History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 133

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

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Lodge I. O. O. F. and he also belongs to the Sons of Veterans, the Sciots and the Grange of Campbell. A Republican in national politics, and a nonpartisan advocate of what is best for community develop- ment and uplift, Mr. Conant was elected county treasurer in 1902, and he has been reelected every four years since. He is president of the state organiza- tion of county treasurers, serving his seventh year. He is extremely optimistic as to the future of Santa Clara County, which also means, very naturally, that he is interested in its historic past and wide-awake as to the golden opportunities here at the present.

MRS. LUCY A. ST. JOHN .- During the thirty- four years of her residence in San Jose Mrs. Lucy A. St. John has witnessed much of the growth and development of the city, in which she has ever been deeply and helpfully interested. She was born in Sheboygan, Wis., a daughter of John and Angeline (Hadley) Laing. Her maternal grandfather, Jack- son Hadley, was a native of Livonia, Livingston County, N. Y., and a prominent figure in public af- fairs, serving as U. S. senator from Wisconsin from 1863 until 1867. He passed away March 4, 1867, deeply regretted by all who had the honor of his acquaintance, for he was a man of high principles and sterling worth. John Laing was born in Water- loo, Seneca County, N. Y., and on removing to Wis- consin he purchased land at Portage, while later he crossed Lake Michigan and took up his residence in Grand Haven when the subject of this review was seven years of age.

Mrs. St. John's mother passed away when she was twelve years old and she has two sisters living, Mrs. J. F. Warncke of San Jose and Mrs. Hattie Caldwell of Portland, Ore. In 1878 she went to Waterloo, N. Y., where she remained for a year, and then came again to Michigan. At White Cloud, that state, in the home of her brother, Charles Hadley, on September 4, 1879, she married Sidney Monroe Keith, a native of Lima, now known as Howe, Ind., and a son of Sidney and Angeline (Moore) Keith. His father followed farming and was a frontiersman in Indiana. obtaining a patent of land signed by President Martin Van Buren. S. M. Keith was born January 4, 1858, and in 1886, with his family, he came to California, settling in San Jose, where he followed the carpenter's trade. He engaged in building cars for the railroad and for a number of years was master mechanic, later having charge of the dynamos at the power plant on First Street. He made his home in that part of the city known as The Willows and throughout the period of his residence in San Jose he took a most active part in the work of public progress and improve- ment. He passed away in 1912 and his demise was deeply regretted not only by his immediate family but by all with whom he came in contact, for he was actuated by the highest standards of manhood and citizenship. Mr. and Mrs. Keith became the parents of two children: George Sidney, a resi- dent of Turlock, Stanislaus County; Mary A. and Mrs. L. C. Maynard, of San Jose.

Mrs. Keith's second union was with J. E. Cur- tiss, whom she married at the home of her sister. in Napa, Cal. He was born at Footville, Wis., No- vember 4, 1857, and by his first wife, Maria Fannie Bennett, a native of Barrington, Mass., he had two children: Fred, a well-known dentist of San Jose;

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

and Ruth, now Mrs. L. A. Bunson. For many years Mr. Curtiss engaged in the farm-loan business at Fairmont, Nebr., and in 1900 he came to San Jose, where he lived retired until his death, which oc- curred May 6, 1919. He purchased land in The Willows, becoming the owner of one-half of the Owsley tract, and the property was later subdivided and placed upon the market. Mrs. St. John now resides on a part of that property, occupying a plot of three-quarters of an acre, and a street has been named in honor of Mr. Curtiss. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and his political allegiance was given to the Republican party, of which his widow is also an adherent.

On September 28, 1920, Mrs. Curtiss was married in Santa Cruz, Cal., to M. B. St. John, who by a previous union had three children, Edwin, Homer and Bayliss, all of Rockford, Ill. For many years Mr. St. John was identified with the paper mills at Rockford, Ill., removing from that state to Cali- fornia. He is a prominent Mason, being secretary of Friendship Lodge No. 210, F. & A. M., at San Jose and also belongs to the Consistory.

JOSEPH BOHNETT .- When Joseph Bohnett purchased his present homestead ranch in Santa Clara County in 1890 it was a hayfield, with no sug- gestion of higher cultivation, but he foresaw greater remuneration in store for him by having the tract in fruit, and forthwith planted the entire ranch to fruit- bearing trees, thirty-five acres being set apart for prunes, and the balance planted to apricots and cher- ries. Mr. Bohnett also installed a dryer upon his ranch, thus facilitating the preparation of the fruit for the market, this being but one of the many ap- pointments that go toward making his ranch one of the foremost in Santa Clara County.

Joseph Bohnett was born in Ann Arbor, Mich., March 26, 1848, a son of Christian and Mary Raus Bohnett, both natives of Wurtemberg, Germany, When a young man the father emigrated from Ger- many and settled in Ann Arbor, Mich., where as a shoemaker he spent the rest of his life, both he and his wife passing away in that state. Of the seven children born to them, three sons and four daugh- ters, Joseph is the fourth child. The first twenty- three years of his life were spent in Michigan, but he determined to settle where there was more hope of rapid advancement. The West seemed to hold forth more inducements than any other part of the country, and in 1871 he came to Santa Clara County, Cal. He located in the Cambrian school district in May of that year and it has been his home ever since; for thirty years he was a trustee of this same school dis- trict until he refused longer service. He is now the second longest resident in point of years in this dis- trict. His first day's work was on a ranch he after- wards owned and improved with an orchard. For three years he worked for wages and then leased 153 acres-the John Barker ranch-which he purchased ir. 1876. The place was located adjoining his pres- ent ranch. About thirty-five years ago he sold the old Barker place and purchased his present place of forty-eight acres, a portion of the Casey ranch, and soon began setting it to orchards, so he transformed what was once a vast field of grain into one of the most productive orchards in Santa Clara County.

Mr. Bohnett was united in marriage with Miss Tamer Ione Barker, a native of Santa Clara County,

born near Milliken's Corner, and a daughter of John Barker, a pioneer settler of the county. Mr. Bohnett was bereaved of his faithful wife on August 10, 1920. She was a woman of much charm, beloved by all who knew her, and at her passing was deeply mourned by her family and her numerous friends, her funeral be- ing the largest attended of any in the county. Their union was blessed by the birth of eleven children, all living and successful: Enos, an engineer, resides at Aromas; Mrs. Mary Evans of Campbell; L. D., an attorney in San Jose; Eva Pearl is Mrs. Powers. residing in Chico; Ralph is a rancher near Perry, this county; Grace is a graduate nurse who since the death of her mother presides over her father's home, caring for him with true devotion and ministering to his comfort. Calvin is an educator and resides at Campbell; Lois is private secretary to her brother, L. D. Bohnett; Floyd has the home ranch; Karl is associated with his brother Ralph in ranching at Perry; Hattie is Mrs. Gardner and lives at Campbell. Mr. Bohnett also has twenty-three grandchildren and takes much pride in his family. In 1919 Mr. Bohnett built a beautiful cement bungalow on his ranch and his son Floyd moved into the old family home where the children had been born and reared. Politically Mr. Bohnett is a Republican; he is a charter member ot Orchard City Grange and was master of the or- ganization for two years. Local progress and na- tional advancement are both causes dear to his heart, and he gives helpful aid to all matters that he believes will benefit his locality.

GEORGE E. McCLINE .- Real estate activity in San Jose finds a prominent representative in George E. McCline, an alert and progressive young busi- ness man, who is also extensively engaged in ranch- ing. A native of Ohio, he was born in Calla, Ma- honing County, June 17, 1892, his parents being A. H. and Dora (Hendricks) McCline, members of old families of that state. The father was a suc- cessful farmer and a prominent figure in public af- fairs of his locality, serving for twenty years as postmaster of Calla. In later life he removed to Fresno County, Cal., where he is now living retired. In the family were four sons and four daughters. of whom the subject of this review was the third in order of birth. A sister, Mrs. L. O. Wilcox, is the wife of a rancher and lives at Lawrence, in Santa Clara County, while another sister, Mrs. V. D. Goodrich, is residing in San Jose.

Mr. McCline acquired his grammar school educa- tion at Calla, Ohio, and in 1907 came to Santa Clara, Cal., where he completed a high school course. On starting out in life he went to Gerlach, Nev., where he homesteaded a half section of land, on which he proved up, gradually transforming the place into a productive ranch, on which he engaged in stock- raising for eight years. He is still the owner of this property, which is in Duck Lake Valley near Reno.

On September 23, 1918, Mr. McCline enlisted in the army and was sent to Camp Lewis, Wash., be- ing promoted to the rank of sergeant. He became a member of the Sixteenth Company, Fourth Bat- talion, One Hundred Sixty-Sixth Depot Brigade, re- maining at that camp until May 6, 1920, when he re- ceived his discharge. Returning to San Jose, he engaged in the real estate business as a partner of his brother-in-law. Virgil D. Goodrich, their in- terests being conducted at the San Joaquin Valley

Joseph Bahnett Jammer J. Bohnett

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Land Company. Mr. Goodrich was born in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, January 12, 1876, a son of A. K. and Rebecca B. (Devin) Goodrich, the former a native of Virginia, while the latter was born in Tennessee, the father following the occupation of farming and stock-raising.

Mr. Goodrich attended the public schools of Bolivar, Mo., and subsequently became a student at the Baptist College of that city. When a young man of seventeen he came to California, first locating in Sacramento and going from there to Placerville, where he secured a position as driver of a stage operating between that place and the mines. At the end of a year he returned to Sacra- mento and for ten years was employed in the men's clothing store of W. M. Petrie. In 1900 he went to Alaska and for two years worked in the general merchandise store of the Russian-Nome Gold Company at Fuller City, returning in 1902 to San Jose, where he has since made his home. Purchasing a ranch in Santa Clara County he en- gaged in dairying, while later he became interested In land in the San Joaquin Valley and organized the San Joaquin Valley Land Company, which has since become a very successful enterprise of ex- tensive proportions.

Mr. Goodrich has been married twice. In San Jose, in September, 1898, he was united with Miss California Main, a daughter of H. H. and Minnie Main, and for his second wife he chose Miss Mil- dred McCline, whom he married in July, 1919. Two children have been born to Mr. Goodrich: Juanita June, who died at the age of ten years; and Virginia Donna. He is a Republican in his political views and is a public-spirited citizen and capable business man who stands high in his community.

In Santa Clara County, Cal., Mr. McCline mar- ried Miss Vera Chamber, a native of Olympia, Wash., and a daughter of Thomas and Lydia Cham- ber. Mr. McCline's political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he is a member of the American Legion of San Jose.

In addition to his real estate interests he is also cultivating a forty-acre ranch in the Patterson colony of the San Joaquin Valley which he devotes to the raising of alfalfa, and this is also proving a profit- able investment.

JOHN CAVALLARO .- For many years con- nected with the city fire department as assistant chief, in which connection he made a most com- mendable record, John Cavallaro was born in Paler- mo, Sicily, August 24, 1858, a son of Domingo and Anna (Laspinna) Cavallero, who had three chil- dren. When John was two years old his father died and his mother afterward became the wife of G. Zarcone, by whom she had four children.

When John Cavallaro was nine years of age he accompanied his stepfather to the United States, the mother and remaining children following them later. Soon after he arrived in New York City, young Cavallaro began earning his own livelihood learning the barber trade and selling the New York Herald, and in 1874 he came to California, settling in San Jose. For six months he was employed in the barber shop of A. G. Cook and then embarked in the business on his own account, successfully conducting his shop for twenty years. Under G. W. Lorigan's administration he became a member of the

Volunteer Fire Department of San Jose, acting as assistant in charge of the relief station at Eighth and San Salvador Streets for four years. In 1898 he was appointed by the commissioners an extra man on the fire department and was attached to the station on North Eighth Street, remaining there six months, when he was made assistant foreman of chemical No. 1. He served in that capacity for a year, and was then chosen captain of Chemical No. 1 and for four years continued to fill that post and then resigned. Soon afterward he was appointed assistant chief of the fire department under Henry Ford and until he resigned capably discharged the duties of that responsible position. Following his resignation he conducted a grocery store at the corner of Fifth and St. James Streets, having dis- posed of his barber shop on engaging in merchan- dising. He was then reappointed assistant fire chief under George Tompkins, resigning at the end of three years owing to injuries which he had received and which disqualified him for active work in the department. Upon regaining his strength he be- came caretaker of the Lincoln school and grounds and since 1911 has had charge of this work. He is also engaged in ranching, having a ten-acre tract on the Almaden Road, this being a part of the old Welsh estate, while in 1914 he purchased his present attractive home at 450 Vine Street, San Jose.

In San Jose, on September 1, 1879, Mr. Cavallaro was married to Miss Maggie Welsh, a native of this city and a daughter of John and Anastasia Welsh, the former of whom came to California in the late '50s and engaged in ranching in the Almaden dis- trict of Santa Clara County. Mrs. Cavallaro passed away in 1905, leaving three children, John E., Am- brose and Annie. The elder son married a Miss Lynch, of San Francisco, and they have one child, Vernon. Ambrose is also married and has three children, Andrew, Dolores and Mary. For his sec- ond wife Mr. Cavallaro chose Mrs. Harry Krapp, a native of Cayucos, San Luis Obispo County, Cal., and a daughter of Anthony and Mary Fabretti, both of whom were born in Canton Ticino, Switzerland, and the father was formerly a resident of Aus- tralia, where he was occupied as a miner until coming to California in 1875, arriving in San Luis Obispo County where his daughter, Mrs. Cavallaro, was born in 1877. He farmed in San Luis Obispo County and his demise occurred in 1890 at Saratoga. His wife died there the year previous. By her first mar- riage Mrs. Cavallaro had two children: Frank, who died in childhood; and Harrison, who married Kath- erine Gibbons, a native of Boston, Mass. He is a printer and in February, 1914, enlisted in the Navy, receiving his training at Mare Island and becoming head of the printing department there. During the World War he served on the cruiser Rochester and is now stationed in New York City, being chief printer in that department of the navy. By this second marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cavallaro have a daughter, Virginia A., attending the high school.

Mr. and Mrs. Cavallaro are Republicans and he is a Scottish Rite Mason, being Past Priest of Har- mony Lodge No. 25 of San Jose. He is also con- nected with the United Ancient Order of Druids, in which he is Past Noble; he was one of the organiz- ers of Mt. Hamilton Lodge A. O. F.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

FRANK W. KNOWLES, M. D .- The delightful home-town and famous winter resort, Los Gatos, declared by no less an authority than the London Lancet to be, with Assuan, in Egypt, one of the two places in all the world with the most equable cli- mate, owes much of its attraction, to those particu- lar about health and the safety and enjoyment of life, to the presence and activity there of the dis- tinguished Illinois physician and surgeon, Dr. Frank W. Knowles, now one of the leading members of the American Medical Association, and also the medical societies of both California and Santa Clara County. He was born near Port Byron in Rock Island Coun- ty, in the Prairie State, on March 2, 1858, the son of Smith S. and Mary (Crooks) Knowles. His fa- ther was born in Ohio and there he married Miss Crooks, who was born in Virginia; they were pio- neers of Illinois and farmed near Port Byron, where the father passed away, and his widow spent her last days in California. Of their eight children, Frank W. Knowles is the third oldest, and after attending the Moline, Ill., public schools, Frank was graduated from the high school at that place, then entered Rush Medical College in Chicago, from which he was graduated with the class of '83 with the degree of M. D. Ready for practical work, he came to California in 1883, and direct to Los Gatos, at a time when there were few people here, the valley all devoted to grain raising, so that many of his calls had to be made to patients far away among the settlers in the mountains, making his trips on horse- back. Since then, he has practiced here continu- ously, with the result that he has grown up with the country, has had much to do with influencing its development, and has come to know thousands, while everyone knows and loves him. Dr. Knowles is also interested in ranching, and he set out forty- two acres of orchard on San Jose Avenue, one mile north of Los Gatos, now in full bearing. It is equipped with an electric pumping plant and is de- voted to prunes, apricots, peaches and grapes. He is a member of the Prune & Apricot Growers As- sociation and was an original stockholder of the First National Bank of Los Gatos and a director and vice-president of the bank.

Mrs. Knowles was in maidenhood Miss Olive Warren, a native of Chicago, Ill., who has come to share with him his well-earned and enviable popu- larity for real good; and they have one son, Frank W. Knowles, Jr. Dr. Knowles was made a Mason in Los Gatos Lodge No. 292, F. & A. M. and was the first candidate initiated. He is a past master of the lodge and a member of Howard Chapter No. 14, and with his wife is a member of the Los Gatos Chapter No. 128, O. E. S. He also belongs to San Jose Commandery No. 10, K .T., and is a life mem- ber of Islam Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in San Francisco. He is a Republican in all pref- erences as to national political affairs, but believes thoroughly in nonpartisan support of the best men and the best measures in order to get the desired-for unity in the community. He is fond of hunting, and is an expert at the sport; so that when the pressure of medical or surgical work does not confine him to his well-appointed office over Green's Pharmacy, he is abroad with gun and game bag, both of which he knows how to use to advantage.

LOUIS P. COOPERS .- Prominent in the busi- ness circles in San Jose, Louis P. Coopers is also a native son, having been born in this city on Novem- ber 23, 1866. He is one of eight children, five of them still living, that were born to Edmond and Mary (Brady) Coopers, numbered among the earli- est settlers of San Jose. The father was a native of Belgium, born in 1834, and while living in his native country was sent to the schools of his town and afterwards was in the employ of the customs serv- ice until he decided to strike out for America with some friends, who declared their intention of going to California. Leaving home at the age of seven- teen, Mr. Coopers spent six months in making the trip to San Francisco, having come around Cape Horn in a sailing vessel and arriving at his destina- tion during the year 1851. He immediately went to the mines on the Yuba and Feather rivers and was fortunate in making good money, averaging about $35 per day. At that time everything was high in price-a meal of ham and eggs costing $1.50-so his money came easily and went the same way. In 1854 the young emigrant came to San Jose in his wander- ings over this part of the state, then he went south to Los Angeles and San Bernardino, investigating the opportunities before locating. He was so well satisfied with San Jose that he returned here in 1855, and thereafter this was his home and the scene of his activities until his death.

Mr. Coopers engaged in the butcher business on Market Street on the present site of the post office, working for Peter Reeve for a time, then he began driving a butcher wagon for himself, after which decided he would try ranching and bought forty acres in The Willows, on Willow Street, what is now known as the Keesling Place. This was covered with wil- low trees and these he grubbed out and began setting cut one of the first orchards in this section. As an experiment he set out various kinds of fruit and vines and found the soil adapted to their rapid growth. He spent about five years on the ranch and decided he was not cut out for a farmer and sold his property and moved back into town and em- barked in business with M. Blanchard, who had a butcher shop on Market and Post streets. This part- 1.ership continued until 1881, when Mr. Coopers sold (ut and opened a place of his own. The Coopers' Meat Market was located on First Street, between San Antonio and San Fernando streets, for thirty years and Mr. Coopers had the satisfaction of assist- ing in the growth of the city and as a consequence he profited by it as he built up a good trade.

It was in 1864 that Mr. Coopers was united in marriage in San Jose, with Miss Mary Brady. She was born in Ireland and had come to America and lived in Boston for a time, then came to California, crossing the Isthmus of Panama, in company with an older sister and they settled in San Jose. It was in this city that their eight children were born and edu- cated and here both parents passed to their last rest- ing place surrounded by a host of friends who knew them for their true worth as citizens. Mr. Coopers died in 1901 and his wife in 1913, aged seventy-four.

Louis P. Coopers attended the public schools in San Jose and at the age of fourteen went into the shop to work for his father and from the bottom of the ladder he gradually climbed until in 1900, on ac- count of his father's illness, he took over the butcher business and carried it on alone until 1913.

FelKnowlesmal.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

when it was incorporated and his brother, Joseph B. was taken into partnership, becoming secretary of the new concern, while Louis P. is the president and manager. As their business increased they added to their number of employees until they now have six. The Coopers' Market at 85 South Second Street, where they moved in 1908, is one of the most sanitary as well as busiest shops in the city and they handle only the very best of meats and prompt and courteous treatment is accorded all patrons.

The marriage of Louis P. Coopers and Miss Laura M. Dewart was celebrated in Gilroy in 1900, the bride being a native of that city, whither her parents had settled upon coming to California. Of their union two daughters have been born, Marie Louise and Agnes Lorraine. Mr. and Mrs. Coopers are popular in their social circle in San Jose and have many friends. Mr. Coopers is a member of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce; the Commercial Club and the Merchants Association and fraternally he be- longs to the Y. M. I., where he is one of the charter members. He is public spirited and gives his sup- port to all worthy movements for the advancement of the social and commercial interests of city and county. The family are members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

HOWARD IRVIN MABURY .- A worthy repre- sentative of one of the old pioneer families of Santa Clara County is Howard Irvin Mabury, the hustling proprietor of the Empire Wet Wash Laundry at San Jose, one of the best organized and best managed in- dustrial establishments of its kind in the entire state. He was born on Mabury Road, named in honor of his father, on September 23, 1876, the son of Frank Howard and Helen A. (Cadwell) Mabury, who came from Jeffersonville, Ind., and Deerfield, 111., respec- tively, the Cadwell family journeying to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama in June, 1868. They both came to California when young and were married. Mr. and Mrs. Mabury settled early in Santa Clara County, where they grew to be large land- owners and exerted an enviable influence because of their progressive ideas and methods. They had three children, Howard I., Mrs. Laura Nevada Taylor and Florence Mabury Earnshaw, living in Oklahoma City, Okla, and Seattle, Wash., respectively. Mr. Mabury died in 1909, and Mrs. Mabury passed away in 1914. Both parents were of that sterling type which has always been found most desirable for the building up and the upbuilding of a great country.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 133

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