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 154

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928

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retired, and Charles Ellet, who is still the cashier of The Stanford Bank, seeing the great growth and de- velopment in the City of Palo Alto, completely reorganized the old Mayfield Bank. This was done by increasing the capital, changing the name to The Stanford Bank, and changing the principal place of business from Mayfield to Palo Alto. The old May- field Bank was retained as a branch of the new and enlarged institution. When organizing the Stan- ford Bank, in 1918, Charles Ellet sent for and was joined by his brother, Alfred W. Ellet, then deputy bank commissioner of the state of Kansas, who has since served as vice-president.

The Stanford Bank is planning soon to increase its capitalization. The present capitalization is $50,- 000. This bank has already passed the half-million mark in assets and is growing very fast. The officers and directors are as follows. Officers-Dr. Carl G. Wilson, president: A. W. Ellet, vice-president; Charles Ellet, cashier and treasurer; C. C. Baugh- man, assistant cashier.

Directors -- Dr. Carl G. Wilson, Elmer J. Worth, Dr. W. H. Ketchum, Royal T. Heath, Dr. R. G. Reynolds, Charles Ellet and A. W. Ellet. The names of employes include also Owen J. Jones, head teller; W. H. Rowe, second teller; Miss Marie La Brant and Miss Maree Collins in Palo Alto and C. C. Baughman and Miss Mary McGinty in Mayfield.

A total investment of $33,000 is represented in the remodeling of the building and purchase and instal- lation of equipment for The Stanford Bank at the new location, corner of University Avenue and High Street, where the bank will transact business here- after. The bank occupies a space 25x100 feet, the larger frontage being on High Street. The building conforms in both the lines of architecture and buff sandstone material used, to the plan of the Stanford University buildings and is said to be the first bank to employ the Romanesque lines in its building and interior decorations.

The work has been executed under the supervision of Mr. A. F. Roller, manager of the bank planning division of the firm of M. G. West & Company, re- nowned bank architect specialists of San Francisco. The wood work is in cathedral oak. While designed to give every convenience to patrons, officials and employes, the ornamental effects are strikingly beau- tiful and original. Credit for the employment of the style as well as the organization and naming of the bank itself is due Mr. Charles Ellet, who, as cashier, divides his time between the head office in Palo Alto and the Mayfield branch.

The floor of the bank is ornamental tile. The fixtures, including the sereen and walls of the lobby, are of San Saba marble to a height of three and one- half feet. The top screen has been executed in ca- thedral oak. Carved standards and rails of the screen are richly decorated in polychrome. On each stand- ard is mounted a globe of the earth, each bearing an inscription pertaining to some specific field in the domain of arts, science, industry and religion.

On June 3, 1922, this bank held its opening. The visitors were entertained by music and refreshments and were shown through the building with its many comforts, conveniences and safeguards, including the safety deposit vault guarded by a door weighing four

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tons, and is fire, drill and acetylene-torch proof. Its present outlook presages a great future growth and stability for its business affairs, in the conduct of which service, efficiency and courteous treatment enter into every transaction.

J. BYRON BLOIS .- An interesting self-made man who is a master of the laundering industry and the director of the most important enterprise in that field in Palo Alto, is J. Byron Blois, manager of the Stanford Laundry, and prominent in Masonic circles. He was born at Glenwood, Cal., on August 1, 1884, the son of a farmer, James Blois, a native of Nova Scotia, where he married Miss Elizabeth Lively, also of that Down East coast country. They migrated to California soon after their marriage, and came to have ten children, eight of whom are still

living. From his third month our subject, who was the sixth in the order of birth, grew up on his father's farm near San Jose, and he attended the public school in the Orchard district. He also went to the San Jose Business College, where he took a commercial course, graduating in June, 1900, and then he became assistant bookkeeper in the Red Star Laundry at San Jose. Four years later he entered the laundry proper as a laundry worker in order to learn the operating end of the business, and thus acquired a thorough knowledge of all the ins and outs of the business.

In 1906 he became the outside representative, and had charge of all the territory in Santa Clara County north of the city of Santa Clara, including Sunny- vale, Mountain View, Los Gatos, Mayfield, Stan- ford University and Palo Alto, the business requir- ing four autos to take care of it.

In the meantime, having become well acquainted with J. B. Leaman, Sr., and J. B. Leaman, Jr., he formed a partnership with the latter, and as Blois & Leaman bought out the Stanford Laundry, formerly owned by Fairfield & Schutte; and under the excel- lent management of Mr. Blois, this laundry has come to be strictly up to date. It is excellently lighted, clean and sanitary, and so arranged that all its busi- ness is transacted with safety and dispatch. It has four auto;delivery wagons, and improvements are be- ing made in its outfit right along. Two new flat- work ironers of most up-to-date design have recently been installed, the larger alone costing some $6,000. Three new thoroughly modern washing machines and one extractor have also been put in, and a $5,000 water softener system has been installed. The laundry also has good first-aid facilities. "Quality and Ser- vice" is the motto of the Stanford Laundry, and they have never failed, as practical ideals, to be realized. Mr. Blois is secretary of the Laundry Owners' Club of Santa Clara County, and an active member of the state and national Laundry Owners' Associations. The present firm own the property at the corner of Forest Avenue and Ramona Street and it is especially adapted for laundry use.

Mr. Blois was married in 1905 to Miss Pearl M. Smith, born in South Dakota, of whom he was be- reaved in April, 1910, the mother of one son, Robert Byron. He was married again at San Jose in Octo- ber, 1911, to Miss Edna May Torbert, of Woodland, where her people are members of the oldest and most esteemed circles. This union has been blessed with three children: Molly Julietta and Edward James, twins, and Betty May. The family reside in their

own home on Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Mr. Blois is a member of the Palo Alto Parlor N. S. G. W. Both husband and wife belong to the Grace Baptist Church at San Jose, and also to the Eastern Star at Palo Alto, in which Mrs. Blois is chaplain. Mr. Blois was made a Mason in San Jose Lodge No. 10 F. & A. M., later admitted to Palo Alto Lodge No. 346, F. & A. M. He is a member of Palo Alto Chap- ter No. 93, R. A. M. and of Palo Alto Command- ery No. 47, K. T., as well as all the bodies of the Scottish Rite at San Jose, Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. San Francisco and the Stanford University Masonic Club. He is a member director in the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. He organized the Pyramid of Ancient Egyptian Order of Sciots in Palo Alto on January 26, 1921, and was made its first Toparch; and on September 16, 1921, he was elected for another year.

DR. ALFRED ROYCE TOMKIN .- For many years a leading and influential citizen of San Jose, his activity in business affairs and his co-operation in public interests kept Dr. Alfred Royce Tomkin in the foremost rank of those to whom the city owes its development. His life was characterized by up- right, honorable principles, and it also exemplified the truth of the Emersonian philosophy that "The way to win a friend is to be one." His genial kindly manner won him the regard and good will of all with whom he came in contact, and thus his death was uniformly mourned throughout San Jose and the surrounding district. Dr. Tomkin was born in With- am, Essex County, England, June 7, 1826, a son of Dr. Thomas M. Tomkin, a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in London, England. Dur- ing his lifetime he practiced medicine, and instituted a private insane asylum, besides being much engaged in medical literature, writing for the Lancet and other medical journals. He passed away in 1858. The mother of our subject was a Miss Eleanor Royce, a native of Essex County. She passed away in 1868.

Alfred Royce Tomkin attended the Merchant Tai- lors' School, then in Suffolk Street, London, for seven or eight years, passing the usual examinations. On March 13, 1849, he embarked on the St. George, and sailed around the Horn to California, the trip occu- pying seven months, one of which was spent in Val- paraiso. He reached San Francisco on October 13, and, storing the goods he had brought with him, like all newcomers at that time, started immediately for the mines. After digging a little gold at Mud Springs, he was taken sick, and returned to San Francisco. only to find that his goods had been destroyed by fire, leaving him absolutely without means. He later received a remittance from England and opened a drug store in Santa Clara in 1854. He remained there sixteen years, and then removed to San Jose, where he resided until his death. In 1887 he was elected coroner and public administrator of Santa Clara County and reelected to the office, which office he held at the time of his death, July 25, 1891, about the close of his second term.

In 1858 he was united in marriage to Miss Martha F. Forbes, the eldest daughter of James Alexander Forbes, who came to this country from Edinburgh, Scotland, in an early day, and was British consul dur- ing the Mexican occupancy of California, before it was ceded to the United States. Mrs. Tomkin

& Byron Block

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

passed away in 1875. They were the parents of seven children: Alfred Forbes Tomkin of San Jose; Charles Tomkin of San Francisco; Mrs. Eleanor Cunningham of Saratoga; Thomas P. Tomkin of San Jose; Mrs. Anna M. Maynard of San Jose; Mrs. Martha Dassell, died at Morgan Hill in 1921; and Mrs. Clara B. Tur- ner, died in San Francisco. While Dr. Tomkin estab- lished a good business it was not his success alone that won for him the respect and friendship of his fellowmen, but his high character and his exemplifica- tion of honorable, manly principles.

BENJAMIN FRANK WESTON .- A native of Maine, Benjamin Frank Weston was descended from a long line of New England ancestors, his grand- father, Joseph Weston, having come from Massa- cheusetts to Madison, Maine, as its first settler. On his mother's side, the lineage goes back to Stephen Hopkins, who came to Plymouth, Mass., on the Mayflower in 1620. The second son of Col. William Weston, he was born at North Anson, Maine, December 3, 1849. Prior to the Civil War, with the movement of the logging and lumber business to the Great Lakes, he accompanied his parents to Mil- waukee, Wis. He was educated in the public schools and at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., be- ing a member of the Phi Kappa Psi. With his father and older brother he was successfully en- gaged in lumbering and banking in Michigan and also had large lumber interests in Wisconsin.

At the time of his marriage in 1883 Mr. Weston came to California and for many years made his home in Oakland and Berkeley. He was a man of wide business interests, owning valuable pine lands in Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, and was a director of the North Coast Steamship Company. In 1886 he bought the orchard property now known as WVeston Place, near Santa Clara, which under his supervision became the most valuable Bartlett pear orchard of its size in the state. He was a prominent Knights Templar Mason in Muskegon, Mich., and at the time of his death, September 1, 1916, he was a member of Oakland Commandery, K. T. He was survived by his wife, Abbie M. (Bunker) Weston, and three children, William Bunker Weston, Samuel Hopkins Weston and Helen Gould Weston. A man of unblemished reputation, Mr. Weston was just and generous, standing high in the community.

IRVING P. VANDERVOORT .- The son of a pioneer of 1850, Irving P. Vandervoort, secretary and treasurer of the Palo Alto Transfer and Storage Company, has spent all his life in the Golden State. His father, G. J. Vandervoort, was born at Belle- ville, Canada, near Toronto, came to California in the '50s, where he engaged in farming at Sunol and also taught the Centerville school in Alameda County. He was married at Centerville to Miss Eliza Proctor, born in Illinois, and they became the parents of eight children: Mrs. T. M. Fuller of Palo Alto; J. E., Chevrolet agent at Tracy, Cal .; S. M., of the firm of Fuller & Company, grocers at Palo Alto; W. S., rancher and mechanic of Palo Alto; Edward T., of Palo Alto; Irving P., of this review; Mrs. F. S. Allen, of Palo Alto; Mrs. G. F. Brown, of Palo Alto. The father passed away in Palo Alto in 1903, aged sixty- three, and Mrs. Vandervoort still maintains the fam- ily home at 241 Hawthorne Avenue, where she re- sides with her son, Irving.

Born in February 18, 1877, in Alameda County, Irving P. Vandervoort spent his early years on his father's farm there, where wheat and barley were grown on a large scale, and he had a thorough train- ing in ranch life, becoming an excellent horseman. In 1898 he came to l'alo Alto and for the next four years was with the firm of Fuller & Company, gro- cers there. He then became interested in the trans- fer business with Charles Mosher, who is now a prom- inent building contractor of Los Gatos. Mr. Mosher laid the foundations of the present transfer business as far back as the '90s, using eighteen head of horses on his wagons, drays and trucks. The Palo Alto Transfer & Storage Company, an outgrowth of this business, was incorporated in 1912, with a capitaliza- tion of $20,000, and their offices are located at 111 The Circle, Palo Alto. The officers of the company are H. H. Vandervoort, president; I. P. Vandervoort, secretary and treasurer; Joe Silvey, vice-president. The company put on its first motor truck in 1914 and they now own and operate three Mack trucks of two and a half tons cach, and two one-ton Ford trucks. This company specializes in the transfer and storage, packing and shipping of household goods, pianos and baggage, and in addition to their local business, they handle a large volume of moving to and from San Jose, Oakland and Fresno. They have several storage warehouses in Palo Alto, including the large, two-story reinforced concrete warehouse erected in 1919 at 165 Homer Avenue. The Vander- voort family have for many years been devoted mem- bers of the Episcopal Church and Mr. Vandervoort subscribes to the creeds of that denomination. In politics he has always been a stanch Republican.

EDWARD RECORD MAZE .- One of the most successful and painstaking farmers in the Gilroy precinct is Edward Record Maze, a native Califor- nian who was born at Saratoga on February 4, 1856. The father, Spencer M. Maze, was a Kentuckian and is mentioned on another page of this book. Edward attended the public schools of Gilroy and the Mc- Clure Military Academy at Oakland, and all his life he has lived on the home ranch. On July 8, 1886, he was married to Miss Virginia Strange, a daughter of Edward MacGruder Strange, a native of Virginia who came to California and mined for a short time at Murphys Camp. He was a graduate in law of the University of Virginia and practiced a short time in California, passing away in 1887. He was married in California to Emmeline H. Whitney, born in Wis- consin, who came with her parents across the plains in 1851 and located in Calaveras County, where she was married and where her four children were born, namely: Maria S. Reeve, of Gilroy; Edward W., of San Francisco; Virginia S., Mrs. Maze; and Helen Strange Block, of Arizona. Mrs. Strange is still liv- ing, aged eighty-five, making her home in Gilroy.

Mr. and Mrs. Maze are the parents of four chil- dren; Irwin Strange married Miss Adele Henry, a graduate of the University of California, and they reside at Oak Park, Ill .; he graduated from the Davey School of Tree Surgery at Kent, Ohio, and is following that profession, and was at Camp Sherman during the war; Winnifred Bernice, is the wife of J. W. Burchell, and they reside at Walnut Grove, Cal., and have two children, Elton Spencer and Win- nifred B .; Virginia, is the wife of J. W. Parmelee, residing at Gilroy; Spencer M., who served three

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months in the S. A. T. C. at Berkeley, is a rancher, residing at home. In national politics Mr. Maze is a Republican, and fraternally a member of the Odd Fellows since 1885 and a past grand officer and delegate to the Grand Lodge. His many qualities have placed him among those upon whom a com- munity depends for its substantial support.

DR. LA FOREST E. PHILLIPS .- A scholarly, expert surgeon of high scientific attainments, whose distinguished services in the cause of suffering and imperiled humanity-particularly during the recent crisis incidental to the epidemic of the influenza- have conferred an enviable lustre upon Palo Alto, the scene of his conscientious labors, is Dr. La Forest E. Phillips, the widely-known physician and surgeon whose splendidly-equipped offices are at 172 Univer- sity Avenue, while his handsome residence is at 337 Hamilton Street. He was born at Surry, Hancock County, Maine, on March 7, 1876, the son of R. F. Phillips, who is happily still living, retired, at 2526 Hilligas Avenue, Berkeley. He was long a lumber- man, actively and extensively engaged in that in- dustry in both Maine and California, and he married Miss Mary Frances Gaspar of the same place, both Mr. and Mrs. Phillips coming from very old New England families, long established in Maine. The Phillips family is of Welsh origin, and their hardi- hood is attested by the fact that there has not been a death in the circle for the past fifty years. Dr. Phillips has two brothers and two sisters. Agnes has become the wife of J. O. Davenport, a pioneer of Monterey and a member of the Davenport family hailing from Massachusetts, where for generations they were prominent whalers. They sailed around the Horn and came to California and Monterey in early days; and settling in California identified themselves with important industries. Mr. Daven- port is at present in the lumber trade at San Fran- cisco. A. R. Phillips is in the automobile business at Oakland. La Forest Ethelbert Phillips is the subject of this review. Rodney Forseth Phillips, Jr., is also in the automobile trade, in San Fran- cisco. Julia Josephine is the wife of Dr. Clarence Page of Berkeley.

In 1878. La Forest Phillips came out to California with his parents and settled in Mendocino County, where his father entered upon what was to prove an engagement of forty years as a very trusted employee with the L. E. White Lumber Company; and our subject grew up in Mendocino County, at Fort Bragg, later removing with the rest of his folks to Point Arenas. He attended the local schools, and in 1895 was graduated from the Mendocino high school. Then he took up serious study at the Cooper Pre- Medical School and prepared to enter the regular department, and having matriculated at the Cooper Medical College, of San Francisco, he was graduated with the class of '99, and is now an alumnus of the Medical Department of Stanford University.

Upon graduating, he accepted an internship as a house physician and surgeon in the San Francisco Hospital in 1901, and he then went to Jackson. Am- ador County, and hung out his shingle. During the World War, he volunteered to give his medical ser- vices, and he was in line for appointment to a respon- sible post; but the armistice interfered before the Government could call upon him. Now, having set- tled at this important center of scientific investiga-

tion and practice. Dr. Phillips does a general surgical and medical service, and gives his whole time and attention to the best and lasting interests of those en- trusting their difficulties to him. During the awful epidemic of influenza, Dr. Phillips had no less than 125 cases under his immediate charge, and he won the enviable distinction, as one of the most successful doctors in California, of bringing almost all his pa- tients safely through. He has a beautiful suite of offices and there, with every facility that could be de- sired, treats minor surgical cases. For major opera- tions, however. he takes his patients to the Palo Alto Hospital. Naturally, on account of his high stand- ing. Dr. Phillips is frequently called upon to consult with other physicians of eminent standing.

At San Francisco, on July 25, 1901, Dr. Phillips was married to Miss Bella Pierce, a native of San Francisco, and the daughter of the late Samuel J. Pierce, well-known San Francisco contractor and builder; and their home-life has been brightened through the gift of four children, each already speak- ing for itself in the world. Frances took a course in the Pre-Medical School at Stanford and is married to C. M. Jenks, a Stanford graduate, and resides at Merced; and La Forest, Jr., who is a student at Stanford University in the Pre-Medical Department. Alberta 1. is in the Castellija School at Palo Alto, and Rodney Pierce is a pupil in the William War- ren Military Academy at the same place. Of ex- ceptionally bright mind, and a kind, considerate and helpful disposition, imbued with high ideals as to the conscientious performance of professional duty, Dr. Phillips has won the high regard of his fellow-citi- zens, while his accomplished wife and wide-awake children are justly popular and real favorites in Palo Alto and in Stanford University.

CHARLES H. PIERCE .- A popular city official of Gilroy, who is also a live-wire in the local Cham- ber of Commerce, is Charles H. Pierce, the chief of the Gilroy Fire Department, a native of Santa Cruz. He was born on July 15, 1871, when he en- tered the family of Henry and Martha (Liebbrandt) Pierce, citizens of Santa Cruz since 1850 and both now deceased. When only thirteen years of age, Charles was thrown upon his own resources; and then he entered the employ of Peter Branigan and worked for him in his blacksmith shop at Plato, in Monterey County. Having served his apprentice- ship, he established himself with his first shop at Alma, when he was twenty-nine years old and hav- ing had valuable experience, in part, some years be- fore, as a tool dresser for oil-well boring in that locality, he did not want for patronage. When he came to Gilroy, therefore, in 1915, after having had a forge at Plato, he opened a very modern shop; and such has been his success and growth that he em- ploys seven men and in rush times even more. While a resident of Alma Station, Mr. Pierce was a deputy county constable, clerk and fish and game warden, and also school director, for fourteen years; and at a meeting of the board of fire delegates, in 1921, he was nominated chief of the Gilroy Fire Department, with William Radtke as first assistant, and Gus Cruse as second assistant, and as there was no oppo- sition, the election ensuing was a matter of form.

At San Jose Mr. Pierce was married to Miss Ar- milda Frances Minter, who was reared in the Santa Clara Valley; and their union has been blessed

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through the birth of ten children. Martha married Carl Weppner, an expert mechanic, and they reside with their four children at Gilroy. Henry, who served in the World War, is a rancher and an or- chardist living near Gilroy. Jessie's husband, Wes- ley McCandles, is a garage owner at Gilroy. Maude is the wife of Reginald Holloway, an expert me- chanic and the garage owner at Gilroy. Bertha, the sixth in order of birth (after the daughter who died in infancy), assists her father in his business; and George, Roy, Albert and Leslie are still busy with their school books. Mr. Pierce owns the de- sirable property at the corner of Second and Mon- terey streets. He belongs to the Masons, is an Odd Fellow, a member of the Woodmen of the World, and in national political affairs, he is a Democrat.

ALFRED BREED POST .- An experienced fin- ancier of highest ideals, admirable integrity and en- viable executive force, is Alfred Breed Post, for many years one of the pillars of the Garden City Bank of San Jose, and now the efficient and accommodat- ing cashier of the bank of San Jose. He was born at Santa Clara, Cal., on February 4, 1873, the son of Alfred Breed Post, who came to California in 1870 from Indiana, where he was born at Logansport. His mother was a Breed, a descendant of the Breed family after whom Breed's Hill, the site of the his- toric Bunker Hill, was named. Another ancestor was Stephen Post, the founder of Hartford, Conn., both the Posts and Breeds being leading Eastern families. The Breeds fought at Ticonderoga, with Ethan Allen, while the Posts fought under General Washington in the Revolutionary War. The Posts and Breeds were Puritans, and therefore of English origin, although in 1056 the Posts came to England from Holland, having descended from Baron von Post. Thus the Post family existed in England for more than 400 years. They migrated to the Bay Colony in Massachusetts, and from there went to Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, and thence moved westward.

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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 154

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