Santa
Clara County
Biographies
EDWARD SHILUE
A man of
integrity and solid worth, the late Edward Shilue possessed in a high degree
those sterling traits of character that command respect in the business world
and gain the esteem of one’s neighbors and associates, his life record being
such as to reflect credit on himself and honor to the
community in which he resided. A tiller
of the soil from choice, he settled on the Hot Springs road, about three miles
northeast of Gilroy, where he improved a fine estate, on which he resided until
his death. A son of William and Mary
Shilue, he was born in 1835, in Old Virginia.
His father became interested in mining pursuits when young, and removed
from Virginia to Pittston, Pa. where he owned and operated coal lands and mines
for several years, acquiring some property, and owning a residence in that
town.
Brought up
and educated in Pittston, Pa., Edward Shilue remained beneath the parental roof
until eighteen years of age, when, in the year of the Mountain Meadow massacre,
he crossed the plains with ox teams, coming to California with the train which
immediately followed the one that had such a horrible experience with the
Indians and Mormons. Locating in Santa
Clara, Mr. Shilue was first employed as a stage driver, but was subsequently
engaged in business as horse dealer in Mountain View and in San Jose. Settling in Gilroy in 1863, he commenced
farming on his own account, and three years later assumed possession of the
ranch now owned and occupied by his widow and children. Industrious, enterprising and progressive,
Mr. Shilue made substantial improvements on the place, erecting a good house, a
fine set of farm buildings, and placing the land in a tillable condition. Beginning
his agricultural operations on a small scale, he gradually enlarged his business,
becoming one of the most extensive grain and stock-raisers of this section of
the county. Active and earnest of
purpose, Mr. Shilue met with eminent success in his undertakings, and his
death, which occurred December 7, 1891, at the comparatively early age of
fifty-six years, was a loss to the community as well as to his immediate family
and friends. Politically he was a firm
adherent of the Democratic party, and religiously he
was a faithful member of the Catholic Church.
June 30,
1866, at the residence of the bride’s mother, Mr. Shilue married Helen P.
Fitzgerald, who was born in Dorchester county, province of Quebec, Canada, a
daughter of Patrick and Johanna (Murphy) Fitzgerald, and a grand-daughter of
Martin Murphy, Sr., who came from the east to California in 1844, being an
early pioneer settler. Further ancestral
and parental history may be found on another page in connection with the sketch
of James Fitzgerald a brother of Mrs. Shilue.
Coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama to California with her mother and
the family in 1851, Mrs. Shilue, then a girl of sixteen years, completed her
education at the Notre Dame College, in San Jose, being one of the first pupils
in that institution, that has since become celebrated for its thorough
instruction in music and the classics.
Since the death of her husband, Mrs. Shilue has continued her residence
on the home farm, which contains one hundred and twenty-two acres of rich and productive
land. She is a most estimable woman
cultured and refined, eminently capable, and with the assistance of her son
William is managing the home property with excellent success, her fine
homestead bearing visible evidence of the thrift and
enterprise which first established it.
Of the same religious faith as her husband, she is an esteemed member of
the Catholic Church. Of the five
children born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shilue, two daughters, Mary and
Annie, died in infancy, and three sons are living, namely: James Martin, of San
Jose, is deputy county clerk; William Stanislaus, on the home farm; and Edward
Augustin, attending the Pacific Business College, in San Jose.
Transcribed by
Louise E. Shoemaker January 23, 2016.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 952-955. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Louise E. Shoemaker.