Among the early day families of the Pocket area was the Rodgers – later Rogers – family, whose history in the area dates back to 1865.

It was during that year that Albert, Joseph and John Mendes immigrated to the United States from the island of Pico in the Azores Islands of Portugal and made their way to the Pocket area.

Names changed

Upon their arrival in America, two of these brothers had their surnames changed, with Albert becoming Albert Rodgers, and John becoming John Potter. Joseph, however, continued to use his birth-given last name.

After making their way to the Pocket area, the brothers began working as laborers, most likely on local ranches, with their goal to accumulate sufficient money to buy their own property.

The Albert Rodgers family

In 1880, Albert, after purchasing his own property and establishing his own ranch in the Pocket area, married 16-year-old Rose Gear, who was born in the Azorean island of Terceira.

Since Rose Gear – a name obtained from descendents of the Albert Rodgers family – is not a Portuguese name, this name was possibly derived from the Portuguese name, Rosa Agear.

Together, Albert and Rose had the following children: Emma (1883-1889), Albert, Jr. (1885-1977), Willie (1887-1898), Mary (1889-1890), Emma (1892-1920), Margaret (1893-1978) and twins Frank (1896-1980) and George (1896-1984). The couple had two Emmas, as it was a common practice to reuse the name of a child, who had died at a very young age, when the next child of the same gender was later born.

Spelling change to ‘Rogers’

Albert Rodgers, Jr. was the only member of his family to continue using the original spelling of his family’s surname. Otherwise, the spelling of this surname was eventually changed to “Rogers.”

The Rodgers children were raised on the family’s 18-acre ranch, which was located where today’s Park Rivera Way intersects with Pocket Road.

All of the children of Albert and Rose attended the original, converted barn Lower Lisbon School in the lower Pocket area.

The old school was washed away in the area’s 1904 flood and the lumber from this school was hauled by horses and wagons to the Rodgers ranch. With this wood, a shed-type building was constructed for a temporary school until the new Lower Lisbon School was built.

The Rodgers also owned an additional 11 acres on the opposite side of the then-Riverside Road.

The 1908 Sacramento County Reclamation District 673 surveyors map clearly distinguishes this parcel, which extended from the levee across the old Riverside Road to not far from today’s Florin Road.

Albert passed away when he was 74 years old in 1923 and Rose died when she 41 years old in 1905.

Ranch land divided

Following Albert’s death, seven acres of his property remained in the family, as this land was divided amongst his children.

Frank had one acre, bordering Riverside Road to the west on the levee side of the property, and George built his home on the adjoining acre on the opposite side of the parcel.

Furthermore, Margaret kept four acres, which included the old home.

The other, seventh acre was located across the old Riverside Road, which was then considered a “wagon road,” and became the property of Manuel “Parola” Perry, Sr. The Perry home was situated on the opposite side of the road from the Frank Rogers parcel.

Rogers descendants

Margaret, who was married on two separate occasions, was first married to Manuel Lee and then to Tony Machado.

The children of Manuel and Margaret, in order of birth, were: Laverne, Agnes, Gertrude and Dorothy.

Margaret and her second husband, Tony, did not have any children together.

The second-born Emma of Albert and Rose married Joseph Souza, who was known by the nickname of “Joe Bonnie.”

Joe Bonnie’s ranch was located south of the town of Clarksburg, where Joe Bonnie and the second Emma resided.

In a ceremony held on Dec. 16, 1916 at St. Joseph Church in Freeport (now Clarksburg), George married Anna “Annie” Fagundes, who was born on Oct. 6, 1897.

Mildred Rogers, who was born on May 17, 1919 and died on July 30, 1941, was George and Anna’s only child.

George’s employment included fishing commercially for catfish at the old brickyard – present day Lake Greenhaven – to Clarksburg.

Additionally, George owned a trucking business, which included three trucks that hauled produce for the Libby, McNeill & Libby cannery from 1930 to 1950.

George, who passed away on May 15, 1984, also was a Pocket/Riverside school bus driver and a driver for the American Crystal Sugar Co. in Clarksburg. He worked for American Crystal for nine seasons, upon which time he retired in 1961.

Like his brother George, Frank established his own family. He married Mary Agnes Silva (1900-1971), the daughter of Antone L. and Maria Silva of the Pocket, on Nov. 12, 1917.

This union produced two daughters, Lorraine, who married Joseph Lester Valine, and Aileen, who married Richard Cabral.

Many locals are familiar with Joseph and Lorraine Valine’s son, Roger Valine, who served as the chief executive officer of Vision Service Plan, which was recognized as the nation’s largest eye care wellness benefits provider.

Establishing his own long employment career, Frank, after marrying Mary Agnes, began a trucking business that included six trucks. These trucks were used to haul hay and produce.

Frank purchased a 43-acre ranch, adjacent to and north of the John M. “Joao Maria” Silva ranch, where he planted asparagus and later sugar beets, tomatoes and alfalfa.

Unfortunately mixed in with Frank’s many positive moments in life was his serious hunting accident near the Sacramento River .

During a July 1979 interview with two of his family members, Frank described the accident, as follows: “I rowed the boat across the river and I couldn’t get it to the right place where there was a path and the wind (pushed him farther down river than desired)…and I tied (the boat) up. And I was climbing up where it was kind of a tough place to go. And I was going up the levee and I had the barrel of the gun like this (he took the microphone and showed it pointing upward) in my hand, going up the levee. And the gun happened to slip and I went and I grabbed the gun and grabbed it at the point of the barrel. At that time, both of my feet slipped and I leaned on the gun (and when) I leaned on the gun, it went off.”

Although Frank injured his left hand, he was nonetheless able to mostly overcome this handicap and lead a relatively normal life.

Frank’s 43-acre ranch was part of the historic McGee Ranch. This ranch was first sold to Anna Leonora Garcia Pimentel and then later purchased by Joe Sarmento and Frank “Capitao” (“Captain”) Perry.

Frank Rogers eventually purchased the property in an auction after the property went into foreclosure.

During the late 1960s, Frank sold his property to a real estate firm for development.

The real estate firm later sold a portion of this acreage to the city of Sacramento for the purpose of creating Garcia Bend Park and its boat launch ramp.

Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two-part history series regarding Manuel Silva Nevis and his local wineries.

Historically, one of the industries that stands out in the Sacramento area is wine manufacturing. Among the city’s wine manufacturing businesses were the Eagle, California and Pioneer wineries, which were associated with Manuel Silva Nevis.

The Eagle Winery

At the age of 33, Nevis became the first proprietor of the Eagle Winery, which opened in 1881. Nevis was an immigrant from the island of Pico in the Azores Islands of Portugal. He lived in the town of Freeport in the historic postal area of today’s Clarksburg in Yolo County. He resided at 1830 21st St. during the latter part of his life.

The Eagle Winery was established on the south half of the block bounded by 18th, 19th, O and P streets.

According to the Portuguese Historical and Cultural Society, many Portuguese people who were residing in the Pocket area during this era made their own wine for general consumption.

Festa wine demands

But when it came to needing large lots of wine for the Holy Ghost Festas at the original St. Joseph Church on the Freeport/Clarksburg side of the river, they relied on wine from Sacramento – including wine produced at the Eagle Winery.

The main structure of the winery was a two-story, 66-foot by 120-foot, brick building with a corrugated iron roof and a basement. It was built by Nova Scotia native Nicholas Harvie, a notable local carpenter and contractor, at a cost of $9,000.

A Harvie-built sherry room with brick floors, concrete ceilings and walls and steam pipes throughout was located to the south of the main building.

Enter the father-in-law

Nevis’ father-in-law, Joseph S. Miller financed the construction of the winery. Miller was reputed to be the first Portuguese person to settle in the Freeport/Clarksburg area.

Miller was born Joseph Souza Nevis in São Jorge in the Azores Islands. He acquired the surname, Mello, when he was bonded to a John or Antonio Mello at the age of 13. Later, he changed it to Miller.

Like many immigrants in 1849, Miller heard news about the California Gold Rush, purchased mining equipment and headed out in search of riches.

This endeavor proved to be unsuccessful, but his early time in California led to other Portuguese, including members of his family, joining him in the Golden State. Among these Portuguese people were some of the earliest residents of the Pocket area.

Miller was a prominent landowner in the Freeport area and was a member of the Sacramento Society of California Pioneers – those who arrived in California prior to 1850. The society also included James W. Marshall, who is recognized for discovering the gold that led to the great California Gold Rush, James McClatchy, the second editor of The Sacramento Bee, and James Lansing, a former Sacramento chief of police, sheriff and county assessor.

Miller married an Italian immigrant, Josephine Therese Paravagna, who gave birth to Manuel Silva Nevis’ wife, Emma Nevis, on Aug. 3, 1865.

Desirable wine, brandy

During Nevis’ second year of operating the Eagle Winery, he placed an advertisement in The Sacramento Union, which noted that his winery had acquired “a very enviable reputation” and that his product was increasingly in demand.

The advertisement also described the winery as having various brands of wine and grape brandy that were offered at prices that would “defy competition.” Furthermore, the winery offered free deliveries to customers in any part of the city.

Failed expansion

The success of the Eagle Winery, which used wine grapes from Sacramento, Yolo and El Dorado counties, led to the June 5, 1884 establishment of a branch of the business at 420 J St.

An advertisement published in The Union regarding the opening of the branch noted that “Mr. Nevis’ knowledge and experience in the making of wine, in both this and other countries, places him in possession of advantages enjoyed by but few men engaged in the wine industries of California.”

To the disappointment of Nevis, the branch closed about five weeks later, because he felt a need to devote his working time exclusively to his main winery site.

State Fair recognition

The following year, the winery, which at the time offered port, sherry, white wine, Riesling, claret, zinfandel, Angelica and grape brandy, achieved additional notoriety when it was awarded a State Fair gold medal for “Best Display of Wines.”

Enter the cousins

Nevis remained the sole owner of the business until 1888, at which time he sold a two-thirds interest in the winery to his cousins, Manuel Joaquim Azevedo and Joaquim Leal Azevedo, who were immigrants from the Azores island of Faial.

Both Azevedo cousins arrived in the United States in the 1850s.

Manuel, after sailing as part of a whaling fleet out of Boston for two years, mined for gold for five years in Butte County. Through his success in mining, he was able to purchase property in Freeport – where he would eventually farm for 12 years.

Joaquim arrived in the Sacramento area in 1852. He also farmed in Freeport.

The Azevedos returned to Portugal, but made their way back to America to engage in the wine making business in the Sacramento area.

Azevedo-owned

Shortly after becoming the majority owners of the Eagle Winery, the Azevedos purchased Nevis’ one-third share of the business in 1889. At that time, about 20 different kinds of wines were manufactured at the winery.

Self-made success

According to the Aug. 20, 1888 edition of The Union, Manuel Silva Nevis, in the time since he established the Eagle Winery “without a cent in his pocket,” earned $200,000 through the winery and increased his business’s annual wine production from 35,000 gallons in its first year to 150,000 gallons in 1887.

Back in the 1920s, the Pocket area was a much different place than it is today, as the area consisted of many ranches that were mostly operated by Portuguese farmers. Also among the workers of the area was Faustino Silva, who was well known for his slaughterhouse.

Faustino, who was born Faustino Da Silva in the island of Pico in the Azores Islands of Portugal on Oct. 10, 1900, arrived in the United States when he was 19 years old.

After traveling to Sacramento by train, Faustino first resided with one of his three sisters in the old “Arizona” area of Sacramento at 4th and T streets.

Faustino obtained his first employment in California working as a farmhand on the Joe J. (Nordeste) Machado ranch in the Natomas area, just north of Sacramento.

Following his time on the Machado ranch, Faustino began working at the River Lines, Humphrey Vineyards in Perkins, just east of Sacramento.

In 1924, Faustino, like many locals of the time, became an employee at the Southern Pacific shops in Sacramento.

After becoming established at the shops, Faustino married Sacramento native Mary Jessie Marks, the daughter of Pico natives Antone and Mary (Azevedo Vieira) Marks, on Nov. 7, 1925.

While living at their 4th and T streets residence, Faustino and Mary Jessie had their first child, Marie.

In 1927, Faustino moved with Mary Jessie and Marie to the Pocket area, so that Faustino could establish a slaughterhouse business and have a house constructed for his family.

The house that was built on the family’s property was located at the edge of Riverside Road.

When the family moved to their property, which was located on about a five-acre parcel, near the northern intersection of today’s Riverside Boulevard and Park Riviera Way, the property already included an old slaughterhouse that was formerly owned by Jerry Jaksich, Sr. Jacksich was also known for his position as part-owner of the Belevedere Meat Market at 330 S St.

In addition to his duties at his slaughterhouse, Faustino attended cattle auctions and also purchased animals from local ranches and dairies. He also slaughtered dairy cows and calves for veal.

Employed full-time by Faustino at his slaughterhouse were his main deliveryman, Arthur Neves, Arthur’s brother, John Neves, Frank “Cap” Perry and Melvin (“Garsha”) Garcia.

Part-time slaughterhouse workers were: Clarence Nevis, Marvin Silveira, Marvin’s brother, Alvin Silveira, and Folsom area resident Joe Azevedo.

Another one of Faustino’s workers was Manuel “Tiranha” Martin, who would purchase cattle that would be delivered to the slaughterhouse.

Among Faustino’s largest customers were the local Stop-N-Shop markets, which were owned by the Kassis brothers.

Part of Faustino’s profits outside of the sale of beef was his sale of hides and “offalls” – the name used for organs.

Although some people at the time believed that Faustino raised dairy cows, his entire interest was in raising beef cattle.

As Faustino acquired more beef cattle, he realized his need for additional pastureland, as he purchased an additional 2.5 acres near the northern boundary of his Pocket area property.

Faustino, who generally wore an off-white Stetson hat, purchased the property from A.S. Sebego, who was commonly known by Portugese people of the area as “Saboogs.”

With his desire to expand his pastureland for his cattle, Faustino purchased 43.91 acres from brothers Joe C. and Manuel C. Nevis in about 1939. This property, which later included Faustino’s new home, was located from the Sacramento River levee, southeasterly, to Riverside Road.

While residing in the Pocket area, the Silva family grew to include four more children, Faustine, Elsie, Robert and Gary.

Elsie, who lives in the Sacramento County town of Herald, which is located about 29 miles south of Sacramento, recalled the enjoyment she had while observing her father work in his slaughterhouse.

“I remember as a very young girl going back to the slaughterhouse and sitting in a safe place watching my dad for hours split beef with a huge cleaver,” Elsie said. “This was before he had an electric saw. Doing this all day gave him great muscular arms and shoulders.”

Elsie added that watching her father work was her own way of finding additional moments to be in his presence, since she otherwise did not spend as much time with him as she had desired.

Concentrating his interests in acquiring more cattle and pastureland, Faustino closed his slaughterhouse business in 1948.

The last parcel of land that Faustino purchased in the Pocket area was further around the present day Pocket Road.

During his time residing in the Pocket area, Faustino added to his notoriety as a pillar of the community by donating beef to the Riverside AADES for its Holy Ghost Festa dinner at Portuguese Hall, located at the beginning of today’s Pocket Road.

In addition to supplying beef for the event, Faustino worked with his close friend, Antone Dutra, to cut and prepare the meat for its all-day cooking.

Faustino, who was very admired for his friendly nature, generosity and long hours of physically hard work, also donated beef for the Freeport Festa and later to the Elk Grove Festa.

With a desire to further expand his cattle-raising business, Faustino purchased additional property for pasturing in the Yolo Bypass area, Sutterville/Land Park area, Meadowview-Freeport area and the Sloughhouse area.

Faustino also obtained his largest land acquisitions in El Dorado Hills and Herald. These properties each consisted of thousands of acres.

So great was Faustino’s name in the El Dorado Hills area that a street, Silva Valley Parkway, was named after him, and off of Silva Valley Parkway, an extensive elementary school in the posh Serrano community was named Silva Valley Elementary School.

Making this tribute even more impressive is the fact that Faustino owned his El Dorado Hills property for no more than five years, yet he was nonetheless able to make an extremely strong impression in the area.

But tributes to Faustino are not exclusive to El Dorado Hills, as a modern day street, which is known as Faustino Way, in the Pocket area on the site of the old Nevis brothers’ ranch, which he acquired, is named in his honor.

Although Faustino passed away at the age of 79 on Nov. 2, 1979, his legacy remains strong in the Pocket area and beyond.

lance@valcomnews.com

Rich heritage

This person is Sacramento native Gail Fernandez Jones, who has a very rich family history in the Pocket, Greenhaven, South Land Park, Hollywood Park and Tahoe Park areas.

Jones, 59, who worked as a dance teacher before beginning a career as an elementary school teacher in the Pocket and Meadowview areas, explained that her drive to preserve her family’s history began as a result of a personal illness that caused her to follow new directions in her life.

“Due to the illness, I had to retire early and I needed something to do, so I decided to research and write my family’s history,” Jones said. “It was something that I always wanted to do. I figured that if I didn’t do it, nobody else would do it and the history would be lost for future generations.”

Motivating factors

In addition to her illness, Jones said that she was also motivated to write her family’s history upon the birth of her grandson.

“My grandson was born in 2002 and he was the original catalyst for my project to preserve the family history,” Jones said.

Unfortunately, due to Jones’ health issues, her motivation to gather information and write her family’s history was initially short-lived, as she almost entirely abandoned the project for more than eight years. But reinvigorated by improved health within the past year, she is back on track and working on writing her family’s history at a greater pace than at any time during her entire project.

With Jones’ deep, local roots, the value of her project is much more than a family history – it is also a notable part of the community’s history.

Portuguese heritage

Her grandfather, John Fernandez, who was born in the island of Pico in the Azores Islands of Portugal on Jan. 10, 1887, immigrated to the United States at the age of three with his parents, Manuel and Rose (Jacinto) Fernandez, and at least one of his sisters.

Jones said that John Fernandez had two sisters, Mary, who was born in the Azores Islands, and Rose, who was born in either the Azores Islands or the Greater Sacramento area.

El Dorado Hills aka. Clarksburg

Once arriving in America, the family made its way to the Clarksburg area, where they began a dairy farm.

Through her research, Jones discovered that her grandfather, who completed his education through the eighth grade, began an apprenticeship to learn the building trade, so that he could become a building contractor.

“My grandfather was a very dedicated man,” Jones said. “He asked some builder to take him on as an apprentice at no charge, so he could learn the trade. He then started his own company, Sierra Builders, during the Depression.”

Sierra Builders

John, who built one of the first cabins in the Strawberry tract along Highway 50 for himself during the 1940s, named his business Sierra Builders due to his love for the mountains.

Jones said that her grandfather began the business with no employees, but eventually took on his five sons – Ralph, Ray, Norman, Jack and Jim – as his employees.

Of these sons, Norman, Jack and Jim contributed the most time to the company, since Ralph began his own building company and Ray apparently died during World War II, as the plane he was flying over Russia went missing and was never found.

The earliest projects of Sierra Builders, which had a large office and lumber yard at 1716 26th St., was the construction of houses in Tahoe Park and the construction and development of sections of Hollywood Park.

One these Hollywood Park area projects, which included both residential and commercial developments, was an early Raley’s grocery store at 2390 Fruitridge Road.

The Raley’s project was part of a retail space that also included The Dance Center, which was owned by “Miss Pennie” Davies.

Jones said that she is quite familiar with this dance center, since she took lessons from Davies at this site and later returned to teach classes at the studio.

With the building boom that followed World War II, Norman, who was Jones’ father, founded the Norman Construction Co. in 1955 and began building custom houses. The majority of these houses were constructed in the South Land Park Hills area.

Greenhaven 70

After furthering his reputation as a quality builder, Norman, who married his accountant’s daughter, Betty Webb, in 1948, was invited to become one of the original 10 builders of Greenhaven 70, a development that was bordered by Riverside Boulevard and Greenhaven, Havenside and Gloria drives.

Jones, who moved from her home in Hollywood Park to South Land Park Hills in 1962, said that she also contributed to the Greenhaven 70 project by handing out brochures for open house events and decorating some of the homes with knickknacks from her own home and furniture from Gabe Silveira’s furniture store, G.L. Silveira Co., which was located at 2100 X St.

“The decorating really helped those home sell,” Jones recalled.

Jones said that one of the more interesting parts of the history of her family’s neighborhood developments was the naming of various local streets.

Street names

Among the more prominent of these street names are Johns Drive and Johnfer Way (a combination of John and Fernandez), which were named after Jones’ grandfather, Norman Way, which was named in honor of Jones’ father, and Jacks Lane and James Way, which were named in tribute to Jones’ uncles.

Other street names include: Trudy Way, which was named after the secretary of Sierra Builders, and Benham Way, a tribute to Ben Hammond, the insurance agent for Sierra Builders.

Although John passed away in 1966, his legacy in his longtime trade continues today through the local land developing company, Sierra-Fernandez.

Good advice

In pondering her project to preserve the history of her family, Jones said that she encourages others to write about their own family history.

“I encourage others to write their family histories,” Jones said. “Start talking to the people who are still alive right now. What I started with were dates and now what I’m really trying to get are anecdotes out of the people who are left. Gather stories, because if you don’t you’ll have nothing.”

lance@valcomnews.com

Among the many locals who have made notable marks during Sacramento’s 161-year history is, undoubtedly, the late Sacramento resident Gabriel “Gabe” Luiz Silveira.

Although many Sacramentans today are unfamiliar with this name, with this year marking 40 years since his passing, it is a good time to familiarize more people with this notable, local figure.

An immigrant of Santa Amaro, Pico in the Azores islands of Portugal, Gabe first came to Sacramento with his mother, Mariana, and his sisters, Marie and Gabriella, in about 1917 when he was about 10 years old.

Those most familiar with Gabe are quite aware of his lifelong love for entertaining others.

The early years

When he was 21 years old, Gabe began the first of his six years of composing music with another Portuguese immigrant, John Nunes.

It was also during this era that Gabe performed in leading roles and sang Portuguese songs in Portuguese language plays held for the benefit of the St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church.

The plays were originally held in the basement of the church at 1817 12th Street and later at the Tuesday Club House at 2722 L St., across from Sutter’s Fort.

During the late 1930s, Gabe, who married another Portuguese immigrant Gloria Peters (the anglicized version of the Portuguese name

 Pires) on Nov. 20, 1933 and had two children, Don and Diane, began hosting a program, called “Memories of Portugal,” on the local radio station, KROY 1210 AM. The program, which included live music by Gabe and other Portuguese musicians, was entirely presented in Portuguese.

The program run with KROY came to an end due to World War II, since all foreign language stations were discontinued during this time.

‘The Lost Gaucho’

KFBK picked up the program in an altered version, as the program, which continued for 16 years, became known as “The Lost Gaucho” and was presented in English and featured recorded versions of Latin music, including Portuguese songs.

Don said that many Latinos in Sacramento were very familiar with his father due to the program’s popularity with local Latinos during this era.

Gabe was also known for performing with his own bands at Sacramento venues, including the Hotel El Dorado – today’s Radisson Hotel – at 500 Leisure Lane, the Argentina Café at 610 J Street and the Trianon Ballroom at 910 K Street, above the Senator Theatre.

Gabe and his bands, one of which included his son on trumpet during the 1960s, also played across the Tower Bridge at venues on the old Davis Highway – now West Capitol Avenue in West Sacramento. These venues were the extremely popular El Rancho Hotel and Club Mocambo.

During this time, Tuesday evening dance exhibitions were presented at the El Rancho by the Arthur Murray Dance Studio of Sacramento.

Gabe’s bands provided Latin tempos on these evenings and on many occasions Gabe could be found on the dance floor.

While recently reminiscing about her father, Diane said, “My father was an outstanding dancer.”

Diane added that her father was a perfectionist in every activity in which he became involved and that he was a very motivated person, noting that h

e taught himself how to play music.

Furniture store owner

In addition to his notoriety in the local music world, Gabe was also well known as the owner of a furniture store, called G.L. Silveira Co., which he operated with Gloria.

After working during the mid-1930s as a delivery driver for the Dallman Supply Co., a plumbing, heating and engineering supplies and roofing materials business at 6th and Q streets, Gabe went to work at the household appliances and furniture business of George F. Lamb.

But after a dispute with Lamb, whose business was located at 1516 Del Paso Boulevard in North Sacramento, Gabe, who was Lamb’s top salesman, left the business in 1939 and established G.L. Silveira Co.

The opening of this business, which was located at the former site of Chris Pulon’s grocery store at 1616 Broadway, marked the beginnings of Gabe’s longtime notoriety as a furniture dealer.

Two years after opening his Broadway store, Gabe relocated the business to 2325 21st Street, where Joseph Gentner, a longtime Sacramento sausage maker and grocery store owner formerly resided.

Apparently, Gabe’s store did not immediately focus on furniture, considering that a 1941 Sacramento telephone book lists the business as specializing in electrical appliances.

The following year, however, the city directory lists G.L. Silveira Co. as one of Sacramento’s 22 retail furniture dealers.

Commenting about these listings, Don said that although his father always sold furniture from the time he opened the business, he believes that his father may have had more electrical appliances because he was still in the process of increasing his furniture inventory.

In 1947, Gabe had his own building constructed at 2100 X Street, across the street from Joseph Gentner’s Gentner’s Market. The market building, which included upstairs apartments, was located on the northeast corner of 21st and X streets, while the furniture store was located on the southeast corner.

A 1952 advertisement for Gabe’s business presents the store’s offerings at the time as follows: furniture, Frigidaire appliances, Occidental gas ranges, Youngstown dishwashers, Easy washing machines and Beauty Rest Sealy and Englander mattresses.

The store, which eventually sold drapery and carpets for many years, was also one of the city’s earliest television dealers, as the business exclusively offered Zenith television sets.

Although Gabe, who only had one grandchild, Valerie Cortopassi, passed away on July 22, 1970, Don continued to operate the furniture store until his retirement in 2002.

Today, the building is home to The Antique Company, dealers in an eclectic mix of antique, English imports, including a large selection of furniture.

Community patron

Always very active in the community, Gabe was involved in many affairs outside of his participation in local entertainment and operating his store.

These things include: assisting in efforts to sponsor the city’s first civic ballet (1946), serving as president of Sacramento’s Cabrillo Club No. 5 (1958) and the club’s state president (1961), assisting in the naming of Cabrillo Elementary School at 1141 Seamas Ave. (1958), serving as the chairman of Cabrillo Day at the State Fair (1958-1970) and running for a city council seat (1961).

As a Cabrillo Club representative, Gabe worked to have Portuguese taught in schools and dedicated many hours to an effort working with the governor’s office to proclaim Sept. 28 as “Cabrillo Day” in honor of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who sailed into San Diego Bay in 1542.

Knighted by Portugal

Among the many awards that Gabe received during his life was the Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique (Order of Prince Henry the Navigator) for his “undying devotion to the Portuguese-American community” in Sacramento. The honor is a Portuguese national order of knighthood.

Don described this award as being a “very prestigious” honor, adding that the award is the highest Portuguese award that one can receive without being a Portuguese citizen.

Although it has been four decades since his passing, Gabe leaves behind a very rich legacy – one that should be recognized and appreciated for many years to come.

The Riverside-Pocket area is certainly rich with history and among the earlier stories of this area is the history of the Frank Enos Service Station.

Opening in about 1921 on 3.7 acres of property purchased by Frank Enos, Jr. from Frank George on the levee side of Riverside Road (now Riverside Boulevard) near 35th Avenue, the business was the only service station between Y Street (today’s Broadway) and the town of Freeport.

In its early years, the service station was essential to many people in the area who had transitioned from horse and buggies and surreys to Model Ts and other early automobiles.

Like many people in the area at the time, Frank Enos was of Portuguese heritage, as his father, also Frank Enos, was born in Pico, Azores Islands, Portugal.

 

From slough to service station

Frank Enos, Jr. (who for the remainder of this story will simply be referred to as Frank) was born in 1872 on his father’s 27-acre ranch, adjacent to Babel Slough in Freeport in the area that is now known as Clarksburg.

Following the death of his father, Frank, along with his brother Joe, inherited his family’s ranch.

In about 1890, Joe purchased his brother’s portion of the ranch and the two brothers opened Enos Bros. Grocery on the northwest corner of 10th and O streets.

A few years later, Frank purchased Joe’s percentage of the business and moved the business to the northwest corner of 4th and L streets, where Macy’s department store is located today.

With this move, a bar was added to the business, which was renamed Frank Enos Grocery Store and Bar.

Occasionally during this era, other bars were also connected to grocery stores, including the Portuguese businesses, the Da Rosa grocery store on Riverside Road and the Souza grocery store on Freeport Road in the town of Freeport.

While operating his grocery store and bar in 1897, Frank married Philomena “Minnie” Brown, the daughter of prominent Freeport resident John Joaquim “King” Brown, who also had two sons – John, who was a guard at the Bank of Italy (later Bank of America) at 6th and K streets, and Manuel, who was the captain of the dredger, Argyle.

The newlyweds moved into their newly purchased home at 2419 L St., where they resided until they moved to Riverside in 1913.

It was in this year that Frank purchased the property where the service station was built and opened about eight years later.

The property also included the family’s new home – a small, white, two-story, c. 1910, wood-frame house.

The service station, which was referred to by many local residents as “Frank Enos’ gas station,” originally included three pumps, which provided regular and ethyl gasoline. The station was later downsized to include only two pumps.

In addition to offering gasoline, the station included large scales, which were used to weigh horse-drawn wagons and small trucks with loads of hay and produce that were shipped out on boxcars on Front Street, near today’s Sacramento History Museum in Old Sacramento.

 

People, property and petrol

Pocket native Dolores (Silva) Greenslate recalled a very early story relating to the Frank Enos Service Station.

“In about 1923, my father (Victor Silva), who at the time worked in dredging around Sutter Bypass raising the levels of the existing Sacramento River levees, upon leaving for work in the Riverside area, discovered his Model T Ford truck was low on gas,” Greenslate said. “Frank Enos’ gas station was not yet opened for morning business, so he pushed his little truck up Riverside Road to Y Street in order to buy gas from Ed Fortado’s gas station, which was the next closest station. It is hard to believe that he had the strength to push the truck over the Sutterville Road hill and still had strength enough to push it about another mile to Y Street. I knew he was very strong, but I didn’t know he was that strong.”

Greenslate said that Frank was a very kind man who would have gladly been awoken to assist her father to accommodate him on his way to work.

She added that her father, however, would not have wanted to inconvenience Frank at that predawn hour.

“My father was a very polite and classy man,” Greenslate said.

Greenslate further described Frank, referring to him as a “short, wiry man, who was mild-mannered and kind-hearted.”

Eventually, two of Frank’s three sons, Alfred and Louis “Louie” Enos, regularly assisted him with various service station duties, including pumping gas, changing oil and changing tubes in tires.

Louie later worked as a junior high school teacher, including his time at California Junior High School at 2991 Land Park Drive at Vallejo Way, where he was a substitute English teacher during the 1930s.

Ironically, Greenslate, who attended California Junior High School from 1935 to 1937, was one of Louie’s students.

 

Fueled legacy

Although the Frank Enos Service Station was closed in 1940 and Frank and Minnie passed away in the early 1960s, the Enos presence in the area continued after this time, as Alfred, who was a lifelong bachelor, had a house built on his property at 5720 Riverside Blvd. Alfred resided in this small, stucco, single-story house, which still stands today, until at least 1982.

Greenslate said that the site of the old service station, which is located near Interstate 5, represents one of the historic landmarks of a much changed Riverside-Pocket area.

“I experienced the last of the horse-drawn wagons and surreys going up and down Riverside Road and then we had Frank Enos’ gas station, which was the beginning of automobiles commonly traveling along Riverside Road. (The station) is part of my many memorable childhood recollections, as we always stopped by (the station) before we went any place and my parents would talk to Frank while getting their gas. It was just one of the notable places that I remember being in the area, which also included my grandmother’s house and other farmhouses and farmlands. Those were very special times, but the area has changed drastically since these days and is obviously a much different place today.”

 

E-mail Lance Armstrong at lance@valcomnews.com.