Santa
Clara County
Biographies
MARSHALL
POMEROY
As one of a large number of men who
have found business opportunities in the county of Santa Clara, and in turn
have endeavored to promote the commercial and agricultural development of this
portion of California, mention belongs to Marshall Pomeroy, one of the most
successful orchardists in this section and a prime factor in many of the most
important movements leading up to the general welfare of the community. Like
many of the men who have found success in western fields he is of eastern birth
and education, a native of Somers, Tolland county,
Conn., where his birth occurred February 10, 1835. In this New England state
the Pomeroy family had flourished for several generations, his grandfather,
Hiram, and father, Warren, being born there, the latter in 1801. Both were
farmers by occupation while the latter also engaged to some extent in
manufacturing. In 1849, Warren Pomeroy decided to come to California, and
accordingly came by way of Panama, and upon his arrival in San Francisco went
at once to the mines. Not intended, however, by nature as a miner he gave it up
eventually and in 1851 came to Santa Clara valley where he purchased a farm
near Alviso and returned to his early pursuits. At
three different times he returned to his eastern home, on the last trip
bringing his wife and children to the home he had made for them in the west,
this being in 1858. He continued the management of his farm until 1865, when he
located in San Jose and made this city his home until his death in 1891 when
over ninety years old. He was an attendant and contributor of the
Congregational Church, and politically was first a Whig and afterward a
Republican. A very prominent man in his native state he served in the
Connecticut legislature for two terms and was an able representative of those
who had honored him with their support. His wife, formerly Lucette
Wardwell, was also a native of Connecticut, and a daughter of a contractor and
builder of that state. Her death occurred in 1887 at the age of eighty-four
years. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy, Delia became the wife
of George H. Parker and died in Hartford, Conn., while on a visit to the east;
George W., a rancher, died in San Jose; Julian, who served in the Civil war as
captain in a Connecticut regiment, now resides in Springfield, Mass.; Marshall
is the special subject of this review; and Everett is a professor of music in
San Jose.
Marshall Pomeroy was twenty-three
years old before he removed from his eastern home, being reared to manhood on
his father’s farm and receiving his education in the district and high schools
in the community. When eighteen years old he began clerking in a general
merchandise establishment in Somers, after which he went to Springfield, Mass.,
and later returned to Connecticut, where he was employed in New Britain.
Preceding the family to California, he made the trip to Aspinwall
on the steamer St. Louis, and from Panama to San Francisco on the John L.
Stevens. On reaching his destination he went at once to San Jose, where he
engaged in farming and stock raising near Alviso in
company with his father and brothers. He farmed extensively until 1874, when he
located in San Jose and took up the duties which were his under his appointment
as deputy county sheriff under N. R. Harris. This position he maintained for
four years, when he purchased a farm of two hundred and eight acres on the San
Francisco road west of Santa Clara, and with his sons set out an orchard. In
time he sold off a part of this property, retaining only one hundred and twenty
acres, eighty of which is now devoted to the cultivation of prunes, peaches,
and various other fruits, while the balance is given over to farming purposes.
He has built two residences on the place, put up various other buildings and
made many improvements which have added to the value of his property. In 1900
he located in San Jose where he owns a fine residence at No. 429 North Third street, leaving his son to manage the interests of the
ranch. In 1899 Mr. Pomeroy incorporated his orchard and land as the Pomeroy
Orchard Company, with himself as president.
In addition to his horticultural and
farming interests, Mr. Pomeroy organized in 1902 the American Dredging Company,
with himself as president They built a full plant for suction dredging, and now
hold a contract for $250,000 for deepening the estuary at Oakland, having for
the purpose large and powerful dredgers, a twelve hundred and fifty horsepower
engine, and the finest machinery that could be obtained. Mr. Pomeroy was also
one of the organizers of the Farmers’ Union but he has since disposed of his
stock.
In Milpitas, May 22, 1867, Mr.
Pomeroy was united in marriage with Ella E. French, a native of Branch county, Mich. Her grandfather, Jacob French, was an early
settler of Ohio, in which state, at Painesville, her father, Alfred, was born.
The elder man died in Ohio. Alfred French removed to Michigan and became a
merchant and miller in Branch county, where he
remained until 1852 when he brought his wife and three children across the
plains with horse teams, after a six months’ trip safely reaching their
destination in Eldorado (sic) county. Mr. French entered the mines in that
location, and in 1859 located in Santa Clara county
and engaged in the hotel business. He died in May, 1894, in his seventy-fifth
year. A Democrat in his political preferment he served as state senator from
Eldorado (sic) county for two terms. His wife, Nancy French, was also a native
of Painesville, Ohio, whose father, a native of Massachusetts, removed to
Branch county, Mich., locating near Coldwater where he
engaged as a farmer. Her great-grandfather French was in the Revolutionary war.
Mrs. French survives her husband and makes her home with Mr. Pomeroy, now in
the eighty-sixth year of her age. She is a Presbyterian in her religious faith,
and as a pioneer of Santa Clara county she enjoys the
esteem and veneration of both the old and young generation. Of her four
children two only are now living, namely: Mrs. Pomeroy, and William E., who is
located near Lawrence Station and engaged in the orchard business. Five
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy, of whom Irwin E. is manager of
the Pomeroy Orchard Company; Clarence A. is interested in and a director of the
same company; Delia L. is the wife of Jacob Surface, of Ione, Amador county;
Warren is secretary of the Pomeroy Orchard Company; and Clovis C., who is a
director in the Pomeroy Orchard Company, makes his home in San Jose and works
with the Hobson Company. In his fraternal organizations Mr. Pomeroy is a member
of Garden City Lodge No. 142, I. O. O. F., and the Santa Clara county Pioneer
Association. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce, and politically is a stanch Republican, in the interests of which party he has
served as a member of the county committee. Both Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy enjoy the
esteem and confidence of a wide circle of acquaintances and friends, who
thoroughly appreciate them for the many qualities which distinguish their
characters.
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., Pages 309-310. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2014 Cecelia M. Setty.