Sutter County
Biographies
RICHARD MILTON FICHTER
Perseverance, energy and ambition are the keynotes to the success of Richard Milton Fichter, who was born in Morris County, near Newark, N. J., on June 11, 1858, a son of William and Charlotte (Davenport) Fichter. His father, a farmer, was also a native of New Jersey. The family were originally from German stock, Richard Milton Fichter being of the fifth generation in America. Mr. Fichter’s great-great-grandfather was in the Revolutionary War. His mother, also a native of New Jersey, came from Scotch parentage.
Richard Milton Fichter was reared in New Jersey and attended the district schools. When nearly nineteen years old, on February 12, 1877, he came to California and settled at the South Butte, where later sprang up a larger settlement, and eventually Sutter City. He first became a ranch hand, working for wages about one and one-half years; and then he leased a 320-acre grain farm for five years. Today this ranch is known as the Onstott vineyard. Mr. Fichter has farmed ever since locating in the county, leasing various ranches in the immediate vicinity of the Buttes. In 1884 he purchased a corner property at the south side of Sutter City and built a blacksmith shop and hardware store, which he has also conducted in connection with ranching. At present he farms about 300 acres of land near Sutter City, which he devotes to grain and beans.
On the Stevens Ranch, in September, 1885, Richard Milton Fichter was united in marriage with Miss Eliza McPherrin, who was born at South Butte, a daughter of John T. and Caroline (Stevens) McPherrin. Her father was a very early pioneer of California, and the Stevens family were also early settlers. J. F. Stevens, grandfather of Mrs. Fichter, was born in 1813 and was engaged in the iron business for a number of years prior to coming West. He came to California in 1855, leaving his family in the East. When he arrived in San Francisco, he had but twenty-eight dollars. He went to the mines, but soon settled on Section 2, Township 15 North, Range 2 East, on the Onstott ranch, in Sutter County, and in 1860 sent for his family; and there he resided until he passed away. On this ranch Eliza McPherrin first saw the light. She was the oldest of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. McPherrin, the others being Ella and Elizabeth, deceased; Chester, at Tudor; and Arthur, also deceased. She attended school at South Butte. Mr. and Mrs. Fichter are the parents of three children: Alfred Milton; Gertrude, Mrs. Ray Thomas, of Sutter; and Charlotte. Mr. Fichter is a stanch Republican, who gives his support to the best men and measures proposed for the welfare of the community.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 482
DESSEAU ARTHUR STEWART
A rancher whose experience has enabled him to advance the cause of husbandry in Northern California, assisting others as well as progressing himself, is Desseau Arthur Stewart, of West Butte, a native son who first saw the light in Yuba County, at Brownsville, on March 13, 1860. His father, Allen Desseau Stewart, was a native of Ohio, and was married in Ohio to Miss Mary Arthurs, a native of Belfast, Ireland, of Irish and Scotch ancestry. She died when our subject was nine years old. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Stewart crossed the plains in 1853, by slow-going ox-teams, and made their way to California. They settled in Marysville, and later removed to Brownsville, where Mr. Stewart mined, and then ranched and raised stock. In 1865 he moved back to Marysville, and there, on the site of the present Ellis Block on E Street, he conducted a livery stable. In 1872 he moved back again to the old ranch at Brownsville; but having lost his wife, by death, he could no longer bear to live there, and so in 1873 he removed to Gridley, in Butte County. There he remarried, choosing Miss Lyda Myers, a native of Evanville, Ind., for his second wife. Mr. Stewart lived at Gridley for the balance of his days; and there, in 1881, he died. Two years ago, Mrs. Stewart also breathed her last, at the age of seventy.
They were the parents of six children. Mary Alice became the wife of J. B. Wadsworth, of Sutter County, and is deceased; Cora, is now the widow of J. D. Stevens, and lives at Marysville; Frank L., resides at Live Oak; Desseau Arthur is the subject of this review; John D. is at Live Oak; and Elizabeth Caroline, who was Mrs. Tibbitts, is now deceased.
Desseau Arthur Stewart attended school both at Marysville and in the county, and when fourteen years of age left home and struck out for himself. He first became a farm-hand, then followed stock-raising for some years, and after that went back to farming again. For years he leased land, usually having about 300 acres near West Butte, in which vicinity he has resided for twenty-five years. In politics he is an Independent.
Mr. Stewart was married at Yuba City on April 16, 1885, to Miss Amanda Westervelt, a native of California, and the daughter of Andy Westervelt. When Mrs. Stewart was a baby, her mother died, and she was reared by the Noyes family. Her father, a sturdy pioneer, was one of Sutter County’s most renowned hunters and most experienced trappers, seeking the wild game of the Tules; but while getting out of a boat, his gun was accidentally discharged, the charge severing an artery in the thigh, from which he bled to death. Five children were granted to Mr. and Mrs. Stewart, as follows; Gertrude, who grew up to become Mrs. R. M. Charge, of Sutter County; James Arthur, who was killed by a horse at the age of eighteen; and Alvin D., Oscar R., and Ernest E., who are still at home.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p 490-491