History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 93

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

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Dr. Carpenter's first wife was Susan A. Vose be- fore her marriage, and she was a native of Prince- ton, Mass. They had two children when they came to California. Lizzie is now Mrs. S. J. Fisher and resides at San Mateo, where she is a popular pianist and music teacher, being a gifted musician; Anna M. married Obadiah Morse, and she resides at San

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Francisco. Mrs. Carpenter died in 1898, and Dr. Carpenter was married a second time in October, 1899, when he took Mrs. Meriah G. Couch for his wife. She was horn in Barnstead, N. H., the daugh- ter of Nathaniel Pickering; and she married the Rev. John Couch. After her tenth year, she was reared in Massachusetts, and there she became a widow. Dr. Carpenter has built two houses,-the first of which he sold, while he resides in the second, at 806 Jackson Street, Santa Clara. He is now eighty-eight years of age, and all of his religious tracts have been written since he was sixty, some since he was sey- enty years of age, and is still writing.

ALLEN E. CURTNER .- The fact that his father selected Santa Clara County as a permanent abode lias never been regretted by Allen E. Curtner, whose judgment concurs in the decision. Born on the old Curtner ranch at Warm Springs, Alameda County, October 5, 1867, he is a son of that distinguished pio- neer, Henry Curtner, who arrived on the Pacific Coast during the year of 1853, from Indiana, where he was born in Fountain County, January 17, 1831. The pa- ternal grandfather was Jacob Curtner, horn and reared in North Carolina, and married Nancy Heaton, a na- tive of Tennessee. About 1827 they removed to In- diana, and were among the earliest settlers of Foun- tain County, and there developed a homestead. He had been a soldier in the Indian struggles and served under General Jackson. Both grandparents passed away in Indiana. Early in life Henry Curtner had been left an orphan, and he had many obstacles to surmount in his struggle. He worked on various farms throughout the country, cleared timber land, and became a towboy on the Wabash and Erie canal. Exercising the traits of thrift which were his by in- heritance and with the savings he had been able to accumulate, he started on the long voyage from New York via Panama to San Francisco. In the fall of 1856, he returned to Cass County, Ind., and married Miss Lydia Kendall, and the following year the young folks removed to California and bought fifty acres between Centerville and Alvarado, Alameda County, and made their home upon this ranch for ten years. In the spring of 1868 they removed to the ranch near Warm Springs. Mr. Curtner's first purchase of land comprised ahout 2000 acres, to which he added from time to time until he had 8000 acres. He sold por- tions of this and the balance was divided among his children. For many years he was a director of the Security State Bank of San Jose, and was president of the Milpitas Land & Live Stock Company, owners of 8000 head of cattle, 800 head of horses and a flock of 7000 sheep, using as range 32,000 acres of patented land in Humboldt County, Nev., besides a range of 100 square miles. Mr. and Mrs. Curtner were the parents of eight children, Allen E., the subject of this review, being the fourth. After the death of his first wife, Mr. Curtner married Miss Mary E. Myers and they were the parents of two children. She passed away in California, and his third marriage united him with Miss Lucy Latham, who survives him and whose sketch will be found in this volume. Mr. Curtner was liberal with his vast means along all progressive lines; he was especially active in educational matters, and remembering the trials and discouragements of his orphaned boyhood, was generous to all institutions of this kind. He was one of Santa Clara County's most

noted philanthropists. He passed away at the Warm Springs home November 1, 1916.

Allen E. Curtner was but ten years old when his mother died. He received his education at Irvington College, of which his father was one of the organiz- ers. In 1898 the building was burned and Mr. Curt- ner sold the property, and the college was rebuilt and is now operated under the name of the Anderson Academy. Mr. Curtner began ranching on a part of the old Curtner ranch, and in 1914 took up his resi- , dence on his present place. His whole life has been spent on the farm, and consequently is thoroughly conversant with every phase of agriculture and horti- culture, to which he has given much study.

Mr. Curtner's marriage occurred in Milpitas, De- cember 4, 1889, and united him with Miss Rosabella Hewitt, a native of Manchester, England, who came with her parents to California at the age of fourteen years. She is a daughter of William and Isabelle (McLachlan) Hewitt. The Mclachlan family are traced back to Castle Douglas and have a coat of arms. Great-grandfather Mclachlan married a Miss McGee, also of a noble family. W'm. Hewitt died in England and the mother, with her children, Rosabella and Walter, came to Irvington, Cal., in 1880, and the former was educated at the Warm Springs school. Her mother and brother both live in Sunnyvale. Mr. and Mrs. Curtner are the parents of three children: Isabella, Louise, and Alan E. Isabella is the wife of Bud D. More, employed by the Associated Oil Com- pany, and they reside on a ten-acre ranch near Sunny- vale, the entire acrcage planted to Bartlett pears. Louise is the wife of Derol Chace, associated with his father as agents for the Associated Oil Company, and they reside in San Jose. Alan E. served overseas in the One Hundred Forty-third U. S. Artillery, For- tieth Division, until his return and discharge. He married Miss Celesta Jane Burch of Los Angeles and they reside on a ranch on the Stevens Creek road. Mr. Curtner's ranch is located on Maud Avenue near Pastoria Avenue, one and one-half miles northwest of Sunnyvale, and consists of 279 acres of valuable land; 204 acres in alfalfa and hay is leased for a dairy; the balance is rented for vegetable growing. They are members of the Christian church in San Jose. Mr. Curtner has resided on this ranch for the past eight years, and he is one of those citizens whose settle- ment in the locality has been a factor in the develop- ment of the material resources of the county.

JOHN H. FAHEY .- A native of Iowa who, as a hard-working, progressive and successful business man has made good in California, is John H. Fahey. the owner of some twenty-two acres in his home ranch at Sunnyvale. and about ninety-seven acres in a tract at the Mountain View landing or harbor in whose future he places great confidence. He was born at Clinton, in the Hawkeye State, on Septem- ber 24, 1881, and was a student at the high school at Lyons, Iowa. He then pursued courses at the University of Iowa, and having completed his studies. he went to work in the First National Bank at Clinton, where he was employed for three years. He had inherited the best of qualities from his father. John J. Fahey, who died, however, when our subject was only six years old, and from his devoted mother. who is happily still living with him at Sunnyvale. His bookkeeping experience had given him a valu-

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able business training, and when he went in for farming and oil-producing, he was able to manage his affairs with capability. The climatic conditions of California induced him to visit the Golden State in 1918, and he availed himself of the opportunity to travel through this Coast region and to judge for himself; in 1919 he bought his property, and in 1920 he came out here to live. He had done well prior to coming here, and he was thus able to bring to California a comfortable competence.

At Monmouth, Ill., in 1914, Mr. Fahey was mar- ried to Miss Elizabeth Martin, the daughter of John and Mary Martin, of the well-known Martin fam- ily of Little York, Warren County, Ill., established there as early as 1830. The Martins came from Muskingum County, Ohio, to Warren County, Ill., in the early days and a member of the family, Wil- liam Martin, was killed by the Indians at Little York in 1832, during the Black Hawk War. She graduated from Monmouth College, and both in her home circle and in the world beyond, she has been able to stand side by side with her husband, as a real and valuable helpmate. Mr. and Mrs. Fahey attend the Catholic Church, and Mr. Fahey is an Elk. Together they manage their excellent fruit ranch, extend a generous hospitality to their circle of friends and look forward to the time when Moun- tain View harbor will come to its own.

LOUIS P. BENOIT .- A veteran business man of Palo Alto was the late Louis B. Benoit, the Stan- ford University merchant tailor, who had actively and successfully plied his trade there for the past twenty-five years. He was born at San Loup, France, December 7, 1844. There he grew to man- hood and learned thoroughly his trade of tailor, so that he could always be counted upon to do fine and conscientious work. He served in the French army with distinction in the war of 1871, receiving special medals for bravery. In 1874 he came to America and settled at Woodland and established his busi- ness and conducted it successfully for two years. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in Woodland in 1879 and during the same year his marriage occurred, which united him with Miss Mar- garet St. Louis, a daughter of Edward St. Louis, a native of Canada, and one of Yolo County's first settlers: he had married Miss Marcella Perpetua Jack, who was born at Martinsburg, Berkeley County, W. Va., February 12, 1825, and her ancestors were descendants of the Lord Baltimore colonists. Edward St. Louis had removed from Canada to Missouri and on account of the prominence of the St. Louis family, the great city of St. Louis was named after them; he left Missouri with his wife and three children on April 3, 1852, making the journey across the plains by ox-team; upon arriving in Sacra- mento, September 18, 1852, they settled at Knights Landing, and Mr. St. Louis later became a farmer in Yolo County. He passed away in 1895, and his wife survived him until 1904. Mr. and Mrs. St. Louis were the parents of ten children: Charles E., lately deceased, was the first newspaper man in Woodland, being the founder and publisher of the Woodland News, he was later in life a farmer and he passed away in 1921 at the age of seventy-eight years; the second child, a daughter, died in infancy; George resides in Fresno County; Francis, now of San Leandro, Cal., formerly lived in Colusa, and was among the first farmers in that section to pro-

mote irrigation; later he became a surveyor; Mrs. Mary Hebert resides in Berkeley, Cal .; Virginia re- sides on the old home place in Yolo County; Mrs. Silvina Spooner resides in Glenn County; Mrs. Mar- cella Foster resides in Butte County; Mrs. Mar- garet Benoit, the wife of our subject; Martha resides upon the old home place in Yolo County, Cal.

Mr. and Mrs. Benoit removed to Palo Alto in 1895, and Mr. Benoit purchased the pioneer tailor shop and conducted it for over a quarter of a cen- tury; he was a hard worker and by his thorough and conscientious work built up a large and paying business. He was a favorite with everyone; citizen, student and professor alike. In 1905 he purchased a residence at 824 Bryant Street, where the family resides. Mr. and Mrs. Benoit were the parents of two children; Evelyn married William Fiske Henry, superintendent and part owner of the Palo Alto Times, and they have four children, Wilma, Wilbur, Louise and Arthur John; Eugene died at the age of one year. The family belong to the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Mr. Benoit passed away on January 21, 1922, at his home at 824 Bryant Street. His condition, following a paralytic stroke, had been critical for several days. Funeral services were held at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church on January 23, and was one of the largest ever held from that church.

GEORGE W. ALEXANDER .- The career of George W. Alexander has manifested business enter- prise and progressiveness, and he is the energetic president of the Alexander Company, manufacturers of Tru-Malt Syrup. A New Yorker by birth, he was born February 22, 1863, in New York City, a son of Isadore and Emily Alexander, who were early settlers in California, coming here as early as 1849, via Nicaragua, the mother returning to her native state, where the subject of this sketch was born. Her return trip was made by the way of the Isthmus of Panama. The father was a shoemaker by trade, and was the first man to teach the China- men of San Francisco to make slippers, and at cne time employed as many as 300. He was a man of liberal education and conducted stores in Oakland and San Francisco with marked success. Both

parents have passed away.

George W. Alexander was educated in the public schools of Oakland and learned his trade under the ahle supervision of his father. He removed to San Jose in 1884 and for eighteen years was engaged in the shoe business. He has the distinction of being the first superintendent of Alum Rock Park, and became known as the "Mayor of Alum Rock."

The marriage of Mr. Alexander occurred in San Jose and united him with Miss Celestine Hart, the oldest daughter of Leopold Hart, pioneer dry goods merchant of San Jose. Mr. Alexander lends his time and influence to the betterment of his commun- ity in general, is actively identified with the Cham- ber of Commerce, Merchants' Association, and Hu- mane Society. Fraternally he is affiliated with the local organization of Elks. His recreation, from his busy cares, is playing golf and he was a charter member of the Golf Club of San Jose and is also a member of the Country Club. Throughout his entire life, he has exercised high and honorable principles and his activities for the good of the community in which he has resided for so many years, has been far-reaching and resultant.

Elise In. Han

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

WILLIAM F. HAAG .- Coming to America when only sixteen years of age, William F. Haag has by hard work and characteristic thrift built up a for- tune that has been earned by intelligent manage- ment and strict economy. Born in Wittenberg, Ger- many, February 4, 1868, sixteen years later he left for America to seek his fortune in the new country of greater opportunities. Arriving in California he settled in Mountain View, and for a number of years worked on farms throughout the neighborhood. His educational opportunities were very limited, but by practical experience he has become an excellent manager and capable business man.

In 1902 Mr. Haag was married to Miss Elisa Rengstorff, a daughter of the late Henry Rengstorff, and at her father's death she inherited the home place of 167 acres on the Sterling road, one and a half miles north of Mountain View. Mr. and Mrs. Haag prior to their removal to Mountain View had lived at Los Altos and had developed a fine orchard home, but in 1911 this place was sold and they re- moved to the old Rengstorff homeplace. The father, Henry Rengstorff, passed away in 1906 and the mother made her home with Mrs Haag until her demise in 1919. Mr. Haag rents 155 acres of the ranch to a dairy farmer, but for six years Mr. Haag ran it as a grain and hay farm. The place is kept in fine condition and Mr. and Mrs. Haag are enjoying the success that has come to them through intelligent planning and conservative investment. Mrs. Haag is one of a family of seven children, only three of whom are still living. She is a prominent member of the Eastern Star lodge of Mountain View. Mr. and Mrs. Haag are stockholders in the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Mountain View and they will- ingly give their support to matters for advancement of the general good of the community and are enthusiastic boosters for Santa Clara County.

THEODORE JOHNSON .- Acquiring his first ranch property in Santa Clara County in 1897, Theo- dore Johnson is now the owner of seventy-seven acres of choice land in the Edenvale district, a good part of which is devoted to orchard, and his years of industry have brought him good success. Mr. Johnson was born in Sköne, Sweden, February 27, 1862, his parents being Johannes and Christine John- son. He was reared and educated at the old home and as is the custom there, was confirmed at the age of fourteen. Leaving his native land when he became of age, Mr. Johnson came to America, and arrived at San Jose, Cal., May 23, 1883. He re- mained here for six months, and then joined his older brother, Nils Johnson, who had preceded him to this country some four years, and who had gone to work in the mines at Bisbee, Ariz. Theodore Johnson spent three years in the mines there, and on coming back to the Santa Clara Valley, he worked for the next nine years as a gardener on the estate of E. A. and J. O. Hayes at Edenvale. In May, 1897, he took his family for a trip to his old home to see his parents, and he returned to Cali- fornia in October. The next day after he arrived he purchased twenty-four acres of land at Edenvale which he had selected before he left for Sweden, but had been unable to close the deal. Subsequently he added ten acres more, and in 1908 he bought forty-two acres of the Hayes-Chynoweth property

in the Senter tract, and this he has been developing to orchard. The extensive improvements which he has made on his holdings are largely the work of his own hands, so that he is especially deserving of the success which he is enjoying.

At San Jose, in 1887, Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Amanda Nelson, like himself a native of Sweden, and three children have been born to them: Lily Christine is the wife of Frank Anderson, a rancher, and they have five children; Carl Johan married Miss Ingeborg Buck, they have four chil- dren and reside at Edenvale; Emil Theodore assists on the home ranch, which is situated on Cottle Road. Mr. Johnson is a charter member of the California Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc., and has belonged to the Druids for more than thirty years, heing a charter member of the local lodge. A patriotic citi- zen of his adopted country, he received his citizen- ship papers in the early nineties and has since then been an adherent of the Republican party.

WILLIAM W. PARKS .- A cattleman rated as among the most extensive operators in all Santa Clara County who has been able to display repeat- edly the most admirable public-spiritedness, although his exacting business interests withdraw him from social life, is William W. Parks, a native of New York, where he was born at South Glens Falls, in Saratoga County, on October 3, 1875, the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Parks, and the grandson of W. W. Parks. William Parks, Sr., was a stock- man who came to California in 1881 and first pitched his tent near Los Gatos in Santa Clara County; and soon afterward he removed to the Calaveras Val- ley, where he took up a homestead of 160 acres on the hills, which he not long afterward gave up. William W. Parks became interested in range land to the east of Calaveras Valley, and during the last fourteen years he has been in control of about 14,000 acres of range land owned by the Spring Valley Water Company, part of the land lying in the Cala- veras Valley, but most of the acreage situate on the hills directly to the east. There he breeds and raises most of his cattle, but occasionally he makes a trip to Nevada, to purchase range stock. He either raises or buys the cattle he needs, runs them on the range, and then sells them on the markets; and the amount of his stock ranges all the way from 500 to 1800 head of cattle, according to the season's supply of feed.

As a boy Mr. Parks attended the public school in the Oak Ridge district, in the Calaveras Valley, but this was all the schooling he enjoyed; he was an observant reader, however, and when he had reached manhood was well prepared to cope with the world. At San Rafael, on September 23, 1910, he was mar- ried to Miss Bertha Pierce, a native of Marshfield, Coos County, Ore., and the daughter of John C. and Orian (Moorehead) Pierce, natives respectively of Maine and Yreka, Siskiyou County, Cal. Mr. Pierce came out to Oregon when a young man, and Mrs. Parks' maternal grandfather was a '49er, who came to California in the gold rush and after- ward moved North to Oregon. Mr. Pierce was for many years identified with the Simpson Lumber Co. of Oregon, and became widely known to the building trade. Mr. Parks is a member of the San Jose Lodge No. 522. B. P. O. E .. and both he and his wife are ardent supporters of the Republican party and its political platform.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

STEPHEN POOLE SANDERS .- Among those who were the real promoters of Santa Clara County and contributed in a substantial manner to her up- building was numbered Stephen Poole Sanders, whose personal worth and business ability, whose progres- sive citizenship and high standards, were attested by the circle of warm friends whom he left behind when death called him. He was born at Paradise West. Nova Scotia, April 23, 1835, and is the son of Will- iam and Irene (Poole) Sanders, who were both na- tives of Nova Scotia. Mr. Sanders' grandfather, who was of English descent, was born and reared in New England and being a United Empire Loyalist, he re- moved with his family to Nova Scotia in order to avoid fighting against England. Of their seven children, Mr. Sanders was the fifth oldest and was reared and educated in Nova Scotia. He began mak- ing his livelihood as a photographer and had his bus- iness in St. John, N. B. In 1858 he came to Cali- fornia by way of the Isthmus of Panama and his first work was in the mines; later at Marysville, he opened a photograph gallery and after working there awhile, he engaged in the same business for a short time in San Francsico. Going from San Francisco to San Jose in 1867 he followed this line of work there for the next three years.

In 1882 Mr. Sanders purchased a farm consisting of twenty-five acres of stubble field which he set to prunes and here he has proven to be a very success- ful horticulturist. This property is still in the pos- session of the family. Mrs. Sanders' maiden name was Nan Amelia Alline, and she was born in Nova Scotia, the daughter of Joseph and Parnel (De Wolfe) Alline. They were natives of Nova Scotia and of French descent. When Nan Alline was four years old her parents removed to St. John, N. B., where she attended the public schools, and was a devout ad- herent of the Baptist Church. It was in St. John that she met Mr. Sanders and the romance culminated in their marriage in San Francisco, November 17, 1862, Miss Alline having made the journey via Panama to join her intended. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders were the parents of a son, Alline De Wolfe, who passed away at the age of four years. They reared a niece, Jennie M. Saunders, who has been a member of the family since she was five years old and so was like a daughter to them. She now has charge of the home place. Mr. Sanders passed away at the age of sev- enty-nine, but was very active until his demise, which occurred in 1914. He was a member of the State Grange. A man of high ideals and integrity, his life and character had an uplifting influence upon the development of the section of the country in which he passed his days.

WALTER G. FITZGERALD .- The bar of Santa Clara County acknowledges in Walter G. Fitzgerald, one of its most influential and prominent members. A native of California, he was born near New Alma- den, Santa Clara County, August 30, 1873. the oldest of five children born to Thomas and Mary A. Fitzger- ald, natives of the province of Quebec, Canada. His grandfather, named Walter Fitzgerald, was born in County Wexford, Ireland. and at an early age left his native land and settled in Canada, where the father of our subject was born about 1840. Walter Fitzgerald, Sr., was the father of seven sons and one daughter, and while residing in Canada was engaged in farming and lumbering.

Before the discovery of gold in California, reports

of its rich soil had reached the family of the Fitz- geralds in their quiet home among the pines on the St. Lawrence, and they at once resolved to go west. Two, of the sons, James and John, were sent on ahead and arrived in California in 1851. Their report of the climate and the richness of the soil created a desire to settle in this state. Walter Fitzgerald, Sr., sold his holdings in Canada and with his remaining family started for California via the Isthmus of Panama and arrived in San Francisco in 1853. The family settled at Gilroy and began the erection of a home. The boys secured from Danicl Murphy, an old friend and acquaintance of the family, who had come from the same part of Canada a few years previous, a con- tract to split redwood rails in the mountains near Gil- roy, and as a compensation for their labors in making rails and hauling them to the valley, secured from Mr. Murphy a 1000-acre tract of valley land near Ma- drone. The rails taken from the virgin forest by the Fitzgeralds over fifty years ago may still be seen forming the heavy post and rail fences which enclosed the possessions of the Murphys between San Jose and Gilroy. Walter Fitzgerald, Sr., came of a hardy and long-lived family and he himself attained to the age of ninety years. All of the seven sons suceeded well in California, and some married and reared fam- ilies and have descendants living in the county.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 93

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