W. V. NEWMAN

The possibilities of the new world were as yet a matter of uncertainty and conjecture when the Newman family crossed the ocean to identify their fortunes with those of the fair land of hope. The ancient commonwealth of Virginia was their first place of sojourn, and several generations remained in that part of the country, bearing their quota in state and national advancement. It was not until about the middle of the nineteenth century that the first representatives of the family established the name in the Mississippi valley and took up government land in that rich Illinois region tributary to McLean county. In the city of Bloomington, Ill., Mr. Newman was born in 1854, and there he passed the first seven years of life. Meanwhile the settlement of Kansas was arousing great interest, both by reason of the rich soil of the Sunflower state and because of the excitement incident to the Civil war or the preliminary struggle associated with that part of the west.

The settlement of the family in Kansas was followed shortly thereafter by the pre-emption of a quarter section of government land in Greenwood county, some distance south of the city of Emporia. At the age of twenty-one years he started out to earn his own livelihood. For a long period he rented a farm of two hundred and fifty acres, where he engaged in raising corn, cattle and hogs.

Coming to California during 1901 Mr. Newman settled in the vicinity of Winters, Yolo county, and engaged in the raising of fruit on a farm of sixty acres. For three years he labored with untiring industry to secure the most satisfactory results possible from the tract, of which seven acres were in almond trees, three acres in pears, and the balance largely in apricots and peaches. At the expiration of three years he gave up horticulture for ranching and settled near Knight's Landing, where he operated sixty acres as an alfalfa ranch and dairy farm. To a small extent he raised corn and engaged in the hog business. November 1, 1910, he rented a farm near Woodland, on the Yolo road, and there he managed eighty acres of fine land, forty acres in alfalfa and a like amount in grain. In the fall of 1911 he located in Woodland, near the high school, where he conducts a dairy, supplies by a herd of twenty milch cows. Assisting him in the care of the dairy business is his wife, a woman of capability and thrift, possessing the economical traits characteristic of the people of her native land, Germany. October 18, 1885, in Kansas, Miss Sarah Ulridge became the wife of Mr. Newman, and since then she has been his efficient co-worker in all labors. They are the parents of eight children, namely: Henry, who assists his father in the care of the ranch; Martha, who married Jesse Wiseman and resides in Sacramento; Bessie, Edgar, Jessie, Frank, Harvey (deceased) and Grace.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 814 - 815.

Capt. Carl B. NICHOLS

The captain of Company F, Second Infantry, California National Guard, has spent the greater portion of his life in Woodland, his present home, but is a native of Iowa and was born at Clairmont, Fayette county, August 19, 1877, being a son of Cyrus B. and Mary C. (Adams) Nichols, natives of New York state, but residents of Iowa from early years. Through all of his active life the father follows agricultural pursuits and after he had disposed of his farming interests in Iowa he came to California in 1889, settling in Woodland, where he took up general farming. Eventually he relinquished the heavy duties incident to agriculture and since then he has been living retired in Woodland, where he has a host of warm personal friends, not only among his acquaintances of the past twenty or more years, but also among the younger generation entering upon life's activities. During 1904 he was bereaved by the death of his wife, who passed away at the family home, leaving him irreparably grieved in the separation.

The only child of his parents, Carl B. Nichols was given the best educational advantages that Woodland afforded, completing the studies of the grammar and high schools and also attending Pierce's Business College. After leaving college he entered the employ of T. S. Spaulding as a salesman in 1900 and soon became recognized for efficiency and thoroughness. Meanwhile during 1899 he had enlisted as a private in Company F, Second Infantry, California National Guard. Later he was commissioned corporal, then sergeant, next second lieutenant, and as such served with the company at San Francisco at the time of the earthquake and fire in 1906. Soon afterwards, in recognition of his efficiency in military tactics, he was made first lieutenant, which commission he held for about five years. March 5, 1911, the company elected him captain, thus showing their appreciation of his fidelity in service and also furnishing abundant testimony as to their belief in his efficiency.

The marriage of Captain Nichols and Miss Emma Mather, a native of Lake county, Cal., was solemnized March 1, 1904, in Woodland, where the young couple began housekeeping and where since they have made their home. They are the parents of three children, Claude, Louise and Shirley. The family are identified with the Congregational Church and contribute quite generously to religious movements. From the time of casting his first ballot Captain Nichols has supported the men and measures of the Republican party, to which he gives a whole-hearted fidelity and an intelligent appreciation of its value to the prosperity of the nation. Various fraternal organizations have had the benefit of his co-operation, included among these being the Maccabees, the Foresters of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 576- 579.

J. J. NICKELL

J. J. Nickell, a well known Yolo County farmer, was born about 1820, the son of Robert and Ellen (Perry) Nickell, both of whom were natives of Virginia; the father, by occupation a farmer, died in Mason County, Kentucky, when the subject of this sketch was a small boy; his mother died in Fleming County, Kentucky, in 1852. He was born in that County in 1820, and in 1852 he went to Missouri, where he was engaged in farming up to 1864, when he came to California, across plain and mountain, being six months on the way. He first stopped in Yolo County, where he has ever since remained, and he now has a good farm of 160 acres, where he raises wheat, barley, etc.

He married Miss Mary Taylor, who was born in Tennessee, their marriage taking place in Linn County, Missouri. They have six children living, namely: Ellen E., now the wife of J. P. Goodnow; Martha J., now the wife of George Tilly; Lena F., now Mrs. Fred Mast, Jr.; Henry T., attending school; James W., at home; and Mary T., attending college at Woodland. Three children are deceased.

Source: Memorial & Biographical History of Northern California, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1891
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Emil NICLAS

Emil Niclas, one of the proprietors of the Yolo Brewery, is a young man of more than ordinary energy and ability in his occupation. He dates his birth July 6,1860, in Germany, where he learned his trade and followed the same until 1882, when he came to California, and worked at his trade in San Francisco and Sacramento. He went to Woodland, and in 1889 he became a partner in the association now owning the Yolo Brewery, which ranks among the first-class in the State. Mr. Niclas is yet unmarried.

Source: Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 1891 Page 730.
Transcribed by Pat Houser

Reuben B. NISSEN

In a region remote from North Carolina, where he was born July 5, 1845, and where he passed the uneventful years of youth, it was the destiny of Reuben B. Nissen to pass the busy afternoon of life and to pass from a serene twilight into the rest of eternity. He did not come direct from the Atlantic seaboard to the shores of the Pacific, but stopped for three years at Knobnoster, Johnson county, Mo., and thence proceeded westward in the year 1870. For eight years he followed the carpenter's trade at Elmira and rose from day wages to the work of a contractor and builder, in which he met with fair success, and he followed the building business after he located at Esparto. Eventually he turned to agricultural pursuits and became the owner of nine hundred and eighty acres near Esparto, where he resided from 1878 until his death, February 13, 1910. Prominent among associates, he was called upon to fill the office of school trustee and in that capacity aided in the upbuilding of the district schools. On one occasion his friends selected him for the office of supervisor, but he refused to serve in the position. The cares of business kept him from returning to his old southern home and renewing the associations of boyhood, but a number of his relatives visited him in his western home, among them being his three brothers, W. M., a prominent wagon manufacturer of North Carolina, C. F. and S. J. Two sisters, two nephews and two nieces also came to visit him from North Carolina and he further enjoyed a visit from a sister living in Missouri, so that the ties of kinship were maintained with affection throughout his entire life.

The marriage of Reuben B. Nissen at Maine Prairie, Solano county, January 6, 1875, united him with Miss Mary Virginia Wyatt, who was born in Grundy county, Mo., and at a very early age came across the plains in 1864 with her parents, James N. B. and Ann (Williams) Wyatt. Although very young at the time, she recalls many events of the journey with surprising distinctness. When the emigrants were in camp on the Platte river they were surprised and alarmed by the sudden advent of a man on horseback, without hat or boots, his clothing in rags and an arrow in his back. He told them that the Indians had killed his parents and taken captive his wife, a beautiful young woman with long hair. Dr. A. Wynn, an uncle of Mrs. Nissen, cut the arrow out and made the man as comfortable as the circumstances permitted. He was put on a wagon and taken with the expedition as far as Fort Laramie, where he made heart-rending pleadings that the party would remain until he recovered so that he could come on to California with them.

There were thirty wagons and one hundred persons in the train. They crossed the Platte river in four wagon beds, caulked and tied together. Ten men took hold of the sides of the craft. When they could touch bottom they would shove the boat along. When they could not touch bottom they would swing on the boat and lit it float. All of the running gear of the thirty wagons, as well as the one hundred persons and their belongings were crossed in the wagon beds and it took twenty-one days to get across and prepared to move forward. While camping on the Platte an electric storm arose. The downpour of hail, with the vivid lightning and terrific thunder, frightened the cattle so that they ran away and the Indians captured them. Some of the brave men of the expedition followed the savages, shot them, rescued the stock and returned to camp with every animal safe. Mrs. Nissen well remembers the great rejoicing when the men and stock came safely back to camp.

When camp was made a long distance from any fort it was the custom for the emigrants to arrange their wagons in a circle. The stock were placed within the circle and all night long each man would stand guard at his wagon with his gun in his hand. The ox-teams would sometimes give out from tender feet. When an ox began to walk lame it would be taken out and a cow put in its place, while the tired ox had a chance to recuperate with the balance of the herd driven back of the wagon train. The churning on the trip was not after the method followed in the Woodland and Winters creameries. After the cows had been milked in the morning, the milk would be placed in the churn and at night, when camp was made, the butter would be in round balls about the size of a marble.

During the long journey of six months and ten days between Grundy county, Mo., and Cloverdale, Sonoma county, only one death occurred. A small child was buried at Fort Laramie on the 4th of July and the accidental presence of soldiers with their band of music made the ceremony very impressive, particularly for the small children, who felt sad at the thought of leaving their beloved playmate in the lonely little grave in that strange land. Few of the travelers were ill, the most serious trouble being an epidemic of the whooping cough. Every Sunday services were held with excellent singing and earnest preaching. During the week nights the young people would have parties and dances, so that there was some enjoyment in the midst of the hardships. The only mirror in the expedition was the property of her mother, Mrs. J. N. B. Wyatt, who was accustomed to hang it out on the wagon every Sunday morning, so that the men could come there to shave. Some would come to look at their faces and study the changes in their features since they left home. There was no silverware in the party, nor any china or cut-glass, but every woman had her new outfit of tin dishes. The first night that the provisions were placed on the ground a baby (F. M. Wyatt of Winters) started to creep across the improvised table in a hurry and the rattle that followed was amusing for everyone.

Four sons came to bless the union of Reuben B. and Virginia Nissen. The third oldest, Babe, born September 16, 1889, was taken from the home by death April 6, 1891. The eldest of the family, Clarence R., a stockman, born September 9, 1883, married Elsie M. Taber and they have two children, Virginia M. and Clarence Reuben, Jr. The second son, Claude S., born November 12, 1886, manages the home place, with the assistance of the youngest son, Frank W., born June 13, 1895. These two brothers have one hundred and twenty-five head of hogs as well as a large number of other live stock and in the threshing season they run a combined harvester on their own place, also doing threshing for others and averaging twenty-five acres per day. The home farm, "Rose Mound," occupied by the widow and the two youngest sons, comprises one hundred and ninety acres, located in Lamb valley, three and one-half miles southwest of Esparto, of which more than one-half in pasture and in grain. Seventy-five acres are in apricots, peaches, pears, prunes, almonds and apples, bringing in a large annual revenue. The rest of the holdings has been divided between the sons. They are young men of energy and are adding luster to an honored pioneer name.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County California with Biographical Sketches of The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth and Development From the Early Days to the Present" page 311-313 by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, 1913.

John NORTON

A native of Ireland, his birth having occurred in County Roscommon, October 14, 1868, Mr. Norton came direct to Woodland at the age of sixteen years, in 1885, and shortly thereafter secured a situation upon the ranch of Frank Bullard, who whom he remained off and on for sixteen years. In 1900 he accepted a position on the Southern Pacific Railroad, his route lying between Sacramento and Truckee, Cal., but five months later, having been accustomed all his life to the great out of doors, resigned his position with intense relief at the prospect of again working in harmony with nature.

Returning to Yolo county, Mr. Norton took charge of the farm of George Woodward, and two years later purchased his present ranch of twenty acres, one mile west of Woodland, which was formerly used as a race track and was known as Brown's Corners. Twelve acres of this property he planted to wine grapes, the balance to alfalfa and orchard, maintaining in connection with his agricultural pursuits an active interest in the breeding of fine horses. At one time he owned the famous stallion Gossiper Jr., and has raised many fine trotters and roadsters. At present he is the owner of the draft stallion, Pierce S. Wright, whose weight is eighteen hundred and sixty pounds, and who, by reason of his superiority, has taken two blue ribbons, one at the Sacramento State Fair in 1903, as a two-year-old, and one at the Yolo County Fair, held in Woodland in 1909. Mr. Norton trained the well-known pacer Smuggler, by Walstein, whose record was 2:17 ¼ , and has raised many fine colts.

The marriage of Mr. Norton in August, 1901, united him with Miss Rowena Millsap, a native of Yolo county, and to their union three children were born, Elsa, Glennon L. and Albert L. Mrs. Norton's father, Walter W. Millsap, a native of Missouri, crossed the plains at the age of seventeen, arriving in Hangtown in May, 1850. During the succeeding two years he mined with indifferent success, and in 1852 settled in Yolo county, where until his death, February 2, 1910, he farmed one hundred and fifteen acres near Yolo. He was married in 1856 to Miss Amanda Lowe, a Kentucky girl, who came overland by wagon to California in 1850 with her parents, and who now resides on the home place. Mrs. Norton is fifth eldest of the living children, as follows: William N., of Anderson, Shasta county, Cal.; Martha W., now Mrs. L. Odlum of Woodland; Lee W. and Casse, twins, the former residing in Yolo, the latter, now Mrs. S. M. Snyder, of San Francisco; Rowena, Mrs. Norton; Rufus L., of Lake county; Melvin H., a rancher near Yolo; Wirt, who conducts the home ranch; Gertrude, now the wife of Allen Lawcock, of Berkeley; and Albert, who makes his home in Portland, Ore.

Mr. Norton has aided materially in the development of Yolo county, maintaining at all times an alert interest in all public enterprises, and enjoys the highest esteem of his fellow citizens.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 815 - 816.

Daniel Webster NUTTING

The name of this honored citizen of Yolo was associated with local upbuilding for many years. Whether in the capacity of a business man or in the discharge of official duties he was characterized alike by a faithful attention to details and a keen intelligence in the comprehension of large enterprises. Endowed by nature with the qualities that win and retain friends, he was peculiarly fortunate in possessing the warm regard of associates and the confidence of acquaintances. In all circles he was respected as a kindly, courteous gentleman and when he died, ending the long period of his service as postmaster, many tributes admiration gave evidence to the sincerity of the attachment of his friends and the high character of his citizenship.

Born near Lowell, Mass., in 1838 and educated in the schools of that state, Mr. Nutting heard the call of the west in his young manhood and came to the coast country at an early date. To this region he gave the best of his energies and the maturity of his mental powers. At first he found employment in Tulare county. For a number of years he owned and operated a flour mill at Princeton, Colusa county, meanwhile extensively engaging in the manufacture of flour. During the period of his residence in Princeton he established a home, being united in marriage, August 4, 1873, with Miss Mary Jane Forsythe, who was born near Marshall, Clark county, Ill. Her parents, Chesterfield and Mary Jane (Davis) Forsythe, were natives respectively of Kentucky and Illinois, the former having removed to Illinois in early maturity and afterward identified himself with the development of his chosen locality.

For five years after marriage remaining in Princeton, in 1878 Mr. and Mrs. Nutting removed to Yolo, where he purchased the flour mill and engaged in the milling business until he disposed of the plant and building four years later. From the first of his identification with Yolo he was a leader among the people and by all he was respected as a citizen of solid worth and unquestioned value of the town. For fourteen consecutive years he filled the office of postmaster and was still occupying the position at the time of his death. His long retention in the place furnishes abundant testimony as to the appreciation given to his services. The only secret order of which he was a member, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, for years enjoyed the benefit of his association which its lodge in Yolo, in which he was a generous contributor to the good of the order.

Of the children comprising the family of Mr. and Mrs. Nutting one beloved daughter, Clara Belle Nutting, died in young womanhood. The surviving daughter, Alice, is the wife of H. E. Shamp, an engineer on the Southern Pacific Railroad, with headquarters at Sacramento. The only son, Alden, a young man of excellent education and high character, has gained proficiency in the trades of carpenter and engineer and makes a specialty of operating portable or stationary engines. At the death of his father he was chosen to fill out the unexpired term and served for two years, giving to the work the same painstaking earnestness, the same industrious application and the same intelligent oversight that had characterized his father's long and successful official record.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 712 - 713.

Samuel Lawrence NUTTING

Long and efficient service in the capacity of justice of the peace made Mr. Nutting a prominent figure throughout Yolo county and rendered familiar the title of judge by which he was usually addressed. An identification with the county extending back for thirty years or more, as well as a general knowledge of the law unusual for one not trained for the profession, combined to adapt him admirably to the office of justice, in which he proved painstaking, careful and impartial, always counseling harmony and opposing litigation, but in the event of suit proving himself well informed in all the technicalities appertaining to kindred cases. When first elected to the office he proved so reliable and impartial that at the expiration of the term he was chosen his own successor and again continued in office for a third consecutive term. Later he was elected to the same office and re-elected making five terms altogether in the position, the long tenure proving the acceptability of his service.

One of the early vessels that sailed from England to America brought the Nutting family to the Atlantic coast during the year 1650, and from that time to the present the family has had representatives in New England. Daniel, Sr., and his son and namesake were born in Massachusetts, and Asha, son of Daniel, Jr., likewise was born in the Old Bay State, where in young manhood he married Clarissa Wilkins, who was born in Massachusetts of English ancestry. Their son, Samuel L., was born at Westford, Mass., October 19, 1835, and received a common school education supplemented by attendance in an academy. As a boy he lived on a farm, where his aptitude as a mechanic and his skill with tools proved very useful. During 1857 he came to San Francisco via the Panama route and secured employment in a hardware store, where he had a fair business training. After a little less than three years in the store he went to Lower California in Mexico and engaged in mining about three years. Next he removed to Nevada, and for about twenty years operated a stationery engine in a quartz mill.

The round of labor in the Nevada mill was interrupted by a visit to the east and a temporary sojourn in New England, where in March of 1867 Mr. Nutting married Miss Ellen Chickering, who was born in Framingham, Mass., and taught school there for some years prior to her marriage. She was the daughter of James and Nancy (Bailey) Chickering, natives of Massachusetts, where the father was a farmer. The young couple settled at Concord, N. H., where for more than a year he worked in the railroad shops, later returning to Nevada and resuming his former occupation. The only child born of the marriage died in infancy. For a short time Mrs. Nutting remained with her father in the east before joining her husband in California. The judge, however, remained steadily in the west, where, in his cozy home, surrounded by the comforts of existence, he rounded out an active, useful life. After 1881 he made his home in Yolo, where he bought a ranch of seventeen acres, on which he built a neat cottage. On the land he planted English walnut and almond trees, also a vineyard producing grapes of the choicest quality, and an orchard with desirable varieties of deciduous fruits. Then entire tract reflects his wise judgment and untiring energy. In addition to managing the place and serving as justice he engaged in well-boring and sunk a large number of wells throughout this part of the state. His earthly career came to an end on March 30, 1912.

While working as a mechanic at Concord, N. H., Judge Nutting was made a mason in the blue lodge of that city, and later he transferred his membership to Yolo, where he served in an official capacity for many years. His first presidential ballot was cast for John C. Fremont in 1856. After that he never missed voting at each national election with the exception of the year 1860, the first election of Abraham Lincoln, for whom he did not then have the privilege of voting by reason of his absence in Mexico. His faith in Republican principles was strong and he gave unqualified support to men and measures supported by the party. Since her husband's death Mrs. Nutting has continued to reside at the old home place, which she superintends. She is especially interested in the work of the Yolo Methodist Episcopal Church, with which she is actively identified.

Transcribed by Bea Barton
Source: "History of Yolo County, California" by Tom Gregory. Published by the Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1913, pages 502 - 505.