History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 73

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

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MRS. SARAH ELIZABETH LESTER .- Among the real builders of the community, mention must be made of Mrs. Sarah E. Lester, who has horne her part in home-making and rearing an honorable and highly respected family. Born in that old colonial town of Ledyard, New London County, Conn., August 3, 1847, she is the daughter of Judge Edmund and Bethiah Williams (Avery) Spicer, and a grand- daughter of John Spicer, all natives of Connecticut. Her father followed the occupation of school teach- ing, farming and merchandising, besides holding many positions of trust and honor. For years he was a member of the school board of his district, from 1867 until his death held the office of postmaster at Ledyard; from 1836 to 1851 held the office of county clerk, from 1853 until 1865 was county treasurer, in 1849 was elected to represent his district in the state legislature, in 1862 was a candidate for the state sen- ate, and for twelve years, beginning in 1855, served as judge of the probate court. During early life he served as captain of a rifle company, and ever afterward was known as Captain Spicer. On the organization of the Ledyard Library association he became one of its charter members, and served as its secretary for eighteen consecutive years, retiring in 1885. In 1867 he was elected treasurer and librarian and continued to serve until his death in 1890. He was active as a member of the Congregational Church. On No- vember 16, 1836, he was united in marriage with Miss Bethiah W. Avery, and they were the parents of sev- en children: Mary Abby, Mrs. George Fanning of Hartford, Conn .; John Sands died at Norwich, Conn .; in 1906; Sarah E., the subject of this sketch; Carry C., Mrs. Amos Lester of San Jose; Celia W., Mrs. Jonathan F. Lester of Norwich, Conn .; Edward E. of Groton, and George W. of Deep River, Conn.

Sarah E. Spicer attended the public schools of Led- yard and lived with her parents until her marriage at Ledyard, May 24, 1871, to Nathan L. Lester, also

a native of Ledyard, who was born January 1, 1843, a son of Isaac and Mary J. (Chapman) Lester, farmers at Ledyard, Conn., and representatives of some of the oldest New England families. Nathan L. was the third oldest of ten children, namely, Amos Lester of San Jose; Mary Jane, Nathan L., Jonathan and Frank, deceased; William and Samuel of San Jose; Sarah Emma, Walter and Henry, the last three passing away in youth.

Nathan Lester's boyhood was spent in farm work during the summer and in the schoolroom during the winter months. In 1861 he came for the first time to California via the Isthmus of Panama and settled first in Napa County, and in company with his brother Amos engaged in wheat raising for seven years; he then returned to Connecticut where he married and settled on a farm, and while there he served as selectman of Ledyard. Here he remained until 1883. when he came again with his wife and four children to the Pacific Coast, this time settling in Santa Clara County, where he bought the old homestead on South Lincoln Avenue, in The Wil- lows. Mr. Lester made a practical study of horti- culture, and found both pleasure and profit from this interesting side of country life. Thirty-one acres were planted to prunes, and the venture was a success. This was added to until he had sixty-seven acres in orchard. He gave close attention to the management of his ranch, and aside from voting the Republican ticket and assisting in the maintenance of the Congre- gational Church, he had no interests outside of his home. In June, 1900, while building a dryer, he fell from a ladder and received injuries that resulted in death, three days later, on June 27, at the age of fifty-seven years. Mr. Lester was a prominent mem- ber of San Jose Grange. He was a man of honorable and upright life, and deeply religious, taking a strong stand for high morals and the preservation of the sanctity of the home. No one in the county was held in higher esteem, and his passing away was a great loss, not only to his family, but to the whole com- munity, by whom he was deeply mourned. Mr. and Mrs. Lester were the parents of seven children and there are thirteen grandchildren; Alice is now Mrs. C. L. Snyder, residing in San Jose and they have two children-Philip Lester and Rixford Kinney; Nathan L. married Miss Sylvia Hughes and they have two children-Katherine and Nathan L., Jr .; William W. married Miss Ethel V. Gerrans and they have two children-William Walter, Jr., and Elizabeth; Sarah Emma and George are deceased; Fred E. mar- ried Miss June Van Dorsten and they have three children-Edith Annette, Fred Raymond and Marjorie Alice; Hazel 'B. is now Mrs. William H. Cilker, they have four children-Beatrice Ann, Marion Sarah, William Hamilton, Jr., and George Edward. Mrs. Lester is a prominent member of the Congregational Church and is president of the Will- ing Workers Society. She owns and maintains the old home on South Lincoln Avenue. but spends most of her time with her sons and daughters. A cul- tured and refined woman, she has gathered about her many friends who appreciate her for her many fine qualities and the spirit of hospitality which takes in all who visit her.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MASSEY THOMAS .- Much goes to make up the history of any nation or communities-group, but whenever the story of Santa Clara County, its un- rivalled resources and its phenomenal growth shall be written, the historian will be sure to include a record of development such as that of the late Mas- sey Thomas, the well-known '49er, who with much to choose from turned to agricultural pursuits in this highly-favored region, and selected historic Gilroy as his abiding place. Along the banks of Green River, in Ohio County, Ky., on January 27, 1813. he entered the family of James Thomas and his good wife, who had been Miss Elizabeth Miller before her marriage; and he was christened Massey. after his Grandfather Thomas, who in the stirring days of the American Revolution, made an illustrious name for himself in many of the battles waged for our independence. Growing up, the grandfather removed from Virginia to Tennessee, nothing daunted by the fact that he had only rough pack trails instead of even country roads to travel over; and with the responsibility of caring for their infant child James, the intrepid pioneer and his wife settled in Danville, Ky, where they became neighbors, albeit at what today would be considered handsomely distant, to the renowned Dan- iel Boone, the hero of the Battle of Blue Licks, who had doubly earned his title after the clever expedi- ent by which he escaped from four armed Indians through having thrown tobacco into their eyes and blinded the redskins. Developed, like Boone and his doughty sons, to hardihood and extreme self-depend- ence, Massey Thomas after a while sought better prospects on a farm in Ohio County; and there he at last found a peaceful conclusion to his strenu- ous earthly progress.

The grandson who had the honor of bearing the brave old Massey's honored name, the subject of this review, continued in Kentucky until the middle of his teens, when he removed to Marion County, Mo., and for three years worked hard to get a foothold. Then he selected Lewis County for a farm investment, and he developed the rough land into something more indicative of civilization. When the news of the dis- covery of gold in California, however, was received in Missouri and the neighboring region, Massey Thom- as, like thousands of others, became restive and eager to dare in the hope of sharing; and he was not long in crossing the plains and going to the mines. He was also not long in discovering that far more cer- tain wealth might be easily acquired by catering to those who were seeking the gold; hence he turned his attention to teaming, and often earned as much as thirty dollars a day.

A year and a half under the trying pioneer con- ditions of California at this period of over-influx and scanty provision was enough for the common- sense of this practical, progressive man, and Mr. Thomas, in the early spring of 1851, returned East, reaching his old home in Missouri on February 15. In April he again came to the Coast, but this time he brought with him a herd of 300 cattle, which he knew would be worth more, in a way, than the much sought for gold in the mountains. By the mid- dle of October he had located upon the 500 acres which he was to make his celebrated home-place, and there, with three-fifths of his acreage in the fer-

tile valley, he embarked in extensive farming to wheat and barley. He also took up stock-raising ar

cultivation of fruit, improving his stock to the high- est standard, and introducing from abroad, and cul- tivating originally himself, some of the best and choicest and newest varieties of fruits. In this way, by the most scientific methods then known, he made his farm one of the most valuable ranches in this part of the county.

The marriage of Massey Thomas and Phoebe Bane was one of the pleasant social events of that section and period, the bride having been a daughter of Baldwin and Nancy (Reynolds) Bane, and one of the belles of Bracken County, in Kentucky, where she was born December 12, 1821. She could remember the stories handed down in her family of her grandfather, who shouldered a musket in the Continental Army, and she could also recall many interesting anecdotes about famous folks of by-gone days, for her maternal grandmother was a sister of Daniel Webster, the famous statesman and orator, and she was a niece Thomas Reynolds, who was born in Kentucky in 1796, removed to Missouri, and died in 1844, in the same year in which he concluded his four-year term as Governor of Missouri, his untimely demise pre- venting his reelection as a popular official. At the beginning of her teens, Mrs. Thomas was taken to Missouri by an older sister, and they located in Lewis County in the fall of 1833; and later the family re- moved to Pike County, Mo., where Mr. Bane died. The following are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas: James Baldwin Thomas, who attended the San Jose schools and then went to Cambridge, Mass., and lacked but one year of graduating from college when he was stricken with pneumonia and died, in 1859; Mary Susan, Mrs. W. O. Barker, now deceased; Thomas Reynolds, was a grain-dealer in Gilroy several years before his death. John and William, twin-brothers, were born on October 8, 1843; the latter died in 1880, and John lives in Hol- lister. Benjamin F. Thomas, who was born in 1846, rose to distinction as a legal practitioner at Santa Barbara and he died there in 1922. Louise E. died in early childhood. Massey, born on December 10, 1851, now lives on part of the home ranch, in the old ranch house; and Clayton R. was born on Jan- uary 25, 1854, and remained with his parents; while Charles E., born three years later, died on the home place. Mrs. Thomas died May 22, 1892. Originally a stanch Whig, Mr. Thomas later espoused the cause of the Democratic party seeking State sovereignty, and with his equally Christian wife, he became an ardent worker in and a real pillar of the Christian Church, helping both to found and to build up the branch in Gilroy. All in all, Massey Thomas, rep- resenting, with his accomplished wife, some of the finest blood and traditions of American history, was himself influential and helpful to an exceptional de- gree in his day in hurrying on the great Pacific commonwealth to her destiny, and he merited and enjoyed the esteem and confidence of his fellow- men to a high degree. He died at his home south of Gilroy in 1900, aged eighty-seven years.

Massey Thomas

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MRS. ELIZABETH MCCRACKEN .- A Cali- fornia pioneer of exceptional interest, her long, fruit- ful years of industry and sacrifice entitling her to the esteem and gratitude of both those contemporary with her and those who will come after and share the benefits of her toil and good works, Mrs. Elizabeth McCracken was born in Indiana on July 2, 1836, the daughter of William and Rosana (Pyle) Whiteman, and the granddaughter of Edward J. Pyle, who was a lad when the American Revolution broke forth, and who fought with the Continental Army. He came to California with the Pyle-White- man party in 1846, and although he was an old man, he was very active and supple, hale and hearty to the time of his death.

William Whiteman was a native of Ohio; who came to Indiana in the great Westward movement when a young man, and married there. When Elizabeth was four years old, her parents moved to Missouri, where they acquired two farms about three miles west of the site of St. Joseph; and there Mr. White- man built two homes, a frame house and a brick house, then among the best residences in that vicin- ity, and he lived with his family upon one of his farms until he came to California. The Pyle family also moved to Missouri.

In the spring of 1846 the Pyle-Whiteman party crossed the Missouri River well supplied with pro- visions, for Edward Pyle is said to have been such a splendid provider that his party never wanted for food. He had a unique way of packing some of his provisions; on the floor of one of the wagons he packed a layer of bacon, and then placed a solid row of boards on top; and after that he added another layer of bacon, and then more boards. He had plenty of bacon and flour, and he drove several head of cattle with oxen. He killed three head of cattle en route for beef, and arrived in California still having twelve head.

The Pyle party came ahead of the Donner party. by the same route, and had an interesting, indirect association with the latter. When the American soldiers recovered from the Indians the cattle stolen from the Donner party, they handed them over to the Pyles; and when the advance guard of the Don- ner party rode up to take possession of the cattle, the Donner party were only three days' journey to the rear. Not many persons were included in the Pyle party. Edward Pyle, the grandfather, had two wagons; William Whiteman had two wagons; John Laird had one wagon; and Tom Pyle had one wagon, and this small number was due to the policy pursued of not having too large an amount of stock for which feed had to be provided. Hence, the party was made up of about twenty-five persons in all. William Whiteman agreed to give John Laird one of the cows in payment for his help along the way, and this promise was kept. The Pyles experienced but little trouble from the Indians. In the mountains, the Donner party decided to take the Cut-off, or make a short cut, while the Pyles continued to stick to the old route; and it was through this unfortunate decision by the Donner party that they were snow bound, while the others arrived safely and on time at their destination.

The Pyles reached Sacramento in September, 1846, just when Fremont was setting out for Southern California, to fight the Indians; and as he took with him every able-bodied man he could persuade to en-

list, he drew upon the Pyle party for some of his recruits. William Whiteman, however, did not go, for he was suffering severely from asthma; and he and Edward Pyle came on to San Jose, where they arrived in October. They purchased land from the Spaniards; but soon afterwards the Americans and Spaniards had to fight the Digger Indians. William Whiteman bought a tract of twelve acres from the Spaniards, and built a frame house, the first in this vicinity; and this piece of land is now directly at the rear of the Hotel Vendome. Mr. Whiteman later purchased 500 acres south of San Jose on the present Monterey road, and farmed that for a couple of years. In 1848, however, the home was locked up and the Whiteman family went to the mines. On the way to Placerville William Whiteman, who had brought the family and their provisions successfully across the San Joaquin River, was drowned in attempting the passage of an ordinary marsh. The party con- tinued to Placerville and took up mining at Webber Creek; and Mrs. Whiteman herself washed out as much as sixteen dollars worth of gold in a single pan. After her return to San Jose in 1849, Mrs. White- man was swindled out of her 50-acre farm; but she was a good manager and soon acquired additional property, and having more than recovered, she pro- vided bountifully for her family. Some idea of what those sturdy pioneers were able to do for those de- pendent upon them may be gathered from the fact that William Whiteman had built a home from logs and timber brought down from the mountains, and that the house was spacious enough to allow for a parlor twenty feet square and a kitchen twelve feet square. Later, Mrs. Whiteman went to Hollister and lived there for many years; and only when she be- came an old lady did she return to San Jose, where she died at Mrs. McCracken's home.

In May, 1850, Elizabeth Whiteman was married to James Monroe Brady, a noted horseman who had brought five race horses to California. In 1851, he took the horses to Los Angeles, and drove them in the races; and he had the record of never losing a race. He returned north in 1852, and Mr. and Mrs. Brady then went to Los Angeles on a steamship, which was a rare thing in the Pacific waters. The fare from San Francisco to Los Angeles was $1,000 for each passenger, and the trip was advertised as possible in a day and a night; but on this occasion, the ship was disabled and for five days was out of sight on the ocean, finally drifting into Santa Barbara, where it was repaired; when it went on its way, and the passengers completed the trip. Mr. Brady was a native of Tennessee, who had moved into Arkansas, and from there had come to California. He died at Los Angeles in 1857, the father of two children- William, who died at the age of four, and Rose, who, after teaching school for years, died aged twenty- eight. Mr. Brady was a prominent Mason, and the Masons took care of her and her babe, and assisted her to settle her husband's estate.

When Mrs. Brady remarried, at San Jose, she chose for her husband Dr. George McCracken, a native of Ohio, and a graduate of Sterling College, at Columbus. He had come to San Jose in the '50's, and had intended to practise here; but his health re- quired him to discontinue all professional work. He then accepted a position with James A. Clayton, the pioneer real estate dealer of San Jose, and for twenty years he was with this firm. Prior to com-

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ing to San Jose, Dr. McCracken had practised, first in Oregon and then at Ukiah, in Mendocino County. During the last four years of his life, Mrs. Mc- Cracken accompanied her husband in wide travels, in an attempt to prolong his life; but despite all that affection and means might offer, he finally passed away. Five children sprang from this union: De Witt Clinton, William Henry, Lydia May, Margaret Re- becca, and George. Mrs. McCracken died in 1921.

De Witt Clinton, the first-born, joined the family circle on December 21, 1859, and attended the San Jose public school that stood on St. James' Square- the park there then having a picket fence around it. and when he was a boy, he lived on the ranch just back of the present Hotel Vendome. One of his chores was to take the cows to a twenty-acre pasture north of the town; and many a time, as he well re- calls, James Lick, the miller and capitalist, coming along the road, beckoned to the lad to ride in the carriage with him back to his house. For a while. DeWitt worked at odd jobs, and then for four years he clerked for Durby & Lowe in the Almaden store. He next formed a partnership with his brother-in- law, Mr. Bohlman, and ran a stage from San Jose to Almaden, carrying also the United States mail, and after some years he sold out, went to Colorado and there engaged in the hotel business at Mount Rose. He sold his hotel, returned to San Jose, and for five years worked in the butcher shop at the Al- maden mines; and then for three years he engaged in the livery stable business in San Jose. Selling out, he took a position with Mr. Blanchard in the hay and feed business, and for the last fifteen years he was with F. Mattenberger in the same business, at the same location. A Democrat in his bias as to na- tional affairs, Mr. McCracken is too good a citizen to allow partisan politics to interfere with his "boosting" his home locality. His marriage united him with Miss Ada Bohlman; they have one daughter, Miss Cola McCracken, who graduated from the State Nor- mal School at San Jose, and is one of the teachers at the Gardner School.

E. N. BROWN .- As manager of Palo Alto Stock Farm, at Palo Alto, E. N. Brown has a wide ac- quaintance among dairymen and breeders through- out the state. Mr. Brown was born in Scotland on September 4, 1872. His father, William Brown, was a veterinarian, farmer and stockman. His mother, who was Nellie Nixon, is still enjoying life at the age of ninety-eight. Of the ten children in the Brown family, E. N. is the seventh, and his educa- tion was obtained in the schools of his native land. While yet youthful he came with an older sister and some friends to America and entered the employ of the Wells Fargo Express Company at Tuxedo Park, N. Y .. remaining with this company for six years. When the Spanish-American War broke out he entered the transport service, stationed for a time at Bellevue Hospital and later aboard the hos- pital ship, Solace. After the close of the war he came to San Francisco, and in 1900 again became inden- tified with the transport service. Assigned to the transport Logan, for seven years he sailed the Pa- cific Ocean, making twenty trips on this vessel to and from Manila, P. I. For the next twelve years he was superintendent of the South San Francisco Water Company. Following his term as superinten- dent of the water company he went to ranching at

Baden. There he became known as a breeder, dairy- man and poultryman of note and prospered as a re- sult of his operations.

Disposing of his cattle and poultry interests, Mr. Brown came to Palo Alto in December, 1920, as manager of Palo Alto Stock Farm, one of the finest dairy farms in California. This farm, the property of the Leland Stanford Estate, is held under lease by Mr. Herbert Fleischhacker, of San Francisco. The farm contains 5,500 acres and on it was built the historic Stanford residence and the far-famed Stan- ford winery. There the elder Stanford maintained one of the greatest horse breeding establishments of all time, and bred, owned and developed some of the fastest horses in the world. The winery has been converted into a dairy barn and is serving its present purpose admirably. Some of the highest record cows in the world are owned by Palo Alto Stock Farm, among them, Johanna Princess Mooie 2d, former world's champion for 365-day milk pro- duction in the junior three-year-old class with a pro- duction of 1,172 pounds of butter and 25,596 pounds milk, and Kiatta Pontiac Pride, that has just broken the world's record in the junior four-year-old class with a 365-day production of 31,340 pounds of milk. Over twenty cows in the herd have milked over 100 pounds of milk in a day on official test and it is prob- able that this is the greatest milk-producing herd of cows in the world.

In November, 1905, Mr. Brown was married to Elizabeth Fox, a daughter of Charles and Ella Fox, now of Pacific Grove, but formerly of San Jose. They are the parents of three children, Evelyn, Nixon and Betty. Both are prominent in Masonic circles, Mr. Brown being past master of Francis Drake Lodge, No. 376, F. & A. M. of South San Francisco, a noble of Islam Temple, a charter mem- ber of the Masonic Club of San Francisco, and a member of the Sciots, of Palo Alto. He is a member of the Holstein-Friesian Association of America, and a member and director of the California Hol- stein Breeders Association.

FRANKLIN HICHBORN .- Rated as among the leading controversial journalists of the Pacific Slope. most successfully active in reform movements and legislation affecting the welfare of the entire Golden State, Franklin Hichborn has become also a national figure, wielding an influence for political and so- cial betterment effective far beyond the confines of California. He was born at Eureka, Cal., on Oc- tober 7, 1869, the son of John Edwin Hichborn, a descendant of Thomas Hichborn, who landed in Bos- ton about 1640. Thomas Hichborn was the grand- father of Deborah Hichborn, a native of Boston. who was the mother of Paul Revere, of midnight ride fame. Robert Hichborn, Deborah's brother, was Franklin Hichborn's Revolutionary ancestor, his great-great-grandfather He was militant in the Rev- olution, and fought at Bunker Hill. He was a mem- ber of the Boston Committee of Safety, and was commissioned first lieutenant in Jonathan Stoddard's company, Henry Bromfield's regiment, of the Massa- chusetts militia. After the Revolution, Robert Hichborn moved to Maine with his family, and estab- lished the first shipbuilding plant at Stockton Springs, Maine. Franklin Hichborn's ancestors were thus among the first pioneers of Massachusetts and Maine, as his father was one of the early pioneers in Cali-

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 73

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