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 158

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 158

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Mrs. Carmichael is a member of Vendome Parlor, N. D. G. W., No. 100, San Jose, and has taken a prom- inent part in the activities of that order, having served as president of the local parlor, and was grand president of the Grand Parlor in 1916 and 1917, and as such visited every parlor in the state. After her husband's death Mrs. Carmichael continued her in- terest in the The Adler, Inc., being elected a director and vice-president of the company and she gave her undivided attention to the business until 1915, when she disposed of her interest in the company. Soon she found she was not content with inactivity and so turned to her old profession and again took up edu- cational work and is now in charge of the sixth grade at the Grant School. She has been very successful as an instructor, her thorough training and natural qualifications well fitting her for work of this char- acter. She is a member of the city, county, and state teachers' associations. The home in which she now resides was erected in 1865 by Mr. Carmichael's father and as a member of one of the pioneer families of San Jose she well merits the respect in which she is universally held.

JOHN ROBERT ROESSLER .- Determination to succeed is inherent in John Robert Roessler, and this brief sketch will show where this characteristic will lead, if coupled with industry and thrift. A native of Portland County, Wis., he was born six miles from Waterloo, September 3, 1880, the son of Thomas

ManuParmichael

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Roessler, a tinner and sheet metal worker, who came from Australia to Wisconsin. Mrs. Roessler passed away when John Roessler was a young lad. He is the oldest of a family of four, the next being Lewis, a resident of Rochester, Minn .; Mary, now Mrs. Kelly, residing in St. Paul, Minn., and Laura, who passed away at the age of twelve.

John Roessler attended the public schools of Water- loo, but had very little time for education, as he was obliged to make his own way when very young, working on dairy and cattle farms in Wisconsin until he removed to California. Having worked as a blacksmith and wagon maker in Wisconsin, his natural inclination was toward the mechanical, and when he arrived in San Jose in 1901 he was em- ployed with the Osen Motor Company, very soon becoming the head mechanic. He remained with them until 1918, having charge of all the service work, unloading new cars and getting them into shape for selling. During 1918 he secured a lease on a lot at the corner of Capitol and Alum Rock avenues and built a garage, and here he does first-class repair work on all makes of cars.

On August 18, 1906, Mr. Roessler was married to Miss Adelaide Schroeder, a native of California, born in San Francisco, a daughter of Clark and Kath- erine Schroeder. When Mrs. Roessler was a girl of twelve, her father purchased a ranch in the San An- tonio Valley east of San Jose, which consisted of about 400 acres of land, and engaged in the stock business, the family making their home in San Jose, where Mrs. Roessler was educated. Mr. Schroeder was a general contractor and did a great deal of work on the construction of the San Francisco roads and streets. He passed away in 1903 and the cattle ranch was sold. Mrs. Schroeder later became Mrs. Nash and resides in Oakland.

In 1910 Mr. Roessler bought a lot and built a home on Alum Rock Avenue not far from his place of business, and here the family have continuously re- sided. They are the parents of four children, Loal, Jack, Vernon and Clark, all attending private school in San Jose. An expert mechanic, Mr. Roessler has built up a splendid business and has all the work he can handle. In politics he is a Republican.

HONORABLE JOSEPH R. WELLER .- A dis- tinguished citizen of Santa Clara County, Joseph Rush Weller was born near Washington, Warren County, N. J., on October 10, 1819, the son of Peter Rush and Elizabeth (Smock) Weller, both of whom were of colonial ancestry. The paternal grandfather, William Weller, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Two brothers of William Weller, Phillip and Peter, were also soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Philip was with Washington at Braddock's defeat in 1755. All three brothers fought at the battle of Monmouth.

Born with a patriot's heritage, Joseph Rush Weller loved his country as those do who are willing to sacrifice for it. When he was five years old his parents moved to Livingston County, N. Y., where he was reared on a farm in the Geneseo Valley. He re- ceived his early education at Temple Hill Academy, Geneseo. N. Y., under the tutorship of Horatio N. Robinson, author of the celebrated mathematical text-books. He afterwards taught in the public schools and attended the Ithaca Academy. While a student at the academy he was appointed to attend the State Normal School at Albany, from which in-

stitution he was graduated in 1846. He was imme- diately engaged by Col. W. W. Wadsworth to takc charge of the agricultural department of a college in the Geneseo Valley, where he remained until Col- onel Wadsworth's health failed and the college enter- prise was discontinued. While superintendent at the college Mr. Weller was able to devote consid- erable time to the study of law. In the spring of 1849 he went to Staten Island, N. Y., and accepted a position as teacher in the private seminary of Prof. H. M. Boehm. In May, 1850, he left New York on the brig John French, for California and after a stormy passage of thirty-three days reached the mouth of the Chagres River where he, with six companions, took a small boat and rowed up the river to the town of Cruces. Thence they went over the Bolivar trail on pack mules to Panama where, with several thousand others, six weeks were passed waiting for a steamer. Passage was finally secured on the Co- lumbus and landing was made at San Francisco, August 7, 1850.

Mr. Weller did not remain long in San Fran- cisco, but went to the mines at Coloma, El Dorado County. At the end of a month he returned to San Francisco ill with Panama fever. In the following spring, still suffering from its effects, he came to Santa Clara Valley and located on the Charles Weber ranch, twenty miles from San Jose, where he remained until his health was fully restored. He again went to the mines, remaining only a short time. In the spring of 1853 he bought a large tract of land in the Tularcitos Rancho adjoining Milpitas, where he made his residence and was identified with agricultural interests until the time of his death. There were no roads, fences or bridges. With the spirit of the true pioneer, "the future is purchased by the present," he spent much time in developing the country. He organ- ized the Milpitas school district in 1855 and was one of its trustees until 1879. From 1856 until 1878 he hold the office of justice of the peace and for a num- ber of years he was an associate judge of Santa Clara County. In 1878 he was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention and assisted in framing the present constitution of the State of California. In poli- tics, Mr. Weller was a Republican with progressive tendencies and decided character, taking a deep inter- est in all matters affecting the prosperity of county, state and nation. Possessed of a genial disposition and a firm Christian faith he was ever ready to act for "right as it respected his God, his country and him- self." He was a member and supporter of the Pres- byterian denomination, occupying the position of elder, which took him to the larger councils and assemblys of the church which he ever keenly enjoyed and where his opinions were received with respect and confidence.

In 1861 Mr. Weller was united in marriage to Mrs. Marion W. (Hart) Battey, the widow of Jonathan Battey, a native of New York. A woman of rare courage and faith, Mrs. Weller was a true helpmate. Her ancestral history was also mingled with the early history of the United Setates. The first representa- tives of her family came from England and settled in Massachusetts in 1628. Her great-grandfathers were in the war of the Revolution. She was an early pioneer of California, having crossed the plains in 1852 with her first husband, Jonathan Battey. To Mr. and Mrs. Weller, two children were born: Ma-

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

rion Elizabeth and May Lucinda, now Mrs. Will- iam M. Curtner, the daughters becoming step-sisters to Henry Grey Battey, Mrs. Weller's child by her first marriage. Retaining his virile mental faculties to the last, Judge Weller passed away March 4, 1915, at the age of ninety-five years. Mrs. Weller, the beneficence of her character radiating her declin- ing years, breathed her last on May 14, 1916, at the age of eighty-eight.

FRANCIS C. BATES-A distinguished member of the Grand Army of the Republic, active for years in the East, who has cast his fortune in with Cali- fornia and, like so many Easterners of foresight and enterprise, has met with such pronounced success that he has found the state truly "golden," is Francis C. Bates, who was born at Jersey City, N. J., on March 1, 1847, the son of Perry G. and Amy Ann Frances (Carpenter) Bates, both natives of Rhode Island, whose families were among the earliest settlers there. Mrs. Bates died when Francis was only eleven days old, and while he was still a lad, his father removed with him to Troy, N. Y., and there they were living, our subject attending the Troy high school, when the war over secession and slavery broke out. He made ammunition for the the three-months soldiers, and on June 16, 1863, he enlisted in defense of the Union, and served with credit until he was discharged on May 25, 1865. He joined Company C of the Eigh- teenth New York Cavalry and served under General Nathaniel Prentiss Banks in the campaign to Red River. He went through seventeen general engage- ments, among them Pleasant Hill, Sabine Cross- roads, Cane River, Big Prairie, Moore's Plantation, Alexandria, Morganzi Bend and Port Hudson, all in Louisiana, and the capture of Mobile, Ala. He sus- tained seven wounds, and from one which he re- ceived at Pleasant Hill in May, 1864, he is still suf-

fering today. This wound was made when he was struck in the right knee by a bullet which lifted the knee-cap and then passed on through the horse he was riding, killing the faithful animal, and finally grazing his left leg. Because of the miserable sani- tary conditions in those days, the patient suffered from gangrene before the wound healed. Col. Wil- liam H. Burns went through the same seventeen en- gagements without a scratch, and was later killed in the Custer massacre.

Francis Bates was so young at first that he was able to enlist only as a bugler. He relates an inci- dent of the third day's fighting at Pleasant Hill, when the color-bearer, retreating, was shot and killed. The colors lay on the ground, some five hundred yards in the rear, and Col. Burns called for a volunteer to bring them in. Our subject was off in a jiffy, reached the sacred standards, picked them up, and returned with them safely, untouched, amid a hurricane of whistling bullets. When really wounded, however, he did not recover for two or more years.

While learning the machinist's trade in Massachu- setts, and awaiting recuperation, Mr. Bates also studied law at the night school. He became such a first-class millwright that he was able to take a po- sition with the Lowell Machine Works. He then in- vented the first rotary veneer cutting machine, per- fected his patent, and moved to Northern Vermont, about two miles from Newport. He started a veneer factory, and as a result the town of Batesville was

founded, now a place of about 5,000 population. This rotary veneer cutting plant supplied veneer ma- terial for car ceilings, depot ceilings, chair-bottoms and all work in which veneer is used, and proved so popular that Mr. Bates was encouraged to build a second and then a third plant. In 1896, on account of impaired health, Mr. Bates sold his factories and his patent rights to a firm from Sheboygan, Wis., and the new company enlarged the veneer works to twenty mills, now the largest in the world. When at Newport, Mr. Bates, who is a Republican, served as one of the county selectmen for seven years.

Still in pursuit of health, Mr. Bates came to Cali- fornia in 1896 and settled at San Jose, and having in- vented the Bates-Holley automatic signal mail box for rural delivery service, he turned his attention to its manufacture on a large scale. The box had been approved by the postmaster-general, but he soon found that the same could not be made in California for the price necessary to meet the government de- mands. He therefore set out to find a firm which could make them cheaper, and in Joliet, Il1., he suc- ceeded. For nine years this firm turned out some 10,000 boxes a month, and then the demand was greater than they could meet, and after three years more, the firm gave up the manufacture of the util- ity altogether. Mr. Bates also invented a semi-auto- matic signal box for city mail service, which is still being manufactured.

In 1908 Mr. Bates became a patent attorney and opened an office in the Ryland Building at San Jose; but in 1918, on account of his knee and the bother it gave him, he had to give up active work, and since that time he has lived retired. In 1897 he took the lead in organizing the New York Social Union of San Jose, and for a long period he was its president, running it up from 13 to 500 members. In Brooklyn he joined the Anthon Lodge No. 769, A. F. & A. M., and he was also an active member of Grant Lodge, 1. O. O. F., at Brooklyn. He joined the Grand Army at Newport, Vt., and was the commander of Baxter Post No. 51, G. A. R., at that place; and on coming to San Jose, he joined John Dix Post, and when it was merged with Sheridan Post No. 7 he continued there a year; since then has been affiliated with Col. A. G. Bennett Post No. 186.

Mr. Bates was twice married. At Lowell, Mass., on January 16, 1867, he took for his wife Miss Emma C. Smith, a native of Newport, Vt., and the daughter of Jonas G. and Lucretia Smith. Six children sprang from this happy union. Amy Ann Frances died three days after birth, and Perry G. passed away when three years old. Hattie Frances has become Mrs. Henry F. Sander, and lives at Somerville, Mass. Lenor C. died when six months old. Elsie May reached her ninth month. Henry F. was graduated with all the honors of old Harvard, and also came to California with his father for his health; but he passed away at the age of twenty-three. Mrs. Bates died at Newport, Vt., on March 5, 1890; and two years later, in New York City, Mr. Bates married a second time, choosing for his wife Miss Sloma M. Baker. She was born at Newport, Vt., June 25, 1866, the daughter of Peter Baker, a lumber merchant, who had married Phoebe Baker, and with Mr. Bates she shares the rewards of a long and useful career.

Francis C. Bates

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

PIERRE MONTMAYEUR-Among the many French-Americans who have found their way to California, and to whom Santa Clara County has held out large inducements, may be mentioned Pierre Montmayeur, proprietor of the Lamolle Grill, located at 36 North First Street. San Jose.

In a typical home in Grenoble, France, Mr. Mont- mayeur was born October 25, 1865, the son of Noel and Euphrasia Montmayeur, and there he was edu- cated in the public schools of his native land. Upon his graduation, he determined to become proficient in the art of cooking, taking up the profession of chef. In the year 1891 he migrated to the United States, coming directly to San Francisco, where he engaged in business for himself. In 1903 he came to San Jose, where in partnership with Mrs. La- molle he established the first grill in the city. In de- ciding upon a name for their establishment Mr. Montmayeur said to his partner, who was an old pioneer, they would call it the Lamolle Grill. The business proved lucrative and brought to its owners gratifying profits, and the partnership continued until Mrs. Lamolle dicd. Then Mr. Montmayeur bought her interest, and his thorough knowledge of his business and many years of training in catering to the public taste has made his restaurant a favorite dining place for many.

The marriage of Mr. Montmayeur united him to Miss Catherine Fayeance, also a native of France. and they have one child, a daughter, Irene, who is a graduate of Notre Dame and now employed in the Garden City Bank. Mr. Montmayeur is a stanch adherent of the principles of the Republican party, and fraternally he is a member of the Elks and Odd Fellows; also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants Association. He is broadminded and public-spirited and is intensely interested in the progress of the community in which he resides.

WASHINGTON B. COATES-A highly-esteemed veteran of the Civil War, respected and beloved for his sterling American patriotism and his exemplary Christian character, Washington B. Coates, of 29 South Twenty-first Street, San Jose, exerts a wide and enviable influence. He was born in Susquehanna County, Pa ... on August 19, 1841, the son of William H. and Jane (Morley) Coates, and when four and a half years old was taken by his parents to Green County, Wis., where he settled at Monticello. He is of English descent, for his father hailed from Eng- land, and his mother's family came of good old Pilgrim stock.

Washington attended the public schools at Mon- ticello and grew up on the home farm of his father, who cleared a piece of timberland in the Burr Oak openings, and there built a house and barn. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he volunteered and enlisted September 5 in the Fifth Wisconsin Battery, Light Artillery, under Captain Oscar F. Pinney, of Monroc. One month later he was called to Racine to drill at Camp Utley. His battery was sent into action along with the Fifty-ninth, Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth Illinois Infantry, and the Twenty- second Indiana Infantry, comprising the brigade un- der General Jefferson C. Davis.

Mr. Coates was first sent to Cairo, Ill., then to New Madrid, Miss., and after that to Louisville, Ky., where has was placed in the Army of the Cum- berland. He was in twenty-two engagements, in-

cluding the celebrated Battle of Chattanooga, and he and his comrades were cut off and hemmed in until Grant and Sherman came to their rescue. He was also in the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga and many others. He was twice taken prisoner, and for two weeks, or until he was exchanged in 1865, he was in Libbey prison. He reenlisted at Chattan- ooga, Tenn, in January, 1864, and served throughout the war, until June, 1865.

Our intrepid veteran passed through many hazard- ous experiences, without once being wounded, and this good fortune he attributes to Divine protection. One instance in particular, he himself relates. He was in charge of an expedition to forage in the sur- rounding country, when he was suddenly confronted by five rebels who came upon him unexpectedly. They all pulled their carbines and shot repeatedly, but not one of them was able to hit him, althoughi he was taken prisoner. After the War, he returned to Wisconsin and attended school at odd times dur- ing a period of three years; and then, teachers being at a premium, he taught school. During this time lie attended Hillsdale College.

On August 25, 1868, at Jonesville, Hillsdale Coun- ty, Mich., Mr. Coates was married to Miss Eliza- beth A. Goodwin, a native of that place, whose par- cnts were born in New Hampshire, or on that state line. They came to Michigan when they were a young couple, and had a family of six daughters, among whom Mrs. Coates was the third. Her father was Londrus Goodwin, and he married Miss Cornelia Bowman; and the latter died when Eliza- beth was sixteen years old. Elizabeth attended Hillsdale College, where Will Carleton, the poet, also studied, and it was there that she met Mr. Coates. A year after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Coates re- moved to Nebraska and there took up 160 acres of Government land eleven miles from Crete, in Saline County; they proved up and lived upon this homestead for eleven years, meanwhile raising grain as their principal crop. Then they sold out their farm and went back to Michigan to care for Mrs. Coates' father, who was in failing health, and who lived only two and a half years after their return. Subsequent to his death, they ran the old home ranch until 1882, when they came to California and settled at San Miguel, in San Luis Obispo County, where they rented a grain ranch.

In 1894 Mr. and Mrs. Coates removed to San Jose. and resumed farming with the raising of fruit. They rented a ranch for awhile, and then bought forty acres of bare land and set fourteen acres to fruit, in particular apricots and prunes. This ranch is located eleven miles east and somewhat south of Santa Jose. beyond Evergreen; and there they lived for several years before moving into San Jose, when Mr. Coates retired from active ranch work. He sold a half-in- terest in the forty acres to his third son, and he still retains a half-interest in the farm. For the past eleven years he has lived in San Jose, where he is a member of the Sheridan-Dix Post, G. A. R., in which he is a past commander. In politics he is a Republican.

Mr. and Mrs. Coates have been given four chil- dren, all sons. Wilbert A. married Miss Cruess, and they live in Oakland with their five children-Earl, Luella, Viva, Wilbert and Emma-one child, Zelma, having died. Clifford G. married Miss Jamison and

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

now lives near Pleasanton; they have two children- Willis and Lucile-and have lost one. Herbert L., who is on his father's ranch, married Miss Maude Holland, and they have one child, Morris. Victor H. lives on Nineteenth Street, in San Jose, with his wife, who was a Miss Billings, and their three chil- dren-Henry Loraine, Hubert Le Roy, and Elmer Elery. Since 1858, Mr. and Mrs. Coates have been consistent Methodists. Mrs. Coates is a member of the Ladies of the G. A. R. Mr. and Mrs. Coates have one great-grandson, Paul Gilbert, the son of Mrs. Luella Gilbert.

ANDREW RUSSELL-Another enthusiastic lodge worker, widely and everywhere pleasantly known through his various fraternal associations, is Andrew Russell, the efficient and popular superintendent of Plant No. 2 of the Richmond-Chase Packing Com- pany, at the corner of Cinnabar and Montgomery streets, San Jose. He was born in bonnie Scotland, and first saw the light near Glasgow on August 21, 1873, the son of Lawrence Russell, an expert ac- countant while he was in his native country. He came to the United States in 1885 and immediately settled at Clifton, Arizona, and three years later he brought his family to California and pitched their tent at Saratoga, in Santa Clara County. Near that town he purchased eighty acres of land, which he devoted to prunes and apricots; and there he engaged actively in both the growing and packing of fruit. He organized and conducted the first cooperative fruit packing association in the county, located at Saratoga, and thus centralized the efforts of the growers in marketing; and for the last thirty years he has been enviably influential as a wide-awake, far- seeing man, known among the horticulturists for exceptional executive ability, still supervising the plant he so successfully organized, although in reality practically retired. He married Miss Mary Mac- Vicar, and she became the mother of our interesting subject who, under her intelligent encouragement, attended both the grammar and the high schools, and then matriculated at the College of the Pacific. Lawrence Russell is still living on his ranch near Saratoga, at the ripe old-age of seventy-one, and Mrs. Russell is still devotedly at his side, one year the younger. Eight children were born to the worthy pioneer couple, and among them the oldest is the subject of our review. Hamilton Russell is with his father on the ranch. Jessie became Mrs. A. L. Cil- ker, of Los Gatos. Belle is at home with her par- ents. Alexander is a California State civil engineer. Margaret is also at home with her parents. Mary, whose marriage made her Mrs. A. E. Stewart, lives at Berkeley; while Lawrence, affectionately recalled by many appreciating friends, passed away at the age of twenty-four.

The inception of the packing business at Saratoga came from a suggestion by Andrew Russell that he and his father would better put up their own fruit on account of the erratic prices in the prune market at that time. Up to then, very few in that neighbor- hood had had any experience in drying and packing. There was a Chinaman who was working for a Mr. Rose at Los Gatos; and in order to get an insight into the work under the Chinaman, Andrew offered his services gratis. He stayed a month, and then, hav- ing by accident acquired the secret of packing strictly

first-class fruit, he returned home and assisted his father to start their business. Their first year's out- put was two car loads, while today thirty car loads is the annual output. They still retain many of their original customers, and with some they have supplied their needs for about twenty-five years. In all this time, the Russells have made a specialty of packing only first-class dried fruits; and their fine products, easily marketed under the "Russell Brand," are widely known throughout the United States.

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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 158

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