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 66

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928

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Son. Later his son-in-law, Fred W. Moore, became associated in the management of the enterprise. Since his death the business has been incorporated under the name of Spring's, Inc., and this firm con- tinues in the lead and holds thousands of loyal cus- tomers throughout the valley, a fine testimonial to the worth of this pioneer business house.

In 1862 at San Jose, Mr. Spring was united in marriage to Miss Emelie Houghton, who was born at Farmington, lowa, a daughter of Amory J, a native of Massachusetts, and Jemima (Gruell) Houghton, who was born in Indiana. She crossed the plains with her parents in 1859, starting from Farmington, Iowa, and settling in Santa Clara County. She continued to live in San Jose until she passed away, the mother of two children: Mar- cella is the widow of the late Frederick W. Moore, who came from one of the earliest of California pioneer families. His parents left their home in Tennessee in 1846, crossed the plains the same year and arrived in California in 1847, settling in what is now Santa Cruz County. Mrs. Moore has four children: Mrs. Douglas H. Sim of San Jose, Mrs. Martin Luther, Jr., of Hollister, Mrs. William N. Donaldson of Los Angeles, and Frederick H. Moore of San Jose, who enlisted and served in the U. S. Marines during the late war. Mrs. Moore stands very highly in San Jose's social and business circles. The second child of Thaddeus W. Spring is Henry Spring, hereinbefore referred to. He married Miss Olive Haptonstall, who comes from a pioneer family in Oregon, and they have one child, Jackson. The Springs continue to represent, as they always have, the substantial business element of San Jose. While first and last attending to business, yet their love for San Jose grows with years and they seek and find great delight in the advancement of their community.

EUGENE T. SAWYER .- California has been especially fortunate in her men and women of literary talent, some of whom are native sons and daughters, and many of whom have come from other parts of the great Union, bringing with them talent which was to be developed in the Golden State; among whom will always be remembered, in both widespread es- teem and affection, Eugene T. Sawyer, whose "Nick Carter" stories gave a pleasureable thrill to thousands of fiction readers, and whose latest work is the His- tory of Santa Clara County in this volume. Pages of exceptional interest might be written about this successful author; but it is doubtful if, after all, any- one can tell the story of his many-sided life half so well as himself.

"I was born in Bangor, Maine," he says, "Novem- ber 11, 1846. On the 11th of November, 1918, the great European War came to an end, so it will be seen that when the world celebrates the event, it also celebrates my birthday. Thus quite a load is taken from my shoulders, for instead of financing the event, I hold my horses, and permit Europe and America to do the honors and pay the bills. As a youngster, I evinced a strong liking for hunting, fishing and theater-going. The liking stays with me, though I seldom indulge it, for game is scarce, the auto-fiends have skinned the streams, and the good actors are all dead. I am also greatly interested in politics and national affairs. Acquired the taste in the late '50s and early '60s, when I was so fortunate as to be a listener to the oratory of Stephen A. Douglas, Wil-

JW String

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liam H. Seward, James G. Blaine, Hannibal Hamlin, Bob Ingersoll, Henry Edgerton, Henry Winter Davis, Wendell Phillips, Tom Fitch, Henry Ward Beecher, Marshall of Kentucky, and Rhett of Arkansas.

"At the age of twelve, I embarked in the show bus- iness by acting as promoter and manager of barn en- tertainments to which the price of admission was one copper cent or its equivalent in pins, nails, old iron and old newspapers. The proceeds of an entertain- ment went, as a rule, to buy a cocoanut, a lobster, a bag of candy or a seat in the pit of a theater. As I grew older my mind turned to newspaper work and at fourteen I became a morning newspaper carrier. Once I had the extreme honor (so I thought at the time) of selling a paper to Charles F. Browne (Arte- mus Ward) who had lectured in Bangor the night before. In 1864 I came to California, via the Isthmus of Panama. Stayed in San Francisco a short time, then traveled to San Jose. For a year I attended the San Jose Institute, as a supplement to a high school education, my classical work being done under the supervision of D. M. Delmas, now a resident of Los Angeles.

"Since that time I have been a miner (in Nevada), druggist and book-keeper in San Francisco, rancher and newspaper publisher in San Benito County and newspaper man in San Jose. This work in San Jose was sometimes varied by incursions into the field of sensational story writing. In the Nick Carter and Log Cabin series my heroes were always fearless and manly, my heroines brave and beautiful, and vir- the always triumphed. As an exploiter of the alleged adventures of Buffalo Bill, my imaginative hands be- came steeped in gore and I might be writing of the dead scout yet were it not for the sorrowful fact that my material gave out, as I had made Bill kill or cause to be killed every Indian in the far West.

"For thirty-five years I did newspaper work in San Jose, starting as reporter and winding up as man- aging editor. I have written plays, acted in them and in other fellows' plays, and might have adopted the stage as a profession if my hard, common sense had not told me that I would never mount to the height where stars shine. But I have had a sort of compensation in the knowledge that I have helped to shape the careers of those ornaments to the Ameri- can stage-Eleanor Calhoun (Princess Lazarovich), John T. Malone, Samuel W. Piercey, John W. Dunne and Frank Bacon; and that I have guided my friends, Hugh A. De Lacy, A. P. Murgotten and Louis Lieber, into experiences that have furnished stories, mostly amusing, they will never be weary of telling.

"I have published one book, 'The Life of Tiburcio Vasquez.' It saw the light in 1875, shortly after the execution, in San Jose, of the notorious bandit and murderer. I was the correspondent of the San Fran- cisco Chronicle immediately after the raid on Tres Pinos which resulted in the killing of three men; and I had gathered material from interviews with old ac- quaintances of the bandit in Monterey and San Be- nito counties and from frequent talks with Vasquez himself.

"I have held but one public office-member of the board of education, 1877-79. It is only fair to say, in this connection, that I have often aspired to the Pres- idency of this mighty and badly governed nation. I am aspiring yet, for I would like to be in a position to lower the high cost of living and give a poor man opportunity to eat bacon without having to place a plaster on his home to obtain the wherewithal for the purchase."

Mr. Sawyer was married on September 27, 1871, to Belle Moody, daughter of Charles Moody, whose father, R. G. Moody, was the pioneer mill man of San Jose. The mill was first erected in 1854 on the bank of Coyote Creek at about the spot where Em- pire Street strikes the stream. The business was transferred to Third Street, northeast corner of Santa Clara Street, in 1858, and R. G. Moody's sons, Charles, Volney and David, conducted the mill until it was sold to the Sperry Milling Company. After a few years Volney Moody retired to become an Oak- land banker. Mrs. Sawyer, who died on January 28, 1921, spent her childhood days in the old family home on the northeast corner of Second and Santa Clara Streets, the site of the present five-story Porter building. She received her early education in the public schools of San Jose, following which she en- tered the San Jose Institute, conducted by Freeman Gates. After her marriage she found both pleasure and profit in the art of painting, in which she was unusually gifted. She was also of great assistance to her husband in his literary work. She was the mother of two children, Elva B., now a teacher in the Grant School, San Jose, and Louis E., a fruit grower in San Benito County. Lovable, sympathetic and un- selfish, the memory of her life and character will al- ways be cherished with pride and affection by her surviving husband and by her relatives and friends.

MRS. MARGARET WHITE .- A member of one of California's pioneer families, Mrs. Margaret White can look back over an interesting period in the devel- opment of the Santa Clara Valley, for it has been her privilege to take part in as well as witness the wonderful growth that has taken place here in the past decades. She was born in Quebec, Canada, the daughter of the late Thomas and Johanna (O'Toole) Cullen, both natives of County Wexford, Ireland, who were early settlers of that part of Canada.

Twelve children were born to these worthy par- ents: Edward, deceased, is survived by one child, Mrs. Daley, who resides in Sacramento; John, de- ceased, is survived by his widow and six children, living near Gilroy; Michael and Patrick are deceased; Mary A., Mrs. Thomas Fitzgerald, has five children; Thomas is single; James, deceased; Kate C., de- ceased, is survived by her husband, Edward Doyle; Frank P. has three children and resides in San Jose; Mrs. Margaret White is the subject of this sketch; Lawrence lives at Gilroy; William has five children and resides at Gilroy. The three eldest brothers of the family preceded the rest of the family here, who arrived in California in 1868 and settled in the vicin- ity of Gilroy. Both parents lived to be nearly ninety. the father passing away on November 22, 1895; Mrs. Cullen surviving him until October 11, 1904.

Margaret Cullen spent her girlhood days at the family home near Gilroy and on April 21, 1879, she was married to William Fitzgerald, who was born in Frampton Township, Canada, April 14, 1845, and in 1853 came with his parents to Gilroy Township, Santa Clara County, Cal., where he was reared on a farm, later engaging in the livery business at Gil- roy with his brother, Patrick Fitzgerald. Mr. Fitz- gerald passed away in February. 1882, survived by his widow and two children, Mary and Winifred Fitzgerald, now living with their mother. Mrs. Fitz- gerald's second marriage united her with John J. White, the son of Thomas and Mary A. White, and

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one son was born to them, Edward A., who was a member of the Students' Army Training Corps during the World War and is attending Santa Clara University, but now employed in San Francisco. Mr. White died in Gilroy, August 26, 1910. Mrs. White is an active member of the Civic Club and the Cath- olic Ladies' Aid of Gilroy. A woman of many inter- ests, she is the owner of a fine ranch at Hollister in addition to the home place on Second Street, where she still makes her home.

JOHN C. MENKER-After a long, active and useful career John C. Menker is now living retired in San Jose at the age of seventy-four years, his capable management of his business affairs having brought him a substantial competence which now enables him to spend his days in ease and com- fort. He was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, De- cember 30, 1847, and he was left an orphan at the tender age of five years; his father died on the ocean while en route to the United States and soon afterward the mother brought the family of four children to Buffalo, N. Y., but soon fell a vic- tim to that dread disease-cholera.

The second in a family of four children, two sons and two daughters, three of whom grew up, John C. Menker, in his youth lived on a farm working his own way and acquired his education in the dis- trict schools, which he attended for but three months in the year, as he was obliged to spend the re- maining months in providing for a livelihood. He had first been bound to a family in Buffalo, N. Y., but was treated so badly he ran away and ob- tained a place on a place in the country. Later he was able to pursue a course in Bryant & Stratton's business college of that city where he graduated in 1869, following which he went to Chicago, Ill., se- curing a position as shipping clerk with a large wholesale confectionery house, whose products were sent to the largest cities in the south as well as throughout the west as far as San Francisco, Cal. He was in Chicago during the great fire of 1871 and immediately afterward returned to New York, work- ing on a farm in Cattaraugus County for a year. In the fall of 1872 he came to California and for five years was employed on a dairy near the old mis- sion at Carmel, Monterey County, returning to Buf- falo in 1878. There he entered the confectionery business as a member of the firm of Menker & Barnes, catering to the wholesale and retail trade, but at the end of five years disposed of his in- terest to his partner and in association with his brother, Henry A. Menker, established a similar en- terprise in the city of Buffalo, N. Y., as H. A. & J. C. Menker. Three years afterward failing health obliged him to seek a milder climate, and selling his interest to his brother, he returned to Califor- nia, bringing with him his wife and children. Lo- cating near Berryessa, Santa Clara County, he pur- chased a twenty-five acre ranch, on a portion of which was a prune, apricot and peach orchard, but at the end of a year sold that place and bought a ranch of twenty-five acres near Watsonville. This he operated for nine years, engaging in raising ber- ries. He also purchased ten acres in the city of Watsonville, which he finally subdivided into city lots, a street being named in his honor.

At this time, at the request of his brother Henry, who had become president of a bank at Buffalo,

Mr. Menker returned to the east to assist in con- ducting his brother's confectionery business, which he successfully managed for five years. He then made his way back to San Jose and bought a thirty-three acre ranch near Agnew which he oper- ated for some years until it was disposed of. With a partner he bought twenty-five acres on the Ste- vens Creek Road, which they subdivided into 150 city lots and placed them on the market. In the early part of 1921 the last of these lots was sold and the tract has now become a fine residential section, adorned with attractive homes, one of the avenues bearing the name of Menker. Some years ago Mr. Menker bought eighty acres of land near Cypress. Orange County, in the southern part of the state, and is still the owner of forty acres thereof. His land is well irrigated, being provided with a 600 foot, twelve-inch well and a Dixon pump, and is one of the valuable and highly improved ranches in that part of California. Mr. Menker is a stockholder and director in the Anderson-Barngrover Manufacturing Company of San Jose, manufacturers of machin- ery, making a specialty of building cannery machin- ery. This company also developed a 512-acre wal- nut ranch located near Stockton.

In Buffalo, N. Y., on April 21, 1881, Mr. Menker married Miss Jennie Mitchell, who was born in England and was left an orphan during her child- hood. She acquired her education in the schools of Buffalo and to their union three children have been born; Raymond C., who is a minister of the Methodist Church and is now residing in Plumas County, having charge of three pastorates; Earl L., who is private secretary to Mr. Edwards of the Southern Pacific Railroad; and Edith M., the wife of Charles P. Smith, the latter being a teacher in the San Jose high school. Mr. Menker was be- reaved of his faithful wife February, 1917, a devoted Christian woman and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In his political views Mr. Menker is a Republican and he has been a worker in behalf of the Prohibition cause. He is a faithful and earnest member of the Centella Methodist Church, San Jose, in the work of which he takes an active and helpful interest, serving as one of its stewards and trustees. A self-made man, he has never selfishly centered his activities upon his own interests, but has steadily progressed in general usefulness as well as individual success.

PEDRO A. BERNAL .- A native son of Santa Clara County and a worthy representative of one of the prominent Spanish families of California, Pedro A. Bernal first saw the light on the Santa Teresa Rancho on October 19, 1868. He is a son of Ygnacio and Jesnsita (Patron) Bernal, the former one of the best known and highly esteemed men of the county, and whose sketch will be found on an- other page of this history.

Pedro A. Bernal attended the Oak Grove public school and topped off his studies at the University of Santa Clara in 1886-7-8, from which college his father was a gold medal student, and took a business course at the Garden City College and graduated from the normal penmanship department of this college. After leaving college Pedro came back to the home ranch and worked for a time, then secured a position in Mexico with the firm of Losoya & Sons, chemists, mine owners and operators and large landowners, and the three years he spent there en-

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John. C. Menken

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larged his vision and experience a great deal. Re- turning to California he then went to work for the P. G. & E. Company as storekeeper in San Jose and remained with the concern until 1904, which year he started on a trip that occupied his time for over one year and took him to the important centers of Europe and throughout South America, where he visited an uncle in the Argentine. The money he spent on his journey he had saved from his carnings the previous years, and he thereby secured a post- graduate course by practical experience that has enabled him to hold his place with the leading men of the state in business and finance and in developing the resources of the county.

Before going on his extended travels Mr. Bernal had seen a deposit of some kind of mineral wealth on the home ranch, but did not know what value it had; when in England he found some of the same formation and secured samples of it; also of some from South America. He had them analyzed after he reached home, and also some of the local product, and found the latter on a par with the foreign mat- ter. He had investigated the uses to which the fin- ished product was put and knew there was an un- limited field for this special kind of fertilizer in the United States, and in consequence he decided he would develop the field from the Santa Teresa Rancho supply. He sent to St. Louis for a twenty- ton mill, and this he set up with his own hands and began grinding out the fertilizer that now is so widely known as the Bernal-Marl Fertilizer. For seven years he worked to introduce to the ranchers of this county and the San Joaquin Valley the great value of the fertilizer to the soil, and then he had fully convinced himself that the supply was inexhaust- ible and concluded to interest capital to expand the manufacture and distribution of the product. This prehistoric deposit of lime shell marl is only found in paying quantities worthy of development in three sections of the globe-in England, in South America, and on the Santa Teresa Rancho in Santa Clara County, Cal. From the twenty-ton mill he first erected-and, by the way, this is still doing duty in refining the marl-there is now installed at great ex- pense, an equipment with a 1,000-ton capacity per day of eight hours. The Bernal-Marl Fertilizer Company is incorporated under the laws of Cali- fornia with A. J. Ginoux, of Oakland, as president, and F. Gay, secretary. Mr. Bernal is one of the salesmen and demonstrators of the company, and for every ton of marl shipped from the ranch, Mrs. Ygnacio Bernal receives a royalty. The company own three trucks of seven-ton capacity, and hire others, to distribute the Bernal marl to their custom- ers within a radius of forty miles from the plant; also have a station on the Southern Pacific Railway called Bernal-Marl, and a shipping point at Coyote and one at Edenvale, where cars are loaded for points in various parts of California. They also have water- shipping facilities. As yet they have been unable to supply the demand in this state. There is an un- limited supply covering over 100 acres and the de- velopment company have a lease of twenty years and a contract for all minerals that may be found under . the surface of the earth where they are working. Full credit is accorded Pedro A. Bernal for his per- sistency of purpose and his stick-to-it-iveness in thus developing one of the mineral products of this earth that has proven such an aid in replenishing the soil

and thereby bringing greater profits to the producer.

Mr. Bernal, who is still manager of his mother's interests, is a very experienced orchardist and rancher and is making the Bernal Ranch pay splendid divi- dends. He is independent in his politics, supporting the best men for public office, and is a member of the Catholic Church. To all enterprises for the advance- ment of the business, educational and social prob- lems in the county, Mr. Bernal is always found ready to do his duty, and his public spirit is well known to all with whom he has come in contact.

THEOPHILUS KIRK .- Conspicuous among the extensive and successful fruit growers of Santa Clara County, Theophilus Kirk was both prominent and influential, and his demise was regretted by his neigh- bors and a host of friends. He was owner of one of the finest orchards and one of the most attractive home estates to be found in the valley. A man of keen intelligence and superior business attainments, he was actively identified with the agricultural and horticultural developments and interests of Santa Clara County since the carly '50s. He was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, a son of Theophilus and Elizabeth (Lowe) Kirk, and in that state his father died, his mother passing away at the Kirk home place on Hicks Avenue, Santa Clara County.

Theophilus Kirk was educated in the public schools of Iowa and Illinois, whither his parents had moved. In the early years of his life, he crossed the plains in 1853, bringing with him a drove of cattle and con- suming about six months in the journey from the Mis- souri River to the Coast. He and his brother, S. Kirk, located in Santa Clara County, where they purchased a large tract of land and began farm- ing; but Mr. Kirk soon saw the future for the successful growing of fruit and so was one of the first to set out orchards, becoming one of the pioneers in the dried fruit industry, which has made this valley so famous. He was also one of the pio- neers of irrigation in the county, and at his passing he was the last of the six original owners of the Kirk Ditch Company, organized in 1859 for irri- gating purposes. Mr. Kirk made a practical study of horticulture and found both pleasure and profit from this interesting side of country life. All the improvements he made were of a substantial and modern nature and the methods he employed in the culture of his orchards were those of the earnest and interested student of science.

Mr. Kirk's marriage, at Stockton, united him with Miss Elizabeth Chesnutwood, also a native of Jef- ferson County, Ohio, who came to California with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Kirk were the parents of two daughters-Ethel, now the wife of S. D. Far- rington, and Edith L., the wife of J. P. Dorrance- both residing on the Kirk estate. There are two grandchildren, Theo Kirk Farrington and John Kirk Dorrance. Politically Mr. Kirk was a firm supporter of the principles of the Republican party, but was never an aspirant for official honors. He was a de- vout Methodist and was for many years 'an active and official member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of San Jose. Liberal in the support of all measures looking toward the prosperity and advance- ment of his community, his conscientious and upright life and business career won for him the honor and esteem of his fellowmen, and his passing on June 30, 1915, deeply mourned by his family and friends, was a distinct loss to the county.

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HON. C. C. SPALDING .- Those forces which have contributed most to the development, improve- ment and benefit of California have received impetus from the labors of Hon. Charles Clifton Spalding, financier, horticulturist and legislator, whose life re- cord has been a credit and honor to the state which has honored him. He is distinctively a man of af- fairs and one who wields a wide influence, while in all that he undertakes he is actuated by high ideals that seek the benefit both of his home locality and of the state at large.

A native of Iowa, he was born at Horton, in Bremer County, seven miles north of Waverly, November 5, 1864, his parents being John F. and Olive (Partridge) Spalding. They were natives of New York, whence they removed to Iowa, and in 1900 they came to Sunnyvale, Cal., where the father successfully followed agricultural pursuits until his demise. The mother survives and is yet living in Sunnyvale. The two surviving sisters and one brother of Mr. Spalding are Minnie L., the wife of C. L. Stowell, of the Stowell Realty Company of Sunnyvale; Myrtie L., who married O. F. Pier- son, a well-known orchardist of Sunnyvale; and the brother, C. W. Spalding, also of Sunnyvale.

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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 66

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