USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > History of the San Francisco Committee of vigilance of 1851 : a study of social control on the California frontier in the days of the gold rush > Part 26
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Respy [Signed] J W CARTWRIGHT
The story of that Sunday is worth telling in greater fullness. The reminiscences of the actors show that they plotted cunningly to outwit the triumphant authorities.67 In order to avoid any personal conflict with Jack Hays, George Schenck saw to it that the sheriff was invited to attend a bullfight at the Mission Do- lores. Then, in advance of the proposed raid, Isaac Bluxome inspected the jail, ostensibly to see Berdue, who was lodged there awaiting a formal release from the sentence imposed after his conviction as the assailant of Jansen. The secretary's real errand was to discover whether a stand of muskets kept in the
66 Papers, 549. By an error in proof-reading, Huie's title as Chairman was omitted from the printed document. There are no minutes to explain why Payran was serving as secretary, but another order of the same date was signed by E. Gorham, as president pro tem (ibid., 541).
67 Details of the raid in the MS Statement of Ryckman, 13; Bluxome, 13-15; Schenck, 40-42; Farwell, 10; confirmed by the daily papers of August 25, and by Rev. Albert Williams, Pioneer Pastorate, 1879. pp. 117- 118. See also Popular Tribunals, I, 359-365.
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building was ready for emergency use. He accomplished this purpose by exhibiting his skill in the manual of arms to the old soldier, William Lambert, who acted as keeper, for he made excuses to piek up one gun after another during the drill, and thus ascertained that none was loaded.
When Sunday eame, Captain Cartwright stationed parties of his guard of thirty near the front and rear entranees of the jail. The unsuspecting jailers even allowed a few of them to enter the building and attend a religious service which was being held in the unroofed eourt. A eonspirator perched on Telegraph Hill commanded a view of the courtyard and watched for the signal that would indicate the best moment for attack. The Reverend Albert Williams exhorted his unpromising flock, while Captain Lambert lounged on guard, Caperton discussed his Sun- day dinner, and Sheriff Hays enjoyed his holiday sports. Sud- denly at half past two as the meeting drew to its close a signal was waved from within, transmitted by the observer on the hill, and answered from without. In a twinkling the Vigilantes inside pinioned Lambert and the guards, those without foreed in the doors, seized Whittaker and Mckenzie, earried them bodily to a waiting carriage, thrust them on to the seat, and held them down with eocked pistols at their heads. The driver lashed his horses to a gallop and dashed up Broadway to Stoekton, along Stockton to Washington, thenee through Dupont, Sacramento, Montgomery, and California streets, to the rooms of the Com- mittee on Battery street. The Monumental bell began to tap out the alarm, and the streets filled with crowds that raced after the flying carriage and quickly packed the neighborhood around headquarters. On the box of that careening coach sat James R. Duff, who lived to become one of the last survivors of the Committee of 1851.68 Sixty-four years later he seemed to recall
65 Mr. Duff's recollections of the day were printed in the San Francisco Chronicle, 1915, Oct. 3, Magazine p. 6. 1 had the pleasure of talking with him a few weeks later.
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every event of the day with photographic distinctness. It was not only its reckless daring that stamped the mad hour indelibly upon his memory. The shouting mob had caught in its swirl a frightened girl, just from the East, who recognized on the car- riage her own brother-in-law, James T. Ryan, and marked the man beside him, and years later the gray-haired Vigilante de- picted for me the fiercest episode of '51 as a somber background for the moment when he first attracted the attention of the woman who soon after became his wife.
But vengeance, not romance, possessed the minds of the com- mitteemen on that Sunday afternoon when they rushed their captives back to their headquarters. The chambers had two second-story doorways on Battery Street, with projecting beams for the hoisting of freight. Seventeen minutes after the storming of the jail those doors were thrown open, ropes were reeved through the overhead blocks, and the two ends taken inside the room. In another instant the prisoners were pushed forward, with nooses around their necks, and almost at the same moment the ropes were tightened and the struggling wretches were launched into eternity.69 While the bodies were still hanging Sam Brannan addressed the crowd from the open doorway, in- forming them that the prisoners had confessed their guilt, had
69 Illustration, Annals, 562. An English traveler described the appalling silence and resolute mien with which the waiting thousands watched the sinister preparations. "They did not seem like men," he said, "but like judges sent by Osiris from the nether world, so stern, and implacable was their expression" (Jeremiah Lynch, A Senator of the Fifties, 101). An- other writer said that brutal levity characterized the execution, and so shocked publie sentiment that the popular approval of the Committee was greatly weakened, and contributions were withdrawu (Pictures of Pioneer Times, by William Grey [a pseudonym of W. F. White], 1881, p. 108). Contemporary accounts showed that MeKenzie was in a pitiable state of panie, while Whittaker was calm and manly (see also R. M. Devens, Our First Century, 1880, p. 555). Ryckman said that Whittaker was "brave as Caesar, " and won his admiration so that he regretted the necessity for the execution. In the brief interval within headquarters the doomed man told Ryekman of a plot against his life, and the warning enabled the Vigilante to foil the would-be assassins (Ryckman, MS Statement, 14-15; Popular Tribunals, I, 364-365).
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acknowledged that they deserved death, and had affirmed that they would not have pursued the course which ended at the gallows had it not been for the weakness and corruption of some of the authorities. He stated that the members of the Committee were fully sensible of the solemnity of the occasion and of the fearful responsibility which the first law of nature, self-preser- vation, imposed upon them, but that they could not have acted other than they had without holding out a direct premium to crime. IIe trusted that the Committee would be supported by the citizens when it did right, and would receive their frowns when it did wrong. No innocent man need fear-it was no gratification to the Committee to be compelled to take the life of a fellow-being, and in no case would that be done unless the proof of guilt was beyond cavil.
The coroner held an inquest on the same day and summoned as witnesses George Mellus, W. H. Jones, Benjamin Reynolds, L. J. Bayles, J. B. Huie, and S. E. Woodworth, all members of the Committee. Their answers were guarded but not evasive, and the jury returned the following verdict :70
In accordance with the foregoing testimony, the jury, after deliberate consideration, have come to the conclusion and accordingly render their verdict that Samuel Whittaker and Robert MeKenzie came to their death by being hanged by the neck, thereby producing strangulation, by the act of a body of citizens styling themselves the "Vigilance Committee of San Francisco," on the afternoon of Sunday, August 24th, instant, at about three o'clock, in front of the Vigilance Committee Rooms, on Battery Street, near California Street, from the second story thereof.
Although there was some severe censure of the execution71 most of the newspapers approved it, and blamed the courts for permitting the miscarriage of justice that evoked such inter- ference on the part of private citizens. These strictures were
70 Herald, 1851, Aug. 25 %.
71 The Pacific, a religious paper friendly to the Committee, said that the act had forfeited the confidence of the community (Pacific, 1851, Sept. 5, 21).
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so severe that they moved Judge H. S. Brown, of the Court of Sessions, to resign his position on the ground that the attitude of the press was equivalent to an nnjust impeachment of every judge in the San Francisco courts.72 In noting his resignation the Herald remarked that no one had particularly considered Judge Brown either for praise or censure, but it commended his example to Judges Bennett and Parsons; as for Judge Camp- bell, he had so won the confidence of the community that such a step on his part would only result in prompt re-election.
Judge Campbell allowed the matter to pass with a brief comment made to the grand jury on the day after the lynching. He said that it was not necessary for him to remark at length upon it ; his views were still the same as they were when he had addressed the previous grand jury on the occasion of Stuart's execution.73 By a enrious coincidence. the same Monday found Campbell engaged in hearing evidence presented by members of the Committee to the effect that Stuart had assumed the guilt of the attack on Jansen, and had completely exonerated Windred and Berdne.74 The latter was in court, eager to express his gratitude to the association that had already saved him from death and was then engaged in clearing him of the charge of robbery. When his discharge was ordered, Judge Campbell must have acknowledged, at least in secret, that the ends of justice had been served by the very men whom he had officially branded as murderers deserving of the severest punishment.
Learning that Berdue was penniless, the court suggested that a subscription should be raised for his benefit. Mr. Jansen offered to return the money taken from the prisoner at the time of his capture in February, and the members of the Committee ar- ranged to collect additional funds. On September 16 Berdue
72 Herald, 1851, Aug. 26 %. The resignation is reprinted in Popular Tribunals, I, 330.
73 Herald, 1851, Aug. 26 %.
74 Herald, 1851, Aug. 26 3%.
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signed an acknowledgment of $302, given him by Isaac Bluxome, Jr., in the name of the Committee." A few days later he pub- lished in the papers the following card :76
I have kindly to thank those gentlemen for what they have done for me; for certainly, through their rigilance and the kind providence of Almighty God, they succeeded in capturing the criminal for whom I have suffered so much.
75 Papers, 640.
76 California Courier, 1851, Sept. 24 %. The Alta, Oct. 11 32, stated that Berdue had lost his donation in an unfortunate mining venture, and his friends were trying to raise more. Two years later he unsuccessfully peti- tioned the legislature for an indemnity to the amount of $4000 for injuries suffered during his imprisonment and trial (California Senate, Journal, 1853, Appendix, Doc. 37).
CHAPTER XIV ADVENTURES IN CRIME
The dealings of the Committee of Vigilance with Stuart's confederates have been related in a consecutive story in order to present a definite sequence of cause and effect which is lack- ing in the chronological arrangement of the printed documents.
While that story is still clearly in mind it may be interesting to linger over the records of this curious court, especially over the evidence that came from the lips of the prisoners themselves. A superficial perusal of the separate documents discloses little of the real human interest concealed within the terse and dis- connected paragraphs. The members of the Executive Com- mittee were not concerned with problems of criminal psychology ; their literal transcriptions of sordid testimony and of brutal confessions were written down with the sole object of obtaining a knowledge of the criminal situation existing in their com- munity.
In this purpose they were very successful, and the documents offer many striking illustrations of the local conditions we have discussed.1 We see in them how easy it was for criminals to escape punishment in California. A day's horseback ride could easily put them beyond the track of pursuit; if arrested, clever lawyers were ready to sustain them in perjury, to arrange de- fense from the testimony of their very confederates, and to distribute bribes to officials and jurymen. Even when the law had done its utmost, insecure prisons offered many opportunities of escape.
1 See Papers, Index, under the headings, Bail, Bribery, Courts of Califor- nia, Jails, Murders, Perjury, Robberies.
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These documents give us also a hundred minute, instantaneous pictures of the underworld of San Francisco, and of the life that moved with stealthy footsteps through the chain of vicious lodging houses kept by conviet landlords for the accommodation of convict guests.2 Such a place was the Uncle Sam when owned by the thief Jenkins and by his successors, Connolly and Thomas Burns. Such was MeManus' Welcome, on North Beach, to which Burns removed when even the change of name to Shipman's Arms failed to make Jenkins' old stand a profitable investment.
The ex-convicts developed a happy faculty of christening their places with alluring names, and innocent, indeed, were the signs that ornamented the doorways of these wretched dens. Barnes, the tinman, kept the Cottage of Content; King, the barber, owned the Bird in Hand; Robert Ogden welcomed guests to the Live and Let Live : Goff, an ex-conviet, owned the Panama House; Whittaker and MeCormac, the Port Phillip ; Mrs. Ryan and Mrs. Wilson, matrons from Sydney, presided respectively over the Rose Cottage and the Heart in Hand, but it does not appear that any poetic designation was attached to Mrs. Hogan's house, which was perhaps the most dangerous trysting place of all. From morning till night and from night till morning the bars and card rooms of these inns were open to their habitués. Even today the reader of the strange confessions may enter un- challenged and watch forgotten dramas of San Francisco life- as much a part of history as are the stories of the mining camps and worth, as history, a moment of attention here.
Here is a simple tale entitled, "Dishonor Among Thieves." Characters : James Kelly, the fighting man ; his friend Vyse, the bear hunter; other friends, among whom are Sam Whittaker, then the proprietor of the Port Phillip House, the latter's part- ner, Teddy MeCormac, and Robert MeKenzie ; supernumeraries,
2 See Papers, Index, under "Lodging houses reported by the Committee as suspicious. "
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Osman, Old Jack, and King, the barber, owner of the Bird in Hand. Scene: a public house near the Mission Dolores, where Kelly has just been worsted in a prizefight with a man named McGee, and has been consoled with $900 gate money, which now is in the keeping of his colleague, the bear hunter. While the de- feated pugilist is in retirement Whittaker and MeKenzie accost Vyse and ask for an opportunity to condole with his principal. There is some talking, some drinking. Vyse takes Mckenzie into another room, and for a few minutes the money is left unguarded ! The sympathetic friends appropriate it without delay and make a hasty exit, leaving MeKenzie to comfort the "fighting man." A few hours later MeKenzie finds his asso- ciates at the Bird in Hand, on Montgomery Street, and demands his share of the plunder. IIe is told, however, that "some one" has stolen $600 on the way home, and $35 apiece is the meager reward of the afternoon's adventure. Disappointment rankles in the breast of the defrauded MeKenzie. When opportunity arises he discloses the whole affair to James Kelly himself. Swiftly the latter devises vengeance, pounces upon MeCormac, who has attachable property in the Port Phillip House, and during an absence of the more astute Whittaker forces him by threats of imprisonment and lynching to give up possession of the place. The play ends with Kelly reimbursed, McCormac ontwitted, and Whittaker, ousted from his own bar, betaking himself to the solace of Mrs. Hogan's lodging house.3
Another drama, "The Disappointed Locksmith," introduces Joseph Marks, sometime a member of the city police force, later a clerk of Colonel Stevenson, and finally discharged from that office. Angered by the loss of his position, he tempts the expert burglars George Adams and William Watkins to help him satisfy his grudge by robbing his former employer. Adams is cautious, suspicious ; advises delay . Marks pleads for haste, since
3 Papers, 464-465, 469.
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his pockets are empty and he has neither food nor shelter. Adams, comfortably enjoying his British "tea," bestows largess upon him and instructs him how to take a soap impression of the key to Stevenson's place of business. Marks visits the office, accomplishes the errand, and slips the mold into his pocket, where it is ruined by the time he returns to his friends. Another trip to the office, another soap impression, another five dollars gratuity. The key is made, Mark's status as a trustworthy rascal is verified, and when the chosen night arrives a little group of four gathers in the shadows about the empty office building. Marks is posted as sentinel; the others disappear within. Lights flare up; there is a quick rush of armed men; Marks plays the rôle of informer; his companions, sullen and pinioned, are escorted to the city lockup. Marks, restored to the good graces of Colonel Stevenson as a detector of thieves, is made an assistant to the Committee of Vigilance in the effort to recapture Adams, who has speedily regained his freedom.+
Again, we have "A Matter of Compromise." The scene is laid in Monterey, the old capital of California, about the historic Custom House, which in December, 1850, was in charge of Dr. Andrew Randall. During his absence the building was entered and fourteen thousand dollars of his personal funds were stolen. Osman, Ryan, Briggs, and "Old Jaek" Morgan were arrested, and a sum approximating Dr. Randall's loss was recovered from them. They gave bail and were set at large pending trial, to improve the interval by continuing their professional operations under the able direction of James Stuart. The theft of a safe in San Francisco resulted in the rearrest of Briggs and Morgan. The former, at least, did not wish to forfeit his heavy bail, so he escaped from prison in time to return to Monterey for trial. The case came up in April, and as the men were "too good and valuable to be locked up," Belcher Kay and Stuart, himself, superintended the defense.
4 Papers, 306, 318, 319, 344, 410-412.
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We have a glimpse of the court room, with the counsel on both sides, men whose names and faces were long familiar at the California bar; we see the jury, on whom bribe money has been lavished; we see Stuart, alias Carlisle, and Whittaker, also incognito, taking oath in the defense of their fellows; and we hear the foreman of the jury announce the expected disagree- ment. The case is too vexatious to risk another trial, so, ou advice of the defendants' counsel, the efficient Stuart breaks open the jail. Exit prisoners, but a trifling matter of business remains. The money in dispute, over thirteen thousand dollars, has been placed in custody of the courts until its rightful owner- ship shall be established. Dr. Randall has demanded its restor- ation ; Messrs. Osman, Ryan, Briggs, and Morgan, while still in confinement, have claimed it as theirs. Both parties have insti- tuted civil suits for its recovery. But now, deciding to forego annoying litigation, they effect a friendly compromise, deduct the costs of the trial from the amount in question, and divide the balance. A delightful example of evenhanded justice !5
"The Sailor's Heirloom" shifts our attention to the little vessel James Caskie which lies offshore near Clark's Point, San Francisco, in October, 1850. James Stuart and three compan- ions, hearing that money is in the captain's possession, swarm aboard in the dead of night, masked, armed, and ruthless. They encounter the skipper, who puts up a desperate fight, for he has not only gold but a wife to protect, and his only helper is a boy whom the desperadoes quickly overpower. The woman, with a strength born of terror, rushes to her husband's side with a cutlass, but is disarmed and reduced to such a state of abject fear that she brings out all the weapons and money on board
5 Alta, 1850, Dec. 19 33; 1851, April 21 3%; Papers, 236 note 36, 371, 570. The charges of wholesale corruption in this case made by Stuart were indignantly denied. Whittaker appeared as a well dressed gentlemanly visitor from San Francisco (Peckham, in San José Pioneer, 1877, Aug. 4, Scrapbook, pp. 33-34). See also the San Francisco Call, Feb. 5, 1893, p. 16.
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and thrusts them at the outlaws with pitiful appeals to spare her man, already half dead from a terrible beating. The ehival- rous Stuart assures her that he will be glad to do as she asks if the captain will remain quiet. While ransacking the eabin the leader adds to his favors by again yielding to her pleas and leaving in its place a fine gold watch, the gift of a beloved mother; and he sternly quells the insubordination of his covetous crew by reminding them that they have made him master, and his orders must be obeyed. The captain and the boy are tied fast, and the pirates slip away into the darkness with a threat of worse to come if the woman utters a word within two hours. Her side of the story we do not know. Long before the two hours have elapsed Stuart and his pals have gained the shore and divided the plunder, which is less than $200, as the captain had that day sent his funds away by an outgoing steamer.6
A longer drama might be built up about the Jansen affair. We are shown the plotters devising an attack and eager to rob a man who always kept English sovereigns in his safe for the special convenience of homeward-bound Australians. They con- coet, at first, a elever scheme." Jansen is about to remove to a new store. His neighbor Whittaker learns that his funds are to be transported in a trunk placed on a cart and escorted by his clerk. When the guard seats himself upon the treasure chest he fails to notice that a lounger slips ont the linehpin from the axle of the cart, nor does he suspect that footpads await the opportunity expected by the breakdown of the vehicle. But the joints of the wagon are stiff, the wheel remains in place, and the
6 Papers, 228-229, Alta, 1850, Oct. 27 38; 29 3%; Nov. 22 34. By a curious coincidence a physician (Samuel Merritt ), who later became a member of the Committee of Vigilance, was near the scene of the Caskie . robbery, and encountered a suspicious fugitive, whom he later recognized at headquarters as the prisoner Stuart (Oakland Tribune, 1884, Apr. 5 56). " The details of this plan were told by Whittaker (Papers, 470). He also described a plot that involved robbing the San Francisco Custom House (ibid., 244 note 43 ).
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gold is safely deposited in the new office. The conspirators refuse to accept defeat. So we see them again loitering outside Jansen's door on a chilly February night; Old Jack enters to ask for blankets, and lingers so long that Stuart follows impatiently, concealing a blndgeon beneath his long camlet cloak. We see the cruel blow, so heavy that the victim screams but an instant ; the retreat with the treasure from the safe; the division of the spoils, $196 to each man ; and the placid reunion in Mrs. Hogan's barroom, after an incriminating watch had been tossed into the bay.
We see the same group gathered in the same place during the succeeding days, while the fate of Windred and Berdue hangs in the balance, and we know that their angry looks and gestures indicate their determination to burn the city if capital punishment overtakes those guiltless prisoners. That revenge is abandoned, but when the legal trials result in conviction Whit- taker resolves to right the injustice. He proenres a key that will unlock the jail, and sends it to Windred by the latter's wife, or by Mrs. Hogan. Windred escapes and hides at the Mission until a safe passage can be engaged for Australia. On a certain night the runaway cronches in an alley near Clark's Point; Kitchen lies ready with his boat; Whittaker is directing affairs ; Mrs. Windred and Mrs. Hogan are concealed close at hand, waiting to say good-bye. The policemen who are patroling the street seem equally oblivious of Windred and of two other fugi- tives, Adams and Jim Briggs, who are enjoying themselves in the neighborhood. When the coast is clear a pass word calls Windred from concealment ; he snatches a moment with his wife, slips down into the boat, and is rowed away to the ship. Anxious days follow; Mrs. Windred, disguised as a man, calls regularly on Whittaker to learn if the vessel has sailed, and at last she too is smuggled on board. Still the departure is delayed, with
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constant danger of detection. Then comes the great fire of May 4, and on the fifth the ship clears away from the smoulder- ing city, bearing two happy passengers who invoke blessings upon the head of Samuel Whittaker.8
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