History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Volume I, Part 55

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1362

USA > California > Fresno County > History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Volume I > Part 55

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).

At the close of the biennium there were 17,840 teachers employed in the state. In the elementary the proportion of women to men was still growing being about ten to one; in the high school one and one-half to one, for 2,389 women to 1.610 men. There is, however, the gratifying fact that the state's schools have on the whole been growing. Property valuation of the ele- mentary schools increased for the two years from fifty-five and one-half millions to fifty-eight and one-half millions; and in the high schools from twenty-three to twenty-six millions. Average daily attendance has risen from 331,000 to 341,000; enrollment from 415,792 to 423,562. Expenditures for the elementary schools have increased less than $1,000 for the state, while the high schools with only one-fourth as many children increased notably much more.

A remarkable showing covering the years from 1907-16 is the one that the state enrollment in the elementaries has increased forty-three percent. for boys and forty and six-tenths for girls, while the graduation has increased 151 percent. for boys and ninety-two and four-tenths for girls. In years gone by, the boys dropped out of school in the fifth and sixth grades. The schools are not holding them all now but a creditable showing is made. High schools show no such graduation gains over enrollment as the night schools have thousands who attend only from day to day for certain work. Still a gain of 304.3 percent. in boy enrollment and 204 of girls with 243.7 gain for boy and 133.2 for girl graduates would show that the schools are holding the boys and meeting the wants of the people.

Fresno's school system has grown from small beginnings. The state's system dates from 1852. When Fresno County was organized April 18, 1856, out of territorial chunks of old Mariposa, Merced and Tulare, the population was a sparse one, there was a lack of women, of homes and of children. No wonder that no attention was paid to schools. It is an ancient tale that when the Mariposa Gazette was started there was not a woman in the town and that when not long after several families did move in the editor complained in his paper of the wailing of the children. Another ancient tale of the mining days is the one that when the miners learned there was a woman in town all suspended work and trudged the road four miles to meet her, several arches were erected over the highway and an impromptu band led the procession into town to the accompaniment of cheers, huzzahs and the waving of hats, and the bars did a land office busi-

DRY CREEK ACADEMY SCHOOL HOUSE IN 1872

HALF OF FIRST COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING WHICH WAS HENRY'S HOTEL AT MILLERTON

371

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

ness in celebration of the event, the town swarming with miners from the hills for a glimpse of the woman and to take part in the celebration.

That first woman was a married one at that, the tale has it, and accord- ing to tradition she started a pastry business and sold pies at five dollars per pie. Some complained of the pies (dried apples never did make good apple pie), but she was independent and retorted that if they did not like her pies they needn't buy them and she wasn't particular whether she sold pies at five dollars anyway. That silenced the criticism concerning the pies.

The first school superintendent in Fresno County was the late E. C. Winchell, a lawyer. A clever and well-equipped man mentally but so timid in manner and so retiring in ways as if lacking to assert his own powers that this timidity shadowed his unquestioned abilities. His appointment by the supervisors dates from February, 1860, when Scottsburg, Millerton and Kingston were organized as the first districts. Ten years later there were twenty in the county. The first school in the county was the one taught in the old Fort Miller barracks by Mrs. J. M. Shannon, who received seventy- five dollars a month, recorded an attendance of fifteen and maintained a three months' session. There were other such schools in some of the populous nooks in the county taught by young women to earn "pin money" while making no pretense as teachers. The schools were little more than kinder- garten gatherings, the children taught the A B C's of "'ritin', readin' and 'rithmetic," and the mothers happy in the thought that when at school they were for the moment relieved of the care of the youngsters with the knowl- edge that while under the eye of the teacher they were at least also out of mischief.

First schools were supported by subscription and rate bill and as late as 1865 the amount thus raised was $1,120 and often with difficulty. The first school in Fresno City was one of these private kindergartens taught by R. H. Bramlet and gathered on the upper floor of a rented shack located about the center of the block at one corner of which stands today the Hughes Hotel. The railroad donated in 1874 eight lots on Tulare Street for school purposes, site covered in part today by the Elks' lodge building. Here a two-room school house was erected at a cost of $2,669 and opened January 3, 1875, with Mr. Bramlet as the principal. In 1879 was erected on pur- chased lots on Fresno Street, opposite the flour mills, a larger building at cost of $7,500 with additional $10,500 for equipment. And such was the be- ginning of the city school department, and R. H. Bramlet the father of the institution. Mrs. Mary J. Hoxie, née Mckenzie, and a graduate of the State Normal School at San Jose, taught the first private school in the city, of fif- teen pupils. School was located in a room over the Booker store. This was in 1874, school maintained by public subscription to demonstrate the need for the apportionment of public money for schooling and the organization of a district.

Nor should be forgotten among the early institutions the select board- ing school for girls of Mrs. Winchell in Winchell's Gulch, one-half mile from the old fort. This was quite a fashionable school for the day. Nor the academy at Academy on Dry Creek, erected in 1874 by a $50,000 capitalized corporation of members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. As a private institution it did not live long. It was too far in advance of the times. The first teacher was the late J. D. Collins, one of the most univer- sally beloved and respected of pioneers who came to Fresno after the war. Other teachers of note taught here and the academy was rated as one of the best in the county. The.corporation has long gone out of existence but the academy building has always been used for the purpose for which it was erected. That building was only a 36x54 affair with verandah on two sides, but at the time was described "as the handsomest building in the county."

372

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

The splendid school system of the county is an outgrowth of humblest beginnings as statistics emphasize. As late as 1882 there was not a high school in the county. The county superintendent started at a $250 annual salary. This was doubled in 1868 when there were 10 teachers and 488 census children, with 193 of them enrolled. The first teachers' institute was one of three days held at Centerville December 7, 1870, with the fifteen teachers attending and the session one of drills rather than of talks and addresses. The next was held at Millerton in February, 1872, the third in December, 1872, at Fresno with fourteen of the twenty-three teachers in attendance and visited by State Superintendent Henry N. Bolander, who will be recalled as botanical expert who defaulted in office and became a fugitive to Guatemala or some other central or southern American republic. Fresno City had another institute November 10, 1875, when Prof. W. A. Sanders was the star attraction as a lecturer on grammar.

It was at this time that the county superintendent reported that "Our needs are beyond the powers of legislation. We want a more dense popula- tion and that composed of persons able to appreciate the benefits resulting from schools. Six years ago, we had thirteen districts ; now we have thirty- six. Our teachers are better qualified, the schools larger and the attendance better. The people are building better houses and as soon as they are able to do so furnish them with reasonably good furniture."

The following comparative statistics will give comprehensive bird's eye view of the scope of the public school department of the county of Fresno:

KINDERGARTEN

Year:

1915

1916

Women teachers

Enrollment

170

184

Daily attendance

Schools days

188

171

Receipts

$2,885.15

$3,813.40

Expenditures

$2,454,54

$2,479.86

Property valuation

$3,725.00

$3,739.00

ELEMENTARY

Year :

1915

1916

Districts

144

Teachers allowed on attendance.

506

529

Actually employed (467 women).

526

(482 women) 541

Enrollment of boys.

9,400

9,529

Enrollment of girls Total

17,977

18,344

Graduates (440 girls)

946

(558 girls) 1,026

Average attendance

15,378

15,840

School days

172

161

State funds

$248,370.66

$257,154.13

Total receipts

$1,180,598.70

$1,044,017.95

Expenditures

$874,143.68

$826,268.15

Property valuation

$1,756,590.00

$1,807,128.00

County tax rate

$.25

$.32

Bonded indebtedness

$993,023.00

$968,136.00

Average interest rate

$.055

$.0586

Maintenance tax rate

· $.43

$.194

Building tax rate.

$.04

$.236

8,577

8,815

373

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

HIGH SCHOOLS

Year:

1915

1916

Teachers (66 women)

124

(54 women) 100 31

Special (12 women) Total, 1916

131

Regular Certificates (26 special)

(30 special) 101

Enrollment (1,197 girls)

2,257 (1,273 girls) 2,458

Post graduates

107

Graduates (183 girls)

300

(171 girls) 300

Daily attendance

1,905

2.015

State funds

$29,311.44

$32,522.61

Total receipts

$431,882.00

$483,888.41

Expenditures

$324,318.80

$327.824.83

Property valuation

$588,705.00

$681,222.00

Maintenance tax rate

$.45

$.344

Building tax rate

$.20

$.15

Bonded indebtedness

$143,000.00

$180,500.00

Average interest rate

$.0525

$.053

MISCELLANEOUS

County superintendent's office.

County Board of Education

$1,846.00

City superintendent's office.

$7,940.00

FRESNO STATE NORMAL

Year :

1915

1916

Teachers

Men

Women

Pupils

288

343

Boys

Girls

273

328

In training school.

155

196

Girls

129

183

State funds

$414,909.50

$362.335.00

Tuition

$1,959.32

$1,780.75

Total receipts

$427,328.06

$369,506.32

Expenditures :

Teachers

$32,638.99

$47,943.79

Labor and supplies

$6,156.23

$5,348.88

Sites, buildings, etc

$43.693.03

$142.192.45

Books and apparatus

$1,245.93

$989.18

Total

$83,734.18

$196,474.30

Balance

$343,593.88

$173,032.02

Area of site in acres

Ground valuation

$11,000.00

$370.000.00

Furniture valuation

$4,735.00

$3,500.00

Library

$1,800.00

$5,000.00

Apparatus

$2,939.00

$6,000.00

Total valuation

$57,400.00

$422,000.00

Library books

1,697

2,875

Graduates (81 girls)

(110 girls) 111

Since organization

(411 girls)

438

284

379

Boys

$9,947.73

County tax rate

$37.000.00

Buildings valuation

374

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

The Kearney vineyard income to the state university from Fresno was $40,000 for the year 1916.

The school income and expense increase in the county has been remark- able according to the following comparative figures:

ELEMENTARY

1907-08

Total income

$254,441.20

1917-18 $755,553.37

An advance of 198%.

Total expense

$216,471.94

$826,073.06

-An advance of 281%.

HIGH SCHOOLS

Total income

$70,827.91

$481,742.22

An advance of 580%.

Total expense

$70,767.97

$497,627.78

An advance of 600%.

As regards the high schools, the comparison shows that the expense is forty-five percent. lower than the increase of income. That of the elementary increased eighty-three percent. over the income.

CHAPTER LXII

A CHAPTER THE DARKEST IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY. THIRTY- NINE YEARS AGO A REVIEWER OBSERVED THAT THE SICKENING ATROCITIES IN DEEDS OF BLOOD AND CRIME MARKED FOR ALL TIME BLACK STAINS UPON THE RECORD. HIS FERVENT HOPE NOT REALIZED THAT TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS THEREAFTER THERE WOULD BE LESS OF TAKING LIFE AND VIOLENCE TO RELATE THAN WAS INTERWOVEN IN THE QUARTER OF A CENTURY HIS- TORY BEFORE. RECORD OF THE COUNTY IS OF THREE DEATH SENTENCES PRONOUNCED AND OF ONLY ONE LEGAL EXECUTION IN SIXTY-THREE YEARS.

An historical review of the early times in Fresno County was published in a holiday number of the Expositor on New Year's day of 1879. It was up to that time the most comprehensive one printed and since the most quoted because of its authenticity, written as it was by one who treated of personal knowledge and recollections, inclined though he was to be biased because of that personal participation in the events of the times recorded. That review, a sketchy effort, of no literary merit, treats incidentally of the lawlessness of the times, and declares that "numerous other murders and homicides" than those enumerated "were committed in different parts of the county" up to the period of writing, nearly all of them, he said, still fresh in the minds of citizens. Writing thirty-nine years ago of the early deeds of violence and crime, he employed the following words as pertinent then as they were for years after :

"Deeds of blood and violence were committed at lower and upper King's River, at the San Joaquin River near Temperance Flat, at Firebaugh's, at Buchanan, on the road leading from Crane Valley to Millerton, at or near the Tollhouse, at Mckeown's old store on the Fresno, at Texas Flats, at Fresno Flats, and in fact human life has been sacrificed in almost every neighborhood in the county where a whisky mill has been established. . . But we will turn aside from the nauseating spectacle ; a sufficient number of

375

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

murders and deeds of violence has already been mentioned to demonstrate the lawlessness which has prevailed heretofore, and the laxity and almost criminal indifference with which the law was formerly administered by juries; it is not necessary here to go into further detail of the sickening atrocities which were committed and which appear today and for all time to come as black stains upon the record of the county.

"And if perhaps," said this writer in conclusion, "twenty-eight years hence some one should see fit to continue the 'Reminiscences of Fresno County' it is to be fervently hoped that the recital will contain less crime and deeds of blood and violence than is interwoven in the history of our county for the twenty-eight years last past."

Some of these recalled deeds of blood were of a time before organization of Fresno County out of Mariposa with the district seat of justice at Mari- posa and the Fresno territory a remote corner of it. The early treatment of the Indian was characteristic of the cruel roughness of the times. The aborig- ine had apparently no rights that the white man seriously respected. He was given little consideration as a human being. Force, cruelty and taking advantage of his ignorance characterized the general dealings with him. This was all the more remarkable, when it is recalled how many of the first whites, in the absence of women of their own race, readily took up relations with the young squaws and profited materially thereby. The California Indian, although classed low in the scale of humanity, was at least racially docile and amenable to kindness and fair treatment. The squaws were in- variably loyal to their white protectors. When by way of reprisal according to his view point, the Indian rebelled against the barbarity and cruelty of the white man, there was a hue and cry, an excited round up and the Indian fighting in self defense when pursued was massacred and done for by superior armed force.

At this late day, it were vain to recall "the deeds of blood and violence" enumerated in the review of 1879. They have no bearing on the history of the times, save to emphasize the admitted lawless character of the period. Yet even in that respect, conditions were probably no more acute in the Fresno region than elsewhere in California in the pioneer days when there was little or no government, when human life was valued at so little and every one was a walking arsenal. Nor does one have to go back to the days of the pioneers to find warrant for the complaint of the almost criminal laxity with which justice was administered. Only once in the sixty-three years of county organization of Fresno has there been an execution of a murderer under the sentence of court. That was twenty-six years ago. And fearful murders were committed before and have been since. The wretch that was hanged in the courtyard of the old jail in rear of the courthouse was a dipso- maniac and a drug fiend. The others before and after him that cheated the hangman were given life sentences, or escaped altogether, though their crimes involved every legal element of fiendish deliberation, premeditation and preparation, with avarice as a motive for taking life.

Murder of Major Savage

As foul a deed as recorded in the criminal annals of the county was the murder in August, 1852, at the King's River Indian reservation by Walter H. Harvey, county judge of Tulare, of Maj. James D. Savage, one of the most heroic and picturesque characters in Fresno County's history. The effort to bring Harvey to justice, with the murderer appointing the special justice of the peace to hold the preliminary examination, was a travesty. After Savage's death, many aspired to be his successor in gaining the prominence among and control over the Indians but no one filled his place -they felt like orphans and realized that their best friend was gone.

376

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

Murieta's Career Ended

Next to be recorded is the bloody, meteoric and historic career of the bandit, Joaquin Murieta, which ended with his death in July, 1853. The retreat of this cutthroat was in the Cantua hills of the Coast Range in this county. At Millerton was made the first exhibition of the trophy of his decapitated head as proof of the successful termination of the man hunt for him, the killing of his principal lieutenants and the scattering of the bandit gang to the four winds, with peace returned to a sorely tried and raided state.

Murders Common In 50's

Murders of whites by whites and of prospectors by Indians were com- mon in the 50's. If the murderers did not escape, the grand jury ignored the charge, or if it found true bill the trial jury at Mariposa or Millerton ac- quitted. There was poetic justice in many of these cases. Very often these gun men died violent deaths with their boots on. Often also in these mur- ders evidences were left to make it appear that the crimes were the work of Indians.

Mining Camp Burglaries

In 1858 there was an epidemic of burglaries of Chinese stores and mining camps and notorious among the thieves were Jack Cowan and one Hart, the first named a half breed Cherokee. They lay in concealment by day in cool retreat and at night sallied forth robbing inoffensive Chinese at point of pistol and hesitating not at sacrifice of life if their demands were not com- plied with or resisted. The pair was encountered one day in August by cattle rangers in the hills between the Fresno and the Chowchilla and a battle ensued. Hart was wounded, crippled for life and upon recovery from wounds was sent to the penitentiary. Cowan was shot through the skull and the perforated skull was in the possession of Dr. Leach as a paper weight on his desk as a memento for years.

Last Indian Uprising

The last serious Indian uprising was in the summer of 1856 among the Four Creek Indians of Tulare. The soldiers from Fort Miller under Captain Livingstone were dispatched to the scene of hostilities, also a company from Millerton and vicinity under Capt. Ira Stroud and another from Coarse Gold Gulch and Fresno River under Capt. John L. Hunt. The Fresno contingent achieved the name of "The San Joaquin Thieves." The campaign over, Fort Miller was evacuated September 10, 1856.

Acts of Disloyalty

It was reoccupied in August, 1863, by United States troops and a volun- teer company under Col. Warren Olney was dispatched also. Acts of dis- loyalty were numerous. The offenders were rounded up at the fort and made to walk a beat carrying a bag of sand as a punishment. Peter van Valer was the provost marshal, and other disloyals were transported to cool their ardor in the military prison of the bleak and ocean wind swept Alca- traz Island in San Francisco Bay.

Looting of Chinese

In 1863 the looting of Chinese stores and camps was resumed with at least eight known desperadoes in the gang. The China store at Andrew Johnson's place at Coarse Gold Gulch was robbed three times and patience had ceased to be a virtue. A company of about a dozen men organized and one dark night in the dead winter of 1864 it invaded the camp of the des- peradoes. Whether warned or not of the coming, only one of the gang-Al

377

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

Dixon-was caught that night and found a corpse hanging from a tree next morning between Coarse Gold Gulch and the Fresno. The life of the brother, John, was interceded for and six of the gang left the county and were not again heard from. The eighth, James Raines, remained to weather it out and came in conflict with the provost marshal in the latter's prosecution of his duties. A squad from the fort was sent to arrest him. Raines appeared pistol in hand to resist arrest and himself was shot and wounded in the arm. After having convalesced at the fort, Raines was taken to Alcatraz and spent several months at hard labor on the rock. Following release, he moved with his family to Raines' Valley, cast of Centerville. He and others took up cattle and hog stealing until the neighborhood decided that it had enough of this business and one fine morning Raines' carcass was found dangling from a tree in or near the valley that bears his name.

Indians Hanged

It was about this time that an Indian killed a sheepherder of E. J. Hil- dreth, burying the corpse under a log in a corral. An old squaw betrayed Mr. Indian and in daylight he was hanged in the gulch near Judge Winchell's home, half a mile from the fort and the judge's calf rope was borrowed for the event.

Died With Boots On

A sensational case of the day was that of J. P. Ridgway, who in the summer of 1868 shot and killed B. A. Andrews at Kings River above Center- ville. Ridgway escaped to Arizona where he engaged in mining. About two years later he appeared in San Francisco, was arrested and brought to Millerton. He was indicted but before tried escaped from the jail and made his way back to Arizona. His escape was with confederates who aided him with horse. A reward of $1,000 was offered for his arrest and a San Fran- cisco detective earned the money by going to the Cactus state, arresting and bringing back the fugitive. At the May, 1872, district court term, Ridg- way was tried and acquitted and shook the dust of Millerton from his feet and a third time made tracks for Arizona. This time the bully met his match and received a load of buckshot in the head and died with boots on.

Killed in Petty Squabble

At the October term of the county court, John Williams, a negro, was sentenced to a term of two years in the penitentiary for the killing of Theo. J. Payne, whom he had shot in the knee at a store near Tollhouse. Payne was so wounded that an artery was severed and he bled to death. The shoot- ing was over a squabble at target shooting.

Chinese Hanged

That same year vigilantes hanged two Chinese just below Jones' store (Pollasky or Friant as now known) for having killed a countryman. On a Sunday afternoon that year, another was found hanging from a tree a quar- ter of a mile from Millerton, the county seat, for having committed a name- less crime.

Vasquez and Robber Band

The state at large was agitated during the years 1873 and 1874 with the bandit exploits of Tiburcio Vasquez and his robber band. Vasquez ended his career on the gallows at the San Jose jail in March, 1875. He and his gang operated in the central portion of the state, committed several robberies in this county and like Murieta and his band made the Cantua hills their stamping ground and retreat in hours of idleness.

378

HISTORY OF FRESNO COUNTY

Killing of Fiske

John D. Fiske was killed July 26, 1890. J. L. Stillman shot him thrice in the back. He pleaded insanity on his trial but was found guilty and sen- tenced to life imprisonment. The homicide followed a wrangle and demand for royalties on a car-coupling patent. Fiske was a promoter in the early days of Fresno City, conducted the Fiske Theater and for him was named the showy and cheaply constructed building on the Mariposa and J present site of the first "sky scraper" in the city.

Hanged for Wife Murder

One man and one only was ever legally hanged in this county. He was Dr. F. O. Vincent and he was hanged in the court of the county jail in the courthouse park at noon October 27, 1893. Jay Scott was the sheriff in office at the time and F. G. Berry-not Fulton G .- was the under sheriff that made the return on the death warrant that the order and judgment of the court had been duly executed. The death sentence has been only three times pronounced in the county for the crime of murder; first time on Vin- cent in April, 1891, second time on Elmer Helm in 1906 and third time in 1908 on Charles H. Loper. After the Vincent case, the law was changed to make the warden at the state penitentiary the state executioner. Before that, the sheriff was the official to carry out the death penalty on the mur- derer convicted in his county. Vincent's case is No. 651 in the register of criminal actions in the superior court of the county. He was informed against December 31, 1890, for the murder of wife, Anna L., on the 18th of the month. The trial before the late Judge S. A. Holmes opened March 11, 1891, continued for eleven days and ended March 24. Sentence of death was pro- nounced April 8. 1891, and two days later the death warrant was delivered to the sheriff. Appeal was taken, judgment affirmed August 25, 1893, and fixing time of execution under the original sentence was on September 21, 1893. On hanging day people climbed the trees around the jail for a view of the spectacle in the little court yard of the jail. The indecent curiosity of the populace was editorially commented upon in the newspapers of the day and rebuked. The record in the Vincent case is sufficient as to the pro- crastinations of the law in the prosecutions of that day. The attempted defense on the trial was that the act of homicide was not premeditated because the accused was an irresponsible dipsomaniac and drug user. The late County Recorder W. W. Machen was the foreman of the jury. There was little brought out at the trial to arouse sympathy for the prisoner. On the contrary, the showing was that the married life of the Vincents was any- thing but a happy one and that the suffering wife had been for years the victim of his cruelty and harshest treatment and neglect. There was not an extenuating circumstance in the case. The Vincent case is a notable mile- stone in the criminal annals of the county.

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 Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Volume I, Part 55

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858- Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company Number of Pages: 1362

Author: Vandor, Paul E., 1858-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company
Number of Pages: 1362