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 25
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219
Legislative History of Contra Costa County.
expenditure of the real and personal property taxable by law the amount of twenty-five cents on each one hundred dollars; and that in the same manner a like sum should be levied for the purpose of constructing public buildings for the use of the county, the County Clerk being directed to pro- cure for present use a suitable building wherein to locate the Court-house and Clerk's office, to fit up the same, supply it with the necessary blank books and stationery, and otherwise render it fit for official occupation. A State Poll Tax of two dollars and fifty cents was also made collectable from those whom the law required to pay it. On the 3d of June the County Clerk was ordered to receive sealed proposals for the erection of a jail ; while, on July 20th, certain accounts for labor performed on the temporary county buildings were allowed. A sum not to exceed fifty dollars was also granted to procure an official seal. August 19th the following licenses were made levyable :-
To vend goods, wares and merchandise, with a capital of $5,000 or less. .$20.00 per annum. To vend spirituous, vinous, malt and fermented liquors in 1
less quantities than one pint. .$50.00 per annum. While on this date application was made by and license granted to Oliver C. Coffin to establish a ferry between the towns of Martinez and Benicia on his filing a bond in the amount of two thousand dollars. The fares to be charged were limited by the Court to :- .
For each foot man $1 00
" man and horse 2 50
" single horse, mule or ox 2 00
¥ wagon 5 00
" carriage. 4 00
each head of sheep or hogs, etc. 50
August 26th the following Inspectors were selected for the election ordered for October 7th, viz: Antonio Peralta for San Antonio township ; John Marsh for New York township, and Wesley Bradley and Joseph Rothenhostler for Martinez township, the latter at the precinct established at the house of José Maria Amador.
1851 .- Under date January 25th of this year a petition from the citizens of Martinez that the town should be incorporated was granted, the limits being a mile square, and an election was ordered to be held for Town Trus- tees on February 8th, B. R. Holliday, Charles Pervine and J. C. Burrows being appointed Judges. This matter will be found more fully entered into, however, in the history of that township and town. On August 4th we find the Court granting a license to H. W. Carpentier and A. Moon to run a ferry " from Contra Costa, in the township of San Antonio, to the city of San Francisco," and fixing the tariff as follows :
220
History of Contra Costa County.
For one person. $1 00
one horse. 3 00
one wagon. 3 00
. one two-horse wagon 5 00
= meat cattle, per head. 3 00
" each hundred-weight. 50
" each sheep. 1 00
" each hog. 1 00
It was ordered by the Court, September 6th, that the Surveyor-General of the State be requested, within that month, to mark out so much of the boundary line dividing the counties of Contra Costa and San Joaquin, so as to define said boundary between the San Joaquin river and the high hills in the direction of the head waters of the Alameda creek, in the Coast Range of mountains. On December 1st the Court appointed Jose Martinez, Robert Livermore, J. S. Bauer and Robert Birnie "Judges of the Plains," '(Juez de Campo). The duties of these officials were to arbitrate between owners in all disputes that might arise as to cattle-property, and overhaul and inspect all brands of stock being driven from or through the county. Their emoluments consisted in " perquisites," of which there were occasion- ally a great many.
1852 .- The first item of importance which the records of this year divulge is the order of the Court of Sessions, on May 11th, that one-half of the revenue collected for county purposes, which was fixed for the year at fifty cents on the one hundred dollars, should be set apart as a Public Building Fund, while, on the same day, a call for proposals to build a Court-house, in Court-house Square, Martinez, was made, but was after- wards rescinded on August 10th, by the Board of Supervisors.
Under the provisions of the Act of the Legislature, passed May 3, 1852, a Board of Supervisors was created for Contra Costa county, and in pur- suance thereof an election was held June 14, 1852, when the following five gentlemen were elected, viz: William Patten, Samuel H. Robinson, Victor Castro, Robert Farrelly and T. J. Keefer, the first-named being chosen Chairman of the Board by his associates. On July 5th, committees were duly appointed and other matters arranged for the full organization of the Board of Supervisors, who at once assumed the reins of civil government. Among their earliest orders was the laying out of a road between Oakland and San Pablo. On July 23d, Supervisor Robinson made his report on assessments within the county. As a matter of curiosity we now produce some of these, for the purpose of showing the amount of land then held by some individuals and assessed at over five thousand dollars :
Acres.
Rate per acre.
Juan B. Alvarado
2,214
$10 00
Assessments. $ 22,140
G. Anghinbaugh
905
9 00
8,145
W. W. Chipman.
905
9 00
8,145
221
Legislative History of Contra Costa County.
W. Castro
$3 00
Assessments. $82,704
Barbara Castro
6,642
6 00
43,173
Gabriel Castro
2,214
8 00
17,712
Juan José Castro
2,214
7 00
15,498
Joaquin Castro.
2,214
8 00
17,712
Jesus Maria Castro
1,107
6 00
6,642
Estudillo Heirs
4,428
7 00
30,996
J. F. Hubbard
905
9 00
8,145
José Martinez
4,028
3 00
12,084
Leo Norris
10,284
5 00
51,420
Salvio Pacheco
17,712
8 00
141,696
· G. Romero
6,642
5 00
33,210
Ygnacio Sibrian
8,856
5 00
44,280
Wm. M. Smith
6,118
2 50
15,295
José Jesus Vallejo
19,926
5 00
99,630
Joseph Emeric.
1,107
6 00
6,642
Antonio Castro
2,214
8 00
17,712
John Marsh
17,712
1 00
17,712
Domingo Peralta.
4,428
20 00
88,560
Rancho San Ramon
4,428
5 00
22,140
Blas Sibrian
13,284
1 25
16,605
Vicente Peralta.
4,428
20 00
88,560
Ygnacio Peralta.
6,642
20 00
132,840
Antonio Maria Peralta
5,535
20 00
110,700
Heirs of Welch
13,000
. 5 00
65,000
Encinal of Temescal
2,600
40 00
104,000
Acres. 27,568
Rate per acre.
The above are, by no manner of means, the only ones assessed in what was then Contra Costa county, which extended from the San Joaquin to the boundary of Santa Clara. A glance at the figures will give the reader, how- ever, an idea of what vast tracts of land were held by the native Califor- nians in the early years of American occupation. No county, it would appear, can revel in a freedom from debt ; even the newly defined Contra Costa, with an existence of but a little over two years, had, on July 1, 1852, a liability of one thousand three hundred and thirty-six dollars, thirty- two cents. Under date August 12th, we find the following minute : " The Board having had the matter of the supplemental assessment made and returned by the County Assessor under consideration, and being sufficiently advised thereon do find that there are forty-four thousand two hundred and eighty acres of land believed to be covered by title and lying unclaimed between the land claimed by the heirs of Francisco Castro, the Peraltas, and some claimed by the heirs of Estudillo, and that the same is worth five dollars per acre, amounting to two hundred and twenty-one thousand, four hun- dred dollars, do order that the same be assessed to persons unknown." The
222
History of Contra Costa County.
last note in the records for this year, is that of December 28th, when the salary of the District Attorney was fixed at two thousand dollars per annum.
1853 .- While the Legislature was sitting in Benicia in this year a peti- tion was presented by H. C. Smith from the citizens of Santa Clara and Contra Costa counties, praying that a new county be formed out of portions of each, to be called Alameda. Then, as now, the county seats were San José and Martinez, the dividing line between Santa Clara and Contra Costa being the Alameda creek. The inhabitants living near the present city of Oakland felt the distance from Martinez, some thirty miles, to be too great for the comfortable transaction of business, while they were separated from it by a chain of mountains, which increased the difficulty of travel ; there- fore the western and southern half of Contra Costa, with Washington town- ship in Santa Clara, was formed into one county and named Alameda, by which Contra Costa lost most of its coast line-yet still retaining its mis- nomer of " opposite coast "-and several centers of trade, now growing up on the opposite shore of San Francisco Bay. On June 8th the Court of Sessions, who were once more in power, appointed J. F. Williams and Thos. A. Brown, the District Attorney and County Clerk, on the part of Contra Costa county, to meet the delegates from Alameda county, to settle ques- tions on the partition mentioned above, a duty that was for the time- being successfully performed ; while, on September 13th, the salary of the District Attorney was reduced to one thousand dollars per year.
1854 .- In accordance with plans submitted by L. R. Townsend, archi- tect, the proposal of H. J. Childers and C. Chipman to build a Court-house for twenty-seven thousand dollars was accepted, the site chosen being on the hill fronting the bay-Lot Number Four, Block Two, in the town of Martinez.
November 10th the Court of Sessions directed that the ferry-boat plying between Martinez and Benicia should make half-hourly trips in the morning between 8 and 11:30 A. M., and in the afternoon between 1 and 5:30 P. M. The last item in this year is one on which the true chronicler refuses to dwell ; enough may be gleaned from the bare statement that on December 4, 1854, the records state that John M. Jones, County Assessor, was removed on account of malfeasance in office, after a protracted trial before the Court of Sessions.
1855 .- By the provisions of an Act to create a Board of Supervisors for the counties of the State of California and to define their duties, passed March 20, 1855, the County Clerk, County Assessor and County Surveyor of Contra Costa divided the county into three districts, on April 30, 1855, while, in pursuance of said Act, Thomas A. Brown, County Clerk, called an election to be held throughout the county for the purpose of
.
223
Legislative History of Contra Costa County.
choosing one Supervisor for each district. The election was held April 12, 1855, and resulted in John H. Livingston being elected Supervisor of Dis- trict Number One, composed of Townships Numbers One and Five ; L. E. Morgan, Supervisor of District Number Two, composed of Township Num- ber Three; and W. R. Bishop, Supervisor of District Number Three, com- posed of Townships Numbers Two, Four and Six. It has been mentioned that our county had not escaped the incubus of debt; indeed, as the years flew by these were considerably augmented, notably by a judgment in the Gilman case, a history of which will be found hereafter, until it became necessary to raise money by the issue of county bonds. In this regard, on May 26th, Supervisor Morgan was empowered by the Board to raise a loan of such sum of money as should be sufficient to pay the interest due on such bonds in the following July, he being at the same time authorized to contract with such persons in San Francisco as would establish an agency for the payment of the coupons in the city of New York. The Board further ordered that the money thus raised should be repaid out of the first funds coming into the County Treasury from the Interest Fund of thirty cents on each one hundred dollars of taxable property, or the General Fund. On June 1st Mr. Morgan made his report, which was duly accepted, as was also an agreement entered into with Palmer, Cook & Co., of San Francisco, whereby they covenanted, on the receipt of the sum of two thousand dollars, to pay the interest on the funded debt of Contra Costa county, due and payable in the city of New York on July 1, 1855, they receiving remuneration therefor at the rate of two per cent. upon the amount of money paid by them. June 27th the following were fixed as the rates of fees to be allowed to attorneys appointed by the Court to defend criminals, or persons accused of crime :
For defending in a case of Felony, punishable with death. .$50.00. For defending in a case of Felony, not punishable with death .. 25.00. For defending in a case, charged with misdemeanor. 15.00.
Provided that but one attorney shall be allowed fees against the county for defending the same case.
1856 .- It is not until the month of November in this year that we have been able to find aught of common interest in the records. The total vote of the county at the general election was found to be nine hundred and forty-six. On the 17th of November it is minuted that owing to the de- struction of the Union Hotel, in Martinez, of which the County Treasurer was proprietor, the records of his office, that he kept there, were de- stroyed, regarding which we find the following: "And now comes Robert E. Borden, County Treasurer, and reports to this Board, and on his affidavit states, that the books, papers and monies of the office have been destroyed by fire, and it appearing that about one thousand dollars were saved, and about one thousand nine hundred dollars were lost, belonging to the different
224
History of Contra Costa County.
funds as set forth in his statement, and from said statement it appears that the said loss was, so far as the Treasurer was concerned, unavoidable. This Board are of opinion, however, that he, the Treasurer, cannot be re- lieved to the extent prayed for, except by Legislative action. The Board (Thomas A. Brown being one of the sureties on said Treasurer's bond refus- ing to act in the matter) do recommend and petition that the Legislature do grant to the said Robert E. Borden, County Treasurer, aforesaid, the relief prayed for."
1857 .- Save the elections and appointments which will be found em- bodied in the elaborate table at the end of this chapter, nothing of much moment would appear to have occurred during this year.
1858 .- Neither have we anything to record of this year, that has not been elsewhere said.
1859 .- Placing our subject under a system of sub-heads, and thus con- densing one subject, deprives us of having anything to say here about the transactions of the Board of Supervisors for this year.
1860 .- The machinery of the county having been now in full operation for a decade of years let us for a moment glance at the state of her finances at the beginning of the year 1860. The County Treasurer in his report to the Board of Supervisors on the 6th February of that year presented the accompanying Table, which will, more clearly than words, elucidate the financial condition of Contra Costa :-
State Fund.
County Gen Fund.
Sinking Fund.
Conting't Fund.
Road Fund.
School Fund.
Estray Fund.
Balance at last settlement
$2,161 25
$1,364 28
$6,240 55
$6 75
$504 01
$1,559 95
$97 50
Since received
8,207 49
4,058 30
3,447 70
800 00
344 75
1,873 03
10 00
Aggregate
10,368 74
5,422 58
9,688 25
806 75
848 76
3,432 98
107 50
Disbursements
10,353 74
4,917 76
9,620 23
292 22
344 18
67 50
80 00
Balance on hand
$15 00
$504 82
$68 02
$514 53
[$504 58
$3,365 48
$27 50
Making a sum total of four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars, ninety-three cents.
The account of the Funded Commissioners presented at the same time was :-
Cr.
January 1, 1860-Amount of Sinking Fund.
Dr. $9,112 74
$
Contingent Expenses.
82 00
Amount of Awards ordered to be paid redeeming indebtedness
9,112 74
8,782 22
Balance on hand.
248 02
8,864 72
Amount of salary of Commissioners
120 00
Amount of balance
128 02
225
Legislative History of Contra Costa County.
On August 6, 1860, it was ordered by the Board of Supervisors that a special tax of one per cent. be added to the tax already levied for the cur- rent year, to be set aside as a Special Fund for the satisfaction of the judg- ment heretofore obtained in re Gilman versus Contra Costa county, in ac- cordance with the award of a Bill passed by the Legislature, approved March 14, 1860, entitled "An Act for the payment of a judgment in favor of T. C. Gilman against the County of Contra Costa." At the general elec- tion, held November 6th, a majority of five hundred and ninety-six voted against the holding of a Constitutional Convention ; while a majority of three hundred and one voters desired that the State Debt should be repu- diated, viz :-
For Constitutional Convention. 328
Against Constitutional Convention 924
Pay the Debt. 351
Repudiate the Debt. 652
1861 .- On the 5th February of this year it is recorded that Judge Thomas A. Brown released the county from the payment to him of six thousand dollars, being back salary for four years' services as County Judge, ending on the first Monday of December, 1861.
It should be mentioned that the salary provided by law for the office of County Judge of Contra Costa county was two thousand five hundred dol- lars per annum, but Judge Brown declared his intention to reduce it to one thousand dollars a year, which sum he drew, and at the end of the term freed the county from the responsibility of paying him the accrued six thousand dollars-an unusual piece of magnanimity on the part of a public official, and one which could only have emanated from the mind of a high-souled public servant.
Consequent on the death of the County Treasurer, the following reso- lutions were passed by the Board of Supervisors at their session on March 2, 1861 :-
" Resolved, That it is with deep regret that we have been called to act as a Board in the appointment of a person to succeed our much-lamented friend Hiram Fogg, late Treasurer of this county, and that we hereby ex- press our united and unqualified approval of his conduct as an officer in the discharge of his duties, and as a man in the varied relations of life, and we hereby express our earnest sympathy with his bereaved family.
Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be furnished his family and be published in the Contra Costa Gazette."
15
226
History of Contra Costa County.
On the 6th of May of this year the indebtedness of the county was :
Bonds outstanding May 1, 1861. $60,400 00
Interest on coupons due on same. 24,161 59
Warrants and jury scrips, and interest on same 4,245 75
Amount of Gilman judgment unpaid. 13,705 29
Total. $102,512 63
In the proceedings of the Board on November 5th, we find the following minute : " The petition of ' Cranky Jim ' for repair of the bridge in the town of Martinez, ordered to be rejected-his remedy is to apply to the Road Overseer of road district."
1862 .- In regard to the indebtedness of Alameda county to Contra Costa, B. C. Whitman and Charles Fish were appointed by the Legislative Commissioners under the provisions of an Act passed April 26, 1862, to ascertain and award the amount of indebtedness, if any be found equitably due. This report was presented in the form of a communication addressed jointly to the Supervisoral Boards of the two counties interested, and con- tains the following decision : "They (the Commissioners) find that the county of Contra Costa has paid on account of obligations existing at the time of the organization of the county of Alameda the sum of thirty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty-five dollars, fifteen cents. That the said county of Alameda was justly and equitably bound for a portion thereof, amounting to fifteen thousand five hundred and eighteen dollars, seventy- eight cents. That under and by virtue of an award heretofore made on June 4, 1858, said county of Alameda has paid to the county of Contra Costa the sum of three thousand nine hundred and forty-five dollars, sixty- six cents, leaving unpaid a balance of eleven thousand five hundred and seventy-four dollars, twelve cents, equitably due from the county of Alameda to the county of Contra Costa, arising out of obligations existing against the county of Contra Costa at the time of the organization of the said county of Alameda. Therefore we do hereby award said sum of eleven thousand five hundred and seventy-four dollars, twelve cents, as equitably due under and by virtue of the provisions of the Act aforesaid from the county of Alameda to the county of Contra Costa, and by virtue of the powers con- ferred upon us we declare and certify the same to your Honorable Bodies as by said Act directed and charged."
1863 .- We have nothing of interest to record in this year as forming a portion of the political history of the county.
1864. In accordance with a communication from the State Comptroller dated April 11, 1864, the taxes to be levied and collected for State purposes for the year ending March 1, 1865, were fixed as hereunder given. They
c. Mittemback
SBlum
227
Legislative History of Contra Costa County.
will also be found given in the aggregate in our taxation table at the close of this chapter :-
For General Purposes. .
.482 cts. on the $100
Interest and Sinking Fund of 1857
.30
Interest and Sinking Fund of 1860
.014
State Capitol.
.05
Insane Asylum.
.05
Soldiers' Relief Fund.
.04
66
לל
Aid to Central Pacific Railroad
.08
Benefit of Line Officers of California Volunteers
.01
Soldiers' Bounty Fund.
.12
Additional cells at State Prison
.05
School Purposes
.05
$1.25 on the $100
March 19th the apportionment of grand and trial jurors for the different townships in the county, in accordance with the Act of the Legislature of April 27, 1863, was ordered as follows: Township Number One, one hundred and twenty-six ; Township Number Two, one hundred and forty- three; Township Number Three, one hundred and eighty-one.
1865 .- On January 5, 1865, we find that G. F. Sharp had procured an execution against the county for the sum of three hundred and ten thousand dollars and upwards, subject to a credit of thirty thousand dollars and upwards, purporting to be issued upon a judgment rendered in his favor in or about July, 1860, but as by an Act of the Legislature a special tax was raised to satisfy the judgment, the Board of Supervisors directed the Dis- trict Attorney to take immediate legal steps to procure the satisfaction of record of said judgment, and the quashing of said writ of execution, and the release of and all levies made thereunder, and take such legal steps as may be proper to fully and amply protect the interests of the county. On February 8th the board entirely rejected this claim, which was the outcome of the vexatious Gilman case.
1866-1867 .- Except the necessary elections and changes in the officials of the county, there is nothing of interest to record in these years.
1868 .- On May 6, 1868, it was ordered by the Board of Supervisors that an election be held in Contra Costa county on June 20, 1868, for the pur- pose of submitting a proposition for the county to make a donation to the Martinez and Danville Railroad Company to aid in the construction of a railroad from Martinez to Danville, in the county of Contra Costa, in pur- suance of an Act of the Legislature, entitled " An Act to authorize the county of Contra Costa to donate bonds to the Martinez and Danville
228
History of Contra Costa County.
Railroad Company, and to provide for the payment of the same. Approved March 30, 1868." The result of the vote taken we give below :
For the donation. .391 votes.
Against the donation 522 votes.
Majority against the donation 131 votes.
On October 23d extensive repairs were ordered to the Court-house, con- sequent on the damage caused by the great earthquake of the 21st; indeed, so ruinous was the destruction that the District Court was relegated to the carpenter's shop of E. W. Hiller, the proper room being considered insecure. Authorization to build a calaboose at Antioch was granted to R. B. Hard, a sum of money being set apart for that purpose-and thus ends the record for 1868.
1869-1870 .- For these two years the affairs of the county proceeded without let or hindrance. Smooth were the sessions of the Supervisoral Board, as they paid accounts and kept the official machinery revolving.
1871 .- A Special School Tax was ordered, on August 16th, to be levied upon the property in each school district in the county in which a deficiency was shown by the written statement of the County Superintendent, pur- suant to an Act of the Legislature, entitled " An Act to amend an Act to provide a system of Common Schools-Approved April 4, 1871," viz :
District.
On each $100.
District.
On each $100.
Amador.
$ .77
Moraga.
$ .28
Antioch
.09
Morgan Territory 1.20
Alhambra
.35
Mount Diablo .16
Briones .26
Iron House .48
Bay Point
.27
Mount Pleasant .08
.12
Central
.18
Pinole
.08
Concord
.42
Pleasant Hill .60
Danville.
.40
Pacheco .39
Deer Valley 1.33
Rodeo Valley .36
Excelsior
.05
San Ramon
.41
Eden Plain. .23
.46
Somersville .12}
Lime Quarry
.21
Sycamore.
.43
Lone Tree
.02
Tassajara
. 25
Lafayette
. 28
Willow Springs
. 45
Martinez.
.05
Carbondale
.10
Oak Grove
San Pablo .04
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