.

Bio-Sawyers
SURNAMES:  PDIA, CARLOS, PATRONE,


The spirit of Western enterprise finds exemplification in Manuel Montoya, who has steadily worked his way upward through application to his cement contracting business until he now ranks with the leading cement contractors of San Jose. He is a native son of California, his birth having occurred on the Almaden Road about two miles from San Jose, February 10, 1862. His father was Peter Montoya, a native of Sonora, Mexico, who became one of the early settlers of Santa Clara County, taking up his residence near San Jose in 1830. He married Miss Guadalupe Podia, and of their large family there are six living children.

Manuel Montoya attended the Guadalupe Mines public school for only a short time, and when but nine years of age was riding a horse and helping care for stock. About 1884 he came to San Jose and was employed as a teamster; a year later he purchased a couple of good teams and began hauling sand and gravel for building and street work in the city, and doing contract teaming. In the early days he paid his employees a dollar and a half per day and sold his gravel for fifty and seventy cents a load —a marked contrast to present-day conditions, gravel now selling at two dollars a yard, while his employees receive from six and one-half to nine dollars per day. For the past fourteen years Mr. Montoya has been doing cement contracting and he has done a large amount of work for some of the leading people of the county who know his reliability and progressive methods, and these have enabled him to build up an extensive business. He spent about ten years on a ranch at San Mateo for Alvinza Hayward from 1895 to 1905.

In San Jose, Mr. Montoya was united in marriage with Mrs. Antonia (Carlos) Patrone, who was born November 26, 1860. Her father, Peter Carlos, emigrated from Germany to the United States, becoming a resident of San Jose in 1850. Here he became well known as a barber, conducting one of the early shops in the city. Antonia was the eldest of their family. She first married Phillip De Soto, and has three living children by that marriage. Her second union was with Fred Patrone and she had one child by that marriage.

Mr. and Mrs. Montoya are members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, and he is serving as financial director for the Mexican Society of San Jose. He is also a member of the Order of Good Fellows. He owns his residence at 351 Keyes Street and also has other valuable real estate in San Jose. In his business affairs he has displayed keen discernment and unfaltering enterprise and the years have marked his progress along the lines which lead to success. In the commercial circles of San Jose his standing is of the highest and in all matters of citizenship his influence is on the side of progress and improvement.

From Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California,  published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 1218

 RETURN TO SANTA CLARA COUNTY FAMILY CHRONICLES

SANTA CLARA COUNTY The Valley of Heart's Delight