USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California. Volume II > Part 45
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HERBERT W. LOW
Herbert W. Low is closely associated with the milk and milk products industry in Alameda county, being president of the East Bay Creamery Company, one of the most important concerns of the kind in this district. Through his enterprise and judicious management he has built up a prosperous business and has a well established reputation for progressive and up-to-date methods. Mr. Low was born in Taylorville, Christian county, Illinois, on the 4th of February, 1878, and is a son of S. A. and Marietta (Stewart) Low. He received his early educational training in the public and high schools of his native city and later attended Chicago University. He then went to work in a creamery, beginning at the bottom and thoroughly learning every step of the business. In 1906 he came to California, locating first in San Francisco, where he successfully engaged in handling dairy products until 1916, when he established his present business in Oakland. This proved a profitable venture which he carried on alone until 1922, when its growth demanded a larger organization and the enterprise was incorporated under the name of the East Bay Creamery Company, with Mr. Low as president. Soon afterward the plant was considerably enlarged and modernized in every respect, being now one of the most up-to-date establishments in the county. The company handles
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milk, cream and all dairy products and has a large and steadily increasing business. Mr. Low is also at the head of the H. W. Low Company, at Tracy, California, and the Hughson Condensed Milk Company, near Modesto, both of which manufacture condensed and powdered milk, about sixty people being employed at each of the plants. The milk and cream used in these plants are brought from the farmers of their respective localities, and thus they are directly contributing to the pros- perity of the community. Their products are largely exported to the Orient and shipped to the eastern states.
Mr. Low was united in marriage to Miss Mary Kelly, who is a native of Wis- consin, and they are the parents of a son, John S., who is a student in Leland Stanford University. Mr. Low votes with the republican party and he is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Athens Club and the Claremont Country Club. Of cordial and friendly manner, he is deservedly popular among his associates, while in the business circles of Oakland he is held in high regard for his ability and attainments.
JAMES H. BRIGGS
Among the younger business men in Berkeley, James H. Briggs, senior member of the firm of C. and C. Realtors, has gained distinction for his hustling, up-to-date and progressive qualities, and well merited success is rewarding his efforts. Mr. Briggs was born in Dryden, Tompkins county, New York, January 12, 1898, and is a son of George Henry and Abbie (Van Auken) Briggs. The father, who was born in New York, followed carpentering and building, and died when his son, James, was but two years old. The mother was born in Tarrytown, Pennsylvania, where her family had long been established, and after the death of her husband she came to California and is now making her home with her son, James, in Berkeley, being sixty-four years of age.
James H. Briggs attended the public schools in Cortland, New York, in addition to which he pursued commercial courses in two institutions, taking the regular business course in the Buffalo Technical School and a banking course in the American Institute of Banking, from which he was graduated at Oakland, California, after four years of study. Upon completing his school work in New York, he went to Niagara Falls, where he obtained employment under his brother, Wallace Briggs, who was superintendent of the Carborundum Company, and was working there when the United States entered the World war. He enlisted in the Sixth Engineer Corps of the regular army, with which he served two years and four months, twenty-one months of which time was spent in France and Germany. He was pro- moted to the rank of sergeant and was honorably discharged at Camp Dix, New Jersey, August 29, 1919. He then returned to Cortland, New York, and was made manager of a Grand Union Tea Company store, in which he was successful, his year's report showing a doubling of the business and a reduction of seven per cent in expenses. On quitting that business, in 1920, Mr. Briggs came to Berkeley and, while completing his studies at the American Institute of Banking, served as note teller in the Old First National Bank of Berkeley, while later he became teller at
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the New First National Bank, which position he held until 1925, when he became a salesman with the C. and C. Realtors. He was successful and, recognizing the future possibilities of the business, eight months later he bought a partnership interest in it and has since been at the head of the real estate department, which he has developed into an important and prosperous business. His partner is William G. Erving, who has charge of the insurance department, which embraces all kinds except life insurance. The firm enjoys an enviable record for reliability and honorable dealing and stands among the leading concerns in its lines in Alameda county.
On February 28, 1922, in Berkeley, Mr. Briggs was united in marriage to Miss Cora Lozer, who was born in Ohio, but was living in this city at the time of her marriage. To them have been born two children, Albert Hugh and Marjorie Anne. Mr. Briggs gives his political support to the republican party and is keenly interested in public affairs. He is a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, at Berkeley, and he and his wife are members of the North Congre- gational church, of which he served three years as treasurer. He resides in a comfortable and attractive home at 52 Northampton Road and he and his wife are extremely popular in the social circles, while throughout the community Mr. Briggs commands confidence and respect because of his excellent business record and his sterling character.
ROY T. WISE
In business and civic affairs of Berkeley Roy T. Wise has taken a prominent part. He is president of the Standard Die and Tool Company, Inc., and has not only achieved a worthy and well merited success in a material way but is regarded as one of his city's most progressive and public-spirited citizens.
Mr. Wise was born at Lockeford, San Joaquin county, California, on the 5th of November, 1886, a son of G. W. and Margaret Alice (Ross) Wise. The father was born near Augusta, Maine, where he lived until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he offered his services to his country and was commissioned a captain in the Union Army. He served under General Sherman and while in Tennessee he met the girl who later became his wife. She was born in Hardin county, that state, and is a descendant of "Betty" Ross, who made the first American national flag. In the locality where she was born were also born the notorious Jesse and Frank James. After the war Mr. and Mrs. Wise came to California, settling at Lockeford, which had the distinction of being one of the first farming communities in this state to be settled. Mr. Locke, after whom the place was named, settled there before the discovery of gold. He had crossed the plains with Brigham Young and his party, whom he accompanied as far as Salt Lake, Utah, where Young stopped, but, not being of the Mormon faith, Mr. Locke proceeded to California and located in the San Joaquin valley in the early '40s. There Mr. Wise successfully engaged in farming and he eventually erected one of the finest residences in the valley. Some years later a disastrous fire destroyed the home, and during the progress of the fire the father, thinking
ROY T. WISE
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that his youngest child was in the burning house, over-exerted himself in his efforts to get to him. As a result of his excitement, he suffered a stroke of paralysis, from which he never fully recovered and was crippled during the remainder of his life. Not being able to attend to business, he suffered severe financial reverses and later moved to Lodi and eventually to Oklahoma City, where his death occurred in 1909 at the age of seventy-two years. He is survived by his widow, who is now residing at Valley Springs, Calaveras county, this state, at the age of seventy years. To Mr. and Mrs. Wise were born seven children, all of whom are living, namely : Mildred, who is the widow of Robert Leam and lives in Richmond, California ; John, who is an engineer for the Union Oil Company at Oleum, California ; Alice, the wife of C. C. Meyer, who is in the employ of the Standard Oil Company at Stockton, California; Roy T., of this review; Irene, the wife of John Bowman, who is production manager for the Western Harvester Company, at Stockton; Calvin, who is employed in gold dredging at Hammondton, Yuba county, this state ; and Edward, who is a division manager for the Standard Oil Company and resides at Lockeford.
Roy T. Wise was reared at Lockeford and after the failure of his father's health assisted in caring for the family. He manfully assumed this responsibility and, as one result, the greater part of his education was received in the school of hard knocks and stern experience. From Lockeford the family moved to Lodi, and thence to Calaveras county, where he worked on the cattle ranch of his uncle, Thomas Ross, until eighteen years of age. He then went to Stockton and later worked in gold mines in and around Jackson. Being industrious and steady and of a mechanical turn of mind, he proved a valuable employe and rose to the position of mine shift boss. He continued in the mines until twenty-three years old, when he removed to Stockton, where he was married, and remained there a short time. Later he returned to the southern mines for a time, and, in October, 1912, came to the Bay district, where he went to work for the Key Route System as a mechanic. Here he was employed in the making of frogs and other contrivances for crossings, and later was with the Westinghouse Pacific Coast Airbrake Com- pany at Emeryville. There he learned tool making, and remained with that concern for five and a half years. During the World war he offered his services to the government and was sent to the Mare Island navy yard as an engineer.
During these years Mr. Wise was not only gaining valuable practical experience, but was also gaining a knowledge of the theoretical side of mechanics, through tak- ing a course in mechanical engineering with the International Correspondence School, of Scranton, Pennsylvania. After the war he entered the employ of the Hall-Scott Motor Car Company, where he had been engaged in the building of student aircraft motors (Liberty motors) for the government during the war. He remained with that concern until the post-war slump in business, when he went to the Apex Manufacturing Company, being with that company until busi- ness again became normal, when he returned to the Hall-Scott company, for whom he worked until 1923, when he resigned and established his present business.
In 1924 Mr. Wise incorporated the Standard Die and Tool Company, of which he is the president and the principal stockholder, Earl T. Casler, of Oakland, being secretary and treasurer. The company occupies a splendid and attractive building at Eighth and Carlton streets, which is a two-story brick structure in
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front, while the rear, or main factory portion is one story, of concrete and steel construction. The building, which was erected in October, 1924, cost eighteen thousand dollars, and the mechanical equipment, which consists of heavy, specialized and expensive machinery, brings the total investment up to one hundred thousand dollars. About thirty highly trained expert machinists are employed and the products of the plant, consisting mainly of tool equipments, is of the highest class in every respect.
A resume of the activities of the Standard Die and Tool Company is well presented in the house organ, "The Toolmaker," in the following words: "Over a period of years there have come into our organization mechanical inventive geniuses who have contributed brilliantly to our knowledge, and skilled workmen whose consistent good work is as regular, dependable and constant as the sun. In all that we have accomplished, we owe much to the inspired talents of our men. The standardized qualities of our products give the assurance that you will keep pace with the trend of tomorrow. If you need production tools tell us what your requirements are. We will meet you more than half way in time and men to help you develop ideas. In our engineering department we have trained men who will bring to you the combined experience of many tooling problems. In our shop we have a crew of toolmakers and modern equipment to meet the most exacting specifications in the construction of boring bar equipment, turrett lathe tools, jigs, fixtures, dies and special machines. We manufacture and carry in stock a full line of standard drill jigs, die sets, drill bushings, bushing handles, high-speed reamer blades, surface plates, angle plates, cubes, V. blocks, parallels, rest pins, leader pins, gauges, arbors, hand wheels and knobs, and other toolroom and machine shop accessories."
On September 1, 1910, in Stockton, California, Mr. Wise was united in mar- riage to Miss Pansy E. Casle, a member of a well known pioneer family of the San Joaquin valley, her paternal grandfather having been the first settler at French Camp. This fact led to an annual event of considerable local importance-the Casle family reunion-and Mr. Wise was a member of the committee of arrange- ments for the reunion which was held at French Camp on the last Sunday in May, 1928. Mrs. Wise is descended on the maternal side from Mary, Queen of Scots, while on her father's side one of her ancestors was knighted for reading the burial service for that queen. Mr. and Mrs. Wise became the parents of five children, namely: Eleanor, who died at the age of five and a half years; Rowena, who is attending the Berkeley high school; Paul and Mary who are in the Long- fellow grammar school; and Roy Theodore, Jr.
Mr. Wise has been accepted for membership in the Masonic fraternity. His religious faith is that of the Church of Christ, Scientist, being a past president of the First church in Oakland and now at the head of the lecture committee for the East Bay district. He is vice president of the Berkeley Manufacturers Association and president of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Rotary Club, being chairman of the boys' work committee; is a member of the council of the Boy Scouts of Berkeley; and is president of the West Berkeley Young Men's Christian Association. A deep thinker and a fluent speaker, he is frequently called upon to address meetings of the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations, and enjoys a well deserved popularity throughout the range of his
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. acquaintance, both because of his business ability, his sterling character and his pleasing personality. As indicative of the trend of his thought along practical lines, the following quotations are given from "The Toolmaker," which is edited by Mr. Wise; "Mechanical results are achieved by the thoughts of extraordinary men working in combination. The automobile and passenger bus are the results of many intelligent men working incessantly for the past generation, learning from one another, each one correcting his own mistakes as well as helping others to see theirs, at last arriving at the present state of development in automobile and passenger bus building." "One thing that every man gets for working is money. The other things are working conditions, opportunity for promotion, respect from fellow workers and executives, a good community for himself and his family to live in. He must be able to work happily and safely." .... "We all make errors-that's why rubbers are furnished on lead pencils. But try to make the rubber last the life of the pencil."
THOMAS S. NEILSON
One of the important industrial enterprises in Alameda county is that of the Berkeley Steel Construction Company, owned by Thomas S. and Duncan S. Neilson, and which has enjoyed a degree of growth and prosperity which reflects creditably on its business management and its mechanical efficiency. Thomas S. Neilson was born in Greenock, Scotland, on the 24th of May, 1884, and is a son of Andrew and Jessie (Sinclair) Neilson, the former an engineer.
Mr. Neilson was educated in his native country, attending the Hill End school and Greenock Academy. He served a six years' apprenticeship with the Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, at Glasgow, Scotland, one of the largest shipbuilding concerns on the Clyde, and from that time to the present has been identified with some phase of the steel industry. In 1904 he emigrated to the United States, landing at New York July 11th, and his first job in this country was with the Erie Basin Dry Dock Company, in Brooklyn. Later he went to Quincy, near Boston, Massachusetts, where he was employed in the Four Rivers Shipyards as an estimator and drafter. He remained there until 1906, when he went to San Francisco, arriving there just before the great earthquake and fire, and for about six months worked for the Union Iron Works. Going to Seattle, Washington, he worked for a time for the Seattle Dry Dock Company, after which he was in Vancouver, British Columbia, for a few years. In 1912 he went to Trail, British Columbia, where he had charge of the steel construction in the building of the great smelter plant for the Canadian Consolidated Mining & Smelting Company for two years. In 1914 Mr. Neilson returned to Seattle, was put in charge of the building of merchant ships, and during the World war supervised the building of warships and other naval craft, including submarines and cruisers, for the govern- ment. In 1920 he came to Berkeley and formed a partnership with his brother, Duncan S., under the name of the Berkeley Steel Construction Company. They bought the present site of their plant, comprising three and a quarter acres, and now have fifty thousand square feet under cover, being engaged in the manufacture
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of tanks, boilers, steel pipe, smokestacks and structural work, and they also do riveting and electric and oxy-acetylene welding. Their plant is valued at about two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and they employ seventy-five men. Thomas S. Neilson is president of the company, as well as general manager, and Duncan S. is vice president and works manager. The company has prospered, as may be inferred from the statement that during the five years that the plant has been in actual operation it has more than doubled its output four times. This com- pany pioneered in the electric welding of tanks, when other companies were riveting them, and during the last four years has turned out more than five thousand tanks, seventy-five per cent of which have been welded. At the present time all of the high pressure tanks passing through its shop are electrically welded, and the process has been approved by the Industrial Accident Commission on the strength of the good record made by every tank so handled. The new shop of this company, fifty by two hundred and fifty feet in dimensions, is the first electrically welded building west of Pittsburgh to carry electric cranes, there being two of these of ten tons capacity. A notable piece of work performed by this company was the reconstruc- tion of the Plaster City plant of the Pacific Portland Cement Company, located in the Imperial valley, seventeen miles from El Centro and eight miles from the Mexican border. Only nineteen days were required for the completion of the reconstruction work, and in that time a complete unit of the Suisun plant was dismantled, transported to Plaster City, set up and riveted throughout. Each of the storage bins is twenty feet in diameter and forty-two feet high, and in them and the structure over the kilns are two hundred tons of steel.
On December 8, 1909, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Thomas S. Neilson was united in marriage to Miss Elsie Cathie, who is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and to them have been born three children, Elsie, Fern and Jessie. Mr. Neilson is a member of the Masonic order, the Berkeley Lions Club, the Berkeley Country Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Manufacturers Association, and of the last two is a director. He is a man of earnest purpose, straightforward manner, sound business judgment and honorable methods, and throughout the community commands the unqualified confidence and respect of his fellowmen.
JOSEPH L. BOBBA
Joseph L. Bobba, head of the Italian-American Realty Company, stands high in the list of Oakland's enterprising and successful business men, for his progres- sive and up-to-date methods have stamped him as a man of more than ordinary ability and efficiency. Mr. Bobba was born in North Haven, Connecticut, July 27, 1897, and is a son of Dominico and Margarita (Massucco) Bobba. In 1907 the father came to California in search of a permanent location and eventually engaged in the hotel business, in which he was successful. He is still living in this state, at the age of sixty-four years, but the mother is deceased.
Joseph L. Bobba secured a public school education, partly in Sacramento, where the family was then living, but completed his studies in Oakland, where he graduated from high school in 1916. He then went to work in the advertising department
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, of the Oakland Tribune, with which he remained six months, and later for a similar period he was with the Pullman Company. He then entered the Faguzi Bank, with which he was connected for fifteen months, leaving that position to enlist in the United States Navy for service in the World war. He was transferred to the Aviation Corps, but an attack of influenza confined him to a hospital for a number of months, so that when he was able to go into training he put in just one day's service before he was honorably discharged. As a souvenir of his military experience he now possesses the government's warrant for one dollar, in payment for his one day of service. On his return to Oakland, Mr. Bobba joined the Italian- American Realty Company, which was established by Louis J. Tesio about thirty years ago, and when Mr. Tesio became assistant manager of the Bank of Italy Mr. Bobba took over the business, which he has since conducted. The company deals in real estate and insurance and does notary work, and commands a large and steadily growing patronage throughout the city, seven employees being required to handle the office work. Mr. Bobba has given close and careful attention to the various branches of his business and well deserves the prosperity which is reward- ing his efforts.
Mr. Bobba was united in marriage to Miss Erma Mautino, who was born and reared in Oakland and whose father, Peter Mautino, has been engaged in business in this city for many years. They now have two daughters, Phyllis and Marguerite. Mr. Bobba takes a keen interest in local public affairs and votes for the best men for public office regardless of party lines. He is a member of the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the United Ancient Order of Druids, the Foresters of America, the Athens Club and the Chamber of Commerce. He is a great lover of music and is a fine accordion player, with which instrument he fre- quently entertains the members of the Chamber of Commerce, as well as other public assemblies. He has shown a commendable interest in the progress and welfare of Oakland and is regarded as well worthy of the confidence and respect which are accorded him by all who know him.
EDGAR I. JESSEN
Edgar I. Jessen, proprietor of the California Phonograph Company, at 1432 San Pablo avenue, Oakland, which handles music, musical instruments, phonographs and radios, is generally recognized as one of the leading radio authorities in the East Bay district and has been very active in popularizing these truly remarkable machines. A native son of California, Mr. Jessen was born in San Francisco on the 8th of November, 1889. His parents, Niels and Alma (Andersen) Jessen, were born in Norway. The father came to California in 1875 and the mother in girlhood, their marriage occurring in San Francisco, where Mr. Jessen engaged in business as a wholesale merchant for many years. His death occurred in 1925, and his widow is still living in San Francisco.
Edgar I. Jessen attended the public schools of his native city, graduating from high school, and then learned the plumbing trade, at which he was employed for three years, after which he went east. However, realizing the need of a better
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