Butte County
Biographies
DE WITT CLINTON CUDDEBACK
DE WITT CLINTON CUDDEBACK.—Comparatively
few of the veterans of the Civil War remain with us. Most of them have joined the ranks of the
countless multitude which has preceded them into the land of shadows—a land
from which “no traveler e’er returns.” Mr. Cuddeback is
one of the few of the old boys in blue who are still with us. He is a native of Illinois,
born in Hancock County,
June 2, 1838. His father, John Cuddeback, was born near Skaneateles,
N. Y. He came to Ohio,
where he ran a canal boat and where he was married to Miss Sallie Ann
Richardson, a native of Ohio. In 1837, he removed to Hancock
County, Ill., where he was a
pioneer farmer and helped to drive the Mormons out of Nauvoo. In 1861, he came with his wife and family,
except De Witt Clinton, the eldest, across the plains to California, remaining
here until 1863, when he returned East via Panama, leaving his family
temporarily behind; they followed him in 1864.
After the war he settled in Hampton, Iowa,
where he farmed until he died. After her
husband’s death, his widow returned to California
and died at the home of her eldest son.
De Witt Clinton
Cuddeback was raised on the prairies of Illinois
where he attended the district school in a log schoolhouse with slab benches,
the modern schoolhouse being a thing unknown in Illinois
at that time. Owing to trouble with his
eyes, he was obliged to leave school, and he began farming. He was married in Nodaway
County, in northern Missouri,
in 1858, to Miss Elizabeth Daggett, a native of Ohio. He continued farming until the war. In 1862 he enlisted as a volunteer in Company
G, Twelfth Illinois Cavalry. At Springfield
he was mustered into the Army of the Potomac as sergeant
and colorbearer of the Company. He was with his regiment in a number of
engagements, including the famous battle of Gettysburg,
and had several horses shot from under him, but fortunately escaped injury
himself. After the Gettysburg
battle he was honorably discharged and went to Chicago. In 1864 he reenlisted in the same company and
regiment. They were sent to New
Orleans and were with General Banks in the Red River
campaign. He was afterward taken
seriously ill and was much disappointed that he could not go with his regiment
to the Rio Grande. He received his honorable discharge in
August, 1865, and returned to his home in Illinois.
In 1867, Mr. Cuddeback moved to Iowa and
purchased eighty acres of land, which he farmed until April, 1870, when he came
by rail to California, being one
week on the way. He baled hay in the
vicinity of Marysville until the fall of 1870, when he located at Dayton, Butte
County, and was engaged in farming for one year, then began teaming, running
outfits of eight to twelve mule teams each, hauling to the mines in the
mountains. In 1880, he moved to Red
Dirt, eight miles north of Marysville, where he bought a ranch of eighty acres,
set out an orchard, and began teaming for the merchants in Marysville,
sometimes running three teams hauling goods to the mountains as far as La
Porte, and lumber on the return trip.
From Red Dirt he moved to Brownsville, Butte
County, and bought an eighty-acre
ranch, living there eleven years, continuing in the teaming business. He still owns that place. In 1903 he moved to near Marysville and lived
there seven years, and from there went to Sutter
County and bought a dairy of forty
cows, which he ran for three years. In
1912 he bought six acres in Chico
on Nord Avenue, which he
planted to peaches and almonds.
Among other blessings during a long, happy
and prosperous life, Mr. and Mrs. Cuddeback were
blessed with twelve children, two of whom died at an early age. The eldest daughter, Alice, Mrs. William Nellis, died in Yuba
County. Six boys and three girls are still living:
Laura, Emeretta, Mrs. Cleland, resides in Chico;
Florence, a contractor and builder, resides at Brownsville; Edson
N. is a teacher in this county; Peter is a resident of Chico; De Witt Clinton,
Jr., is a rancher in Yuba County; Daisy, Mrs. William Turner, lives in Chico Vecino; Emery is city superintendent of schools at Visalia;
Robert is a farmer in Washington; and Sally Ann Lyn, now residing in
Sebastopol.
Mr. Cuddeback is Past Commander of the G. A. R. Post at
Marysville, is a Republican in politics and he and his wife are members of the
Christian Church.
Transcribed 5-2-08
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 922-923, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
©
2008 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
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