Santa Clara County
Biographies
SAMUEL WILLIAM KILPATRICK
S. W. KILPATRICK. A man of rare artistic and business
ability, S. W. Kilpatrick is an able representative of the
horticultural and floricultural interests of Santa Clara county,
and as superintendent of the Glen Orchard, near Gilroy, has acquired fame and
distinction. Endowed by nature with a cunning hand, original ideas, and a love
of the beautiful, he has developed and cultivated his natural tastes, becoming
one of the most experienced and best landscape gardeners of the state, and the
leading nurseryman of the Pacific coast. A son of Frank Kilpatrick, he was
born March 23, 1849, in Philadelphia, Pa., of Scotch ancestry.
A native of Scotland, Frank Kilpatrick was born about
twelve miles from the city of Edinburgh, where the name of the family
originated, being derived from two towns of that locality, Old and New
Kilpatrick. He emigrated to this country with his
family, settling in Philadelphia as a general contractor, and living there until
his death, at the age of eighty-seven years. He belonged to a family noted for
its longevity, his brother John living to the age of ninety-eight years and
only recently returned to England. His wife, whose maiden name was
Jane Brown, was born in the north of Ireland, where her father immigrated from England. She died at the age of
seventy-three years. Of the eight children born of their marriage, seven are
living, S. W., the subject of this sketch, being the second child in
succession of birth, and the only one on the Pacific coast.
Having acquired a substantial education in the graded
schools of Philadelphia, S. W. Kilpatrick went to Germantown, Pa.,
where he served an apprenticeship of four years and nine months under
Thomas Menan, a nurseryman and landscape
gardener, who had previously served for many years as state entomologist for
Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio. Acquiring a thorough knowledge of the
business, Mr. Kilpatrick established a nursery in the twenty-third ward of
Philadelphia, where he was located seven years. In partnership with
Mr. Battles, he then opened a florist’s store at the corner of Twelfth and
Chestnut streets, and in its management was very successful. Wishing to come to
the Pacific coast, he disposed of his interest in the firm to his partner, who
still continues in business at the same location, and in 1882
Mr. Kilpatrick took up his residence in California. At Del Monte he
subsequently assisted in laying out the magnificent grounds of the celebrated
hotel of that place, being associated with Mr. Ulrich, who afterward laid
out the Columbian Fair grounds in Chicago, and now has charge of Central Park,
in New York City. Going from Del Monte to San Rafael, Mr. Kilpatrick laid
out Mount Tamalpais cemetery, after which he went to the Almaden mines, where
he laid out the gardens for Mr. J. B. Randall. In 1887 he accepted
his present position as superintendent of Glen Orchard, which then contained
but forty acres, and was devoted entirely to horticulture. Many acres have since
been added to the orchard, two hundred and fifty acres being devoted to the
growing of grapes, and an equally large space to the culture of fruits, including prunes, pears, peaches, apricots, apples, walnuts
and almonds. In the raising of nursery stock, Mr. Kilpatrick has been
unusually successful, having many choice varieties of roots, and plants of rare
value, his stock containing ornamental trees, shrubs, vines, roses, and
herbaceous plants of all kinds.
December 19, 1883, Mr. Kilpatrick married
Lillie A. Barker, who was born in San Francisco, and into their
pleasant home four children have been born: Frank;
Mrs. Jennie Richardson, of Gilroy; Alice; and Etta. Politically
Mr. Kilpatrick is a true blue Republican, and since 1896 has served as
deputy sheriff of Santa Clara county. Fraternally he
is a member of Keith Lodge No. 187, F. & A. M.; of
Hollister Chapter No. 68, R. A. M.; of Watsonville Cornmandery No. 22, K. T.; of Islam Temple,
N. M. S.; of the Independent Order of Foresters; and of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with which he united in Philadelphia.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 25 October 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
817- 818. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Marie
Hassard.