History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 63

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

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HENRY MILLER .- Few among the names of those pioneers who did the big things in helping to develop and build up California into the Golden State have come to have half of the fascination of romance and the glamor of renown such as surrounds the hon- ored name of Henry Miller, the cattle king of Cal- ifornia and father of Los Banos, whose story is the narrative, like that of a fairy tale, of the remarkable career of a man whose industry, intellect and integrity conquered one of the most promising, and in truth one of the richest cmpires on the face of the earth. A butcher boy in the days of his San Francisco youth, he won lands and amassed a fortune above that of many a king, and was lord, not only of all that he could survey, but of twice the area of the king- dom of Belgium. He reached his ninetieth year, and it is safe to say that nearly eighty-five of those years were periods of hard toil, and strenuous activity.

Henry Miller was born in Brackenheim, Wurtem- berg, Germany, on July 21, 1827, and grew up a farmer's boy, familiar with country life from early childhood. When fourteen years old, he had, among other duties the job watching over a flock of geese; but one day he walked home, leaving the geese to look after themselves, and informed his astonished and skeptical sister that he was through with that sort of slow routine and was going out into the world to do something for himself. Two or three years were spent in Holland and England, and then, setting sail for New York, the ambitious young German was engaged as a butcher in the small city even then the New World's metropolis. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 attracted not only the attention of most of the civilized world, but it seized hold of Henry Miller with such a grip that in the famous Argo- naut year of '49 he joined the hurrying throngs try- ing to cross the Isthmus of Panama, and himself sought the new El Dorado. Upon arriving in Pan- ama, Henry Miller, then only twenty-two years of age, discovered an exceptionally good opportunity for engaging in business, and there formed a partnership with an American; but the enterprise had been launched only a few weeks, when Miller was stricken with Panama fever-a most serious malady at that time of inadequate medical skill and attendance. When he had sufficiently recovered to hobble down to his business house, he discovered that his partner had swamped the business beyond all possibility of salvation, so that when all the bills had been paid, Miller had sufficient cash to obtain passage to San Francisco, where he landed in 1850, with just five dollars in his pocket, and a walking stick in his hand. He was still weak, from the effects of the fever,

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but he resolutely hobbled forth to seek employment, and made it a point to call at every business house along Montgomery Street. Usually, he met with disappointment; but before the day was over, he had engaged himself to a butcher.

A young man of Henry Miller's natural and already developed ability could not be expected to accept employment from another person very long, and after the San Francisco fire in 1851, he leased a lot on Jackson Street, erected a one-story building, and there opened a retail butcher shop, and this unpre- tentions business store with its very small stock but early openings and late closings became the corner- stone of the Miller fortunes. He went down into the valleys below San Francisco, purchased beef cattle and drove them into the city for butchering; and in these journeyings about the country he became well- acquainted with the cattle-raisers of the state and their conditions. There were several large compet- itors in the butcher business in San Francisco at that time, and among them was one in particular, Charles W. Lux, who was soon to appreciate Miller's capabilities. In 1857, Henry Miller visited the cat- tle-raising regions and quietly secured options on all the available beef cattle north of the Tehachapi range, and when the astonished buyers of his competitors appeared there were no heeves to be had by them. This splendid stroke of enterprise, marked at that time, enabled Miller to make his own terms with Lux and others, and partnership with Lux was the imme- diate outgrowth of the puzzling situation.

The new firm entered the field vigorously, and gradually began to acquire lands upon which to graze its herds, for when Miller & Lux began their business as a firm, a vast domain of unfenced graz- ing land existed in the great sweep of valleys and western slopes of the Sierra Nevada range-in fact, millions of acres were unclaimed from the Govern- ment. As the population increased, and the business of Miller & Lux expanded, it became necessary to increase the acreage held for grazing purposes, and Spanish grants were bought at prices that would astonish the ranchmen of today. A square mile could then be purchased at a figure now quoted for a single acre, and in those days even cowboy employees took up Government land under the preemption, homestead and desert-land acts, and after acquiring a title would dispose of it to their employers for a few cents an acre. In this way, and by purchasing the rights of discouraged ranchers, the vast and tremendously val- uable Miller & Lux empire was obtained. It required foresight to inspire the investors, the power of looking ahead and discerning what so many others with equal opportunities failed to discover; but it also required courage, nerve to carry the deals through.

One of the most notable purchases made by this epoch-making firm was the great Santa Anita rancho of 100,000 acres near Los Banos, which was obtained from Hildreth & Hildreth with its vast herds, soon after Henry Miller's advent in the San Joaquin . Valley; and the Hildreth brand of three bars, crossed through the center became the Miller & Lux brand for many years thereafter. And whatever or where- ever the brand of Miller & Lux was to be found, one might bank upon it that it represented a desirable, superior quality, for the secret of the rise of Henry Miller to the position of millionaire cattle baron was his remarkable knowledge of cattle, and an equally remarkable knowledge of men.

It is stated that Henry Miller at one time had the ambition to own the whole of California, but whether that be true or not, it is known that he was never anxious to part with lands after he had once acquired them, especially if they were suitable for grazing purposes, and he was ever ready to invest all surplus cash in the purchase of land. It is said, on the other hand, that Charles Lux at one time became frightened at his partner's purchasing proclivities, and sought to retire from the business. "Mr. Miller, we now have $100,000 in the bank in cash, and I think that this is an opportune time to dissolve partnership. Let us settle up." "You say that we have $100,000 in cash?" replied Mr. Miller. "Well, wait until I return from this trip." When Mr. Miller came back, Mr. Lux found that the firm had just invested in more land to the tune of $100.000, for Miller could not pass up a good chance to invest in acreage when the cash lay temptingly at hand. While Mr. Lux was a good financier and office man, there is no doubt of the fact that he was made a millionaire in spite of himself, and that he owed much of his own prosperity to his more aggressive partner. He could not let go when he wished to, and he remained a member of the firm until his death in 1887.

Henry Miller reckoned his holdings by the square mile, not by the acre, and a bit of evidence he gave in court some years ago-entertaining reading today. "In taking it ranch after ranch," he said, "in Santa Clara County it has an extent of twenty-four miles north and south, and about seven to eight miles east and west. In Merced County we have thirty-six miles north and south, and then about thirty-two miles east and west. The Malheur property is an extent of ninety miles northwest to southeast, and about sixty miles north to south. Then comes the purchase of what we call the Todhunter & Devine property. That lies in Harney County, Ore., and comprises over seven-tenths of 125 miles north and south and about seventy-five miles east and west, with a good distance in between." There is no doubt whatever, however, that the amount of the Miller & Lux holdings have been greatly overestimated. A special writer for one of the noted San Francisco dailies gave an estimate of 14,539,000 acres, but be- hind these astounding figures was a journalistic pur- pose of exaggerating, for with ownership and leases combined, the total would not reach half of that fig- ure. The richest holdings are in Merced and Madera counties, and amount to probably 350,000 acres. The Buttonwillow district will swell the total by 200,000 more, and Fresno County and other districts will probably increase the San Joaquin holdings to 700,- 000 acres, and there are nearly 20,000 acres in the region of Gilroy, and other, smaller tracts scattered over the state. The Miller & Lux acreage in the states of Nevada and Oregon will bring the grand total up to nearly 3,000,000 acres. It is a common saying among stockmen that Henry Miller could travel from the Idaho line to the Mexican border and camp on his own land every night; and no other man in America ever has, or ever will again, con- trol such an immense acreage of agricultural lands. It almost staggers belief that this tremendous empire was owned and occupied by one man's interests, and was nearly all under his personal supervision. Henry Miller was almost continually on the move in the years of his health and activity, for he did most of his work in the days before the automobile, al-

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though he was one of the first to import a fine French car. He came to dislike the machine, however, owing to the rough roads he was generally compelled to travel, and in rather short order he discarded it again, and once more took to either his favorite buggy or buckboard, in making his round of visits across the vast Miller & Lux ranches.

In 1860, Henry Miller was married to Miss Sarah Wilmarth Sheldon, a lady of culture and refinement, and two daughters and a son were born to them. Henry Miller, Jr., died in his fortieth year, survived by a widow, an honored resident of Gilroy. The youngest daughter, Miss Sarah Alice, was killed by a runaway horse. Another daughter, Mrs. J. Leroy Nickel, has resided at 2101 Laguna Street, San Fran- cisco, and it was at her residence that Mr. Miller expired, on October 14, 1916. George Nickel, a grandson of the famous pioneer, has resided on the Ortigalito ranch, eight miles to the southeast of Los Banos. The immediate life estate was left to Mrs. Nickel and her husband, who had taken a leading hand in the management of the Miller & Lux properties, and some $225,000 for surviving relatives of Mr. and Mrs. Miller, and $30,000 in smaller amounts to em- ployees, were provided for by bequests in the will.

A notable achievement of Henry Miller was his organization and control of the San Joaquin & Kings River Canal and Irrigation Company, and not a few of his enterprises were productive of much benefit to others, as well as to himself and near of kin. William J. Stockton, the pioneer, who first became acquainted with Mr. Miller in 1872, soon overcame his preju- dices to great landholders and found that Miller was performing a great service to other folks seeking to establish themselves; the pioneer could go to his straw-stacks and get straw for the asking, and to Canal Farm and get a cow; and such courtesies were given to rich and poor alike. When the section from Los Banos to Newman was in dire straits for water, Henry Miller, at a cost of some $3,000,000 built a canal and delivered water to the people, without an extra cent of cost to them. He also made a present to the county of a road built at an expense of $45,000, and running to the San Joaquin River. He was born to rule, to lead, to point the way to others, and to get there himself; he testified in court that during the hard times in the five years following Mr. Lux's death, he made $1,700,000 a year, or $8,000,000 in five years, an amount that seems almost incredible, but which must be true. Henry Miller was of striking personal appearance, and in his prime was an exact image of General U. S. Grant. He was simple in his habits, and would tolerate no homage from anyone. Dr. J. L. McClelland said, when Mr. Miller died: "He has endowed no colleges, but he has given mil- lions as he went along without exacting any pledge of remembrance, or making any condition of pub- licity. There are thousands of humble men and widows who can testify that his giving of valuable land and goodly sums of coin has been in strict accord with the Scripture admonition, "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." And Andrew R. Schottky, the distinguished lawyer, said: "I saw a poor butcher boy coming from Germany to California; I saw him accumulating vast acreages of land on the Pacific Coast; I saw thousands of happy and pros- perous homes on land developed and sold by him: I saw no instance of colonists being defrauded and im- poverished by being placed on poor land at high

prices. Underthinking persons will perhaps censure him for his great wealth, but the fair minded will think of the fact that in accumulating his wealth, he devel- oped land and took advantage of opportunity, but did not crush and destroy men. When all is said and done, his was a life of intense usefulness, and his contribution to the present and the future of Cal- ifornia is large. The words of Mark Anthony at the death of Brutus are peculiarly appropriate at the death of Henry Miller: 'This was a man!'"

ANDREW P. HILL .- The position that Andrew P. Hill occupies in the professional, commercial and social life of San Jose is an evidence of the rare abil- ity distinguishing his citizenship in this community. The state of California has long been recognized by artists as furnishing a diversity of scenes unsurpassed by any other state in the union, and Mr. Hill is easily recognized as a leader in the portrayal of nature; but Andrew P. Hill's name and strenuous efforts will for- ever be associated with the preservation to the state and to humanity of the beautiful California Redwood Park. Thousands of tourists visit this beautiful spot annually, and reverence the man who so bravely fought for the preservation of these wonderful trees, and the people of California owe him a debt of grati- tude for his perseverance and unselfish efforts in the saving of this forest from the ravages of fire and van- dals. Mr. Hill has long enjoyed the distinction of being one of California's foremost artists. He has ex- hibited pictures and taken gold medals in panoramic photography at Buffalo, Omaha, St. Louis, New Orleans, Portland, and the Mid-Winter Fair at San Francisco.

Many of his canvasses adorn the walls of perma- nent art exhibits and homes in California and other states, and his wide experience and generally ap- proved method of representation justify the influence which he exerts in all matters pertaining to the estab- lishment of high artistic ideals in the west. Mr. Hill brings to his work the energy, excellence and distinc- tion which is characteristic of the undertakings of the artists, authors and statesmen of the state of In- diana, where he was born near Valparaiso, Porter County, August 9, 1853, and where he lived until he was fourteen. A pride of ancestry centers around his forbears; his paternal great-grandfather, John Hill, served in the Revolutionary War under General Put- nam, and he married Rebecca Harvey, niece of the gallant general and hero of Bunker Hill; and Hya- cinth Hill, daughter of John Hill, married Abraham Garfield, father of James A. Garfield. Elijah B. Hill, son of the Revolutionary soldier, carried a musket in the war of 1812, and in time became one of the earliest pioneers of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where he carried mail to Cleveland, when that now flourishing com- munity consisted of three houses. Elijah Putnam Hill, father of Andrew Putnam, was born in Hillsboro, Ohio, and was a buyer of furs for northern Indiana for the Hudson Bay Company. In 1853, he crossed the plains in an ox train which counted Samuel Man- ning among its fortune hunters. While crossing the plains he became separated from his party and, in company with Mr. Manning, was hunting some stolen stock which had been run off by the Indians. They succeeded in keeping the Indians at bay and were able to reach camp, but Mr. Hill died from the strain and exposure on the sixth day after his arrival at Amador City, Cal., and he was the first white man buried there. On the maternal side, Mr. Hill is descended

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from colonial stock, for his mother Jennie (Rose) Hill, was the daughter of Henry Montgomery and Sallie (Frisby) Rose, the former of whom served in the War of 1812, and was in turn the son of a Revo- lutionary soldier. Grandfather Frisby also espoused the colonial cause during the War of Independence as drum major to Washington's staff.

Andrew P. Hill came with an uncle via Panama in 1867, to California, stopping for a year in Amador County. Very early in life he developed an aptitude for drawing, which grew as he had opportunity for study. During the year of 1868, he enrolled as a stu- dent in Santa Clara College, but before finishing his course, he was offered a position by his uncle, Warner Rose, a prominent stock raiser of San Luis Obispo County, with whom he remained for about three years, receiving a practical education along various lines, but the knowledge gained could not be com- puted in dollars and cents. Through the advice of Charles F. Reed, Mr. Hill began to take lessons in painting under Virgil Williams in San Francisco, and a few years later he was associated with L. O. Lussier in portrait painting in San Francisco and San Jose. In the meantime he studied the human figure under Virgil Tojetti of San Francisco. His progress along his chosen line of work was gratifying, both to himself and friends, and he became an active member of the San Francisco Art Association.

Mr. Hill is the recipient of many medals for paint- ings exhibited at the state capital. In the year of 1876, he established the first studio, in partnership with Mr. Lussier, in San Jose, where he also had a large class. After the death of his partner, he con- tinued his varied art career, and from portraiture branched out into the painting of horses in motion, a departure gratifying in its results, for practically all of the famous horses in the state were painted by him, either singly or in groups. The first and most not- able historical work painted by Mr. Hill was known as the "Murphy Party," the first emigrant party as- cending to the summit from Donner Lake, and which, because of its faithfulness to incidents of the pioneer life of the state, was purchased and placed in the his- torical room of the California Pioneers' Association of San Francisco, but destroyed by fire in 1906. He took a gold medal on this in 1878 at Sacramento. His "Camp of Israel," painted for J. W. Kelchner, has received encomiums of praise from the art world in general, and was given two pages in the New York Sunday Times.

Mr. Hill became interested in photography about fifty years ago, and maintained a fine studio in San Jose from 1885 to 1906. Governor Stanford desired his horses taken in motion, and Mr. Hill was thus en- ployed for nearly eight years. He also photographed the laying of the corner stone of Stanford Univer- sity, and the breaking of the ground. Until the death of the famous financier and philanthropist, the ser- vices of Mr. Hill were in constant demand. Mr. Hill has contributed many illustrations to the magazines and periodicals throughout the world, his scope in- cluding portraits, animals and landscapes. His sketch portraying a fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains, that had been put out with new wine, appeared in the Lon- don Wide World during the year of 1900. While en- deavoring to secure material for these pictures, he became interested in the old redwood trees, which have been preserved through his strenuous efforts in their behalf. During the disastrous earthquake and

fire of 1906, most of his paintings were destroyed, but he soon opened up another studio at his home, and his exhibits attract people from every part of the United States. To Mr. Hill belongs the distinction of being the first artist to discover the means of match- ing photographs, so as to form a continuous, pano- ramic picture, and he has taken many prizes and medals for his exhibits. His photographs of the giant redwoods of California are famous the world over. He lives close to nature, and every mood in which she indulges is reflected upon his temperamental, fine and aspiring mind. The singing brook, the giant tree, the turbulent winds, talk to him as to one who understands, and who, understanding, portrays with genius and sincerity.

Mr. Hill is an honored member of the Sons and Daughters of Pioneers. Mrs. Hill has been his con- stant companion and helpmate in his various lines of art, and has assisted him in his studies. She is a graduate of the San Jose State Normal School, class of 1876, and for eight years was an instructor in the schools of San Jose. She is the daughter of Benja- min F. Watkins, a native of Genesee County, N. Y., who, in 1846 crossed the plains to Oregon, being a member, when he started, of the ill-fated Donner party, but from which he separated at Fort Hall. Mr. Watkins engaged in mining in Oregon for a time, and then crossed the mountains to California. He owned 160 acres of land in San Francisco which is now the site of the depot at corner of Third and Townsend streets. In 1850, he returned east by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and married Laura Broughton, of Malone, N. Y., who accompanied him to the west during the year of 1851. Mr. Watkins then pur- chased and located upon a ranch near Santa Clara and owned the first strawberry farm in California. Here he engaged in general farming and fruit raising until he passed away at the age of fifty-eight. Mrs. Hill's maternal grandfather, Shebuel Broughton, married Sarah Summer, a cousin of Charles Summer, a lineal descendant of General Israel Putnam, of Revolution- ary fame.

Mr. and Mrs. Hill are the parents of two children; Andrew P., Jr., a graduate of Stanford University, and now-1922-head of the department of manual training in the Palo Alto grammar school. He is married and has one child; Frank E. is also a gradu- ate of Stanford, which he supplemented with a course at the Illinois University; later receiving a degree from Columbia University, and for two years prior to the outbreak of the war, was assistant professor in the English department of Columbia. He married the daughter of Prof. George Hempl, and they are the parents of two children. He enlisted in the aviation corps at the opening of the war, received his training and commission as lieutenant at Kelly Field, and was on his way to serve overseas, when he was honorably discharged at New York. He was then employed by the Curtis Aeroplane Company as publicity man, and remained there two years; he then became first as- sistant to the chief editor of the New York Globe.

Had Mr. Hill not penetrated the home of the giant redwoods in search of illustrating material, and had he not been denied the right to perpetuate, through his camera, their dignified and giant proportions, the history of this now famous region of the Big Basin might have terminated with much less credit to the state of California. The achievement of Mr. Hill in saving these giants of the forest, is appreciated by

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the lovers of nature throughout the world. Already the shadow of the sawmill hung over the sentinels of the forest, and their doom was read in the books of a Inmbering company, which measured their lengths with commercial tape, nor cared that their passing meant the destruction of a portion of the glory of the universe. The Big Basin Lumber Company had pur- chased its rights, and H. L. Middleton, the heaviest stockholder, was probably, before his awakening, to- tally unconscious of the part he was to play in avert- ing a tragedy of nature. Had Mr. Hill not worked untiringly toward his goal, this magnificent park of 10,200 acres would not now belong to the state. Through his energy, he succeeded in organizing the first meeting of interested people held at Stanford University to formulate plans to save the giant red- woods of the Big Basin for a public park, and perse- veringly kept the wheels of action in motion, enlist- ing such men as David Starr Jordan; Prof. W. R. Dudley; Father Kenna of Santa Clara University; Dr. McClish of the Pacific University, and others taking up the matter, and Carrie Stevens Walter, Mrs. Phoe- be A. Hearst, Mrs. Lowell White, and many other prominent women of the state, coming to the rescue of the great trees of the Big Basin. The press throughout the state spoke favorably of securing at least a portion of the basin for a park. Mr. Hill had a public duty to perform, and he went at it with a singlenes's of purpose which has made men con- querors of fate since the beginning of time. He traveled throughout the state, rousing press and peo- ple to enthusiasm, and bringing them to see the ad- vantage of preserving these giants of the forest. After ceaseless waiting and anxiety, the legislature of Cali- fornia passed a bill appropriating $250,000 for the pur- chase of the park from the lumber company, and the governor affixed his signature to the bill, and the towering giants were saved. The traveler in no other clime sees trees a hundred feet in circumference and upwards of three hundred and more feet high. The Big Basin is shut in by a mountainous rim from 1800 to 2600 feet in height. On the southwest the Basin slopes to the sea, which is reached through two deep gorges piercing its rim. It is in Santa Cruz County, and touches a portion of San Mateo County, in the Santa Cruz Mountains of the Coast Range, barely thirty-three miles from San Jose by road and sixteen miles in an air line. Mr. Hill was the organizer of the Sempervirens Club of California and for ten years has served as president. Their rallying cry was "Save the Redwoods."

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 63

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