Santa
Clara County
Biographies
JAMES SUTHERLAND
Of sturdy English ancestry as well as of
English birth, James Sutherland, a well-known rancher of Santa Clara county and
stockman of Fresno county, has added to his inherited qualities those which are
acquired from a long residence among the progressive and enterprising citizens
of the western states of America. He is located on a ranch of ninety-four acres
in the neighborhood of Lawrence station, (sic) devoting twenty-five acres to
the cultivation of prunes and the remainder to hay; he also has a tract of nine
hundred acres in Fresno county, given over entirely to raising of stock and
dairy purposes, having three hundred head of cattle, well cared for and in
excellent condition. Mr. Sutherland is a farmer of ability, and with a complete
knowledge of his subject, coupled with an enterprising and progressive spirit,
he has endeavored to bring the standard of agricultural interests to a higher
plane, and has succeeded as is evidenced in his own life. Born in Durham
county, England, January 16, 1847, he is the son of William and Ann (Dawson)
Sutherland, both of whom were natives of the same locality, the date of the
mother’s birth being March 18, 1825.
In 1849 William Sutherland came to
the United States, locating first at St. Louis Mo., where he spent the winter,
and from which location, in the following spring he started across the plains
with ox-teams, eager to try his fortunes in the gold fields of California.
Having left his family in their home in England he was free to make effort in
any locality, and his first location was on the Consumne
(sic) river, where he remained for four years. He was very successful in his
work and in 1852 sent for his family, who came out by way of the Isthmus of
Panama, at which place the mother was ill for six months. In 1854 Mr.
Sutherland located on Dry creek, Sacramento county, where he remained for two
years, going then to Fresno county and engaging in
stock raising near Kingston. Fresno county remained
the home of the Sutherland family until 1868 when they came to Santa Clara
county, and two miles north of Lawrence station (sic) purchased a ranch of
eighty acres. In 1902 Mr. Sutherland removed to San Jose, where he lived
retired until his death May 16, 1903, at the age of eighty-two years. In
religion Mr. Sutherland was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church
South, and politically cast his ballot with the Democratic party.
His wife survives him and makes her home in San Jose. She is also a member of
the Bay View Church of this city, and is active in all religious work.
Of the ten children born to his
parents, three sons and seven daughters, Mr. Sutherland was the third in order
of birth, and is the oldest living of two daughters and one son. He came to
California in 1852, a child of five years, and was reared to manhood in his adopted
state, receiving his education in the common schools in the vicinity of his home,
and also attending the seminary at Visalia, Tulare county, for a couple of
years. On approaching manhood he sought the occupation to which he has been trained,
with his father engaging in stock raising in Fresno county,
and coming with him to Santa Clara county, where he assumed charge of the ranch
and his father rested from the busy activities of his earlier life. In 1870 he
became the owner of his present ranch, which adjoins that owned by his father,
and has since successfully carried on the combined work of farmer and
stock-raiser.
In Tulare, on the 13th of
October, 1838, Mr. Sutherland was united in marriage with Eliza Esrey, born in Ray county, Mo.,
the daughter of John Esrey. Mr. Esrey
was a native of Illinois who located in Missouri and in 1864 crossed the plains
to California, where he settled in Fresno county, in
1875 removing to Shasta county, where he engaged as a farmer until his death in
1888, at the age of sixty-eight years. Of the five children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Sutherland, Caroline is deceased; J. C. is manager of the Fresno property;
W. M. is located in Tulare county; Annie J. is the wife of L. A. Bates, of San
Jose; and Eliza Lena is still at home with her parents. Mr. Sutherland, like
his father, is active in church work, being a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church South, in which he officiates as trustee and steward. Fraternally he is
a member of True Fellowship Lodge No. 238, I. O. O. F., of Santa Clara. In his
political convictions he is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest
in the advancement of the principles he endorses, serving as delegate to the
state convention at Fresno and also county conventions. For many years he has
served as school director in his home district. He is a broad-minded and
public-spirited man, and by a life of rectitude has won a place in the esteem
of his fellow men.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1363-1364. The
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.