Norman Dunning Rideout (1832-1907) was a financier, banker and capitalist. He was married to Phebe Mason Abbott Rideout, who founded Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville. Rideout Way in Marysville is named for him and his wife.
Born in Maine, he came to Yuba County in 1851 and established a store at Galena Hill, which was a mining camp near Camptonville. His store was very successful, and he later became partial owner of a bank in Camptonville, dealing extensively in gold dust. In 1858, he married Phebe Mason Abbott Rideout, with whom he would have three children: Norman Abbott, Grace, and Edward.1 In 1861, Rideout bought out the firm of Law Brothers in Marysville and formed a partnership with their bookkeeper, William Smith. The two established the bank of Rideout & Smith, which was incorporated in 1890 under the name Rideout Bank. He eventually served as president of Rideout Bank and Northern California Bank of Savings in Marysville; Rideout Bank in Gridley; Bank of Rideout, Smith & Company in Oroville; Bank of Butte County in Chico; Placer County Bank in Auburn; Mercantile Trust Company in San Francisco, and the California Bankers Association. The Rideout chain of banks later became part of Bank of America. Rideout also served as vice president of Sperry Flour Company and as director of Yosemite Railway Company.
Rideout partnered with A. J. Binney to extend the Northern California Railroad from Marysville to Knight's Landing in 1888. He also organized the California State Bank in Sacramento and the Bank of Willows inWillows. With W. T. Ellis, Sr. and others, he owned a line of steamers traveling between San Francisco and Marysville. During the 1906 San Francisco fire, his position as president of Mercantile Trust Company in San Francisco made him a prominent figure in the efforts to reopen the banks and rebuild the city.
Rideout represented Ward Three on the Marysville City Council in 1862-1863, represented District One on the Yuba County Board of Supervisors in 1868-1870; and served as mayor of Marysville in 1878-1879. He also served as a member of the California State Central Committee. He was a delegate to the national Republican conventions in 1878 in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1892 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and 1900 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which nominated (respectively) Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley for president.
Rideout died in 1907.
Links
Norman Dunning Rideout from History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, 1924
Footnotes
1. Images of America: Marysville by Tammy L. Hopkins and Henry Delamere. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2007.
