History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 95

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

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In San Francisco March 8, 1894, J. D. Blabon was united in marriage with Miss Abbie L. Martin, a native daughter, and their union has been blessed with three children: Walter Vance, Kingdon B. and Elodie. The name of Blahon will always stand out prominently in California and Santa Clara Valley, for the first members of the family in this state were forerunners of its development and aided materially in bringing about its present prosperity. The younger generation are following in the footsteps of their sires and are found in the vanguard where progress is the watchword, and of these J. D. Blabon is recog- nized as one of the leaders. His entire life has been actuated by high principles and honorable actions and his efforts in behalf of the progress of his com- munity have been far reaching. As a horticulturist he is among the most successful in the valley. He is a man of great energy and has accomplished much in the development of the great natural resources of this famous valley.

HUBERT O. F. MENTON .- Prominent among the most progressive dentists of Northern California. and interesting as the worthy representative of one of the oldest and finest families in Santa Clara County, must be rated Dr. Hubert O. F. Menton of Santa Clara. He was born in San Luis Obispo Connty, the son of the late Hugh D. Menton, a pio- neer of Santa Clara, who came to San Francisco in the latter part of 1849, and the next year moved to Santa Clara. He was born in Manchester, England. the son of Hugh and Hannah Menton, natives of Birr, Kings County, Ireland, who married in Ire- land, then traveled for a year or two, and finally went to Australia. Then they returned to England. Grandfather Menton settled at Santa Clara in the spring of 1850, and he became a large landowner north of Santa Clara.

Hugh D. Menton grew up to manhood in the Santa Clara Valley, and he was one of the first pupils of the Santa Clara College. In Santa Clara he was married to Miss Annie T. Murphy, who was born at Burlington, Iowa, and came here a young lady, about 1870. He later moved to San Luis Obispo. and while there in the early '70s, Hubert was born. Mr. Menton went heavily into the cattle business in San Luis Obispo County, but the great drought of 1877 was so disastrous to him that he lost heavily : and having returned to Santa Clara County, he ran the Alum Rock Ranch, which still bears the name he gave it. These ups and downs of the pioneer who so generously contributed in every way to advance the permanent and better development of the new country with which he had cast his lot assume a new attraction for the reader when he understands that our subject's ancestors came originally from France and fought under William the Conqueror. Dr. Menton pursued a classical course at Santa Clara College, and graduated with the class of '92; and having matriculated in the College of Dentistry in San Francisco in the fall of 1895, he was graduated from the University of California three years later, and before he was twenty-one years of age, with the degree of D. D. S. He then opened an office in his home town, where he has ever since had a live prac- tice. Both professionally and socially he is ever alert to exert the best and most lasting influence for the npbuilding of the city and its environs.

VBlabou

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BURT STEVENS .- A well-known and successful agriculturalist of Santa Clara County is Burt Ste- vens, a highly-esteemed resident of the Coyote dis- trict, where he was born on the ranch he now owns, on August 12, 1872, the son of Orvis Stevens, a native of Chittenden County, Vt. At the age of twenty- one, in 1852, his father came to California via Pan- ama, and went to the mines at St. Joe's Bar, Yuba River, near Downieville, where he remained for one year, and also mined in Sierra County. He then re- moved to Nevada County and conducted a dairy for one year, and came back to California and engaged in stockraising in Solano County. Within the next year he made a trip East, remaining three months; and on his return to California he settled in Chip- sey's Flat, Sierra County, where he carried on a butcher business for several years. In 1868 he settled in Santa Clara County and engaged in farming until 1875, when he rented the "Twelve-mile House," where he conducted a store, a blacksmith shop, a hotel and the postoffice; he was also a school trus- tee of the Encinal school district, of which he was one of the organizers. He married Louisa Leonard and they were the parents of ten children, seven liv- ing, of whom our subject is the third oldest. Orvis Stevens, who was a Mason, passed away in 1917, and Mrs. Stevens in 1920.

Burt Stevens attended the Encinal grammar school and finished in 1887; then attended the Garden City Business College for two years and in the meantime helped his father on the ranch; then went gold-seek- ing to Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and did not return until 1905. His marriage occurred in Santa Clara County in 1907, and united him with Miss Addie Berry, a daughter of Charles E. Berry, a pioneer of California, who is now deceased. They are the par- ents of two daughters, Ruth E. and Edith L. Mr. Ste- vens purchased the original home place, a ranch con- sisting of 1081/2 acres and in partnership with his brother, James, is cultivating and developing it. The place had been set to orchard about 1880, being among the very first in the district. Mr. Stevens has served his locality as school trustee of the Encinal district, and since 1898 he has been a member of Observa- tory Lodge, I. O. O. F., in San Jose.

JOHN B. KERWIN .- Among the prominent pro- fessional men of Santa Clara County is John B. Kerwin, attorney at law, now with the Joseph Rucker Company as head of their legal department. He was born in Santa Clara County, Cal., on May 22, 1865, a son of Thomas and Catherine (Mc- Gauren) Kerwin, and comes of a good old pioneer family; his father, Thomas Kerwin, who landed in Boston, 1849, having come to this country in 1854 after the gold rush. Thomas Kerwin was born in Galway County, Ireland, and his parents were Michael and Mary (Coulin) Kerwin; the mother having died when he was about nine years old and his father being a commercial agent, he was left almost entirely on his own resources. At the age of thirteen he went to Liverpool, England, and in that city began to work as a messenger in the harbor police inspector's office, he then obtained employ- ment as collector for teamsters and draymen and engaged in this work for some time, when he de- cided to come to the United States. In 1849 he put this plan into action and landing at Boston, he went to the country and spent ten months near Cam- bridge in gardening, then returning to Boston en-

gaged in various occupations until he became em- ployed by Russell and Company as a salesman in their furniture establishment; here he remained until the year 1854 when he came to California and set- tled in Santa Clara County where he worked at orchard cultivation on the Gould place in Santa Clara County for about two years. He acquired a large amount of land, owning at one time 600 acres, 320 of which he himself cleared and cultivated. His success was due to his indomitable will and steady perseverance. His marriage united him with Miss Catherine McGauren and they became the parents of six children: Mary Ann, Catherine P., James Patrick, John B., Louis and Ignatius. The father is still living and resides in San Francisco.

John B. received his education in the public schools of Santa Clara and later took a collegiate course in Santa Clara College and read law while in the deputy county clerk's office, where he also was clerk of Judge Reynolds' court, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1895, he then practiced alone in San Jose and San Francisco. For four years he worked on ranches and still owns the ranches. He then joined the Rucker Company on June 17, 1918. and is in charge of the legal department.

Mr. Kerwin's marriage united him with Miss Lucy L. Reynolds of San Francisco, and they are the parents of Lucy M., Leonie T., Thomas Theodore, Martha M. and Roland N. Mr. Kerwin is very active in the Chamber of Commerce and the San Jose Realty Board, and being deeply interested in the upbuilding of Santa Clara County is also a mem- ber of the Cupertino Improvement Club, the Farm Owners' and Operators' Association, now the Fed- erated Farmers of California, the California Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc., and the California Bar Association. In national politics he is a Democrat.

GEORGE GRIMM .- Since coming to California 111 1886, George Grimm is now among the success- ful orchardists of the Santa Clara Valley. He is a native of Germany, born in Wilhelmsdorf, March 4, 1861, a son of Ludwig and Elizabeth (Young) Grimm; both parents were natives of Germany and were prosperous farmer folks, and they lived and died in Wilhelmsdorf.

George Grimm was educated in the schools of his native land and came to the United States when he was twenty-six years old. Locating in San Fran- cisco he followed his trade of carpenter, which he had learned before leaving Germany, about fifteen years. Upon coming to the Santa Clara Valley in 1902 he went to work as a carpenter for the West- ern Distilling Company and was sent to Agnew where he worked for ten years at his trade; at the end of this time he removed to the Cupertino district and purchased thirty acres, which had been set to orchard, but upon which Mr. Grimm made a number of improvements in the way of buildings, etc. The success that has come to him has been earned by hard work and careful planning. Besides the thirty acres, Mr. and Mrs. Grimm bought and deeded to their four children twenty-four acres, and Mrs. Grimm owns twenty-six acres of orchard and her interest in the home place is seventeen acres.

Mr. Grimm's marriage on December 4, 1886, united him with Miss Mary Beckert, also born in Germany, and they are the parents of four children: Otilia (Mrs. R. Berry): Alvina (Mrs. Elmer Maas) ; George and Elsie. In his political affiliations he is a steadfast adherent to the principles of the Republican

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party. Since Mr. Grimm has been in this county he has watched the development of the fruit industry with interest and seeing the future of it, invested in his orchard and devotes his time to his improvements and at the same time to aiding all worthy move- ments for the good of the town, county and state. He is a member of the California Prune and Apricot Growers, Inc. Mr. Grimm is esteemed for his per- sonal integrity, the industry and faithfulness of his life, and his loyalty to his adopted country.

LUTHER CUNNINGHAM .- Having continuously resided in Santa Clara County for forty years, Luther Cunningham is counted among the most important horticulturists of Saratoga district. He was born in Solano County, Cal., December 25, 1869, the son of Joseph and Mary Jane (Gooding) Cunningham, the father a native of middle Tennessee and the fifth gen- eration of the Cunningham family in the United States, while the mother was born in Randolph Coun- ty, Mo. The ancestors came from Scotland and some fought in the Revolution, others in the War of 1812 and some in the Indian wars. In 1843 Mr. Cunning- ham bought a farm in Randolph County where he lived for twenty years during his residence in Mis- souri. In the fall of 1846 he married Miss Mary J. Gooding, a daughter of Judge Joseph Gooding, a Virginian who became an early settler of Missouri and was one of the early judges of Randolph County. While farming in Missouri, Joseph Cunningham be- came interested in the gold excitement in California and leaving his family in Missouri, for the time being, he equipped with ox-teams and wagons crossing the plains in 1849, following mining for three years with varied success, when he returned to his Missouri farm. In 1863, he sold his farm and again crossed the plains, this time bringing his family. He was captain of the train and having had the experience of the trip in 1849 was well qualified for the place. The family first settled in Solano County and raised grain and stock until 1881, when he sold his place and removed to Santa Clara County and purchased a farm adjoining Saratoga where they resided until he died. He was one among the first to engage in fruit raising in this vicinity. He operated a small nursery and there grew the trees for his own and other orchards. He and his wife were active in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church all their lives.

Luther Cunningham is the youngest of a family of six boys and three girls and was primarily educated in the public schools of Saratoga, after which he took the four years' Chautauqua Scientific and Literary Course Being the youngest of the family, he re- mained with his father on the old farm assisting him in every way. In the spring of 1889 he invented the Cunningham prune dipper, a machine for dipping prunes and opened a shop for its manufacture in San Jose. From the very beginning the business grew and he took in as partner Mr. Barngrover, under the name of Cunningham & Barngrover and they be- came the manufacturers of nearly every machine used in the dried fruit business, Mr. Cunningham inventing these labor-saving devices. The business grew to such proportions and hecause of severe strain and close application to business, Mr. Cunningham's health failed, so he sold his interest in 1901 to Mr. Barngrover; a year later it became the Anderson-

Barngrover Company, now employing hundreds of men in the manufacture of fruit machinery. An in- teresting incident occurred about eight or nine years ago, when one of the early pioneer fruit dippers made by Mr. Cunningham and used by Pyle Brothers as a dipper for peaches, was exhibited, in the Los Angeles branch of U. S. Circuit Court as evidence in the case of Duntley vs. California Canneries for in- fringement and won for the defendants. The fact is that the canneries all over the world, where the lye peeling process is in use, are using a machine involv- ing the principles of the old Cunningham dipper. Nearly all the machinery used at the present time in the dried fruit and packing business are the inventions of Mr. Cunningham, such as the grader, with complete processor including elevators, as well as a number of machines used in handling green fruit. Another of his inventions now manufactured and in general use is the Cunningham pulverizer and land roller.

In 1901 Mr. Cunningham removed to his ranch at Morgan Hill and for seventeen years was prominently known in the south end of the county as a buyer and shipper of fruit. He continued to reside there until 1920 when he purchased his father's old homestead at Saratoga, where he now resides with his family. Mr. Cunningham's marriage in San Jose in 1897 united him with Mrs. Eleanor Tomkin Rootes who was born in Santa Clara, a daughter of Dr. Alfred Royce and Martha Frances (Forbes) Tomkin, born in England and California respectively. Dr. Tomkin, who had studied medicine under his father, Dr. Thos. M. Tomkin, in England, came around Cape Horn in a sailing vessel to California in 1849, became inter- ested in mining at Mud Springs and then in 1854 he came to Santa Clara and opened the first drug store; here he married Miss Forbes, a daughter of that prominent old pioneer, James Alexander Forbes, a man of letters, who wrote the first history of Califor- nia, and is represented on another page of this work. Later Dr. Tomkin was interested in the drug business in San Jose; he was coroner and public administrator of Santa Clara County for eight years and held the office until his death. By a former marriage, Mrs Cunningham had two sons, Thomas P. and Edward L. Edward L. enlisted with the Canadian army before the United States entered the war, with the First Cana- dian Pioneer Battalion and served from March to November of 1916; from November, 1916, to June. 1917, he was in the Sixty-seventh Canadian Scottish and One Hundred Second Canadian Infantry. He was wounded in France about June 1, 1917, and removed to England where he was in the hospital until August 4, 1917. From August 4, 1917, to the end of 1918 he was at the Canadian Paymaster's office as staff sergeant. He was engaged in all the battles of the Somme, Vimy Ridge, and Lenz, and is now in London. Thomas P. enlisted in the U. S. Army, but remained on home soil. He now holds an important position with the Shell Oil Company at Long Beach, Cal. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham's union has been blessed with one child, Lutheria Frances. For twelve years Mr. Cunningham was a member of the Democratic County Central Committee. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham are active in civic circles and both take a keen interest in the growth and develop- ment of this great commonwealth where their an- cestors were pioneer's.

Luther Cunningham

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

M. M. SOUZA .- Actively identified for many years with the dairy interests of Santa Clara is M. M. Sonza. a wealthy capitalist, who started out in the world empty-handed, and his present prosperity has been won through his initiative spirit, his ready recogni- tion and utilization of opportunity and his splnedid administrative and executive ability. He was born on the Island of St. George, in the Azores group, No -. vember 14, 1854, and there his parents, Tony and Maria Souza, spent their entire lives. The father followed the occupation of farming and passed away at the advanced age of ninety, while the mother was also ninety years of age at the time of her demise. In their family were six children: Tony, who became second mate on a vessel plying between Boston, Mass., and England, in which country his death occurred; M. M., of this review; Jasper, who still resides in the Azores, where he is cultivating a farm; Joaquin J., a rancher living near Sunnyvale; Marion, who is the widow of A. Potosi and makes her home in Santa Clara; and John, who owns a ranch near Mountain View.

The boyhood of M. M. Souza was a period of earnest and unremitting toil and he had no educa- tional opportunities, but in the school of experience he has learned many valuable lessons. When twenty years of age he came to the United States, landing at Boston, Mass., whence he proceeded to Newport, R. I., where he worked for three or four months. In the fall of 1876 he set out for California, and after reaching San Francisco he made his way to San Rafael, Marin County, where he obtained work as milker on a dairy farm. With his earnings he was later able to rent a dairy farm of 100 acres near San Rafael which he conducted for several years, afterward going to Larkspur where he also rented a 100 acre farm on which he engaged in dairying. His next removal took him to Stanislaus County and in the vicinity of Newman he purchased a farm of seventy acres, on which for many years he operated a dairy, being still the owner of that property. In October, 1903, he purchased his present home farm of fifty acres, on which he erected a beautiful resi- dence, and the property is now within the corporate limits of Santa Clara and is very valuable. He has added many improvements thereto and for several years conducted a dairy, but has recently sold his cows and is now leasing the property to two young men, while two of his sons are operating the ranch near Newman. His business affairs have been most capably managed and the years have chronicled his growing success.

While residing in San Rafael, Mr. Souza was mar- ried at San Francisco to Miss Maria Borba and they have become the parents of six children: Manuel M., Jr., who is operating his father's farm near Newman, is a veteran of the World War, serving for four months on the French front with a machine gun battalion; Jasper is a dairyman and resides at San Jose; Tony is assisting his brother in managing the dairy near Newman; John is teller in the Santa Clara branch of the Bank of Italy, of which his father is a stockholder; Maria and George are at home. A stanch Republican in his political views Mr. Souza is a faithful member of the Santa Clara Catholic Church. He also belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the U. P. E. C. and the I. D. E. S. For forty-five years he has resided within the borders

of California and is widely and favorably known in this section of the state. His is a most creditable record, and he deserves classification with the self- made men and substantial citizens of Santa Clara.

DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HEADEN .- Pre- eminent among the distinguished citizens of Santa Clara County who by their public-spiritedness, their education and culture, their foresight and experience, and their wealth and willingness to place some of it at the disposal of or for the benefit of their fellow- men, have done most to develop the resources of the state, lay broad and deep the foundations of a great commonwealth, and open up new paths for the health, comfort, prosperity and happiness of those coming after, was assuredly the late Dr. Benjamin Franklin Headen, known to his intimates as a con- scientious Christian gentleman, and to the public at large as the owner of one of the princely estates at Santa Clara. and as a very enterprising, scientific experimenter whose one ambition was to accom- plish something whereby he could add to the con- tent of life and the purpose in living. A native of the Old Dominion, he inherited that which elevated him to something above the average run of men. He was born on November 24, 1813, the son of Joseph and Mary Headen, who moved to Kentucky when he was a lad. He passed his youth in Headen- ville, Shelby County, a pretty village named in honor of his father, a man who was looked up to by every- one on account of his exemplary walk in life and his unswerving integrity and lofty ideals. He was a regular attendant at Headen Chapel, which was built by his father, and served that community as the one place in which to worship. The village had the usual attractions of a small community in com- fortable Kentucky; hut the ambition of the young man led him to look beyond into the outer and larger world, and to resolve to take his place in the upper councils of men where he could be of the greatest service.

He resolved, therefore, to educate himself for the medical profession, and took a course in the Worth- ington Medical College in Ohio, from which he was duly graduated with high honors in May, 1837. Then he removed to Indiana, furnished an office and hung out his shingle, and immediately commenced to prac- tice. Having established a comfortable home, he continued as a practitioner until 1852, when he re- sponded to the lure of California, then on every- one's lips as the land of gold, and set out with his family across the plans.

The party arrived in the Santa Clara Valley in October, and soon after he bought sixty-one acres just beyond the town-limits of Santa Clara; and there he erected an attractive, comfortable residence for his family and otherwise began to improve the prop- crty. He experienced no end of difficulties at the outset, however, for building materials were scarce and hard to procure, and what made matters worse. the rains interfered both with hauling and construc- tion. But perseverance enabled him and his family at last to enjoy the shelter they had longed for, and then Dr. Headen, with characteristic push and the far-sightedness of one who discerned what Santa Clara County some day would be, devoted his at- tention and energies to clearing off the land and pre- paring it for immediate cultivation. It had been in a wild state of nature, prior to his coming there,

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the soil unbroken and the rank mustard so high that when hunting for his strayed cattle. Dr. Headen had to stand on the back of one ox to enable him to find the others.

But, notwithstanding all the impediments, the im- provements progressed, and flower seeds, many of them carried across the great plains in the Doctor's pockets, were planted, young trees were brought from the mountains in little sacks of earth and set out. and soon under the deft hand and exquisite, well- balanced taste for which our subject was noted, "the wilderness began to blossom as the rose." Far ahead of many even who had pitched their tent in that neighborhood prior to Dr. Headen's coming, he rap- idly brought the land under cultivation, simple at first and then higher and more complex, planting his acre- age first to cereals, then in rather an extensive way to strawberries and other small fruits, and finally lay- ing out both an orchard and a vineyard of such choice varieties of fruits that his ranch became, without his particularly planning it, the show place of the country

thereabouts. It was Dr. Headen who first grew vegetable and flower seeds at Santa Clara on a com- mercial scale, and thereby opened the way to a busi- ness which has always prospered in that section, prob- ably owing to the excellent soil and climatic condi- tions, and which has made wealthy men of many coming after him, and millionaires of some. It is sad to contemplate, therefore, that all of Dr. Headen's family are now deceased save one daughter, Thomas- ine, the wife of L. H. Albertson, who resides with her husband on the old place. The sequoias, now very large, are among the most imposing, if silent testimonials to the master mind and godly heart once so eloquently active here. Thousands pass by the place daily on their way to and from San Fran- cisco who enjoy the benefits of Dr. Headen's work. which thus still lives on in the lives of others, a delightful expression of scenic beauty, as it is still one of the most stately country homes in or near Santa Clara.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 95

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