USA > California > San Joaquin County > History of the State of California and biographical record of San Joaquin County; containing biographis of well-known citizens of the past and present. Volume I > Part 41
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"Old Billy" Fairchilds, an emigrant of that year and a man of extraordinary good judg- ment, predicted Stockton's future greatness, but none could determine the means of its growth. One afternoon about the 15th of March, 1848, two horsemen on their way from Sutter's Fort to Monterey stopped for the night with the set- tlers. Their arrival created no especial interest, for Tuleberg was a half way station between the two points ; but when the men said that gold had been discovered at Coloma-showing specimens of the gold-and that by Sutter's orders they were on their way to see Governor Mason, as Sutter was anxious to pre-empt the land, the Tulebergers became very excited. They wanted
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to start immediately for the gold mines, fearing that someone else would get all the gold. But Captain Weber advised them to wait for a few days and go prepared to dig for the gold. The news of the discovery at Coloma was no surprise to Captain Weber, for at San Jose he had taken in payment for some merchandise, gold found at San Fernando Mission. Picks, shovels, blankets and provisions were now taken from Weber's store. The Stockton Gold Mining Company, the first in the territory, was now formed and men invaded the gold fields, prospecting and find- ing gold in every stream. The company located on a creek which they named for Captain Weber, and began trading and digging for gold. Assist- ed by the Indians they took out tons of the shin- ing metal. Hall, the San Jose historian, says that "John Murphy, one of the partners, in De- cember, 1849, had buried in the ground nearly two million dollars worth of gold, his share for one year." J. H. Carson, in writing of this event said, "From Kelsey's I rode to the Indian camp of Weber's famous company, and saw In- dians giving handfuls of gold for a cotton hand- kerchief or a shirt; and so great was the income of the captain's trading post that he was daily sending out mules packed with gold dust to the
settlement." A little later Weber moved luis entire stock of goods from San Jose to the grow- ing town, Eli Randall being liis salesman. George G. Belt and Nelson Taylor each erected a tent on El Dorado street for the sale of grocer- ies. In December Sirey & Whitehouse opened an eating house, and John Davis sold whiskey from his tent.
The little colony that winter subsisted on ducks, geese, pork and beans, canned meat- and hard bread. In December the cold was intense, snow falling all over the valley. Later heavy rains fell, the rivers rising until nearly the whole county was inundated, and Stockton was sur- rounded for a time. They did not forget Christ mas, however, and that morning assembled in Weber's store and planned to celebrate. A com- mittee was appointed to procure tlie necessary ingredients for a mammoth bowl of punch. The three stores were visited, and the articles ob- tained, and Sergeant McQueen of Stevenson's regiment was appointed to mix the beverage ; the punch soon disappeared, and in the afternoon, at the invitation of Captain Weber, the entire population enjoyed a Christmas dinner in the home of Stockton's founder.
CHAPTER II. THE CRY OF GOLD.
H ISTORY records no previous event like the immigration of '49 and '50. The cry of "gold in California" rang out over the world, and in less than two years nearly one hundred thousand people, the majority of them under thirty years of age, arrived in the territory. They came from every state in the Union, from France, Germany, Eng- land, Ireland, China, Mexico, Chili and the Isles of the sea. A universal brotherhood as- sembled upon the golden shore to lift the golden nuggets from the earth, and "making their pile," return to the land from whence they came.
The territory was in a transitory condition. The United States had been in possession less
than thirty months, and without government or law, chaos reigned. Life and property were un- protected, business could not be legally transact- ed, and as some form of law was essential, Gen. Bennet Riley, the civil and military Governor of California, requested the citizens to continue in force the Mexican system of law until such time as a state organization could be effected. At the same time, June, 1849, he issued his proclamation calling upon the voters to elect a constitutional convention to assemble September Ist at Monterey, said convention to frame a state constitution, and perform such work as was necessary in the formation of a state. The territory was divided into districts, and San
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Joaquin, including all the territory south of the Cosumnes river, elected fifteen instead of four delegates, the allotted number, so rapidly had the population increased since the issuance of the proclamation. Only five of the delegates were in attendance, viz .: Benjamin S. Lippin- cott, a merchant, thirty-four years of age; John M. Jones, an attorney, twenty-five years old ; Thomas M. Vermeule also a lawyer; Ben F. Moore, a sport; and O. M. Wozencraft, a phy- sician.
The first state election took place November 13, 1849, and San Joaquin elected as her district senators, Nelson Taylor, David F. Douglas, Ben S. Lippincott and Thomas Vermeule; and as assemblymen, Richard W. Heath, Charles M. Creaner, Ben F. Moore, D. P. Baldwin, J. S. K. Ozier and John C. Moorehead. The legisla- ture assembled in San Jose December 15, and in February, 1850, they designated the county di- vision lines, the county containing one thousand six hundred and thirty square miles. They gave the county the same name as the river, San Joa- quin. Lieutenant Morago, a Spanish soldier, discovering the river in 1813 named it San Joa- quin, after St. Joachim, the legendary father of the Virgin Mary. The legislature also created district courts and courts of sessions. Charles M. Creaner was appointed as the judge of the dis- trict court, his jurisdiction extending over the counties of San Joaquin, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Stanislaus. The constitution of 1879 abol- ished these courts and substituted one or more superior courts in each county.
One of the peculiar cases that came up before Judge Creaner was that of J. F. Stephens vs. J. B. Clements. It was the case of an unfortu- nate town council of 1849, seeking relief in the district court. In the fall of that year the suffer- ing of the indigent immigrants and intoxicated persous was terrible. The drunkards, miring in the mud, would die where they lay, while the needy poor, sick with the common diseases, dysentery, scurvy and fevers, were dying in the streets for want of medical attention. To remedy this condition of affairs, George G. Belt, the alcalde, called upon the citizens to elect a town council November 13, to consist of nine council-
men. Immediately after their election they es- tablished a public hospital and appointed Dr. Clements attending physician. The council lev- ied an assessment upon the citizens to pay the expenses, but in general they refused to pay the tax, and the councilmen in three months' time resigned. In the meantime the doctor had run up a bill of $5,300, and taking $1,000, all there was in the city treasury, he commenced suit in the court against the councilmen as individuals, for the balance of his bill. He got judgment for the amount, but the defendants got out an injunction on the ground that Clements had no grounds to sue then individually for a public debt. Judge Creaner dissolved the injunction, and the coun- cilmen were compelled to pay the bill.
After the dissolution of the town council, for five months the people were again without any form of government; crime ran riot; quarrels and murders were of frequent occurrence ; streets and channel were reeking with refuse matter; vessels blocked the stream, so that it was impos- sible to get in or out. Travel was checked by the impassable mud, and goods were sold from the wharf. So crowded was the channel in March, 1850, that the merchants petitioned Cap- tain Weber to remove the ships, and they were sailed to Mormon channel and destroyed by fire. The owners refused previously to pay any li- cense. In the meantime the state was organized. The legislature had passed a law permitting any town with a thousand or more inhabitants to incorporate. The citizens were slow in taking advantage of this until the San Francisco mer- chants began to encroach upon the business of Stockton. For example, the incorporation com- mittee said, "We find that a vessel loaded with lumber or other goods may arrive and appropri- ate to their own use as much of the public levee as the owners may desire, land the cargo, and without charge or rental establish a retail lum- ber yard or grocery store." To stop this en- croachment upon trade, and provide protection against a second fire, the citizens assembled in the Owens house June 25, 1850, to devise ways and means for incorporation. A committee was appointed to draft an incorporation act and the following evening recommended a speedy incor-
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poration and immediate action. The report was adopted and without further loss of time the cit- izens nominated a ticket: Samuel Purdy for mayor, Charles M. Weber, Dr. J. W. Reins, B. F. Whittier, John Hyde, Dr. George Shurtleff, William H. Robertson, and Hiram Green for al- dermen.
As the ticket was composed of northern-born men the southerners assembled the same evening in the Hotel de Mexico and selected an opposi- tion ticket with David S. Terry for mayor; M. F. Sparrow, John W. O'Neal, Dr. J. W. Reins, E. B. Bateman, John Holliday, J. H. Pratt and J. H. Warner for aldermen. The contest was non- political : Purdy being from New York and Terry from Texas, the campaign cry was "Texas or New York." The election was held in the Cen- tral Exchange August I, and about four o'clock the Terry men grabbing the ballot box, ran with it to George Belt's store and began counting the votes, they believing that all the mechanics com- ing from their work at six o'clock would vote for Purdy. The New York party were close at their heels and Terry's friends gained no advan- tage by their "joke," for Purdy received four hundred eighty-one and Terry two hundred eighty-eight votes. The entire Purdy ticket was elected, and Purdy, who was a popular and shrewd politician, the following year was elected lieu- tenant-governor by the Democratic party.
Terry's defeat was caused by his defiance of law and his arrogant threats and actions in court. On one occasion, jumping upon the table with revolver in hand, he defied the jury to bring in a verdict against his client. Several months pre- vious to the election Terry fought his first duel, although duelling was forbidden by law. At that time there was residing in the town a man by the name of Roberts, who claimed to be both lawyer and physician. Dr. Roberts, alias Captain Yo- mans, the Mexican bandit, became a very inti- mate friend of Terry, and George Belt, who had found out Roberts' true character, informed Ter- ry that his friend Roberts was an impostor and horse thief. This Terry denied, and Belt then challenged Terry, for the denial was equivalent to calling Belt a liar. The time, place and weap- ons were named, and at the appointed time, said
James A. Woods, "At the hotel, just before day - light, there was great commotion through the house ; the lodgers were rising, lights were mov ing about, and we could hear remarks about pis- tols, and insults, and the first shot, duels, and all kinds of battle phrases." The parties met in the southwestern part of the town, and the crowd expected to see bloodshed, for both were brave men, good shots, and had bxen lieutenants in the Mexican war. They were disappointed ; explan- ations were made and Terry was finally con- vinced that lie had been too hasty in his denial. The two men shook hands, and again became friends. Roberts, who had been the captain of a band of outlaws in Mexico, immediately left town. Judge Belt nineteen years later, on June 3, was shot and killed on Center street by Will- iam Dennis, and following this event, just twenty years, August 14, 1889, Judge Terry was shot and killed at Lathrop.
The first council also had their troubles, orig- inating in their efforts to obtain a city revenue. They first imposed a tax upon all merchandise landed upon the city wharf in transit to the mines. This they were forced to repeal, as it di- verted business from the city. In 1878 the coun- cil taxed all up-county wheat sent to Stockton for storage, and as a result the wheat was shipped to Port Costa. They then imposed a tax of $2 a ton on all merchandise landed. The first ordi- nance affected the commission merchants only ; the latter affected the retail merchants also an ! they sent an insolent petition to the council de- manding a repeal of the tax. Five of the council- men resigned, thirty-six firms then called upon Dr. J. M. Hill to resign, but he refused. The in- cident created considerable excitement, and a public meeting was held to nominate councilmen to fill the vacancies. An opposition ticket wa- placed in the field. and the old councilmen were re-elected. However, they repealed the ordi- nance.
The gold seekers entering the Golden Gate were sadly disappointed to learn that the gold lav in the Sierras two hundred miles distant and the quickest way to reach the southern mines was by sailing up the San Joaquin river to Stockton Thousands sailed up the river, and this city be-
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came the half-way station and depot for the trans- portation of passengers and freight. The town grew rapidly, in fact it seemed as if a magician's wand had been wafted over the place. J. C. Car- son wrote in May, 1849: "Stockton that I had last seen graced by Joe Buzzell's log house with a tule roof, was now a vast linen city. The tall masts of the brigs, barks and schooners, high pointed, were seen in the blue vault above, while the merry 'yo-ho' of the sailors could be heard as box, bale and barrel were landed upon the bank of the slough. The rush and whirl of human beings were constantly before the eye, the magic wand of gold had been shaken over the place and a city had arisen at the bidding of a full fledged Minerva."
Realizing that Stockton would eventually be- come a great city, Captain Weber, early in the spring of '49, instructed Richard P. Hammond, a major in the Mexican War and an engineer by profession, to lay out the town. (R. P. Ham- mond was the father of the noted engineer, John Hays Hammond.) The survey was made one mile square, the blocks being three hundred three feet on each side; seventeen of the blocks were reserved as public squares or "breathing places for the people," as Captain Weber expressed it. The streets were run along the deep water lines so that the people, for all time, could have free access to navigation. The merchants of- fered Weber thousands of dollars for water front lots, but he refused to sell at any price. To-day is evidenced the great value of an open harbor as a check to the greed of railroads and other cor- porations. By a vote of the citizens in 1871, the city limits were extended one-half mile on each side, the Central Pacific strongly opposing the extension. Weber named the town Stockton, in honor of Commodore Stockton, and August 28, 1851, he deeded all the streets and public squares to the city.
Stockton's founder had great faith in its fu- ture. In the fall of '48 he built the first resi- dence in the valley on what is now known as Weber's point. The dwelling was a palace for that time and cost an immense amount of money, as it was finished in polished red wood, lumber then costing $1 a foot. As there were no brick
in the country the walls were constructed of adobe. This was the material used by the Mex- icans because of its cheapness and it made the houses cool in summer and warm in winter. The main room contained an adobe fireplace and chim- ney. In October, 1849, William Sanders, a brick mason from Massachusetts, arrived in Stockton with a load of brick, and he was engaged by Weber to build him a chimney, Weber paying $I a brick for labor and material.
Later, he and Hammond erected a three-story structure 30 x 100 feet that they called the Corin- thian building; it had an asphalt roof that cost $6,500, which beneath the hot summer sun melted and ran to the ground. The building was one of the largest in the state and the year it was built furnished room for the county court, theater, newspaper office, the postoffice, a church, the custom house, lawyers' offices and many sleeping rooms. The Stockton house, later known as the St. Charles, was built by Doak and Bonsall at a cost of $75,000, some of the lumber costing $1 a foot. The building was three stories high with a cupola in the center ; this was destroyed by fire in the '8os and the Masonic Temple now occu- pies the site. The New York and Crescent City hotels, the Magnolia, Cottage Home and McNish buildings, each two stories high, were built pre- vious to 1852. The Central Exchange, built by Nye and Geddes, was a one-story room 30 x 60, and cost $14,000; this they rented for a gambling saloon at $1,000 a month. Hotel de Mexico was another gambling resort and was kept by Col. Frank Cheatham, an officer during the Mexican war and a brigadier general in the Confederate army in the Civil war. The finest buildings were the brick structures, the Weber house, the Stock- ton theater and the Courthouse; the latter was the finest county building in the state and was erected at a cost of $55,000; the corner stone was laid by the Odd Fellows and was the first ceremony of the kind held in the state.
The brick era of 1853 was the outcome of two great fires, the largest in the history of the city : The first broke out in a restaurant on the levee December 23, 1849, and fanned by a western wind, in less than half an hour the town was in aslıes. The buildings were of flimsy make, be-
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ing poles or scantlings covered with cloth or tules, yet their loss with the tons of merchandise of all kinds was over $200,000.
After this misfortune a more substantial class of buildings was erected of Chili and Oregon pine and redwood, and quite a number of houses, built in sections and ready to put together, were imported from Chili and the eastern states. The merchants were congratulating each other that there was no more danger from fire, when they were again startled by the dreadful cry. Again a restaurant was responsible for the loss, the flames breaking out May 6, 1851 ; a heavy wind was blowing and in less than two hours proper- ty to the value of one and one-half million dol- lars was consumed. Over one hundred firms, in- cluding the two newspapers and the El Placer Theater, were destroyed. The individual amounts ranged from $1 to $60,000. The only fire en- gine in the city was a little garden engine owned by Captain Weber, and this through mismanage- ment was destroyed. Many of the merchants who "went broke" were pioneers, they having been established in business as early as the fall of 1848. At that time Weber and Hoechner, George G. Belt and Nelson Taylor were engaged in a general merchandising business. Later came Sparrow & Navaro, Gillingham Brothers; two Quakers, Grayson & Stevens, while E. Lane sold provisions only. John Tyson opened the first eating establishment in a tent; the Gault house, kept by Nye & Geddes, later occupied the same location. Murphy & Ferguson opened the first bakery on the levee, on the present site of the Eureka saloon. Their oven was constructed of adobe brick, and their pies brought $12 a dozen. The first refreshment saloon, the "Blue Wing," was opened by B. Howard Brown on the penin- sula in 1852. Everything sold for twenty-five 'cents, ice-cream, soft drinks, boiled eggs, oyster stew, and cigars, he making about two hundred per cent profit on each sale. Tents for the sale of whisky were numerous; among them was the "Shades," kept by "Big Jack" Keeler. Beer was brewed as early as 1851, by Philip Niestrath, of the City Brewery. The Zacharias Brothers opened a clothing store in a 20 x 30 tent and cleared $60,000 within six months. In 1849 Holden &
Reddington started the first drug store, and the business still continues and is known today as the Holden Drug Company.
The oldest firm in the west is that of Simpson & Gray, lumber dealers. In 1853 they purchased the business from Simpson & Jackson, and it still continues under the purchasing proprietors. The first lumber dealer was John Doak, who, with Bonsall, started the first brick yard. The first blacksmith was Monroe T. Robinson, the county jail now occupying the site of his shop. The Owens Brothers opened the second blacksmith shop, William H. Fairchild building the forge and chimney of adobe. The maker of the first big wagon was James Journeay, who still resides in this city. John Fairbanks, who at one time had two hundred men working for him in the manufacture of wagons, claims that he made the first woodwork for a light wagon and the first iron hubs. In 1852 William T. Miller had a set of hubs turned for him from a ship's rudder ; they were used in the first large freight wagon, manufactured at a cost of $750. Four years later.at a cost of $1,000, he made probably the largest wagon ever manufactured, the body twenty-eight feet long, five feet wide, and eight feet high, and with a carrying capacity of five thousand pounds of bulky merchandise. It took sixteen large animals to haul it.
Merchandise of all kinds, such as groceries, clothing, implements, in fact everything used, was very high in price, poor in quality, and fre- quently impossible of purchase, for almost every- thing was imported from the eastern states, Chili and China, and it took from six months to a year to receive the goods. Flour at one time was worth $200 a barrel; sugar, rice, coffee and beans, from twenty-five to fifty cents a pound, eggs sold at $12 a dozen, and butter in the keg cost thirty-eight cents wholesale. Blankets cost from $75 to $100 a pair, and boots $50. The com- mon laborer got from $12 to $16 a day, a pick or shovel cost $16 singly, wheelbarrows sold for $50, and $96 was known to have been paid for the use of a wheelbarrow for thirty-two days. A Mexican horse could be purchased for $50 and it cost $16 to shoe him. Quinine, which was in great demand, was worth $12 an ounce, and at
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times could not be obtained at any price. Hos- pital attendants in private institutions were worth $20 a day, and if the patient died, a rough red- wood coffin called for an expenditure of $100. Notwithstanding these high prices, business flourished, for in a single month, April, 1850, between two and three thousand people, landing at Stockton on their way to the mines, purchased supplies. Bayard Taylor says over a dozen firms, even in the fall of '48, were doing business to the amount of $5,000 a month. Money was plenti- ful, for the southern mines alone were annually sending out $30,000,000, and Stockton merchants were shipping as much as three hundred pounds of gold at one time.
Ill-timed state legislation would soon have bankrupted the merchants had the foreigner miners' license tax been enforced. There was complaint made by some narrow-minded citizens that the foreigners were crowding the mines and digging and sending gold from the country. To retain some of the gold, if possible, the legis- lature of 1851 passed a law compelling all for- eigners to pay a monthly license of $20. The Mexicans and the Chilenos refused to pay the license and began emigrating from the mountains by thousands. The result was most disastrous. The mountain merchants closed their stores; So- nora was almost deserted, and property depre- ciated in value over fifty per cent. The reaction was immediately felt in Stockton, and the mer- chants, greatly alarmed, held an indignation meet- ing in the El Placer Theater. Mayor Purdy acted as president of the meeting, and speeches were made condemning the legislature for pass- ing such a law. Resolutions were presented and unanimously adopted, the last resolution declar- ing that "the tax is unconstitutional, unlawful, of vast injury to the people of this district, an unjust affliction upon the mining population, an outrage upon the miners, and as a public meas- ure its continuance is a public robbery." So great was the storm of indignation throughout the state that the legislature immediately repealed the law.
Those young merchants were fighters for prin- ciple as they understood it, and believing that Judge Williams of the Court of Sessions had
taxed them unjustly, they called upon him to- "erase the law from the record." He had law- fully levied a tax of $100 a year on all occupa- tions except that of the ministry, physician, and attorney. They believed that a uniform tax on the rich and poor alike was unjust, and in a pub- lic meeting they strongly asserted their views "against the iniquity of such an odious and un- just tax." Hand bills were printed and tacked upon houses, fences and trees, calling the citi- zens to assemble at eight o'clock, July 13, 1850, on the public square. A large crowd assembled, and appointing a committee to wait upon the judge, they passed resolutions declaring, "That we do pledge our sacred word of honor to resist the operation of said tax, even to the shedding of blood." These were strong threats, but the judge informed the committee that he had no power to erase the law. He did not enforce it, however, and later it was repealed, and a graded tax substituted.
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