History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 30

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

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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- ste 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 llon. 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. White 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 masts 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- istenee.

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 eiti-

zens gathered, the slayer was seized and with- out 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. Gosław, 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

of Goslaw, this time for murder. He was tried in the Superior Court at San Jose and, having no attorney, the court appointed a young man who had just been admitted to the bar. Thus handicapped. Goslaw had slim chance of es- caping conviction under testimony adduced by the prosecution, supplemented by the power- ful arguments made by the district attorney and his aids. The jury found Goslaw guilty of murder in the first degree and the death sentence was imposed. Without money and laeking powerful friends, Goslaw was unable to take further steps that might have saved his neck. His newspaper friends did what they could, but no headway against the tide of inflamed publie opinion could be made. But they resolved that when the time came for marching him to the scaffold he should not be in a condition to realize his position. There- fore some of these friends stayed in the death cell all of the night preceding the execution. They plied Goslaw with liquor which he was quite willing to drink so that when the sheriff came to take him to the seaffold he was so far gone in liquor that he could neither stand on his feet nor understand what the sheriff wanted. In that maudlin condition he met his death and the persons who were responsible for this condition have never regretted their work. They felt at the time that a judicial murder was about to be committed and that it was a humane aet to ameliorate if they could not deaden the victim's mental agony. In their opinion Goslaw should have been con- victed of manslaughter and it was afterwards their belief that had the trial been postponed for six months such a verdict would have been rendered.

On July 2, 1892, San Jose was visited with the most disastrous fire in its history. Half the block-the southern half-between San Fernando and Santa Clara Streets and First and Second Streets was burned. Among the fine buildings destroyed were the Liek House. the South Methodist Church, the California Theater and Krumb's Brewery.

In the early '90s a mystery case baffled the ingenuity of the city and county officers. Henry Planz was a bookkeeper at the Fred- ericksburg Brewery on the Alameda. As far as anyone knew he was without enemies. He was a tall. straight fellow, twenty-five years of age, single and lived the ordinary life of the young men of his time. On the evening of November 10, 1892, he came to San Jose and next morning his dead body was found hanging from the limb of a pepper tree on the northern side of Julian Street, not far from the bridge over the Guadalupe. When the of- ficers arrived it was at first supposed that Planz had committed suicide, but investiga-

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tions made after the body had been cut down soon dispelled this theory. It was a case of murder beyond the shadow of a doubt. An examination of the contents of the stomach of the dead man showed that he had been pois- oned and there were evidences about the clothing which denoted that the body had been dragged for some distance before it was suspended from the limb of the tree. The heels of the shoes, seat of the trousers and back of the coat were abraded and dusty and there was ground-in dust on the back of the head. When the body was cut down a scarf tied over the face was found. At the inquest the conclusion was reached that Planz was dead before the hanging and that the mur- derer or murderers had driven along the street in a wagon containing the dead body and that the body had been dragged over the dusty street to the pepper tree. A verdict of wilful murder against some person or persons un- known was rendered.

The mystery became a state-ivide sensation. Detectives came from San Francisco to assist the local officers in trying to ferret out the truth, but nothing came of their efforts. A number of years afterward the pepper tree was cut down, but while it remained on Julian Street is was one of the sight-seeing (?) at- tractions of San Jose.

In 1896 a still greater sensation agitated San Jose and Central California. It was a sextuple murder committed by James C. Dun- ham, a young man who had heretofore borne an unblemished reputation. A few years be- fore he had married the stepdaughter of Colo- nel McGlincy, an orchardist, whose home was on the Los Gatos road about six miles from San Jose. After their baby was born they separated on account of Dunham's cruelty, the wife taking refuge in the home of her mother, Mrs. McGlincy. The other inmates of the household, besides father, mother and daughter were James Wells, Mrs. Dunham's brother, a servant and two hired men. One night Dunham came to the house, for the pur- pose it was supposed, to induce his wife to again live with him. When he arrived late in the evening, McGlincy and Wells were gone, having left on hour or so earlier to attend a meeting at Campbell. Dunham entered the house, took off his shoes and ascended the stairs to the second story, where his wife's bedroom was located. What transpired in that room between husband and wife will never be known. But the fact remains that the woman was choked to death, although the babe was not harmed. There must have been a struggle for the servant coming out of her room adjoining was met by Dunham and killed. The double murderer then ascended

the stairs to find Mrs. McGlincy on the first floor. She had heard the noise upstairs and had come out to investigate. Dunham killed her and then calmly waited for the return of McGlincy and Wells. At last they came and as they entered the front door Dunham shot and killed McGlincy. Wells then rushed for- ward, was shot, but despite his wound, grap- pled with Dunham and threw him to the floor. But the murderer was :the stronger and soon Wells was a corpse.

Across the back yard was the barn where the two hired men were. One of them heard the shots and rushed out to ascertain the cause. A bullet from Dunham's pistol ended his lfe. The other hired man, fearing for his own life, retreated to the loft of the barn and covered himself up in the hay. Dunham rushed over to the barn for the purpose of making a clean sweep, but failed to find his man. His murderous work over, he mounted a horse, and still in his stocking feet, rode toward San Jose. Next day he was seen on Smith Creek by Elmer Snell and Oscar Parker, the last named the keeper for the Morrow ranch. Dunham appeared on horse- back at Parker's cabin, about a mile south of the hotel, asked for something to eat and hav- ing been accommodated rode on up the can- yon toward Indian Gulch. Next day Sheriff Lyndon of Santa Clara County, Sheriff Phil -. lips of Santa Barbara County, a force of dep- uties and a large body of citizens. arrived at Smith Creek. Phillips brought two blood- hounds and near Indian Gulch, pieces of sack- ing which had been used to cover Dunham's feet, were found. Nearby the horse he had ridden was also found. Nothing else was ever discovered. The officers spent days in the search without result. As Dunham was with- out money and without food, had no shoes and had left his horse, the officers concluded that he had found some wild place in the hills and had there committed suicide. For years afterwards the papers chronicled the arrest of suspects, but in every case the man arrested proved not to be the McGlincy murderer.

In 1897 a new charter for the city was adopted. By a concerted resolution of the Legislature it became the organic law of the city on March 2 of that year. Under the old charter the mayor held office for one year. The new charter extended his term to two years. The first election for city officers took place on the second Monday in April, 1898. The charter provided that all elections subse- quent to the first should be held biennially on the third Monday in May. Mayor Koch. who had been elected in 1896, held over until 1898.

In 1897 a Grand Army veteran named Scho- field was killed at his ranch on the Llagas, a

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few miles west of Madrone. His wife and Dan Dutcher, a hired man, were arrested for the crime. Before his trial Dutcher confessed that he had killed Schofield to protect Mrs. Schofield, who was being threatened with a shotgun when the fatal shot was fired. There was an acquittal in each case.

On April 18, 1906, a severe earthquake shook up Central California. San Jose suf- fered considerably. A number of frame houses in the business section were wrecked, but the real center of destruction was reached in the business district. The big three-story Phelan building, corner of First and Post Streets, fell flat and three persons were buried in the ruins. At the corner of Santa Clara Street and Lightston Alley, the large three story building occupied by stores and the Elks' Hall became a shapeless pile of briek and mortar. Outside of the business district several large edifices suffered. The handsome and massive brick Catholic Church of St. Pat- rick at the corner of North and Santa Clara Streets was a picturesque ruin, its solid tower and front wall lying across the street, its rear and side walls thrown down into the andito- rium. The fine high school on Normal Square crumbled and the large wooden Grant school on Empire Street was twisted out of shape to fall a mass of ruins a few days after the quake. . Further down town the tower and spire of the First Presbyterian Church on Second Street. near St. John, lay across the thoroughfare, its shattered walls telling the story of ruin. Im- mediately after the earthquake fire broke out on Second Stret near San Fernando. The three-story brick Martin building had been hurled to the ground and instantly flames burst from the wreckage. The Lieber build- ing next north was on fire in a few minutes and then the conflagration enveloped the five- story Dongherty building, spreading thence to the three-story Louise building on the cor- ner of San Fernando Street. There was but one other fire. It broke out in the El Monte lodging house on Locust Street and seven people were roasted to death. Material in- jury was done to the new Hall of Records, the Dougherty residence, a wing of the Hotel Vendome, the First Methodist Church, the Fifth Street and Golden Gate canneries, the Rucker building, St. Mary's Church, and many other structures. Following the quake mar- tial law was declared and kept in force for several days. The total loss by earthquake and fire was $3.000,000. Killed, sixteen.

The recovery from the dreadful visitation was rapid. Inside of a week repairs were be- ing started and soon the debris disappeared and building operations were commenced. Two years later there was nothing to indicate

that destruction had ever visited the Garden City.

In 1906 there was very little street or other municipal improvement, except to make re- pairs in fire houses and furnish new appliances and do the city's work in repairing the dam- ages done by the earthquake. In 1908 a pro- nounced street paving movement was inau- gurated by Mayor Davison. During his in- cumbency miles upon miles of paving work was done and the program he had laid out but not finished during his term was afterward carried out by his successors, Monahan and Husted. From 1908 to 1912, bonds for $355,- 000 were used for sewers, bridges, creek alter- ations and Alum Rock Park improvements.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 30

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