Santa
Clara County
Biographies
WILLIAM
BOOTS
WILLIAM BOOTS. When our country was still in the colonial
period of its existence the Boots family became identified with its history and
bore an honorable part in its agricultural development as well as its various
wars. James Boots, who was the son of a
Revolutionary soldier, served with distinction in the war of 1812, and in 1814
removed from his native state, South Carolina, to the newer regions of Ohio,
where he secured a tract of raw land.
During the remainder of his life he was identified with a frontier
environment and lived the life of a brave, industrious and resourceful
pioneer. Among the children of his union
with Sarah Stringer was a son, William, who was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, April 12, 1825, and at an early age took
up the heavy task which fell to the lot of the sons of pioneers. With a wise judgment that would have done
credit to an older man he assisted his father in the management of the farm,
superintended its cultivation, gathered in its harvests, and carefully looked
after the stock until he was twenty-six years old.
When it became
possible for Mr. Boots to start out for himself he left home and started
westward. He went to St. Louis and in the spring
of 1852 helped to organize a party bound for California, and August 14
arrived in Sacramento, from which place he proceeded to the mines on Feather river. The occupation
of mining was one with which he was wholly unfamiliar and at the expiration of
five days he concluded he would never succeed at it, so abandoned it for farm
work as representing an occupation with which he was familiar. In the fall of 1852 he arrived in Santa Clara
county, where the remaining years of his life were
passed. The first months here were spent
under discouraging circumstances. Ill
and unable to work, yet lacking money, he often felt depressed and
down-hearted, but when, after six months of suffering, he regained his health
and resumed work, his natural cheerfulness of disposition asserted itself and
at once he became sanguine and optimistic.
Having rented land, Mr. Boots began to
raise grain in 1852, and soon he had a little money saved and bought an
interest in the property he subsequently owned, and which formed the nucleus of
his fine property. As the years went by
all of his earnings were carefully hoarded, to be used in the purchase of more
land, which finally represented a farm of six hundred and forty acres which
lies about seven miles north of San Jose in the Alviso district, on the Alviso
and Milpitas road. The larger part of
the estate is under cultivation to fruits, vegetables and berries. At the time he purchased the property the
raising of fruit was an industry still in its experimental stage, but he had
the greatest faith in its success and devoted much of his land to such
varieties as were adapted to the soil and climate. Twenty-three acres were planted to plums and
French prunes with a few other varieties, while sixty acres were in the
choicest kinds of strawberries. Starting
with a few experimental acres in asparagus he increased the number to over one
hundred, which proved a profitable product.
Nor did these various interests place a limit to Mr. Boots’
activities. In addition he became deeply
interested in raising thoroughbred racing horses of English stock and graded
horses of American stock, and his reputation was that of a stockman familiar
with every branch of the industry. To
secure an abundant supply of water for his farm he bored eleven artesian wells,
from two hundred and fifty feet to seven hundred feet in depth. Three of these wells give a flow of nine
inches of water over a seven-inch pipe, and one of them throws water from a
small nozzle attached to an inch hose fully forty feet high. Under his supervision a farm residence was
erected, suited to the needs and convenience of his family. Other buildings were also put up from time to
time, to meet the needs of his stock and estate. Under his capable supervision the property
was transformed into one of the valuable estates of the county. There was no one to help him in securing a
start, yet such was his strength of judgment and wisdom in enterprise that he
accumulated a competency, and at the time of his death, which occurred
April 18, 1900, he was numbered among the successful business men of this
locality. Mr. Boots always
attributed his success in life to the great help he received form his wife, who
was in every way a good wife and mother and an excellent manager. Nor must we overlook the assistance on the
farm which his children rendered, who inherited from both parents the noble
principles of industry and economy and who are to-day, with their mother,
superintending the management of the estate.
For many years, and until his death,
Mr. Boots was an earnest member of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he was a stanch[sic]
Republican. In 1859 he married Miss
Mary E. Hough, who was born in Perry, N.Y., being a daughter of Milo J.
and Sarah (Lockwood) Hough, also natives of New York state. Mrs. Boots was educated in Cazenovia Seminary,
from which school she came to California in July, 1857. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Boots was
blessed with the birth of four children, of whom three survive, namely:
Mary E., William, Jr., and Charles T.
[Inserted by D.
Toole.]
William Boots
1875
Jul 8, Oakland Tribune, P3, Oakland, California
Real
Estate Transactions
United States to William Boots, 80 acres, three
miles southeast from Livermore.
1883
Mar 9, The Record-Union, P1, Sacramento, California
Fire
in San Jose
San
Jose, March 8th – At 1:25 this morning a fire broke out in the large two-story
wooden building on San Pedro street, near Julian, occupied by Bennett, Paterson
& Co. as a furniture factory. The
flames spread with remarkable rapidity, and before the firemen arrived John Britton’s box factory, close adjoining on the
south, and Albert Lake’s box factory on the north, but ten feet distant, were
also on fire and past redemption. All
three buildings were burned to the ground.
Albert Lake’s dwelling, a short distant[sic]
northwest of his factory, was badly scorched, and would have burned had any
wind prevailed. The fire caught in the
paint room, in rear of the second-story of the furniture factory. A fruit dryer, formerly owned by Earl, but
attached by William Boots, in the rear of Lake’s factory, was destroyed. The total loss is upwards of $30,000, with
insurance as follows: Bennett, Paterson
& Co., $3,600; loss about $15,000. Lake, $3,000 on factory, and $1,000 on dwelling; loss about $6,000. Boots, $1,400; loss,
$2,000. Bennett, Paterson &
Co. had a large stock of newly-made furniture on hand, and their loss may
exceed the amount named. There was no
fire or furnace in the paint room and how the fire originated is a
mystery. Lake will begin to rebuild next
Monday.
1889
May 29, The Los Angeles Times, P5, Los Angeles,
California
Sharpers Outwitted
How
They Tried to Do Up a San Diegan
San
Diego, May 28 – [By the Associated Press] William Boots, a wealthy landholder,
is absent from the city. A scheme was
concocted to rob him of $10,000. L. M.
Moore, a real estate agent, received a letter from the Julian mining district,
near here, signed William Boots, and saying that he wished to borrow the above
sum on two blocks of land. A power of
attorney from Fallbrook followed, duly signed and acknowledged by a justice of
the peace. Moore had the title searched
and power of attorney recorded, and all looked straight, but suspicious
circumstances caused him to write to Fallbrook.
The Justice’s acknowledgment proved a forgery, and the police were
notified. Decoy letters were written to
the conspirators, in _______ [unreadable print] $10,000 was promised. The envelope supposed to contain the money
was sent to Tia Juana. The bogus William
Boots was arrested in the act of leaving the postoffice
with the envelope. He says he was hired
by William Allison, an abstractor of titles here, to get the letter with the
money, etc. The young man is well known
and stood high. His real name is Joseph
Ryan. He has resided here two years. Eight documents in all were forged. Both men are under arrest.
1889
Sep 14, The Record-Union, P8, Sacramento, California
The
Horse Show
<snipped>
Mares
Four
years old and over, with sucking colt – William Boots, Mollie H. by Wild Idle,
and colt; W. L. Pritchard, Lizzie Dunbar by Bazar.
Four years old and over – W. F. Smith, Annie Laurie
by Hubbard; William Boots, Nerva by Bob Wooding; W.
L. Pritchard, Lizzie P. by Leinster.
Three
years old – William Boots, Installation by Inauguration.
Two
years old – William Boots, bay filly, not named, by Inauguration.
<snipped>
Families
Best
thoroughbred dam, with no less than two of her colts, all thoroughbred –
William Boots, Mollie H. by Wild Idle, and two colts; Dr. Alice M. Cutler, Lady
Stacy by Wild Idle, and two colts by Joe Hooker; W. L. Pritchard, Sacramento,
Lizzie Dunbar by Bazar, and two colts.
<snipped>
1890
Sep 3, Oakland Tribune, P1, Oakland, California
The
Premiums
Additions
to the List of Competitors for Prizes
In
addition to the list recorded in Monday’s Tribute, the following entries were
made up to noon today of competitors for the premium awards:
Horses
Thoroughbred
Stallions: Three years old – J. Cairn Simpson, of Oakland, enters Rathbone; William Boots, of Milpitas, enters imp.
Brutus. Two years old – W. L. Appleby,
of Santa Clara, enters Laurel Wood; William Boots, of Milpitas, enters
Elmwood. Colts – William Boots, of
Milpitas, enters a Bob Wooding colt.
<snipped> William Boots, of Milpitas,
enters Mollie H. and Forma. Thoroughbred
Mares and Colts: William Boots, of
Milpitas, enters Mollie H. and three colts.
<snipped>
1900
Apr 19, San Francisco Chronicle, P5, San Francisco, California
William
Boots, The Pioneer Turfman,
Dead
Bred
Many Famous Horses on His Farm Near Milpitas – He Was Never
Known to Lay a Wager
San
Jose, April 19 – William Boots, the pioneer horse breeder of the State, died
today at his residence near Milpitas, aged 79 years. He owned a farm of 640 acres. William Boots was one of the pioneer
thoroughbred breeders of this State. His
colors have been seen on nearly every California track for fully a quarter of a
century. He never was known to bet and
ran his horses for pure sport. On
account of his age he has not been a visitor at any of the tracks for some
time, leaving the management of the Elmwood stock farm horses to his son,
Charles Boots. He was at the Bay
District track the day Claudius started in the four-mile race against Star Ruby
and Gilead. The purchase of Imported
Brutus gave the Boots breeding farm a national fame as Vinctor,
Peter the Great, Installator, Lucrezia
Borgia and The Roman were all bred near Milpitas. Several years ago Boots is said to have
refused an offer of $50,000 for Brutus.
1900
Apr 20, The San Francisco Call, P11, San Francisco,
California
Track
Notes
The
Elmwood stock farm horses were scratched from the different events for which
they were entered yesterday, owing to the death of William Boots, father of
Charles Boots. Mr. Boots has the
sympathy of all turfmen in his bereavement.
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 1368-1369. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Donna Toole.