USA > California > San Benito County > History and biographical record of Monterey and San Benito Counties : and history of the State of California : containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present. Volume II > Part 54
USA > California > Monterey County > History and biographical record of Monterey and San Benito Counties : and history of the State of California : containing biographies of well-known citizens of the past and present. Volume II > Part 54
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Mr. Giacometti's first marriage occurred in 1880 and united him with Miss Laura Rianda, to whom were born six children. The eldest, Catherine, is now the wife of G. I. Gambetta, of Soledad; Minnie is the wife of William Tavernetti, of Gonzales; Annie is the wife of John Fulletta, of Los Banos; Mary is deceased ; Lena and Guy, Jr., are at home, the latter at- tending school at Sonoma. The wife and mother passed away February 14, 1906, and on March 19, 1908, Mr. Giacometti was married to his present wife, formerly Mrs. Julia Goda, of San Jose. Gonzales and Monterey county have an enterprising citizen in Mr. Giacometti of whom they have every reason to be proud, for there is no project for the betterment of his community toward which he is not willing to contribute heartily of time and means. He is especially interested in school matters, and for three years served as trustee of the Camp Phora district. He is also interested as a stockholder in the Swiss-American Bank in San Francisco.
ALBINO IOPPINI.
A native of Switzerland, Albino Ioppini was born in the Canton of Ticino September 22, 1882, the descendant of a long line of ancestors who had known no other home than Switzerland for generations. While still a boy in years he had decided that the chances at home were greatly inferior to those offered in the United States. In 1899 he landed upon our hospitable shores and came direct to California, where, near Sa- linas, he found employment on a dairy ranch.
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After remaining there for two years he came to Soledad, Monterey county, and found similar work. He continued with his last employer un- til the fall of 1908, when he undertook responsi- bilities on his own account. The property over which he has supervision consists of three hun- dred and fifty acres of the Pedro Zabala ranch, which he rents, and which he devotes to the raising of barley entirely. Soil and climatic conditions seem to combine to make abundant harvests, Mr. Ioppini's output for this year amounting to twenty-eight hundred sacks. In addition to this enterprise he also raises horses sufficient for his own use. Having devoted his attention closely to his agricultural efforts Mr. Ioppini has had little leisure for participation in social or political affairs, but he keeps posted concerning current events and is in close sym- pathy with whatever tends to benefit his home community and his adopted country.
PATRIZIO LEONI.
A comparatively early period in the agricul- tural development of Central California wit- nessed the arrival here of the vanguard of the Swiss colony that afterward became an import- ant factor in the upbuilding of the local dairy interests as well as in general ranching. The first emigrants sent back to friends such flatter- ing reports concerning prospects along the Pa- cific coast that others were induced to follow and they in turn became messengers of hope to ambitious young men in the home land, so that each year brought its influx of sturdy immi- grants to our western lands. On New Year's day of 1880 P. Leoni arrived in the United States from Switzerland, where he was born in Canton Ticino in 1858 and where he had spent his early years in attending school and in learning the de- tails of farm work. At once after landing in the new world he proceeded to California and settled in Marin county, where he secured em- ployment in a dairy at Tomales. From the coast country he proceeded to Amador county and four years later to Eldorado county, where he se- cured employment for a time in lumbering and later as a farm laborer.
It was during 1888 that Mr. Leoni arrived in
Monterey county, where he now makes his home, and where step by step he has worked his way forward to a position as one of the large ranch- ers of the county. During the first year of his residence here he worked as a laborer in the Greenfield colony, but in 1889 he started out for himself by renting six hundred acres of the Espinosa ranch and there he remained for fifteen years. The period represented one of increas- ing prosperity for him. The land was largely under cultivation to barley, which yielded large crops and as a rule brought fair prices. In ad- dition to raising grain he had cattle and horses on the place. During 1904 he removed to an- other part of the Espinosa ranch near Greenfield, where he leased twelve hundred acres and here he has been engaged extensively in grain-rais- ing. Eleven hundred and fifty acres of the tract are in wheat and barley. The balance is utilized for the pasturage of cattle and horses, of which he raises a few each year so that he may have sufficient for his own needs.
The marriage of Mr. Leoni united him with Miss Lucia Rianda, a native of Switzerland, who came to the United States in girlhood and remained in Monterey county until her death, November 20, 1906, at the age of forty-eight years. Four children survive their mother, namely : Tranquillo, who is engaged in farming on the Zabala grant ; Joseph, Emilio and Albina, who remain with their father on the home place. Since becoming a citizen of our country Mr. Leoni has been unswervingly loyal to its wel- fare and to the extent of his ability has con- tributed to movements for its advancement. Es- pecially has he been interested in educational affairs and for five years he served as a trustee of the Romie school district.
H. SALES.
During the nearly thirty years which Mr. Sales has spent in Monterey county he has be- come known as an industrious and capable rancher and as one who has earnestly striven to assist in the upbuilding of the section of country he has selected as his future home. In his na- tive land, France, where he was born in 1861, he developed a practical appreciation of the new
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country to which he came in his vigorous young . they purchased six hundred and thirty acres in manhood, and set about applying his native adaptability to its improvement.
Mr. Sales was a young man of twenty-one years when he immigrated to the United States, making his way directly to California and Mon- terey county. In his native land he had become familiar with the rudiments of farm life, during his boyhood doing chores for his father and later working for wages on farms near the home place. Therefore, when he came to California in 1882 he sought work along this line. His ability was soon recognized and he readily found work on a ranch in the vicinity of Soledad. Altogether he worked in this capacity in this vicinity for about ten years, when, in 1892, he bought a ranch in the foothills, which he conducted as a stock ranch with splendid success for fifteen years. It was after disposing of this latter place that he purchased the property on which he now re- sides, near Metz. Here he has three hundred acres of tillable land, of which he has one hun- dred and twenty acres in hay, ten acres in pota- toes, and the remainder of the land is pasture.
Mr. Sale's marriage, which occurred in Sole- dad in 1895, united him with Miss Josephine Schickale, of San Francisco, and three children have blessed their marriage, Margaret, Blanche and Dorothy.
BIAGGI BROTHERS.
In every community there may be found en- ergetic and resourceful men who, beginning with no capital except robust health and willing hands, have risen to positions of influence and re- sponsibility. Such may be said of Constantine and Lawrence Biaggi. Memories of their boy- hood days take them back to a humble home in Switzerland, where they were born in Canton Ticino, sons of parents who had known no other home than Switzerland.
California was their objective point, and as soon as the brothers reached our shores on the Atlantic side they made arrangements for pass- age to the Pacific coast. When they came to Monterey county they turned their hands to the first work that offered, which was on farms in Paris valley. The year 1902 marks the begin- ning of their independent career, at which time
the valley, near San Ardo, which is their post- office and market town, and here they find a ready demand for their produce. Two hundred acres of the ranch are under cultivation to barley, while the remainder is used as pasturage for horses, cattle, hogs and sheep, the raising of which forms a large feature of their activities and adds greatly to their annual income.
Both Lawrence and Constantine Biaggi are interested and active workers in behalf of any enterprise which tends to elevate or advance their home community, and for three years the latter has served as trustee of Paris Valley school district.
Lawrence Biaggi was married to Miss Jose- phine Dotta, and they have a comfortable resi- dence on the ranch owned jointly by the brothers. Lawrence Biaggi is affiliated with the Odd Fel- lows order, holding membership in San Bernabe Lodge at King City.
ANDREW RIANDA.
Twenty-five years ago Andrew Rianda came to the state, seeking the opportunities of a new country that are withheld from the young men of his native land. Born in Canton Ticino in 1866, he was a youth of seventeen years when in 1883 he bade farewell to relatives and friends in his native Switzerland and started upon the long journey to the Pacific coast. In due season he arrived in Santa Cruz county, where he was met in Watsonville by friends of his own na- tionality. Through the influence of these acquaintances he was given work in a dairy and from that time forward he was busily occupied in gaining a knowledge of the people and the soil.
After having been engaged in dairy work for others about four years, in 1887 Mr. Rianda came to Monterey county and settled at Soledad, near which place he has since engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. The year after his arrival he formed a partnership with two brothers and rented one thousand acres of the Espinosa ranch, where he and the brothers engaged in ranching together for thirteen years. At the expiration of that time he bought out the interests of his
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brothers and engaged in farming alone on the same ranch, where he remained four more years. During 1906 he bought one hundred and sixty acres of the colony tract at Greenfield and later added to his possessions by the purchase of two hundred and thirty acres, owning altogether four hundred and ninety acres. Of this ranch he cultivates only seventy-five acres, having the balance in meadow and grass for the use of his cattle. Dairying is his principal business and he now milks sixty cows. In addition he is en- gaged in raising hogs, horses and cattle, and the products of his farm, whether of grain or live stock, always bring the best prices in the mar- kets. Besides taking charge of his own property he rents six hundred and fifty acres of the colony tract and has the land largely under cultivation to barley and wheat.
On September 28, 1908, Mr. Rianda was united in marriage with Miss Olinda Tavernetti, who was born in Switzerland and in girlhood came to this country, where several of her relatives have become prominent in Monterey county. A large degree of success has rewarded the efforts of Mr. Rianda in agricultural activ- ities and he holds rank among the progressive men of his locality, owning, besides his well- improved ranch, a residence and several lots in Soledad as well as stock in the Soledad Mer- cantile Company.
HENRY VINCENT TAVERNETTI.
A native son of California and born in Sole- dad, Monterey county, November 25, 1879, Henry V. Tavernetti has spent his entire life in his native state, and with the exception of the time passed in college and while filling a position in a bank in San Francisco, his life has been associated with affairs in the vicinity of his birth- place almost entirely. The family became es- tablished in the state in 1869, when the father, Vincent Tavernetti, then a young man of twenty years, left his home in Switzerland to come to the New World. Pleased with the outlook in the Pacific coast country, he became interested in farming in the vicinity of Watsonville, and a few years after locating here, returned to Switz- erland for his promised wife. Since 1875 the family home has been in Monterey county, and
011 the ranch near Soledad the birth of Henry V. occurred.
Until he was fourteen years old Mr. Taver- netti attended the public schools in Soledad, after which for one year he was a student in Santa. Clara College. Returning to Soledad at the end of this time he was then employed for two years in the general store of Wahrlich-Cornett Co.,. later resuming his studies, this time in Chest- nutwood Business College in Santa Cruz, from which institution he graduated. Following his graduation he went to San Francisco, where for two years he was employed in the Swiss-Amer- ican Bank, and subsequently for five months was. bookkeeper in the Bank of Santa Maria. From. there he then returned to Soledad and accepted a similar position with the Southern Pacific Mill- ing Company, continuing there until he became associated with his father in managing the. home ranch, an association which continued until the father withdrew from active business life. This occurred in October, 1906, when the father's- interest was purchased by his son Walter R., and since then the two brothers have conducted a profitable dairy business, made possible by their experience and thorough adaptation for this particular branch of agriculture. Besides their dairy enterprise ( for which they lease five hundred acres) they also lease three hundred acres adjoining, upon which they raise sugar beets- and potatoes, and also have one hundred and twenty-five acres in alfalfa, this furnishing feed for their stock. Besides raising their own dairy stock (now having one hundred and ten cows- in their dairy) they also raise horses and hogs,. and altogether have one of the most substantial ranch enterprises in this part of Monterey county.
On the anniversary of his birth, November 25,- 1903, Mr. Tavernetti was united in marriage- with Miss Mary Foletta, the daughter of Jolin Foletta, a well-known dairyman in the vicinity of Gonzales. One child has been born of this marriage, Vernon, born December 28, 1904. Membership in a number of fraternal orders has contributed to Mr. Tavernetti's social life. He- is a member of Court Soledad No. 153, Foresters of America, in which he has held all of the chairs; for two years he has been a delegate to the general court of the state, and is serving as deputy grand chief ranger of Court Soledad:
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and also of Court Gloria, of Gonzales. Not only is Mr. Tavernetti counted among the well estab- lished ranchers in the vicinity of Soledad, but he is also known as one of her business men, being a stockholder and a director in the Sole- dad Mercantile Company. Among the rising young ranchers and business men of this part of Monterey county none stands higher in the es- timation of his associates than does Mr. Taver- netti, whose success has come about through con- centration of effort and persistency in whatever he undertakes.
VALENTINE MARCETTI.
It is over twenty-eight years since Mr. Mar- cetti came to California and began his career in the midst of conditions entirely unfamiliar, but nevertheless he has made a success of his venture and has no cause to regret that Fortune led him so far from his native surroundings. For gen- erations the Marcetti family had been associated with Switzerland, and there the birth of Valen- tine occurred in 1866, on his parents' farm in the canton of Ticino. He recalls with pleasure the days spent on the old home place, where, when not in attendance at the district school, he assisted his father with the chores.
Valentine Marcetti was ambitious as a lad, and the stories which his friends who had come to the United States wrote him of the conditions here fired him with a desire to try his luck also. Thus it was that when he was only fifteen years of age he left all that was dear to him in his native land and came to the United States, a stranger among strangers. He lost no time in the metropolis at which his vessel landed him, for California was his destination, and hither he came at once. Going direct to Sonoma county, he readily found work on ranches and followed this work for about three years, when he came to Monterey county and continued to be thus occupied for a number of years, or until 1890. In the meantime he had been gaining experience and confidence in his own ability, so when he rented twelve hundred acres and began operations on his own account he felt reasonably sure that his undertaking was a wise one. This prop- erty was located conveniently between Gonzales and Soledad, and thus his produce was easily
disposed of in either market. He continued in that location for nine years, when he located on his present ranch near Gonzales, where he main- tains and milks one hundred cows. In all his acreage comprises two hundred and thirty acres, of which eighty-eight are in alfalfa, while on the remainder not used for dairy purposes he raises stock to supply his own dairy.
In his choice of a helpmate Mr. Marcetti se- lected one of his own countrywomen in Miss Jennie Beffa, who at the time of their marriage in 1893, however, was a resident of Salinas. Six children have been born of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Marcetti, named in the order of their birth as follows : Angelo, Hermina, Paul, Albino, William and Julia. A number of fraternal or- ganizations claim Mr. Marcetti among their mem- bers, his name being on the roll of Gabilan Lodge No. 372, I. O. O. F., Compromise Encampment at Salinas, and Soledad Lodge No. 53, Foresters of America.
HANS P. ROHDE.
Another progressive and energetic Danish- American citizen was added to the population of Monterey county when in 1890 Mr. Rohde left his native land and sailed across the ocean for the new world, proceeding direct to California, whither many of his countrymen had come in previous years. Born in Denmark March 8, 1871, Hans P. Rohde had only such advantages as neighboring schools afforded, yet he acquired an excellent knowledge of the Danish language and laid the foundation of a fund of information and knowledge that now gives him prestige among his countrymen in the community where he resides. Leaving school at fourteen years of age, he began to learn the trade of a shoemaker and completed an apprenticeship that gave him a thorough knowledge of the work. Shortly after the expiration of his time he sailed for America, he being then nineteen years of age, strong and capable, but entirely without means.
On his arrival in Salinas Mr. Rohde secured work at the shoemaker's trade in the employ of others. When the Spreckels beet sugar fac- tory was started he began to work on the con- struction of the building and after the com- pletion of the plant he was appointed stationary
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engineer, filling the position for seven years. During 1904 he came to his present place near Salinas, where he is farming seventy-five acres in grain and fifty-two acres in beets, the latter averaging fifteen tons to the acre. During the period of his residence in Monterey county he has kept in touch with conditions tending to its agricultural development and has been deeply in- terested in securing good schools, likewise has championed all other movements for the benefit of the neighborhood and the county. Since be- coming a citizen of the United States he has voted the Republican ticket and uniformly has supported the principles for which that party stands. Upon establishing domestic ties in 1899, he married Johanna Ahrnkeel, who like himself, was born and reared in Denmark. Three chil- dren have been born of their union, of whom one daughter died in infancy, the others being Edna and Elva.
MARTIN PATRICK KELLY.
A deep devotion to the development of Cali- fornia has been noticeable in the life and deeds of Martin P. Kelly ever since he became a resi- dent of the state forty-five years ago. While the memories of his old eastern home are pleas- ant, yet he has no desire to return thither for permanent location. The atmosphere of the west, its personnel of progressive settlers and its pros- pects for future prosperity, won him from the calm of the settled east, and thereafter he never swerved in allegiance to his new home.
During boyhood Mr. Kelly was a resident of Ulster county, N. Y., where he was born in 1841, and where he received a common school educa- tion. His parents were farmers, and it was quite natural that on attaining manhood he should select the calling for a life work with which he was most familiar, for from his early boyhood he had been his father's faithful assistant with the farm chores. While he was still a very young man he began to have misgivings about the ad- visability of settling down in the east, and by the time he attained his twenty-fourth year he had determined to come to the west and locate instead. The year 1864 found him in Bloom- field, Sonoma county, Cal., where in addition
to working on the various ranches in the vicinity he also did teaming for about nine years. His association with Monterey county dates from the year 1873, when he located on a part of the Gon- zales ranch and after running it for three years, rented the Somavia ranch and managed it suc- cessfully for the same length of time. During his experience of the years just passed he had saved of his earning whatever was not actually needed for his expenses, and was thus enabled to purchase land of his own. His first purchase consisted of three hundred and twenty acres in the foothills of the mountains which he operated for two years, when he traded the property, and in addition to land which he took up from the government, he bought land from adjoining settlers until his entire acreage includes forty-five hundred acres, located ten miles from Gonzales. The land lies on a plateau close by a lake, from which he is making preparations to install an irrigating plant which will supply water to all parts of his ranch. Thereafter it is his intention to put three hundred acres of the property in alfalfa. He now has four hundred acres in grain, principally barley and rye, and he also raises cattle and horses on a large scale for the mar- ket, of the latter making a specialty of the thoroughbred Clyde breed. In addition to these various interests he also follows dairying to some extent. When he purchased the property no at- tempt whatever had been made toward improve- ments, so everything now seen upon the place has been the work of his own hand. With the in- stallation of the irrigating plant he has in view his ranch will undoubtedly take precedence over any other property in this part of Monterey county, its fine location on the top of the Gabilan range in La Gloria valley, at an elevation of seventeen hundred and thirty-five feet above sea level, giving it superior advantages.
In 1875 Mr. Kelly was united in marriage with Miss Belle Cole, and eight children have been born of their marriage. The eldest, Sarah Eliza- beth, a graduate of the State Normal of San Jose, is now the wife of George Malindy, of Mulberry, San Benito county ; Lena, also a grad- uate of the same institution, is a teacher in San Jose: Mattie is the wife of M. J. Collonan, of San Francisco; Laura, a graduate of the State Normal, followed teaching prior to her mar-
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riage, to Ray Hawkins, of Hollister; Henry C., a graduate of Leland Stanford University, is now a practicing attorney of San Francisco; Charles E., a graduate of the San Jose high school, is assisting his father with the care of the home ranch, as is also the next younger son, George, while Altie is a student in the San Jose high school.
JOHN LOWRIE MATTHEWS.
Ever since the most exciting period in all of California's romantic history (that which fol- lowed immediately after the discovery of gold) the Matthews family has been represented in the west, the first of the name here having been John H. Matthews, who crossed the plains in 1849, a hardy, resolute youth, strong of will and sturdy of physique. With him came John Breschine of Texas. The two formed a close friendship and in the course of their travels formed an agree- ment that, if either wished to return home, the other would accompany him. Shortly after their arrival in California Mr. Breschine was taken quite ill and immediately wished to return to Texas, so Mr. Matthews started with him. After they had crossed the Colorado river the Apache Indians attacked them and wounded Breschine so seriously that the thigh bone was broken. The friend bound up the injured member with the rude surgical facilities within his command and then took the wounded man in his arms, carrying him more than one thousand miles back to his Texas home.
Somewhat later John H. Matthews returned to California and engaged in mining in Trinity county. While living there he was elected to represent his district in the state assembly. Dur- ing a subsequent period of residence in Arizona he was a member of the legislature of that state. On returning to California he settled in San Benito county and served so many terms in the legislature from this district that he came to be known as the Nestor of the California legisla- ture. Honored as a statesman, influential in his home county, stanch in his friendships and loyal to the best interests of the state, he was a type of that noble class of pioneer citizens who con- tributed to our prosperity in a marked degree. One of his brothers, R. L. Matthews, came to Cali-
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