Alameda
County
Biographies
JOSEPH
B. MENDONCA
Since locating in California
Joseph B. Mendonca has achieved a success which
numbers him among the representative ranchers of Alameda county.
He was born at Fayal, in the Azores Islands, February 14, 1848, a son of Joseph
B. and Louisa (Gulart) Mendonca,
natives of the same place, where they spent their entire lives. They were the
parents of three children, one son and two daughters, of whom Joseph B. Mendonca was the oldest. During his boyhood days he
attended school. His father being a farmer, he was trained to that occupation.
In 1868, being favorably impressed by the opportunities presented by the
western world, he came to California, sailing from his native land on the 5th
of July and arriving in San Francisco on the 25th of August. He came
at once to Alameda county and engaged on a farm, where
he continued until 1873, when he had accumulated sufficient money to justify an
independent venture along agricultural lines. About that time he rented and
leased one thousand acres in the foothills, and for three years was located
upon the same, when, in 1876, he bought his present property, the original
purchase being but thirty acres. From time to time as his ability increased he
made purchases of land, and today owns two hundred acres in his home ranch,
several orchards in San Leandro and fifteen and a half acres in Castro valley. In addition to the two hundred acres which he
devotes to grain and vegetables, he rents a like number of acres and carries on
extensive farming operations. He has met with success and is accounted one of
the progressive farmers of this section.
In San Francisco, June 4, 1876, Mr. Mendonca married Elizabeth McLaughlin, who was born at
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., March 26, 1860. She came to
California with her parents when a young girl. They are the parents of three
children, of whom George and Richard are at home, and Mary is the wife of J. R.
Lewis, a drug clerk of San Francisco. Fraternally he is associated with the U.
P. E. C., and belongs to the Catholic church. He is a
Republican politically, and in the interests of his party has served as school
director for six years. Mr. Mendonca was one of the
organizers of the San Leandro Bank, of which he is now a director, and is also
a stockholder in the Alameda Realty Company of Oakland. All movements tending
to develop his home county have the support and encouragement of Mr. Mendonca.
Transcribed by: Cecelia M. Setty.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 617-618. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Cecelia M. Setty.
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