History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 9

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

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San Jose Land Company

San Jose, before the admission of California to the Union, was one of the few populous settlements in California and was known at the time, and before, as the "Upper Pueblo." The city becoming involved and unable to pay the debt incurred to provide suitable accom- modations for the Legislature and the officers of the state, a judgment was obtained against her and her creditors. An execution was is- sued on the judgment and all the pueblo lands were sold at sheriff's sale and bought in by a syndicate styling itself the "San Jose Land Company." This syndicate soon became known locally as "The Forty Thieves," al- though the number of its members was less than forty and they were, by no means, thieves. But the title they claimed under became pop- ularly known as the "Forty Thieves Title."

The San Jose Land Company, after acquir- ing its sheriff's deed to lands belonging to the city, claiming to be the successor in in- terest to the pueblo, presented its claim to the United States Land Commission, sitting in San Francisco, praying for confirmation to it of the lands contained within the estab- lished boundaries, asserting that there had been a concession by the Spanish Crown of that large tract to the pueblo. A mass of documentary evidence, correspondence, etc., was introduced, also the testimony of wit- nessee to the fact that the monuments had been placed there years before and had been recognized by the citizens. Although no formal concession or grant had ever been found or produced, it was asserted that those acts indicated that one had actually been made. The board and the U. S. District Court confirmed the grant to these exterior boun- daries.

In the meantime settlers had located on lands included in this tract under the impres- sion that they belonged either to the Govern- ment or to private parties from whom they

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

had purchased. They had made improvements and established homes. By this decision ex- tending the limits of the pueblo, their prop- erty was absorbed, and they united, some four- teen of them, in securing an appeal to the Supreme Court.

At that time there was in existence a body known as the commissioners of the funded debt of the City of San Jose. Judge F. E. Spencer, who was a member of this board, was anxious to have the decision of the Dis- trict Court sustained, believing that the land company had no valid claim, and that if the title to this large tract was confirmed to the city it could be maintained. He succeeded in effecting a compromise, by which the Su- preme Court affirmed the decision of the lower court, except as to the tracts claimed by the fourteen settlers. A final decree to this effect was made. Afterward this body of land was sold in tracts to actual settlers at the price fixed by the United States Government for its public lands. With the proceeds of these sales the debt of the City of San Jose was extin- guished and up to 1887 the city had no debt whatever. In due time the pueblo was sur- veyed and in 1884 a patent was issued.

The claim of the City Land Company was the subject of more or less litigation and trouble from time to time until 1869. It came up in the case of Branham et al. vs. the City of San Jose, where it was held by the Supreme Court that the city's lands were not subject to execution and sale under a judgment against her. A number of years later, upon the adop- tion of a charter by the city, a clause was inserted which, it was claimed, confirmed the land company's title. Upon that claim an ac- tion was brought in the United States Circuit Court for the District of California to recover possession of the large body of land within the corporate limits which had not passed by legal grants. The case was Leroy vs. Chaboya et al., some 600 defendants being named, and involving the title to a very large portion of land within the city limits. F. E. Spencer, who was counsel for the defendants, obtained a ruling from the District Court to the effect that the provisions of the charter referred to did not amount to a confirmation in favor of the land company or its successor, thus end- ing a case of great importance to the city and surrounding territory, and which went far to settle land titles in the vicinity.

Grants, of rather an indefinite character, were claimed to have been made to the vari- ons Missions, both in Northern and Southern California. When the Missions were secular- ized, these grants reverted to the state. Not- withstanding this act of secularization, several of the Missions retained more or less landed

property, such as church edifices, orchards, etc., and these, in most instances, were after- wards confirmed to the church. But a large body of grazing land passed into the general domain and was re-granted to private indi- viduals. There was quite an extended legal warfare before these lands were confirmed to the church. It was claimed that when the Missions were secularized all property re- verted to the Mexican Government, and as it had never been re-granted it became the public domain of the United States on the cession of California, and was therefore subject to pre- emption. The orchard property at Santa Clara was particularly valuable and was settled upon by several sets of squatters. J. W. Redman, county judge for several years, held the orch- ard, selling the fruit at enormous prices. It went through several hands, but was finally confirmed to Archbishop Alemany, represent- ing the church.

While the Mexicans held California, Lieu- tenant Moraga, under the direction of the Spanish Government, partitioned to the orig- inal settlers the lands of the new pueblo of San Jose. The allotments were made in ac- cordance with a rule adopted by the govern- ment by which all pueblos or towns were .to be laid out and established under the plan of the city of Tepic. The tracts of land were divided into three classes : solares, or building lots ; suertes, or lots for cultivation, and egidos, or lots for pasturage and wood. By the Tepic method, each family was given four suertes and one solar.

Though there is no record evidence that an allotment was made after the pueblo was moved from its first location, Judge Spencer said that in 1852, and even later, there re- mained landmarks that showed something of the general plan of the location. Among these were the stumps of hedge-rows forming alleys leading to the Guadalupe River-evidently roads used by women going to the creek to do their washing. At that time, and until the willows and other vegetation had disappeared, the Guadalupe was a perennial stream, sup- plied in the summer time from the springs in the lower ground south of town, while from the Guadalupe were the remains, tolerably defined, of ditches leading into Canoas Creek. This word "canoas," besides meaning "canal," also signifies a "trough," and it was probably for this latter meaning that the Mexican's ap- plied it to this stream, as they evidently used it for the purpose of conveying water to their suertes, or planting lands.

There were also the remains of branch ditches, or acequias. One went out and crossed the plaza near the site of the city hall and continued on, crossing First Street near San

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

Fernando, as if to irrigate the land sloping to the north and east. Another one was a little west of Market Street, crossing Santa Clara Street diagonally, going through the grounds now occupied by the Sisters of Notre Dame and continuing to the present site of the Hotel Vendome. From this was irrigated the lands between it and the Guadalupe River. In one of the suits regarding the land claimed as suertes, old Pedro Chaboya and other old Mex- ican witnesses testified that all the alkali land in the northeast portion of the city was, in very early days, fine land for crops; but the Coyote Creek having overflowed its banks and rushed down across the country, the top-soil was washed off and when the water receded it was converted into an alkali sink.

With the Americans came land speculators, and as the pueblo grew in importance and its lands in value, suits were started to obtain possession of some of the most valuable por- tions of the city under suerte title. None of them, however, were successful, but they formed a chapter of the most important and sharpest litigation in the history of the county. There being no record of the original allot- ment of suertes, their existence could be proved only by parol testimony, and for this purpose the "oldest inhabitant" was in constant de- mand. There stood a few old landmarks with all the dignity due to their antiquity, but neither these nor the imperfect family tradi- tions of the oldest poblanos were sufficient to warrant a judgment in favor of the claimants.

The methods used by the Americans to measure and mark out the boundaries of their grants were very crude and resulted in much inaccuracy. Many of them, when surveyed by the United States, shrank or expanded in dimension to the extent of many hundreds of acres. Persons who had settled on what was thought to be Government land would, after some years of labor, find their property in- cluded within the boundaries of a neighboring grant and would be forced to lose their homes or purchase them again of another owner. Some persons were compelled to purchase their farms several times before their title be- came assured. This state of affairs caused great dissatisfaction among the settlers and societies were formed to meet adverse claims and prevent eviction.

These societies, though very determined in the expression of their rights, generally avoided violent measures. In fact, with one exception, they confined their efforts to the raising of funds for the purpose of defending their claims in the courts. The exception re- ferred to occurred in 1861 and is thus recorded by Frederic Hall: "The greatest excitement and demonstration that was ever exhibited in

this county upon the question of land titles took place this year. The grant of Antonio Chabolla for the tract of land known as the Yerba Buena Rancho, lying east or southeast of town, had been confirmed to the claimants thereof under the Chabolla title by the United States courts. There were many settlers on the land, some of whom had occupied the same for quite a lengthy period under the belief that it was public land. They seemed to be of the opinion that the grant was a fraudulent one, notwithstanding the fact that the land had been patented by the United States in accord- ance with the decree of confirmation. The advice which had been given the settlers was evidently not of that kind which had a tend- ency to better them, or to cause them to view the matter in a proper light. They were in- duced to spend money in the way of lawyers' fees that was as useless as throwing money into the sea. The Government had conveyed, in fee simple, the land to the claimants, and no party but the United States could move to set aside that patent upon the ground of fraud or any other ground. Suits in ejectment had been instituted against some of the settlers on said land and judgment rendered against them for the possession of certain tracts by the Third Judicial Court, in and for the County of Santa Clara. William Matthews, Esq., of counsel for plaintiff in those cases, caused writs of execution for possession to be issued to the sheriff that the plaintiff might have pos- session in accordance with his judgments.

"The sheriff summoned a posse of 600 men to go with and to aid him in executing the writ. When the posse assembled at the Court House they were asked if they were armed, to which they replied in the negative; then being asked if they would arm themselves, likewise replied in the negative. They were then dismissed. About one o'clock in the afternoon about a thousand settlers paraded through the town, some on horses, some in wagons, some on foot, and nearly all armed. They had one small cannon. All the settlers' leagues of the county and some from adjoin- ing counties were said to have been present. Toward the close of day they went to their respective homes without doing any damage, save that of disobeying the writ."

Until 1847 there had not been much certainty as to the location of, or titles to, lots in the pueblo of San Jose. It seems to have been taken for granted that the laws regulating the establishment of Mexican towns had been com- plied with and that those in possession had valid titles. Whether the title was good or not seemed to be of little consequence under the then existing condition of affairs. There were no regularly laid-out streets. The cen-

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ter of the town was the Juzgado, or the plaza, and the houses were scattered north and south on irregular lines with a roadway between. The roadway is now Market Street. After the defeat of Sanchez at the battle of Santa Clara, and the certainty that the arms of the United States would be victorious in Mexico, the for- eigners became impressed with the conviction that Alta California would be ceded to the victors and a permanent government estab- lished. Viewed in this light, the solares and suertes of the pueblo became of more impor- tance and an attempt was made to settle the question of their ownership.

Early in 1847 the Ayuntamiento and the alcalde directed William Campbell to survey a plat of land a mile square to be laid out in building lots. Assisted by his brother Thomas, he did this work, the tract so surveyed lying between the following boundaries: On the north by Julian Street, on the east by Eighth Street, south by Reed Street and west by Mar- ket. This tract was intended to exclude all questions relating to suerte claims. John Bur- ton, who was then alcalde and had resided in San Jose for twenty years, stated that the result of his investigation was that no suerte claims, except the Gongora claim, extended farther south than Julian Street, or farther east than Market Street. This is the original plat of San Jose and from this survey may be dated the existence of the city. The streets were located through this tract, making nine blocks from Julian to Reed and eight blocks from Market to Eighth. The exact course of the streets running north and south was at 45 deg. west, magnetic variation, 15 deg. 22 min. east. The length of these streets was 5,607 feet. The cross streets were laid out at right angles to these.

The survey having been completed and a map filed, the alcalde gave notice to all per- sons claiming land within the limits of the survey to present them to him for investiga- tion, and, if found valid, he would issue them a new title. Burton, who was no lawyer, seemed to possess a remarkably level head. Notwithstanding persistent litigation on the part of contesting claimants, all the alcalde grants under the Campbell survey have been held by the Supreme Court to be valid. In Campbell's survey four blocks were reserved for a public square. This was named Wash- ington Square and is the present location of the State Teachers' College, the high school and the Carnegie Library.

The pueblo having been thus located, its limits and boundaries of its blocks and lots defined, the settlers from the states resolved to secure a portion of the outside lands belonging to the pueblo. A meeting was called, the prop-

osition to make the survey into lots of 500 acres each was adopted and J. D. Hutton ap- pointed to make the survey. This was done in July of the same year. The lots were num- bered consecutively and corresponding num- bers placed in a hat. The head of each family was permitted to draw one number, this en- titling him to choose a lot, his choice being in the order of the numbers drawn-that is, the person drawing number one was entitled to first choice, and so on. After the drawing the alcalde gave to each party a certificate of title. These alcalde titles were afterwards declared invalid by the Supreme Court.

In May, 1848, another survey of the town was made, this time by C. S. Lyman. He was a practical surveyor and possessed all the nec- essary implements for practical work. By this survey the limits were extended easterly to Eleventh Street. He enlarged Washington Square to its present dimensions, 1,160 by 1,005 feet. He laid out St. James Square, which is 610 by 550 feet. Market Square, the site of the city hall, he fixed at 1,160 by 259 feet. Market, Santa Clara and Fifth streets were made each 100 feet wide, and all the streets running north and south, except Fifth, were inade 80 feet wide. The system adopted by the survey is the one now in use. San Fer- nando Street is the base line and the ranges are counted easterly from Market Street. Other surveys have been made as additional territory was taken into the city limits.

The tract of land lying west of Market Street and along the Guadalupe River, was used for cultivation and was not surveyed into town lots for several years after the admission of California into the Union. It was held as suertes and was watered by an acequia, or ditch, leading from the Canoas Creek south of town. This ditch furnished water to the peo- ple for some time after California became a state; but gradually the foreigners acquired this land from the Mexicans and streets were opened from time to time as the population increased.

Public Treasury Robbed

Before the first month of the year 1853 had been brought to a close, the entire county was startled by the news that the public treasury had been robbed. The treasurer, William Aikenhead, declared that he had been knocked down in the darkness of night and robbed of his keys, and that the unexpectedness of the attack prevented him from recognizing the robber. His story of the assault was this: Hearing a noise in the rear of the building about eight o'clock in the evening, and not long afterward a step on the front porch and a calling of his name, he opened the door to

HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY

ascertain who it was. Instantly he received a blow on the head that laid him prostrate; he was then choked, his pockets emptied and the key of the safe taken. The office was then entered and several thousand dollars were car- ried away. The board of supervisors placed full credence in Aikenhead's story, and after investigation made a report exonerating him from neglect or blame. In the month of Feb- ruary, Aikenhead disappeared. A committee of three, in company with the district attorney, was appointed to examine all the books and papers in the treasurer's office and file a re- port with the clerk. The committee was com- posed of J. M. Murphy, W. R. Bassham and W. L. Smith, and their report made Aikenhead a defaulter in an amount approximating $20.000.

Following is the list of the various tracts of land in Santa Clara County to which title was granted by the Spanish and Mexican govern- ments :

Arroyo de los Pilarcitos, one square league, to Candelario Miramontes. Canada del Corte de Madera, to Domingo Peralta. Canada de San Felipe Las Animas, two square leagues, to Charles M. Weber ; patented August 9, 1866. Canada de Pala, 8,000 by 1,200 varas, to Jose de Jesus Bernal et al .; patented August 9, 1863. Canada de los Capitancillos, to Guadalupe Min- ing Company. El Corte de Madera, two square leagues, to Maximo Martinez ; patented June 14, 1858. El Pasito de las Animas, 3,042 acres, to Robert Walkenshaw. Embarcadero de Santa Clara, 1,000 varas, to Barcelia Bernal. Juristae, one square league, to Antonio and Fausten German. La Polka, one square league, to Bernard Murphy; patented March 3, 1860. La Purissima Concepcion, one square league, to Juana Briones. Los Tularcitos, to Antonio Hignora et al., heirs of Jose Hignora ; patented July 8, 1870. Las Animas, or Sitio de la Brea,

to Jose Maria Sanchez. Las Coches, one-half square league, to Antonio Sunol et al .; pat- ented December 31, 1857. La Laguna Seca, four square leagues, to Liberata Cesena Bull et al. ; patented November 24, 1865. Los Capi- tancillos, three-quarters of a square league, to Charles Fosset; patented February 3, 1865. Las Animas to Frederic E. Whiting. Milpitas, one square league, to Jose Maria Alviso. Mis- sion of Santa Clara to James C. Galindo. Mission of Santa Clara, 13.13 acres, church property ; patented March 3, 1858. Ojo de Agua de la Coche, two square leagues, to Ber- nard Murphy ; patented January 4, 1860. Po- trero de Santa Clara, one square league, to Robert F. Stockton. Pastoria de las Borregas, 320714 acres, to Martin Murphy ; patented De- cember 15, 1865. Pueblo de San Jose, to Mayor and Common Council; confirmed October 8, 1866. Pala, one square league, to Ellen White et al., widow and heirs of Charles White. Quito, three square leagues, to Manuel Alviso; patented May 14, 1866. Rincon de San Fran- cisquito, one-half square league, to Maria An- tonia Mesa, widow of Rafael Soto. Rancho de Refugio, or Pastoria de las Borregas, three square leagues, to Tomas Pacheco and Augus- tin Alviso. Rincon de los Esteros to Francisco Berryessa et al., heirs of G. Berryessa. Rin- con de los Esteros to Rafael Alviso et al. Rincon de los Esteros, two thousand acres, to Ellen E. White. Rinconada de los Gatos, one and one-half square leagues, to Sebastian Per- alta and Jose Hernandez ; patented March 19, 1860. Santa Ana y Quien Sabe, seven square leagues, to Juan Miguel Angas and Manuel Larios; patented May 1, 1860. San Ysidro, one square league, to Quentin Ortega et al .; patented September 27, 1869. San Francisco de las Llagas, six square leagues, to Bernard, Daniel, James and Martin Murphy ; patented March 19, 1868.

CHAPTER IV.

The Early Bar of San Jose-Alcalde Burton's Common Sense-The Eccen- tricities of Judge Redman-Strange Career of Rufus A. Lockwood- Irrepressible J. Alexander Yoell-Change in Court System.

Courts of First Instance had no existence in San Jose until after the American occupation. The first court was organized in 1849 and held its last session in March, 1850, when the County and District courts were organized. Prior to this period justice was administered in San Jose by the alcaldes. The first Ameri- can alcalde was James Stokes, who was ap- pointed by Captain Fallon when Dolores Pa- checo was deposed. He was succeeded by John Burton, and of Burton Judge John E. Richards of the Appellate Court, and one of San Jose's ablest and most respected citizens, writes as follows in his entertaining booklet. "The Early Bench and Bar of San Jose":

"Old John Burton, Capitan Viejo, the na- tives called him, was appointed to office by Captain Montgomery, military commander of the Northern District of California, on Octo- ber 19, 1846, about three months after Captain Thomas Fallon had hoisted the Stars and Stripes in front of the Juzgado. The old al- calde was a pioneer of the pioneers. He had deserted from a New England merchantman in 1830 and, coming to the pueblo of San Jose, had married a Mexican woman, assumed the title of captain and lived an easy existence among the natives until disturbed by the American occupation. He was a native of Massachusetts, but he seems to have neglected those opportunities for book learning which that home of culture afforded. He was a man, however, of considerable common sense, is re- puted to have been very honest and to have had the esteem and confidence of the native population. The office of alcalde required these qualities in an eminent degree just at that time when the loose garments of Mexican rule were being replaced with the close-fitting fabric of American institutions. The alcaldes' courts of California had, prior to the change in government, possessed a very wide and quite undetermined jurisdiction, and had been con- ducted with a freedom from the formalities of jurisprudence which was primitive in the cx- treme. Alcalde Burton continued to exercise the jurisdiction of his predecessors with much the same laxity in forms. No fusty lawyers ever profaned the sacred precincts of Alcalde Burton's Juzgado, either to hinder or hasten his judgments with pleas of writs sustained by

musty precedents. There was a patriarchal simplicity about the administration of justice in Alcalde Burton's court. The old Juzgado stood in the center of what is now known as Market Street, at its intersection with El Dorado Street. It was a low adobe building, divided into three compartments-the alcalde's court, the smaller room for the clerk of the court, and the calaboose. There old Captain Burton sat and administered justice in his own, original way, following somewhat loosely the forms of the Mexican law relating to alcaldes' courts. The method of procedure was as in- teresting as it was unique. Every grievance which a complainant had against a person, for which he had, or hoped to have, a legal rem- edy, he carried to the alcalde and openly stated his case. Thereupon Alcalde Burton called his alguazil, or constable, and delivering to him his silver-headed cane, as the symbol of his authority, directed him to bring the person against whom the complaint was urged before the alcalde. The cane was an important part of the judicial system. It was the vara de justicia, of 'staff of justice,' and in the hands of the alguazil symbolized the state. Bearing the alcalde's silver-headed cane before him, the alguazil sought out the defendant and, holding up the staff, delivered his oral summons to appear immediately at the juzgado. The de- fendant never disobeyed the command of the alcalde, but at once came before him. When he arrived the complainant was sent for and the parties met in the presence of the alcalde. What was technically called, what was in fact, an 'altercation,' then ensued between the par- ties. The alcalde sat and heard their dispute and endeavored to adjust their differences and strike a balance of justice between them upon their own statement of facts. Very frequently he was successful and a sort of compromise judgment was rendered at once. When, how- ever, the parties were too wide apart for com- promise, the case proceeded as follows: Each party chose an arbitrator and these two buenos hombres, as they were termed, sat with the alcalde and heard the evidence in the case. If then they and the alcalde could. agree upon a judgment, it was rendered accordingly ; but if not, the alcalde dismissed the buenos hom- bres and decided the case himself. So ran the wheels of justice in Alcalde Burton's court.

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History of Santa Clara County California with biographical sketches, Part 9

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