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- Had 10 children.
Source: http://www.imt.net/~toss/Pitts.html (Story of Sarah Pitts Davis, Q uaker in Washington Co., IN)
Research this story for possible ties: May be refering to Andrew Pit ts b c 1788.
Hon. Newton Booth
Hon. Newton Booth.---Among those who came to Sacramento in 1850 was Newt on Booth, who afterward filled so important a place in the business, polit ical and social history of Sacramento and of California. The firm of Boo th & Co. (composed, at this writing, of Senator Booth and C. T. Wheeler ), has been in existence since the pioneer days of California; and thou gh its membership has on several occasions been changed, it has at all tim es ranked among the leading houses of the city and State. In July, 184 9, T. M. Lindley and L. A. Booth organized a grocery firm of Lindley & Boo th, doing business at the old number, 38 K street. In May of the followi ng year they were succeeded by Forshee , Booth & Co., composed of John For shee, L. A. Booth and Job Dye. The two latter gentlemen retired from the f irm in the spring of 1851. Booth commenced business on J street, in the gr ocery trade, under the name of Smith & Booth. Sacramento, though then a s mall place, was yet a very busy one and was looked to as almost the sole s ource of supplies for the many mining camps already at work, as well as th ose which were being continually opened up. Her merchants generally d id a jobbing business. Smith & Booth were essentially a wholesale house, t hough through the necessities of the trade at that day they did not refu se retail customers. The fire of 1852 left Sacramento almost where she h ad started, and the firm suffered with the rest. Shortly, afterwa rd L. A. Booth, one of the organizers of Lindley & Booth, became a partne r, and the firm assumed the name of Booth & Co. Thus the house continu ed until 1856. In that year Newton Booth retired and returned to Indian a, while the firm consolidated with Kleinhans & Co. (who had commenced bus iness in 1852), but the name was not changed. C. T. Wheeler and T. L. Bar ker also became partners in 1856. In 1860 Newton Booth again became a citi zen of Sacramento, and rejoined his old firm. There were no more changes u ntil 1863, when L. A. Booth and Mr. Barker retired and J. T. Glover beca me a member, continuing until his death, which occurred in 1885. This le ft the firm as at present constituted ¯ Newton Booth and C. T. Wheeler. Se nator Booth is a native of Washington County, Indiana, born December 30, 1 825. His father, Beebe Booth, a native of Connecticut, was a son of the he roes of the American Revolution. At an early age he went to what was th en the far West, locating at Salem, Washington County, Indiana, in 1816. T here he engaged in merchandising, and afterward published there the fir st newspaper issued in Indiana. He was married there to Hannah Pitts, a na tive of Chatham County, North Carolina. Her father Andrew Pitts, emigrat ed from North Carolina to Washington County, Indiana, in 1809, being o ne of the pioneers of the State. Newton Booth was reared to the age of six teen at his native place, and in 1841 his father removed the family to Ter re Haute, the new scene of his business enterprise. Newton Booth was se nt to Ashbury (now De Pauw) University, at Greencastle, to complete his ed ucation. This institution now ranks among the leading educational sea ts of this country. At that time with Bishop Simpson as president, its sta nding was at least as high as at present. It was the leading universi ty of the West, and its faculty had been happily chosen from the most lear ned men of the day. Mr. Booth completed the course before he had reached h is majority, and was graduated in the class of 1846. A mercantile career h ad been marked out for him, but after an engagement of two years in o ne of his father’s stores at Terre Haute, he commenced reading law in t he office of W. D. Griswold, with whom he became associated as partner aft er his admission to the bar in 1849. The story of the golden wealth of Cal ifornia, however, had for him the usual charm, and he determined to try h is fortune there. In company with young Terre Haute business man, Walt er W. Reynolds, he started on the long journey. They were among the passen gers of the steamer “Cherokee,” which early in 1850 made the trip from N ew York to Chagres. From Panama to San Francisco they were passengers on t he “Oregon,” which steamed through the Golden Gate on the 18th of Octobe r, bearing the glad tidings of the admission of California as a State of t he Union. They came at once to Sacramento, and both became business men he re. Mr. Reynolds afterward went to Placerville, where his death subsequent ly occurred. When Mr. Booth arrived in Sacramento, the first great chole ra epidemic was raging here, and he went to Amador County, where he was si ck for some time. In February, 1851, he returned to Sacramento, and was so on engrossed in business. In 1862 he entered public life for the first tim e, being in that year chosen to the State Senate. On the 6th of Septembe r, 1871, he was elected Governor of California, assuming the duties of t he office December 8 of that year. While in the gubernatorial chair he w as elected, December 20, 1873, by the independent legislature of that yea r, to the Senate of the United States. On the 27th of February; 1875, he r esigned the office of Governor to assume the duties of his new position, a nd on the 4th of March following took his seat in the Senate. He serv ed as an honored member of that body, and with credit to the State until t he expiration of his term, in 1881. He was one of the working members of t he Senate, and was particularly active in accomplishing the adoption of t he silver certificate, and redemption of subsidiary coins---measures whi ch were especially grateful to the Pacific Coast, though of national impor tance as shaping the financial policy of the country. He also pushed to pa ssage a bill for the settlement of land titles in California. He was plac ed on the committee on public lands, committee on patents, committees on m anufactures and on appropriations, and during a portion of his term was ch airman of the two latter. Since retiring from the Senate he has given h is personal attention to his extensive wholesale business. Senator Booth h as always been inclined to literature, and in times past his lectures on s cientific and other topics have been the source of much pleasure and prof it to citizens of Sacramento, as well as an incentive to study in many dir ections. A noteworthy feature of the political preferment of Senator Boo th is, that it has come to him on his merits, as an independent, and n ot as a reward for party service or through party machinations.
Transcribed by: Marla Fitzsimmons
An Illustrated History of Sacramento County, California. By Hon. Win. J. D avis. Lewis Publishing Company 1890. Page 287-289.
SOURCE: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~npmelton/sacboo.htm
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Abt 1759 - 1845 (~ 86 years)
