San Joaquin County Biographies
Ref: Page 1481
Transcribed by: Linda Diane Jackson 4/6/2010
WALTER E. MAESTRETTI
Among the younger generation of ranchers of the Elliott district is Walter E. Maestretti, who is making a decided success of his agricultural activities. He is a Californian by birth, born at San Francisco on December 3, 1890, a son of Emilio and Media Frances (Orr) Maestretti, the former a native of Canton Ticino, Switzerland, and the latter of San Francisco, Cal. The father, Emilio Maestretti, was born in 1863 and when sixteen years of age came to California and began work as a sheepherder; later he went into the sheep business for himself. In 1893 the father bought 160 acres at Clay Station, Sacramento County, and engaged in general farming, specializing in the raising of turkeys on a large scale. Emilio Maestretti married Media Frances Orr, a daughter of Andrew Younger Orr, a native of Scotland, who came around the Horn as a sailor with Captain Sir Herbert Austin. Landing in San Francisco, he immediately went to the mines at Camp Seco; later when he returned to New York he enlisted and served in the 142nd New York Volunteer Infantry, and being a baker by trade he followed it throughout the Civil War. They are the parents of seven children: Walter E., the subject of this sketch; Emma; Andrew, born at Clay Station July 1, 1895; George resides in Sacramento; Josie is the wife of Andrew Aldrich; Alfred, living in Sacramento; and Wesley.
The education of Walter E. Maestretti was obtained in the district school near Clay Station and when he was twenty-two years old he left home and settled in the Elliott section of San Joaquin County, where in partnership with his brother Andrew, he farms a 144-acre tract of land. Besides their farming activities, they own a Holt seventy-five-horsepower tractor, a Holt harvesting outfit, and a full line of grain farming implements and are kept busy a great portion of the time doing tractor contract work throughout the county.
Mr. Maestretti entered the service of his country during the World War in December of 1917, and was sent to Camp Lewis and placed in the Ninety-first Division, Fifth Battalion, Company Fifteen of the One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Depot Brigade, but on account of illness was unable to leave Camp Lewis and in January of 1918 was discharged from the service and returned to his home in Elliott.
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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