An illustrated history of Sacramento County, California : containing a history of Sacramento County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future portraits of some of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also prominent citizens of today, Part 13

Author: Davis, Winfield J., 1851- 4n
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 916

USA > California > Sacramento County > An illustrated history of Sacramento County, California : containing a history of Sacramento County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its prospective future portraits of some of its most eminent men, and biographical mention of many of its pioneers and also prominent citizens of today > Part 13

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July 20, 1853, a steam engine was introduced to run the presses.

May, 1858, Morrill sold his interest to J. Gray. Morrill went to New Hampshire and remained between one and two years, and re- turning, bought back Gray's interest. In Feb- ruary, 1875, the firmn sold out to the Sacramento Publishing Company, which also purchased the Sacramento Daily and Weekly Record, and the two papers were issued under the joint title of the Sacramento Daily Record-Union. Besides the daily issue, the semi-weekly feature of the Record was retained, and this was issued on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Since then they have issued the daily on each day of the week (except Sundays until recently), with a double or eight-page sheet on Saturdays, besides a mammoth sheet on each New Year's day.

Mr. Upson remained chief editor of the Union abont twelve years. He was succeeded by H. C. Watson, who served until his death, in June, 1867, and was succeeded by Samuel Seabongh, who served until the merging of the Union with the Record. Then George Fred- erick Parsons, Editor-in-chief of the Record, be- came editor-in-chief of the Record-Union, and continued as such until his removal to New York City in the winter of 1883. He was suc- ceeded by J. A. Woodson. The manager of the Record on its consolidation with the Union was William II. Mills, one of the proprietors of the Record, who remained in charge of the paper until Jannary, 1883, when he removed to San Francisco, and C. E. Carrington was ap- pointed local managing editor, and T. W. Shee- han, business manager. Mr. Carrington retired April 1, 1889, and E. B. Willis and T. W. Shee- han were appointed general managers of the

HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

paper, the former assuming the duties of man- aging editor, and the latter continning in im- mediate charge of the business department.

On the 19th of May, 1889, the publication of the Sunday Union was commenced, and mailed to all subscribers to the Weekly Union, the publication of the semi-weekly having been dis- continued.

The fine three-story brick building which has for many years been occupied by this company is on the east side of Third street, between J and K streets, and was built for the Union in 1861.

JOSEPH A. WOODSON, Editor-in-chief of the Sacramento Daily Record- Union, was born in La Porte, Indiana, in 1837, and educated at the Wesleyan Seminary, Albion, Michigan. His parents early removed to Michigan City, Indi- ana, where his father was president of the State Bank of Indiana for many years. After two years' service as a clerk in mercantile business, Mr. Woodson, in 1858, came to California, set- tling at Santa Rosa, Sonoma County; read law in the office of Jackson Temple, now one of the justices of the Supreme Court of the State; was admitted to the bar in 1860, before Judge Mc- Kinstry, for the Seventh District Court, and moved to San Francisco in 1862, where he practiced law until 1872. In the meantime he founded, published and edited the Pacific Law Reporter, having for associate editors some of the first members of the San Francisco bar; also had charge of the law department of the Daily Spectator, San Francisco, for a portion of the time, and edited and published at different times society and philanthropic papers, and was a frequent contributor to the literary journals of that city.

In July, 1872, he became the San Francisco correspondent of the Sacramento Daily Record, and in November, that year, removed to this city, temporarily, and edited the first statistical number of the Daily Record. In January, 1873, he represented that paper, as correspond- ent, at the Legislature of the State of Nevada. Returning in March to Sacramento, he accepted

the position of law and literary editor of the Record. On the union of the Record and the Union, under the title of the Record-Union in February, 1875, he became the literary ed- itor of that paper and " general utility assistant " upon all the departments of the journal. Act- ing in this multiform capacity, he went to Bea- ver, Utah, and reported the first trial of John D. Lee, notorious as connected with the Mount- ain Meadow Massacre. His letters from Bea- ver, published over the signature of "Thad- deus," attracted wide attention and rendered his further sojourn in Utah at least " uncomfort- able." Returning to Sacramento, he resumed his position upon the Record-Union. Early in January, 1883, he became the editor in-chief of the Daily Record-Union, a position he still holds.

As to other positions, Mr. Woodson was deputy district attorney of Sonoma County for a time; was one of the founders of the Cali- fornia Museum Association, and for four con- secutive years a director; and by appointment is a member of the Board of Trustees of the State Mineral Cabinet. Mr. Woodson's chief function in the public welfare has been that of "an intellectual power behind the throne " rather than a mere figure-head in conspicuous positions.

S. E. CARRINGTON was born in Ohio in 1840; received a public and High-School education, and engaged in the profession of teaching for a time, but joined the Union Army soon after commencement of the Rebellion of 1861-'65. Served in Army of Potomac until 1863, when he was transferred to the War Department and remained there until after close of the war. Studied law and graduated at the Law School at Columbia College, Washington, District of Co. lumbia, in 1867. Entering the legal profession, he practiced before the departments at Washing- ton and in the courts of Ohio, until 1876, when from broken health he visited California, re- maining about a year, and again returned to the Golden State in the spring of 1879, with his family, and took up his permanent residence in Sacramento. In the fall of 1879 Mr. Carring-

HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

ton was employed upon the Record- Union and so continued until January 1, 1883, when he became managing editor of the paper, and which position he occupied until April 1, 1889, when he resigned.

In his religious relations he is connected with the Congregational Church in Sacramento, of which he is trustee; and in his society connec- tions he is a member of both the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders.

In 1865 Mr. Carrington was married to Miss Rilla, daughter of William B. Stone, of York, Ohio. Their children are Belle and Alice.

EVANDER BERRY WILLIS, Managing Editor of the Sacramento Daily Record- Union, was born at the residence of Commodore Evander Berry, at the United States Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, on August 19, 1847. Being well ad- vanced in his studies, at the age of thirteen he entered a printing office and learned the trade in all its branches. While working at his trade he mastered the art of stenography and soon had a position as official reporter in the Supreme Court circuit of New York. At the age of twenty he was editor and proprietor of the Mail, at Middletown, Orange County, New York. This field was too limited for him, and after publishing the paper for a little over a year he sold out and accepted a position on the New York Herald, being sent for that paper all over the country. From this he acquired a roving disposition and subsequently held various edito- rial positions on leading newspapers in several States, among them the following: Assistant city editor New York Daily Democrat ("Brick" Pomeroy's paper); city editor Newburgh, New York, Daily Press; city editor Seranton, Penn- sylvania, Daily Democrat; telegraph editor Scranton Daily Republican; commercial editor San Francisco Chronicle; city editor Sacramento Daily Record; editor-in-chief of the Virginia City, Nevada, Chronicle; night city editor New York Daily Star, and others.

Mr. Willis first came to California in August, 1871. He has made several trips to the East since that time, visiting Europe and traveling

through the United Kingdom and over the con- tinent. He was the official stenographer of the Constitutional Convention which framed the present constitution of the State of California, and with his partner, the late P. K. Stockton, transcribed the debates and proceedings of that body for publication by the State. He has re- ported in the California Legislature for the Record- Union at every session but two since 1871, and is consequently well known through- out the State. Mr. Willis is a prominent mem- ber of the Masonic order, being a member (Past Master) of Sacramento Lodge, No. 40, F. & A. M .; Sacramento Chapter, No. 3, Royal Arch Masons; Sacramento Council, No. 1, Royal and Select Masters, and Past Commander of Sacra- mento Commandery, No. 2, Knights Templar. On April 1, 1889, E. B. Willis and General T. W. Sheehan were appointed general managers of the Sacramento Daily Record- Union and Sacra- mento Weekly Union, the former assuming the duties of managing editor, and the latter those of business manager.

In the list of dead journals comes now the Democratic State Journal. It was a morning paper of the size of the Record- Union, and ap- peared February 5, 1852. V. E. Geiger & Co. were the publishers, and Geiger and B. F. Wash- ington the editors. It was a valiant warrior for the Democratic party, supporting John Bigler in his political. aspirations, while its contenipo- rary, the Times and Transcript, was the advo- cate of William M. Gwin. Washington, early in 1853, retired and went upon the Times and Transcript, and B. B. Redding, since land agent of the Central Pacific Railroad Company, be- came editor. The destruction of the office by the great fire of 1852 greatly retarded the paper, and finally in July, 1853, forced it into a coali- tion with the Californian, when a new firm was formed composed of B. B. Redding, P. C. John- son, S. J. May and James McClatchy. In April, 1854, Johnson sold to Colonel Snowden, and in June, May sold to Redding and Snowden. Snow- den and May have been dead many years.

In the fall of 1854 William Walker, afterward

HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

known as General Walker, of Nicaragua fillibus- ter fame, the "grey-eyed man of destiny," be- came editor. October, 1854, McClatchy sold out to D. J. Thomas. Walker retired in Feb- ruary, 1855, and McClatchy became editor, be- ing succeeded in a month by John White. In 1866 Snowden sold out to Redding and Thomas. In June, 1857, the party failing to give adequate support to the journal, it was sold, under attach- ment, and bought in by the printers in the office. After a suspension of four weeks it re- sumed, with Henry Shipley & Co. as publishers, the company being made np by most of the printers in the office. H. Shipley and R. Rust were editors. April 24, 1858, P. W. S. Rayle bought up nearly all the interests and announced S. W. Raveley as editor. It so continned to June 24, 1858, when it expired. At one time it ran a column in French, and was the first and only daily paper issued in Sacramento with a department for any foreign tongue.

In Angust, 1852, T. Alter began to publish a .weekly Baptist paper, with O. C. Wheeler and E. J. Willis as editors. It continued abont one year, and had its office in the court-house. It lost $3,000 to the publisher, and breathed its last so quietly that the exact date of its taking off is unknown.

November 17, 1852, E. Williamson & Co., with James McClatchy and D. J. Thomas as editors, started a settler Democratic paper. It was issued every morning, super-royal in size. April, 1853, S. J. May bought a one-fourth in- terest and became editor. It was burned out once, and started again in a deserted kitchen, brought from the country for the purpose. On the 30th of July it fused with the State Jour- nal, as stated above.

The California Statesman, a morning paper edited by Henry Meredith and published by J. W. Gish & Co., was begun November 13, 1854. It was Democratic and supported W. M. Gwin for United States Senator against Broderick. March 1, 1855, Gish & Woodward, the pub- lishers, sned Gwin & IIardenbergh on a claim that they had agreed to pay $2,500 for the sup-

port of Gwin by the paper. They alleged that Gwin also agreed to give the paper the public printing. They laid their damages at $20,000, but they were ousted from court on the ground that the agreement was contrary to public policy. Hardenbergh then sued for the possession, and so the Statesman died.

The California Farmer and Journal of Use- ful Science began a publication in Sacramento in May, 1855, having already appeared in Sau Francisco a year before. The publishers were Warren & Son, and J. K. Philips & Co. Dr. J. F. Morse was the editor for one month. It was a weekly paper. July 18, 1856, it was moved back to San Francisco, where it still ap- pears.

In March, 1854, Dr. Morse and S. Colville issued the first and only number of a monthly magazine entitled " Illustrated Historical Sketches of California, with a minute history of Sacramento Valley." This number was a good one, but the business department was badly managed and a second number never appeared.

The Pacific Recorder appeared July 15, 1854, edited by E. J. Willis, and was to be the organ of the Baptist Church. It was a neat semi- monthly; in July, 1855, it became a weekly, but in March following it was discontinued.

June 8, 1855, a daily paper came to the sur- face called the State Tribune. It was edited and published by Parker H. French and S. J. May. It was the size of the other morning papers and professedly independent of politics, but inclined to the Democracy. In September French sold out to May and left in the Nicara- gua expedition. Angust 1, J. M. Estill became editor of the Tribune and opposed John Bigler and the Democracy with such vigor as to draw it to the front rank of the opposition journals. French returning to the State bought into the paper again, but left some of the arrangements for payment so open that difficulty ensned. He sold to George W. Gift, who had assigned to Monson and Valentine, who attached the paper. S. J. May and his three remaining partners set out these things in a card and issued a new

HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

Tribune, so that on the 16th of October, 1855, two Tribunes appeared, each claiming to be the genuine one. May & Co.'s issue was from the material of the defunct Statesman. The other Tribune was published by Farwell & Co. Both papers wereardent American or Know-Nothing journals, and each was especially bitter on the other. The local war waged for two weeks, to the great amusement of the people. October 30 the Farwell & Co. Tribune gave up, and the other paper was satisfied. The Tribune came out with James Allen & Co. as publishers, still advocating Know-Nothingism. It lived until June 1, 1856, when it died.

A new paper sprang from the ashes of the Tribune the day after the death of that paper. It was christened the California American and was as radically Know-Nothing as its predeces- sor. The proprietors were James Allen, J. R. Ridge and S. J. May, with Allen as chief writer, but in January, 1857, he was succeeded by J. R. Ridge. Allen was at the time State Printer, and it is said lost about $15,000 in the new pa- per in the first six months. It died in Febru- ary, 1857, and never was a success at any period of its existence.

The Water Fount and Home Journal, a weekly paper nearly the size of the Record- Union, was brought from San Francisco and issued here December 15, 1855, by Alexander Montgomery & Co., with Montgomery as editor. It was a temperance paper, and the official or- gan of the Sons of Temperance, and made a good appearance. It lived nine months only.

December 6, 1855, George H. Baker, now of San Francisco, a lithographer, and J. A. Mitch- ell, now deceased, began an independent even- ing paper entitled The Spirit of the Age. In June, 1856, it changed its name to The Sacra- mento Age, and enlarged, with A. A. Appleton & Co. (Baker withdrawing) as publishers. J. S. Robb, dying, was succeeded by W. Wright. In the summer of 1856 the paper was sold to the Know- Nothing party and fought its battles till the election was over. Early in 1857 it died.

December 24, 1855, A. Badlam & Co. started the Daily Evening Times, a gratuitous adver- tising sheet, 10 x 18 inches. It was worked on a wooden press made by the publishers. It ran up from 200 to 700 circulation, and in March, 1856, breathed its last. For a time it was re- moved to the mountains to try the effect of elrange of air and diet, but it came back to Sac- ramento and died in good order.

December 11, 1856, C. Babb and W. H. Harvey began a publication of a daily morning independent paper, of a small size, entitled the City Item. Paschal Coggins was the editor. It lived seven months.

Cornelius Cole & Co., on the 15th of August, 1856, commenced the publication of the Daily Times, a morning paper, Republican in politics. It was very lively in the canvass for Frémont, and was edited with ability. In November It be- came an evening paper, and issued a weekly, be- ing then run by a joint-stock company, with Mr. Cole, subsequently United States Senator, as editor. In size it was 24x 36 inches. Janu- ary 24, 1857, it succumbed to the winter weather and went into the newspaper charnel-house.

The Chinese News began in December, 1856. It was printed of respectable size, and in the Chinese language. Ze Too Yune, alias Hung Tai, was editor and publisher, and exhibited much skill in the business. It was at first a daily, then a tri-weekly, then a weekly, lastly a monthly, and after two years' lease of life it went to earth and was heard of no more.

The Temperance Mirror was a quarto- monthly, commenced January, 1857, by O. B. Turrell, with W. B. Taylor as editor. It issued one number here, and then took itself off to San Francisco, where it died in March of the same year.

The Daily Morning Bee began its life Feb- ruary 3, 1857. It was independent in politics, and was edited by J. R. Ridge and S. J. May. The proprietors were L. C. Chandler, L. P. Davis, John Church and W. H. Tobey. It was much smaller than the present Bee, embracing but five columns to the page. It became an

HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

evening paper April 6, 1857. In the summer following, Ridge retired and James McClatchy succeeded him. In 1858 the firm was F. S. Thompson, L. P. Davis and W. H. Tobey. It was enlarged during the first year to seven columns to the page. On April 8, 1860, J. O'Leary purchased the interest of S. F. Thomp- son, and the firm name was changed to L. P. Davis & Co. December 28, 1863, G. H. Win- terburn bought out Tobey, and in turn sold to James McClatchy, February 12, 1866.

June 26, 1872, McClatchy bought the inter- est of Davis, and the firm name became James McClatchy & Co., as at present. August 1, 1872, J. F. Sheehan purchased one-third inter- est fromn Mr. McClatchy, since which time the paper has been still further enlarged and con- tinnes to be one of the few profitable and pros- perous journals in Sacramento's history.

November 1, 1879, James McClatchy ad- mitted his younger son, C. K., as a partner in the business, and the members of the firmn were then J. F. Sheehan, James and C. K. Mc- Clatchy. October 23, 1883, James McClatchy died at Paraiso Springs, leaving all his title and interest in the Bee to his wife and two sons. January 29, 1884, the interest of J. F. Sheehan in the paper was purchased by the members of James McClatchy's family, the firm name remaining unchanged-James McClatchy & Co. From that time to the present the paper has been conducted by the sons, C. K. as man- aging editor, and V. S. as business manager.

The Bee has steadily progressed in circula- tion, power and influence, and is now one of the two afternoon papers in California that receive the full Associated Press report. In the early part of 1888 the Bee put in a fast stereotyping press, it being the first afternoon paper on the Pacific Coast to do so. It has kept pace in other departments with the times, and is re- garded as one of the best pieces of newspaper property on the coast.

JAMES MCCLATCHY, veteran and late editor of the Bee, was born near Lisburn, County An- trim, Ireland, in the year 1824, and died at

Paraiso Springs, Monterey County, on Septem- ber 26, 1883, being then over fifty-nine years of age. He was but eighteen years of age when he left Ireland for the hospitable shores of the United States, his father and mother having died previously. It was but a few years there- after when he sent for his sisters and brothers to come over and join him in this land of free- dom. He early formed the acquaintance of Horace Greeley in New York, and with him was a member of the Land Reform Association of that State, among whose members were many who afterward became nationally prominent.

He departed for California in 1848, reaching Sacramento in the latter part of 1849. The ship on which a number had sailed from Pan- ama was wrecked near Mazatlan, and he and twenty-eight others walked to San Diego. He had orders from Horace Greeley to write as many letters to the Tribune as he desired at $5 per letter. good pay for those days with such an unlimited carte blanche. His letters to the Tribune did much to populate this State with an intelligent and progressive class of men and women. He was connected with the Sacramento Legislature, reported the proceedings of the first Legislature for the Placer Times, and was sub- sequently connected with the Miners' Tribune and other early and short lived papers. He first joined the late B. B. Redding in the publication of the State Journal, but as he believed in the principles of the Republican party, he left that paper and started the Times, in conjunction with the afterward United States Senator, Cor- nelius Cole.

With the defcat of Fremont that newspaper venture died, and he joined the staff of the Bee, which was started in 1857. He soon succeeded John R. Ridge as chief editor, a position he ably and brilliantly filled with few interruptions, and those of his own seeking, until his death. He was a stanch Unionist during the days of the Rebellion, and was president of the Lincoln League of Sacramento.

He was elected by the Republican party to the office of sheriff in 1863, and re-elected in

HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY.

1865, but was counted out. Proof of the latter fact was subsequently found when workmen were engaged in altering a chimney in the office of the Board of Supervisors, then in what is now known as the Masonic Building, on the southwest corner of Sixth and K streets. The destroyed ballots were found, and ample evi- dence furnished to James McClatchy. It was then too late to benefit him any, and he paid no attention to it, though it was subsequently written up as a reminiscence, in the San Fran- cisco Chronicle.

In 1866 he purchased an interest in the Bee, but went to San Francisco to manage the San Francisco Times. He remained there but a very short time, however, as his independent spirit could not brook the conflicting orders of seven owners, each of whom wanted the paper conducted to suit his own views. So he re- turned to the Bee, and never left it until his deatlı.

He was collector of the port of Sacramento, a member of the Board of Education, president of the Pioneers' Association, president of the Union Building and Loan Association, a director of the Capital Savings Bank and historian of the day at the Centennial Celebration in Sacra- mento.

As a man, James McClatchy was a combina- tion of the stern and yet gentle qualities of the Scotch-Irish race. In denunciation of a wrong he could be as severe a judge as any, but in the presence of sorrow or grief he would be as gentle as a child. As an editor he was straightforward and always to the point. His one great and prominent trait was his manly in- dependence. He did not ask: "Is this thing politic?" but, " Is it right?" That question de- cided, he immediately proceeded to condemn or approve it in the simplest but most elegant English. He could get at the kernel of a ques- tion quicker and make a proposition plain to the readers more rapidly and in fewer words than any of his cotemporary journalists. He never "scattered," either in words or in reforms. When he had anything to say, he said it and

stopped. He did not cloud the idea with a mass of verbiage. When he was battling for a principle, he paid his entire attention to that and that alone. He was frequently asked to strike good and heavy blows in this or in that canse. He would say: "Gentlemen, one thing at a time. You will have to shoot at one mark until you hit it, if you want to succeed in this work. You can't be shooting at everything with any good prospects of success in anything." He was a leader in pepnlar thought, not a fol- lower. He was brimful of new and good ideas; in fact, his originality was often very startling to the conservative mind. He was laughed at for his advocacy of a no-fence law, but such a law is the law of the State to-day in many of the counties, and can be made so in all if the citizens properly petition and vote upon it.

His anti-land monopoly principles were preached in season and out of season, in the face of sneers, but they are wonderfully popu- lar to-day. Henry George's " Progress and Poverty," which has made such a brilliant stir in the literary world, was the outcome of the doctrines he had learned from James McClatchy, whose disciple he really was. In fact, George one day suggested that McClatchy should write a book embodying those principles, claiming that it would make a stir in the world.

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Author: Davis, Winfield J., 1851- 4n Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 916

Author: Davis, Winfield J., 1851- 4n
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 916