USA > California > Placer County > History of Placer county, California > Part 40
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7 53
13 13
1880-81
3,575 12
Drainage tax
7,705 41
Special School Tax.
1,465 80
Total received from all sources
8144,454 43
There was paid out during the fiscal year different amounts aggregating for each fund as follows :--
State Fund. 8 52,720 18
County General Fund 36,762 70
Hospital Fund . .
1-4.501 33
County School Fund
51 17
District School Fund.
35,348 49
General Road Fund
5.922 56
District Road Fund 6,389 56
Library Fund
2.189 27
Migratory Fund
245 46
Total paid during year
$154,131 32
These expenditures exceeded those of the preced- ing year, 818,612.09
CAUSES OF FINANCIAL, EMBARRASSMENT.
The exceedingly large number of eriminal cases. the refusal of the Central Pacific Railroad Company to pay its taxes, and the litigation forced upon the county by that company entailed expenses and embarrassments which exhausted the revenues of tie county and compelled the issuance of scrip for the first time in many years-the issue aggregating abont $10,000. At the close of the year the railroad company was delinquent in taxes about 870,000, and was still finding technicalities by which the collee- tion of the taxes could be avoided or deferred.
Of the many criminal trials more than one-third were for offenses committed against the railroad com- pany. One of the most expensive trials was that of a number of men charged with attempting to wreck a train of cars near Cape Horn, Angust 31, 1881. This trial, occurring in October, November and December, cost the county near 815,000, during all which time the railroad company refused to pay its taxes, forcing a great indebtedness upon the county, and the disgrace of issuing scrip for its cur rent expenses.
CONCLUSION.
A review of the financial history of Placer County gives evidence of a more than ordinarily well admin- istered condition of public affairs as compared with other county, State or municipal organization. The few errors committed appear to have been errors of judgment rather than of collusion, venality or crimin- ality, although some of the errors were quite serious. The transactions with the Central Pacific Railroad Company have been most embarrassing: first. from the great promises made in inducing a subscription to its stoek, followed by the refusal to pay taxes only upon rates of assessments made by the company's
498 70
174
HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
officers. the refusal to account to the county as a stockholder, the surreptitious manner of recovering the stock, the continued refusal to pay taxes, and the long and costly litigation enforced upon the county thereby. In the suits with the railroad com- pany the county has always triumphed, only when compromises have been effected, and as this history closes the prospect is fair of a final success With the large amount-some $70,000-paid into the Treasury, the financial condition will again be good. and a new Court House. so much desired. can be built to replace the veteran building which was the pride of the people near a generation ago.
JOSEPH WALKUP.
To write the life of Governor Walkup would be to write the history of Placer County from 1849 to 1873, the year of his demise: so active was be in all its public affairs, partaking of its organizations and government. exercising throughout a supervisory care. as if the whole burden rested upon his stalwart shoulders, and a trusting and confiding people depended upon him. upon his honor and ability to bear the trust to labor for their prosperity and pro- tect their rights. So nobly and ably did he respond to the call, that he may well be called the " Father of his County." The history of Placer contains the story of bis California life, even where his name is not mentioned. particularly in the preceding chapters on the political and financial history anterior to 1874.
Joseph Walkup was born December 25th, the Christmas day of the year of our Lord 1819, at Piqua in the County of Miami. State of Ohio. He was the third son of William and Sarah Walkup. the family consisting of three sons and three daugh- ters. The father died in 1836. after a long residence as a pioneer of Ohio, having settled in the pleasant valley of the Miami early in the present century, when the Indian war whoop and the names of Tecumseh, Pontiac. Black Hawk and Tippecanoe were familiar to the ears of the people. This was a stalwart family, as the blood of the ancestors proves in the high position and respectability of its numer- ous descendants. The elder brothers were, Ilon. Rankin Walkup. who represented bis native, Miami. District in several sessions of the Ohio Legislature, and Col. John Walkup. both distinguished men. In the days of their youth, Ohio was a frontier State, having been a member of the Union but eleven years at the time of the birth of Joseph, and Indiana and Illinois just admitted. the former in 1816 and the latter in Isis, with populations sufficient to entitle them to representation in Congress, then but little more than the population of Placer County at the present time. A vast wilderness of forest and prairie, of undulating hills and fertile river bottoms, abounding in game as deer, bear, wolves, foxes, rac- coons, squirrels. turkeys, partridges, quail, grouse, pigeons and waterfowl as no other land of the invigorating north making it a paradise to the
sportsman, and the happiest of homes for the front- iersman wherein to rear a family to health. inde- pendence, courage and true manhood. In such a country, with such surroundings, Joseph Walkup spent his youth and grew to man's estate.
In the society of the period, and in the far West. as was the country west of the Alleghanies, physical development, and moral and religious training were regarded as more important than scholastic culture; and the rudimentary schools of the country were regarded as sufficient to prepare youth for the æsthetic requirements of the world. the strong body, good habits. good sense, capacity for business, a manly trade, the country store or the farm being looked upon as the future dependence for livelihood. advancement and wealth; and one of the industrial courses all of respectability should pursue. The educational facilities were then very meager in com- parison to what they are at the present. but such as they were. young Joseph made the most of and acquired a fair knowledge of the elementary branches, which served him well in after years. At the age of' seventeen he was left an orphan by the death of his father, and soon thereafter started in the world after that higher education. a trade, to enable him to fight the battles of life. Like his namesake of old, he became a carpenter. This trade he pursued indus- triously for a number of years, first in his native State and afterwards at New Orleans, adding ship and steamboat building to his art. In this he was engaged, acquiring a knowledge of the world and of business, when. in the prime of bis strength and manhood came the news of the wonderful discoveries of gold in California, the newly-acquired territory ou the distant Pacific slope. This exciting news aroused to enthusiasm all the enterprising and adventurous youth and young men of the land, and Joseph Walkup, then in bis thirtieth year. joined the throng for the regions of gold.
Leaving New Orleans early in the spring of 1549, and procuring ox teams and an outfit in Missouri. crossed the plains, arriving in California in August of that year. Soon after his arrival in the fall of 1849, he located at Auburn, and in company with Samuel B. Wyman, engaged in business, establishing the mercantile house of Walkup & Wyman, so long and so favorably known to the people of Placer County. The acquisition of such a man. so upright in charae- ter, so steadfast in principle, so firm of purpose, yet genial, jovial, and of the manly east as formed in the western and workingman's mould. was a fortunate circumstance for the place. as a light and standard of respectability. a magnetic influence and power of justice and good order. In those days of merehan- dising, when gold-dust was plentiful and prices high, the profits of business were large, and the firm was prosperous. As a merchant, an active business man and alive to public affairs, he soon became known to the people at large.
In the organization of the State Government and
175
FINANCIAL HISTORY.
segregation into counties, the County of Sutter was made to embrace all the western portion of Placer, including Auburn. In the Legislature of 1851, the County of Placer was created, and in the organiza- tion of this Mr. Walkup was first called to official life. The Commissioners selected by the Legislature to designate the election precincts, appoint the officers of election, count the ballots and give com- missions to the successful candidates were Joseph Walkup, J. D. Fry, H. M. House, William Gwynn and Jonathan Roberts. This duty was properly performed and the office ceased.
While in business at Auburn, Messrs. Walkup & Wyman took possession of a large and fertile tract of land where Auburn Ravine debouches upon the plain near the present site of Lincoln, and from 1851, devoted their principal time and energies to the development of that property as rancheros, cultivat- ing the land, raising and dealing in stock. The farming lessons of his youth, bis skill as a carpenter and his business experience now came to the aid of Walkup, and greatly aided him in making the new enterprise a snecess, and this success led others to follow the example. As a pioneer and enterprising farmer he essayed the cultivation of wheat, and has the honor of harvesting the first crop of that cereal ever grown in the county. In July, 1853, he reported as his harvest of that year, 1,100 bushels of barley and 1,600 bushels of wheat, realizing for the crop the sum of 87,000. His farming was diversified, cultivating the various garden vegetables, and plant- ing fruit trees and vines as well as producing grain, hay and cattle. Thus, for ten years he was the leading farmer of Placer.
In August, 1852, he was unanimously nominated by the Democratie County Convention as the candi- date of the party for the State Senate, and at the election, which was held November 2d, received 2,716 votes, his opponent on the Whig ticket, James E. Hale, receiving 2,164, the majority for Walkup being 552. As a Senator, Mr. Walkup at once took a high standing, which he maintained through his term of two years. After the close of his term of office in 1854, he made a visit to his-native home, remaining a few months and returning to the land of his adoption. Again in 1856 he was called to public life, being re-elected to the Senate over two opposing candidates, Hiram R. Hawkins on the American ticket, and Curtis J. Hillyer on the Repub- lican. At the meeting of the Senate, Mr. Walkup was chosen President pro tem., a complimentary expression of his dignity and worth. During this session he strove with all his power to enact laws that would enable his county to extricate itself from the heavy indebtedness that had accrued during the several years past, and in this he was successful. as is shown in the financial history of the county. As a triumph of legislation, it is a brilhant example in the political history of California. Having been so instrumental in freeing his county from debt, and
placing its business upon a cash basis, he struggled during the remainder of his life to so continue it and maintain its integrity. At this time the affairs of the State Prison were in the worst possible condition, that institution being conducted under a lease and contract with Gen. James M. Estell, who had sub- let it to John F. McCanley and others. To rescue this from the grasp of the contractors, under whom it was costing the State an unreasonable amount of money and bringing humanity to utter degradation. was the aim and labor of Senator Walkup. In this, however, he did not immediately succeed, but the movement was afoot and subsequently the desired object was gained.
So active, patriotic and determined an officer did not go unnoticed. Although not an eloquent speaker, he was a thorough business man, a clear-headed writer and earnest worker, therefore among his associates he obtained a high reputation, which soon became acknowledged throughout the State. Wirt. in bis "Life of Patrick Henry," relates that when Mr. Henry opened the Continental Congress at Phil- adelphia, in 1774, with one of the grandest oratorical efforts ever listened to by mortal cars, followed by the eloquent Lee, a Mr. Chase, a delegate from Mary- land. walked across the house to the seat of his col- league and said to him, in an under voice, " We might as well go home; we are not able to legislate with these men." But after the llouse came to details the same Mr. Chase was heard to remark, " Well. after all, I find these are but men, and in matters of business but very common men."
As a worker did Joseph Walkup come to the front and make himself popular with the people of the State, and in the campaign of 1857 he was nom- inated as one of the standard bearers on the Demo- cratie ticket-John B. Weller for Governor and Joseph Walkup for Lieutenant-Governor. U'pon receiving the nomination he resigned his position as Senator, having served one session, and in Septem- ber was triumphantly elected, leading the ticket by many votes.
As Lieutenant-Governor he was President of the Senate, over whose sessions he presided with dignity and great satisfaction to all. Upon the adjournment of the Legislature the Sacramento Union, the leading paper of the State, and of opposite polities to Gor ernor Walkup, said :-
When the hour of 12 arrived yesterday . Monday April 26, 1858) Lieutenant-Governor Walkup rose. and, reading the joint resolution to adjourn, previ ously adopted. declared the Senate adjourned sine die. He exhibited the good taste not to make a speech on the occasion, but conducted himself like a straightforward, honest, business man, as he undoubt- edly is. Without making any pretension to extra qualifications, he is. as a presiding officer, superior to any we have seen in that desk since the State was organized. The Lieutenant Governor is a strong partisan, but he is, we believe, an honest one, and discharges his publie duties without fear or favor.
176
HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
The Legislature had authorized a commission con- sisting of the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and Secretary of State, to take charge of the State Prison, which was done, and Lieutenant-Governor Walkup was placed in charge as Chief Warden. The condition of affairs at the prison, and of the prison- ers, was bad in the extreme, but with the energy and business ability of Governor Walkup order was gradually restored, and the expenses greatly reduced, while the discipline of the prisoners and their condition were much improved. The leasing of the prison to Estell, its management, and the long controversy attending its recovery and settlement of damages, constitute important chapters in the polit- ical history of California. The expenditures at the prison, which bad formerly been about $25,000 per month, were, under the management of Walkup, brought down to $5,000.
February 1, 1859, the Board of State Prison Com- missioners reported to the Legislature, adding the following note :-
Great credit is due to Lieutenant-Governor Walkup for the rigid economy practiced in the management of the institution. lle spent his whole time at the prison in discharging the duties of Chief Warden, and as there are some doubts whether the com- pensation allowed by the tenth section of the Act creating the Board can be legally drawn. we recommend legislating to remove the difficulty. Ifc has received for his services only $75 per month, a compensation of course wholly inadequate to the position which he occupies.
(Signed )
JOHN B. WELLER, FERRIS FORMAN.
In May, 1859, the prison was returned to the keeping of the contractors under a writ of restitu- tion, the Act authorizing the Commissioners to take possession being declared unconstitutional, and Gov- ernor Walkup was relieved of further duties in that quarter. There remained, however, a controversy regarding the payment of his salary while acting as Warden. The Statute under which the Board acted authorized the payment of $10 per diem to the Warden, and $75 per month for the expenses of each Commissioner.
In the political campaign of 1860, Governor Walkup entered the list as a candidate for the Sen- ate, having received the nomination at the hands of the Democratic County Convention. In this cam- paign the Democratic party was divided into Breck- enridge and Douglas wings, Walkup adhering to the former as the regular nomince of the party for the Presidency, and, in his opinion, as representing the principles of the party and the Constitution. Four parties were in the field, denominated Democratic, Douglas Democratic, Republican and Union, and. notwithstanding the great popularity of Governor Walkup, which carried him largely ahead of his ticket, the honors were won by Philip W. Thomas. as a Douglas Democrat. From this date his party, for many years, was in a hopeless minority, yet he
did not despair, but, believing himself right, contin- ued active in politics, and attempting such direction of affairs as he thought best for the country.
In the spring of 1861 he again returned to the land of bis nativity in the pleasant valley of the Miami, where he remained until the following spring. While there he formed a most happy matrimonial alliance, being married at Sidney, Shelby County, Ohio, on the 17th of April, 1862, by the Rev. W. B. Spence, to Miss Elizabeth A. Elliott, a resident of that place. Shortly after the marriage, he returned, with his fair bride, to Placer County, arriving near the close of May. 1862, most heartily welcomed by his many friends, and congratulated upon bis happy change of condition, and Mrs. Walkup as warmly received, as a most gratifying addition to the society she was destined in the future to adorn. Governor Walkup now made his home in Auburn, where he continued to reside.
As usual he continued in the political arena, and in the Democratie County Convention of August, 1862, represented Auburn as one of its delegates. By this Convention he was nominated for the Senate as maintaining the organization of the party with- out hope of election, the Republicans being in the majority. Then the terrible war of the Rebellion was raging, and men's passions were aroused to overpower their judgment. Walkup had grown to manhood and to maturity in the West and South. impressed with the sacredness of the Constitution and the constitutionality and patriarchal origin of the institution of slavery ; devoted to the principle of the independence of the States in all domestic mat- ters and that this was essential to maintaining the liberties of the people from encroachment by the overwhelming votes of great States or the centrali- zation of power in a distant and unappreciative cen- tral government, and that the Democratic party was the embodiment of these principles. With these principles so deeply imbedded into his being so as to become his gospel of faith, he could admit of no rea- son or excuse for the rise of a party in opposition which threatened to overthrow and obliterate every tenet of his sacred dogmas. With many Demo- erats oflike education and belief, he maintained that coercion was unconstitutional and was unnecessary to preserve the Union, and these principles he con- scientiously maintained throughout the fearful strug- gle and through the period of reconstruction.
During several succeeding years Governor Walkup remained in private life, enjoying his well-earned honors and fortune in a happy domestic life, spending a portion of his time among his friends in the East, whither he went in 1865 with his family, now increased by a promising daughter, Miss Jeanette E., born at Auburn. February 23, 1864. A son, Charles C'arrol Walkup, born at Anburn, on the 27th of Jan- uary, 1863: died in infancy. In November, 1867. Governor Walkup became editorially connected with the Placer Herald, but did not announce himself as
PHOTOGRAPHED BY J. M JACOBS
Joseph Walkup.
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FINANCIAL HISTORY.
editor and proprietor until the 11th of January, 1868. In his " Introductory " he expresses his lasting faith in the principles of " the great, everlasting, orthodox truths of the American Democracy," which he would continue to advocate, with what ability, nature, education, and experience had bestowed upon him. In conclusion he says :-
" To the interests of Placer County we will devote much time and space. Her interests, her rights, and her welfare lie near our heart, we having been a citizen of her territory long before she was a coun- ty, and, having continued to make this our home for more than eighteen years, we feel that her inter- ests and prosperity are in a measure our own. Throughout her whole history we have labored with all the ability we possessed, for her honor, pros- perity, and welfare, advocating what we deemed for her good, and opposing (no matter who favored) every measure we regarded as being injurious to her or her citizens."
With his editorial responsibility, in the interest of the county which he regarded as his own, be assumed a task of Herculean magnitude. In this contest was the battle of his life. However much he has distin- guisbed himself in the politics of the State and in the restoration of his beloved county to a cash pay- ing basis, and placing her superior to any in the State, his career as an editor outshone all his former efforts in its ability, self-sacrifice, adherence to prin- ciple, incorruptibleness and steadfast purpose in the interest of the people. A great and selfish monopoly dominated the politics and business of the county, aided by its money and enjoying its protection, yet adding burdens to its Treasury, and refusing its just quota of taxation. To correct this evil, and protect the interests of the county were the objects of his greatest efforts, and most vigorously and ably did he maintain the contest. Much he won as the immedi- ate result of his labors, and his statements and arguments made such an impression as to effect the policy of his county and the State through many subsequent years when the author had ceased life's contests and gone where the weary are at rest.
This monopoly was the Central Pacific Railroad Company, whose contests upon the subjects of sub- sidy and taxation are related in the financial history of the county. This controversy led to personal ani- mosities where friendship had formerly existed, and to annoying litigation. In the latter, however, he triumphed, but it embittered the closing years of his life. Bitterly did he denounce those who bowed down before the railroad power, either through fear, for the patronizing influences of wealth, in the hopes that thrift might follow fawning, or by the direct bribery of gold in hand. Whether friend or foe, Democrat or other, he spared none who dishonestly deserted a public canse for that of an oppressing cor- poration. As an example of his vigorons treatment of his derelict party is the following. In 1870 the State was governed by the Democracy, over whose
success at the election in 1869 Governor Walkup rejoiced with exceeding great joy. The Democratic Legislature not only refused to pass any bill affect- ing fares and freights, or other measure demanded by the people, respecting the railroad, but enacted a subsidy law whereby certain counties were empow- ered to subscribe $6,000 per mile in aid of a rail- road through them, and had defeated a bill to pre- vent Chinese being employed in constructing the roads so subsidized. Upon the defeat of the last- named bill, Governor Walkup, in the Herald, said:
How must these Senators feel after such an act of injustice against the very men who voted for them and pay the taxes they thus squander on Mongo- lian labor. The white men now pay $120,000 a year to a single company that denies them employment, and pays their hard-earned taxes over to Chinese laborers. Some of these same Senators voted for bills to crush the white taxpayers in aid of railroads through the southern counties, and then turn and vote to allow the companies to employ Chinese on the works, to the exclusion of the very white men taxed to pay Mongolians. Could infamy be more infamous? We have the names of these Senators, and shall publish them, that all white men may be warned against voting for them should they ever iu the future aspire to publie positions. These Senators were quite willing to vote a debt on the white tax- payers of Kern County of some 8480,000, but when asked to vote for a bill which would compel the recipients of this vast sum to expend the money on white laborers, they refuse. This was a bill to which there could be no constitutional objections, and eow- ardice, fear of a wealthy corporation, or downright treachery governed their action. One Senator said he should like to vote for the bill, but that his desire for railroads was so superior to the white laborer (or language to that effect) that he must vote against it. Most assuredly the white voter will think too much of himself to vote for such men for office in thefuture.
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