Sarah Kidder
Encyclopedia
Sarah Clark Kidder (ca. 1839 - September 1933) was president of Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...

's Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad
Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad
The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad was located in Northern California's Nevada County and Placer County, where it connected with the Central Pacific Railroad. The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Company incorporated on April 4, 1874, and was headquartered in Grass Valley, California...

 (NCNGRR) from 1901 to 1913. She was the first female railroad president in the world, taking on the position upon the death of her husband, John Flint Kidder
John Flint Kidder
John Flint Kidder was a politician, civil engineer and railroad executive who built and later owned Northern California's Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad which, during its operation, never experienced an attempted robbery....

, who is credited with building the railroad.

Civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...

 John Kidder married Miss Sarah A. Clark, of Ohio, in 1874. They moved to Grass Valley, California
Grass Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Grass Valley had a population of 12,860. The population density was 2,711.3 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Grass Valley was 11,493 White, 46 African American, 208 Native American, 188 Asian, 9 Pacific Islander, 419 from other...

 the following year. Their home was a mansion where Sarah hosted tea parties. She also did volunteer work for an orphan society.

Upon her husband's death in 1901, she ran the NCNGRR until 1913 when she sold her stock and moved to San Francisco. She died there in 1933, at the age 94.

Their adopted daughter, Beatrice, married Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 graduate Howard Ridgely Ward on September 20, 1905. They had at least one child, a daughter, Elizabeth.

Honors

In honor of Sarah, John, and Beatrice Kidder, the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus
E Clampus Vitus
The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus is a fraternal organization dedicated to the study and preservation of Western heritage, especially the history of the Mother Lode and gold mining regions of the area...

planted three trees in Grass Valley's Clamper Square.
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