Arthur G. Moniz (1911-1973) grew up in East Oakland, the son of Hawaiian parents of Portuguese ancestry. His father George was a shipbuilder, and at age 19 Arthur was listed in the 1930 census as a cabinetmaker. In the 1940 census he was listed as a cemetery caretaker, married to Rose (another Hawaiian native) and the father of Arthur Jr., born in 1939. Various records have him as a mariner in 1934, a shipbuilder in 1935, an ironworker in 1936, 1938 and 1940, a laborer in 1939, a shipfitter in 1944 and a cement contractor in 1967.
He never used a metal stamp. His trademark was the hand-drawn scroll; I have examples dating from the 1930s into the 1960s. I have two examples from the 1950s consisting of the scroll with “Moniz + Moniz” inside. Perhaps Arthur Jr. helped, or a relative. He also left hand-drawn marks consisting of his name and various partners:
Moniz & Johnson (perhaps R. W. Johnson or R. E. Johnson)
Moniz & Chaves (probably L. F. Chaves)
Andrade & Moniz (William Andrade)
Moniz-Silva-Chaves (there are several possible Silvas)
He lived at several addresses in East Oakland, but I think of his home being at 3955 Burckhalter Avenue, where he lived in the 1950s.
It’s because of this panel at the front gate.
I wish I knew more about him; I think he must have been a character.
Oakland Underfoot 
27 January 2018 at 10:05 pm
Essentially you are correct. Arthur was my uncle and yes Moniz and Moniz was his son Art Jr.
I also helped him a few times putting in sidewalks and driveways with his younger son Larry. Burkhalter is where he lived for a while.
He also lived on 74th Ave and on San Antonio Way. He was in the Coast Guard in the 1930s. tom moniz
28 January 2018 at 4:20 pm
Thanks so much for this comment, Tom.
I have a question: Can you tell me how he made his signature scroll mark?
28 January 2018 at 5:34 pm
andrew
thank YOU for this great service
ive also wondered who these other cement markers were
Im sure he just made two sideways Ss then drew the verticals lines to connect the two
My uncle was a very hard worker
he had no power tools unless he used them later
He used to break the sidewalks with a sledge hammer then load the broken pieces on his 46 chevy truck
one time he had the bed loaded as high as the cab and blew a tire
since the springs were overloaded,he couldnt get a jack under the truck
I dont remember how he got the tire changed
he worked as far away as the san joaquin river club in tracy putting in several driveways for his brother Al
he also built the stairs and porch for my dad (his brother ) at 3234 Logan st you can see them on googlemaps.com
they are still there after almost 65 years
my dad and i helped the neighbor on the right ,to build the iron railings which im happy to say are still there on the stairs
my uncle also poured the sidewalk to the left of the stairs,but i think they may have redone them as it now looks newer
tom moniz
right now i dont know how to get ahold of his two boys
31 January 2018 at 11:48 pm
Real close. Moniz and Moniz was Art Moniz and his cousin Joe Moniz. The partnership broke up after about 3 years. Then he did business as Arthur G. Moniz. Great review Tom.
1 February 2018 at 9:42 am
ive sent this on to see if Arts sons Art Jr and Larry will contribute to this forum
they know a lot more than I
21 July 2022 at 5:44 pm
These are such cool and artistic marks. Found another A.G. Moniz mark on Champion Street and I’m sure there are a number of others around.
12 May 2023 at 5:29 pm
Thank you for sharing this
17 May 2023 at 6:04 pm
I spotted a variation on the solo Moniz mark today – it simply shows “Moniz” with the phone number below. No year marking, and no scroll, similar to most of the marks he made that include various partners. The mark is fairly faint, on the north side of 67th Street between Mabel and San Pablo (a little west of the N. McLeod Mark along that block). I’ve never seen this particular variation of the Moniz mark before.