History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 96

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206

USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions > Part 96

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 (link on the Part 1 page).

Resolved, That Hon. Edward Tompkins and Hon. E. H. Pardee, are hereby respectfully requested to oppose the passage of any bill changing in any manner the charter line of said city, or rendering the same questionable or uncertain, or limiting in any manner its territorial or police jurisdiction, or granting police jurisdiction, or any other jurisdiction to any other town or corporation within its territorial or corporate limits.

Resolved, That the City Clerk be, and he is hereby instructed to forthwith transmit a certified copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions under the seal of the city to Hon. Edward Tompkins, Senator of Alameda County, and Hon. E. H. Pardee, and E. T. Crane, Members of Assembly of Alameda County.

On the 26th February Mr. Van Dyke addressed the Council in behalf of Brook- lyn, disclaiming any intention on the part of that town to change the boundaries of the city of Oakland; but the matter was eventually settled by the absorption of Brooklyn into the city of Oakland.

April 1, 1872, a certified copy of an order of the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County declaring the result of an election held in the township of Oakland on March 30, 1872, for the purpose of deciding the question of annexation of certain contiguous territory to the city of Oakland, was read and filed, when, A. L. Warner then presented an ordinance entitled " An Ordinanceto Approvethe Annexation of certain Territory to the City of Oakland" which was duly passed. The land so desired to be added to the city is described as follows :-

On the north by the line of division between the plots ten and eleven on Julius Kellersberger's map of the rancho of Vincente and Domingo Peralta, filed in the office of the Recorder of Alameda County, January 21, A.D. 1857, said line being produced in a straight line with itself westerly till it intersects the westerly boundary of the county of Alameda in the bay of San Francisco and produced in like manner easterly beyond the easterly line of Webster Avenue until it intersects the small creek known as Cemetery Creek, which rises in the grounds of the Mountain View Cemetery Association and flows southwesterly to its junction with another creek rising east of said Webster Avenue; on the east by said Cemetery Creek and the other creek aforesaid below their junction until they empty into Lake Merritt or Peralta, and then southerly along the west shore line of the northwestern arm of

680

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

said lake until the same intersects the northerly line of the city of Oakland; on the south by the said north line of said city; and on the west by the westerly line of said county of Alameda in the bay of San Francisco to its point of intersection with the north line already described as the line of division between Kellersberger's plots, numbers ten and eleven.

On the 15th of April the City Surveyor was directed to devise and present a plan of streets for this newly acquired territory; and on October 21, 1872, the knell of the town of Brooklyn was sounded, his Honor, the Mayor, announcing, November 4th, that he had received from the County Clerk a certified copy of the minutes of the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County, in relation to the official canvass of the returns of an election held in the town of Brooklyn on the 21st October to decide the question of annexing said town to the city of Oakland, said canvass showing a major- ity in favor of annexation; whereupon an ordinance was introduced by Mr. Warner, entitled " An Ordinance Approving the Annexation of certain Territory to the City of Oakland in pursuance of an Act entitled · An Act to enable the Inhabitants of Terri- tory adjacent to any City in this State to annex the same thereto, approved February 1, 1872,'" which was unanimously passed, thus absorbing the town of Brooklyn into the city of Oakland.

San Pablo Avenue within the city limits was declared a public thoroughfare on the 28th October of this year.

Of matters of general interest occurring during the year 1872, we find that in the month of February articles of incorporation of the Oakland Paving Company were filed in the office of the Secretary of State, with a capital stock of thirty thousand dol- lars, divided into three hundred shares, the Trustees being Theodore L. Walker, C. T. Palmer, and W. H. Eastman.

In glancing over the books of the Tax Collector for the year, we find that in the early part of 1872 the following branches of business and the number of each in the city of Oakland were: Auctioneers, 3; liquor saloons, 84; barber shops, 8; boarding- houses (licensed) 10; billiard saloons, 6; bakeries, II; breweries, 3; bath-houses, 2; bill-posters, 2; cigar manufactories, 3; cigar stores, 6; clothing stores, 3; carpet stores, 2; confectionaries, 4; drygoods, 3; drug stores, 6; express agents, 2; fruit stores, 8; furnishing goods, 4; furniture stores, 2; feed and produce, 3; flour-mill, 1; game market, I; groceries, 15; glaziers, 2; general merchandise, 2; hardware, 4; harness- makers, 3; insurance agents, 12; ice depot, 1; jewelers and watchmakers, 5; livery- stables, 8; laundry, I; lodging-houses, 12; lumber-yards, 4; locksmiths, I; markets, 14; marble works, 2; milliners, 4; music stores, 1; paint shops, 5; pawnbroker, I; plumb- ers, 7; planing-mills, 3; restaurants, 20; real estate agents, 9; roofing agency, I; sew- ing-machine agents, 3; stationers, 4; shoe and boot stores, 7; stove stores, 3; merchant tailors, 3; tinsmiths, 6; toy stores, 4; undertakers, 2; upholsterers, 2; vegetable stores, 4; variety stores, 3; wood and coal yards, 5. Besides the above there were numerous branches of trade for which no licenses were required, while there were two banks, one corn-starch factory, one brass and one iron foundry, etc.

During the month of April 1872, the Central Pacific Railroad seems to have had a run of ill-luck. On the 14th an old gentleman, eighty-four years of age, named Levi Heineberg, an esteemed resident of Oakland, was injured by the local train at the Seventh-street Depot, while, on the 20th, the locomotive Solano burst her boiler

Gray

6. Wiand

681

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.

while on duty at the wharf, but, singular to relate, without injuring any one. On the 16th May the Oakland Flouring Mill at the junction of Broadway and Telegraph Avenue was destroyed by fire, the loss being about seven thousand dollars, on which there was no insurance. The establishment was owned by Pendleton & Learned and was erected by Blanchard & Plummer in 1861.

In the columns of the News of June 12, 1872, we find the following plea for the the preservation of the oaks: "The oak-trees which suggested the name of our city have made it what it is. At an early day they attracted people hither, and weary San Franciscans sought the comforts of a country home in our evergreen groves. If the peninsula had been a barren plain it would not to-day contain the residences of fifteen thousand people. The public schools have lately been developed and are of inesti- mable importance, but the original and most powerful cause of the city's growth has been the trees. As the population increases and the streets are needed for business these grand old oaks must disappear. They must also be removed from every block in the city and to make room for improvements. The number of trees has of necessity greatly diminished, and we therefore set a higher value on those still remaining. If a street is used to any great extent, trees must be removed from near its center. But let us keep them until the space they occupy is wanted. There has been too much nicety about removing trees, numerous handsome oaks have been felled because they were a few inches from the line of the sidewalk. The walks have purposely been made of an unusual width so as to permit as many trees as possible to remain. It looks like vandalism to cut down a tree because it is a foot or so outside the edge of a sidewalk. Such trees are ornamental and should be forever retained. The appearance of the city is rendered handsome and picturesque, and the comfort of the people is also pro- moted, for the trees are a useful barrier against the winds, as any one can ascertain by visiting the treeless localities above and below the main portion of the city. At almost every meeting of the Council there are petitions for the removal of trees, and if all these requests were complied with, Oakland would very soon be as windy and disagreeable as San Francisco. There is nothing that requires closer attention on the part of our City Fathers than this subject, and we hope that no request for the removal of a tree will be complied with without first a careful examination."

It may be mentioned that on August 8, 1872, occurred the eleventh anniversary of the breaking of the first ground at the Point for the local railway, which has since been so greatly extended. The contractors and builders of the road were Goss & Stevens, both active, energetic, enterprising men. The first spadeful of earth was thrown up by M. T. Dusenbury, then an employé of the company, and afterwards Teller of the Oakland Savings Bank. A stump of a tree was extracted from the extreme outer terminus of the road. Immediately thereafter a wharf was built three-quarters of a mile long, to and from which the San Francisco steamers landed and took aboard passengers and freight. The road was fully completed in one year, and the same station- houses erected along the line at which the cars now stop. But in those pristine times for Oakland-it was only now and then that a passenger was picked up or set down at Adeline, Market, or Oak Streets -- the original owners, Charles Main being President, sold the road to A. A. Cohen, who, in turn disposed of his interest to the Central Pacific. The fare at this time was twenty-five cents for a single adult passenger.

682

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

John Scott, architect and builder, and about the most venerable of the pioneers on this side of the bay then, contributed no little to the comfort of the employés at the Point by putting doors and windows in their humble tenement and making their casa as cheerful as possible. This "shebang" stood on the margin of the bay, but to-day, if in existence, would be over its roof in water, the bank having crumbled away for many yards landward of the spot where it was erected. At the period when this railway was built the late James B. Larue, as we have said, had two steamers called the Oakland and San Antonio, running on the creek route, the fare also being twenty-five cents.

On completion of the line a stiff opposition sprang up and the price of passage was reduced to five cents. This state of things could not last forever, and although it was fine for travelers, it was death to the companies. Before two years had elapsed the great railroad Kings had bought off the creek boats and what followed all of our readers are fully advised.

On July 1, 1872, the total population of the city of Oakland was:

Males over twenty-one years. .3,350

Females over eighteen years. 2,950

Males between sixteen and twenty-one years. 525

Males between five and fifteen years. 1,163

Females between sixteen and eighteen years. 200

Females between five and fifteen years. 1,344

Colored, Indians, etc., of all ages. 70

Floating, not obtained in the canvass 275

Chinese, male and female. 900

On November 14, 1872, Oakland was called upon to mourn the demise of one of her most faithful and beloved citizens. The Hon. Edward Tompkins expired on that date at his residence on Alice Street. His place of nativity was the charming and romantic village of Paris Hill, Oneida County, New York. The year of his birth was 1815. In his childhood he had only the advantages of an education which at that early day, and in the uttermost settlements of civilization in New York, could only be acquired in the log-cabin or at the humble fireside of the rustic cottage. But our youthful hero, industrious, plodding, and determined to win a name and fame for himself, stuck to his books and finally succeeded in preparing himself for college. He entered Union University at Schenectady, in the class of 1831, that being the only college in the State of New York, in those days, except Columbia, in the city of New York, while in college and shortly after its foundation he connected himself with the " Sigma-Phi Society," and up to the year of his death always kept up his interest in its welfare and prosperity. He frequently met with the brethren at their annual reunions in San Francisco. The late Hon. Edward Norton of the Supreme Court of this State was a college-mate of Mr. Tompkins. Shortly after graduation, he went to the city of New York, where he studied and subsequently practiced law. His health failing him, he removed to Binghampton, Broome County, where he at once entered on an extensive practice, and it was not long before Hon. Daniel S. Dickenson, one of the brightest luminaries of Southern New York, honored the young Blackstone with a full partnership. The firm did a prosperous business, and in 1837 the young lawyer took to wife Miss Mary Cook of Bridgeport, Connecticut. After years of incessant

683

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.

toil at the Bar, he had to seek again a change of climate, and so in the Fall of 1859 he came to California.

He was then comparatively poor, having lost seriously from his hard won earnings by unfortunate investments. On a beautiful November morning, shortly after his arrival, he climbed Telegraph Hill with a friend, and all exhausted stood panting on its summit. Regaining breath and strength he feasted on the gorgeous panorama around him, the Golden Gate, the distant hills of Marin and Contra Costa just donning their winter garb after the first autumnal rains, and the bustling, thriving city at his feet. Reclining on a step of the old telegraph station, he exclaimed, "This shall be my home!" He took in the situation at a glance. On that same day he made the acquaintance of the eminent law firm of Halleck, Peacy & Billings, and shortly there- after formed a partnership with Mr. Barstow. Some years before coming out to Cal- ifornia Mr. Tompkins lost his wife. In December 1861, he married Sarah, half-sister of the late ex-Governor Haight. About this time he formed a co-partnership with Havens & Belknap, a leading law firm of San Francisco. After dissolving his busi- ness relations with them he took his eldest son in as a partner.

Mr. Tompkins came to Oakland to reside in 1863, and after living a short time at the residence of Rev. Mr. Willey, erected a cozy homestead on the banks of Lake Merritt. Here he lived and died.

Whether in the halls of Legislation, in remote parts of the Commonwealth, or in distant States, his thoughts and whole existence were centered in Oakland. He ever rejoiced with her in her prosperity and sympathized with her in her adversity, of her, he never tired to speak, and when away up in the far-off mountains, he would exclaim,

" My heart untrammel'd, fondly turns to thee."

During his residence in Oakland, what had he not done to advance it in all the ele- ments of material progress? To recapitulate only all that he did would far exceed the limits prescribed to us in this imperfect notice. In Church, in State, in University, in Municipal affairs, Edward Tompkins' influence was felt, and only for the good and right and just. No panegyric can overestimate his services in behalf of Church, City, and State; none but appreciate the invaluable services rendered to the cause of Religion, the cause of Morality, the cause of Education, the cause of Progress and General Enlightenment.

Mr. Tompkins never held, only because he would never accept, a municipal office in Oakland; but that he faithfully represented the interests of the city let his record in the last and previous Legislatures in which he served attest, and bear all potent witness. His efforts to secure the removal of the county seat; his exertions in get- ting the splendid appropriations, after months of labor and struggle, for the University; his advocacy of material interests, which, directly or indirectly, might benefit the county and the city of his adoption; lo! are they not written in the chronicles of the city of Oakland and county of Alameda.

But his last great generous crowning act of his life was that munificent donation to the University of the State of California. He was proud to see the foundation laid at Berkeley; he lived to usher its President into office, but he died before witnessing the full realization of his high hopes and fond anticipations. He died in middle man- hood, in the very zenith of his fame and usefulness.

684

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

Eulogistic tributes poured in from all quarters, the Bar; the students of the Uni- versity; the Firemen; the Board of Regents; the Faculty of the State University; all sent their meed of praise in the shape of resolutions, and all concurred in what Sir Walter Scott said of Fox :-

" He had genius high, and lore profound, And wit that loves to play, not wound."

The last item we have to notice in 1872, is the death of Colonel Watkins at the end of the year. He was a native of Kentucky, and at the time of his death was fifty- three years of age. He had been for a long time in the practice of law at Marysville, and was the first Police Judge of the city of .Oakland.

1873 .- Early in this year a company was started having for its purpose the establishment of railroad communication between the interior valleys and tide-water at Oakland, a matter that received the attention of the City Council, who, in further- ance of the scheme, on January 27th, passed the following resolutions :-

WHEREAS, Recent history has shown the great advantage that locations have received from the outreaching arms of railroads, and

WHEREAS, Oakland is the natural tide-water terminus of the required railroads of California; and

WHEREAS, A company is now being organized to connect the rich valleys of Contra Costa County with the city of Oakland by a narrow-gange railroad, therefore be it

Resolved, Through its City Council assembled, that the city of Oakland will render such aid in the construc- tion of such road as the interests of the city and the powers of the Council thereof may warrant.

One of the valuable achievements of the year 1873 was the construction of what may be properly termed the city wharf, being built at the city's expense, and upon the only space of water front which the city has a right to call her own. The wharf at once proved itself a success beyond which its most earnest advocates had anticipated. It was completed August 5, 1872, at a cost of nineteen thousand six hundred and thirty-five dollars and ninety cents. From that date to February 25, 1873, its gross earnings amounted to one thousand nine hundred and sixty-four dol- lars and sixty-nine cents, which sum more than paid all expe.ises besides the interest on investment. The rates of wharfage were reduced thirty per cent. from former charges, a most satisfactory change to patrons, and which produced its benefits.

On April 7th a petition was presented to the Council, signed by three hundred and fifty citizens of Oakland, to the following effect :--

Your petitioners respectfully request and represent that it has become necessary for the convenience of the traveling public to increase the facilities for transporting passengers from the city of San Francisco to Oakland and Alameda, to increase the number of trips daily so that a train of cars can run each way every half hour from and to Alameda and San Francisco, and through the city of Oakland. To this end your petitioners respectfully ask your Honorable Body to grant to the Central Pacific Railroad Company the right to lay down and operate a double track railroad from its connection with the present road on Seventh Street, between Webster and Harrison Streets, and running thence on a curve across Harrison Square and cutting a small corner off the school lot to Alice Street; thence on Alice Street to and across the San Antonio Creek to Alameda with the right to erect a draw-bridge across said creek to accommodate the railroad and vessel interest, for all of which the undersigned will ever pray, etc.

A resolution was passed on the 8th, granting the right of way sought, it being at the same time directed that both it and the ordinance should be published in the n orning papers; a substitute ordinance was adopted on the 21st, but it did not mate- rially differ from the original enactment.

685

OAKLAND TOWNSHIP-CITY OF OAKLAND.

On October 13th the Oakland Farming, Industrial, and Horticultural Club was granted the use of the Council Chamber wherein to hold their meetings; while, December 13th, a resolution was passed, tendering suitable rooms to the Supreme Court on behalf of the city of Oakland, in the event of its being removed thither.

Under the head of general matters we may state that in the month of March, 1873, an old landmark in the shape of a house that stood on the north side of Eighth Street, in the rear of where the City of Paris drygoods store was located, the site being now occupied by the property of Mrs. Steele, was moved. This building was erected in 1853 by Eli Alexander, in the lower story of which he kept a store, occu- pying the upper story as a residence. At that time there was but one other building upon the entire block, and not a great many in the whole city. The other building' in the block was built and occupied by an old German named Dombroske, who tuned pianos for a living. As there were but. two or three of those instruments in the place in those early days, the piano-tuner obtained the greater part of his business by traveling about the country. In 1855 Alexander sold the building to one Augustus Hellwig. Judge Blake moved into it in 1857, and occupied it about two years. Mrs. Blake's well-known seminary, then in its infancy, was carried on there at an early day. Previous to this, however, it had been occupied for a time as a lodging-house by a member of the Smith family, and it was some time during that period that Judge A. M. Brocklebank, a well-known lawyer and brother-in-law to the late ex-Governor Weller, died there. The building was purchased by Dr. Sanford, a druggist, in May, 1862, and was shortly afterwards moved to the rear lot, where it was fitted up as a dwelling, and stood until the final moving. The brick building now occupying the northeast corner of Broadway and Eighth Street was then built. The old wooden pioneer was occupied by Sanford from August, 1862, to August, 1868. A former Councilman, I. W. Knox, then lived in the northern part of the city, and happening to lose his house by fire, moved into Dr. Sanford's building, where he remained some months. Up to the date of which we write, it was used as a lodging-house, while the place to which it was taken was the corner of Market and Nineteenth Streets.

In the month of June, 1873, the famous Grand Central Hotel was completed, it having been built by "day work" under the constant supervision of Doctor Merritt, from whose fertile brain also came the design of the immense and handsome struct- ure. It was four stories in height with a mansard roof and brick basement, the whole surmounted by three immense towers. There were three front entrances on Twelfth Street, while the building occupied the block bounded by Webster, Harrison, Eleventh, and Twelfth Streets. It was destroyed by fire March 2, 1881.

Doubtless every man and woman who has resided ten years and upwards in the city of Oakland, will remember the rusty old six-pounder which lay for years within twenty or thirty feet of the sidewalk on Washington Square; but there are very few probably now remaining in Oakland who know of its early history. There is not much to be said of it, but the little there is, is worth repeating. The gun was known by the older inhabitants as the "Squatter Gun." The land on which Oakland is located, and the country for miles to the north, was in possession of squatters, and warm times were anticipated by them in their determination to hold their ground. The gun in question was purchased by the squatters from the captain of a vessel

686

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

which came around the Horn, and was brought over to Oakland in 1852, to be used for giving an alarm to the occupants of the entire valley in the event of an attempt to forcibly eject any of the possessors of the land. It was at first proposed to pro- cure a bell for that purpose, but the advocates of that means of signaling succumbed to the argument that the sound of a bell could not be heard as far as the report of a cannon, and so the Squatter Gun was procured. Fortunately it was never required for the purpose for which it was brought to Oakland, but it frequently performed good service in after years in giving loud expression of the patriotism of the inhabitants on each national anniversary. And yet another landmark disappeared in the year 1873. The ticket and passenger depot of the local ferry, which had occupied the middle of the thoroughfare at the corner of Broadway and Seventh Streets, for nine years pre- viously, was lifted upon a couple of platform cars on the 23d July, and at four o'clock precisely was hauled away from that locality to fulfill the remainder of its destiny elsewhere.

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.

History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 96

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood Number of Pages: 1206

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206