Bio-Coast Counties
SURNAMES: RUSH, DONNELLY, CASEY,CLENEAY, BLAN D
Photo
of the Fosgate Seed Ranch
In the county of Santa Clara, where he is now extensively engaged in
the seed and fruit business, Mr. Fosgate was born June 24, 1856, being
a son of William N. and Margaret Jane (Rush) Fosgate, natives of
Rochester, N. Y., and Bath, Me. His father, who was a typical
pioneer in temperament, visited Mexico as early as 1848 and the
following year landed in California. During 1850 he settled in
Santa Clara, where he worked as a contractor and builder, and many of
the buildings that he erected still stand at this writing. While
for some years he met with encouraging success, later in life reverses
overtook him and from these he never wholly recovered. After the
death of his first wife he married Kate Donnelly, a native of Ireland
and now a resident of Santa Clara. In his home here he passed
away in 1883, leaving a daughter, wife of Maurice Casey, of San
Francisco, and a son, William J., another son having died in early life.
After completing public school studies, in 1868 William J. Fosgate was
sent to Santa Clara College, where he continued as a pupil for three
years, and was then obliged to leave on account of the family's
financial reverses. For a time he worked with his father, who
owned what has since been known as the
Pacific
Manufacturing
Company. Later he secured a clerkship with J. B. O'Brien in a
dry-goods establishment, of which, in recognition of his executive
ability, he was soon made manager. For twenty-five years he
engaged in the dry goods business. He has also been interested in
gold mining in Trinity county, Cal., where he opened and managed the
Morrision gulch mine and other properties. In 1898 he retired
from the mining business and the following year leased five hundred
acres adjoining San Jose, at one time owned by Colonel Stockton and
usually known as the Stockton ranch. His first crop, that of
1900, was so encouraging that he at once took a place among the
successful men of his locality. His specialty has been the growing of
seeds, and in the interests of that business he makes a trip each year
to all of the large cities of our country. For a time he had only
one hundred acres in seeds but his success was so remarkable that he
has increased that acreage three fold. In addition to the three
hundred acres in seeds, he has seventy-five acres in strawberries,
blackberries and raspberries, and also raises string beans, cucumbers
and tomatoes for the San Francisco markets. Since settling upon
his present place he has made a study of the seed business. Having no
previous experience in the occupation, he realized the need of careful
study and observation, and hence made the most diligent use of every
opportunity to gain practical knowledge, the result being that he is
now one of the best-informed seedsmen on the Pacific coast.
The marriage of Mr. Fosgate occurred in Santa Clara and united him with
Margaret Lucretia Cleneay, a native of Missouri. Her father, F.
W. Cleneay, who was born in Kentucky and resided in Missouri for some
years, removed to California in 1876 and settled in Santa Clara, where
for years he held the office of justice of the peace. Widely
known and universally liked, he left at his death a large circle of
friends in his hoe town and county. He was married in Kentucky to
Caroline Bland, a daughter of Benjamin and Mary Bland, natives of
Kentucky, but who removed to Missouri where in Canton they became
people of influence and large land owners. Three children were
born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Fosgate, but the only son, W. H., was
taken from them by death when only six years of age. The
daughters, Carrie C. and Marguerite, reside with their parents in Santa
Clara. His political views are in accord with the platform of the
Republican party and he alwasys supports its ticket both in local and
general elections. As a rule he has refused offers of political
nominations, but consented at one time to fill the office of city
treasurer and served in that capacity for three years, but with that
exception he has confined his attention to private matters, toward
which his tastes incline more strongly than toward public affairs.
History of the
State of California of Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California- Guinn, 1904, page 1138
transcribed- cdf
SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIOGRAPHY PROJECT
SANTA CLARA COUNTY-- THE VALLEY OF HEART's
DELIGHT