Santa Clara County
Biographies
Ben/ Battiste ANZINI
Owner of Junction House, Mountain View California
This date of this card is not known - possibly
before Mr Anzini began running the establishment
Dave Sullivan Prop. and A.C. McKeough as Mgr.
As the proprietor of the Junction House on the state highway at the junction of
El Monte Avenue and the highway (ed note- in Mountain View on El Camino as it is
still commonly known), Ben Anzini contributes very materially to the comfort and
convenience of the thousands who traverse the state highway. The house was built
in 1906 by his brother, Victor Anzini, and the ten acres surrounding it planted
to prunes and apricots. This summer and winter resort is well built and
up-to-date and is conveniently and beautifully located. A native of Switzerland,
Ben Anzini was born an Menzoni, Canton Ticino, January, 6, 1874, the son of
Piertro and Lucia (Grandi) Anzini. The parents were married in Switzerland and
in 1865 the father left alone for America and settled first in Marin County and
remained there until 1870. They were the parents of three children: Victor, Ben
and Luisa. The parents owned the home in Switzerland and there it was that the
father died at the age of seventy-four; the mother still lives at the old home,
aged eighty-nine. Ben Anzini grew up and attended the schools of Switzerland and
learned to speak the Italian language. His brother Victor preceded him to
California, arriving in 1882, and on November 19, 1891, Ben landed at San
Francisco. He worked around on dairy farms for ten years for wages and in 1901
went into the dairy business with a partner for two years; then for the next
three yeas became the sole proprietor, milking from 250 to 260 cows, besides
operating a creamery.
On October 12, 1903 he was married to Miss Celia Berri, a daughter of Victor/
Vittore and Angelina Berri. She was born and reared in Marin County, Cal., and
was the youngest of a family of five children. Her mother died when she was only
two years old, and later her father married Mrs. Marianna Silacci. He immigrated
to California in an early day, and became a large dairy farmer and well-to-do,
his dairy supporting 250 cows, which he ran forty-four years; then retired to
Petaluma, Sonoma, County, where he died.
The dairy farm which Mr. Anzini rented contained 2,003 acres, knows as the
Tomasini ranch in Marin County. After disposing of his diary business for the
next five months when he sold out and in 1907 took his wife for a trip through
Switzerland, also visiting France and Italy. Upon their return, he bought back
his business in Petaluma and operated it until 1915. He invested some of his
earnings in city property in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, which he still owns. On
May 13, 1913, he purchased the Junction House from his brother and rented it our
at first, but for the past five years he and his wife have conducted it. He was
naturalized in San Francisco in 1901, and in national politics he is a
Republican. He belongs to the Eagles No. 333 of Petaluma, and he and Mrs. Anzini
are members of the Catholic Church of Mountain View.
Transcribed by Carolyn Feroben, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara
County, California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 1204