FREMONT TOWNSHIP
1860 Federal Census (off site)
1870 Federal Census (off site)
Geography.- Fremont township is bounded on the north by San Mateo county
and a portion of the bay of San Francisco; on the east by Alviso and
Santa Clara townships; on the south by Redwood township, and on
the west by San Mateo county.
Topography.- The topography of this township cannot be said to possess
much variety, it for the most part being level valley land, ranging
towards the western border into hilly country, which, rising tier above
tier, finally attains a considerable altitude, these being for the most
part timber ground. That portion facing on the San Francisco bay
is entirely marsh land decussated by many creeks, sloughs and
water-ways; some navigable and others not.
Soil.- The soil of this township is not a whit behind that of any other
portion of the county, the rich, alluvial lands of the level
country possessing marvelous properties in the production of grain,
fruit and vegetables, while the higher lands afford ample pasturage for
stock of every kind.
Products.-- The produce of this section is entirely in keeping with
those of other parts of the valley. Grain is grown in immense
quantities, the harvest each year apparently increasing; butter is made
to some extent; there is scarcely a house without an orchard, large or
small, while vegetables are raised in great variety and profusion.
Timber.- That portion of the township bordering on the eastern heights
of San Mateo is pretty generally covered with redwoods, although the
sawmills supplied from them are entirely located in the adjoining
county. It is estimated in Fremont township there are still from
fifteen to twenty thousand acres of timber lands. Before the
settlement of the country by Americans, the valley was covered to much
a greater extent than it is to-day with white and live-oaks, sycamores,
chemisal, and a dense jungle of undergrowth. With the advance of
years many of these prime trees have fallen victims to the woodman's
ax, while indomitable perseverance has cleared away the brushwood, and
left a park-like landscape, covered with teeming plenty.
Climate.--The climate of the entire township cannot be described as
anything but fine. Warm days as they should in there proper
season; the same may be said of the colder weather. Being within
ken of the Bay of San Francisco the general influence of the
sea-breezes, without the strong trade-winds, is felt, while there is no
time of the year, from April till October, that out-door labor may not
be conducted with profit to pocket and person alike.
Early Settlement.--It will be acknowledged on every hand that to
treat of the early settlement of a district, is a task requiring
research and patience. In our travels in Fremont township, the
oldest resident we have been able to converse with is the wife of Captain
A. Greer, now residing about a mile and half from Mayfield. this
lady is the daughter of Rafael Soto, the original owner of the Rinconada
del Arroyo de San Francisquito and one of the very earliest settlers
in the Pueblo de San Jose, where she was born in the year 1817.
About the year 1827, she accompanied her father to the Martinez Rancho,
now in the adjoining county of San Mateo, and there resided with him
until he obtained the San Francisquito grant. In the year 1835
they took possession thereof, and erected a dwelling near the site of
the residence at present occupied by Doctor Newell, of San
Francisco. This house was built, says Mrs. Greer, of redwood sawed
with a whip-saw on the Martinez Rancho, and conveyed thence in
the primitive wagons and along the still more primitive roads of the
period. It was one story in height, contained three rooms, and
was the first house in the township. Two years later, we
are informed, the Fathers of the Santa Clara Mission constructed an
adobe for the use of their Indians, not far from where Secundino
Robles
now resides, while, about the same time, another fabric of that ilk
was constructed, and still stands on the property of
ex-Governor Stanford. It was occupied by Antonio
Buelna, and from having a position in close proximity to the
creek,
was known as El Paso del Arroyo. Prior to the building of
his house, however, Soto had discovered the navigability of the San
Francisquito creek, had chartered some small craft to to attempt a voyage
up it tortuous way, had met them at its mouth, where, armed with a
flag, he directed their winding and precarious course, and finally
guiding them to their destination loaded them with hides
and established an embarcadero which is still in use.
The country was wild in the extreme; hill and valley were alike
impenetrable; the lower grounds bore a crop of naught save chaparral
and tangled undergrowth; trails were numerous but ran in perplexing
confusion; traveling was a dangerous, for beasts of prey were
plentiful, while all around bore evidence of impossible fertility.
What, then, must have been thought of John Coppinger, who. as long ago
as 1837, tilled the soil of Senora Marian Antonia Mesa, the widow
of Rafael Soto, on ground now owned by Henry W. Seals, near
Mayfield. Coppinger, who owned the tract of land in San Mateo
bearing his name, had no domicile in Santa Clara county, but in 1837
married Maria Luisa Soto, who is now Mrs. Greer. As this was the
first marriage connected with this township, let us glance back at the
merry makings that then occurred. at an early hour of that bright
and beautiful day two equestrians, mounted on a single horse, might have
been seen threading their way through the mazes of brushwood en route
to the Santa Clara Mission. These were a man and woman; he in the
prime of life, she in the first blush of maidenhood. The sacred
edifice attained, the two are joined in accordance with the Holy
Catholic faith; the ceremony ended, the faithful steed is once more
mounted, and the newly-made man and wife, alone with their happiness,
their love, their hopes and their fears, commence the journey of
life. Arriving at the homestead it is found that every
preparation has been made for a wedding feast more than ordinary
grandeur; congratulations are showered in from every side; the
guests bidden to the fete give way to joy and gaiety
unrestrained; to regale the inner man, a weighty beef has been roasted
whole among the bright embers which still smolder at the bottom of the
trench, cyanides are spread in prodigious profusion, the fiesta gives
way to the dance, the dance to more feasting; day succeeds night and
still the joyousness continues, until the third day is ended, when each
returns to his home, carrying in his mind recollections when many years
of the "whips and scores of time" will leave unimpaired
The next to settle in the district, was one Jose Pena , a Spaniard, who
owned the grant known as the Rancho Santa Rita, but in what year he came,
we have been unable to trace. About 1848 he sold his property to
Secundino Robles who came to the district at that time and still resides
on a portion of the original estate. This gentleman of pure Castilian
descent, was born in Santa Cruz in the year 1813, and was a resident of
that place until he moved into this county. In 1824 he
became acquainted with the existence of the New Almaden mine, and with
his brother Teodoro Robles, received four shares in the-partnership
formed in November, 1845, to work the mines by one Andres Castillero;
in 1846 he commanded a troop of Mexican cavalry, during the troubolus
times being taken prisoner, when he broke his sword in twain, and thus
surrendered it to his captors; two years later, as stated above, he
acquired the Santa Rita Rancho. Here he found an adobe built by
Pena, it is thought about the year 1840; to this structure Robles added
in 1849; later, he made some frame-work additions, and on the roof laid
a dancing floor, where, his neighbors in by-gone days were wont to trip
"the light fantastic toe." To the rear of the premises stand some
rare old pear trees, weather-beaten memento's of the past, but which
still bear excellent fruit, and a couple of vines, planted
five-and-twenty years ago, whose rich clusters yet hang in luscious
profusion; under this wide-spreading canopy, it as that Secundino
recounted to us the exploits of his more youthful days. At his
mansion in its palmiest days, the state changed horses, long before the
line of the county road have been diverted: here was he in the habit of
dispensing an open hospitality; at his board the guests were many, on
his estate the hunters were not a few, when such game as bear,
panther, and deer were thick in the jungle. Secundino Robles
to-day is a fine looking old gentleman standing over six feet in
height, with well-cut features, and noble presence, while his dark-eyed
wife is a fit companion for his robust old age, notwithstanding the
family of nine-and twenty children she has given to the world. His
acres are not as many as in the days when he was bounded by Rafael Soto
to the North and Mariano Castro (she had no actual domicile here), to
the south, yet we trust that sufficient may long remain to him to keep
the wolf from the door.
To John W. Whisman has the honor of being the first American settler in
Fremont township. This worthy pioneer was a native of Wythe
county, Virginia, and after enduring the many hardships consequent on
crossing the plains at so early a date, settled about a half a mile
from where an inn was afterwards built and named the Fremont House, in
1847, not far from Mountain View. In
the following years, 1848, his cousin, John Whisman, arrived on the
scene, and located on the ground, a portion of which is now
occupied by the depot of the Southern Pacific Railroad at Mountain View
Station. To save confusion the last-named settler in after years
became familiarly known as "Old John." These and their families
and one Creghton, who dwelt near them, were without doubt the first
pioneer settlers of the township. The first death was that
of Alpha Whisman, in 1848. In the next year, however, 1849, there
was an undoubted accession to the population, for we learn of the birth
of Joseph Palmer Whisman; the double marriage of Andrew Whisman to
Serelda Whisman, and David Campbell to Mary Whisman in September
1849; while, at about the same time, M. W. Dixon, himself a
son-in-law of Mr. Whisman, arrived and took up his residence in the
section. In November, 1849, James Lynn and Washington Moody, his
son-in-law,. lived and kept the Fremont House who bought it from the
original proprietor named Harlan, who settled there about
1848. The establishment stood where Dan Murphy now resides on
the property of John Sullivan
Up to the end of 1849 it will be observed that the township was but
sparsely settled; indeed we cannot find that any other settlers than
these already named came into this portion of the valley. In the
Fall of 1850, however, a better start was made. Martin Murphy,
who had come to the State as long ago as 1844, but whose family had
settled in other portions of the county, came down from
Sacramento district, acquired the Pastoria de las Borregas of Mariano Castro,
and in the month of September of that year commenced the erection of the
house he now occupies. The original portion of the residence was
brought out in pieces round Cape Horn from Boston and put up where it
now stands, about half a mile from the railroad depot at
Murphy's. At this time there came Edward Dale, and a month later,
in November, Barnes Holloway and two ministers of the cumberland
Presbyterian church, named C. Waeger and Wesley Gallimore These,
in partnership with Dale, rented land from Mariano Castro, but each
farmed a portion on his own account. About this period a
man named Frost settled on the Hollenbeck farm, while soon after
the ground to the back of that tract was taken up by William Wright, who
still resides on it. During the Winter of 1850-51, Abner Bryant
came from Gilroy, where he had resided for some years, and located
close to Dale ant the others, at what is now Mountain View
Station. At this period the upper portion of the township was
without a permanent resident, except the Spanish families. True,
there was working in the redwoods and teaming, "Uncle Jim" Otterson, but
it is doubtful if he had a fixed adobe within what are now the township
lines. This we do know, for he says so himself, that early in
1851 he settled on what is now the Stanford ranch, and thinking it to
be Government land he afterwards disposed of it to David Adams who in
turn sold it to Delavan Hoag, when the property became known as the Hoag
Place. This old pioneer was born in Tururo, Nova Scotia, May 5,
1805, and is now a resident of San Mateo county. In the Spring of
1851, Milton A. Lewis, from Missouri, stetted on the farm now occupied
by John W. Boulware near Mayfield, while, the period is made memorable
by the establishment of the first school in the township. The
number of children had so rapidly increased that it as deemed desirable
to open some place wherein instruction might be given to those
desiring it. To this end a sum of money was subscribed , a cabin
erected on the site of the present railroad warehouse, and the charge
given to Rev. W. Gallimore, who had promised to undertake the labors
provided twenty-five pupils were forth coming. But this was not
the only benefit , regular services were inaugurated the pastors being
Messrs. Yaeger and Gallimore, while it was arranged that once a month
the edifice should be handed over to the Methodist and Baptist Bodies,
the first clergy-men alternating being Revs., Messrs. Bailey, now
residing near Santa Clara, and Ricketts, of the baptists. In the
year 1851, there also settled near Mountain View, E. Jenkinds, B. C.
Bubb, W. H. Bubb, and William McClellan who located on land now the
property of S. P. Emerson.
With the new year the march of immigration continued. Early in
1852, Nathan Hon arrived and brought out Abner Bryant, but some time
after was removed from the ground he occupied, it not being
Government land, when he left for Gilroy, Bryant proceeding to
Salinas. Messrs. Blair, Meadows, Clark, Joel Levin, and Blazer
too came about this period, while William Ware settled on the land now
owned by B. C. Bubb. I. N. Graham took up the ground on which he
now lives: Richard Johnson also came, and earlier in the year an
Englishman named Curtis pitched his tent on what is now the property of
Frank Sleeper. There also located near Ware's place a man
named Neville and Joav Boone. In the fall of the year, Richard
Johnson disposed of his tract ot a new arrival named Thompson, who after
occupying it for three or four years sold out to S. P. Emerson, who up
to that time had his home on the Ynigo Ranch. In the month of
August G. E. Shore arrived; the next month E. F. Springer took up his
residence, married a daughter of Mr. Shore in the next month, since
when the two families have resided near Mountain View; there also
settled in that section in the month of December G. H. Briggs. To
the upper portion of the township there came Jn W. Boulware, who went
on the place described as having been located by Milton A. Lewis in
1851. On arrival he found Silas Harmon farming forty acres, or
thereabouts, on what is now Mr. Seal's property. Mr. Boulware
remained in this part of the township until December, 1852, when he
moved to Mountain View bought the unexpired portion of a lease from
Rev. C. Yeager, and there resided until 1854, when he removed to the
Calaveras valley, Milpitas township, but returned to Fremont township
in 1861. In December, 1852, A. J. Pitman also located not far
from Mayfield, near the San Francisquito creek.
It is always interesting in a work of the nature of a local history not
only to tote the arrivals of the earlier settlers, but to trace their
whereabouts at the time of writing. We do not usually make this
apportion of the schedule mapped out for our guidance; but while in
conversation with Edward Dale, the question was harded as to his
knowledge of what had become of the foregoing pioneers. He
informed us that the Rev. C. Yaeger was now in charge of a circuit in
what is known as the Mussel Slough county. Rev. W. Gallimore resides on
his farm in Santa Clara township, adjoining the Ynigo Ranch;
Blair, Clark, and Blazer removed some years ago to the Russian
River valley; 'Meadows died on his farm in or about 1853 or '54; Johnson
is a resident of Pacheco, Contra Costa county; Curtis moved to Monterey,
where he still resides ; McCellan died in 1861 or thereabouts; Frost is
now in Arizona territory; Neville died in 1879; and Boone is a resident
of Amador county.
During the Fall of 1852, the first fencing was done by Messrs. Dale,
Holloway, and Yaeger, those then existing being only on the margin of
water-courses, where hey had been left by each recurring flood.
The initial inclsure was commenced about where now stands the
prosperous little village of Mountain View Station, though it is just
possible that the Spaniards may have put up some kind of an inclosure
to protect the little patches of watermelons and corn which they
cultivated. In this year was erected the first store in township
by Richard Carr, who employed Jacob Shomway to conduct it ,in what is
now Old Mountain View; while the upper protion of the section was
supplied by William Paul from a trading -post he had established on
the San Mateo side of the San Francisquito creek at the embarcadero of
Ravenswood.
The year 1853 we find was one of considerable moment, for the first
town ws started; but it is not our intention here to recount its rise
and progress; that will be dealt with the history of Mountain
View. Another noteworthy event, which will be found recorded
elsewhere, was the construction by James Otterson, at whaat is now
Mayfield, of the famous "Uncle Jim's Cabin," a house of entertainment
which in the olden times had a wide celebrity. Of the cettlers
who arried at this epoch we have been only able to trace the names of
Jonathan Richardson, Joseph Barton, Geoerge H. Grant, D. B. Bailey,
George Charleston, Geoerge W. LaPierre, S. P. Taylor, O. Crittenden, C.
J Fuller, and David Adams; while in June of that year ther resided on
the Dunn place in Mayfield, now owned by Peter Coutts, one John Fine,
and a man named Littel on what is now ex- Governor Stanford's home
farm. Kishener resided about a quarter of a mile from
Mayfield on the county road, and Sandy Wilson had squatted on the Palo
Alto tract under the erroneous impression that it was Government
land. About this time the Weilheimer Brothers opened a store in
Mountain View, as did the Hungarian called Ernest, who went by the name
of "Doc:" while it was in this year that the cemetery at Mountain View
, the only one in the town ship, was laid out on land donated for the
purpose by Mariano Castro, a gift which speaks volumes for the
liberality of that Spanish gentleman.
As year gave place to year the tidal wave of immigration, after beating
against the precipitous sides of the Rocky Mountains and the almost
inpassable barriers of the Sierra Nevada, fund its endless way into the
valleys of the Golden State. On the hundreds who came to the
fertile vale of Santa Clara in the year 1854, there were a few destined
to find homes within the limits of Fremont township, among them being
Delavan Hoag, Mitchell Dubbs, and George DeWitt Gleason. In 1854,
E. O. Crosby purchased that tract of land now owned by Edward Barron,
gave to it the pleasant name of Mayfied Farm, which in turn gave the
title to the post office on its establishment in 1855, and still later
to the thrifty little town which today bears that appellation. We
note that in 1855 Nathaniel Eaton and M. Spedding cast their lot in
this district; while in the following years, 1856, that ancient Scot,
William Paul, finding the opposition of Fuller too uch for his litte
store at Ravensood, purchased the stock and good-will of the latter,
removed his own little establishment, and planted in what is now
Mayfield. Besides Mr. Paul, there also found a dwelling place in
that year W. W. Brown, and S. D. Hosmer.
In the following years immigration was heavy, and however willingly we
would give the names of each successive settler, we find it impossible
to do so,hence we mention only a few- not because there are non others
equally as worthy of public mention, but because we hav not the
requisite space. In 1857, ther arrivedin Fremont township that
worthy pioneer, Judge Joseph S. Wallis. Coming to the State at a
very early date, he, like everybody else, took a turn at the mines, but
not finding here that success which he desired, he retunred to
San Francisco, entered upon the study and practive of law, and finally
settled in Mayfield in the above year. Not only has Judge Wallis
been a warm supporter fo the public enterprises of that village, but he
has always taken an active part in all matters appertaining to the
township in which he has made his home. Among the new-comers in
this year were, Joseph Ponce, Robert Brown and Henry Ringstorff,
the
owner of the landing of that name, a history of those establishment
there we have filed to procure, though several attempts to that end
have been made. In 1858, we find these two energetic citizens, Walter
Henderson, the first station agent on the Southern Pacific road at
Mayfield, and Cornelius Van Buren, formerly a public servant in several
capacities, but at prestn General Superintendent of the Ayshire Farm of
Peter Coutts. In 1859, John Snyder, and Theodore F. Grant came,
while, in 1860, there arrived genial John Duchesneau, C. B. Davisdon,
and last, though not least, that pioneer of '47 the Honorable Daniel
Frink.
Thus far we have endeavored to bring what may be called the early
settlement of the township, now under consideratoin. to perfecton-that
is as perfect as may be. Would that it were possible to polish up
memory, and recity chronology; were such a thing feasible, then the
diffculty would dwindle into insignificance, and our task be easy; as
it is, we have usually had to depend on precarious recollections, foggy
dates, and uncorroborated testimony. What we have given to the
read, has been leaned from what may be termed the "weight of evidence."
pages 255- 262*
Fremont Township, pages 255-270
History of Santa Clara County, California
San Francisco: Alley, Bowen, & Co., 1881
Transcribed by cdf
-------------------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIBERS NOTE_---------this chapter continues
on with details about these communites in the Fremont Township, and
have been placed on individual community pages:
Mayfield
History of Mayfield
Mayfield Lodge, #92, I.O.O.F.
Lumber Yard
Mayfield Railroad Brewery
------------------------------------------
Mountain View
History of Mountain View
Mountain View Lodge- IOOF #244
Mountain View Station
Mountain View House
Enterprise Hall
pages 262-263
-----------------------------
Mountain View Station
Mountain View Station
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
Mountain View Lodge, #194 F. & A. M.
Mountain View Lodge, #59, A. O. U. W.
Grand Wreath Lodge, #327, I.O.G.T.
Mountain View Hotel
Warehouses
pages 263-266
-----------------------------------------------------
ALMADEN TOWNSHIP
ALVISO TOWNSHIP
BURNETT TOWNSHIP
SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIOGRAPHY PROJECT
SANTA CLARA COUNTY HISTORY - THE VALLEY OF HEART's DELIGHT