A FEW MORE NAMES
TRIMBLE- John Trimble was born in Missouri in 1828. He fought in The Mexican War of 1846, and returned to California by ox team in 1849. He mined for a while, but returned to Missouri in 1852. In 1853 he drove 350 head of cattle across the plains. He bought 250 acres on San Jose-Milpitas Road in 1857 and became an extensive fruit grower. He also had seven children.
TULLY- Tully road was named for John Tully, a native of Ireland who came here with his wife, Rose in 1850. At one time Tully owned several thousand acres scattered throughout the Evergreen Valley.
UNIVERSITY- University Avenue in San Jose got its name from the California Weselyn College which was started there in 1850. Today is is known as University of the Pacific.
VENDOME- Vendome Avenue is named for the hotel that was on the street for many years. It was originally the mansion of Josiah Belden.
WADE- Charles E. Wade was born in 1838, and came to The Valley in 1849, with his father, Henry, following the Southern Route requiring eleven months. He established a ranch of 395 acres four miles North of San Jose on Alviso Road.
WALKINSHAW- Robert Walkinshaw was a native of Scotland, who came from Mexico in 1847 to work for Baron, Forbes and Company, a British trading firm. He was sent here to take charge of their New Almaden Mines. He held patent to The Rancho Posolmi where he lived in lavish style, "riding to the hounds" with his family. The rancho of 1,695 acres is the site of the recently closed Moffett Field.
WARBURTON- Doctor Henry Hulme Warburton was born in England in 1819. He came from a family of doctors, his father and his six brothers all being physicians. After studying under his father he came to New York in 1844 and signed on as a ship's surgeon on a whaler, but left ship at Half Moon Bay in 1847. He moved on to Santa Clara in 1848 and served people of that area, and at times, as far away as Washington and Oregon, for the astonishing period of 56 years. (His son Austin was later the historian for the City of Santa Clara.)
WEBBER- Charles M. Webber was born in Germany and came to America in 1836. He made the trip to California with the Bidwell-Bartleson Party in 1841. Webber settled in The Pueblo of San Jose in 1842 and took part in The Mexican hostilities. He took up a large acreage in the San Joaquin Valley, organized a farming colony at French Camp and in 1849 founded the City of Stockton. He owned the U.S. patent to the Rancho Canada de San Felipe y Las Animas, 8,787 fertile acres near Madrone to become well known as "The Webber Ranch" and later to be ably managed by his son, Charles M. Webber, Jr.
WHITE- Charles White was the "law man" of Pueblo de San Jose in its early years. He was by all reports, an honest man with a very difficult job. He ended up by resigning his position for what he called "political intrigue."
WILKEMEYER- Reverend Victor Wilkemeyer was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma on May 16, 1916. When it was time for college, he ventured West to Saint Marys College in Moraga (near Concord). He was subsequently ordained as a Catholic priest, and in June of 1959 was appointed as the founding pastor of Saint Lawrence the Martyr parish in Santa Clara. At the time, it was an area of orchards, with a very few tract homes, many still under construction. He often celebrated Mass while the faithful munched on fruit collected from trees on what was now the parish property. He built a great faith community and an impressive plant. After his retirement he lived on the property. When his health startd to fail, he was moved to a care facility nearby. We were all saddened to hear of his death on Spet. 15 of 2006. At the time he was included in this list, he was the only living person profiled in this section.
WINCHESTER- Sarah Pardee Winchester was born in 1837. In 1884, mourning the death of her husband, William Wirt Winchester, son of the rifle magnate, and their daughter, she moved to San Jose. She had more than 20 million dollars, and an income of $1,000.00 a day. (Long before the IRS was around!) Many claimed that she was "crazy". My research indicates that she was lonely, having been shunned by the locals, and maybe a little eccentric, but not crazy. In any case, he mansion still stands today.
WOODROW- William L. Woodrow was born in New York in 1835. In 1862 he drove a team of ox on a four month trip to California. He mined for four years, then became a rancher in the Berryessa area. In 1881 he became the leading undertaker in San Jose.
WOODHAMS- A.R. Woodhams was born in New York in 1832 and moved to Chili in 1849, later coming to California as a miner. In 1850 he owned 143 acres of rich land at the intersection of Homested Road and the present Lawrence Expressway. (This is the site of the new Kaiser Hospital, which is now nearing completion.)
ZANKER- William Zanker was born in Germany in 1831. He came to the United States at the age of eighteen. In 1855 he came to California via Nicaragua. He mined gold in El Dorado County, then moved on to Santa Cruz County, and in 1857 came to Santa Clara County. His government claim was disputed, but he secured a large acreage in The Alviso District. His descendants farmed in the Alviso area up to the mid 1970's. Evan Zanker, Williams son, served with distinction on The Santa Clara Unified School Board for many years, (I went to school with his great grand daughter at Patrick Henry when it was a Juinior High School.)
ZUCK- James C. Zuck was born in 1833 in Ohio. He graduated from The University of the Pacific in 1867. He opened his law practice in Gilroy shortly after graduation. He became a realtor and financier. He was one of the organizers of The City of Gilroy and was a State Senator, and later U.S. Consul to China. He had an 810 acre farm four miles from Gilroy on The Pacheco Pass Road.
Some of the resources used to put this page together
© 1997 to 2007 by John D. Casey Jr.