ANDRE
AZEVEDO
VENDOME DAIRY
Bio- Sawyers
SURNAMES:
SANTOS, BETTENCOURT,
MATOS, MACHADO,
Dairy interests of Santa Clara County find an enterprising representative in Andre Azevedo, who by his practical, progressive and scientific methods has made the Vendome Ranch one of the show places in Northern California. He keeps abreast of the times in every way and his diligence and determination have brought to him well-deserved success. He was born on the Isle of St. George, in the Azores, January 10, 1874, the son of John Mattos and Izabel (Santos) Azevedo. For many years the father successfully engaged in general farming, but he is now living retired on that island at the age of eighty years, and the mother also survives.
Mr.
Azevedo is the fourth in a
family of thirteen children and he acquired a fair education in the
public schools of his native island, on which he continued to reside
until his seventeenth year, when he sought his fortune in the United
States, six of the family having already preceded him to this country.
Landing at Boston, Mass., he journeyed to San Mateo, Cal., and for a
season was employed in driving the horses for a hay press, receiving
$1.50 per day. In October, 1891, he went to Point Reyes, in Marin
County, where he worked for two years, after which he went to
Sausalito, and with his hard-earned savings purchased a one-eighth
interest in the White Kitt Ranch, near that place. Owing to the general
business depression then ,existing throughout the country, he made slow
progress and at the end of twelve years removed his share of the
business, consisting of eighty head of stock, to another ranch,
becoming a partner of Manuel S. Casho, and for five years they were
associated in dairying. Mr. Azevedo then acquired possession of the
dairy, which he later removed to Novato, forming a partnership with M.
T. Freitas, now a retired capitalist of San Rafael. This relationship
continued successfully for nine years, when the business was sold to
Messrs. Hill & Kilpatrick, its present owners, and while a resident
of Novato Mr. Azevedo was instrumental in organizing the Novato Bank,
of which he remained a director until recently.
In 1919 Mr. Azevedo came to the Santa Clara Valley and became one of the owners of the Vendome Dairy, located on the Brokaw Road. north of San Jose. His business associates are F. S. Soares, M. A. Silveira and Frank Scamas, all of whom are prominent residents of San Francisco, and proprietors of the San Francisco Dairy Company. They lease 420 acres, of which 300 acres are situated near Alviso, while the 120-acre tract is located on the Brokaw Road, where Mr. Azevedo resides, and they are the owners of 300 head of 'stock. The Vendome Dairy furnishes employment to eleven men, is modern, sanitary and well equipped. Mr. Azevedo possesses that expert knowledge of his occupation which can come only through long practical experience and is ably and intelligently conducting the dairy, which he has made one of the models of its kind in this section of the state.
On September 25, 1899, Mr. Azevedo was married to Miss Anna Bettencourt, who came to California with her brother in 1893, locating at Sausalito. Four children have been born to them: Manuel, a resident of San Rafael, married Miss Rosa Matos, of Novato, by whom he has one child; John, of Sunnyvale, Cal., married Mary Machado, the daughter of F. A. Machado, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this volume; Andrew and Eva are attending school. Mr. Azevedo gives his political allegiance to the Republican party and is a member of the Church of Five Wounds at East San Jose. He is a charter member of the Milk Producers Association of San Francisco, and for the first four years following its organization was a member of the board of directors. He is a member of the Ancient Order of Druids and is also identified with•the U. P. E. C., the I. D. S. I., of which he is a past officer, and the I. D. E. S., of Oakland, Cal., of which he is the supreme officer.
From Eugene T. Sawyers' History
of Santa Clara
County, California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page
1586
JOSEPH C. AZEVEDO
Bio-
Sawyers
SURNAMES: SILVA, FONTI, TEXIERA, LACERDA,
A dairy rancher whose prosperity is the natural result of his foresight and unremitting industry, is Joseph C. Azevedo, whose trim farm is at the corner of Storey and King roads, in San Jose. He was born in Oakland, on March 31, 1896, the son of Joe and Catherine (Silva) Azevedo, natives of Pico, in the Azores Islands, who come to California in 1890. They settled in Oakland, and had a dairy farm there. Five children blessed this union: Lida, who died in infancy; Evelyn, now Mrs. Fonti; our subject, Joseph C., of this sketch; Antone, who died in 1920 at the age of eighteen; the youngest passed away in infancy.
Joseph commenced his schooling in
Oakland, and when he was twelve years old he accompanied his parents to
Contra Costa County, where he finished with his books.
Two years later, when fourteen, he set out to make his own way
in the world, and commenced to work on ranches in Walnut Creek; and
when he was eighteen years old, he returned to Oakland and for two
years worked as a painter in the locomotive shops.
After that he removed to San Jose and established himself in
dairying; and he succeeded so well that he came to have sixty cows,
continuing there for three years.
On October 13, 1917, however, he
entered the service of the U. S. Army; and he was sent to Camp Lewis,
where he joined the Three Hundred Sixty-fourth Infantry, Company I.,
Ninety-first Division, and in July 1918, he was sent to France. He had qualified as a sniper before leaving
America and on arriving in France, he was transferred to the automatic
rifle squad. After training for two months
he was in the reserves of the St. Mihiel drive, and took part in the
Meusse-Argonne first offensive, and was then sent to Belgium, where he
participated in the operations of the Ypres-Lys salient.
When the armistice had been signed, he was sent to Herzeele,
Belgium, for a month, and then to France, and in march, 1919, commenced
the return journey to America. In April he
was honorably discharged at Camp Kearnev and the he returned to San
Jose. He is a member of the American
Legion and a Republican in politics.
On February 14, 1920, Mr. Azevedo was married at San Jose
to Miss Mary Texiera, a native of Sausalito, and the daughter of Joseph
and Rita (Lacerda) Texiera, experienced and successful dairy ranchers
still living on the White Road in Santa Clara County.
Mr. Azevedo is in partnership with his father and now they have
about 240 head of cattle, 150 being milch cows and a very fine dairy
ranch. His barns are modern and most
sanitary and equipped with milking machines. He
is a charter member of the San Francisco Milk Producers Association.
transcribed
by Susan Schooler, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History
of Santa Clara County, California, published by Historic Record Co.
, 1922. page 1391
In the
public schools of Marin County J. E. Azevedo
acquired his education, and when not busy with his textbooks his
time
was spent
in his father's dairy, so that
he obtained a
thorough knowledge of the business under the capable
instruction of the
latter. When a young man of eighteen the son came to Santa Clara
County, and
although but twenty-one years of age
he is
now foreman of one of the largest dairy farms in the entire valley. The ranch,
which contains 550
acres, is situated near Lawrence
Station and is owned by J. B.
Enright, of Santa Clara, who leases the property to F. A.
Machado, a
prominent financier and expert dairyman and head of the Milk Producers Association of San Francisco.
The buildings
are thoroughly modern and the dairy, under the capable management of Mr. Azevedo, is
operated along the most
progressive and efficient lines, so that the
enterprise is proving a most profitable one. Careful training
has given
him a comprehensive knowledge of
the dairy
industry and he is thus well able to direct the labors of his
four
assistants. Mr. Azevedo puts up
a large
quantity of hay each season in order
to supply the stock, which is of high grade and consists of forty-eight young
cattle, four registered bulls
and 182 milch cows.
On January 26. 1921, Mr. Azevedo was
married to Miss Mary Machado, a
daughter of F. A. Machado, and
they are popular in social circles of the community. Mr. Azevedo has inherited much
of his father's
business ability and acumen and is rapidly forging to the front in
dairy
circles of the Santa Clara Valley.
He is yet
a young man, and judging from what he has already accomplished,
his
future career will be well worth the watching.
from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 1456
He had met with a fair degree of success in his ventures, and
his next move was to Napa County, where he continued his business three
years. The lure of the alfalfa country
about Newman, Stanislaus County, next drew the young man’s attention,
and he moved down there and conducted a dairy until 1916, when he
disposed of his holdings to good advantage and came to San Jose and
bought an interest with Manuel Lewis, and they took over the old
American Dairy delivery and at once organized the American Dairy
Company. As soon as Mr. Azevedo became
identified with the concern they purchased the property at the corner
of Seventeenth and East Santa Clara streets and erected suitable
buildings and equipped them with the most modern and necessary
machinery, and on August 1, 1916, they moved from their old location to
the new. The actual working time spent in
erecting and equipping the plant was forty days. In
1917 their business was incorporated and Mr. Lewis became the president. Eighteen months after they began business Mr.
Azevedo disposed of part of his stock in the company and went to San
Francisco and engaged in the hotel business for two years.
Then he came back to San Jose and bought the controlling
interest in his old company and assumed the entire management, and ever
since there has been a steady growth. As
the business has expanded he has kept adding equipment from time to
time and now has one of the most sanitary plants to be found in Santa
Clara County. A force of twenty-three
people are necessary to carry on the business and there are five
delivery wagons and five auto trucks used in delivering their products
to their customers. Besides their own
products the company handles the Isleton butter. Mr.
Azevedo is a stickler for sanitation and cordially invites the public
to inspect his model plant.
Bio- Sawyers
SURNAMES: BELCHER
As the
president and manager of the
American Dairy Company, one of the model institutions of its kind in
San Jose, Manuel Theodore Azevedo is counted among the progressive men
of the city and county. He was born in Portugal on October 15,
1870, the son of Manuel T. and Marianna Genevieve Azevedo, who were
both natives of that country and spent their entire lives within its
confines. Manuel Theodore received his schooling in his native
land and, at the age of seventeen, in 1887, left home for his journey
to America. He arrived in Boston on October 6, and at once began
his journey across the continent to California, going direct to San
Mateo, where he secured work on a dairy and for three years worked as a
ranch hand, at the same time that he was learning the ways of the
American folks. He was frugal and saved his money, and in 1890 he
leased land and began dairying for himself, spending in all fourteen
years in San Mateo County.
When Mr. Azevedo married he chose for his wife Mrs. Emily
Belcher, and the event was celebrated in Oakland. In
politics Mr. Azevedo is a stanch Republican, and fraternally he holds
membership in the Woodmen of the World, the United Ancient Order of
Druids and the Portuguese Fraternis; he is a live wire in the San Jose
Chamber of Commerce and the San Jose Progressive Club; and belongs to
the Catholic Church. He is a loyal
American and during the World War participated in all the drives for
funds. He is honorable in all his dealings
and is well deserving of his success.
transcribed by Susan Schooler, from Eugene T.
Sawyers' History
of Santa Clara County, California, published by Historic Record Co.
, 1922. page 1578
SANTA CLARA COUNTY BIOGRAPHY PROJECT