Resident of Aptos for more than seventy years,
J C. Spencer is particularly well-qualified 1 to set down some
of the history
of that section. He proved that ability Tuesday night when
he reviewed
interesting happenings of the early days in Aptos at the annual
Aptos PTA Founder’s day program at Aptos Hall.
He was born in Soquel, October 3 1870, the son of William and Mary
Ann Spencer. His father, a Civil War veteran who was wounded at
Shiloh, came to California in 1865. After spending a little time
in Oakland and San Francisco, he went to San Leandro and from there
to Santa Cruz and then Soquel. When Joe Spencer was nine years
old his father purchased land in Canada de Las Moras (Blackberry
Canyon) about two miles southeast of Aptos and engaged in farming.
This place is about a mile and a half above Spencer's present home
where he has resided for 33 years. This is just off Trout Gulch
Road about a half mile from the heart of Aptos.
For 33 years, Spencer served under retired County Assessor William
Horton and retired five years ago. He also engaged in farming activities.
On February 1, 1900, he married Ann D’Arcy in Aptos. She
was well known in Santa Cruz having been Maid of Honor at many
St Patrick's Day events. Mrs. Spencer died 11 years ago. The Spencer’s
four children are widely known residents of the County. - They
are Irene Toney, Anita Jellison, Glenn J. Spencer, constable of
Watsonville township; and Charles Spencer, Aptos postmaster.
"I believe I was asked as one of the oldest members
of the Aptos School Alumni Society to recall for you some of
the memories of the past in Aptos School.
I presume you will be most interested in the dim past.”
"First school was a private school conducted by a man named Philips in 1866.
Its location is obscure but was somewhere between Aptos and the present Rio
Del Mar entrance. Then there, was a private school in the former Labisch home
in
1868, conducted by Gladys Schir. The structure long since has been torn down.”
“ My first attendance at Aptos School was in 1881, some seventy years ago
under Thomas Brady as principal. After Mr. Brady came Eunice Gardner, then
Lelia Aldrich,
then Fred Linscott, then A. B. Hagerman then, Bella Cassin who was my last
teacher. Then came W. H. Sisson, Mildred Bliss and Theresa Leonard.”
" Our class of 1891 consisted of four graduates: Orlie Waklee; Lena Forden;
Jessie Nichols; and Joe Spencer. All of our teachers were qualified to teach
nine grades.
In the primary grades the alphabet was a MUST. The lower grades were trained
in primary arithmetic, reading and spelling. The intermediate grades were
trained in advanced arithmetic, reading, geography and U. S. history. The eighth
and
ninth grades were given the basic groundwork in Latin, word analysis, U.S.
history and rhetoric. Elocution was taught once a week by Esther Malcolm of'
Watsonville.”
" All school books were provided by the scholar. No adverse criticism of
present
day methods.”
"
Our limited training in elocution helped us in later years. A few of the graduates
organized the Aptos Literary and Amusement Society. The Society erected a hall
on what is now the site of the Methodist Church. The hall was equipped with a
gym, card room reading room, and a well-equipped stage. We secured a competent
coach and staged such plays as ‘Pizzaro,’ ‘Among the Breakers,’ ‘Harbor
Lights,’ and 'The Confederate Spy.' The Confederate Spy was a five-act
drama of the Civil War and twelve acting characters and sixteen extras were
used in the presentation of this play. It was played twice in Aptos, twice
in Soquel,
once in Gilroy and once in Corralitos.
" The site of the first public school in, Aptos was donated by Don Vicente
Castro. The grounds were a poor excuse for recreational purposes. Our recreation
consisted
mainly of baseball. The girls were often joined with us in the sport. Our
ball ground was opposite this building on the north.”
“ Our boys had boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling. Another rugged sport was
Deer
and Hounds. Five boys were assigned as hounds. During the noon hour we would
sometimes run as far as New Brighton Park, then north through Ledyard Acres,
which were then stock pastures.”
" Some of our games were: Tug of war, consisting of two teams of five boys
each pulling on cleats with two anchor men. In passing, I might say that
special trains
were chartered to run from Santa Cruz to Watsonville to carry teams and rooters
to witness the tug of war contests between teams from both cities. Hockey:
a rough sport on shins. Crack-the-whip: another rough sport with twelve boys
joining
hands; the tallest acting as the whip stock.”
" Aptos in the Guy Nineties had a sixteen piece brass band. I have seen
two dances operating on some Saturday nights. The Spreckels family erected
a dance pavilion
on a site a little north of what is known as the Broce Apartments in Rio
Del Mar. A bowling alley was in operation opposite the Spreckels hotel.”
" The Turn Verein of San Francisco would often run excursions to Aptos on
Sunday. The Turners would leave the train, and headed by their band, would
march to the
Pavilion. Dancing was the program. I have seen ten kegs of beer at the refreshment
stand. Everyone danced and nobody got drunk.
“ As for sanitation, the, school was poorly equipped from a sanitary standpoint.
The lavatories were of the Chic Sale type. We had no running water. Water
was carried in pails from Dave Rice's home about 200 yards distant. A detail
of boys
would carry water for one week. We drank water from pails, one dipper for
the boys and one for the girls. Hand basins were used for washing. We had roller
towels laundried once a week.”
" Discipline during our school days was very rigid. Any infraction of the
rules was severely dealt with. I remember one occasion when we went swimming
in our
birthday suits in Aptos Creek.”
“ This practice, unknown to us, had been placed on the taboo list. Five
of us broke this rule and we had black and blue stripes tattooed on our legs
by a big rawhide.
I might say that those stripes stayed with, us for two weeks!"
" As for the site of this (Aptos) Hall, the, site and building were donated
by Claus Spreckels in 1889. The easterly one-half was built by C. D. Folsom,
a contractor
from Santa Cruz. Some years later the westerly section was erected by A.
W. Wyman of Soquel. Permission to erect building on lands of Spreckels without
a deed
was given.”
