YUBA COUNTY
Biographies
ROBERT C. HAMM
Agricultural pursuits have always engaged the attention of Robert C. Hamm, gaining for him that expert knowledge of his occupation which is the result of broad practical experience and close study; and as a result he has established his position among the leading orchardists of Yuba County. He was born in Holt County, Mo., February 29, 1868, and is the youngest in a family of five children, his parents being A. J. and Catherine (Thrailkill) Hamm. The mother, born at Trenton, Mo., was a daughter of William Thrailkill, who joined the rush of gold-seekers to California in 1849. A. J. Hamm was born near Marshall, in Saline County, Mo., April 2, 1823, and moved to Holt County in 1844, being the fourth white man to settle in that part of Missouri.
Robert C. Hamm there attended the local school, and from a lad assisted his father in the cultivation and development of the home farm; and on starting out for himself he decided to continue in the occupation to which he had been reared. After his marriage, in 1902, he located at Marysville, Nodaway County, Mo., leased 640 acres, and branched out into farming on a large scale. He raised large quantities of corn, and specialized in raising hogs of the Jersey Red breed, enlarging his operations until he had more than 1000 head at a time on his farm. One of his early shipments from Marysville to St. Joseph, Mo., comprised 350 head of hogs, a fine lot that averaged better than 250 pounds. This was the beginning of making large shipments of hogs from that vicinity to St. Joseph. His success was noted, and the business was soon taken up by others; and today great quantities of hogs are raised and shipped from that region. In 1905 he sold his equipment and removed to Alberta, Canada, purchasing 480 acres near Airdrie, and engaged in wheat-raising. Three years later, however, he changed to cattle-raising and dairying, and met with excellent success. However, the advertisements of the fine climate and excellent schools in California decided him to come hither; so, disposing of his holdings, he came to California, settling in Yuba County, and is now the owner of the Arnold grain ranch, known to the old settlers of this region as the Rideout place. His property comprises seventy-one and a half acres, and is situated four and a half miles north of Marysville, in District No. 10. He specializes in the growing of fruit and has a two-wire vineyard of twenty-four acres, from which is produced the Thompson Seedless raisin. He has an orchard of twenty acres devoted to French prunes, and has developed one of the model fruit farms of this section of the State. He conducts his labors scientifically, and brings to his activities a true sense of agricultural economics, never allowing a foot of his land to be unproductive. He is regarded as an authority on agricultural matters, particularly viticulture and horticulture, and has been honored with the presidency of the Honcut Center of the Yuba County Farm Bureau, which office he is now filling. He has been a pioneer in the fruit industry in District No. 10, thus opening up the rich valley land to the growing of vineyards and orchards. He has given his work close study, and is now serving as viticultural commissioner for his district. Progressive and energetic, Mr. Hamm is ever ready to try out new methods; and his example is one well worthy of emulation, showing what may be accomplished when industry and enterprise are guided by intelligence and sound judgment.
At Mound City, Mo., on March 23, 1902, Mr. Hamm married Miss Myrtle Moore, who was born near Franklin, in Johnson County, Ind., the eldest of six children in the family of Thomas and Pocahontas (Faulconer) Moore, born respectively in Kentucky and near St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Mo. Mrs. Hamm was educated in the public school at Paris, Ill., and afterwards engaged in teaching. She possessed a beautiful soprano voice, and sang in the Presbyterian Church in that city. Mr. and Mrs. Hamm have become the parents of three children: Mrs. Lois Katherine Walker, of Chico, who has a child named Roberta Ann; Robert L., a Senior, and Wilburn H., a member of the class of 1926, in the high school. Mr. Hamm is a believer in cooperation as the best means of marketing farm products; so we find him an active member of the California Prune and Apricot Growers’ Association and the California Raisin Growers’ Association. He is a member of Corinthian Lodge No. 9, F. & A.M., and a member of Pyramid No. 23, A.E.O. Sciots; and with his wife he is a member of the Eastern Star.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 565-566
THOMAS A. GIANELLA
Following the example set by their predecessors, the sons of the California pioneers are building up successes reflecting credit upon the honored names they bear. Such is the record of Thomas A. Gianella, whose entire life has been spent in Yuba County and whose present standing as a successful wool and sheep grower is the result of previous years of application and good judgment. A native of the county where he now resides, his birth occurred January 8, 1877, and he is the eldest in a family of nine children born to Vincenzo and Mary (Hagan) Gianella, natives of Switzerland and California, respectively.
The Gianella family was established in California by the grandfather of the present generation, Lorenzo Gianella, who was a native of Switzerland. He was a glazier by trade and followed that employment in his native country until 1855, when he decided to immigrate to America, and accordingly located in Pennsylvania for a time. A few months later he came to California and for a short time worked in the mines at Georgetown. He then came to Yuba County and in the vicinity of Marysville followed farming and dairying for several years. He was very fortunate in his ventures; and when, in 1871, he removed to Sonoma County, he was comfortably provided for. He passed away at his home in Santa Rosa at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife, formerly Giocanda Galippi, also a native of Switzerland, came to California with her parents in 1858, passing the twilight of her life in Santa Rosa, and living to the age of seventy-two.
Vincenzo Gianella was the eldest of four children born to his parents, and first saw the light in Switzerland, on July 14, 1850. He was eight years old when he accompanied his mother to California; and he remained at home until 1871, when he and his brother rented the home place and together engaged in farming. In 1878 they purchased 1050 acres on Honcut Creek, where had been located a stage station in the early days. In addition to this property they also rented land and engaged extensively in the raising of stock. In 1902 they purchased about 4000 acres of land lying along the Sacramento River near Nord, in Butte County, which they operated in their work of general farming and stock-raising. On February 4, 1873, Mr. Gianella was married to Miss Mary Hagan, a native of Sonoma County, Cal., a daughter of Henry Hagan, a native of Ireland, from which country he immigrated to Montreal, Canada, when a young man of nineteen. Coming via Panama, he reached San Francisco in 1853 and at once found work at the carpenter’s trade. Later he engaged in farming near Santa Rosa, until his retirement, a few years before his death, which occurred in Santa Rosa. Mr. Hagan attained the age of eighty-seven years, while his wife (formerly Mary Burgess, a native of Missouri) died in Sonoma County at the age of seventy-three. Mr. and Mrs. Vincenzo Gianella were the parents of the following children: Thomas A. (the subject of this sketch), Mary Frances (a sister in Notre Dame Convent, San Jose), Joseph Lorenzo, Monica Louise, Katherine Rose, Vincent Paul, Leo, James, Henry, and William August. Vincenzo Gianella died at his ranch at Nord, June 11, 1916. His widow survives him and resides in San Francisco.
Thomas A. Gianella received his education at St. Mary’s Academy, Oakland, Cal., from which he was graduated on June 14, 1895. His earliest recollections are of farm life and stock-raising, and in young manhood he became associated with his father in the extensive general farming and stock-raising which they carried on.
On May 10, 1919, Mr. Gianella was married to Miss Addie Block, born at Cherokee, a daughter of Charles H. and Nora (Ryan) Block, now residents of Gridley, Cal. Mrs. Gianella is a graduate of the Chico State Normal, with the class of 1908, and followed teaching until her marriage. Two children have been born of their union, Mary Nora and Thomas A., Jr. The home place of the Gianellas is located about twelve miles northeast of Marysville on the La Porte road.
In 1917 Mr. Gianella was appointed by Governor Stephens a member of the exemption board for Yuba County, and upon its organization he was selected chairman of the board, serving until the close of the World War. He is a member of the County and State Democratic Central Committees; and in 1920 he was elected and served as a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in San Francisco. He is also a member and ex-president of the Marysville district Wool Growers’ Association, as well as a member of the State and National Wool Growers’ Associations. Fraternally, Mr. Gianella is a member of Marysville Lodge No. 783, B.P.O.E., and Marysville Council No. 1869, Knights of Columbus.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 570-571
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