History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 11

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1934

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"Among the lawyers who sought success at the San Jose bar in the early '50s there were some who found it not and who were compelled at last to seek it in other voca- tions and other fields of labor. Among these was a lawyer named William M. Stafford- a great big, jovial fellow who could not some- how succeed and had a hard time to get along. He lived in the southern portion of the city in a tumble-down tenement and came to be known among his fellow lawyers as 'The Lord of Hardscrabble.' At last he gave up the strug- gle for success at the bar, and going down into Pajaro Valley, engaged in farming. His departure was celebrated by the publication of a poem written by Col. William D. M. How- ard, a very bright and witty lawyer of the time. I extract from it a few stanzas for the purpose of illustrating the humor and mer- it of Colonel Howard's production :

'THE LORD OF HARDSCRABBLE.

'The Lord of Hardscrabble. Oh! where has he gone ?

He has vamoosed his rancho and left us for- lorn,

He has gone to the land where the big "praties" grow,

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

In the rich, loamy valley of the Rio Pajaro. No more shall his presence enliven our hall In spring and in summer, in autumn and fall, No longer his eloquent counsel we'll hear,

When the wise City Fathers in conclave ap- pear.

No more will we gather those gems of debate He let fall when discussing affairs of the state, With a broadcast of "palabros" scattered around

Like the ripe fruit of autumn strewn over the ground.

The Lord of Hardscrabble, Oh! what will he do,

Where the Locos abound and the Whigs are so few ;

For he's gone where the cocks of Democracy crow.

O'er the crestfallen coons of Rio Pajaro.

'In the good old Whig cause he was valiant and stout,

Was never yet conquered and never backed out,

And Democracy will find itself in a bad box, For he'll rally the coons and be down on the cocks,

The Lord of Hardscrabble's a gallant old blade, As the sex will bear witness, both matron and maid ;

But somehow or other he lived "an old bach,"

Till the roof of his head has disposed of its thatch.

Oh! why has he ventured to go forth alone With "no flesh of his flesh," no bone of his bone?

May some kind-hearted maiden his loneliness bless,

And his fine portly shadow may it never grow less.

And when of warm evenings he seeks his re- pose,

On his cot in the house or the ground out of doors,

May there be no mosquitoes around him in flocks,

No flies on his nose and no fleas in his socks; May his dairy be filled with butter and cheese And his acres abound with "frijoles" and peas, Grain, onions, potatoes, whatever will grow And advantage him most in Rio Pajaro.

"The Lord of Hardscrabble, when will he re- turn?

His absence both daily and nightly we mourn, And a greeting of joy will resound in his ears, When his well-known "cabeza" among us ap- pears.

Roll on, happy day, when his jolly old face,

All radiant with smiles, shall illumine this place ;

With his purse full of cash and his heart full of joy, Success to Hardscrabble, the jolly old boy.'

"The first court house of the county of Santa Clara was located on the west side of First street between Santa Clara and El Dorado streets, and about opposite what was then Archer, but is now Fountain Alley. The low- er part of this building was adobe and was used as the court room of both the District and County Courts. The upper part was frame with the stairway on the outside of the build- ing and in that portion were located the of- fices of the sheriff and clerks of the court.

"Judge Watson was the first district judge, Judge Redman the first county judge, E. K. Sanborn the first district attorney, H. C. Me- lone the first clerk, and John Yontz the first sheriff of the county of Santa Clara. In this old court house during the years 1850-1, these dignitaries with the assistance of the members of the bar, dispensed justice in their own primi- tive but rather vigorous way. A great many of the cases were tried with the aid of the jury, and out of this fact arose a curious cus- tom, which, as is perhaps well known, has gone out of date. In the early '50s whittling was a great accomplishment in the average citizen, who idled his time away about the stores or saloons or in the plaza of the village of San Jose. It was probably from this class of citizen that the early juries were mainly drawn. When trials were tedious and argu- ments of counsel long drawn ont, what else could be expected than that the expert whit- tlers on the jury would perhaps unconscious- ly display their skill on the benches, posts and railing of the jury box. Sheriff Yontz, soon after his official duties began thought that the redwood and pine of the jury box in the court room was growing grotesque in form and beautifully less beneath the expert jack knives of his juries. He was at a loss for a time for a remedy, but presently he found it, and thereafter at every session of the court, when a jury was to be drawn, Sheriff Yontz gravely brought into the court room and placed on the jury box a large bundle of white pine sticks cut to a size and shape to suit a whittler's fancy. By this expedient the sher- iff saved the pillars and benches of the jury box from a destruction that was more rapid than the tooth of time.

"Among the lawyers who practiced at the bar of our District Court was William B. Almond, who had been Judge of the Court of First Instance in San Francisco before the organization of the state. Judge Almond was a genial gentleman of the old school, who loved his tipple and always kept a demijohn of cognac in the chambers adjoining the court.

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

When the judicial duties of the day were over it was the Judge's habit to go to his cham- bers and enjoy a glass of cognac. The Court of First Instance was a very busy tribunal during Judge Almond's term, owing to the many cases which arose in '49 over the pos- session of lots in the growing city. In con- sequence Judge Almond had a great many papers in the form of orders and decrees to sign and in the hurry his signature often became a very hasty and formal act. Among the attorneys who practiced in Judge Almond's court was Gregory Yale, who loved joking and brandy with equal fervor. On one of Judge Almond's busiest days Gregory Yale gravely presented an order for the Judge to sign. The signature was attached and Yale went away. Presently the court adjourned and Judge Almond went to his chambers for his wonted glass. The demijohn was gone and in high dudgeon Judge Almond called the bail- iff of the court and asked him what had be- come of it. The bailiff answered that he had taken it over to the office of Gregory Yale. 'Who ordered you to do that?' said the Judge in a rage. 'Your Honor did,' responded the bailiff, and straightway drew from his pocket the following order signed by the Judge:

"'Good cause appearing therefor, it is or- dered that the bailiff of this court do forth- with convey to the office of Gregory Yale, Esq., that certain demijohn of cognac, now lying and being in and upon those certain premises known and more particularly described as the Chambers of the Honorable Judge of this Court.' It was the order he had signed that morning. Judge Almond never saw nor tasted his cognac again, but the flavor of this joke remained with him for many a day.

"Throughout all my gleanings of fact and fancy there has been constantly presented to me the outlines of a gigantic figure; the rem- iniscences of a character vast and strange; the recollections of a genius more powerful, more original and yet more eccentric than any other which ever flashed its light across the history of California; the memories of a man and of a lawyer whose living and whose dy- ing verified the truth, 'Great minds to mad- ness closely are allied.' I refer to Rufus A. Lockwood.

"In the early part of the year 1850 an im- portant case came on for trial in the Court of First Instance at San Jose. It was the case of Hepburne vs. Sunol et al., involving the title and right of possession of a portion of the Los Coches Rancho. C. T. Ryland and John H. Moore represented the plaintiff and James M. Jones appeared for the defendants. The plaintiff's attorneys were then young men, recently from the East and not yet versed in

the Spanish language or law. The attorney for the defendant, on the contrary, was a law- yer of great experience in the practice of the civil (or Spanish) law and a linguist perfect- ly familiar with the Spanish language. He was, moreover, one of the deepest students and most brilliant men of the time, and in the case at issue had the young attorneys for the plaintiff at a disadvantage. One day while some phase of the case was up before Judge Kincaid for argument, E. L. Beard, of the San Jose Mission, happened into the court

om and soon saw that Moore and Ryland were getting worsted in their case by rea- son of Jones' superior knowledge of the Span- ish law. He went over to Moore and sug- gested that he ought to have the assistance of a lawyer who could read Spanish and cope with Jones in the application of the law. 'Where can we find such a man?' asked Mr. Moore. 'I have the very man you need at the Mission,' answered Beard, 'and I'll send him down to assist you. His name is Lock- wood.' When the day for the trial of the case came on there walked into Judge Kin- caid's court room in the old Juzgado a large, awkward and roughly dressed man and took his seat with the plaintiff's attorneys. It was Rufus A. Lockwood. He made no immedi- ate manifestation of power, but listened close- ly while the pleadings were read, the jury im- paneled, and the trial of the cause begun. He saw that the case involved one of those clash- ings between the American and Mexican peo- ple so common in those early times. He no- ticed that the jury was a 'Missouri' jury, whose sympathies would naturally be with the plain- tiff. He quietly waited for his opportunity to cope with the only dangerous element in the case, viz., the learning and ability of James M. Jones, the defendant's attorney. Presently a question of law arose and Jones began to argue it with the aid of the Spanish statutes, which he read and then translated to the court. He made an argument clean cut and strong, as was his wont, and sat down confidently. Then Lockwood arose, and with one sweep of re- sistless logic destroyed the whole fabric of Jones' speech. He turned to the very statute from which Jones had quoted, read it with the facility of a master of the Spanish tongue, translated it luminously, expounded it learned- ly, and from it showed to court and jury that the law was with the plaintiff in the case. The whole court room gaped with astonishment, while the plaintiff and his attorneys hugged themselves with delight at the possession of such an ally. Every one felt and saw that they were in the presence of a master mind. The expected victory of Jones was turned into a rout, which during the remainder of the trial

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

he could not check with all his talent and in- dustry. He worked the night out to win his case, but in vain. 'This man Lockwood is kill- ing me,' said Jones to Moore as the case drew to its close. The last day of the trial was February 22, 1850, when Lockwood's speech to the jury was delivered. Brief snatches of that splendid burst of oratory still linger in the memories of our pioneers who were privileged to hear it. They tell of Lockwood's descrip- tion of the Battle of Buena Vista, which oc- curred on February 22, 1846, and of which this day was the anniversary. He pictured General Taylor's victory over the 'greasers' to that jury of Missourians and called upon them to celebrate it today with a victory for the American plaintiff and against the 'greaser' defendant in the case. Such an appeal was irresistible and Lockwood not only won his case but established himself at once as the greatest lawyer who had ever shaken the walls of the Juzgado with the thunders of his elo- quence.

"The next great case in which Lockwood was engaged and tried in San Jose was the case of Metcalf vs Argenti. The suit arose in this wise: Argenti was a banker in San Fran- cisco and was prominent among the members of the first Vigilance Committee. Metcalf was an arrival from Australia, who for some reason fell under suspicion and was rough- ly treated by the Vigilantes. He brought suit against the leading men composing that body and employed Lockwood and Edmund Ran- dolph as his attorneys. The case was tried first in San Francisco and resulted in a mis- trial by reason of the strong prejudice in fa- vor of the Vigilance Committee of that city. It was then transferred to Santa Clara Coun- ty for a second trial and came on in 1852. Lockwood was very much opposed to the methods of the Vigilance Committee and went into this case with more than his usual zeal and vigor. Those who heard his speech to the jury in that case say that it surpassed all of the speeches they have ever heard before or since. It was published in pamphlet form and may still be found occasionally in the li- braries of the lawyers of that time.

"The abilities which Lockwood displayed in the trial of these great cases gave him a state reputation as being the greatest lawyer on the Coast. Doubtless he was and would have died secure in that reputation, but for that strain approaching insanity in his nature, which led him to such extremes in conduct and experi- ence. Many stories are told of his skill in the court room where he was the wonder and ad- miration of the bar. In fact every one who came in contact with him had imprinted on his mind a vivid picture of the man; of his facial

expression, of his physical movements and of his original style, and a strong remembrance of his powerful voice, which, to use the lan- guage of Judge Moore, 'was like the growl of a grizzly bear.' Walking down the street the other day I met J. H. Flickinger who told me that of all the pioneers of California his recol- lection of Lockwood, was perhaps the earliest and the most pleasing. He was a fellow pas- senger with Lockwood when he first came to California around the Horn in 1849. For the first month out from New York Lockwood never left his cabin, but after that he began to mingle with the rest. Before the voyage was ended the passengers became aware of the fact that they had on board the most sin- gular, brilliant and versatile genius they had ever known. The range of his reading and of his experience; his knowledge of human character ; his command of language, of liter- ature and the infinite variety of his moods, were a revelation to his shipmates. After the voyage was ended and during the whole of Lockwood's career in California he retained his friendship for Mr. Flickinger, and when- ever he was in San Jose was pleased to spend a while with his "shipmate" and live over again their mutual past.

"Elias L. Beard, of San Jose Mission, was a long and strong friend of Lockwood. Beard was an aggressive character and was involved in lawsuits of various kinds in all of which he had Lockwood for his attorney. One time a fellow whose name has escaped immortality, sued Beard for slander and employed E. K. Sanford as his attorney. The case came on for trial before Judge Watson, with Lockwood for the defense. Sanford made his opening speech to the jury, and it was very flowery. He quot- ed elaborately from the poets as to the value of a man's character and the outrage of slan- derous assaults upon it. 'Who steals my purse steals trash, etc.,' came in the climax, and San- ford sat down well pleased at his burst of ora- tory. Then Lockwood arose, and, addressing the jury, also took the subject of character for his theme. He dwelt upon the value of char- acter more eloquently than his opponent, quot- ed again all of the poetic passages which San- ford had done, and adding to their number, built up his speech to the very summit of a splendid consummation and then capped it all with this anti-climax, which won his case. 'Gentlemen of the jury, remembering all that I have said to you of the value of human character, I solemnly declare that if you will give a down-East Yankee a jack-knife and a cedar stick he'll whittle out a better char- acter in five minutes than has ever been es- tablished yet in any court of justice.'

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

"Rufus A. Lockwood was once the defend- ant in an action brought by one named Harlan in our District Court, and involving the title to a piece of land adjacent to San Jose. Lock- wood was his own lawyer and did not have a fool for a client, in spite of the old legal saw. The case turned upon the validity of a certain deed which made its appearance at the trial and was offered in evidence by the plaintiff. It appeared to be entirely in the handwriting of Lockwood and to convey the premises in question. If valid and so found by the court, Lockwood would have stood be- smirched with having acted dishonorably to- ward Harlan. The case was hotly contest- ed on both sides, and Lockwood's blood was up. When the deed was produced and offered in evidence Lockwood looked it over careful- ly and then arose in court, and in a voice of thunder declared it a forgery. William T. Wal- lace was attorney for the plaintiff, and seeing Elias L. Beard in the court room, called him suddenly to the witness stand to testify as to Lockwood's signature. Beard didn't want to testify against his friend, but after carefully examining the instrument he was obliged to swear that he believed it to be in Lockwood's hardwriting. Lockwood cross-examined him as follows: 'Elias, you think that I wrote that deed, do you?' 'Yes, Rufus,' reluctantly stam- mered Beard, 'I think that's your handwrit- ing.' 'Now, Elias,' said Lockwood (who prid- ed himself on his spelling), 'if I was going to write a deed, do you think that I would spell 'indenture' with two tt's?' Beard hastily scanned the deed, and there, sure enough, was 'indenture' spelled with two tt's. 'No, Ru- fus,' said Beard, exultingly, 'I don't believe you would, and I think this deed is a forgery.' And so it proved to be, for after the case was end- ed it was discovered that a fellow who was staying at Harlan's house, and who was an ex- pert penman and given to imitating handwrit- ing, had written the deed."

Judge Richards' graphic and interesting pic- ture of Lockwood gives the historian oppor- tunity to supplement it with the following review of the distinguished lawyer's checkered career :

Rufus A. Lockwood was born in Stamford, Conn., in 1811. His true name was Jonathan A. Jessup. At eighteen he was a student at Yale but left in the middle of the term to enlist on a United States man-of-war. In his first cruise he saw one of his shipmates tied up and brutally flogged for a trivial offense. Shocked by the sight he deserted and changed his name to Lockwood. It was not long be- fore he was in Chicago. After teaching a country school, studying first medicine and then law, he was admitted to practice in the

courts of the state. In 1836 he opened a law office in Lafayette, Ind. An opportunity to show his merit soon came. Engaged for the defense in a celebrated murder case he made such an impression on the jury that a ver- dict of acquittal was rendered. The speech was such a masterly effort as to warrant its publication in pamphlet form. This historian saw a copy in the late '60s. It was the prop- erty of Joseph Patton, then a member of the police force and a brother of the second wife of J. J. Owen, then the editor of the Mer- cury. Patton had been present at the trial and he said that the perusal of the speech could give no adequate conception of its liv- ing effect. It was, in his opinion, the best jury speech ever delivered on this continent. Lockwood's victory brought him into the full blaze of popular attention and applause. For a few years his professional business was large, but through dissipation and unfortunate land speculations his debts at last accumulated be- yond his ability to pay. He raised what money he could for the benefit of his creditors, then went to Mexico and there entered upon a course of riotous living interspersed with periods of study in which he obtained mas- tery of the Spanish language and Spanish civil law. When his funds grew low he worked his way back to the United States and re- sumed his law practice in Lafayette. While the California gold excitement was at its height he joined in the rush; arrived in San Francisco low in pocket and for six months was clerk in a law office where he not only furnished the law, but swept out the office, made fires, etc. He received his wages every evening; every night found him in a gambling house ; every morning found him penniless. He afterward entered into a law partnership but soon threw up the business on account of his unfortunate habits and as a penance hired himself out as a day laborer, shoveling sand, coaling steamers, doing anything that came to hand. This fit lasted a month or two. Then with a clear brain he opened a law office and was soon in possession of a lucra- tive practice.

His professional gains only increased his passion for gambling and drinking and again at war with himself and the world he sailed for Australia, remaining there two years. One time he was clerk in a law office, but was discharged because he refused to copy into a brief a paragraph that was not law. His last occupation in Australia was that of herd- ing sheep. After his return to San Francisco he was engaged to argue a famous land case before the U. S. Supreme Court. By his ef- fort in that court he showed himself to be the equal of the best lawyer in the land. He

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

returned from Washington in 1856. In the fall of 1857 he sailed for the Isthmus en route to New York, on professional business. At Aspinwall he connected with the Central America on her last voyage. She was wrecked in a storm and not a single passenger was saved.

Judge Richards continues his reminiscences by the following story: "The account of Lockwood's death recalls the manner of dy- ing of another member of our early bar, of whom I have written-Freeman Mckinney. When Henry A. Crabbe conceived his fatal filibustering expedition into Sonora in 1857 he attracted a number of brilliant but adven- turous characters to his company, and among these was Freeman Mckinney. Doubtless the expedition was entered upon in good faith by many of Crabbe's followers, who were led to believe that an actual revolution was in prog- ress in Sonora. Mckinney was captured and shot. He met death like a brave man.

"Still another story has been told of Judge Redman. One day as he sat in his court room, with his clerk, H. C. Melone, writing below him, J. Alexander Yoell entered. His business was with Melone, who was a large man of strong likes and dislikes, and of quick temper-a typical border character. Between himself and Yoell a misunderstanding oc- curred, which on Melone's part ripened at once into a row and he pitched into Yoell. The Judge sat quietly viewing and enjoying the tussle and making no effort to stop it until somne gentlemen entered and separated the combatants. Then turning to the Judge, with some indignation, he said, 'You're a pretty specimen of a Judge to sit there and permit a personal encounter to go on in your court.' 'My friend,' said Judge Redman, calmly, 'What could I do? The Legislature in its wisdom has not seen fit to provide my court with a bailiff, and hence I could not order them into custody. The clerk, you see was en- gaged, and I could not have entered a fine; and if I had descended from the bench to interfere I would cease to be Judge and would be no better than any other fool in the court room.' I am told that when this yarn was told to Stephen J. Field of the Supreme Court, the eminent jurist laughingly declared that Judge Redman's po- sition was correct.

"It may be gathered from some of these sketches that the lawyers of our early times did not always have their law books, either when out of court in the day time, or be- tween days when they burned the midnight oil. Nearly all of the pioneers of the bar played cards and often enjoyed the game greater when the pot was a big one and the

bets were high. Here is an incident of one of those heavy earthquakes which visited the Coast and struck terror to the heart of its denizens during the '50s, and before the aver- age man grew accustomed to 'temblors'. One day William T. Wallace, John H. Moore, J. A. Moultrie and a layman or two were having a quiet game in one of the adobes near the court house. The pot was large, the bets were made and ended, and a show-down was about to be made when the earthquake came. Every- body made for the street as earthquake-shaken people only can. After the danger was over, the players remembered their game and re- turned to the adobe. The 'pot' was still there, but every player, save one, had lost his hand somewhere in the panic. That one was 'Bill' Wallace, who, with a presence of mind which was characteristic, produced the cards he had clung to throughout the earthquake, and claimed the pot. The hand was a low one, but he dared the rest to show a higher, and when none of them could, he raked the pot. "When Judge Redman resigned his office of county judge in 1852, C. E. Allen was appoint- ed to serve out his unexpired term, which he did with great credit to himself and to the court. After him came R. B. Buckner, who was elected in 1853. We all remember Judge Buckner and his quaint ways of dispensing justice from his bench as justice of the peace in modern days. On the old-time county bench he was much the same in method, as the following incident will illustrate: One party had leased a piece of land to another for a term, which ended, and he removed from the land leaving behind him a quantity of compost, which later he tried to remove, but was prevented by the owner of the land. The tenant brought a replevin suit against his former landlord for possession of the compost, in Judge Buckner's court. The case dragged on while the lawyers disputed in briefs and arguments about the law of fixtures, and the principles governing the change of personal into real property. At last the actual trial came on, when the defendant proved that since the case was commenced his chickens had so scattered the compost that it had lost its identity and become mingled with the soil of his land. Judge Buckner chewed his in- variable 'quid' calmly until the time for pro- nouncing judgment came. He then rendered his decision as follows: 'This case has been argued learnedly by the lawyers on both sides, who have drawn fine distinctions between per- sonal and real property. The court does not, however, deem it necessary to draw any such nice distinctions, for the reason that the evi- dence shows that while the action has been pending the defendant's chickens have scat-

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 11

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1934

Author: Sawyer, Eugene T
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1934