Santa Clara County
Biographies
CAPTAIN THOMAS B. ADAMS
CAPTAIN THOMAS B. ADAMS owns a five acre
orchard property on Race Street, on "Sansevain Villa" tract, in the Willow
District.
This place he bought and took possession of in February, 1885, the orchard
having just come into bearing at that time. The buildings and improvements have
all been made by Captain Adams. The fruit trees are now in a very thrifty
condition, and comprise white cherry, apricot, and egg plum trees in about
equal numbers. In the season of 1887 (the first year in which the orchard was in
full bearing), $1,000 was realized from the entire crop. In the same season, the
fruit from one-half of an acre of white cherry-trees was sold for $490. These
facts are mentioned to give an idea of the thriftiness of this young orchard.
The subject of our sketch was born in Washington County, Maine, in 1836. He
commenced a seafaring life as a sailor boy in the merchant marine, and from this
position was promoted rapidly, reaching the honorable position of master mariner
at the youthful age of twenty-two years. He has navigated every sea known to
commerce, and for over twenty years has been in the pacific trade.
At Eastport, Washington County, Maine, in 1865, he was united in marriage with
Miss Annie A. Chaloner, who was a native of Lubec of the same county. The family
home was established at Trescott, Washington County, and retained until, in
1873, they removed to Calais, Maine. There they resided for four years, when
they came to San Francisco, which city was their home until, as before stated,
they became residents of Santa Clara County.
The captain had visited this coast before 1875, in command of merchant vessels
from New York City. The last ship he sailed in the Atlantic merchant marine, the
Hesperus, was lost on the passage from St. Mary's, Georgia, to the Rio de la
Plata. Clearing from St. Mary's March 9, 1875, she encountered a gale in
mid-ocean, and foundered, though kept afloat by the most strenuous exertion on
the part of the captain and his crew. She was abandoned 350 miles north of the
Bermuda Islands, the crew being rescued by an Australian bound vessel, and later
transferred to a Norwegian steamer. This vessel landed them at Havre, France,
whence by a sail vessel they reached New York. By this misfortune Captain Adams
was quite a heavy loser, being impoverished to the extent of $8,000. It caused
not only financial trouble, for the great mental strain, the suffering, and
responsibility, brought the first gray hairs to his head. Soon after, the
captain, in obedience to a summons by telegraph, came overland to San Francisco,
and took command of the W. C. Parks, a vessel in the Honolulu trade. Since that
date he has sailed as master of different vessels in coasting and foreign trade
from San Francisco, and thus called the Pacific Coast his home for two years
before he brought his family from the East.
Captain Adams enjoys the reputation of being one of the most successful ship
masters living, and has always had the confidence of his employers. Though he
has a home where life can well be passed pleasantly, his long life on the ocean
has weaned him from the plodding one of a landsman. His seasons for rest and
recruiting his energies are spent in his pleasant home, but his vocation is
still that of a thorough seafaring man. His only child, Annie Louise, born in
September, 1868, is yet at her parental home.
Captain Adams is identified with the Republican party. He is interested in the
Masonic fraternity, being a member of Washington Lodge, F. & A. M., of Lubec,
Maine.
SOURCE: Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County,
California, Illustrated. - Edited by H.S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing
Company, 1888.- transcribed by Roena Wilson
ABRAM AGNEW
Among the many fine farms of Santa Clara
County, mention must be made of that owned by the subject of this sketch. It
contains 115 acres of productive land, situated at Agnew Station, on the South
Pacific Coast Railway, three miles north of Santa Clara. Twenty-five acres of
the ranch are devoted to the cultivation of strawberries, Longworth, Sharpless,
and Cheney being the principal varieties. Two acres are given to the production
of raspberries, while six acres are in fruit-trees, the products of which are
apples, pears, peaches, prunes, and quinces. Ten acres are covered with alfalfa,
forty-five acres yield grain and hay, and the remainder of the farm is devoted
to the pasturage of the fourteen dairy cows and other stock. Four artesian wells
furnish an abundance of water for irrigation, for domestic uses, and stock,
while the surplus is utilized in supplying a pond, one acre in extent, which is
stocked with carp.
Mr. Agnew is a native of Knox County, Ohio, where he was born January 1, 1820.
His parents, Jonathan and Mary (Prather) Agnew, were natives of Pennsylvania,
whence they emigrated, in 1812, to the county of his birth, being among the
earliest settlers of that section of Ohio. He was reared to farm labor,
receiving such schooling as was afforded by the schools of that date in pioneer
settlements. When eighteen years of age he went to Fredericktown, Ohio, where he
apprenticed himself to a blacksmith. After becoming master of the trade he
remained in the same employ, as a journeyman, until 1845, when he removed to
Beardstown, Cass County, Illinois, where he worked at his trade for about a
year. His health then failing him, he was advised by his physician to seek its
restoration by travel, and he started, in the spring of 1846, across the plains
for Oregon. Upon his arrival there he located in Yam Hill County, engaging in
the only work which he could find at the time,---that of rail-splitting. He
remained in Oregon but a short time, starting overland for his Ohio home, in
June, 1847. At St. Joseph, Missouri, he stopped and worked at his trade until
the next year, when he continued his journey to Ohio, where he remained until
March, 1850.
At that time he began his third overland trip, this time directing his course to
California, where he arrived in August of the same year. He immediately
commenced work in the mines of El Dorado County, afterward engaging in the same
occupation in Placer County. Thus the time was spent until 1852, in which year
he returned to work at his trade, establishing a blacksmith shop in the mining
town of Yankee Jim, in Placer County. This undertaking he successfully
conducted, in company with a partner, until 1855. During this time (in 1853),
leaving the business in charge of his partner, he again returned to Ohio, this
time choosing the Isthmus route. In the fall of that year he went to Iowa, and,
purchasing there a drove of cattle, started them across the continent. He
arrived in Sacramento Valley, after a long and tedious journey, in August, 1854,
and placed his cattle on a ranch in Yolo County, which he had previously taken
up. Until the sale of his cattle, in the fall of 1856, he devoted his time to
their care, as well as to other business interests. On disposing of his stock he
closed up his other business affairs, and, in 1857, again returned East,
locating in Mahaska County, Iowa, where he engaged in the occupation of farming.
There he remained for several years, with the exception of part of each year of
1860-61, spent in Colorado, caring for stock and working at his trade.
He returned, in 1874, to his old home in Ohio, and after a short visit turned
his face westward once more, with the expectation of making California a
permanent home. With this in view he established his home in the lovely and
fertile Santa Clara Valley, on the farm described at the beginning of our
sketch. Mr. Agnew is a man of the energetic and restless qualities which
characterize the pioneers of our country, and he also possesses the intelligence
and the interest in public affairs which are necessary qualities of the good
citizen. As such he is an esteemed member of the community. After spending so
much of his active life in travel, and in change of occupation and residence, he
is the better fitted to enjoy the comparative quiet of a life in his pleasant
home in one of the loveliest spots on the earth. Politically, Mr. Agnew is a
Democrat, of conservative and liberal views. He is a member of the Patrons of
Husbandry, and is identified with San Jose Grange, No. 10.
He was united in marriage, at Fredericktown, Ohio, by Rev. Mr. Farris, in 1853,
with miss Sarah J. Barber, daughter of Jesse Barber, of Knox County, Ohio. From
this Marriage three children were born, viz.: Hugh C., who resides on the old
homestead; Lizzie, the wife of George Smith, of Santa Clara, at which place they
reside; and Jesse B., a resident of Tulare County, California.
SOURCE: Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County,
California, Illustrated. - Edited by H.S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing
Company, 1888.- page 445-446 transcribed by Roena Wilson