Santa
Clara County
Biographies
THOMAS KICKHAM
The same far-sightedness and
enthusiasm which brought Thomas Kickham to the gold
fields of California in 1849, followed him in his effort to earn a livelihood
as a farmer and stock-raiser in Santa Clara county,
where, at the time of his death, August 23, 1895, he was known as one of its
substantial and highly esteemed upbuilders. But nine
years of age when he came to this country from County Tipperary,
Ireland, where he was born in 1823, he located with his parents on a farm in
Susquehanna county, Pa., going thence after three
years to St. Louis, Mo., soon after removing to Texas. Eighteen months later
found him in New Orleans, where he was variously employed until the tide of
emigration toward the west found an answering echo in his young and aspiring
heart. The port of New Orleans in the spring of ’49 presented a scene of great
activity, vying with New York in offering transportation to the thousands weary
of farm and other drudger, and anxious to join the throngs dependent upon the
output of mines on the western coast. Needless to say the departure of vessels
with their cargoes of human freight created restlessness in the mind of
on-lookers, and Thomas Kickham was not one to stand
by and see an opportunity slip through his hands.
After the usual adventures by sea
and on the Isthmus Mr. Kickham arrived in San
Francisco in the fall of 1849, and spending six months in the then crude city
proceeded to the mines of Calaveras county, where he followed the varying
fortunes of the miner for seven years. Richer in experience than in money he
arrived in Santa Clara county in 1862, and with the proceeds of his labor
invested in stock and land near San Felipe, soon after removing to Canada de
Dos Osas, which continued to be his home until 1878.
During that year Mr. Kickham removed to the farm now
occupied by his widow and son, and where his last days were spent in
comparative affluence. In his life he illustrated the worth of practical common
sense, singleness of purpose, and devotion to home interests and friends. Around
his farm he was methodical and orderly, and he was far too generous and
far-sighted to let anything go to waste. In him his neighbors found an obliging
man, and one who had learned the philosophy of looking on the bright side of
things. Temperate in all things, he led an even and uneventful life, and save
the adventure of seeking his fortune among the mines, departed rarely from
beaten and peaceful paths.
Much of his success Mr. Kickham attributed to the companionship and helpfulness of
a sympathetic and discerning wife. January 21, 1872, he married Margaret
Redmond, a native of Frampton, Canada, and born October 24, 1849, about the
same time that her husband arrived on the coast. Mrs. Kickham
is a daughter of Andrew Redmond, a native son of Wexford, Ireland, and who came
to America with his parents when seven years of age. With her parents Mrs. Kickham came to California in 1854, locating in the
vicinity of San Jose, Santa Clara county, where her mother died January 23,
1891, at the age of sixty-four years, and her father February 1, 1891, at the
age of sixty-nine. The mother was formerly Catherine Madigan, born in Limerick,
Ireland, and who was married in Canada, whither she removed with her parents
when a child. The Kickham, farm is now operated by
William J. Kickham, the only son of his father, born
in 1877. Mr. Kickham is a practical and enterprising
farmer, profiting by his father’s example, as well as by that of his
progressive and successful neighbors. He has lately taken on additional
responsibilities, having married, in June, 1903, Amelia Sturlo,
daughter of one of the prominent agriculturists of Santa Clara county. He is a member of the Catholic church,
thereby adhering to the religious traditions of his family for many
generations.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 1198. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.