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 152

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 152

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Dr. Thayer has been twice married. In June, 1874. at La Grange, N. Y., he was united with Mary S. Dexter, who was born in 1855, and died in August. 1876, the mother of one daughter, Delia Florine Thayer, born in Pavilion N. Y. While practicing medicine in Ogdensburg, Kans., he married Miss Effie A. Parrish, by whom he had one daughter, Laura E. Thayer.

Miss D. Florine Thayer was reared and educated in Gilroy, and had begun to pursue the courses of study at the San Jose State Normal School, with a view to teaching, when impaired health induced her to change her work, and for twenty-one years she has been Dr. Thayer's office assistant. Of resourceful capability. Miss Thayer has proven a factor for real good in Gilroy. She is the financial secretary of the Independent Order of Foresters, and a past noble grand of the Rebekahs and musician of the local lodge for years. She has been particularly influential for progress and the better things in clubs, and is a char- ter member and for twenty-one years secretary of the

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

F. R. F. G. Club, and was the first secretary of the Women's Civic Club of Gilroy. She belongs to the First Presbyterian Church, and is secretary of the Women's Missionary Society and the Mite Society.

MRS. ALLIS KIMBALL BALLOU BRAD- FORD .- A native daughter of California, who has traveled extensively is Mrs. Allis Kimball Bradford. She is a representative of the ninth generation of the Ballou family in the United States, and was born in San Jose on the Oakland Road on one of her father's ranches. She grew up in Santa Clara County and was educated in the grammar and high schools and later attended the State Normal school at San Jose and graduated with the class of 1885; later she went to Boston, Mass., and studied voice culture. Her father, J. Q. A. Ballou, is a native of Windsor Coun- ty, Vt., who came to California in 1849, going first to the mines in Amador County. In 1853 he removed to Santa Clara County and purchased forty acres on the Milpitas road, which he set to an orchard. He has always been a prominent and progressive citizen of Santa Clara County, and has been interested in various projects that counted for the upbuilding of the county. He resides with Mrs. Bradford at her home in Palo Alto at 350 Addison Street and is ninety-five years old, being totally blind.

In San Jose in 1897, Miss Ballou was united in marriage with Wager Bradford, a mining engineer, who was born in Stockton and educated at Hamilton College, New York State. Immediately after mar- riage, Mr. and Mrs. Bradford went to Johannesburgh, South Africa, where Mr. Bradford was employed as a mining engineer for the Eckstein Gold Mining Company. He became a captain in the British army defending the Rand mining district in the Transvaal. Mr. and Mrs. Bradford, who were the parents of two daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth, resided in Africa thirteen years. Mr. Bradford was taken ill there with pneumonia and passed away July 9, 1909, and Mrs. Bradford returned to San Jose with her hus- band's remains and he was interred in Oak Hill cem- etery at San Jose. In 1910 she removed to Palo Alto, purchasing her home at 350 Addison Avenue. She is active in civic affairs and serves on the advis- ory board of the Stanford Convalescent Home for children, and also belongs to the Woman's Club of Palo Alto. During the recent war she served on the home section of the Red Cross. She is devoted to her home and the care and education of her daugh- ter and administering to the needs of her blind father. She believes in constructive measures and is inter- ested in the welfare of the community.

ALFRED SEALE .- A native son, fortunate in an inheritance of deep interest for California and her splendid institutions, and devoting most of his time to his real estate affairs, Alfred Seale, of 537 Cole- ridge Avenue, Palo Alto, contributed definitely to- ward the rapid and permanent development of the re- soures of the favored Golden State. He was born at San Francisco on December 16, 1865, and started life with the advantages of a metropolitan environ- ment. His father, Thomas Seale, was a native of Ireland, having been born in Banagher, County Kings, in 1826; and when he first came to the United States, he lived for a while in New Orleans. Then, in 1850, he came out to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and he located in San Francisco, where he established himself with his brother, Henry W.

Seale, as a contractor and undertook much of the difficult and important grading work in the early days of that city. In 1853, he came down into Santa Clara County, and settled at Mayfield; and there he became the owner of more than a thousand acres of land. It lies south of Palo Alto, and in its owner- ship, Mr. Seale had his brother, Henry W. Seale, as a partner; the area is now known as the Seale Tract. The brothers farmed the land successfully until the death of Henry W. Seale, in 1888. Thomas died nineteen years later. He had married Miss Marion Sproule, and their union was blessed with two children-Alfred, the subject of this sketch, and Mabel, now the wife of Gustav Laumeister, of Palo Alto. Henry W. Seale married Miss Jessie D. Carr, a daughter of Jesse Carr, the California pioneer.

Alfred, on settling down to his sphere in life, en- tered the realty field as an owner, and has done his part to favor the appreciation of land value and to develop his holdings. He is a Democrat, as was his father and unele, favoring the substantial traditions of the historic party, and his influence is often felt for the uplifting of civic affairs.

When he married, Alfred Scale took for his wife Miss Grace E. Ross, a native of Lassen County, Cal., and the daughter of A. E. Ross, a pioneer stockman. Four children came to gladden the hearts of these worthy parents. Marion, Barbara, Alfred, Jr., and Marjorie. Mr. Seale is a Mason, and a Shriner; and he is also a very esteemed member of the Na- tive Sons of the Golden West.

ARTHUR E. ARNOLD .- Coming to Stockton, Cal., in 1876, Arthur E. Arnold was for a number of years a resident of the San Joaquin Valley, at a time when, compared with the present, that part of the country was sparsely settled. A native of Connecti- cut, Mr. Arnold was born at Norwalk, November 2. 1850, and when thirteen years old accompanied his parents to Boscobel, Wis., and there he spent the next thirteen years of his life at farm work and at threshing operations. In 1876 he came to California and went to work on a ranch in San Joaquin County; he remained there but a short time, however, going from there to the Sperry Bros. ranch, near Stockton. Later he organized a threshing crew and contracted for the threshing of grain throughout San Joaquin, County when it was a vast grain field, continuing there until 1895, when he came to Santa Clara Coun- ty. He decided on the rich district of Morgan Hill as the scene for his future operations and purchased thirty-five acres of the Dunne tract, situated on Ed- mundson Avenne, and here he has since made his home, continuing his threshing operations each sum- mer in San Joaquin County until 1919.

In 1880 Mr. Arnold was married to Miss Vina C. Carlon, who was born in Iowa, the daughter of Kin- sey and Henrietta (Mallard) Carlon. The father, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1824, was a pioneer settler of lowa, and Mrs. Carlon was born in New Jersey in 1837; she lived to be eighty-one years old, passing away in Iowa in 1918. Mrs. Arnold, who was fortunate in having a fine education, followed the profession of teaching in Iowa for about four years before her marriage to Mr. Arnold, whose ac- quaintance she made while on a visit to California. Three children have been born to them: Vivian,

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

married to John Ricardo, and they reside at Antioch; Wallace, deceased, is survived by a son, Arthur F. Arnold, who lives at San Jose; Carl, married Miss Kruger of Watsonville, and they reside near Morgan Hill; he has a fine record for service during the World War, serving for two years and spending twelve months overseas in the Engineers Corps. Mr. Arnold is a Republican in politics and takes a keen interest in all that concerns the community's good. Mrs. Arnold has been a member of the Methodist Church for twenty-six years and of the W. C. T. U. for twenty-seven years.

FRED W. OSTERMAN .- Prominent among the most progressive and successful nurserymen of Cal- ifornia is Fred W. Osterman, who was born on the Alameda, in San Jose, on October 29, 1866, the son of William and Mary Agatha (Brunst) Osterman. His father came to California across the plains in an ox- team train in the early fifties, and for a while was employed in the lumber mills at Fort Bragg, in Men- docino County. He had come to America and New York City from Bremen when he was fourteen years old, and later made his way to California; and he had to struggle with adversity, for his parents' property had been confiscated by the Russians. Mrs. Osterman, on the other hand, came from Klingen Munster, Rheinfelsen, and she and Mr. Osterman were married at San Francisco, after he had been shipwrecked while journeying from Ft. Bragg to the Bay City. Mr. Osterman took up mill work at the Froment Lumber Company, and later accepted a position with the Santa Clara Valley Lumber Company in San Jose, where he continued till he died. His widow is living in San Jose aged eighty-six years. She has three children, Fred- erick W., our subject; Margaret, Mrs. Jas. Donnelly of San Francisco; and Wm. J., of San Jose.

Fred Osterman attended the Hester school, and at fifteen was apprenticed to learn the plumber's trade. He worked under Fred Klein for four years, and then for a couple of years, or until they discontinued, for Badgley & Behrendt. After that, for sixteen years he was in the employ of Chris. Hirth. He then went into business for himself. and for five years had a plumbing shop at 732 South First Street. From a lad Mr. Osterman had been interested in growing flowers, plants, seeds and trees and always cared for the home gardens and he became experienced in budding and grafting as well as propagating plants, so in 1904 he sold his plumbing business to devote all of his time to the nursery business. He established his first nur- sery at 501 Prevost Street, and after four years he sold out to Charles Navlet. Then he bought the old Hannah Nursery of ten acres on the MeLaughlin Road, and there he has cultivated all kinds of nur- sery stock, and became an expert in bulb growing. He has installed a first-class pumping plant, and many modern improvements. He has also installed a system of irrigation from pipes laid underground. He makes a specialty of raising bulbs and all kinds of ornamental stock, narcissus, peonies, jonquils, daffodils. gladioli, as well as all kinds of roses and has established a rep- utation for growing the finest roses, importing roses from France and jonquils from Holland.

At San Jose on August 7, 1889, Mr. Osterman was married to Miss Orianna Waldorf, a native of Mt. Auburn, Ill., and the daughter of Jacob and Adaline C. (Slayton) Waldorf. Jacob Waldorf was born in Warnerville, N. Y. Coming to Michigan he mar-

ried Adaline C. Slayton, who was born in Hillsdale, Mich., and they removed to Illinois where they were farmers. During the Civil War, Mr. Waldorf was captain of Company G, U. S. Heavy Artillery, taking part in the Georgia campaign and march to the sea. In 1873 Mr. Waldorf removed to Virginia City, Nev .. where he was employed in the Bonanza King mine, his family joining him in 1875. In 1887 the family came to San Jose, and seven years later the father joined them there, where he died. His widow con- tinues to reside in San Jose, aged seventy-nine years. Of their seven children, five are living: Mrs. Minnie McCourt of San Francisco; Orianna, Mrs. Osterman; John T., a prominent man of San Francisco, who was enrolling clerk of the U. S. Senate for four years; Geo. W., an attorney in San Jose; Addie, deceased; Jacob was with the aero squadron in the World War and is also deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Osterman have two children, Florence, a graduate of Heald's Busi- ness College, is in the employ of the California Prune & Apricot Growers, Inc. Frederick Elmer was in the government service and on a vessel that plied between the United States and China during the war. He is now associated with the Philippine Vegetable Com- pany at Manila.

Mr. Osterman is a member of the San Jose Nurs- erymens' Association and of the Seventh Day Adven- tist Church. Mrs. Osterman is a member of Anna Ella Carroll Circle No. 1. Ladies of the G. A. R. and of the Baptist Church. Mr. Osterman gives no small credit for his success to his faithful wife who mani- fests the greatest interest in his business and has charge of the floral department, making all the bo- quets and floral designs for the trade.

SAMUEL G. TOMPKINS .- No San Josean is' better known or more deeply respected than Samuel G. Tompkins, attorney, American plan advocate, golf enthusiast-and flute player, and from the days of his early boyhood, when he was struggling for a. foothold against heavy odds, until the present years of fulfillment, his life is the interesting story of a truly self-made man. Mr. Tompkins was born in Louisiana, where his father was a man of promi- nence, a circuit judge whose jurisdiction extended over three counties, or parishes, as they were called in that state. The father enlisted in the Confederate army, and his four years' service during the Civil War left him in impaired health, so he sold his holdings of 1500 acres for $1500 and planned to move to California. The tickets were bought for the family, which then consisted of father, mother and four children, the eldest just eleven and the youngest a baby of thirteen months. Everyone was happy in the prospect of the journey; and one day the father went to the river landing to superintend the shipping of their household effects, and all was well until the boat was four miles out from shore, when it burned to the water's edge and nothing was saved. On the way home the father encountered a severe rainstorm and this exposure, in his weakened condi- tion, caused his death. In this pitiable plight, Mrs. Tompkins did the only thing possible, and using the tickets already purchased she brought her little fam- ily to Yuba City, Cal, where some of the father's relatives lived Here she taught music for a year, and hearing that Colusa offered better opportunities, she moved there.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Samuel G. attended school at Colusa until he was fourteen, and then quit school to earn his living, working at all sorts of odd jobs-digging cellars, chopping wood, working in the hay field-keeping this up until he was eighteen, when he was awakened to the great need of an education and, as he puts it, the desire "to be somebody." Some neighbors were moving to Oakland in order to give their boys bet- ter educational advantages and their plans gave him the determination to get an education. Securing a job with a threshing gang, he worked from before sunrise until the last glint of daylight had disap- peared. He had heard of the College of the Pacific and wrote there, telling of his ambition to get an education, and in reply received a nice letter of en- couragement from Dr. C. C. Stratton, the president, telling him if he had accomplished a certain amount of Latin, he could enter the third year preparatory work in August. Mr. Tompkins set to work, study- ing at the noon dinner hour under the cook wagon or inside the wagon at night, while the Chinaman washed the dishes. When the summer's work was over, he bought a ticket for San Jose, arriving there with $50 two weeks before college opened. Pres- ident Stratton, recognizing the boy's ambition and determination, secured work for him on the campus, the earnings to apply on his tuition, and Samuel also secured a job as night messenger for the American District Telegraph. Next he became janitor of the old Presbyterian Church, doing his work at night after the day's study at college was finished, keeping this up for two years, and he was able to keep up his studies until he graduated in 1886. Two weeks later he took the teacher's examination and secured a first-grade certificate, teaching his first year at the Jefferson school near Santa Clara, and then two terms at the Hester School at San Jose. When he first entered college he made the decision that he would be a lawyer, so he then gave up teaching and entered the office of T. H. Laine, and after a year there he passed the Supreme Court's examination successfully. At last the time had come when the goal of his ambitions was in sight; but his money was gone, so he went back to teaching, this time tak- ing two positions to make up for lost time, a day school at the Guadalupe mines and at the night school in San Jose. He made the round trip of twenty-four miles every day with a horse and cart.

About 1890 Mr. Tompkins opened up his law of- fice in the building where the Madsen Furniture Company store now stands, but kept his night school position to pay his expenses while waiting for busi- ness to come. Needless to say, it did come, and as the years have gone by, Mr. Tompkins has taken his place among the leaders of the bar of Santa Clara County. In reply to the query as to what he attri- buted his success, Mr. Tomkins once said, "I attribute it to making up my mind to do a thing-and stick- ing to it. It is not so much brilliancy that counts, but energy and fair dealing. I suppose that every man at some time in his life thinks that when he has accomplished certain things that he will quit busi- ness, hut some year ago something occurred to me that was enlightening. A successful man whom I knew well decided to retire from business, visioning long years of enjoyment and case. Some months

afterwards I saw him standing on a corner, just looking up and down the street. After greeting him I said, 'What are you waiting for?' I will never for- get the tragedy of his reply, 'Sam, I'm just waiting to die.' As I walked away I changed my mind about ever giving up work. I wanted to be a lawyer. [ am a lawyer; and I shall continue to practice law. One can rust out quickly, but it takes a long time to wear out." Mr. Tompkins is a great lover of music and has been for many years an artistic performer on the flute. He says, "The history of my flute playing goes back to Colusa County, when I was fourteen years old. I attended a concert and heard a boy play a piccolo an octave flute-and for years I carried that tune in my head, until I located it in Von Web- er's Oberon. When I left the concert that night I wanted to learn to play. I hustled around and got a subscriber for the Youth's Companion. The prize was a fife; it came and I welcomed it, but it wasn't a flute. Finally I found an eight-keyed flute and now I own a Boehm flute for which I paid $185. Music is my recreation and my pleasure. There is something about, especially flute music, that is soul satisfying. Somehow I thing that what I did with the flute is just what we have to do in life with a chosen line of work. We have to select something and then make ourselves master of it-whether it's a flute or a profession."

DALLAS E. WOOD .- Among the progressive and active citizens of Palo Alto, whose influence is felt along all lines, is Dallas E. Wood, the editor and joint publisher of the Daily Palo Alto Times. A native of California, he was born in Merced, on January 27, 1886. His father, Mirabeau Dallas Wood, was a native of Florida, while his mother, Maron L. Wood, was a native of Missouri. His maternal and paternal grandparents were from Vir- ginia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Dallas E. began his education in the grammar school of Mer- ced and was graduated from the grammar school in June, 1900; and from the Merced high school in June, 1904; he immediately entered the Stanford Univers- ity and was a student from 1904 to 1908. After his graduation his first work was as advertising writer in San Francisco, and he was thus engaged for seven years. In 1915 he became the city editor of the Merced Sun and was thus occupied until July 1, 1919, when he became editor and joint publisher of the Daily Palo Alto Times in partnership with George F. Morell and William F. Henry.

Mr. Wood's marriage occurred in Stockton, Cal., August 24, 1921, and united him with Miss Elizabeth A. Wright, a daughter of the late Judge E. G. Wright of Putnam, Conn., and Mrs. Wright, now of Boston, Mass. Mrs. Wood is a native of Connecticut and her education was begun in that state; later she was a student and was graduated from the Stanford Uni- versity with the class of 1908. Mr. Wood is the owner of a fig orchard in Merced County. Political- ly he is a Democrat and fraternally belongs to the Knights of Pythias. During his residence in Palo Alto he has entered enthusiastically into the civic life of the community and is ever ready to put his shoulder to the wheel to help its progress.

Frank & Olamell

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

FRANK J. O'CONNELL .- Already securely es- tablished in the business life of the community, Frank J. O'Connell, the vice-president of O'Connell Bros., Inc., and manager of their extensive cattle ranch, is greatly interested in the growth and devel- opment of Santa Clara County along broad and com- prehensive lines and zealous in his work towards making it one of the banner counties of the state in agricultural and horticultural resources. The sec- ond eldest of a family of six living children born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas O'Connell, pioneers whose sketch appears elsewhere in this book, he was born at Hollister, San Benito County on October 23, 1881, where his early education was gained. In 1895, when a lad of thirteen years, he accompanied the family when they removed to San Jose, and there he con- tinued in school for another year, when he left the classroom to give all his time in assisting his father, who was engaged in the fuel and feed business.

In 1902, Mr. O'Connell, with his brother Charles, took over their father's business and continuing in partnership until July 9, 1906, when the five O'Connell boys incorporated the business as O'Con- nell Bros., Inc., in which he has since been a direc- tor and vice-president. They then enlarged the busi- ness, establishing a grocery department, as well as a wholesale and retail butcher business, and finding a great need for a large supply of cattle, in 1911 they launched out into cattle raising. This end of the business has grown to great proportions and they now own 15,000 acres near Madrone, and control another 17,000 by lease at Pacheco Pass, a descrip- tion of their holdings being found in the article on O'Connell Bros., Inc. In 191f Mr. O'Connell took charge of the cattle and ranch interests and has since superintended that part of the business. A close student of the stock industry, he has become exceptionally well informed and is considered one of the best judges of cattle in this part of the state, buying cattle from Mexico to Oregon, as well as east to Nevada.

In San Jose, on June 17, 1911, Mr. O'Connell was married to Miss Rhea Fenton, a native of Iowa, and they have three children, Fenton Frank, James W. and Ruth Irma. Mr. O'Connell is a popular mem- ber of the Woodmen of the World and Ancient Order of Foresters. He is a straight-out Republican and protectionist, progressive in his ideas, and al- ways ready to boost for the great commonwealth of his birth. Widely known throughout this part of the country, his genial manner has made him a host of friends over the state.

GEORGE B. CALL .- A representative citizen of San Martin whose years of application to business have brought him affluence in this world's goods, George B. Call is the son of worthy pioneers of the - Golden State, who came here in the '50s. A native son, he was born at Tehama City, Tehama County, on November 5, 1863, the son of John and Sarah (Shortridge) Call. In the early '70s the family re- moved to Sonoma County, where the father was en- gaged in ranching, and there George B. was reared, receiving his education in the schools there.

Mr. Call's marriage united him with Miss Ida Bandfield, a native daughter of San Francisco, her parents being John and Mary Bandfield, who were residents of Santa Rosa until their demise. John

Bandfield is numbered among California's pioneers, having come to San Francisco in 1849, where he was in the employ of the Government. In 1890 Mr. Call located near Forestville, Sonoma County, and there followed general farming and fruit raising until 1900, when he removed to Santa Ana, Orange County. where he farmed on the famous San Joaquin Rancho, owned by James frvine, and comprising thousands of acres devoted largely to growing lima beans. In 1903 he came to San Martin and located on a ranch which he developed into one of the most profitable orchard and vineyard properties in this district. His holdings now consist of fifty acres, located on Church Avenue, and while he has retired from active work on the ranch, it is being cared for under his capable supervision and brings him a handsome income each year. A Republican in politics, Mr. Call has always taken a public-spirited interest in whatever concerned the welfare of the community and for eight years served as road supervisor during the term of H. S. Hersman. He joined the Odd Fellows lodge in Sonoma County and has always retained his affilia- tion with this order. A firm believer in co-operation, he was one of the charter members of the California Prune & Apricot Association.

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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 152

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