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 147

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 147

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J. E. Hancock was married at San Jose, on No- vember 29, 1899, to Miss Lessie M. Rainey of Michi- gan and San Jose, and they have two children, Velda and Joseph Rainey. Mr. Hancock is a Knights Templar Mason, is a past master of Fraternity Lodge and past patron of the Eastern Star; belongs to the N. S. G. W., of which he is past president; is Past Exalted Ruler of the Elks and a member of the Lions Club and the Sciots, being at this time Toparch of that order. For recreation he is fond of hunting and fishing, and gets fun and hard work out of ranching. .

J. black

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JONAS CLARK, M. D., F. A. C. S .- A distin- guished representative of the medical profession in California widely known as a specialist, is Dr. Jonas Clark, F. A. C. S., a native of Waltham, Mass., now residing at 192 Fifth Street, Gilroy. He was sent as a boy to a private academy, the Waltham New Church School, and afterwards was graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, when he received the B. S. degree. In 1875, at the completion of his studies in the Harvard Medical School at Bos- ton, that famous institution conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Medicine. While at Harvard during one year, Dr. Clark made class dissections for Oliver Wendell Holmes, the poet. for demonstration to the class; for nearly thirty years Dr. Holmes was professor of anatomy and physiology at the col- lege. In 1874 Dr. Clark was extern, then intern and in 1876 house surgeon in the Massacheusetts Charit- able Eye and Ear Infirmary at Boston.

Dr. Clark specialized in the treatment of the eye, ear and throat, intending to follow a career in the East: but on account of his health, he came West and located at Woodland, where he soon established a good practice. Then for one year he took charge of the private practice and the work of Dr. Stallard in the San Francisco Polyclinic. In 1892 he re- moved to Gilroy, and in time opened offices on North Monterey Street. From 1910 to 1913 he was superin- tendent of the Santa Clara County Hospital, and for ten years he was district surgeon for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He served as city health officer of Gilroy and has been president of the Santa Clara County Medical Society and a member of the State Medical Society; and he is a member of the American Medical Association. The recipient of many degrees bestowed upon him by colleges in various states, Dr. Clark is still the democratic. unpretentious, influen- tial and ideal American citizen, decidedly one of the most esteemed residents of Gilroy. For years he has planned to retire, and to a certain extent he has relinquished the reins to his son, Dr. John A. Clark: but the persistent calls for his experience and skill have made it difficult for him to refuse the claims of suffering humanity.

In Boston Dr. Clark was married to Miss Hon- oria Tierney, who died in 1902 from the effects of a runaway accident, leaving two children. In 1909, he remarried, choosing for his second wife Miss Emily Casey, the daughter of Michael Casey.

John A. Clark, the son. is a graduate of the science course at Santa Clara University, and received his M. D. degree from the University of California; and since then he has become one of the prominent phy- sicians of Gilroy; and Miss Marie Clark, is a regis- tered graduate nurse. Dr. Jonas Clark has prospered materially since locating in California, and he owns some very desirable ranch properties in the Santa Clara Valley, and some equally desirable residence property at Gilroy. He is a member of Keith Lodge of Masons of Gilroy, and of the Independent Order of Foresters, and is a member of Harvard Alumni. In national political affairs he is a Republican.

WARREN H. POMEROY .- A flourishing com- mercial establishment of much import to the city of San Jose is the clothing emporium of Pomeroy Bros., the firm consisting of Warren H. and C. C. Pomeroy. the sons of Marshall Pomeroy, whose life story ap- pears on another page of this historical work. Main- 42

taining at all times one of the largest stocks to be found anywhere in California, this old-established house offers the latest products of the most fashion- able studios and the most celebrated mills.

Warren Pomeroy was born in San Jose on October 13, 1878, and after finishing with the local grammar schools he continued his studies at the Santa Clara high school. Then he picked out the best business college in San Jose, tackled its curriculum, and learned all that it could teach him. Pushing out into the world for himself, Mr. Pomeroy joined his brother, already referred to, and bought out W. K. Jenkins. The business long ago established by him, they have continued, and have so enlarged their stock, extended their territory and expanded their scope that they are today serving a larger and a finer public than ever before. As might be expected of such an enterprising man with a broad-minded public-spiritedness, Mr. Pomeroy belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, and is one of its active members.

On August 11, 1907, Mr. Pomeroy was married at San Jose to Miss Susie Stock of that city; and to- gether they have identified themselves pleasantly with San Jose social life. Mr. Pomeroy belongs to the San Jose parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, and he is also a member of the Elks. He endorses the platforms of the Republican party, and did his full share in supporting the various drives during the re- cent participation by America in the World War.

ALEXANDER MILNE .- Possessed of excellent judgment and sound common sense, backed by in- telligence which kept him well informed, the late Alexander Milne occupied a position among the farm- ers of Santa Clara County which was won by energy and perseverance. Throughout his agricultural and horticultural activities he displayed ability and capa- bleness, and his ranch, through his untiring efforts, was brought to a high state of cultivation and the many substantial improvements, including the house and farm buildings, have added much to the value of the property. He was born May 8, 1844, in Elgin, Scotland, which was also the birthplace of his father and mother, John and Helen (Murdock) Milne. His parents migrated to Canada with their family, set- tling on a farm near London, Middlesex County, where they spent the remainder of their lives, both passing away at the age of seventy-six years. They were the parents of seven children, and Alexander, the subject of this sketch, was the only member of the family who came to California. He was reared and educated in London, Ontario, and became thor- oughly conversant with the various branches of agri- culture. On January 14, 1868, he left home and jour- neyed to New York City, where he started via Nica- ragua for California, and after a journey of thirty days, eight of which were spent in crossing Nica- ragua, he arrived in San Francisco. Coming directly to Santa Clara County, he worked for a short time in the Skuse lime kiln, and then took the contract for cutting 120 cords of wood, the work requiring three months. He worked in the woods at Lexington for a time, and was then employed as a harvest hand for one season. He then went to the Almaden, and felled wood in the summer and ranched in the win- ter, and remained there for two years. He then en- gaged in business for himself, taking large contracts for getting out and hauling square and round tim- bers, logs and wood, and worked at this for twelve

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

years. In 1881 he purchased his farm on the Burchell Road, consisting of 380 acres, about four miles from Gilroy. All the improvements were of substantial character. Most of the land was devoted to the raising of grain, for which it is well adapted, and a fine orchard of about fifty acres and a vineyard of forty acres. Under his labor and management the ranch became exceptionally productive and his suc- cess was well deserved.

After being four years in California Mr. Milne re- turned to Canada and there his marriage occurred in Ontario, on September 26, 1872, and united him with Miss Isabella Forbes, a native of that place, who accompanied him back to California, and they were the parents of eight children, all born in this county: Edna E. married James White, now de- ceased, and lives in Colusa with her son and daugh- ter, Francis and Evelyn; William A., living on the home ranch, married Luella Ogan, who died, leaving one daughter, Evelyn; Isabella, Mary Louise, Jessie M., all single, at home; John T. has charge of the home ranch; Annie G., wife of Chris Lund, near Gilroy; James C., also at home. Mr. Milne passed away at the family home on Burchell Road on July 29, 1920, and since his demise John T. Milne has conducted the ranch and fruit business, and has put out thirty-five acres of grapes. Mr. Milne was a stanch Democrat and had served the community as school trustee. He was a member of the A. O. U. W. and was a faithful member of the Catholic Church. Mrs. Milne resides on the home place and is active in all business matters, and is a wide-awake, public- spirited citizen. Mr. Milne was a charter member of the California Prune and Apricot Association, and Mrs. Milne continues to take an active interest in the affairs of that organization.

O'CONNELL BROTHERS, INC .- The firm of O'Connell Bros., Inc., is composed of Charles T., Franklin J., George D., Albert F. and Elmer S. O'Connell, who are very successful cattlemen, ranch- ers and business men. In 1901 the sons took over the holdings of their father, Thomas O'Connell, an old-established wood and coal business, to which they in time added a grocery store and butcher shop. Later on they began raising beef, and for this pur- pose they leased the old Weher ranch of 12,000 acres, which they later purchased, also acquiring the Fiacro. Fisher and the Peter Gossibert lands at Coyote, making their total holdings 15,200 acres in one large ranch, requiring about forty miles of fence to enclose it and many miles of cross fencing. The ranch is well watered and wooded and is traversed by Coyote Creek, Packwood Creek and Los Animas Creek, be- sides having a number of large springs. They have recently completed a large dam on Los Animas Creek, impounding a large body of water which fur- nishes irrigation to much of their ranch by a gravity system, flowing through miles of concrete pipe line. The ranch is studded with live oak, pin oak and syc- amores, and it also contains valuable deposits of magnesite, copper and chrome ore. The O'Connell Bros. engage in raising hay, grain and stock, and are widely know for their high-grade shorthorn Dur- ham cattle. They have built a modern abattoir in San Jose, where they do the slaughtering of their own cattle and manufacture the various products which they retail at their market at Sixth and St. James streets, also selling to the wholesale trade.

Most of their cattle, however, are shipped to San Francisco and Los Angeles on the hoof, and they have also consigned cattle to Alaska.

O'Connell Bros. were incorporated July 9, 1906, and they are active in the membership of the Mer- chants' Association and Chamber of Commerce of San Jose. The brothers are all active in the busi- ness; Charles Thomas is manager of the company; Franklin J. manages the ranch; George D. is super- intendent of the meat department; Albert assists in the management of the ranch, while Elmer S. has charge of the fuel department. They have recently purchased the Crowley stockyards at Coyote, which they use in shipping, giving them an outlet and inlet by rail from the ranch. They have also leased 17,000 acres of the San Luis ranch at Pacheco Pass as an addition to their cattle ranch, and are increasing their cattle holdings accordingly. Energetic young men of industry and good habits, they all attend closely to building up the business of their various departments, co-operating in all their undertakings and doing business in harmony and accord.

J. D. FARWELL .- A man of sterling worth and one who may be counted upon at all times to give his support to matters pertaining to the progress and development of the county and state is J. D. Farwell, the efficient vice-president of the Bank of Los Gatos. Born in San Francisco, March 4, 1872, he is a son of Captain J. D. and Elizabeth Foy Farwell, both par- ents being early settlers of California. Captain Far- well, a native of Vasselboro, Maine, was master in the Merchant Marine service, sailing into the impor- tant ports of the world. In 1850 he brought a sailing vessel around Cape Horn to San Francisco and in that city he was a ship chandler. In the early days he had the honor of being the vice-president of the Vigilance Committee in San Francisco, who had their own distinctive ways of enforcing the laws of the community. He became very well known around the San Francisco Bay. He married Miss Foy of San Francisco; she was a native of Vermont, and both died in San Francisco. Next to the youngest of the four children, J. D. Farwell was educated in the grammar and high schools of Oakland, and after graduation became associated with the California Engineering Company that constructed cable roads and power plants. For several years he remained with this company, and in 1894 removed to Los Gatos and became interested in the growing of fruit. As early as 1895 he was one of the organizers and be- came manager of the Glen Una Electric Company that supplied electricity to the residents of Los Gatos. In 1903 he was one of the organizers of the Los Gatos Gas & Electric Company. He was manager of the company until they sold out to the Pacific Gas & Electric Company in 1913, since which time he has been a director of the Bank of Los Gatos and in 1920 he was selected to fill the position of vice-pres- ident, thus taking an active part in the management of the affairs of the institution.

The marriage of Mr. Farwell in Los Gatos united him with Miss Irma Lyndon, born at Los Gatos, the daughter of that worthy pioneer John W. Lyndon, whose biography appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Farwell's union has been blessed with the birth of a son, Lyndon Farwell, attending Los Gatos Union high school. Mr. Farwell gives his political

@Murcan Barr.

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endorsement to the Republican party. He is a mem- ber of the San Jose County Club and has been pro- minent in the development of the county's fine roads. A man of high principles and steadfast purpose, he is earnest in his support of every cause which he endorses, forceful and resourceful in all that he un- dertakes. He has a large circle of warm friends throughout this part of the state enjoying the high regard of all with whom social, political or business relations have brought him in contact.

C. MARIAN BARR, A. M .- Eminent among the distinguished educators who have contributed much toward extending widely the fame of California in the educational World, Miss C. Marian Barr, Dean of Wo- men, College of the Pacific at San Jose, enjoys envi- able position and influence. She was born near Mon- mouth, Ill., the daughter and only child of John Barr, who was born near Glasgow. Scotland, and came to America when he was eighteen years old. He located in Missouri and later removed to Illinois, where he attended the University of Chicago, from which he was graduated in excellent standing in 1878; after which he became a minister of the Baptist Church for the preaching of the Gospel. In 1880 he married Miss Addie Dutzschky; and seven years later they removed to California. They settled at Pomona, and in 1900 the Rev. Mr. Barr retired from active work.

Miss Marian Barr, after completing Pomona high school, selected the University of California at Berk- eley, to which city her parents also removed, and where, in February, 1913, Mr. Barr died, survived by this daughter and his widow, who still resides at Berkeley. In 1904, Miss Barr was graduated from the university with the degree of A. B .; and two years later she was given by the same institution the degree of A. M. In 1907 she became an instructor in Latin and German at California College, Oakland, and in 1910, having ably discharged her first respon- sibility, she joined the staff of the College of the Pacific as Dean of Women, and is also instructor in vocational education.

As Dean of Women, having very much the inter- ests of both the students and the institution at heart, Miss Barr has become exceptionally busy, and she has proven the right person for the direction of the new course in vocational education, which deals with the vocational opportunities of women and was in- stituted at the College of the Pacific in 1917. She resides at Helen Guth Hall, and has her offices in the same hall on the beautiful campus of the college, where she has for years been a leading and familiar figure, enviably popular with the young women, on the average of superior capacity, attracted to this growing institution. Miss Barr is a member of the American Association of University Women, formerly the Association of Collegiate Alumni, and in various ways is able to make her influence for educational and moral uplift widely felt.

EDWARD FERRY EASTMAN .- The life which the narrative chronicles began in Eastmanville, Mich., on January 15, 1863, in the home of Galen and Mary Lucina (Ferry) Eastman, who were representatives of Colonial families of New England. Galen East- man was born July 8, 1829, at Canaan, Maine, and was engaged in the lumber business, owning his craft and barges on the rivers and lakes, and his own mills. What education he had acquired was by his own efforts, but whatever he undertook he succeeded

in doing well. During the year of 1836 his parents had removed to Michigan. Mrs. Mary Lucina East- man was a sister of the Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, who was a member of House and U. S. Senate from Mich- igan for twenty-six years, and upon the death of Henry Wilson, became acting vice-president of the United States. In 1879 Galen Eastman took a trip into the frontier of New Mexico and became the gov- ernment agent for the Navajo Indians at Fort De- fiance, N. M. For several years he was also a suc- cessful hardware merchant in San Francisco. He passed away on January 18, 1899, aged sixty-nine, and his widow passed away in 1903 in San Francisco, when sixty-six years old.

Edward F. Eastman was educated in the schools of Grand Haven, Mich., and during the year of 1876 left school to take a trip on the Great Lakes. Touch- ing at Chicago, he traveled on and on until in Feb- ruary of the following year he was in Louisiana, where he soon found employment in towing and freighting on Grand Lake, transporting thousands of feet of lumber and thousands of tons of merchandise to points on Bayou Teche. Another experience was while living on the Indian reservation; he became much enamored of the wild life of the Indians, and in 1881 was called upon to act as guide for a party of tourists going to the Canyon de Chelley in Ari- zona. Leaving Albuquerque, N. M., well equipped with packs and horses, he headed so as to cross the head of the canyon and made the trip without any serious accident. Four years later he was in the Wasatch Mountains in Utah and working in the silver mines. Various enterprises engaged his atten- tion from smelterman to engineer, and the experi- ence gained throughout all the years was never amiss. However, in 1885 he gave up his mining operations and left for San Francisco.

On November 3, 1887, Mr. Eastman was married to Miss Nellie Florence Sleeper, born in Columbia. Tuolumne County. Cal., the daughter of the sturdy pioneer, William Osgood Sleeper, who was born in 1816, a native of St. Albans, Maine, and who crossed the Isthmus in 1851, arriving in San Francisco early in 1852. He was engaged in the buying and ship- ping of gold dust, and also tried his luck at mining. He married Miss Almira Foss, and in 1868 they re- moved to San Francisco. Mr. Sleeper died in Santa Rosa in 1901, and Mrs. Sleeper passed away in Santa Clara County in 1908.

In 1887 Mr. Eastman removed with his family to Santa Rosa, and there purchased a ranch and was engaged for the next two years in farming, but still believing that he could find a fortune in the mines. he disposed of his ranch and went to Utah, where he remained until November, 1891, when he located in the Santa Clara Valley, and since that time has been a resident of that county most of the time. For eleven years he was in the hardware and the marble business in San Francisco, and continued until the time of the great fire and earthquake in 1906. The reverses which he and his brother suffered at that time never caused our subject to give up the fight, but by hard work and good judgment he has suc- ceeded in establishing himself on a substantial basis. For many years he owned and operated the extensive ranch property, consisting of 652 acres, known as Mountain Dell, in the Uvas in Santa Clara County.

Mr. and Mrs. Eastman are the parents of two children; George W. is married and is a practicing

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chiropractor and resides in New York City; Alice L. is the wife of Percy Dunlap and they reside in Se- bastopol. Mr. Eastman is a stockholder in the Farm- ers' Union store at Morgan Hill. in 1919 the Moun- tain Dell ranch was sold to Harold McD. Smith, and Mr. Eastman erected a modern and comfortable residence on a nine-and-a-half-acre ranch on the Uvas Road eight miles from Morgan Hill, called "Creek Side." Politically he is a stanch Republican, and fraternally he is a Mason, holding membership in Mission Lodge No. 169, F. & A. M .; a charter member of Mission Chapter No. 79, R. A. M .; a member of California Commandery No. 1, K. T., and Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of San Francisco. Both Mr. and Mrs. Eastman are members of Mag- nolia Chapter, O. E. S., Gilroy. Mr. Eastman has practically lived retired since 1908, but is ever inter- ested in the welfare and future of his locality.

RICHARD ATKINSON .- An esteemed and wor- thy pioneer of Santa Clara County was Richard Atkinson, a native of England, born in Chester County on May 10, 1837. He came to America while still a very young man and was engaged in farming on the Tarpy Rancho on the coast below Monterey, and in the early '60s removed to the New Almaden Mines, where he was employed as engineer for many years, and his untimely death was caused by injury received there. He passed away at the Atkinson home on Croy Road, Uvas Canyon, October 4, 1875.

In 1862 Mr. Atkinson had married Miss Sarah Gallagher, a native of County Sligo, Ireland, born August 19, 1839, who passed away November 16, 1918, at the family home. After Mr. Atkinson's death the burden of proving up on the land fell on the mother, but she was equal to the task, and on April 9, 1881, the family came into clear and full possession of the 160 acres on the Croy Road. Mrs. Atkinson also had the responsibility of rearing and education of three children: Sarah died in childhood; Mary is now owner of the ranch; Josephine is the wife of Philip Daly, and they are the parents of five children and reside at Mendota; Richard J. is de- ceased. The children were educated in the Uvas dis- trict school, of which Mrs. Atkinson was the founder, having given a portion of her ranch for the establish- ment of the school in 1875, and she furnished part of the lumber. while J. W. Week and Peter Bosset built the building.

EMORY C. SINGLETARY .- A representative pioneer settler of California, and a prominent and highly esteemed resident of San Jose, the late Emory C. Singletary occupied an honorable position among the venerable and well-to-do agriculturists of Santa Clara County. A descendant of one of the early colonial families of New England, he was born May 16, 1824, in Holden, Mass. On both sides of the house he was closely connected with families of dis- tinction, among others being the Goulds, the Dwin- nells, the Pierces and the Greeleys. He came of patriotic stock, one of his earliest American ances- tors, a brave soldier, having been killed by the Pequod Indians, and another ancestor, his Great- great-grandfather Singletary, having served as an officer in the Revolutionary War. His grandfather, Amos Singletary, was born and reared in Massachu- setts, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits during his active life. He married a Miss Johnson, of English descent, and of the children born of their

union Emory was the father of Emory C. Singletary, the subject of this review. His father grew to man- hood on the ancestral home place in Massachusetts and obtained a fair education in the district schools of his home town. Removing to Wisconsin in 1838, he located in Walworth County, where he acquired large possessions, and was for many years an ex- tensive and prosperous farmer. He died in Elkhorn, near the homestead which he had there improved, at the age of ninety-three years. He married Lois Pierce, a native of Massachusetts, a daughter of Aus- tin Pierce, a first consin of President Franklin Pierce, and she passed away in Massachusetts. There were three children born of their union, all deceased.

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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 147

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