Santa
Clara County
Biographies
ANDREA MALOVOS
The name which heads this review is one well
known throughout Santa Clara county as that of one of
its old settlers, an enterprising, progressive and up-to-date farmer, a
public-spirited citizen, and a prominent factor in the development of resources
in this section of the state of California. The Lighthouse Farm, which was
incorporated January 29, 1900, capitalization, $100,000, was the outgrowth of
his energy and ambitions. This consists of three hundred and eighty-one acres,
situated in the Midway School District, lying half a mile east of the San Jose
and Alviso road, about five and a half miles north of San Jose, and three and a
half south of Alviso. Much of this large
ranch is devoted to the cultivation of various fruits, one hundred and forty
acres furnishing peaches, cherries, prunes, plums, apricots, apples, pears and
quinces; sixty acres in asparagus, and the remainder in hay and grain.
Stock-raising is also engaged in to some extent. The ranch is splendidly
equipped in every way for carrying on the work, being well supplied with water
from five artesian wells and a steam pumping plant with a capacity of from
fifteen hundred to two thousand gallons per minute. The buildings upon the
ranch are of the most modern type, a beautiful and commodious dwelling, bars,
outhouses, etc., while the grounds have been made to respond to the wonderful
capabilities of California soil and climate.
Born in Giupana,
Dalmatia, Austria, October 18, 1845, Mr. Malovos was
the son of Pietro and Margerita
(Gassivda) Malovos, both
natives and residents of the place of his birth. Until he was fourteen years
old he remained upon his father’s farm acquiring a good education in the
schools of his native country. He then entered the marine service, following a
seafaring life until 1862. Locating in that year at Matamoras, Mexico, at the
mouth of the Rio Grande river, he engaged in
lightening stores from vessels lying off the mouth of the river to the
landings. He found the work very profitable, as this was a neutral port in the
time of Maximilian’s occupation of Mexico and the Civil war. From the small and
modest beginning of one schooner his business increased to such an extent that
he was soon handling five, himself commanding the largest in size. Heavy losses
accrued to him through the close of the Civil war and the restoration of peace
in Mexico, after which, in 1868, he came to California, arriving in San
Francisco April 8 of that year. He came directly to Santa Clara county and spent the first two years in various pursuits,
after which he became interested in the cultivation of the ranch which
evidenced his ability, energy and perseverance.
In 1870 Mr. Malovos
was united in marriage with Mrs. Maria Gudicci, a
daughter of Domingo and Magdalena Alviso. She is the mother of eight children
now living, namely: Michael Gudicci, of her first
marriage; Peter; Marcus Francis; Andrea J., Jr.; John; Fred; Magdalena,
deceased; Margerita, deceased; Catherine and Delfina. The death of Mr. Malovos
occurred in 1899.
The eldest son, Michael Gudicci, is the manager of the agricultural department of
the Lighthouse Farm, with Peter as assistant manager; Marcus Francis is the
secretary and treasurer of the corporation and practically superintends the
business, managing all financial matters pertaining to the large concern. They
employ as many as one hundred men during the picking season and about the same
number of women during the cutting season. The business is one of the very
largest in Santa Clara county and is constantly
growing and improving. It has been prosperous, owing to the wise management of
the Malovos brothers, who have followed closely in
their father’s footsteps and have proved themselves worthy descendants of a
practical and progressive parent. Too much praise can not be given this
progressive family, who made a practically worthless tract of land one of the
most valuable properties in the state and county and made it to blossom as the
rose.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1259-1260. The
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.