is the owner of a fine tract of land lying 400 yards east of the San
Jose and Alviso road, in the Alviso School District. This farm of
100 acres is within easy reach of San Joe and Alviso, being three miles
south of the latter place and six miles north of the former. Only
so much of it is used for orchard purposes as will furnish a generous
supply of fruit for domestic use. Twelve acres are devoted to the
culture of strawberries of the Sharpless and Cheney varieties, an about
ten acres to the growing of asparagus. The remainder of the farm
is devoted to the production of hay and grain, and to the raising of
stock. There are to be found upon the place two artesian wells,
one of which is 500 feet in depth and flows about five inches above a
seven-inch pipe.
Mr. Nicholson is a native of Ireland, in which country he was born in
1826. His parents, Stephen and Mary (Connors) Nicholson, were
natives of the same country. He was early taught the duties of a
farm life, and has put into practice this practical knowledge through
all his life, as agriculture has been the chief business of his
manhood years. His educational advantages were very limited, and
he worked at farming in Ireland until 1854, when he crossed the ocean
in search of better fortune.
Landing at New York, he sought work in Onondaga County, and, obtaining
it, he remained there for about three years. In 1857 he came via
steamer route to the State, landing at San Francisco. He soon
came to Santa Clara county, where he spent the next ten or eleven years
in farm work and other occupations. In 1868, with the
accumulations of these years of hard labor and economy, he
purchased the land upon which he now resides, and in the cultivation of
which he has been very successful.
Mr. Nicholson married, in 1857, Miss Elizabeth Kelley, daughter of
William and Elizabeth Kelley, of Roscommon County, Ireland. From
this marriage five children have been born, of whom three are now
living, all at the homestead. Their names are: George E.,
Eliza, and Mollie F.
Mr. Nicholson is a practical cultivator of the soil, and a man who
believes in the future greatness of his section, whose interest he is
ever ready to advance. He has been more successful in the winning
of a good home and a competence than many a man who had the help of
more fortunate circumstances and greater advantages. His energy
and native intelligence have supplied the lack of these
advantages. In politics he is identified with the Democratic
party, and in religion with the Roman Catholic Church.
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 455
Transcribed
by: Cdf