Santa
Clara County
Biographies
JOHN
HENRY ROUTT
A man of marked ability and
judgment, John Henry Routt, of San Jose, is prominently indentified with the
industrial interests of Santa Clara county and
connected with the management of the Glenwood Lumber Company’s extensive
business. With a large experience as a lumber manufacturer and dealer, he is
admirably fitted for his present position, and is wisely and satisfactorily
controlling one of the most centrally located lumber yards of the city, and one
of the largest yards in the valley. A son of H. L. Routt, he was born December
11, 1859, in Moberly, Mo. His grandfather, Richard Routt, removed from Kentucky
his native state, to Missouri, becoming a pioneer settler of Huntsville, where
he cleared and improved a farm.
A native of Clark county, Ky., H. L.
Routt removed with his parents to Missouri when a small child, and was soon
afterward left fatherless. Beginning to earn his own living
when a boy, he helped to clear the brush from the present site of the Randolph
county court house, in Huntsville, Mo., when but twelve years old. He
subsequently engaged in agricultural pursuits, becoming a prosperous farmer,
and lived to the ripe old age of eighty-one years. During the Civil war he was
noted for his loyalty to the Union, being one of its most ardent supporters. He
was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and belonged to the Christian Church.
He married Mary Catherine Butler, who was born in Virginia, which was also the
birthplace of her father, Elijah Butler, a farmer, who became an early settler
of Randolph county, Mo., where he resided until his
death, at the age of three score and ten years. She survived her husband, and
now resides in Iowa, an active woman of seventy-five years. Eight children were
born of their union, namely: Mrs. Isabinda Huntsman,
of Hanford, Cal.; Mrs. Ardena Ripperdan,
of Modesto, Cal.; Mrs. Feddie Foreman, of Arbor Hill,
Iowa; Willis, a farmer, residing in Cool, near Auburn, Cal.; John Henry, the
subject of this sketch; Hiram, engaged in the lumber business at Dallas Center,
Iowa; Harry, who died in Missouri; and Mrs. Mary Belle Burton, of Dallas
Center, Iowa.
Brought up in Missouri, John Henry
Routt well remembers the stirring scenes that were enacted in that state during
the Civil war. After obtaining a practical education in the public schools, he
remained at home until twenty years of age, assisting in the management of the
parental farm. Going then to Cairo, Mo., he worked as a lumberman in the woods
and mills until familiar with the detail of the entire business connected with
manufacturing lumber. Locating in Iowa he worked first as yard manager at Wirt,
Ringgold county, for Lee & Jamison, from 1881
until 1885. In the latter year, when that firm established a lumber yard in
Hazelton, Kans., Mr. Routt assumed its management, remaining there six months,
when the yard was sold. The firm then purchased a lumber yard in Kirksville,
Mo., and Mr. Routt had charge of it until May, 1886, when he resigned the
position. Migrating to California very soon afterward he entered the employ of
Moore & Smith, having charge of their lumber yard in Merced until 1888.
Removing in that year to Lemoore, which is now included within the limits of
Kings county, although at that time it was Tulare
county, he became manager of the San Joaquin Lumber Company. Taking an active
part in local affairs, Mr. Routt assisted in the formation of Kings county, and was a member of the first grand jury of that
county. In 1894 he was appointed by President Cleveland postmaster at Lemoore,
and served for two years, when he resigned the position. Removing to Jamestown,
Tuolumne county, in 1896, he was for three years
manager of the lumber yard belonging to P. A. Buell & Co., of Stockton.
Locating in Merced, Cal., in
October, 1899, Mr. Routt started in business for himself, incorporating the
Klamath Lumber Company, of which he has since been president and manager, the
yards being situated on the Santa Fe railway line. In 1901, on account of the
ill health of his wife, he removed to Santa Cruz, where for two years he had
charge, as general manager, of the California lumber interests of the F. A. Hihn Lumber company, including
their mills in Laurel, Cal., and their yards in Santa Cruz, Salinas and other
places. Resigning his position in March, 1903, Mr. Routt settled in San Jose,
and has since been identified with the Glenwood Lumber Company, and actively
connected with the management of its extensive lumber business. The company’s
yards are centrally located, occupying a whole block from Third street through to Fifth street, and in connection with the
plant have a large planning mill.
In Missouri, near Moberly, Mr. Routt
married Miss Sarah D. Landram, who was born and
reared in Cairo, Mo. Their only child now living, Forrest V. Routt, was
graduated from the Merced high school, and is now attending the University of
California, belonging to the class of 1906. At Lemoore, Mr. Routt assisted in
organizing the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in which he was an influential
member. He is now a member and ruling elder of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church of this city, and is superintendent of the Sunday-school. In his
political affiliations he is a straightforward Democrat.
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 512-513. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Cecelia M. Setty.