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 71
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JOHN .A. BELL .- An important place among the substantial citizens of Richmond is justly accorded to John A. Bell, who came here almost a quarter of a century ago and whose strongest interests and associations are centered in this city. He was born in Franklin, Pa., on December 10, 1882, a son of Allen and Anna Elizabeth (Allen) Bell, natives of Canada and Wisconsin, respectively. The father came to Franklin, Pa., shortly after the Civil War, and there the family of three sons were born, two of whom died while still young.
John A. Bell received a grammar school education and then went to business college in Pittsburgh, Pa., After finishing school he worked for several firms as salesman. In 1903 he came to California and settled in
Frank Listek
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Richmond, where he became an employe of the Standard Oil Company; he worked in several departments, and his promotions have been steady until he now fills the position of foreman of the Inspection Department.
On March 24, 1913, Mr. Bell was married to Miss Irma Adams, a daughter of William and Lydia (Pitzer) Adams. William Adams was a pioneer in Merced, Cal., where he was in the contracting business. Mrs. Bell has one brother living at El Cerrito. Mr. and Mrs. Bell are the parents of one son, Russell Allen. Mrs. Bell is an active member of the Parent-Teachers' Association in Richmond, and with her husband is a member of the Methodist Church. During 1916-1917 Mr. Bell was Exalted Ruler of the Elks in Richmond. He is a charter member of the Gun Club, his number being 11; the club now has a thousand members.
FRANK LISTEK .- A valued employe of the Columbia Steel Cor- poration in Pittsburg, Cal., Frank Listek enjoys the confidence of those whom he serves. He comes from a family of steel puddlers in Austria, where he was born at Vienna, on October 1, 1873. His father was Ru- dolph Listek, a steel puddler, and his mother was Elouise Listek. The family moved to Wilkowitz, Mororya, Austria, when Frank was a lad of six years, and it was there he received his education, attending the Gewerbe school, a technical school where he learned drafting. After he had com- pleted his term he was apprenticed as a steel roller for two years. When seventeen he became a roll turner, at which he worked a year, and then began traveling about the country as a journeyman. He put in three years, from twenty-one until he was twenty-four, as a soldier in the Aus- trian army, after which he went back to the Wilkowitz steel works, where 26,000 men were employed during the day, and the same number at night.
It was while he was living in Wilkowitz that Mr. Listek was married, on February 13, 1898, to Bertha Kojetinsky, who was born in Silesia, of Polish parents, but who attended the German schools. After their mar- riage the Listeks remained in their home city for about four years, and then emigrated to Old Mexico, where Mr. Listek was employed at the Fumdidora de Fiero y Ocero de Monterey Nuer Leon, Mexico City. Being a very competent designer, he worked there from 1902 until 1906. He has a record of 500 tons in eight hours, and came nearly getting dis- charged because he did not do more. His old grandfather had a record in the old country of making four rails in twelve hours, for which he was treated to cigars and drinks free. Quite a contrast to these modern times.
When the Mexican revolution was at its height most of the Americans were forced to flee the country, and Mr. Listek with the rest of them. He had met N. A. Becker in Mexico City, where Mr. Becker was en- gaged in building mills, and he at once recognized a superior workman in Mr. Listek. When he had to leave Mexico he decided to come to Cali- fornia and join Mr. Becker. Accordingly he came to San Francisco, Feb- ruary 27, 1916, and entered the employ of Mr. Becker as a roll turner. Eleven months later he was made roll designer, continuing in South San
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Francisco for eleven months. When Mr. Becker came to Pittsburg in 1919, Mr. Listek joined him and helped to build the roller and rod mill, and ever since he has found employment in this great steel manufacturing plant, where he is highly esteemed by his fellow workers. His work is exacting and requires much skill. He designs the rolls for rolling steel bars, rods, etc., produced in this mill.
Of the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Listek nine children have been born, of whom five are now living, viz .: Josephine, the wife of John Mor- etti, a machinist in the San Francisco Steel Works, and the mother of two children, George and Albert; Frank, a roll turner with the Columbia Steel Corporation, who married Henrietta Diaz; Irene, the wife of Man- uel Weidel, a bank clerk in the Bank of Newman at Crows Landing; and Elsie and Emma, who are attending the grammar school in Pittsburg. Mrs. Listek and the children had a harrowing experience while in Mexico, and suffered many privations. They were unable to join Mr. Listek when he left there, but as soon as possible they came to San Francisco. There the family resided for sixteen months, and then moved to Pittsburg, where they are residing at 129 West 10th Street.
HENRY HOLLMAN .- For more than half a century a resident of California, Henry Hollman is now living retired on the competence gained through many years of hard work; his residence is located at 525 South Sixteenth Street, Richmond, Cal. He has always been an honorable and well-disposed citizen, and as a consequence has won the regard and re- spect of his neighbors and friends. A son of William Hollman, he was born on October 10, 1852, in Hanover, Germany. His grandfather, John Hollman, was an Englishman, and lived at the time of the Napoleonic wars. William Hollman married Anna Bohling, also of German birth and parentage; her people were farmers in Germany. There were four sons in this family, one of whom died while still young.
Henry Hollman received a common-school education in Germany and there learned the trade of the groceryman. On May 7, 1870, he came to America and settled in New York, where he was in the grocery business for four years. He left New York via the Isthmus of Panama for Cali- fornia in 1874, and soon found employment as a clerk and a representa- tive of wholesale houses in San Francisco, where he remained for three years. In 1880 he opened a grocery store for himself which he operated for the next fourteen years. In 1894 he went to Vallejo, and there he
operated a hotel and liquor business, to which he gave his best efforts for eighteen years. In 1912 he removed to Oakland, where he purchased and operated the Pioneer Wine Depot and was in this business until the 18th Amendment was passed, when he retired and lived for a time afterward in Oakland. He purchased property in Richmond and erected buildings for rent; and for some time he has made his residence in this city.
Mr. Hollman was married the first time in 1879 to Adella Rhodes, a native of San Francisco. The following children were born to them:
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Adella May, now Mrs. E. Thomas, of San Francisco; Laura, now Mrs. John Costello, of San Francisco, and the mother of three children; Lillie, Mrs. James Pygeorge, who has two children and resides in Alameda; Alice, Mrs. V. Berg, residing in San Francisco; Henry W .; and Alfred Richard, who was in the transport service during the war. Mrs. Hollman passed away in 1905. On February 28, 1908, Mr. Hollman married Mrs. Minnie Kohler, a native of Oakland. She is the daughter of Charles and Dorothea (Apel) Loyn, both natives of Hamburg, Germany. Mrs. Hollman's mother came around the Horn in 1849 on the first German sailing ship Johanes. She built the first brick house in Oakland at the corner of Second Street and Broadway. Charles Loyn built and operated the first brewery in Oakland, which was called the Washington Brewery. He also erected the Loyn Building in Hayward. Mrs. Hollman had four children by her first husband: Olga, Mrs. William Quigley, living in Oak- land; Harriet, Mrs. C. Sobrero, who has four children; Frank, battalion chief of the Oakland fire department; and Jack, in business in Los Angeles. Mr. Hollman is Past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and a member of the Red Men and Sons of Herman. He is past president of the Retail Grocers' Association of San Francisco. Mr. Hollman spends much of his leisure time in gardening and raising chickens, and is a great lover of all animals.
FRANKLIN P. GRIMSLEY .- Having followed merchandising, and especially the selling of furniture, all of his adult life, and even beginning when but a small boy to learn the merchandising business, it is not sur- prising that Franklin P. Grimsley has made a success of his furnishing es- tablishment in Richmond. He knows values, and his many years in the business have given him a knowledge of house furnishings which is unique, and which is at the service of his many patrons in Contra Costa County. A native of the Blue Grass State, Mr. Grimsley was born in Lawrence County, Ky., on August 11, 1873. His parents died when he was a baby, and he was obliged to shift for himself at an early age. Raised in the mountains of Kentucky, his schooling was of the log-cabin variety of that period, and was mostly gained in Boyd County, and his early environment built up a sturdy and self-reliant character that has stood him in good stead in later life.
His first place of business was a small country general store in Law- rence County, Ky., and later he ran the same type of store in Carter County, that State. His next step was taken when he conducted a produce business in Ashland, Ky. In June, 1908, Mr. Grimsley arrived in Cali- fornia, first locating on a ranch in Kings County, near Lemoore. After one year on the ranch, he moved into Lemoore and worked as a clerk in stores there for four years. Coming to Berkeley in 1913, he met B. B. McGinnis, and was interested with him in his Merced Store for about four years. Returning to Berkeley with $800 capital, Mr. Grimsley established a second-hand furniture store in South Berkeley. On June 15, 1917, he
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arrived in Richmond, and was with the LaSalle Company for a time. Leaving that concern, in March, 1922, he established the Richmond Fur- niture Company. Selling out his interest in that business, he then estab- lished the Richmond Furnishing Company, in March, 1923, in a new building built expressly for the purpose, at 320 Ninth Street. Here he specializes in a credit business, and has met with unqualified success. The establishment is the newest and most modern furniture store in Richmond, fully and completely stocked with home furnishings, and is decidedly a growing concern, under capable and up-to-the-minute management.
Mr. Grimsley married Alberta Patterson, also a Kentuckian, born in Ashland, and two daughters have blessed their union, Mary Catherine and Sarah Lucile. Fraternally, Mr. Grimsley is a member of Willard ' Lodge No. 626, F. & A. M., of Willard, Ky., and both he and Mrs. Grims- ley are members of the Richmond Chapter of the Eastern Star. Mrs. Grimsley is a very efficient business woman, and an able assistant to her husband in carrying on his establishment.
COL. M. M. GARRETT .- One of the prettiest country places to be found in Contra Costa County is the home of Colonel Manuel Mordecai Garrett, where this veteran of four wars has retired to lead the quiet life necessary for his complete recuperation from the military campaigns in which he has taken an active part. Colonel Garrett was born in Boone- ville, Mo., on July 26, 1878, a son of John Smith Garrett, who was born September 2, 1833, in Frankfort, Ky. The grandfather, Robert Garrett, was born in Baltimore, Md., in 1786, and the great-grandfather was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, where his father, Robert Garrett, was an agriculturist. Colonel Garrett's father and all of his brothers were mem- bers of the Confederate Army during the Civil War, the father serving as a lieutenant under Colonel Mccullough. He was captured at Wilson Creek, near Springfield, Mo., and was placed on parole by General Lyons and so remained throughout the period of the war. Mary Schroeder Garrett, mother of John Smith Garrett, was of Dutch descent and was born in Harrodsburg, Ky. His wife was Rachel Clover of Belleville, Ill., daughter of James and Mary (Lane) Clover, natives of Ireland and England, respectively. John Smith Garrett remained in Missouri, locat- ing in Cooper County, where he purchased land, engaged in agriculture, and reared a family. He died in 1892. There were seven children in the family, five of whom are still living.
Colonel Garrett was educated in the public schools and at Cooper Institute of Booneville. Leaving his studies to enlist in the 6th Missouri Volunteers for service in the Spanish-American War, on May 17, 1898, he was mustered into the Federal service on July 23, of that year, and re- mained in the 6th Missouri Volunteers till January 26, 1899, at which time he was discharged therefrom and enlisted in the 16th Infantry on February 1, 1899. He served with the 16th Infantry throughout the Philippine campaign, returning home in March, 1902, when he enlisted in the Coast
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Artillery. He was commissioned second lieutenant of the infantry on Oc- tober 9, 1903, and this was followed by regular promotions of various grades up to captain. He was then transferred to the Quartermaster's Corps in May, 1916, and detailed as paymaster on the Pershing expedi- tion of 1916 to Mexico, serving with the Pershing staff until the return in March, 1917. He was then transferred to El Paso, Texas, as con- struction quartermaster, and upon the entrance of the United States into the World War was ordered to Camp Custer, Mich., for duty in the con- struction of the divisional cantonment. Upon the arrival of troops at Camp Custer he was detailed as camp quartermaster in addition to con- struction quartermaster, serving in both capacities until the completion of the camp. On August 5, 1917, he received a commission as Major of the Quartermaster Corps. Early in 1918 he was ordered to Newport News, Va., to relieve the congestion of that port, and was detailed to become Expeditionary Quartermaster. While here he received the commission of Lieutenant-Colonel and was ordered to sail for France. Upon his arrival in France he was ordered to duty at Le Havre, where he was made Base Quartermaster, Section No. 4 (Normandy Section). He remained at this station until his health failed as the result of his strenuous duties and he was ordered to the base hospital at Le Havre, and was sent back to the United States for an operation and retired on July 26, 1920, on account of disability incurred in line of duty.
Due to outdoor and country life, Colonel Garrett has practically re- covered from his disability. In 1921 he entered the real estate business ; but, on account of the state of his health at that time, he was forced to give it up and come to the country. He located in Happy Valley, near Lafay- ette, where he conducts a ranch in connection with his real estate and in- surance business. His real estate transactions involve everything from large ranches to small home lots. His own ranch of 100 acres in Happy Valley is devoted to the growing of walnuts and pears and is one of the show places of that section. He is president of the Contra Costa County Farm Bureau, is a member of the Army & Navy Club of San Francisco, belongs to the American Legion, and is a member of the County Central Republican Committee. Colonel Garrett is a gifted speaker and a born leader of men. He also does some writing for various publications.
On August 26, 1906, Colonel Garrett married Miss Edith Spalding, of Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands. She is the daughter of E. I. Spalding, a banker and sugar man of the Islands, and his wife, Marie Kaler (Long) Spalding, formerly of Vallejo. Mrs. Garrett is a graduate of Oahu Col- lege and is a gifted musician. She is fond of flowers and gardening, and during her college days was a champion tennis player. Colonel and Mrs. Garrett are the parents of two children : Edith Marie, now attending the Anna Head School, a private institution in Berkeley, and Robert Spalding, a sophomore in Danville High School. Colonel Garrett is interested in all forms of athletics, and in his younger days was a wrestler and boxer.
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ACHILLE CAVAGNOLO .- One of the most enterprising and suc- cessful bakers of Contra Costa County is Achille Cavagnolo, of Pitts- burg, proprietor of the French-Italian Bakery located on East Seventh Street. Beginning on a small scale, he has gradually built up one of the best businesses of its kind in the county and does a strictly wholesale bakery business. He was born on May 22, 1886, at Rosignano, Monfer- rao, Italy, the son of Louis and Caroline Cavagnolo, the latter still living. The father has passed away.
Achille Cavagnolo spent his boyhood and youth in Italy, and after he had completed his schooling he learned the art of making cement decorations. Being ambitious to achieve success in life, he realized that America offered better and greater opportunities for honest, energetic and courageous young men, and in 1909 he sailed from Genoa for New York City, landing on June 3, that same year. His destination was San Francisco and he continued his journey westward and arrived on June 10. His brother Emelio had preceded him to California by about three years and was engaged in the pastry business in San Francisco. Achille found employment as shipping clerk for Swift & Company from 1909 to 1914. Then he engaged in business as a window cleaner and carried on that enter- prise until 1918, when he sold out and came to Pittsburg and purchased the nucleus of his present business. It was not long before he had begun to make himself known to the public and to create a good demand for his var- ious kinds of American, French and Italian breads, pies and pastries. The success of his business venture was made more apparent when he purchased real estate on East Seventh Street, in 1921. Here he built a store room, with living quarters, and also an up-to-date sanitary bakery on the rear of the lot; and here he operates his model bakery under strict sanitary condi- tions. Because of the use of the best ingredients in his bakery goods, and his courteous treatment of customers, his business continues to grow.
In San Francisco, on September 20, 1912, Mr. Cavagnolo was united in marriage with Miss Inez Carbonelli, a native of Frassmoro, Modena, Italy, where her parents still reside. This union has been blessed with two children : Lillian and Evelyn. Fraternally, Mr. Cavagnolo is a mem- ber of the Loyal Order of Moose and the Foresters. He belongs to the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce and to the Lions Club.
WILLIAM G. MAYER .- One of the flourishing business enterprises of Richmond is the cleaning and dyeing establishment of William G. Mayer, one of the most substantial citizens of the community. Mr. Mayer was born in San Jose, on March 12, 1876, the son of B. E. and Dolores (Castanea) Mayer. B. E. Mayer was a shoemaker and a native of Germany. There were five children in the family, four boys and one girl, two of whom are now living in San Francisco and one in Redwood City, and one is deceased.
William G. Mayer received his early education in the grammar school of San Jose, and at the age of fifteen he started to work as salesman in
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his father's shoe store, which position he held for five years. His next venture was as a traveling salesman for the wholesale house of Cohn, Nicklesburg & Company of San Francisco, in whose employ he was for two years. Following this he went into business with his brothers in San Jose, where he remained until the time of the earthquake on April 18, 1906. The business was then discontinued, and he came to Richmond in 1909 and established his cleaning and dyeing business, which is now housed in a commodious building, which he owns. Twelve people are kept con- stantly employed, and the whole city and surrounding territory are cov- ered by his wagons. The Glover system of cleaning, consisting of a con- tinuous flow of chemicals, is used. Mr. Mayer also has other business interests in the city and is financially interested in a hog ranch, located on the San Pablo Dam road, where nine people are employed and 3000 to 3500 head of hogs are fed. He is a member of the Moose Lodge, in which he has been much interested for a long time, and also of the Red Men and the Native Sons of the Golden West. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Merchants' Association of Richmond.
Mr. Mayer was married on June 9, 1904, to Miss Katherine Malovos, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Father Kenna, president of the Santa Clara University. Her father, Andrea Malovos, was an orchard- ist; and the mother, Maria J. (Alviso) Malovos, was one of the family for which the town of Alviso was named. Mrs. Mayer's mother and fa- ther are both now deceased. She is one of a family of twelve children. To Mr. and Mrs. Mayer four children have been born: William G. Jr., Lloyd Richard, and Marie Kathryn, all in high school; and Robert An- thony, in the junior high school.
JAMES W. HAMMOND, M. D .- Among the professional men of Contra Costa County, none is more in touch with the general spirit of progress in the West than James W. Hammond of Byron, widely known as a proficient exponent of the best principles of medical science and a conscientious physician and surgeon devoted to the amelioration of human suffering. To have practiced in one of the best communities of the State for more than a quarter of a century is an honor accorded to but few doc- tors in California, yet this is the honor enjoyed by Doctor Hammond. During the number of years he has pursued the practice of his profession in Byron, he has been known, not only for his skill and assiduity as a phy- sician, but also for his culture, genial manners and optimistic spirit, which have made him one of the most beloved and highly esteemed citizens of the community.
Doctor Hammond is a native of Rock County, Wis., born September 8, 1856, a son of W. P. and Emily (Barrett) Hammond, the former a native of Connecticut, the latter of New York State. When James W. was but four years of age his parents migrated to California, settling at Napa where the father opened a shop as an expert cabinet maker, gun- smith and mechanic. He died at the age of seventy-six; the mother
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died when she was fifty-six. They were the parents of five children: James W., Oliver P., Harry, the well known editor and publisher of the Byron Times; Mrs. Lydia Turner of Long Beach, Cal .; and Fred, who died at the age of one year. Doctor Hammond graduated from the Cali- fornia Medical College at San Francisco, in 1897, and for some time prac- ticed in that city before moving to Byron in 1898, where he has continu- ously followed his chosen profession. He is a prominent leader in the Seventh Day Adventist Church, at Byron, being one of the founders and builders of the attractive church edifice situated on the highway.
In 1894 J. W. Hammond was united in marriage with Miss Ida Hiser- man, born in Salinas, Cal., and they are the parents of two children: William, now living at Stockton; and Mervyn. Doctor Hammond is a member of the San Francisco Society of the College of Physicians & Sur- geons, and is affiliated with the Morton Hospital of that city; is medical examiner for several fraternal insurance and social organizations, and is the resident physician for the Southern Pacific Company at Byron. He holds membership in the State Medical Society and the National Medical Association. The name of Dr. James W. Hammond will be long and hon- orably associated with the history of Contra Costa County.
ALBERT C. TRETTE .- One of the prominent residents of Clay- ton is Albert C. Trette, assistant operator at the "Edelaine" plant of the Associated Oil Company at Avon. Mr. Trette's duties are of an exacting nature calling for great mechanical skill and scientific technical knowledge, hence it is a position of considerable responsibility. It is in this plant that "Burn-brite" kerosene is manufactured according to a recently adopted German formula which gives a product making a bright, clear light when used for illumination, and intense heat, free from odor, when used in oil heating stoves or ranges. Mr. Trette takes the delight of a true crafts- man in his work and is a fine example of the right man in the right place.
He comes from a long line of machinists and mechanical experts. His father, Charles Henry Trette, conducted the village smithy in Clayton for thirty-four years and was noted throughout the county for his mechanical skill. He is still living and conducts an apartment house at Piedmont, a suburb of Oakland. Charles H. Trette was born in Germany and came to America while a young man. He married Emma Jane Robinson, a native daughter of California, who died in Clayton on November 4, 1914. They were the parents of seven children, three sons and four daughters, as follows: Rudolph, a machinist, resides in Clayton; Albert C., subject of this sketch; Orville, a machinist, in the employ of the Santa Fe Rail- road; Ramona, resides in Richmond; Mabel, resides in Pixley; Pearl, resides in Richmond; and Wilhelmina, resides near San Francisco.
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