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 81

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 81

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

795

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

Chemical Works, by whom she has one child, Alice; and Alma, wife of Clarence Frank, a resident of Clayton who is employed as a machinist at Avon, by whom she has one child, Robert David Frank.

THOMAS CHARLES PIMM .- A well-known and successful con- tractor and builder of Richmond is Thomas Charles Pimm, who was born in London, England, on July 8, 1876. His father, William Pimm, was a carpenter and builder in England; and he was married there to Ann How- croft. They had eight children, of whom only one, John Pimm, besides our subject, ever came to America. They are: Ada, Lillie, Thomas C., Wil- liam, Olvett, George, John and Grace.

Thomas Charles Pimm was educated in England and there served his apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. In 1903 he came to California and stopped at Bakersfield, where he remained three years, and then came to San Francisco and worked as a journeyman, starting at $3.25 per day. In October, 1906, he came to Richmond, which just then was having a building boom. He continued working at his trade and in time began tak- ing contracts ; and now he does a general contracting and building business in Richmond and surrounding territory and keeps generally busy. He is satisfied with a living profit and believes in living and letting others live.

Mr. Pimm was married on July 1, 1905, to Miss Susan Harris, born in England, the daughter of George Harris, a painter by trade. The fam- ily came out to Cleveland, Ohio, but later returned to England. Mr. and Mrs. Pimm were acquainted with each other in England. They have three children. Chester Thomas is a student in high school preparing for en- trance in the Y. M. C. A. University of Chicago; he is a leader in athletics, and is active in Y. M. C. A. work. Georgina, aged seventeen, is attending high school; Ivar, aged fourteen, is in the Roosevelt Junior High School. In 1910 Mr. Pimm made a trip back to his London home, and when he returned was accompanied by his brother, John E. Pimm, who is now em- ployed at the Standard refinery in Richmond.

Mr. Pimm plays the pipe organ and is of a musical turn of mind. He believes Richmond has a great future and is satisfied that he selected it for his home. He is a member of the Sons of St. George, an organization designed to create good-fellowship between the Americans and the Eng- lish, and has held various offices in the local order and represented it in conventions.

MRS. MARY STANDERSON .- Born in San Leandro on October 24, 1876, Mrs. Mary Standerson is the owner of a fine fruit ranch of about thirty acres in the Live Oak district of Oakley Precinct. Her parents, Manuel and Philomena Thomas, natives of Portugal, came to America when quite young and were married in Massachusetts, and there their oldest child was born. They decided to come to California, and in the early seventies had settled in San Leandro, where they remained eight years. Then they spent one year in Oakland, after which they removed

796

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

to Oakley Precinct in Contra Costa County in 1885, where the father bought a home and worked at whatever he could find to do to make a liv- ing for his growing family. Mary attended the public schools in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, and in 1893 was united in marriage with John Mello, a native of the Azores Islands. Together the young couple began the development of the ranch Mr. Mello had purchased, clearing it from the large live-oak trees that covered the country at that time and planting trees and vines. Mr. Mello met an accidental death in 1903. Of their union the following children were born: Joseph, married and now the father of two children, Muriel and Jacqueline; Mary, Mrs. Manuel Ma- deros; Flora, wife of Frank Fertado and the mother of four children, Wallace, Melba, Geraldine and Norman; Elizabeth, who married Emil Flossi and has one son, Eugene; John, married and the father of a daugh- ter, Lorraine; and Jesse.

In 1904 Mrs. Mello married Joseph Azevedo. They had four chil- dren: Elaine; Grace, Mrs. Joseph Rodrigues; Clara, wife of Ralph Wilson and the mother of a son, Ralph W .; and Elsie. Mr. Azevedo died in 1918 of the flu.

On July 20, 1925, Mrs. Azevedo was united in marriage with her third husband, Michael Standerson, who has charge of the department of mu- sic in the Antioch schools. He is a musician and educator of note and also owns a ranch adjoining that of his wife's which is devoted to trees and vines. Professor Standerson has charge of the band music at the Antioch- Live Oak Grammar School and is a man well-liked by all who know him. Mr. and Mrs. Standerson are public-spirited and have a host of friends in this community. They are members of the Live Oak Farm Bureau.

MICHAEL M. PISTOCHINI .- A man of ability, enterprising and practical, Michael M. Pistochini is a prominent factor in the growth and prosperity of the county seat of Contra Costa County, as one of the pro- prietors of the Italian Hotel on Alhambra Avenue, Martinez. His birth occurred at Ologia, Piedmonte, Italy, April 25, 1874, the youngest in a family of six children born to Antonio and Savina (Colombo) Pistochini, also natives of Italy and farmer folk. The mother of the family passed away in 1915, aged sixty-five years; the father is still living in Italy, aged eighty-five years. Our subject is the only member of the family at present in America.

Michael M. Pistochini attended public school in his native land and assisted his father with the farm work until he was twenty-one years old, when he set out for California, arriving here in February, 1895. He located in San Francisco, where for five years he was in the employ of a street contractor. His one ambition was to get ahead and own a business of his own. He worked hard and saved his money, so that within a few years he had laid up enough to make the initial payment on the San Mar- tinez Hotel, located at 309 Broadway, San Francisco. With his cousin, Antonio Pistochini, he operated this hotel until 1905, when they removed

797

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

to Martinez and purchased the site on which the Italian Hotel now stands. They sold their property in San Francisco and invested the money in Mar- tinez, where they have prospered year by year. Quick to see the prospects and advantages for a national bank in Martinez, Mr. Pistochini became one of the organizers of the National Bank of Martinez, and today is a member of its board of directors; he is also a stockholder in the Martinez- Benicia Auto Ferry.

At San Francisco, in 1903, Mr. Pistochini was married to Miss Mary Comazzi, born at Piedmonte, Italy. Mrs. Pistochini is the daughter of Alexander and Angeline (Colombo) Comazzi. The father passed away in Italy; the mother now makes her home in Martinez. Two children have blessed this union : Alfredo and Arturo. Mr. Pistochini is a Republican in politics, and fraternally he is a member of the Eagles Lodge at Martinez ; he is also a member of the Dante Society in Martinez.

E. R. McCLELLAND .- As proprietor of the Brentwood Electric Company, E. R. McClelland is building a firm foundation for himself in Eastern Contra Costa County. He is an able workman, does the best kind of work, and keeps the best kind of electrical goods and supplies always on hand. He was born in Chicago, Ill., on May 14, 1885, and is a·son of Joseph and Elizabeth Ann (Jones ) McClelland. The McClellands are of old Scotch and Virginian ancestry, and distantly related to General Mc- Clellan. Joseph McClelland was a horseshoer and maintained a shop at Forty-third and State Streets in Chicago. Both himself and wife still make their home in Chicago.

E. R. McClelland attended the public schools of Englewood, a suburb of Chicago, graduating from the high school. At the age of twenty he entered the Armour School of Chicago and worked in the electrical department for Armour & Company, later becoming foreman of the de- partment with Swift & Company. For a time he was in the service of the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois, being superintendent of construction. He went to Michigan and was connected with the Pierre Marquette Railroad Company as foreman of the electrical department, with headquarters at Grand Rapids. He had charge of the construction of the Southwest Land Tunnel in Chicago, and for a time was superintend- ent of construction for the Electric Service Engineering Company in that city. In 1923 he came to California and entered the employ of the Pa- cific Gas & Electric Company in San Francisco, but later moved to Brent- wood and bought the L. Powell Electric Shop, changing the name to the Brentwood Electric Company. He enlarged the business, and now does all kinds of general electric contracting work and deals in general electric goods and supplies, as well as radios and accessories.

Mr. McClelland was married in San Francisco in 1924 to Miss Mar- guerite Bowers, a native of Chicago. Mrs. McClelland is a member of the Rebekahs. Mr. McClelland belongs to Kosmos Lodge No. 896, A. F. & A. M., of Chicago; to Pyramid No. 24, of the Sciots, in Antioch ;

798

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

and to the Odd Fellows in Byron. He is a member of the American Insti- tute of Electrical Engineers and of the National Electric Light Associa- tion. Mr. McClelland was in the second draft call for the World War. but on account of the armistice was not called to service. He is public- spirited and has an ever widening circle of friends.

CHARLES GARDNER GOOLD .- Few men are more inseparably associated with the history of Contra Costa County than Charles G. Goold, who, as rancher, stockman, bank director and general promoter of important enterprises, has proven the value of his citizenship and the integrity of his character. He was born in Centerville, Alameda County, on November 18, 1858, a son of Capt. Gardner and Elizabeth (Bradley) Goold, the latter a daughter of John and Mary Bradley of Brooklyn, N. Y.

Captain Gardner Goold was born at Eastport, Maine, in 1818. When he was thirteen he went to sea and from the post of cabin boy rose by degrees to become master of a vessel. He traveled over the world, aiming never to make two voyages to the same port. His first trip to California was made in 1848, by way of Cape Horn, in a sailing vessel; his second trip, in 1849. After his arrival he went to the mines near Marysville and tried his luck at mining. He found there was more money to be made at other occupations however, and he operated the first flat-bottom boat on the Sacramento River, running up to Marysville. It is said that he earned as much as $1000 a day in gold-dust for freight and passengers.

Captain Goold returned East to be married, and was united with Elizabeth Bradley on June 13, 1854. He came back to California, leav- ing Mrs. Goold at her home, but two years later went back to Maine and brought his wife back to California, coming via the Nicaragua route. They settled in Centerville, where he bought land from the Alviso family, securing a clear title to it. He built buildings with lumber that was shipped around the Horn, and so well were the buildings constructed that they are still standing. Captain Goold continued to follow the sea, carrying on trading in Alaska; and in 1854 he made a trip to Australia. In 1867 he bought land in the Livermore Valley, then known as Laddville, and farmed · it in 1868; but that being a dry year, he got no crops. Then he came up to Mount Diablo and bought a squatter's title to 160 acres and the feed on it for $300, and brought his stock to his new ranch. This is now a part of the famous Blackhawk Ranch. In 1869 Mrs. Goold and family settled on the property. The ranch in Livermore Valley was looked after by a brother, Charles Gay Goold, while Captain Goold's sons cared for the Mount Diablo ranch. Captain Goold was forced to leave the sea on account of an accident, and he thereafter lived on his ranch until his death, in 1880.

Charles G. Goold was born in the home at Centerville and finished his education at Livermore College. He began life's battles when a lad of ten years, when he traveled by saddle horse from Centerville to Liver- more buying hides of Mexican cattle, paying twenty-five cents each for

799

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

them, and paying seventy-five cents for a hide full of tallow. He often carried as much as a thousand dollars in his saddlebags, yet was never molested, but always given the best of consideration by all with whom he came in contact. His father would take the hides and tallow back East with him on his trips, where they brought a good price. As he was growing up he worked the home ranch, and also worked with government surveyors as a flagger, signalling from one high point to another. He was given this job because he usually had good saddle horses and could get over the roughest of ground with dispatch. He lived on the home ranch for thirty- five years, and in 1903 bought seventy acres of land near Danville, where he now lives; he also owns a ranch in Sycamore Valley and range land in the Livermore mountains. Being a capable business man, it was quite nat- ural that Mr. Goold should be sought as a director of the first San Ramon Valley Bank at Walnut Creek when it was organized; and he is also a director of the Danville Branch of the National Bank of Walnut Creek.

Mr. Goold has always taken an active interest in the development of those enterprises that would build up the business interests of the county, and has shown his personal interest in educational matters by serving for thirty years as a trustee of his school district. He was one of the chief promoters of the Sacramento Short Line Railroad and has witnessed the building of every railroad in the valley; the Southern Pacific being the first, which was constructed in 1869. When the Western Pacific was built, Mr. Goold was one of the contributors to the new enterprise.

On February 24, 1884, Charles G. Goold was united in marriage with Almira Johnson, a native of Contra Costa County and daughter of William and Annie (Shimpf) Johnson, honored pioneers of California, a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this history. Mr. and Mrs. Goold are the parents of one child, Helen W., who after her gradu- ation from the high school at Danville entered college for one year, but owing to poor health she was obliged to discontinue her studies at college. Mrs. Goold, as a young lady, was considered one of the best horsewomen in the community, and it was her pride to have the best saddle horse in the valley. Active in community affairs, she is a past president of the Women's Club of Danville; has been for thirty years a member of Almona Chapter No. 214, O. E. S., at Walnut Creek; and is a Past Noble Grand and ex-District Deputy of the Daughters of the Rebekahs ; an active worker in the Grange, and a member of the committee on history and landmarks of the Danville Club. Fraternally, Mr. Goold is a member of Alamo Lodge No. 122, F. & A. M .; a charter member of Danville Lodge No. 378, I. O. O. F .; and a former member of Old Mt. Diablo Parlor, N. S. G. W., Danville; and also a member of Danville Grange, Rebekahs and the Eastern Star.

He is very fond of out-of-door life, enjoys hunting and fishing, and has a game reserve on Trout Creek, on his land near Livermore, where he has made some improvements which make for greater comfort. He also enjoys

800

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

motoring through the scenic sections of the State. In 1874, while looking for stock, he made a trip with a pack train through the Yosemite Valley, before any roads were built. He formerly raised thoroughbred running horses of the Glenco and Belmont stock. The original stock was brought across the plains by Grandfather Johnson. At present he has about four- teen head of splendid work horses. Mr. Goold has witnessed the most wonderful developments in this part of the State and remembers when Livermore, known as Laddville, consisted of only one store, a hotel and a blacksmith shop. The townsite was donated to the Southern Pacific Rail- road by Philip Mendenhall and named Livermore.

FRED W. RAHLFS .- Among the successful vineyardists of Contra Costa County is Fred W. Rahlfs, whose twenty-acre farm is located one and one-half miles west of Oakley. Mr. Rahlfs has also been thoroughly trained as a brick and stone mason, as a cement worker, and as a plasterer ; and his work along these lines is in great demand throughout his neighbor- hood. He was born in Hanover, Germany, on January 14, 1879. His early education was acquired in the public schools of his native country, and on reaching young manhood, he was apprenticed to learn the several branches of masonry, which includes working in brick, stone, cement and plaster. Before coming to America he served his time in the German army, spending two years. His good wife was also born in Hanover, Germany, and both were brought up in the German Lutheran Church. Mrs. Rahlfs, whose maiden name was Louisa Colling, comes from an ex- cellent family and received a good education in her native land. She first came to America in 1896, but returned to Germany and in 1902, with Mr. Rahlfs and his sister, came back to America. Soon after reaching here they were married on March 6, 1903, and for a time thereafter lived in Stearns County, Minnesota. In October, 1904, they came to California, first settling in Oakland, where Mr. Rahlfs was engaged at his trade from 1904 until 1920. Then the family came to eastern Contra Costa County, where they purchased their present home of twenty acres. Mr. and Mrs. Rahlfs are the parents of four sons : Fred H., who is employed at Antioch with the Standard Oil Company; Gordon H., who works with his father ; and Horace S. and John W.

Mr. Rahlfs employs several men besides himself and his son, and they have done the plastering on the Memorial Hall for the Harding Post, American Legion, at Antioch, and on many of the best cottages and bunga- lows in Oakley, Antioch and vicinity. They are equipped to do high-grade plastering and all kinds of interior decorating,

Mr. Rahlfs belongs to the Sons of Herman and the Red Men, of Oak- land. Mrs. Rahlfs is a member of the Federation of Woman's Clubs at Oakley, the Farm Bureau, and the Parent-Teacher's Association, and both Mr. and Mrs. Rahlfs are members of the East Contra Costa County Chamber of Commerce. On December 26, 1912, Mr. Rahlfs was ad- mitted to citizenship, and both he and his wife are stanch Republicans.

Michel Martin Dragon

803

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

MICKEL MARTIN DRAGON. - Notwithstanding a few exper- iences of a somewhat discouraging nature, the business career of Mickel M. Dragon has been successful and he now occupies a position among the capable and resourceful business men of Antioch, Cal. He is of Italian birth and ancestry, a son of Peter and Concitta (Marasciulo) Dragon. In a family of thirteen children, five of whom are now deceased, Micke! M. is the oldest. He was born on October 30, 1884. The names of the living children are as follows: Frank, represented elsewhere in this vol- ume; Dominick, a rancher in the vicinity of Antioch; James, who runs a grocery store on Long Island; Isabel, Mrs. Procino, in Italy; and Dan, Antoinetta and Mikel, all three in Italy.

The boyhood years of Mickel M. Dragon were uneventfully passed in his native province in Italy, where he had such educational advantages as the common schools afforded. In 1903 the father came to America and stopped for a time in New York State; six months later our subject joined him, and in 1904 they removed to California and settled in Oak- land, where they found the climate much the same as in their native coun- try. Peter Dragon later bought a ranch near Antioch, and also leased other farm lands in that vicinity and remained there until his death on August 6, 1909; the mother passed away in Italy about 1922, never hav- ing left her native shores.

Mickel M. Dragon found employment in a paper mill, first as a team- ster's helper, then as a teamster, and finally rose to a finisher's position. Later he helped his father on his ranch. Following his father's death Mr. Dragon leased land from the Hooper Estate and for seven years successfully operated 500 acres ; but two years of successive drouth proved his undoing and he turned his attention to his present occupation, that of special agent for the Western States Life Insurance Company, in which he is showing marked ability and meeting with success.

In Antioch on May 28, 1909, Mr. Dragon was married to Miss Antoinette Chiarolanza, also a native of Italy, who came to America as a young woman, first stopping in the East and then, in 1908, coming to California. They are the parents of four children: Peter M., Joseph A., Emma, and Frank D. In 1925 Mr. Dragon built a beautiful residence at 23 Sixth Street, Antioch, where the family live in happiness and con- tentment. Mr. Dragon was one of the five original members of the Columbus Association in Antioch, which is now affiliated with the Sons of Italy, and was a very active member until his insurance business claimed all of his attention. He is a member of the Young Men's Institute and the Chamber of Commerce. His wife belongs to the Young Ladies' Institute of Antioch. Mr .· Dragon is a naturalized American citizen and is proud of his adopted country. In politics he is a Republican.

CORNELIUS L. KREIM .- The obliging station agent at Knightsen. Cornelius L. Kreim, is both an efficient employee of the Santa Fe Railroad Company and a successful vineyardist of the Knightsen district. Mr. Kreim

804

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

takes an active interest in the advancement of this section of Contra Costa County, as is shown by his fifteen-acre vineyard of Flaming Tokay grapes, which he has developed from raw land. He has been in the employ of the Santa Fe Railroad Company for eighteen years in the Valley Division from Bakersfield to Ferry Point, and for the past eight years has served as station agent at Knightsen.

Mr. Kreim was born at Los Angeles on July 3, 1889, the son of Herman and Sarah (Kemble) Kreim, the former born in Iowa and the latter in Illinois. He grew up in Los Angeles and attended the public schools there. As soon as he had finished the grammar grades he began to learn operating, and in 1911, was sent to Waukena as telegraph oper- ator. He then worked at various stations, and as relief man, until he came to Knightsen in 1918. During the World War he was exempted from mil- itary duty, as he was already an employee of the government, it having charge of all railroads.

Mr. Kreim was married at Stockton on August 3, 1917, to Miss Hazel Clair Kessel, a native of Oregon, born at Hood River; and they have two children, Hazel Clair and Mary Elizabeth. By a former marriage Mr. Kreim has a son, Lawrence Cornelius, fifteen years old, who is at Delano, Cal. Mr. Kreim is a member of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers. He is prominent in Masonic circles and belongs to Brentwood Lodge No. 345, F. & A. M., of which he is Master (1926), and to the Antioch Sciots. Both he and his wife belong to Maspha Chapter No. 198, O. E. S., of which Mrs. Kreim is a Past Matron.

HOWARD F. LAURITZEN .- The junior member of the firm of Bundesen & Lauritzen, Howard F. Lauritzen, is an expert boatman and substantial business man of Contra Costa County, who, besides his present business, has been active in river transportation service as a member of the firm of Lauritzen & Lauritzen, former owners of the Antioch-Sherman Island Ferry. He was born in Solano County on June 7, 1896, at the old river ferry then owned and operated by his father, located about two miles northeast of Rio Vista. His father, Frederick Christian Lauritzen, is a native of Denmark, who married Miss Anita Poole, a native of Cali- fornia. He emigrated with his parents to California when a child, and ever since has lived in this State.

Howard F. Lauritzen attended the public schools and lived with his parents at the old ferry until he went to live with his grandmother on Wood Island. He grew up to ranch work on the island, and to complete his education he spent one year at the Polytechnic High School in San Francisco and then returned to Wood Island and completed his schooling at the Rio Vista High School, graduating with the Class of 1916, the first to graduate from this high school. He then spent one year with his father and uncle in running their passenger boats on the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. When the World War broke out he enlisted in the United States Navy as engine man and made one trip to France. Upon

805

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

returning to this country he was honorably discharged as Ensign on July 1, 1919, in New York. Returning to his home he purchased a one-fifth interest in the ferry business and devoted his entire time to building up a good paying business, keeping abreast of the times in every way. In 1925 he purchased a half interest with Mr. Bundesen, and they bought the Lanteri Ship Yards at Pittsburg and have remodeled the entire plant. They are now equipped to do all kinds of repair work on water craft, and to build barges, dredges and river boats of all kinds and sizes. With the wide acquaintance of both partners, their new venture bids fair to become a very important enterprise, as it is located in the heart of the manu- facturing district of Pittsburg. They also bought the Delta Dredging Company in April, 1926.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 81

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