Lime industry connection

Recently, I've been re-reading Lime Kiln Legacies, an excellent history of the lime industry in Santa Cruz County by Frank Perry et al. My main reason for reading it again was to look for sources for my own research on the local bituminous rock industry, whose story parallels that of lime in many ways. But I also found more information on the second owner of the Kerr house, Frederick William Billing. My interest in Billing began after my first (somewhat rushed) reading of the book, and I must have missed or forgotten the story of how Billing, his business partner John Q. Packard and his son-in-law John F. Coope bought the Santa Cruz Lime Company, with several other partners, in 1901.

One of my unanswered questions was; when exactly did Billing first come to this area and buy the William Kerr house? The authors of my previous readings couldn't agree. It turns out they were all wrong. The detailed research behind Lime Kiln Legacies found the deed documenting the sale of the Kerr ranch property to Billing, in 1899. The name of the seller, "Executors of the Estate of William Kerr" suggests that Kerr had died sometime shortly before this date. So, the builder of the house was only able to enjoy it for about ten years.