USA > California > Bench and bar in California. History, anecdotes, reminiscences > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01148 4679
BENCH AND BAR
-(IN)-
CALIFORNIA.
1887
HISTORY, ANECDOTES, REMINISCENCES.
BY
OSCAR T. SHUCK,
Price of this PART, $2.00 per copy. PART II will be issued in Decem- ber next, and PART III in March, 1888. PART II will contain Chapters on STEPHEN J. FIELD, S. C. HASTINGS, DAVID S. TERRY, JOHN S. HAGER, W. H. L. BARNES, HENRY E. HIGHTON, D. M. DELMAS, OSCAR L. SHAFTER, JAMES MCM. SHAFTER, RUFUS A. LOCKWOOD, EDMUND RAN- DOLPH, JOSEPH G. BALDWIN, JOSEPH W. WINANS and Interesting Mis- cellanea. 1
September 24, 1887.
OSCAR T. SHUCK, 8 Safe Deposit Building, San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. THE OCCIDENT PRINTING HOUSE, 429 MONTGOMERY STREET, 1887.
BENCH AND BAR
-(IN)-
CALIFORNIA.
1887
HISTORY, ANECDOTES, REMINISCENCES.
-
BY OSCAR T. SHUCK, ("Scintilla Juris") OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAR.
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. THE OCCIDENT PRINTING HOUSE, 429 MONTGOMERY STREET,
1887.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, BY OSCAR T. SHUCK, .In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington ..
2028697
TO THE
HON. S. C. HASTINGS,
Whom I have known the longest of them all-Chief Justice of our Supreme Court in 1850, and still exhibiting a sturdy manhood in 1887-I would regardfully inscribe this volume: counting it a happy circumstance that I may associate the only Chronicle of our BENCH AND BAR with the name of the honored founder of our only College of Law.
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
The omission of this page might be noticed, as being an innovation. I publish my book because the story of the California Bar has never been told. In a free State, the profession of the law is the highway of ambition-a broad avenue, whence open fields of splendid possibility. Bar leaders walk before the universal eye. In older lands, a copious literature has made them its subject. Here, too, are masters of the Forum, to whom, with others gone before, many notable triumphs are to be credited. The meteoric- McDougall, the eccentric Lockwood, the eloquent Hawks, the brilliant Byrne; Baker with a voice like Israfel ; Randolph and Baldwin, noble remembrancers of the land and fame of Marshall; Felton and Murray, cut off in their manly pride and prime ;- all have passed to their ultimate appeal. But their peers survive, and it is given me to tell the stirring story of the living and the dead.
vii
CONTENTS.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Edward D. Baker-Orator, Lawyer and Statesman-A Soldier in Three Wars- Great Criminal Trials-Baldwin's Witty Thrusts at the "Old Gray Eagle"- Gov. Low's Wager-Verdenal's Jest-Bert Harte's Enthusiasm-The Political Campaign of 1859-Brief and Brilliant Period in the Federal Senate-Death on the Battle Field-Celebrated Speeches-References to A. C. Monson, George Cadwalader, Edward Stanly, Jacob R. Snyder and Thos. Starr King. · 13-20.
CHAPTER II.
Hall McAllister-The Veteran of the Bar-Scion of a Line of Lawyers-A Name Scattered Through Seventy Volumes of Reports-Personal Description -A Practice of Widest Range-Extraordinary Capacity for Work-Manner of Trying Cases-A Contrast with Edmund Randolph-Anecdotes-Judge Lake's Estimate of His "Muse"-Mr. Papy's Pleasantry.
21-27
CHAPTER III.
John B. Felton-College Days-Early Partnership with Edward J. Pringle- Celebrated Cases-The Great Limantour Conspiracy-The Local Option Law- "Mortgage Tax"-The "City Slip" History-Felton's Enormous Fees-His Learning, Genial Nature and Sparkling Conversation-The Bulkhead Bill- Allusions to Professor C. C. Felton, Judge Lorenzo Sawyer, Judge T. W. Free- lon, Levi Parsons, Gov. John G. Downey, and others.
28-37
CHAPTER IV.
Joseph P. Hoge-Sage of his Party and Nestor of the Bar-His Record in Congress-A Colleague of Stephen A. Douglas and E. D. Baker-The Oregon Question-The Wilmot Proviso-The Galena Lead Mines-At the Bar in Three States-Humorous Notes-A Long Prosperity and a Green Old Age. 38-44
CHAPTER V.
Samuel M. Wilson-Association with Joseph P. Hoge in Illinois and California -A Broad Practice and Princely' Revenue-The Broderick Will Case-The Nitro-Glycerine Explosion, 1866-The Mining Debris Litigation-A Striking Instance of the Law's Delay-The Conflict Between State and United States Land Patents-A Seat on the Supreme Bench Declined-Meeting the Giants of the Eastern Bar.
45-54
viii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
Henry H. Byrne-A Picture of the Man and the Advocate-A Popular Idol But Distrustful of the Poor-Four Terms as District Attorney of San Francisco- Bouts with Baker and the Elder Foote-The Unfortunate Marriage with Matilda Heron-The Contest of the Actress for his Estate-Her Pathetic Story Told in her Own Words-Explanation of the Last Will-Amusing Anecdotes and Reminiscences.
55-65
CHAPTER VII.
Lorenzo Sawyer-With McDougall in Illinois-In the Eldorado Mines in 1850- The Early Bar of Nevada County-A Remarkable Murder Case-Honors in San Francisco-A Long Tenure on the Bench-Judicial View of the Chinese Question-The Authorship of the Sole Trader Act-The Principles of Masonry -First Meeting with the Eccentric Lockwood-References to A. A. Sargent, Judge J. B. Crockett, Jno. R. McConnell, E. W. Roberts, E. F. W. Ellis, Stanton Buckner, C. H. S. Williams, Roderick N. Morrison, Frank M. Pixley and Tiburcio Parrott.
66-78
CHAPTER VIII.
Solomon Heydenfeldt -- An Oracle of Quiet Counsel-His Only Criminal Case- Senatorial Contest of 1851-On the Supreme Bench and Resignation There- from-Other Early Supreme Judges, Hugh C. Murray, Alexander Wells, Alexander Anderson and the Patriarch, Peter H. Burnett-Reminiscences and Anecdotes of John C. Fremont, T. Butler King, John B. Weller, Wilson Flint, Henry S. Foote, Tod Robinson, Newton Booth, Solomon A.Sharp, E. D. Wheeler and Edward Norton-The Roll of Governors of California.
79-91
CHAPTER IX.
Niles Searls-A Career to Animate the Young and Poor-A Start at the Bottom of the Ladder-Unloading a River Steamboat in '49-"Waiting" for an Opportunity at the Bar-On the Bench of Nevada County-Settling the Law of Mining Claims and Water Rights-A Succession of Honors-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court-Personal Notes and Pleasantries.
92-96
CHAPTER X.
A. P. Catlin, of Sacramento-An Historical Chapter-The Squatter Riots of 1850-Broderick's Struggle for the United States Senate-The Peck-Palmer Bribery Trial-Memorable Meeting Between E. D. Baker and C. H. S. Williams -Locating the State Capital-Attempts to extend the San Francisco City Front-The First Vigilance Committee of the Bay City-Trial of "The Hounds"-Impeachment of State Treasurer Bates-Long Litigation Over the Town of Folsom-Allusions to Prominent Men of Early Times. 97-112
ix
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI.
John T. Doyle-Some Interesting Cases in New York and California-The Suit of Gov. Price, of New Jersey, against Squire P. Dewey and Gen. E. D. Keyes- The Convivial Wit, Sam. Ward-History of the " Pious Fund " of the Catholic Church-A Notable Argument-Peter Donahue Brought to Terms-R. J. Vandewater Taken At His Word-A Judicious Friend of Young Men-The Story of Col. C. P. Eagan, United States Army-Some Interesting Personal Points.
112-122
CHAPTER XII.
Alexander Campbell-A Reputation Early Won at the Brooklyn Bar-District Attorney of Kings County, New York-Another California Pioneer-Peculiar Controversy Over the Office of County Judge in San Francisco-A Dejected Grand Jury -- References to Some Celebrated Cases-His Address in the Fair Murder Trial-Personal and Professional Traits.
123-129
CHAPTER XIII.
A Chapter of Pleasantries-Wit and Humor of Bench and Bar-Sallies of Judge E. D. Wheeler-Judge Stanly's Orderto " Burn That Petition "-An Elaborate Conundrum-Characteristic Conduct of a Jury of Lawyers-A Constable With More Pomp Than Discretion-Anecdotes and Recollections of Ogden Hoff- man, A. P. Van Duzer, Solomon A. Sharp, J. B. Townsend, M. C. Blake, William M. Zabriskie, C. T. Ryland, Joshua W. Redman, William Daniels, J. B. Murdock, and others.
130-140
-
•
CHAPTER I.
Edward D. Baker-Orator, Lawyer and Statesman-A Soldier in Three Wars-Great Criminal Trials-Baldwin's Witty Thrusts at the "Old Gray Eagle"-Gov. Low's Wager-Verdenal's Jest-Bret Harte's Enthusiasm-The Political Campaign of 1859- Brief and Brilliant Period in the Federal senate-Death on the Battle Field- Celebrated Speeches -- References to A. C. Monson, George Cadwalader, Edward Stanly, Jacob R. Snyder and Thos. Starr King.
"Baker, you know everything-except law."
It was the elder Baldwin who spoke, a master mind in legal science. It was in the long ago, and he was rallying no less a man than Edward D. Baker, even then famed at the bar and in arms. Baker had held a brilliant place at the bar of Illinois, among those to whom he afterwards pointed (with a modesty that excluded himself) as "the pride and boast of the Mississippi Valley." He had won distinction in Congress, and as a soldier in the war with Mexico. Now, early in the "Fifties," having established himself in law practice in San Francisco he had gone to Sacramento, the capitol, on a professional visit. It was his first appearance in the interior of the State. While happiest in criminal cases, he was now enlisted in a civil trial. The plaintiff was the well-known lawyer, Joseph W. Winans, suing Hardenberg & Henarie, of the Orleans Hotel, to recover $3,000 on a promissory note given for legal services. The defense was made by only one of the partners, who said the note was executed by the other after the partnership was dissolved. But the other partner testified to the contrary.
Baker was for the defense. He made a splendid effort to uphold a lost cause. In spite of the evidence he at least upheld his own fame for ingenuity and eloquence. But the plaintiff obtained a verdict, and the judgment thereon was affirmed on appeal. The trial below was before Hon. A. C. Monson and a jury. George Cadwalader, who had just come to the bar, was the lawyer who had the honor of the triumph. It was on this occasion that Joseph G. Baldwin, who had witnessed Baker's felicitous performance, accosted him with the opening words of this chapter. And the witty Southron followed them with a specimen of that infectious laughter that was his alone.
There was no political campaign pending just then, but the Sacramentans were bound to hear Baker outside the court room. They called him out on the lecture platform. He gave them "Books." He was full of his theme, and Baldwin was perhaps the most appreciative and most charmed of all his auditors. But the next day the Virginian had another sally for the lecturer
2
14
BENCH AND BAR IN CALIFORNIA.
on "Books." "Baker," he said slowly, "you know everything about books -except law books."
The "Old Gray Eagle," as we fondly called him, soared close to the sun. His soul fed on poetry and fame, he was brilliant in the nation's eye, and "the path of glory led him to the grave." He was not very long at this bar, but his career here was cast in a crucial and eventful period. His triumphs and defeats were notable, and his figure looms up as the most striking in our legal annals.
He was born in London, England, in 1811. When five years old his parents came to the United States, bringing him with them. They came to this country, loving its institutions. They were teachers, educators, and making their home in Philadelphia when the echoes of the old bell of freedom yet lingered on the air, they opened a school and taught the youth of that city until the father's death, ten years later. The mother lived to a great age, surviving her distinguished son.
When in the fullness of time, the latter became a United States Senator, his first letter bearing the Senatorial frank was addressed to the aged mother. The Rev. Thomas H. Pearne, of Portland, Oregon, is authority for the state- ment that, on the way to the Post Office with the letter in hand, and convers- ing with a friend, the Senator remarked with fond pride that his mother, then more than eighty years old, was a woman of strong, cultivated mind; that she had often taken down his speeches in short-hand, which she wrote with ele- gance and rapidity; that she was a beautiful writer and still retained in vigor her mental faculties. Tears were in his eyes as he recounted her virtues and excellences.
At seventeen Baker went to Illinois, settling at Carrollton. He studied law and elocution. When he was twenty-one he entered the Black Hawk war, obtaining a Major's commission. He distinguished himself in that war. In 1845-6 he represented the Springfield district in Congress; and the old Globe will show that he was then gifted with that clearness of vision, and that charm of speech, which later so often fascinated the people of the New West. He was then the first orator of Illinois. He was a Whig, but, unlike most of the Northern Whigs, he favored the Mexican war. He gave up his seat in Congress to fight under Taylor. He was at Cerro Gordo, at the head of the Fourth Illinois Regiment, which regiment was raised by him. Without following him through the war, let it be said that at its close his State presented him with a sword.
In 1849 he went to Congress again-a Whig from a Democratic district. Governor Stanly, in his oration at Baker's funeral, said: "He had, if not all the ambition, the courage and genius of Julius Cæsar." Governor Stanly might have said he had, too, the ambition of Cæsar. Baker was among the most ambitious of men. He loved fame. His soul was ever athirst for glory.
15
BENCH AND BAR IN CALIFORNIA.
I am tempted to believe that he favored the Mexican war, in opposition to his Whig friends, chiefly because it was war, and afforded him an opportunity to slake the burning thirst of his heart.
In 1851 we find Baker in a strange role-superintendent of construction of the Panama Railroad. He had a heavy force of men under him, and managed them with ability.
In June, 1852, Baker arrived in San Francisco, and until he departed for Oregon, eight years later, he practiced law here with distinguished brilliancy and success. In 1859 he ran for Congress on the Republican ticket. That was, without exception, the most interesting year in the political history of California. It was the year of Broderick's death-the year when the great Democratic party broke in two. Burch and Scott were the regular Buchanan administration candidates for Congress. The anti-Lecompton or Douglas candidates were Joseph C. Mckibben of Sierra, and Judge Booker, of Stock- ton. The Republican candidates were Colonel Baker and P. H. Sibley. California then was strongly Democratic. By a tacit understanding between the Republicans and Douglas Democrats those two elements coalesced on can- didates for Congress, and cast their united vote for Baker and Mckibben. It was of no avail. Burch and Scott were elected by a heavy majority. But Baker made a magnificent canvass. From San Diego to Yreka his eloquent tongue was heard, and never before or since have our hills and plains echoed so marvelous a voice. The Sacramento Union employed short-hand reporters to accompany the orator, and to report his speeches verbatim. It was in that campaign that Baker made his great speech at Forest Hill, Placer County, known as his "Forest Hill" speech.
"I am here speaking in the mountains," were his opening words, "al- ways in all lands favorable to the great idea of real liberty; always an inspira- tion to its defenders; always a fortress for its warriors." Henry Edgerton, himself an orator worthy of the name, who was with Baker at Forest Hill, de- clared he never heard so grand a speech. It may be found in full in the Sac- ramento Union of August 23, 1859.
It was in this campaign that I, a boyish worshiper of this magnetic orator, had the pleasure of grasping his warm hand for the first time? It was on the very day of election, and at the Third ward polls in Sacramento. The "Old Gray Eagle" had closed the fight by a magnificent speech in Sacramento the night before and was about to take the two o'clock P. M. boat for San Francisco, but visited in person the various polling places. Just as he was leaving the Third ward precinct he caught my eye and saw the tickets in my grasp. Lifting my hand with his he read the tickets which I held, and see- ing thereon his own name, said: "The young and the old work together to- day."
Colonel Baker lost this fight. As he afterwards publicly declared, his
16
BENCH AND BAR IN CALIFORNIA.
hopes and his heart were crushed. But in less than one year from the time of that Waterloo, he was a Senator of the United States ! Oregon was his constituency. On the eve of his departure for Oregon, to capture a State of which he was not a resident, Governor Low bet him a suit of clothes that he would not succeed in getting to the United States Senate. When he came back triumphant, Governor Low was in the van of the great throng that wel- comed him. "I'll take that suit of clothes, Low," was the first thing Baker said. He got the suit, but some people say that if he had lost the wager, his memory would not have proved so reliable.
While attention is turned to Oregon, I may tell this also, which I get from Mr. J. M. Verdenal. The latter, by the way, declares that Baker was the greatest orator he ever heard, and he has listened to Daniel S. Dickinson, Judah P. Benjamin, Robert G. Ingersoll, and other famous speakers. Mr. Verdenal's brother, D. F., now a leading newspaper correspondent in New York City, and who practiced law for a few years in San Francisco, pursued his legal studies in Baker's office. Being in Washington shortly after his old friend had become a member of the Federal Senate, he took occasion to pay his respects to "Baker of Oregon" in the senate chamber. "Young man," said the senator, grandly, "I hope that you, some day, may stand on this floor as a senator from a sovereign State." "Thank you," responded Verdenal, "I hope I will not have to emigrate to Oregon in order to get here."
Baker was very engaging on the lecture platform. Few, if any, of his efforts in that line, were reported with any attempt at fullness. Indeed, be- fore 1859, short-hand was a very rare accomplishment in California. Notable among his lectures, besides that on "Books," were "The Sea," "The Plurality of Worlds" and "Socrates." These he treated with a glowing imagination, closing the last named with a noble tribute to TRUTH. At the Burns' Cen- tennial, 1859, he was very happy.
Another fine effort was his oration at the dedication of Lone Mountain Cemetery (where his body rests), May 30, 1854. Starr King, in his touching address, six years later over Baker's open grave, made this allusion: "We have borne him now to the home of the dead, to the cemetery which, after fit services of prayer, he devoted in a tender and thrilling speech, to its hallowed purposes." Then Mr. King gave these lines from it: "Within these grounds public reverence and gratitude shall build the tombs of warriors and statesmen who have given all their lives and their best thoughts to their country."
Baker's most deliberate, thoughtful and polished production, was his ora- tion at Broderick's funeral, September 18, 1859. It contains his stirring pro- test against dueling. Never was man so eloquently mourned as Broderick.
Baker worshipped the beautiful as ardently as Poe-the beautiful in art, in literature, in nature. His soul was full of poetry. One day, during the recess of a murder trial, in which he was about to speak for the prisoner, his
17
BENCH AND BAR IN CALIFORNIA.
eye fell on one of those beautiful little fugitive poems that sometimes come and go, no one knows where. After reading it repeatedly and examining it thoughtfully, he showed it to a brother lawyer (the late Lewis Aldrich) saying: "Isn't that beautiful ? I have been thinking how could I weave it into my speech this afternoon. I don't know where I can bring it in, but I'll find a place for it, if I hang my man."
Baker was counsel for the defence in the Snyder embezzlement case. Major J. R. Snyder came to California from Pennsylvania, his native State, several years before the Argonauts. He was in the first Constitutional Convention (1849) from the Sacramento district and in 1852-53 was a State Senator from San Francisco. He died on his Sonoma farm about 1877, leaving a valuable estate, including business property in San Francisco. While he was superintendent of the San Francisco Mint, he was tried in the Court of Sessions (T. W. Freelon, Presiding Judge), A. D. 1853, on a charge of embezzlement-it being asserted that there was a continuous shrinkage in the precious metals brought to the Mint. The defense claimed that the missing gold had gone, not where the woodbine twineth, not exactly up the spout, but-up the chimney, and had been wafted off in those golden clouds that are wont to circle above all mints, where they
"Become enthroned in upper air And turn to sunbright glories there."
During the progress of the trial, the Mint whistle blew one day at twelve o'clock noon. "What is that ?" said one lawyer to another. "It is Uncle Sam whistling for his money," was the reply.
Judge Freelon remarked to me that Baker's argument on that trial was the finest he ever heard him deliver. Baker had a faculty of understanding mechanical principles. Major Snyder did not; nor did more than a few of the witnesses. Baker must have spent several weeks in studying in detail the chemical operations of the Mint, for on the trial he showed that he knew more on this subject than anybody else. In his argument he turned his knowledge to good account, and also displayed his best powers of oratory and illustration. He acquitted his client, who was generally believed to be an honest man, but an incompetent manager. Judge Freelon also heard Baker in the Cora case; and thought while his speech in that case was more brilliant and eloquent and impassioned, yet, as a forensic effort, an argumentative display, a union of fact, argument and expression, the speech in behalf of Major Snyder was more creditable to him as a lawyer and advocate. Mention of the Cora case recalls the fact that Baker suffered a severe penalty for his brilliant defense in that celebrated trial. For a time he was socially ostracized. Society indicted him. It would never have visited such censure upon an advocate of ordinary powers. Cora had killed General Richardson, United States
18
BENCH AND BAR IN CALIFORNIA.
Marshal, and his trial for the crime commenced January 8, 1856. He employed Colonel Baker to defend him, but public opinion insisted that the Colonel should leave the accused to his fate. He did his duty, and, in consequence, such was the inflamed state of the public mind, the eloquent old man suddenly found himself like a stranger in a strange land. Day after day the newspapers poured out their wrath upon his head. He stood his ground and "hung the jury." Before Cora could be put on trial the second time the Vigilance Committee hanged him. I will not say anything of that great popular uprising; I only touch the Cora trial because it concerns Baker's fame. It is hardly necessary, now, to argue that Baker had a clear right to defend the prisoner. The public opinion, which would tell a lawyer whom he may and whom he may not defend, would, if permitted, dictate the judgments of courts of justice.
But Baker may be quoted in his own vindication. In his defense of Cora before the jury he took occasion to say:
"The legal profession is, above all others, fearless of public opinion, candid and sympathetic. It has ever stood up against the tyranny of monarchs on the one hand, and the tyranny of public opinion on the other. And if, as the humblest among them, it becomes me to instance myself, I may say it with a bold heart-and I do say it with a bold heart-that there is not in all this world a wretch so humble, so guilty, so despairing, so torn with avenging furies, so pursued by the vengeance of the law, so hunted to cities of refuge, so fearful of life, so afraid of death-there is no wretch so deeply steeped in all the agonies of vice and misery and crime-that I would not have a heart to listen to his cry, and find a tongue to speak in his defense, though around his head all the fury of public opinion should gather, and rage, and roar, and roll, as the ocean rolls around the rock. And if I ever forget, if I ever deny, that highest duty of my profession, may God palsy this arm and hush this voice forever."
It is the judgment of many that Baker never stood forth as the orator so irresistibly as in the old American Theatre (where now stands the Halleck Block) on the night of October 27, 1860. Perhaps on that occasion he excited his audience to a pitch of enthusiasm and delight beyond all his other triumphs. One year before, he had left the State-defeated in a tremendous struggle, but hopeful and free of soul. He was now on his way from Oregon to Washington to take his seat as a Senator of the United States. He seemed inspired. The speech was fully reported and widely distributed. Delivered without notes, it was full of gems that will sparkle forever, as this :
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.