Sacramento County
Biographies
CHARLES H.
JOLLY
CHARLES H. JOLLY, grocer, Folsom, was born in Green County, Pennsylvania, June 18, 1842, son of Titus and Rachel Jolly, the former of Scotch descent and the latter a native of Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. Mr. Jolly never saw any of his relatives, and does not know that he has any in America. He left home at the age of twelve years, went into Monongalia County, Virginia, and obtained such employment as he could, the first responsible position being that of a salesman and delivery boy in a cabinet and general furnishing store. Next he went to Hancock County, Illinois, where he did carpenter work about two years; then he went into Kansas with a party of trappers, and spent the summer of 1857 in the Rocky Mountains. In 1858 he left La Harpe, Hancock County, Illinois, and came overland to this State with three others, one of them being a brother. They crossed the Missouri March 24 and came leisurely along, as they were traveling more for sport than to reach a certain point as soon as possible. They passed the time hunting, trapping and fishing, and reached California November 20. Mr. Jolly first commenced mining at Rattlesnake Bar, continuing in the business there and at other places for about a year; next he followed carpentering at Auburn, Placer County, awhile; then he was at Folsom a short time; then clerked five years in the store of Bradley & Seymour; then he followed teaming again in and around Colfax, Dutch Flat, Alta, Gold Run, etc., for two years. Selling out this interest, he went to Virginia City, and for two years prospected in the wilds in that part of the country, in company with two others. The next year he was in this State not doing much of anything, until finally he bought an interest in a grocery store in Folsom, where he carried on the business under the firm name of Smith, Bishop & Jolly. The second year Bishop sold to Campbell; the third year the store was consumed by fire, May 6, 1872, uninsured, and the firm lost about everything. Mr. Jolly then remained out of business for six or seven years, during which time he was clerking, speculating, etc., until 1883, when he again began regular business for himself, which he has carried on to the present time. He is a member of Folsom Lodge, No. 109, A. O. U. W., joining the order in 1879. May 24, 1869, he married Miss Eveline Heaton, a native of Peoria, Illinois, who came to California in 1852 with her parents. Her father, James Heaton, was a well-known pioneer of Folsom.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated History of
Sacramento County, California. Page 612. Lewis
Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.