History of Contra Costa County, California; with biographical sketches 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

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1118

USA > California > Contra Costa County > History of Contra Costa County, California; with biographical sketches 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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MRS. ROSA SOLARI .- A pioneer business woman who has many good friends is Mrs. Rosa Solari, of Pittsburg, Cal., who has by good management successfully conducted her grocery business on Black Dia- mond Street for twenty-two years. She is the widow of John Baptiste Solari, an honored pioneer of Pittsburg who was well and favorably known by the old settlers of this community. Mrs. Solari is a native of Italy, born January 11, 1865, in Chiavari, County of Genoa, and on April 28, 1884, was united in marriage with Mr. Solari, who had lived in America for twelve years before he returned to be married. Soon after their marriage the young couple sailed for America, landing at New York City in May. They continued their journey to California, arriving May 25. Locating at Redwood City, Mr. Solari operated a vegetable garden until in 1889, when the family removed to Contra Costa County. For two and a half years he had a vegetable garden located in the Marsh Creek country, where he grew vegetables for the market and developed a vineyard. Later on, moving nearer to Black Diamond, he there cultivated a six-acre tract of land. This is now a part of the land occupied by the Redwood Manufacturers Company in Pitts- burg. Mr. Solari raised vegetables for the market, selling them in Antioch 14

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and Pittsburg. He died in Black Diamond, now Pittsburg, March 24, 1902, aged fifty-one years.

Mr. and Mrs. John B. Solari were the parents of four children: Louis, deceased; Mary, now the wife of Salvatore Enea, proprietor of the California Theater in Pittsburg, by whom she has four girls, Stella Rosa, Frances and Virginia ; Priscilla Aida, the wife of Antonio Ferrante, of Pittsburg, and the mother of three children, Edmund, David and Aida ; and David A., a patriotic soldier who gave his life for his country during the World War. He served in France with the American Expeditionary Force, as a private in Company G, Regiment No. 362, United States In- fantry, and was killed in action at Gesnes in the Argonne. Three years later his body was returned by the Government to Pittsburg, and was buried with military honors at Colma, San Mateo County. David A. Solari was the only soldier from Pittsburg that was killed in battle, and as a tribute to his memory the American Legion Post at Pittsburg bears his name. He was Pittsburg's pioneer moving picture theater owner, and was associated with his brother-in-law Salvatore Enea in that business. They established a circuit of theaters which include The Palace at Pittsburg, The Strand in Stockton, one at Napa, and one at Hayward.

Mrs. Rosa Solari is a noble, generous-hearted woman, and has accom- plished what few women could have accomplished under the circumstances ; she successfully managed a business and at the same time reared and educated her family. Her sterling personal characteristics, accompanied by thrift and executive and financial ability, aided her in overcoming the obstacles that beset her pathway in life after the death of her husband, and today she is accorded well-merited praise from her many friends for the accomplishment of so noble a task.

DAVID EDWARDS .- The representative of his pioneer father, David Edwards, of Crockett, is worthy of the respect and esteem of the citizens of this community for the part he has taken since reaching man- hood's estate. He is the fifth son in the family of Thomas and Mary (Pugh) Edwards, who are mentioned at length on another page of this history, and was born at Knight's Ferry, Stanislaus County, on December 29, 1852. He received his early education in San Francisco and was honor boy in his class of thirty-three, his brother Thomas standing second; Alex- ander Morrison, who later became a leading attorney in San Francisco, was third. David also graduated from the Pacific Business College in June, 1873.

After finishing school work, David Edwards came back to the ranch operated by his father and which had been leased from Judge Crockett, and he remained on the ranch until the town of Crockett was started. His first employment was with the Port Costa Lumber Company, their yards being located at the place selected for the abutment of the new toll bridge. At that time the waters of the bay were clear and fresh and wooden piles would last twenty years; now the toreda destroy them in one year as there

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is not enough fresh water to kill them off, for they cannot live in fresh water. Mr. Edwards is in favor of the project of building a dam to keep back the tidewater so the waters of the rivers can come closer to the bay shores. Upon leaving the employ of the lumber company, Mr. Ed- wards took up work with Wells Fargo and Company Express in 1906 and ever since he has been in the express service and is now with the American Railway Express. He well remembers when the railroad was built through here in 1876, also when Mr. Starr built his flouring mill, and knows flourmilling was profitable until the wheat crop ran out and George W. McNear bought the mill, which site was later purchased by the California and Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company. Many changes have taken place since those early days and during these changes Mr. Ed- wards has watched them with a great deal of interest, and has helped all worthy projects for the best interests of the people. He has many friends who esteem him for his worth as a friend and citizen.

David Edwards has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Livia Labaree of Danville, Contra Costa County, and they were married at Hollister on December 8, 1886, the ceremony being performed by Rev. R. L. Symington, who came from Missouri and was preaching at Danville and elsewhere. Mrs. Edwards's father was the first doctor to locate in this county, having come from Kokomo, Ind., with his family. She was a very popular woman and had many friends. She was a sister of Mrs. S. D. Bishop and sister-in-law of Mrs. Alice Labaree, teacher in John Swett Union High School. The second marriage united Mr. Edwards with Mrs. Annie J. Evans, and took place in Porterville in 1912. She came from Pittsburgh, Pa. Upon her advice, her niece, Mrs. Elizabeth M. Thomas, came to Crockett. She was prominent in fraternal and club life, and died in July, 1922. Mr. Edwards was the first deacon of the Congregational Church, serving for twenty years, and took an active and sincere interest in church work. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, and for many years was treasurer of the Crockett Lodge; he is a member of Golden Gate En- campment in San Francisco; and belongs to the Franklin Hospital Society, a benefit organization in San Francisco.

ALBERT WILLIAM GLASS .- One of the native sons of Cali- fornia, and a man who takes a great deal of interest in the cultivation of his fine 180-acre ranch located in the San Ramon Valley, is Albert William Glass, a breeder of fine Shropshire sheep, Holstein cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs, and at one time an extensive breeder of fine horses. Born in a tent near Walnut Creek, on February 25, 1852, he is a son of David and Eliza Jane (Hall) Glass, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Ohio. In 1851 the family crossed the plains to Cali- fornia and settled at Marysville, where the father at first engaged in mining as a means of livelihood. Coming to Walnut Creek, he farmed for several years and then purchased 820 acres of the Amador Grant. 'This ranch was three miles long; and there the parents lived and died,

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the father on September 9, 1898, and the mother on December 12, 1899. They had nine children, viz .: Albert W., of this review; Mrs. Clara I. Ivory, deceased; Laura, Mrs. Fred B. Wood, of Oakland; Percy; Anita I., deceased; Loretta I., unmarried; Frank L., of Martinez; Fred L., de- ceased; and Rolla Clement, deceased.

Albert W. Glass received his education at McClure's Military Acad- emy in Oakland. His first farming experience was obtained in Sycamore Valley, where he farmed 400 acres of land for about twelve years. Then he bought 180 acres of the old homestead, which is his present home place; and besides this, he leases land and raises grain and stock.

On June 25, 1889, A. W. Glass married Miss Lillie B. Feidler of Oakland, daughter of Nathan and May (Fleming) Feidler. Nathan Feidler died in Texas in January, 1906; and Mrs. Feidler passed away on September 7, 1900. Of their five children, Mrs. Glass is the only one living. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Glass three children were born. Harry Clifford, an abstractor in Martinez, is married and is the father of three children: Donald A., Harry C., Jr., and Leland Fair- child. Claude L., an orchardist in the San Ramon Valley, is married and is the parent of a daughter, C. Lucille. Arthur D. died when he was twenty-one years old. Mr. Glass has been a trustee of the San Ramon school district for many years. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World and to the Native Sons of the Golden West; formerly he was an active member of the Grange.

VOLNEY TAYLOR .- In a history devoted to the biographies and personalities of the pioneers of Contra Costa County there is none of them more worthy of mention than the late Volney Taylor. He was born June 20, 1851, in the Province of Quebec, Canada, a son of Alexander T. and Louisa (Bruce) Taylor, the former a native of Bolton, Canada, born September 15, 1821; the latter was a native of Vermont. Alexander Tay- lor, at the age of twenty-three, rented a farm in Canada which he after- wards purchased and operated eleven years. Selling his land he left Can- ada with his family and journeyed to New York City, from where he sailed on November 6, 1866, for California by the way of the Isthmus of Panama, and just one month later they landed safely in San Francisco. He later located near Vallejo, in Solano County. The family consisted of four children : Valeria, Avyette, Alexander V., and Volney the subject of this sketch. In 1868 the family moved into Contra Costa County, where Alexander Taylor bought 320 acres of land near Point of Timber, where he followed farming for years. He passed away in 1912.

Volney Taylor received his early education in the public school at Vallejo, which he supplemented by a course in the Pacific Business Col- lege at San Francisco, from which he was graduated in 1872. After leaving school he engaged in farming, later purchased his father's ranch at Point of Timber, and still later bought two other ranches, making in all a total of about 800 acres. He devoted his land to raising grain and

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alfalfa, being one of the first to specialize in the production of alfalfa. Mr. Taylor was one of the original promoters of the Byron-Bethany Irri- gation District. After bringing much of this land under a high state of cultivation he subdivided much of his own land and in 1896 moved to Oakland, but still retained his ownership of the old home place of 200 acres. In the fall of 1923 Volney Taylor, a man beloved by a legion of friends, passed away. His life's ambition had been to do good and many are the persons who have cause to remember his friendship and benevo- lence. His charities were many, yet never given as such, but always ex- tended in that quiet and unostentatious way so characteristic of this truly good man. The marriage of Volney Taylor occurred in October, 1878, when he was united with Agnes E. Andrews, a native of Illinois. This union was blessed with one son, Everett B. Taylor, now a resident of San Francisco.

WILLIAM H. SANFORD .- Among the men who helped to de- velop Richmond and Martinez, in Contra Costa County, was the late William H. Sanford, who passed to his reward on September 13, 1925, after a busy and eventful career. He was born at Springfield, Tenn., February 3, in 1860, a son of George and Mary (Browning) Sanford. Grandfather Browning was a slave owner in the South before the Civil War; and George Sanford was the owner of a large plantation in Tennes- see upon which he grew tobacco and cotton. Both parents are deceased.

William H. Sanford received his education in the public schools and in college. He was always interested in agriculture and made a careful study of soil and climate. He studied for the law and was admitted to practice, but gave it up to enter the nursery business, which he followed in Missouri and Kansas for eight years. He came west and engaged in the real estate business in Washington, Oregon and other States. Arriving in California in 1891, he located in Los Angeles and engaged in the ad- vertising business for a time, and also was in the employ of the Pacific States Savings & Loan Company for seven years, traveling for this con- cern and advertising their advantages. In 1905 Mr. Sanford came to Richmond, Cal., became a partner in the New Richmond Land Company, and helped to lay out and develop the present city of Richmond, soon selling off the company's holdings. To induce settlers to come here and invest their money, he and Mrs. Sanford started on a tour of the United States and Canada, even going into Mexico. On this tour they gave lectures with illustrated moving pictures showing the wonders of the State of California, her mining industry, her timber, and many of her leading industries, especially featuring Contra Costa County. They also featured songs of California, and by this means of special advertising did more than any other agency to bring in money and people to help build up Contra Costa County. One of the important real estate pro- jects was the opening of Shell Heights in Martinez, in 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Sanford were instrumental in bringing to Richmond the Certainteed

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Roofing Company and the Pullman Car Shops, and many other firms and corporations located within the boundaries of this county through the influence of their advertising and personal solicitation. Mr. Sanford was very much interested in seeing Richmond grow, and in every way showed his public spirit in forwarding that end. Since his death Mrs. Sanford ably carries on the business in accordance with his sound policies.

William H. Sanford was united in marriage at La Veta, Colo., on December 11, 1887, with Miss Jennie El Maud Richardson, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Leroy and Eleanor Richardson. Her father was a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served as a Union soldier. He was an architect and builder, and after the Chicago fire in 1871 he went there and helped to rebuild the city. From there he went into Kansas and experienced some of the pioneer life in that State, and he was also in Colorado in the early days. He came to Los Angeles during its early boom years and witnessed much of the growth of the southern part of the State. Both he and his wife have passed away. Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sanford four children were born. Mrs. Grace Sanford Hanush was born in La Veta, Colo., and educated in the schools of California ; she now lives in Oakland. Mrs. Charles S. Holmes was born in Bellingham, Wash .; she is a musician and resides in Berkeley. Mr. Holmes is connected with the Western Union Telegraph Company at Oakland. William H. Sanford, Jr., was born in Los Angeles and edu- cated in the Richmond schools; he is a display artist in San Francisco. Miss Azalea E. Sanford was born at Redding, Cal., and is associated in business with her mother at 2221 Macdonald Avenue, Richmond; she belongs to Acantha Chapter No. 249, O. E. S. Mr. Sanford was a life member of Richmond Lodge No. 1251, B. P. O. E .; held membership in the Odd Fellows in Bellingham, Wash., and belonged to Alpha Lodge of Masons in Richmond. He was a member of the Industrial Com- mission of Richmond and the Chamber of Commerce. In politics he was a Republican. Mrs. Sanford belongs to the Eastern Star, and Amaranth Court in Richmond. She is a member of the Richmond Realty Board, the State Realty Board, and the National Realty Association. She

organized one of the first Parent Teachers' Associations in the State in Shasta County, and served as its president. She enjoys the great. out-of- doors and finds pleasure in clean sports. As a business woman she has shown her ability to handle difficult problems, and takes an active interest in all civic movements in Richmond. In politics she also is a Republican. She attends the Methodist Church.

C. J. O'NEILL .- The pioneer merchant of Port Costa, C. J. O'Neill, has been here since 1883 as proprietor `of the leading grocery store, and he has ever since that early date been an active factor in the growth and development of Port Costa City and Contra Costa County. A native Californian, he was born at San Francisco on February 19, 1857, the son of John O'Neill, who was a native of Ireland and came to Cali-

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fornia via the Isthmus of Panama in 1850, and was married in San Fran- cisco to Ellen Cunningham. She also was a native of the Emerald Isle, a woman of motherly qualities and great worth, who lived to be eighty- seven years old. The father was a house painter and grainer, and young C. J. O'Neill's first work was done in assisting his father on painting jobs.

The oldest of eight children born to his parents, C. J. O'Neill's early years were spent in San Jose, where the family moved from San Fran- cisco, and when he was eight years old they moved to Vallejo; so he attended the public schools in both cities. In May, 1883, Mr. O'Neill came to Port Costa, and shortly thereafter embarked in the grocery busi- ness. In the beginning he continued to take occasional painting contracts, but after several months he confined his entire attention to the store, and his painstaking methods and courteous attention to the wants of his cus- tomers built up for the Pioneer Grocery a successful business and won the trade of a large number of satisfied patrons.

The marriage of Mr. O'Neill, at Port Costa in 1909, united him with Miss Josephine Drechsler, a native of Texas and a daughter of Wolfgang and Teressa (Sadler) Drechsler, natives of Germany. This union has been blessed with the birth of three children: John F., Cornelius, and Elsa. In his business Mr. O'Neill is ably assisted by his wife, who for many years was a teacher in the Port Costa school. She holds a life diploma and is a woman of unusual character and ability. She was a member of the first class to graduate from the Port Costa school, and her studies there were supplemented by a course in Gilson's private school in Oakland, after which she obtained her certificate to teach and for eleven years was connected with the Port Costa school. She is a trustee of the John Swett Union High School at Crockett. The family are members of the Catholic Church.

Interested since his first settling here in the further advancement of his home city and environs, Mr. O'Neill has always given his support to the correct public policies and to the men best fitted to carry them out. Though given opportunity on several different occasions to become a can- didate for public office, he has declined in favor of giving his undivided attention to business affairs, but has done his share by working for civic betterment as a private citizen. He is a member of the Contra Costa County Grocers' Association.

ANDREW C. GEHRINGER .- The ideals which enter into the making of a true Californian and the high type of American citizenry are found harmoniously blended in Andrew C. Gehringer, who resides on his well-cared-for ranch near Concord. Mr. Gehringer comes from one of the earliest of the pioneer families, has lived an industrious and useful life, and reared a family of children who are following occupations that con- tribute greatly to the civic welfare; and, in addition, he has not neglected to give much of his own time and thought to those things which are es-

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sential to community development. His father was a native of the prov- ince of Wurtemburg, Germany, where he was born on January 12, 1823, and christened Andrew George Gehringer. He was a weaver by trade, but in his early youth he heard such glowing reports of the land of op- portunity and freedom across the seas that he emigrated to the United States in the early forties. After he landed in New York he worked for a time in a stone quarry; and he hauled the massive slab of stone, forty feet long and six feet wide, which was placed in front of the state house in Albany. It had been a difficult matter to get a man to undertake the contract of handling this stone, but the sturdy young German accomp- lished it safely. Later he joined the National Guard of New York, 1st Infantry, Company H, which left Albany on July 31, 1846, for active duty in California during the Mexican War. He was standing guard duty in the Presidio in San Francisco when gold, discovered in California in 1848, was brought in to be assayed and proved to be twenty-three- carat gold. At the conclusion of the Mexican War he was given a land warrant calling for 160 acres of land. For a time he did some mining at Dutch Flat, which was so named in his honor. Later he settled in Santa Clara Valley, where he remained until 1863, at which time he came to Contra Costa County, locating near Pacheco. Concord was not in ex- istence at that time. He purchased land from the Pacheco Grant and carried mail from Sacramento to Sausalito. Andrew George Gehringer was twice married, the second marriage occurring in 1860, to Mrs. Henrietta (Rengstorff) Ballmann. Of this union two children were born: Andrew C., the subject of this sketch, and his sister Lena, now Mrs. J. McKean of Concord.

Andrew C. Gehringer was born in Santa Clara, November 29, 1862, and was an infant when his father removed to Contra Costa County. His education was received in the local grammar school. He assisted his father as a boy and, at the age of seventeen, commenced to work for his brother. At the age of twenty-one he leased his father's farm and began work on his own responsibility. In 1895 he bought 100 acres of land and erected the home in which he is now living and where his family has been reared. Meantime he continued to look after his father's farm until the latter's death, which occurred on April 19, 1896. After his father's death more land was added to his possessions, and today he is owner of 200 acres devoted to various kinds of farm products, stock and fruit. His principal crops are grain, hay and nuts. He has been a di- rector in the First National Bank of Concord (now the American Bank, Concord Branch), trustee of the high school, and foreman of the grand jury, and has fulfilled other important civic duties pertaining to the gen- eral community welfare. He is a member of the Farm Bureau, in which he has served as an officer, and is also a member of the Native Sons of the Golden West and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

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Mr. Gehringer was married on November 27, 1887, to Miss Marie L. Denkinger, daughter of John and Emily Denkinger, both deceased, of whose four children Mrs. Gehringer is the only survivor. To Mr. and Mrs. Gehringer five children were born : Linda G., now Mrs. F. L. Dodd of Berkeley; Carl G., who is married and who is a school teacher at Oakley and lives with his father; Elaine L., now Mrs. P. Olivera of Con- cord; Hilda T., at home; and Andrew Narbert, attending the University of California. The high scholastic ability of this family is shown by the fact that all are teachers. Mr. and Mrs. Dodd conduct the Western Normal in Berkeley, a school for certified teachers. Mr. Gehringer likes to fish and hunt, and occasionally attends ball games. He occasionally speaks in public meetings, and an article which he wrote on the subject of water conservation appeared in "The Orchard and Farm," and won a prize. The contest was a discussion of the most important topic con- cerned in the welfare of the community. Mr. Gehringer believes the most important question of today is the conservation and replenishing of the underground water supply. The water level in the valley, for example, has lowered twenty-five feet in the past twenty-seven years, which is a smaller decrease than is found in many other places. He believes that the ideals of the present generation could be improved by the elimination of selfishness and a consistent regard for the welfare of humanity at large. Mr. and Mrs. Gehringer are members of the Christian Church. He is independent in politics.

PATRICK FLEMING .- Among the earliest settlers in what is now the Richmond district was Patrick Fleming, for he settled here with his mother in 1858. He was born in County Kildare, Ireland, in 1830, and came to the United States when about twenty-eight. His father having died, he was accompanied by his mother and they stopped in Boston six months, then came around the Horn to San Francisco, where an older sister, the wife of a Captain Bloomfield, had already located. Their stay was short in the metropolis and Mr. Fleming came to Contra Costa Coun- ty and established a home in Potrero Gap and there engaged in ranching. He often stated that he could have bought the whole of what was later known as Point Richmond for $200, but he could not see the value and so hid his coin in a can and buried it, later to have his hogs root it up. His mother died at the age of ninety-four.

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History of Contra Costa County, California; with biographical sketches 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

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P Publication date: 1926 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1118

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1926
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1118