Butte County
Biographies
ALFRED JAMES STOREY
ALFRED JAMES STOREY. A man of
sterling worth and integrity, a member of a very distinguished family whose
parents were early pioneers of San Francisco, and one who has demonstrated that
he possesses the confidence and esteem of his friends, by being appointed, by
the Board of Supervisors, as the sealer of weights and measures of Butte
County, is the subject of this sketch, Alfred James Storey. He was born in San
Francisco on March 31, 1860. His father, William B. Storey, was born in London,
England, and came to San Francisco by the way of the Isthmus in 1852; his
mother was a native of the State of Maine, her maiden name being Ellen D.
Benson, and in the early fifties she came with her parents, via the Isthmus, to
San Francisco. William B. Storey was one of the pioneer express messengers
for the Wells Fargo and Company Express. He was united in marriage to Ellen D.
Benson at San Francisco. He was a member of the old San Francisco Vigilance
Committee. Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Storey are both deceased, the former having
passed away at the age of seventy-five, the latter at seventy-two years. Of
this union, five children were born, of whom two boys and one girl are living.
Alfred James Storey was raised in Placer
County from the age of five, his father being agent for the Wells Fargo and
Company Express at Colfax. After attending the public schools at Colfax he
entered the employ of Wells Fargo and Company Express at San Francisco, where
he remained ten years, and afterwards was with the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company at San Francisco, for eight years. His health becoming impaired,
being afflicted with the asthma, he decided to engage in out-door employment
and accepted a position in the woods of Tuolumne County, with the West Side
Lumber Company. He had charge of the railroad for the company and his duty was
to superintend the transportation of the logs from the woods to the mill. In
October, 1904, he moved to Stirling City, where he
was appointed assistant postmaster, and elected justice of the peace, in which
capacity he served eight years. He also was engaged on the real estate and
insurance business and was a notary public, and at one time kept books for a
grocery concern there. While he was in the employ of the Wells Fargo and
Company Express at San Francisco he was married, at Colfax, to Miss Zylpha Hayford, a native of
Colfax, Cal., the daughter of William B. and Flora (Mitchell) Hayford, who were both natives of Maine. She passed away at
Chico, in November, 1916.
To Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Storey were born
four children: Chester H., of Chico, is married and has three children; Mabel
Benson, now Mrs. I. H. Hibbert, of Klamath Falls,
Ore., is the mother of two children; Helen C., who is now attending the high
school at Klamath Falls, Ore.; Alfred Dean, who is a student in the high school
of Sacramento.
A. J. Storey is a brother of W. B. Storey,
the vice-president of the Santa Fe Railway, who resides at Chicago, and his
sister is the wife of J. F. Nash, the first superintendent of the Diamond Match
Company at Stirling City; they make their home in
Berkeley, Cal.
In 1915, soon after receiving his
appointment as the Sealer of Weights and Measures, A. J. Storey removed
from Stirling City to Chico. He is faithfully serving
the best interests of the public of Butte County, in the conduct of his
responsible office, and is quick to detect and bring to justice the
unscrupulous dealer whose short yard-stick and false balance are still, as in the
days of Solomon, an abomination to the Lord.
Mr. Storey is a member of Stirling City Lodge, No. 278, I. 0. 0. F., of which he is a
Past Grand, and is a Past District Deputy Grand Master of District No. 65,
embracing all the lodges of Butte County. He is also a member of the Knights of
Pythias in Tuolumne County.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
24 April 2008.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 894-895, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2008 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies