Sutter-Yuba County Biographies

ANTONIO M. DISERNIA

Transcribed by: Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
 
            Possessing courage and the spirit of enterprise, Antonio M. Disernia 
has overcome the obstacles and difficulties in his path and has risen to a 
position of importance in the business circles of Marysville, where he is known 
to his many friends as �Tony.�  A native of Italy, he was born on a small farm 
forty miles south of Naples, on July 25, 1874, and remained at home until he 
reached the age of sixteen, when his mother sent him to the United States in 
search of his father.  The latter had come to this country in 1888, locating in 
Colorado, and for some time the family had received no communication from him.  
Coming to Colorado, in Boulder, Mr. Disernia found his father, who returned to 
his home in Italy and there spent his remaining years.  
            The son, however, decided to remain in the New World, though at 
first he experienced great difficulty in earning a livelihood, owing to his 
ignorance of the language and customs of the American people; but by hard study 
and close observation was able to overcome this handicap.  He first worked in 
the coal mines of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company at Boulder, remaining there 
for a short time, and then went to Pueblo, that State, where he spent fourteen 
years, during which time he was employed as a salesman by the West Brothers 
Furniture Company.  He came to California in 1906 and worked for the Standard 
Oil Company at Richmond, and later for a firm engaged in the manufacture of wine 
at Winehaven.  He was afterward an employee in the McWilliams Furniture Store at 
Vacaville, in Solano County, and then came to Marysville, reaching here about 
1912.  He is now manager of the second-hand department of the S. D. Johnson 
Furniture Company; and his experience and ability have been a valuable asset to 
the firm.
            Mr. Disernia has been married twice.  His first union united him 
with Miss Mary Latora, whom he married in Boulder.  She was also a native of 
Italy, and came to America with her parents when but two years of age.  She is 
survived by two children:  Michael, a resident of San Jose, Cal.; and Angeline, 
who is now married and lives in Colorado.  For his second wife Mr. Disernia 
chose Mrs. Anna Silva, by whom he has a son, Anthony M., Jr.  Mrs. Disernia had 
two children by a former marriage, William and Glenn.  She is a native of Rough 
and Ready, Nevada County, Cal., and a representative of a pioneer family of that 
locality.  Her father was one of the early settlers of that county and owned a 
large ranch at Rough and Ready, specializing in the raising of live stock, in 
which he met with a considerable degree of success.  He has passed away, but the 
mother is yet living and has reached the age of seventy-five years.
            Mr. Disernia is the owner of an attractive home in Marysville, and 
has firm faith in the future of the city.  He is a Catholic in religious faith 
and belongs to the Knights of Columbus and the Woodmen of the World. His record 
is that of a self-made man who has fought life�s battles unaided and won the 
victory in the strife.  He came to the United States on a vessel that was 
thirty-one days in making the trip, and landed at Castle Garden a poor boy whose 
chief resources were youth, hope and ambition.  He has made good use of the 
opportunities that have come to him; and his success is well deserved, for it 
has been worthily won.
 
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1273