Santa
Clara County
Biographies
GEORGE
N. HERBERT
GEORGE N. HERBERT. The largest and one of the finest fruit
packing establishments owned by a single individual in the state of California
is that of George N. Herbert, located on the corner of Lincoln and
Moorpark avenues, San Jose. The above
statement implies not only unusual sagacity on the part of this amiable
business man, but argues the ability to take advantage of a resource, the
extent of which, even at this day, has probably been imperfectly
appreciated. Mr. Herbert belongs to
the younger generation of horticulturists, having been born July 10, 1870,
in Solano county, three miles south of Davisville,
and was educated in the public school and the old San Jose Business College,
later studying at the University of the Pacific. As a boy he was reared to orcharding
in Santa Clara county, gaining his most expert experiences between the ages of
sixteen and twenty years. In 1890 he
began the packing and drying business in the orchard,
and in 1892 built the old packing house on the corner of Lincoln avenue and
Home street, continuing to pack and ship at that point until an increase of
business rendered his quarters altogether inadequate. In 1898 he built a one-story packing house on
the corner of Lincoln and Moorpark avenues, which, after being burned to the
ground June 30, 1901, was replaced by a new and much larger structure
within forty days. The new plant is
equipped with both steam and electrical machinery, and there has just been
completed one of the largest and most satisfactory evaporators for drying
prunes in the state. The capacity of the
factory is over one hundred tons per day.
Mr. Herbert has given the subject of fruit drying and preserving
the attention of an astute and inquiring mind, and his experiments have proved
of use to his competitors. He is a
member of the California Packers’ Company, and is recognized as a leader, both
in the extent and kind of his operations.
He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, of the Sainte Claire Club,
and is actively identified with the Republican party. In religion he is a member of the
Presbyterian Church. Mr. Herbert
has a pleasant home in San Jose and a family consisting of his wife, formerly
Lucy Avery, a native of Bodega, Sonoma county, Cal.,
and two children, Harold and Miriam.
Too much cannot be said in favor of such
enterprise and perseverance as have characterized the career of Mr.
Herbert. His integrity and well-applied
industry have added to a family name already substantially identified with the
state and have made him one of the best known and influential business men of
the Santa Clara valley. He is thorough
and practical, methodical yet progressive, and is a considerate and popular
employer of labor. As environment and
early example have much to do in fashioning life tendencies, it is interesting
in this connection to call attention to the career of William B. Herbert,
the father of George N., who unquestionably proved an inspiration to the
ambitious lad, moulding his thoughts to harmonize
with his possibilities and instilling into his adaptive mind an appreciation of the land which he himself had reached after
much trouble and tribulation. He came to
the state when gold was its only attraction and only known resource, bringing
with him sufficient insight to know that such a climate must needs house other
industries and be a fitting site for ideal homes. Born in Harford county,
Md., September 2, 1817, he was a near relative of General Herbert of
Revolutionary fame, and was the inheritor of strong and self-reliant traits of
character. He started out by himself to
make a fortune, going first to New Orleans.
For a time he engaged in the trading and transportation business between
New Orleans and St. Louis, and in this way
learned much about the west, to which heavily laden boats were continually
starting. The resistless coast fever
caught him in its tide in the spring of 1850, and he came by way of the plains,
walking every step of the way and suffering such want and deprivation as was
the common heritage of the heroic emigrants of the early days. First engaging in the northern mines of the
state he afterwards moved to Solano county, where he
bought a ranch three miles south of Davisville. In 1854 he went back to his home in the east
and on May 5 was united in marriage with Susan Barnes, returning with his
bride to California by way of Panama.
Mr.
Herbert followed farming and stock-raising in Solano county
until 1876, when he bought a two-thousand-acre cattle ranch in San Luis Obispo
county, near Cambria, and lived thereon until 1881. Disposing of his land he located near San
Jose, in order that his children might have better educational
opportunities. Setting out an orchard
and surrounding himself and family with every comfort, Mr. Herbert gave
his constant attention to horticulture until 1894, when he sold his orchard and
move into San Jose, where his death occurred June 13, 1901. He is survived by his wife, who lives in San
Jose, and by all but two of his nine children.
[Inserted by D.
Toole.]
GEORGE
N. HERBERT
1901 Jun 14, Evening News, P4, San Jose,
California
Died
Herbert – In San Jose, June 13, 1901,
William Boyd Herbert, a native of Maryland, aged 83 years. (San Francisco papers please copy.)
1901 Jul 1, The
San Francisco Call, P3, San Francisco, California
Flames Destroy Tons of Prunes
Herbert Fruit-Packing House at San Jose
Burned
San Jose, June 30 – The big fruit-packing
house and dryer of George N. Herbert, situated on the western outskirts of
the city, was destroyed by fire to-night.
The loss is placed between $50,000 and $60,000, with insurance of about
60 percent. The big loss is largely made
up of prunes, of which 450 tons were burned. Five carloads of these were packed in
five-pound tines. Of the total amount of
fruit destroyed, 350 tons belonged to the Cured Fruit Association; the
remainder to Herbert. The origin of the
fire is not known. It was discovered
about 9:30 o’clock and was under good headway. The plant being outside the city, there is no
fire department and neighbors could only gather and watch the entire property be destroyed. The
establishment was one of the largest and most complete in the valley. Nearly $50,000 worth of materials and
supplies for this season’s business had just been purchase, all of which was
lost.
1901 Dec 27, Evening Tribune, P6, San
Jose, California
Geo. N. Herbert, the San Jose prune
packer, is visiting his brother, William Herbert, of this city.
1904 Jun 19, San Jose Mercury News, P13,
San Jose, California
With the Gay
An Old-Fashioned Tea
Mrs. George N. Herbert was hostess
at a delightful old-fashioned tea given in honor of her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth K.
Avery and of Mr. Herbert’s mother, Mrs. Susan B. Herbert, at her
home on South Ninth street Thursday afternoon. The house was made bright with spicy
carnations and fragrant sweet peas. The
guests were all elderly ladies, and by a strange co-incidence discovered while
at supper, all widows. The afternoon was
pleasantly passed in social chat and happy reminiscences. An old-fashioned supper was served, the table
decorations being five-finger ferns and sweet peas. After supper, Mr. Herbert took all
guests home in his automobile. Those who
enjoyed Mrs. Herbert’s hospitality were:
Mrs. Elizabeth K. Avery, Mrs. Susan B. Herbert, Mrs. R. A. Patterson,
Mrs. A. C. Bean, Mrs. Singleton, Mrs. Mears, Mrs. D. S.
Phelps, Mrs. Jane Kirkwood, Mrs. Randal, Mrs. Jane Ledyard, Mrs.
Lou Buckener, Mrs. S. A. Cory, Mrs. Elizabeth Miller.
1926 Dec 5, Oakland Tribune, P79,
Oakland, California
Dr. E. F. Herbert, with Mrs. Herbert and
sons, returned from Pacific Grove, where they were called by the illness and
death of Dr. Herbert’s mother, Mrs. William B. Herbert, pioneer
Californian, who died at the age of 93 years. Dr. Herbert is one of nine surviving
children.
1935 Jan 30, San Diego Union, P12, San
Diego, California
Herbert Funeral Rites Arranged
Funeral services for Mrs. Genevieve
Avery Herbert, 73, for 15 years a Y.W.C.A. board member, who died at her home,
546 Robinson ave. yesterday after several years’
illness, will be held tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in Bonham Brothers’
chapel. Mrs. Herbert was graduated
from Mills college in 1882, and came to San Diego as
the bride of William M. Herbert about 46 years ago. She had been an active member of the First
Presbyterian church during the time of her residence here. In 1926, while on her way to a Y.W.C.A.
meeting, she was stricken with a paralytic stroke and had been ill since that
time. While ill, she was made an
honorary life member of the board of directors of the Y.W.C.A. Besides her husband, she is survived by two
daughters, Miss Genevieve Herbert and Wilma Herbert Brown, both of San
Diego; a son, Warden A. Herbert, San Diego; two sisters, Dr. Caroline
Avery and Miss Lucy A. Herbert, both of San Jose; and one brother,
Charles K. Avery, of Visalia, Calif.
1935 Jan 31, Evening Tribune, P11, San
Jose, California
Herbert – Jan. 29, 1935. Genevieve Avery Herbert, beloved wife of
William M. Herbert, mother of Genevieve Herbert, Wilma Herbert Brown and Marden[sic] A. Herbert, San Diego; sister of Dr. Caroline
Avery and Mrs. Lucy A. Herbert, San Jose, and Charles K. Avery,
Visalia, Calif.; aged 73 years. Friends
are invited to attend services Thursday, Jan. 31, at 2:30 p.m. from Bonham Brothers’
Mortuary, Fourth and Elm sts., Dr. Wallace M.
Hamilton officiating. Entombment,
Greenwood Cathedral Mausoleum.
1941 Jan 13, Oakland Tribune, P23,
Oakland, California
Herbert – In San Jose, Jan. 11, George
N. Herbert, husband of Lucy A. Herbert, father of Harold A. Herbert
and Mrs. Miriam L. Denhart, a native of
California, aged 70 years.
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 1315-1316. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Donna Toole.