Merced County Biographies
Ref: Pages 806-807
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 8/9/2009
HENRI DESSIAUME
The life of Henri Dessiaume presents an example of industry and worthiness creditable alike to his native country and to the country of his adoption. He is the senior partner in the Winton Mercantile Company at Winton, successors to the Winton branch of the Pregno Mercantile Company. The firm employs the same systematic methods that characterized the work of the former concern and are assured of continued success. Henri Dessiaume was born at Bourges, France, on January 13, 1888, a son of John and Helen (Pigeit) Dessiaume, vineyardists who spent their entire lives in the land of their birth.
Henri Dessiaume received a thorough education in the schools of France, Germany, Belgium and England; he can read, write and speak French, English, German and Spanish and can read Latin and understands the Japanese language. Mr. Dessiaume became a steward in some of the leading restaurants and hotels in England, being thus engaged in the city of Liverpool and other large cities; in 1906 he went to Japan, where he spent two years as assistant manager for the Metropole and the Imperial hotels. In 1908 he came to America and directly to Victoria, B.C., where he was steward of the Empress Hotel, owned and conducted by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Later he removed to San Francisco and was steward at the St. Francis Hotel; also for a year and a half he was steward at Hotel Oakland, in Oakland, Cal.
In 1914 Henri Dessiaume was married in San Francisco. In 1916 he located at Winton and was placed in charge of the Pregno Mercantile Company, which carries a full line of staple and fancy groceries, dry goods, clothing, hardware, farming implements, etc., and handles meat and provisions. Under the direction of Dessiaume and Gavazza, the firm is doing a thriving business. On July 1, 1924, the present establishment was taken over by H. Dessiaume and J. Gavazza, who continue the business under the name of the Winton Mercantile Company.
History of
MERCED COUNTY
CALIFORNIA
With A
Biographical Review
of
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been
Identified with Its Growth and Development
from the Early Days to the Present
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1925
Merced County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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