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 213

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 213

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H. S. REXWORTHY .- Prominent among the highly-trained captains of industry who have con- tributed much toward bringing California into such a front line among her sister commonwealths that she is now everywhere recognized as the Golden State, is undoubtedly H. S. Rexworthy, the capable general superintendent of the Joshua Hendy Iron Works at Sunnyvale, who has had an exceptionally varied and rich experience in the building of im- mense engines, heavy mining machinery and mas- sive gates such as are used in the large irrigation projects of the Turlock Irrigation Company and ex- tensive hydro-electric undertakings in California and the Pacific West. He was born in Gloucestershire, England, on December 2, 1873, the only son of Cor- nish parents and a descendant, on his mother's side of John Sibree, a near relative to the noted African explorer of the same name.

The mother is still living, in England, at the age of seventy-eight; and there are three sisters. Mr. Rexworthy was educated at the famous Bristol Grammar School with its delightful hillside environ- ments at Bristol; later he went to London and there studied the general sciences, and when he left the halls and lawns of those favored institutions to which so many of England's great men had gone as students, he was eighteen years of age and ready for a tussle with the world. He took up mechanical work under the widely-known John McIntire, the celebrated naval architect of Glasgow, and after two years' preceptorship, he was made his assistant. He went as a pupil to the East Ferry Company at Millwa, near London and worked there for a num- ber of years, and then he became assistant manager.

During that time Mr. Rexworthy was married to Miss Irene Roberts, a daughter of Edward Roberts, I. S. O. and F. R. A. S., an extremely clever mathe- matician who has, for many years, been retained as the chief assistant in the British Government's Nau- tical Almanac's office, where he is known as one of the world's greatest authorities on tides. Mr. Rexworthy then traveled as engineer for the Murex Company, and after that he took up mining, and he made the first installation in the process for handling carbonate ores, silver, lead and gold. Next he made his way to Northern Siberia and became an expert for the Bogolosky Company, probably the largest gold and silver-mining company in the world, owning and controlling some 4,000 square miles of auriferous territory and employing 400,000 men. About this time the great World War broke forth, and Mr. Rexworthy was recalled to his native land for war purposes, and after that he was as- signed to the task of perfecting the process of tungsten alloy. After ten months in England, he was sent to California to superintend a process for the recovery of base metals and later he became superintendent of the Lane Mines, for the Darwin Corporation at Darwin, Inyo County.

He had first set foot on American soil at New York in November, 1914, and from there he pro- ceeded to the Pacific Coast and Mountain states, and he was at San Francisco when he was called to England to process tungsten steel. Eventually, he came from Inyo County to Sunnyvale, where he was appointed chief engineer. He has always been and still is a hard worker, putting in from ten to twelve hours a day. He has displayed excep- tional natural and developed ability, and has risen to eminence in the world of mechanism. He is a member of the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce, and it goes without saying that he worthily rep- resents the great iron works elsewhere described.

Mr. and Mrs. Rexworthy have one child, a son, Ed- ward. They have built a fine residence on Sunny- vale Avenue, in Sunnyvale, and as members of the Episcopal Church they enter heartily into the re- ligious, civic and social life of their adopted town. Mr. Rexworthy is a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers of England, and his fame as a leader of scientific attainment in the industrial field has gone abroad through two continents.

FRANK ANELLO .- As a reward for his industry Frank Anello has a fine ranch of thirty acres on the Homestead Road, near Santa Clara, and its develop- ment has been due to his energy and forethought. Mr. Anello is a long way from the land of his child- hood, for he was born in the Province of Palermo, Italy, May 7, 1893, a son of Vincent and Providence Anello, the father a farmer in his native land. Frank is the youngest of a family of three children; Made- line is now Mrs. Chiovaro and has two children, Joseph and Francis, and they live on the Homestead Road; Sam. married Miss Hill and they have three children, Vincent, Providence, and Frank. In 1895 the father came to the United States and worked in various parts of the country, finally settling in Dixon, Texas, and in 1904 his family joined him.

Frank Anello received his education in the schools of his native province and his early childhood days were spent on a farm helping his father. Upon ar- rival in Texas, the father leased a small ranch and with the help of Frank ran it for one year, when they removed to Santa Clara County, where our subject worked for Frank Di Fiore and later for H. F. Curry at Berryessa. The father bought a ten-acre piece of property on the Senter Road, which was devoted to fruit raising, and after six years, sold this ranch and a forty-two-acre property was pur- chased on the Homestead Road about three and a half miles from Santa Clara. Later this ranch was divided and his son-in-law now has ten acres and the balance remained in the possession of the father, while Frank and his brother Sam Anello operate the orchard. The land is well improved with an irrigat- ing well and good buildings.

On August 28, 1917, Mr. Anello entered the U. S. Army and was sent to Camp Kearney and served in the One Hunderd Forty-fifth Machine Gun Battalion in Company B. After a month's training this com- pany was started on its way to France, and after arrival there Mr. Annelo was transferred to the One Hundred Thirtieth Machine Gun Battalion, Com- pany A, Thirty-fifth Division. Mr. Anello trained at various points in France and twenty-one days before the armistice was signed, his company was placed in the Verdun sector. While serving at the front.

H. Sie, Plun Th 0

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Mr. Anello sprained his ankle very severely and was in the hospital for four months. He returned to his home via Brest to Hoboken, N. J., and thence to the Presidio, San Francisco, where he was discharged May 23, 1919, and returned to his home.

In Oakland, on November 28, 1920, Mr. Anello was married to Miss Mamie Chiovaro, a native of Louisi- ana. While still a young girl, her parents removed to Oakland and there she received her education in the public schools. They are the parents of one child, Providence.

VICTOR A. SOLARI .- An industrious, progress- ive and successful rancher of the fine Italian- American type always so popular, because of past records of prosperity and usefulness, in Santa Clara County, is Victor A. Solari, now farming with ex- cellent results on the Dr. Bowen ranch two miles east of San Jose. He was born in the province of Genoa, on January 12, 1883, and his parents are G. B. and Bernardine Solari. His father was a farmer, who operated extensively in Italy, where he owned vast acreage given to the culture of vines and varied fruit; and after Vietor had pursued the courses of the elementary echools at Genoa, he helped his father on the home farm. When nineteen years old, how- ever, he set out from Italy across the ocean to the United States; and having eventually reached Cali- fornia, he settled in Santa Clara County; and here, for many years, he worked for wages on fruit ranches. He also worked in the market gardens in the vicinity of San Jose, and there, as on the ranches, was able easily to demonstrate his natural ability in these fields.

For the last five years Mr. Solari has been leasing the Dr. Bowen ranch of twenty acres devoted to fruit, and there he has been raising some of the choic- est prunes in the Santa Clara Valley. He gives his undivided time and attention to his investments, and since he is a good student, seeking to learn from books and to profit by past experience, and inclined to compare notes, he makes progress steadily, thereby contributing something definite toward the advance- ment of California agriculture, as well as toward the enlargement of his own fortune. His only brother in California, Joseph Solari, is with him on the ranch.

Ten children made up the fine family of Mr. and Mrs. G. B. Solari, among whom Victor was the youngest, and each has done well in the world. The eldest is Andrew, then come Anna and Mary, and next Joseph, already referred to, and after that Rosa, Lawrence, Louisa, John and Angelo. Judging by the success of the two brothers in Santa Clara County, Italy, from which romantic country have come so many good American citizens, is to be con- gratulated on retaining the rest of the family.

MRS. ROSIE G. ROSE .- A resourceful, enter- prising and very successful rancher is Mrs. Rosie G. Rose, of Piedmont Road, northeast of Berryessa, a splendid example of what a woman, and especially what the woman in California can do. She was born in Fayal, in the Azores Islands, on May 30, 1864, the daughter of Antone and Teresa (Feliico) Garcia, and she was twelve years of age when she came out with her parents to California, arriving here in 1876. Her father bought ten acres of bare land near the Mission San Jose, and went to farming; and there he and his good wife reared their family of six children. Mary is Mrs. Rodriguez; Ida became Mrs. Santos

and passed away in her fortieth year; Manuel is a dairy farmer at Hanford; Rose, the next youngest, is our subject; Marian, Mrs. Serpa, lives at San Jose; Anna is Mrs. Rose of Oakland.

On September 26, 1881, Miss Garcia was married to Joseph F. Rose, also a native of Fayal, where he was born on August 25, 1854, the son of Manuel and Ida Rose. Joseph F. Rose came to California in 1874, when he moved into Santa Clara County, and worked for wages on farms. He lived and farmed upon the Downing Ranch on the Calaveras Road, continuing there for twenty years, and there he died, on October 30, 1907. He was a member, at the time of his death, of both the U. P. E. C. and the I. D. E. S. lodges of Milpitas.

Directly after her husband's death, Mrs. Rose bought a ranch of twelve acres on the Piedmont road, and there she has lived ever since. This farm is about an hour's walk from Berryessa, within com- fortable reach of the town, and is very successfully devoted to the growing of apricots. Rosie, the eldest daughter, is Mrs. Pedro, and she lives on the Down- ing Ranch in Milpitas; Joseph is on the Calaveras road; Manuel died of the influenza in 1918; Mary is Mrs. Pedro; Anna is Mrs. Henriques of Sunny- vale; Frank lives at home; Minnie died in 1891; An- tone is ranching on Capitol Avenue; William is in San Jose; John is also ranching; Minnie, the second, died in September, 1898; Henry is at home; Carrie is Mrs. Henriques and lives on the Evans ranch, east of Milpitas; Minnie, the third, is at home. While living in the hills, the children attended the Laguna school, and after moving to the Piedmont Road ranch they went to the Berryessa school.

JAMES SHORT .- A rancher of unusual interest, first, because of his substantial results, and secondly because of the methods he employs to attain success, year after year, in his agricultural pursuits, is James Short, a native of Aghada, County Cork, Ireland, and now residing on Capitol avenue, south of Berry- essa. He was born on October 3, 1881, the son of Peter Short, a noted horseman, who had married Miss Ellen Mackey, and he died in Ireland in 1895. James is the second in a family of thirteen children, the others being Ellen, Margaret, Peter, Mary, Katie, Joseph, Thomas, Eugene, Richard, Thomas (second so named), John and Patrick. The first Thomas, Eugene, Richard, and John are now deceased.

James Short attended the excellent public schools in Ireland, enjoying with his brothers the scholarship and the sensible, if rigid discipline of the old-time Irish schoolmaster, and he grew up to work on the farm. In 1902, however, he felt the call to the West- ern World, crossed the ocean and came out to Cali- fornia, and his father having died, he made his ven- ture into American life with his mother and the rest of the family. Arriving at San Jose, he entered upon what was to prove several years' service with the San Jose Street Railway Company, working on the street cars; but he also early purchased at Berryessa a ranch of ten acres on Capitol Avenue, just north of the Penetencia Creek Road, and eight acres of this ranch are now in apricots, and two acres in prunes. The little farm is fast becoming a show-place, and it is certain that, since it came under Mr. Short's skillful management, it has been the object of ad- miration, if not of envy, on the part of many who know what goes to make up a first-class ranch.

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HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Naturally a home-body, and not allured by even the attractions of fraternal society life, Mr. Short finds pleasure in the fact that most of his brothers and sisters are in California. Ellen has become Mrs. John Guerin of San Jose; Margaret is Mrs. James Healy and the wife of a popular member of the San Jose police force; Peter is at San Jose; Mary is living with her mother and our subject at Berry- essa. Kate is the wife of Michael Coyle, who is a valued employee of Lion's Furniture Store at San Jose; Joseph is at Menlo Park, Cal .; and both Thomas and Patrick live in San Jose. Of such valu- able pioneers as the Short family the unrivalled Santa Clara Valley has been built into the most desirable home-section in the world.

JOHN R. BROKENSHIRE .- It is almost impos- sible to imagine what would be the condition of the country without the development of its great min- eral resources and valuable indeed has been the con- tribution which mining men have made to the prog- ress of the world. Born at St. Day, Cornwall, England, December 15, 1867, John R. Brokenshire, the son of Mark and Mary (Roberts) Brokenshire, came of a line of mining men, his father being a mining superintendent. Both father and mother were natives of Cornwall. His father was em- ployed by the Wiggin Coal & Iron Company for mining work in Africa and afterwards went to France. On account of the extremes in the climate of Africa, where the heat is so intense and then being trans- ferred to France where he encountered extreme cold, his health failed and he passed away in the moun- tains of France. The mother passed away at the old home in 1913.

John R. Brokenshire was reared and educated at St. Stephens near St. Austell, and after school days he followed mining. Upon coming to his majority, he embarked for the United States and settled at Ironwood, Mich., where he went into the iron mines, doing contract work. Here on May 28, 1892, he married Miss Mary Phillips, also a native of Corn- wall, England. Her grandfather was manager of clay works there and became very wealthy. She was the daughter of Daniel and Fannie (Truscott) Phillips and her father was the originator of a process of making vitrolite glazed brick. When but an infant, her mother died, and she was reared by a stepmother.

In the spring of 1894 Mr. Brokenshire came to California settling first in Amador County where he engaged in mining, then was for a short time at the Sutter Creek mines; after this seven years was spent in the Trinidad mines in Placer County, where he had charge of the mine and mill. Next he came to San Jose and here entered the employ, in the shops, of the Santa Clara Street Railway Company, but soon returned to Trinidad mine, taking a lease on it and made a success of the mine. A year later the company took it back and he returned to San Jose and entered the employ of the Southern Pacific and is now stationary engineer at the shops.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bro- kenshire: Lewis, deceased; Guy, a mining engineer, was a student at Stanford University before being employed at the Shasta copper mines; John R., Jr., before the war was a law student at Stanford, but at the present time is a reporter on the staff of the Mercury-Herald of San Jose; Wesley was a student

of the San Jose high school, then took a course on forestry at the University of Washington and is now in the U. S. Forest Service; Dwight is stenographer in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company; Lucille is presiding over her father's home since her mother's death; Roy is a student of the San Jose high school. For years the family lived at 105 Grant Street, but in October, 1919, a home at 79 Magnolia Avenue was purchased. Mrs. Broken- shire passed away in June, 1920, deeply mourned by her family and friends.

Three of the sons, Guy, Wesley and John R., Jr., saw active service in France during the World War. Guy entered the service of his country on November 3, 1917. With Company A, Twenty- seventh Engineers, he trained first at Camp Meade, Md., for three months, then was sent to Hoboken from which place he set sail on February 28, 1918, landing at Brest, France, March 10, 1918. Here he trained at Langres for five months and was then sent into the Baccarat sector, thence to the St. Mihiel sector, where he saw active service, also in the Meuse-Argonne salient, and was stationed near Thiaucourt and Pont-a-Mousson during the active fighting there. After the signing of the armistice, he was stationed at Givet near Bar-le- Duc, from which place he embarked for the United States, March 7, 1919, coming to the Presidio where he was honorably discharged April 12, 1919, there- upon returning to his home in San Jose. Wesley, when eighteen, enlisted in Company M, Fifth Cali- fornia Infantry, N. G. C., at San Jose, serving at first at Fresno, guarding bridges. He then went to Camp Kearney, and was there for about one year, from there going to France with a detachment sent for replacement work. He was transferred to Company C, Thirtieth Infantry, Third Division, and saw ac- tive service as a corporal with this division at Chateau Thierry, St. Mihiel and in the Mense- Argonne drive. Shortly before the armistice was signed, he was stricken with the influenza, was sent to Bordeaux and returned to the United States on a hospital ship in December, 1918, and was discharged at the Presidio. John R., Jr., was disabled, on ac- count of the loss of an eye, for active service; how- ever, he took the civil service examinations and served as quartermaster's clerk in the railroad transport service at San Diego.

Politically Mr. Brokenshire is independent, believ- ing in the fitness of the man for the office. He is a consistent member of the Centella Methodist Episcopal Church of San Jose and fraternally is a member of the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of Pythias. He has been a firm believer in the prosperity and development of Santa Clara Coun- ty and with the interest of a loyal citizen has watched its advancement and growth until it has reached its present high standard of civilization.

GUS A. ENGLAND .- A native son of Santa Clara County, whose father is now one of the coun- ty's oldest pioneer settlers, Gus A. England is the popular manager of the University Bowling Alley, Santa Clara. He was born at Milliken's Corners on February 24, 1870, the son of Beverly Allen and Jennie (Simpson) England, both natives of Mis- souri, who crossed the plains in 1853, though in different emigrant trains. Mrs. England passed away in 1913, and Beverly A. England, now in his

John R Brokenshire

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eightieth year, makes his home with his son, Harry England, at San Jose, and a sketch of his life and early journey across the plains will be found else- where in this work.

The eldest of the two children born to these pioneer parents, Gus A. England came with his parents to Santa Clara, and continued his studies through the high school there. In 1895 he estab- lished himself in business at Santa Clara, and since that time he has been identified with the upbuild- ing of this attractive city, which has experienced a steady, constant growth of late years. In 1908 Mr. England was united in marriage with Miss Eleanor Cramm, the ceremony being solemnized at Santa Cruz. Mr. England belongs to the Santa Clara Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, and he is an enthusiastic admirer of the great Golden State. The characteristics which helped to distinguish his pioneer parents have largely become his, and he is always glad to contribute towards the further development of this great common- wealth of the Pacific.

JOSEPH C. AZEVEDO .- A dairy-rancher whose prosperity is the natural result of his foresight and unremitting industry, is Joseph C. Azevedo, whose trim farm is at the corner of Storey and King roads, in San Jose. He was born in Oakland, on March 31, 1896, the son of Joe and Catherine (Silva) Aze- vedo, natives of Pico, in the Azores Islands, who come to California in 1890. They settled in Oak- land, and had a dairy there. Five children blessed their union: Lida, who died in infancy; Evelyn, now Mrs. Fonti; our subject, Joseph C., of this sketch; Antone, who died in 1920 at the age of eighteen; the youngest passed away in infancy.

Joseph commenced his schooling in Oakland, and when he was twelve years old he accompanied his parents to Contra Costa County, where he finished with his books. Two years later, when fourteen, he set out to make his own way in the world, and commenced to work on ranches in Walnut Creek; and when he was eighteen years old, he returned to Oakland and for two years worked as a painter in the locomotive shops. After that he removed to San Jose and established himself in dairying; and he succeeded so well that he came to have sixty cows, continuing there for three years.

On October 13. 1917, however, he entered the service of the U. S. Army; and he was sent to Camp Lewis, where he joined the Three Hundred Sixty- fourth Infantry, Company I., Ninety-first Division, and in July, 1918, he was sent to France. He had qualified as a sniper before leaving America and on arriving in France,' he was transferred to the auto- matic rifle squad. After training for two months he was in the reserves of the St. Mihiel drive, and took part in the Meuse-Argonne first offensive, and was then sent to Belgium, where he participated in the operations of the Ypres-Lys salient. When the armistice had been signed, he was sent to Her- zeele, Belgium, for a month, and then to France, and in March, 1919, commenced the return journey to America. In April he was honorably discharged at Camp Kearney and then he returned to San Jose. He is a member of the American Legion and a Republican in polities.

On February 14, 1920, Mr. Azevedo was married at San Jose to Miss Mary Texiera, a native of Sau- salito, and the daughter of Joseph and Rita (Laeer-

da) Texiera, experienced and successful dairy ranch- ers still living on the White Road in Santa Clara County. Mr. Azevedo is in partnership with his father and now they have about 240 head of cattle, 150 being milch cows and a very fine dairy ranch. His barns are modern and most sanitary and equipped with milking machines. He is a charter member of the San Francisco Milk Producers Association.

STEVE PASSELLI .- An experienced, successful and prosperous rancher who not only well knows what he is doing but is able, as he is always willing, to tell "the other fellow" how best to operate, is Steve Passelli, a native of Canton, Ticino, Switzer- land, where he was born on January 24, 1886, the son of Zaverio and Irmastina Passelli. His father was a man who labored hard, but he also worked in- telligently and faithfully for whomsoever he con- tracted to serve; he had two sons, and the brother of Steve was named Joseph.

Steve Passelli attended the grammar school until he was fourteen years old, and then he commenced to work in real carnest. He helped his father until he came of age; and then, desiring to profit by the greater opportunities in the New World, he crossed the ocean, came out to California, and started to work on a dairy farm near Gonzales, in Monterey County. He worked for six years on dairy farms, and then he leased a large dairy ranch for five years. After a year's experience there, however, he sold out to his partner and started a new dairy. He built this up until he had about 100 cows, and at the end of two years, he disposed of that ranch, also.

Mr. Passeli then made a trip home to Switzerland, where he stayed for ten months; and there he mar- ried, on November 18, 1920, Miss Paulina Barca, the daughter of John and Serafina Barca. Her father was a stone mason by trade, and he took a pride in send- ing his daughter to the excellent Swiss public schools. On his return to America with his bride, Mr. Pas- selli settled on Capitol Avenue, and on April 1, 1921, he started a model dairy on the Tuttle ranch. Now he has fifty-two cows and sixty-four acres in alfalfa, and he is able to send about 100 gallons of milk a day to the East Bay Milk Producers' Association. Mr. and Mrs. Paselli, who have become favorites with all who know them and are highly esteemed in the town and vicinity of Milpitas, have one child, a daughter named Elsie; and Mr. Passelli is a mem- ber of Soledad Lodge No. 167, of the Druids. .

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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 213

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