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 76

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 76

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Robert Blanch was born at San Jose on March 27, 1875, and he attended the grammar schools of Santa Clara County. As a youth he began to help his father on the home ranch, and he remained with him until the latter died, when the estate was divided up. Then he took up ranching alone, and for many years he has had an interest in a strip of range land of some 2,000 acres lying in the hills between Livermore and Mt. Hamilton. This ranch, which is leased, is devoted to grain, hay and stock, and Mr. Blanch still maintains his equity in the stockraising on this land. It was really railroad land, but it is better known as the Mclaughlin Land Companies holding.

In 1906, Mr. Blanch bought a ranch of fifteen acres on the Maybury Road which is devoted to apricots, prunes and peaches-one of the oldest orchards in Santa Clara County, having been planted in 1880 by one of the Hobsons. The land is abundantly irri- gated by water from a neighboring private pumping plant which produces about 900 gallons a minute. Mr. Blanch has lived on this ranch since 1906, and during that time as a Republican in matters of na- tional political import, but as a nonpartisan "booster" in respect to local affairs, he has done what he could to improve civic and agricultural conditions.

At San Jose, on November 29, 1905, Mr. Blanch was married to Miss Ruth M. Beck, a native of San

Jose and the daughter of Thomas and Laura (Vance) Beck. Mr. Beck, who was an expert blacksmith, died in 1912, and his good wife in February, 1918. Of their six children, one is Rollo H. Beck, the world-renowned naturalist, who has traveled very widely to collect scientific specimens; the others are Mrs. Addie May Burke; Dr. Edna Beck, a medical missionary in India; Mrs. Helen Parsons; Ruth M., and Mrs. Blanche Markham. Mrs. Blanch was given the best of educational advantages at the College of the Pacific, and she and her husband are the parents of one daughter who is attending the Berryessa grammar school.

MRS. CATHERINE E. BARRY .- The memory of a public-spirited man who was widely known for his keen interest in the general welfare of the com- munity, state and nation, is revived in the life-story of Mrs. Catherine E. Barry, of 490 North Fourth Street, San Jose, the highly-estecmed widow of John T. Barry, a New Englander who came here as a ver- itable pioneer. She was born in far-off New Zea- land, the daughter of Patrick Fenton, of County Cork, Ireland, who had married Miss Ellen Calla- han, also of that county, while they were still on the green soil of Erin. They then sailed for New Zea- land, and for three years followed farming in that country; and after that they migrated to Chile, South America, and for six years continued agricultural pursuits there.

In 1849, stirred up by the world-wide excitement over the discovery of gold in California, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton came to San Francisco and engaged in busi- ness until 1856; then they settled on a ranch about six miles north of Santa Clara, in the vicinity of the present site of Agnew. There they had about 200 acres, and they devoted the land to the raising of grain. They did so well that Mr. Fenton continued there until he died, at the age of sixty years; and Miss Catherine was living on this ranch at the time she was married.

She had attended the Dominican Convent at Be- nicia and was a cultured, accomplished young lady when, on August 15, 1868, at Santa Clara, she was married to John T. Barry, a native of Boston, Mass., who had come out to California in 1856. He had not only attended the excellent grammar schools of the "City of Culture," but he had enjoyed a college education as well in the New England metropolis. and hence was just the kind of timber wanted for commonwealth building. After their marriage, they took up their residence in San Francisco, and there for twenty years Mr. Barry was connected with the San Francisco Monitor. In 1901 Mrs. Barry re- moved to San Jose, and here she has lived ever since. Mr. Barry, who died in Sacramento, in 1894, was always alive to everything that would contri- bute to community uplift, and as a stanch Democrat, he worked hard for civic reform. Mrs. Barry, also as a stand-pat Democrat, has endeavored to continue this good work, and from her hospitable home where she has lived since returning to San Jose, she has sent out much influence for the benefit of others.

Two children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Barry. Marcella J. is an instructor, well trained and very popular with the pupils of the Horace Mann School in San Jose; while the son, Charles J. Barry, has been connected for twenty years with the Hi- bernian Bank in San Francisco.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

JOSEPH H. RUCKER .- A decidedly progressive man prominent in the California commercial world, whose substantial principles have been the best kind of a guarantee as to his advocacy of all that would make for the rapid and permanent development of the state, county and city in which he resides, is Joseph H. Rucker, the president of the well-known firm, Joseph H. Rucker & Company, who was born near San Jose, on March 23, 1865. His father, Joseph E. Rucker, was a farmer who came to California in 1852, and at Gilroy, in Santa Clara County, married Miss Susan Brown, a fine type of the American woman who had come to the Golden State a year ahead of him. In 1874, he established himself in business, and nine years later he took his son into parnership. He died in 1890, survived for seven years by his devoted wife. When she passed away in 1897, she was the mother of eight children, four boys and four girls, and among these Joseph H. Rucker was the youngest son. He finished the gram- mar school courses, then studied for a while at the high school, and after that put in two years at the College of the Pacific, and topped off his work as a student at the Garden City Business College. Thus pretty well equipped to try his own resources in the world at large, he entered the service of Hutchinson & Mann, the largest insurance concern on the Pacific Coast, and when he was only eighteen years of age, joined his father in forming the firm of J. E. Rucker & Sons, successors to Rucker & Page. In 1901, the firm was incorporated as Joseph H. Rucker & Com- pany. On January 1, 1907, a branch house, under the name of Joseph H. Rucker & Company was estab- lished in San Francisco.

On June 6, 1888, Mr. Rucker was married to Miss Mary P. Dunne, a representative of another old family and a charming lady of natural gifts and a developed talent; and their union has been further blessed by three children, Joseph E., DeWitt C., and Jerome W. Rucker, all three associated with their father in business. The family attend the Roman Catholic Church, and participate in the social func- tions of the Country and the Olympic clubs. In national politics a Republican, Mr. Rucker delights to give his non-partisan, undivided support to all well-endorsed local projects. A true descendant of the worthiest pioneers, Mr. Rucker rejoices in all that pertains to California life; and being especially fond of the great outdoors, he maintains a camp in Mon- terey County where he and his many friends often enjoy facilities for recreation and pleasure sought for by others in corners of the earth far from home.

LOUIS J. VAN DALSEM .- A native son of San Jose and a member of one of the old and prominent families of the city, Louis J. Van Dalsem is recog- nized as a progressive, wide-awake business man whose close application to the building business made him well known in San Jose. He was born Septem- ber 12, 1889, a son of H. C. and Louisa G. ( Was- son) Van Dalsem, and is descended from French Huguenot and Knickerbocker stock. His grandpar- ents, H. C. and Henrietta (Galyen) Van Dalsem, made the journey from Indiana to California by way of the Isthmus, and the vessel on which they were passengers was twice shipwrecked, at one time off the coast of Florida and later off the Mexican coast. In 1857 they arrived in San Francisco, Cal., where they resided for a year, and on the 4th of July, 1857, they came to San Jose, Being much pleased with

the locality, they decided to establish their permanent residence in the city, and here the grandfather fol- lowed the trade of a carpenter. In 1869 he met with an accidental death, being killed by a falling beam while erecting a building. Five days after the ar- rival of Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Van Dalsem in San Jose, their son, H. C., Jr., was born, on the 9th of July, 1857, and on attaining adult years he also turned his attention to the carpenter's trade, receiv- ing his instruction therein from his uncle, E. A. Van Dalsem, a prominent building contractor of San Jose, who erected the Hall of Records, the Sainte Claire Clubhouse and many other fine edifices in the city. H. C., Jr., had little opportunity for acquiring an edu- cation, for upon his shoulders fell the burden of pro- viding for the support of his mother, brother and sister. He was employed as foreman for his uncle until 1895, when he entered the contracting business on his own account, continuing active along that line until 1914, when his right hand was accidentally crushed. In 1919 he was obliged to have his arm amputated and has since lived retired. He is still residing in the home on North Eighteenth Strect which he built in 1885, his being the first house erected in this part of San Jose. On the 28th of September, 1887, he was married in this city to Miss Louisa G. Wasson, of English descent and a native of Indiana, who came to California with her parents. James and Nancy ( Ford) Wasson. Mr. and Mrs. Van Dalsem became the parents of ten children: Henry, who died at the age of sixteen years; Louis J., of this review; Volney F., who is engaged in the clothing business at Watsonville, Cal .; Theodoric, a salesman, living at San Jose: Samuel, a prominent contractor of Santa Clara: Jesse, also a salesman and solicitor at San Jose; Mrs. Ursula Mallpass, who is at present residing at home, her husband being a millman with the Pacific Manufacturing Company; Nancy, at home; Alice, a high school student; and Eugenia, who died July 15, 1910.

In the grammar schools of San Jose, Louis J. Van Dalsem pursued his education, and when sixteen years of age started out in life for himself, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. For a number of years he worked as a journeyman car- penter, first going to Oregon, then to Washington. and subsequently spending one year in Southern Cali- fornia, returning in 1910 to San Jose, where he fol- lowed his trade. In December, 1910, he entered Company B, Fifth California Infantry, as a private, winning promotion to the rank of corporal and later was made sergeant. In 1916 he went to the Mexican border as first sergeant of his company. After five months' service at Nogales, Ariz., he returned to San Jose, and on March 28, 1917, he was again called to the Presidio at San Francisco. On April 6 he was commissioned a second lieutenant, becom- ing first lieutenant in the One Hundred Fifty-Ninth Infantry, Fortieth Division, on October 13, 1917. From September 27, 1917, until July 26, 1918, he was stationed at Camp Kearney, and was then sent over- seas, landing at Liverpool, England, whence he was ordered to Winchester, Southampton, and later to Havre, France. At Neronda, France, he had charge of the training of casuals and took many replace- ment troops up to the front. Later he was with the Second Army Corps, operating with the British forces, and was in the Somme salient from Novem- ber Ist until the armistice was signed. He traveled

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

over France while engaged in the work of taking casuals back to their original units and subsequently was stationed for awhile at Cadillac, later at Bor- deaux, sailing from that port for the United States and landing at Hoboken in March, 1919. He remained at Camp Mills, N. J., for thirty days before returning to the Presidio, where he was discharged as com- manding officer of Company B, his original assign- ment, May 27, 1919.

Returning to San Jose, Mr. Van Dalsem entered the building and contracting business, specializing in the construction of first-class bungalows. He was active along that line until May, 1921, when he be- came associated with Harley B. Miller in the plumb- ing business at Tenth and Santa Clara Streets in San Jose. Both are capable and energetic business men and their trade is rapidly developing.

In San Jose, on September 4, 1917, Mr. Van Dal- sem was united in marriage to Miss Helen M. Har- ney, a native of Oakland, Cal., and a daughter of J. T. Harney, a prominent fruit commission merchant, whose fruit and vegetable wagons traversed the country around San Jose, going as far south as Santa Cruz. He came to this section of the state when Mrs. Van Dalsem was quite young and she ac- quired her education at the Notre Dame Convent of this city. Mr. Van Dalsem is a member of the American Legion at San Jose, of which he has served as sergeant-at-arms, and is also connected with San Jose Parlor No. 22, N. S. G. WV. In business affairs he has displayed keen discernment and his is a most creditable record. characterized by devotion to duty, by integrity and enterprise in business and by loyalty in citizenship.

HORATIO B. VALPEY .- A life of well directed energy and thrift now enables Horatio B. Valpey of San Jose to spend his declining years in freedom from business cares after many years of active con- nection with ranching interests. He was born at East- port, Maine, May 15, 1840, a son of Captain Calvin and Elizabeth (Gardner) Valpey. the former of French and the latter of English descent. Capt. Cal- vin Valpey was born March, 1806, in Yarmouth, N. S., and passed away at Warm Springs, Cal., September 12, 1880. From 1818 to 1832 he followed a seafaring life in various capacities, from cabin boy to sailor before the mast. then in 1833 he was made captain. When not sailing the seas, he followed the pursuit of farming. In 1847 he sailed from Eastport, Maine, to Liverpool, England, as captain. The same year he decided to quit the sea, but was persuaded to pilot a vessel. "The Eagle." from Yarmouth to San Fran- cisco via the Straits of Magellan. On November 9, 1850, he left Yarmouth and after five months and ninc days arrived in San Francisco and spent some time in piloting boats up the Sacramento River and about the San Francisco Bay. Later he engaged in the merchandise business at Centerville, Cal., and then mined for a time near Marysville. He assisted in the building of a dam, but it did not stand and when it went out ruined the mining prospects in that local- ity. and Mr. Valpey turned his attention to the stock business. Going to Los Angeles, he purchased 300 head of Texas cows and drove them north to Ala- meda County, having as a partner George W. Bond. Later he purchased 400 acres of land at Warm Springs at sixteen dollars per acre and there he lived until

his death. He was the original owner of Warin Springs Landing. Mr. Valpey's eldest son, Calvin, came to California in 1858 and he passed away in San Jose in 1914. Horatio B. Valpey was the next to leave and came alone to California in 1859 via Panama and the next year saw his mother and two sisters, Elizabeth and Alice, and one brother, Charles, en route to California. The eldest child, Emeline, married a Mr. Prosser and she passed away in 1921 at Yarmouth. Captain Valpey was here during the stirring times of the Vigilante days and the founda- tion of the state. Mrs. Valpey was born in 1810 and died in 1901 at the ripe old age of ninety-one years.

Horatio B. Valpey was one of a family of six chil- dren and when nineteen years of age came to Cali- fornia by way of the isthmus route. He assisted his father in cultivating the Warm Springs ranch and in caring for the stock and in 1870 he removed to Ash- land, Ore., where he was employed in a planing mill. After his father's death in 1880, he returned to Warm Springs, Cal., and farmed there, and following his marriage he went to Saratoga, where he remained for eighteen months, at the end of which time he again went to Warm Springs and farmed until 1906. In 1906 he sold his ranch there and went to Santa Clara, where he lived for one and a half years, later going to Pacific Grove, where he spent an equal period. He became a resident of San Jose in 1910 and has since lived retired in this city, having accumulated a com- petence through the capable management of his ranching interests.

On July 30, 1884, at Irvington, Mr. Valpey was married to Miss Margaret Leeds, a native of Mount Pulaski, Ill., and a daughter of Timothy and Mary Ann (Latham) Leeds, both of whom died when she was but three years old; she was reared by her grand- parents, Richard and Margaret Latham of Springfield, 111 .; her grandfather Latham was a close friend of President Lincoln. Mrs. Valpey attended the gram- mar and high schools of Springfield, Ill., and in 1879 came to California in company with her uncle and aunt, Rev. and Mrs. J. H. McCollough, the former a minister of the Christian Church. They settled in San Francisco, thence going to Irvington where he was president of Washington College, later known as An- derson Academy, and she had charge of one of the departments. Mrs. Henry Curtner and Mrs. Mc- Collough, both of San Jose, are her aunts. She has one brother, Timothy Leeds of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Valpey have become the parents of six children: Henrietta. now the wife of Clarence Holman, of Aromas, Cal .; Frank Dunn, who died when four- teen years of age; Elizabeth, the wife of Luther Quentel, a prominent building contractor of San Jose; Lucy, at home: Horatio Calvin, who met death by drowning in November, 1913; and Rebecca Ruth, who married Russell Henwood, of Porterville, Cal. They have one grandson, Harold Quentel.

Mr. and Mrs. Valpey are allied with the Prohibition cause and are stanch Republicans. He has ever been deeply interested in the cause of education and while residing at Warm Springs served for seventeen years as clerk of the school board, making a high record in that connection. The family are members of the Christian Church of San Jose and endeavor to follow its teachings. Mr. Valpey's life has been an upright and honorable one in all respects, crowned with suc- cessful achievement.

JAGanoll

45.3

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

THOMAS A. CARROLL .- A pioneer of Santa Clara County and a resident of San Jose for more than a half century, Thomas A. Carroll has ever done his share in the upbuilding and development of this thriving city. He was born in Ireland, February 15, 1843, and spent the first year of his life on the At- lantic Ocean in a boat which had been driven by a storm until it had reached such a dismantled condi- tion that it had been given up for lost, and it took full twelve months to get into port. The Carroll family settled at New Haven, Conn., and the father, who was a gardener, lived and died there, in the month of March, 1859. the mother having passed away in 1857.

Thomas A. Carroll was educated in the schools of New Haven, and at the age of fifteen years, after his parents had both passed away, went to New York in 1860 and entered a blacksmith's shop where he thoroughly learned his trade. He followed in that line of work until the year of 1864, when he started for California, coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and arriving in San Francisco, stopped about two months and in April landed in San Jose. He worked for a local blacksmith for about four months, then engaged in business for himself, estab- lishing his shop at the corner of St. John and First streets in 1864. After eighteen months, he moved to 184 West Santa Clara Street and inside of four years this young stranger had four men employed, one of them the man he learned his trade from in New York, and he continued here until he retired from business life in 1918. He had, during his early years of work here, animals brought from a fifty-mile radius which were supposed to be impossible to handle, but under his system, were made safe for any place. At this time he was the oldest man living who had been continually in business at the time he opened his shop. He became very well-known and throughout the country, as his work was the very best, he did a prosperous business and accumulated sufficient means to enable him to live comfortably the remainder of his days.

Mr. Carroll's marriage on September 12, 1871, united him with Miss Helen Kell, who was a native of California, having been born in San Jose, a des- cendant of a good old pioneer family, who came across the plains in the year 1844. They became the parents of seven children: Patrick William, a post- graduate of Santa Clara University and serving as secretary of the City Store Company for years when he died in December, 1917, aged forty-seven; Ann M. is teaching in the Oakland schools; Thomas E., a graduate of University of California, is a first lieuten- ant in the U. S. Army; Helen G. is teaching in Ala- meda; Bernard D. graduated from the San Jose high school and died in January, 1901; Mary J. is also a teacher in Oakland; Charles C. is an electrical en- gineer in Salinas. Mrs. Carroll passed away on August 20, 1911.

Mr. 'Carroll has been a very prominent figure in the local affairs of San Jose, and he has always been active in the Board of Trade and later its suc- cessor, the Chamber of Commerce. At the time of the earthquake he was one of the most zealous work- ers in giving relief to those who suffered losses in this time of stress. In religious faith, he is a Cath- olic. and in national politics, he gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, and has been a well-known figure at the city. county and state conventions, serving on the State Central Committee for twenty- five years. He served for eight years on the city

board of education and was the chairman of school house and site committee during the rebuilding after the earthquake in 1906.

During the high water of 1867 boats ran in front of Carroll's shop at No. 184 West Santa Clara Street, a little episode worth mentioning here that will show the conditions of the early days of San Jose. It was during this flood when Mr. Carroll was living on Santa Clara Street near the river, that he arose to see the high water and what damage it might be doing. As he made his way towards the scene of disaster he heard cries of distress and saw buildings ready to topple into the water. He saddled his horse and rode to the corner of St. Augustine and Santa Teresa Streets and could see people in the water. One woman with a babe in her arms was holding to the limb of an elm tree and calling for some one to save her child. Mr. Carroll had just helped rescue a Mr. Doherty, and then started for the lady, swim- ming his horse to reach her. She handed the child to him and said she would get out some way. Turn- ing his horse he swam him towards the shore but be- fore he reached it a submerged limb hit the horse and toppled him over, he going up stream and Mr. Carroll down, landing some distance down stream. He handed the baby over to some women to be cared for and then helped make a raft with which others were rescued from their perilous positions. There were several houses washed down stream during the flood period.

GEORGE WASHINGTON WORTHEN .- Prom- inent among the well-known and highly-esteemed residents of Santa Clara County is George W. Wor- then, who during the thirty-nine years that he has resided in this county has been identified with its progress and advancement as one of the successful agriculturalists. A native of Charleston, Vt., he was born May 22, 1844, the son of Samuel and Lydia (Beede) Worthen. The father, a physician, was a native of Sandwich, N. H., born in 1801, and his mother, in 1804. They were residents of Vermont at the time of their marriage in 1838. Of charitable and kind-hearted nature, they did much to relieve suffering of every kind in their locality. The paternal great-grandfather rendered valuable services in the Revolutionary War, and through this connection our subject is eligible to membership in the Sons of the American Revolution.

George W. was fortunate in securing a good edu- cation, and as early as 1861 began his career as a teacher. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he of- fered his services to his country, and enlisted on August 22, 1862, and in October was mustered into the U. S. service as a member of Company H, Fif- teenth Volunteer Infantry, under Redfield Proctor, who after the close of the war served as Secretary of War. Mr. Worthen was a member of the famous Stannard's Second Vermont Brigade, which immor- talized itself by a heroic counter-charge upon Pick- ett's hosts, July 3, on the memorable field of Gettys- burg. At the expiration of his term of service he was mustered out at Brattleboro, Vt., on September 4, 1863. Soon after, he became the first principal of Linden Literary Biblical Institute at Linden, Vt. Re- maining in this position one year, he then entered the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, and took the scientific course and secured his B. S. degrec. Then he went to lowa and for about two years was professor of Greek and mathematics at

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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 76

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