History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 11

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1660

USA > California > San Joaquin County > History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 11

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the privilege of driving over his land." But there were many knockers in that day and when W. H. Fairchilds, W. L. Overheiser and many others petitioned the supervisors for a charter, these knockers protested. They de- clared a free public road was an absolute neces- sity and if the petition be granted there would be no road to Lockeford free of expense. Pay- ing no attention to the silly argument the su- pervisors granted the charter, fixing the follow- ing rate of toll: Man and horse, 1212 cents ; horse and sulky, 25 cents; horse and buggy, 371/2 cents; two horses and buggy, 50 cents; two-horse wagon, 25 cents; six-horse wagon, 75 cents ; pack animals, 121/2 cents each ; loose horses or cattle, 5 cents ; sheep or hogs, 3 cents. The toll gate was at the fork of the road.

Determined to have a good winter road, about seventy farmers assembled in Ripley hall, Waterloo, April 16, '69, to discuss the ways and means of constructing the road. The meeting was called to order by Jonathan H. Dodge, and H. H. Thurston was elected presi- dent, and R. P. Heath, secretary. After con- siderable discussion they decided to obtain the money by taxing those whose property was alongside the road two dollars per acre, and one dollar per acre for those farmers who would be benefited by its construction. In this way they expected to obtain about $15,000. Among those who would be most heavily as- sessed were W. H. Fairchilds $1,000, W. L. Overheiser $1,600, J. R. Corey $540, Seth Pier- son $460. The company was incorporated April 30, 1869, under the laws of California, and W. H. Fairchilds was elected president, Thomas P. Heath, secretary, and John H. Tone, treasurer. The road was surveyed by Engineer Wallace, six and one-half miles, a gravel road, forty feet wide, with a covering of twenty-five feet of gravel, nine inches deep in the center. The estimated cost was $38,731. The road was completed that year and in time became a free road in accordance with the state law of 1868. This law declared that a board of supervisors could purchase a toll or turnpike road at any time; and at the termina- tion of the life of a corporate turnpike it became a free public road.

San Joaquin County, although conservative regarding many progressive movements, was the leader in California of our present splen- did public highways. J. M. Eddy, a news- paper writer of San Joaquin County, is the father of good roads here. For many years he would frequently write editorials on good roads and water conservation, and when, in 1907, the legislature passed the so-called Sav- age Act concerning highways, Mr. Eddy be- lieved the time had arrived for action. Get- ting in touch with the Federal Government at Washington, then being secretary of the Cham-

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

ber of Commerce, he requested the Govern- ment to send an expert road builder to Stock- ton for the purpose of constructing an "ob- ject lesson" road; the Government complying with the request sent out R. G. Morton, who arrived in March, 1908, and without any pre- liminaries began a study of the different kinds of soil over which the road might be built, the quality of rock at hand and the climatic conditions affecting roads.

Mr. Eddy's next move was to organize a State Good Roads Association. With this end in view Chamber of Commerce letters were sent out to the counties of the state requesting them to send delegates to a state convention, to meet at Stockton June 1, 1908. Over thirty counties responded and sent their delegates. The secretary reported the follow- ing as delegates from the Stockton Chamber of Commerce: John M. Perry, M. J. Gardner, James A. Barr, George F. Hudson, J. P. Sar- gent, D. A. Guernsey, Louis H. Frankheimer and John T. Lewis; from the Good Roads Bu- reau the delegates were Pliny E. Holt, Frank E. Ellis, Charles L. Neumiller, Frank A. Guern- sey, Charles E. Littlehale, George L. Luhr- sen, John Brichetto. The Highway Commis- sion also were delegates. They assembled in the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce and perfected their organization by electing Charles D. Daggett of Los Angeles, president ; Mike L. Tarpey of Fresno, vice-president ; W. E. Gerber of Sacramento, second vice-presi- dent, and J. M. Eddy, secretary-treasurer. The delegates that evening attended a good roads meeting in Lodi. They were welcomed by Mayor George Lawrence. The following day they visited the object lesson road then under construction, "for the fact that a two-mile strip of road is being constructed under the supervision of the United States Government has attracted the attention of the entire state."

Several weeks previous to this time much preliminary work, which was required by the Savage Act, had been carried out. A Good Roads Bureau had been organized and they not only began an educational campaign by visiting every precinct in the county, but they obtained over 10,000 of the names of the voters at the previous election. It was a petition to the supervisors, petitioning the board to appoint a Highway Commission to "pave the way for a bond issue." The supervisors granted the petition May 4 and named as commissioners Frank A. West, Burton N. Towne and Stew- art P. Elliott. These three young men had accepted a big responsibility and for several months assisted by the Government engineer and George L. Cooley, a road expert, they gave their thought and time to this work. Their only recompense was fifty cents an hour while engaged in road work.

In locating a strip of road for his object lesson, the Government engineer selected a piece of road some two miles on the Mariposa route, commencing about a half mile east of the race track. He had selected for his experi- ment "one of the worst stretches of black soil, the most difficult soil on which to construct permanent roadways known to experts." The proposed road was to be covered with mac- adam then rolled with a heavy roller, and cov- ered with asphalt oil. The supervisors then called for bids for the work. It was some- thing entirely new in contract work and the contractors were afraid to bid. There was only one bid, that of John Perry, president of the Chamber of Commerce, and April 25 the supervisors accepted his offer to do the work for $16,400, "the actual cost of the improve- ment." The work was commenced May 17 and completed late in the fall of 1908. Al- though they have learned many things about road building since that time-one that a permanent road must have a concrete founda- tion-that piece of road was so well con- structed it held good for six years of the heavi- est of county travel. The money to build this road was subscribed by the Chamber of Commerce, the supervisors and public-spirited citizens.

In accordance with the state law the high- way commission, after several months work, February 11, 1909, reported to the supervisors the result of their labor. They recommended that 288 miles of road be constructed of the best rock macadam and covered with asphalt oil, the highways to be from sixteen to thirty- two feet in width, according to the location and the amount of travel, the main highways to have a sixteen-foot macadam two inches thicker than at the sides. Taking the object road as their estimate of cost they recom- mended that the supervisors call a special elec- tion for the peoples' decision on a bond issue of $1,890,000 to run for forty years. The super- visors granted their recommendation, and called an election for March 16, 1909. The commission recommended the construction of the following roads, the numerals indicating the proposed length of each road. The Lower Sacramento Road, 20 to the county line; the Cherokee Lane 14, from Lodi. to Lockeford 4, to Woodbridge 2, to New Hope 14, along the Waterloo road 19, along the Linden road 12, along the Copperopolis road 8, to Farming- ton 13, along the Mariposa road 17, the Hogan road 9, over the French Camp road 13, and over the Roberts Island and the Jacobs Road, each road six miles of macadam. On the West side, 23 miles were to be constructed.

Educational Campaign

Now came the hardest of all the work, the education of the people, for the progressive

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

men had learned after many years that any progressive movement must be preceded by an educational campaign of the citizens. campaign was planned, meetings were held and addressed by interesting and sound, logical speakers in every precinct of the county. Ques- tions were asked the speakers from every point of the subject by skeptics, tightwads and un- believers and every question successfully answered, for the speakers were well fortified with the facts as to the cost, the taxable rate and the beneficial results. The farmer was shown by actual demonstration that on the new road he could haul more tons with two horses and at a less cost than with six animals over the dirt road. He could reach the mar- ket with his produce at any season of the year, an impossibility in winter. Commercial, se- cret and professional associations indorsed the bond issue. The physicians, in indorsing it said, "Many lives have been lost through the inability of the physician to reach the bedside of the patient in time." The experience of Dr. Grattan in the '50s was proof of this fact. While visiting a patient, several miles in the coun- try on horseback, for the roads were deep in mud, the cholera broke out in Stockton and his wife was attacked with the disease. When the physician returned she was beyond recov- ery. In telling me of the incident some years ago he said "I could have saved her could I have gotten back in time." Some men who opposed the bonds later saw the error of their ways. One of this number was Augustus Muenter, the extremely frugal capitalist and financier. "I was against the bonds at the start," he said, "but I have changed my mind, a thing I don't often do." Meeting E. E. Thrift, that gentleman told Mr. Muenter he was going to vote for the bonds. The capital- ist quickly exclaimed, "Don't you know that Stockton will have to pay two-thirds of the taxes." "Yes," he replied, "but we have been bottled up all winter and I am willing to pay my share of the taxes for good roads and get out of the mud once for all." "That set me to thinking," said Mr. Muenter. His change of base made many votes for the bonds, for the vacillating voters said, "If Muenter approves of spending the county money it surely is all

right." Another great help was the indorse- ment of the bonds by the labor unions. We are all of us guided in our actions to some ex- tent by the opinions of those we believe to be well informed on the subject. Many votes were obtained, especially among the Catholics, by a published indorsement for the bonds, of Father William O'Connor, one of the most progressive men in the county. During the campaign there was scarcely any money ex- pended. There were no fireworks, flags, auto- mobile hire, not even a brass band. It was a heart ot heart talk on a vital question, the future progress of San Joaquin. The result was pleasing to everybody, even the knockers. Some men are so constituted they enjoy de- feat.

The total county vote was 6,184; for the bonds 5,449; opposed 1,685. As it required 4,122 votes, the necessary two-thirds majority to carry the election, the majority for the bonds was 377. Stockton voted for the bonds over three to one, the vote being 2,320 for and only 728 no. Four precincts, among them Lodi, gave a small majority against the bonds, and yet when they learned the result of the vote the citizens "paraded up and down Sacramento Street blowing horns and whistles and the bells rung out the joyful news." During the campaign the Chamber of Commerce offered a beautiful silk flag to the precinct giving the greatest pro rata vote for the bonds. Strange to say the flag was won by the small village of Germans living in Bethany, in the extreme southwest part of the county. They cast an unanimous 44 votes for the bonds. The bonds were sold in sections, and as soon as possible work was commenced on the Lower Sacra- mento Road to the county line. In 1911 a continuous highway had been completed from the middle of the steel bridge over Dry Creek through Stockton to the county line, the mid- dle of the bridge over the Stanislaus River. In that year the Cherokee Lane Road was completed to Lodi. Since the county bond issue 200 miles more of good roads have been constructed. The state, under the $1,800,000 bond issue, has taken over all of the main lines in the county.

CHAPTER VI

BUSINESS DAYS AND BUSINESS WAYS

I N THE history of the world there is no event like the rush to California "in the clays of '49." The march of the Crusaders to the Holy Land was somewhat similar. There was, however, this difference; the Cru- saders invaded a land already populated and with food, shelter and comforts a-plenty, while the Argonauts rushed into a territory almost a wilderness, with none of the necessities of life. Thousands of pioneers landed upon Cali- fornia's shore without food or extra clothing, many of them with only a few dollars. They hastened to California with the idea that the earth was covered with gold and that the "first arrivals would get the entire crop." Others, wiser in their day, formed companies and char- tering ships for a voyage around Cape Horn filled their vessels with cargos of provisions sufficient to last them many months. My father was one of a company of men who in 1848 chartered the brig Lenark for a voyage from Boston, Mass., around the horn to San Francisco. They loaded the brig with provi- sions sufficient to last them for two years, and entering the Golden Gate after an eight months' voyage sailed up the San Joaquin to Stockton. Leaving the ship in charge of the captain, the company went to the mines. Re- turning a few months later they found that the captain had sold all the provisions at a high price and had sailed for China. In the New York Tribune, Horace Greeley in describ- ing this rush of goldseekers, wrote, "Bakers keep their ovens hot day and night, turning out immense quantities of ship bread, without supplying the demand; the provision stores of all kinds are besieged by orders. Manufac- turers of rubber goods, rifles, pistols, bowie knives, etc., can scarcely supply the demand." Mechanics brought their tools, tailors brought bolts of cloth, as we have noticed in the case of Benjamin Brown, and a brick mason, Will- iam Saunders, brought a quantity of brick. He sold them to Captain Weber at one dollar per brick, and erected in his home the first brick chimney in the San Joaquin Valley.

Population

The estimate of the population in 1849 sent in a memorial to Congress by the first con- stitutional convention was 107,000. In the spring of 1848 there was in the territory a population of native and foreign born number- ing 10,000. They were located almost entirely in the pueblos (towns) of San Diego, Los

Angeles, Monterey, San Jose, Yerba Buena (San Francisco) and Sonoma. There were a few foreigners at Sutter's Fort, and a few at Tuleburg, now Stockton. Then came the wild rush and in a few months the Sierra Nevada Mountains from "the Fort" to Mariposa were alive with gold diggers prospecting for gold nuggets. At that time Sacramento had an estimated population of 5,000, San Francisco 10,000, and Stockton 2,000. There were at least 15,000 in the so-called Southern mines- all of the territory south of the Cosumnes River. This population was largely increased month by month by new arrivals, and accord- ing to the United States census of 1860 there was that year 374,560 men, women and chil- dren in California. In the counties of Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Tulare and Mariposa ehere was a population of nearly 50,000, and 50 per cent of the number were strong, vigor- ous men between the ages of twenty and forty years. This was the aggregate population, as I have stated in 1860, but in 1870 it had been reduced to 24,118. The miners were fast leav- ing the mountain camps and locating in the valley. Stanislaus, Merced, Fresno and other counties had been created, and therein settled many of the mountain inhabitants. San Joa- quin County, which had in 1850 a population of 3,647, in 1860, 9,435, had increased in 1870 to 21,050. I have given these figures to show principally the vast amount of supplies that were sold in, or that passed through Stockton to the interior counties. There were no rail- roads, and all kinds of merchandise came into the city by steamer or sailing vessel. It was in fact often called the depot of the Southern mines.

The Magic City

Stockton was built up in a period of four months, and Bayard Taylor, the correspondent of the New York Tribune, traveling through Stockton in 1849, said he found a canvas city of 1,000 inhabitants and twenty-five ships at anchor in the harbor. James H. Carson, pass- ing through the town in the same year on his return from the mines, wrote, "When I arrived May 1. 1849, a change had come over the scene since I had left it. Stockton that I had last seen graced by Joe (Willard) Buzzell's log cabin with a tule roof was now a vast linen city. The tall masts of the brigs, barques and schooners, high pointed, were seen in the blue vault above, while the merry 'yo-ho' of the

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STOCKTON HARBOR-1851

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

sailor could be heard as box, bale and barrel were landed on the banks of the slough. A rush and whirl of human being was constantly before the eye; the magic wand of gold had been shaken over the desolate place and a city had arisen at the bidding of Minerva full- fledged."

Necessity is the mother of invention, said the author, and it is ofttimes the mother of location, because it was necessary for the mer- chants, especially during the winter months, to be located as near as possible to the steam- ers and sailing vessels. In 1850 we find almost the entire business section within a radius of 200 yards, with Center Street as the axis. Within the circle we find Buffington & Lum, house carpenters, opposite the steamboat wharf; Davis & Smith, wholesale dealers in provisions, dry goods, mining tools, etc., Cen- ter Street; MacPherson & Nichols, general merchandise, Main near Center; Von Detten- Waldrow & Company, merchants, on the Pen- insula; Coma & Washburn, Levee Street, dealers in provisions, hardware, mining tools, crockery, tinware and clothing; Marshal & Nichols, auctioneers, Levee ; Morton & Ward, butchers, El Dorado; McSpeden & Company, merchants, corner Main and El Dorado; Dr. Simpson, drugs, medicines, books, stationery, Main and El Dorado; George Belt, merchant, . Levee; Todd & Bryan, express company with Adams & Company, Center ; Starbuck & Spen- cer, merchants, corner Levee and Commerce ; Slocum & Company, Peninsula, two doors from the Stockton House and opposite the postoffice; William Dutch, watchmaker and jeweler, Center, next door to the Central Ex- change; Sparrow & Navarro, Hunter Street, bricks on sale; Guibal & Dharboure, whole- sale merchants, Center and Washington; Drs. Clements & Reins, drugs, corner Center and Weber avenue ; R. J. Stevens & Company, Pen- insula; J. R. Foster & Company, merchants, Peninsula, Corinthian Building, next door to postoffice; Peninsula Livery Stable, Channel Street ; Henry Jones, boots and shoes, Center, five doors from Main; Ware's Daguerrean sa- loon in the Gault House, Center and Market; bath house, B. W. Owens, between Main and Weber Avenue; Emil Junge, general merchan- dise, store ship Susannah, Mormon Slough; Stockton Hospital, corner Center and Market, Drs. Radcliffe and Lasvignes, of Paris. Center Street was so named because it was the cen- ter of business, but in less than four years the business places had extended along El Dorado and. Hunter streets and east on Main Street and Weber Avenue to Sutter Street, and even beyond that street. In 1853 my father had a meat market, corner of Main and Sutter, to- gether with a boarding house, this indicating that quite a large number of persons worked

and lived in that vicinity. The livery stables were the first cause of the extension of busi- ness. They required a large space of land for their stables and yard room for the use of the teamsters. There were two stables on the south side of Main Street between Sutter and California. Andrew Wolf was the proprietor of one and "Stuttering" Smith, the other. A. J. Colburn had a stable on Main near Grant Street. Simon Weterau, a stable and the Ave- nue hotel, on Weber Avenue opposite the San Joaquin engine house. Charles Dallas con- ducted a livery on Weber Avenue near San Joaquin Street. These stables caused the erec- tion nearby of blacksmith and wagon shops, and then boarding and lodging houses. Four of them were on Main Street in 1856 within a space of three blocks, the American house, kept by Mrs. Cadien, the Western hotel, Mrs. Pope, Sutter and Main, Cottage Home, one block west, Charles Mead, proprietor, and the Main Street Hotel, opposite the court house, George Allesworth, landlord. And then the Crescent City Hotel, where now stands the Hippodrome Theater.

Among the prominent merchants at that time was B. F. Cheatham and Thomas E. Ketcham, a lieutenant in the famous Steven- son Regiment, and a captain in the Third Regi- ment, California Volunteers during the Civil War. The two men were partners in a mer- chandise store on the Levee, the firm name reading Ketcham & Cheatham. One night a wag changed the sign, and the following morning the whole town was laughing, for the sign said, I. Ketcham & U. Cheatham. The story was frequently told thirty years later. Cheatham later kept the Hotel de Mexico. He was a man of southern birth, a gambler and sport, but nevertheless one of the prominent men of the town. He was also a leading Democrat, and returning to the South in De- cember '52 the Democratic paper said in ful- some praise, "This gentleman who has long been amongst us and who by the courtesy of his manner and his noble character has won the esteem of his fellow-citizens, leaves next week for his home in Tennessee. The gallant colonel served in the Mexican war, as colonel of the Third Regiment, Tennessee Volun- teers." He never again returned to Stockton. In the Civil War he took up arms in defense of the Southern Confederacy and became a general. One day during the war he noticed a burly Irishman cruelly abusing his team. Cheatham, cursing the army teamster, com- manded him to stop whipping the mules. The language of the officer quickly aroused the an- ger of "Pat" and turning to Cheatham, he ex- claimed : "General, you are a coward. You know your shoulder straps protect you or you would not use such vile language to me."

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

Hastily dismounting, and throwing to one side his coat, Cheatham said, "A coward am I, you miserable devil. Look, McCue," pointing to his coat. "There is General Cheatham and his shoulder straps. Here is Frank Cheatham. Come and take satisfaction." The Irishman waltzed in and whipped Frank Cheatham in about two minutes. As the General mounted his horse, McCue, throwing him his coat, said in parting, "There is the whipped Frank Cheatham of the Cumberland Army; and Major-General of the division. General, you can repeat as often as you wish, you will al- ways find Pat at home."

California for over twenty years exported a very small amount and imported an immense amount of supplies of every description. They were imported principally by the wholesale merchants of San Francisco, they in turn sell- ing to the retail merchants of the cities and the retailers in part supplying the mountain camps. These goods all came into San Fran- cisco by steamer across the isthmus tri- monthly or by slow sailing vessel or clipper ships around Cape Horn. By the slow sailers it was a six months' voyage, but by the clipper ships built especially for speed the voyage from New York to San Francisco was some- times made in three months or less. All heavy or bulky merchandise was shipped around Cape Horn, because the cost of freight was much less than by steamer or the "ocean grey hounds" as the clipper ships were known. The first Stockton steam fire engine came around the Horn, the parts packed in boxes, so did the Episcopal Church organ. Then it often took from six months to a year to receive goods from the Eastern States. Now one may tele- graph, and the goods are here in ten days or less.

Stockton had at least three merchants who imported goods, P. M. Bowen & Company, Avery & Hewlett and C. T. Meador & Com- pany. We read in his advertisement in Feb- ruary 1850, that he has just received by the ships Sierra Nevada and Indiana, direct from Boston, 200 cases of candles in cartons, 150 cases of lard in ten-pound tins, 116 half-barrels clear pork, 40 cases of eggs, 50 barrels Caro- lina rice, 14 drums St. John codfish, 15 cases of ginger one-half pound bottles, 25 cases pine- apple, 150 kits mackerel, 25 cases handle axes, 200 dozen three-hoop pails, 100 cases spirits of turpentine. Although for a time this state was the largest wheat producer in the Union, and San Joaquin County the largest grower of wheat, for several years wheat was imported from Chile. It was so full of weevils, how- ever, that the legislature in 1854 passed a law prohibiting its importation. Brown sugar in 200-pound barrels, and molasses in 5-gallon kegs and 63-gallon barrels, was imported from

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History of San Joaquin County, California : with biographical sketches of leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, Part 11

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849 Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1660

Author: Tinkham, George H. (George Henry), b. 1849
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles, Calif. : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1660