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 8

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 8

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

smiths, wagon makers, tailors, merchants, clerks, bookkeepers, etc. In politics the Ameri- can citizens were as badly mixed as at the present time. Today we find pro-league and anti-league, Republicans and Democrats. Then they were Democrats and Whigs from the North, opposed to slavery ; and Whigs and Democrats from the South, in favor of slavery. The foreigners, many of them, left their coun-

try because opposed to kingly reign, and not a few were refugees. Nearly all of the Ameri- cans had come from Christian families. A few were professing Christians. And unfortunately there also came some of the deepest-dyed vil- lains of the earth, gamblers, forgers, robbers and murderers. We now have briefly told the characteristics of the citizens of San Joaquin, and next follows their record.

CHAPTER V COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND LAND GRANTS

W HERE did we get this land, Califor- nia, within whose bounds lies San Joaquin County? Stole it from the Mexican government. It is so declared in milder terms by nearly all of the later days historians, Channing declaring, "The Mexican war was in reality an attack on a weak nation by a strong one." General U. S. Grant, a cap- tain in the Mexican War, emphasizes Chan- ning's statement when he says in his memoirs, "I regard the war as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker na- tion." "It was in no sense of the word a- righteous or a justifiable war, for there was no cause for war, but the South wanted Cali- fornia for the extension of slavery, and James Russell Lowell in his Bigelow papers aptly expresses it when he wrote

"They just wanted this Californy So's to lug new states in, To abuse ye and to scorn ye, And to plunder ye like sin."

At that time the South was the dominating power in Congress and President James K. Polk, a Southerner, was at their command. To obtain California was easy-just to reach out and get it though the flimsy reason of the President making this declaration, "Mexico has shed American blood upon American soil. War exists, and exists by the act of Mexico herself." Even before war was declared, in May, 1846, Commodore John D. Sloat, in com- mand of the U. S. vessels, was lying off the coast of Peru waiting for the news of war, when he was to quickly sail and take posses- sion of California ; John C. Fremont, under the guise of an exploring expedition, was sent out as early as 1844 to spy out the land; and Stephen W. Kearny, with troops, was on the march for California in less than a month after the declaration of war. It was purely a Southern war fought principally by southern soldiers and commanded by southern officers,

thousands of them, who later became pioneers of California, controlled its political affairs, held nearly all of the official positions and en- gaged in business pursuits. It was one of the shortest wars in history-less than twelve months of actual fighting. On September 14, 1847, General Winfield Scott, riding a white horse, at the head of his troops, made his spec- tacular march into the City of Mexico. In the treaty of peace signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848, Mexico was compelled to · cede to the United States all of that territory now known as Nevada, Utah, Nebraska, Kan- sas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, in fact all of the land west of the Rocky Mountains north of the Gulf of Mexico and south of the south Oregon line. Col. R. B. Mason was in command of the California troops at this time, but he did not learn of the treaty of peace, of- ficially until March, 1848. Hence his answer to Captain Sutter and his refusal to grant the Swiss pre-emption rights to Coloma. I have laid this foundation of the Mexican War as we will find it later on the cause of squatter difficulties, political agitations and slavery difficulties.

The Rush to California

The news of gold in California flew on the wings of lightning to every port in the civil- ized world. And in less than eighteen months there were 100,000 people in California. They came from every state in the Union, and from England, France, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, China, Mexico and Chile. The number report- ed to Congress by the memorial committee of the constitutional convention was 107,000. They were estimated as to nationality, as fol- lows: 5,000 foreigners, 13,000 Californians- native born, and 76,000 Americans. As an ad- ditional report the harbor master at San Fran- cisco reported that from April 12 until Decem- ber 31, 1849, 29,069 immigrants entered the Golden Gate. And carefully note this, of the

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

last number mentioned, 800 were females. Thousands more came by way of New Mexi- co from the south over the Santa Fe trail, and overland across the Sierras by the way of Sutter's Fort. In that vast multitude of "goldseekers" most of them expecting to make their fortune quickly and return home, there were hundreds of criminals of every shade and color and deep-dyed in every crime imag- inable. It was a condition of things never be- fore seen in the world's history. And without any form of government, property and life were not safe for a day.

First Constitutional Convention

Something must be done and done quickly. The people assembled in meetings in San Jose, Sacramento and San Francisco, called upon Bennett Riley, then in command of the United States coast army and Governor of California, to call a constitutional convention for the or- ganization of some form of state government. For several weeks he refused to take any action, declaring that the Government at Washington had not authorized him to organize a govern- ment. A man of good common sense, how- ever, seeing the condition of affairs, he finally agreed to call a constitutional convention. For without any means of communication with Washington except by an overland horseback journey it would be a year at least before he could receive any instructions from the Gov- ernment. From his headquarters at Monterey, June 3, 1849, General Riley issued his procla- mation recommending the "formation of a state constitution or a plan for a territorial govern- ment." For the purpose of electing delegates to said convention, he divided the territory into ten districts giving as far as possible an equal number of inhabitants to each district. At the time of the calling of the convention, the San Joaquin district was the least inhabited and its bounds, said the proclamation, included "all of the country south of the Sacramento district bounded on the south by the Cosumnes River and lying between the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada." That was some district. It was allotted four delegates, but so fast did the district increase in population, the people were entitled to and elected fifteen delegates.

We have no record of the election in the dis- trict, but we know from the constitutional de- bates that San Joaquin had a lively fight in seating her delegates. The leading champion for San Joaquin was Wm. M. Gwin, the leader in the convention, and even at that time a notable figure in national politics. His reasons for championing the cause of San Joaquin is not known, since he was a delegate from San Francisco. Gwin's labor was virtually wasted, for six delegates only appeared and took their seats. They were an interesting six. J. M. Jones, a bright young lawyer from New York,

had been in the territory just six months; he died before the close of 1851. Thomas H. Ver- muele, thirty-five years of age, another lawyer, had been three years in California. O. M. Wozencroft, thirty-four years of age, a physi- cian from Louisiana, had been four months in the country. He was afterwards appointed an Indian pension agent. J. M. McHollingworth, twenty-five years of age, was a lieutenant in Colonel Stevenson's regiment. Last, but not least, came Ben T. Moore, twenty-nine years of age, born in Florida, a lawyer by profession and a sporting man by choice. One of the Texas Rangers in the Mexican War, he came to Stockton with George W. Trahern in 1849. This convention, one of the most notable in the United States because of the fact that they established a state constitution without any constitutional authority, adjourned October 13, 1849, sine die, after framing a state consti- tution that answered all state purposes for over thirty years. And it was as a matter of fact a far better instrument than that framed in 1879.

Among other commands the state constitu- tion declared that a state election should be held November 13, 1849, for the election of state officers, to hold office for two years. The legislature should comprise a Senate and an Assembly, the former elected for two years and the latter for one year. The election was held at the appointed time throughout the state. In the San Joaquin district there were no vot- ing places and John Kerrand and Francis D. Clark, traveling a circuit of ten or twelve miles, on horseback, carried a ballot box with them and obtained votes for the candidates. They obtained a large number of votes. Some of the defeated candidates objected to that kind of voting and had the enterprising ballot clerks arrested. The prefect, Wm. L. Dickerson, dis- charged the defendants as there was no law against traveling ballot boxes. The district was entitled to four senators and six assem- blymen. The election was won by David F. Douglas, Benjamin S. Lippincott, Nelson Tay- lor and Thomas Vermuele. Of these senators only one, D. F. Douglas, remained in the county any length of time. Ben S. Lippincott, who came to California with the Stevenson regiment, was a politician; after his term ex- pired he went to Tuolumne County and was again elected senator. He was a leading factor in the Broderick senatorial fight in 1855, and later returned to New Jersey. Thomas Ver- muele resigned in two months and became city attorney of San Jose. Nelson Taylor was a very negligent senator for he did not appear in the senate until the end of the first week, and January 21, he asked a ten days leave of absence. It was granted and failing to show up on time his colleague, David Douglas,

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

moved that Taylor's seat be declared vacant. Taylor was elected sheriff of the county in 1853, was the owner of considerable property and during the Civil War sold out, and going to New York entered the army of volunteers.

Van Buren-Fair Contest

The assemblymen elected were J. S. K. Ogier, a native of Alabama, Ben F. Moore, of Florida, Charles M. Creanor, Richard W. Heath and John Van Benscroten of New York; Charles M. Creanor resigned in April, the leg- islature having elected him judge of the Fifth judicial court comprising the counties of San Joaquin, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa. Two months previous Heath and Van Ben- scroten resigned. To fill these vacancies an election was called for March 2, 1850. There were three candidates for the office, William D. Fair, E. L. B. Brooks and Thomas B. Van Buren. Brooks received 115 votes, and Van Buren's vote exceeded the Fair vote by over 800 majority. He was a very popular man, perhaps because he had the name of a Demo- cratic President. He was the first July 4th orator at Stockton, and later appointed Minis- ter to China. Both Fair and Van Buren were bright young lawyers from the south, Fair meeting a tragic death in 1861. He married the famous Laura D. Fair, who shot and killed the noted San Francisco attorney, A .P. Crit- tenden. Fair's marriage was unfortunate, and on her account he shot and killed himself, De- cember 27, 1861. As Van Buren had been elected to fill a vacancy only, his time expired in December, 1850. In September, Governor Peter H. Burnett issued a proclamation for an election October 7, for several state officers, a district attorney, a senator and two assembly- men for San Joaquin. There were seventeen advertised candidates for the assembly but the voters narrowed the number to seven, Fred- erick Yeiser, 528, and W. C. McDougal, 312, receiving the highest votes. The senatorial fight was again contested between W. D. Fair and T. B. Van Buren. It was a close contest slightly in favor of Van Buren. The county clerk, A. C. Bradford, later a land office regis- trar and a grand master of state Odd Fellows, issued the election certificate to Van Buren. Fair, in the senate contested the election, each attorney presenting his own case. The con- test was very interesting and Fair presented his evidence "with all the skill and talent of a lawyer of the first class and Van Buren showed himself an honorable and high-toned gentle- man," said one who was present. It was shown during the contest, said the legislative report, that there were many illegal ballots cast, Mexicans, foreigners and even Indians, voting. In one precinct the county judge act- ing as an election judge left the precinct and went out and brought in illegal voters to cast

their ballot for the judge's favorite candidate. The Senate after hearing all of the evidence gave the seat to Van Buren by a vote of nine to three. They asserted that although there was much illegal voting it was about equally divided and Van Buren polled the most votes.

Resignation of Assemblyman

In those days, even up to 1860, there were scarcely any laws governing elections and the citizens then, as now, took no interest in the election of officers unless personally interested. Another queer election took place March 20, 1850, to fill the seat made vacant by the resig- nation of Assemblyman Heath. The poll was at the Stockton House and voting commenced at 10 a. m. and closed at 4 p. m. There were four candidates. In the county vote E. B. Bateman received 197, J. W. Paine, 102, and R. A. Duthel, 65 .. We have no record of the mountain camp vote except at Sonora. Bate- man received twenty-five majority. He was a young physician, a pioneer of 1847 and the manager of a private hospital. He was of course well-known and a very kindly gentle- man. A little later over twenty-five prominent citizens of the town, in a published letter re- quested him to present his name for county superintendent of schools. Regarding the election, the voting was very informal espe- cially in the Isbel ranch precinct, now known as Waterloo. The judge was David J. Staples, later very prominent in the insurance business in San Francisco. During the afternoon he concluded he had better go out and look for some lost cattle, leaving the clerk, A. W. Brush, in charge. Staples rode away on his horse and was not again seen for several days. Later Mr. Brush, telling of the incident, said "everything voted" and fifteen votes were polled.

While the political wire pullers were ad- vancing the claims of their friends for office- for there were six elections that year-the legislature was at work passing some exceed- ingly necessary laws. One of these laws was an "Act subdividing the State into counties." They cut up the state into twenty-seven coun- ties, and many of them being very large they were later subdivided, there being today fifty- eight counties. Some of these counties are small in size and others very large, because of their mountainous districts, and small popula- tion. San Joaquin County, then as now, was one of the smallest counties in size, but one of the largest in wealth and population. The boundary of the county as defined by the com- mittee and approved unanimously by the legis- lature was as follows: "Beginning at the junc- tion of the San Joaquin River and the large slough, which is the outlet of the Mokelumne River and Dry Creek; thence up the middle of said slough to the mouth of Dry Creek; thence

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

up the middle of Dry Creek to the southeast corner of Sacramento County; thence in a southerly direction to a point one mile north of Lemon's ranch ; thence in a southeast direc- tion to a point on the Stanislaus River one mile north of Knights Ferry ; thence down the middle of the Stanislaus River to its confluence with the San Joaquin River; thence in a north westerly direction following the summit of the Coast Range to the southwest corner of Contra Costa County; thence in a northerly direction following the eastern boundary line of Contra Costa County to a point on the west channel of the San Joaquin River known, and laid down by C. D. Gibbs' map, about ten miles below Moore & Rhoads ranch, at a bend where the said channel, running downward, takes a general course north; thence down the middle of said west channel to its confluence with the main San Joaquin River; thence down the middle of the San Joaquin River to the place of beginning." This boundary line, although at present somewhat confusing, especially in the tule section, was the original act passed and approved February 28, 1850, by Gov. Peter H. Burnett.

Origin of Name San Joaquin

The senate appointed a committee to give the "derivation and the definition" of the names which they had given to the twenty- seven counties. The names are all of Spanish origin except ten, and eight of these are de- rived from Indian names. The name of Butte County is French; a county is named after Captain Sutter; General Mariano G. Vallejo, a Spaniard, was chairman of this committee and probably none were better qualified to ex- plain the meaning of the names than he. In their report, referring to San Joaquin County, the committee stated "The meaning of this name has a very ancient origin, in reference to the parentage of Mary the mother of Christ. According to divine revelation Joachim sig- nifies 'preparation of the Lord' and thence the belief that Joaquin, who in the course of time was admitted into the pale of sanctity, was the father of Mary. In 1813, Lieuten- ant Gabriel Moraga, commissioned on an ex- pedition to the valley of the rushes (valle de los tulares) gave the appellation of San Joa- quin to a rivulet which springs from the Sier- ra Nevada and empties into Lake Buena Vis- to. The river San Joaquin derives its name from the rivulet, and baptizes the county with the same name. Stockton is the seat of jus- tice." The committee, then commenting on Stockton declared, "It is pleasantly situated on on a channel of the San Joaquin River, on a plain thinly overspread with oaks and shrubs, and within a day or two of the rich placers, is destined to become a city of the San Joaquin

notwithstanding the lack of poetry in its name."

The boundary lines of San Joaquin County as defined by the legislature in no manner af- fected the grants or their boundaries as ap- proved by the Mexican government. In fact it was declared that no Mexican acts, if valid, should be disturbed or annulled. These grants of land were given to Mexican, or naturalized citizens of Mexico, the parties selecting the land wherever they desired. All that was necessary was to locate the grant, define its boundaries as near as possible and then peti- tion the Governor for the land. If no other party had petitioned for the same piece of land the Governor usually signed the request. The acres were of no value, as I have stated, and the boundary lines were very indefinite, an ex- tension of a mile or two over the original boundary not making much difference. When .the land became valuable, because of the in- flux of population, then it was different, and the indefinite boundary lines led to squatter troubles, law suits and sometimes murder. A person desiring land in a certain locality would be his own surveyor and measure off the land, making some tree, bush, river, lake and occa- sionally some mountain peak his boundary line. With a friend, both on horseback, they would measure off the four sides of the grant with a riata or rope. Another way of measur- ing was the time measurement, the party would ride a horse on a walk a certain distance, keep- ing the time by his watch, and in this way he would ride around the grant. Is it any sur- prise that there were so many land fights in California? We will note some of them in San Joaquin, one fight resulting in a most cowardly murder.

Land Grants

In this county there were four grants, El Pescadero, Campo de los Franceses, Los Mo- quelemos, and the Thompson rancho. The re- maining acres, upland and swamp land, be- longed to the state.

The El Pescadero grant in the southwestern part of the county was given to Pio Pico, twice Governor of Mexican California, by Governor Micheltorena in 1844. Pico presented his claim to the board of United States Commissioners sitting in San Francisco, in 1852. They re- jected his claim as not valid. He then ap- pealed to the United States District Court for the northern district of California. They, in April, 1856, declared his claim legal. The claim was approved by President Buchanan in January, 1858. Pico sold the grant to Wm. A. McKee and Frank W. and Hiram Gaines. They in turn sold it to Timothy Paige, a Stockton capitalist. In August, 1858 Paige appeared before Judge Charles M. Creanor of

HISTORY OF SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY

the Fifth Judicial Court and he approving the patent, it was recorded by Timothy Paige in September, 1858. The land is now very valu- able as.it can be irrigated by the Paradise cut canal, and two railroads run across the middle of the grant.

El Campo de los Franceses-I have treated of this grant in a former chapter. It is the most valuable grant of land in the county and one of the most valuable in the state. It is difficult to define its boundaries except in sur- veyor's terms. In general terms, however, it extends north of Stockton two miles, north- east six miles, including Waterloo, to the south four miles including French Camp and to the west one mile.

The Los Moquelemos grant in the north- eastern part of the county, has been the cause of trouble for many years, because of squatter and railroad claims. The grant containing eleven leagues, was granted to Andreas Pico in 1846, by his brother Governor Pio Pico. His claim to the grant was not approved by the commissioners, because of insufficient proof of his claim. The District Court re- versed the decision of the commissioners, but the United States Supreme Court sustained the land commissioners, and remanded the case for further evidence. In the meantime farmers began settling on this land in good faith, be- lieving it was government land. Andreas Pico however continued to lay claim to the land and acres were sold over the farmers' heads. On January 18, 1857, these farmers held a meeting in the Henderson schoolhouse and declared that "the selling of Pico lands over their heads was wrong and the settlers' rights should be considered as extending to the limits and bounds as recorded and admitted by his neigh- bors. Resolved, That the passage of a law de- claring all contracts for the sale of lands in the actual possession of a third party absolutely null and void, is imperatively called for by the conditions of land titles in this state." John P. Bradie, attorney in fact for Andreas Pico, two days later replied to the settlers' resolu- tion in a published card, saying, "I agree fully with the resolution adopted that the purchase of Pico titles over the heads of actual settlers is wrong. The plan of Mr. Pico is to allow the settler to purchase a title to his land at a rea- sonable and moderate rate and I have sold no lands over the heads of settlers, which have been settled on in good faith in the supposition that such land might be the property of the United States." It was a very complicated and tangled problem for twenty years, still further complicated in 1864 by the Western Pacific Railroad laying claim to a part of the grant.

Southern Pacific Railroad

In 1862 Congress granted to the Western Pacific railroad, later called the Central Pacific

and now known as the Southern Pacific, a sub- sidy of land along their proposed railroad, the odd sections on each side of the road within ten miles. The Moquelemos grant, they claimed, was within the limits of their subsidy, and as the Pico title had not been perfected, they claimed lands occupied by the settlers. A number of the leading farmers denied their rights to the occupied tracts, and a test case known as Newhall versus Sanger, of a quarter section of land, was tried in the courts. Joseph H. Budd was the farmers' attorney. After sev- eral years of litigation the Supreme Court of the United States, saying in the conclusion of their decision, "As the premises in controversy were not public lands, either at the date of the grant or of their withdrawal, it follows that they did not pass to the railroad company." Among the settlers there was great rejoicing. And at a celebration at Lodi, J. H. Budd, the orator, said, "The booming of cannon, the wav- ing of flags, the glad sound of music and the immense concourse of people express more forcibly than I can do it, the feelings of the justice of the cause which we are here to cele- brate. The history of the long struggle of the people against the avaricious grasp of land monopolists has been a most interesting one. The land monopolist endeavored to wrong- fully appropriate the land which the settlers had, by long and patient toil, reclaimed from the barren waste, making the 'wilderness to blossom as the rose.' After settling in their peaceful homes for years they were astonished to see a corps of engineers, marking out the lines of a pretended grant, called the Chabolla grant, covering the homes of hundreds of set- tlers in this county. After a struggle involving years of costly litigation, the fraudulent Cha- bolla grant was removed and the people con- gratulated themselves that they would never be troubled again. But alas, there came an- other. I refer to the grant Los Moquelemos covering this very territory. It received the endorsement of the District Court of San Fran- cisco, but the U. S. Supreme Court, then as now free from corruption, repudiated the false claim, and again the people thought they were free from the land monopolist. But they were again mistaken. In 1862 a. road received a grant of land to aid its construction easterly from Sacramento to Dutch Flat and over the Sierras. They had no shadow of right to build a road in this county. A contract was drawn up between Charles Mclaughlin, who claimed to be a contractor, with the institution known as the Contract and Finance Compay. A com- pany was formed, to which the Central Pacific Railroad Company said, 'Give us the bonds which you expect to steal from the Govern- ment and we will give you the land.' The Central Pacific had no more right to give away

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 8

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