Contra
Costa County
Biographies
MILO
JARVIS HOUGH
MILO JARVIS
HOUGH.
To Mr. Hough belongs the credit of having started the town of
Walnut Creek, in Contra costa county, Cal., where he located as early as
1855. At that time he opened a hotel
there known as the Walnut Creek house and about the same time started a coal
mine, operating the latter for nearly twenty years, and during a part of this
time conducting two hotels.
Mr. Hough is a pioneer settler in California, having made his first
trip here in 1850, but returned to the east several times before locating here
permanently. He took up his residence in
Santa Clara county in 1883 and has been identified with the progress of this
section ever since. Purchasing that year
a four acre tract of land on Senter road, about two
and a half miles south of San Jose, he set it out in fruit, mostly prunes, and
upon this small fruit ranch he is spending the declining years of his life in
the peaceful enjoyment of attractive home surroundings. Although rapidly nearing his eighty-fourth
birthday, he is hale and hearty, and bids fair to live many years longer.
A
native of Genesee county, N.Y., and born July 27,
1820, Mr. Hough is the eldest of eight children born to Milo B. and
Ann (Lockwood) Hough, also natives of the empire state. In 1832, the parents removed to the vicinity
of Cleveland, Ohio, in which state the mother died. The father, who by trade was a woolen
manufacturer, subsequently removed to Indiana, settling on a farm not far
distant from Chicago, Ill., and there he followed farm pursuits for the balance
of his life. By his second marriage he
reared eight children.
The
recipient of but a limited education, Milo J. Hough, at eighteen, left his
home in Ohio to learn the cabinet-maker’s trade in Cazenovia, N.Y., afterwards working
as a journeyman at that place and in other towns in the state. Later he followed his chosen occupation in
Ohio, and in Waukegan and Chicago, Ill., until 1850, when he made his first
trip to California. The journey was made
overland and at Hangtown he followed mining pursuits
for two years. In 1852 he returned to
Waukegan by the Nicaragua route, disposed of his property there and returned to
California by way of the Isthmus of Panama.
He once more returned to Ohio in 1854 and in the spring of 1855 again
came to the Pacific slope, this time accompanied by many of his friends and
acquaintances.
During
the same year (1855) Mr. Hough located in Contra Costa county,
as previously mentioned, and this continued to be his home until 1883, the date
of his locating permanently in Santa Clara county. Mr. Hough has been thrice married. His first union took place in New York and
Miss Harriette Coats was the lady of his choice; she was a native of
England and died at Walnut Creek, Cal. Some time later at Walnut Creek Mr. Hough married
Mrs. Nancy Taft, who was born in New York, and she died near San
Jose. In 1899 Mr. Hough wedded his
present wife, formerly Miss Emma Delamater, also a native of New York. The family are
devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in San Jose. In his political views Mr. Hough is a
Republican. He has served as a member of
the vigilance committee, and socially he affiliates with the Pioneer Society of
Santa Clara county.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 920-921. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Donna Toole.
Contra Costa County Biographies