History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 209

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928

USA > California > Santa Clara County > History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 209

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Louis Oneal

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single room in the Bank of Italy building in San Jose to a magnificently equipped factory, from a business starting with nothing to advance orders on hand aggregating $750,000, in two years, is the actual achievement of these young men, whom the city of Sunnyvale may well congratulate itself on acquiring.

JOHN BAUMAN .- Born in that picturesque part of Switzerland, Canton Uri, John Bauman first saw the light of day in 1861. His boyhood and early man-' hood was spent in his native land and his advantages for an education were extremely limited. He knew nothing but hard work, but the lessons of thrift and economy of his younger days served as a stepping stone to his success in later life. When he reached the age of eighteen, he sailed from Havre, France, bound for America, to him the land of opportunity. Upon his arrival at San Francisco, he worked for wages and by careful saving and sacrifice, he was able to accu- mulate enough to go into business and for twelve years he was in business with his present partner, Frank Marty in San Jose. All the money they could save was invested in dairy cows until they now have forty milch cows on their ranch of 100 acres leased from Sam Martin. From a very small beginning, Mr. Bauman has steadily climbed until he has become well-to-do and is highly respected in the community in which he lives, and is numbered among the suc- cessful dairymen of the country. His native intelli- gence has made him a well-informed citizen and he can be counted upon to lend his aid in all measures for the advancement of his locality. To such citizens as Mr. Bauman the community and the county are indebted for those sterling characteristics which en- courage investment and general advancement. He is public-spirited and active in public affairs.

MITCHELL UCOVICH-NICK UCOVICH- PETER UCOVICH .- As keen and progressive busi- ness men of Santa Clara County the three brothers, Mitchell, Nick, and Peter Ucovich, compose a trio of successful restaurateurs, who have taken their place in the ranks of active business men. Mitchell Ucovich, the eldest of the three brothers, was born in Dalmatia, Jugo-Slavia, in 1881, a son of Paul and Mary (Skanse) Ucovich. The father, Paul Ucovich, was a successful farmer in his native land, acquiring some 10,000 acres of land, on which he raised olives and grapes. Both parents are deceased. They were the parents of eight children, one of whom is de- ceased, the other seven children being the heirs to the large estate left intact by the father.

Niek Ucovich was born in Dalmatia in 1884, and Peter, the youngest of the three brothers, was born in 1886. The boys were reared on the farm, and there learned valuable lessons in industry and thrift. Two of their maternal uncles were early settlers in Leeds City, N. D., and wrote such glowing letters to the family in Dalmatia that Mitchell Ucovich deter- mined to seek his fortune in the far-away land of promise, and in 1898 he embarked for America, land- ing in New York City May 2. Remaining there but a short time, he came direct to San Jose, where he began work in the Overland Restaurant. His early lessons in frugality caused him to save his earnings and invest in business for himself. In a few years he was able to purchase the Overland Restaurant, and on April 19, 1906, he was joined by his brother Nick Ucovich, and in 1908 the third brother, Peter,

joined them. They became the owners of two res- taurants, which they later disposed of, and in 1916 the restaurant known as "Nick's Place," at 9 North Market street, was established. Nick Ucovich was the originator of the establishment and the name was suggested by him.

The marriage of Nick Ucovich united him with Josephine Munoz, and Peter Ucovich married Isa- bella Munoz, her sister, both natives of San Jose who were daughters of an early Spanish family. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Ucovich have one child, Mitchell.

Mitchell Ucovich is a naturalized citizen and is an adherent of the principles of the Republican party, and supports its candidates for various offices. Fra- ternally he is affiliated with the Loyal Order of Moose. He is the business manager, while Nick and Peter Ucovich are the efficient chefs, a combination that is bringing them the deserved patronage and success. They are stockholders in the new Growers' Bank and take just pride in local community affairs. As publie-spirited citizens they subscribe liberally to all measures that lead toward the advancement of the locality in which they live.

J. S. FARIA .- Portugal has furnished many desir- able citizens to California, particularly in relation to the dairy industry, and among those who have become prominent in this field of activity is J. S. D'aria, who in association with his brother is the owner of a well-irrigated and finely-improved farm in Jefferson district of the Santa Clara Valley. For the past fourteen years he has operated this place and ir business matters his judgment has ever been found sound and reliable and his enterprise unfaltering. He was born on the Island of Fayal, in the Azores, May 19, 1867, and in the fall of 1883, when a youth of six- teen, left his native land and sailed for the United States. For several months he worked in a brick- yard at Taunton, Mass., and on January 6, 1884, he arrived in California, settling at Milpitas, where he secured employment on a dairy farm. For nine years he continued in the employ of one farmer and during that period gained a comprehensive knowledge of dairying, afterward turning his attention to the bail- ing of hay, at which he worked steadily in Santa Clara County until 1907, with the exception of three sea- sons, which were spent in a similar manner in San Mateo County. For the past fourteen years he has been associated with his brother, Frank S. Faria, who is two years his junior, in the ownership and operation of an excellent dairy farm of fifty-two acres, situated in the Jefferson precinct, on the Lawrence Road. Their farm is conducted along the most modern and progressive lines, a large pumping plant having been installed, one of the wells being 445 feet in depth, while their buildings are thoroughly equipped and of substantial construction. They keep thirty high-grade Holstein cows and theirs is one of the model dairy farms of the celebrated Jefferson District.

Mr. Faria married Miss Minnie S. Silva, a native daughter, who passed away three years after their union. Her sister, Mary, born at Watsonville Cal., is now the wife of his brother, Frank, and they are the parents of four children: Thomas H., Marie A., Teressa C., and Clarence J. Mr. Faria has become a naturalized citizen of the United States and his study of the political questions and issues of this coun- try has led him to become a supporter of the Re- publican party. In religious faith he is a Catholic

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and he is also a member of the U. P. E. C. A man of fine physique and attractive personality, his strict integrity, close application and executive ability have won for him the unqualified respect and esteem of all with whom he has been associated and he ranks with the progressive agriculturists and dairymen of Santa Clara County.

THOMAS ELLARD BEANS. - Preeminent among the men of affairs in Santa Clara County whose exceptionally fruitful lives have made their demise a matter of wide regret and will more and more to insure to them the most enviable and last- ing fame possible, Thomas Ellard Beans enjoyed to an unusual degree the esteem and goodwill of his fellow men. He was born in Salem, Ohio, on De- cember 5, 1828, of Irish-Scotch parentage, his father, Israel Beans, who had married Miss Jane Byrnes, having emigrated to Ohio from Virginia early in the century. Thomas was sent to the schools of his native town; and later his course of study was sup- plemented in a private academy. He commenced his business career as an apprentice in a newspaper office, next served as a clerk in a country store, and still later was a salesman in a wholesale house. At the age of twenty he was one of a party from Pitts- burgh who determined to try their fortune in the then newly-exploited El Dorado of California; and leaving Pittsburgh in the early spring of 1849, Mr. Beans and his companions crossed the plains in a prairie schooner, in those days the only means of transport, and they arrived at Sacramento in the month of August, 1849.

Mr. Beans engaged in placer mining with some success, and then, with a number of his associates, formed a partnership and opened a general miner's supply store in Sacramento. In 1850, a great flood swept over the country along the Sacramento River and destroyed their building and its contents; and the partnership having been thus automatically dis- solved, Mr. Beans went to San Francisco, intending to return to the Eastern States. While waiting in that city for a steamer to New York, he met an old acquaintance from his native town, a Dr. Patterson, then filling a Federal Government post on the Coast; and Dr. Patterson prevailed on Mr. Beans to aban- don his Eastern trip and to join him and some others in a mining venture in the country near what is now Nevada City. Dr. Patterson wished to set out at once; but owing to the great flood of the year be- fore, it was decided by the miners to remain in San Francisco for the winter. Mr. Beans not only con- cluded to remain with the claims, but he was instru- mental in forming a miners' association of which he was elected the secretary and recorder. This organi- zation was effected to protect the claims of the ab- sent miners from unlawful infringement, and its of- ficers soon found plenty of exciting work to do in carrying out its objects. After a few years, however, of alternate success and failure as a miner, Mr. Beans again turned his attention to merchandising; and established a general merchandise store in Nevada City, which he successfully conducted for eight years. He then engaged in the general commission business in San Francisco until 1866 and in that year he em- barked in banking; and having associated himself with Dr. W. J. Knox, the bank of Knox & Beans

was opened for business in San Jose. This firm was succeeded in 1868 by the corporation ever since known as the Bank of San Jose, of which Mr. Beans was elected cashier and manager. He served in that capacity until 1871, when he was elected president and manager; and he continued in that position until his death. In addition to his connection with this bank, Mr. Beans was prominently identified with many public and private institutions. He was at various times a director of the San Jose Woolen Mills, the San Jose Fruit Canning Company, the Home Mutual Insurance Company, and other cor- porations; and he was for fifteen years a trustee of the San Jose State Normal. As a member of the board of fifteen freeholders, he supervised the preparation of the charter of the City of San Jose; and as a member of the California Pioneers, of which he was at different times an honored officer, he took a lively and substantial interest in the welfare of the survivors of the stirring days of '49. Quietly, too, and in a most unostentatous way, Mr. Beans gave freely and liberally to public and private charities; and deep was the sorrow of innumerable friends when it was announced that he had breathed his last at his home, 489 North First Street, San Jose, on July 12, 1905.

At Nevada City Mr. Beans was married to Miss Virginia Knox, a sister Dr. W. J. Knox, who became his associate in business. Mrs. Beans passed away in about 1862, leaving two children, a son, William Knox Beans, now president of the Bank of San Jose, and a daughter, Mary. Mr. Beans was married a second time, being united with Miss Charlotte Bray and their union was blessed with two children, Fran- ces and Rowena Beans. Mr. Bean's widow survived him until 1910, when she, too, passed to the Great Beyond. Fraternally Mr. Beans was a Mason and an exemplary and highly esteemed man. The day of his passing, William Knox Beans was elected president of the Bank of San Jose, to succeed his father; and Mrs. Charlotte B. Beans was chosen a director. Under such able and conscientious direc- tion, the perpetuity and the continued success and prosperity of the splendid memorial which the genius and the nobility of Mr. Beans erected to both the city of San Jose and himself was assured.

FRANK KASSON .- For the past eleven years city clerk of Palo Alto, Frank Kasson is numbered among the early residents of that city, having located there in 1895, when there were only a few inhabitants, and only four years after the opening of Stanford University. Mr. Kasson was born near Broadalbin, N. Y., on September 22, 1856, where his forefathers had settled about 1740. The family is of Huguenot descent, having fled from France at the time of the St. Bartholomew massacre, finding refuge in Ireland. In 1720 Adam Kasson and six sons arrived in Bos- ton, and shortly thereafter one of the sons associated himself with Sir William Johnson, who colonized what is now Fulton County in New York State.

George Kasson, the father of the subject of this sketch, married Jane Gay, whose family came from England to Prince Edward's Island and later to Massachusetts. The Gays were men of liberal educa- tion, numbering many preachers and teachers among them. Frank Kasson was one of a family of eight

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children, and as his people were not wealthy he had to fend for himself from the age of fourteen. He began teaching school when sixteen years old, and later graduated from Claverack College. When twenty-two years old he went to Illinois, where he taught for a time and where he later engaged in news- paper work which he followed for thirty years. In 1885 he married Miss Fannie Scott, a descendant of the Lees of Virginia, and a few months after that event moved to Pasadena, where he was associated with H. J. Vail in founding the Pasadena Star, the first daily published in that city, and of which he was city editor for two years. He then founded the Mon- rovia Leader, and still later he was associate editor of the Redlands Citrograph. He was for a time on the staff of the Los Angeles Tribune and was also a special writer for the San Francisco Examiner. In 1893 he became joint publisher of the Mariposa Ga- zette, being associated with Mrs. Frances A. Rey- nolds (nec Utter), whose family was among the early settlers of New Jersey. Two years later she became his second wife. Mrs. Kasson was an experienced newspaper woman and a brilliant writer, and was the first woman to publish a newspaper in California. A year after locating in Palo Alto, Mr. and Mrs. Kas- son began the publication of the Palo Alto Live Oak, which they continued to issue for four years. A news- paper merger united the Live Oak and the Daily Times, with which Mr. Kasson was connected for a number of years as city editor.

In 1910 Mr. Kasson was appointed city clerk and assessor of Palo Alto, which office he still holds. His work naturally implied an interest in civic and polit- ical affairs, and he has always been an adherent of the Republican party with strong progressive tendencies. Mr. Kasson had two children by his first marriage. They are Eugene Field, who won a first lieutenancy in the World War, and is now engaged in newspaper work in Philadelphia, and Mrs. Xyris Gay Ely of San Francisco. Mrs. Kasson also has two children, Irene E. Reynolds of Palo Alto and Richard F. Reynolds of San Francisco.

CHARLES MULE .- A resident of San Jose for more than twenty-five years, Charles Mulé is a pio- neer in his field of endeavor. He was born in Sicily on February 1, 1858, the son of Nicholas Mule, a shoemaker, who died when our subject was only two and a half years old. He had married Maria Lazza- roni, also a native of Sicily, where they grew up to enjoy a climate much like that of Santa Clara County; and she remarried after her husband's death. When between six and seven years old, Charles went to work in a bakery and macaroni factory; and when he reached military age, he served for thirty-two and a half months in the Italian Army.

On reaching his twenty-fourth year, Charles Mule migrated to the New World, sailing from Palermo on the Vincennes of Florio; and he landed at the his- toric old Castle Garden in New York on September 28, 1883. He worked in New York City for a while, and there learned the barber's trade; and from the metropolis he went to New Orleans, then to Bryan, Texas, and next to Dallas, at each of which places he worked as a barber. He reached San Francisco on November 19, 1889, and there bought a half- interest in a barber shop on Grant Avenue; but at the end of eighteen months, he bought into a shop on

Dupont Street, between Broadway and Vallejo streets, again securing a half interest. At the end of a year and a half, he had built for himself a shop at the entrance to the Midwinter Fair of 1893-94, and on June 27, 1894, he came down to San Jose and pur- chased a barber shop on Fountain Street. He has since then had no less than five different barber shops in various locations in San Jose, established for the convenience of the public,-a fact that the public has not been slow to appreciate, as may be seen from his handsome patronage. His present shop is at 27 South Market Street.

Mr. Mule has been twice married. He was joined in matrimony first in the fall of 1894, when he was united with Miss Flora Malatesta, a native of San Jose, who died in 1896. In July, 1902, at San Fran- cisco, Mr. Mule was married to Miss Maria Paggeto, a native of Sicily who came to America in 1901. She was the daughter of Frank and Antoinette Pag- getto, both of whom died in Italy. She was reared in a convent at Palermo; and coming to America, she stayed for fourteen months with an aunt at San Francisco, and then, in 1902, came to San Jose. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mulé: Mary is a junior in the San Jose high school, while Lena is a sophomore in the same institution. Mr. Mulé is the owner of the residence at 897 Vine Street, where the family make their home. He belongs to the Masons and Odd Fellows, and in politics is a Re- Publican, active in the local party organization.

MICHAEL DE MATTEI .- In commercial circles the San Jose Ravenna Paste Company holds a po- sition as one of the strongest and largest concerns of its kind in California. The business of the firm is transacted at its main office and factory in San Jose, located at 49-55 North San Pedro Street, where macaroni and kindred products are manufactured. This is a San Jose concern, which has grown from a small beginning and has become an important industry, tour tons of food products being produced every day. The manager of the company, Michael De Mattei, is one of the able and deserving business men of San Jose. Much of his time is spent in travel throughout California selling the products manufac- tured by the company. He is a native son of San Jose, born July 4, 1880. His father, August Mattei, was born in Italy and came to San Jose in 1865. After arriving in the United States, he learned the butcher's trade and followed it for many years. He was married in San Jose in 1875 to Miss Teresa Nic- ora, also a native of Italy. They were the parents of four children, three now living: August, Michael, and Teresa, the wife of Louis J. Trinchero, who re- sides at Niles, Cal.

Mr. De Mattei attended St. Joseph's College and graduated with the class of 1896. Soon after leaving school, he was employed as bookkeeper for the San Jose Paste Company. In 1915 a consolidation of the San Jose Paste Company and the Ravenna Paste Company was effected and Mr. De Mattei assumed the managership of the new company, and to his native ability is due, in a large measure, the success that has come to the enterprise. The factory is com- modious and sanitary in every respect, and their products are of a high grade.

The marriage of Mr. De Mattei united him with Miss Flavia Baiocchi, a native of San Jose, educated at the College of Notre Dame. They are the parents of three children: Elmer, Arthur, and Bernadette.

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Mr. De Mattei is affiliated fraternally with the Knights of Columbus, is an active member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, also of the Cham- ber of Commerce of San Jose. The family are mem- hers of the Catholic Church of San Jose. Pre- eminently a business man, finding his greatest pleas- ure in the management of his commercial interests, he nevertheless does not neglect any duty that falls upon him as a citizen, but has always been a con- tributor to the development of his community.

OSCAR FREDERICK GOHRANSON. - A Swedish-American whose admirable thrift and econo- my have enabled him to succeed where so many would have signally failed, and who has, therefore, as a wel- come American by adoption, made good in such a manner as to reflect the highest credit not only upon himself and parentage, but upon the land of his birth, is Oscar Frederick Gohranson, a native of Stockholm, where he was born on December 13, 1835. His father was Oscar Gohranson, an importer and exporter of all kinds of first-class provisions, and he had married Anna Magdalena Lindroth, a talented lady who proved an excellent wife and devoted mother. They had only the one child-Oscar F., the subject of our story. Up to his ninth year, Oscar lived with country folks near Stockholm, and then he came into town and attended the grammar schools. At the very early age of twelve, he went to sea, shipping on a sailing vessel plying between the Northland and the Med- iterranean; but after one trip, he commenced school at Gothenburg and for three years pored over his books. He then became a clerk in a grocery store, where he remained for six years; and after that, he went to sea again, and for several years he toured the ocean, visiting the chief ports of the world.

Stopping at Australia, Mr. Gohranson opened a store at Parker, near Melbourne, from which he sup- plied the mines; but when, at the end of four years, the mines were closed and the camps broken up, he lost heavily, and was induced to go to sea again, sail- ing to Java, Borneo, and from there to Singapore, where he was taken seriously ill and had to remain for a long time in the hospital. After that, he returned to his native land and visited his old home, and having seen the friends and scenes familiar in childhood, he became steward on an American schooner bound for New York. At London, however, his feet were badly scalded in an accident, and he was compelled to lay over to recover. On one of his voyages between London and the East Indies on the "Oriental Queen." sailing around Cape of Good Hope they ran out of fresh water and had to use condensed sea water; they also ran out of vegetables and the crew got the scurvy. Their destination was Madras and they finally drifted into that port. There they obtained medical aid and also plenty of vegetables and fruits and soon recov- ered. Thence they went to Malmain and loaded teak-wood and returned to England. After discharg- ing their cargo they went to New York for a cargo of wheat, leaving New York December 25, 1861. When two days out, they encountered a severe storm, the cargo shifted, and their vessel, the "Oriental Queen" sprung a leak; the crew took to the boats and it was thirty-six hours before they were rescued and taken back to New York by the Nantucket light ship, He then shipped on the Jersey Brig, but when out at sea a big storm swept over them and they went back to Jersey City. He then took a

ship back to Sweden. Shipping on an English ves- sel bound for Australia, from Australia he came to California, landing at San Francisco in 1868, and here he decided to give up the sea. He had saved con- siderable money, and with his little capital, he came on to San Jose, Cal., and invested in a chicken ranch. He was unsuccessful, however, and in the venture lost all he had, save $100. This precious sum he put into a restaurant business, entering into partnership; but he stuck to his guns there only a short time, when he sold out and went to farming. He rented a small farm for six years, and raised berries, and then he purchased the ranch of eleven acres just north of San Jose. He steadily developed the ranch, and after many years of hard work and self-denying saving, he cleared his property of debt, and it is now a trin little farm irrigated by means of a fine artesian well and devoted to peas, apples, prunes and apricots.

In 1869, Mr. Gohranson made another trip to Gothenburg and on his return to California, he guided a small company of immigrants bound for San Francisco and was instrumental in securing good positions for the six young ladies in the party, he himself marrying one of them, at San Francisco, on August 8 in the following year. She was Miss Laura Victoria Kellberg, a native of Stockholm, a college graduate and educator, and she became a talented writer of beautiful poetry and short stories, inany of her writings appearing in papers in both Sweden and the United States. She was the center ci a wide circle of friends; and when, in 1906, she died from shock suffered on account of the San I rancisco earthquake, her untimely passing was la- mented by many. Five children had sprung from this happy union: Oscar S. Gohranson, a carpenter of San Jose; Frederick, deceased; Victor T., also a carpenter living in San Jose; Laura C. is Mrs. Meade of San Francisco; Svea C., is Mrs. Benj. Mason of San Jose. Mr. Gohranson is a member of the So- ciety of Pioneers of Santa Clara County; and he is also a stanch Republican.

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History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 209

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846- Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1928

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928