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 203

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 203

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EUGENE WILLIAM DELUCCHI .- An enter- prising and successful business man who was born and reared in San Joaquin County, Eugene W. Deluc- chi was born near Lodi, Cal, June 13, 1893, a son of Antone and Marie (Stadino) Delucchi, both natives of Italy and both still living. His father came to California when sixteen years of age and for forty- five years was engaged in agricultural and horticul- tural pursuits in the Lodi district and was well and favorably known in that section, being among the early settlers of the county. He is now located in Oakland and is engaged in the nursery business. Mr. and Mrs. Delucchi are the parents of six children: Louise, Eugene W., Louis, Mary, Lizzie and Albina.

Eugene W. was educated in the grammar schools of Stockton; later took a business course at Heald's Business College. He spent his boyhood days on his father's farm near Lodi and helped with the farm work. On completing his education he was employed by the Wells Fargo Company for two years; then engaged in the real estate business in Stockton for two years, gaining a thorough knowledge of land and land values in San Joaquin County; he next worked for Jacob-Malcolm and Burtt Company of San Francisco, one of the largest fruit distributing firms in San Francisco and gained valuable knowl- edge of the fruit distributing industry. On returning to Stockton he formed a partnership in the fruit

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buying business with Emil J. Campodonico and they represent the J. C. Richardson Company of Los Angeles, fruit and produce brokers; also B. F. Pearce of Seattle. Besides attending to their growing busi- ness, they farm 600 acres to barley in the Sutter Basin, and are also interested in real estate transac- tions in Stockton. In 1919 Mr. Delucchi farmed 250 acres in beans on Delta lands.

Fraternally Mr. Delucchi is past grand sachem Stockton Lodge of Red Men; a member of the Stock- ton Lodge of Elks and the Native Sons of the Golden West. He is among the progressive young business men of his district and enjoys the full confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens.

ERNEST P. CAMPBELL .- Among the progres- sive and far-seeing business men of Stockton is Ernest P. Campbell, a mechanical inventor and the owner and proprietor of the Campbell Auto Works, 238 North El Dorado Street. He has built up a busi- ness that extends among auto and truck and. tractor owners in all sections of the country.

He was born in Jewell County, Kan., on Decem- ber 13, 1886, and was reared and educated in his native county. When he reached the age of nineteen he spent four years learning the machinist's trade in the railroad shops of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad at Neodesha, Kan .; then he was employed in the shops of the Standard Oil Company of the same place; he then went to Kansas City, Mo., and was in the shops of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Early in the year of 1908 he arrived in Stockton and entered the employ of Charles F. Holman as head of the machine shop; later Mr. Holman sold his business and Mr. Campbell purchased the mechanical equip- ment and in 1910 opened his own automobile repair business on Main Street in the building now occupied by the Colonial Theater. Starting in a small way with but one lathe, his business has steadily grown and in 1912 he moved to his present commodious quarters at 238 North El Dorado Street, where he has an up-to-date machine shop, fully equipped for all kinds of repair work.

Mr. Campbell is an inventor of established fame who has created implements highly useful to the auto world, the Campbell combination bearing puller and race extractor being especially valuable in the pulling of magnetos and electrical generator bearings, one of the most timely productions of the age. It is in general use among automobile and tractor owners. All wide-awake mechanics and shop owners who have seen the Campbell bearing puller work, speak highly of it. He has also put on the market the Campbell expansion cylinder reamer for the successful re-bor- ing of automobile engine cylinders; these tools are being sent to all parts of the United States, the fame of the products having spread everywhere, and ship- ments are made daily. The Campbell Works make a specialty of auto-repairing and rebuilding and make over all kinds of machinery, the work being person- ally supervised by Mr. Campbell. He employs skilled mechanics and the well-equipped factory is properly provided for handling repairs expeditiously. A spe- cialty is made of complete overhauling of all makes of automobiles, trucks and tractor engines. Mr. Camp- bell has built up a trade and a patronage that extend among auto, truck and tractor owners in all sections of the country. He is an alert business man who believes in results, and his friends and patrons are legion throughout the Stockton and Delta sections.

MARCELLS G. BATTILANA .- An interesting business that flourishes more and more is that of Marcells G. Battilana, who styles his enterprise the California Floral Company, located on North Califor- nia Street, Stockton, in which city he was born on the 25th of February, 1900. He is the son of Joseph and Lottie (Gianelli) Battilana, the former a native of the Genoa district in Italy, and the latter a native daughter of Stockton, her father being G. Gianelli, a pioneer grocer of the city. Joseph Bat- tilana is now a prominent real estate dealer in Stock- ton, recognized as one of the progressive and influ- ential leaders in his field. It is no wonder, then, that our subject is well-known as one of the rising young merchants of the city.

He attended the Lafayette, Jackson and South schools, and was graduated from the Washington school, after which he went to San Francisco in 1916 and was with the Bank of Italy. Leaving that in- stitution, he took a position with the Pacific Coast Shipbuilding Company of San Francisco, and worked in the shipyards during the World War. Returning to Stockton, he became associated with his father in real estate ventures, and later he was connected with the Commercial & Savings Bank of Stockton.

A. Serventi, an uncle, had established the California Floral Company, in Stockton, and his health failing, on April 6, 1921, Mr. Battilana and I. L. Randolph bought the established business continuing the same under its original name. Mr. Serventi is now de- ceased. "Say it with flowers" is the slogan chal- lenging the attention of the public to their business, which has fairly doubled itself since these hustling young men took it over. They have everything in the line of flowers and ornamental plants, and their place is always among the most attractive in the city. They deal direct with the leading whole- saler's of San Francisco, and are therefore always sure of commanding the market.

At San Francisco on January 15, 1921, Mr. Bat- tilana was married to Miss Inez Squellati, a native of Jackson, Amador County, the daughter of Virgil Squellati, a pioneer of Amador and Calaveras coun- ties and a graduate of the Stockton high school. She also taught school for a year at Palermo School in Valley Springs. One daughter blessed their union, Marcelyn Jean, born on June 14, 1922. Mr. Battilana is a member of the American Institute of Banking in San Francisco, having taken a course with the Bank of Italy; and he also belongs to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Stockton Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W., and the Druids. Being among the best-liked of the younger set, his social connections spell prosperity in his business; and the prosperity of his floral un- dertaking is a matter of concern and congratulation to the community, since the California Floral Com- pany renders an exceptional service to many.

WILLIAM B. REINEY .- An enterprising, up-to- date hosteler, whose well-appointed establishment has become one of the attractions of life in San Joaquin County, is William B. Reiney, proprietor of Hotel Clements, at Clements. He was born in Monaghan, Province of Ulster, Ireland, in 1861, the son of Robert A. and-Sarah A. Reiney, who had five children. The others were Phoebe, who was educated at Trinity College in Dublin; John, deceased; Robert, in Cali- fornia: and Elizabeth, deceased.

William Reiney attended the public schools, and in 1877 came out to California. Although then only

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Parcells & Sailana

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

sixteen years of age, he went into the redwoods, in Mendocino County, and took up the hardest of labor, mastering in time every branch of work in connec- tion with the redwood industry, such as cutting down trees, milling, curing lumber, and everything that pertains to a redwood lumber camp and its varied activities. He worked near Mendocino City for four years, and then went to Reno, Nev., where he put in two years. After that he worked for Messrs. Smith & McNabb, and for Pierce Brothers, in San Fran- cisco, rounding out three years with them; and then he went to San Luis Obispo and entered the serv- ice of A. I. Lyons, who had purchased a part of the Blackburn grant near the old Mission town, act- ing as his foreman for three years on the 1,600 acres making up the fine ranch tract. Then he rented the ranch from Mr. Lyons and there raised stock.

About thirty-two years ago, Mr. Reiney came to Clements to take charge of another Lyons ranch, to the northeast, and was there for four years, building levees and reclaiming the land, which the Wakefield brothers now lease. About 1894 he came to Clements and bought the Clements Hotel, and he has since conducted it as a first-class country inn. He owns some other town property, and is intensely interested in the development and prosperity of this section.

At San Francisco, on March 31, 1887, Mr. Reiney was married to Miss Mary Agnes Foley, a native of Cork, Ireland, who came to America a promising young woman of eighteen, and was married soon afterward. Two children and three grandchildren have resulted from this union. William John is the father of two children, Harold and Beatty; and Mary, now Mrs. Morrow, of Stockton, is the mother of one infant daughter, now seven months old, christened May Reiney Morrow. Mr. Reiney is a Republican, and a member of the Foresters of America, the Eagles, and the Moose. He is intensely interested in all manly sports, being an amateur athlete.

William John Reiney, the son, enlisted in Company E, 26th Engineers, for service in the World War, and he went to France with his regiment, enlisting from Taft as an expert well-driller. He took part in the great offensive at Chateau-Thierry and St. Mihiel, in the Meuse-Argonne campaigns. On March 27, 1918, at Camp Dix, in New Jersey, he was promoted a sergeant, and as such he served during the war. He returned to America with his regiment, and from New York accompanied the body of a deceased offi- cer to San Francisco; and there, at the Presidio, he was honorably discharged.

CLYDE E. CONDIT .- An experienced and influ- ential business man of Stockton, Clyde E. Condit is the proprietor of the Electric & Machine Equipment Company located at 124 North El Dorado Street. A native of Iowa, he was born at Grinnell on August 25, 1866, and he received his education in the public schools of his native city. Desiring to complete his education to better equip himself for his chosen field of labor, he removed to California and entered Stan- ford University and was graduated from that institu- tion in 1891 as an electrical engineer; after his gradu- ation he went to Goldfield, Nev., and entered the employ of the Nevada-California Power Company. This company erected the first steam power plant in Nevada at Goldfield. Having gained valuable prac- tical experience while being employed with this com- pany, Mr. Condit resigned his position and entered

the business arena for himself, opening up as an elec- trical engineer and having for sale mining machinery, with branch stores at Reno, Nev., and San Francisco, Cal. Some time later he sold his business and located in Portland, Ore., where he entered the employ of the Northwestern Electric Company. In 1917 he came to Stockton and purchased the Electric and Ma- chine Equipment Company, which was started in 1907 by L. F. Youdall. For two years he followed elec- trical contracting, and equipped many of the large buildings in Stockton; in 1919 he gave up contracting and has become a wholesale and retail dealer in elec- trical supplies. He is a member of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce; of the Merchants Associa- tion and of the Yosemite Club. His twenty years' experience, backed by a thorough education along electrical lines, has enabled Mr. Condit to attain to and hold an important and influential place in the business circles of his locality.

JOHN J. MOLLOY .- A man whose industry and exemplary management in his chosen line of work have placed him well to the front as a leader among the millers of the Pacific Coast, is John J. Molloy, the superintendent of the Cereal Mill of the Sperry Flour Company at Stockton, who was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, June 7, 1871. His father, John Molloy, was born in County Mayo, Ireland, where he learned the miller's trade and there he married Mary Johnson, also born there. He came to the United States and located at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, having been employed by George Douglas, of Douglas & Stewart, to take charge of their mill; this mill was afterwards absorbed by the American Cereal Company, and later still taken over by the Quaker Oats Company, and is now the biggest cereal mill in the world. Mr. Molloy, who was a veteran of the Civil War, was with this com- pany until he was eighty years old and was retired on a pension. Both parents are now deceased. They were the parents of two boys and one girl. Our sub- ject and a sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Shields of Cedar Rapids, are the only surviving children.

John J. Molloy was the youngest child and he received his education in the public schools of Cedar Rapids; his vacations were spent helping in the mill and when thirteen years old he began to learn the miller's trade and with it the dressing of stone burrs and in time became second miller of the Douglas & Stewart Mill under his father. In 1898 he accepted an offer from the Sperry Flour Company to come to California as superintendent of their San Francisco mill, continuing there until the big fire in 1906 when the mill was burned down; he was then transferred to the Stockton mill, where he installed new machin- ery, converting the old Sperry Flour Mill into an up-to-date cereal mill, and on August 7, 1906, he started the first mill, which has since been enlarged until it is now the largest cereal mill on the Pacific Coast, making the greatest number of varieties of cereals of any in the world, sixty different varieties, with a capacity of 2,000 barrels a day. This company ships, not only all over the United States, but to Europe, Central and South America, China, Japan, and all over the Orient. Mechanically inclined, and of an inventive turn of mind, Mr. Molloy makes his drawings for the devices and improvements used in the mill. To better fit himself for his work, he took a course in the International Correspondence School in mechanical drawing, completing the course by

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night study. Mr. Molloy devised the overhead carrier system, which crosses Weber Avenue and transports grain to the mill and cereal to the river boats. The demand for the Sperry products is so great that the mill is never idle, employing three shifts of workmen of eight hours each; automatic equipment ha's recently been installed so that the output will be trebled. One hundred girls are employed in the packing and label- ing department; a large room has been fitted up in the upper story with a dining room and kitchen in connection, the company furnishing luncheon for the girls. Mr. Molloy designed and built a replica of the old pioneer Sperry mill built at Sacramento in the early '50s, for the '49 celebration there in 1922, and it attracted much attention.

Mr. Molloy has an international as well as a na- tional reputation as a miller; he was one of the organ- izers of the Professional Millers' Association of Cali- fornia and served as its president; he is now deputy supreme secretary of the California Professional Mill- ers' Association, a branch of the national order; he is a member of the supreme council of the above and the only member in California who has a vote in the supreme council of the nation and votes on every matter of importance that comes before that body.

Mr. Molloy's marriage in San Francisco united him with Miss Ida E. Loichot, a native of Canton, Ohio, and they are the parents of three daughters: Mrs. Mary Cornwall, residing in Stockton, and Adelle and Thelma, both attending Stockton high school. Fra- ternally he is a Knight of Columbus and a Modern Woodman. His intelligent leadership and manage- ment have been an influence for progress in city, county and state.

EDRIS B. MYERS, JR .- Perseverance and indus- try have ever been the characteristics of Edris B. Myers, Jr., and these qualities, combined with his native ability, have been responsible for his rise to the important post of chief engineer of the three mills of the Sperry Flour Mills at Stockton. Mr. Myers is a native of Illinois and was born at Peoria on Jan- uary 7, 1875, the son of Edris B. and Margaret (Fyfe) Myers, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Pontiac, Illinois.

In March, 1886, the family removed to Stockton, Cal., and here Edris B. attended the Lafayette school until he was fifteen, when he started out to earn his own living. He followed various occupations as a boy, first as a messenger boy for the Western Union Telegraph Company, and then with Charles W. Dohr- mann, the insurance man. In 1893 he took up the machinist's trade with Straight & Cadle, the proprie- tors of the Globe Iron Works, and was with them until 1895, when he entered the employ of the Sperry Flour Mills Company, working as a fireman for two years. From 1897 to 1898 he was with the Stockton Gas & Electric Company, and then went back to the Sperrys for two years. Receiving an appointment as assistant engineer at the State Asylum at Stockton under H. G. Balkwill, Mr. Myers was there from 1900 to 1905, and being ambitious to progress more rap- idly, during this time he took a course in engineering with the International Correspondence Schools. Re- turning to the Sperry Company as assistant engineer, he was made chief engineer of the Union Mill in 1905, of the Capital Mill in 1912, and the Crown Mill in 1915, all owned by this company, these promotions

giving concrete evidence of the appreciation of his capability and faithful service, and he now has fifteen men working under him.

Mr. Myers' marriage, which took place in 1912, united him with Miss Frances Gillis, a native daugh- ter of. Stockton, whose father, James Gillis, was one of the city's honored pioneer residents. Mr. Myers has been a member of the Odd Fellows since 1906, being affiliated with Charity Lodge No. 6 of Stockton.

DOMINGO CHANGALA .- Among the interest- ing citizens of Stockton and San Joaquin County who have done their best to make this a better place in which to carry on business and to live, is Do- mingo Changala, now counted among the leading sheep men of Central California. native of France, he was born in the Basses-Pyrenees, south- ern France, September 29, 1878. He was reared on his father's farm and attended the public schools of his neighborhood, working on the farm during vaca- tions. Upon reaching military age, he entered the French army as an infantryman and served for two years in France, and one year in the French posses- sions in Africa. When leaving the army Mr. Chan- gala determined to come to America and California, and borrowing the money for his passage from his cousin he set out alone. He had an acquaintance in Stockton and upon his arrival here on December 26, 1902, found himself without money and a stranger in a strange land, unused to the customs and lan- guage, but he soon found employment on the John Prather ranch, near Linden, as a herder of sheep for which he received twenty-five dollars per month. He worked for Mr. Prather for five and one-half years and never missed a single day, a record he may well feel proud of. By the end of the first year he had repaid his cousin the money he had borrowed; then the next two years, or during his father's life- time, he sent his father nearly all his earnings be- cause he was poor and needed help.

Through hard work and economy Mr. Changala accumulated money enough to invest in 1,100 sheep of his own, and from this small beginning he ad- vanced to be one of the leading sheepmen of the county, running as high as 5,000 head; at the present writing he has about 4,000. He employs only the most approved methods in caring for his flocks, which in large measure accounts for his success. As a member of the Central California Sheep Growers' Association he has been active in bringing about a number of things that have been beneficial both to the grower. and to the consumer. Showing his faith in California realty Mr. Changala has invested in a fine dairy and alfalfa ranch of sixty acres near Pat- terson, in Stanislaus County, and here he has a fine herd of fifty Holstein cows; he also owns valuable real estate in Stockton.

The marriage of Mr. Changala on January 6, 1909, in Stockton, united him with Miss. Etinnette Arrabit, born in the Basses-Pyrenees. She came to California in 1908 and has since been a resident of Stockton. They have three interesting children, Josephine Annie, Nellie Katherine and John Battiste. Mr. Chan- gala here became a citizen of the United States in Stockton in 1915 and ever since has done his duty as he saw it by voting for the best men and meas- ures that in his estimation would be of the most benefit to the people and to the country. It is to such self-made men that the county can look with pride

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for they have done what they could to advance every interest and every reform, to make the county and state take its proper place in the history of our great nation.

WILLIAM A. MURPHY .- After ten years of effi- cient service as city inspector in the electrical depart- ment of the city of Stockton, wherein he became widely known throughout the city, William A. Mur- phy resigned his post to engage in business for him- self, organizing the Bright Spot Electric Company on January 1, 1918, opening up headquarters at 235 East Market Street, Stockton, and winning success from the start. A native Californian, Mr. Murphy was born in Calaveras County, July 9, 1876, the son of Patrick and Margaret (Fitzgerald) Murphy; both were natives of Boston, Mass., and there they were married, crossing the plains in an ox-team train in 1849 with their two children. The father was one of the pioneer miners and farmers of San Andreas, Calaveras County, where he resided until 1896, when he retired and removed to Stockton, where he died in April, 1900, aged seventy-three. Mrs. Murphy passed away in September, 1914, aged eighty-four.

Ten children were born to this worthy pioneer couple: Mrs. William Webb, deceased, the mother of eleven children; James, a rancher in San Joaquin County, is married and has one child; Thomas passed away leaving a widow and two children, and one of them, R. W. Murphy, is the Pacific Coast manager for the Westinghouse Lamp Company, with head- quarters in San Francisco; Mrs. Nellie Williams lives at Oakdale, Cal .; Mrs. Margaret Thompson of Angels Camp, Calaveras County, has six children; Mrs. Mary Von Dulm is deceased: Mrs. Robert O'Brien of Oakland has two daughters; Frank J. of Stockton; Eliza, deceased; and the youngest, William A. Mur- phy, of this sketch. He was educated in the public schools of Calaveras County and came to Stockton when a young man and learned the blacksmith trade with the Holt Manufacturing Company, finishing with the Hammond Car Works of San Francisco.

Not seeing any future in this trade, Mr. Murphy returned to Stockton and opened a cigar store on Main Street, which he conducted for two years, when he sold out to William Hickman. He then decided to learn the electrical business, and this he has now followed for twenty-three years. He started with the American River Electrical Company, which was in- stalling a transmission line from Placerville to Stock- ton, working for only a dollar a day at first, and was . with this company for four years. He then engaged in the electrical business for himself for a year, sell- ing out to Harry Spencer, and remaining with Mr. Spencer for a year and a half as foreman. He then became foreman and manager for the Powell Electri- cal Company on construction work, and installed the electrical system in many of the older buildings, among them the Clark & Henery Building, the old St. Joseph's Home and the Clark Sanitarium, also installing much work in Turlock.

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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 203

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