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 179

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 179

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ED. R. GREEN .- An able financier and a man of excellent judgment, Ed. R. Green has firmly estab- lished himself as a leader in the progressive com- munity of Gilroy since coming here in 1912 as the cashier and one of the organizers of the First Na- tional Bank of Gilroy. Mr. Green was born at Mal- den, Bureau County, Ill., on October 20, 1874, the son of Timothy F. Green, a prominent farmer who pio- neered in Illinois, Kansas, and Nebraska. In 1880, the family removed from Illinois to Horton, Kans., and there Ed. R. Green finished his education. In 1890, they took up their residence at Audubon, Iowa, where he accepted his first position as clerk and delivery boy with a general merchandise store, which he filled to the satisfaction of his employer.

The year 1897 marked Mr. Green's entrance into the banking business, when he became associated with a private banking house at Dow City, Iowa, and he soon rose to the position of cashier, contin- uing there until 1901. He then removed to Overton, Nebr., where he assisted in organizing the Alfalfa State Bank of which he became cashier. Later Mr. Green became affiliated with such men as A. U. Dann, W. T. Auld and N. J. Paul, among the most successful bankers of Nebraska, in the purchase of the Alfalfa State Bank and the organization of the First National Bank of Overton, Mr. Green be- coming cashier. This association was of much value to Mr. Green, in the broadening understanding and conception of the world of finance. He remained at Overton until the fall of 1911, when he came to Gil- roy. Cal., through the solicitation of J. S. Adair.

In April, 1912, the First National Bank of Gilroy opened its doors, with Mr. Green as cashier, and having a capital stock of $25,000. By 1915 so suc- cessful had the organization become that it was nec- essary to increase the capital stock to $75,000, the officers at this time being H. S. Hersman, president; C. C. Lester. vice-president; E. R. Green, cashier; in the following twenty-eight months the business showed an increase of 578 per cent. The building which houses this successful banking house was de- signed by William Binder of San Jose and was erected by William Radtke, at a cost of $40,000, a $15,000 addition being erected early in 1920 to accommodate its growth. In 1918 a merger was consummated with the Garden City Bank & Trust Company of San Jose by which the Gilroy Bank became a branch of the par- ent bank, a move that was productive of much in- creased business, the deposits growing from a half

adessone

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

million to over a million dollars in a few months. The advisory board consists of E. R. Green, chairman; H. C. Hagen, Welburn Maycock, A. W. Brown, Cecil Carlyle and A. W. Chesbro, Mr. Green being manager of the bank and responsible for the direction of its financial policy.

At Denison, Iowa, Mr. Green was married to Miss Emma Downes, the daughter of Mrs. Lucy Downes, who passed away at Gilroy in September, 1920. A capable, talented woman, Mrs. Green has taken an active interest in the social and civic life of Gilroy and served as treasurer of the Woman's Civic Club soon after it was founded and is a member of the P. E. O. Society. Prominent in Masonic circles, Mr. Green is a member of Keith Lodge No. 187 of Gil- roy, and Howard Chapter, R. A. M., and of San Jose Commandery K. T. He is a member of the Pres- byterian Church at Gilroy. A leader in all commun- ity enterprises, he gives his support to the Republi- can party in political affairs.

DUNCAN P. McLACHLAN .- A member of a noted family of engineers, well known in Scotland, Duncan P. McLachlan has for the past eight years been connected with the municipal public utilities of Palo Alto as mechanical engineer, and for four years he has been superintendent at the city's electric light plant, water works, pumping plant, incinerator and swimming pool, all the power machinery being housed in the fine water works plant on Newell Road. All are municipally owned, Palo Alto having made an out- standing success in the ownership of its public utilities. Mr. McLachlan was born in Dumbarton- shire, Scotland, October 25, 1886, the son of George and Marian (Lockhard) Mclachlan, both natives of the land of the heather, but residents of Palo Alto for a number of years. The father is a stone cutter, and superintended the stone cutting and erection of nearly all the work in the Stanford University quadrangle. He preceded the family here, being joined by them in 1900. The McLachlan family is well known in Scot- land, practically all its members being machinists and engineers of note, with the exception of George Mc- Lachlan, who took up the work of stone cutting and is an expert in this line. His brother, Admiral Mc- Lachlan, was prominent in the transportation service between France and England in the late war.

Mr. and Mrs. George McLachlan were the parents of six children, five of whom are living, Duncan P. being the third child. He was only two years old when his parents came from Scotland to Toronto, Ontario, where they lived for several years, going from there to Virden, Manitoba, and then to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, ivhere they lived for two years. When Duncan was eleven years old, they removed to De- troit, Mich., and there he worked in various machine shops, among them the power house of the Ameri- can Car & Foundry Company. He became inter- ested in the automobile business in its infancy, being associated with the Oldsmobile plant, and worked for the pioneer automobile manufacturer, Mr. Olds, help- ing turn out the first thirty of forty engines for the first Oldsmobile runabouts ever built.

In 1902 Mr. McLachlan came to Palo Alto and at- tended the preparatory school in Manzanita Hall for three years, and in 1905 he started the first garage in Palo Alto, located on High Street, and here he handled the Pope-Hartford automobiles, this being one of the earliest companies to manufacture cars. This building

was wrecked in the earthquake of 1906, and Mr. Lach- lan suffered a severe financial loss. He then went to Redwood, Cal., and for two years ran an automobile repair shop there, then took charge of three launches and three automobiles for the late W. H. Hanson at his planing mill at Tacoma, Wash., and remaining there for five years. Returning to Palo Alto in 1913, he entered the employ of the city under John F. Bixby Jr., who is still chief city engineer and head of the Board of Public Works of Palo Alto. Mr. Mclachlan has helped install every engine in the city's power house, and with his usual capability, he stands high as one of the city's most efficient and trusted employees. In 1907, at Palo Alto, Mr. McLachlan was married to Miss Cornelia Ann Buckhout, a native daughter, born at Chico, Cal., and they are the parents of three chil- dren, Donald, Elizabeth and Margaret. The family home is at 1148 Bryant Street.

C. H. THOMAS .- A civil engineer of unusual ability and high professional standing, C. H. Thomas was selected by the California State Highway Com- missioners to take charge of the rebuilding of the State Highway through the Mayfield district, a task that he is bringing to a successful completion. It has been a very difficult road to build on account of the nature of the subsoil. Mr. Thomas was sent here in July, 1921, and he has built a very strong and durable road, of thick concrete, doubly reinforced by steel bars and steel netting, and it is probably the best road ever built by the State Highway Commissioners, replacing one of the worst pieces of highway on the Peninsula.

Mr. Thomas was born at Toledo, Ohio, April 24, 1884, the son of Robert F. and Anna M. (Crane) Thomas, and both parents are living and make their home at Portland, Oregon, the father, being an auditor for the S. P. & S. Railroad Company. C. H. Thomas grew up at Toledo and graduated from the University of Ohio at Columbus, where he received the C. E. degree in 1902. For two years he was with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a civil engineer at Toledo, and in 1904 came to the Pacific Coast, lo- cating first at Portland, Ore., where he entered the employ of the Southern Pacific, working on the con- struction of various roads and structures of this sys- tem in Washington, Idaho, British Columbia, Oregon and Montana. Resigning his position with the South- ern Pacific, Mr. Thomas entered the Government serv- ice and built roads into Rainier National Park in Washington, Crater Lake Park and Yosemite Park. At the. latter park he built the El Portal road in 1916, and while there the war broke out and he resigned to enlist, but was rejected on account of the rigid physi- cal requirements in his branch of the service.

In July, 1917, he was employed by the California State Highway Commission in the capacity of civil engineer on road construction and he built the Gar- berville Road in Humboldt County, a difficult job, and coming to San Francisco was assigned to Division 4, in December, 1918. He completed that portion of the Santa Cruz Highway which runs from Summit to Glenwood, and the stretch of road from Novato and Petaluma, and a dozen other pieces of construction.

In Portland, Ore., in 1909, Mr. Thomas was married to Miss Rose Adeline Gaylord of that city, an ac- complished young woman, who has proved herself a true companion. Many times since their marriage, Mr. Thomas' professional duties have taken him to

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inaccessible places, far removed from any town, but Mrs. Thomas has always accompanied him, sharing the hardships of camp life, at times living in tents and depending on the results of the chase for game, not being able to reach any market, where they could supply their needs. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have made many friends during their stay in Palo Alto.

FRANK DI FIORE .- A well-to-do and influential rancher and horticulturist who has done much to ad- vance California agriculture while building a fortune for himself and near of kin, is Frank Di Fiore, a na- tive of the province of Palermo, in Sicily, where he was born of his native land, and round about home worked on farms until, in 1883, he came out to Cal- ifornia and settled near San Jose.

At San Francisco, Mr. Di Fiore was married to Miss Lina Lovotti, native of Buenos Aires, in South America, whose parents later removed to Italy and then continued their migrations until they reached San Francisco. Her father had been a cattleman, who had a transport company between Italy and Ar- gentine Republic, he was a man of affairs, therefore, and something of initiative and executive talent was transmitted to his family.

Frank Di Fiore went to work as a laborer on ranches in the vicinity of San Jose, and later he en- gaged in the growing, buying and selling of fruit. He at first rented a fruit ranch, and then he pur- chased fifty-five acres near Alviso, which he devoted to the growing of prunes. He sold this ranch at a profit, and after that rented twenty acres on King Road. Next he bought fifty-five acres on Cropley and Morrill roads, set out to prunes, cherries, peaches and apricots, and this splendid ranch he still owns- one of the finest irrigated ranches in Santa Clara County. He also rented a part of the old Shaw ranch on the Berryessa Road, and later bought thirty-three acres of this ranch, all in prunes.

In September, 1911, fire destroyed the old home and the cook-house, and in 1912 Mr. Di Fiore erected a splendid, new dwelling, together with a new kitchen. Since then, in 1920, he has added to his new farm buildings, a modern evaporator, doing the work of evaporating in twenty-four hours. He sunk a well, and installed one of the first Layne & Bowler deep- well turbine pumps for irrigation in Berryessa, since which time the supply of water has been large. Mr. Di Fiore has also purchased the Titus ranch of sixty- seven and a half acres near Saratoga on the Pros- pect Road, devoted to prunes and walnuts, the house on this ranch was fifty-seven years old, and was one of the old landmarks, until it burned down in January, 1922. The oldest son, Domenic A. Di Fiore, lives on this place. Mr. Di Fiore is a trustee of the California Prune & Apricot Association and also a member of the advisory board of San Jose branch of the Bank of Italy. He was bereaved of his faithful life com- panion November 20, 1917, an amiable woman mourned by her family and many friends. Three sons made up the family of Mr. and Mrs. Di Fiore. Domenic A. was graduated from Santa Clara Univer- sity with the Class of '12, when he received the B. S. degree and he married Miss Pennington of San Jose. Carl Frederick is also a graduate of Santa Clara Uni- versity, a member of the class of 1915; and he re- ceived the B. S. degree in civil engineering. Leo- pold Pasqual Di Fiore was given the same degree in this subject, by Santa Clara University in 1920. Carl married a Miss Kartschoke, of San Jose, and they

have one daughter, Dorothy. Leopold was a noted football player at college, and although at present at home, he intends pursuing engineering. Ail three of the sons were in the World War. Domenic enlisted in the aviation section of the U. S. Army, was com- missioned a lieutenant and served overseas for nearly two years. Carl Frederick enlisted in the U. S. En- gineers and was also commissioned a lieutenant. Leopold P. enlisted in the Heavy Artillery and served overseas until after the armistice. So not only Mr. Di Fiore, but the citizens of Santa Clara County are proud of the record of the three boys.

WILLIAM FUNKLER .- Gilroy owes much to her far-sighted, enterprising and optimistic mer- chants, prominent among whom is William Funkler, who came to the Golden State in the late '80s. He was born of German parentage, in the historic king- dom of Wurtemburg, on June 24, 1870, and was reared and educated up to his sixteenth year in his native land. Then, attracted by the greater indi- vidual freedom of America, he crossed the ocean, pushed westward to California, and in March, 1888, located at San Francisco. The next year he re- moved to San Jose and found work at the Fred- ericksburg brewery; and for eighteen years he was employed there, rising in time to be foreman. In 1906 Mr. Funkler removed with his family to Gilroy, and for the following four years, or until the prop- erty was destroyed by fire, he conducted a well- known hotel in the town. Since then he has ac- quired a very desirable ranch, a portion of the famous Miller & Lux estate, one mile to the west of Gilroy, set out as a young orchard. In 1918, he opened a popular store which has become the headquarters for the best of refreshments. In national politics a Re- publican, Mr. Funkler's nonpartisan support of things local has added to his popularity.

Mr. Funkler's mother died when she was eighty years old, but his father is still living in Germany, at the fine old age of eighty-three. William was married June 21, 1891, in San Jose, to Miss Johanna Ruff, a resident of San Jose since 1890, and they have had six children: Jennie has become Mrs. L. L. Whitehurst, and the mother of two children; Clara is a graduate trained nurse, in charge of Dr. Beatty's offices; Augusta is a graduate of the State Normal School and a teacher in the public school at Hilo, Hawaiian Islands; Sophie has become Mrs. Howard Steinmetz and resides at Pacific Grove; Louise, a stenographer, is an employe of the Monterey Lumber Company, in Monterey; Emma is a graduate of the Gilroy high school. The family reside at 58 Forest Street, Gilroy. Mr. Funkler is a past officer of the Druids, and he is also a member of the Moose Lodge.

H. C. SCHMIDT .- A splendid example of what a man may accomplish who works intelligently, honor- ably and persistently, is afforded by H. C. Schmidt, a well-known and influential citizen of Palo Alto. He was born in Baltimore, Md., January 28, 1863, and grew up in that city, and learned the plumbers trade. He then established a plumbing business in Baltimore and manufactured and sold a number of articles of his own patenting used by plumbers.

Mr. Schmidt's marriage united him with Miss Cora Belle Watts, a native also of Baltimore, Md., and they are the parents of one son, H. W. Schmidt, manager of a moving picture film exchange in San Francisco; he is married and has one child. When Mr. Schmidt

Frank Di Fiore

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removed to California he first located in San Francisco and followed his trade of plumbing and many of the best plumbing jobs in the Bay City attest the fine workmanship and thoroughness which characterized his work, among them being the Butler building on Sutter Street. Owing to labor troubles in San Fran- cisco he removed to Palo Alto in 1912 and seeing the possibilities of the moving picture industry, he bought ont one of the first moving picture establishments of Palo Alto, located at Emerson Street and University Avenue. Not only did he encounter all the handicaps and perplexities incident to the experimental stage of the motion picture theater but met set-backs resulting from bitter opposition. Firmly determined to excell in his line he put all of his first four year's earnings into rehabilitating the old picture show and six weeks thereafter was burned out by a fire of undoubted in- cendiary origin and all of his savings went up in an early Sunday morning blaze without a cent of insur- ance. Undaunted he arose Phoenix-like from the ashes, and three years thereafter built the "Marquee" now known as the Stanford theater, at 217 University Avenne and ran it successfully for six years. He made a modest fortune, when he disposed of it and is now reinvesting it in the erection of the Schmidt block on Emerson Street, adjoining the postoffice. The build- ing will be reinforced concrete and will contain three store rooms and two smaller shops in the rear. Mr. Schmidt is an able business man whose standing in the community is among the best, financially and socially. He deserves much credit for his enterprise and has absolute faith in the future prosperity of Palo Alto and the Santa Clara Valley and expects to in- vest all of his means in the upbuilding of Palo Alto. He owns a good residence at 313 Waverly Street and is about to erect a more pretentious one. After six- teen years experience he considers Palo Alto the best city socially and commercially in California. He and his wife are highly respected in the community.

MARK E. KENNEDY .- Numbered among the rising young men of Santa Clara County, whose good business judgment and energy are contributing largely to its substantial growth, is Mark E. Kennedy, teller of the Campbell branch of the Garden City Bank & Trust Company. He was born in Santa Clara County in 1899 and is the son of Robert W. Kennedy, who is now a retired farmer living in Campbell, a native of Missouri who crossed the plains when he was but eight years old with his parents, a good old pioneer family, who faced the hardships of an over- land journey and the even greater hardships connected with settling in a new region. Robert W. Kennedy chose for his helpmate, Miss Ella Giles, a native of Shasta County, Cal., and spent an active life as one of the large ranchers of this county, and now is en- joying, in the afternoon of life, those comforts which have been justly earned by arduous effort and close application to his business affairs.

Mark E. Kennedy attended the public schools of Santa Clara County and after graduating from the grade school and high school he attended Stanford University. During the late war he enlisted in the hospital corps of the U. S. Navy, served at Goat Island, then at San Diego, Cal., and after the armis- tice was stationed at Ft. Lyon, where he was honor- ably discharged October 13, 1919, spending eighteen months in all. Upon returning to Campbell, he entered the real estate business, and had an up-to-

date office where he dealt in both farm and city prop- erty, also giving considerable of his time to insur- ance. In January, 1921, he sold his real estate inter- ests and June 15, 1921, entered upon his present position with the Garden City Bank & Trust Com- pany at Campbell. Mr. Kennedy was married in Campbell, November 17, 1921, when he was united with Miss Mary Jane Conway, of Missouri, a grad- uate of Carrollton high school. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Campbell, and was made a Mason in Charity Lodge No. 362, F. & A. M., at Campbell.

PETER AND JEAN CASAURANG .- One of the oldest established bakeries in the northern part of Santa Clara County is that of Casanrang Bros., pro- prietors of the Mayfield Bakery, also known as the French Bakery, the firm being composed of Peter and Jean Casaurang. This establishment is located on Lincoln Street, Mayfield, and occupies a large lot, 100x150 feet, upon which are a number of buildings -- the bakery, the flour warehouse, garages for two touring cars and four Ford delivery trucks; sleeping rooms for the help and living quarters for the fam- ilies of the two partners. Both of the brothers, as well as two other men are constantly employed in conducting the steadily growing business.

These premises were leased by Peter Casaurang and Emil Claverie, in 1911; Mr. Claverie having died in 1918, the firm was changed to Casaurang Bros., and they purchased the property in 1919 and immediately set to work to remodel and enlarge it, expending the sum of $7,000. They built one new oven and relined the old one, which is now over fifty years old, being the oldest oven actually in use in the county. The premises are clean, orderly, sanitary, light and well ventilated, and their head baker is Pascal Bamerio, who is a master of the art of baking, making the celebrated French bread which has made their bakery famous. In their flour warehouse may be found at all times a stock of from one to three car loads of the best brands of white and rye flour and three auto trucks are in constant use, delivering the bakery goods to Mayfield and vicinity, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Red- wood City, Portola, La Honda and Los Altos, so that they do an extensive business.

Peter L. Casaurang was born December 13, 1888, and Jean L. on November 11, 1890, and both are natives of the Basses-Pyrenees country of France, where their parents are well-to-do and prosperous peasants, owning a large acreage which is devoted to farming and stockraising. The parents have reared a large family of children, all of whom were educated in the schools of France in the Roman Catholic Church, a faith from which they have never departed. Peter Casaurang came to San Francisco from France in 1907, and two years later he was joined by his brother Jean. Both of them worked in some of the best bakeries of San Francisco until 1911, learning every detail of the business.

Jean Casaurang was married in San Francisco to Miss Marie Hounau, who was also born in France, and they have two children, Marcella and Bernard; he was in class 4, in the late war, and the armistice was signed before he was called. Peter L. Casaurang however, served for two years and seventeen months in France, in the Third Bakery Company, which made a million pounds of bread for the army daily. On re- turning to the United States, he immediately resumed his work at the bakery after receiving his honorable

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discharge. He was, in France, during the war, united in marriage, his betrothed being Miss Aline Houde- ville, of Dijon, France. He is a member of the Odd Fellows at Mayfield, while Jean belongs to the Red Men. They take rank among the leading business firms of the north end of the county, are able. ener- getic and deserving of the success they are achieving.

HENRY WILLIAM EDWARDS .- A resident of California for nearly all of his life, Henry William Edwards was born in Chicago, Ill., March 1, 1841. His father, Henry Edwards, a native of England, settled in Utica, Ill., where he was engaged in the stock business. He was a pioneer of California of 1850, and as early as 1853 came to San Jose and became a farmer on the Almaden Road. Henry W. Edwards came to California when a lad with his father in 1850, and was educated in the public and private schools of San Jose. In 1863 he went to Nevada and tried his hand at mining in different camps. However, he did not meet with much suc- cess, so when he returned to San Jose he had only fifty dollars as his capital when he started farming on leased land near Edenvale.

Mr. Edwards was married December 11, 1867, to Miss Alice C. Hall, who was born in Lincoln, Mo., but was from childhood a resident of California. Her father, Andrew J. Hall, born in Kentucky, settled in Lincoln, Mo., where he married Delia Cottle, a native of Missouri, a daughter of Edward and Celia Cottle. In 1850, leaving his family in Lincoln, Mo., Andrew Hall and his two brothers-in-law, Thomas and W. Cottle, came to California, engaging in mining. An- drew Hall was destined to never see his family again, for he died at Georgetown in 1851. The Cottle boys returned to Missouri, and in 1854 the Cottle family emigrated to California, coming across the plains in an ox-team train, of which Edward Cottle was the captain. They made the six months' journey safely, for Grandfather Cottle had laid in a large supply of coffee, sugar and bacon, and wisely distributed a generous portion of it at three different times to the Indians. Arriving in Santa Clara County in October, 1854, Edward Cottle purchased a portion of the Santa Teresa ranch and engaged in stock-raising, making a specialty of raising standard and thorough- bred horses, having brought some fine specimens with him across the plains. His wife passed away in 1855. He continued to reside on the ranch until his death at the age of seventy-two years. Andrew Hall's widow brought her two little children, Alice and William Hall, in her father's train to California, presiding over his home until she married a second time, becoming the wife of James McLellan, who was also a pioneer of California, and they lived on their ranch on Monterey Road, one-half mile south of the present city limits of San Jose. After Mr. McLeilan's death his widow spent the last years of her life with her daughter, Mrs. Edwards, passing away at the age of almost eighty-seven years.

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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 179

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