History of Sacramento 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, 1923, Part 29

Author: Reed, G. Walter
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1026

USA > California > Sacramento County > History of Sacramento 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, 1923 > Part 29

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In the meantime Edwards had gone East and was confined in a state prison there.

One of the most remarkable murders in the records of crime was that of a rancher on Grand Island named A. M. Tullis, who was killed August 1, 1878, and was found dead in his orchard. He was a bachelor living alone on his ranch, and no motive could be found for the murder, as he was not known to have any enemies and no property was taken. Some little time afterwards some pieces of lumber, evidently part of a duck boat, were found in the tules on the opposite side of the river, further down, and on one of them was a cal- culation of lumber surface. The board was taken to the various lumber yards in this city and finally identified by a salesman as made by himself. The lumber had been purchased by a Swede named Edward Anderson, who was curious about the method of figuring, and the salesman had explained to him and repeated the figures on one of the boards purchased. The drayman who delivered the lumber stated that he delivered it at the house of Troy Dye, at that time public administrator. The neigh- bors stated that a boat was made in the base- ment of the house and an expressman took the boat to the river. Parties had seen two men passing down the river in an unpainted boat, and described them. Dye and Anderson were arrested and confined in separate cells, and both confessed fully. Dye had agreed with Anderson and a gambler named Tom Lawton to kill a number of wealthy persons in the county who had no relatives in the state, in order that he might make commissions by ad- ministering their estates, and divide them with those who killed them. Tullis was selected as the first victim, and Anderson and Lawton went to his ranch in the duck boat. They met him in his orchard and while in conversation with him, Anderson struck him with a sand bag and Lawton shot him. They then rowed across the river and started up the road, where Dye met them by appointment in a buggy, the agreed signal being that he should whistle "The Sweet Bye and Bye." They returned to Sacramento and on the same night Anderson returned to his work on a threshing machine in Sutter County. It was agreed that in case of danger a letter should be written to him, signed with a fictitious name, underscored once or more, to indicate the degree of danger. On August 8 a letter was sent to Anderson with the signature double-underscored, as follows: "John A. Parker, Esq .:

"Your child is very sick. You must come home at once. It would be well to come down in the night. It would be so much cooler for you. Call at the Doctor's new house. I will be there.

"Yours in haste, "Charles Parker."

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Anderson came down and was arrested by the officers, who were watching for him. Law- ton got wind of danger and was never cap- tured. Dye and Anderson were convicted and executed in the jail yard March 28, 1879. The defense of Dye was on the ground that sev- eral years before he had received an injury which had caused a lesion of his brain and con - sequent insanity, and there was a division of opinion among medical witnesses on the sub- ject. After his conviction a sheriff's jury de- clared him sane.

On the afternoon of April 10, 1882, a tragedy occurred that would have caused a lynching if the militia had not been called out to protect the jail. Simon Raten, a Siberian, had been beaten in a quarrel with a man and had ap- plied for a warrant and been refused. He pro- cured a revolver and meeting the man on K Street, near Fourth, took a shot at him and ran away, followed by a number of people. While passing up an alley between K and L. Third and Fourth Streets, James Lansing, proprietor of the International Hotel, ran out and tried to stop him. Raten shot him in the stomach and he died that evening in great agony. Lansing had been sheriff and assessor, and had a host of friends. Excitement ran high, and several thousand people surrounded the city prison. threatening summary vengeance on Raten. The mayor addressed the crowd, urging them to let the law take its course, but to no avail. The militia were summoned and drove the crowd away, and a gatling gun was placed in the prison door, ready for action. Raten was placed on trial a month later and convicted.

At the same time Joseph Hurtado shot and killed a man named Estuardo at Front and I Streets and was convicted and sentenced to hang. The attorneys for Raten and Hurtado appealed their cases to the state supreme court, but to no avail. They then carried them to the supreme court of the United States, on the ground that any information filed by a district attorney under the provisions of the state con- stitution was void, and that no man could be put on trial for a felony until after he had been indicted by a grand jury. It was further claimed that the state constitution contra- vened the federal constitution, but the United States supreme court in an elaborate opinion held the point was not well taken and the men were resentenced to death. Raten meanwhile gave indications of insanity and was sent to Stockton. He was kept there in the asylum for a number of years, but was discharged some years ago as cured. On his way to Sacramento he met some Japanese and with- out provocation killed one of them near Hicks- ville. He was tried, and was recommitted at Stockton, where we believe he died. Hurtado

died of consumption in the county jail before the day set for his execution.

In March, 1888, John Lowell went from his ranch near Brighton to his other ranch in El- dorado County, about seven miles from Fol- som. Not returning, search was made for him and his body was found buried under his Eldorado cabin on June 2. Three men, John Henry Myers, John Olson and William Drager, brought some horses, a buggy and harness of Lowell's to this city and sold them openly. They were arrested, made a full con- fession that they had gone to Lowell's ranch ostensibly to cut wood, and that while they were going out to look at the wood, one of them had shot Lowell with a shotgun, their motive being robbery. They were taken to Placerville, convicted and hung. Lowell some years before had trouble with some parties near Brighton, in which he shot and killed a man named Joseph Bowers, but was tried and acquitted.

On the morning of December 30, 1894, the community was horrified to learn that F. H. Weber, a grocer living on L Street near Thir- teenth, had been brutally murdered, together with his wife. They lived over the grocery store and were found lying on the floor, their skulls cloven with a sharp instrument, and a bloody hatchet near by told the tale. Robbery was evidently the object, as the house had been ransacked. No clue was to be found by the officers, who worked assiduously, and it bade fair to be one of those mysterious affairs that are never solved. The theory was ad- vanced by a man who had traveled in Europe and Asia, that the method of murder indicated it was probably done by a Russian or a Finn, the ax being a favorite weapon with those na- tionalities. But as time rolled on the mystery did not clear up, and it began to be classed as one of the cases that would always remain un- solved. The various clues that had been fol- lowed up proved false. But the old saying that "murder will out" was once more verified, although it was nearly six months before the discovery came through the drunken statement of the murderer. Ivan Kovalev was one of ten Russian convicts who escaped from the Siberian penal colony at Saghalien and were picked up at sea in a pitiable condition and brought to San Francisco by the whaling bark "Cape Horn Pigeon" in the winter of 1893. They claimed to be Nihilists and excited wide- spread sympathy by a recital of their terrible treatment. Later developments proved that some of them, at least, were sent to Siberia for crimes committed. Kovalev's companions were Kharlampi Nitikin and Mathiew Stcher- bakov. Kovalev was arrested in San Fran- cisco June 25, 1895, from information given to the police by a carpenter named Zakrewski,

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who said that Kovalev, while drunk, in the preceding February, had confessed to him a murder. He said that Kovalev told him that he and Stcherbakov had been watching the Weber store for three days and went around to the back of the store on the night of the murder : that he went up on the back porch, where he found a hatchet, and when Weber came out with a candle in his hand, he (Ko- valev) struck him on the head with the hatchet. As he did so, Weber cried out, "I'm murdered ! I'm killed!" The two men then went into the house, found Mrs. Weber, de- manded money and then killed her. They took some money and jewelry and left the city. Kovalev buried a little box about seven inches square, three miles from Sacramento.

In March, 1895, Zakrewski accompanied Kovalev, Nitikin and Stcherbakov to San Jose, and while there they tried to rob a little gro- cer, but he wielded his pocketknife so effective- ly that one of the robbers, supposed to be Stcherbakov, was found dead near by the next morning. When Kovalev was arrested he was identified by Mr. Weber's son Frank, as a man he had seen loafing about the store just pre- ceding the murder. He identified the trousers Kovalev wore as belonging to his father, and the suspenders Kovalev wore as made by his sister for his father. The trial began Decem- ber 5, 1895, and lasted till the 21st, when the jury, after fifteen minutes absence from the courtroom, brought in a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree. He had feigned in- sanity and had been tried for insanity by a jury and declared sane, after the trial began. He was sentenced on the 29th, just one year after the murder, to be hanged February 21, 1896, and the sentence was carried out at the state prison at Folsom.

Chin Hane was hanged at Folsom prison on December 13, 1895, for the murder of Lee Gong in 1893. The murder was the result of a tong war. At that time the street cars ran on Third Street to I. Lee Gong lived on the west side of the street, between I and J, and the tong headquarters were on the opposite side of the street. Suddenly a fusillade began from the tong headquarters and Lee Gong was shot down at his door. A street car contain- ing passengers was passing at the time, and the shooting endangered the safety of the pas- sengers. Much excitement ensued, and there were threats of "cleaning out" Chinatown, but as no white people were hurt, they soon calmed down.

While there have been a number of other executions at Folsom since, most of them were of persons from other counties. Among those sentenced from this county and hanged since the execution of Kovalev are : George Puttinan, November 19, 1900; Kochichi Hidaka, June

10, 1904; Charles Lawrence, October 7, 1904; Sing Yow, January 6, 1905, and three men who were condemned for participating in the break at Folsom prison July 27, 1903. They were Joseph Murphy, Harry Eldridge and W. M. Gray.

Joseph Piraino was brutally murdered on March 3, 1908, on the Yolo side of the river a little above the town of Washington, his body being almost severed and disemboweled, leav- ing only the backbone and a strip of the abdo- men to hold it together. He was then thrown into the river by the murderers, but his im- mense vitality enabled him to reach the shore, where he was found. He told the officers that he had befriended a fellow countryman, a Sicilian named Antonio Cippolo, who enticed him to go with him and two others to get some fish from a fisherman opposite the second Barnum's Slough; that they attacked him in the brush, demanding the $120 he carried in his money belt, and stabbed him repeatedly and flung him into the river. Detective Max P. Fisher searched untiringly for Cippolo un- til he cornered him in the lodging house where he and Piraino had lived, and the dying man identified him as the murderer. Part of the money was found in his shoe, and Fisher so skillfully wove a web of evidence around him that he was convicted, and was hanged on April 28, 1909, refusing to the last to reveal the names of his accomplices.

The Jail-break at Folsom Prison

July 27, 1903, thirteen desperate convicts in Folsom prison assailed the guards, captured the prison armory and escaped, carrying with them Warden Wilkinson and Capt. R. J. Mur- phy. They had armed themselves with "file" knives and razors. Two of them turned on W. A. Chalmers, the outer gatekeeper, and stabbed him in the arm, while the others rushed into the captain's office, captured the warden, captain and other officials and taking them as shields, demanded that the armory be opened to them, or they would slaughter all the officials. The armory was opened and they supplied themselves with rifles, revolvers and ammunition, and still holding their prisoners as shields, demanded that the main gate be opened, under the same threat, and it was done.

To the honor of two prisoners be it said, Joseph Casey, a life termer, slammed the inner door, preventing a general escape, and O. C. Clark, another convict, doing twenty years for forgery, dropped down in the office and going to the warden's office gave the alarm, which was telephoned to Folsom, and the big siren was sounded. The warden and officers were released and returned to the prison, their captors having exchanged clothes with them. Chief Turnkey Joseph Cochrane had been bad-

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ly stabbed, and Guard William Cotter was dead and others wounded. At Pilot Hill the convicts were overtaken by posses and J. J. Allison, a convict, was killed. On August 1 as a militia company from Placerville was trailing the convicts on a hill near that place, they were fired on from ambush and two of them, Festus Rutherford and Charles Jones, were killed and William Gill wounded. The convicts split into two bands, and posses hunted the foothills and mountains for them. Roberts was captured in a grain field near Davisville on August 5 by Deputy Sheriff John J. Hinters of this county. Roberts and How- ard had come to Sacramento and passed the night at Agricultural Park, separating after- wards. Seavis, the negro convict, was cap- tured on August 6, at Auburn, by Sheriff Keene and Deputy Coan. Fahey had a battle on the night of August 7, with Detective Max Fisher and Deputy Sheriff Wittenbrock, but got away in the dark. On August 23 Mur- phy was captured by officers at Reno, and Woods was captured in the same city the next day. Roy Fahey, "Red Shirt" Gordon and some of the others have never been captured.

December 30, 1904, a desperate attempt was made by seven convicts engaged on the rock- crushing plant in the prison grounds, to dupli-

cate the break of 1903, but it was a disastrous failure. Warden Yell, anticipating that such an attempt was contemplated, had given strict orders to the guards to fire on the convicts, no matter who might be killed, if such an at- tempt should be made. The convicts were aware of the order, but did not believe it would be carried out. They stopped the machinery by throwing a sledge hammer into the rock crusher, and when Captain Murphy went to see what was the matter they seized him and Charles Jolly, a guard, using them as shields. The convicts had cached a number of knives made from pieces of steel, with which they threatened to kill their prisoners. The con- victs were Charles Carson, W. J. Finley and F. Quijada, life-termers; and D. Kelly, W. Morales, J. Quinlan and H. C. Hill. The guards began firing and in less time than it takes to tell it, Morales, Quinlan and Hill were lying dead, and the others badly wounded. Captain Murphy and Jolly, whom they had used as shields, were both wounded by bullets. Finley and Carson, being life-termers, were convicted after their recovery from their wounds, and sentenced to hang. By appeal to the United States supreme court they man- aged to delay their fate, but were later re- sentenced.

CHAPTER XXI GOVERNMENT OFFICES

T HE Sacramento Postoffice was estab- lished in the early days of the city's his- tory, and has been the barometer of the growth and development of the municipality and the territory it serves. The facilities of the postoffice have been enlarged repeatedly in order to care for the ever growing busi- ness. The rapid extension of the city's cor- porate lines and the annexation of additional suburban territory, together with the estab- lishing of a network of rural routes, have served to make the central office at Sacra- mento an institution of great importance to the community.

The present postmaster is Harold J. Mc- Curry, who assumed his duties in 1922. The total receipts of the office in 1913 were $345,- 263.26. The tremendous growth since then is apparent when this total is compared with that for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1923, dur- ing which the receipts were $715,039.74. At the present time the office force consists of sev-

enty-five carriers and eighty-seven clerks, and these are none too many for the service de- manded. It is estimated that close to 90.000 are now receiving delivery service, including residents of Highland Park, Oak Park, Curtis Oaks and East Sacramento. The adjacent ter- ritory, within a radius of about nine miles, is served by seven rural carriers. In addition to the main office on Seventh and K Streets, there are nine substations where mail is collected and through which business is carried on. George M. Treichler is assistant postmaster.

At the present time, enlargements of not only the postoffice quarters, but also the United States District Court rooms, Weather Bureau, and other offices in the Federal Build- ing, are being made at a cost exceeding $60,000. More room is provided for the Money Order Department and other offices in the institution. The building houses the Postoffice, Internal Revenue Office, United States Land Office, Weather Bureau, United States Court, United

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POSTOFFICE AND SCENE ON K STREET, SACRAMENTO

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

States Geological Survey, and the office of the post inspectors for this district.

The Federal Land Office dates back to the early history of California, after its admission. Formerly there were three Land Offices, lo- cated at Marysville, Stockton and Sacramento. The consolidation, however, was made some fifteen years ago, and in Sacramento has since been the office through which that line of work and research has been carried on. Congress recently confirmed the appointment of John C. Ing as registrar of the Land Office, and Grove L. Johnson, the receiver. Ing was the receiver up to the year 1912.

George E. Church is the United States dep- uty revenue collector in charge of the Sacra- mento office. The collector of the district, which includes the capital city, has his office in San Francisco.

The United States Weather Bureau station in Sacramento was established July 1, 1877, by Sergeant B. B. Watkins of the Signal Corps, U. S. A. The office was located on the fourth floor of the St. George building, on the corner of Fourth and J Streets. November 28, 1879. the office was moved to the Fratt building, cor- ner of Second and K Streets ; and June 1, 1882, it was again moved to the Arcade building, on Second Street, between J and K. February 1, 1884, it was moved to the Lyon & Curtis building, on J Street, between Front and Sec- ond; and April 30, 1894, it was removed to the postoffice building, at Seventh and K Streets, where it now is. The station was in charge of Sergeant Watkins until April 15, 1879, when he was relieved by Sergeant M. M. Sickler, who was relieved by Sergeant James A. Bar- wick, March 15, 1881. Sergeant Barwick re- mained in charge of the station, except as tem- porarily relieved on account of sickness or other causes, until August 18, 1901, when he was relieved by James H. Scarr and trans-

ferred to Denver, his health having failed. Mr. Scarr was relieved May 3, 1908, by T. A. Blair, who had temporary charge until relieved by N. R. Taylor, May 8, 1908. By his uniform courtesy and personal qualities Mr. Taylor has made many friends in the community, and dur- ing his incumbency has instituted great im- provements in the service.

During his incumbency of twenty years Sergeant Barwick made great strides in the efficiency of the service, and is held in most kindly regard by older residents of the city. Formerly the data concerning the stages of the river, and the forecasts in winter concerning it. were published in the San Francisco office ; but on May 1, 1905, the data concerning the river were transferred to Sacramento. Here the river-observation service was reorganized by Observer Scarr, who made great improve- ments in it, bringing it to a high state of effi- ciency, and these have been continued and expanded by Observer Taylor. Today all the flood stages of the Sacramento River and its tributaries are accurately forecast by him from data gathered from the stations in his district. This station now has the collection of data from the San Joaquin watershed below the mouth of the Mokelumne, embracing the terri- tory drained by the Mokelumne, Cosumnes, Stanislaus, and Calaveras Rivers, and Mor- mon Slough. Observer Taylor several years ago established a number of stations for the observation and recording of the snowfall in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This has proved of exceptional value during recent years, because of the increasing demands made upon the Sacramento River and other streams for water for irrigation, necessitating closer ob- servation and tabulation of the snowpack in the watersheds upon which the vast valleys be- low must depend for water during the irriga- tion season of the summer months.

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HISTORY OF SACRAMENTO COUNTY

CHAPTER XXII

CALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARY

T HE State Library was established by act of the state legislature in the year 1851, and originally was intended only as a legislative reference collection.

In 1850 the legislature took the first step toward securing a state library by enacting a law directing that the scattered books which were the property of the state be gathered to- gether and placed in the custody of the secre- tary of state, who should also serve as state librarian. This was done, but no considerable addition was made to the number of volumes so collected until 1856, when 3,500 standard law books were bought, at a cost of about $17,000, and placed in the library, which soon began to grow, and in 1860 comprised about 20,000 volumes; in 1870 it had increased to 25,000; in 1880 to 50,000; in 1890 to about 70,000. At the present time the collection consists of about 225,00 volumes in Sacramen- to and another 100,000 in San Francisco at the Sutro Branch. The books in this branch were given to the State Library by the heirs of the late Adolph Sutro, who made the collection, which was first made available to the public in January, 1917.

The annual income now is approximately $130,000. Nearly every stranger in Sacramen- to visits the California State Library, which is housed in the Capitol building, occupying the largest part of the east wing and extending from the basement to the top floor. The pres- ent location, however, has been outgrown by the constantly growing shelves of valuable books and documents, with the result that a new library building is planned as a unit of the Capitol Extension buildings, which are to cost $3,400,000. The new library will be to it- self, at least it will occupy the main part of the structure, and ample facilities will be pro- vided for taking care of the immense number of volumes already accumulated, and likewise for the future growth of this important state institution.

In 1899 the right to appoint a state librarian passed from the legislature to the governor, thus removing the office from political influ- ences incident to changes in the legislature. Soon after, the State Library was greatly strengthened, and the foundation was laid for its future great work, when J. L. Gillis was

named as state librarian. His executive ability and foresight in evolving the county library system, which in recent years has grown to large proportions and won the public favor, gained for him wide recognition, not only in this state, but in other sections of the country as well. Mr. Gillis died, while at the zenith of his work, on July 27, 1917. His death came as a shock to his fellow citizens in Sacramento, and to men and women generally throughout the state. Milton J. Ferguson, who had been his assistant for nearly ten years, was named as his successor, and has very successfully car- ried on the work as planned by Mr. Gillis.

The work of the institution is carried on through various departments, briefly summar- ized as Order and Accessories, Catalogue, Law, Reference, Documents, California, Shipping, Department for the Blind, and the County Library Organization. The most original work is conducted in the last three departments named. The department devoted to Califor- nia includes, in addition to all books written about the state, or by California authors, a splendid file of pioneer records, arranged in card catalogue form, and containing invaluable and priceless information concerning the social and political history of the state, written first- hand by the actual observers of the events that make up the annals of early California, and in which there is a richness of romance no- where else to be found.

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History of Sacramento 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, 1923, Part 29

Author: Reed, G. Walter Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1026

Author: Reed, G. Walter
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1026