Santa
Clara County
Biographies
JOHN
DUDFIELD
JOHN DUDFIELD, president and general
manager of the Dudfield Lumber Company, of Palo Alto,
Cal., has made this place his home since 1898.
His identification with the lumber industry dates still further back,
and since then he has risen to a position of prominence in the business
world. Although little
more than thirty years of age, Mr. Dudfield
easily ranks among the most prominent and influential business men of his
community. He claims Watsonville,
Cal., as the place of his nativity, and July 15, 1873, the date of birth.
In tracing the ancestry of Mr. Dudfield, we find him to be the only child of James and
Elizabeth (Phillips) Dudfield, the former a native of
London, England, and the latter born in Pennsylvania. In 1855 the father crossed the Atlantic ocean for a home in America, locating for a short time in
New York. He was a plasterer by trade and
a little later went south to Texas, where he worked at his trade until
1863. He was then induced to go to
California, which he did by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and the first few
years of his residence in western United States were spent by him in San
Francisco and Portland. It was in 1868
that his business called him into Santa Clara county,
he having taken the contract to plaster the court house at San Jose. Here for years he executed all the larger
pieces of work in his line, including Notre Dame Convent, and in 1873 he went
south to Santa Cruz county and located for a couple of years at
Watsonville. Having accumulated some
capital, he returned to San Jose in 1875, and invested in real estate,
purchasing at that time twenty acres of land on Story road and Lincoln avenue,
which he planted in fruit trees, mostly cherries. Years afterward he sold this place and lived
a retired life for some time in San Jose, but he subsequently purchased
property near Alum rock. He died in San Jose, June 17, 1902, aged
sixty-five years. His widow is still
living in the same city, residing at No. 22 North Fifth street.
In his youth, John Dudfield
had the advantage of receiving a good education, without which few can hope for
success in the business world. After
completing the common school course he became a student in the San Jose high
school, from which he graduated in 1893.
For nearly two years after leaving school he drifted from place to
place, sight-seeing, and during the latter part of 1894 he engaged as a clerk
in the grocery business at Redwood City and Palo Alto. Mr. Dudfield
was stationed at the former place until 1898, being then transferred to Palo
Alto as outside manager and salesman.
Being ambitious to attain individual
success and having in the meantime amassed some capital, Mr. Dudfield embraced the first opportunity that presented
itself to step from the ranks of employes to the
limited circle of employers, and severing his connection with the above named
firm, March 1, 1900, he became the senior partner of the firm of
Grace & Dudfield, and since then his advance
toward the ultimate goal of his ambition has been sure and swift. Throwing his accustomed enterprise and energy
into the business, he was largely responsible for extending the trade of that
establishment, and August 18, 1902, he purchased his partner’s interest
and since then his commercial career has been but a continuance of
success. At the time of his purchase the
business was incorporated under the name of the Dudfield
Lumber Company with a capital stock of $50,000, entirely owned by Mr. Dudfield. The
company deals extensively and exclusively in Oregon pine and redwood lumber,
carrying on strictly a retail business in millwork, doors, windows, tanks,
lath, lime, cement, plaster, etc. The
extensive lumber yards are located in Palo Alto and are also owned by the
company. Mr. Dudfield
is also largely interested in various other business enterprises in his
locality, among them being a half interest in the Nevada building. In January, 1904, Mr. Dudfield established the Dudfield
Lumber & Warehouse Company at Mountainview,
Cal., and this business was incorporated separately. In this enterprise he has a partner, and a
general storage business is carried on by them, hay, grain, etc., being
handled. In addition, Mr. Dudfield is vice-president of the Palo Alto Hardware
Company, recently incorporated under the laws of California.
By his marriage Mr. Dudfield was united with Miss Lillian A. Jury,
who was born in Nevada, Cal. Politically
a Republican, Mr. Dudfield is quite an active
politician, but is not an office-seeker, being too deeply engrossed in his
business affairs. He is also prominent
in fraternal circles, affiliating with the Masonic Blue Lodge and chapter of
Palo Alto; Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of San Jose; Knights of Pythias and Independent Order of Odd Fellows, also of Palo
Alto. He was formerly a member of the
Native Sons of the Golden West. His
success in the financial world is well deserved and his friends predict for him
a still more brilliant future.
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 401-402. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Donna Toole.