History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 228

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

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GEORGE E. PUTERBAUGH .- Prominent among the successful prosthetic dentists of Santa Clara County is George E. Puterbaugh, who has attained a high standing in his professional career. His skilful work inspires confidence in his patients, and invariably wins the regard and estcem of all with whom he comes in contact. A native of Iowa, he was born January 25, 1893, in Clarinda, a son of John W. and Mollie (Barnett) Puterbaugh. The father, John W., is a lineal descendant of the great Puterbaugh family, pioneers of Illinois. He resides in Chicago and is engaged in the automobile business. The mother was born in Clarinda, a daughter of John Barnett, a native of Virginia, who came to California during the gold rush of 1849. He established a trading post at Placerville, but later farmed at Evergreen, and was a prominent pioneer of Santa Clara County. The family moved to Ore- gon when George was a small child of two years and remained there for two years; at the end of that time they came to California and settled in San Jose. His education was obtained in the public schools of this city; then he entered the machine shop belonging to his father, and became a thorough auto-mechanic. During the years of 1913-1916 he spent in auto racing as a mechanician with a Mercer car, racing at Los Angeles, Corona, San Francisco and San Diego; other notables in these races were De Palma, Dario Resta, Barney Oldfield, Eddie Rickenbacker and others. He then began the study of prosthetic den- tistry, serving an apprenticeship in dental labora- tories in San Jose and San Francisco and in the

R. Farnsworths

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meantime taking courses in this line in the Southern Branch of the University of California at Los An- geles. In 1916 he first enlisted in the United States Field Artillery for service on the border, after his discharge 'returning to his profession. During the World War he enlisted in the United States Dental Corps and was commissioned a first lieutenant and assigned to duty in the American Red Cross with the Czecho-Slovak army, doing prosthetic dentistry in Siberia, going inland 300 miles to Omsk. After the close of his term of one year's service he returned to California and received his honorable discharge. Returning to San Jose he soon thereafter established his own business.

The marriage of Mr. Puterbaugh in 1917 united him with Miss Irene Milbury, a native of California, born in Visalia. Mr. and Mrs. Puterbaugh are the parents of one child, Melville. In January, 1920, he established the Puterbaugh Dental Laboratory, lo- cated in the Twohy Building in San Jose. He em- ploys several assistants to take care of his large and growing practice. He also does expert work for leading dentists as far south as San Luis Obispo and north to San Mateo. Fraternally he is a popular member of Fraternity Lodge No 399, F. & A. M., and of the Knights of Pythias. He enjoys a lucrative and extensive patronage and well deserves the estcem and respect in which he is held in the community.

RALPH FARNSWORTH .- Two old-time Cali- fornia families of more than passing interest are rep- resented in the life-stories of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Farnsworth of San Jose, the former a native of Amador County, where he was born on January 30, 1866, and the latter a native of Sutter County. Mr. Farnsworth's father was Junius Farnsworth, born in Ohio in 1831, and his mother before her marriage was Ann Maria Scott, one of the well-known Scotts who came to California in 1850, taking six months to cross the great plains. Junius Farnsworth came out in 1852, and he sailed all the way around the Horn in order to get here. He became a merchant at Ione, and later went to Stockton; and from there until he was eighty-one years old he traveled as salesman for the Aurora Mills of Stockton, in which city he lived until the age of eighty-nine years, ten months and fifteen days when he died in July, 1921. His wife, who is seventy-nine, is still living.

Ralph Farnsworth attended the public schools at Ione, and when eighteen years of age started out to make his own way in the world. Taking up railroad- ing, he entered the service of the Southern Pacific, and finally became a passenger conductor. From 1888 to 1894, he ran out of Sacramento, and from 1897 to 1900 he ran on the Bakersfield and Point Richmond division of the Santa Fe. In 1900 he again joined the Southern Pacific, and for two years lie continued with that company. Since 1902 he has lived in San Jose, where he has followed the work of building up a business and then selling it at the proper profit. Among the lines exploited in this legitimate manner are the restaurant, cigar-stand, pool hall and garage. In 1918 he joined T. J. Callahan in the auto accessories trade, and now they carry a full line and do principally a wholesale business cov- ering Santa Clara Valley, Hollister, Watsonville and Santa Cruz. He is also especially interested in the Gilroy Midway Oil Company in the McKittrick field, and he has been very successful in his oil dealings.

At San Francisco on September 24, 1902, Mr. Farnsworth was united in marriage with Miss Annie H. Graves, born in 1874, the daughter of Henry and Mary A. (Terstegge) Graves, pioneers of Sutter County, the former descended from good old New England stock, born in Connecticut. He came to California in 1849, crossing the plains and after min- ing for a time went to San Francisco and with others bought a quantity of supplies and a whaleboat and started for the end of navigable waters up the Sacra- mento to sell to the miners. After this venture he bought land in Sutter County, became a rancher and stockraiser and lived there until he died at the age of fifty-eight. Mrs. Graves came across the plains from Indiana in 1852, met and married Mr. Graves and lived to the age of eighty-seven. Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth have one daughter, Ruth A., a graduate of the San Jose high school and now doing post- graduate work there. Mrs. Farnsworth is a member of the Native Daughters. Mr. Farnsworth is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner; also a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Native Sons; and is enrolled among the members of the Chamber of Commerce and the Auto Trades Association.

EARL E. KESLING .- A comfortably-situated orchard owner who has found that California offers the best of inducements to the horticulturist, is Earl E. Kesling, who lives on the Sierra Road one and a lıalf miles east of Berryessa. He is a native son, and was born in Santa Clara County, on the Morrill Road, on May 5, 1897, the son of Ernest N. and Amelia Kesling. His father was a native of Ohio, while his mother came from Pennsylvania; and they were married in Ohio and moved westward to Cali- fornia in 1895. Mr. Kesling was an orchardist, and boasted a very trim twenty-acre ranch devoted to prunes and apricots on the Morrill Road. They had a family of four children; and besides the eldest, our subject, there were Carroll, Ione and Eileen. In 1905 Mr. Kesling died, and the next year Mrs. Kesling sold out the home place.

That same year, Mrs. Kesling purchased a ranch of forty acres on Sierra Road, devoted to the raising of prunes and apricots, and after a while she was mar- ried a second time to William K. Luce. One daughter by this second marriage is named Grace, and she is attending the Berryessa school. Mr. Luce, the step- father, was killed in 1918, while oiling the pump drive- shaft; it is supposed that his clothing caught in the machinery, but whatever the cause, he was hurled to the bottom of the well-pit. This tragedy left the devoted mother a second time a widow.

Earl Kesling attended the Berryessa grammar school, and then completed the courses of the San Jose high school, and after that he studied for two years at the College of the Pacific. The great World War then appealed tremendously to his patriotic in- stincts, and in November, 1917, he enlisted to fight for Uncle Sam. He was sent to Berkeley and be- came a flying cadet in the Aviation School, and after that he was transferred to Rockwell Field, Cali- fornia, where he was trained for three months and was then commissioned second lieutenant. Next he was sent to Dallas, Texas, where he spent one month in a concentration camp, from whence he went to Dayton, Ohio, and trained for one month at the Wilbur Wright field. Then he was granted a fur- lough home, and on his returning to duty, he went

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to Mineola Field, L. I., and on October 17, 1918, sailed for Southhampton. He crossed the channel to Havre, France, and at Issodoun, in that country, he trained until January, 1919. Then he was transferred to Grande, France, and after that he went to Coblenz, with the Army of Occupation. He left Germany in July of the same year, and on August 12, 1919, sailed from Brest, France, with just one port in view-the metropolis of the United States. He was hon- orably discharged at the Presidio, at San Francisco, on August 25, 1919, after which he made haste to return home. With his brother, he is at present run- ning the forty-acre orchard on Sierra Road.

While in France, Mr. Kesling was assigned to a pursuit squadron, and although he was not in actual front-line duty, he flew along the front frequently.

Mr. Kesling is a popular member of the American Legion-as might be expected when one knows the popularity of his father among both the Masons and the Odd Fellows of San Jose, and is a broad-minded Republican. At San Jose, on September 22, 1918. he was married to Miss Cora Scales, a native of North Carolina and the daughter of Frank and Anna Scales. Her parents had removed to California about 1914, and are now living retired in San Jose. Mr. and Mrs. Kesling are the parents of one child, a boy named Ernest F.

FRED LAWRENCE FOSTER. - Prominent among the professional and business men of San jose, is Fred Lawrence Foster, the president of the Foster Optical Company, a resident of San Jose for twenty-two years, and for seventeen years the head of the company which bears his name. He was born on March 9. 1868, at Elizabeth, N. J., and was the son of Frederick and Margaret (Todd) Foster. Both parents are living in New York City; the father, who is now eighty-nine years old, was one of the officers of the first safe deposit company in New York; he and a friend, having the distinction of originating the safe deposit idea. Fred was educated in private schools in New York and later took special training in his chosen profession at college in Philadelphia. He came to San Jose in January, 1900, and estab- lished the business in which he is now engaged, which was incorporated in 1905.

Mr. Foster's marriage united him with Miss Mary Halsey, who is a native of San Jose, and they are the parents of three children: Margaret Vail, Emma Louise, and Lawrence Halsey. Mr. Foster is a char- ter member of the Lions Club and is an active mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce. He has served many years as director of the Merchants Association and during the war was vice-chairman of the War Work Council, his district embracing many of the professional men. Mr. Foster takes a keen interest in his work as an optometrist and keeps abreast with the latest developments and modern ideas by frequent post-graduate studies. Well-known in his profes- sion, he has served as a delegate to many conven- tions in various cities.

KARL F. KENNEDY .- An honored representa- Live of early pioneers of California, back through two generations, Karl F. Kennedy stands high in the professional and civic life of the community where he was reared and where he has made his home. His grandfather, James Faris Kennedy, was one of Cali- tornia's earliest permanent white settlers. Descended from Revolutionary stock, his grandfather having been an officer in the Revolutionary War, James F.

Kennedy was born in Bucks County, Pa., January 18, 1810, but was reared in Philadelphia, where his parents settled when he was a child. Leaving there at the age of twenty-one, he traveled through various parts of the country, being employed for several years at the lead mines at Galena, Ill. As an agent for Commodore Stockton, he came to California in 1850 and had charge of Commodore Stockton's traet of land, consisting of 3,000 acres, lying between San Jose and Santa Clara. In the fall of 1860 he located near Los Gatos, where he purchased a large ranch. He became extensively interested in horticulture, in which he met with good success, and likewise ac- quired fame as an expert stock breeder, and raising some of the finest thoroughbred horses ever bred in Santa Clara Valley. A strong Republican in his political affiliations, he was at one time the candidate for lieutenant-governor, running on the ticket with Leland Stanford. At the time of his death, in 1864, he was sheriff of Santa Clara County. Mrs. Kennedy, who was Serena Salter of Philadelphia before her marriage, survived him until June, 1888. They were the parents of six children: William C., James F., Samuel T., Edwin A., Mrs. Clara C. Bray and Robert F. James F. Kennedy served as Adjutant General of California during the Civil War and as he was a strong Union man he quelled many a secessionist movement in the state and thus did much toward keeping California from seceeding from the Union.

William C. Kennedy, the father of our subject, was the eldest son of James F. Kennedy. He was born in Philadelphia in 1844, and when only a lad was brought to California by his parents, in 1852, via the Isthmus of Panama. He grew up at San Jose, and graduating from Santa Clara College in 1868, was admitted to the bar in the state of Nevada in 1871, where he practiced for a time. On locating in San Jose, he at once took his place as a leader in the legal profession in this part of the state, continuing his practice until his death, which occurred in 1912. His marriage united him with Miss Kate Moody, daughter of Chas. Moody and a native of San Jose, and a sister of the late Mrs. Eugene T. Sawyer. Mrs. William C. Kennedy, who still makes her home at San Jose, is descended from the Lee family of Virginia, her mother being a cousin of the famous General Robert E. Lee.

The only son of his parents, Karl F. Kennedy was 1.orn at San Jose, March 21, 1880, and here the early years of his life were spent. After his preliminary education was finished, he entered Stanford Univer- sity, completing the legal course there in 1904, and was admitted to the bar in 1905. Following in the footsteps of his father, he entered the practice of law, practicing at San Jose and San Francisco for a period of over thirteen years. During the World War Mr. Kennedy gave up his professional work to offer his services to his country, and was stationed in France as secretary of the Y. M. C. A. work, attached to the French army until after the armistice. He then entered the Morale Department of the United States Army, being appointed by Secretary of War Baker, and holding the rank of first lieutenant. On his return to California, after completing his services, he became representative for The Safe-Cabinet Com- pany of Marietta, Ohio, and is their distributor in six counties south of San Francisco: San Mateo, Santa Clara, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Cruz and

Ren John C. Lisez, If.

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San Luis Obispo. His position is largely advisory to public bodies, professional and business men, showing the advisability and legal necessity of pro- tecting valuable documents and papers from fire and theft. This is only possible by presenting expert analysis of record values and the losses resulting from their destruction. Mr. Kennedy is said to be the leading expert along these lines in this locality.

At Suisun, Cal., in 1912, Mr. Kennedy was married to Miss Ellen Downing of that place, where she was born, the daughter of Dr. William Greene Downing of Suisun, her education having been completed at Mills College. Three children have been born to them: Jean, Karl F., Jr., and Barbara, and the family now make their home in Santa Clara.

REV. JOHN C. GRISEZ, S. J .- A man of schol- arly attainments and a sincere and devoted servant in behalf of a cause to which he has voluntarily given the best energies of his life, Rev. John C. Grisez, S. J., pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church of San Jose, is a native son of California, his birth having occurred in Colusa on December 25, 1876. His father, Celestine J. Grisez, was born in Ohio and in 1874 he made his way to California. For many years he fol- lowed the occupation of farming, but since 1916 has been mechanical engineer at the University of Santa Clara. He is a very devout and earnest Christian and his life has ever been guided by high and honorable principles. He married Miss Mary Maudru, also a native of the Buckeye State, and they have become the parents of eleven children. Mary, an older sis- ter of the subject of this review, has since 1889 been a member of the order now known as Evangelista.

Father Grisez attended the public schools of Siski- you County, Cal., to the age of thirteen, when he entered St. Ignatius College at San Francisco, where he pursued his studies until April 18, 1892, when he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Los Gatos, there pur- suing a course in Latin, Greek and English. In 1895 he completed his classical work and two years later went to St. Louis, Mo., where he received three years of university training in philosophy. From 1900 until 1905 he was an instructor at the University of Santa Clara and in the latter year became a student in the School of Theology at Woodstock, Md., which he attended for three years. In 1908 he was ordained to the Jesuit priesthood at Spokane, Wash., by Bishop O'Dea of Seattle. His first charge was that of as- sistant pastor of the parish at Missoula, Mont., where he remained for four years, working untiringly to build up the parish. In 1912 he went to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he completed the Tertianship or the third year of probation in the Jesuit Order, and in 1913 he was placed in charge of the educational de- partment of St. Ignatius Church of San Francisco. He was very active in the discipline educational branch of the church, with which he was connected until 1914, and the following year he acted as chap- lain for students at St. Ignatius College. In 1915-16 he was superintendent and business manager at the University of Santa Clara and the next year was spent at Los Angeles as chaplain and manager of Loyola College of Southern California. On July 31, 1918, he was made pastor of St. Joseph's Catholic Church at San Jose, of which he has since had charge, his parish now being a large one. He gives his whole heart to the work and under his guidance the influence of the church has constantly broadened. He is also ex-officio member of the parochial

school of St. Joseph's Church. He is a man of strong intellectual powers, an earnest student and a deep thinker, and his life has been one of usefulness and far-reaching influence.

WESTERN INDUSTRIES COMPANY .- Among the varied enterprises which are important factors in the business development and material up- building of California and the Santa Clara Valley the Western Industries Company figures conspicu- ously. Their distillery is located at Agnew, on land which was formerly the homestead of the late James Lick, and represents a large investment. This is the largest distillery now in operation west of the Mississippi River.

The officers and principal stockholders of the Western Industries Company reside at San Fran- cisco. Cal. The business was incorporated in 1903 for the manufacture of brandy and other spirituous liquors, but since the passage of the Volstead Act its production has been limited by the Government manufacturing acohol for industrial, medicinal and scientific purposes. It is subject to strict Govern- mental regulations and is under the direct super- vision of the internal revenue bureau, which main- tains officers on the premises. The raw material used is molasses, obtained from the Hawaiian Islands, and the company pays strict regard to sani- tation and the purity of its products, so that its out- put is of the highest grade.

REV. FATHER M. A. DA CRUZ .- A pious, scholarly and distinguished representative of the Ro- man Catholic Church, whose life, work and influence in the promotion of every good movement for the general welfare of the community have made him esteemed and endeared throughout Santa Clara County, is the Rev. Father M. A. Da Cruz, a native of Lisbon, Portugal, where he was born on August 15, 1872, the son of Antonio and Miquilina A. (Soares) Da Cruz. His father was a merchant in Lisbon, and one who was widely honored for his integrity and his enterprise; and he gave the best possible home to his five children, three of whom are still living. Edward and Albert are deceased; but our subject, the eldest, has two brothers-August, who is at present in Brazil, and Armando, who is in Lisbon.

M. A. Da Cruz attended the Lisbon public schools, and in time pursued his theological course at the Seminario Conciliar Braga, at Lisbon, and he was ordained as priest at Braga, in the year 1899. He then had three charges, all in the Diocese of Porto, in Portugal, before he came out to America, and they were the parishes of Moldes at Arouca, Serzedo at Villa Nova of Gaya, and Maceda at Ovar. In 1908, he came to the United States and received his ap- pointment as assistant pastor to the Half Moon Bay parish of Pescadero, where he remained two years.

He was then transferred for a couple of months to Ocean View, at San Francisco, and after that was appointed assistant pastor of the Slavonia Church in San Francisco, where he officiated one year. He was then put in charge of the San Leandro Church, of which he was assistant pastor for seven and one- half years, and from there he came to Hayward as assistant pastor. At the end of seven months, how- ever, he was again transferred and put in charge of three parishes, San Pablo, Pinol and Rodeo, and he retained that charge for nine months. For a month he was pastor of the new Pescadero Church, when he was appointed to Milpitas, where he now ministers

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to the spiritnal wants of many, to the satisfaction of all. St. John's has a membership of over 500 souls, and the present edifice, which was built after the first church had been destroyed by fire, has been in existence, an ornament to the town, for the past twenty years. Father Da Cruz is an accomplished linguist, speaking five languages, Italian, French, Spanish and English. He was secretary to the Patriarch of India, while yet a student, and was with him in Rome, Paris, Vienna and other cities of southern Europe, then went with him to India, Panjim, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and other cities.

CHARLES A. HUNT .- Noteworthy as one of the active and prosperous native-born residents of San Jose, and as a man of unlimited energy, Charles A. Hunt is deserving of more than passing notice in this work. Of substantial pioneer ancestry, he was born May 5, 1882, in San Jose, a son of Ephraim M. and Betsy A. (Cornwell) Hunt. Ephraim M. Hunt migrated to California in 1858, and Betsy A. Corn- well came in the year 1868. They were married in Redwood City, Cal., and for thirty years, Ephraim M. Hunt conducted a feed and livery business, becoming well known throughout this section of California.

Charles A. Hunt received his education in the grammar and high schools, later taking a business college course. From 1902 to 1919, he was employed by a local firm of opticians, but determined on estab- lishing his own business and feeling that he must be better equipped, he entered the Los Angeles Medical School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, and re- mained there for six months. Upon his return to San Jose, he opened up business for himself, which has prospered from its inception.

Mr. Hunt's marriage united him with Miss Bina J. Garvin, who is also a native of the Golden State. They have one child, Mildred L. Fraternally Mr. Hunt is a member of the Elks and Observatory Parlor No. 177, N. S. G. W., and is a great lover of all outdoor sports. He takes considerable pride in advancing the general interests of his town and county and is regarded as a booster where the wel- fare of either is concerned.

MANUEL F. GEORGE .- An industrions, progres- sive and successful rancher whose prosperity no one will envy is Manuel F. George, developer of one of the finest farms in Santa Clara County, eight miles to the east of Milpitas in the Calaveras Valley. He is a native son, and first saw the light at Half Moon Bay, in San Mateo County, on August 21, 1888. His father was Joseph F. George, a native of Fayal, Azores Islands, but his mother, who reared with af- fcction nine children, passed away when he was so young that he has little recollection of her. The other members of the family are Mary, Rose, Jose, Frank, Elizabeth, Angie, Domingos and Minnie George. Joseph F. George died in 1915.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 228

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