History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 59

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

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A short time after this, Jay O. Hayes, while out in the pine woods became very ill, and E. A. suc- ceeded in getting him back to Madison, Wis., to their mother's home, where in time he recovered, though he doubtless would have passed away had it not been for her care and help. During this time Captain Moore came to E. A. Hayes' office in Ashland and said that he was going to organize an exploration

company in which the eight people comprising it would have an equal interest, each paying $250. On inquiry Mr. Hayes found that one share was held by a saloonkeeper and he asked Captain Moore if he might not have that eighth instead, so that his mother might have an interest, but the captain said that he could not go back on his promise. When Mr. Hayes told his mother of his wish to secure an interest for her and his inability to do so. she replied that if it were intended that she should have it, that she would get it. Some time after this the brothers met the saloonkeeper who told them that their money was being wasted and used for other purposes. Jay O., said to him, "If that is the case, I presume that you would like to get out." To this the man agreed and Jay O. paid him $250, thus securing an eighth inter- est for his mother. The brothers later purchased an- other eighth, and still later a fractional share more, so that they had obtained a controlling interest be- fore any ore was discovered. Their mother assured them, however, that out of it would come all the money they would ever need, and this has indeed materialized, for it has brought untold wealth. They sent men to explore the Gogebic region in Michigan and in due time iron ore was discovered and mines opened and successfully operated.

They took up their residence at Ironwood, Gogebic County, where they made a fortune, and in 1887 they came to California, taking up their residence in Santa Clara County, where they purchased a valuable ranch property. However, the panic of '93 that brought dis- aster to many men and corporations did not miss them and in 1895 they lost all they had in California, including their ranch, besides being in debt. By crooked manipulation their mines had also passed out of their control, so in 1899 they returned to Gogebic County, Mich., and through the aid of their old-time friend, Mr. Longyear, brought suit and the mine was recovered. E. A. Hayes assumed the su- perintendency and in two years' time had made such a success that they leased the mine, receiving a pay- ment of $900,000. The brothers then returned to San Jose, looked up their old creditors and paid principal and interest in full. One bank to which they were indebted had already charged their account to profit and loss and as a result of the payment made by the Hayes brothers they were able to declare a special dividend of twenty per cent. Square and honest, al- though these notes and obligations were legally out- lawed, Messrs. Hayes did not look upon it in that light, for the accounts were not outlawed as far as they were concerned. The mines in Michigan are still yielding big returns and they are now opening up a larger body of ore than they have ever had before, so that their mother's prophecy is being fulfilled and the anine continues to yield all the money they need

No event in the business history of the brothers has surpassed in importance their connection with lo- cal journalism. In 1900 they acquired the San Jose Herald and the following year their journalistic in- terests were greatly increased by the purchase of the . San Jose Mercury, the only morning paper in the city. Under their keen business management, unsur- passed tact and sagacious judgment, these papers have become the most important in the state, ont- side of San Francisco and Los Angeles, and wield an influence that is not limited to the Santa Clara

6. A. Hos agro.

Mary B. Hayes

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Valley, although their circulation is largest and their power strongest in the home locality.

A stanch supporter of the Republican party, Mr. Hayes held the office of chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Santa Clara County, and fre- quently "stumped" the state in the interests of the party. In the summer of 1904 he was nominated for Congress by the Republican party, and in November of that year he was elected a member of Congress and has been reelected to succeed himself six times. While a member of the House, Mr. Hayes served his district, state and nation with marked ability and was tireless and unceasing in his work. During the whole fourteen years of his service he was a member of the banking and currency committee and also of the immigration and naturalization committee, the last six years being ranking Republican member of both of the above committees and very active in their measures. In the drawing up of the Federal Re- serve Act he was very active and had much to do with its formation, as the draft was submitted to him each day for suggestions and some of them were incorporated in the act. He was also a mem- ber of all conference committees, and legislative rep- resentative of the House forming these committees. In forming the immigration bill, now in force, he represented the House on the conference commit- tee of the Senate and House. The most interesting piece of work in connection with his legislative duties was the reorganization of the rules of the House of Representatives which had come into being dur- ing the long tenure of Joseph Cannon as speaker. Mr. Hayes organized the fight against these iron- clad Cannon rules of the House and was chairman of the insurgents and also of the steering commit- tee during the whole fight. He was ranking Repub- lican member of the sub-committee that drafted the Farm Loan Act passed by the Sixty-fourth Con- gress, and had more to do with its drafting than any other man in the country. He was also on the sub-committee that drafted the Postal Savings law and next to Chairman Glass was the most active in its formation and ultimate success.

Mr. Hayes' first marriage, in 1884, united him with Miss Nettie Louisa Porter, who passed away in 1891. Two years later he was united with Miss Mary Lonisa Bassett of Whitewater, Wis. Mr. Hayes is the father of three children by his first marriage and three by his second, as follows: Sibyl Charity of Edenvale; Anson Clinton of San Fran- cisco; Harold Cecil, in business in San Jose; Phyllis Celestia, the wife of Capt. Robert A. Griffin of Carmel-by-the-Sea: Loy Bassett, connected with the Mercury; Abraham Folsom, engaged in ranching in this county.

Mr. Hayes is a prominent member of the Union League Club of San Francisco, where he has a host of friends, and in addition to being president of the Mercury Publishing Company and vice-president of the Herald Publishing Company, he retains his interest in the Michigan mines, holding the office of president of the Hayes Mining Company, owners of the famous Ashland iron mines at Ironwood, Mich., and is president of the Harmony Iron Company, which owns valuable iron properties in Iron County. Diversified as are his interests, no detail is neglected conducive to their success and no efforts are spared to make each enterprise the peer of others in the

same line of activity. As land owner, mine owner, investor and publisher, he finds an abundant field for his varied talents and an opportunity to identify himself with men foremost in these industries. A man of keen perception and intuition, he is a public benefactor and is ever striving to benefit his fellow- men. Kind, thoughtful, liberal and open-hearted, he is ever ready to assist those who have been less fortunate in this world's goods and is generous to a fault. Of deep religious convictions and exemplify- ing a high standard of morals, he governs his life by the principles of the Golden Rule. Indissolubly associated with the history of San Jose and Santa Clara County, his name will be perpetuated in many enterprises of permanent value to the country's and city's progress.

LEOPOLD HART .- Not every city in the United States of the size of San Jose may boast of such an extensive, well organized and well conducted mer- cantile establishment as that of L. Hart & Son Com- pany, whose founder and first president, Leopold Hart, may well be called the merchant pioneer of the town. A man of great honesty and integrity, he was esteemed by all who made his acquaintance, and at his passing on April 12, 1904, a void was left in the ranks of the pioneers that would be impossible to fill. He was born at Forsbach, Alsace Lorraine, Feb- ruary 7, 1829, and received a good education in the schools of his locality that admirably fitted him for a business career in later years. He had a natural bent for business and when he was twenty-one years old made up his mind to come to the New World and in 1850 he arrived in the United States. He remained in the East until in 1856, when he arrived in Santa Clara County, where for a short time he was a clerk in a store situated on the present site of the Growers Bank building. In 1862 he made a trip back to his native land for a visit and upon his return here estab- lished a dry goods and clothing store in Santa Clara, continuing there for a number of years. While a resident of that town, Mr. Hart was elected town treasurer and so managed the financial affairs of the place that it was placed on a very substantial foot- ing. In many ways he showed his public spirit by joining in all movements for the public good.

Having made a success in Santa Clara, Mr. Hart thought the city of San Jose held better inducements and he bought the Corner Cash store from Mr. Steinbach, located at the corner of Market and West Santa Clara streets. This building faced Market street and as the city grew apace the store grew with it and gradually grew into a busy center. It was Mr. Hart who gave to San Jose its first brick store build- ing and from that small beginning he saw one of the largest emporiums from San Francisco to Los An- geles, along the coast, develop. In 1902 the firm became L. Hart & Son Company, when A. J. Hart was taken into the firm, his father gradually retiring from the management. This later growth will be found chronicled in the sketch of A. J. Hart on another page of this history. However, credit must be given the intrepid pioneer who builded better than he knew and all honor paid to Leopold Hart, the founder. All during his busy career, Mr. Hart was alert to aid all projects for the advancement of business, social and educational conditions of city, county and state. He was no politician in the sense of seeking office, but he was interested in putting the best man in the office, regardless of party lines. He

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was a member of the Odd Fellows and of B'nai B'rith, and generously contributed to the religious work of the local synagogue.

In 1863 occurred the marriage of Leopold Hart and Miss Hortense Cahen, and they became parents of one son and five daughters: Alexander J; Mrs. Charles Becker: Mrs. G. W. Alexander; Mrs. I. Cahen: Mrs. Harry Morris and Mrs. Louis Isaacs. Mrs. Hart died several years before her husband, who answered the final summons on April 12, 1904, if you may so characterize the passing on of a man who left behind him an undying influence for good.

JAY ORLEY HAYES .- Representative of the best type of citizenship, Jay Orley Hayes is justly ac- corded a prominent place in the business, municipal and social life of San Jose. His name is widely known and carries with it an influence which ever wields its power toward the betterment of the com- munity in every way, its moral uplifting, its physical welfare, the promotion and upbuilding of all enter- prises calculated to increase the prosperity of city. county and state. First a citizen and patriot, Mr. Hayes labors with untiring zeal for the best interests of the country; afterward a Republican, he gives his strongest support to the advancement of the principles he endorses. Though not known as a politician, he was selected by his friends as a candidate for gov- ernor at the time that Governor Pardee, then the incumbent, ran for office. Although defeated, this action, the result entirely of his standing as a man and citizen, brought Mr. Hayes prominently before the public and has added to his following many in- fluential men of the state, who appreciate his sterling integrity and ability. Absolutely sincere and honest and imbued with the highest and best motives, he is an ideal citizen, willing to spend his time and money in the betterment of the conditions of town, county and state. The value of his work thus far in San Jose and vicinity has ample testimony in a clean city government, good streets, good schools, good buildings, all of which have felt his strong and earnest effort. What has been done locally can be done generally for the entire state, should opportunity and the call of duty ever demand that he give up the peace and quiet of his princely home for the turmoil and arduous task of a great public office. Mr. Hayes' personal magnetism is of that lasting order that comes only from the conviction of meeting a truly honorable man and one who loves his fellow- men. This feeling is heightened when one is permit- ted to observe him in his home, which is the best test, after all-his devotion to his family, to his church duties, impress one that he is an example of the true life precepts which he has been taught and which he has followed from infancy.

A native of Waterloo, Jefferson County, Wis., Mr. Hayes was born October 2, 1857, a son of Anson E. Hayes, the representative of an old American family of Scotch descent, the first member of which set- tled in Connecticut in 1683. For many generations the family flourished in the New England states, va- rions members adding luster to the name through their associations with the early colonial history. In time the family name became a familiar one in the states of the middle west. Mr. Hayes was reared in Wisconsin, receiving his preliminary education in the common schools of his native city. Upon the completion of the common school course he entered

the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and was graduated in 1880 with the degree of LL.B. He also studied law in the office of Gen. William F. Vilas and was admitted to the bar one year after his brother, Everis Anson Hayes, with whom he has been associated in both a professional and business way. They began the practice of law in Madison and con- tinued in that location for two years, when they re- moved to Ashland, there forming a partnership with Col. John H. Knight. A large and lucrative prac- tice was established in the four years following, their prestige extending throughout Ashland and Bayfield counties. The partnership was dissolved in 1886, when the Hayes brothers located in Ironwood, Mich., where they had previously acquired extensive inter- ests in iron mines of the Gogebic iron range. For one year they gave their sole attention to these in- terests. In the spring of 1887 they came to Califor- nia and in the vicinity of San Jose purchased a fine ranch for their home. This property they have im- proved and developed, conducting a fruit enterprise which has added no little to the prestige of Santa Clara County in this line. Mr. Hayes is secretary and treasurer of the Hayes Mining Company and treasurer of the Harmony Iron Company. In 1900 the Hayes brothers became the owners of the Her- ald. the leading evening paper of San Jose, and in 1901 purchased the Mercury, the only morning paper in that city; the two papers were later consolidated under the name of the San Jose Mercury-Herald and Mr. Hayes is the president of the Mercury-Herald Company, owners of these newspapers. Mr. Hayes has spent much time in the iron mines in Michigan during the last few years and almost all the thirty months immediately after the war. Fortunately their mines produced a high grade of ore that found a ready sale and when other mines were closed down, their mine was operated during the entire period without a shutdown.

Mr. Hayes was married June 16, 1885, to Clara I. Lyon, a daughter of ex-Chief Justice W. P. Lyon, of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. They are the parents of five children: Mildred M. now the wife of A. E. Roth, comptroller of Stanford University. Lyetta A., Elystus L., Miriam F., now the wife of Edgar C. Kesler with Robert Dollar Company, San Francisco, and J. Orlo. Mr. Hayes has taken a prominent part in the organization of the Califor- nia Prune & Apricot Growers Association, having been a director since its organization and is a mem- ber of its executive committee and has given much time and thought to its upbuilding, realizing that in the success of the association depends the further prosperity of the prune and apricot growers of Cali- fornia. It is the consensus of opinion of men of affairs that he has had more to do with the growth of the association than any other person. He is a man of varied and large interests in California, but is particularly fond of Santa Clara County and opti- mistic for its rapid growth and future greatness. A very prominent Republican in state and national poli- tics, he was, for years, a member of the State Cen- tral Committee and its executive committee and for eight years served as vice-chairman and has been prominent and active in all the great movements of the Republican party in the state. He was delegate- at-large from California to the national Republican convention at Chicago that nominated Hughes for

ICHayes.

Clara Lyon Hayes

LELAND STANFORD

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president in 1916 and was a member of the notifica- tion committee that proceeded to New York and notified Mr. Hughes of his nomination for president by the Republican convention at Chicago.

LELAND STANFORD .- Famous among the most inspiring examples of American citizenship, the busy and fruitful life of Leland Stanford is instruc- tive and highly suggestive to the youth, not only of our own country, but of the entire civilized world. A na- tive of the great Empire State, he became, as one of the founders and developers of the Pacific common- wealth, one of the most remarkable men America has ever produced; and from the time of his boyhood in the '20s to his death in the '90s, the story of his ascending career, in which almost insuperable obstacles were again and again overcome, is of absorbing interest. He was born at Watervliet, N. Y., eight miles. from Albany, on March 9, 1824, and descended from English stock, reenforced, on his father's side, by the best of Irish blood. His father, Josiah Stanford, a native of Massachusetts, had been taken to New York by his parents when he was four years of age; and he grew up to marry a Miss Phillips, whose parents had removed from Massachusetts to Vermont, and from Vermont to New York State. Josiah Stanford lived for many years on a farm known as Elm Grove, on the Albany road leading out to Schenectady, and he was highly esteemed as an intelligent, industrious and progres- sive farmer, who had built a portion of the turnpike between Albany and Schenectady, constructed roads and bridges in his neighborhood, was an alert, syste- matie business man and a decidedly public-spirited citizen, and was an early and enthusiastic advocate of the construction of the Erie Canal.

In 1825, the New York Legislature granted a charter for a railroad between Albany and Schenec- tady, and when it came to building the road, Josiah Stanford was chosen as one of the principal con- tractors. A railroad was an attractive novelty in those days, and the survey of this road brought it so close to the home of the Stanfords that Leland passed his holidays in eagerly watching the work, and even at that early age acquired a knowledge of railroad construction that proved of service to him in later years. The conversation, too, of the visitors to Josiah Stanford's home, was elevating, instructive and in- spiring. These visitors were men of affairs engaged in the construction of large works, and they were alive to the great possibilities through future trans- portation routes, and were not a whit daunted by the magnitude of any project. Among the subjects discussed with vigor by these virile and far-seeing men was the project of a railroad to Oregon; and "young as he was when the question was first agi- tated," says one writer, "Leland Stanford took a lively interest in the measure. Among its chief advo- cates at that early day was Mr. Whitney, one of the engineers in the construction of the Mohawk & Hud- son River Railway. On one occasion, when Whitney passed the night at Elm Grove, Leland being then thirteen years of age, the conversation ran largely on this overland railway project, and the effect upon the mind of such a boy may be readily imagined. The remembrance of that night's discussion between Whitney and his father never left him, but bore the giandest fruits." This engineer was undoubtedly the celebrated Asa Whitney, from 1830 to 1839 assist-

ant superintendent, and then superintendent, of the Mohawk & Hudson Railroad, later canal commis- sioner of New York State, and finally, as a world- renowned maker of car-wheels, also, like Stanford, a university benefactor.

Leland Stanford received the education of the farmer boy; and as a result he inherited both good physical and mental qualities, and was reared in a home where there was no idler, where there was little luxury, but no want, where labor was honored, and each had his task appointed for him to do. He worked on the farm with his father and his brothers, rising as early as five o'clock of a winter's morning. He attended the common schools until he was twelve years of age, and then, for three years, received pri- vate instruction at home. After that, he assisted his father in carrying out a large contract for the de- livery of wood. This was really his first business ad- venture for he was in a manner a partner in the enterprise, and received a share of the profits, which he used to pay his tuition at an academy in Clin- ton, N. Y.

Having determined to study law, young Stanford entered the office of Messrs. Wheaton, Doolittle & Hadley, at Albany, and after three years with the law-tomes, he was admitted to the Bar of New York State. By this time, he had been drawn toward the West; and after visiting various places he finally se- lected Port Washington, Wis., as best suited to his purpose; and there, in 1848, he established himself in the practice of law. This town was then considered by many the port of the Lake region having a most promising future, and Mr. Stanford's success as a lawyer there, with a lucrative practice and an enviable standing in the community, appeared to emphasize the prospects of prosperity for everyone. The first year in which he had hung out his shingle, he earned $1,260, and for that time, such an income was con- sidered good.

In 1850, he paid a visit to Albany, and while there married Miss Jane Lathrop, the daughter of Dyer Lathrop, a merchant of Albany whose family were among the earliest and most respected settlers in that city. He was born at Bozrah (now called Bozrah- ville), Conn., and accompanied his parents on their removal to New York, when he was about seven years of age. He was noted for his good deeds, ex- pressive of human kindness, and was privileged to be one of the founders in Albany of the Orphan Asy- lum, and was treasurer of that institution and director at the time of his death. Mr. Stanford returned to Port Washington with his wife and continued in the practice of his profession at that place until 1852, when a misfortune happened to him which changed the course of his life, and proved to be a blessing in disguise. This was the total destruction by fire of huis office with all of its valuable contents, including his law library, and for the moment seemed irrepara- ble. Tidings of the discovery of gold in California, however, reached the East about that time and occa- sioned great excitement, so much so that five of Josiah Stanford's sons set out for the promised land; and the destruction of his office at Port Washington determined Leland Stanford's action in following them. Mr. Stanford closed out his affairs in Wis- consin, and took his wife to Albany; but she was unable to persuade her father to let her accompany her husband and share with him the hardships of life in a new country-as a result of which she re-

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mained at her father's home for the next three years, attending with all the devotion of a loving and sym- pathetic daughter to every want of her father through a long illness, until his death in 1855.

Leland Stanford sailed from New York, made the journey by way of Nicaragua, spent twelve days in crossing the Isthmus and thirty-eight days on the entire trip. He arrived at San Francisco on July 12, 1852, and visited his brothers, who were engaged in the general merchandise business at Sacramento, and soon afterward entered for himself on a mercantile career at Cold Springs, in Eldorado County. The following spring, he opened a store at Michigan Bluffs, the central business point of the Placer County mining district; and this period of Mr. Stan- ford's life was passed among the privations, the hardships and the excitements of a typical pioneer mining camp, the recollection of which never faded from his memory. Mr. Stanford also engaged in mining operations and prospered in them in his busi- ness to such an extent that in 1855 he purchased the business of his brothers in Sacramento. The same year he proceeded to the East and brought Mrs. Stanford to California, and established his home in Sacramento, in which city his house soon ranked among the leading California concerns, in the man- agement of which he developed an heretofore untried capacity for dealing with large affairs. It was also not long before Mr. Stanford's political life began. The Republican party was organized in California in 1856, and he, giving the movement his enthusiastic support, became one of its founders on the Coast, although at first he was not on the popular side. At the next election, for example, he was the Republi- can candidate for State Treasurer, and was defeated, and in 1859, when he was candidate for Governor, he received only 11,000 votes. In 1860, he was delegate at large to the Republican National Convention, and he was an earnest and influential advocate of the nomination of Abraham Lincoln, with whom he formed a warm and lasting friendship. As a result, at the request of President Lincoln, he remained in Washington for several weeks after the inauguration. He enjoyed the confidence of Lincoln, as a matter of fact, and the destined martyr consulted him as to the surest methods of preserving the peace and loyalty of California, and maintaining its adherence to the Union-then a large question filled with doubt, which caused much anxiety to the President and his hard- working and alert advisers.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 59

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