Santa Clara County
Biographies
RICHARD ATKINSON
New Almaden Mine Engineer
Uvas Canyon Family -Founders of the Uvas School 1875
Santa Clara County
SURNAMES: Gallagher, Daly
An esteemed and worthy pioneer of Santa Clara County was Richard Atkinson, a
native of England, born in Chester County on May 10, 1837. He came to America
while still a young man and was engaged in farming on the Tarpy Rancho on the
coast below Monterey, and in the early '60s removed to the New Almaden Mines,
where he was employed as engineer for many years, and his untimely death was
caused by injury received there. He passed away at the Atkinson home on Croy
Road, Uvas Canyon, October 1, 1875.
In 1862 Mr. Atkinson had married Miss Sarah Gallagher, a native of County Sligo,
Ireland, born August 19, 1839, who passed away November 16, 1918, at the family
home, After Mr. Atkinson's death the burden of proving up on the land fell on
the mother, but she was equal to the task, and on April 9, 1881, the family came
into clear and full possession of the 160 acres on the Croy Road. Mrs. Atkinson
also had the responsibility of rearing and education of three children: Sarah
died in childhood; Mary is now owner of the ranch; Josephine is the wife of
Philip Daly, and they are the parents of five children and reside at Mendota;
Richard J. is deceased. The children were educated in the Uvas district school,
of which Mrs. Atkinson was the founder, having given a portion of her ranch for
the establishment of the school in 1875, and she furnished part of the lumber,
while J. W. Week and Peter Bosset built the building.
Transcribed by Carolyn Feroben, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara
County, California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 940
NOTE- snipit from an article posted to the net on Wed, Sep. 25, 2002 regarding a
fire in the Uvas Canyon- San Jose Mercury News
150 descendants of Richard Atkinson, who was one of the first white settlers in
the Uvas Canyon in 1865, still own 160 acres along Uvas Creek. They include the
Fahrner, Boggs, Daly and Wermuth families, who use the property, with a baseball
diamond and volleyball court, as a summer camp.