History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 226

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

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FRANK A. LE SUER .- Concentration of his ener- gies to any particular enterprise which he has on hand doubtless is one of the paramount secrets of the suc- cess that has attended the business undertakings of Frank A. Le Suer. Identified for the past nine years with the theatrical business, he is well qualified for the work in which he is engaged, and the magnitude of the business is due to his constructive work.

He was born on November 27, 1859, in Lawton, Mich., near Kalamazoo. His father, Henry Le Suer, was a native of New York, born near Jamestown; and his mother was born at Ann Arbor, Mich., both parents coming from old Virginia stock. His father was engaged in the mercantile business most of his life and lived to be seventy-eight years old; his mother passed away when our subject was seventeen years old. They were the parents of three children, two daughters and one son; Hattie V., Mrs. I. G. Betts, resides in Los Angeles; Frank A. of this sketch; and Jennie is Mrs. Davis of Los Angeles.

Frank A. was educated in the grammar and high schools, graduating from the Charlotte high school with the class of 1883. Immediately following his graduation, he entered the First National Bank as clerk, and by hard work and his usual determination to succeed he rose to be teller, and when he resigned his position in 1911, he was cashier of the bank. For ten years he was employed by Daniel Scott & Com- pany, a wholesale tobacco company of Detroit, Mich.,

as their traveling salesman for the northern portion of Michigan. After ten years on the road he went back to Charlotte, Mich., and was solicited to enter the employ of the First National Bank again, and he ac- cepted and was made cashier, J. M. C. Smith being the president of that institution. Mr. Smith now rep- resents that district of Michigan in Congress as a member of the House of Representatives.

The marriage of Mr. Le Suer occurred in Erie, Pa., in 1886 and united him with Miss Nellie C. Schneider, and they are the parents of one daughter, Dorothy, the wife of William Longmire, a graduate of Stan- ford University; he is an oil geologist with the Pierce Oil Company, and they reside in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Having for some time a desire to locate on the Pacific Coast, Mr. Le Suer resigned his position with the First National Bank of Charlotte, Mich., during September, 1911, and located in Palo Alto. He took a rest from active business cares for six months, then in conjunction with his brother-in-law, Mr. Betts, plans for a new building were drawn and negotiations were opened with Mr. Wetzel, a capitalist of Kings City to erect the building known as the Varsity Thea- ter, which furnished excellent amusement in the way of moving pictures. In 1921, Mr. Betts sold his inter- est in the Varsity to Mr. Le Suer and a partnership was formed with E. J. Arkhus, the proprietor of the Stanford Theater, and the two theaters were incor- porated under the name of the Palo Alto Theater Company, with a capitalization of $50,000. Mr. Le Suer is the capable and genial manager of the Var- sity, while Edward Lowry is the manager of the Stan- ford. Fraternally, Mr. Le Suer is a Knights Templar Mason. A man of fine presence, excellent judgment and executive force, he has brought to his business experience and ability, and spares neither time nor money in securing the best pictures to present to Palo Alto's theatergoers.

PETER H. MEYER .- A very progressive and suc- cessful rancher who has been a force making for gen- cral prosperity in the Rucker district since the spring of 1898 is Peter H. Meyer, who was born near Stade, Germany, on February 24, 1862. In the early '80s, after an excellent training in the thoroughgoing Fatherland, he migrated to the land of still greater opportunity, following westward to San Francisco the path of his brother, who had come out to the Coast metropolis in 1872. He brought with him the blessed heritage of good parentage, his father having been Henry Meyer, and his mother, before her mar- riage Miss Annie Buck. Both were highly esteemed in their day and place of residence, and sincerely mourned when they passed away over thirty years ago. Setting to work in San Francisco, Peter Meyer entered the service of a large mercantile establish- ment on Market Street; and in 1885, about one year before he was made a citizen of the United States, he established his own store at the corner of Pearl and Market streets which he conducted successfully for twelve years. Then he became a prune rancher, operating on some seventy-five acres in the Rucker district, and he acquired a fine home on Woodward Avenue, which he still owns. He belongs to the California Prune and Apricot Association, in which he has become a live wire.

At San Francisco, on February 8, 1890, Mr. Meyer was married to Miss Mary Fauser, the daughter of John Fauser, a merchant of San Francisco, in which

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city she was reared and educated. Two sons have sprung from this fortunate union. John grew up to be a ranchman, is married and has one son, and resides at Rucker. Walter H. owns a fine ranch near San Martin. Mr. Meyer is a Republican, and since 1886 he has been an Odd Fellow.

HENRY C. MINTER .- A rancher who has at- tained his enviable prosperity in the very locality in which he has continued to live, and who therefore thoroughly merits, as he also thoroughly enjoys the esteem and good-will of his fellow-citizens, is Henry C. Minter of the Watsonville Road, five and a half miles northwest of Gilroy. He was born near St. Joseph, Mo., on May 11, 1875, the youngest child and only son of Henry Minter, who met a premature death by accident in 1877. As a result, the lad, Henry, was thrown upon his own resources when he was eight years old, although he came to California in 1882 with his mother, who had remarried, and his stepfather, D. J. Howard. They at first located at Arbuckle, in Colusa County. Mrs. Howard lives in Gilroy, as do her daughters by Mr. Minter; Mrs. C. H. Pierce, Mrs. R. A. Howard and Mrs. M. Baptiste. In 1887, Henry struck out for himself, for good, and finally came down to Los Gatos; and began driving teams, hauling wood and freight into Los Gatos when he was so small he could not load his wagon; and in 1888, having acquired a fine span of horses, he entered into a teaming contract. He filed a claim on 160 acres of timber land in San Luis Obispo County; but having proved up, he sold out and then returned to Los Gatos. In the meantime he supported his mother and sent two of his sisters through school.

At the age of twenty-one, Mr. Minter was mar- ried to Miss Mary Alice Gibson, a native daughter, having been born in San Felipe, San Benito County, of sturdy pioneer parents; and two children were born of the union. Walter H. Minter operates the North End Garage at Gilroy, and Myrtle M. is a pupil in the Adams school.

For many years, Mr. Minter contracted to team loads out of the mills in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and executed one of the largest contracts on record, transporting 3000 cords of wood from the timber to the cars in the Glenwood district for the McKearnin Bros. of Santa Cruz; but in 1908 he endeavored to abandon this field of work, and took a temporary job at Gilroy at thirty-five dollars per month on the "Old Farmer's" ranch. near his present home in the Bodfish district. In 1910 he purchased the largest portion of the Holman ranch of 115 acres, for which he incurred heavy indebtedness; but with unremitting industry he has won out, and made a pronounced success as a fruit-grower. He has developed an or- chard of eighty acres, of both prunes and fancy pears, and this has yielded some handsome returns. He also farms the creek bottom and sand lands. He has remodeled the ranch dwelling, and has also erected a fine home on the ranch for the tenant. He has in- vested heavily in modern, up-to-date equipment, and gone in for the most scientific, advanced methods, and within ten years he has become independently well-to-do. He belongs to the Farmers' Union, and contributed largely to the construction of the pack- ing house at Gilroy, which has since been taken over by the California Prune & Apricot Growers, Inc., in which Mr. Minter holds $1.300 worth of shares. Mr.

Minter and Mr. Fairbush constructed the Five Party Telephone Line at a cost of $1,500, building seven miles of line together. With his neighbors, he built the electric line to supply electricity to their homes, and he was largely instrumental in the bond issue for the new Adams school building, and is a member of the board of trustees of the district.

Mrs. Minter, one of the most estimable and highly- esteemed ladies in this vicinity, having passed away in September, 1916, Mr. Minter remarried in 1918, choosing for his second wife Mrs. Esther E. (Lange) Gimbel, of San Francisco, who had one daughter, Margaret. Mr. Minter is a Master Mason, and there are no more popular members of that historic or- der in the Keith Lodge in Gilroy; he also belongs to the Odd Fellows, and both himself and wife are members of the Rebekahs.

THOMAS M. WILLIAMS, M. D .- A distinguished member of the medical profession in California, who stands out prominently in all the elements which make up the strongest manhood, as well as the most interesting and honorable traits characterizing Ameri- can professional life, is Dr. Thomas M. Williams, of 300 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, where he maintains his well-appointed suite of offices. He was born in West Virginia, in Greenbrier County, on July 16, 1871, the son of Albert G. and Elizabeth (Donnally) Williams, both representatives of old Virginia fam- ilies of Irish, Welsh, Scotch and English extraction. The father was a farmer, and on the home farm, with its natural advantages, Thomas grew up.

He attended the public school in his native county, and then went to a preparatory school at Morgan- town, W. Va., and in 1893 came out to California, and soon afterward entered Stanford University. where he was graduated in 1897 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. He then went East to New York and, entering the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the medical department of Columbia University, was grad- uated in 1901, with the M. D. degree. After that he put in two years at the New York Post-Graduate Hospital as an interne. In the spring of 1904 Dr. Williams commenced practicing medicine in Palo Alto, and there he has since continued, save for a year spent in still higher post-graduate study in Eng- land and Germany. During the late war he held a first lieutenant's commission in the U. S. Navy, and was located at the U. S. Naval Base Hospital No. 2. at Strathpeffer, in the Scottish Highlands.

At Elyria, Ohio, May 20, 1901, Dr. Williams was married to Miss Dora Moody, a native of Vermont. She is also a graduate of Stanford University in the class of 1897, with the A. B. degree, and thus as classmates they became acquainted. They are the parents of two children, Elizabeth and Rhona. Dr. Williams is a member of the American Medical Asso- ciation and the state and county medical societies. He is still keenly interested in athletics, having played center on the Stanford football team in 1895-96. For several years he has been chairman of the Board of Athletic Control of Stanford University, and in that capacity was most active in the building of the new Stanford Stadium, constructed in 1921 at a cost of $250,000 and capable of seating 60,000 spec- tators. Dr. Williams' name will forever be insepara- bly connected with it, since he, as chairman of the board, in association with others, contributed the

Stenry b. Hinter

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

force, foresight and enthusiasm that resulted in its materialization, thereby creating and perpetuating a keen interest in Olympian games and college athletics.

HENRY LOUIS KOPP .- A well improved and highly productive orchard on the Los Gatos and Al- maden Road pays tribute to the care and labor be- stowed upon it by its owner, Henry Louis Kopp, who for eleven years has made his home in Santa Clara County. He was born in Buffalo, Scott County, Iowa, October 3, 1867, a son of Mathias and Anna (Soehren) Kopp, both of whom have passed away. The third oldest of nine children, Henry L. Kopp ac- quired his education in the public schools of Buffalo and was employed at farm work until twenty years of age, when he came to the Pacific Coast in 1887, working at carpentry in San Diego, and in 1889 went to the North Star mine in Fresno County. There he proved up on a homestead which he still owns and then mined in Tuolumne County for five years. Later he went to Korea and China, spending three years in millwrighting in the Orient and on his return spent two years in Nevada and then went to San Salvador, Central America, in the employ of a mining company for one year. Returning to Santa Clara County, Cal., in 1911, he purchased a fifteen-acre tract of land, which he has since cultivated, devoting his attention to the raising of prunes and apricots, in which he has been very successful. He has worked diligently and persistently as the years have passed and the methods employed in the operation of his place are the ex- pression of the latest scientific research.

Mr. Kopp, in Sacramento in 1907, married Miss Irene G. Dingle, born at Virginia City, Nev., the daughter of John W. and Catherine (Cahill) Dingle, natives of England and Ireland, respectively. The father was a sailor, visiting all the great ports of the world, and rose to be captain. During the Civil War he ran a transport, carrying the Union wounded to the North. Arriving at San Francisco, he went to Virginia City, Nev., and here he met his future wife, Miss Cahill. Mrs. Kopp, the third of a family of eight children, graduated at the Virginia City high school and then taught in the schools of that city until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Kopp have two children, Barbara and Jack Irving. Mr. Kopp's po- litical allegiance is given to the Republican party and he has ever taken a deep and helpful interest in pub- lic affairs, especially along educational lines, now serving his second term as school trustee of the Union district. He is a Master Mason and is an exemplary representative of the craft. Mrs. Kopp is president of the Parent-Teachers' Association.

GEORGE C. WHITE,-Preeminent among the highly-esteemed citizens of Old Gilroy, and honored both for what he is and what he has accomplished, George C. White is the center of a circle of devoted friends, and the envied of those who also know the excellent attributes of his affectionate and gifted wife, truly a right hand to him in recent years and trying experience. A native son, he was born at Old Gilroy, (San Ysidro), on April 22, 1883, the son of John E. White, the popular constable of Gilroy, whose life stoy is elsewhere related in this book. George was reared and schooled at San Ysidro, and he also at- tended the Gilroy high school; and then, in 1901, he entered the business college of the Oakland Poly- technic. After graduation, he took up his duties as

assistant agent for the Wells Fargo Express Com- pany at Gilroy, and in that responsible capacity re- rained for about two years, and then he filled posi- tions of the same kind at San Francisco, San Luis Obispo and San Jose.

About 1903, he took up railroading in another de- partment, and became a brakeman on the Southern Pacific Railroad; and he continued in that line of work until, on May 7, 1906, at South City, a terrible accident occurred, through which he lost his lower limbs. Fully twelve months passed before he even partially recovered from the loss and shock. He did not give up, however, and immediately started, in a small way, on his father's dairy farm, and some years later, the accident nearly forgotten, he acquired a ranch of thirty acres near his father's, and he has since bought and sold a number of ranches, realizing a fair profit on each deal.

At Gilroy, in 1909, Mr. White was married to Miss Vera Louise Willson, the daughter of Fred W. Will- son, of the well-known pioneer ranch family of Gil- roy, and they have four children: George Willson, Sarah Lee, Margery Vera and Fadra Louise. Every- one who knows the circumstances gladly gives Mr. White great credit for his sunny optimism, his faith, his industry and his aggressive progressiveness, and also to his devoted, conscientious wife. Mr. White is a Mason and a Republican.

J. M. CHURCH WALKER .- Prominent among the public officials of Santa Clara County whose sci- entific attainments have enabled them to be of espe- cial service to communities in the vast work of rap- idly and permanently developing the resources of the Golden State, is J. M. Church Walker, the efficient engineer of the progressive town of Los Gatos. He was born at Lincoln, Mass., on May 2, 1872, the son of James A. Walker, a well-known railroad man, now deceased, who had married Miss Gratia Paine, still living and the center of a circle of admiring and de- voted friends. Church Walker attended the local grammar school and the high school at Brainerd, Minn., to which state the family had removed in 1882, and then he became a student of the University of Minnesota, where he took up special mechanical work. For three years he followed engineering at St. Helena, and then, for another three years, he served the U. S. Government at Mare Island, doing some special drafting for structural steel work. At San Francisco, too, he added to his reputation as a field engineer; and then he engaged in bridge build- ing. He had learned drafting before coming to Cali- fornia in 1901, and he gave valuable assistance in the rebuilding of San Francisco, having associated him- sclf with the company that built the Educational, the Transportation, and the Agricultural buildings, and also the Iowa, the Illinois and the Swedish buildings at the Panama-Pacific Exposition. Since coming to Los Gatos and superintending the construction of roads, streets, sewers and other parts of the public systems, he has done wonders to make the town one of the prettiest and most up-to-date of its size in California. He himself has been living in Los Gatos since 1916, pinning his faith to the fast-growing town, and he has been town engineer since 1917. All the improvements recently effected here, including the bridge on Roberts Road, have been carried out under bis supervision.

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Mr. Walker was married at Berkeley, Cal., in 1901, to Miss Bertha Cubbler, a native of the Keystone State, and five children have blessed their union: Theron, Bertram, Laura, Florence and Jasmine. Mr. Walker is a Republican in matters of national poli- tics, and belongs to the Masons and the Fraternal Aid. The family attend the Christian Science Church.

MARION THOMAS GWINN .- Now the owner of 225 acres of choice land in the San Martin dis- trict, Marion Thomas Gwinn can well look back with satisfaction on his achievement here, as when he came to this locality, in 1904. he was practically with- out capital. He was born at Cambridge, Mo., May 18, 1872, the son of W. C. Gwinn, a pioneer farmer there. who had married Judith Ford, who lived to he sixty-seven years old, passing away at Sacramento in June, 1920. The father, who was born in Saline County, Mo., is still living, and resides at Sacramento, aged seventy-six years.

In 1888 the Gwinn family removed to Red Bluff, Cal., from their Missouri home, later going to Wood- land. Here Marion Gwinn attended school, mean- while helping his father, and when he set out for himself he returned to Missouri, remained about two years, then came back to California and farmed near Lodi one year. In 1904 he came from Oakland to San Martin, and after making a small payment on twenty acres here he proceeded to give his whole energy and time to its development. Prior to this he had been employed for two years at the Humboldt Lumber Yards at Oakland, but he decided that the life of a rancher offered far greater opportunities for success, and, firm in the belief that one should choose one line of work and bend all his energies to per- forming its duties better than ever before, Mr. Gwinn has made wonderful progress by living up to his creed. When he bought his land it was unimproved stubblefield, and he has developed it to its present state. He has given careful study to the problems of horticulture and now 100 acres of the 225 are in peaches, French prunes and apricots, thirty acres being newly planted trees, while twenty-five acres are devoted to a fourteen-year-old vineyard, from which the returns for the past few seasons have been most satisfactory.

On November 12, 1894, Mr. Gwinn was married to Miss Annie Bell McMillan, who was born in Yolo County. Her father, William McMillan, crossed the plains when nineteen ycars old, in the train under Capt. Crow. Her mother, Elizabeth Goodin, came that same year with ox teams and they were married in California. The former is living, but the mother is dead. They had seven children, six living. Mrs. Gwinn, with the exception of seven years spent in Texas, has spent her entire life in her native state. Eight children have been born to them: Wilbur L. married Amy Robinson, dughter of the late Henry Robinson, and they have one son, Wilbur C. They reside at San Martin, where he is associated with his father in ranching; he was in the U. S. service dur- ing the World War, spending six months at the U. S. Army Tank School at San Pedro. The other chil- dren are: Dorothy May; Thomas W. and M. Ray- mond, both engaged in ranching on the home place; Warren C., deceased; Vernon C., Mary Elizabeth and Annebel are attending school. The four younger children were born at San Martin. Mr. Gwinn is a Democrat in politics and for the past thirty years

has been a member of the Independent Order of Foresters. A hard worker, efficient in his methods, he is doing the work of two men on his ranch, and he sets an example of industry and thrift, with their reward of successful accomplishment, that is well worthy of emulation. In all his ventures he has had the faithful cooperation of his wife, to whom he gives much of the credit for their present standing in the county, for she has stood shoulder to shoulder with him at all times. The sons have all assisted to develop the ranch and all remain at home.

NICK SCORSUR .- A good example of thrift and untiring energy is illustrated in the life of Nick Scor- sur, now retired from active business life, and his years of toil have resulted in a competency that is justly deserved. Born in Dalmatia, Austria, January 1, 1858, he is a son of John and Catherine (Cavaletta) Scorsur; his father was, for many years, in the stock and sheep business. Five sons and two daughters composed the family, of whom only two survive, the subject of this sketch and an older brother, Ben, who both live in California. As early as 1875, two broth- ers, James and Benjamin, came to America, settling in Virginia; and late in 1880 they came to California by the way of the Isthmus of Panama and located in the beautiful Santa Clara Valley. In 1882 Nick Scor- sur followed them and has continuously resided in this section since that time. The brothers invested in a 160-acre tract of land near the New Almaden mines, which they cleared and developed. When they were ready for planting, the owners of the mining property informed them that they had no right or title to the property, and were successful in beating them out of their holdings, as well as others in the neighborhood. This occurred in 1885, but, undaunted, the three brothers located on a tract of land in East San Jose, where they started in the fruit business. Beginning at the bottom, by hard work and close ap- plication, they gradually enlarged their operations and increased their holdings; in 1892, however, they dis- solved partnership. James passed away in 1915. Meanwhile Nick Scorsur engaged in fruit buying, handling cherries, peaches and prunes with good suc- cess. He owned a forty-five-acre prune orchard on White Road, which he kept for about five years, when he sold it at a good profit. He owns a thirty-five- acre cherry and prune orchard at Campbell and also a twenty-acre orchard on Senter Road, which brings him a handsome income each year. In 1900 he in- vested in a tract of land in East San Jose, building a commodious residence at the corner of Twenty-sixth and San Antonio streets, still the family home.

The marriage of Mr. Scorsur occurred in San Jose, April 4, 1889, and united him with Miss Ellen Talia, also a native of Dalmatia, who was born August 14, 1865, and who came to California in May, 1888. She is the daughter of Captain Matthew and Raphael Talia. Her father was a man of sterling integrity who followed a seafaring life as captain of a private merchant vessel on the Mediterranean Sea. Mr. and Mrs. Scorsur are the parents of five children; John is manager of the ranches owned by the family; Mat- thew, deceased; Nicholas graduated in 1917 from the College of Commerce, University of California, with the degree of B. A. He served as chief petty officer in the hospital corps in the U. S. N. R. F. in the World War and is now engaged in general merchan- dising at Orange Cove, Fresno County; Andrew is a

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 226

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