JOHN WESLEY
BOULWARE
Fremont Township
(see bio 1881)
BIO-Pen Pictures
has a ranch of 100 acres, in Fremont Township, which shows the capabilities of the land in this vicinity when intelligently managed. It is located about three miles from Mayfield by the roads, though the actual distance is considerably less. Much the greater portion of the acreage is cut for hay, which is made from wheat, barley, and wild oats, and an average crop is about three tons to the acre. He formerly manufactured butter quite extensively, but went out of dairying in 1885. In 1887 Mr. Boulware planted ten acres of strawberries, putting onions between the rows. He had the honor of getting the first strawberries into the San Francisco market in 1888, sending them in on the twenty-seventh of March. The strawberries yielded the first year $45 per acre, while the onions on the same ground turned out between $50 and $75 worth per acre. He found a ready local market for all his berries except the first pickings. It is his intention to add between five and six acres of strawberries per year. In 1889 he will probably plant also twenty acres of fruit trees, principally prunes, with some apricots and peaches. Water for irrigation is supplied by an artesian well 160 feet deep, with seven-inch casing, which forces the water three inches above the top of the pipe, and flows between 200 and 300 gallons per minute. When bored, in November, 1887, the artesian measure was but two and one-half inches, from which it has gradually increased to its present force.
Mr. Boulware usually has from eight to twelve head of horses, all fine stock. His stallion, "Elmo, Jr.," is by Henry Seal's famous " Elmo." As long ago as 1852 he brought here a thoroughbred Kentucky mare, and he has been breeding from that stock ever since.
Mr.
Boulware was born in Estill County, Kentucky, at Red River Iron Works,
June 5, 1830, where he resided until he attained the age of fifteen
years, when he accompanied his parents to Jackson County, Missouri,
there receiving his education, first in the common schools, and
afterward one term in the Pleasant Hill Academy, Cass County. His
scholastic training ended, Mr. Boulware entered the lumber trade, and
continued in it until he started for California. May 4, 1852, he
commenced the weary journey across the plains with ox teams and a herd
of cattle, in company with Lindsey Lewis, his father-in-law, and
arrived in Santa Clara County October 2 of the same year, locating on
the precise spot on which he now resides, but did not settle there
then, for after two months he removed to Mountain
View; at the end of two years he proceeded to Calaveras Valley,
where he farmed until 1861, and then came to his present place, where
he has since dwelt. He is one of the many successful farmers of the
Santa Clara Valley, while as a proof of his sterling worth it is
sufficient to remark that besides being a School Trustee for many
years, he was elected, in 1872, to serve four years on the Board of
Supervisors of Santa Clara County. He was married, in Jackson County,
Missouri, January 1, 1852, to Louisa Lewis, and has: J. A., born April
24, 1853; M. A., February 22, 1856; Permelia R., January 31, 1858; and
Louisa Jane, October 5, 1860.
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.
Pg. 637-638