotch Hill, a farm which had been the scene of several bloody tragedies of the Revolution- ary War. He was among the sturdiest musketmen in the Colonial ranks, and yet he was able to be- queath to his son, Joseph, the father of our subject, the material rewards of a life filled with gratifying success. Joseph Sheldon was also a Rhode Islander, who learned the carpenter's trade. Proud of his own family tree, he chose for his wife Miss Nancy Young, a member of another old Rhode Island family, by whom he had seven children, a daughter becoming the wife of Henry Miller, of Miller & Lux, and the youngest being Stephen White Sheldon.

He grew upon on the home farm and then en- gaged in teaming in Chepachet, while he attended both the country and city schools. He ventured out to California in 1878, relying for his capital upon his youth, his health, and his character. He accepted a post as farm hand for Miller & Lux, the land and cattle barons on the West Side of the San Joaquin Valley. and wise he was to do so. for his enterprise and fidelity soon came to the personal attention of his employers, and he was given rapid advancement as recognition and reward. After a while he became foreman on the Santa Rita Rancho, held by the same company, and in 1884 he was made superin- tendent of Miller & Lux's Peach Tree Ranch in Monterey County. In 1886 he filled a similar posi- tion on the ranch at Soap Lake, in Santa Clara County, when he made his headquarters on the Bloomfield farm. By 1890 Mr. Sheldon's status with the company had so far improved that he was placed over their Bloomfield, Soap Lake, Mount Madonna and Oak Grove, and other ranches in Santa Clara County. Eleven years afterward he resigned his large and trying responsibilities and moved into Gil- roy, and there, at the corner of Forest and Lewis streets, he built a large and beautiful residence for himself and family. He also put up a barn of 200

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

tons capacity for the storage of hay, which he shipped to the San Jose and San Francisco markets. After 1901 he was very successful as a dealer in horses, and as a hay merchant in Gilroy. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias. In 1914, on January 20, he passed away, survived by his widow and three children. Mrs. Sheldon was Miss Minnie W. Pfeiffer, a niece of Henry Miller, before her mar- riage, on August 2, 1883, and she is an active mem- ber of the Gilroy Women's Club, and the Tuesday Reading Circle. Josephine W. Sheldon became the wife of Henry Kickham, a prominent stockraiser of Santa Clara County. Gerry W. saw service in the World War overseas for over two years, and on his return home married Miss Lily A. Tilton. He car- ries on ranching at Gilroy. Mildred C. has become the wife of S. G. Cornett, and the mother of one child, Mildred Marie. They reside in Los Banos, where Mr. Cornett manages the Bank of Italy.

MRS. ELIZABETH LOWE WATSON .- Emi- nent among the most distinguished California women, widely known and honored for their intellectuality and effective participation in important movements for the uplift of the human race, Mrs. Elizabeth Lowe Watson, the famous inspirational speaker, en- joys an enviable status throughout the Golden State.

This friend of good things was born in Solon, Ohio, in 1843. Her parents, Abraham and Lucretia Daniels Lowe, soon moved to Leon, N. Y., where Elizabeth received a common school education, and early became an inspirational speaker on liberal re- ligious lines anti-slavery, temperance, peace and woman's rights. For over fifty years she has been a life-member of The American Peace Society.

In 1861 she married Jonathan Watson, prominent in the development of the Pennsylvania oil fields. They established a beautiful home in Rochester, N. Y., which soon became a center of intellectual, spiritual and reform activities. This young woman cared for five step-children and four of her own; diptheria came and two little ones were gathered in by the good angel of immortality. Her eldest, Will L. Watson, the stay and comfort of his mother, at twenty-five, suddenly sickened and "was not, for God took him."

The gifted daughter, Lucretia, a graduate of the University of California, beloved by all who knew her, "Life's Golden Flower," her mother's one per- fect joy, married B. Grant Taylor of Collins, N. Y., now clerk of the Supreme Court of California, and both were ardent coworkers with Mrs. Watson until the passing on of Mrs. Taylor in 1913.

In 1878 reverses of fortune came and in 1880 the family moved to Santa Clara County, making an ideal country home, "Sunny Brac," at Cupertino. Mr. Watson passed away in 1892. Almost imme- diately after coming to California, Mrs. Watson was engaged for regular Sunday services in San Fran- cisco, out of which grew the Religio-Philosophical Society, with Mrs. Watson as its pastor, at the Metro- politan Temple. The Temple had a seating ca- pacity of 1500, and was often filled to the doors with an audience composed of people of all denomina- tions. In 1882 she filled a four months' lecture en- gagement in Australia, which was in every way a pronounced success.

"Sunny Brae," still owned by Mrs. Watson, with its lovely lawns, noble trees, rare shrubbery, wooded

ravine and nearby mountains, has been the scene of remarkable gatherings. For nearly thirty years, on the first Sunday in June, religious services were held under "Temple Oak," which has a spread of eighty-seven feet in all directions,-where crowds from far and near came to hear the gospel of human brotherhood, peace, equal rights, temperance and a demonstrated immortality. On these days the neigh- borhood church dispensed with its morning service, minister and congregation joining generously in the meeting at "Sunny Brae." Here Susan B. Anthony and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw delighted crowds of people during one of the latest suffrage campaigns.

Mrs. Watson was president of the California Equal Suffrage Association for two years, 1910-11, and the suffrage victory was won during her administration. Notwithstanding her almost fourscore years she is still popular as a platform orator and is earnestly working and praying for the abolishment of war and the perpetual reign of peace on earth. She is the author of "Song and Sermon," a small collection of poems and lectures, and is at present engaged in writing the history of her psychical experiences.

WILLIAM WATSON ABERNATHY .- Among the highly-esteemed settlers of Santa Clara County are William Watson Abernathy and his good wife, residents of the vicinity of Saratoga, who are en- joying the fruits of courageous industry, foresight and thrift. Mr. Abernathy was born in Ohio near Xenia, June 18, 1849, the son of Samuel and Lydia Abernathy. His father was a farmer and when William was twelve years of age, his father moved to Lafayette, Ind., and there William lived until he was twenty-one years old, then returned to Ohio where he worked in a tile factory for two years. Then he went to Linn County, Iowa, and was mar- ried there at Center Point, September 21, 1873, to Miss Sarah E. Hodgell, who was born near Barnes- ville, Ohio, in 1853, the daughter of John and Emily (Carpenter) Hodgell. The father was a native of Ohio and of English origin, while Mrs. Hodgell was a native of the same state. They were Iarmers and removed to Linn County, Iowa, in 1872, where they died. John Hodgell served in the Civil War as a member of an Ohio regiment.

Mr. Abernathy engaged in farming in Iowa until 1876, when they moved to Jewell, County, Kans. and engaged in farming near Jewell until 1901, when they came to San Jose, Cal. Mr. Abernathy was in the feed and fuel business for nine years and then he and his son bought their present place on the Saratoga Road, near Moreland Station, and here they have since resided. Mr. and Mrs. Abernathy have two children: Minnie now resides in Iola, Kans .. she is the wife of Frank R. Forrest, and they be- came the parents of three children-Josephine. Ed- win and Wendell; A. Frank married Miss Nettie Melone and they have two children-Florence and Frances. A. Frank was superintendent of the Sorosis Farm in Santa Clara County for about seven- teen years but is now running his own orchard. Mr. Abernathy's farm consists of fifteen and a half acres, two acres are set to apricots, one acre to peaches, and the remainder in prunes. Mr. and Mrs Aber- nathy are active members of the Christian Church at San Jose. Mrs. Abernathy is a charming lady of talent and winning personaliy and has been a true helpmate to her ambitious and industrious husband. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen.

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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 145

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