USA > California > Santa Clara County > Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California > Part 13
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" We moved into a better house in the spring, very near where the Methodist Church South now stands. We paid $125 a month for it. But when I look back it seems to me that I never had such an intellectual feast as in old 'Slapjack Hall.' The gentlemen who figured as cooks in my kitchen were the most intelli- gent and agreeable men you can imagine. They were
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all educated and smart, and they appeared just as much like gentlemen when they were cooking as when they were making speeches in the Legislature. I don't believe we ever again had such a choice set of folks under our roof here in San Jose. Doctor and I felt honored to entertain them, and yet they paid us $20 a week for the privilege.
" Of course you know General Fremont and his wife were here that winter, and I knew them both. Mrs. Fremont's sister, Mrs. Jones, and I were great friends. Yes, indeed, there never were finer people than my boarders and neighbors in '49. Let me see; there were the Cooks and Hoppes, and Cobbs and Joneses, the Branhams and Beldens, and Hensleys and Will- iams, the Bralys, the Hesters and Crosbys, Murphys, Dickinsons, Hendersons, Kincaids, Campbells, Reeds, Houghtons, Tafts and Moodys. Then amongst the Spanish were the Picos and Suñols. Very likely I have forgotten a great many, just telling them off in this fashion, but I never forget them really. Many of the best citizens of San Jose now, with wives and children, yes, and grandchildren, were slim young fel- lows then, who had come to California to seek their fortunes. Fine, enterprising boys they were too. Some of them boarded with me. C. T. Ryland and P. O. Minor were inmates of 'Slapjack Hall,' and Dr. Cory and the Reeds will remember it well.
"In 1852 we moved out on the Stockton ranch, and bought our own farm in Santa Clara, on which we built our permanent home, Somerville Lodge. I re- member we paid our head carpenter $16 a day. The house cost us $10,000. It would not cost $1,000 now. We bought seeds to plant a garden, and an ounce of onion seed cost an ounce of gold ! We paid $6.00 each for our fruit trees. A mule cost $300; a horse, $400. But doctors' services were just as high- priced, and so we kept even."
THE FIRST LEGISLATURE.
The first Legislature met December 15, 1849, and on the 20th the first civil Governor was inaugurated. Representatives from other districts who had been disappointed in not securing the capital at the Con- stitutional Convention, renewed their efforts in the Legislature. About the first bill introduced into the Assembly was by George B. Tingley, providing for the removal of the capital to Monterey. The State House was not well adapted to the use of the Legislature, nor were all the conveniences of life to be had in San Jose at that early day. The people of the city, however, exerted themselves to make the condi-
tion of affairs as pleasant as possible. They kept open house and entertained the law-makers to the best of their ability.
This Legislature passed the act which gave San Jose its first legal incorporation under the United States rule. The act was passed in March, 1850, and on the eleventh of April the Ayuntamiento held its last meeting, and the new Common Council held its first meeting under the charter on the 13th.
The anniversary of national independence was gratefully remembered in this first year of American civil administration in California. Mr. Hall says " there was a grand celebration, and much more inter- est felt than on such occasions in the Eastern States. The isolation from the other States made the feeling of national pride increase. We felt as though we were in a foreign land, and the tendency was to brighten and vivify the love of the whole country in every American. On that occasion the Hon. Will- iam Voorhies delivered the oration; James M. Jones also delivered one in Spanish for the benefit of the Mexicans present. Mr. Sanford, a lawyer from Geor- gia, read the Declaration of Independence. Thir- teen young ladies dressed in blue spencers and white skirts rode on horseback, followed by the 'Eagle Guards,' commanded by Capt. Thomas White; also five hundred citizens, some on horseback, some in carriages, and some afoot, made up the national pa- geant that wound its way to the south of the town, a mile or more, in the grove near the Almaden road ; and there the ceremony was performed, to the great pleasure and pride of the American settlers in this new country."
UNDER STATE GOVERNMENT.
On the ninth day of September, 1850, California was admitted to the Union as a State, and on the sixth day of January following the State Legislature as- sembled at San Jose. On the eighth Governor Bur- nett tendered his resignation, and John McDougall was sworn in as his successor. The overwhelming question was the removal of the capital from San Jose. The citizens did all in their power to retain it, offering large grants of valuable real property and funds for the construction of public buildings. The State scrip which the members were compelled to re- ceive as pay for their services was worth only forty cents on the dollar, but was taken at par by the citi- zens of San Jose. In short, every honorable effort was made to retain the capital, but in vain. General Vallejo exerted a greater influence, and an act was
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passed February 14 removing the State government to Vallejo.
With this Legislature the boundaries of Santa Clara County, as a political subdivision of the great State of California, were defined. It originally in- cluded Washington Township, of Alameda County, but this was afterwards cut off, and the county re- duced to its present limits, which are as follows : Be- ginning at a point opposite the mouth of the San Francisquito Creek, being the common corner of Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties; thence easterly to a point at the head of a slough, which is an arm of the San Francisco Bay at its head, making into the mainland in front of the Gegara rancho ; thence easterly to a lone sycamore tree that stands in a ravine between the dwellings of Flujencia and Valentine Gegara ; thence easterly up said ravine to the top of the mountains, as surveyed by Horace A. Higley ; thence on a direct line easterly to the common corner of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Alameda, and Santa Clara Counties, on the summit of the Coast Range; thence southeasterly, following the summit of the Coast Range to the northeast corner of Monterey County; thence westerly, following the north- ern boundary of Monterey County to the southeast corner of Santa Cruz County; thence northwesterly, fol- lowing the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the head of San Francisquito Creek; thence down said creek to its mouth; thence in a direct line to the place of beginning. Containing about one thousand three hundred square miles.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
The county government was at first administered by the Court of Sessions, which held jurisdiction until 1852, when the Board of Supervisors was created. In 1854 the government again went into the hands of the Court of Sessions, where it remained until the next year, when the Board of Supervisors was revived, and has administered the affairs of the county ever since. Thus far we have as nearly as possible fol- lowed the history of Santa Clara County in chrono- logical order; but in order to facilitate reference we shall henceforward treat each subject separately. Following is a list of those who have administered the government of the county from the date of its organization to the present time :--
On the first day of June, 1850, the Court of Ses- sions was organized, with J. W. Redmon, President, and Caswell Davis and H. C. Smith, Associate Justices.
July 5-J. W. Redmon, President; John Gilroy, Caswell Davis, Associates.
August 18-J. W. Redmon, President; Charles Clayton and Caswell Davis, Associates.
October 6, 1851-J. W. Redmon, President; R. B. Buckner and Marcus Williams, Associates.
December, 1851-J. W. Redmon, President; Cyrus G. Sanders and Marcus Williams, Associates.
May 14, 1852-J. W. Redmon, President; Peleg Rush and Cyrus G. Sanders, Associates.
An election for Supervisors was held June 3, 1852, and in July, 1852, the new Board was organized as follows :----
Isaac N. Senter, Chairman; Fred E. Whitney, William E. Taylor, Jacob Gruwell, Associates.
December 6, 1852-L. W. Bascom, Chairman; John B. Allen, A. M. Church, Levi Goodrich, Joseph C. Boyd, Associates.
September 7, 1853-George Peck, Chairman; Daniel Murphy, R. G. Moody, William Daniels, W. Gallimore, Associates.
In April, 1854, the Court of Sessions again took charge, being composed as follows :-
R. B. Buckner, President; Caswell Davis, Thomas L. Vermuele, Associates.
October 1, 1854-R. B. Buckner, President; Cas- well Davis, C. G. Thomas, Associates.
On April 9, 1855, another Board of Supervisors was elected. The organization of the Board from that time has been as follows :-
April, 1855, to November, 1855-Samuel Hender- son, William R. Bassham, Daniel Murphy.
From November, 1855, to November, 1856-Will- iam R. Bassham, William R. Bane, Samuel Morrison.
From November, 1856, to October, 1857-Cary Peebels, China Smith and D. R. Douglas.
From October, 1857, to October, 1858-Joseph H. Kincaid, Samuel A. Ballard, Albert Warthen.
From October, 1857, to November, 1859-John M. Swinford, H. D. Coon, Eli Jones; Isaac Branham served vice Jones.
From November, 1859, to December, 1860-H. D. Coon, H. J. Bradley, Isaac Branhamn.
From December, 1860, to October, 1861-H. J. Bradley, William M. Williamson, H. D. Coon.
From October, 1861, to November, 1862-H. J. Bradley, William M. Williamson, J. H. Adams.
From November, 1862, to March, 1864-William M. Williamson, J. H. Adams, S. S. Johnson.
From March, 1864, to March, 1866-John A.
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Quinby, Chapman Yates, L. Robinson, J. A. Perkins, Frank Sleeper.
From March, 1866, to March, 1868-John A. Quinby, Frank Sleeper, John A. Perkins, J. Q. A. Ballou, John Cook.
From March, 1868, to March, 1870-David Camp- bell, John Cook, William H. Hall, W. H. Patton, Oliver Cottle. (Cottle served vice Ballou, who re- signed.)
From March, 1870, to March, 1872-David Camp- bell, William H. Hall, W. H. Patton, J. M. Battee, Samuel I. Jamison.
From March, 1872, to March, 1874-J. M. Battee, William Paul, W. N. Furlong, S. I. Jamison, J. W. Boulware.
From March, 1874, to March, 1876-J. M. Battee, William N. Furlong, J. W. Boulware, Alfred Chew, William Paul, A. King, H. M. Leonard.
From March, 1876, to March, 1878-S. F. Ayer, J. M. Battee, Alfred Chew, W. N. Furlong, A. King, H. M. Leonard, W. H. Rogers.
From March, 1878, to March, 1880-S. F. Ayer, W. H. Rogers, W. N. Furlong, John Weathers, J. H. M. Townsend, M. D. Kell, H. M. Leonard. (Town- send resigned December, 1879, and was succeeded by James Snow.)
From March, 1880, to February, 1883-S. F. Ayer, John Weathers, James Snow, M. D. Kell, H. M. Leonard, H. H. Main, Samuel Rea.
From February, 1883-1885-W. E. Ward, H. Tillotson, W. O. Watson, H. McCleary, Peter Don- nelly, H. H. Main, S. A. Blythe.
From March, 1885, to March, 1887-S. F. Ayer, W. A. Z. Edwards, A. Greninger, P. Donnelly, W. O. Watson.
From March, 1887, to 1888-S. F. Ayer, W. A. Z. Edwards, A. Greninger, W. O. Watson, James Pheg- ley.
Following are the dates at which the several town- ships in the county were first organized :-
Almaden, 1850; Alviso, 1850; Burnett, 1850; Fre- mont, 1850; Gilroy, 1850; Milpitas, 1861; Redwood, 1850; San Jose, 1850; Santa Clara, 1850.
LAND TITLES.
As to the titles by which real property is held in this county, while a detailed statement of all the technicalities through which they have passed would be out of place in a work of this kind, a general review may not be uninteresting or unprofitable.
By the treaty with Mexico by which California was
ceded to the United States, it was provided that pri- vate ownership in lands should be respected, in other words, that the agreements which the Govern- ment of Mexico had made with its subjects in refer- ence to acquiring title to lands should be carried out by the United States. The Mexican Government had been liberal in granting its territory to private per- sons, but it prescribed certain formalities to be per- formed before a complete title vested in the grantee. These conditions were, briefly, as follows :-
The party asking a grant of lands must present a petition to the Governor, stating that the applicant is a citizen, the head of a family, and that he is in need of grazing lands, having flocks and herds to main- tain. It must contain a general description of the tract he desires, and be accompanied by a map or sketch called a deseño. The petition when received by the Governor was by him referred to the Alcalde, or some other like inferior officer having jurisdiction nearest the land of which the grant was asked. This reference was generally made by a foot-note, or mar- ginal order, directing the referee to inform himself in regard to the facts set forth in the petition, whether it would interfere with the rights of other parties to whom grants had previously been made, whether the interests of the government would be injured or jeop- ardized by complying with the petition, and such other information as he might deem important, and to report upon it. Upon receiving the report of the Al- calde, if it contained no objection, the Governor made what is called a "provisional grant." The descrip- tions in these provisional grants were, usually, very meager, and frequently referred to the petition and deseño to help them out. Frequently the grant was made of a certain number of leagues within gener- ally described exterior boundaries, and out of this originated many of the frauds which resulted in the getting of many more leagues than was intended to be granted by the government. The grant was either of a grazing right or in absolute property. It properly should, and generally did, contain a provision to the effect that it should be presented to the Territorial Departmental Assembly, which was the legislative body of the territory of Alta California, sitting at Monte- rey, for approval.
It also provided that what is called " juridical pos- session" should be given. To this effect an order was generally made to some inferior officer, an Alcalde or prefect, or, in earlier days, to some inferior military officer, directing him to go, with assisting witnesses, upon the land and put the grantee in actual posses-
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sion. The grant, however, was considered provisional or incomplete until it was presented to the Depart- mental Assembly and approved by that body. If all these formalities were strictly complied with, the boundaries defined and marked out, and it was not within the exterior boundaries of prior concessions or reservations, it was called a perfect or complete title as contradistinguished from a provisional or inchoate title.
At the time of the cession of California there was probably not a perfect or complete title in the whole territory of Alta California. Under the terms of the treaty, however, the holders of these incomplete titles were to be permitted to go on and complete them under the laws of the United States.
After the acquisition of California, and after ascer- taining the inchoate condition of the land grants and the importance of having them segregated from the public domain, and for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, an act was passed by the Congress of the United States on the third of March, 1851, providing for com- missioners to be appointed by the President for the purpose of ascertaining and settling private land grants in California, with a right of appeal, by either the government or claimant, to the United States District Court for the State of California, or to the United States Supreme Court. To this commission all claimants were required to present their petitions for confirmation of their claims. Failure to so pre- sent them within a specified time after the passage of the act worked a forfeiture of the claim, which was thereafter treated as part of the public domain. Upon these claims being confirmed by these various tribu- nals, surveys were made by the Surveyor-General and patents issued thereon.
Those lands which had not been granted by the Mexican Government were subject to the laws of the United States governing the disposition of the public domain. Besides these two classes of lands there was a third, that is, the lands granted to pueblos.
Under the plan of Tepic, on the formation of each new pueblo in the New World, it was entitled, for its own use, for building purposes and for cultivation and pasturage, to a square of land extending one league in each direction from the center of the plaza, mak- ing in all four square leagues. Where the topogra- phy of the country, either by reason of the juxtapo- sition of the sea or of mountain barriers, prevented the land being taken in the form of a square, the four
leagues were taken in some other form so as to include the pueblo.
On the settlement of the pueblo of San Jose, the Mission of Santa Clara having been established to the west, the Mission of San Jose to the north and east, and the Mission of San Juan to the south, it became necessary to designate the boundaries so that the jurisdiction of the pueblo and the adjoining missions would not conflict. From year to year the old inhab- itants of the pueblo, in company with the younger persons in the community, were accustomed to go out and visit the monuments erected to designate these lines, and to cast additional stones upon them to keep them intact. The delimiting line between the pueblo and the Mission of San Jose ran from the mountains to the bay, about midway between Warm Springs and the present town of Milpitas. On the west (re- sulting from the settlement of a controversy between the Mission Fathers and the authorities of the pueblo) the Guadalupe River was fixed as the boundary, while the line between the pueblo and the Mission of San Juan was fixed across the valley to the south in the vicinity of Las Llagas Creek.
San Jose, before the admission of California to the Union, was one of the few populous settlements in California, and was known at that time, and before, as the "Upper Pueblo." It was selected by the framers of our first constitution as the future capital of the State. Such an important destiny spurred the inhabitants to an extra effort to provide suitable ac- commodations for the officers of the State and its august Legislature. By various efforts, in the new and rather chaotic condition of things, the faith of the embryo city was pledged to pay the expenses of build- ing a State-house fronting on the plaza. It was rather a pretentious building for those times, but would be considered very insignificant in comparison with the structures surrounding that locality at the present day. At all events, with wages at an ounce a day for carpenters and masons, and lumber at several hundred dollars a thousand feet, its appearance and size were, by no means, commensurate with its cost, which was $34,000.
The city becoming involved and unable to pay, under the direction of James M. Jones, an attorney then lately arrived from Louisiana, a judgment was obtained against her and in favor of the creditors. An execution was issued on this judgment, and all the pueblo lands sold at sheriff's sale, and bought in by a syndicate styling itself the "San Jose Land Com-
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pany." This syndicate soon became known in the local vernacular as the "Forty Thieves," although the number of its members was less than forty, and they were by no means thieves. But the title they claimed under became popularly known, and has passed into history, as the "Forty Thieves' Title."
The San Jose Land Company, after acquiring its sheriff's deed to lands belonging to the city, as before related, claiming to be the successor in interest to the pueblo, presented its claim to the United States Land Commission sitting in San Francisco, praying for con- firmation to it, of the lands contained within these boundaries, asserting that there had been a concession by the Spanish crown to the pueblo of that large tract. A mass of documentary evidence, correspond- ence, etc., was introduced, also the testimony of wit- nesses, to the fact that these monuments had been placed there years before, and had been recognized by the citizens. Although no formal concession or grant had ever been found or produced, it was asserted that those acts indicated that one had actually been made. The Board of Commissioners and the United States District Court confirmed the grant to these exterior boundaries.
In the meantime settlers had located on lands in- cluded in this tract, under the impression that it be- longed to the government, or to private parties of whom they had purchased. They had made improve- ments and established homes. By this decision ex- tending the limits of the pueblo, their property was absorbed, and they united, some fourteen of them, in securing an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.
At this time there was in existence a body known as the Commissioners of the funded debt of the city of San Jose. Judge Spencer, who was a member of this board, was anxious to have the decision of the District Court sustained, knowing that the land com- pany had no valid claim, and that if the title to this large tract was confirmed to the city, it could be main- tained. He succeeded in effecting a compromise, by which the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the lower court, except as to the tracts owned by the fourteen settlers as before stated. A final decree was made to this effect. Afterward this large body of land was sold in tracts, to actual settlers, at the price fixed by the United States Government for its public lands. With the proceeds of these sales the debt of the city of San Jose was extinguished, and up to 1887 the city had no debt of any kind whatever. In due
time the pueblo was surveyed out, and, in 1884, a patent was issued.
This claim of the San Jose Land Company was the subject of more or less litigation and trouble from time to time until 1869. It came up in the case of Branham et al. versus the City of San Jose, where it was held by the Supreme Court that the city's lands were not subject to execution and sale under a judgment against her. A number of years later, upon the adop- tion of a charter for the city, a clause was inserted which, it was claimed, confirmed the land company's title. Upon that claim an action was brought in the United States Circuit Court for the District of Cali- fornia to recover possession of the large body of land within the corporate limits which had not passed by legalized grants. The case was Leroy versus Chaboya et al .- some six hundred different defendants being named, and involving the title to a very large portion of the land within the city limits. Mr. E. Spencer, who was counsel for the defendants, obtained a ruling from the District Court to the effect that the provisions of the charter referred to did not amount to a con- firmation in favor of the land company, or its succes- sor, thus ending a case of great importance to the inhabitants of the city and surrounding territory, and which went far to settle land titles in this vicinity.
MISSION GRANTS.
Grants, of rather an indefinite character, were claimed to have been made to the various missions, of which there were a number, both in Northern and Southern California. When the missions were secu- larized, as elsewhere related, these grants reverted to the State. Notwithstanding this act of secularization, several of the missions retained more or less landed property, such as church edifices, orchards, etc., and these, in most instances, were afterwards confirmed to the church; but a large body of grazing lands passed into the general domain, and was re-granted to pri- vate individuals. There was quite an extended legal warfare before these lands were confirmed to the church. It was claimed that when the missions were secularized all property reverted to the Mexican Government, and as it had never been re-granted it became the public domain of the United States on the session of California, and therefore subject to pre- emption. The orchard property of Santa Clara was particularly valuable, and was settled. on by several sets of squatters. The first was T. W. Redmon, county judge, who held the orchard for several years,
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selling the fruit at enormous prices. It went through several hands, and was the subject of much litigation, but was finally confirmed to Archbishop Allemany, representing the church.
SUERTES.
We have related how Lieutenant Moraga, under direction of the Spanish Government, partitioned to the original settlers the lands of the new pueblo. These allotments were made in accordance with a rule adopted by the government, by which rule all pueblos or towns were to be laid out and established under the plan of the city of Tepic. Under this plan the tracts of land were divided into three classes: solares, or building lots; suertes, or lots for cultivation, and egidos, or commons for pasturage and wood. By the Tepic method each head of a family was given four suertes and one solar.
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