History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 109

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

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Walker, he was born on May 20, 1839, at Macomb, Ill., a descendant of good old patriotic stock, his paternal grandfather having been a soldier in the Revolutionary Army, while his grandfather, James Walker, a Kentucky planter, was in the War of 1812.

William H. Walker was born in Rockbridge County, Va, in which both of his parents also first saw the light, and passed his childhood in the Old Dominion, growing to manhood in Kentucky, where he helped to manage the home plantation. When he pushed out into the world for himself, he settled in Illinois, and having established a nursery at Macomb, followed for a while horticultural pursuits. Subsequently, he resided for some years in Keokuk County, Iowa, but the lure of Illinois brought him back to the state in which he rounded out his use- ful life He had married Miss Ann Harris, a native of Tennessee, who died at Macomb, and they had five children, among whom William S. Walker, the father of our subject, was the youngest.

William S. Walker, true to the traditions of his grandfather and great-grandfather, early offered him- self for active service in the defense of his country during the Civil War, and in April, 1861, enlisted in Company K, Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infan- try, as the first man to enroll from Mason County. and he was mustered in at Peoria for a period of three years. The next year he took part in the siege of Fort Donelson and the battle of Shiloh, but soon after, having incurred physical disability, was honor- ably discharged. His patriotic zeal impelled him again to endeavor to enlist, this time in the Eighty- fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but he was unable to pass physically.

Having resolved to make the experiment of life in the extreme West, William S. Walker in the spring of 1864 sailed to Panama, and north to Cali- fornia: and for two years he tried it out in Sonoma County. Then he returned to Illinois, traversing again the Isthmian route, and at Mason City es- tablished the first paper printed there, which he continued to edit for several years. Once having gotten acquainted with California, however, he never gave up the plan of resuming activity here; and having sold out his Illinois newspaper interests in June, 1874, he returned to the Pacific Coast, and opened a job-printing office at Petaluma. Not sat- isfied with the results of his venture, he moved across the continent to Missouri, in October of the same year, and there purchased a small farm, in- tending to settle down as a tiller of the soil; but the grasshopper hordes of 1875 so cleaned him out that he was glad to exchange his land for a printing office, and to establish the Henry County News at Clinton. He presided for just six weeks in the edi- torial sanctum of the News, and then he was in- duced to take charge of the Crete Sentinel, at Crete, Nebr. He found, however, that he could not live from the patronage of that paper, and having dis- posed of that property, he removed to Lincoln, Nebr., where he opened a job-printing office The grasshopper scourge still affected his destiny, the insects having eaten the farmers of that section out of house and home, or nearly so, the previous year, and left them nothing with which to subscribe for newspapers or pay for printing; and so, in the month of September of the Centennial Year, 1876, when California had drawn to itself renewed notice on account of the exploitation at the Exposition and 33

throughout the country, he made his third trip to California; and after resting a while at Ventura, he again opened a job-printing office at Petaluma. Diptheria drove him out within four weeks, and he removed to Cloverdale, in Sonoma County, and there started a newspaper; but this did not hold him, and he returned to Nebraska, in the spring of 1877, when he became a resident of Lincoln for a year. Re- moving to Seward, in the spring of 1878, he entered the local journalistic field and published the Seward County Advocate; but in June, 1879, he sold out and once more set out for California.

Pitching his tent at Cloverdale, in the fall of 1879, he purchased the old paper mill and managed it until the summer of 1880, when he sold it and re- turned to Lincoln, Nebr .; and here it may be well to observe that, although Mr. Walker seems to have been a good deal of a nomad, he never failed to provide for his family, always taking them with him on his innumerable trips. One of the good, old- fashioned winters in Nebraska, however, cured him of his enthusiasm for life in the Middle West and in the spring of 1881 he returned to the more salubrious climate of the Golden State. After look- ing about for a favorable location, he was advised to go to the picturesque mountain town of Sara- toga, in Santa Clara County; and while on his way to that place, he stopped off at Los Gatos and was persuaded to settle there permanently instead. He at once established the Los Gatos Weekly News, and this he conducted successfully until March, 1885, when he disposed of it by sale and removed to Santa Cruz. Even there he published a newspaper for a while; but Los Gatos drew him a second time within her hospitabie borders, and he bought the Los Gatos Mail, which he enlarged and published as a weekly until the spring of 1902, when he disposed of his newpaper interests, and with a splendid record for path-breaking as a pioneer, he retired from active business to the comforts of a private life. Although constantly shifting, Mr. Walker was by no means a rolling stone gathering no moss; he usually sold out at a profit, and each step was a step forward, not only in his progress but with some contribution to- ward the progress of the community in which he had shared a common lot. In addition to acquiring valuable property in Los Gatos, Mr. Walker came to own two ranches, one in Monterey County, and the other in Santa Cruz County, and under his able management, both proved productive and highly profitable estates. He also made good use of his literary talents, during both busy and spare hours, and enjoyed a wide Western fame as the author of two very interesting and instructive volumes, entitled, "Hungry Land" and "Between the Tides."

While at Mason City, Il1., William S. Walker was married to Miss Maggie Montross, a native of Ohio, a talented, devoted woman who became the mother of eight children, six of whom reached matur- ity: W. G. Walker graduated from the North- western University, became a druggist, and died in Los Gatos at the age of thirty-one; Effie, a Normal graduate and subsequently a popular teacher in the public schools, passed away in 1899, a year after the death of Lincoln Walker, and two years before the death of Walter Walker; George S. Walker is the subject of our instructive review; Leland H. Walker is an attorney in San Jose, with a residence in Los Gatos. Mr. Walker was a Republican, and an active

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and a very much honored member of the E. O. C. Ord Post No. 82, of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic. Both Mr. and Mrs. Walker were devoted mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

George S. Walker was reared and schooled at Los Gatos, and being resourceful even as a youth, he learned the printer's trade early, and as soon as prac- ticable was initiated into the ins and outs of the publishing business. He also delved into politics, and he has the distinct, unique honor of having been elected to the State Assembly in 1900, when he was hardly twenty-six years of age. There he attained such success that he was reelected in 1902, and so much confidence was placed in the young Assembly- man, after his record for four years had been re- peatedly examined, that he was elected to the State Senate on the Republican ticket. In 1908 he was reelected, and he then introduced the Walker-Otis Anti-Race-Track Gambling Bill, which was passed, became a law, and is now in force. In 1910 Mr. Walker was lieutenant to Hiram Johnson, and was in charge of the Johnson Campaign in Santa Clara County; and his executive ability being splendidly demonstrated, he was able to lead his party to triumphant success.

In 1911 Mr. Walker was appointed State Building and Loan Commissioner, and since then he has filled this office with consummate ability. His headquar- ters are in the suite, 604-6 Claus Spreckels Building, San Francisco; and from there have gone out many reforming influences of great benefit to the people of the state at large. During the year 1911-12, for example, Mr. Walker closed the Continental Build- ing and Loan Association of San Francisco, and later in the same year discovered a shortage amount- ing to $140,000 in the accounts of the secretary of the Palo Alto Building and Loan Association, who was subsequently sent to San Quentin prison for seven years. This was a very difficult case to carry through in the interests of the public whom Mr. Walker represented, but he managed the affair suc- cessfully, and demonstrated the value of his office, which, it is needless to say, has many times since rendered the same noteworthy safe-guarding service. During Mr. Walker's administration of this office, the number of associations in California coming under his jurisdiction has increased from eighty-six to 110; and these institutions for mutual advantage have progressed wonderfully. Five of the number doing a building and loan business are located in Santa Clara County, and their assets make Santa Clara County register third in the state.

In 1916 George S Walker was nominated for Con- gress as the candidate of the Progressive Repub- licans, in opposition to the incumbent, the Hon. E. A. Hayes, and each candidate made an excellent run, the fine record of Mr. Walker, both in the conduct of the affairs of his office and in his con- sistent demonstration of an unmistakahle patriotism and public spirit appealing forcibly to many; but the result of the election retained the incumbent in office. Mr. Walker took the verdict philosophically, and those who are familiar with his fine record as State Building and Loan Commissioner are disposed to congratulate the voter on his unwillingness to lose either one of the officials.

At San Jose, on December 31, 1900, Mr. Walker was married to Miss Martha I. Spencer, the daugh- ter of the late Theodore Spencer and his good wife

Ann, who is still living and shares the comforts and happiness of the Walker fireside. Three children have blessed their fortunate union: Wesley, Marion and George S. Walker, Jr.

ANDREW H. JEPSEN .- For over forty years a resident of Santa Clara County, Andrew H. Jepsen is one of the substantial citizens of the Cupertino district, and was among the early orchardists that have aided in the development of this prosperous neighborhood. Denmark was Mr. Jepsen's native land, and he was born near the German border. The date of his birth was Jannary 10, 1860, and his parents, both now deceased, were worthy folk who passed their lives in the country of their birth. In common with the lads of his neighborhood, Andrew H. Jepsen gained his education in the schools of that vicinity, and at the age of sixteen he started in to learn the carpenter's trade in Denmark, serving an apprenticeship with one man.

When he became of age, Mr. Jepsen determined to avail himself of the larger opportunities across the water, and accordingly arrived in Oakland, Cal., 11 188]. In the fall of that year he came on to San Jose, and Santa Clara County has since been his home. He worked at his trade for various con- tractors and in different places in the county, having helped build some of the more important residences and business blocks in the city, also worked on the Agnew Asylum and on the new Del Monte Hotel at Monterey, continuing at his trade until 1907, when he quit and has since devoted his time to his ranch property. In 1887 he made a trip back to Denmark and returned to Santa Clara County the next year.

In 1892 occurred the marriage of Mr. Jepsen and Miss Caroline Rasmussen, who is also a native of Denmark and who came to California in the late '80s. She and a brother bought ten acres south of Cuper- tino and after her brother died she became owner of the property. In 1893 the Jepsens left San Jose and moved to the ranch, Mr. Jepsen continuing at his trade and at the same time setting out the ten acres to orchard. This property was later sold. He had purchased twenty acres in the immediate vicinity of their home and to this he has added and now owns twenty-seven acres, mostly set to prunes. Upon this place he has placed the buildings and sunk two wells, one 155 and one 245 feet deep, and in- stalled a fine pumping plant to irrigate his orchards. He is a strong booster for Santa Clara County and has always given liberally to aid every worthy project that would make for prosperity for the citizens and help build up the county. He is a charter member of the California Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc. Since he became a citizen of the United States, in 1887, he has voted the Republican ticket at national elections; in local matters he is nonpartisan. Fraternally he is an Odd Fellow.

Mr. and Mrs. Jepsen have three sons: Harold is married and lives on a ranch next to his father's, he is a machinist and works in San Jose; John and George are at home and assist with the work on the ranch. The two eldest sons were in the service of the Government during the World War, and George was called by the draft and was ready to answer the call when the armistice was signed. The family are highly respected by all who have the pleasure of knowing them.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

JAMES G. SHAW .- An experienced business man who has given much thought to the needs of large business and the high and complicated develop- ment of warehousing and forwarding, James G. Shaw has well demonstrated his capability in the comprehensive organization of the Shaw Warehouse & Brokerage Company of San Jose, of which he is the efficient owner and accommodating proprietor. A native son of California, he was born in San Mateo County on July 28, 1882, the son of Elias and Maria (Goulson) Shaw. The latter, as a rather exceptional experience for a woman, crossed the plains twice.

Elias Shaw was born in Columbus, Ohio, and be- ing left an orphan at the age of eight he learned to paddle his own canoe and did it well, but he had little opportunity to obtain an education. Coming West, at the age of fifteen he was fireman on a Mississippi River steamboat, where they used wood and rosin for fuel except when they were racing, when they threw in slabs of bacon, and it is needless to say that the large smokestack was soon red hot. Many were the interesting experiences he could tell of those days when the Mississippi was a great com- mercial thoroughfare. The news of the discovery of gold in California kindled his desire to come to the Pacific Coast and in 1852 he came around the Horn on a sailer to San Francisco. He immediately set out for the mines, his destination being Forbestown on the Feather River, where he had his ups and downs as a miner, making and losing a fortune.

In Forbestown, on October 10, 1866, Elias Shaw was married to Miss Maria Goulson, who was born in Leicestershire, England, May 27, 1840, and came with her parents to the United States in 1848 on the old ship Franconia. The family settled at Avon, Wis., remaining there until 1852, when they started across the plains in an ox-team train, and after a journey of five months and four days arrived at the Eureka mine, in the Sierras, going on to Forbes- town, January 1, 1853. In 1857 the family returned via Panama to Avon, Wis., where they continued to reside until 1864, when they again crossed the plains This time their wagons were drawn by mules and they made the journey in four months and five days. About two years later Maria Goulson was married to Mr. Shaw and they soon located at Pescadero, San Mateo County, where they engaged in farming. About 1869 Mr. Shaw went East and purchased some fine standard-bred stallions and brood mares and started to drive them across the plains, being one of the very first men to attempt to bring fine stock into the state this way. Unfortunately while in Utah the Indians stampeded the horses and got away with them, and thus Mr. Shaw suffered a severe less, as he had invested heavily in this expensive, fine-blooded stock. He followed ranching until his death in 1894, his wife surviving him many years, passing away on May 16, 1919, a devoted Christian woman, kind and charitable, who was greatly loved by all who knew her. A woman of retentive mem- ory, she was able to narrate very interesting experi- ences during the Civil War, of her crossing the plains, the early mining days and of the Vigilantes. She was the mother of four sons and three daugh- ters, all of whom are living, our subject and his twin brother being the youngest.

James G. Shaw attended school at Pescadero, fol- lowing this with a course at the Chestnutwood Busi- ness College at Santa Cruz. He remained at home assisting his mother on the farm until he was seven- teen years old, then clerked in a grocery store at San Mateo for two years, and then for four years was manager of a lumber camp store in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The following year was spent in traveling through the East and in 1907 he came to San Jose and entered the employ of the Walsh-Col Company, then located on South Third Street. Be- ginning at the lowest rungs of the ladder, he worked hard and faithfully, and in October, 1919, he was made secretary and manager of the company, which was then located on North Market Street and doing a very extensive business as wholesale grocers, serv- ing San Mateo, Alameda, Santa Clara, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. As an experienced dealer in foodstuffs, Mr. Shaw served with H. B. Martin on the Food Committee during the World War In February, 1922, he re- signed his position with the Walsh-Col Company to look after his individual interests.

A pioneer in the motor transportation business in San Jose, in April, 1919, Mr. Shaw, with a partner, G. R. Beard, started the Service Motor Transporta- tion Company, owning and controlling 154 miles of franchises granted them by the Railroad Commis- sion of California, these franchises covering five coast counties. The business has had a rapid growth so that in 1922 he incorporated as the Shaw Trans- portation and Drayage Company, of which he is president, their location being at 364 North Market Street, where they handle over 200 tons of merchan- dise per week, operating four trucks. In 1922 Mr. Shaw incorporated the Shaw Warehouse & Broker- age Company, with offices at 364 North Market Street, and warehouses at 110 Bellevue Avenue, on the Western Pacific Railroad. He gives his un- divided attention to this business, which consists of warchousing, assembling, distributing, forward- ing, buying and selling, this being the only concern in the valley combining the functions of the ware- house and brokerage business. His experience has enabled him to make a close study of the problems of the buyer and seller, as well as the manufacturer and consumer, and he has splendid and practical views. He is in a position to afford his clients rates to and from all points, both domestic and foreign, inasmuch as he is a director and vice-president of the traffic bureau of the San Jose Chamber of Com- merce. He also arranges to insure goods en route and attend to all forwarding charges for export ship- ments, and has established an inspection bureau which will forestall any question as to grades of fruit shipped, between buyer and seller, when goods have reached their destination. On account of the great tonnage and many industries centered in and around San Jose, it fills a long felt want. At the present time, owing to natural advantages afforded by water-shipment, the port of San Francisco is enjoying very low rates, which encourages many large Eastern manufacturers to reach out for Pacific Coast business. However, on account of the ex- tremely high rates in and out of San Jose, and local draying charges, the cost of distributing merchandise in the Santa Clara Valley through San Francisco

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channels are very high. With a warehouse function- ing in San Jose, it is possible to load car loads at the pier in San Francisco, which are then forwarded to the warehouse in San Jose, thereby eliminating at least fifty per cent of the cost as outlined above.

At San Francisco, in April, 1909, Mr. Shaw was married to Miss Minnie Budd, born in New York, but reared in San Francisco, an accomplished woman who shares in her husband's ambitions and interests. They are the parents of one child, Stanley Shaw. Mr. Shaw is a member of Observatory Parlor, N. S. G. W., of San Jose; a charter member of the San Jose Commercial Club, and belongs to the Elks and the Rotary Club. In politics he is a Republican, and he is a familiar figure among the sportsmen of the locality, enjoying fishing and hunting for his recreation. Public-spirited in the development of the great resources of the state as fast as possible and upon the most permanent basis, he embraces every opportunity to aid and boost any enterprise that is put forth to build up his county and state.

DUTTON BROS .- Prominent among the most en- terprising, progressive business firms of San Jose to whom not only that up-to-date city but all Santa Clara County is indebted for material and permanent ad- vancement in an important line of industry, is that of Messrs. Dutton Bros., the orchardists, who have a ranch of nearly 100 acres about three miles north of San Jose, the trim farm at the present being one of the interesting "show places" of that district. The Duttons are not only scientific, successful orchardists, but they are public-spirited citizens, ever ready to further the growth, development and pros- perity of the environment under which they live and carry on their extensive operations.

Both of the Messrs. Dutton were born in Chi- cago,-Albert on January 31. 1893, Willis on August 27, 1896,-the sons of Llewellyn and Fannie (Hiatt) Dutton. The father, an architect who designed many office buildings and homes in Chicago, in 1903 came to San Francisco, where he continued his profes- sional occupation. He designed many notable build- ings in the Bay City, and was the architect of the ornate edifice, the First National Bank Building in San Jose. The mother, who had only these two chil- dren, died at Redlands a few years ago. In 1915, Architect Dutton removed to San Jose to reside, and he bought a ranch of ninety-seven acres on the Alviso Road, about three miles north of San Jose. Of this rich farm land, five and one-half acres are in full- bearing pear trees, and there are seventy-five acres of very promising pear trees which our subjects themselves set out and twelve and a half acres are in prune trees, also in excellent bearing.

Both boys attended the grammar and high schools of San Francisco, and Albert took a course of two years at the Davis branch of the University of Cali- fornia. Both boys were also in the service during the last war. Albert entered the U. S. Army in August, 1917, and he was sent to Camp Fremont, where he was trained in the machine gun company of the Eighth Infantry, Eighth Division. On October 25, 1918, they sailed for France, and on the ninth of November they landed at Brest; but, notwithstanding the armistice, the regiment remained in France until May 20, 1919, when it returned, and on June 1 Albert Dutton was discharged at Camp Lee, Vir- ginia. Willis entered the service in August, 1918,

and he was sent to the training camp at Logan, Utah, where he attended a school for mechanics. He was in the Fortieth C. A. C., and he was later sent to Fort Scott, San Francisco, and from there to Camp Upton, New York, at which point he arrived on Octo- ber 9. After being there for two weeks, he went to Camp Grant, Illinois, and in December he came back to San Francisco where, two days before Christmas, 1918, he was discharged as a private. Willis is a member of the American Legion, No. 89 of San Jose. In November, 1919, the two far-sighted and ambitious young men purchased from their father his partly-developed ranch, and they are not only man- aging it, but they are constantly making improve- ments which greatly add to its value, and which in- crease the agricultural wealth of this region.

Willis is single, but Albert married at San Jose, on June 9, 1917, Miss Frances Merithew. She was born in San Jose, the daughter of Myrtle (Coyken- dall) Merithew, whose husband died prior to Fran- ces' birth. Mrs. Merithew, after some years, mar- ried a second time, and now she is Mrs. Myrtle Syske, of Santa Cruz. Miss Merithew was a pupil in the grammar, and a student in the high schools in San Jose, and later she took up voice study at the College of the Pacific. One son has blessed this for- tunate union, Albert H. Dutton.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 109

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