USA > California > Kings County > History of Tulare and Kings counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 17
USA > California > Tulare County > History of Tulare and Kings counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the counties who have been identified with their growth and development from the early days to the present > Part 17
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The robbers mounted the tender of the engine and, covering the engineer and fireman with arms, compelled a stop. A stick of dynamite was placed on the piston rod and exploded. The engineer jumped and ran, making his escape, but the fireman was held by the robbers, who marched back by the side of the train, firing to intimidate passengers. When the express car was reached, a stick
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of giant powder was placed on the sill of the door, and in exploding, wrecked the car, breaking three doors, blowing a hole in the roof, and scattering the contents in every direction.
The messenger, George D. Roberts, was lying on the floor, rifle in hand. The shock of the explosion threw him across the car, dis- located his shoulder and rendered him senseless for a few moments. As soon as Roberts recovered his faculties he stuck his hands through the open door to announce that he gave up. The robbers went into the car and compelled him to open the safe. Three bags of coin con taining between $10,000 and $15,000 were taken.
THE EVANS AND SONTAG TRAGEDIES
On August 4th Chris Evans appeared in Visalia after a consider- able absence, stating that he had just returned from the mountains. George Sontag also reappeared, stating that he had just returned from the east.
These were suspected by the railroad detectives and George Sontag was placed under arrest, and Deputy Sheriff George Witty and Detective Will Smith went to the Evans house for Evans and John Sontag. Smith entered the door and faced a double barreled shotgun in the hands of Evans, another gun being handy for the nse of Sontag. Unable to draw his revolver on account of his coat being buttoned, Smith fled, as did Witty, Sontag giving chase to the one and Evans to the other. In their flight they were forced to leave the sheriff's team and rig. Smith was slightly wounded in the back and hands, but managed to get to town unaided. Witty was more unfor- tnnate, receiving some forty shot wounds and a pistol bullet which passed through his body, and almost proved fatal. Similar material to that of which the masks were made was found at the Evans home.
Sontag and Evans drove off in the sheriff's vehicle, but returned early the next morning. The house was surrounded by a party con- sisting of former Sheriff D. G. Overall, Oscar Beaver, W. H. Fox, constable Charley Hall of Lncerne, detective Thatcher and sheriff Cunningham of San Joaquin county. About one o'clock, Evans and Sontag were seen in the barn harnessing the horses and were ordered to stop by Beaver, who fired two shots, one of which disabled a horse. The bandits returned the fire and Beaver fell, mortally wounded. In the excitement which ensued the robbers effected their escape on foot, walking twelve miles to the Harvey Ward place, where they procured a cart and team, and made their way to the mountains hy way of Badger.
The result of the posse's efforts were criticised and ridienled by the press generally. Posses followed the trail and on September 14, 1892, the bandits were located at Sampson's flat in a log house. As the posse approached the house a volley was fired from the inside
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which killed Victor C. Wilson of El Paso, and Andy MeGinnis of Modesto, and slightly wounded Al Witty.
Not until the following spring were the robbers and murderers again seen by officers, although many attempts were made to track them down. On April 19, 1893, Sheriff Kay received information that Evans and Sontag would pay a visit to Visalia that evening. A posse consisting of the sheriff, E. A. Gilliam, Jolm Broder, Ed MeVeagh, Morgan Baird, J. P. Carroll and E. J. Fudge, surrounded the honse early in the evening, and about eleven o'clock they heard the barn doors open and discerned the men attempting to escape. Kay, Gilliam and Broder fired, but without effeet. The cordon around the house proved ineffectual and for some time the bandits were not again seen.
On May 26, 1893, deputy United States Marshal Black, standing at the door of his cabin near Badger, was shot in the leg and hand, and identified his assailant as Evans.
Not until June 11, 1893, were the outlaws again located. A posse composed of United States Marshal George E. Gard, F. E. Jackson, Hi Rapelje and Tom Burns had, while hot on the trail, taken up quar- ters in a deserted cabin at Stone Corral. The robbers were seen approaching and the posse stationed themselves outside. In the battle that ensued both Sontag and Evans were shot, the former fatally. Evans again escaped, but was soon after found at the home of E. II. Perkins, and placed under arrest. Sontag died within abont three weeks after the Stone Corral fight. Evans' trial was held in Fresno in November and December. He was found guilty of murder in the first degree and senteneed to life imprisonment. Within two weeks, however, he escaped from the Fresno jail, being assisted by a man named Ed Morrell. After getting out of jail, the pair held up a hoy with a horse and cart, took it, and successfully eluding the guards, which were immediately stationed on the roads leading out of town, succeeded in again getting into the mountain country. This escape was hailed with great glee in Visalia because the Visalia officers had been severely rated for inefficiency in the Fresno papers.
A period of several months ensued, most of which was consumed by the officers in following false clues. Evans terrorized the fume men in the hills, and the sheep herders, threatening them with death if they revealed his whereabouts.
On February 13, 1894, Sheriff Scott of Fresno county, and posse, came upon Evans' and Morrell's camp in Eshom valley. Three shots were fired ineffectually, the bandits escaping hurriedly, leaving much ammunition and camp equipment.
Evans wrote several letters to friends in Visalia, and on March 7th, visited John March, who resided near Orosi, fourteen miles from Visalia. As far as the officers of the law were concerned, however, all
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traee of the bandits was lost after the exchange of shots with Sheriff Scott's posse. until the following year. The mountain settlers all denied seeing or hearing anything of the outlaws.
After these exploits, which constituted one of the most spectaeu- lar criminal careers in the history of the county, it seems strange that Evans should have submitted tamely at the last, but he did.
On Saturday, May 18, 1894, the bandits came to Visalia, and on Monday the officers learned of their presence, and a posse, including Sheriff Kay. United States Marshal Gard, deputy sheriffs Witty and Robert Broder, night watchman Byrd and constable English, sur- rounded the house. The news brought crowds to the vicinity who watched behind houses and barns at as near range as they dared to get.
A young man named Beeson offered to take a note to Evans for twenty-five cents. He was given $1 and sent in, but did not return. At 10 a. m., an eight-year-old son of Evans came out of the house with a note to Sheriff Kay, which read :
"Sheriff Kay-Come to the house without guns and you will not be harmed. I want to talk with you. Chris Evans."
Kay, replying, requested Evans to come out and give himself up. in answer to which he received the following:
"Sheriff Kay-Send the crowd away and bring Will Hall with you to the gate and then we will talk. I will not harm you. You are the sheriff of the county, and I am willing to make terms with you, but with no one else. I will step out on the poreh when you come to the gate. Chris Evans."
The crowd had not shown any inclination towards violence, but apparently the bandits were more afraid of it than of the officers. Accordingly, the crowd was persuaded to move away and Kay and Hall met Evans and Morrell on the porch and shook hands with them and then placed both under arrest.
Young Beeson related that when he knocked at the door he was covered with guns and told to come inside, where he was searched. No weapons were found on him, but he was regarded as a spy and told to sit down and keep his mouth shut.
By the next evening, when Sheriff Scott took Evans back to Fresno, so many threats of lynehing had been expressed that it was decided not to take the risk of waiting until midnight for the train, but to proceed by team. When news of the departure of the officers with the prisoner became known a crowd of determined men, con- tained in twelve or fifteen livery rigs, started in pursuit with the in- tention of lynching Evans. At Goshen they learned that the officers had taken another road and were practically beyond pursuit, so the chase was abandoned.
Evans was sentenced to life imprisonment at Folsom and served
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seventeen years and two months, being released on parole, May 1, 1911.
Morrell also received a life sentence but was pardoned after serv- ing fifteen years.
CHAPTER XVII.
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, POPULATION
The early settlers in Tulare county ever made the establish- ment of schools and the organization of churches keep even pace with the forming of settlements. If a full history of the churches in Visalia could be written it would show a long line of suffering heroes; little comedy but much tragedy. There is a pathos about the lives of the pioneer preachers that is wanting in later times. The pastor of the city church, who devotes his week days to study in his library, with recreation in the garden, and social intercourse with his parishioners, can little appreciate the exalted self denial and often severe suffering that generally accompanied the circuit riders. Surely a person, to meet the exigencies of a pioneer preacher, with conditions as they were in Tulare county in the '50s or even '60s. must be ablaze with a Pauline passion for souls.
It is with a feeling akin to reverence that one calls up the visions of pioneer days, and the keenest interest is aroused by the pioneer and his weal. This is especially true when considered along with the struggles and victories of the early churches. The days of the circuit rider, picturesque in his missionary zeal, have passed away, but they have left an afterglow that fills the heart with thankfulness and devotion.
THE SOUTH METHODIST
The first church in the county was the Methodist Episcopal Sonth. In 1852, when Visalia consisted of undignified shacks and magnificent distances, before it was even selected as a county seat. a congregation of this faith was organized here.
Rev. O. P. Fisher, the presiding elder of the Pacific Congress, and the Rev. M. Christianson took charge of the congregation and held services as opportunity presented itself. The first house of worship, however, was not constructed until 1857. James Persian, a leading member and himself one of the largest donors, undertook the task and a small brick church was erected on Church street. near Acequia, about where the telephone exchange is now situated.
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At that time the Rev. E. B. Lockley was pastor in charge and the membership was fifteen souls.
The present church buikling, on the corner of Court and School streets, was erected in 1872, and enlarged and improved in 1905-'06, and a new parsonage built in 1911.
There have been twenty-four pastors in charge of the flock here since the organization. The present membership is about one hundred and fifty. Rev. W. J. Fenton took charge in 1911, and under his care all branches of the work are progressing.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH
The Baptist church has had a varied experience in Visalia. There was a small congregation in the '50s that held services in the oak-grove west of the schoolhouse, and later, jointly with the Sonth Methodists, occupied the first church building erected in Visalia.
The Rev. James A. Webb, the "Bible Poet" as he called him- self, occupied the pulpit at the times when services were heldl. This eccentric individual was engaged in, and it is said, finished, the translation into verse of the entire Scriptures.
Not until the early '70s was a building erected. This, located on Main street between Court and Locust, was later destroyed by fire and the congregation disbanded.
In 1907 the Rev. E. M. Bliss came to Visalia as a missionary and in March of that year succeeded in organizing a congregation with twenty-one charter members. The congregation rented Good Templars Hall and there held services until the completion of the present commodious and attractive building. This is an impos- ing structure of concrete blocks, on the corner of Garden street and Mineral King avenne. The north transept has two stories. The cornerstone of this building was laid April 18, 1910, and the dedicatory services held February 1, 1911. Rev. J. M. Conley preached the sermon at the laying of the cornerstone and at the dedication. The Rev. Robert J. Burdette of the Temple Baptist church at Los Angeles assisted at the dedication. The membership has increased rapidly and now numbers about ninety.
SUNDAY SCHOOLS
About the time of the founding of the first church in Visalia came the organization of a Sunday school. All the church people united in maintaining a Union Sunday school. In its issue of December 11, 1863, the Delta said this school was in a flourishing condition with about one hundred children in attendance. There were at the time only eighty children in the day schools. A little later a school was maintained by each denomination separately.
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THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
On December 9. 1866, a band of fourteen men and women organized a Presbyterian church in Visalia. This was of the Old School order. Rev. William Edwards was in charge, and the con- gregation met in the small building on the corner of Church and Willow streets. Later this building was destroyed by fire and, the membership being small, the congregation disbanded.
The Cumberland Presbyterian people had become so strong that, under the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Smith, they organized a church in 1878, with a following of about sixty. They purchased the property of the Baptists, consisting of the lot on the corner of Main and Locust streets and the building thereon. An oppor- tunity presented and the property was sold and two lots on the corner of Oak and Locust streets purchased. The building was moved and is still used. This property was purchased by the Cum- berland Presbyterian Church, incorporated. But the decision of the churches at Decatur, Ill., in May, 1906, announcing the union of the two branches of the Presbyterians, has caused trouble in the congregation. Some hold that the title should be in the Pres- byterian Church and others that it still remains in the Cumberland. The former have possession, and a few of the Cumberland brethren are meeting in a rented hall. The others have arranged to erect a fine new building of concrete blocks, and the congregation, under the leadership of Rev. C. II. Reyburn, is growing.
THE LUTHERANS
The Lutheran Church organized a congregation in Visalia in 1907, under the care of William Grunow, pastor. A commodious church buikling was erected on South Court street. About a year later a parochial school was opened with about forty pupils.
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
The Episcopal church is one of recent date in Visalia. Previous to 1880 occasional services were held as circumstances permitted. Revs. W. H. Hill, Powell, and D. O. Kelley, were the principal mis- sionaries that conducted these infrequent services. In May. 1880, the Mission St. John was organized for the entire county, and comprised the towns of Visalia, Tulare City, Hanford and Lemoore. The Mission was under the charge of Rev. D. O. Kelley. with headquarters in llanford. On February 9, 1887, the Mission of St. Paul was organized in Visalia. During the same year, under the care of Rev. C. S. Lindsley, a building was erected on a lot donated by Mr. Jacobs, on North Church street. In 1898 the Rev. C. M. Westlake, the pastor in charge, secured the advantageous corner of Encina avenue and Center streets. The old building was moved
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to the new location. In 1904, under the care of Rev. H. C. Carroll, the rectory was built and in 1909 and 1910 the church was enlarged and improved and the parish house built. The St. Paul's Mission, Visalia, and the St. John's Mission, Tulare, have been associated as one charge. To these was recently added St. John's Mission, Porter- ville. The church has a membership of about ninety. Nine priests have served the local church.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
The Catholic church existed for several years in Visalia before a building was erected. Rev. Father D. F. Dade was the priest who for many years cared for the flock. As early as 1860 he is reported to have celebrated mass in the old courthonse. In the late summer of 1861 he obtained the use of an old barn and opened a parochial school. In memory of the birthplace of the Savior, he named his school the Academy of the Nativity. On October 18, 1868, at the corner of Church and Race streets, he laid the cornerstone of the brick church now standing there, and dedicated it. Church of the Nativity. March 28, 1909, the Rt. Rev. Thomas J. Conaty, of the diocese of Los Angeles, laid the foundation of the present imposing church building on the lot south of the old building. The erection of this fine structure of concrete blocks was due largely to the devotion of the Rev. Father Foin. The church in Visalia has been ministered to by eleven priests.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL
The Methodist Episcopal church was among the first Protestant bodies to establish themselves on the Pacific slope. August 15, 1851, eleven preachers met in San Francisco and held the first Methodist Conference on this coast. Their field of labor was from Canada to Mexico. But it was not until 1858 that an organization was made in Visalia. The class was organized by John MeKelvey, in charge of this circuit. W. N. Steuben and wife and Mrs. Lucinda Kenney were the first members. The congregation had no settled place of worship until 1867, when, under the pastorate of T. P. Williams, there was a building erected on the corner of Court and Willow streets. A Sunday school was organized in 1869 by D. K. Zumwalt. In 1902 C. A. Bunker was pastor and work was commenced on a new church building. The building was not finished until the pastorate of Mr. Livingston, Mr. Bunker's successor. In November, 1908, the church, with A. L. Baker as pastor, celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, called the Golden Jubilee, in a week of special and appropriate services, at which many of the previous pastors were present and assisted.
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CHRISTIAN CHURCH
The Disciples of Christ were represented at an early date in Visalia. Some previous efforts had been made by them to form an organization, but nothing was accomplished until in August, 1857, when fourteen men of this faith under the leadership of William Higgens, met and organized the First Christian Church in Visalia. They met under a shelter of willow boughs in the lot between Court and Locust and Center and Oak streets, west of the present residence of Mrs. S. C. Brown. For lack of chairs, trunks of trees were used for seats. Of the fourteen charter members, C. P. Majors of near Visalia, is the only one on this side of the Great Divide.
At the organization, William Higgins was chosen minister and elder, and John K. Morris, eller, and W. R. Owen and C. P. Majors deacons. The congregation made the shelter of willows the place of meeting till late in the fall of that year, and then used the school- house. For lack of a church bell, Elder Higgins improvised a cow's horn and by the sonorons blasts from this unique instrument, called the humble worshipers together.
The congregation later met in various places, among which were the courthouse, Centennial hall, Good Templars' hall, the South Methodist church, the Presbyterian church, and the City Hall. An unfortunate controversy arose among the members over the use of the organ in the services, and for some time the ill feeling engendered by this controversy greatly retarded the growth of the congregation. After several years of rather acrimonious feelings, by the efforts of E. B. Ware, then state evangelist, the members "forgot it." got together, bought the lot on the northwest corner of Conrt and School streets and in 1890, dedicated the present fine building.
Among the early ministers were: T. N. Kincaid, Alex. Johnson. A. W. DeWitt, H. Tandy, J. E. Denton. Since the building was erected some of the ablest ministers in the state have been stationed here. Among these ministers were W. H. Martin, now of Southern California, Peter Colvin, of Santa Rosa, T. A. Boyer of Oakland, and J. A. Brown, in the evangelistic field. Frederic Grimes took charge of the church in 1911, and has been a strong man in the Bible school and all departments of church work. The Bible school, numbering nearly three hundred, is an enthusiastic one.
THE TRAINING OF THE YOUNG
In tracing the history of Tulare county, it is found that the people have ever been prompt in the matter of providing educational facilities for the children. The school and the church have attended the early pioneers.
We of today provide our children with the best modern educa-
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tional facilities by the simple expedient of readily voting "yes" on all propositions for school bonds. There was a time in Tulare county when, other problems of life far less involved than low, the solution of this question was one of great difficulty. Within the hearts of the early pioneers, however, the determination was strong to give to their offspring a greater measure of learning than they themselves had enjoyed, and it came about that in 1853 a school was established in Visalia. Remember that this was at the very time in which each settler, surging with ambition, was busy inaugurating his individual enterprise. One was building a sawmill, another a store, another a gristmill, others were sending afar to procure the seed for farming; some were guarding their stock; the first furrows were being turned.
Remember, too, that in a county extending from Mariposa on the north to Los Angeles on the south and from Nevada on the east to the summit of the coast range in the west, there were but eighteen children, between the ages of five and seventeen. You can readily imagine how much these children were needed to help at home. But they started a school. There was no building yet, just a school. and thirteen pupils attended.
In 1854 the first school district, embracing the entire county, was organized, and the first schoolhouse, made of rough boards set on end, was erected near the site of the present Tipton Lindsey grammar school in Visalia.
The population of Tulare county increased by leaps in the next sneceeding years, but it was largely transient, composed of the horde of miners flocking to the new gold fields of the Kern. The school census of 1860 exhibited a healthy, but of course, not a corresponding growth. By that year there had come to be five schools in the county, which cared for four hundred and sixty-five children, dis- tributed as follows: Visalia, two hundred and eighty; Elbow, one hundred and twenty-four; Woodville, one hundred and fifty-two: Persian, eighty-five.
The public school system was developing normally, keeping pace with the needs of the people, but it was deemed insufficient. The following notice about a proposed seminary for Visalia appeared in the Delta of December 31, 1859, and shows that people then were thinking of higher education:
"Seminary. A subscription is in circulation for the purpose of building a seminary near town on a lot donated for the purpose by J. R. Keener. The subscription list we saw was liberally signed. Attached to about half a dozen names was the sum of $3,700. The proposition is to make it a joint stock company. Rev. B. W. Taylor. and a lady are to take charge of the institution."
In 1859 Rev. B. W. Taylor, of Los Angeles, arrived and broached
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a project for opening a private school, in which the higher branches of learning should be taught. His plan met with immediate favor and a joint stock company was formed to finance it. Henry Keener donated a lot. and subscriptions in an amount sufficient to erect and equip a large two-story building were soon secured. The building was erected in the southwestern part of town at the corner of Watson avenne and the Tulare road and the institution named The Visalia Select Seminary. For a time the Reverend Taylor and his wife were the only instructors, but later M. S. Merrill, of Los Angeles, was added to take charge of the newly created primary department.
In 1861 Rev. Father Dade opened a private school called The Academy of the Nativity. The title was suggested by the fact that the building which it occupied, located about where Visalia's Catholic church now stands, was originally designed as a stable. Father Dade's scholarly attainments were such as to well qualify him for his position. Modern languages and Latin were among the branches taught, and the elements of a classical education, so highly esteemed in those days, was imparted. This school, though taught by a priest. was strictly non-sectarian, and its patrons, sending their children there solely on account of the educational facilities afforded, hecame numerous. The boys and girls were instructed separately, the reverend father tutoring the former and Miss Hattie Deming the latter.
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