Santa Clara County
Biographies
MRS. EDWARD MacLEOD
MRS. EDWARD MacLEOD. That women
are particularly adapted to the occupation of horticulture is a truism which
needs no confirmation in the state of California. At the head of some of its
finest ranches are women whose greatest ambition is to succeed as fruit
growers, and whose finely organized nature responds with wonderful results to
the close association of outdoor life, and the things that grow under the clear
skies of this sun-caressed state. The advantage of rearing children in natural
and beautiful surroundings has proved a potent factor in all parts of the
world, but more especially when the condition is in strong contrast to the
influence prevailing in the mining and logging camps, and in the new and
lawless municipalities. All of these phases have been duly studied and
appreciated by at least one woman prominent in horticultural circles in Santa
Clara county, and who undoubtedly has as firm a grasp
upon her interesting calling as her physically stronger male competitors.
Reference is made to Mrs. Edward MacLeod, who as an independent
business woman, ideal mother, and wise and helpful guide for those who call her
friend, has won a warm place in the hearts of the ranchers around Cupertino.
Mrs. MacLeod comes honestly by her strength of character
and determination, and her appreciation of duty as against what might possibly
be a natural preference on her part. The blood of Highland ancestors flows
through her veins, and she was born Elizabeth MacAllister
in Lanarkshire, Scotland, October 8, 1848.
Her youth was uneventfully passed in the inland Scottish county, and she had
the usual educational advantages at the disposal of the well-to-do farming
class. October 8, 1867, she was united in marriage with
Edwin MacLeod, born in Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, in April, 1849, and
whose father, James, a native of the same county, was for years a revenue
collector and inspector of whisky. The MacLeod family lived in the town of Duntocher, where James MacLeod died at a comparatively
early age, his wife, Winifred, afterward marrying again, and residing in
Boston, Mass., until her death. Edwin MacLeod was educated in the common
schools of Scotland, and came to the United States in 1868, much impressed with
the glowing reports which had reached him from the far west. Locating in the
little town of Somersville, Contra Costa county, he began to operate in the coal mines with such
promising results that it seemed wise to establish the home there, and he sent
for his wife the following year. Years passed in the crude Argonaut community,
and children came to brighten the home and render serious the subject of
education and surroundings. With her woman’s intuition Mrs. MacLeod solved
the problem by removing with her children to her present home in 1878, leaving
her husband to continue his responsibility as foreman of the machinery of the
mines. For thirty-two years he has lived at Somersville,
and is regarded as one of the stable men of the community.
Mrs. MacLeod purchased fifty acres of land three miles
and a half southwest of Santa Clara, forty-nine of which she has placed in
orchard, raising prunes, apricots and peaches. Her
health, wretched from continually living in the mining country, began to improve,
and today she enjoys the best of health, and has bright spirits that women
living in town can hardly emulate. So extensive is her business that several
men are required during the busy season, often as many as fifteen, for
Mrs. MacLeod is an excellent manager, and does
her own picking, packing and shipping. Out of her extended experience she has
evolved a special brand of fruit, which has established her reputation all over
the country, and is known more especially as the Bonnie Briar brand. She is not
content to rest upon the laurels of her compatriots in the business, but is
continually studying on her own responsibility, devoting her entire energy to
maintaining and even elevating her admirable standard. To her congenial work
means success, and no one better enjoys being out in the air, and attending to
the details of a splendidly equipped ranch. At the same time this genial fruit
grower keeps up with the trend of current events, is well posted on general
topics, and is a delight to those who are fortunate enough to profit by her
munificent hospitality. Of her four children, James and John, the first and
third oldest, and only sons, are deceased, while
Elizabeth lives with her mother, and Winifred is the wife of Augustus Schoenheit, a druggist of San Jose. Both Mr. and
Mrs. MacLeod were reared in the Presbyterian church.
Mr. MacLeod is a Republican, and is prominent fraternally, being
identified with the Odd Fellows, Masons, Rebekahs,
and the Eastern Star. Considering the magnitude of her undertaking, and her
utter reliance upon her own ability and perseverance, Mrs. MacLeod has met
with few reverses, and none for which she is directly responsible. In 1893 the
home in which she had lived for so many years burned to the ground, but in its
place has arisen a residence which has few equals in this community of
delightful rural homes. Two stories in height, there are eight rooms, carefully
planned as to comfort, ventilation, and brightness, and furnished throughout
artistically, richly, and restfully. Certainly too much can
not be said of one to whom life’s problems have never seemed too
difficult or too wearing, and who has brought out of the grimness of her former
surroundings so much worthiness and good cheer.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 08 May 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
594-595. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Marie
Hassard.