History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 227

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

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student of law in Santa Clara University, class of 1924, and also served in the U. S. N. R. F. at the time of the World War; Catherine is a student at Notre Dame College in San Jose, class of 1922. Mr. Scorsur gives no small amount of credit for his suc- cess to his devoted wife, who has been his loyal help- mate and coadviser, working in harmony to achieve their ambition of becoming independent and rearing and educating their children to be useful and honored

citizens. During 1901 Mr. and Mrs. Scorsur and their children made an extensive tour of Europe, espe- cially enjoying the visit of four months at the old home place of their parents. Mr. Scorsur is now one of San Jose's pioneer fruit buyers, and his success has only been gained by the utmost care and intelligence, backed by industry and integrity, which has aided him in laying a foundation for a successful life. He and his family are active and consistent members of St. Patrick's Catholic Church of San Jose.

J. H. C. SCHROEDER .- After an eventful life as a mining prospector, during which time he traveled over a wide area, including South America, Mexico, Canada and Alaska, Henry Schroeder, after turning his attention to ranching developed a model orchard and attractive home place on San Martin Avenue, San Martin. Mr. Schroeder was born on February 20, 1853, at Hamburg, Germany, and when he was seven- teen he lost no time in crossing the ocean to America, coming on to San Francisco, where he made his head- quarters while a mining prospector.

In 1890, on January 19, Mr. Schroeder was married at San Francisco to Miss Agnes Kuster, a native daughter of that city, where she was reared and edu- cated. Her father died when about forty-five, but her mother, Mrs. Agnes Gerdes, is still living, aged eighty-one, at Glen Ellen, Cal. Two children were born to them, Selma A. and Herbert O., who is car- ing for the home place at San Martin. Selma Agnes was born in San Francisco and was reared on Dead- wood Creek. She attended the public schools at Yreka. San Mateo and Morgan Hill, and after graduating from high school entered the San Jose State Normal School, graduating in 1917, receiving her certificate as a teacher that same Fall. She taught at Trinity, Sono- mia County, for one year, and in 1918 came to San Martin, where she accepted a position in the gram- inar school, now being the senior teacher there in length of service. A talented and cultured young woman, she has taken every advantage of her splen- did educational opportunities and can number her friends by the score.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Schroeder set- tled at Yreka. Siskiyou County, where Mr. Schroeder was engaged in mining, having developed what is still known as the Schroeder mine on Deadwood Creek. In 1905 they removed to San Francisco, where they suffered the loss of all their possessions in the fire of April, 1906, and then removed to San Mateo, com- pelled to start all over again. In 1909 the family came to San Martin and here Mr. Schroeder, nothing daunted by his reverses, selected twenty acres of good land, which he transformed by hard work and intelli- gent care into a fine orchard property, which is al- ready bringing in good returns. Mr. Schroeder was always to be found among the public-spirited men of the district when any progressive measure was consid- ered and in this he was always seconded by his wife, who proved herself a true helpmate. He was a mem-

ber of St. John's Lodge No. 37, F. & A. M., at Yreka, having joined in March, 1902. He died on January 20, 1922, at his home on the San Martin Ranch, and was buried with Masonic honors.

JOHN STURLA, SR .- An early settler, who came to California when eleven years old is John Sturla, Sr., who has been actively engaged in farming pursuits in the Gilroy district since he was seventeen. A native of Italy, he was born in Genoa on Sep- tember 9, 1853, a son of Angelo Sturla, a farmer in Italy, who came to America in 1862, accompanied by his son James. They first located in San Francisco and were engaged in vegetable farming and sold their products in horse-drawn carts on the streets of the city. In January of 1864, John came to San Fran- cisco via the Isthmus of Panama, taking four months to make the journey. He joined his father and brother in the vegetable business, and as they pros- pered they invested in eight and a half acres in Old Gilroy, fine rich land on the Pacheco Road. His father passed away about 1899, and John and James started out to make their own way independently. By economy and industry, Mr. Sturla now owns a fine place of fifty-seven acres in prunes, apples and pears.

Mr. Sturla married Miss Louisa Rolari, born in Italy, a daughter of Antonio Rolari, and she came to America with her parents when she was fifteen years of age. They are the parents of seven children Angelo, who has three children and lives nearby; An- tonio married Miss Alice Kickham and they reside on the Rucker ranch and have four children; Louis mar- ried and resides in Gilroy; Alexander married Anna Gubser and reside at Old Gilroy and have two chil- dren; John Jr., who is also married, served overseas during the World War for eighteen months; Harold; Mary is the wife of Joseph Batiel of Gilroy, and they have five children. Politically Mr. Sturla is a Repub- lican and his religious faith is that of the Catholic Church. He is a stockholder and a director in the Gilroy Branch, Bank of Italy; and is a member of the California Prune and Apricot Association. He is a familiar figure on the streets of Gilroy, and his affa- ble manner has won for him scores of friends.

GEORGE W. SLOCUM .- A native of New York, who spent many years in the well drilling industry and who is now the owner of a fine twenty-acre ranch, is George W. Slocum, of Church Avenue, San Martin. He was born in Cattaraugus County, N. Y., March 4, 1855, and there he lived during the years of his young manhood. Attending the Centennial Ex- position at Philadelphia in 1876, Mr. Slocum was much impressed with the wonders of the wide world exhibited there and so was given the incentive to start out and see for himself. In 1878 he went to the cil fields of Pennsylvania, then coming into wide prominence as a new industry for this country, and here began at the bottom in Warren and Mckean counties. Later he took up contract drilling, and in this he was very successful.

In 1886 Mr. Slocum came to Stockton, Cal., and was employed by Col. E. J. Beane, and there he fol- lowed well drilling, putting down several test wells, but was not rewarded with oil in sufficient quantities to make it a paying venture. He next turned his at- tention to drilling water wells, spending one summer in that occupation in Santa Clara County. Mr. Slo- cum next went to San Diego, in 1889, and followed his trade as oil well driller and working in the mines

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at Julian until 1895; then was at Half Moon Bay, next at Newhall in 1898, then going to San Benito County in the fall of 1900, where he was employed by the Watsonville Oil Company, and has been in their employ off and on until 1921, when he retired to his ranch. His home was in Gilroy until 1917. The pos- sibilities of the San Martin section appealed to Mr. Slocum strongly and he determined to make this his home, and accordingly purchased his ranch property in 1917, at San Martin, which he has developed into a fine home place, having set out six acres in prunes.

Mr. Slocum's marriage united him with Miss Mary Ayres, the daughter of the late John Ayres, and they are the parents of two children, Ethel, at home, and Helen, Mrs. J. S. Brown of San Jose. In fraternal circles Mr. Slocum is a Master Mason, belonging to Keith Lodge, Gilroy, and politically the Republican party has had his allegiance for many years.

JOSEPH A. TERESI .- One of the most valuable and highly productive orchards in the Santa Clara Valley is that operated by Joseph A. Teresi, located on Saratoga Avenue. Known as the Sorosis Fruit Company, besides the extensive orchards a large packing plant is located on the ranch, which takes care of the products of the orchards. Joseph A. was born in Sicily, February 23, 1899, the son of Salva- tore and Marianna (La Barbera) Teresi, also natives of Sicily. The family removed to the United States in 1903. His father was engaged in the horticulture business in his native country, and he had seven boys, who were all thoroughly taught the orchard business; three of them are now at home.

Joseph A. was educated in the grammar and high schools of San Jose, graduating from the latter in 1919, after which he was employed as solicitor for the California Prune and Apricot Growers' Association for one year; then he purchased a thirty-eight-acre orchard on the Uvas Road, which he still owns. In July, 1921, with his father and three brothers, he purchased the Sorosis Farm, consisting of 220 acres. including the large packing plant on the place. The place is in full-bearing orchards, 190 acres being in prunes and the balance in peaches. In connection they own the Sorosis water rights from Quito or Campbell Creek. They have a large dam where the creek enters the farm, which impounds sufficient water to irrigate not only the Sorosis Farm, but also a large tract below the dam, making a very valuable water right. The headquarters of the ranch is im- proved with good buildings, large drying yard with a large evaporator and a plant equipped with pack- ing facilities.

The marriage of Joseph A. Teresi occurred in Los Gatos and united him with Miss Clara Lencioni, born in San Jose. In politics Mr. Teresi is a Republican and is a stalwart American citizen, proud of the pros- perity and progressiveness of Santa Clara County.

ALFRED R. NELSON .- Coming to San Jose from his home across the water more than thirty years ago, Alfred R. Nelson has been privileged to see much of the progress made in the Santa Clara Valley during the past generation and he is enthus- iastic over the great opportunities still awaiting in this section. Mr. Nelson was born at Helsingborg, Sweden, on July 16, 1872, spending his school days there and being confirmed at the age of fourteen. In 1889 he came across the ocean to America and then on to San Jose, joining his uncle, Olaf Zack-

rison, who had come to this country thirteen years before. Mr. Nelson spent four years in the copper mines, Bisbee, Ariz., 1900-04, and on locating here worked as a coachman for five years at Edenvale, and then purchased ten acres of land on Chynoweth Ave- nue, Edenvale. This property he later disposed of, and in 1906, he bought his present home place of fourteen acres on Cottle Road, where he has erected a fine new residence, up-to-date in all its appoint- ments. The whole place, including the orchard of prunes and peaches, which he set out, shows the re- sult of his skilled care and the years of hard work he has spent in its upbuilding.

In 1900 Mr. Nelson was married to Miss Mattie Olson, who was born in Sweden and came to Cali- fornia in 1890. Five children have been born to them: Alton, a rancher; Vanley L., attending school, as is Olive L .; Melvin, deceased; Ivian L., in school. Mr. Nelson became a full-fledged citizen of this coun- try in 1893, and he has always been active in support of any measures for the welfare of the community. He is now serving his second term as trustee of the Oak Grove school at Edenvale and is a member of the California Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc.

MARION A. STILLENS .- A native of Wayne County, Ind., where he first saw the light on August 9, 1848, Marion A. Stillens has found delightful re- tirement in the Golden State in his comfortable home on Capitol Avenue, just south of Alum Rock Avenue, about two miles east of San Jose. He is a son of Joseph and Clarisa (Decker) Stillens, the former a rative of Pennsylvania and a farmer, who moved to Moultrie County, Ill. There were four children in the family-Ezra, the oldest; Marion, our subject; Martha, who is now deceased, and Millie, the young- est, and with these the lad shared the benefits of a common school education.

When nine years of age Marion accompanied his parents to Moultrie County, Ill., and when twenty- three years of age he left the home ranch and on April 23, 1872, was married to Miss Laverna Shields, a native of Virginia. She was nine years old when her parents removed to Moultrie County, Ill., where she continued her education. After their marriage Mr. Stillens farmed for a while in Illinois, and later he went to Hall County, Nebr., where he followed agricultural pursuits for six years. He then returned to Illinois and located at Arthur, in that state; and for the remainder of the time that he was in the Middle West he engaged in carpenter work. His wife died in 1889 and he was married a second time, in 1902, to Miss Jennie Carpenter, a native of Indiana.

In 1902 Mr. Stillens came out to California and settled at Whittier, where he lived for a year and a half, and as a market gardener he made a real suc- cess of his enterprise. Coming north to Santa Clara County in 1904 he purchased five acres of land on Capitol Avenue, and this he set out to prunes and vines. His good wife died in 1917, lamented by all who had come to appreciate her sterling qualities. By his first marriage Mr. Stillens had five children, and their names are Ellroy, Joseph, Bige, Melvin and Wilbur; and by his last union he has a daughter, Mrs. Mary Maude Beaudikofer, of San Jose. Mr. Stillens has always taken a live interest in public questions and always sought to do his full duty as a citizen in civic affairs. He endeavors to keep him- self independent of mere party bias, and so is far freer to pull a hard and steady stroke with his fellows.

Joseph a Teresi

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LAWRENCE C. GRUWELL .- An enterprising, experienced and progressive horticulturist whose success in helping to advance the state of California horticulture and agriculture has stimulated others to renewed and great efforts is Lawrence C. Gruwell, who enjoys the esteem and fidelity of a large circle of admiring friends. He was born on the old Melvin Gruwell Ranch on Saratoga Avenue April 8, 1867, the son of Melvin L. and Sarah (Wear) Gruwell, natives of Indiana and Missouri, respectively. Melvin Gru- well, who was born in 1826, was a merchant in In- diana until he crossed the plains to California in 1852 and located in Santa Clara County. With a partner, Benj. Stinson, he owned a 172-acre farm where he resided until his death, in 1910; his wife surviving him one year. Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Gru- well were the parents of nine children: William, de- ceased; Arthur J, deceased; Charles Lee, a horticul- turist here; Martha A, who is in partnership with our subject; Lydia became the wife of Jacob Breiten- stein, also of this vicinity; Lawrence C., the subject of this sketch; Theresa, Mrs. Vanderpeer of Oakland; Kate, the widow of Jas. Hemphill, resides with her mother and sister on the farm; Lou became the wife of Joseph Hemphill, and resides at Roselawn. Melvin Gruwell was a very successful man and everyone spoke of him in terms of warm regard. He was an adherent of the Democratic party and in religious faith was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He had been a member of the Masonic lodge for sixty-three years, when he passed away at the age of eighty-four.

Lawrence Gruwell received his education in the public schools in his neighborhood. He assisted his father on the farm from the time he was a lad of ten years and when he became a man and started in as a farmer and has continued in that line, now operating a farm of fifty-four acres which belongs to him and his two sisters. He has brought it to a high degree of productiveness, having set it to prunes and apricots. operating it with a tractor and most modern implements. They have substantial farm buildings, including a drying plant. Mr. Gruwell is an independent in his political views, voting with the party that best expresses his convictions. He was made a Mason in Liberty Lodge No. 299, F. & A. M . Santa Clara. He is also a member of the Improved Order of Redmen.

JEREMIAH J. O'BRIEN .- A successful agricul- turist who has also proven that he can make good in quite another field of useful endeavor, is Jeremiah J. O'Brien, the rancher and manufacturer, at Wayne Station on the Oakland Road, who was born in Santa Clara County on the old Gish Ranch, just north of San Jose, first seeing the light there on June 6, 1870. His father, Jeremiah J. O'Brien came out to Cali- fornia in the '50s, a native of County Cork, Ireland, endowed with the best qualities which have always made an Irishman a desirable settler and citizen; and he mined for a while near Virginia City before com- ing further, into Santa Clara County. He had mar- ried Miss Katherine Carey, obtaining thereby one of the best of helpmates, and he leased the old Alviso Ranch, of approximately 400 acres, north of San Jose, which he handled in model fashion. Later he leased the old Gish Ranch, where Jeremiah was born, and afterward he bought the twenty acres under that name devoted to the culture of pears. 61

Our subject attended the Orchard school, when it stood on the bank of the Coyote Creek, and then re- mained with his parents until he was twenty years old, when he became foreman of the old R. D. Fox nursery, of approximately 700 acres devoted to rais- ing ornamental and fruit trees, and there he con- tinued progressively active for ten years. Then he took up farming for himself, leasing in all 260 acres, and so well did he prosper that ever since he has been committed to ranching. He manages the De Rosa Ranch of eighty acres on Capitol Avenue, and also a ranch on Gish Road. In 1918 he purchased 1,100 arres one and a half miles from Cottonwood, in Shasta County; and 300 acres of this ranch is under the Anderson ditch and is very successfully devoted to the raising of alfalfa.

Mr. O'Brien's ranching in Santa Clara County is carried on largely for the raising of fruit and vege- tables, and he is also the owner of a plant for the manufacture of berry-baskets, which he runs on a gross percentage basis. The factory is situated on his ranch, and there from ten to twenty workers turn out about 5,000,000 berry baskets a year, each being of the wooden tray type. In this enterprise, as in everything he undertakes, Mr. O'Brien's natural honesty dictates the policy to be pursued-a square deal for the customer-with the inevitable result that he has customers, and plenty of them.

At San Jose, on January 7, 1903, Mr. O'Brien was married to Miss Maude Monroe, a native of Loyal- ton, Sierra County, Cal., and the daughter of Charles Colin and Frances (Chandler) Monroe-the former of Scotch descent and an early settler in California. Two children have sprung from this union-Wayne Henry is a sophomore in the University of Santa Clara, and Jerold is a pupil in the Orchard grammar school. For the past sixteen years Mr. O'Brien has been a member of the board of trustees of the Orchard school district and for the past twelve years has served as its clerk. He is also the deputy county assessor of the third supervisorial district. In 1911 he purchased a home place of an acre and a half at Wayne Station and, having built there a home, he has lived there ever since. He is a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, and is a past president of the Palo Alto Parlor, now called the Garden City Parlor of the N. S. G. W.

MRS. BETTY GWARTNEY .- A highly es- teemed resident of the Mountain View district who is showing great capability in the management of her ranch is Mrs. Bettie Gwartney, whose home is a center of community progress and hospitality. She was born in Mississippi and when only three years old, came with her parents, Seth Gibbons, a native of North Carolina, and Martha (Appling) Gibbons, a native of Virginia. Her father was a farmer by occu- pation, and left Mississippi directly after the Civil War and coming to California settled in Merced County, where he engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons are the parents of six children, all of whom are living, but both parents are deceased.

Mrs. Gwartney began her education in the public schools; later she was graduated from the State Normal School at San Jose and became a teacher, first at Sutter Creek and later at Mayfield, Cal. At her childhood home in Merced County, she was married to Prof. J. G. Gwartney; he was a native of Indiana and was educated in the grammar and high schools of his native state; then he entered the

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State University at Lincoln, Nebr., and after remov- ing to California entered the State Normal School at San Jose, from which he graduated in 1891. He later graduated from Stanford University with the class of 1898, receiving the degree of A. B. Pro- fessor and Mrs. Gwartney were sent by the U. S. Government to teach in the Philippine Islands, Pro- fessor Gwartney preceding his wife by two years, teaching there for six years, while Mrs. Gwartney taught there for four years. Through the influence and efforts of Mrs. Gwartney a sanitary restaurant was established in the Philippine Islands as a branch of her teaching of domestic science, and this res- taurant has been kept up and is still running. In 1907 they returned to their ranch in Mountain View, and Prof. Gwartney passed away October 1, 1916, at the age of fifty-six. While Mrs. Gwartney gives most of her time and attention to the manage- ment of her fifteen-acre ranch, she still is deeply in- terested in educational matters, and is held in high esteem by the residents of the community.

HERSCHEL JOHNSON .- A leader among the public-spirited men of the Edenvale district in Santa Clara County, Herschel Johnson holds an assured place. He was born near Boulder, Colo., May 28, 1877, the son of Daniel and Phoebe Ann (Jamison) Johnson, the former now deceased and the latter residing in San Jose. Daniel Johnson was born in Winnebago County, Ill., November 23, 1844, and when a lad was taken by his parents to Northeastern Iowa, where the family settled on a farm and con- tinued to farm until 1860. It was then news had been spread that gold had been discovered in Colorado and the Johnson family, consisting of Daniel and his sister and their parents, crossed the plains with an ox team and for a number of years Daniel worked in one of the big smelters about Blackhawk and Central. In 1868 he located on a farm near Boulder and in 1870 he was united in marriage with Miss Phoebe Ann Jamison, who had accompanied her parents across the plains with an ox-team train from Missouri. Their party were continually seeing the ruins of trains that had been destroyed by Indians. but were fortunately not attacked. In 1879, with his family, Daniel Johnson moved his stock to Northern Colorado at the head waters of the Big Laramie River and took up land and became interested in raising stock. At that period wild game was in abundance and for sixteen years this was the home of the family. In 1895 Mr. Johnson came to Cali- fornia to attend the Mid-Winter Fair and at the same time bought a ranch of seventy acres in the Santa Clara Valley, near Edenvale. He sold out his interests in Colorado and removed with his fam- ily to their new possessions and he engaged in the orchard business until his retirement in 1907, when he retired to San Jose and there he died, on Janu- ary 23, 1920, at the home he had purchased on South Seventh Street and where Mrs. Johnson still lives. Their five children are, Orian C., of Cressey, Cal .; Eslor F., in Fresno; Edith M, Mrs. J. P. Arnold of Richmond, Cal ; Herschel, of this review, and Bertha, Mrs. J. D. Arnold of San Jose.

Herschel Johnson attended the schools of the dis- tricts in which the family lived in Colorado and finished at the Oak Grove school on the Cottle Road. He assisted his father in the development of the ranch and made a study of horticulture. In 1915 he bought his present place of thirty acres on Cottle

Road and has developed a fine prune orchard. Hc also owns twenty acres of the old home place just off the Cottle Road, this property he had helped his father develop into a prune ranch. He is a hard worker and also ever ready to learn and applies the most modern methods in taking care of his orchards and is being well rewarded in the practical results he has obtained. He believes in cooperation and is a member of the California Prune and Apricot Asso- ciation, Inc., and in all progressive movements for the betterment of his community is always ready to lend a helping hand.

The marriage of Herschel Johnson on June 21, 1906, at San Jose, united him with Miss Mary Eliza- beth Bader, the only daughter of Frederick and Ada (Boot) Bader, natives of Germany and England re- spectively. She has an only brother, Felix Bader, now residing at Carter, Mont. Mr. Bader was born in Germany on August 8, 1850, was brought by his parents, J. G. and Mary E. (Messinger) Bader, to America when three years old and reared in Allen County, Ohio, until 1862, when they removed to near Des Moines, Iowa, and continued farming. The elder Bader served all through the Civil War with Sherman and Grant. In 1866 Mr. Bader went to Boulder, Colo., and while living there his wife died in 1906. He and his family had spent a year, 1902- 1903 in California, but returned to Colorado. After the death of his wife he spent part of his time in Colorado and part in California, making the home of his daughter his headquarters. In 1908 he practically retired, having sold his interests in Colorado. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are parents of three children, all attending the Oak Grove school, H. Loren, Hortense E., and Florence Josephine. The family are highly respected by all who know them and take an active part in all civic activities of their neighborhood.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 227

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