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 177

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 177

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J. E. Jeed.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Campbell. He is deeply interested in everything that pertains to the welfare and progress of his commun- ity, county and state, and is a young man of enter- prise and determination, who is making wise use of his time, talents and opportunities.

JOHN E. TEED .- A veteran of the Civil War, who has been a resident of California since 1900, is John E. Teed, born in Cleveland, Ohio, March 3, 1847. His father, E. D. Teed, was born in New York, removing to Ohio. He there married Susan Gee, a native of Pennsylvania, and they were farmers in the Buckeye State until they removed to Waupaca, Wis., and thence on to Owatonna, Minn., where the father spent the rest of his days. The mother died in Cottonwood County, Minn. Of the six children born to this worthy couple, John E. is the second and grew up on the Minnesota farm from ten years of age, receiving his education in the public schools. At the time of the Civil War, his youthful soul was stirred with patriotism and he left his books to enlist in the Union Army, February 11, 1863, in Company A, Tenth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, being mustered in at Fort Snelling and sent to the front and under General Price he served in the battles of Tupelo, Miss., Oxford, Miss., then in the campaign after General Forrest and the battle of Nashville; thence via New Orleans to Spanish Fort, Miss., and was in the en- gagement of the taking of Spanish Fort; thence to Montgomery, Ala, Meridian and Vicksburg, Miss., and was then transferred to Fort Snelling, where he was mustered out in August, 1865, having just passed his eighteenth year. He resumed his studies, caught up with his classmates, and in due time he obtained a teacher's certificate. He taught school at Big Bend, Minn., and was there at the time of the big blizzard, January 14, 1872. He kept the children in the school house all afternoon and night and until four the next afternoon, using all the scantlings, benches and desks for fuel and that, too, in a newly built schoolhouse. About four o'clock the second afternoon the nearest neighbor, a physician, braved the storm and brought some food. Mr. Teed went back with him, obtained his team and sled and with it brought the children to the doctor's house. After teaching for five years, he engaged at carpentering and was a successful contractor and builder, having built many fine residences.

In 1900 he came to Sonoma County, Cal., thence he moved to Oakland and in 1901 to Los Gatos. com- ing here because he was suffering severely from in- flammatory rheumatism. In a short time he was re- lieved of his trouble and again engaged in contract- ing and building, a business he has continued with success ever since; he has become a property owner in Los Gatos and has great faith in the future of this beautiful foothill city.

Mr. Teed was married in Owatonna, Minn., to Miss Charlotte Jones, who was born in New York State, coming to Medford, Minn., with her parents where she was educated for and followed the profession of teaching. They have two children, Mrs. Jessie Johnson, of Johnson Avenue, where her father makes his home and Mrs. Della Stoneking of Talt. Mr. Teed served as town trustee of Los Gatos for one term and is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and served as a member of the official board for many years both in Minnesota as well as here. He is a member of the E. O. C. Ord Post, No. 82, G. A. R.

DAVID WILLIAM CAMPBELL .- For decades, San Jose has been famed, among the most prosperous business centers and the most attractive home towns, for its law and order, and much of its recent en- viable reputation is undoubtedly due to the efficiency and conscientiousness to duty of David William Campbell, the popular captain of police. A native of Loudoun County, Va., born near Leesburg, Sep- tember 30, 1850, he is the son of Henry and Amelia A. Tarlton Campbell, both of whom are dead, the father having passed away prior to his devoted wife. Three brothers of our subject participated in the Civil War and lost their lives in the great conflict.

David attended the private schools of his local- ity, the public school system not having then been developed in that part of the country, and for years he followed farming in Virginia. In 1870 he moved to Clark County, Ohio, and that fall went to Spring- field, Ill., where he farmed in Sangamon County until March, 1876, when he came to San Francisco, Cal., arriving March 16. Three days later he came to San Jose and here he worked on a dairy farm for five years and then delivered bread and other bakery wares for six years more and such was his fidelity and cheerful attention to the wants of his customers that he soon built up a large business.

In December, 1888, Mr. Campbell was appointed to the police force, and January 1, 1889, he began his work as policeman. At the end of two years he was elected constable for two years, and at the conclusion of the first term was re-elected for a like period. In 1895 he returned to the police force: and in 1902 he was appointed captain. Since then Captain Campbell has been very closely identified with the development of the best interests of the city. His views on civic affairs lead him to endorse, as a rule, the platforms of the Democratic party; but he is really a man above mere partisanship, and so finds it easy to pull strong and effectively with any body of local citizens for whatever is apparent to him as promising the best for the community.

In San Francisco in 1882, Captain Campbell was married to Miss Mary Welch, born in San Francisco, a daughter of John and Mary Welch, early settlers of San Francisco, and their union has resulted in the birth of two children. Eva, the elder, is Mrs. B. Henshaw of San Jose; while Ethel, who also had many friends, died in her twenty-first year. Mr. Campbell is the oldest man in service in the police department, having served a third of a century.

LOUIS F. OLDHAM .- One of the enterprising and active men in the Santa Clara County, who gives substantial encouragement to every plan for the promotion of the public welfare, is Louis F. Old- ham, a native son and the son of a '49er, and he has aided materially in bringing about the prosperity all now enjoy. Mr. Oldham was born on Moorpark Avenue, Santa Clara County, December 17, 1856, where the County Infirmary now stands. He is the son of George W. and Isabelle (Sanor) Oldham, now deceased, the father, a native of Indiana, and the son of Thomas Oldham, the family tracing their an- cestry back to John Scott, who fought under Lord Baltimore in Colonial days. The mother was a native of Ohio and a daughter of Michael Sanor.

George W. Oldham came to California in 1849, crossing the plains with an ox-team, and first went to Placerville, where he was for a short time in the

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mines. In 1850 he came to Santa Clara Valley and took up a 300-acre tract of land, where our subject was born, and engaged in farming and stockraising. He reached the ripe old age of ninety-three years, passing away in 1917, his wife having died at the age of seventy-two years. Mr. and Mrs. George Oldham were the parents of five children: Charles F., Win- field Scott, now deceased; Louis F., of this sketch; George T., and William R. Louis F. received his education in the public schools of Santa Clara County and since making his own livelihood has spent his time in ranching and raising stock. In 1878 he started out for himself and in 1880 he moved to Sara- toga, where he engaged in farming, later he opened a meat market and continued in this business for some years, till he again took up farming, making a specialty of orcharding. In 1917 he purchased his pres- ent place, a ten-acre ranch, which is mostly set to prunes, and is in full bearing.

Mr. Oldham's marriage, which occurred on August 28, 1878, united him with Fannie Jepson, a native of Fond du Lac, Wis., the daughter of Benjamin and Frances ( Yates) Jepson, both natives of England. Mr. Jepson came to the United States at the age of twenty-one and coming to California about the year of 1870 engaged in farming; he served in a Wis- consin regiment in the Civil War for three years and five months under General Sherman. There were three children in the Jepson family: Sarah, de- ceased; Charles and Fanny. Mr. and Mrs. Oldham are the parents of one child, Le Roy. They are members of Centella Methodist Episcopal Church in San Jose. Mr. Oldham is a member of the California Prune & Apricot Association.

IRVING WALTER SNOW .- No line of work is so productive of good to a community as that of the molder and trainer of the youth of the land, and Irving Walter Snow, as supervising principal of the Los Gatos schools, is proving himself a prominent factor in the educational development of the com- munity. A native of California, he was born in the rural district near Berryessa, June 7, 1879, the son of George W. and Cora A. (Lucas) Snow, the father a prominent orchardist who came to California in 1876 and settled on the place near Berryessa, where he lived and died. He passed away in 1917; his widow survives him and resides in Los Gatos. Irving Walter received his preliminary education in the grammar school at Berryessa; then at the academy of the College of the Pacific and the College of the Pacific, graduating in 1904 with the degree of A. B. He then entered the University of California and in 1907 received his Master's degree. His first position was as assistant and vice-principal of the Campbell Union high school and he remained in this capacity until 1912, when he was elected principal, serving until 1920, when he became supervising principal of the Los Gatos schools.

The marriage of Mr. Snow united him with Miss Angeline Weaver, a resident of San Jose and a daughter of A. M. Weaver, who came from Connecti- cut in the '60s. Fraternally he is a Mason and an Odd Fellow, and he is actively interested in the National Education Association, the California Teachers' Association, the California High School Teachers' Association, and the California Principals' Association. His political endorsement is given to

the candidate best fitted for the office, rather than Following strict party lines. Success has crowned his intelligently directed efforts and his years of con- centration have culminated in gaining for him a posi- tion of responsibility in the intellectual and moral development of the city and county.

GILROY PUBLIC SCHOOLS .- None of the many progressive communities in California is prouder of its public schools than Gilroy, for under the able leadership of Prof. Elmer E. Brownell, the popular supervising principal, they have come to rank among the best schools in the Golden State. The grammar school is attended by Gilroy pupils only, and until lately only the youth of Gilroy have enjoyed the ad- vantages of the Gilroy high school. On August 21, 1921, however, a change for a broader and better policy was effected. Then, on the recommendation of the county superintendent of schools and certain supervisors of the districts to be affected, the Adams, Rucker, Live Oak, Redwood, Sunnybrook, San Ysidro and Prunedale school districts were annexed to the Gilroy high school district, thereby extending widely the range of usefulness, and creating at Gil- roy a union high school. This annexation was the more notable, for it was one of the first of its kind in Santa Clara County, and it was popular from the beginning, for it affords to pupils from the districts mentioned physical education, drawing, manual train- ing, music, cooking and sewing and other advantages heretofore beyond their reach. Five motor busses are now used to transport the pupils between their homes and the high school, at a minimum cost.

Before 1911, the grammar and high schools at Gilroy occupied the same lot, in two separate build- ings, but the board of trustees acquired eighteen additional acres of land, and a new high school build- ing, erected at a cost of some $40,000, was con- structed. This high school structure was formally opened in December, 1911, and according to the more extensive ground plan, the main building will he gradually surrounded by other structures, each to be practical and ornate, and to be dedicated to a particular service. A junior high school will be formed in time, and the eighth and ninth-year pupils will be segregated from the tenth, eleventh and twelfth-year pupils. In 1904 four teachers formed the staff, and today there are twelve teachers and 175 pupils. The first graduation was held in 1904, when eight students stepped forth into the world; in 1920 a class of twenty-five graduated, and in 1922, there was a class of twenty. In 1904 eight teachers taught 350 pupils in the grammar schools; in 1921 fifteen teachers had charge of the welfare of 550 pupils. On May 6, 1922, Gilroy grammar school district voted $180,000 in bonds for the erection of a fourteen-room building in the Hanna field, on ten acres of land, to accommodate a kindergarten and the first six grades; also an eight-room building on the high school grounds, to accommodate the seventh and eighth grades, and to form a junior high school.

Professor Brownell has had heavy odds to over- come, but he has always had the confidence of the citizens in his pioneering work, and that has enabled him to accomplish what he has with the Gilroy schools, in both original and permanent reforms. An evening school was organized in 1916, with regular courses of study in the commercial department, and

28. Harris Herring

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

with courses in mathematics, languages, etc., four teachers directing the ambitious work of from sixty to seventy-five students. A branch of the Free County Library has been installed for the use of both the students and the public, and this in itself has added to the public appreciation of the educational service at their disposal in Gilroy. Professor Brownell has his heart and soul in the work com- mitted to his care, and it must afford him satisfac- tion that the board of trustees have been agreeable to all requests for advancement.

S. H. HERRING .- A California pioneer of 1856 and a veteran of the Civil War, S. H. Herring was born in the town of Poland, Maine, June 20, 1834. The family is traced back to England, and were early settlers of Massachusetts and thence removed to Norway, Maine. Mr. Herring's father, Daniel Her- ring married Phelanda Morey, whose father served in the Revolutionary War; she passed away in 1838. The father removed to Illinois to locate on Govern- ment land, but was taken sick and returned to Maine, where he married a second time and in 1856 the fam- ily moved out to California and here he passed away. S. H. Herring is the only one living of his eight brothers and sisters, of which he was one of the youngest. His youth was spent on the farm and he was early set to work like other farmer boys. He attended the public schools, but obtained the greater part of his education by self study, for they were a family of students, and even in those early days they received eleven different periodicals, all of them scientific. Thus he acquired habits for research work that have continued with him all through life. For a time before coming to California Mr. Herring was employed in a nursery at Brighton, Mass., so had become interested in horticulture before arriving in the Golden State in 1856, having made the trip via Panama. At first he located on a ranch six miles above Marysville and made improvements, but had to leave it on account of a defect in the title. He then removed to near Forbestown, but having con- tracted malaria while in Yuba County, he went into the mountains at Gibsonville, where he recovered.

In 1861 Mr. Herring volunteered in Company D. First California Cavalry, for service in the Civil War. They proceeded to Southern California, marched across the desert through Arizona and New Mexico to El Paso, Texas, and thence as escort to 105 pris- oners to Fort Clark, after which they returned to El Paso. Thence he went to Fort Craig and a year later was detailed with others to escort Governor Goodwin and his outfit to Fort Whipple, Ariz., where he remained until his discharge, September 7, 1864, after which he returned to California. At first he followed orcharding in Butte County; then he be- gan teaming into Nevada, hauling lumber to the mines, and he later helped build the railroad through the Sierra Valley; afterwards he spent some time riding after cattle and learned to handle and rope cattle. In 1871 he came to San Jose and established the Califor- nia Agriculturist as a monthly and published it seven years in the interests of the farmer, standing stanchly for prohibition. He also published two different dailies, the Independent Californian and the other the Garden City Times. In December, 1878, he was taken ill and had to go to the mountains to save his life, so he sold out to the Rural Press of San Francisco. He then homesteaded on government land in the San-

ta Cruz Mountains, built a residence, and set out a twenty-acre orchard of apples, prunes and pears; the rest of the ranch he devoted to stockraising; later he turned the management of the ranch over to his son and for a time lived in San Francisco. Twenty- seven years ago he located in Los Gatos where he owns a comfortable home and resides with his wife, whom he married in Santa Cruz. She was Dr. Laimee ( Perkins) Jewell, a widow who was graduated in medicine in New York City. She had first come to California as early as 1851, but returned East and studied medicine in New York City, after which she practiced medicine in Santa Cruz. A woman of much capability and culture, she has been a splendid help- mate and devoted wife, their union having been blessed with two children: Fred D., who is on the old home ranch, and Joe P., a taxidermist in Los Angeles. Mr. Herring is an Odd Fellow and with his wife is a member of the Rebekahs and the Santa Clara County Pioneer Society. He is also a member of the E. O. C. Ord Post No. 82, G. A. R., Los Gatos, of which he is a past commander and Mrs. Herring is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps.

SIDNEY M. CUTHBERTSON .- Among the pop- ular and efficient officials of Mayfield, Cal., Sidney M. Cuthbertson is capably filling the position of city clerk in a creditable and satisfactory manner. Besides attend- ing to his official duties, he is active in the real estate and insurance business, and is the owner of several houses and town lots in Mayfield. He is a native son of California and was born at Manchester, Mendocino County, June 23, 1873, on the 160-acre ranch which his father had taken from the Government as a home- stead. This land is still the property of the two mem- bers of the Cuthbertson family. His parents, R. H. and Grace ( Grant) Cuthbertson were both natives of Scotland. His father was a weaver by trade and worked in the silk mills of his native city of Glas- gow. The name Cuthbert came from St. Cuthbert, a prelate and noted Scotch divine, and the same traits and characteristics have been handed down from gen- eration to generation, there being many public speakers and preachers in the family; also machin- ists and manufacturers. The mother is a distant relative of the late General U. S. Grant, and when quite a young girl was left an orphan. She came to Canada with her parents, but her father died when she was seven years old. She was bound out for seven years as was the custom for homeless orphan children, but received such ill treatment that she ran away to Detroit when nine years of age. While in the employ of the wife of a U. S. Army officer. she came to San Francisco. At Detroit she had met Mr. Cuthbertson, her future husband, and he followed her to San Francisco where they were married. They became the parents of ten children, all of whom are living and all well educated, most of them being col- lege-bred men and women: George W. became a lieutenant commander in the U. S. Navy during the late war and is now in the commercial marine ser- vice; Harriet is the wife of Prof. R. E. Swain, pro- fessor of chemistry in Stanford University. He was mayor of Palo Alto three different times and is a very prominent citizen of that city; Robert is a broker in Los Angeles; Sidney M. is the subject of this re- view; Jessie is a graduate of the San Jose Normal School and is now a teacher in the grammar schools of Palo Alto; Henry resides in Palo Alto; Grace, a graduate of the San Jose Normal School and a stu-

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dent of Stanford who is now the wife of Joseph H. Borden, the president of the Palo Alto Furniture Company; he is an ex-president of the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce and is now a school trustee of the Palo Alto grammar schools; Alexander M. married Miss Irene Childs, the daughter of the ex- president of the First National Bank of Palo Alto. He is a graduate of the Stanford University and is now teaching in the Redwood City high school. He is a chemist of note, having pursued post grad- uate courses at Heidelberg, Germany, and at Yale. He was a trustee of the Union high school in Palo Alto and elerk of that board; Ernest J. is a graduate of the San Jose Normal school and is now the prin- cipal of the Union Grammar school at Campbell, the largest union grammar school in the county; Alice B. is the wife of Donald Steele. She is a graduate of the Stanford University and received her A. M. de- gree from that institution. She taught in the Mendo- cino high school and is an accomplished musician. R. H. Cuthbertson died in Palo Alto in 1920, at the age of eighty years; Mrs. Cuthbertson is still living and resides in Palo Alto and is hale and hearty at the age of eighty.

Sidney M. Cuthbertson began his education in the public schools of Mendocino County, and later entered the San Jose high school and has the honor of editin~ its first class annual, "The Blue and Silver." He also organized the Ecclesia Literary Society. He was graduated in 1895; then entered the University of the Pacific and spent one year there. He was an honor student, excelling in public speaking and was selected as the orator to deliver the address for the anni- versary of the Arcania Literary Society, an honor rarely conferred on a freshman, it being the usual custom to select an upper classman. He entered Stan- ford University in 1896.

Mr. Cuthbertson's marriage united him with Miss Margaret Bailey, a native of Crescent City, Del Norte County, Cal., a daughter of Mrs. Mary Bailey and is a member of a large and prominent family, owners of a big ranch on the Smith River in Del Norte County. Her father died when she was ten years old but her mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Cuthbertson are the parents of three children: Don- ald is a freshman in the Palo Alto high school; was the valedictorian of his class in grammar school; Florence, and Beatrice. Before his marriage, Mr. Cuthbertson was general agent for the King, Rich- ardson Publishing Company and was one of the prize agents of that firm winning a prize bicycle in the summer of 1896. Later he became an agent for the International Correspondence Schools at Scranton, Pa .; held agencies in California and also one in Ne- vada. He again distinguished himself in this capa- city, collecting more money in one month than any other agent in the employ of the I. C. S. at that time (1904), winning the "Honor of the World," and Rank No. 1, and thus became known to all I. C. S. agents everywhere, the prize being a free trip to the St. Louis World's Fair, so with his bride he took in the exposition on his wedding trip. Returning to California he and his wife settled in Mayfield and in 1905 built their commodions and modern residence. He was chosen secretary of the Santa Clara County Promotion Association, and worked to organize this body into a County Chamber of Commerce. He was made secretary of the Mayfield Chamber of Com- merce and was placed on the speaking force of the

State Association of Chambers of Commerce at the 1915 State Convention held in San Francisco and is considered one of the best and most forceful speakers on the force and is a good booster for improvements and advancement along all lines. In politics he is a stanch Democrat and was chosen secretary of the Democratic Central Committee in 1908 and served in that capacity until 1916. He was appointed to the position of City Clerk and in 1919 was duly elected to the position for a period of four years. He is a notary public and is the Mayfield agent for the Liver- pool, London and Globe Fire Insurance Company. Hard work and persistent effort in business affairs has brought him prosperity and Mayfield is indeed proud to count him among her enterprising boosters. The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church of Mayfield and Mrs. Cuthbertson is a mem- ber of its choir,

ST. JOSEPH'S HIGH SCHOOL .- Prominent among the institutions of learning in Santa Clara County doing so much to help make California one of the most desirable of all states in the Union for home centers and places of residence, is St. Joseph's High School, an outgrowth of St. Joseph's College, a Catholic institution, embracing a grammar school for boys and girls, and a high school for boys. The building was erected in 1906, directly after the great earthquake and fire, and in August of the following year it was opened for instruction with an approxi- mate enrollment of 100 boys. The original faculty consisted of Brother William, who is at present the head of St. Louis College in Honolulu; Brother Adam, who is now the principal of the school, and Brothers James and Thomas. There are 250 pupils enrolled, under the direction of a faculty of eight. Brother Adam is assisted by Brother John, Brother Thomas, Brother Alexander and Brother William, and these scholarly instructors make up the high school faculty; while Brothers Aloysius, Thomas, Nicholas and Paul have charge of the grammar school. Besides these two departments, the Sisters of Notre Dame conduct the girls' grammar school department with an enrollment of 400. In addition to imparting sound learning, the greatest precautions are taken, also, to safeguard the morals of those entrusted to the authorities of the institution.

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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 177

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