Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California, Part 45

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 45

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Mr. Schemmel is a man naturally independent in his political ideas and affiliations.

OHN A. WETMORE, one of those who is making noteworthy improvements in Santa Clara County, is a native of Brownville, Jefferson County, New York, born September 19, 1834. He was reared there, and at the age of twenty started out in life for him- self. In 1855 he located at Portland, Dodge County, Wisconsin, and engaged in farming. In 1884 he went into Ashland County for the purpose of prospecting in the Gogebic mining region. He was for some time interested in the Ashland mine, and still has interests in the celebrated "Germania," and also property in Dane County, Wisconsin. In 1887 he came out to Santa Clara County. His wife was formerly Sarah M. Hayes, a native of Waterloo, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Mr. Wetmore has a ranch of 110 acres, near Eden Vale Station, on the Southern Pacific Rail- road. Of this, sixty-three acres are valley, and the remainder foot-hill and table land. That in the foot-hills is used for pasture, while, of the remain- der, twenty-five acres will be devoted to fruit. Al- ready he has planted 1,500 trees, as follows: Six varieties of apricots, nine of cherries, six of prunes, eight of pears, ten of peaches, nineteen of apples, seven of plums, two of figs, four of almonds, three of quinces, two of nectarines, three of pecans, five of table grapes, four of currants, besides English wal- nuts, English mulberries, and pomegranates. There are also 700 strawberry plants, 150 blackberries, and a small number of gooseberries. Mr. Wetmore has completed, in 1888, the erection of some of the most beautiful building improvements on the Monterey road. The residence is in Queen Anne style, and is forty-two by sixty-two feet in ground area, exclusive of verandas. There is a basement of six feet in height, and from this the studding rises twenty-six fect, while it is forty-eight feet to the highest point. The materials used in the construction are Oregon pine, California redwood, and Spanish cedar. A con- spicuous feature is the large and handsome vestibule, from which rises the elegantly finished main stairway of Spanish cedar. The grates and mantels are ele- gantly designed and carved. The architect was J. K .. Ericson, and he and B. Osen were the builders. The barn and tank-house, in one building, is also a hand- some structure. The cost of these improvements was

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about $11,000. Mr. Wetmore, the proprietor, is a veteran of the War of the Rebellion, and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

ARTIN ANDREW LASETTE, who is in charge of the carpenter work of the great Stan- ford University buildings, is a native of West- chester County, New York, born on the 16th of November, 1846, his parents being Michael Henry and Honour Lasette. His father was a builder in early life, but afterward gave up that occupation and became a farmer. The subject of this sketch was reared to the age of ten years in Westchester County, when he removed into the city of New York, and there learned the trade of carpenter. He resided in the metropolis until 1865, when he went to New Or- leans and engaged in business as a master builder, and so continued for two years and a half. He then returned to New York city, where he was engaged in the same business until 1873, in which year he removed to California, and located at San Francisco, eventually embarking in business there as a contractor and builder. August 27, 1887, he assumed the position of foreman of carpenter work on the University buildings. For this position his long career as a master builder makes him a valuable man. About thirty men are employed in his department of the work, but the force will be increased as the buildings progress. Mr. Lasette is a member of a San Fran- cisco Lodge of the A. O. U. W.

İ ILLIAM E. SPENCER, of Fremont Township, is a native of Philadelphia, born June 27, 1842, his parents being Edmund and Ellen (Munson) Spencer. William E. was reared to the age of fifteen years in his native city, attending the primary school, corner of Thirteenth and Race Streets, and at Reed Street and Schuylkill Schools. At the age of fifteen he left Philadelphia and went to Iowa, locating at Cedar Falls, in Blackhawk County. In 1861 he crossed the plains to Virginia City, Nevada, and fol- lowed teaming in that vicinity until 1864, when he came to California. He managed the Inego ranch for six years. He then bought a place in the Cala-

veras Hills. Here he remained for a year and a half, then sold out and went to the city, where he was en- gaged for nearly three years as a carpenter. He then came to Santa Clara County, where he continued in the building trade. He bought thirty-five and three-fourths acres in 1886, where he now resides, on the San Francisco and San Jose road, between May- field and Mountain View, and at once commenced its improvement, so that it now gives promise of be- coming one of the most handsome places in this beautiful neighborhood. He has planted about twelve acres in fruit, one-half of that amount having been planted in 1887, and the remainder in 1888. The trees are principally Silver and French prunes, with some peaches, apricots, nuts, etc. All the improve- ments, and there are many, have been made since the present proprietor came into possession. He had previously, however, improved a place near Santa Clara.

Mr. Spencer was married in this county, to Miss Ella Connell, a native of Massachusetts. They were the parents of six children, of whom one, Josephine, is deceased. Those living are: William, Agnes, Benjamin, Herbert, and Edward. Politically, Mr. Spencer is independent, forming his judgment after principles are enunciated and candidates placed in nomination for official position.

R. BENJAMIN CORY, whose residence is No. 435 South Second Street, and whose office is at No. 97 South First Street, San Jose, is a living witness of the wonderful transformation which California and the Santa Clara Valley, and indeed the whole Pacific Coast, has undergone since 1847. In that year, antedating even the Argonauts, he crossed the plains with the regulation ox team, and arrived in Portland, Oregon, in September, when the nucleus of that city consisted of a half-dozen houses. Not fancying the outlook, he took passage on the brig Henry for San Francisco, where he arrived in November, 1847. He there found that two physicians, Drs. Townsend and Fourgeaud, had already estab- lished themselves, and felt that the field was pretty fully occupied. Learning of the Pueblo de San Jose de Guadaloupe, he took passage on a small sail-boat which plied between San Francisco and Alviso, a trip at that time of twenty-four hours. There he found

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no houses, but met a young supercargo who had a lot of hides to be shipped to San Francisco by the sail- boat on which Dr. Cory had arrived. Through the interpretation of this young man, a Mexican was in- duced to carry the Doctor's books and baggage on his ox-cart and to hire him his horse for the ride to San Jose, to which point he and the young supercargo came. There being no physician at this town, and in fact no physician having located here up to that time, the subject of our sketch settled down and engaged in the practice of medicine, in which he has continued up to this time.

In the years 1848-9 Dr. Cory made two trips to the mines, remaining a few months each time. He was elected a member of the first State Legislature, which convened at San Jose, and which organized the ma- chinery of the State government. The district from which he was elected extended from Monterey to Martinez. In 1850 he was elected a member of the Common Council, holding that position from 1851 to 1855. He was elected a member of the Board of Education, which place he held for four years. In 1872 he was appointed by Governor Booth, Trustee of the State Normal School, which place he held for ten years.

Dr. Cory was born in Oxford, Ohio, November 17, 1822. He attended the common schools of Oxford up to the age of fifteen years. He then entered the Miami University, graduating there in the classical course at the age of twenty years, receiving, in 1842, the degree of Master of Arts. He commenced the study of medicine under his father, Dr. James M. Cory, of Oxford, Ohio, attending later the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati, where he graduated in the spring of 1845. He practiecd medicine for two ycars with his father, and then emigrated west to the Pacific Coast. He was married in 1853 to Miss Sarah A. Braly, a native of Missouri, who crossed the plains in 1847 with her parents, Rev. John E. and Susanna (1lyde) Braly. Dr. and Mrs. Cory have eight living children: John B., now engaged in fruit-raising at Vacaville and at Lodi, California; Elizabeth, the wife of Dr. H. C. Lcdyard, now residing in Constantinople; Mary, the wife of Dr. F. K. Ledyard, of San Jose; Louis L., now practicing law in Fresno, California; Susanna, Hattic, Edith, and Sallie. Dr. Cory is a member of Howard Royal Arch Chapter, No. 14, and Blue Lodge, No. 10, F. and A. M. He has always been a consistent Republican, having voted and worked for the election of Fremont in 1856. His family is of Scotch descent. There is no need to

mention here, where Dr. Cory is so well known in his private and professional capacities, the great esteem in which he is held by people of every degree. The book of his life has been an open one, admired and esteemed by all who glance through its pages.

AMBERT DORNBERGER, of Mayfield, was a resident of Mayfield when this valley was but sparsely populated, and improvements on a large scale had not been thought of. He is a native of Alsace, born near Strasburg, April 3, 1828, his parents being George and Catherine (Wanzel) Dornberger. His father, who was a farmer, died when Lambert was but five years old. His mother died June 18, 1869, aged nearly seventy-three years. Lambert Dornberger was reared in Alsace to rural life. At the age of thirteen he commenced the shoemaker's trade, but gave it up after an experience of two and a half years. He engaged in dairying and was at the head of a dairy of one hundred cows. He excelled in the business, and received from the Government for finest dairying a silver medal and five hundred francs. He left the home of his youth June 9, 1850, went to Havre, and took passage on the sail-ship Marado, bound for New York, at which port he ar- rived after a voyage of forty days. He went at once to West Point, where he remained two and a half years.

On the fourth of November, 1852, he took passage on the steamer Georgia, New York to Aspinwall, thence overland to Panama, and from there to San Francisco, where he arrived December 6. He had acquired the Panama fever en route, and remained in the city sick therefrom for some time. Early in 1854 he came to Santa Clara County, and bought a squat- ter's right to a piece of land near Mayfield. In 1857 he gave up this right, owing to litigation, and bought a squatter's claim to government land in the mount- ains along the line between Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. He set about improving the place, and was soon engaged in his old business of dairying. In 1862 he began to devote more attention to general farming, and this, with stock-raising, was his occupa- tion until November, 1869, when he removed to May- field, having bought land where he now resides; and all the handsome improvements about the place have been made since that time, In this place there are

1371 cadero

1, Avenue Leading to Residence.

RESIDENCE OF THE LATE BENJ. F. HEADEN (Santa Clara).

2, Old Oaks Drive.

3, Residence.

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some forty-eight acres, but his extensive mountain ranch contains one thousand two hundred acres.

Mr. Dornberger was married in San Francisco, September 10, 1861, to Miss Anna Kleinclaus, a na- tive of Alsace, and daughter of Michel and Mary (Remer) Kleinclaus. They have seven children, viz .: Eugene, who is on the mountain ranch; Gustave, Al- bert, Victor, Julia, George, and Edward. Mr. Dorn- berger is politically a Democrat.

R. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HEADEN, the son of Joseph and Mary Headen, was born in Virginia, November 24, 1813. His parents moved to Kentucky, where most of his youth was passed, in Shelby County, that State. The village in which they lived, Headenville, was named in honor of his father, Joseph Headen, who was a man greatly re- spected for his integrity and piety. A chapel which he built in the village also bears the name of Headen Chapel. Deciding to educate himself for the medical profession, Dr. Headen took a course in the Worth- ington Medical College, Ohio, at which he was gradu- ated with high honors, in May, 1837. He went to Indiana, opened an office, and commenced the prac- tice of his profession the same year. In January of the following year he married, and continued his practice of medicine in Indiana until 1852, when he came with his family across the plains to California, arriving in the Santa Clara Valley in October. He bought a tract of sixty-one acres just outside the town of Santa Clara, and at once began to improve it, by erecting a house for his family. The rainy season came on, and the building materials being very scarce and hard to procure, many difficulties were experi- enced in accomplishing this task. This done, the Doctor next turned his attention to clearing off the land and preparing it for cultivation. It was in a state of nature, untouched by the hand of man, and covered with a forest of mustard so high that in hunting for his cattle the Doctor had to stand on the back of one ox to enable him to find the others! But despite the obstacles, the work of improving pro- gressed. Flower seeds, many of which were car- ried across the plains in the Doctor's pockets, were planted, young trees were brought from the mount- ains in little sacks of earth and set out, and soon " the wilderness began to blossom as the rose," under the deft hand and good taste of Dr. Headen. The

land was rapidly brought under cultivation, first to the cereals, then largely to strawberries and other small fruits, and later to orchard and vineyard, of the choicest varieties of fruits.

In March, 1853, Dr. Headen was elected one of the Trustees of the University of the Pacific, then a young and struggling institution. It soon became the idol of his heart, and he devoted much of his time and labor to it for about twenty years, in that official capacity. Many of these years he was Secre- tary of the Board, and during the time of the erec- tion of the main college building he was Treasurer. From the time he settled in this valley, Dr. Headen was a faithful and. consistent member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, of which he was Steward and Trustee. He passed from this life to the reward be- yond, on the twenty-eighth of August, 1875, and his remains were buried according to the ceremonial of the Masonic Order, of which he was a member. He left the widow, a son, and three daughters, to mourn their sore bereavement. Since the Doctor's decease, Mrs. Headen has occupied the splendid homestead, one of the most beautiful in the valley, and now within the town limits, and has successfully managed the or- chard and vineyard, realizing a fine income therefrom. More than one first prize has been won by the prod- uct of her trees and vines. The vineyard consists of the choicest varieties of table grapes-Muscats, To- kays, and others. Three years ago Mrs. Headen sold the crop of grapes on a little over six acres, on the vines, for $2,500. As high as ten tons to the acre have been produced; and from a single plum tree of the Washington variety she gathered one year nine hundred pounds of fruit !

EDWARD N. PARR is a native of Santa Clara County and a descendant of one of California's earliest pioneers. He was born on the Laurel Wood Farm, near Santa Clara, March 27, 1852, being the son of Jonathan and Eliza (Lowe) Parr, natives of England, who emigrated to the United States and settled in Lee County, Iowa. In 1846 his parents came across the plains to California, and lo- cated in Santa Clara County, taking up their residence at the place of his birth. In 1856 his father pur- chased a large tract of land on the Los Gatos Creek, about six miles south of Santa Clara, in Redwood Township, and there resided until his death, which oc-

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curred September 11, 1867. Mr. Parr's mother died August 6, 1866. His youth and early manhood were spent on his father's farm, where he became inured to the toil and life of a stockman as well as a farmer. For his education he was dependent upon the dis- trict schools. His father dying when he was less than sixteen years of age, threw additional care upon himself and brothers, which prevented the consum- mation of such educational designs as had been con- templated. After the death of his father he received his portion of the landed estate, amounting to four hundred and forty-four acres.

September 11, 1872, Mr. Parr married Miss Vir- ginia Johnson, who was born in San Jose, January 9, 1853. She was the daughter of Archibald and Mary (Little) Johnson, who were natives of Virginia, and among the California pioneers of '49, locating in Santa Clara County in 1852. From the date of Mr. Parr's taking possession of his portion of the estate of his father, until 1887, he was engaged in conduct- ing his extensive farm operations and stock-raising. During this time his lands had given him an abun- dant yield and increased in value. In the latter year he sold three hundred and fifteen acres, retaining one hundred and twenty-five acres of the northern por- tion of the old homestead, after which he purchased fifteen acres of land on the Santa Clara and Santa Cruz road, about five miles south of Santa Clara, and connecting by private roadway with his farm lands. This he has planted in orchard, principally with French prunes and apricots, but has also a full variety of fruit for family use. He has erected at this place a substantial and well-ordered residence of modern architectural design, which presents an attractive ap- pearance.

Mr. Parr is well known throughout his section of the county. He is an intelligent, energetic, and pub- lic-spirited citizen, one who gains and holds the re- spect of the community in which he resides. He is a consistent member of the Methodist Church, South. He is associated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen, being a member of Los Gatos Lodge, No. 76. He is also a member of Ridgely Lodge, No. 294, I. O. O. F., of Los Gatos. In politics Mr. Parr is Democratic, but is conservative in his views. He has served as School Trustee in the Cambrian School Dis- trict for six years. From the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Parr there are four children, viz .: Edward Lester, born August 25, 1873; Edna Lulu, December 25, 1877; Charles Earl, December 5, 1879; and Hazel Virginia, January 9, 1883.

ON. A. B. HUNTER is one of the old " Forty- niners " on the Pacific Coast, and has resided in Santa Clara County since 1851, except a few months spent in the mines on Feather River, Butte County, in the summer of 1852. Mr. Hunter is a Virginian by nativity, born in Augusta County, in 1826. When a small child, his parents removed to Missouri, where he grew to manhood, with such educational advantages as that then frontier States afforded. Mr. Hunter was among the first to cross the plains after the discovery of gold in California, in search of the coveted yellow dust. On arriving he at once went into the mines on Feather River, and there spent the rest of 1849 and a part of 1850.

In the fall of the latter year he went to what is now the American Valley, and, being one of the first to sct- tle there, he started a stock ranch, naming it the American Ranch, a title which was afterward given to the valley. In company with several others, Mr. Hunter opened a hotel and general supply and pro- vision store, known as a "trading post." Owing to a severe illness, from which he was not expected fully to recover, Mr. Hunter sold his interest in the business in the fall of 1851, being carried and hauled out of the valley, expecting to go to the Sandwich Islands for his health. He came to Santa Clara County to visit some of his friends before his departure, and while here recovered so rapidly that he abandoned the projected trip and remained in this valley. So well has this climate of the Pacific agreed with him that he has never had a day's sickness since.

After regaining his health, Mr. Hunter spent the summer of 1852 in the mines, as before stated, then returned to Santa Clara County, and, in partnership with another gentleman, engaged in the live-stock business. Their custom was to go out on the plains and buy stock which was thin in flesh, bring it into the valley and fatten it up, and then sell it in the San Francisco market. In 1855 Mr. Hunter purchased a farm, which he still owns, near where Lawrence Station now is, married, and settled down to farm life. Here he resided till 1883, when he removed with his family to San Jose. During the latter years of his residence on the farm, Mr. Hunter paid considerable attention to the culture of strawberries, having ten or twelve acres, the average product being $300 per acre, and the cost of cultivation and harvesting about half that sum.

In 1882 Mr. Hunter was elected to the State Leg- islature on the Democratic ticket, and filled the office two terms. In the spring of 1888 he was elected a

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member of the City Council, in the Second Ward, and is still serving in that body. He retired from active business when he left the farm. Mrs. Hunter's maiden name was Rutledge. She was born in Vir- ginia, but came to California when quite young. Her parents are residents of Santa Clara County. Mr. and Mrs. Hunter have had five children, two sons and two daughters living. One son was accidentally killed by falling lumber in a yard in San Jose in 1881.

EV. CLEMENT E. BABB, D. D. In the Il- lustrated Pacific States of May 5, 1888, there appeared an article from the pen of one of our most gifted writers, one who has delighted thou- sands by her beautiful word pictures, both in verse and prose, of California scenes and of subjects weight- ier and not less interesting. The article is headed " Laurel Ranch," and it describes the pleasant, leafy home, and gives the life history, of one of Santa Clara County's most honored citizens, Dr. Clement E. Babb. The writer of this history only regrets th it he cannot incorporate the account entire, and shall make no apology for borrowing wherever possible the thought, and even the very words, of that brilliantly written page.

"Laurel Ranch" is the typical home of retired comfort and of cultured ease, yet not the retirement of idleness, but rather the change from one active em- ployment to another that leads one closer to nature in her gentler and more charming moods. The ranch is a compact body of 235 acres of land, covering some of the low foot-hills that fringe the base of Mount Hamilton, and by its succession of hill and vale it affords innumerable pleasant prospects and de- lightful sheltered nooks. In one of these, a tiny, nest- like valley, rests a flower-surrounded cottage, almost completely engirdled with orchard and vineyard hill- slopes, and having a knoll of considerable height cov- ered with a growth of forest trees, while the home itself is amid a tropical grove of pepper trees and palms. It is situated at the head of Fleming Avenue, in the Mount Pleasant School District, at an easy drive of five miles from San Jose. Of the ranch, 100 acres are in orchard, of which forty are in apricots, twenty-five in almonds, fifteen in peaches, ten in French prunes, ten in olives, and ten in apples, pears, plums, persimmons, oranges, figs, and walnut trees, be- sides two acres in table grapes, The rest of the land

is devoted to hay and the pasturage of stock. Of these the Doctor has about twenty-five head, and is devoting himself to the improvement of the grade, especially in horses.

Dr. Babb was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, on August 19, 1821, the son of John P. and Mary (Shriner) Babb, both natives of that State, but of German extraction. The ancestors of the family came over as members of the Penn Company, and from that time were identified with the country of their adoption. Dr. Babb's grandfather was a sol- dier in the Revolutionary War, while his father com- inanded a company in the War of 1812. His father was an architect and builder, a man of energy and ability, a sample of whose substantial work still re- mains in the noted Columbia Railroad bridge, across the Schuylkill, near Philadelphia. He also con- structed the dam for the Lynchburg (Virginia) water works. The son graduated at Dickinson Col- lege, Pennsylvania, at nineteen, and at the Dickinson Law School two years later. He practiced law in Hills- dale, Michigan, for three years. Then, determining to leave the bar for the pulpit, he studied theology at the Union Seminary, New York, and also at Lane Seminary, Cincinnati. While yet in the seminary, he was called to preach in the First Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, in the pulpit just made va- cant by the removal of Henry Ward Beecher to Brooklyn. Here he met with warm appreciation. After his ordination he was elected their pastor, and for five years held that important office. Those who knew him at that time speak of his ministry as char- acterized by remarkable zeal and devotion, and his preaching as eloquent, forcible, and persuasive. But he was of slender habit, and his overtaxed voice gave way so completely that for years he was entirely un- fit for public speaking. He now gave his attention to . journalism, and directly became editor of the Chris- tian Herald, of Cincinnati, the principal organ of the Presbyterian Church west of New York. For seven- teen successive years he was elected to the editorship of this paper by the Synods having it in charge, and when, after the union of the Old and New School branches of the Presbyterian Church, the Herald was consolidated with the Presbyter, he continued his work as associate editor of the new paper.

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Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California, Part 45

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