Bio-Sawyers
SURNAMES: JENKINS,
Among the old and highly respected residents of
Los Gatos is numbered Harry Ulysses Ball, the pioneer blacksmith of the
town, who has made his home in Los Gatos for a period of forty-six
years. A native of Portsmouth, Ohio, he was born April 10, 1844, a son
of Orlando Ball, whose demise occurred in the Buckeye state. His
education was acquired in the public schools of Ohio, and on starting
out in the business world he served an apprenticeship to the
blacksmith's trade in Portsmouth, which he followed in that state for
four years. In 1863 he started for the West, drove a mule team across
the plains and first located in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he remained
for one and a half years in the employ of Ben Holliday on his various
stage lines in Utah. Ten years were spent in Idaho as a horseshoer, and
he then came to California, arriving in Los Gatos in 1876. For six
years he was employed by Mr. Seanor, whose blacksmith shop he purchased
at the end of that time, at first having a partner in the enterprise,
but is now conducting the business independently, being the pioneer in
this line of activity in Los Gatos. He now owns his shop and building
on Main Street. He is an expert farrier and blacksmith and the superior
quality of his work, combined with his well known reliability in all
business transactions, has won for him a large share of public
patronage.
Mr. Ball was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Jenkins, a native of
Canada, who passed away in 1911. In his political views he is a
progressive Republican, supporting the platform of that party where
national issues are at stake, but at local elections he votes for the
candidate whom he regards as best fitted for office. He has never
dissipated his energies over a broad field but has continued in the
line of work in which he first engaged, and his present success is
largely attributable to this fact. In business circles of Los Gatos his
standing is of the highest and as a citizen he is loyal, progressive
and public-spirited, his upright life having won for him the
unqualified esteem of a large circle of friends.
Sawyer, Eugene T, History of Santa Clara County, California :
Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic Record Co., 1922, 1776 pgs.
page 1595
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SANTA CLARA COUNTY The Valley of Heart's Delight