Colusa County
Biographies
STEPHEN ADDINGTON
STEPHEN ADDINGTON. In Stephen Addington the press of the
Sacramento valley had a supporter who not only maintained a high standard of
newspaper work, but whose life and character had an uplifting influence in the
development of this part of the state.
Particularly was he energetic in seeking out and ministering to the best
interests of Colusa, of which he was a resident for many years, and where, in
partnership with Mr. Green, he built up and controlled the Colusa Sun. In 1887 he sold his interest in the Sun, and though he lived for nine years
in San Francisco, he returned repeatedly to Colusa. His death occurred while on a visit to
Sacramento, May 4, 1902. The
building now occupied by his widow, on the corner of Sixth and Market streets,
was built by Addington & Green, and to it Mr. Addington made
improvements as his requirements and financial fortunes advanced. He also owned property at the corner of Sixth
and Oak streets, where he erected two residences which he still owned at the
time of his death.
Mr. Addington was reared in an
atmosphere of culture and refinement, and probably never thought of any
occupation than the one he engaged in as a means of livelihood. His father, William R. Addington, was a
newspaper man and founded the Fishkill
Standard, one of the best-known and most influential newspapers of Dutchess county, N.Y. His grandfather was Dr. Stephen
Addington, an eminent medical practitioner of New Jersey. William R. Addington was a man of
scholarly attainments, a graceful and forceful writer, who produced editorials
widely quoted in the contemporaneous press.
Stephen Addington was born in New Jersey, but reared in
Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, where he gradually worked his way into the office of
the Standard. He had a natural aptitude for newspaper work,
and in 1854 brought his virile enthusiasm to the west, coming by way of Panama,
soon afterward settling in Marysville.
He had a genial and agreeable personality, a high regard for the
amenities and opportunities of journalism, and soon found himself on the staff
of the Marysville Express, of which
he subsequently became sole owner. Later
he was identified with the San Francisco
Bulletin and after severing his connection with that paper came to Colusa
and was connected with the Sun for a
longer period than with any other paper during his active life. Under his guidance as local editor the Sun became a reliable and successful
enterprise, appealing to the judgment of people by its wise and faithful
portrayal of existing conditions.
November 24, 1872, Mr. Addington married
Elizabeth Hart, a native of Indiana, who was educated at Mrs. Perry’s
Academy in Sacramento. Mrs. Addington
is a daughter of James Hart, who came to America at an early day, taught school
in Indiana and located in California in 1854, crossing the plains with
ox-teams. Locating at Nicolaus, Sutter county, he studied law there and later was admitted to the
bar. In Nicolaus he served as justice of
the peace, and eventually removed to Colusa, where he continued to practice
until a short time before his death, at the age of sixty-two years. He was a Republican in politics, a member of
the Masonic fraternity, and an Episcopalian in religious belief. Through the first marriage of James Hart one
son was born, T. J. Hart, who was an attorney of Colusa, and who was
twice county representative in the state assembly. For his second wife Mr. Hart married
Sarah Cavins, born in Indiana, and daughter of
Samuel R. Cavins, a native of Kentucky, and a
colonel in the war of 1812. Mr. Cavins studied law when a young man, practiced it for many
years in Indiana and became prominent judge of his time. He died while rendering service to the Union
cause in the Civil war, following the example of his father, who carried a
musket in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war. The family is of Scotch descent. Two of Judge Cavins’
sons, Elijah and Adin, gained the rank of colonel during the Civil war, and are
now attorneys in Indiana. The mother of
Mrs. Addington was reared in Indiana, and died in San Francisco while
visiting friends, in 1895, at the age of sixty -one years. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, as is also her sister, the wife of Judge A. L. Rhoades,
of San Jose. Besides Elizabeth, who is
the second child, she had eleven other children, of whom Nettie is now Mrs. Richard
Jones, of San Francisco; A. L., a man of extraordinary mental endowments,
who became attorney general of California, and eventually practiced law in
Sacramento and San Francisco, rarely losing a case, and attaining to great
professional prominence; E. C. Hart, now judge of the superior court
of Sacramento; S. Robert, an attorney of Sacramento; Curran, engaged in
the printing business in San Francisco; George and James, deceased; and
Dr. Adin C., a medical practitioner of Sacramento. Since her husband’s death Mrs. Addington
divides her time between Colusa and San Francisco, in both of which cities she
has numerous friends, drawn to her by virtue of her many graces of mind and
heart and an unfailing sympathy and tact which have made her a social factor
wherever her lot has been cast. She was
of great assistance to her gifted husband, was his kindest yet severest and
most helpful critic, and rejoiced in the noble and influential career which he
fashioned in the west. In political
affiliation she is a Republican, and in religion is a
member and active worker in the Episcopal Church.
The character of Stephen Addington is
best understood after reading the following tribute paid to his memory by Judge
E. C. Hart, which was sent in a letter to Mrs. Addington, when
her heart was heavy with grief over the loss of her husband: “Few people, I think, knew Steve and his heart
better than I. God never made a nobler
character. His loyalty to his friends
was so unusual that it was really phenomenal.
If he ever became involved in unpleasant disputations with those whom he
liked and loved, he possessed the divine quality of forgiveness to that high
degree that he would soon forget the unpleasantness. His integrity was his pride and was known to
all who had the honor of his acquaintance.
As Davy Crockett once said, speaking of a friend whose characteristics
he well knew, ‘Doubtless God could have made a better man than he, but doubtless
God never did.’ Our consolation in his
passing from us is in the fact that he fought the battles of life honorably and
well and was universally beloved by his extensive circle of acquaintances in
California. Never heard a man who knew
Steve refer to him except in the most affectionate and endearing terms. In the early prime of his life his presence
was always like a beautiful sunlight.
His heart was warm, his nature gentle and genial and his intelligence broad,
substantial and helpful. May the sweet
singers of the air ever chant their sweetest melodies to his memory.”
[Inserted by D.
Toole.]
Stephen
Addington
1861 Dec 25, Sacramento Daily Union, P2,
Sacramento, California
Marysville Express – The proprietorship
of this paper has been changed. The new
firm consists of W. F. Hicks, Stephen Addington, M. D. Carr, J. F. Linthicum and George W.
Bloor. The style of the new firm will be
the “Express Printing Company.”
1881 Jul 21, The
Record-Union, P4, Sacramento, California
Stephen Addington, one of the
proprietors of the Colusa Sun, and his brother, John C. Addington, left last evening
on the Atlantic express for the East.
New York is their objective point.
1884 Dec 22, The
Record-Union, P2, Sacramento, California
Stephen Addington, one of the
proprietors of the Colusa Sun, is in
the city.
1884 Dec 24, The
Record-Union, P3, Sacramento, California
Stephen Addington, of the Colusa Sun, returned home Monday from the
Folsom Prison, where he had been to make arrangements with Warden McComb for the furnishing of granite coping for the wall
around the Court-house at Colusa.
1893 Apr 4, The
Record-Union, P4, Sacramento, California
Mrs. E. C. Hart and Miss Flora Vivian
are visiting Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Addington in San Francisco.
1895 Sep 9, The
Record-Union, P1, Sacramento, California
Stephen Addington, an old and well-known
California journalist, accompanied by his wife, is here to take in the
celebration and Carnival, and is the guest of his brother-in-law, Senator E. C.
Hart.
1897 Oct 12, The
Record-Union, P4, Sacramento, California
Personal Mention
Stephen Addington, the Colusa journalist,
is visiting Superior Judge Hart.
1898 Jan 15, The
Record-Union, P4, Sacramento, California
Passed to the Beyond
Death of James Justin Hart in This City
Yesterday
The death of James Justin Hart occurred
yesterday morning at the Railroad Hospital, after a painful illness, from the
result of a surgical operation which his weakened state would no enable him to
sustain, it being the second within a little over a month. He was a well-educated man, and had taken up
the profession of civil engineering, but had latterly worked in the shops as a
mechanic. He was born at Nicolaus, Sutter County, and was 35 years old. He was a brother of Superior Judge E. C.
Hart, General A. L. Hart, Dr. A. C. Hart, S. R. Hart, W. C. Hart, R. R. Hart,
Maggie and Lola Hart of this city, Mrs. Richard Jones of San Francisco and Mrs.
Stephen Addington of Colusa. The funeral
will take place to-morrow at 2 p.m. from the house of his brother, Dr. Hart, at
516 Thirteenth street.
1902 May 5, The
Los Angeles Times, P2, Los Angeles, California
Stephen Addington
Sacramento, May 4 – Stephen Addington,
aged 73 years, a veteran journalist, died suddenly this evening of heart
disease. Addington was for years a
partner with Will S. Green in the Colusa Sun. In pioneer days he was one of the proprietors
of the old Marysville Express. The
remains will be taken to Colusa for burial.
1918 Jun 20, San Francisco Chronicle,
P20, San Francisco, California
25 Years Ago Today
Mrs. S. O. Hart, mother of former Attorney-General
A. L. Hart, Senator E. J. Hart of Sacramento and
Mrs. Stephen Addington, died at her home, 2526 California street. She was the
mother of sixteen children, twelve of whom survived her.
1936 Dec 29, Woodland Daily Democrat,
P4, Woodland, California
Elizabeth Addington Dies in Bay City
Colusa, Dec. 29 – (VNA) Funeral services
will be held here tomorrow for Mrs. Elizabeth Addington, 84, Colusa property
owner and widow of Stephen Addington, co-founder of the Colusa Sun, who died
last night in San Francisco. Mrs.
Addington crossed the plains by ox-team with her parents, in 1854 from
Indiana. She was a sister of the late
Appellate Judge Elijah C. Hart, one of the early day editors of the Willows
Journal, and the late A. L. Hart, once attorney general of California.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
Source: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 507-508. The Chapman
Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2017 Donna Toole.
Golden Nugget Library's Colusa County Biographies