Sutter County
Biographies
JOHN WALTER NELSON
An orchardist and vineyardist whose varied experience and substantial successes have proven a guide and an inspiration to others as well as to himself, is John Walter Nelson, a native of Denmark, where he was born on July 11, 1883. His father, Christ C. Nelson, was a farmer, and he had married Miss Mary Nickolason; and in 1883, when our subject was a mere baby, the father crossed the ocean to America with his family, and settled in Gage County, N. Y. He bought a farm there, of 400 acres, cleared the land of its timber, and went in for general farming; and he is still living on the same New York country place. The worthy couple had a family of eleven children. Louis was the eldest; then came Hannah, Katherine, Margaret, Cornelius, Maggie, and after them twin children who died, and another child who passed away in infancy; while the tenth in the order of birth was our subject, and the youngest was also Margaret.
John Walter Nelson had only a limited schooling, and at the age of seventeen he pushed out into the world to do for himself. He came to California and to Sutter County, where his first work was on William McPherrin’s ranch at Sutter City. He spent only a short time there, however, finding more satisfactory employment with Robert Carpenter, at Tudor. He next worked for William Coats for about three years, and then started in business for himself. Purchasing ten acres of the Henderson Ranch near Oswald, in Sutter County, he improved it by setting out grapes and planting peaches; and at the end of three years he sold the tract, which he had then brought up to a high state of cultivation. He next bought five acres of the Pratt tract near the Lincoln school, and two years later purchased ten acres from Mrs. Helen D. Littlejohn; and on both of these places he planted peaches. In 1919, having sold these two places, he bought a piece of property in Yuba City, which he also soon sold. Finally he purchased thirty-one acres at the eastern limits of Sutter City, ten acres of which he has planted to alfalfa, while the balance he has set out to Thompson Seedless grapes. He developed the ranch by the aid of a four-inch pump and a ten-horse power motor, and has now a fine pressure system at his command. In politics, Mr. Nelson is independent and progressive.
At Yuba City, on July 22, 1914, Mr. Nelson was married to Miss Mary Elizabeth Topple, an accomplished lady, a native of Ohio. When she was nineteen, Mrs. Nelson, accompanied by a younger brother, came West and at first settled at Elko, Nev., coming to California about 1911. Three children have blessed their union, although the first-born, Charles, is now deceased. The others are two daughters, Mary Elizabeth and Anna. Mr. Nelson belongs to Camp No. 360, W.O.W., at Yuba City.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p . 1315-1316
FRANK L. FISHER
A successful, progressive rancher whose prosperity is the result of his industry and up-to-date methods, is Frank L. Fisher, who carries on his operations about one mile to the south of Meridian. He was born in Edgewood, Iowa, on July 18, 1884, the son of Luman S. and Sophie (Hesner) Fisher, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Iowa. Mrs. Fisher lived to see her sixty-third year, passing away two years ago, esteemed and beloved by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. Mr. Fisher, who had been a successful farmer, died on October 14, 1923, aged sixty-two years, at Edgewood, Iowa.
Frank L. Fisher was educated in Iowa, the third in order of birth in a family of eight children, four boys and four girls; and at the age of twenty-two, he started out for himself. He migrated to the great Northwest, and from there came on to California. Landing at Woodland, in Yolo County, from 1908 to 1912 he worked for the Alameda Sugar Company. In the autumn of 1913, however, he came to Meridian. Here he began farming for himself, leasing acreage from the sugar company; and this arrangement he has continued ever since. He usually operates about 700 acres, and raises, for the most part, rice, barley and beans.
Mr. Fisher was married at Yuba City, on August 14, 1913, to Miss Lutie Ruth Blackmer, a native daughter, born at Meridian, in the family of Ernest and Ella (Thornborough) Blackmer. Mr. Blackmer was a native of California, his father having come to the Golden State in very early days; and Mrs. Blackmer was also born in California. Mr. Blackmer died, by drowning, about 1906; and his demise was widely regretted on account both of his personal qualities and the value of his useful life. His widow is still living near Meridian, the center of a circle of devoted friends. Mrs. Fisher attended the Meridian Grammar School, and finished her studies with the excellent courses of the Sutter City Union High School. Two daughters have blessed their marriage, Doris Azile and Dayle Lorraine. Mr. Fisher is a Mason, a member of Woodland Lodge, No. 564; and Elk, belonging to Marysville Lodge, No. 783; and also an Odd Fellow, a member of Lodge No. 212, at Meridian; and both Mr. and Mrs. Fisher are members of the Rebekahs.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p . 1317