Santa Clara County
Biographies
SAMUEL HOPKINS WAGENER
SAMUEL HOPKINS WAGENER. Very early in the history of our
country David Wagener, a native of Philadelphia
and member of a Quaker family of that city, blazed his way through the
wilderness on horseback to Yates county, N. Y.,
and settled on a raw tract of land. His son, Abraham, who was born in that then
frontier settlement, became a large land owner of the county. Among his
children was a son, David, Jr., who was born in Penn Yan, Yates county, and inherited large estates. Possessing considerable
ability, he had already laid the foundation of permanent success when death
removed him, at thirty-seven years, from the scene of his activities.
In establishing domestic ties David
Wagener, Jr., married Maria West, who was born in Great Barrington, Mass.,
and died in Penn Yan, N. Y., at fifty-eight years of age. Her
father, Amos West, a native of the same city as herself, removed to Bath, Steuben county, N. Y., and followed the occupation of a
jeweler. By his marriage to Johanna Hopkins, he was united with a
descendant of Rev. Samuel Hopkins, a well-known colonial minister of Newport, R. I. The
West family descended from old Puritan stock. Amos West’s father, Capt.
Amos C. West, a native and lifelong resident of Massachusetts, gained his title through
service at the head of a company of Revolutionary soldiers. In the family of
David Wagener, Jr., there were three sons and one daughter, namely:
Mrs. Johanna Briggs, who died in Penn Yan; Abram, who crossed the
plains in 1849, became a prominent man in Nevada City, Cal., and died in San
Francisco; Samuel Hopkins, of San Jose, a pioneer of 1855 in California;
and Charles H., who came to California in 1861, but returned to Michigan,
served during the Civil war with a regiment from Michigan, and died in that
state.
Samuel Hopkins Wagener was born at Penn Yan, N. Y.,
September 30, 1832, and graduated from the academy in that city.
During 1846 he went to Bath,
N. Y., where he clerked in a dry-goods store. From there he went to Monroe, Mich.,
in 1851, and served an apprenticeship to the drug business. In 1855 he came to California via Panama and engaged in mining at Camptonville, Yuba county. After
two years he abandoned mining and started a drug store at Petaluma. Returning to Michigan
in 1864, he opened a drug store at Muskegon,
continuing there until 1877. Meanwhile he was a prominent factor in civic
enterprises. For one term he was elected and qualified as city treasurer but
resigned soon afterward and for a similar period was a member of the board of
school trustees. Although the city was Republican, he was elected mayor on the
Democratic ticket by a large majority. At the expiration of his term he refused
to serve longer, although solicited to accept a second term by both parties. On
his return to California, in 1877, he embarked
in the drug business in San Jose,
and continues the same to the present, being now located at No. 89 North First street.
During the administration of President Cleveland in 1886 he was appointed
postmaster of San Jose
and held the office for four years. Throughout all of his active life he has
supported the Democratic party and its principles. In
religion an Episcopalian, he was for thirty-five years a vestryman in that
denomination. He is a member of the Merchants’ Association of San Jose, an
honorary member of the Santa Clara Pioneer Association, and connected with the
San Francisco Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution.
In Monroe,
Mich., Mr. Wagener
married Miss Eva Smith, who was born and reared in that city, and graduated
from the Monroe Seminary. Her father, Major Henry Smith, who was of
New York birth, graduated from West Point and served on the staff of General
Scott during the Mexican war until he lost his life, from yellow fever, at Vera
Cruz in 1847. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Wagener comprises three
children, namely: Allen Cole, who is connected with the firm of Nathan Dorman
& Co., of San Francisco; Elvira Foster, Mrs. Rogers, of San Jose;
and Paul Hopkins, who resides at Pacific Grove and is employed in the
railway mail service.
Any sketch of Mr. Wagener’s life would be incomplete
without mention of his Masonic record. In 1854 he was made a Mason in Monroe (Mich.) Lodge. After going to Petaluma
he became affiliated with the blue lodge there in 1857. After settling in Muskegon, Mich., he was elected master of the lodge,
but declined to serve, owing to the pressure of his duties as a business man
and mayor. In 1877 he affiliated with San Jose Lodge No. 10,
F. & A. M. His connection with the chapter began in 1858,
when he was admitted to Petaluma Chapter on Christmas day. In 1877 he became a
member of Howard Chapter No. 14, R. A. M., at San Jose, in which he is past high priest. During
1901-02 the honor was conferred upon him of being chosen grand high priest of
the Grand Chapter of California. In 1861 he was raised to the commandery in Penn Yan, N. Y., later affiliated with
the Muskegon Commandery and acted as its senior warden for eight years. In 1877
he transferred his membership to San Jose Commandery No. 10, K. T.,
of which he is past eminent commander. In 1889 Dr. Mason was elected grand
commander, but died two months afterward and Mr. Wagener, as deputy grand
commander, filled the office of grand commander until his election to the
office in 1901, serving one term as grand commander of the Grand Commandery of
California. Since 1859 he has been a member of the council in San Francisco, is connected with Islam Temple,
N. M. S., and the Order of High Priesthood of that city, and in
addition is a member of the Veteran Masonic Association.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 07 May 2015.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
582-583. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
© 2015 Marie
Hassard.
Santa Clara Biography
Golden Nugget Library