Newton Booth

Newton Booth (December 30, 1825 – July 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 of Connecticut, Quakers, 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.

Business career In 1850, Booth traveled to Panama, continuing by ship to San Francisco. Lucius Anson Booth (1820–1906), a cousin and New York native, and Thomas Morton Lindley Sr. (1819–1896), in 1849, began the firm of Lindley & Booth. 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. In December 1871, business was established in San Francisco in connection with W. W. Dodge.

In 1873, Booth helped to organize the Dolly Vardens, a new, independent, republican, anti-monopoly political party. The "Dolly Vardens" 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". his business partner, Octavine C. Glover (1833–1907) on 9 February 1892, in Sacramento, where he died, in July 1892. 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

He was the uncle of author Booth Tarkington, son of his sister Elizabeth Booth, who was raised in Terre Haute.

Recognition Sacramento's Newton Booth neighborhood was named for him. Native Sons of the Golden West historical plaque in front of the Booth Company wholesale grocery Building 1017 Front Street in Old Sacramento.

Gallery