Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California, Part 23

Author: Foote, Horace S., ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844

USA > California > Santa Clara County > Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California > Part 23

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The traditions of Mr. Lick's eccentric career during these years are numerous and amusing. Most of his

time after the completion of his hotel was spent in Santa Clara County. He lived upon his Lick Mill property and gave a great deal of attention to its im- provement. Upon it he began early to set out trees of various kinds, both for fruit and ornament. He held some curious theories of tree-planting and be- lieved in the efficiency of a bone deposit about the roots of every young tree. Many are the stories told by old residents of James Lick going along the high- way in an old rattle-trap, rope-tied wagon, with a bear-skin robe for a seat cushion, and stopping every now and then to gather in the bones of some dead beast. People used to think him crazy until they saw him among his beloved trees, planting some new and rare variety, and carefully mingling about its young roots the finest of loams with the bones he had gathered during his lonely rides. There is a story extant, and probably well founded, which illustrates the odd means he employed to secure hired help at once trustworthy and obedient. One day while he was planting his orchard a man applied to him for work. Mr. Lick directed him to take the trees he indicated to a certain part of the grounds and there to plant them with the tops in the earth and the roots in the air. The man obeyed the directions to the letter, and reported in the evening for further orders. Mr. Lick went out, viewed his work with apparent satisfaction, and then ordered him to plant the tree the proper way and thereafter to continue in his em- ploy !

Another story similar to this is handed down and is entirely authentic. Mr. Lick was at one time the owner of what is now the Knox Block corner, in San Jose. A fire having destroyed its buildings, much débris of burned brick remained scattered over the lot. One day, while Mr. Lick was walking about viewing his property, a young stranger applied to him for work, and was instructed to collect a certain quan- tity of these brick and pile them neatly in a corner. This he did and reported, when he was told to take the same brick and pile them neatly in another corner Without a word he executed the singular order, and was at once employed and long retained by the eccen- tric man, who had thus put his obedience to the test.

Mr. Lick was as fond of flowers as of trees, and took great pains in the cultivation of rare and beautiful plants. He was very susceptible to praise of his garden, and equally sensitive to its criticism. One day a party of ladies visited his Mahogany Mill, and were invited to view his flowers. They were profuse in their compliments, and he was all-courteous until one

130

PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

of the party remarked that she had lately seen in San Francisco much finer specimens of some of his plants. His demeanor changed at once, and telling the com- pany he had yet another flower garden to show them, he led them by a tortuous trail out into the midst of a field of blossoming mustard, which grew like a rank forest upon part of his property, and then slipped away and left them to criticise his "other garden," and extricate themselves as best they could.

After Mr. Lick had, with almost infinite exertion, improved his mill property, he found the invest- ment an unsatisfactory and unprofitable one. The annual floods of the Guadaloupe invaded his orchard, destroyed his garden, and covered his land with a de- posit of sediment and débris. And so he resolved at last to transfer his care to the tract of land lying just south of San Jose, and now known as the Lick Home- stead Addition. Presently the people of Santa Clara County witnessed a strange spectacle. Day after day long trains of carts and wagons passed slowly through San Jose, carrying tall trees and full-grown shrubbery, from the old to the new location. Winter and sum- mer alike the work went on, the old man superintend- ing it all in his rattle-trap wagon and bear-skin robe. His plans for this new improvement were made re- gardless of expense. Tradition tells that he had im- ported from Australia rare trees, and, in order to insure their growth, had brought with them whole ship-loads of their native earth. He conceived the idea of building conservatories superior to any on the Pacific Coast, and for that purpose had imported from England the materials for two large conservatories after the model of those in the Kew Gardens in London. His death occurred before he could have these constructed, and they remained on the hands of his trustees until a body of San Francisco gentlemen contributed funds for their purchase and donation to the use of the public in Golden Gate Park, where they now stand as the wonder and delight of all who visit that beautiful resort.

It was in the year 1873, when James Lick was seventy-seven years old, that he began to make those donations, of the then vast estate he possessed, which culminated in his famous deeds of trust. How long he had given to secret thought upon the subject no one can tell, but that his gifts were the outcome of mature deliberation, seems beyond a doubt. For years preceding his bequests he had been a wide reader upon many subjects. He held a peculiar belief, or rather want of belief, regarding the future existence, and deemed an earthly immortality of remembrance

all that there was of eternal life. He studied every- thing written about Thomas Paine, and made his works the text of his own opinions. It is related that, while he was engaged in the improvement of the Lick Homestead property, he became involved in an argu- ment one day with Adolph Pfister over some religious subject, when the latter suggested that he put to practical proof the merits of Paineism as contrasted with other moral agencies, by the erection of a grand college on his property for the education of young men in his favorite doctrine, and for their equipment as teachers and missionaries of Paine. The old man appeared attracted with the idea, and gave it consid- erable thought, and it is not improbable that it found form in his gift of the Lick Mill property to the Paine Memorial Association of Boston, which was the first in time of his donations.

It was, as we have already noted, on January 16, 1873, that Mr. Lick made his donation of the Lick Mill property to the Thomas Paine Association. On February 15, 1873, he executed two other gift deeds, one to the California Academy of Science, and the other to the Society of California Pioneers. To the former he granted a lot of forty feet frontage on Market Street near Fourth, San Francisco, and to the latter society a lot of like dimensions on Fourth Street near Market. These gifts he clogged with certain conditions as to the kind of buildings to be erected, etc., which were deemed irksome by the donees. Ne- gotiations began between Mr. Lick and the societies, which continued during most of the year 1873, when Mr. Lick finally offered to relieve his gift from all burdensome conditions. This purpose was yet un- accomplished at the time of his death, but after some little difficulty was arranged satisfactorily to all con- cerned by his trustees. Upon the valuable properties thus generously disposed of, now stand the beautiful buildings of the two societies which received his bene- factions.

The first trust deed by which Mr. Lick gave all his immense estate to charitable and educational objects was dated June 2, 1874. Among the several provis- ions of this instrument was one giving to San Jose $25,000 for the purpose of establishing an orphan asylum, and one appropriating $700,000 for establish- ing an observatory on land belonging to Mr. Lick near Lake Tahoe, in Placer County. An investiga- tion of the appropriateness of this site was at once set on foot. It was soon ascertained that the severity of the climate about the chosen location would seriously interfere both with the effective operation of the tel-

131

PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

escope and with the comfort of the visiting public. Mr. Lick then determined upon a change of site to some spot nearer civilization, and looked towards Mount St. Helena, in Napa County, as the proper point. He visited St. Helena and ascended part way to its summit, but before he had pursued his inquiries far enough to arrive at a conclusion, other circum- stances conspired to change his mind and direct his eyes to Santa Clara County in search of a favorable site for his observatory.

Although, out of the large amount of property dis- tributed by Mr. Lick, San Jose received but $25,000, the people of that city were very grateful and ac- knowledged their gratitude in a well-worded series of resolutions prepared by Judge Belden, adopted by the mayor and common council, beautifully en- grossed and officially transmitted to Mr. Lick at San Francisco. Other recipients of Mr. Lick's benefac- tions had either responded coldly, or had made no response at all, and the action of the people at San Jose presented a strong contrast which attracted Mr. Lick's attention and caused him to think that per- haps he had not done as much as he should for the county which had so long been his home. The reso- lutions reached him at the time he was in doubt as to the location of his observatory, and he consulted his then confidential agent, Mr. Thos. E. Fraser, as to the availability of the mountain summits surround- ing the Santa Clara Valley for the home of the tele- scope. His attention was first called to Mount Bache, which rises to the height of about four thousand feet on the southwest in the Santa Cruz Range; but it was found that frequent sea fogs would interfere with the vision on that elevation. Mr. Fraser then re- ferred Mr. Lick to Mount Hamilton, and was by him instructed to ascend to its top and investigate its qualifications for the purpose in hand. In August, 1875, Mr. Fraser, accompanied by Hon. B. D. Murphy, then mayor of the city of San Jose, went upon the mountain, found it free from fog, equable of climate, easy of access, and generally suitable for the location of the great observatory. Mr. Lick then ad- dressed a communication to the Board of Supervisors of Santa Clara County, offering to locate the observ- atory on Mount Hamilton, if the county would con- struct a road to the summit. The matters relating to this branch of the subject will be found fully related in our chapter on " Roads and Highways."

In the meantime Mr. Lick had found that his deed of trust did not express his intentions as he desired. He found, among other things, that the strict con-

struction of its terms would postpone the carrying into effect of his benefactions until after his death. He wanted the work to be pushed forward during his life-time. After duly considering these matters he addressed a communication to his trustees, setting forth his conclusions and intentions, and revoking the deed and asking them to resign the trust. The trustees consulted a lawyer, and upon his advice de- clined to resign, for the alleged reason that they had already converted about a million of dollars of the real estate into money and could not be absolved from responsibility by Mr. Lick's will alone. This involved Mr. Lick in a controversy with his trustees which, at first, threatened disaster to the beneficiaries. Jno. B. Felton was Mr. Lick's attorney, and instead of precipitating his client into a lawsuit, he used the columns of the newspapers so vigorously that the trustees became disgusted and made up an agreed case, by which the courts relieved them of responsi- bility and annulled the deed.

On September 21, 1875, a new and final deed was executed by Mr. Lick, with Richard S. Floyd, Ber- nard D. Murphy, Foxan D. Atherton, John H. Lick, and John Nightingale as trustees. The clause in the deed in reference to the observatory is as follows :-

"Third-To expend the sum of seven hundred thou- sand dollars ($700,000) for the purpose of purchasing land, and constructing and putting up on such land as shall be designed by the party of the first part, a powerful telescope, superior to and more powerful than any telescope yet made, with all the machinery appertaining thereto and appropriately connected therewith, or that is necessary and convenient to the most powerful telescope now in use, or suited to one more powerful than any yet constructed; and also a suitable observatory connected therewith. The parties of the second part hereto, and their successors, shall, as soon as said telescope and observatory are constructed, convey the land whereupon the same may be situated, and the telescope and the observa- tory, and all the machinery and apparatus connected therewith, to the corporation known as the 'Regents of the University of California;' and if, after the con- struction of said telescope and observatory, there shall remain of said seven hundred thousand dollars in gold coin any surplus, the said parties of the sec- ond part shall turn over such surplus to said corpora- tion, to be invested by it in bonds of the United States, or of the city and county of San Francisco, or other good and safe interest-bearing bonds, and the income thereof shall be devoted to the maintenance

132

PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

of said telescope and the observatory connected there- with, and shall be made useful in promoting science; and the said telescope and observatory are to be known as the 'Lick Astronomical Department of the University of California.'"

On making the new deed Mr. Lick selected Mount Hamilton as the site for the University, and the trustees, acting with the regents of the State Univer- sity, secured an act of Congress setting apart the public land at the summit for this purpose. This tract contains about five hundred acres, and is so sit- uated as to prevent settlement in the immediate vicinity of the observatory, or the inauguration of any enterprise in the immediate neighborhood that would be inimical to the interests of the institution.

John B. Felton charged $100,000 for his services in annulling the first deed, and presented the bill to the new trustees. They refused to allow the claim unless Mr. Lick would sign a written authorization. Mr. Felton, with Mr. Murphy, one of the trustees, called on Mr. Lick for this purpose.

"Mr. Felton," said the old philanthropist, "when we made the contract upon which that claim is based, we supposed that to cancel my first trust deed would be an exceedingly arduous matter, involving much expense, a long delay and years of the most elaborate and an- noying litigation. The whole entanglement, however, has been adjusted in a few months without any diffi- culty, but little outlay, and withonly a formal litigation; I think, under the changed circumstances, you ought to diminish the amount of your fee."

"Your proposition, Mr. Lick," responded Felton, "re- minds me of a story I once heard about a countryman who had a bad toothache and went to a rustic den- tist to have the offender extracted. The dentist pro- duced a rusty set of instruments, seated him in a rickety chair, and went to work. After some hours of hard labor to himself, and the most extreme agony to the countryman, the tooth was extracted, and he charged him a dollar. A few months later the same countryman had another attack of toothache, and this time thought best to procure a metropolitan dentist. He went to the city, found the best dentist in it, and offered his swollen jaw for operation. The expert dentist passed his hand soothingly over his face, lo- cated the tooth with painless delicacy, produced a splendid set of instruments, and before the country- man knew it, had the tooth out. His charge was five dollars. 'Five dollars!' said the countryman, 'why, when Jones, down at the village, pulled my last tooth it took three hours, during which he broke his chair,

broke my jaw, broke his tools, and mopped the whole floor with me several times, and he only charged me a dollar. You ought to diminish your bill!'"

Mr. Lick signed the authorization and Mr. Felton received his money.

In 1876 Mr. Lick had trouble with his trustees. One of the duties Mr. Lick wished first performed was the erection of his family monument in Freder- icksburg, Pennsylvania. It was during the arrange- ment for this work that the causes attending the re- tirement of the second Board arose, and in this wise. It will be noticed that among the members of this Board of Trustees was John H. Lick. Although James Lick is reputed to have never been married, this man was his son. He was born in Pennsylvania on June 30, 1818, just about the time, it will be noticed, of James Lick's somewhat hurried departure for New York, and thence to South America. Who was the mother of this boy does not appear, unless, perhaps, it was the miller's comely daughter. Long after Mr. Lick came to California he sent for his son, then grown to manhood, and kept him for some years at work in the Mahogany Mill. Here he remained until August, 1871, when he returned to his Eastern home. When Mr. Lick made his first deed of trust, he directed the payment to his son of $3,000. With this pittance John H. Lick was naturally dissatisfied, and hence in the second deed he was given the sum of $150,000, and made one of the trustees of the rest. To him, as trustee, the power was delegated to con- tract for the Fredericksburg monument, but for some reason he failed or refused to sign the contract. When this fact was made known to James Lick, in the summer of 1876, he became very much incensed against John H. Lick, and began to suspect that he had still further designs upon his property, and in the weakness of his old age he included the whole Board in his ill-humor, and suddenly required the res- ignation of the whole body. In this the trustees, ex- cept John H. Lick, concurred, and a new Board was appointed by Mr. Lick. Captain Floyd having been in Europe during this last entanglement, was not in- cluded in the old man's wrath, but was re-appointed on the new Board.

Mr. Lick died October 1, 1876, and before the new Board was fully organized. He was eighty years of age. His body lay in state at Pioneer Hall, San Francisco, and was followed by an immense proces- sion to Lone Mountain Cemetery, there to rest until a more fitting resting-place might be ready for its re- ception. Some months before his death, in a conver-

133

PEN PICTURES FROM THE "GARDEN OF THE WORLD."

sation with B. D. Murphy upon the subject of the probability of his death, Mr. Lick expressed the desire that he might be buried on Mount Hamilton, either within or to one side of the proposed observatory, after the manner of Sir Christopher Wren, the archi- tect of St. Paul's cathedral, who was buried in the crypt in 1723.

Immediately on the death of his father, John H. Lick returned from the East and secured letters of ad- ministration upon the estate. This was understood to be the beginning of an attempt to nullify the trust deed; after testing several points in the courts, the trustees finally effected a compromise by which they were to pay Lick $535,000 in full of all claims against the estate. The Society of Pioneers and the Acad- emy of Sciences had been made residuary legatees by the deed, and they insisted that this payment to John Lick should be made pro rata from each of the be- quests. The Academy of Sciences was particularly active in the courts to compel the payment to be made in this manner. After nearly a year of litiga- tion, the courts decided that the special bequests could not be disturbed, and the compromise money must come from the share of the residuary legatees.

As soon as possible after the completion of the road to the summit, work was commenced on the buildings. About two million six hundred thousand brick were used, all of which were manufactured in the immediate vicinity. Early in 1887, the work had progressed sufficiently to permit the request of Mr. Lick in re- gard to his burial-place to be complied with, and on the ninth day of January his remains were brought. to San Jose, whence, followed by a large procession of officials and prominent citizens, they were conveyed to the mountain. A tomb had been prepared in the foundation of the pier, which was to support the great telescope, and in this, with imposing ceremonies, were the remains deposited. The following document, signed by the trustees and representatives of the State University, the Academy of Sciences, Pioneers, and the mayor of San Jose, was sealed up with the casket:

"This is the body of James Lick, who was born in Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, August 25, 1796, and who died in San Francisco, California, October I, 1876.

"It has been identified by us, and in our presence has been sealed up and deposited in this foundation pier of the great equatorial telescope, this ninth day of January, 1887.

"In the year 1875 he executed a deed of trust of his entire estate, by which he provided for the comfort and culture of the citizens of California, for the ad- vancement of handcraft and rede-craft among the youth of San Francisco and of the State; for the de- velopment of scientific research and the diffusion of knowledge among men, and for founding in the State of California an astronomical observatory, to surpass all others existing in the world at this epoch.

"This observatory has been erected by the trustees of his estate, and has been named the Lick Astronom- ical Department of the University of California, in memory of the founder.

"This refracting telescope is the largest which has ever been constructed, and the astronomers who have tested it declare that its performance surpasses that of all other telescopes.

"The two disks of glass for the objective were cast by Ch. Feil, of France, and were brought to a true figure by Alvan Clark & Sons, of Massachusetts.

"Their diameter is thirty-six inches, and their focal length is fifty-six feet two inches.

"Upon the completion of this structure the regents of the University of California became the trustees of this astronomical observatory."

The contract for the great lens was made with Alvan Clark & Sons, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for $51,000. They employed M. Feil & Sons, of Paris, to cast the glass. The contract was made in 1880. In 1882 the flint-glass was cast and sent to Messrs. Clark, but it was not until 1885 that a perfect crown- glass could be obtained. The Clarks succeeded in obtaining a true figure in 1886, and on the twenty- ninth of December, of that year, the great lens reached Mount Hamilton. The mounting of the instrument and other details of construction occupied eighteen months' more time, and in June, 1888, the whole work was completed. The transfer of the observatory from the trustees to the regents of the university took place June 1, 1888, being fourteen years from the date of Mr. Lick's first deed.

Old Landmarks.

BUILDINGS.

D URING the Spanish and American administra- tion in California, the architecture was of a very rude character. The walls of the best houses were of adobe, and the roofs generally of straw. Later, tiles were substituted for straw in the more pretentious structures. This style of building was in vogue for some time after the American occupation. Up to 1850, the city of San Jose had more the appearance of a military camp on the frontier, than of a town. The rude houses with their thatched roofs were supple- mented by tents, and there was hardly a comfortable building in the district. The ordinance establishing the first fire limits, passed July 11, 1850, gives a pretty good idea of the character of the houses. These limits were described as commencing at the intersection of Second and St. James Streets, thence along Second to San Carlos, thence to the Acequia, thence along the Acequia northerly to a point which would inter- sect a prolongation of St. James Street, and thence easterly and along St. James Street to the place of beginning. Within these limits it was prohibited to erect any structures composed of canvas, willow, cot- ton cloth, tules, mustard, reeds, or other grassy sub- stances, under a penalty of not less than twenty-five or more than two hundred dollars. It also forbade the existence of any hay-stacks, unless inclosed or suitably guarded, and enjoined the removal of those then in existence, under the same penalty. There were, however, some better buildings in the city than this ordinance would seem to indicate.

Three years prior to this, in 1847, Mr. William Campbell had commenced the erection of a saw-mill on Quito Creek, afterwards known as Campbell Creek, in the western part of the county. Owing to the scarcity of labor, everybody having gone to the mines, the mill was not completed until 1848, in which year Zachariah Jones also completed a mill. These mills furnished a supply of building material, but it was costly, the charge for hauling alone being a hundred

dollars per thousand feet, while the lumber cost any- where from two hundred and fifty to seven hundred dollars per thousand While these efforts were being made to secure building material from the foot-hills, other attempts were being made nearer home. In the latter part of 1848 Mr. Osborn succeeded in making brick, and he erected houses of this material the same year. The first was built at the corner of Fifth and St. John Streets, another on Fifth between St. John and St. James, and a third on St. John between Fourth and Fifth Streets. Brick-layers, carpenters, and, in fact, mechanics of all kinds, commanded sixteen dol- lars per day for their services, and this, with materials at a correspondingly high price, made the building of houses a pretty expensive operation. Nothing but the rich products of the newly discovered gold mines rendered it possible.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Pen pictures from the garden of the world, or Santa Clara county, California, Part 23

Author: Foote, Horace S., ed Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 844

Author: Foote, Horace S., ed
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago : The Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 844