Sacramento Valley Biographies

Benjamin Howell Burton

Transcribed and submitted by Sally Kaleta, March 2009

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm



          Benjamin Howell Burton.  Very early in the settlement of Delaware
the Burton family, who were of English and Scotch ancestry, became
identified with the history of the state and bore an influential part in the
Society of Friends, to which they belonged. An honored representative of the
race was John Burton, M. D., a native of Delaware and for more than a half
century prominent among the physicians of Philadelphia, where he died at an
advanced age. As he had chosen a profession for his lifework, so his son,
Benjamin Howell, Sr., chose commercial enterprise and spent the busy years
of a long life in mercantile pursuits. While Indiana was still beyond the
confines of civilization and before a railroad had penetrated its boundaries
or telegraph poles had dotted its prairies, he became a pioneer of Aurora,
where he opened a general store about 1837. As the years passed by settlers
poured into the state, farms were opened up and a permanent era of
prosperity commenced. In 1858 he removed to Aurora, Douglas county, Ill.,
and there engaged in mercantile pursuits until his retirement from business
cares. Politically a stanch Democrat, he had the honor of being chosen
delegate to the famous convention of the Democratic party that nominated
Horace Greeley for president in 1872. In religion he was a Presbyterian. His
last years were spent in the home of his son and namesake in Willow, Cal.,
where he died in 1898, at the age of seventy-seven years. While living in
Indiana, he married Miss Janet Conwell, member of a pioneer family of
Aurora, and a native of Napoleon, Ripley county, that state. On her mother's
side she traced her lineage to the Tatum family, prominent and honored in
the Society of Friends. In the family of Benjamin Howell Burton Sr., there
were five sons and one daughter, namely: Charles T., an attorney, who died
in Kansas; George, who represents the Pacific Iron & Steel Company in
Portland, Ore.; Benjamin Howell, president of the Colusa County Bank and the
Bank of Willow, and one of the leading financiers of northern California;
Alfred, who owns a mercantile establishment at Willits, Cal.; James, a
traveling salesman for the Nolan, George & Hews Shoe Company of San
Francisco; and Janet, who resides with her mother at Nordhoff.
         In Aurora, Ind., Benjamin Howell Burton was born October 26, 1857.
During his infancy the family moved to Illinois and he received his
education in the grammar and high schools of Arcola, meanwhile, during his
vacations, assisting his father in the store. The first of the family to
come to the Pacific coast, the year 1875 witnessed his arrival in
California. For a year he was employed in the dry-goods house of Nicklesburg
& Co., at Colusa. His connection with the Colusa County Bank dates from the
1st of July, 1876, when he was engaged as assistant bookkeeper, the
president being W. F. Goad, the first to hold that office. The second
president was Col. George Hagar, and the third, W. P. Harrington. Under
these various heads Mr. Burton steadily rose in positions of importance and
responsibility. While he was acting as assistant cashier, in April, 1889,
the Colusa County Bank bought a controlling interest in the Bank of Willow,
and he was elected cashier and a director of that institution. As the
manager of the bank he proved himself a keen financier, careful in
investments, efficient, capable and trustworthy. So satisfactory was his
service and so evident his high order of ability that he was called to the
presidency of the Colusa County Bank in December, 1903, and in January
following was made president of the Bank of Willow, both of which positions
he now holds. While he acted as cashier of the Bank of Willow its capital
stock was increased from $200,000 to $300,000, its reserve was increased
more than $100,000, and dividends were regularly declared. Nor has the
Colusa County Bank enjoyed an era of less prosperity. Established in 1870,
it is one of the solid old financial institutions of northern California,
and conducts a large and safe business with a capital of $500,000 and a
reserve of more than $100,000. Both banks are identified with the American
and California Bankers' Associations and rank among the strongest concerns
of their kind in this part of the state.
           Upon becoming president of the Colusa County Bank Mr. Burton
established his home in Colusa, where he now resides. His first marriage
occurred in Martinsville, Ind., and united him with Miss Anna Tarleton, who
was born at Waverly, Ind., and died at Willow, Cal., June 10, 1896, leaving
a son, Benjamin Howell Jr. The second marriage of Mr. Burton took place in
California, Mo., and united him with Miss Myra Kelly, who was born and
reared in that locality and from girlhood has been identified with the
Christian Church. Two children were born of this union, John Kelly and Ruth,
the former bearing the name of his maternal grandfather, John Kelly, a
farmer of Missouri.

"History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the
Sacramento Valley, California," J. M. Guinn, The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1906, Pages 318-319.