From a hand-written document by Steve Tonole, entitled "My Life Story."
When I went to South America on December 12, 1894, I landed at Rio de
Janiero, Brazil. As the slaves were freed in 1886, you may well imagine
what life was like in those days during which I spent four years working
on a coffee plantation.
On December 27, 1898, I returned to Italy where I was drafted into the
Italian army in December of 1904. Later, after having arrived in the
United States on September 19, 1907, I lived in Pasic, New Jersey, until
1909 when I came West to the State of Oregon. In those days a very wild
place with no highways. People were able to travel only during the three
summer months. Not until 1920 was the first highway constructed. That
was the year in which I bought my first automobile because prior to that
I had a horse.
It was about this time also, that I became very lonesome as I had not
seen my Italian girl friend for six years. Consequently, I wrote asking
her whether she would like to come to the United States to marry me.
When she agreed, I sent for her and after we were married on December 10,
1910, I bought a small eighty acre ranch but i earned my living by
working for the Southern Pacific Railroad from May 3, 1909 until my
retirement on December 30, 1949.
Our first child arrived in 1912 and by 1919 we had five children, the
eldest of of whom was married in 1929. In 1931 she had two children and
ten my wife had another daughter so that when this baby girl was born she
was already an aunt with two nieces.
Now I have eleven grand children all of whom are married the loungest one
being twenty three years old and there are twenty-four great-grand
children. As the youngest daughter has now had a baby that makes me the
grandfather of twelve children.
In 1959 my first wife passed away. The following year I took a trip to
Italy where I met a wonderful thirty-nine year old girl who is my first
wife's niece. I remarried and Augusta and I are now living very happily
in Broderick, Yolo County, California.