Santa Clara County
Biographies
DANIEL JOSEPH GODFREY
DANIEL JOSEPH GODFREY exemplifies in his career the truth
of Sydney Smith’s saying, “Be what nature intended you for and you will
succeed,” for he has cultivated and developed his native mechanical talent to a
marked degree, and is now one of the most able and successful stationary
engineers of San Jose. A son of the late Michael Godfrey, he was born
August 15, 1862, in Addingham, Yorkshire,
England, of honored ancestry on both sides of the house.
A native of Ireland, Michael Godfrey was reared and
educated in Yorkshire, England, and there married Catherine White. Emigrating to America in 1863, he came directly to
California, sailing from New York by way of the Isthmus. Locating in San Jose,
he entered the employ of the San Jose gas works as gas manufacturer, and
retained that position for many years. In 1892 he removed to San Diego, where
he lived retired from active pursuits until his death, in 1902. In 1869 he sent
for his family to join him in San Jose. It was Mrs. Godfrey’s intention to come
by way of Panama, but on reaching New York she changed her plans, exchanged the
tickets, and came across the continent by rail, the trip, which was made on one
of the first through emigrant trains, taking fourteen days. She survived her
husband, and now resides in San Jose, making her home with her son Daniel. Of
the three children born of their union, two are living, namely:
Daniel Joseph, the special subject of this sketch; and Thomas M., of
Wilmington, Cal., foreman of the South Western Lumber Company.
But six and one-half years of age when he came with his
mother to the Pacific coast, Daniel J. Godfrey was brought up in San Jose, and
after leaving the public schools completed his early education in the Santa
Clara College. Entering the city machine shops in 1875, he served an
apprenticeship at the machinist’s trade, after which he was stationary engineer
for the Pacific Manufacturing Company, in Santa Clara, for two years. He subsequently
occupied a similar position with the J. M. Dawson Fruit Packing
Company for two years. From 1884 until 1887, Mr. Godfrey was in business
for himself as a teamster, taking large contracts for hauling lumber, being
located in Alameda, and employing five or six teams. Removing to San Diego in
1887 he took contracts for teaming for the West Coast Lumber Company, with
which he was associated for three years. In 1890 Mr. Godfrey returned to
San Jose, and for four years was engineer for the Independent Mill & Lumber
Company of this city. From 1894 until 1898 he was engineer for the San Jose box
factory, and for the ensuing two years was engineer at the Agnew Insane Asylum.
In 1900 he again entered the employ of the San Jose Box Factory Company, by
whom he was employed as engineer until March, 1903, when he became engineer at
the Hubbard & Carmichael Mill. He left the mill July 1, 1904, to accept the
position of assistant engineer of the San Jose Water Company. A thorough-going
mechanic, well informed on all the details connected with
his trade, Mr. Godfrey is an authority on the practical management of
stationary engines, and in July, 1903, was appointed to his present position as
a member of the City Board of Examiners for Engineers, and was elected chairman
of the board. He takes great interest in municipal affairs, contributing his
share toward the establishment of beneficial projects, and is held in high
esteem as a man and a citizen. He resides at No. 950 South Sixth street, where he built his pleasant and attractive home.
In San Jose Mr. Godfrey married Mary Hare, a native
of this city, and the daughter of Hugh Hare, a pioneer farmer, who owns a good
ranch in Santa Clara county, near Mountainview.
Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey are the parents of three children, namely: Irene, Leo
and Earl. Mr. Godfrey is an active member of the Modern Woodmen of
America, of which he was banker three years; of the Local Union No. 6,
N. A. S. E., of which he has been treasurer since its
organization; and of International Union No. 171, of San Jose, Steam
Engineers, of which he is past vice-president.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 11 November 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page
866. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Marie
Hassard.