Newton Booth

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Template:Infobox officeholder Newton Booth (December 30, 1825Template:Spaced ndashJuly 14, 1892) was an American entrepreneur and politician who served as the 11th governor of California from 1871 to 1875 and as U.S. Senator from California from 1875 to 1881. He was the only member of the Anti-Monopoly Party elected to the U.S. Senate.

Early life

Born to Hannah (née Pitts) of North Carolina<ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery"/> and Beebe Booth<ref name="governors.library.ca.gov">Newton Booth Biography at the California State Library</ref> of Connecticut, Quakers,<ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery"/> in Salem, Indiana, he attended the common schools. In 1841, his parents Beebe and Hannah Booth moved from Salem to Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1846, he graduated from Asbury College (later renamed DePauw University), in nearby Greencastle, Indiana.<ref name="nga.org">Template:Cite web</ref> Booth worked in his father's Terre Haute store, then studied law in the office of attorney William Dickson Griswold (1815–1896). He was admitted to the bar in 1849 and became a partner in Griswold's law firm.<ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery">Template:Cite news</ref>

Business career

In 1850, Booth traveled<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> to Panama, continuing by ship to San Francisco.<ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery"/> Central Pacific Railroad founder,<ref name="Fulton-1924-CP-UP">

</ref> and Thomas Morton Lindley Sr. (1819–1896),<ref name="oac.cdlib-Lindley"> Template:Cite web </ref> in 1849, began the firm of Lindley & Booth.<ref name="Willis-1913-History-Sacto">Template:Cite book</ref> When Newton Booth arrived in Sacramento, the first cholera epidemic was spreading, and he went to Amador County, where he was sick for some time.<ref name="Davis-1890-History-Sacramento"/> The epidemic, reportedly, ended in three weeks.<ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery"/> In May 1850, John Forshee, Lucius Anson Booth and John Dye established Forshee, Booth & Co.<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/><ref name="Davis-1890-History-Sacramento"/> In the spring of 1851, Lucius Anson Booth and John Dye retired from Forshee, Booth & Co.<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/> In February, 1851, Charles Smith and Newton Booth established a business of Smith & Booth., on J Street, between 4th and 5th streets.<ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery"/><ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/><ref name="Davis-1890-History-Sacramento"/> Kleinhaus & Co., established in 1852, Theodore P. and David W. Kleinhaus as partners.<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/>

The firms suffered from the Sacramento Fire of November 2, 1852.<ref name="sachistorymuseum-Day-in-History">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Davis-1890-History-Sacramento"/> Soon after Lucius Anson Booth, one of the organizers of Lindley & Booth, became a partner, and the firm assumed the name of Booth & Co. and continued until 1856, when Newton Booth retired and returned to Indiana, while the firm consolidated with Kleinhaus & Co., but the name was not changed from Booth & Co.<ref name="Davis-1890-History-Sacramento"/> In 1856, C. T. Wheeler and T. L. Barker were admitted as partners.<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/> The Kleinhauses retired in 1860, and Newton Booth again entered the firm.<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/> Lucius Anson Booth and T. L. Barker retired in 1862, and Joseph Terry Glover (1832–1886), of San Francisco, became a partner in the firm.<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/><ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery"/> In 1869, Lucius Anson Booth was working in San Francisco and living in Oakland.<ref name="Langley-1869-Dir-SF">Template:Cite book</ref> In December 1871, business was established in San Francisco in connection with W. W. Dodge.<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/> The firm in 1878 was composed of Newton Booth, C. T. Wheeler, Joseph Terry Glover and W. W. Dodge.<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/>

Newton Booth made his fortune as a saloon keeper.Template:Citation needed

He returned to Terre Haute in 1856 and engaged in the practice of law with future U.S. Congressman Harvey D. Scott.<ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery"/> In the summer of 1857 Booth traveled through Europe.<ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery"/>

Political career

In 1860, Booth returned to Sacramento and the wholesale mercantile business.<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/><ref name="Davis-1890-History-Sacramento"/> He campaigned for Abraham Lincoln for president.<ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery"/> In 1862, he was elected to the California State Senate, serving from 1863 to 1865. In 1871, Booth was elected the eleventh governor of California, serving from December 8, 1871, to February 27, 1875. Booth openly sought black support.<ref name="eric.ed.gov-ED108998">Template:Cite journal</ref>

An early political caricature poster mocking California Republicans' support of a local option for alcohol, Template:Circa 1870s

In 1873, Booth helped to organize the Dolly Vardens,<ref>Newton Booth Biography at californiagovernors.ca.gov</ref> a new, independent, republican, anti-monopoly political party.<ref name="Pacific Rural Press 1872 Dolly Vardens" >Template:Cite news</ref> The party was named for a calico pattern composed of many different colors and figures, alluding to a political party made up of "sore heads from any party or by any name".<ref name="governors.library.ca.gov"/> With their support, he was elected to the U.S. Senate as a member of the Anti-Monopoly Party in December 1873, serving from March 4, 1875, to March 3, 1881. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1880. During his time in the Senate, he served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Manufacturers and the U.S. Senate Committee on Patents, both during the 45th Congress. In 1876, the Greenback Party nominated him for Vice President of the United States on the ticket with Peter Cooper. However, Booth declined the nomination and Samuel F. Cary replaced him. As of 2021, Booth remains the only senator from California who served as a member of a third party.

After serving in Congress, he returned to his wholesale mercantile business in Sacramento.<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus"/><ref name="Davis-1890-History-Sacramento"/>

Personal life

Booth Gravesite<ref name="tour"/><ref name="hmdb.org-12425"/>

Booth married the widow of Joseph Terry Glover,<ref name="Parkison-1878-Portraits-Sacto-Bus">

</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> his business partner, Octavine C. Glover<ref name="SDU18950504.2.43.2">Template:Cite news</ref> (1833–1907) on 9 February 1892, in Sacramento, where he died, in July 1892.<ref name="Sacramento Daily Union 1892">Template:Cite news</ref> His wife, Octavine C. Booth (1833–1907), Glover's mother-in-law, Eliza Payne (1810–1873); his sister-in-law, Julia E. Dunn (1839–1923); and his brother-in-law, William Henry Payne (1848–1919) are interred in the Newton Booth plot<ref name="valcomnews-newton-booth-city-cemetery"/> in Sacramento Historic City Cemetery.<ref name="tour">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="hmdb.org-12425">Template:Cite web</ref>

He was the uncle of author Booth Tarkington, son of his sister Elizabeth Booth, who was raised in Terre Haute.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="tribstar-booth-family">Template:Cite news</ref>

Recognition

  • Booth in an undated portrait
    Booth in an undated portrait
  • Booth in an undated portrait
    Booth in an undated portrait
  • Engraving of Booth in Harper's Weekly, 1871
    Engraving of Booth in Harper's Weekly, 1871
  • Booth's official gubernatorial portrait
    Booth's official gubernatorial portrait

Further reading

  • Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Vol. 1. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.
  • Melendy, H. Brett; Gilbert, Benjamin F. The Governors of California: From Peter H. Burnett to Edmund G. Brown. Georgetown, CA: Talisman Press, 1965.
  • Governors of California 1849-2002 Template:Webarchive California State Assembly
  • Schaechtele, Molly Shoemaker. The Governors of California and their Portraits. California State Capitol Museum Volunteer Association, 1995.
  • Tinkham, George H. California Men and Events: Time 1769 – 1890. Record Publishing, 1915.
  • FLASHES FROM THE WIRES. Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb 1892.

References

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