San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 1484
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 10/23/2009
GIOBATTA CANESSA
An Italian-American who, on account of his marked success in the cultivation of a trim orchard and vineyard of some twenty acres four and one-half miles out of Stockton, on the White Road, the result of his combined progressive methods and thorough, scientific industry, has become one of the most interesting ranchers in that locality, is Giobatta Canessa, who was born in Canale province, Genoa, Italy, in 1870, the son of Louis and Mary (Cuneo) Canessa. His father was a farmer, and he lived and died in Italy, where his affectionate and equally devoted mother also breathed her last. The worthy couple had eight children: Nicholas, deceased; Antonio; Giobatta, the subject of this story; Rosie, Angelo, Louisa and Mary are dead; and Anna.
Reared in Italy, and educated in her public schools, Giobatta, on the 20th of September, 1888, arrived in San Francisco, where he secured work in a fish market. He could not stand the dampness, however, and after three months took up vegetable garden work for two years. He then spent one summer at Ventura, and having returned to the north, he put in four months in a hotel at San Rafael. He then secured a job with the Pacheco-Gray Tankhouse Company, and for the following three and one-half years worked for them. After that he was employed in a lumber yard, between Fourth and Fifth streets, in San Francisco.
In 1904, he bought twenty acres of stubblefield, but soon sold one-half of it, setting out the other ten acres as an orchard and vineyard, and then built a home upon it. A few years later he purchased a neighboring ten acres, on the north, which had already been set out as an orchard, and for two years he managed these twenty acres for himself. He then leased the ranch and ran a vegetable and fruit wagon to Waterford, Knights Ferry, Turlock and Jamestown, his object being to help pay for his farm.
After that, he made a trip to Toronto, Canada, where he spent three months, when he returned to Italy and spent some time in a delightful visit to his home and native district, and among kinsfolk and friends. Coming back to San Francisco in 1908, he was married on November 29 to Miss Katherine Roggio, a native of Chiavari, Italy, and the daughter of Guiseppe and Angela Roggio, a very worthy couple still living in Italy, who had five children, the eldest being Guiseppe, the next youngest, Alfred, who was killed in the late World War, in brave action on the battlefield, and Angela, Christina, and Katherine, the devoted wife of our subject. Two children have blessed this union, Rita and Norma. Mr. and Mrs. Canessa have a comfortable home, where they extend a welcome to all who come their way; and as an industrious, thrifty and public-spirited couple, they afford a fine example of the native of Europe who frequently adds much, in wealth of one kind or another, on settling here and electing to become an American citizen.
History of
SAN JOAQUIN 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
HISTORY BY
George H. Tinkham
HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1923
San Joaquin County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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