Yuba County
Biographies
THOMAS McCOY BISSET
A well-known and popular plastering contractor of Marysville is Thomas McCoy Bisset. He was born in Chicago, Ill., on August 15, 1863, the son of Laurence and Elizabeth (Finn) Bisset, both of whom were natives of Scotland. While living in Chicago, Laurence Bisset became a locomotive engineer; and after his arrival in California he ran an engine between Marysville and Oroville. In 1879 he returned East, and died soon afterwards. His widow spent her last days with her son Thomas in Gridley, Cal.
Thomas McCoy Bisset was reared on a ranch which his father had bought near Gridley in September, 1871. Later, when he reached manhood’s estate, he took up ranching for himself in Butte County, five miles west of Gridley. He also learned the trade of the brick-mason and plasterer under W. A. Walker, of Biggs, Butte County, and worked on all the brick store buildings and residences built in Gridley and Biggs; and for many years he did most of the plastering in those places as an independent contractor. In 1916 he located at Marysville, where he has since lived and labored. His work, which has received much praise, includes the Rideout Hospital, the primary and grammar schools, the Eureka Hotel and lodging house, and several store and flat buildings on F Street; and he also worked on many of the best dwellings in Marysville and Yuba City, and on the Atkins and Liberty Theatres.
At Gridley, Cal., on September 22, 1886, Mr. Bisset and Miss Ada Anderson were united in marriage. Mrs. Bisset is a native of Placer County, born in Auburn. Their union has been blessed with six children. George is deceased; Clyde is a resident of Gridley; Mrs. Maud Regli lives in Marysville; Mrs. Clara Krull lives in Sutter County; Bulah is deceased; Agnes is attending the State Teachers’ College in Chico. Mrs. Bisset is a daughter of B. D. Anderson, familiarly called John Anderson, who was born in New York and later became a citizen of Galena, Ill., where he married Julia Orent, also a New Yorker. In 1852 he came to California by way of the Isthmus, and conducted a livery business at Rattlesnake Bar in partnership with George W. Gridley, who had come to this State in 1848. In 1855, Mrs. Anderson and her sister Helen, the wife of George W. Gridley, came to California to join their husbands, Mrs. Gridley going to Gridley, where her husband was the pioneer. Mr. Anderson removed to Auburn, and later to Wheatland. In the latter place he engaged in the sheep business with W. T. Ellis, Sr., and also in teaming until he went to Gridley. In 1876, he raised the first crop of wheat grown in that section. He died in 1904; Mrs. Anderson had passed away in 1893. Mrs. Bisset is next to the youngest of their six children, and was educated in the public school and in the Sand Jose State Normal. Mr. Bisset is a Mason and a member of the Foresters. He and his wife are members of the Eastern Star.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1275-1276
ARTHUR WINFIELD SCOTT
Through energy, perseverance and thrift, Arthur Winfield Scott has worked his way upward, establishing himself among the successful ranchers of the Dobbins district, while he is also interested in placer mining. He is one of California’s native sons, born on August 21, 1880, on a ranch on the Camptonville road, near Oregon House. His father, Frank Garner Scott, was born in Jones County, Iowa, June 18, 1857, and accompanied his parents on their journey to California in 1864. He was married in Marysville to Miss Rosie Matilda Page; and after residing for a time in Sacramento, they came to the Yuba foot-hills, settling near Oregon House. The father passed away on July 22, 1919, at the age of sixty-two years; the mother is now living at Arboga, in the home of one of her children. Mr. and Mrs. Scott were the parents of three sons and a daughter, namely: Arthur Winfield, DeWitt Sanford, Trueman Washington, and Alta Rose, the wife of William Holland, of Marysville.
Arthur Winfield Scott acquired his education at the Indiana Ranch school, completing his studies at the age of seventeen, and then started out for himself, securing employment on the Eich place near Dobbins. For a few years he worked for wages, and then began ranching independently on that place, having secured a contract from his employer. When he had accumulated sufficient capital, he purchased a farm on his own, acquiring title to a thirty-acre tract near Dobbins in 1915; and since 1919 he has resided thereon. He also leases 180 acres at the head of Indiana Ranch. He specializes in the growing of hay, of which he harvests good crops, and also raises high-grade stock. He takes justifiable pride in his ranch, on which he has made many improvements, and is well-informed on all modern development along agricultural lines. In 1918 he purchased from Paul Perlet, of Marysville, Rice’s Crossing placer mine on the Yuba River. It is five miles south of Dobbins and was located by J. Becker, one of the pioneer prospectors in this region.
In Marysville, Mr. Scott married Ada Mary Ann (Lewis) Potts, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lewis, who formerly lived in Yuba County, where the father passed away. The mother now makes her home at Napa. Mrs. Scott was born at Rackerby, Yuba County, on December 31, 1878. By her previous marriage she has four children: Hubert R., Leon, Herman and Lizzie Potts, all of whom are attending the public schools at Dobbins. Mr. Scott considers the Dobbins district a most desirable place of residence, and does all in his power to further the interests of his community and county, his influence being ever on the side of advancement and improvement. He has been a builder of his own fortune, and his success has been won by methods which neither seek nor require disguise.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1276