History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 77

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

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The second oldest of the family, Thomas, went to both the grammar and the high schools, but owing to his father's death. he had to leave off his studies early and take up bread-winning work. He was for a while with Judge Buckner, in the justice's court, and then for four years he was in the county clerk's office. After that. he was city assessor and clerk for six years; then he was undersheriff for two years, and then for twenty years he was chief dep- uty of Tax Collector W. A. January. On the lat- ter's death, he was appointed to fill out his term; and then, for a second term, he was re-elected with- out opposition. He is a Democrat, as party politics go; but his partisanship never prevents him from pulling generously with his fellow-citizens for what- ever seems to the best and most lasting interests of the community in which he is such an efficient and interested part.

In Nevada County, on January 10, 1884, Mr. Bod- ley was married to Miss Grace Downey of Nevada County, a gifted and devoted lady; and their union has heen favored with the birth of two children, both daughters. Grace has become Mrs. R. N. Fergu- son, the wife of an oil expert now in Bakersfield; immediately after the war he was in the service of

the Polish Government; they have two sons, John and Richard: Miriam is Mrs. G. Smith of Bakers- field. Mr. Bodley is a member of Friendship Lodge No. 210 F. & A. M., has served as president of Native Sons Parlor No. 82, when it was called Palo Alto Parlor, and also an Elk; he gives himself up. when he can, to outdoor life, and he is fond of hoth baseball and fishing.

MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM B. WARD-The eminently desirable advancements, of one kind or an- other, made in the science and art of modern Ameri- can undertaking owe much to such farsighted, ideal- istic men as William B. Ward, and indeed to such re- markable women as his accomplished wife who, owing to the fact that Mr. Ward has been an invalid for the past twenty-five years or more, has been conducting the business as perhaps the first woman registered as an embalmer in the State of California. Mr. Ward is a New Yorker by birth, having begun life at Utica in the eventful year of '49, when so many were begin- ning their gold-seeking careers far to the west; in the excellent schools of the Empire State he was given his first preparation for a vigorous matching-up with the world; and in 1868 he pushed westward, in the wake of the '49ers, and luckily pitched his tent in Santa Clara County.

He learned the business of an undertaker and in 1888 established himself in San Jose, attracted to the city on account of its promising future; he is now the oldest undertaker in Santa Clara County. When he was incapacitated from participating so ac- tively as before, his devoted and gifted wife took hold of the helm: and in 1909 they built their present at- tractive residence funeral parlors, a quiet, dignified place of real attraction, modernized in every way, and fortunate in a first-class automobile equipment. The extent of their business demands the steady em- ployment of several graduate embalmers, each of whom takes that interest and pride in all that is done that it is next to impossible for the patron to be dis- appointed in respect to the smallest detail.

At San Francisco, on Christmas Day, 1880, Mr. Ward was married to Miss Mary A. Sheridan, the daughter of Patrick and Bridget ( Maloney) Sheridan, who came out to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama in the early spring of 1863 and made their home in San Jose the remainder of their lives, highly esteemed by all who knew them. Mary Sheridan was born in Decatur. Macon County, Illinois, accom- panying her parents to San Jose when she was a little child, so she is to all intents and purposes a native daughter, as this is the scene of her first recollec- tions. She grew up and received a good education at Notre Dame Convent and the San Jose State Normal School, thus laying the foundation of the knowledge that stood her in such good stead when it became necessary for her to assume the management of their business, a matter of which Mrs. Ward is very thankful to her parents that they saw to her educa- tional preparation with so much care.

Five children and six grandchildren have sprung from this fortunate union of Mr. and Mrs. Ward. The first born was Burton L. Ward, who is a grad- uate embalmer and is ably assisting in the conduct of the business; Gertrude is the wife of D. W. Gray, of San Jose; Mabel has become Mrs. Presley Brown, of San Francisco; Rita is married and is now Mrs. C. G. Sheffield and resides with her husband in New York City, while the youngest child is Mary W. Mar-

W. B. Ward

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quart of San Jose. After they had established the present business in 1888 Mr. and Mrs. Ward saw the great need of a woman embalmer, so Mrs. Ward be- gan the study and in due time took a course in the Clark's School of Embalming in San Francisco, from which she was graduated in 1890, and since then she has had charge of that department of the business. Thus she is the first woman graduate embalmer in the state. This in connection with her experience in conducting the affairs of the business came in very fortunate when Mr. Ward became an invalid and she immediately assumed charge of the business, which has grown very satisfactorily and they have become very successful. To accomplish this has required much hard work and close application on the part of Mrs. Ward, for at the same time she had to see to the rearing and educating of her children. In the conduct of their large business Mrs. Ward is ably assisted by her son-in-law. D. W. Gray, and her son, Burton L. Ward, both graduate embalmers and experienced un- dertakers who do the conducting of the funerals, which leaves her free to devote nearly all of her time to the business end. And being endowed by nature with much native ability and business acumen, her management has been a decided success. Mr. and Mrs. Ward are communicants of St. Joseph's Church. Fraternally Mr. Ward is a member of the Fraternal Aid and the Foresters of America, and they are mem- bers of the California State Funeral Directors As- sociation. Cultured and refined, Mrs. Ward is a woman of pleasing personality, who is prominent in civic and social circles, being a past president of In- stitute No. 32 Young Ladies Institute and past Poca- hontas of Minequa Council of the Order of Poca- hontas, and a member of Ladies of the Maccabees.

It is to men and women of the type of Mr. and Mrs. Ward that San Jose and Santa Clara County to- day owe much of their present development, for with- out their optimism and faith in their future greatness, as well as their willingness to put their shoulders to the wheel, we would not have such a large and pros- pcrous city and county. They have always shown their enterprise and public spirit by giving of their time and means to all worthy movements that have for their aim the upbuilding of the county and enhancing the comfort and happiness of the people, and their ex- ample is well worthy of emulation.

WALTER L. CHRISMAN .- Active in promoting the commercial development of San Jose, Walter L. Chrisman was one of the most enthusiastic work- ers in the different war drives and as an apprecia- tion received an acknowledgement from the chair- man of the Liberty Loan executive board commend- ing his good works in this city. He also served acceptably as president of the Alum Rock Park Board and is the present chairman of the Santa Clara County Republican Committee, a man of nat- ural business ability, resourcefulness and much in- fluence. Mr. Chrisman is a native of California, hav- ing been born in Pescadero, San Mateo County, on May 7, 1872, a son of Josiah and Mary (Britton) Chrisman, who were both pioneers of California. Josiah Chrisman was born in Phoenixville, Pa., of an old family in that region, dating back to pre- revolutionary days and of old Knickerbocker stock. He came to California via the Isthmus of Panama in 1864 and engaged in farming and stockraising in San Mateo County. On one of his trips to San

Jose he met Miss Britton, the acquaintance result- ing in their marriage. She was also born in Phoenix- ville, Pa .. of Scotch and English descent and came to San Jose, Cal .. in 1865 via the Nicaragua route. They continued farming and stockraising at Pesca- dero, San Mateo County, until 1893, when they sold out and removed to San Jose, where their sons had preceded them and here the family have since made their home. The mother passed away in 1916, but the father is still living.

Walter L. Chrisman attended the public schools of Pescadero and later the Garden City business college in San Jose, from which institution he grad- uated in 1891. He left school at the early age of thirteen and worked with Levy Bros. for about five years, and it was after this that he took a busi- ness course and became an employe of the Fifth Street Canning Company where he worked for a year, then in 1892, he engaged in the wood, hay and coal business with his brother, William H. Chris- man, this now being one of the oldest concerns of this kind in San Jose.

Mr. Chrisman's marriage, which occurred on De- cember 4, 1893, united him with Luda V. Hobson. a daughter of another prominent old pioneer fam- ily who had been identified with Santa Clara Coun- ty and San Jose for about half a century. They are the parents of a son, George L., who is now a stu- dent at the San Jose high school, class of 1923. Mr. Chrisman has been very active and prominent in making Alum Rock Park the beautiful and at- tractive place it is today, enjoyed by thousands of tourists aside from the citizens of the county. He served as trustee of the park board for eight years, being president of the board for two years, and it was during this time they succeeded in voting bonds to make substantial improvements and add 500 acres to the area of the park. They developed new springs and more mineral water from the old springs and built walls of cement and concrete to protect the 'springs against floods, making a per- manent improvement so valuable to the preserving of the mineral springs for the public; they also built the new upper road to the park. In this work he was heartily associated with the other members of the board. W. L. Prussia, Victor Hancock, B. A. Harrington and Carl Stull.

Mr. Chrisman is a member of San Jose Parlor No. 22. Native Sons of the Golden West and is past president and has served four years as grand trustee of the Grand Parlor, visiting parlors from Siskiyou to San Diego; he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias and belongs to the National Un- ion, and San Jose Lodge No. 522 Elks. In re- ligious faith, Mr. and Mrs. Chrisman are Methodists. Mr. Chrisman has been very active and prominent in politics in the city, county and state conven- tions and is now serving his second term as chair- man of the County Republican Central Committee. He is a member of the San Jose Rotary Club, and served on the board of directors at one time; also served as director of the San Jose Chamber of Com- merce of which he is still an active member, and also of the Merchants' Association. He is intensely interested in the growth and development of San Jose and Santa Clara County, and has given free- ly of his time and means towards worthy objects that have for their aim the upbuilding of the county and contributing to the happiness of the people.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

MRS. LETITIA PEARL SNYDER KENDALL. -A woman of splendid attainments and pleasing personality, who is naturally very proud of her beau- tiful home place, once a part of her father's historic ranch and adjacent to her childhood's home at Hill- side, is Mrs. Letitia Pearl Snyder Kendall, a native daughter of the Golden West, having been born at Hillside, the old John Snyder home ranch, on Per- manente Creek, near Mountain View, on August 20, 1870. She was the youngest in a family of five chil- dren born to John and Martha (Kifer) Snyder. among the worthiest of all pioneers in Santa Clara County, whose life-story is sketched elsewhere in this historical volume. Her childhood was spent at Hillside, where she enjoyed to the fullest the free- dom of the great outdoors, and in time she became adept at driving and riding, preferring in particular the former exercise. After completing the course in the San Antonio district school, she continued her studies at the San Jose Institute, a high-grade, widely-known private school for young ladies, during which time she made her home with her eldest sister, Mrs. Sarah Foss.

In 1889, she was given the opportunity to make a delightful trip, accompanying her father and mother East, going to Tipton, Iowa, and thence to the At- lantic Coast, visiting en route such important cities as Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington and New York, and after that through the South, into Kentucky, the region of her mother's birthplace, and continuing on to Louisville, St. Louis, Kansas City, and back to Iowa. On the journey westward, the party passed through Kansas, Colorado, New Mex- ico and Arizona, and eventually reached home, thus concluding a stimulating journey of several months ..

Miss Snyder then entered King's Conservatory of Music in San Jose, where she studied the piano, and from which she was graduated with honors in 1898: and once herself proficient, she taught piano for a short while. After her father's death, however, she gave it up, in order to devote her time to her mother, and she continued to give her mother a tenderest care until a year after her marriage to Mr Kendall, when another sister, the widow of Dr. William Hammond, returned home to reside.

Mr. and Mrs. Kendall removed to Santa Clara, where they resided until their home on their orchard property, one mile north of Los Altos, was com- pleted, when they took up their residence there. This orchard they brought to a high state of cultivation, and they named the place very appropriately "Heartsease," and there they devoted their time to horticulture. It was in 1904 she had married E F. Kendall, the ceremony being performed at her mother's home, and then and there they entered upon a union proving very happy, and which has been blessed with three children, Raymond F., Earl C .. and Martha Mae Kendall. all of whom are attending the high school at Palo Alto.

Mrs. Kendall's thoughts had always centered round the natural beauty and grandeur of their old home at "Hillside," and desiring to make it her home, in 1910 she purchased eight acres on Per- manente Creek. adjoining the old Hillside home, buying the same from her mother. They owned Heartsease until 1920, when they sold it, in which year they also took up their residence at the old

home, where they built a large new bungalow of stucco finish from plans Mrs. Kendall herself de- signed The result is a very beautiful and comfort- able residence, where they now get much comfort and enjoyment. In all her ambitions for improving and beantifying her place on Permanente Creek, Mrs. Kendall has been heartily assisted by her husband, who learned, while living in San Francisco, the desire of city folks for a beautiful and quiet place to which they could hie themselves on week-end trips. Acting on this suggestion, Mr. and Mrs. Kendall began to formulate plans for the splendid "Kendall Dell Re- sort," a picnic grounds now such a joy to thousands of families during the summer season. Permanente Creek is fed by numerous springs, and one particu- larly large spring has been converted into a reservoir from which water is piped to a number of places on the grounds, for they have an abundance of water- enough, in fact, for a good-sized town

Kendall Dell is ideally located, and is well-wooded with native trees, such as the live oak, the white oak. the pin oak, the willow, the sycamore-one tree of the latter species on Sycamore Flat being pro- nounced the best specimen known, and is thought by competent judges to be at least 500 years old. Then there is the laurel, the toyo, the cascara, the buck- eye, the wild cherry, the alders and many other varieties. The Kendalls have also set out pine and cypress trees, making the whole one of the most beautiful spots in the state. Kendall Dell lies be- tween two ereeks, and is shaped like a horseshoe, opening to the south, and it is not surprising, there- fore, that in more primitive days, it was used by the Indians as a camping ground, and there is an old Indian burial ground on the place. When they first took possession of this property, the place was a wild wood of brush, nettles and poison oak, but they proceeded to clean it up, and Mr. Kendall's energy and enthusiasm have worked wonders, in hunting out and arranging the different delightful nooks and places, and in giving each its proper name. There is Rest View, for example, as well as the Natural Ban- quet Hall, with its barbecue pits, where 500 people have been accommodated, the Upper Creek Terrace, the Lower Creek Terrace, Alder Flat, Laurel Flat. Brier Beach, Walnut Flat, Sycamore Flat, and beau- tiful winding paths, from one beauty spot to another. leading finally to a natural amphitheater, where over 400 people can be seated in the shade, all the grounds giving a capacity of 3,000 people. Then there are baseball grounds and tennis courts, and all of this- involving much of Mr. Kendall's own handiwork- has been accomplished by Mr. and Mrs. Kendall. who have made one of the most charming of private pienie and camp grounds, which has given pleasure and untold health benefit to thousands. Of course, this is not a public resort, in the usual sense, but merely a home place where eight acres are open to the enjoyment of refined, appreciative people, subject to proper, but never unpleasant or narrow restric- tions. It is just one of nature's beauty spots, where tables and benches are placed in the forest near an ever-running stream. It has graded roads, a dancing pavilion, a refreshment stand, tennis and baseball grounds. Although a quiet, retired spot, it is most accessible over good roads at the south end of Grant Road, across the railroad tracks, and it is reached

Letitia . Kendall.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

from Palo Alto by way of the State Highway, when the picnicker will run to Grant Road, opposite the blacksmith shop at Old Mountain View, or on the highway mentioned through Los Altos to Grant. From San Jose, the visitor should proceed by way of Homestead Road or on the Fremont Highway to Grant. Electric cars run to Kendall Dell Station, from which cthere is a ten-minute walk.

Mrs. Kendall, like the true woman of culture that she is, has maintained her interest in music, and has thus been able to do still more for a large circle of devoted friends, who appreciate fully the rare hos- pitality of both Mr. and Mrs. Kendall at their now famous Kendall Dell.

E. F. KENDALL .- In E. F. Kendall of Kendall Dell, Santa Clara County has a substantial citizen of peculiar attainments. Kendall Dell is a private picnic and camp ground on Permanente Creek, four miles south of Mountain View and twelve miles west of San Jose, where the valley and mountains meet. Mr. Kendall was born at Bellefontaine, Ohio, his parents being natives of southeastern Pennsylvania. The farm of his maternal grandfather was located a few miles north of Gettysburg, and from it the sub- sequent owner of the place with the aid of field glasses saw and heard that memorable conflict.

Mr. Kendall was the youngest of a family of six children, ranging from two to twelve years at the time of the father's death, but though the mother was left without a home or means, all her children reached adult age through her loving guidance and self- sacrificing care. With a grammar school education we find our subject at the age of fifteen a railroad telegrapher and station agent on the Sandusky & Springfield Railroad, the oldest railroad in Ohio; then followed several years' experience on other railway lines.

In 1882 Mr. Kendall heard the call of the West when a friend in Nebraska said, "Come on out, the air is fine," The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad had just been extended to Denver and Mr. Kendall took a position with that company in Nebraska, and the next year was sent to Denver, their best office. In 1884 he declined their offer of a post as train dispatcher and returned to Cleve- land for a course at the Spencerian Business College, intending to quit railroad service. Finishing the six months' course in four and a half months, he substituted for one of the teachers who was ill during the last six weeks, but declined the offer of a permanent position as a teacher. A tour of the Southern states followed, but it was not long before he realized that he had not gone far enough west. He longed for a view of the Golden Gate and the glorious California climate, and so set out for the Pacific Coast, arriving here in December, 1887. He immediately entered the service of the Southern Pacific and in six months was in charge of a division agency in Nevada, a position of responsibility, with fourteen men on the roll. In the meteorological record he discovered, however, that Nevada with a tempera- ture of thirty degrees below zero and many feet of snow was very much like Eastern weather and not at all like California, so he returned to San Fran-

cisco and entered the general offices of the Wells Fargo Express Company, where he remained ten years - until the general offices were moved to New York, when he entered the general offices of the Southern Pacific.

On Memorial Day, 1903, he joined a party of San Francisco and San Jose friends in a picnic at the John Snyder ranch, where he met the youngest daughter, Letitia Pearl Snyder, who became his wife the following year. They are the parents of three children, Raymond, Earl and Mae, all of whom are attending the Palo Alto high school.

In 1904, with foresight and intuition that some day there would be a railroad along the foothills, Mr. Kendall invested his savings in twenty acres in the now famous Los Altos apricot district, and im- mediately set out the trees. The railroad came sooner than expected, Los Altos was put on the map and realty prices shot up. His place was admitted to be without a peer as a valley home site because of its east front and perfectly placed magnificent oaks. At the time of the earthquake and fire of 1906 Mr. Ken- dall was commuting to San Francisco from the Snyder ranch; following the fire his place of busi- ness was moved to the east side of the bay, so he rode a bicycle nve miles to Mountain View, forty iniles by train, two miles on his bicycle through the burnt district and tour miles by ferry boat, repeating in the evening, making a total of 102 mules per day, fourteen of which was on lus bicycle.

In 1907 Mr. Kendall resigned for all time from the railroad service to give huis attention to his developing orchard and to the improving of a home. A few years later, Mrs. Kendall having purchased from her motner the northwest corner of ner father's estate, it was determined that this perfect gen of a toothill nomesite should be their permanent home. Mr.

Nendalis aesthetic and artistic taste quickly recog- mized its possibilities and he set to work developing its spring water supply and repeatedly grubbing out the underbrush, but leaving the shrubbery in such a way as to make numerous cosy, quiet dells. A more restiul spot cannot be found anywhere in the state, and thousands avail themselves of the opportunity to enjoy its delights.

Mr. Kendall says that he lives in the greatest nation, the best state, the best section of the state and the best spot in the section, and is engaged in a congenial vocation; could a person want more? Mrs. Kendall enters heartily in the plans for the upbuild- ing of Kendall Dell. She is a graduate of Kings Conservatory of Music and enjoys a large circle of friends in San Jose and throughout the county. From the south veranda of the architectural gem of a home, recently constructed, she looks over the extensive homeland of her childhood to the evergreen moun- tains beyond, where the rising and setting sun plays a phantasy of color, light and shadow.

"A shady nook by the babbling brook,

Midst fragrance of orange and laurel and pine,

With nothing to do the livelong day

But eat, doze, rest, and play- Oh, say, ain't that fine!"

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

LYMAN L. NATTINGER .- Among the early settlers of the Santa Clara Valley is Lyman L. Nat- tinger, who came to California and settled here in 1875 and has been actively engaged in agricultural pursuits since that time. He was born in Eagleport, Morgan County, Ohio, January 7, 1843, the son of Samuel and Mary (Miller) Nattinger, born in Ger- many and Virginia respectively, who were farmers and later became pioncers of Illinois whither they removed in 1856 and both lived and died there.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 77

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