]
HON. PERLEY FRANCIS GOSBEY
Superior Court Judge of Santa Clara
County
HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY 529
SURNAMES: Smith, Brown, Rucker,
California owes much, as one of the most attractive corners of the
world in which to live, thrive and be happy, to its distinguished
members of the Bench and Bar, and prominent among whom may well be
mentioned the Hon. Perley Francis Gosbey, Judge of the Superior Court
of Santa Clara County, where he has made Department Two widely known
for the high standards set in handling probate matters and the
dispensation of justice. He was born on May 15, 1859, at Santa Clara,
the son of Joseph F. and Sarah (Smith) Gosbey who were married in 1856
. Mr. Gosbey, Senior, was born in Nova Scotia in 1825, came to
California via Panama in 1853 and setttled in Santa Clara. He ran a
hotel, called the Morgan House, in San Jose for a number of yeras,
giving this up to engage in the shoe business, which he conducted for
fifty years. He died in 1915 having ranched almost nintely years of
age. Mrs. Gosbey was born in Ohio in 1838, came to this state with her
father, Ansyl Smith, crossing the Isthmus in 1852, and settled in Santa
Clara; Mrs. Gosbey died in 1903. The later years of their lives Mr. and
Mrs. Gosbey lived in Pacific Grove. There were two sons and two
daughters in the Gosbey family, three of whom are still living.
Perley F. Gosbey pursued the elementary courses and was graduated from
the Santa Clara high school in 1875. He then went to the University of
the Pacific, and there in 1880 he was given his Bachelor of Arts
degree. In 1881 he began teaching school and for four years was a
teacher in the San Jose high school. Thur far he had laid the
foundation for future attainment; but how well in this preparatory work
he had builded can can be seen in the success he has attained as a
professional man. Having decided upon the law as his future field, Mr.
Gosbey went East to the University of Michigan and there matriculated
in the Law Department; in 1888 he received his parchment and the degree
of Bachelor of Laws. In June of that year he was admitted to the Bar at
Ann Arbor, Mich.; and having returned to his native State, Mr. Gosbey
was admitted, in the following Septemeber, to practice at the
California Bar. In November, 1908, after years of private practice in
which he had proven himself exceptionally qualified for work on the
Bench, Mr. Gosbey was elected Judge of the Superior Court of Santa
Clara County, and he has continued to hold that high office ever since.
On October 28, 1891, Mr. Gosbey was united in marriage with Miss Susan
Rucker, the ceremony taking place at San Jose. Mrs. Gosbey is a
daughter of Joseph E. and Susan (Brown)
Rucker, born in Santa Clara County and a gifted and attractive lady who
has more and more shared in the Judge's increasing popularity. A
preominent man in fraternal circles, Judge Gosbey is a Sottish Rite and
Knights Templar Mason and a Shriner. He is a Past Grand Master of the
Odd Fellows and Past exalted Ruler of the Elks and belongs to
Observatory Parlor No. 177, Native sons of the Golden West and is a
member of the California Pioneers of Santa Clara County. A native son,
not merely in name but in the intensity of his patriotic spirit, Judge
Gosbey has always been conspicuous for his public-spiritedness. For
four years he was a member of the Board of Education of San Jose,
acting as its president.
Transcribed by Marie
Clayton, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara
County,California,
published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 529
SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES
SANTA CLARA COUNTY HISTORY-COMMUNITES,
TRANSPORTATION, NEWSPAPERS, Etc