WILLIAM H. IRELAND

owns a comfortable cottage home and thirty-six acres of fine, productive land, on the Kifer road,  in the Jefferson District, two miles north of Santa Clara.  When purchased the land in 1882 it was covered with grain stubble, and its present fine condition could only have been brought about by such care and attention as Mr. Ireland has bestowed upon it.  Strawberries of the Longworth and Seth Boyden varieties are produced upon seven acres, and the same extent of land is covered with alfalfa, which yields five or six tons per acre annually.  The remainder of the farm is devoted to the growing of hay and grain.  One fine artesian well furnishes all the water needed for irrigation and other purposes.  In 1886 the products from five acres brought $1,300, from strawberry vines one year old and a crop of onions that was raised upon the same land.

The subject of our sketch dates his birth near Muscatine, Louisa county, Iowa, November 23, 1842.  His parents were John and Elmira (Wheeler) Ireland, his father being a native of Indiana, and his mother of Ohio.  His father was a pioneer of Iowa, having settled in Louisa County at an early date.  In 1852 the family removed to Council Bluffs, of the same State, where they remained for nine years, starting, in 1861, on the overland trip to Oregon.  This journey the father never completed, his death occurring on the road near Green River.  The saddened mother, with her children, pushed on, and reached her destination in the fall of that year  They located in the Willamette Valley, in Washington County, about eighteen miles from Portland,

Mr. Ireland had been reared in the duties of a farm life, receiving only such schooling as could be obtained before reaching eighteen years of age.  Immediately upon arriving in Oregon, he commenced the work before him, that of earning a home and living for his widowed mother and her family  Although but nineteen years of age, he rented and profitably cultivated a farm of 160 acres, from Richard Willey.  Thus, early in life, circumstances brought out and developed the manly, independent traits of his character that have since carried him successfully through all enterprises.  He made his home in Oregon until December, 1867, when he came into this State and took up his residence in Santa Clara County.   After spending considerable time in various occupations, such as cutting wood, road building, and harvesting ,kin the fall of 1868 he rented A. B. Hunter's farm, on the Coffin road.  This place he conducted for about three years, and then returned to Oregon, where he spent one year, previous to visiting Los Angeles County.   He engaged in farm labor near Anaheim, but, after spending one year in the southern part of the State, he came north to San Luis Obispo County, where he engaged in an extensive dairy business, having 140 cows.  This enterprise was very profitable under Mr. Ireland's management, which lasted until 1878. In this year he returned to Santa Clara County and rented 400 acres of land, called the Hollenbeck place, near Mountain View.  This large tract of land was used as a grain ranch, and as such Mr. Ireland conducted it for  four years.  During that time, in 1879, he was united in marriage with Miss Annie Relfe, a daughter of James Relfe, who resided near St. Louis, Missouri.  At the expiration of the four years, after visiting his old home in Oregon, he took possession, in 1883, of the land described in the beginning of this sketch, which he had purchased the preceding years.  Here he has lived for the past five years, gaining the esteem of neighbors and associates.

Mr. Ireland is a Democrat, liberal and conservative in politics, as in all matters of public interest.  He is a member of Santa Clara Lodge, No. 52, I.O.O.F.  Although not connected with any religious denomination, he takes a deep interest in the Presbyterian Church, of which his  wife is a member.