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 160

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 160

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Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Lathrop together selected the site of their beautiful home at Alta Vista and together planned and built the palatial residence where Mrs. Lathrop still lives. It is beautifully located, overlooking the University quadrangle and the campus, as well as San Francisco Bay. Here Mr. Lathrop enjoyed an ideal family life with his wife and child, a daughter, Hermina, now the wife of Major Robert Du Rant Harden of Letterman

General Hospital, Presidio, San Francisco, which has been the place of their domicile ever since the Major's return from France. They have two children, Jane Ann and Barbara. Major Harden held the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the U. S. Medical Corps in the late war and was in command of U. S. Base Hospital No. 87, at Toul, France.

Funeral services for Mr. Lathrop were held in Memorial Church, Wednesday morning, May 27, 1914, Chaplain Gardner officiating. In religion he was a Protestant, but Mrs. Lathrop adheres to the Catholic faith in which she was reared. She careful- ly keeps up the traditional hospitality of the Lathrop home and takes a live interest in the great institution that her husband served so well. A loving mother, a kind friend and neighbor, she and the Lathrop name continue to be most highly respected.

FRED E. LESTER .- A native son of Santa Clara County, Fred E. Lester was born at the old Lester family home on South Lincoln avenue, San Jose, April 5, 1888, a son of Nathan L. and Sarah E. (Spicer) Lester, pioneer settlers of the county, repre- sented on another page in this work. He is next to the youngest of their seven children and was reared on the home farm, educated in the public schools and at the Pacific Coast Business College, where he was graduated in 1908. From a boy he was trained in horticulture and early in life took charge of the home place and is still operating it, two ranches in all, of which sixty-seven acres are devoted to prunes.

In 1915 Mr. Lester was married to Miss June Von Dorsten, the ceremony taking place at her parent's home, a daughter of Otto F. and Matilda (Snyder) Von Dorsten, natives of Colusa and Calaveras coun- ties, respectively. Her grandfather, H. A. Von Dorsten, crossed the plains with an ox-team train in pioneer days and was one of the earliest settlers of Colusa County, becoming a stockman and grain grower near Princeton; afterwards he came to Santa Clara County and improved the Von Dorsten orchard on Foxworthy road, that is still owned by his two sons. Mrs. Lester's maternal grandfather, P. N. Snyder, came to San Francisco via Cape Horn and was a pioneer miner in Calaveras County, where his active business life was spent; but he died in Santa Clara County. His wife, Caroline Hodecker, came via Panama with her parents to Calaveras County and married there, and she also died in Santa Clara County. Mrs. Lester is the oldest of two children and a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School.

While still operating his mother's ranch, Mr. Les- ter finds time for still further enterprises. In 1914 he became interested and associated with his brothers, Nathan L. and William W., in a 175-acre orchard and was active until 1918, when they divided the property and the partnership was dissolved. He then became associated with Otto F. Von Dorsten in orcharding, and they own a splendid orchard on Fox- worthy road and a large orchard on Almaden road, devoted to the raising of prunes. He is a member of the California Prune & Apricot Association and the California Walnut Growers' Association. Mr. and Mrs. Lester have three children: Edith Annette, Fred Raymond, and Marjory Alice. In politics Mr. Lester is a Republican, and he belongs to Fraternity

Charlee. L. Burdiet

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Lodge No. 399, F. & A. M., of San Jose, and with his wife is a member of the San Jose Chapter No. 31, O. E. S., and both are members of the First Congre- gational Church of San Jose.

CHARLES L. BURDICK-Among Santa Clara County's retired ranchers, in whose life the word success is spelled by far-sightedness and persever- ance is Charles L. Burdick, who is numbered among the G. A. R. veterans of San Jose, with a proud record for service in the stirring days of the Civil War. Charles L. Burdick was born in Warren County, New York, near Athol and not far from Warrenburg, the county seat, on June 6, 1847, and was the son of David and Polly (Fuller) Burdick. The father was a farmer and a lumberman and his birthplace was at the same place as that of Charles. David Burdick was also a bridge and barn builder and Charles learned the business under the instruc- tion of his father. The Burdicks trace their family back as far as 1653, when Robert Burdick came over from England and settled at Rutherford, Connecticut. His great-great-grandfather Burdick died in battle during the Revolutionary War, fighting under Gen- eral Sullivan.

When Charles was eight years old, he came with his parents to Lake County, Illinois, settling near Waukegan, but the family lived there only a year, when they went to Minnesota where his father took up a timber claim in Blue Earth County near Man- kato, Minnesota. However, he did not like the new country and there were no schools, so they moved back to Lake County and here Charles made his home until the War of the Rebellion broke out. In February 1864, when he was past sixteen years of age, he enlisted at Chicago, Illinois, in the Thirty- ninth Illinois Infantry, serving under General Butler in the Army of the Potomac at Richmond and was at Bermuda Hundred. He served in the army until December, 1865, having been at Appomattox Court House when Lee surrendered. He was also one of the soldiers at Norfolk, Virginia, when it was under martial law, and Colonel Mann was the mayor of the town and his forces policed the town and kept order; in all he spent four months in this city, having also been stationed in Richmond. He participated in five of the largest engagements of the war. In 1869, his father moved to Iowa, and in November, 1870, took up government land in Sioux County. Charles fol- lowed his father and took up 160 acres of land during the year 1871. It was here that David Burdick served as township assessor in Lincoln township, and Charles Burdick was his assistant; his father also served as justice of peace of Lincoln township and at that time Charles Burdick served as clerk of the same township. David Burdick also served on the school board, and having the interest of the community at heart, he served in these different positions faithfully.

Charles Burdick's marriage, which occurred March 16, 1869, in Cypress, Wis., near Kenosha, united him with Miss Annie Lowe, who was born in Lake County, Illinois, and was the daughter of Warner and Frances (Bell) Lowe. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and the mother was born in Ohio. Mr. Burdick and his young wife drove from her home in Illinois to Iowa, across the country in a wagon and a span of colts; arriving at his father's home in Floyd County, they spent the winter of 1871 there and then went on to Sioux County and

took up government land and lived there until 1878, when he disposed of this property and came to Cali- fornia, settling in Monterey County, nine miles from King City, and preempted 160 acres of hill land. Here he engaged in raising stock and hay and in De- cember, 1888, he came to San Jose, and took up the business of contract building, specializing in first- class dwellings and continuing in this business until he retired in 1920. He is now spending his days very comfortably, helping others to strive for and gain the success that he has worked so diligently to obtain. Mr. and Mrs. Burdick were the parents of four child- ren and also are the grandparents of five: George B. resides in San Jose and is in the employ of Richmond- Chase Company. He married Agnes Ferguson and they are the parents of three children -- Donald L., Kenneth D., and Muriel; Belle became the wife of A. E. Reynolds and resides on a farm near Kings City in Monterey County and she has one son, Har- old; Maud married A. O. Kent, a plumber of San Jose, and they are the parents of a son, Keith Kenneth Kent; Frank B. is a butcher by trade, single, and living in San Jose. Mr. Burdick has lived in East San Jose since 1893, locating there when there were very few homes in that vicinity. He is very popular and influential in the city of San Jose; in 1906 he was one of the organizers and member of the first board of trustees of East San Jose; served a number of years on the school board in Iowa and in Monterey County; is a member of Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, G. A. R., of San Jose, and during the year 1901 was its commander, and since 1905 has been a member of the cemetery committee of this post and its secretary since 1911. In national politics, he is is a stanch ad- herent to the views of the Republican party. Mrs. Burdick is a member of the Ladies of the G. A. R.

MRS. ELLA S. PARKHURST-Since 1878 Mrs. Ella S. Parkhurst has made her home in San Jose and as one of the honored pioneer residents of the city she enjoys the unqualified esteem and regard of a large circle of friends. She is a native of Michigan, her birth having occurred about ten miles from Ann Arbor, and her parents were Thomas and Susan (Whitehead) Featherly. Her family originally settled in New York State, whence her father re- moved to Michigan and for sixty years operated a farm in that state, passing away there when eighty- two years of age. He was an honored veteran of the Civil War, in which he served for four years in Company G, Third Michigan Cavalry.

The sixth in a family of eight children, consisting of four sons and four daughters, Ella S. Featherly attended the grammar schools of Whitmore Lake, Michigan, and in 1875, when twenty-one years of age, she came to Marysville, California, being accom- panied by her oldest and youngest brothers and one sister. For three years she remained at Marysville and then came to San Jose, where she was married October 10, 1878, to Lorenzo Dowe Parkhurst, who was born near Montpelier. Vermont, and came to California in the '60's. He became the owner of several hundred acres of land in Sutter County, while later he conducted a large general merchandise store at Yuba City and also engaged in the grain business. Possessing marked executive ability, his interests were most capably and successfully managed and after coming to San Jose he lived retired until his demise, which occurred September 10, 1888, when

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he was forty-five years of age. In 1881 he built a large residence at the corner of Lincoln and Willow streets, in which Mrs. Parkhurst now resides. He was of English parentage and in his passing San Jose lost one of its valued citizens, his associates a faithful friend and his family a devoted husband and father.

Mr. and Mrs. Parkhurst became the parents of a daughter, Veda G., now the wife of George Moore, who was formerly engaged in merchandising in this city, and they have a son, Kenneth Parkhurst Moore. Mr. Parkhurst was a Mason of high standing, having membership with the order at Marysville, and Mrs. Parkhurst is a member of the Eastern Star; the woman's auxiliary of the Maccabees; the San Jose Circle, Ladies of the G. A. R .; and the Loyal Workers of San Jose, which is a branch of the Woman's Relief Corps; and for twenty-five years has been an active member of the local Grange, manifesting a keen interest in the development, upbuilding, and progress of Santa Clara County.

GIACOMO PEIRANO .- A progressive and influ- ential Italian-American who will long be remembered for his usefulness to his fellow-countrymen in the Golden State and his successful efforts to help de- velop this promising portion of the great Pacific commonwealth, was the late Giacomo Peirano, who was born near Genoa, Italy, on November 26, 1853. and when sixteen years old crossed the occan to America. He came on West, and in 1870 arrived a: Sonora, in Tuolumne County. There he joined his brother, who had come here some years before and was running a market garden for the miners, and for a couple of years he remained in his employ.

In 1872 he came to San Jose and started a grocery at the corner of Market and Saint Augustine streets: and there he was in business for five years. On November 25, 1877. he was married at San Jose to Miss Anna Savio, a native of Torino, Italy, whose father had died when she was a baby, so that she was adopted by a Mr. and Mrs. Giraud, with whom she came to America by way of the Horn when she was ten years old. They stayed a short time in San Francisco, and then moved inland to San Jose, where Mr. Giraud was the gardener at the College of Notre Dame. Miss Savio attended school at Notre Dame, but when she was twelve years old her adopted mother was taken ill, and after that she had to work to care for the invalid. The old Giraud home was on South Market Street, opposite the Columbia Hos- pital, and there Mr. Giraud continued to live until he was eighty-two years of age.

In 1880 Giacomo Peirano went into the commis- sion business, and bought and sold grain, hay, fruit and farm products. His sons, Aldo and Paul Peirano, joined him, and they had a store at 73-75 North Market Street. In 1907 he sold out and went to Seattle and there conducted a commission business until 1910, at which time he returned to San Jose, leaving Aldo and Paul to run the business. In 1911 Aldo returned to San Jose and Paul took in a part- ner, but in 1914 he sold out and worked for other Seattle firms. In 1919 Paul returned to San Jose and opened the Seattle Grocery at the corner of River and Santa Clara streets. On December 8. 1919, Giacomo Peirano passed away, the father of six children: John died when he was eight years old; Mary lived for only four months; Aldo is at home; Paul is the well-known merchant; Joseph

and Vera are both dead. Mrs. Giacomo Peirano continued to live at the old family home-31 South River Street, which they built about 1900.

Paul Peirano attended the common schools in San Jose, and when old enough he began to help his father in business. At San Jose, on Easter Sunday, 1908, he was married to Miss Clara Solari, a native of Murphy, Calaveras County, Cal., who passed away in 1911. On June 6, 1915, Mr. Peirano was again married, this time to Miss Mildred Stingley, the daughter of William P. and Celia Anna Stingley, and a native of Kansas. Her father came to Califor- nia by way of the Reno route when she was a little girl. and in later years he and his faithful wife were farmer folk, although at first, as an emigrant travel- ing in a prairie schooner, he had the mining fever. Mr. and Mrs. Paul Peirano and their family are all Democrats; and he is a member of Eagles No. 1. at Seattle. His father, Giacomo Peirano, was presi- dent of the Italian-American Society for a number of years, and also head of the building of the Italian Church in San Jose.

JUDGE T. H. MILLER .- Prominent among the most popular Federal officials in Santa Clara County may well be named Judge T. H. Miller, the efficient postmaster at Morgan Hill. He was born at Woods- town, N. J., on July 1, 1863, a son of Anthony and Anna ( Hudson) Miller, who came to America from Ireland, a newly-married couple. His father was a native of Germany, but his mother was born in Ire- land; she was a sister of the late Rev. Father Hudson of St. Mary's Parish, Gilroy.

In 1867 the Miller family came to California and located in San Francisco, and at the age of nine T. H. went to Gilroy and made his home with his uncle, Father Hudson. Here the lad grew to young manhood, enjoying an excellent public school educa- tion; and on graduating, in 1880, he entered the employ of the Machado Rancho Company, near the present site of Morgan Hill. In 1888 he acquired. by purchase, a ranch of fifteen acres on the Watson- ville road, near the State Highway, and there he con- tinued farming successfully for twenty years.

For the last ten years, Judge Miller has lived at Morgan Hill; in 1902 he was elected justice of the peace for Morgan Hill Township, and for twelve consecutive years he served in that responsible of- fice. Hc resigned, in fact, only because, in 1914, President Wilson appointed him postmaster at Mor- gan Hill, an office he has conducted to every- body's satisfaction ever since. He owns the Post Office building on Monterey street, having erected it in 1908. Two good rural free delivery routes have been built up since 1914, and this may be one reason why, although the Judge is a Democrat, he has been retained by the present administration. He is a member and past officer of the American Yeomen.

At San Jose, Cal., on April 8, 1888, Mr. Miller was married to Miss Clara Vandervorst, the daughter of Henry and Johanna Vandervorst of San Jose, where she was both reared and schooled. Four children make up the family: Thomas J., has a wife and one son, and resides at San Jose; Harry V., who is now pursuing the electrical engineering course in the Uni- versity of Santa Clara, saw service in the late World War as first lieutenant in the U. S. Army; Frank I., is employed by James Slavin at Tres Pinos; and

Jacob P. Fulmer Jennie E. Huhner.

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Albert J., is a student at the Live Oak High School. The family attend the Roman Catholic Church of St. Catherine Parish; the Judge is a member of the 1. O. F. and the American Yoeman.

JACOB P. FULMER -- An honored veteran of the Civil War and now retired from active business cares. Jacob P. Fulmer is enjoying the fruits of years of toil, content to spend his remaining days in the beautiful Santa Clara Valley. He was born in the town of Steuben, Oneida County, New York, Novem- ber 12, 1843, a son of David and Mary (Schell) Ful- mer, of old Knickerbocker stock on both sides, the father following the occupation of farming. They were the parents of three children, two boys and a girl. On account of having to assist with the farm work, the schooling of Jacob P. was very meager, with no opportunity of attending school after he was twelve years old. September 6, 1862, he enlisted, with his father's consent, for he was under age, in Company I, One Hundred Forty-sixth New York Infantry under General Warren; later being under General Jenkins and General Grinnley. The first battle that his company engaged in was at Fredericks- burg, Virginia. Following is a list of the battles in which he was engaged: Bristow Station, Rappahan- nock, Mine Run, Wilderness, Weldon Road, Chapel House, Hatcher's Run, White Oak Road, Five Forks and Appomattox Court House. In the battle of the Wilderness, he was wounded in the right arm and started for the hospital at Washington, D. C. He left by the steamer "State of Maine" but before he reached the hospital, gangrene had set in and his sufferings were intense. At the time of his injury he was a corporal, the bullet piercing his chevron. He remained in Washington only four days, when he was removed to Baltimore, as the wounded werc coming in so rapidly that those who were able to be removed were taken away to make room for others. He was able to rejoin his company in 1864. His corps was the last to be mustered out at Arling- ton, Virginia, and he returned to Syracuse, New York, and was discharged as a sergeant July 16, 1865. After his discharge from the army, he returned to his father's home and remained for eight years.

The marriage of Mr. Fulmer at Booneville, New York, in 1869 united him with Miss Sarah Hurlburt, a daughter of Francis and Sarah ( Beardsley) Hurl- burt. Her parents were farmers in Ava, New York, where Mrs. Fulmer was born and reared. One son, Francis B., who now resides in Oakland, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Fulmer. Mrs. Fulmer passed away at the family residence at Oneida Castle, New York, in 1883. The second marriage of Mr. Fulmer, Nov- ember 11, 1885, united him with Mrs. Jennie ( Bris- tol) Austin, a daughter of Alfred and Sarah Bristol. She was born and reared in Oneida County, N. Y., and taught school two years before her first mar- riage. Her father was a carpenter by trade, follow- ing it for years while residing in New York. By her first marriage Mrs. Fulmer had two children, Nellie, Mrs. Haskins of Madison, Wisconsin, and Winfield, who is a cheese buyer in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1881, Jacob P. Fulmer took up the trade of cheese making in Oneida, New York, and was thus engaged for ten years. Then he removed to Byrds Creek, Richland County, Wisconsin, and opened a cheese factory, which he conducted for eight years. In 1901 he sold out his interests in Wisconsin and

removed to Corning, Tehama County, California, when he was engaged in fruit packing. In 1912 the family removed to San Jose and have continuously resided there since, with the exception of one year when they lived in Santa Clara.

Mr. Fulmer is prominent in G. A. R. circles, being past commander of the Maywood post at Corning, and is at the uresent time, junior vice-commander of the Sheridan-Dix Post No. 7, of San Jose. Mr. Ful- mer owns considerable real estate in San Jose, among the more valuable being a half-interest in an apart- ment house located at 247 West San Carlos Street. Politically, he is a stalwart Republican, adhering strictly to the principles as advocated by their plat- form. With his wife he is a consistent member of the Centella Methodist Episcopal Church of San Josc. Mrs. Fulmer is a member of Sheridan-Dix W. R. C. No. 2, San Jose, being past president of Maywood Corps. Mr. Fulmer has led an upright, honorable and useful life in which he has ever dis- played unfaltering loyalty to high standards of citi- zenship.

GASTON R. FONTAINE .- A competent and trusted employe of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company who has also demonstrated his ability as a rancher, is Gaston R. Fontaine, the son of the well-known nurseryman, Henry Fontaine, and his wife, who was Miss Fannic Plausa before her mar- riage. Gaston was born in Paris, France, Novem- ber 9, 1883, the second of a family of seven chil- dren, his elder brother, who died at the age of thirty-eight, having been Henry Fontaine, Jr. Mau- rice and George live at San Jose. Jennie is now Mrs. Phillips and lives at Oakland; Raymond is with his mother. in San Jose; and Carmen has become Mrs. Hubbard, and lives near her sister, Jennie.

In 1893, Henry Fontaine, Sr., came to Kansas City, and having found a good location about three miles out of Kansas City, he established himself in the nursery business, and went in for specializing in ornamental stock. Thus it happened that Gaston commenced his schooling at Kansas City and finished at San Jose, where his father removed in 1898, when he purchased two acres of land on North Thirteenth Street, and continued handling fancy stock. He built a greenhouse on his little ranch, and successfully developed his enterprise, so that when he died at San Jose in 1904, he was accounted a worthy citi- zen, whose services had been of real benefit to the community. For a number of years, Gaston worked with his father, and then he left home to accept a post of responsibility in the service of Mr. Meyers. who had a fine nursery at Burlingame. At the end of three years, the offer of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company drew him into that corporation's service, and he has been with that concern at San Jose ever since 1907.

At Redwood City, on October 6. 1914, Mr. Fon- taine was married to Miss Elizabeth Sprugasci, the daughter of Angelo Sprugasci, a native of Biasca. in Canton Ticino, Switzerland. who had married Miss Louise Vanina; he was a carpenter and had the following children: Dorina, Mose. Elizabeth, Adele, Veronica, who fell a victim in 1919 of the influenza; and Antonio. When she was twenty-three years of age, Miss Elizabeth came alone to Califor- nia, and settled in Santa Clara County. Mr. Fon- taine has purchased a prune and apricot ranch of three acres on North Thirteenth Street, near his

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mother's place, and there he has just finished a modern bungalow home. A naturalized citizen, he endorses the platforms of the Republican party, and under the banners of that great organization seeks to march to civic victory.

Gaston Fontaine's brother, Raymond Fontaine, served in the World War, entering into service on November 2, 1917. He trained at Camp Mills, N. Y., and in March, 1918, was sent to France with the Intelligence Department of the Eighteenth Infantry, First Division. He was in many severe battles, in- cluding the Aisne, Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse, Ar- gonne, and the great defensive sector. He was once gassed with chlorine, but he survived to be one of twenty-five men who took a strong point in the lines near Soisson,-the service being estimated by his superiors as of such hazard and value that he and his comrades were awarded a medal for dis- tinguished bravery. He also was awarded the bravery shoulder cord by the French government. This redoubt was located on Hill No. 204, and the place and act are now historic.

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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 160

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