John Augustus Sutter Jr. (October 25, 1826 – September 21, 1897), known in Spanish as Don Juan Augusto Sutter, was a founder and planner of the City of Sacramento in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, a

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Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and the son of German-born,

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

-raised

American pioneer American pioneers, also known as American settlers, were European American,Asian American, and African American settlers who migrated westward from the British Thirteen Colonies and later the United States of America to settle and develop areas ...

John Augustus Sutter Sr.

Biography

John Sutter Jr. was born on Oct. 25, 1826 in Burgdorf,

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. In May 1834, in order to avoid debtors' prison, his father, John Sutter Sr. left his family in Switzerland, departing for the United States. Eventually the elder Sutter settled in California. While in California, initially the father's fortunes had seemed to improve. The son was afterwards raised by his single mother, Anna Sutter, and put through counting school.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 3-12. While the younger Sutter was still a minor living in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, Sutter Sr. had decided to transfer to his son, some of his land holdings from the Mexican land grant which he called New Helvetia. Word eventually reached Sutter Jr. that while his father was in California, he had again managed to get himself back into debt. In 1848, with the aim of helping manage his father's business affairs, John Sutter Jr. emigrated to California.

Sacramento

When Sutter Jr. arrived at New Helvetia, he found Sutter's Fort to be overrun by loiterers and drunkards, and felt that the situation required improvements in organization and leadership. Soon after his arrival, his father, Sutter Sr., departed for

Coloma, California Coloma (Nisenan language, Nisenan: ''Cullumah'', meaning "beautiful") is a census-designated place in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is approximately northeast of Sacramento, California. Coloma is most noted for being the site ...

, where gold had recently been discovered, to start a business selling supplies to gold prospectors. Despite the fact that his father had been planning on starting a town to be named Sutterville, Sutter Jr. planned and began to implement his own vision for a city near the fork of the American & Sacramento Rivers. This was the beginning of the City of Sacramento which was then named Sacramento City for real estate promotional purposes.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 12-18. SuttersFort2002

The change of plans put a strain on the relationship between

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

and son. Sutter Jr. became ill and rarely left the family's residence, Hock Farm, on the Feather River. As Sutter Jr.'s illness continued, he grew tired of his responsibilities. He contemplated selling his land, but thought that it would be difficult to sell such a large property. Some businessmen from Sacramento City heard that Sutter Jr. was interested in selling his land. They worked together to buy the land from Sutter Jr., but not by the most honest means. The businessmen, including Sam Brannan, would not bring the contract to purchase the land to Sutter Jr. at Hock Farm, so he took a powerful medicine and met them in Sacramento City to sign the terms of the deal. After reading the contract Sutter Jr. did not like the terms, but the businessmen urged him to sign the contract, get out of

and go somewhere with a climate more suitable to his condition. He reluctantly signed the deal.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 18-38.

Acapulco

Being rid of the property and the obligation to take care of it, in 1850, Sutter Jr. moved south to find a climate that suited his needs. He made it as far as

. There he met his first wife, María del Carmen Rivas. They were married in the latter part of 1850. Having recovered his health but never any money from his earlier business dealings he returned to California to try and force payment. Brannan waited until Sutter Jr. was desperate then offered him $40,000 as payment in full for what was the final slice of his father's land. Panic stricken young Sutter agreed but even then received no cash, only notes for which he signed receipts for $100,000 of which he also never saw a dime. Brannan's company then buried Sutter Jr. with lawsuits to the point that he gladly received a mere $3,500 after which Sutter Jr. still found himself in debt just over $300. With his nerves and health in shambles again and with nothing left to sell he again ran back to Mexico amid accusations of his squandering his father's fortune. In 1852, his first son, John Sutter III, was born in Northwest Mexico. During this time Sutter Jr. was involved in many court cases over the sale of his property to Brannan and the lack of payment for the property. In some instances, these court cases went all the way to the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...

. These court cases did not benefit Sutter Jr. except to release him of the burden of caring for the estate.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 38-48. In Acapulco, Sutter Jr. worked and was partner in a small general store. When the principal owner died, Sutter took his share of the business. Because the business did so well, the Sutters were able to build a house near the ocean. In 1865, Sutter Jr., on the recommendation of a U.S. Commercial Agent, became the Vice-Commercial Agent for the Port of Acapulco. Because of the ill health of the Commercial Agent, Sutter took his position in 1868. Many of Sutter's friends and business associates in the U.S. and Mexico wrote letters to President Johnson requesting that Sutter be made a U.S.

. The

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

granted the requests and opened a full consulate in the District and Port of Acapulco. Sutter was named the U.S. consul by President Grant and U.S. Secretary of State Hamilton Fish on July 13, 1870.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 48-60. Sometime around 1862, Sutter Jr.'s wife, María, left him. In 1870 Sutter Jr. met Nicolasa Solís and began a relationship with her. This relationship would last until Sutter Jr.'s death. Because he could not properly take care of the divorce from his first marriage, Sutter Jr. and Solís did not marry until 1894. On May 24, 1887, he retired from his post as U.S. Consul to Acapulco. He and his wife lived on their plantation near Acapulco until his death. After his death, his wife had a difficult time keeping their property in Mexico. At this time, there was a

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

in Mexico. The Indians wanted land that they felt originally belonged to them. The revolutionaries targeted many American citizens and made life hard for the Sutters. Much of their property was destroyed. Solís moved, with her children, to San Francisco and for years fought to get back the Mexican land and some of the land in Sacramento that she felt belonged to her and her children, but to no avail.Sutter, John A. Jr. & Ottley, Allan R. (Ed.). ''Statement: Regarding Early California Experiences''. Sacramento Book Collectors Club. 1943. Pages 61-77.

Death

Sutter Jr. died in

on September 21, 1897. He was originally interred in Acapulco, but was reinterred in the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery in Sacramento, California at the request of his daughter, Anna Sutter Young.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutter (Jr.), John Augustus People of the California Gold Rush Jr. Foreign residents of Mexican California Landowners from California American city founders 19th-century American diplomats People from Sacramento, California 1826 births 1897 deaths Mexican people of Swiss descent Swiss emigrants to the United States People from Burgdorf, Switzerland