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 30

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 30

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Chinese New Year

The great Chinese day is the Chinese New Year. The celebration, which continues for three days does not come on the same date each year, because in Chinese chronology they

calculate time by the phases of the moon and in cycles of sixty years. In preparation for that event the Chinamen of the poorer class save up their money so that they may be enabled to pay all of their debts before New Year's day. So honest were the Mongolians that it was considered a disgrace to be unable to pay his debts, and on one occasion a China- man unable to pay up, committed suicide. Just before New Year's you will find in every Chinese hovel, shack and store a little bulb called a Chinese lily. It is a peculiar plant as it does not grow in soil, but in the open air supported by small pebbles in a dish of water. They give this bulb as presents to their friends, together with Chinese nuts and can- dies, and if the bulb flower before New Years it is considered as a good omen for that house. The celebration continues for three days and during that time they feast in their own homes, visit their friends, worship in the Joss house and explode hundreds of dollars worth of fire- crackers. It was a time of great rejoicing for the small boy and, said an eyewitness, Febru- ary 1, 1859, "Tuesday was the first of the Chi- nese New Year and the moon-eyed Johns spread themselves in the way of firecrackers. They were ably assisted in the discharge of this sort of artillery by the Young America of this city, who mustered in great strength around their habitations and volunteered their services." Then, as I have stated, there were few homes in that vicinity and but little travel along Washington Street. In time their noisy celebration became a nuisance as the families in that vicinity were awakened at midnight by the incessant noise of the crackers, and during the day there were several accidents by frightened runaway horses. People made complaint and Edward Colnon, editor of the Mail, demanded in his paper that the chief of police, Ben F. Rodgers, suppress the nuisance. Police regulations were established and the Chinese permitted to fire explosives during certain early and late daylight hours.

THE PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY

CHAPTER XIV

A MIDST the scenes of crime and dissi- pation that were everywhere prevalent in California in the early days, it is a pleasure to recall the first sermon ever deliv- ered in Stockton. To the Presbyterian Church belonged this honor. The Reverend James C. Damon, then a seaman's chaplain at Honolulu, in July, 1849, visited San Francisco. Coming to Stockton, on Sunday, July 12, he delivered a sermon from on board a store ship moored along the channel. It had been previously announced through the camp that a "preacher" was coming to the town and a large crowd of sinners and a few Christians assembled to hear him. His text was from Galatians, "Be ye not deceived, God is not mocked; for what- soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." No more appropriate text could have been selected, and it had its effect. In ten months from that day the Sabbath bell pealing over the city invited all to worship and praise.

Arrival of Protestant Pastors

The evangelizing of the world is the mis- sion of Christianity and as early as 1642 the Catholic Church sent her priests to the West- ern Coast. When the discovery of gold in California was heralded around the world the Protestant denomination sent seven of their young ministers, the Reverend Albert Will- iams and James Woods, Presbyterians; T. Dwight Hunt, a Congregationalist; O. C. Wheeler, a Baptist, and the Reverend Flavel S. Mines and the Reverend J. I. Vermehr, Episcopalians, to the Pacific Coast. Mr. Woods arrived with his wife and two sons late in December, 1849, and was surprised to find that the other pastors had preceded him. Remaining in San Francisco some two weeks, he came to Stockton in January, 1850, with letters of introduction to Capt. Charles M. Weber and A. J. Grayson, after whom Grayson on the San Joaquin River is named. On ar- rival in Stockton on the little steamer, Captain Sutter, he found the mud knee deep. Remov- ing his family and household goods on a two- wheeled dray to the Dickenson House on Center Street near Levee, the dray mired sev- eral times and men were compelled to get out and boost it along. The following day was the Sabbath and the pastor held service in the Dickenson Hotel, the proprietor, G. D. Dickenson, being a good Methodist.

Mr. Woods at once made the acquaintance of Captain Weber and declared his purpose

to organize a church. Mr. Weber quickly agreed to the plan and to support the pastor a subscription list was started. Mr. Weber agreed to get twenty-five dollars a month. Mr. Woods, without any delay, immediately com- menced his ministerial work and began look- ing around to find some suitable place to hold religious services. He found an excellent place, as he believed, in the locality where now stands the County Jail. It was a large tent with a sign over the door, "A Temperance Store." The proprietor, Thomas Atwood, was a retired sea captain, an ordained minister and later the pastor of the Baptist Church. He gave Mr. Woods permission to preach his first sermon in the tent, but he found it a very noisy place of worship. Mr. Atwood had rented the back part of his tent to a blacksmith, and while Pastor Woods was preaching the black- smith was shoeing horses at thirty-two dollars per horse.

The ring of the anvil so disturbed the serv- ices that Mr. Woods was compelled to look up another place and for the following Sun- day he secured a large warehouse. It was a much better place than the store and in it he found many innocent looking barrels. Boards were placed on top of the barrels for seats. The audience was large and the pastor deliv- ered a very forceful sermon on "The Sin of Intemperance." He was very much annoyed the following day to learn that his congrega- tion had been sitting on barrels filled with good old Kentucky rye.

Organization of Presbyterian Church

After the reverend gentleman had been preaching some two months in the home of Nicholas Den on the Peninsula, and in a tent on Main Street, where later stood the church, the First Presbyterian Church was organized March 17, 1850, in the Vernon house on the peninsula, a knock-down building brought around Cape Horn by the Dr. George A. Shurtleff party. The church was organized with the following nine members : Peter Nodine, Samuel L. Yerkes, Ezra E. Washburn, S. W. Foster, Martin Potter, J. S. Anger, Levi Merriam, Ralph Wittesey and Mrs. Eliza Ann Woods, the wife of the pastor.

Captain Weber Donates a Lot

The pastor's experience in the blacksmith shop and among whisky barrels convinced him that the quicker Stockton had an ex-

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clusive place of worship the better for the community. Calling on Captain Weber he solicited a donation of a lot for the erection of a a church edifice. Mr. Weber quickly re- plied, "Get together some of the prominent citizens of the town to select a lot and then come to me." Conferring with a number of the leading people of the place, they selected the corner of San Joaquin and Main streets, where the old church stood for so many years. It was a spot well shaded with two handsome oaks, and later the spot was dubbed "The little brown church under the trees." When informed, Captain Weber very generously gave not only the selected lot but the entire quarter of the block. Years later the lot was mortgaged and then sold. It is now the loca- tion of the Native Sons of the Golden West.

Having secured the lot, Mr. Woods called together the citizens in regard to immediately erecting a church. With one accord they cried, "Go ahead ; we'll give you all the money you want." But not a man could be induced to take charge of the work. "We are too busy," they said. Mr. Woods then took full charge and liberally the money rolled in, the gamblers contributing as freely as the church- men. The energetic pastor soon had a bag of gold dust, and in March, 1850, he visited San Francisco for the purpose of purchasing lum- ber for the church. On arrival he found on sale, very cheap, a large number of knock- down warehouses, the market having been overstocked. Purchasing one of these houses, together with other lumber, the material was shipped to Stockton. Mr. Woods then en- gaged carpenters at twelve dollars per day. and the superintendent, John M. Buffiington, mayor of the city in 1854, was paid sixteen dollars a day. In just ten weeks from the date of contract the building was completed at a cost of $4,000. The church, although a neat and tasteful structure at that ime. would be a curiosity today, with its white plastered walls, green painted curtains of Chinese manu- facture at the windows, and a rough hardwood floor without any carpet. The pulpit consisted of two upright pieces of undressed boards three feet apart, and a board laid across the top and the whole covered with scarlet colored domestic, making a very neat appearance for a pulpit in California in 1850. The choir seats were in the front of the church, raised a foot above the floor; an entrance on either side, and the only means of warming the room was a little wood stove in a corner of the building.

The winter had been very severe and at the time that Mr. Woods was preaching in the tent a stream of water flowed past the door. Persons could not get to the church and Mr. Woods later declared "his hearers were fer-

ried across the Stockton Slough in small boats free to those who attended service."

When the day of dedication arrived, May 5, 1850, the following notice appeared in The Times: "The new Presbyterian church will be opened for worship tomorrow. Services to commence at 11 o'clock. Ferrage free for those attending service." The pastor took as his text, John xviii :38, "What Is Truth?" This sermon was published later in 1862 in pamphlet form by the San Joaquin Republican. Five years after this event Mr. Woods, in speak- ing of the dedication, said: "Of those present at the dedication not more than five remain in Stockton at the present time. They have re- turned to the East, gone to the Pacific Islands, and many are dead." Such was the unsettled condition of Stockton's first residents.

Money was plentiful, "no trick at all for a minister to have $20 gold pieces in his pocket," said Mr. Woods, and at a donation party ten- dered the pastor in May, 1851, the members not only sent provisions by the wholesale- sugar, flour, beans, etc .- but at the evening entertainment a collection of $700 was taken for the pastor's use. After a service of a little over four years Mr. Woods resigned because of the long continued ill health of his wife, leaving behind a church membership of sixty- eight. He preached two sermons each Sab- bath, taught school five days of the week-the Stockton Female Seminary-and did the housework during his wife's most severe ill- ness. Then he made pastoral calls, visited the sick, and married the "laddies and lassies." His first marriage was that of Samuel C. Clerk to Rachel Hitchcock, August 7, 1850. His second marriage, August 17, 1852, was Andrew Wolf to Amanda Dwelley.

The pioneer church building was moved over from the San Joaquin Street to the Main Street side of the lot in 1857 and two years later it was sold to the Colored Baptists and moved to West Washington Street. The build- ing is now in use as a Buddhist Temple. In the meantime a new pastor, the Rev. John A. Anderson, had come to fill the pulpit, and immediately he began planning for a new handsome brick structure. He succeeded in obtaining sufficient money, and on June 10, 1859, the cornerstone was laid by the Masons with imposing ceremony. The Order, in full regalia, forming in line at their hall on Center Street, led by the band, marched to the church, and, passing beneath a floral arch, ascended the platform. For more than an hour, in the hot sun, the large crowd had been waiting, and immediately the exercises were begun, by the singing of an anthem by the Presbyterian Church choir. The cornerstone was laid by Edward M. Howison, worshipful master ; a list of the articles placed in the box was read by

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HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

William Graham; the stone was lowered into place by R. B. Parker, and the stone was squared and leveled by Gilbert G. Claiborne, senior warden, and William R. Jefferson, junior warden. The oration was delivered by Rev. William MacDonald of the Episcopal Church. The building was soon finished, and Christmas day, 1859, it was dedicated by the Rev. William A. Anderson of San Francisco, the father of John A. Anderson, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Warren. The handsome little building had been erected at a cost of $17,000, and on the Monday evening following the dedi- cation, the pew sittings were sold with a pre- mium for choice. The premiums ranged in value from $600 down to $75, H. B. Underhill being the highest bidder for first choice, he paying $600. The amount realized from this sale was $7,170. During the pastorate of James Sprecher, in 1885, the church front was extended twenty feet to the sidewalk, the organ placed behind the pulpit and the rooms formerly occupied as a pastor's study were converted into Sunday school rooms. The cost was about $10,000. In 1919 the property was sold and the building demolished; a new and much handsomer church and associate build- ings were constructed at a cost of $200,000, where formerly stood the El Dorado public school, corner of Vine and El Dorado streets. The building was completed and dedicated March 25, 1923. This church has the finest pipe organ in the city, installed at a cost of $12,000.

The first concert in the town was given in the old church May 5, 1850, by four male amateur singers. In 1852, the Rev. Mr. Kroh moved to Stockton, and his two eldest daugh- ters, Mary and Maggie Kroh, excellent singers, were induced to sing in the Presbyterian choir. Maggie, later known as Maggie Blake Alver- son, after her removal to San Francisco, be- came one of the most famous contralto singers in California. Their only instrument was a little melodeon, but in 1865, at a cost of $2,500, an organ was purchased. The organist was Judge H. B. Underhill, who gave his services free. The organ was dedicated on the even- ing of January 12, 1865, with a grand con- cert, the leading singers being Mrs. Marriner Campbell, the best soprano church sing- er of her day, and William Eliot, both of San Francisco. Gustave Scott, - from Dr. Wadsworth's church, was the organ- ist. Selections were sung from the works of Rossini, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Donizetti, and

Mrs. Marriner sang the Schubert Stabat Mater. On the following evening a second concert was given from a platform in the front of the church, and Ada Fisher, Amos Durant and William Cobb of the church choir also took part. During the

past twenty-five years the Misses Maggie Hubbard, Mary Parks, S. D. Waterman, Mrs. Preble and Mrs. Frank Burton have presided at the organ. The vocalists have been many in number. Among them, Mesdames Eves, Fyfe, J. P. D. Wilkins, Gertie Noble, Eliza Lang, Louise Carr and Frank Hatch, sopra- nos; Ret, Kroh, Lewis, Wallace, Hatch, Groves, Gifford and Gertie Hatch, altos, and. George Ladd, Amos Durant and William Belding.

The church during the past seventy years had had the following pastors: James Woods, 1850; W. C. Moshier, 1854; William Davis, 1856; John A. Anderson, 1858; Robert Hap- persett, 1862; J. S. Skinner, 1866; Ben E. S. Ely, 1869 ; James Roberson, 1872; L. Y. Hayes, 1876; Robert McKensie, 1878; L. M. Scho- field, 1880; H. S. Snodgrass, 1882; James Sprecher, 1883; D. L. Munro and J. B. Camp- bell, 1892; Philo Phelps, 1895; J. W. Lundy, 1897, and J. M. Skinner, 1914.

East Side Presbyterian Church

This church, formerly called the Cumber- land Presbyterian Church, was organized in 1858. Previous to this time Dr. S. P. Craw- ford had been holding services in the Hender- son schoolhouse district. In that year the state Presbytery was held in Stockton in the South Methodist Church and the question was asked, "Why has not a church been established in Stockton? In a short time several hundred dollars were collected and a lot purchased on Lindsay Stree,t between Hunter and San Joa- quin. A little chapel, 30 by 40, was erected at a cost of $1200 and the building dedicated October 24, 1858, by the Rev. John Yager of Contra Costa County. The pastor of the church in 1860 was dissatisfied with the loca- tion of the building and it was sold to the Christian denomnation. The Cumberland

Presbyterians then purchased the Crescent City Hotel property on Sutter Street, between Main Street and Weber Avenue, paying an equal sum for the building and lot, $2,000. It was fitted up for church purposes at a cost of $4300. The services were discontinued in 1864 until 1868. Then the building was re- fitted and refurnished at a cost of $2,300, and May 10, 1869, rededicated as a house of wor- ship. Their congregation was so small that they could not meet their expenses and the building was sold to the Christian brethren. Fourteen years later a young pastor, Thomas A. Cowan, came to Stockton from Lebanon, Tenn. Gathering together the little flock of Cumberland Presbyterians, they held service July 25, 1886, in Brainbridge Hall, then on the corner of Miner Avenue and Hunter Street. Soon afterwards a lot was purchased on San Joaquin Street, opposite the high school, at a

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cost of $900 and a small chapel erected and dedicated December 18, 1887. The young pastor was very popular and soon filled the church on Sunday and had a- membership of one hundred. E. L. B. McClelland was the pastor of the church in 1898 and the trustees, deciding that the church was in a poor locality, a lot was purchased, corner of Main and Pil- grim streets. The building was removed to that point and rededicated in September, 1899. Some of the pastors of this church have been Reverends Sweeney, Thomas M. Johnson, Mr. Cunningham, J. M. Small, J. H. Cornwall, T. A. Cowan, J. M. Gaiser, W. D. Farr, C. D. Lane, E. L. B. McClelland, H. P. Ingram, W. D. Rushing, Squires and Matteson.

Grace Methodist Episcopal Church

The first notice that we have of Grace Meth- odist Episcopal Church is an announcement in 1852, "Divine service if not providentially prevented every Sunday at 11 o'clock and in the evening at the ringing of the bell." The building was located on the southwest corner of Weber Avenue and California Street. Captain Weber deeded them a lot, a small building was erected at a cost of $6,000, and it was dedicated November 2, 1851, by Dr. Boring of San Francisco. In 1853 Bishop Soulé, the first California bishop of that de- nomination, delivered a sermon in the church. For several years they called it "Soulé Chapel." The building was badly damaged by fire in June, 1876, the church having caught fire from the adjoining burning residence. The belfry was badly damaged and the bell, falling to the ground, was ruined. It cost $1,876 to repair the damage and buy a new bell.

The Rev. O. P. Fitzgerald, then the editor of the "Pacific Methodist," a religious journal, was pastor of the church in 1871. He found the same old dilapidated building as during his former charge in 1868, and he resolved to erect a more creditable building. Subscrip- tions for a new brick edifice were obtained and plans were drawn for an auditorium to seat about 200 persons. A lot was purchased on the north side of the street where had for- merly stood the parsonage and March 24, 1873, a cornerstone was laid by the Masonic order. The pastor of the church at this time, W. H. Mason, acted as grand chaplain, and the Rev. C. V. Anthony, grand orator. The building complete, said Judge J. V. Buckley, cost $9,156, and the edifice was solemnly set apart to God's service June 29, 1873. The Metho- dist conference sent to this charge in 1886 a young pastor, A. C. Bane, who had been re- cently ordained. Although without either name or fame, in a short time he was preach- ing to crowded churches. The trustees raised his salary from $600 to $800 a year, and he

was returned to the same charge in 1887, and although the seating capacity was enlarged, many were turned away.

Very prominent and leading members of this church were Mr. and Mrs. John N. Woods. This Christian woman died April 7, 1900, and her husband resolved to erect a beautiful new church edifice as a memorial to her. The build- ing was to be erected on certain conditions which the trustees quickly accepted and plans were drawn for the handsome edifice now standing on the corner of Stanislaus and Chan- nel streets, which at that time was opposite the Woods' residence. Before the work of building was begun, December 6, 1906, Mr. Woods passed away. His daughters, Mrs. Jessie Lee Wilhoit and Mrs. Mary L. Doug- lass, resolved to carry on the work as planned by their father. It took some time to straight- en out the probate court proceedings, but on their father's birthday, June 7, 1909, the work was commenced. It was pushed forward rap- idly, but in some unaccountable manner the uncompleted structure caught fire September 17 and the entire woodwork was destroyed at a loss of $2,000. The contractor, Claude Long, also a member of the church, with determined grit, said, "I will have that building done when I said I would." And it was dedicated, free from debt, March 20, 1910, by the Rev. J. A. Wailes. The beautiful edifice, with its fire- proof concrete walls, stained glass windows, furniture and fine organ, was completed at a cost of $35,000. During the dedicatory service the choir sang Mrs. Woods' favorite hymn:

I know that my Redeemer lives,

What comfort this sweet message gives ; He lives my mansion to prepare,

He lives to bring me safely there, All glory to His name.

The following are some of the pastors of Grace Methodist Episcopal Church : Reverends Cyprian Gridley, 1851; Green Woods, 1852; A. M. Bailey, 1853; J. H. Kelley, 1854; J. C. Simmons, 1856; Orlando Fisher, 1857; L. D. Hargis, 1861; J. R. Tanzy, 1867 ; J. M. Lowell, 1868; R. T. Lattimer, 1869; O. P. Fitzgerald, 1871; W. H. Mason, 1873; A. C. Bane, 1886-87 ; C. E. W. Smith, 1907; J. A. Wailes, 1910, and L. S. Jones and J. A. B. Fry, 1919.

The Christian Church

Strange as it may appear there was no love lost between the Christian denominations pre- vious to the Civil War. The Presbyterians, Baptists, North Methodist, Epscopalians and German Methodists were opposed to slavery ; the Catholic ' Church stood upon neutral ground, and the Cumberland Presbyterian, South Methodist and the Christian Church

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believed that slavery was a divine institu- tion.

The Christian Church or Disciples of Christ were among the first of the religious denom- inations. The arrival of Elder Thomas Thomp- son was the incentive for the organization and a church was organized August 21, 1851, he preaching a sermon on that day. Two months later they observed Thanksgiving Day, No- vember 27, Rev. W. W. Stevenson preaching in the court house, then in the McNish Build- ing. They at once began discussing the building of a church. When James Woods, the Presbyterian pastor, asked Captain Weber for a church lot he believed the pastor was representing the Christians. Weber knew that they were talking of a house of worship and as Thomas Maxwell and Silas Hitchcock, two of their members, were under his com- mand the San Jose Rangers during the Mexi- can War, he readily granted the 100 foot square. By this misunderstanding they were euchered out of the Presbyterian lot. They soon had a church home, however, as pur- chasing a story and a half attic house, formerly used as a store, they moved it on to a lot where now stands the Union Bank on San Joaquin Street and fitted it up as a church. The lot was deeded to them by John D. Green and Silas Hitchcock. The pastor was the Rev. W. G. Canders, then a teacher in the public schools. Two quaint notices thus appeared at that time: "Religious services will be held at the Christian meeting house, opposite the court house at early candle light. Rev. Mr. Thompson will preside." Then again, April 14, 1855, "There will be preaching in the frame building, east side of the court house at eleven and three o'clock. Elder McCorkle will preach on church government." The congregation was widely scattered. Many of them were engaged in stock raising and it was difficult for them to assemble at the church. Abandoning the edifice, they met for several years in the home of John D. Green, about six miles out in the country.

Church service was again resumed in Stock- ton in April, 1858. Again they reorganized in April, 1860, and selling the lot on San Joa- quin Street for $600, they obtained liberal sub- scriptions and for $2,000 purchased the Cum- berland Presbyterian property on Lindsay Street. At this time William C. Miller and J. H. Tharp were the elders, C. P. Crow and Robert Hitchcock, deacons, and Samuel, Will- iam and Robert Miller and William P. Shaw, trustees. The Bible class leader was Peter S. Wilkes. They sold the property to the German School Association for $2,000 in March, 1872, and immediately purchased for $2,500 the Cumberland Church property on

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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 30

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