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 86

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 86

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yard of the Livermore Valley. He sold out his holdings in 1891 and spent one year in San Jose. Removing to Fresno January, 1893, he purchased land near Fowler, which he improved to orchard and vineyard and was engaged in raising fruit and grapes, owning two ranches. He was one of the char- ter members of the first raisin growers' association and continued to give his support to each successive attempt, until the present successful California Raisin Growers' Association. He finally sold his ranches and located in Fresno where he engaged in general contracting for several years. In 1905 he built the canal for the Consolidated Canal Company, connect- ing the Fowler switch and the Church system, build- ing a canal through solid rock 131/2 feet deep, thus connecting the two big irrigation systems of the county. When he sold this business, he purchased a ranch of 240 acres near Turlock, which he im- proved to alfalfa and engaged in dairying. In 1914 Mr. Paul removed with his family to the old home place in San Jose from Fresno and made this his home. Lately he traded his Turlock ranch for an apartment house located at Eighth and Grove streets, Oakland, which brings him a fine income; he also owns a 325-acre ranch at El Nido near the San Joaquin River in Merced County. Here he sunk wells and installed two pumping plants that are sufficient to irrigate each one-quarter section on each place. Mr. Paul in his land deals has held property which has become very valuable. The 160-acre piece twelve miles south of Tulare Lake, some years ago he sold for a few head of cattle; ten years later he was through there and found the 160 acres worth $2500 an acre, oil having been found on this prop- erty. There are eight wells about five miles from his present holdings and this may mean much to him.

The marriage of Mr. Paul occurred at Durham Hill, Wis., March 4, 1880, uniting him with Miss Eva E. Tenney, a native of that place. Mrs. Paul's father, Samuel A. Tenney, was born in Monroe County, N. Y., descended from the old Moss family of Mayflower stock. He was a graduate of Lima College, N. Y., and was married in Monroe County to Lydia F. Lytle, a native of that county, who also traces her family back to the Mayflower and Pil- grim Fathers. The ancestors on both the Tenney and Lytle sides served in the Revolutionary war and Grandfather Daniel Lytle was in the War of 1812, enlisting when eighteen years old. Charles Foster, ex-governor of Ohio and ex-secretary of the treas- ury of the United States, is a cousin of Mrs. Paul. Her parents came to Wisconsin, then known as the Far West, in 1846 located near Waukesha where they were pioneers, turning the first furrow in the virgin soil on the farm and there they spent the remainder of their days. They had five children, three of whom are living. Mrs. Paul is the oldest of these and was educated at Carroll College, Wau- kesha, Wis., and was engaged in teaching for two years. The young people had become acquainted before Mr. Paul moved to Nevada and the friend- ship resulted in their marriage.

De Phonzo G. Paul received his education in the public schools in Delavan and Janesville, Wis., sup- plementing with a commercial course in Fellows and Kings Commercial College in Janesville. He later, in 1878, removed to Nevada and was employed in a general merchandise store. While a resident of Mari- Five children have been born of this union: Wal- ter, a realtor of Fresno, is married and the parent of two children; Frank A., a farmer, residing at El Nido, Merced County, has three children; Elizabeth, now Mrs. Leonard Boot, of Orland, Cal., is the moth- er of four children; Lloyd A. is married and resides on his father's ranch near El Nido. He entered the service of the U. S. Army, enlisting with the Three etta, Esmeralda County, Nev., he served as post- master and also as mining recorder and notary pub- lic; he was also telegraph operator and express agent on the California and Nevada line of railroad. He removed to San Jose in 1880, but only remained for a year, removing to the Livermore Valley, he en- gaged in the grape industry, owning the Banner Vineyard, named so because it was the banner vine- Hundred Sixty-fourth Infantry of the Ninety-first

Defaul

Eva E Paul

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Division, Company M, went overseas and saw serv- ice in the Argonne, suffering great hardships and privations; Ethel Marion is a graduate of the San Jose high school, now taking a commercial course, and makes her home with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Paul are active members of the First Christian Church in San Jose, both serving on the official board. Politically they are staunch Prohibitionists and Republicans. Mr. Paul gives much of the credit for his success to his devoted wife, who has been his ready helpmate, assisting him in every way, always encouraging him in his ambition and carrying her share of the burden. Mr. and Mrs. Paul have given much attention to the rearing and education of their children, believing that higher education is the foundation for the nation's progress and welfare.

GRENVILLE C. EMERY, A.B., Litt.D .- The teaching profession has ever attracted to itself the leading men of every age and generation, and will doubtless continue to do so. The splendid oppor- tunities offered for men of unusual capabilities, and the ever-increasing need for men of superior ability and strength of purpose, make this field one of un- usual interest and opportunities. Among the most prominent educators of the secondary schools in the state of California must be mentioned the name of Grenville C. Emery, the headmaster and proprietor of the Seale Academy ( Military), located at Palo Alto. Doctor Emery is also the headmaster emeritus of the Harvard School (Military) of Los Angeles, Cal., of which he is the founder. In collaboration with William F. Bradbury, headmaster of the Cam- bridge Latin School, he edited a series of algebras which are still used, not only in Boston schools, but in many other important educational centers of the East. also in the Harvard School of Los Angeles, and in the Seale Academy.

He was born in Ripley, Maine, July 19, 1843, a son of John G. Emery, of English descent and of Welsh extraction on his mother's side. His father married Miss Mary Stanley Jones, born in New Hampshire, and was from prominent pre-Revolution- ary stock; he came around the Horn to California in 1849. As early as 1847 he had constructed the rail- road through Lewiston, Maine, and was a prominent and active business man. He returned to Maine from California and engaged in the mercantile busi- ness; farming also engaged his attention. Mr. and Mrs. Emery were the parents of four children, of whom Grenville C. Emery is the youngest, and the only survivor. He began his education in the public schools of his native town; later attended the Corinna Union Academy, of which his father was a trustee; upon graduating from this institution he became one of its teachers, and remained in that capacity for several terms. He then became a student in the Maine State Seminary; later attended Bates College and received his degree from the latter institution.

Doctor Emery's first marriage united him with Miss Ella Pike, of Livermore Falls, Me., and they were the parents of seven children, of whom only two are living, Laura J. Emery and Mrs. Ellen Emery Downing of Los Angeles, Cal. Mrs. Emery passed away December 22, 1913. at Los Angeles. His second marriage occurred December 22, 1920, when he was united with Mrs. Katherine D. Monroe, nec Dold, a native of Kentucky, born, reared and edu- cated in the schools of Louisville. She is the parent of one son by her first marriage, Charles Mattison

Monroe, a student at Scale Academy. After gradu- ating from Bates College. Doctor Emery accepted a position as teacher in the Boston Latin School, founded in 1635, while Harvard University was founded in 1636, making the Boston Latin School the oldest school in America with a continuous his- tory. Doctor Emery was master in this school for fifteen years and rose to be head of the department of mathematics.

Doctor Emery is the founder of the Harvard School ( Military ) of Los Angeles. The history of the school really began in 1849, when the father of its founder mounted the stage-coach in Maine, and finally reached California around Cape Horn, to mine for gold. and to drink in the wonderful possibilities and beauties of the state for the pleasure and enchant- ment of his family on his return to the East two years later. The cornerstone was laid in 1900. The founder, cherishing and treasuring up this boyhood knowledge, had come at last from the oldest and most renowned school in the United States, the fa- mous Boston Latin School, to build up in Los An- geles a school which might have the right to claim, in general, not only equality with the old school, but also, perhaps, in many things, superiority. Its motto, carved on the proscenium arch of the handsome as- sembly hall, which is, as it were, the heart of the Harvard School, is:

"To thine own self be true.

And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man."

In the words of Doctor Emery are found the true aim of the founder: "My aim was to found a decent school. I like that word 'decent'; it means a great deal and is a favorite adjective of President Roose- velt." The Harvard School is intended to fit boys for college. for technical school, and for business careers. Its legal name is "The Harvard School Upon the Emery Foundation."

During the year of 1920 Doctor Emery removed to Palo Alto, under the caves of Stanford Univer- sity, for the purpose of establishing the Seale Acad- emy, a school of like aims and character as that of the Harvard School. The old Seale mansion and estate, with its beautiful lawns, quiet pathways and avenues. and wealth of old trees and beautiful shrub- bery and flowers, was selected as a desirable site for the school. The buildings consist of Seale Hall. Colonial Hall, Gymnasium Hall, the Chemical Build- ing, and the Gymnasium proper. It is the policy of the school to make physical training quite as thor- ough as mental training. Of the fifteen-acre campus, eight acres are a wooded park and the remaining seven acres are clear. and wholly given over to the drill, the sports, and the games, the municipal swim- ming pool being at an easy distance. All the games and sports, and the drill, are taught by competent men. Military drill is the best form of exercise that has been discovered, which can be practiced by the whole school all the time with so much physical and all-round educational gain for cach individual boy.

The Seale Academy has become an accredited school, and its graduates are admitted to the Univer- sity of California and to Stanford University without examination upon the recommendation of the head- master. The courses of study conform in all essen- tials to those of the best high and grammar schools of the state. There is an enrollment of about fifty lads, and a bright and prosperous future is predicted

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for the Seale Academy, which is creditably filling a long-felt need.

Doctor Emery is one of the ablest teachers of mathematics in the secondary schools of the state, as well as one of the best-known and most success- ful instructors of boys in the country. Mrs. Emery is an accomplished, cultured woman, who enters heart- ily into the work of building up the school and occu- pies the important position of treasurer. Doctor and Mrs. Emery have expended much energy and a large amount of money to increase the efficiency and in- fluence of Seale Academy, and what is more, they propose to give their lives to this work.

As a fitting close to this interesting biographical sketch of this noted instructor are his own words: "Perhaps the most potent elements in our efforts for the accomplishment of the training of boys is the memory of our own boy who has passed beyond, but whom we hoped to educate highly in all the essen- tials which go to make up true manhood. Being de- prived of this, we try to exercise just the same vig- ilance and care in the education of our neighbor's sons as we had hoped to bestow upon our own flesh and blood."

GEORGE S. RAWLINGS .- It is given to few residents of California to have had a record of living for more than fifty-six years on the same piece of land and to have actively engaged in its cultivation. To George S. Rawlings belongs this honor, as since 1866 he has been on his present place on Pearl Avenue, south of San Jose. He is a native of Clays- ville. Harrison County, Ky., and was born there April 21. 1843, the son of Ashel and Jane (Snodgrass) Rawlings, both natives of the Blue Grass State and pioneers there. The father was a machinist and en- gineer, and in 1853 the family removed to Quincy, Ill., where both of the parents passed away. A stanch defender of his country. Grandfather Rawlings lost his life in the Indian War in 1812.

His parents having both died by the time George Rawlings had reached his eleventh year, most of his education was gained in the school of experience. and at the age of twelve he was plowing and working in the corn fields. I 1863 he came across the plains to Nevada with mule teams, and during 1863-64 he mined at Austin. He made a short visit to California about this time and in the spring of 1866 he came by stage to San Jose. On May 10, that year, he went to work on the 190-acre ranch where he has since lived. being employed by its owner, John G. Roberts, for five years. He was afterwards married to Mr. Roberts' daughter, Florence Minerva Roberts, a native daughter, and at the death of her father she inherited one-third of the homestead.

Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings became the parents of five children: John A .. William E., Georgia E., Norma E .. deceased, and Adele F. Two grandchildren, Jean and Muriel Rawlings. have brought joy to their grandparents. For more than half a century a resi- dent of this neighborhood, Mr. Rawlings has con- tributed much to its development by his industry and public-spiritedness and has seen the transformation of the large fields of grain to very productive orchards, and himself has aided in this work. He helped organize Valley View School district and served three terms as a trustee. He also aided in getting the paved highway on Almaden Road, and for twenty years he has given his services as deputy assessor.

Politically he has always been an adherent of the Democratic party.

JOHN JAMES DEVINE .- Now living retired at San Jose, is John James Devine, an early pioneer of northern California. He is descended from a line of sturdy Irish ancestors, and was born in Dublin, Ireland, Angust 15. 1830, the son of Thomas and Catherine (McCann) Devine. His parents were born. reared, married and died in Ireland and their last resting place is in Dublin, at Glass Nevin. His education was received from the public schools of Dublin. After leaving school, he entered the em- ploy of a groceryman as clerk, remaining in that capacity until he embarked for America. In April, 1851, Mr. Devine, set sail for America in a clipper ship, "Racer," built at Baton Rouge, La., with 900 passengers on board. Upon his arrival in New York City, he worked steadily in one place seven years. His brother, Pat Devine and himself, are the only living members of the Devine family. Pat Devine was a seafaring man, encountering many hardships on his voyages. On one trip to China, his vessel, the "Racer," on which our subject came to America. was caught in a typhoon, the masts were broken, the sails stripped to ribbons by the furious lashing of the wind and waves.

Mr. Devine left New York City in 1859 on the John L. Stephens by way of Panama, arriving in San Francisco with the small sum of sixty-five dol- lars in gold. He soon found employment clerking in a grocery store, but soon became enthused with the stories of the great wealth to be obtained in the mines, so he went to Placerville. He remained there but a short time when he went to Sacramento. From Sacramento he journeyed to Folsom over the first railroad built in California. From Folsom he took the stage to Placerville and on the day of his arrival the first pony express came through, which created a great deal of excitement. His mining ventures did not prove very profitable, and he soon was back in San Francisco; however, he was not satisfied but removed to San Jose during the year of 1860, and has continuously lived in this section ever since. His natural industry led him to do any- thing that he could find to do to earn an honest living. He was employed on the rebuilding of the famous Santa Clara Mission. By strict economy he managed to save a sufficient amount of money to open a grocery store in San Jose, which business continued until 1906, when he retired from active business life, to enjoy the fruits of his years of toil, which have brought him a competency that has been well deserved.

The marriage of Mr. Devine occurred in San Jose in 1862, uniting him with Miss Catherine Cork- ery, born in Cork. Ireland. She came to America about 1859 landing at New Orleans, but soon em- barked for California. She passed away September 19, 1908, at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Devine were the parents of nine children: Mary, now the wife of T. O'Neill, a stonecutter who resides in San Jose; Teressa, who lives with her father; Agnes, the wife of C. Mensing, a grocery- man of Santa Barbara; Catherine, a graduate of the San Jose State Normal, is a teacher in the Lincoln grammar school in San Jose; Elizabeth is the wife of F. Gardner and they reside in San Francisco; Ellen. deceased in infancy; Joseph Mark is em-

G. 8. Rawlings

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ployed in the City of Paris store and resides in San Francisco; Augustin died when he was twelve years old; Ignatius is an engineer for the Southern Pa- cific Railroad Company and resides in San Jose. Mr. Devine has twelve grandchildren and three great- grandchildren. He was a member of the first volunteer fire department of San Jose, He is a Democrat in his political convictions. The family are active and prominent members of the St. Joseph's Catholic Church. He is well known throughout the county, and the esteem in which he is held is evi- dence of his well-spent life.

HON. PERLEY FRANCIS GOSBEY .- California owes much, as one of the most attractive corners of the world in which to live, thrive and be happy, to its distinguished members of the Bench and Bar, and prominent among whom may well be mentioned the Hon. Perley Francis Gosbey. Judge of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, where he has made Department Two widely known for the high stand- ards set in handling probate matters and the dispen- sation of justice. He was born on May 15, 1859, at Santa Clara, the son of Joseph F. and Sarah ( Smith) Gosbey who were married in 1856. Mr. Gosbey, Senior, was born in Nova Scotia in 1825, came to California via Panama in 1853 and settled in Santa Clara. He ran a hotel, called the Morgan House, in San Jose for a number of years, giving this up to en- gage in the shoe business, which he conducted for fifty years. He died in 1915, having reached almost ninety years of age. Mrs. Gosbey was born in Ohio in 1838, came to this state with her father, Ansyl Smith, crossing the Isthmus in 1852, and settled in Santa Clara; Mrs. Gosbey died in 1903. The later years of their lives Mr. and Mrs. Gosbey lived in Pa- cific Grove. There were two sons and two daughters in the Gosbey family, three of whom are still living.

Perley F. Gosbey pursued the elementary courses and was graduated from the Santa Clara high school in 1875. He then went to the University of the Pa- cific, and there in 1880 he was given his Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1881 he began teaching school and for four years was a teacher in the San Jose high school. Thus far he had laid the foundation for fu- ture attainment; but how well in this preparatory work he had builded can can be seen in the success he has attained as a professional man Having de- cided upon the law as his future field, Mr. Gosbey went East to the University of Michigan and there matriculated in the Law Department; in 1888 he re- ceived his parchment and the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In June of that year he was admitted to the Bar at Ann Arbor, Mich .; and having returned to his native State. Mr. Gosbey was admitted, in the follow- ing September, to practice at the California Bar. In November, 1908, after years of private practice in which he had proven himself exceptionally qualified for work on the Bench, Mr. Gosbey was elected Judge of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, and he has continued to hold that high office ever since.

On October 28, 1891, Mr. Gosbey was united in marriage with Miss Susan Rucker, the ceremony tak- ing place at San Jose. Mrs. Gosbey is a daughter of Joseph E. and Susan (Brown) Rucker, born in Santa Clara County and a gifted and attractive lady who has more and more shared in the Judge's increasing popularity. A prominent man in fraternal circles, Judge Gosbey is a Scottish Rite and Knights Tem-

plar Mason and a Shriner. He is a Past Grand Mas- ter of the Odd Fellows and Past Exalted Ruler of the Elks and belongs to Observatory Parlor No. 177, Native Sons of the Golden West and is a member of the California Pioneers of Santa Clara County. A native son, not merely in name but in the intensity of his patriotic spirit, Judge Gosbey has always been conspicuous for his public-spiritedness. For four years he was a member of the Board of Education of San Jose, acting as its president.

FRANK KENYON .- Three miles west of Santa Clara, on the Homestead Road, lies the finely im- proved ranch of ninety acres of Frank Kenyon, the son of that worthy pioneer, James Monroe Kenyon. When the father first located upon this land in 1850, having come to California the year previous; he set- tled as a squatter, and on discovering that it was private property, bought 242 acres. He was born in Ohio on the banks of the Ohio River just opposite the town of Vanceburg. His father, Jonathan Ken- yon, came to Ohio when a young man, and locating in Adams County followed agricultural pursuits until his death. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and while a resident of Ohio he acted as a justice of the peace and a lawyer. He married Sarah Strat- ton, a daughter of Aaron Stratton, a native of Vir- ginia and a soldier in the War of 1812, who removed to the Blue Grass state and engaged in the manu- facture of salt; he was an extensive slave owner and prominent in the community.

Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Kennedy were the parents of seven sons, James Monroe being next to the youngest. He received a fair education in the pub- lic schools and meantime helped his father on the farm until he was sixteen years old, when he was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade. After completing his trade he contracted throughout Adams County and in Cincinnati, then engaged in his trade in various parts of Missouri until 1849, when he started for California, making the trip with ox teams. In the Spring of 1850 he entered the mines, where he remained until the next fall, when he came to Santa Clara Valley: later purchased the property on which Frank Kenyon now resides. In Missouri he married Martha Roberts, the daughter of Woodford Roberts. They were the parents of six children, of whom only three are living; James M. resides at Saratoga; Emma is now Mrs. Slavens and resides at Santa Clara; and Frank, of this sketch.

A native of Santa Clara County, Frank Kenyon was born on the old Kenyon home place March 1, 1861, and went to school at Milligan Corners, later attending the private school of Mr. Collins at Santa Clara. He then assisted his father on the ranch, which was mostly in grain. When the father passed away, the ranch was divided among the children, Frank Kenyon receiving ninety-one acres as his por- tion of the estate. Of this all but twenty acres is in orchard. Fifty acres have been divided among his children, and the balance he retains as his home.

On April 18, 1883, in Linn County, Ore., Mr. Kenyon married Miss Martha Wheeler, a native of Albany, Ore. Her father was a native of Vermont. who came to Oregon in 1857 via the Isthmus of Panama; after his arrival in Oregon he engaged in teaching and later bought a ranch and farmed. Mrs. Kenyon began her education in Oregon, but finished it in Santa Clara. They are the parents of six

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children: Harvey, residing at Mountain View; Alfred W .; Anna; Harriet, Mrs. Meston, resides at Vic- toria, B. C .; Frank Jr .; and Elizabeth. In his political affiliations, Mr. Kenyon is a Republican.

JOHN M. BATTEE .- A figure prominent in county circles and the community life of San Jose for half a century and a man esteemed and respected by those early pioneers, many of them his business and social friends, John M. Battee passed away in this city October 30, 1921, at the age of ninety-three. He was one of the oldest members of the Garden City Lodge, I. O. O. F. His life was one of useful- ness and energy, which left its imprint in many ways upon the Santa Clara Valley. The records of the events of the supervisors' meetings of 1870 show how active Mr. Battee was in that period. He was elected and assumed the office of county supervisor on March 7, 1870, and continued as a member and chairman of the board until March 4, 1878. This was a time when San Jose was growing steadily and beginning to assume proportions other than the cen- ter of an agricultural district. On June 2, 1874. James Lick executed his first trust deed setting aside his estate for charitable and educational work, among the provisions of that document being those giving $25,000 for the purpose of establishing an orphan asylum in San Jose and appropriating $700,000 for an observatory on land belonging to him near Lake Tahoe, in Placer County. Gratitude for the former gift, in resolutions prepared by Judge Belden, of San Jose, was so deeply acknowledged that Mr. Lick changed the location for the observatory and in August, 1875, with Hon. B. D. Murphy, then mayor of San Jose, visited Mount Hamilton. An offer was made to locate the observatory on Mount Hamilton it the county would construct the road to the sum- mit. On January 9, 1877, the Lick board of trustees and county supervisors made an official inspection. The following is quoted from H. S. Foote's "Pen Pic- tures from the Garden of the World:" "Probably the most carnest and untiring friend of the road was Supervisor J. M. Battee. To his devotion to the cause is due, more than to any other one man, the successful termination of the great work that has attracted the attention of the scientific world to the summit of Mount Hamilton." Mr. Battee was a man who was modest and plain in manner and speech. determined, honest in all his dealings and one of the most far-sighted and efficient county officials of the closing quarter of the past century. Many obstacles faced the supervisors in building the road. Mr. Battee stood determinedly through them all. The valuation of the county at that time was about forty millions. To build a road costing approxi- mately $135,000 was considered quite a bite from the tax levy. Under the guidance of John M. Battee the road was built without a bond issue, excepting for a small portion, totaling about $12,000 at the mountain end Mr. Batter was a native of Mary- land. born on November 3, 1827. He came via Pan- ama to California in the early fifties, and here he was married to Miss Clarissa Mckean, a native of Ohio, who died many years ago. For years the family resided at their home on Sunol Street, San

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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 86

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