Butte County
Biographies
MRS. KATE HUTCHINS BOYNTON
MRS. KATE HUTCHINS BOYNTON.—Like her late husband, S. S. Boynton, Mrs. Boynton has been
very prominent in business and social affairs in Oroville, in the upbuilding of the city, and in its growth and development. She
always kept pace with her husband’s interests, following the profession of
teaching with him, and later when he entered the newspaper field, ably
assisting him there, first as accountant and in time taking charge of the
financial end of the business. Upon his death she assumed the
responsibilities of president and financial manager of the corporation that was
then formed, called the Oroville Register Publishing Company. Since that
time she and the other officers of the company have successfully striven to
uphold the high standard set by Mr. Boynton and to continue the wide influence
of the paper for the betterment of that section of California.
A Canadian
by birth, Mrs. Boynton was born at La Chute, near Montreal,
the fifth child of Phineas R. and Jessie (Walker)
Hutchins, who were married in the year 1839. Her grandfather, John S.
Hutchins, who was a direct descendant of Washington’s
secretary, was a native of Charlestown,
N. H. He moved to Canada,
settling on a farm near Montreal,
where her father was born. Her mother was born at Kilmarnock,
Scotland, the daughter of
Gavin and Jessie Walker. She came to Canada
when a young girl in her teens. While a resident of Canada,
Mrs. Boynton’s father served as an adjutant of his regiment during the
Rebellion. After following farming at La Chute for a number of years, Mr.
Hutchins started with his wife and seven children for California,
in the year 1857, making the trip by way of Panama. They
settled at Central House, Butte County,
where Mr. Hutchins farmed six hundred forty acres until his death, in 1875,
aged sixty-three; Mrs. Hutchins having died in 1865, at the age of
forty-nine. The Hutchins Ranch was owned by Mrs. Boynton’s brother, John
S., for many years, when it was sold to its present owner, Ed. Biggs. The
names of Mrs. Boynton’s brothers and sisters are: Gavin Walker; John S.;
Caroline Matilda, wife of Chief Justice McWhorter, of Charleston, W. Va.,;
Thomas B., an extensive orchardist of Butte County,
who died at the age of fifty-five; Maggie, wife of B. F. Bell, of Palo Alto,
Cal.; and Minnie, wife of H. C. Bell, internal revenue collector of Sacramento.
Mrs. Boynton
received her early education at the local schools, and when fifteen
successfully passed the examination for a teacher’s first grade certificate,
and began teaching in Butte County. Later
she attended Mrs. Poston’s Seminary, in Marysville, after which she resumed
teaching in Butte County. She
also taught a term in Yuba County,
and one in Plumas County,
but with these exceptions, Butte County
schools benefitted by the twelve years of her
excellent teaching. In time she received a state diploma, and later a
teacher’s life diploma. After her marriage she taught six years in the
Oroville public schools, while her husband was principal.
Mr. and Mrs.
Boynton were married at Central House, Butte
County, December
31, 1874. Their son, Albert E., was for eight years state senator of the
senatorial district comprising Yuba, southern Butte and Yolo
Counties, and is now a prominent attorney of San
Francisco. The daughter, Leila, graduated from
the University of California
and taught for four years in the Oroville
High School. She was made a
secretary and treasurer of the publishing company at the time of its
incorporation, and since her marriage to R. G. Stapleton, or Oroville, she has
retained her official connection with the company.
Mrs.
Boynton is a member of all the prominent clubs of Oroville, and vice president
of the local Red Cross organization. She is a charter member and Past
Matron of the Amapola Chapter of the Order of the
Eastern Star, and has served as District Deputy.
Transcribed 11-30-07
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 534-535, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
©
2007 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
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