The Valley of Heart's Delight
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RANDOLPH W. APPERSON
father to Phoebe Apperson Hearst
BIO-Pen Pictures
SURNAMES: FAVER, WHITMIRE, HEARST, SUTHERLAND
RANDOLPH W. APPERSON. Among the successful
agriculturists of the county, must be mentioned the gentleman whose
name head this sketch. His farm, of eighty-two acres, in the Braley
District, is situated on the Saratoga and Alviso road, about two miles
north of Lawrence. With the exception of a small orchard, which yields
a choice variety of fruit for domestic use only, the ranch is devoted
to the production of hay and grain. Two artesian wells furnish all the
water needed, one of them having a depth of 362 feet, and giving a fine
flow of two inches above a seven-inch pipe.
Randolph W. is the son of Dr. John Apperson and Alice (Faver) Apperson,
natives of Culpepper County, Virginia, who removed to Washington
County, Virginia, where the subject of our sketch was born in 1809. He
youth was spent upon a farm, which his father conducted in addition to
his professional duties. In 1829, with his parents, he removed to
Franklin County, Missouri, where his father continued the practice of
medicine, while he engaged in farming operations, until 1831. Then,
after spending one year in mercantile life in Franklin County, he went
to Dent County, in the same State, opening here a general merchandise
store, which he conducted with profit for about three years. Returning
in 1835 to Franklin County, he resumed his former occupations of
farming and stock-raising. That he was successful and contented we may
know from the fact that he remained in that locality and business for
twenty-eight years. When he left Missouri, in 1863, it was to make his
home in California, the favored State of the Union. Reaching San
Francisco via the Panama route, he made a stay of about eight months in
the city, before coming to Santa Clara County. Upon visiting this
county he purchased the farm which he now occupies and cultivates.
Mr. Apperson in his youth received such scanty schooling as could be
gained in the rural districts in that day, but his ambitious
disposition and habits of industry led him to educate himself. He may
be styled a self-made man, for his successes have been due, not to
particularly fortunate circumstances, but to his strong determination
to merit success, by doing all in his power to advance himself by all
honorable means. Public-spirited and a progressive in his views, he is
a valued citizen of his section. Politically, he is a Democrat, but is
liberal and conservative in his views. In 1830, when just entering
manhood, Mr. Apperson became converted to the cause of Christ, and
united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, continuing an earnest
member of that denomination until after his marriage, when during a
winter season spent in Iowa, he joined the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church, becoming an elder of that organization. His life has been
consistent with his profession of religion, for, by precept and
practice, he has shown his love for the Master.
He was married in 1840, to Miss Drusilla Whitmire, a daughter of Henry
Whitmire, a native of South Carolina, and a resident of Franklin
County, Missouri. Of the three children born from this union, two are
living,
Phoebe Elizabeth and Elbert Clark. The former married George
Hearst, of Missouri, who is now the able United States Senator from
California. The latter married Miss
Elizabeth Sutherland, daughter of William Sutherland, of Santa
Clara County, and now resides upon a farm of his own near his father’s
home.
{transcribers
note---------Phoebe and George Hearst were the parents of William
Randolph Hearst}
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
443-444 - Transcribed by Carolyn Feroben
SANTA CLARA COUNTY The Valley of Heart's Delight