Santa
Clara County
Biographies
BYRON
PURINTON
BYRON PURINTON. Prominent among the pioneer railroad men of
California is Byron Purinton, who during his long and
busy career has achieved financial success, and by his enterprise and integrity
has won an honored position among the most esteemed and respected residents of
San Jose, which has been his home for more than a quarter of a century. A son of Josiah Purinton,
he was born in Berkshire, Franklin county, Vt., of stanch[sic]
Puritan stock, the founder of the American family of Purintons
having emigrated from England to Massachusetts in early colonial days. His grandfather, Stephen Purinton,
a native of Massachusetts, served in the war of 1812. He lived for a few years in New York state, and then followed the tide of emigration northward to
Vermont, settling as a pioneer farmer in Franklin county.
A native of Albany, N.Y., Josiah Purinton accompanied his parents to Vermont, and in his
earlier life was employed as a blacksmith in Franklin county. He subsequently removed to Illinois, and was
employed by the Illinois Central Railroad Company at Amboy, Ill., where he
spent the remainder of his life. He
married Beulah Hill, who was born in northern Vermont, of English ancestry, a
daughter of Moses Hill, a native of New England, and for many years a farmer in
Franklin county, Vt.
She died in Illinois. Two
daughters and seven sons blessed their union.
One of the sons, Stephen Purinton, died in
California; another son, James Purinton, now a
resident of Tulare county, Cal., served in the Fifth
United States Cavalry during the Civil war; and William, who became a resident
of California, and a farmer of note, also served in the Civil war, belonging to
an Illinois regiment. The fifth son of
the parental household, Byron Purinton, was born
March 20, 1837, and until sixteen years old lived on the old Vermont farm,
obtaining his education in the district schools. Going then to Holyoke, Mass., he served an
apprenticeship of three years in a large machine shop. Becoming familiar with the trade, he went, in
the spring of 1856, to Cleveland, Ohio, and in the fall of that year to Amboy,
Ill., where he worked for awhile[sic] in the Illinois
Central Railroad shops. Continuing thus
employed, Mr. Purinton worked in the shops of
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad at Galesburg, Ill.; for the
St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad Company at Litchfield,
Ill.; for the Tennessee & Alabama Railway Company at Nashville, Tenn.,
and then in the shops of the Mineral Point Railroad at Mineral Point, Wis., in
the latter place being afterward in business for himself as a machinist.
Leaving Mineral Point, Wis., in 1862,
Mr. Purinton crossed Iowa with his teams of
horses and mules, went up the Platte valley through
Nebraska, along the Snake river to the head of the Salmon river, at Fort
Lemhi. From there he went to what is now
Elk City, where he engaged in mining until the winter season, when he went to
Lewiston, Idaho, afterward going to Portland, Ore., sailing down the Columbia river. Embarking in
Portland on the steamer Sierra Nevada, Mr. Purinton
came by way of Victoria to California, arriving in San Francisco in November,
1862. Resuming work at his trade, he
entered the employ of the company managing the old Market Street Dummy Road,
first as a machinist and afterward as master mechanic, his headquarters being
in Alameda after the road passed into the hands of the San Jose Railroad
Company. During the winter of 1867 and
1868 Mr. Purinton was in Sacramento, being
employed in setting up the first locomotive for the Central Pacific
Railroad. Returning to San Francisco in
the spring of 1868 he became associated with the San Jose Railroad as an expert
extra engineer and machinist. In 1870 he
removed to Merced county, where he bought large tracts
of land, which for three years he devoted to grain raising, carrying on a
profitable business. Resuming his former
position with the old San Jose Railroad in 1873, he continued as extra engineer
for two years. Going back, in 1875, to
Merced county, where he owned several farms, Mr. Purinton devoted his time and attention for the next four
years to grain raising. In 1879 he took
up his residence in San Jose, but continued the management of his different
ranches until 1885, when he sold them.
Buying a whole block, about six acres of
land, in San Jose, in 1884, Mr. Purinton erected
a large residence in the midst of a field of grain which he sowed. Subsequently dividing it into house lots, he
has built three other residences on that block, all of which, except one, he
has sold, and has a large cherry orchard on the two remaining acres. He has also acquired other real estate in the
city, and built other dwelling houses, and is also financially interested in
the San Jose Water Company. While living
in Merced, Mr. Purinton built the Purinton block, a brick building, fifty feet by
seventy-five feet, located on the corner of Canal and Main streets, and was
formerly fitted up for two stores. This
building he sold in 1901 to the owners of the Merced Bank, which is now located
in it.
At Mineral Point, Wis., Mr. Purinton married Esther Lanyon, a native of London,
England, and they are the parents of five children, namely: Mrs. Emily
McCloskey, of San Francisco; George Byron, of Stockton, a machinist;
Mrs. Edith Sharon, of Willows; Mrs. Lillian Rouse, of Alma, and Mrs.
Beulah Stoddard, of San Francisco. All
of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Purinton
have had excellent educational advantages, the daughters all being graduates of
the State Normal School, while George B., the only son, was graduated from
a business college. Mrs. Purinton did not come across the plains with her husband,
but joined him in San Francisco in 1863, coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Mr. Puriton is
a zealous supporter of the principles of the Republican party,
and takes an active interest in the growth and advancement of city and
county. He is prominent in Masonic
circles, and does his part in promoting the good of the order. He was made a Mason in Amboy, Ill., demitted
to Mission Lodge No. 169, F.&A.M., of
San Francisco, and is now a member of Friendship Lodge No. 210,
F.&A.M.; of Howard Chapter No. 14, R.A.M., and of San Jose Commandery No. 10, K.T.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 493-494. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Donna Toole.