USA > California > Santa Clara County > History of Santa Clara County, California : including its geography, geology, topography, climatography and description > Part 46
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On Friday, January 11, 1857, a severe shock of earthquake was experi- enced in the morning at about eight o'clock, the vibration lasting about a minute. The effect upon some of the artesian wells in the neighborhood was remarkable-for a moment the water ceased to flow from the pipe, and then gushed out in greater volume and with more power than usual, while the channels of other wells that had become obstructed were re-opened and the subterranean current caused to flow.
Once more have we to record a serious conflagration. On the morning of February 3, 1857, Mclellan's Hotel, at the north-west corner of Santa Clara and First streets, was found to be on fire; scarcely had a moment elapsed after the smoke was first discovered issuing from under the eaves, before the whole building, which was a frame one, was a prey to the fiery fiend. The two engines and the hook and ladder companies were promptly on hand and manfully combated the devouring element, bending all their energies to confine the flames to the hotel, which they succeeded in doing. Consider- able damage was done to the adjoining houses, Mr. Mclellan's loss being estimated at about seven thousand dollars, uninsured.
About this time the manufacture of beet sugar was occupying considera- ble attention, a public meeting having been held with Colonel Younger as Chairman, and Edward Auzerais, Secretary, where the advantages of the manufacture was fully discussed; while another industry had been planted in the shape of a pottery conducted by Marcus Williams.
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On the 5th June a large meeting assembled at the City Hall to consider the subject of suerte titles, when L. Archer, A. Pfister, R. G. Moody, John A. Quimby and John M. Murphy were appointed a committee to report resolutions expressive of the sense of the meeting. The resolutions were unanimously adopted and were as under :-
" Resolved, First, That we will unite and use every exertion to expose and defeat all fraudulent land claims, before the tribunals of the country, and aid and assist the honest citizen and settler in defending his home, and maintaining his rights; and that while so doing we will support and recog- nize all fair and bona fide claims, whether held by a nabob or a beggar. Second, That we have no sympathy with, and will not countenance the dealers in fraudulent tax titles, and fraudulent land claims. Third, That many of the surveys of Spanish land claims, although made by the author- ized agents of the United States Government, are fraudulent and unwar- ranted by the titles, and have been made by collusion and fraud of the claimants and the Deputy Surveyors, and should be discountenanced by the people, and the parties to them denounced; Fourth, And that we earnestly urge the government of this city to take immediate measures to recover the school lands, and to protect the ancient rights of the pueblo. Fifth, That, in our opinion, the buying of pretented or doubtful titles to lands held in good faith by other persons, under claim of right, with the intent that the buyers may disturb the grant or possession of the persons so possessing should, in the language of Chief Justice Bibb, who is concurred with by inost of the American and English judges and lawyers, be 'denounced as contrary to sound policy, the peace of society and the safe administration of impartial justice.' Sixth, That if it can be ascertained that title to lands in our midst can be established upon oral testimony alone, unaided by any documentary evidence, as to genuineness of claim or locality thereof, it opens the door to the perpetration of the greatest wrongs upon the rights of others by the vilest inen, through the medium of frauds and perjuries. Seventh, That we earnestly request any speculators in disputed, pretended, dormant, or doubtful titles to lands in our locality to consider carefully the tendency of such things, and the effect they must have upon the peace of the people, upon the rights to property and the purity of trials in Courts of Justice."
In the month of September, the first preserved fruit manufactory was in operation by Roze & Hartmann. On the 20th October, a heavy shock of earthquake was experienced which caused considerable alarm; while in this year there were five school districts in the township, with an attend- ance of seven hundred and eighty-nine pupils.
During the year 1857, rents and property were not at the high range that they had been hitherto, still improvements were carried on. The brick
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house, on First street, of Mr. Stock, was built in this year, as was also the school-house on Washington square.
1858 .- An ordinance authorizing George Wheeler and John Ashley to lay gas pipes through the streets, was passed by the Board of Trustees on January 11th, and, on the 18th, amendments to the charter were sug- gested, to cover the necessity of owners of property being required to build the street and side-walks in front of their respective lots. On Febru - ary 15th, the Rev. Eli Corwin was appointed City Superintendent of Com- mon Schools, and the following Trustees chosen: District No. 1, C. W. Pom- eroy, J. B. Price, S. M. Cutler; District No. 2, Charles Moody, Joseph Aram, and David E. Skinner. On March Ist, an ordinance was passed establishing the boundaries of these, and regulating the School Fund. April 13th, the municipal election was held, with the following result: Board of Trus- tees, P. O. Minor, President, G. W. Pomeroy, Adolph Pfister, J. P. Martin, N. B. Edwards; Collector, Jasper D. Gunn ; Assessor and Clerk, W. R. Davis; Superintendent of Schools, Rev. Eli Corwin; Treasurer, John H. Moore. April 24th, a letter was received from Hon. E. M. Stanton, stating that it was the object of the General Government to have collected at the office of the Surveyor-General, at San Francisco, all the Spanish and Mexican archives of California, that the same might be collated, bound, indexed, etc., for convenient use ; and requesting, in the name of the United States Attor- ney-General, that the Board of Trustees of San José would transmit all of such archives belonging to the city, to that officer, to be used as indicated. On April 26th, F. B. Murdoch, J. M. Williams, and Louis Cory, were appointed School Trustees, for District No. 1, and, on November 1st, Thomas Douglass was called upon to assume the duties of City Superintendent of Schools, in place of the Rev. Eli Corwin, resigned.
The Telegraph of January 20, 1858, informs us that the improvements in San José during the past year had been permanent, especially in beautify- ing surburban residences; and the purchase, by Martin Murphy, of one hun- dred and thirty feet of property on Market street, for nine thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars. An Act amendatory and supplementary to an Act entitled, "An Act to re-incorporate the City of San José : Approved March 27, 1857," was approved April 15, 1858; and, September 29th, a meeting of the Fire Department was held, when the thanks of the organiza- tion were tendered to Major S. J. Hensley, and through him to the Steam Navigation Company for furnishing the Department with a free passage to San Francisco, to attend the celebration of the laying of the Atlantic cable, on Monday, the 27th.
On October 3d, the Presbyterian Church bade adieu to the Rev. Eli Corwin, who, we have said above, resigned his office of Superintendent of Schools, prior to his departure for the Sandwich Islands. Mr. Corwin settled in San José,
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in 1852, as Pastor of the Presbyterian Church. Society in California, at that day, was in a much more unsettled condition than when he left; it was com- posed chiefly of wild, dissipated and reekless men, who, unrestrained by the influence which forms so strong a check to vice in better organized communi- ties, often indulged in extravagant follies. Mr. Corwin set himself diligently to the work of reform, and to create a religious sentiment in society. His emi- nent social qualities, his great conversational powers, and the kindness of his nature attracted toward him the young, and inspired their confidence and respect. Endowed with a bright and active mind which was polished by a fine education, and improved with much reading, Mr. Corwin soon became a popular minister in San José. The thoughtful and religious loved the earnestness of his zeal-the gay and the youthful admired the classic elegance of his style, and the affecting eloquence of his sermons. Few inen of old church religious faith could have done more for the good of the people among whom he lived, than did Mr. Corwin.
December 2, 1858, a large mass meeting was held at the City Hall for the purpose of expressing the popular feeling with reference to the action of the United States law agent at San Francisco in prosecuting a suit against the Almaden Mining Company, by which it had been enjoined from working. The Chair was occupied by Hon. C. P. Hester, andI Win. R. Davis, Secretary, while a committee composed of Messrs. Bodley, Murdoch, West, Pomeroy, and Johnson (of Santa Clara) drafted and reported the resolutions below given: " WHEREAS, The discovery of the New Almaden Quicksilver Mines was a matter of rejoicing to California; and, whereas, the Company which now occupy the same, and have been in the quiet and peaceful possession thereof for twelve years, and who have invested very large amounts of capi- tal for their development, have invariably exhibited a generosity and lib- erality in the management of said mines, and have not only given employ- ment to a laboring population, and cheered their homes with the comforts of life, but have also earned for themselves a high position in the esteem of the citizens of Santa Clara county, as an honorable and upright association. And, whereas, said company have always mec the demands of the tax-gath- erer for the support of the Government, and for the stability of our own State on the shores of the Pacific, Be it therefore Resolved, That we deeply deplore the recent action of the General Government in its extraordi- nary measures to paralyze the efforts of a mining association so steadfast and persevering in its efforts to develop the mineral resources of California, and so favorably disposed to promote the best interests of the State, and the personal welfare of the large number of workingmen in its employ. Resolred, That we deem it a strange fatality that induced the General Government (brought about from false representations) to seize upon the New Almaden Quicksilver mines, conducted as they have been by the oldest, best estab-
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lished, and most liberal mining company in the State of California. Resolved, That if the doctrine lately enunciated by the Circuit Court of the United States for the State of California, in enjoining the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Company from further operations, and thereby throwing hundreds of workingmen out of employment, and robbing labor of the bread it has earned, and throwing a cloud of darkness over thresholds lately beaming with light and comfort, then there is no safeguard left to the mining interests of California, from the vandalism of speculation; and we, as in duty bound (more in sorrow than in anger), proclaim to the myriads of hardy miners now industriously exploring the valleys, the rivers, the gulches, and the mountains of California, from Yreka to San Diego, 'To your tents, O, Israel,' for the combination of land speculators has brought the Government of the United States to bow in abasement to its insatiate Moloch. Resolved, That while we have no partisan feeling or selfish interest as to the merits of said rival claimants of the New Almaden Quicksilver mines, and though we keenly feel the injustice of the judicial measures which have crippled the industrial energy of our county, and robbed it of its resources to meet the demands of the State Government, we sincerely regret the action of the General Government in sending a special agent from Washington to San Francisco, armed with the influence of the Government to crush this company, which has so long given employment to so large a number of our citizens, and given life to an industry and reward to our labor; but more especially do we condemn its actions in selecting for such agency the hired counsel of a rival claimant to the company, which has so long had said mines in their possession. Resolved, That a copy of the published proceedings of this meeting be sent to the President of the United States. the Honorable Secre- tary of the Interior, and the Honorable Attorney-General of the United States, and that they be respectfully requested to order that the injunction granted by the Honorable the United States Circuit Court for California be removed, dissolved, and that the company now in possession of and operating the said New Almaden mines, be permitted to pursue their accustomed operations therein until the final determination of the proceedings at law investigating the title and rights of property." It is doubtful whether this meeting had any influence upon the proceedings had in this case.
The buildings erected during the year 1858 in San Jose were chiefly of brick, fire-proof, substantial, large and ornamental. On Market street four large stores were constructed, three of these by Martin Murphy. North of Santa Clara street on Market street Yocco & Brother built a fine store. On First street, which was then said to be fast becoming the business street of the city, Mr. Knoche had erected a brick store, at its corner with El Dorado; F. Stock had followed with three more; Pfister & Co., erected a block at the south-east corner of First and Santa Clara streets; Pedro de Saissait built
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one on the same side of First street, near the terminus of El Dorado street; P. O. Minor built a concrete structure on the opposite side of First street; the Catholic church was encased with brick; on the north-east corner of Second and San Antonio streets the Baptist society erected a neat and substantial house of worship, of brick, fifty feet long, thirty feet wide, and twenty-two high; besides which, many handsome edifices of frame were raised in dif- ferent parts of the city, all tending to its attractiveness and appearance.
This year the City Council inclosed Oakhill Cemetery with a substantial board fence.
1859 .- On March 16, 1859, an Act, to incorporate the city of San Jose, was passed by which the government was to be vested in a Mayor, a Com- mon Council, consisting of five members, a City Marshal and City Assessor. These were elected on the 29th of the same month, and were: Mayor, Thomas Fallon; Common Council, C. W. Pomeroy, J. M. Williams, James Morrison, A. Pfister, R. G. Moody; Marshal, Jasper D. Gunn; Assessor and Clerk, William R. Davis; Treasurer, T. Frank Grant.
In his message to the Common Conneil His Honor, Mayor Fallon, remarked: " To the matter of the lands of the pueblo or city of San Jose, I will call your particular attention. There is no question which can come before you, during your term of office, that demands so much of your atten- tion as this; and it is hoped that in all matters affecting land titles, you will act with caution and be guided by justice, always having in view the settle- ment of titles in such a manner as will perfect the same. Not the amount of money to be derived, but the quieting of titles should be the main aim. Nothing tends so much to the prosperity of a community as the certainty of titles to the homes they occupy. Improvements are then made of a perma- nent nature, which ald to the general wealth, and, as a consequence, increase the public revenue; besides, it makes people feel attached to their homes, and will induce many to live here permanently, who would otherwise leave the place, and perhaps the State. The sooner titles to land are settled, the bet- ter; for the longer it is delayed the more complicated will it get. Fortu- nately for this pueblo, the titles have not got in such a snarl but that it can be unraveled; but to do so, and make perfect deeds, it will be necessary that there be a unanimity of action by all the parties in authority, as well as some who have judgment liens on the pueblo lands. Of these I will briefly give you a history :-
" This pueblo was established in the year 1776, and was endowed with a large domain. The least quantity granted to any pueblo was four square leagues of land; but some pueblos had more, and this, being one of the most important in the State, is believed to have had many more leagues than the pueblos of lesser note. The titles of the pueblos are the oldest, for no title was given to individuals until several years after the establishment of
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pueblos. The King of Spain and the Governors of California were always careful to make inquiry in regard to grants to individuals, and to know that such grants did not encroach upon the lands of the pueblo. The authorities of the pueblos had power to make grants of land, either for building or agri- cultural purposes. All the lands remaining unoccupied by any particular individual, was used in common for all grazing purposes.
"The authorities of the city, at present, have all the powers in regard to the disposal of lands that the former authorities ever had, for the Legislature in granting us a charter, could not take away any of our rights as a pueblo, nor does it attempt to do so, but gives us additional powers in regard to municipal regulations within certain limits. The Supreme Court of this State has given the opinion in several cases, holding good titles derived from the authorities of pueblos, both before and after the occupancy of this country by the Americans.
" In 1847 Burton was Alcalde, and called a meeting (or junta) of the heads of families, in regard to the commons. It was then decided that the com- mons should be surveyed into five-hundred-acre lots, and that there should be only so much of the pueblo lands surveyed as would give the head of each family five hundred acres, and, in order that the division should be fair, it was decided to place the numbers of the lots in a hat; one to be drawn by each person as his name was called; and the number so drawn to his name, to be his five-hundred-acre lot; and he to have a lease of the same for nine- ty-nine years.
"The first judgment lien, in all the lands of the pueblo, was created by endeavoring to provide suitable accommodation for the Legislature. In the formation of our State Constitution, the capital was located at San José, and most of the prominent men who then resided here, in order to keep the cap- ital at this place, advanced money to the city and loaned their credit, so that the city might be able to pay rents of offices and houses, as well as to pur- chase the building occupied by the Legislature. Thus was our first debt created which never has been finally satisfied. The Legislature at length removed the capital, and left us our debts; but they allowed us a small sum- fifty thousand dollars in scrip, which sold for forty cents on the dollar- which sum fell short, by several thousand dollars, of paying the debt created. Interest was then very high, from the fact that money was worth a great deal for investment, as lands were low ; and, in order to stop interest, both the city and her creditors were willing to arrange the matter satisfactorily (as will fully appear by reference to proceedings of City Council in 1850-51). All the lands of the pueblo were sold at Sheriff's sale and bid in by the creditors, and then they entered into an agreement, with the Mayor and Council, that two of their number and the Mayor should have power to convey the interest of all the parties concerned. This is the condition of the first judgment lien at present.
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"The second judgment lien was created in 1854. The Supreme Court decided that San Jose was the legal capital, and they made it the capital, in fact, for they came here and held their court, and the people were assured by some of the Judges that the Legislature would have to meet here. So again the people were called on to provide accommodation for the Legis- lature-the first Capitol building having been destroyed by fire. An election was held, and it was decided to ere ct a suitable building. Accordingly our present City Hall was built, and a debt of forty-eight thousand dollars created thereby. In the meantime one of the Judges died and another was appointed in his place. The Court then reversed the former opinion, and decided that San José was not the capital. So that, between the Legisla- ture and the Supreme Court, our city has been made to pay rather too dear for the floating Capitol.
" However, in order to get rid of the high rate of interest accumulating on the money borrowed, a Funding Bill was passed, and the debt funded; and for the purpose of securing to the creditors the sure payment thereof, three Fund Commissioners were created, whose duty it is to sell the property of the city, with consent of the city authorities, and to pay all the proceeds into the treasury for the liquidation of said debt. This is the condition, at present, of the second judgment lien on the pueblo lands.
" In order to make a good title, free and clear from all judgments or any cloud whatever, it will be necessary :-
" First, For the trustees of the first judgment, composed of the Mayor and two of the judgment creditors, to make a deed. I will here state that I have conversed with both of the gentlemen representing the creditors, upon this subject, and I am led to believe that they will make deeds of their interest for a mere nominal sum. They also assure me that they have power of attorney to sell, from all the parties interested. And for my part, as trus- tee for the city by virtue of my office, if I had the power, I would make good all deeds to the citizens without charge; and I think the city would then be the gainer; but as there are debts to pay, as a matter of justice, the parties benefited ought to pay something, so that our liabilities may be met, and justice done to all.
" Second, A deed from the Fund Commissioners, sanctioned by the city authorities, will, in addition to the first, be a good title of all the interest of the pueblo, and, I think, as good as any title in the State.
"Care should be taken by you to have the whole business in this matter legally done. I would recommend that you take it in hand immediately, and have some of your Body appointed to confer with the trustees of the first judgment, and the Fund Commissioners, so that you may all act in unity."
In accordance with these suggestions of His Honor, on June 6th the follow-
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ing resolution, introduced by Alderman Pomeroy, was adopted : " WHEREAS, The permanant prosperity of this city depends mainly upon the prosperity of the country adjoining ; and, whereas, the uncertainty of the land titles in this vicinity has been and is a serious impediment to our general prosper- ity and happiness; Resolved, That the agents of the company called the Land Company of the Pueblo of San Jose, be invited to confer with the Fund Commissioners and a committee of this Board to see if a compromise cannot be entered into by which the title to the pueblo lands may be per- fected. Moved and carried, That the Committee on Public Buildings and Lands be instructed to confer with the San Jose Land Company and the Land Commissioners for the object specified above." The result of which con- ference was that the agents of the Land Company made propositions to execute deeds to occupants of the pueblo lands at prices varying from three dollars per acre, to which the Common Council recommended an addi- tion from the Fund Commissioners to be received by the city at the rates of one dollar to every three charged by the Land Company.
A large railroad meeting was held January 29th under the presidency of Hon. C. T. Ryland, and again on February 3d, to consider the question of building a track to Alviso and connecting the same with San Francisco by means of fast steamboats. The Chairman of the committee appointed to consider the subject, J. M. Williams, based the estimate of cost at the round sum of one million dollars for a road direct to San Francisco, which was considered the more advantageous route, for which organization was nearly completed, a remark which was the ultimate cause of the abandonment of the Alviso project.
About this period the papers inform us that robberies were very numer- ous, the Mariposa Store being losers of about a thousand dollars, on the night of January 28, 1859, while others of less extent were common. On February 7th, the City Council established the price of lots in the Oakhill Cemetery, and promulgated rules and regulations therefor.
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