Santa
Clara County
Biographies
FRANK RICHMOND
SHAFTER
FRANK RICHMOND SHAFTER.
That congenial work means success finds ample illustration in the career
of Frank Richmond Shafter, owner of a finely improved ranch of forty acres on
the Stevens Creek road, three miles west of San Jose. Ever since 1883 this popular rancher has been
substantially identified with fruit growing in his neighborhood, not only
possessing facilities for caring for his own fruit, but materially aiding his neighbors
in the disposition of their products.
One of his many improvements is what is known as the Shafter Dryer,
having a capacity of six hundred tons of prunes, and which he operates with
large yearly profit for ranchers not supplied with this admirable device. A pumping plant, erected in 1894, has a
capacity of twelve hundred gallons per minute, and the sale of water furnishes
yet another source of revenue. Mr.
Shafter has twenty acres of his ranch under prunes, twelve acres under
apricots, and the balance under assorted fruits. He has made a practical study of
horticulture, particularly with reference to prunes and apricots, and has made
a gratifying success of his chosen occupation.
Mr. Shafter is a native of the Green
Mountain State, and was born near Montpelier, Washington county, September 19,
1853, his father, John D., and his mother, formerly Susan Richmond, being
natives of the same state. John D.
Shafter was a farmer in Vermont, but he had a range of
vision which extended beyond the Green mountains to the cloudless skies of the
other side of the country, and having once made up his mind, rarely recognized
a barrier to his progress. Embarking in
a sailing vessel at New York, he made the long trip around the Horn during the
summer of 1849, seven months of ocean voyage bringing him to his desired goal
in San Francisco. Success in the mines
rewarded both his expectations and hard work, and with a gratifying competence
he returned to Vermont in the summer of 1852.
The charm and possibility of the west, however, still continued to abide
with him, and in 1859 he came back by way of Panama, locating at Point Reyes,
where he had charge of a ranch for five years.
For the following five years he operated a ranch of his own, and in 1869
made another trip east, upon his return purchasing a ranch in Hall’s valley,
upon which he made his home and engaged in general farming for thirteen
years. His final home in the west was in
the thrifty town of San Jose, where he lived in retirement, and where his death
occurred November 24, 1903, at the age of eighty-three years. He is survived by his wife, who is now
seventy-six years old.
Besides Frank Richmond, there was
one daughter in the parental family, Mrs. Florence Bothwell. Mr. Shafter secured a common school
education, and gave practical assistance in the family maintenance. In 1883 he purchased his present ranch, and
while improving the same has risen to an enviable position in the
community. Public spirited in the extreme,
his interests have been by no means confined to the limits of horticulture, but
have embraced the noblest and most civilizing enterprises with which his
community is identified. He is a
humanitarian in the broadest acceptation of that term, and has been
particularly zealous in promoting the welfare of the Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals, and one also regulating the treatment of children. With intermissions of three years he has been
president of the former organization for ten years, and to his energy and
practical judgment is due the efficient and praiseworthy work of the
society. He is a stanch advocate of
Prohibition, and an enthusiast on the subject of fraternal organizations. He is a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows and the Rebekahs, and since 1898 has been
treasurer of the San Jose Observatory, No. 23.
For years he has been identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and a trustee of the Centella Church of San
Jose. In San Jose he was united in
marriage with Frances Phipps, a native of Indiana, and a daughter of John
Phipps, born in Rush county, Ind., March 22, 1818. They have two daughters: Lotta
Ruth and Bertha Ray. Mr. Phipps is a
carriage-maker by trade, and also a farmer, and after coming to California in
1875 located in San Jose, where he has since worked at his trade, making his
home with his son-in-law. No citizen of
San Jose enjoys to greater extent the esteem of his fellow-men [sic] than does
Mr. Shafter, his abilities and characteristics being of the substantial and
useful kind which win approval and inspire emulation.
Transcribed by
Doralisa Palomares.
Source: History of the State of California &
Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A.
M., Pages 1271-1272. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Doralisa Palomares.