USA > California > San Joaquin County > An illustrated history of San Joaquin County, California. Containing a history of San Joaquin County from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time, together with glimpses of its future prospects; > Part 10
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"A petition from the citizens of Stockton, praying that the town might be incorporated under the name of the City of Stockton, accord- ing to the provisions of an act to provide for the incorporation of cities, was this day pre- sented to the Court, and it appearing to the satisfaction of the Court that said town had a population exceeding 2,000, that a majority of the qualificd electors thereof have signed the above petition, and that legal notice has been given of the aforesaid application, it is there- fore ordered by the Court, after hearing said application, that, in accordance with the prayer of said petition, said town is incorporated by the name of the City of Stockton, with the fol- lowing boundaries, to wit: Ou the north by Flora street; on the east by Anrora street; on
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the south by Twiggs street; on the west by Bragg street or Tule street, as shown by Ham- mnoud's survey of said town, a map of which is deposited with this Court.
"It is further ordered that the Common Council to be chosen under this act of incor- poration shall consist of seven members.
"It is further ordered that notice be given of an election, nnder the above act of incorpora- tion, to be held at the Central Exchange, in Stockton, on Thursday, the 1st day of August, A. D. 1850. BENJAMIN WILLIAMS, Judge."
The above is a copy from the original record, without date, but supposed to be Jnly 23, 1850.
On the 5th of Angust the officers chosen assembled at the Masonic Lodge rooms and or- ganized the city government, the following named gentlemen being the first city officers:
Samuel Purdy, mayor; aldermen-C. M. Weber, W. H. Robinson, J. W. Reins, James Warner, B. F. Whittier, Hiram Green, George A. Shurtleff; A. C. Bradford, clerk; G. D. Brush, treasurer; William H. Willoughby, marshal; C. J. Edmondson, assessor; H. A. Crabb, attorney; F. C. Andrew, harbor master; Walter Herron, recorder.
The county had been organized, the judiciary had assumed their functions, and Stockton had cast off the garments of youth and become a full-fledged city; yet California was in leading- strings-a Territory knocking at the door of the nation for admission as an equal among the sister States of the Republic. On the 9th of September a response came to the appeal, and California became a State in the Union; and on the following 18th of October the welcome news arrived on the steamer Oregon, the papers being in the charge of General Bidwell, or rather of Mrs. Crosby, to whom the General had entrusted their care for greater security.
REVIVAL OF BUSINESS.
About the time of the organization of the county, the first week in April, 1850, the winter rains had nearly ceased. The steamer General
Sutter had commenced running between Stock- ton and San Francisco, the depression caused by the closing of some business houses here by San Francisco creditors was rapidly passing away, and an immense stock of goods to supply the spring demand from the mines was in pro- cess of accumulation. After the roads became passable it was no uncommon matter to see a hun- dred pack mules in a, single train, loaded with merchandise for the mines. Some of the mer- chants shipped to San Francisco as much as 300 pounds of gold dust at one time. Business was brisk in all its branches. During the month of April between 2,000 and 3,000 people landed in Stockton for the southern mines; and in the fall there counted seventy " prairie schooners " on the road between Stockton and Sonora at one time, each having a carrying capacity of 5,000 to 20,000 ponnds.
From a list of signatures to a petition to Mr. Weber for the clearing of the channel from use- less and unused vessels, already referred to, we compile the following nearly complete cata- logue of business men operating in Stockton in February, 1850:
Merchants-H. W. Wallis, Buffum & Cook Thomas A. Austin, French & Mathez, J. G. Chatham & Co., G. W. Van Pelt, S. B. Alden, E. Lane & Co., Grayson & Stephens, Hogan & Hatch, C. A. Gillingham & Co., Heath & Em- ory, F. W. Uranu, E. Sparrow, Comstock & Co., H. Morton, A. L. Prewitt, Davis & Sınith, Timothy Paige, W. T. Shannon, Read, Taylor & Co., Samuel M. Baldwin, W. Bassett, W. G. and Byron Bingham, Thomas McSpedon, Alden A. M. Jackson, O. H. Perry, A. A. Townsend, Charles S. Peck, Edward Halsted, M. Ainsa, H. Green, A. Sperry and R. O. Selfridge.
Lumber-dealer-John Doak.
Carpenters-James Sirley & Co .. J. E. Nutt- man (?), J. M. Bnffington, William H. Lum and James Vincent.
Butcher-William Ward.
Express-A. H. Todd & Co. Livery-John M. Culver. Teamsters-Andrew J. Hawkins, McPherson
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& McCollum (?), John J. Holliday and C. Morgan.
Sailor (mate)-Robert Wilson.
Real Estate Agents - Elbert Weekes and William Bush.
Farmer-William G. Phelps.
Physician-H. H. Brayton. Lawyer-C. M. Halsted.
Hotel-keepers-L. G. Chapman, S. Shirley and Charles Mariner.
Surveyor-C. D. Gibbs.
County Clerk-James H. Jenkins.
William McKibbin, George W. Housey, Michael S. Noyes, A. G. Dickenson, J. Darley, Charles Van Winkel, Ira Johnson, A. Klemm, William Collins, B. F. Cheatham, Robert A. Harris, Richard Brothers, T. O. Selby, N. A. Daw (Jenkins, agent), H. P. Celte, P. M. De- zurg, H. Cruthers, Levi Merriam, James P. Burr, William M. Wheeler, George B. King, Peter Ortega, John D. Callaghan, C. S. White, H. S. Littlefield, Samuel Sharp, J. W. O'Neal, D. S. Hewlett, Yates Herald, Fred. Heakens- feldt, Joshua Parrish, Stephen Pettengill, John Cottrell, G. E. Morse, C. K. Glater (?) and a number of saloon-keepers and gamblers.
From the orthography of the names we should judge that nearly all the above were from the States and other English-speaking countries.
During this year several events transpired that were the forerunners or the starting-point of what has since proved of importance to the county. One was the starting of a brick-yard by J. Doak and partners, prior to the financial embarrassment previously mentioned. The yard was in the eastern part of the village. These gentlemen took contracts to make 700,000 brick at $60 per 1,000. Of this amount 300,000 were to be used by parties who thien proposed to erect a banking-house here. Messrs. Doak & Co. manufactured the brick according to con- tract; but when they were completed the finan- cial crash had come, and there was no market for the brick in Stockton, and they had to be shipped to San Francisco, where they were sold for $35, less the freight of $7 per 1,000.
Lumber held the high rates of 1848 until about the middle of the year 1849, when it was suddenly dropped to three or four cents a foot, by the wholesale. In 1851 lumber was sold in Stockton for $150 a 1,000 feet. The freight upon it from San Francisco was $30 to $40 a thousand.
The first hotel built for the purpose in Stock- ton was the Stockton House, built in 1849-'50, by Doak, Bonsell & Scott. It was of wood, three stories high, and cost about $75,000. The first theatrical performance in the city . took place in the dining-room of this hotel, under the management of Bingham and Ferry. The first reputable ball in the place was given here, February 22, 1851. In 1854 the name of this hotel was changed to St. Charles.
The Dickerson House was opened about the same time by Roach & Mason. It had a large wooden front and cloth sides, and rented for $1,200 a month. It was built by T. K. Hook, who lived until 1889. The wood-work was mostly Eastern lumber, dressed after its arrival here. Lumber was then worth from $250 to $300 a thousand feet.
The next famous resort in order of time was the Stockton Club House, on the north side of Market street, between Center and El Dorado. It was of cloth, 100 feet square, nicely furnished with a reading-room, billiard hall, dining-room, saloon and kitchen. The first meeting of the members was held in July, 1850, at which they adopted a constitution and elected the following officers: Major R. P. Hammond, president; Samuel Purdy, vice-president; Mr. Rascom, secretary; and E. M. Howison, treasurer. But their zeal shortly died out, and the property was sold at auction a few months afterward.
The Magnolia, a large wooden structure, was first opened to the public as a restaurant in June, 1850, and in after years became a popular hotel. J. C. Morris, the landlord, conducted it until a few months before its destruction by fire.
July 20, 1850, Colonel Cheatham opened the Hotel de Mexico, which became the resort of gamblers and intriguing politicians. He hin-
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
self led the Southern Democratic element of the city for a time, and afterward returned to the Southern States East and became a Brigadier- General in the Confederate army during the War.
In September, 1850, Weber & Hammond finished a structure on the peninsula known as the Corinthian building. It was a large, three- story frame,-at that time the largest in the State. In 1851 it contained a court-room, a printing-office, a church, a custom-house, a the- atre, a public assembly room, a postoffice, two law offices, and a large number of private lodg- ing rooms. This building was torn down in 1870, by Captain Weber.
In the fall of 1850 and spring of 1851, the New York Hotel, the Galt Honse (now the United States Hotel), the Phoenix Hotel and the Angelo House were built.
After the fire of May 6, 1851, the town was built of more serviceable material than cloth, namely, wood and brick. Mr. Tinkham, in his history, re- marks that it is unfortunate for the architectural beanty of Stockton, that brick-making was com- ienced liere so early; for the unsightly brick structures of the early period still remain, the owners waiting for time to destroy them, which is too slow. The first bricks used in Stockton, however, were brought around Cape Horn from Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the bark Yeoman in 1849, by William Saunders. The chimney in the old Weber residence is built of this brick. Brick-making commenced when the article was in great demand, and several yards were also started by Canfield, Day & Merrill.
The property holders on Mormon slongh en- deavored to build up that part of the city, and in 1852 asked the council to build a bridge across their slough. The Center street mer- chants naturally wanted the bridge on their street, and of course the Hunter street mer- chants desired it on theirs. The channel being narrower at Center street, the bride was built there by a private. subscription of $4,800; but the flood of 1862 swept it away.
In 1852 the Legislature gave Allen & Burn-
liam the exclusive right to establish telegraph lines from San Francisco, Sacramento, Marys- ville, Stockton and San Jose. A company was formed, and stock was issued to the amount of $150,000. The lines were completed in 1854, and also a line between Stockton and Sonora. The telegraph office in Stockton was first at the Weber House.
PIONEER RUFFIANISM.
The following paragraphs are from Thompson & West's History of San Joaquin Connty :
On the 1st day of January, 1848, there trans- pired an event in Stockton, which was the be- ginning of a class of crime that afterward became so common that it was hardly noticed; it was the beginning of a change. It was the deliberate killing of James McKee by B. K. Thompson, by shooting him to death, while rowing a boat on Stockton channel. The innrdered man was buried near an oak tree, where the Presbyterian church now stands. Thompson was a gambler, and had killed three men before coming to Stockton. Captain Web- er procured his arrest, and had him taken be- fore St. Clair, an alcalde at Sntter's Fort, for trial, where he was cleared. The feeling became too strong against him in the embryo city, and he, in company with a small party, started for the States, overland; and, while camped on the Sweetwater, he had a difficulty with one of the party by the name of Robert Tagart, a nephew of Dr. Isbel, who shot him dead, and the man was left there where he had fallen, untonched and unburied to become food for the coyote and buzzard.
There was a full supply of gambling honses and saloons, while the incidental unpleasant- ness, which was a necessary accompaniment, was a frequent occurrence. It was on the 9th of October, shortly after the hanging of Mickey Lyons and Red Davis, that John Tracy, a gam- bler, after attempting to kill a teamster called " Texas," at the store of Grayson & Stephens, went to the United States Hotel and chalked a line on the floor, saying he would kill any man
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
who crossed it. Dennis Mehon, a drunken ex- soldier, staggered across the line, and was shot dead by Tracy for doing so; yet Tracy was not punished. The ruffians had been carrying a high hand in the town; committing all sorts of out- rages, when there occurred. in September, an event that aroused the better class of people to make a determined stand for order and protec- tion.
When the " hounds " were driven from San Francisco, several of them took up their abiding place at Stockton, where they continued their lawless practices. Among the number were Mickey Lyons and Red Davis, who, in connec- tion with another companion, whose name was never known, attempted to rob a man in Stock- ton; who, being aroused, got up, and went to the door, with a revolver in his hand, when he was shot and killed. The murdered man's wife recognized Mickey Lyons and Red Davis at the time, and the next day made complaint. Lyons was arrested, tried before 'George G. Belt, who was alcalde, condemned and hung the same day, Davis making his escape.
The following extract from a letter written by John Doak, who was one of the participants in the affair, best describes the circumstances and incidents of the crime and the punishment:
.
" Red Davis, Mickey Lyons, and another man, whose name I did not learn, undertook to rob a man whose name I have forgotten, who lieard them, got up, and went out with pistol in hand, and Mickey said they had to shoot him to pre- vent him from shooting them; the woman came out as her husband was shot, and recognized Mickey Lyons and Red Davis. Mickey was arrested the next day and tried, condemned and hung. Red Davis had fled. There were par- ties sent out to different places, with a view to finding and bringing him back to Stockton.
" Three parties, of whom I was one, were sent to San Jose. We found a man of his descrip- tion liad been there, and started for Santa Clara. We went to Santa Clara, and found he had put up at a Spanish house. We told the woman we were his friends, and wanted to see him on im-
portant business, and to say to him to stay at her house till we came back, the next day. We intended to return to San Jose, but surrouud the Spanish house before morning, and, if he lodged there, see that he did not escape. While riding along the road towards San Jose, we ob- served a man dodging into the mustard, as we turned a corner. We immediately put spurs to our horses and dashed up to the spot, where we saw the party disappear from the road; he had secreted himself, thinking we had not observed him, and we should have ridden over him had he not risen up. He said he would give up his money. We replied that we did not want his money, but wanted to see who he was. He asked us who we were looking for, aud we said, Red Davis. He replied that he was not the man, but was a lumberman, working in the Red woods, and, thinking we were robbers, had se- creted himself in the mustard; saying that if we did not want his money, he would go on to his work; but we compelled him to go to San Jose, and there recognized him as Red Davis; for it was late at night when we took him. He had a fair trial, and was hung at Stockton. He confessed on the gallows that he had murdered three other men in New Orleans and other places."
These were the first men hung in the county.
There seems to be some confusion, originating probably in a little fiction somewhere, relating to one or two Mickeys. Rev. James Woods, the first Presbyterian minister here, relates in his " California Recollections " that he was called upon to officiate in a spiritnal capacity at the execution of one " Mickey," promising him that he would never reveal his true name, which promise was faithfully kept to the end of his life.
A pioneer a few years ago published in the Independent the following romantic account of " Mickey Free," an odd genius of 1849 who was always ready for a joke,-always ready for per- petrating a joke upon friend and foe alike, and upon strangers as well as acquaintances.
He was around town one day chatting and
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
drinking with the jolly fellows, when some one asked him to walk up Center street. He as- sented, and in the course of their rounds he visited the house of a Spanish woman. Feeling playful as ever, he capered about considerably, and atter he left, the woman missed over $300 in money from her room. She gave the alarm and soon Mickey was suspected and arrested. Grand larceny was then, under the old Mexican law, punishable by hanging. Mickey laughed heartily as the warrant was served on him by the sheriff, believing the boys were simply per- petrating a practical joke upon him. Even when the handcuffs were being clamped about his wrists and the cold steel chains were seen to dangle from his arms, he remarked, " It's a pretty good joke, boys: damned if it ain't." He was co ifined in the prison brig, and he still consid- ered it a joke.
The people here in those days felt very indig- nant toward a man who dared to steal, consider- ing snch a one as bad as a murderer; and soon crowds began to assemble in front of the saloons and discuss Mickey's vile act in having robbed that poor woman. " Hanging was too good for him;" and before twenty-four hours had elapsed the feeling was awfully stormy against him. Although . one good-hearted citizen, Deputy Sheriff Shoemaker, thought Mickey was inno- cent, the people had their minds made up that he was guilty. Shoemaker conceived a plan for the escape of Mickey, who had now been in jail two days. The prisoner's fare was the same as that of the other prisoners; he was deprived of the privilege of even looking out upon the water, and the guard was mnost strict with him; yet all this strictness he regarded as evidence that all hands were playing their parts well and that he was the victim of a " huge " joke.
Night came, and beneath an oak tree near by stood a fleet-footed mustang, saddled and bridled, with a pair of bright new Mexican spurs hang- ing from the horn of the saddle. A man stepped lightly on the gang-plank, and after after con- versing a few moments with the guard was ad- mitted to the hold of the brig. Mickey was
asleep, his hands still bound. "Mickey," said the visitor, " the feeling has risen to a terrible pitch in your case and the people are determined to hang you. Here, let ine take off these hand- cuffs;" and, sniting the action to the word, the visitor removed the irons. " Turn out there," continued the speaker; " under that tree stands a horse and saddle; go, mount it, and may God lend speed to its hoofs until you are safely away from the mob."
Mickey laughed and said, "Yon are playing this joke mighty well." " It's no joke, man," rejoined the visitor; " for God's sake, take advantage of the opportunity and save yourself." " That's all right, old boy; you play it well, but I'll play it back on you some time," said Mickey, as he smiled knowingly at Shoemaker. "Oh, man!" returned the latter, " have yon no family, no mother, no one whom you would like to see, some one whose heart would be broken should you be hanged? I will give you my word of honor as a man, it is no joke; it is a cold reality. They believe you guilty and will give you no show. Oh, man! don't be a fool, but take the horse." Mickey langhed heartier than ever. " Well, I dare say if you don't make a first- class minister, Shoemaker."
All entreaties, all explanations were of no use; he would believe nothing only that it Was a huge joke. It was now dawn, and Shoemaker, with a heavy and sorrowful heart, took the pony and lett the premises, which now became as qniet as death, except Mickey's snoring in contented sleep, which was soon induced by his " knowl- edge " that it was all a joke.
About ten o'clock or after, Mickey was led be- fore the alcalde, Judge Belt. As he was led through the throng he remarked to some that it was a "damned good joke." The trial developed strong circumstantial evidence against him, and when he was asked to testify in his own behalf he only laughed and said it was a mighty good joke. A profound silence prevailed about the court (which was in a tent) as the judge commanded Mickey to stand up. Men whose hearts were never chilled by the mountain frosts
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
stood still with pallid lips, painfully expecting the" awful doom. Shoemaker, with his face hidden in his hands, leaned against a door-post weeping like a child, while the judge gasped for breath as he proceeded, " Mickey Free, you have been found guilty of a crime the nature of which you now fully understand. It is punishable by deatlı. Have you anything to say why sen- tence should not be passed upon you?" " Oh, you play your part well, too, Judge; go on." grinningly answered Mickey. “ I will sentence you," continned the judge, " to be hanged by the neck until you are dead, dead, dead; and may God have mercy upon your soul!"
The court then fixed the day of execution and Mickey, smiling and winking was marched back to the brig. People talked of his "nerve." " Isn't he a hardened criminal!" .exclaimed some. Others remarked, " He won't think it's such a joke to steal the poor woman's money;" but Mickey seemed not to hear these remarks. The day of execution arrived. Beneath the tree where the pony brought for his flight had stood was a rough, black box, its lid partly removed and its inside exposed, just his size. From one of the limbs hung a rope, at the end of which appeared a slip-noose. A breathless silence again prevailed throughout the multitude as- sembled as they saw Mickey led down the gang plank by the sheriff. By this time it was noticed that his cheeks were pale; and as his eyes caught sight of the ugly box a slindder seemed to seize him. He glanced at the noose, and while the officers were tying his hands behind him a forced smile of mendacity crept over his face as he remarked, " Boys, yon are playing this thing well; but ain't you carrying this joke out too far?" It was not till then that the throng began to realize the true state of affairs. Mickey was lifted up into a wagon, the noose was placed around his neck, and before any one had recovered himself sufficient to speak a word in his behalf the body of the unfortunate man was seen dangling and twitching beneath the oak!
The " prison brig " used in 1849 was a vessel
that had been abandoned as a means of trans- portation. It was subsequently placed in the Mormon channel, where in the course of time it was washed to pieces by the floods.
An early traveler, after visiting Stockton in 1849 or '50, says: " I witnessed while in the town a summary exhibition of justice. The night of my arrival, three negroes, while in a drunken revel, entered the tent of a Chilian and attempted to take undne advantage of a woman there. Defeated in their base designs by her husband who was fortunately within call, they fired their pistols at the tent and left. Com- plaint was made before the alcalde. Two of the negroes were seized and identified. Witnesses were examined, a jury summoned and verdict given withont delay. The principal offender was sentenced to receive fifty lashes, and the other twenty; both to leave town within forty- eight hours under the penalty of death. The sentence was immediately carried into execution. The negroes were stripped, tied to a tree stand- ing in the middle of the principal street, and in the presence of the alcalde and sheriff, received their punishment. There was little of that or- der and respect shown which should accompany the administration of impromptu law. The bystanders jeered, laughed and accompanied every blow with coarse and nnfeeling remarks. Some of the more intelligent professed them- selves opposed to the mode of punishment, bnt in the absence of prisons or effective guards could suggest no alternative."
During the same period a scape-grace assum- ing a stylish manner came to Stockton and in- gratiated himself into the favor of David S. Terry and others. George G. Belt was among the first to discover that he was a bad character and annonnced his knowledge of the fact to some parties, which aronsed Terry's indignation, as he still thought Roberts an honorable man. The latter, through Terry, cliallenged Belt to a dnel, which was accepted. The appointed time for the affray having arrived, the seconds clandes- tinely loaded the pistols blank, and the firing of course took no effect. Before reloading, ex-
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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY.
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