Charles Aull

Charles Aull. Warden of the State Prison at Folsom, was born in Clay County, Missouri, May 23, 1849. His father, Dr. T. M. Aull, a native of Kentucky, in 1832 joined the first regiment of United States dragoons enlisting from that State; they went to the Rocky Mountains, and afterward were stationed at Fort Leavenworth. The Doctor was in the Government service three years, and then went to St. Louis, attended medical lectures at the State University and graduated, and settled in northwestern Missouri, where he practiced his profession. For two terms he represented Atchison County in the State Legislature. In 1852 he came overland with a large train to this State, arriving in November at Marysville, but was soon driven out of that place by a flood, the same year. He next resided in Martinez, Contra Costa County, two years, and then, in 1854, located about on the line between Dry Creek Township, this county, and San Joaquin County, when the settlers were few and scattered. There were only two or three families at Hicksville, and one or two at Elk Grove. Dr. Aull pre-empted a tract of land, and resided on it for seventeen years. In 1856 he was elected to the Legislature from San Joaquin County, and served one term. In 1872 he removed to Modesto, Stanislaus County, and died there in 1873, at the age of sixty-seven years. In Missouri he married Clara Fugitt, a native of that State, and she died in Sacramento City, in July, 1888. Of the ten children in this family five are living. The first business in which Mr. Charles Aull engaged was the mercantile, at Liberty, near Galt. In 1870 he went to Modesto and was employed in a store there for nearly a year, and then, after assisting his father to move to Modesto, he fitted up a drug store for him there. He himself also had considerable experience as a druggist. In March, 1872, a bitter fight arose between two factions of the Democratic party in respect to under-sheriff. The sheriff, John Rodgers, finally solved the problem by tendering Mr. Aull the appointment, although he had never been an applicant or in any way connected with the matter. He accepted the appointment, and in that office he obtained his first knowledge of criminal business. This branch of the public service of the county fell into his hands, and at that time it was very voluminous. Having got through with some pretty hard cases successfully, he evinced that he was an ingenious and energetic officer. He held that position three and a half years. In 1875 he was appointed turnkey of San Quentin prison, under Lieutenant-Governor Johnson, who was at that time ex-officio warden of the prison; and during his administration of four years Mr. Aull held nearly every position under him, which gave him a practical idea of the minutest details of prison management. During Ames’ administration as warden of the prison, a clean sweep was made of all the officials in 1880, for political reasons. For the succeeding three and a half years Mr. Aull was employed most of the time by the Wells-Fargo Express Company, looking after criminals. He had charge of several cases, having to travel over the Pacific Coast several times. One of the most noted of these cases was the capture and conviction of the murderers of Banker Cummings, of Nevada County, who was captured in the East four years after the commission of the crime. The details of the pursuit and capture and trail would fill a large volume, and are fresh in the minds of many in the State. Many important circumstances of the case were in Sacramento city. Mr. Aull was appointed deputy warden of the San Quentin prison by Hon. Paul Shirley, in November, 1883, and served four years, resigning November, 1887; and thirty days later he was elected warden of the Folsom prison which position he now fills. He was married in December, in 1887, to Miss Maggie Anglon, of San Francisco. Politically Mr. Aull is a Democrat, and he has always taken considerable interest in the political affairs of the State, having often been a delegate to the State conventions.

MRS. M. BENNETT 

 

Mrs. M. Bennett, residing at Mormon Island, was born December 15, 1820, in Lancashire, England, daughter of James and Mary Nuttel; her father was a carpenter and joiner. November 1, 1849, she married Mr. Bennett, a native of England, who came to America in 1847, and resided in Massachusetts, where most of the time he was a manufacturer. He came by way of the Isthmus to California in 1852. Leaving his wife in Sacramento, he went at once to Mormon Island, where he followed mining three years. At the end of the first month he sent for his wife. In 1852-’53 he located his present home and settled upon it; and when it came into the market he purchased it. There he followed farming and fruit-raising until his death, October 23, 1879, when he was sixty-two and a half years of age. He was a man of great energy and ability. He and his wife obtained their start in California by working out for wages, and today she enjoys the luxury of a nice home, surrounded by a great number of old-time friends. The property, comprising twelve acres, is mostly devoted to choice fruit. Mr. Bennett was at one time a prominent Freemason and Vice President of the Natoma Water and Mining Company. Mrs. Bennett has an adopted daughter, named Martha E. Bradbury, who is the sole companion of her declining years.

 

CHARLES C. BONTÉ 

Charles C. Bonté, chief clerk of the shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad, was born in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1857. He is the son of the Rev. J.H.C. Bonté, Professor of Legal Ethics in the Law Department of the University, and Secretary of the Board of Regents of the University of California. When he was a child his parents moved to Washington city, District of Columbia. His preliminary schooling was obtained in the District of Columbia; his proprietary courses were taken in the city of Oswego, New York, and coming to California in 1870 he completed his course of study at St. Augustine College, Benicia, from which institution he graduated in 1884. He came to Sacramento in 1875, taking a position in the office of the chief clerk, Sacramento shops (Mr. Newton H. Foster), succeeding to that position in 1885. He was united in marriage in 1881 to Miss Anna Hall Nichols, daughter of H.L. Nichols, A.M., M.D., the oldest practicing physician in the Capital City, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Bonté have one son, named Harmon Storer Bonté.

JAMES H. BURNHAM 

 

James H. Burnham, banker at Folsom, was born in Galveston, Texas, November 1, 1846. His father, James G. Burnham, was a native of Kennebunk Port, Maine, where he was reared, and attained a commercial education and learned the art of civil engineering. He went to Texas when it was a republic under the rule of Sam Houston. He was sailing as supercargo of his father’s vessel from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Vera Cruz, Mexico, and during a gale the vessel was blown ashore on Galveston Island, where the city now stands. His father returned to New Hampshire after material and apparatus to get the vessel off the beach, leaving him in charge of the vessel and cargo. During his absence the tide of immigration began coming in to that point, and he decided to remain there. He was first employed to survey the city plat, and was afterward appointed collector of the port. He next engaged in the wholesale grocery business until 1850, when he came to California, and continued in the same business in San Francisco until 1855. In December of that year he located in Folsom, becoming thus a pioneer of that place. When the Folsom estate was sold off he bought largely and erected the first building there. He engaged in various pursuits until 1870, when he returned to Galveston and served as United States Census Marshal for the Eastern District of Texas, and was elected treasurer of that city. Coming again to California in 1873, he engaged in business in San Francisco, and died there February 26, 1878, at the age of sixty-seven years. His wife was a daughter of Captain Henry Parker, also a ship owner and master. She was a native of Charleston, South Carolina. Their marriage occurred in 1844, in Galveston, Texas; she died in 1859, in Folsom, leaving three sons and one daughter; the daughter has since deceased. The sons are all residing in this county, viz.: Charles E., teller in the California State Bank at Sacramento; Fred P. and James H., residing at Folsom. James H. Burnham, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the public schools of Folsom and San Francisco. In 1864 he engaged in business pursuits, purchasing an interest in the drug store of Alfred Spinks, a pioneer of this city, and a prominent Democratic politician, and since then has carried on this business. In 1878 he succeeded to the banking business and the Wells, Fargo & Co. express agency, formerly conducted by C.T.H. Palmer, once a prominent factor of Folsom, and now of Oakland. Mr. Burnham has been very successful in business, becoming one of the substantial men of the place. Republican in politics, he has always taken an active interest in political matters, although never a candidate for office. He has been a member of the Masonic order since 1874, and for eight years has been master of Natoma Lodge, No. 64, F. & A.M., at Folsom. In 1866 he married Mary A., daughter of Reuben Clark, architect of the State capitol at Sacramento. They have two sons and one daughter: Clark J., a graduate of the Sacramento High School, and now a student in the Toland Medical College in San Francisco; William P., engaged in business with his father; and Emma M., the daughter, residing with her parents in Folsom.

THOMAS G. CASEY 

Thomas G. Casey, a San Joaquin Township farmer, was born May 3, 1824, in the State of New York, near Auburn, Cayuga County. His father, Jesse D. Casey, was a native of New York, a farmer by occupation, and died in Yates County, New York. The maiden name of Thomas’ mother was Betsey Brown. In their family were four sons and four daughters: William J., Charles H., Sarah J., T.G., Edward M., Emeline, Eliza and Margaret. Mr. Thomas G. Casey was on a farm until he had passed twenty years of age, when he began to learn the harness-making trade in Potter, Yates County, New York, and for a number of years, with interruptions at farming, he followed his trade at Branchport, same county, on the west branch of Crooked Lake. November 10, 1849, he married Rebecca A. Putney, daughter of Jedediah Putney. She died August 3, 1860, in this county. May 1, 1864, Mr. Casey married again, this time Mrs. Imogene A. Mitchell, a native of New Hampshire, and daughter of Milton Aldrich, who came to this county in 1862, and died here March 7, 1871, at the age of seventy-three years and three months. His wife, Eunice, born in 1806, still survives him. By the first marriage there were four children: Henry P., born August 9, 1851; George T., March 28, 1854; John T., July 21, 1855, and died two days after; and Arthur B., born August 20, 1856. All the living are in this county. By the second marriage there are three children, viz.: Milton A., born October 23, 1865; Jesse E., June 21, 1870; and Lily A., August 14, 1871. Mr. Casey came to California in 1859, by way of the Isthmus, from New York, embarking on the 4^th of July and landing here the 30^th. He spent the first year on the Putney ranch, on the Cosumnes. He then went out upon the grant and struggled along until he accumulated a small amount of means, and then bought a claim of 160 acres at $3 an acre, and when in 1874 it came into market, he sold it for $2,000. Then he came on the north side of the line into Brighton Township, and occupied rented property until 1880, when he purchased his present ranch of a quarter section in San Joaquin Township, for $3,000. It is twelve miles from Sacramento and three from Florin. Here he has made some valuable improvements, especially in fencing, out-building, etc. He carries on general farming, but has also fifteen acres in vineyard and orchard; has an interesting variety of trees and a great number of beautiful shrubs. He is a Republican in his political sympathies, having cast his first vote for W.H. Harrison, while by coincidence his son Milton A. first voted for Benjamin Harrison. Mrs. Casey came to California with her sister and husband, Mr. and Mrs. Sharp, in 1859. She married Mr. W.P. Mitchell, May 12, 1861, and he died December 24, following, during the time of the flood, with small-pox, four miles north of the American River, on the Norris grant. She then taught school and did house work. Their daughter, Waltermine, was born April 9, 1862, and died September 2, 1862.