San
Joaquin County
Biographies
OLIVER C. CUTTS
A progressive, prosperous rancher,
whose methods and results would afford a theme for profitable study, is Oliver
C. Cutts, the owner of some choice Delta farms about nine miles to the southwest
of Stockton, in the Middle Division of Roberts Island, just off Tracy
Road. He was born in Rio Vista on the 25th
of November, 1868, his father being Henry Harrison Cutts, a native of the
Empire State, who came out to California in the early fifties, and as the owner
of a river boat undertook the transportation of freight and passengers from Rio
Vista to Sacramento. After awhile he
sold the boat and conducted a hotel at Rio Vista. He also had a rancho off Steamboat Slough,
and there he passed away near Walnut Grove in 1871 survived by his wife, who
was Mary P. Odell before her marriage, and three sons. On May 2, 1872, the widow was remarried to
Benson D. Beckley, who proved both a considerate step-father and a devoted
husband. Mrs. Cutts-Beckley was born in
Michigan on June 1, 1848, and with her parents crossed the Great Plains with ox
teams about 1854 to California, where they settled on land on the Sacramento
River near the capital. Grandfather
Odell was an early pioneer of Walnut Grove, and had a farm in early days, the
center of which is now the site of the Libby-McNeil-Libby plant. The old home, a large, pretentious red brick
house, can be seen today in passing along the Sacramento River, standing out as
a silent monument to the foresight and grit, as well as the taste, of the man
who built it. The city of Walnut Grove
is located on a portion of the Odell ranch, but the pioneer, as is so often the
case, did not reap the benefit of his struggle for success, that benefit having
fallen to later comers. Benson D.
Beckley was born in Dayton, Ohio, and came west with his parents in the early
fifties; they settled in Sacramento County, where they reared six children, and
where the old home is today. Her served
as a member of the state militia, founded by Governor Stanford in 1861, and was
among those who helped preserve peace and order among both the Indians and the
natives. He carried the United States
mail by pack-horse from Fort Yuma to Fort McDowell, and later as a stage driver
between Walnut Grove and Sacramento City.
He died on August t10, 1918, at a venerable age, breathing his last in
the Soldiers’ Home at Napa.
Among the most satisfying
recollections of our subject is the fact that he always stood by his parents,
sending them, after leaving home, what money he could to help keep up the home,
as those were hard years for the farmers on the Sacramento Delta. In 1886 he came into San Joaquin County and
worked on the Odell ranch near Lathrop.
Later he found employment on the J. M. Blankenship ranch near French
Camp. Each winter he returned to his
home in Sacramento County, and there he remained after 1889. The year previous, he entered the Delta on
Roberts Island, and he has ever since been identified with its development,
first as a farm hand, then as a foreman on a large tract of land, and finally
as the owner of two fine ranches. The
first was purchased in 1901, and embraced forty acres; and to that he added by
subsequent purchases, so that now he has ninety acres in the home place, and
eighty acres nearby.
On January 21, 1910, Mr. Cutts
received a clear title to a claim in Calaveras County, including 160 acres; but
due to priority mining claims, this property was segregated, and now he owns
only ninety-two acres; but it is valuable ranch land, and the patent was signed
by President Taft. In 1912, however, Mr.
Cutts suffered severe loss in the destruction of his home by fire, but two
years later he rebuilt his residence, erecting a far handsomer and more
comfortable home than before.
As early as April 25, 1899, Mr.
Cutts had married at Stockton Miss Sarah Etta Brown, the daughter of George W.
and Mary (White) Brown, natives of Illinois and Arkansas, respectively. When they were children of nine years and two
years, respectively, they crossed the plains with their parents in an ox-team
train, being nine months en route. The
family friendship thus formed continued after the arrival in California, and in
due time the young folks were married.
The paternal grandparents settled near Stockton, where they spent the
remainder of their lives. The maternal
grandparents, the Whites, settled in Calaveras County, and when the
Copperopolis Mine was opened they opened the first boarding-house. Later on Mr. White was engaged in freighting,
but soon purchased a farm near Stockton, where he became one of the progressive
farmers. Selling out he removed to
Texas, after raising a family of thirteen children. In Texas he became a large farmer and
stockman, continuing active until his death in 1917, at the age of
ninety-eight, his wife having passed away fifteen years previously. Mr. White was a decided optimist and a
public-spirited man, and his was a very interesting and worthy career.
George W. Brown was a very
progressive farmer at Collegeville, where he owned about a thousand acres of
land, and farmed other ranches besides.
He also ran a stationary thresher all over the county, and was well and
favorably known. He finally discontinued
operating on such a large scale, and thereafter devoted his time to general
farming on his ranch. Mr. Brown was a
Democrat, and was prominent in county conventions and committees. He died at Lathrop in 1907. His widow still lives and is the mother of
ten children, all living, of whom Mrs. Cutts is the fourth in order of
birth. She was born at Collegeville and
received her education in the public school of the Wildwood district.
Mr. and Mrs. Cutts are the parents
of four children: Veva
G., a graduate of the Stockton High School, the wife of Joe M. Davis, of Lodi,
and the mother of one child; Ora Mae, also a graduate
of the Stockton High School, and now the stenographer for the R. E. Doan
Company; Cecil R., attending the Stockton High School; and Robert O., in
grammar school. In 1922 Mr. Cutts moved
into Stockton in order to provide better educational facilities for his
children. He has always been a strong
advocate of farming by irrigation, and spends most of his time looking after is
ranch.
A Republican in respect for party
standards, Mr. Cutts heartily supported all the Liberty Loans and Red Cross
work. As a member of Charity Lodge, I.
O. O. F., at Stockton, he helps along its benevolent work in whatever way he
can. He takes a very live interest in
the cause of education, and has been clerk of the board of trustees of
Fairchild School for the past twenty years, interesting himself particularly in
child-welfare work.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1550-1551. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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