Name/Title
Fernandez children playing music (Mariotti)Description
A sailor since age 13, Portuguese immigrant Bernardo Fernandez arrived in 1854. Bernardo left Lisbon, Portugal, in 1840 on a sea-going freighter. In 1854 he landed in Pinole and joined Manuel Sueyras in shipping and trade. Bernardo soon became the area’s primary merchant and trader. He partnered with Capt. Francis E. Cruz in his bay shipping business before becoming sole owner. By 1859, he had three schooners, and had built wharves, warehouses, a store and a house. His embarcadero was called Pinole Landing. That same year, he married Carlotta Cuadra at St. Mary’s Church in San Francisco.
Charlotte (Carlotta) Cuadra Fernandez married Bernardo Fernandez in 1859 in the old St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. They had three daughters: Maria Antonia (Mary), Anita, and Emelia; and three sons: Bernardo, Manuel, and Thomas. The first and second homes they built were destroyed by fire and flood, respectively. Their third home of 22 rooms, built in 1894, still stands at the foot of Tennent Avenue and the waterfront. It is the home of the Dr. Joseph Mariotti family, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
By 1877, Fernandez had acquired most of the valley lands and ranches. He would supervise his holdings from his black buggy. He was remembered as a kind man who would give a child a dime and an orange for opening a gate, but also as a strict businessman who wanted a penny owed to him.Copyright
Copyright Holder
Pinole Historical Society