Santa
Clara County
Biographies
Hon. Rush McComas
Within the limits of Santa Clara county probably no citizen has been better known and
certainly none has been more highly esteemed than the late Rush McComas. His life
began in 1830 in Cabell county W. Va.,
in the pioneer home of his parents Hiram and Rebecca (Hatfield) McComas, and came to its close at his home near Agnew,
Santa Clara county May 7, 1903, after seventy-three honorable and useful
years. In his death was mourned the
passing of one of the county’s pioneers.
Coming to this section of the state in1861, he was afterward constantly
and closely associated with the development of local resources, and also served
faithfully and well in a number of responsible offices.
When eleven years of age Mr. McComas went with his parents to Missouri and settled in
Platte county, where he assisted in the task of
developing a tract of raw land into a profitable farm. From that county he removed to Parkville,
Mo., ten miles from the present site of Kansas City. In later years he frequently described his
impressions of Westport Landing (as Kansas City was then called). Even the most optimistic investor would have
hesitated to risk his capital in that unimportant hamlet, which had only about
a dozen houses and a very few business buildings, all standing on the flat
under the hill. During 1857-58 he was
clerk on a Missouri river steamboat but did not relinquish his mercantile
interests until the outbreak of the war brought financial ruin to him, as to
many hundreds of business men in his state.
Forced, therefore, to start anew, without capital, he decided it would
be best to seek a new location, and accordingly brought his family to
California in October, 1861, arriving in Santa Clara early in November. Having no means with which to purchase land,
he secured employment at any occupation that was offered, and for several years
worked on a farm during the harvest seasons.
In 1864, he purchased from various parties their claims to land
aggregating eighty-eight acres, but after he had paid them he discovered the
land belonged to the government, and a second payment was therefore forced upon
him. Much of the land he placed under
farm products, but four acres were in pears, four
acres in quinces, and ten acres in strawberries. Three artesian wells were bored for the
purpose of providing an ample supply of water.
Other improvements were made from time to time until the property became
one of the most valuable on the Coffin road.
Its proximity to Santa Clara (four miles north )
increased its value as farm property.
While improving his homestead Mr. McComas by no means neglected his duty as a citizen. From
the outset of his residence here he was a promoter of beneficial projects. Politically he was a stanch
Republican. The prominent position which
he held among his fellow-citizens led to his election to represent his district
in the state legislature in 1887, and his service gave satisfaction to his
constituents, irrespective of political views.
In 1878 under the existing laws, money on mortgages was not taxed, and
the entire support of the government fell upon the laboring and productive classes. A constitutional convention was called to
discuss this and other abuses, and Mr. McComas was a
member of the body. A meeting was held
in Sacramento, where, after five months of deliberation, the present
constitution of the state was framed.
Soon afterward it was adopted by vote of the people. The equalization of taxes secured by this
constitution has greatly aided the material interests of the state. Re-elected to the assembly in 1879, Mr. McComas served as a member of the committee on education
and claims and as chairman of the committee on public lands, also took an
active part in securing an appropriation for the present State Normal School at
San Jose. In 1884 and 1886 he was
elected county treasurer, but at the expiration of his second term, in 1888, he
announced his permanent retirement from politics, refusing all proffers of
official position. Shortly afterward he
became president of the Garden City bank and Trust Company, and continued at
the head of this important concern until his retirement from business, in 1896,
owing to ill health. Thereafter he lived
the quiet life of an orchardist and farmer at his country home, enjoying the
pleasures of relaxation from engrossing financial interest, yet maintaining the
same interest as before in matters affecting the prosperity of his home county.
In 1853 Mr. McComas
married Miss Ann E. Swope, who was born in Illinois September 11, 1835. Her father, Jacob Swope, who was born in
Lincoln county, Ky., on New Year’s day of 1802 removed
to Illinois in a very early day, and in 1836 settled among the pioneers of
Platt county Mo. June 19 1823, he
married Harriet F. Waggoner. In 1850 he
crossed the plains to California and settled in the Santa Clara valley near
Lawrence. His family joined him here in
1861, having come west via the Isthmus of Panama. Farm pursuits absorbed his time and attention
during the remaining years of his life.
At the time of his death, in 1879, he was seventy-five years of
age. Of the children born to the union
of Mr. and Mrs. McComas, the eldest, William B., who
was a young farmer of exceptional ability, died April 23, 1891; the eldest
daughter, Cora, is the wife of D.W. Burchard, an
attorney of San Francisco; Ella married W.F. Cole; Harriet is her mother’s
companion in their Santa Clara home; Anna died October 2, 1900, and Katie,
January 18, 1903; Allen holds the position of bookkeeper in Hale’s dry-goods store at San Jose; and
Henry W., the youngest of the children, engaged in the practice of law at San
Jose.
Being a man of genial and companionable
disposition, Mr. McComas enjoyed participation in
fraternal and social organizations, and among those with which he held
membership were the Patrons of Husbandry, Ancient Order of United Workmen,
Chosen Friends, American Legion of Honor, Masonic fraternity, and Order of the
Eastern Star. His death, following only
a few months after that of a daughter, came as an especially heavy bereavement
to the members of the family circle, and particularly to his widow, who had
walked by his side for fifty years, lightening his burdens by her quick
sympathy and tact, increasing his success by her counsel and co-operation and
promoting his happiness by her affectionate care.
Transcribed by
Louise E. Shoemaker, September 28, 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 799-800. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Louise E. Shoemaker.