In  1860  Mr.  Breen  held  the  office  of  "  Su-
pervisor at  Large  "  of  Monterey  county  be-
fore its  segregation,  when  each  supervisor
district  had  a  representative  on  the  County
Board,  and  one  at  large  was  elected,  and
as  such  was  ex-oQicio  Chairman  of  the
Board.  He  has  for  thirty  years  continuously
served  on  the  Board  of  School  Trustees  of
San  Juan  district.  He  has  cast  his  vote  at
every  general  election  in  San  Juan  since  he
was  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He  voted  the
Democratic  ticket  until  Lincoln's  second  can-
didacy for  the  presidency,  since  which  time
he  has  voted  with  the  Bepublican  party.  He
was  elected  to  a  seat  on  the  Board  of  Super-
visors ot  San  Benito  couuty  at  the  last  elec-
tion (1892).  John  Breen  is  a  man  of  broad
intelligence,  practical  sense  and  good  judg-
ment. Bancroft  mentions  his  "  Pioneer  Mem-
oirs," of  eighty  manuscript  pages,  as  among
the  most  valued  in  his  extensive  collection

Edward  J.  Breen,  deceased,  the  second  old-


MONTE  BET,    SAN    BENITO,    SANTA    CMUZ,


est  of  the  family,  was  known  throughont
Monterey  and  San  Benito  counties  as  an  en-
ergetic and  successful  business  man.
He  was  born  in  Upper  Canada,  September
3,  1833,  and  was  consequently  thirteen  years
of  age  when  the  family  came  to  the  coast.
He  spent  his  youth  in  the  valleys  and  the
mountains  of  Monterey  and  San  Benito  conn-
ties,  where  he  gained  a  practical  knowledge
of  stock-raising.  His  industry,  frugality  and
aptness  for  business  were  potent  factors  in
his  early  success,  and  in  due  time  found  him
in  possession  of  bands  of  sheep  and  cattle  of
his  own  on  the  open  ranges.
