Charlie Storms was born in New York, as is shown by public records. Storms was reported by the "Tombstone Epitaph" to have been in California during the Gold Rush of 1849, which is corroborated by an entry in the 1852 California state census for the city of Sacramento, that lists 29-year-old "Chas. S. Storms", a laborer born in New York who had last lived in Mexico.