David Taylor Bateman, county superintendent of schools of Santa Clara county, has been identified with educational interests in this part of the state for twenty-one years and his labors have been effective in raising the standard of the schools until the educational system is one of which every citizen of the locality has reason to be proud.
A native of Ohio, he was born at Hillsboro in Highland county on the 18th of December, 1845, his parents being Daniel S. and Mary L. (King) Bateman. Both were natives of New Jersey and were representatives of old American families that were established in New England when this country was still a part of the colonial possessions of Great Britain. The father was an educator and in connection with school teaching followed farming in Ohio for a number of years. In the family were two sons and two daughters and the surviving brother of Professor Bateman is John M. K. Bateman, a farmer and teacher of Lompoc, Santa Barbara county, California.
Professor Bateman, following the acquirement of a knowledge of the preliminary branches of English learning, continued his education in the high school of Hillsboro, Ohio, and then entered the Lebanon Normal School in Warren county, Ohio, in which he was graduated in the class of 1876. He displayed special aptitude in his studies, and good books have always been a matter of deep interest to him. A natural predilection for the profession probably inclined him toward the work to which he has devoted his time and energies throughout his entire career. He engaged in teaching in the public schools of Germantown and Dayton, Ohio, until 1882, hen he came to California, locating in Santa Clara county. He was first employed as teacher of the public schools at Mountain View for five years, and on the expiration of that period removed to San Jose, where for fourteen years he occupied the responsible position of principal of the public grammar schools. In November, 1902, he was elected superintendent of public instruction in Santa Clara county for a term of four years, and is now filling that office in a most acceptable manner.
In December, 1886, occurred the marriage of Professor Bateman and Miss Josephine A. Gairand, a native of Santa Clara county and a daughter of Louis A. and Ellen (Barry) Gairand, who were pioneer residents of the Santa Clara valley, coming from France to California in the early ’60s. Mrs. Bateman is a graduate of the San Jose State Normal school and was a student in the Mountain View public school for several years. She is now acting as assistant superintendent to her husband, and her strong mentality and liberal mental culture well qualify her for this important work.
Socially Professor Bateman is a Mason and in his life exemplifies the beneficent spirit of the craft. He was for many years a member of the county board of education and also a member of the city board of examiners. He has been actively engaged in educational work since his arrival in the state, more than twenty-one years ago. At this point it would be almost tautological to enter into any series of statements as showing the professor to be a man of broad intelligence and genuine public spirit, for these have been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. Strong in his individuality, he never lacks the courage of his convictions, but there are, as dominating elements in this individuality, a lively human sympathy and an abiding charity, which, as taken in connection with the sterling integrity and honor of his character, having naturally gained to him the respect and confidence of men.
Source: Leigh H. Irvine; A History of the New California Its Resources and People, 2 Volumes; New York and Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903.