History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 89

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

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OLANDO J. SMITH .- Prominent among those who have done much to make automobiling one of the pleasant and profitable features of Twentieth Century life in Santa Clara County is undoubtedly Olando J. Smith, the popular proprietor of the Berry- essa Garage at Berryessa, in which town, on May 27, 1880, he first saw light. His father was Christo- pher Columbus Smith, and his mother, before her marriage, was Sierra Nevada Ogan, so called from the fact that she was born when her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Ogan, were crossing the Sierras on their way to California from Missouri in 1853. Chris- topher Columbus Smith came to California from Illi- nois in 1852 with his parents, William Jarvis and Nancy Smith, and settled in Santa Clara County; and ever since then the family have made their home at Berryessa - for a long time on the ranch on Capitol Avenue now operated by the Curry brothers, since the folks of both Mr. and Mrs. Smith were farmers, the Ogans having owned the ranch at the corner of Sierra and Piedmont roads, where W. W. Anderson now resides. Mr. Smith died in 1910. esteemed by all who knew him, and by none more than those with whom he had had long and inti- mate dealings. His widow, Mrs. Sierra Nevada Smith, is still living. She belongs to the first gener- ation of California girls and is bright and interesting.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

She has scen most wonderful transformations in this section. When she was a little girl the streets in San Jose were lighted by means of oil-burning lamps, probably sperm oil at that. as kerosene was very scarce in California at that time. She was present when the first railway train arrived at San Jose-an occasion for great jubilation. There were but two small orchards in the vicinity of San Jose then. Then, as now, the young folks liked to dance. Her father, John Ogan, lived to be eighty years old. He was quite a musician, as musicians went in those days, and he often helped the young folks to a good time, playing his "fiddle" at their dancing parties. Mrs. Sierra Nevada (Ogan) Smith was the youngest of nine children. The Ogans belonged to the Chris- tian Church, while the Smiths were Baptists.

Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and seven are still living. Lola became Mrs. Sleightam, of Rio Vista, and is now deceased; Mamie is Mrs. W. W. Anderson, of the old Ogan ranch at Berryessa; Charles lives at Susanville; Olando is the subject of our story: Beede is Mrs. Nesbit of Con- cord; Euphemia is Mrs. Mathews of Fallon, Nev .; Hazel and Lila are deceased; Robert is at Berryessa, near to Maude N., who is Mrs. Arnold Gifford.

Olando Smith attended the Berryessa school and took charge of his father's ranch, shortly after the latter died. This ranch was a farm of 260 acres, no little responsibility; and later he discontinued farm- ing, and took up the carpenter's trade. On July 4. 1911, he went to Patterson, in Stanislaus County, and engaged in contracting and building. He put up a large number of the structures there when the town was built, and he stayed in the progressive town until the first of October, 1919. On that date, Mr. Smith returned to Berryessa and built a corrugated steel garage at the junction of the Berryessa Road and Capitol Avenue, and since that time he has been associated with his brother-in-law, Arnold Gifford, in the conducting of a general garage and repair business. They have a finely-equipped machine shop, and they also maintain a gasoline and oil station.

On November 11, 1911, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Clara Stewart, a native of San Jose and a daughter of Henry and Bessie Stewart, the former deceased. Mr. Smith is a Republican, but no one takes greater pleasure in throwing partisanship to the winds, when it comes to supporting the best local measures and men.

ROY W. BRIDGMAN .- Prominent among the educators of Santa Clara County whose scholarship, training and fidelity to duty, and routine, exacting work have contributed so much to make San Jose and the environing country one of the most attrac- tive home regions in all the Golden State, may well be mentioned Roy W. Bridgman, the popular prin- cipal of the San Martin Grammar School, living in San Jose. He was born at Rich Hill, Bates County, Mo., on July 14, 1874, the son of Henry C. Bridg- man. a descendant of a well-known Connecticut fam- ily which originally hailed fro mEngland, and for six generations at least domiciled in the United States. He married Miss Anna M. Carr, also of English descent, and in 1879 moved to Calaveras Valley, Cal., where they lived for about a year. He was a farmer, dealing largely in cattle; and as his methods were progressive and up-to-date, he succeeded as well as

the primitive conditions of that time and place would permit. Four children were granted this worthy couple, and two are living today-our subject, the third eldest, and Judson, the firstborn, of Shelter Cove, Cal. Grace died at the age of nineteen, and so did her sister, Kate.

In 1880, Henry C. Bridgman came to Santa Clara County to farm, and Roy attended first the grammar and then the high school of San Jose. After grad- uating from the high school he studied for a year in the pharmaceutical department of the University of California. Having passed the state board examin- ations and becoming a registered pharmacist, he fol- lowed the profession in different cities in California and Nevada. Being desirous of engaging in educa- tional work, Mr. Bridgman entered the San Jose Normal, where he was graduated with the class of 1910. He then spent three years as a teacher in the San Jose Night School, while attending Stanford University. In 1913, he took his Bachelor of Arts degree at Stanford, and the following year received his M. A. degree.

The story of Roy Bridgman is the record of a typically energetic American lad of the unusually ambitious and progressive type. At the age of nine, while attending the grammar school, he delivered the San Jose Mercury, and when he was fourteen and fifteen, while attending school, he also worked in Mr. Farthing's glove factory. While a student at the State University, he clerked for Levi Elbert, the San Francisco druggist, and on his return to San Jose, he had charge of the estate of Samuel Alley for a short time. He then joined Walter Johnson, the San Jose druggist, and soon afterward, he had charge of a chain of drugstores at Tonopah, Manhat- tan and Goldfield, Nevada, for a year. Coming back to San Jose again, he had a clerkship with Webb, the druggist, and later was with the Moorehead- Fleming Drug Store.

Since entering into his work as an educator he has been principal, first of the Franklin school, and then of the Meridian, in San Jose, while during 1920-21, he was principal of the Santa Clara schools, then taking the principalship of the San Martin school.

At San Mateo, on August 14, 1906, Mr. Bridgman was married to Miss Ethel White, a native of Ala- meda, Cal., and the daughter of E. J. and Carrie (Schmidt) White. Mrs. Bridgman moved to San Jose when she was a girl, and she attended both the grammar and high school, and she is also a grad- uate of the San Jose State Normal; and having en- gaged in teaching in 1914, she was a teacher in the Gardner School. Her home in Alameda, where she was born, was on the site of the present Elks' Hall. Mrs. Bridgman's parents were early settlers of Cali- fornia, and her mother was a cousin of William Erkson, San Jose's former city clerk. For a number of years, Mr. Bridgman has made his home at 343 South Second Street, San Jose, where he owns an apartment house. He is a Mason, and belongs to Golden Rule Lodge No. 479, F. & A. M., San Jose; and also belongs to San Jose Lodge No. 522, B. P. O. E. He is a member of the National Educational Association, National Geographical Society, Santa Clara County Schoolmasters' Club, and Phi Delta Kappa, as well as the San Jose branch of American Registered Pharmacists.

Schilling,

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

HERBERT EMILE SCHILLING. - A distin- guished public official of Santa Clara County who has for some years past enjoyed the comforts of a retired private life, is Herbert Emile Schilling, the eldest son of Margaret and the late Frank Schilling, a native of San Francisco, where he was born on August 4, 1861. When one year of age, he was brought to San Jose; and he has been a continuous resident of this city ever since. Frank Schilling died here in 1916, aged eighty-two years, while his widow is still living at the old home, aged ninety-two years. Herbert

Emile was oldest of their five children. He attended the local public schools, and in 1875 was graduated from what is now known as the Horace Mann School, then one of the best-known high schools in the state. He then joined his father in the firearms and sport- ing goods business, and in time became his partner; and together they established the well-known firm of F. Schilling & Son at 27 Post Street, and for forty years he retained his connection there until his retire- ment in 1913. He succeeded so well as a business man that he now owns real estate in various places it the Santa Clara Valley, and he also has a ranch in Calaveras County. As early as 1890 he had become a public man, as he was always a public-spirited citi- zen, and when thirty-one years of age he was elected mayor of San Jose by popular vote. He was a mem- her of the common council of San Jose for the years 1890-92, and from 1892 to 1894 he was head of the city government.

A notable event of the period of his incumbency as mayor which may be worthy of special mention was the passage by the legislature of the State of Cali- fornia of a joint resolution removing the capital of the state from its present site at Sacramento to its former and original location at San Jose, upon con- dition that the citizens of the latter city and vicinity should donate ten acres of land for the new capitol site and $2,000,000 to cover the expenses of the re- moval. The proposition was immediately acted upon and had progressed to the point where a tract of land now included in the Naglee Park addition was tenta- tively offered by the Naglee estate, when proceedings were halted by a writ of mandate secured by Sacra- mento County and submitted to the State Supreme Court. That body ruled against the legality of the Legislature's act, and so ended the last effort to have the capital of the state returned to the location where it rightfully belongs, and from which it was improper- ly removed. In this great contest, Mayor Schilling did his full duty; and as a lifelong member of the Democratic party, he has always contended that if a political organization works for the best interests of the people, it assures both the ultimate acceptance of its principles and its own contined existence.

In Monterey County, on June 18, 1894, Mr. Schil- ling was married to M. Alice Foster, the daughter of James P. and Arvilla Foster, of Independence, Mo. Mr. Foster joined the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil War, and died in the performance of his duty in September, 1863. The mother brought her children to California in 1874, and Mrs. Schilling fin- ished her schooling in Watsonville. Mr. Schilling is a lover of outdoor life, especially as one may enjoy it in California; and he spends a part of each year in the High Sierras, hunting and fishing.

EDMUND NUTTING RICHMOND .- A pioneer in the fruit industry of Santa Clara County who is also a native son, is E. N. Richmond of San Jose, where he was born on July 14, 1878. His father was George Richmond, born in England, but who be- came a resident of Canada and in 1864 came to Cali- tornia and engaged in the stock business in the northern part of the state and became a well known rancher in the Sacramento Valley. Upon locating in Santa Clara County he interested himself in the fruit canning industry with the San Jose Cannery, con- tinuing this line of work as the manager of the dried fruit department of the Santa Clara County branch of the J. K. Armsby Company until his retirement in 1903. He had married Rosalie McPhail, born in San Francisco, the daughter of Andrew McPhail, a prom- inent business man of that city and one of the pioneers of California. Mrs. Richmond is still liv- ing in San Jose, Mr. Richmond having passed away on December 5, 1918.

Edmund Nutting Richmond attended the public schools of San Jose, but before completing his high school course he left his books in 1896, and entered the employ of J. K. Armsby where he became thor- oughly conversant with every branch of the fruit industry, even from preparing the land for planting, to preparing the crop for the markets, both canned and dried. This experience was most valuable to Mr. Richmond, so much so, that in 1916 he was able to embark in business for himself under the .name of E. N. Richmond, continuing with marked success until 1919, when the business was incorpo- rated under the name of Richmond-Chase Company, with Mr. Richmond as president, and E. E. Chase, vice-president. This concern own and operate four large packing and canning plants in this county and a very modern cannery at Stockton, where their San Joaquin Valley business is handled. During the busy seasons the Richmond-Chase Company employ from 1,500 to 2,000 people in the various depart- ments. It is generally conceded that their new con- crete packing plant and cannery in San Jose are models of their kind in the entire state. This com- pany also own a number of orchards in the county, although the larger part of their fruit is purchased from the producers. Their output is well and favor- ably known throughout the United States for its standard of quality and commands a stable price in the markets of the world.

The marriage of E. N. Richmond on April 27, 1904, united him with Miss Marie DeEtte Brough- ton, who was born in Illinois, and they are parents of two sons, Burnell Edmund and Richard Brough- ton. Mr. Richmond is vice-president of the Bean Spray Pump Company, and a director of the San Jose Building and Loan Association, which has aided very materially in making San Jose a city of homes. He belongs to the Sainte Claire, the Commercial and the Country clubs of San Jose; also the Cham- ber of Commerce, of which he served as president in 1912-1913; for two years he served as the president of the Board of Education. Fraternally he is a Ma- son and in politics is a Republican in national affairs, but strictly non-partisan in local matters. At all times he is ready to do his part in aiding those measures that have for their aim the upbuilding as well as the building up of town, county and state. It is, however, in the fruit industry where he is best known and counted one of the pioneers in the Santa Clara Valley.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ALEXANDER MONTGOMERY .- Among the pioneers of Cupertino, whose influence for advance- ment has been felt throughout the country, is Alex- ander Montgomery. He was born at Wern Point. County Down, Ireland, in 1840. the son of Samuel and Elizabeth ( Thompson) Montgomery, natives of Ireland of Scotch parents. Alexander received his education in the schools of Ireland and in 1859 em- barked for the United States. He came first to Pitts- burgh, Pa., and remained there until 1865, when he landed in Santa Clara County. His brother John had preceded him to California as early as 1852 and was engaged in mining. When Alexander left Pittsburgh, he came via the Isthmus route to San Francisco, and from there he went to Virginia City, Nev., walking all the way from Sacramento. He was engaged in various occupations, working in a mill for a time, then for two years worked in the strawberry indus- try. In 1867, he purchased forty acres near the Lincoln schoolhouse on the Mountain View Road at ten dollars per acre. The next four years he was occupied in clearing this land and in 1870 he had a fine yield of wheat but the following year he sold his place and went to work for Thomas Kerwin west of Hollister. Upon arriving in California he tried to locate his brother, who had been lost track of. as there had been no letters to the mother in Ire- land for several years. Alexander finally found his brother's old partner, who said that John, with a partner, had gone to the mines near Boise City and had been killed by the Indians. The mother would not believe the sad news. saying that she knew that he was still alive. While at Hollister on a hunt- ing trip he ran across a man who asked Alexander if he had a brother in British Columbia, saying: "There is a mining man at Kootenay that looks just like you and his name is John Montgomery." Alexander wrote and in due time received a reply asking him to come up and share in the mining enterprise. Alexander made his way there, a very hard trip, being stranded in the snow and without food for four days. It was a pleasant reunion and after that there were regular remittances to the mother in Ireland. After eighteen months Alexander decided he did not like the cold winters of British Columbia and returning to California, he purchased 160 acres near Cupertino on Stevens Creek Road for $5,000. It was raw land, thick with brush and trees, but he cleared it and began raising wheat. In about two years he received a letter from his brother that he was sick and dying. so Alexander immediately went to Walla Walla where he purchased a horse, and started on the 800-mile trip to Kootenay. On the way he met his brother coming out with a pack train. just able to travel after recovering from pneumonia, but far from well. John told Alexander to go on and take charge of things and he would go on to Walla Walla. then on to San Francisco, but he died about a week after arriving in San Francisco. Mr. Montgomery arriving in Kootenay, took charge of affairs and ran the store until he could sell out the entire holdings. sending his mother the money his brother left, which was sufficient to make her independent and comfort- able her remaining days. He then returned to his farm at Cupertino after two summers and a winter in the North, and resumed ranching. He was the first man to grow wheat on this kind of land in this section, and it was such a novelty that people came

from different parts of the county to see his wheat crop. He was ever willing to give his neighbors the benefit of his experience and assisted them in the clearing of their land. He was successful in having an abundant yield from his acres, and as a stimula- tion to greater activity along agricultural lines, he made a wager that his particular ranch could beat anything in Santa Clara County in producing wheat. His yield was one and one-half tons of clean wheat to the acre. He also engaged in dairying, bringing the first fine Jersey cows to this section. He set out a sixty-acre vineyard, built a winery and a distillery. manufactured cream of tartar and made the first prune brandy, thus making a market for small and unsaleable prunes. After the prune brandy was intro- duced in the Eastern states, he received orders for car load lots and the revenue paid the Government was over $18.000 a year. He closed the winery and dis- tillery some years ago and devotes his time to horti- culture, having set out orchards of prunes and apri- cots and built a large. fine residence with well-kept. attractive premises. He built a store on the corner of his ranch and established a merchandise business. and when the railroad came he offered them $1.000 if they would put it on the other side of the road. but to no avail; he then bought five acres across the road and laid it out in lots and moved the store to the new corner location and built an addition to it. It was run by the Home Union for ten years, then by Dixon & Wilson. Archibald Wilson being Mr. Montgomery's nephew: later the store was incorpor- ated as the Cupertino Store, Inc., of which Mr. Wil- son is president and manager and the business has grown very large and successful, being now one of the largest mercantile establishments in Santa Clara County, outside of San Jose.

In the early days, Mr. Montgomery was a member of the Presbyterian Church in San Jose and there he met a young lady. Miss Mary Jane Mellrath, who was born about five miles from his birthplace in Scotland and had come to San Jose to visit her brother. the acquaintance thus formed resulted in their marriage. She was a splendid woman and an able helpmate, aiding him in his dairying and horti- cultural enterprises. Mr. Montgomery gave the site for the Presbyterian Church and was the largest contributor to its building and he has been the main- stay of the church. His wife, who was also a devout member, passed away September 6. 1919, at the family home. Mr. Montgomery is an adherent of the prin- ciples of the Republican party, and served as post- master of Cupertino for several years. It is most interesting to converse with him of the early days when this was a frontier region and he can well be proud of his part in the growth and prosperity of the Santa Clara Valley.

ROBERT A. McARTHUR .- An energetic and prosperous rancher is found in Robert A. McArthur. who is the manager of his mother's orchard prop- erty. He was born in the rural district near Sioux City, Iowa, on October 13, 1893, the son of Alexan- der and 1da (Sturtz) McArthur. The mother was horn in lowa and descended from an old Pennsyl- vania family, while the father came from Ayr. Scot- land, to America when twelve years old, with his parents, who located in Cook County, Ill., and farmed on land that is now built as the city of Chi- cago. Later, they went to lowa and began farming in Sioux County. He acquired two sections of land.

alex Montgomery

Mary J. Montgomery

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

raised short horn cattle and engaged in general in Sioux County. His father acquired two sections of land, raised short horn cattle and engaged in general farming. In 1902 he removed to Santa Clara County and purchased a ranch on Pine and Lincoln in the Willow Glen distriet, and here he resided until his death in 1909, aged seventy-two years. Now his widow resides on Morrison Avenue, San Jose. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander McArthur were the parents of five children: John A .; Robert A., of this sketch; William E .; Mary; Ralph E. Coming to California when nine years of age, Robert A. received his edu- cation in the Willow Glen grammar school and the San Jose high school, where he was graduated in 1912. This completed his education except for a semester at Stanford University in 1914-15. In 1912. in company with his brother. John A., he went to Alberta, Canada, and bought a half section of land and engaged in wheat-raising. More land was added until now they own two sections of land near the town of Gleichen. In 1920 Robert A. returned to Santa Clara County, but his brother remained in Canada in charge of the ranch.

In 1918 Mr. McArthur made a trip to Atehison County, Mo., where he was married on December 5. to Leora Kime, a daughter of J. A. and Roxanna (Clark) Kime. Her parents were frontier folks in Missouri, her father arriving before the railroads were built, and she is the second oldest of a family of five children: Kenlen, Leora, Harold, Alfred, and Mil- dred. Mr. and Mrs. McArthur are the parents of two children, Jean and Dorothy. In 1919 Mr. Mc- Arthur's mother purchased a forty-acre ranch set to prunes, peaches, eherries and aprieots, on the Home- stead Road adjoining the Stevens Creek Road; and in 1920 an additional thirty-two acres was added about three-quarters of a mile from the first ranch and located on the Homestead Road. Both ranehes, comprising seventy-two acres, are devoted to or- chards of full-bearing trees and are irrigated from the same well. Mr. McArthur is a Knights Tem- plar Mason and Shriner, and with his wife is a member of the Eastern Star, and he is also a mem- ber of Stanford Chapter Theta Delta Chi. He has been a close student of horticulture and thus has become a well-posted and successful orchardist.

ARTHUR BURR LANGFORD .- More than any other state in the Union, California traces its vigor- ous growth and prosperity directly to the sturdy character and untiring perseverance of its pioneers. and fortunate among those of the present generation who have inherited from their ancestors these same noble qualities is Arthur Burr Langford, ex-sheriff of Santa Clara County. He was born at Concow. a stage station in Butte County, Cal., on May 4, 1878, the son of Robert Jackson and Frances Helen (Freeman) Langford, the former of old Welsh stock and the latter of Seotch deseent.

The Langfords are numbered among the settlers of the Jamestown Colony in the earliest days of our country-their names are found in Virginia as early as 1668, and during the Colonial and Revolutionary wars their names are also found enrolled in the army of patriots. The grandfather of our subject, Pleas- ant Shields Langford, was born in Albemarle County, Va., but following the trend of migration westward with hundreds of others in whom the pioneer spirit was strong, he lived in Indiana and

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 89

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