Joe Enos Maciel and Anna Francisco Vargas

Jose Ignacio Maciel was born on May 9, 1895 to Antonio Ignacio Maciel and Isabel Augusta Lopes, in Pedro Miguel, Faial. He had one older half-brother, Manuel Ignacio Maciel (November 2, 1884-1954) and three younger siblings, Maria Augusta Lopes (June 24, 1899-1968), Elias (27 Dec 1900-1903) and Joao Ignacio Maciel (June 10, 1902-1964). The family lived on the street "Rua Velha" (now Rua do Calvario) on property that is the site of a beautiful old windmill. At the age of 18, Jose took out a passport on June 20, 1913 in order to avoid military service. Jose's father, Antonio, got up early the day that Jose was to leave to America and went to the fields as he could not bear to say goodbye to his son. Joe was never to see his family or his home town again.

Jose was sponsored on his trip to America by his first cousin, Maria Amaral, who was the daughter of his mother's sister, Luiza Margarida Lopes. Maria and her family lived by Jose's family on the same street in Pedro Miguel, Rua Velha. Maria had left Pedro Miguel in 1910 because of a dispute with her father. She worked hard in the fields and wanted to be paid for her labor. When her father refused, Maria made plans to leave with another cousin, Maria? Terra. Maria Terra was going to California to join her sister, Rosa, who was already settled and married in California to a John Perry. John Perry sponsored both of the Marias' trip to the United States. After their voyage to America, they boarded a train to go west. They did not speak English and wore a paper on their lapels with their destination written on it. Once they were in California, they went to work for the Curtner Ranch in Milpitas as housekeepers. Maria Amaral soon married Antone Rodrigues and settled in Mission San Jose. She repaid the favor of her sponsorship to America by sending for her cousin Jose Maciel in 1913.

The ship that brought Jose to America left Marseilles, France, on June 27, 1913, with approximately 300 passengers from that port and picked up more passengers in Lisbon leaving that port on July 1,1913 before heading to the island of Madeira. The S.S. Madonna left Madeira on July 3, 1913 and proceeded to the Azores. It picked up more passengers at the port of Angra, Terceira, and proceeded to Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel where it picked up still more passengers and left on July 4, 1913. Its last stop before crossing the Atlantic was Horta, Faial, where Jose Inacio Maciel boarded ship along with others from his island, including his first cousin, once removed, Francisco Pinheiro Silveira. The ship left Faial on July 6, 1913. Jose arrived into the Port of Providence, Rhode Island on the S.S. Madonna, six days later on July 12, 1913. He carried with him, his precious Azorean viola in a rough-hewn wooden case that forever after bore an arrival sticker with part of the word "Providence" on it. Joe Enos Maciel, as he was soon to be known, caught a train and went to live with a cousin, Maria, and her husband, Tony Rodrigues, in Mission San Jose, California.

Not long after his arrival, Joe told his cousin Maria that he wanted to buy a motorcycle. She replied that he should first think about paying her back the money that she had given him for his passage to America and then he could buy as many motorcycles as he wanted. Joe quickly found work and he also was able to buy the motorcycle of his dreams.

Joe first found work as a farm laborer picking apricots. When the apricot season was done, he went to work for a dairy. This quickly became a painful introduction to America as he was not used to milking cows and had to soak his hands in warm water at night to ease their pain and go to sleep. He continued to work on farms in the Mission San Jose and Warm Springs areas, working as a gardener, on hay press teams and doing dairy work. Joe became a hired hand at the Leland Stanford Ranch where he worked in their garden and took care of their baby chicks. The cooks gave Joe mashed cooked eggs with shells in it and Joe told the cooks not to put eggshells in the mash as the chicks were dying. His real motive for this was that he wanted to eat the mash himself! Joe used to ride into the foothills to run the Stanford cattle and cut thistles in the pasture so they would not multiply. He cleaned roots out of the springs so the cattle could drink. His bed at the ranch consisted of four boards and a mattress made out of straw. His pay was one dollar a day plus room and board. Joe was 6 feet, tall by Azorean standards and was known for his strength. He acquired the nickname "Jose Grande" because he could often win challenges of strength among the farm hands. He was able to pick up a sack of grain with his teeth and toss it over his shoulder. This nickname followed him to the local "chamarrita" dances where he became well known for playing his viola and singing the Azorean "O Desafio", a spontaneous poetic song contest between two players. Joe's quick wit and tongue gave him a natural advantage in this art.

It was at one of these dances that he met Annie Francisco Vargas (February 10, 1900, Warm Springs, CA) who was one of ten children of Azorean immigrants, Joe Francisco Vargas (August 13, 1860, Castelo Branco, Faial) and Anna Caetana Lourenco, born August 1, 1870, Santa Cruz, Flores). Annie was taken by the handsome viola player and scoffed when she heard her girlfriends refer to him as a "greenhorn". When dancing with Joe, she was quick to tattle on her friends, thereby turning Joe's attentions to herself. This plan worked well for Annie. She saw Joe at church and at chamarritas and he was a visitor to her parents' farm with his friend Tony Travassos over a two year period. Joe often rode his motorcycle to the dances. One rainy night he asked Annie to take his viola home for him in order to protect it from the rain. This also was an excuse to see Annie again. When Joe came visiting to retrieve his viola, he also asked Annie to marry him! Joe proposed to Annie in February of 1916 but the wedding was not set until after Joe could build up his finances with the yearly hay press season. He worked on the hay press in June and July and made $300.

Annie and Joe were married on August 21, 1916 at St. Joseph's Church in Mission San Jose. Annie, ever practical, chose a tailored suit for her wedding outfit. They took the train from Niles to Oakland for a week's honeymoon. Their honeymoon room had a piano which fascinated the 16-year-old bride and her 21-year-old husband. From Oakland they took a ferry to San Francisco for a day, rode street cars, looked at clothing stores, ate at restaurants....all great luxuries to the young farm people. They took a train back to Warm Springs and were disappointed when no one was there to meet them. Their disappointment turned into embarrassment when, as they walked home, they were met by Annie's sisters and brothers who "tin canned" them with a serenade of musical instruments and the banging of pots and pans.

Annie and Joe first lived with Annie's parents in Warm Springs. Joe farmed potatoes with Annie's brothers, Alvino and Joe Vargas. The young couple bought a reddish brown horse for $90 and just about broke even that year. After their first child, Anita, was born on March 4, 1917, Annie worked at the Centerville cannery. In the fall of 1917, the young couple rented a little house on Ellsworth Street in Mission San Jose for $5 a month and Joe milked cows at the Stephen's farm and continued to work on the hay press during the summers. Joe was able to plant 25 acres of corn while he worked at the Stephen's farm and Annie took care of the corn on her own. She thinned the stalks, harvested and packed the ears in burlap bags herself, taking great pride in how tightly she packed her corn. She often recounted how the buyers would come to market looking for "Annie's corn". Annie's father would bring his wagon to help Annie get the corn to the market in Warm Springs.

In 1919, Annie, who was a tiny ninety-eight pounds, contributed to the family income by cooking for the hay press team. Annie's mother took care of Anita while the young parents lived in the little portable cookhouse during the hay press season. Annie cooked for about 8 men, among them were Tony Medeiros of Mission San Jose, Frank Serpa of Warm Springs, brothers John and Manuel Andrade of Warm Springs, and her husband, Joe.

Annie adhered to a grueling work schedule during the hay press season. She was up by 3:30 a.m. to put her coffee on. Between 4 and 5 a.m., the crew ate a large breakfast consisting of leftover beans and potatoes, bacon, hot cakes, and "H.O. Cereal". As soon as the men left, Annie would start her baking duties. She made eight to twelve loaves of bread a day and the bread was often still hot when it was served at lunchtime. Annie was off to the fields by 8 a.m. with a snack of rice pudding, muffins, or French toast and coffee. The men returned to the cookhouse at noon for a hot cooked "dinner". This often included meat roasted with tomato sauce and onions or meatloaf, beans, potatoes, stringbeans or carrots, linguisa, cupcakes and, on Saturdays, sweet bread. Portuguese beans, which Annie cooked almost every day for 75 years, were a staple of these meals. The food was prepared on a wood stove and a two-burner coal oil stove. It was very hot outside and the food attracted flies by mid-day. Annie tried to get her lunch ready by 11:30 so she could close up the window and shoo out the flies before the men came in. At 4 p.m., Annie returned to the fields with another snack of coffee, rice pudding with raisins or cupcakes. She would then ride her sulky into town to buy meat and provisions for the next day. She bought flour in one hundred-pound sacks, more than she weighed, and had to wait for the men to come back to move the sacks out of her buggy into the cookhouse, which was elevated. The meat was placed in a screened box, which Annie hung outside in the evenings to keep the meat cool. She returned from shopping in time to chop wood for her stove and prepare a hearty meal for the men who came in at 8 or 9 p.m. for their "supper". The little sleep that Annie got was on a mattress on the floor of the cookhouse that she and Joe rolled up every morning. The workers slept in tents. The crew worked in Pleasanton and Mission San Jose. Annie made $90 a month and Joe made $300 a season. The season lasted 6 weeks to 2 months. Reflecting on this experience in an interview in 1974, Annie said: " Now I can say that I was nothing but a fool, but I wanted to be with my husband and I wanted to make that money."
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In January 1920, with the help of the extra money made from "Annie's corn" and her culinary skills, the couple was able to buy ten acres in Warm Springs on what was later the location of the Franciscan Shopping Center. (named for the middle name "Francisco" that Annie, her 9 siblings and her father carried). There they farmed walnuts, apricots and prunes until the spring of 1928. During this time, their children Isabel (August 6, 1923), Tony (October 9, 1925) and Manuel (February 29, 1928) were born. While keeping the Warm Springs property, the family moved to Hidden Valley Ranch (Rancho del Valle Escondido) in the spring of 1928. This ranch, once a popular resort and spa and later owned by Leland Stanford and Frank Kelley, in turn, was purchased by the Sisters of the Holy Name in 1927. Joe and his brother-in-laws Joe F. and Tony F. Vargas share cropped the ranch for the sisters from 1928 to 1940. They raised peas, corn and beans and gave one fourth of the net profit to the sisters.

The Maciel children grew up on this ranch which they referred to as the "Sister's Ranch", "Hidden Valley" or the "Stanford Ranch". They attended Warm Springs Grammar School while Annie and Joe worked hard through the Depression years. Luxuries were rare as, even on a good farming year, the children learned that they must always save up for an inevitable bad year. Newspaper was used for wallpaper and their mattresses were filled with hay which could be refilled when low, or discarded when soiled. Clothing was often made from the material of flour sacks which Annie bought in 100-pound quantities. With Portuguese pride, the family wore their best to church on Sunday and all shoes were polished every Saturday night. The hard work was occasionally interrupted with picnics to Martin's Beach in Half Moon Bay, to Watsonville, or to Pacific Grove. Joe continued to play his viola at chamarrita house parties with his father-in-law and brothers-in-law who were all musically inclined. The highlight of the year was the Mission San Jose Festa. Anita, Tony, Isabel and Manuel would save up change to indulge themselves in the ultimate treat of pink popcorn and orange sodas.

During these years Joe, who never learned to read or write more than his name, studied hard to become a citizen. Annie, who had lost her citizenship by marrying an alien, helped Joe memorize the information for the citizenship test. Frank Gomes, a roadmaster, from a more prominent local Portuguese family, helped many of the aliens with the citizenship process. Joe was granted U.S. citizenship on November 16, 1928 in Oakland, California. Annie, who was angered that she had lost her citizenship, did not hurry to regain hers. She took the oath of allegiance to the U.S. many years later, on May 5, 1960 in San Francisco, CA.

Daughter Anita, married Tony DeValle, (born December 2, 1907 in Newark, CA to Azorean immigrant Joe Ignacio DeValle, born August 20, 1871, Castelo Branco, Faial and Minnie Perry, born about 1873 in Watsonville) on January 10, 1937 at St. Joseph's Church in Mission San Jose. The Holy Name Sisters made plans to sell their ranch and the Maciel family moved on, to farm first, the Leal ranch on Driscoll Road, Irvington, in 1940, and then the Hirsch ranch in Warm Springs. Daughter Isabel married Ernest Vargas (born February 7, 1918 in Livermore to Azorean immigrant Manuel Pereira Vargas, born February 9, 1882 in Castelo Branco, Faial and Rosie Pereira Vargas, born December 8, 1888 in Warm Springs, CA) on September 14, 1941 also at St. Joseph's Church.

In 1945, Joe and Annie and their two sons moved to the Patterson Ranch in Newark. Their daughter Isabel, and their first grandchild, Susan, also made this move with them, as Isabel's husband, Ernie, was in Japan for the occupation following World War II. The family moved into the old farm house on the property and share crop farmed for the owners, Will and Henry Patterson. Here again, they paid the Pattersons one fourth of their income. This farm was part of a 6,478 acres amassed by their father, George Washington Patterson, between the years 1856 and 1895, and part of which, is still preserved today as a living history museum farm called "Ardenwood". Joe Maciel joined other Portuguese who farmed this large area for the Patterson family. Among them were Henry Andrade (born February 19, 1896 in Decoto to Azorean immigrants John Andrade Macedo of Candelaria, Pico and Annie Josepha Frances of Feteira, Faial), Tony Cabral, Joe Faria, the LeBond brothers, Ed Rose, Frank Rose and Gus King who was not Portuguese. Joe Maciel took much pride in his farming and was often first to buy whatever new tractor or farm implement that was on the market.

Sons Manuel and Tony joined their father in the farming during the 12 years that they spent in Newark. Tony married Mary Goularte (born January 6, 1929 in Niles to Azorean immigrants Joaquin Goularte, born February 19, 1887 in Salao, Faial and Adelaide Garcia, born August 23, 1894 in Candelaria, Pico) on November 16, 1947 at St. Joseph's Church in Mission San Jose. Manuel married Evelyn Marie Cardoza (born April 29, 1931 in San Lorenzo to Azorean immigrant Manuel Souza Cardoza , Ribeidas, Pico and Viola Dutra born September 15, 1903, CA) on April 18, 1948, at St. John's in San Lorenzo.

The Patterson ranch consisted of orchards of walnuts and many fields that were planted with various crops such as tomatoes, corn, cauliflower and sugar beets. A handwritten statement prepared for the local draft board, by son Tony, explained the scope of their farming operation in 1945 in his own words: "I am farming the following crops in 1945. 30 acres of hay or grain = Los Pattos Farm, 55 acres for tomatoes & beets = Patterson Ranch, 20 acres of walnuts = Patterson Ranch, 20 acres rented pasture = Los Pattos Farm. At the present date 1/20/45, I have 46 head of beef cattle and one saddle horse and 3 sows. I spend all my time on my ranching and on my spare time I help my father farm the following: 117 acres hay or grain, 25 acres walnuts, 5 acres apricots, 55 acres beets or tomatoes. I also operate my fathers hay bailer during bailer season."

Annie did all of the books and payroll for the operation. She continued to cook her hearty meals on a daily basis, often killing chickens that she raised to accompany her daily beans. A large eucalyptus grove grew on the ranch and many "hobos" took up residence in it. Annie would often provide them with meals when they came begging at her door. Annie and Joe always had a grandchild staying with them during the Patterson years. They were treated to tractor rides with grandpa Joe and each grandchild had a glass jar that was filled by grandma Annie for the grandchildren's farm "labor" wages. Joe suffered a stroke around 1956 which forced him to become an overseer to his sons' work.

While never returning to his native Faial, Joe kept in contact with his siblings by mail and often helped the families by sending clothes and money. After the eruption of the Capelinos volcano on Faial in 1957, Joe sponsored and sent for two of his brother Joao's sons, Silvino and Alberto Maciel and their families, who lived with Joe's daughter Isabel and her husband while they got their start in this country. Eventually Joe's brother Joao, wife Maria, and the remainder of his children (Maria, Joe, Manuel, John and Mario, all currently of Newark and Tulare) followed to California. Joe's sister, Maria Augusta Lopes also came to America and settled in the New Bedford, MA area with one of her daughters. Only descendants of Joe's half brother, Manuel, remain in Pedro Miguel today.

By 1957, Manuel and Evelyn Maciel had two children, Connie and David, and Tony and Mary Maciel had four children, Linda, Michael, Gail and Annette. Urbanization was beginning to take over the area the farming community that was once Washington Township. Highway 17, a new freeway, went through the Patterson ranch and the Maciel family found that they were left with only about 100 acres to farm, not enough to support their growing families. Tony went to Don Patterson, Will's son, who was overseeing the farming operation and asked for more land but there was none to be had. They started to look around for other farmland, with housing facilities and were forced to look beyond the area that had been their home for so long. They signed a two-year lease with Manuel Santos in Vernalis. They paid him sixty dollars an acre and the ranch had three hundred and twenty acres. When Will Patterson heard of their plans he came to Tony and asked why they were leaving. He told them that his son could not spare any more land for them and they had already entered into a lease agreement. Will Patterson wished them well and told them if things did not work out to please come back and that he would make sure that more land could be found for them as he hated to lose them. Tony Maciel referred to their situation as "suit-case farmers" as, at this time, they could not afford to buy their own farm land to support their families.

In the fall of 1957, "Joe E. Maciel and Sons" and families moved to Vernalis, in the San Joaquin Valley. Joe continued on as the "boss and final say" in the business even as his health declined. They lived in Vernalis for two years and then moved to a house on Kasson Road in Tracy from 1961 to 1968.

Tony Maciel told one antidote about his father that never failed to make him laugh, at the memory of it. The only time that Tony ever saw his father hesitate on buying a new piece of equipment was around 1965-66 when they ordered a tomato harvester which was between a $15,000 to $16,000 investment. Joe was angry at his sons' decision and told them it would never work. On the first day of the harvest, they were able to cut three to four loads of tomatoes, more than they had ever done before. They were using both methods, harvester and hand picked. Joe would not admit that he might be wrong about his conservative stance until one day when the field laborers threatened to strike. Joe jumped in his pickup and jetted out to the field where Tony was harvesting with the new machinery and shouted to his son "You better kick that thing in the butt because your brother needs help out there with the braceros." It was a proud man's way of admitting that he was wrong. The next year they had three harvesters and no hand cut labor.

In 1969 Joe and Annie moved one final time to the San Joaquin River Club and were enjoying their 53rd year of marriage when Joe died of cancer on May 16, 1970. He is buried in the Tracy Public Cemetery. Sons Tony and Manuel continued to farm in a partnership known as Maciel Brothers. During this time they were finally able to buy their own land along with continuing to lease other farm lands for their business. The brothers were farming 1,500 acres in 1975 when Manuel died unexpectantly of a heart attack at the young age of 46. The Maciel Brothers partnership, which consisted of Tony and Evelyn Maciel, was officially dissolved on December 31, 1978. Tony's sons, Michael and Edward joined him in the farming operation which was renamed Maciel Farms. They grew dry beans, alfalfa, sugar beets, cannery tomatoes, some grain and a small amount of orchard crops. Maciel Farms was recognized in October of 1981 by the State Fund Compensation Insurance Program for 52 years of insurance protection for the same family farming interests. Tony's father, Joe, had first signed up in the State Fund program in 1929 when the farm consisted of hay, grain, irrigated peas and corn in the Fremont area. Tony gradually reduced the amount of acreage that he farmed until he retired in 1993. His eight children, (Edward, Joan, Jane and Rene were born in Vernalis) contend that he never completely retired as he continued to "farm" vegetables and fruit on the land surrounding his Vernalis home and was able to keep his family and friends well supplied with fresh produce until his death on July 24, 2005.

Annie lived with her daughter, Isabel, and son-in-law Ernie, in Tracy, for about 15 years until Isabel's death on October 16, 1989. Annie enjoyed a passion for gardening and cooking during these years at her daughter's house. Besides an ever-present pot of beans on the stove, Annie also would have chocolate chip cookies for the grandchildren and great-grandchildren who came to visit her. She often commented that, with all these "modern conveniences", housework was like "playing" to her. Annie spent the last years of her life in Sacramento, California near the homes of her grandchildren Susan Vargas Murphy and Emanuel Vargas. . As her body and mind failed her, Annie took solace in returning in spirit to the days of her youth. She was always waiting for her men to come home from the fields hoping to comfort them in the way she knew best, with the simple gifts of her kitchen. Annie died on January 15, 1998 and is buried alongside her husband in Tracy.Copyright Susan Vargas Murphy. All rights reserved.