Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two-part series regarding the history of the Pocket’s Antone Silva and Joao Luiz Silva families.
In continuing the story of Antone L. Silva and his wife, Maria (Mary), who had seven children, the couple’s son, Anthony “Tony” L. Silva was raised to work on his father’s farm along with his brother, Joseph.
As is typical for farm workers, Tony began his daily routine very early, as he would regularly milk the cows by lantern light at 5:30 a.m.
Upon returning from school each day, Tony fed the farm animals and once again milked the cows.
With his busy schedule, Tony, who was born in the Pocket on Nov. 25, 1906, often remained active for 16 hours per day.
Despite his hard work on the farm, Tony’s thoughts were more on music than his work at hand. This mindset eventually led to friction with his father.
Music and friction
At that time, one of the sons of a farmer would be destined to take over the family farm after the father’s retirement or demise. This tradition was far from Tony’s desired intentions.
In 1925, Tony moved to San Francisco, where he lived for several years and held various jobs, while Joseph and his father worked on the ranch.
As a young man, one of Tony’s interests was the cowboy life and he would often dress in cowboy attire.
His love for dressing in this manner led to his acquisition of the nickname, “Tom Mix.” Tom Mix was a popular Western movie star of the day. He appeared in nearly 300 films from 1909 to 1935.
To this day, people who remember Tony refer to him as “Tom Mix,” since there has been multiple Tony Silvas in the history of the Pocket.

Sacramento and music
After returning to the farm from San Francisco, Tony began to have music take command of his life.
His venture into music began through his singing lessons with well-known Sacramento vocalist Evangeline Baker.
Through his lessons with Baker, he gained the confidence to perform in recitals and various special occasions.
Tony’s confidence as a singer grew much greater when, in 1937, he won two amateur singing contests that were conducted by Sacramento radio station KROY 1240 AM.
After winning these contests, Tony began singing on a weekly KROY program called “Ecos of Portugal.”
It was through this radio program that he eventually met his future wife, Marie Furtado, who emigrated from the Azorean island of Flores when she was very young.

Singing sweethearts
Both Marie and Tony performed as vocalists on the KROY program, which was conducted by Maria Cabral.
As Tony and Marie became sweethearts, they would sing popular songs in dedication to one another, with Marie singing, “Amor,” and Tony singing, “You Belong to My Heart.”
They personally recorded these songs, which were (much) later transferred to compact disc.
In addition to her solo performances on KROY, Marie also performed on the station with her Portuguese friends, Lillian Rose and Muriel Quintel.
This popular trio, which was known as “The Three Musketeers,” also sang on a weekly Portuguese musical program on the Stockton, CBS-affiliated radio station, KGDM.
Eventually, Tony and Marie were married in Sacramento on Sept. 13, 1941.

Married with children
After their marriage, the couple moved into a home at 2648 17th Street.
While at this address, Tony and Marie’s first child, Antoinette, was born.
After the death of his father, Tony and his family moved back to the old Pocket ranch, where he resided with his family in his parent’s two-story home, which was built by Manuel Valine, a local contractor who was known as “Calisto.”
It was there that Tony and Marie’s second child, Timothy, was born.
In 1949, the family moved into the smaller house on the property.
Five years later, a new house was built for Tony and Marie at 7330 Pocket Road on the corner of the property between his father’s ranch and his uncle John’s ranch.
The Tony Silva family continued to reside in this house until 1970, at which time the house was sold, along with part of the farm. The family then purchased a house at 6745 Harmon Drive.

Return to the ranch
Following the death of Tony’s mother on Feb. 4, 1971, Tony and Marie returned to the big farmhouse on the old Antone Silva ranch.
A year following the Dec. 10, 1984 death of Marie, Tony sold the old farmhouse and the accompanying property.
Selling historic farmlands in the Pocket was a common thing in those days, as farms were being sold for the redevelopment of the area.
This redevelopment marked the end of the era for pioneer Portuguese farming families.
After selling his home, Tony moved into an assisted living facility on Riverside Boulevard, near Florin Road.
A second marriage
Tony, who was elected to the board of directors of the Portuguese Historical and Cultural Society in 1990, was eventually involved in a brief second marriage.
Following his second marriage, Tony moved to Citrus Heights, where he began attending dances at the Moose Lodge.
At these dances, he met Martha Prater, whom he began dating.
Tony and Martha also enjoyed dancing to a combo at The Big Yellow House, a restaurant which was located at 1788 Tribute Road, near Cal Expo.
At this restaurant, Tony and Martha, who was also a soloist, would sing to the music until the late hours of the night.
A sad moment in Tony’s life occurred in 2003, when Martha made the decision to move to Missouri to reside with her family.
Following Martha’s departure, Tony moved into an assisted living facility in Walnut Creek to be close to his daughter, Antoinette.
Musical tradition continues
Tony’s relationship with Antoinette was especially strong, since she had also developed talents as a musician.
For instance, during her youth, Antoinette sang with the Music Circus ensemble.
In 2006, Tony became a centenarian and Antoinette and Timothy and their families celebrated the occasion with a party that was held at the Lafayette Park Hotel in Walnut Creek.
Tony maintained his involvement in music as a vocalist for The Snappy Cats, a group that dressed in decorative costumes and featured piano, kazoos, tambourine and vocals. The group added to their performances with puppets.
Tony later became a resident of Atria Senior Living.
A full life
For Tony’s 101st birthday, a celebration was held at Atria, and a San Jose-based Hispanic television station arrived at the party and filmed an interview with Tony and a performance by The Snappy Cats. The station later aired the recording.
As a sign of Tony and his group’s popularity, more than 100 people attended the gathering.
After a full life, Tony passed away from an age-related illness at the age of 102 on Aug. 19, 2009.
And at his services, the recording of Tony singing, “You Belong to My Heart,” was played.

Editor’s Note: This is part one of a two-part series regarding the history of the Antone “Tony” Luiz Silva and Joao “John” Luiz Silva families and their descendents.

Among the many early Portuguese families of the Pocket area were the Antone “Tony” Luiz Silva and Joao “John” Luiz Silva families.

Both Tony and John, who were brothers, immigrated to the United States from Topo, Sao Jorge Island in the Azores Islands of Portugal. The brothers’ original surname was Avila, but they acquired the surname, Silva, after arriving in the U.S.

Tony was the first to arrive
The first of these immigrants was Tony, who arrived in America at the age of 17, and joined his brother, Joseph, who was herding sheep in Inyo County, around Lone Pine and Bishop.

In that county, Tony worked for two separate wages. One of these wages was $1 per day and for another employer, he was paid with food. However, Tony was not content working for food and after three days, using his broken English, he asked to be paid $3. The employer responded by giving Tony three kicks in his rear and ordering him off his property.

After leaving Inyo County, Tony, who was known to sign his name, “A.L. Silva,” because of his illiteracy in English, went to Sacramento County and became employed at the Elk Grove Winery in Elk Grove.

He then went to the Grant area in today’s Carmichael area and worked on a hay bailing press and farmed hay and grain.

Tony and Mary meet
While in the Grant area, Tony met his future wife, Maria “Mary” Nevis, who was born in the Azorean island of Terceira on Aug. 5, 1881. Mary had then-recently immigrated to the Pocket with her cousin, Vera Bettencourt, and lived with one of the two Costa families of that area.

Tony and Mary were married – most likely at the St. Joseph Church in Freeport/today’s Clarksburg – in April 1899.

In about 1902, Tony and Mary moved to the Freeport area, where Tony farmed and had a small dairy, adjacent to where John also farmed and operated a dairy.

Together Tony and Mary had seven children, Mary, Joseph L., Olive, Rose, Hazel, Anthony and the first-born Rose, who died in infancy. As a father, Tony acquired the nickname, “Lavafraldas,” which indicated the “washing of diapers.”

One day, one of Tony’s friends was driving by his home and observed Tony hanging up his children’s diapers on the outside line next to his house. The friend rolled down the window of his vehicle and shouted, ‘Oh, Antone Lavafraldas.’ This name became Tony’s nickname and remained with him for the rest of his life.

Tony and Mary settle down in Pocket
Sometime after the 1904 Edwards Break, which flooded the Sacramento side of the Sacramento River, mostly south of Sutterville Road, Tony purchased 102 acres of swamp land in the Pocket.

Before Tony could even begin to farm this land, the property had to be drained of its river water seepage and cleared of tules and brush.

It was also on this property that, in 1909, Tony had a 10-room Victorian constructed for him by Manuel Valine, a contractor who was known as “Calisto.” As a protection against flooding, Calisto built the home on a knoll.

In order to continue his work as a dairyman, Tony established a dairy on his Pocket property. The property also included a large orchard and a family vegetable plot.

In about the early 1920s, Japanese families began residing in the Pocket area and, in many cases, leased land from Portuguese farmers. It was during this early period that Tony leased his Pocket property to Saichi Hironaka, who was an American citizen. Hironaka then subleased the property in three parts to the Tanaka, Ishimoto and Shirai families.

In 1934, Tony acquired an additional 100 acres from Joe Rico.

Tony passed away on Jan. 30, 1945 and his entire property remained with his family in the ownership of his widow.

What became of the property
From the early 1960s through the mid-1980s, Tony’s former property was sold at different times in individual sections for the residential redevelopment of the Pocket.

Twelve acres of Tony’s former Pocket property was donated in 1960 to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento for the construction of a new church and parochial school. These 12 acres were exchanged for a 5-acre site on Florin Road, where the church was built and named St. Anthony Church in memory of Tony.

John immigrates to America
Tony’s previously mentioned brother, John, who was born on Jan. 10, 1879, immigrated to America in 1896. He arrived in New Bedford, Mass., where two of his sisters resided and then lived with them there for some time before joining Tony in California.

John was later hired to work at the Sacramento Brick Co. on Riverside Road (now Riverside Boulevard). He maintained this employment for several years.

On Dec. 17, 1904, John married a 20-year-old, Faial, Azores Islands-born woman named Inacia “Nancy” Silva at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. For their honeymoon, the couple traveled on a riverboat to San Francisco.

After returning to the Sacramento area, John and Nancy settled on rented property that was owned by the Glide family on Babel Slough in Yolo County. On this property, John operated a dairy with his brother, Tony.

The brothers grew alfalfa for feeding their cows and potato and beans to feed their families, which included John and Inacia’s eight children who were born on this property. Altogether, John and Inacia’s family included nine children: Mary, John L., Jr., Madeline, Tony, Anna, Joaquim (“King”), Manuel, Dolores and Emily.

In 1916, John purchased about 100 acres in the Pocket area from Frank Rico. Included with this purchase were two houses, three barns and a large orchard, which was located between the houses. Orange trees were among the trees of this orchard.

Also within John’s Pocket property were various crops, including alfalfa, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, sugar beets, spinach and milo.

John farmed his property into the 1950s, at which time he retired and his sons continued the operation of the farm.

Just prior to John’s death on July 7, 1970, part of his acreage was sold to developers.
Nancy died on Dec. 3, 1976, and the remaining part of the property was sold by her family in 1979.

Among the earlier Pocket pioneers was Joseph C. Nevis, who was the first member of his family to settle in the Pocket area. His family eventually grew to become one of the area’s largest early-day families.

CHRISTMAS PAST. Mary Nevis, lower, center with a Christmas present in her hands, is shown in this 1957 photograph at the age of 80 with more than 80 members of her family. Mary was the wife of Manuel Nevis, Sr. / Photo courtesy, Sacramento Portuguese Cultural and Historical Society

While conducting research regarding the Nevis family during the early 1980s, Riverside-Pocket historian Dolores (Silva) Greenslate interviewed Clarence Nevis, son of Manuel Nevis, Jr. and grandson of Manuel, Sr. and Mary Nevis.

Greenslate related a detail about the family’s surname that she encountered while working with Clarence.

Startling discovery

“In researching the Nevis family name, I accidently discovered that the Nevis name was originally Silva,” Greenslate said.

This earlier family name was determined through a family picture with a letter behind it and original deeds to the Nevis family’s Pocket property that were in Clarence’s home.

In recalling this discovery, Greenslate said, “Clarence could not believe that his family’s original name was Silva, but it was a fact since all of the evidence was at his fingertips and he did not realize it.”

The name “Neves” is actually the spelling of the birth name from the family’s ancestral Azores Islands and this spelling of the name was often changed to “Nevis” after members of the family came to America.

In the case of Joseph Nevis, his surname was changed from “Neves” to “Nevis” to avoid confusion with his cousin who also had the surname “Neves.” This cousin resided on the same property as Joseph and the name change occurred for the purpose of assisting with the proper distribution of mail.

Another detail regarding Nevis family members is that all of the men of the family used the middle initial “C.,” which represents the surname Correira, which was also a family name.

At St. Joseph’s Cemetery at 21st Street and Broadway, the tombstone of Joseph C. Nevis reads: “José C. Das Neves, 1-28-(18)94, aged 64,” thus indicating that he was born in 1830.

THE NEVES FARM. Joseph and Mary Nevis and friends stand near the Nevis house early 1870s. / Photo courtesy, Sacramento Portuguese Cultural and Historical Society

According to the 1890 book, “Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California,” Joseph C. Nevis is recognized as “Joe Silva.”

The book also shows that he was born in the “Western Islands” (Azores Islands) in 1822 and immigrated to California in 1855.

However, information that was provided by Nevis family members references Joseph as having been born in Faial in the Azores Islands in 1830, as the aforementioned cemetery tombstone indicates.

Joseph first engaged in mining for gold at Negro Bar, near Granite City – now Folsom and according to the 1890 book, he experienced success in this endeavor.

Carmichael connection

On Sept. 14, 1864, Joseph married Mary Norsement in Sacramento and then relocated with Mary to an area known as “the Grant,” which was located east of Sacramento in today’s Carmichael area.

Joseph worked as a farmer in “the Grant,” where both of his sons, Manuel and Joseph were born.

The June 1870 Sacramento census for Sutter Township lists the members of the “Silva” family as Joe, “Gianner” (Portuguese for provider), 38; Mary, “keep house” (housekeeper), 27; Joseph, 5; and “Manwell” (Manuel), 3.

STARTING A NEW LIFE TOGETHER. Mary and Joseph Nevis, who are shown in their wedding photograph, were married in 1890. / Photo courtesy, Sacramento Portuguese Cultural and Historical Society

On Aug. 28, 1868, the eldest Joseph relocated with his family to the Pocket area and leased the 95-acre Read ranch, which he farmed. He continued leasing this property until he purchased the ranch a decade later for $2,000 in U.S. gold coins.

The legal document for the ranch reads: 1 deed, 4 leases, 2 mortgages for Joseph Silva and son, Manuel C., and Mary Neves Nevis.”

The Pocket ranch

The Nevis’ Pocket ranch was located across Riverside Road from Faustino Silva’s slaughterhouse, which operated just slightly south of the beginning of today’s intersection of Riverside Boulevard and Park Riviera Way.

The property extended from the river to across the old Riverside Road and consisted of 29.21 acres. The eldest Joseph also owned 14.7 acres across Riverside Road.

Faustino Silva later purchased the Nevises’ properties to enhance his slaughterhouse acreage.

While under the ownership of the Nevises, the ranch was operated by the eldest Joseph and his two sons, who farmed vegetables and had dairy cows.

The cream was taken to Sacramento and most likely sold to the Crystal Cream and Butter Co. and vegetables were sold to local produce businesses or contracted with other brokers.

Libby, McNeill & Libby of Sacramento purchased the ranch’s acreage of spinach and tomatoes.

Following the death of the eldest Joseph, his sons ranched together before eventually dividing the ranch’s land into two equal parcels.

The younger Joseph, who at the age 25 married 15-year-old Maria du Luz (known by Maria Correira, later known as Curry) in 1890, ranched his parcel until his death in about 1928, at which time his sons Lloyd and George began to operate the ranch.

Manuel, who married 18-year-old Mary Dutra in 1896 when he was 28 years old, ranched his portion of the original Nevis ranch until about 1940.

Following his time living on the ranch, Manuel moved to a home off Franklin Boulevard. He died at the age of 81 on July 21, 1948 and Manuel passed away about 20 years earlier.

One of the original Pocket area Nevis homes, where Clarence Nevis lived with his twin sister, Lorraine, for many years, is still standing today.

One of Sacramento’s largest families

FADED MEMORIES. The Manuel Nevis home is shown in this c. 1890 photograph. The ranch’s barn is located on the right side of the photograph. / Photo courtesy, Sacramento Portuguese Cultural and Historical Society

The Nevis family obviously expanded greatly, as Manuel and Joseph’s sister, Mary Nevis, who married a Manuel Nevis, who was no relation to the featured Nevis family, in 1894, was presented with her very large family in a photograph in The Sacramento Union on Dec. 25, 1957.

In the photograph, Mary, who was 80 years old at the time, was shown gathered in front of a Christmas tree with more than 80 members of her family, including a few in-laws. At At the time that the photograph was taken, members of Mary’s family, which was actually even larger, included her 11 children, 32 grandchildren and 56 great-grandchildren.

The Union noted that the Nevis family was “one of the largest, if not the largest, in this area.”

With the Pocket having experienced many changes and having a much different, built-out appearance today, the history of the Nevis family’s existence in the area is now only a memory of days gone by.

Editor’s Note: Since the publishing of a two-part series regarding the Lisbon schools of the Pocket area last October (read articles at www.valcomnews.com), readers requested additional information about Upper Lisbon School and its surrounding area. The following article provides more history about this school and the area.

In the early days of the Pocket area when the area consisted of mostly Portuguese farmers and their families, it was important to these families to have schools established for their children. One of the earliest of these schools was the Upper Lisbon School.

Upper Lisbon School is shown in this c. 1890 photograph. / Photo courtesy, PHCS

On Jan. 21, 1873, the Sacramento Lisbon School District was established under the leadership of Manuel E. DaCosta and other local Portuguese-American farmers. This school district was the only ethnic school district in the Sacramento area from the 1870s to the 1940s.

Although an earlier and separate district, the Yolo County Lisbon School District, predates the Sacramento Lisbon School District, the Sacramento district grew larger and operated for a longer period of time.

The first school of the previously mentioned Sacramento district was known as the Lower Lisbon School.

The Lower Lisbon School was originally located in a converted barn, which was used for the school until the flood of 1904 demolished the building and students were transferred to a temporary school on the Rogers property near today’s Garcia Bend Park at 7654 Pocket Road.

Some of the students in the temporary school on the Rogers property were transferred to the Upper Lisbon School, which was located on the west side of the present day intersection of Riverside Boulevard and Park Riviera Way, where a large ranch-style home with a three-car garage is situated.

The Upper Lisbon School served the children from the Pimentel’s Ingleside Café (presently The Trap bar) area and children who lived southward to just beyond Portuguese Hall on the old Riverside Road (present day Riverside Boulevard).

Most of the families of the school’s first through eighth grade students resided in “Dogtown,” an area that was located immediately south of Portuguese Hall to

Upper Lisbon School students gather for this 1918 photograph. / Photo courtesy, PHCS

the present intersection of Park Riviera Way and Riverside Boulevard.

Riverside-Pocket area native Dolores Greenslate described how the area became known as “Dogtown.”

“The area was known as ‘Dogtown,’ because everybody had numerous dogs in the area,” Greenslate. “There were so many dogs, in fact, that they all came out to greet you as you passed by. The area also included a waterwheel, which was powered by a large dog. The water was pumped for personal usage and for small irrigation purposes.”

The surnames names of the families who lived in “Dogtown” were: Azevedo, Nevis, Silveira, Holmes, Sarmeinto, Curry (Correira), Lewis, Perry, Mello, Gomes and Prady.

The Upper Lisbon School was built above a set of wooden stairs, as a one-room schoolhouse.

The school grounds originally included an outhouse that was located behind the school, but an indoor bathroom was eventually installed in a corner inside the school.

Teachers who taught all eight grades at the school were: Emma James, Mildred Fernandes, Letitia Seamore, Dorothy Sweeney, Inez Applegate, Julia McMahon, Brizady Giannoni, Miss Lombardi and Eleanor Harkness.

This 1921 Upper Lisbon School photograph shows the school’s students, which included twin brothers Jessie and Joe Freitas at the lower left corner of this image. Jessie is the boy on the far end of the photograph. / Photo courtesy, PHCS

James and Fernandes, who were both graduates of the school now known as Chico State University, were of Portuguese descent, which was a definite advantage for children who were born of immigrant Portuguese parents who spoke only their native language in their homes.

James – formerly Emma Furtado – was born in her family home, just north of what is now known as The Trap – began teaching at Sutter School in 1922, and then at Upper Lisbon School from 1931 to 1934.

Her lengthy career continued at Sutter School from 1941 until the closure of the school in 1952.

James, who served as principal of Sutter Union School during its final year and became Mrs. Daniel Buckley in 1953, then taught at another south area elementary school until retiring in 1962.

Fernandes, whose family’s home was located near the site of the present day Garcia Bend Park, replaced James as a teacher at Upper Lisbon School in 1934 and continued in this position for the following six years.

After leaving Upper Lisbon School, Fernandes, who married Edward Calay, a World War II pilot, moved to Antioch and later San Francisco to continue her teaching career.

Fernandes taught first through third grade American children in a town close to Tokyo, and other students in Guam, Michigan and in a northern residential area of Sacramento County before retiring in 1976.

After both Lisbon schools closed in 1945, the schools’ combined students were transferred to Sutter School, which was then renamed Sutter Union School.

Soon after the closure of the Lisbon schools, the Upper Lisbon School building was purchased by the A.A.D.E.S., the Portuguese lodge that owned the original Portuguese Hall and grounds.

The school building was relocated behind St. Mary Church, next to the original Portuguese Hall.

Miss Mildred Fernandes (center) stands with her class in front of Upper Lisbon School in this 1936 photograph. / Photo courtesy, PHCS

The former school became the meeting place of the lodge and was also used for church classes and other purposes.

After the 1913 hall was demolished in 1967, in order to replace it with a new building, the Upper Lisbon School building was also demolished.

Elsie (Silva) Jardine, a resident of the south Sacramento County town of Herald and a 1945 graduate of Upper Lisbon School, shared her memories about attending the school.

“When I first started school, Upper Lisbon School was a one-room school with no indoor plumbing,” Jardine said. “Before I graduated from the eighth grade, we did get indoor plumbing, but we still had the wood stove in the corner for heat. We had all eight grades in that room with one teacher.

“I was always alone in my grade with the exception of the seventh grade. I had a boy classmate for part of the year.

“I remember helping the teacher with some of the younger kids when I was in the seventh and eighth grades.

“I have fond memories of that little school in the Pocket.”