Charles A. Storke
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Charles A. Storke (1847 - 1936) was a prominent lawyer in 19th century California.
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[edit] American Civil War
Charles Albert Storke was a veteran of the Union Army. He survived "the terrible slaughter of Cold Harbor, where, out of four companies, sixty-nine percent were killed, and the rest captured. The prisoners were sent to Libby, Andersonville, Savannah, and other prisons ....[1] Storke was discharged on May 26, 1865. He graduated from Cornell University in 1870.
[edit] His early career
[edit] Teaching
After teaching for two years in Brooklyn, Storke moved to Santa Barbara, California, as a teacher on the bequest of T. Wallace More, a cattleman who had made his fortune during the California Gold Rush selling food to gold miners. Storke taught mathematics and Latin to local children, including More's daughter, Mattie. Impressed with fourteen-year-old Mattie's good looks and her family's wealth, Storke proposed to her, and the two were married September 10, 1873. Storke lost interest in teaching once he realized he would never make much money in the occupation.
[edit] Newspaper publishing
Having worked as a printer's devil while attending Cornell, Storke understood that publishing was a lucrative and growing field. He borrowed money from his wealthy father-in-law to start a newspaper in Los Angeles. When the enterprise failed, he returned to Santa Barbara. He did not have money to start a new business and he owed his father-in-law a large sum of money. Having run out of options, he devoted his time to reading the law and became an attorney. He handled his father-in-law's legal affairs including drafting his will. Storke saw to it that upon More's death, the majority of his estate would go to Mattie.
[edit] A significant death
[edit] Murder ...
On March 24, 1877, More was found murdered on a remote area of his Sespe Ranch. Storke immediately took over the prosecution of the case. An investigation, led by Storke, revealed that More had been riding on the outskirts of his ranch when a band of transients stopped him and killed him for the money he carried. The transients were never found and four years later the case was closed.
[edit] ... inheritance ...
Mattie More-Storke inherited the majority of the land that made up her father's Sespe Ranch. Under the law, the inheritance was considered her separate property. If Mattie should divorce or die, the property would remain with her or on her side of the family and Storke would receive nothing. He forced Mattie to sign a community property agreement whereby he received one half of her inherited property should he lose her.
[edit] ... and divorce
Storke was a cruel husband. He was an abusive alcoholic. He failed to bathe regularly, often going for weeks without a clean set of clothing. When Mattie discovered he was seeing other women, she filed for divorce. The divorce was final by 1889. Mattie received custody of their two daughters, Minita and Alice. Storke's son, Thomas, came to live with him, and half of Mattie's fortune went to Storke, as he had arranged. Thomas M. Storke grew up to become a prominent politician and journalist.
[edit] Lawyer and politician
Money and power seemed to consume Storke, with an emphasis on the latter. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1883 and again in 1887. He opposed the Southern Pacific Railroad because he was not a part of the so-called political machine. Storke explained the following: "The railroad refused to pay its taxes. So, during 1884, a special session of legislature was called, for the purpose of devising ways and means to enforce payment. ... Various measures were introduced, including one ... which provided that, ... stocks and bonds of railroad corporations were to be assessed on market value as shown by state stock exchange quotation. This was intended ... as a method of arriving at the real worth of the railroad, so it could be properly assessed. ... The estimate cost ... was more than $20,000.00 in bribes. Then we went home. The people of California were disgusted with us, and seemingly the railroad's grip was as strong as ever.[2]
When Storke discovered that Luther Ingersol was putting together a book about the prominent citizens of Santa Barbara and nearby counties, Storke was pleased to be interviewed by his old friends, Alfred Shea Addis and his daughter, Yda Hillis Addis. Storke was attracted to Yda Addis for her quick mind, her good social standing and her fame as a writer. Addis, on the other hand, saw Storke as a man who could offer her financial security. They were married on September 10, 1890.[3]
Charles A. Storke continued to practice and helped his sons Thomas and Charles Jr. oversee the publishing of the Santa Barbara News-Press, then called the Santa Barbara Post.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Yda Addis, A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Santa Barbara, San Lui Obispo and Ventura, California (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1891): 413.
- ^ Thomas M. Storke and Walker A. Thompkins, California Editor (Santa Barbara, California: Pacific Coast Publishing Company, 1966): 165
- ^ San Francisco Morning Call:September 15, 1890
