.

Bio- Sawyers
SURNAMES:  KNAPP, REID, MEEKER,
Perhaps the earliest settler of Los Altos is C. E. Berry, who came there before the railroad was built, when it was a part of a cattle range. He was born in Maine on June 16, 1864, the son of David R. and Ann R. (Knapp) Berry, both natives of Maine. The father first came to California in early days with his brother-in-law, Charles Knapp, a well-known and prominent citizen of Santa Cruz, and in 1876 Mr. Berry brought his family to California. The Knapp family were among the earliest settlers at Massachusetts Bay Colony and were of Scotch-English ancestry, and on both sides were pre-Revolutionary stock. Several families from Maine came to California with the Berrys and settled at Watsonville, Santa Cruz County. Until he was twelve years old, C. E. Berry lived most of the time
with an aunt in Boston, Mass., and went to school there; when his family removed to California, he attended the schools at Watsonville. He remained at home and helped on the ranch until he was twenty; the family removed to San Jose about 1896.

Mr. Berry was married in San Jose to Miss Evaline Blois, a daughter of James Blois and a sister of J. B. Blois of Palo Alto, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume(see Below). Soon after settling in San Jose he engaged in building fruit cars for the railroad; then for six years he was with the Van Dorn Ice & Cold Storage Company five years with H. Hart & Company in the ice business in San Jose; meantime he had purchased a fifteen-acre ranch near Los Altos, a portion of the Taaffe ranch, and immediately took up the task of planting it to fruit; he also engaged in planting orchards for others. He then started in the livery business and built a fine barn, which he now uses for his transfer business. When autos and trucks replaced horses, his barn was changed to a commercial garage; he carries passengers and freight throughout the northern part of California. For eight years he was deputy sheriff under Mr. Langford. Mr. and Mrs. Berry are the parents of two children; C. Austin, married Miss Grace Reid, resides in Palo Alto and works for Los Altos Grocery Company; Homer G. is with the Stanford Laundry Company at Palo Alto. He married Miss Genevieve Meeker and resides at Mayfield, and has one child, Beatrice Betty Berry. Mr. Berry is a Republican in his politics and he and his family are highly respected citizens of Los Altos.

from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California,  published by Historic Record Co. , 1922  page 1192

Bio-Sawyers
SURNAMES:  LIVELY, SMITH,
An interesting self-made man who is a master of the laundering industry and the director of the most important enterprise in that field in Palo Alto, is J. Byron Blois, manager of the Stanford Laundry, and prominent in Masonic circles. He was born at Glenwood, Cal., on August 1, 1884, the son of a farmer, James Blois, a native of Nova Scotia, where he married Miss Elizabeth Lively, also of that Down East coast country. They migrated to California soon after their marriage, and came to have ten children, eight of whom are still living. From his third month our subject, who was the sixth in the order of birth, grew up on his father's farm near San Jose, and he attended the public school in the Orchard district. He also went to the San Jose Business College, where he took a commercial course, graduating in June, 1900, and then he became assistant bookkeeper in the Red Star Laundry at San Jose. Four years later he entered the laundry proper as a laundry worker in order to learn the operating end of the business, and thus acquired a thorough knowledge of all the ins and outs of the business.

In 1906 he became the outside representative, and had charge of all the territory in Santa Clara County north of the city of Santa Clara, including Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Los Gatos, Mayfield, Stanford University and Palo Alto, the business requiring four autos to take care of it.

In the meantime, having become well acquainted with J. B. Leaman, Sr., and J. B. Leaman, Jr., he formed a partnership with the latter, and as Blois & Leaman bought out the Stanford Laundry, formerly owned by Fairfield & Schutte; and under the excellent management of Mr. Blois, this laundry has come to be strictly up to date. it is excellently lighted, clean and sanitary, and so arranged that all its business is transacted with safety and dispatch. It has four auto-delivery wagons, and improvements are being made in its outfit right along. Two new flat-work ironers of most up-to-date design have recently been installed, the larger alone costing some $6,000. Three new thoroughly modern washing machines and one extractor have also been put in, and a $5,000 water softener system has been installed. The laundry also has, good first-aid facilities. "Quality and Service" is the motto of the Stanford Laundry, and they have never failed, as practical ideals, to be realized. Mr. Blois is secretary of the Laundry Owners' Club of Santa Clara County, and an active member of the state and national Laundry Owners' Associations. The present firm own the property at the corner of Forest Avenue and Ramona Street and it is especially adapted for laundry use.

Mr. Blois was married in 1905 to Miss Pearl M. Smith, born in South Dakota, of whom he was bereaved in April, 1910, the mother of one son, Robert Byron. He was married again at San Jose in October, 1911, to Miss Edna May Torbert, of Woodland, where her people are members of the oldest and most esteemed circles. This union has been blessed with three children: Molly Julietta and Edward James, twins, and Betty May. The family reside in their own home on Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Mr. Blois is a member of the Palo Alto Parlor N. S. G. W. Both husband and wife belong to the Grace Baptist Church at San Jose, and also to the Eastern Star at Palo Alto, in which Mrs. Blois is chaplain. Mr. Blois was made a Mason in San Jose Lodge No. 10 F. & A. M., later admitted to Palo Alto Lodge No. 346, F. & A. M. He is a member of Palo Alto Chapter No. 93, R. A. M. and of Palo Alto Commandery No. 47, K. T., as well as all the bodies of the Scottish Rite at San Jose, Islam Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S. San Francisco and the Stanford University Masonic Club. He is a member director in the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. He organized the Pyramid of Ancient Egyptian Order of Sciots in Palo Alto on January 26, 1921, and was made its first Toparch; and on September 16, 1921, he was elected for another year.

from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California,  published by Historic Record Co. , 1922  page 986

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