History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 229

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

USA > California > Santa Clara County > History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches > Part 229

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

About 1880 his father came from the Azores, and when Manuel was six years old Mr. George removed from San Mateo to Santa Clara County where he farmed on a ranch of 180 acres in the hills on the Calaveras Valley Road, and conducted a large dairy. Manuel was sent to the Laguna School, and after that he remained on the ranch with his father until he was of age. At the age of twenty-one Manuel left home and for five years worked on the Carson Brothers' ranch, and then for a short time he was on the Sierra Prescott place; and when he made his next move, about seven years ago, he came into the

Calaveras Valley and leased 1100 acres devoted to the raising of grain and hay. Much of this acreage lies a beautiful stretch of flat valley land, and it is not surprising that the crops have been bountiful. Those familiar with Mr. George's advanced way of doing things will also not be surprised to learn that he uses both horse and tractor power in his exten- sive and varied operations.

At Milpitas on February 19, 1914, Manuel F. George was married to Miss Mary Foster, a native of Castro- ville, in Monterey County, and the daughter of John and Mary Ferreria Foster, natives of St. George in the Azores. Her father went to sea when he was thirteen years old, shipping on a whaler, and as a youth he had wonderful experiences on the high seas. Ir his eighteenth year he came to and settled in California and worked on one ranch after another, and later, in Alameda County, he acquired a dairy ranch for himself. This worthy couple had eleven children, among whom the eldest Mary, while the others were named Isabelle, Joseph, Tere- sa. John, Rose, Margaret, Agnes, Frank, Antone and Edward. When she was eighteen years of age, Mary Foster accompanied her folks to Santa Clara County, and there continned her schooling; and the fruits of her study are evident in her accomplish- inents as wife, mother and hostess. Mr. and Mrs. George have two children, William and Manuel, and both parents are Republicans.

DOMINGOS A. SILVA .- An industrious, go- ahead rancher who has something to show today for his enterprise and hard work, is Domingos A. Silva, a native of the Island of Pico, in the Azores, where he was born in 1863, the son of Joseph and Frances A. Silva. His father was a farmer, who lived to be over eighty years of age; while his mother attained her ninetieth year before she died. When Domingos was seventeen years of age, he came ont to the United States and California; and in 1881 he was fortunate in reaching Milpitas, where for eight years he worked for wages. By that time, however, he was able to go to ranching on shares, and for ten years he farmed in conjunction with others. In 1916 he purchased the ranch of eighty acres just off of Pied- mont Road, about three miles east of Milpitas, and he continued to devote the land to general farming, the raising of fruit and vegetables. His methods, the modern implements and machinery he employs, and his touch with conditions in the progressing world outside, all contribute to enable him to keep his farm in an up-to-date shape, attractive to the eye and as highly productive as the conditions of soil, climate and the cooperation of science will permit.

At Milpitas, on June 14, 1902, Mr. Silva was mar- ricd to Miss Belle E. Sousa, a native of Warmsprings and the daughter of Joaquin and Rose E. (Costa) Souza. Her father came to California when he was a young man, a native of Graciosa in the Azores, and he engaged in market-gardening near Warmsprings. When Belle Souza was seven years old, she accom- panied her parents to the Azores on a visit; and upon their return to California, her father settled on the Mt. Hamilton Road, and for eight years ranched in the Calaveras Valley. Later, he went to Warm- springs again and worked on the Curtner Ranch; and then he purchased a ranch for himself on the Demp- sey Road, east of Milpitas, where he lives today at the age of seventy-six, still active on the farm, as- sisted by his wife, who enjoys the best of health for

1491

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

one of her age. These worthy pioneers had eight children, three boys and five girls; and among them the daughter Belle was the fourth. Mr. Silva is a Republican; and when the duties of his farm and domestic life have been discharged, he lends a hand in the service of good citizenship.

Mr. and Mrs. Silva have been blessed with a family of thirteen children, by each of which they have done the best they could in home, schooling and a start in life. Isabelle, their first-born, lived only eight months to receive their loving care; Domingos is in Milpitas; Isabelle, the second so named, is at home; and Mary, Manuel, Candido and Rosie are the next; Clarence died as an infant; the ninth in the family, was also named Clarence; then came Edward, Ade- lina, who died when she was two months old; Annie, and Frank Ernest, who died when one month old.

CHARLES C. REED, JR .- A native son of Cali- fornia, Charles C. Reed, special agent for the New York Life Insurance Company, was born and reared in Santa Clara County. He was born in San Jose on July 10, 1873, and is the son of Charles C. and Mary Imogene (Bergler) Reed, both natives of the Golden State. The grandfather, James Frazier Reed, was a member of the ill-fated Donner party, many of whom perished at Donner Lake on their way to California in 1846; his maternal grandmother was also a pioneer of California, who crossed the plains in 1856 and settled in San Jose. James Frazier Reed and his wife were the parents of six children; the family resided in San Jose and it was here that James Frazier Reed died. The family of Charles C. Reed, Sr., consisted of four children, Charles C. Reed, Jr., being the eldest son. Charles C. attended the public schools of San Jose and graduated from the San Jose high school. His early days were spent on a farm with his father who was engaged in grain and stock raising. For twenty-five years Charles C. Reed, Jr., was employed by the largest lumber firms in California, and during this time was manager of the filing room of the Weed Lumber Company in Siskiyou County and later was with the Union Lum- ber Company at Fort Bragg.

On January 14, 1903, Mr. Reed was married to Miss Jo Vollmer, whose birth occurred at Big Rap- ids, near Grand Rapids, Mich., the daughter of Al- bert A. and Rose Margaret (Reck) Vollmer. Her father was a merchant in Michigan at that time, but, when Mrs. Reed was a child of four, her parents re- moved to California, settling near Campbell, where the father owned an extensive fruit ranch. It was here her father passed away in 1911 and her mother in 1907. Mrs. Reed was educated in the grammar and high schools of San Jose, later attending the San Jose Business College. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Reed, Charles Abner and Frazier O. Reed.

In 1917 Mr. Reed retired from the lumber busi- ness and returning with his family to San Jose en- tered the employ of the New York Life Insurance Company and has remained with them continuously from that time. He has met with splendid success in his new field and is now the special agent of the company at San Jose. Fraternally, Mr. Reed is a member of San Jose Lodge of Elks. He is also a member of the 100% Club and charter member of the Commercial Club. Politically, Mr. Reed is a Re-

publican, giving stalwart allegiance to that party. His life has ever been the expression of business enterprise, of upright and patriotic principles.

DR. W. H. BUTTON .- An excellent horseman and veterinarian, Dr. W. H. Button has made his own way in the world since a young boy of nine years, his father having lost his life as a soldier in the Civil War. He was born in Clinton County, Mich., Feb- tuary 23, 1857, the son of De La Fayette and Cath- erine (Hane) Button. The father was born in Ohio and he and Miss Hane were married there and came to Michigan about 1855. The father enlisted in the Civil War in 1862 from Morris, Grundy County, Ill., in Company C of the Seventy-sixth Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, and drilled at Kankakee, III. He served for almost three years, then was wounded in a skirmish and was sent home and on May 10, 1865, passed away at the age of thirty-nine years. Dr. Button is the fifth of a family of six children. In the spring of 1866, he left home, being only nine years old, and went to the northwestern part of Iowa in Kossuth County. He was among the pioneers of that part of Iowa and trapped beaver on the Des Moines River for a livelihood; and when ten years of age he broke up forty acres of virgin prairie sod with two yokes of oxen, barefooted among the snakes. He knew nothing but the hardest kind of work, but withal he managed to attend the common schools and received a fair education. After a few years spent in Iowa he went back to Illinois and worked for Hyal Isham, a horseman of note in his day, and caring for, training and riding race horses for Jim Keltner, a noted racer of running horses at Morris, Ill .; then for five years he followed the race track, riding running horses at races; he became a favorite and was a successful rider, becoming an expert rider and was called "Billy Button." His riding attracted the attention of the famous circus man Adam Fore- paugh, who offered him flattering inducements to join

liis circus. During his five years of riding he be- came too heavy, but being a lover of horses he took up the training and driving of trotting and pacing horses, and was successful in developing trotting horses. In 1883 he went to work for the Santa Fe railroad, starting as fireman and worked up until he was conductor. In a railroad accident he lost his right foot, which incapacitated him for railroad work. Before his accident he was a sprinter of note, being one of the best one-mile runners in the United States. In a fifty-mile race, which he run in eight hours and four minutes, he won the championship belt of Illinois. This race was described in full in the Peoria Transcript of April 9, 1881. He fortu- nately owned eighty acres of land near Leavenworth, Kansas, and being obliged to give up railroad work, he settled on his ranch in Kansas.

Dr. Button's marriage occurred in Emporia, Kans., and united him with Miss Emma E. Tomlinson, born near Rochester, Minn. Mrs. Button has two brothers residing in Los Angeles. As a young man, Dr. Button studied with Dr. Tenant of Ionia, Mich., and re- ceived elementary instruction in anatomy, medicine and surgery. After losing his foot, he matriculated at the Chicago Veterinarian College from which he was graduated in 1895. He then removed to Los Angeles and practiced his profession and was ap- pointed assistant livestock inspector and veterinary for the Los Angeles Transfer Company; he then went to Riverside, Cal., and was appointed county live-

1492

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

stock inspector; then removed to Santa Rosa, where 1:is brother Eugene R. Button, a newspaperman is associated with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Dr. Button remained in Santa Rosa until after the eartlı- quake of 1906, then went to Turlock, Cal., and was the first veterinarian to locate there. He purchased a business block and practiced successfully until he sold out in 1911. He then spent some time in travel- ing throughout the United States as a horseman and veterinarian, and for a short time was occupied in a special veterinarian line in Washington, D. C. During 1919 he located in Mountain View and has built up a good business and he and his family are highly regarded in the community. Dr. and Mrs. Button are the parents of two daughters: Flossie L. is the wife of George M. Bobst, a contractor and builder at Mountain View; they are the parents of three chil- dren-Fred, Bessie, and Gladys; Nina Fay is the wife of Q. N. Shadel, agent for the Santa Fe at Colton, Cal., and they have one child, Billy. Dr. Button is an enthusiastic booster for Mountain View and is an active member of the Chamber of Com- merce. He is the owner of several fast horses, a trotter, Kiss Kee Dee, and a pacer, Prince Edward.

FRANK R. MACHADO .- A very successful dairy rancher is Frank R. Machado, who is farming north of Mountain View on 111 acres of his own lying east of the Sterling Road, after having recently sold off some . eighty acres. He has one of the best dairy farms in that section, and his many friends are pleased that he enjoys the reputation of a well-to-do, public- spirited man. He was born in the Island of Terceira, in the Azores group, in 1866, and when twenty-one years of age came out to California, and in the inter- vening forty years he has rendered himself and family independent. The greater part of this time he was in San Mateo County, where he married and where most of his children were born; and the result of his long and faithful apprenticeship is that he is an excellent dairy farmer, a good judge of milch cows and dairy cattle and products. He buys and sells a great deal; but he manages to keep one string, 0' thirty cows milking all the time. He has a regis- tered Holstein bull, and often has as many as sixty cows on his ranch. He is a hard-worker and a very honorable man, kind-hearted and hospitable; and he and his family enjoy the good will of all who know them. His children ably assist on the ranch, all co- operating in the work. Frank is now sixteen years old; Anthony is a year younger; John is fourteen; and Mary, the one daughter, is just twelve. Mrs. Machado, who was Miss Maria Armina before her marriage, is an invalid. Santa Clara County may well be congratulated that it attracts to its favoring localities such excellent citizenship as that furnished in the industrious and self-respecting family of this sturdy and progressive California ranchman.

C. H. CLARK .- A young man of ability, indus- try, energy and commendable enterprise, C. H. Clark is coming to the front as the owner and proprietor of the Clark Cannery located on the Sterling Road near Mountain View. The cannery had a large run on Permain apples in the fall of 1921, and earlier in the season had a good run on apricots and pears. Mr. Clark was born in Napa County, Cal., and is a son of George and Ida (Irish) Clark. George Clark, the father is a well-known pioneer of Napa County and was constable of the town of Napa for many

ycars. Mrs. Clark is a native of New York and came with her parents to California. C. H. Clark is the oldest of their seven children, four sons and three daughters, all of whom are living. Mr. Clark re- ceived his education in the schools of Napa, and when he was sixteen began to work in the cannery of Libby, McNeill & Libby at Sunnyvale and was there for eight years; then for four years he was superintendent of the John McCarthy Jr. Cannery, the largest establishment of its kind in Mountain View. During the month of July, 1921, he opened his present business, which was formerly the factory of the Concentrated Paste Company.

Mr. Clark was married in 1908 to Miss Mary Perry of Dixon, Cal., and they are the parents of five children: Mary M., George, Evelyn, Lois and Lawrence. Mr. Clark is active in the Woodmen of the World and the Native Sons of the Golden West of Mountain View. He concentrates his full energies on his business, and is fast winning his way to the front, and the products of his cannery are being shipped to all parts of the world; the Clark brand of apples goes to San Francisco and the Middle West and many of his goods go to England and other parts of the world, the Clark brand being a guar- antee of excellence.

PETER TALIA .- Despite the handicap of being born in a foreign country, Peter Talia has made good in the country of his choice, and has steadily added to his finances, until he has reached a condi- tion of affluence enjoyed by many of the ranchers of Santa Clara Valley. He was born in Dalmatia, Aus- tria, on April 18, 1875, the son of Peter Mathias and Raffie (Zlovecera) Talia. The father was a seafar- ing man and had crossed the Atlantic ocean twenty- six times in the old fashioned sail ships. He lived to be seventy-two years old, and the mother passed away in her seventy-fourth year. There were five children in the family, Peter being the youngest. He attended the grammar school in Dalmatia until he was thirteen years old; then went to sea in the coasting trade, on vessels plying the Adriatic Sea and re- mained in that line of work for three years. In 1891 he left Trieste, Austria, and went to Hamburg, Ger- many, and then set sail for America; arriving in New York City he came by rail to San Jose, and here he worked for his brother-in-law, Nicholas Scorsur, and the following eight years on various ranches. Sav- ing his money, he began buying and selling fruit, and soon had sufficient money to purchase a three-acre place on Pine Avenue, which he soon sold and in- vested the proceeds in a seven-acre ranch on Minne- sota Avenue and also a two-acre ranch on the same avenue, which was the headquarters for his fruit business. He sold the two-acre ranch and later the seven-acre place to the Western Pacific Railroad and invested in two ranches in the Campbell district, one of twelve acres and the other of ten acres, both sit- uated on Budd Avenue; later a nineteen-acre rancli was bought in the same district. All these places he sold and purchased a ranch at Saratoga containing fourteen and a half acres, and also another fourteen and a half adjoining and these two ranches he has retained; these places are in full-bearing apricot and prunc trees. He also purchased ten acres in the Ever- green district, but held it only a short time, and in- vested in a twenty-two-acre ranch at Los Gatos on the Almaden road; selling that, he purchased his

Peter Talia.

Domenica Talia

1493

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

present home place of nineteen acres, a prune and apricot orchard on the Santa Clara-Los Gatos Road, now his home place where he resides with his family.

In San Jose on May 10, 1904, Mr. Talia was united in marriage to Miss Dominica Genavich, also born in Dalmatia, Austria. She is the daughter of Peter and Mary (Valajo) Genavich, her father an orchard- ist in his native land. There were five children in the family, Mrs. Talia being the fourth. In 1903, she came to Santa Clara County, Cal., and lived with her sister, Annie, now the widow of the late John Scorsur, until her marriage to Mr. Talia. Mr. and Mrs. Talia are the parents of five children: Ruth, a graduate of Heald's Business College; Mary attends Campbell high school; Rosie, Matt and Peter. Mr. and Mrs. Talia appreciate the value of an education and are striving to give their children the best schooling with- in their means. Mr. Talia is an active member of the Austria Benevolence Society of San Jose and is loyal to American ideals. Mr. Talia recalls his early experiences in the valley, how he worked six- teen hours a day applying himself closely to his work until he saved sufficient money to get a start. He was honest and industrious and soon made a record for integrity, so that when he began in the fruit business, people had confidence in him, and he soon acquired enough capital to buy land and grow fruit. A natural mechanic, Mr. Talia saw the advantage of tractors tor farming, using the most modern machinery be- cause he is able to repair and keep it in running order. He gives much credit to his estimable wife, who has assisted him in every way, by learning every detail of the fruit business, and when Mr. Talia was away, buying and transacting other business, she was at the plant attending to sorting, dipping and handling the fruit, besides attending to her household duties and caring for the children. Thus in the same way, Mr. and Mrs. Talia are training their children to be industrious and honest and thus become useful citi- zens of their country.

G. LACOSTE .- A welcome addition to the busi- ness circles of Palo Alto is found in G. Lacoste, the genial and enterprising proprietor of the French Laundry, located at 642 Ramona Street, Palo Alto, Cal:, where he does fine work and is giving the best of satisfaction to his large patronage. He was born in France near Massous, Hantes Pyrenees, on Sep- tember 24, 1886. His father, Peter Lacoste, was a carpenter by occupation in France and served his country as a soldier in the war of 1871; he became well-to-do and owned a number of houses in Mas- sous and about fifty acres of land. His father passed away in France in December, 1921, at the age of eighty-two years, but his mother, Mary Lacoste, is still living there.

G. Lacoste attended the public schools in France and there learned the laundry business. In 1906 he set sail for New York and then crossed the country to San Francisco during the same year. He had no trouble in finding employment in a laundry in San Francisco and continued until the recent war, when he worked as a machinist, continuing for two years; then he was the proprietor of a laundry in San Francisco. In 1921 he removed to Palo Alto and purchased this business and is succeeding even be- yond his expectations.

On May 1, 1921, Mr. Lacoste was married to Miss Louise Lanassus, a native of France, and together

they are making a splendid success of the laundry business. Mr. Lacoste keeps a well-lighted, well- ventilated, clean and sanitary laundry and employs three men and four women. He is public-spirited and is taking his place among the business men of his locality.

ALBERT M. MEYER .- A native of California, who is making good as proprietor of the Chatterton Bakery Company at San Jose, is Albert M. Meyer, who was born December 7, 1890, in San Francisco, the son of Martin and Meta C. (Tietjen) Meyer. Martin Meyer came to California in the year of 1874, embarked in the grocery business and for fifteen years was manager of the Consumers' Compressed Yeast Company of San Francisco, but now retired and resides in Burlingame.

Albert M. Meyer enjoyed the educational privi- luges of the grammar and high schools of San Fran- cisco, and early in life became self-supporting. For some time he was a traveling salesman and then spent six years as manager of the Oregon and Wash- ington offices of the Consumers' Compressed Yeast Company and later located in San Jose, purchasing the business of the Chatterton Bakery Company and he has since continued there, doing a very large business, both locally and throughout the county, as the superior quality of his bread, fancy cakes and pastries have been found so dependable, that they have created a strong and increasing demand. Mr. Meyer gives every detail of the business his careful attention, sparing no effort to please his large and growing list of patrons, and he also employs the services of twelve competent people to aid him.

Mr. Meyer's marriage united him with Miss Augusta C. Henne, and they are the parents of two children, Gayle Kathleen and Lucille. Mr. Meyer, associated with W. J. Connors, the inventor, and William Kaiser, promoted the Individual Wash Laundry, the plant being located at Orchard and Balbach streets and equipped with special patented machinery for doing individual washing, showing an investment of over $100,000 when fully equipped for service. He is a popular member of the Hundred Per Cent Club, Lions Club, Commercial Club, and Chamber of Commerce, and he is a thirty-second de- gree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S, of San Francisco. A public-spirited citizen he is a supporter of all projects that are for the good of the community and for the uplift or the upbuilding of the city in which he lives.

CHRISTIAN M. KLOTZ-W. A. ALLEN,- A native of Germany. Christian M. Koltz was born in Stein, Baden, in 1827, and received his education in that district. When he was still a young man he came to the United States, first settling in New Jersey, and there he married Miss Margaret Peoples. a native of Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland, of Scotch descent, who came to the United States in 1849. In 1861 the family removed to California and located at San Jose, in 1864, after a visit to Germany, they took up their residence in Bridgeport, Conn., re- maining until 1867, when they returned to California and San Jose, where they have continuously resided. Mr. Klotz was engaged for a short time in gardening and then started a winery in San Jose: he also set out a twenty-acre vineyard near Saratoga. He died in 1889 and his widow survived him until 1896. They

1494

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

had two children, Christina, now Mrs. Allen of Saratoga, and John, who died in 1893.

Christina Klotz was born in San Jose, and in 1894 was married to Samuel Harper, a native of Belfast, Ireland, after which they took up their residence on the Klotz ranch. Mr. Harper died in 1913 and in 1915 Mrs. Harper married a second time, being united with William A. Allen who was born in 1851 in Buffalo, N. Y., where he was reared and educated. At the age of twenty-one he came West and was engaged as purser with the Pacific Mail Steamship Company for twenty-five years. A son of Mr. Allen's by a former marriage, Milton S. Allen, enlisted in the Marines and passed away at Mare Island in No- vember, 1918. Mr. Allen was prominent in Masonic circles, being a Knight Templar and a Scottish Rite Mason. He passed away on January 12, 1917, a genial, kindly gentleman, who was mourned by a large circle of friends. Mrs. Allen resides on the homeplace, located on the Mountain View Road, which consists of twenty acres in full-bearing orchard.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 229

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