San
Joaquin County
Biographies
FRANK HUTCHINSON
A well known and worthy
representative of farming interests in the Ripon district
of San Joaquin County is found in Frank Hutchinson, now content to live a more
quiet life, after many years of activity.
He was born at Schenectady, New York, January 9, 1856, a son of William
and Hester (Van Patten) Hutchinson, who were of Scotch and Holland Dutch
parentage and parents of three children, all living. The mother died about 1861. When a lad of ten years he accompanied his
father to California via Panama. His
parent was a machinist by trade and upon arriving in San Francisco, entered the
shops of the Union Iron Works; some years later he went to Sacramento as a
foreman in the railroad shops. While on
a visit to relatives and friends in the home town of Schenectady, in May, 1886,
he passed away. Frank Hutchinson remained
in California and at the age of fourteen went to work on the John Frederick
ranch near Ripon, where he remained for eighteen months; then went to live with
Warren Howell on the ranch northwest of Ripon, what is now known as the Norton
and Anger vineyard, and by the time he was sixteen years old, he had plowed and
sowed a section of land, as well as setting out the locust trees seen in the
front of the house. Forty-one years ago,
Mr. Hutchinson began his farming pursuits near Ripon, where he has since
resided.
On September 1, 1881, Mr. Hutchinson
was married to Miss Mary Ellen Nutt, a daughter of Elias and Lucinda (Beatley) Frederick-Nutt, being eldest of six children born
to Mr. and Mrs. Nutt. Elias Nutt crossed
the plains to California in 1861 and settled four miles southwest of Ripon one
year later, where he farmed extensively to grain. He died at the age of seventy-four years, in
1884. He was a man of unquestioned
honesty and uprightness of purpose and could always be depended upon to do his
share in the development of the locality in which he lived.
Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson are the
parents of three children: Clarence
Edward married Miss Alice Swaggerty and is a rancher
in the Calla district; Laura Inez is Mrs. Redwood W. Fisher; and William Arthur
married Miss Lucinda May Nicewonger and they have four children and reside on
the Nutt homestead four miles west of Ripon.
From 1887 to 1888, Mr. Hutchinson was in the general merchandise
business at Ripon with E. C. Dickerson as a partner; then he returned to his
farming pursuits, which have since engaged his attention, and has been
identified with all movements for the benefit of his locality. From the very first he has been active in the
organization and development of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District. For twenty years he has served as trustee of
the San Joaquin School District and in 1911 he was elected constable of Dent
Township and served for ten consecutive years, resigning in 1921. As president of the board of trustees of the
Union high school at Ripon he accomplished an outstanding work in handling the
building affairs of the district and his foresight and judgment were, in no
small measure, responsible for the fine, modern school building. For a number of years Mr. Hutchinson has been
in the real estate and insurance business and in this connection has been
instrumental in bringing new settlers to the Ripon district, thus becoming an
important factor in the advancement of the community. Since the organization of the Farmers’ Mutual
Protective Fire Insurance Company, Mr. Hutchinson has been the local
agent. In politics Mr. Hutchinson is a
Republican and fraternally is a member of the Mt. Herob Lodge No. 58, I. O. O.
F. at Ripon, is a past district deputy and has served as a delegate to the
grand lodge and he also belongs to Modesto Encampment No. 48. Mr. Hutchinson owns a fifty-acre dairy and
orchard farm in which he takes especial pride, keeping it in fine
condition. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson have
during the long years of their residence here won the favorable regard, good
will and trust of all with whom they have come in contact, and in business
circles Mr. Hutchinson sustains an unassailable reputation, because he has ever
been straightforward, prompt and just in all his dealings. On October 3, 1922, Mr. Hutchinson received
the appointment from the board of supervisors as a member of the board of
directors of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, to succeed A. J.
Nourse, who resigned. This is an added
honor to this pioneer who has ever had the best interests of the community at
heart.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1195-1195. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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