Sutter-Yuba County Biographies

L. P. HICKESON

Transcribed by: Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


            
            No ranchman of the Hallwood District is better known or more highly 
esteemed than L. P. Hickeson, who represents one of the honored pioneer families 
of Yuba County, in which his entire life has been passed.  He has been an 
interested witness of its development and upbuilding and an active factor in its 
progress, rejoicing in what has been accomplished as the years have passed.  He 
was born in Smartsville, this county, July 22, 1882, and is the eldest child in 
the family of Lewis and Maggie Hickeson.  The father, who was one of the pioneer 
stock-raisers of this region, is now living retired in Marysville in the 
enjoyment of a comfortable competence, gained through industry and capable 
business management.
            The public schools of Yuba County afforded L. P. Hickeson his 
educational privileges.  On starting out in life independently, he engaged in 
teaming out of Marysville, being thus occupied for seven years.  He was an 
expert in that line of work, and eighteen years ago hauled the heavy armatures 
and transformers, and other machinery, into Colgate for the Pacific Gas & 
Electric Company � a most difficult task, requiring logging trucks and teams, 
with as many as thirty-six horses on some of the pulls.  He was the first to 
drive a twelve-horse team into Poker Flat, and many times displayed his ability 
with the reins on his perilous trips to the mines and through the mountain 
passes.  
            Several years ago Mr. Hickeson abandoned teaming and turned his 
attention to ranching, in which field he has been equally successful.  In 1917 
he purchased a portion of the old Jory ranch, situated five miles north of 
Marysville, in the Hallwood District, and has made all the improvements on his 
place, which comprises forty acres of fertile and productive land.  He raises 
large crops of beans, also operates a dairy, and has likewise found wool-growing 
a profitable source of income.  He is a practical farmer, familiar with all the 
details of his occupation, and the well-kept appearance of his ranch is 
convincing proof of his careful management and up-to-date methods.  He is also a 
general contractor, having equipment for building roads, excavating, and 
hauling.
            At Marysville, on March 1, 1907, Mr. Hickeson was married to Miss 
Minnie Dutra, who was born in the Indiana Ranch district at Dobbins, Cal.,  
February 11, 1884, the youngest daughter of Manuel and Minnie (Williams) 
[Ferrera] Dutra, natives of the Azores, who settled at Frenchtown, Cal., in 
pioneer times.  Her father became widely known during the period of hydraulic 
mining in that section.  He died November 4, 1901, and the mother�s demise 
occurred in February, 1906.  Mrs. Hickeson attended the Dobbins school.  By her 
marriage she has become the mother of three children: Hazel Pearl, Odell E., and 
Margaret M., who represent the third generation of the Hickeson family born in 
Yuba County.  The word �fail� has not place in Mr. Hickeson�s vocabulary; and 
the enterprise of the West is manifest for all that he undertakes, either for 
individual benefit or for the welfare of his community.
 
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1289-1290
 
[Transcriber�s note:  The cemetery headstone for Manuel Dutra (Keystone 
Cemetery) shows date of death as 8 Feb 1905.  Other records indicate Minnie 
Ferrera Dutra�s death as occurring in 1913.]