USA > California > Contra Costa County > History of Contra Costa County, California, including its geography, geology, topography, climatography and description; together with a record of the Mexican grants also, incidents of pioneer life; and biographical sketches of early and prominent settlers and representative men > Part 23
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TOWNSHIP NUMBER Two .- Commencing at a point on the line of Town- ship Number One where said line crosses the western boundary line of the Rancho Las Junitas ; thence following said ranch line in a southeasterly direction to the section line between sections twenty-two and twenty-seven, township one north, range two west ; thence east to the southwest corner of section nineteen, township one north, range one west; thence south to the southern line of the Rancho Arroyo de las Nueces ; thence following said ranch line in an easterly direction to the southwest corner of section one, township one south, range one west; thence east one mile to the meridian line; thence south two miles; thence east four miles; thence south one mile ; thence east one mile ; thence south one mile ; thence east to the western line of the Cañada de los Vaqueros Rancho ; thence southerly, following the line of said rancho, to the county line ; thence along the county line westerly to the line of Township Number One ; thence along said town- ship line northeasterly to the place of beginning.
TOWNSHIP NUMBER THREE .- Commencing at a point in the county line opposite the mouth of Walnut creek where the easterly line of Township
* This order was amended August 6, 1872, and the territory laid off created into Township Number Four.
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Number One intersects said county line; thence following said easterly line of Township Number One southerly to the northern and eastern line of Township Number Two; thence following the line of said Township Num- ber Two southeasterly to the meridian line; thence north one mile ; thence west one and one-half miles ; thence north one-half mile; thence west one mile ; thence north two miles ; thence west one mile; thence north to the southern corner of the Monte del Diablo Grant; thence following the grant line northeasterly to the southwest corner of section twenty-six, township two north, range one west; thence east one mile; thence north to the county line ; thence westerly along said county line to the point of beginning.
TOWNSHIP NUMBER FOUR .- Commencing at a point in the county line where the eastern line of Township Number Three intersects said county line ; thence following the easterly line of said Township Number Three in a southerly direction to the line of Township Number Two south, and east to the southeast corner of section twenty-five, township one north, range one east; thence north six miles ; thence west one mile ; thence north six miles ; thence west two miles; thence north to the county line; thence westerly on said county line to the point of beginning.
TOWNSHIP NUMBER FIVE .- Commencing at a point in the county line where the eastern line of Township Number Four intersects said line ; thence following the line of Township Number Four southerly to the line of Township Number Two; thence following the line of said Township Number Two east and south to the county line; thence easterly along the county line to the San Joaquin River; thence following the county line down said river to the point of beginning.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS .- Up until the passage of the Act of May 3, 1852, which created a Board of Supervisors for Contra Costa county, the Court of Sessions had full control of the affairs of the county. That Act was entitled " An Act to create a Board of Supervisors in the counties in this State, and to define their duties and powers." For better reference its ninth section is here reproduced in full : "The Board of Supervisors shall have power and jurisdiction in their respective counties : First .- To make orders respecting the property of the county in conformity with any law of this State, and to take care of and preserve such property. Second .- To examine, settle, and allow all accounts legally chargeable against the county, and to levy, for the purposes prescribed by law, such amount of taxes on the assessed value of real and personal property in the county as may be authorized by law ; provided, the salary of the County Judge need not be audited by the Board, but the County Auditor shall, on the first judicial day of each month, draw his warrant on the County Treasurer in favor of the County Judge, for the amount due such Judge as salary for the month preceding. Third .- To examine and audit the accounts of all officers having
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the care, management, collection or disbursement of any money belong- ing to the county, or appropriated by law, or otherwise, for its use and benefit. Fourth .- To lay out, control and manage public roads, turnpikes, ferries and bridges within the county, in all cases where the law does not prohibit such jurisdiction, and to make such orders as may be requisite and necessary to carry its control and management into effect. Fifth .- To take care of and provide for the indigent sick of the county. Sixth .- To divide the county into townships, and to change the divisions of the same, and to create new townships, as the convenience of the county may require. Seventh .- To establish and change election precincts, and to appoint in- spectors and judges of elections. Eighth .- To control and manage the prop- erty, real and personal, belonging to the county, and to receive by donation any property for the use and benefit of the county. Ninth .- To lease or to purchase any real or personal property necessary for the use of the county ; provided, no purchase of real property shall be made unless the value of the same be previously estimated by three disinterested persons, to be ap- pointed for that purpose by the County Judge. Tenth .- To sell at public auction at the Court-house of the county, after at least thirty days' previous public notice, and cause to be conveyed, any property belonging to the county, appropriating the proceeds of such sale to the use of the same. Eleventh .- To cause to be erected and furnished, a Court-house, jail, and such other public buildings as may be necessary, and to keep the same in repair ; provided, that the contract for building the Court-house, jail, and such other public buildings, be let out at least after thirty days' previous public notice, in each case, of a readiness to receive proposals therefor, to the lowest bidder, who will give good and sufficient security for the comple- tion of any contract which he may make respecting the same; but no bid shall be accepted which the Board may deem too high. Twelfth .- To con- trol the prosecution and defense of all suits to which the county is a party. Thirteenth .- To do any and perform all such other acts and things as may be strictly necessary to the full discharge of the powers and jurisdiction con- ferred on the Board."
In pursuance of this enactment an election was held June 14, 1852, for the election of a Board of Supervisors for Contra Costa county, when five gentlemen were chosen to fill the high office.
The Board maintained its position until March 25, 1854, when they were replaced by the Court of Sessions, who in turn, in accordance with the Act of the Legislature passed March 20, 1855, were succeeded by another conclave of Supervisors. To elect these the county was, by the County Clerk, County Assessor and County Surveyor, divided into three Supervisor Districts, since when these have conformed to the changes made in the redistribution of townships.
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ELECTION PRECINCTS .- When the vote for the Old Constitution was taken on November 13, 1849, there were but three election precincts within what was then known as Contra Costa county-namely, at the Moraga Redwoods, Martinez and San Antonio (now Brooklyn, Alameda county.) For the election of April 1, 1850, the precinct of New York was added to those already created, while, on October 7th, of the same year, the precincts were Martinez, San Antonio, San Ramon (Dublin), and New York. The first record, however, which we can find of a distribution of voting pre- cincts is for the election called for September 3, 1851, when the following polling places were established : At the Court-house in the town of Mar- tinez, and the house of José Maria Amador, for the township of Martinez ; the houses of Victor Castro and Vicente Peralta, in and for the township of San Antonio; and the house of William W. Smith in Antioch, and at the Lower Ferry on the San Joaquin river, in and for the township of New York. These, with a few additions, continued until the redistribution of the county into townships on August 10, 1854, when the following were created : Township No. 1 .- At the Court-house in Martinez, and at the house of B. V. Merle at Pinole. Township No. 2 .- At Prince's Mill in the Redwoods, and Hough's Store. Township No. 3 .- At the hotel of Gabriel Castro. On August 8, 1855, the county being then partitioned into six townships, eleven voting precincts were established. These were again changed to ten precincts on the redistribution of the county into three town- ships and Supervisor Districts on October 16, 1856; while ten years later, June 5, 1866, the county was divided as follows : Township No. 1 .- Mar- tinez, San Pablo. Township No. 2 .- La Fayette, San Ramon, Danville. Township No. 3 .- Pacheco, Clayton, Nortonville, Somersville, Antioch. May 7, 1867, Pinole precinct was created ; on August 5, 1868, the precincts of Walnut Creek and Point of Timber were added to the list.
Naturally, when the increase of population has been so great, the pre- cincts enumerated above have proved insufficient for the wants of the voters, until, at the present writing, they are twenty in number, and are as follows : Martinez, Pinole, San Pablo, Port Costa, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Danville, Tassajara, Pacheco, Concord, Clayton, Nortonville, Somersville, New York, Morgan Territory, Antioch, Empire, Webb's Landing, Point of Timber and Brentwood.
ROAD DISTRICTS .- Another criterion of the rapid development of a hitherto sparsely peopled country is the want immediately felt for carefully laid out roads and easy means of transport. He who has experienced such a desire can fully appreciate the comfort of well-graded thoroughfares and smoothly macadamized streets. The scarcely to be recognized trails give place, as if by magic, to the skill of the surveyor; the dangerous ford to the well-built bridge and the impenetrable undergrowth to the road-maker's
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ax. In a few short years miraculous changes are worked, and science brings places within comfortable travel and neighbors within ken. Contra Costa in the pre-American days was not a whit better off than the neighboring counties ; when the first roads were laid out, however, we have been unable to trace, but the records of the Court of Sessions inform us that as early as July 20, 1850, the county was partitioned into districts and the following roads declared Public Highways :-
One and Two .- From Martinez to Pueblo de San José, divided into two districts, the first being from Martinez to the farm of Francisco Garcia ; the second from thence to the line dividing the counties of Contra Costa and Santa Clara, the overseers appointed being respectively N. B. Smith and Joseph Rothenhostler. Three .- The streets in the town of Martinez were declared to be District Number Three and placed under the super- vision of A. Van Herne Ellis. Four .- The road then usually traveled from Martinez by the house of Salvio Pacheco to the town of New York of the Pacific was classed as District Number Four, with Henry F. Joye, Overseer. Five .- The road from the Moraga Redwoods to that leading from Martinez to San José, terminating on said road nearly equidistant from Martinez to the house of Widow Welch, was established as District Number Five, and E. Miller appointed Overseer. Six .- The road usually traveled from the rancho of Vicente Castro by the rancho of Elam Brown, intersecting the road from the Moraga Redwoods to Martinez near the house of Jonah Ber- nell was defined as District Number Six, and Elam Brown appointed Over- seer. Seven .- The road leading from the crossing of the San Joaquin to the Pueblo de San José by the rancho of Robert Livermore, and to where it intersects that leading from Martinez to the Pueblo de San José, as be- longed to the county of Contra Costa, was declared to be District Number Seven, and placed in charge of Greene Patterson, Overseer.
This same minute also orders all able-bodied males between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years to be called upon to work on these thorough- fares for five days in each year, or cause such amount of work to be done, when required by the Overseers or Supervisors of the respective districts. It will thus be seen that the matter once taken in hand, with the aid of the citizens, was pushed with becoming vigor. On July 15, 1852, direc- tions for the laying out of the highway between Oakland and San Pablo were issued, while on the re-construction of the county on August 8, 1855, six road districts were established corresponding with the six townships then defined. Five years later, in 1860, we find that there were no less than seventeen road districts inside the county limits, and on May 21, 1861, the road tax for that year was increased to ten cents on the one hundred dollars of taxable property, in accordance with the provisions of an Act passed May 3, 1861, entitled "An Act to enable and require the Board of
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Supervisors of the county of Contra Costa to complete the levy of taxes for road purposes in said county for the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one." November 4, 1862, it was ordered by the Board of Super- visors that the Auditor of the county cause to issue a warrant for the sum of twelve hundred dollars, payable out of the " Barber Fund," to be levied in accordance with an Act of the Legislature of the State of California, approved April 24, 1862, entitled "An Act to authorize the Board of Super- visors of the county of Contra Costa to audit and allow the claim of M. R. Barber, and to levy a Special Tax." It would appear that this action became necessary on account of a sum still remaining due to Mr. Barber for the construction of two bridges in the town of Martinez during the year 1853. At the time, he received a moiety of the amount due, when the " City Fathers " accepted the responsibility of further payments, but as the corporation had dissolved into a phantom the onus of liquidating the debt devolved upon the county, and had to be met by the Board of Supervisors, hence the appeal to the Legislature, the passage of the Bill above quoted and the levy of a Special Tax to meet the liability.
But we have not the space at our disposal to follow the hundreds of petitions for road purposes, as they appear in the records of the Court of Sessions and Board of Supervisors. To give even an outline of each would more than fill a volume of no ordinary proportions. As the fertile districts were settled, each new arrival felt the want of some avenue of outlet from his homestead, connection was needed with the main arteries of traffic, the inevitable petition to the authorities was transmitted to the proper quarter, and, where the necessity was proved, never was the prayer rejected. With the opening out of fresh highways, more districts were imperatively neces- sary ; with the creation of these districts, it was as necessary to appoint overseers, and now Contra Costa county is blessed with a large number of districts and a net-work of roads, better than which there are none in Cali- fornia.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS .- The first school districts in Contra Costa county were divided in consonance with the townships which then obtained, but such a partition embraced too large a territory, therefore alterations became necessary, like in the townships themselves. Boundaries and limitation lines were perpetually being altered at the solicitation of innumerable peti- tioners. The authorities, ever with an eye to the people's welfare, in most cases granted the prayer, until, after an infinity of rectifications, the present school districts of the county number thirty-nine, and are named : Alamo, Alhambra, Antioch, Bay Point, Brentwood, Briones, Carbondale, Central, Concord, Danville, Deer Valley, Eden Plain, Excelsior, Green Valley, Hot Spring, Iron House, Lafayette, Liberty, Lime Quarry, Lone Tree, Martinez, Moraga, Morgan Territory, Mount Diablo, Mount Pleasant, New York, Oak
δ. Ανιζεπόση
John Davis,
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Grove, Pacheco, Pinole, Pleasant Hill, Rodeo Valley, Sand Mound, San Pablo, San Ramon, Sheldon, Somersville, Sycamore, Tassajara, Willow Spring.
POLITICAL HISTORY .- We now come to the second branch of the Leg- islative History of Contra Costa, namely, that which has been termed the Political History of the county. This, it is to be feared, however, may be considered a misnomer, as in the rest of this chapter much will be found which in itself has no political significance, while a considerable amount may be recognized as purely political. All our information has been gar- nered from the particularly well kept records of the Court of Sessions and Boards of Supervisors, who, though exercising political functions, still have authority over affairs non-political ; therefore the remarks made below may be said to relate more to the government of the county than to its politics.
MEXICAN GOVERNMENT .- Prior to the year 1839 not much is known of the political divisions of California; on February 26th of that year Governor Alvarado dubbed it a Department, and partitioned it into three districts. In the second of these was Contra Costa county. The govern- ment was vested in a Governor and a Departmental Assembly, from which was constituted the Legislative Assembly that held its sessions in Monterey, the then capital. In order of precedence, the political officers next to the Governor were the Prefects, having jurisdiction over districts ; Sub-Prefects, Ayuntamientos or Town Councils, Alcaldes, and Justices of the Peace.
We are informed, on reliable authority, the Mexican law contemplated the formation of a Superior Tribunal for each Department, and that pro- vision for the establishment of such a Court, with two lesser ones for Cali- fornia, had been made. The tribunal was to be composed of four Judges and one Attorney-Gencral, the senior three of the former to sit upon the first, and the junior one on the second bench. This latter, known as the Court of Second Instance, heard appeals from the Court of First Instance and had original jurisdiction in certain cases. The senior courts sat at the capital of the Department, while that of the First Instance held its sessions at the chief town in a district, where it exercised a general jurisdiction and attended to cases involving more than one hundred dollars, those for a less sum being tried by the Alcalde and Justice of the Peace.
There is no record of a Superior Tribunal ever having been established in California under the Mexican government, and no Court of First Instance in San José, the chiet town of the district to which the county now under consideration belonged, until 1849, when they were commissioned by the authority of the United States. The first Alcalde to be thus installed was that honored pioneer Hon. Elam Brown, N. B. Smith being the Sub-Prefect of the district.
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The law was administered then in a peculiarly lax manner ; fortunately, or unhappily, as the case may be, lawyers had not yet penetrated into the supposed wilds of the Pacific slope. The Alcalde's word was the supremest effort of legal wisdom ; his silver-headed cane a badge of office which the most captious must respect, and could not gainsay, while, there being no prisons, it was usual to sentence the Indian to be flogged and others to be fined.
MILITARY GOVERNMENT .- Between the years 1846 and 1849 the coun- try remained under the control of the United States military. In regard to law it was utterly at sea. A military commander controlled affairs, but there was no government. As long as the war lasted it was only natural to expect that such would be the case, and the people were content, but after peace had been attained, and the succession of military governors re- mained unabated, a people who had been brought up to govern themselves under the same flag and the same constitution, chafed that a simple change of longitude should deprive them of their inalienable rights. With these views General Riley, who succeeded General Persefer F. Smith, April 13, 1849, entirely sympathized. When it was found that Congress had adjourned without effecting anything for California, he issued a proclamation, June 3d, which was at once a call for a convention, and an official exposition of the administration's theory of the anomalous relations of California and the Union. He strove to rectify the dominant impression that California was ruled by the military. That had ceased with the termination of hostili- ties, and what remained was the civil government, which was vested in a Governor appointed by the Supreme Government, or, in default of such ap- pointment, the office was vested in the commanding military officer of the Department, a Secretary, a Departmental or Territorial Legislature, a Su- perior Court with four Judges, a Prefect and Sub-Prefect, and a Judge of the First Instance for each district, Alcaldes, Justices of the Peace, and Town Councils. General Riley, moreover, recommended the election, at the same time, of delegates to a Convention to adopt either a State or Territorial Con- stitution, which, if acquiesced in by the people, would be submitted to Congress. The proclamation stated the number of delegates which each district should elect, and also announced that appointments to the judiciary offices would be made after being voted for. The delegates from the district of which we then formed a portion to the Convention were Joseph Aram, Kimball H. Dimmick, J. D. Hoppe, Antonio M. Pico, Elam Brown, Julian Hanks, and Pedro Sainsevain.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION .- On September 1, 1849, the Convention met at Monterey, Robert Semple, of Benicia, one of the delegates from the District of Sonoma, being chosen President. The session lasted six weeks, and, notwithstanding an awkward scarcity of books of reference and other
,
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necessary aids, much labor was performed, while the debates exhibited a marked degree of ability. In framing the original Constitution of Cali- fornia, slavery was forever prohibited within the jurisdiction of the State ; the boundary question between Mexico and the United States was set at rest ; provision for the morals and education of the people was made ; a Seal of State was adopted, with the motto EUREKA, and many other sub- jects discussed. The Constitution was duly framed, submitted to the peo- ple, and at the election held on the 13th November, ratified by them, and adopted by a vote of twelve thousand and sixty-four for, and eleven against it ; there being, besides, over twelve hundred ballots that were treated as blanks, because of an informality in the printing. The vote of the District of San José on the occasion was five hundred and sixty-seven votes for, and none against its adoption, while five hundred and seventeen votes were cast for Peter H. Burnett, as Governor. In Contra Costa county on that occasion one hundred and seven votes were polled at the three precincts then established; Governor Burnett received seventy-four votes; Lieu- tenant-Governor John McDougal thirty-one, and F. J. Lippett sixty-four, while W. R. Bascom, of San Jose, was elected Senator, and Elam Brown, of Lafayette, Joseph Aram, Dr. Ben. Cory and J. H. Mathews were sent to the Lower House of the State Legislature, Edward Gilbert and George W. Wright being sent to Congress.
We here reproduce, as curiosities, two of the tickets which were voted at the time, and distributed in and around Sacramento and the upper por- tion of the State :
PEOPLE'S TICKET.
FOR THE CONSTITUTION.
FOR GOVERNOR. John A. Sutter.
FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, John McDougal.
FOR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS, William E. Shannon, Pet. Halsted.
FOR STATE SENATORS, John Bidwell, Upper Sacramento, Murray Morrison, Sacramento City, Harding Bigelow, Sacramento City, Gilbert A. Grant, Vernon.
PEOPLE'S TICKET.
FOR THE CONSTITUTION.
FOR GOVERNOR,
Peter H. Burnett.
FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, John McDougal.
FOR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS, Edward Gilbert, George W. Wright.
FOR STATE SENATORS, John Bidwell, Upper Sacramento, Murray Morrison, Sacramento City, Harding Bigelow, Sacramento City, Gilbert A. Grant, Vernon.
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History of Contra Costa County.
FOR ASSEMBLY,
H. C. Cardwell, Sacramento City, P. B. Cornwall, Sacramento City, John S. Fowler, Sacramento City, J. Sherwood,
Elisha W. Mckinstry, Madison Waltham, Coloma,
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