Amador
County
Biographies
ANTHONY LEVAGGI
One
of Amador county’s best known business men is Anthony (“Tony”) Levaggi, who has
conducted a general mercantile enterprise at Plymouth for a number of years,
but is now devoting his attention largely to the management of the Levaggi
estate. He was born in San Francisco, California,
August 16, 1881, and is a son of Bernardo and Mary (Craviotto) Levaggi. The father came around the Horn to California
in an early day, stopping for awhile in San Francisco, and then joined the rush
to the mines. Locating in the volcano section,
he mined from 1862 until 1874, when he returned to San Francisco and engaged in
the restaurant business. Subsequently,
in the interests of the health of one of his children, he came to Plymouth and
here opened a small restaurant. In 1879
he started a general mercantile business on a modest scale, but this proved a
successful venture and in the course of time it became one of the most
important business enterprises in this section of the valley. He also accumulated considerable property in
San Francisco and was well known throughout the Bay district. He continued his active interest in the
mercantile business to the time of his death, which occurred in June,
1929. The mother arrived in California
in girlhood and here met and became the wife of Bernardo Levaggi. They had three sons and three daughters. The oldest son, Jules, became well known in
the Bay district as an importer, building up a large and important
business. His death occurred March 15,
1927. Another son, James, who resides in
San Francisco, handles the Bay district portion of the family estate.
Anthony
Levaggi received his education in the public schools
of his home community, after which he pursued a commercial course in a business
college. When a youth of seventeen
years, he took charge of a branch store of his father’s at West Point, his
brother Jules having charge of the business at Plymouth. In 1907 the latter went to San Francisco to
engage in mercantile business and Anthony took charge of the business in
Plymouth, to which he has devoted his attention until recently, when he assumed
management of the estate but has retired from the mercantile business, which is
under separate management.
Mr.
Levaggi was united in marriage to Miss Elvera Garibaldi, a member of an old
family of Amador City. They are the
parents of a son, Jules Anthony. Mr.
Levaggi supports the Republican Party and maintains a keen interest in
everything that concerns the material or civic welfare of his community. He is essentially a home man, though his
business demands some of his time in the Bay district, where the family has
extensive property interests. He is a
man of excellent business judgment and his record has gained for him the
genuine respect of all who know him.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3, Pages 239-240. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Amador County Biographies