Alameda County
Biographies
CHARLES G. REED.
Charles G. Reed, who from 1907 to 1909 served with credit and ability as national bank examiner for the northern district of California, is a member of a family which has been well represented in Oakland and vicinity; first by the father, Captain William Reed, and his wife Hannah; and also by their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to the number of forty.
Mr. Reed, of this review, has spent practically his entire life in California, for he came to this state with the family when he was only twelve years of age. He was born in Vassalboro, Maine, December 24, 1844, and in November, 1856, was brought to Oakland. He attended the old Carpentier school, beginning in the winter of 1856-7, and circulated a petition for the building of the second schoolhouse, the Lafayette primary, at Twelfth and Grove streets. He afterward entered the Oakland College school, taking a business course. Following the completion of his studies he obtained a position in a wholesale clothing house in San Francisco, with which he was connected for four years. At the end of that time he came to Oakland and conducted a hardware store at the northwest corner of Twelfth and Broadway. When he disposed of this enterprise he entered the office of the county clerk as deputy under J. V. B. Goodrich and after four years in this service was elected to the office of county clerk in 1875. He won reelection in 1877 and served two terms, after which he was made deputy under C. E. Palmer, county treasurer. At the end of four years in this office he entered the Union National Bank and was soon advanced to the position of paying teller. He was later made exchange teller and held this position until October, 1907, when he received the appointment as national bank examiner for the northern district of California. He held this position until 1909 and discharged its important duties in a painstaking, conscientious and efficient manner.
In Oakland on the 8th of January, 1868, Mr. Reed married Miss Flora A. Moore, a daughter of Gorham H. and Mary A. ( Jenkins) Moore. Mr. and Mrs. Reed became the parents of four children: Olive, the wife of S. W. Cushman of Oakland; Elmer, who is engaged in the United States marshal's office in Nome, Alaska; Aimee, the wife of Harwood D. Swales of the Firemens Fund Insurance Company; and Eva, who became the wife of H. D. Danforth and died June 28, 1904, at the age of twenty-nine years. There are seven grandchildren, four boys and three girls. All the children and grandchildren have exceptional musical ability and find music the source of much enjoyment.
Mr. Reed is connected fraternally with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is past grand, and he has also filled all of the chairs in the Ancient Order of United Workmen, representing his lodge in the grand lodge at various sessions and serving also as grand trustee. He is at present grand receiver. He is also affiliated with the Fraternal Brotherhood and is a member of the First Baptist church, in which he officiated as trustee for a number of years. He has always taken a keen interest in movements looking toward the benefit of general conditions and has been found ready to lend his aid for the promotion of all progressive public projects. He was a member of the old Oakland Guard, serving as private in 1862 and being later promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. He was also a member of the Oakland light cavalry. From 1893 until 1897 he served on the board of education of Oakland, acting as chairman of the finance committee and the high school committee. Being a great lover of his native state he founded the State of Maine Association of California and was its first secretary and later its president. He can truthfully say that he has never taken a drink of liquor, a record that few who have lived in California as long as he has can equal. He signed a pledge during the great Maine campaign in 1855 and has never broken it. During the long period of his residence in this city he has attained a wide reputation as a broad-minded, liberal and public-spirited citizen, and by his strict integrity of character, business ability and excellent qualities of mind has won the confidence and esteem of all who know him.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 112
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
REV. JOSEPH GALLI.
Rev. Joseph Galli, pastor of St. Joseph's Portuguese church in Oakland, has been at the head of this congregation since 1909 and his labors have been an effective force in the lives of those who have come under his teachings. His birth occurred in Varese, Italy, on the 18th of April, 1877, his parents being John and Antonia Galli. He attended the gymnasium until fifteen years of age and then went to Braga, Portugal, where he continued his education in the high school for three years. He next studied theology for five years and subsequently taught in an orphanage in Braga, Portugal, until twenty-three years of age, when he went to Lisbon, Portugal, as ordain and teacher in a school of trades. At the age of twenty-four he came to Oakland, California, as assistant pastor of St. Joseph's Portuguese church and in 1909 became pastor thereof. With consecrated zeal he has labored to advance moral interests, and his teachings have borne fruit in many lives. He is a member of the Y. M. I. and the Knights of Columbus, and also belongs to the Salesian Fathers of Venerable Don Bosco.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 116
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
HOWARD A. BIGELOW.
Howard A. Bigelow, who began the practice of law at Oakland in the spring of 19th, has in the intervening period of three years built up an extensive and enviable clientage and established his reputation as an attorney of pronounced ability. He was born at Sailor Springs, Illinois, on the 14th of April, 1875, and after acquiring his more specifically literary education prepared for the practice of his chosen profession in the law department of Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri, from which he was graduated in 1900. Opening an office at Decatur, Illinois, he there practiced law for seven years with gratifying and growing success. In the spring of 1910 he came to Oakland, California. His offices are at 1020 Broadway, and in the comparatively short period of time which has since elapsed he has built up a large and lucrative practice here. He has won a reputation as a criminal lawyer of unusual ability and is well versed in that branch of the profession.
In 1897 Mr. Bigelow was united in marriage to Miss Clara Chamberlain, a native of Illinois, by whom he has two children, Beulah and Helen. The family home is a handsome residence on Fourth avenue, which Mr. Bigelow purchased. He is widely recognized as one of Oakland's most enterprising and public-spirited citizens and is a public speaker of note, having stumped the state of Indiana in the interests of William Howard Taft prior to his election to the presidency. Mr. Bigelow is the attorney for the Progressive Development Syndicate of Oakland and his aid and cooperation are given to every movement and measure instituted to further the growth of the city. Fraternally he is identified with the Loyal Order of Moose.
Past & Present of Alameda County, California – Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914
p. 116
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler