Bio-Sawyers
SURNAMES:  ZLOVECERA, SCORSUR, GENAVICH, VALAJO, 

Despite the handicap of being born in a foreign country, Peter Talia has made good in the country of his choice, and has steadily-added to his finances, until he has reached a condition of affluence enjoyed by many of the ranchers of Santa Clara Valley. He was born in Dalmatia, Austria, on April 18, 1875, the son of Peter Mathias and Raffle (Zlovecera) Talia. The father was a seafaring man and had crossed the Atlantic ocean twenty-six times in the old fashioned sail ships. He lived to be seventy-two years old, and the mother passed away in her seventy-fourth year. There were five children in the family, Peter being the youngest. He attended the grammar school in Dalmatia until he was thirteen years old; then went to sea in the coasting trade, on vessels plying the Adriatic Sea and remained in that line of work for three years. In 1891 he left Trieste, Austria, and went to Hamburg, Germany, and then set sail for America; arriving in New ork City he came by rail to San Jose, and here he worked for his brother-in-law, Nicholas Scorsur, and the following eight years on various ranches. Saving his money, he began buying and selling fruit, and soon had sufficient money to purchase a three-acre place on Pine Avenue, which he soon sold and invested the proceeds in a seven-acre ranch on Minnesota Avenue and also a two-acre ranch on the same avenue, which was the headquarters for his fruit business. He sold the two-acre ranch and later the seven-acre place to the Western Pacific Railroad and invested in two ranches in the Campbell district, one of twelve acres and the other of ten acres, both situated on Budd Avenue; later a nineteen-acre ranch was bought in the same district. All these places he sold and purchased a ranch at Saratoga containing fourteen and a half acres, and also another fourteen and a half adjoining and these two ranches he has retained; these places are in full-bearing apricot and prune trees. He also purchased ten acres in the Evergreen district, but held it only a short time, and invested in a twenty-two-acre ranch at Los Gatos on the Almaden road; selling that, he purchased his present home place of nineteen acres; a prune and apricot orchard on the Santa Clara-Los Gatos Road, now his home place where he resides with his family. 

In San Jose on May 10, 1904, Mr. Talia was united in marriage to Miss Dominica Genavich, also born in Dalmatia, Austria. She is the daughter of Peter and Mary (Valajo) Genavich, her father an orchardist in his native land. There were five children in the family, Mrs. Talia being the fourth. In 1903, she came to Santa Clara County, Cal., and lived with her sister, Annie, now the widow of the late John Scorsur, until her marriage to Mr. Talia. Mr. and Mrs. Talia are the parents of five children: Ruth, a graduate of Heald's Business College; Mary attends Campbell high school; Rosie, Matt and Peter. Mr. and Mrs. Talia appreciate the value of an education and are striving to give their children the best schooling within their means. Mr. Talia is an active member of the Austria Benevolence Society of San Jose and is loyal to American ideals. Mr. Talia recalls his early experiences in the valley, how he worked sixteen hours a day applying himself closely to his work until he saved sufficient money to get a start. He was honest and industrious and soon made a record for integrity, so that when he began in the fruit business, people had confidence in him, and he soon acquired enough capital to buy land and grow fruit. A natural mechanic, Mr. Talia saw the advantage of tractors tor farming, using the most modern machinery because he is able to repair and keep it in running order. He gives much credit to his estimable wife, who has. assisted him in every way, by learning every detail of the fruit business, and when Mr. Talia was away, buying and transacting other business, she was at the plant attending to sorting, dipping and handling the fruit, besides attending to her household duties and caring for the children. Thus in the same way, Mr. and Mrs. Talia are training their children to be industrious and honest and thus become useful citizens of their country.

Transcribed cferoben, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California,  published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 1492

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SANTA CLARA HISTORY