Butte County
Biographies
CHARLES
GOULDEN
CHARLES
GOULDEN.--How an
English lad of six, on hearing of the United States, then and there resolved
some day to visit the New World, and how his wish was realized and he became
one of the pioneer tailors of Butte County, and one of the active promoters of
the Chamber of Commerce, is told in the story of Charles Goulden,
who was born in East Kent, England, on May 1, 1855, and after two years of
schooling was apprenticed to learn the tailor's trade. This led him to pass five years at Faversham, after which he worked at his handicraft in his
native land until 1886.
It may have been more or less accidental,
or possibly that the effect of the great boom started in California reached
even that distant British shore, but in that year Mr. Goulden
crossed the ocean to the United States, pushed on to California, and settled in
Marysville, bringing his family, consisting of wife and four children. There he lived and worked for seven months,
and there may still be living those who recall the exceptional character of his
skill.
Coming to Gridley, he became manager of a
local tailor shop for a while and then opened a shop of his own; and here he
has been engaged in fashionable tailoring ever since. He was the pioneer tailor in point of time,
and has remained a pioneer in blazing the paths for others. In keeping with his enterprise as a merchant
tailor, he is an active worker in the Chamber of Commerce.
At Faversham,
England, on December 31, 1879, Mr. Goulden was
married to Jane Pinner, a native of Lincolnshire, who
is an attractive, capable woman, and who has been treasurer of the local order
of Rebekahs for the past ten years, having passed
through all the chairs of the lodge.
Several children were born to bless their union: Joseph Fredrick, who was born in England, is
a school principal at Paradise; Charles Newton, also a native of England, lives
at Gridley; Mildred Elizabeth, born in England, died at Wheatland, September,
1886, ten days after their arrival in California; Nellie, the third to be born
in the British Isles, is the wife of L. A. Panecaldo,
of Gridley; Jennie Sabina, who was the first child to be born in California, is
Mrs. Briggs, of Gridley; Walter Newton, Verna, Loring
Gladstone and Bessie, who were also born in Caifornia. Mr. Goulden's home
occupies three acres of land, which was bought by him in 1898.
Of a winning personality, Mr. Goulden has always been active in fraternal orders. For many years he was treasurer of the local
branch of the Fraternal Brotherhood. He
was the prime mover in the organization of the Past Presidents' Association of
the Fraternal Brotherhood Association of the Sacramento Valley, and was its
first president. He is a Past Secretary
of the Uniform Rank of the K. of P. Lodge, No. 116, and is an active member in
the same, and he has passed all the chairs of the Odd Fellows.
Transcribed
by Rhonda Ruick O'Brien.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1200-1201, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Rhonda Ruick
O'Brien.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County
Biographies