Yolo-San Francisco County CA Archives Biographies.....Nutting, Samuel Lawrence 1835 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 10, 2005, 1:14 pm

Author: Tom Gregory

SAMUEL LAWRENCE NUTTING

    Long and efficient service in the capacity of justice of the peace made Mr.
Nutting a prominent figure throughout Yolo county and rendered familiar the
title of judge by which he was usually addressed. An identification with the
county extending back for thirty years or more, as well as a general knowledge
of the law unusual in one not trained for the profession, combined to adapt him
admirably to the office of justice, in which he proved painstaking, careful and
impartial, always counseling harmony and opposing litigation, but in the event
of suit proving himself well informed in all the technicalities appertaining to
kindred cases. When first elected to the office he proved so reliable and
impartial that at the expiration of the term he was chosen his own successor and
again continued in office for a third consecutive term. Later he was elected to
the same office and re-elected, making five terms altogether in the position,
the long tenure proving the acceptability of his service.

    One of the early vessels that sailed from England to America brought the
Nutting family to the Atlantic coast during the year 1650, and from that time to
the present the family has had representatives in New England. Daniel, Sr., and
his son and namesake were born in Massachusetts, and Asha, son of Daniel, Jr.,
likewise was born in the old Bay State, where in young manhood he married
Clarissa Wilkins, who was born in Massachusetts of English ancestry. Their son,
Samuel L., was born at Westford, Mass., October 19, 1835, and received a common
school education supplemented by attendance in an academy. As a boy he lived on
a farm, where his aptitude as a mechanic and his skill with tools proved very
useful. During 1857 he came to San Francisco via the Panama route and secured
employment in a hardware store, where he had a fair business training. After a
little less than three years in the store he went to Lower California in Mexico
and engaged in mining about three years. Next he removed to Nevada, and for
about twenty years operated a stationary engine in a quartz mill.

    The round of labor in the Nevada mill was interrupted by a visit to the east
and a temporary sojourn in New England, where in March of 1867 Mr. Nutting
married Miss Ellen Chickering, who was born in Framingham, Mass., and taught
school there for some years prior to her marriage. She was the daughter of James
and Nancy (Bailey) Chickering, natives of Massachusetts, where the father was a
farmer. The young couple settled at Concord, N. H., where for more than a year
he worked in the railroad shops, later returning to Nevada and resuming his
former occupation. The only child born of the marriage died in infancy. For a
short time Mrs. Nutting remained with her father in the east before joining her
husband in California. The judge, however, remained steadily in the west, where,
in his cozy home, surrounded by the comforts of existence, he rounded out an
active, useful life. After 1881 he made his home in Yolo, where he bought a
ranch of seventeen acres, on which he built a neat cottage. On the land he
planted English walnut and almond trees, also a vineyard producing grapes of the
choicest quality, and an orchard with desirable varieties of deciduous fruits.
The entire tract reflects his wise judgment and untiring energy. In addition to
managing the place and serving as justice he engaged in well-boring and sunk a
large number of wells throughout this part of the state. His earthly career came
to an end on March 30, 1912.

   While working as a mechanic at Concord, N. H., Judge Nutting was made a Mason
in the blue lodge of that city, and later he transferred his membership to Yolo,
where he served in an official capacity for many years. His first presidential
ballot was cast for John C. Fremont in 1856. After that he never missed voting
at each national election with the exception of the year 1860, the first
election of Abraham Lincoln, for whom he did not then have the privilege of
voting by reason of his absence in Mexico. His faith in Republican principles
was strong and he gave unqualified support to men and measures supported by the
party. Since her husband's death Mrs. Nutting has continued to reside at the old
home place, which she superintends. She is especially interested in the work of
the Yolo Methodist Episcopal Church, with which she is actively identified.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth
and Development From the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
TOM GREGORY
AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913]


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