USA > California > Merced County > A history of Merced County, California : with a biographical review of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 45
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In 1922 the Whitworths completed a thoroughly modern stucco residence of fine style of architecture, the inside being finished in ivory and mahogany, making it one of the finest residences in the San Joaquin Valley. Mrs. Whitworth is a woman of culture; and with her artistic tastes, the home is most beautifully furnished.
In 1900 Geo. H. Whitworth was nominated on the Democratic ticket for supervisor of the Fourth District in Merced County and was elected, and so well did he discharge the duties of his position and office that he was reelected five times by good majorities. In the primaries in August, 1920, through the apathy of his friends, who were away on vacations and who were confident of his nomination, his opponents won out by 124 votes. Then Mr. Whitworth and his friends instituted a write-in campaign, and his long and efficient ser-
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vice was rewarded by his election by a safe majority; and he entered upon his duties of a sixth term. He served longer than any former incumbent in that office. During his years on the board many per- manent improvements were accomplished all over the county; these included the new jail, new county hospital, many substantial bridges, and many miles of new roads, and the expenditure of a $1,250,000 bond issue in constructing county highways.
Fraternally, Mr. Whitworth was a member of the Odd Fellows, Woodmen of the World, Neighbors of Woodcraft and the Degree of Honor at Newman. Politically he was a Democrat. All in all Geo. H. Whitworth, in his long years of residence on the West Side, had an enviable record, and his life was an open book; so much so that. his honesty of purpose and integrity were never questioned, and in his unselfish way he tried to do all he could to help build up his community and enhance the facilities for the comfort and happiness of the people.
REV. LEWIS ROBERT BOND
Among the pioneer ministers of the eighties in California mention should be made of the late Rev. Lewis Robert Bond, who was one of the outstanding figures in the California Presbyterian Church and a man who spent his entire life doing good for his fellow man and rearing a family.
Rev. Lewis Robert Bond was born August 29, 1842, on his father's farm, not far from Nashville, Tenn. In 1861, he entered the Confederate Army and served in the cavalry until the end of the war, in 1865. Between this date and 1871; he worked on his father's farm, at the carpenter's trade, and also taught school. In 1871, while teaching school, he became a candidate for the ministry of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, before the McMinnville, Tenn., Presbytery; he was licensed in 1872, and ordained in 1873. While serving churches near Lebanon, Tenn., he was able to resume work in Cumberland University, which he had been compelled to relinquish on account of the financial depression of 1873. He was graduated from the Cumberland Theological Seminary in 1880, and was mar- ried the same year to Miss Christina Hoodenpyl, of McMinnville, Tenn., who was a graduate of, and later a teacher in, the Cumberland Female College at McMinnville, Tenn.
After a year and a half of service in the churches of Marion Junction and Pleasant Hill, in Alabama, he moved with his wife and infant son to California, and became pastor of the churches at Plains- burg and Mariposa Creek, in Merced County, near the present town of Le Grand. Thereafter he served churches at Lemoore, Bakers-
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field, and Farmington. In 1893, he moved with his family to Pome- roy, Wash., and there he remained two years. Subsequently, he moved his family to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, where he served in succession churches at Coburg, Woodburn, Sodaville, and Florence. He was honorably retired from the ministry by the Wil- lamette Presbytery of the reunited Presbyterian Church, U. S. A., in 1911, with thirty-one and a half years of active service in the ministry . to his credit since his ordination.
One year before his retirement he moved with his family from Florence to Eugene, Ore., where he continued to reside until the year 1919, when he moved with his wife to Le Grand, Cal. At the latter place he passed peacefully to his final rest, December 18, 1922, at the age of eighty years, three months and nineteen days. He is sur- vived by his widow, and all five of their children: Mrs. J. J. Baxter of Le Grand; Paul G., and Capt. Aubrey H. Bond of San Francisco, Lewis A. Bond of Berkeley; and Prof. Jesse H. Bond, of the Univer- sity of North Dakota, at Grand Forks, N. D. Two of his sons, Aubrey H. and Lewis A., served as commissioned officers with the A. E. F. in France. His outstanding characteristics were honest faithfulness, strong common sense, and patience. Mrs. Bond resides with her daughter, Mrs. J. J. Baxter near Le Grand, and is now in her seventy-third year and hale and hearty.
JUDGE CHARLES T. DOOLEY
Prominent in the civic and business affairs of Le Grand, Judge Dooley is well-known throughout Merced County as a keen business man and an able jurist. He was born near Elgin, Kane County, Ill., on April 10, 1855, and when nineteen years old went to the Texas frontier, in the San Antonio country, where he worked as a cowboy on the range for three years. In 1877-78, he was a member of the famous Texas Rangers, and for eight years was a member of the County Frontier Battalion, Co. E, under Capt. John Sparks. Later he worked as an attendant at the State Insane Asylum at Austin.
In 1884, Judge Dooley came to California and his first work in the State was on grain ranches as machinist on repair work, and running the harvester. Then for five years he worked as a cooper at the Sierra Vista Vineyard, working in the winery and distillery. In 1891, Judge Dooley came to Le Grand, where he has represented the following firms : Baker-Hamliton & Holbrook ; Merrill & Stetson Company of San Francisco for the past seventeen years; and for thirty-three years represented the Aermoter Company of Chicago, in installing windmills in Merced and adjoining counties. He also
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represents the Home Insurance Company, and the Fidelity-Phoenix Insurance Company, both of New York. Judge Dooley is now serv- ing his second term as justice of the peace of Le Grand and has made a record for the clean, judicious carrying-on of his office, with the full confidence of the people. In addition to his other work, the Judge has done some contracting work in Le Grand, erecting a num- ber of houses. Among other business enterprises, he organized the Le Grand Rochdale Store (now the Le Grand Mercantile Company ), on May 8, 1901, and has been president of that concern ever since.
The marriage of Judge Dooley, occurring at Austin, Texas, on April 13, 1881, united him with Sarah Loveday, a native of London, England, and one son was born to them, James L., whose death occurred January 8, 1921. Fraternally, the Judge and Mrs. Dooley both belong to the Fraternal Aid Union.
JOHN L. CANEVARO
One of the most substantial families of Merced County is ably represented by John L. Canevaro, manager of the Canevaro Estate at Snelling. This property embraces 219 acres on the Merced River and is devoted to stock-raising, being jointly owned by John and Govanni Canevaro and their sister, Miss Tasia Canevaro, all of whom reside at Snelling, where the home has been for over fifty years. At Moccasin Creek, Tuolumne County, on October 5, 1862, John L. Canevaro was born to Antone and Angelina (Calori) Canevaro, and is the eldest of eight children, six of whom survive the parents, who were born in Genoa, Italy.
Antone Canevaro left Italy to escape military service and arrived in California in 1855, where he joined his father, Lorenzo Canevaro, who, after spending nearly twelve years in mining in the vicinity of Hetch Hetchy, returned to Italy, where he passed away. Angelina Calori came via Panama in 1856 to San Francisco, where she was married to Antone Canevaro, and went to Moccasin Creek as a bride. Mr. Canevaro mined for some years, but eventually engaged in the growing of fruits and vegetables, which supplied the camps at the Aurora Mine, in Esmeralda County, Nev., using burros for packing and Indians for guides. He also shipped his products by pack animal into the Walker River country, and it was necessary to use an Indian guide at first, until the trial was blazed across the mountains. In 1862 flood waters ruined his personal property, thus necessitating the reestablishment of his fortunes, so in 1869 the family moved to Snelling, then a thriving town. He opened a general store with a partner, A. Durio, who later sold out to Mr. Canevaro and moved
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to Tulare, where he died. This business prospered for years, but Mr. Canevaro finally turned the establishment over to his sons, who disposed of it in 1895. He became an American citizen at Sonora in 1858, and subsequently allied himself with the Democratic party. He was a man of integrity and his death on November 12, 1894, at Snelling, was a loss to both family and community. His good wife passed away at San Francisco, December 27, 1895.
Six children survive the esteemed pioneer parents: John L., Go- vanni, Tasia, Mrs. Rose Pierce, all of Snelling; Mrs. Nina Ring- house, of Merced; and Mrs. Julia Anderson, of Santa Clara. The sons sold out the mercantile business in 1895, and thenceforth have devoted their energies to farming, and have operated successfully. A fire in 1910 destroyed the store buildings at Snelling, and at present John L. Canevaro owns the site.
Starting with the growing of grain and corn, John Canevaro and his brother Govanni have gradually branched out in other lines of agricultural development. For the past three years they have been setting out and developing a tract of ten acres each year to vineyard and orchard. They also had success in raising livestock, principally hogs. On their ranch, which was formerly a portion of the Mont- gomery grant, is a grave, said to contain the remains of the first white man hanged in Merced County. A large oak tree stood nearby for many years, but has fallen. This spot is about one mile southwest of Snelling. To show that many varieties of trees do well in this favored section Mr. Canevaro set out an olive tree in 1903 at their home, and it has produced heavily for ten seasons, being a superior tasting olive, when cured green. Govanni Canevaro has a patent process for curing the olives and the fruit thus prepared easily wins the favor of a most exacting epicurean.
HON. MIRABEAU DALLAS WOOD
A pioneer of 1868 in California and one of the early settlers and among the most representative men of Merced County is M. D. Wood, manager of the Security Savings Bank in Merced. He was born May 22, 1846, in Gadsden County, Fla., a son of Igdaliah and Eliza (Dixon) Wood, both born in South Carolina. The father was educated for the law, and after his admission to the bar prac- ticed for a time in his native state. He later moved to Florida and purchased a plantation and there was engaged in agricultural pur- suits until his death, at the age of seventy-two. He was of English ancestry, his paternal grandfather having been an early settler of South Carolina in colonial days. The maternal grandfather of our
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subject, Abel Dixon, was of Scotch descent and served in the War of the Revolution, also in the War of 1812. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Igdaliah Wood there were thirteen children born, of whom twelve grew to years of maturity; four sons served in the Confederate army. The mother died in Florida.
M. D. Wood was the youngest of thirteen children. He grew up on the home plantation and was educated in private schools and Mount Pleasant Academy. In 1863 he enlisted in Company K, Sixth Florida Confederate Volunteer Infantry as a private, serving under General Bragg and participating in many engagements in Kentucky and Tennessee, covering the retreat of the soldiers out of Kentucky after the battle of Perryville, and being at the front at Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga. He took part in the Georgia campaign, was commissioned a second lieutenant, and at Kenesaw Mountain had charge of Company F, whose officers had nearly all been killed. July 22, at Peachtree, Lieutenant Wood was captured and sent as a prisoner to Johnson's Island, remaining until paroled the following spring, when he returned to his Florida home.
In 1866 Mr. Wood became superintendent of a sawmill, and two years later, in 1868, he was elected to the Florida State Senate. Re- signing at the close of the session he started for California and ar- rived in Sonoma County, October 22, 1868, the day of the big earth- quake. The same fall Mr. Wood embarked in ranching in Stanislaus County. Removing to Merced County the following spring he pur- chased 600 acres on Bear Creek, and for ten years successfully farmed, then returned to Sonoma County and at Santa Rosa com- pleted the normal course and taught there for some time.
Returning to Merced in 1882, Mr. Wood served as deputy county assessor for a year, and that same fall he was nominated for county treasurer on the Democratic ticket, was elected and served two terms, from January, 1883 to January, 1887. He was elected county asses- sor in the fall of 1887 and filled that office until January, 1891. The next two years he was in the grocery business. In February, 1893, he was appointed by the board of supervisors, superintendent of the county hospital and gave his entire attention to that position until in February, 1897, when he engaged in the grain business. He was agent for Baltour, Guthrie Company in Merced and for several years had entire charge of their grain-buying, warehouses and lands in Merced County. He also carried on a successful insurance business. In 1907 he became first vice-president and manager of the Merced Security Savings Bank, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversay on March 9, 1925, giving a banquet the following Saturday evening.
In Merced County Mr. Wood married Annie Rucker, born in Missouri, the daughter of A. G. Rucker. She bore him three children :
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Celestina Yuvamusic
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George Marvin, who died in Merced; Lou, who became the wife of Bert Crane of Turlock and died in April, 1925; and Jesse D., who was associated with his father in the insurance and grain business and is now the agent for Balfour, Guthrie & Co. Mrs. Wood died in Sonoma County. For his second wife Mr. Wood married in Sonoma County, Maron L. England, a native of Missouri but reared and educated in Sonoma County. Seven children blessed this union : Bes- sie, who became the wife of J. G. McKerty, of Merced; Dallas Eng- land who is part owner and editor of the Palo Alto Times ; Marjorie, who married L. G. Mackie of Berkeley; Barton Dixon, who saw service in the World War and is now an architectural engineer in Detroit, Mich .; Kenneth Eugene, an assistant cashier of the Security Savings Bank; Carol V., who is at home; and Melville, who is con- nected with the San Joaquin Light and Power Co. at Merced. Mr. Wood has always been active in Democratic circles ; he was a member and president of the first board of trustees of Merced, and for one term was a member of the county board of education. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and served for years as one of the trustees. He has been a member of the Knights of Pythias for almost fifty years. He is a man of solid worth and his well-directed intelligence and worth-while abilities have met with due recognition from his fellow-men, by whom he is conceded to rank among the most prominent citizens of Merced County.
PETER J. GIOVANNONI
The success achieved by Peter J. Giovannoni shows what a man can accomplish by honorable industry and close application on the West Side of Merced County, a portion of the county which he, more than any other person, has helped to upbuild and bring to the front, and where he is an honored pioneer. He is called the "Father of the Dairy Industry" in this part of the State, has led a very useful and active life, and has reached an enviable position of affluence which gives him a place among the really successful men in the San Joaquin Valley.
Peter J. Giovannoni was born at Logo Magior in Canton Ticino, Switzerland, on December 17, 1864, a son of Giacomo and Madeline (Nicora) Giovannoni, well-to-do farmer-folk, who were respectively of German-Swiss and Italian-Swiss extraction. They specialized in horticulture and viticulture, as well as dairy farming. Peter J. received, in the public schools of his native land, a very fair education, which was supplemented by a practical knowledge of the industries pursued by his father. He early learned budding and grafting, and
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still has in his possession the first set of tools used in his horticultural work at school, as a boy in Switzerland. Being filled with an ambi- tion to better his condition in the New World, he bade good-bye to home, father and mother, and sailed from the port of Havre, France, landed at New York City on July 5, 1883, and thence proceeded by rail to the place of his destination, Petaluma, Sonoma County, Cal., where he arrived on July 18. He worked out for three years, during two of which he was employed as butter-maker. In 1886 he went to Santa Clara County and entered the employ of Michael Callahan, pioneer, and took charge of Mr. Callahan's Evergreen Dairy, near San Jose.
About that time C. C. Crow and his father, the late Bradford J. Crow, pioneers and extensive land owners at Crow's Landing, wished to get into the dairy business, and through the favorable recommenda- tions of Michael Callahan, the subject to this sketch and his brother Henry were employed by the Crows to come to Stanislaus County and build up a dairy on the Crow ranch. Dairying as a commercial ven- ture was then unknown to this portion of the San Joaquin Valley and presented many perplexing problems, one of which arose from the fact that the native cows were not used to being milked without their calves at the opposite side from the human milker, that being the method followed by those early pioneers in procuring the milk needed for home consumption. With them, to milk a cow without her calf also sucking at the same time was as much of an innovation as to milk her on Sunday. Everything in the milk-products line was crude, both as to methods of production and as to marketing. Butter was sold in Modesto and Merced for eleven cents per pound, in rolls wrapped in white cloth. Soon another of our subject's brothers, Tranquil, joined Peter J. and Henry, and they all entered into a partnership under the name of Giovannoni and Crow, in 1890, and the dairy business was rapidly expanded and was made to yield a paying return. The Oristemba Cheese Factory was established on the Crow ranch in 1890, with only a few cows. Three dairy barns were built, and the business grew so fast that by 1893 they had a total of 312 cows. Peter J. Giovannoni had learned the art of making American cheese at Gilroy in 1889; and the Oristemba brand of American cheese, being of excellent quality, soon won popular favor, and the company was reaping a rich harvest.
In 1892 the Giovannoni Brothers came over to the Cottonwood district in Merced County and bought 160 acres, upon which they established a dairy of their own. Peter J. still owns and lives upon eighty acres of this place. Their success was not without its serious drawbacks, however. A fire destroyed the dairy barn and hay on the Cottonwood ranch on July 13, 1894, and on the 23rd of the same
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month an even more disastrous conflagration swept away the three dairy barns, with 600 tons of hay, at Crow's Landing. Undaunted by these heavy losses, they set about and rebuilt with a stronger determination than ever to make a success of their venture. They built a stone house creamery and new barns in the center of their quarter section on the Cottonwood ranch, and installed the first cream separating machine ever brought into Stanislaus or Merced County. This building was built from chalk-stone, and was later used as a cheese factory; and although not now in actual use, it is still standing in a fair state of preservation, and represents an interesting incident in the progress of the dairy industry in Merced County.
Other unavoidable heavy losses were sustained by these pioneer promoters in the early days of the cheese industry on the West Side. Owing to the cows' eating certain poison grasses, two carloads of cheese had to be destroyed, incurring a very heavy financial loss. But on the whole their enterprise succeeded to such a degree that it attracted general attention. The Crows were in the habit of having their books inspected by accountants each year, and for that purpose employed the firm of Lathrop and Stuhr, realtors at Newman. The books as kept by Peter J. Giovannoni were found to be correct, and the profits exceeded their most sanguine expectations. It opened their eyes to the possibilities of the dairy industry, gave them a talking point, and led them to become ardent boosters for the West Side. An incident showing Mr. Giovannoni's thoroughness is the fact that in 1891, realizing the necessity of a better knowledge of business methods, he took a course in an Oakland business college and acquired a practical knowledge of double-entry bookkeeping as well as up-to- date usages in business. It should be mentioned in this connection that J. N. Stuhr is still living, and the subdivision of the Sturgeon ranch of 1880 acres in the Cottonwood district, with its seventeen prosperous dairy farms, is the result of his keen and ready insight. This successful venture was the means of the building and operation of the New Era Creamery. On May 18, 1899, a meeting was called in Plato Hall at Modesto to canvass the situation with a view to build- ing a creamery in that city. Among those present were Judge O. W. Minor, O. McHenry, A. L. Cressey, Frank Cressey, Theo. Turner and other prominent men. Mr. Giovannoni was sent for, and he put forth such a clear and understandable argument that the resolution was adopted and Modesto got her first creamery.
Mr. Giovannoni has had absolute faith in this section of California from the very start, and has proved his faith by investing in property and buildings. In 1904 he built a cottage in Newman and invested in various other building sites. In 1910-1911 he erected the two-story brick Giovannoni store and office building adjoining the Bank of
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Newman building. In 1914 he built the fireproof steel and concrete garage building, 70 by 150 feet, which is the Newman home of the Dodge motor car; and in 1922 he built the postoffice block, installing fixtures which alone cost $6,000, and making it a credit to that city.
He has always evinced an active interest in the general progress of his community, especially as pertaining to irrigation. Realizing that an abundance of water for irrigation purposes means everything to the West Side, he has for years stood as the uncompromising champion for an enlarged district with ditches and laterals so constructed as to bring the cost of water within the reach of every farmer and business man. He has taken a broad and generous view, insisting on a square deal for everybody. He will be long remembered for the courageous stand he took, and the clear and forceful arguments he put forth, at a meeting at Newman on December 10, 1910, which was attended by 400 persons from Stanislaus, Merced and Fresno Counties, wherein he showed very clearly what a correct rate should be and how a large acreage in the outlying district could be brought under irrigation. He won the day. As a result the San Joaquin Water Storage District has recently been established at a cost of $33,000,000, bringing in to the project 8400 acres in the Santa Nella, 5300 acres in the Quinto, and the Outside Extension section, 14,300 acres, and 415,300 acres addi- tional, making a consolidated district with water-rates for all time to come established at figures that any good farmer or business man can well afford to pay.
At Modesto, on June 14, 1893, Mr. Giovannoni was united in marriage with Miss Celestina Ghiorzo, born in San Francisco, a daughter of Vincent and Angelina (Simons) Ghiorzo, California. pioneers, her father being of Genoese Italian, and her mother of French ancestry. While yet a little girl her parents moved to Modesto, where she was reared. Two boy babies were born to this union, both of whom passed on during their infancy. Mrs. Gio- vannoni is a most estimable lady. During all the hard years of struggle incident to pioneer life, she has been a most loyal helpmeet and has shared all joys and sorrows in common with her husband. A hard worker and a most excellent housekeeper, she presides most graciously over the Giovannoni household and dispenses a broad and liberal hospitality. Their ranch home, with its beautiful lawns and shrubbery, is a picture of beauty and contentment, one of the truly excellent homes of Merced County. Mr. and Mrs. Giovannoni are known to a large circle of friends and are justly popular and most highly respected. In 1906 they made an extended tour of Europe, visiting most of the noted cities and places of interest. They are both members of the Rebekah Lodge of Newman, while Mr. Giovannoni is a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge of Modesto.
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