MRS. M. BENNETT 

 

Mrs. M. Bennett, residing at Mormon Island, was born December 15, 1820, in Lancashire, England, daughter of James and Mary Nuttel; her father was a carpenter and joiner. November 1, 1849, she married Mr. Bennett, a native of England, who came to America in 1847, and resided in Massachusetts, where most of the time he was a manufacturer. He came by way of the Isthmus to California in 1852. Leaving his wife in Sacramento, he went at once to Mormon Island, where he followed mining three years. At the end of the first month he sent for his wife. In 1852-’53 he located his present home and settled upon it; and when it came into the market he purchased it. There he followed farming and fruit-raising until his death, October 23, 1879, when he was sixty-two and a half years of age. He was a man of great energy and ability. He and his wife obtained their start in California by working out for wages, and today she enjoys the luxury of a nice home, surrounded by a great number of old-time friends. The property, comprising twelve acres, is mostly devoted to choice fruit. Mr. Bennett was at one time a prominent Freemason and Vice President of the Natoma Water and Mining Company. Mrs. Bennett has an adopted daughter, named Martha E. Bradbury, who is the sole companion of her declining years.