Sacramento County
Biographies
WILLIAM TURTON
WILLIAM TURTON.--A prominent Forty-niner and California pioneer, William Turton was born in Manchester, England, in 1827. When a
young man he came to the United States and for a time located in Milwaukee,
Wis.; but tales of the gold strike in California reached him, and in 1849, he
made the long, hazardous journey across the plains to seek his fortune in the
West. In October of that year he arrived at Bidwell's
Bar, on the Feather River, and immediately sought the mines; like so many other
Argonauts of early days, he did not meet with success in this direct hunt for
gold, but found the true metal in following other pursuits. In the early
fifties Mr. Turton located in Sacramento; and his wife joined him in 1853, coming via the Isthmus of Panama.
In partnership with William F. Knox, under
the firm name of Turton & Knox, Mr. Turton engaged in business as a general contractor; and for
many years this partnership continued, with never a dissension to mar their
friendship or complicate their business dealings. They engaged in
railroad-building, and were kept busy in northern California for many years in this one line. They built the road from
Sacramento to Niles Station for the Southern Pacific Railroad; the road from
Watsonville to Soledad, also for the Southern Pacific; the road from Galt to Ione, and from Colfax to Nevada City; and also the road to
Clipper Gap, besides other lines in the state, thus taking a very real part in
the upbuilding and progress of California, and
becoming identified with the growth and development of transportation
facilities in the state.
The marriage of Mr. Turton
took place in Wisconsin, in 1846, and united him with Miss Ellen Kaye, of Milwaukee, Wis. She was a beautiful woman, of fine character and
principle, and their life together was an ideally happy one. Ten children
blessed their union, five of whom grew up to maturity: H. S. Turton, now deceased; Mary, Mrs. A. G. Johnson, deceased;
and Mrs. Florence Clunie, Nellie, and Kate Turton, all of Sacramento. Mr. Turton
was a Mason, and a member and president of the Sacramento Pioneer Society. He
stood for the best principles of life - thruth,
honesty, good-will and right - and was revered by all who knew him as a man of
high ideals. His death occurred on May 29, 1909, at the ripe age of eighty-two. His wife preceded him into
the Great Beyond, passing away in July, 1906, at the age of seventy-seven
years. She was a devout Methodist, the daughter of Rev. Kaye, a native of England who settled in Wis., where he was a pioneer preacher and missionary.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento
County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 294. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.