Santa
Clara County
Biographies
Grand View, the ranch of Alanson N. Story on
the Mount Hamilton road, eleven miles from San Jose, is an enduring monument to
the faith, energy, courage and self-sacrifice of one of the foremost upbuilders [sic.] of Santa Clara
county. From without the beautiful home
which speaks of the comfort, admirable taste, and generosity of an ideal
western farmer, one gains as fine a view of the entire Santa Clara alley as is
to be found on any plat of ground tilled by the forethought of man. Nor does this beautiful ranch represent the
extent of Mr. Story’s possessions in Santa Clara county, for other lands have
been redeemed from uselessness by his energy, and a road, running past his old
mountain farm, will ever be known as the Story road, thus evidencing the prominence
which he attained in county affairs long ere his agricultural fortune was
gathered together.
In
bearing or energy Mr. Story does not suggest his eighty-four years. He was born August 10, 1819, in Richland
county, Ohio, whither his father, Alanson, had removed from his native state of
Massachusetts, while yet Ohio was a sparsely settled territory. His mother, Mary (Van Fleet) Story, was also
born in the east, and died in Portage county, Ohio, at
an advanced age. Of the ten children
reared in the humble home, three only are living, Alanson N. being the eldest
of these. The little log school house
near the Story farm in Portage and Richland counties afforded the only means of
acquiring knowledge known to Alanson N., and even this advantage came to him
only for a few months in the winter time, when there were no crops to gather,
and little outside work to be done. He
continued on the home place until eighteen years of age, when he bought his
time of his father for one hundred and fifty dollars and hired out to a
neighbor, who had a larger farm, and better chances for a growing lad. Six years he remained with the neighbor,
receiving on an average thirteen dollars a month and his keep, and then wishing
for a warmer climate, he went south and worked on the plantation in the slavery
districts. His humane instincts
rebelling at the state of affairs in the slave states, he looked about for an
advantageous change, finding it in the experience of many around him who were
disposing of their interests and starting for the west. He had nothing to hold him to any particular
locality, so with four companions, three wagons, with three teams to a wagon,
he made the start one bright spring morning in 1850, and contrary to
expectations, accomplished the long trip with comparatively little
inconvenience. Arriving in Hangtown at
the end of five months, he was taken ill and came to San Jose in January, 1851,
when he bought three hundred and twenty acres of land east of San Jose, near
the Coyote creek, where he
built a small log house, and prepared to make himself comfortable. In time he set out a small orchard, and
bought sixty additional acres, having then three hundred and eighty acres which
he devoted to orcharding [sic.],
general farming and stock-raising. In
1854 he established a ranch in the Isabella valley, having a section of land
and plenty of free range, and where he succeeded beyond his expectations in the
cattle business. However, Naglee and Mr. Morrell claimed the land with their
floating grant, and Mr. Story, notwithstanding the effort he had expended upon
its improvement, left it in disgust, even after he had secured a government
title. The Story road ran by this farm,
which was surrounded by mountains and was an ideal location. Soon after losing his mountain home be bought
fifteen hundred acres on the Hamilton road, set out a vineyard of three hundred
acres, and placed the balance under general farming and stock. The vineyard has since been disposed of, and
the present farm consists of over fourteen hundred acres, at present being
leased to a tenant. There are few places
in the county to compare with it, few better’ cultivated, more advantageously
laid out, or more generally fertile.
Mr. Story’s wife was formerly Ella Corder,
and has one son, by a former marriage, his namesake, Alanson N. He is a Republican in national politics, but
his efforts to improve the county have never lain along political lines. He is essentially a home man, caring little
for the honors of office, but of untiring zeal in promoting the general welfare
of Santa Clara county.
He has been and still is one of its most prominent and highly esteemed
pioneers, one of whom no harsh word has ever been said, no question raised as
to personal honesty or integrity. To his
fine old age has come the compensations of wealth, honor, love of friends, and
better health than the average enjoys who has passed the four score mile post
of life.
Transcribed by
Louise E. Shoemaker., April 17, 2016.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1117-1118. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Louise E. Shoemaker.