History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 100

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1934

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At Santa Clara, in 1902, Mr. Fatjo was married to Miss Teresa Farry, who was born and reared in that place; and their union has been blessed with the birth of two children .- Mary Teresa and Robert A. Jr. The family are members of St. Claire's Catholic Church at Santa Clara while Mr. Fatjo is a charter member of San Jose Council, Knights of Columbus, and is also a member of Santa Clara Parlor, N. S. G. W.

LOUIS LIEBER .- A man of artistic tastes and an able craftsman, Louis Lieber is easily recognized as the veteran commercial artist of San Jose. His business is conducted under the name of Lieber Signs and is located at 63 South Second Street. A native of Illinois, Mr. Lieber was born at Rock Island, on September 26. 1862, the youngest child in a family of three children. At the age of eleven he was brought to California by his father, who left him with an uncle and annt, Mr. and Mrs. A. Gerst- mayr, early residents of San Jose, and by them he was reared. He attended the public school until he was thirteen and then was apprenticed to a car- riage painter, remaining a little over two years, when he went to learn the trade of sign painter with D. Rinaldo, at that time the best of workmen in his line in the state. At these two trades he served about seven years and then, at the age of twenty. he went East and worked in several of the larger cities for about a year, coming back to San Jose to embark in business for himself and since then has built up and carried on a large business.

Though the earlier years of his existence was somewhat of a struggle, yet Mr. Lieber has always

chosen his associates among the best element of the city. He is a close friend of Eugene T. Sawyer, the historian of this work, whose literary and dra- matic ability he greatly admires. Mr. Lieber be- lieves that practice makes perfect and his decided talent for sign painting was developed until he be- came very proficient in it. He has now been en- gaged in this work for himself for thirty-eight years and does work for the leading commercial houses and professional men in San Jose and also in that vicinity. He takes great pride in the achievements of San Jose and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. In the early days he took part in many amateur theatrical performances staged in San Jose. He has many warm friends among the old-time resi- dents and business people in San Jose who appreciate his talent and many sterling characteristics.

WILLIAM L. FITTS .- A pioneer family whose paternal and maternal branches both reach back to historic periods and touch some of the earliest and most interesting families long identified with Cali- fornia is well represented by William L. Fitts, the plumbing contractor of 51 West St. John Street. San Jose, who was born in Santa Clara, June 25, 1865. His father, William Fitts, came to California by way of the Isthmus in 1852 and married Dolores Pinedo, a member of a well-known Spanish family. who was educated at Notre Dame College. The old Pinedo estate at Santa Clara, recently sold by the family was a Pinedo possession for a hundred years. Our subject's Grandfather Pinedo was a mer- chant tailor at Santa Clara in the early days and his great-grandmother was a Berryessa.

William Fitts, Sr., ran a bus between San Jose and Santa Clara before the era of horse cars, and when they were built, he went to work for the car company. Then for six or seven years he was town marshal of Santa Clara, and when he removed to San Jose in 1881, he was appointed jailer under Sheriff Williams. After his term of four years he entered the employ of the horse-car line as superin- tendent. continuing about ten years until it was changed to an electric line. He then was employed by the city until his death. March 14. 1916.

aged almost eighty years. His wife had preceded him in 1910. Eight daughters and three sons were born to this worthy couple and William L. was the eldest; Laura is Mrs. George Pollard, the wife of the assistant manager of the gas company; Charles. Lena. Carmelita, Ida and Minnie; Grace is Mrs. Sherburne; three of the children died.

William L. Fitts attended the primary department of the College of the Pacific and then completed the grammar schools; when sixteen years old he went to work at the plumbing business, joining John Cor- coran on January 23, 1882, and serving a three-year apprenticeship. Then he entered the service of John Stock and was with him for three years, and in 1890 opened a shop for himself. For thirty years or more his well-known plumbing and repair head- quarters were at 107 North First Street, but he is now comfortably established at 51 West St. John Street, where two of his sons are associated with him; thus he has followed plumbing in San Jose for forty years.

At San Jose, January 1, 1889, Mr. Fitts was mar- ried to Miss Katie Eyselee, a native of Gilroy. Cal .. the daughter of Albert and Sarah (Plass) Eyselec.

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the father one of the early-timers at that place. having come from New York. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fitts; William is a plumber, working with his father; Emery is an auto trimmer: Walter is also in business with his father; Dolores is Mrs. Walker; Katherine is head nurse at the State Hospital at San Francisco, and the youngest is Evelyn. Mr. Fitts belongs to the Red Men and the Eagles at San Jose.

AMOS LESTER .- The life record of an honor- able and upright citizen and an industrious and suc- cessful agriculturist and horticulturist is illustrated in the career of Amos Lester, prominent among the pioneer residents of Santa Clara Valley. Linked with the early history of Ledyard, New London County, Conn., records chronicle the arrival of the Lester family there at almost the same time as the Ledyards, for whom the town was named; the bear- ers of the name of Lester reflected credit on the family through their patriotic service during the War of the Revolution. Grandfather Amos Lester, for whom the subject of this sketch was named, was probably born at Ledyard, and died there in 1842, at the age of sixty-six. Much of his life was spent at the old homestead, which housed three genera- tions of the family. There his son, Isaac Lester, was born on March 4. 1810, and there Amos Lester, the son of Isaac, first saw the light on December 3, 1839. Isaac Lester married Mary Chapman, born March 12, 1815, also a member of an old Colonial fam- ily of New London County, and the daughter of 1chabod Chapman, a prosperous farmer there, and two daughters and nine sons were born to them.

The eldest child in the family of Isaac Lester. Amos Lester grew up at the old home place, at- tending the public schools there, and then attend- ing the New Britain Normal School for two terms, after which he taught school for a time, receiving a salary of fourteen dollars a month, boarding around with the parents of the different pupils, as was the custom at that time. In 1861 he came to California via Panama and located on a ranch in Napa County; he was accompanied by his brother Nathan L., their combined capital being less than a hundred dollars. He worked out until 1864, when the two brothers leased land and engaged in wheat growing, meet- ing with success, so that by 1866, Mr. Lester had accumulated $7500, so he decided to return to his Con- necticut home, making the trip by way of the Nicar- agua route. He soon established himself at Nor- wich, Conn., and on May 28, 1868, he was united in marriage with Miss Carrie G. Spicer, who was born at Ledyard, on May 28, 1850, one of eight chil- dren born to Judge Edmund and Bethiah W. (Avery) Spicer. Judge Spicer, who was born at Ledyard in 1812, was a man of prominence in his day, serv- ing as probate judge of his native town for fifteen years and was also a member of the Connecticut Legislature. He passed away in 1890, while Mrs. Spicer, who was born in 1817, had preceded him to the Great Beyond in March, 1886.

Mr. Lester continued in business in Connecticut un- til 1869, when California again called him. Making the trip by way of Panama, he settled at Pinole, where for two years he engaged in grain farming, returning to his native state by rail on this occasion. There he resumed farming on his place near Norwich and served as selectman of Ledyard. In 1890 he

again came West, this time accompanied by his wife and four children, and after spending a year near San Jose, he took up his home on the ranch four miles southeast of Gilroy that was for so many years the family home. Here he purchased 463 acres of land, and this was brought to a high state of culti- vation under his efficient and painstaking care. A number of acres were planted to fruit trees, and thorough in this as in all his work, Mr. Lester made an extensive study of horticulture, mastering the lat- est scientific methods of his time and applying them in a practical way to his problems as they arose. He also took his place in the business and financial life of California and was a member of the board of directors of the Napa Bank.

Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Les- ter, three of whom passed away in Connecticut: Mary Carrie at the age of sixteen. Amos Everett when twelve, and an infant son. Those now living are Henry W., a prominent orchardist of Edenvale, he married Ethel Cottle and they have a daughter, Edith Ethel; Charles C. married Henrietta Pieri, and is a large orchardist at Gilroy; John S., an orchardist at Rucker, married Viola Nichols; Minnie is the wife of Charles J. Clark and they have two sons, Charles L. and Everett Spicer, and reside in San Jose; Mil- ton married Norine Davis and they have a daughter, Florence; he is also an orchardist and resides at San Jose. Wishing to retire from active business life, Mr. Lester sold his ranch to his son, Charles C., and with his wife makes his home with his daugh- ter, Mrs. Clark, on Minnesota Avenue, San Jose, where they live in comfortable retirement. Mrs.

Carrie Spicer Lester was reared in an atmosphere of culture and refinement in the New England home of her parents at Ledyard, Conn., and there she also learned the habits of thrift and economy. The benefi- cent influence of her early training she carried with her to her western home, thus capably guiding the education and training of her children. A woman of much business acumen, she has materially aided her husband and encouraged him in his ambitions, as- sisting him to make a success of all his affairs, so now in the afternoon of their life they are enjoy- ing the fruits of a well-spent life and are honored and esteemed by everyone who knows them. Mr. and Mrs. Lester are both consistent Republicans and throughout their life have been identified with the Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Lester was for many years an elder.

OSCAR E. GLANS .- A native-born citizen of California, and a son of Olaf S. Glans, a pioneer of the early '70s, a native of Sweden. Oscar E. Glans has always taken great interest in the welfare of the state, and by his industry and strict attention to business has succeeded in his chosen life work. He was born in San Jose April 29, 1885, where his boy- hood was spent and where he received his education in the public schools, supplementing this with a course at the Alexander Hamilton Institute of New York City. His life has been spent in learning various lines, first working as a cigar maker for five years, then in a bakery for one year; then he became a cobbler. In this line of work he soon became very efficient, becoming an expert operator on shoe-repairing machinery. He then entered the employ of J. E. Stuart, one of San Jose's leading shoe dealers, and worked as shoe repairman for one

Carrie G. Lester.

Amor Lester

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

year. For the next ten years he worked as sales- man with this firm. In July, 1913, he began working for Walter Brodey, owner and proprietor of the Walk-Over Boot Shop, and in one year was ad- vanced to the position of manager, where he has remained up to the present time.

Mr. Glans' marriage occurred in June, 1911, and united him with Miss Josephine Peterson, a daugh- ter of J. M. Peterson, a pioneer of Santa Clara County, now deceased. They are the parents of two children, Florence and Eugene. The family are active and prominent members of the Immanuel Swedish Lutheran Church; Mr. Glans serving on the board of trustees and Mrs. Glans being active in musical lines. Mr. Glans is identified with the Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants Asso- ciation, and of Observatory Parlor No. 177, N. S. G. W. Personally he is a man of culture, with busi- ness ability, energy and earnestness of purpose, and has made his presence felt in the community which has numbered him among its citizens since his birth.

JAMES MURRIN .- A retired merchant whose years of strenuous, fruitful activity well merited a comfortable competency and rest, is James Murrin of 795 South Ninth Street, San Jose, which city he has seen grow from a very small place, and where he was born, on September 7, 1858, on Third Street near the present site of the Jewish Synagogue. His parents were Michael and Ann (Cogan) Murrin, and they were natives of County Sligo, Ireland, who came to New York when they were young. Michael Murrin continued in that metropolis until 1855. working as a laborer, and on coming to California. by way of Panama, he stopped for a short time at Oakland. The city did not appeal to him, however, and so he proceeded on to San Jose. For two or three years he continued to work for wages, and then he went in for landscape gardening, in which field he did very well. This sturdy pioneer, who died in 1915 respected of all men, lived to be ninety years old, although his good wife, also beloved by those who knew her well, reached only her seventy-sixth year. They had a family of seven children of whom James was the fifth.

Growing up in San Jose, the lad enjoyed only a brief grammar school training, and few additional favorable opportunities, and when eighteen years old he started to make his own way in the world. He worked for ten years in the store of James Hart. the grocer who was called the Coffee King, and then he opened a grocery for himself. on Keyes Street in San Jose. and for twenty-five years engaged in business at that stand. Then he sold out and retired from active life. Except for a short time in San Francisco, Mr. Murrin has spent all of his life in San Jose, and it is natural that he should look backward and forward with peculiar interest.

At San Francisco on August 30. in 1885, Mr. Mur- rin was married to Miss Mary Devitt, a native of that city and the daughter of Frank and Katherine (Meehan) Devitt, early California settlers, her father having been a very successful merchant in the Bay City. She was educated in Presentation Convent in San Francisco. One son, Frank J. Murrin, was the pride of our subject and his wife. He had been a dealer in Goodyear tires for four years when the war broke out, and October 1, 1918, he entered the army and was sent to Fort McDowell as a clerk. 31

There he was taken sick with the influenza, and on October 18, 1918, he died at the government hos- pital, a severe blow to the parents as well as to all his friends. Mr. Murrin is now among the oldest resi- dents of his town and at one time knew almost every man and woman who came to town.

JOHN C. F. STAGG .- Among the men who liave contributed the greater part of their lives toward the upbuilding of California mention must be made of John C. F. Stagg, who for nearly half a century has been an important factor in the commercial, financial and political status of the county of Santa Clara. He was born June 1, 1863, at Du Quoin, Il1 .. a son of Rev. I. M. and Marial (Thomas) Stagg, the father, a native of New Jersey, while the mother was born and reared in Michigan. They were the parents of ten children. The Rev. Stagg was a noted Methodist minister and was associated with the famous pioneer circuit rider, Peter Cartwright. Both of these pioneer missionary preachers were noted for their courage and determination. in following their chosen line of work, and while they agreed perfectly in religious convictions they disagreed in political affiliations, but each one of them were equally powerful as pulpit orators. Rev. Stagg passed away at Du Quoin in 1875.

The paternal ancestors of Mr. Stagg emigrated from Holland 200 years ago, when three brothers left their native land and settled in New Jersey. All three of them were in the Revolutionary War, and bravely fought under General Washington. The maternal ancestors were of English descent, the progenitor of the Thomas family having emigrated to America in early colonial days; our subject's ma- ternal great-grandfather being the famous infidel, Thomas Paine. Mr. Stagg has two sisters living in San Jose at the present time; Mrs. Launtz, the widow of Frank Launtz, an old-time scout and nur- seryman, and Mrs. King, the widow of Wilmont King, a railroad man.

On account of the large family. John Stagg was obliged to leave the parental roof and make his own way. For four years he sold newspapers, blacked boots, and did other things for a livelihood in St. Louis, Mo .; later going to Kansas City where he remained for a year. He then obtained employment in the railroad service over the Denver and Rio Grande extension through Colorado, checking and billing freight. His education was obtained solely through practical experience, and was therefore the most valuable. For a period of three years when he was eighteen, he was separated from his family; meanwhile his mother with her family had removed to California and settled at Salinas, having been residents since 1878. The family came to San Jose during the year of 1880, where they have continu- ously resided, and where the mother passed away about 1892. Mr. Stagg was employed by J. P. Jarman, the leading house painting contractor forty years ago, and it was while in his employ that he thoroughly learned the painting business. For the last twenty-five years he has conducted his own business, and many stores and residences attest his ability as a painter and decorator of all kinds of structures. The Continental Paint Company, of which he is president, carries a full line of paints, varnishes, wall paper, roofing, window glass and painters' supplies, and well deserve the large

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

patronage which they enjoy. From eight to forty men are employed in his business.

The marriage of Mr. Stagg on August 16, 1897, united him with Miss Margaret E. O'Keefe, a music teacher, born and reared in San Francisco. They are the parents of one child, Helen, a graduate of the San Jose high school and of Heald's Business College, who is now employed as stenographer and bookkeeper in her father's store. Thoroughly hon- orable in all his dealings, enterprising and public- spirited, this esteemed pioneer has made and re- tained friends all along the line of his useful life, and he may well view with pride and satisfaction the work he has accomplished.

JACOB LUTHER .- Numbered among the sturdy early settlers of California who passed through the vicissitudes and hardships of pioneer life with credit and honor to themselves, is the late Jacob Luther, who contributed much to the upbuilding of the Santa Clara Valley during the long years of his residence here. He was born in Germany in 1840, the son of Jacob and Louise Luther, who brought their family to America when Jacob was a baby, settling at Delafield, Wis., where he later received a good education in the schools of that locality. Early in life he learned the harness maker's trade at Water- loo, Wis, and he was engaged in this line of work until 1858, when he started on the journey to Cali- fornia, coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Shortly after his arrival at San Francisco he went to Monterey County and invested in land in Peach Tree Valley; these were the days when Central Cali- fornia was being plundered by organized bands of marauders, when neither life nor property was safe, and one of the teamsters employed by Mr. Luther on his ranch was killed in the holdup by the desperado Vasquez and his gang of bandits at Paieines, Cal. Mr. Luther acquired about 50,000 acres of land which was used as range for his large flocks of sheep, retaining this until 1882, when the whole tract was sold to Miller & Lux, the cattle barons of their day, and he removed to Hollister, purchasing 180 acres in that vicinity.

On December 29, 1870, Mr. Luther was married to Miss Frances Green at Redwood City. A native of Chelsea, Washtenaw County, Mich., where she was born July 26, 1855, she came to San Francisco via Panama with her parents in 1868. Her father, John W. Green, was born in New Jersey and came to Washtenaw County, Mich., in the early days, where he married Harriet A. Letts, a native of New York, and for many years he was successfully engaged in farming there. In 1850 he made his first trip to California, crossing the plains in an ox-team train, and for three or four years he followed mining, re- turning home by way of Panama. In 1868 he brought his wife and four children to California, locating in Monterey County, where he engaged in stock raising until he retired to Hollister, passing away there in 1905 at the age of eighty-one, Mrs. Green having died some years previous, when sixty- seven years of age. Frances Green had completed her education at Ypsilanti Seminary in Michigan, be- fore coming to California, and it was while living in Monterey County that she became acquainted with Mr. Luther.

In 1889 Mr. Luther, with his family, removed to Santa Clara County and purchased a tract of 123 aeres on the Stevens Creek Road, halfway between Cupertino and San Jose, and set it out to orchard. there being sixty-five acres in prunes, thirty acres in walnuts, eighteen acres in hay and the balance in well-planned grounds. One of the finest wells in the district has been developed on this ranch, and is equipped with a Byron-Jackson deep-well pump. Mr. Luther passed away March 11, 1916, at the age of seventy-six, his death closing a career of marked accomplishment and usefulness. A very handsome man, of attractive personality, his integrity and sin- ccrity of purpose gave him a high place in the esteem of all who knew him. In his religious faith he was a Lutheran and was all his life a stanch Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Luther were the parents of four children: Alice, Ida, Julia and Don Walter. Since her husband's death. Mrs. Luther has continued to make her home on the ranch, which she and the children own and operate, and here she continues in the same liberal way as her husband to dispense the good old-time hospitality.

AUGUST GEOFFROY .- August Geoffroy, the genial secretary and treasurer of the Artana-Geoffroy Company, is making a decided success of his busi- ness ventures. This company distributes Haynes cars, and Fageol trucks and tractors; and besides doing expert repair work, carries a full line of auto and truck accessories. A native of San Jose, he was born June 10, 1888, the son of Dominick Geoffroy, a native of Alsace-Lorraine, who passed away at the age of fifty-eight years, on December 25, 1907. His wife, who was Barbara Horner, was born in Germany, coming to the United States with her family when but eleven years old. Her parents settled in Pennsylvania, where her education was obtained in a convent. She is still living at the age of sixty. They were the parents of seven children; August, the subject of this review; William, vice- president and shop superintendent of the Artana- Geoffroy Company; George is manager of the various properties belonging to the Geoffroy family; when the call came from his country, he responded and was sent to France; Rosalind, a graduate of Notre Dame College in San Jose; Joseph is a stu- dent in Santa Clara College; Margaret is a student in the State Normal of San Jose; one child passed away while in infancy.

Mr. Geoffroy was educated in the public schools of San Jose, later attending the St. Joseph school in San Jose, and the Santa Clara College. His mar- riage united him with Miss Josephine Christensen of San Jose, a daughter of Christ Christensen. They are the parents of two children; Donald and Doro- thy. They are consistent members of St. Joseph Catholic Church, giving of their time and means to the support of all church activities. Politically he is a stanch Republican.

The Artana-Geoffroy Company, of which Mr. Geoffroy is secretary and treasurer was incorporated November 5, 1919, located at 334-349 West Santa Clara Street, San Jose, is the largest truck and trac- tor concern on the Pacific coast. They maintain a thoroughly equipped machine shop, with expert re- pairmen, the business requiring the continuous serv- ices of thirty men in the service department, and seven salesmen are required to wait on the large

Jacob Luther

France &. Luther

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 100

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1934

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1934