USA > California > Santa Cruz County > History of Santa Cruz County, California with Biographical Sketches > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
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tered the restaurant and secured the job. Ten days later he secured work as a pastry-baker on Kearney street, but twenty- four days after he went there the restaurant was burned. However, he soon found similar employment and in time re- ceived large pay.
Having been induced by Dr. Vandeburgh to go to Santa Cruz and engage in mercantile pursuits, Mr. Stoesser brought a stock of goods via the steamer Major Tompkins, March 10, 1853, and opened a store on Front street, near the old Santa Cruz house. At the end of a month he packed his goods in three wagons and started for Watsonville, where he arrived on the 10th of April. Three months later he bought the in- terest of his partner, Dr. Vandeburgh. After a time he built a residence next his store, but this he eventually removed to Rodriguez street. In 1873 he erected a double store building, two stories in height, and there he carried on a large business until his death. The profits of his business were wisely in- vested. In time he became the owner of stock in the Pajaro Valley Bank, also a valuable farm near town and valuable city property, including his modern residence on the corner of Third and Rodriguez streets. For years he was said to be the largest tax-payer in Watsonville and his extensive holdings were the result of his unaided exertions in a land far distant from the home of his birth.
Any office within the gift of the people of Watsonville would have been tendered to Mr. Stoesser had he been willing to accept, but with one exception he declined all official positions, the exception being the position of city treasurer, which he held for thirty years by successive re-elections, until finally he declined to serve longer in that capacity. The first fire de- partment in Watsonville was organized largely through his energetic efforts and he never ceased to be interested in the success of the department. For some years he served as
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vice-president of the Santa Cruz County Pioneers and al- ways he was warmly interested in that organization, but he never allowed his name to be presented for membership in any other society or fraternity. While still actively manag- ing his large enterprises he was taken ill and after an ill- ness of two weeks he passed away, May 18, 1902, leaving to mourn his loss his widow and their two children, Julia M. and Otto D. Mrs. Stoesser, prior to her marriage in 1861, had borne the name of Elizabeth J. Doran and was a daughter of Edward and Julia (O'Farrell) Doran.
Predominant among the characteristics of Mr. Stoesser was his warm interest in workingmen. This was in part due to his thoughtful disposition and in part to his own early strug- gles for a livelihood. His employes found him considerate and kind and a situation in his employ was said to mean "for life or during good behavior." As his means became larger his ability to aid the distressed and needy became corres- pondingly greater, and many a struggling soul owed to him practical help as well as words of encouragement. The busi- ness that owed its remarkable success to his capable over- sight continued unchanged for some time after his demise, but in May of 1905 it was incorporated with the firm of W. A. Speckens and the J. A. Baxter Company, under the title of the Pajaro Valley Mercantile Company, thus forming an organization of great financial strength. A general mercantile business is transacted at Nos. 327-329 Main street and Nos. 13-17-19 West Third street, Watsonville, and the modern merging of various interests will increase the usefulness of concerns planted by honored pioneers of our city.
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FRED W. MILLER.
If there is one characteristic noticeable in the native-born sons of California more than another it is their devotion to their commonwealth. Comparatively few seek homes in other parts of the world and the great majority remain in the midst of scenes familiar to their earliest recollections. This is no less applicable to Mr. Miller than it is to other Californians who have spent their entire lives within the limits of the state. Devotion to the commonwealth has been evidenced in his actions and he has exhibited the greatest faith in the fu- ture growth and prosperity of the state.
Mr. Miller was born in San Francisco in 1859, the son of parents who appreciated the value of good educational ad- vantages and the fact that they lived in the metropolis made it possible for them to give their son exceptional opportun- ities in this respect. His earlier training was in the Lincoln school of San Francisco, and later he took up a course in the University of California at Berkeley, graduating therefrom in 1878. When the time came for him to decide upon his busi- ness future he came to Boulder Creek, Santa Cruz county, and in Kings Creek valley he bought two hundred and ninety- three acres of mountain and valley land, four miles from town. This has been his home and the scene of his activities ever since, and it is needless to say that the passing years have witnessed many wonderful changes in this part of the country, due to the unremitting efforts of such enterprising ranchers as Mr. Miller. Here he has seventy acres in or- chard, planted to a fine variety of pears and apples, and he also has a vineyard of forty-five acres. The grapes are of the finest quality and produce a grade of wine which is un- excelled.
A marriage ceremony performed in Boulder Creek in 1882
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united the destinies of Fred W. Miller and Carrie B. Morrill, the latter also a native of the state. Three children, two sons and one daughter, have been born of this marriage, as follows: Casper B .; Adelia, a student in the University of California; and Robert. Mr. Miller finds pleasure and recre- ation in the gatherings of the two fraternal organizations of which he is a member, his name being on the membership roll of the local lodge of the Masons and Odd Fellows. One of Mr. Miller's strongest characteristics is faithfulness in what- ever he undertakes to do, and this is nowhere better exem- plified than in his vineyard and orchard, both of which are in a high state of cultivation and rank among the best in the valley.
WILLIAM OLIVER.
There are very few of the residents of Santa Cruz county whose identification with its ranching interests antedates that of William Oliver. In these days of change, when a restless spirit influences many to seek new locations or new avenues of commercial activity, it is significant of the quiet, home- loving disposition possessed by Mr. Oliver, that he has been content to remain at the same homestead for a period of fifty years. During this long period he has witnessed a re- markable transformation in the surrounding country. Towns have been founded, farms have been improved, large crops of fruit and grain have been raised, and the railroad has come with its splendid facilities for the shipment of the products of this favored locality. In all of this progress he has wrought with quiet, yet forceful industry, and his labors as a rancher have combined with the efforts of other resourceful men in the development of the locality, proving to the world its large capacity for production.
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If the mature years of Mr. Oliver have been characterized by quiet devotion to duty without change of location, his earlier days presented a marked contrast, for in that era of his life he traveled far and wide as a sailor on the high seas. The home of his childhood was in the southern border of Sweden, near the shores of the Baltic sea, and there he was born in 1829, the son of parents in humble circumstances. While still a mere lad he began to take up the burden of self-support and at the age of eighteen he went to sea as a sailor, which occupation he followed for seven years, mean- while visiting the principal ports of the world. When he heard of the discovery of gold in California he determined to come hither, but it was not until 1852 that he landed at San Francisco, having sailed from London by way of Australia. After an experience of one year in the mines of Tuolumne county, in 1853 he went to San Francisco and secured em- ployment along the water-front. Wages in those days were high. He was paid $6 per day, with $1 per hour for over- time. For two years he worked in the New Orleans ware- house, but at the expiration of that time he became eager to return to the mines.
After having engaged in mining for one year in the north- ern part of California around the Klamath river and for two years in the southern part of Oregon, Mr. Oliver re- turned to San Francisco, the richer for $5,000 in gold-dust. Desiring to wisely invest this amount, he came to Soquel, Santa Cruz county, in 1859, and bought the land out of which he has developed his present well-improved homestead, con- sisting of one hundred and fifty acres, mainly in hay and grain, with a bearing orchard of nine acres. His first mar- riage occurred in 1865, and after the death of his first wife he married the present Mrs. Oliver, in 1874. In his family there were only two children and both of these have estab-
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lished homes of their own. The daughter, Caroline E., is the wife of Horatio Angell and resides at Soquel. The son, Will- iam Henry, is a civil engineer by occupation. While Mr. Oliver has devoted his attention very closely to ranching and has had little leisure for participation in public affairs, he has ever been ready to give his enthusiastic co-operation to movements of undoubted value to the general welfare and he has likewise been interested in fraternal work as a member of the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
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