USA > California > Tuolumne County > A history of Tuolumne County, California : compiled from the most authentic records > Part 12
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"We the jury find the prisoner guilty of assault and battery with intent to kill Captain John Parrot; but as Parrot is not yet dead, they agree that the prisoner shall be given up to the civil authorities."
The wildest excitement followed. " Hang him!" " String him up!" "Give him to the Sheriff!" was heard issuing from hundreds of mouths. A vote was being taken to ratify the decision of the jury, when, deeming it a propi- tious moment, Messrs. Solomon, Randall and their backers charged upon the crowd, broke their way to the prisoner, hustled him out, mounted him upon a horse, all manacled as he was, and mounting their own animals rode rapidly toward Sonora. The multitude, surprised at this unlooked- for proceeding, pursued the retreating horsemen but a short distance and returned, muttering, to their claims. Thus ended the second chapter in this notorious murder.
Incarcerated in the jail at Sonora, the murderer awaited his trial; which coming, he was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced by the redoubtable Judge Creaner to death. Before the day set for execution, how- ever, his sentence was commuted, by an over-indulgent Governor, to seven years' imprisonment.
In connection with this commutation of sentence a curi-
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ous story is told, viz: that Horace Bull, Nicholas' Attorney, and a lawyer prominent for his shrewdness, eccentricities and peculiar moral tendencies, finding all efforts to secure a new trial useless, hit upon a device for securing the Gov- ernor's clemency. This was, in short, to cut off all the names signed to an address thanking Judge Creaner for his upright protecting influence, or something of that sort, which had been circulated extensively, and appending these autograph signatures, many of them of very promi- nent and influential gentlemen, to a prayer for executive clemency to the Governor, in the case of Nicholas.
The scheme, as now told, succeeded, and Nicholas escaped his merited doom.
This story, often told, has become one of the traditions, but like many another, it is apocryphal, and must be taken with a grain of salt.
The Heslep Murder.
Perhaps no more terrible tragedy ever occurred in the mines of California than the one which it is the duty of the writer here to describe. Blood-thirsty and cruel beyond all precedent, it roused the people to a state of almost un- paralleled excitement and even frenzy. It was peculiar in the singularity of the mode in which the deed was com- mitted, and doubly so in the suddenness with which the assassin met his reward. It would be difficult, in all the annals of crime, to trace its parallel. The community be- held a man universally respected, trusted and loved, the guardian of the county's treasury, and the esteemed busi- ness associate of the intelligent and enterprising merchants of the day, struck down and done to death by the hand of one who owed his welfare, and even his daily bread, to the generosity of his victim.
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The murderer's object was money, the basest of all in- centives to crime, but fruitless were his hopes, for eight hours from the time that last saw Joseph Heslep in life, his slayer too was sent by a just, though unequal punishment, to the bar of eternal justice.
Mr. Heslep, in his capacity as Treasurer, had an office on Hospital street, in Sonora. Here were kept the books and papers relating both to the county's affairs and to his own private business. The office contained two rooms, in the outer of which the safe and a writing desk were located. In the inner one there were certain articles of furniture, notably a wash-stand, with bowl. Within the safe were a portion of the county funds, amounting to somewhat over seven thousand dollars in gold coin. In order to a full understanding of the subject, it should be said that the safe and the writing-desk stood at the side of the room op- posite the door, and the latter was in such a position that a person engaged in writing would necessarily sit, or stand, with his back to the outer door, which opened on Hospital street, nearly opposite Mr. Bradford's present office, but rather nearer to Washington street.
At 9 o'clock in the evening of January 18, 1855, Mr. McBirnie, a member of the firm of Bell & McBirnie, the Court House contractors, having business to transact, en- tered Mr. Heslep's office through the closed but not fastened door, and in the intense darkness groped his way to the mantel, over the fire-place, at the further side of the apart- ment, in search of matches wherewith to light the lamp or candles, presumably in their accustomed place. As he reached the mantel, his feet struck against an object on the floor. Hastily striking a match, he turned to examine the obstruction, when the flickering brimstone showed to his horrified gaze the form of Joseph Heslep, his blood-his very brains-oozing through half a score of wounds upon
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his head. The stoutest heart, the firmesc nerve, could not endure more than one glance at the awful shadow, and the discoverer flew from the dread sight, never again to forget what that one glance showed him.
No words can do justice to the extreme excitement that arose in saloons, in stores and in hotels, when that white- faced man, peering in, gave utterance to his tidings. In- stantly a great commotion arose, and a swarm of men hur- ried to the scene of the catastrophe. The truth of the news being verified, the first impulse, the invariable one at that day, in all scenes of unusual gravity, was to hold a meeting. This was done in front of the office where the bloody corpse lay, and by the light of a bonfire burning in the street, measures were taken to apprehend the murderer. The body, yet warm, gave evidence that the deed was but recently committed, while there were men who had seen Mr. Heslep in health but a few short hours before. Mes- sengers mounted on fleet horses were immediately dis- patched to each of the ferries in the county to stop the egress of suspected parties.
In the meantime the proper officials summoned a Coro- ner's jury to deliberate upon the tragedy, and a full exam- ination of the premises and of the murdered man was made, the jury sitting for six hours, and eliciting the following facts:
Dr. Manning, the examining surgeon, reported that the deceased had received eight wounds upon the head, with an axe; that the skull was crushed at the crown, and that some of the brains were scattered upon the floor; and blows had been inflicted on each of the temples, either of which was severe enough to have caused death. The awful dis- figurement of the face of the dead was such as to have pre- vented recognition, had the remains been found in other surroundings. The nose was broken, and the countenance
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generally was horribly mangled; but what gave a still more brutal character to the work, was the fact that the mouth, the throat, and the nostrils were stuffed with paper-the very refinement of brutality, as it was evident that it was done during the time that the deceased was still living.
Slight suspicions of McBirnie, amid the uncertainty and turmoil, developed into nothing. The man who did the act was as unknown to the people as if he had never lived, and would have so remained had it not been for the acci- dental acuteness of Constable Sam Phillips. This officer, who had attended the examination, had observed there the attitude and replies of one of the witnesses, one Griffiths, who, it appeared, had been last seen in the office, convers- ing with Mr. Heslep. Examined and reexamined, no ques- tion had shaken his testimony nor disturbed his coolness. He testified coolly and straightforwardly as to his knowl- edge of the murdered man's proceedings that evening, and by no word had it been made to appear that the guilt of murder was upon his soul. During, however, his second or third examination, and while still sitting within the room where the jury were, Deputy Sheriff Randall and Con- stable Phillips entered the room, the latter calling the at- tention of the officers and jury to a valise which he held in bis hands. As soon as Griffith caught sight of the valise, recognizing it, he exclaimed, " Ask me no more questions; I am the guilty man!" At this declaration, accompanied as it was with dramatic coolness, the bystanders were para-
lyzed with excitement. Constable Phillips and Deputy Randall then related how they had visited the room of the accused at the United States Hotel, where, concealed within the blankets of his bunk, they found the blood-stained garments, fresh clots of gore still remaining undried upon them, and these pressed into a valise, the heavy overcoat alone being placed under the pillow. Within the pockets
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of the latter garment were over six thousand dollars in gold coin-the greater part of the sum which the safe contained; it appearing that the murderer thought himself unable to carry away the whole-so leaving about a thousand dollars untouched.
At this point of the proceedings, alarm bells were rung, and those of the citizens who liad retired from the scene again assembled in front of the office. The situation of .affairs was told to them, and resolutions were passed de- claring that the prisoner should die at daybreak, there be- ing not one dissenting voice. Remaining by the bonfire all night, with the doomed man pinioned in their midst, the crowd at daybreak made preparations to hang him. Sheriff Solomon made an ineffectual attempt to gain pos- session of him, but without the slightest avail, as he was alone in the midst of a vast and determined assemblage, which had firmly resolved on the man's death. No earthly power could save him. Cognizant of the fact that his earthly hours were short, Griffiths occupied himself in writing letters to his wife, who was in San Jose, and in making confession of his crime to his custodians. Besides the statements embraced in his confession, the following facts were evolved subsequently :
Griffiths, upon his arrival in California, found himself without money or friends. In this strait, he was assisted by a gentleman of San Jose, a brother of his victim, who supplied him with the means to get to the mines, and also providing him with letters of recommendation to his brother Joseph, who, equally openhanded and hospitable, sup- ported this stranger until he could establish him, as he finally did, in placer mining; also supplying lumber, with which to build a cabin. These facts only make the villainy of the crime more conspicuous, contrasting it with the generosity of the murdered man.
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This is the oral confession of Griffiths:
" My name is Edward Crane Griffiths. I was born in Liverpool, England, in 1824. I went to Ireland when a boy, and have been at sea since I was eleven years of age. I first went to Callao, then to Panama, by steamer, and then came to San Francisco. I was in San Francisco since, until I came to Sonora, which was previous to New Year's day. First conceived the design of the murder last night. I asked Mr. Heslep to loan me some money. He had a bag of money, containing gold and silver, which he had taken from a partition in his desk. When I asked deceased to loan me the money he refused. I then placed my hand on the bag, with no intention of taking it; upon which he arose and struck me in the breast. My blood being aroused, I immediately picked up the ax and struck deceased with it upon the temple; then struck again with it, two or three times, when he was down. He continued to make a noise, and I then put the paper in his nostrils and mouth. I then took the bag, and key which he had in his hand, un- locked the safe, and took the gold out of it. I then re- placed the key of the safe upon the table, blew out the light, and left the house. Was not occupied more than five minutes in the business. I went to my room, where I placed the money, changed my pantaloons, and walked out. I went down to the Long Tom, and soon returned to Mr. Heslep's office, in which time the murder had been discovered.
" When I placed my hand upon the bag I had no inten- tion to take the money, but did it in more of a joke than anything else. I said to Mr. Heslep, 'You may as well lend me this.' When I saw that I had killed him, I took the money, for then I thought I could make the matter no worse. The paper that I put in his mouth I got from the table. Five minutes before doing it I had no idea of com- mitting the act.
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" I acknowledge this to be the whole truth, and make this confession of my own free will and accord, without any fear, threats, or compulsion from any person. This is made before the Coroner's Jury, at fifteen minutes before two A. M., Friday, 19th of January, A. D. 1855.
E. C. GRIFFITHS."
At daylight the last act of this dreadful tragedy came. Carried to an oak tree, of which the trunk is yet to be seen standing on Mr. Bemis' City Hotel lot, the guilty wretch was suspended and left to die without a sympathiz- ing word or look from the community from which his blood-thirsty hand had removed a beloved and useful mem- ber.
So ended an eventful night, the recollections of which are burnt into the brain of every one of the many surviving actors and spectators, never to be forgotten until the earth shall close over their honored heads.
In order to show the general esteem in which the mur- dered man was held, and also the manner in which his untimely taking-off was regarded, the newspaper report of a citizens' meeting to " take into consideration the prema- ture and violent death of Joseph Heslep, Esq.
" On motion, G. W. Patrick (Mayor of Sonora) was ap- pointed Chairman, and H. G. Worthington, Secretary.
" On motion, L. L. Alexander, Dr. Adams, E. Linoberg, Mr. Rutherford and Major P. McD. Collins, were appointed a committee to draw up suitable resolutions.
" On motion it was recommended to the citizens that all business be suspended during the passage of the corpse through the streets to the place of interment.
" The committee on resolutions reported the following, which were read and adopted :
" 'Truly, it has been said, 'In the midst of life we are in death.' 'The noblest work of God, an honest man,' has
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been cut off from among us; Joseph Heslep, Esq., Deputy Treasurer of Tuolumne county, is dead-murdered by the man whom he had befriended.
"' Resolved, That in the death of our friend, the whole community has suffered a loss which it is impossible to re- pair; each of us has lost a friend, a neighbor, and the county an honest and faithful public servant.
"' Resolved, That we truly condole with the brothers, and the family relations of the deceased, in the great loss they have sustained, in a brother, a father and a friend.
" 'Resolved, That out of respect to the deceased we rec- ommend that the whole community go into mourning and attend his remains to their last resting place on Sunday next.
On motion it was
" 'Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be pub- lished in the various papers of this county.
" ' Resolved, That the Secretary furnish the family and friends of the deceased, in San Francisco and elsewhere, with a copy of the proceedings of this meeting.
G. W. PATRICK, President.
H. G. WORTHINGTON, Secretary.
Walker's Expedition.
In order to bring the history of the county for the year 1854 to a fitting conclusion, it will be necessary to mention a few additional events of importance. These are the divi- sion of the county and Walker's expedition to Lower Cali- fornia.
Of the former event there is little to say, except that at that time it was imagined that an inevitable imcompati- bility must exist between agriculture and mining, to the extent that the interest of those devoted to the one must
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necessarily suffer from too intimate a connection with those pursuing the other. Whether this view was well founded or not, an amicable dissolution of interests followed, and the agricultural Eve, Stanislaus, was formed from a rib of her predecessor, and has remained contentedly apart ever since, having no connection with her other half, except as to serving, perhaps, as a convenient pasture for Tuolumne's lost live-stock.
In June, 1854, these divorce proceedings were consum- mated, Stanislaus holding the first separate county election on the 10th of that month.
Additional Events of 1850.
Not a little enthusiasm was aroused in the mines by the circumstances of the ill-fated expeditions of " The Gray- eyed Man of Destiny." The first of these, in which Walker for a time overthrew the Mexican power in the States of Sonora and Lower California, assuming the powers and the title of President of the so-called " Re- public," formed from those States, drew away many of the more ambitious or restless spirits from their work in the diggings, to dare fortune in another land. To all of these the sternest of adverse fates happened; hardly one ever returned to tell the story of his wanderings. Many men, once prominent in the mining regions of Tuolumne, thus departed. But a still deeper and most pathetic interest was aroused on account of the Nicaragua expedition Joined by men of all classes and all situations in society, Walker fought and bled and died in their midst, his last brave end drawing a curtain over the foolish and impracti- cable attempt, shutting it in part from the rough criticism of the outer world. Good blood, mustered in distant re- gions, and coming, some of it, to its full brightness and
.
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strength by the banks of the Tuolumne and the Stanislaus, was poured out as freely as the leader's own, to be drunk up by the soil of a land whose sons, in their new-found strength, wielded well the sword when they strove for lib- erty. Aside from the fact that many of Tuolumne's adven- turous inhabitants joined the raiding forces, the expedi- tions do not present any matter for the present considera- tion of the readers of this volume, but it is an unfortunate circumstance that an accurate and complete list of those who went from here on that tragical errand cannot now be made out.
Ditch Matters and Miners' Strike.
In the Fall of 1854, the " Columbia and Stanislaus River Water Company " was formed for the object of bringing water for mining purposes into the chief placer diggings of Tuolumne, notably into those of the region in and about Columbia. The immediate causes that led to the com- mencement of the work was the insufficiency of the then existing ditches to supply the requisite quantity, and also the excessive prices charged by those in operation.
At a meeting of the stockholders of the new company, held September 26, 1854, in Columbia, the following named gentlemen were elected officers to serve for one year: Directors-J. W. Coffroth (President), G. W. Whitman, S. Ingersoll, James McLean, John Jolly, S. Knapp and Dr. Windler ; Secretary-T. N. Cazneau; Treasurer-W. Daeg- ener (of Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express); Superintendent- A. Fletcher; Engineer-T. L. Trask.
At this meeting the Engineer's report of his survey of the proposed route of the ditch was presented, and from its pages some interesting particulars of the truly great work are to be gleaned.
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The route surveyed by him was twenty odd miles in length, the canal at various epochs since having been lengthened to the distance of sixty miles, it being one of the longest and most important hydraulic works of the kind ever constructed by man.
Commencing at the farthest limits of the first survey, the first eight miles of the line passed over a deep, heavy loam, covered with a dense growth of pine timber. The ground was easy of excavation and in every way adapted to the requirements of canal building. Upon this part of the route but few portions required to be flumed.
The next section, reaching downward to Rocky Bluff, passed over a broken country, a considerable portion of which required to be flumed.
The remaining portion of the route, nine and a half miles in length, required fluming entirely. Upon this sec- tion were three high bluffs to pass around, but not of great length.
Of the twenty-one miles of ditch, the lower end of which was at Columbia, twelve miles required to be flumed, the remaining nine miles being excavated.
As for timber for the construction and support of flumes, no route was ever better supplied. Along nearly the en- tire route there was abundant growth of pine, fir and other woods, in all respects adapted to such uses. The cedar, too, invaluable for its lasting qualities, grows in the upper sections.
In regard to the cost, the Engineer expressed the opin- ion that it would not aggregate a sum over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, for bringing the water of the Main Fork of the Stanislaus into Columbia or Sonora. The Engineer was of the opinion, hardly borne out since in practice, that there was an amount of water in the Main Fork equal to all demands, being in the dryest seasons not less than four or five hundred tom streams.
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From this source alone, concluded the Engineer, it was possible to obtain an adequate supply; for the only other sufficient stream was the South Fork of the Tuolumne, to obtain the water from which would require works almost rivaling the Great Canal of China, the country being almost impassable.
Having now formed their company, the work was pro- ceeded with. But owing to financial and other hindrances, little was accomplished until the next Spring, when certain stirring events took place, involving the interests of the miners, the water companies, and, in fact, of all the county.
The high prices, heretofore alluded to, still held sway, and the whole mining population dependent upon the Tuolumne County Water Company, observing the indiffer- ence to their interests manifested by that corporation, and thinking themselves unfairly treated, began in March, 1855, to take measures to secure such a condition of things as would redound more to their own interests.
On the 3d of that month, a meeting of the miners of Columbia and vicinity was held at Major Farnsworth's saloon, and organizing, a committee was appointed to wait upon the T. C. W. Co., and request them to reduce the price of water to four dollars per day for each tom stream. This done, the meeting adjourned for one week.
At the adjourned meeting the committee reported that a petition had been circulated among the miners, to which about one thousand signatures had been attached, and that the same had been laid before the Trustees of the Water Company, and a reply received from the Board. The fol- lowing was the correspondence:
" To the Trustees of the Tuolumne Water Company:
" GENTLEMEN :- The petition of the undersigned respect- fully showeth: That they are miners within this county,
-
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and that they are now, and have been receiving water from your canal, and have paid large sums of money into your treasury for its use. The aggregate sum they have paid, they are confident, has been sufficient to liquidate the whole capital stock of your Company, and besides give a fair remuneration for the outlay of the money. During the infancy of your Company, and when extraordinary de- mands were made for repairs, and to put your enterprise in proper condition, they made no objections to the price of water, but cheerfully looked forward to a time when your finances would permit a reduction of tolls. Your petitioners believe that the time has arrived, and that the price of water should be reduced to four dollars per day for a full sluice stream. By an accurate calculation made, it has been ascertained that a majority of those using your water, from the excessiveness of the tolls, do not realize for their labor an average of two dollars per day, and the difference between this sum and the price of labor per day is paid to your Company, in opposition to the wisest rules of trade. The general distress throughout the community -the lack of paying earth as compared with former times, independent of the arguments given above-are forcible and cogent reasons for an alteration of your tariff of prices. Your petitioners, therefore, pray that the Trustees will take some immediate action for the reduction of the price of water to four dollars per day for a full sluice stream."
To this petition, seemingly very reasonable under the circumstances, the following answer was returned:
" To the Miners' Committee :
" GENTLEMEN :- I am instructed by the Trustees of the Tuolumne County Water Company to make the following reply to your petition asking for a reduction of the price of water for mining purposes:
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" It has been, and still is, the intention of the Company, to reduce the rates of water from time to time, when it can be done without too great a sacrifice of their own interest.
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