San Joaquin County Biographies


This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


LOUIS BACIGALUPI.
 
        Stocktonians may well have confidence in the local financial 
institutions when they are in such good hands as those of Louis Bacigalupi, the 
popular assistant cashier of the Commercial & Savings Bank of Stockton, a 
prominent and influential member of the Italian Colony so appreciated here. He 
was born at Cicagna, near Genoa, Italy, July 30, 1867, the son of Stephen 
Bacigalupi, who was one of the famous Argonauts of '49, coming via the Isthmus 
of Panama to San Francisco. He followed mining for a while and then, during 
1862-1863, he conducted a well-known coal and wood yard in San Francisco. The 
next year, however, he returned to Italy, and there he married Miss Maria 
Dondero who was also born near Genoa. Stephen Bacigalupi engaged in the clothing 
business in Cicagna and met with well-deserved success, for he attended closely 
to his business until he retired. He passed away in 1919 at the age of 
eighty-three, his wife having preceded him many years, passing on when only 
twenty-nine years of age, leaving a family of three children besides her husband 
to mourn her loss, Louis being the eldest.
        It so happened, therefore, that Louis Bacigalupi completed his education 
in Italy, making a specialty of a commercial course, and in 1889, doubtless on 
account of his father's happy experiences here, he crossed the seas to America, 
and, pushing on west to the Golden State, located at Stockton. He clerked, 
first, in the store of Joe Gianelli, and later became proprietor of the Eagle 
Hotel, which he managed for ten years. In 1910, he opened the Taft Clothing 
Store, on South Center Street, and later he removed the same to its present 
location at 33 South Hunter Street and even after entering upon his duties at 
the Commercial and Savings Bank he continued to own the clothing business, which 
was managed by his son until it was sold in July, 1922. On February 1, 1912, Mr. 
Bacigalupi entered the employ of the Commercial and Savings Bank as teller, and 
he was soon advanced to assistant cashier and manager of the foreign department, 
which position he now holds. He was made an American citizen in 1890, receiving 
his papers immediately because he had no difficulty in establishing that his 
father was a naturalized American citizen. Mr. Bacigalupi, being 
public-spirited, with plenty of loyalty to Stockton and San Joaquin County, and 
thoroughly progressive in all his ideals and ways, has been able to render a 
real service, first to his fellow-countrymen coming here, and secondly to 
American society, of which he has become a part, and political circles, in which 
he is always active.
        In San Francisco in October, 1893, occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Bacigalupi, which united him with Miss Rose Foppiano, a native of Amador, Cal., 
a woman of rare capability and personal charm. Her parents, Joseph and Elizabeth 
(Capalina) Foppiano, were also pioneer settlers of California, coming to the 
state at the time of the gold excitement, and following mining in Amador County, 
where Mr. Foppiano passed away; his widow died in San Francisco. The fortunate 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Bacigalupi has been blessed with the birth of one son, 
Howard S., who married Miss Amelia Gneco, and they have a little daughter, 
Liberty Rose.     Mr. Bacigalupi is prominent fraternally. He was made a Mason 
in Delta Lodge No. 471, F. & A. M., and is also a member of Stockton Chapter No. 
28, R. A. M., as well as Stockton Council No. 10, R. & S. M. He is a member of 
Stockton Commandery No. 8, K. T., and Ben Ali Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., in 
Sacramento. He is also a member of Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. E., and the 
Woodmen of the World, in all of which he is a live wire, and in which he enjoys 
an enviable popularity.
 
History of San Joaquin County, California � Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 
1923
p  1360        
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.