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 228

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 228

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Per John C. Lisez S.f.

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San Luis Obispo. His position is largely advisory to public bodies, professional and business men, showing the advisability and legal necessity of pro- tecting valuable documents and papers from fire and theft. This is only possible by presenting expert analysis of record values and the losses resulting from their destruction. Mr. Kennedy is said to be the leading expert along these lines in this locality.

At Suisun, Cal., in 1912, Mr. Kennedy was married to Miss Ellen Downing of that place, where she was born, the daughter of Dr. William Greene Downing of Suisun, her education having been completed at Mills College. Three children have been born to them: Jean, Karl F., Jr .. and Barbara, and the family now make their home in Santa Clara.

REV. JOHN C. GRISEZ, S. J .- A man of schol- arly attainments and a sincere and devoted servant in behalf of a cause to which he has voluntarily given the best energies of his life, Rev. John C. Grisez, S. J., pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church of San Jose, is a native son of California, his birth having occurred in Colusa on December 25, 1876. His father, Celestine J. Grisez, was born in Ohio and in 1874 he made his way to California. For many years he fol- lowed the occupation of farming, but since 1916 has been mechanical engineer at the University of Santa Clara. He is a very devout and earnest Christian and his life has ever been guided by high and honorable principles. He married Miss Mary Maudru, also a native of the Buckeye State, and they have become the parents of eleven children. Mary, an older sis- ter of the subject of this review, has since 1889 been a member of the order now known as Evangelista.

Father Grisez attended the public schools of Siski- you County, Cal., to the age of thirteen, when he entered St. Ignatius College at San Francisco, where he pursued his studies until April 18, 1892, when he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Los Gatos, there pur- suing a course in Latin, Greek and English. In 1895 he completed his classical work and two years later went to St. Louis, Mo., where he received three years of university training in philosophy. From 1900 until 1905 he was an instructor at the University of Santa Clara and in the latter year became a student in the School of Theology at Woodstock, Md., which he attended for three years. In 1908 he was ordained to the Jesuit priesthood at Spokane, Wash., by Bishop O'Dea of Seattle. His first charge was that of as- sistant pastor of the parish at Missoula, Mont., where he remained for four years, working untiringly to build up the parish. In 1912 he went to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he completed the Tertianship or the third year of probation in the Jesuit Order, and in 1913 he was placed in charge of the educational de- partment of St. Ignatius Church of San Francisco. He was very active in the discipline educational branch of the church, with which he was connected until 1914, and the following year he acted as chap- lain for students at St. Ignatius College. In 1915-16 he was superintendent and business manager at the University of Santa Clara and the next year was spent at Los Angeles as chaplain and manager of Loyola College of Southern California. On July 31, 1918, he was made pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church at San Jose, of which he has since had charge, his parish now being a large one. He gives his whole heart to the work and under his guidance the influence of the church has constantly broadened. He is also ex-officio member of the parochial

school of St. Joseph's Church. He is a man of strong intellectual powers, an carnest student and a deep thinker, and his life has been one of usefulness and far-reaching influence.

WESTERN INDUSTRIES COMPANY .- Among the varied enterprises which are important factors in the business development and material up- building of California and the Santa Clara Valley the Western Industries Company figures conspicu- ously. Their distillery is located at Agnew, on land which was formerly the homestead of the late James Lick, and represents a large investment. This is the largest distillery now in operation west of the Mississippi River.

The officers and principal stockholders of the Western Industries Company reside at San Fran- cisco, Cal. The business was incorporated in 1903 for the manufacture of brandy and other spirituous liquors, but since the passage of the Volstead Act its production has been limited by the Government manufacturing acohol for industrial, medicinal and scientific purposes. It is subject to strict Govern- mental regulations and is under the direct super- vision of the internal revenue bureau, which main- tains officers on the premises. The raw material used is molasses, obtained from the Hawaiian Islands, and the company pays strict regard to sani- tation and the purity of its products, so that its out- put is of the highest grade.

REV. FATHER M. A. DA CRUZ .- A pious, scholarly and distinguished representative of the Ro- man Catholic Church, whose life, work and influence in the promotion of every good movement for the general welfare of the community have made him esteemed and endeared throughout Santa Clara County, is the Rev. Father M. A. Da Cruz, a native of Lisbon, Portugal, where he was born on August 15, 1872, the son of Antonio and Miquilina A. (Soares) Da Cruz. His father was a merchant in Lisbon, and one who was widely honored for his integrity and his enterprise; and he gave the best possible home to his five children, three of whom are still living. Edward and Albert are deceased; but our subject, the eldest, has two brothers-Angust, who is at present in Brazil, and Armando, who is in Lisbon.

M. A. Da Cruz attended the Lisbon public schools, and in time pursued his theological course at the Seminario Conciliar Braga, at Lisbon, and he was ordained as priest at Braga, in the year 1899. He then had three charges, all in the Diocese of Porto, in Portugal, before he came out to America, and they were the parishes of Moldes at Arouca, Serzedo at Villa Nova of Gaya, and Maceda at Ovar. In 1908, he came to the United States and received his ap- pointment as assistant pastor to the Half Moon Bay parish of Pescadero, where he remained two years.

He was then transferred for a couple of months to Ocean View, at San Francisco, and after that was appointed assistant pastor of the Slavonia Church in San Francisco, where he officiated one year. He was then put in charge of the San Leandro Church, of which he was assistant pastor for seven and one- half years, and from there he came to Hayward as assistant pastor. At the end of seven months, how- ever, he was again transferred and put in charge of three parishes, San Pablo, Pinol and Rodeo, and he retained that charge for nine months. For a month he was pastor of the new Pescadero Church, when he was appointed to Milpitas, where he now ministers

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to the spiritual wants of many, to the satisfaction of all. St. John's has a membership of over 500 souls, and the present edifice, which was built after the first church had been destroyed by fire, has been in existence, an ornament to the town, for the past twenty years. Father Da Cruz is an accomplished linguist, speaking five languages, Italian, French, Spanish and English. He was secretary to the Patriarch of India, while yet a student, and was with him in Rome, Paris, Vienna and other cities of southern Europe, then went with him to India, Panjim, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and other cities.

CHARLES A. HUNT .- Noteworthy as one of the active and prosperous native-born residents of San Jose, and as a man of unlimited energy, Charles A. Hunt is deserving of more than passing notice in this work. Of substantial pioneer ancestry, he was born May 5, 1882, in San Jose, a son of Ephraim M. and Betsy A. (Cornwell) Hunt. Ephraim M. Hunt migrated to California in 1858, and Betsy A. Corn- well came in the year 1868. They were married in Redwood City, Cal., and for thirty years, Ephraim M. Hunt conducted a feed and livery business, becoming well known throughout this section of California.

Charles A. Hunt received his education in the grammar and high schools, later taking a business college course. From 1902 to 1919, he was employed by a local firm of opticians, but determined on estab- lishing his own business and feeling that he must be better equipped, he entered the Los Angeles Medical School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, and re- mained there for six months. Upon his return to San Jose, he opened up business for himself, which has prospered from its inception.

Mr. Hunt's marriage united him with Miss Bina J. Garvin, who is also a native of the Golden State. They have one child, Mildred L. Fraternally Mr. Hunt is a member of the Elks and Observatory Parlor No. 177, N. S. G. W., and is a great lover of all outdoor sports. He takes considerable pride in advancing the general interests of his town and county and is regarded as a booster where the wel- fare of either is concerned.

MANUEL F. GEORGE .- An industrious, progres- sive and successful rancher whose prosperity no one will envy is Manuel F. George, developer of one of the finest farms in Santa Clara County, eight miles to the east of Milpitas in the Calaveras Valley. He is a native son, and first saw the light at Half Moon Bay, in San Mateo County, on August 21, 1888. His father was Joseph F. George, a native of Fayal, Azores Islands, but his mother, who reared with af- fection nine children, passed away when he was so young that he has little recollection of her. The other members of the family are Mary, Rose, Jose, Frank, Elizabeth, Angie, Domingos and Minnie George. Joseph F. George died in 1915.

About 1880 his father came from the Azores, and when Manuel was six years old Mr. George removed from San Mateo to Santa Clara County where he farmed on a ranch of 180 acres in the hills on the Calaveras Valley Road, and conducted a large dairy. Mannel was sent to the Laguna School, and after that he remained on the ranch with his father until he was of age. At the age of twenty-one Manuel left home and for five years worked on the Carson Brothers' ranch, and then for a short time he was on the Sierra Prescott place; and when he made his next move, about seven years ago, he came into the

Calaveras Valley and leased 1100 acres devoted to the raising of grain and hay. Much of this acreage lies a beautiful stretch of flat valley land, and it is not surprising that the crops have been bountiful. Those familiar with Mr. George's advanced way of doing things will also not be surprised to learn that he uses both horse and tractor power in his exten- sive and varied operations.

At Milpitas on February 19, 1914, Manuel F. George was married to Miss Mary Foster, a native of Castro- ville, in Monterey County, and the daughter of John and Mary Ferreria Foster, natives of St. George in the Azores. Her father went to sea when he was thirteen years old, shipping on a whaler, and as a youth he had wonderful experiences on the high seas. Ir his eighteenth year he came to and settled in California and worked on one ranch after another, and later, in Alameda County, he acquired a dairy ranch for himself. This worthy couple had eleven children, among whom the eldest was Mary, while the others were named Isabelle, Joseph, Tere- sa. John, Rose, Margaret, Agnes, Frank, Antone and Edward. When she was eighteen years of age, Mary Foster accompanied her folks to Santa Clara County, and there continued her schooling; and the fruits of her study are evident in her accomplish- inents as wife, mother and hostess, Mr. and Mrs. George have two children, William and Manuel, and both parents are Republicans.

DOMINGOS A. SILVA .- An industrious, go- ahead rancher who has something to show today for his enterprise and hard work, is Domingos A. Silva, a native of the Island of Pico, in the Azores, where he was born in 1863, the son of Joseph and Frances A. Silva. His father was a farmer, who lived to be over eighty years of age; while his mother attained her ninetieth year before she died. When Domingos was seventeen years of age, he came out to the United States and California; and in 1881 he was fortunate in reaching Milpitas, where for eight years he worked for wages. By that time, however, he was able to go to ranching on shares, and for ten years he farmed in conjunction with others. In 1916 he purchased the ranch of eighty acres just off of Pied- mont Road, about three miles cast of Milpitas, and he continued to devote the land to general farming, the raising of fruit and vegetables. His methods, the modern implements and machinery he employs, and his touch with conditions in the progressing world outside, all contribute to enable him to keep his farm in an up-to-date shape, attractive to the eye and as highly productive as the conditions of soil, elimate and the cooperation of science will permit.

At Milpitas, on June 14, 1902, Mr. Silva was mar- ried to Miss Belle E. Sousa, a native of Warmsprings and the daughter of Joaquin and Rose E. (Costa) Souza. Her father came to California when he was a young man, a native of Graciosa in the Azores, and he engaged in market-gardening near Warmsprings. When Belle Souza was seven years old, she accom- panied her parents to the Azores on a visit; and upon their return to California, her father settled on the Mt. Hamilton Road, and for eight years ranched in the Calaveras Valley. Later, he went to Warm- springs again and worked on the Curtner Raneh; and then he purchased a ranch for himself on the Demp- sey Road, east of Milpitas, where he lives today at the age of seventy-six, still active on the farm, as- sisted by his wife, who enjoys the best of health for

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

one of her age. These worthy pioneers had eight children, three boys and five girls; and among them the daughter Belle was the fourth. Mr. Silva is a Republican; and when the duties of his farm and domestic life have been discharged, he lends a hand in the service of good citizenship.

Mr. and Mrs. Silva have been blessed with a family of thirteen children, by each of which they have done the best they could in home, schooling and a start in life. Isabelle, their first-born, lived only eight months to receive their loving care; Domingos is in Milpitas: Isabelle, the second so named, is at home; and Mary, Manuel, Candido and Rosic are the next; Clarence died as an infant; the ninth in the family, was also named Clarence; then came Edward, Ade- lina, who died when she was two months old; Annie, and Frank Ernest, who died when one month old.

CHARLES C. REED, JR .- A native son of Cali- fornia, Charles C. Reed, special agent for the New York Life Insurance Company, was born and reared in Santa Clara County. He was born in San Jose on July 10, 1873, and is the son of Charles C. and Mary Imogene (Bergler) Reed, both natives of the Golden State. The grandfather, James Frazier Reed, was a member of the ill-fated Donner party, many of whom perished at Donner Lake on their way to California in 1846; his maternal grandmother was also a pioneer of California, who crossed the plains in 1856 and settled in San Jose. James Frazier Reed and his wife were the parents of six children; the family resided in San Jose and it was here that James Frazier Reed died. The family of Charles C. Reed, Sr., consisted of four children, Charles C. Reed, Jr., being the eldest son. Charles C. attended the public schools of San Jose and graduated from the San Jose high school. His early days were spent on a farm with his father who was engaged in grain and stock raising. For twenty-five years Charles C. Reed, Jr., was employed by the largest lumber firms in California, and during this time was manager of the filing room of the Weed Lumber Company in Siskiyou County and later was with the Union Lum- ber Company at Fort Bragg.

On January 14, 1903, Mr. Reed was married to Miss Jo Volfmer, whose birth occurred at Big Rap- ids, near Grand Rapids, Mich., the daughter of Al- bert A. and Rose Margaret (Reck) Vollmer. Her father was a merchant in Michigan at that time, but, when Mrs. Reed was a child of four, her parents re- moved to California, settling near Campbell, where the father owned an extensive fruit ranch. It was here her father passed away in 1911 and her mother in 1907. Mrs. Reed was educated in the grammar and high schools of San Jose, later attending the San Jose Business College. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Reed, Charles Abner and Frazier O. Reed.

In 1917 Mr. Reed retired from the lumber busi- ness and returning with his family to San Jose en- tered the employ of the New York Life Insurance Company and has remained with them continuously from that time. He has met with splendid success in his new field and is now the special agent of the company at San Jose. Fraternally, Mr. Reed is a member of San Jose Lodge of Elks. He is also a member of the 100% Club and charter member of the Commercial Club. Politically, Mr. Reed is a Re-

publican, giving stalwart allegiance to that party. His life has ever been the expression of business enterprise, of upright and patriotic principles.

DR. W. H. BUTTON .- An excellent horseman and veterinarian, Dr. W. H. Button has made his own way in the world since a young boy of nine years, his father having lost his life as a soldier in the Civil War. He was born in Clinton County, Mich., Feb- ruary 23, 1857, the son of De La Fayette and Cath- erine (Hane) Button. The father was born in Ohio and he and Miss Hane were married there and came to Michigan about 1855. The father enlisted in the Civil War in 1862 from Morris, Grundy County, III., in Company C of the Seventy-sixth Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, and drilled at Kankakce, Ill. He served for almost three years, then was wounded in a skirmish and was sent home and on May 10, 1865, passed away at the age of thirty-nine years. Dr. Button is the fifth of a family of six children. In the spring of 1866, he left home, being only nine years old, and went to the northwestern part of Iowa in Kossuth County. He was among the pioneers of that part of Iowa and trapped beaver on the Des Moines River for a livelihood; and when ten years of age he broke up forty acres of virgin prairie sod with two yokes of oxen, barefooted among the snakes. He knew nothing but the hardest kind of work, but withal he managed to attend the common schools and received a fair education. After a few years spent in Iowa he went back to Illinois and worked for Hyal Isham, a horseman of note in his day, and caring for, training and riding race horses for Jim Keltner, a noted racer of running horses at Morris, Ill .; then for five years he followed the race track, riding running horses at races; he became a favorite and was a successful rider, becoming an expert rider and was called "Billy Button." His riding attracted the attention of the famous circus man Adam Fore- pangh, who offered him flattering inducements to join his circus. During his five years of riding he be- came too heavy, but being a lover of horses he took up the training and driving of trotting and pacing horses, and was successful in developing trotting horses. In 1883 he went to work for the Santa Fe railroad, starting as fireman and worked up until he was conductor. In a railroad accident he lost his right foot, which incapacitated him for railroad work. Before his accident he was a sprinter of note, being one of the best one-mile runners in the United States. In a fifty-mile race, which he run in eight hours and four minutes, he won the championship belt of Illinois. This race was described in full in the Peoria Transcript of April 9, 1881. He fortu- nately owned eighty acres of land near Leavenworth, Kansas, and being obliged to give up railroad work, he settled on his ranch in Kansas.

Dr. Button's marriage occurred in Emporia, Kans., and united him with Miss Emma E. Tomlinson, born near Rochester, Minn. Mrs. Button has two brothers residing in Los Angeles. As a young man, Dr. Button studied with Dr. Tenant of Ionia, Mich., and re- ceived elementary instruction in anatomy, medicine and surgery. After losing his foot, he matriculated at the Chicago Veterinarian College from which he was graduated in 1895. He then removed to Los Angeles and practiced his profession and was ap- pointed assistant livestock inspector and veterinary for the Los Angeles Transfer Company; he then went to Riverside, Cal., and was appointed county live-

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stock inspector; then removed to Santa Rosa, where his brother Eugene R. Button, a newspaperman is associated with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Dr. Button remained in Santa Rosa until after the carth- quake of 1906, then went to Turlock, Cal., and was the first veterinarian to locate there. He purchased a business block and practiced successfully until he sold out in 1911. He then spent some time in travel- ing throughout the United States as a horseman and veterinarian, and for a short time was occupied in a special veterinarian line in Washington, D. C. During 1919 he located in Mountain View and has built up a good business and he and his family are highly regarded in the community. Dr. and Mrs. Button are the parents of two daughters: Flossie L. is the wife of George M. Bobst, a contractor and builder at Mountain View; they are the parents of three chil- dren-Fred, Bessie, and Gladys; Nina Fay is the wife of Q. N. Shadel, agent for the Santa Fe at Colton, Cal., and they have one child, Billy. Dr. Button is an enthusiastic booster for Mountain View and is an active member of the Chamber of Com- merce. He is the owner of several fast horses, a trotter, Kiss Kee Dee, and a pacer, Prince Edward.

FRANK R. MACHADO .- A very successful dairy rancher is Frank R. Machado, who is farming north of Mountain View on 111 acres of his own lying east of the Sterling Road, after having recently sold off some eighty acres. He has one of the best dairy farms in that section, and his many friends are pleased that he enjoys the reputation of a well-to-do, public- spirited man. He was born in the Island of Terceira, in the Azores group, in 1866, and when twenty-one years of age came out to California, and in the inter- vening forty years he has rendered himself and family independent. The greater part of this time he was in San Mateo County, where he married and where most of his children were born; and the result of his long and faithful apprenticeship is that he is an excellent dairy farmer, a good judge of milch cows and dairy cattle and products. He buys and sells a great deal; but he manages to keep one string, o' thirty cows milking all the time. He has a regis- tered Holstein bull, and often has as many as sixty cows on his ranch. He is a hard-worker and a very honorable man, kind-hearted and hospitable; and he and his family enjoy the good will of all who know them. His children ably assist on the ranch, all co- operating in the work. Frank is now sixteen years old; Anthony is a year younger; John is fourteen; and Mary, the one daughter, is just twelve. Mrs. Machado, who was Miss Maria Armina before her marriage, is an invalid. Santa Clara County may well be congratulated that it attracts to its favoring localities such excellent citizenship as that furnished in the industrious and self-respecting family of this sturdy and progressive California ranchman.

C. H. CLARK .- A young man of ability, indus- try, energy and commendable enterprise, C. H. Clark is coming to the front as the owner and proprietor of the Clark Cannery located on the Sterling Road near Mountain View. The cannery had a large run on Permain apples in the fall of 1921, and earlier in the season had a good run on apricots and pears. Mr. Clark was born in Napa County, Cal., and is a son of George and Ida (Irish) Clark. George Clark, the father is a well-known pioneer of Napa County and was constable of the town of Napa for many

ycars. Mrs. Clark is a native of New York and came with her parents to California. C. H. Clark is the oldest of their seven children, four sons and three daughters, all of whom are living. Mr. Clark re- ceived his education in the schools of Napa, and when he was sixteen began to work in the cannery of Libby, McNeill & Libby at Sunnyvale and was there for eight years; then for four years he was superintendent of the John McCarthy Jr. Cannery, the largest establishment of its kind in Mountain View. During the month of July, 1921, he opened his present business, which was formerly the factory of the Concentrated Paste Company.

Mr. Clark was married in 1908 to Miss Mary Perry of Dixon, Cal., and they are the parents of Ave children: Mary M., George, Evelyn, Lois and Lawrence. Mr. Clark is active in the Woodmen of the World and the Native Sons of the Golden West of Mountain View. He concentrates his full energies on his business, and is fast winning his way to the front, and the products of his cannery are being shipped to all parts of the world; the Clark brand of apples goes to San Francisco and the Middle West and many of his goods go to England and other parts of the world, the Clark brand being a guar- antec of excellence.

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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 228

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