Newton Booth | |
|---|---|
Portrait byMathew Bradyc. 1870–1880 | |
| United States Senator fromCalifornia | |
| In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1881 | |
| Preceded by | John S. Hager |
| Succeeded by | John F. Miller |
| 11th Governor of California | |
| In office December 8, 1871 – February 27, 1875 | |
| Lieutenant | Romualdo Pacheco |
| Preceded by | Henry Huntly Haight |
| Succeeded by | Romualdo Pacheco |
| Member of theCalifornia Senate from the16th district | |
| In office December 7, 1863 – December 4, 1865 | |
| Preceded by | William Watt |
| Succeeded by | E. H. Heacock |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1825-12-30)December 30, 1825 Salem, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | July 14, 1892(1892-07-14) (aged 66) Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Other political affiliations | Democratic(before 1860) Anti-Monopoly(1874) Greenback(1876) |
| Spouse | |
| Education | DePauw University (B.A.) |
| Signature | |
Newton Booth (December 30, 1825 – July 14, 1892) was an American entrepreneur and politician who served as the 11thgovernor of California from 1871 to 1875 and asU.S. Senator fromCalifornia from 1875 to 1881. He was the only member of theAnti-Monopoly Party elected to theU.S. Senate.
Born to Hannah (née Pitts) of North Carolina[1] and Beebe Booth[2] of Connecticut,Quakers,[1] inSalem, Indiana, he attended the common schools. In 1841, his parents Beebe and Hannah Booth moved from Salem toTerre Haute, Indiana. In 1846, he graduated from Asbury College (later renamedDePauw University), in nearbyGreencastle, Indiana.[3] 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.[1]
In 1850, Booth traveled[4] to Panama, continuing by ship to San Francisco.[1]Central Pacific Railroad founder,[5] Lucius Anson Booth (1820–1906), a cousin and New York native,[1][6] and Thomas Morton Lindley Sr. (1819–1896),[7] in 1849, began the firm of Lindley & Booth.[8] 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.[6] The epidemic, reportedly, ended in three weeks.[1] In May 1850, John Forshee, Lucius Anson Booth and John Dye established Forshee, Booth & Co.[9][6] In the spring of 1851, Lucius Anson Booth and John Dye retired from Forshee, Booth & Co.[9] In February, 1851, Charles Smith and Newton Booth established a business of Smith & Booth., on J Street, between 4th and 5th streets.[1][9][6] Kleinhaus & Co., established in 1852, Theodore P. and David W. Kleinhaus as partners.[9]
The firms suffered from theSacramento Fire of November 2, 1852.[10][6] 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.[6] In 1856, C. T. Wheeler and T. L. Barker were admitted as partners.[9] The Kleinhauses retired in 1860, and Newton Booth again entered the firm.[9] 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.[9][1] In 1869, Lucius Anson Booth was working in San Francisco and living in Oakland.[11] In December 1871, business was established in San Francisco in connection with W. W. Dodge.[9] The firm in 1878 was composed of Newton Booth, C. T. Wheeler, Joseph Terry Glover and W. W. Dodge.[9]
Newton Booth made his fortune as a saloon keeper.[citation needed]
He returned to Terre Haute in 1856 and engaged in the practice of law with future U.S. CongressmanHarvey D. Scott.[1] In the summer of 1857 Booth traveled through Europe.[1]
In 1860, Booth returned to Sacramento and the wholesale mercantile business.[9][6] He campaigned forAbraham Lincoln for president.[1] In 1862, he was elected to theCalifornia State Senate, serving from 1863 to 1865. In1871, Booth was elected the eleventhgovernor of California, serving from December 8, 1871, to February 27, 1875. Booth openly sought black support.[12]

In 1873, Booth helped to organize theDolly Vardens,[13] a new, independent, republican, anti-monopoly political party.[14] 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".[2] With their support, he was elected to theU.S. Senate as a member of theAnti-Monopoly Party inDecember 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 the45th Congress. In 1876, theGreenback Party nominated him forVice President of the United States on the ticket withPeter Cooper. However, Booth declined the nomination andSamuel 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.[9][6]

Booth married the widow of Joseph Terry Glover,[9][17][18] his business partner, Octavine C. Glover[19] (1833–1907) on 9 February 1892, in Sacramento, where he died, in July 1892.[20] 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[1] inSacramento Historic City Cemetery.[15][16]
He was the uncle of authorBooth Tarkington, son of his sister Elizabeth Booth, who was raised inTerre Haute.[21][22]
D. W. Strong, Charles Marsh, and L. A. Booth as the other four directors. ... Sacramento, was a cousin of Newton Booth, afterwards Governor of ...
D. W. Strong, Charles Marsh, and L. A. Booth as the other four directors. ... Sacramento, was a cousin of Newton Booth, afterwards Governor of ...
Transcribed by: Marla Fitzsimmons
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Alta California Print
Volume 21, Number 7065. This establishment has been in operation since the year 1849 and has become celebrated throughout the Pacific Coast for the elegance and promptitude with which orders have been executed. The prices are satisfactory, as evidenced by the constantly recurring orders from the same parties who have been in the habit of procuring their work here. OUR JOB TYPES and PRINTING MATERIALS Are the most beautiful that could be selected, now used in executing FINE LETTER PRESS PRINTING, SUCH AS BOOKS, CIRCULARS, PAMPHLETS. CARDS, HAND-BILLS. INSURANCE POLICIES BILLS OF LADING, BILL-HEADS, BANK CHECKS. BLANKS, RAILROAD, STAGE AND STEAMBOAT BILLS or EVERY VARIETY, WITH APPROPRIATE ENGRAVINGS. FROM THE FINEST CARD, AND THE MOST DELICATE CIRCULAR, TO THE MOST SHOWY POSTER.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)Submitted by: Nancy Pratt Melton
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)November 2, 1852: On this day in 1852, Sacramento's great fire, known as the Great Conflagration, burned more than 80 percent of the structures in the city.
Booth, Lucius A., real estate, office room 4, 402 Front, residence Oakland
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)Volume 3, Number 22
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forGovernor of California 1871 | Succeeded by |
| New political party | Greenback nominee forVice President of the United States Withdrew 1876 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of California 1871–1875 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 1) from California 1875–1881 Served alongside:Aaron Sargent,James T. Farley | Succeeded by |