Papers, financial documents, account books, photographs, bills, and other ephemera belonging to Mary Brazil, Portuguese dairy rancher in Marin County. The bulk of the materials pertain to Mary Brazil’s business operations and personal correspondence. Additional material documents the correspondence and other papers of her husband, Antone (Antonio) Brazil, as well as her brother, Tony Brazil.

Mary Brazil was born in the Azores in 1890 and died in Santa Rosa in April of 1962, at the age of 72. She was married to Antone (or Antonio) Silveria Brazil, who was born in 1854 and died in 1936 at the age of 81. She had two siblings, Tony Brazil and Mariane Enos. Mary Brazil owned and operated a dairy farm known as Brazil Ranch, located on Little Reed Ranch on the Tiburon Peninsula at the present location of the Del Mar School playing fields and tennis courts. She acquired the ranch in 1926 as an inheritance from her close friend Clothilde (or Clotilda) Josefa Reed, owner of the Corte Madera del Presidio Rancho which encompassed Little Reed Ranch. In 1944, Mary Brazil sold the dairy and after fifty years in the dairy industry, she retired to Santa Rosa in 1958.

.84 linear feet (2 boxes)

Collection is open for research. Original materials may be viewed with permission from staff. Digital copies of materials may be available. Materials in this collection do not circulate.