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 124

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 124

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Charles Chatterton attended the Wisconsin public schools, and when old enough to do so, learned the carpenter trade. In Rhode Island he worked with one of the largest firms, Wilmot & McKillop, for three years building cotton mills. In 1904 he came to Sacramento, and for three years he was a partner with his brother, after which time each one went into business for himself. Charles has confined himself to the erection of the finer type of dwellings and flats. He is well-posted as to the latest and most approved methods, and has long made it a practice to use only the best equipment attainable, thereby assuring such speed as may be compatible with the work required; he also has an eye to the ornate and

Deo Cardano-

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

the dignified, and there is something satisfying, something pleasing about his work when it is done. In political affairs, Mr. Chatterton is a stand-pat Republican.

In 1904, at Sacramento, Mr. Chatterton was mar- ried to Katherine McCarthy, an accomplished lady, a native of Ireland, and they have had three children. Grace Ann, Charles Elmer, and Newell George. Mr. Chatterton belongs to the Builders' Exchange, and when tired of too much work, or patriotically in- clined to observe a holiday, he hies himself off on hunting and fishing trips.

ANSONO CASELLI .- An esteemed Italian-Amer- ican whom many friends are glad to hail is the retired merchant of Sacramento, Ansono Caselli, an early settler from the Tuscany province, in Italy. He was born on a farm on December 1, 1853, and when twenty-one years old, crossed the ocean to America. Before leaving his sunny country, he had learned the trade of a shoemaker; and for two years after reach- ing San Francisco, he worked at that line of occupa- tion.

In 1876, Mr. Caselli came to Sacramento, and for a while worked for an Italian shoemaker in a small store on J Street, and later he was in business for himself there as a custom shoemaker. Shoes in those days sold for sixteen dollars per pair, and when he had been able to save some money from the fair amount of profit, he opened a shoe-store of his own at 527 K Street, in 1894. It was a small affair, at best, but he later, in 1906, rebuilt the place and added two stories, and he still owns the building, having for forty years carried on his business at the one location in Sacramento. He sold out his business, however, in 1921, and retired, able to look back with agreeable complacency to the day when he arrived in California really poor, and the ensuing years which were years of success.

Since coming here. Mr. Caselli has seen many changes in the capital city. When he arrived, Sev- enth Street was the end of the retail business district, and wooden sidewalks and muddy streets greeted the eye. Law and order, however, were observed, albeit the Vigilantes had to take a hand to effect the reform, and our subject saw two men hanged in the court- house yard. He knew all the leaders of great enter- prises as they emerged to local and even national and international fame, and became himself well- known to many.

In 1888, at Sacramento, Mr. Caselli married Miss Mary Stanton, a native of Sacramento and the daugh- ter of Perin Stanton, the pioneer hardware dealer of the city. In 1889, Mr. and Mrs. Caselli toured Eu- rope, and among the many other places, made a visit to Mr. Caselli's old home in Italy. Mrs. Caselli, though from a long-line American family and unable to speak European languages, nevertheless enjoyed the trip immensely. Herself always a social favorite and Mr. Caselli a baritone singer of note, they were received with favor, and while in Sacramento they were always prime favorites. Returning to Amer- ica, they continued to reside at the old Stanton home on Sixth Street between M and N, in Sacra- mento, until 1910, when Mr. Caselli purchased his present commodions residence at 1615 Twenty-sixth Street. Here Mrs. Caselli passed away March 28, 1920. at an age of sixty-three. She is sadly missed.

not only in her own home, and in the Eastern Star Lodge, of which she was past matron, but in her entire native city, where she was a true type of the capital city's daughters. Since her death, Mr. Caselli's household has been presided over by Mrs. Giovanni Salvetti, a niece of Mr. Caselli, who, together with her husband and two daughters, is keeping up the hospitableness of the Caselli home.

Although retired from active business, Mr. Caselli continues to take a keen interest in the progress of Sacramento City, of which for so many years he was an active and successful business man, and in the Masonic order, of which he is a Knight Templar.

WILLIAM DREHER. - One of the successful citizens of the capital city who has made his own way in the world and has always put his shoulder to the wheel when any project was brought to his notice for the developing of the wonderful resources of Sac- ramento County is found in William Dreher, resid- ing at 403 Sixteenth Street. He was born in Ger- maty on June 7, 1882, on a farm operated by his parents, Antone and Christina Dreher, worthy folks who did their duty in their place and day and sent the lad forth into the world with a far better equip- ment than many a boy has had. He attended the excellent schools of his native country and then he learned the trades of harness maker and upholsterer. After he had mastered them he went to England in the spring of 1900, and for the next eleven months he worked at the butcher business; the following sum- mer he crossed the ocean to the United States and in Washington, D. C., he followed his trade of up- holsterer. At the early age of nineteen he was in business for himself and when he sold out he came West to Nevada, where he was one of the pioneers in Manhattan, arriving there in 1905 and remaining until 1909, during which time for the first three years he ran a livery business and a harness shop. He is well-posted on the pioneer conditions of that section when the new mining camps were enjoying their boom days and fortunes were won and lost overnight at the gaming tables.

Leaving Manhattan he came to Sacramento, where from 1909 until 1921 he conducted the old Turner Hall cafe on K Street, headquarters for good things to eat. In the meantime he began to invest in land and bought a twenty-five-acre rauch out on Sixteenth Street, which he began to develop from its virgin state of pasture, and he built roads to make the prop- erty accessible, he being the pioneer in this district. In time he established a dairy with thoroughbred Holstein cows and built up a good trade and at the same time sold young stock, shipping to the Ha- waiian Islands and other places. The bull at the head of his herd, Sir Aggie Mead De Kol the Fifth, is a half-brother of the champion at the California State Fair in 1922. The ranch has now been sub- divided and laid out in town lots and factory sites. with fine improved streets, curbs and gutters, and is being rapidly sold to home-makers. Besides his other business interests, he conducts a service and oil sta- tion on Sixteenth Street at the junction of the Marys- ville Road at the American River Crossing, which he has made a beauty spot at the entrance into the city of Sacramento from the north. As success has crowned his efforts, Mr. Dreher invested in property near Lake Tahoe, buying 167 acres and establishing a summer home which he has named Tamarac Park.

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He is now subdividing this tract and selling summer- home lots and resort sites and is meeting with the same success that has been his since coming to the Golden State.

In 1913, Mr. Dreher was married to Miss Nellie Ward, a native of Iowa, and she shares in the esteem in which her husband is held by their many friends, and they dispense an old-time hospitality at their city home as well as at Tamarac Park. Politically. Mr. Dreher votes with the Republican party in na- tional issues, but in local matters he is broad-minded and supports the man rather than party. For his recreation he takes his gun and goes after game and is thankful that his lot has been cast in the wonderful Valley of the Sacramento.

SAM KENOURGIOS .- A busy establishment greatly appreciated for its excellent service to Sacra- mento and vicinity is that of Sam Kenourgios, head of the London Baking Company at the corner of Eighth and L Streets, in the Capital City. Our subject is the senior member of the firm of Kenourgios Bros., who own the baking concern. He is a native of Greece, having been born in that country on March 28, 1888. The other brothers are John and Frank; and the three have been associated together ever since they started in business.

Coming to the United States in 1909, Sam Kenour- gios pushed on westward to Salt Lake City, where he worked for wages for two years, and then, for a year and a half, he labored in Oakland, and for another year was in Benicia, in the last two named places being in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Coming to Sacramento in 1913, he and his brother opened a small bake-shop on J Street, between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets, and having a capital of only $2.000 between them, they had to start in a small, unpretentious way. They worked hard, how- ever, and after two years the business had grown so that they were able to remove to a new, larger and better store on Second Street, between K and L. But even there they had their bakery in the basement, while the ground floor was devoted to a grocery and they still own and conduct this place of business:

On July 23, 1921, Kenourgios Brothers bought the brick building at the corner of L and Eighth Streets. In the south end of the block they have a modern bakery plant, with modern ovens and thoroughly up- to-date machinery for the carrying on of the business in the most sanitary fashion; and the corner is the site of their salesroom, where all their products are re- tailed, and they maintain a first-class soda-water foun- tain and ice-cream parlor. They also do a large wholesale business, one of the best proofs of the high quality of their wares. They use the trade-mark, "London Made," and dispense four kinds of bread- French, Italian, twist and domestic. They employ cleven people in the factory and salesroom, have three anto delivery wagons, bake and sell 1,500 loaves of bread daily, and make a large variety of fancy pastries. Commencing with a small capital nine years ago, their receipts now average from $6,000 to $7,000 per month. They buy their flour in car-load lots, and secure their other supplies and stock in the same wholesale fashion. They have come to enjoy their merited prosperity through their honesty of method in the transaction of business, and their practice of buying, making and selling only the best. Mr. Kenourgios is a member of the Foresters of America.

HENRY GEORGE DUENSING .- Sacramento naturally draws and holds the leading exponents of the varied arts, prominent among whom is undoubtedly Henry George Duensing, the well-known interior decorator, of 1223 Twenty-eighth Street. He was born in Sacramento, on November 10, 1883, the son of Louis and Mary (Boney) Duensing. His father was a pioneer of 1870, who here met and married Miss Boney., The mother is still living, highly esteemed by the many who have profited, in one way or another, through association with her sincere and gracious personality and charitable ministrations. The father has passed away, leaving a memory revered by those who mourn his loss.

Henry Duensing pursued his studies in the grammar school and high school of Sacramento. After finishing his schooling, he apprenticed himself to learn interior decorating; and after mastering his art, he went East and there filled numerous complimentary engage- ments, executing fine work. Returning to Sacramento, he entered into business for himself, in 1915. His finished work is of the highest grade, and is repre- sented in many of the finest homes, not only in the city and the Sacramento Valley, but also throughout northern California.

Mr. Duensing is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and also of the Exchange Club, where he is welcomed as an able special artist in his field. His fraternal affiliation is with the Odd Fellows, Po- litically, he is a Republican.

EDWARD M. THOMPSON .- One of the leading nurserymen of northern California, Edward M. Thompson was born in Fayette County, Iowa, May 11, 1861, on his father's farm, and there he was reared, attending the district schools. When a boy of four- teen he left home to make his own way in the world, and found work on a farm, receiving ten dollars a month for his first wages. In 1885, he came as far west as Grand Island, Nebr., and there became agent for the Adams Express Company, remaining with them ten years, when he went to Deadwood, S. D., and took the same post in the company's office at that place, until 1906. During the gold rush to Nevada he went to that state, where he was in the employ of Wells Fargo Express Company at Goldfield. Then he was transferred to Millers, Nev., where he was . agent and later acted as agent at Alturas until 1911.

That year marks Mr. Thompson's arrival in Sacra- mento, with the determination to start in business for himself, if only in a small. way, and with a small wagon and old bay horse he embarked in the nursery business as a salesman, covering later several coun- ties in northern and central California. He is asso- ciated with the Silva-Bergtholdt Company and the Newcastle Plant Company, the largest growers of nursery stock in California, growing three million trees yearly of the deciduous and shade varieties, and their output is shipped throughout the country in motor power machines all through the East, as well as in California, using Ford, Studebaker, Lexington and Buick trucks.

Mr. Thompson also has nursery yards in Sacra- mento and he is the owner of a fifty-two-acre fruit ranch which he has planted and developed, forty acres in peaches, ten in pears and two in cherries in the Natoma district. He has been very successful in fruit culture, both in his personal operations and

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in assisting others, and attributes his success to the fact that he has made a careful study of soils and irrigation, and he is recognized as an expert author- ity in his line, for ranchers are beginning to realize that it is this knowledge which makes a piece of property a successful producer or a financial loss, and when they find a man who has learned from actual experience and experiments with trees and soils in different districts, his opinion is valued accordingly.

RAYMOND C. ARLIN .- A native son of Cali- fornia, and one who has spent his entire life within the confines of the state, Raymond C. Arlin was born in Lockeford, September 22, 1890, a son of George F. and Maggie E. Arlin, who were the parents of six children, as follows: Gleason, Raymond C, Velma, Theresa, Neva, and Cyril. The father was a butcher, and had a shop near the old Graham drug store when Lodi was still in its infancy as a town, before the beginning of the grape era. This pioneer merchant died in 1900, but the mother is still living, at Woodbridge, Cal.

Raymond C. Arlin was educated at the Salem school in Lodi. Starting in life for himself, in 1909 he came to the delta country of the Sacramento River. Since that time he has been at Walnut Grove, where for thirteen years. he was with the general merchan- dise store of Alexander Brown; aud when the busi- ness was taken over by Nelson Barry, he remained with the new management, and is still ably filling the position in life to which he has been called.

The marriage of Mr. Arlin, which occurred at Iste- ton, March 29, 1913, united him with Pearl Hutton, a native of Isleton, where she was reared and edu- cated, and a daughter of William H. and Anna Hut- ton. Two sons have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Arlin, Ray and William Vernon. Mr. Arlin has witnessed many changes in this section of the state, and is interested in the further development of its possibilities for the benefit of generations to come.

WILLIAM P. LARACY .- Since 1907 William P. Laracy has been connected with the fire department of Sacramento and since 1920 has been captain of Chemical No. 3. He is a native son of California, his birth having occurred at Berkeley, February 21, 1886, a son of John J. and Margaret (Fitzpatrick) Laracy. John J. Laracy served two enlistments in the U. S. Army, the last one being in an Indian out- break, and received his honorable discharge in Ore- gon; he then came to California and was married at Marysville and some years later settled in Sacra- mento in 1884. John J. Laracy served as call man on the Sacramento fire department until his death in March, 1920; the mother of our subject passed away in 1900.

William P. Laracy, the second eldest of three chil- dren, received his education in the public schools of Sacramento and was occupied in various lines of work until 1907, when he became a member of the Sacra- mento fire department, serving capably until 1913, when he was promoted to the position of captain of Chemical No. 3, and his devotion to every detail of his office has made him an efficient man for the position.

Mr. Laracy was united in marriage with Miss Aileen M. Lacy, born in Los Angeles, and they have

two sons: John Edward and Richard K. He is a member of the Red Men, and Firemen's Relief and Protective Association, in which he has been a trus- tee since its organization. Mr. Laracy has no polit- ical preference, but always supports progressive legis- lation.

PERCY LA RUE HOLT .- Another very interest- ing representative of one of the best known of Sac- ramento industrial firms is Percy La Rue Holt, of Messrs. Holt Bros, the auto-painters, who is asso- ciated with his brother, Lester E. Holt, whose life- story is sketched elsewhere in this volume. He was born at Chico, on July 10, 1889, the son of Charles A. and Mary Elizabeth (Bowden) Holt, his father having come out to the Golden State in 1875, while his mother was a native of Butte County, having been born near Oroville. Mr. Holt settled at Chico, and they were married in that locality. He was a sheet- metal worker, and one of the best of his day; and for a while he led in that industry in the bay city. Now he is living, and active in business, as of yore, in Sacramento, enjoying the companionship of his devoted wife.

Percy Holt had a public-school education, and then worked in a drug-store. Next he engaged in news- paper work, and then he learned the harness business. In 1912, he took up painting; and for the past two years, or since the end of the World War, he has been associated with his brother, Lester, in the firm of Holt Bros., and with him has been very successful as one of the most artistic, practical painters in either city or county of Sacramento. He is a lover of out- door sport and enjoys fishing. In politics he is a Democrat and is always a most patriotic citizen, especially devoted to the locality in which he lives and prospers.

GEORGE LUCICH .- That there are still fortunes to be made in these times as well as in the "good old times" when competition was not so keen, is a fact amply proven by more than one representative business man of today, and none more thoroughly than by George Lucich, who came to this country when a boy and has reached success through his own efforts, directed along the lines for which he found himself best fitted. Born in Jugo-Slavia, then a part of Austria, October 15, 1882, when fourteen years old he came across the ocean and located in Denver, Colo., where an uncle lived. After going to school for a time, he started to learn the restaurant business with his uncle, in the latter's cafe. He learned to cook and was chief cook for the establishment from 1897 to 1901, beginning with fourteen dollars a month, and working from fourteen to sixteen hours each day; a hard schooling, no doubt, but one which laid the foundation for his future success.

He next moved to the mining camps of Colorado, working as a cook, and experiencing all the thrills of a gold strike while at Cripple Creek; then to Gold- field, Nevada, during the boom there, when it was a city of tents, arriving before a house had been erected. Mr. Lucich first came to Sacramento in 1904, and then he later decided to look over the possibilities of San Francisco, arriving in time for the earthquake and fire of 1906, which occurred just fifteen days after he reached the city. Not discouraged by having passed through the trying experiences of that period, he later, in partnership with two others, opened a

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restaurant and liquor store on the water front, at Second and Townsend Streets.

In February, 1915. Mr. Lucich sold out his inter- ests in San Francisco, and came to Sacramento, and his first business venture in the Capital City was a small lunch room, with just twenty-three stools, located on Ninth Street, and again with two partners. Every other store on the block, which was between J and K Streets, was vacant at the time, but the lunch room prospered and this site marks the place where now stands the Rosemont Grill, Mr. Lucich's pres- ent establishment and one of the best appointed cafes in Sacramento, remodeled at a cost of $30,000 and opened to the public in December, 1922. He has his own cold storage plant on the premises, and five chefs are kept busy supplying the best the seasons afford to its many patrons. The cafe is always open, day and night; a key to the front door has never been carried by Mr. Lucich or his partners, Peter Valerio and Joe Ostoja, as the door is always open. They also own the Annex Lunch Room at 911 K Street, and in both places employ forty-two people, with a

payroll of $900 a week, thus adding materially to the . well; and they kept before their family high ideals of prosperity of the city and making it possible for its life. As a result, when their son left the parental roof he was well prepared to take up life's responsibilities. In their family were three girls and four boys, among whom Edward Albert is the youngest, and the only one in America. Two brothers and two sisters are still living in Sweden. Both parents passed away in Sweden, the father at the age of eighty-seven years. Carl Steneberg was prominent in Masonic circles. residents to enjoy dining in surroundings which are seldom equalled for artistic furnishings and correct service outside of the larger cities. Mr. Lucich was married in San Mateo, Cal., to Katherine Grase, born in Jugo-Slavia, and a resident of the United States for about twenty-five years, and they have one daugh- ter, Nicolena Lucich. Mr. Lucich is a member of the Chamber of Commerce.

ERNEST A. COURT .- The excellent business administration enjoyed by Sacramento is attested in the efficient and conscientious management of the office of City Plumbing Inspector by Ernest A. Court, who for two years past has discharged that responsi- bility. He was born at Black River Falls, Wis., on November 25, 1875, the son of William Edward and Elizabeth (Frost) Court, who came to California in 1883, and removed to Stockton, making their perma- nent residence there. As a railroad man, Mr. Court was foreman of car-repairers, and heing very profi- cient in his department of technical work, he provided well for his family. Mrs. Court was always the cen- ter of a circle of admiring friends, who appreciated her domestic and neighborly qualities.

Ernest A. Court supplemented his training in the grammar schools with a course in the more exacting school of practical experience, and after trying one or another line of activity, learned the plumber's trade, and then, like the typical European journeyman, trav- eled from city to city throughout the United States, learning still better the same trade from different angles. In 1900, he located permanently in Sacra- mento, and until 1914 he worked as a journeyman employed by private firms. Next he entered the serv- ice of the city of Sacramento in June, 1914, joining the sanitary department, and then taking up duties in the plumbing department; and in July, 1921, he was appointed chief plumbing inspector. He belongs to the Republican party, and he is fond of all out- of-door sports.

Mr. Court married Miss Jennie Steinauer, of Sac- ramento, in 1904, by whom he has had three children: Edward, Clovys and Bob. He is public-spirited, and this attribute inspires him to do much for the public welfare not strictly called for by his official duties.

EDWARD ALBERT STENEBERG .- A nature- loving son of regal old Sweden who has more than made good in America is Edward Albert Steneberg, the well-known landscape gardener of Sacramento. He was born at Lund, Sweden, on July 6, 1862, the son of Carl and Caroline (Alstrom) Steneberg, worthy folks of the industrial world. The father was born in the province of Hanover, Germany; the mother was born in Sweden. Carl Steneberg worked in rattan and willow, and enjoyed a wide reputation as a skilled craftsman. He learned his trade in Ger- many, where he received an excellent education. His ancestors had for generations before him been men of education, expert craftsmen, and successful tradesmen. Because of his scholarship and the su- perior quality of his workmanship, and his qualifica- tions in general, Carl Steneberg was tendered a posi- tion as instructor in a reform school in Sweden. He accepted the position, and there taught the boys bas- ket-making and rattan work; and this led to his be- coming Swedeu's first and foremost manufacturer in his line. He and his good wife worked hard, but lived

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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 124

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