USA > California > Alameda County > Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume I > Part 47
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Vicente Peralta and his wife, for the sum of $10,000 sold on the Ist of August, 1853, to R. P. Hammond, John C. Hays, John Caperton and Lucien Hermann, the Temescal, which was the remainder of their land, excepting a tract of 700 acres-about two miles from Oakland, on both sides of Telegraph avenue - reserved for a homestead, and afterward known as the Vicente Peralta Reserve, and a small tract at the mouth of the Canada de la Indica. At about the same time, Jose Domingo Peralta conveyed to Hall McAllister, R. P. Hammond, Lucien Hermann and Joseph K. Irving, for $82,000, his part of the San Antonio rancho, retaining for his own use about three hundred acres.
Kellersberger, in the same year (1853), made a survey of that portion of Oakland lying south of the south line of Fourteenth street, and east of a line running parallel with and distant 300 feet westerly from West street. He divided the same into blocks of 200x300 feet, with streets 80 feet wide, excepting
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
only the main street, the present Broadway, whose width is 110 feet. Six blocks were reserved for public squares. The streets were in later times extended some north, some west, at right angles with each other from the high tide line of San Antonio creek; those running north extending 200 feet northerly of what the surveyor designated as the northern line of Thirteenth street; and those running to the west from what was designated on the map as the westerly line of West street.
On January 29, 1853, an ordinance was passed that all shade trees should be protected by the town trustees; and on August 27th the stumps remaining on Broadway then laid out as a thoroughfare, were directed to be removed. On December 24th the road, as surveyed and located 100 feet wide and running from Broadway to Cerito and known as the county road, was declared to be a municipal highway to be called "Contra Costa Avenue."
On July 12, 1853, an ordinance for the protection of bridges and of people crossing the same was passed; and on the same day the clerk was directed to devise a common seal for the town, and cause the same to be engraved, at a cost of not more than $50. This seal was adopted as the seal of the corporation, under date May 6, 1854. On the last mentioned date the clerk was directed to cause to be erected around the "Public Square on Broadway a neat and sub- stantial fence at a cost not to exceed $1,000," and on July 16th it was ordered that the clerk should receive $500 a year for his services. On February 14, 1854, ordinances were passed prohibiting bull fights.
On Saturday, September 16, 1854, The Contra Costa, a newspaper published by J. R. Dunglison & Co., and edited by Mrs. S. M. Clarke, made its first appearance. From its columns it is learned that a duel was fought in the environs of Clinton on the morning of September 21, 1854, between Messrs. Dorsey and Bevin of Los Angeles, both of whom were wounded. It would appear that Sheriff Simmons, of Oakland, had been informed of the intended meeting but did not arrive in time to prevent the exchange of shots. He afterwards arrested some of the parties and took them before Justice Ferris of Oakland; but no one appearing against them they were discharged. Indeed, this was the day of duels, for not long after this meeting an affair of honor was had between Achilles Kewen and Colonel Woodlief. The weapons used were rifles, and the latter was shot through the heart. Oakland had a newspaper called the Alameda Express, a fire department, a school department, and other institutions like a much larger town.
The act entitled "An Act to Incorporate the City of Oakland," was approved March 25, 1854. The boundaries were declared to be: "Northerly, by a straight line drawn at right angles with Broadway, formerly Main Street, in said city, crossing the extended line of Broadway 360 rods northerly from where stood the Oakland House, on the northwest corner of Broadway and First Streets and running from the Bay of San Francisco on the west, to the easterly or south- easterly line of that branch of the San Antonio Slough, or estuary, over which crosses the bridge from Oakland to Clinton; thence along the eastern and southern highest-tide line of said slough, and of the estuary of San Antonio, following all the meanderings thereof to the mouth of said estuary, in the Bay of San Francisco; thence southwesterly to ship channel; thence northerly along the line of ship channel to a point where the same intersects the said northerly boundary line
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extending westerly : Provided, that nothing in this section contained shall be so construed as to prohibit or abridge the right of the Trustees of the towns of Clinton and San Antonio, whenever the citizens thereof may elect to become a body corporate, under the provisions of any Act which may hereafter be passed, to provide for the construction of wharves and other improvements for the accommodation and convenience of the trade, travel and commerce of the said towns or villages, at their respective sites."
On March 25, 1854, Oakland thus became a city. The officers were a mayor, council, assessor, treasurer and marshal. The treasurer was ex-officio clerk of the council. It was provided that the mayor should be elected for one year and the other corporate officers for two years. The election was duly held with the following result : For mayor-H. W. Carpentier 192, S. J. Clark 93, Z. Gower 44, B. F. Ferris 29, P. Rosasco I, S. B. Bell I, J. Hogan 1; for treasurer-J. R. Dunglison 121, T. Gallagher 82, W. H. Baxter 82, H. Horton 69, E. Gallagher I, Mr. Donaldson I, J. Hogan 1; for assessor-J. S. Tubbs 181, H. Douglass 83, L. N. Crocker 72, W. W. Nicholls 7, J. R. Dunglison 3, M. D. Cassin 3, H. Horton I, William McNair 1; for marshal-J. Hogan 144, W. Hillegass 129, J. Brown 86, Mr. Bair 2, Mr. Pond 1, F. Johnson I. The men voted for at the election of councilmen were as follows : E. Gallagher, G. M. Blake, A. D. Eames, John Kelsey, W. C. Josselyn, A. Marier, F. J. Meete, S. B. McKee, N. J. Thompson, A. R. Simons, A. D. McDevitt, L. Johnson, William McNair, G. H. Monroe, J. E. Whitcher, A. M. Brocklebank, William Harwood, E. Davis, George Coffey, G. Fogg, L. N. Crocker, Charles Stewart, William Card, Willianı McCann, T. Connelly, E. Johnson, T. Holden, J. W. Taylor, G. Aldrich, John Woolsey and A. Durant. The total number of votes polled was 368. Carpentier alone received over that number for mayor and was elected. It was shown later under oath that when the ballot box was opened a large bundle of tickets folded together and on yellow paper were all for Carpentier. There was no reasonable doubt that the first mayor of the city was elected by fraud. Election laws in those days were easier to overcome and manipulate than in later times.
At a special meeting of the city council, held January 24, 1855, the president gave official information that an attempt to destroy or abstract the whole or a portion of the records of the city had been made the previous evening. A reward of $1,000 was offered for the apprehension and conviction of the perpetrators, but apparently nothing further was done.
Under date April 28, 1855, appeared an offer-H. K. W. Clarke, proprietor of the Contra Costa newspaper, sent the following communication to the council : "I will do the advertising of the city of Oakland, during the current year, in the columns of the Contra Costa without charge."
Among the noticeable improvements in the city of Oakland, in the year 1855, was the opening of a drygoods store by Mr. Gallagher, who was also postmaster. This store was looked upon with wonder by an amazed and admiring population. It was a veritable piece of a city ; a drygoods store fitted up with taste, and stored with articles sufficient to gratify the most ultra-fastidious.
Carpentier was mayor in 1854 and was the first to hold that office. He was followed by Charles Campbell, 1855; S. H. Robinson, 1856; A. Williams, 1857- 58; F. K. Shattuck, 1859; J. D. M. Davis, 1860-61; George M. Blake, 1862; W. H. Bierce, 1863; E. Gibbons, 1864; B. F. Ferris, 1865; J. W. Dwinelle, 1866;
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W. W. Crane, 1867; Samuel Merritt, 1868; John B. Felton, 1869-70; N. W. Spaulding, 1871-72 ; Henry Durant, 1873-74; Mack Webber, 1875; E. H. Pardee, 1876-77; W. R. Andrus, 1878-79; James E. Blethen, 1880-81 ; C. K. Robinson, 1882; J. West Martin, 1883; A. C. Henry, 1884.
On March, 19, 1856, the city treasurer made the following report showing the state of the city funds for the year ending March 5, 1856:
Total amount of accounts audited, including interest on the funded debt of the city since the 5th day of March, 1855
$8,475.66
Total amount of accounts audited by the council and con-
tracted before the 5th of March, 1855. $1,151.62 Total expense of the funded debt, including interest, engrav-
. ing bonds, salary of funding commissioners, station- ery, etc. 3,016:25
4,167.87
Balance $4,307.79
On February 20, 1856, Talcott, Durkee and Webb laid claim to the reward of $2,000 offered for the apprehension of the defaulting ex-marshal. John Hogan. The council declined to settle, as they had reason to believe that Hogan had returned to the state with the especial intention of surrendering himself to the authorities.
Mayor Williams in September, 1857, said "For years had our poor, hide- bound city been groaning under the nightmare of the most bold and unmasked imposition, embargoed at both ends by odious and monstrous monopolies, illegal, oppressive, and iniquitous ; her circumference manacled by unfounded claims, concocted by fraud and consummated by swindling, and her interior foully dis- emboweled by ruthless harpies preying on her vitals."
On June 24, 1857, Dr. de Tavel offered to the council for a cemetery ten acres situated at the "back of Mr. Fountain's" on the Peralta road. Another offer of block number 200 was made by W. H. Bovee. On July Ist the cemetery ordi- nance was passed, accepting the first of these offers. Later the property passed into the hands of Isaac H. Brayton and Edward Tompkins, the latter of whom, under date June 23, 1863, petitioned the city council that the time had arrived when interments should no longer be permitted within the city limits; they there- fore requested that the cemetery should be closed, and the owners thereof released from all obligations to keep the same open as a public burial ground. Mountain View cemetery, elsewhere, was selected and purchased in the latter part of the year 1863; it consisted of about two hundred acres and comprised a vale among the foothills. It was situated about a mile and a half east of Oakland. The fol- lowing constituted the first board of directors: Hiram Tubbs, Dr. Samuel Mer- ritt, J. A. Emery, Rev. I. H. Brayton, William Faulkner, S. E. Alden, Rev. T. S. Wells, G. E. Grant, J. E. Whitcher, Major R. W. Kirkham, W. H. Bovee, Henry Robinson.
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In his message of March 28, 1860, Mayor Davis said: "The city is slowly but surely advancing in prosperity. The unsettled condition of title to real estate within her limits, and the delay of dredging the sand bar at the mouth of San Antonio creek, which, if completed, might facilitate and render certain com- munication between here and San Francisco, still operate as drawbacks upon our progress. But notwithstanding these drawbacks, improvements of a perma- nent nature, although of a limited extent, are continually going on; society is steadily increasing in numbers and intelligence; her churches are well attended every Sabbath, with attentive and respectful congregations ; her common school is crowded with children who are receiving the rudiments of a public education ; her seminaries of learning are well patronized; these, together with other con- templated institutions of a kindred character whose foundations are about to be laid, are her surest guarantees of prosperity in the future. They, with the influences of her position, her climate, and her scenery, will in due time attract the attention of the State and draw to her innumerable families to realize their benefits and make her what nature has intended her to be, one of the largest and most beautiful cities of the State." On March 28th, F. F. Fargo, proprietor of the Alameda County Herald, announced his willingness to publish the back ordinances to his Oakland readers to insure an increased interest in his paper, a proposition that was accepted by the council with thanks. On May 30th the office of city attorney was created.
On January 1, 1863, a democratic newspaper named The Press was started in Oakland by S. B. English, a gentleman who had previously been associated with James F. Kapp in the publication of the San Leandro Gazette. It con- tinued only three months, the material being subsequently purchased by Mr. Gagan when he started the Oakland News in September.
Mayor Bovee, in his message of March 12, 1863, remarks, in reference to the city of Oakland : "The Funded Debt of the city now amounts to the sum of $39,100, bearing an interest of 7 per cent. The city is therefore required to pay in 1865 the bonds issued in 1855, and by section nine of the Funding Act of 1855, it is made your duty in each of the years 1863 and 1864 to raise by tax upon the property within the city a sum equal to one-half of the amount of the debt about falling due. It appears to me that with the prospect before us of an excess in revenue beyond our current expenses, but a small tax will be necessary. Our bonds are now selling in the market at about sixty-five cents on the dollar, which would make the amount required for the redemption of the issue of 1855, equal to $35,456." On February 5, 1862, there was passed by the council an ordinance granting the right to erect gas works in the city of Oakland.
In December, 1863, a few men formed an organization under the name of the Mountain View Cemetery Association. The first trustees were: Hiram Tubbs, Geo. E. Grant, A. M Crane, J. A. Mayhew, Rev. S. T. Wells, S. E. Alden, Rev. H. I. Brayton, Dr. S. Merritt, J. E. Whitcher, R. W. Heath, Wm. Faulkner and J. S. Emery. Early in 1864 the association completed the organization and elected Dr. Samuel Merritt, president, J. E. Whitcher, secretary, and Hiram Tubbs, treasurer. In the same year a suitable site was selected and bonds were issued for its purchase. Rev. S. T. Wells was elected as the first super- intendent, and remained in that . capacity until the end of 1870. In 1871 Rev. Mr. Wells resigned, and William Collins was elected superintendent,
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
and at the same time Gen. R. W. Kirkham was elected president of the board of trustees. Mountain View cemetery was about two miles from Oakland center and its approach was then one of the finest drives in Alameda county.
In August, 1864, the North Oakland Homestead Association was incorporated, having for its object the purchase of large tracts of land in Oakland township, and their subdivision into lots for the members. The capital stock was $20,000, divided into $100 shares : Trustees, J. S. Emery, Thomas Bass, D. N. Hawley, T. B. Bigelow, Elijah Bigelow, J. G. Darves, W. W. Crane, Jr.
On August 22, 1864, A. Muller, opened a hotel at the corner of Broadway and Second streets; and in September, the Oakland Flouring Mill did a large and profitable business, under the direction of Potter & Co. Leland & Harwood opened a lumber yard at the foot of Broadway in June. There were in 1864, 1,063 houses in Oakland.
On January 25, 1865, the Oakland News passed into the hands of Gagan & Watson, by whom the paper was continued to the full standard of its former excellence. On January 27th, the Oakland Union Homestead Association filed its certificate of incorporation, the capital stock of the company being $12,500, its trustees being Thomas Bass, G. McAmes, W. W. Crane, Jr., W. Leonard and E. Bigelow. In this year the Pacific Novelty Iron Works were established. This company located at Oakland Point in April of the previous year under the superintendence of J. M. Wooster, the other officers of the company being B. D. T. Clough, president, and William McDonald, secretary.
On Saturday, March 25, 1865, one of the most destructive fires that ever visited Oakland, broke out about two o'clock in a restaurant fronting on Seventh street. The wind was blowing hard at the time from the northwest, sweeping the flames and burning cinders before it. In half an hour the flames had com- municated to all the buildings on the entire block (Delger's) save one on the northwest corner. The people turned out to render what service they could in saving the buildings. The damage was about $50,000. Twenty men, properly organized, could have saved five-sixths of all the property destroyed. The common council, notwithstanding repeated calls had been made for fire apparatus of some kind, had steadfastly ignored the necessity and the demands. At this time the fire limits were established by ordinance.
In 1865 the first macadamizing was done on Broadway between Fourth and Tenth streets. It was an experiment, but the sand had become intolerable and the people were ready for any expedient that would improve street travel and conditions. The price paid was 81/2 cents per square foot. At this time Oakland was thought of only as a small place near San Francisco where picnics and hunting parties could find and spend a pleasant day. A few business houses were scattered along Broadway as far north as Tenth street. The Basket Brigade (Chinese) had been formed long before this date, and the residents generally patronized San Francisco stores, crossing over and back by ferry. There were a few boarding houses at Seventh and Broadway, but no hotels of consequence. There was no bank and only a few manufacturing establishments. It was merely a little country village-a suburb of San Francisco.
From 1862 to 1866 the population of Oakland doubled. Elegant and com- modious residences were erected in all parts of the city. There were gathered within her borders a circle of society distinguished for its intelligence and refine-
UNFIRMENTED BREAD C: BRANCH BAKERY.
TA
OAKLAND IN 1869
Twelfth Street, East from Broadway
PLUMBING&GAS.FITTING.
OAKLAND IN 1884 Twelfth Street, West from Broadway
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
ment. The beauty and fertility of the adjacent country, the excellence of the roads diverging in all directions from the city, the delightful drives, the healthful invigorating atmosphere, and withal its proximity to San Francisco, proved suffi- cient guarantees not only of the stability of Oakland, but also of its rapid growth. The homes of the people showed the luxuriant blossoms of the peach and the pear, and their well-kept flower gardens gave character to the surrounding scenery.
The growth of the city was very slow between 1854 and 1864; and in fact it was not until 1866 that the certain prospect of important improvements gave real estate an upward turn, and the building of a superior class of residences began. School facilities were very inferior; there were only two or three churches ; the streets were not macadamized; fraudulent titles were abundant ; litigation appeared endless ; the city had a debt already, and her prospects were not then as promising as they had been at first. The opening of the creek, the establishment of an opposition line of steamers, the construction of the local railway, and the prospect of the terminus of the transcontinental railway being established in the city, caused the change for the better.
On May 25th, Mr. Little, a resident of Oakland, made a formal tender to the city of that part of Webster street opened north of Seventeenth street, through the old cemetery to the San Antonio creek, a grant which was accepted by the council. In July the first street work performed in Oakland was commenced. By March 12, 1894, the city had about two hundred miles of macadamized streets and several miles of bitumized roadways. Real estate in Oakland had real booms in 1865-67 and 1874-76, but at other times the growth though rapid was steady and sure. On July 18th the first sewer in the city was ordered to be constructed between Fourth street and the water front on Broadway.
On December 8, 1865, Joseph G. Eastland and W. W. Briggs were granted permission to erect gas works, but they were succeeded by the Oakland Gas Company, which July 3, 1866, was granted permission to erect works on block No. 6, bounded by First, Second, Washington and Broadway streets. These were the first gas lamps in the city. Messrs. Caduc and Williams were granted a franchise to erect gas works and lay pipes within the city limits on May 15th. January 16, 1866, the initial point of all surveys of the city was directed to be from the building known as "A la Mariposa," situated at the southwest corner of Fourth street and Broadway. On January 23d the Oakland and Alameda Water Company, petitioned the city council to the following effect : "That they propose conducting the waters of Temescal Creek to the city of Oakland, for the purpose of supplying the said city and the inhabitants thereof with pure fresh water. That to accomplish such an object they have already constructed reservoirs near the head-waters of said creek, and have expended large sums of money in furtherance of their designs," etc. Besides the above company the Amador Water Company, Contra Costa Water Company, College Water Com- pany and others were organized. On July 3, 1866, A. Chabot, president of the Contra Costa Water Company, petitioned the council for the right to lay down pipes in the streets, alleys, and lanes for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants with pure fresh water. On July 18th an ordinance was passed granting them the privilege prayed for and on the same date like privileges were granted to the Oakland and Alameda Water Company.
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HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY
A gas light company was established in Oakland as early as 1866, in December of which year they were given permission to erect their works. They at once placed gas lamps at several points.
The Oakland Bank of Savings was organized August 13, 1867, with the fol- lowing directors : A. C. Henry, Edward Hall, Samuel Merritt, P. S. Wilcox, W. W. Crane, Jr., with a capital stock of $150,000, which on March 30, 1869, was increased to $300,000. The Union Savings Bank of Oakland commenced business in July, 1869, near the corner of Broadway and Eighth streets, the presi- dent being A. C. Henry, and the cashier, H. A. Palmer. The capital stock was originally $150,000, which, in a few years, was increased to $450,000. Union National Gold Bank was organized July 1, 1875, under the national banking act of the United States, and succeeded to the commercial business of the Union Savings Bank. The following were the first officers: A. C. Henry, president ; H. A. Palmer, cashier; A. C. Henry, J. West Martin, R. W. Kirkham, D. Hen- shaw Ward, H. A. Palmer, directors ; the capital being $100,000. First National Bank of Oakland was originally organized as the First National Gold Bank in May, 1875, with the following officers: B. F. Ferris, president; E. Case, vice president ; G. M. Fisher, cashier; B. F. Ferris, E. Case, E. Delger, C. H. Twombly, W. Newcomb, A. Eberhardt, P. C. Huntley, V. D. Moody, J. E. Ruggles, G. M. Fisher, S. N. Putnam, directors. In 1876 V. D. Moody was elected to the presidency. The West Oakland Mutual Loan Association was incorporated July 21, 1875, with a capital stock of $600,000. The Odd Fellows Library of Oakland was established on August 12, 1867. The first event was the transfer of 295 volumes from the Oakland Philomathean Library Association. Then came a large donation from W. W. Crane, Jr., and in quick succession smaller donations from many individuals. For nearly four years the library attracted little attention from the order, and its friends often despaired of its success. On June 5, 1871, the association formally dissolved, handing over its assets to a board of trustees, consisting of an equal number of members from Oakland lodge, No. 118, and University lodge, No. 144, the only lodges then in existence. These lodges had agreed to assume the trust, and to pay the sum of 50 cents per quarter for each member in good standing. On January 10, 1872, Fountain lodge, No. 198, was instituted, and was admitted into the association, and a few years later Harbor lodge, No. 253, and Porter lodge, No. 272, were admitted.
In 1867 the council awarded the contract for gas light to the Oakland Gas Light Company for 30 cents per lamp per night for an average of 271/2 nights per month, there being at first but fifty lamps along Broadway, Telegraph, Central and Eighth streets. The next year the price was reduced to 22 cents with 150 lamps. In 1872 the number was 250 and the price 20 cents. In 1876 the price was 171/2 cents with 346 lamps. In 1879 the price was 15 cents with 700 lamps. In 1881 the price was 13 cents and the number of lamps 800.
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