Yolo-Siskiyou-Sacramento County CA Archives Biographies.....Richie, John Dietrich 1819 - 1890
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 22, 2006, 11:26 pm

Author: Tom Gregory (1913)

JOHN DIETRICH RICHIE

    One of the most liberal and enterprising citizens of Yolo county for thirty
years, Mr. Richie lent his aid toward the development of that section; and his
death, January 2, 1890, was the occasion of sincere regret among his many
friends and associates, who fully appreciated his exceptional qualities of both
mind and heart.

    Born September 10, 1819, near Heilgenbruch, Germany, Mr. Richie was of most
aristocratic lineage, having been a member of a famous family of Hanover, who
owned not only the city of his birth, but a large estate adjacent thereto. Upon
completion of his education he became a navigator and in time became an officer
on Atlantic liners plying between Bremen and New York City. In 1850 he resigned
his position in New York City and came by way of Panama to California.
Proceeding to Yreka, Siskiyou county, he operated a mine there, and also bought
and sold stock. After the severe winter of 1862, having suffered the total loss
of his herds, in common with other stock dealers, he settled in Yolo county,
where he engaged in both cattle and sheep raising. In 1864 he purchased four
hundred and eighty acres eight miles west of Woodland, which he stocked with
sheep, increasing his holdings gradually, until at the time of his death he was
the owner of twenty-six hundred acres and many thousands of sheep. In 1885 he
bought in Woodland a ten-acre tract, upon which, in 1887, he erected a beautiful
and commodious residence. Later he disposed of one-half of the property.

    Mr. Richie's marriage, in Sacramento, June 8, 1873, united him with Miss
Elizabeth Schaumloeffel, whose birth occurred in Obervorschutz, Hessen-Cassel,
where also her father, Conrad Schaumloeffel, was born. He died in Sacramento in
1900, while upon his second visit to California. Mrs. Schaumloeffel, who prior
to her marriage was Elizabeth Eiedemann, spent her life in her native land,
passing away June 13, 1870. To their union seven children were born: Henry, of
Sacramento; Mrs. P. H. Menken, also of that city; Mrs. William Kuhn, who resides
in Woodland; Mrs. Theodore Muegge, of San Francisco; Mrs. Christene Bietz, who
resides upon the old home place in Obervorschutz, Germany; George, who died at
the age of thirty years, as the result of disease contracted in the
Franco-Prussian war; and Mrs. Eichie. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Eichie three
children were born, as follows: Annie M., who was educated at the Holy Eosary
Academy, as was also Ottilia, the latter the widow of Bruce Strong, of Woodland;
and Adolph H., who resides upon and manages his mother's ranch.

    Since her husband's death Mrs. Richie has conducted the business along the
same lines that brought him such splendid success. She is farming the home place
of four hundred and eighty acres, being engaged in sheep raising on the large
ranch. The two ranches are about a mile apart. Mrs. Richie is actively
identified with the German Lutheran Evangelical Church, giving time and money to
the many worthy causes supported by that organization, and she is especially
interested in the Ladies' Aid Society. In 1892 she donated the site on which the
present German Lutheran Church was erected that year. Though in common with
others she has suffered both disappointment and sorrow, Mrs. Richie has ever
retained her natural optimism and womanly sympathy—qualities which have
enshrined her memory in many an aching heart,—and with her accustomed habit of
counting her blessings, rejoices in the supreme privilege of motherhood, her
children having been the source of her greatest happiness.


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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