Santa
Clara County
Biographies
THOMAS KEYS
Among the
most prosperous and progressive business men of San Jose is Thomas Keys, an
extensive candy manufacturer and dealer with factory at No. 133 South First street. Possessing
great energy and ambition, he has achieved success in his chosen occupation, and
has proved himself a useful and worthy citizen.
A son of Thomas Keys, Sr. he was born July 13, 1868, in London, Ontario,
of English ancestry.
A native
of England, Thomas Keys, Sr., was born and reared near Leeds Yorkshire. In early manhood he emigrated[sic]
to America, settling in London, Ont., where he was engaged in business as a
general contractor until his death, when but forty-five years old. He married Christine Goodacre, who was born
in Leeds, England, and died in San Jose, Cal., at the home of her son Thomas,
in 1890, at the age of fifty-nine years.
Four sons and four daughters were born of their union, and of these all
of the sons, and one daughter, grew to years of maturity, namely: William, who
located in San Jose as a contractor and builder in 1886, went to New York on a
pleasure trip in 1902, and was killed at Yonkers in a street car accident;
James a wood and coal merchant came to
California in 1891, and during the gold excitement went
to Dawson, Alaska, where he died in 1898; John died in Stockton, Cal.; Martha
resides in San Jose with her brother;
and Thomas the special subject of this sketch.
The
youngest child of the parental household, Thomas Keys was brought up in London,
Ont., where he went through the primary and grammar grades, and took the first
year’s course in the high school. At the
age of fourteen years he entered the establishment of the D.S. Perrin Company,
a large manufacturers and wholesale dealers of confectionery, and after serving
a full apprenticeship at the trade of a candy maker continued with the firm
until 1889. In that year Mr. Keys came
to San Jose, intending to engage in contracting and carpentering with his
brother William, but after a month’s trial decided that he was not fitted for
that kind of work. May 1, 1889,
therefore, he began the manufacture of confectionery on a modest scale,
building a small factory near his residence, at No. 315 West San Salvador street, and for three years made candy for the retail stores
only. By that time his business had so
rapidly increased that he leased a building at No. 360 South First street,
enlarged it, put in furnaces, and there continued in his occupation of another
three years, when, needing still more room, he transferred his factory to the
corner of San Carlos and First streets, where he remained four years. In 1900, owing to the demands of his
business, Mr. Keys located at No. 133 South First street, and has since
remodeled and greatly improved his factory, putting in candy making and pulling
machinery of the latest approved patterns, operating them with electric
power. Mr. Keys is an expert
manufacturer of confectionery, making all kinds of candy, and is carrying on an
extensive and lucrative wholesale trade, shipping his manufactures as far south
as Los Angeles, and throughout the San Joaquin valley and along the coast into
Alameda country. In his business he has
the largest capital invested of any manufacturer of the kind in the county, in
addition to his manufactory having a warehouse at No. 295 West San Salvador street, and employing twelve persons to assist him. Mr. Keys also manufactures ice cream by his
power plant, having a capacity of one hundred gallons a day, and at his store
operates a soda fountain.
In
religion Mr. Keys is an Episcopalian, and is a charter member of the
Y.M.C.A. In politics he is a stanch
Republican. He belongs to the Garden
City Wheelmen’s organization, to the Grand Fraternity, to the Merchants’
Association of San Jose, and to the Knights of Pythias.
Transcribed by
Louise E Shoemaker May 1, 2016.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 1144. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Louise E. Shoemaker.