San
Joaquin County
Biographies
FRED DUTCHER
Among the more recent accessions of
the agricultural class in San Joaquin County is Fred Dutcher, who since 1919
has farmed successfully on his homestead of seventy-seven acres northwest of Woodbridge. He was born near Warren, Jo Daviess County,
Illinois, April 6, 1872, a son of John Henry and Margaret Elizabeth (Renwick)
Dutcher. When Fred Dutcher was six weeks
old his parents moved to Beloit, Kansas, where the father homesteaded a quarter-section
of land and engaged in general farming pursuits; later he sold his ranch and
moved to the city of Beloit. Grandfather
Dutcher was an early settler of Illinois.
Before the Civil War he settled among the Black Hawk Indians of northern
Illinois, and served in the Black Hawk Indian wars. He acquired a section of land and engaged in
farming. His farm was well improved; the
barn cost about $50,000 and his house was built of black walnut lumber and was
splendidly furnished.
Fred Dutcher received only a limited
schooling, for he was only eight years old when he left home and became a
jockey. He rode for many years for Ed
Corrigan, riding in races throughout Texas, Louisiana and the southern and
central western states during a period of thirteen years. He was twenty-one years old when he decided
to quit the tracks. Thereafter he did
all kinds of work through the middle west, and covered
a great deal of country in his travels.
On May 20, 1902, at Salina, Kansas,
Mr. Dutcher was married to Miss Edith Armstrong, a native of Texas, a daughter
of Robert and Lucinda (Snody) Armstrong. The young couple resided in Salina until
1909, when they removed to Morgan Hill, California, and Mr. Dutcher found work
in the prune orchards of that locality.
Afterwards he moved to Coalinga, California, and worked on the rotary
drilling machines in the oil fields for two years. Then for one year he drove tractors for the
Kern Trading Oil Company. Later he was
with the San Joaquin Valley Farm and Land Company; and then he moved to
Corcoran, California, and worked for the El Rico Land Company. He was also employed by the David Jacks
Company on their Monterey City ranch, where he remained until six years ago. Then he came to Lodi as foreman for Judge De
Vries on his ranch north of Woodbridge, and continued in that capacity for
three years.
In 1919 Mr. Dutcher purchased
forty-seven acres north of Woodbridge, twelve acres of which is in
seventeen-year old vines. Later he
purchased an additional thirty acres near his other property, which was in
alfalfa and unimproved land. He runs a
dairy of thirty-three head. His ranch is
equipped with a seven-inch pump driven by a fifteen-horsepower motor for irrigation. Sound judgment, industry and strong purpose
are salient features of Mr. Dutcher’s business
career, and these constitute the basis of his prosperity.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1463-1464. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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