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Collection: Books and Periodicals
A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California (1891) (713 pages)
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Page: of 713
964 HISTORY OF NORTHERN OALIFORNIA.
of the Assembly from that county in 1865~-’66. . ean parentage, although originally of Scotch
Afterward he engaged in railroading, making
his residence in Sacramento and the State of
Nevada. He was also connected with railroad
matters in Oregon and Washington Territory,
and is at the present time principal owner of
the Nevada County Narrow-Gauge Railroad.
Mr. Kidder has a large and handsoine residence in Grass Valley, the grounds by which it
is surrounded being cultivated in such a manner
as to furnish a wonderful evidence of what may
be accomplished by proper care and cultivation
in this section of the State. While the urnamental trees, shrubbery, etc., are varied and attractive, the results obtained upon an acre or so
of ground used for fruit and vegetable garden
would be difticult to equal anywhere for variety
and fine growth. At the recent county fair Mr.
Kidder made a display of fifty-six varieties of
vegetables grown in his garden, and those included in the most delicate and difticult classes
to grow; besides these there are fig and other
fruit trees. The olive is at present being experimented with, and will no doubt prove a
snecess where the fig and similar trees do well.
Mr. Kidder is a patron of both art and litera.
tnre, of which the interior of his residence
gives ample evidence, in a fine library and
many fine paintings. A number of the latter
are family portraits of his ancesturs who settled
in America before the Revolution. There is an
interesting and historical document, being a
commission to “ Benjamin Kidder, gentleman,
Boston, Massachusetts, given under His Majesty
George the Second, on the 31st of March, 17859.”
John F. Kidder, of whom we present this
brief sketch, is a native of New York city, and
came to the Pacific coast in 1861, since which
time he has been associated with many pruminent enterprises.
Edward H. Brown is superintendent and
treasurer and a director of the Nevada County
Narrow-Gauge Railroad, and also treasurer of
the North Ranner Consolidated Tunnel Company, elsewhere mentioned in this number.
Mr. Brown is a native of New York, of Ameriand English descent, the paternal line being
the former, and the Kidders, the maternal line
of the latter, early comers to Massachusetts.
Among his ancestors were numbered many of
Revolutionary fame. After making several
trips to the Pacific side of the continent, he
located here permanently in 1887. Before
coming here he was for twenty-one years connected with the water-works system.of Syracuse,
New York, holding the position of superintendent and treasurer. Though attending to the
financial affairs of the institution, Mr. Brown is
an engineer by profession, having studied in
the Polytechnic Institution of New York, and
he was engaged in building a reservoir and
pumping works of the water system of Syracuse. He is a member of the American WaterWorks Association, and also of the New England
Water-Worke Association, and a Mason in high
standing. A handsomely-engrossed testimonial
was presented to Mr. Brown on his leaving
Syracuse, indicating the esteem in which he
was held, both as regarded his connection with
the water-works, and his social position, and
very pleasantly indicating that he did not leave
his country for his country’s good.
Mr. Brown is an unmarried man. He is interested largely in mining, being, with Messrs.
Kidder and Fletcher, directors of the North
Banner Mine, and the developers of that
property.
George Fletcher, the secretary and auditor of
the road, and one of the directora of the company, is also connected with a number of other
prominent enterprises, being president of the
North Banner Mining Company among other
things. He is a native of London, born in
1837. He came to New York in 1855, and to
California in 1863, the following year seeing
him in Grass Valley. In 1868 he engaged in
the grocery business, continuing it until 1875,
when he became interested in the railroad. He
has been constantly connected with miniug enterprises, aiding materially in the development
of the industry of the section, being for a time