History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 175

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

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Mr. Regnart was married in San Francisco in 1903. where he was united with Miss Jessie Regnart, a native daughter of Santa Clara County, whose father, William Regnart, was an early settler and success- ful horticulturist in this famous valley. Their union was blessed with seven children: Stanley, LeRoy, Doris, Oswald, Bernice, Maurice, and Thelma. Mr. Regnart is a member of the California Prune & Apricot Association. Fraternally he is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge at Cupertino and with his wife is a member of the Rebekahs, and religiously adheres to the teachings of the Episcopal Church.

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MRS. MARTHA B. HAMMOND .- A womanly woman, cultured and refined, was the late Mrs. Mar- tha B. Hammond, a native daughter of Santa Clara County, who was born at "Hillside," the old home of the Snyders, on Permanente Creek near Mountain View, February 24, 1863. She was a daughter of John and Martha ( Kifer) Snyder, pioneers of the county, who are elsewhere represented in this work. Of their five children, Martha was the next to the youngest and enjoyed her youth to the fullest; being fond of the great outdoors she had much pleasure as she grew to womanhood at Hillside, especially when driving over the splendid roads of Santa Clara County with her favorite horse. After completing the San Antonio grammar school, she entered the College of the Pacific, where she continued her studies with great credit to herself until just before graduating, she was married November 17. 1881, to Dr. W. H. Hammond, who was born in Ohio, but reared in lowa. He received a good education and taught several terms in the Hawkeye State and then came to Santa Clara County, teaching in the San Antonio district, and it was then he became acquainted with the Snyder family. He had always a predilection for the study of medicine and with that end in view, he continued to teach to obtain the funds to put him through medical college. Entering Cooper Medi- cal College in San Francisco, he was duly graduated with the degree of M. D. A post as government surgeon was offered him by the King of the Hawaiian Islands, which he accepted and soon after his mar- riage to Miss Snyder, they sailed for Honolulu. On his arrival he was stationed on the Island of Kauai, where he practiced medicine as well as filling the du- ties of his post for more than a year. While living there, their daughter, Muriel, was born. Mrs. Ham- mond, owing to her great love of her home, was nat- urally homesick and longed for the lovely Santa Clara Valley, particularly the Permanente Creek region of her childhood, with its beautiful foothill mountain scenery, so Dr. Hammond resigned his position and they returned to California, where he located in San Jose and engaged in the practice of medicine. He served ably as county physician for two terms. Hav- ing had a seige of pneumonia, his subsequent ex- posure in his night work forced him to retire. Mrs. Hammond had received from her father, a ranch on Permanente Creek and there they built a residence and here Dr. Hammond rested comfortably, but the disease had made too great inroads on his health, and he passed away in June, 1893, about two years after he had retired. He was a man of fine education and address, was a Mason and Odd Fellow and was also prominent in medical societies. After his death Mrs. Hammond continued the improvement of her place, setting out orchards and vineyards; later the vineyard died and she continued orcharding, having about one- fifth of her 163-acre ranch in prune orchard. The place is beautifully located, twelve miles west of San Jose, being watered by Permanente Creek, so named because it is always flowing. A ditch has heen con- structed to take the water out of the creek above the ranch for irrigating the orchard.

Mrs. Hammond was a great lover of nature and particularly was she fond of roses, her grounds be- ing well laid out with an abundance of roses pre- dominating. Her younger sister, Letitia, who had resided with her mother, had become Mrs. Kendall, so Martha Hammond took up her home

at Hillside as a companion to her mother and there she was called to the world beyond January 29, 1909, her interment being at the Snyder family plot at Oak Hill Cemetery. She was a woman of affable and graceful manners, dearly loved by all who knew her, and her loss was deeply felt by all. She was a fine Christian character, although not an active member of any denomination. Her only daughter, Muriel May, owns her mother's ranch and continues the care of the place; she plans enlarging the or- chards materially, and having the same love of na- ture, delights in caring for the roses and lovely trees of her mother's planting. She was educated at the Washburn School in San Jose, and was married in 1906 to Raymond T. Haines, an orchardist, and be- sides operating the home ranch he also owns a ranch at Coyote which he cares for. Their union has been blessed with one child, a daughter, Althea. Rever- ing her mother's memory, whose earnest desire was for her daughter always to keep the ranch in the family, Mrs. Haines naturally takes much pride in carrying out her mother's plans.

WILLIAM MORRISON CURTNER .- A man of varied interests, William Morrison Curtner, son of Henry Curtner and his wife Lydia (Kendall) Curtner, was born near Centerville, Alameda County, California, February 28, 1864. When he was four years old his father moved to the Curtner Ranch at Warm Springs, where he was reared. He attended the public school and Washington College. His be- loved mother passed away when he was thirteen years old. After finishing his college work he went to a cattle ranch in Nevada, which was owned by his father and William Downing. He remained there only a short time. The ranch was sold, and William Downing having purchased a part of the Curtner Ranch, he entered into partnership with him in the cattle business. He remained in the cattle busi- ness three years, then sold his interest in cattle and removed to Irvington where he was engaged in farming for several years, then sold his land at Irvington and came to the ranch on which he now lives. This ranch is located on the southern end of the Curtner Ranch and is in the northern part of Santa Clara County. This ranch he has developed by conserving its water supply and planting orchards. The hill part of the ranch is devoted to raising early vegetables and is tenanted. After coming to this ranch he had charge of his father's land interests for ten years, and a part of it until his father's death. He also owned stock in the Abel Curtner Land & Livestock Company of Nevada of which he was secretary. He has varied interests outside of his ranch, but the home place is where he has spent the most profitable and pleasurable part of his time. The home is located on an interesting spot, chosen three times as a place of abode. The veil of time has hidden the story of the first dwellers. Only as excavating is done is their presence shown by the finding of interesting Indian relics. Then it was chosen by the early Spanish settlers as a site for a hacienda, being a part of the Rancho Aguas Calien- tes. They built the adobe buildings, which are now on the property, planted the old fig and pear trees, and the cacti fence which at this time are more than 125 years old. Their whispering leaves tell again of a period in the Santa Clara Valley before the ad-

Martha B. Hammond

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venturer and the prospector came. The old adobe still echoes the clanging of spurs and merry clatter of horses feet as their riders gather under the trees- the days of boundless hospitality that fled when the "etranjero" came. By the side of the old, old trees the olive, orange and lemon, the chestnut, walnut, almond and fruits of all kinds thrive, making a pre- sent-history as interesting as the past.

Mr. Curtner is a director of the Security State Bank in San Jose. In politics he is a Republican. He belongs to the Sierra Club, the San Jose Country Club and the Commercial Club, and he is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He married May L. Weller, daughter of Joseph Rush Weller and his wife Marion (Hart) Weller. He has two children, William Weller and Marion Lucy, now Mrs. Theo- dore Warford Weller of Boston, Mass. His son received his college education at Harvard University and Leland Stanford, Jr., University, receiving his A. B. and M. A. degrees at Leland Stanford, Jr., University. His daughter attended Wellesley and Leland Stanford, Jr., University, receiving her A. B. at Leland Stanford, Jr., University.

ALFRED FARLEY HILLS .- A veteran of the Civil War who has been very prominent in Educa- tional circles in California is Prof. Alfred Farley Hills, who was born in Westfield, Vt., July 13, 1845, a son of James D. Hills, who was born in Windham, N. H., of English ancestry, his forefathers coming from England to Massachusetts in 1638. Professor Hill's mother was Caroline French, who was born in New Hampshire of an old Massachusetts family traced back to England. The father removed from Vermont to New Hampshire, where he was a farmer; he and his wife were members of the Pres- byterian Church and both passed away in New Hampshire, leaving six children, three of whom are living: Mrs. Charlotte A. Abbott and Albert French, a twin brother, who served in the Civil War in the same company and regiment as Mr. Hills. When Alfred F. was a child of four years his father moved to Hollis, N. H., and there he received a good educa- tion in the public schools. Leaving his books he en- listed on September 28, 1861, in the Seventh New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry and served for three years and three months without a day off. He was at Fort Wagner, the siege of Morris Island, Olustee, Fla .; siege of Petersburg, and at Richmond. He was mustered out in December, 1864, at Concord, N. H., and honorably discharged. After remaining at home a year he engaged in clerking in Boston for a time and then entered Pinkerton Academy at Derry, N. H., where he prepared for Harvard and where he was graduated in 1872 with the degree of A. B. Coming out to Illinois he taught school at Pittsfield for two years and in 1874 removed to California. He taught school at San Gregorio and then at San Mateo for five years, after which he was principal of schools at Half Moon Bay in San Mateo County, then taught in various counties in California, with four years in Arizona and two years in Nevada.

During this time he made his home in Santa Clara County on his orchard home near Campbell, which he had purchased in 1882. About five years ago he retired from teaching and now gives his time to caring for his orchards embracing eleven acres of splendid land devoted to raising prunes, apricots

and apples, his place heing located on the San Jose- Los Gatos Highway.

Professor Hills was married at Idagrove, Iowa, August 20, 1884, being united with Miss Harriette G. Barber, a lady of culture who has aided him in every way. She was born at Derry, N. H., a daughter of Joseph Fuller and Nancy (Moulton) Barber. The father was born in Boston, Mass., in 1808, and the mother in Hookset, N. H., May 3, 1821. The Barbers are traced back to Samuel Barber, who came from England and was an early settler in Massachusetts. One of his descendants, Mrs. Hills' great-grandfather, Samuel Barber, served in the Revolution and was at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The Moultons are also an old New England family. Joseph F. Barber owned a wharf and was also a ship owner. After his marriage he removed to Derry, N. H., purchased a farm and was thus employed until the family removed to Woburn, Mass., where he resided until his death, while his widow died in Iowa. Mrs. Hills was educated at Adams Female Academy and the Pinkerton Acad- emy. After teaching at Chester for a year she spent three years in Woburn, Mass., and then came out to Galva, Iowa, where her brother, Clarence Bar- ber, was a stockman. The acquaintance with Mr. Hills back in New England was renewed and re- sulted in their marriage. They have one child, Ethel, the wife of Ralph E. Williams of Campbell. Mr. Hills was one of the original members of the board of trustees of Campbell Union high school. While teaching in Mono County he was president of the county board of education. He was a member of Ocean View Lodge No. 143, I. O. O. F., at Half Moon Bay, and is a member of E. O. C. Ord. Post No. 82, G. A. R., having served as commander of the post and as an aide on the staff of Department Commander Martin. Mrs. Hills is ex-president of E. O. C. Ord. Relief Corps, Los Gatos, and was secretary to the Department President, Alice M. Gil- lette. Prof. Hills is a member of the Harvard alumni. Well read and a ready speaker he is an interesting conversationalist.

CHARLES J. VATH .- An American by adoption who has become both an exemplary, devoted citizen and as great an enthusiast for California as any native son, is Charles J. Vath, who was born in Germany on November 28, 1869, the son of a government official, Sebastian Vath, well-known for his progres- sive ideas and methods. He had married Miss Bar- bara Geiger, an accomplished woman who, like her husband, made many friends. They provided a good home and sent Charles to the best local schools, so that he was given a helpful start in the world.

Fate provided that when only fifteen he should come out to the United States, and it also demanded that he should work hard soon after arriving here: but his ambition led him to attend night school, and in this way he overcame what might otherwise have been a serious handicap in a country to whose language and customs he was a stranger. He located in New York for five years, and then passed ten years in San Francisco in the butcher trade.

Removing to San Jose in 1901, Mr. Vath estab- lished himself as a bottler of all soft drinks. He owns the most modern of equipment, and from his well-equipped plant at Fourth and Virginia streets, he ships to Santa Clara, San Benito and San Mateo

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counties. He belongs to the Rotary Club, the Elks and the Olympic Club of San Francisco; is a stand- pat Republican, and never neglects an opportunity to further the best interests of the community in which he lives and thrives.

On July 10, 1895, Mr. Vath was married at San Francisco, to Miss Frances Wrede, a native of San Francisco, and they have one child, a promising son named Herman S. Vath, who saw service with the U. S. Army as clerk of a hospital corps during the recent World War, and is now carrying on the busi- ness. He married at San Jose, Ethyl Scheele, who was then living in the Garden City.

FRANK A. HUNTER .- Among the worthiest representatives of interesting and long-honored pio- neer families to be found in all Santa Clara County, handsomely maintaining the old California hospital- ity, are Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Hunter, progressive farmers living on the the Agnew Road, northwest of Santa Clara. Highly successful as horticulturists, they are famous for their Bartlett pears. They own forty acres of choicest orchard, a part of the old Hunter home-place. Mr. Hunter was born on the old Hunter homestead on October 8, 1860, the son of A. B. Hunter, familiarly called by his friends Gus Hunter, a native of Augusta County, Va., where he was born on November 26, 1826. At an early age, his parents took him to Illinois, and from there he and his step-sister moved to Washington County, Mo., where they went to school. A. B. Hunter con- tinued his business in Missouri until 1849, when he set out across the great plains to California; and having proceeded to the Feather River, he remained there at Bidwell's Bar until the fall of 1850. He then went to American Valley, in Plumas County, and became one of the first settlers. In 1852 he settled for a couple of years in Santa Clara County then went to the mines but in 1855 he returned to Santa Clara County and located his farm of 160 acres west of what is now Agnew, and there erected a fine residence. He identified himself with the Santa Clara Cheese Factory, and was its treasurer.

On September 18, 1855, A. B. Hunter was mar- ried at Santa Clara to Ann Rutledge, a descendant of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a cousin of Ann Rutledge who had the distinction of having been the first sweet- heart of Abraham Lincoln; and several children blessed their union. John Finley was born on August 22, 1856, and he was accidently killed on Oc- tober 29, 1881, while hauling lumber for a barn-the load falling and killing him. Minnie J. married Cal- vin Miller, the orchardist, operating above Alum Rock, and they reside in San Jose. Frank A. is the subject of our sketch. Carrie T. is now the wife of Grandin Bray, the retired rancher, and they live at Santa Clara. Archibald Ernest Hunter, who was born on November 26, 1874, is well established in the automobile trade in San Francisco. This chap- ter in the history of the family is interesting es- pecially on account of the antiquity of the family. A. B. Hunter belonged to the third generation of Samuel Hunter, who was born in Virginia, of pre- Revolutionary stock coming from the Cavaliers who migrated from England.

Augustus B. Hunter was a prominent man of affairs in Santa Clara County for many years. He held many positions of trust, and always had the

confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens. In 1881 he was elected a member of the State Legisla- ture and this office he filled for two terms. He re- tired to San Jose in 1882 and in 1888 he was elected councilman from the second ward and served in that capacity for several years. As a true Argonaut of the "days of '49," he named his stock ranch in Plumas County the American ranch, and from the ranch the valley was called American Valley; and at the ranch he opened a trading post or store, which he conducted very successfully. When, in the fall of 1852, he sold out, owing to impaired health, he intended to go to the Sandwich Islands, but he con- cluded first to visit friends in Santa Clara Valley. He found the climate so beneficial that he was soon restored to health, and he determined to buy a home near Lawrence Station, and to settle down to farm life. The cattle business was a great industry then, and this contributed to exercise his energy and sagacity. By thrift and industry he accumulated a handsome fortune, and as his children grew to man- hood and womanhood, he provided generously for each of them. During the later years of his life, Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Hunter resided at 86 North Sixth Street in a commodious house he had built there, and for many years he had been a prominent member of the Santa Clara lodge of Odd Fellows. The character of his life, the good he wrought, and the noble ambitions he still held out as a possible goal, make the manner and the time of Mr. Hunter's taking off a matter of the deepest sorrow and re- gret. On the afternoon of October 16, 1902, Mr. Hunter was killed, by accident, on the road above Alum Park. He was returning to San Jose with his wife from a visit to their daughter, Mrs. Miller, and when at a point in the road where there is a dangerous grade, the horse became frightened. Be- fore anything could stop him, he backed the buggy over the grade, some thirty or forty feet. Mrs. Hunter was held in buggy by the top, and in some way or other protected from serious injury; Mr. Hunter, on the other hand, fell out, and either the horse or the buggy crushed him. He lived to ask his wife if she was hurt, in answer to her solicitous inquiry, but was dead when picked up by Charles Bozhe, who had witnessed the accident and gone to their assistance. When at the bottom, Mrs. Hunter, who was not badly hurt, called to her hus- band to learn of his injuries. "Are you much hurt?" she asked. "Yes, mother, I am badly hurt; but are you safe?" Mrs. Hunter found that her foot was caught in the buggy in some way, and that she could not release it until she unlaced her shoe, which she did, and crawled to where her husband lay; but when she reached him, he had ceased to breathe, his words of tender solicitude as to her injuries being the last he spoke. The aged couple were devotedly attached to their children, and the children recipro- cated with an affection that was beautiful to see. Their very visit to the Millers was in accordance with their custom of spending a night or two with each of their children at least once a week.

Frank Hunter was reared on the old Hunter home- stead and educated in the local school and in a private school in Santa Clara, and from early days he assisted his father on the farm. On Decem- ber 24, 1882, he was married to Miss Lydia A. Ortley, a daughter of Captain John Jacob Ortley,

F.a.Hinter Lydia A. Hunter.

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who was born in New York City on September 14, 1827, and there resided until his eighteenth year. Having learned the sailmaker's trade, he shipped on the barque Rosina on June 26, 1845, and voyaged to South America; and he was afterward employed on the brig Don Juan, which was engaged in the slave trade. He remained with that craft only a short time, however, and once more shipped on the Rosina, where he remained for three and a half years; and then, as an able seaman, he sailed on the Union to New Orleans, and made two later trips as second mate. He then came out to California on the ship Caroline Reed, in 1849, and he was after- ward in the service of different vessels on the Coast, while he for many years was proprietor of the Union line of packets plying between Alviso and San Fran- cisco. He came to own certain warehouses in Al- viso township; while in the town of Alviso he had a comfortable home and thirty-five lots, and he was a school trustee for ten years. On the day be- fore Christmas, in 1858, Captain Ortley was married to Almira Wade, by whom he had ten surviving children: Lydia A., the wife of the subject of this story: Julia D., Lucy W., Mary L., John J., Almira L., Emily E., Oliver J., William B., and Hattie R. Mrs. Ortley died in 1907, closing a fruitful, happy life in which she had made many friends. Captain Ort- ley passed away in 1913. Almira Wade crossed the great plains with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wade, in 1849, and having settled near Alviso, the Wades ever afterward were identified with movements for pro- gress in the Valley. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Hunter engaged in farming on the Hunter ranch, and here he raised alfalfa and grain, and conducted a dairy. In 1888 they became the owners of sixty acres of the old homestead; they built a new house and in connection with rairying they set out a year orchard, raising berries while the orchard was young. Three children have been born to them: A. B. Hunter, is a rancher, with a fine pear orchard in the Jefferson district, where he lives with his wife, Mary Jane Malley before her marriage, and their two children, A. B. Hunter, Jr., and Clifford B. Hunter. Elva is the wife of B. L. Ward, the undertaker at San Jose; they have two children, William B. and Frances H. Clifton mar- ried Maud M. Coyle; and they are ranching in Yuba County. Mr. Hunter is a member of the California Pear Association and politically indorses the prin- ciples of the Democratic platform.

H. J. LUND .- A horticulturist and viticulturist, located on the summit in the Santa Cruz Mountains, is H. J. Lund, who was born at Taasinge, Denmark, September 9, 1868, a son of Anders and Karen (Han- sen) Lund, the father being a general contractor. The parents are now both dead. H. J. is the second oldest of their five children and he and a brother, John Lund, are the only ones in the United States. As soon as his school days were over, H. J. went to work on farms, and in 1891 he came to the United States, first locating in Washington, but remained only a short time, when he removed to Oregon, remaining a year, and then came to California in 1900. He spent two years in Oakland, and then in 1902 he located in Santa Clara County, rented an orchard and engaged in

fruit raising. Later he leased a 174-acre place of orchard and vineyard.

He believes in cooperation, so was one of the first in his section to become a member of the California Prune & Apricot Association. In August, 1920, he purchased his present orchard and vineyard of twenty acres on the Summit, where he is raising prunes and grapes. It is the consensus of opinion he raises the finest table grapes in his region. -

In Stockton Mr. Lund was married to Miss Hazel Smith, who was born in Los Gatos, a daughter of William P. Smith, one of the early settlers of the foothill city. There union has been blessed with four children: Kathryn, Ella, Andrew and Wilbur, the two last being twins. In politics Mr. Lund is a Social- ist. He served as trustee of Lexington school district for several years, beng clerk of the board.

OCTAVE J. FRANCIS .- An early settler of Cali- fornia arriving here in 1862 is Octave J. Francis, a native of Canada, born at La Prairie, near Montreal, November 27, 1843, a son of Benoit and Flavy (La Fevre) Francis, natives of Canada, descended from old French-Canadian families. They removed to Malone, N. Y., in 1846, where they reared their family on the farm. Later in life our subject returned to Malone and brought his parents to his California home where they were cared for until their death at seventy-two and sixty-eight years, respectively. Oc- tave J. was the fifth oldest of a family of eight children born to this worthy couple and from a youth learned habits of industry on his father's farm, three miles from Malone, and also attended the local pub- lic schools. When nineteen years of age he started for California, coming via Panama to San Francisco in 1862, on the old Constitution. He came immedi- ately to Santa Clara County and followed farming.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 175

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