Sutter-Yuba County Biographies


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



MRS. MARY VIERRA LOPES
 
            Born in Boston, Mass., on February 7, 1872, Mrs. Mary Lopes is a 
daughter of Joseph Ferreia and Frances (Demello) Vierra, both natives of the 
Isle of Pico, in the Azores.  Joseph F. Vierra left his native country with his 
wife and came to the United States, arriving in Boston, Mass.  He followed the 
sea a few years, until his health failed; and then, in 1875, he came to 
California with his family and located at New York Flat, the father becoming a 
miner in the Yuba foot-hills.  Three children were born to this couple:  Mary, 
the widow of Masalin Lopes and the subject of this sketch; Sula, the wife of 
George Williams, a rancher at Manteca, Cal.; and Rosie, wife of Joseph Taber, of 
Palermo. The father lived to be eighty years of age, passing away at Palo Alto 
in 1915; the mother survived until February 23, 1918, aged seventy-nine years.
            Mary Vierra received her education in the Forbestown school.  On 
June 20, 1885, at Rackerby, she was married to Masalin Lopes, a native of St. 
George, Azores Islands, born in 1847.  At the age of eighteen he came to 
California and engaged in mining in the Yuba foot-hills.  Later he became a 
successful rancher, owning a sixty-acre ranch and eighty-nine-acre ranch, both 
of which were devoted to general farming.  Six children were born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Lopes.  Mary is the wife of W. H. Abbott, and the mother of two children, 
Clifford and Donald; and they resided in Yuba City. Manuel is in business in 
Marysville.  Frances resides in Marysville.  Louisa is the wife of Hal Tibbet; 
they have one son, Robert, and also reside in Marysville.  Alvina and Ethel are 
at home with their mother.  Mr. Lopes passed away in November, 1919, aged 
seventy-two years.  Since her husband�s death, Mrs. Lopes has successfully 
handled the two ranches in a business-like manner.  In politics, Mrs. Lopes 
votes the Republican ticket.  The family are members of St. Joseph�s Catholic 
Church in Marysville.
 
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1104