Santa Clara County
Biographies
ABRAM AGNEW
ABRAM AGNEW. During the period of forty-eight years that
elapsed between the time of Mr. Agnew’s first settlement in California and his death in Santa Clara county,
it was his privilege to witness the transformation of the state from a frontier
mining region to a commonwealth than which none is more fertile or prosperous.
It was during 1873 that he settled in the county where the latter part of his
life was busily passed. Three years afterward he donated four acres to the
railroad company and laid out the village of Agnew,
which was named in his honor. He was a member of an eastern family, his
parents, Jonathan and Mary (Prather) Agnew, having been natives of Pennsylvania, though for many years
residents of Ohio,
where both of them died. In their family of two sons and three daughters Abram
was third in order of birth and was born on the home farm in Knox county, Ohio,
on New Year’s day of 1820. When he was a boy schools were few and far between,
nor was the system of education thorough, but in spite of these disadvantages
he became a well-informed man. When eighteen years of age he
became an apprentice to the blacksmith’s trade in Fredericktown, Ohio,
where he acquired a thorough knowledge of the occupation. During 1845 he
settled in Casco,
Ill., where he
followed his trade a short time.
In
those days interest was being awakened in the far west. A few resolute pioneers
had blazed a path through forests and over mountains and had observed
conditions on the coast. Reports from these encouraged others to follow their
example. During 1846 Mr. Agnew accompanied an expedition across the
plains, hoping that the climate of the coast would benefit his health. Settling
in the now famous Willamette valley, he was one of the first to cultivate the
soil of Yamhill county, Ore. However, the isolation and loneliness
of the life caused him to return to the east, and from 1848 to 1850 he worked
at his trade in St.
Joe, Mo.
When gold was discovered in California
he decided to seek his fortune on the coast, so in 1850 again crossed the
plains with a party of emigrants. At first he engaged in mining at Placerville, but in 1852
carried on a blacksmith’s shop at Yankee Jim’s, in Placer county.
July
of 1853 found Mr. Agnew making a trip east via the Isthmus
of Panama. After his arrival in Knox county,
Ohio, he married Miss Sarah Jane Barber, a
native of Warren county, N. J. Accompanied
by his young wife he started for California in
the fall of 1853, but when he reached Oskaloosa,
Iowa, changed his plans. In April,
1854, he again started for the west, this time alone, and settled on a ranch in
Yolo county. His wife remained in Oskaloosa until the
fall of 1855, when she returned to her old home in Ohio, remaining there until 1887, when she
was joined by her husband. Before leaving the west Mr. Agnew had disposed
of his property there, and in the fall of 1857 moved to Iowa,
settling on a farm in Mahaska county, and it was not
until 1873 that he came again to California.
Meanwhile, after gold was discovered in Pike’s Peak,
he joined a party of Argonauts and tried his luck in the mines there during
1860 and 1861, but met with no special good fortune. After coming to California for the second time he gave his attention to
farm pursuits and rose to a position of influence among the residents of Santa Clara county. In 1888 he returned to Ohio to visit the friends of
his youth and enjoyed meeting again the faces once familiar to him, but came
back to California more content than ever before with the climate and soil of
the coast. For years he took an active part in the local councils of the
Democratic party, while, along the line of his chosen
occupation he took a warm interest in the Patrons of Husbandry and San Jose
Grange No. 10, with both of which he was actively connected. On the homestead
which he had improved and cultivated, his earth life came to an end June 20, 1890.
There are many still living here who were his friends
and companions, and these speak of him in terms of deepest affection and
respect. By all his death was mourned as a loss to the community, with whose
interests his own has been identified for so many years.
Surviving
Mr. Agnew are his widow, one son and one daughter. The older son,
Hugh C., was engaged in the wholesale seed business in Santa Clara at the time of his death,
June 11, 1904. The younger son, J. B., who resides with his
mother, is also a seedsman in Santa Clara. The daughter, Lizzie, is the
wife of George Smith and resides on Bascom avenue.
Mrs. Agnew’s father, Jesse Barber, was born and reared in New Jersey, from which state in 1836 he removed to Ohio and settled in Lincoln
county. After eight years he became a farmer in Knox county. In 1854 he removed to Iowa, where he remained until death. At the
age of seventy-nine years, in 1871, he passed away at the home of his daughter,
Mrs. Agnew. In politics he voted with the Republicans after the
organization of that party. During early manhood he married Eleanor Stintson Davidson, who was born in the south and died in New Jersey when her
daughter, Mrs. Agnew, was a child of only eight years. Trained to a
thorough knowledge of domestic science, Mrs. Agnew was fitted to assume
the responsibilities of a home of her own, and to her husband she proved an
invaluable assistant, while among neighbors and acquaintances she has always
been honored for her gentle disposition and kindness of heart.
Transcribed
by Marie Hassard 01 August 2014.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 267-268. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2014 Marie Hassard.
Santa Clara Biography
Golden Nugget Library