WIRT K. BENNETT.
Bio-Pen Pictures
SURNAMES: HART, SPAULSBURY, INGHAM,
The subject of this sketch makes his home at the junction of the San Francisco road with the Saratoga and Alvino road (Milliken Corner), three miles west of Santa Clara, in the Milliken District, where, in connection with his sister, Gloria F., he owns a beautiful orchard property of thirty acres, upon which he has a comfortable cottage home. His orchard has not yet come into full bearing, being but of a few years' growth; but, by the intelligent care which he is bestowing upon it, Mr. Bennett is laying the foundations for one of the finest fruit ranches of the county. The trees are about one-half prune, and the other half peach, apricot, and cherry, in nearly equal proportions, with a few varieties of other fruits.
The subject of this sketch was born in Monroe County, New York, in 1857, and is the son of William K. and Melvina (Hart) Bennett, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. Bennett's boyhood was spent upon a farm and in attending school, but being of an energetic disposition, and of ingenious mind, he entered into other occupations. Among them were those of cooper, and engineer in controlling and running stationary engines. He followed these various pursuits until 1857, when he came to California and located at Santa Cruz, where he worked at farming, teaming, and coopering for a year or more. He then removed to San Benito County, and entered quite extensively into the business of stock-raising. Being young, intelligent, and ambitious, he was soon assured of success, and continued the business for six years. But the complete isolation of his family and the sickness and death of his child induced him to change his residence to a settled country within the confines of civilization. He decided to make Santa Clara County his home, and located on the property described at the beginning of the sketch. Mr. Bennett is a young man of active and industrious habits, which, combined with intelligent and public-spirited views upon matters pertaining to the welfare of his section and county, make him a desirable acquisition to the community in which he lives. He is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a member of San Lorenzo Lodge, No. 157.
He has two sisters living, both of whom are residents of this State. Miss Gloria F. Bennett, a highly educated and accomplished lady, is a teacher in the State Normal School at San Jose, and Mrs. Sarah Spaulsbury, the wife of Edgar Spaulsbury, an attorney at law, residing in Santa Cruz. .
Mr. Bennett was
united in marriage with Miss Grace Ingham, the daughter of Joseph Ingham, of San
Jose, on the first of January, 1880. They have one child living: Ruth H., at the
present time (1888) seven years of age.
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. 557