Below is a list of the charter members of the Unitarian Church of Palo Alto, organized on November 12, 1905. This list is taken from Donna Lee’s transcription, found in her 1991 history of the old Unitarian church. I believe she made some transcription errors; unfortunately the original document appears to have been destroyed, though a photocopy definitely exists, and at some point I will look at the photocopy to try to check the accuracy of Lee’s transcription.
In the mean time, I have been doing some research on these early Palo Alto Unitarians. The majority of them are associated with Stanford — students, faculty, staff; and spouses and parents of same. There are several people I have not been able to track down; let me know if you happen to know anything about them.
The list of charter members is below….
Charter members of the Unitarian Church of Palo Alto, November 12, 1905:
Agnes Barrows Kitchen — Probably Mrs. Edwin Kitchen; see below.
Walter L. Jordan — Walter Lyle Jordan is listed in the Stanford University Alumni Directory 1891-1910 (Stanford, 1910) as a matriculating student for the years 1905-1906, 1907-1908.
May Frances G. Rosebrook — Probably Mrs. George Rosebrook; see George Rosebrook below.
Mrs. Abby Field Martin– Wife of Ernest Whitney Martin, professor of Greek at Stanford.
Emily S. Karns Dixon — Mrs. Emily S. Karns lived on Channing Lane (Directory of Palo Alto, Mayfield, and Stanford University (Times Publishing, 1915) and was active in the national Unitarian Women’s Alliance.
Ernest Whitney Martin — Assistant professor of Latin and Greek at Stanford.
Henry David Gray — Assistant professor of English at Stanford.
Melville B. Anderson — Melville Best Anderson, professor of English at Stanford.
George H. Rosebrook — G. H. Rosebrook listed as a carpenter, Directory of Palo Alto, Mayfield, Menlo Park, The Campus (Menlo Park: Times Publishing, Dec. 1, 1904).
Mrs. Isabelle B. Wocker — In the Stanford University Alumni Directory, 1891-1920 (Stanford University, 1921), p. 125, appears the following: “Butler, Isabelle; 1894-96. m., A. C. Wocker. d. Feb. 5, 1912.”
Isabel Butler — I cannot track down Isabel Butler; perhaps related to the other Butlers, but how?
Marie A. Butler — Miss M. A. Butler is listed as “music teacher,” 1904 Directory of Palo Alto, Times Pub.
J. S. Butler — In 1894, J. S. Butler was listed as President of the Palo Alto Mutual Building and Loan Association. Annual Report of the Building and Loan Commissioner of the State of California, vol. 1, 1894, p. 146. John S. Butler was a Trustee of Palo Alto c. 1897, and received U.S. patent 659368 A in 1899 for an improved orchard stepladder. The earlier Unity Society was organized in Butler’s house in 1895.
J. H. de Hass — Probably a transcription error for J. Anton de Haas, who earned a Ph.D. at Stanford in 1916, Stanford Register of 1906-1907.
J. M. Aldrich — John Morton Aldrich earned a Ph.D. in entomology from Stanford in 1906, Stanford Register of 1906-1907.
Emma Meyer — Listed as living with “Miss Adele, student” in Directory of Palo Alto and the Campus, Times Publishing Company, 1907.
H. B. Humphrey — Harry Baker Humphrey was an instructor with the Marine Biology Laboratory at Stanford, Stanford Register of 1906-1907.
Mrs. Anna Robert Jochobeke — I cannot track down Anna Jochobeke; possibly this name was been accurately transcribed?
H. Peters — Herman Peters of Santa Cruz was a student in German, Stanford Register of 1906-1907.
Mrs. J. M. Aldrich — See J. M. Aldrich above.
Marion Starr Alderton — Mrs. Marian S. Alderton is listed as “housewife” living with Dr. Henry A. Alderton, physician, in the 1915 Directory of Palo Alto.
Mabel Mead — Mabel Mead of Greeley, Colo., listed as a student in Romanic Lang., Fifteenth Annual Register, 1905-06 Stanford University, 1906.
Adele Meyer — Adele Meyer of Palo Alto listed as a student in German, Fifteenth Annual Register, 1905-06 Stanford University, 1906. In 1909, “Miss Adele Meyer, formerly of Palo Alto,” managed the Sunday school on December 26, at the Los Angeles Unitarian church. Pacific Unitarian, vol. 18, no. 3, January 1910, p. 89
Mrs. H. B. Humphrey — See H. B. Humphrey above.
George H. Yost — G. H. Yost listed as “mgr., Crude Oil Stove Co.,” 1904 Directory of Palo Alto, Times Pub.
Edwin B. Kitchen — Edwin B. Kitchen listed as “feather renovator” [sic], Directory of Palo Alto and Campus (A. T. Griffin, January, 1904).
Margaret Hood Yost
Effie Scott Franklin — Wife of Edward Curtis Franklin, professor of chemistry at Stanford.
Emma Rendtorff — See Karl Rendtorff below.
Mrs. Parnie Storey — Parnie Hamilton Storey was the wife of Dr. Thomas A. Storey, a physician (Stanford Alumni Directory, 1921).
Karl G. Rendtorff — Assistant Professor of German at Stanford.
Mrs. L. M. Hoskins — Wife of Leander M. Hoskins, professor of applied mathematics at Stanford.
Maude J. Wilson — Maude Jay Wilson is listed as a photographer, 1915 Directory of Palo Alto. In Children and the Theatre (Stanford University Press, 1940), she is called “the official photographer of the Palo Alto Children’s theatre.”
Prof. Jefferson Elmore — Assistant professor of Latin at Stanford.
Dorothy Alderton — I cannot track down Dorothy Alderton; perhaps related to the other Aldertons, but how?
Mrs. A. P. Zschokke — Arguably the first resident of Palo Alto, and an important figure in the establishment of Palo Alto schools.
Clayton F. Palmer — Listed as “teacher,” 1904 Directory of Palo Alto, Times Pub.; C. F. Palmer listed as “orchardist,” 1904 Directory of Palo Alto and Campus, A. T. Griffin.
Prof. Ewald Fluegel — Professor of German at Stanford.
Walter C. Palmer — In Polk’s San Jose City and Santa Clara County Directory (1907), Walter C. Palmer is listed as “ins.” (i.e., insurance).
Mrs. William Darsie — William Darsie, industrial manufacturer, retired to Palo Alto in 1905, with his wife Jean Pettigrew Darsie, and their children William, Elizabeth, and Jean, according to Eugene T. Sawyers, History of Santa Clara County, California, (Los Angeles: Historic Record Co., 1922), pp. 752-755.
Alfred J. Engle — Listed as “student,” 1904 Directory of Palo Alto, Times Pub.
Helen B. Sutliffe — Miss Helen Sutliffe identified as “assistant librarian” at Stanford, The Stanford Daily, vol. 59, no. 18, March 11, 1921. She graduated from U. Kansas in 1890 (Graduate Magazine of the University of Kansas, 1925, p. 11).
David Starr Jordan — President of Stanford.
Mrs. L. M. Wyckoff — Mrs. Laura M. Wyckoff was one of the directors of the Palo Alto Women’s Club, Club Women of California: Official Directory and Register (California Federation of Women’s Clubs, 1906-1907). R. May Wyckoff is listed as bookkeeper, 1915 Directory of Palo Alto.
Mrs. Gertrude V. D. Marx — Wife of Guido H. Marx, professor of engineering at Stanford. She later served on the Library Board in Palo Alto.
W. E. Thompson — Listed as “baker,” 1904 Directory of Palo Alto, Times Pub. In the 1915 Directory of Palo Alto, listed as “Oak Bakery.”
Mrs. Annie L. Corbert — A native on Nantucket. In the 1910 U.S. census, listed as “mother in law” to John S. Byxbee (and therefore mother to Byxbee’s wife, Anita Byxbee); she was 68 at the time of the census. In the 1915 Directory of Palo Alto, Byxbee is listed as “city engineer.”
Mrs. Anna E. Peck — Stanford University Alumni Directory and Ten-Year Book, 1891-1920 (Stanford University, 1920), lists Anna E. Dixon Peck (Mrs.), “A.B. Hist., Jan., 1899; M.D., Cooper Med. Coll., ‘00; m. Dec. 22, 1898, Allan E. Peck. ‘98. A.A. Surgeon, U.S.P.H..” Residence in Seattle in 1921.
Florena L. Belknap — Dr. Florence A. Belknap listed as a physician, 1904 Directory of Palo Alto, Times Pub.
Dr. Edith Johnson — Dr. Edith Eugenie Johnson (1873-1966), physician, author of Leaves from a Doctor’s Diary (Palo Alto: Pacific Books, 1954).
Louise A. Mead — I cannot track down Louise Mead.
Mrs. E. C. Holmes — Emily C. Holmes is listed as “wid. Alvira” in the Polk-Husted San Jose City and Santa Clara County, 1911-1912 (San Jose, 1911), with Marion E. Holmes, “tchr,” listed at the same address.
Miss Ora Boring — In the Stanford University Alumni Directory 1891-1910 (Stanford, 1910), appears the following listing: “Boring, Oramanda; Oct., 1891; 11; A.B. Zool., Jan. ‘00; Palo Alto. Teacher, Palo Alto and Coronado High Schools….”
Mrs. A. B. Clark — See Arthur Bridgman Clark below.
Frank Steinmetz — Probably Franklin J. Steinmetz, who operated University Pharmacy in Palo Alto.
A. B. Clark — Arthur Bridgman Clark, Professor of Drawing at Stanford.
Mrs. H. D. Gray — See Henry David Gray above.
Mrs. I. M. Calderwood — Mrs. I. M. Calderwood listed with no occupation as living at 531 Cowper St., with no other residents listed at that address, 1904 Directory of Palo Alto, Times Pub. In the Palo Alto City Directory for 1900-1901 (Noah C. Grider, The Palo Alto Times Press), she is listed at the same address, with 3 students also listed at that address.