Sierra
County
Biographies
JOHN COSTA
John, Costa, one of Sierra county’s
most prominent and successful citizens, now practically retired from business
pursuits, is numbered among those who have in a very definite way contributed
to the general progress and advancement of the community, and he has well
earned the leisure which he is now able to enjoy. He was born in Genoa, Italy, on the 18th
of November, 1856, and is a son of Antone and Annie (Bachigalupi)
Costa, both of whom were also natives of that city, where they were reared and
married. In the ‘50s the father joined
the gold rush to California, and soon afterward sent back to Italy for his wife
and two sons, who joined him at Downieville, Sierra County. There he soon bought out a squatter’s right
to a farm near Downieville, where he engaged in farming and dairying. To him and his wife were born the following
children: Michael Adam, who was born in
Italy and now resides on a ranch near Downieville; John, of this review;
August, who was born in Downieville, Antone, a merchant in Downieville;
Charles, who died at the age of eighteen months; Mary, who also died when
eighteen months old; and Louisa, who was married at Nevada City, California, to
Joseph Penozzi, a rancher near Nevada City.
John Costa was reared on his
father’s farm and received his education in one of the first public schools
established in Downieville, the building having been erected in the ‘50s. Recently Mr. Costa bought this old building
and grounds. He tore down the building
for the sake of the old lumber and timber, and by a curious coincidence found
among the wreckage the original bill for the lumber used in the building. When a young man Mr. Costa
went to work for the late Louis Byington, who was at that time a prominent
member of the state legislature.
He was employed in Mr. Byington’s meat market
in Downieville, in which he learned the butcher’s trade. Sometime later he and his elder brother,
Michael A., bought the Berg meat market and thereafter conducted it under the
name of Costa Brothers for twenty-two years.
The business prospered, due to the close attention and careful
management of the proprietors, and later they expanded the scope of their
operations, buying out the St. Charles Hotel and Annex, and also a hardware
store. Later, John Costa also bought out
the Gold Bluff mine, which he afterward sold to John Rosenfelt’s
Sons to good advantage. He also became
the owner of the famous Monte Cristo gold mine, with its twenty-four mining
claims, which he still owns. Upon the
dissolution of the firm of Costa Brothers, Michael retained the St. Charles
Hotel property at Downieville, which he operated successfully until 1906, when
he sold it to the present owner, A. Lavezzola.
During the subsequent years Mr. Costa has had many and varied interests
and, in the main, has been successful in his undertakings. Among his other interests, he went to Nevada
and invested in the Washoe Power & Development Company, which proved a profitable
venture. When the gold discoveries at
Tonopah and Goldfield were made, he bought the Goldfield Extension Power
claims, which he also sold at a good profit.
In association with Frank Humphreys, the cattle king of the Sierra
Valley, he established the Tonopah & Goldfield and for several years did a
very extensive business. Of this he
recently disposed, retiring to his beautiful mountain home at Downieville, overlooking the Yuba River.
He still retains the Excelsior and Monte Cristo mining properties, which
he may re-open in the near future. He
also owns stock in several very substantial public utility corporations and has
given his support to various enterprises which have contributed to the
commercial prosperity of Downieville and Sierra County. Mr. Costa was formerly identified with the various
transportation lines of this locality, having operated the stage line between
Downieville and Sierra City for many years in association with the late Henry Guemion, of Nevada City, and also the stage line between
Sattley and Sierra City. For several
years he conducted the Sierra City Hotel at Sierra City.
On April 29, 1889, in Downieville,
Mr. Costa was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Campbell, of Moorestown,
Sierra County, a daughter of David and Margaret Campbell. Her father was actively connected with
hydraulic gold mining in this county in former days. Mr. and Mrs. Costa are the parents of two
daughters, as follows: Genevieve, who is
the wife of Stanley J. Smith, a lawyer in Oakland, California, and the mother
of three children, Stanley, Allen, and Margaret, the latter being a senior in
the University of California; and Mrs. Emma Folsom, of Oakland, whose son John
is a graduate of the University high school at Berkeley.
Mr. Costa has ever shown a good
citizen’s interest in matters affecting the general welfare, having served a
number of times on the grand jury, and twice on trial juries. He gives his political allegiance to the
Republican Party and fraternally is affiliated with the Masonic order, belonging
to Osage Lodge, No. 18, F. & A. M., at Downieville.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3 Pages 359-361. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Sierra County Biographies