Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California, Part 120

Author: Foote, Horace S., ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844

USA > California > Santa Clara County > Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California > Part 120

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for about twelve years, making more than one-half of his adult life devoted as a member of Boards of Education, and interested in that cause.

He was married, in 1859, to Miss Laura A. Derby, a native of Massachusetts, who came to California with her parents in the early '50s. They have two sons : William Lewis, now managing the home ranch, called the Maverne Farm; Charles Millard, now as- sociated with his father in business.

Mr. Erkson is a member of Triumph Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of San Jose, also member of the Uniform Rank of that organization.

His parents were William and Eliza (Millard) Erk- son, natives of New York State. His mother's is an old New England family of English descent. His father's family dates back to the time of the Revolu- tion, being of the Mohawk Dutch stock, originally from Holland.

RA P. CLARKE, one of those who has done much to develop new industries, and thus demonstrate the great and varied capabilities of this region, is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, a man of originality, enterprise, and push, who does not feel it incumbent upon him to follow in the old and worn grooves in which the first comers here moved so many years. His ranch, of forty-seven acres, occupies a picturesque location, and is distant from Mayfield about two and a half miles by the county road. He has the most complete chicken farm on the Pacific Coast, white leghorns being his principal fancy, though he breeds simply for egg qualities. His hatchery has a capacity of 5,000 eggs per month, while the brooding department has a capacity for turning out 4,500 chicks in one month. This busi- ness is one which requires much experience and at- tention, and a slight difference in these respects means either a profit or loss of hundreds of dollars in a very short time. He has now brought this department of his business to such a state of perfection that it has become the source of a large and steady income. He has five acres in orchard, and raises a variety of fruit for family use. Another important feature of this place is the strawberry industry. He has ten acres of land planted to this luscious fruit, and during the first ycar of the growth of the vines, raises onions between the rows. Besides supplying the family table, he sold enough from this tract to average $800 per acre. This fact alone demonstrates the ability in manage- ment, and the care and attention bestowed. For ir-

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rigating purposes he has an engine of four-horse power, which pumps 250 gallons of water per minute and uses 1,800 feet of flume.

Mr. Clarke is a native of Canada, born at Brighton, Northumberland County, June 12, 1850, his parents being Robert C. and Jane (Powers) Clarke. At the age of sixteen years he went to Elkhart, Indiana, and in 1866 commenced railroading on the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad, now the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. One year later he removed to Shelbina, Missouri, an } entered the employ of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, in which he continued until 1872, when he went upon the Wabash road. In 1877 he removed to Carson, Nevada, and was for five years on the Virginia City and Truckee Railroad. He then came to California, and railroaded on the Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge and on the Central Pacific, until coming to his present location, in 1883. It had long been his desire to enter into his present business, and he experimented for a time in San Francisco, at chicken-raising, previous to coming to Santa Clara County.

Mr. Clarke was married, in San Rafael, to Miss Catherine F. Howe, a native of Madison, Wisconsin. They have one child, Ira Howe Clarke. Mr. Clarke is a member of the United Order of Honor at San Fran- cisco. In politics he is a Republican.

ETER G. KEITH, one of the pioneers of the Hamilton District, dates his birth in Morgan County, Ohio, February 8, 1824. He is the son of Lewis and Mary (Spencer) Keith. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, of Dutch descent. His grandfather, Peter Keith, fought in the Revolu- tionary War. His great-grandfather, the founder of the family in America, was an emigrant from Holland. The mother of the subject of our sketch died while he was a babe. His father became a pioneer of La Porte County, Indiana, where he settled as long ago as 1833. There Peter G. Keith grew to manhood, spending his youth in attending school, and in hard, laborious work, in improving the family homestead. Upon reaching manhood he married, in that county, March 10, 1846, Miss Sarah J. Thornton. Four years from the day that Mr. Keith was married, he left his family in Indiana, and made the toilsome journey across the plains to this State. More than one year was spent in mining on the Middle Fork of the American River. In the autumn of 1851 he came to

Santa Clara County, and the following winter he bought a squatter title to the property he now owns and occupies-180 acres fronting on the Santa Clara road, in the Hamilton District. Hamilton Avenue passes directly through his farm. Mrs. Keith joined her husband, in 1852, soon after the purchase of his Hamilton property, coming to California via Panama. Eighteen years were spent by himself and his neighbors in fighting, in the courts, claimants under Mexican grants. They finally won their case, and the land was then purchased from the United States Govern- ment. Mr. Keith has given almost his entire atten- tion to the production of grain and hay. He has, however, a bearing orchard of about three acres, and also about eight acres of young trees.

Mr. Keith suffered the loss of his wife, who died at the age of sixty-four years. She was the mother of eight children, of whom but three are now living. Her first child, William L., died in infancy, in Indi- ana. Flavius V., also born in La Porte, Indiana, now resides in San Diego. The other children were born in this county. Wilmar L. died in his eighteenth year, and Carlton W. in his twenty-second year. Parker W: lives in his father's neighborhood. Rich- ard L. died in his eighteenth year. Austin H. resides in San Jose. Walter H. died in infancy. Mrs. Keith was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Indiana, as was also her husband. Mr. Keith was married, the second time, May 26, 1886, to Mrs. Adra A. Eaton, a daughter of A. C. Lawrence, one of Santa Clara County's most prominent pioneers. Lawrence Station was named for him.

The energy which led Mr. Keith to make the journey to California, and open a-farm at so early a day, has characterized his conduct in all his business efforts. He has worked his way to his present posi- tion as the prosperous owner of a valuable farm, by hard labor, passing through the many discourage- ments which were inseparable from the undertaking which he engaged in thirty-five years ago.

ILLIAM F. PERKINS. The father of the subject of this sketch, Elisha K. Perkins, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, January 28, 1816. After leaving school he learned the cooper's trade, and for a number of years was con- nected with the cooperage on the India wharf in Boston, where he prosecuted his business during the active part of his life up to eight or ten years ago.

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PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

His wife, whom he married in May, 1840, was Caro- line Hosea, who was born in Boston, September 10, 1819, and was educated at the schools of that city, where she has always lived within five miles of her birthplace. Eight children were born to them, five daughters and three sons, of whom two of the girls died when very young.

William F. Perkins, the oldest child, was born in Boston, April 9, 1841. He attended the public schools of Boston, and graduated at the English High School in 1854, receiving the Franklin medal as a reward of honor. After completing his studies, he entered the wholesale grocery store of Levi Bart- lett & Co., where he remained in their employ until 1862. He then was employed by the United States Government as sutler, and remained in this capacity until the close of the war. From there he went to St. Louis, Missouri, after which he went into partner- ship with Thomas Wright in the wholesale and retail cigar and tobacco business, being at that time one of the largest firms in St. Louis. They had three large stores, located in the best parts of the city.

In September, 1870, he was married to Zilpha A., only daughter of Hiram K. Towle, by his first wife. Mr. Towle was an old-time citizen of Boston, who for many years carried on the business of contractor and builder. In July, 1871, he and his wife went East to visit relatives, which resulted in Mrs. Perkins remain- ing at Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, with her father- in-law, while .Mr. Perkins returned to St. Louis and sold out his half interest in the business to his part- ner, and returned to Boston, arriving there the day of the first anniversary of his marriage. He bought property in West Somerville, Massachusetts, and while living there got the California fever, and came to Los Angeles with the intention of buying an or- ange grove. Before locating there, however, he re- turned to West Somerville and made all arrangements to return to this State, which he did, arriving here on board the steamer Montana, July 20, 1873. They traveled over the State considerably, and finally lo- cated in Petaluma. After living there for a while they sold their property, and in 1880 located in Mount- ain View, where they own one of the finest vineyards in this section of the valley. The place is called Bay View Vineyard, and consists of twenty acres set out to the following varieties, viz .: 4,331 Charbon- neau, 1,250 Black Burgundy, 5,960 Trousseau, 100 Carignane, 500 Muscat Alexandre, and 60 vines of old Mission that were planted in 1860, and yield about five tons of grapes each year, some of the

bunches weighing as high as five pounds. There will also be set out this year about ten acres in prunes, and the same amount in apricots. The place is beau- tifully situated on the San Francisco and San Jose road, and everything about it denotes thrift and en- terprise.

Mr. Perkins is a Free Mason in high standing, be- longing to the Beacon Lodge, No. 3, of St. Louis, the Bellefontaine Chapter, No. 25, and the St. Louis Commandery, No. I, K. T., but since has affiliated with the Colorado Commandery of Denver. He is connected with the Denver, Texas and Fort Worth Railroad, Pan Handle Route, and also is engaged in the cigar and tobacco business, with headquarters in Denver, Colorado.

OSEPH N. SPENCER, of the firm of Spencer & Covel, real-estate agents, No. 36 Santa Clara Street, is one of the pioneers in that business in San Jose, having engaged in it more than fifteen years ago. He was born and raised on his father's farm, of 160 acres, in Henry County, one and a half miles from Lewisville, Indiana, in 1824. His parents were R. L. and Mary (Nelson) Spencer, his father a native of Connecticut, and his mother of Cincinnati, Ohio. Mrs. Spencer's father was a native of England, who had settled in Cincinnati when there were but four houses there, one of them a block house, into which the families had occasionally to retire on ac- count of the Indians. The subject of this sketch re- ceived his education in a hewn-log school-house in Lewisville, Indiana, until the age of fourteen years, when the family removed to Louisville, Kentucky. From there they removed to Helena, Arkansas, where his father died from exposure incurred in rescuing passengers from the Sarah McFarlane, a steamboat sunk by the steamboat Danube, in 1839. The family then removed to a farm, which the subject of this sketch managed until he enlisted in the army for the Mexican War, in 1846. He now draws a Mexican War veteran pension, as a member of Company K, First Arkansas Cavalry. He was engaged in the battle of Buena Vista. Returning to Indiana, after the Mexican War, he there remained until 1856, when he came to California by way of Panama. He went at once to the Siskiyou mines, where he mined for four years. From there he came to Santa Clara County, in 1860, and engaged in farming, teaming, mercantile business, etc., until, in 1872, he engaged in

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

the real-estate business. In 1873 he sold a half- interest in his business to his present partner, in which they have continued up to the present time.

Mr. Spencer was married, in 1851, to Miss Cynthia Conway, a native of Indiana. They have had four children: Henry C., now resident of San Jose; Mary E., now deceased, the wife of A. N. Ranger, of San Jose; Emma, deceased, the wife of G. Borgstream, of San Francisco; Carnot R., now employed by Spencer & Covel. A granddaughter, Genevieve Ranger, now resides with Mr. Spencer, on the Alameda, near Stock- ton Avenue. He is President of the San Jose Gravel Mining Company, the mine being located in Nevada County.

Mr. Spencer is a member of the Garden City Lodge, No. 142, I. O. O. F .; also of the San Jose Council of the American Legion of Honor; is a Republican in politics, and in favor of tariff protection.

P. PONCE, of Mayfield, is a native of France, born near Marseilles, on the thirty-first of De- cember, 1848, his parents being Joseph and Mar- guerite (Blanchon) Ponce. He came, with his sisters, to America, in 1857, starting from Havre, and land- ing at San Francisco. After attending school in that city for two years he came to Santa Clara County. He learned the trade of blacksmith, with John Duch- esneau, commencing in 1869. In 1873 he started in business for himself, opening a shop in Mayfield, which he conducted until 1882, then rented it out and gave his entire attention to farming, until July 5, 1887, since which time he has been again con- ducting the shop at Mayfield.

Mr. Ponce has two farms. His home ranch, of fifty-four acres, is about midway between Mayfield and Mountain View, on the wagon road. He pur- chased this place in 1882, and commenced improving it then, and has put up all the present buildings. Their land was covered with brush when he went upon it. The greater portion of the place is devoted to hay-raising, good crops being produced. He has about an acre and a half in choice table and wine grapes, and a family orchard of about 100 trees of selected fruits. His other place is across the railroad, and consists of fifty-one acres. This is mainly used for pasture.

Mr. Ponce was married, in San Francisco, to Miss Julia Quere, a native of New York. They have three children: Ettiene, Juliette, and Adelina.

Mr. Ponce is a member of the I. O. O. F., and has been for many years a trustee of the local lodge. He has also passed through all the chairs, and been elected representative to Grand Lodge. In politics he is a Republican.

GEORGE C. BROWNE is a native of Ontario, Canada, and was born June 25, 1863. He is a son of S. D. and Eliza (Rounds) Browne, resi- dents of Vacaville, Solana County, California. He lived in Ontario until he was nearly nineteen years old, and received a good education at the high school of that city. When between the age of six- teen and seventeen years he commenced the study of the drug trade as an apprentice, and continued it in two different stores for two years and a half. He came to California in 1882, and located in Salinas, Monterey County, as a prescription clerk, in the drug- store of Dr. E. K. Abbott, where he remained five years and a half. In the fall of 1887 he came to Los Gatos and bought the drug-store of E. M. Brickey & Co. The store had recently been opened by the above-named firm, and had been running about one month, when the change of management was made to the present proprietor. Mr. Browne is a courteous and accommodating young business man, and is building up a fine trade in the community in which he resides. He has a neat and attractive store, and makes a specialty of handling pure drugs, together with a fine stock of stationery, books, and druggists' sundries.

DETER TOWNE, of Fremont Township, is a native of Maine, born in Oxford County, De- cember 25, 1834, his parents being Peter H. and Sallie (Kimball) Towne, both natives of Andover, Massachusetts, and of old New England families. The subject of this notice was reared at Norway, Oxford County, and on arriving at suitable age en- gaged in the business of collecting and shipping eggs to California, by water. In 1854 he came to the Pacific Coast, by the Nicaragua route, landing at San Francisco April 16, 1854. He went to Calaveras County, and was afterward engaged in mining at Camp Soco, Carson Creek, San Andreas, West Point, and other places, being fairly successful. On leaving the mines he went to San Francisco, and engaged in the commission business. Six months later he went

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PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

to San Mateo County, bought land at Woodside, farmed there eight years, then engaged in the manu- facture of shingles in the redwood mountains. He was in this business two years, then came to Mayfield, built a stable, and commenced the livery business, being the first liveryman to do business in the town. In 1880 he sold out, and moved upon the farm, of 500 acres, where he now resides, adjoining Mayfield. He is extensively engaged in hay and grain raising, preferring whcat for grain. His land turns out from fifteen to twenty-five sacks per acre. He cuts a large acreage of hay, as it finds a ready market, and he has splendid shipping facilities, being just between Clark's Landing and the Southern Pacific depot, and near both.

Mr. Towne was married, in Mayfield, March 26, 1867, to Miss Jennie Lee, a native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, whose father came out to the mines of California in 1849, the family joining him at San Juan, in 1854, the father of Mrs. Towne now living in Yavapai County, Arizona. Her mother died three weeks after coming to San Juan, having contracted the Panama fever on the way. Mr. and Mrs. Towne have two children, named Albert Lee and Frank Kendall.

Mr. Towne is a Republican, politically, and while in San Mateo County held the office of Supervisor. He was a charter member of the Mountain View Lodge, A. O. U. W., and filled several stations in the local lodge of A. F. and A. M.

ALENTINE KOCH, member of the firm of Kaiser & Koch, carriage and harness manu- facturers and dealers, Nos. 132-136 West Santa Clara Street, San Jose, was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1850, and there attended school until the age of fourteen years. In 1864 he started alone to America, where he has gradually worked his way up to his present position of social and business prominence. He remained three years in New York, where he learned the harness business, and then re- moved to California, settling in San Jose, in De- cember, 1867, where he has since continued to reside and do business. For thirteen years he worked for Mr. Stern in the harness business, and then engaged in business with his present associate, in which they have been very prosperous. They are now agents for the Columbus Buggy Company. He was married, in 1879, to Miss Mollie Liebenburg, of San Francisco.

They have two children, Edith and Albert. His parents were Valentine and Caroline (Klein) Koch, natives of Bavaria, where his father still lives, his mother dying there in 1885.

Mr. Koch has always been a public-spirited man, and active in matters of public interest. He was elected a member of the City Council in 1884, and again in 1886; has always supported the Republican party, and believes in a protective tariff. He is member of Friendship Lodge, No. 210, F. and A. M., and of Allemania Lodge, No. 178, I. O. O. F.

IMEON HOLLAND, one of the long resident citizens of Santa Clara County, is a native of England, born at Manchester, Lancashire, Oc- tober 22, 1830, his parents being Joseph and Mary (Wardell) Holland. His father was in early life a silk weaver.

Simeon was reared to the age of twenty years in Manchester, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the tailor's trade. In 1850 he went to Liverpool, and sailed thence in August for New York, where he arrived in the following month. He located at New Brunswick, New Jersey, and was engaged there for four years at his trade. In 1854 he went to New York city, and was employed in the wholesale cloth- ing trade and at merchant tailoring until April, 1859, when he sailed for California, by way of Panama. He arrived at San Francisco on May I, and soon came to Santa Clara County, locating at Berryessa, where he engaged in farming. He rented land until 1865, when he bought where he now resides. His 204 acres of land was a wild place, overrun with brush, but he at once set about making improve- ments. He still retains 125 acres, which he cultivates thoroughly. His principal crop is hay, made from wheat and wild oats, securing an average of two and one-half tons per acre. He sells his product mostly in the local market, though considerable is shipped to San Francisco. All his hay is baled, and he has two barns for storage, one with a capacity for 250 tons, the other from 60 to 75 tons. The barn, erected in 1886, is a modern structure, well built. Another recent improvement is the tank and tank-house, built in 1887, the water being drawn from a bored well, 67 feet deep. This supplies water for all purposes; and 600 feet of piping is used.

Mr. Holland has a family orchard and vegetable garden, with which he has been successful, and con-

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templates setting out a vineyard. He was married, at New Brunswick, New Jersey, in September, 1854, to Miss Anna Broadbent, a native of England, whose parents emigrated to the United States about 1840, when she was in her seventh year. They have five children, viz .: John William, in butcher business at Evergreen; Sarah Elizabeth, wife of A. B. McNeill, of McNeill Brothers, printers, San Jose; Joseph Henry, at home; Mary Catherine, wife of Alexander Kam- merer, of San Jose Township ; and Florence, at home. Mr. Holland is a member of the Unitarian Church, at San Jose, and has been connected with the congrega- tion since its organization, under the name of Unity Society. He is a Trustee of the present congrega- tion. He is also a Trustee of Evergreen School Dis- trict, having been elected in 1886. He had previously been a member of the Board of Trustees for fourteen consecutive years. He is a Republican politically, is an active worker, and has been several times on the County Committee. He has also been a delegate to many conventions.

R. F. WARD has a beautiful residence on Min- nesota Avenue, between Washington and Lin- coln Avenues, surrounded by two and a half acres, planted about an acre each in apricots and prunes, the rest devoted to a variety of fruits for family use, and the general surroundings of a refined home. He owns a fruit-drying establishment on Nor- thrup Street, near the Los Gatos bridge. The drier, for the sale of which Mr. Ward is also the resident agent, has a capacity of about four tons every twenty- four hours. There were dried there last year about 1,600 tons of green apricots, 500 tons of French prunes, about 800 tons of peaches, and fifty tons of assorted fruits. It is calculated that six tons of green fruit will make one of dried, three tons of gr en for one of dried prunes, eight tons of green for one of dried peaches. He rented the drier to the Garden City Preserving Company, superintending the work for them. He has an interest in fifty-five acres, which they have decided not to put into fruit. It will prob- ably be cut up into building lots.

Mr. Ward was born in Calais, Maine, in 1835, where he attended school and lived until his seventeenth year, when he removed, in 1852, to Minneapolis, Min- nesota, at that time part of the government reserva- tion of Fort Sully. He there learned the trade of car- penter, afterward being interested in contracting and building in Minneapolis. He left there for California,

April 30, 1871, locating immediately in the Willows, on the place he now owns, where he has lived since that time. Since his coming to California Mr. Ward has been principally engaged in buying and drying fruit. During 1873-74 he was one of the Board of Supervisors of this county.

He was married, in 1857, to Miss Elvira J. Canney, a native of New Hampshire, whose parents, James and Lois (Stevens) Canney, removed to Minneapolis in 1856. They have two children, viz .: Forrest S., born in 1858, still living with his parents, and inter- ested in fruit culture; and James W., born in 1861, now practicing medicine in San Francisco. The lat- ter attended school at Minneapolis, Minnesota, and at San Jose, California, where he graduated at the high school, at the age of thirteen years. He commenced studying medicine with his uncle, Dr. Canney, of San Jose, remaining with him for five years. He then at- tended lectures at the Hahnemann College, of New York, where he graduated after a two years' course. Remained as Resident Physician at the Hahnemann Hospital for two years, returning to San Francisco in 1886, entering into a practice now almost too exten- sive for the attention of one physician.

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Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California, Part 120

Author: Foote, Horace S., ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: Foote, Horace S., ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844