California Biographies, Santa Cruz County JOSEPH W. PEERY. Transcribed by Peggy Hooper Source: History of Santa Cruz County, California Pacific Press Publishing Company San Francisco, Cal. 1892 By E. S. Harrison This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm JOSEPH W. PEERY. Occupying a picturesque location in a valley in the heart of the Santa Cruz mountains lies the village of Boulder Creek, its site being at the junction of the San Lorenzo river, Bear creek and Boulder creek, from the last-named of which it receives its name. The village has an elevation of four hundred and eighty-four feet above sea level. Between it and the ocean there is a high range of mountains that provides protection from the raw trade winds and the heavy fogs. While the village is small from the standpoint of population, it is not lacking in enterprise and progressive spirit, as it evidenced by the fact that there are several churches and public halls, as well as a free library and a school occupying a substantial building well equipped for educational uses. The Southern Pacific Railroad runs through the town and affords facilities for the shipment of the farm products raised in the neighbor- hood. In every respect the village offers a comfortable home and an opportunity to earn a livelihood amid healthful surroundings. A portion of the land upon which the village was built originally belonged to Joseph W. Peery, who still is a large property holder as well as an influential citizen. He is a member of a southern family and was born in Cabell county W. Va., October 2, 1830, being a son of Hiram and Ruth (Lesley) Peery, natives of Tazewell county, Va. Hiram Peery was a soldier in the war of 1812 and at its close engaged in operating a farm in West Virginia, but later removed to Kentucky, where he owned and conducted a plantation. The family proceeded still further west in 1842 and settled in Missouri, where Joseph W. assisted in transforming a raw tract of virgin prairie into a fertile farm. During 1850 he crossed the plains with a large caravan of emigrants who traveled in ''prairie schooners" drawn by oxen. For three years he tried his luck in the western mines, but in 1853 he returned to Missouri and took up farm pursuits in that state, where he remained for six years. During 1859 he became a pioneer of Nebraska, where he unsuccessfully en- deavored to wrest a livelihood from the occupation of farming. Discouraged by the failure of his agricultural efforts in Nebraska, Mr. Peery in 1862 started across the plains, ac- companied by his wife, who was in poor health. When they were in the neighborhood of Austin, Nev., Mrs. Peery be- came worse and soon died, leaving him to proceed alone, after her body had been laid to rest near the place of her death. Thirty-seven years afterward the remains were brought to Boulder Creek and buried in the cemetery at this place. After coming to California Mr. Peery settled in the San Joaquin valley and engaged in farming. Three years were spent in Stockton, and he then came to Santa Cruz county. The following year (1868) he settled at Boulder Creek and bought a water-power sawmill. Afterward he engaged extensively in the sawing of lumber, giving employment to several men and clearing eighteen hundred acres of land in Santa Cruz county. At this writing he owns a farm of two hundred and sixty acres and he also has been a large property owner in the village. After settling permanently in the west he mar- ried Mrs. Thomkins and they have an adopted daughter, Eva N. By her former marriage Mrs. Peery has the following- named children: Willis E. ; Josephine; Thomsen; Jennie, the widow of George Bowen; Walter T., a soldier in the Spanish- American war; Julia, Alice and Elmer. The family are identified with the Methodist Episcopal church and assist generously in its maintenance, as well as in the support of its missionary and social activities. During the existence of the Whig party Mr. Peery supported its principles, but after its disintegration he became an adherent of the Republican party and had the pleasure of voting for Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant for the presidency.