Santa
Clara County
Biographies
STEPHEN WHITE SHELDON
As superintendent of the Miller and Lux
ranches in Santa Clara county for many years, Stephen
White Sheldon enjoyed exceptional opportunities for increasing his knowledge of
soil production and use in the west, and today he has the assurance that few
men better understand the science of agriculture. Since 1901, however, he has been successfully
engaged in dealing in horses, and as a hay merchant in Gilroy. He was born February 17, 1848, in Providence
R.I., where his grandfather, Jeremiah, passed a long and useful life, and
served town and county in various positions of public trust. He represented one of the oldest families of
that section, in which he was born, and where he owned Acotch Hill, a farm upon
which was enacted one of the battle tragedies of the Revolutionary war. He himself left his plow to carry the musket
of the Colonial soldier, returning, when peace had been restored, to the
occupations in which he achieved a moderate and gratifying success. His son Joseph, the father of Stephen, was
also born in Rhode Island, and in early life learned the carpenter’s trade, in
the following of which he eventually met his death, through being knocked off a
load of logs at Chepachet, R.I. He
married Nancy Young, also a representative of an old Rhode Island family, who
bore him seven children, of whom there are living, Stephen, the youngest; Mrs.
Robinson, of Gilroy; and Mrs. Henry Miller, wife of the head of Miller &
Lux, of San Francisco. Stephen gained
his first experience on the farm, and as a means of livelihood engaged also in
teaming in Providence, at the same time gaining a practical common school
education in both the country and city schools.
He came to California in 1878, bringing no resources but his youth, his
health his character and purpose. In a
strange country he had neither friends nor influence. Glad to take the first honorable employment
he could secure, he began as a farm hand for Miller & Lux in the west side
of the San Joaquin valley, his enterprise and faithfulness soon gaining
recognition from his superiors and resulting in rapid advancement. Later he became foreman on the Santa Rita
ranch of the same company, and in 1884 became superintendent of the Peach Tree ranch of the company in Monterey county,
and in 1886 filled a similar position on the ranch at Soap Lake, Santa Clara
county, making his headquarters on the Bloomfield farm. In 1890 he had so far advanced in the favor
of the company as to be placed over their Bloomfield, Soap Lake, Mount Madonna,
Oakgrove, and other ranches in Santa Clara county,
thus having supervision over all the interests of this enormously wealthy firm
in the county. Eleven years later, after
remarkable progress had been made on the ranches under his care, he resigned
his large and trying responsibility, and moving into Gilroy, built and occupied
with his family his present beautiful residence on the corner of Forest and
Lewis streets. He has also erected a
large bar of two hundred tons capacity, for the storage of hay, shipping to the
wholesale markets of San Jose, and San Francisco.
Since casting his first presidential vote
Mr. Sheldon has been a stanch advocate of Democracy, although in local politics
he indulges a remarkable breadth of mind concerning applicants for positions of
trust and responsibility. He has been
school trustee of the Bloomfield district for the past six years, and during
that time has witnessed a vast improvement in the facilities of education I his
adopted town. He possessed a tact and power of entertainment greatly appreciated in
social and fraternal circles, and is identified with Lodge No. 30, K.P., of
Merced. His family consists of his wife,
formerly Minnie Pheffer of San Francisco, and three children, Jeremiah,
Josephine and Mildred. Mr. Sheldon
represents the highest type of the western agriculturist and business man and
as such commands the respect and allegiance of a large following throughout the
towns and rural districts of Santa Clara county. Perseverance and application are responsible
for his success, as are also integrity, faithfulness to trusts imposed and the
ability to tactfully ad considerately appeal to the
working forces around him.
Transcribed by
Louise E. Shoemaker, August 8, 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Page 716. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Louise E. Shoemaker.