Merced County
Biographies
CHARLES A. DONAHUE
One of the painting contractors of Los Banos whose reputation for good work is well known is Charles A. Donahue. He was born in Hamilton County, Nebr., on August 31, 1885, the son of Charles L. and Elizabeth (Brown) Donahue, and was the third in a family of four children, the others being Mildred, Frank and Emma, the wife of Mr. Carlson of Tranquility, Cal. The father was a carpenter by trade. The son was taken by an uncle, his mother's brother, A. Brown, when only seven years old, in 1892, who brought him to Dos Palos, Merced County, where he attended school, grew to young manhood and worked on ranches in the neighborhood until 1905, when he was twenty, at which time he began learning the painter's trade in Watsonville. This trade he has followed ever since. His first three years were spent in Watsonville. Then he came to Los Banos, and here he has since lived and been employed at his trade, working on many of the important buildings in the town and surrounding country. For some time he was a foreman for Miller and Lux and looked after the painting of the buildings on their many holdings. Mr. Donahue bought an acre and a half on the western limits of Los Banos and this he has been cutting up into building lots and selling; and he now owns four houses himself. Among the buildings that show his handiwork are the Birch, Central Creamery, Commercial Club Home and Hotel, Catholic Church, Methodist Church, and the Toscano home; also the enamel work on the new grammar school building.
On June 9, 1911, Charles A. Donahue was united in marriage with Miss Kate Jones, the marriage taking place in Stockton. She was born in the same town in Nebraska as was Mr. Donahue and they attended the same public school. She is the daughter of William and Alice Jones, farmers, who settled in Dos Palos in 1894, and was the ninth in a family of eleven children born to her parents. She has been prominently identified with the educational advancement of Merced County and was a teacher in the Volta grammar school. Mr. Donahue belongs to the Odd Fellows of Los Banos, and to the Encampment. He is a member of the American Legion Band of twenty-five pieces, he playing the tuba horn.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 820-821
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
JAMES NEGRA
The logical connection between conducting a life insurance business and running a sheep ranch is not so apparent that the conditions of success in the one business would insure success in the other. Nevertheless it is a fact that James Negra has been very successful as agent for the West Coast Life Insurance Company with offices in Merced and Los Banos, and it is chronicled that both he and his father made a success in raising sheep on their ranch. The father, Bernardi Negra, who is still living, was a native of Italy and came out to California in the early days before the railroad came to the West Side, and before the wagon roads were graded, and engaged in sheep-raising on a large scale. He was a personal friend of Henry Miller and was with him in many deals in livestock. In that day wool sold as low as three cents per pound and sheep for three dollars a head. James was born on his father's ranch three miles from Los Banos, on October 13, 1885, and was educated in the Monroe school in Badger Flat, Merced County, and he engaged in sheep growing on a mountain ranch, which he still owns. In 1922 he sold the sheep and took up the life insurance business.
James Negra married Lela Smith, a native of Merced County, and they have two children, James, Jr., and Jessie. Mr. Negra is a member of Merced Parlor No. 24, N. S. G. W.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 821
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
M. L. SILVA
A native son of California who is filling a position of honor and trust is M. L. Silva, cashier of the Los Banos branch of the Mercantile Trust Company of California, formerly the Portuguese-American Bank of San Francisco. He was born on September 16, 1881, in Alameda County, a son of Frank and Rita (Mendes) Silva, both natives of the Azores Islands. The father's early experience was on a whaling vessel. He came to California in the early sixties, before the Central Pacific Railroad was built, and herded cows where now the residential part of San Francisco is situated. He was in Virginia City, Nevada, at the time of the great gold excitement and lived in the same boardinghouse with Mackie and Fair, who later became millionaires. The later years of his life were passed on his ranch in the Livermore Valley in Alameda County, where he ended his days.
M. L. Silva was educated in the public schools and business college. He began business for himself in Livermore, then for ten years was a deputy in the county tax collector's office in Oakland, after which time he entered the employ of the Bank of Italy and for five years was the assistant cashier of the Livermore branch. On November 1, 1922, he was appointed to his present position as cashier.
On September 4, 1908, Mr. Silva was united in marriage with Miss Anna Frances McCleud, born in Alameda County, a daughter of the pioneer, A. J. McCleud, and they have a son Andrew Francis. Mr. Silva is a member and Past President of Las Positas Parlor, No. 96, N. S. G. W.; belongs to the Woodmen of the World, both at Livermore; and to the Knights of Columbus of Merced. His many years of experience in the banking business have made of him an expert in his line and he holds a secure place in financial circles of Central California won solely on his merits.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 821-822
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
MRS. LUCINDA RICE
Held in high esteem by all who know her, Mrs. Lucinda Rice is recognized as one of the guiding spirits for the betterment of conditions in Winton, Merced County. A native of Bracken County, Ky., she was married near Blue Lick Springs, Nicholas County, Ky., to Joseph William Rice, born in Robertson County, that state, on September 29, 1860. They moved to Morton County, Kansas, but finding it too dry there moved back to Kentucky and settled in Bourbon County, near Paris, remaining until 1906, when they located in Pueblo, Colo., where Mr. Rice farmed leased land. In 1911 they came to Winton, Cal., and bought land in Merced Colony No. 3, put in alfalfa and built a home in Winton, which is still known as the Rice home. Selling their first piece of land they invested in a peach orchard of thirteen and one-half acres south of town, which Mrs. Rice still owns. Mr. Rice died on October 9, 1923. They had five children: Margaret C., Mrs. C. J. Cassell, mentioned elsewhere in this history; Irvin Galbraith, the eldest, proprietor of a general store in Manzanola, Colo.; Iva Ray, married to Nathan Wheeler, a machinist near Pueblo, Colo.; Bessie May, the wife of Franklin Poteet, a machinist in Pueblo; and Bernie E., who died at the age of fourteen.
Mrs. Rice was the first acting postmaster at Winton, preceding H. A. Logue, the first regularly appointed postmaster. By popular consent Mrs. Rice was allowed to distribute the mail, thus making her the first official. She is an active member of the Presbyterian Church at Winton, Mr. Rice serving as an elder from the date of the organization of the denomination in Winton, of which both Mr. and Mrs. Rice were factors. She was one of the organizers of the Woman's Improvement Club and has never relinquished her interest in its activities. She was also instrumental in the organization of the Winton Center of the Merced County Farm Bureau and the local Home Department, and took an active part in establishing the Parent-Teachers Association. Hers is truly a benign influence which is felt in all things for the betterment of the community in general.
History of Merced County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 822-823
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler