History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 184

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1660

USA > California > San Joaquin County > History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 184

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Emil Fimbel received a good, education in the ex- cellent schools of his native town, and while young learned the trade of iron turner in a machine shop where he was employed until 1873, when he went to Paris. The following year, 1874, he came to the United States, locating at Pittsburgh, Pa., and there followed his trade for two years. He then removed to Canton, Ohio, where he worked for two years for the Leibold & Teitsold Safe Manufacturing Com- pany; then he went to Philadelphia, where he worked in the shipyards at Chester, Pa., and while there worked on three ships as follows: the Center, the City of New York and the City of San Francisco. He then went to Dubuque, Iowa, and later to Kansas, where he intended to take a homestead, but was not pleased with the conditions in western Kansas. He then went on to Buena Vista, Colo., prospecting, working in the mines and sharpening tools for the miners. In 1888 he located in Bakersfield, Cal., and two years later he came to Stockton, where he found employment with the Shippee Harvester Com- pany, the Stockton Iron Works and the State Hos- pital. Then he started his own business on Bridge Street, buying and selling vegetables. Some ten years ago he started to make pickles in a small shop on East Channel Street and this business has steadily increased.

The marriage of Mr. Fimbel, in Stockton, in 1897, united him with Mrs. Mary Merz, a native of Bavaria, Germany, who came to California in 1885. She has two sons by her former marriage: Hans G. served in the United States army overseas and now is a farmer on Linden Road, San Joaquin County; William F. Merz is a partner in the firm of Fimbel & Merz. Mr. and Mrs. Fimbel are the parents of one son, Emil Fimbel, Jr., also a partner in the business.

The firm of Fimbel & Merz contract with the farmers to buy their cucumbers and manufacture them into dill, sweet, sour, mustard and mixed pickles; they also manufacture sauerkraut. They con- duct a large wholesale business, as it is the only industry of its kind in the county and they enjoy a steadily increasing patronage. Mr. Fimbel is the owner of an eighty-acre ranch in Calaveras County, a portion of which is devoted to vineyard and farm- ing land and on which is also a limestone quarry; the rock makes a perfectly white lime of excellent quality. Mr. Fimbel formerly belonged to the Odd Fellows Lodge and Encampment, and is now identi- fied with the Foresters of America, Sons of Herman, of which he is a past president, and the I. D. E. S. Mrs. Fimbel is a member of the Druids.

LEONIDA OLIVIERI, M. D .- Born in the an- cient city of Genoa, Italy, December 14, 1866, Dr. Leonida Olivieri is a descendant of an eminent and noble Italian family. Both his father and his grand- father were physicians, and famous men of their time. He was graduated from the University of Physicians and Surgeons in Genoa, Italy, after which he took a post-graduate course at the Medical College of Paris. About thirty years ago he sailed for America, and for a while he located in Chicago, and in that city, in 1893, he was attached to the medical department of the World's Fair Exposition, where the instru- ment of his invention for the safe and rapid operation in tracheotomy received the first prize.

A few years later Dr. Olivieri came out to Califor- nia for his health; and having been favorably im- pressed with the Golden State from the start, he has been here ever since, always busy with the successful practice of his profession. His exceptional scientific training and equipment, and his linguistic attain- ments, and the other fruits of his profound study and wide travel have contributed to enable him to render the greatest service to important circles in Stockton and the rest of San Joaquin County. During all these years he also contributed to the beauty of Stockton by erecting fine buildings and improving the country around by converting several large pieces of almost sterile land into valuable and highly productive ranches, and no greater evidence could be desired of his faith in the future of this region, to which he has always been so loyal. Cultured and philanthropic by nature, he has won the esteem and the sincere affection of his numerous friends here and elsewhere. In honor of distinguished services rendered by Dr. Olivieri to his native land, he was honored by King Humbert, who bestowed upon him the rank of Chevalier officer with the Cross of the Crown of Italy.

GEORGE B. GARIBOTTI .- Leaving his native land when a youth of eighteen years, George B. Gari- botti sought the broader opportunities for advance- ment offered in the United States and he has won a notable measure of success which now enables him to live retired from the active cares of business, his attention being concentrated upon his duties as secretary and manager of the Italian Club of Stock- ton. A native of Italy, he was born in the farming district near Genoa, September 10, 1868, and his parents accorded him the best educational oppor- tunities obtainable at that period. In 1886, in com- pany with five friends, he sailed for the United States, arriving in San Francisco, Cal., April 3, of that year. He secured employment in a restaurant of that city and later opened a small restaurant of his own on Broadway, calling it the Flora de Italia, by which name it has since been known, and it is now one of the most popular Italian cafes in San Francisco. In 1888 he sold his interest in the undertaking and came to Stockton, becoming owner of a restaurant at Hunter and Market streets. In 1900 he revisited his old home in Italy and on his return to Stockton established the Delmonico restaurant on North Cali- fornia Street. This he successfully conducted for about eight years and then sold, entering the whole- sale liquor business in partnership with William Arma- nino, at 201 South California Street, as Garibotti & Company. Later Mr. Garibotti withdrew from the firm and turned his attention to the buying and sell-

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A. D. Olivieri

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ing of real estate, in which connection his efforts were also rewarded with a substantial measure of success, but he is now living retired, although he is serving on the advisory board of the Stockton branch of the Bank of Italy.

Mr. Garibotti has been married twice. His first wife, Miss Mary Sanguinetti, a native of Italy, passed away in 1916, leaving three children: Velora, Merwin and Bernice. His second union was with Miss Ther- esa Francisconi, who was also born in Italy. Mr.

Garibotti is a charter member of the Ancient Order of Druids, which was organized in Stockton a quarter of a century ago, and for the past fifteen years he has served as its treasurer. He was one of the founders of the Stockton Italian Club, which was organized in 1918 and is now in a very flourishing condition, having 148 members. They maintain at- tractive clubrooms at the corner of Main and Sutter streets and the present officers of the club are: Dr. John V. Craviotto, president; A. J. Ferrogiaro, vice- president and treasurer; and George B. Garibotti, sec- retary and manager. Mr. Garibotti is also connected with the Foresters. He was made an American citi- zen in 1895 and although he still retains a deep love for his native country he maintains a still stronger attachment for the land of his adoption. He stands for all that is truly American in citizenship, upholding the interests of city, state and nation, and his co- operation can at all times be counted upon to further any movement for the general good.

ROBERT L. DARTER .- A man who has intelli- gently directed his efforts toward the goal of his am- bitions and thereby attained success is Robert L. Dar- ter, who was born in Scott County, Va., August 5, 1874. The only education he received was in the dis- trict schools and when he reached the age of sixteen he ran away from home and worked in the mountains of Kentucky for $6 per month; later he went to Indianapolis, Ind. In 1892 he came to California and worked at Tipton for three years; then he returned to Indianapolis but was not content, so in 1906 he again came to California and landed in Stockton with $1.20 in his pocket. His first employment was with the California Fruit Canners Association, where he worked for twelve and one-half cents an hour and within six months he became foreman; later he was employed by the California Traction Company and by frugal living he was able to save $700 with which he bought thirty acres of raw land in the "black land" section of Collegeville. Within seven months he brought it to such a state of development that he disposed of it at a nice profit, and with this start he settled in Stockton and entered the real estate business, dealing exclusively in the "black lands." He realized the great possibilities of that district, which had been neglected, and while he met dis- encouragement on every side when he started his developments in that district, he was confident of success and he never relinquished his determination to do what he first had in mind, and he has demon- strated his faith in the district by what he has accom- plished within the past eleven years. He has sold thousands of acres to J. W. Squier, J. F. Goodwin and other capitalists. When he first started his de- velopments land sold for $60 per acre, which now sells for $160 per acre. To demonstrate the possibili- ties of the "black land" for raising of alfalfa and 80

deciduous fruits, he took five acres, leveled the land and planted it to alfalfa and was rewarded with a fine yield. He further demonstrated with fruit and vegetables, which grow in profusion on this land. Many expert and experienced prune growers from the Santa Clara Valley have inspected the land and are loud in their praise of its producing qualities. Mr. Darter subdivided 240 acres into twenty-acre tracts, which have all been sold and settled upon. He personally owns six ranches aggregating more than 1100 acres, and has installed pumping plants on four of his ranches, and on the other two a concrete pipe system. Water is being taken from wells, none of them more than one hundred feet deep. Much credit is due Mr. Darter for the success he has won, which has been accomplished by a life of indus- try and integrity.

EARLE R. HAWLEY .- Realizing the excellent opportunities afforded for the improvement of the general postal service, Earle R. Hawley, the efficient and capable postmaster of Stockton, Cal., has estab- lished a closer contact to the public in order to hu- manize the operations of the postoffice, this being in full accord with the ideas of the Postmaster-General. For a considerable length of time before entering the army, Mr. Hawley was a member of the staff of the Stockton postoffice, both as clerk and carrier and learned the details of the business from the ground up. In the army he made a record as an executive and a leader, as well as an organizer. A native son of California, he was born in Stockton on October 4, 1887, a son of James W. and Carrie (Yost) Hawley, the former a native of Maine and the latter of Penn- sylvania; his father sailed around the Horn from Boston, Mass., in 1852, to California and located in Stockton; he engaged in teaming to the Southern mines in early days; later he- engaged in ranching in Stanislaus County. There were three sons in the family: Marvin L. is a rancher in the Farmington district; Earle R., of this review; and Walter, residing in Stockton.

Earle R. began his education in the grammar schools of Stockton and was graduated from the Stockton high school with the class of 1907; he then entered the University of California and pursued a course in mining engineering; in 1909 he entered the Stockton postoffice as a clerk and carrier. He was appointed postmaster of Stockton on June 4, 1920, by President Wilson, and on July 7, 1920 he entered upon his duties.

Mr. Hawley was one of the organizers of Battery C, 1st California Field Artillery, which was organ- ized in Stockton December 14, 1912. Mr. Hawley and one other man are the only original members of Battery C who were with that unit at the close of the World War. When the Mexican trouble broke out in the spring of 1916, Mr. Hawley was first sergeant of Battery C and was stationed at Nogales, Ariz .; after the trouble was over he was discharged from active service and the day war was declared with Germany, he enlisted for service and became first sergeant of Battery C; on October 30, 1917 he was commissioned second lieutenant and as- signed to Battery F of the 143rd Field Artillery; he was promoted the next day, October 31, 1917, to the rank of first lieutenant and took command of Battery F on January 4, 1918, attached to the 40th

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Division and trained at Camp Kearney; he went over- seas with the 40th Division during August of 1918 as first lieutenant of Battery F; he was appointed captain while in training camp at De Souge, France, on October 13, 1918, and assigned to Battery C, his old battery. The armistice was signed before the 40th Division saw active service in France and Mr. Hawley returned to California with. the first con- tingent of that division during January of 1919, and was discharged at the Presidio in San Francisco January 26, 1919. He immediately returned to Stockton and assumed his duties in the postoffice, and the next year was appointed postmaster.

Mr. Hawley's marriage united him with Miss Olive Shannon, a native of California, and they are the parents of two sons, Volney Richard and Robert Carroll. He is a member of Karl Ross Post of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Fraternally he belongs to the Red Men, and is a prominent member of the Chamber of Commerce.

PETER H. DENTONI .- Stockton has always been fortunate in its first-class drug stores, among which today that of the Stockton Drug Company deserves mention as in the front rank, its convenient situation, at the corner of Main and Sutter streets, having naturally made it the headquarters for thou- sands seeking only the best service. The junior part- ner, Peter H. Dentoni, was born near Genoa, Italy, on August 25, 1879, and when only five years of age accompanied his parents across the seas to America, in 1884, and then came immediately to Stockton. His father, Giovanni Dentoni, followed ranching in San Joaquin County, and so it happened that our subject attended the Stockton public schools and started his business career, delivering packages at the salary of $2 per week. He opened the store at 6:30 a. m., and worked fourteen hours a day.

Growing up, and having chosen the profession of pharmacist, he was graduated from the San Francisco College of Pharmacy in 1900, and after that first worked for Messrs. Kohler & Ghiglieri, who con- ducted a small drug store on the spot where he is now in business for himself. He then became an assistant to John D. Gray, who conducted the Model Drug Company at 44 East Main Street, in which con- cern, after a while, he bought a half interest. Selling out, in 1907, he formed a partnership with Joe M. Campodonico, and they bought the Stockton Drug Company. Two years later the partners also bought the Eagle Drug Company, which then had the site now occupied by the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bank Building, and to make way for the bank block they removed to 317 East Main Street. This business they sold, in 1917, to give their entire attention to their rapidly-growing enterprise in their present loca- tion. Mr. Dentoni is a member of the State Pharma- ceutical Association and the National Retail Drug- gists' Association. He is a large stockholder in the Bank of Italy and for a number of years was part owner of the St. Catherine ranch in the Delta dis- trict, where he was associated with some of the lead- ing farmers of the county in the growing of grain, beans and potatoes. He is a charter member of both the Stockton Italian Club and the Eagles, and he is a member of Stockton Lodge No. 218, Elks; the Red Men, the Woodmen of the World, and the Fra- ternal Brotherhood.

OLIVER H. HUNT .- A leading orchardist of the Linden section of San Joaquin County is Oliver H. Hunt, whose highly cultivated and productive French prune orchard, two miles northeast of Linden, is in- dicative of the thoroughness and system with which Mr. Hunt conducts his horticultural activities. He is a native of California, having been born on the Hunt farm near Jenny Lind, July 1, 1871, the second in a 'family of seven children born to Daniel and Sythronia (Tyler) Hunt, natives of Maine and Mis- souri, respectively. Daniel Hunt crossed the plains with ox teams in 1856 and settled in Calaveras Coun- ty, where he engaged in mining; later he freighted from Stockton to the mines until 1869, then began farming near Jenny Lind and also conducted a butcher business. The old Hunt homestead near Jenny Lind is now owned and farmed by the youngest son, A. D. Hunt. Daniel Hunt was a prominent Mason in his locality and he passed away in May, 1898, aged seventy-one years, his wife surviving him until February 7, 1920, passing away at Milton.

Oliver H. spent the days of his boyhood and youth on his father's farm, being early inured to its duties, and his elementary education was received in the Chaparral and Douglas schools in the vicinity of his home, which was supplemented by a course in the Stockton Business College. At the age of seventeen he became associated with his father on the home ranch, and when he was twenty-one years old he as- sumed full charge of the home ranch, which he con- ducted with marked success for the next seven years; meantime he bought 160 acres adjoining, which he farmed in conjunction with the home place.

Near Jenny Lind, October 20, 1897, Mr. Hunt was married to Miss Grace Lenora Lisenbee, born near Dixon, Cal., a daughter of Charles and Eliza J. (Den- ton) Lisenbee, natives of Kentucky and Missouri, respectively, the former of Scotch descent. Charles Lisenbee came to California in 1872 and first settled near Dixon, Solano County, then in 1880 removed to Jenny Lind, where he farmed and where Mrs. Hunt was reared and educated. He passed away November 24, 1908, survived by his wife until June 12,- 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have one daughter, Olive Lenora. In 1907, Mr. Hunt disposed of his ranch near Jenny Lind and removed to Linden, where he purchased sixty acres. Here he has de- veloped a fine French prune and peach orchard; he has a complete prune dipping plant and a fine drying yard, where prunes and peaches are dried for mar- ket; he also sells large quantities of peaches to can- neries. In 1913 he installed an electric pumping plant on his ranch with over 100 inches capacity. Mr. Hunt is a charter member of the California Prune & Apricot Growers, and also belongs to the Cali- fornia Peach & Fig Growers Association. He has always taken much interest in the affairs of his part of the county, and has served four terms as trustee of the Linden grammar school. He is a member of Valley Lodge No. 135, F. & A. M., at Linden and of Stockton Lodge No. 5, Sciots, and with his wife and daughter belongs to Linden Chapter, O. E. S. He is a member and has been secretary of the Linden Lodge of I. O. O. F. for the past ten years, and belongs to the Modern Wood- men of America and the N. S. G. W. in Stockton. In 1920 Mr. and Mrs. Hunt took into their family Miss Selma Lisenbee, the orphaned daughter of her

OH Hunt

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brother, James Lisenbee, whom they are rearing as their own. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hunt are held in high esteem, and the kindly social qualities with which they are endowed win for them the friendship and good will of all.

CLARENCE L. DICKINSON .- A man who needs little personal introduction to the people of Central California, the heart of which is the Stockton coun- try, is Clarence L. Dickinson, more familiarly known as "Dick," who for years on the harbor front and along commission row has been a familiar figure, and whose popularity and success are deserved. He was born in Lockeford, San Joaquin County, Cal., on March 31, 1883, a son of Everett C. and Helen (Yaple) Dickinson, the former a native of Wisconsin, the latter of Ripon, Cal.

Clarence enjoyed the advantages of the grammar school in Ripon and was graduated from the Stockton high school with the class of 1903. He was presi- dent of his class and president of the student body, and is a member of the Gamma Eta Kappa fratern- ity. His first business experience was in the office of the Enterprise Planing Mill and later with the San Joaquin Lumber Company of Stockton. In 1906 he became a partner in the firm of Dickinson-Nelson

Company, but in July, 1919, he sold his in- terest in the firm and started in business for himself as an independent broker, and began specializing in the buying, selling and handling of hay and grain, in the grain department of his busi- ness representing the George W. McNear Company of San Francisco. For some twelve years previous to establishing his own business, Mr. Dickinson had been connected with leading interests on commission row, and few of the younger merchants had wider or more valuable acquaintance among the growers of the entire country about Stockton than this able young operator. Making a specialty of handling hay, grain, and other products of the Delta and farming sections direct from the points of production to the points of consumption, and thereby realizing better profits for the growers, Mr. Dickinson established a system of his own which set a new standard in mod- ern marketing. Being familiar through years of ex- perience with differential freight rates, Mr. Dick- inson has full knowledge of transportation, and this is used to splendid advantage when serving growers through shipments of their products. He has made a careful study of conditions of supply and demand as regards the agricultural and grain products in this part of California, and he specializes in carload lot shipments from all distributing centers to points of consumption.

In 1905 Mr. Dickinson made a visit to the vineyard district of San Bernardino County and seeing vine- yards thriving in sandy soil, he became convinced that the rich soil of San Joaquin Valley would be well adapted to the growing of grapes. In company with A. B. Lamasley and Robert Ingles he pur- chased 160 acres of land between Ripon and Escalon and planted a vineyard. The land, which was pur- chased for forty-seven dollars an acre, was planted in 1918 and later was sold at a handsome profit; the same property is now held at $1,000 an acre.

Mr. Dickinson is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and was at one time a member of the board of directors, helping organize its traffic bureau. He is past president of the Anteros Club and a

member of the Yosemite Club and the Golf and Country Club of Stockton; also of the Elks No. 218, and Masons. He is a loyal booster for the future of Stockton, because he believes it to be the best city in the West, and enjoys high standing in com- mission, business, civic and social circles.

GEORGE H. DIETZ .- A druggist whose excep- tionally fine scientific training and wide, valuable experience have enabled him to render a great service to the community in which he lives and thrives is George H. Dietz, of 19 South San Joaquin Street, Stockton, the same city in which he was born on Oc- tober 9, 1881, in the same house and room in which his mother was born. This house, at 205 East. Lind- say Street, is still standing. Henry Dietz, the father of our subject, was a native of Germany, and he married Miss Edith Fredericks, a native of Stockton. Both are now deceased, having lived useful lives and left behind the best of records as citizens, neighbors, and friends. Three of their children have survived. George H. is the subject of our review. Florence has become the wife of Ed L. Wright; and Linda S. is well known as a music teacher in Stockton.

Henry Dietz came to America when a young man and, having crossed the great plains, passed the greater part of his days in Virginia City, where he conducted a bakery. He was there during the days of the Comstock gold mine excitement, and was a personal friend of the Mackays, the Fairs and the Huntingtons, and was himself a familiar figure in the pioneer days of Nevada. Grandfather Henry Fred- ericks was also a native of Germany, and crossed the plains to California in pioneer days; he became one of the early settlers of Stockton, and was there a landowner, and teamed to the Southern mines in early days. He also went to the mines in Nevada. One sixteen-horse team he sent out from Stockton loaded with freight for Nevada was never heard from. Later, Mr. Fredericks located in Virginia City and followed draying. He passed away in Stockton.

George H. Dietz pursued the usual courses in the Stockton schools, and when about thirteen started to earn his living. He entered the employ of the Holden Drug Company, one of the pioneer drug companies of California, established in Stockton far back in 1849, commencing work for a wage of only two dollars a week, and working twelve hours a day, seven days in the week. In 1906 he started in busi- ness for himself in a small way, in a store on Market Street, and later he moved to his present store at 19 South San Joaquin Street. As the inventor of the Dietz "Euca-Menth" cough drop he has become espe- cially well known. He put them on the market in 1918, and started to make them in five-pound lots, putting them up in paper bags. Today he has a factory devoted to the manufacture of the same, and he makes 500 pounds a day, the sale having been extended all over the world. He also makes the "Keep Kool Kamfor Kream," which has proven very popular. He has the best prescription trade in Stock- ton, being endorsed by eighteen of the leading doc- tors of this city. This record of success is all the more interesting because Mr. Dietz is a self-made man, who has risen to his present position unaided and through his own industrious, honest efforts.

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History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 184

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849 Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1660

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1660