History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the 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: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928

USA > California > Santa Clara County > History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the 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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In May, 1879, the new constitution was adopted and in the fall of that year a Work- ingmen's party was organized. It was in ex- istence for two years.

San Jose had a sensation in 1881 when Dick Fellows, the champion lone-hand high- wayman of California, came to San Jose to put the officers on their mettle and furnish columns of scare-head matter for the daily newspapers. Fellows, whose real name was Geo. B. Lytle, was a school teacher and lec- turer before he became a lawbreaker. It was claimed in his behalf that he fell from grace in order that he might assist a near relative, a poverty-stricken widow. About forty years ago he robbed eleven stages within a space of three weeks, his operations extending from Santa Barbara to San Jose. When he en- tered Santa Clara County, the sheriffs of half a dozen counties and Wells-Fargo & Co.'s large force of detectives were at his heels. He was captured near Mayfield by Cornelius Van Buren, foreman of the Coutts ranch, a former constable and justice of the peace, and turned over to Constable E. E. Burke, of Santa Clara, so that he could be taken to the county jail at San Jose. On the way to the jail from the Market Street depot Fellows asked if he might be permitted to have a drink before becoming the inmate of a cell. Burke made a mistake in consenting to the request. They

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passed the court house and entered a saloon at the southwest corner of First and St. John Streets.

Fellows got his drink and then made a break for liberty. Out of the door he went and dashed up St. John Street toward Market. Aft- er he turned the corner he was lost sight of. The escape occurred after dark and therefore the search was conducted under unfavorable conditions. A few days passed and then Fel- lows was recaptured in a cabin near the Guada- lupe mine by Chief-of-Police Dan Haskell and Juan E. Edson, a local detective officer. He was taken to Santa Barbara for trial on one of many charges. Conviction followed and a life sentence was imposed. After the trial he tried to escape, reached the street, mounted a horse and might have been successful in getting away if the horse had not bucked and thrown him from the saddle. After serving as a convict for twenty years he was released on parole. In 1917 Juan Edson was first tor- tured and then killed at his ranch near Tepic. Mexico, by a band of marauding Indians. Hon- est, brave and fearless Dan Haskell became shot gun messenger for Wells-Fargo & Co. in Shasta County after his term of chief of police had expired. In October, 1905, while in the performance of his duty he was shot and killed by a highwayman, who was attempting to hold up the Redding stage.

In 1882, Jan Wasielewski. a Pole, murdered his wife at Los Gatos. He had been but a short time out of prison where he had served a sentence for cattle stealing. In 1877 he mar- ried a pretty Mexican girl. After his convic- tion on the cattle stealing charge he told his wife that he would kill her if she obtained a divorce. The threat was unheeded and when Wasielewski came out of prison he found that she not only secured a divorce but had mar- ried again. Then he planned to kill her. In June, 1882. he went to her home in Los Gatos, met his wife out of doors and stabbed her thirteen times. Leaving her dying on the ground the murderer fled. to be captured in March, 1884, by Juan Edson and Sheriff Ben F. Branham, of Santa Clara County. Before he reached the county jail in San Jose the prisoner feigned insanity. He would not speak and would not eat only enough to keep him alive. After his trial he sent out a bulletin giving notice that a great meeting of the angels would come off in a few days, that it would last two weeks and that in all that time he would be "immortal to the world." The meeting came off, according to his state- ment, and for two weeks not a morsel of food passed his lips. He was tried in May, 1884. and his defense was insanity. A commission of medical experts refused to uphold this plea

and he was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. At the execution a novel feature was introduced in making a hair from the head of the murdered woman act as the last in- strument in the hanging. In former hangings a piece of chalk line attached to the rope was always used, but Sheriff Branham had tested the hair, found that it would work and this hair stood between Wasielewski and death in- til it was severed by the knife of the exe- cutioner.

In 1882 the Democratic State Convention was held in the California Theater on Second Street. The leading candidates for Governor were Gen. George Stoneman, a noted cavalry commander during the Civil War, and George Hearst, father of William Randolph Hearst, proprietor of many newspapers in California and the East. Stoneman was nominated and elected. At this convention W. A. January. of San Jose, was nominated for state treasurer. He also was elected. Another nomination was that of James H. Budd for congressman from the San Joaquin district. He was elected. served one term at Washington and was after- ward elected governor of the state. In the nominating convention he was opposed by Hon. B. D. Murphy, of San Jose. The con- test was very close.

One of the most sensational murders ever committed in California occurred in June, 1883. It brought into vicious prominence one Lloyd L. Majors, the most dangerous crimi- nal ever harbored by Santa Clara County. He had no love for newspapermen, though he tol- erated them when he thought he could use them. When he could not use them and found their pencils turned against him, he hated them with the hate of a coarse, lying, revengeful brute. During his life of forty- two years, much of it spent in San Jose, he had been wagon-maker, lumber dealer, lawyer, temperance lecturer and saloon keeper. He was not a handsome man; in truth he was positively ugly. He had a hideons disfigure- ment of the lower lip, his forehead was low. his eyes cold and snaky, and his face wore an habitual scowl. In the late '70s, while he lived in San Jose, several buildings owned and oc- cupied by him at different times, were burned. The public prejudice against him, caused by these burnings, caused him to leave the city and settle in Los Gatos. At this place he opened a saloon and to it came one Joseph Jewell, a good looking painter and grainer and recent arrival from the East. Majors quickly sized him up and when he suggested to Jewell a plan to rob and if necessary kill W. P. Re- nowden, an aged rancher living in the Santa Cruz hills, who was reported to have $20.000 hidden on his ranch, Jewell readily agreed to

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undertake the job. As assistant to Jewell Majors suggested John Showers, an illiterate ne'er-do-well, who had been doing odd jobs about town and whose favorite lounging place was Majors' saloon. Provided with imple- ments of torture to be used if Renowden un- der murderous pressure should refuse to dis- close the hiding place of his money, the pair left Los Gatos one night and proceeded to the ranch. Arrived there they found that Renow- den had a visitor, a friend from Glenwood named Archie Mclntyre. Renowden was shot by Jewell and Showers killed MeIntyre. Though mortally wounded Renowden refused to tell where his money could be found and was then subjected to a nameless torture. Even when suffering the keenest agony the old man stubbornly held his tongue. A sec- ond bullet ended his life and the murderers re- turned to Los Gatos and informed Majors that their mission of robbery had failed. They were supplied with money and horses and quickly rode out of town to escape arrest. Majors, fearing that he might be suspected of complicity in the murders, saddled a horse and rode to the Renowden ranch to cover up, if possible, all traces of the crime. At the time he supposed that both dead bodies were with- in the house, while, as a matter of fact, Re- nowden had been killed on the outside and at some distance from the building. Hurriedly, Majors applied the match and when he saw the flames leap up he remounted his horse and rode like the wind to his Los Gatos home. The ranch house burned to the ground and the next day the charred remains of McIntyre were found in the ashes and outside, un- touched by the fire, was the body of Re- nowden.

When Majors learned that his night ride had availed him nothing he tried, by lies and evasions to keep the officers from suspecting that he was the principal in the double crime. He talked freely to the historian and other press representatives, not thinking that much of what he said would be used against him at his trial. Showers was arrested at Gilroy and made a full confession. Then the hand of the law reached out and gathered in Majors. A few days later Jewell was arrested in Fresno County.

The three prisoners were lodged in the county jail at San Jose. In due time Jewell was tried, convicted and hanged. Showers, who was used as a state's witness, pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree, was given a life sentence. A few years later he was killed by a fellow convict. Majors was tried in San Jose for the murder of Renowden, convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to life imprisonment. District At-

torney Campbell was not satisfied with the verdict and so had Majors indicted for the murder of Mcintyre. A change of venue to Alameda County was taken and after a lengthy trial Majors was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was executed in May. 1884.

In 1886 a most important proposition was presented to the voters of San Jose. The rapid growth of the city created a demand for extra- ordinary expenses, which could not be met without a large increase in the rate of taxa- tion. The channels of the streams needed to be improved so as to prevent overflow. A sys- tem of up-to-date sewerage was necessary and there was a rapidly growing demand for in- creased school facilities. A tax sufficient to meet the requirements would have been a bur- den against which the people would have pro- tested. An attempt was made in 1874 to break the charter rule which forbade the council to create any debt. A resolution was adopted by the council directing the drafting of a bill to be presented to the Legislature, authorizing the city to issue bonds to the amount of $40,000, the proceeds to be used in the building of school houses. The bonds were to run twenty years and to bear eight per cent interest. Nothing further was done in the matter and it rested until 1880. At the city election held that year the matter of issu- ing bonds, in connection with other proposi- tions, was submitted to the people The re- sult of the vote was as follows: To incur a debt to build a new city hall-for, 842; against, 1096. To open Second Street through St. James Square-for, 192; against, 1649. To establish a free public library-for, 1232; against, 605.

This disposed of the question of a city debt for another six years. In 1886 a proposition was submitted to the people at a special elec- tion, asking for the issuance of bonds in the sum of $300.000 for public sewers, new city hall, iron bridges, improvement of squares and improvement of streets. It required a two- thirds vote to carry any of these propositions and they were all lost. Within twelve months the people experienced a change of heart. The great tide of immigration that was flowing into the southern counties had attracted the attention of the board of trade and strenuous efforts to turn the stream in the direction of San Jose were being made. Public meetings were held and the council was petitioned to call an election asking the people to vote for or against the issuance of bonds for the fol- lowing purposes: Completing main sewer, $150,000: branch sewers, $135,000; building new city hall, $150,000; cross walks and parks, $50,000; wooden bridges, $15,000. Total,

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$500,000. The vote was in the affirmative on all these propositions. The bonds were is- sued payable in twenty years and bearing in- terest at five per cent. They were sold to A. Sutro, of San Francisco, who paid one-eighth of one per cent premium.

Early in 1888 it was discovered that the election which authorized the issuance of these bonds was not held strictly in accordance with the statutes. The irregularity claimed was that the notice was one day short of the time required by law. There was some difference of opinion as to whether or not this was a fatal error, but the purchaser of the bonds did not wish to leave the matter undecided, and asked that it be definitely settled. There was a proposition to make up an agreed case and submit it to the courts for adjudication, and another proposition to call a new election, is- sue new bonds and cancel the old ones. The latter method was considered somewhat haz- ardous, as the people had on three occasions rejected the proposal to create a debt against the city and there was a chance that the nec- essary two-thirds vote might not again be ob- tained. But the chance was taken, a new election was called and the proposition to is- sue new bonds was carried by a practically unanimous vote. The new bonds were issued and the old ones burned in the presence of the mayor and common council and a large gath- ering of citizens.

In April, 1888, a board of fifteen freehold- ers, to frame a new charter for the city, was elected as follows: L. Archer. C. W. Brey- fogle, J. H. Campbell, A. W. Crandall, G. E. Graves, A. Greeninger, V. Koch, L. Lion. B. D. Murphy, D. B. Moody, H. Messig, C. L. Metzger, John Reynolds, John W. Ryland, D. C. Vestal. The charter was prepared and sub- mitted July 6, 1888. It was defeated.

In 1886 the Democratic state convention was held in the Auditorium on San Fernando Street. E. B. Pond of San Francisco was nominated for governor. During the session Hon. Stephen M. White made a speech in which he asked the convention not to indorse him as a candidate for the United States Senate.

In 1886 B. F. Branham, sheriff of the county, was beaten for reelection on account of the action of the Mexican voters, who resented the killing of Pedro Pacheco, a gambler. In the early part of 1886 he committed his first crime. While out walking on North Sixth Street with a pretty Mexican girl a stop was made in front of The Villa, a notorious resort near Washington Street. Pacheco asked the girl to come inside and have some refreshments. The girl refused and then, as he afterward testified, he seized her in his arms and car-

ried her into the house. Some hours later the girl escaped and told her story to Police Of- ficer Richard Stewart, who had seen her ap- proach The Villa. Upon her mother's com- plaint Pacheco was arrested for a statutory offense. At the trial District Attorney Camp- bell made out a strong case and Pacheco was convicted and sentenced to ten years' confine- ment in the state prison. On the eve of his departure from San Jose, to serve his sentence, he asked permission to go to Concord, Contra Costa County, his former home, to settle some business affairs and bid goodbye to his rela- tives, pioneers of the state and for one of whom the town of Pacheco, in the same county, was named. The district attorney gave his consent and Pacheco left the county jail with Deputy Sheriffs Healy and Bane as his guards. They were instructed to keep con- tinually by Pacheco's side and to take him to San Quentin after he had concluded his busi- ness in Concord.

Arrived at the Contra Costa town the trio stopped at a hotel for refreshments. As soon as he entered the door Pacheco made a dash for the rear, where a horse, saddled and bri- dled, was awaiting him. Healy hurried after him but Pacheco was beyond shooting dis- tance when the deputy reached the street. In the Mt. Diablo Range the fugitive found friends who advised him to get to Mexico as soon as possible. The advice was followed and a place of safety might have been reached but for Sheriff Branham's activity. Believing that Pacheco would ride south, Branham started out by way of one of the mountain passes to intercept him. At Bakersfield the sheriff learned that Pacheco was quartered at a Mexican ranch some miles away. He com- mandeered a farmer's wagon, obtained the as- sistance of a local officer, and, concealed in the bed of the wagon, the twain were driven to the ranch. They were near the house when they saw Pacheco and a companion in the yard, a short distance from their horses. Now was the time for action. The officers were driven forward and two rifles covered Pa- checo to enforce the command to surrender. Instead of complying, Pacheco ran to his horse, mounted it and was in the act of draw- ing his pistol when the rifles spat out bullets that found lodgment in Pacheco's body. He fell over, mortally wounded and died in a short time.

The news of the shooting created a sensa- tion in Central California. In San Jose the Mexican element denounced Branham as a murderer and threats to get even with him were freely made. The way to reprisal was shown when Branham entered the fall cam- paign for reelection. Before the Pacheco epi-

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sode he had been considered invincible. But this year he met his Waterloo. To arouse pub- lic sentiment against him a fund was raised and the county was thoroughly canvassed, the late Juan E. Edson taking the most active part in the campaign of vengeance. As a result of the opposition Branham was defeated by Jonathan Sweigert. Shortly after his defeat Branham left San Jose to engage in mining in the northern part of the state.

One of the notable trials was that of the Dixon- Allen case. It excited nearly as much interest as that of the famous trial of Ti- burcio Vasquez, the bandit. The plaintiff was Anna E. Dixon, late Normal School student, nineteen years of age, and the defendant was Prof. Charles H. Allen, principal of the school. Miss Dixon was a buxom demi-blonde, as pretty as a picture and chuck full of animal spirits. She had strong lungs and she chose occasions to make annoying use of them. Her love of mischief made her, while a student, the despair of her teachers and a source of grief to Professor Allen. Nothing against her char- acter was ever alleged, but her pranks, ac- cording to Allen's allegations, interfered seri- ously with the discipline of the school. Once he wrote her mother asking her to withdraw her daughter from the school, saying that the girl's deportment had not been such as to sat- isfy the faculty that she was a suitable per- son to enter the work of teaching. As the mother declined to act, a meeting of the fac- ulty was held and Miss Dixon was dismissed from the school. The charges against her were made up of small things. It was al- leged that she sneezed with a whoop and in unexpected places ; that she was in the habit of screaming without provocation and in such a manner as to nearly raise the roof of the school building : that she went out sometimes without a chaperon ; that she sent in mislead- ing boarding house reports ; that she was bois- terous and paid scant attention to the rules of the school and as a crowning delinquency was the propounder of conundrums, one of which had shocked Professor Allen and excited the risibilities of many of the teachers.

After the dismissal a series of communica- tions appeared in the columns of the Mercury They ridiculed Professor Allen and declared Miss Dixon had been dismissed because she sneezed. Allen replied by asserting that the girl's conduct in her classes and around the building had been such as to show she was full of tricks and almost destitute of those womanly and honorable characteristics that should be the prime requisites of a teacher. This article was made the basis of a libel suit. Miss Dixon sued Professor Allen for $10,000 damages for defamation of character. D. M.

Delmas, now of Los Angeles was her attor- ney and Thomas H. Laine and W. A. John- ston were engaged by Professor Allen to con- duct the defense. The case came to trial in November, 1881, and ran for over. a week. Each day the court room was crowded to the doors. It was a battle of legal giants. Del- mas was in the height of his power, while Laine and Johnston were looked upon as two of the shining lights of the San Jose bar. Del- mas, in his closing argument, was at his best, and a more powerful and eloquent address was never heard in a San Jose court room. He said, among other things, that he was not trying the case to get damages-he did not want them-but he did want a verdict that would be a vindication for his client. Laine, suave, dignified, eloquent and persuasive, held the close attention of court, jury and specta- tors in a masterly plea for Professor Allen, while Johnston, precise, clear and logical and with the law at the tip of his tongue, gave Laine able support. The judge, in his charge, held that the article written by the defendant contained terms of disparagement and that these terms were actionable in law. If, how- ever, the jury should find that Professor Al- len acted in good faith and for the protection of the school, then these circumstances were to be considered as mitigating the damages and that no other than compensatory dam- ages should be allowed. The jury brought in a verdict in favor of Miss Dixon and assessing the damages at one thousand dollars.

At the first meeting of the Board of Normal School Trustees, after the trial, Professor Al- len tendered his resignation. The board re- fused to accept it and reelected him as princi- pal for another term. Miss Dixon returned to her home and after a time married and set- tled down to domestic life.

In 1881 an electric tower was erected at the crossing of Santa Clara and Market Streets. The plan originated with J. J. Owen, publisher of the Mercury, and the architect was John Gash. It stood 208 feet above the street, was constructed of tubular iron and supported a number of lamps aggregating 24,000 candle- power, making it the largest light in the United States and the third largest in the world. Besides this there were in other por- tions of the city twelve tasts 150 feet high supporting in all ninety lamps for lighting the streets. The tower was known all over the world, and before its destruction in 1917 it had small lights running from the ground along all the supports. Lighted at night it presented a beautiful spectacle. A high wind toppled it down so that its removal became necessary as a measure of safety.

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On May 4, 1887, Chinatown, located on the ground at the southeast corner of Market and San Fernando Streets, was destroyed by fire. The Chinese occupied quarters on San Fer- nando Street, below Market, until there was secured a lease of the Heinlen property, be- tween Fifth and Seventh Streets and Jackson and Taylor Streets. Shortly after its estab- lishment in this section a rival Chinatown, under the management of "Big Jim." a noto- rious Chinese politician and gambler, was started on the banks of the Guadalupe nearly on a line with the Heinlen town. It was kept up a few years and then went out of ex- istence.

In 1887 inflamed public sentiment operated disastrously in the case of Charles Goslaw, of Los Gatos. The murders committed in and about that pretty foothill town, now one of the most peaceful and law-abiding on the Coast, had aroused the people, and the latest had brought them to a white heat of indigna- tion and resentment. This one had been com- mitted on the main street of the city. Two Mexicans quarreled and one of them, Encarna- cion Garcia, killed the other. A mob of citi- zens gathered, the slayer was seized and with- oftt ceremony hanged from the bridge over Los Gatos Creek. It was reported at the time that Goslaw threw the loop of the rope over the murderer's neck. Not long after the trag- edy, Goslaw, who was a house-mover, went to San Jose, leaving in charge of his house- moving tools an old man named H. A. Grant. He returned in an intoxicated condition to find that Grant, without permission to do so, had moved the tools to another part of town. Goslaw became furiously angry. He swore that he would find Grant and give him a sound drubbing. After taking a few more drinks to brace him up, he went to Grant's cabin and assaulted the old man. His fists were his only weapons, but as Grant was physically his inferior there is no doubt that finding his task an easy one he allowed his rage to carry him further than he had intended. Leaving Grant bruised and helpless on the floor, Gos- law went downtown, found the constable and asked to be arrested for battery. There was clear proof that he never intended murder and that he had no thought that the beating would result in death. He was arrested for battery and allowed to go on his own recognizance. A few days later Grant died. Then it was that outraged Los Gatos cried for vengeance. The carnival of crime that had given a black eye to the town must be stopped and the only way to stop it was to have the extreme pen- alty visited upon every person in Los Gatos and vicinity who should take the life of his fellow man. Grant's death caused the rearrest

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History of Santa Clara County, California, with biographical sketches of the 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: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846- Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1928

Author: Sawyer, Eugene Taylor, 1846-
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1928