Barber Tract – Lot 9

On August 8, 1900, William Barber sold a portion of his land at the northwest corner, west of the creek, to Annie S. Perry, the daughter of George Worn and Annie S. E. Ross. Annie had married Donald Edmund Perry in 1899 and they built a home on this land. The Perry’s raised four children and lived in the house until it was demolished in 1937. The land is still owned by the Perry family and is the site of their Sunnyside Nursery.

On August 16, 1904, Elizabeth Barber deeded Lot 9 to Matilda Swain, the wife of Alfred P. Swain of San Francisco, and a year later the Swains transferred the lot to Clara J. McClung of Oakland. Clara was born in Ontario, Canada in 1872 and came from Vancouver with her mother and sister in 1903. In the 1920 census she is listed as a social service worker. The sister, Margaret, was a noted artist. Clara and Margaret both died in the 1950s in Vancouver.

On December 15, 1905, Clara McClung subdivided Lot 9 into four lots (McClung Subdivision) and sold them in 1906. Lot 1 on the southwestern corner of McClung Subdivision was sold to Annie Perry; lot 2 on the corner of Barber and Entrata to Charles and Sarah Campodonico; lot 3, further up Entrata to Mabel Jones; and lot 4 at the end of lower Entrata to F. H. Field.

The Campodonico’s contracted with Clark & Healy to build a five room residence in 1906. In the 1920’s the property was purchased by John and Consuelo Wise of San Francisco. They sold a parcel to the Louis Ticoulet family to the west of their house and also built a rental home on the parcel behind their house (15 Entrata).

John Wise was born in Serbia in 1888. At age 14 he came to the United States, changing his last name from Vico to Wise. He married Consuelo Ingalls, a native Californian, in 1912. Prior to moving to Marin, John ran a grocery store in San Francisco. Consuelo and John had eight children, six girls and then finally twin boys. All attended San Anselmo Main School. John opened the Orpheous Grill on 4th Street in San Rafael, purchasing his vegetables from the Cordone garden and his bakery goods from Kientz’s Bakery. In 1931 he sold the business and opened another restaurant on 4th Street and made a number of real estate investments in Marin and Napa. John died of pneumonia on 1932; Consuelo died in 1980.

Mabel Jones was the wife of W. Ernest Jones, one of the original trustees elected to serve when the Town was incorporated in 1907 and the first chairman (mayor) of the Board of Trustees. Ernest was born in California in 1875, the son of William and Margaret (Hughes) Jones who came from Wales in the 1860’s seeking new opportunities in the coal mines of the Mt. Diablo area. Ernest married Mabel Johnston in about 1897 and they resided in San Francisco. He was first associated with Nolan Drayage & Warehouse Company before launching his own business, Jones Drayage Company. Mabel and Ernest had a summer place in San Anselmo and made it their permanent residence in 1906, like many others, shortly after the earthquake and fire, and built the home at 25 Entrata.

Ernest was 31 years old when elected to the Board of Trustees in 1907. He did not run for reelection in 1912. He and Mabel had four children: Gordon, Allan (appears in 1911 Main School Class Photo), Elizabeth, and William E., Jr. Elizabeth Anselmo Jones, born April 26, 1907, was perhaps the first child born in San Anselmo after the town was incorporated on March 30, 1907.

Mabel Jones died in 1944 and William Ernest Jones in 1951 at the age of 75.

The lot at 35 Entrata was purchased by Fred. H. Field, a local building contractor who constructed the San Anselmo Public Library, and it is likely that he built the house there. By 1912 the house was home to Reginald Atthowe and his wife Eva.

Reginald was born in 1880 in Wales to John William Atthowe and Martha Stephens, both of Dorset England. John Atthowe was a master mariner. Reginald came with his widowed mother and brothers and sisters to San Francisco in 1896 where he found employment as a clerk with the Pacific Coast Steamship Company. He married Eva Frances Critcher on June 11, 1902 in San Francisco. Eva was the youngest of twelve children of Henry Critcher, a San Francisco stockbroker and speculator, and his wife Nancy Cornelia Hawes. Reginald and Eva moved to Oakland and Reginald worked as a clerk for the Pacific Hardware and Steel Company. By 1910, Reginald and Eva were living on Laurel Avenue in San Anselmo with two daughters, Eva and Margery. A third daughter, Doris Critcher Atthowe was born June 15, 1912, and a son, Reginald Jr. in 1916.

Reginald was a real estate agent with an office on Ross Landing/Red Hill Rd (what was to become Sir Francis Drake Blvd.).

He was elected to the San Anselmo Town Board of Trustees in 1914 and served as chairman from 1915 to 1917. In June of 1917 the Atthowe’s celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary, but much sadness was to come to the family in the next few months. On October 5th, Reginald’s mother died, and then on October 11th, Eva’s mother died. On November 17th, Eva, after a short illness from which she was thought to be on the mend, had an internal hemorrhage and survived an operation only twelve hours. She left behind Reginald, the three small girls and the baby boy. Five year old Doris Atthowe was adopted by George and Grace Newell, friends and neighbors in Barber Tract (see Chapter 12). By 1920 Reginald had remarried and moved to San Francisco. He died in 1953.

The 1928 Assessor’s Record indicates that Bernard H. and Beatrice P. Schmidt were the owners of the property at that time.

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