Santa Clara County
Biographies
JOHN MAYNE
JOHN MAYNE. Among the native sons of
County Tyrone, Ireland, who are successfully tilling the soil in Santa Clara
county, mention is made of John Mayne, a
practical and tireless worker, who formerly mastered the tanner’s trade, but
prefers a peaceful existence on his ranch near Edenvale.
Mr. Mayne was reared on a small tenant farm in
County Tyrone, his birth occurring there June 7, 1830, his parents,
Robert and Sarah (Thompson) Mayne, being natives of
the same part of the island. He is the second of three sons in a family of
eight children, and in his youth had scant opportunity for acquiring an
education, a deficiency since corrected by application, which has made him a
well-informed and particularly observing man. Shortly after the death of his father in Ireland the
family came to the United States, settling on a farm in Warren county,
N. Y., where his mother died, and where he served an apprenticeship to a
tanner. Subsequently he was employed at his trade in different parts of the
state, principally as a journeyman, and in 1858 married
Margaret Jane Landrum, of New York City, but a native of County
Tyrone, Ireland.
Having accumulated a competence as a tanner, Mr. Mayne came to California in 1872, and on Silver creek, near
San Jose, rented land for a short time. Later he moved to another rented farm,
in the meantime living frugally and always within his income. In 1880 he
purchased his first farm in the state, consisting of one hundred and fifty
acres, sixty of which he still owns, operating the same with the help of his
son, John L. The rest of his land has been divided among his children. He
has seen the district improve from a barren wilderness to a thrifty region of
happy homes and general prosperity. Many improvements have added to the value
of his farm, and in 1895 he erected a fine two-story residence, fitted with
modern conveniences, and indicating in its general appointments the extent of
the success with which he has been blessed. Appreciating
his own want of early opportunity, Mr. Mayne has
encouraged schools and developing enterprises, and has seen to it that his
children were started in life under more encouraging circumstances. Three
sturdy sons, R. J., William George and John L., inherit his
strong constitution. His daughter, Margaret, is established in a home of her
own as the wife of John W. Weathers. Soon after corning to America
Mr. Mayne gave his political allegiance to the
Republican party, casting his first presidential vote
for the great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln. He has been a tireless worker in
the Methodist Episcopal Church at San Jose, and at the time of the erection of
the present building materially assisted with both money and personal effort.
His residence in the west has brought him the esteem of his fellow-townsmen, as
well as a delightful home in which to spend his declining years.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 15 November 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
896-897. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Marie
Hassard.