Santa Clara County
Biographies
MARY E. DAWSON
Brought to the west in infancy Mrs. Mary E. Dawson has spent practically her entire life among the pioneer scenes and conditions of California, and with years of maturity has taken an active and absorbing interest in the development of resources and the upbuilding of the country's welfare, proving herself a woman of capability, of unusual business sagacity and judgment, and an important factor in the accumulation of the wealth of her family. Born in Hillsdale, Mich., August 12, 1854, she was the representative of a New York family, being a daughter of Hiram W. and the granddaughter of Henry Scudder Platt. Late in life the grandfather removed from Lockport, N.Y., to Monroe, Mich., later to Hillsdale, that state. He was well known in banking circles while a resident of Michigan, where he was an honored and highly respected citizen. He subsequently removed to Indiana. Hiram W. Platt was born in Union Falls, N.Y., and in later life was engaged in the hardware and real estate business in Hillsdale, Mich. In 1849, with a Michigan company known as the Fayette Rovers, he started to cross the plains. At Salt Lake City they joined the Manley party and continued the journey to the coast under the leadership of a Mormon guide, who led them in a roundabout way to California, taking them through Death's valley, where several of the party died of starvation and the others were saved only by a relief party sent out from Los Angeles. The journey hither had occupied a year's time. They reached the coast below Los Angeles, thence went north. Mr. Platt at once entered the mines and met with success as a miner, but remembering the beauty of the Santa Clara valley he later located near Evergreen, where in partnership with an elderly gentleman he owned a large farm. In the spring of 1853 he went to Peru, Ind., engaging in the hardware business, and subsequently located in Hillsdale, Mich., again, following farming there for three years. His second trip to California was made via the Isthmus of Panama, and he reached San Francisco June 1, 1856, at the time of the execution of Corey and Casey by the vigilance committee. Coming to Santa Clara county again he engaged in farming near San Jose until 1867, when he became interested in the real estate and insurance business, with which he remained connected for eighteen years. He came to his death accidentally August5 1, 1888. Mr. Platt was a man of learning and talent. A versatile writer, he contributed many articles to papers here as well as in the eastern states. A genial and kindly nature, he numbered many friends among the many who knew him, and in his outdoor sports, of which he was very fond, such as fishing, hunting, camping, etc., he picked up much valuable information as to the peculiarities of the country, which made him an entertaining companion. Among his curios gathered in various parts of the country he had many specimens of minerals, for he was especially fond of mountains and mountain scenery and geological formations. He married Eunice B. Foot, a native of Painesville, Ohio, whose family was numbered among the pioneers of that state, and she survives her husband at the age of seventy years, making her home with her two daughters. She belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which she is still active. She is the mother of three children, one son and two daughters, of whom Dr. S. W., is a dentist in Park City, Utah; Emily Alice is the wife of Clarence Haydock, of Los Angeles, Cal.; and the eldest is Mary E., Mrs. Dawson.
Reared among the scenes of California, Mary E. Platt received her education in the common schools of the state, and was also carefully trained in the duties which distinguished the housewives of the early day. When twenty years of age, December 31, 1874, in San Jose, she was united in marriage with Thomas B. Dawson. Mr. Dawson is a native of Knox county, Ohio, and with his parents removed to Iowa, from which state in 1869 they came by railroad to California. Locating in San Jose Mr. Dawson engaged with his father in the first fruit-canning industry in the county, having for their equipment nothing but a cooking stove and the necessary utensils. This modest beginning was the foundation for the San Jose Fruit Packing Company, of which Mr. Dawson is now assistant general manager, and also of thirty-six factories located in various sections of the state. He is principally occupied in traveling, while Mrs. Dawson superintends the fruit farm, which is located on the San Francisco road, five miles west of Santa Clara, and was purchased in 1894. The ranch consists of twenty-one acres, and is devoted to the cultivation of prunes and cherries, to the care of which Mrs. Dawson has given much deep and earnest study. In addition to the intrinsic value of the ranch many artistic ideas have been carried into effect in the matter of flowers, plants and shrubbery, the same thought given to the material advantages of the place being lavished upon all that could beautify and enhance the charm of country life. In her home Mrs. Dawson has all the conveniences of a city residence increased ten-fold by the beautiful surroundings. The talent which has directed the improvements of this home are natural to Mrs. Dawson, as since childhood she has been especially apt at painting, both oil and china, and by long practice and unusual study has developed her artistic nature and taught herself a true love for the beautiful.
To Mr. and Mrs. Dawson were born two children: Florence Mabel, who became the wife of I.E. Pomeroy, whose sketch appears on another page of this work; and Raymond F., who makes his home with his mother. In political preferment and family adhere to the principles advocated in the platform of the Republican party.
Transcribed
7-14-15 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 680-683. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Marilyn R. Pankey.