The Valley of Heart's Delight
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Ben/ Battiste ANZINI
Owner of Junction House, Mountain View California
This date of this card is not known- possibly before Mr Anzini began running the establishment
Dave Sullivan Prop. and A.C. McKeough as Mgr.
click on photo for larger image
As the proprietor of the Junction House on the state highway at
the junction of El Monte Avenue and the highway (ed note- in Mountain
View on El Camino as it is still commonly known), Ben Anzini
contributes very materially to the comfort and convenience of the
thousands who traverse the state highway. The house was built in
1906 by his brother, Victor Anzini, and the ten acres surrounding it
planted to prunes and apricots. This summer and winter resort is
well built and up-to-date and is conveniently and beautifully
located. A native of Switzerland, Ben Anzini was born an Menzoni,
Canton Ticino, January, 6, 1874, the son of Piertro and Lucia
(Grandi) Anzini. The parents were married in Switzerland and in
1865 the father left alone for America and settled first in Marin
County and remained there until 1870. They were the parents of
three children: Victor, Ben and Luisa. The parents owned
the home in Switzerland and there it was that the father died at the
age of seventy-four; the mother still lives at the old home, aged
eighty-nine. Ben Anzini grew up and attended the schools of
Switzerland and learned to speak the Italian language. His
brother Victor preceded him to California, arriving in 1882, and on
November 19, 1891, Ben landed at San Francisco. He worked around
on dairy farms for ten years for wages and in 1901 went into the dairy
business with a partner for two years; then for the next three yeas
became the sole proprietor, milking from 250 to 260 cows, besides
operating a creamery.
On October 12, 1903 he was married to Miss Clelia Berri, a daughter of
Victor/ Vittore and Angelina Berri. She was born and reared
in Marin County, Cal., and was the youngest of a family of five
children. Her mother died when she was only two years old, and
later her father married Mrs. Marianna Silacci. He immigrated to
California in an early day, and became a large dairy farmer and
well-to-do, his dairy supporting 250 cows, which he ran forty-four
years; then retired to Petaluma, Sonoma, County, where he died.
The dairy farm which Mr. Anzini rented contained 2,003 acres,
knows as the Tomasini ranch in Marin County. After disposing of
his diary business for the next five months when he sold out and in
1907 took his wife for a trip through Switzerland, also visiting France
and Italy. Upon their return, he bought back his business in
Petaluma and operated it until 1915. He invested some of his
earnings in city property in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, which he still
owns. On May 13, 1913, he purchased the Junction House from his
brother and rented it our at first, but for the past five years he and
his wife have conducted it. He was naturalized in San Francisco
in 1901, and in national politics he is a Republican. He belongs to the
Eagles No. 333 of Petaluma, and he and Mrs. Anzini are members of the
Catholic Church of Mountain View.
Transcribed by Carolyn Feroben, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922. page 1204
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