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 96

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

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Luther Cunningham is the youngest of a family of six boys and three girls and was primarily educated in the public schools of Saratoga, after which he took the four years' Chautauqua Scientific and Literary Course. Being the youngest of the family, he re- mained with his father on the old farm assisting him in every way. In the spring of 1889 he invented the Cunningham prune dipper, a machine for dipping prunes and opened a shop for its manufacture in San Jose. From the very beginning the business grew and he took in as partner Mr. Barngrover, under the name of Cunningham & Barngrover and they be- came the manufacturers of nearly every machine used in the dried fruit business, Mr. Cunningham inventing these labor-saving devices. The business grew to such proportions and because of severe strain and close application to business, Mr. Cunningham's health failed, so he sold his interest in 1901 to Mr. Barngrover; a year later it became the Anderson-

Barngrover Company, now employing hundreds of men in the manufacture of fruit machinery. An in- teresting incident occurred about eight or nine years ago, when one of the early pioneer fruit dippers made by Mr. Cunningham and used by Pyle Brothers as a dipper for peaches, was exhibited, in the Los Angeles branch of U. S. Circuit Court as evidence in the case of Duntley vs. California Canneries for in- fringement and won for the defendants. The fact is that the canneries all over the world, where the lye peeling process is in use, are using a machine involv- ing the principles of the old Cunningham dipper. Nearly all the machinery used at the present time in the dried fruit and packing business are the inventions of Mr. Cunningham, such as the grader, with complete processor including elevators, as well as a number of machines used in handling green fruit. Another of his inventions now manufactured and in general use is the Cunningham pulverizer and land roller.

In 1901 Mr. Cunningham removed to his ranch at Morgan Hill and for seventeen years was prominently known in the south end of the county as a buyer and shipper of fruit. He continued to reside there until 1920 when he purchased his father's old homestead ar Saratoga, where he now resides with his family. Mr. Cunningham's marriage in San Jose in 1897 united him with Mrs. Eleanor Tomkin Rootes who was born in Santa Clara, a daughter of Dr. Alfred Royce and Martha Frances ( Forbes) Tomkin, born in England and California respectively. Dr. Tomkin, who had studied medicine under his father, Dr. Thos. M. Tomkin, in England, came around Cape Horn in a sailing vessel to California in 1849, became inter- ested in mining at Mud Springs and then in 1854 he came to Santa Clara and opened the first drug store; here he married Miss Forbes, a daughter of that prominent old pioneer, James Alexander Forbes, a man of letters, who wrote the first history of Califor- nia, and is represented on another page of this work. Later Dr. Tomkin was interested in the drug business in San Jose; he was coroner and public administrator of Santa Clara County for eight years and held the office until his death. By a former marriage, Mrs. Cunningham had two sons, Thomas P. and Edward L. Edward L. enlisted with the Canadian army before the United States entered the war, with the First Cana- dian Pioneer Battalion and served from March to November of 1916; from November, 1916, to June, 1917, he was in the Sixty-seventh Canadian Scottish and One Hundred Second Canadian Infantry. He was wounded in France about June 1, 1917, and removed to England where he was in the hospital until August 4, 1917. From August 4, 1917, to the end of 1918 he was at the Canadian Paymaster's office as staff sergeant. He was engaged in all the battles of the Somme, Vimy Ridge, and Lenz, and is now in London. Thomas P. enlisted in the U. S. Army, but remained on home soil. He now holds an important position with the Shell Oil Company at Long Beach, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham's union has been blessed with one child, Lutheria Frances. For twelve years Mr. Cunningham was a member of the Democratic County Central Committee. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham are active in civic circles and both take a keen interest in the growth and develop- ment of this great commonwealth where their an- cestors were pioneers.

Luther Cunningham

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

M. M. SOUZA .- Actively identified for many years with the dairy interests of Santa Clara is M. M. Souza, a wealthy capitalist, who started out in the world empty-handed, and his present prosperity has been won through his initiative spirit, his ready recogni- tion and utilization of opportunity and his splnedid administrative and executive ability. He was born on the Island of St. George, in the Azores group, No- vember 14, 1854, and there his parents, Tony and Maria Souza, spent their entire lives. The father followed the occupation of farming and passed away at the advanced age of ninety, while the mother was also ninety years of age at the time of her demise. In their family were six children: Tony, who became second mate on a vessel plying between Boston, Mass., and England, in which country his death occurred; M. M., of this review; Jasper, who still resides in the Azores, where he is cultivating a farm; Joaquin J., a rancher living near Sunnyvale; Marion, who is the widow of A. Potosi and makes her home in Santa Clara; and John, who owns a ranch near Mountain View.

The boyhood of M. M. Souza was a period of earnest and unremitting toil and he had no educa- tional opportunities, but in the school of experience he has learned many valuable lessons. When twenty years of age he came to the United States, landing at Boston, Mass., whence he proceeded to Newport, R. I., where he worked for three or four months. In the fall of 1876 he set out for California, and after reaching San Francisco he made his way to San Rafael, Marin County, where he obtained work as milker on a dairy farm. With his earnings he was later able to rent a dairy farm of 100 acres near San Rafael which he conducted for several years, afterward going to Larkspur where he also rented a 100 acre farm on which he engaged in dairying. His next removal took him to Stanislaus County and in the vicinity of Newman he purchased a farm of seventy acres, on which for many years he operated a dairy, being still the owner of that property. In October, 1903, he purchased his present home farm of fifty acres, on which he erected a beautiful resi- dence, and the property is now within the corporate limits of Santa Clara and is very valuable. He has added many improvements thereto and for several years conducted a dairy, but has recently sold his cows and is now leasing the property to two young men, while two of his sons are operating the ranch near Newman. His business affairs have been most capably managed and the years have chronicled his growing success.

While residing in San Rafael, Mr. Souza was mar- ried at San Francisco to Miss Maria Borba and they have become the parents of six children: Manuel M., Jr .. who is operating his father's farm near Newman, is a veteran of the World War, serving for four months on the French front with a machine gun battalion; Jasper is a dairyman and resides at San Jose; Tony is assisting his brother in managing the dairy near Newman; John is teller in the Santa Clara branch of the Bank of Italy, of which his father is a stockholder; Maria and George are at home. A stanch Republican in his political views Mr. Souza is a faithful member of the Santa Clara Catholic Church. He also belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the U. P. E. C. and the I. D. E. S. For forty-five years he has resided within the borders

of California and is widely and favorably known in this section of the state. His is a most creditable record, and he deserves classification with the self- made men and substantial citizens of Santa Clara.

DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HEADEN .- Pre- eminent among the distinguished citizens of Santa Clara County who by their public-spiritedness, their education and culture, their foresight and experience, and their wealth and willingness to place some of it at the disposal of or for the benefit of their fellow- men, have done most to develop the resources of the state, lay broad and deep the foundations of a great commonwealth, and open up new paths for the health, comfort, prosperity and happiness of those coming after, was assuredly the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin Headen, known to his intimates as a con- scientious Christian gentleman, and to the public at large as the owner of one of the princely estates at Santa Clara, and as a very enterprising, scientific experimenter whose one ambition was to accom- plish something whereby he could add to the con- tent of life and the purpose in living. A native of the Old Dominion, he inherited that which elevated him to something above the average run of men. He was born on November 24, 1813, the son of Joseph and Mary Headen, who moved to Kentucky when he was a lad. He passed his youth in Headen- ville, Shelby County, a pretty village named in honor of his father, a man who was looked up to by every- one on account of his exemplary walk in life and his unswerving integrity and lofty ideals. He was a regular attendant at Headen Chapel, which was built by his father, and served that community as the one place in which to worship. The village had the usual attractions of a small community in com- fortable Kentucky; but the ambition of the young man led him to look beyond into the outer and larger world, and to resolve to take his place in the upper councils of men where he could be of the greatest service.

He resolved, therefore, to educate himself for the medical profession, and took a course in the Worth- ington Medical College in Ohio, from which he was ditly graduated with high honors in May, 1837. Then he removed to Indiana, furnished an office and hung out his shingle, and immediately commenced to prac- tice. Having established a comfortable home, he continued as a practitioner until 1852, when he re- sponded to the lure of California, then on every- one's lips as the land of gold, and set out with his family across the plans.

The party arrived in the Santa Clara Valley in October, and soon after he bought sixty-one acres just beyond the town-limits of Santa Clara; and there he erected an attractive, comfortable residence for his family and otherwise began to improve the prop- erty. He experienced no end of difficulties at the outset, however, for building materials were scarce and hard to procure, and what made matters worse, the rains interfered both with hanling and construc- tion. But perseverance enabled him and his family at last to enjoy the shelter they had longed for, and then Dr. Headen, with characteristic push and the far-sightedness of one who discerned what Santa Clara County some day would be, devoted his at- tention and energies to clearing off the land and pre- paring it for immediate cultivation. It had been in a wild state of nature, prior to his coming there.

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the soil unbroken and the rank mustard so high that when hunting for his strayed cattle. Dr. Headen had to stand on the back of one ox to enable him to find the others.

But, notwithstanding all the impediments, the im- provements progressed, and flower seeds, many of them carried across the great plains in the Doctor's pockets, were planted, young trees were brought from the mountains in little sacks of earth and set out, and soon under the deft hand and exquisite. well- balanced taste for which our subject was noted, "the wilderness began to blossom as the rose." Far ahead of many even who had pitched their tent in that neighborhood prior to Dr. Headen's coming, he rap- idly brought the land under cultivation, simple at first and then higher and more complex, planting his acre- age first to cereals, then in rather an extensive way to strawberries and other small fruits, and finally lay- ing out both an orchard and a vineyard of such choice varieties of fruits that his ranch became, without his particularly planning it, the show place of the country thereabouts. It was Dr. Headen who first grew vegetable and flower seeds at Santa Clara on a con- mercial scale, and thereby opened the way to a busi- ness which has always prospered in that section, prob- ably owing to the excellent soil and climatic condi- tions, and which has made wealthy men of many coming after him, and millionaires of some. It is sad to contemplate, therefore, that all of Dr. Headen's family are now deceased save one daughter, Thomas- ine, the wife of L. H. Albertson, who resides with her husband on the old place. The sequoias, now very large, are among the most imposing, if silent testimonials to the master mind and godly heart once so eloquently active here. Thousands pass by the place daily on their way to and from San Fran- cisco who enjoy the benefits of Dr. Headen's work. which thus still lives on in the lives of others. a delightful expression of scenic beauty, as it is still one of the most stately country homes in or near Santa Clara.

In March, 1853, Dr. Headen was chosen one of the trustees of the young and struggling Univer- sity of the Pacific, and with his soul full of ideals. the institution, for which he felt that there was great need, soon became the idol of his heart. For twenty years he served as trustee and in that re- sponsible capacity, he devoted much valuable time and hard labor to assist it to get well established. develop and grow. He was for years secretary of the board, and when the main college building was being erected, he was the treasurer. From his ad- vent here. Dr. Headen was a faithful and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in that body also he served as trustee and steward. When, therefore, he laid aside the cares of this life which he had done so much to make easier for others and to ennoble, on August 28, 1875, his remains were buried according to the ceremonial of the Masonic Order, of which he was a member, and followed to the grave by a large procession of devoted, admir- ing and mourning friends.

For some years following the Doctor's demise, Mrs. Headen, who was in maidenhood Henrietta Harvey, a native of Cornwall, England, occupied the splendid homestead, one of the most beautiful in the Val- ley. and with rare business acumen and understand- ing for a woman, successfully managed the vineyard

and orchard, which under her clever supervision yielded a fine income, to say nothing of the first prizes taken for products. Now that she, too, has passed to the great Beyond, Mr. and Mrs. Albert- son endeavor to take their place and have built an up-to-date country house which serves to maintain the status of the place in its palmy days. Dr. Headen's pioneer work in the upbuilding of the coun- ty, both in agriculture and horticulture as well as his stand for righteousness and high morals, will never be forgotten and his. memory will always be revered by thousands who appreciate his devotion and self- sacrifice in having opened up new paths where others feared or failed to tread.

RICHARD MCCARTHY .- The present comp- troller of the California Prune and Apricot Growers. Inc., who resides with his family on the Oakland Road in the suburbs of San Jose, is Richard Mc- Carthy. A native of New York State, he was born August 16, 1872. in New York City, the son of Cornelius and Mary Elizabeth ( Malone) McCarthy. The father was born and reared in County Kerry, Ireland, while the mother was a native of County Mayo, Ireland. Cornelius McCarthy came to Amer- ica and California in 1874 and settled in San Jose. when there were only two hotels in the place. He was engaged as warehouse foreman for the Southern Pacific and for many years had charge of the ware- house in San Jose.

Richard attended school in San Jose, later taking a course at the San Jose Business College. After finishing his business course, he was employed by the Standard Oil Company and in time became the special agent for the San Jose division. At the time he had charge of the work. it was a one-man job and Mr. McCarthy has witnessed its wonderful growth in San Jose. For ten years he was with this company and left to take a position as assistant cashier of the Safe Deposit Bank and worked in this capacity for eleven and a half years. On account of failing health, he gave up banking business and went to ranching. He purchased a five-acre place on the Milpitas Road and built a splendid house. In 1912, besides running his own ranch, he had charge of the 130-acre ranch belonging to his wife on the Alviso Road. After five years of outdoor life he felt sufficiently recuperated to accept the position of chief accountant with the Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc .. in 1917, and was later advanced to his present position as comptroller.

The marriage of Mr. McCarthy occurred in San Jose on June 16. 1896, and united him with Miss Mary Elizabeth Bellew, a daughter of Michael and Elizabeth E. (Kinney) Bellew. Michael Bellew was a native of Ireland, and came to California in 1872 via the Panama route. He settled in Milpitas and in time acquired about 800 acres of land, which was devoted to the raising of grain and fruit, and he also kept quite an extensive dairy. There were five chil- dren in the Bellew family, Mrs. McCarthy being the third. Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy are the parents of three children: Gertrude E .. a graduate of the con- vent of Notre Dame: Aloy C., a graduate of the San Jose High School and of the University of Santa Clara, and Richard 1., a graduate of the law depart- ment of the University of Santa Clara. Politically Mr. McCarthy is a stanch Republican, and fratern- ally he is a member of the Knights of Columbus and served five years as financial secretary of the San

gun Christian

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Jose lodge. For three years he was the treasurer of the State Normal School at San Jose. He is a firm believer in the continued prosperity and growth of Santa Clara County and is ready at all times to lend a helping hand to measures that tend to the ad- vancement of the state and county.

CHARLES W. CHRISTIAN .- More than one pioneer family with the most interesting history are represented in the life story of Charles W. Christian, the wide-awake manager of the John Christian Manu- facturing Company, at 1194 Lick Avenue, San Jose. He was born on August 8, 1869, on the corner of First and William streets, San Jose, on the very spot where the John Christian shop stood for so many years. His father, John Christian, a native of the Isle of Man, was born in 1840 and crossed the ocean alone at the age of fourteen, coming via the Isthmus of Panama to San Francisco. He made his way to Stockton and worked for his uncle, Charles Chris- tian, a blacksmith. A year later, in 1855, he came to San Jose and served his appenticeship with Bonner & Mckenzie, pioneer machinists and blacksmiths. After completing his apprenticeship he worked at his trade: also working in the New Almaden quick- silver mines in Santa Clara County for six months; he then returned to San Jose, about 1861, and started in business for himself at the corner of First and William streets, building a shop on his own prop- erty. He began making steel teeth for threshers and was the first man ever known to make steel-laid teeth, and as California was then a great wheat country, his business grew rapidly. He was married in San Jose to Miss Sarah Pierce, who was born in Illinois and came with her parents across the plains with ox teams in 1851. The maternal grandfather, Col. George Pierce, was a pioneer farmer, He had served in the Black Hawk Indian war as colonel, and first came to California in 1848, crossing the plains; later he returned East for his family, bring- ing them out to California in 1851. He was a black- smith, owning and operating a shop in Stockton, and in 1848 he traded a block of land in the heart of Stockton for a team and plow to start farming. In those days he received as high as $80 for shoeing an ox on all four feet. He was an early settler in San Jose and bought a farm in The Willows. An active member of the Episcopal Church and a teacher in the Sunday School, he passed away in San Jose.

John Christian and his wife were married in 1864 in an old stone house at Fifth and St. John streets, San Jose, that is still standing. She was a member of the Baptist Church and passed away April 27, 1906, her husband surviving until June 1, 1909. They were the parents of nine children: Mrs. Laura Marchant, who resides in Oakland; Mrs. Dora Nagle of San Jose; Charles W., the subject of this sketch; Ada, Mrs. Maynard, passed away in San Francisco about eight years ago; Mrs. Sarah L. Martin of San Jose; George Lewis died at the age of eighteen years; Clarence Richard passed away when twenty-eight; Mrs. Alice Verser resides in San Jose, and Mrs. Mable Coleman in Oakland. All the chil- dren living are interested in the John Christian Man- ufacturing Company, so it is a "family affair."

Charles W. went to the public schools in San Jose and at the age of fourteen, in 1883, joined his father in the shop where he continued to work for thirty- four years, learning the blacksmith and machinist trade from the bottom up under his father. The first year after he started, they made 35,000 steel-laid teeth 30

and since then have made 450,000 in a season. To accomplish this it was necessary to invent machinery for their speedy manufacture. The steel-laid teeth are all forged under a triphammer, which they invented and built, and they have a capacity of 3,000 a day, all hand-made. In 1920 the factory, 60x80 feet, was built at 1194 Lick Avenue, with cement floor, electric power, for the manufacture of steel-laid teeth for harvesters. On January 2, 1906, the business was incorporated under the name of the John Christian Manufacturing Company, the father being president, and since his death Charles W. has taken his place as president and manager. The shop employs ten men, who make steel-laid teeth for harvesters, turn- ing out all the teeth required by the Holt Tractor Company, the Ventura Manufacturing Company, and a dozen other firms. The selection of the steel, its hardening and final tempering is a thing Mr. Chris- tian has acquired from years of experience, so that the steel-laid teeth made by this concern are more serviceable than any other in the market; people who know claiming that they wear 300 per cent longer. Such has been Mr. Christian's success here that he is naturally very much interested in the de- velopment and the future of both San Jose and Santa Clara County, and in the Chamber of Commerce.

In 1890, at San Jose, Mr. Christian was married to Miss Annie Leddy, born in San Jose, the daughter of Daniel Leddy, another esteemed pioneer; and their union has been blessed with six children, all of whom have reflected the highest credit upon the family name. Hazel is Mrs. C. McGraw of San Jose; Elmer served in the United States Army in the World War, and is now with his father as his right-hand man; Cecil has become Mrs. Orin Bryant, also of San Jose; and the others are Gertrude, Leslie and Elva. Mr. Christian is a member of the Woodmen of the World, and those who know his genial nature need not be told that there are few, if any, more popular.

JAMES T. BABB .- A member of the Babb fam- ily, well-known among the early settlers of Santa Clara County, James T. Babb, has spent all his life in this vicinity, where he is one of its highly es- teemed residents. He was born on June 9, 1872, at the ranch home of the family in Babb Canyon, near Gilroy, the only son of Thomas and Annie (Babb) Babb. He was deprived of a father's love and care, Thomas Babb having been drowned in December, 1871, in the rushing waters of Pacheco Creek, six months before our subject's birth. Mrs. Babb lived to be sixty-two, passing away in 1918, while residing at Redwood City, The Babb family were early set- ilers of Eastern Tennessee, having come to America from England in the eighteenth century, members of the family having come to California as early as 1857, when James Babb, father of Silas Babb and uncle of our subject, landed here.

James T. Babb attended the public school at Gil- roy and when only fourteen years old entered the employ of Eustice Brothers, blacksmiths there, to learn the trade, and he was with that firm for sixteen years. Early in 1908 Mr. Babb established the Gil- roy Agricultural Works, with Mr. Scofield ot Gilroy as his partner, and after eight years he disposed of his interest to take a position with the Southern Pacific in the car department at Gilroy. Two years later he went to Morgan Hill and became the man- ager of the Telfers Blacksmith Shop, doing all kinds of iron and wood work. Thoroughly efficient and

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practical, Mr. Babb has built up a splendid business there, conducting it in a most systematic way and employing five men to assist him.

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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 96

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