USA > California > San Francisco County > San Francisco > San Francisco, a history of the Pacific coast metropolis, Volume I > Part 62
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On the 3d of November, 1870, a crime of a different sort was perpetrated. The perpetrator was Laura D. Fair, a woman whose character was pretty well known to the initiated, but who managed to maintain appearances sufficiently to be per- mitted to remain in respectable hotels, which was not a difficult matter at that time. With this woman a prominent lawyer named Alexander Crittenden had maintained improper relations for some time, causing an estrangement from his wife. Crittenden's infatuation finally succumbed to the pressure of friends, and be resolved to cut loose from the woman and return to his wife. Mrs. Fair was greatly exasperated and menaced him, but he disregarded her threats. Consider- ing the fact that the woman had on two previous occasions attempted to kill men, once during the Civil war when she shot at a Union soldier and missed him, and at another time had discharged a pistol at a man in the Russ house, who had made a disparaging remark about her, Crittenden acted very incautiously, taking no steps to protect himself.
On the date mentioned Laura D. Fair met Crittenden in a public place and shot him down. She was tried, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged on June 3, 1871. Extraordinary as it may seem, despite her notorious character, a by no means inconsiderable portion of the community took her part. No occurrence since the Vigilante outbreak in 1856 had created near so much excitement or caused a greater division of opinion. When the supreme court granted a new trial this difference was accentuated and finally when on her second trial she was acquitted on the ground of "emotional insanity," the singular verdict was accepted by many as just. It would be difficult to describe the motives which influenced those who sympathized with the Fair woman. There was nothing about her calculated to excite sympathy and mushiness had not yet become a San Francisco weakness. They knew that the husband whose name she bore had committed suicide on account of what were euphemistically called "family troubles," but in spite of this knowl-
Lawyer Crittenden Killed by Laura D. Fair
Acquittal of the Murderess
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edge and her subsequent career, which was made public during the course of the trial, there were plenty who openly expressed their satisfaction when she was acquitted.
A Moral Awakening
An effort to determine the cause of this attitude discloses that at bottom it was prompted by a feeling of resentment against the victim, whose treatment of his wife, while it had not apparently disturbed the community very greatly while he was committing his offense against society, was shocked into a sense of propriety by the culminating tragedy. In short the opinion not infrequently voiced, that "it served him right," was indicative of a revolt against the looseness of living which had long been condoned by a too tolerant community. Crittenden was a man of fine attainments, and enjoyed the friendship of a large circle, the members of which, if they gave his affair a thought, regarded it as an amiable weakness, or passed it over lightly as a shortcoming too common in San Francisco to be made much of by people who were not saints.
New Standards Recognized
There is no evidence that the moral awakening, if the dawning perception of the evil of loose living may be characterized as such, effected a complete reform, but it did unquestionably make those who committed offenses of the sort for which Crittenden paid so heavy a penalty less disposed to advertise their delinquencies. It is not surprising that this should have been the case, for during the decade much happened in San Francisco that tended to put its people on a plane resembling that of the communities of the older section of the Union. At one time the much talked of cosmopolitanism of the City was accepted as a blanket excuse which could be made to cover all sorts of departures from the straight path, but the influence of re- ligion and education was constantly exerting itself and forcing the irreclaimable as well as the merely indifferent and careless to recognize the standards of respect- ability established in older and differently circumstanced cities of the United States.
A Changing View Point
It would be impossible to overlook the increasing importance of this factor in changing the view point of San Franciscans. There is nothing to show that during this period, when the "atmosphere" which in later years was supposed to envelop the City was being created, that its creators recognized that it was being "back fired" by those who elevated the orderly and the conventional above the unusual and the irregular. It is doubtful if those who seized upon the departures gave much thought to anything else than the production of literature which depicted a strange mode of life. They certainly, even in those sympathetic touches which seemed to condone that which in stricter communities would have been condemned, did not seek to set up as examples worthy of imitation the strange characters they described.
Hoping for Improvement
It is very clear from the matter of fact evidence which may be extracted from the newspapers of the Sixties that no one was particularly proud of any peculiar brand of wickedness which California or San Francisco may have developed, but that there was a very earnest desire generally entertained that the City should pursue her career soberly. There are even traces of a belief that the closer com- munication with the East, which the opening of the first overland railroad would bring about, would result beneficially by injecting new blood into the community. The hopes for the future were not all purely material. The religious and cultured were looking forward as joyfully to an era in which as a result of contact with the outside world much that was considered bad would have to disappear.
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Statistics and quotations cannot express the growth of this feeling, but the progress made in the strengthening of those supports which make the structure of society secure may be satisfactorily indicated by the recital of facts which show that long before the close of the sixty decade of the nineteenth century San Fran- cisco had taken a long stride in the direction of stability, and that it had become a community more orderly in many respects than any other in the American Union. It is necessary to emphasize this claim, because the events of the Seventies were so grossly misrepresented, and misapprehended, by the outside world that the stigma of riotousness has been fastened upon San Francisco by historians who enjoy the reputation of being careful writers.
The evidence of the inaccuracy of their judgment will appear further on; here it is merely designed to show that in all those particulars which go to make up an orderly and law abiding people San Francisco had advanced greatly during the Sixties, and that when the seventy decade opened the City was well provided with churches and other religious institutions, and that its educational facilities were well abreast of those of the most progressive cities in the United States. Between 1860 and 1871 numerous fine and costly structures for religious purposes were erected. Some of these had been demolished before the fire of 1906, their aban- donment being caused by the encroachments of business and the desire to relocate in neighborhoods which were more accessible to their congregations. One of the most noteworthy of these edifices was the First Unitarian, erected on the south side of Geary, between Grant avenue and Stockton street, on the spot now occu- pied by the Whitney building. It was built of stone at a cost of $65,000 and opened for services on the 10th of January, 1864. Thomas Starr King was its first pas- tor. He died on the 4th of March following, and his remains were interred in a marble sarcophagus which was in plain view of the passing throngs who were made familiar with the patriotic services of the distinguished preacher by its inscription, and the grateful remembrances of the people. This memorial was removed when the congregation took up its new quarters in the church on the corner of Geary and Franklin streets to a deservedly conspicuous position in front of that edifice.
In the ensuing year the Jewish congregation El Emanuel began the construction of a temple on Sutter street between Stockton and Powell, which was dedicated on March 23, 1866, by the Rev. Elkan Cohn, who remained its rabbi until the time of his death. The two towers of El Emanuel, which were 165 feet high, were a conspicuous feature in all the early sky lines, and the architecture was concededly an excellent example of its type. While in course of erection much criticism was bestowed upon the architect, Patton, for resorting to imbrication, and predictions were freely made that the walls would not stand, but they went through the earth- quakes of 1868 and 1906 without injury, although the interior of the building and the inflammable parts were destroyed in the fire of the latter year. After the great conflagration the temple, shorn of its towers, was restored, the walls being as sound as when they were put up forty years earlier.
In 1860 the Episcopalians laid the corner stone of Grace cathedral on the southeast corner of California and Stockton streets. The ceremony was performed by Bishop Ingraham Kip and two years later, on September 28, 1862, the edifice was opened for public worship. The style was Gothic and it was a notable addi- tion to the ecclesiastical architecture of the City. Its commanding position made it a conspicuous object in the landscape. It was destroyed in the conflagration of
A Stable Community
Thomas Starr King's Church
Erection of Temple El Emanuel
Grace Cathedral Erected
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1906 and the site was subsequently sold, a gift of the entire block on California street between Jones and Taylor having been presented to the diocese by William H. Crocker, his brother George and his sister Mrs. Alexander, upon which a cathedral worthy of the metropolis of the Pacific coast was in course of construction in 1912. In 1867 a large frame edifice was put up on the northeast corner of Post and Powell streets for Trinity Episcopal congregation. Despite the destructible character of the material employed, the building presented a handsome appear- ance and was a costly construction, $75,000 being expended on its erection. It was opened for service September, 1867, and was used by the congregation until 1894, when a hotel called the Savoy was erected on its site.
In the Sixties the Methodists were particularly active. Three new congrega- tions were formed and buildings provided. They were the Central, the Grace in the Mission and the Bush street. These additions were made in 1864, 1865 and 1869. In 1871 the Simpson Memorial church was erected. The other Protestant denominations were equally zealous and helped to swell the number of church edi- fices. New Catholic parishes were created, among them St. Josephs and St. Bridg- ets, and in 1869 the 50 vara on Golden Gate avenue (then Tyler street) between Jones and Leavenworth was purchased and the German population was provided with St. Boniface church. The first structure was a modest frame, but the congre- gation grew rapidly, a fact noted of all the Catholic parishes during the Sixties. In 1864 the archiepiscopal residence was built on the lot adjoining St. Mary's cathedral.
The religious activities of the City were not confined to the building of churches and the organization of new congregations. They were equally notable in the field of charity and general helpfulness. The metropolis of the state, which had once boasted a legislature of "a thousand drinks," and which was still far from accept- ing prohibition had a hall to house its Temperance Legion, in which meetings were held nightly to promote the cause. It was on Second street in a frame building close to Market. In 1862 the Ladies' Relief and Protective society began the construction of the home for the care of orphaned children on Franklin street be- tween Geary and Post, which was occupied in April, 1864. This building was out- side of the fire line and was still serving its original purpose in 1912. It would demand a good sized volume to do more than suggest the manifold accomplishments of the earnest workers of this period, but they may be condensed into the statement that they put their impress upon it and are entitled to a large part of the credit attaching to the undoubted change for the better which occurred in San Francisco during the Sixties.
Equally deserving of recognition is the work performed by the educators be- tween 1860 and 1871. A brief sketch of the progress of the schools will show that the City was quick to accept new ideas, and that it did not shrink from innovations which promised results. When the sixty decade opened there were eleven public schools in San Francisco with 68 teachers; in 1870 the number of schools had been enlarged to fifty-five and there were 371 teachers. The greatest expansion was after the close of the Civil war, the number of schools having increased only by nine during the first half of the decade, while there were thirty-five additions between 1865 and 1870 and during the latter period the number of teachers was increased by 233, as against only 68 in the first five years of the Sixties. There were 22,151 enrolled pupils in 1870, as against 6,108 in 1860, and the average daily attendance
Work of the Educators
Numerous Churches Built
Activities of the Charitable
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rose from 2,837 in the earlier year to 15,394 in the first year of the Seventies. The expansion of the system was reflected in the greatly enlarged cost of maintenance, which increased from $156,407 in 1860 to $526,625 in 1870. But the community was growing more rapidly than the expenditures, for the cost per capita for all school purposes fell from $55.13 in 1860 to $33.56 in 1870.
The records of the earlier years do not deal with the value of school property, but in 1870 we find it estimated at $1,729,800. In that year the assessed value of all city property was only $114,759,510. This apparently indicates generous dealing with the school system and a disposition to provide facilities as rapidly as demanded, which was indeed the case during the Sixties. In 1870 the number of children of school age was given by the United States census marshals at 27,055. The age as fixed by law prior to 1865 was from four to eighteen. In 1865, when the first census was taken under the new law the number of children between five and seventeen-which years included the school age until 1873-was 21,013. As the average daily attendance was only 6,718 in 1865 and the number of school age children was 21,013, it is obvious that there was need for compulsory regulation. The daily attendance in 1870 averaged 15,394 out of a total of 27,055 of school age, a marked improvement over the first half of the decade.
In 1860 the legislature passed an act creating a state board of education. One of its duties was to issue certificates of competency to teachers certified to by county boards of examination. The law was subsequently amended so that the state board not only granted state diplomas on credentials but framed questions in twenty branches of study to be submitted by county boards of examination, quar- terly, to applicants for certificates which were of three grades, dependent upon the percentage secured by those taking the examination. A percentage of 85, or ex- ceeding that rate, entitled an applicant to a first grade certificate. This continued to be the mode of selection during the Sixties without being subject to much adverse comment, but the method was abused in the next decade and a great scandal ensued which resulted in the adoption of a new system.
The course of studies during the Sixties remained the same as that of the pre- vious decade, but about the middle of the decade music and drawing were added, and the multifarious branches now dealt with were subsequently included. At any time before 1870 parents were satisfied to have their children instructed in arith- metic, grammar and spelling, a smattering of United States history and geography, and much stress was placed on cultivating the ability to write "a good hand." This accomplishment was rated very high by people of a practical turn, who did not foresee that chirography would later be almost superseded by the typewriting ma- chine; and it was also esteemed as a mark of culture, the idea that illegibility and peculiarity in penmanship stamped the writer as original not yet having taken possession of the faddists.
Although the ordinary course of studies was maintained during the Sixties a movement was inaugurated by J. C. Pelton in 1865 for the establishment of classes for instruction in the modern languages, German, French and Spanish. The inno- vation at first met with some opposition, but it was instituted and later an act of the legislature rendered the cosmopolitan schools, as they were called, secure against attack. Before the close of the decade there were three schools in which the lan- guages enumerated were taught in addition to the regular branches. While the curriculum of the grammar schools was kept from being too greatly amplified dur-
Value of School Property
Mode of Selecting Teachers
Course of Studies in the Sixtles
Modern Languages in Public Schools
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ing the Sixties, the necessity of an approach to the higher learning was recognized and high schools were provided. The first of these, opened August 16, 1856, was a mixed school made up of pupils of both sexes. In 1862 an agitation for segrega- tion was begun which culminated in 1864 in the formation of separated boys' and girls' high schools. In 1866 a Latin high school was established with George W. Bunnell, afterward professor of Greek language and literature in the University of California, as its principal; it was, however, discontinued in 1868, the pupils being incorporated with those of the boys' high school.
Truancy Evil Dealt With
Pelton, who was superintendent of education in 1866, recommended in that year the establishment of a normal school in San Francisco, but his proposition was antagonized by legislators from other sections of the state, who urged that two universities and three state normal schools provided amply for instruction in peda- gogy. Several years later a city normal school was created which had to undergo many vicissitudes before its incorporation in the state normal school system. Su- perintendent James Denman, who earned a high reputation as a zealous official and instructor, undertook in 1868 to deal with the evil of truancy displayed in the re- turns of the irregular attendance, but without success. He urged the appointment of truant officers and the desirability of a thorough investigation, but his recom- mendations went unheeded and nothing was done in the premises for several years.
Size of Classes
Among the troubles of workers in the educational field was that which arose out of the difficulty of making the public understand the limitations of the teacher. In the early days it was assumed that a teacher could take care of as many pupils as could be crowded into a classroom. The factor of attention to the individual pupil was almost wholly disregarded. As many as 87 scholars were assigned to one teacher. Pelton was vigorous in his opposition to this imposition and urged that forty grammar and fifty primary pupils were as many as could be properly taught by a single teacher, and these maximums were accepted after 1866. They were occasionally disturbed by capricious boards, but were never seriously departed from at any time.
Night Schools
Night schools were established at an early date in the City, and their facilities were taken advantage of by the not inconsiderable number whose appreciation of learning only began with the arrival of years of discretion, and of that equally large class desirous of overcoming the disadvantages of the illiterateness imposed upon them by the neglect of their natural guardians, or the shortcomings of their earlier environment. In these schools instructions were given in commercial branches to several classes. This addition to their sphere of usefulness was made after the establishment of the Commercial school in 1865, the scope of which was greatly broadened in subsequent years.
Private and Parochial Schools
The educational facilities of San Francisco during the Sixties were by no means confined to the public schools. There were many private institutions of varying degrees of excellence and a well developed Catholic parochial school system. Noth- ing approaching exact data respecting the operation of these schools is available, but they were numerous and their attendance was large. Their flourishing condition helps to explain the wide divergence between the number of children of school age which the census figures furnish, and the enrollment in the public schools. This chief cause of this disparity occasionally provoked comment, but it never approached the stage of serious controversy as in some cities of other parts of the Union, in which the parochial school became a burning question. Sometimes a zealous priest
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would comment on what he called the unfairness of taxing people to provide bene- fits for people who would not accept them, but the protest never took the concrete form, as it did in New York, of demanding that the parochial schools be accorded a share of the state's school moneys.
Instead of wasting time in profitless discussion the Catholic church authori- ties devoted themselves to strengthening the educational system provided by them. In 1862 a number of Dominican nuns were brought from Monterey and opened the first Catholic school for girls on Brannan street. The school was attached to the parish of St. Rose of Lima. In 1866 the Sisters of Notre Dame established a school for boys opposite the old Mission Dolores church. This institution pros- pered greatly and was ultimately converted into a college, and its preparatory classes were accredited to the University of California. In 1863 the Christian Brothers arrived in the City and took charge of St. Mary's college. St. Ignatius college, which had been incorporated under the laws of the state in 1859, contin- ued to flourish, and in 1863 graduated a class at the head of which was Augustus J. Bowie, who enjoyed the distinction of receiving the first diploma from that in- stitution. St. Mary's college was not chartered to grant degrees until 1872.
Although the University of California is a state institution, and is housed in buildings in the trans-bay region, San Franciscans have always taken a lively interest in its fortunes and have done more to promote its growth than the people of any other section of the state. In fact its origins are distinctly San Franciscan, as a brief resume of its early struggles for recognition will show. In 1853 Rev. Henry Durant of Massachusetts, a Yale man, came to San Francisco for the pur- pose of founding a university. His visit was under the auspices of the San Fran- cisco Congregational Association, which decided upon opening the Contra Costa academy in Oakland, which in 1855 was incorporated under the name of the Col- lege of California, a suitable site for which was obtained in California. No presi- dent was chosen but the Rev. Samuel H. Willey, who had been urging the estab- lishment of an institution for the higher learning, was appointed vice president. In 1859 three professors, Henry Durant, Martin Kellogg and I. H. Brayton, and three instructors were chosen as the faculty, and in 1860 instructions were formally commenced, and classes were graduated from 1864 to 1869 inclusive. A tract of 160 acres had been secured in the meantime, about four miles north of Oakland, which at the instance of Frederick Billings was given the name of Berkeley, an appellation which attached to the town site.
The constitutional convention of 1849 had placed at the disposal of the legis- lature (1) five hundred thousand acres of land granted by congress for the purpose of promoting internal improvement after devoting it to the cause of education; (2) all escheated estates; (3) the 16th and 36th sections of land granted by congress and constituting 1/18 part of the soil of the state. By the terms of a constitutional provision these benefactions were inviolably appropriated to the support of the common schools. In addition to these provisions for the common school system, congress in 1853 gave to the state 56,080 acres for a seminary of learning, and in 1862, under the terms of what was known as the Morrill Act, California received 150,000 acres of public land for educational purposes, and the legislature in order to secure this endowment in 1866 passed an act to establish an agricultural, mining and mechanical arts college, and to select a board of directors, who personally
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