Charles Franklin Bennett (4/23/1842 -1/7/1921) was born in Kent, Connecticut, the fourth of William and Sarah (Bronson) Bennett’s seven children. The Bennett’s arrival in America dated back to the time of the pilgrims. Charles’ great grandfather, Isaac Bennett, was one of the principal contractors who built the Erie Canal.
Charles was an abolitionist. When the family moved to La Salle, Illinois, Charles helped runaway slaves escape to freedom. In addition to farming he operated a sawmill.
The war broke out while Charles was preparing to enter the University of Chicago. Instead, at age nineteen, enlisted in the 55th Illinois Infantry regiment on August 23, 1861. A good friend in the regiment throughout the entire war was Johnny Beach, who would later become his brother-in-law.
The 55th Illinois was organized at Camp Douglas, Chicago and mustered into Federal service on October 31, 1861. The regiment participated in most of the major engagements of the Western Theater, including the Battle of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, the Vicksburg Campaign, the battles of Holly Springs, Lookout Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro and Sherman’s March to the Sea. Bennett, who achieved the rank of First Sergeant, participated in all these campaigns
After a short leave, Bennett returned in time to participate in the fall of Atlanta and Sherman’s March to the Sea. He was in charge of a guard detail at Sherman’s headquarters and witnessed a conference between Generals Sherman, Grant and Logan. He also witnessed Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse and in the Grand Review of the Armies in Washington, D.C. He was discharged on August 14, 1865, in Little Rock, Arkansas.
In the fall of 1866, he moved to Chicago and worked in the real estate business. Two years later he returned home following the death of his father, to run the family farm and teach school.
On September 25, 1872, he married Helen M. Beach (7/13/1851-2/13/1948) at St. Andrew’s Church in La Salle. He was 30 and she was 21. Helen was born in Bridgewater, Connecticut, a small town just eighteen miles from her husband’s birthplace. They had four children.
In late 1877 or early 1878 the couple left Illinois and moved to Arapahoe, Nebraska where they lived for about seven years. They raised cattle, sheep and ran a small hotel. Charles also owned a hardware, a mercantile business and a lumber yard, possibly in partnership with Helen’s brother, Johnny Beach. Charles was active in local politics and helped found and was commander of the local GAR post.
In 1885, the Bennett’s moved to Oceanside, near San Diego, California. A year later Helen visited friends from Nebraska who had relocated to Tustin. Helen liked the area so much more than Oceanside that she persuaded Charles to sell their property and move. The family arrived in Tustin in 1887, purchased a ten-acre parcel on Tustin Avenue, built a house back from the road and planted a citrus orchard. Charles and Helen would live there for the rest of their lives. The house was on the east side of Tustin Avenue, opposite Fruit Street,
In 1892, Charles ran for a seat in the state legislature He was a staunch Democrat but won election to the state senate as a Populist on the Fusion ticket, relying on both Democrat and Republican votes for his victory.
After his one term in Sacramento, Bennett turned his attention to expanding his farming operation. He purchased ten acres in El Toro but would eventually expand his holding there to over fifty acres, plus five town lots. In addition to oranges, he planted the El Toro property in prunes and apricots. (See the museum’s file for Helen Bennett’s full-page article on apricot raising and picking published in 1909.)
In 1910, Charles turned over the management of the El Toro property to his son Harvey. Harvey left school before graduating and lived in a small house on the ranch property that had been built in 1909. (The house is now part of Heritage Hill Historic Park in El Toro.)
Charles Bennett remained an active member of Orange County’s agricultural community. In addition to the initial ten acres on Tustin Avenue he added twenty-two more acres across Tustin and Santa Ana as well as his El Toro property. He came to be recognized as an expert on irrigation. He was sent as a delegate from Orange County to the national irrigation conventions in Omaha in 1892, in St. Louis in 1896 and the International Irrigation Convention in Los Angeles in 1893. He also later owned several mining claims with his son Frederick near Oatman, Arizona.
Charles died at the age of seventy-eight was buried at Santa Ana Cemetery with members of Sedgwick Post 17 of the GAR as pallbearers.
Helen Bennett continued to manage the Tustin Avenue farm with her son Charles. She also was a charter member of the Santa Ana Ebell Society and a member of the First Christian Church of Santa Ana.
She eventually transferred ownership of some of the Tustin property to her son Charles Arthur. In 1928 she transferred most of the El Toro ranch to son Harvey Franklin, who had been managing the property for years.
Helen Bennett passed away at age of 96 and was buried next to her husband in Santa Ana Cemetery.
The life story of the Bennett’s children follows:
Frederick W Bennett (1877-5/30/1932) was born in La Salle, Illinois, He settled in Norwalk CA and remained there until he died at age 55.
Pearl Edna Bennett (12/25/1878-7/5/1890) was born in Arapahoe, Nebraska. She died at age 11 from injuries sustained from falling from a horse.
Charles Arthur Bennett (12/25/1888-7/5/1967) was born in Tustin CA. He lived on the Tustin Avenue farm his entire life and operated a nursery.
Harvey Franklin Bennett (10/31/1890-6/27/1971) was born in Tustin CA. While managing his father’s property in El Toro he met Frances McDonnell (11/30/1894-9/25/1985), one of the High School girls he hired to pit apricots that summer. They were married in 10/1913. He was 23 and she was 18. Frances was the daughter of Thomas McDonnell who operated a farm on Bryan St in Tustin. They had two boys and four girls. Their son, Harvey, was a private in the Army’s Ninth Corps, 88th Infantry Battalion, Company C and served in the Korean War.
Harvey Bennett was a member of the Central Lemon Association of Villa Park, member of the Farm Bureau and a Board member of the Tustin Hills Citrus Association.
Frances Bennett was a 50-year member of the El Toro Women’s Club, an honorary member and office holder of the Ebell Club of Santa Ana and a member of the Santa Ana Assistance League.
Harvey died at age 71. Frances died at age 90. Both are buried at Fairhaven Cemetery.
Extended members of Charles Bennett’s family also migrated to California. William Ralph Bennett, Charles Bennett’s nephew, owned a farm on McFadden St in Santa Ana and grew walnuts. William’s son, Follett, was a farmer and lived on San Juan Street in Tustin.
See Museum file for the sources of this Family Profile
Researched by Timothy Zierer and Vicki Gray
Created: 9/20/2021
