USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume I > Part 42
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It is recorded that copies of this song sold freely at $1 a piece, but the most interesting fact connected with its publication is the disclosure of the extreme sen- sitiveness of a public official to ridicule. Apparently Collector King's vulnerable point was found by the poet. Indeed ridicule was a more potent weapon in 1851 than invective, and was resorted to by men with facile pens to accomplish their purposes. A Dr. D. G. Robinson, editor of the "Dramatic Mirror," attained such popularity by writing a lot of doggerel directed at the municipal officials and prom- inent men in the community that in the campaign of 1852 he was seriously pro- posed as the popular candidate for mayor.
It would be unwise to regard these manifestations of approval in any other light than as political ebullitions. They were not indicative of the literary status of the period, but they unmistakably point to the existence of a public opinion which could be easily aroused, and excite wonder that in a community so responsive it should have at any time been deemed necessary to resort to the drastic methods of the Vigilantes to effect reforms. We can better judge the trend of thought in literary matters by considering the efforts made for its advancement, and the support which was given to movements looking to the improvement of the public mind, than by considering it in its relation to politics. When we do this we discover that prompt attention was given by the pioneers to the importance of preserving data in order to secure historical accuracy. The California Society of Pioneers, organized in August, 1850, put forward as one of its principal objects "the collection and pres-
Doggerel Appreciated
Politics and Literature
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ervation of information connected with the settlement and conquest of the country."
It has incidentally been noted that the volunteer fire organizations, some of which early housed themselves in substantial and attractive looking buildings, pro- vided-themselves with libraries for the use of members. On the Ist of March, 1853, the first public library, known as the Mercantile Library Association was formed. It was a movement in response to a general demand expressed in meetings and was followed by the collection of books. Its first officers were: David S. Turner, president ; J. P. Haven, treasurer; C. E. Bowers, recording secretary; R. H. Stephens, corresponding secretary. Dr. H. Gibbons, E. E. Dunbar, J. B. Crock- ett, D. H. Haskell and E. P. Flint constituted the directory. The Mercantile Li- brary Association had a checkered existence and contributed more than one item to the annals of the City before it passed out of existence, some of which will be dealt with later. In the ensuing year, December 11, 1854, a meeting was held in the office of the city tax collector to consider the propriety of starting a library which was to combine with the dissemination of books the promotion of the indus- trial arts. On March 6, 1855, a constitution and by-laws were adopted, and on March 29th the Mechanics institute was practically inaugurated by the election of officers. The first president was B. F. Heywood. The room of the library was on the fourth floor of a building on the corner of Montgomery and California streets from whence it moved to California near Sansome street. The beginnings of the library were exceedingly modest. For a time it was largely made up of public documents, but later it expanded and the field of its activities were so extended that it became an important factor in the growth and development of the City. An- other library, which came into existence about the same time, was that of the Odd Fellows, which was organized in 1854. It was supported by voluntary contribu- tions, and its fund for the purchase of books was limited. It was only designed to meet the literary needs of members of the association and never attained importance as a collection. There may have been private libraries worth mentioning as dis- tinctive in the years preceding the Civil war, but they were unknown to fame. There were, however, book lovers who began to make collections at a very early date whose success will be referred to when the literary activities of a later period are described.
If a directory may be dignified by the appellation "book," that published by Charles P. Kimball in 1850 deserves mention as the first emitted from a San Fran- cisco press. It was a duodecimo of 136 pages and contained in the neighborhood of 2,500 names. Two years later James A. Parker issued a directory containing about 9,000 names, which may be consistently included in a discussion of the lit- erature of the early Fifties because it contained a sketch of the rise and progress of the City, which a contemporary critic pronounced a creditable performance, and which he predicted "would become curious and interesting after the lapse of a few years," especially as San Francisco was "a rapidly increasing community."
San Francisco, however, was not dependent upon directories, libraries or daily newspapers for its literary pabulum. The weekly literary journal and magazines were early in the field, and they were well supplied with contributions which were oftener thian otherwise voluntary, and under no circumstances were well paid for by the publisher, who was usually glad to make even financially, which he could not have done had he added payment for contributions to his "legitimate" expendi- tures. The first magazine published was "The Pioneer." It appeared in 1854.
Early Libraries
The First Directory
The Literary Weeklies
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Its founder was Ferdinand C. Ewer. Ewer contributed largely to his own publi- cation, and wrote a story which had more than ordinary merit. His attainments were varied. Among other talents he possessed that of theatrical discernment, and greatly impressed Edwin Booth, whose future he predicted. Later Ewer took orders and built Grace church, from which he was called to the rectorship of Christ church in New York. He was infected by the High Church movement and preached a number of sermons on the failure of Protestantism which attracted much atten- tion at the time.
Contributors to Literary Periodicals
Among the contributors to Ewer's magazine were Colonel George Derby (the author of "Phoenixiana"), John Swett, Frank Soule (the author of the "Annals of San Francisco"), John S. Hittell and Stephen Massett. Edward Pollock, whose verses were considered of sufficient merit to be embraced in collections of poems, appeared occasionally in its pages. The "News Letter," established by Frederick Marriott in 1856, was in many respects a more virile publication than most of its contemporaries and predecessors. Its proprietor early developed the faculty of getting into trouble by using too much freedom in dilating upon the shortcomings of his fellow citizens who sometimes took a shortcut towards reparation by means of physical violence.
A Woman's Journal
Quite a different publication was the "Hesperian," a journal issued by women. It made its appearance in 1859 and was to some extent the outcome of a feminist movement. The "Hesperian" furnishes an interesting example of the prevalence of sectional jealousy during the period. It differed from the purely literary ven- tures of the time in the matter of giving attention to local interests and took up the cudgels for San Francisco when a paper published in the City of Angels declared that it would be impossible for feminine literature to thrive in the atmosphere of the bay. The rejoinder of the "Hesperian" may not have completely refuted the assumption of the jealous southland, but it conclusively proved the loyalty of the editor of the magazine to San Francisco.
Local Color in Literature
It has been remarked that the early productions of the writers for the magazines lacked local color, an assertion well borne out by an examination of the contents of the publications of the Fifties, which show a decided predilection on the part of authors for other places than California in which to set their scenes. All the writers, however, were not obnoxious to that charge. Some of them indeed, if the critics of the period may be depended upon applied it much too liberally. In a list of names provided by a diligent investigator of the literature of the Fifties we find those of many whose work was wholly devoted to depicting California pecu- liarities, which were not always tenderly treated.
Golden Era School of Writers
In her "Story of the Files," Ella Sterling Cummins describes the period between 1852 and 1858 as "the Golden Era school of literature." A periodical known as the "Golden Era" flourished during those years, and at one time or another it con- tained contributions from all the early writers of note. It was edited by J. Mac- donough Foard, Rollin M. Daggett, Joseph E. Lawrence, James Brooks, Gilbert A. Densmore, John J. Hutchinson, J. M. Bassett, Herr Wagner and E. T. Bun- yan. They were all diligent contributors, but did not occupy its pages to the exclu- sion of outsiders, for Francis Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Joaquin Miller, Charles Warren Stoddard, Joseph T. Goodman, Orpheus C. Kerr, Thomas Starr King, Prentice Mulford and Richard Henry Savage were frequently represented by con- tributions. In addition to the numerous male contributors of the "Golden Era"
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there was a bright galaxy of feminine stars, among them Minnie Myrtle Miller, Ada Isaacs Menken, Ina Coolbrith, Alice Kingsbury and Anna M. Fitch, who hardly deserve to be included in the sweeping indictment of J. Macdonough Foard, who when asked to name the cause of the death of the "Golden Era" said: "I will tell you; we made our mistake when we let the women write for it. Yes, they killed it with their namby pamby school girl trash." There was a great deal of writing fairly deserving the designation "namby pamby," but it was not all the product of feminine pens, nor was it altogether unappreciated. It was much the same sort of stuff emitted by Gleason's "Literary Companion" at the East, and that written by sentimental poets on the other side of the Atlantic. California's only offense was committed in not escaping the epidemic.
A community in which newspapers and magazines flourish, and whose citizens take an active interest in the creation of libraries, may naturally be trusted to vigi- lantly care for the education of the young. San Francisco was never deficient in this regard. From the establishment of the first public school on the 3d of April, 1848, to the present day, the record of the system has been one of continuous growth, which has scarcely been interrupted even by the calamitous fires that have at times visited the City. But while fire and earthquake were powerless to inter- fere with the orderly development of education, it is related that when the gold discovery was reported the schools had to be closed because parents deserted the City, taking their children with them and leaving no pupils for the teachers to expend their energies upon. The teacher of this first school was Thomas Douglas, who received a salary of $1,000 a year and taught both sexes. Prior to the opening of Douglas' school, under the anspices of the town council, a man named William Marston taught some 30 pupils, who paid for their tuition. Marston was not an educated man but was able to impart the rudiments of learning to his scholars, who were accustomed to assemble in a small shanty on the block between Broadway and Pacific streets west of Dupont. Late in 1847 a schoolhouse was built on the corner of Portsmouth square facing Clay street, and in it were held the first church meet- ings of the Protestants and of such organizations as the Odd Fellows. Still later it was made to do duty as a courthouse.
The birth of the public educational system of the City practically dates from the foundation of a school by J. C. Pelton, who arrived from Massachusetts in the autumn of 1849, and furnished the Baptist church for the accommodation of pupils. Mr. Pelton was assisted by his wife. They at first depended on voluntary contribu- tions which, however, were not generous enough to provide a proper support, and in the spring of 1851 they made application to the town council for relief, which was granted in the form of a salary allowance of $500 monthly, to be paid out of the city treasury, although the municipality did not interfere with the management. The Peltons had about 150 pupils, and their school was public in name if not actu- ally a public institution.
In 1851 the council passed an ordinance dated September 25tlı, providing for the creation of seven school districts and the erection of a schoolhouse in each dis- trict. A common school fund was arranged for, and a board of education, which was to consist of one alderman, one assistant alderman, two citizens and the mayor, who was to be ex-officio a member and president. The four members, other than the mayor, constituting the board were to be annually chosen by the common coun- cil. The ordinance creating the board gave it sole charge of the regulation of Vol. I-20
Early Educational Facilities
Birth of Public School System
Increased School Facilities
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schools, purchase and erection of buildings, and further provided for a superintend- ent who was to be the executive officer and clerk of the board, and who, together with two members constituted a committee for the examination of teachers, whose qualifications had to be ascertained by them before appointment. The first board of education under this ordinance consisted of Charles J. Brenham; aldermen, Charles L. Ross and Joseph F. Atwell and citizens, John Wilson and Henry E. Lincoln.
School Attendance in the Fifties
In 1850 there was one school with two teachers and 150 pupils; in 1855 the number of schools had increased to nine and 1,638 pupils were taught by 29 teachers. The number of children of school age at this date was 4,694 and the average of daily attendance at the schools of those on the rolls was 83.38 per cent. In 1860 there were eleven schools and 68 teachers, and a daily attendance of 2,837 out of a total of 6,108 pupils of school age. The expenses of the department, which were $136,580 in 1855, had grown to $156,407 in 1860, a per capita cost of $55.13 of the average daily attendance.
Teachers and Their Methods
In the early days the number of pupils assigned to a teacher was 87. It was many years before a reformation was effected in this regard, although the number was conceded to be excessive. Pelton advocated a reduction to 40 in grammar classes, and 50 primary pupils, but successive boards of aldermen disregarded the arguments in favor of the change until the next decade. The first high school in San Francisco was opened August 16, 1856, with 35 boys and 45 girls. The "Bulletin," in its issue of December, 1859, in describing the exercises of graduation day spoke in high terms of the proficiency of the pupils and laid particular stress on the fact that the graduates showed a remarkable familiarity with the Constitu- tion of the United States, and declared that on the whole they were a bright lot of scholars, well equipped for battling with the world and a credit to the American school system.
The Higher Education
San Francisco's interest in the higher education never took the form of attempt- ing to induce the legislature to establish a university within its boundaries, but its citizens energetically assisted in the movement which ultimately secured for the state an institution which has taken high rank among the world's great establish- ments devoted to learning. In 1853 a Massachusetts clergyman named Henry Durrant arrived in the City with the purpose of founding a university. Under the auspices of the San Francisco and Congregational Association of California he opened the Contra Costa academy in Oakland, which was shortly afterward renamed, and in 1855 was incorporated as the College of California. A suitable site was secured in Oakland, on which a building was erected. In 1859 the college had three pro- fessors: Henry Durrant, Martin Kellogg and I. H. Brayton, and three instructors, and in 1860 the study of the classics was formally inaugurated.
Beginnings of a State University
It was this institution which finally developed into the University of California. The constitutional convention of 1849 placed at the disposal of the legislature for educational purposes, the 500,000 acres of land granted by congress for internal improvement, the proceeds of all escheated estates and the 16th and 36th sections of land, also granted by congress. In 1853 congress supplemented its grant for common schools with a gift of 46,080 acres for the support of a seminary of learn- ing. This latter endowment was not taken advantage of until 1866, when the leg- islature, in order to secure the benefits of an act passed in 1862, which gave to several states a quantity of public land, California's share of which was 150,000
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acres, established an agricultural, mining and mechanical arts college. Between the time when the subject of a university was first mooted in 1849 and the date when California's seat of the higher learning became a university in fact as well as name there was a great broadening of opinion respecting the utility of such institu- tions, but in that respect the people of California were not peculiar. The work of eradicating the idea that the state had no need of imparting more than a knowl- edge of the elementary branches of learning proceeded as slowly in the older com- munities as it did on the Pacific coast.
A short time after the Rev. Mr. Durrant's academy was projected the Order of Jesuits began the organization of the college which has since become a great insti- tution under the name of St. Ignatius. Although Father Maraschi, the head of the order, commenced his work in this City on October 15, 1855, the College of St. Ignatius was not incorporated under the laws of the state until April 30, 1859. Its first degrees were conferred in 1863, and Augustus J. Bowie was the premier recipient of the honor. The college, during the Fifties, was situated on the site now occupied by the Emporium department store on Market street. When the ground was purchased it was not an uncommon thing for critics to comment on the boldness of the founders in going "so far out."
In addition to the public, and not a few private schools which were called into existence during the Fifties, the Catholics inaugurated a parochial system, which has since grown to large proportions. On the 13th of November, 1854, a number of Presentation nuns arrived in the City and opened a school in a frame shack near Meigg's wharf. There were about 200 pupils from the start, and they were given free tuition. In 1855 the Powell street convent was built and soon became an important addition to the educational facilities of the City.
The course of education, like that of true love, did not always run smoothly in the early days. Despite the liberality of the inhabitants the municipal authori- ties found so much use for the money raised by taxation that they were somewhat niggardly in making appropriations for the schools. The result of this was visible in the necessity imposed on the teachers of taking care of larger classes than could be easily instructed by one person. Salaries also were relatively low. In 1854 male teachers received $150 a month and female instructors $100. The board of directors during the decade were harassed by the squatters, who had no compunc- tions about planting themselves on a school or church lot, and were obliged to take precautions to prevent the City's property being stolen by them. A singular re- flection on the shortsightedness of the guardians of the welfare of the City is con- tained in the fact that, although three or four years earlier great quantities of land were sold at ridiculously low prices to astute speculators, in 1853 a loan of $100,- 000 had to be effected by the City to purchase school lots.
The private schools of the early Fifties were numerous, and to some extent their operations were an embarrassment to the extension of the public school sys- tem. While devotion to the latter was an ingrained American idea, the bitterness imparted to the discussion of all questions by the Know Nothing element had cre- ated a quiet antagonism which manifested itself in various ways, chiefly in the spread of the doubt whether an educational system under public auspices would not lead to intolerance. This feeling, however, soon abated, and before the close of the decade had disappeared entirely. There was a Teacher's institute inaugurated in 1852 which held frequent meetings. It appears to have been attended by the male
St. Ignatius College
Parochial and Private Schools
Purchase of School Lots
Know Noth- ingism and the Schools
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instructors only. Its members had the sagacity to avoid mixing in politics. It en- dured for a short time, when the meetings were abandoned.
Although the City was compelled to buy back some property which it had sold for a song, in order to secure building lots in desirable locations, it did not wholly neglect the future. In 1852 sites for schools were set aside at the corner of Market and Fifth; at Harrison and Fourth; at Harrison and Folsom; at Bush and Stock- ton; at California and Mason; at Kearny and Filbert and at Taylor and Vallejo. If this prescience had been exhibited on a more extended scale the maintenance of the present school system would have been less onerous, for some of the properties
mentioned have been diverted from their original use and are now producing rev- enue for the school department. But the failure to foresee the needs of the future was not peculiar to San Franciscans. It was common to the whole country. The American people of fifty or sixty years ago had expansive ideas, but very rarely planned in accordance with their beliefs. They had a vision, but in their waking moments they forgot their dreams and allowed them to materialize haphazard.
A Little Prevision Exhibited
CHAPTER XXXIV
POLITICAL CONDITIONS AFTER PASSAGE OF CONSOLIDATION ACT
SAN FRANCISCO'S SEAL-RESPECTABLE ELEMENT REFORMED-PURITY OF BALLOT BOX- VIGILANTE'S DISCARD PRIMARY ELECTIONS-A SELF PERPETUATING NOMINATING COMMITTEE-SECRET SELECTIONS PRODUCE GOOD RESULTS-THE CONSOLIDATION ACT -MEASURES OF ECONOMY-MANY RESTRICTIONS-REFORMS EFFECTED-NATIONAL PARTIES-BRODERICK THE CHAMPION OF FREEDOM-BRODERICK REFUSES TO OBEY LEGISLATIVE INSTRUCTIONS-THE REPUBLICANS-TERRY KILLS BRODERICK IN A DUEL -CAREER OF TERRY-BAKER'S ORATION AT BRODERICK'S FUNERAL-TERRY BECOMES A CONFEDERATE GENERAL-OTHER POLITICAL DUELS-PACIFIC COAST REPUBLIC SUG- GESTED-TALK ABOUT STATE DIVISION-POLITICAL REVOLUTION.
HE period between the discovery of gold at Sutter's fort COU and the outbreak of the Civil war was in many respects the most eventful in the history of San Francisco. It was filled with novel experiences and disasters which threatened EA the existence of the City. It was perhaps the one com- OF SAN CO munity in the country regarding which the prediction was frequently made, that it could not endure, and yet it sur- mounted all its troubles and continued to grow in population and wealth. Its great fires were invariably followed by pessimistic expressions, but the event always dis- credited the prophets. Under the circumstances it is not strange that a bumptious feeling should have arisen which inclined the people to believe that they were superior to fate, and to express their belief in the emblem on their municipal seal which depicts the Phoenix arising from its own ashes.
It is human nature to be proud of achievements, and the argonauts of the Fif- ties could boast the accomplishment of many. They committed mistakes which had to be remedied, but sooner or later they applied the remedy. The greatest blunder committed by the men of the Fifties, who were in a position to shape the destinies of the City, was that of neglecting civic affairs until the call for drastic measures became so imperative that they were obliged to resort to extra legal methods to cure an evil which might have been averted had they not neglected their political duties in their eager pursuit of personal business.
The results which followed the Vigilante uprising in 1856 have been attributed to the exhibition of force which attended the movement, but the remarkable carcer of the people's party, which had its birth after the summary hanging of a few criminals, shows that the power of the ballot was existent, and that had it been as steadily invoked before Vigilante methods were resorted to, as it was afterward, it would have been as efficacious in preventing municipal corruption and repressing
Seal of the Municipality
Pursuit of Wealth
Reformatlon of the Respectable Element
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excessive crime as it has been in other communities in which the forms of law and order have seldom been departed from. The success of the people's party after 1856 was due to a reformation of the respectable element of the community, and not to the dread of the corrupt and criminal. When decent citizens refused to in- terest themselves in local affairs, and neglected to go to the polls, they abandoned the offices to an insignificant minority; when they resumed or inaugurated civic vigilance they had no difficulty in securing and maintaining control of municipal affairs. And it is worthy of note that this assumption of control was not accom- plished by a change of machinery of government, but by the simple process of adopt- ing precautions to prevent abuse of accepted methods.
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