Santa Clara County
Biographies
DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
HEADEN
Trustee of the University of the Pacific
DR. 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 respected 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 Worthington Medical College, Ohio, at which he was graduated with high
honors, in May, 1837. He went to Indiana, opened an office, and commenced the
practice 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 experienced 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 progressed. Flower
seeds, many of which were carried across the plains in the Doctor's pockets,
were planted, young trees were brought from the mountains 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 Secretary of the
Board, and during the time of the creation 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 Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he was Steward
and Trustee. He passed from this life to the reward beyond, 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 orchard and vineyard, realizing a fine income therefrom.
More than one prize has been won by the product of her trees and vines. The
vineyard consists of the choicest varieties of table grapes-- Muscats, Tokays,
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.
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 249 Transcribed by Carol Lackey
[ed. note: The granddaughter of Dr. Headen, Lois Headman Inman, inherited the
family home- and her heirs sold it to the city of Santa Clara- it is now a
historical site and local history museum]
JOHN BARNEY
SALOON KEEPER- THE ALVISO HOTEL
SURNAMES: DAVIS, LAYTON, WARE
JOHN W. BARNEY was born in Coles County, Illinois, June 19,1849. His parents,
David and Catharine (Davis) Barney, came across the plains to California in
1850, and established themselves in the hotel business in the mining districts,
at which they continued until 1853, in which year they came to Santa Clara
County.
Mr. Barney was reared and educated in this county, attending the public schools
until 1862. In that year he left school and went to work at farm labor. Although
but a lad, he was strong and willing to work, and was able to do the work of a
man in the harvest-field. At the age of nineteen years he went into partnership
with John Reed in harvesting grain. After one season of this he sold out his
interest in the machinery, etc., and engaged himself in teaming and hauling
grain to Alviso. In 1869 he entered into partnership with James A. Hutchinson,
and rented two hundred acres of land near Salinas, Monterey County, and for the
next three years was engaged in raising grain. He was also quite extensively
engaged in teaming, which he continued until 1878. In this latter year he
removed to Washington Territory, where he worked at farm labor for about a year.
In 1879 he returned to Santa Clara County, and in January of the next year
married Mrs. Sarah J. (Layton) Ware, widow of David Ware, of Santa Clara County.
In 1880 he located in Washington Territory, Lewis County, intending to make his
home there. While there he met with an accident which resulted in the loss of
his right leg. This compelled an abandonment of all prospects of building up a
home in the country, and he returned to Santa Clara County. His disability was
such as to render him unable to follow laborious pursuits, and in 1882 he
located in Alviso, where he opened a saloon in the Alviso Hotel, a calling he
has since pursued. Mr. Barney has, through his misfortune, been compelled to
take up a calling that is not congenial to his tastes, but he is conducting it
in a straightforward and respectable manner. From the marriage of Mr. and Mrs.
Barney, three children have been born, viz.: Charles A., Frank, and Morgan
Daniel. From Mrs. Barney's previous marriage there is one child living, Albert
D. Ware.
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 256
Transcribed by Carol Lackey