BIO Pen-Pictures,page 249
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
proffession, 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.
(see bio of daughter Miss
Thomasine Headen ALBERTSON)
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
[ 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]
SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES
SANTA CLARA COUNTY HISTORY-The Valley of Heart's Delight