Santa Clara County
Biographies
GEORGE STEPHENS
GEORGE STEPHENS. Morgan Hill, Cal., with its fine
location, surrounded as it is by its thousands of acres of choice farming
lands, boasts of citizens who came from various parts of the world and settled
there. Among those who came from a distance George Stephens is included,
for he was born in Derbyshire, England, June 2, 1836, and at fifteen
accompanied his parents to America and for a number of years lived in Wisconsin,
and later in Minnesota. It was not until 1889 that he went to California and
engaged in the real estate business at San Jose. The following year he located
at Morgan Hill, in the interest of the San Francisco Union Savings Bank, and
during the eight years that he was in the employ of this corporation, he sold
off the Morgan Hill ranch which originally contained eighteen thousand acres
and the San Martin ranch, which also contained the same number of acres. Most
all of the land lying around Morgan Hill has changed hands through the efforts
of Mr. Stephens, whose success in the real estate business is well known.
After winding up the affairs of this corporation, he discontinued the real
estate business and purchased three hundred acres of land two and a half miles
east of Morgan Hill, to which he afterward added another three hundred acre
tract immediately adjoining the former tract. He also owns one hundred and
sixty acres west of Morgan Hill. Upon this ranch he has followed general
farming pursuits ever since, but he also has fifty acres in prunes, apricots,
peaches and pears. The greater part of his land is devoted to raising hay,
grain and corn. He also raises some fine thoroughbred stock, having on his
place one of the finest herds of Jersey cattle in the state.
In tracing the ancestry of Mr. Stephens we find him
to be of illustrious lineage, his father having been a direct descendant of
King George of England. He is a son of William and Jane (Griffeth) Stephens, both natives of England, the family emigrating to the United States in 1851. The father was a
stone and brick mason and contractor, but after coming to this country he
followed farm pursuits in the vicinity of Omro, Winnebago county,
Wis. After the great Chicago fire he worked at his trade, assisting in
rebuilding the stricken city. Both he and his wife died in Wisconsin. Their
family consisted of seven children, three sons and four daughters, George being
the third child. He was educated in the common schools of England, and
accompanied his parents to America in 1851.
Mr. Stephens has a war record quite worthy of
mention. In 1862 he enlisted in Company E, Eighteenth Wisconsin Infantry,
and served eight months in Tennessee, being honorably discharged from service
near Chattanooga, in 1863. Returning to his home in Wisconsin he followed
farming, but shortly afterward went to Mankato, Minn., where he took up land
and engaged in farming on an extensive scale. While there he joined the militia
and under the command of Colonel Sibley assisted in quelling the Indian
outbreaks which took place in that section. The marriage of Mr. Stephens
dates back to his residence in Wisconsin, for it was there that he wedded
Miss Mary Delia Wetmur, who was born
in Orange county, N. Y., and died in Mapleton,
Minn. Their union was blessed with three children, William Henry, now a
resident of Wells, Minn.; Lillian Alameda, now Mrs. Turner; and
Mary Jane, now Mrs. Neary. The daughters
reside in Santa Clara county. Mr. Stephens
remarried, choosing this time for his wife Miss Jane Elizabeth Wetmur, a native of Winnebago county
and a sister of his first wife, and of their union two children were born:
Charles Herbert and Laura Amanda, both of whom are still at home.
Mrs. Stephens is a daughter of Sylvanus S. Wetmur, a native of Boston, Mass., who in early manhood
engaged in farming in Orange county, N. Y., and
removed to Winnebago county, Wis., at an early day in the history of that
locality. In 1889 he came to California and located in Santa Clara county. He died at the home of Mr. Stephens in 1899 and
his wife also died there. Prior to her marriage she was Miss
Sarah J. McCarthy, of Long Island. Politically Mr. Stephens is a
Democrat. His long term of service as school director testifies to his interest
in educational affairs. He stands high in his community.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 26 October 2015.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
832-835. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Marie
Hassard.