THE VALLEY OF HEART's DELIGHT
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SYLVANUS S. PAUL
Bio=Pen Pictures
SURNAMES: SPERRY, GIBSON, CUSHMAN, GREEN, TENNY
SYLVANUS S. PAUL resides at Berryessa, where until recently he owned a
fine thirty-acre orchard. This land he kept in a state of high
cultivation, and among the trees, which are six years old, are twelve
hundred apricots, nine hundred French prunes, four hundred peaches,
thee hundred cherries, fifty pears, also a few trees each of nearly all
the varieties of fruit raised in that section. It is worthy of mention,
as showing the productions of the land in this district, that in 1887
the yield from the apricots in this orchard was over $150 per acre.
The subject of this sketch was born in Monroe County, New York, March
4, 1828. His parents were Zebulon and Melinda (Sperry) Paul. His father
was a native of Massachusetts and his mother of Connecticut. In early
life he was reared as a farmer, his education being limited to the
common schools of that date. In 1847, when but nineteen years of age,
he started in life for himself, and located in Walworth County,
Wisconsin, upon the land which his father had purchased and given to
him. There for years he followed the general occupation of a farmer,
meeting with the success that his well-directed industry entitled him
to.
In 1853, while on a visit to Ohio, he married Miss Sophia Gibson,
the daughter of Prof. John Gibson and Sarah (Cushman) Gibson, natives
of Massachusetts. Professor Gibson was a prominent musician and
composer. Mrs. Paul died April 14, 1860. In 1862 Mr. Paul married Miss
Elizabeth Green, daughter of John Green, a native of New York, in which
State she was born. In 1881 Mr. Paul rented his farm and visited
California. He was so well pleased with climate, soil, etc., that upon
his return to Wisconsin he sold out most of his interests there, and in
1883 returned to Santa Clara County and located at his present place of
residence. Although he has been but a few years in the couty, he has
identified himself with the community in which he resides. He is a
consistent member of the Baptist Church, also a member of the Masonic
fraternity. Politically, he is a strong Republican. From Mr. Paul's
first marriage there is living Dephonzo G., who married Miss Eva Tenny,
of Wisconsin. They are now residing at Livermore, California. No
children were born from his second marriage.
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 245-246 transcribed by Carol Lackey
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