Merced County
Biographies
JOHN L. CANEVARO
ANTONE CANEVARO
One of the most substantial families of Merced County is ably represented by John L. Canevaro, manager of the Canevaro Estate at Snelling. This property embraces 219 acres on the Merced River and is devoted to stock-raising, being jointly owned by John and Govanni Canevaro and their sister, Miss Tasia Canevaro, all of whom reside at Snelling, where the home has been for over fifty years. At Moccasin Creek, Tuolumne County, on October 5, 1862, John L. Canevaro was born to Antone and Angelina (Calori) Canevaro, and is the eldest of eight children, six of whom survive the parents, who were born in Genoa, Italy.
Antone Canevaro left Italy to escape military service and arrived in California in 1855, where he joined his father, Lorenzo Canevaro, who, after spending nearly twelve years in mining in the vicinity of Hetch Hetchy, returned to Italy, where he passed away. Angelina Calori came via Panama in 1856 to San Francisco, where she was married to Antone Canevaro, and went to Moccasin Creek as a bride. Mr. Canevaro mined for some years, but eventually engaged in the growing of fruits and vegetables, which supplied the camps at the Aurora Mine, in Esmeralda County, Nev., using burros for packing and Indians for guides. He also shipped his products by pack animal into the Walker River country, and it was necessary to use an Indian guide at first, until the trial was blazed across the mountains. In 1862 flood waters ruined his personal property, thus necessitating the reestablishment of his fortunes, so in 1869 the family moved to Snelling, then a thriving town. He opened a general store with a partner, A. Durio, who later sold out to Mr. Canevaro and moved to Tulare, where he died. This business prospered for years, but Mr. Canevaro finally turned the establishment over to his sons, who disposed of it in 1895. He became an American citizen at Sonora in 1858, and subsequently allied himself with the Democratic party. He was a man of integrity and his death on November 12, 1894, at Snelling, was a loss to both family and community. His good wife passed away at San Francisco, December 27, 1895.
Six children survive the esteemed pioneer parents: John L., Govanni, Tasia, Mrs. Rose Pierce, all of Snelling; Mrs. Nina Ringhouse, of Merced; and Mrs. Julia Anderson, of Santa Clara. The sons sold out the mercantile business in 1895, and thenceforth have devoted their energies to farming, and have operated successfully. A fire in 1910 destroyed the store buildings at Snelling, and at present John L. Canevaro owns the site.
Starting with the growing of grain and corn, John Canevaro and his brother Govanni have gradually branched out in other lines of agricultural development. For the past three years they have been setting out and developing a tract of ten acres each year to vineyard and orchard. They also had success in raising livestock, principally hogs. On their ranch, which was formerly a portion of the Montgomery grant, is a grave, said to contain the remains of the first white man hanged in Merced County. A large oak tree stood nearby for many years, but has fallen. This spot is about one mile southwest of Snelling. To show that many varieties of trees do well in this favored section Mr. Canevaro set out an olive tree in 1903 at their home, and it has produced heavily for ten seasons, being a superior tasting olive, when cured green. Govanni Canevaro has a patent process for curing the olives and the fruit thus prepared easily wins the favor of a most exacting epicurean.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 474-475
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
HON. MIRABEAU DALLAS WOOD
A pioneer of 1868 in California and one of the early settlers and among the most representative men of Merced County is M. D. Wood, manager of the Security Savings Bank in Merced. He was born May 22, 1846, in Gadsden County, Fla., a son of Igdaliah and Eliza (Dixon) Wood, both born in South Carolina. The father was educated for the law, and after his admission to the bar practiced for a time in his native state. He later moved to Florida and purchased a plantation and there was engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, at the age of seventy-two. He was of English ancestry, his paternal grandfather having been an early settler of South Carolina in colonial days. The maternal grandfather of our subject, Abel Dixon, was of Scotch descent and served in the War of the Revolution, also in the War of 1812. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Igdaliah Wood there were thirteen children born, of whom twelve grew to years of maturity; four sons served in the Confederate army. The mother died in Florida.
M. D. Wood was the youngest of thirteen children. He grew up on the home plantation and was educated in private schools and Mount Pleasant Academy. In 1863 he enlisted in Company K, Sixth Florida Confederate Volunteer Infantry as a private, serving under General Bragg and participating in many engagements in Kentucky and Tennessee, covering the retreat of the soldiers out of Kentucky after the battle of Perryville, and being at the front at Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain and Chickamauga. He took part in the Georgia campaign, was commissioned a second lieutenant, and at Kenesaw Mountain had charge of Company F, whose officers had nearly all been killed. July 22, at Peachtree, Lieutenant Wood was captured and sent as a prisoner to Johnson's Island, remaining until paroled the following spring, when he returned to his Florida home.
In 1866 Mr. Wood became superintendent of a sawmill, and two years later, in 1868, he was elected to the Florida State Senate. Resigning at the close of the session he started for California and arrived in Sonoma County, October 22, 1868, the day of the big earthquake. The same fall, Mr. Wood embarked in ranching in Stanislaus County. Removing to Merced County the following spring he purchased 600 acres on Bear Creek, and for ten years successfully farmed, then returned to Sonoma County and at Santa Rosa completed the normal course and taught there for some time.
Returning to Merced in 1882, Mr. Wood served as deputy county assessor for a year, and that same fall he was nominated for county treasurer on the Democratic ticket, was elected and served two terms, from January, 1883 to January, 1887. He was elected county assessor in the fall of 1887 and filled that office until January, 1891. The next two years he was in the grocery business. In February, 1893, he was appointed by the board of supervisors, superintendent of the county hospital and gave his entire attention to that position until in February, 1897, when he engaged in the grain business. He was agent for Baltour, Guthrie Company in Merced and for several years had entire charge of their grain-buying, warehouses and lands in Merced County. He also carried on a successful insurance business. In 1907 he became first vice-president and manager of the Merced Security Savings Bank, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on March 9, 1925, giving a banquet the following Saturday evening.
In Merced County Mr. Wood married Annie Rucker, born in Missouri, the daughter of A. G. Rucker. She bore him three children: George Marvin, who died in Merced; Lou, who became the wife of Bert Crane of Turlock and died in April, 1925; and Jesse D., who was associated with his father in the insurance and grain business and is now the agent for Balfour, Guthrie & Co. Mrs. Wood died in Sonoma County. For his second wife Mr. Wood married in Sonoma County, Maron L. England, a native of Missouri but reared and educated in Sonoma County. Seven children blessed this union: Bessie, who became the wife of J. G. McKerty, of Merced; Dallas England who is part owner and editor of the Palo Alto Times; Marjorie, who married L. G. Mackie of Berkeley; Barton Dixon, who saw service in the World War and is now an architectural engineer in Detroit, Mich.; Kenneth Eugene, an assistant cashier of the Security Savings Bank; Carol V., who is at home; and Melville, who is connected with the San Joaquin Light and Power Co. at Merced. Mr. Wood has always been active in Democratic circles; he was a member and president of the first board of trustees of Merced, and for one term was a member of the county board of education. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and served for years as one of the trustees. He has been a member of the Knights of Pythias for almost fifty years. He is a man of solid worth and his well-directed intelligence and worthwhile abilities have met with due recognition from his fellow-men, by whom he is conceded to rank among the most prominent citizens of Merced County.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 475-479
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler