Charles A Johnston (1890 - 1909)

Born 25 Oct 1890 in Dry Creek, Placer, California, United States

Ancestors

Died 26 Aug 1909 at age 18 in Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States

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Biography

He was born at Dry Creek, near Rosevllle 25 Oct 1890. He was a butcher working for Clauss and Kraus Meats in Sacramento.

For his Grammar School Records See Lincoln School District American Township Sacramento County California History

He drowned 26 Aug 1909 in the new bathing tank in Sacramento that opened August 1, 1909. He was 19.

YOUNG SWiMMER HAD APPENDICITIS
Autopsy Reveals the Probable Cause for Fatal Attack of Cramps. Body of Youth Found in the New Baths Identified as C. A. Johnston.

The body found at the bottom of the tank at the Sacramento Swimming Baths on Thursday night was yesterday identified as that of Charles A. Johnston, a young butcher employed by Clauss & Kraus at Seventeenth and I street. Drs. Duffy and Jones conducted an autopsy and discovered that the appendix was in a badly congested condition and that Johnston had probably suffered with cramps caused by the congestion of the appendix. Coroner Gormley held an inquest last night and the following verdict wa.s brought in by the coroner’s jury: “We the jury find that Charles A. Johnston, a native of California, aged 19 years, came to his death on August 26 th, by accidental drowning, due probably to cramps which might have been caused by congestion of the appendix as revealed by the autopsy performed by Dr. C- B- Jones. Signed, Peter R. Guillot, foreman. Dougald A. B. Pilcher, W. J. Hagerty. D. Cippa, H. K. Miller, J. F. Toomey and Robert Heilrath. WITNESSES TESTIFY. The witnesses examined at the inqust were: Judge C. E. McLaughlin, president of the Sacramento swimming baths and park company; Dan Healey, manager of the baths; G. P. Beere, of the company; Robert Johnston, a brother of the deceased; Richard Henny, one of the bath attendants who found the body, and Miss Bessie Packard, who accompanied the deceased to the baths. Early on Thursday evening Johnston with his brother and Miss Bessie Packard went to the baths, as has been their custom since the opening of the natatorium. At 9:30 o'clock Miss Packard and Robert Johnston left the tank to return to the city, but Charles said that he would stay in the water for a while longer and told his brother and Miss Packard not to wait for him. It is thought that between the hours of 9:30 and 10 o'clock the young man sank suddenly to his death. SEARCH LOCKERS. When the body was found b.v Richard Price and William Henny, bath attendants engaged in emptying the tank, they notified the coroner and then searched the lockers of the baths to find the clothes of the dead man so as to ascertain his identity. There was nothing in the clothing worn by Johnston by which he could be identified, and when Manager Dan Healey of the baths reached the natatorium at an early hour yesterday morning he searched the locker used for keeping valuables in the office, and finding a watch and coin, came to the conclusion that the property belonged to the dead man. The real identity of the dead swimmer was not known until yesterday morning when his brother Thomas saw the account of the tragedy in the Union. Knowing that his brother had not been at home during the night, Thomas Johnston ,hurried to the coroner’.s office and identified the body. LARGE FAMILY. Those surviving the victim of the first fatality at the new baths are his mother, Mrs. Jennie Jones of Auburn, four married sisters. Mrs. F. Wolfe. Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Driver and Mrs. Kaiser, and three brothers, Robert, Thomas and Walter Johnston. The funeral will take place Sunday morning under the auspices of the Native Sons, of which the deceased was a member. ^[1] Sacramento Union, Volume 118, Number 3, 28 August 1909

Sources

1. ↑ Sacramento Union, Volume 118, Number 3, 28 August 1909

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9PB-R5S : accessed 16 February 2020), Charles Johnson in household of Thomas Johnson, Township 1, Placer, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 56, sheet 8B, family 130, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,096.

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/140429491