San Joaquin County
Biographies
ALBERT L. BARNES.
California owes much to its experienced and highly-progressive hotel men, among whom one finds Albert L. Barnes, the efficient and popular manager of both the Hotel Stockton and the Hotel Clark of Stockton. He was born at Buffalo, N. Y., on January 15, 1882, and was sent to the public schools of that city and the high school in Painesville, Ohio. Then he took a course at the business college at Pittsburgh, Pa., and after that associated himself with the American Window Glass Company, and then the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, both in Pittsburgh.
In 1907, he located in Stockton, and soon thereafter entered the hotel business as a clerk, first with the Imperial and then with the Yosemite Hotel. When A. I. Wagner became the proprietor of the Hotel Stockton, in 1910, Mr. Barnes became associated with him as assistant manager; and ten years later, when Mr. Wagner took the management of the Hotel Clark, Mr. Barnes became manager of that hotel. At Mr. Wagner's death, in August, 1921, Mr. Barnes was appointed manager of both hotels, and this responsible position he now fills to everybody's satisfaction.
In 1907, at Oakland, Mr. Barnes married Miss Alma Wagner, a native of Ventura, and since coming to Stockton both Mr. and Mrs. Barnes have taken an active part in the city's civic and club life. He is a charter member of the Stockton Lions Club, belongs to Lodge No. 218 of the Stockton Elks, and to the Masons, being a member of the Stockton Lodge of Perfection, No. 12, S. R., and also the Sciots. He has a membership in the Stockton Golf and Country Club, the Yosemite Club, the Stockton Ad Club, and the Stockton Chamber of Commerce. With a natural aptitude for the important field he has chosen, and plenty of patriotic pride as well as patriotic optimism, Mr. Barnes has set before himself the task of making his hotels among the best in the state, regardless of the size of the city in which they are located.
History of San Joaquin County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1923
p 1355
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.
JOHN C. BRAAS.
A successful Delta farmer, John C. Braas was born in Eckenforde Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, May 21, 1866, a son of Otto and Magdalena Braas, both natives of the same place. Otto Braas served under the Danish flag in the war of 1864 and under the Prussian flag in 1870-71; he was one of five surviving members of his company who returned from the war of 1870. Early in life John C. left home and became a clerk in a general merchandise store, but in 1886 returned to the home ranch after the death of his father, where he remained for three years; he then left for America, arriving in New York on April 4, 1889, and came directly to California. In 1890 he rented land in the Dangers tract on the river, southwest of Stockton, and after four years of successful farming bought a tract of fifty-four acres on the Burns Cutoff, to which he has added until he now owns 210 acres.
On April 27, 1889, in Stockton, Mr. Braas was married to Miss Louise Beberwitz, a native of Germany, daughter of Magnus and Maria Beberwitz, both now deceased. Mrs. Braas arrived in Stockton in 1889. They are the parents of five children; Freda is the wife of Henry Hansen and they have three children and reside in San Francisco; Alma is the wife of William Buchan and they have one daughter and reside in San Francisco; Clara is the widow of Andrew Bowman and she has one daughter; Otto is a rancher assisting his father at home; and Louise is the wife of Herman Busch, a rancher on the Copperopolis Road. Mr. Braas has served seventeen years as trustee of the Independent school district, and is past president of Fidelity Lodge of the Sons of Herman.
History of San Joaquin County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1923
p 1355
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.
JOSEPH C. BRICHETTO.
One of the largest grain farmers on the West Side, Joseph C. Brichetto is a native of San Joaquin County, born at Banta, California, on February 18, 1894, the youngest son of G. Joseph and Luigia (Canale) Brichetto, the former of whom is now deceased, and both of whom were natives of Italy. The father came to San Joaquin County in 1867, here mined, and then was employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in tunnel construction for a time; he then settled in the San Joaquin gardens on the river, and later located in Banta, where he raised and sold vegetables. In 1872 he opened a general merchandise store at Banta, which he conducted for many years. He became a large farmer and landowner in the Banta section, owning, at the time of his death in 1916, 9,000 acres of land on the West Side. Mr. and Mrs. Brichetto were the parents of the following children: John N., Irene, Mrs. Mollie Raspo, Minnie, and Joseph C., our subject.
The education of Joseph C. began at the age of six years when he entered the public school at Banta and continued until 1910, when he was graduated from Heald's Business College at Stockton. The following year he entered his father's store as bookkeeper, remaining in that capacity until 1914, when, in partnership with his brother John N., he took active control of the business, Joseph C. doing the clerical work in the U. S. postoffice, located in their store since its establishment. Continuing in the business until 1917, Mr. Brichetto then sold his interest to J. J. Raspo, his brother-in-law, and became the manager of the vast agricultural interests of the Brichetto estate, consisting of several thousand acres of land on the West Side, which he has developed into one of the show places of Central California. The beautiful and modern Brichetto residence, facing on the Lincoln Highway from Sacramento to San Francisco, is one of the most complete country-seats in the county, and was built by Mrs. Luigia Brichetto in 1919 and 1920.
The marriage of Mr. Brichetto occurred at Stockton on March 30, 1921, and united him with Miss Eva Campodonico, a daughter of Emanuel and Louisa Campodonico, both natives of Italy, now retired residents of Stockton.
History of San Joaquin County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1923
p 1355
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.