HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY 520
CORNELIUS Y. PITMAN
ASSESSOR OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY
SURNAMES: LEWIS, MARTIN, ENTRIKEN,
All who have had to do with the assessor of Santa Clara County and and
have come to be familiar with the almost perfect organization of that
office at San Jose, will realize to what an extent Cornelius Y. Pitman,
the present incumbent, has contributed toward the enviable reputation
enjoyed by California as a model state for the transaction of public
business. This gentleman was born in Santa Clara County on June 16,
1859, the son of Andrew Jackson Pitman, an American possibly of English
extraction. He first came to California by way of the Horn in 1848, and
settled at Marysville in the '50s, having previously been married in
the East to Miss Armenia Lewis, whose forebears came to America with
the French Huguenots. Mr. Pitman was a farmer, and followed
agricultural pursuits all his life. They had seven children, six boys
and girl, and our subject is the third of the six still living. He
attended the local public schools in Santa Clara County, and then
pursued an excellent course at a business college in San Francisco,
after which he embarked with his father in the milk business; and
having spent his early years on the home farm, he did not find it
difficult to make a success of the enterprise. Next he took a position
as purser on a steamboat plying between San Francisco and Alviso, and
so enjoyed a change from his land experience.
In 1914 Mr. Pitman was elected, on the Democratic ticket, assessor of
Santa Clara County, and from the first it was evident that he could not
fail to make good. The truth is that, by his conscientious application
to duty and his interest in and desire to help all having occasion to
communicate with his bureau, Mr. Pitman gave such satisfaction that he
was reelected to the responsible post and is now serving his second
term. He has made numerous improvements in the matter of up-to-date,
economic methods; and being a good student on conditions pertaining to
his field, he is in the best position to render the public the most
efficient yet saving service.
At Alviso Mr. Pitman was married to Miss Nellie Martin, the daughter of
Captain John Martin of Alviso, one of the early pioneers; and having
come of such excellent American stock, Mrs. Pitman has proven of great
aid to her husband. Two children blessed this union--Daphne E. is now
Mrs. D. Entriken of San Jose, and she is a graduate of San Jose high
and the State Normal; Hayden, who graduated from the San Jose high
school, and a student at Santa Clara University, enlisted as an officer
when he was only eighteen years of age and served for three months in
the World War. The family have always been Presbyterians. Mr. Pitman is
an Elk, and proud of his birth in the Golden State he also belongs to
the Native Sons of the Golden West.
Transcribed by Marie Clayton, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California,
published by Historic Record Co. , 1922.page 520
[Ed. Note- Guy and Roy Entriken are noted in the San Jose Bell, 1916, as 1910 graduates , and are now serving as deputy assessors in the office of assessor Pitman]
SANTA CLARA COUNTY HISTORIC BIOGRAPHIES
SANTA CLARA COUNTY HISTORY AND GENEALOGY