San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CHESTER GALGANI
A native son of California
who has been identified in a practical and successful manner with agricultural
pursuits for many years, is Chester Galgani, located on a seventeen-acre ranch
on the Lodi-Lockeford road two miles east of Lodi. He was born in Sacramento, California, on July
2, 1883, a son of Peter A. and Mary (Ferretti) Galgani, the former a native of the province of Lucca,
Italy, and the mother of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When the father, Peter A. Galgani, was about
twenty years of age he settled at Sacramento, California, where he engaged in
the merchandise business; he also tried his hand at farming for a short time in
the county. Chester Galgani is one of a
family of six children, as follows:
Clara is Mrs. Albert Burbridge of San Pedro,
California; Alba is Mrs. T. O. Daly of San Francisco; Ella is Mrs. Holmberg of
San Pedro; Chester is the subject of this sketch; Louis is a marine engineer on
the S. S. Santa Barbara; Patrick is deceased.
The father passed away at the age of forty-seven years, the mother is
still living at the age of sixty-five and resides in Los Angeles. The mother was married the second time to
Harry Sexton, a native of Ireland, and they are the parents of one daughter,
Shirley, now Mrs. Laurendeau of Santa Monica.
Chester Galgani obtained his education
in the grammar schools of Sacramento and Watsonville and when he was sixteen
years old was thrown on his own resources; he first worked on the docks at Port
Los Angeles; then worked as fireman for one year on a coastwise vessel; then
for three years in his old position on the docks at Port Los Angeles; then we
find him at San Pedro where he worked for five years as a teamster. About this time he homesteaded eighty acres
in the Santa Monica hills which he proved up on and still owns and today it is
very valuable land. He next was employed
by the Santa Monica Park Company as a forest ranger, which occupied him for the
next five years. During this time he was
also a deputy sheriff of Los Angeles County, a state fire warden and a special
Los Angeles policeman.
The marriage of Mr. Galgani occurred
at Santa Monica on July 4, 1909, and united him with Miss Edna A. Matteoni, a native of San Diego, California, a daughter of Attillio and Josephine (Ferretti)
Matteoni, who were farmers on the rich island lands
of Sacramento County; later the father ran a hotel in Stockton until he
purchased his ranch near Lodi. On
December 18, 1917, they removed to Lodi and Mr. Galgani took charge of the Matteoni ranch of 17-1/2 acres on the Lodi-Lockeford Road;
fourteen acres of which is in vineyard and the balance in cherries with ample
space left for a house and outbuildings.
They are the parents of three children, Gladys, Harry and Gemma, deceased.
Mr. Galgani is proud of the service
that his brothers rendered to their country during the World War. Patrick A. enlisted about two weeks after war
was declared and became a member of the Grizzlies and was first sent to Camp Tanforan, then to Camp Kearny where he was in a special
allotment that was immediately sent overseas.
He worked at bridge construction work and just before the armistice he
was severely gassed and was sent back to New York, where he died shortly after
arriving on home soil. Louis Galgani
joined the Naval Reserves and was put on the cruiser St. Louis and remained for
26 months. He entered the service as a
second class fireman and was promoted to first class fireman and later to first
class engineer; later he received his certificate as a first class engineer and
he is now a marine engineer on the Santa Barbara. Mr. Galgani is a Republican in politics and
fraternally is a member of the K. of C. of Lodi.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1634-1635. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases