USA > California > Mendocino County > History of Mendocino County, California : comprising its geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber > Part 33
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
19
290
HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
of the Court-house, in fact is a part of the same building. The floor of the court of the jail is made of concrete; the size of this court is sixteen by eight- een feet; there are four iron tank cells on the lower floor, each four feet wide by cight feet long and eight feet high ; up stairs there is one large iron tank cell, the one which was used in the old jail.
On the 24th day of April, 1872, the contract for the new county buildings was awarded to A. P. Pettit, they to be completed by January 1, 1873, for the fulfillment of which contract he was required to give bonds in the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars. He was to receive the sum of thirty-eight thousand four hundred and ninety-nine dollars in county bonds for the work, payable as follows : Eight thousand dollars when one-fourth of the work was done; eight thousand dollars when one-half of the work was done; eight thousand dollars when three-fourths of the work was done, and the remainder when the buildings were completed and accepted by the Board of Supervisors. W. E. Willis was appointed as superintendent of construction. The Bill as it was passed by the Legislature required that an iron fence be constructed around the building, but from some cause or other that provision was never complied with and the city of Ukiah, in later years put up the present very tasteful fence and has also done all that been done so far towards ornamenting the grounds. The order of the Board was that the front of the new Court-house should be towards the east, and fifty feet back from State street, and that the building should be located in the center of the plaza, north and south. The contents of the corner-stone of the old Court-house were ordered to be placed in the corner-stone of the new. While the build- ings were being erected the county offices were removed to the upper story of Hoffman's store on the corner of Perkins and State streets. The old build- ing was disposed of and torn down. The old jail was purchased by I. Isaacs for the sum of $115.00, on the 13th day of March, 1873. It was continued in use until the new one was completed.
The new building affords ample room for all the required needs at present and will for many years to come. The lower floor has a main hall extending westward from the front entrance to a transverse hall which extends north and south through the rear of the center of the building. On the north side and opening out of the main hall are the Board of Supervisors' room, and the Clerk's office, and to the south are the Treasurer's and the Recorder's offices. On the east side of the transverse hall, and on the north side of the main hall is the District Attorney's office and on the south side of the main hall is the office of the Superintendent of Schools. On the west side of the trans- verse hall is the Sheriff's office and the jail, the entrance to the latter being only through the former. Two wide flights of stairs lead up from either side of the main hall to the upper story. Here, at the east end of the build- ing, is a very capacious and neatly-arranged court-room, with jury-rooms, and witness retaining-rooms off from either side of it. On the north side of the
291
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY.
building are the Assessor's offices and the Judge's chambers, while on the south side is the Grand Jury room, with doors leading to the upper story of the jail so that prisoners can be brought from the jail to the Grand Jury room unobserved, and thus the utmost secresy can be maintained concerning the action of the jury. Taken altogether this is one of the handsomest and best-arranged county buildings to be found in the State of California, and certainly does great credit to the people of Mendocino county.
From time to time the Legislature has given the Board of Supervisors authority to levy special taxes for county and other purposes. The first Act of that character was approved April 13, 1859, which gave them the right to levy a special tax of thirty-five cents on the one hundred dollars for county purposes. The first rate of taxation ever fixed by the Board was one dollar and sixty-five cents on the one hundred dollars. Since then, the rates have varied according to the demand for means, ranging from one dollar and seventy- five cents upwards.
October 23, 1863, as W. H. Tainter, Sheriff of Mendocino county, was crossing Elk creek, a small stream about eight miles south of Nevarra, he was accidentally drowned, and on January 15, 1864, an Act of the Legis- lature was approved granting the authority to the county to hold a special election to fill the vacancy caused by his death.
By an Act of the Legislature, approved April 1, 1864, Mendocino county was placed in the Third Congressional district, and has since remained in it, although a new district has been created since then.
March 28, 1868, an Act was approved granting to Mendocino county five more Notaries Public.
An Act approved March 30, 1868, established the legal distances from Ukiah as follows : To Sacramento City, two hundred and'twenty-five miles; to Stockton, two hundred and twenty-one miles, and to San Quentin, one hundred and ten miles.
The Governor signed a Bill on the 8th day of January, 1872, making the offices of County Clerk and Recorder separate in Mendocino county. From the organization of the county the Clerk had been ex-officio Recorder, but the duties of the office had increased so much that it was impossible for one man to attend to all of them. The first Recorder elected took possession of his office on the first Monday in March, 1874.
By a Statute of February 29, 1864, the Treasurer was made ex-officio Tax- Collector, and provision was inade for the addition of one-half of one per cent on the one hundred dollars to his former salary, to compensate him for the extra duties this additional service would entail upon him.
292
HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
POLITICAL HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY.
OWING to the fact that Mendocino county was, to all intents and purposes a part of Sonoma county up till 1859, we will include in this sketch that part of the early political history of Sonoma county, extending up till the date of the separation of the two counties.
Prior to the acquisition of California by the Government of the United States, the large District of Sonoma, which included all the territory between the Sacramento river and the ocean on the one hand, and Oregon and the Bay of San Francisco on the other, was under the rule of the Mexican Gov- ernment, and divided into Prefectures, amenable to a Grand Council at Sonoma, the holders of office being designated by the Spanish name of Alcalde. It will be seen that the present territory of Mendocino county was comprised in these boundaries. Between the years 1846 and 1849 the country remained under the control of the military. Let us see what was the state of the political horizon during that time. According to Tuthill-as to civil law, the country was utterly at sea. It had a Governor in the per- son of the commandant of the military district it belonged to, but no gov- ernment. While the war lasted, California, as a conquered province, expected to be governed by military officers, who, by virtue of their com- mand of the department, bore sway over all the territory that their department embraced. But after peace had come and the succession of military Governors was not abated, a people who had been in the habit of governing themselves, under the same flag and the same constitution, chafed that a simple change of longitude should deprive them of their inalienable rights.
The first civil officer in Sonoma, was John Nash, who was commissioned by General Kearny as Alcalde of the district. This man, so legendary report states, had a most wonderfully exalted idea of the dignity of his office, and assumed ministerial as well as judicial powers. He had a very curious way of signing himself "Chief Justice of California." At length he was removed by the military Governor, but he refused to acknowledge the authority of that arm of our Government over the judicial branch, especially the exalted position held by him, hence he sought to retain the office. Lieuten- ant-now General William T. Sherman-was sent in quest of him, and finally succeeded in capturing and bringing him before Governor Mason at Monterey, who reprimanded and released him. This first civil officer of the District of Sonoma-" Chief Justice Nash " as he called himself, and 1
293
POLITICAL HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY.
" Squire Nash " as he was generally called-was a good-natured man, illiter- ate, but honest. When the rumors of gold reached Sonoma, Squire Nash was employed by a number of persons to go to the gold mines and spy out the land, and if there were the "millions in it," which rumor said there was, to return and report to them. This was in 1848, and he returned with gold-dust to the value of eight hundred and thirty-seven dollars. He then went to Mormon Island with a party of Sonoma miners, and died there that winter. He was succeeded in office by Lilburn W. Boggs, ex-Governor of Missouri, a man eminently capable of performing the functions of the position, as the records of his office still extant in the County Clerk's office in Santa Rosa will fully establish.
General Persifer F. Smith, who assumed command on arriving by the California, the first steamship that reached San Francisco (February 28, 1849), and General Riley, who succeeded him (April 13, 1849), would have been acceptable Governors enough, if the people could have discovered any- where in the Constitution that the President had power to govern a territory by a simple order to the commandant of a military department. The power was obvious in time of war, but in peace it was unprecedented. Left entirely to themselves, the people could have organized a " squatter sover- eignty," as Oregon had done, and the way into the sisterhood of States was clear.
They felt that they had cause for complaint, but in truth they were too busy to nurse their grievance and make much of it. To some extent they formed local governments, and had unimportant collisions with the military. But, busy as they were, and expecting to return home soon, they humored their contempt for politics, and left public matters to be shaped at Washing- ton. Nor was this so unwise a course under the circumstances, for the thing that had hindered Congress from giving them a legitimate and constitutional government was the ever-present snag in the current of American political history, the author of most of our woes, the great mother of mischief on the western continent - slavery.
When it was found that Congress had adjourned without doing anything for California, Brigadier-General Riley, by the advice, he said, of the Presi- dent and Secretaries of State and of War, issued a proclamation, which was at once a call for a Convention, and an official exposition of the Administra- tion's theory of the anomalous relations of California and the Union. He strove to rectify the impression that California was governed by the military arm of the service ; that had ceased with the termination of hostilities. What remained was the civil government, recognized by the existing laws of California. These were vested in a Governor, who received his appoint- ment from the Supreme Government, or, in default of such appointment, the office was vested in the commanding military officer of the department, a Secretary, a Departmental or Territorial Legislature, a Superior Court with
294
HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
four Judges, a Prefect and sub-Prefect and a Judge of the First Instance for each district, Alcaldes, local Justices of the Peace, ayuntamientos, or Town Councils. He moreover recommended the election, at the same time, of delegates to a Convention to adopt either a State or Territorial Constitution, which, if acquiesced in by the people, would be submitted to Congress for approval.
In June, 1849, a proclamation was issued announcing an election to be held on the 1st of August, to appoint delegates to a general Convention to form a State Constitution, and for filling the offices of Judge of the Superior Court, Prefects, sub-Prefects, and First Alcalde or Judge of the First Instance; such appointments to be made by General Riley after being voted for. The delegates elected to the Convention from the District of Sonoma were General Vallejo, Joel Walker, R. Semple. L. W. Boggs was elected but did not attend.
The manifesto calling the Constitutional Convention divided the electoral divisions of the State into ten districts ; each male inbabitant of the county, of twenty-one years of age, could vote in the district of his residence, and the delegates so elected were called upon to meet at Monterey, on September 1, 1849. The number of delegates was fixed at thirty-seven, five of whoni were appointed to San Francisco.
As was resolved, the Convention met at Monterey on the date above named, Robert Semple, of Benicia, one of the delegates from the District of Sonoma, being chosen President. The session lasted six weeks; and, not- withstanding an awkward scarcity of books of reference and other necessary aids, much labor was performed, while the debates exhibited a marked degree of ability. In framing the original Constitution of California, 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 matters dis- cussed.
In Angust General Riley isssued commissions to Stephen Cooper, appoint- ing him Judge of the First District, and C. P. Wilkins Prefect of the District of Sonoma, while one of General Riley's last appointments before the adoption of the Constitution was that of Richard A. Maupin, well remembered among the district's old residents, to be Judge of the Superior Tribunal, in place of Lewis Dent, resigned. Another well-known pioneer who was at the Convention from Sacramento county, was Major Jacob R. Snyder, a resident of Sonoma till his death.
We find that the "Superior Tribunal of California" existed at Monterey in 1849; for, in September of that year a "Tariff of fees for Judicial Officers" was published, with the following order of the Court : " That the several officers mentioned in this order shall be entitled to receive for their
295
POLITICAL HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY.
services, in addition to their regular salaries, if any, the following fees, and none others, until the further order of this Court." Here is added a list of the fees to be appropriated by Judges of the First Instance, Alcaldes, and Justices of the Peace, Clerks of the several courts, Sheriff or Comisario, District Attorney, and Notaries Public.
We have already said that Stephen Cooper was appointed Judge of First Instance for the District of Sonoma. He commenced his labors in that office in October, 1849, as appears in the early record of the proceedings of that Court extant in the office of the County Clerk of Solano county. The record of one of the cases tried before Judge Cooper is reproduced as an instance of the quick justice that obtained in 1849 :-
The people of California Territory vs. George Palmer. And now comes the said people by right of their attorney, and the said defendant by Semple and O'Melveny, and the prisoner having been arraigned on the indictment in this cause, plead not guilty. Thereupon a jury was chosen, selected and sworn, when, after hearing the evidence and arguments of counsel, returned into Court the following verdict, to wit :
" The jury, in the case of Palmer, defendant, and the State of California, plaintiff, have found a verdict of guilty on both counts of the indictment, and sentenced him to receive the following punishment, to wit :-
" On Saturday, the 24th day of November, to be conducted by the Sheriff to some public place, and there receive ou his bare back seventy-five lashes, with such a weapon as the Sheriff may deem fit, on each count respectively, and to be banished from the District of Sonoma within twelve hours after whipping, under the penalty of receiving the same number of lashes for each and every day he remains in the district after the first whipping.
" (Signed) ALEXANDER RIDDELL, Foreman.
" It is therefore ordered by the Court, in accordance with the above ver- dict, that the foregoing sentence be carried into effect."
The Constitution was duly framed, submitted to the people, and at the election held on the thirteenth of November, ratified by them, and adopted by a vote of twelve thousand and sixty-four for it, and eleven against it; there being, besides, over twelve hundred ballots that were treated as blanks, because of an informality in the printing.
We here reproduce two of the tickets which were voted at the time, and were distributed in and around Sacramento and the upper portion of the State :-
296
HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
PEOPLE'S TICKET.
FOR THE CONSTITUTION.
FOR GOVERNOR, John A. Sutter. FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, John MeDougal. 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.
FOR ASSEMBLY,
H. C. Cardwell, Sacramento City, P. B. Cornwall, Sacramento City, John S. Fowler, Sacramento City, J. Sherwood,
Elisha W. MeKinstry, Madison Waltham, Coloma,
W. B. Diekenson, Yuba,
James Queen, South Fork, W. L. Jenkin, Weaverville.
PEOPLE'S TICKET.
FOR THE CONSTITUTION.
FOR GOVERNOR,
Peter H. Burnett.
FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, John MeDougal.
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.
FOR ASSEMBLY,
H. C. Cardwell, Sacramento City, P. B. Cornwall, Sacramento City, John S. Fowler, Sacramento City, H. S. Lord, Upper Sacramento, Madison Waltham, Coloma, W. B. Dickenson, Yuba, James Queen, South Fork, Arba K. Berry, Weaverville.
The result of the election was : Peter H. Burnett, Governor; John MeDougal, Lieutenant - Governor; and Edward Gilbert and George W. Wright sent to Congress. The District of Sonoma polled at this election but five hundred and fifty-two votes, four hundred and twenty-four of which were for Burnett. Of the representatives sent from Sonoma, General Vallejo went to the Senate, and J. S. Bradford and J. E. Brackett to the Assembly. Some difficulty would appear to have risen at this election, for Mr. R. A. Thompson says : "General Vallejo's seat was first given to James Speet, but on the twenty-second of December, the committee reported that the official return from Larkin's Ranch gave Speet but two votes instead of twenty- eight, a total of but one hundred and eighty - one votes against General Vallejo's one hundred and ninety-nine." Mr. Speet then gave up his seat to General Vallejo.
We now produce the following interesting record of some of those who
297
POLITICAL HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY.
formed the first California Legislature, not because it bears specially on our subject, but as a matter of curiosity, interest and reference :-
The following is from the Colusa Sun of April 26th :
" Hon. John S. Bradford, of Springfield, Illinois, who was a member of the first California Legislature, procured from some of his colleagues a short biographical sketch. Thinking it might be a matter of interest to the people of California at the present time, he sends it to us. We have the original document, with the sketches in the handwriting of each member. Most of these gentlemen have figured conspicuously in the history of the State since, but we believe there are but few now living. Three of the sketches-Jose M. Covarrubias, M. G. Vallejo, and Pablo de la Guerra, are written in Spanish, but we have had them translated.
" Senators. - David F. Douglass-Born in Sumner county, Tennessee, the eighth of January, 1821. Went to Arkansas with Fulton in 1836. On the seventeenth of March, 1839, had a fight with Dr. Wm. Howell, in which H. was killed; imprisoned fourteen months; returned home in 1842; immi- grated to Mississippi; engaged in the Choctaw speculation ; moved with the Choctaws West as a clerk; left there for Texas in the winter of 1845-6. War broke out ; joined Hay's regiment; from Mexico immigrated to California, and arrived here as wagoner in December, 1848 .- -M. G. Vallejo-Born in Monterey, Upper California, July 7, 1807. On the first of January 1825, he commenced his military career in the capacity of cadet. He served successively in the capacity of Lieutenant, Captain of cavalry, Lieu- tenant-Colonel, and General Commandant of Upper California. In 1835 he went to Sonoma county and founded the town of Sonoma, giving land for the same. He was a member of the Convention in 1849, and Senator in 1850 .- Elean Heydenfeldt-Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Sep- tember 15, 1821; immigrated to Alabama in 1841; from thence to Louisiana in 1844; to California in 1849. Lawyer by profession .- Pablo de la Guerra-Born in Santa Barbara, Upper California, November 29,1819. At the age of nineteen he entered the public service. He was appointed Ad- ministrator-General " de la rentas," which position he held when California was taken by the American forces. From that time he lived a private life until he was named a member of the Convention which framed the Consti- tution of the State. Represents the district of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo in the Senate -- S. E. Woodworth-Born in the city of New York, November 15, 1815 ; commenced career as a sailor, A. D. 1832. Sailed from New York March 9, 1834. Entered the navy of the United States June 14, 1838. Immigrated to California, via Rocky Mountains and Oregon, April 1, 1846. Resignation accepted by Navy Department, October 29, 1849. Elected to represent the district of Monterey in the first Senate of the first Legislature of California for the term of two years .- Thos. L. Vermeule Born in New Jersey on the 11th of June, 1814; immigrated to California
298
HISTORY OF MENDOCINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
November 12, 1846. Did represent San Joaquin district in the Senate. Re- signed .--- W. D. Fair-Senator from the San Joaquin district, Califor- nia ; native of Virginia ; immigrated to California from Mississippi in Feb- ruary, 1849, as " President of the Mississippi Rangers; " settled in Stockton, San Joaquin district, as an attorney-at-law. -Elisha O. Crosby-Sen- ator from Sacramento District ; native of New York State; immigrated from New York December 25, 1848; aged thirty-four .--- D. C. Broderick-Sen- ator from San Francisco ; born in Washington City, D. C., February 4, 1818 ; immigrated from Washington to New York City, March, 1824; left New York for California, April 17, 1849 .- E. Kirby Chamberlin, M. D .--- President pro tem. of the Senate, from the district of San Diego; born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, April 24, 1805 ; immigrated from Connecticut to Onondago county, New York, in 1815 ; thence to Beaver, Pennsylvania, in 1829; thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1842; served as Surgeon in the United States Army during the war with Mexico ; appointed Surgeon to the Bound- ary Line Commission, February 10, 1840; embarked from Cincinnati, Ohio, February, 15; arrived in San Diego, June 1, 1849, and in San José, December 12, 1849 .- J. Bidwell-Born in Chautauqua county, New York, 5th of August, 1819; immigrated to Pennsylvania; thence to Ohio; thence to Mis- souri; thence in 1841 to California; term in Senate one year .----- H. C. Robinson, Senator from Sacramento; elected November 15, 1849; born in the State of Connecticut; immigrated at an early age to Louisiana; educated as a lawyer, but engaged in commercial pursuits; arrived at San Francisco, February, 1849, per steamer California, the first that ever entered said port. -Benjamin S. Lippincott -Senator from San Joaquin ; born in New York ; immigrated February, 1846, from New Jersey ; by pursuit a mer- chant; elected for two years.
Assemblymen .- Elam Brown-Born in the State of New York in 1797 ; emigrated from Massachusetts in 1805 ; to Illinois in 1818 ; to Missouri, 1837; and from Platte county, in Missouri, 1846, to California .- J. S. K. Ogier-Born in Charleston, South Carolina; immigrated to New Orleans, 1845, and from there to California, December 18, 1848 .---- E. B. Bateman, M. D .- Emigrated from Missouri, April, 1847 ; residence, Stockton, Alta California .- Edmund Randolph-Born in Richmond, Virginia ; immi- grated to New Orleans, 1843; thence to California, 1849; residence, San Francisco. E. P. Baldwin-Born in Alabama; emigrated from thence in January, 1849; arrived in California, May 1, 1850; represents San Joa- quin district; resides in Sonora, Tuolumne county .- -A. P. Crittenden- Born in Lexington, Kentucky; educated in Ohio, Alabama, New York and Pennsylvania; settled in Texas in 1839; came to California in 1849; repre- sents the county of Los Angeles .- Alfred Wheeler-Born in the city of New York, the 30th day of April, 1820 ; resided in New York City until the 21st of May, 1849, when he left for California. Citizen and
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.