Santa Clara County
Biographies
JAMES H. ELLIS
JAMES H. ELLIS. In the death of Mr. Ellis,
November 25, 1900, Santa Clara county
mourned the loss of one of her wealthiest and most honorable citizens and
California one of her most prosperous dairy farmers and successful
agriculturists. A descendant of a prominent Virginia family and a native of the
Old Dominion, born November 25, 1828, Mr. Ellis, at the age of
six, was taken by his parents to Illinois, whence they afterward moved to
Montrose, Iowa, on the Mississippi river, and it was there that he grew to
manhood and acquired an education in the public schools. Being one of a family
of seven children, after leaving school he became an apprentice at the
bricklayer’s trade and worked in that capacity until he attained his majority,
when he started out to make his fortune, wisely seeking the golden west as a
field for his endeavors.
Crossing the plains behind ox teams in 1849, he located
for a time in Colusa county, Cal., where he engaged in
mining operations for several years, being quite successful at times, but on
the whole he amassed no great wealth in this venture. His move to the west was
one of the determining factors of his advance toward fortune, but it was not
until he discontinued mining and invested in land that his rise was steady and
continuous. About 1854 he spent a brief period in Sacramento, subsequently
coming to the fertile Santa Clara valley and locating near Santa Clara, where
he followed farm pursuits until his marriage. This event was celebrated
November 23, 1855, his twenty-seventh birthday, and united him with
Miss Harriet Zuck, a daughter of David Zuck, formerly of Pennsylvania, an account of whose life
will be found in the biography of James C. Zuck.
Soon after marriage the young couple moved to the
vicinity of Gilroy and it was there that Mr. Ellis rose to prominence as a
dairy farmer, continuing farm pursuits continuously for forty-six years. He had
energy, was capable of hard work, and was ambitious, and naturally these
qualifications secured his advancement in the financial world. Retiring from
active pursuits in 1891, he spent his remaining years in Gilroy, where his
death occurred. In politics he was ever a follower and supporter of the
Republican party.
Mrs. Ellis was the third of the seven children born to
David and Maria Louisa (Linnton) Zuck, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter
of Ohio, and she was born in Marion county, Ohio,
May 10, 1838. When a young man her father accompanied his parents to
Ohio, locating first in Ross county and afterward in
Marion county, and it was in the former county that his marriage took place. In
1849 he came to California and engaged in mining, but in 1851 returned to his
home in Ohio. The following spring, however, he again started west, taking his
family with him. After a weary journey of five months behind ox teams they
reached their destination. Locating in Marysville, Mr. Zuck
followed mining pursuits until 1853, removing at that time to Santa Clara county,
where he purchased the land now occupied by J. C. Zuck,
near Gilroy, and it was upon this farm that both he and his wife passed their closing years; the latter died
May 10, 1886, aged sixty-eight years.
Mrs. Ellis resides at the family residence in
Gilroy. Her six children are all living, with the exception of the second
child. Alvin assists in carrying on the home farm; Millard is deceased; Laura
is the wife of Frank Veterline, of San Luis
Obispo; Emma is the wife of George T. Dunlap, of Gilroy; Dora is the
wife of Edgar Halloway; and Marion resides on
the home farm. Mrs. Ellis has a large circle of friends in Santa Clara
County and is highly esteemed in Gilroy.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 17 April 2016.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page
1079. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Marie Hassard.