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 91
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His stay in the East was short, only for a visit with some friends. His cousin, Joe Bruno, was in San Francisco, and thither Pete headed and upon his arrival found a job in a steel and iron plant in that city. In July, 1911, he came to Pittsburg and went to work as a laborer in the foundry. Two months later he was detailed to the open hearth furnace department under Otto Kresse, as assistant melter, a position of much responsibility. The four furnaces have a capacity of 420 tons every twenty-four hours. It has been the pleasure of Mr. Clary to witness the growth of this wonderful plant, and he is proud to feel that he has a part in such a large and prosperous concern.
Mr. Clary was married on January 16, 1926, at Pittsburg, to Miss Emere Palmer, a native of Milwaukee, Wis. Fraternally, he is a mem- ber of the Pittsburg Aerie of Eagles.
SAM DELULIO .- Under the firm name of the Cooperative Shoe Store, Sam Delulio and his partner conduct an up-to-date establishment in Antioch. Mr. Delulio was born in Bangor, Pa., on May 16, 1879, where his father, Pasquale Delulio, was an anthracite coal miner. His mother was Assunta Farano before her marriage, and both parents were born in the province of Compobasso, Italy, where the father was a farmer. After living in America a number of years, in 1882 they moved back to Italy with their family of children, and there Sam grew up and attended school. In 1886 his parents came back to the United States, but left Sam in Italy with a sister, and they lived with their maternal grandparents. In 1892 Sam came to the land of his birth and joined his parents at Bangor, Pa. In 1894 they moved to Litchfield, Conn., and here the lad had four months of English schooling, but hav- ing some trouble with his teacher he left school and secured work in a shoe store in Torrington, Conn., and from there, in 1895, he went to
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Newark, N. J. By this time he saw the folly of leaving his studies, and he therefore attended night school and worked during the daytime.
Returning to Torrington, Mr. Delulio was married, in 1900, to Miss A. Cistaro. In 1906 he came to California, leaving his wife and two children until he could make a home for them here. He arrived in San Francisco on January 4. Antioch was his destination, for he had a friend, R. Grananelli, who was a rancher near Antioch. It was not long before he had formed a liking for Antioch, and as the Belshaw building had just been erected on G Street, he entered the employ of C. M. Belshaw in the shoe department and continued there for eighteen months. Then he tried his luck at ranching, but went broke, as he found it was not to his liking. Coming back into town, he worked for five years for the Antioch Shoe Store. In 1913 he started the Cooperative Shoe Shop with a capital of sixty-six dollars, four children and a wife ill in the hospital at Martinez. Two of his children were sick from an attack of typhoid fever. His good friends came to his aid, knowing he was a good workman, and he secured enough work to keep things to- gether and stuck to his business. By square dealing and hard work he succeeded and was sole owner of the business until 1923, when he took Thomas Rosetti in as a partner and moved to his present quarters at the corner of G and Third Streets. His shop is equipped with the best of modern appliances, all machinery being driven by electricity; and he carries a complete stock of shoes, such as to satisfy the most fastidious.
Although born in Bangor, Pa., Mr. Delulio could not find the record of his birth, and was naturalized in Torrington, Conn. Fraternally, he is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, both in Pittsburg. He is also secretary of Columbus Lodge No. 1315, Sons of Italy, which was instituted on September 5, 1909, as a club with eleven charter members. Up to August 31, 1924, it was conducted as a local society, but it then joined with the Sons of Italy and now has 150 members. Mr. Delulio takes an active part in all movements for the best interest of his fellow citizens.
ROBERT R. LEISHMAN .-- A native son of the Golden State who has made good during his span of years is Robert R. Leishman, who is in charge of the millwork department of the Redwood Manu- facturers Company at Pittsburg, Cal. This institution covers 100 acres of ground and is the largest of its kind in the West, employing 700 men and with a payroll of $790,000 annually. Approximately 80,000,- 000 feet of lumber is worked up each year, and the products are shipped to all parts of the world. More than fifty per cent of the lumber arriving at this plant comes by ship from its own mills at Caspar, Mendocino County, and from the Greenwood plant of the Goodyear Lumber Com- pany. This is supplemented by additional lumber from points in North- ern California, Oregon and Washington. Every facility is used at the plant to simplify labor. The manufactured products include sash,
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doors, windows, cabinets, built-in fixtures, wooden pipe, tanks, silos, etc. It is next to the largest industrial plant in the city of Pittsburg, and has done much to advertise the possibilities of the Pacific Coast country.
Robert R. Leishman was born in Mendocino County on September 14, 1898, and is a son of John and Grace Leishman. The father has been engaged in the lumber industry at Caspar for thirty-five years and is a stockholder in the Caspar Lumber Company, and also in the Red- wood Manufacturers Company. Robert Leishman has a sister, Verda, now a student in the College of the Pacific at Stockton. Our subject graduated from the Mendocino Union High School, Class of 1916, and then entered Pomona College, where he was a sophomore when he en- tered the service of the United States. He was in detached service for thirteen months, trained at the Fairmount school for non-commissioned officers, and received his commission as second lieutenant. He is a charter member of the Keith Powell Post of the American Legion at Claremont, which he helped to organize, and on coming to Pittsburg in 1921 was active in getting an appropriation from the supervisors for the memorial building for the David A. Solari Post in that city. He was elected the commander of the David A. Solari Post on January 1, 1925.
At Pomona, Cal., in 1922, Mr. Leishman was married to Miss Theda White, of Pomona, and they have a daughter Rhea Jane. He is a Mason, holding his membership in Mendocino County, and is a mem- ber of the commission on Americanization under the California State Department of the American Legion. The family home is at 625 East Twelfth Street, Pittsburg.
BERT W. LANZ .- The superintendent of the sheet mill of the Columbia Steel Corporation at Pittsburg, Cal., Bert W. Lanz is one of the ablest sheet rolling-mill men in the United States. He was born on April 27, 1890, in Western Pennsylvania, and comes from a family of steel workers, his father, grandfather and great-grandfather all having been steel workers. After his school days were over he also entered the steel business and was actively engaged in that industry in various capa- cities until he came to California. He was employed by the Zug Iron & Steel Co., in Pittsburgh, Pa .; the Berger Manufacturing Co. of Canton, Ohio; and the Otis Steel Co., at Cleveland, Ohio. Early in 1924 he came to Pittsburg, Cal., and succeeded W. A. Blockinger as superinten- dent of the sheet mill. With a thorough understanding of this branch of the steel industry he entered upon his career here with a confidence born of experience and his success speaks for itself.
The marriage of Mr. Lanz was celebrated in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1909, when he was united with Miss Violet Blaichner, a native of that city. They have two children, William and James Francis. Mr. Lanz takes an active interest in the welfare of his adopted city and is a mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce and of the Lions Club, in both of which organizations he exerts a helpful influence.
Frank Ratini
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FRANK PRATINI .- An artist in designing granite and marble monuments, Frank Pratini has had years of practical experience in his specialty and is numbered among the substantial citizens of Antioch, where he has been located for many years as the proprietor of the Antioch Marble and Granite Works. As a sculptor and designer he has no equal in this section of the country. He was born in the province of Novarra, Italy, on December 1, 1883, and is descended from a family of sculptors. His father was Charles Pratini, a sculptor of note and a granite worker for many years in Barre, Vt., where he became a citizen of this country. David Pratini, grandfather of Frank, was also a noted sculptor in Italy. The mother was Josephine Pratini, who with her husband returned to Italy after being in America for several years, and it was then Frank was born. He grew up in Italy until he was fourteen, attending the schools of his locality, and then came to Barre, Vt., continuing his schooling there by studying drafting and sculpture in granite. At the age of eighteen he began a three-years apprenticeship in Young Brothers' Granite Shop, lo- cated at Barre.
In 1905 Mr. Pratini left the East and arrived in San Francisco on October 25, and at once secured work as a granite cutter. At the time of the earthquake and fire he lost all his tools. In 1907, with a partner, he opened a granite shop at 678 Broadway, San Francisco, but sold out after three years to his partner and went to Nevada and opened up a granite quarry. When the custom house in San Francisco was built, Mr. Pratini was selected to be one of the granite cutters to do the art work, cutting out eagles and lion heads from solid blocks of granite, and continued on the job for nine months.
In 1915 Frank Pratini came to Contra Costa County, located at Pittsburg, and became the proprietor of the Tivoli Hotel, remaining there till 1919. He then located in Antioch and started the Antioch Granite and Marble Works, where he has since executed many contracts for his growing patronage. When one wants an artistic monument, all that is necessary is to give Mr. Pratini an idea and he works out the design with dispatch. Samples of his work are to be found in the Byron Cemetery, Brentwood Cemetery, and Rio Vista Cemetery, as also at Antioch, Pitts- burg and elsewhere, and even in Nevada and as far down the coast as Monterey. Six men are employed in his business, but he superintends the cutting, finishing and selling, always aiming to please the most exacting of his patrons.
In October, 1924, Frank Pratini was united in marriage with Mrs. Desolina Pratini, the widow of his brother Ernest, by whom she had two children : Evelyn, a graduate of the Pittsburg High School, class of 1926, and now attending the San Jose Teachers' College; and Inez, a student in the Pittsburg High School. The family make their home in Pittsburg, where Mr. Pratini is conducting a rooming house. He makes trips to 26
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Antioch daily by automobile. Mr. Pratini belongs to several fraternal organizations and is active in the East Contra Costa Chamber of Commerce.
HARRY A. BARNES .- The genial and efficient secretary of the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce, H. A. Barnes, was born at Detroit, Mich., on October 7, 1884, the son of Fred W. and Kate (Marion) Barnes, the former having been engaged as a logman in and around logging camps in Michigan during his lifetime. He died when our subject was only two years old. The mother, a native of Tivertown, Eng- land, died when he was six years of age; thus his early life was robbed of the usual joys of childhood. He early learned to rely upon himself, work- ing for his living from boyhood, and realizing the value of an education obtained by means of night school. While pursuing his high school studies in this manner, he did work at odd times on the Detroit Free Press, receiving $3.50 per week for his services. He later took up advertising and editorial work on that same paper, and also worked for the Times and Journal at various times.
Leaving Detroit, Mr. Barnes went to the editorial department of the Toronto Globe, Toronto, Ont., in 1903, where he covered the police courts and stations. From there he went to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and took up feature story writing for the Free Press. He later became a special edition writer in connection with the Winnipeg papers, traveling over Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. For a time in 1904, he worked for the Calgary Herald, and during the period he worked at times in connection with the well-known editorial writer, Bill Mack, in the northern Alberta country. Among other work, in the month of June, 1904, they took pictures, the first ever obtained, of the Stony Creek Indians; these primitive people had the superstition that taking their pictures robbed them of their God, and when a number of the tribe were taken sick soon after the pictures had been taken, Mr. Barnes and his friend were invited to leave, and this they were obliged to do, taking their departure on July 1, 1904, Dominion Day. Mr. Barnes also enjoys the distinction of having taken the first pictures of the fana- tical Doukobors in the far Northwest country, sixty miles north of Edmonton, whose religious fanaticism led them to exposures on the verge of nudity, in that cold country.
Mr. Barnes then bought out the Ponoka Herald, in Alberta, and this venture was prospering, when the plant was burned out, in Novem- ber, 1904, and he lost everything, including the little inheritance that had come to him as well as his savings. In the spring of 1905 he went to Seattle, Wash. and for a while worked on the Seattle Times, and later went to the advertising department of the Post Intelligencer. He remained in Seattle until May, 1905, when he went to Portland, Ore., at the time of the Lewis and Clark Exposition, and there worked on the Portland Oregonian for about four months; at the end of that time
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coming to San Francisco, and taking work on the San Francisco Exam- iner. In the early part of 1906 he had a call to go back to Detroit to do newspaper work, and arrived in that city just the day before the San Francisco earthquake and fire. California called him, however, and October 1, 1906, found him back in Sacramento, where he had charge of the classified advertising section of the Sacramento Bee for three years. He then engaged in the insurance business, continuing until he came to Pittsburg, in June, 1921. He has been connected with the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce for the past two years, being first elected as part-time secretary on September 18, 1924, upon the resigna- tion of D. C. Kelley. Mr. Barnes was elected full-time secretary and building director at the annual meeting held January 8, 1925. When he took office there were but eighty-two members; there are now 202.
Mr. Barnes married Alpha M. Selinger in San Francisco in 1915. She was born in Marysville, Cal. Two sons have blessed this union : Marion Francis and Harold Albert. Mr. Barnes is thoroughly and actively interested in helping Pittsburg expand to meet the requirements of a rapidly growing city; and also in promoting the best interests of Contra Costa County as a whole, for he realizes the natural advantages to be found here, his travels enabling him to make comparisons most favorable to this garden spot of the world. During the World War, he served as inspector in the shipyards of the Union Iron Works at San Francisco. California is now his home state, Contra Costa his county, and Pittsburg his home community. He is popular, and with Mrs. Barnes, is welcomed at social activities as well as business conferences. Mrs. Barnes is much interested in the development of Pittsburg and surrounding territory, and acts as assistant in the local Chamber of Commerce office.
MANUEL G. AZEVEDO .- Since 1921 Manuel G. Azevedo has been a special agent of the New York Life Insurance Company with offices at 505 Sixth Street, Antioch, where he and his family reside. Prior to that, from 1903 to the time he took up life insurance, he was the leading barber in Antioch, having a three-chair shop in the First National Bank Building. He is a man of unusual ability and easily makes friends and retains them. During 1916 he was the State Presi- dent of the U. P. E. C. Lodge.
M. G. Azevedo was born in the Island of St. George, of the Azores group, on February 13, 1877, and grew up there until he was twelve. His parents were John and Isabel Azevedo, the former deceased and the latter still living. During his boyhood he attended the schools of his native island; and after arriving in California, in 1891, he went to Delano, Kern County, where he had an aunt, Miss Barbara Albert, and there lived two years and attended school to learn the English language. From Delano he went to Marin County and thence to San Francisco, finishing his schooling at the Lincoln School at Fifth and Mission Streets.
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He spent eight years in that city, and one year and four months in Oakland, where he learned the barber's trade. In 1903 he came to Antioch to start a shop for himself, and since then has built up a popular and successful business.
At Antioch, on November 26, 1900, M. G. Azevedo was united in marriage with Emily Renas; and they have two children: Henry, who runs a barber shop in Antioch; and Maria, who attends the high school. Mr. Azevedo is a prominent member of the U. P. E. C., the Elks, and the Red Men, and belongs to the East Contra Costa County Chamber of Commerce. Politically he supports Republican men and measures. He served nearly four years as town trustee.
EDWARD V. CAMPBELL .- Holding the responsible position of yard superintendent at the Columbia Steel Corporation's plant at Pitts- burg, E. V. Campbell has charge of all cranes, locomotives and all outside general labor. This place of responsibility has been gained by years of thorough preparation, beginning when a lad of sixteen, when he first went to work for the Union Steel Casting Company at Pittsburgh, Pa. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born at Oil City, March 4, 1889, the son of James and Rebecca (McMurtry) Campbell. The father was a pioneer oil man. Both parents are now deceased. Grandfather Camp- bell came to California in 1849, and in all made four trips to the Golden State, three times via the plains, when he was captain of a train that brought many miners here, and once via Cape Horn. The Campbells were originally from Virginia and were related to Alexander Campbell, the founder of the Christian Church. The parents of our subject followed the oil business in western Pennsylvania, and later moved to McDonald, Washington County, where E. V. Campbell grew to manhood. He attended the public schools, including two years at the Pittsburgh High School. At the age of sixteen he began working for the Union Steel Casting Company, and when nineteen he went to Moundsville, W. Va., and became timekeeper for the Manufacturers' Light and Heat Com- pany, remaining there three years. He then spent five years with the Wheeling Mould and Foundry Company, as chief shipper. During the construction of the Panama Canal this company furnished the lifting and moving machinery for many of the locks and gates. Beginning in 1914, Mr. Campbell was with the Mesta Machine Company, of West Homestead, Pa., as chief shipper for two years, and then became super- intendent of transportation for the ensuing six years. Leaving his posi- tion, he came direct to Pittsburg, Cal., and secured a position with the Columbia Steel Corporation, among whose trusted employees he has since been numbered.
Mr. Campbell has been twice married, first in Washington, Pa., where he was united with Miss Elma Ruth Gibson, of whom two children were born, Mary Virginia and Frank Kendall. Mrs. Campbell died of the flu in 1918. The second marriage took place at Greenburg,
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uniting him with Mrs. Mary (Gibson) Wineman, a sister of his first wife. She was a widow with one son, Louis Gibson Wineman. Mr. Campbell brought his family to Pittsburg, consisting of his wife and the three children, and Mrs. Campbell's mother, making the trip by auto- mobile from Pittsburgh, Pa., to Pittsburg, Cal., where they are settled comfortably in a home among an ever widening circle of friends. The family attend the Christian Church. Mr. Campbell is looked upon as a progressive citizen, loyal to the best interests of his city and county, as well as of the corporation by whom he is employed.
CARLOS E. CORTES .- One of the leading men with the Shell Oil Company, at Martinez, and equally well-known in social and business circles, Carlos E. Cortes has been a resident here for the past decade, and in his responsible position is recognized as a man of authority. He was born at Guadalajara, Mexico, on June 14, 1881, the son of Mariano and Clarisa (Ortigoza) Cortes. Mariano Cortes was born in Mexico. He was a physician for many years at Guadalajara, his death occurring in 1908, at seventy years of age, which age is just now reached by his widow, who still resides in Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city. One sister and one brother of Carlos also reside there.
Carlos Cortes grew to manhood in Guadalajara, and attended the schools there. Graduating from the high school at Notre Dame Uni- versity, he went to Palo Alto, Cal., and entered Stanford University, where he studied the civil engineering course. When the great fire and earthquake of 1906 occurred and the subsequent necessity of rebuilding San Francisco called for engineers, he was offered a position as engineer with the San Francisco firm of architects, Shea & Lofquist. Making good, he was soon advanced to chief engineer of construction, and de- signed and supervised the steel construction of the Plaza Hotel, the Bank of Italy, St. Mary's Hospital, and many churches.
About 1907 he returned to Mexico and became a general building constructor in his native city; while there he was elected mayor of Guadalajara, and served with distinction. Returning to California in 1914, he engaged with the Shell Oil Company at Martinez. He has since advanced to his present position, that of construction engineer for the company, in connection with its great refinery at Martinez.
The marriage of Mr. Cortes, which occurred in San Francisco, in 1906, united him with Reine Alexandrine Blum, a daughter of Myrtle Blum, and granddaughter of Simon Blum, a pioneer merchant of Martinez. Six children have blessed their union: Carlos, graduate with the Class of 1924 from the Alhambra Union High School, and now in the university; Alejandro, Elena and Edwardo, all attending high school; Vincente, in grammar school; and Susana, three years old. Mr. Cortes is a Mason, holding membership in Mexico; and he belongs to the Moose.
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PITTSBURG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE .- This institution, so active in promoting the best interests of the city of Pittsburg, was first started August 25, 1891. Joseph McAvoy was chosen president pro tem., and George P. Keller, secretary pro tem. On April 11, 1912, Dr. F. S. Gregory was elected president and Otis Loveridge vice presi- dent, with W. J. Buchanan as secretary. Interest waned, but this was re- vived when it was found that a professional publicity man was what was needed and at a meeting called September 11, 1917, Charles A. Vogelsang, who had acted as governor general of the Pacific-Panama Exposition, was endorsed for that office. Interest died down again. Then a meeting was called by the late B. P. Lanteri, at that time mayor of Pittsburg, to form a Chamber of Commerce. He acted as president pro tem. of the meeting, and R. N. Wolfe was appointed temporary secretary ; then W. E. McDermott was nominated and elected president, Wade W. Moore elected secretary, and G. Todero elected treasurer, and a constitution and by-laws were drafted; but the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce died down again.
November 10, 1921, the present Chamber of Commerce was formed, when, at the call of the Pittsburg city board of trustees, a meeting was held and W. J. Buchanan was elected president, Fred Mullins vice presi- dent, and R. M. Dorton secretary and treasurer; at this meeting thirty- two signed up as members. This was the real beginning of the Chamber. At the annual election held on January 5, 1922, the following officers and board of directors were elected; W. J. Buchanan, president; Fred Mul- lins, vice president; Otis Loveridge, secretary and treasurer; and Carl Lepori, Armand Stow, George McDonald, A. V. McFaul, Ernest Ward, Earl McDermott, directors. With all this influence the organiza- tion did not make much headway. Up to March 28, 1923, only part-time secretaries had been appointed; but this was changed at the meeting held on that date, when a motion was made and carried that a full-time secretary be appointed, and George C. Kelley was given the office. He resigned on April 23, 1924, and Harry A. Barnes was elected part-time secretary and served as such until September 18, 1924, when he was made full-time secretary. At the annual meeting held January 8, 1925, the following officers were elected: E. H. Ward, president; F. S. Ramsdell, first vice president; W. J. Buchanan, second vice president; Armand Stow, treasurer; Harry A. Barnes, secretary and building director. The following board of trustees were elected: E. H. Ward, J. E. Bankson, W. J. Buchanan, N. A. Becker, John L. Buffo, Arnold Linscheid, Fred S. Ramsdell, Otis Loveridge, A. V. McFaul, Armand Stow and R. M. Dor- ton; the latter resigned and moved to Monterey and was replaced by Oscar L. McQuiddy. There are now 202 members in the Chamber, as compared with eighty-two in September, 1924, and many worthwhile things have been accomplished.
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