Tag Archives: chew

Grave Discoveries

montgomery deathSo often all I have to go on as a portrait or physical evidence for my Evergreen historical figures are obituaries and/or gravestones.  The first person sources have moved away or passed away.  Strangely enough, you can tell a lot about people by their headstones.  Actually, you find out the legacy the person left behind by what their family are able to provide them for the afterlife.

CEM47024782_124197784496San Jose, the oldest Californian secular development, also has the oldest “secular cemetery”.  Try saying that 5 times fast.  Oak Hill’s 32 acre burial ground would become the final resting place for many pioneers and historic figures in Santa Clara County’s infancy and adolescence.  I drove around and recognized a lot of street names like Curtner, Angew, Reed, Quimby and others.  Noticables like San Jose’s first Mayor, Joseph Belden, T. S. Montgomery and Donner Party were buried here.

If you’re creeped out by quiet, open spaces, cemeteries or death in general, all which I am, I totally suggest what I did.  I went to Oak Hill Cemetery on Father’s Day, when there were plenty of people around.  In fact, it’s a hot spot on certain holidays.  Don’t worry.  You’ll feel there might be enough living people to even out your creepy crawlies.  These days, the scent of flowers and incense can be detected amongst laughing, music and family.  It was quite a warm place.  I felt very free to wonder around.  You don’t need to wonder, however.  You have me being nosey on your behalf.  If you’d like to go on an unscary tour, I’ll be your tour guide.

First of all, cemeteries like neighborhoods and cities would be developed in a predictably chronological fashion.  This may not mean much when you first get there, though.  The area between the Curtner Avenue Entrance and Monterey Road Entrance to the North and those roads’ intersection would be planted first.  Certain families, tribes or ethnicities would cluster in certain lawns.  Roads would occur through the burial ground, separating these clusters and the earliest as well as most prominent characters would end up along the path.

CAM11106CAM11105Secondly, not all gravesites are created equal.  The wealthy would have larger headstones, build monuments or encapsulate their family plot.  There were beautiful headstones I might just photograph for their sculptural and artistic value.  You can take in a lot of information visually.  In fact, when cruising slowly through the paths, names clear enough to read from your car are simple richer or more famous people.

Whether is was ornate crosses, angels, obelisk, columns or awesome granite, these are their own communication.  They indicate faith, job, stature, origin and impact.  A cross would symbolize this person’s connection with their religion, and the style of cross might say they were Irish, Catholic or Episcopalian.  An angel might communicate that this person was very kind or had a direct positive effect on others.  A Corinthian column is someone who was stoic and politically minded.  You’ll have a bust of the individual if there are revered.  The subject matter says a lot about the person.

CAM11091San Jose’s early Mayor, John Alonzo Quimby is at Oak Hill.  Here spelt Quinby, the lawmaker was probably a Quaker and opted for a shared fairly unadorned headstone.  It is large and a beautiful block of granite stone.  J. A. Quimby is featured prominently in the middle of the arrangement, surrounded by his loved ones.  The Quimby’s was probably a close knit family, as well as one with modesty.  This was towards the front of the 32 acres of cemetery.  Mayor Quimby was a very well respected man at the time and given the visibility belonging to important folks.

120013655_138395571327129607541_1399786781Let’s contrast that with our wealthy French family, the Pelliers.  Not all of them would end up in Oak Hill Cemetery.  Louis, both the brother of Perrier and his son, would end up at the Catholic Cavalry Cemetery, where the rest of the whose who and pioneers would end up.  These resting places are very orante or fancy, just like the French.

120929472_1115576029207The Germans would also have their own style.  Hands shaking was a popular motif.  The Prusch Family of Evergreen and it’s surrounding area would have something that communicates their German roots.  I think it’s very similar to tapestry from the Dark Ages.

CAM11108The German immigrant and wealthy farmer from Evergreen, John Hassler, would use the symbol of the lily on his gravestone, indicating a fondness for the Bible, or Word of God.  His headstone is minimalistic yet bold.  This would indicate a value placed on the simple life.  That makes sense.  Beyond fortuitous land dealings in Evergreen, John Hassler was a simple farmer and his family continued that tradition.  The Hassler’s Patriach wouldn’t need any help holding down this beautiful granite stone.  But don’t worry.  Plenty of his loved ones surround him with simpler plots.

CAM11098spring2012.pdfMr. and Mrs. Metzger, also German, ended up together in the end, even though fifty years would separate their passing.  The farmer’s headstone if a block of granite with a nouveau classical element, clearly foliage.  It’s similar to the family’s home and it’s most likely Mrs. Metzger’s taste guiding the decisions here.  What separates this gravestone from the above Hassler’s is a couple years and new technologies for cutting.  This means the styles have changed and the gravestones do the same this.  This comes from San Jose’s Victorian period.  The stone says a lot.

CAM11105 (2)People who had been in the United States for some time, like Alfred Chew, would opt for something very American as a memorial.  Native of Ohio, civil servant Chew’s headstone would tell us he was a stable man, because of its height and shape.  The triangular front mimics the architecture of government buildings.  All it’s missing is columns, but it itself is a column which speaks to his stability and legacy.  We can also see that Alfred Chew was a farmer with flowering accents.

Now, Evergreen’s neighbors wouldn’t end up anywhere near each other.  Certain neighbors would be close by or located in the same lawn, but I believe that has more to do with the timing of their death.  It was not the closeness I thought there would be based on pockets of German or French immigrants in Evergreen or everyone’s reports of a close knit community.  The experience was tremendous, however.  The next time I visit, I’m going to bring a list of names of people supposedly buried here and get a little help from the desk.  I’m going to make a list and a map so you don’t have to wonder around aimlessly.  For me these headstone told me so much about how these folks were remembered and the time they grew up in.

 

Alfred Chew’s Residence

J.E. Brown, Theodore Lenzen Residence, Geo. H. Briggs, J.E. Ruc000000The people and places featured in books and publications back in the 1800’s were highly regarded as well as some of the only glimpses into other places at the time.  Alfred Chew was made popular by the Thompson and West Altas published in 1876.  Print was a limited medium, but made the exchange of information possible.  Tales of the Western Frontier being tamed were becoming public knowledge as fruit, dried and canned, would reach the East Coast from Santa Clara Valley.  The building of railroads brought many people to California through and after the Gold Rush, but also made the export of fruit and curiosity a real commodity.

mapImages of Santa Clara Valley were published for the whole world to delight in, along with our bountiful produce in the Valley of Heart’s Delight.  This would’ve also served as a tourism guide of landmarks to see when visiting the area.   Evergreen and Silver Creek were located in the Rancho Yerba Buena Survey, eventually becoming the whole of Evergreen.  The associated map for the above photo is to the right, from Thompson and West’s 1876 Atlas with Alfred Chew’s residence featured.  Fitting, the Survey of mention is in green.

P1310192As you can see from this 1890 map to the left, before the turn of the century, Aborn Road was known as Evergreen Road west of White Road and San Felipe Road.  To the East of San Felipe Road, the heavily driven Evergreen artery Aborn Road was known as Chew Lane.   The Chew property is also featured here in the 1890 map at the top right corner along Chew Lane.  That got me chewing on who Alfred Chew was.

caMr. Alfred Chew (1834-1910) would do a little traveling from his Ohio home front before settling down.  Young Alfred would come with his parents, Morris Rees Chew and Mathilda Crumley, to live in Illinois before traveling West on his own.  In 1853, Alfred Chew would start his journey West with the Kirkpatrick Company, headed for Oregon and making the most out of getting lost at the Missouri River.  Kirkpatrick didn’t immediately arrive in Oregon that time.  Before becoming a farmer in Evergreen, Alfred would meander South into California.  We know about Mr. Alfred Chew for his leadership in early California Statehood in different areas of the State.  Alfred Chew would run cattle through Gilroy before he would suffer from typhoid fever.  Before returning home to Illinois in 1860, Mr. Alfred Chew would pursue government posts, and surely a different type of occupation than he had before.  He was the US Deputy Surveyor for San Luis Obispo County in the late 1850’s.  Alfred Chew would return to Illinois and marry Margaret Kennedy, returning to Evergreen with his new bride.

0000001876 MapAlfred Chew would come to Evergreen and begin farming in 1860 3 miles outside of Evergreen.  Alfred Chew would take his year’s profits and purchase a portion of attorney William Matthew’s property near downtown Evergreen in 1861, which was granted to him in exchange for legal services from the Chaboya vs. Squatters battle in years prior.  This 1896 map shows no road where Chew Lane and now Aborn Road exists.  Evergreen literally grew up with and around the Chew Family homestead.  This is a black and white close up of the 1876 Thompson and West Altas with Chew’s property under “SAN”, before the road in his name was created.  He would’ve moved in right next door to Charles Smith and Genrio Chaboya as one of the first residents of Evergreen.

ls1After his winfall year farming 200 acres 3 miles outside of Evergreen in 1859, Chew would buy 100 acres of his own and build his home in downtown Evergreen.  He would raise 7 children with wife Margaret, Mamie.  They would’ve gone to the Evergreen Schoolhouse.  Mr. Alfred Chew would return to civil service, elected to the Board of County Supervisors in 1873.  He would serve on the Board from 1874-1878.  Chew would also serve in Santa Clara County’s Assessor’s Office into the early 1900’s.  Both his wife, Mamie, and his daughter, Emily Ann or Emma, would teach at the Evergreen Schoolhouse down the street from his downtown Evergreen house.  Emma would also marry into the well-known, well liked Hostetter Family, who found their way to Santa Clara County with the Evergreen Farnsworth family guardians.  Over the 50 years Alfred lived in Evergreen, Chew’s neighbors would sell their large downtown Evergreen farms away to make room for subdivision housing.  Evergreen would continue to grow in population.  Chew’s farm had a very different fate.

Mr. Alfred Chew’s Obituary would read “PROMINENT SAN JOSE ORCHARDIST IS DEAD Alfred Chew,” County Treasury Watchdog Passes Away SAN JOSE, Calif.  Jan. 2. — Alfred Chew, for 33 years the “watchdog of the county treasury” and one of the most prominent orchardists of the county, died late last evening; at his home near Evergreen at the age of 75 years. For nearly half a century he had served the community as supervisor and deputy assessor or deputy tax collector.  He is survived by seven children… ”

P1310203 (1)The Chew children would continue to live in and work on the Evergreen farm on Chew Lane.  Chew’s reputation and leadership in the early days of Evergreen was the reason its main artery was name after him over a hundred years ago.  You can see it crossing the “A” in this 1902 map along the Hart Line.

P1310198As you can see from the 1911 map to the left, this was the time Evergreen Road and Chew Lane became one Aborn Road.  John Aborn, another revered Evergreen character, was a local pioneer figure from before Alfred Chew’s time in Evergreen who fought for farmers with the Chaboya Family, making the town of Evergreen possible.  I wonder how his family must’ve felt about the renaming.  Regardless of how Alfred Chew would’ve felt about the change of the street’s name, he would never have witnessed the change of address.  The Chew Estate would stay in the family for a short while longer, all married and established, and the Chew family would move out of Evergreen in the 1910’s with Mamie’s passing.

MirassouWinerylogoP1310098Shortly after the Chews’ death and Aborn Road’s creation, the original 100 acres purchased from William Matthews in 1861 would be sold to another famed Evergreen family, the Mirassous.  Henriette Pellier would marry Mr. Mirassou, see her family carry on the tradition of winemaking and move the winery operations from Pellier Ranch off Quimby and Chaboya Road in 1911 to the Chew property off of Chew Lane.  There, the Mirassou family would have its famed vineyards and historic tasting room on Aborn Road for almost 100 years.

1866Through this artwork we’re trying to explain the transition from Native wilderness, to Mexican cow pastures to American homesteads.  The artwork that features Mr. Alfred Chew’s residence from 1876, though certainly built in the 1860’s, is a piece that tries to do just that.  Farmers moving into Evergreen would breathe new life into the ever green hills.  Leaders like Chew would shape a developing area and Evergreen’s identity to the rest of the Country.  It’s important to know who Chew was in Evergreen’s narrative.