History of Sacramento 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, 1923, Part 119

Author: Reed, G. Walter
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1026

USA > California > Sacramento County > History of Sacramento 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, 1923 > Part 119

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Returning to California, Mr. Hollister purchased a ranch two miles from Courtland on the Sacra- mento River, where he spent the rest of his days. This ranch contained 600 acres, all bottom land and some of it too marshy for cultivation; he conducted a dairy of a hundred head of cows and raised all the feed necessary to keep the herd. But the great work of his life was in growing California fruits, and he was widely known and esteemed as the "pioneer fruit- grower" of the Delta country of Sacramento County and also of northern California, for as early as 1852 he first engaged in the nursery business and it was this foresight and faith in the undeveloped possibili- ties of California as the fruit-raising center of the world which brought him affluence, and the promin- ence due one whose keen judgment and strength of character led him to pioneer in so great and far reaching an industry.

Mr. Hollister was called upon to fill many offices

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of trust and responsibility, and though often at great personal inconvenience, he never shirked what he considered his duty to public life; he was elected to the legislature in the session of 1865, and again in 1884, and was known among his associates as a man true to the best interests of his section, fearless in expression of what constituted his idea of right, and tireless in efforts expended toward the legislation which best served the interests of his constituents. He was a Republican since the organization of the party. He was a Knight Templar of the Masonic Lodge for many years and to his death, which oc- curred September 7, 1904, at his home. He lies buried in Pioneer Cemetery at Sacramento.

Two sons blessed the union of Dwight Hollister and his wife: Edwin, who was president of the Bank of Courtland when it was founded, and whose death occurred shortly afterward; and Frank E., who still resides on the old home place and is a very influential and successful orchardist of Sacramento County; and one daughter came to the family hearth, Blanche. 1t is to men of the caliber of the Hon. Dwight Hollister that so much of the present-day prosperity and beauty of our glorious state is due, and we gladly accord them all honor and praise for the stepping-stones they so ably laid for future generations.

M. L. WISE .- A highly-estecmed pioneer, whose memory will be long cherished as peculiarly sacred both by contemporaries who knew him and enjoyed his companionship, and by others stimulated by his example, was the late M. L. Wise, who was born in Richland County, Ohio, on April 26, 1846, the son of the Hon. Jacob Wise and his good wife, who was Miss Lydia Hibbard before her marriage. They were Pennsylvanians, and removed to Fayette, Fulton County, Ohio, when our subject was eighteen months old. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, he en- listed in the service of the United States, although only a boy, went to Camp Chase, and was assigned to Company K, 38th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went into a battle for the first time, at Perryville, Ky. He also took part in an engagement at Corinth, and also at Triune and Murfreesboro; and he was in the thick of the fight at Chickamauga, and after the rendezvous at Ringold, Ga., proceeded to Atlanta, and after that was in the battles of Dalton, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Buzzard's Roost, and Tullahoma. He was wounded three times at Jonesboro, in the left arm, the left breast and the head, and was taken from the field to Atlanta. He was next sent to Nashville, and from there to Jeffersonville, Ind., where he lay in the hospital for three weeks. He was then sent to Camp Dennison, and discharged, June 18, 1865, having served through the entire war. He was in the 3rd Brigade, the 3rd Division, of the celebrated 14th Army Corps under General Thomas; and he went to Cincinnati after his discharge, and from there returned to his home.

On September 12, 1868, he started for California by way of New York and Panama; he crossed the Isth- mus and took passage on the steamer "Santiago de Cuba," for San Francisco, where he landed the 30th of October, 1868. After stopping long enough in the bay city to get some idea of the metropolis, Mr. Wise pushed inland to Sacramento, to join his brother, W. E. Wise, on the following Monday morning, to

learn the blacksmith trade; and he remained with his brother for nine and one-half years.

Then he engaged in business for himself at the Telegraph shops on J Street, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets, and on October 1, 1877, he pur- chased a lease on the property at the corner of Elev- enth and J Streets, and the firm of Wise & McNair was organized, for the commencement of the business of blacksmithing, and carriage- and wagon-making and painting. In the fall of 1879, he bought out his partner's interest and alone built up an enviable trade.

On October 20, 1875, in Sacramento County, Mr. Wise was married to Miss Alice P. Taylor, the gifted daughter of John B. Taylor, whose life-story is given on another page of this historical work; and one daughter, Mylinda Isabel, now Mrs. Theodore N. Koening, of Sacramento, was born of their union. Mr. Wise dicd November 17, 1909, and in his demise the world lost a real man.

MRS. SEVERINA GIANNETTI .- The Ryde Hotel, located at Ryde, Cal., is being success- fully conducted by Mrs. Severina Giannetti, whose well-prepared meals are known throughout the local- ity. Her birth occurred in Lucca, Italy, and she was a daughter of Stefano and Assunta Casella, both na- tives of the same place. Stefano Casella was a fuel- dealer, and lived and died in his native country; the mother of our subject died when Severina was only a year old. Mrs. Giannetti is the youngest of a family .of four children: Zaraide, Lelio, Julia, and Severina.

Severina Casella was educated in the grammar and high schools in Lucca. In Lucca, on April 7, 1908, Miss Casella was married to Caesare Giannetti, a na- tive of Lucca, Italy, a son of Lorenzo and Georgia Giannetti. He was the youngest of five children, the others being Tobia, Antonetta, Grace, and Giacomo. Caesare Giannetti came to California when he was eighteen years of age, and was employed in hotels on the Sacramento River until he returned to Italy, where he was married. Immediately after his mar- riage he brought his bride to California and again found employment in a hotel in Sacramento. Then he leased the Simoni Hotel at Vorden, which he operated until 1917, when he took a ten-year lease on the Ryde Hotel, a twenty-four-room hotel. With the aid of his wife he had gotten nicely started in business here, when he passed away, on July 4, 1918, aged forty-four years. Just before his passing, however, on June 11, 1918, the hotel and all their belongings were complete- ly destroyed by fire, and there was no insurance to cover their loss. The owner rebuilt the hotel, but Mr. Giannetti died before it was completed. Mr. Giannetti was past president of the Druid Lodge of Sacramento. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Giannetti: Lorenzo, Grace, and Rinato.

Since her husband's death Mrs. Giannetti has con- ducted the hotel along the same progressive and pleas- ing lines and is making a fine success of the business. The cooking and cuisine are most excellent, and the fame of her good meals is known far and wide, draw- ing trade from different parts of the adjoining coun- tics. On Sundays many come to her place from Sacramento, Woodland, Stockton, Suisun, and numer- ous other places, even from Oakland and San Fran- cisco. She superintends the preparation of the food, and sees that it is served in courses in the most appetizing way.

Severina Siumette

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

CAPTAIN MARTIN GONZALES .- In the death of Capt. Martin Gonzales, Sacramento County mourned the loss of one of the oldest steamer cap- tains on the Sacramento River. He was born in Santiago, Chili, and came from a family of sea cap- tains, following in his ancestors' footsteps from the time he was able to climb a span. He loved the water, and was at home only when pacing the deck of a vessel.

In 1849 Martin Gonzales came to Sacramento in a sailing vessel. and here he made his home until his death. He knew the Sacramento River from the waters of the bay to Red Bluff, better than any river man. He led an active life, roughing it as a sailor while a young man, working on steamers and sailing vessels, and always doing his share of the hard labor. He never shirked his duty at any time. Until his final illness, ten weeks before his death, at the age of seventy-six, he was active and strong, and able to take his place on any steamer, but at that time he was obliged to take to his bed and admit his weak- ness. For more than twenty-five years he was em- ployed by the Sacramento Transportation Company, and was considered one of the best known river cap- tains because of his ability and long service. Cap- tain Gonzales was loved and respected by all who knew him, and was highly valued by his employers. His last run was made on the steamer "Red Bluff" on a journey up the San Joaquin River, and he was com- pelled to return home, from this trip, by train, on account of an illness from which he had suffered at intervals for two years, and which was the cause of his death.

Capt. Martin Gonzales married Miss Charlotte Swenson, a native of Sweden, who was also an early settler of San Francisco, and their union was a happy one. Her demise occurred in 1894. She left him two children, both boys: Henry, a druggist in Oakland, who has a child, Artiero; and Capt. Peter B, whose sketch appears in this history, and who has a daughter Muriel, now the wife of Edward Dudley of Los An- geles, and the mother of a child named Edward Dud- ley, Jr.

WILLIAM FRED BLASCH .- A wide-awake business man whose progressive ideas, up-to-date methods, and far-sighted alertness are reflected in his prosperous business, is William Fred Blasch, proprietor of the Reliable Electrical Works, which he established in August, 1920. He was born at Feldkirchen Kanton, in the ancient empire of Aus- tria, on April 9, 1882, and his parents were John and Mary (Zechner) Blasch. He attended the excellent schools of his native land, and there, with the thor- oughness of the Old World, learned his trade of electrical mechanic, and learned it well. After hav- ing served three years in the Austrian army he re- solved to cast in his lot in the land of the Stars and Stripes; so he came to this country in 1908, a fin- ished mechanic, and his expert preparation was such as to enable him to appreciate American advance- ment, and rapidly to adapt himself to American pro- gress. He spent a short time in Chicago, and then proceeded to Indianapolis, Ind., where he remained almost three years, working at this trade. Then he made his way to the Pacific Coast and in Seattle, Wash., he busied himself for about a year. In 1912 he located in San Francisco, Cal., and was in the

employ of the Buzzell Electrical Works as electri- cal machinist, continuing with them until in the summer of 1920, when he came to Sacramento from San Francisco. Having been for eight years in the electrical field in the Bay City, he found it casy to establish here a well-equipped shop for all kinds of high-grade electrical work, original and repairing, and for the best of service to motors requiring the experience and cleverness of the up-to-date electri- cian. He carries a large line of motors and his busi- ness is not alone confined to Sacramento County, but it extends into adjoining counties as well, and into Nevada. Very naturally, as the result of his prosperity here, Mr. Blasch has become deeply inter- ested in Sacramento, town and county, and is second to none as a first-class booster, keeping himself inde- pendent and above partisan trammels in the realms of politics, and so exerting a greater influence in favor of anything he indorses.

A man of a family, Mr. Blasch divides his social hours between his home and his business. He has faith in the country of his adoption, and California takes stock in him.

LOYAL CHAUNCY MOORE .- One of the most popular of all the brave and devoted firemen of northern California is Loyal Chauncy Moore, ex- chief of the department at Sacramento, in which city he was born on December 17, 1876. His father was the well-known pioneer, John C. Moore, who came across the great plains with his parent when a child; while his mother, who was Mary E. Bell before her marriage, also of splendid old pioneer stock, crossed the prairies in her girlhood, and grew up to teach school. The parents, therefore, were married here in California; and ever since they never failed to do their part in helping develop the Golden State.

Loyal Moore attended the excellent public schools of his locality, and encouraged by his broad-minded, progressive parents, continued his studies by pursu- ing courses at the best business college accessible. At the age of thirteen, too, he began to learn the candy-making trade, which he followed for some years; and then, having learned the carpenter trade, he was for sixteen years a building contractor. Dur- ing these years he studied architecture and in con- nection with his contracting was a home designer. He made a wide and creditable reputation as both an enterprising and an experienced operator, and had much to do with developing more than one locality and a great deal of valuable property.

In 1900 he entered the Sacramento fire department force as a substitute callman, and four years later he was appointed to the force. In 1918, he became a uniformed fireman, and on July 1, 1920, he was appointed chief of the fire department of the city of Sacramento by C. A. Bliss, who was then com- missioner of public health and safety, serving cap- ably and with credit to himself and the public, until the installation of the new manager form of govern- ment, when he returned to the ranks. Soon after this he was promoted to the rank of captain under the civil service, leading the class by standing first at the examination. He is now captain of Truck No. 3 of the department. Mr. Moore is a tax-payer and property owner in Sacramento, and is a member of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, thus be- ing a booster for the city and county, In national political affairs Mr. Moore has always been a Repub-

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

liean. Mr. Moore also has the distinetion of having organized the fire protective bureau while chief of the department. He has a good record for fire-pre- vention work, both in what the department has done and also in what the publie has been persuaded to do; and as a gratifying consequence, he has been able to accomplish a good deal towards bringing about a reduction in insurance rates.

At Sacramento, in 1900, Mr. Moore was married to Mary E. Artz, a native of Sacramento, and their union has been blessed with the birth of four chil- dren, Leslie F., Edgar L., Bernard and Jeanette L. Moore. He is a member of the Firemen's Relief and Proteetive Association, also of the Owls, and is past president and ex-secretary of the Maeeabees of the World. He belongs to the Foresters of Amer- ica, in which he is a past chief ranger. He is fond of hunting and fishing, and thereby proves the healthy character of his nature, and the naturalness of his character. Years ago he served in the National Guard, and as member of Company E, 2nd Infantry Regi- ment, rose from private to be eaptain. On the break- ing out of the Spanish-American War, he responded to the first eall of troops, and was mustered into serv- ice with Battery B, 1st Battalion of Heavy Artillery, California Volunteers, on May 9, 1898. He served until the close of the confliet, and was mustered out on January 30, 1899, at Angel Island with the rank of corporal. He is now a member of the J. Holland Laidler Camp, Spanish War Veterans, in Sacramento.

Sacramento may well be congratulated upon hav- ing had as chief of her fire department a patriotie American of such an enviable record in other fields as to commend him heartily to the confidence of every citizen of today.

Mr. Moore is never idle and believes in improving the mind. He is first, last and all the time a stu- dent, particularly along literary and historical lines and in natural history and seientifie subjeets.

ROBERT M. SMITH .- An expert builder who has come to have a valuable experience in his exten- sive operations as a general contractor, is Robert M. Smith, of 2633 Thirtieth Street, Sacramento, a native of Ontario who adds one more to the imposing list of Canadians doing well for themselves, and well for California. His parents were James R. and Marga- ret (Edmondson) Smith, and they came into the States, and to California, and settled in Oakland; and there our subject's father died.

Robert M. Smith was born December 19, 1864, and he had the advantages of both the lower and the high school courses, and then was apprentieed to the watch-making trade; but when he had been a year in San Francisco and Oakland, he learned the carpenter trade, and for seven years he worked as a journeyman. In 1890, he came to Saeramento, and as foreman he had charge of construction on several buildings, being five years active in that responsible work; and as long ago as 1895, he undertook con- traeting on his own responsibility, and he has sinee built many of the finer homes of the city, according to the architectural styles of the period, and in keeping with the inereasing eosts, adding apprecia- bly to the attractiveness of Sacramento. He belongs to the Master Builders, and is a Republican.

On March 25, 1891, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Louisa E. Goess, a native daughter born in

Sonoma County, California; and they have one child, a son, Robert Earl, who has a tire shop at 1228 K. Street. Mr. Smith is an Elk, and belongs to Lodge No. 6, in the capital. He takes a live interest in civic affairs, although never an office-seeker, and also a keen interest in sports, being in particular a base- ball fan.

WILLIAM H. GIBSON .- An enterprising busi- ness man whose success may be aseribed, in part, to his having made his name stand for something su- perior and dependable in his field of industry, is Wil- liam H. Gibson, proprietor of the sheet-metal works at 417 Twenty-ninth Street. A Canadian by birth, he was born at Brantford, Ontario, on April 8, 1867. His parents were Alexander and Janet (Ritehie) Gibson, both born in Scotland, the former not even a memory to our subject, who was a babe when his father died. Mrs. Gibson died at the age of eighty-six.

William Gibson was the youngest of seven children. He attended the schools of Canada, and then, rather early, learned his trade as a sheet-metal worker. In 1888, when the attention of Canada as well as the East was riveted on California, on account of the great "boom" in land and real estate here, Mr. Gibson came out to the Golden State, and from that time on he spent some ten years in Sacramento, in the Southern Paeifie shops, and two years in a shop in town.

In 1901, however, he established his own business. He first bought out an old firm, Messrs. L. L. Lewis & Company at 504 J Street, and there he remained for some years. The Lewis Company dealt in merchan- dise, but Mr. Gibson sold that department and con- tinued manufacturing. Then, in 1906, he built the shop where he is now located. His work is in de- mand, and he employs five men to handle the busi- ness contraeted. He does general sheet-metal work, and has been more than sueeessful, his customers al- ways appreciating his willingness to try to do for them, especially when they are in urgent need.

Mr. Gibson was married on June 26, 1895, at Sacra- mento, to Miss Farrie May Zimmerman, of Saera- mento, a deseendant of an old English and German family. Her father, Charles W. Zimmerman, was born at Yellow Bud, Ross County, Ohio. He came out to Peoria, Ill., where he was an engineer on steamboats on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. In 1852 he eame via Panama to California. He had an uncle, Capt. Jesse Zimmerman, who was a pioneer captain on the river boats between San Francisco and Red Bluff. Charles W. Zimmerman made his head- quarters at Sacramento, and here he was married to Catherine Hosselton, a native of Peoria, Ill., whose acquaintance he had formed while in Illinois. She made the journey to California in 1870, and they were married in Sacramento. Her brothers all served in the Civil War. Charles W. Zimmerman made his home in Sacramento until his death. His widow is now seventy-eight years old and makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Gibson. Mrs. Zimmerman and her husband had two children, Farrie being the only one now living. Farrie May Zimmerman received her education in the Sacramento publie schools and Bainbridge Business College, from which she was graduated; and after her graduation she was city eashier for Perkins & Sons, until her marriage to Mr. Gibson. Janet, a daughter, has become Mrs. F. J. Wanamaker, of North Saeramento. Robert Z. is assisting his father; he saw serviee in the World War,

Men of Gibson Faria May Gibson

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

in the 8th Infantry band, and was in France. Charles WV. is also with his father; and Kathryn is at school. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gibson are musically inclined, as are all their children; and they appear together in musical circles. Mr. Gibson is a Republican. For twenty-five years he has been an elder and very ac- tive in church work in the Westminster Presbyterian Church. He belongs to the Odd Fellows, is past chief of the Sacramento Caledonian Association and is also a member of the Order of Scottish Clans; while Mrs. Gibson is a member of the Daughters of Nile.

WILLIAM NELSON LINDSAY HUTCHIN- SON .- The peculiar genius of industrial leaders who have made Sacramento County famous far beyond the confines of the Golden State, is well represented in William Nelson Lindsay Hutchinson, of Walnut Grove, who is part owner of a tract of some 660 choice acres, in the Holland tract. He was born at Lindsay, in Tulare County, on December 7, 1892, the son of Arthur J. Hutchinson, who emigrated from his native England, where he was a veteran of the British Army, retiring with the rank of captain, after which he came to Virginia and was there married to Sadie Lindsay Patton. From Virginia Captain and Mrs. Hutchinson moved on to California; and reach- ing here in 1881, they settled near Pomona in Los Angeles County, and engaged in raising cattle and horses, at the same time, also, conducting a first- class dairy. They were there until 1898, when Cap- tain Hutchinson decided to venture into Tulare County; and he arrived so early that he was the first man to plant a citrus-orchard there. He joined a company making a specialty of developing and then selling citrus-land, and he acquired fifty acres of oranges; but in recent years, he sold off all but twelve acres, which he still holds. Captain Hutchinson started the town of Lindsay, in 1891, naming it after his wife's middle name, an old family name. Lindsay has since grown with the growth of its citrus indus- try, until it is now the largest individual shipping point for citrus fruit in the United States. In 1906, the father moved to Palo Alto, and retired, and there he is still living. Three children were granted this worthy pioneer couple: Mary Lindsay, having mar- ried, is Mrs. Post of Palo Alto. William N. L. Hutch- inson is the subject of our review; Arthur John Lind- say Hutchinson lives in Los Angeles.

William Hutchinson attended the primary and sec- ondary schools of Palo Alto; then after two years at Stanford, he entered the University of California, and was graduated with the degree of B. S., as a mem- ber of the class of 1915. Soon after graduating from Stanford, he returned to Lindsay and engaged for a year in the citrus industry. In 1916, he came into the region of the Sacramento delta, and with Mr. Darsie and Mr. Pettigrew he purchased 660 acres in the Holland tract, near Clarksburg, now devoted to the growing of asparagus and garden truck. He is agent for the American Fruit Growers, Inc. for the delta region.

In May, 1917, Mr. Hutchinson, in responding to the call for Americans to stand by the United States, entered the first officers' training camp at the Presidio, San Francisco, and in August, 1917, was commissioned second lieutenant of United States Infantry, and at different times served with Compa- nies D and H. He went overseas to France with his regiment, and served as reserve in the St. Mihiel

drive, and he took an active part in the Meuse- Argonne offensive, and was then moved up into Bel- gium, and participated in the Lys-Scheldt offensive. He returned to the United States with his regiment, and was discharged as first lieutenant from Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming. And then he returned to his farming on the Sacramento River.

On April 20, 1921, Mr. Hutchinson was married to Miss Doris Seymour, a native of Sacramento, and the daughter of Col. H. I. and Grace A. (Brownlee) Sey- mour, the latter a representative of the Brownlee family, who were pioneers of the state, while Colonel Seymour was a prominent business man in Sacra- mento and was a colonel of the California National Guards. He died September 1, 1913, being survived by his widow, who makes her home in San Fran- cisco. Two children were born to them: Donald graduated from Stanford University in 1915 with the degree A. B., and is a member of Sigma Nu frater- nity. He is now with the Standard Oil Company in San Francisco. Doris attended the Sacramento high school and was graduated from Stanford University with the degree of A. B., and there got that fine foundation through which she has been able to help her husband. She is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Phi Beta Kappa, while Mr. Hutchinson is a member of the Onisbo Lodge, F. & A. M., Court- land, and of the Sacramento Post of the American Legion and Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

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History of Sacramento 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, 1923, Part 119

Author: Reed, G. Walter Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1026

Author: Reed, G. Walter
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1026