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 212

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 212

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The units of this construction can be manufactured either by hand or machinery, additional units can be added as trade and business demands. The finished product is absolutely moisture proof and in building construction eliminates lathing, as plaster can be suc- cessfully placed directly on the walls. Units are ligidly cemented together by pouring in the grooves provided for the same, a neat cement "grout" which in the completed wall makes it monolithic or two solid slabs or walls bound together with reinforcing steel. This method of erection is adaptable to any type of building or construction from septic tanks and vaults to the most massive structures. By the sim- plicity of the method of manufacture and applica- tion in the building it is practical to use unskilled workmen except for supervision and thereby reducing the cost of concrete construction to that of frame construction. The development of this new industry was started in Stockton in the early part of 1920, the first building being erected in that city in June of that year. Since then about 200 buildings of various types

have been erected, from oil tanks, in and above ground, septic tanks, water tanks, reservoirs, to warehouses, dehydrating plants, cold storage plants, fruit houses, precooling plants, business buildings, garages and residences of various types.

This principle of a house within a house has been applied to modern construction by the inventor of the duplex construction system and has overcome ev- ery objection lodged against concrete houses or build- ings. A great advantage of this method of construc- tion is to lessen the volume of material used and at the same time making a stronger building by reason of separating the volume in two lines at a proportion- ate distance to its weight or thickness, giving a greater base area of wall. Then, too, it makes the building fireproof and can be manufactured wherever sand and cement can be procured. All the essentials of comfort, stability and durability are incorporated, and at a cost reduced to that of frame construction, which means much in this day of the rapidly diminishing American forests, thus saving the pine and spruce for other urgent needs. Three basic patents have been allowed and others are pending. Associated with Mr. Clouser, are Floyd O. Bohnett and L. D. Bohnett, two prominent young men of Campbell and San Jose. This method has not only been introduced all over California and the coast, but in the East.

Mr. Clouser was married in DuBois, Pa., to Miss Jennie E. Brown, born in Penfield, Pa., a woman of much culture and a lovable character, who lived for her family and gave her influence for the good of the community. Mr. Clouser was bereaved of his faithful wife May 15, 1922, a good woman, deeply mourned by her family and many friends. Their union was blessed with five children. Russell is a farmer at Harrington, Del. Blanche is the wife of James E. Trayer and presides over her father's home. Edna F. is Mrs. Geo. Thompson of Escalon. Annie and John are at home. Mr. Clouser is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and is a public-spir- ited man, being optimistic for the great future of his country and ready at all times to give of his time and means to the upbuilding of this great commonwealth.

THE SAN JOSE ABSTRACT AND TITLE INSURANCE COMPANY .- The success of a title guaranty company rests primarily on the broadness of vision of the men who conduct its affairs and there is no greater business calamity that could hap- pen to a community striving to grow in a real estate sense than to have a title guaranty company with narrow-minded men at the head of it. Some cities have such companies and such men and they are a distinct detriment in a commercial sense to the com- munity they exist in-they are throttlers of legiti- mate real estate and mortgage business and a bane on real estate activity. The progressive, up-to-date community of San Jose is fortunate in having such a forceful organization as the San Jose Abstract and Title Insurance Company. It is a distinct asset, not only to those interested in real estate, but for the commercial good of all of San Jose. The San Jose Abstract and Title Insurance Company is located at 76 North First Street and dates back with its prede- cessors to the year of 1867, having succeeded to the business of all of the early searchers of records, ex- cept Edward Halsey, whose books and business have more recently been added to this concern. T. C. Edward became interested in abstracting in the sev-

Harry Q. Clouser.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

enties and in 1891 with Edgar Pomeroy, Sam P. Howes and J. M. Pitman, all pioneers, as owners and founders of the business incorporated the San Jose Abstract Company. They are all living and residents of San Jose and Santa Clara County, T. C. Edwards being the only one of the four who is now actively interested in the company today, being its present president. They formed this company as a partnership, consolidating all the leading ab- straetors of San Jose during the year of 1891, tak- ing in the Edwards & Pitman Abstract Company and the Pomeroy & Howes Company, first embark- ing under the name of the San Jose Abstract Com- pany. The company has recently been reorganized in order to comply with California's stringent laws pertaining to guarantors of land titles and was in- corporated February 1, 1920, under the name of the San Jose Abstract and Title Insurance Company. with a capital and surplus of $250,000 and it now guarantees titles as well as making abstracts. The business is conducted along the most modern busi- ness lines, Judge Tuttle of the San Jose Bar, an authority on land titles and real estate law, be- ing its principal title examiner. The officers are as follows: T. C. Edwards, president; Hiram D. Tuttle, vice-president; M. E. Lennon, secretary; L. P. Edwards, the son of T. C. Edwards, is general

manager. They employ about twenty-five people, all specialists in their lines, being proficient in their work as searchers and abstraetors. This company has the only complete set of abstract books in the county and can guarantee every title passed upon. It has put up $100,000 in securities, with the State Insurance Department which is held by the State Treasury as provided by laws of California, the company's patrons being protected in this manner, and is progressing under its new incorporation, do- ing a general abstract and title guarantee business, and attending to escrows. Its valuable set of ab- stract books are kept in fireproof concrete vaults, which were especially built for its records during the time the company was known as the San Jose Abstract Company. This company built and owns the building which bears its name, which is very conveniently located near the Hall of Records of Santa Clara County. Originally there were forty- one Spanish grants, and there are now about 50,000 separate parcels of land in Santa Clara County and the San Jose Abstract and Title Insurance Com- pany has the complete records of every title and every transfer, Lis pendens, mortgages and other in- struments ever recorded in Santa Clara County.

ALEX. BERRYESSA .- An industrious, progres- sive and very successful rancher who may well be proud of his association with a family group of some of the sturdiest and worthiest of California pioneers, is Alex. Berryessa, who lives just south of Alviso, about seven miles north of San Jose. He is not only a Californian, filled with the spirit of the Golden State, but he is a native son, and was born on the ranch now occupied by J. M. Lords, and which was long known as the old Berryessa Ranch. He first saw the light on February 1, 1870, when he became the son of Guadalupe Berryessa, a cousin of Jose J. Berryessa, the well-known Santa Claran. Guada- lupe Berryessa was born in Santa Clara County, on what is now known as the Richards Ranch, on the Alviso Road, fought for the Union in the Civil

War, and married one of the attractive ladies of the neighborhood, Miss Nettie Sanchez, still alive, seventy-four years old, and a resident of Alviso. The paternal grandfather died in the period of cholera, hence our subject does not know much about his forebears, except that they were early-timers. Guada- lupe Berryessa was one of a family of six children, and grew up to be a very experienced rancher.

Alexander went to the Berryessa school, and when eighteen he struck out to support himself. Four years later, he was able to set himself up in farming as his own master, and sometimes to give a helping hand to others in the family. Guada- lupe and Nettie Berryessa had ten children: Alex- ander; Frank, now deceased; Guadalupe, Jr., resides with his mother at Alviso; Fred, Minnie, Ellen, Ada, Mollie, all dead; Lena, is now Mrs. Cyril Glasser and lives at San Francisco; Lillie is deceased.

Alexander Berryessa is managing with his char- acteristic vigor and farsightedness his ranch of seventy-seven acres on the Alviso Road, ten acres of which are devoted to pears, forty to farm-land and the rest to apples, and in this scientific ranching he is ably assisted by his good wife, who was Miss Ella Baumbach, a popular American of German birth. Her parents were Cave and Angusta (Stranch) Baumbach; Mrs. Berryessa's parents af- forded her the best educational advantages, first in Germany and then in the United States, to which country she came when a child, accompanying her mother, who died here, September 29, 1921. Mr. and Mrs. Berryessa were married at Oakland in February, 1903. Now they have six children, and each promises to confer additional credit on the good old Berryessa name. The eldest is Elizabeth, who is now the wife of Edgar Monsees, of San Francisco; then comes Myrtle and Alexander, Jr., and the others are Edward, Ethel and Frank.

EDWARD C. ROBERTSON .- The son of one of San Jose's pioneer merchants, Edward C. Robertson is successfully engaged in ranching on a part of the old Robertson estate near Edenvale, where he was born on December 27, 1873. His parents, John and Margaret (Curry) Robertson were both natives of Northern Scotland, members of fine old families there. John Robertson was a shoemaker and very expert in his trade, and desiring the broader opportunity of America for himself and his family, he came to this country in 1868, crossing the continent to San Jose, where he established himself in the boot and shoe business, and was thus numbered among the early business men of this city, carrying on the business for about three years. Fully satisfied that this was an ideal place of residence, he sent for his wife and children to join him the following year. He passed away in 1908, an honored citizen, being sixty-eight years old, Mrs. Robertson survived him until 1915, when she died at Edenvale, aged seventy-four.

About 1874 John Robertson acquired a ranch of 100 acres eight miles south of San Jose, known in the early days as the Eight-Mile House, and here Edward C. was reared, attending the Oak Grove school. He worked on the ranch for his father until he was twenty-one, and then, in 1894, desiring to see more of the world, he took an extensive trip through Mexico, spending two years there. After returning to California, Mr. Robertson learned the molder's trade and followed it as a journeyman in

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different cities on the Coast for six years. Later he returned to the home place and conducted it for several years, and after acquiring ten acres of it by inheritance, he purchased another ten acres from J. D. Robertson. Besides the careful attention he gives his own property, which is in a fine state of cultivation, he also operates the ranch of Mrs. Gavin McNab at Edenvale.

At Everett, Wash., on December 17, 1900, Mr. Robertson was married to Miss Daisy M. White, and two children have been born to them, Evelyn and Melvin. Always ready to lend a hand in any plans for the upbuilding of the neighborhood, Mr. Robertson votes with the Republican party in per- forming his civic duties, and fraternally he is a member of the Woodmen of the World.

CRISANTO CASTRO .- In the old Spanish Mis- sion of San Jose, Cal., Crisanto Castro was born August 15, 1828, and during his life was an eye- witness of all the changes from the old civilization to the new, having lived under the flags of Spain, of Mexico, and of the United States. Few men live in one community for so long a period as Mr. Castro has lived in Santa Clara County, pursuing but one occupation. His fine, productive farm was one mile northwest from Mountain View, and came to him by inheritance. Crisanto was the youngest of eight children born to Mariano and Maria Trinidad (Pe- ralta) Castro, both parents born in San Francisco. His father was born there in 1784, when California was under Spanish rule, and he was a soldier in the Spanish army. Early in the nineteenth century he removed to San Jose and followed ranching until the time of his death in 1856. He was a large landowner and raised many cattle. His wife survived him sev- eral years and passed away in Santa Clara County. Crisanto Castro and the members of the Castro fam- ily were generous, hospitable and public-spirited. He donated the land for the public schools at Moun- tain View and the site for St. Joseph's Catholic Church at Mountain View, while his mother gave five acres for the first Protestant Church and burial ground for all denominations.

Mr. Castro's education was received from private subscription schools, which he attended in San Jose, and when of suitable age he engaged in farm pur- suits. He became an extensive grain farmer, ship- ping as high as 400 tons of hay to San Francisco, but for a number of years the land was rented. This had been his home since 1841, and prior to that his parents lived in San Jose on the corner of San Pedro and Santa Clara streets, the father, Mariano Castro, being alcalde under the Mexican govern- ment. The vast tract of land owned by him was called "Pastoria de las Borregas."

In 1857 Mr. Castro married Miss Francisca Ar- mijo, whose parents owned a large tract of land on the present site of the Armijo high school in So- noma; it adjoined the General Vallejo ranch. They were the parents of nine children: Mariano, Mer- cedes, Susanna, Andrew, Joseph, William, Frank, Roque and Crisanto. The family are regular com- municants of the Catholic Church of Mountain View. In 1911, Mr. Castro built a magnificent country home, a bungalow with an encircling porch with beautiful arches in the Moorish style of architec- ture, and where several of his children still live. Mr. Castro passed away April .9, 1912, and Mrs. Castro died August 3, 1907.

The Castro family are truly early settlers of Santa Clara County and have been important factors in its development. A hospitable gentleman, Mr. Castro will long be remembered, and his family have the high esteem of the community.

RAYMOND BARRETT LELAND .- Prominent among the eminently successful educators in Santa Clara County of whom Californians, ambitious and jealous of their great system of popular instruction, may well be proud, is Raymond Barrett Leland, the efficient and popular principal of the San Jose high school. A native of the Hawkeye State, he was born at Cedar Falls on October 22, 1884, the son of Henry Perry and Sophia C. (Barrett) Leland, both of whom, after useful and honorable careers, and rich in es- teeming friends, have passed away. For eight gener- ations the Leland family have been citizens of Mass- achusetts, following Hope Leland who came to the colony in 1623. Great grandfather Oliver Leland was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving in a Massachusetts regiment, while Henry Perry Leland served in the Civil War, rising to the rank of lieuten- ant in the Third U. S. Infantry.

Raymond Leland attended both the common and the high schools of Cedar Falls, and later he com- pleted the course of the Iowa State Teachers Col- lege in the same city, receiving the A. B. degree. Then, with equal thoroughness and success, he did graduate work in the State University of Iowa at lowa City. Entering the active pedagogical field, he was for one year assistant principal at Manning, lowa, and then for two years was principal of the high school at Chariton, in the same state. Next he went to Brookings, S. D., where he was principal for a year; and in the fall of 1910 he came to San Jose. For eight years he taught history and had charge. of athletics; and his ability, both general and special, having been recognized, he was elected principal of the San Jose high school in 1918, the choice of the board meeting with general approval. Since then, while associating himself with the San Jose Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club, and so placing and keeping himself in vital touch with the life of the town, Mr. Leland has devoted himself assiduously to the rapid and high development of an institution al- ready ranking high among the secondary schools of the Golden State.

For three years in college, Mr. Leland had military training and exercise, and for six years he was an officer in the Iowa National Guard, with the rank of captain. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of Company B of the Fifth Infantry, N. G. C., and then was commissioned major and also command- ant of cadets by the adjutant-general of the state, and has instructed the cadets since February, 1914. In national politics a Republican, he has never neglected an opportunity to inculcate the healthiest of American patriotism.

At Chariton, Iowa, on July 29, 1910, Mr. Leland was married to Miss Carolyn J. Custer, also a native of lowa, and the daughter of Walter S. and Mabel (Jewell) Custer. On her paternal side Mrs. Leland is closely related to Gen. Geo. B. Custer. She is a graduate of Laise-Phillips Seminary, Washington, D. C. She is president of Chapter C. A., P. E. O., and a member of Daughters of the American Revolu- tion. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Leland has been blessed with the birth of a son, Gordon Custer.

6. Castro

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They are communicants of Trinity Episcopal Church, and Mr. Leland is a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the Elks. He' was made a Mason in Manuel Lodge No. 450, F. & A. M., at Manning, Iowa, and later demitted to Fraternity Lodge No. 399, F. & A. M., San Jose. He is also a member of Harvard Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., and San Jose Commandery No. 10, K. T., as well as the Sciots. He manifests his patriotism in his membership in Sons of American Revolution and the Sons of Veterans. For five years he has been president of the North Coast Section of Cali- fornia Interscholastic Federation, and is a member of Santa Clara County School Masters Club, the Cali- fornia High School Principals Association, the Cali- fornia Teachers Association, and the National Educa- tional Association. Mr. Leland is fond of out-door life, and especially fond, as he is well posted in re- gard to both baseball and football. When he turns to more serious hobbies, he takes up such work as that imposed upon him by his being a member of the Santa Clara War History Committee.

DAVID H. LUNDY .- An interesting representa- tive of one of the best-known and highly honored of California pioneer families is David H. Lundy, the rancher, who lives on Lundy road, about three miles east of San Jose. He was born in the old Lundy Ranch, in Santa Clara County, on July 26, 1876, the son of David and Margaret (McManus) Lundy, and comes of an old North Carolina family of substantial planters dating back to the stirring Revolutionary days. David Lundy, the father, came out to Cali- fornia in 1850 and settled in Santa Clara County; and such a path-breaking pioneer was he that the Lundy Road was named after him. There he acquired fifteen acres, and later he bought a ranch of 400 acres adjacent to Alum Rock Park; and as long ago as fifty years, he built a home dwelling on the Lundy Road, a comfortable structure still standing. He was a grain farmer and a stockman, and he knew his industrial problems, and what the soil and climatic conditions about him might be expected to do.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lundy, and among these our subject was the fifth. William, the first-born, is now deceased; Elizabeth has become Mrs. Gussman, and she resides on the King Road; Anna, her next youngest sister, was killed by the Interurban Electric Railway near Berryessa; Eva, now Mrs. Fuller, lives on the home ranch; Martin, the next youngest brother of David, is a resident of Watsonville; Abbie and Ezra are deceased.

David attended the Eagle district school, and then, while remaining at home, started to work on his father's ranch, since which time he has been follow- ing agriculture, always endeavoring to farm in the most progressive manner. He lives on the Lundy Mountain Dell ranch, has a fourth interest in the Lundy estate, and owns a ranch of fifty acres near Hollister, which he devotes to the raising of seed. David Lundy, Sr., passed away in 1919; but his de- voted widow is still living, the center of a circle of devoted friends, at the age of seventy-five.

On October 15, 1914, Mr. Lundy was married to Miss Agnes Harker De Villier, the ceremony being performed at San Jose. She was born at San Fran- cisco, and is the daughter of Thomas De Villier, of a well-known Southern family. Mrs. Lundy received the best of educational training in the San Francisco

schools, and has given all proper attention to the education of her one son, Richard. Mr. Lundy is a Democrat, but also a broadminded, nonpartisan citi- zen in favor every time for the best men and the best measures, regardless of party, for the community in which he lives.

ERNST BROTHERS .- A representative firm which has contributed toward the prosperity and the fame of Santa Clara County is that composed of George J. and Albert A. Ernst, ranchers northeast of San Jose, who were born in San Luis Obispo County, the former seeing light for the first time on November 21, 1868, and the latter four years later, on December 17. They are the sons of Martin and Anna Ernst, and their father was born in the duchy of Baden-Baden, Germany. He came to the United States when a young man, and reaching Cali- fornia about 1885, settled in San Luis Obispo County, and soon came to raise grain and stock extensively. In 1900 he came into Santa Clara County, and he purchased a ranch of ten acres on Lundy road, which he set out to trees in admirable fashion. In time, he bought fifteen acres adjoining his ranch, and later his two sons, our subjects, purchased a tract of ten acres adjoining their father's ranch.

Nine children were granted Mr. and Mrs. Ernst, and seven are still living: Anna has become Mrs. Eckoff, and is living at Orange; Martin is at Camp- bell; Fred died of influenza during the epidemic of 1919; Walter lives at Santa Clara; Edward is also deceased; Mattie has become Mrs. Casterson and has a pleasant home at Chowchilla. The seventh is George J. Ernst, and the others are Elsie, who is at home, and Albert A. Ernst. Both brothers attended the Eagle school, and then they helped on the home ranch, there acquiring the most valuable experience which has made itself apparent in their later opera- tions and success. Seventeen of the thirty-five acres are planted to beets in rows between small prune trees, and the entire ranch is devoted to fruit, and a very fine, model fruit ranch it is. Inasmuch as both parents are still living-Martin Ernst being past seventy-five years of age-the young men are still enjoying the parental roof, and still profiting by association with the pioneer. Martin Ernst was al- ways a Democrat, but George is a Republican, and Albert an Independent.

Both Albert and George Ernst saw service in the late war in patriotic defense of their native land. Albert enlisted in September, 1917, and was sent to Camp Lewis as a member of Company I, Three Hundred Sixty-third Infantry, Ninety-first Division; but after being there for three months he was dis- charged and returned home to resume ranching. George enlisted on July 23, 1918, and was also sent to Camp Lewis, where he served for three weeks in the Camp Depot Brigade, when he was transferred to Camp Fremont, and was there placed in Head- quarters Company, Twelfth Infantry, Eighth Divi- sion, and served in the trench mortar platoon. From Camp Fremont he was sent to Camp Miller, N. J., where he trained for four weeks, and then he was transferred to Camp Stewart, at Newport News, Va., at which place he remained from November 24, 1918 until March 1, 1919, and then he was sent to Camp Hill, Va., where he entrained for California. On March 20, 1919, he was honorably discharged at the Presidio. Miss Elsie Ernst, a sister of our

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subjects, was graduated from the State Normal School in 1912, and since then she has been active in teaching in various schools, in both Central and Southern California. At present, while she is teach- ing at Berryessa, she also makes her home with her parents. Santa Clara is proud of her considerable army of young, energetic and highly progressive young men of the type of the Messrs. Ernst, and proud that this dependable army is growing larger with every passing year.

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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 212

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