At a 4th of July party held by John A. Sutter, Jr. the new U.S. Consul in Acapulco in 1870, Nicolasa Solis, then just 20 years old, met John Sutter. Sutter's first wife, Maria del Carmen Rivas, had left him about 8 years earlier, although they had not divorced officially. The attraction between Nicolasa and John was apparently immediate and he lived with Nicolasa for the rest of his life. They married in 1894, from that union were born nine issues.

It was largely because of Nicolasa that the Sutter family acquired considerable holdings of land. The family plantation, Los Organos Rancho, 12 miles east of Acapulco, was a large, fertile tract of land growing large quantities of limes, pineapples, and sugar cane. Dona Nicolasa "was unusually active for a woman of this time in Mexico and pushed the development of the plantation energetically."

Although the rancho thrived, John Sutter, Jr., ever since his Sacramento days, dealt with many difficult business and legal issues. His youngest daughter by Nicolasa, Anna, recalls that in later years her ailing father spoke of suicide as "a way out of his mental and physical misery". John Sutter Jr. died in Acapulco in 1897 after having lived 47 years of his life in Mexico. It became a struggle for his widow Nicolasa to run the rancho and raise her children especially due to revolutionary ferment across Mexico. Her daughter Anna would later recount that in the early 20th century revolutionaries swarmed onto Los Organos Rancho demanding the property. Nicolasa came to the balcony and pleaded with them, but when she made the mistake of saying "This is American property" all hell broke loose and she and her family were "threatened by violent madmen who swarmed into the house". Dona Nicolasa and her children and grandchildren seized a few things they could carry and got on the first available steamer to San Francisco. Nicolasa Sutter died in San Francisco in 1922. The family lost all their holdings in Mexico.

Sacramento Union 1 Jul 1914
Sutter Descendants Flee From Mexico
Leave Acapulco When The Situation Gets Serious
"San Francisco, Jun 30 - Refugees arriving today from Mexico on the Pacific mail liner, City of Peru, included several members of the Sutter family, descendants of the late John Sutter of pioneer fame.

Mrs. Nicholasa Vade Sutter, widow of John A. Sutter Jr., who for years was consul at Acapulco, brought with her eight grandchildren and her two daughters-in-law, Mrs. Guadalupi Sutter and Mrs. A. N. Sutter.

Mrs. E. N. Link, a daughter of John A. Sutter Jr. by an earlier marriage, also was in the party. Her husband preceded her on an earlier steamer.

Mrs. Nicholasa Vade Sutter brought with her the consul's commission, given to him by General Grant, and bearing his signature and that of Hamilton Fish, then Secretary of State, dated 1870.

Mrs. Link said she could no longer buy food or the necessities of life because of the opposition to Americans."

California Passenger and Crew Lists
Departing from the port of Dalboa CL aboard the Peru arriving at the port of San Francisco 30 Jun 1914.
All are listed as descendants of John Sutter.
Nicolasa vade Sutter 62, born about 1851, last residence, Acapulco, final destination, Sacramento, CA.
Mrs. Guadalupe L. Sutter 28, born 1886
Anna H. Sutter 27, born 1887
Miss Guadalupe Sutter 14 years, 5 months, born 1900
Miss Nicolasa Vade Sutter 13, born 1901
Teresa Sutter abt 1904
Master Reginaldo Sutter 10 years, 3 months, born 1904
Miss Sofia Sierra Sutter 8 years, 7 months, born 1906
Master Thomas Sutter 7, born 1907
Master Nicholas Sutter 6, born1908
Miss Dolores Sutter 4 years, 8 months, born 1910
Miss Teresa Sutter 4, born 1910
Carmen Sutter 1 year 6 months, born 1913
Miss Ernestina Sutter 1 born 1913
Guadalupe Sutter 1, born 1913
Carmen Sutter no other information
Dolores Sutter no other information
Guadalupe Sutter no other information
Sofia S. Sutter no other information
J. Sutter no other information
N. Sutter born about 1886

Sausalito News Wednesday, 25 Feb 1922
"San Francisco - Senora Nicolasa Sutter, aged wife of the son of the discoverer of Sacramento, died last Saturday. Through the kindness of the Native Daughters she died in comfort in St Luke's Hospital. Senora Sutter returned to California seven years ago when the revolutionists confiscated her Mexican property. She was found penniless and poverty stricken in a wretched room in Bernal Heights. She died speaking incoherently in Spanish to friends at her Acapulco hacienda, a relic of days gone by."

California Death Index
Nicolasa Sutter
Aged 72
Born about 1850
Died 18 Feb 1922
San Francisco