Exploring Family Connections to the Petree House in San Jose’s Naglee Park

Chasing History: Exploring My Ancestral Roots - Blog Post #41

By Tonya McQuade

The historic Petree House - located at 102 S. 12th Street, San Jose, CA

Last month, I had the opportunity to run into an important piece of my family history once again. The unexpected “meet up” happened because my husband parked our car nearly in front of it when he came to pick me up from the San Jose Woman’s Club, located at 75 S. 11th Street, in downtown San Jose. I was there to participate in the “Chill Out and Read” book festival - and, as it turns out, the San Jose Woman’s Club is just one block from the home in Naglee Park where my great grandparents got married in 1905.

I first discovered the house sometime prior to 2008 while doing family history research. I knew my great grandparents, William Francis Traughber and Nora Elma Petree, had been married at the home of Nora’s brother Louis Edward Petree, who was a San Jose attorney. I even had a photo of her in front of his house, as well as the newspaper story that described the wedding. However, I didn’t actually know where the house was until I found the address listed in an old San Jose Directory that had been put online. 

Upon further digging, I discovered the house, located at 102 S. 12th Street, was still known as the “Petree House” and had been built in 1903 for “an attorney who was one of the developers of what is now Los Altos” - aka. Louis Petree (1). Wow! He also helped to develop Los Altos! When I drove by to look, the house was still there. The color had changed, but I could see from the old photo I had that it was the same house.

Photo of the house back in 1905 with Nora standing on the porch

I waited until my father came to visit, though, to actually knock on the door. We met the couple who lived in the house, told them our connection to the original Petree owners, and showed them the old photos and news clipping we had; then, they let us take a quick look inside. They told us the house was sometimes included on historic house tours - and I made a note to check the newspaper for the next possible opportunity to get a fuller view of the house. I also later mailed them a copy of the photos and news article.

My father Doug Graham and I on the porch of the Petree House,

with his photo album in hand

How do I know this was prior to 2008? Because I later received a letter from the new owner, who took ownership in 2008 and let me know that the previous owners had shared the letter I had sent, along with copies of the news clipping and photos. He said that he and his wife “especially enjoyed the exterior picture of the house shortly after completion … [since their] goal with this property is to ring it back to its original glory, and having the photo for reference is a great asset.”

His letter, dated Nov. 2012, also informed me that the house had officially been listed as a San Jose Historic Landmark known as the Petree House on Jan. 1, 2010 (HL09-185). With the letter, he sent me a copy of the application he had prepared as part of the process to seek city landmark status. The application included lots of historical background on the house, as well as on Louis Petree and his family who had lived there. 

It also included the following description of the house: “This unique, primarily Neoclassical-style house illustrates, through its form and detailing, an excellent, eclectic composition designed by the local architectural firm of Wolfe & McKenzie. Such character-defining features as the paired accent gables with their prominent truss-work bargeboards and carved corbels, deep eaves with dentil trim bands, full-width porch supported by heavy classical columns, and angled bay windows create a unified composition that is one of the firm’s more distinctive early-twentieth-century designs. The residence has been preserved to a fairly high degree, and it represents an intact example of the work of this important local firm.”

Original owner Louis Petree is actually mentioned in my book, A State Divided: The Civil War Letters or James Calaway Hale and Benjamin Petree of Andrew County, Missouri, because he is the second son of Bailis Petree and Mary Ann Hale Petree - born 2 June 1865, just as the Civil War was ending. His grandfather, James Calaway Hale, was anxious to get discharged from the army so he could meet his newest grandson.

Louis & Kittie Petree (years unknown)

Louis spent his early years in Missouri, first in Andrew County, then later in Adair County in the city of Kirksville. He married Kittie Neil in Adair County in December 1894, and he served briefly as a school principal. Three years later, however, with their new son in tow, the family moved to Mayfield (now southern Palo Alto) in Santa Clara County, California. In 1900, Louis graduated from Stanford University with a law degree, and by 1903, the couple and their two children had moved to their home in Naglee Park – a 140-acre neighborhood that was once the estate of Gen. Henry M. Naglee, a veteran of the Civil War and local property developer who built the first house here in 1864 at the corner of 14th and San Fernando.

According to the Preservation Action Council of San Jose’s Fall 2001 Newsletter, Continuity, “Naglee Park is Santa Clara County’s first modern subdivision … designed as a complete neighborhood featuring paved streets, utility easements on the rear lot lines and restrictive covenants so that stables and lumber yards would not be built in the area…. The first subdivisions map for Naglee Park was filed with the County Recorder’s Office on April 15, 1902. The first map covered the first two blocks of Naglee Park between 11th St. and Coyote Creek. The area covered those houses now numbered in the “0” block and the 100 block. Buyers purchased a lot, then found an architect or a builder to design a house for them” (2).

The article goes on to describe some of the first houses completed, but then it specifically discusses the Petree and Shoup Houses: “Two more early houses deserve special mention because of the longtime friendship of the two owners. Southern Pacific Railway agent Paul Shoup contracted with C.A. Bates to build the house at 101 S. 12th St. It was completed in July of 1903, finished the same time as the house across the street at 102 S. 12th, built for attorney L.E. Petree. The two neighbors later formed the Altos Land Company and the University Land Company in order to develop what is now Los Altos. Paul Shoup later became the president of Southern Pacific in California, and Shoup Park in Los Altos is named for him.”

Neighbors Maude Petree & Carl Shoup

Louis and Kittie had two children when they moved to their new home: Neil Harold Petree, born 1896, and Ella Maude Petree, born 1899. Little Maude appears in the above photo with Paul Shoup's son, Carl, who described Maude as “a doll,” according to writing on the back of this old family photo. Sadly, Maude died in 1904 and was buried in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, San Mateo County. She shares a headstone with her parents, who died in 1936 and 1937. 

Petree Headstone in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, San Mateo County

Brother Neil Petree went on to a very illustrious career, being described in his 1991 obituary in the Los Angeles Times as “a key planner of the California freeway system and the driving force behind the Los Angeles Convention Center,” as well as the “head of Barker Bros. Corp.” and “president of the Hollywood Bowl Association” (3). He certainly sounds like quite a man! I think I will explore him in a future blog post.

Neil Petree standing in front of the house with his grandmother,

Mary Ann Hale Petree of Missouri

Louis's  sister, Nora, my great grandmother on my father’s side, graduated with an English degree from Stanford University in 1905. Soon after that, on August 17, she married William Francis Traughber. Their wedding is described in this newspaper article:

"A very beautiful home wedding took place at half-past five Thursday evening at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. L.E. Petree in Naglee Park, when Mr. Petree’s sister, Miss Nora, became the bride of Dr. W.F. Traughber, of Mexico, Missouri. The artistic home, which lends itself so readily to decoration, presented a most attractive appearance. In a corner of the large living room, the wedding bower, consisting of a canopy of white tulle and lace, decorated with sprays of asparagus fern, caught with bunches of pink amaryllis, was arranged.

Wedding photos showing the decorations inside of the Petree House

"A mantle in this room was banked with beautiful pinks, roses and pink amaryllis woven into a background of woodwardias. The hall was graced with the stately woodwardias, and in the parlor marguerites and asparagus ferns were used. As a compliment to the groom the dining room was made lovely with goldenrod and brown-eyed susans, goldenrod being the Missouri state flower.

Solidago missouriensis is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by

the common names Missouri goldenrod and prairie goldenrod. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in Canada and the United States.

"Miss Vera Emerson charmingly sang “O Promise Me” before the bridal party entered the room, Miss Clark being her accompanist. Miss Clark also played the wedding march. The lovely bride looked very fair in her gown of white silk crepe de chine, worn over white taffeta, richly trimmed in heavy white applique and French knots, and having inlets of embroidered medallions. Her bouquet was of white carnations, and she wore orange blossoms in her dark hair.

“Rev. Mr. Kokendoffer, of Mexico, Missouri, performed the ceremony, having accompanied the groom hither for that purpose. The ring service were used, the bride’s father giving her away.

“After congratulations an elaborate supper was served. The bride then made ready for her departure, donning her handsome going-away gown of green broadcloth, trimmed with white cloth embroidered in Persian colors. After a short honeymoon, spent in Southern California, Dr. and Mrs. Traughber will return to San Jose, going from here by way of Portland to their future home in Mexico.

“The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bailis Petree of Kirksville, Mo., and the sister of L.E. Petree, the well-known attorney of this city. She is an ‘05 Stanford graduate and a young woman of most charming appearance and many graces both of mind and manner. The groom is a young physician of Mexico, Missouri, having a well-established practice, and a fine character. Many hearty congratulations and wishes for all prosperity follow this fortunate young couple” (4)

The final paragraph in this news article mentions other guests in attendance, including Mr. and Mrs. Bailis Petree (Nora's parents), Miss Jessie Petree (Nora’s sister), Miss Myrtle Traugbher (W.F. Traughber’s sister), and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Shoup.

Back in Mexico, Missouri, a wedding announcement in the Mexico Ledger mentioned that the couple would “leave immediately after the ceremony for a trip through the North, visiting the Portland Exposition before their return [to Mexico] … after September the fifteenth.” The article also described the couple: “Miss Petree is a charming young woman of many graces and accomplishments, and the groom-to-be, Dr. Traughber, is a pleasant, honorable and energetic young man, well known and very popular throughout the state” (5).

As seen above, the photos from the wedding show the flower decorations described in the article, but since they are in black and white, they lack the vivid colors of the descriptions. I decided to see if I could find the lyrics for the song they had sung at their wedding, and sure enough, thanks to Google, up the song popped. Here are the lyrics (along with a Youtube Link to hear a version sung by Julie Andrews if you are interested):

Oh Promise Me 

by Reginald De Koven with lyrics by Clement Scott (written in 1887)

Oh, promise me that someday you and I

Will take our love together to some sky

Where we can be alone and faith renew,

And find the hollows where those flowers grew,

Those first sweet violets of early spring,

Which come in whispers, thrill us both, and sing

Of love unspeakable that is to be;

Oh, promise me! Oh, promise me!

Oh, promise me that you will take my hand,

The most unworthy in this lonely land,

And let me sit beside you in your eyes,

Seeing the vision of our paradise,

Hearing God's message while the organ rolls

Its mighty music to our very souls,

No love less perfect than a life with thee;

Oh, promise me! Oh, promise me!

And here is a special wedding portrait of the new couple. I’m not sure where this photo was taken, but it certainly captures a special moment in their lives - and perhaps shows off some of the weddings gifts they received.

Dr. W.F. Traughber and Nora Petree Traughber - Wedding Photo

I also have the honeymoon album that Nora put together, but that deserves another post at a future date. It has some beautiful old black and white photos, as well as some beautiful descriptions and labels in Nora’s hand. It looks like they had quite an exciting journey back to Mexico, Missouri – where Mike and I will be staying in a couple weeks as part of my Missouri Book Tour! 

But that’s a different story … (coming soon)

I was also reminded, while researching for this post, that I never followed up on trying to see the Petree House on a historic home tour. I have now subscribed to the Preservation Action Council’s newsletter so I hopefully don’t miss out if the opportunity comes up again. I think I will write again to the owners to see if there is anything on the horizon and to share a link to this post. Hopefully they will enjoy seeing their house celebrated!

I enjoyed being reconnected to the Petree House through my participation in the San Jose Woman's Club's "Chill Out and Read" event in August. Originally established in 1894, the SJWC had this California Mission Revival style structure built for it in 1929. Designed by the notable architectural firm of Wolfe & Higgins, the building is now recognized as historic venue number 32 on the Historic Register. What's more, I learned through my research that Louis's wife Kittie Neil Petree was one of its early members. Who knows? Maybe one day I will join their ranks.

The San Jose Woman's Club Landmark historic venue, number 32 on the Historic Register,

was built in 1929 for the SJWC and was designed by the notable architectural firm of Wolfe & Higgins.

It includes many tiled features created by famed ceramicist Albert Solon. (6)

Endnotes:

1. Halberstadt, April. “Spark in the Park: Campus Community Naglee Park Celebrates Centennial as Precursor of Modern Preplanned Neighborhoods.” Continuity, Preservation Action Council of San Jose Newsletter Call, 2001.
2. Ibid.
3. Oliver, Myrna. “Neil Petree’ Business and Civil Leader - Obituary.” Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr 1991, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-obituary-neil-pe/155833602/.
4. The source for this news article is unidentified but is likely a San Jose newspaper; the clipping is cut out and glued into the Traughbers’ photo album. They were married August 17, 1905.
5. “Traughber-Petree Announcement.” Mexico Ledger, Mexico, Missouri, 15 July 1905. https://www.newspapers.com/article/mexico-ledger-wedding-announcement-wf/101642709/
6. “Make Your Celebration Unique.” San Jose Woman's Club, https://sjwomansclub.org/historicvenuerental/. Accessed 23 September 2024.