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Unitarians in Palo Alto, 1891-1934 A Biographical Dictionary REVISED EDITION UNCORRECTED PROOF Dan Harper Palo Alto, California: Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, 2019 CONTENTS Introduction 1 Timeline, 1891-1934 3 Unity Society of Palo Alto, 1895-1897 5 Unitarian Church of Palo Alto, 1905-1934 11 Unitarians in Palo Alto, 1891-1934: A Biographical Dictionary Uncorrected proof Copyright © 2019 Dan Harper. All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION The first section of this biographical dictionary has short bio- graphical entries for the few names that can be definitely associ- ated with the earlier Unity Society of Palo Alto; most of these names are drawn from an article about the Unity Society in the Palo Alto Times of January 30, 1896. The second, much longer, section has biographical entries for most of the names found in the eXtant records of the Unitarian Church of Palo Alto, records now mostly in the possession of its successor congregation, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto. (No biographical information was found for a few names in the church records, in which case the entry only lists how the per- son was involved in the church.) Basic biographical information was typically drawn from U.S. Census records, and other standard genealogical records. Many of the early residents of the Palo Alto area were affiliated in some way with Stanford University, so frequent reference is made to Stanford Alumni Directories, Annual Registers, and other univer- sity records. Instead of using end notes or footnotes, citations ap- pear in small type at the end of each biographical entry. Entries are generally alphabetical, but families have been grouped together. Extended families, some of which extend across three or four generations, have been grouped together under the most prominent surname. Family groups are generally introduced by the name of the family in italic type (e.g., The Morton - Carruth - Todd Family); the end of each family group is indicated by a typographical ornament flanked by two horizontal lines, like this: —— - ——. In some cases, family groups are also introduced by a simplified family tree. Married couples are introduced by the married names of the couple in Italic type (e.g., Charlie and Walter Lowenstein), and the couple’s biographical entries are again indicated by a typo- graphical ornament flanked by two horizontal lines. Other family groups are introduced by some descriptive name in italic type 1 INTRODUCTION (e.g., The Blake Siblings), again concluded with a typographical ornament flanked by two horizontal lines. Within the second section (i.e., the section with names from the Unitarian Church of Palo Alto, 1905 to 1934), there are sub- sections for surnames beginning with “A,” “B,” etc.; headers in- dicate the subsection. Names are alphabetized with family groups, beginning with surname, then first name; because of this, some- times within a subsection, there will be surnames that begin with a different letter; e.g., William H. Carruth appears in the Morton - Carruth - Todd family group, which is in the “M” subsection. If you see a last name that looks like it’s out of alphabetical order, then you know you are in a family group that has more than one surname. The most interesting biographical entries are marked with a typographical ornament like the one at the beginning of this par- agraph. Because many of the biographical entries are terse or even uninteresting, this ornament will point you to those entries that you are most likely to want to read. In a research project of this type, inevitably there will be er- rors. I am releasing this uncorrected proof in hopes that people will contact me with corrections, additional information, etc. I eX- pect to publish the completed biographical dictionary, with an es- say outlining the history of the Unitarian Church of Palo Alto, in mid-2020. —Dan Harper Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto www.uucpa.org 2 UNITARIANS IN PALO ALTO, 1891-1934 TIMELINE, 1891-1934 1891 First Unitarians move to Palo Alto Unity Society, 1895-1905 March, 1895 Rev. Eliza Tupper Wilkes hired by Pacific Women’s Unit. Conf. to do “missionary work” May, 1895 Wilkes preached at Memorial Ch., Stanford Autumn, 1895 ELIZA TUPPER WILKES preaches in Palo Alto Jan. 12, 1896 Unity Society of Palo Alto formally organized Mar., 1897 Palo Alto Unity Society has supply preachers Little evidence of activity after 1897 ——— 1900 Short-lived effort to re-start a Unitarian society in Palo Alto Unitarian Church of Palo Alto, 1905-1934 1905-1906 Rev. GEORGE STONE, Field Secretary of the A.U.A., acting minister Sept. 10, 1905 Unitarian services begin in Jordan Hall Nov. 12, 1905 Church formally organized ——— 1906-1909 Rev. SYDNEY BRUCE SNOW, minister Sept. 13, 1906 Snow ordained and installed as first called minister of the church Nov., 1906 At 1st anniversary dinner, Karl Rendtorff announces 120 members; 80 are present Mar. 24, 1907 New church building formally dedicated 1907-1908 Sunday school attendance averaged 17 Nov., 1908 60 at annual dinner 1909-1915 Rev. CLARENCE E. REED, minister 1909 Average attendance in Sunday school, 25 1910 Reed on leave for illness; pulpit supply included Rev. FLORENCE BUCK 3 INTRODUCTION Sept. 6, 1914 New Social Hall formally dedicated Nov., 1914 130 at annual dinner, 60 in Sunday school July, 1915 90 enrolled in Sunday school, with average attendance of 60; 49 in Women’s Alliance 1915-1916 Rev. WILLIAM E. SHORT, JR., minister 1915-1916 Sunday school enrollment 54, attendance 32 1916 Attendance at service approX. 40: Sunday school enrollment 63, average attendance 40 1918-1919 Rev. BRADLEY GILMAN, minister 1918 Gilman visits soldiers at Camp Fremont 1918-1919 Sunday school enrollment 28, attendance 14 Nov.? 1918 80 at annual dinner 1919-1921 LAY-LED CONGREGATION: speakers included David Starr Jordan, William Carruth, etc. Nov., 1919 “Voted to re-establish our Sunday school at once” (it had closed due to influenza epidemic) Jan., 1921 Sunday school enrollment is 24, with average attendance 16 1921-1926 Rev. ELMO ARNOLD ROBINSON, minister Dec. 4, 1921 70 at dinner to greet Elmo Robinson 1923 ApproX. 25 young adults in Y.P.R.U. 1924-1925 69 enrolled in Sunday school Feb. 7, 1926 Rev. LEILA L. THOMPSON ordained; she becomes minister when Robinson resigns Dec., 1927 Thompson resigns, prob. over inadequate pay early 1928 Worship services cease 1928 Student minister CLARENCE VICKLAND reësta- blishes worship services 1929-1934 Student minister MERRILL OTIS BATES, funded by the American Unitarian Assoc. (A.U.A.) 1934 A.U.A. sells building 4 1 THE UNITY SOCIETY OF PALO ALTO, 1895-1897: A BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY ADAMS, WILLIAM LOUIS— A physician, he was born in Calif. in 1859. His father was William J. Adams, a lumber and real estate magnate in San Francisco, and the family lived in Fair Oaks, a 23 room house on 54 acres in Menlo Park. William L. refused to follow his father into the family busi- ness, choosing instead to pursue a career in medicine. He studied at the Univ. of Calif. in Berkeley; was a medical student at Co- lumbia in 1888-1889; and received his M.D. from Tulane in 1890. He married Henrietta Bolton, and they had a son William Jacques, born in New York on April 2, 1890, the same day Wil- liam L. graduated from Tulane. Whatever the religious affiliation of the father might have been in that year, the baby was baptized in a Roman Catholic church, the Church of St. Cecelia in Brook- lyn. Henrietta died a little more than two years later, on Oct. 19, 1892. By 1895, Dr. W. L. Adams had an office over University Bak- ery in Palo Alto, and continued to advertise his services through at least 1898. There is no evidence that the baby accompanied him to Palo Alto. He was the Secretary, Committee on Executive and Finance, of the Unity Society. By 1910, he gave his profession, not as physician, but as “manager” of “father’s estate”; at that time he was living with his mother, Cassandra H. Adams, in Palo Alto. In 1916, he was a Clin- ical Instructor at Stanford. He died Feb. 22, 1919. Notes: 1910 U.S. Census; Mary Street Alinder, Ansel Adams: A Biography, Bloomsbury, 2014, p. 3; Univ. of California Register, 1878; Annual Register of Officers and Students, Columbia Univ., 1888; Official Register and Di- rectory of Physicians and Surgeons in the State of California, 1905; Anne Adams Helms, The Descendants of William James Adams and Cassandra Hill Adams, 1999, p. 35; San Francisco Morning Call, Oct. 22, 1892, p. 8; 5 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY, 1895-1897 ad, Stanford Daily, Dec. 9, 1895; Announcement of Courses, Stanford Univ., 1916; The Chi Phi Fraternity, Centennial Memorial Volume, 1924. ANDERSON, MELVILLE BEST— He officiated at a worship service of the Unity Society. See entry for Melville Anderson in chapter 2, “The Unitarian Church: A Biographical Dictionary.” BUTLER, JOHN STRANGE— He was Treasurer, Committee on Ex- ecutive and Finance, of the Unity Society. See entry for John S. Butler in chapter 2, “The Unitarian Church: A Biographical Dic- tionary.” FLETCHER, UNA— She and her twin, Aileen, were born Mar., 1871, in Indiana, the daughter of Dr. William Baldwin and Agnes (O’Brien) Fletcher of Indianapolis. In 1895, she was a student, and living at Castilleja Hall with Miss Lucy H. and Mrs. W. B. Fletcher; Lucy and Eleanor Pearson (q.v.) were co-founders of Castilleja Hall, the girl’s school in Palo Alto. In 1896, she was still a student, now living both with Mrs. W. B. Fletcher and her brother W. B. Fletcher, Jr., who was a student at Stanford.

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