Sacramento County
Biographies
NEWTON T. GOULD
NEWTON T.
GOULD.–A veteran of the Civil War, Mr. Gould was born in Cook
County, Ill., May 14, 1842, and reared on a farm in that locality. In June, 1862,
he enlisted for service in Company G, 113th Illinois Infantry, and
was assigned to the Department of the Mississippi, and took active part in the
siege of Vicksburg as sergeant, being one of the volunteers, on May 22, 1863,
to charge the works of the enemy, and he received slight wounds in the neck and
ear; for this distinguished service he was awarded a medal of honor for bravery
from the government. In June, 1864, he was taken prisoner at Guntown,
Miss., and was confined in the Andersonville
prison for six months and was then exchanged and returned to his regiment. He
was offered a commission as lieutenant, but refused to be sworn in, preferring
to serve as a non-commissioned officer until the end of the war.
After
the conflict was ended, the young soldier was discharged in June, 1865,
returned to his father’s farm in Illinois, and there
married, in 1868, Lucy Westgate, a native of Wisconsin
and a school teacher. Their life together was cut short, however, by the death
of the young wife. Then Mr. Gould went to Chicago,
seeking new surroundings, and for two years there was engaged as car conductor
on the Madison street line.
The year 1878 marks his arrival in Sacramento, Cal., and here he engaged in the
milk supply business, and later removed to Kernville, Kern County, where he was
foreman of a large tract of land then developing,
Returning
to Sacramento, he engaged in teaming for a time, and then secured the position
as janitor of the Sacramento post
office under postmaster Tom Fox, and also served in that capacity for Mr.
Richardson while he was postmaster, resigning the work in 1919.
The
second marriage of Mr. Gould, in 1882, united him with Mrs. Maggie Simpson, now
deceased. His remaining family consists of one daughter by his first wife, now
Mrs. B.C. Rockwell, of San Francisco,
and the mother of five children: Jason, Ralph, Abaline, Edith, and Ethell. Mr.
Gould has a great-grandchild, Jane, and also a stepson, W.H. Simpson.
Mr.
Gould has always kept up a keen interest in Grand Army affairs, doing his duty
toward other comrades in their need, whether it would be material help, or the
hearty handclasp and Godspeed of a fellow comrade. He is past commander of
Sumner Post No. 3, G. A. R. of Sacramento,
serving in 1921, and now serves as quartermaster for the Post; and is also
secretary of the Memorial Hall Board for the G. A. R. As will be seen, he does
not shirk his duty in these days, any more than in “the days of sixty-one!”
Transcribed by Vicky
Walker, 1/31/07.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County,
California With Biographical Sketches, Page 367. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Vicky Walker.