HARLAN TILLOTSON
Bio-Pen Pictures
SURNAMES:
resides on the Berryessa and Milpitas road, in the Berryessa District, about six miles north of San Jose, and one and one-half south of Milpitas; there he owns thirty-seven acres of an original tract of eighty-eight acres. His land is highly cultivated, twenty-four acres being in orchard, the products of which are peaches, prunes, apricots, and pears. Six acres raise corn and potatoes, and the rest of the farm produces hay. The orchard proves a profitable investment, the crop of 1887 yielding over $200 per acre.
Mr. Tillotson dates his birth in Sandusky, Ohio, December 21, 1827. He is the son of Jeremiah and Mary (Miller) Tillotson, natives of New York. His parents removed from Ohio to Branch County, Michigan, in 1829, and thence in 1834 to Fremont, Steuben County, Indiana. In these frontier settlements, the father was engaged in agriculture, and to that industry Mr. Tillotson was early trained. Naturally, in such new sections, his educational facilities were limited. He remained with his parents until twenty-two years of age, when he married and established himself as a farmer near his old home. His wife was formerly Miss Emmeline Fessenden, the daughter of Jonathan Fessenden, a native of Maine and a resident of Indiana.
In 1852 he followed in the trail of the thousands who had crossed the plains to California, and located in Yuba County, where he engaged in mining. He afterwards took up the occupation of a packer, giving it up in the fall of 1853, when he opened a hotel at Camptonville, Yuba County. After spending two years in the hotel, he followed teaming for a few months, and then bought a mine, in the working of which he spent a year or more. In 1857 he went to Sutter County, and there engaged in grain farming, with profitable results, for eleven years. When he left Sutter County, in 1868, it was to purchase the property where he now lives.
The subject of our sketch is possessed of the industry, sound common sense, and acquired business talents which are necessary to win success in any employment. He is a strong Republican, and has been called upon by his fellow-citizens, as a sure token of their confidence, to fill public offices of trust. In 1867 he was elected as County Assessor of Sutter County, and in 1884 as one of the Supervisors of Santa Clara County. He has also served as School Trustee. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity.
Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Tillotson, but three are now living, viz.: Sarah Jane, the wife of A. M. Ogan, of San Jose; Alvin H., who married Catharine Mahoney, a native of Michigan and a resident of San Jose; and Nettie, who resides with her parents.
Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888.
Pg. 542-543
SANTA CLARA COUNTY The Valley of Heart's Delight