Benjamin Norton Bugbey

Biography of Benjamin Norton Bugbey who came to California in 1849 during the Gold Rush. He was elected sheriff of Sacramento County and then went on to develop the Natoma Vineyard winning awards for wine, brandy, and champagnes. He commissioned two pieces of music to market his sparkling wines: "Bugbey's Champagne Galop" and "Bugbey's Champagne Waltz". His viticulture empire collapsed in the 1870s. In a drunken frenzy he tried to kill a constable who arrive to arrest him. While in self-imposed exile from Sacramento, Bugbey worked at the U.S. Mint in San Francisco. It was there that he learned that the U.S. Supreme Court sided with his arguments against the Natoma Water and Mining Company that he was the rightful owner of the land of the Natoma Vineyard. Unfortunately, the decision came to late as Bugbey was declared bankrupt in 1878. Bugbey bounced back and went on to become a U. S. Commissioner unsuccessfully trying to charge white men from driving Chinese men from farm fields they were working on in Nicholas, Ca. He also had Chinese men and women arrested on slavery charges for importing young women for prostitution in Sacramento. He was successful at helping spirit several young Chinese women out of Sacramento to safety in San Francisco. Bugbey would later run for Sacramento County Sheriff again on a progressive platform of land reform and wealth redistribution. While he lost the election to become sheriff, he was successful at being elected Sacramento County Tax Collector in 1898 at the age of 71. He had to fight Hiram Johnson who argued that Bugbey should not be seated as the tax collector. Along the way, Bugbey was married three times with his first wife dying in a riding accident in 1869. He had no children. He was awarded a patent for his railroad refrigerator freight car and represented numerous other inventions. Bugbey led a colorful life and died in 1914. He is buried in the Historic Sacramento Cemetery.