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 33

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 33

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any in the city because of its peculiar style of construction, was dedicated November 21, 1915. Many invited citizens were present, but as it is supposed to be holy ground, every guest was requested to remove his shoes be- fore entering the temple. There were no

chairs nor pews and Hindus and sinners sat on the floor facing the altar on handsome and costly rugs. There were about 400 Hindus present and a white man who spoke their na- tive tongue gave an explanation of the very un- usual religious ceremony.

CHAPTER XV SAVED TO THE UNION

I N a former chapter we observed that the Democratic party carried every state and San Joaquin County election from 1850 to 1860, save the election of 1855, and that the southern wing of the party controlled by Da- vid S. Terry and William M. Gwin dominated the politics of the state. We further observed that David C. Broderick, the northern party leader who was opposed to slavery, was fast advancing toward the principles of Republi- canism and taking his followers with him. The Southerners believed that something must be done to block his progress and that something was to kill him, not by any brutal method but by the "honorable code of dueling." The South believed that slavery was a divine insti- tution and the freedom of the slave spelled ruin to the principal industries, sugar and cot- ton. They also believed in state's rights and that a state could secede from the Union if it so desired. They also believed and arrogantly declared that they had the right to take their slaves into any free state in the Union. The North on the other hand opposed slavery in any part of the Union. They declared that there should be no slavery north of Mason and Dixon's line, as provided in the Missouri Com- promise, and they denied the right of any state to secede from the Union. The political con- dition is thus explained that we may know the causes which led up to the Civil War, as recorded in this and the following chapters.

Secession Threats

The South believed or professed to believe that the Republican party had been organized to destroy slavery, and they surmised that Abraham Lincoln was to become the future leader of that party. At a meeting in Savan- nah January 23, 1860, says McMasters in his History of the United States, it was "resolved that if Seward or any other Republican were elected President it would be a just cause for for dissolution." Iverson of Georgia, said in the senate he was sure the irrepressible con- flict must go on until it ended with the extinc- tion of slavery in the Union, and he intended to urge the Southern States to dissolve the

Union on the election of a Black Republican President by a sectional Northern party op- posed to and hostile to Southern slavery. Clingman of North Carolina stated that there were hundreds of disunionists in the South, and he believed the election of a Black Repub- lican President would give them sufficient cause to dissolve it. William M. Gwin of Cal- ifornia said the South must prepare for resist- ance if a Republican President be elected and he showed that by seizing Federal property within her limits before the President was inaugurated she could make it impossible for him to administer government in the South.

Birth of the Republican Party

Some persons may wonder what the South had to do with politics in Stockton and San Joaquin County-everything. California is a part of the Union, San Joaquin County is an important part of the state, and if the state was again ruled by the Southern Democracy, then it would play into the hands of the South- ern Confederacy. To defeat this purpose was the object of the Northern men, and they pro- posed to save the state to the Union through the Republican party. This party which is' today the ruling national power was born in Michigan in February, 1854. The people in the town of Jackson, irrespective of party, as- sembled and resolved that they would throw old organizations to the wind, form a new party and make non-extension of slavery the issue. At a second meeting the name Repub- lican was proposed for the new party. The idea of a new party to be called Republican spread from state to state and it was organ- ized in California in time to vote for John C. Fremont for President. In San Joaquin Coun- ty a few men assembled in a room on the southwest corner of Weber Avenue and San Joaquin Street in July, 1856, and these men, John M. Buffington, C. C. Firely, Dr. George R. Warren, John Tucker, Madison Walthall, Jr., B. P. Baird and Dr. W. R. Kerr, held a consultation regarding the organization of a Republican party. At a subsequent meeting on August 2 they organized by electing J. M.

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Buffington, president, and C. C. Firely, secre- tary. They nominated Samuel Myers and Dr. W. R: Kerr for the assembly and I. S. Locke for state superintendent of schools. On the same day the first number of the Stockton Ga- zette was issued as a Fremont and Dayton paper with John W. Damon, a Congregation- alist minister, as editor. The paper soon died for want of support, but the party kept its grip and in 1860 swept the state.

Although the war clouds were hanging over the states beyond the Rockies, in Stockton they did not even cast a shadow, and when on New Year's day the sun arose above the Sierras there was not the least indication of the war soon to engage the entire nation. It was the Sabbath day. Friends greeted friends as of old, and many a "Happy New Year" was drunk before the bar of the New York, St. Charles, Magnolia, The Shades and the Weber House. On Monday many of the society ladies kept open house, announcing the fact in the papers, and throughout the day hacks were seen bearing fashionably dressed young men from house to house on their New Year calls. Refreshments were plentifully provided, and all were welcome. The day passed pleasantly and ended with the Eureka Engine Company's third annual ball.

The City Election of 1860

Although there was no outward signs of trouble, there was an inward fire in the breasts of the Republicans to keep this state in the Union regardless of the cost and they were determined that no disloyal man should have any part in the management of the govern- ment, county or state. The first test came in the May election. The Democrats assembled at City Hall and nominated Henry T. Comp- ton, father of former City Surveyor Compton, for mayor and V. M. Peyton for street superin- tendent. . The Republicans, formerly Whigs, were without an organization, a party or a press advocate. All of their utterances were published in the Daily Argus, owned and edited by William Biven, a presumed Douglas Democrat. A few days before the election they put forth an independent ticket, with E. S. Holden as candidate for mayor. He was a very enterprising citizen, then the leading druggist in the city, and very active in the formation of the District Agricultural Asso- ciation. Notwithstanding the handicap of the Republicans, the Democrats were badly de- feated, electing only three candidates for minor offices. In the election, politics cut no figure. Dr. Holden was elected by a vote of 493, his opponent receiving 228 votes. V. M. Peyton, then a member of the Democratic city committee, had no opposition for superin- tendent of streets and polled 651 votes. For

future reference and to note the political growth today, let us read by wards the vote for mayor. E. S. Holden ran as follows: First Ward, 208; Second Ward, 158; Third Ward, 127. The ward boundaries were similar to those of the present day. Mr. Compton's vote was 97 in the First Ward, 95 in the Second and 36 in the Third.

The Fourth of July

Time rolled us on to the Fourth of July, 1860. It was a beautiful day, and Billy Wall's old iron cannon, afterwards thrown into the chan- nel, welcomed the sunrise. At sunset again rang out thirty-three guns for the "Union of State and the Flag of Our Union Forever." A. C. Bradford was grand marshal of the pro- cession, assisted by Thomas K. Hook. In the line, led by the Stockton Cornet Band, Richard Condy, leader, marched the Stockton Blues, Captain P. Edward Conner in command, they being followed by the Stockton Turnverein, led by August Weihe, after them coming the fire department, and citizens on horseback. Marching to the grove on Park Street, between Sutter and San Joaquin, Rev. David W. Mc- Donald, the Episcopal rector, offered a prayer to the God of all, that peace might continue throughout the land. Thomas Colwell read the Declaration of Independence and Newton Booth delivered "a masterly production-a speech which spoke to the reason and the feel- ings." The council had appropriated $350 for fireworks, and these were set off on Fre- mont Square, but being old, having been ship- ped around Cape Horn, they were a failure.

State and National Democratic Conventions

We must now pass from local to national events. The national Democratic convention was called to meet at Charleston, S. C., April 28, 1860, and in preparation for this event, J. P. Hoge, the chairman of the Democratic state committee, called a convention to assemble at Sacramento January 29, to elect delegates to the Presidential convention. San Joaquin was entitled to ten delegates to the Sacramento convention, and the Democrats met in the City Hall February 24. John McMullen was elected permanent chairman and William Har- per, secretary. The delegates elected were Thomas W. Lane, John McMullen, farmer and cattle dealer ; David F. Douglas, San Joaquin's first Senator ; John C. White, a wealthy farmer ; H. C. Patrick, part owner of the Republican ; P. E. Conner, founder of the Stockton water- works; William H. DeVries, father of our ex- Congressman ; J. H. Lathrop and Edward Can- avan. The convention assembled in Sacra- mento at the time appointed. It met in the First Baptist Church, but so deep was the interest and so large the crowd that it was

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compelled to adjourn to the Forest Theater. The Democratic press of the state had de- clared in favor of Daniel S. Dickerson of New York as Presidential nominee, and he was in- dorsed by the convention by a vote of 282 to 65. Vincent E. Greiger offered a resolution that Stephen A. Douglas be the last choice of the convention. This resolution was laid on the table. Two Democrats from San Joaquin, Major L. R. Bradley, afterwards Governor of Nevada, and C. M. Creanor, the district judge, were anxious to take the long, dangerous and weary ocean journey to Charleston, and Major Bradley was one of the elect. Upon arrival in the city since so famous, the California dele- gation learned that their nominee was not in the fight, for the contest lay between Stephen A. Douglas, the "Little Giant" of Northern Democracy, and John C. Breckinridge, the champion of the South. The delegates from the cotton land, failing in their effort to force the convention to adopt a pro-slavery plat- form, withdrew from that body, followed later by the California delegation. The convention nominated Douglas for President and William Johnson for Vice-President. Those who with- drew met at Richmond, June 11, adopted the platform which was rejected by the Douglas convention and nominated John C. Breckin- ridge for President and Joseph C. Lane of Oregon for Vice-President. The Republican convention on May 16 had nominated Abra- ham Lincoln for President, and May 19 the Constitutional Union (peace) party had placed John Bell before the people.

The National Republican convention was the first to assemble and June 13 the news was received in Stockton that Abraham Lincoln had been nominated for President. On receiv- ing the news the Stockton Republicans fired one hundred guns in honor of the event. The split in the Democratic party and the nomina- tion of John C. Breckinridge for President was received here July 18. The news created con- siderable excitement, for Breckinridge was the well-known champion of slavery and state's rights. There was much speculating regard- ing the election of the Douglas Democratic nominee, Stephen A. Douglas, or the Southern nominee, John C. Breckinridge, but it was finally conceded that the contest lay between Breckinridge, the slavery advocate, and Abra- ham Lincoln, who had declared in his famous speech in the Douglas-Lincoln debate, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure perma- nently half slave, half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other."

The campaign opened in August and Will- iam M. Gwin said in his Stockton speech, Au- gust 29, "I am for Breckinridge and Lane, first, last and all the time. I am willing to sink or swim, survive or perish with them and the party they represent. Our standard bearer, John C. Breckinridge, is one of the greatest men of the earth. He will administer and ad- vance the glory of the country." The Stock- ton Republicans in order to successfully carry on the contest organized a Lincoln and Ham- lin club, and they published an advertisement in the Stockton Independent calling on all persons who wish to secure the election of Abraham Lincoln for President to assemble in the court house for the organization of a Lin- coln club. A large number of Republicans assembled and S. T. Nye was elected president of the meeting, I. S. Locke vice-president and Charles Belding, secretary. The meetings of the club were held in the Baptist Church on Center Street, and planting a flagstaff they raised aloft a large banner bearing the inscrip- tion "Lincoln and Hamlin Club." Their first campaign meeting was held August 28 from a small flag decorated platform in front of the Weber House. The officers of the meeting were: President, I. S. Locke; vice-president, Samuel Myers, the French Camp rancher; B. S. Rowe, H. B. Post, the Cherokee Lane farmer; Alexander Burkett, the flour mill owner; S. T. Nye, then a commission mer- chant; Perry Yaple, a barley mill man, later of Ripon; Dr. Moses Hammond, Willard Sperry, flour mill man; George Gray, lumber dealer, later mayor of city; Charles Grunsky, later county clerk; James Littlehale, banker ; and Charles Belding, soda manufacturer and farmer. The speaker of the evening was Thomas Fitch of Wisconsin, later known as the silver-tongued orator of Nevada. The cam- paign was hotly contested, Governor Weller, Senator Latham, Senator Gwin, Frank Tilford, Joseph Budd and A. C. Bradford speaking for Breckinridge and Thomas Fitch, Charles Tut- tle, Henry Edgerton, A. A. Sargent, George W: Tyler and Henry B. Underhill espousing the cause of Lincoln.

The Election of 1860

On election day, November 6, the Demo- cratic organ said, "Today the great struggle is to come off throughout the United States which is to settle the destiny of the United States of North America. It is the turning point in the world's history." In San Joaquin County the vote was close between Lincoln and Breckinridge, although the Republicans had no newspaper to advocate their cause. The Breckinridge party, although weakened by the secession of the Douglasites, carried

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both city and county by a small majority, the Republican party, then but four years old, be- ing a good second. I can show the political situation of that day in no better way than by recording the vote. The city vote was: Breckinridge-First Ward, 239; Second Ward, 161; Third Ward, 137; County, 1,374. Doug- las-First Ward, 105; Second Ward, 134; Third Ward, 190; County, 733. Lincoln-First Ward, 195; Second Ward, 93; Third Ward, 190; County, 1,131. Bell-First Ward, 32; Second Ward, 22; Third Ward, 28; County, 199. The vote for senator was as follows: F. M. Warm- castle (Breckinridge, Dem.), 1,300; D. J. Staples (Rep.), 1,034; D. A. Inman (Bell), 876. For

assemblymen : L. R. Bradley (Breckinridge,Dem.), 1,337 ; Thomas Laspeyre (Breckinridge, Dem.), 1125; William Garrard (Douglas, Dem.), 1,047; William H. Lyons (Douglas, Dem.), 1,032. George Gray, Samuel Myers, J. L. Downing and B. P. Baird were other candidates. The strongest Republican precinct was Woodbridge, and it gave Lincoln 128 votes, Breckinridge 90, Douglas 54, and Bell 13. The strongest Breckinridge precinct was Orr's Store, which gave Breckinridge 78, Lincoln 27, Douglas 14, Bell 11. Kerrick's, another Breckinridge stronghold, gave him 55, Lincoln 13, Douglas 6. Lincoln carried the state, receiving 38,744 votes, Douglas 38,023, Breckinridge 33,975, and Bell 9,136.

The die was cast, Lincoln was elected Presi- dent and the states of the South began seced- ing from the Union. Here upon the Pacific Coast it was rumored that the Southern sym- pathizers intended to form a Pacific Republic of the states of Oregon, Nevada and California, and the Stockton Republican gave color to that report when it said, on January 1, 1861 : "What may be the future of events no man can tell. The most profound statesmen can- not say today whether the present confederacy will be in existence on the first day of January, or whether there will be at that time a North- ern, a Southern, and a Pacific Republic." Everything was favorable for such a republic, for the Buchanan administration had placed as officers in the Mint, the Customhouse, the Postoffice and other Federal positions men known to be in sympathy with the Southern cause. The commander-in-chief of the Pacific Coast forces, Brevet Brigadier-General Albert Sidney Johnson, was of Southern birth, and John B. Floyd had secretly sent to the Benicia arsenal 18,000 stands of arms. The condition of governmental affairs in the state was equally favorable for the formation of a new republic, and sixty-five merchants of San Francisco tele- graphed as follows to the Secretary of War, August 28: "A majority of our present state officers are undisguised and avowed secession-

ists, and the balance, being hostile to the ad- ministration, are advocates of a peace policy at any price."

Bear and Secession Flags

While the citizens of Stockton were excitedly discussing the future outlook, Duncan Beau- mont, an old resident, and at that time the county surveyor, increased the excitement by floating at the masthead of his yacht, then anchored at the foot of Miner Avenue, a very peculiar flag. It was four-by-six feet in size, and upon the blue cloth was painted a single white star, a grizzly bear and a pine tree. Neither he nor anybody else dreamed of the effect. As soon as the citizens learned of this flag the Stars and Stripes were unfurled from all the engine houses and many other buildings of the city, and Mr. Beaumont in short order pulled down his strange flag. What was the object in raising it? The Stockton Republic said: "It was to be used as a California flag should the Union slide." Mr. Beaumont, in great anger, declared he would raise a British, French or Russian flag if he saw fit. Upon the day following, January 17, some unknown party stretched a banner across Main Street, fastening it to the roofs of the Holden drug store and the theater building. In one corner of this banner were the stars and stripes, in the center a large eagle and beneath the bird a grizzly bear. The flag attracted a large crowd throughout the day and that night someone cut it down. But it was again raised, and hung in place for several days. These two events greatly inflamed the public mind, and the hope was publicly expressed that "this flag-raising folly would not be repeated."

It was repeated, however, in February, by Madison Walthall, one of the charter mem- bers of the Baptist Church, and at that time a farmer in Douglas township. He, on his farm, hoisted a bear flag, and the Argus called him a "disunionist." This epithet offended Mr. Walthall and in a newspaper card he de- clared: "I can say we are not disunionists. Everybody knows what the bear flag means. It means that when the Union is dissolved we intend to be independent-not before."

These incidents, strongly indicating the truth of the rumors of the Pacific Republic, awakened the sleeping patriotism of the lovers of their country. The result was seen Feb- ruary 22, when, as if by one impulse, every Union man declared his principles. Everybody who owned a flag flung it to the breeze, and those without a flag bought one. Flags were everywhere seen upon staffs, fences, trees and buildings and the boys upon the streets car- ried them by the dozen. Wells Fargo's flag- staff was loaded with them. The procession

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of that day, partly due to the Stockton Cornet Band, which voluntarily gave its service, had never before been equaled. Shortly after mid- night the guns began saluting the coming day, and at sunrise "there was a perfect roar of cannon." At the same hour the band was sta- tioned upon the roof of the Corinthian Build- ing, and, as the flag was flung to the wind, the "Star Spangled Banner," followed by "Yankee Doodle," was borne out over the little town. The procession comprised the Stockton Blues, the Turnverein, carrying a German revo- lutionary flag, the Fire Department and citi- zens.

The enthusiastic celebration of February 22, 1861, was due, no doubt, to the stirring news received the previous day. This intelligence, then twelve days old, had been wired from St. Louis to Fort Kearney, thence, by pony ex- press traveling at top speed over mountain, desert and river, it reached Fort Churchill, and from that point the principal events were telegraphed ahead, while the pony speeding on brought the full particulars. These are the headlines that appeared in the California press February 21 over matter dated St. Louis, Feb- ruary 9: "The Union Men Have Carried the Virginia Convention-The Secessionists Elected only About Thirty Members. Seces- sion Movements Go on in the South. Texas Has Passed Her Secession Ordinance. Charles- ton Is Quiet-Fort Sumter Has Not Been Re- enforced. The Ultimatum of South Carolina Has Been Presented and Responded To-The President Says He Has No Power to Negoti- ate for the Surrender of Government Prop- erty, which He Is Bound to Protect. The President-elect Will Leave Springfield for Washington on Monday Next, February 11." We all know from history the events that rap- idly followed this report. President Lincoln secretly journeyed to the White House, his friends believing that a plot had been formed to assassinate him. The seceding states, Feb- urary 4, formed a Southern Confederacy and on the 18th elected Jefferson Davis president. The attack on Fort Sumter came April 12, and two days later the fort was evacuated by Major Anderson. Then came the call of Presi- dent Lincoln, April 15, for 75,000 men, fol- lowed April 19 by the attack on the Massa- chusetts troops in the streets of Baltimore, and the death of Colonel Ellsworth of the New York Fire Zouaves, who was instantly killed because he pulled down the secession flag from the top of the Arlington Hotel in Alex- andria. Ellsworth, then about twenty-five years of age, the pride of Chicago and New York, was the first victim of the war. This created great indignation in Stockton and the first war song heard in this city was the com-

position, "Ellsworth, the True and the Brave." The music, a solo and chorus, was first heard, I believe, at a Sunday evening service in the Presbyterian Church, Mrs. Wilkins singing the solo.

Semi-monthly came the war dispatches, the excitement constantly increasing. Many per- sons declared the news was nothing but fakes and sensations got up for the purpose of in- tensifying the feeling between the North and the South. April 17 the Democratic paper on El Dorado Street said: "The news by pony express is fearfully sensational, extremely alarming and tremendously warlike, but unfor- tunately for its reliability savors of gammon and enterprising newspapers." Southern men and Northern men were of this opinion, until the guns of Fort Pickens were fired upon the old flag. Then there was a change of senti- ment among those of the North, and when the news of the surrender of Fort Sumter was learned, so intense was the excitement that the citizens seemed to have forgotten all about the city election. "We have never seen before such supreme indifference manifested in this matter as at the present time," says a writer of the time, "for neither party held any pri- maries or conventions, nor was any public notice given of the election until a few days before it took place. Then a list of nominees was sent to the Republican with the name of E. S. Holden for mayor. Later another list was published with J. P. D. Wilkins, a Douglas Democrat, for mayor. The election was very quietly conducted and results as follows : Mayor, E. S. Holden, 462, J. P. D. Wilkins, 234; city collector, V. M. Peyton, 356, H. W. Gil- lingham, 187 ; marshal, B. F. Sanborn, 444, J. E. McKensie, 258; assessor, Charles Belding, 273, T. S. Strout, 413.

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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 33

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