Santa Clara County
Biographies
JOHN
F. UNGLISH
JOHN F. UNGLISH. With the marked progress made in
agricultural education within the past few years, and the great transformation
in the methods employed in farming that are continually taking place, have come
clearer ideas, more enlightened conceptions, and better comprehension of the
fundamental principles underlying the science of husbandry. In every branch of this important industry
there has been vast improvement, and in this advancement John F. Unglish, the subject of this sketch, has been a potent
force. A mechanical genius, and an
inventor, he has invented and made many useful appliances for farmers; in 1900
discovered a method of keeping borers out of trees by applying coal tar to the
bottom of the tree trunk; and the same year originated the idea of doing away
with props by so weighting the limbs that those opposite would sustain each
other. Among his first inventions made
many years ago, were a potato scoop and a potato grader. A native of Cambridgeshire,
England, he was born November 23, 1844, a son of George Unglish.
A native of Norfolk, England, George
Unglish was reared to farming pursuits. Immigrating with his family to America in
1854, he settled in Monroe county, N.Y. Buying land in the town of Webster, he there
followed his independent occupation until his death, in 1894, at the age of
four score years. His wife, whose maiden
name was Pamelia Clark, was born in Suffolk, England,
and is now residing in New York state. Of the children that blessed their union,
four grew to years of maturity, and three survive, John F., the oldest child,
being the only one living on the Pacific coast.
Active, energetic and ambitious,
John F. Unglish has been a worker from his earliest youth, and by his strenuous efforts has achieved success in
his undertakings. While living in his
native land, when but six years old, he began working for wages, receiving six
pence a day. He afterwards worked for
five months on a farm at $1 a month, and for the next two years was given $5 a
month for eight months of the year.
During the winter seasons, however, he attended the district school,
obtaining a limited education. From his
wages he saved $50, with which he made the first payment on a home for his
parents. Interested especially in horticulture,
Mr. Unglish turned his attention to this branch of
agriculture after coming with his parents to this country, and as soon as old
enough to engage in business on his own account opened a nursery in Webster,
N.Y., and for nearly a quarter of a century sold nursery stock throughout New
York state, traveling three seasons of each year, while in the winter time he
dealt in furs, buying fur in Canada, manufacturing the articles in Webster, and
selling them to the wholesale trade.
Subsequently locating in Baldwinsville, Onodago
county, he was there engaged in the nursery business for ten years, in the
meantime, in 1893, making a trip to England, and traveling extensively on the
continent.
Coming to San Jose, Cal., in 1889,
Mr. Unglish started a nursery on the corner of
Sixteenth and Empire streets, and later set out one at the corner of McLaughlin
avenue and McKee road.
Running both of these nurseries for six years, he built up a large and
profitable business. In the meantime he
had started a nursery on his present farm, which is located on the Bodfish road, about three miles from Gilroy, and in 1894
took possession of it, and was here engaged in his chosen occupation until
1902. He set out orchards of peaches and
prunes, built a large dryer, and installed a fine pumping plant, with a
three-inch pump, and a ten-horse-power engine.
A part of his land is irrigated by the Uvas
creek, while the other half is watered by the overflow from the city
reservoir. In 1900, as one of the firm
of Unglish Brothers, he built a large dryer and
evaporator at Pajaro, Monterey county,
and operated until it burned down in 1903.
Although Mr. Unglish has acquired considerable
wealth in his operations, he has met with serious reverses, his losses
aggregating some $50,000, in three disastrous fires losing $33,000, having no
insurance on any excepting in the fire, when he had a small amount.
In Monroe county,
N.Y., Mr. Unglish married Celia Elmer, who was born
in New York state, and is a sister of A. J. Elmer, of San Jose, whose sketch
may be found on another page of this volume.
Mrs. Unglish died July 28, 1904, of heart
failure. Mr. and Mrs. Unglish became the parents of three children, namely: W.
E., a resident of Gilroy; Ada May, wife of Samuel A. Perry, of Gilroy; and J.
D. H. Unglish.
Mr. Unglish takes an active interest in the
industrial and business advancement of Gilroy, and is a member of the Santa
Clara Fruit Exchange, of which he was one of the promoters. In San Jose he was a prominent member of the
local Grange; was an organizer, and charter member, of the Santa Clara County
Insurance Society; and originated the idea of forming a co-operative company
for fruit drying. While living in
Webster, N.Y., he was made a Mason, and is still interested in the order. In religion he is an avowed Spiritualist.
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 1406-1407. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2017 Doralisa Palomares.