Newton Booth

Booth worked in his father's Terre Haute store, then studied law in the office of attorney William Dickson Griswold (1815-1896).[3] Booth traveled with Walter W. Reynolds,[6] from Terre Haute, by ship to Panama, continuing, by ship to San Francisco, arriving 1850-10-18.[3]

Central Pacific Railroad founder,[7] Lucius Anson Booth (1820-1906), a cousin, and New York native,[3][8] and Thomas Morton Lindley, Sr. (1819-1896),[9] in 1849, began the firm of Lindley & Booth.[10] 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.[8] The epidemic, reportedly, ended in three weeks.[3] In May 1850, John Forshee, Lucius Anson Booth and John Dye established Forshee, Booth & Co.[11][8] In the Spring of 1851, Lucius Anson Booth and John Dye retired from Forshee, Booth & Co.[11] In February, 1851, Charles Smith and Newton Booth established a business of Smith & Booth., on J Street, between 4th and 5th streets.[3][11][8] Kleinhaus & Co., established in 1852, Theodore P. and David W. Kleinhaus as partners.[11]

The firms suffered from the Sacramento Fire of 2 November 1852.[12][8] 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 Kleinhans & Co., but the name was not changed from Booth & Co.[8] In 1856, C. T. Wheeler and T. L. Barker were admitted as partners.[11] The Kleinhaus retired in 1860, and Newton Booth again entered the firm.[11] 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.[11][3] In 1869, Lucius Anson Booth was working in SF and living in Oakland.[13] In December, 1871, business was established in San Francisco in connection with W. W. Dodge.[11] The firm in 1878 was composed of Newton Booth, C. T. Wheeler, Joseph Terry Glover and W. W. Dodge.[11]

Newton Booth made his fortune as a saloon keeper.

He returned to Terre Haute in 1856 and engaged in the practice of law with future U.S. Congressman Harvey D. Scott.[3] In the summer of 1857 Booth traveled through Europe.[3]

In 1860, he returned to Sacramento, campaigned for Abraham Lincoln for president,[3] and returned to the wholesale mercantile business.[11][8]

In 1862, he was on Leland Stanford's (1824-1893) gubernatorial inauguration ball general committee.[3]

In 1862, Booth was elected to the California State Senate, serving in 1863.

From 1863 to 1866 Booth was a resident of San Francisco.[3]

From 1867 to 1892, Booth lived in Sacramento, on Front Street, between J and K streets.[3]

In the 1871 California gubernatorial election, Booth became the eleventh governor of California, from December 8, 1871, to February 27, 1875. Booth openly sought black support.[14]

Booth was later elected to the United States Senate, resigning his governorship.

In 1873, Booth helped to organize the Dolly Vardens political party,[15] and with their support he was elected as an Anti-Monopoly Party member, serving as a Senator 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.[11][8]