James H. Van Reed. Born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1809, where he resided for the first thirty-five years of his life. On coming of age Mr. Van Reed started the manufacture of paper, an industry he prosecuted for some years; he next established himself as a broker in Philadelphia and so continued until he left for the Pacific coast. July 4, 1851, he set sail by way of the Isthmus for California on steamer Panama and arrived at San Francisco, August 19th of the same year. On arrival he at once started in business as a gold-dust broker which he continued until July 1853, when he returned to the Eastern States and brought back his family. On his return he embarked in the real-estate business in which he remained until 1871, the date of his taking up his residence in Santa Clara county. The farm on which he lives is the property of Mrs. Van Reed, and was a wilderness when first occupied, but by great care, much perseverance and good taste, the wildest spots have been given an air of quiet repose, while the most dense brush has been so fashioned as to leave a picture of marvelous beauty. Married, in Berks county, November 6, 1832, Julia H. Miller by whom he has two children living, and two dead: Eugene M., Consul General for the Sandwich Islands in Japan, born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, 1835, died on board steamer Japan, en route to San Francisco February 8, 1873; Margaret, born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, 1840; William, Captain Company B, Fifth U. S. Artillery, stationed on the coast of Florida, born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1841; and, Kate I., born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and died there in 1878.
Source: J.P. Munro-Fraser. History of Santa Clara County, California; including its Geography, Geology, Topography, Climatography and Description, San Francisco: Alley, Bowen & Co., Publishers, 1881, p. 589.
Contributed by: Nancy.