Santa
Clara County
Biographies
LEVI FARWELL
SANDERSON
LEVI
FARWELL SANDERSON. The nursery industry in California has been
an important factor in the development of the state, and Mr. Sanderson has
every claim to the title of pioneer nurseryman, in the vicinity of San Jose,
Cal., where he started in business on a small scale as early as 1854, having
devoted half a century of his life to this branch of agriculture, an occupation
for which he is singularly well fitted, having first begun by raising trees at
the age of fourteen years. His
well-stocked nursery of twelve acres on the corner of Milpitas and Berryessa
roads is first-class and up-to-date in every particular, and within its borders
one may find every kind of tree, shrub and flower suitable to the climate, in
addition to small fruits in plentiful numbers, and Mr. Sanderson has among his
patrons many of the most prominent citizens of his locality.
Born August 22, 1826, at Newton,
Mass., in the vicinity of Boston, he is the second in a family of five
children, three being sons and two daughters.
His father, George Sanderson, also a native of the Bay state, for many
years was a farmer and market gardener six miles north of Boston, but
subsequently removed to New York, and in 1853 went to join his son in
California, making the trip around Cape Horn. Locating for a time in San Jose, he afterward
moved into San Francisco, where he lived until his death. The education of Mr. Sanderson was received
in the public schools of Massachusetts and later of New York, and after leaving
school he assisted his father in farming and gardening until the time of his
departure for California in 1849.
The trip to the golden west was made
around Cape Horn and Mr. Sanderson joined a company
composed of forty-two members, who organized for mutual protection in trading
and mining. This company had a capital
stock of $20,000 and purchased a three hundred ton vessel called the Emma
Isadora, which they fitted out with provisions enough to last two years, and
March 31, 1849, they sailed for California, arriving in San Francisco Bay,
September 12, of the same year. Two
weeks later they pushed on to Stockton, where each member of the company was
supplied with a barrel of hard tack and half a barrel of pork, the vessel and
remaining cargo were sold, and the proceeds distributed among the company, each
member receiving as his share $150; the company then disbanded.
Entering the mines of Mariposa, Mr.
Sanderson was moderately successful for three years, and discontinuing that
occupation, he accompanied a brother to San Francisco and spent six months in
that city. In partnership with his
brother Fred, he subsequently established the River Bank Nursery at San Jose,
on First street, on the present site of the fine
hotel, Vendome. That was the beginning
of the present business and the partnership then formed lasted from 1854 to
1863 and at the latter time Mr. Sanderson bought the entire stock and removed
to his present location on the corner of Milpitas and Berryessa roads, and from
that stand he has conducted a profitable business ever since, having at the
present time twelve acres devoted to the nursery business. His residence is one of the finest in this
locality.
Mr. Sanderson has been twice
married, early in life being united with his first wife, Miss Alice Putman of
Los Angeles, and three children blessed this union, two being now
deceased. His second marriage was
contracted with Miss Harriet P. Hogan, a lady born in New York at New Lebanon
Springs. The present Mrs. Sanderson is a
daughter of Dr. Peter Hogan, who for years was a successful dentist in Troy, N.
Y., but who subsequently moved to a fruit farm near Falls City, Va., where he
is still living and it was there that his daughter was married. In religious affairs Mr. Sanderson has been
quite an active member of the Baptist Church for many years. In politics he is a stanch Republican and was
among the first to respond upon the organization of a volunteer fire company in
San Jose.
Transcribed by
Doralisa Palomares.
Source: History of the State of California &
Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A.
M., Page 1190. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Doralisa Palomares.