Raup Wilson Miller (1904-1993)

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 14, 1953.

    A native of Clinton County, Pennsylvania, Raup Wilson Miller spent his formative years in his native state before journeying westward to California. Following brief residencies in Wyoming and Oregon, Miller attended college in California before embarking on a two-decade-long career as an insurance broker. A two-term member of the California State Assembly from Palo Alto, Miller later served as a district governor for the Optimist Club organization and published a book of poetry late in life. The son of Frank Ball (1879-1961) and Carrie R. Miller (born 1888), Raup Wilson Miller was born in Lamar, Pennsylvania on September 13, 1904.

  A student in schools near Salona, Pennsylvania, Miller also worked for his father (a painter and paperhanger) during the summer months. Deciding to attend college in California, Miller worked his way towards his goal, being employed by a railroad in Wyoming and a paper mill in Oregon. After reaching California in the mid-1920s, Miller enrolled at the University of California at Berkley, where he would meet his future wife Florence (born 1908). The couple married ca. 1926 and were wed for 67 years. Their lengthy union would see the birth of one daughter, Nicki Ann.

  Following his marriage, Miller and his wife put their studies on hold due to limited finances, with Miller taking work as a house painter. He continued along this route until he entered into the insurance business as an underwriter and company representative. Miller later elected to go into business for himself in 1934, operating an insurance office in Palo Alto with his wife. This business continued until the couple retired in 1954. 

   In 1942 Miller announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for the California State Assembly from the 28th district. He would go on to win that year's primary and in the general election defeated Democrat Roy W. Sturtevant by a vote of 7,776 to 6,907. During the 1943-45 session Miller sat on the committees on Agriculture, Finance and Insurance, Labor and Capital, Military Affairs, Public Health, Universities and Colleges, and in November 1944 won a second term in the assembly, being unopposed in that year's election.  A member of the U.S. Coast Guard during his legislative service, the 1945-47 term saw Miller introduce a "fair employment practices bill" in 1946 aimed to deter anti-racial sentiment in the hiring of African-Americans, Chinese, Filipino, and other minority groups. Despite being endorsed by California governor and future U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren, Raup Miller saw the bill shot down in a meeting of the assembly ways and means committee, which killed the bill 10 votes to 6. 

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 17, 1953.

   Miller retired from the legislature at the close of his second term and would continue his political career at the local level, serving on the Palo Alto city council from 1949-50. An active club-man in Santa Clara County, Miller was a Masonic lodge member in Palo Alto and for two terms in the 1950s served as a district governor for the Optimist International, a volunteer service organization devoted to community improvement, youth development, and service projects. Following retirement from the insurance business, Miller and his wife removed to El Dorado County, where Miller took on the post of manager for the El Dorado Savings and Loan Association, located in Placerville. 

   Late in his life, Raup Miller and his wife returned to college studies, and despite being over sixty years of age, he graduated from Humboldt State University in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Following this achievement, the couple undertook a lengthy trip through the United States, Europe, and Mexico, and for two years studied in France. A lifelong poet, Miller saw his first poem published while he was still in high school, and through his life continued writing. In 1989, Miller's wife and niece published these poems in book form, under the title "Musings and Meditations". He and wife later resided in Ukiah, California, where Miller died on March 17, 1993, aged 88. He was survived by his wife and daughter, and a burial location for him remains unknown at this time.

From the Ukiah Daily Standard, March 21, 1993.

Vital Emanuel Bangs (1834-1913)

Vital Bangs (with fancy hat), from the History of Stanislaus County, 1913.

  Following on the heels of San Francisco mayoral candidate Brilsford P. Flint, another oddly named Californian gets accorded his due...Vital Emanuel Bangs of Stanislaus County. A two-term member of the state assembly from that county, Bangs also gained distinction in Modesto educational circles, being a vice-principal, county board of education member, and a contributor to educational journals of the time. Although a resident of California for a good majority of his life, his birth didn't occur in that state. Bangs was born in Victoria, Mexico on August 26, 1834, the son of printer and publisher Samuel (ca. 1798-1854) and Susan (Payne) Bangs, respective natives of Massachusetts and Virginia who had settled in Mexico prior to their son's birth. Given the unusual name "Vital" upon his birth, Bangs' middle name Emanuel is listed as being spelled with both one and two m's.

  Bangs' formative years were spent in Mexico and by age 14 was residing in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he attended school. He further studied at the Cedar Park Seminary and the Kalamazoo College before putting his schooling on hold, having caught the gold rush bug in the early 1850s. In 1853 he resettled in El Dorado, California and after a short spell at mining began teaching a Spanish night school in that county. By 1858 Bangs had returned to Kalamazoo and, after completing his studies, removed to Vernon County, Missouri. His time in this state saw him teach school for two years, whereafter he pulled up stakes once again and this time removed to Douglas County, Kansas.

  Vital E. Bangs married in Kansas in 1863 to Mary G. Moore (1845-1918), to whom he was wed until his death. The couple's near five decades of marriage saw the births of four children, Henry T. (birthdate unknown), Susan (1870-1934), Victoria Letitia (1878-1956), and Vital Everitt (1886-1890).In the year following his marriage Bangs and his wife made the move to California, where they would reside for the remainder of their lives. He would subsequently begin a teaching career that would take him through Tulare, Placer, and Sacramento County, and by 1873 had permanently settled in Modesto, Stanislaus County. 

  Within a short period of his arrival in Modesto Bangs had entered into the post of vice-principal of schools for the city, and for decades afterward loomed large in Stanislaus County education. Bangs would serve on the county board of education for twelve years, be the vice president of the Modesto Teacher's Institute in 1880, and in the last name year wrote an extensive history of the Stanislaus County public school system for inclusion in the 1881 History of Stanislaus County. Bangs would also be a contributor to the "California Teacher" and other educational periodicals well into the early 20th century.

   In addition to his long career in education, Bangs was also heavily involved in the Stanislaus County Grange, being a charter member and master (1877-1878) of that organization, as well as its first secretary, serving from 1873-1876. Bangs had further involvement in area agriculture with his service as an assessor for the Modesto Irrigation District and also was named as the director for California's 28th agricultural district by Governor Henry H. Markham in the early 1890s. 

   Vital E. Bangs' first foray into California political life came with his election to the state assembly in 1887 as a representative from Modesto. Serving in the session of 1888-89, Bangs was named to the committees on County and Township Governments, Crimes and Penalties, Education, and Water Rights and Drainage. Bangs would win a second term in 1902, and was unopposed in that year's election, garnering 3,745 votes and "receiving the votes of both parties and polling the largest vote of any man in the assembly." Bang's second term commenced in January 1903 and during that session sat on the committees on Education, Immigration, Irrigation, and Public Health and Quarantine.

  Following his final term in the assembly, Vital Bangs continued residence in Modesto, residing on a nearly five hundred acre ranch near the city, where he grew alfalfa and raised dairy cattle. Bangs died in Modesto on November 15, 1913, at age 79 and was survived by his wife Mary. Both are buried at the Modesto Citizens Cemetery. 

  

Vital E. Bangs, from the 1903 California Blue Book.

Esto Bates Broughton (1890-1956)

Portrait from the History of Stanislaus County, California, 1921.

   Today's write-up highlights the life of Esto Bates Broughton, one of the first women to serve in the California State Assembly. A lawyer and graduate of the University of California, Broughton was one of four women elected to the 1919-21 assembly session, subsequently serving a total of four terms in that body. Following her time in state government, she worked as a reporter for several California newspapers and later was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions of 1932 and 1952.

   The daughter of James Richard and Jennie Bates Broughton, Esto Bates Broughton was born in Modesto, California on January 9, 1890. Being the daughter of a bank president, Broughton was afforded an excellent education, attending the public schools of Modesto as well as the Lowell High School in San Francisco. She later continued her education at the University of California and earned both her Bachelor of Arts Degree (1915) and law degree (1916) from that institution.

   Mentioned as being the first female attorney to practice in Stanislaus County, Broughton served as President of the Modesto Improvement Club prior to serving in the assembly and is remarked as having been an advocate of a national prohibition law. Nominated for the state assembly from Stanislaus County in 1918, Broughton won the election that November, being the youngest of the four women to win assembly seats that year. The only Democrat amongst the four, Broughton proved to be busy as a freshman legislator, serving on the following committees: Civil Service, Direct legislation, Engrossment and Enrollment, Irrigation, Public Morals, and Ways and Means. 

   Broughton's first assembly term saw her make "a special study of the irrigation laws", and her interest in that subject led her to introduce a bill "allowing irrigation districts to develop electric power in connection with irrigation projects." Broughton's bill would be passed into law and proved to have lasting results, with:

"Bonds for the Don Pedro Dam project were voted on by the Modesto and Turlock Irrigation districts, and the two districts concerned will be assured of an abundance of water and also of power, the income or saving of which will be a great consideration for the taxpayer."

   Esto Broughton won her second term in the assembly in 1920 and during that session chaired the committee on the normal school, as well as serving on the agriculture, taxation, judiciary, charities, and corrections committees. This term also saw her aid returning WWI veterans by "advocating special job programs". She would win two further assembly terms in 1922 and 1924 and in the last-named year "easily defeated an independent candidate."

Portrait from www.nwhm.org.

   Upon leaving the assembly at the end of the 1926-27 session Broughton returned to practicing law and from 1928-31 served the Pasadena Playhouse as its publicity director. In the early 1930s, Broughton is recorded as being a reporter at the California capitol, being affiliated with the Fresno Republican, Stockton Record, and the San Francisco News. She would return to political life in 1932  when she served as a member of the California delegation to the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago that nominated Franklin Roosevelt for the Presidency. 

   Little is known of Esto Broughton's life following her service as a delegate. Sources of the time denote her service as Secretary of the Stanislaus County Bar Association (dates of service unknown) and also her time spent teaching journalism at the University of Hawaii in 1935. In one of her last acts of public service, Broughton was again a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1952, this time as an alternate to the convention being held in Chicago.

   Esto Bates Broughton died in California on November 20, 1956, at age 66. Many aspects of her private life continue to remain a mystery, including whether or not she married and had children. The origins of her unusual first name also remain unknown.

Chancellor William Hookway (1876-1945), Chancellor Hartson (1824-1889)

Portrait from the North Dakota Magazine, Vol, 4, 1914.

   North Dakota state senator Chancellor William Hookway is on a shortlist of American political figures who sport a title as a first name. Like General G.O. Pence and Colonel E. Rudesill before him, Hookway's unusual first name is somewhat misleading, as he never served as chancellor of any post during his life!

   A native of Canada, Chancellor W. Hookway's birth occurred (depending on the source) in either West Lorne or Aldborough Township, Ontario on March 21, 1876 (or 1877), the son of Francis and Mary Hookway. The Hookway family resided in Canada until 1884, thereafter removing to Pembina County, North Dakota. Chancellor would attend the common schools of St. Thomas in that county and graduated from the local high school. He entered the University of Minnesota in the late 1890s and in 1900 graduated from that university's law department. Shortly thereafter he removed to McHenry County and established his first law practice in the city of Granville, continuing in his profession for many years afterward.

   Chancellor Hookway married in the early 1900s to Mary E. Lindquist (born 1877) and later had one daughter, Myrtice (born ca. 1905-1940). Prior to his senate service Hookway served Granville as its city attorney (his dates of service being unknown) as well as a notary public. 

   In November 1910 Hookway was elected to the North Dakota State Senate, defeating his Democratic opponent Knute Steenerson by a vote of 952 to 342. Taking his seat in January 1911, Hookway served on the following committees during his four years in office: Cities and Municipal Corporations, Corporations Other Than Municipal (chairman), Counties, Educational Institutions, the Judiciary, Mines and Minerals, Warehousing, and Grain and Grain Grading. 

Chancellor W. Hookway, from January 12, 1911, Grand Forks Evening Times.

   In July 1914 Hookway failed to gain renomination to the senate in a rather unique fashion. In that year's primary election, he and Democratic opponent J.M. Vatevog both received 398 votes, their tie resulting in a drawing under the supervision of the board of county commissioners. Hookway, unfortunately, lost the draw! Following that loss, Hookway returned to practicing law and later moved to Beadle County, South Dakota, where, in 1943, he was elected as County Judge. He would serve two years on the bench, dying in office on December 8, 1945, at age 69. He was survived by his wife Mary and a burial location for both Hookway and his wife remains unknown at this time.

Chancellor Hartson, 1824-1889.

   From North Dakota, we make our way to California to profile another political "Chancellor", Chancellor Hartson of Napa County. A native of New York, Hartson removed to California during the gold rush years and subsequently went on to gain prominence in state government, being elected as a district attorney, county judge, state assemblyman, and state senator. Hartson would also make two unsuccessful bids for the U.S. House of Representatives, hoping to represent California's 3rd congressional district. In addition to being a distinguished name in Sunshine State politics, Hartson also has connections to my home county of Chautauqua, New York (more on that later!)

   Born in Otsego, New York in 1824,  Chancellor Hartson was the son of Horace and Asenath Liddell Hartson. He attended Madison University in his home state and earned his law degree from the Fowler Law School in Cherry Valley, New York. Like many other young men of the time, Hartson was bitten by the gold rush bug and in 1850 made his way to California. In the year following his sojourn west, he moved to Napa, where he would establish a law practice.

   Hartson's first few years in Napa saw him quickly rise through the ranks of county public life. In 1853 he was elected as county District Attorney and after his term succeeded to the post of county judge, continuing in that post until 1858. In 1854 he married Sinclairville, New York native Electa Burnell (died 1902), to whom he was wed until his death. Four children were born to the couple: Burnell, Ernest Harrison, Channing King (1872-1930), and Daisy Asenath.

  A prominent figure in the early years of the Republican Party in California, Hartson switched from a Whig to a Republican in the late 1850s. In 1862 he was elected to his first term in the California State Assembly, where he served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In the following year, he became a member of the state senate, serving continuously until 1867. During his term, he introduced an important piece of legislation, one that would have a lasting effect on Napa County. In March 1864 he introduced a bill "to aid in the construction of a railroad in Napa County", with bonds in the sum of $225,000 to be issued by the county board of supervisors. The bill was passed in April of that year and in May was voted on "by the people", who approved it by a "large majority."

Portrait from the History of Solano and Napa Counties, 1912.

  Shortly after the aforementioned vote, the Napa Valley Railroad Company was organized, and Chancellor Hartson took office as its first president. The railroad would have its inaugural train launch in June of 1865 and by the dawn of the 1870s, it had been connected to the transcontinental railroad.

   In 1867 Hartson made his first move into national politics when he became the Republican nominee for Congress from California's 3rd congressional district. In a close contest, Hartson lost out to Democratic nominee James Augustus Johnson (a future Lieutenant Governor of California), who defeated him by only 373 votes.  Hartson's second run for Congress in November 1868 brought him another loss to Johnson, this time by an even slimmer margin (just 264 votes!)

   Following these two losses, Chancellor Hartson refrained from political candidacy for several years and focused attention on his law practice. In 1871 he made his first move into banking, being a founding organizer of the Bank of Napa, of which he would serve as president. He continued in that role until January 1879, and in the following year was returned to the state assembly, being elected to fill a vacancy caused by the death of William James Maclay. Hartson would win another term in November 1880 and during the 1881-83 session of the legislature served as one of two chairmen of the Joint Senate and Assembly Committee on Prisons.

   During his assembly term, Hartson was appointed by President James Garfield as Collector of Internal Revenue for the district of San Francisco, an office that he would fill for several years. In 1886 he was even talked of as a potential candidate for Governor of California. Active in several other non-political areas in Napa County, Hartson held the post of president of the Board of Directors of the Napa State Hospital and for a time served as President of the Board of Trustees of Napa College. 

   Chancellor Hartson died on September 25, 1889, at age 65, his death resulting from " a sudden attack of apoplexy" suffered at his home. Acknowledged by his contemporaries as "one of the most kingly of men", Hartson was later interred at the Tulocay Cemetery in Napa.

Portrait from the Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California.

   In an interesting tidbit to conclude Hartson's write-up here, I've found that he has quite a strong connection to my home county of Chautauqua, New York. Both his parents (Horace and Asenath Hartson) are interred at the Levant Cemetery in Poland, New York, just a few miles from my home! More local connections can be found in Hartson's wife Electa Burnell (1832-1902), who was born in Sinclairville and was a sister of New York state assemblyman Madison Burnell (1812-1865), who represented Chautauqua County in the assembly from 1846-47.

The gravesite of Horace and Asenath Hartson, Levant Cemetery.

McDowell Reid Venable (1836-1907)

Portrait courtesy of ancestry.com

   Virginia native McDowell Reid Venable relocated to California after serving in the Confederate Army and in the years following his removal established a reputation as one of San Luis Obispo County's prominent citizens. A one-term member of the state assembly from California's 73rd district, Venable had earlier served terms as San Luis Obispo County judge.

  Born in September 1836 in Charlotte County, Virginia, McDowell Reid Venable was the son of Richard and Magdalena Venable. He would attend the common schools of that county and later studied at the Hampden-Sidney College. Venable would also begin law studies at the University of Virginia, but no notice has been found as to his possible date of graduation. At the dawn of the Civil War Venable enlisted in the Confederate Army at Yorktown, Virginia. He was later mustered into the Virginia Branch Light Artillery and on September 17, 1862, was wounded in the hip at the Battle of Antietam. Following recovery, he served as a First Lieutenant in the Confederate Engineer's Corps, stationed in Shreveport, Louisiana.

  Following the completion of his military service, Venable resided in Texas for a short time before removing back to Virginia. He would begin the practice of law here and after two years decided to pull up stakes once again, this time relocating to California. Arriving in 1868, Venable first settled in San Jose, but after a year moved to San Luis Obispo, where he would reside for the remainder of his life. 

  Within a few years of his removal to California McDowell R. Venable had become a prominent member of the San Luis Obispo community. In addition to operating a law practice in that city, he was elected as County Judge in 1872, continuing in that role until that office was abolished in 1880. 1872 proved to be a highly important year in Venable's life, as he married to Alice Watkins (1845-1885). The couple were married for thirteen years and had five daughters: Catherine, Alice, Edna, Magdaline, and Reida. In the same year as his marriage, Venable was named as part of the California delegation to the Democratic National Convention being held at Baltimore, Maryland. 

   In 1886 Venable returned to public life when he received the nomination for the California State Assembly and won the election that November. Taking his seat at the start of the 1887-89 session, he chaired the committee on the whole during his tenure and also held seats on the committees on Constitutional Amendments, Corporations, Judiciary, and Ways and Means.

   Outside of his legislative service, McDowell Reid Venable cultivated a reputation as one of San Luis Obispo's leading civic leaders, serving at various times as president of the school board and president of the San Luis Obispo Board of Trade. In 1888 he helped in the establishment of the Commercial Bank of San Luis Obispo and subsequently was named to the posts of both director and president. He would serve in the latter capacity until he died in San Luis Obispo on April 12, 1907, after "several weeks illness." Widowed in 1885, both Venable and his wife Alice were interred at the San Luis Cemetery in San Luis Obispo.

                                                                 From the Los Angeles Herald, April 13, 1907.

Forsythe Charles Clowdsley (1895-1940)

From a February 1929 press photo.

   Despite his lack of years Stockton, California resident Forsythe Charles "Tod" Clowdsley left his mark in Sunshine State politics, being a four-term representative to the California State Assembly, as well as serving as San Joaquin County's District Attorney. The son of William Forsythe (1846-1917) and Virginia Olive Clowdsley (1852-1948), Forsythe C. Clowdsley was born in Stockton on February 6, 1895, and would attend the public schools of that city. 

   As a young man, Clowdsley entered into work on the staff of the Stockton Mail newspaper and continued in this employ until the dawn of American involvement in WWI. The American Legislative Leaders of the West denotes that Clowdsley "underwent two major surgeries to pass the physical examination" and after doing so was deployed to France as a Sergeant of Battery C, 143rd Field Artillery. He would remain here from 1917-1919 and following his return to Stockton resumed work with the Stockton Mail.

  Clowdsley married his first wife Helene Harpillard (a native of France) in 1920. Helene died in 1922 during childbirth and in 1933 Clowdsley remarried to Salina, Kansas native Suzanne Marie Humbarger, who would survive him upon his death in 1940. 

  Clowdsley first entered public life in San Joaquin County in 1921 when he was appointed as Assistant District Attorney. He would serve in that post for several years and in 1926 was elected as one of San Joaquin County's representatives to the California State Assembly. He would be elected to three further terms in the assembly and in the 1933-34 session served as Speaker Pro tem of the House, being noted as "the first Democratic speaker in California in 40 years."

  In November 1934 Clowdsley was elected as San Joaquin County District Attorney and was still the incumbent in that office when he died on September 25, 1940, of a heart attack. Just 45 years of age at the time of his passing, Clowdsley's burial location is unknown at this time but is presumed to be at the Stockton Rural Cemetery in Stockton, California. This cemetery is the resting place of both his first wife Helene (1900-1922) and his son, Forsythe Charles Jr. (1922-1929).

From the 1928 California Blue Book.

Arminius Titus Haeberle (1874-1943), Arminius Calvin Paulsell (1832-1893)

  Continuing on a theme set by Tuesday's article on Epperson R. Fulkerson, another oddly named American diplomat is profiled here on the site, Arminius Titus Haeberle of Missouri. Unlike Mr. Fulkerson, who briefly served as U.S. Vice Consul in Nagasaki, Mr. Haeberle was a career diplomat, serving as a Vice Consul or Consul in several different countries over twenty years time.

   Born in St. Louis, Missouri on January 23, 1874, Arminius Titus Haberle was the son of the Rev. Louis F.  (1838-1928) and Flora Lemen Bock Haeberle (1841-1909). Arminius attended school in St. Louis and later went on to study at both the Elmhurst College in Illinois and Washington University in St. Louis. After completing his studies Haeberle embarked upon a career as a teacher, eventually becoming an instructor at St. Charles College in St. Charles Missouri.

  After several years of teaching and serving as a principal at various locations in Missouri, Haeberle was named to the position of vice director of the Institute Ingles in Santiago, Chili, serving here from 1898-1903. Returning to the United States after his service in Chili Haeberle became the head of the modern language department at St. Louis's McKinley High School, holding this post until 1907. In the year following his leaving McKinley High School Haeberle was appointed to his first diplomatic post, that of U.S. Consul at Manzanillo, Cuba. After presenting his credentials and passing an examination, Haeberle arrived in Manzanillo on June 10, 1908. His service as consul concluded in 1910, and in that same year was transferred to the consulate at Tegucigalpa, Honduras. 

  After arriving in Honduras in January 1911, Haeberle threw himself into his new appointment, being described as "energetic" and "instructive" by the 1912 Congressional Serial Set. This same work also notes that Haeberle made numerous trips by mule through the six districts that comprised Tegucigalpa, and he gave detailed accounts of the region's agriculture, early history, industry, and the area's "considerable mineral wealth".

                              This picture of Haeberle appeared in a July 1914 edition of the New York Sun.

   Haeberle continued to advance as a diplomat in November 1913, when he was transferred to the U.S. Consulate in St. Michaels, Azores. His tenure here was quite brief, as he was moved yet again in February 1915, this time to the consulate in Pernambuco, Brazil. Haeberle spent eight years as U.S. Consul in Pernambuco, with his tenure concluding in 1923. He remained in Brazil as Consul in San Paolo from 1923-1925 and was then dispatched to Dresden, Germany, where he took the post of U.S. Consul General in 1925. His eleven-year tenure in that office saw the rise of Hitler in the early 1930s, during which time Haeberle sent home "confidential reports about him" to government officials.

  Arminius T. Haeberle retired from diplomatic service in 1936, having served as a vice consul or consul in six different areas of the world for twenty-eight years. Following his retirement, Haeberle returned to the United States and settled in Missouri. On October 26, 1943, he was stricken while shaving at his St. Louis home and died shortly afterward.  He was survived by his wife Ida Weineke Haeberle, who died in 1949 at age 76. Both were interred at St. John's Cemetery in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Missouri, the same resting place as Haeberle's parents.

Portrait from the San Francisco Call, March 28, 1893.

    In an update to this article (June 28, 2016), another politician with the first name "Arminius" has been located...Arminius Calvin Paulsell!! A standout figure in the business and political life of San Joaquin County, California, Paulsell was a one-term member of the California State Assembly from that county and was later tapped to serve on the State Board of Harbor Commissioners. 

    A native of Tennessee, Arminius Calvin Paulsell was born in Green County in that state on January 26, 1832, the son of John and Mary Ann Polly (Bailey) Paulsell. The Paulsell family moved from Tennessee to Illinois, where John Paulsell died in 1838. Arminius would reside with his mother in Missouri and at age 14 entered into work at a general store in Springfield. 

   Like many other young men of the time, Arminius Paulsell saw a bright future for himself in California and in 1853 permanently resettled there. Establishing himself in Stanislaus County, Paulsell married the following year to Almira Holford Gardenhire (1839-1910), a daughter of a pioneer Tuolumne County family. The couple are recorded as being the first to be married in that county later had a total of nine children: Mary Catherine (1855-1868), Martha Augusta (1857-1922), Lee Young (1862-1871), John Jefferson (1864-1930), Ann Jeanette (1866-1956), Arminius Calvin Jr. (died in infancy in 1874), Oliver Franklin (1875-1941), Edna (1879-1961) and Jessie (1880-1956).

  Shortly after his marriage, Paulsell resettled in San Joaquin County, where he purchased a farm and began farming and stockraising. Sources relate that he owned 3,500 acres of farmland and in 1872 sold off several hundred acres of it and moved to Stockton (also located in San Joaquin County), where in 1873 he helped establish the Farmer's Union, a cooperative formed "for the purpose of warehousing, buying and selling grain, bags, etc."

   In November 1873 Paulsell was one of two representatives from San Joaquin County elected to the California State Assembly and during this session (1874-76) served on the committees on Corporations and State Hospitals. Following his term, he briefly served on the city Board of Aldermen from Stockton's 2nd ward in 1878.

  After a number of years as President of the Farmer's Union, Arminius Paulsell left that post in 1883 to accept an appointment to the California Board of Harbor Commissioners, being named to that board by then-Governor George Stoneman. Paulsell would serve a total of seven years as a harbor commissioner and in 1890 was even floated as a potential Democratic candidate for Governor of California; his name being placed in nomination by then San Joaquin Superior Court Judge Franklin T. Baldwin.

  Touting Paulsell's experience as a businessman, Baldwin's nominating speech highlighted Paulsell's character and also acknowledged that:

"His sublime record had met with the approval of his fellow citizens in all parts of the state....and that no better man could be selected to act as the standard barer of the Democratic Party."

Arminius C. Paulsell.

   Despite the enthusiastic support of Judge Baldwin, Paulsell's gubernatorial hopes were dashed at the nominating convention in San Jose in August 1890. On the first ballot, he garnered 44 votes, and in the second round of balloting, 25 votes (compared to successful nominee Edward Pond's 217.) 
   After his gubernatorial ambitions had come to naught, Paulsell resided in San Francisco, where he continued in the "buying and selling of grain on a large scale." In 1893 he returned to Stockton, where on March 26, 1893, he died of the effects of Bright's disease at the home of his son John Jefferson. Before his death, Paulsell had been put forth as a possible Superintendent of the U.S. Mint in San Francisco, but his death prevented this from occurring. Paulsell was survived by his wife Almira, who, following her death in 1910 was interred alongside her husband at the Stockton Rural Cemetery.

Paulsell's death notice from the Sacramento Record-Union March 28, 1893.

Milus Henry Gay (1842-1894)

   Hailing from Santa Clara County, California, Milus Henry Gay has the honor of being the first oddly named California politician profiled here since October of last year when Caius T. Ryland (another strangely named California Assemblyman) was profiled. Unlike Mr. Ryland, little information could be found on Milus Gay, but enough is available to give an adequate overview of his life and service in the California State Assembly. 

  Originally born in Payson, Illinois on April 10, 1842, Milus H. Gay migrated to California with his family in the early 1850s, eventually settling in the county of Santa Clara. His education took place in the native schools of this county and he graduated from the University of the Pacific in the class of 1865.  He returned to this institution shortly after graduating to teach ancient languages and after a few years as chair of the language department left to read law under the firm of Silent and Herrington.
  In 1872 Milus Gay married Indiana native Ella Sinex, with whom he had one son, Henry Milus (later a prominent California physician.) Gay later moved to the town of San Buenaventura in 1874, where he became involved in banking. He was a founder and later cashier/manager of the Bank of Ventura, serving in these offices for several years.

 An 1881 California Assembly Journal, with Milus H. Gay's name highlighted in yellow.

   In 1880 Milus Gay made the jump into politics, winning election to the California State Assembly from Santa Clara County. Taking office in January 1881, Gay was named to seats on the committees on Public Buildings and later, Roads and Highways. His one term in the assembly concluded in 1883 and afterward returned to private life. He is recorded by his obituary (shown below) as also being an active Mason, as well as having a membership in the International Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights Templar.

  Shortly after leaving the legislature in January 1883, Milus Gay was appointed as the Superintendent of the Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose, serving in this position until his death at age 51 on March 18, 1894. Despite my best attempts, a burial location could not be found for Milus Gay, but seeing that he was the Superintendent of one of the largest cemeteries in the state of California, it can be reasonably assumed that he was interred at the Oak Hill Cemetery. 

  Milus H. Gay's obit as it appeared in the March 19, 1894 edition of the San Francisco Morning Call.

Caius Tacitus Ryland (1826-1897), Caius Cassius Webster (1839-1897)

Portrait from the San Francisco Call, December 6, 1897.

    Arguably one of the strangest named men ever to serve in the California State Assembly, Caius Tacitus Ryland was for many years a prominent son of San Jose, being a pioneer of 1849. A two-term member of the state assembly from Santa Clara County, Ryland would serve as Speaker of that body and later was talked of as a potential candidate for U.S. Senator from California.
   Receiving his first and middle names in honor of the Roman historian and senator Caius Tacitus, Caius Tacitus "C.T." Ryland was born in Howard County, Missouri on June 30, 1826, being the son of John Ferguson and Elizabeth Ryland. A noted figure in his own right, John F. Ryland (1797-1873) was a circuit court judge who married twice and fathered a total of 18 children! Judge Ryland later served several years on the Missouri Supreme Court and looks to have had an aptitude for giving his offspring odd names from history, including Erasmus, Xenophon, Manville Cass, and last but not least, Caius Tacitus. 
   "C.T." Ryland was afforded a limited education as a child, working on his family's farm during the summer and attending school in Lexington during the winter months. He turned his attention to the law at an early age and after a period of study was admitted to the Missouri bar. In 1849 gold was discovered in California, and, like so many other young men of the time, Ryland saw a bright future for himself out west. He is mentioned as being a "pioneer of July 30, 1849" and is also noted as having a "brief experience in the mines" before his resettlement in San Jose in 1850.
   Upon his settlement in San Jose Ryland established a law practice in that city, continuing in his profession until 1869. Around 1850 he began service as a clerk to his future father-in-law, Peter H. Burnett, the first Governor of the state of California. Ryland continued in that post until 1851 and married in that same year to Letitia Burnett, a daughter of Governor Burnett. Caius and Letitia were married for over four decades and later had ten children: Ada, Romie, John Wallace, Mary Norma, Joseph Robert, Frank Poe, Harriett, Charles Bernard, Caius Tacitus Jr., and Dwight Edwin.
   After leaving the aforementioned clerkship Ryland resumed his law practice and soon began treading the political waters, winning election as a Democrat to the California State Assembly in 1854. Serving on the committees on Internal Improvements and the Judiciary during the 1855-56 session, Ryland was also instrumental in his position as chairman of the Internal Improvements committee, reporting and helping to pass a bill "to build a wagon road across the Sierra Neva Mountains, for the relief of pioneers and migrants of the day."
   Caius T. Ryland won a second assembly term in 1866 and served as its Speaker during the 1867-68 session.  He continued his political ascent in 1876 when he served as chairman of the California State Democratic Convention and was even talked of as a potential candidate for U.S. Senator from California, but was ultimately passed over for that position.
   In addition to his time in politics, Ryland gained further distinction in a number of civic and business endeavors both in San Jose and elsewhere. The Early Days and Men of California gives note to Ryland's contribution to the construction and completion of a wagon road extending from "Sierra Madre de Santa Cruz to the town of Santa Cruz" and also relates that Ryland dabbled in railroad promotion, serving as a director and an attorney for the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad (the first of its kind linking those cities) until its eventual absorption by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1870. Ryland was also a founding member of the Santa Clara Agricultural Society, a life member and three-time vice president of the California Society of Pioneers, and a trustee of San Jose State Normal School.
  

Portrait courtesy of  vendome.org

    In the last years of his life, Ryland was active in both banking and real estate, owning the Letitia, Ryland, and Columbus blocks in San Jose. He reemerged on the political scene in 1888, when he served as a vice president of the National Democratic Convention that re-nominated Grover Cleveland for President. Caius Tacitus Ryland died at his San Jose home on December 5, 1897, reportedly due to "due to a complication of diseases which affected the heart." He is recorded as having left an estate valued at over three million dollars and was survived by his wife Letitia, who died in 1910 at age seventy-seven. Both Ryland and his wife (as well as their children) were later interred at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery in Santa Clara, California.

Ryland's obituary from the Santa Cruz Sentinel, December 1897.

From the Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire, Vol I.

  Manchester, New Hampshire resident Caius Cassius Webster is another "Caius" who entered politics, in his case serving one term in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. A lifelong native of the Nutmeg State, Caius C. Webster was born in Manchester on October 10, 1839, being the son of Nathaniel and Martha (Corning) Webster. A student in schools local to Manchester, Webster worked the family farm during his youth and in 1862 enlisted in Co. A. of the Tenth New Hampshire Infantry. He would see action at the battle of Fredericksburg as well as the fall of Richmond and was honorably discharged in June 1865.

   In August 1862 Caius Webster married Caroline Calef, to whom he was wed until his death. The couple would have two children, Frederick Elmer (born 1868) and Edith Aroline. A farmer in Manchester for a good majority of his life, Webster had earlier worked in a flour mill and during the winter months cut lumber "for building purposes". 

  Remarked as a staunch temperance man, Caius Webster entered the political life of Manchester in 1894 when he became a Republican candidate for the New Hampshire House of Representatives. Hoping to represent Manchester's 6th ward in the legislature, Webster was one of four Republicans vying for a seat and in November won the election with 718 votes. Serving in the 1895-97 session, Webster sat on the committee on the Soldier's Home. He died shortly after the completion of his term on October 10, 1897, his 58th birthday. A burial location for him remains unknown at this time.