History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 35

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

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CHAPTER XVIII.

History of the Lick Observatory on the Summit of Mt. Hamilton-The Eccentricities of James Lick, the Philanthropist-What He Did for San Jose.

The greatest work of man in Santa Clara County and San Jose's greatest asset is the Lick Observatory on the summit of Mt. Ham- ilton, which is provided with the best and most complete astronomical appliances in the world. The distance from San Jose to the summit of the mountain is twenty-seven miles, but in an air line it is much shorter, so that if one stands in the streets of the city and looks at the Coast Range mountains he will see. a little south of east, the great white dome glittering in the sunshine and looking benignly on the valley. The drive to the summit is entrancing. The visitor motors out on Santa Clara Street and across Coyote Creek enters Alum Rock Avenue, a continuation of Santa Clara Street, and the broad, fine highway to the baths, min- eral springs and scenic beauties of the City Reservation. A little over three miles from San Jose the visitor turns to the right and be- gins to ascend the first ridge of mountains. The road is winding, but broad and safe, and the grade is casy. The beautiful valley, with San Jose in the center, spreads out before him.

He passes over this ridge and plunges into Hall's Valley : crossing which, with its lovely homes and ranches, he begins to ascend another ridge. This is soon crossed and the visitor descends again into a little valley through which runs Smith Creek, a favorite trout stream. Here he finds a large hotel and garage, and before him looms Mt. Hamilton, seven miles up the hill. The beautiful scenery of the

Coast Range is seen as the last climb up is made. The road winds in and out through shady nooks, around bold promontories and up and up, often doubling upon itself, while the higher one climbs, the grander the majestic panorama of mountains and valleys that spreads out on every hand, and soon the great valley of Santa Clara, with San Jose but a shady spot, peeps over the two intervening ridges. The crookedness of the road may be imagined from the fact that there are 365 turns between the base at Smith Creek and the ob- servatory on the summit.

The Lick Observatory was the donation to the University of California by James Lick, who became immensely wealthy through min- ing and real estate ventures. The prominence which he achieved by his princely gift to sci- ence caused people from all over the county to recall incidents of his life, and these have been gathered and woven into a connected narrative, which is herewith presented.

James Lick was born in Fredericksburg, Pa., August 25, 1796. His ancestors were of Ger- man extraction and spelled the family name "Lük." His grandfather had come to America early in the century and had served in the army of Washington during the Revolutionary War. Nothing is known of the life of James Lick until he arrived at the age of twenty- seven and entered himself as an apprentice to an organ maker at Hanover. Pa. Ile worked here for a short time and in 1819 took a posi-

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tion in the employ of Joseph Hiskey, a prom- inent piano manufacturer of Baltimore, Md. An incident of his experience there has been recalled.

One day a penniless youth named Conrad Meyer applied at the factory for employment. He attracted the fancy of James Lick, who took the stranger in charge, provided him with food and proper clothing and secured for him a place in the establishment. The friendship thus formed lasted through life. In 1854 the pianos of Conrad Meyer took first prize in the London International Exhibition, their maker possessing an immense factory in Philadelphia and ranking as one of the most eminent piano makers in the United States.

In 1820 James Lick left the employ of His- key and went to New York, expecting to start in business on his own account. This venture was restricted by his lack of capital, and, if attempted at all, was brief, for in the following year he left the United States for Buenos Ayres, South America, with the intention of devoting himself there to his trade. He found the Buenos Ayreans of that period a singularly Spanish extraction, and attaining by their mode of life in that fine climate a remarkable phys- ical development. By careful attention to busi- ness he prospered among them, accumulating a competence during the first ten years of his stay. "In 1832." writes his friend. Conrad Meyer, in the Philadelphia Bulletin, "I was in business on Fifth Street, when I was suddenly surprised one day at seeing James Lick walk in. He had just arrived from South America and had brought with him hides and nutria skins to the amount of $40,000, which he was then disposing of. Nutria skins are obtained from a species of otter found along the River La Plata. He said that he intended settling in Philadelphia, but in a few days left for New York, and from there sailed to Buenos Ayres. There he filled several piano orders, settled his affairs and sailed for Valparaiso, Chile, where for four years he pursued his vocation. His next venture was in Callao, Peru, where he lived for eleven years, occupying himself in manufacturing pianos and making occasional investments in commercial enterprises. That he was successful is shown in the statement made by himself that in 1845 he was worth $59,000. Resolving to try California, he sold his stock for $30,000. This money, which was in Spanish doubloons, he secured in a large iron safe which he brought with him to Cali- fornia. Among the odd articles which James Lick brought from Peru was the work-bench he had used in his trade. It was not an elab- orate affair and the object of its deportation to California, the land of timber, hardly appears, unless he had acquired an affection for this

companion of his daily labors. He retained this bench through all his California experi- ences."

Mr. Lick arrived in San Francisco late in 1847. At that time there was little to indi- cate the future prosperity of the Pacific Coast. California Street was its southern boundary, while Sansome Street was on the water front. Sand dunes stretched out to the horizon on the south and east, an occasional shanty break- ing the monotony of the landscape. Mr. Lick quietly invested money in these sand hills, paying dollars for lots that were not consid- ered by the inhabitants to be worth cents. He came to Santa Clara County at an early day and purchased the property north of San Jose, on the Guadalupe, which was afterwards known as the Lick's Mills property. He also bought the tract of land just inside the present _southern city limits which was afterwards named the Lick Homestead. All these lands were then vacant and unimproved.

During seven years after his arrival in Cali- fornia Mr. Lick did no business other than the investment of his money. The first im- handsome and refined race of almost purely . provement of his property was made on the Lick Mill Tract. An old flour mill had stood upon the property when he bought it in 1852. and this fact may have influenced him in his decision to build his own mill on the site of the old one. In 1853 he began to lay plans and gather material for the construction. In 1855 the work started and to those who saw the structure rise, it was the wonder of the time. The wood composing the interior finish was of the finest mahogany, finished and inlaid in the most elegant and expensive style. The machinery imported for the works was of a quality never before sent out to the Pacific Coast. The entire cost of the mill was $200,- 000. When put in operation it turned out the finest brand of flour in the state.

There is a romantic legend preserved in the memory of the old acquaintances of James Lick which explains the origin of this mill. The tale runs that when Lick was a boy he was apprenticed to a miller, who, besides be- ing possessed of a competency and a flourish- ing business, had also an exceedingly pretty daughter. Strange as the assertion may seem to those who were acquainted only with the unlovely old age of this strange character, James Lick was a comely young man, and upon him the miller's daughter cast approving eyes. Lick met her more than half way and a warm attachment sprang up between the ap- prentice and the heiress. The old miller, how- ever, soon saw the drift of matters and inter- posed his parental authority to break the course of true love. Young Lick declared he loved the girl and wished to marry her. There- upon the miller became indignant and, point-

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ing to his mill, exclaimed: "Out, you beggar ! Dare you cast your eyes upon my daughter, who will inherit my riches? Have you a mill like this? Have you a single penny in your purse?" To this tirade Lick replied that he had nothing as yet, but one day he would have a mill beside which this one would be a pigsty.

Lick at once departed and after a time drifted to California, seeking the fortune he deter- mined to possess, a determination that never afterwards for a moment left him. Nor did he forget his last words to the miller. When he was a rich man he built this mill, and when he had finished there had been nothing left un- done which could have added to the perfection of its appointments. Its machinery was per- fect and its walls, floors and ceilings were of costly woods. Not being able to bring the miller to view. the realization of his boyish declaration, Lick had the mill photographed within and without, and although his sweet- heart had long since been married, he sent her father the pictures and recalled to him the day he boasted of his Pennsylvania mill.

Although the mahogany mill gratified Lick's pride in its construction and in the brand of his product, it was not a financial success. The periodical floods of the Guadalupe River in- undated the land about it, destroyed his orch- ards and roads and interfered with the opera- tion of the mill.

In the year 1873 he surprised everybody by the gift of the whole property to the Thomas Paine Memorial Association of Boston. For some years he had been a close student and great admirer of the writings of Paine, and he took this means of proving the faith that was in him. On January 16, 1873, he made a formal transfer of the property to certain named trus- tees of the association, imposing upon them the trust to sell the property and donate one- half of the proceeds to the building of a me- morial hall in Boston, and so invest the other half that a lecture course could be maintained out of the income. The association sent an agent to California to look over the acquisi- tion, with power to deal with it. Without consulting Mr. Lick, the agent sold the prop- erty for about $18,000, at which proceeding the donor was so disgusted that he lost all interest in the advancement of the theories of the fa- mous infidel.

The next scheme of improvement to which Lick turned his attention was the erection of the Lick Hotel in San Francisco. He had bought the property for an ounce of gold dust soon after his arrival in California, and until 1861 it had lain idle and unimproved. The lot originally extended the entire length of the block on Montgomery Street from Sutter to Post, and the hotel would have covered this

space had not Lick sold the Post Street corner to the Masons. At the time of its construction the hotel was the finest on the Pacific Coast. Its interior finish was, in the main, designed by Lick himself, who took special pride in the selection of fine materials and in their combi- nation in artistic and effective forms. The dining room floor was a marvel of beautiful woodwork, made out of many thousand pieces and all polished like a table.

That part of the history of James Lick which lies between the years 1861 and 1873 is full of interest to those who desire to form a correct estimate of the man. The course of affairs had amply justified his early judgment of the future values of California real estate. His sand-hill lots, bought for a song in 1848, grew to be golden islands of wealth in the rising streams of California trade. The investments in Santa Clara County all yielded rich returns. By the very bulldog tenacity with which he hung to his transactions, he became during the '60s one of the wealthiest men on the Pacific Coast. His reputation, too, was state-wide, made so not only by his wealth but also by the rumor of his eccentricities.

It is very probable that the advancing age of James Lick acted upon his nature in develop- ing into active eccentricities the natural pecu- liarities of his disposition. Most of the pio- neers who remember him during the first decade of his California career, describe him as a close, careful, self-contained man, cold and somewhat crabbed of disposition, going his own lonely way in business and in life. Those who knew him between 1861 and 1873 inten- sify these characteristics and declare him to have been miserly, irascible, selfish, solitary ; one who cherished little affection for his race or kin, and whose chief delight appeared to lie in the indulgence of the whims of a thorny and unfragrant old age. Others who knew him say that beneath the ice of his outward nature flowed the warm currents of a philan- thropic heart.

The stories of Lick's eccentric career are numerous and amusing. Most of his time after the completion of his hotel was spent in and about San Jose. At first he lived upon his mill property, and upon it he began early to set out trees of various kinds, both for fruit and ornament. He held some curious theories about tree-planting and believed in the efficacy of a bone deposit about the roots of every young tree. Many are the yarns told by old residents about his action. It was a frequent sight to see him going along the highway in an old rattle-trap, rope-tied wagon, with a bearskin robe for a seat cushion, stopping every now and then to gather in the bones of some dead animal. There is a story extant,

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and probably well founded, which illustrates the odd means he employed to secure hired help at once trustworthy and obedient. One day while he was planting his orchard a man' applied to him for work. Lick directed him to take the trees he indicated to a certain part of the grounds and there to plant them with the tops in the soil and the roots in the air. The man obeyed the directions to the letter and reported in the evening for further orders. Lick went out, viewed the work with apparent satisfaction, and then ordered the man to plant the trees the proper way, and thereafter to continue in his employ.

Another story, similar to this, is handed down and is entirely authentic. Lick at one time was the owner of what is now the Knox block, on the northwest corner of First and Santa Clara streets. A fire having destroyed the buildings, much debris of burnt and broken brick was scattered about the lot. One day while Lick was viewing the ruins a young man applied to him for work and was in- structed to collect a certain quantity of bricks and pile them neatly in a corner. This he did. and on reporting was told to take the same bricks back and pile them neatly in another corner. Without protest the young man exe- cuted this singular order, and was at once reg- ularly employed.

When Lick found that the floods interfered with the improvement of his mill property, he transferred his operations to the tract of land south of San Jose, for a long time known as the Lick Homestead Addition. Presently the residents of San Jose witnessed a strange spec- tacle. Day after day long trains of carts and wagons passed slowly through the city, carry- ing tall trees and full-grown shrubbery from the old to the new location. Winter and sum- mer alike the work went on, the old man su- perintending it all in his old rattle-trap wagon and bearskin robe. He imported from Aus- tralia some rare trees and had brought with them whole shiploads of their native earth. Once he conceived the idea of building con- servatories superior to any on the Coast, and for that purpose he had imported from England the materials for two large conservatories after the model of those in Kew Gardens, London. His death occurred before he could have these constructed and they remained on the hands of his trustees until a body of San Francisco gentlemen contributed funds for their purchase and donation to the use of the public in Golden Gate Park, where in full construction they now stand, to the wonder and delight of all who visit this beautiful resort.

It was in the year 1873, when James I,ick was seventy-seven years old, that he began to make those donations of the then vast estate

which he possessed. For many years preced- ing the bequest he had been a wide reader. He studied everything written by and of Thomas Paine and made his own works conform to Paine's opinions. It is related that while he was engaged in the improvement of the Lick Homestead property he became involved in an argument with the late Adolph Pfister, who served several terms as mayor of the city, over some religious subject, when Pfister suggested that Lick put to practical proof the merits of Paineism as contrasted with other moral agen- cies, by the erection of a grand college on his property for the education of young men in the Paine doctrine. Lick was impressed with the idea and it is not improbable that it found form in the gift of the mill property to the Paine Association of Boston.

On February 15, 1873, Lick executed two gift deeds, one to the California Academy of Science, the other to the Society of California Pioneers. To the first named he granted a lot of forty feet frontage on Market Street. near Fourth, San Francisco, and to the last named a lot of like dimensions on Fourth Street near Market. These gifts he clogged with certain conditions which were deemed irksome by the trustees. The matter was at issue when Lick died, but after his death a compromise satisfactory to the donees was effected.

The trust deed by which Lick gave all his remaining property to charitable and educa- tional objects was dated June 2, 1874. Among the provisions of this instrument was one giv- ing to San Jose $25,000 for the purpose of es- tablishing an orphan asylum, and another ap- propriating $700,000 for establishing an ob- servatory on land belonging to Lick, near Lake Tahoe. An investigation of the appropriate- ness of the site was at once set on foot. It was soon ascertained that the severity of the climate in winter about the chosen location would seriously interfere with the effective op- erations of the telescopes and with the com- fort of the visiting public. Lick then deter- mined to make a change of site and looked favorably toward Mt. St. Helena, in Napa County. He visited St. Helena and ascended part way to its summit, but before he had pur- sued his investigations far enough to reach a conclusion his mind was directed to Santa Clara County.

Although out of the large amount of prop- erty distributed by Lick, San Jose received but $25,000, the people of the city were very grate- ful and acknowledged their gratitude in a well- worded series of resolutions prepared by Judge Belden and adopted by the mayor and common council. The resolutions were beautifully en- graved and officially transmitted to Mr. Lick

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in San Francisco. Other recipients of the mil- lionaire's benefactions had either responded coldly or had made no response at all. There- fore the action of San Jose greatly pleased Lick and caused him to think that he had not done as much as he should for the county that had long been his home. The resolutions reached him at a time when he was in doubt as to the location of the observatory, and he consulted his confidential agent, Thomas E. Fraser, as to the availability of the mountain summits east and west of San Jose. Fraser referred Lick to Mt. Hamilton and was in- structed to ascend the mountain's top and make thorough investigations. In August, 1875, Fraser, accompanied by Mayor B. D. Murphy, went to the summit, found it free from fog. equable of climate and generally suitable for the observatory's location. Mr. Lick then addressed a communication to the board of supervisors offering to locate the ob- servatory on Mt. Hamilton if the county would construct a road to the summit. The facts con- cerning the building of the road will be found in the chapter on County Government and Good Roads.

In the meantime, Lick had found that his deed of trust did not express his intentions ; that a strict construction of its terms would postpone the carrying into effect of his bene- factions until after his death. He wanted the work to be pushed forward during his life- time. After duly considering these matters, he addressed a communication to his trustees, set- ting forth his conclusions and intentions, re- woking the deed and asking them to resign. The trustees consulted a lawyer and upon his advice declined to resign, for the alleged rea- son that they had already converted about a million dollars of the real estate into money and could not be relieved from responsibility by the dictum of Mr. Lick. This brought about a controversy with the trustees which at first threatened disaster to the beneficiaries. John B. Felton was Lick's attorney, and in- stead of precipitating his client into a lawsuit he used the columns of the newspapers so vig- orously that the trustees became disgusted and made up an agreed case by which the courts relieved them of responsibility and annulled the deed.

On September 21, 1875, a new and final deed was executed, with Richard S. Floyd, Bernard D. Murphy, Foxan D. Atherton, John H. Lick and John Nightingale as trustees. The clause in the deed in reference to the observatory is as follows :

"Third-To expend the sum of seven hun- dred thousand dollars ($700,000) for the pur- pose of purchasing land and constructing and putting upon such land as shall be designated

by the party of the first part, a powerful tele- scope, superior to and more powerful than any telescope yet made, with all the machinery ap- 'pertaining thereto and appropriately connected therewith, or that is necessary and convenient to the most powerful telescope now in use, or suited to one more powerful than any yet con- structed ; and also a suitable observatory con- nected therewith. The parties of the second part hereto, and their successors shall, as soon as said telescope and observatory are con- structed, convey the land whereupon the same may be situated, and the telescope and ob- servatory and all the machinery and apparatus connected therewith to the corporation known as 'The Regents of the University of Cali- fornia"; and if, after the construction of said telescope and observatory, there shall remain of said seven hundred thousand dollars in gold coin any surplus, the said parties of the sec- ond part shall turn over such surplus to said corporation, to be invested by it in bonds of the United States, or of the city and county of San Francisco, or other good and safe in- terest-bearing bonds, and the income thereof shall be devoted to the maintenance of said telescope and the observatory connected therewith, and shall be made useful in promot- ing science; and the said telescope and ob- servatory are to be known as 'The Lick Astro- nomical Department of the University of Cal- ifornia.' "

In making the new deed Lick selected Mt. Hamilton as the site for the observatory, and the trustees, acting with the Regents of the State University, secured an Act of Congress setting apart the public land at the summit for this purpose. This tract contains 500 acres and is so situated as to prevent settlement in the immediate vicinity of the observatory, or the inauguration of any enterprise in that neighborhood that would be inimical to the in- terests of the institution.

John B. Felton charged $100,000 for his legal services in annulling the first deed, and pre- sented the bill to the new trustees. They re- fused to allow the claim until Lick would sign a written authorization. Felton and Trustee Murphy called on Lick and asked him to sign. "Mr. Felton," said the old philanthropist, "when we made a contract on which that claim is based, we supposed that to cancel my first trust deed would be an arduous matter, in- volving much expense, a long delay and years of the most elaborate and expensive litigation. The whole entanglement, however, was ad- justed in a few months without any difficulty, with little outlay and with only a formal liti- gation. I think, under the changed circum- stances, you ought to diminish the amount of your fee."

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"Your proposition, Mr. Lick," replied Felton, "reminds me of a story I once heard about a countryman who had a bad toothache and went to a rustic dentist to have the offender extracted. The dentist produced a rusty set of instruments, seated the patient in a rickety chair and went at work. After some hours of hard labor for himself, and the most extreme agony to the countryman, the tooth was ex- tracted and the dentist charged a dollar for his work. A few months later the countryman had another attack of toothache and this time thought best to procure a metropolitan dentist. He went to the city, found the best dentist in it and offered his swollen jaw for operation. The expert dentist passed his hand soothingly over the man's face, located the tooth with painless delicacy, produced a splendid set of instruments, and before the countryman knew it, had the tooth out. His charge was five dol- lars. 'Five dollars!' exclaimed the country- man. 'When Jones, down at the village, pulled my last tooth it took three hours, during which time he broke his chair, broke my jaw, broke his tools and mopped the whole floor with me several times, and he charged me only a dollar. You ought to diminish your bill."" Lick saw the point, signed the authorization and Felton got his money.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 35

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